LornaHansonForbes
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Posts posted by LornaHansonForbes
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1 minute ago, RMeingast said:
No need to be sorry. No biggie... "Night of the Lepus" is a fun film to watch... Especially if you love rabbits... Giant rabbits attacking and devouring people, that is...
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10 minutes ago, RMeingast said:
I don't wanna go too far down the "Night of the Lepus" rabbit hole, but the co-executive producer of "Rabid" was Ivan Reitman of "Heavy Metal" fame.
Reitman wanted Marilyn Chambers for her sex appeal... Cronenberg wanted Sissy Spacek but, apparently, Reitman didn't like Spacek's accent... So Chambers it was as the female lead...
The full movie is on DailyMotion:
I came of age in the 1990s, when MARILYN CHAMBERS was doing these SUPER LAME "COMEDY" T&A SOFTCORE FILMS which aired on SHOWTIME and CINEMAX LATE NITE....i think she inherited a series of BIKINI-THEMED BUSINESSES (carwashes, bistroes, etc)
(TMI: I was not watching for the ladies, but instead waited with baited breath for some of the men to show butt, which was the best you could hope for as a young gay kid in 1991)
I always found it EXTREMELY ODD that the men in the movies went ABSOLUTELY WOLF-WHISTLE GAGA over MARILYN CHAMBERS (who was always playing herself) even though she was- by this time- built like a concrete abutment and had a very "substitute teacher we're not asking back" kinda vibe.
I was surprised to see how effective (and attractive) she was in RABID, and I LOVE the scene with THE MALL SANTA!
(RABID is, I think, the most prescient of CRONENBERG'S FILMS,case in point- the last two years)
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I think it has been over 10 years now, but one night a long time ago, I saw the 1968 film TARGETS directed by PETER BOGDONAVICH with a fair amount of input, I think from POLLY PLATT
The story of a mass shooter on the loose in the SAN FERNANDO VALLEY whose killing spree coincides with a drive-in film screening and appearance by famous retiring horror star BYRON ORLOK (BORIS KARLOFF)
It so moved and inspired me and I liked it so much, (and the story of its making, which I won't get into, is also fascinating) that it marked the inception of an idea that would later become a screenplay I wrote a couple years ago- and which I am awfully fond of.
I had not seen the film in all this time, and I was a little anxious that maybe I had overpraised it in memory (i do that a lot)- and especially since I was reading PAULINE KAEL and came across her downright cruel review of the film wherein she completely misses what a profound piece of art it is.
It is an astoundingly prescient film and a touchstone in the horror genre because it quite clearly, but not with a heavy hand, demonstrates that the quaint painted horrors of old- gothic crumbling castles and bats and such- are NOTHING compared to the horrors of life in the second half of the 20th century and beyond.
it's a brilliant film and well-shot and YOU CLASSIC CAR JUNKIES WILL ABSOLUTELY PLOTZ YOURSELVES WITH ALL THE CARS, THERE IS EVEN AN OLDSMOBILE DEALERSHIP IN ONE SCENE!!!!!!
marvelously shot and constructed, impossible to look away from, and a tremendous job from KARLOFF- who recites a brief version of APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA that is wonderful. the only off spot is BOGDONAVICH casting himself as a screenwriter- he and KARLOFF have a clunky scene together.
other than that though, one HELL of a movie! and a real lesson in clever screenwriting.
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the CRONENBERG movie that really got my attention was- unexpectedly- RABID (1976?) with a young and surprisingly effective MARILYN CHAMBERS.
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3 hours ago, RMeingast said:
No problems with being too rough or kid gloves with Hindle. That was what Cronenberg had to work with based on the financing for the film.
And "The Brood" was one of Cronenberg's early low-budget movies and came years before movies like "The Fly," "Naked Lunch" and "Dead Ringers." He had bigger budgets with those films.
As for Hindle's "sedate" performance, you have to remember that Hindle is based - in large part - on Cronenberg himself in "The Brood." The whole story is based on Cronenberg's personal experience with divorce and custody battles over his daughter - minus the mutant kidz, I presume. So I imagine Cronenberg was directing Hindle as Cronenberg himself would behave.
Anyway, in Canadaland we had substituted "Night of the Lepus" for "The Brood." Taped the cute rabbit movie and then watched it last night.
you make a really excellent point in re: ART HINDLE in THE BROOD, it is VERY LIKELY he was acting as instructed by CRONENBERG, who is at fault for the issues with the performance/character...I guess this is one of those cases where a filmmaker inserted themself into their work and it was a mistake- in retelling the divorce from his perspective, he likely made the DAD character a little too gentle and sedate and "with it"- when in reality, most Dads I grew up with would not handle the same situation (ex-wife birthing demon seed babies and sending them out to kill like flying monkeys) with anywhere NEAR THIS LEVEL OF COOL.
I AM SO SORRY THEY SHOWED "NIGHT OF THE LEPUS" instead, you guys up north get the shaft when it comes to film rights and all I can say is I am terribly sorry.
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3 hours ago, CinemaInternational said:
Well, The Turning Point is a fantastic noir. Great dialogue, strong performances, downbeat ending, great photography. Its not going to be on Watch TCM, so please catch the 10 AM screening if you missed the midnight one.
Do you mean THE BREAKING POINT?
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35 minutes ago, CinemaInternational said:
Perhaps it is because of his unlikable characters in this and Great Santini.....
Re: Netflix, I guess I should sign up for a month to catch up with this year's Oscar contenders, but I'm really dreading it. I really don't care for Netflix originals. Confession time: I would rather see Hudson Hawk again (the 1991 mega-flop with Bruce Willis that was an extremely guilty pleasure for me) since its on there than to have to deal with Don't Look Up. (and I feel I would be a bit mixed on The Last Daughter, Tick Tick Boom, Passing, and Power of the Dog as well)
DON'T. DO NOT. DON'T,
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also I have to say that I have come to the conclusion that YOU KNOW WHAT? I JUST DON'T LIKE ROBERT DUVALL.
I get that he is a very good actor and I get that it is quite possibly my problem...
but i still don't like him.
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it's funny you all mention this, because i tried watching APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX on NETFLIX (REDUX being extra footage and remastering) and turned it off about an hour or so in, not long after they head into the jungle and away from ROBERT DUVALL.
I guess I'm just a woke fool, but i dunno, while it was well-shot and well-made and even very well-acted, I just didn't feel like venturing any further into it.
something about it...turned me off (for lack of a better way of saying it)
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1 hour ago, CinemaInternational said:
I feel like a glutton for punishment and misery. This year had already seen screenings of Looking for Mr. Goodbar and Rosewood (the true story of a race massacre after a horrific lie in Florida in 1923), and both films greatly disturbed me. But following the third film in this mosaic of misery, I feel absolutely destroyed. It's 1989's Casualties of War, the unfortunately true story of a rape/murder committed by four members of a five-man platoon in Vietnam in 1966. The fifth man, who tried and failed to save the victim, ultimately turned the other four in. This is a no-holds-barred film with visuals and sounds I don't think I will ever forget. I was crying buckets during this, with Michael J. Fox touching as the would-be helper, and Thuy Thu Le unforgettable as the victim. It's truly a horrifying film, and if you have any bit of a heart, it will break and snap it apart. I feel it is one of the most devastating films I have ever seen, and therefore I feel it achieved its aim. Its a great film, but one that will haunt you forever.... I think though that Pauline Kael's marathon review sums this up better than I ever could though.
PAULINE KAEL had a little bit of a "thing" for MICHAEL J FOX, which is strange to see in PAULINE KAEL, but she writes very adoring reviews of his work
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4 hours ago, RMeingast said:
I was a spittin' image for the "It's Alive" baby when I was an infant, so what's the big deal? I mean "kids in Canada routinely that ugly"???!!! C'mon... So what if we are? Isn't that some kind of racism or discrimination against ugly kidz???
Source: https://www.assignmentx.com/2018/blu-ray-review-its-alive-trilogy/
I'm from NORTH CAROLINA, so I really don't have the slightest business making fun of ugly babies in other states and counties, Lord knows there's PLENTY here...
I do have to say that THE BROOD would have been an entirely different movie if it had taken place in NORTH CAROLINA and not CANADA.
For a start, the GRANDMOTHER would have trapped the DEMON
BABYTODDLER within seconds of finding her kitchen trashed, then she would have speed dialed ANIMAL CONTROL: "Candy Hunny, hold Meemaw's cigarette while she talks on the phone a minute...yeah look, some kinda HARELIPPED, HAIRLESS POSSUM got up in m'kitchen and I got it pinned under the sink...i think it's somebody's pet, but if ya'll don't get here in th'next 20 minutes, I'm whoppin it with a pan cause it's makin a sound that AIN'T CHRISTIAN!!"-
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3 hours ago, RMeingast said:
Art Hindle played the father of Candy. He was chosen by Cronenberg for a few reasons. One was because he was a "vague physical facsimile" (https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/why-i-love-brood); another reason was Hindle had just been in the remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" ; another reason was the film financing - "With a budget of $1.5m, Cronenberg was able to afford ‘names’ and cast Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar as his stars. The funding rules stipulated that films could only have two non-Canadian actors and one of them had to be paid less than the main Canadian actor." (https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/why-i-love-brood).
Samantha Eggar was only on set for three days, so it would have kept her fee fairly low and allowed Hindle to be paid a bit more as per the funding rules.
Art Hindle has had a long career in films and on TV. He was in "Black Christmas," "Porky's," and on all kinds of TV shows - Canadian and American:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Hindle#FilmsAnother familiar face to Canuckleheads played Oliver Reed's flunky, Chris. That would be Nicholas Campbell.
Dude is very well known to Canucks for being in many films and TV shows: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Campbell
Sorta surprising to see how many films Mr. Campbell has been in. Stuff like: "A Bridge Too Far," "The Eagle Has Landed," and "The Spy Who Loved Me," for example.
i really did think to myself, "Am I being TOO rough on ART HINDLE? [who played THE DAD in THE BROOD.]
But I have seen a handful of CRONENBERG films over the past couple of years- and I've gotten to where I have a pretty high bar for the acting in them. I mean, feel however you want to feel about the messages of the movies or your reaction to them, but the man knows how to put together a film AND the acting in said films has been pretty great (especially from JEFF GOLDBLUM in THE FLY, the cast of VIRUS, the cast of NAKED LUNCH and JEREMY IRONS and JEREMY IRONS in DEAD RINGERS all gave really EXCEPTIONAL and memorable performances.)
so, I was surprised when not just HINDLE but some of the other actors** gave such strange SOMNAMBULANT performances, sort of detached and vaguely sedated- when I could not help but feel like the Universal reaction for anyone put through what the Dad went through would really, you know, BE ON THE VERGE OF TOTAL MADNESS AND/OR COLLAPSING AT ANY MINUTE, but HINDLE just kinda played it like he was doing a guest role on STARSKY AND HUTCH very glib and casual- no biggee really, like, it's the 70's, right man?
and I felt like SAMANTHA EGGAR'S performance suffered for it as he was especially "absent" from their final, big scene.
apologies if i misspelled anyone's name.
PS- THE KID WAS EXCELLENT THOUGH. Good little actress, hope to Hell they put some money away for therapy for her in her later years.
**not EGGAR or REED though, there is no sedating OLIVER REED...onscreen.
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Well that was a genuinely unsettling and disturbing movie. not bad, but it would’ve been a lot better if the male lead (the guy who played the father, not Oliver Reed) had been played by a much better actor.
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OLIVER REED Is actually pretty good in this movie, it’s a shame the other male lead is nowhere near his level of talent.
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Ok, that preschool scene was epic though.
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I also have to say, I am slightly bemused thus far by the fact that the handful of characters in this film have encountered the hideous, demonic, mutant child(ren) have not reacted by screaming or running or flailing their arms in abject horror or saying, you know, “SISTER MARY FRANCIS, WHAT THE **** IS THAT THING???!!!”
Are Canadians really that polite or are kids in Canada routinely that ugly?
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Ps- there is a MILK DOOR in this movie.
(A while back we were discussing milk doors in another thread, it’s kind of interesting to see one onscreen)
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Ps- Anyone wanna speculate on just why the part of the “grandmother” was played by an actress who looked about 38 years old?
Also, does no one in Canada have peripheral vision? I know no one *expects* to be attacked by a demonic killer mutant child, but that is still no excuse for not seeing it when it’s been standing about 18 inches to your immediate right for a good 45 seconds.
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I’ve got about 40 minutes left to go. This is *kind of* of a strange movie, a bold statement, I know, but I stand by it.
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9 hours ago, Technicolor33 said:
Any gorillas in it ?
Yes, OLIVER REED.
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34 minutes ago, misswonderly3 said:
I had never seen those two "interstitial" shorts cited in the original post. However, I did find them on youtube, and also, thank you to the poster who gave us a link to them on this thread. This is the only way I've seen them, never come across either of them when I'm watching TCM. Maybe, as someone here suggested, they're only shown at a certain time of day.
Anyway, although I don't really care all that much one way or the other, they did leave me sort of "meh". Mainly because I just didn't find them to be particularly funny. I'm not sure what the point of them is; it's not clear to me how they would attract a new younger audience.
I think my dislike of them - which isn't very intense, as I said, I'm more indifferent to them than enraged by them -- is just that it feels as though TCM is trying too hard, plus, they seem kind of pointless. The Wizard of Oz one in particular just seems inane.
OH NO!
MILD DISLIKE IS THE WORST!!!It’s always much easier to explain and deal with your thought process when you outright despise something.
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I bet you money that DIESEL MERCEDES is still running to this day.
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1 minute ago, txfilmfan said:
I realized I left a tidbit out of that story from 45 years ago. Her mom would park the car and let her wait so she didn't have to stand in the cold. She'd sometimes idle in that car for 5 minutes or more, choking us out on her fumes.
Ah, Texas.
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16 minutes ago, txfilmfan said:
Wait...
Kids in Beverly Hills rode the school bus? I have trouble grasping that... Was there a chauffeur strike?
There was a girl in our neighborhood whose Mom, in the winter, would drive her the 3 (!) blocks from their townhouse to the bus stop in her Mercedes. This was 1978-79, during a time of gas shortages and high prices, so she drove a Diesel. If you're going to the trouble to fire up a 70's era Diesel Mercedes in the winter, you might as well drive the 3 miles to school.
it was probably a PRIVATE ACADEMY that had its own bus service.
**plus, i'm not sure when LAURA DERN was born, this might be the late 60's we're talking about...?
I seriously doubt either DIANE LADD or BRUCE DERN was gonna be up at that time and if they were, they sure as **** weren't in the shape to drive!!!!!
(BRUCE DERN especially)
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I Just Watched...
in General Discussions
Posted
but did you like it?
KIDDING!
Thank you, that was beautiful. Reminds me of a RANT I read from a friend of mine when she and her then-boyfriend went to see THE THIN RED LINE in 1998. Also of ELAINE and her PURE, UNFILTERED HATE for THE ENGLISH PATIENT.
(Personally, my feeling is- WAR IS HELL, but WAR MOVIES are WORSE. )