Month: February 2022

In a poor neighborhood in Galveston, Texas, a gang of teenagers sets out to solve the murder of a well-liked beat cop before the killer comes after the only witness, the five year old brother of one of the members. It’s an interesting blend of Blaxploitation and amateur detective mystery that is unique in the young age of the protagonists. The last act shows that the cop, while good to the youths, was not always kind to other disenfranchised groups which shines an important light onto other unfortunately more acceptable prejudices.    

Based on a true story, Valerie Bertinelli is the recently divorced mother of an infant son who begins a relationship and then moves in with a female co-worker. Because of what she believes is an ‘immoral’ lifestyle, her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, sues for custody of her grandson and wins. The actual details of the case are mind-blowingly sad and this film doesn’t do them justice. The courtship and conditions of the romantic relationship don’t play out very believably and Redgrave gives a really weird accent throughout.

This served as a great companion to my recent watching of The Angry Red Planet as it is a direct homage to those science fiction films of the 1950s. The residents of Earth suddenly discover that their planet has been visited by a battalion of flying saucers. While opinions vary on how to greet these visitors, the Martians soon make it clear which way the earthlings should go. With a star-studded cast, it’s not an amazing work of art, but it is a bit of campy fun that can be enjoyable if not taken seriously at all. 

When the first manned rocket ship to Mars lands back on Earth, the only surviving and conscious member of the crew recounts what happened on their journey. The glowing red surface is covered in jungles filled with carnivorous plants and giant creatures, most impressively the enormous bat-spider, who have no interest in visits from earthlings. Life on Mars is delightfully monstrous here and all scenes filmed on the surface are cast in an entirely red light. There’s some forward thinking casting here as one of the four astronauts is female that is until it is shown that her main purpose as a scientist is to prepare meals and be sexually harassed by the rest of the crew. 

After his second divorce, narcissistic science fiction writer Albert Brooks moves in with his mother because he believes it’ll give him the opportunity to work through his problems with women. Debbie Reynolds as the titular mother is adorable and eternally patient while dealing with this judgmental interloper into her home, along with visits from his brother Rob Morrow who brings a whole other set of issues. The grand experiment revolves in ways that are beneficial to them both, which at least makes the irritations of the journey not so bad in the end.