50th Blog Post Spectacular!

Welcome to Overdue Reviews’ 50th Blog Post Spectacular! I started this blog seven months ago and have written reviews for over 50 movies so far (thanks to some double features). A change to my work situation at the end of last year meant I had a lot less time and energy to devote to this. It also led to a bunch of reviews and a big series plan I had going unfinished, and in December I nearly abandoned the whole thing (like I did my Scott Adkins podcast years ago when life got in the way). I am glad I have stuck with it, though. Even when it is hard to get motivated to write, once I actually finish a review it does give me some sense of achievement. And while I would love to see some comments/feedback from readers, I am just happy to see from the little bit of site traffic that someone is looking at my nonsense! I wanted to celebrate by looking back at some of my favorite posts so far.

I have mostly focused on reviews, but I did write a blog remembering my mom and our relationship through movies that I think she would be proud of. 

One of my most memorable movie experiences recently was Baby Cat. I watch/read a lot of different reviewers who talk about bad/weird movies that I add to my watchlist, but I had never heard of this one and it felt like a real discovery. This was purely between me and my insane Tubi algorithm. I feel pretty good about my attempts to describe and praise this delightful combination of oddball comedy, boobs, and heart. It is also by far the most read/clicked piece on this site. That's probably thanks to the combination of bizarre premise and hot lady on the cover that got me to click on the movie in the first place!

nice.

Also in the “weird, funny movies with hot ladies” category is Dark Angel: The Ascent. For some reason, I kept banging my head against the wall of Full Moon Features’ output despite finding very little entertainment value (does that qualify as a pun considering most Full Moon movies are about very little monsters/toys/puppets?). But it was worth it to find this one. In a truly shocking turn of events, the studio that Puppet Master built turned out a movie where I actually wanted MORE scenes of characters sitting around talking in between the limited scenes of budget-conscious effects and gore!

My biggest deep dive in the last year has been into the Girls with Guns sub-genre, mostly coming from late 80s/90s Hong Kong. I would have enjoyed Angel Terminators 2 at any time (because it kicks ass!), but I definitely appreciated it on a different level after having seen many more run-of-the-mill GwG flicks. The affection I had built up for the lead actresses over previous movies made me excited to see them get some actual character beats to play, and the movie avoided the shoddy plotting and obnoxious comedy that drags on many Hong Kong action movies. I am planning to write up a blog post with a Tier ranking of the dozens of GwG I have watched so far, and will keep it updated as I go forward.

In a rare instance, I reviewed a movie that was actually well-known and critically acclaimed when it was released. Johnnie To is one of the directors I really want to dig into, now that I have access to some more of his movies at the Naro Library. It was a bit intimidating and challenging to write about his technically impressive and dense Breaking News, but I am happy with the result.

My plans got a little too big last October for my Halloween movie marathon. I actually managed to hit all the different categories I set as a goal for myself, watching 40+ movies from across 10 decades and almost as many countries. I gave all of them at least a brief review on letterboxd here, but this blog isn’t for the quick hits. Next October I will slow it down a bit and allow more time to write. I did get into a good rhythm at the end, though, especially with my run of double features: Black and white classics, international zombies, and lesbian vampires oh my! I also loved both movies by director Sean Byrne, and am excited that his 8+ years later follow up Dangerous Animals is coming out this summer!

And one of the best movies I saw was at the very end of October. An unnervingly intense and memorable performance by Michael Ironside anchored the thriller/horror Visiting Hours.

With my watchlist literally hundreds of movies deep and ever growing, there is always something to match my random whims. Hopefully you will stay tuned with me to see what cool and/or crazy shit I write up next!

Rando Trejo!