Transformers : The Movie (1986) Re-Watch
This has always been a beloved movie of mine since I first saw it in 2007. I seen it well over 30 times and know 80% of the lines. I haven't seen it in a few years but it ALWAYS holds up because this movie was actually damn good and it swings it's huge balls around. It's such a violent rev up from the cartoon, treasured characters are killed for good, badass & cheesy Hair Metal songs play, Stan Bush provides the greatest song in the history of 80's movies with "The Touch", and it looks excellent. The backgrounds are beautiful and full of life. You got an all star voice cast, man I just love this movie. Vince DiCola's score is amazing and fits so perfectly. It makes me so happy, it's just such an extreme things for a simple kids movie about toys fighting other toys.
Transformers always feels like more than just a toy commercial. It's moved on to other generations, unlike it's lame contemporaries because it's just damn cool. Better then random soldiers and some lame shirtless guy who fights a skeleton. G1 was perfect feel good camp and this movie is just perfect. It's always exciting when Optimus is just plowing dudes down, just blowing people up. and the hilarity of Megatron turning into a gun but this time just straight up taking dudes down while an 80's Metal song plays with a singer who wishes he was in Judas Priest. and the surreal feeling of Transformers dancing to a Weird Al song with another Transformer voiced by Eric Idle. and Orson Welles playing a giant planet that yells at Spock. Spike being able to say sh*t in the movie but Canadian band Kick Axe having to change their name to Spectre General in the credits because it was too inappropriate. "I CAN'T DEAL WITH THAT NOW!". "I got better things to do tonight than die". "I have nothing BUT contempt for this court". "Megatron must be stopped, no matter the cost". Transformers 1986 will always be my second favorite movie of all time, it's just...so much fun and joy for me. I could go on forever about it.
Star Wars (Original Trilogy), Transformers 1986 and KISS are my three favorite things in all of media. They just hold something special to me like real life magic? That sounds so cheesy I know, but I just have such great passion for certain things that is makes me feel so excited and happy. There is a certain heart or something these things originally had. When I see that original stuff, it has such a spark. Such a...I don't know just something about it that makes them elevated over everything else.
Rocky III, IV, V (Re-Watch)
The series take a dramatic turn into the 80's with III. Rocky isn't the same character anymore, even when he takes a beating his face doesn't puff up like the first two movies. He grows more muscles with each film. I like III has good themes of Rocky losing himself in his fame, but it seems like Stallone also loses the character. He's totally not the same as in the first two movies. I love the corniness in this movie but overall it's not that great of a film. Rocky IV on the other hand is my favorite 80's cheese movie ever. It's a masterpiece of camp. Three montages and Vince DiCola's super 80's soundtrack. "Hearts On Fire" is a beloved song to me and "Training Montage" gets you going. I also love the absolutely out of place driving montage to "No Easy Way Out". This movie is something special in how stupid it is. I just love it. It's not even Rocky anymore, the guy straight up runs up a mountain and takes ten millions severe blows to the head. I love it.
Rocky V is not as bad as I remember but it's also not good. It seemed like Stallone realized he lost the character of Rocky and tried too hard to bring that back. It's so forcefully sentimental and the story doesn't resolve in any sort of satisfying way. Stallone has an amazing ability to make Rocky say a lot of words but also say absolutely nothing at the same time. To be trendy the movie has a more New Jack Swing Hip Hop soundtrack and it goes for a real "street" feel. It doesn't recapture the heart of the original movie though and it feels too late. Still I enjoyed the movie mostly even if it felt so dumb and forced. I still prefer the heart and humanity of the original movie and the crazy over the top feel good 80's cheese of Rocky IV.
Female Prisoner #701 : Scorpion
An ultra satisfying revenge movie with a lot of style and weirdness. Meiko Kaji gives an amazing performance, she is stone cold but still shows her humanity, much like Lady Snowblood. Her piercing glares give you the feeling something's going to happen and throughout the movie as she is tormented and abused the anticipation for her revenge builds. The scene where she watches the girl burn alive was extremely striking, her expression goes from unflinching and resentful to pity and regret before it's done. She was just amazing in this movie. It got pretty over the top but I liked all the inmates and the stylistic choices. There was a lot of creativity and thought behind the filming, very enjoyable.