Written by James M. Tate / 1/15/2021 / No comments / edgar buchanan , forties , glenn ford , leslie nielsen , mickey shaughnessy , shirley maclaine , western , william bowers
GLENN FORD IN GEORGE MARSHALL'S WESTERN 'THE SHEEPMAN'

Title: THE SHEEPMAN Year: 1958 Rating: **** George Marshall's THE SHEEPMAN could have been a downright satire, deliberately playing upon...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/08/2021 / No comments / cop , cornel wilde , earl holliman , film noir or melodrama , helen walker , jazz score , jean wallace , lee van cleef , richard conte
FILM NOIR 'THE BIG COMBO' W/ CORNEL WILDE VS RICHARD CONTE

Title: THE BIG COMBO Year: 1955 Rating: **** Given a dollar for every time Richard Conte's big time bad guy says he makes more money tha...
RICHARD DIX MURDERS LAWRENCE TIERNEY IN 'THE GHOST SHIP'

Title: THE GHOST SHIP Year: 1943 Rating: ***1/2 A darkly atmospheric Val Lewton production using RKO's fog-shrouded KING KONG ship (lite...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/07/2021 / No comments / al lettieri , amerigo tot , cult , dark comedy , lionel stander , lizabeth scott , michael caine , mickey rooney , mike hodges , neo noir , seventies , thriller
DIRECTOR MIKE HODGES BEATS MICHAEL CAINE TO A BREEZY 'PULP'

Michael Caine gets fiction in PULP Year: 1973 Rates: ***1/2 Director Mike Hodges and his severe GET CARTER anti-hero Michael Caine found th...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/06/2021 / No comments / action , british neo noir , exploitation , gangster , michael caine , mike hodges , neo noir , seventies , thriller
MIKE HODGES DIRECTS A KILLER MICHAEL CAINE IN 'GET CARTER'

Michael Caine in GET CARTER Year: 1971 Rating: **** The plot of Mike Hodges' GET CARTER is simple enough: London-based gangster Michael ...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/05/2021 / No comments / action , caper , comedy , cult , ensemble , heist , margaret blye , michael caine , noel coward , sixties
MICHAEL CAINE IN THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF 'THE ITALIAN JOB'

Michael Caine looking McQueenish Year: 1969 Rating: ** A stern, turtleneck-clad Michael Caine resembles BULLITT Steve McQueen on THE ITALIAN...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/03/2021 / No comments / abraham sofaer , action , byron haskin , charlton heston , creature , disaster , eleanor parker , fifties , melodrama , romance , william conrad
ANTS MARCH ON MELODRMA IN BYRON HASKIN'S 'THE NAKED JUNGLE'

Charlton Heston & Eleanor Parker Year: 1954 Rates: *** No Killer Ant movie is as strange (or as lacking of ants) as Byron Haskin's T...
BYRON HASKIN DIRECTS A VENGEFUL EDMOND O'BRIEN IN 'WARPATH'

Title: WARPATH Year: 1951 Rating: ***1/2 An epitome of a filler b-Western that still looks pretty grand with all the epic outdoor shots, spe...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/01/2021 / No comments / allen garfield , bill henderson , comedy , daniel stern , ed begley jr. , eighties , ensemble , gail edwards , lee ving , lou reed , malcolm mcdowell , miles chapin , music , slapstick , stacey nelkin
TOASTING NEW YEARS WITH NEW YEARS PARTY FLICK 'GET CRAZY'

Title: GET CRAZY Year: 1983 Rating: ***1/2 The "Stoned Out " device from EASY RIDER to BREAKFAST CLUB overdoses in Alan Arkush...
Written by James M. Tate / 12/25/2020 / No comments / action , cult , dana andrews , drive-in , gene kirkwood , george ives , jeanne crain , laurie mock , mimsy farmer , race , road movie , sixties
DANA ANDREWS CRASHES CHRISTMAS FOR 'HOT RODS TO HELL'

Michael Caine in GET CARTER Year: 1971 Rating: ***1/2 "The horns blowing, the lights, the brakes," says a jaded Dana Andrews to wi...
Written by James M. Tate / 12/20/2020 / No comments / bruce humberstone , dana andrews , david white , drama , eddie albert , eleanor parker , howard st. john , jeanne crain , kathleen freeman , romance , sixties , wall street
DANA ANDREWS & JEANNE CRAIN RETURN FOR 'MADISON AVENUE'

Dana Andrews & Jeanne Crain in Madison Avenue Year: 1961 Based on the novel The Build-Up Boys, Dana Andrews is similar to a resilient, ...
Written by James M. Tate / 12/19/2020 / No comments / action , crime , escape , fabio testi , italian , oliver reed , seventies , teamup , thriller , wrong man
OLIVER REED DOES ITALIAN CRIME IN 'REVOLVER' W/ FABIO TESTI

Oliver Reed in Revolver Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 A promising, clever premise of a government official, played by the genuinely tough Oliver...
Written by James M. Tate / 12/09/2020 / No comments / action , beach , deborah shelton , eighties , exploitation , horror , james earl jones , jaws-clone , jose ferrer , lydia cornell , martin kove , mary-louise weller , thriller
GLOSSING OVER 'BLOODTIDE' AKA 'DEMON ISLAND' AKA 'BLOOD TIDE'

Mary-Louise Weller & Martin Kove 1982 Rates: ***1/2 Martin Kove and Mary-Louise Weller visit a Greek island to find his missing sister ...
Written by James M. Tate / 12/07/2020 / No comments / e.g. marshall , espionage , history , japanese , jason robards , martin balsam , richard fleischer , seventies , war , wesley addy , world war II
DECEMBER 7TH POST OF RICHARD FLEISCHER'S 'TORA! TORA! TORA!'

Title: Tora! Tora! Tora! Year: 1970 Rating: **** American director/producer Richard Fleischer mans only half of TORA! TORA! TORA! centering ...
Written by James M. Tate / 11/23/2020 / No comments / cult , donald sutherland , exploitation , hilary mason , horror , julie christie , massimo serato , mystery , nicolas roeg , renato scarpa , seventies
DONALD SUTHERLAND & JULIE CHRISTIE IN 'DON'T LOOK NOW'

Julie Christie in Don't Look Now 1973 Rates: ***12 Never let your young daughter play outside, around water, and if she plays with dolls...
Written by James M. Tate / 11/15/2020 / No comments / ben cross , dan curtis , franchise , horror , joanna going , joseph gordon-levitt , nineties , roy thinnes , TV , vampire
JOANNA GOING AND REBECCA STAAB IN A NEWER 'DARK SHADOWS'

Joanna Going in Dark Shadows Year: 1991 Rating: ***1/2 Dan Curtis turned his daytime soap DARK SHADOWS into a nighttime soap/miniseries that...
Written by James M. Tate / 11/14/2020 / No comments / anton diffring , body count , british , circus , donald pleasence , erika remberg , exploitation , horror , sixties , thriller , yvonne romain
ANTON DIFFRING WITH ERIKA REMBERG IN 'CIRCUS OF HORRORS'

title: Circus of Horrors Year: 1960 rating: **** Anton Diffring's England-exiled German plastic surgeon character Dr. Schuler is really ...
Written by James M. Tate / 11/10/2020 / No comments / bette davis , exploitation , haunted house , horror , seventies , sian barbara allen , ted bessell , tovah feldshuh , tv movie
SIAN BARBARA ALLEN IN THE TV-HORROR 'SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY'

Sian Barbara Allen & Ted Bessell Year: 1973 Rates: ***1/2 Sian Barbara Allen is one of those artsy-looking actresses that could only der...
Written by James M. Tate / 11/09/2020 / No comments / adrienne barbeau , eighties , george buck flower , ghost ship , horror , james canning , jamie lee curtis , janet leigh , john carpenter , john houseman , nancy loomis , thriller , tom atkins
JOHN CARPENTER'S UNDERRATED GHOST STORY OF 'THE FOG'

The Fog autographed DVD Year: 1980 Depending how you look at it, John Carpenter's THE FOG is a zombie flick since the titular weather-pa...
Written by James M. Tate / 11/08/2020 / No comments / bert i. gordon , cult , exploitation , fifties , horror , john agar , john hoyt , june kenney , ken miller , science-fiction
JOHN AGAR AND JUNE KENNEY IN 'ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE'

Attack of the Puppet People Year: 1958 Rates: **** A better-suited title for ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE would be A CASE OF DOLLS, and liter...
Written by James M. Tate / 11/07/2020 / No comments / action , gene nelson , jerry summers , joanna barnes , kent taylor , maury dexter , russ bender , western
MAURY DEXTER WESTERN 'THE PURPLE HILLS' WITH KENT TAYLOR

The Purple Hills Year: 1961 Rating: ***1/2 Another Maury Dexter Western following WALK TALL that Kent Taylor played a character that tries c...
Written by James M. Tate / 11/06/2020 / No comments / alan arkin , alex rocco , comedy , drama , exploitation , harry dean stanton , mackenzie phillips , road movie , sally kellerman , seventies
MACKENZIE PHILLIPS DRIVES 'RAFFERTY AND THE GOLD DUST TWINS'

Charles Martin Smith & Mack Phillips Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2 Combine the personalities of Sally Kellerman and Mackenzie Phillips... one...
Written by James M. Tate / 11/04/2020 / No comments / action , ben johnson , cop , crime , eighties , eli wallach , kathryn harrold , steve mcqueen , tribute
STEVE MCQUEEN'S FINAL LIFETIME BOUNTY FOR 'THE HUNTER'

Debbie Miller & Steve McQueen Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2 Steve McQueen began his career as a bounty hunter on television's WANTED: DEA...
Written by James M. Tate / 11/03/2020 / No comments / action , al bright , al lettieri , ali macgraw , ben johnson , bo hopkins , crime , exploitation , heist , modern western , road movie , sally struthers , sam peckinpah , steve mcqueen
STEVE MCQUEEN LITERALLY STEALS SAM PECKINPAH'S 'THE GETAWAY'

Ali McGraw & Steve McQueen Year: 1972 Rating: **** The machine-pounding prologue/montage of Sam Peckinpah's THE GETAWAY embodies cag...