CONNECTING 'STAR WARS' WITH 'LASERBLAST'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: white;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg7Af0Bly87BpiMS6Opzip54kyu6yQZ6TlWler67L_vuimzkpnNDOrZdRxnUd3-u4Y6ri2A_eHHpcFvqFqguI3as2uP-W40WRdtTcnZuqCnn_0Nu5s-8bxo43EfhMIaulAvnut9bp-4hKRjlcJV2GBK7V7wBRxFvZxxOvTwZxLpgCVu75aDyQtpxQ35A/s960/540316_10150780706106600_879581971_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg7Af0Bly87BpiMS6Opzip54kyu6yQZ6TlWler67L_vuimzkpnNDOrZdRxnUd3-u4Y6ri2A_eHHpcFvqFqguI3as2uP-W40WRdtTcnZuqCnn_0Nu5s-8bxo43EfhMIaulAvnut9bp-4hKRjlcJV2GBK7V7wBRxFvZxxOvTwZxLpgCVu75aDyQtpxQ35A/s16000/540316_10150780706106600_879581971_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: large;">CONNECTING 'LASERBLAST' WITH 'STAR WARS' AND 'CORVETTE SUMMER'</span></u></td></tr></tbody></table>The infamously bad yet fantastically awesome b-movie LASERBLAST stars Kim Milford as a bullied teenager who finds an alien's laser gun that fits on his arm, and in using the weapon he slowly turns into a monster killing people and road signs...</span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: white;">One being an advertisement for STAR WARS, the sci-fi blockbuster from the previous year that starred MARK HAMILL who, the following year, starred in CORVETTE SUMMER wherein LASERBLAST's Kim Milford played a criminal who, after he gets outmaneuvered by Hamill, blows up his own car: but with a pistol this time.  </span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: white;"></span></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="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i1MruRdzdBE/Tw4K0OI7AQI/AAAAAAAADxU/KTRCQ-GVORI/s1600/382761_10150469596121600_84251876599_8691979_1466371697_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i1MruRdzdBE/Tw4K0OI7AQI/AAAAAAAADxU/KTRCQ-GVORI/s1600/382761_10150469596121600_84251876599_8691979_1466371697_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><u>Mark Hamill and Kim Milford</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="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Oq6WL56YZeg/TwYjiZgzUrI/AAAAAAAADo0/XQlPBnPaJ-k/s1600/title00_000612145-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="574" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Oq6WL56YZeg/TwYjiZgzUrI/AAAAAAAADo0/XQlPBnPaJ-k/s640/title00_000612145-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kim Milford blasts a STAR WARS sign... We're the only site that has connected this... Or at least, the first...</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="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9eolbgzKqk0/Tw4KQzmAvmI/AAAAAAAADxM/C3JH0XpLvb0/s1600/n50868108192_1202180_5512.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9eolbgzKqk0/Tw4KQzmAvmI/AAAAAAAADxM/C3JH0XpLvb0/s640/n50868108192_1202180_5512.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kim Milford, the car thief in CORVETTE SUMMER, starring in LASERBLAST </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="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-52ScDfi21Ls/Tw4JpaWsWiI/AAAAAAAADw8/Wf64pwGMOpo/s1600/1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="479" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-52ScDfi21Ls/Tw4JpaWsWiI/AAAAAAAADw8/Wf64pwGMOpo/s640/1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kim Milford in CORVETTE SUMMER after being defeated by Mark Hamill</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="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-46FEfECjt_k/Tw4Jp78-JaI/AAAAAAAADxE/jT7OwsyBD1c/s1600/2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="479" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-46FEfECjt_k/Tw4Jp78-JaI/AAAAAAAADxE/jT7OwsyBD1c/s640/2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Destruction of the Death Car</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <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="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PNiFd8s1210/UVimM757i6I/AAAAAAAAXxY/MX-fftoaZts/s1600/CORVETTESUMMER9.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PNiFd8s1210/UVimM757i6I/AAAAAAAAXxY/MX-fftoaZts/s640/CORVETTESUMMER9.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Part of the last act action of Corvette Summer</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <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://3.bp.blogspot.com/--gWtJhqOzE0/W6TYOo-GsQI/AAAAAAAA5z8/8q8DL_-uw-M4-PBzT7MrID-8x84z417WACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-14%2Bat%2B11.36.53%2BPM.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="1600" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--gWtJhqOzE0/W6TYOo-GsQI/AAAAAAAA5z8/8q8DL_-uw-M4-PBzT7MrID-8x84z417WACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-14%2Bat%2B11.36.53%2BPM.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Corvette Summer starring Mark Hamill</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Psr36LciGoQ/W4ursT84vUI/AAAAAAAA5A0/yiI-S_MMfksjrutjovOPFb924yErK8jPQCLcBGAs/s1600/1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="1052" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Psr36LciGoQ/W4ursT84vUI/AAAAAAAA5A0/yiI-S_MMfksjrutjovOPFb924yErK8jPQCLcBGAs/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Mark Hamill rides the frame back to school</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="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2SQy-2qFeik/VjMy4p8dC7I/AAAAAAAApkg/xxNQ2x2qHaU/s1600/1005543_809400435772545_4785840771472077015_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2SQy-2qFeik/VjMy4p8dC7I/AAAAAAAApkg/xxNQ2x2qHaU/s1600/1005543_809400435772545_4785840771472077015_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Roaring through the Vegas desert near Tatooine</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

action, adventure, annie potts, brion james, car, cult, eugene roche, exploitation, kim milford, mark hamill, seventies, star wars, t.k. carter

CONNECTING 'STAR WARS' WITH 'LASERBLAST'

CONNECTING 'LASERBLAST' WITH 'STAR WARS' AND 'CORVETTE SUMMER' The infamously bad yet fantastically awesome b-mov...

G.I. JOE: RETALIATION

<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="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YQbrGZzklUs/UVeO5y22UqI/AAAAAAAAXvo/qTYdsr3z3HE/s1600/gijoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YQbrGZzklUs/UVeO5y22UqI/AAAAAAAAXvo/qTYdsr3z3HE/s640/gijoe.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2013 cast: Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum <b>rating:</b> **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Channing Tatum might have seen the Kurt Russell action thriller EXECUTIVE DECISION and thought highly of Steven Seagal, who played a potentially vital character for the first twenty minutes. Following a similar doomed cameo in SIDE EFFECTS, Tatum’s Duke is in charge of G.I. JOE, a crack unit based in the desert that winds up slaughtered by an assault team manned by the President of the United States, played by Jonathan Pryce. But that’s not really the President – a devious double has taken over and now the maligned unit, sans the unlucky yet heroic Duke and now led by Dwayne Johnson's Roadblock, has to stop whatever else Evil Prez has in store, including a stockade of nuclear missiles.<br /> <br /> Once we’re out of the desert and into other regions, the best scenes take place around the perimeter of a mountaintop monastery where good guys and bad guys battle it out using tons of rock climbing rope and cables. These resilient heroes aren’t our central trio, who are busy crashing a Washington party before winding up in the suburbs where a third-act savior awaits in the form of Bruce Willis… the "original Joe" himself… providing enough guns and ammo to start a… or rather, hopefully end a… Third World War.<br /> <br /> The finale is contained within an assortment of grumpy world leaders (with several jokes against North Korea) gathered around their own red nuclear buttons, as a mad-gleaming Pryce needs only a purring lap cat to be a world-dominating Bond villain (he was one, actually). Thus a worthy team up of The Rock and Willis is never quite realized… We needed more Army action figure types than the amour-plated Ninjas, who seem straight out of a corny graphic novel. Thus the combination of reality and fantasy make RETALIATION an assortment of bombastic action sequences that doesn't gel together as a whole.

2013, action, bruce willis, dwayne johnson, franchise, jonathan pryce, military, sequel

G.I. JOE: RETALIATION

year: 2013 cast: Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum rating: **1/2 Channing Tatum might have seen the Kurt Russell action thr...

SAOIRSE RONAN IN THE HOST

<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="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U4VtnsVD2m4/UVascgcpI4I/AAAAAAAAXvY/BThBykdUuNI/s1600/the-host.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U4VtnsVD2m4/UVascgcpI4I/AAAAAAAAXvY/BThBykdUuNI/s640/the-host.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, William Hurt rating: *1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Young ladies, if you’re having trouble choosing the right guy, frantically pontificating who’s best suited to meet your needs – and ultimately steal your heart – you might not be completely alone. A parasite from another planet could have taken over your body; your body serving as THE HOST... possibly the worst science fiction film ever created for the teenage market. <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="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-37lRpxbBOFo/VHTSop2jxLI/AAAAAAAAlEw/yUO6hV7OYw4/s1600/saoirse-ronan-new-the-host-poster-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-37lRpxbBOFo/VHTSop2jxLI/AAAAAAAAlEw/yUO6hV7OYw4/s400/saoirse-ronan-new-the-host-poster-01.jpg" width="293" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poster of THE HOST</td></tr> </tbody></table> Beginning with the plot underway: the Earth is already controlled by bright blue-eyed aliens wearing human bodies who, although peaceful enough on their own or with each other, are liken to Nazis when it comes to taking over. After all, they need to get every last skin-suit to run the entire planet <i>their</i> way.<br /> <br /> One person in particular is Melanie, played by the lanky and otherwise talented HANNA actress Saoirse Ronan, who survives a suicidal leap from a skyscraper and then, after receiving the alien transplant, she doesn’t completely adhere to this new soul transition, an operation with the underlying purpose of – chaperoned by Diane Kruger’s antagonistic Seeker – discovering where the remaining survivors are hiding. <br /> <br /> What makes this movie such a campy howler are the frantic mental conversations between Melanie's human side against her alien half, named The Wanderer and shortened to Wanda after being saved by her Uncle Jeb (William Hurt) in the scorching desert. A resilient Jeb leads a ragtag human army in an underground maze of caverns, and although not trusted at first, and mistreated by several of her human captors, Melanie/Wanda continues to argue with herself over escape, betrayal and ultimately which dude to crush on: the first being her former lover and the second a really nice guy who’s fallen for not Melanie, but Wanda. (Meanwhile Melanie, whose thoughts often sound like a perturbed valley girl, is downright pissed!)<br /> <br /> Turning sports cars and helicopters into silver bulletproof vehicles is the only real effort to make this unintentionally hilarious navel-gazing INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS an action-based sci-fi flick. The production value resembles a low budget cinematic effort or perhaps an expensive straight-to-DVD venture. And as for a being considered a worthy teen romance, Melanie/Wanda hardly knows her boys long enough for the “relationships” to matter: the sappy conversations make TWILIGHT (also by Stephanie Meyer) seem like GONE WITH THE WIND in comparison.

2013, action, diane kruger, saoirse ronan, science-fiction, teen, william hurt

SAOIRSE RONAN IN THE HOST

year: 2013 cast: Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, William Hurt rating: *1/2 Young ladies, if you’re having trouble choosing the right guy, f...

CYNDI LAUPER IN VIBES HAS RELOCATED

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5igxp6rvWeo/VDguQg-TfAI/AAAAAAAAkCM/6k9ao92FM78/s1600/vibes-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5igxp6rvWeo/VDguQg-TfAI/AAAAAAAAkCM/6k9ao92FM78/s1600/vibes-cover.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kHrKjLjP8xY/UvP5nvc58LI/AAAAAAAAc2s/0Jd5viVfWl0/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-02-06+at+1.10.27+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kHrKjLjP8xY/UvP5nvc58LI/AAAAAAAAc2s/0Jd5viVfWl0/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-02-06+at+1.10.27+PM.png" width="142" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> VIBES IS NOW LOCATED <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/01/vibes.html">BY CLICKING THIS WHOLE LINK</a><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0jALnoGWfuY/UVIh96KLLXI/AAAAAAAAXt0/8C-2EQaVrOE/s1600/vibes4.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="344" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0jALnoGWfuY/UVIh96KLLXI/AAAAAAAAXt0/8C-2EQaVrOE/s640/vibes4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KCY-LaKxU-w/UVIh53o9xvI/AAAAAAAAXto/BybE8HTWA0E/s1600/vibes2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KCY-LaKxU-w/UVIh53o9xvI/AAAAAAAAXto/BybE8HTWA0E/s640/vibes2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U1gRvemfCrA/UVIiB1ejMaI/AAAAAAAAXt4/GBDjt-MH81M/s1600/vibes6.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U1gRvemfCrA/UVIiB1ejMaI/AAAAAAAAXt4/GBDjt-MH81M/s640/vibes6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dbFPH2BEKJ8/UVIiCN4Go9I/AAAAAAAAXt8/nYaZBI56qlA/s1600/vibes7.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="342" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dbFPH2BEKJ8/UVIiCN4Go9I/AAAAAAAAXt8/nYaZBI56qlA/s640/vibes7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>

cyndi lauper, eighties, jeff goldblum, michael lerner, peter falk, romantic comedy

CYNDI LAUPER IN VIBES HAS RELOCATED

VIBES IS NOW LOCATED BY CLICKING THIS WHOLE LINK

MOTO ADVENTURE ONE: THINK FAST, MR. MOTO

<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="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IU75PRDTxhI/UVFO--BSvhI/AAAAAAAAXso/1QF4zL-0-wo/s1600/MRMOTO1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IU75PRDTxhI/UVFO--BSvhI/AAAAAAAAXso/1QF4zL-0-wo/s640/MRMOTO1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1937 cast: Peter Lorre, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck rating: ***1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Peter Lorre is Mr. Moto, a Japanese secret agent who's both underrated and unappreciated... But he'll surprise you with a karate kick sending non-believers flying across the room.<br /> <br /> Here we begin with Moto in street peddler disguise, including a pointy beard and ragged clothing. He clumsily meanders into a store to sell a rug, and then a diamond, to an impatient proprietor who’s got a dead body semi-hidden in a wicker basket. This brings Moto on board a big ship where an important letter to a rich man’s son, Bob, has been stolen and replaced.<br /> <br /> There’s a plot hidden somewhere, having to do with smuggling diamonds to and from San Francisco. The best parts – when Moto’s not tailing and/or protecting the naïve square jawed Bob aboard the ocean liner – takes place in notorious Shanghai where our resilient hero turns tables at a fancy nightclub.<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="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gWDqRvmSPVo/UVFPhl5JazI/AAAAAAAAXs0/YehkaKuKe3w/s1600/peterlorremoto11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gWDqRvmSPVo/UVFPhl5JazI/AAAAAAAAXs0/YehkaKuKe3w/s640/peterlorremoto11.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Moto investigates on sea or land</td></tr> </tbody></table> Peter Lorre is always fun to watch and this character is a real treat, hiding his Ace until each pivotal moment arises. But is this Motto guy a Charlie Chan rip-off? Perhaps so... yet there’s far more action in this series and, like many cinematic mysteries before and after, we’re never burdened with too many clues surrounding a convoluted maze.<br /> <br /> Norman Foster, who later directed an Orson Welles Mercury production aboard a mysterious ship titled JOURNEY INTO FEAR, provides a suspenseful element at both land and sea, moving the camera around enough to make this more than a wordy melodrama but an adventure that continuously pays off.<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="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NBMtIgZ0BJw/UVEnIySm51I/AAAAAAAAXsM/f5vVYpXCF0U/s1600/moto3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NBMtIgZ0BJw/UVEnIySm51I/AAAAAAAAXsM/f5vVYpXCF0U/s640/moto3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=MR+MOTO+DVD">BUY MR. MOTO COLLECTION AT AMAZON</a></td></tr> </tbody></table>

crime, franchise, mr moto, mystery, norman foster, peter lorre, sequel, thirties

MOTO ADVENTURE ONE: THINK FAST, MR. MOTO

year: 1937 cast: Peter Lorre, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck rating: ***1/2 Peter Lorre is Mr. Moto, a Japanese secret agent who's both...

GEORGE A. ROMERO DIRECTS JASON BEGHE IN 'MONKEY SHINES'

<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/-dutMQa0cGsI/XepW6IGYpjI/AAAAAAABMMM/plpx5PYCv_gpBaT_FjoBrFtvtyd6xDz2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-06%2Bat%2B5.23.36%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1417" data-original-width="986" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dutMQa0cGsI/XepW6IGYpjI/AAAAAAABMMM/plpx5PYCv_gpBaT_FjoBrFtvtyd6xDz2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-06%2Bat%2B5.23.36%2BAM.jpeg" width="277" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1988 rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> George A. Romero trades in sinewy for suspense, zombies for a really smart monkey who, after being excessively injected by a powerful drug, and used as an aide for a quadriplegic man, takes to the streets and kills whoever his master, in his subconscious, wants dead. <br /> <br /> Jason Beghe’s extremely bogus beard (grown after the accident) aside, the muscular actor plays the part of a bed-ridden victim decently enough; but it’s Boo, as the spunky monkey Ella, that steals the show.<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/-xkTsZCeJwcE/XepXa0GHljI/AAAAAAABMMU/VLiQ7dAaWZI1LPM8a0fAHVe7r8tiQXhCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/upload2-monkey-shines-by-Nikos2051.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1301" data-original-width="850" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xkTsZCeJwcE/XepXa0GHljI/AAAAAAABMMU/VLiQ7dAaWZI1LPM8a0fAHVe7r8tiQXhCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/upload2-monkey-shines-by-Nikos2051.jpeg" width="260" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Indie poster for Monkey Shines</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Scenes involving the monkey-eye-view of the frantic romps through the suburbs to finish anyone that made Beghe’s life uncomfortable – including a cheating girlfriend, a seedy doctor (whom she's cheating with), a vicious parakeet and a smothering mother – provide fun and involving fare, as does the initial setup as the monkey takes to the contained setting… the house where the bed-ridden patient resides… to learn how to become an assistant, and our hero realizes the Monkey’s up to no good, and there could have been a lot more grizzly deaths before the tables turn...<br /> <br /> Meanwhile John Pankow's subplot, as the friendly but ultimately devious young (semi-mad) scientist continuously inoculating Ella, is an essential device, plus he's a good actor: but eventually his selfish triads deviates from the mainline story, too quickly veering into the “We must stop the antagonist at all costs” territory, making the final act a drawn-out (yet still rushed) battle between man and monkey when the best scenes were in the buildup. Yet despite the flaws, Romero provides a creepy setting that works  throughout.<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-06oJv66Kw_Q/XesZ7A8ErdI/AAAAAAABMMg/NLzp44kGN0IswUPZsDuWLO8ownZKMYxiwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-06%2Bat%2B5.14.15%2BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="895" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-06oJv66Kw_Q/XesZ7A8ErdI/AAAAAAABMMg/NLzp44kGN0IswUPZsDuWLO8ownZKMYxiwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-06%2Bat%2B5.14.15%2BAM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Spooky cool font for MONKEY SHINES</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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4RY8dYGDKT4/XepVB6QCApI/AAAAAAABML0/Zop_k5wM7Mosq-HpvNXVVbuhCpIosvpRQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-06%2Bat%2B5.11.29%2BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1057" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4RY8dYGDKT4/XepVB6QCApI/AAAAAAABML0/Zop_k5wM7Mosq-HpvNXVVbuhCpIosvpRQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-06%2Bat%2B5.11.29%2BAM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Janine Turner is gorgeous in MONKEY SHINES</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/-OURKbOFq8P8/XepVB9gOcZI/AAAAAAABML4/0koJg098ipAU817-9qDBUEcchfeo8_4JACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-06%2Bat%2B5.11.58%2BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OURKbOFq8P8/XepVB9gOcZI/AAAAAAABML4/0koJg098ipAU817-9qDBUEcchfeo8_4JACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-06%2Bat%2B5.11.58%2BAM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Janine Turner is gorgeous in MONKEY SHINES</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

eighties, george romero, horror, janine turner, jason beghe, john pankow, suspense, thriller

GEORGE A. ROMERO DIRECTS JASON BEGHE IN 'MONKEY SHINES'

year: 1988 rating: ***1/2 George A. Romero trades in sinewy for suspense, zombies for a really smart monkey who, after being excessively...

ADMISSION

<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="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u5sl4TVW63I/UU-EuZYLSeI/AAAAAAAAXqE/E5FObWf5pHg/s1600/admission.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="452" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u5sl4TVW63I/UU-EuZYLSeI/AAAAAAAAXqE/E5FObWf5pHg/s640/admission.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year: </b>2013<b> cast:</b> Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Nat Wolff, Wallace Shawn <b>rating:</b> **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> A “Quirky Comedy” will usually have either one of two types of characters: a normal person thrown into a bizarre situation or an oddball in a conventional, mundane routine who, because of their unpredictable nature, provides the quirkiness therein. ADMISSION would fit in the latter category, with a protagonist so neurotic you might wonder how she got her stuffy job – an admissions officer at Princeton University – in the first place.<br /> <br /> Tina Fey’s Portia Nathan is so frustrated and frantic… stuck in a dead-end relationship with a boring professor… she’s subconsciously dying for a love interest to spark up her life. Enter Paul Rudd, who, as super nice guy John Pressman, runs an alternative school where they milk cows and meet in a barn for more practical life applications.<br /> <br /> Turns out John isn’t the important guy on board, at least not as the plot’s concerned. He has a gifted yet troubled student named Jeremiah (a mellowed version of GOOD WILL HUNTING) , who loves philosophy and is more deserving than anyone else up for the coveted (and very limited) spot at Princeton.<br /> <br /> Well that’s Portia’s opinion; especially after learning Jeremiah’s her estranged son. Sticking her neck out to make his dream come true, much of the film centers on Portia awkwardly shadowing Jeremiah, on and off campus, while constantly reevaluating her priorities. And after a while you’ll forget all about Rudd, more of an angel on her shoulder than significant other despite a predictable roll in the hay. <br /> <br /> Creative elements, like spoken-of characters appearing who aren’t really there – especially during the final admissions process where Portia strategically tries getting Jeremiah in the door – add to the indie flavor of a film misleadingly promoted as a romantic comedy.<br /> <br /> Of the side cast, Paul Rudd's relationship with his adopted black child is sweet but ultimately pointless, while Lily Tomlin, as Portia’s stubborn mother, who, like Glenn Close in THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, years earlier wrote a book on feminism and found a random “sperm donor” to create her child, tries hard to steal scenes, but Tina Fey does a good enough job carrying a simple story that, for better or worse, she owns entirely.

2013, college, comedy, lily tomlin, nat wolff, paul rudd, quirky, tina fey, wallace shawn

ADMISSION

year: 2013 cast: Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Nat Wolff, Wallace Shawn rating: **1/2 A “Quirky Comedy” will usually have either one of two ty...

THE CROODS

<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="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0pkEJy0cgM8/UU032mSIdjI/AAAAAAAAXos/nD08ZJNlESs/s1600/croods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="306" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0pkEJy0cgM8/UU032mSIdjI/AAAAAAAAXos/nD08ZJNlESs/s640/croods.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>year: 2013 voices: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds rating: ***1/2</b></span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> Grug is a caveman who successfully protects his family in a cave providing, when the sun goes down, shelter and bonafide safety from the dangerous elements outside. But he’s got a huge problem, and it’s not just the hungry wildcat lurking in the moonlit exterior. His curious teenage daughter wants to explore beyond the boundaries of “normal life.”<br /> <br /> Thus begins our tale centering on a quirky clan of Neanderthals. The action begins as they strategically hunt for food, not an easy task. You’d think there would be a better (more natural) selection than a giant egg. That’s because the Croods exist in a barren landscape where opportunities haven’t opened up… but they’re about to. Boy are they ever.<br /> <br /> After the teenage daughter Eep sees a strange glow outside the closed cave, she ventures into the night and meets a bitchin’ explorer dude named Guy, who’s discovered a thing called Fire. He also has a premonition, and anyone who saw ICE AGE 4: CONTINENTAL DRIFT will get major déjà vu: The land as they know it is about to break apart.<br /> <br /> So when the initial destruction occurs, the Croods discover an inner-world so colorful and vibrant, Sam Raimi’s OZ seems like a plain paper sack in comparison. Within this creature-saturated jungle are even more dangerous elements, including a hovering flock of ravenous birds, man-eating plants, and a bigger, hungrier wildcat. But for Eep at least there’s cool stuff to discover. And we now have a destination: giant mountains in the distance where possible safety awaits. <br /> <br /> Grug and family “capture” the progressively minded Guy, who knows how to hunt bigger game, make shoes and, unlike the cranky patriarch, always looks forward to something called Tomorrow. And eventually, as the gang treks toward their goal, encountering various bizarre hybrids that screech out of the woodwork, an impatient Guy asks The Croods if they know of any pace faster than “wander.” But for a movie that takes its time, allowing each obstacle to move the story along, “wandering” does this entertaining journey just fine.<br /> <br /> The voices of Nicholas Cage and Ryan Reynolds, as Grug and Guy, eventually sound less like themselves; Cage even breaks from his breezy, shuffling tone to bring the Early Man grump-turned-hero to life. But it’s Emma Stone's Eep that really shines through, providing a flawed character with an important (and evolving) arc that will glue everything, and everyone, together.

2013, action, adventure, cloris leachman, computer animated, emma stone, fantasy, nicolas cage, road movie, ryan reynolds, science-fiction

THE CROODS

year: 2013 voices: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds rating: ***1/2 Grug is a caveman who successfully protects his family in a ca...

TANYA ROBERTS IS SHEENA

<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="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-viQtNeu7aVM/UUzJTIazibI/AAAAAAAAXoc/sNo8R_4Eh1w/s1600/sheena_zpsbc02d3d4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-viQtNeu7aVM/UUzJTIazibI/AAAAAAAAXoc/sNo8R_4Eh1w/s1600/sheena_zpsbc02d3d4.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1984 cast: Tanya Roberts, Tedd Wass, Donovan Scott rating: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A comic book adaptation where the gorgeous blue-eyed title character could have used a lot more screen time. Tanya Roberts as Sheena, for half of the film, shows up whenever needed. Ted Wass and Donovan Scott are big city transplants from a Sports Magazine doing a story on a famous NFL kicker, who also happens to be the brother of a local African King. The kicker wants to kick his brother out of the hierarchy, permanently. And succeeds.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> Ted Wass gets neck high in trouble when thugs tail him and his tubby pal Scott, who tries way too hard as comic relief...  And Sheena... the stunning girl-Tarzan who rides a Zebra and was raised by a female shaman who dies by the hands of the villain... winds up saving Ted’s life and the two make an unlikely duo. Their trek across the African flatlands and mountainsides provide the best moments. Wass has affable charm as a vulnerable everyman out of his element and while Roberts isn’t quite Oscar material, and being stuck with an intentional monotone (she was raised in the jungle after all) doesn’t help matters, she's delicious eye-candy enough, especially in that loincloth, to make this John Guillermin adventure a real treat.<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lKY798v2rpo/XaakhmXlyVI/AAAAAAABJm0/jyN_Cbh0u-05PwPVNIT1BDnqo4WLf_FFQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-10-15%2Bat%2B9.58.43%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lKY798v2rpo/XaakhmXlyVI/AAAAAAABJm0/jyN_Cbh0u-05PwPVNIT1BDnqo4WLf_FFQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-10-15%2Bat%2B9.58.43%2BPM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tamya Roberts and monkey in SHEENA d. by John Guillerman</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cMiVYghUs24/UUyhbJ5PmwI/AAAAAAAAXoM/RFlDXCZvsxE/s1600/sheena1.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a></div>

adventure, comic book, donovan scott, eighties, john guillermin, tanya roberts, ted wass

TANYA ROBERTS IS SHEENA

year: 1984 cast: Tanya Roberts, Tedd Wass, Donovan Scott rating: *** A comic book adaptation where the gorgeous blue-eyed title characte...

BURT REYNOLDS DIRECTS AND STARS IN TO DIE IN 'THE END'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <br /><div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> </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="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UZvmGznQqrQ/UUu0RWOcNgI/AAAAAAAAXn0/YfYJzHkkf64/s1600/end0.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UZvmGznQqrQ/UUu0RWOcNgI/AAAAAAAAXn0/YfYJzHkkf64/s640/end0.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/04/thend.html">THE END HAS MOVED HERE</a></span></td></tr> </tbody></table>

BURT REYNOLDS DIRECTS AND STARS IN TO DIE IN 'THE END'

THE END HAS MOVED HERE

BETSY RUSSELL STARRING IN 'TOMBOY' W/ KRISTI SOMERS

<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="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3NxACaA2vw/UUNqNw2qL_I/AAAAAAAAXf0/HKnFYZXxdLM/s1600/tomboy1cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3NxACaA2vw/UUNqNw2qL_I/AAAAAAAAXf0/HKnFYZXxdLM/s400/tomboy1cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1985 cast: Betsy Russell, Kristi Somers rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> An hour-and-seven minutes into this jovially pointless low budget exploitation comedy, familiar to any and all former USA Channel’s UP ALL NIGHT insomniacs, something miraculous occurs: an actual plot is introduced as Betsy Russell’s Tomasina 'Tomboy' Boyd, otherwise known as Tommy, gets a chance to take on her new boyfriend, a famous race car driver. But for the first half of the film she stares longingly at his poster image inside the dingy garage where she’s the sole mechanic.<br /> <br /> Tommy is, especially when her tight T-shirt gets soaked, an extremely sexy girl. Behind the grime of a tedious workaday life, she’s the best looking babe in the rural small town. Her slutty best friend Seville Ritz, played by 80’s cult starlet Kristi Somers (SAVAGE STREETS), wants her pal to be more feminine in order to land a dude and have some well-deserved fun.<br /> <table align="center" 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="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9VXsTUMQjlM/UUNqZ9ek0sI/AAAAAAAAXf8/H119o4KxRjs/s1600/tomboy4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9VXsTUMQjlM/UUNqZ9ek0sI/AAAAAAAAXf8/H119o4KxRjs/s400/tomboy4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Betsy Russell as Tommy</td></tr> </tbody></table> The duo go to a party, where a spoiled car racing mogul’s son Ernie Leeds Jr., played by Kirk’s son and Michael’s Brother Eric Douglas, tries landing a lucrative racing deal with Randy: the guy that Tommy takes on in the finale, driving a supped-up hot rod she built on her own.  And before the race, when Tommy and Randy are first dating, they ride around on motorcycles and box each other during the kind of cheesy montage sequence famous during the 1980’s.<br /> <br /> Perhaps the most laidback and, dare it be said, involving scenes occur in the first hour before Tommy meets her dream man: joining a start-up basketball game, avoiding horny locals, zipping around on her dirt bike, or hanging around town with her poufy black curly hair, resembling a younger Adrienne Barbeau. All the while her wild best friend (Somers) appears in commercials and tries anything she can to make it big: without the hindrance of clothing as TOMBOY succeeds at a breezy template reminiscent of the seventies exploitation drive-in flicks that need no stinkin’ plotline to be fluffy and fun, every frame backed by glossy rock songs that are relatively catchy, at least while they’re orchestrating our sexy heroine.   <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="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nZGLlSkzVbE/UUNqfEb_ghI/AAAAAAAAXgI/FZfB2fh2Gjo/s1600/tomboy3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nZGLlSkzVbE/UUNqfEb_ghI/AAAAAAAAXgI/FZfB2fh2Gjo/s1600/tomboy3.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Betsy Russell ready to roll</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="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ze6TP8A8Afw/UUNqnRun1uI/AAAAAAAAXgU/HavmVuGfPdw/s1600/tomboy7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ze6TP8A8Afw/UUNqnRun1uI/AAAAAAAAXgU/HavmVuGfPdw/s640/tomboy7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Betsy Russell under another car</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="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qsKPqyapuxQ/UUNqn0gvskI/AAAAAAAAXgg/7Z81rvgOs38/s1600/tomboy8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qsKPqyapuxQ/UUNqn0gvskI/AAAAAAAAXgg/7Z81rvgOs38/s640/tomboy8.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric Douglas as Ernie Leeds Jr. </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="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QbBxGiwKb8c/UUNqwFx6x0I/AAAAAAAAXg8/BcsQIpBftIY/s1600/tomboy5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QbBxGiwKb8c/UUNqwFx6x0I/AAAAAAAAXg8/BcsQIpBftIY/s640/tomboy5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Drive-In-Features-CHAUFFEUR-WEEKEND-Starring/dp/B005GLAZ6C/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1363373063&sr=1-3-catcorr&keywords=tomboy+betsy+russell">BUY DVD 4-PACK ON AMAZON</a></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

betsy russell, eighties, eric douglas, exploitation, kristy somers, romantic comedy

BETSY RUSSELL STARRING IN 'TOMBOY' W/ KRISTI SOMERS

year: 1985 cast: Betsy Russell, Kristi Somers rating: *** An hour-and-seven minutes into this jovially pointless low budget exploitation...

THE CALL

<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="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ghyqvot0r40/UUaJGW5kBJI/AAAAAAAAXiQ/HVacAAIROfs/s1600/thecall1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ghyqvot0r40/UUaJGW5kBJI/AAAAAAAAXiQ/HVacAAIROfs/s640/thecall1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2013 <b>cast:</b> Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Michael Eklund <b>rating:</b> ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Despite the bland, uninteresting title, THE CALL is a worthwhile thriller centering on the people who sit behind a desk and listen to some pretty intense emergency situations that don’t always end happily.<br /> <br /> Enter Halle Berry’s Jordan Turner, a dedicated and experienced 911 operator, who gets a call from a young girl stalked inside her home by a shadowy menace. As things turn out, Turner makes a mistake that results in tragedy. So when the next emergency arises, she’s both ready and cautious: That being teenager Casey, played by Abigail Breslin, who's kidnapped inside an indoor parking lot and is, by the time she reaches 911, stuck inside the trunk of a moving car.<br /> <br /> Berry turns in a worthwhile performance for someone seeing very little action. She hears everything that goes on with Breslin’s frantic character, put through the ringer in a claustrophobic trunk, and with Turner’s help she figures out ways to – as the vehicle cruises along without being successfully located – provide distress signals for people on the outside. <br /> <br /> There are several unlucky witnesses, including a businessman who has a suspicion that things aren’t exactly normal, and we’re treated to a few horror flick-style slaughters, readymade for audiences to leap from their seats. Here’s where Berry’s input lessens and Breslin, with her life in deeper jeopardy, has to figure how to possibly escape on her own, or else.<br /> <br /> When we finally lose touch with home base, and the killer’s backstory starts to unravel, the problem-solving thriller turns into an imitation of PSYCHO and especially SILENCE OF THE LAMBS as Turner (ala Vera Miles and/or Jodie Foster) investigates a spooky rural compound.<br /> <br /> There are effective chills in this third act, but the best stuff occurs out on that road, when both main characters, the victim and her protector, are given equal importance.<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="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-79FzEWIfVTI/UUaJR2PEVKI/AAAAAAAAXiU/4HsmUy5s7vg/s1600/thecall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="416" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-79FzEWIfVTI/UUaJR2PEVKI/AAAAAAAAXiU/4HsmUy5s7vg/s640/thecall.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abigail Breslin works real hard in THE CALL</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="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iStWuav3ZQQ/UUZgihbFBmI/AAAAAAAAXh8/iYO3mFjWhoo/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iStWuav3ZQQ/UUZgihbFBmI/AAAAAAAAXh8/iYO3mFjWhoo/s640/Picture+1.png" width="566" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CYPRESS, CA., this reviewer's current location, is visible under Halle's bottom lip</td></tr> </tbody></table>

2013, abigail breslin, halle berry, thriller

THE CALL

year:  2013  cast:  Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Michael Eklund  rating:  *** Despite the bland, uninteresting title, THE CALL is a wor...

ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH

<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="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KpQaZlTa9DM/UUVUMGyFdmI/AAAAAAAAXhc/3zY19uDe1IU/s1600/escape-from-planet-earth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KpQaZlTa9DM/UUVUMGyFdmI/AAAAAAAAXhc/3zY19uDe1IU/s640/escape-from-planet-earth.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year: </b>2013 <b>voices:</b> Rob Corrdry, William Shatner, Brendan Fraser <b>rating:</b> ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> As the people of planet Earth, we see ourselves as being either too polluting and therefore doomed, or else Fallen and thus, damned. So if <i>we</i> don't have that bright an outlook, it’s no surprise other solar systems view us as the most backward/de-evolved globe in the cosmos, or as one alien calls it, The Dark Planet. (Or maybe Hollywood's doing their usual self effacing thing but in a much wider scope.)<br /> <br /> Why one particular alien/astronaut named Scorch Supernova, the big brave Buzz Lightyear of a techie planet known as Baab, whose brother, Gary, is a passive yet brilliant mission control leader, decides to visit the infamous Earth is never quite clear. But he does, immediately crash landing in Roswell, New Mexico, and quickly taken captive by evil General Shanker, who has collected – inside his Area 51 containment center – an assortment of alien prisoners while planning to build something stronger than an Atomic bomb. <br /> <br /> Shanker's world domination plot aside, for a kids movie it’s never too intense, and there are enough action sequences for adults to keep interest. The characters are likable and the settings minimal: Once our blue alien heroes leave their own planet, we have only the prison to escape from, a few white trash trailers outside and one 7/11. <br /> <br /> Despite the overall simplicity, ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH never drags and doesn’t try to be more than a basic escape flick and best yet, actors Brendan Frasier (Scorch), Rob Corddry (Gary) and General Shanker (William Shatner) don’t sound like lazy celebrities providing their own recognizable voices while letting the animators do all the work. Now that's something to admire.

2012, action, animated, brendan fraser, rob corrdry, william shatner

ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH

year: 2013 voices: Rob Corrdry, William Shatner, Brendan Fraser rating: *** As the people of planet Earth, we see ourselves as being e...

THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE

<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="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9KeB7XUqBcM/UUP5TuBvKtI/AAAAAAAAXhM/q5_ND_eib0Q/s1600/wonderstone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9KeB7XUqBcM/UUP5TuBvKtI/AAAAAAAAXhM/q5_ND_eib0Q/s640/wonderstone.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Steve Carell, Jim Carrey, Steve Buscemi, Alan Arkin, Olivia Wilde rating: **1/2 </td></tr> </tbody></table> Don’t feel too bad for the not so incredible Burt Wonderstone, who is, when first introduced, a wimpy and downright pathetic little kid getting bullied in 1982. After finding solace through a cheesy magician advertising his magic kit on television, he grows up to be a jerky womanizing millionaire in Las Vegas.<br /> <br /> Teamed with childhood partner Anton, the duo are like a platonic Siegfried and Roy without the tigers. They sellout Vegas every night until a sadistic street illusionist/exhibitionist Steve Gray, played with the usual anything-goes physical hijinx by Jim Carrey, pulls off, with cameras rolling, every kind of stunt from getting beat up in public to sleeping on hot coals, turning Burt and Anton’s popular old school act into a thing of the past.<br /> <br /> Steve Carell plays Burt as an unlikable over-the-top Rat Pack chauvinist who can only get better with time. Even Olivia Wilde’s sexy assistant Jane, who isn’t aware of how sexy she is, realizes her boss is a shallow one-dimensional buffoon. But when Carrey’s Gray gets more and more popular, Burt hits the skids and winds up with no money and, having split with Anton (Steve Buscemi), he becomes the youngest member of an old age home for Vegas performers. Here he meets his childhood hero Rance Holloway, played by Alan Arkin, and learns to do magic with passion and feeling. <br /> <br /> Alas, the Carell/Arkin friendship had the potential of a comedic Luke Skywalker being trained by Obi Wan, but the kinship never really pans out. And before you know it Burt's romantically connected with the gorgeous Jane and, after much too easily making up with Anton, the three complete against Grey for a big Vegas comeback. Since none of the performers seem real enough to be taken seriously, once it’s time to choose which act is legitimate, they're all either doing a parody of David Copperfield, David Blaine, or anyone’s corny uncle who did predictable card tricks on holidays.<br /> <br /> A few laughs occur throughout the ninety-minute ride, but with so many talented comedic actors it could have/should have been a much better act.

2013, alan arkin, comedy, jim carrey, olivia wilde, steve buscemi, steve carell

THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE

year: 2013 cast: Steve Carell, Jim Carrey, Steve Buscemi, Alan Arkin, Olivia Wilde rating: **1/2 Don’t feel too bad for the not so incre...

JOHN WAYNE IS BIG JAKE

<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="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v1W6NvWMd38/UUDmaQar6rI/AAAAAAAAXdU/r1IBnhPT1Rk/s1600/big+jake+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v1W6NvWMd38/UUDmaQar6rI/AAAAAAAAXdU/r1IBnhPT1Rk/s640/big+jake+poster.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1971 cast: John Wayne, Richard Boone, Christopher Mitchum, Maureen O'Hara rating: ***1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> “It is I think going to be a very harsh and unpleasant kind of business, and will I think require an extremely harsh and unpleasant kind of man.”<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uw4cy4n4LX4/VDhttH3R1uI/AAAAAAAAkDk/vfUjOkFzEuk/s1600/big-jake-blu-610x236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uw4cy4n4LX4/VDhttH3R1uI/AAAAAAAAkDk/vfUjOkFzEuk/s1600/big-jake-blu-610x236.jpg" /></a></div> These are words spoken by Maureen O’Hara’s Martha McCandles after her plush ranch was attacked, in a Sergio Leone style slaughter, by a group of ragged killers thanks to cutthroat John Fain played with a subtle villainy by veteran actor Richard Boone.<br /> <br /> The man Martha spoke of makes a better revenge-wielding hired gun than husband. That speech was the perfect segue for our title character played by John Wayne, who, during his final decade of motion pictures, looked as tough as a weathered railroad spike that could still easily plunge through cold steel.<br /> <br /> Jake’s got three sons, one severely injured in the attack, and most importantly his grandson – played by Ethan Wayne, the Duke’s real life boy – is kidnapped for a million dollar ransom. Thus begins a hunting party/journey with Jake and (among a dwindling posse) his two other grownup kids including Patrick Wayne and Robert Mitchum’s son, Christopher.<br /> <br /> These siblings have one main thing in common: both are spiteful of their dad, whose philandering ways caused the divorce when they were growing up. But now they’re learning all about “true grit” i.e. how to shoot guns <i>the right way</i> while surviving a trek that leads to an inevitable showdown. <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="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QblFB-vauZY/UUDme96N-rI/AAAAAAAAXdc/2tCrYW6m0v4/s1600/big+jake+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QblFB-vauZY/UUDme96N-rI/AAAAAAAAXdc/2tCrYW6m0v4/s640/big+jake+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Wayne and Christopher Mitchum</td></tr> </tbody></table> Christopher Mitchum’s energetic Michael rides one of those new fangled "motorized horses," adding a nice twist to most of Wayne’s Westerns: we’re in the turn of the century when machinery/progression was making ground. One scene where Michael zips his motorcycle behind enemy lines, wreaking havoc and leaping across mountaintops, provides a cool 70’s vibe to this otherwise old school cowboy flick. While Patrick Wayne’s James has the biggest chip on his shoulder about “daddy” and is the one who must eventually come around.<br /> <br /> Despite a prologue with an unnecessary narrator spouting names and background information on people we’ll never keep tabs on, and a few scenes further in that drag with too much dialog, along with humor that doesn’t always fit the gritty milieu – especially when Jake sporadically turns into a clumsy stooge – the eclectic group (including Bruce Cabot as a resilient Native American) always winds up in interesting perilous situations with shootouts and, in one small town celebrating an oil strike, a creatively planned scheme to hide the million dollar box from a band of rogue bad guys.<br /> <br /> The finale doesn’t live up to some of the other battles, and perhaps this is intentional. Richard Boone and John Wayne square off as two men equally tough and world-weary… Neither getting too passionate while playing a waiting game, with guns drawn, until the best man, or men, will be left standing.<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="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xldUDTj-c2M/UUDmkmuozgI/AAAAAAAAXdk/scHUJEK6zQw/s1600/big+jake+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xldUDTj-c2M/UUDmkmuozgI/AAAAAAAAXdk/scHUJEK6zQw/s640/big+jake+3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=big+jake">BUY BIG JAKE AT AMAZON</a></td></tr> </tbody></table>

action, bruce cabot, christopher mitchum, john wayne, maureen o'hara, patrick wayne, richard boone, seventies, western

JOHN WAYNE IS BIG JAKE

year: 1971 cast: John Wayne, Richard Boone, Christopher Mitchum, Maureen O'Hara rating: ***1/2 “It is I think going to be a very har...

SNITCH

<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="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UENsiTGNop4/UUAkobyBAlI/AAAAAAAAXdE/FbI-UaofxYQ/s1600/snitch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="274" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UENsiTGNop4/UUAkobyBAlI/AAAAAAAAXdE/FbI-UaofxYQ/s640/snitch.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year: </b>2013 <b>cast: </b>Dwayne Johnson, Jon Bernthal, Barry Pepper <b>rating:</b> ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Since Dwayne Johnson’s John Matthews is the type of boss who can and will, if need be, jump out of his expensive all-terrain vehicle and help a struggling blue collar employee load bags of cement, it’s no surprise he’s the kind of father who, once his estranged son is sent to prison for allowing marijuana to be shipped to his mom’s house and given a ten-year sentence, to do anything possible to help the kid out, including risking his own life. <br /> <br /> Matthews owns a trucking company and has the means to haul just about anything. With the help of a hardened Drug Enforcement Officer (Barry Pepper) and a shifty politician (Susan Sarandon), he’s given a task… his own idea, actually… to help bust important drug dealers to get his son a lighter sentence. In other words, he’d be a snitch.<br /> <br /> His real partner is the same guy he’d helped load those cement bags, an ex convict named Daniel, played by Jon Bernthal, whose character also has a son influenced by the drug culture, so he’s no fan of dealers.<br /> <br /> Daniel’s character trumps John in many ways. He’s more nitty-gritty and, being closer to the action and with connections to boot, he’s the guy who brings his boss into the world of drug trafficking, first through a relatively small time player which progresses into the Mexican cartel.<br /> <br /> The coolest action scene occurs after John and Daniel drive to a rural junkyard where a seemingly simple deal turns into a modern day Wild West shootout. There’s a decent amount of suspense added since this is John's first score. After a truck-crashing escape with guns blasting everywhere, Dan proves his worth as an intrepid driver and becomes the Cartel’s prime choice for a big cash exchange in Mexico, which sadly never occurs.<br /> <br /> Although the finale, involving John's truck being chased by armed thugs on a freeway, is somewhat intense and looks fantastic, that initial Mexico plan, that sounded like an intense nail-biting caper, would have been a much better climax… Why did they have to tease us so?

2013, action, barry pepper, drug culture, dwayne johnson, jon bernthal, susan sarandon

SNITCH

year: 2013 cast: Dwayne Johnson, Jon Bernthal, Barry Pepper rating: *** Since Dwayne Johnson’s John Matthews is the type of boss who ca...

JOHN G. AVILDSEN'S CINEMA HELL IN 'A NIGHT IN HEAVEN'

<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="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t1d-ipsub7A/UT951qVY77I/AAAAAAAAXb8/HPYtajeq2tg/s1600/night+in+heaven+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t1d-ipsub7A/UT951qVY77I/AAAAAAAAXb8/HPYtajeq2tg/s1600/night+in+heaven+1.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1983 Cast: Leslie Ann Warren, Christopher Atkins, Robert Logan Rating: **1/2 Camp Value: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Why would a movie centering on a young male stripper and an uptight, slightly older woman begin with – and continue through the entire opening credit sequence on – an average guy who works at NASA?<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <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/-87RL6vlhvm0/WND2BQ1ndZI/AAAAAAAAwv8/uXL9ho1N8VU34h2_SvCzFJH56C5LHBSswCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-03-21%2Bat%2B2.44.16%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-87RL6vlhvm0/WND2BQ1ndZI/AAAAAAAAwv8/uXL9ho1N8VU34h2_SvCzFJH56C5LHBSswCLcB/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-03-21%2Bat%2B2.44.16%2BAM.png" width="160" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Leslie w/ Deborah Rush</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Leslie Ann Warren’s mousy housewife Faye Hanlon is married to the NASA engineer: she’s who he comes home to. Robert Logan plays Whitney Hanlon; he's been <i>down</i> lately... not giving his wife a good time after hours, or wanting to work for the military (sound familiar?). She’s got a wild sister, played by the always cute and energetic Deborah Rush, and both wind up spending a night at… Let’s back up a bit...<br /> <br /> Faye is a community college speech teacher/professor who fails a student too flaky and optimistic for his own good. That would be hot property Christopher Atkins, famous for his role opposite Brooke Shields in THE BLUE LAGOON and, as Ricky “The Rocket” Monroe he appears in a space suit on stage, eventually stripped down to the bare essentials and providing special attention to women who give him an F during the daytime… This is how our May/August romantic-interests connect, and yet their windswept romance is hardly enough to base an entire movie on...<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="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XJ7khhDeoNs/UT955ofOy1I/AAAAAAAAXcE/Gf0BEJjYoBw/s1600/night+in+heaven+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XJ7khhDeoNs/UT955ofOy1I/AAAAAAAAXcE/Gf0BEJjYoBw/s1600/night+in+heaven+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Leslie Ann Warren and Christopher Atkins in A NIGHT IN HEAVEN</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The problem with this RAZZIE nominated clunker directed by ROCKY Oscar winner John G. Avildsen (partnered with otherwise talented NASHVILLE writer Jan Tewkesbury) is there’s no chemistry between the leads, nor is there a point to their relationship.<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PYf7N6WRKDs/W6eEz2-s_6I/AAAAAAAA54g/Me22YmmgB1Ec41Duwm0Vf_b14NOg1bWAACEwYBhgL/s1600/42508310_575903969505450_4034248526136344576_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="919" data-original-width="656" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PYf7N6WRKDs/W6eEz2-s_6I/AAAAAAAA54g/Me22YmmgB1Ec41Duwm0Vf_b14NOg1bWAACEwYBhgL/s320/42508310_575903969505450_4034248526136344576_n.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Signed by L.A. Warren</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Meanwhile, the guy who opens the film winds up losing his job, buying a gun and scaring the piss out of the womanizing boy toy (the NASA worker facing off with a dude named Rocket, get it?)...<br /> <br /> Which provides Atkins an opportunity to really act as he cries naked on the deck of a boat, but alas, he winds up embarrassing himself more than ever. (Farewell, movie career, you're headed to television.) What’s really impressive is how they make the gorgeous Leslie Ann Warren so homely in the beginning before the sexy/sultry transition for two “heavenly” nights...<br /> <br /> That first strip club outing and then in a hotel room during a steamy yet ponderous sex scene between lovers more suited to a fantasy driven porno – at least as the simplistic storyline goes. It’s when pointless characters, like Rocket’s hardworking waitress mother and his banal actress girlfriend – and completely useless subplots are added – that the pace really meanders, turning what could have been a guilty pleasure into an exercise in humiliation, for the actors and especially editor/director John G. Avildsen. But a year later he'd redeem himself ROCKY style by waxing on and off with that winning underdog sports theme in THE KARATE KID. Which couldn't have happened at a better time. <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/-lZhO0hmlDkM/W6eUWFymKOI/AAAAAAAA55U/O65OHSyvHsc-JettzIpIwB-k0x_2zRlLACEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-23%2Bat%2B6.24.22%2BAM.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1017" data-original-width="1094" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lZhO0hmlDkM/W6eUWFymKOI/AAAAAAAA55U/O65OHSyvHsc-JettzIpIwB-k0x_2zRlLACEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-23%2Bat%2B6.24.22%2BAM.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christopher Atkins noticing his teacher Leslie Ann Warren and vice versa, A Night In Heaven</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/-BcUKgmrv8Us/W6eOnrPiGpI/AAAAAAAA55I/kFdmKq8uZDchDafovf8QgiTOtMCl5qivgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-23%2Bat%2B5.57.47%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1213" data-original-width="1211" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BcUKgmrv8Us/W6eOnrPiGpI/AAAAAAAA55I/kFdmKq8uZDchDafovf8QgiTOtMCl5qivgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-23%2Bat%2B5.57.47%2BAM.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Robert Logan rides from NASA (work) with Bryan Adams scoring a random opening credit sequence</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="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hQJPQ--jaTw/UT959mtXDfI/AAAAAAAAXcQ/n8rOgK-rAT0/s1600/night+in+heaven+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hQJPQ--jaTw/UT959mtXDfI/AAAAAAAAXcQ/n8rOgK-rAT0/s1600/night+in+heaven+3.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Deborah Rush as the black sheep sister</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="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pZaCrjtdSPA/UT959r8IvDI/AAAAAAAAXcU/64f-aC35QQE/s1600/night+in+heaven+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pZaCrjtdSPA/UT959r8IvDI/AAAAAAAAXcU/64f-aC35QQE/s1600/night+in+heaven+4.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Leslie Ann Warren in A NIGHT IN HEAVEN</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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OdB6FnZmBbg/W6eYTUkNx0I/AAAAAAAA55g/kpZKfdjimQYgsM_6BngEzP1tvPOH2tCbQCLcBGAs/s1600/42404593_575972106165303_7983341190961430528_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="960" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OdB6FnZmBbg/W6eYTUkNx0I/AAAAAAAA55g/kpZKfdjimQYgsM_6BngEzP1tvPOH2tCbQCLcBGAs/s1600/42404593_575972106165303_7983341190961430528_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Veronica Gamba w/ Chris Atkins & Robert Logan A Night In Heaven Veronica Camba A Night in Heaven</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

christopher atkins, deborah rush, eighties, exploitation, john g. avildsen, leslie ann warren, robert logan, romance

JOHN G. AVILDSEN'S CINEMA HELL IN 'A NIGHT IN HEAVEN'

Year: 1983 Cast: Leslie Ann Warren, Christopher Atkins, Robert Logan Rating: **1/2 Camp Value: ***1/2 Why would a movie centering on a y...