Roquefort Raider
CCF Mod Squad
Modus omnibus in rebus
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 6, 2017 8:43:59 GMT -5
Revenge of the creature, on Youtube.
I'm not particularly surprised that there would have been a sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon, but didn't know about it before last week. It's not exactly a masterpiece, but it has its moments if you're willing to overlook several plot holes. I was particularly impressed by how the actor in the suit can hold his breath forever and still swim gracefully despite his clunky gear!
I enjoyed how the creature is neither an evil monster nor a misunderstood teddy bear. It's a dangerous, violent animal of real but limited intelligence, a little like a great white shark. Don't mess with it.
Clint Eastwood is in there, in an uncredited role as a lab tech.
Oh, and a "scientist" saying that the Devonian was 25 million years ago is cringe-inducing!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2017 11:42:29 GMT -5
Had some time post-surgery yesterday to catch up on a few of the sci-flicks I have DVRed over the summer and not gotten to yet, and with all the horror classics getting recorded on TCM this month, I need to make room. I watched the first Aliens vs. Predator film, liked the remote arctic Von Daniken space god angle and the archaeologist and guide characters were good, but the rest of the film was rather pedestrian. Entertaining, but in the end mostly forgettable.
I also watched Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, which, as my wife described it was depressing futurepast, since it was set in 1991. She said the effect of seeing the fascist racist (or speciesist if you will) state made her feel the same way she did on election day back in November, a reminder that we are not as far along and as good as a society as we thought we are or would be.
I then watched 3 of the 4 hours of the 2 part mini-series/movie revival of The Phantom that SyFy did in 2010 (it was late and I was fading out, so stopped and saved the last hour for today. I was going to stop after part 1 (2 hours) but was intrigued and tried to make it through part 2, but was just too tired). It is an interesting attempt to modernize the Phantom but keep the spirit of the classic elements (though they moved Bengala to Indonesia). I was ironically amused they named the mindcontrol tech Flicker (I kept thinking of Flickr and snorting with laughter), and enjoyed it for what is was thus far. The actor playing Kit is a bit of a cypher though, but there is a strong supporting cast.
-M
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 6, 2017 20:26:42 GMT -5
Had some time post-surgery yesterday to catch up on a few of the sci-flicks I have DVRed over the summer and not gotten to yet, and with all the horror classics getting recorded on TCM this month, I need to make room. I watched the first Aliens vs. Predator film, liked the remote arctic Von Daniken space god angle and the archaeologist and guide characters were good, but the rest of the film was rather pedestrian. Entertaining, but in the end mostly forgettable. I also watched Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, which, as my wife described it was depressing futurepast, since it was set in 1991. She said the effect of seeing the fascist racist (or speciesist if you will) state made her feel the same way she did on election day back in November, a reminder that we are not as far along and as good as a society as we thought we are or would be. I then watched 3 of the 4 hours of the 2 part mini-series/movie revival of The Phantom that SyFy did in 2010 (it was late and I was fading out, so stopped and saved the last hour for today. I was going to stop after part 1 (2 hours) but was intrigued and tried to make it through part 2, but was just too tired). It is an interesting attempt to modernize the Phantom but keep the spirit of the classic elements (though they moved Bengala to Indonesia). I was ironically amused they named the mindcontrol tech Flicker (I kept thinking of Flickr and snorting with laughter), and enjoyed it for what is was thus far. The actor playing Kit is a bit of a cypher though, but there is a strong supporting cast. -M The Phantom had moments; but, I kept wishing for something better. It was obvious it wouldn't got to series. Not keen on the new suit, especially the collar & helmet/cowl. The Columbia serial still tops best adaptation, though I mostly enjoy the Simon Wincer film, apart from Treat Williams. He just doesn't quite work as a villain, for me.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2017 16:49:38 GMT -5
I bought The Phantom DVD at Dollar Tree a few years back. I'm pretty sure it's still in the plastic wrap.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2017 3:27:16 GMT -5
The Hindenberg - George C. Scott / Anne Bancroft / Richard Dysart / and host of other starsThis 1975 Classic is one of those great historical movie about the disaster of the making the airship the Hindenburg crashing down in Lakehurst, New Jersey is very good film - that uses sabotage instead of electricity to stimulate the disaster occur on this airship. Very realistic crash scenes and very dramatic too. I was very impressed by the acting and the way they build it up and using great photography along the way. I was amused seeing George C. Scott in a Nazi Uniform as Colonel Ritter. This movie was made in 1975 and has Burgess Meredith in it and along with Hogan's Heroes Robert Clary too. I was surprised to see them taking on significant roles in this movie. Charles Durning played the Airship Captain was excellent and one of my favorite characters in this movie. Anne Bancroft did a superb job as well and everybody did too. I was surprised that this movie did not get a 4 star rating but a 3 star instead. Movie rolled along nicely with lots of subtlety to get to the climax and that was done just right. I haven't seen this movie for a long time and I can't remember when; but chuckled seeing Mr. Scott in a Nazi Uniform in the beginning of the movie. And, Hitler awarded him the Knight Cross to his Iron Cross that he already had. I think?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2017 3:28:31 GMT -5
I bought The Phantom DVD at Dollar Tree a few years back. I'm pretty sure it's still in the plastic wrap. It's time to open it and watch it ... pretty decent movie!
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 8, 2017 22:05:42 GMT -5
The Hindenberg - George C. Scott / Anne Bancroft / Richard Dysart / and host of other starsThis 1975 Classic is one of those great historical movie about the disaster of the making the airship the Hindenburg crashing down in Lakehurst, New Jersey is very good film - that uses sabotage instead of electricity to stimulate the disaster occur on this airship. Very realistic crash scenes and very dramatic too. I was very impressed by the acting and the way they build it up and using great photography along the way. I was amused seeing George C. Scott in a Nazi Uniform as Colonel Ritter. This movie was made in 1975 and has Burgess Meredith in it and along with Hogan's Heroes Robert Clary too. I was surprised to see them taking on significant roles in this movie. Charles Durning played the Airship Captain was excellent and one of my favorite characters in this movie. Anne Bancroft did a superb job as well and everybody did too. I was surprised that this movie did not get a 4 star rating but a 3 star instead. Movie rolled along nicely with lots of subtlety to get to the climax and that was done just right. I haven't seen this movie for a long time and I can't remember when; but chuckled seeing Mr. Scott in a Nazi Uniform in the beginning of the movie. And, Hitler awarded him the Knight Cross to his Iron Cross that he already had. I think? Love the film; but, there are reasons for it not being 4 stars. There are some dodgy performances, here and there, though nothing significant. The bigger problem is too many characters in search of a purpose, beyond being casualties. This was at the tail end of the disaster film fad and that is its purpose. It is a grand disaster film, based around a pretty well debunked conspiracy theory, that was perpetuated by a book, at that time. The effects work is quite good and Robert Wise does a fine job directing. The imagery is haunting, though no more so than the actual newsreel footage of the explosion and crash. The stark black and white of it lends tremendous power to the footage of the flaming ship crashing to the ground, buckling under its own weight. The climax of the film mixes in elements drawn from the newsreel and captures it well. A&E, back in the days when they had programming other than "reality" shows, had a great documentary about the Hindenburg and the development of the airship. It included some eyewitnesses, who spokoe of the Navy groundcrew and the efforts to rescue passengers. One remarked of men running in panic and a Chief Petty Officer shouting "Navy men stand fast!" He put a halt to them and got them redirected \to helping those jumping from the ship and seeing them to safety. It also shoots tons of holes into the conspiracy theories and sets straight a lot of bad history, which this film perpetuates, in typical Hollywood fashion. Hugo Eckner dd not trust the Nazis; but, Ernst Lehman was more of a supporter. That's Hollywood for you, though. Now for great airship movies, I love Zeppelin, with Michael York, Anton Differing and Elke Sommer. York is a young officer, with a part German family, who goes undercover as a turncoat, to gain intel on a new airship design, being tested by its inventor (an old family friend). He is brought in by the Germans and quizzed about his knowledge of specific parts of Scotland. It turns out the airship is being used to launch a commando raid on a Scottish castle, where the crown jewels and historical artifacts (including the Magna Carta) have been stored. Great action sequences, nice intrigue, little haphazard on the romantic angle. The movie someone really needs to do is about the crash of the USS Akron, a Navy dirigible. It went down in a storm, over the ocean, taking all but 3 men down with it. The ship had been built as a joint venture between Zeppelin and Goodyear (part of a deal that yielded the Los Angeles and the Macon) and had an internal hangar that could carry up to 5 Sparrowhawk biplane fighters. The aircraft would be lowered on a trapeze contraption, start its engines and then release. When it came back, it hooked onto the trapeze and cut its engines, then was raised up into the airship. Later, the USS Macon also crashed at sea; but, it had liferafts and jackets, which the Akron did not have, to save weight. Previously, the USS Shenandoah, an earlier Navy dirigible, broke apart on a storm, over the midwest, with an officer piloting a tail section safely to the ground, like a balloon. Only the Los Angeles survived service, though it had a pretty hairy day, when a sudden drop in air pressure caused this...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2017 22:15:46 GMT -5
Thanks for this write-up and I didn't think about the cast of too many of them seeking a purpose and while it is fresh on my mind it's kind of drag the film down and that's why it's given a 3 star rating. Good call codystarbuck for pointing it out. I prefer Zeppelin over the Hindenburg any day and that's movie has more substance that I liked so much. You certainly knows a lot about airships and that history that outlined in the 3rd paragraph is fascinating ... I need to read about it.
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Post by brutalis on Oct 9, 2017 8:21:37 GMT -5
In preparation for a Disneyland vacation next week I watched a pair of Uncle Walt movies. That Darn Cat from 1965 with literally a cast of famous: Dean Jones, Hayley Mills, Elsa Lanchester, Neville Brand and Frank Gorshin, Roddy McDowell, William Demnarest, Ed Wynn and many other familiar faces. And not to mention a wonderful group of Siamese puddy tat's all playing DC (Darn Cat) the troublesome.
Light fun feline mystery/cop/robbers/comedy that never fails to provide laughs and smiles. Perfectly Disney movie of the time and brings back fond memories when movie could be simple, fun delights without a lot of bells and whistles and special effects. A good story and splendid actors make this a romp.
Second up was Bedknobs and Broomsticks from 1971. The live action/animated tale of wartime London during the blitz where an apprentice witch is given temporary care of 3 children team up with a con man and they end up saving the village of Pepperinge Eye from German invasion. Again nothing spectacular just a nice magical adventure in the Disney way. If you like Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang then it is another pleasurable bit of classic movie enjoyment.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2017 8:25:20 GMT -5
Last night I watched The Return of Dracula. It was on TCM and I was pleasantly surprised. For a low budget film, it wasn't terrible and had some very creepy moments. Dracula escapes Europe and murders an artist on his way to the USA. Dracula assumes his identity and the mayhem begins! Francis Lederer is a very charismatic Dracula. The movie had an interesting moment--it is all black and white except for a brief staking scene in color with the intense red fake blood. Not bad! The movie was eclipsed by Hammer's Horror of Dracula that came out a few months later.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Oct 9, 2017 8:47:38 GMT -5
Speaking of Dracula, not too long ago I watched Dracula AD 1972 with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, opposite each other. Though I got it coming from Netflix on DVD because Caped Crusader posted a picture of Caroline Munro in another thread, and I said I got to see some movies with this beautiful woman. Alas she didn't last long in the movie. But the movie was still good. Hammer and other British and foreign horror films are some of my favorite to watch. That perfect mix of erotica and horror that US censors say "no no" to because we pretend to be prudes, is so enticing in these films. And the sensual and erotica nature of Dracula has been know since Stoker penned the novel. It was quite enjoyable and everything I expected out of the genre. And probably the first Dracula Hammer film I've watched that took place in modern times, as far as when it was made and when the setting was in the film.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2017 9:33:04 GMT -5
Last night I watched The Return of Dracula. It was on TCM and I was pleasantly surprised. For a low budget film, it wasn't terrible and had some very creepy moments. Dracula escapes Europe and murders an artist on his way to the USA. Dracula assumes his identity and the mayhem begins! Francis Lederer is a very charismatic Dracula. The movie had an interesting moment--it is all black and white except for a brief staking scene in color with the intense red fake blood. Not bad! The movie was eclipsed by Hammer's Horror of Dracula that came out a few months later. I watched that movie too and I've didn't think it was that good as you described it to all of us here; to me I felt that this Dracula is so out of place and the movie did not have the settings of a horror movie. I enjoyed parts of it but the whole movie isn't a typical Dracula movie. I do like the intense fake red blood and I wasn't expecting it; but Frances Lederer as Dracula was very unusual and that bothers me a lot because he wasn't all that scary at all. To be honest, I wasn't scared and it was too bland to my standards and have the bulk of the movie in California was kind of odd because California has abundant sunshine and all that. It is an very interesting movie and I just have a hard time accepting it. I understand what you are conveying here and I was surprised by it and I appreciate your comments about it and you made good points about the movie itself. Maybe next time ... I need to be more open about it.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 9, 2017 10:22:05 GMT -5
Thanks for this write-up and I didn't think about the cast of too many of them seeking a purpose and while it is fresh on my mind it's kind of drag the film down and that's why it's given a 3 star rating. Good call codystarbuck for pointing it out. I prefer Zeppelin over the Hindenburg any day and that's movie has more substance that I liked so much. You certainly knows a lot about airships and that history that outlined in the 3rd paragraph is fascinating ... I need to read about it. I became fascinated about airships when I first saw Zeppelin, on network tv, after it had been in theaters. I have a nice coffee tale book about the Hindenburg, which covers airship history from the Montgofliers to ferdinand Von Zeppelin, to the crash of the Hindenburg, as well as the Navy blimp service, during WW2. I later got my hands on a book about Navy airship history, which covered the dirigibles (Uss Shenandoah, Los Angeles, Akron, Macon) and the various classes of blimps that were used during WW2, for convoy escort. They ranged from 3-man crew models to one that had a crew of 25 and even one with an aluminum outer skin (the ZMC-2). You don't get them in movies much. There is one, This Man's Navy, with Wallace Beery, that centers around a blimp pilot, with extensive footage of the blimps. Cagney has at least one with a brief shot of the Macon launching aircraft. Master of the World and Island at the Top of the World dabble in Jules Verne-inspired airships. The Hyperion, in Island at the Top of the World, is based on an actual early semi-rigid airship. Master of the World takes a lot of liberties with Verne's Clipper of the Clouds (aka Robur the Conqueror) and its sequel, Master of the World. In the first book, the ship is a heavier-than-air craft, with a whole series of propellers providing lift. In the sequel, Robur uses the Albatross, a machine that can travel in air, on land, or at sea. The film has a sort of airship, with propellers, with a skin made out of compressed paper. It's a nice design. There is an old movie, Madame Satan, that takes place at a party, aboard an airship. There is big song and dance number as the party-goers board the airship. It features a lot of cool art deco designs and wild costumes. Thing about the Hindenburg; for all of the talk about the disaster, the majority of the passengers and crew survived. The British R101 airship was not so lucky. It crashed after going through a storm in France and bursting into flame. 48 of 54 passengers ad crew perished, vs 36 of the 97 aboard the Hindenburg. The USS Akron lost 73 of 76 lives, when it crashed. The difference was that the Hindenburg crash was caught on film, by newsreel companies there covering the landing. The R101 was during transit and the Akron was at sea.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 9, 2017 11:10:30 GMT -5
Had some time post-surgery yesterday to catch up on a few of the sci-flicks I have DVRed over the summer and not gotten to yet, and with all the horror classics getting recorded on TCM this month, I need to make room. I watched the first Aliens vs. Predator film, liked the remote arctic Von Daniken space god angle and the archaeologist and guide characters were good, but the rest of the film was rather pedestrian. Entertaining, but in the end mostly forgettable. I also watched Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, which, as my wife described it was depressing futurepast, since it was set in 1991. She said the effect of seeing the fascist racist (or speciesist if you will) state made her feel the same way she did on election day back in November, a reminder that we are not as far along and as good as a society as we thought we are or would be. I then watched 3 of the 4 hours of the 2 part mini-series/movie revival of The Phantom that SyFy did in 2010 (it was late and I was fading out, so stopped and saved the last hour for today. I was going to stop after part 1 (2 hours) but was intrigued and tried to make it through part 2, but was just too tired). It is an interesting attempt to modernize the Phantom but keep the spirit of the classic elements (though they moved Bengala to Indonesia). I was ironically amused they named the mindcontrol tech Flicker (I kept thinking of Flickr and snorting with laughter), and enjoyed it for what is was thus far. The actor playing Kit is a bit of a cypher though, but there is a strong supporting cast. -M Much of The Conquest of the Planet of the Apes was filmed in downtown Los Angeles, using a walkway/plaza that runs along behind some of the government buildings for the city and county, like the jail and the Board of Supervisors and the Hall of Records. I worked for the County of Los Angeles for a time and at first, when I used the walkway, I couldn't figure out why it was all so familiar. But after a few days, I realized OMG! Conquest of the Planet of the Apes! It's a movie that I LOVE, by the way. I've seen it a bunch of times. So it was kind of cool, pretending I was on the Planet of the Apes for a few minutes almost every day. It was also cool seeing Bela Lugosi Jr in the cafeteria every once in a while. He's a lawyer who sometimes does legal work for the county.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 9, 2017 11:47:08 GMT -5
Thanks for this write-up and I didn't think about the cast of too many of them seeking a purpose and while it is fresh on my mind it's kind of drag the film down and that's why it's given a 3 star rating. Good call codystarbuck for pointing it out. I prefer Zeppelin over the Hindenburg any day and that's movie has more substance that I liked so much. You certainly knows a lot about airships and that history that outlined in the 3rd paragraph is fascinating ... I need to read about it. I became fascinated about airships when I first saw Zeppelin, on network tv, after it had been in theaters. I have a nice coffee tale book about the Hindenburg, which covers airship history from the Montgofliers to ferdinand Von Zeppelin, to the crash of the Hindenburg, as well as the Navy blimp service, during WW2. I later got my hands on a book about Navy airship history, which covered the dirigibles (Uss Shenandoah, Los Angeles, Akron, Macon) and the various classes of blimps that were used during WW2, for convoy escort. They ranged from 3-man crew models to one that had a crew of 25 and even one with an aluminum outer skin (the ZMC-2). You don't get them in movies much. There is one, This Man's Navy, with Wallace Beery, that centers around a blimp pilot, with extensive footage of the blimps. Cagney has at least one with a brief shot of the Macon launching aircraft. Master of the World and Island at the Top of the World dabble in Jules Verne-inspired airships. The Hyperion, in Island at the Top of the World, is based on an actual early semi-rigid airship. Master of the World takes a lot of liberties with Verne's Clipper of the Clouds (aka Robur the Conqueror) and its sequel, Master of the World. In the first book, the ship is a heavier-than-air craft, with a whole series of propellers providing lift. In the sequel, Robur uses the Albatross, a machine that can travel in air, on land, or at sea. The film has a sort of airship, with propellers, with a skin made out of compressed paper. It's a nice design. There is an old movie, Madame Satan, that takes place at a party, aboard an airship. There is big song and dance number as the party-goers board the airship. It features a lot of cool art deco designs and wild costumes. Thing about the Hindenburg; for all of the talk about the disaster, the majority of the passengers and crew survived. The British R101 airship was not so lucky. It crashed after going through a storm in France and bursting into flame. 48 of 54 passengers ad crew perished, vs 36 of the 97 aboard the Hindenburg. The USS Akron lost 73 of 76 lives, when it crashed. The difference was that the Hindenburg crash was caught on film, by newsreel companies there covering the landing. The R101 was during transit and the Akron was at sea. There's a film from about 1970 called The Assassination Bureau that has a rousing conclusion aboard an airship, circa 1910. The movie also features Oliver Reed, Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas! The airship doesn't have any glass in the windows! So the crew are all exposed to the open air. I found out this is accurate for early blimps. The designers thought the glass would distort the view of military personnel.
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