Mighty Ducks, The (1992)

Okay, so maybe The Mighty Ducks is a formulaic, somewhat bland kiddie sports movie. We've all seen it before: poor and/or loser sports team gets paired with asshole coach who learns about teamwork and then they rise above their loser background to victory. I don't really care. The good thing about formula is that its familiar. The Mighty Ducks isn't going to wow anybody with its life lessons or its meticulous plotting, but what it does provide is good solid entertainment. If there's one thing I hate in movies, it's bad kid actors. Luckily, The Mighty Ducks manages to avoid most of the cringe-worthy pratfalls that befall films that rely on their younger talent. And surprisingly, the Ducks consist of kids of all sizes without drawing attention to it--nothing like today's Disney ilk. Emilio Estevez's performance as the hotshot with a lot to learn is characteristically blank, but you know what? I like him anyway. The film is not groundbreaking or fresh or any of these things. It's doggedly formulaic. But it's got a solid cast, clean action, a quirky team, a sneering villain, and some good funny moments. Simple, charming, and fun.

7/10

Soap box: While the critics slammed The Mighty Ducks into the boards back in 1992, it's a terrible shame that Disney is no longer producing anything like this. It's so focused on its franchises and its snarky rich brat brand of television that these days I would welcome even the cliched values of something like The Mighty Ducks over the rest of the crap Disney's slinging around.

Repo Man (1984)

Repo Man is awesome--it's quirky, bizarre, biting, and hilarious. Emilio Estevez stars as Otto, a white suburban punk who quits his job and becomes a repo man alongside Bud (Harry Dean Stanton). They compete to seize a mysterious radioactive 1964 Chevy Malibu while dodging alien conspiracists, the Rodriguez brothers (a rival repo gang), and wacky government agents. The world is inhabited by mindless middle-aged folk, punks, televangelists, and the cosmic unconscious. Repo Man has the same offbeat energy and wild enthusiasm as Buckaroo Banzai, but it's put to better use as there's a lot less zaniness for pure zaniness' sake. The characters are colorful, and the film is highly quotable. I also loved how all of the products were labeled plainly: BEER, FOOD, DRINK, and I wonder if Don Delillo saw Repo Man before writing White Noise. In fact, there are quite a few similarities between the two. While I'm not big into punk music, the soundtrack fit the film really well. One of the most inventive and creative cult films I've ever seen. I highly recommend it.

8/10

Freejack (1992)

Starts off as a great sci-fi actioner starring Emilio Estevez and Mick Jagger, but unfortunately You Can't Always Get What You Want. The second half of the film drags, but it makes a partial recovery in the end by giving a great display of early 90s special effects. From Ronald Shusett (co-author of Alien, Above the Law, and Total Recall), Freejack is a minor science fiction film that is worth a peek if only to see Mick Jagger's and Emilio Estevez's performances.

7/10