I Just Watched...

[CaveGirl]

"Cries and Whispers" by Bergman.

 

I've seen it before but had forgotten how visually stimulating it was. I also kept thinking, did every woman in the film have an affair with Bergman at one time. Harriet was quite good as the deathbed victim, and the sisters looked ravishing in the white outfits set upon a sea of blood red visuals. I bet this was what attracted Roger Corman to the film.

 

I had bad dreams after watching it, which I always enjoy and I will attribute this to all the cutting with glass, the maid Anna's unnecessary nude scenes and Liv Ullman's red hair.

 

Just kidding, it was great Bergman and worth watching if just for Sven Nykist's incredible cinematography.

'

Tried to watch the next Bergman film, which reminded me of the soap opera in Lynch's "Twin Peaks" but I fell asleep during one of Dahlbeck's pirouetting and pouting scenes.

[LawrenceA]

Exterminators of the Year 3000 (1983) - (7/10) - Italian Mad Max take-off is low on quality and high on cheese. After "the thing with the ozone turned the Earth into a hot potato", water has become the most precious commodity. Society has collapsed, and vicious gangs roam the wasteland in their tricked-out cars, motorcycles and dune buggies, stealing water from peaceful farming villages and leaving death and destruction in their wake. After one such raid, a young boy is left on his own, where he discovers a leather-clad hero trapped in a crashed car. Once free, the bearded hero with a bad perm journeys with the boy in search of water and the boy's father.

 

There are a few competent vehicular stunts here and there, but most of this is ridiculous, costumed hilarity. There are a few plot developments that take this even further into the realm of science fiction, and there's a good time to be had by all fans of MST3K. Starring Robert Ianucci, Alicia Moro, Luca Venantini as the kid, Fred (Fernando Bilbao) Harris as the bald bad guy, and Luciano Pigozzi, the "Italian Peter Lorre", although in this film, with his big gray beard and granny glasses, he looks more like the Italian Wilford Brimley.

 

"Come on, you abnormalities! Get them! I want all their water, you mother-grabbers!"

 

Rewatch.   Source: Blu Ray.

[LawrenceA]

Fantasy Mission Force (1983) - (5/10) - a.k.a. Dragon Attack.This lunatic kung fu epic belongs to a subgenre known as mo lai tau, which translates as "nonsense comedy". That pretty much sums it up. Set during WW2 (apparently) a group of Allied generals are captured by the Japanese and transported to Luxembourg. A strike force is assembled to travel there and rescue them. The team is led by star Jimmy Wang Yu, and includes a cowboy, a thief, some wrestlers, a guy in medieval knight's armor, and another guy decked out in Scottish kilt and hat. They battle leopard-toga clad Amazons, floating-head ghosts, hopping vampires, Nazis who look like the bad guys in Mad Max and driving late 70's model cars, and more. 

 

This movie is a near-incoherent mess, but I guess that was the point. Tonally, it lurches from broad slapstick comedy to violent, bloody martial arts battle to sped-up, Benny Hill-style silliness to gory gun battles. Also with Brigitte Lin and Jackie Chan. Portions of the score were lifted from Planet of the Apes, Sorcerer, and Halloween 2.

 

 

First time watched.   Source: DVD

[LawrenceA]

Fireback (1983) - (6/10) - Obscure Philippines-lensed action flick starring D-movie regular Richard Harrison as a Vietnam vet who is trying to track down his kidnapped wife. She's in the hands of some gangsters, and Harrison must punch and shoot his way to her, battling strange foes like a guy with a gold metal hand. Harrison also gets to employ a silly "super-gun" with rotating barrels that shoot different ammunition types. There's enough goofy action and bad acting here to keep you entertained, and it moves along briskly. 

 

First time watched.   Source: DVD.

[film lover 293]

"Countess Dracula" (1970)--Hammer horror film that blew the budget on everything but a solid script: it's absolutely gorgeous to look at.  It's an inspired take on the Elizabeth Bathory legend.  Stars Ingrid Pitt, Nigel Green, and a very young Lesley-Anne Down.  Cast are horror veterans and overcome the weak script, except Down, whose role consists of screaming on cue, and looking helpless.  This film is probably director Peter Sasdy's high point; he later directed 1983's "The Lonely Lady" (which starred Pia Zadora).  Print I saw on YT had Portuguese(?) subtitles.  7.8 out of 10 stars.

[LawrenceA]

The First Turn-On!! (1983) - (4/10) - Yet another terrible comedy from Troma. This takes place in a summer camp, where on the last day, a small group of late-teens get trapped in a cave-in, and to pass the time, they take turns telling the story of their first sexual encounters. Much lewd, stupid humor commences. Featuring the film debut of Vincent D'Onofrio as "Lobotomy".

 

First (and last) time watched.   Source: DVD.

[limey]

"Cries and Whispers" by Bergman.

 

I've seen it before but had forgotten how visually stimulating it was. I also kept thinking, did every woman in the film have an affair with Bergman at one time. Harriet was quite good as the deathbed victim, and the sisters looked ravishing in the white outfits set upon a sea of blood red visuals. I bet this was what attracted Roger Corman to the film.

 

I had bad dreams after watching it, which I always enjoy and I will attribute this to all the cutting with glass, the maid Anna's unnecessary nude scenes and Liv Ullman's red hair.

 

Just kidding, it was great Bergman and worth watching if just for Sven Nykist's incredible cinematography.

'

Tried to watch the next Bergman film, which reminded me of the soap opera in Lynch's "Twin Peaks" but I fell asleep during one of Dahlbeck's pirouetting and pouting scenes.

 

Not just visually stimulating - this film has some very audible demonstrations of pain & anguish from it's characters, emphasized further by the otherwise usual sparse soundtrack. Whilst others of Bergman's works have a somber foreboding quality, this felt quite unsettling at times.

 

1st time viewing for me & annoyingly, the cable feed lost 15 mins in the middle - hoping TCM airs this one again before too long.

[GregoryPeckfan]

Well, tonight's Art in Movies started out with two films I've seen before and overnight airs movies I haven't seen that I am recording.  So part way through the gorgeous movie that began the night I decided to watch a completely different genre, a film I had recorded and not seen before.

 

I watched CORNERED from 1945 starring Dick Powell, Walter Slezak, Jack La Rue and various nameless faces you would expect in a film noir.

 

Similar to the Glenn Ford  thriller Experiment in Terror, the name of the actor -no, I haven't given it away although with La Rue being  in it I thought it was a Raymond Burr type of casting- who plays the villain is listed in the ending credits only.

 

This is an excellent thriller.

 

I had more to say about it, but I won't here.  I'll make it in the Recently Watched Noir thread.

 

 

[GregoryPeckfan]

PERSONAL PROPERTY (1937)

 

Recorded on TCM on Jean Harlow's birthday and first time seen:

 

 

 

This screwball comedy stars Harlow and Robert Taylor and lots of great character actors and actresses.

 

This was hilarious.  I laughed the whole way through it.

 

Fun, fun, fun.

[cigarjoe]

Out Of Sight (1998)  a vehicle for JLo and Clooney it should remain out of sight. 6/10

[LornaHansonForbes]

THE DARK ANGEL (1935) - first time seen

 

This is part of the Merle Oberon Star of the Month, recorded from TCM and chosen not only because it was her only Academy Award nomination, but also because the circumstances were right for me to be able to watch it without interruptions and have the right mood for it as well as the fact that come next Sunday the Favourite Performances thread will switch to 1935 and I wanted to make sure I saw it before next Sunday.

 

I'm really PO'd they showed this so late (it was on after midnight, no?)

WHY ON EARTH was it not selected as the film to start the SOTM tribute?

 

hopefully they'll encore it sometime not so late.

[LawrenceA]

Going Berserk (1983) - (5/10) - Terribly disappointing comedy from several alumni of the Second City improv group. John Candy stars as a soon-to-wed limo driver who gets brainwashed by a religious cult (posing as an aerobics school) into trying to assassinate his future father-in-law, a powerful Senator. Lots of other incidental troubles pop up as well, usually involving Candy's best friend and fellow limo driver Joe Flaherty, and a sleazy movie director played by Eugene Levy. Also featuring Alley Mills, Pat Hingle, Richard Libertini, Dixie Carter, Paul Dooley, Kurtwood Smith, Julius Harris and Ernie Hudson. Written and directed by Second City legend David Steinberg, this just totally falls flat, with only Levy standing out among the talented cast.

 

 

Rewatch, but it had been so long I didn't remember it at all. Now I know why.    Source: DVD

[JamesJazGuitar]

I'm really PO'd they showed this so late (it was on after midnight, no?)

WHY ON EARTH was it not selected as the film to start the SOTM tribute?

 

hopefully they'll encore it sometime not so late.

 

Why on earth?   Well because I'm a member of the TCM Inner Circle and I asked that the film be shown at 10:00 PM west coast time.

 

[LawrenceA]

The Killing of Satan (1983) - (9/10)* - Incredible religious fantasy mind-blower from the Philippines. After the spiritual defender of a small seaside village dies, it falls to his nephew in the big city to return and protect the villagers from the "Prince of Magic" and his evil minions. The nephew, decked out in blue jeans and matching denim jacket and sporting a nice Tom Selleck mustache, learns to harness his newly-found Holy magic powers, and sets out to defeat the Prince. But the Prince's men kidnap our hero's daughter and transport her to Hell, to be sacrificed by none other than Satan himself! The hero must battle the minions of the underworld to rescue his child and protect the village from harm.

 

This film is truly one of a kind. The bad dubbing, cheesy laser-gun sound effects for the magical spells, plot twists and turns that are baffling, inspired make-up design, and chintzy costumes combine for one grand viewing experience. Satan is depicted alternately as a skinny guy in a red body stocking wielding a plastic pitchfork, and also as a chubby cheeked guy in a bad tux and a Dracula cape. At one point, our hero picks up a (real) snake and slaps its head 3 or 4 times before tying it into a knot and throwing it on the ground, where it promptly turns into a short naked Filipino guy with snake-scale make up all over his body. I had a hard time figuring out who the audience for this was supposed to be. It takes its religion seriously, and there is a lot of Catholic imagery and iconography. But at the same time, its cartoonish magic wizard battles are also punctuated with gratuitous nudity and bloody violence. Whether viewed as a bizarre cultural exercise outside of our norms, or as a piece of unintentionally hilarious exploitation madness, I finally realized that the audience for this was me! Highly recommended for those with a taste for the absurd.

 

 

First time watched.   Source:  DVD.

[LawrenceA]

Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983) - (7/10) - Fun costume samurai fantasy from Japan would make excellent Saturday afternoon fare. A young, beautiful princess (Hiroko Yakushimaru) is all that is left of her clan, as the evil Tamasuza (Mari Natsuki) and her minions have killed the rest. The fugitive princess is being hunted across the land, but a group of 8 heroes, each imbued with a magic crystal that preordained their roles as protectors, assemble to protect her and end the curse of Tamasuza.

 

Lots of swordplay, strange magic spells, shape-shifting monsters, and colorful costumes highlight this exciting fantasy. Kids will like it, except for the subtitles. Co-starring Hiroyuki "Henry" Sanada as a young would-be samurai and love interest to the princess, and action legend Sonny Chiba as the chief protector. The music is bad, with a couple of English-language ballads on the soundtrack that will make you cringe, and it runs a bit long at over 2 hours. But if you have the time, and like international oddities, this is worth a look.

 

First time watched.   Source: DVD.

[LawrenceA]

Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) - (7/10) - This may be the ultimate Chuck Norris action flick. Chuck plays the title character, a tough-as-nails Texas Ranger who's on the pursuit of an evil weapons dealer (David Carradine). That's pretty much the whole plot in this modern-day western. Bad guy threatens Chuck or one his friends and/or family members, then Chuck kicks/punches/shoots them a lot. Repeat for 100 minutes. Chuck is harder edged in this than in most of his other projects. He swears, he's surly, and he's constantly drinking beer, even while speeding along in his turbo-charged Ranger truck. This film exudes so much over-the-top machismo that it should be prescribed for guys with Low-T.

 

Also featuring Barbara Carrera, Robert Beltran, L.Q. Jones, R.G. Armstrong, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Sharon Farrell, William Sanderson, Kane Hodder, and a malevolent dwarf in a wheelchair. The score by Francesco De Masi lifts every imaginable bit of Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western scores that you would swear the latter was the composer. David Carradine has a knock-down, drag-out karate battle while wearing a pastel V-neck sweater. Priceless.

 

Favorite line, from L.Q. Jones to Chuck as they watch Barbara Carrera approach: 

 

"How'd you like to bite that, develop lockjaw, and be dragged to death?"

 

Classy sophistication at it's finest.

 

Rewatch.   Source: DVD.

[limey]

The Happy Road (1957)

 

One of Gene Kelly's non-dancing roles, he & Barbara Laage are largely outshone by the kids in this film & their abilities to outwit the adults chasing them after they escape from their boarding school. An undemanding, but fairly charming way to spend some time - I liked the morse-code ear-tug signaling technique employed by the kids, along with the re-occurring appearances of a couple driving a neat little 3-wheeler (apparently an obscure Darmont, according to IMCDb.org) throughout.

 

2nd time watched (I think that I'd caught the latter half of a previous airing, as I suddenly started remembering bits).

[LawrenceA]

Losin' It (1983) - (5/10) - Porky's clone notable now for it's then-unknown star. Tom Cruise, Jackie Earle Haley, and John Stockwell are high school buddies in the late 1950's who are traveling down to Tijuana to lose their virginity. They have to take precocious youngster John P. Navin Jr. along with them for financial reasons, and they also are joined by angry wife Shelley Long who wants a quickie divorce. Lots of dumb, cliched hijinks ensue. Also with Henry Darrow, Joe Spinell and Rick Rossovich. Directed by future Oscar nominee Curtis Hanson.

 

First time watched.   Source: DVD.

[speedracer5]

The Hard Way (1943).  The other day I watched this drama with Ida Lupino, Joan Leslie, Jack Carson and Dennis Morgan.  I really liked this film.  This is the third Lupino film I'd seen and I'm liking her more and more with each successive film. She was fantastic as Leslie's sister who forces her into a lifestyle that Leslie dislikes but will bring Lupino much wealth.  I had only seen Leslie in lighthearted musicals prior to this film and I thought she did a great job in this dramatic, grittier role.  I liked her as the young girl pushed into a celebrity lifestyle who succumbs to the pressure.  Jack Carson was great in this film and is a really underrated character actor.  I'd love to see him get the SUTS treatment.  This is the second Dennis Morgan movie I'd seen and I thought he was great too.  I love movies that have vaudeville routines in them.  The routines are oftentimes very corny, but they're fun as well.  This was a great dramatic film and I look forward to seeing this film again and seeing the four main stars in more films in the future.  8/10. 

[swimminginaqua]

Just watched for the first time "A Foreign Affair"..really enjoyed it. The real footage in the film of bombed out Berlin from a bird's eye view is incredible & massive.

 

I had to look up Jean Arthur & am surprised that she was pushing 50 at the time! She looked much younger..great bone structure & genes, I guess. Anyway, there were some very funny scenes (the 3 on a bike with the candy bar) & lines..."now her face looks bow-legged"..

And, I keep humming the songs mesmerizing Marlene Dietrich sang. When she's singing the song, "Illusions" & she herself is caught in the reflection of the mirror...perfect. Billy Wilder co-wrote & directed and seems to have that unique gift of tying together humor, depressing circumstances, and tender moments & evocative music..I'm recalling one of my favorite films that's like that, "Irma la douce", which is by him.

[limey]

The Ritz (1976)

 

I knew zilch about this before viewing, so only had the IMDB entry to go by.

 

It's largely set inside a NY gay bath house, but you shouldn't let that put you off, because if you do, you'll miss a first rate farce.

 

Weston's character finds himself on the wrong end of a hit order made on the deathbed of his mobster father-in-law & goes to ground in what he hopes will be the last place in NY anyone would be looking for him. A long series of assumptions & misunderstandings follow, whereupon Weston spends half the film hiding from a small man with what turns out to be long standing designs upon him & the other half trying to dodge what may the only straight character inside the club, thinking that she's a transvestite.

 

From the start, I was startled by the appearance of Peter Butterworth (sauntering around bare-chested in chaps), who's an actor I'd mostly seen in the British Carry On series. There's several other Brits in there too - going by IMDB again, it looks like the interior sets must have been shot at Twickenham Studios in London, which might explain why.

 

According to Mr M's epilogue, it failed to find an audience & bombed, which is a shame - overall, there are some good laughs in it.

[LawrenceA]

My Tutor (1983) - (4/10) - Another teen sex comedy. This time rich kid Bobby (Matt Lattanzi) is flunking out of school, endangering his acceptance to Yale. His  father (Kevin McCarthy) hires a beautiful but older woman (Caren Kaye) to be his live-in tutor. It's not long before the student starts to have feelings for the teacher, as she likes to skinny dip in the family pool at night while he watches from the bushes. If the music was changed, these scenes would be straight out of a thriller or horror movie, but in this it's played as cute. Bobby also gets into various "comical" situations with his two goofy friends (Crispin Glover and Clark Brandon). Also featuring Arlene Golonka, Katt Shea, Jewel Shepard, and Kitten Natividad. 

 

Lots of skin and very few laughs. 

 

 

First time watched.   Source: DVD.

[GregoryPeckfan]

Once again last night I went over my list of recorded movies, looked really closely at the never before seen movies on my to-see list............................................................

 

 

 

AND DECIDED TO WATCH THE GLENN FORD COMEDY DON'T GO NEAR THE WATER INSTEAD!

 

 

Fun, fun, fun!

 

 

[film lover 293]

"Allegheny Uprising" (1939)--low budget Eastern that starred John Wayne, Claire Trevor, and George Sanders.  Set in 1759, film pits settlers against Indians and evil traders.  Viewers can probably speak the characters' dialogue before they do.  The three stars elevate cliched material from nothing into an enjoyable, if predictable, watch.  6.5 out of ten stars.

 

"The House on 92nd Street" (1945)--Pseudo-documentary about Pre World War II Nazi activity in the U.S.  Film is definitely slanted  in favor of the FBI and its operations.  The glimpses of 1940's Crime Scene Investigation and technology are fascinating (to me, at least).  The actors are weak, but Oscar winning screenplay carries the actors and makes film interesting.  7.0 out of 10 stars.

 

[LawrenceA]

The New Barbarians (1983) - (8/10)* - a.k.a. Warriors of the Wasteland. Another Italian-made Mad Max take-off, this one manages to be crazy enough to keep your eyes glued to the screen to see what silliness will appear next. In the far-flung future of 2019, years after the nuclear holocaust, humanity struggles to survive. Peaceful villages are attacked by a motorized gang known as the Templars, who all wear clean white pleather outfits with puffy shoulder pads. They drive modified jeeps, dune buggies and motorcycles, some with rocket launchers, flame throwers and other offensive weaponry built in. Rising against them are a guy with salon-quality hair named Scorpion (Giancarlo Prete), another fighter who drives a black buggy/car, has his own black and gold pleather outfits and uses a special bow and arrow to fight with (Fred Williamson), a warrior woman with strange fashion taste (Anna Kanakis), and a precocious tech-wiz kid (Giovanni Frezza, the annoying blond kid that showed up in a lot of Italian exploitation films of the time, like House By the Cemetery and A Blade in the Dark).

 

There are a lot of the requisite car stunts, and lots of guys jumping in the air from explosions. There's also a fair amount of gore, although the effects fall into the less-than-believable category. The scene-stealer is frequent Italian film bad guy George Eastman as One, the leader of the Templars. The film takes an unexpected turn when it's revealed that the Templars are an all-gay gang. It's not played for laughs, as one would expect from a film of this period and genre, and their initiation ritual has to be seen to be believed. It's like a cross between A Man Called Horse and Cruising. Directed by busy Italian genre pro Enzo Castellari.

 

 

Rewatch.    Source: DVD.