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Post by Prime etc. on Jul 28, 2024 7:29:32 GMT
The Phantom of Hollywood - 1974 - A madman in a weird costume who likes to recite poetry is going around killing people with a bow and arrow among other things and even kills an old guy in front of people at a public event. He wants to compel a rich landowner into doing as he demands. John Ireland is a cop who can't do much to stop him. Turns out the madman is upset that they are tearing down the studio backlot (which they show a lot of--quite interesting). Jackie Coogan comments that the phantom--identified as a promising actor who got injured in an explosion, was destined for stardom but was a little hammy. Could have been describing Jack Cassidy who plays the Phantom. At the start someone says "you promised you would..." and the response comes "I lied." What's the earliest use of that quip I wonder.
The Ransom - 1977 - A madman in a weird costume who likes to recite poetry is going around killing people with a bow and arrow among other things and even kills an old guy in front of people at a public event. He wants to compel a rich landowner into doing as he demands. John Ireland is a cop who can't do much to stop him. I swear it's coincidental synchronicity--I don't plan it. Oliver Reed and Chris Mitchum exchange tough guy lines. Reed asks where the nearest bar is and he is told "ten miles, give or take."
Reed replies: "I take."
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 1, 2024 20:36:34 GMT
THE LAST RUN - 1971 -- George C Scott in France or Spain to help a crook break out of jail and then goes on a road trip. It's one of those early 70s middle-aged man examining his past and future. Watchable but unmemorable (even in rewatching).
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 2, 2024 7:54:37 GMT
Another rewatch (in HD) CEMETERY WITHOUT CROSSES - 1969 - One of the most haunting of spaghetti westerns (probably in my top ten) although I think this is actually mostly a French production (Sergio Leone was said to have directed a scene in it). The use of a desolate desert town is particularly evocative and stands out--it reminds me a lot of A Fistful Of Dollars. Michelle Mercier dominates as a widow seeking retribution from a ruthless land baron by hiring a gunfighter to kidnap his daughter. Robert Hossein stars and directed it. He's ok but the weakest link in a cast where everyone communicates pretty well without need for dialogue. Outstanding musical score by his brother too. Catchy title song. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hq3HE7UrvNI |
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 4, 2024 6:46:09 GMT
NIGHT MOVES 1975 - Gene Hackman as a 70s' private eye (which means deconstruction) hired to find Melanie Griffith and stumbles onto something else. The gist of it is that he is a PI who is not successful (however, going against the standard, he has a shaky marriage which improves by the end as opposed to the standard divorce). Quite a spectacular plane crash in it and memorable lines.
"Harry thinks if you call him Harry again he's gonna make you eat that cat."
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 7, 2024 5:53:17 GMT
PLANETS AGAINST US - 1962 --seen before but not in HD. There is a robot-making scene similar to the Terminator 2 endoskeleton trailer.
JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTH PLANET - 1962 - Opening narration tells us it is set in 2001 when wars and strife are solved and people pursue the search for knowledge via the UN space program. There's a neat rat cyclops in it--but a lot of slow scenes too.
At one point John Agar is told by the commander that they have to "journey to Uranus."
I can see why they didn't use that title.
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Post by wickedkittiesmom on Aug 7, 2024 11:32:47 GMT
Murder at the Gallop with Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. I have the other 3 Miss Marple movies which I will watch over the next 3 days. The movies are loosely based on Agatha Christie's novels. In each film a role has been written in for Springer Davis, Margaret's husband. The music by Ron Goodwin makes all 4 film fun to watch. To me, Margaret Rutherford is a treasure.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 9, 2024 6:02:29 GMT
MISSION STARDUST - 1967 - Mix of Forbidden Planet and a spy film. Weird but had some interesting scenes and some neat robots that could remove their heads to reveal squarish Terminator faces. I suspect it was an influence on MOON ZERO TWO.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 11, 2024 6:48:55 GMT
WHEN YOU COMIN' BACK RED RYDER? 1979 - A Marjoe Gortner Production --literally-he produced it and stars as a crazy Vietnam Vet in 1968 who mentally torments people at a diner in much the same way as The Incident 1967. There are a lot of memorable lines--but they are too offensive to repeat here. It's hard to describe the humiliation he puts them through--in one scene Peter Firth is forced to run around the diner as if he was on a horse. Early in the film Gortner might be somewhat prophetic as he warns about uncontrolled border migration while a customs officer is giving him an anal probe. With Hal Linden, Lee Grant, Pat Hingle, Candy Clark.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 13, 2024 6:24:47 GMT
BULLITT - 1968 -- This is not a movie that sticks in the memory since I watched it at least once before and I couldn't remember anyone other than the star and Jacqueline Bisset. There's not much happening in it with characters for you to recall it. The car chase is the whole reason for its existence. It has the standard "being a cop sure does suck" theme. What I did remember is there is a scene on the street where Pepsi and Coca-Cola appear in the same shot. People may not be able to get along but soda drinks sure can.
I didn't intend a double meaning to "can" when I wrote that.
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Post by wickedkittiesmom on Aug 13, 2024 12:07:37 GMT
50 to 1, a 2014 movie based on the true story of the horse Mine that Bird, who won the Kentucky Derby in 2009. He was trained by cowboys in New Mexico (he was purchased from Canadian owners for $500,000.00), the horse did not show much promise and was the long shot in the Derby at 50-1 odds and he came from being last to winning the race, the announcer did not even notice him until just before the finish line. I did not know this movie existed, I really enjoyed it. I was still living in New Mexico at the time and put $2.00 on him to win and I won $100.00!!! After the movie, my husband and I watched the actual race on YouTube, it was the most exciting horse race we have ever seen.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 15, 2024 7:20:08 GMT
TWO-MINUTE WARNING - 1976 - The previous time I watched this I didn't know that Walter Pidgeon had portrayed a pickpocket a few years prior (Harry In Your Pocket). This could be the same character!
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Post by ghostintheshell on Aug 18, 2024 0:57:15 GMT
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 23, 2024 6:58:44 GMT
SERGEANT RYKER - 1968 - Originally a 1963 tv drama--after Lee Marvin became more famous they put it in theaters. Bradford Dillman is a military lawyer who unsuccessfully defends a traitor (Marvin) and due to technicalities and plea from Ryker's wife (Vera Miles), decides to pursue the case. Peter Graves is a fellow lawyer. He and Dillman went on to portray the same characters in a short-lived tv series.
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Post by wickedkittiesmom on Aug 23, 2024 11:11:59 GMT
"Bad Girls" with Mary Stuart Masterson, Drew Barrymore, Madeleine Stow, and Andie MacDowell. I've never seen this movie before and it was so good I wasn't bored for a second.
I also saw " The Angriest Man in Brooklyn" with Robin Williams, I never knew this movie existed and I think its one of his best.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 24, 2024 0:18:54 GMT
"Bad Girls" with Mary Stuart Masterson, Drew Barrymore, Madeleine Stow, and Andie MacDowell. I've never seen this movie before and it was so good I wasn't bored for a second. That's a western right? I thought of that movie recently--I remember when it came out.
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Post by wickedkittiesmom on Aug 24, 2024 20:08:08 GMT
Yes, Bad Girls is a Western, I'm not a big fan of Westerns but this is not a typical Western.
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Post by louise on Aug 25, 2024 11:51:40 GMT
Mad Money (2008). Very amusing comedy about three women who work in a bank and devise a cunning plan to steal old money about to be incinerated.”It’s not stealing, it’s recycling” as Diane Keaton explains.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 27, 2024 5:28:38 GMT
NEWMAN'S LAW - 1974 - One of those typical 70s cop corruption movies although with George Peppard as the star, this is a complete contrast to Banacek in that he is an underpaid slob being run down by his job. Allegedly was to be a tv-movie and put into theaters (50 years ago last week) instead. Not sure about that given the violence and few outbursts of profanity.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 28, 2024 6:21:19 GMT
OPERATION : LOVEBIRD 1965 - Danish spy comedy about a joke novelty salesman mistaken for a spy. It has some cleverness and the humor doesn't feel forced although it's a You Only Watch Once kind of film.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 30, 2024 5:50:03 GMT
DEAF SMITH AND JOHNNY EARS 1973 - Anthony Quinn is a deaf and mute mercenary with Franco Nero as his partner and hearing aid on a mission to prevent a Texas rebellion. Along the way, the latter meets a prostitute and she wants him to ditch the burden, telling him that Smith needs Johnny more than Johnny needs Smith but is that true? There's a particularly inventive scene where Quinn goes alone into an enemy fort despite being unable to hear--and he forgets that he has a jingling bracelet in his pocket as he attempts to sneak around undetected. The ending is another one of those abrupt freeze-frames but it does convey the point of who had the dependency on who.
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