A Quartet of Stooge Shorts

Monkey Businessmen: 

(Short # 92 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

Curly was in such a bad way here, his brother Moe had to coach him line-by-line. It’s heartbreaking that he wasn’t allowed proper time to recuperate from his various health maladies; in these last shorts he sounded aged and looked old. He tried his best but it wasn’t quite like the good old days. Alas… he was up and down; this was apparently him at his worst.

The blue-collar jobs they had this time was “electricians” and while old routines were modified, they were still funny here. After getting fired, they decide to attend “Mallard’s Rest Home” for relaxation. Turns out, Mallard’s a quack doctor (yes, they made that joke) so once they discover he rips off his patients, they attempt to escape. 

While they could have mined more from the rest home’s activities, this was still reasonably amusing. There are two male nurses (including one portrayed by longtime foil Cy Schindell) and a female nurse w/ the name SHAPELY. Yes, that’s more a name I’d expect in a Carry On movie. The last half they are on the run, attempt disguises, etc. For me, the highlight was the debut of Kenneth MacDonald in this world. Except for one occasion, he always portrayed villains in Stooge shorts, and always did a swell job. From hearsay, I know he often appeared as a judge on the old Perry Mason TV show from the 50’s and 60’s. 

As you typically couldn’t tell how bad Curly was in IRL, Monkey was fine.

Three Loan Wolves: 

(Short # 93 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

What a peculiar late-era Curly short-there’s only a few more after this-Three Loan Wolves was. The blue-collar job the Stooges had this time: pawn shop proprietors. They and the shop are in debt to a loan shark syndicate, which is peculiar enough. They then literally have a baby dropped on the doorstep of the shop by the baby’s aunt. Yes, the boy was kidnapped! And, this is framed as a flashback in a story they are now telling the baby turned young bad actor... er, I mean young boy. Now he knows why he has three dads.

As others have noted, poor mom had no idea what happened to her tyke for all those years. Well, that makes me feel uncomfortable… although not as much as a YIKES visual gag. The boys had trouble stopping the baby from crying. Curly’s solution: giving a GUN to the baby to use as a pacifier. Despite Curly’s protests, the gun was shown seconds later to be loaded. Not everyone has seen the “humor” in this joke much darker than usual from the Stooges. I was more disturbed than amused myself.

Curly sounded especially not well in Wolves. No wonder he did less than usual and at least during the Curly era, Larry had the rare opportunity to be in the spotlight. He did swell yet despite some chuckles the overarching plot is weak and Loan is mostly forgettable. The most interesting detail to me: Harold Brauer made his debut in the Stooge universe. He and Emil Sitka were the only ones that worked with Curly, Shemp, Joe Besser, and Curly Joe, at least on film. Now you know…

G.I. Wanna Home: 

(Short # 94 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

Many people believe the title is “G.I. Wanna Go Home”; think of it as an example of The Mandela Effect in the Stooge universe. The trio are discharged from the military at the end of World War II but discover that their fiancés were thrown out of their house. They are unable to find suitable lodging so the Stooges decide to create their own lodging outdoors in an open fenced-in area.

Gags old and new are present. The modified jokes based on moments from the past (such as a random parrot walking into a cooked turkey) were typically OK, although not like their original iterations. Curly preparing food and removing skin from potatoes by shaving it—I’m sure he tried his best given his condition but it was still a far cry from when he literally shaved ice in 1941’s An Ache in Every Stake.

That said, this was still amusing enough (especially by 1946 standards) for me to think of it as fine. Moe and Larry had some funny moments with each other.

Rhythm and Weep: 

(Short # 95 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

Not the most popular of the Curly era, although it wasn’t my least-favorite. Yeah, this was the next to last short he did (Columbia did not always release them chronologically) and by this point, Curly didn’t even have that many lines; his physical condition was arguably worse than his state of performance. Think of this short as a worse version of 1944’s Gents Without Cents: the trio are struggling theater performers who find fortune after meeting a trio of ladies, then perform on stage where we see the women dance and the men do a comedy routine.

Note that the sextet met each other on the roof of a building… as both trios wanted to commit suicide! While not as morbid as the description sounds, I have seen criticism over that plot point-understandable. From there they meet a pianist and the gang decide to collaborate on a new show. There’s no “NIAGARA FALLS!” moments and aside from a few chuckles along with impressive dancing from the ladies-credit will go to Gloria Patrice, Nita Bieber and Ruth Godfrey for their moves, especially when done in high heels-Rhythm is tremendously average.

Trivia such as “the rooftop scene was apparently filmed at low-budget Monogram Studios” and “the girls filmed a deleted scene where they dressed as the Stooges” are more interesting than the short itself. I’m glad that the Shemp era is only a few shorts away; seeing Curly in such ill health is heartbreaking.

Winnetou III: The Last Shot

Winnetou III: The Last Shot (1965)

Runtime: 93 minutes

Directed by: Harald Reinl

Starring: Lex Barker, Pierre Brice, Rik Battaglia, Ralf Wolter, Carl Lange

From: A few different European companies in various European countries

I am happy to return to the world of the West German Western, OLD SHATTERHAND the white hero, and the noble Native American Winnetou. In the past few years, I’ve viewed several previous installments in the series: 

Treasure of Silver Lake
Apache Gold
Last of the Renegades

To copy and paste what I’ve wrote in the past about the series: 

“Another topic is how because I've reviewed a staggering variety of different movies, all sorts of people follow me that see all sorts of motion pictures no matter how niche their favorite genres be. Consequently, I always feel obliged to keep up the rather eclectic mix of pictures.

One mutual in particular has an interest in old West German genre flicks, including the Westerns they made. Yes, West Germans made more than a few cowboys & Indian films and they were shot in locations like what is now known as Croatia. As they did w/ their krimi movies that were based on old stories from the likes of Edgar Wallace, the Westerns were typically based on the works of 19th century German author Karl May... someone who had never been in America at all-let alone the Wild West-but managed to fake it well enough to fool people. He wrote a number of novels featuring a white cowboy nicknamed Old Shatterhand-which to me sounds like the name of a Jaeger in Pacific Rim!-who teamed up with an Apache chief named Winnetou.”

I’ve had a swell time viewing those previous pictures; whatever you want to call this installment (it has several different names), it was the best, IMO. The plot wasn’t too revolutionary: once again, white people are attempting to stir up Native Americans and cause problems for the sake of profit. However, this time the stakes just felt more fatalistic than before. Specific reasons won’t be given, except that the heroes are chased often & a rival tribe’s been manipulated by bad white people via the usage of both whiskey and guns.

Like in the other movies, Croatia managed to be a reasonable facsimile of the Wild West, except with more lakes, waterfalls, and greenery. That scenery always looks resplendent. They are all fine adventures along with enjoyable Westerns. Personally, I was happy that the supporting character Sam Hawkens returned. He was in two of the other movies as a wacky guy who wore a bad wig as he was scalped. I was also happy that he had more to do here. Furthermore, the scores from Martin Bottcher are always epic; this may have been his best.

Thankfully these can all be streamed on Amazon, more often than not on Prime. If you're so inclined, those movies are all a swell time.

13 Ghosts (The Original)

13 Ghosts (1960)

Runtime: I saw the version 82 minutes long

Directed by: William Castle

Starring: Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, Martin Milner, Rosemary DeCamp, Margaret Hamilton

From: Columbia

This William Castle movie will leave Shudder at the end of the month; I’ve enjoyed the few movies I’ve seen from him so might as well go with one of his most famous.

An average family down on their luck inherit a creepy old mansion from a PLATO ZORBA, who I say was eccentric. He collected 12 ghosts that resided in the house; the gimmick: wondering who the 13th ghost is… will it be someone in the audience? I’ll explain the movie’s gimmick in a moment; note that the housekeeper was portrayed by—Margaret Hamilton. There’s a Rick Dalton point at the screen moment as she carries around a broom.

It's not Castle’s best yet was still a fun haunted house picture. Business picks up once an Ouija board appears. In modern times, we all know that as “uh oh” in the film world but that was probably shocking at the time. In theatrical showings, Castle’s wacky gimmick was that the audience was given two lenses to look out of; at specific times, they look in one to see the spectral images or the other to not see them. The movie is black and white but theatrically, the ghost moments are in blue, with red ghosts. On disc or streaming, the viewer simply sees their appearances & everything is black and white. In addition, the William Castle intro is not present.

The lack of viewing in ideal format aside, 13 Ghosts is still good, although more designed as a product featuring minor scares; the young son BUCK (he has a teen sister named MEDEA. For different reasons those are funny names in 2025) becomes involved in the B subplot, which is “a lot of cash is hidden somewhere in the mansion.” As others have noted, it feels more family-friendly than something like House on Haunted Hills, which is full of macabre delights. With the right frame of mind, there’s a good chance you’ll have a good time w/ 13 Ghosts.

As for the remake—I always dismissed it but some positive reviews is a sign that one day far in the future, perhaps “play” should be pressed…

So, I Revisited Revenge of the Sith

Yes, I went to the theatrical revival and while it's still not a movie I love, at least it's not Disney Star Wars: 

I’m continuing my streak of “being a hater.” At least, that’s the presumption many will have. I was still happy to see this again on the big screen like I did 20 years ago as it was better than Episodes 1 & 2… one day in the future new reviews need to be done on The Last Jedi & The Rise of Skywalker. I was WAY too kind to those terrible, terrible movies. No, I’m not one of those right-wingers that whine about Disney Star Wars and use “the R word” constantly because they’re dicks yet soil their diapers when… viewing pronouns in social media bios?! I was a kid in the 80’s and 90’s so the original trilogy was seen a decent amount on VHS cassette, which my parents bought around ’90. I loved those movies, & still do.

The prequel trilogy let me down like it did many people due to the execution and the direction of Lucas. Sure, I can’t laugh at “the taxation of trade routes” plot of The Phantom Menace any longer after what occurred earlier in the year… but for all the story flaws and illogical moments and why I was supposed to care about General Grevious when I was like most in never having seen The Clone Wars at all, let alone at the time… Revenge at least has merits.

I was still enthralled by Emperor Palpatine manipulating poor sap Anakin in his rise to power; I can’t fault the cast for their performances, although Ian McDiarmid was the highlight of the entire prequel trilogy.

The second half was a proper tragedy, minor nitpicks aside. This screening made me realize how great of a job John Williams did with his bold, operatic score. The digital world at least looked pretty, even if I wish Lucas wouldn’t have been preoccupied w/ that and instead focused on the dialogue or the logic of the plot through the trilogy.

My first review for Sith was written in late 2015 right before The Force Awakens; I was a bit harsh at the time. I called Anakin a “whiny emo teenager with a moppy haircut,” which wasn’t fair. Neither was my griping about the visuals being “a CGI orgasm” when movies since have been far worse in that regard. “Nnnnnoooooooo!” is still stupid, I’ll always chortle at that.

I won’t fault anyone for loving Revenge of the Sith. Whether it’s due to nostalgia-those younger than me probably saw it in their childhood-or other reasons, the movie again was one I didn’t mind viewing one more time on the big screen. A decade ago, I never could have predicted how badly botched Disney Star Wars has been. Alas… at least there’s the original films and as flawed as the prequels are, at least they felt like Star Wars and did not try to “subvert expectations” or have the entire movie ruined due to constant “Marvel humor.” 

It's a blessing that Revenge of the Sith has done boffo business by re-release standards—I’m always down for an increase in re-releases. The unexpected smash success of Sinners has me (at least at the moment) feel easier about the future of movie theaters.

The Three Troubledoers

(Short # 91 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

A Western short that starts off fine then falls apart. The boys enter Dead Man’s Gulch and meet both the lovely Nell (Christine McIntyre) and the villain Badlands Blackie (Dick Curtis, who was a heel in several previous shorts). Nell’s father (Elmo Lincoln; yes, the first Tarzan during the silent days) is captured by Blackie; he wants to marry her. Some townspeople anoint Curly a sheriff after an incident.

That wasn’t bad and Curtis was the highlight, what with his double-takes & all. Regrettably, several moments fall flat or are lesser versions of previous gags; Curly had some highlights but at times he sounded like he wasn’t well. This is best-left forgotten, at least by me. Moe probably would like to forget this also; soot went into his eyes after a gag literally backfired. There are better Western Curly efforts… such as Horses Collars or Goofs & Saddles.

Havoc

Havoc (2025)

Runtime: 107 minutes

Directed by: Gareth Evans

Starring: Tom Hardy, Jessie Mei Li, Timothy Olyphant, Forest Whitaker, Luis Guzman

From: Netflix

Another unpopular review from me, at least in some people’s opinion. The reason I even subscribed to Netflix again: to see the new movie from Gareth Evans. No, not the guy that directed the 2014 Godzilla and The Creator. This is the guy that directed The Raid movies plus created the Gangs of London TV show. The first Raid was incredible, an amazing theatrical experience. I hated the story in the second Raid and the action was just too preposterous & too overblown. As his Safe Haven segment in V/H/S/2 had the main faults that Havoc did… the crushing realization that most of Gareth Evans does is a turn-off is a heartbreaking realization.

Tom Hardy is a dirty cop who is involved in a kerfuffle of a situation… actually, who cares about the plot? I didn’t really like it myself. I know what many will think was my problem with the movie—no, it wasn’t the excessive usage of F-bomb, although that did sour my mood right away. My main problem was HATING Hardy’s character and despising how unpleasant this universe was; if it wasn’t for the hope of some epic action, who knows if I would have even watched the movie in full! Another issue: the entire movie is full of green screen backdrops—with rare exceptions they looked uniformly terrible.

The opening action setpiece was exciting despite the computer graphics as the aesthetic wasn’t bad. While preposterous, at least that was fun. Unfortunately, besides the despicable lead character, the movie is just ugly-not just visually, but also in tone. It was a convoluted story full of dour, a literally dark world. When it took ages for the action to return, that only further soured my mood. The action we got was way over the top, which can be fun—it wasn’t here when I couldn’t wait to escape this world full of unlimited bullets and guns that never need reloading.

Many people will be satisfied with this movie; a shame that Havoc was such a massive letdown for me, aside from hearing the new Tom Hardy accent. Oh, and in Netflix’s infantile wisdom, the movie is set during Christmas yet was released in April. Not a surprise for a streaming service I may not subscribe to again for ages. Their CEO is bellowing about movie theaters being “an outdated concept” yet for years have created plenty of braindead “entertainment” even worse than the majority of wide release movies during the same time period, giving the middle finger to great filmmakers by refusing to finance them, etc. How about I give a middle finger to Netflix…

The Kennel Murder Case

The Kennel Murder Case (1933)

Runtime: 73 minutes

Directed by: Michael Curtiz

Starring: William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette, Ralph Morgan, Robert McWade

From: Warner Bros.

My first Philo Vance movie. I haven’t viewed that many motion pictures of this vintage as of late; for the sake of variety, why not head to YouTube to view a whodunit that’s also a locked room mystery? From Wiki, I know that Vance was a literary character by S.S. Van Dine who was a foppish yet intellectual New York amateur detective. William Powell as Vance played a large role in my selection of Kennel. I’ll be doggone if this wasn’t a pretty good time.

A dog show is held at the Long Island Kennel Club; Vance’s Scottish Terrier lost in the competition. Archer Coe (a great name; an even better name is that his brother is named Brisbane Coe) is a rotten SOB who is shown antagonizing multiple people. Therefore, the suspect list is long when he’s found dead in his bedroom, the door locked and a gun in his hand. Philo doesn’t believe the obvious appearance of “suicide.” 

The Kennel Murder Case was light, breezy entertainment. At only 73 minutes, there is nary a dull moment with all the suspects, a wise Vance, and nice supporting turns from faces I know (Mary Astor and the frog-voiced Eugene Pallette. The former I’ve never praised despite liking her in the few movies I’ve seen her in; the latter was rumored to be a rotten SOB in real life but he usually entertains me on screen) and Etienne Girardot-a great name in real life-a diminutive senior citizen who was a fastidious medical examiner that was hysterical. His meals kept getting interrupted, you see. However, it was Eugene who had the funniest line-I dare not spoil his comment.

Bad things happen to two dogs; the death isn’t shown but an injured dog is shown laying down. Unless that’s a deal-breaker for you, this is a recommendation for those that like mystery pictures from the 30’s. Also, if you love screen wipes, Curtiz used that device often to transition between scenes. The best was out of a diagonal split screen scene. Why, even Kurosawa and Lucas must have marveled at that.

 

Uncivil War Birds

After a few days, I finally returned to the world of the Stooges: 

(Short # 90 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

The one short that features them in blackface. Explanation is needed and I’ll explain why the rating is “fine” despite how poorly that element has aged. The trio enlist in the Army at the start of the Civil War, only there’s confusion over whether they should join the Union or the Confederacy. This results in confusion, the boys dressing in uniforms from both sides, and being chased by both Union and Confederate soldiers.

I enjoyed the various gags, routines, pratfalls, and lines throughout. Union soldiers think that Curly was captured by Moe and Larry, so they order him to be locked up by his compadres in the smokehouse. A minute later, Confederate soldiers arrive and the opposite occurs. Sure, you can complain that part of the short appears to take place in a backyard set and there’s an odd editing moment or two.

That said, there’s plenty of running around and gags revolving around fire ants, pitchforks and guns loaded w/ blanks, so I can’t complain too hard. The blackface moment occurs in a house where they’re attempting to evade capture by Union troops. It’s a silly moment as they put on a minstrel show and sing a catchy song. Yeah, that’s an unfortunate artifact from the past but it didn’t ruin my enjoyment as a dumb white guy. I know, I have the luxury of privilege and all…

Bullet Train Explosion

Bullet Train Explosion (Shinkansen Daibakuha) (2025)

Runtime: 134 minutes

Directed by: Shinji Higuchi

Starring: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kanata Hosada, Non, Jun Kaname, Michiko Ono

From: Netflix

This is an example of what I don’t like about modern movie-making! It seems like for every Sinners, there’s a torrent of nonsense irritating films like Bullet Train Explosion, which just debuted on Netflix yesterday. This review had to be posted earlier than usual due to my schedule.

As sometimes happens, messageboard discussion is the only reason why this was viewed. A trailer was posted and unlike everywhere else (where people read the plot and presumed “it’s a ripoff of Speed” when Speed was based on the 1975 Toei movie The Bullet Train, whether intentionally or not) people in that thread knew Explosion was based on The Bullet Train, a movie I’ve seen and will say more about later.

This started off OK. The main players are introduced and like in 1975, a bomb is planet on a bullet train-i.e. the shinkansen-which will go off if it drops below a certain speed and there’s a mysterious figure demanding a high ransom. Sure, there are some young adults that I found to be abominations but perhaps that’s just Old Man Blair’s unusual opinions rearing their ugly head again.

Then, one character made their debut and it was a harbinger of what a bad, irritating modern movie this was. A representative of the government comes into the command center (it’s at the rail line headquarters; police are also present) and he’s all snide, dismissive of everyone else, haughtily tells everyone that the government doesn’t negotiate with terrorists, and demands that the passengers on the train hear that there’s a bomb on board. WHY?! The answer is “because the movie wants to say that the government is heartless & incompetent w/ a Mickey 17-level of subtlety, which is not a compliment.”

There was a sign to come of how irritating and hollow the film would become, a total nothing-burger which wasted over 2 hours of my time. As many haven’t seen The Bullet Train, an explanation is needed. The Bullet Train is MUCH better than Explosion. Plenty of time it spent getting to know the villains & their motivations alongside the heroes attempting to save everyone on the train. That made the 2 ½ hour runtime not as daunting as you might suspect. This new movie is full of dumb characters I couldn’t care less about, the plot is ludicrous and it exemplified the cliché “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Another common detail concerning me and modern films: many others enjoy the picture in question quite a bit more than I do. That is already the case with Bullet Train Explosion. If my review hasn't convinced you to miss the film, hopefully the experience is a much more enjoyable ride for you than it was for me.

 

Sinners

Sinners (2025)

98% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 296 reviews)

Runtime: 137 spectacular minutes

Directed by: Ryan Coogler

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Wunmi Mosaku, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell

From: Warner Bros.

So, I saw Sinners in 70mm IMAX.

My cinephile street cred just went up, especially considering there are only EIGHT cinemas in the United States which are presenting the movie this way. One happened to be the AutoNation IMAX Theater in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; it is attached to the city’s Museum of Discovery and Science. To pay the bills, they show Hollywood films alongside those IMAX documentaries. Viewing the movie on an 80 by 60 foot screen (24 by 18 meters) where some moments fill the entire screen: a transcendent experience. I was gone all day Tuesday to make this special journey to the Miami area.

I’ll explain why the format is not the reason I give this a rare 5-star rating. Some of the movies I’ve given that rating to I don’t feel that way about anymore-new reviews should be done for those in the future. The screening drew a large crowd; many were Black but several different races were present. Thankfully, rather than exhibiting any bad, distracting behavior, they augmented the experience: yelling during some scary moments and laughing during the rare humorous moment. Most even stuck through all the end credits. That’s why I stuck around to see the brief scene after the end credits; it was nice although not essential. The mid-credits scene, on the other hand… I hope you all at least saw that, as it was essential.

Michael B. Jordan as criminal twins returning to their small Mississippi town in 1932 to open a “juke joint” (a Black establishment in the American South that are informal and typically offered gambling & music) is the premise. Personally, I found it shame that some of the marketing I stumbled across the Internet presented what the classic horror monster was when the trailers did not make that reveal. It would have been even better if I the viewer learned along w/ the characters what the threat was.

Plenty of time was spent w/ the main characters before they met the threat. Some reviewers did not enjoy this aspect; I respectfully disagree. Besides being fascinated with this world and becoming enveloped in 1932 Mississippi between the setting, the stellar score, the blues music throughout, and the rich characterizations, I was on-board by the time the mayhem began. The movie had some obvious themes but the presentation wasn’t heavy-handed or insufferable. In any genre that is a problem, but especially so in modern horror. What a masterpiece Ryan Coogler created.

Sinners was bold; there are several overtly sexual moments, a few scenes totally out of left-field that were pulled off successfully, and presented a tired movie monster in a fresh way that was relevant for the movie’s themes. Michael B. Jordan was tremendous in the dual roles, although everyone in the cast deserves high praise. What a revelation Miles Caton was, both as an actor and a musician. Delroy Lindo had the film’s funniest character but he was typically serious and Delta Slim was a great character. Even performers I was not familiar with (such as Wunmi Mosaku) stood out. Would people be APPALLED by the admission this is the first movie I’d ever seen Hailee Steinfeld in? This was a mistake on my part; she was stellar in Sinners.

If more modern Hollywood movies even began to approach the craft, the care, the detail-for example, even the costuming in the film was high in quality-I wouldn’t carp so loudly about modern moviemaking. THIS is the type of product I want more of from the big studios instead of braindead disposable nonsense. I have to compliment Warner Bros. and yes, even their CEO, Voldemort. For all the penny-pinching that’s insulted their legacy creations, in 2025 they’ve at least released different original films. While The Alto Knights and Mickey 17 have received a mixed reception at best from viewers and nerds like us, Sinners has already been an unexpected smash hit even the common moviegoer rates highly and in a few months is a Paul Thomas Anderson film.

Yesterday was a more expensive day than expected-I won’t drone on about the other activities I did in Miami and the suburbs. Not everything went to plan down there but I was blessed to have seen what stands a decent chance to be my movie of 2025 in the best manner possible-a luxury most people won’t have. This is also what I want from modern horror.

 

Two More Stooge Shorts

Beer Barrel Polecats: 

(Short # 88 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

The title is the best aspect of the short. The setting is in the past as Prohibition is ongoing so the trio make beer in their own home. Curly looked and sounded old but this was fine, if not spectacular or even very good. They made 185 bottles of beer (they weren’t on the wall) when suddenly, a smash-cut to jail. An offscreen arrest and conviction was made because for some reason they sold beer to an undercover cop, and for some reason Curly brings a small keg into the prison…

That was when this became nonsensical and bad as stock footage is used from both So Long Mr. Chumps and In the Sweet Pie and Pie as both featured prison scenes. Originally, it was funny in context but used in this form, the old footage is nonsense and utter drivel. Now, people speculated that this was done last-minute due to Curly’s health. However, according to threestooges.net, what actually happened involved… Harold Lloyd!

He sued Universal because they used material from one of his old shorts for a feature film. He then threatened the same to Columbia; Columbia got skittish because Polecats was going to steal a scene from the Laurel & Hardy movie Pardon Me-something not seen by me but I know features the duo in prison. Worried that Hal Roach and MGM would sue them, at the last minute they took stock footage from older shorts, regardless of how well it fit with the new footage or the difference in Curly’s appearance.

Polecats (the title references the song Beer Barrel Polka) was also the last time that longtime supporting player Eddie Laughton-who performed w/ the Stooges during live shows on tour-was on screen via stock footage. He was around since almost the beginning & was a familiar face. Unfortunately, this was a miss.

A Bird in the Head: 

(Short # 89 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

“Curly’s brain is about to be implanted into a gorilla’s body” sounded promising-at this stage in Curly’s life, the result was only average. The blue-collar job they had this time was “wallpaper hangers.” Some old gags slightly modified happen; those were fine. They happen to be across the hallway from a mad scientist who wishes to find “a brain small enough” to implant into his gorilla. Of course, Curly’s the one with the small brain; this is determined by head size; that can be questioned but this is the least of this short’s problems.

It's that Head feels tired and not that inspired, despite some chuckles, a wacky moment where the gorilla then Curly drinks grain alcohol-which doesn’t really lead to much except for a pun-and the visual gag where Curly’s head is in the 1940’s version of an X-ray machine & the image is an animation of his head, blank except for a cuckoo clock.

Those moments aside, Curly seemed especially weak in this installment and aside from Vernon Delt OOT as the mad scientist and some antics w/ Igor the Gorilla, Bird was for the birds with me. 

However, there’s the surprising revelation that Burnett Guffey was the cinematographer, for the only time in a Stooge short. He’s not the most familiar name but he won TWO Oscars for cinematography, for From Here to Eternity and Bonnie & Clyde, along with sitting in that chair for other familiar movies-In a Lonely Place, All the Kings Men, Bird Man of Alcatraz, The Harder They Fall, etc.

A shame that A Bird in the Head was totally mediocre.

Supervixens

Supervixens (1975)

Runtime: 106 minutes

Directed by: Russ Meyer

Starring: Shari Eubank, Charles Pitts, Charles Napier, Uschi Digard, Henry Rowland

From: RM Films International

I’d say that Martin Bormann’s Super Service sounded like quite the gas station to visit… then I learned that Martin Bormann was the private secretary of Hitler and an important member of the Nazi party! This is probably more surprising to people than hearing that before last night, the only Russ Meyer I’d experienced was the cult classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! That movie’s always been a gas but I’ve always been curious what an adult Meyer movie featuring no censorship was like. What an experience it was!

It's a movie where a Nazi sympathizer runs a gas station, a dude named Clint is an employee, and his girl is Super Angel-yes, all the women are referred to as “Super.” Not that there are many sympathetic characters around but Angel was rather narcissistic and vulgar. Then again, Clint might as well have been named Bad Luck Brian! The worst of luck follows him; the decision to wear Daisy Duke shorts in one scene—that’s on him.

To state the obvious, Russ Meyer movies typically aren’t watched for the plot, unless you consider “plot” to be such things as “multiple big-breasted women,” “random outrageous scenes loosely strung together,” “sometimes hyperactive editing,” and “a scene involving dynamite is stretched to the maximum; that’s meant as a compliment.” As outrageous as Supervixens was, I genuinely did laugh a decent amount & there was a familiar face who arguably delivered his best performance: Charles Napier. He was terrifying and hilarious as the evil cop… insert your own comments if you wish.

While this was early in Napier’s career (in fact, he had retired due to a lack of success until Meyer convinced him to take this role) and he found greater success later. The same can’t be said for Shari Eubank; I now understand why many cult fans became smitten w/ her—as I was smitten as well in her dual role. While inexperienced, she was still memorable as both the outrageous Super Angel and the kind-hearted Super Vixen. However, after 1976’s Chesty Anderson, U.S. Navy (VHS rips are on YouTube but it’s apparently a terrible film) she peaced out and became a teacher in Illinois. If only there were more roles…

Supervixens was wild; there were non-sequitor moments, a random snake bite, a genuinely uncomfortable bravura death, cartoon moments, an Austrian nymphomaniac mail-order bride, a deaf Black woman who is also sex-crazed, a vehicle chase in the desert, etc. What a madman Meyer must have been. As flawed as the movie is, “original” is another obvious term for me to use; I was always entertained, even if at times perversely so.

Pineapple Express

Pineapple Express (2008)

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: David Gordon Green... which seems odd now considering his career trajectory

Starring: Many different famous faces

From: Columbia

Yes, I revisited this film last night so the review would be posted today, because “lol, 420.” The film hadn't been seen since 2008 and my tastes aren't quite the same as back then when it comes to humor. My opinion has changed on a number of people involved w/ Express: David Gordon Green, Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, then there's Amber Heard... I did not watch or pay attention to that trial so this is not the most reliable statement but she and Depp probably were abusive to each other so what a mess.

Anyhow, after revisiting Pineapple Express—it'd probably have been better if I was stoned! The humor was hit or miss (of course, all the vulgarities and yelling was not always loved by me), the story could ramble on at times, the characters could be nothing more than caricatures. Plus, in 2025 the subplot of “Rogen dates Heard, who is 18 but still in high school” is creepier now, even if it was always “edgy” at best and “gross” at worst. 

All that said, Pineapple Express is still fine. The film is a silly stoner comedy where a process server accidentally witnesses a drug dealer and a cop murder a rival, and he drags his weed dealer into the mess. Yeah, the interactions between Franco, Rogen and McBride are goofy and sometimes puerile-I guess it's still “bros being bros.”

At least there are some laughs along the way, including various crude moments; what helped make the movie “fine” in my eyes were the other elements, actually. It was a decent cast full of familiar faces (including Ken Jeong before The Hangover), the soundtrack was pretty rad as it spanned different genres/usually wasn't the same old songs that felt cliché even in '08, the action beats went harder than you'd expect in a stoner comedy, and the movie was shot rather well-especially compared to modern standards-by cinematographer Tim Orr.

Pineapple Express doesn't change my ambivalence towards “modern comedy” and my general avoidance of such. That said, I was relieved that despite some lines and moments that have aged, there are enough merits where the movie did not turn me off.

City Lights

City Lights (1931)

Runtime: 86 minutes

Directed by: Charlie Chaplin

Starring: Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers, Al Ernest Garcia

From: Charles Chaplin Productions

How had I never seen this before? Considering my having viewed some Chaplin in the past-there are even faint memories of viewing The Gold Rush on TV when I was a real little kid-there is no real excuse, especially given its legendary status. Chaplin’s 136th birthday being a few days ago was the ultimate motivation.

It was wild that in 1931, a big silent film was released when “The Talkies” were a thing for the preceding several years. Thankfully, this “pantomime” was a nice sendoff to the silents, at least in America. The Tramp first appears sleeping on a monument that is unveiled to a large congregation of people. This sets the mood that as always, the Tramp is a misfit who only finds companies with a suicidal millionaire drunk and a blind flower girl. Naturally there are standout slapstick sequences, none of which I dare spoil for those that were like me before last night… except that this features Tramp boxing. As the image of him in boxing gloves is on some of the movie’s posters… forget Rocky vs. Ivan Drago; this is the best boxing match ever committed to celluloid!

Alongside the comedic moments was plenty of pathos & melodrama. The relationships between Tramp, the blind girl, and the millionaire featured both laughs and drama, each featuring many subtleties that likely will become even more apparent upon future revisits. The laugh out loud moments are always appreciated by me but it was the drama-especially with Tramp and the blind girl (she’s never named, even in the credits) that made this a classic.

It's a shame that Harry Myers and Virginia Cherrill (as the other two leads) didn’t have much of a career outside of City Lights. The love story of City Lights and especially the all-timer of a conclusion along w/ several key components-including the score written for the film & the sound effects that augmented the experience, including some aural humor-made this movie a masterpiece.

Aerobicide

Aerobicide (i.e. Killer Workout) (1987)

Runtime: 85 minutes

Directed by: David A. Prior

Starring: Marcia Karr, David Campbell, Fritz Matthews, Ted Prior, Teresa Van der Woude

From: Shapiro Entertainment/Winters Group

This sure was from the director of Deadly Prey & Sledgehammer. The only reason I tackled Killer Workout: recently on a messageboard, a user posted an image of a VHS cover of Killer Workout, only it went by the title Aerobicide… which is the better name, is the title of a song on the soundtrack, and one scene featured graffiti w/ that word—and Death Spa. More on Death Spa the movie at the end.

This user did not provide and never did provide any context or explanation for posting that cover. The presumption was “they wanted to hear what others thought of the movie” but no one did respond. Thus, might as well see another David A. Prior movie. This is not as hysterical as Deadly Prey but at least it’s not as mind-numbing as Sledgehammer although that doesn’t mean Aerobicide isn’t incoherent & befuddling.

Murders start occurring at the spa/gym Rhonda’s Workout, there’s plenty of beautiful people, various red herrings, Rhonda herself (who is randomly bitchy sometimes) and the police detective, who is constantly bitchy for no reason. There are plenty of low-budget flaws: the acting, logic, storytelling, plot, the kills, etc. Yet, I laughed often while watching the film. The fact that the killer’s weapon looked like a giant safety pin (?!) was incredible.

As I didn’t expect high-quality cinema, I could instead bask in how 80’s this was: the vehicles, the hair, the makeup, the aerobics scenes, the score, the soundtrack. The latter two are hysterical; the lyrics to the original song—in a modern film, I’d claim that they were written by ChatGPT but in the late 80’s, I’ll say that they appeared to be written by someone who didn’t speak English as their first language! They could be that baffling.

If you want to see low-budget 80’s cheese via a VHS print (which at least on Prime) featured tape errors including a distorted picture for a full 30 seconds, Aerobicide is for you.

A Pair of Stooge Shorts

If a Body Meets a Body: 

(Short # 86 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

This was a remake of The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case, from 1930 and something I’ve viewed before. Case was better, although Body was still fine. Curly’s declining health started to become apparent here; he was slower and his vocals a different pitch.

The trio are in the poorhouse; thank heavens then that Curly Q. Link has his rich uncle Bob O. Link pass away. At his mansion, spooky chicanery takes place, including murder. Detective Fred Kelsey (who has only a few turns in the Stooge world but most were rather memorable; ironically, he also played a detective in Murder Case) detains everyone in the house for the night. This results in wackiness involving dead bodies, along w/ a skull and a parrot.

Body is uneven yet still had enough laughs to earn a passing grade.

Micro-Phonies

(Short # 87 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges)

The last great Curly short. This was released out of order compared to some shorts that were filmed beforehand, but it was out of order so the debut of director Edward Bernds would not be a short where Curly was down in terms of performance due to health. He was “up” during these days, which helped make for a hysterical effort.

Their blue-collar job this time is “handymen at a radio station.” Besides irking their boss and upsetting a haughty male singer Signor Spumoni, they hear a baritone singer (Christine McIntyre) who records an opera tune despite the protests of her rich parents. The trio pantomime that performance while playing the record, and a talent scout spots them; note that Curly is dressed like a woman to do the singing. 

They are invited to a swanky party where McIntyre, her parents, and Spumoni are all present. There’s nary a dull moment and Phonies is much more than the absurdity of Curly pretending to sing a woman’s operatic vocal. Spumoni was quite a foil as he did battle with them; furthermore, there were many funny puns so the lack of violence from the Stooges was irrelevant in this case. 

The rest of Curly’s run-there’s only 10 episodes left-was mediocre or worse; at least Micro-Phonies was a delight and reminded me of his good old days just a few years previous.

The Takeover

The Takeover (2022)

Runtime: 87 minutes

Directed by: Annemarie van de Mond

Starring: Holly Mae Brood, Geza Weisz, Frank Lammers, Noortje Herlaar, Lawrence Sheldon

From: Netflix

Dutch movies exclusively on Netflix can be as mediocre to dismal as the ones from America or anywhere else.

This was watched before looking at Letterboxd to see what the general consensus was; perhaps I should do so from now on. The few that have seen the film have almost uniformly given rather low scores. This was for good reason. Thing is, this action thriller revolving around a young woman who’s a “master hacker” (in fact, so good that she can only type a few keys on the keyboard and not only is the screen filled with code, it quickly scrolls by) but is on the run after being framed via a deepfake—it was not that bad at first.

In fact, imagine my astonishment at hearing the opening credits song: Pigbag’s Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag. I’m not a UK soccer-excuse me, football-hooligan but I’ve known the song for years. Why it was used here? Beats me, yet the movie only went downhill from there. The rest is a cacophony of noise and nonsense involving a random guy our lead Mel B. (yes, that’s how she was identified at one point. No, she wasn’t the Spice Girl) dated once, a mentor, the disbelieving police, the villains, etc.

Those villains & their motivations: “fear-mongering” is the best descriptor I can give without spoiling the whole kit and caboodle. This all felt like a procedural TV show… a bad one at that. This includes the nondescript action, the nonsense story, the mediocre acting, the terrible logic. To steal a line from a mutual, an autonomous driving bus that was hacked can be hacked again by the heroes just by hooking up what looked like a graphics card physically to the bus!

That’s not even factoring in all the unnecessary F-bombs that suddenly appear & never stop. Some of the dialogue is in English so that word is seen/heard in two different languages. I was not happy. Despite the brief 87-minute runtime, there’s no reason to waste your time w/ this motion picture, nor do you even want it on as background noise while folding your laundry, doing your dishes, etc. Even on a platform full of lousy (IMO) movies, others are better for any task, including genuine enjoyment.