My first viewing on BluRay ... the DVD went some years ago. It's enjoyable ... indeed, for the first two-thirds it's very good ... but from the time/scene when McClane/Bruce Willis takes the truck down the tunnel it's all downhill (sorry!). Even the sequence in the bank which precedes this is poor but the poor SFX and ever increasing stupidity of the story means the fun which has been generated in the first half is jettisoned.
A good cast, with some nice supporting roles and several great action scenes (the tram sequence puts the 007 (Skyfall) copycat scene to shame ... ). However, Jeremy Irons is wasted ... his on screen time is limited and with only a brief interaction with McClane there is little chemistry.
A weak/poor score by Michael Kamen adds little ... using When Johnny Comes Marching Home as the theme becomes repetitive.
Fury at Smuggler's Bay(1961) 6/10 With Peter Cushing, John Frazer, William Franklin, Bernard Lee
Smugglers and Wreckers clash on the cornish coast. An OK effort. I wanted to give it more but, while fairly entertaining, it lacked a little something. A bit of pace, excitement or sense of danger. The cast were fine, though the big hitter, Cushing, didn't have a great deal to do, really. Though it was a change.seeing hom bat for the other side, for a change. The main star was the scenery, which was quite lovely. The music by Harold Geller( who he?) was ok. Ranging from strident to lush. At times I thought he was going to play the tune.from Last of the Sunmer Wine.
My first viewing on BluRay ... the DVD went some years ago. It's enjoyable ... indeed, for the first two-thirds it's very good ... but from the time/scene when McClane/Bruce Willis takes the truck down the tunnel it's all downhill (sorry!). Even the sequence in the bank which precedes this is poor but the poor SFX and ever increasing stupidity of the story means the fun which has been generated in the first half is jettisoned.
A good cast, with some nice supporting roles and several great action scenes (the tram sequence puts the 007 (Skyfall) copycat scene to shame ... ). However, Jeremy Irons is wasted ... his on screen time is limited and with only a brief interaction with McClane there is little chemistry.
A weak/poor score by Michael Kamen adds little ... using When Johnny Comes Marching Home as the theme becomes repetitive.
It's the only other Die Hard film I enjoy outside of the original and I think Samuel L. Jackson was perfect casting. I know I'll get hell for this but I hate how he became the go to "tough guy" actor in major blockbuster films. I just don't buy him as Nick Fury, his persona is just way to wimpy. He's more of a James Garner type.
One of the better Audie Murphy westerns, this one finds “Jim Harvey” (Murphy) in charge of a small wagon train headed west that is attacked by Yaqui Indians. After hiding the wife of the leader and her sister, “Laura Saunders” (Lori Nelson), Jim tries to bargain with Yaqui leader “Aguila” (Ralph Moody), since Jim had once saved the life of his son “Tigre” (Gene Iglesias). But Aguila is having none of it. He holds Jim hostage, attacks the wagon train, and wipes it out, except for the hidden women.
After Jim escapes and enters the nearest town, he is accused of cowardice by the townspeople, who are egged on by the wagon train leader’s brother “Lam” (Russell Johnson). Jim escapes a lynching when Tigre breaks him out of jail. After being told by Tigre that a white man told the Yaqui how to find the wagon train, Jim sets out to discover who betrayed the train and caused their deaths.
This is a fast-moving western that has plenty of obstacles being thrown in Murphy’s way during the course of his adventures. One of them is the broken-down horse, “Tumbleweed,” that he is “saddled’ with. The film gets a first-rate production from Ross Hunter and sturdy direction from Nathan Juran. The stock music score is routine. The film grossed a decent $2.6 million.
Johnny Dark(1954) 6/10 ish With Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie
An easy on the brain sort of drama. Tony builds a sportscar and takes it on a Canada to Mexico race. Will he win, er, well. It was pleasant and played well within its boundaries. No great character development. They were, at the end, what they were at the start.HJ Salter's music was pleasant if nothing special.
This made-for-television film was the pilot film for the ABC television series “Iron Horse,” which debuted in the fall of 1966. It tells of how gambler and drifter “Ben Calhoun” (Dale Robertson) finds a purpose in life after he wins a struggling railroad—the Buffalo Pass, Scalplock, & Defiance Railroad (the B.P. S. & D.)—in a poker game. When he goes to take possession of his prize, he finds that the line is still under construction and has yet to complete the track from Buffalo Pass to Scalplock.
Determined to complete the building of the line, Calhoun uses a combination of fast talk, bluff, and personal charm to secure a line of credit for the bankrupt line and fend off take-overs from two rivals (Lloyd Bochner and John Anderson). Still, he finds time to woo two beautiful women—a foreign-accented golddigger (Diana Hyland), who came with the plush private rail car he buys out from under the nose of John Anderson, as well as the rough-around-the-edges owner (Sandra Smith) of a supply company who provides materials necessary to keep the track-layers working.
Robertson is aided by a former bank clerk who becomes his personal assistant (Robert Random), the chief engineer of the track-laying crew (Todd Armstrong), and a burly Norwegian (Roger Torrey) who joins the work crew. Most of the movie’s characters and actors transferred over to the series, except for Todd Armstrong, who was replaced by Gary Collins, and Sandra Smith’s character. Instead, Ellen Burstyn (billed as Ellen McRae) played a different recurring character and was Robertson’s occasional romantic interest in the series.
SCALPLOCK is a colorful production, with Robertson wearing a number of bright suits, and with his private rail car being finished in solid reds and golds. James Goldstone (ROLLERCOASTER, SWASHBUCKLER) directed the film, his first television feature. The film doesn’t have much physical action, with a major fistfight comprising most of it.
Much of the footage from SCALPLOCK was re-used in the initial episode of the fall series, to set up the premise for those who had missed seeing the pilot film the preceding spring. “Iron Horse” debuted on Monday night, 12 September 1966, from 7:30-8:30 PM. But the network competition was tough, with the popular “Gilligan’s Island” and “Run Buddy Run” on CBS and “The Monkees” and “I Dream of Jeannie” on NBC. Lackadaisical ratings saw ABC move “Iron Horse” to Saturday night for season two (1967-68) from 9:30-10:30 PM, but again, with a movie on NBC and “Petticoat Junction” and the first half of “Mannix” on CBS, “Iron Horse” reached the end of its track on January 6, 1968. The one-hour series lasted one and a half seasons, totaling 47 episodes.
Although Richard Markowitz scored SCALPLOCK, Dominic Frontiere did the main title for the series.
I don't know why I bothered but there was always a chance the next (of three) story would be better ...
On the good side, it's a good looking print and the cast are mostly well-suited and do well. But the premise involves Vincent Price explaining the various members of the club (he did well to remember all those lines re: cross-bred monsters ) to an author of horror stories ... John Carradine, leading into each of the three vignettes (each with distinct casts). Strangely, and totally unwanted, the club features pop/rock music between each story ... very annoying!
I think the casts of the three stories were mostly British, with Stuart Whitman the significant exception in the last story. The middle story is played mostly for laughs (if you can overlook a school boy being bullied) and Richard Johnson appeared to enjoy the role.
The main problems were the script and pacing. Each story was obvious, the twists being clear several/many minutes before; and so slow, especially the first story.
Pre-existing music was used to score the first two stories, each being very effective and enjoyable ... the third story had new (electronic) music by Alan Hawkshaw which sounded like third-rate Rick Wakeman ... poor and very intrusive.
There was one big surprise - to me - in that the film ended with the VP character introducing a new member to the club ... a breed far more effective at creating horror than all the existing members. I wasn't expecting a morality tale.
I first saw DAWN OF THE DEAD upon its initial U.S. release in 1979, and finally rewatched it on video in 2011. Now it’s been repurposed for 3-D, which doesn’t add all that much to the experience. Still, it’s good to see it again on the big screen.
The film is similar in its basic structure to 1968’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD—a small group of people hole up in a building to fend off a group of marauding zombies. The big difference in this case is that the group of four take refuge not in an isolated farmhouse but in a gigantic modern shopping mall. This gives writer-director George Romero an opportunity to use the “zombie apocalypse” as a device for commenting on our consumer culture, both in the way that the survivors make use of the goods available in the mall as well as why the zombies are attracted to it.
Francine (Gaylen Ross): What are they doing? Why do they come here? Stephen (David Emge): Some kind of instinct. Memory of what they used to do. This was an important place in their lives.
Romero shot most of the film in the then 10-year-old Monroeville Mall, east of Pittsburgh. The film crew worked during closing hours, generally between 10pm and 8am. Filming started in early November 1977, and took a hiatus during the Christmas holidays when the Mall put up its Christmas decorations. These would have caused continuity problems, and it was too time-consuming for the film crew to take them down and put them back up for each night’s shooting. More than 40 years later, the Mall is still in operation. I’ve been there a number of times.
Because of the violence in the film, it was given an [X] rating when viewed by the MPAA Ratings Board. But Romero decided to avoid the stigma of the [X] rating, and released the picture unrated, with posters carrying the following warning:
Later, in 1983, the film was re-rated as [R], but Romeo chose to relinquish even that rating, and the film remains un-rated today.
Producer Richard Rubenstein’s best estimate of the film’s cost is $640,000. The production grossed $11.3 million in the U.S. during its initial release, and estimates of its total worldwide take over the years range as high as $66 million.
Romero teamed with Italy’s Dario Agento to finance the film, with Agento receiving the rights to create his own cuts for international release. Romero retained all U.S. rights. When it came to scoring the film, Romero mostly used stock music from the De Wolfe library, while Agento used the progressive rock band Goblin, who had worked on his prior films SUSPIRIA and DEEP RED. Three of the Goblin cues appeared in Romero’s cut of the film. Goblin’s score has had many CD releases, most recently in 2018 by the Italian label Rustblade.
I last saw this film at the cinema in 1980 when I was 15. At the time, I probably thought it was terrifying and brilliant (everything is brilliant when you're 15, innit). 42 years later!!! it's not so brilliant. It's incredibly sloppy in the logic and plausibility stakes. The contrivances are off the chart. George C Scott is far too gruff and unlikable in the role of the main protagonist. And although he was only 53 at the time, he looks about 70 and I thought he was the Grandad of the family in the opening scenes. His powers of deduction rival Sherlock Holmes and he also shows virtually no fear during any of the spooky goings-on. The best things about the film are the chilly lensing and locations (largely Canada, with some USA pick-up shots) and the effective and scary score by Rick Wilkins and Ken Wannberg (the music credit is quite strange, with Wannberg's 'Conducted & Arranged by' title coming before the Wilkins one...I'll have to re-read the booklet in the CD...I think Wannberg did A LOT more than just arrange and conduct There's also a Music Box theme credited to Howard Blake). But the music is great and VERY effective in providing most of the dread and suspense during the mainly 'old hat' proceedings and it's nicely 'old school' too, in that it is thematic and sounds like a good 70s horror score, at times not unlike Schifrin's AMITYVILLE HORROR from the year before. Another fond memory of yesteryear not quite living up to old expectations or standing the test of time.
One of the best. The jokes may be as old as the hills but I can't help but smile ... and sometimes laugh aloud ... despite multiple viewings. Kenneth Williams may become tiring (too much shouting) but Jim Dale is excellent as his younger colleague.
The film/script manages to incorporate all of the characters and gives each and all a scene or two in which to excel. The roof-top sequence is overly long and looks fake but this is the weakest part in an otherwise joke laden farce. Even Eric Rogers' score is above average.
This is Martin Lawrence in stand-up comedy mode, filmed on stage in Washington, DC. Two things distinguish Lawrence’s comedy from that of predecessors Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy and contemporary Chris Rock: (1) Lawrence’s humor is more scatological than theirs, and (2) despite that (or more likely, because of it), he is less funny. Lawrence’s observations rarely range beyond the bedroom or the toilet. He comes closest to Richard Pryor when injecting some of his personal problems (drugs, arrests, and a near-death experience) into his act. I wouldn’t dip into this until after I’d seen the stand-up films and specials from the three aforementioned better comedians. The film cost $3 million to produce. (Why, I don’t know. Lawrence’s salary?) It grossed $19 million in the U.S.
Lordy, we're not even halfway through November, yet I've watched over 30 films already.
The Party (1968) - 4/5 Nightmare (1964) - 3/5 Up the Sandbox (1972) - 4/5 (First viewing [FV]) The Trojan Women (1971) - 3/5 (FV) The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) - 3/5 Days and Nights in the Forest (1970) - 4 or 5/5 (FV) One, Two Three (1961) - 4/5 La Rose de fer (1973) - 3 or 4/5 (FV) Juggernaut (1974) - 4/5 Last Tango in Paris (1972) - 3 or 4/5 The Frissons of Vampires (1971) - 2/5 (FV) The Last American Hero (1973) - 3 or 4/5 More Than a Miracle (1967) - 3 or 4/5 (FV) La vampire nue (1970) - 1/5 (FV) Count Yorga, Vampire (1970) - 3/5 (FV) Godspell (1973) - 4/5 Hud (1963) - 5/5 Irma La Douce (1963) - 3 or 4/5 (FV) Casualties of War (1989) - 4 or 5/5 The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) - 3 or 4/5 The Emperor Waltz (1948) - 3/5 (FV) Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963) - 3/5 (FV) The Clock (1945) - 4/5 10:30 P.M. Summer (1966) - 4/5 A Woman is a Woman (1961) - 2/5 (FV) I Never Sang for My Father (1970) - 4/5 A Walk with Love and Death (1969) - 3/5 (FV) The Devil to Pay! (1930) - 3/5 (FV) Three Days of the Condor (1975) - 4/5 The Vampire Lovers (1970) - 2 or 3/5 The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) - 3 or 4/5 (FV) Gone to Earth (1950) - 5/5 Getting Straight (1970) - 3/5 (FV) The Sailor from Gibraltar (1967) - 3 or 4/5 (FV)
The higher-than-average scores is mainly due to a mix of being wise as to which films that I've never seen before are likely to be worthwhile and rewatching already established classics.
Film-watching trends I've stumbled into this fall:
The Less-Celebrated Films of Irvin Kershner: The Luck of Ginger Coffey, A Fine Madness, Loving, Up the Sandbox.
Hammer Horror Rewatches Segueing Into Other Vampire Films
Margeurite Duras/Jules Dassin/Michael Cacoyannis: 10:30 P.M. Summer, The Sailor from Gibraltar, Phaedra, Stella, etc.
1970 First-Timers: Where's Poppa, Loving, Getting Straight, Leo the Last, There Was a Crooked Man, etc.
Late 1950s: (Wee) Georgie, Toward the Unknown, Marjorie Morningstar, etc.
Late 60s'/Early '70s Italian and French Policiers: Without Apparent Motive, We Still Kill the Old Way, Bandits in Milan, etc.
Hitchcock. And Giallos!
Inspired to Watch or Rewatch During My Autumn-Long Pauline Kael Re-Readings: Last Tango in Paris, Nasty Habits, Hud, many, many others. Such insights from this writer - it's not that I agree with everything she wrote, but that she helps me view movies in a broader, more comprehensive sense.
One of the best. The jokes may be as old as the hills but I can't help but smile ... and sometimes laugh aloud ... despite multiple viewings. Kenneth Williams may become tiring (too much shouting) but Jim Dale is excellent as his younger colleague.
The film/script manages to incorporate all of the characters and gives each and all a scene or two in which to excel. The roof-top sequence is overly long and looks fake but this is the weakest part in an otherwise joke laden farce. Even Eric Rogers' score is above average.
Entertaining if overlong (and somewhat slow) dramatic thriller - I've not read the novel so don't know how close it follows. By seeking to make it a semi-documentary (e.g. no underscore, almost no characterisation of anyone, numerous unnamed underlings doing the work) I think the film fails ... there are too many plot-holes which are acceptable in a thriller but raise too many questions if this was meant to be true.
Most of the cast are good and enjoyable to watch though Tony Britton's awful accent does grate (was he meant to be a Brummie?). The big plus for us was the glorious scenery as the Jackal travels ... we so want to return to our European drives ...
George Delerue's brief music does its job ... I'd have preferred a full score.
In order to help his oppressed people in ancient Egypt, the Gods give a man, “Teth Adam” (Dwayne Johnson), god-like powers. He is then entombed (for reasons I can’t recall) until accidently released by some people looking for an ancient crown that has mystical powers. Out and about in a modern city, which seems to be controlled by some criminal gang, “Black Adam,” as he will eventually become known, doesn’t quite know what to do. His first order of business is to dispose of the evildoers trying to get the crown away from “Adrianna Tomaz” (Sarah Shahi) and her young son “Amon” (Bodhi Sabongui).
Complicating this are some members of the Justice League who are trying to corral Black Adam and re-imprison him. They are led by “Dr. Fate” (Pierce Brosnan) and include “Hawkman” (Aldis Hodge), “Atom Smasher” (Noah Centineo), and “Cyclone” (Quintessa Swindell). Much superhero mayhem and destruction ensue.
The whole thing with the mystical crown is a McGuffin. It’s unclear for much of the film who wants it and why. Black Adam has Superman-like powers of flight and imperviousness to bullets and blasts. But so apparently, do Hawkman and Dr. Fate, in their own ways. Atom Smasher can grow to multistory heights at will, and Cyclone commands the wind. Their battles with Black Adam are OK, but nothing spectacular.
Like most superhero origin stories, BLACK ADAM is long on exposition. The film keeps flashing back to events in ancient Egypt as more of the story is revealed. Near the end, when several plot twists occur, we find that the flashbacks have been misleading us. The best thing about the film is its occasional touches of humor, particularly as Black Adam tries to adjust to the modern world and its mores and vernacular. The film could have used more of that.
Lorne Balfe’s score seemed more melodic to me than most superhero scores. The film cost a reported $195 million and has a worldwide gross of $327 million so far, making it somewhat of an underperformer relative to its budget. Like every superhero film, this one teases the next installment during its closing credits. We’ll see if that happens.
No, it's not very good ... but for some of its 2hr+ running time it is fun. And to see the Rat Pack together - at least in a few scenes - is the reason to watch.
The story has a good basis but is poorly developed and executed and it's rife with racism and sexism.
This DVD has good colours and a sharp image (one scene approx. midway shows some degradation) and so it's a shame that so many scenes were studio sets or fake (back projection).
A nice breezy score by Nelson Riddle featured a couple of pleasing new songs (performed by Sammy Davis, Jnr and Dean Martin) with older tunes being included as part of the on-screen action.
I hadn't seen the film for a long time ... I doubt I'll bother with it again but it was nice watching so many well-known stars enjoy themselves.
) to an author of horror stories ... John Carradine, leading into each of the three vignettes (each with distinct casts). Strangely, and totally unwanted, the club features pop/rock music between each story ... very annoying!
