Aliens: The Brother from Another Planet

We picked this up from the lobby of the Trylon (there's movies for sale across from the cash machine), and it was a 5 bucks very well spent!

The plot unfolds something like this: An alien crash lands his spaceship off Ellis Island and must quickly become acclimated to New York City's Harlem neighborhood. For all intents and purposes he looks and acts like a human, except that he has three toes on each foot and the ability to fix any machine without tools. He quickly finds housing and a job, but alien bounty hunters are hot on his trail. Posing as immigration agents, they appear on the scene pestering the locals for info on their "illegal alien". It appears that the Brother's new world is about to come crashing in on him...







Underlying commentary on immigration: There are many layers of commentary in this film, but my favorite is the not-so-subtle commentary on US immigration enforcement. Through the whole film people from all walks of life refuse to cooperate with the (imitation) immigration officers, they run interference, quip that there are better uses of the officer's time, and offer their own unique perspectives on why immigration enforcement is needless. At the time this film was made, commentary like this was specific to New York (and a few other cities), as NYC dealt with a higher volume of immigration than the rest of the country. But that commentary is very topical today, and it's also eerie when you consider this film was made 20 years before ICE was created.



Written and directed by: Independent film pioneer, John Sayles.

Staring: An impossibly young Joe Morton.

Cinematography by: Ernest R. Dickerson with his earliest film credit and, according to the director, it's also the first film Dickerson ever shot using a 35mm camera!

So many "that guy/lady" moments: Steve James, Bill Cobbs, Tom Wright, Giancarlo Esposito, David Strathiirn, a ridiculously young Fisher Stevens, Rosetta LeNoire, just to name a few.

Good, but weird: If you love b-movies that are loaded with social commentary and are bursting with heart; this is a movie you should have watched already. But this movie is also very weird, at times clunky, and very cheesy in it's attempts at comedy. Those flaws mostly add to the charm of this film, but when things don't land gracefully, they fall face first into uncomfortably awkward. Even so, we liked this one quite a bit!

June's Mystery Move: First Clue

Clue #1: June's movie is a low-budget alien movie.

Tape Freaks Presents: May's Mystery Movie at the Trylon Cinema, Wednesday, June 6th @ 7:00pm, only $5!

****Purchase advance ticket here****

May's Mystery Move: Third Clue

Clue #3: This month's movie was produced by a production company based in that same "particular region", and are the gold standard in a different over-the-top genre. (Oh man, that "particular region" is hard to talk about without using it's name... not a country, not a state, it's status is different then than it is now... how am I supposed to vaguely make reference to it?!)

Tape Freaks Presents: May's Mystery Movie at the Trylon Cinema, Wednesday, May 2nd @ 7:00pm, only $5!

****Purchase advance ticket here****

May's Mystery Move: Second Clue

Clue #2: This movie was the first superhero movie filmed (and set) in this particular foreign region.

Tape Freaks Presents: May's Mystery Movie at the Trylon Cinema, Wednesday, May 2nd @ 7:00pm, only $5!

****Purchase advance ticket here****

Superhero Movies: The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

This one gets some surprising things right, and has a dash of diverse representation as well. But don't let me over sell this hamfisted nonsense, I may have gotten punch drunk from the Captain America made for TV movie we watched right before this.

The plot unfolds something like this: Not long after arriving in New York City, David Banner crosses paths with some jewel thieves riding high from their successful heist. They (of course) anger Banner, causing him to unleash the green beast. But this time, cracking criminal heads lands Banner in police custody. Luckily a certain lawyer catches wind of Banner's case and offers his services pro bono, but Banner refuses to fight the charges. Being cross-examined in a courtroom is a sure way to make Banner angry!! But without the help of a lawyer, how will Banner ever bust out of jail?...

"David" Banner?: Apparently the TV version gave Banner a different first name.

Stan Lee cameo: This is the very first time Lee makes an appearance in a cameo, he appears as a juror in Banner's court room dream.

The director: Bill. Bixby. That's right, Bixby directed and stared in the first Marvel movie to feature a Stan Lee cameo!

"Stared in" might be misleading: Most of the story of this one revolves around Daredevil trying to take down Wilson Fisk, which is fine, but makes the title a stretch. (But what also makes the title a stretch is that the only trial happens in a dream sequence.)

How does Daredevil stand up?: There are weird echoes of the first season of the Netflix show: Murdock says "Wilson Fisk" eleven hundred times, he only wears the iconic black hood costume, and he's pretty dark and moody as well. (I mean, as "dark and moody" as you can get in a hamfisted 80s TV movie.)

Mildly more diverse: The Marvel TV movies up to this point are pretty white and are very bad a representing women. But in this one we're treated to Christa (Nancy Everhard) who takes the place of Foggy Nelson, and a their assistant (Richard Cummings Jr.) a Black man who's nerdy, soft spoken, and a war veteran. Neither of these characters show up a ton, but they do share a scene together where no other character comes in. It's surprisingly refreshing for such a tiny sip of diversity!

Actually kind of comic book like: Fisk and his head quarters are actually more comic book-like than most live action iterations of comics from the same period. I mean, one of the major fight scenes happens in an abandon warehouse that was last used to film a B movie involving giant spiders! It's almost like Bixby was sick of putting the Green Guy in everyday situations and wanted to unleash him in a surrounding that rose to the level of absurdity that is Lou Ferrigno airbrushed green. And he kind of pulled it off!

But was it good?: Yes, but also no. If you're looking for some nostalgia from this era of Marvel on screen this is the one to reach for, but set your bar accordingly.

Superhero Movies: Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

This movie was amazing but probably not in the way the film makers were hoping. If you watched the second season of Bay Watch Nights and enjoyed it, you'll likely love this. (If you have not watched the second season of Bay Watch Nights, you are missing out big time.)

Yes, that Batman Begins.

The plot unfolds something like this: Agent Nick Fury is a free agent, but not for much longer. He's been tapped to return to S.H.I.E.L.D. and help save Manhattan from a terrorist attack orchestrated by Hydra. Along the way, he'll rekindle an old flame, shoot an elevator to get it "working", complain about having to sign forms, and kick a fair amount of ass!

The best part of the movie IMHO.

Wait, he complains about signing forms?: Basically. Fury runs up against having to sign standard tax withholding documents and he "sticks it to the man" by ignoring the peons sent to collect his signature. His superior officer quips "things have changed Nick, bean counters have taken over the world" as if to lament the "glory days" of government agencies not having employees sign standard employment documents. What would be so glorious about those days? "Remember the good old days when we worked for the government and were never sure if we'd get paid or not? Man, times sure do change."

The jokes: There are so may "jokes" in this movie, and every single one is relentlessly blunt in it's delivery. For instance, Fury meets an agent who has ESP, she shakes Fury's hand and reads his mind, causing him alarm. She try to reassure him by letting him know her abilities have been enhanced with implants. This of course causes Fury to look directly at her boobs. She clarifies "neuro-implants" and points at her brain. Rimshot.


Other ridiculousness: At one point a cyborg that looks exactly like the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. walks into their headquarters and plays a prerecorded message, and promptly explodes. That's right, Hydra successfully sends an exact replica of the directer of S.H.I.E.L.D. into their headquarters, and all it does is play a recording and self destruct.

Not the only cyborg clone: (Very mild spoilers in this one.) Early on in this flick there's a scene where Fury runs into a skinless cyborg that's being outfitted to be his double. There's an ADR line that didn't register with me (but thankfully Tim heard it) that mentions that the cyborg gets really small for "easy transport". Fast forward to the end of this movie; the hero crew flies to Manhattan, hikes through the city and infiltrates the Hydra hideout where Fury eventually finds himself in an impossible-to-escape situation. But wait a second, that's not Fury, that's his cyborg replica!! You know, the one that was barely mentioned once at the beginning of the film and was never ever mentioned again? Thank goodness it was completely undetectable (and never once mentioned) during transport!

Is the cyborg inside his false eye?

Written by: David Goyer. Who's that? Click that link and prepare to be confused.

Characters in this film that pop-up later in the MCU: Arnim Zola and Baron von Strucker.

Legitimately impressive: Whoever was in charge of set design actually did pretty well despite their likely tiny budget. Everything looks like it came from a very comic book and nothing looks like it's recycled from another set. It was a pleasant surprise.

Biggest fail: The main Hydra villain was supposed to be... foreign I guess? Her accent shifted from word to word like nothing I've ever heard before. Was she trying for German? Russian? French? Korean? I don't think we'll ever know for sure.

But was it good: This one would be fun with a group, but there's a bit too much boring, clunky melodrama for us to recommend this one too enthusiastically. 

May's Mystery Move: First Clue

Clue #1: This month's movie is a wild, action packed 70s superhero movie!

Tape Freaks Presents: May's Mystery Movie at the Trylon Cinema, Wednesday, May 2nd @ 7:00pm, only $5!

****Purchase advance ticket here****