*Blog post started on December 28, 2020.
With the pandemic, there is no excuse for anyone to not have watched more films than any other year. My output for NinetyForChill.com was nearly doubled. So my promise of a best and worst list from last year can be fulfilled. The only problem that I have discovered with this is, because so many of the reviews are from my 2009/2010 notebooks, I cannot do a ranked "worst of" list. Believe me, that list will/would comprise of some of the worst features I have EVER seen. That list will/would (The best of will just get out by the end of the year) suffer because the decade between writing the reviews and transcribing them to the blog, the visuals may have slipped my mind despite the pain being quite prevalent.
I guess that means I am just doing better when it comes to picking flicks that will take away from my video game time. On the flip side, since I am enjoying "Cyberpunk 2077" on the PlayStation 4, maybe my cerebral taste buds have just been worn down. There is a sense that "Dr. Chopper" was better than a few of the 10-year old reviews from the past like "Skeleton Crew", "Moscow Chill", and "9 Dead". Those films had some budget when compared to the Costas Mandylor shot on VHS product, so I might have just been to mean to them.
Turning 30 was tough. At least I turned 40 in 2020. Everybody is suffering, so it is not all about the world not giving a shit about me. Anyway, revisiting bad movies just to say how much more awful they are to other wretched films would not be a good way to end this year.
As for how the year has worn on me, I think the body is holding up pretty well. The worst thing about last week was my vessel needed to recover from going back to heavy meals and booze as a reaction to my physical being cancelled (I am going to OSF to work on my body, not my brain, so talk should be cheap especially with Zoom waiving the 40-minute video rule. A copay is not worth a video conference). Trying to avoid a 2 a.m. Christmas morning political argument with my mom was a challenge, but manageable.
My only challenge beyond that is trying to find a PS5 to charge to my folks as per their instructions before Christmas. Receiving a check from them to spend as I feel is sending miss messages. If it turns out that I am double-dipping (like I succeeded to do to the "Wrestling Compadres Slamcast"...have they gotten over being WWE apologists yet?), that check the government is sending is meant to stimulate the economy instead of rescueing the poor. I would be doing my patriotic duty to buy a PlayStation with it. Or do true Yanks buy Xbox?
When it comes to new challenges, there is no reason that I cannot follow through on the resolution of starting my own podcast, at this time for NinetyForChill.com. My primary idea is to have a guest per episode bring a sub-100-minute feature to talk about and I brink one as well. This is going to be a brief one, so I suppose they should be similarly themed feature to get it in at under 97 minutes. If you are looking to have your voice be heard, drop me a line at russthebus07@gmail.com and we will roll from there.
And now I can be like everyone else and have a reason to be on Zoom. It is good to feel like you belong. Sadly, the movie selection for the best under 100-minute flicks this year will force out a lot of the lower budget fair. These honorable mentions are fine pieces of art, but I hate to say it: You are going to overlook acrylic painting when you see the artist move on to oil.
Honorable Mentions (Too Cheap and Too Sweet):
The following features mean a lot to me, but unless you are an aspiring, low-budget filmmaker, you many not get the most out of them.
Golgo 13: The Professional (1983)
What makes this feature notable is its attempt to use computer generated images for its opening credits and finale. They are definitely out of place, but this classic feature is strong enough to warrant the experimentation. As for the film subject matter, it is a lighter take on organized crime drama when compared to Takashi Miike's work. An inspiration perhaps.
It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To (2007)
Speaking of films that do a lot with very little, catching this feature at a "Drunken Zombie Deadly Double Feature" may have been the final no-budget movie that I saw which inspired me to hang up my indie wrestling comeback movie to pen my wrestling zombie comedy, "Main Event of the Dead." (Feel free to suggest ways of advancing the project of receive a treatment of the script by emailing russthebus07@gmail.com). It is just B-Movie tricks, cliches, and nudity presented in the way I would that would inspire me to pick up the title from the rental shelve.
This is the ultimate zero-budget feature because it is able to truly get the audience to respond after seeing this with, "What can Peter Jackson do if he had a budget? And will it be as gory?" Well, he lets just say he ended up trading the fake blood and brains for cool prosthetics and 32 frames per second. Google "Best Director Academy Award Winners" and I think you will give this feature a viewing.
SasChristian.com
Honorable Mentions Because They Should be Mentioned.
I love learning about the legendary stories of English Football and you cannot go wrong with Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. Too bad it was just one minute too long to fit the websites criteria.
StageFright o.k.a. Deliria (1987)
This year lead me to some classic cinema beyond horror. "StageFright" is a clever mix of giallo direction with a slasher plot resulting in some brilliant set pieces. It can drag a bit between acts, but otherwise it was definitely worth the time. The exclusion from the best of list is an indication that cinema maybe catching on to the idea of if you do not have an established franchise, do not run overly long.
Honorable Mentions that Should Dictate This to be a 20 Best List:
Ninja III: The Domination (1984)
My argument for not calling this post the "20 Best of 2020" is because I do not know if Cannon Group Films can be associated with the word "best". This movie about a telephone lineswoman/aerobics instructor being possessed by the vengeful soul an evil ninja is a fun ride, but cannot be said that it does a single thing right.
I
think any Jim Henson fan should appreciate this feature. With 20 years
spent on allowing us to have jizzing MUPPETS, it should have delivered
more, but this was to test the waters. A better story was needed, but
the laughs are there.
I did not expect to have so many honorable films, so not wanting to let this blog run overly long, I will put the best of list in its own entry. Here is hoping that I do not end up rushing it with the remaining 36 hours of 2020.
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