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Post by lostinlimbo on May 12, 2024 8:14:18 GMT
SAVAGES 1974 - Excellent generation gap tv-movie with Andy Griffith as a folksy lawyer psycho who torments an eccentric young man after the former accidentally kills a man during a hunting trip. Lots of good exchanges, the most memorable being Griffith's response when his quarry calls him crazy: "I'm often called that by those I've defeated." VIOLENT ROME - 1975 - Lives up to its title as Maurizio Merli (the Italian Dirty Harry) kills a few thugs and gets fired--and then recruited by Richard Conte', a lawyer representing a group of citizens who have been victims of crime. Merli then helps them catch criminals. Maurizio Merli sure did get Pigeon hold into the Dirty Harry caricature. Though you could argue his cop portrayals are way dirtier… and with backhand slaps to boot. Nothing subtle about it. I do like the second film in this commissioner Betti's trilogy: Violent Naples, but not seen this first entry. I noticed the final film of the trilogy ‘A Special Cop in Action‘ is on youtube. Might check it out sometime soon.
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Post by lostinlimbo on May 12, 2024 8:22:56 GMT
I had no idea this even existed, until stumbling on it through YouTube. A very clunky and cheap looking feature. Michael Parks would direct and star as Josey Wales. Decent soundtrack, but not much else.
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Post by Prime etc. on May 14, 2024 6:11:03 GMT
THE SECRET INVASION - 1964 - Wanted to watch a Roger Corman film and this is one of the more obscure ones I watched before. I forgot how expensive it looks--it has great use of locations, one of the more picturesque war movies. Also has a very sad and horrific scene involving Henry Silva. Definitely not a "war is wonderful" movie using the idea of criminals recruited into military service which Corman had done before in a western and would become more famous with the Dirty Dozen. Another film concept that he got to first.
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Post by Prime etc. on May 15, 2024 6:32:10 GMT
COAST OF SKELETONS 1965 - Had seen it before but after watching the first film with the Richard Todd character-- I watched this again. There's not really a connection between the two films. The coastline with a derelict ship on it sure looks cool though.
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Post by wickedkittiesmom on May 15, 2024 12:05:00 GMT
"Gorgo" I've always loved that little dinosaur.
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Post by Prime etc. on May 17, 2024 5:36:26 GMT
40 Guns To Apache Pass - 1967 - Audie Murphy stars with Kenneth Tobey as his adversary in a traditional US cavalry outpost vs Apache story. I know Murphy was some kind of WW 2 soldier extraordinaire and that was his marketing angle. Takes some getting used to since they surround him with people who are more screen friendly than he is. Maybe better acting ability than Chuck Norris but that's not saying much--he is not asked to do anything other than shoot rifles and save the day. I guess if someone was waiting to be shipped off to Vietnam this film might have provided some morale boost, but maybe not as much as a film by the Duke.
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Post by wickedkittiesmom on May 17, 2024 10:25:19 GMT
Men With Brooms (I'm a curling fan)
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Post by Prime etc. on May 19, 2024 6:35:27 GMT
ACES HIGH - 1976 - Exploits of a British flying squadron led by Malcolm McDowell who is a shell-shocked pilot and national hero who is tired of the ol up and down. Christopher Plummer is his understanding colleague and Colin Firth is an eager new recruit. Flying sequences are impressive and bloody-they don't shy away from the dangers as well as the absurdities (while they kill each other, if an enemy pilot is captured they treat him to a party), and the Royal command (led by Trevor Howard, Richard Johnson, and Ray Milland) find excuses for why they can't issue parachutes.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on May 19, 2024 22:33:40 GMT
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Post by Prime etc. on May 22, 2024 6:59:06 GMT
I watched this.
I misunderstood the review and assumed Vera Miles had a UK accent--her Toronto accent is hard to verify.
Sunscorched - 1965 -- "When the town sheriff (Mark Stevens) backs down from outlaws, he is branded a coward. This melodramatic western follows his efforts to restore his good name, even though he himself was a former member of the gang." Mario Adorf is leader of the gang, and has some good moments. What's interesting is how it builds up in violence leading to a murder that I didn't expect. Marianne Koch spends most of the movie in a stable--she has the same job as Jack Elam in Support Your Local Sheriff--working with horses "one end or the other"--spends much of the time pitching hay with a big fork (which comes into a different use at the end of the movie). It's odd to see a woman spending the whole pretty much in the stable. If I compared it to High Noon, instead of the protagonist heading for a confrontation before leaving town--the whole point is him reasserting his reasons for staying in the town. There's also the opportunity for him to leave his wife for another woman--that's another interesting aspect of it--the ending suggests this, like the outlaws, was a temptation that ultimately must be neutralized so he can resume his family life (and a build a new house like Petrocelli).
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Post by wickedkittiesmom on May 22, 2024 11:08:35 GMT
"On A Clear Day You Can See Forever" a piece of 1970 fluff with Barbra Streisand and Yves Montand
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Post by Prime etc. on May 29, 2024 7:09:11 GMT
Voyage to the End of the Universe-- 1963 -- The spfx and design work on this is certainly impressive and you can see easily that this must have inspired later films including 2001.
Agente X 1-7 Operazione Oceano - 1965 - Lang Jeffries as super spy George Collins has a goofy unserious face expression--I keep thinking of a comedian or James Garner for some reason. Nevertheless, as a James Bond-ish spy movie it comes pretty close at times to feel like Bond--even the score occassionally gets rather close to the familiar melody.
He stops some bad guys with a bullet firing vest. That's a new one.
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Post by wickedkittiesmom on May 29, 2024 10:50:36 GMT
"The Boys in the Boat" about the college junior rowing team from Washington State that won the Gold in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin (pissed off Hitler).
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Post by Prime etc. on Jun 5, 2024 5:56:21 GMT
STRONGROOM - 1962 - Excellent nail-biter heist film in which three robbers are interrupted in their carefully planned caper and forced to lock the bank manager and his secretary in the vault. The ringleader (Derrin Nesbitt) is concerned they will run out of air and give them a murder rap so he insists the brother of his accomplice go to call the police from a distant location (so they can make their getaway). But he gets killed, and the strongroom keys end up in the morgue--and the remaining robbers have to retrieve them so they can open the vault. Meanwhile, the manager and secretary try different ways to break through or get an air supply.
The ending bothered me at first--but it actually does fit the theme of the story (taking things for granted). The filmmakers set things up for a certain conclusion between characters and then yank it away. Nevertheless, it would make a good companion film to CASH ON DEMAND since it has a similar premise but takes a different route. Recommended.
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