From Bogart to Spongebob: Unexpected and connected binge through 70 years of cinema

Spongebob Squarepants: Sponge on the Run arrives on Blu-ray from Paramount on July 13th

When I watched Spongebob’s latest movie Sponge on the Run on Paramount Plus, I realized something had changed. I was getting so starved for content that I was watching a Spongebob movie in its first run for free. Well, it wasn’t a free Spongebob movie as I have to deal with the Paramount Plus stuff. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, Spongebob.

I was actually a big fan of the first Spongebob movie as it played like Pee Wee’s Big Adventure for even younger kids. Now, this Spongebob iteration feels like it requires so much knowledge of what’s going on under the sea. If that wasn’t enough, then it feels like Sponge on the Run can’t commit to a central plot.

In that way, I can see how fans think this Spongebob movie plays closer to the nature of the show. However, there’s a difference between two shorts stuffed into a 30 minute spot vs. telling a narrative feature. So much of the movie feels like lengthy jokes designed to work in more celebrity voice cameos.

While the central Spongebob plot of Matt Berry stealing snail juice to stay young is interesting, it was barely enough to hit an hour in length. Maybe COVID did this one a solid by forcing it to make its debut at home rather than in theaters. For the Canadians that actually got to see this Spongebob movie in theaters, let me know what you think For now, I move on back in time.

Rene Clair says It Happened Tomorrow in a new digital restoration from Cohen Collection

It Happened Tomorrow was Early Edition for the Polio crowd. Dick Powell plays a guy that manages to get a copy of tomorrow’s paper today. Naturally, he uses the knowledge to game the competition and become the best cub reporter in history. Unfortunately, he starts solving crimes in a way that bothers the cops. This leads to a subplot about a romantic interest and her charlatan uncle.

Given that this was a 1944 film, don’t expect a ton to tug at the brain. No one outside of Welles and Hitchcock was asking more than a premise and memorable dialogue back then. Cohen Collection brings It Happened Tomorrow to Blu-ray with a trailer and optional subtitles.

Still, I recommend it. Can you guess how all of these titles are connected yet?

The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films arrives from MVD on July 20th

The Go-Go Boys is the second Cannon Films documentary I’ve seen. At least that’s what I thought when first watching the Blu-ray. Then, I realized I had already seen the movie and loved it. We have interviewed several members of the Cannon family in the past. Everyone we’ve met and the generations that have spawned off Golan Globus have been nothing but great. However, their output isn’t understood that well out of cult film fans.

In a 90 minute run time, we get the broad strokes of what created Cannon. However, we’re still missing larger chunks of their overall work. If you’re a fan and have a region free player, you can piece together the films you see in the documentary with their HD equivalents.

MVD packs the Blu-ray with special features ranging from trailers to a mini poster. I would have liked to seen some more bonus material, but it’s a pretty solid package.

Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft is now retro. Here’s a 4K UHD two-fer of the 00s Tomb Raider movies

Angelina Jolie isn’t quite Spongebob, but both were pillars of Paramount at a time when they were needed. But, that’s not how or why everything is connected. Jolie’s Lara Croft was meant to be a female answer to Indiana Jones. While Paramount has released the first two Tomb Raiders to 4K before, I kinda dig what they did here.

It’s a masterful to bundle together older films as part of an easy to collect series. It’s obviously a play to cash-in on the Wal-Mart crowd, but I dig what they’re doing. Especially because these are the kind of older films that are disposable pick-ups alongside the new Spongebob release.

That’s not to slight any of the movies mentioned, it’s just a statement about how most of what we love gets treated by the general populace. Jolie for the adults, Spongebob for the kids. Entertainment at a common appeal point that just…I’m moving onto the 80s.

48 Hours and Another 48 Hours are classic blasts from the past that will upset the Zoomer in your life

48 Hours is a movie that I remember more recently for having bothered a younger reader that was around the site a few years ago. This was at the start of Performative Social Media theatrics and I got to see the usual cliches play out. Naturally, it was exhausting. That’s before the Safdie Brothers tried to remake the film and then abandoned it. Hell, it was before I saw the two Indian cinema adaptations of the movie.

Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte work well together. While they had more to do in the first film, that’s not to discount the nature of the sequel. It’s just that everything plays so well with what Walter Hill lays down. You buy Hill troupe player David Patrick Kelly as an evil hench type. Then, you’ve got former Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Sonny Landham and James Remar acing their roles as the main villains. Good stuff all around.

Another 48 Hours is a sequel from Paramount. Wondering what the Spongebob connection might be at this point? Spongebob never had 50 minutes cut out of its sequel. But, both parties had surprise changes close to release date. Just of different kinds.

Basically, this is a slightly passive aggressive way of saying it’s been 31 years…let’s get the Director’s Cut out on the market or some acknowledgment of it. All of the major players need fodder for their streaming services, give it to them.

I finished this latest viewing rant with some Humphrey Bogart goodness from Warner Archive

Chain Lightning arrived towards the end of Bogart’s career, as he was cruising for Hollywood’s respect and Awards. When compared to the past decade of Bogart’s work, it was a slight movie that John Wayne would have passed on. Bogart plays a guy that gets a job flying test planes based on his buddy’s recommendations to the Pentagon. When things go wrong, does Bogart have the chops to take over?

The short answer is Yes. The long answer takes us through 95 minutes of barely there plot to finally have the movie make Bogart into a hero. Chain Lightning is famous for having its initial screening at the Edwards Air Force Base where legendary pilot Chuck Yeager kept heckling how fake everything looked.

When dealing with the movies that arrived immediately following World War II, there is a weird mini history to investigate. The initial films made by directors, acting talent and other technicians upon immediately returning to Hollywood were heady dramas about the War’s impact. Then, Washington and the Hollywood producers saw the money that could be made by cranking out propaganda. Now, there was a lot to this.

A lot of it was to relive the better parts of the War, while American Aviation had its eyes to the beginning of the Space program. In that sense, you might be glimpsing the purpose of this entire piece. We’ve been looking at films that break from a then modern focus to look back at the past with glossy eyes.

Chain Lightning is a B movie made by a major studio. RKO was cranking out hits back in the day and Warner Brothers & MGM wanted a taste of the Drive-In circuit. While horror movies and low-grade Westerns were the typical fare, RKO had been starting to gain Oscar recognition for cerebral dramas that were too edgy for the matinee crowd.

However, you could freely shoot a cheap movie with one star glamorizing the past successes of pilots. While there is potential for overlap with World War II, Chain Lightning artfully dodges the wartime by focusing on those narrow windows immediately after the War. You won’t be seeing that in Spongebob.

Warner Archive brings Chain Lightning to Blu-ray with a classic cartoon and a Joe McDoakes short film. The A/V Quality is pretty solid with a DTS-HD 2.0 mono track. Plus, you get the most cleaned up 1080p transfer that I’ve ever seen for this movie. But, I’ve only seen Chain Lightning twice. Check it out if you must watch every Bogart movie.

Fans can purchase Chain Lightning at the Warner Archive Amazon Store or online retailers where DVDs and Blu-rays® are sold

The overall point of this was showing how everything is connected via past experience and how we experience entertainment. Not everything is some grandiose points. Some times, I just want to talk about movies and the patterns I watch them during a set period.