cult film freak: May 2018

Written by James M. Tate / 5/31/2018 / No comments / david keith , dennis hopper , drew barrymore , horror , malcolm mcdowell , mark l. lester , miniseries , science-fiction , sequel , TV , zeroes

DOUBLE 'FIRESTARTER' FEATURE W/ ORIGINAL AND 'REKINDLED'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Drew Barrymore carrying her Beary YEAR: 1984</u></td></tr>
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<u>FIRESTARTER</u>: During what looks like a five-dollar opening credit sequence, the synth score by Tangerine Dream, a hybrid of Pink Floyd and John Carpenter, provides a silk hat on a...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Love the spaceman on the right</u></td></tr>
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Well FIRESTARTER isn't exactly (or entirely) a pig: But based on a novel by Stephen King...<br />
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It can mislead rabid horror fans as a droning Science-Fiction thriller without wraiths or psychopaths but government agents with black suits, like the third HALLOWEEN compared to its famous predecessors involving tangible killer ghost Michael Myers...<br />
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Although, directed by capable b-movie/drive-in staple, Mark L. Lester, it's got a terrific look, produced by movie mogul Dino De Laurentis — plus the cast of otherwise great actors turning in good-enough performances: Particularly young lead, Charlie (short for Charlene), played by the ET-famous Drew Barrymore: She displays the right amount of possessive power and, most important, empathetic vulnerability in a picture that feels like a dark espionage mated with a pulpy and Gothic, coming-of-age melodrama — using random bouts of cringe-worthy dialogue along with a sporadic overdose of technical exposition...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Your bunny mug floweth over</u></td></tr>
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Things tighten after being captured and separated by her father (played by) David Keith, who has Old Testament powers to make people see what he tells them — the proverbial Pharaoh's staff-into-serpent kinda deal...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Original Firestarter Score: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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This after Dad and Charlie are on-the-run (which includes well-done flashbacks leading to the present time) during an action-led first act act, befitting Lester's <i>appeal to a primal audience </i>style that made those old "cheap" vehicles so appealing (and would progress the next year with his popular-peak COMMANDO)...<br />
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Then when dad and daughter are both "politely" sequestered inside contrived cozy living/bedrooms (including the usual steel wall behind a draped steel window) inside a rural government compound (which we never get an establishing shot of), it's the chemistry between Barrymore and assassin George C. Scott as Raintree, established earlier as a coldblooded killer and now pretending to be a friendly old orderly named John, that really works. He warms her heart with a hypnotic (for her) and comfortably creepy ruse (for us) in what's overall a <i>pretty good</i> film that doesn't try to be<i> really great</i>, and with just enough of the titular promise of torched/scorched bad guys while the characters, good and bad, develop between scenes that moves the story forward in an economic B-movie that has enough A-value to feel completely legit in the King-adapted galaxy.  <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>McDowell with Not-Drew YEAR: 2002</u></td></tr>
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<u>FIRESTARTER 2: REKINDLED</u>: Better than one would expect from a miniseries of a sequel based upon a semi-famous Stephen King novel adaptation, especially after THE SHINING miniseries, which was the famously opinionated author's attempt to erase Stanley Kubrick's legendary classic off the chalkboard (nice try, Stephen, but Steven Weber's don't know Jack)...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>RekindledTVMovieScore: ***</u></td></tr>
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Same thing happens here as the child version of the second Charlie doesn't follow what happened in the first; that which was more logical and suspenseful...<br />
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For example, Malcolm McDowell takes George C. Scott's role, with half his face burned from what seemed his scorching barnyard death, and instead of the aforementioned deception between the first Raintree and Charlie — in this case, after the father gets shot on the street, McDowell's simply walks up and grabs her hand, replacing daddy — and she doesn't freak out?! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>3/4ths of the DVD double feature</u></td></tr>
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But this is really about the grownup twenty-something Charlie whose powers are sought to be REKINDLED by everyone but herself. The gorgeous (and yes, talented) former MIGHTY DUCKS child starlet Marguerite Moreau (coached by Emilio Estevez, first son of Martin Sheen, Barrymore's captor in the original) turns in a smooth performance despite way too many uneven, confusing, off-color flashbacks. And it's part romantic-soap as she's paired with a well-written but mediocre-acted standard handsome (and intentionally oblivious) employee of the agency tracking her down... <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>One of those devilish Stephen King adapted touches</u></td></tr>
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Whether taking place in a constructed small town main street, or the city that it purposefully mirrors (for the final battle), there's simply not enough fire... or victims of the flames... to go around...<br />
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With sexy dark-grunge Charlie's powers more spoken and/or anticipated, the bedlam's handed to a group of boys who share her formidable gift, mentored by Raintree, yet are pretty weak in the antagonist department. Enough elements work, though, like an important cameo by Dennis Hopper (as a survivor of the initial test that screwed-up Charlie's parents); an effective hybrid of body count terror (still not horror); and with a more backseat yet still palpable element of sci-fi, this REKINDLED miniseries (with ten minutes trimmed for a movie-length DVD) is a ride worth burning through. At least once.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Cult Film Freak amigo Antonio "Huggy Bear" Fargas in a thrifty but important cameo as a cab driver</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Raintree warming up to our little Firestarter Drew Barrymore, which is the epicenter of the movie</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>When she was the cutest thing in the world, Heather Locklear meets future husband David Keith during THE Gov't test</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Drew Barrymore David Keith Firestarter Drew Barrymore David Keith Drew Barrymore Firestarter</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>George C. Scott's assassin's assasin Raintree takes aim at an unsuccessfully hidden away...</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Firestarter and father, who hid in a property that they own... Not very smart...</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>A terrific unfolding by director Mark L. Lester Firestarter as Agents appear out of trees... It's the evil E.T.</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>In The Shining, that power was compared to burning toast, so there it is, another King connection</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Of F2 Prod-Manager EW's marquee pic: "Ha! Thanks... I had some photos at one point but have no idea where they are now. Appreciate it!"</u></td></tr>
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david keith, dennis hopper, drew barrymore, horror, malcolm mcdowell, mark l. lester, miniseries, science-fiction, sequel, TV, zeroes

DOUBLE 'FIRESTARTER' FEATURE W/ ORIGINAL AND 'REKINDLED'

Drew Barrymore carrying her Beary YEAR: 1984 FIRESTARTER : During what looks like a five-dollar opening credit sequence, the synth score...

Written by James M. Tate / 5/29/2018 / No comments / elmore leonard , lee grant , leigh taylor-young , neo noir , robert webber , ryan o'neal , sixties , van heflin

RYAN O'NEAL IN 'THE BIG BOUNCE' WITH LEIGH TAYLOR-YOUNG

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The full-lipped Theron/Jolie of her time, only better YEAR: 1969</u></td></tr>
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If there's ever been a movie ruined by a soundtrack, it's THE BIG BOUNCE: a late-sixties balance of sunny sea-blue and  rural-gray tones, adapted from Elmore Leonard's Neo Noir novel beginning with a convict bashing an inmate's face with a baseball bat, and then, on parole and stuck within the small town, he's both feared and revered...<br />
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Depending who's around, and where he's at, and, while still in the film's rushed, rudimentary stages, he seeks work for a dishonest rancher who exploits cucumber farm workers. But with the help of a particular friend, he lands a soft job as a maintenance man at a beach side motel, where so much potential, pitting Ryan O'Neal against one of the sexiest sirens ever, (his then real-life wife and former PEYTON PLACE co-star) Leigh Taylor-Young, who's the buried lead here: A seemingly sophisticated femme-fatale... She's bad news and big trouble...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z-yfIXwjqoM/WyVsyf_cS_I/AAAAAAAA294/KrU0YWM-03g-N2Ieiygf9ABgYdBWYxFTACEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-06-16%2Bat%2B9.06.13%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="1206" height="313" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z-yfIXwjqoM/WyVsyf_cS_I/AAAAAAAA294/KrU0YWM-03g-N2Ieiygf9ABgYdBWYxFTACEwYBhgL/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-06-16%2Bat%2B9.06.13%2BAM.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Seven Arts Warner Shield BOUNCE SCORE: **1/2</u></td></tr>
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Author Elmore Leonard said all adaptations before GET SHORTY and JACKIE BROWN never got it... But maybe, in critiquing BIG BOUNCE piecemeal, he saw a dark ray of hope in Taylor-Young's Nancy Barker, both effectively sinister and sexy: The aforementioned crappy music, arranged by the usually capable Tony Curb, sounds like The Beach Boys possessed by folk singers drowning-out an otherwise groovy Jack Nitzsche-like surf music score — one particularly godawful track repeats Nancy's name over and over... killing what edge her character's supposed to have.<br />
<br />
But it's not all that bad: the overall vibe is lean and edgy, and there are terrific moments when Jack and Nancy hang out, night and day, discussing an upcoming heist, and possible murder. But Jack spends too much time with his old-timer friend: Van Heflin's so overly (and quickly) helpful to Jack's plight, he hardly has any obstacles in his way, or rungs to climb, or corners to paint himself out of. It's really all about Leigh Taylor-Young being bad and getting worse, and possibly becoming lethal while keeping her ridiculously beautiful poker face intact. But really, THE BIG BOUNCE needs our hero to take more chances, early on, to live up to his manipulative competition. Though it wouldn't be the first time Ryan O'Neal would get what was supposedly <i>his</i> movie stolen by a close relative. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RL-v67ugfU0/WyU6KfvUgFI/AAAAAAAA29g/wljrRlbEyww-Nc6MQcVhEVkGMSgLI8cbACLcBGAs/s1600/33107412_480706585691856_2359407311593668608_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1347" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RL-v67ugfU0/WyU6KfvUgFI/AAAAAAAA29g/wljrRlbEyww-Nc6MQcVhEVkGMSgLI8cbACLcBGAs/s1600/33107412_480706585691856_2359407311593668608_o.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Leigh Taylor-Young The Big Bounce Ryan O'Neal Leigh Taylor-Young Ryan O'Neal The Big Bounce</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vCyrLatWre8/Wwy5wnGVE5I/AAAAAAAA2SE/dReynXIzwXsPJEjU2fLe4Zv4KYkL_WRTQCLcBGAs/s1600/33020367_480706562358525_7827289691769536512_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="960" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vCyrLatWre8/Wwy5wnGVE5I/AAAAAAAA2SE/dReynXIzwXsPJEjU2fLe4Zv4KYkL_WRTQCLcBGAs/s1600/33020367_480706562358525_7827289691769536512_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sign in Van Heflin's room sums him up though he doesn't speak politically, and he's a cool right winger, very odd for Hollywood</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QhBrm-oFTkA/Wwy509mgc9I/AAAAAAAA2SI/L8y_rSjs00I4H5CI9z1SFQ9ZCsucPt5QgCLcBGAs/s1600/33134481_480706569025191_354077404529950720_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="960" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QhBrm-oFTkA/Wwy509mgc9I/AAAAAAAA2SI/L8y_rSjs00I4H5CI9z1SFQ9ZCsucPt5QgCLcBGAs/s1600/33134481_480706569025191_354077404529950720_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leigh Taylor-Young takes in the sun and steals what she can of THE BIG BOUNCE</td></tr>
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elmore leonard, lee grant, leigh taylor-young, neo noir, robert webber, ryan o'neal, sixties, van heflin

RYAN O'NEAL IN 'THE BIG BOUNCE' WITH LEIGH TAYLOR-YOUNG

The full-lipped Theron/Jolie of her time, only better YEAR: 1969 If there's ever been a movie ruined by a soundtrack, it's THE B...

JONATHAN KAPLAN DIRECTS RAY LIOTTA IN 'UNLAWFUL ENTRY'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zw-FODsKgYw/Wwovc1JbLEI/AAAAAAAA2MM/JxWw4G_3yK0V5C2DYO29E7dB0jCkwXErQCEwYBhgL/s1600/33614928_482637268832121_6705505695036342272_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="960" height="276" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zw-FODsKgYw/Wwovc1JbLEI/AAAAAAAA2MM/JxWw4G_3yK0V5C2DYO29E7dB0jCkwXErQCEwYBhgL/s400/33614928_482637268832121_6705505695036342272_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ray Liotta's the rogue cop in Unlawful Entry YEAR: 1992</u></td></tr>
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Some former student directors of low-budget movie-producing icon Roger Corman, no matter how big they got, still held onto an economic style liken to the straightforward simplicity of an old school marquee b-movie, and Jonathan Kaplan was one of the A-students...<br>
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Although his best (or most well known) movies came after "graduation" with vehicles such as the cult teen angst rebellion classic, OVER THE EDGE, and then guiding Jodie Foster's first Oscar-winning role in the more conventional THE ACCUSED and later on, using the actor from fellow Cormon crony Jonathan Demme (who directed Foster's second big win) for his risque road journey SOMETHING WILD: Enter GOODFELLAS' then-newly-famous Ray Liotta  in the somewhat mainstream exploitation flick UNLAWFUL ENTRY (the main theme sounding strangely like the romantic and/or reposeful theme from STAR WARS)...<br>

cop, dick miller, harry northup, jonathan kaplan, ken lerner, kurt russell, madeline stowe, ray liotta, roger e. mosley, suspense, thriller

JONATHAN KAPLAN DIRECTS RAY LIOTTA IN 'UNLAWFUL ENTRY'

Ray Liotta's the rogue cop in Unlawful Entry YEAR: 1992 Some former student directors of low-budget movie-producing icon Roger Corma...

FOUR SHORT PARAGRAPHS ON THE EPIC OF 'SCHINDLER'S LIST'

<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/-FqckmeF1_J8/WwvdGgjQImI/AAAAAAAA2PA/tyUnCoK3nSc-kRBxm7Mvt95ZlXQ_8SC-wCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-28%2Bat%2B3.36.35%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="1015" height="286" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FqckmeF1_J8/WwvdGgjQImI/AAAAAAAA2PA/tyUnCoK3nSc-kRBxm7Mvt95ZlXQ_8SC-wCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-28%2Bat%2B3.36.35%2BAM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth in Schindler's List YEAR: 1993</u></td></tr>
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Especially before it gets really moving and downright tear-jerking, particularly with the girl-in-red and other exploitation (in a necessary fashion) sequences, SCHINDLER'S LIST is a brilliantly directed film by Steven Spielberg like Francis Ford Coppola's first two GODFATHER movies...<br>
<br>
In an opposite manner, the theory of an important subject matter more meaningful than the story... or making the story better for its meaningful purpose... doesn't apply to Spielberg's holocaust classic that, while epic in scope, centers tightly on specific characters, from Liam Neeson's titular Oskar Schindler to Ralph Fienne's worse-than-your-average-evil-Nazi Nazi, Goath (his deserved Best Supporting Actor robbed by Tommy Lee Jones's mainstream FUGITIVE role), which is one of the greatest performances of all time, seemingly inspired by Orson Welles's Harry Lime in THE THIRD MAN: both monsters humanly suffering the effects of an annoying cold when first (physically <i>and</i> audibly) introduced... And the nightmarish scene where a shirtless Goath takes idyllic sniper potshots at random Jews working around the camp, while managing to smoke a morning cigarette without use of his hands, is like watching Satan as a rock star, contentedly basking in his own perdition between encores...<br>
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<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/-RYhCESkIpDc/Wwvr3yqlARI/AAAAAAAA2QI/_okWl_By328ClDUVy-O_2kmFKvYjOUmjACLcBGAs/s1600/schindlers-list.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="663" height="312" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RYhCESkIpDc/Wwvr3yqlARI/AAAAAAAA2QI/_okWl_By328ClDUVy-O_2kmFKvYjOUmjACLcBGAs/s400/schindlers-list.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ralph Fiennes in one of many infamous moments LISTScore: *****</u></td></tr>
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Meanwhile, any writeup of LIST can name names of actors since the whole cast fits perfectly within Spielberg's detailed, intimate framework: But Ben Kingsley's meek and mellow "sidekick" to Schindler's alpha male, womanizing, selfish Nazi entrepreneur turned lifesaving hero could only be so effectively peripheral by an actor who can (also) carry a picture with equal strength, and the side-side-characters are just as important...<br>
<br>
Of the inmates, around six are centered on, from married couples, young and old, to children, girls and boys, all creating a desperate though somehow hopeful atmosphere within a closely huddled, unbreakable, inseparable and even unimaginable bond (and there's even some humor, from everyone including the villain) through the horrendous and palpable, true life tragedy that scriptwriter Steven Zaillian should receive equal significance along with Spielberg. Thankfully the finished product, except maybe around fifteen minutes that could've used some trimming during the "I'll miss you most of all Scarecrow" epilogue (the hand-in-hand walking shot straight out of the Clark Gable disaster epic SAN FRANCISCO), makes SCHINDLER'S LIST a great Movie and not just a great Important History Lesson.
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liam neeson, nineties, ralph fiennes, steven spielberg, war

FOUR SHORT PARAGRAPHS ON THE EPIC OF 'SCHINDLER'S LIST'

Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth in Schindler's List YEAR: 1993 Especially before it gets really moving and downright tear-jerking, parti...

JACK BENNY AND CAROL LOMBARD IN 'TO BE OR NOT TO BE'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zz3o9D5YSI4/WwoAbz4yWeI/AAAAAAAA2L4/BS1ntEk5wwYCh7lyzRURZXdILd-44romQCLcBGAs/s1600/72980_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1207" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zz3o9D5YSI4/WwoAbz4yWeI/AAAAAAAA2L4/BS1ntEk5wwYCh7lyzRURZXdILd-44romQCLcBGAs/s400/72980_front.jpg" width="321"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Best Criterion Cover Ever YEAR: 1942 </u></td></tr>
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Ernst Lubitsch takes a 
complicated plot and with an easygoing acting style of the performers 
under tightly-wound direction, headed by Jack Benny and Carol 
Lombard, it flows from beginning to end as the ups and downs, curves, 
twists and turns provide both subtle humor and edgy suspense, centering on
 a group of stage actors in Poland before and during the Nazi takeover on the boot-heels of World War II...<br>
<br>
They must trick their antagonists into thinking 
Benny... who plays a hammy actor (exactly the opposite of himself)... is a scientist who's a traitor to the 
good guys and... well it really doesn't matter because TO BE OR NOT TO 
BE has to be seen and concentrated on for the plot to make clear and interesting (as well as intriguing) sense...<br>
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<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/-eNZD29w2pdY/XJ1_BcRneSI/AAAAAAABBvw/V3t3NmEzj6IYDpg93udFWp0B6IAlUtuwgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-03-28%2Bat%2B7.10.50%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1010" data-original-width="722" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eNZD29w2pdY/XJ1_BcRneSI/AAAAAAABBvw/V3t3NmEzj6IYDpg93udFWp0B6IAlUtuwgCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-03-28%2Bat%2B7.10.50%2BPM.jpeg" width="228"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lombard & Stack TO BE Rates: ****</u></td></tr>
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More or less a con artist caper movie, and unlike the <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/05/TBONTBee.html">Mel Brooks remake</a>, the Germans, while not brilliant, are  genuinely
imposing to instill enough danger for all the verbal laps to 
matter beyond hitting punchlines at the right moment...<br>
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Although everything does rely on the actors-within-the-movie hitting their own marks for the ruse to work, hence the title taken after a 
pivotal line from William Shakespeare's Hamlet that, if spoken by a novice stage 
performer, can hinder the entire show...<br>
<br>
The fun's watching Benny trying to outdo 
his character's own lack of talent while Lombard is the real trickster, weaving in and out of both the bad guys and the token young pretty boy (Robert Stack, whose role is played by Tim Matheson in the Brooks remake, and both starred in another war comedy, 1941, which centered on the same war and is named after the year before this picture came out): If anyone on board has the most work, it's Lombard.
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comedy, ernst lubitsch, forties, jack benny, robert stack, war, world war II

JACK BENNY AND CAROL LOMBARD IN 'TO BE OR NOT TO BE'

Best Criterion Cover Ever YEAR: 1942 Ernst Lubitsch takes a complicated plot and with an easygoing acting style of the performers unde...

THURSDAY NIGHT REVIEW OF 'SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OsmXMiLhalQ/WwfKtkgxqJI/AAAAAAAA2JE/zsI1VXZrBcs8kT8uU0bSdBfrEHNuisgRwCLcBGAs/s1600/solo-a-star-wars-story-4k-poster-sd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1002" data-original-width="1600" height="250" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OsmXMiLhalQ/WwfKtkgxqJI/AAAAAAAA2JE/zsI1VXZrBcs8kT8uU0bSdBfrEHNuisgRwCLcBGAs/s400/solo-a-star-wars-story-4k-poster-sd.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Release: 2018</u></td></tr>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
About as intense as watching someone play a video game, or playing one you've already mastered...  </blockquote>
As is already known, Ron Howard had the task of correcting while directing SOLO — replacing the original filmmakers whose take was too comedic, or something that didn't gel with Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy and writer Lawrence (partnered with son Jonathan) Kasdan: Could be those poor young filmmakers, who made the popular kid flicks LEGO MOVIE and CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS, put too much color into a story meant to be edgy and dark...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zL-T_6S02tM/W0CClrDBmII/AAAAAAAA3co/twISy379QX88RJbosdsjuBFYHQw-hMxZACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-07-07%2Bat%2B1.53.36%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="244" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zL-T_6S02tM/W0CClrDBmII/AAAAAAAA3co/twISy379QX88RJbosdsjuBFYHQw-hMxZACLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-07-07%2Bat%2B1.53.36%2BAM.jpg" width="104"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>A Pointy Falcon</u></td></tr>
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If so, Ron Howard sure did darken it up, and not in a good BLADE RUNNER gloomy industrial kind of way. It's like looking outside a dirty window — at more dirt. And this galaxy doesn't seem all that far, far away like a fantasy-driven STAR WARS installment should. With human characters so immensely droll and mundane, every time the usual weird-looking alien pops up, it seems out of place and, for lack of a deeper, more insightful description, stupid. <br>
<br>
But there's really only one big question for die-hard fans concerning this STAR WARS STORY. Does <i>He</i> live up to <i>Him</i>? Him meaning Harrison Ford and He meaning Alden Ehrenreich, not tall and deep-voiced but an irritating shrimp with a nasally whine, as if Leonardo DiCaprio were imitating Christian Slater channeling Jack Nicholson... <br>
<br>
With a filler girlfriend/crush (Emilia Clarke), and the gurgling Chewbacca at his side (after meeting in a fight scene that could've been decent given more logic in the first place), Ehrenreich doesn't even seem to be trying — for anything. His brand of cocky confidence is narrowed into an annoying, bratty grin. And while critics are praising Donald Glover's imitation of Lando Calrissian, he's got as much to do with the story as anyone on board: He's just there. And bored.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wWrsBmAwku0/WwetjRraSzI/AAAAAAAA2Ik/pDKe9yNcMiEvdIeapxeU4H5QYHOEcCF3gCLcBGAs/s1600/rc_fandango_handout_13x19_v3_lg_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="361" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wWrsBmAwku0/WwetjRraSzI/AAAAAAAA2Ik/pDKe9yNcMiEvdIeapxeU4H5QYHOEcCF3gCLcBGAs/s400/rc_fandango_handout_13x19_v3_lg_1.jpg" width="143"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>SoloMovieScore: *</u></td></tr>
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With a non-existent plot involving several raids including a train robbery (why would tracks be needed in a world full of hovering vehicles?) to nab some kind of expensive gas to pay off a crime lord, the attempt for a pulpy pirate adventure is drowned-out by melodramatic pathos concerning slave labor, which happens on a pathetic, pretentious, manipulative loop. Even Lando's female robot literally screams for "equal rights"...<br>
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And while Woody Harrelson tries his best as a semi-rogue named Beckett (the kind of clever/crooked mentor you'd think Solo would emulate to reach his maverick NEW HOPE persona), he's simply another ragged soul along for the ride. What's meant to be the most suspenseful scene is both a carbon-copy and contradiction of the Millennium Falcon asteroid-dodge in EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. The characters are either sitting on board the old reliable ship or flying it. Neither matters. It's about as intense as watching someone play a video game, or playing one you've already mastered...  <br>
<br>
While SOLO <i>seems</i> to be about how the experienced, world-weary smuggler acquired the guts to take big risks at a young age, Alden Ehrenreich plays him so bland and lazy, any intrepid skills seem merely built-in and unexplained during capers both simplistic and overly-complicated. But nothing's worse than the random pockets of embarrassingly awkward silences: Whether it be after Ehrenreich fouls-up yet another glib one-liner, or Chewbacca waiting passively for something meaningful to react to, Ron Howard, in attempting to resurrect a broken engine, has pieced together a vapid, sterile machine that's not just a let-down in the inevitable grade-curve of the STAR WARS franchise, but is simply a lousy, cheap-looking movie. Period. 
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2018, action, adventure, alden ehrenreich, donald glover, emilia clarke, fantasy, franchise, new, ron howard, science-fiction, star wars, woody harrelson

THURSDAY NIGHT REVIEW OF 'SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY'

Year of Release: 2018 About as intense as watching someone play a video game, or playing one you've already mastered... As is alr...

ARCHIVE SUMMARY REVIEW FOR 'RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KSVYSxFFd9k/WwcaJQ_xLBI/AAAAAAAA2F8/JxgYxk3BMh0KqJd243ZzJDKUwz3JR9bvACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-24%2Bat%2B1.00.21%2BPM.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1600" height="209" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KSVYSxFFd9k/WwcaJQ_xLBI/AAAAAAAA2F8/JxgYxk3BMh0KqJd243ZzJDKUwz3JR9bvACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-24%2Bat%2B1.00.21%2BPM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Indiana Jones looks into the pit of ("I Hate...") Snakes! YEAR: 1981</u></td></tr>
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A grand celebration of serial pulp adventures, George Lucas (and Philip Kaufman) created Indiana Jones, an intrepid archaeologist/college professor who, when he isn't being ogled by female students, goes in and out of foreign countries: not only retrieving artifacts but trying to keep them from the wrong hands...<br>
<br>
Harrison Ford brings "Indy" to life with humor as well as bravado. Karen Allen, as his female counterpart, is as tough as any man but delicate and vulnerable as well. The plot is simple: find the lost Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis, aided by French  archaeologist Belloq (played with subtle villainy by Paul Freeman) or the sinister yet smiley Peter Lorre-style gangster, Toht. Director Steven Spielberg's mesmerizing camerawork carries our heroes from one perilous situation to the next. And brief pockets of essential downtime not only build the characters, but allows the next obstacle to mean that much more.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1kk9rrfSLws/WwcI_pSy2FI/AAAAAAAA2FA/_mPeH01q3s8G-gmD7pGH6UF3RL_w1NQJwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-24%2Bat%2B11.44.43%2BAM.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="987" data-original-width="1453" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1kk9rrfSLws/WwcI_pSy2FI/AAAAAAAA2FA/_mPeH01q3s8G-gmD7pGH6UF3RL_w1NQJwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-24%2Bat%2B11.44.43%2BAM.jpg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Harrison Ford as the day-job Professor Jones </u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>One of the great all-time movie villains, twice: Paul Freeman and Ronald Lacey with captured Karen Allen</u></td></tr>
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action, adventure, denholm elliott, eighties, franchise, george lucas, harrison ford, karen allen, steven spielberg

ARCHIVE SUMMARY REVIEW FOR 'RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK'

Indiana Jones looks into the pit of ("I Hate...") Snakes! YEAR: 1981 A grand celebration of serial pulp adventures, George Luc...

ARCHIVE REVIEW OF HAN SOLO AT STARS' END BY BRIAN DALEY

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YGRA1rmU-J0/WwXK9RcZqiI/AAAAAAAA188/A9LaU_x3JmgpQrHC4NiBAPnUzsCsVgh9QCLcBGAs/s1600/star-wars-han-solo-at-stars-end.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="670" height="248" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YGRA1rmU-J0/WwXK9RcZqiI/AAAAAAAA188/A9LaU_x3JmgpQrHC4NiBAPnUzsCsVgh9QCLcBGAs/s400/star-wars-han-solo-at-stars-end.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>HAN SOLO AT STARS' END review archived from 2008</u></td></tr>
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After STAR WARS came out, kids wanted everything to do with the 
characters, even following their lives before and after the film: And here 
we have fan-favs Han Solo and Chewbacca on their own adventure(s), in book form, pre Death Star battle, and there's enough action and suspense to pull
 the ears off a... you know the rest...<br>
<br>
Han's out to free captives, including his furry sidekick, from a remote prison planet 
called Stars' End. Before and after the proverbial tractor beam pulls us into 
fulfilling this main plot, there are plenty of close-calls, dog fights, 
fist fights, and tons of action as the writing flows swift and neatly. 
Sometimes corny but never too much. You almost always have a gallant footing of 
time and place (and space): STARS' END would have made an excellent movie. And so, since nothing can touch the original trilogy, let's hope, at the very least, that SOLO (reviewed tomorrow) lives up to this cult book trilogy by Brian Daley: three in all followed by HAN SOLO'S REVENGE and HAN SOLO AND THE LOST LEGACY.<br>

book review, fantasy, science-fiction, seventies, star wars

ARCHIVE REVIEW OF HAN SOLO AT STARS' END BY BRIAN DALEY

HAN SOLO AT STARS' END review archived from 2008 After STAR WARS came out, kids wanted everything to do with the characters, even f...

HENRY WINKLER & SALLY FIELD IN 'HEROES' W/ HARRISON FORD

<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/-J7NVmTzLH_Y/Wv8XzzAp_sI/AAAAAAAA114/Ehvtw4WFEFIF89MnvcKRvti4DYCuKI79wCLcBGAs/s1600/32908111_478739912555190_8662981802337501184_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="960" height="253" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J7NVmTzLH_Y/Wv8XzzAp_sI/AAAAAAAA114/Ehvtw4WFEFIF89MnvcKRvti4DYCuKI79wCLcBGAs/s400/32908111_478739912555190_8662981802337501184_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sally Field, Henry Winkler and Harrison Ford YEAR: 1977</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Wanna see Henry Winkler beat up a barroom full of bikers without the use of his magical leather jacket? In HEROES he plays a goofy, manic, troubled Vietnam Vet who, after escaping from a 
mental institution in New York, travels across country, energized by bizarre plans to build a worm 
farm in Eureka, California, with the (hopeful) help of his fellow vets... <br>
<br>
Along the way, via bus, while pestering put-upon driver Val Avery, Winkler's Jack Dunne meets
 lonely, single, soon-to-be-wed Sally Field as Carol (the same year she'd be a reluctant fiance in SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT), and the first of his "Nam "
cronies played by soon-to-be-famous Harrison 
Ford, the same year he'd help The Rebel Alliance rescue a princess, here basically rehashing his AMERICAN GRAFFITI "Bob Falfa" character: 
but with issues, and zero backbone...<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/-8U7iJ4KGQsg/WzcEaZ8iMmI/AAAAAAAA3Ps/tMMdvnUco90kwOWBDGQO5z09kcvzKkSOgCLcBGAs/s1600/32367604_478739819221866_4722904415600640000_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="960" height="226" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8U7iJ4KGQsg/WzcEaZ8iMmI/AAAAAAAA3Ps/tMMdvnUco90kwOWBDGQO5z09kcvzKkSOgCLcBGAs/s400/32367604_478739819221866_4722904415600640000_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Harrison Ford hot rods again in Heroes</u></td></tr>
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Despite time being spent (with the trio) on his family's rural, white trash farm, and getting to see Ford shoot a machine gun, down Budweisers and drive a hot rod — it all merely serves as a catapult for the second half, when the inevitable romantic element between Henry and Sally sets in...<br>
<br>
Alas, Ford's Ken "Ace of Diamonds" Boyd could've been played by anyone. And the fact he's bullied and is afraid to compete on the race track, perhaps another actor would have fit better: for legacy's sake... Who knew that that incredible science-fiction fantasy he'd appear in would take off, and wimpy roles like this would suit him no longer... but it's Henry's vehicle anyway...<br>
<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C-qrC4Axut8/Wv8X-WJkR1I/AAAAAAAA118/mOLDzPLYwTIWMqwTJR4uwOj5HVau20NSACLcBGAs/s1600/32933762_478739822555199_6483409736409546752_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="960" height="285" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C-qrC4Axut8/Wv8X-WJkR1I/AAAAAAAA118/mOLDzPLYwTIWMqwTJR4uwOj5HVau20NSACLcBGAs/s400/32933762_478739822555199_6483409736409546752_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Al Rubin with Henry Winkler and a groovy marquee HEROEScore: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As he weaves in and out of craziness whenever the 
story runs out of stream, which is most of the way through, his mental 
illness serves as a platform to not only ham it up with what feels like improv to bust up the surrounding cast and crew, but to charm Field, 
whose rudimentary annoyance eventually turns to love: Not sure, though, if the 
audience feels the same way...<br>
<br>
His sometimes grating bouts with innocently
 optimistic lunacy is often much too "cute" to be taken seriously, and Winkler
 as a veteran of any war is extremely difficult to 
believe. But most of any actor's genuine strength are in the intensity of their eyes, and when called for, he wields a pretty nasty glare. So for road movie fluff you could do much worse. And word has it that HEROES was much better when the Kansas anthem "Carry On My Wayward Son" closed the curtain. Well it is true that in any picture, one song <i>can</i> make a difference.  <br>

al rubin, dennis burkley, harrison ford, henry winkler, john cassavetes, road movie, sally field, seventies, val avery, vietnam

HENRY WINKLER & SALLY FIELD IN 'HEROES' W/ HARRISON FORD

Sally Field, Henry Winkler and Harrison Ford YEAR: 1977 Wanna see Henry Winkler beat up a barroom full of bikers without the use of his ...

TOM BERENGER & DEBRA WINGER IN 'BETRAYED' WITH TED LEVINE

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yosBgPxvmbs/Wv0ik09-AaI/AAAAAAAA1zM/7hGRY9IhFuUue7cTkoVMN3i7cgg3Z1_2wCLcBGAs/s1600/32730219_478057899290058_8591881358941356032_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="924" height="265" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yosBgPxvmbs/Wv0ik09-AaI/AAAAAAAA1zM/7hGRY9IhFuUue7cTkoVMN3i7cgg3Z1_2wCLcBGAs/s400/32730219_478057899290058_8591881358941356032_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Beranger and his dog Ronnie in Betrayed YEAR: 1988</u></td></tr>
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A highly 
entertaining, thoroughly enjoyable film about an FBI agent, played by 
the always reliable on screen (yet supposedly monstrous off-screen) Debra Winger, who goes undercover to white bread 
Farmland USA (as a combine driver) to learn about a man, played by Tom Berenger, who might not only be 
racist, but responsible for murdering a controversial Jewish disc jockey
 (Howard Stern sans any charm or humor)...<br>
<br>
She begins to fall for Tom while slowly 
realizing he's not just a handsome farmer/family man, and yet remains optimistically skeptical about 
his involvement in the case until... something 
happens, less than an hour in and much too quickly, that just about ruins the film: He takes her on
 a group "hunting trip" — for a human, not animal, target: This scene's obvious purpose is so the audience can hate 
Tom's character — after all, he and his pals are likable, and in some 
aspects, being part of the neglected working class, relatable (a natural, low-key performance by John Mahoney adds to that)...<br>

debra winger, drama, eighties, john mahoney, ted levine, tom berenger

TOM BERENGER & DEBRA WINGER IN 'BETRAYED' WITH TED LEVINE

Tom Beranger and his dog Ronnie in Betrayed YEAR: 1988 A highly entertaining, thoroughly enjoyable film about an FBI agent, played by ...

MEL BROOKS & ANNE BANCROFT REMAKE 'TO BE OR NOT TO BE'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ageLhnr141o/Wvuq7emtO0I/AAAAAAAA1u4/gAyyXka_2cQyOZmq_0vU7QvO8AHjdkMDQCLcBGAs/s1600/BDDefinition-ToBeOrNotToBe-b-1080-800x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="494" height="275" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ageLhnr141o/Wvuq7emtO0I/AAAAAAAA1u4/gAyyXka_2cQyOZmq_0vU7QvO8AHjdkMDQCLcBGAs/s400/BDDefinition-ToBeOrNotToBe-b-1080-800x450.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Mel Brooks makes a Bust of Hitler SCORE: **1/2 Year: 1982</u></td></tr>
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Starts out decently enough, and surprisingly different for Mel Brooks to
 direct a remake: something that isn't a parody of a serious genre or a humorous take on historical events... <br>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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<br>
But 
then the set up, of a husband and wife who are famous stage performers 
in Poland who, when Hitler takes over, has to close up their theater, 
becomes an overlong skit involving Brooks and real-life wife Anne 
Bancroft, with the aid of a sad throwaway role by ANIMAL HOUSE star Tim Matheson as a love-struck soldier: The entire menagerie playing
 an elaborate scheme on the Nazis that gets way too complicated for it's
 own good in this remake of a Jack Benny 1940's vehicle (when ensemble comedies were the 
norm)... Not only do all the wires get tangled up within each other, 
there's way too many to begin with. And it's understandable turning the 
Nazis into complete buffoons, especially when spoofing them... but in 
doing so it takes away any valid threat, making it meaningless to have 
to trick or defeat them in the first place.<br>
<br>

anne bancroft, comedy, mel brooks, nazi, remake, tim matheson, world war II

MEL BROOKS & ANNE BANCROFT REMAKE 'TO BE OR NOT TO BE'

Mel Brooks makes a Bust of Hitler SCORE: **1/2 Year: 1982 Starts out decently enough, and surprisingly different for Mel Brooks to dire...

GARY BUSEY TAKES FULL EIGHTIES CHARGE IN 'BULLETPROOF'

action, eighties, gary busey, william smith

GARY BUSEY TAKES FULL EIGHTIES CHARGE IN 'BULLETPROOF'

Year of Release: 1988 Bulletproof Gary Busey Rating: *** Guns blasting, buildings exploding, cars crashing, and that's just the fir...

ERIK ESTRADA GOES (FOR) BROKE IN THE FINAL 'CHIPS' SEASON

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<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/-cHpXz8cG3eo/WvZxn6WK3FI/AAAAAAAA1rM/CkX_i6gjDpEbpp7oFRI_OjrJ8tRPuwZ7QCLcBGAs/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="978" height="260" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cHpXz8cG3eo/WvZxn6WK3FI/AAAAAAAA1rM/CkX_i6gjDpEbpp7oFRI_OjrJ8tRPuwZ7QCLcBGAs/s400/2.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Reilly gets the first Season 6 episode named for him 10/10/1982</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
No one wants to remember Tom Reilly on CHIPS. He was the blond-haired guy, looking straight out of central casting, who replaced the show's metronomic foundation, Larry Wilcox as Officer Jon Baker and yet, in the life of Reilly, CHIPS remains a pinnacle... at least when scrolling down his IMDb Book of Life. But it wasn't <i>all</i> his fault...<br>
<br>
The role of Office Bobby 'Hot Dog' Nelson was probably more shameful to fans of the series than the man himself, who, for a year, financially benefited from Larry's exit (Jon left to work the family ranch, and the show first Jumped The Shark in Season 5's Battle of the Bands), which left a sad empty space on the L.A. freeway next to Erik Estrada's Frank 'Ponch' Poncherello, who really didn't seem to notice there was a gap to fill at all...<br>
<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dYNpIYFuCNg/WvZx1ye46_I/AAAAAAAA1rU/aUfoCUBlTNADUx2hUBDBDvqcB8kL_rcAwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-11%2Bat%2B9.44.33%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="680" height="355" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dYNpIYFuCNg/WvZx1ye46_I/AAAAAAAA1rU/aUfoCUBlTNADUx2hUBDBDvqcB8kL_rcAwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-11%2Bat%2B9.44.33%2BPM.png" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Erik Estrada needed to take it off to covering his partner's departure</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
His macho Ponch got worse along with Season Six, and is really more to blame than his new wimpy partner...<br>
<br>
Flipping the script, Hot Dog (who'd soon be joined by another blond rookie, Bruce Penhall) was supposed to be what Ponch was in the first season: A devil-may-care rookie that experienced California Highway Patrolman Jon Baker had to take care of/keep an eye on...<br>
<br>
No matter how hard Estrada, once a talented and legitimate character-actor in vehicles such as THE NEW CENTURIONS opposite George C. Scott, Stacy Keach and Scott Wilson, tried to win over fans, male and females alike (and not in that order) from his mellow and patiently understanding, sandy-blond (and let's face it, completely lipless) mentor, they remained an equal pair. In fact, Wilcox might be more beloved, in retrospect... Especially since he didn't try so hard to be famous-beyond-the-program concerned...<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/-VrDMe-Zph_Y/WvZx-O3LEQI/AAAAAAAA1rc/chViuOSMQJY2gsKZe16jd1H11l6M6kgmQCLcBGAs/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="375" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VrDMe-Zph_Y/WvZx-O3LEQI/AAAAAAAA1rc/chViuOSMQJY2gsKZe16jd1H11l6M6kgmQCLcBGAs/s400/4.jpg" width="308"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Richard Simmons on top of Erik Estrada</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although, to be fair, Estrada is merely paint on the pop culture canvas: the writers are to blame for him becoming The Fonz of CHIPS: As BATTLESTAR GALACTICA actor Richard 'Apollo' Hatch said (paraphrased from a Cult Film Freak interview) of Dirk 'Starbuck' Benedict, the bad guys always get the best lines. Especially since the good guy is just Plain/Average Good while the Bad Boys are not really Bad since their Inner-Good relies on a sympathetic underdog quality that provides more dimension than otherwise. But when the final season of CHIPS came around, Estrada had no dimension at all... And we noticed, and cringed...<br>
<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uB7XxDtf2BM/WvZyMxHjvcI/AAAAAAAA1ro/lS4zYTbZiWAUfIJUFF9hvlovh4JffUg7gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-11%2Bat%2B9.48.26%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="245" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uB7XxDtf2BM/WvZyMxHjvcI/AAAAAAAA1ro/lS4zYTbZiWAUfIJUFF9hvlovh4JffUg7gCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-05-11%2Bat%2B9.48.26%2BPM.png" width="157"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Camp Value: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This final season's intro episode (a reverse Pilot) is titled MEET THE NEW GUY, and other than a few rebellious wheelies on his part, we hardly do at all. Not like there was anyone to meet other than a bland fleshful of mediocrity to give Ponch the sort of King-Takes-Pawn presence he'd always (seemed to) have wanted: Making more use of his Spanish Sex Symbol persona. Prime example...<br>
<br>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
After working-out in an aerobics class that <i>just happens</i> to be run by fatty-fitness guru Richard Simmons (surrounded by a melodramatic plot involving a desperate young mom played by Dominique Dunne), he winds up, while muscularly shirtless in short-shorts, taking off on his daylight motorcycle after the usual feathered-haired villains (the next episode he "reluctantly" winds up a billboard male supermodel)...<br>
<br>
The episode should've been titled <i>The Beginning of the End</i> since we're witnessing an actor's career that didn't have a chance: Had CHIPS ended after Season Five, there could've been more mystery beyond the campy pinup "Mexploitation" that took over, possibly providing Estrada a career beyond straight-to-video action flicks or guest roles on random dramas, Mexican soap operas, or playing himself on sitcoms. But Amazon Prime members should start watching this awesomely embarrassing Sixth Season first, and then, after realizing how genuinely bad the show got, return to the rudimentary stages to discover: This famously bad series wasn't (isn't) bad at all.<br>

andra evans, cop, dominique dunne, eighties, erik estrada, larry wilcox, TV

ERIK ESTRADA GOES (FOR) BROKE IN THE FINAL 'CHIPS' SEASON

Tom Reilly gets the first Season 6 episode named for him 10/10/1982 No one wants to remember Tom Reilly on CHIPS. He was the blond-hai...

CULT STARLET JUDY BROWN PLAYS 'A WOMAN FOR ALL MEN'

andy robinson, exploitation, judy brown, keenan wynn, neo noir, peter hooten

CULT STARLET JUDY BROWN PLAYS 'A WOMAN FOR ALL MEN'

Year of Release is the Nineteen-Seventies by proof of the telephone The fact a sexpot from Roger Corman women-in-prison flicks (directed...

SCRUTINIZING THE FUTURE-SPORT CULT-WORLD OF 'ROLLERBALL'

action, drama, james caan, john houseman, maud adams, norman jewison, pamela hensley, science-fiction, seventies

SCRUTINIZING THE FUTURE-SPORT CULT-WORLD OF 'ROLLERBALL'

Co-Star John Beck goes for absolute broke in Rollerball YEAR: 1975 Science-Fiction usually has only rich and poor, no middle. ROLLERBALL...

JMT

Written by James M. Tate / 5/31/2018 / No comments / david keith , dennis hopper , drew barrymore , horror , malcolm mcdowell , mark l. lester , miniseries , science-fiction , sequel , TV , zeroes

Written by James M. Tate / 5/29/2018 / No comments / elmore leonard , lee grant , leigh taylor-young , neo noir , robert webber , ryan o'neal , sixties , van heflin

Written by James M. Tate / 5/28/2018 / No comments / liam neeson , nineties , ralph fiennes , steven spielberg , war

Written by James M. Tate / 5/26/2018 / No comments / comedy , ernst lubitsch , forties , jack benny , robert stack , war , world war II

Written by James M. Tate / 5/24/2018 / No comments / 2018 , action , adventure , alden ehrenreich , donald glover , emilia clarke , fantasy , franchise , new , ron howard , science-fiction , star wars , woody harrelson

Written by James M. Tate / 5/23/2018 / No comments / book review , fantasy , science-fiction , seventies , star wars

Written by James M. Tate / 5/18/2018 / No comments / al rubin , dennis burkley , harrison ford , henry winkler , john cassavetes , road movie , sally field , seventies , val avery , vietnam

Written by James M. Tate / 5/16/2018 / No comments / debra winger , drama , eighties , john mahoney , ted levine , tom berenger

Written by James M. Tate / 5/15/2018 / No comments / anne bancroft , comedy , mel brooks , nazi , remake , tim matheson , world war II

Written by James M. Tate / 5/14/2018 / No comments / action , eighties , gary busey , william smith

Written by James M. Tate / 5/11/2018 / No comments / andra evans , cop , dominique dunne , eighties , erik estrada , larry wilcox , TV

Written by James M. Tate / 5/06/2018 / No comments / action , drama , james caan , john houseman , maud adams , norman jewison , pamela hensley , science-fiction , seventies

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