Hello everyone, it’s me, The Blog Complainer. Having a good time? No? Then I have a fun distraction for you.

In mid February I discovered a Random Movie Roulette list on Letterboxd. I tried it out and thought this could make a fun post. You use a random number generator to decide what movie you should watch, which is handy for me because I suck at making choices.

At the time of making this post the list has over 7,000 movies for your random viewing pleasure. Expect the unexpected! There is a 1 in 7,000+ chance you’ll get something you just watched the other day. (That happened to me twice!) You could get the most obscure movie ever made, making it impossible to obtain legally. Or you might get extremely lucky and discover a hidden gem that you  would have never otherwise have watched.

Before I show you which movies I got, I’ll leave some links in case you want to give this a try yourself:

Random Movie Roulette

Random Number Generator

410: Rocky Balboa

I’ll start off with the first movie I got from the roulette, which is also the only movie I had seen before. (Remember, 1 in over 7,000!)

Oh well, I haven’t seen Rocky Balboa since I first watched the whole series 6 or 7 years ago. The franchise went off the deep end a bit during the 90’s so it was nice to see it return to it’s roots and give some nice closure to Rocky’s story.

It definitely felt like a passion project for Sylvester Stallone who gives it his all and he is ably supported by a great cast. The best scene in the movie, besides the boxing match of course, is when Rocky confronts his son. I’m kind of surprised Sly wasn’t given an acting nom for this, as he was for Creed.

It’s a feel good, nostalgia-filled movie. What more could I want? Just one thing – turn off that bright spotlight that’s featured in every well lit area!  Whatever, as a fan of Rocky I was still satisfied.

2456: Murphy’s Law

I’ve always wanted to watch a Charles Bronson movie and now I have and it was pretty fun.

Murphy’s Law has a pretty basic premise. Charles Bronson is a gruff old cop and because of his stupid stubborn actions everyone wants him dead. It’s filled with some corny dialogue accompanied by the most 80’s score I have ever heard. But at least the action is entertaining and there are some pretty cool deaths. The best characters in the movie are the main villain, who is a complete psychopath, and Lawrence Tierney, mainly because he’s only in one scene and it was such a surprise to see him in this.

The only thing that really irked me is the girl that accompanies Bronson. She’s a character you instantly know is going to stick around for the whole movie, no matter what, and a character you know from the outset that you’re going to hate.

Murphy’s Law is fun and if you want a good time it’s on iTunes!

2025: Re-Animator

Now for my favourite of the random selection of movies. Re-Animator was the first one I watched for this post and nothing ever topped it as it’s so amazingly funny!

I did mention you may find a hidden gem in the roulette and I guess I got really lucky as from the opening scene all the way to the grand finale I was completely floored by this movie. The story is quite simple as it feels like a Frankenstein clone where a mad scientist wants to bring corpses back from the dead, but that’s more a footnote for the very quotable funny lines, the cartoony gory violence, the Hitchcockian inspired score, Jeffery Combs’ breakout performance as Dr Herbert West and the very creative things these characters get up to.

I don’t want to discuss the movie here as it deserves a post of it’s own, but I guess I can share one of my favourite scenes. Herbert and Dan have just resurrected their first body and The Dean has just arrived to bust them, but then the naked guy comes to life, like a zombie and starts tossing them around. (You’ve got to see it!)

I can easily see myself watching this on a yearly basis and when I watch it again I will give it the full review treatment it deserves. Until then, go and rent this off Google Play, it’s only $1.99 in HD!

4383: Dead Poets Society

Now for a more serious but still great movie, Dead Poets Society. There’s not that much to say, it’s just really solid. The acting is great, especially from Robin Williams, with his inspirational class scenes being the highlight of the movie.

I like the setting of the old school in the middle of this quiet valley. There are some things here I’m sure young boys can relate to as the storylines are quite well handled. The only drawback is there are too many storylines and I struggled to tell some of the boys apart.

Also it’s kind of predictable. I could see the ending coming from a mile away but I still loved it and found it very moving.  It’s well worth a watch.

7369: Cats Don’t Dance

Our final movie is an animated movie about singing cats. (This is really up my alley!)

Cats Don’t Dance was quite fun. I might have liked it more if I saw it when I was a kid, but I’m in the Sharkboy and Lavagirl demographic so I have never heard of it until a few years ago. So I saw this with adult eyes, immediately picking up on the animal racism allegory.

The main appeal for me is the jazzy music, which I’m an absolute sucker for. It’s also very cartoony, like Looney Tunes, which confirms this movie really was made for me! The movie almost felt reminiscent of old musicals like Singin’ in the Rain, which is funny as this was the last movie Gene Kelly ever worked on before his passing.

Other than that I wasn’t too enthralled by it. Only the songs and the main villain being a cross between Shirley Temple and Angelica from Rugrats were a thing of note.

I might watch it again one day, but I’m in no hurry.

That’s part 1 of movies I got from the roulette as I already have another list ready that I can start to work on next month. So if you’re a bit bored during the pretty sad isolation period that we’re currently living in why not try out this roulette, see what results you get and let me know in the comments. The 200th post Q&A is not far away so I would very much appreciate your questions. I have been The Blog Complainer, signing out.