Robs takes on Media and Entertainment

 "They Live" (1988) is a movie I had never seen until last night when I went over to my sister's place. What a gem (my sister and this movie). Roddy Piper does some of his best work - which even for a Canadian is pretty dull. If, while watching it, you imagine that he never heard the director call 'action', then his performance makes total sense. Offsetting this is any scene where Keith David or Peter Jason are in. They are acting their butts of and are enthralling. (Just so you don't get confused - Peter Jason is neither Meatloaf nor Jason Sudekis' father ... You might think he is, but he isn't). The movie itself is a 94 minute indictment on Reagonmics, and gets plenty preachy. It would be under an hour of you cut out the establishing shots of people walking. But - THE REASON this movie needs to be seen - is a fight scene between Roddy and Keith. It goes on for 5+ minutes - you think it is over at least 3 times - it has all the beats of a professional...

 "Bait" (2012) is a great value for your time and money. You get 2 sharks, and at least 3 different movies -  let's see if I can count thems: supermarket shark, parking garage shark, Romeo and Juliet, heist+blackmail+double cross thing ... 4 movies - all for about 94 minutes. There could have been a much better monster+disaster film, but the film makers opted for this nonsense. You get a multitude of accents. And some entirely watchable 3D effects (even though the stream is 2D). I really like these low budget JAWS knock offs. Even one where the characters are all dumber than the Pomeranian that is also in the show.

 I need to add one more to my [perfect movie] list: "Midnight Run" (1988). I don't think I had seen it before until now. It holds up well, it is very quotable, shot and edited really well. You can understand how this guy made "Beverly Hills Cop" four years earlier. I do think the secret of this (and BHC) is character. These characters are really well written and played. Charles Grodin is giving a master class in playing down beat against DeNiro's comedic version of "Taxi Driver". Yaphet Kotto looks like he is going to have an aneurysm - and Dennis Farina is truly a scary Chicago mobster. Added bonus - Danny Elfman soundtrack.