cigarjoe Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 "A Boy and His Dog"--(1975). Despite the title, it is Not a sweet film. It's after WW IV--which lasted five days--just long enough for politicians to drop multiple bombs and destroy the planet. An opening title says (I'm paraphrasing): "Politicians have finally solved the problem of Urban Blight." Don Johnson and his telepathic dog, Blood, are among the survivors. Picture is deeply cynical; not for all viewers. Film has hilarious back-and-forth dialogue between Johnson and Blood (voiced by Tim McIntire). I've read ABAHD was done on a budget of $20,000 dollars: film is a sci-fi classic, or near to it. 8/10 stars. Yea I liked this one. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 THE ROLLING STONES: LET'S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER - (7/10) - Concert film of the rock stars performing 25 songs, recorded primarily at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona in December of 1981. The giant open-air venue threatens to overwhelm the band, even on film, and the grandiose stage design doesn't help. But the band sounds good, and Mick Jagger is in top strutting form. Directed by Hal Ashby, who was suffering from serious medical issues at the time. He occasionally throws in some backstage footage, or scenes of stage construction, but never for very long, keeping the action mainly on the band. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 SADOMANIA - (4/10) - Ultra-sleazy women-in-prison trash from the fetid mind of Jess Franco. A women's prison in a remote region of Spain is ruled by an evil, sadistic warden, who sells the inmates to the highest bidder for their carnal pleasure, or for more murderous pursuits. Ajita Wilson, a transgender underground film star, plays the warden. Franco himself plays a white slaver, and Playboy playmate Ursula Buchfellner stars as an innocent young inmate. This is the kind of film where none of the characters, be they prisoners or guards, wear shirts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 SHOCK TREATMENT - (6/10) - Sequel to ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW was a big letdown to fans and quickly disappeared, but it's not all bad. Brad and Janet return from the first film, and this time they're contestants on a strange reality show/gameshow. There's some clever commentary on celebrity, and some prescient bits with product placement. Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, and Charles Gray return from the earlier film, but as different characters this time. However, Brad and Janet have been recast with Cliff DeYoung and Jessica Harper, respectively. Also appearing are Ruby Wax, Rik Mayall, and the real standout in the film, Barry Humphries as the gameshow host. Some of the songs are good, while others fail to click, but the real failing of the film is the lack of Frank-N-Furter, or a performer with Tim Curry's talent and charisma. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casablanca100views Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 The Amazing Adventure (1936) with Cary Grant and Mary Brian It's the sort of story that could be retold again, it is timeless. It has the universal themes of the idle rich needing purpose, and kindness without conditions of those who have little in material wealth but great depth of character. The meeting of these two types creates sweet romance and a sweeter story. Ernest Bliss (great name!) is given a bet by a doctor to change his ways and live one year in impoverished stakes, or continue to suffer health-wise as he has been from his wealth chronically. Bliss can't help himself (because of his ego) to take that bet. The Adventure is the story. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 STRANGE BEHAVIOR - (6/10) - a.k.a. DEAD KIDS. A series of strange disappearances and murders start occurring in a small rural Illinois town. The sheriff and his teenage son separately set out to solve the mystery. Could it have something to do with the mind experiments being conducted at the nearby college? Michael Murphy stars, with Dan Shor from WISE BLOOD, Louise Fletcher, Fiona Lewis, Dey Young, Marc McClure, and classic movie guys Scott Brady and Charles Lane. Despite the cast and setting, this was filmed in New Zealand. Bill Condon wrote the screenplay. You could do worse, and there's a couple of memorable moments. Someone wears a Tor Johnson mask at one point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 STRIPES - (7/10) - I'm sure the pitch was "ANIMAL HOUSE in the Army", but I actually like this film more than that earlier one. Bill Murray and Harold Ramis star as buddies leading dead end lives who decide to join the US Army. They and their fellow misfit recruits make life hell for their grouchy drill sergeant (Warren Oates) and the new incompetent captain (John Larroquette). Also with P.J. Soles, Sean Young, Judge Reinhold, John Diehl, Lance LeGault, Timothy Busfield, Bill Paxton, Dave Thomas, Joe Flaherty, and the late great John Candy as Ox. Funny film loses a bit of steam in the last 30 minutes, but still recommended. I watched the extended cut this time, which pushes the running time to just over two hours. "That's a fact, Jack!" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 TCM teaching me how to play pool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCannady1 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 AD, I still wish in some ways that Gale could have played the witch in "The Wizard of Oz". She is so scary even when she just smiles! A great film! Yes, Gale can be quite malevolent in some roles; take The Spider Woman (Sherlock Holmes) film. In another film she is a housekeeper with good intentions (smiling at dinner guests), but one houseguest says, "Didn't I see you in Rebecca?" That was a funny one-liner from a hilarious Abbott and Costello film called The Time of Their Lives. Gale had a good part running a seance. Her facial expressions can be really supernatural! Yes, GAle couid have played the witch instead of Margaret Hamilton, but she was great too. Both were very underrated actresses. Actually, Gale would have been great as Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca, but Judith Anderson did it formidably. Both were excellent actresses who could play "chilly" parts;. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCannady1 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 That is a terrific movie, and I really love that opening. The 29 version is excellent, as well. I really concur on both films. Both were excellent! The ending is very chilly as the unfaithful wife no longer cares about the letter. This invites further disaster as she steps outside.. . (Yes, I love the opening scene as well. It certainly paved the way for an exciting film). My mom was a big Bette Davis fan too and loved that version of the film best. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCannady1 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 The Amazing Adventure (1936) with Cary Grant and Mary Brian It's the sort of story that could be retold again, it is timeless. It has the universal themes of the idle rich needing purpose, and kindness without conditions of those who have little in material wealth but great depth of character. The meeting of these two types creates sweet romance and a sweeter story. Ernest Bliss (great name!) is given a bet by a doctor to change his ways and live one year in impoverished stakes, or continue to suffer health-wise as he has been from his wealth chronically. Bliss can't help himself (because of his ego) to take that bet. The Adventure is the story. A very touching and timeless story. I certainly agree. Cary and Mary Brian had a great chemistry here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristineHoard Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 I watched Julianne Moore in STILL ALICE last night and she was wonderful in it (I had recorded it from Encore a couple of months ago). Then I turned mid-way to ALICE, SWEET ALICE (aka COMMUNION) on TCM Underground. I was recording it and dozed off. I woke up to the music playing in the docudrama A DAY IN THE DEATH OF DONNY B, a 14 minute short about a heroin junkie in 1969 New York. It was quite interesting but depressing, as you can imagine. I looked it up on the web (not much info on the TCM site about it) and it won an award at the Cannes Festival. TCM is playing it again in April and I think you can catch it for free on the web. Donny B played Donny B and I don't know if he was an actor or a real junkie or both but it was very realistic. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sapphiere Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 I watched Julianne Moore in STILL ALICE last night and she was wonderful in it (I had recorded it from Encore a couple of months ago). Then I turned mid-way to ALICE, SWEET ALICE (aka COMMUNION) on TCM Underground. I was recording it and dozed off. I woke up to the music playing in the docudrama A DAY IN THE DEATH OF DONNY B, a 14 minute short about a heroin junkie in 1969 New York. It was quite interesting but depressing, as you can imagine. I looked it up on the web (not much info on the TCM site about it) and it won an award at the Cannes Festival. TCM is playing it again in April and I think you can catch it for free on the web. Donny B played Donny B and I don't know if he was an actor or a real junkie or both but it was very realistic. Julianne Moore was excellent in STILL ALICE 2014, and she deserved her Academy Award for her portrayal of a college professor slowly losing her mind to Alzheimer`s. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 STUDENT BODIES - (5/10) - Sloppy, dumb slasher spoof from Paramount that seems rather amateurish to be from a big studio. Murders are occurring in and around a high school, and one female student becomes the prime suspect, so she sets out to clear her name and find the real killer. This was rushed through production during a strike, so director Michael Ritchie took his name off of it, and the credited producer is Allen Smithee. Maybe one out of every fifteen jokes got a chuckle. Not at all bloody, despite the slasher premise, but pretty bloody awful. It does earn an extra point for basically doing the opening from SCREAM 15 years earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE - (8/10) - Documentary from British filmmaker Antony James, originally in 2 parts. The first half deals with the rise of evangelical Christianity, televangelists, and the church's entry into secular politics in the 1980's. Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker come in for the most damning scrutiny, and their extravagant construction of Christian theme park/shopping center/residential subdivision Heritage USA. The second half focuses in on the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. It was one of the first megachurches in the US, and an early proponent of so-called "prosperity theology" that teaches that material wealth is God's reward, and that the sick and poor are being righteously punished for moral transgressions. There's also a lot of uncomfortable racial issues addressed in the second half, with the purposeful segregation of churches, and some commentary from lead pastor W. A. Criswell that would get him quick public condemnation in today's world. At times uncomfortably funny, at others baffling, saddening, and enraging, this film is fair and impartial in its presentation, and any incendiary remarks come straight from the subject's mouths and not through selective editing. Of course, viewing will be colored by your own personal inclinations, and my only complaint is that I've been painfully aware of most of this for some time (this was filmed and assembled between 86-88). It would make a good triple bill with the later docs HELL HOUSE(2001) and JESUS CAMP(2006). After a recommendation, I found this on YT. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 THEY CALL HER...CLEOPATRA WONG - (7/10) - Filipino action extravaganza that is a bad film lover's delight. Our title heroine is a karate-fighting, gun-blazing, gorgeous lady James Bond-type working for Interpol. She's sent to investigate a counterfeiting ring that takes her from the Philippines to Singapore to Hong Kong. She has to battle scores of evildoers, including gun-toting thugs, overweight middle-aged wrestlers hanging out in some guy's yard in their underwear, a school of karate students stored in the same guy's den, phony priests with hilariously bad dubbed Irish accents, and more! Featuring amazing cars, fashions, mopeds, physics-defying jumps, and all the bad dialogue one could ask for. Sample line when our hero is led into a criminal's lair: "Welcome to my villar, Miss Wong!" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 THIS IS ELVIS - (7/10) - Odd look at the life of Elvis Presley is comprised of re-enactments and actor voiceovers (bad) and actual footage of Elvis from film and television, some of it rare (good). Does an adequate job of telling his life story, although it's very fan-friendly and not very critical. If you can put aside the tacky nature of some of it, there's some good music and good memories to be relived here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCannady1 Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 THIS IS ELVIS - (7/10) - Odd look at the life of Elvis Presley is comprised of re-enactments and actor voiceovers (bad) and actual footage of Elvis from film and television, some of it rare (good). Does an adequate job of telling his life story, although it's very fan-friendly and not very critical. If you can put aside the tacky nature of some of it, there's some good music and good memories to be relived here. Thanks! Will look at it. I am an Elvis fan and love a lot of his great music. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cigarjoe Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Hey LawrenceA, are you actually watching these back to back or just posting them that way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogie56 Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 I just watched a recording of Kevin Brownlow restoration of Murnau's Nosteratu (1922) from TCM. This is the best that I have seen this film. Good music score too. Thanks TCM! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikisoo Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Wow MOTEL HELL and CRAWLSPACE are two Underground type 80's bad horror flicks on heavy rotation on Comet channel. It's actually kind of a good thing, since this is day 3 of being snowed in. Syracuse weather promotes Cinephilia. I watched them both and while their premise are pretty outlandish (meaning funny) there were so many serious plot holes you just know they didn't care. Is there a category for this kind of sloppy filmmaking? Thrillsploitation? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 BLUE PRINT FOR MURDER with Joseph Cotton and Susan Peters. Very good mystery, Cotton was NOT wimpy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Wow MOTEL HELL and CRAWLSPACE are two Underground type 80's bad horror flicks on heavy rotation on Comet channel. "It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's fritters." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Hey LawrenceA, are you actually watching these back to back or just posting them that way? That's how I watch 'em. I keep movies of the same year together, and watch them in alphabetical order when I get to said year, so when I write 'em in my "I've seen" notebooks, they are easier to refer to. Then I move on to the next year. I'm on 1981 now. About half of what I'm watching are rewatches of movies I've purchased on dvd or blu ray, so I'm watching the new copy; the other half are ones I've never seen before. This is all a loose guideline. I make exceptions when I watch a theatrical release, or something strikes my fancy like the Thy Kingdom Come doc on YT, or if I DVR something that I want to watch in HD, I'll watch "out of order". These aren't just reviews of all the films from a given year that I've seen either. If it was, I've seen 152 films from 1981...that would be a substantially longer list of reviews than what I've done on here. I know my method is stupid, and maybe a little OCD, but it's a hobby. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 TREASURE OF THE YANKEE ZEPHYR - (5/10) - Would-be action-adventure comedy fails to deliver much of anything. Ken Wahl and Donald Pleasence star as..buddies? Co-workers? Relatives? I'm not quite sure. They fly around the New Zealand wilderness in a small helicopter and jump out to tackle deer. What ever you call that relationship. Anyway, Pleasence stumbles across a downed WW2 cargo plane loaded with gold, so he and Wahl, along with Lesley Ann Warren as Pleasence's daughter, try to retrieve it before effete bad guy George Peppard can. There's some really gorgeous scenic photography, and some exciting POV action shots, but overall the film is a dud, with Pleasence doing some of the hammiest acting I've seen. Directed by David Hemmings. Future DIE ANOTHER DAY James Bond director Lee Tamahori was a boom operator. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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