cult film freak: June 2020

Written by James M. Tate / 6/28/2020 / No comments / dana andrews , drama , elizabeth taylor , fifties , melodrama , peter finch , romance

ELIZABETH TAYLOR AND DANA ANDREWS IN 'ELEPHANT WALK'

dana andrews, drama, elizabeth taylor, fifties, melodrama, peter finch, romance

ELIZABETH TAYLOR AND DANA ANDREWS IN 'ELEPHANT WALK'

Poster artwork for ELEPHANT WALK Year: 1954 Elephants are beautiful, majestic, powerful and... potentially dangerous — not man-eaters b...

ALFRED WERKER DIRECTS DANA ANDREWS IN 'SEALED CARGO'

alfred werker, caper, carla balenda, claude rains, dana andrews, espionage, fifties, ghost ship, mystery, race against time, steve forrest, suspense, thriller, war, world war II

ALFRED WERKER DIRECTS DANA ANDREWS IN 'SEALED CARGO'

Pirate-like poster art for SEALED CARGO Year: 1951 Rating: **** Alfred Werker's atmospheric SEALED CARGO initially plays like a Ghos...

SOME JOHN WAYNE ACTION BEFORE IT'S COMPLETELY ILLEGAL

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>And pretty soon there will be no cops or guns so just watch McQ and remember when times were: 1973</u></td></tr>
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<u>REVIEW OF McQ</u>: Sounding like an upbeat version of a jazzy New Orleans funeral march or a
 car honking to a clunky yet catchy rhythm, McQ’s main theme takes our 
hero, the title character played by John Wayne, through a string of 
mysterious and dangerous elements that starts out reminiscent of cop 
thrillers DIRTY HARRY and BULLITT but winds up very Film Noir...<br>
<br>
Beginning
 with an unnamed gunman slaying several victims throughout the pre-dawn 
city streets, we soon realize he’s the partner of a veteran cop named 
McQ.<br>

action, al lettieri, clu gulager, david huddleston, eddie albert, john wayne, neo noir, roger e. mosley, seventies

SOME JOHN WAYNE ACTION BEFORE IT'S COMPLETELY ILLEGAL

And pretty soon there will be no cops or guns so just watch McQ and remember when times were: 1973 REVIEW OF McQ : Sounding like an upbe...

JACK NICHOLSON 'THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS' BRUCE DERN

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rfqweZ7-W00/XyCV_t5Nf8I/AAAAAAABWJ0/JYor8L1cQ5UxmzsvDxULkjCVeoPvP6h2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-07-28%2Bat%2B5.05.59%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1075" height="271" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rfqweZ7-W00/XyCV_t5Nf8I/AAAAAAABWJ0/JYor8L1cQ5UxmzsvDxULkjCVeoPvP6h2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-07-28%2Bat%2B5.05.59%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jack Nicholson in THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS Year: 1972</u></td></tr>
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Who 
knows, maybe directors never really outgrow their primal, rudimentary, 
symbolic, allegorical, idealistically pretentious, metaphysical, 
narcissistic, nostalgic mindset of film school...<br>
<br>
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'd 
proven to be perfectly suited for: Then again, maybe he should have played Bruce Dern's 
conniving con-man older brother Jason Staebler, on the stumbling verge 
of an Atlantic City land deal with a few obstacles including a 
potentially dangerous kingpin and especially his women...<br>

arthouse, bob rafelson, bruce dern, drama, ellen burstyn, indie, jack nicholson, scatman crothers, seventies

JACK NICHOLSON 'THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS' BRUCE DERN

Jack Nicholson in THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS Year: 1972 Who knows, maybe directors never really outgrow their primal, rudimentary, sym...

PRODUCER WILLIAM ALLAND PRESENTS 'THE LAND UNKNOWN'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JRPxqYuMtCk/XvA30-iFmII/AAAAAAABVZ8/eQEyS4A59dI0SIdsumWcZmR6nI1SyI-nQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/affiche-l-oasis-des-tempetes-the-land-unknown-1957-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="500" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JRPxqYuMtCk/XvA30-iFmII/AAAAAAABVZ8/eQEyS4A59dI0SIdsumWcZmR6nI1SyI-nQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/affiche-l-oasis-des-tempetes-the-land-unknown-1957-2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Capture and Release: 1957</u></td></tr>
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Thinking it would be on par with the aesthetic value of BLACK LAGOON and
 REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, producer William Alland's topnotch director, 
Jack Arnold, who also shot TARANTULA, wanted nothing to do with this
 cheapie that, in the rudimentary stages, was supposed to be colorized 
with semi-big stars attached...<br>
<br>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u> Paperback-Approach Poster Art</u></td></tr>
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But with a nice matte as a primal mileau, it's enough to convince both an audience and a small group of 
Arctic dwelling researchers, with their military-trained employees 
including a magazine-handsome helicopter pilot in future FBI 
television-show regular William Reynolds...<br>
<br>
Along for the ride is his everyman mechanic; a 
pretty blond ingenue; and, conveniently enough, a leading man who's more
 an expert on prehistoric history than the snowy region surrounding this
 strange and UNKNOWN tropical enigma, partially based on a true story about a mass of warm 
water discovered strangely in the middle of the frozen Antarctic — and the very same location 
for that year's b-creature THE DEADLY MANTIS... Indeed, producer Alland was a busy man in 1957...<br>
<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MvnwdAbvYfs/V8eyzqNgCZI/AAAAAAAAuIc/RtX6mQ3pgRAgoU72dZPaJT-envouMu-QgCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-31%2Bat%2B9.33.48%2BPM.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MvnwdAbvYfs/V8eyzqNgCZI/AAAAAAAAuIc/RtX6mQ3pgRAgoU72dZPaJT-envouMu-QgCLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-31%2Bat%2B9.33.48%2BPM.jpg" width="170"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>LAND Score: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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The warm water's explained quickly, derived from a volcano, and the 
Dino-land follows, a hell-hot purgatory the characters are trapped in. 
The helicopter <i>can</i> start but without taking flight – this following a 
quick, eerie sighting: the swoop of a pterodactyl starts the ball 
rolling, or rather, the helicopter falling...<br>
<br>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
Then, within this extremely hot and humid valley, resembling the 
wide-shot background of any Tarzan film, the foursome's hunted by 
various dinosaurs: The good ones look wonderfully fake, like a 
water-creature hybrid of The Loch Ness Monster and the aquatic man-eating dino in
 KING KONG. And especially the T-Rex, with a mouth that opens wide and 
awkward, like a large parade float or a Halloween mask giving enough 
room for the person to breath...<br>
<br>
For it is, like GODZILLA, a man-suited 
beast instead of the larger budgeted stop-motion. And on the other side 
of the coin are the lame, cheap Dinosaurs that are, ironically, the
 most realistic — in fact, they <i>are</i> real: Gila Monsters (or 
Iguanas) superimposed to look giant in the fashion of, say, Bert I. 
Gordon. But enlarged rats, ants and humans work better since they become
 an immense version of a normal size we're already familiar with...<br>

action, adventure, creature, cult, dinosaur, fifties, science-fiction, shirley patterson, william alland, william reynolds

PRODUCER WILLIAM ALLAND PRESENTS 'THE LAND UNKNOWN'

Year of Capture and Release: 1957 Thinking it would be on par with the aesthetic value of BLACK LAGOON and REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, pro...

ALICE FAYE AND CARMEN MIRANDA IN 'THE GANG'S ALL HERE'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Carmen Miranda as Dorita in the giant fruit dance from THE GANG'S ALL HERE Year: 1943</u></td></tr>
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Anything featuring Carmen Miranda is 
interesting, and when it comes to this particular wartime propaganda by 
Busby Berkely titled THE GANG'S ALL HERE, it's lightly entertaining as 
well...<br>
<br>
Meanwhile, for story's sake, a bland and breezy romance encroaches upon 
the fantastical, borderline psychedelic (way before there was such a thing) first act combining a popular 
nightclub run by Phil Baker and where Benny Goodman and his band play, as a show's taking place on
 stage before a dinner theater crowd...<br>

alice faye, aloysio de oliveira, benny goodman, carmen miranda, charlotte greenwood, forties, musical

ALICE FAYE AND CARMEN MIRANDA IN 'THE GANG'S ALL HERE'

Carmen Miranda as Dorita in the giant fruit dance from THE GANG'S ALL HERE Year: 1943 Anything featuring Carmen Miranda is intere...

MICHAEL CAINE & CHRISTOPHER REEVE PLAY IN 'DEATHTRAP'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yfSqrw4-pO8/XufRzuxFxfI/AAAAAAABVPY/kfZcBd5_FTUO2M39iOtcM7yh_QX4O9WfACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/0-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="1145" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yfSqrw4-pO8/XufRzuxFxfI/AAAAAAABVPY/kfZcBd5_FTUO2M39iOtcM7yh_QX4O9WfACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/0-1.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rubik's Cube Poster with Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve & Dyan Cannon in DEATH TRAP Year: 1982</u></td></tr>
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Collected antique weapons hanging like pictures in a Mystery writer's home; a middle twist more important than the end twist; and a female character with a particularly odd yet important trait that causes her to possibly acquire everything.... Yes, indeed... Rian Johnson's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/06/rian-johnson-writesdirects-daniel-craig.html">KNIVES OUT</a> owes a lot to Sidney Lumet's DEATHTRAP...<br>
<br>
Except that the original is an actual Mystery and quite a thrilling Thriller while some scenes feel more like a jarring Exploitation Horror flick....<br>

based-on-play, christopher reeve, dyan cannon, eighties, homosexual, irene worth, michael caine, mystery, sidney lumet, thriller

MICHAEL CAINE & CHRISTOPHER REEVE PLAY IN 'DEATHTRAP'

Rubik's Cube Poster with Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve & Dyan Cannon in DEATH TRAP Year: 1982 Collected antique weapons hangi...

RIAN JOHNSON DIRECTS THE ENSEMBLE MYSTERY 'KNIVES OUT'

2019, anna de armas, christopher plummer, daniel craig, don johnson, ensemble, jamie lee curtis, lakeith stanfield, michael shannon, mystery, new, politics, thriller

RIAN JOHNSON DIRECTS THE ENSEMBLE MYSTERY 'KNIVES OUT'

Lakeith Stanfield solo poster for KNIVES OUT Year: 2019 Rian Johnson must be seething that he didn't make the singular Spanish "...

DELROY LINDO STARS IN 'DA 5 BLOODS' DIRECTED BY SPIKE LEE

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Photo of Delroy Lindo from More American Graffiti used here in Spike Lee's DA 5 BLOODS Year: 2020</u></td></tr>
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As shown in an archive photo turning up in DA 5 BLOODS, this isn't the first time Delroy Lindo goes to Vietnam. In <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/01/more-american-graffiti.html">MORE AMERICAN GRAFFTI</a> he has a quick cameo (credited as Army Sergeant) and now, forty long years later, he's basically the only character in Spike Lee's current "Joint" that means anything...<br>
<br>
Consisting of four really old African American Vietnam Vets returning to retrieve their deceased leader's/mentor's remains and many bars of gold, BLOODS is a hybrid of THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE for the hunt; UNCOMMON VALOR about a group of returning vets (ten years later/thirty years younger); and COCOON, where some cranky old-timers get a second wind of sorts...<br>

2020, action, adventure, delroy lindo, ensemble, history, jean reno, new, politics, spike lee, treasure, vietnam, war

DELROY LINDO STARS IN 'DA 5 BLOODS' DIRECTED BY SPIKE LEE

Photo of Delroy Lindo from More American Graffiti used here in Spike Lee's DA 5 BLOODS Year: 2020 As shown in an archive photo turni...

NOT A REVIEW BUT MORE A REMINDER OF 'GONE WITH THE WIND'

article, civil war, clark gable, classic, epic, everett brown, hattie mcdaniel, history, leslie howard, olivia de havilland, thirties, vivian leigh

NOT A REVIEW BUT MORE A REMINDER OF 'GONE WITH THE WIND'

Gone with the Wind from 1939 The same industry that's still moaning about the 70-year-old Blacklist is now banning/blacklisting a cl...

QUICK REVIEW & YAPHET KOTTO REFLECTION OF 'BLUE COLLAR'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Yaphet Kotto with Richard Pryor and Harvey Keitel in Paul Schrader's BLUE COLLAR Year: 1978 Rating: ****</u></td></tr>
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"The whole thing," shares iconic black actor Yaphet Kotto of BLUE COLLAR, "had become one improvisation after another... But if my memory serves me correct, director Paul Schrader told me, Harvey Keitel and Richard Pryor to improvise because he said we were 'Director Proof' actors and to 'improvise when you feel it’s necessary'; yet when we did as directed, I’m told he was annoyed — but he was lucky to have had us: The movie is a classic."<br>
<br>
And after writing Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER, it's Paul Schrader's directorial debut: An underrated gem caught between the end of blaxploitation and the beginning of the end for the drug culture during the gloriously gritty 1970's: also the "Renaissance Period" of directors having complete control — and yet <i>the lack of</i> control is what really works...<br>