I Just Watched...

[Kay]

I watched The Flesh Eaters (1964), or as it was enticingly titled on YT, The Flesh Eaters with Nazi Experiment scene Re-added. It's about some likely-looking folks who crash land on and island inhabited only by Martin Kosleck and the title characters who lurk in the water. We patiently wait (and wait) for them to meet the gruesome end we've been promised as they find skeletons, learn to fear water, learn to distrust Kosleck (naturally), and make stupid decisions, generally. Things start to pick up when they are joined by a hippie on a raft who somehow lives to see the shore. I would describe it as a fairly pleasant gore film, overall, with some nice budget shock scenes. Not a total waste of time, if you like Martin Kosleck (I do) or are a student of film gore (less so.)

[LonesomePolecat]

 

Experiment In Terror (1962) San Francisco Tail Fin Noir

 

 

I myself watched this for the first time in the last few months and LOVED it--I was sitting there thinking, "Why have I never heard of this?!" Here again, love the cast/crew and that type of film anyway, so it's a win-win.

[LonesomePolecat]

 Blake would be a good selection for a TCM SPOTLIGHT.

Blake and/or Mancini

[LawrenceA]

FORBIDDEN WORLD - (7/10) - Roger Corman produced this stupid/good ALIEN copy. Jesse Vint stars as some sort of freelance, gun-toting galactic investigator with a robot sidekick. He gets summoned to a remote planet and its sole inhabitants: a group of scientists conducting genetic research to try and solve a food shortage plaguing the galaxy. Their experiments have instead resulted in the creation of a new type of murderous creature that the lead scientist calls a "Metamorph" but another guy calls a "Ding-Whopper". Our hero must help destroy the creature before it eats them all. He finds time for a few romantic liaisons as well.

 

Co-starring Dawn Dunlap, June Chadwick (from THIS IS SPINAL TAP), Linden Chiles, Scott Paulin, and Michael Bowen. Roger Corman continues his infamous frugal production techniques. This film was started when he found out he had an extra day's use of the sets from his earlier movie GALAXY OF TERROR. He also recycled all of the space footage in FORBIDDEN WORLD from the earlier BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS.

 

This is the kind of film where supposedly smart and seasoned characters make a lot of stupid decisions. Both women scientists always wear clear plastic high heels, and there's lots of gratuitous nudity to go along with all the gooey effects sure to please the gorehounds. The creature itself is rather goofy, and makes sounds like a belching alligator. All that being said, there is still a good time to be had for B-movie fans.

 

"Genetic Synthesis? Sounds like fun!"

 

or

 

"This is it, you genetic cesspool!"

 

 

 

 

Rewatch. Source: DVD, 2-disc special edition from Shout Factory that also contains a longer, unrated director's cut with the original title MUTANT.

[LawrenceA]

FORCED VENGEANCE - (6/10) - Slightly better-than-average Chuck Norris action flick differs from his usual schtick in a few ways. This time he's a quasi-shady collections man working for his surrogate family who run a profitable casino in Hong Kong. A new player in town has set his sights on their holdings, though, and Chuck must kick and kick his way to safety, and ultimately vengeance.

 

Co-starring Michael Cavanaugh, David Opatoshu, Mary Louise Weller, Bob Minor, Camila Griggs, and a small funny bit with future B-movie star Richard Norton. The Hong Kong setting helps set this one apart, and it's odd seeing Norris play something other than a cop or a soldier. There's one stand out sequence, also used during the opening credits, with Norris fighting a bad guy in silhouette in front of a giant neon sign. 

 

 

Rewatch.  Source: DVD.

[Bogie56]

I saw quite an amazing film this afternoon at the TIFF Cinematheque - Les Amants du Pont Neuf (1991) or The Lovers on the Bridge.  It was directed by Leos Carax, someone who I was unfamiliar with and stars Juliette Binoche.  She is terrific in it as a skid row person who is going blind that lives on the pont neuf bridge in Paris when it is being renovated.

The story reminded me of Le Notte Bianchi (1957) from the Dostoevsky novel where a young man falls in love with a woman who is waiting for a lover to return to her.

Pont Neuf hits an absolute high point about 50 minutes in when the city is celebrating its bicentennial and exploding fireworks serve as a backdrop.  I almost wished the film could somehow have ended after this spectacular ten minute sequence.

I highly recommend seeing this film.

[MCannady1]

One little footnote to the wonderful films of Carole Landis.  I just received an oldies CD

and there was a familiar sounding song on it  (by a 50's group called The Fidelitys).  After hearing it twice, I  realized it was the song Carole had sung in her screen test in  I Wake Up Screaming;

"The Things I Love".  Of course I prefer Carole's version, but the remake was good too.  IT reminded me that this talented actress also had a lovely singing voice.. 

 

That was certainly a coincidence!  Most of the songs on there I had never heard before.  I am adding to my 50's collection and like the Doo **** sound and Rhythm and Blues.  What were the chances?  

Thanks again, TB for all the wonderful information you have provided for us and continue to provide.  I really like checking it out daily.

[LonesomePolecat]

Hail, Caesar -- loved it, loved the classic Hollywood references, the Coen Bros' surreal style, the cast, and especially the costumes

[LawrenceA]

HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH - (6/10) - After director John Carpenter and producer Debra Hill finished making the surprise 1978 megahit HALLOWEEN, they envisioned making a new entry in the series to be released every year around Halloween, each with a new cast and story, with a revolving crew of writers, directors and other technicians behind the scenes. However, the rights-holding producer, Moustapha Akkad, insisted that they first make one more film centering on the first's Michael Myers and bringing back original stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence. Carpenter and Hill reluctantly agreed, and HALLOWEEN II was released in 1981, ending forever the story of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode (HA!). Therefore, this third film in the series was to be the first in the original idea of a different story each year under the banner title of HALLOWEEN, and it bares no connection to the first two films. 

 

This film centers on an alcoholic ER doctor with a crumbling marriage who stumbles upon a vast conspiracy involving a Halloween mask company called Silver Shamrock. He and the daughter of an early victim travel to the small town headquarters of the company to get to the bottom of things, but can they do it before the zero hour on Halloween night? Tom Atkins stars as the doctor, with Stacey Nelkin, Dan O'Herlihy as the head of the company, and Nancy Loomis (who also appeared in the first HALLOWEEN). The film isn't terrible, with a unique scenario and unpredictable plot turns. The music by Carpenter and Alan Howarth is a variation on the original's theme, different enough to stand on its own but still recognizable. Dean Cundey also returns as cinematographer, and it has a nice, sharp widescreen look. Writer-director Tommy Lee Wallace makes a valiant effort, but the film just doesn't generate the charge of the first two, and was a major box office disappointment. When the series continued 6 years later, it was with the return of original white-masked killer Michael Myers once again.

 

 

"Two more days 'til Halloween, Halloween, Halloween

  two more days 'til Halloween, Sil-ver Sham-rock!"

 

 

Rewatch.   Source:  DVD

[LawrenceA]

HONK-YTONK MAN - (6/10) - Clint Eastwood directed and stars in this slow but marginally endearing tale of a Depression-era country singer traveling to Nashville for an audition at the Grand Ole Opry. He travels by car with his teenage nephew (Kyle Eastwood) and the boy's aged grandfather(John McIntire), and the three get into a series of mild adventures. Co-stars include Alexa Kenin, Verna Bloom, Matt Clark, Barry Corbin, Jerry Hardin, Gary Grubbs, Tim Thomerson, Joe Regalbuto, Tracey Walter, Charles Cyphers, Porter Wagoner, and Marty Robbins. It's not terribly memorable, but not a complete waste either, especially for Eastwood fans who want to see him outside of his usual persona.

 

 

Rewatch. Source: DVD.

[GregoryPeckfan]

Somehow I published the same thing twice when all I wanted to do was edit the spelling of "actresses."

 

I wanted to delete the whole thing but did not know how.

 

 

Edited February 7, 2016 by GregoryPeckfan

[GregoryPeckfan]

YOUNG MAN WITH IDEAS starring Glenn Ford, Ruth Roman, and Nina Foch:

 

I have had this recorded by PVR waiting for me for about a month, and my the 20% of Ford's films I've not yet seen gets smaller and smaller.

 

 

Glenn Ford and Ruth Roman are married with two girls and a baby boy and Ford has just helped win his firm their latest case.  Roman wants him to ask for a partnership.  The couple go to a party where she drinks a lot and when her husband doesn't get the praise she feel he deserves announces to the party what she really thinks.  When he finally does ask for a partnership at her bidding he is fired.

 

So far sounds like any other film, but then they move the family to California.  He needs to pass the bar.  Meanwhile, the home they are renting has been the site of a bookie joint.  The phone rings all the time asking for bets and eventually Roman says yes to a bet not realizing that it is taken seriously -of course the horse will win at extremely high odds.

 

Meanwhile, Ford has been working very unsuccessfully as a bill collector in an office where Nina Foch works too.  She has been trying to pass the bar exam too and wants Ford to help her study.  She has creative ideas for how he is to get the in debt to talk to him/let him into their homes.  But he is no good at it. 

 

Enter Sheldon Leonard and his friends who insist that he pay the $800.00 that is owed on the debt.  The resulting fight lands them all in jail and Ford refuses to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay the fine.  Instead, he acts as his own defence lawyer while the others have their own lawyer.

 

 

I quite enjoyed this comedy overall.  I must admit, though, that if I hadn't known it was a comedy, I might have gotten a bit bogged down with the time that he never seemed able to impress his wife with his ability to do a good job.  If I didn't know that Glenn Ford did a lot of film noir and that, no, his family did not always get through the film unscathed  - read The Big Heat - I might of thought that this was another film noir that I didn't know about.

 

It just goes to show how fine a line there can be between a comedy and a tragedy in a film and how skilled actors and actreses can always keep you guessing.

 

[GregoryPeckfan]

 

How did my edited post end up the post that was the review of this film and my edit end up an entirely different post?

 

Many thanks for Speedy  giving me the shortcuts.  Now if I could figure out why I could not just delete my repeated post????????

 

Oh, dear.

 

Can't I just submit a handwritten review?

[LonesomePolecat]

How did my edited post end up the post that was the review of this film and my edit end up an entirely different post?

 

Many thanks for Speedy  giving me the shortcuts.  Now if I could figure out why I could not just delete my repeated post????????

 

Oh, dear.

 

Can't I just submit a handwritten review?

Whenever I get mad at a machine, I bring up this quote that Glenn Ford said in TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON while explaining a payroll error:

"Well, sir, machines have always been my mortal enemies. I don't think they're inanimate at all. They are full of malice and ill will!"

[speedracer5]

Somehow I published the same thing twice when all I wanted to do was edit the spelling of "actresses."

 

I wanted to delete the whole thing but did not know how.

 

You're not missing anything.

 

You cannot delete posts.  The best thing to do is "edit," and then erase the text and replace it with "delete."  The moderator has to remove the post.

[SansFin]

Whenever I get mad at a machine, I bring up this quote that Glenn Ford said in TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON while explaining a payroll error:

"Well, sir, machines have always been my mortal enemies. I don't think they're inanimate at all. They are full of malice and ill will!"

 

 

Resistentialism - a theory to describe seemingly spiteful behavior manifested by inanimate objects where objects that cause problems are said to exhibit a high degree of malice toward humans.

[darkblue]

Resistentialism - a theory to describe seemingly spiteful behavior manifested by inanimate objects where objects that cause problems are said to exhibit a high degree of malice toward humans.

 

Like pinball machines that "tilt" way too easy.

[GregoryPeckfan]

Whenever I get mad at a machine, I bring up this quote that Glenn Ford said in TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON while explaining a payroll error:

"Well, sir, machines have always been my mortal enemies. I don't think they're inanimate at all. They are full of malice and ill will!"

I love TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON,  That's a great quote.

[Swithin]

Whenever I get mad at a machine, I bring up this quote that Glenn Ford said in TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON while explaining a payroll error:

"Well, sir, machines have always been my mortal enemies. I don't think they're inanimate at all. They are full of malice and ill will!"

 

I have a sad story somewhat related to Teahouse of the August Moon. For a project I was working on, I needed to get the rights to a play that was written by John Patrick, who wrote Teahouse (the play and screenplay).  I had the impression that he was still living -- this was the mid 1990s. I finally found out that he had recently lived in a nursing home in Florida and that he had (presumably) killed himself by putting a plastic bag over his head. He was 90 when he died. Very sad.

[LawrenceA]

HORROR PLANET - (5/10) - British entry in the ALIEN copycat fad. A contingent of scientists are conducting archeological research on what wiped out an alien civilization on a distant planet. They soon release a bug-eyed monster that quickly impregnates one of the female doctors. The scientists close themselves off to wait for help to arrive from off-planet, but the pregnant doctor turns murderous, so they're not safe anywhere!

 

Robin Clarke, Stephanie Beacham, and Judy Geeson (as the pregnant murderess) star, with a young and confused Victoria Tennant in the supporting cast. The creature looks terrible, the costumes are bad, and you really could not care less about what happens to anybody. There are a couple of memorable moments that raise it slightly above the lower depths, though.

 

Rewatch. Source: DVD, under the alternate title INSEMINOID.

[LawrenceA]

THE LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN - (6/10) - Cannon Films took a break from shoot 'em ups and ninja movies to make this R-rated teen comedy with some serious moments. Three high school buddies try to have a good time and meet girls, but things get complicated when two go after the same girl. Lawrence Monoson, Steve Antin and Joe Rubbo star as the three friends, with Diane Franklin as the object of their affection and Kimmy Robertson (later in TWIN PEAKS) as her nerdy friend. Louisa Moritz has a fun bit as a lonely housewife as well. The real star of the movie is the soundtrack, with well-known tunes from the 70s and early 80s by artists including U2, The Cars, The Police, Devo, Journey, REO Speedwagon, Human League, The Commodores, Oingo Boingo, and Blondie.

 

The situations are pretty standard, and there's not a lot of new ground covered here. The actors are rather bland, and what jokes are there aren't ever really laugh out loud funny. The later dramatic bits are a little more effective.

 

Rewatch. Source: DVD.

[MCannady1]

How did my edited post end up the post that was the review of this film and my edit end up an entirely different post?

 

Many thanks for Speedy  giving me the shortcuts.  Now if I could figure out why I could not just delete my repeated post????????

 

Oh, dear.

 

Can't I just submit a handwritten review?

Me too!  MY posts end up in different places; not where they should be sometimes.  It is probably something I did, but it gets frustrating.    THe Shortcuts are good and I am actually liking them too.  Sometimes I would love to submit a handwritten review!

 

I remember as a long-time secretary for a defense company the nervous feeling we all had when they installed PCs in the early 80's..  Worse yet, we had to learn how to use them!  A friend and I might as well have  said "Hi" to the mouse, for the classes were not

very illuminating.  We learned, though. by rote.

 

 One secretary was a real dynamo and just seemed born to work computers/  She was many years older than us all but was not floored by computers!  She would snatch people's work from their typewriters and sit down to her computer - yes, the work was done faster and you could even make changes really skilfully!  We were all used to Cut and Paste literally and Avery to solve our troubles!  She actually laughed at her boss who did not have a clue!  I faced each new work day with some trepidation.  Finally, something clicked!   Soon all the male bosses were computer savvy and we secretaries were not as well thought of. 

 

IT was like Shorthand which I had learned in my Junior and Senior high school years - just recently, you know - LOL!    Our teacher said one day we would wake up and all would stop looking like Sanskrit.  She was right!  Even today I use it for my Shopping List, but once had real concerns learning it.  Later it came in handy for a lot of dictation.  Now it is no longer required in offices.

 

The typewriter set the stage for Word with Windows.  Today I have fun at the computer here, but sometimes a post disappears into the Neverlands (Peter Pan's hiding places!).  And some e-mails floating in Cyber Space .... LOL!

[MCannady1]

I have a sad story somewhat related to Teahouse of the August Moon. For a project I was working on, I needed to get the rights to a play that was written by John Patrick, who wrote Teahouse (the play and screenplay).  I had the impression that he was still living -- this was the mid 1990s. I finally found out that he had recently lived in a nursing home in Florida and that he had (presumably) killed himself by putting a plastic bag over his head. He was 90 when he died. Very sad.

Good movie.  I was sad to learn what became of John Patrick who wrote Teahouse.  Sometimes it is very sad  to see what has become of celebrities we admire.  The recent demise of some of our current favorites and some past ones can be very disillusioning.  Our whole family is and was fond of Robin Williams.  Even Mom loved Mrs. Doubtfire in the 90's. 

 

Here was a man who had so much talent!  I later learned that he had a severe depression and had physical ailments which were not treatable.  But as Mrs. Doubtfire this guy was classy and hilarious!  Not a week goes by that we don't quote from the movie.  OF course his other films were of note as well,  But in this film he seemed timeless and invincible and so caring for his children....

 

In watching some pre-code films I looked up Robert Ames who was very good in some of them.  Sadly, he and his wife (also an actress) could not get good movie parts,  Not long after the Depression they both committed suicide.  Another sad story to add to the

saga of people we admire.   Even celebrities we don't know much about were part of a great collage of the Golden Age of films.

 

Today we have some notable films and their actors and actresses are important to our current "Golden Age" of films.

[MCannady1]

I love TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON,  That's a great quote.

I like this too!  A great quote from a very good movie.

[LornaHansonForbes]

HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH -

 

"Two more days 'til Halloween, Halloween, Halloween

  two more days 'til Halloween, Sil-ver Sham-rock!"

Rewatch.   Source:  DVD

 

Oh God.

This movie.

If ever the term "insidious" were a more apt description for anything ever made in every medium ever, I know it not.

 

This film gets in your brain and lays eggs.

 

The director credit should have read "A Sick ****."

 

Brughhhghghghghghghghghgh....