What classics did you see last week, Sept 19 to Sept 25?
Sept 25, 2021 18:33:40 GMT
Fox in the Snow, teleadm, and 7 more like this
Post by mikef6 on Sept 25, 2021 18:33:40 GMT
Nightmare In Chicago / Robert Altman (1964). I had read about this movie which, as far as I can tell, has never had a home video release in any format or region. It was shot as a two-part story for Kraft Suspense Theater (NBC, 2 seasons, 1963-1965) but Robert Altman was given a budget that allowed him to film in color and on location in downtown Chicago and the city’s freeways. The intent was to release the show as a feature film for foreign markets and for syndicated TV in the U.S. Some people who saw it on TV back then have strong memories of it. The story is about a serial killer who flees to Chicago but can’t resist another killing which sends him out on the freeways in a stolen can at night. Police mobilize to catch him. One complication: an army convey moving atomic weapons is on the way and will pass Chicago in a half an hour so the highway must be closed.
The story has great promise but, regardless of its reputation, I just couldn’t enjoy it. Much of the reason is the print I saw. I have had good luck downloading films from rarefilmm.com. But their offering of “Nightmare In Chicago” looks like a second or third generation of a VHS copy taking from a TV presentation. Much of the color is washed out, the picture is blurry, and the sound is muddy with dialog just ever so slightly out of sync. It made me tired to watch it. What doesn’t help is the music score by Johnny Williams (yes, THAT JOHNny Williams). He writes ersatz jazz featuring a blaring trumpet. I look forward to seeing this as it should be seen but that may take a major restoration effort.
Barbara Turner plays a Rest Stop waitress who can ID the killer. Now known mainly for screenwriting. She is the mother of actress Jennifer Jason Leigh. Her performance feels very real.
The hunt for the killer is led by Charles McGraw
52 Pick-Up / John Frankenheimer (1986). Harry Mitchell (Roy Scheider) is a successful inventor and business man married to Barbara (Ann-Margret) who is just beginning a political career at the local level. But Harry has been a Bad Boy. He has been carrying on a wild and crazy affair with a stripper (Kelly Preston) who is setting him up for blackmail. The blackmailers, Alan (John Glover) and Bobby (Clarence Williams III) demand an impossible amount. Alan is a pornographer on the side leading to scenes at a porn theater and party with lots of Nekked Ladies (men are all clothed, of course). 1980s pop singer Vanity supports as a strip club pal of Harry's affair. But scuzzy parts aside, this is a good modern noir with uncomfortable moments in society’s underbelly.
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La Caja 507 (Box 507) / Enrique Urbizu (2002). A really nifty Spanish thriller about an ordinary guy – a bank manager – who sets out to revenge himself on gangsters and evil corporations by setting them all against each other. One afternoon, a teenage girl and her boyfriend camp in woods near a beach on some private property. A fire starts and the girl is killed. Seven years later, her father Modesto (Antonio Resines) is robbed at his bank and locked in the vault after the thieves ransack the safety deposit boxes. While waiting for rescue, he discovers in one of the boxes (#507) some papers about the land where his daughter had died. He learns the fire had been set for insurance money. Other documents reveal a mountain of local government corruption. He sets in motion a complex plan to revenge himself without he himself resorting to violence – even though it does get bloody toward the end as crooks start killing each other off.
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The story has great promise but, regardless of its reputation, I just couldn’t enjoy it. Much of the reason is the print I saw. I have had good luck downloading films from rarefilmm.com. But their offering of “Nightmare In Chicago” looks like a second or third generation of a VHS copy taking from a TV presentation. Much of the color is washed out, the picture is blurry, and the sound is muddy with dialog just ever so slightly out of sync. It made me tired to watch it. What doesn’t help is the music score by Johnny Williams (yes, THAT JOHNny Williams). He writes ersatz jazz featuring a blaring trumpet. I look forward to seeing this as it should be seen but that may take a major restoration effort.
Barbara Turner plays a Rest Stop waitress who can ID the killer. Now known mainly for screenwriting. She is the mother of actress Jennifer Jason Leigh. Her performance feels very real.
The hunt for the killer is led by Charles McGraw
52 Pick-Up / John Frankenheimer (1986). Harry Mitchell (Roy Scheider) is a successful inventor and business man married to Barbara (Ann-Margret) who is just beginning a political career at the local level. But Harry has been a Bad Boy. He has been carrying on a wild and crazy affair with a stripper (Kelly Preston) who is setting him up for blackmail. The blackmailers, Alan (John Glover) and Bobby (Clarence Williams III) demand an impossible amount. Alan is a pornographer on the side leading to scenes at a porn theater and party with lots of Nekked Ladies (men are all clothed, of course). 1980s pop singer Vanity supports as a strip club pal of Harry's affair. But scuzzy parts aside, this is a good modern noir with uncomfortable moments in society’s underbelly.
La Caja 507 (Box 507) / Enrique Urbizu (2002). A really nifty Spanish thriller about an ordinary guy – a bank manager – who sets out to revenge himself on gangsters and evil corporations by setting them all against each other. One afternoon, a teenage girl and her boyfriend camp in woods near a beach on some private property. A fire starts and the girl is killed. Seven years later, her father Modesto (Antonio Resines) is robbed at his bank and locked in the vault after the thieves ransack the safety deposit boxes. While waiting for rescue, he discovers in one of the boxes (#507) some papers about the land where his daughter had died. He learns the fire had been set for insurance money. Other documents reveal a mountain of local government corruption. He sets in motion a complex plan to revenge himself without he himself resorting to violence – even though it does get bloody toward the end as crooks start killing each other off.