bowmanblue

'The Exorcist III' is one of those horror sequels that is probably better (in some places!) than people expect. The original was a genuine classic which still stands up to this day, but the second sequel in the franchise kind of sneaks up on you with how genuinely creepy it can be. The atmosphere is definitely moody and unsettling, plus some of the imagery (especially the now infamous hallway scare!) will still make you jump, but whether you'll see much of Brad Dourif's excellent performance will depend on which version of the film you watch.

I don't know whether I watched the original or the director's cut, but this one felt like the studio took a hacksaw to it, as there feels like there are missing pieces every other scene. The narrative jumps around, character motivations get fuzzy and the overall story just never seems to find its stride. I'm sure there was a better movie hiding underneath the edits, but what's left ends up being a bit messy and harder to follow than it should be.

Still, the core creepiness is strong enough to make it worth a watch, even if the final product is uneven. Solid scares, but unfortunately choppy storytelling.

Yes, 'Money Plane' is absolutely every bit as terrible as all those YouTube reviewers said it was-maybe even worse. So, if you brace yourself for a cinematic train wreck, you can wring a hell of a lot of entertainment out of it.

The whole thing feels like somebody pitched "Die Hard on a casino airplane" and then immediately left the room, leaving everyone else to just... guess. You get characters who either look like they're sleepwalking through the movie or, on the complete opposite end, chewing scenery like they're auditioning for a villain role in a Saturday morning cartoon (Kelsey Grammer, I'm looking at you - how did you ever get roped into a film like this?).

The plot is basically a series of wild, disconnected ideas glued together just firmly enough to keep the plane in the air. You'll get moments that make you go, "Wait, what?" followed immediately by something even funnier or weirder and the movie just kind of barrels forward like it knows you're not here for logic anyway. And don't expect even anywhere near the amount of action you might get in similar (better!) films like 'Die Hard, Under Siege' or 'Air Force One,' as the main actor spends much of the movie sitting in the cockpit flying the plane!

So, if you embrace the chaos 'Money Plane' has as much goofy charm as 'The Room,' only with a man trying to er 'get it on' with an alligator. It's so earnestly silly that it crosses over into that "so bad it's good" zone, where you're laughing with it, at it, around it - in fact, whatever works best for you. It's not good film-making, but it's definitely a fun.

Basically, don't watch it expecting a hidden gem. Watch it because sometimes you want a disaster that knows it's a disaster... and maybe even sort of revels in it.

Sylvester Stallone's 'Cobra' is one of those movies that practically defines the 80s and their attitude towards action movies, without actually being one it the decade's best. It's not even one of Stallone's best in terms of his filmography, but it's goofy enough and self-knowing to offer fans of the genre a spot of big, loud, dumb fun.

Stallone plays Marion "Cobra" Cobretti, a sunglasses-at-night (how 80s!) rogue cop who's introduced slicing the tops off supermarket cans with a knife because... well, because it's 1986. The plot is little more than a vehicle for his one-liners, explosive shootouts and Stallone driving a cool motorbike. The story isn't long and the villains feel like they wandered in from a much weirder movie-yet that odd clash of tones makes it feels like two completely different stories were stitched together.

Every shot feels engineered to make Stallone look impossibly tough (as I'm sure he was trying to keep up with Schwarzenegger at the time!), the action sequences are nice and 'real' (i.e. Long before everything had to be CGI) and the film takes itself just seriously enough that it loops right back around into being entertaining. Brigitte Nielsen starts off as a siren-type character and ends up practically as the 'girl next door.'

If you're looking for a genuinely great 80s action movie, there are better options. But if what you want is a simple dose of pure, uncut 80s cheese with Stallone at peak "cool cop" intensity then 'Cobra' absolutely delivers. It's a flawed movie, but also a wildly entertaining one and sometimes that's exactly the charm you're in the mood for.