August

Southland Tales and Lost Boys

Author

Chance Shirley
August 09, 2024

I meant to get out an early August newsletter a week ago, but I’ve been struggling to find the time to put one together. At this point, I figured I’d at least get out a short newsletter today with a few of my favorites in case you're looking for something to watch this weekend.

On Tubi...

Southland Tales (2006) — https://tubitv.com/movies/674999/southland-tales — I managed to catch this one during its brief theatrical run. At the time, I thought it was a hot mess. But it was an interesting hot mess. Over the years (almost twenty!) I have been compelled to revisit it a few times, and I like it more with each viewing. If you’re not opposed to something weird and different (and occasionally baffling), check it out on Tubi.

La Brea (2021, two seasons) — https://tubitv.com/series/300010860/la-brea

The Lost Boys (1987) — https://tubitv.com/movies/589111/the-lost-boys — Are vampires sci-fi or fantasy? I guess it depends on the vampire. My take on the Lost Boys vampires is that they’re sci-fi vampires. Regardless, this is one of my very favorite vampire movies, and the soundtrack still rocks.

North by Northwest (1959) — https://tubitv.com/movies/100012522/north-by-northwest — Not sci-fi, but it’s my favorite Hitchcock movie, so I have to mention it.

On Pluto...

All of the Star Trek movies are on Pluto at the moment. They have a channel dedicated to Trek movies...

... and you can also watch them on demand. Search for your favorites. Or you can watch my favorite, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). I’ll admit it isn’t the best Trek movie, but it has a wonderful late-1970s aesthetic, and the Jerry Goldsmith score is incredible.

The Matrix (1999) is on Pluto — https://pluto.tv/us/on-demand/movies/6002532ace98800013ebd5fe/details — along with its first two sequels.

Coneheads (1993) — https://pluto.tv/us/search/details/movies/5a9da840fb6f2f17481afa2c — Sure there are a lot of movies based on Saturday Night Live characters. But Coneheads is one of the few science fiction movies based on SNL characters.

On the Roku Channel...

Pluto has a Universal Monsters channel, and now it looks like Roku has a Universal Monsters channel of its own — https://therokuchannel.roku.com/watch/714890342efe5cd6b236e85415b661ca/universal-monsters

If every streaming service ends up with a Universal Monsters channel, that’ll be fine by me.

On YouTube...

The Land That Time Forgot (1975) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtF_1hoXe1M — I have a soft spot for lost-world-with-dinosaurs movies. Bonus: this one starts as a submarine movie!

UHF (1989) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAiyO8oEG4E&pp=sAQB — Yes, this “Weird Al” classic features a sci-fi twist.

Overlord (2018) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viYqR1ICZFg — This is apparently the TV cut, which is kind of odd — I don’t usually see edited versions of movies on streaming.

(YouTube currently has a lot of Star Trek movies, too.)

That’s all for now. Have a great weekend, and hopefully I’ll be back before the end of August with a few more picks.