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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 31, 2014 19:34:37 GMT -5
That would be Appointment With Danger which I watched about 2-3 months ago. Starring Alan Ladd as a Postal Inspector and a Nun as the chief witness.Webb and Morgan were some slimey thugs Are you watching these on Amazon Instant? Make sure to check out Cry Danger. Everything I've reviewed was via DVD viewing, except for 2 Charlie Chan films that never made it to that format Detective Story is favorite Burt Mustin was born 80 years old |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 31, 2014 23:09:29 GMT -5
The Bridge At Remagen (1969)
George Segel, Ben Gazarra, Robert Vaughn, Bradford Dillman, E.G. Marshall, Peter Van Eyck, Bo Hopkins
D-John Guillermin
In the last days of World War II, the Allied Army desperatly searched for a bridgehead across the impenetrable Rhein River, in order to launch a major assault into the center of Germany. "Bridge at Remagen" tells the true story of the battle for this last bridgehead, from both the German and American perspective.
A very good film, but sometimes the story behind the scenes is even more interesting:
One of the first films to be shot behind the Iron Curtain, filming began in 1968 in Czecholslovakia. That nation was seen by Russia as becoming too liberal in its values, and in attempting to justify the forthcoming invasion by the USSR, Soviet agents spread the rumor that the American soldiers in the film were real. Most of them, in fact, were played by Czech students. Pictures of stored movie props were published as "proof" of weapons shipments from the US to arm local "reactionaries". It was even reported that American tanks were rolling through the streets and occupying the towns. Filming was interrupted by the Soviet invasion of August 1968. Cast and crew were taken to safety in a convoy of 28 taxis, except for Robert Logan, who stayed behind with film gear in order to capture the invasion on film and photo. The movie was completed in Italy and Austria.
The movie itself bombed at the box office. 1969 was not a good year for war films. The Tet offensive in Vietnam in 1968 proved the war would be going on for the unseeable future. American casualties were mounting up,demonstrations against the war were occuring daily,TV news was saturated with on-the-spot war footage. War was not a topic one would look forward to going to the cinema and relax with a box of popcorn.
A shame because this is a very good war film. The cast do an excellent job,the location and war effects are realistic. You see both sides, German and American, and both are dealt with two dimensionally, good and bad.
This would be Peter van Eyck's final film. A gritty,forgotten little gem 8 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 31, 2014 23:21:12 GMT -5
Death Race 2000 (1975)
David Carradine, Sly Stallone,Simone Griffeth, Mary Woronov
D-Paul Bartel
Frankenstein (Carradine) is a champion of a brutal cross-country car race of the future where pedestrians are run down for points. His rivals include Machine Gun Joe Viterbo (Stallone), Calamity Jane (Woronov) and Nero The Hero. meanwhile a rebel group is looking to end these races by subterfuge and sabotage.
I saw this in the theaters in '75 and my opinion still has not changed.What could have been a cool movie has just too many ridiculous moments and ultra-cheapo effects. Its got a big cult following, enough to get a remake a while back, but I struggled getting to the end of this nonsense last night and I'm not willing to struggle writing any more about it. Well, seeing a young Stallone was OK. 3 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 1, 2014 1:53:06 GMT -5
The Lion King (1994)
Voices of Johnathon Taylor Thomas,Matthew Broderick,James Earl Jones,Jeremy Irons,Nathan Lane,Whoopie Goldberg,Moira Kelly,Robert Guillaume,Rowan Atkinson,Madge Sinclair,Cheech Marin
D-Roger Allers,Rob Minkoff
A lion prince, Simba, is born in Africa and the animals of the Pride Lands pay tribute. Later Simba is told by his father, King Mufasa, that when Mufasa dies, Simba will become King of the Pride Lands. Simba's Uncle Scar would have been king after Mufasa had Mufasa not had a child. Fuelled by rage, Scar plots to kill Mufasa and Simba so he is able to take over the throne. He uses the hyenas to cause a stampede through the canyon where Mufasa and Simba are, and personally ensures Mufasa falls to his death. Simba survives so Scar implies that the stampede was Simba's fault and that the pride will blame him. Simba flees the Pride Lands meaning never to return home. Simba is found, collapsed with exhaustion, by Timon the Meerkat, and Pumbaa the Warthog, and the trio become fast friends. Simba stays with them well into adulthood until finally convinced to return home and challenge Scar for leadership of the pack
Disney strikes gold and produces the greatest animated feature of all time-if money is any judge of it. Artistically, there are no faults. Top notch story (An Original!!!), voicework,animation,songs,characterization,pathos,humor,moral.But the money-holy jesus
For its $45 million budget,as of last year, the film itself has raked in $1 Billion dollars worldwide.It is the #1 Home Video product which means you can add another Billion or 2 or 3.The Broadway play debuted in 1997 and is still going strong at close to 7,000 performances. The song "Can't You Feel The Love Tonight"helped revive Elton John's career. God knows what the merchandising has produced for the coffers. Some people at Disney got nice Xmas bonuses
10 of 10 stars
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Post by DubipR on Aug 1, 2014 8:34:20 GMT -5
Last night on TCM, there was a little celebration of Mel Brooks with some of his films:
- The Twelve Chairs - Silent Movie - High Anxiety - To Be Or Not To Be
It's been years since I've watched The Twelve Chairs and High Anxiety. Both hold up in its comedy, but the Twelve Chairs is a bit slow. It's also Frank Langella's first screen role. High Anxiety is one of Brook's underrated comedies; truly a brilliant cast.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2014 10:50:05 GMT -5
Death Race 2000 (1975)
David Carradine, Sly Stallone,Simone Griffeth, Mary Woronov
D-Paul Bartel
Frankenstein (Carradine) is a champion of a brutal cross-country car race of the future where pedestrians are run down for points. His rivals include Machine Gun Joe Viterbo (Stallone), Calamity Jane (Woronov) and Nero The Hero. meanwhile a rebel group is looking to end these races by subterfuge and sabotage. I saw this in the theaters in '75 and my opinion still has not changed.What could have been a cool movie has just too many ridiculous moments and ultra-cheapo effects. Its got a big cult following, enough to get a remake a while back, but I struggled getting to the end of this nonsense last night and I'm not willing to struggle writing any more about it. Well, seeing a young Stallone was OK. 3 of 10 stars I haven't seen the orignal but enjoyed the remakes, although it got a bit silly with the latest one (Part 3) which was filmed in South Africa. |
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Post by Rob Allen on Aug 1, 2014 11:55:49 GMT -5
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 1, 2014 23:21:25 GMT -5
The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
James Cagney,Bette Davis,Jack Carson,Eugene Pallette,Stuart Erwin,William Frawley,George Tobias,Harry Davenport
D-William Keighley
Oil heiress Joan (Davis)is going to elope with bandleader Allen (Carson) over her father's (Pallette) objections. Out-of-money pilot Steve(Cagney) is going to fly them to Nevada but makes a deal with her father to deliver her home unmarried. He flies off with her, an apparent kidnaping, but is forced down in the desert. The bandleader arrives with a preacher, the sherrif is on the trail of the kidnapper and the father is ready to pay
Cagney and Davis show off their comedic skills in this screwball yarn. Its the one where someone falls on a cactus plant every 15 minutes. I wouldn't think it would be worthwhile re-making this film, I just enjoy the stars and the excellent Warner Bros character actors go through their paces and look like they are enjoying themselves. This is the 2nd and final teaming of Cagney and Davis. The DVD comes with the wonderful Warner Night at the Movies with trailers,newsreel,cartoons and short subjects
7 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 2, 2014 2:24:16 GMT -5
Eating Raoul (1982)
Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, Buck Henry, Edie McClurg
D-Paul Bartel
Paul and Mary Bland (Bartel & Woronov) are struggling financially and have dreams of opening their own restaurant.They come up with a money making scheme. By placing sex ads in the Hollywood Free Press, they lure assorted perverts to their apartment, kill them and keep their cash. How to dispose the bodies is solved when they take Raoul in as their partner.
Moving on from Death Race 2000, Bartel writes,directs and acts on this quirky little black comedy. Paul and Mary are so nonchalant with their scheme and the parade of customers through their door are quite amusing. Look for Edie McClurg, the Egg Lady from Pink Flamingos with a cameo. I'm torn between this or Lust In The Dust as my favorite Bartel film
Los Lobos perform a spanish language version of Devil With The Blue Dress On. A sequel starring Chevy Chase was written where-in he blackmails the Blands about their murders. However Paul Bartel passed away in 2000 before filming began
The Criterion DVD has an anamorphic widescreen version along with 2 short films Bartel directed in the 60s, a half hour doc on the making of, gag reel and trailer
7 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 2, 2014 5:24:30 GMT -5
Elvis:Thats The Way it Is (1970)
Special Edition (2000)
Elvis Presley
D-Denis Sanders
1970 Concert footage and backstage documentary of singer Elvis Presley from a Las Vegas engagement.
The special edition eliminates the extraneous audience interviews and talking heads and inserts more backstage preparation and concert footage.The DVD has the original theatrical version as well for comparason.Theres 35 minutes of rehearsal including non-concert songs such as Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water and The Beatles' Get Back.Then comes 1 hour of concert footage gathered from 6 different shows.
Elvis is still in shape and fine voice at this point in time. Within 2 years that will not be the case-1972's Elvis On Tour shows him pale and putting on weight.During Love Me Tender Elvis goes down into the audience and kisses all the women that approach him.He travels a complete circuit, picking up innumerable viruses along the way. You can tell he got a chubby when he retakes the stage
I was never an Elvis fan.When I became musically aware The Beatles had debuted and Elvis was a guy that made alot of silly movies.But there was no denying his early,raw rock n roll persona before the army drafted him. And starting with his 1968 Comeback TV special along with a few new good songs like Suspicious Minds he was revitilizing his career.A shame that he settled for the Vegas Circuit and included enough schmaltzy songs in his repertoire to keep Aunt Biddy happy
This movie,along with the '68 TV special is all the live Elvis you'd need from his later years
8 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 2, 2014 10:11:56 GMT -5
Pocahontas (1995)
Voices of Irene Bedard,Mel Gibson,David Ogden Stiers,Christian Bale,Linda Hunt,John Kassir
D-Mike Gabriel,Eric Goldberg
Capt. John Smith leads a rag-tag band of English sailors & soldiers to the New World to plunder its riches for England (or, more precisely, for Governor Ratcliffe, who comes along for the ride). Meanwhile, in this "New World," Chief Powhatan has pledged his daughter, Pocahontas, to be married to the village's greatest warrior. Pocahontas, however, is hesitant after a vision foretells a change is coming. Her life does indeed change when the English ship lands near her village. Between Ratcliffe, who believes the "savages" are hiding the gold he expected to find, and Powhatan, who believes these pale newcomers will destroy their land, Smith and Pocahontas have a difficult time preventing all-out war, and saving their love for each other.
Pocahontas and The Lion King were in developement together and Pocahontas was percieved as the prestige project. More adult in nature dealing with real-life subject matter.A flat,angular animation style was employed resulting in fluid movements,complex colors and beautiful emotive faces. No talking animals for this movie. However since it didn't appeal to children like its predecessors and no uptick in adult admissions,the film only did 1/3 the box office of The Lion King. No tears,please, thats still $350 million on a $50 million budget
The songs are decent and the film won an Oscar for best song and score.It had its world premiere in front of 100,000 people in NYC's Central Park.Native Americans were used for voice actors as well as consultants. Still the film came under some criticism by activists for stereotyping
Not historically accurate but you shouldn't be expecting that. A splendid effort by Disney and kudos for not taking the easy way. 9 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 4, 2014 3:06:55 GMT -5
The Brass Bottle (1963)
Tony Randall, Burl Ives, Barbara Eden, Edward Andrews
D-Harry Keller
Comedy about the genie who comes out of a bottle to serve his new master. The only problem is that instead of helping his master, the genie (Burl Ives) tends to get his master (Tony Randall) into more predicaments than he gets him out of.
Possibly the inspiration to launch the TV show I Dream Of Jeannie 2 years later with the same Barbara Eden. This version has the master as an architect, Barbara Eden as his fiancee who thinks he's going crazy with his belief in genies and edward Andrews as the fiancee's father who is opposed to the marriage. Just like the TV show, Burl Ives simply wishes to please his master but all his attempts backfire since he's unaware of the customs of the modern world
Its a one joke movie that loses steam.Eden doesn't have much to do.Randall and Ives are however both entertain. Special effects are not much more advanced than the TV show. 5 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 4, 2014 3:25:40 GMT -5
Band Of Angels (1957)
Clark Gable, Yvonne DeCarlo, Sidney Poitier, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Patric Knowles
D-Raoul Walsh
Living in Kentucky prior to the Civil War, Amantha Starr (DeCarlo) is a privileged young woman. Her widower father, a wealthy plantation owner, dotes on her and he sends her to the best schools. When he dies suddenly however, Amantha's world is turned upside down. She learns that her father had been living on borrowed money and that her mother was actually a slave and her father's mistress. The plantation is to be sold to pay off her father's debts and as the daughter of slave, Amantha is also to be sold as property. She is bought by a Louisiana plantation owner, Hamish Bond (Gable) and over time she grows to love him until she learns he was a slave-trader. She tries again to become part of white society but realizes that her future lies elsewhere.
A critical and commercial flop that was always called The Ghost Of Gone With The Wind. This time Gable's a plantation owner but one who treats his slaves kindly. No matter,that still irks Poitier,who grew up on the plantation and joins the Union during the Civil War with the intention of hunting his former master down. Instead of the great scene in Gone With The Wind of the burning of Atlanta, here you get a couple of wooden sheds and a cotten field burned.
Most of the movie dwells with DeCarlo having to experience the degredation of blacks in the antebellum South after living her whole life as a white Southern belle. Poitier, as usual, is in fine form. Gable really looks old when he's attempting to run in the backwoods away from the union soldiers. 6 of 10 stars
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 4, 2014 3:45:29 GMT -5
Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932)
Michel Simon, Charles Granval
D-Jean Renoir
Boudu (Simon), a tramp who just lost his dog and tired of life, jumps into the Seine. He is rescued by Mr Lestingois (Granval), a gentle and liberal middleclass bookseller, who gives shelter to him. Mrs Lestingois and the maid Anne-Marie (Mr Lestingois' mistress) are far from delighted, for Boudu is lazy, dirty and salacious
Obvious inspiration for Down and Out In Beverly Hills along with a host of other similar stories. Boudu actually enjoys being a bum.He'll spit anywhere he pleases,makes a mess of everything anywhere he goes,molests any woman within a few moments. Why the Lestingois put up with him without throwing him back into the river is beyond me.
The movie was quite controversial in France when released causing some near riots due to Boudu's antisocial behavior. It wasn't seen in the USA until 1967 .Director Renoir always seemed to specialize in making films commentating on class social structures. I have also seen The Rules Of The Game which has similar themes.
The Criterion release includes an introduction by the director and various interviews and docs about the film. 6 of 10 stars
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Post by Jesse on Aug 4, 2014 7:07:38 GMT -5
I've got another query about the title of a film. The movie I'm thinking of is in black and white. It's about the passengers on a liner boat and none of them can quite remember where their headed. Anyone know what the name of this film is?
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