366 in 366 - Week 3

By Matt Cohen 

And this week’s selections are:

1) Babe (1995) - An orphaned piglet finds his home among the sheepdogs of a struggling farm, where he dreams of fulfilling his destiny as a “sheep-pig.” This was always one of my favorite movies when I was a young child, and I still adore it. Babe is far and away the cutest movie ever made, as the lead pig and his sheepdog-puppy brothers could melt even the coldest of hearts. One of the best family films out there, this movie is made all the better by the fact that it was made with heavy and direct involvement from Mad Max auteur George Miller. (9/10)

2) Maximum Overdrive (1986) - During an astronomical anomaly in which the Earth passes through the tail of a comet, all of the planet’s machines seem to become sentient and attack their creators. Stephen King, the legendary and untouchable writer, penned and directed this darkly comedic thriller. It is a pretty fun movie, although I found it a bit predictable and boring after the third or fourth attack by a killer possessed big rig. (6/10)

3) Knocked Up (2007) - Two late-twenty-somethings, who could not be any more different, find themselves in a sticky situation when a pregnancy is diagnosed after a one night stand. Typical, yet enjoyable, fare from Judd Apatow and his expected cast of Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, and more SNL and Freaks and Geeks regulars. This definitely wasn’t my favorite of his movies. Even though I appreciated the more serious tone it took with the relationship struggles and real-life problems of the characters, I prefer the absurd comedy and ridiculous of other similar films, like Superbad and Pineapple Express. (7.5/10)

4) Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) - Six teenagers with the power to “morph” into superhuman guardians must protect the city of Angel Grove from the ancient evil of the cosmic tyrant Ivan Ooze. Oh boy, was this a nostalgia trip. Power Rangers was my absolute favorite program when I was younger, and the movie just feels like one extended episode. The cheese is all there in its glory, which is fun to look back on. The giant monsters in the movie, unlike the show, were produced using CGI, rather than men in rubber suits. These effects, unfortunately, do not hold up (6.5/10)

This week’s standout: The Man With Two Brains (1983)

A brilliant neurosurgeon finds himself in love with a disembodied brain, and must struggle to keep his love for himself. Steve Martin is a goddamn national treasure. He was in his definite prime during the production of this film, only a few years after making a name for himself in The Jerk. Two Brains fits perfectly within the canon of absurd comedies of this era. It shares a distinct tone with films like Airplane!, Hot Shots, and the filmography of Mel Brooks. The plot is quite unimportant in a film like this, and basically serves solely as a device to move the characters along to the next joke. The story, however, in this film is very unique, and in some ways shares just as much with Rocky Horror Picture Show and Frankenhooker as it does with the aforementioned films.

The jokes are hard to explain on paper; I can only briefly describe the tone of the film and its general screwball style. While not the best or not even the funniest movie I’ve ever seen, Two Brains was an incredibly enjoyable and concise comedy that I can recommend to any fan of the genre. It would be best to watch this film with a bunch of friends and make a night of it, perhaps making it a double feature with any of the other films I’ve mentioned here. (8/10)

That's it for this week! Thanks for reading.

Naturally, I’ve watched way more movies than just these so far this year. For a full, up-to-date list on what movies I’ve watched so far, check out this link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ONvaq887hN2dy1N7WrOqzNC0tSzrzivwcq0ltqTBcrE/edit?usp=sharing