JACK NICHOLSON & BOB RAFELSON NEO-NOIR TRIPLE FEATURE

<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/-lT5BvMJ07wM/XIbmOsjepPI/AAAAAAABA7I/1OkB10NRLEs4UJt1kboRquoPHjRmP-v6QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-03-11%2Bat%2B3.45.44%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="1600" height="287" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lT5BvMJ07wM/XIbmOsjepPI/AAAAAAABA7I/1OkB10NRLEs4UJt1kboRquoPHjRmP-v6QCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-03-11%2Bat%2B3.45.44%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jack Nicholson unhitches The Postman Always Rings Twice</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In the late 60's, Jack Nicholson and director Bob Rarelson, when both were relatively unknown, a cinematic partnership was born, and of their five total we'll center on three Neo Noir vehicles, one per decade, ending in the later-1990's and starting in the early-1970's...<br> <br> <u>THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS</u>: Who knows, maybe directors never really outgrow their primal, rudimentary, symbolic, allegorical, idealistically pretentious, metaphysical, narcissistic, nostalgic mindset of film school: And in that, following what would forever remain their collaborative pinnacle, FIVE EASY PIECES director Bob Rafelson gave his close friend and future multi-collaborator Jack Nicholson a break from the (possible) stereotype of being the discontented, blunt, feisty rebel type, which he's proven... even in early Roger Corman vehicles and Richard Rush biker flicks... which he was perfectly suited for...<br>

bob rafelson, eighties, ellen burstyn, jack nicholson, jennifer lopez, jessica lange, julia anne robinson, michael caine, neo noir, nineties, remake, scatman crothers, seventies, shark, thriller

JACK NICHOLSON & BOB RAFELSON NEO-NOIR TRIPLE FEATURE

Jack Nicholson unhitches The Postman Always Rings Twice In the late 60's, Jack Nicholson and director Bob Rarelson, when both were r...

AGAR & ALLAND DOUBLE FEATURES 'TARANTULA' & 'MOLE PEOPLE'

<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/-R4XAXCJleyA/V-X22hRgMQI/AAAAAAAAucg/4WAMZsvHNS00GmgI8LE-4IcimviDaopJACLcB/s1600/222222.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R4XAXCJleyA/V-X22hRgMQI/AAAAAAAAucg/4WAMZsvHNS00GmgI8LE-4IcimviDaopJACLcB/s400/222222.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The man who shoots the TARANTULA is pictured below YEAR: 1955</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>TARANTULA</u>: The now obsolete special-effects method of superimposing insects or critters to make them seen giant, menacing and formidable only works since they're something we humans can easily otherwise hunt, shoot or step on – and now it's their turn to turn <i>us</i> into roadkill, or dinner...<br> <br> But, using the enlarging-of-nature device for a contrived short-cut, producer William Alland's THE LAND UNKNOWN had footage of Gila Monsters to seem like dinosaurs, which didn't work since turning something naturally (relatively) small into what's supposed to be gigantic is just plain cheap – a possible one of several reasons his most capable and talented stock director, Jack Arnold, backed out of the project. But a year earlier, not only did Arnold direct TARANTULA, one of the best 1950's b-movie creature features, it's derived from a story he himself co-created...<br>

clint eastwood, creature, fifties, hugh beaumont, jack arnold, john agar, leo g. carroll, mara corday, nestor paiva, science-fiction, spiders, william alland

AGAR & ALLAND DOUBLE FEATURES 'TARANTULA' & 'MOLE PEOPLE'

The man who shoots the TARANTULA is pictured below YEAR: 1955 TARANTULA : The now obsolete special-effects method of superimposing insec...

ARTHOUSE MELANCHOLY OF ANGELINA JOLIE'S BY THE SEA

<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/-cA9FcgPWuu8/V-RLcGKAZsI/AAAAAAAAubw/zcBf8LmOH5UAXtL8xDTxGXWoHbeoeXxzACLcB/s1600/14457503_192994354463082_6447015987885726392_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cA9FcgPWuu8/V-RLcGKAZsI/AAAAAAAAubw/zcBf8LmOH5UAXtL8xDTxGXWoHbeoeXxzACLcB/s400/14457503_192994354463082_6447015987885726392_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in BY THE SEA Year: 2015</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Those who haven't yet experienced BY THE SEA are probably wondering, <i>Is It Really That Bad... </i>Well to give you a little taste before our big meal – the opening line, spoken in a dull manner by writer and director Angelina Jolie <strike>Pitt</strike> as a depressed wife, upon arriving in the French villa with her husband, is: "I smell fish."<br> <br> Now try to imagine if there was no murder in Alfred Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW – it would be a character-study of a handicapped voyeur, which couldn't go far without an eventual plot: a theme's conveyor belt that <i>motion</i> pictures cannot do without. Shocking, though, is the bizarre fact Jolie's monotone melodrama is somewhat painfully intriguing, thanks especially to a knee-high peephole in the spacious hotel room harboring bitter, lived-in marrieds Angelina and <strike>real life spouse</strike> Brad Pitt for a two-hour run-time that can often seem quite eternal. And yet, this kind of existential arthouse purgatory could have been <i>much</i> longer – others of its kind, with far more experienced, celebrated directors behind the lens, have gone well over three hours, including another Pitt vehicle, Terrance Malick's self-indulgent saga TREE OF LIFE, which SEA is a fun and frolicking rodeo by comparison...<br>

2016, angelina jolie, brad pitt, neo noir, romance

ARTHOUSE MELANCHOLY OF ANGELINA JOLIE'S BY THE SEA

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in BY THE SEA Year: 2015 Those who haven't yet experienced BY THE SEA are probably wondering, Is It Rea...

STEPHEN LANG DIRTIES-UP THE NEON-80'S IN BAND OF THE HAND

<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/-UzwkC5tO9ZQ/V99KkkcD3SI/AAAAAAAAuYA/gYMFHzlrJBowOH1wz85YkSmPM41H9DlUACLcB/s1600/14379660_190490821380102_7144340110358413834_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UzwkC5tO9ZQ/V99KkkcD3SI/AAAAAAAAuYA/gYMFHzlrJBowOH1wz85YkSmPM41H9DlUACLcB/s400/14379660_190490821380102_7144340110358413834_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Neat Opening Credit Title Card for BAND OF THE HAND Year: 1986</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Stephen Lang, the nefarious military man from AVATAR currently spooking audiences as a creepy and lethal blind war vet in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/09/DBreath.html">DON'T BREATHE</a>, is a natural for playing the villain...<br /> <br /> Although he initially garnered attention as "Indian Joe" in the 1986 teenage version of THE DIRTY DOZEN titled BAND OF THE HAND – the one person who can whip a group of eclectic, hopeless juvenile convicts into shape is, of course, the film's good guy and yet, it depends on the perspective since he's not very popular at first: His narrow eyed, steel-jawed, monotone, meticulous and muscular character has all the ingredients of a determined, impenetrable heavy – but it takes one to know five, and Lang's Joe knows exactly how and where to get the reluctant, flaky bad boys changed into sturdy young men.<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/-6hDtZe8Q1ic/V99LGCfjk0I/AAAAAAAAuYE/JEJ9WT286icwEhgps1vyMepMmgfRRD9jgCLcB/s1600/14379639_190490828046768_2935659876519969241_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6hDtZe8Q1ic/V99LGCfjk0I/AAAAAAAAuYE/JEJ9WT286icwEhgps1vyMepMmgfRRD9jgCLcB/s320/14379639_190490828046768_2935659876519969241_o.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Stephen Lang as Indian Joe</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> What BAND seems to be about occurs in a flash:The survival sequence in the Everglades, including a deadly snake, a wild boar and various shots of wild cats, seems more of a breezy tour than duty...<br /> <br /> Having been taken from lock-up to a paddy-wagon to a reed-pummeling fan boat, they enter the murky destination, all dressed up with no place to run, knee deep in mud, bickering, fighting and are initially fleshed-out by their anti-chemistry<i> against</i> each other: from the loudmouth to the lunatic to the maverick to the tough, silent type, it's all pretty much covered...<br /> <br /> Sadly, right as things get interesting, we cut to a b-story involving an overlong sequence with ingenue Lauren Holly and the film's chief antagonist to Larry Fishburne's more physical, mobile heavy – that being James Remar as a gangster into black magic, an eccentric, strange element probably inserted to make Remar more menacing, which the edgy WARRIORS and 48 HRS alumni needn't any help with...<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0snBcOjPoWc/V99Lmd5oNkI/AAAAAAAAuYI/KnKyRGbzSNES7W8qlefNmX9w5CyK_MG6gCLcB/s1600/14352357_190490824713435_8917196619516144580_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0snBcOjPoWc/V99Lmd5oNkI/AAAAAAAAuYI/KnKyRGbzSNES7W8qlefNmX9w5CyK_MG6gCLcB/s400/14352357_190490824713435_8917196619516144580_o.jpg" width="272" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>His name <i>was</i> Larry Fishburne, MATRIX-heads</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Cutting back to the swamp-struggling main characters feels like returning from an intrusive commercial break. And by Day Two, although running scared from what they're supposed to be hunting, the boys seem as if they'd been roughing-it for a week or so (and if it had been a week, it seems more like a month). Up to this point, while the overall pace is fun and involving – especially the set-up as each individual crime, arrest and incarceration is shown – there seems to be a big chunk missing...<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/-_-pgg51ACpc/V99L2EEhc7I/AAAAAAAAuYM/UcyB8XbolZo-0aHWQR-W1bE3CtGYigfLACLcB/s1600/14372323_190490831380101_7523510588978292122_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_-pgg51ACpc/V99L2EEhc7I/AAAAAAAAuYM/UcyB8XbolZo-0aHWQR-W1bE3CtGYigfLACLcB/s400/14372323_190490831380101_7523510588978292122_o.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lang's tough guy repose</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Although it turns out the important stuff's left for the graffiti-laden slums of Miami: Taking over a Crack House (back then referred to as a building full of junkies, pimps and dealers), Lang and Gang have a dangerous fight ahead – their prime adversaries have already been introduced, and they're not alone. At this point, only one of the boys really stands out as a character apart from the group, and he wants his girl, Holly's Nikki, back – she's now a bonafide, bikini-clad gangster's moll: her story had skipped ahead as fast as the males.<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DxKylm9PdbU/V99MDA-tqNI/AAAAAAAAuYQ/xtE4u6CHVVkojFqf-sYveHDP2bmpfuaZQCLcB/s1600/s-l225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DxKylm9PdbU/V99MDA-tqNI/AAAAAAAAuYQ/xtE4u6CHVVkojFqf-sYveHDP2bmpfuaZQCLcB/s1600/s-l225.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Soundtrack LP featuring Bob Dylan</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> With a gritty, street-savvy, politician-scolding title song by Bob Dylan backed by Tom Petty's Heartbreakers (who Dylan toured with the previous year), and produced by MIAMI VICE 80's/90's crime guru Michael Mann, BAND OF THE HAND is in fact a hands-on, lean and mean tough guy machine, slightly hindered by the loud, bright neon clothes that the 1980's had "totally" veered into at the crest of the decade's midpoint: Hell, even the good bad boys are dressed to shill their multicolored era and yet, flaws aside, what was rushed in the swamplands is slightly made up for later on, when there's just-enough high-octane action during the third act, as Lang does like John Wayne in THE COWBOYS, clearing the way for a strategic crash-course finale with the people that matter most.

bob dylan, eighties, ensemble, gang, james remar, lauren holly, laurence fishburn, military, stephen lang, teen

STEPHEN LANG DIRTIES-UP THE NEON-80'S IN BAND OF THE HAND

Neat Opening Credit Title Card for BAND OF THE HAND Year: 1986 Stephen Lang, the nefarious military man from AVATAR currently spooking a...

BELATED NEW HORROR FLICK REVIEW OF: DON'T BREATHE

<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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oV-gWpytYfw/V9r8NBFTBcI/AAAAAAAAuVE/s2Cyk2FVQAUd6IWLMheY5O8TSdjl34H-gCLcB/s1600/dont-breathe-poster-banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oV-gWpytYfw/V9r8NBFTBcI/AAAAAAAAuVE/s2Cyk2FVQAUd6IWLMheY5O8TSdjl34H-gCLcB/s400/dont-breathe-poster-banner.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jane Levy on the DON'T BREATHE Poster YEAR: 2016</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> "An impressive performance or achievement that has been accomplished or managed with great skill" is the definition of a term, <i>Tour de force</i>, that, albeit overused in Film Writing, when hybrid with a "special honor or respect shown publicly" i.e. <i>Homage</i>, the new horror flick DON'T BREATHE is a <i>Tour de Homage</i>, and then some...<br> <br> Our first glance at the ruthless antagonist, a blind war veteran played by Stephen Lang (who represented all that Hollywood perceives as evil about the American Military in AVATAR), sitting upon his bed, reaching his muscular arms forward with what seems like frightened vulnerability of a child spooked from an imaginary closet monster – and the ride's about to begin...<br>

2016, exploitation, horror, jane levy, stephen lang, suspense

BELATED NEW HORROR FLICK REVIEW OF: DON'T BREATHE

Jane Levy on the DON'T BREATHE Poster YEAR: 2016 "An impressive performance or achievement that has been accomplished or manage...

MERRY ANDERS 'ESCAPE FROM SAN QUENTIN' W/ RICHARD DEVON

<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/-rbjoZONSP_I/WNRZx33dFPI/AAAAAAAAxGc/l8KagAJrSL0IP1N8F-9Uksy7GG2uwhXRwCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-03-23%2Bat%2B4.24.19%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rbjoZONSP_I/WNRZx33dFPI/AAAAAAAAxGc/l8KagAJrSL0IP1N8F-9Uksy7GG2uwhXRwCLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-03-23%2Bat%2B4.24.19%2BPM.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Richard Devon with Merry Anders YEAR: 1957 </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Continuing an ongoing Cinema of Merry Anders, a beautiful actress from B-Crime flicks that aren't usually "good enough" to be considered a bonafide, by-the-book Film Noir...<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/-OceRyR6ggsE/WNOEk0z3I4I/AAAAAAAAw58/qtqF8SOh8OYZsqQPEaqwV8QWpkk5hY1AACLcB/s1600/kkwzpmdy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OceRyR6ggsE/WNOEk0z3I4I/AAAAAAAAw58/qtqF8SOh8OYZsqQPEaqwV8QWpkk5hY1AACLcB/s320/kkwzpmdy.jpg" width="165"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Insert Poster</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Meaning that the famous genre of what former Cult Film Freak interviewee Coleen Gray... co-star of THE KILLING, KISS OF DEATH, MODELS INC., NIGHTMARE ALLEY, THE SLEEPING CITY, LAS VEGAS SHOWDOWN and KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL... described as simply "B-Movies," pretty much makes this a C-Picture... Which isn't such a bad thing given how dull and listless mainstream vehicles were (and still are)...<br> <br> And so, Merry Anders appeared in a handful of other kinds of crime vehicles from the late 50's and early 60's as well as science fiction (T<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/11/TTT.html">HE TIME TRAVELERS</a>), a Western (THE DALTON GIRLS) and a music trend propaganda (CALYPSO HEAT WAVE)... And so, stuck in a purgatory between Crime and Cult and yet, unlike <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/08/AirPATROL.html">AIR PATROL</a>, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/07/merry-anders-cinema-raiders-from.html">RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA</a> or <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/07/anders1-HYP-EYE.html">THE HYPNOTIC EYE</a>, this is more Film Noir than anything else, despite the action-faring, plot-describing title, which can mislead viewers into thinking ESCAPE FROM SAN QUENTIN centers more on high octane breakout bedlam than dialogue-driven suspense with a side dish of gun-wielding intrigue...<br>

fifties, film noir or melodrama, fred f. sears, merry anders, richard devon

MERRY ANDERS 'ESCAPE FROM SAN QUENTIN' W/ RICHARD DEVON

Richard Devon with Merry Anders YEAR: 1957  Continuing an ongoing Cinema of Merry Anders, a beautiful actress from B-Crime flicks that a...

ELIZABETH TAYLOR 'THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN' WARREN BEATTY

<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/-6xle38nS4AY/V9MEKyfsYYI/AAAAAAAAuTU/BS3MYB8_0rIDl4DX1WkkJxreGoF0pUxFgCLcB/s1600/14292479_184244575338060_6694133989640089132_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6xle38nS4AY/V9MEKyfsYYI/AAAAAAAAuTU/BS3MYB8_0rIDl4DX1WkkJxreGoF0pUxFgCLcB/s400/14292479_184244575338060_6694133989640089132_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warren Beatty & Elizabeth Taylor on wide poster</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Director George Stevens was great at telling a relatively simple story in an epic, grandiose fashion, burying the hidden lead till the conclusion without it being a letdown, or the audience feeling like they've been taken for a long, misleading ride...<br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <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/-yWsyj9Xy5c0/Xorshm6aHPI/AAAAAAABQKQ/0x5KgA9yeRAvTuPZMGCLBE_UlnhCycSKwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/51c92bbcfa4fe7493997f3b222878513.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="153" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yWsyj9Xy5c0/Xorshm6aHPI/AAAAAAABQKQ/0x5KgA9yeRAvTuPZMGCLBE_UlnhCycSKwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/51c92bbcfa4fe7493997f3b222878513.jpeg" width="141"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Portion of Movie Poster</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> His famous films with Taylor are A PLACE IN THE SUN with Monty Clift and a giant GIANT with Rock Hudon, which fits its title in scope, but the Texas saga with all the wide sets and dusty milieu, ends with a quick fist fight in a small cafe, and is actually an underline morality tale on Whites towards Mexican racism... <br> <br> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> And it's arguably Stevens's greatest achievement, starred one of the loveliest ingenues at that time who, in 1956, was a much better suited to be a showgirl, like in the director's final film fourteen years later, THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN... And while what happens in Las Vegas stays there, what happens when someone takes a picture only showing their best features as Taylor's top-half is shown, twice during a fifteen second segment of a musical number on an immense Casino stage, inserted in a contrived, phony and downright hilarious fashion...<br>

charles braswell, elizabeth taylor, exploitation, gambling, george stevens, jazz score, las vegas, romance, seventies, warren beatty

ELIZABETH TAYLOR 'THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN' WARREN BEATTY

Warren Beatty & Elizabeth Taylor on wide poster Director George Stevens was great at telling a relatively simple story in an epic, g...

KEN NORTON BEATS 'MANDINGO' WITH HIS OWN 'DRUM'

<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/-Z6VhOevKrU4/V9JIsXmc7DI/AAAAAAAAuSg/TBgL5o_TBw0g_zDSjWxrvUcxwbi2voO0QCEw/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="365" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6VhOevKrU4/V9JIsXmc7DI/AAAAAAAAuSg/TBgL5o_TBw0g_zDSjWxrvUcxwbi2voO0QCEw/s400/2.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Part of a nifty Asian poster for Steve Carver's DRUM Year: 1976</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> It would take a miracle to erase the glorious cinematic exploitation of MANDINGO, wherein real life boxing champ Ken Norton plays a "Mandingo Fighting Slave" that his new master trains to death-wrestle other slaves, or perhaps just a more contained followup would do the trick...<br> <br> Not a sequel but, directed by action-auteur Steve Carver, DRUM is an effectively lean, mean, sparse and vastly underrated vehicle that would have worked with or without making up for the catastrophic predecessor that <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/12/django-unchained.html">Quentin Tarantino</a> deemed "The SHOWGIRLS of the 1970's," which would make this exceptional entry, with Norton in the title role, a comeback... Although, being a boxer, where the retirement age is usually young and, after enough punches, brain damage can occur, even a bad movie is a good move, especially when surrounded by great actors such as Warren Oates and Isela Vega, together again two-years after Sam Peckinpah's BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA, a bizarre labor-of-love almost as <i>Critically-Ashamed</i> as <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/09/mandingo.html">MANDINGO</a> (for completely different reasons), and unfairly so...<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/-Lal53hVTCNg/V9J5GnhGsaI/AAAAAAAAuS8/BnqlXKWYHfkRlqqbNmE44k0oPKmK3TSfACLcB/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lal53hVTCNg/V9J5GnhGsaI/AAAAAAAAuS8/BnqlXKWYHfkRlqqbNmE44k0oPKmK3TSfACLcB/s200/9.jpg" width="191"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bring Me the Head of DRUM</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> They're only in a few scenes together, primarily the setup taking place in her mansion (following a quick Cuban-set montage/backstory) where Oates – as a Slave Trading plantation owner – buys Drum to be a (half black) "Breeder" for what were also referred in MANDINGO as "Suckers" i.e. Babies, sold for a generous profit and wanting to give his immense yet unkempt manor more class, particularly when gold-digging Fiona Lewis moves in with an ulterior (marital) motive beyond spreading proper etiquette...<br> <br> Meanwhile, stealing scenes with more open sexuality and sly manipulation, is the estate's promiscuous daughter... LASERBLAST blonde starlet Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith... who will do anything to grab hold of Drum's stick (sorry, just had to). After he rejects her numerous advances, she sets her determined, lusty sites on his best friend, Blaze, played by the black acting-ringer herein...<br>

blaxploitation, exploitation, ken norton, seventies, slave, warren oates, yaphet kotto

KEN NORTON BEATS 'MANDINGO' WITH HIS OWN 'DRUM'

Part of a nifty Asian poster for Steve Carver's DRUM Year: 1976 It would take a miracle to erase the glorious cinematic exploitation...

BACK TO THE RADICAL EIGHTIES WITH STRANGER THINGS

<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/-Yq5R7cm2bUw/V9HLOtwSPzI/AAAAAAAAuQo/swBq_5jxwpwreYkuGWm8OShQxUb7smEwQCLcB/s1600/stranger-things.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yq5R7cm2bUw/V9HLOtwSPzI/AAAAAAAAuQo/swBq_5jxwpwreYkuGWm8OShQxUb7smEwQCLcB/s400/stranger-things.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Magical 80's Aura Owns STRANGER THINGS Year: 2016</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> It's been since LOST that a show used a particularly jolting, ominous sound – like the wisp of a train roaring through a tunnel – each and every time yet another piece of an endless jigsaw puzzle are <i>suddenly</i> revealed...<br> <br> Will be careful with this teaser/review since STRANGER THINGS (made by and shown on Netflix) is one of those shows where spoilers can occur even when hinting at the mere possibility of one: The time is the 1980's with a techno score reminiscent of Tangerine Dream's treatment for RISKY BUSINESS (mentioned in one scene not long before a theater marquee promotes Tom Cruise's followup vehicle ALL THE RIGHT MOVES) – plus there's an assortment of iconic songs, from Corey Hart to The Clash, providing captivating nostalgia to "The Regan Era," which is now what the 50's and 60's were back then: a platform for limitless adventure...<br>

2016, matthew modine, netflix, science-fiction, supernatural, thriller, winona ryder

BACK TO THE RADICAL EIGHTIES WITH STRANGER THINGS

The Magical 80's Aura Owns STRANGER THINGS Year: 2016 It's been since LOST that a show used a particularly jolting, ominous soun...

RIDE THE HIRED DEVIL SHADE: FONDA OATES 70'S TRIPLE FEATURE

<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/-HWSWDtaJEQs/V86LPTvjkMI/AAAAAAAAuN4/KTpRG17sBjozyINRMSof-8QQOLr_RsaQACLcB/s1600/98.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HWSWDtaJEQs/V86LPTvjkMI/AAAAAAAAuN4/KTpRG17sBjozyINRMSof-8QQOLr_RsaQACLcB/s320/98.jpg" width="300"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Peter Fonda & Warren Oates Cinematic Trilogy</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> On the heels of the EASY RIDER phenomenon, the times that were a'changing had changed, giving birth to the Renaissance Era of the late 1960's and throughout the 1970's, where directors had free reign and almost full control of ventures not completely intended for mass audience consumption...<br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <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://3.bp.blogspot.com/--RNOG3VZDGc/V8-FLv592UI/AAAAAAAAuQY/f6D4qyoJFB0zGNfRdrWS2kP2uwrNYVlqQCLcB/s1600/14291621_181866582242526_8992349527681274645_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--RNOG3VZDGc/V8-FLv592UI/AAAAAAAAuQY/f6D4qyoJFB0zGNfRdrWS2kP2uwrNYVlqQCLcB/s400/14291621_181866582242526_8992349527681274645_n.jpg" width="247"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>from THE HIRED HAND</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> And that revolution's masthead, "Captain America" himself, Peter Fonda, instead of taking typical leading man roles, went obscure and "eclectic" (<i>his</i> word on a Howard Stern interview) as opposed to conventional or mainstream: His mangy sidekick in Dennis Hopper had altered into a three-film collaboration with a vitally energetic and often downright dangerous Warren Oates, and this is an unrelated trilogy beginning with their final collaboration and then counting down...<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://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q5qbFnpVM5g/V88O37aaP9I/AAAAAAAAuPY/Kvwjav3S4RkKjVgGHds11Qi_gPNpYDsAACLcB/s1600/92a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q5qbFnpVM5g/V88O37aaP9I/AAAAAAAAuPY/Kvwjav3S4RkKjVgGHds11Qi_gPNpYDsAACLcB/s1600/92a.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warren watching Peter hopping ashore</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>92 IN THE SHADE</u>: The only of the three Peter Fonda/Warren Oates movies that has the duo pitted against each other. The title describes the atmosphere while Warren's dire expression embodies the overall mood, and the very often cinema-doomed Peter Fonda, willing to die on screen in a Messianic fashion, awaits his fishing charter-boat rival's threat to kill him, caused by a retaliation from Fonda, who brought an explosive to a proverbial knife fight, blowing up his competition's boat after a practical joke done on him: two old-timer clients were intentionally hijacked after Fonda waded through the reedy waters, following a stuck-line leading to a large, beautiful fish he sets free – this scene embodies the meticulous flow and precise direction of the film's writer, future RANCHO DELUXE and MISSOURI BREAKS scribe, Thomas McGuane...<br>

neo noir, peter fonda, seventies, warren oates, western

RIDE THE HIRED DEVIL SHADE: FONDA OATES 70'S TRIPLE FEATURE

Peter Fonda & Warren Oates Cinematic Trilogy On the heels of the EASY RIDER phenomenon, the times that were a'changing had chang...

LAST STAND OF STEWART & MANN WITH THE MAN FROM LARAMIE

<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/-mBlNjHCPryQ/WKJmtselGoI/AAAAAAAAwHE/3S0qiQDR4OMN2iTZgL6oo8t77NcrdKJggCLcB/s1600/16681593_270783666684150_9002526952950498275_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mBlNjHCPryQ/WKJmtselGoI/AAAAAAAAwHE/3S0qiQDR4OMN2iTZgL6oo8t77NcrdKJggCLcB/s400/16681593_270783666684150_9002526952950498275_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Stewart in Anthony MANN FROM LARAMIE Year: 1955</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Going backwards in the next few month's ongoing tribute to actor James Stewart and director Anthony Mann, together or apart, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE is their last Western genre collaboration... <br> <br> <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://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tJczgWWDrDg/WKJnRQDQUgI/AAAAAAAAwHI/ldNGkuz2RoMB-uy7fLKD9bTkb8YQ592ewCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-02-13%2Bat%2B3.51.23%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tJczgWWDrDg/WKJnRQDQUgI/AAAAAAAAwHI/ldNGkuz2RoMB-uy7fLKD9bTkb8YQ592ewCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-02-13%2Bat%2B3.51.23%2BPM.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Riding All Alone</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Once again, like BEND IN THE RIVER, our leading man is a drifting, hired loner in James Stewart, taking a dramatic backseat to Arthur Kennedy's far more interesting and fleshed-out character, Vic... But that's only because his story is more desperate, urgent, while with Stewart, the more times you view the movie, the deeper his character becomes: And the scene-stealing Kennedy's not much without this film's rich rancher, who's not the typical cattle baron but actually has a little soul in him, and creepily foreboding dreams. Enter Donald Crisp's Alec, with three problems, two he's aware of: The first being Stewart's title hero, Will Lockhart, a stranger from Laramie, dead-set on sticking around, eventually hired by Alec's rival... a tough old gal played by Aline MacMahon. Will's out to thwart a gun deal to the Apache's that could make them ten times as dangerous...<br>

anthony mann, arthur kennedy, james stewart, western

LAST STAND OF STEWART & MANN WITH THE MAN FROM LARAMIE

James Stewart in Anthony MANN FROM LARAMIE Year: 1955 Going backwards in the next few month's ongoing tribute to actor James Stewart...

GENE WILDER & RICHARD PRYOR BREAKOUT IN STIR CRAZY

<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/-1O49uo1H9bM/V8qub72WRkI/AAAAAAAAuLQ/0vl0LnSOzWkHyRZth36vcxbxTQbFKXqigCLcB/s1600/14237730_178641995898318_6563904127618141334_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1O49uo1H9bM/V8qub72WRkI/AAAAAAAAuLQ/0vl0LnSOzWkHyRZth36vcxbxTQbFKXqigCLcB/s400/14237730_178641995898318_6563904127618141334_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Richard Pryor & Gene Wilder in STIR CRAZYear: 1980</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor collaboration was supposed to have begun a few years before the Alfred Hitchcock-style train adventure comedy SILVER STREAK, that really only featured Pryor, mostly during the second half. Pryor co-wrote and was a sort of "race relations" consultant for BLAZING SADDLES, but Cleavon Little was cast since studio heads balked at such a risque standup comedian in the lead. It all worked for the best since Little was more clean cut, using a token-black persona as a sublime fit for the parody of Wild West racism – had Pryor been the new Sheriff in Town, it'd seem odd he didn't fly off the handle after one single person throws the "N" word his way. And while his STREAK performance was good, it wasn't something he was "born to play," which would happen a few years later, the black and white duo being of equal importance, and really kickstarting as a team in STIR CRAZY, a prison flick that begins as a (like STREAK) road movie only in a dilapidated van – starting in New York where both affable losers are canned from their already nowhere jobs, headed to California and only able to reach the "Sun Belt" before the inevitable fate occurs...<br>

comedy, eighties, gene wilder, prison, richard pryor, teamup

GENE WILDER & RICHARD PRYOR BREAKOUT IN STIR CRAZY

Richard Pryor & Gene Wilder in STIR CRAZYear: 1980 The Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor collaboration was supposed to have begun a few ...

PRODUCER WILLIAM ALLAND PRESENTS 'THE DEADLY MANTIS'

<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/-oaB1hjiAD1U/V8eyFaqUH0I/AAAAAAAAuIE/kHrYIRFu0woLwp7bqo51k6PAIN35mWWqwCLcB/s1600/75283f23d97e9aa71b096d136ea00c22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oaB1hjiAD1U/V8eyFaqUH0I/AAAAAAAAuIE/kHrYIRFu0woLwp7bqo51k6PAIN35mWWqwCLcB/s400/75283f23d97e9aa71b096d136ea00c22.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>VHS Mantis Cover</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>THE DEADLY MANTIS</u>: Various military compounds are attacked by an unseen yet formidable menace – an impenetrable force of some kind...<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hTj3dU-fkc4/V8e5bKAYfhI/AAAAAAAAuJE/NV_QTjbhV00X1INqsXxLz07y8gw1jo4ggCEw/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-31%2Bat%2B10.13.09%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hTj3dU-fkc4/V8e5bKAYfhI/AAAAAAAAuJE/NV_QTjbhV00X1INqsXxLz07y8gw1jo4ggCEw/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-31%2Bat%2B10.13.09%2BPM.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u>Alland in Kane</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In that, only the title reveals the deck – the first half plays out like a mystery rather than a creature-feature, and these are the most effective scenes – TV's PERRY MASON towering gumshoe William Hopper is the only Scientist that may be able to learn the source of what's leftover from a wrecked plane – a piece of whatever had obviously caused it...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> The interior shots are effective in sparse B&W, making terrific use of scientific knowledge spouted from Hopper with a confident yet somewhat plain ingenue at his side – how the mysterious cause of destruction is... through pages of exposition... narrowed down into an insect feels like a rare science class that won't put you to sleep. Usually a relaxed, likable actor, Hopper fits the part, not too brainy to be annoying or too manly to be unrealistic...<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T8YfUdmSuZU/V8eyQuc-zLI/AAAAAAAAuII/XDr102Zkn8wwvQY07s-OSvqLQeDfOVqnwCLcB/s1600/14224899_177017899394061_1166918752092986653_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T8YfUdmSuZU/V8eyQuc-zLI/AAAAAAAAuII/XDr102Zkn8wwvQY07s-OSvqLQeDfOVqnwCLcB/s320/14224899_177017899394061_1166918752092986653_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u>DEADLY MANTIS Score: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> And yet the film, being what it is with built-in audience expectation from the title alone is – no matter how aptly the investigation's written – still extremely important when the creature reveals its gloriously bogus buggy form...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> That is, with an exception of a KING KONG homage as a real mantis climbs a model of the Washington Tower. Basked in shadow, it's more eerie and creepy than a shortcut for special effects, which occur mostly as the creature's in flight, legs folded up and resembling a cricket-shaped airliner...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Making those few glorious moments during the shift from dialogue to action, when our monster looks immensely phony and fantastic, really matter. And the quick if rushed finale is both a pro and con: The latter since it ends too quick, and the first because, with the most intriguing scenes behind, this particular cinematic beast knows not to wear out its welcome.

creature, fifties, science-fiction, william alland, william hopper

PRODUCER WILLIAM ALLAND PRESENTS 'THE DEADLY MANTIS'

VHS Mantis Cover THE DEADLY MANTIS : Various military compounds are attacked by an unseen yet formidable menace – an impenetrable force ...