Friday B-Movie Pick: Killing Gunther
Killing Gunther
Going deep into the B-Movie roots of this list with this Drive In Theater worthy entry, Killing Gunther. This documentary style straight to cable flick is about a group of young assassins who want make their mark in the field by killing the top man in their field, i.e. Gunther. Gunther is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who doesn’t appear until two thirds into the flick, and promptly steals the movie. The only other people who you probably recognize are Hanna Simone and Cobie Smulders. Simone is mostly known for the New Girl TV series, so this was a fun summer flick for her. Smulders on the other hand is doing action movies with Tom Cruise and racking in the cash for her continuing Maria Hill character in the Marvel movies. The answer to why she was in this turkey is simple, the writer/director/star of the film, Taran Killam, is her husband. You may ask Arnold Schwarzenegger did this as well. Probably because he thought was a goof, and is at the point in his career where he can do what he wants. In all, not a bad B-Movie, for a B-Movie. The acting is deliberately over the top (it’s spoof on documentaries, so that is kinda required), the action is actually not horrible (again, B-Movie here, so don’t expect John Wick level action), and it is laugh out loud funny at times. It was shot as an action comedy, and it delivers on both. Definitely worth the popcorn and rental.
Monday Book Pick: The Terror in the Navy
The Terror in the Navy by Kenneth Robeson
Let us set the way back machine to 1937 for this classic Doc Savage adventure. Bonus points for his cousin Patrica being involved! U.S. Navy ships are being destroyed in a mysterious fashion. A fellow named Braun says he can protect the Navy’s ships for a cool hundred million dollars (That’s $1.7 Billon in 2018 dollars). The action is fast and dangerous. So much so that even Patrica says it may too rough.