GO (1999)

"You're going to die."

GO must be one of the most 90's movies of all-time.  The clothes, the music, the hair, the attitude.  Everything about this movie screams "Nineties as fuck!!!".  GO tells three different versions (and the consequences) of a drug deal gone bad and the people involved.  Without going into all the details: some dudes come into a grocery story to set up a drug deal.  Their normal supplier is off partying in Vegas so another cashier, looking for a quick buck, sets up the buy, but it doesn't go as smoothly as she expected.

The basic story idea is pretty basic, but what makes GO so much fun (and such a joy to revisit over and over) is the characters.  There's quite a few main characters (like a dozen) and everyone of them is unique and interesting.  That's no small feat, since I can't even tell you how many horrible films I've sat through that didn't even have one interesting character!

Fast pace, smart script, young Katie Holmes, young Sarah Polley, young Timothy Olyphant, fun 90's music, lots of quotable lines, tantra sex and "...the Family fucking Circus, bottom right-hand corner, just waiting to suck."

I love this movie.  Highly recommended.

DEEPSTAR SIX (1989)

DEEPSTAR SIX was actually released in the theaters?!  Wow.  I bet the people who saw it were pissed!  Either that or too fast asleep to be pissed. 

Workers at an underwater research/military station accidentally release a large creature that's been locked in a cave for like 79 trillion years or something.  So, now the monster is grumpy and bangs into stuff until it finally gets inside and starts eating people

You would hope that a movie this weak would at least be good for a laugh, but it's not.  A yawn maybe, but no laughs.  Shockingly lame special effects, very little blood, zero gore, zero nudity, silly story, lame acting, one girl who talks really fast, slow story that goes nowhere.  I can't think of any reason to watch this underwater turkey.  Skip the fuck out of it and move on with your life.

LEVIATHAN (1989)

"Say 'Aah.' motherfucker!"

For whatever reason, 1989 was a big year for underwater movies.  THE ABYSS, DEEPSTAR SIX, THE EVIL BELOW, LORDS OF THE DEEP, LEVIATHAN and god only knows what else.  Unfortunately, the only film (that I've seen) that ended up being any good was James Cameron's THE ABYSS.  The rest sucked.  The less suckiest of the remaining suckers was LEVIATHAN which is simply an underwater retelling of ALIEN mixed with THE THING, but with all of the tension removed and replaced with bigger flamethrowers.

One day, some deep sea miners are doing their deep sea mining duties when they discover a sunken Russian ship called Leviathan.  Stuff happens and before you can say "Oh god, I hope my penis doesn't fall off!" people are starting growing icky scales and weird stuff like a mouth on their hand.  That sounds really cool, but after the initial shock wears off, it just turns into your standard monster movie.

Overall, LEVIATHAN is an entertaining ride and a neat time capsule to the world of cheesy-looking 80's monsters.  A little blood, mildly scary monster, average special effects, awesome failed attempt at a catchphrase ("Say 'Aah.' motherfucker!"), good acting, what appears to be Luxo Jr. on a computer monitor, average monster movie pace, strong cast.  Not a horrible movie, but it's nothing to write home about either.  Honestly, I expected more from Director George P. Cosmatos, who also brought us RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II and TOMBSTONE.

Is that Luxo?!