Lavalantula (2015)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

So the success of Sharknado (why again?), has made things like this possible. This goes Meta too, with Steve Guttenberg playing a formerly successful celebrity ... sounds familiar? I guess you've seen Police Academy then. And he's not alone from that movie, also there are some other "stars" who do have their moment.And while this is far from perfect, it does work overall, with some bumps and holes along the way. If you can dig the humor that is really setting a low bar, you will be entertained while watching this. It's made for TV and the effects are therefor ... well you actually have seen way better effects on TV shows. Then again, this has probably a lower budget. You'll either make excuses for it, because you love it, or you'll be annoyed by it to say the least. Make up your mind and enjoy or stay away ..

Yes. I gave the obligatory eye roll when I saw the title. Another disaster movie. Another low budget attempt to make a movie with meaning. A rubber stamp copy of a copy of a copy. I went into viewing this with low expectations, thinking I wouldn't get past the first 10 minutes. But I was wrong.From the beginning, this movie showed it did not take itself too seriously. It parodied all movies of this genre with a tongue in cheek innocence that belied it's self effacing motive. It had me smiling from end to end.The clichés came with regularity and predictability. It's kind of like sitting in a Rocky Horror Picture Show revival. You know the lines. You speak them out loud. You throw rice. It's great fun as long as you accept you are part of the joke and it's OK to laugh.Guttenberg and Peeples looked like they had so much fun with their roles. Their campy caricatures of people with greatness thrust upon them by adversity couldn't have been played (or overplayed, if you like) any better. And who could ever resist Michael Winslow?This movie was a hoot. Take it for what it is....a very clever play on the genre.

A made for TV shlock by Syfy about giant lava spiders. You know what you're in for and you get exactly what you expect.Steve Guttenberg (yes, he's still alive! He was unfrozen from the 80's) is an ex-famous actor, that somehow keeps getting into the TV news every 10 minutes. He encounters giant lava spiders, bad actors and terrible script and has to face them all - will he succeed?The wooden direction and bad effects make the phrase "disaster movie" get more than one meaning. Terrible dialog, bad acting by the entire cast and awful direction - from staring into the wrong direction of the next effect shot, news anchor that is taken straight from a 70's students class of acting, car driving with exaggerated steering motions of the wheel which you haven't seen since the 60's, and up to a cop that stands behind a news reporter and keeps null signaling people who walk on the street. You simply have to watch this one.This movie is wonderfully terrible and it goes straight into the "so bad it's good" list. Watch it with your friends, watch it when you're drunk, watch it when you're unconscious - you'll get a good time. Great stuff!To its credit, the movie is self-aware (there is a hilarious cameo that I won't spoil for you) and it's not a "San Andreas" blockbuster-budget movie that takes itself seriously.Conveniently, the movie is just 79 minutes long, but the last third changes from "so bad it's good" to just "bad" and finally to jumping the shark (or the spider).Believe it or not, there is already a planned sequel.

What really astounds me is the fact that after reading the script and story lines, someone actually thought, "gee, this would make a good movie." What is even more astounding is that corporations bought ad time. If I were the CEO of one of the sponsors, I'd fire my VP of Creative Development. Having said all this, let me say a few things about this 'movie": Number one, the FX was similar to an Atari game, the acting was like watching your daughter's third grade play, and the script was about as smart as the average American these days, dull and stupid. The female lead was stuffed into workout clothes that might fit Christey Brinkley. While that might sound enticing, the actress has more bulges and pock marks than a golf ball. The only nice thing I can say is that I did not have to pay or go anywhere to see this "moive"