Mike Salsbury’s Blog

1

Airplane!
If you haven’t seen this one, go rent it at your next opportunity.  It’s silly, and some of the jokes are “groaners”, but overall I think it’s one of the funniest movies of all time.  It’s a take-off on all the old airport disaster films of the 1960s and 1970s, though it’s not really necessary to have seen those movies to enjoy it.  It’s probably the start of Leslie Nielsen’s rise to comedic stardom.  Most of this movie could be shown to the family, but there are sexual situations and some nudity which would make it inappropriate for many familes.

2

Army of Darkness
Starring the amazing Bruce Campbell, this movie pokes fun at the horror genre. Campbell’s character is a bit of a blowhard, who works in an “S-Mart” store.  He winds up being whisked back in time to save the world from an unspeakable evil, though he ignores this “destiny” and just wants to get back home.  It features some neat stop-motion animation like the old Ray Harryhausen stuff.  It has a good sense of humor and a decent amount of action.  If you aren’t (very) easily scared, don’t mind some inappropriate language (though there’s not much of it), and violence, you could probably watch this with the (teenage) kids.

3

Big Trouble in Little China
This movie stars Kurt Russell as a truck driver who winds up in the middle of a “good versus evil” battle in Chinatown.  Much like Campbell’s character in Army of Darkness, Russell’s character pretty much just wants to get his truck back (after it’s stolen from him) and get on with his life.  He winds up playing a key part in a battle to keep an ancient Chinese evil spirit from gaining tremendous power in the world.  Although he talks like he won the battle single-handedly, usually Russell’s character is the first one to become unconscious in the fight, waking up just in time to take credit for winning.  It features a young Kim Cattrall playing a lawyer who falls for Russell’s character but can’t quite get his attention.  This one is probably safe for the family, if you don’t mind some violence, kissing, and a bit of innuendo.

4

Bubba Ho-Tep
Another Bruce Campbell vehicle.  In this one, Campbell plays an elderly man in a nursing home in Texas who claims to be Elvis Presley.  (His story is that he switched places with an Elvis impersonator to get away from the publicity and crowds, but accidentally lost all his paperwork in a trailer fire he caused.)  Campbell’s buddy is an aging African-American gentleman who thinks that he’s JFK, who has been “dyed black” and left in the nursing home to rot.  This unlikely duo discovers than an ancient Egyptian mummy is feeding on the souls of the weak, elderly people in the nursing home to sustain itself.  They vow to stop it.  There aren’t many laugh-out-loud funny moments in this one, but you’ll find  yourself chuckling about it for days afterward.  This is definitely not a family friendly film and does get a bit frightening in parts.

5

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
This excellent movie stars Steve Martin and Michael Caine as very different con-men.  Each takes advantage of the rich women he meets.  Martin’s character is unsophisticated, conning women out of a few dollars here or there, borrowing their cars, getting free meals, etc.  Caine’s character cons very wealthy women out of vast amounts of money, claiming to need it to fund freedom fighters in his home country and the like.  The two meet on a train and soon Martin’s character is begging Caine’s character for lessons in how to conduct large-scale cons.  The ending is a bit of a surprise, which I won’t spoil here.  This one is almost family friendly except for some “near sex scenes” in certain parts.

6

Elvira’s Haunted Hills
If you enjoy “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark” when she hosts horror films on television or appears in commercials, you’ll appreciate her here.  This film pokes fun at the old Vincent Price style horror films of the late 1960s and 1970s, and does a fantastic job of it.  There are lots of cool little tributes to old horror movies, plenty of campy humor about Elvira’s… uh… biggest assets, and lots of amusing gags throughout.  It’s not a big laugh-out-loud movie either, but it’s fun nevertheless.  This could probably be watched with the family, though there is some sexual content that might not be appropriate for kids.

7

Groundhog Day
This one, starring Bill Murray and Andie McDowell, tells the story of a self-absorbed weatherman required to report on the events of Groundhog Day – much against his wishes and protests.  Unfortunately for him, he finds that he keeps living Groundhog Day over and over and over again.  At first, he rebels, doing silly and sometimes terrible things to people because he knows it’ll all go back to normal in the morning.  Later, he stops thinking of himself and things begin to turn around for him.  Lots of great gags and laugh-out-loud moments here.  This one could probably be watched with your family.

8

Hudson Hawk
Bruce Willis stars as The Hudson Hawk, a cat burglar who is released from prison and vows to go straight.  Unfortunately for him, various forces want him to go right back to his old occupation.  They make it clear that he’s going to commit certain thefts “or else”.  Before it’s over, Hawk finds himself traveling the world stealing Leonardo DaVinci artifacts.  It features Sandra Bernhard in the role she was probably born to play, that of a not-so-bright, slightly incestuous, mega-rich psychopath.  My personal favorite part of this movie is all the singing Bruce Willis does while he’s committing his burglaries…  Most of this could be watched with the family, but there are some off-color moments and inappropriate language in places that you might want to avoid if there are young children in your household.

9

Johnny Dangerously
As I recall, this one got some horrible reviews when it first hit the theaters decades ago.  In my opinion, however, it’s an underrated gem.  Joe Piscopo’s lines about a gun that “shoots through schools” and “my mother hung me on a hook once…. ONCE!” are funny (especially how they’re delivered), Michael Keaton’s loving reminiscences of gang shootouts, and the car chase where they keep changing its appearance by pulling off different layers of shelf paper are a campy treat. It’s all great stuff, jokes I’ve never seen used in a movie other than this one.  This one can probably be watched with the whole family, except perhaps for small children.

10

My Blue Heaven
This Steve Martin and Rick Moranis film is another underrated gem.  Martin plays a former gangster who has gone “state’s evidence” in an organized crime trial and entered the witness relocation program.  He finds himself in a very picturesque, low-crime suburban neighborhood where he’s bored stiff.  Being unable to fathom how to make a living any other way, he returns to crime, aided by a number of fellow gangsters-turned-witnesses in the same neighborhood.  All this makes life tough for Moranis’ character, who is the FBI agent assigned to the case.  This one you can probably watch with the whole family.