Shower Beer Vol XXIX: Stuff We’re Watching

Hey there fellow movie and television fans. If you've ever listened to our podcast you know that the second segment of our show is called our "protein shake" where each bro discusses things that are "in our cup", or what have we watched lately. Well recently I've been watching too much shit to bring up on just the podcast, so with the help of our creative team (Nate Thurmond) we decided to blog about a few of the things we've seen recently that we wanted to discuss that we might have left out. We're naming it after the greatest pre-gaming invention of the 21st century, the shower beer!

Here are the things I've seen lately as well as the link to their IMDB page if you want a little bit more info to see if it's something down your alley. In addition, I write Letterboxd reviews for all the movies I see without any spoilers, but I might go into a bit more detail in this blog than I do over there.

1) The Godfather - (Paramount +) A movie you might have heard of. It's been about 15 years since I've watched it, so I figured it was time to dust it off and give it a poke again. I will always maintain that it is a bit overrated, but considering most people think it's the greatest movie ever made that isn't some insane statement. The fact that Don Corleone survives being shot point blank, but then collapses in a vineyard from horseplaying too hard with his grandson is a bit ridiculous. The performances are of course iconic, and nothing will ever beat the score. I'll probably rewatch the second one soon which has me really excited because it's been equally as long since I've revisited it.

2) Ernest Scared Stupid - (Digital Rental) One of my Halloween classics. The troll monster scared the ever living shit out of me as a kid, and the scene where he sneaks into the little girls room legit shook me up to the point where I probably should've been in therapy. Ernest is at his peak here and has some insanely hilarious monologues. Jim Varney was built for this role, and here he is a tour de force of comedy. This film is definitely not for everyone, but I have a huge affinity for Ernest as I watched all his movies religiously as a kid. I need to make this a once a year watch around spooky season because it really does check all the boxes in what you want from a Halloween movie. Also the weaponization of milk gives me big time Home Alone vibes.

3) Mom’s Got A Date With A Vampire - (Disney +) Online dating is a shit show we all know that, and this movie walked so Tinder and Hinge could run. Imagine setting your mom up with a fucking vampire on accident just so you could go to a concert on a Friday night? I know we've all been there. This is one of the quintessential Disney Channel Original Movies (or DCOM's) for me this year along with Halloweentown. It has some really fun performances, and the meta element of Caroline Rhea who was on Sabrina the Teenage Witch having to deal with a vampire is not lost on me. Van Helsing being played by Lizzie McGuire's dad is cool to see, and there is just enough camp here to keep it honest, while actually being a film with enough redeeming qualities to say it's pretty well made.

4) Woman of the Hour - (Netflix) The premise had me very intrigued here and based on the subject matter and time period I was getting some Zodiac vibes. It's Anna Kendric's directorial debut I believe which is also an interesting wrinkle. I really question though why the framing device for the film is set around the episode of the dating game that the killer appeared on aside from being a bit of a gimmick? It's abundantly clear throughout the movie that the previous kills that took place, and the killer's life before the show are super important and are given ample screen time so by the end the actual appearance on the show is very anticlimactic, and honestly pretty unimportant in the overall story. Kendric has some nice visual style and some directing chops so I'll be interested to see what she takes on next.

5) Guy's Grocery Games S18 - (Max) My epic quest through my favorite cooking show continues. This season sees Guy get interesting with some of his judges competing by doing a winners vs judges game that gets pretty heated. It's to the point in this show now where we have some legitimate rivalries, and I'm starting to hate watch when some of these former winners come on due to how cocky they are. There is also a fright night episode which was of course perfect for this time of year and had some fun halloween themed challenges. I'll admit I'm getting a bit burnt out on the show so it might be a few squad blogs before I log another season, but it has served me well as my "have on in the background while I eat" show for the past two years.

6) The Haunted Mansion (2023) - (Disney +) Visually stunning, and spooky in all the ways you want. Way, way too fucking long though. I'm talking like forty m ins too long. The second act gets really bogged down in the lore of the mansion, and there is an entire ten minute scene that is used as a cameo cram that is totally unnecessary. By the crescendo of the haunt I was just totally out of energy, and I have no idea how little kids made it through this thing without dying from exhaustion. Stanfield and Owen Wilson really steal the show, and Danny Devito is used very well. If you're a fan of the ride at any of the Disney parks this has some really cool homages, and some straight up inclusions that are directly from the attraction. This will prob be an every other year Halloween watch for me, but again I'll need to hydrate to make sure I can make it through the runtime.

7) Phantom of the Megaplex - (Disney +) Another great DCOM that I try to watch every year around this time. The whodunnit aspect is such a blast, and the score for a lower budget movie slaps pretty hard. This gives me definite mid 90's hangout movie vibes as we meet a cast of over the top characters, and hang out with them over the course of one night. It's always fun to go revisit these movies that were coming out just at the inception of the internet to see how they incorporate it into their plot. Here it deals with the beginning of spoilers online and how they can affect the premier of a big movie. Obviously now we have youtubers ready to ruin a film fourteen seconds after it releases overseas for even die hard fans, but here that concept was just in it's infancy. I will say this, the Phantom of the Megaplex was someone who some of the TikTok pranksters today would really respect for their hustle and determination to get views and likes.

8) The Monster Squad - (Pluto TV) Think the Goonies meets Beetlejuice. It's a group of kids in the late 80's who call themselves The Monster Squad for their encyclopedic knowledge of classic horror monsters who have to actually defeat these monsters when they show up to their town in real life looking for Van Helsing's diary. Dracula is leading the bunch, and he's not fucking around here. We also have a mummy, swamp creature, wolfman, and Frankenstein's monster. It's an epic showdown that can only end with the sacrifice of a virgin. It's crazy and absurd, but a great example of why these types of films work when they fully commit to the premise. I had a lot of fun with this one.

9) Hocus Pocus - (Disney +) I'm sure by now you've noticed a trend in many of the types of movies I watched recently. Hocus Pocus is of course a Halloween classic, and another one that scared the ever living shit out of me as a kid as I was convinced the Sanderson sisters were going to abduct me. I still have that fear today even though I know they really have no use for a 37 year old man to aid in any of their witch craft. I love Jason Marsden as Binx the cat, and he is an iconic voice actor in my mind as he also voiced Max in A Goofy Movie. You can't beat the vibes this movie gives you, and the costuming and effects still hold up really well. It's definitely an every year watch for me, and I kine of even want to go back and revisit the sequel now after rewatching this.

10) The Conference - (Netflix) A Swedish slasher film I had recommended to me by Rony Seikaly. It was one of my biggest surprises of the year. I loved the premise and the set up to get all these over the top characters murdered. We get some really creative kills, and the movie never falls into a lull like some of the genre do in the second act where the motivation for the killings starts to get fleshed out. The score is incredible and really punches above it's weight. The cherry on top is the mask that the killer wears throughout the movie, and the reason for why they are wearing it. There are some really well orchestrated laughs in this as well, and while it takes itself seriously to a point, it still has a lot of fun playing in the thriller/slasher sandbox. I'd say it's probably my favorite slasher of the year so far.

-JH