July 2017 - Simplistic Reviews

July 18, 2017

Let’s Go to Camp! Summer Camp Movies That Make You Feel Summery

Been a while since we put on a list, I mean didn’t you hear that lists make the world go round in this business of ours?!

So being in the dog days of Summer might be a little rough, but I’m sure we all remember those day at camp. Going to the pool, archery, ghost stories, panty raids, alllll the good stuff. So I put on the old thinking cap and came up with some films that bring out the spirit of the season and get us back to camp! In no particular order, let’s go to camp!

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives

Sure, this isn’t the best F13 film, but by and large, this is the one that introduced some of the more interesting aspects to Jason and pretty much made him a super powered, teleporting killer. Plus, this is the only film in the series that actually had a Summer Camp with kids at the camp. There were actually some stakes in this edition and it also closed out the three film Tommy Jarvis arc.

Camp Nowhere

Growing up, I loved “Salute Your Shorts.” If you ask me, it was one of the best to ever grace Nickelodeon. “Camp Nowhere” was the closest thing I ever got to a “Salute Your Shorts” movie. Imagine being a kid and thinking that you could run your own camp and buy anything you want and have free reign to go ape shit. And just look above, you have Doc Brown using a fish as his ventriloquist dummy. Classic Summer hijinks.

Ernest Goes to Camp

I’m a sucker for Ernest flicks. Most of them aren’t very good, but just like “Camp Nowhere” there is a definite nostalgia factor for me here. Ernest is your classic ner-do-well trying to get a group of disorderly teens whipped into shape. Then you have some subplot where an Indian Reservation is going to be destroyed by a group of greedy land owners, and it just kind of gets weird. But overall, it’s campy camp goodness.

Addams Family Values

Even though the camp aspect of “Addams Family Value” is just a side plot, it provides a good amount of the comedy beats throughout. A worthy sequel that in many ways surpasses its original and is still a fun watch to this day.

Wet Hot American Summer

“Wet Hot American Summer” is great in all of it’s absurdity. Talking vegetable cans, Vietnam flashbacks, and obvious 30 year olds playing 18 year olds is just half the fun. Being a longtime fan of “The State” this film has all the insanity of the underrated sketch comedy show with an A-Z list of actors who would make it big in just a few years. Unappreciated in it’s time, this flick has aged incredibly well.

Troop Beverly Hills

This one is for the ladies. Take all the films you know about the misfits and underdogs, and you have “Troop Beverly Hills.” In a genre that is littered with male-geared Summer Camp fantasies, it’s cool to have the ladies take the wheel and have some fun.

Sleepaway Camp

If you dig down into the bones of “Sleepaway Camp” it’s almost a camp comedy featuring bad dialogue, weird camp tropes, a pedophile that gets their comeuppance. If you’ve never seen this one before, you owe it to yourself to see the turns it takes in the 3rd act.

If you have any other Summer Camp flicks that make you yearn for your mommy and daddy back home, leave a comment below!

By Simplistic Reviews
In Friday the 13th, Lists, Sleepaway Camp, Summer Camp, Wet Hot Ameican Summer
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July 17, 2017

George Romero……In Memorium

Every genre of film has their captain; Steven Spielberg invented the Hollywood Blockbuster, George Lucas crafted the most important science fiction film of all time, John Ford, and Sergio Leone, made some of the most important westerns of all time, and when you look back at the history of horror, of course you’ll always think of John Carpenter and Wes Craven, but it’s safe to say that George Romero will always been the man who brought horror to the masses and created an actual conversation about class warfare and racism all because of a movie about zombies walking the Earth in 1968’s “Night of the Living Dead.”

While many will always remember Romero for his work on “Night,” “Dawn of the Dead,” and “Day of the Dead,” I will always and forever go to “Creepshow” as my all time favorite. It combined my love of comics and horror and wrapped them into five nearly perfect stories. You had zombies, monsters, aliens, and bugs, not to mention a cast of actors you wouldn’t expect in a genre piece, but nonetheless gave it their all, and it creates the perfect horror anthology.

I’d say Rest in Peace in George, but we all know he wouldn’t want that.

By Simplistic Reviews
In Creepshow, George A Romero, Horror, In Memorium, Night of the Living Dead, RIP
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July 11, 2017

(Ep. 88): SR Podcast – July 2017

FOR MATURE AUDIENCES

When this show gets to 88 episodes, you’re gonna hear some serious shit! On the July edition of the Simplistic Reviews Podcast, the boys tackle everything from Back To The Future to Judge Dredd. Justin is in the driver’s seat for Word Association and tells his Steve Guttenberg story, DJ is forced to say something nice about Transformers: The Last Knight, Matt talks Castlevania Netflix 5000 on TV Roundup, and the boys take a break for the show to do a live commentary track on a television show in honor the great Adam West in a new segment called Simply Goofing Off. (Watch Along With Them With The Following Link: SIMPLY GOOFING OFF.) All that and more on a time traveling episode of the Simplistic Reviews Podcast.

0:00:00 Opening Skit
0:03:54 Show Monologue
0:12:09 Word Association
0:43:28 TV Round Up
0:53:27 Simply Goofing Off
1:16:58 Simply Say Anything

MUSIC

Power Of Love By Huey Lewis And The News

Back In Time By Huey Lewis And The News

Goof Troop

I Dream Of Jeanie Remix

By The Croft By Joakim Karud

Cocaine Model By ZHU

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July 2, 2017

(Ep. 87): Thunder in Paradise – Movie Commentary: June 2017

Thunder in Paradise

1993 ‧ Adventure ‧ 1h 44m

With all of the remakes coming out these days we figured doing Thunder in Paradise would help our chances of getting Hurricane Spencer and Bru back on the waters kicking ass on silver screen, or maybe not.

Terry “Hulk” Hogan stars as R. J. “Hurricane” Spencer who is an ex-Navy S. E. A. L. and confirmed bachelor struggling to make ends meet. In order to save his superboat THUNDER (and ultimately, his business) Spencer is forced into a marriage of convenience with the snobby Megan Whitaker. When Megan gets kidnapped it’s up to Spencer and his partner Bru to save the day or risk losing everything.

Well today is the perfect day to release this action packed movie commentary. With July 4th days away, this holiday weekend we thought, what could be more American then ex-Navy SEALS saving the day off the Florida coastline?