Hercules Returns

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... Hercules Returns!

Original image located here. Accessed 21st November 2025

Here's another movie that has been on my radar for years but is only now being addressed. It's an Australian movie form the early nineties that has now been forgotten. But I have been meaning to watch this due to it having been written by one Des Mangan (the one-time host of the SBS Cult Movie and who made dry-wit into an art form). 

So what this movie tells is the story of a guy who takes over a run-down theatre with plans to open it back up. He obtains a movie to screen as a movie but finds it's all in Italian. So he, along with his staff, dub over it. So what this movie is is twenty minutes of original footage and one hour of footage from an Italian movie called Samson and His Mighty Challenge accompanied by funny voices. 

In short, this movie is it's own Abridged series. 

And who am I kidding? It's hilarious to watch with lots of gags and lunacy coming from the most mismatched visuals and dialogue. There's some great lines and some genuinely-laugh-out-loud moments. Furthermore, this is clearly the vision of someone who has a passion for cinema and a substantial knowledge of lesser known movies. 
All in all, a fun watch. 

Sister Act 2

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... Sister Act 2!

Original image located here. Accessed 21st July 2023

Well I watched the first one so I may as well watch the second one. That and Kiera decided that we both watch this one.

I do recall this movie, as is often the case, not living up to the success of it's predecessor. Yet at the same time there seems to something of a recent reappraisal of this movie, citing a diverse cast as one of it's strong points. 

Watching the movie now, I will admit that yes: the class that Dolores teaches is indeed diverse and shows the kind that puts a lot of more recent movies to shame. However, in doing so one can't help but notice that Dolores has a lesser role in the movie. Indeed, ones get the feeling this was a movie about a teacher handling a class from the rough side of the tracks (Dangerous Minds anyone?) but it was only made when the characters from the first Sister Act movie were added. Which is a shame as I found the end result as going against the grain of what made the first movie work: The laughs are fewer, the themes of the stodginess of nuns has nowhere left to go and the crime-world sub-plot is sorely missed.

Not bad but I have the feeling it could've been better....

The Thief and the Cobbler: The Re-cobbled Cut

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Thief and the Cobbler: The Re-cobbled Cut!

Original image located here. Accessed 4th November 2022

Some background: In the 1960s animator Richard Williams commenced work on an animated film that would later be dubbed The Thief and the Cobbler. Williams would then spend the next twenty eight years (!) working on it. And in that time, he would make a herculean effort into the quality of animation, he would keep adding bigger and grander ideas, would see backers come in & out and miss multiple deadlines. Eventually, Williams would lose control of his work to liquidators and the film would be completed under different hands, becoming two separate films: The Princess and the Cobbler and Arabian Knight.
But it didn't stop one dedicated fan, Garrett Gilchrist, to make a fan edit of the movie using what resources they had.
Now with this series there is one concrete rule: I must watch a movie I haven't seen all the way through. However fan-edits can represent something of a loophole. But in any case, this edit has quite the story behind it and is enough to grab my interest.

In the terms of fan edits, this is impressive: Using what animated footage he could find, Garrett put it all together with the support of those who worked on the original and incorporated test footage and work prints into the edit. Some footage was even corrected of animation errors. Impressive? Yes. A staggering amount of effort? Of course. But is the finished product any good?

Given so much time was spent on the animation, it should come to no surprise that it is of very high quality. The artwork is very beautiful, boasting an arresting art direction and an extraordinary sense of movement that leaves more recent animation for dead. If Williams wanted to make this movie to show what animation can do then I don't doubt it.
But unfortunately that's all there is. The plot is all over the place, there is a lot of random scenes and some sequences just simply drag on. Sure there is style but no much in the way of substance.
Still this film exists as a monument to animation and what a dedicated fan can accomplish. So I will give it that

Tombstone

And this week's Friday night movie has been....Tombstone!

Original image located here. Accessed 16th August 2019

Oh boy have I been wanting to see this for a long time. I enjoy westerns and this one has the promise of some of the snappiest dressed gunmen in any western. That and a sizable number of big names in the cast.

It's not a bad western. Oh sure it may be somewhat overlong, sure it may be meandering and sure some of the characters just come and go but I was impressed by the production values, the action sequences ("NO!!") and how both Val KIlmer and Kurt Russell make their mark - and how everyone else still manage to hold their own. It may not be historically accurate but it still has a lot of fun. There's some great lines herein too.
So in the end, it's not bad western and worthy entrant into the genre.

Coneheads

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Coneheads!

Original image located here. Accessed 5th October 2018

I've wanting to see this movie for over twenty years - and it's only now that I've finally gotten around to seeing it. In a way, there is a sense of dread that this won't hold up against twenty-odd years of life, and move-watching, experience.

Thankfully that is not the case: It was exactly my kind of silliness and there are some genuine laughs to be had.
Granted it is kinda dumb but sometimes dumb is good, y'know?

The Nightmare Before Christmas

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....The Nightmare Before Christmas!

Original image located here. Accessed 28th October 2016

Well seeing it's Halloween weekend....

This may come as a surprise but I've never actually seen this movie before. I do recall seeing ads for this on repeat at Area 52 (before it was Area 52) and I've certainly seen a lot of merch since but I don't recall this being a movie that everyone went out and saw. But it's only now, years later, that people are admitting that they really like it.

However, to be honest, I'm not sure what to make of this movie. Sure the art direction, the visuals and the animation are all stunning but I think they're the only thing keeping the boat afloat. Sure there's a great idea about holidays intruding in on each other but one hindered by a 76 min running time.
If anything, I think Honest Trailers put it best: "This is Hot Topic! This is Hot Topic!"

The Bride With White Hair

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....The Bride With White Hair!

Original image located here. Accessed 30th September 2016

Has anyone heard of this? It's something of an underground hit in Kung-Fu/Asian cinema that has created repercussions since - Allegedly the titular character was the inspiration for Xena Warrior Princess.

As for the movie.....well.... it was weird. Sure the fight sequences were exciting and choreography stunning to behold. Sure the plot was an interesting variation on Romeo and Juliet and the drama compelling. Sure the cinematography was superb but in the end....it was weird. Particularly that climatic fight scene which left me feeling like the movie had completely lost it's mind.

Weirdness aside though, the reason why i watch kung-fu movies is for the fight scenes and this one has it in spades. So I'll take that for what it's worth.

Schindler's List

Last week i was asked about my habitual Friday night movies and what happened to them. Well, I stopped doing them as I tied down elsewhere. But seeing as I enjoyed my Friday night movie, and talking about it, I see no reason to give it up completely. So, here is what will be, hopefully, a return to regularity:

And this weeks Friday night movie has been....Schindler's List!

 Original image located here. Accessed 3rd June 2016

Much has been written about this film: The powerful resonance, the acting, the cinematography and the directing. But I won't talk about any of that. No: You see, i remember, back in the nineties, that this movie was a big deal. And I feel coming to it, from a distance of twenty years, has allowed me to approach with a fresh perspective.
And it is still, very much as powerful as ever.