Welcome back my readers, YouTube viewers and all others who followed this series of articles focused on YouTube videos worth watching. Have you been searching for something fun or interesting to watch on YouTube? Do you feel bored right now and you crave for something to see on the world’s most popular online video destination?
I recommend you check out the following videos I found.
#1 Tour of Tokyo Game Show 2025 – When I was very young, I used to be obsessed with visiting the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) in direct connection with my love for playing video games and arcade games. The obsession is now gone now that I am much older and console gaming has changed drastically over the past thirty years. From time to time, I watch videos on YouTube that explored the TGS and found two videos of this year’s TGS that are amusing to watch. Watch the videos below.
#2 Pasta in Japan and more – Moving from steak, I found another video about pasta – spaghetti specifically – prepared by Japanese cooks in a local food joint (referred to as a pasta shop) to a lot of people who clearly enjoyed what they ate. You might learn something new about how to prepare a spaghetti for others. Watch the video below.
#3 Learn to Reject Radical Islam – Asmongold TV posted recently a video in which he reacted to another video that specifically focused on how a certain country rejected radical Islam. It is indeed a very sensitive matter but it still is significant because there are so many Islamists – both people from Muslim-majority nations and people in the West who declared themselves strong believers of Islam – worldwide and they are always destructive and extreme. There are these Westerner Islamists who arrogantly declared they want to destroy Western civilization and replace it entirely with Islam. Go watch Asmongold TV’s video now.
#4 Rocky V revisited – Way back in January 1991, I saw Rocky V inside the local cinema with my father and brother. Having enjoyed the first four Rocky movies a lot, we were excited to see Sylvester Stallone reprise his iconic role in the fifth movie even as we wondered where the story will go following Rocky’s victory over Ivan Drago. Ultimately, we, along with many others, left the cinema feeling disappointed with Rocky V’s story and direction. Even though the 1990 film – which had Tommy Morrison and Sage Stallone as new additions plus the short return of Burgess Meredith – was disliked by a lot of Rocky fans, Rocky V still went on to become a popular feature in many movie reaction videos as well as retro video reviews. For your viewing pleasure, posted below are the selected videos.
#5 Ashleigh Burton reacts to The Birds – If you are fond of Ashleigh Burton doing reaction videos and if you are an Alfred Hitchcock enthusiast, then you will be very interested in the YouTuber’s reaction video of 1963’s The Birds. Posted below is Ashleigh Burton’s reaction video and I encourage you to watch it.
Welcome back, my readers, YouTube viewers and all others who followed this series of articles focused on YouTube videos worth watching. Have you been searching for something fun or interesting to watch on YouTube? Do you feel bored right now and you crave for something to see on the world’s most popular online video destination?
I recommend you check out the following topics and the related videos I found.
#1 HolyLandSite’s examination of Kursi and Lord Jesus’ power over the demonic realm – Kursi is a place in the east side of the Sea of Galilee in the region of Gerasenes (or Gadarenes) in Israel where two men possessed by demons stayed at. HolyLandSite produced this video to emphasize the biblical relevance of the place, what happened and, most of all, the immense power Lord Jesus had over the demonic forces that caused huge problems for people back then. This is a biblical examination of the place and a lively reminder of the light and authority of Lord Jesus, the Savior and Hope of ALL nations. Grab a copy of the Holy Bible and then watch the video from start to finish.
#2GTV Japan examines Nintendo’s crisis – Remember back in the late 1980s when a shortage of ROM chips prevented Nintendo from releasing games on time? Back in those days, microchips were essential for manufacturing cartridges of games for consoles. A lot of people believed that Nintendo, which already had several restrictions on game publishing and business with 3rd party game companies, deliberately created the shortage for their advantage. There is a lot more details and developments that happened beyond the perceived shortage and the video by GTV Japan has a very in-depth look at it in the video below.
#3 What the hard drive of terrorist Bin Laden contained – Remember when America found and eliminated the mass murderer and terrorist Osama Bin Laden in 2011? YouTuber fern published a video focused on one particular aspect related to the operation that took Bin Laden down – the sensitive information contained in his hard drive. The video also has a key analyst interviewed who provided a lot of insight. Watch the video now.
#4 Wokeness in Japan exposed – Believe it or not, there definitely is wokeness in Japan and it was exposed a lot during their news media coverage of the 2024 US Presidential Election which Donald Trump won. In fact, a certain Japanese professor who was included in the media outlet’s coverage (being in the studio with others) was so liberal, he got frustrated as Commie Kamala Harris lost and he even reiterated the Democrats’ buzz words like “threat to democracy”. Think about it very carefully. The Democrats and their Satanic Left pawns have been spreading their distorted views in Japan and influenced some people there. The woke-minded in Japan may not realize it but they are looking and sounding awkward (if not pathetic). Perhaps some woke nuts of Japan love Islamic terrorists and I know they have pro-Palestine zealots. Watch and learn from the video below.
#5 Controversial Alice Guo featured in episode of Dark Asia with Megan – Alice Guo (AKA Guo Hua Ping), the controversial former mayor of Bamban who has been detained for various charges, is now the subject of a new episode of Dark Asia with Megan. For the newcomers reading this, Alice Guo is notorious in the Philippines not only for her links with POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) but also for her very questionable background with regards to citizenship, family and origin. She even escaped the Philippines temporarily before getting brought back. In fact, Alice Guo’s case raises a lot of questions about national security, espionage and foreign infiltration into the systems of governance in the Philippines. Watch and learn from the Dark Asia with Megan video.
#6 PatmanQC examines Donkey Kong – Long before Donkey Kong Country became a massive critical and commercial hit with gamers around the world, there was the original Donkey Kong in 1981. I never played the arcade version but I played Donkey Kong on the Atari 2600 back in the early 1980s and it was a fun game. A short time later, I played the ColecoVision version and was impressed to see the graphical improvements. The production history of Donkey Kong is really interesting and PatmanQC produced not just one but two documentary videos about the game.
#7 Popcorn in Bed and You, Me and the Movies react to Vertigo –Vertigo, the classic film directed by Alfred Hichcock, was one of the first twenty-five films selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. That being said, it is not surprising that it has been the subject of several movie reaction videos on YouTube. If you have not seen it, I encourage you to watch it entirely first when you have the chance. Otherwise, I encourage you to watch the reaction videos of Popcorn in Bed, and You, Me and the Movies below.
#8 Ashleigh Burton reacts to Signs – Back in 2002, I saw Signs inside a packed local cinema during the evening. The film directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Mel Gibson kept moviegoers in suspense and occasionally pulled off some sudden scary moments. That being said, you have to see Ashleigh Burton react to it.
Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from watching the movie Cloak & Dagger (1984) and doing personal research. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.
Welcome back my readers, fellow movie buffs and 20th century pop culture enthusiasts! Decades ago, I got to watch the movie Cloak & Dagger when it was first released on home video. As time passed by, I got to replay it on cable TV and DVD. I have yet to see its 4K Blu-ray disc version (note: you can order it here) Starring Henry Thomas (the star of Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial) and Dabney Coleman, Cloak & Dagger was one of those American movies that did not succeed in movie theaters but found its audience on home video, cable TV and free TV.
The 1984 movie was released at a time when video games gradually made its way into motion pictures in varied ways just before Nintendo started reshaping video gaming. Back then, I was very young and already got into playing games on console and at the arcade which helped me relate with the video game elements of Cloak & Dagger. In case you are wondering, the filmmakers and Atari, Inc. itself collaborated together. There may be some among you who never saw this 1980s flick and some of you may be wondering what is significant about Cloak & Dagger and why is it the topic of this retro movie review.
With those details laid down, here is a look back at Cloak & Dagger (1984) directed by Richard Franklin and written by Tom Holland and Nancy Dowd inspired by the short story “The Boy Cried Murder” written by Cornell Woolrich. This movie is the 4th cinematic adaptation of the said short story.
The movie poster of Cloak & Dagger (1984)
Early story
The story begins with Jack Flack (Dabney Coleman) overcoming Soviet guards to enter a place to retrieve top secret documents from incoming people. It turns out that Jack Flack is nothing more than a fictional character imagined by a young boy named Davey (Henry Thomas) who keeps on immersing himself with flights of fantasies, loves playing games and believes that real life is filled with enough opportunities and places to play. In the presence of game store owner Morris (William Forsythe) and his little blonde neighbor Kim (Christina Nigra), Davey boasts a lot about Jack Flack as if he was a real-life hero and even talks to him as his imaginary companion that no one else could see nor hear. Inspired by the said character and the world of espionage he always imagined, the boy carries with him a black water pistol for a “gun” and a softball for a “grenade”.
Morris then sends Davey and Kim out to do a real assignment – an errand to travel within the city going to a certain company and retrieve something for him. Afterwards, the two commuted and entered a building which Davey does with his fantasy of espionage and infiltration burning in his mind. Leaving Kim on the ground floor, he climbs up the stairs until he reaches a certain window and sees something sinister going on in the next level as reflected on one of the windows outside.
Suddenly a door opens near him and a wounded man slowly hands him an Atari 5200 cartridge titled Cloak & Dagger, tells him to bring it to the FBI, and mentions “one million three hundred twenty nine.”
The door near them suddenly opens with two armed men emerging. Right in the presence of Davey, they opened fire at the wounded man who fell down to his death. Davey just became the witness of an actual murder and becomes the target of the two gunmen…
Quality
Henry Thomas and Christina Nigra as Davey and Kim respectively.
To get to straight to the point, I can declare that this movie is very clearly a spy thriller designed to engage both children and adults. It took the key concept of the short story “The Boy Cried Murder” and implemented it into its very own tale that happens to be set during Ronald Reagan’s America (the 1980s) with elements of video games, espionage and even murder mixed together.
The story told through Davey was crafted to be entertaining while keeping viewers in suspense as to how the overly imaginative young boy would deal with real-life danger and consequences as he became the target of murderous men who would not stop at all. Davey is clearly in danger for much of the movie and you will get to sympathize with him and wish he should stop being obsessed with fantasy so he could overcome the trials that were happening. This is, indeed, a well structure and nicely directed work by Richard Franklin who seem to be inspired by past works of Alfred Hitchcock (note: Franklin directed the sequel to Hitchcock’s classic Psycho).
As mentioned earlier, this movie was made to engage both children and adults. Cloak & Dagger is not exactly a wholesome viewing experience as its presentation has always been quite intense because of on-screen violence that was executed carfully. There are guns, shooting and even killing in this flick which proved to be integral to the overall presentation and clearly added to the thrill factor. You will get to see getting Davey shot at by the armed henchmen (Eloy Casados and Tim Rossovich) who clearly do not give a damn of shooting a minor as they are so focused on their mission. Looking at the henchmen in this film, I can imagine them as traitorous Americans conspiring with their nation’s foreign enemies such as the Soviets, the Iranians and the Palestinians. Along the way, there is the clear villain named Rice (Michael Murphy) who has this subtle touch of evil as well as a good amount of sleaziness in him. While the violence is intense, it does not necessarily push this film into rated R territory.
Michael Murphy as the sleazy villain who is willing to kill Davey even though he is a minor.
The two henchmen about to commit murder in the presence of Davey. There is evil visible in their faces.
Henry Thomas really shines as the protagonist here. While Davey here shares a few elements with E.T.’s Elliot – struggling to move forward with the absence of one parent and adjusting his life with what he perceives to be the best ways possible – he truly dramatizes how weird and wild he could be living his life with a very loose grip on reality. For him, local society in San Antonio, Texas, provides him a huge playground for his spy game and he sure distracts people as he walks by them talking to his imaginary friend Jack Flack. Still, there are key parts of the story in which Henry Thomas convincingly dramatizes Davey who feels lonely inside as he misses his late mother and is unable to spend quality time with his father. Thomas also acted with intensity in the scene in which he makes a trade with the villain and also during his last face-off with him in the 2nd half of the film. Henry Thomas really was a good youth actor and his performance here is often overshadowed by his role in Spielberg’s E.T.
Dabney Coleman on the other hand plays both Jack Flack and Davey’s father Hal. Coleman is quite versatile playing different characters here. As Jack Flack, he fits in excellently into Davey’s uncontrolled belief of espionage as he gives him advise which were taken seriously leading into danger. Of course, advising Davey does not really mean the fictional spy cares for him on a personal level and you will eventually Flack’s true value before the film ends. Flack’s final moments could inspire you to re-examine the true meaning of heroism. As Hal, Coleman convincingly plays the father who has been so busy working in the Air Force as an air traffic controller, he has been unable to spend quality time with his son and the recent death of his wife really took its toll on their family. Compared to Jack Flack, Hal is indeed caring towards his son but his hectic work schedule prevents him from bonding closely with him. Coleman delivered a fine performance during the scene when Hal explains to Davey what real-world heroism is and that not all heroes just shoot bad guys. There definitely are helpful values on parenting within Hal.
Henry Thomas and Dabney Coleman are really convincing as son and father.
Thomas and Coleman artistically have really fine chemistry together as the father and son (Hal and Davey) and as the wannabe adventurer spending lots of time with his action hero (Davey and Jack Flack). Considering Davey’s obsession with fantasy and the attention he pays so much to Jack Flack, he was practically living with idolatry and foolishness. If you observe closely, Davey is very lively with Flack and not so lively with his father.
Even though this movie is fictional, it still dramatizes that parenting will never be easy. That being said, this should inspire parents and also incoming parents to prepare themselves on nurturing their children and ensure they help them understand the differences between reality and fantasy.
Video game elements
Screenshot from the Cloak & Dagger arcade game. This game can be played nowadays through Antstream Arcade on Xbox consoles.
To make things very clear, Cloak & Dagger (1984) is not an adaptation of the electronic game that was released the same year. Rather it has the Cloak & Dagger game as a key plot element in the form of an Atari 5200 game cartridge (referred to as a “tape”) which the movie dramatizes to be real.
As a kid, I got to play arcade and console games a lot. As such, seeing Davey play the Cloak & Dagger game on his Atari 5200 as well as gameplay footage was a very entertaining viewing experience for me the first time I ever saw this movie. It was a scene I personally related with.
In real life, however, the Cloak & Dagger game from Atari, Inc. was released only in the arcades as the efforts to create a port for the Atari 5200 never got fulfilled. That being said, it was through very clever film editing that video footage of the arcade version were inserted into the scene in which Davey played the Cloak & Dagger cartridge on his console in the presence of his father. To clarify things, the Atari 5200 was a commercial failure in real life and it seems that making a console version of the arcade game did not make business sense to Atari, Inc. at all.
If you want to play the Cloak & Dagger arcade game in your home right now, you will need an Xbox console and Antstream Arcade ($30 for 1-year subscription, $80 for lifetime pass). Cloak & Dagger is just one of over a thousand games available through Antstream Arcade and you can learn more by clicking here and here.
Conclusion
Henry Thomas as an armed Davey.
I have seen Cloak & Dagger (1984) many times throughout my life from childhood and to adulthood. I can clearly say that this 1980s movie is still really good to watch as its appeal to both children and adults remains strong and intact. It is a medium-paced spy thriller that not only follows a young boy who witnesses and murder and gets into danger (note: even his neighbor gets involved) but also dramatizes (in entertaining ways) how dangerous situations can get when you are living with uncontrolled personal fantasy and interacting with a heroic friend who does not really exist. Considering the time this movie was released, I am delighted to tell you cautious readers that there definitely is no wokeness nor were there any traces of political correctness that got in the way of its presentation. Going back to the parenting aspect of this film, it is made clear that children need their parents for moral support and there is absolutely no way that games, fictional heroes and geek culture could ever be good alternatives. Like the adults, children should never lose their grip on reality and should be taught that uncontrolled fantasy can lead to real-life danger. Very clearly, director Richard Franklin and the crew did a fine job telling a solid story and emphasizing the main characters while also providing suspense, action and thrills.
Considering all the mixed elements it has, Cloak & Dagger (1984) can be engaging towards parents, their children, fans of espionage and people who love video games. Finally, I should state that the City of San Antonio in the Lone Star State of Texas is indeed a great location for filmmaking and viewing.
Author Carlo Carrasco 