Kickboxer Series (1989 - 1995)

An American action series directed by Mark di Salle, David Worth, Albert Pyun, Rick King and Kristine Peterson, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
A man's brother is injured in a Thai boxing match and he trains with an old man to get revenge. Then it all goes down the toilet.
This series had a great start, faltered in #2, came back with drama/comedy in #3 and then died. I can't believe someone re-booted it (2016, 2018, 2020) after what a disaster #5 was. The first one is a classic. It has style, the viewer cares about the characters and there are extended training scenes. The second was annoying at best, but there was a kid with a King Diamond shirt (image) in the beginning. The third resurrected the series. There was a large sub-plot about kidnapped girls, but the main plot was about the hero, the old man and 2 kids. Sasha Mitchell did a great job in his role as David Sloane. He was expressive and charismatic. He was not so great in #2 and #4. Speaking of #4, it was one of the worst films I've ever seen. The main plot of the tournament would have been fine, but there was this added thing with an abducted wife, a ninja and an EXTREMELY graphic sex scene. If it were not following such crap, #5 would have been terrible. I thought it was really boring. The moral of the story here is to watch #1 & #3, but not the rest. I'm rating the whole series o.k. because of the wildly variable quality.

Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)

An American horror comedy directed by John Cherry, starring Jim Varney.
A garbage man accidentally wakes an evil troll and must help his friends to defeat it.
When I saw this as a kid, I wanted to see all the black and white films whose clips were in the intro. Now that I've seen them, I wish I hadn't. They are all terrible movies. This film is not quite as good as Goes to Camp (1987), but still funny. The late '80s and early '90s was THE time to make movies. This looked good (we all know what ingredients that takes) and sounded fine. I was amused by "authentic Bulgarian miak" and Ernest hugging the trolls. It's best to not think or write too much about this. Digging too deep would probably expose more flaws and I still like it with what I know now. I rate it adequate. You might want to watch it.

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991)

An American comedy directed by Stephen Herek, starring Christina Applegate and Joana Cassidy.
A single mother goes on vacation and leaves an old babysitter to watch her children. This woman promptly dies with money in her pocket and the kids drop her off at a funeral parlor. The kids are left with no money and the oldest girl gets an office job.
I really like this one. "The dishes are done, man" Speaking of Kenny, this actor (Kieth Coogan) also voiced young Tod in The Fox and the Hound (1981). He also switched his last name from Mitchell to Coogan. His character's room in the film looks pretty inviting to me as well. Stephen Herek (director) was best known for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) when this was made. I think I see some similarity. The humor is funny. I would rather not write about good films like this. They are better viewed than written about. I rate it best. Watch it.

Hook (1991)

An American fantasy adventure directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins and Maggie Smith.
Peter Pan has grown up, forgotten Neverland and has kids of his own. The children are stolen by Captain Hook and he must remember his past to save them.
What a pile of crap. I can't believe this was sitting in my collection for so long. Steven Spielberg and Robin Williams should have been able to make something better. The only good scenes are when the lost boys are trying to get Peter to remember. There was lots of sappy, emotional baggage that got in the way. It didn't even look that good. The sets were fine, but camerawork was not up to par on composing good shots. It sounded worse. I rate this bad. Don't watch it.

The Terminator & Terminator 2 Judgement Day (1984 & 1991)

American science fictions directed by James Cameron, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton.
People and robots from an apocalyptic future are sent throughh time to change the past. They are sent equally to protect and destroy the future leader of the human resiustance against machines and his mother.
But wait! There are 6 films in this series! No. In my book, #3 started a new series separate from the first 2. The main point that I like is keeping the same 2 lead actors and re-casting Arnold from villain to hero. It makes the sanitarium hallway scene in #2 very effective. These films are known for visual effects and rightly so. The first film included an animated robot and the second had a villain made of liquid metal who could change shape. John Connor's friend from the motorcycle and arcade scenes was Danny Cooksey, who was also in Salute Your Shorts (1991 - 1992 TV). I really like the Guns N' Roses song, "You Could Be Mine" included in that section and as a DVD extra music video. The plot point of machines turning against people seems more realistic now than it did when these films were made. Even my car (made in 2006) thinks it is smarter than me. My current phone basically thinks for itself. I rate these 2 films awesome. The rest of the series would end up below o.k.

964 Pinocchio A.K.A. Screams of Blasphemy, ピノキオ√964 (1991)

A Japanese cyberpunk horror by Shozin Fukui.
A man is ejected from a company for not being able to maintain a constant erection. His memory has been wiped and he wanders the streets until he meets a woman who draws maps for people with no memory. The man's memory returns and after people from the company try to capture him, he returns voluntarily.
Very strange. It reminded me a little of Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) because the plot was very vague, but I knew something odd was happening. I would have liked the characters of and relationship between Pinocchio and Himiko to have been developed a little more. The video and audio seemed like a Japanese version of TROMA. I guess that's their take on cyberpunk. Some of the visuals were pricelessly unique, but most of it was terrible. The copy that I got looked like the video was vertically compressed into 16:9, but that may be intentional for all I can tell. I really like it because of how strange it is, but it was just not good. I give this a weird pink rating because it would be unhappy with any other.

Only the Lonely (1991)

An American romantic comedy directed by Chris Columbus, starring John Candy, Maureen O'Hara, Ally Sheedy, Kevin Dunn, Anthony Quinn and James Belushi.
A Chicago cop has a bitch mother. He falls in love with a woman and has to choose between the 2 women in his life.
Stupid, vapid and stereotypical. I won't go into this much because an American romantic comedy from 1991 is made in a cookie cutter manner. The only parts that I found interesting were John Candy's nightmare premonitions of his mother's demise. She falls down a manhole and gets in a car wreck, among other things. To get straight to the point, this is just not worth watching. I rate it tolerable because I've seen so much worse. You're probably better off not watching this.

Night on Earth (1991)

An American drama directed by Jim Jarmusch, starring Winona Ryder, Gena Rowlands, Giancarlo Esposito, Isaach de Bankole, Beatrice Dalle and Roberto Benigni.
5 taxi drivers in Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Rome and Helsinki pick up people and have conversations with them.
Awesome "slice of life" vignettes. My favorite driver was Roberto Benigni in Rome and my favorite passenger was Beatrice Dalle in Paris. For being set in cars, the camera-work showed lots more than just the inside of cabs. The varied settings really gave the viewer a clear idea of locations. The segues were accomplished by a fade to black, cut to labeled clocks on a wall. The camera goes in on the clocks and fades to a map where a location is highlighted and then fades into the next scene. The audio started in English (LA and NY) but switched languages with locations. The version that I watched had hard coded subtitles. The audio mix was actually good. I could hear what people were saying and the music was at a tasteful level. If you liked Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), you will like this. I rate it best for being looking and sounding good as well as for plots and characters. Watch it!

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)

An American documentary directed by Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper and Eleanor Coppola, starring Francis Ford Coppola.
Francis Ford Coppola is making Apocalypse Now.
This was extremely similar to other "making of" film documentaries that I've seen. Information density was a little bit sparse because (as always) there were problems while filming, the director was going nuts and the cast and crew were working too hard. Most of the narration came from the Coppola couple, with Francis being interviewed and Eleanor speaking about the filming years later. There was a good mix of interviews and on-set footage. All of the interviewees were filmed in different locations, which helped lots. The subject matter is kind of stale to me now and has lost it's original charm. The version that I watched was in 4:3 aspect ratio and it seemed like the bottom was cropped off even then. Lots of the "on-set making of" footage was very grainy and exposures were off in anything but the best sunlight conditions. Apparently, Eleanor Coppola did not have a cinematography team working for her like her husband did. Audio was a little bit low, but mixed correctly. IMDb lists a rating of 8.2/10 and Rotten Tomatoes lists 100% Tomatometer with 94% audience score for an average of 92%. I think that's a little bit high because of how many other films have similar documentaries about them. I rate this o.k.

Dollman (1991)

An American science fiction directed by Albert Pyun, starring Tim Thomerson and Nicholas Guest.
A loose-cannon cop chases an intergalactic villain through a portal in space and lands in a world of giants. His ship crash lands in the inner city where gangs run the streets. A woman who is an enemy of the gangs and is on the neighborhood watch picks him up.
This was not as good as I expected from Full Moon. The plot was pretty standard for a science fiction/urban gang violence film of the time. The characters were even more so. The video was the best part. The camera-work and editing were definitely Full Moon style and the special effects were nice and cheesy. Selective framing, compositing and forced perspective were definitely used enough. The audio featured a horrid soundtrack, but sound quality and mixing were done quite well. Overall, stick with Puppet Master and Subspecies for your Full Moon fix. I rate this o.k.

Ghoulies Go to College A.K.A. Ghoulies III, Ghoulies 3 (1991)

An American horror comedy directed by John Carl Buechler, starring Kevin McCarthy and Matthew Lillard.
The Ghoulies are summoned from the toilet by a college professor who wants to use them to stop fraternities from playing pranks.
This was pretty stupid. That being said, it was perfectly crafted for a low-brow audience of teenagers. It contains all of the stereotypical college ingredients: school, sex, social conflict and booze. The plot was rather simplistic, but got the job done for what was needed. The characters were not very deep or well-developed, but they didn't need to be. It was like a live action cartoon. The security guard gets blown up or electrocuted? He'll be fine in the next scene. The Ghoulies (although small) manage to drink 2001 beers? They never pee. They can also drink drain cleaner. The puppets were comical and spoke in this film, making it the height of their evolution. Their lines seemed to be poorly written intentionally. Overall, lewd, crude and kind of funny. I rate this good because I think that it is exactly what it was intended to be.

What About Bob? (1991)

An American comedy directed by Frank Oz, starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss.
A psychologist gets a new patient who follows him on vacation against his will. Everyone except the psychologist ends up liking the patient.
Pretty standard American comedy. The plot was very basic, relying on one character disliking another that everyone else likes. The characters were not very developed. I found it interesting that the psychologist's son learns to dive by teaching the patient. The scene that I found funniest was Bill Murray giving Richard Dreyfuss the heimlich maneuver and jumping up and down on his back. The video and audio were what I have come to expect from the genre and time period. Nothing much to say there. Overall, mediocrity has effectively lowered my rating for this film. I rate this tolerable.

Shattered (1991)

An American mystery thriller directed by Wolfgang Petersen, starring Tom Berenger, Bob Hoskins and Greta Scacchi.
A man wakes up from a coma after a car accident. He has no memory of his personal life and his wife cares for him, reteaching him his past. As this happens, he slowly finds out that he was involved in a murder. He hires a detective to help him figure out what happened.
Pretty standard issue. The plot developed quite well, filling the duration with twists and reveals. The characters were not very deep, but very early '90s. The video was very much of the times and very standard. The audio was actually pretty good. It was mixed correctly, I could hear the dialogue and there was appropriate music. Overall, a regular movie. I rate it o.k.

Bugsy (1991)

An American crime drama directed by Barry Levinson, starring Warren Beatty, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley and Joe Mantegna.
An aggressive gangster moves to Hollywood when he is sent there on a short business trip. He has an affair with a woman and works on opening a casino in Las Vegas.
Not really my cup of tea, but it was alright. Gangsters interest me about as much as romance. I saw mirror scenes that I recognized from other crime films. The main one was the father/gangster mixing his crime job with family life at the wrong time. In this case, it was his daughter's birthday. The plot sprawled out over two hours of duration and I tended to pause and go do other things frequently. I think that the dialogue was very well written and believable. The soundtrack by Ennio Morricone blended in seamlessly with period big band music. I didn't really notice much about the video, meaning nothing was horribly wrong or fantastically right. Overall, another gangster flick. If that's what you're into, check it out. I rate this o.k. because it barely held my attention.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah A.K.A. Gojira tai Kingu Gidora (1991)

A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Kazuki Omori, starring Akiji Kobayashi and Yoshio Tsuchiya.
Time travelers from the future eliminate Godzilla and replace him with King Ghidorah to destroy Japan. People of the present resurrect Godzilla to save Japan from this monster to protect their future.
Holy convoluted plot, Batman! I liked the multiple times element, but it could have been presented more clearly. Ghidorah is one of my favorite Godzilla franchise monsters. A dragon with three heads and wings will capture the fancy of any boy. Godzilla seemed inexpressive in this installment. The acting lacked the flair of vs. Megalon. I also found it somewhat difficult to keep track of the characters. Overall, not my favorite Godzilla flick, but with one of the best monsters. I rate it o.k.

Oscar (1991)

An American comedy directed by John Landis, starring Sylvester Stallone, Marisa Tomei, Ornella Muti, Tim Curry and Chazz Palminteri.
A mobster promises his dying father that he will "go straight" and find a legal job. On the day that he will be accepting a banking position, the police and another gang are watching his house. There are multiple mix-ups with suitcases and people who want to marry each other. This prompts the cops and other mobsters into action.
I normally don't like comedies, but this was alright. Maybe I've been watching too much overly-serious stuff recently. The plot was repetitive, but the humor was decent. The characters were stereotypical and shallow, but Stallone played a good gangster. Tim Curry's English teacher role was amazing! I also liked the tailors. The audio and video style was of the times. I liked the thug emptying weapons from his pocket and how the underwear bag always appeared at the correct times. Overall, a standard comedy that made me laugh a little. I rate it adequate.

Jungle Fever (1991)

An American romance drama written, directed and produced by Spike Lee, starring Wesley Snipes, Samuel L. Jackson, John Turturro, Frank Vincent and Anthony Quinn.
Everyone has problems when black people get into romantic relationships with Italians.
Spike Lee is one of the most discriminatory racists that ever lived. In many films, you could substitute a black character for a white one (or the other way around) without disrupting the plot very much. Not in Spike's movies. The premise was simple, but the plot became very complex. There were too many characters that were not part of the main story. The video was all very good, but the audio had some issues. Music and dialogue sometimes clashed into a cacophony of noise. He used the same "gliding down the street" type of scene as in Malcolm X and I think that it was done with a green screen composite. Overall, not good and not bad. I rate it o.k.

Scream of Stone A.K.A. Cerro Torre: Schrei aus Stein (1991)

A German French Canadian adventure directed by Werner Herzog, starring Mathilda May, Donald Sutherland and Brad Dourif.
An experienced mountain climber competes with a young rock climber to climb a mountain. A television newsman documents their struggle and a local crazy guy pops in every once in a while.
This was alright. The plot was simple and characters relatively well developed. The female love interest character seemed like an afterthought, but the crazy guy was awesome. The technical aspects were o.k. with good shots of the mountain. The audio was a little messy on the version that I saw, mostly with loud wind sounds. Overall, not bad and not good. I rate it o.k.

Cape Fear (1962 & 1991)

An American thriller directed by J. Lee Thompson and then Martin Scorsese, starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum then Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte.
A man gets out of jail and goes to see the lawyer who was supposed to be defending him, but lost the case. He stalks the lawyer and kills his dog, so the lawyer sends his cop friends to torment the ex-con whenever possible. The lawyer hires men to beat up the ex-con and gets into trouble. He fakes leaving for a meeting and has his wife and daughter wait in a boathouse where his friend leads the ex-con because the lawyer knows that the ex-con wants to kill them.
The 1962 version was coherent and flowed smoothly. Everything made sense and fit together perfectly. The 1991 version was bastardized Hollywood bullshit. Nothing fit and the flow was crappy. Adequate and shit seem to be good ratings for differentiating remakes and that's the case here.

Nekromantic & Nekromantik 2 (1987 & 1991)

A horror/art film set directed by Jorg Buttgereit.
A man on a corpse clean-up crew brings his work home with him as an aphrodisiac for his girlfriend. She leaves him and he kills himself. He is later dug up by another woman for the same purpose that he was using corpses for.
I saw death, gore and sex. In my mind, they don't mix well. I could go for sex with blood in any amount, but this was too gross. The first film was more senseless gore and corpses than the other. The second film was more of an art piece, with peaceful outdoor settings and better music. The characters and plot are a non-issue here, as they were a minor part of the films in question. I think that the style was very unique and emphasized the gruesome details. These films clearly achieved what they set out for, and for that, I commend them. However, it wasn't what I wanted to see. I'm rating it o.k. for the execution being balanced with the execution (if you get my drift).