Last Action Hero (1993) - Based on its reputation, I was surprised to find that this film is not terrible. In fact, it is an entirely enjoyable Arnie action film. Its biggest crime is not making better use of its brilliant concept however. Honestly, watching this, I kept seeing all different ways this could have been more interesting. Unfortunately, the first half is mainly spent within the "Slater IV" movie, with things playing out largely as they would, only the kid is there to comment on the proceedings. He doesn't affect the plot in any real way, even though there seems to be the promise that he will with his knowledge of blockbuster tropes (also the kid is awful, super annoying). The worst part is that we can't take the action seriously because they're making fun of it, but at the same time there's a lot of action and not so many jokes. Then we go into the real world and things do get interesting, but then devolve into general action movie proceedings, with intriguing stuff like Slater meeting Arnie brushed aside, as well as the potential for jumping into other movies and taking characters out from those movies into the real world. Props for Ian McKellan as Death from The Seventh Seal, but ultimately that character has practically zero purpose. It's a shame, this film could have been a whole lot better. Still, pretty good though. B-

Silent Movie (1976) - A unique idea for a modern comedy and I think it works rather well. It, however, does not quite reach the same comic heights as Mel Brooks's best work, which is a shame. I, too, feel that there might have been some missed opportunities. I wish Brooks had gone more meta with this, as he often does. As is, the film feels a little slight, but that's okay I guess. I fun hour and a half. B