GREMLINS (1984)

While on a business trip, a struggling inventor purchases a small little creature for his teenage son, Billy.  The critter is called a Mogwai and they name this one, Gizmo.  It kinda looks like a little humanoid guinea pig with big ears.  It can also understand English and likes to hum.  The three main rules for taking care of this dude are 1) no bright lights, especially sunlight 2) no water ever and 3) never feed it after midnight (I'm guessing for the current time zone).

For the first day or two things go pretty well.  Billy and Gizmo have a lot of fun playing the keyboard and watching TV, but then things get all fucked up when Giz gets water on him and pops some more Mogwai's out of his friggin' back!  These dudes aren't as sweet as Gizmo and when they eat after midnight, all kinds of Hell breaks loose.  Soon, these new brand of critters have completely taken over the town and are hellbent on killing Billy.

I'm sure by this point in time about everybody has seen GREMLINS a few dozen times, but if you haven't...it's a great film.  It's a little dated, there's not enough Corey Feldman, Phoebe Cates never gets naked and there are some darker elements to the story (that might disturb younger, sensitive children) if you think about it too much, but overall it's a fun family film with that familiar 1980's Spielberg feel to it.  Pretty much mandatory viewing if you are at all interesting in good movies or influential films of the last few decades.

It would be awesome if they did make a full-on dark as fook remake!  Gore, nudity, ultra-violence, Stripe pulling someone's intestines out and eating it as the die watching...mmmmmm!!!  If you want to know more about Mogwai's, then check out the novelization by George Gipe.

Part 2 - Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Steven Spielberg cameo.

I think we all remember that building in the background.

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1958)

LIBELED LADY (1936)

"She may be his wife, but she's engaged to me!"

Spencer Tracy is a stressed out newspaper man engaged to be married to hot-headed Jean Harlow. On the morning of their latest wedding day (the marriage keeps getting postponed due to newspaper crises), the newspaper prints a false story about the wealthy Myrna Loy having an affair with a married man. She threatens to sue the paper for $5m, so in an act of desperation the newspaper hires suave ladies man William Powell to secretly marry Jean Harlow and then seduce Myrna Loy so the newspaper can catch her in Powell's arms and have the case dropped.  That all sounds good in theory, but Fate throws a monkey wrench in the works by having Powell fall in love with Loy while at the same time Harlow falls in love with Powell!

The idea for the movie is brilliant, but when you throw in not one, not two, not three but four of the greatest stars of silver screen plus the amazing Walter Connolly as Loy's protective father...then you have yourself a surefire screwball classic!  Quick pace that never slows down, wonderful chemistry between the leads, funny lines, hilarious physical comedy, Loy and Harlow are both beautiful.  I've revisited this film many times over the years and I still laugh each time.  William Powell is especially great. His yodel when he walks into to Loy's mansion is hysterical.

Five years later, in 1941, Jack Conway directed another Loy/Powell classic LOVE CRAZY which is almost as funny as LIBELED LADY. Both are highly recommended.