I Just Watched...

[Hibi]

31 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

I Saw What You Did (1965)  -  6/10

Thriller from producer-director William Castle with 2 teen girls (Andi Garrett and Sara Lane) prank calling people. On one call, they tell the answering voice the title message. Unfortunately, the voice belongs to John Ireland, who has just murdered his wife. Now the deranged man thinks he needs to track down and eliminate these "witnesses". Also featuring Joan Crawford, Leif Erickson, Sharyl Locke, John Archer, Patricia Breslin, John Crawford, and Joyce Meadows. This seems like a youth-appeal spine-tingler, but the onscreen murder is extremely brutal for the time. It's Castle's twist on the Psycho shower scene. There was also a similar shower murder in this same year's Hysteria that I watched last night. Joan Crawford's role is small, barely more than a cameo. The Castle gimmick this time around were seatbelts installed in theaters to keep patrons from "leaping out of their seat with fear"! I saw the 1988 TV remake when it premiered, and only got around to original today. 

Source: internet

You're much too generous, I'd give it a TWO! Only for the murder at the beginning. The two teens were horrible actors, I kept hoping they'd meet the same fate, too bad. About as scary as Mrs. Minniver. The seatbelts were there to keep the audience from leaving due to boredom! Joan's wig is so heavy looking it must have given her a migraine.

[LawrenceA]

1 hour ago, cigarjoe said:

Coffy (1973) Blaxploitation

Noticed Sig Haig from Jackie Brown,

That's why Sid Haig was in Jackie Brown. He was also in Foxy Brown, Black Mama White Mama, The Big Bird Cage, and The Big Doll House, all with Pam Grier.

[cigarjoe]

7 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

Foxy Brown,

I think that's the only other early Pam Grier film I've seen.

[LawrenceA]

Just now, cigarjoe said:

I think that's the only other early Pam Grier film I've seen.

You need to rectify that, ASAP!

[Hibi]

I enjoyed Foxy Brown. TCM was running a slew of her films a few years back. I watched most of them. She was always better than her material. Too bad her career never took off beyond the exploitation rut film period.

[Tikisoo]

I loved Coffy too and Blaxploitation in general. Is there any modern equivalent? 

Back in the 70's I had a gf that would pass along her blaxploitation paperbacks my way after reading. 350 pages of urban soap opera with sass!

I SAW WHAT YOU DID (Hibi's Review)

2 hours ago, Hibi said:

I'd give it a TWO! Only for the murder at the beginning. The two teens were horrible actors, I kept hoping they'd meet the same fate, too bad. About as scary as Mrs. Minniver. The seatbelts were there to keep the audience from leaving due to boredom! Joan's wig is so heavy looking it must have given her a migraine.

Ba-da-boom!

 

[speedracer5]

On 6/12/2019 at 4:01 PM, LawrenceA said:

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)  -  4/10

Exceptionally dumb entry in the Beach Party series from AIP. With Frankie (Frankie Avalon) away serving in the US Naval Reserves, Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) is left alone on the beach back home, where advertising exec Ricky (Dwayne Hickman) takes a shine to her. Frankie asks a witch doctor (Buster Keaton) to cast a spell to keep the guys away from Dee Dee, so the witch doctor creates the "most irresistible girl" (Beverly Adams) to act as a diversion, causing havoc back on the beach. Also featuring Jody McCrea, John Ashley, Harvey Lembeck, Mickey Rooney, Brian Donlevy, Len Lesser, Marianne Gaba, Bobbi Shaw, Irene Tsu, and Michele Carey. The Kingsmen also appear and perform some songs. The rest of the music is uninspired, and the spark seems to have left the series. Annette seems bored, and Hickman doesn't invigorate things much in Frankie's absence (Avalon only appears briefly at the film's opening and closing). 

Source: TCM

I actually own this film, but haven't watched it yet.  I have a Beach Party boxed set.  What can I say? I love teen beach movies.  Man if Frankie isn't in much of this film, who is Annette going to be mad at for the entire duration of the film?

[LawrenceA]

Ironfinger (1965)  -  6/10

Japanese action comedy starring Akira Takarada as Andrew Hoshino, a French-born Interpol agent of Japanese descent. He's on a case tracking down a counterfeit gun manufacturing ring involving Swiss, Japanese and Chinese crime figures. Also featuring Mie Hama as an explosives expert, Ichiro Arishima as a Japanese police detective, Jun Tatara, Akihiko Hirata, Sachio Sakai, Susumu Kurobe, and Mike Deneen. This silly action farce features Japanese, Chinese and English dialogue, with stop-offs in Hong Kong, Japan and the Philippines (all really the Toho backlot). This seemed as much of a spy-film spoof as a cops-n-robbers lark (even the title). It was maybe a bit too silly for my tastes. It was followed by a sequel in 1968, Golden Eyes aka Booted Babe, Busted Boss.

Source: The Criterion Channel

[LawrenceA]

The Knack...and How to Get It (1965)  -  6/10

Dated British comedy about hapless young man Colin (Michael Crawford) who seeks the advice of his neighbor Tolen (Ray Brooks) on how to pick up girls. Tolen agrees to teach Colin "the knack", just in time for Colin meeting new-girl-in-town Nancy (Rita Tushingham). Also featuring Donal Donnelly, as well as Jane Birkin, Jacqueline Bisset, and Charlotte Rampling in their screen debuts. Director Richard Lester imbues the film with a bit of anarchic spirit, keeping the pace brisk. Much of the humor is both regional and of the time. Some of it still works, much of it doesn't. This won the Palm d'Or at Cannes in 1965.

Source: internet

[LawrenceA]

Le Bonheur (1965)  -  7/10

French drama from writer-director Agnes Varda. Francois (Jean-Claude Drouot) is a married woodworker. His wife (Marcelle Faure-Bertin) looks after their young children, and they are very happy. However, Francois begins an affair with Emilie (Marie-France Boyer), but rather than leave his wife and children, he hopes they'll accept his new relationship while also continuing on with the old. Varda's take on the importance of traditional relationships is ambiguous, leaving it up to the viewer to decide if an open marriage is appropriate, at least as far as the men are concerned. She could be condemning such thinking, as well. The film could be trying say that men will do anything, even destroying those they profess to love, in order to secure their own happiness. The color cinematography and the Mozart score are good, though.

Source: The Criterion Channel

[kingrat]

3 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

The Knack...and How to Get It (1965)  -  6/10

Dated British comedy about hapless young man Colin (Michael Crawford) who seeks the advice of his neighbor Tolen (Ray Brooks) on how to pick up girls. Tolen agrees to teach Colin "the knack", just in time for Colin meeting new-girl-in-town Nancy (Rita Tushingham). Also featuring Donal Donnelly, as well as Jane Birkin, Jacqueline Bisset, and Charlotte Rampling in their screen debuts. Director Richard Lester imbues the film with a bit of anarchic spirit, keeping the pace brisk. Much of the humor is both regional and of the time. Some of it still works, much of it doesn't. This won the Palm d'Or at Cannes in 1965.

Source: internet

Lawrence, the first word you chose to describe The Knack says it all: "dated." It's interesting that Michael Crawford starred in a couple of Richard Lester films, The Knack and How I Won the War, that seemed very cool, hip, and with it back in the 60s. He also had a big supporting role in Hello, Dolly!, which seemed old-fashioned and, well, dated, back in 1969--but seems far less dated than the two Lester films now.

[LornaHansonForbes]

17 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

I Saw What You Did (1965)  -  6/10

Joan Crawford's role is small, barely more than a cameo.

The Castle gimmick This time around were seatbelts installed in theaters to keep patrons from "leaping out of their seat with fear"!

Joan's face had that effect on people at this stage...

[LornaHansonForbes]

I've literally tried to compress this and make it my New AVATAR so MANY TIMES, but it never quite works...

[laffite]

1 hour ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

I've literally tried to compress this and make it my New AVATAR so MANY TIMES, but it never quite works...

Well, you could crop her face and use that. We won't be frightened, promise. We're used to her by now.

[Det Jim McLeod]

On 6/13/2019 at 8:20 AM, TikiSoo said:

JimMcLeod agreed then added "And another thing about his performance, he also perfectly captured Oliver Hardy's rich, beautiful singing voice" something I also was very struck by.

I'm glad you got to see it. They recreate many scenes from "Way Out West" which would make a good double feature with this bio-pic.

[Det Jim McLeod]

18 hours ago, Hibi said:

You're much too generous, I'd give it a TWO! Only for the murder at the beginning. The two teens were horrible actors, I kept hoping they'd meet the same fate, too bad. About as scary as Mrs. Minniver. The seatbelts were there to keep the audience from leaving due to boredom! Joan's wig is so heavy looking it must have given her a migraine.

I disagree, I LOVE this movie, 8/10. I liked the teen girls, while they were giggly and a little annoying, like most teens are. The scenes of having a sleep over and laughing over prank phone calls seemed pretty real for 1960s kids. John Ireland was very menacing as the killer. Crawford was way over the top, but she is not in it for long.

Below is a great photo of Cary Grant visiting the set. 

[laffite]

12 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

Le Bonheur (1965)  -  7/10

French drama from writer-director Agnes Varda. Francois (Jean-Claude Drouot) is a married woodworker. His wife (Marcelle Faure-Bertin) looks after their young children, and they are very happy. However, Francois begins an affair with Emilie (Marie-France Boyer), but rather than leave his wife and children, he hopes they'll accept his new relationship while also continuing on with the old. Varda's take on the importance of traditional relationships is ambiguous, leaving it up to the viewer to decide if an open marriage is appropriate, at least as far as the men are concerned. She could be condemning such thinking, as well. The film could be trying say that men will do anything, even destroying those they profess to love, in order to secure their own happiness. The color cinematography and the Mozart score are good, though.

Source: The Criterion Channel

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

The husband here is a strange man. Having an extramarital affair is not strange but to blithely tell his wife as if she could understand and accept the arrangement as if, "Hey honey, I'll be late for dinner,"  is an assault on conventional sensibilities, especially considering his blase attitude. After his wife let's him know that she cannot abide by killing herself he seems not too bothered with grief and settles in comfortably with his new wife. Too see him so happy with her (apparently guilt free) with the children is jarring. Is the filmmaker trying to make us angry, especially considering how darling the first wife was (and did you notice how the women resembled each other, was there some intent there?). The husband reminded me a little of the emotional dullness of Camus' protagonist in his novel The Stranger, although differences abound. But in that story we are made to see that Mersault (the hero or anti-hero) reacts unemotionally to the death of his mother and later commits a crime with no apparent outward emotion. In any case, I think in Le Bonheur the movie is playing with us a little with this, and yes getting us perhaps to think about those questions you pose ... but the weirdness of the husband almost gets in the way of rational consideration. The question becomes more about him.

[Hibi]

1 hour ago, LornaHansonForbes said:

I've literally tried to compress this and make it my New AVATAR so MANY TIMES, but it never quite works...

LMREO!!!!

[Hibi]

32 minutes ago, Det Jim McLeod said:

I disagree, I LOVE this movie, 8/10. I liked the teen girls, while they were giggly and a little annoying, like most teens are. The scenes of having a sleep over and laughing over prank phone calls seemed pretty real for 1960s kids. John Ireland was very menacing as the killer. Crawford was way over the top, but she is not in it for long.

Below is a great photo of Cary Grant visiting the set. 

It was a good idea but poorly executed, scripted and acted. I probably would've liked it as a kid, but I didnt see it until maybe 10 yrs ago. UGH!

[laffite]

13 hours ago, LawrenceA said:

Dated British comedy about hapless young man..

 

10 hours ago, kingrat said:

Lawrence, the first word you chose to describe The Knack says it all: "dated."

Lawrence, may I say something about your "first word" habit.  It annoys me but in a fun way and I ask you to take it that way. To my heightened sensibilities and fragile disposition it seems too critical too early. The critical is okay but it should come later. Allow fragile dispositions (like mine) know first what the movie is about before being asked to like or dislike it. That way the movie at least has a fighting chance for me to apprehend it on its own terms before reading judgements. The dreaded word might come perhaps as early as the very next sentence and that would be fine. If the first word is something positive then for some reason that does not annoy me (so you can continue to do that, as if I have the power to tell you how to write your own reviews, haha). There is something about the negativity of that first word that seems to jar fragile dispositions like mine. But now that I have got this heavy burden off my chest I am thus immunized and will now look upon your first dreaded word usages as a character builder, something I need in spades.

 

[LawrenceA]

Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters (1965)  -  2/10

From Ray Dennis Steckler comes this comedy homage to the Bowery Boys films. Steckler, using his frequent stage name Cash Flagg, stars as Gopher, while Mike Kannon plays Slug. Along with their pals, the duo get involved in a race, and later battle some monsters. Also featuring Carolyn Brandt, and a bunch of people you've never heard of. This is really three short films, "The Lemon Grove Kids", "The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Green Grasshopper and the Vampire Lady from Outer Space", and "The Lemon Grove Kids Go Hollywood!". I'm not sure if Steckler meant these to be potential TV series episodes, or shorts that he could sell to exhibitors, but he eventually released them together as one very terrible feature. The IMDb page lists this as a 1965 feature, but there's an appearance by Rat Pfink, the Batman spoof that was Steckler's next film, and there's a garage rock band that sounds more '68 than '65. Anyway, this movie is (intentionally) moronic, and will be of interest only to Steckler devotees.

Source: YouTube

[kingrat]

When Tora! Tora! Tora! was released in 1970, the critics generally savaged it. I had no interest in seeing this film at the time, which didn't sound at all cool. However, its reputation has improved over time. The imdb rating is a more than respectable 7.5 out of 10. What's changed? The first reviewers thought Tora! was too long and slow. (Ben M and his guest talked about this in the outro.) Now, when so many films go toward the three-hour mark, a run time of 144 minutes is nothing out of the ordinary. For another thing, many of us have seen a little film called Pearl Harbor with its corny romantic subplot. By comparison, Tora! Tora! Tora! looks like a masterpiece.

Tora! provides a thoughtful attempt at historical accuracy about a major event in American history. It isn't an anti-war movie, nor does it reach for parallels to Vietnam, nor does it offer the new kind of cinematic violence that had made The Wild Bunch seem cutting edge the previous year. Those factors played into the initial critical reaction, but they seem irrelevant now. (Since "relevance" was an overwhelming important criterion in the 1960s, I'll admit that it's fun to dismiss certain 1960s attitudes as irrelevant.)

For regular TCM viewers, Tora! Tora! Tora! has the added appeal of seeing many fine character actors in small roles. James Whitmore as Admiral Halsey and E.G. Marshall as the cryptographer are two of my favorites among the cast. Hey, that's George Macready as Cordell Hull getting a big scene with the Japanese ambassador. That's Richard Anderson in a walk-on role. The husband and wife played by Wesley Addy and Leora Dana interest me more than the sudsy love triangle in Pearl Harbor.

Although there isn't a lot of cinematic flash in Tora! Tora! Tora!--not necessarily a bad thing--the shot of the Japanese planes taking off into the rising sun is especially beautiful.

 

[LawrenceA]

I'm one of those that thought Tora! Tora! Tora! was a bore. I thought the same thing about Midway which is being lionized in another thread. They both seem like the cinematic equivalent of old men standing over meticulous miniatures of battlefields, moving the little army men around to re-enact "great" battles of the past. They both exhibited a near complete lack of style, and only paper-thin characterizations. But maybe my memory is being overly harsh.

[JamesJazGuitar]

35 minutes ago, LawrenceA said:

I'm one of those that thought Tora! Tora! Tora! was a bore. I thought the same thing about Midway which is being lionized in another thread. They both seem like the cinematic equivalent of old men standing over meticulous miniatures of battlefields, moving the little army men around to re-enact "great" battles of the past. They both exhibited a near complete lack of style, and only paper-thin characterizations. But maybe my memory is being overly harsh.

To me the best example of 'men standing over meticulous miniatures of battlefields, moving the little army men,,,' was in The Magic Christian.     

 

[Hibi]

3 hours ago, Det Jim McLeod said:

I disagree, I LOVE this movie, 8/10. I liked the teen girls, while they were giggly and a little annoying, like most teens are. The scenes of having a sleep over and laughing over prank phone calls seemed pretty real for 1960s kids. John Ireland was very menacing as the killer. Crawford was way over the top, but she is not in it for long.

Below is a great photo of Cary Grant visiting the set. 

The photo does no justice to Joan's wig. It goes way back and up!