Det Jim McLeod

Diane Sawyer Next-favorite movie set in Scotland

Ben (1972) Cinemax On Demand 3/10 A boy with a heart condition makes friends with Ben, the leader of the late Willard's army of rats. This sequel to Willard begins with the final scene of that film, where Willard is killed by his former friends. Ben is often laughably bad, without the suspense or pathos of the original. Lee H. Montgomery plays the boy and strives for poignancy but the kid is really annoying. He sings the Oscar nominated title song, but he can't sing at all! Luckily we get to hear Michael Jackson's much better hit version at the end. There is a good cast but they are mostly wasted- Joseph Campanella is a cop, Arthur O'Connell is a reporter, Rosemary Murphy is the boy's mother and Meredith Baxter is his sister. There are some hilarious (unintentional?) scenes where a trucker is turned into a babbling fool at the sight of the rats and another one where the vermin attack a health spa filled with women in leotards and towels.

Willard (1971) Cinemax On Demand 7/10 A lonely man trains an army of rats to do his bidding. Another rewatch for me. I have always liked this one, mostly for the excellent performance of Bruce Davison in the lead. It was one of those "animals run amok" films of the 1970s, which included Frogs, Night Of The Lepus, Stanley. I liked the supporting cast of Sondra Locke as a temp worker who takes a liking to Willard, Elsa Lanchester as his nagging mother and Ernest Borgnine as the boss from hell. This one has several creepy scenes (especially if you are creeped out by rats), but no gore. Though I do recall years ago seeing closeups of the rats eating some bloody meat, which was supposed to be human flesh. These scenes were cut from this version that I just saw.

5) Bridge Over Troubled Water Jan 1970 S&G's fifth and final studio album, a good one but not as good as the last two. The first and best song is the title tune. It is has great lyrics and a gospel type melody. Garfunkel's does some of his best singing ever. "El Condor Pasa" is a haunting Peruvian folk melody with new lyrics by Simon, it is the first hint of his fascination with international music sounds which blossomed in his later solo work. "Cecelia" and "Keep The Customer Satisfied" are catchy upbeat tunes. The rest of the album is a bit uneven. "So Long Frank Lloyd Wright" has Garfunkel's beautiful voice in the lead again but song is a bit dull. "The Boxer" is a great song about a young boy on the mean streets of New York. "Baby Driver" is an OK uptempo tune. "The Only Living Boy In New York" is a pretty good gentle song but I am not sure what it is about. Their version of the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love" is a live recording with some hand claps by the audience which overpower the vocals. "Song For The Asking" is nice short acoustic solo song by Simon.

Psych Out (1968)

When A Stranger Calls (1979) Next-The Last Detail (1973) 2 with Carol Kane

4) Bookends-Apr 1968 Another great one from Simon & Garfunkel. It begins with a nice instrumental version of "Bookends Theme". It suddenly explodes (with a synthesizer) into the next track "Save The Life Of My Child", about trying to save a teenage boy from suicide. "America" is an interesting tale of a couple wandering aimlessly across the country. The mood turns even more somber with the next tracks about old age, very unusual for young 1960s pop stars to be getting into. 'Voices Of Old People" is just that, quick interviews of old people in nursing homes. The melancholy "Old Friends" is about the sad lonely lives of old people on park benches. The last track on Side 1 is a reprise of "Bookends Theme" with lyrics about preserving your memories. Side 2 has more upbeat tunes. "Fakin' It" is about getting through life but not really making it, just faking it. My favorite song is the big hit "Mrs Robinson", which was used in the film "The Graduate". The character in the song is much different from the one in the movie. Here she is a typical suburban mom who seems to talking to someone about files and strolling around the grounds somewhere. "A Hazy Shade Of Winter" and "At The Zoo" are catchy songs that also became hit singles.

Hayley Mills Next-favorite hit song of the 1960s

Kirk Douglas, a great actor and great human being

3) Parsley, Sage. Rosemary And Thyme -Oct 1966 Simon & Garfunkel's third I and think their greatest album, one of my top ten favorites of all time. It begins with the reworking of an old English ballad, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle". There is a harpsichord and the duo have interweaving vocals, plus a hauntingly beautiful melody. "Patterns" is an eerie sounding track with bongos and lyrics about where life is leading. "Homeward Bound" is a great hit single about a musician's life on the road. "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin Groovy)" is a happy little trip in 1960s joy. "The Dangling Conversation" tells of the lack of communication between people. A hilarious satirical song "A Simple Desultory Philippic" takes some jabs at Rolling Stones and Beatles and Simon doing a dead on Bob Dylan imitation. Garfunkel's solo spot "For Emily Whenever I May Find Her" is a poetic love song with his usual angelic vocals. "A Poem On The Underground Wall" is dark tale of a disturbed man compelled to write four letter graffiti. The final track is the thoughtful and effective "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night", which has S&G singing the hymn on one channel and a newsman reading headlines of the day on the other. They include Lenny Bruce's death, mass murder Richard Speck in front of a grand jury and former VP Richard Nixon talking about anti Vietnam protesters.

I always felt that this was the best in the series. Freddy was making more wisecracks, but he was still menacing and scary. I actually cared about the kids in this one. Plus the sexy blonde nurse didn't hurt either.

Richard Harris Next-Grace Kelly in The Country Girl

Best-Houseboat Worst- A Countess From Hong Kong Next-Montgomery Clift

That is pure Ed Wood. It reminds me of this from Plan 9 From Outer Space, by the Paula Trent character The saucers are up there [she looks up to the sky ] Paula Trent: and the cemetery's out there [she looks to the right ] Paula Trent: but I'll be locked up in there. [she looks left to the house ]

2) Sounds Of Silence-Jan 1966 Their sophomore album and a good one. It begins with electric hit version of the classic "Sounds Of Silence". "Blessed" is one of the weaker tracks, with lyrics from the Sermon On The Mount and some out of tune backing. "Somewhere They Can't Find Me" is a rewrite of "Wednesday Morning 3AM" song from the last album. This one is better, more dramatic and forceful. Side 2 is very good starting with two songs about suicide. The first is "Richard Cory", about a rich man who seems to have everything he could want but blows his brains out at the end, it is based on the classic EA Robinson poem. The second is "A Most Peculiar Man" a poignant tale of a lonely old man in a tenement who put his head in a gas oven. Garfunkel gets a solo spot for his beautiful tenor voice with the haunting "April Come She Will". "We Got A Groovey Thing Goin' is a catchy pop song. The best is the final "I Am A Rock" a hit single about isolation.

Death At Love House (1976) Youtube 7/10 A TV movie about a writer (Robert Wagner) who is researching for a book on a long dead movie star Lorna Love. He soon becomes obsessed with her memory. I hadn't seen this in over 40 years but I had never forgotten it. Kate Jackson plays Wagner's wife who finds herself competing with a ghost for her husband's affection. There are many treats for the classic film buff in this one. It is filmed at the Harold Lloyd estate and Sylvia Sidney plays the mysterious housekeeper, I have been on a kick about her later films these days. We get cameo appearances from some other old time stars- Joan Blondell, John Carradine and Dorothy Lamour. Marianna Hill plays Lorna in flashbacks. There is a great twist ending as well.

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden (1977) HBO On Demand 6/10 In the 1950s, a young girl is treated for mental illness in a institution. This was a often disturbing but well acted film, Kathleen Quinlan is excellent in the lead, Ingmar Bergman regular Bibi Andersson is the psychiatrist. There are effective scenes where we experience the voices and hallucinations the lead character does, For me and other classic film buffs an interesting thing was seeing Sylvia Sidney as an elderly patient who had been released but ended up back in again. It is striking to see her in an R rated disturbing film like this.

1) Wednesday Morning 3AM by Simon And Garfunkel -Oct 1964 I thought I would listen to Simon & Garfunkel's albums in order from the beginning. I will do the next tomorrow. This is a good 1960s folk album. It has the original version of "The Sounds Of Silence" without the electric accompaniment on the hit single version. It is the best song on the album, I think the spare instrumentation give it a more eerie feel to the lyrics about street lamps, cobblestones and cold and dampness. 'He Was My Brother" is another Simon original (but under a pseudonym Paul Kane) which is is a touching story of a Freedom Rider who was killed in the South. They do a joyous rendition of the African American spiritual "Go Tell It On The Mountain" in folk style. They cover Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin" but can't match the original's stark anger. The title song is an interesting tale of a young man getting ready to leave his sleeping girl friend since the police will be after him for a robbery. This was reworked into a different version called "Somewhere They Can't Find Me" on their next album.

The Lost Weekend (1945) Drunk Ray Milland lifts a purse but gets caught. The piano player starts singing "Somebody stole a purse..."

Best- Hoosiers (1986) Worst-Loose Cannons (1990) Next-Jon Voight

A Mid Summer Night's Dream Next-favorite city in the USA

5) He thought The Loves Of Carmen was his worst film.

9. Boris Karloff dislocated a hip in a fall in one scene, the studio doctor bandaged and strapped the hip and Karloff returned to work.

And that was based on a novel by Jack Schaefer. I had read that in high school before I ever saw the movie. I can't recall too many details but the book is narrated by the little boy (he is called Bobby instead of Joey like in the movie). When I was reading the book I thought more of a dark haired character for Shane, I was kind of surprised when I saw the blond Alan Ladd in the movie.

Yes, I had seen the film many times (it is one of my top ten favorites) before I read the novel, so I was OK with the ending. I just prefer the movie to the book, because of Grubb's writing style.