BELATED WEEKEND REVIEW OF ANNABELLE: CREATION

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TuhxsUHO9T0/WZE05rP3dhI/AAAAAAAAylk/y2si0EuLJSgY0ivExsx6ERj0nuHR9ASawCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-13%2Bat%2B10.25.06%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="1017" height="217" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TuhxsUHO9T0/WZE05rP3dhI/AAAAAAAAylk/y2si0EuLJSgY0ivExsx6ERj0nuHR9ASawCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-13%2Bat%2B10.25.06%2BPM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year Released: 2017</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Combining horror sub-genres like Haunted House, Body Count and Demon Possession, ANNABELLE: CREATION is more exploitation rural than its dressed-up predecessor, smoothly building the characters... female orphans from ages 8 to 16 with a nun and the parents of...</span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TwS7gf0jM5M/WZE0_TdjtLI/AAAAAAAAylo/UQR0EbagKx8vD7YB98rVfx5HY85ZXKF3ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-13%2Bat%2B10.26.50%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="203" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TwS7gf0jM5M/WZE0_TdjtLI/AAAAAAAAylo/UQR0EbagKx8vD7YB98rVfx5HY85ZXKF3ACLcBGAs/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-13%2Bat%2B10.26.50%2BPM.jpg" width="65"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rate: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well that's the origin story in the prologue about a dollmaker, his adoring wife and their beloved daughter, who's killed, and, a decade later the story ignites: </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The initial suspense handled through the two youngest girls discovering what's in this movie's locked-room "237". The cheat scares are nicely done and aren't overused, so when the real, more palpable and genuine threat is revealed, it's the perfect time...</span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately, a barrage of CGI ruins the subtle yet spooky foundation. The "Monster" behind that CREATION could manifest in any film, cable TV show or hell, even a commercial, nowadays. Thankfully these over-effects don't last very long and the girls, including two pretty older ones, make for decent stalked-ingenues despite the fact they're all stuck in an extremely familiar nightmare </span>— <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">while nothing's left for us but to wait for a conclusion, which drags and drags to finally... happen...</span><br>

2017, horror

BELATED WEEKEND REVIEW OF ANNABELLE: CREATION

Year Released: 2017 Combining horror sub-genres like Haunted House, Body Count and Demon Possession, ANNABELLE: CREATION is more exploit...

RICHARD WIDMARK SCORNED IN THE FILM NOIR ROAD HOUSE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CbRGTQcaMus/WYf0BB1iBkI/AAAAAAAAyjc/XJqByLMj7WoREJzmUAykdQWf3cVOfJg7wCLcBGAs/s1600/368c6860ec14ea5fb4e4fd05eb362546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="1165" height="271" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CbRGTQcaMus/WYf0BB1iBkI/AAAAAAAAyjc/XJqByLMj7WoREJzmUAykdQWf3cVOfJg7wCLcBGAs/s400/368c6860ec14ea5fb4e4fd05eb362546.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>YEAR OF RELEASE: 1948</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No this doesn't star Patrick Swayze... ROAD HOUSE was originally a Noir title </span>—<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> t</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">he third of Richard Widmark's sleazy villain roles igniting with the staircase-shoving Tommy Udo in KISS OF DEATH followed by a nervous and edgy gang-boss in THE STREET WITH NO NAME...</span><br> <br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Widmark is the guy who, in these early roles, is far from pretty, or even manly, but does have either power or money, or both, and here he's just the rich part, owner of the title location where bowling is the forefront till he brings Ida Lupino to sing in the lounge: starting out, me mostly see her from the perspective of hero Cornel Wilde as Peter, the manager and bouncer who does all the work: one scene taking down a large and lusty drunk equalling two of Patrick Swayze's rowdy opponents. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So Peter has the least amount of fun. That is, until Lupino begins to shun the man who hired her... </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And like in many a Noir, the rich guy practically hands a woman, his woman (in this case, only in his mind) into the arms of the younger, handsome stud, and seems completely puzzled when they turn out falling in love... Although at one point, when Lupino describes her scary boss to Pete, he responds: "You don't understand </span>—<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Jefty just needs to have somebody around." And how!</span><br> <br>

british film noir/melodrama, cornel wilde, ida lupino, richard widmark

RICHARD WIDMARK SCORNED IN THE FILM NOIR ROAD HOUSE

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1948 No this doesn't star Patrick Swayze... ROAD HOUSE was originally a Noir title  —  t he third of Richard Widmar...

EXTREMELY BELATED REVIEW OF SNATCHED

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PQvXsPLgfto/WYv-xTlFKwI/AAAAAAAAyjs/jH9RTh4d178-N53TrUkZjQVBgDaDsKlDgCLcBGAs/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="1251" height="220" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PQvXsPLgfto/WYv-xTlFKwI/AAAAAAAAyjs/jH9RTh4d178-N53TrUkZjQVBgDaDsKlDgCLcBGAs/s400/maxresdefault.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>YEAR: 2017</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here's a double-edged question: Is the first twenty-minutes of SNATCHED weak and flimsy because the characters end up going on a dangerous adventure... Or are these characters so flimsy and weak from the get-go that they <i>have to</i> be thrown into deadly peril?</span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well it's 50/50 here. Not much is done to "flesh out" these ladies, SNATCHED from their balmy vacation, other than showing both are frightened fish-outta-water in a hostile region of Columbia... But who wouldn't be? </span><br>

adventure, amy schumer, buddy, comedy, goldie hawn, team-up

EXTREMELY BELATED REVIEW OF SNATCHED

YEAR: 2017 Here's a double-edged question: Is the first twenty-minutes of SNATCHED weak and flimsy because the characters end up goi...

FUTURISTIC MICE TWO: WOODYLESS PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8_dmGp9Y3DA/VzM-C6-5rAI/AAAAAAAAsgY/MKHaMSu3QjocM_qHhegkpYygDxlwGgDHwCLcB/s1600/13178576_10209625204329341_5656189540330615136_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8_dmGp9Y3DA/VzM-C6-5rAI/AAAAAAAAsgY/MKHaMSu3QjocM_qHhegkpYygDxlwGgDHwCLcB/s400/13178576_10209625204329341_5656189540330615136_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Limited Edition Twilight Time Blu Ray Menu with great artwork Year: 1985</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By far the best Woodyless Woody Allen film during what we call the PIVOTAL WOODY ALLEN CINEMA TIER TWO period (<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/10/woody-allen-fm1.html">click here</a> for the FUTURISTIC MICE retrospective introduction) starting with ANNIE HALL and ending with HUSBANDS AND WIVES... </span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That being a motion picture he wrote and directed and did not star in or appear at all (it happens all the time nowadays): the first being the Ingmar Bergman style melodrama INTERIORS that didn't quite wash, or dry – the opposite occurring in this, THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, wherein all scriptwriting students can learn how to take a far-fetched, impossible premise, in this case an actor literally walking through a movie screen to have an old fashion romance with his biggest fan... during the Great Depression... and have it make sense with one simple explanation: "It's New Jersey," says one character, explaining the bizarre event. "Anything can happen!" </span><br>

danny aielo, jeff daniels, mia farrow, woody allen

FUTURISTIC MICE TWO: WOODYLESS PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO

Limited Edition Twilight Time Blu Ray Menu with great artwork Year: 1985 By far the best Woodyless Woody Allen film during what we call ...

ROB REINER GOES NORTH W/ ONE OF THE WORST MOVIES EVER

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-27Tb1zixZXI/WYbGI1KqSiI/AAAAAAAAyio/c-5EU9QxKaAu7nK_b7m0cFMeIl4qhZrMwCLcBGAs/s1600/collegehumor-e612df21125dabca34af1332c7a852ba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="480" height="207" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-27Tb1zixZXI/WYbGI1KqSiI/AAAAAAAAyio/c-5EU9QxKaAu7nK_b7m0cFMeIl4qhZrMwCLcBGAs/s400/collegehumor-e612df21125dabca34af1332c7a852ba.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>YEAR RELEASED: 1994</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Director Terry Gilliam's first directed feature outside the Monty Python spectrum is TIME BANDITS, where a lonely, imaginative pre-teen, ignored by a pair of boorish, overly-typical suburban parents, is thrust into a portal where he discovers, along with a handful of thieving dwarves, the kind of manly dream-dad he, and any kid, would want in Sean Connery's brave, middle-aged from the Middle Ages warrior, much like an intrepid and serious version of our NORTH narrator Bruce Willis, who Elijah Wood finds after running away — ala Drew Barrymore in a courtroom liken to IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES — from a terribly depressing, equally annoying home-life, and he serves as a sort of mentor/guide, appearing as various characters, from a man in a bunny suit to a cowboy to an eskimo, for guidance beyond mere parental wisdom; more of a cool uncle but "enough of my yackin'... Here's a movie that killed a sublime winning streak of director Rob Reiner, who reigned in a decade of great to very-good movies from SPINAL TAP to PRINCESS BRIDE to MISERY... This is possibly the worst motion picture ever made, and one that might be suited to the "So Bad it's Good" category but really more of a "So Horrendously Awful it's Torturous Yet Intriguing, somehow..."</span><br>

nineties, rob reiner

ROB REINER GOES NORTH W/ ONE OF THE WORST MOVIES EVER

YEAR RELEASED: 1994 Director Terry Gilliam's first directed feature outside the Monty Python spectrum is TIME BANDITS, where a lonel...

A BIG RED THREAT IN SAM FULLER'S PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eGBHwMA1yps/WYV1hR8CdoI/AAAAAAAAyiA/OMIMg3-Plt4f9DMQ4woJDvwWPFeOJEcHQCLcBGAs/s1600/pickup_on_south_street_ver3_xlg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="1128" height="301" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eGBHwMA1yps/WYV1hR8CdoI/AAAAAAAAyiA/OMIMg3-Plt4f9DMQ4woJDvwWPFeOJEcHQCLcBGAs/s400/pickup_on_south_street_ver3_xlg.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>YEAR RELEASED: 1953</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET is arguably Samuel Fuller's best movie... surpassing even his most famous, THE BIG RED ONE... It's a Film Noir that despises "Reds," and uses that word abundantly, which is a real treat given how much the moniker's been protected since the 1960's because of the paranoia-driven "witch hunts" the decade earlier... So that's that: If Sam says the Communists are a threat, well then, sorry, Intellectuals...</span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <div> <div> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And yet, Fuller tows the line of patriotism by having his antagonist a lifestyle lowlife pickpocket in New York City — who is a war vet, like Sam himself, and when the cops start "waving the flag," goading him into returning a microfilm that was inside ingenue Jean Peter's pocketbook, he demands the law doesn't get Patriotic "<i>to me." </i>This also establishes Richard Widmark's McCoy, holed in a dilapidated sea shanty that's like a character in itself, as being one of the most ambiguous Noir characters in a genre full of them. But it's not the leading man or lady, thrown together by chance as she wants back what he stole that belonged to an abusive boyfriend who's selling the film (a plot-driven device known as McGuffin) to Communists — it's Thelma Ritter who not only steals scenes, she carries the mantle as also being, technically speaking, the most important character herein: An endearing bag lady-style con-artist "fink" who provides names for a price. This endearingly rough, street savvy, tie-selling street hustler is the one person connecting McCoy with Jean's Candy, who also plays it smooth and natural — despite falling way too hard, far too soon with Widmark, and is the only device seeming rushed, contrived: even someone resembling a Robert Mitchum or Cary Grant would have to work harder to melt a starlet this quickly... It takes minutes here... Or less...</span></div> </div>

fifties, film noir or melodrama, jean peters, richard kiley, richard widmark, samuel fuller

A BIG RED THREAT IN SAM FULLER'S PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET

YEAR RELEASED: 1953 PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET is arguably Samuel Fuller's best movie... surpassing even his most famous, THE BIG RED ON...

THURSDAY REVIEW OF STEPHEN KING'S THE DARK TOWER

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9cxYpoKH23o/WYa4psLNwdI/AAAAAAAAyiY/2LBcYzTt1w0jlL03SE-W61KsPinjj1WYwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-05%2Bat%2B11.33.00%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="461" height="243" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9cxYpoKH23o/WYa4psLNwdI/AAAAAAAAyiY/2LBcYzTt1w0jlL03SE-W61KsPinjj1WYwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-05%2Bat%2B11.33.00%2BPM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year Released: 2017</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stephen King is both a popular, highly successful, bestselling author, and at the same time has a cult following: The latter derives from books like THE DARK TOWER... </span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">King's a rabid fan of fantasy, ranging from Narnia to the original pulpy Conan tales by Robert E. Howard, and this is his own fantastical world located in shrouded mystery far beyond ours, but not really: both locations take place on Earth, and the TOWER is what's holding our dimension together. And so, h</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">aving not read the source, this review will be as short as possible, befitting what's the best thing about this adaptation...</span><br>

2017, fantasy, matthew mcconaughey, stephen king

THURSDAY REVIEW OF STEPHEN KING'S THE DARK TOWER

Year Released: 2017 Stephen King is both a popular, highly successful, bestselling author, and at the same time has a cult following: Th...

IF DOG RABBIT AKA ONE LAST SCORE AKA GOING SOUTH

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IZl6YjtFtn0/WYGDkY5xW6I/AAAAAAAAygo/fnMNlFToFkk0dXqiusUnvP7K99sHijDpQCLcBGAs/s1600/Golpe_A_Traicion-Caratula.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IZl6YjtFtn0/WYGDkY5xW6I/AAAAAAAAygo/fnMNlFToFkk0dXqiusUnvP7K99sHijDpQCLcBGAs/s400/Golpe_A_Traicion-Caratula.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year Released: 1999</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If a dog sees the rabbit, as the saying goes, then there's no longer a reason to chase it. The secret's out. Or else, when he sees the rabbit, without knowing the truth, the instinct is to catch the thing at all costs...</span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Either can be the meaning behind what seems to be one of the worst titles of all time, IF... DOG... RABBIT, later changed to the more conventional, simplistic and unfitting ONE LAST SCORE, a Neo Noir heist drama written and directed by Matthew Modine, taking place DOWN SOUTH (which is another video release title), first near Mexico and then within its sun-exposed streets where our anti-hero hides away with crazy brother Kevin J. O'Connor; the latter who smashed Modine's parole officer, played by David Keith, on the head after too much snooping around (Lisa Blount, Keith's girlfriend in AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN, has a small role here)...</span><br>

heist, john hurt, matthew modine, neo noir, nineties

IF DOG RABBIT AKA ONE LAST SCORE AKA GOING SOUTH

Year Released: 1999 If a dog sees the rabbit, as the saying goes, then there's no longer a reason to chase it. The secret's out....

GENE RODDENBERRY'S SCI-FI TV-MOVIE PILOT FOR PLANET EARTH

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zhO35grNDhM/WX3XCjXxmSI/AAAAAAAAyfc/0nztmcxt1kU2-rSu7b5f0onCXCiqw1mHQCLcBGAs/s1600/planeteterremodif.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="545" height="276" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zhO35grNDhM/WX3XCjXxmSI/AAAAAAAAyfc/0nztmcxt1kU2-rSu7b5f0onCXCiqw1mHQCLcBGAs/s400/planeteterremodif.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>That Sexy Girl is not on the Show but it's Cool Artwork YEAR: 1974</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following our surprisingly popular "thiral" writeup on <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/07/EarthDos.html">EARTH II</a>, during the next month or longer we'll be covering more Science-Fiction TV-Movies from the 1970's, some that go where <i>one man</i> went during that particular decade... </span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gene Roddenberry's 1960's three-season gem STAR TREK was beginning to gather a big cult following, and yet, before the progressive doors opened up for another possible TREK series or, what happened instead from the financial success of STAR WARS, a trail of movies, Roddenberry attempted several entirely new science-fiction shows, and one of the better winds up like an episode of TREK: The Earth, PLANET EARTH, is a couple hundred years older... Like Woody Allen's SLEEPER in 1973, John Saxon had been awakened from a two-hundred-year slumber </span>—<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> we learn this through the main character's narration.... By the time the show starts, it already fee like another pilot had aired and this was the first episode of that series...</span><br>

gene roddenberry, john saxon, science-fiction, seventies, tv movie

GENE RODDENBERRY'S SCI-FI TV-MOVIE PILOT FOR PLANET EARTH

That Sexy Girl is not on the Show but it's Cool Artwork YEAR: 1974 Following our surprisingly popular "thiral" writeup on ...

REVIEW OF ATOMIC BLONDE STARRING CHARLIZE THERON

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BRz1AXaDBB4/WXu5YRKxkeI/AAAAAAAAyeI/-9QzOfkvMEQi5f-hBpF8olBs5kUNxS7IwCLcBGAs/s1600/atomic-blonde-movie-poster-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="549" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BRz1AXaDBB4/WXu5YRKxkeI/AAAAAAAAyeI/-9QzOfkvMEQi5f-hBpF8olBs5kUNxS7IwCLcBGAs/s400/atomic-blonde-movie-poster-2.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year Released: July of 2017 AtomicScore: **</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It seems rather uptight, and now very dated, even cliché, to use the term Gratuitous Violence. There are two kinds, though: When Violence is exaggerated for effect, or, as in the case of ATOMIC BLONDE, masking the fact that no real story's behind it... </span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There<i> are</i> good things about this BLONDE. Great, actually, as in... looking. With Charlize Theron at the helm that's no surprise. The lesbian scenes are sexy and <i>very</i> welcome, and the music, like anything post-Tarantino, works to move the action forward in a pop culture blitz. Taking place at the tail-end of the late-1980's Cold War, hours before the Berlin Wall came down, Germany is full of neon combined with grainy Noir lighting within pulsating nightclubs and sun-exposed boulevards... </span><br>

2017, charlize theron, cold war, james mcavoy, thriller

REVIEW OF ATOMIC BLONDE STARRING CHARLIZE THERON

Year Released: July of 2017 AtomicScore: ** It seems rather uptight, and now very dated, even cliché, to use the term Gratuitous Violenc...

MICHAEL CRICHTON WRITES & DIRECTS A REAL LOOKER

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FpdQc8uXR0k/WXhd4TU7INI/AAAAAAAAydg/9lYJLqipRSgMso82ajiFNQBdDGAbTK63ACLcBGAs/s1600/looker-french-movie-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="373" height="290" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FpdQc8uXR0k/WXhd4TU7INI/AAAAAAAAydg/9lYJLqipRSgMso82ajiFNQBdDGAbTK63ACLcBGAs/s400/looker-french-movie-poster.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year Released: 1981</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Michael Crichton was a great writer and a good director with some great scripts. His style was to make just about anything not only believable but entirely mundane in whatever near-future it takes place... </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This includes one of his more obscure movies, LOOKER, centering on how TV Commercials are a helluva lot worse than inconvenient, and it was long before DVRs saved us from their bland, monotonous interruption... </span><br> <br> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ndVz2-P8hmw/WXheKpq-W3I/AAAAAAAAydk/Tb1j2zsUwzMNMKccrgsolE3u63YULc8LwCLcBGAs/s1600/0b44145f1cda7eae548d7a67b830961b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1409" data-original-width="952" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ndVz2-P8hmw/WXheKpq-W3I/AAAAAAAAydk/Tb1j2zsUwzMNMKccrgsolE3u63YULc8LwCLcBGAs/s320/0b44145f1cda7eae548d7a67b830961b.jpg" width="216"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>LookerScore: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The plot takes about half the film to unveil and the other to wind-down, or, when it comes to the main antagonist, wind-up. Enter Albert Finney as a cosmetic surgeon who did subtle procedures on three already-gorgeous young models. More Thriller than Action with a touch of the Film Noir "Wrong Man" template, which causes Finney to discover, perhaps too quickly, what's going on and, most important, who killed his former patients: a trio of murders that <i>he</i> could be blamed for.</span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The LOOKER process is intriguing, having to do with electrolytes connected to commercials, leading the viewer to be able to concentrate solely on the product. But most important, LOOKER is the name of a futuristic gun that, when flashed in the target's eyes, renders him blind for a minute. Him, not her. He, not them: Beside corporate showboat James Coburn and his glamorous yet glorified assistant, Leigh Taylor Young, it's Tim Rossovich, with a brawny build and a dark 80's mustache, who's the only palpable threat that our hero deals with </span>— <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">while trying to keep his down-to-Earth, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">sole-surviving, flirtatious patient, played by former Partridge Susan Dey (who's cute but not as "perfect" as the others) from being the final victim. A shame since what's behind LOOKER is much more than a duck-and-cover shoot-em-up, and yet, up front it's really just that: though not too shabby for a neatly time-filling ride. Maybe that's intentional: like those commercials, we're supposed to simply relax, and submit. Enjoy. </span><br>

albert finney, eighties, james coburn, leigh taylor-young, michael crichton, neo noir, suspense, thriller

MICHAEL CRICHTON WRITES & DIRECTS A REAL LOOKER

Year Released: 1981 Michael Crichton was a great writer and a good director with some great scripts. His style was to make just about an...

BEGINNING OUR 1970'S SCI-FI TV-MOVIE CYCLE WITH EARTH 2

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5O0GXXwfe24/WXXqYKNRYHI/AAAAAAAAydI/eCVdOdUJwukaOjxVsfArraZAQrD6QRjgQCLcBGAs/s1600/earth1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="623" height="230" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5O0GXXwfe24/WXXqYKNRYHI/AAAAAAAAydI/eCVdOdUJwukaOjxVsfArraZAQrD6QRjgQCLcBGAs/s400/earth1.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>EARTH II Credit Font Opening Sequence YEAR: 1971</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No, EARTH II is not a sequel to EARTH: THE MOTION PICTURE, and despite Gary Lockwood being one of Gene Roddenberry's stock actors, having starred in THE LIEUTENANT from 1963 to 1964, and then as a villain who starts out as Captain Kirk's Academy friend on STAR TREK, this is not a Roddenberry production, who did create a handful of likewise 1970's pilots with similar beginning-of a-new-world themes including another co-starring Mariette Hartley, GENESIS II: The disco era was to science-fiction what the previous year was to cold war spy flicks... And while taking its time, and full of political dialogue with hardly any action at all, EARTH II is a somewhat decent if filler TV-Movie-of-the-Week, especially since the outer space special effects slightly resemble the pre-STAR WARS brilliance of what Lockwood is best known for — 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY....</span><br>

gary lockwood, science-fiction, seventies, sixties, western

BEGINNING OUR 1970'S SCI-FI TV-MOVIE CYCLE WITH EARTH 2

EARTH II Credit Font Opening Sequence YEAR: 1971 No, EARTH II is not a sequel to EARTH: THE MOTION PICTURE, and despite Gary Lockwood be...

OLD VERSES BRAND NEW METHOD FOR GOING IN STYLE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7H18L_BFT84/WWW_HiilJAI/AAAAAAAAySU/kHbztv7hv5kuTlV_oJuqzBGmz3aDbFVwACEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-07-11%2Bat%2B11.12.14%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="510" height="228" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7H18L_BFT84/WWW_HiilJAI/AAAAAAAAySU/kHbztv7hv5kuTlV_oJuqzBGmz3aDbFVwACEwYBhgL/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-07-11%2Bat%2B11.12.14%2BPM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Original Going in Style1979 Reboot Date 2017</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For a website covering new movies while being all about old and semi old classics, the difference between two eras of filmmaking and/or storytelling can be summed up pretty quick and fairly easy, right here and now, with a single motion picture that's been remade... </span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Martin Brest 1979 laidback comedy caper GOING IN STYLE starred two celebrity icons, George Burns and Art Carney, as well as acting guru Lee Strasberg (Hyman Roth from THE GODFATHER II), and centered on three old-timers who rob a bank:</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> In movies back then, protagonists didn't need a reason to be angry about society in order to pull off a heist since, at the end of the 1970's Renaissance, while films were becoming less independent and more mainstream, so this movie combined both styles with a story catered to an audiences and a plotline and structure that only meant something for the characters within... The polar opposite of the GOING IN STYLE remake from 2017. </span><br>

2017, alan arkin, art carney, george burns, heist, lee strasberg, matt dillon, michael caine, morgan freeman, seventies

OLD VERSES BRAND NEW METHOD FOR GOING IN STYLE

Original Going in Style1979 Reboot Date 2017 For a website covering new movies while being all about old and semi old classics, the diff...

TOM SELLECK IN MICHAEL CRICHTON'S RUNAWAY

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wDgvSBFiYM4/WXQ_y7xKRLI/AAAAAAAAyZ4/GHlk774z84MZeKUS7Odz2Hk741Un4W9ggCLcBGAs/s1600/tom%2Bselleck%2Brunaway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="1219" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wDgvSBFiYM4/WXQ_y7xKRLI/AAAAAAAAyZ4/GHlk774z84MZeKUS7Odz2Hk741Un4W9ggCLcBGAs/s1600/tom%2Bselleck%2Brunaway.jpg"></a></div> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Tom Selleck is a police officer whose niche is to take down runaways: robots who stray from their jobs. These particular gizmos are killing people. The best scenes have Selleck's Ramsay, an intrepid cop whose only fear is heights, taking down several rogue machines: one in particular has killed off the family it works for, making a suspenseful scene as he moves on in. This is a scene straight out of your standard cop film or TV show, only there's a robot at the end of the tunnel.</span><br>

action, cop, cynthia rhodes, eighties, gene simmons, michael crichton, robot, science-fiction, stan shaw, suspense

TOM SELLECK IN MICHAEL CRICHTON'S RUNAWAY

Tom Selleck is a police officer whose niche is to take down runaways: robots who stray from their jobs. These particular gizmos are kill...

KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE FOR THE LATE DONNA GORDON

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jMA-kmLCyMo/WXKk9h-R8hI/AAAAAAAAyYM/f-2aJjIHXJooUXDSv_OeZQe9iyRtorkRgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-07-21%2Bat%2B6.02.40%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="624" height="345" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jMA-kmLCyMo/WXKk9h-R8hI/AAAAAAAAyYM/f-2aJjIHXJooUXDSv_OeZQe9iyRtorkRgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-07-21%2Bat%2B6.02.40%2BPM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Writeup for the Memorial of Donna Marie Gordon i.e. Margo Donnar</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Donna Gordon stood out in THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE. Of all the dancers at Ben Gazzara's nightclub, she was the toughest, and most blunt, honest. That was Donna in real life too. She was one of my closest friends, especially a few years back. She also took my cat, Buzz, into her care and he had a great life, and now lives with her friend/landlord. She had genuine character and was a classic character. To her life, and recent death on July 1st, 2017, this BOOKIE writeup is reposted...</i></span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An important bridge in John Cassavete's directorial career, progressing from his usual improvisational character studies to a more structured film involving a strip club owner in debt to the mob given a seemingly impossible task as explained in the title.</span><br>

alice friedland, ben gazzara, donna gordon, indie, john cassavetes, mob, seventies, timothy carey

KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE FOR THE LATE DONNA GORDON

Writeup for the Memorial of Donna Marie Gordon i.e. Margo Donnar Donna Gordon stood out in THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE. Of all the d...

WEEKEND REVIEW OF CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S DUNKIRK

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1qx8qJCRkFk/WXKBvsMw9RI/AAAAAAAAyXY/5OnXjv682bIzz3BoCGjoc89d1qpG0e_YQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-07-21%2Bat%2B3.33.52%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="960" height="230" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1qx8qJCRkFk/WXKBvsMw9RI/AAAAAAAAyXY/5OnXjv682bIzz3BoCGjoc89d1qpG0e_YQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-07-21%2Bat%2B3.33.52%2BPM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The First/Main Viewpoint of Three YEAR RELEASED: 2017</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Will hope to keep this short, and to the point. Not to avoid spoilers since DUNKIRK is part of history. But for all the immensity, it's still a tight character-driven film, from beginning... as a young soldier dodges German bullets on the edge of the invaded French town... to the middle... as the same kid winds up on several aerial-bombarded boats... to the end when...<br> <br> So, alright, it <i>is</i> possible to spoil. What's important to note is exactly what kind of World World II movie it is. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, for instance, narrowed down, was a Body Count adventure: a handful of soldiers that we get to know from the start, on their way to a particular destination, being picked off, one by one, with very few survivors. DUNKIRK, on the other hand, is a bareknuckle Disaster Epic but with a relatively short runtime, and surprisingly enough, coming from Christopher Nolan, there isn't much dialogue at all...<br>

action, christopher nolan, war, world war II

WEEKEND REVIEW OF CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S DUNKIRK

The First/Main Viewpoint of Three YEAR RELEASED: 2017 Will hope to keep this short, and to the point. Not to avoid spoilers since DUNKIR...

BELATED REVIEW OF WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--wHjvRreEEY/WW3Kg5XwtII/AAAAAAAAyV4/aovn741a4h4TJiepl6GUsgltjFf7W0ROQCLcBGAs/s1600/gallery5-gallery-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1399" height="205" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--wHjvRreEEY/WW3Kg5XwtII/AAAAAAAAyV4/aovn741a4h4TJiepl6GUsgltjFf7W0ROQCLcBGAs/s400/gallery5-gallery-image.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Have These Apes Reached Their Long Goodbye? YEAR: 2017</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The good old days of the original PLANET OF THE APES, as that franchise ended with a BATTLE instead of WAR at the head of its title, things weren't so good <span style="font-family: "times";">—</span> the budget got lower with each installment so the climax was... well... very anticlimactic... </span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And now, as far as money goes, sky's the limit, and WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, while looking terrific with tons of special effects, has hardly anything to do with the title wherein BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES simply lacked the necessary ingredients for it to matter...</span><br>

2017, action, franchise, planet of the apes, sequel, woody harrelson

BELATED REVIEW OF WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

Have These Apes Reached Their Long Goodbye? YEAR: 2017 The good old days of the original PLANET OF THE APES, as that franchise ended wit...

MICHAEL KEATON DEVELOPS MCDONALD'S AS THE FOUNDER

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nbA8R8ISFNc/WWcmcN73NzI/AAAAAAAAyUM/tZRZ4WNYyNQB_NElLuvBB_i3Uh8PVcytgCLcBGAs/s1600/e59c1bef6457e8fc13646a57367bb4a7--steven-spielberg-close-encounters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="541" height="221" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nbA8R8ISFNc/WWcmcN73NzI/AAAAAAAAyUM/tZRZ4WNYyNQB_NElLuvBB_i3Uh8PVcytgCLcBGAs/s400/e59c1bef6457e8fc13646a57367bb4a7--steven-spielberg-close-encounters.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>What 1970's Movie Is This From? Hint, a Boston tune plays YEAR: 2017</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The problem with Hollywood-moralizing is it makes a theme or agenda override the characters, especially when based on real folks like, for instance, young Facebook phenom Mark Zuckerberg,  torn apart in THE SOCIAL NETWORK and now it's McDonald's mogul Ray Croc's turn under the hatchet — so this review will have to fight preachy with preachy....<br> <br> Michael Keaton, an actor who can make anyone if not likable then completely realistic, is a blank slate here as THE FOUNDER, with its title bathed in irony (although Croc <i>did </i>find the restaurant, and its potential, as opposed to creating it). Keaton sleepwalks through the role, in slow motion... despite displaying a ghost of his usual wired b.s. artist, starting out as a lowly milkshake salesman traveling a nowhere road from greasy spoon to spoon — rejection after rejection. This is where his persona should have been grounded — when he had nothing and was hungry, anything would be possible... Instead it's just a flash of benign conversations and doors closing, which leads to the inevitable partnership with the McDonald brothers, whose small town burger joint invented the word Fast-Food as the movie drags from one scene to the next. Ray Croc is mostly shown from other people's reaction: Dumbfounded stares from his so-called business partners and wife (a witchy Laura Dern) <i>lets us know </i>how to feel about the guy who's climbing to the top...<br>

2017, bio, drama, michael keaton

MICHAEL KEATON DEVELOPS MCDONALD'S AS THE FOUNDER

What 1970's Movie Is This From? Hint, a Boston tune plays YEAR: 2017 The problem with Hollywood-moralizing is it makes a theme or ag...

BELATED REVIEW OF EDGAR WRIGHT'S BABY DRIVER

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0zCHQE5VL6k/WWWG4QD9CtI/AAAAAAAAySE/zXMyxu7Ok308UTEb_rsI8FZhROq2m_9rQCLcBGAs/s1600/Baby-Driver-poster-cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="664" height="231" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0zCHQE5VL6k/WWWG4QD9CtI/AAAAAAAAySE/zXMyxu7Ok308UTEb_rsI8FZhROq2m_9rQCLcBGAs/s400/Baby-Driver-poster-cropped.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Retro Sparse poster for Baby Driver sans the title YEAR: 2017</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">BABY DRIVER is part RESERVOIR DOGS in storyline and characters, and nearly <i>all</i> Quentin Tarantino in style, substance and the super-hip hybrid of classic rock R&B, fast-paced humor and tons of bloodshed...</span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of course Edgar Wright isn't without his own zingy style seen in cult favorites SHAWN OF THE DEAD, HOT FUZZ, THE WORLD'S END: And here he's one-upped Tarantino's recent string of dull historical revenge sagas with an edgy urban precision combining music with the tribal beat of frantic self defense: with either pool sticks or in this case, gunfire. Making BABY DRIVER a metronomic, multi-heist action flick that also borrows from Walter Hill's THE DRIVER since the main character is quiet, brooding and much different than the brash thugs he provides an apt getaway for; each heist viewed by only his perspective...</span><br>

2017, action, jon hamm

BELATED REVIEW OF EDGAR WRIGHT'S BABY DRIVER

Retro Sparse poster for Baby Driver sans the title YEAR: 2017 BABY DRIVER is part RESERVOIR DOGS in storyline and characters, and nearly...

SUNDAY NIGHT REVIEW OF SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S_0_WwFrGNE/WWNBRtQfv5I/AAAAAAAAyRE/aBGp-Jz4I4kAmYkTVOtlwl2ro9GNNadZQCLcBGAs/s1600/yLolQbQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="1098" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S_0_WwFrGNE/WWNBRtQfv5I/AAAAAAAAyRE/aBGp-Jz4I4kAmYkTVOtlwl2ro9GNNadZQCLcBGAs/s400/yLolQbQ.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Spider-Man back for a third time but a first for Marvel YEAR: 2017</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There's a scene when Peter Parker uses one of his main gadgets as a voice box. Although it's intended to be funny through satire, SPIDER-MAN having a deep, formidable, robotic tone actually fits the costume, which is arguably the coolest, meanest and leanest superhero get-up of all time...</span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not that Tom Holland is a weak SPIDER-MAN. He's a good one. And a good actor. Sympathetic. Energetic. And while it's difficult if impossible making any high school student seem like a geek nowadays when everyone carries a personal computer/phone in their pocket, he fits the mold of an underdog who's hiding a secret while getting no credit for his accomplishments...</span><br>

2017, marvel, superhero

SUNDAY NIGHT REVIEW OF SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

Spider-Man back for a third time but a first for Marvel YEAR: 2017 There's a scene when Peter Parker uses one of his main gadgets as...

OLD WITH NEW: DOUBLE BEGUILED & THE HOUSE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-41KcS5RVZpU/WV880ImbWFI/AAAAAAAAyQA/NEC-Th2AN6geq3y_X_r_5gKyXV43LOtWwCLcBGAs/s1600/7aeb9f78ab8efeca3ad4ac4d4cd62eab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="1128" height="207" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-41KcS5RVZpU/WV880ImbWFI/AAAAAAAAyQA/NEC-Th2AN6geq3y_X_r_5gKyXV43LOtWwCLcBGAs/s400/7aeb9f78ab8efeca3ad4ac4d4cd62eab.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Clint Eastwood BEGUILED has an archive review below</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Covering two new theatrical releases, quickly, as there really isn't much out there, yet. Then again, one of them is surprisingly decent while the other is neither good, bad, or... </span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well Sofia Coppola's THE BEGUILED definitely isn't ugly. Although, unlike the original </span><a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2011/02/beguiled.html" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Don Siegel Civil War-Era Thriller</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, starring Clint Eastwood as a wounded Yankee soldier holed-up in a spooky manor run by beautiful vixens (think Castle Anthrax from MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, without the singing), the two starlets aren't mischievous and daring enough to turn the darkly-lit Gothic location into a hybrid of male fantasy and claustrophobic nightmare...</span><br>

2017, comedy, mob, remake

OLD WITH NEW: DOUBLE BEGUILED & THE HOUSE

The Clint Eastwood BEGUILED has an archive review below Covering two new theatrical releases, quickly, as there really isn't much ou...

NEO-NOIR GANGSTER HYBRID OF THE DON IS DEAD

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lHDI3v6ea_s/WV4DlCcUD1I/AAAAAAAAyO0/G1dmwb8ouscrj7j9QHzW8XIMtDif4C52QCLcBGAs/s1600/P3090074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="563" height="232" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lHDI3v6ea_s/WV4DlCcUD1I/AAAAAAAAyO0/G1dmwb8ouscrj7j9QHzW8XIMtDif4C52QCLcBGAs/s400/P3090074.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Don is Dead pink poster YEAR: 1973</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How could a movie starring Anthony Quinn, Robert Forster, Frederic Forrest, Al Lettieri, directed by Richard Fleischer and centering on cutthroat mobsters slightly miss the mark, or, not be an incredible masterpiece? </span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Probably because there's not much of a target to begin with, and yet, that's not such a bad thing since the breezy undertone provides a cushion of what feels like actor improvisation under the edgy, multi-plotted schemes going on... And on and on...</span><br>

anthony quinn, fredric forrest, gangster, neo noir, robert forster

NEO-NOIR GANGSTER HYBRID OF THE DON IS DEAD

The Don is Dead pink poster YEAR: 1973 How could a movie starring Anthony Quinn, Robert Forster, Frederic Forrest, Al Lettieri, directed...