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Posted: |
Oct 19, 2016 - 12:34 PM
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By: |
Ado
(Member)
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I still remember seeing magazine shots of McQueen in Enemy Of The People. It's worth pointing out he'd turned conservationist at that point, hence, the movie. I can still hear him mumbling under that heavy hairdo and beard, "they're poisoning the people," totally incredulous that no-one is willing to heed his warning.
Yup, by the time I got to the end, through endless and sometimes pointless yammering scenes, too many action scenes that went on too long, that did not have a narrative reason -aside from merely being 'cool' I found that I did not really care about anyone in this movie. It is surface level well made looking junk, and where the action scenes should dazzle, they whimper on endlessly.
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Finally caught up with 3 MGM releases from the 60's shown on TCM. All 3 were excellent, clear, widescreen prints. (I saw all of these in their original releases, and they seem to look better now than they did back then. TCM can get great prints.):
CAPTAIN SINDBAD (1963): Released by MGM, but looks like it was filmed in Germany, since many of the cast and technical crew have Deutsch names. Stars Guy Williams, formerly Disney's Zorro, but this was filmed before he got involved with LOST IN SPACE. Entertaining, with some OK special effects, though with some mechanical monsters, as well as a little humor from Abraham Sofaer (Paul in QUO VADIS), playing a hapless wizard. Pleasing score by someone named Michel Michelet, with, 'natch, echoes of Rimsky-Korsakov. if the music was ever released, I'd buy it.
THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES (1961) Glossy Italian production, with some great sets, but released by MGM. Stars past-his-prime Rory Calhoun, with a dubbed Italian cast. Great production values and sets. The Colossus statue is memorable, with some fun shots, people fighting on its outstretched arms, gazing out of its eyes, etc. Typical plot with "the people" rebelling against villain with pointy beard, as well as the presence of a voluptuous but treacherous female, usually wearing gauzy costumes. Calhoun is stalwart, but the script becomes meandering, allowing him to at first be uninvolved with political goings-on, then joining the rebels, then inadvertently betraying them, then joining them again, for a big finale in the arena, with an earthquake thrown in. Also, for those of you not aware, this is the first credited directorial effort of one Sergio Leone, who later became better known for other things. Good score by Angelo Lavagnino, which has yet to see CD release, though, if it were available, I'd certainly buy it.
ATLANTIS THE LOST CONTINENT (1961): Bona fide MGM production, great print in sort of widescreen. I saw this in its original release, when I was 12, and loved it. I later came to see just how cheesy it really is, with sets derived from hand-me-downs from previous MGM productions, such as QUO VADIS, THE PRODIGAL, KISMET, and even FORBIDDEN PLANET. (It's fun to guess how many props and set details you can recognize in each shot...) The script is actually better than I had remembered, with multiple references to Atlantean situations later much publicized in various New Age outlets. Reportedly, this was conceived by producer George Pal as his magnum opus after the success of his previous film, THE TIME MACHINE. Originally meant as a roadshow, this was to be an A-list, big budget production, but MGM kept cutting back on available funds, resulting in an OK entertainment that's really done in by a mostly C-list cast and a hodgepodge of production values, not to mention the liberal use of actual footage from QUO VADIS (I could even recognize the backs of Deborah Kerr and Buddy Baer in one borrowed shot). I don't think it ever could have been a great film, but I'd love to have seen what Pal really intended. Best thing in it is the music score by Russell Garcia, though, again, it would have been enlightening to see what the music would have been like, had it been recorded by a larger orchestra. ATLANTIS does have its moments, though; where else are you going to see a mammoth crystal dealing out death rays at random! (I wonder what the followers of "sleeping prophet" Edgar Cayce have to say about this, as it pictures many of Cayce's pronouncements about the Lost Continent....)
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The Conjuring - 3.5/10 or 6/10 with a crowd. A handsome cast and good production values make this horror film worth a watch with a crowd of friends, especially around Halloween.
It has the usual spooky stuff, and is nothing new on that front, but is good for a laugh with a group of friends. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are very good, as is everyone else. Some nice camera work and lighting, and some fun if standard horror situations with a couple of nice images of a possessed lady chewing her way through a bag.
The only real issue i had was that the characters of the heroes in the film are real-life psychic frauds Ed and Lorraine Warren, and they should never be seen as heroes by anyone, they should be pilloried into the afterlife for being appalling frauds.
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Suicide Squad 1.5/10 - Good grief, it's bad. I know it had issues and was edited and might not be the directors preferred version but I can't imagine there's a decent film anywhere in there. Will Smith isn't too bad and its generally well cast. Unmemorable villain and general plot. Rubbish video game legion of villains. Batman shoehorned on a couple if times. The whole thing is just a mess in pacing, repeated introductions of characters, etc.
Half points for Captain Boomerang, Margo Robbie and Margo Robbie's shorts.
DC Comics films have been getting progressively worse and didn't start off in a great place.
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Swiss Army Man 2/10 - Despite good work by Daniel Radcliffe and Paul Dano, and an interesting score, it felt about a half hour too long and I soon grew tired of it and ultimately found it depressing and the last couple of seconds very stupid.
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Death Ship (original) 1/10 - incredibly dull, and unscary and a revelation 20 minutes from the end that's obvious very early on. Like many ghost films the problem I have is that anything can happen. So killing the people should be a cinch. Also has the worst wigs on stunt doubles I've seen in ages. Nice poster for the film.
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Yes, i wonder if he reads about us talking about him as though he wasnt there?!
Its true - he does watch a lot of crap. But hes stuck in an antarctic outpost - like where they send incompetent captains at the end of Stripes - and therefore is grateful to watch anything when his shift is over!!
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Yes, i wonder if he reads about us talking about him as though he wasnt there?!
Its true - he does watch a lot of crap. But hes stuck in an antarctic outpost - like where they send incompetent captains at the end of Stripes - and therefore is grateful to watch anything when his shift is over!!
Hah, or the unused ending for To Live and Die in LA.
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Yes, i wonder if he reads about us talking about him as though he wasnt there?!
Its true - he does watch a lot of crap. But hes stuck in an antarctic outpost - like where they send incompetent captains at the end of Stripes - and therefore is grateful to watch anything when his shift is over!!
Is he really in an antartic outpost?
Practically - Regina, Saskatchewan. It has Arctic weather for about 5 months a year (except last year). And it is in the middle of nowhere.
I do watch a lot of bilge, 'tis true. Cannot understand myself why i do it, i must get some enjoyment out of them at some level. Some are films i have to see to believe are so bad and put my fingers in their wounds (Suicide Squad, Ghostbusters). I like films from all kinds of genres and decades thanks to growing up in England with 3 channels and lots of 1930s - 1970s films. Put George Formby on and I'm there (he's the best thing out of Wigan).
Or i get on a kick of watching a bunch of Hammer films or The Universal films i wanted to catch up on.
I often watch films i enjoy a lot but have seen before or reviewed years ago maybe so don't put them up. I never go to the pictures and always see films a longtime after they've come out. I also don't have Netflix or TV channels, so i'm reliant on libraries and buying or friends recommending or lending me films. I do have a friend who insists if he suffers, i have to suffer, so i do watch more bad films than i'd like to or anyone should.
As for whether i read reviews, it depends. Most older films i'll have a rough idea of. New films, not so much, most likely. I try and go in open-minded (well, i say that but i could be wrong and this does not apply to Eli Roth films).
Anyway, hopefully i warn a few others from watching the shite i watch - leave me, save yourselves! (apart from Carson and TallGuy, who I'm dragging to hell with me)
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I served my sentence with VHS in the 80s. For about 4 years i might watch two films a night, recording the highlights of their scores. Man, i am sad to say i rented every fkn thing in the shop.
Trust me when you have seen Basket case, rosemarys killer, i spit on your grave, driller killer, he knows youre alone, tentacles, piranha, happy birthday to me, spawn, dozens of dreadful spaghettis and cheap american thrillers starring Dolph lundgren and such like, modern day shite doesnt seem so bad.
Tell you what, oblic, with friends loaning some of the shit you watch, you dont need enemies!!
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I served my sentence with VHS in the 80s. For about 4 years i might watch two films a night, recording the highlights of their scores. Man, i am sad to say i rented every fkn thing in the shop.
Trust me when you have seen Basket case, rosemarys killer, i spit on your grave, driller killer, he knows youre alone, tentacles, piranha, happy birthday to me, spawn, dozens of dreadful spaghettis and cheap american thrillers starring Dolph lundgren and such like, modern day shite doesnt seem so bad.
Tell you what, oblic, with friends loaning some of the shit you watch, you dont need enemies!!
Yah, sounds like you've done your time there. True there. My list o'films coming up to watch, which i think several will be good:
'71
Mr Baseball
Dead & Buried
The Man Who Haunted Himself
The Conjuring Part 2
The Creature From the Black Lagoon
Time After Time
Independence Day 2
Louis Theroux - my Scientology movie
Cohen and Tate
Student Bodies
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Man who haunted himself is excellent. Worth watching just to listen to the score and watch roger moore raise an eyebrow.
Cohen and Tate is watchable.
By the way, how is it going on Ice Station Zebra? Patrick and Ernie doing well?
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Man who haunted himself is excellent. Worth watching just to listen to the score and watch roger moore raise an eyebrow.
Cohen and Tate is watchable.
By the way, how is it going on Ice Station Zebra? Patrick and Ernie doing well?
It only snowed 3 days but then went. The big The Thing style weather will be heading our way soon, i'm sure.
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Hey Wanderer, being a total geographic IDIOT, I just had to look up Regina. Wow, the pictures of the city were lovely. I expected a small village with you in a Quonset hut checking out the weather. (And possibly a giant flying saucer buried in nearby ice. ) Wrong. Looked like a nice place albeit rather isolated. Now I'm not going to worry about you anymore.
P.S. I enjoyed that cheesy Independence Day, but I really disliked Independence Day 2. Hope it is more enjoyable for you.
Hah, ta, Joan. I've got all the modern conveniences (well, except TV channels). It just gets very, very cold here and snowy. It's a small but nice enough city. I liked Independence Day the original enough, so i'll be interested to see the sequel.
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