BIRTH OF PETER O'TOOLE: THE FIRST THREE MOTION PICTURES

<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/-50rtlsPy94w/WcBcCaxXmZI/AAAAAAAAy8E/9PqYztz7GOkL-AzmG0g-k2oSiXmiRmJKACLcBGAs/s1600/24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="775" height="287" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-50rtlsPy94w/WcBcCaxXmZI/AAAAAAAAy8E/9PqYztz7GOkL-AzmG0g-k2oSiXmiRmJKACLcBGAs/s400/24.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Peter O'Toole in THE SAVAGE INNOCENTS Score: *1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> While KIDNAPPED was the first theatrical movie where audiences saw Peter O'Toole, the first vehicle (of three, all released in 1960) he participated in the filming-of is <u>THE SAVAGE INNOCENTS,</u> directed by veteran auteur Nicholas Ray, who would, a decade later, dry up his Hollywood resources and, for a little while, live in the home of his former REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE actor Dennis Hopper after the success of EASY RIDER...<br> <br> So perhaps it's not altogether shocking the man who once contributed to classic cinema was no longer relevant — this motion picture, centering on an Eskimo played by Anthony Quinn, is one of the worst piles of husky dung ever created: seeming as if Jack London wrote a novel on soiled toilet paper, we suffer through an hour of Quinn's lone nomad (in the snow he's a snowmad) hunting cute seals and, after so-much brooding, landing a wife. Though mostly shot in an igloo (a cheap set made up to look like the white-block interior), there's one sequence where Quinn gets drunk at a bar and dances to that era's boogie-woogie. And we've buried the lead because the third act could have been something special since, once our man is falsely accused of cold-blooded murder, two (eventually one) guards take him across the icy landscape to turn him over to the authorities, and it's Peter O'Toole that survives. Scenes where both near-future LAWRENCE OF ARABIA stars (who'd become living legends three-years later) debate race and ethics has real potential — only thing is, O'Toole's voice is dubbed by an American actor who sounds like an easy listening disc jockey. So be incredibly warned — this is <i>not</i> a Peter O'Toole feature for fans for the same reason he insisted his name not appear on the opening credits: despite ultimately providing the secondary leading role. Shame!<br>

adaptation, adventure, aldo ray, anthony quinn, caper, disney, heist, kieron moore, peter o'toole, sixties, warner archives

BIRTH OF PETER O'TOOLE: THE FIRST THREE MOTION PICTURES

Peter O'Toole in THE SAVAGE INNOCENTS Score: *1/2 While KIDNAPPED was the first theatrical movie where audiences saw Peter O'Too...

TWO CUTS OF CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

<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/-a7QMr3Rle8A/WbdlzOB_MWI/AAAAAAAAy6w/YXy4P5ggT1kIBY_dobmRIWHr2-MmfK0HgCLcBGAs/s1600/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-boat-in-desert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="1600" height="191" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a7QMr3Rle8A/WbdlzOB_MWI/AAAAAAAAy6w/YXy4P5ggT1kIBY_dobmRIWHr2-MmfK0HgCLcBGAs/s400/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-boat-in-desert.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gobi Desert Sand Ship separates the Theatrical and Director's Cut</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> At this point, it seems any movie anticipating extra terrestrials will end badly. As in, violently. And not in the human's favor since most science-fiction aliens-on-Earth flicks are about a takeover...<br> <br> And yet, Steven Spielberg directed CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND similar to how a disaster film builds to the flashpoint, along with particular scenes similar to the horror genre. Like when the "Spielberg Mom Character"... who are all always tough, independent yet sweet and vulnerable... and her little boy are visited noisily by determined, unseen aliens who make like Santa Clause by trying to sneak in through...<br>

bob balaban, carl weathers, melinda dillon, richard dreyfuss, science-fiction, seventies, steven spielberg, teri garr

TWO CUTS OF CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

Gobi Desert Sand Ship separates the Theatrical and Director's Cut At this point, it seems any movie anticipating extra terrestrials ...

PAIGE CONNER PERFECTLY POSSESSES THE VISITOR AKA STRIDULUM

<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/-4tjPg6ihc60/WbDeN9CioiI/AAAAAAAAyy8/6sl_trtDbQE6guEcbDDvLCavEcqzTmMJQCLcBGAs/s1600/21314409_369238966838619_4504467051423501750_n.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="960" height="275" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4tjPg6ihc60/WbDeN9CioiI/AAAAAAAAyy8/6sl_trtDbQE6guEcbDDvLCavEcqzTmMJQCLcBGAs/s400/21314409_369238966838619_4504467051423501750_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The little girl version of Travis Bickle in Paige Conner YEAR: 1979</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> THE VISTOR has gone down in cult camp  flames as a one of a kind, terribly low budget, god-awful catastrophe that stands on its own, despite the fact there are many influences throughout. Starting with THE BIRDS since the eight-year-old, blond-haired, blue-eyed girl, possessed by supernatural forces derived from another dimension, has a singular frenzied, peck-happy, fine feathered friend who keeps her safe...<br> <br> Especially from a snoopy detective, played by the most famous of the "special guest" stars, Glenn Ford, who provides the audience a rudimentary tether to hold onto but... not for long before a gritty, grainy exploitation element takes charge, pushing the show up a notch or two and providing arguably the most memorable sequence. Still, Ford's presence is apt yet awkward since he's not in the movie long enough to mean more than a contrived appearance...<br>

glenn ford, horror, indie, john huston, lance henriksen, paige conner, science-fiction, seventies, shelley winters

PAIGE CONNER PERFECTLY POSSESSES THE VISITOR AKA STRIDULUM

The little girl version of Travis Bickle in Paige Conner YEAR: 1979 THE VISTOR has gone down in cult camp  flames as a one of a kind, te...

THURSDAY NIGHT REVIEW OF THE BIG SCREEN 'IT'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8sq_xtj0uIs/WbJLB7TByuI/AAAAAAAAy1Y/sFkxy-MfyTUlASadgBp-2KKa_zzIRK4MQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-09-08%2Bat%2B12.17.39%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="1360" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8sq_xtj0uIs/WbJLB7TByuI/AAAAAAAAy1Y/sFkxy-MfyTUlASadgBp-2KKa_zzIRK4MQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-09-08%2Bat%2B12.17.39%2BAM.jpg" width="400"></a></div> Both the 1990's IT miniseries and the abundance of recent reboot trailers must have left an impression: the now famously established red balloon of Pennywise the Clown flies over the dark blue New Line Cinema logo before even the opening credits are shown...<br> <br> Either way, here's a film that, within the first minute, sets up the main teenage boy character during the 1980's. On his bedroom wall is a poster of GREMLINS, and when all his buddies are together they do seem extremely Spielbergian. Meanwhile, this is a Stephen King adaptation, and the last project combining Steven and Stephen was STRANGER THINGS so, who knows, maybe cable binge-viewers will think that show inspired all this — but even they should realize that IT is a lot tighter and has way more rhyme, rhythm and purpose.<br>

2017, adaptation, horror, reboot, stephen king

THURSDAY NIGHT REVIEW OF THE BIG SCREEN 'IT'

Both the 1990's IT miniseries and the abundance of recent reboot trailers must have left an impression: the now famously established r...

STEVE COCHRAN FILM NOIR REVIEW OF HIGHWAY 301

<table align="center" 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/-fICOKs-nj6k/Wa321a1pLvI/AAAAAAAAyys/X5k8KKt9z78Q32guQQl6imREvoL-uiYeACLcBGAs/s1600/21271184_368501996912316_7466492523582218045_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="901" height="278" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fICOKs-nj6k/Wa321a1pLvI/AAAAAAAAyys/X5k8KKt9z78Q32guQQl6imREvoL-uiYeACLcBGAs/s400/21271184_368501996912316_7466492523582218045_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Steve Cochran walks in smoking in HIGHWAY 301</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Steve Cochran will be no stranger in the months to come. From playing heavies in popular Film Noir flicks like THE DAMNED DON'T CRY to heroes in b-pictures like our popular "thiral" review of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/05/qR.html">QUANTRILL'S RAIDERS</a>, and plenty of others spanning two and a half decades...</span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Let's begin with a quick summary of one of his more blunt, by-the-numbers Noir movies that features, within his shadowy gang of hat-donning hoods, the actor who'd play Joan Crawford's straitlaced husband in the aforementioned DAMNED, Richard Egan, his character introduced by name through a stern, steady narration following eerie, monotone real life politicians, seated behind their desks, lecturing the audience how <i>Crime Doesn't Pay</i>... </span><br>

fifties, film noir or melodrama, richard egan, steve cochran, warner archives

STEVE COCHRAN FILM NOIR REVIEW OF HIGHWAY 301

Steve Cochran walks in smoking in HIGHWAY 301 Steve Cochran will be no stranger in the months to come. From playing heavies in popular F...

THE OTHER/FORGOTTEN WESTERNS OF JAMES CAGNEY

<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/-azPwB5XYzqE/WD5PLCUXExI/AAAAAAAAvYM/EOZI17dQgTQ4ByXYCzkkc2wlOxXNRe6TwCLcB/s1600/15232224_233072650455252_3430658323817698177_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-azPwB5XYzqE/WD5PLCUXExI/AAAAAAAAvYM/EOZI17dQgTQ4ByXYCzkkc2wlOxXNRe6TwCLcB/s400/15232224_233072650455252_3430658323817698177_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Vic Morrow with James Cagney in TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In GOODFELLAS, when Joe Pesci's Tommy asks the group of thugs, gun in hand, poised to shoot the doomed houseboy,  the name of the Western... singular... that James Cagney starred in?<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://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QqHkY1KN1UY/Waeru_XVjFI/AAAAAAAAyxQ/AQe8_RHghzIptv8Mr3V1R_dI6Lmd9MafACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-30%2Bat%2B11.22.27%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="170" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QqHkY1KN1UY/Waeru_XVjFI/AAAAAAAAyxQ/AQe8_RHghzIptv8Mr3V1R_dI6Lmd9MafACLcBGAs/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-30%2Bat%2B11.22.27%2BPM.jpg" width="149"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>RUN FOR COVER Artwork</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> After a sarcastic answer, "Shane", followed by a burst of rowdy, drunken laughter, someone names what's referred to as the <i>only</i> Cowboy Picture that Cagney, known for ruling gangster/crime flicks, headlined: that being THE OKLAHOMA KID, which came out in his heyday during the 1930's. To film historians it's was a miscast for such an urban wise guy to appear in the time-period, spur-kicking genre at all... But there are two other Cagney Westerns made two decades later during the 1950's: First is Nicolas Ray's RUN FOR COVER but let's start with...<br>

fifties, james cagney, sixties, vic morrow, warner archives, western

THE OTHER/FORGOTTEN WESTERNS OF JAMES CAGNEY

Vic Morrow with James Cagney in TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN In GOODFELLAS, when Joe Pesci's Tommy asks the group of thugs, gun in hand, poi...

LAST STRETCH & DECLINE OF RODNEY DANGERFIELD CINEMA

<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/-A9Ive3Qr2CY/WaNzGYAIPoI/AAAAAAAAyvA/oMfaj8NA230a3IYyBt0KiP33dnByOY8CQCLcBGAs/s1600/21105459_365526470543202_7914884913500021557_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="960" height="252" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A9Ive3Qr2CY/WaNzGYAIPoI/AAAAAAAAyvA/oMfaj8NA230a3IYyBt0KiP33dnByOY8CQCLcBGAs/s400/21105459_365526470543202_7914884913500021557_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Twelve Year Decline of Rodney Dangerfield Cinema 1992—2004</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rodney Dangerfield was one of the most beloved comedic actors of all time. His edgy persona derived from his origin as a standup comic, for many years. Struggling at first, he found his "No Respect" niche on stage, but still, there was something missing...</span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When he turned fifty, the age most comic-actors would be considered has-beens, he was cast in a now classic golf comedy, CADDYSHACK, that was originally written about the caddies, like ANIMAL HOUSE (with the same co-writers, SHACK director Harold Ramis and Doug Kenney) centered on the Delta fraternity house. It's impossible to imagine the evil Dean Wormer (John Vernon) and the hippie professor (Donald Sutherland) as the focal points, leaving all but one rebellious frat boy in the buried lead role, like Michael O'Keefe's Danny Noonan in CADDYSHACK... But sometimes the side-characters shine brighter than the leads...</span><br>

comedy, nineties, rodney dangerfield, vinessa shaw, zeroes

LAST STRETCH & DECLINE OF RODNEY DANGERFIELD CINEMA

Twelve Year Decline of Rodney Dangerfield Cinema 1992—2004 Rodney Dangerfield was one of the most beloved comedic actors of all time. Hi...

GENE RODDENBERRY SCI-FI 70'S PILOT OF THE QUESTOR TAPES

<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/-TaW_s__0lGM/WZ-wsePTNzI/AAAAAAAAyoQ/2Ru6rjsPAyQItTOzJalsmB45cUVBv7EOACLcBGAs/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="822" height="232" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TaW_s__0lGM/WZ-wsePTNzI/AAAAAAAAyoQ/2Ru6rjsPAyQItTOzJalsmB45cUVBv7EOACLcBGAs/s400/6.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>We'll take this writeup's main picture literally YEAR: 1974</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are two trivia facts about another Gene Roddenberry science-fiction television pilot during the 1970's as the iconic 1960's STAR TREK was beginning its nostalgic cult climb towards yet another future...</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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mfgnji52gn4/WZ-xVvvYyFI/AAAAAAAAyoY/obPEd8RI17c7egeETFareI2FasF1ym96wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-24%2Bat%2B10.10.19%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="155" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mfgnji52gn4/WZ-xVvvYyFI/AAAAAAAAyoY/obPEd8RI17c7egeETFareI2FasF1ym96wCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-24%2Bat%2B10.10.19%2BPM.png" width="96"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Score: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">First, the android named QUESTOR, played by Robert Foxworth, would extend into Roddenberry's NEXT GENERATION character, Data: right down to the cozy charm mixed with a Vulcan's strict leaning on fact and logic paired-up with </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mike Ferrell, not long before replacing Wayne Rogers on MASH, as a tall and lanky straight man, worrying "his robot" could give them away with a blunt speech pattern and chicken-like head-pecking motions... The latter like Jeff Bridges in STARMAN... Only here it's much more subtle and endearing... </span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well that's obviously the attempt, which leads to the second piece of trivia: unlike GENESIS II, PLANET EARTH and SPECTRE, this was <i>almost</i> picked-up for a series despite the fact not much happens but a proverbial Oscar and Felix (or really, Felix and Felix) searching for the android's creator while traipsing around a casino, wherein the best moments occur. And yet, this creative, sparse and breezy pilot opens doors for other adventures since it doesn't have a beginning, middle and end. In other words, THE QUESTOR TAPES, being the most incomplete of the batch, succeeds as a would-be catapult. Throw in a few more fish outta water situations and cut back on random scenes with greedy corporate villain John Vernon, there might've been even more reasons for this vessel to actually take flight. </span><br>

gene roddenberry, john vernon, mike farrell, robert foxworth, robot, science-fiction, TV, warner archives

GENE RODDENBERRY SCI-FI 70'S PILOT OF THE QUESTOR TAPES

We'll take this writeup's main picture literally YEAR: 1974 There are two trivia facts about another Gene Roddenberry science-fi...

SCI-FI TV PILOT OF STRANGE NEW WORLD WITH JOHN SAXON

<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/-tgFoLSNQGyU/WZ0SZEeEKuI/AAAAAAAAyn8/67Tet6KC0F4f9lm4gQpI_jw7b-UvHSwRQCLcBGAs/s1600/20953127_363733390722510_6946074215267619771_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="960" height="227" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tgFoLSNQGyU/WZ0SZEeEKuI/AAAAAAAAyn8/67Tet6KC0F4f9lm4gQpI_jw7b-UvHSwRQCLcBGAs/s400/20953127_363733390722510_6946074215267619771_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Saxon, Kathleen Miller & Reb Brown YEAR: 1975</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> STRANGE NEW WORLD is a lot like Gene Roddenberry's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/07/ohohhhThisIsPlanetEarth.html">PLANET EARTH</a> also starring John Saxon but a bit more creative, bizarre and twisty: The crew of a floating space station takes a cryogenic freeze nap and, like Saxon on the other show, wakes up 200-years later, only this time on purpose, sort of...<br> <br> Turns out the Earth had been destroyed and altered by a meteor storm, so the threesome were preserved up there and now must find the Earthlings, called-upon from a random distress signal, who hid in the mountains and hibernated on their own. Here's where the first of two adventures begins, having to do with a colony of survivors that don't seem like they've survived anything at all...<br>

catherine bach, john saxon, reb brown, science-fiction, seventies, tv movie, warner archives

SCI-FI TV PILOT OF STRANGE NEW WORLD WITH JOHN SAXON

John Saxon, Kathleen Miller & Reb Brown YEAR: 1975 STRANGE NEW WORLD is a lot like Gene Roddenberry's PLANET EARTH also starrin...

ORIGINAL SCIENCE-FICTION TELEVISED TRIPLE-SAGA OF V

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vot9rr_exD0/V2wRUD5jPJI/AAAAAAAAtGs/w8_mcYlkcH4P9VoYtiYB3Sg91JzcTfrXQCLcB/s1600/V4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vot9rr_exD0/V2wRUD5jPJI/AAAAAAAAtGs/w8_mcYlkcH4P9VoYtiYB3Sg91JzcTfrXQCLcB/s1600/V4.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The plant is close to yours truly... And, all photographs are from the original miniseries although this covers all three facets of V</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>V: THE ORIGINAL MINISERIES</u>: About every five years it's time to rediscover the brilliance of a miniseries that, for a number of reasons, has gotten a bad rap on being pure, unapologetic camp, but it's wise not to mistake camp for cult, and to realize that every original vehicle with cheesy followups did begin with something worthy of being followed-up in the first place...</span><br>

eighties, jane badham, miniseries, science-fiction

ORIGINAL SCIENCE-FICTION TELEVISED TRIPLE-SAGA OF V

The plant is close to yours truly... And, all photographs are from the original miniseries although this covers all three facets of V V:...

FRANCES RAINES HELPS MAKE RYDER P.I. WORTHWHILE

<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/-VwBKjSY45ho/WZjIgimYeCI/AAAAAAAAymE/aYbFxp2LjHgyP4lwT1bCfE9Ux7ZX95uTgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-17%2Bat%2B8.57.22%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="912" height="273" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VwBKjSY45ho/WZjIgimYeCI/AAAAAAAAymE/aYbFxp2LjHgyP4lwT1bCfE9Ux7ZX95uTgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-17%2Bat%2B8.57.22%2BPM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Frances Raines will be subject for other reviews YEAR: 1986</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Suffering an awful weeklong cold, and not able to write about anything of importance, let's veer back to Really Bad Movie basics with a vehicle created on a shoestring budget featuring an obscure gathering of Long Island comics and a future shock jock icon...</span><br /> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Up front is hefty comic actor David Hawthorne, the sleepy-eyed "moron" who, a decade later, as a restaurant bartender, served a heartbroken Jack Nicholson a glass of "the last free drug" in AS GOOD AS IT GETS: he throws in a Jack imitation along with a bagful of quick quips and a thin plot-line for RYDER P.I., a Humphrey Bogart Era Film Noir parody that, surprisingly, keeps up the entertainment value alongside the feeling of, "How much worse can this get?"</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/-9Otyn-aWJbQ/WZjKQZHxVMI/AAAAAAAAymk/j4kTM1U48ncfgZfmRsWvzWszIpKZYHb0ACEwYBhgL/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="1025" height="242" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Otyn-aWJbQ/WZjKQZHxVMI/AAAAAAAAymk/j4kTM1U48ncfgZfmRsWvzWszIpKZYHb0ACEwYBhgL/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Frances Raines dries off with a smile</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hawthorne is comfortable in front of the camera despite being uncomfortable to look at — but that seems an intentional thread of the overall punchline: he's the antithesis of any sort of leading man on-screen persona. So some local help was obviously needed...</span><br /> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At that time, in 1986, Howard Stern was climbing as a New York morning radio talkshow host.  Random scenes as a television newscaster aren't that funny because Howard's not doing his own thing, or poking fun at his crew. And yet the aggression and annoyance does feel genuine: his character, Ben Wah, can't stand the network he's on, and obviously Stern felt the same about this project. And he's not alone. Not completely...</span><br /> <br /> <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/-HF1ksfP2yy8/WZjJbUzBW9I/AAAAAAAAymM/HE3h_uO17o8pgK3C3OFES4nTjljvp4b8QCLcBGAs/s1600/20840846_361867857575730_698257843206366355_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="960" height="241" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HF1ksfP2yy8/WZjJbUzBW9I/AAAAAAAAymM/HE3h_uO17o8pgK3C3OFES4nTjljvp4b8QCLcBGAs/s400/20840846_361867857575730_698257843206366355_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Howard Stern when he was only known back East</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">His chief writer, Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling, provides the voice of a "Fat Eddie" doll that, when Hawthorne's private investigator character, Skylar Ryder, pulls a string, it unloads insult after insult, each ending with Martling's chortle that would soon become famous within the Stern universe. But what makes RYDER easy viewing on the eye is b-starlet Frances Raines, who isn't blood related-to but is technically a relative of THE INVISIBLE MAN Claude Raines. Her vulnerable, girl-next-door beauty, seeking the titular snoop for protection from a woodwork of goons, makes this trainwreck worth watching. Plus, she appears during the midway point when desperately needed...</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://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T6jWDcITz8g/WZjJ8iQttcI/AAAAAAAAymU/qBM0VZ6RqfYWUnp7ZJ9FMKDO1gBZ1Ih8ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-17%2Bat%2B9.01.21%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="1031" height="238" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T6jWDcITz8g/WZjJ8iQttcI/AAAAAAAAymU/qBM0VZ6RqfYWUnp7ZJ9FMKDO1gBZ1Ih8ACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-17%2Bat%2B9.01.21%2BPM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>A jokey doll voiced by Jackie Martling CAMP VALUE SCORE: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The worst of the cast is Ryder's hairbrained partner, overacting "the retard" to the hilt and almost forcing the viewer to either change the channel or destroy their television... </span><br /> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For those brave or patient enough, or in this case, who pay by the month, Amazon Prime members can stream this extremely low budget comedy. And for fans of the classic era Howard Stern it's a rare gem to behold, or rather, to survive: There's a feeling of bizarre accomplishment lasting through these kind of movies that aren't really movies. Added to that, RYDER doesn't have a cult following to join the ranks of worthy Camp Schlock unlike a couple others we'll review in the future starring</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Frances Raines... Stay tuned. </span><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LMqj-Xu7Ei8/WZjKQPC5xGI/AAAAAAAAymc/mROIQMoeIQsc_o5at4lUWfIMFwxsilSPQCLcBGAs/s1600/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="1060" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LMqj-Xu7Ei8/WZjKQPC5xGI/AAAAAAAAymc/mROIQMoeIQsc_o5at4lUWfIMFwxsilSPQCLcBGAs/s1600/0.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Frances Raines and a monkey in RYDER P.I.</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OgaSOAeJNSA/WZjKQbYftHI/AAAAAAAAymg/xQULKoJKGwg0_Ns24WqyrBvTuy9KMRSnACLcBGAs/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="1096" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OgaSOAeJNSA/WZjKQbYftHI/AAAAAAAAymg/xQULKoJKGwg0_Ns24WqyrBvTuy9KMRSnACLcBGAs/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Frances Raines in RYDER P.I. </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OxFRX3a0Ops/WZjKQKeFX2I/AAAAAAAAymY/3TgTLTCDPnUZ04RIySLtypN5LYyOb2z_ACLcBGAs/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="1036" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OxFRX3a0Ops/WZjKQKeFX2I/AAAAAAAAymY/3TgTLTCDPnUZ04RIySLtypN5LYyOb2z_ACLcBGAs/s1600/2.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Frances Raines dries off in RYDER PI</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VfSP3hK2QRU/WZjKWpUJ64I/AAAAAAAAymo/OSBkc3XKN4ga2CvmrKMC5-Vdyfbe8Ap5ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-17%2Bat%2B9.02.09%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="1031" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VfSP3hK2QRU/WZjKWpUJ64I/AAAAAAAAymo/OSBkc3XKN4ga2CvmrKMC5-Vdyfbe8Ap5ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-17%2Bat%2B9.02.09%2BPM.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Frances Raines in RYDER PI</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Knt-2QxxCA/WZjKWvrdafI/AAAAAAAAyms/RcMhq229Nm0yh6BQVl0TYR6jT6rOgT8nwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-17%2Bat%2B9.01.44%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="1037" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Knt-2QxxCA/WZjKWvrdafI/AAAAAAAAyms/RcMhq229Nm0yh6BQVl0TYR6jT6rOgT8nwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-08-17%2Bat%2B9.01.44%2BPM.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Hell, might as well get at least one picture of the film's star, Bob Hawthorne</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

comedy, eighties, frances raines, howard stern, jackie martling, neo noir, parody

FRANCES RAINES HELPS MAKE RYDER P.I. WORTHWHILE

Frances Raines will be subject for other reviews YEAR: 1986 Suffering an awful weeklong cold, and not able to write about anything of im...

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...