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Reuben, Reuben (1983) A drab, tweed-clad, depressed, alcoholic poet makes his living scamming off of, and making love to, unhappy elderly socialite women.

Published November 22, 2013February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Unrealistic People Falling In Love

Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981) Richard Dreyfuss plays a sculptor who gets paralyzed and then proceeds to fight for his legal right to die.

Published November 15, 2013February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in 70s Existential Bullshit

‘night, Mother (1986) A super bleak film wherein Sissy Spacek tells her mother Anne Bancroft all about how she's going to commit suicide at the end of the movie.

Published November 9, 2013February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Lifetime Movie Network, Movies For Lonely Goth Chicks

Blue Sunshine (1978) A bunch of people who took a bad batch of acid in the 60s start to freak-out and kill people in the late 70s.

Published November 1, 2013February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in 70s Existential Bullshit, Drugs

Night Warning (1982) A vengeful homophobic detective accuses a local athlete with a psychotic overprotective aunt of murder.

Published October 25, 2013February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Barely Justified Revenge

Satan’s Blade (1984) A fresh from film school director lands some financial backing and decides to make a slasher movie.

Published October 18, 2013February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Instructional Films For Killing Teens

Terror On Tour (1980) Very poorly lit entry into the early-to-mid 80s brief sub-genre of Heavy Metal-themed horror movies.

Published October 10, 2013February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Extremely Dated Musical Entertainment, Instructional Films For Killing Teens

The Legend of Hell House (1973) Well done, albeit standard, Euro-horror fare that falls apart in the end.

Published October 3, 2013February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Movies For Lonely Goth Chicks

Real Men (1987) John Ritter and Jim Belushi star in a buddy comedy about CIA agents, aliens, and Russians.

Published September 25, 2013February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Early-Buddy Erotica

Savage Dawn (1986) Late entry to the biker exploitation genre that sort of wants to be post apocalyptic.

Published September 17, 2013February 20, 2022by Stunt Rock in Barely Justified Revenge, Blue-Collar Heroics

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About

The Betamax Rundown was started by failed musician and artist Stunt Rock in October of 2006, with the intent being to review and analyze a personal library of over 2100 Betamax tapes.

When not watching movies, he enjoys making artistic horseshit no one cares about.

Steve Bullyhuff is the ever-loyal proofreader and fact-checker. When not fixing drunken typos, he enjoys playing rock music.

The Betamax Rundown is updated sporadically.

Marathon (1980) This movie is written by men, from the perspective of men, and for consumption by men. Longing for extramarital affairs, fixation on younger women, unhappiness with a spouse, disappointment with kids - it’s all here. Independence Day (1983) Trigger warning if your grandfather ever made you high like a tree. Independence Day (1983) Beret-clad photographer Mary Ann (Kathleen Quinlan) has lived in the same town her entire life yet still finds the energy to run around snapping photos of townspeople as she awaits an acceptance letter from a San Franciso art school, while also helping her cancer-stricken mother convalesce. We’re supposed to ignore that she’s clearly 30 and still trying to get into art school. Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1983) Extra Ellen Barkin appreciation post. Her performance in the first segment was described as "bruised, tough and sexy" by Janet Maslin in the NYT. Accurate. Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1983) Kevin Bacon, playing a young cabbie looking for love in the third story of this anthology film, sings a song, but it sound like it might be overdubbed. Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1983) Uneven New York anthology full of progressive themes and likable performances. Mid-Knight Rider aka Hard Knocks (1979) Some select clips: Mid-Knight Rider aka Hard Knocks (1979) HARD RECOMMEND! This movie is insane. Somewhere there has to be a proper cut where it all works perfectly, but this seventy-seven-minute cut released on home video is wild. It’s Midnight Cowboy but quickly turns into homesteading Western before dropping into First Blood territory. Foolin' Around (1980) A young Bill Macy in his first screen role! Foolin' Around was filmed in 1978 so I'm comfortable saying this even though it was released after Somewhere In Time (1980) which is technically the first appearance of W. H. Macy.

The World Sucks Now.