Nine Years Later (And A Little Announcement)

Here we are again, all. Nine years into this blogging adventure. Dang, there have been a lot of changes. My son is almost halfway through his senior year of high school, for one thing. When I started blogging he was eight.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to do for this anniversary post because next year is Number Ten (what?), and it feels like that one deserves the big blowout. Who knows what that’ll entail, but there’s still time for something to germinate.

That’s not to say this year is going to be exactly quiet (Read to the bottom for that announcement). We still have virtual cake, obviously, including an abundance of sprinkles, and I thought we’d look back at the Top Nine Most Unique Posts of 2024. So yeah, without further ado, here they are in no particular order. Click the images for the reviews:

Step On It (1936)

For a Poverty Row movie, this one really brings it. It has former Douglas Fairbanks stunt double Richard Talmadge. Incredible faceless men. A naked woman (wrapped in a blanket). Plot holes the size of Modesto. Fight scenes that somehow flatten the bad guys despite the actors hardly touching each other. Oh, and we can’t forget the car chases that always end with the cars pulling into vacant lots instead of smashing things. Gotta give the movie points for creativity.

The Disaster Artist (2017)

Anything involving either Tommy Wiseau or James Franco is going to be, er, out of the ordinary, and this movie is too much fun for its own good. Obviously it’s not for everyone, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it does have a way of growing on one.

Take Me Home, Country Roads: The John Denver Story (2000)

Groan. It’s hard to explain how bad this movie is and how miscast Chad Lowe is as John Denver. I have to wonder if he watched any concert footage or what these filmmakers were going for, but in any case, this movie is in extremely bad taste. Everyone but Lowe looks bored out of their skulls and ready to bolt. Oh, and John Denver didn’t rock like a metronome when he performed.

Cannibal Women In the Avocado Jungle of Death (1983)

Avocados, San Bernadino and Bill Maher…oh my! This misguided spoof of feminism and cannibalism might be endlessly dumb and forgettable, but in the moment it has certainly got the uniqueness factor covered. Its biggest question is: Do you prefer your man jerky with ranch dressing or clam sauce?

Night of the Lepus (1972)

Crazy, murderous bunnies, and it stars Janet Leigh and DeForest Kelley. I thought I had seen everything until I saw those cute little killers kicking up their cute little cotton tails.  Really, it has to be seen to be believed.

Birdemic 3 (2022)

It’s a James Nguyen movie. It’s basically the same story as the first Birdemic, only worse. It’s set in Santa Cruz instead of Half Moon Bay. There’s no Whitney Moore. It takes every global warming cliche in the book and shoots them at the viewer like Nerf bullets. The birds don’t show up until the last thirty minutes or so. And everything has a blue tinge to it because Mr. Nguyen employed fancy new equipment he probably didn’t know how to use. It’s fun to make fun of and that’s about it.

Noah’s Shark (2021)

Noah’s Ark is guarded by a shark and an army of demons. ‘Nuff said. Well, maybe one more thing, courtesy of the cameraman: “I don’t wanna be in a found footage movie!”

Robin Hood, Arrows, Beans, and Karate (1976)

It’s a spaghetti Robin Hood with some karate thrown in. The camp is wall to wall, and they do a lot of chortling as if it’s an Italian Kung Fu movie. It’s also so low-budget that a few sparsely-placed oak trees are referred to as Sherwood Forest. There are no beans, unfortunately, but there is fried rice.

Spirit Halloween: The Movie (2022)

I think of all the unique movies I reviewed this year, Spirit Halloween takes the cake. Who makes a horror movie in a Halloween pop-up? And under it, for that matter? The folks at Spirit Halloween, that’s who. It’s not a great movie, but it’s fun in its own shamelessly commercial way, plus the filmmakers got Christopher Lloyd and Rachel Leigh Cook to star in it, so that’s pretty cool.

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And now for that announcement I promised: I will be doing five episodes of the MovieRobMinute with our blogging buddy, MovieRob! I’m a little nervous but excited because this will only be the second time I’ve done a podcast, but this season Rob is talking about Saving Private Ryan and it should be really fun.

I’m not sure when these episodes are going to go live, but we’ll record them on December 16th. I’ll keep you all posted! Anyone who would like to listen to Rob’s podcast and get an idea of what goes on there can find past episodes here.

So yeah, I want to thank everyone who’s read and commented on Taking Up Room this year! It’s definitely been a fun one, and it’s fun talking to everyone, whether longtime readers or new faces. If you’ve been reading for a while, thanks for sticking with me, and if you’re a new face, it’s nice to see you.

What will happen between now and Number Ten? Who really knows, but it’ll be an adventure getting there. Thanks again, everyone, and I hope to see you on Thursday for November’s Substack recap…

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If you’re enjoying what you see on Taking Up Room, please subscribe to my Substack page, where you’ll find both free and paid subscriber-only reviews of mostly new and newish movies, documentaries, and shows. I publish every Wednesday and Saturday.