Saturday, June 25, 2022

Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe/The Black Phone

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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated 1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going to review every single movie I see.  I’m going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future).  You can always ask me why I gave the ratings for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses under the ‘About Me’ section).
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Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe                      G
I did watch Beavis and Butt-Head back in the Nineties, but I know I haven’t seen every episode (I own the complete series on DVD too).  There was a whole lot of controversy when the show first aired I remember, and I actually thought Beavis and Butt-Head looked kind of creepy.  I did watch it more when I got to middle school, and did hear of some bands (or finally heard them) through the videos they watched.  Put it this way, I watched it and liked some of it, but it was never my favorite show.  The movie that came out in 1996, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, was decent and still is when I recently watched it upon hearing of this new film (available on Paramount+).  Here, the duo are still in the Nineties before being transported to present time via a black hole after a mishap lands them in Space Camp and they’re recruited to complete a mission in space.  I was surprised that I actually enjoyed this.  I laughed quite a bit and the script was undeniably well-written as far as scripts about two idiots we laugh at instead of with can go.  Don’t be discouraged by the modern animation in the beginning either; it doesn’t last long (thankfully) and retains its original look.  I’d call this the comeback of the year!  6/24/2022

The Black Phone                                                         OK/G
I read the short story by Joe Hill (Stephen King’s son, for those unaware) and felt there could’ve been more to it.  I was hoping this film directed by Scott Derrickson (Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) would’ve done that.  Unfortunately, not much is added to the story.  It was very faithful to the source material with some stuff added, nothing truly major, so I don’t know if I should tell you to read the story or watch the movie since they’re both very similar.  I think I’m ultimately going to tell you to just pick one.  If anything, I would say read the story first if you like to read and then watch the movie to compare, but don’t bother reading the story if you see the movie first (there would be no point, especially since you’ll already have images in your head).  Perhaps if I didn’t read the short story I might’ve been more impressed since I wouldn’t have known what to expect?  Who knows?  It’s a question I’ll never be able to answer.  For some positives though---oh, it’s about a kid that gets abducted by a man in Denver during the Seventies and kept in a basement with a bed and toilet; the titular device is hanging on the wall unplugged, but our young protagonist is able to hear previous victims through it that try helping him avoid being next---it does a swell job of evoking the Seventies time period, the performances are notable, and it does manage to be suspenseful throughout (which would’ve likely been more so had I not read the short story).  Maybe I’ll have to give it another look sometime, and I definitely don’t discourage you from checking it out, but I still think it’s a limited story that had so much more potential (in both forms).  6/24/2022

Other movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):

Tow  >>>B/EH
   (Tubi)

Winter Ridge  >>>OK

---Sean O.
6/25/2022

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