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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 7, 2014 23:11:28 GMT -5
Rock & Rule (1983)
Voices of Don Franks,Susan Roman,Paul Le Mat,Catherine O'Hara
Music Of:Cheap Trick,Blondie,Lou Reed,Iggy Pop,Earth,Wind & Fire
D:Clive A. Smith
In the future,after a World War mutated street animals as the dominant species,a malevolent rock star kidnaps a female singer to use her voice to summon a demon.Her rock band is determined to get her back
The animation quality is pretty good for a fairly new Canadian company called Nelvana.However most characters look so much like regular humans and the mutant animal thing has nothing to do with the story so I'm confused why its there.I think the animators were confused as well .
The female singer,Angel, is the target for the evil Mok since only her voice has the proper qualities to invoke the demon.Why Mok wants the demon to appear is not explained.Angel belongs to a group headed by lead guitarist and singer Omar.I find him shallow,spoiled,self-centered and more annoying then the villian of the story.Since this is 1983 you get alot of arcade video game images and sounds.
The soundtrack is decent,a good lineup of performers with original music for this feature.They didn't bring their "A" material,nothing from the sountrack crossed over as a radio hit.But its always good to hear Lou Reed once again
I'm sure this movie has its cult following,it has its detractors as well.This is my first viewing of it after all these years and its meh.5 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 7, 2014 23:43:55 GMT -5
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Ralph Meeker,Albert Dekker,Paul Stewart,Wesley Addy,Strother Martin,Marion Carr
D-Robert Aldrich
Mickey Spillane's classic tale of Private Investigator Mike Hammer getting involved in a murder case after he gives a lift to Christina Bailey (Cloris Leachman). She is obviously on the run as she is barefoot and wearing nothing but a trench coat. Whoever was after her eventually catches up with them. She has information they want but dies while being questioned. They fake an accident by pushing Hammer's car off the road but he survives, waking up in the hospital two weeks later. As he investigates Christina's death he's told by the police to stay out of it but the hard-nosed PI proceeds anyways. Little did he know that Christina's secret would lead to death and destruction.
Why everyone on this website needs to see this movie at least once:
Of all the people who have worked in the comics field,no one has contributed more to pop culture as Mickey Spillane.You can argue its Stan Lee,but even he needed help from Kirby,Ditko and the army of creators that came after him.Spillane did it alone by creating the archetype two-fisted PI that spun off into movies,TV shows and comicstrips.The paperback book format owes to the popularity of Mike Hammer for its rousing start.Characters ranging from James Bond and The Punisher also have to pay homage
The movie's opening is one of cinema's greatest
Should be on everyone's list of 5 of the greatest Film Noirs of all time
The Kefauver Commision that investigated comicbook's corrupting influence on American Youth singled this film out as the #1 menace to American society
Those are my reasons you should see it.The Criterion DVD includes a half hour doc by Max Allen Collins (Ms Tree,Road To Perdition) about Mickey Spillane and Mike Hammer.Also a 10 minute tribute by director Alex Cox,a piece on screenwriter A.I.Bezzerides,a video piece on the film locations in Los Angeles,the altered ending,trailer and a booklet essay
Not enough stars to give
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 8, 2014 3:55:43 GMT -5
On The Waterfront (1954)
Marlon Brando,Eva Marie Saint,Karl Malden,Lee J Cobb,Rod Steiger,Pat Henning,Leif Erikson,Martin Balsam,Fred Gwynne
D-Elia Kazan
An ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman (Brando) struggles with his conscious after witnessing a few murders ordered by the corrupt union bosses.
I watched this again after a few decades and there's no point for me to reiterate why this is amongst the finest movies ever made.Either you've seen,mean to see it or you're silly for not seeing it.I will tell you however about Criterion's 3 disc edition and why this company is revered amongst cinephiles
You get 3 different aspect versions of the film-full screen,1:66:1widescreen and 1:85:1 as well
An audio commentary from Kazan biographers
A 1 hr doc Elia Kazan :An Outsider
A 2001 Kazan interview
The theatrical trailer
An analysis of the famous taxi scene
An interview with filmmaker Martin Scorsese and film critic Kent Jones
An interview with Eva Marie Saint
An interview with Thomas Hanley who played Tommy Collins
A doc entitled "I'm Standin' Over Here Now" provides a general overview of the film's production and influence
Who is Mr. Big?", an interview with author James Fisher which details the period that On the Waterfront depicts
An analysis of the film's score
A nice thick booklet
Thats a sick amount of supplements
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 9, 2014 7:28:31 GMT -5
The Prizefighter And The Lady (1933)
Myrna Loy,Max Baer,Primo Carnera,Jack Dempsey,Walter Huston,Otto Kruger
D-W.S. Van Dyke and Howard Hawks
Steve (Baer)is just a bartender when Edwin J. Bennett, known as the Professor (Huston), starts training him for the boxing ring. While doing road work, he witnesses an auto crash.In the car is Belle Mercer (Loy). Steve takes Belle to a farmhouse and is smitten by her, but she is mob racketeer Willie Ryan's (Kruger) Girl. Belle leaves the mobster for Steve and they quickly marry. Then Steve starts training in ernest and is 19 for 19 in the ring. However, he has an eye for the women and an expanding ego to match. And Ryan has vowed if Steve ever hurts his wife he'll kill Steve
A movie starring real-life current boxers.When the movie was released Max Baer was a top heavyweight contender who already had killed a man in the ring. Baer also defeated Hitler's favorite boxer Max Schmelling,a stinging defeat for the Nazi's since Baer was Jewish.And this film is his acting debuted and he carries it off well.He even gets to do some dancing.But he's not all-hero because he likes the girls and just can't control himself.Its hard to root for a guy who breaks Myrna Loy's heart.
The big final fight is against Primo Carnera who really was the heavyweight champion of the world.Former champ Jack Dempsey is the referree.Its quite an effective 10 round match between the two.In fact,a year after the movie,the two fought for real with Baer knocking down Carnera 11 times and becoming Champion of the World.Baer credits this movie where he studied Primera's style and had him figured out.In fact,after watching this film you might want to watch The Cinderella Man with Russell Crowe which shows how James Braddock in a huge upset ,took the belt away from Baer.Baer fought until 1941 with a 71-13 record with 53 knockouts.He was also in 20 other movies.And he's the father of Max Baer Jr or rather Jethro from The Beverly Hillbillies
The movie also has cameos of former boxing and wrestling greats like James J.Jeffries,Frank Moran and Ed "Strangler" Lewis.Walter Huston hams it up as the alcoholic trainer .Myrna Loy is great,a year away from The Thin Man movie.A fascinating film for its boxing backgroud. 7 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 9, 2014 8:07:22 GMT -5
The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960)
Ray Danton,Karen Steele,Elaine Stewart,Simon Oakland,Robert Lowery,Warren Oates,Dyan Cannon,Jesse White,Sid Melton
D-Budd Boetticher
Jack "Legs" Diamond (Denton)and his sickly brother (Oates) arrive in prohibition New York as jewel thieves. After a spell in jail the coldly ambitious Diamond hits on the idea of stealing from thieves himself, and sets about getting close to gangster boss Arnold Rothstein (Lowery) to move in on his booze, girls, gambling, and drugs operations.
An effective and neglected Roaring 20s film with Denton playing a suave gangster determined to rise in the ranks.The movie has a brisk pace,the women (Steele,Stewart and Dyan Cannon's debut) are gorgeous.I never noticed actor Ray Danton before.He did a lot of TV work as well as Italian cinema but he successfully carries this movie.He's a complete bastard from beginning to end.And thats entertainment
The Untouchables was a highly rated TV show when this was released and maybe it was meant to ride on the TV show's coat tails.Zit stands tall on its own. 9 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 9, 2014 9:36:21 GMT -5
Gulliver's Travels (1939)
Voices:Pinto Colvig,Jack Mercer,Sam Parker,Tedd Pierce
D-Dave Fleischer
Gulliver washes ashore on Lilliput and attempts to prevent war between that tiny kingdom and its equally-miniscule rival, Blefiscu, as well as smooth the way for the romance between the Princess and Prince of the opposing lands. In this he is alternately aided and hampered by the Lilliputian town crier and general fussbudget, Gabby. A life-threatening situation develops when the bumbling trio of Blefiscu spies, Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch, manage to steal Gulliver's pistol.
First full length animated feature from a studio other than Disney.And I loved everything that the Fleischer studio produced from Popeye,Superman,Betty Boop and Koko the Clown.Since this is in public domain its all over the place for free or on cheaply made DVDs.My copy is from Wellspring and is decent looking with 2 Gabby short cartoons and a 7 minuette color featurette behind-the-scenes of the Fleischer studios
I've seen this plenty of times on TV as a child and it still holds up.Great hand painted art utilizing the rotorscoping process.700 artists worked on this for over 1 and 1/2 years.Hi Ho Hi Ho Its Off To Work We Go and Its A Hap Hap Happy Day live on 75 years later.Gulliver sounds like Gary Cooper to me.Jack Mercer was the voice of one of the kings but is better known as the voice of Popeye.Walt Disney was supposedly unimpressed by this movie ("Our second-string animators can do better").I think it still stands up to all the Disney animation that came out at that time.9 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 9, 2014 22:44:50 GMT -5
The Prowler (1951)
Van Heflin,Evelyn Keyes
D-Joseph Losey
When Susan Gilvray (Keyes) reports a prowler outside her house police officer Webb Garwood (Heflin)investigates and lust between the two ignites.But what to do about Susan's husband,a late night disc jockey?
Nothing like discovering an old film noir that blows you away with its quality and subversion.Fans of the genre rate this as one of the best and for good reason.Written by Dalton Trumbo using a front for the credit (Trumbo recently blacklisted).The movie uses the perversity of a cop to call attention to the danger of misuse of power.It comments on class distinction between the cop and the Susan's well to do life style.Guilt and paranoia is pervasive through out the second half.
The two characters are three dimensional.Susan is neither innocent nor evil.Officer Webb is fascinatingly portrayed by Van Heflin,filled with quirks and facial contorsions depicting a man driven by lust,jealousy and drive for the American dream of being his own boss.
If you like film noir,if you like suspenseful B-movies,then this will be nirvanna.Novelist James Ellroy ("L.A. Confidential", "The Black Dahlia") once called this his favorite film and described it as "a masterpiece of sexual creepiness, institutional corruption and suffocating, ugly passion."
I couldn't say it better .You even get Madge Blake (Batman's Aunt Harriet)10 of 10 stars
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2014 23:14:55 GMT -5
My favourite western of all time. I can't stand John Wayne.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 10, 2014 9:04:31 GMT -5
The Rack (1956)
Paul Newman,Walter Pidgeon,Anne Francis,Wendell Corey,Edmond O'Brien,Lee Marvin,Cloris Leachman
D-Arnold Laven
Captain Edward Hall (Newman) returns to the USA after two years in a prison camp in the Korean war. There is testimony that he helped the Chinese convince the other prisoners that they were fighting an unjust war. Edward Hall is now up for court-martial for collaboration with the enemy. Where does loyalty end in a prison camp, when the camp is a living hell?
Based on a teleplay by Rod Serling.A memorable performance by Paul Newman in his 3rd movie.
Walter Pidgeon plays his army father,Anne Francis his sister-in-law. The same year,those two are father and daughter in Forbidden Planet.The movie winds up as a courtroom drama.No flashbacks to the Korean prison camp,just straightforward testimony.It does raise interesting questioms about the limits one is expected to endure torture before betraying his country.Also about the difference between physical and psychological torture.Movies of this type generally don't do well in the box-office being so downbeat but nevertheless are important. 8 of 10 stars
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Post by MDG on Jul 10, 2014 9:29:14 GMT -5
The Prowler (1951)
Van Heflin,Evelyn Keyes
D-Joseph Losey
... Nothing like discovering an old film noir that blows you away with its quality and subversion.Fans of the genre rate this as one of the best and for good reason.Written by Dalton Trumbo using a front for the credit (Trumbo recently blacklisted). There are a lot of low-budget noirs from the early 50s that can get pretty brutal. Check out Hell Bound if you have Amazon Prime. Another interesting one is The Killer is Loose. And Woman on the Run. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 11, 2014 3:54:10 GMT -5
Coonskin (1974)
Voices of Barry White,Charles Gordone,Scatman Crouthers,Philip Michael Thomas
D-Ralph Bakshi
A satire of race relations in America. Live-action sequences of a prison break bracket the animated story of Brother Rabbit, Brother Bear, and Preacher Fox, who rise to the top of the crime ranks in Harlem by going up against a con-man, a racist cop, and the Mafia.
Ultra violent and offensive to all races.Using the Blaxploitation genre and updating the characters from The Song From The South,this movie was highly controversial when released.The Congress of Racial Equality protested in front of theaters that played it.The NAACP didn't go quite that far but expressed deep concern of the films negative stereotypes.The movie changed its name a few times,to Bustin' Out and Street Fight for the home video market.
Black radical groups are lampooned as well as racist cops and the mafia.The early 70s was a time when black comedies and un-PC movies didn't pull any punches.This could have been one of the movies that went so far that the permissiveness of its times started to wane and the pendulum towards conservatism slowly began to swing in that direction.
Not a bad movie but not pleasant to watch.I still prefer Fritz The Cat.And unfortunately Barry White never gets to sing in the film.Scatman Crothers does do an attention-getting song called
"Ah'm A Nigger Man". 6 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 11, 2014 4:07:59 GMT -5
The Racket (1951)
Robert Mitchum,Robert Ryan,Lizabeth Scott,William Talman,Ray Collins,William Conrad,Les Treymane
D-John Cromwell
The big national crime syndicate has moved into town, partnering up with local crime boss Nick Scanlon (Ryan). There are only two problems: First, Nick is the violent type, preferring to do things the old-fashioned way instead of using the syndicate's more genteel methods. The second problem is McQuigg (Mitchum), the only honest police captain on the force, and his loyal patrolman, Johnson (Talman). Together, they take on the violent Nick and try to foil the syndicate's plans to elect Welch (Collins), the crooked prosecutor running for a crooked judgeship. Irene Hayes (Scott),a nightclub singer is also a reluctant witness to Scanlon's many crimes
Some places list this as a film noir but I think its just a routine crime melodrama.It was actually a stage play in 1927 and then made into a silent film.A great cast and many recognizable character actor faces.I was disappointed though, expecting more based on the cast.Everyone acts within the parameters of their thin sterotypes and there are no suprises to the storyline.Robert Ryan always makes a great villian,Mitchum mostly sleepwalks thru the film
5 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 11, 2014 7:30:45 GMT -5
Don't Make Waves (1967)
Tony Curtis,Claudis Cardinale,Robert Webber,Sharon Tate,Joanna Barnes,David Draper,Mort Sahl,Jim Backus
D-Alexander MacKendrick
Carlo Cofield (Tony Curtis) loses his auto and possessions when Laura Calafatti (Cardinale) accidently pushes his car down the Malibu cliff.He stays the night at her apartment and learns she's a kept woman of a married man running a swimming pool company.That info lands Carlo a job as a salesman where he mingles with the Malibu community- surfers, bodybuilders, acrobats, . . . and Sharon Tate as a skydiver named Malibu who gives Curtis the rapture of artificial respiration when he is conked on the head by a flying surfboard. This is the '60s American Dream: youth and beauty and money and sex in Southern California.
What does this movie want to be? One of the dozens of "sex" comedies Tony Curtis made during this time period or a beach blanket bingo film.Its a combo of the two and not especially significant except for a few things:
The Byrds do the title song for the movie
The first significant American role for the beautiful Sharon Tate.Plenty of bikini scenes including a few minutes on a trampoline.I'm sure the producers of Son Of The Beach saw this movie
David Draper,Mr America of 1966 gets a chance to diplay his pecs and try to act
Jim Backus does his Mr Magoo voice for his cameo
See a cliffside Malibu beach house slide down the mountainside during a rain storm.See the 3 bickering couples inside never panic,in fact they use the opportunity to patch up all their relationship problems and emerge as totally happy couples
The Malibu lanscape looked beautiful back in 1966 before all the overdevelopement subsequently.
Otherwise,Tony Curtis was getting too old for these type of films while Claudia Cardinale,beautiful and showing off her curves,was an annoying character. 4 of 10 stars
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 11, 2014 16:15:05 GMT -5
Ace of Aces (1933)
Richard Dix, Elizabeth Allan, Ralph Bellamy
D-J. Walter Ruben
TCM is showing WWI movies every Friday this month and I'm keeping track of what they're showing because I think great WWI movies are kind of rare. There's Paths of Glory and maybe All Quiet on the Western Front (which I think is pretty good, but not great). And Wings, that's pretty good. There are a number of WWI movies that I like, but not very many great ones. (And I'm a bit of a WWI buff. I read so many books about WWI in the 1990s! Just one after another for a few years.)
(I suspect the best WWI movie never made is the movie they're making in The Stunt Man. If I were to make a "Best WWI movies" list, The Stunt Man would be on it.)
But when you consider the great WWII movies, like The Sands of Iwo Jima or The Dirty Dozen or The Battle of the Bulge or The Longest Day or Operation Tokyo or Tora! Tora Tora! or The Thin Red Line or even Slaughterhouse Five, the great World War I movies pale in comparison.
I'm very much looking forward to The Big Parade, playing later tonight. I've never seen it, and it's one of the major movies missing from my list of most important silent films. I hear it's good.
And today, I watched The Ace of Aces, a very interesting WWI film from 1933. I was actually doing other things when it started, mostly revolving around fixing breakfast, and I didn't watch the first twenty minutes that closely, so it might even be better that I think it was.
Richard Dix is a sculptor and as the movie starts, he's with his girl (Elizabeth Allan) in the garden and they're talking about the future and he's going to make her proud and he's just full of idealism and optimism for the progress of man. (Or something. This is where I was listening kind of half-assedly while I was making breakfast.) Then they walk back in the house and there's a bunch of people (some kind of party going on) and some random dude walk in and says: "Have ya heard? Wilson's declared war on Germany!"
In the next scene, Rocky (that's Richard Dix's name in the movie) is in his studio working on his art and his girl comes in (she's in uniform, about to go to France) and starts to give him crap about not signing up for the war. He tells her that because of his ideals, he can't condone killing anyone and he doesn't believe in the war. Then he starts to tell her about lemmings, and how they all head for the sea and jump off cliffs and swim around until they drown, and that's what war fever seems like to him. And she gets kind of mad at him because she doesn't think she's a lemming.
And then I was out of the room for about two minutes and when I came back, Rocky was in France being introduced to the rest of the guys in his unit and getting ready to go on his first patrol over German lines. So I guess his girl made him feel bad so he enlisted and went into the air corps and through the training while I was gone. (Those early 1930s movies can move pretty fast.)
By the way, Richard Dix looks kind of like Stephen Fry (of Fry and Laurie), which was very amusing at times.
And this is where the movie gets really good, really fast. The pilots are a bunch of characters, they joke around in the barracks and drink a lot, they have really neat symbols on their planes, etc. And they have mascots! One guy has a baby chimp, another guy has a pig with an Iron Cross tattooed on its side, there's a dog and a parrot ... and Rocky has a lion cub! It's like a damn comic book!
And they go on missions and there's some really cool aerial photography!
Anyway, Rocky very quickly gets over his idealism and finds that he likes the glory associated with bringing down an enemy pilot. He becomes obsessed with becoming a real ace and bringing down as many enemy planes as possible. What this obsession does to him and how he deals with it - especially after he runs into his girl again in Paris - is the crux of the film.
It's pretty close to being a great film. Action, adventure, a few laughs, and a message that's not exactly subtle but it sure doesn't dominate the film until the last few minutes. This is one of the films of the 1930s that makes it so easy for me to say that the 1930s are my favorite decade for the movies!
I'll give it 8 stars. Easy. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 11, 2014 16:19:02 GMT -5
Waterloo Bridge is on right now. I'm taping it. But I was watching it while I was writing the review for Ace of Aces. And it looks pretty good! It's directed by James Whale! And I'd forgotten how great Mae Clarke is. Looking forward to watching the whole thing in a bit.
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