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LawrenceA
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Posts posted by LawrenceA
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I watched a trio of very low-budget offerings from 1987 today. None are what you would call good, but I found them all at least mildly entertaining.
Blood Lake - 3/10
A group of teenagers travel to a lake house to spend some summer days water-skiing and nights drinking and smoking pot. Soon they are stalked by a mysterious, knife-wielding killer. Featuring no one you've ever heard of.
This shot-on-video effort from Oklahoma pads out its running time with lengthy scenes of drinking and talking, smoking and talking, and most especially, water-skiing and talking. The acting is all very amateur, but the youngest cast member (Travis Kasser), playing "Lil' Tony", is amusing in his badness. The bonus features on the disc feature a Q&A after a recent screening of the film, and the star/writer/producer states that he couldn't track down the actor to have him participate in the event. However, I did a quick Google search of the actor and discovered that he has a lengthy criminal record stretching from the early 1990's, and was incarcerated as of recently, so that was kinda sad to see.
Evil Spawn - 3/10
This bizarre stitch-job features a washed-up actress, played by Bobbie Bresee, who injects herself with an experimental anti-aging formula. Little does she know that the source is an alien creature that's been a lab subject at a nearby secret facility. The injections turn the actress into an insectoid monster. Bummer. With John Carradine, Dawn Wildsmith, Drew Godderis, Pamela Gilbert, and Forrest J. Ackerman as the pool boy.
This is from producer Fred Olen Ray, who shot footage of his wife Wildsmith with Carradine a few years before, later commissioning this film to use the footage. It's pretty dumb, and very short (barely an hour long), but I liked watching Gilbert, as Bresee's assistant, take a lengthy nude swim in the pool. Ray would later add more footage and re-release this in 1991 as The Alien Within.
The Soultangler - 4/10
Very strange science fiction/horror made in Long Island, NY. A young mad scientist (Pierre Devaux) perfects a method to possess other bodies through their eyes. There's some satanic imagery, silent film clips, avant-garde music, gory-but-cheap effects, uneven acting, and poor pacing. There's enough going on to hold the interest of fans of low-budget, regional genre fare, though.
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Deadly Prey (1987) - 4/10
A group of para-military mercenaries kidnap unsuspecting people off the street in order to hunt them in the forest as part of their training regimen. The mercs make a fatal mistake when they unknowingly grab 'Nam vet and Special Forces-trained tough guy Mike Danton (Ted Prior), who proceeds to lay waste to their ranks. Also featuring Cameron Mitchell as the hero's father-in-law, David Campbell and Fritz Matthews as the chief villains, Suzanne Tara as the damsel-in-distress, and Troy Donahue (!!!) as a corrupt senator.
This is firmly in the so-bad-it's-good category, with a low budget accenting the film's overly ambitious aims. Prior is a sight to behold, with his muscle physique on display for much of the film as he runs around in jean-shorts and that's it, except for the occasional small tree branch he drapes on himself as camouflage. With his blond mullet haircut and a laughable intensity, he's very entertaining, if not actually for the intended reasons. The film is very brutal, with lots of killings, a sexual assault, and some dismemberment. It's produced so ham-handedly though that it's unlikely to offend.
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The Quick and the Dead (1987) - 7/10
HBO film based on a Louis L'amour tale, with Tom Conti and Kate Capshaw as settlers in post-Civil War Wyoming. They, along with their young son (Kenny Morrison), run into a band of outlaws and cutthroats led by the deceptively-avuncular Doc Shabbit (Matt Clark). The family seem doomed until the intervention of mysterious half-breed Con Vallain (Sam Elliott), who escorts the family across hostile territory. Also with Patrick Kilpatrick, Jerry Potter, and Del Shores.
Director Robert Day tells the story competently and in a straightforward fashion, with no stylistic excess. Elliott is well-cast, as is Conti as the kindly war veteran suspicious of Elliott's motives, as well his attention toward his wife. Capshaw looks nice, but her performance is spotty. She seems to adopt a period-specific speech pattern in many scenes that is admirable in its intent, but questionable as the others in the cast don't attempt the same. Still, I enjoyed this minor film well enough, and would recommend it to western fans.
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7 minutes ago, sewhite2000 said:
I haven't heard of the other actresses playing the sisters.
Florence Pugh was excellent in Lady Macbeth (2016), as a manipulative monster of a young woman. I've also seen her in a couple of lower-profile British horror films, The Falling (2014) and Malevolent (2018), as well as a brief role in the Liam Neeson flick The Commuter (2018). She also co-starred in Outlaw King (2018), and the well-received Fighting with My Family and Midsommar from earlier this year. Her star will rise a bit next year when she co-stars in the next Marvel film Black Widow, where she's expected to take over the title mantle in later MCU films.
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The Astronomer's Dream (1898)
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1 minute ago, LornaHansonForbes said:
TARGETS (1968) is an AMAZING FILM. One of my 10 favorite movies of the 1960s.
Your taste in movies never ceases to amaze me. I would have expected you to "HAAAAAATTTEEE" that movie (I like it, too).
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I can't recall the last time a thread critical of one of the on-air TCM people lasted this long. Maybe the Powers That Be share some of your sentiments. Or maybe it's simply that DuVernay was a one-and-done deal (seeing as someone mentioned that she filmed all of her intros/outros in a single day months ago), so they don't have to worry about "offending" her.
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1 minute ago, cigarjoe said:
WOW. Woman On The Beach must not have made much of an impression on anybody, for the lack of posts.....
I watched it earlier this year and thought it was awful. I gave it a 4/10.
I caught the end of the Sunday showing and listened to Eddie's remarks, but it didn't lead me to reassess my initial feelings about the film.
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Spider-Baby
Galaxy of Terror
THX 1138
Diamonds Are Forever
The Big Bird Cage
Jackie Brown
House of 1000 Corpses
Bone Tomahawk
3 from Hell - (final film)
R.I.P. Sid, one of the last great grindhouse and horror stars.
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Kino announced a trio of Gary Cooper classics that have all received a 4K remaster and will be released on Blu-ray in early 2020:
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)
The General Died at Dawn (1936)
Beau Geste (1939)
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6 minutes ago, Gershwin fan said:
Mysterious Object at Noon. I was a bit harsh to brand all Criterion titles as bad as there are MANY I love but it seems like TCM has been dumping a few lame art film titles in the schedule because Criterion restored them recently or something. My opinion, I know others probably love those films.
I haven't watched that yet, but your write-up doesn't make me want to much, either.
I see that it was released as part of one of the World Cinema Project box sets. I haven't been thrilled with many of the foreign language movies originally in theaters from the 2000's and up that Criterion has released, although there have been a couple that I liked a lot.
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17 minutes ago, speedracer5 said:
Kino and Olive Films are also excellent at putting together a decent packaged film for a lot of the lesser known classic films. I purchased the Olive release of The Devil and Miss Jones, having neither seen the film before nor had I ever purchased anything from Olive. I purchased it solely for Jean Arthur and Charles Coburn. I am happy to report that both the film and the picture/sound quality were excellent. I now own multiple Kino and Olive releases in addition to my ever growing Criterion collection.
Kino and Olive Films have really been picking up the slack in the last few years. They don't always have much in the way of bonus features, but some do. Olive has an imprint called Olive Signature that features more "deluxe" releases. I have a couple of those (Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Quiet Man), but they tend to be pricey like Criterion.
Shout/Scream Factory has a lot of nice genre film releases, and their Shout Selects imprint features more conventional, non-genre fare, although the focus seems to be more on 80's and 90's films. Arrow Films also has very good genre film disc releases.
And yes, I has a couple of Criterion releases that I'm planning to pick up in the November sale.
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1 minute ago, speedracer5 said:
I'll admit that I am not a fan of Kubrick's. I honestly find his films to be boring. The Shining does nothing for me. I've had to sit through the damn thing three times--each time having to watch it with friends as part of Halloween programming. The only thing I like about the film are the exterior shots of the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood near Portland. I can say: "I've been there!"
I actually did like Lolita. I thought James Mason, Sue Lyons and Shelley Winters were fantastic. I did not like Peter Sellers, only because he gets on my last nerve in every film of his I've seen him in. The Lolita story by Vladmir Nabokov is disturbing in that we have Humbert Humbert (I am curious about his name. Why the same first and last name?), a middle aged man, pursuing a very young teenage girl i.e. a "nymphet." This fascination gives the story very much a predator/pedophile vibe. However, when you understand the reason why Humbert Humbert is fascinated with Lolita, it makes more sense. It doesn't make it less unsettling, but at least it provides some back story about why Humbert Humbert likes Lolita.
I do try to give Kubrick a chance, I think I have Barry Lyndon and The Killing recorded.
I'll be curious to read your reaction to Barry Lyndon. If you found The Shining dull, then Barry Lyndon should be torturous. Kubrick is my favorite director, and yet I still thought Barry Lyndon was a monumental chore to sit through the first time I saw it. My estimation has grown since then, but I'd still rank it near dead last among his films. Others find it much better than I, though.
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2 minutes ago, speedracer5 said:
I was also assuming that the selection of Bette Davis for November SOTM was to tie into the Criterion releases of All About Eve and Now Voyager.
I do agree about the quality of Criterion's releases. I like that they choose films from a variety of different genres and areas within film. Most of the films that appeal to me are the American and British releases--but I appreciate that they mix in foreign films in addition to the art house, cult classics, etc.
Why wouldn't TCM pursue the Criterion releases? These are films that will have the best print quality and will allow those who maybe cannot afford (or do not want to purchase) these high-quality prints.
I'm already crafting my list of purchases for the November sale at B&N.
Not all Criterion releases are movies that I like, and there are several that I've outright hated, but the majority of what I've seen are worthwhile, and their restoration, preservation and distribution efforts should be applauded in a time when general tastes are turning more and more toward mass-market popcorn fare.
TCM and Criterion are probably the two biggest enterprises continuing to focus on classic and foreign-language fare, so their partnership should be an obvious match.
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2 minutes ago, Gershwin fan said:
James, he's joking but he is spot on. That's probably the reason TCM has been playing a lot of lame Criterion titles from Akerman and the like recently.
Some people actually like, and even revere, those Akerman movies, although I'm not one of them. I've only seen the one (Jeanne Dielman) and that was enough.
What other "lame Criterion titles" has TCM shown lately? I ask since I find most of what Criterion has to offer better than some of the stuff TCM shows.
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6 minutes ago, Gershwin fan said:
This has to be the most underrated Kubrick film. Everyone ranks 2001 or Barry Lyndon as his best but this one is definitely up there.
I like Lolita a lot, although I think it's one of Kubrick's most conventional films. Yeah, 2001: A Space Odyssey is usually ranked at the top, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone list Barry Lyndon as his best. Paths of Glory, Dr. Strangelove, and even A Clockwork Orange I've seen people list as their favorites/"the best".
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37 minutes ago, laffite said:
After the Wedding (2006)
EDIT : i would still recommend this movie because it's not so bad in a general sense and I think my displeasure is peculiar to my own individual take and not to anything intrinsically bad in the film.
It's probably been a decade since I watched it, but I liked it at the time.
Your description of Mads Mikkelsen looking like a gangster made me laugh (in a good way).
The movie had an American remake released earlier this year, with the two leads played by Michelle Williams and Julianne Moore.
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I'm a fan of many of the women in the cast (Ronan, Dern, Streep, Emma Watson, and Florence Pugh), I've liked Timothee Chalamet, Bob Odenkirk, and Tracy Letts in some things, and I'm very impressed with Greta Gerwig (who not only directs but co-wrote the screenplay with Sarah Polley, another gifted actress-turned-filmmaker). All that being said, I wish they'd made something else, something original, as I'm another who has no desire for yet another adaptation of this story. I'll most likely still see it eventually, but I can't say it's something I'm thrilled about.
And Streep is most likely focused on in the trailer as she's the "biggest name" involved, even if she doesn't have the biggest box-office take in the group (that would be Watson thanks to the Harry Potter flicks).
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1 minute ago, SansFin said:
Did I miss the explanation for why this is no longer a problem?
TCM hired some ogres.
Ogres > Fairies.
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Late night (3:45 AM ET) tonight on TCM Imports is Manila in the Claws of Light (1975), a very good film from the Philippines that I watched recently. The film looks low budget by Hollywood standards, but the direction by Lino Brocka is excellent, the performances seem genuine. The plot follows young man Julio (Bembol Roco), a country kid who travels to big-city Manila in search of his girlfriend Ligaya (Hilda Koronel). She went to Manila for work, but hasn't been heard from in months. Julio encounters the harsh truth of Filipino city life, with limited work opportunity, entrenched corruption, and increasing moral degradation. The story is allegorical, with Julio standing in for modern Filipino citizenry trying to save their nation (embodied by Ligaya) from destruction by outside forces and internal weakness. I liked the film a lot, and would rank it among the best international films of its year.
TCM Imports is also showing Days of Being Wild (1990), a Hong Kong film from director Wong Kar-wai. I haven't seen it, but it is generally highly regarded, and I've liked most of the other films from the same director that I've seen. It's on at 2:00 AM ET
Also, tonight's Silent Sunday offering (at 12:15 AM ET), The Racket (1928), is worth checking out for fans of early crime pictures, featuring a good performance from Louis Wolheim.
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On a related note, The Great McGinty is headed to Blu-ray, courtesy of Kino, with a new 4K remaster. It's due early next year.
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1986
- Matador, Pedro Almodovar, Spain
1995
- The Flower of My Secret, Pedro Almodovar, Spain
This brings me up to date with the foreign-language films that I've seen. If you're interested in my thoughts on these films , write-ups for most of them can be found in the "I Just Watched" thread in General Discussions. I wouldn't really recommend searching them out though, as I had little of note to say, nor did I express it in an interesting or compelling manner. Empty blather for the most part, but if you're still reading this, you've probably already come to that conclusion yourself. Anyway, they're there.
If I see more foreign-language movies during this break in the thread, I'll add them.
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7 minutes ago, Roy Cronin said:
How about HOLD BACK THE DAWN? I'm always searching for the DVD.
That seems to have skipped DVD and gone on to Blu-ray.
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'Ad Astra' and Refuting the Rules of Sci-Fi
in General Discussions
Posted
delete