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Post by jeffersoncody on Aug 4, 2020 6:27:41 GMT
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) / Sam Peckinpah
This is a strange odyssey for one man. The best way of understanding this movie is as an odyssey. Everything in this movie is strange, which only makes you try to understand what Benny was trying to accomplish in the story. It is better after the second viewing, but one can't help but wonder why Benny has to overcome so many layers of characters along the way. In the end, before he finally meets El Jefe (Emilio Fernandez) he says 16 people had to be killed. More would come...
Another thing I noticed throughout the movie is the strange intersection between the sacred and the profane:
Did you notice that Oates' modeled his character's appearance on Sam Peckinpah?
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Post by jeffersoncody on Aug 4, 2020 6:45:33 GMT
HARLAN COUNTY USA (1976), directed by Barbara Kopple. Rating: 10 out of 10. One of the greatest, most heart-wrenching American documentaries ever made, Harlan County USA is unmissable. The years have not diminished its power and emotional intensity. A masterpiece. Harlan Country, U.S.A.
Roger Ebert February 16, 2006 . **** out of **** stars.
Nowhere has the plight of the American mineworker been so powerfully chronicled as in "Harlan County, U.S.A."
The film retains all of its power, in the story of a miners' strike in Kentucky where the company employed armed goons to escort scabs into the mines, and the most effective picketers were the miners' wives -- articulate, indominable, courageous. It contains a famous scene where guns are fired at the strikers in the darkness before dawn, and Kopple and her cameraman are knocked down and beaten.
"I found out later that they planned to kill us that day," Kopple said later, in a discussion I chaired at the Filmmakers' Lodge. "They wanted to knock us out because they didn't want a record of what was happening." But her cinematographer, Hart Perry, got an unforgettable shot of an armed company employee driving past in his pickup, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Kopple brought some friends along to the festival. Foremost among them was Hazel Dickens, a miner's wife and sister, now 69, who wrote songs for the movie and led the room in singing "Which Side Are You On?" Kopple also shared the stage with Utah miners who are currently on strike; although the national average pay for coal miners is $15 to $16 an hour, these workers -- who are striking for a union contract -- are paid $7 for the backbreaking and dangerous work. www.rogerebert.com/reviews/There-are-no-neutrals-there
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 4, 2020 7:51:11 GMT
Without Warning 1980 -- scandalously obscure horror film with lots of familiar faces--Jack Palance, Martin Landau, Neville Brand, well made with Dean Cundey photography. I saw it at a drive-in 40 years ago next month. Kind of surprised a sequel was never done but it looks to have been such an independent venture it probably wasn't lucrative enough to attract such attention (maybe for the best).
I like this IMDB review of it:
"Steven Spielberg = OWNED Squonkamatic4 September 2006
This movie RULEZ. Don't listen to the negativists: they seem to be patently refusing to get into the spirit of things, probably turned off by the low budget, utterly ordinary & banal settings, ludicrous plot twists and unhinged performances. But trust me, this is what I do for a living: Anyone with a taste for outrageous, low budget Amercian made regional horror will find a masterpiece here waiting to be unleashed.
The plot is already summed up well by other admirers: Alien being decides to go hunting in the woods of what looks like rural Oklahoma using an elaboration on those flying pancake monsters from the old "Star Trek" series that would smack onto someone's back and drive them insane. These have revolting little teeth, pincers and claws, glom onto people and suck the ooze out of their brains. The Alien himself is right out of Whitley Strieber -- a 7 foot tall gray who's motives are never explained and who's demise is one of the most satisfying conclusions to a "horror movie" I have seen in months. The Alien's flying pancake killings are gory, inventively staged, unpredictable in occurrence and made to create squeals of disgust from viewers, who if they allow themselves to get caught up in the proceedings will feel like they are 10 years old again & watching Creature Feature matinée when they should be outside doing chores.
Even without any exploitational nudity, this movie is a guilty pleasure dream come true.
BUT, the thing that entranced me the most about the film was -- amazingly -- the performances, or rather the job of the actors in personifying the community of individuals depicted, all of whom come across as real people in the same way that "The Simpson's" characters also feel real. And what an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime cast!! It's almost worth it just to see all these people involved in the same movie project: Cameron Mitchell at his grizzled, method acting best. Martin Landau immersed in another role that absorbs him whole like a sponge; Landau's Oscar for ED WOOD was no mistake. Ralph Meeker as a bar patron who's bemused indifference to the proceedings is only matched by film legend Neville Brand, who's response to being informed that he is in the middle of an actual alien invasion is to order up another beer. Darby Hinton, Lynn Theel, a pre-fame David Caruso, former child actor hearthrob Christopher S. Nelson, a wacky Larry Storch and frequent monster movie monster Kevin Peter Hall all contribute wonderfully. And the under-seen Tarah Nutter makes a very believable young heroine shoved into the role of saving her planet whether she wants to or not.
But the movie is stolen lock, stock and smoking barrels, by Jack Palance, God bless the man. Usually cast as a scheming, duplicitous villain, here he plays a completely unhinged local hunter who happens upon the invasion and decides to go Mano-a-Mano with the Alien, weathering no less than three close encounters with the flying pancakes & surviving them all by slicing the things off his body with a knife. Anyone else (except maybe Cameron Mitchell) would look ridiculous while cutting off a goo spewing alien pancake monster from their thigh but somehow Palance manages to find a performance in the routine. And again, here is evidence that his Oscar for CITY SLICKERS was no accident either: He is a national treasure who's distinctively scarred face should be added to Mount Rushmore & his story enshrined in a monument.
How else can you put it? WITHOUT WARNING may be the ultimate Jack Palance movie (aside from maybe SHANE and CAN BE DONE AMIGO) and is so utterly perfect in it's execution that I was howling with glee at finally encountering a movie that pushed nearly every geek nerve button in my skull. I love the low budget effects, offbeat performances, totally unremarkable settings, the unpredictable story arc and the climactic ending which got a round of applause from the house. The movie looks like it was filmed in & around the woods down by the drainage ditch about three blocks away, and is proof that you don't need a huge budget, a moron A-list face like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt or flashy computer generated effects to make a very satisfying little creature feature. All you need is enough imagination, guile & ingenuity to make such happen yourself, though having a Jack Palance and a Martin Landau handy will certainly help.
And that leads me to my one problem with the film: Landau's crazed Vietnam veteran character. It's not that his actions were implausible, it's just that it would have been more fun if he and Palance's equally grizzled hunter character had "teamed up" and pitted their combined mental instabilities, paranoia and capability for violence against this thing. Someone goofed on the screenplay level and missed an opportunity there and as such my rating for this is diminished from the 9 star affair it really should have been. But make no mistake & listen not to the Negative Nellies from Sector Nine: You won't regret investing your 90 minutes into this movie if low budget horror alien invasion and wacko backwoods regional quirk films are your cup of tea. If they aren't go rent the comparatively vacant WAR OF THE WORLDS with Mr. Cruise, who compared to Mr. Palance does not even come across as being convincing at playing a guy who holds a day job & owns a cat. Give me junk like this any day of the week and use your $105 million dollars to feed the continent of Africa next time, Mr. Spielberg: You have been OWNED."
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Post by kijii on Aug 4, 2020 14:01:18 GMT
Junior Bonner (1972) / Sam Peckinpah
Not much of a movie--just a long boring rodeo parade and rodeo with a few movie stars thrown into a very weak plot..
I'm sad you didn't enjoy this one kijii. It''s a dusty, character driven modern western drama with wonderful, lived-in performances by McQueen, Ben Johnson, Ida Lupino and Joe Don Baker. I don't look at the overall narrative arc when I watch JUNIOR BONNER, I live in the individual scenes. It's a somewhat rowdy mood piece, and it works for me. jeffersoncody-- I guess I am just personally tired of rodeos. Two of my three uncles were rodeo cowboys, so by the time I was 10, I had attended about 5 + rodeos and I had gotten to learn the routine by heart--including the women's barrral race. I did, however, enjoy the family dynamics of this movie. It was great to see Ida Lupino in an older role as the family matriarch.
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Post by kijii on Aug 4, 2020 16:21:24 GMT
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) / Sam Peckinpah
This is a strange odyssey for one man. The best way of understanding this movie is as an odyssey. Everything in this movie is strange, which only makes you try to understand what Benny was trying to accomplish in the story. It is better after the second viewing, but one can't help but wonder why Benny has to overcome so many layers of characters along the way. In the end, before he finally meets El Jefe (Emilio Fernandez) he says 16 people had to be killed. More would come...
Another thing I noticed throughout the movie is the strange intersection between the sacred and the profane:
Did you notice that Oates' modeled his character's appearance on Sam Peckinpah? No, I didn't notice that but--now that you mention it, they do look the same--right down to the cigarette and sunglasses: Peckinpah seemed to have a group of favorite actors the appear over and over again in his movies: Warren Oats is one of them he used twice.
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Post by teleadm on Aug 4, 2020 17:55:55 GMT
Carrie 1976, Brian De Palma's famous horror movie about a teen girl with telekinetic powers and puberty problems, and if that is not problems enough she has a hysterical religious mother and unpleasant classmates. Over-sexed classmates only thinks of guys and the all so important prom night. After having been fooled to participate in the prom night and then humiliated Carrie unleashes her telekinetic powers on those who humiliated her. I know this is a famous movie and that it was a huge commercial success, but I must say that I thought it was boring. it's a long ride until the powers are unleashed, and I wasn't very impressed by the unleashing, lacking any kind of finesse, and during the duration up to the unleashing it never gave any creepy feeling whatsoever of coming dangers, just a lot of angst and giggling teen girls. In other words, not a movie I was impressed by, but I might be a minority.
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Post by jeffersoncody on Aug 4, 2020 17:59:00 GMT
Did you notice that Oates' modeled his character's appearance on Sam Peckinpah? No, I didn't notice that but--now that you mention it, they do look the same--right down to the cigarette and sunglasses: Peckinpah seemed to have a group of favorite actors the appear over and over again in his movies: Warren Oats is one of them he used twice. Oates appeared in four Peckinpah films: RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY, MAJOR DUNDEE, THE WILD BUNCH and BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA.
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Post by kijii on Aug 5, 2020 4:28:21 GMT
Shoot the Moon (1982) / Alan Parker
This is part of my Alan Parker memorial watching schedule. I wanted to like this better than I did, but I just didn't..
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 5, 2020 7:01:09 GMT
AND SOON THE DARKNESS 1970 (50th anniversary) - similar to DON'T TALK TO STRANGE MEN, I first sought it out after hearing it had been remade. Haven't seen the remake. Don't plan to. I don't think Pamela Franklin's career should have fizzled out with Fantasy Island appearances. So many dull actors have careers for decades, too bad she retired at 30. A real natural for the camera.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Aug 5, 2020 11:30:26 GMT
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Post by kijii on Aug 6, 2020 4:47:34 GMT
Alan Parker memorial watching schedule-Part 2Angela's Ashes (1999) / Alan Parker
Based on Frank McCourt's autobiographical novel, this movie has many coming-of-age entertaining segments as Frank's family emigrates from the USA at age 5; comes of age in Limerick Ireland; and finally returns to the USA as a young man. Though there was no escaping the filth and disease of poverty in either country, the movie is not all dark Angela McCourt (Emily Watson) : If I were able I would go to work in the English factories. Malachy (Robert Carlyle) : Factory's no place for a woman Angela. Angela McCourt : Sittin' on your arse is no place for a man Malachy.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Aug 7, 2020 4:45:53 GMT
Vampires Suck (2010).
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Post by kijii on Aug 7, 2020 4:59:12 GMT
Alan Parker memorial watching schedule-Part 3The Life of David Gale (2003) / Alan Parker
This was Alan Parker's last feature film. It may have been his best!! This IMDb user review captures many of the film's great qualities, especially Parker's great direction.
David Gale (Kevin Spacey) : Fantasies have to be unrealistic because the moment, the second that you get what you seek, you don't, you can't want it anymore. In order to continue to exist, desire must have its objects perpetually absent. It's not the "it" that you want, it's the fantasy of "it." So, desire supports crazy fantasies. This is what Pascal means when he says that we are only truly happy when daydreaming about future happiness. Or why we say the hunt is sweeter than the kill. Or be careful what you wish for. Not because you'll get it, but because you're doomed not to want it once you do. So the lesson of Lacan is, living by your wants will never make you happy. What it means to be fully human is to strive to live by ideas and ideals and not to measure your life by what you've attained in terms of your desires but those small moments of integrity, compassion, rationality, even self-sacrifice. Because in the end, the only way that we can measure the significance of our own lives is by valuing the lives of others.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 7, 2020 7:45:06 GMT
INFERNO 1953 - Directed by Roy (Ward) Baker, starring Robert Ryan as a Howard Hughes type who is left for dead by his wife Rhonda Fleming. He has to find various means of staying alive in the desert. Didn't know Baker was in Hollywood for a spell. I know him best from his 60s-70s horror films.
THE FRIGHTENED WOMAN 1969 -- A rich sex pervert pays women to have him abuse them and then encounters a feminist who he kidnaps and tortures the same. Not as explicit was the story indicates, but by 1969 standards probably was. Much more artful in approach--reminded me a bit of the 10TH VICTIM at times.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Aug 8, 2020 3:33:55 GMT
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016).
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Post by kijii on Aug 8, 2020 4:05:16 GMT
Alan Parker memorial watching schedule-Part 4Birdy (1984) / Alan Parker
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Aug 8, 2020 16:29:28 GMT
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953) Yes, BATouttaheck , I finally saw it, the original beach movie!
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Post by BATouttaheck on Aug 8, 2020 16:32:51 GMT
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953) Yes, BATouttaheck , I finally saw it, the original beach movie! YAY ! It's about time too !
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Aug 8, 2020 16:37:20 GMT
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953) Yes, BATouttaheck , I finally saw it, the original beach movie! YAY ! It's about time too ! It was in the original french, but there is barely any speaking, and even without subtitles I was able to determine what was going on, my french isn't magnifique or anything, but I get by. It's mostly physical comedy skits strung together, made for a bright breezy viewing.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Aug 8, 2020 16:41:21 GMT
Lebowskidoo 🦞It's one of my forever favorites .. but you know that already ! The other Tati films are not as good as this one (imo) They seem forced to me in a way that this ones does not.
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