CHARLIE SHEEN, SHERILYN FENN & NICK CASSAVETES 'THE WRAITH'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5NTzHk6YJcLfS1r8Lw8bM-FSVVOLnNKb1zAAkCws1kMKK_PyE3SnJdLprYHaUi4M_b3eraRRpsqU6ymqzTzITCYmcqtSOFmvCcjbuYDfu2FFcVibTRr3zuDsnS2TKj-VDjB7NlZRrUwfOA-rWzM7ep2l-dLhBlq8imoKwUZxnPJxhcktoNnuQH82iqcl2/s1866/Screen%20Shot%202025-09-21%20at%2010.42.57%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="1866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5NTzHk6YJcLfS1r8Lw8bM-FSVVOLnNKb1zAAkCws1kMKK_PyE3SnJdLprYHaUi4M_b3eraRRpsqU6ymqzTzITCYmcqtSOFmvCcjbuYDfu2FFcVibTRr3zuDsnS2TKj-VDjB7NlZRrUwfOA-rWzM7ep2l-dLhBlq8imoKwUZxnPJxhcktoNnuQH82iqcl2/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-09-21%20at%2010.42.57%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sherilyn Fenn, Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes & Matthew Barry in THE WRAITH Year: 1986 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Right before Oliver Stone flew overseas to begin filming his game-changing PLATOON, he had heard about the kind of b-movie he probably grew up watching... a small town gang of ruffians race cars along winding desert roads... <br><br>All for pink slips to own the losing vehicle, but there's a twist since one black car seems to have come from outer space... and Stone's Vietnam-opus leading man, Charlie Sheen, could have possibly ruined his potential star-power...</p><p><span></span></p>

charlie sheen, clint howard, desert, eighties, exploitation, griffin o'neal, nick cassavetes, randy quaid, science-fiction, sherilyn fenn, small town

CHARLIE SHEEN, SHERILYN FENN & NICK CASSAVETES 'THE WRAITH'

Sherilyn Fenn, Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes & Matthew Barry in THE WRAITH Year: 1986 Rating: *** Right before Oliver Stone flew overse...

DOROTHY MICHAELS STEALS HUGO HASS'S BIZARRE NOIR 'PICKUP'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQL1CwtX1jynChlOfUy3mn_u_Ve2-QGN1yHsgHzXfBjkiSu_rI8MMkAsKtbpUyjKSs4lGUT87x2TX-0M0TAYENLc1wuOcGN4HzsMbV91GHv7zm0i-FRz64FIRnx7PhQW98GhtpOMwYCpbJRz9f5C052E7cSKiNPB9Msw9bTNtuROx1GxO8ZvrojqnjEXj/s2066/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-18%20at%203.33.08%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="2066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQL1CwtX1jynChlOfUy3mn_u_Ve2-QGN1yHsgHzXfBjkiSu_rI8MMkAsKtbpUyjKSs4lGUT87x2TX-0M0TAYENLc1wuOcGN4HzsMbV91GHv7zm0i-FRz64FIRnx7PhQW98GhtpOMwYCpbJRz9f5C052E7cSKiNPB9Msw9bTNtuROx1GxO8ZvrojqnjEXj/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-18%20at%203.33.08%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Beverly Michaels in PICKUP Year: 1951 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There's nothing better than when a bad blonde steals a film noir, and none have been as bad as Beverly Michaels in director/co-star Hugo Haas's PICKUP, a take on THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE centering on Haas as a well-off, rural railroad-station-owning husband of the beautiful dame that a handsome young employee is after...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>An aspect/plot that takes second stage to Michaels' non-performance performance, so natural even while practically winking her crooked prowess to the camera while playing mind games with not only husband Haas but young handsome smitten dolt Allan Nixon, who she sums up at one point with: "Never fails... Young, handsome. Broke..."</p><p><span class="caption"><span></span></span></p>

beverly michaels, desert, fifties, film noir or melodrama, howland chamberlain, hugo hass, jo-carroll dennison, rural, train

DOROTHY MICHAELS STEALS HUGO HASS'S BIZARRE NOIR 'PICKUP'

Beverly Michaels in PICKUP Year: 1951 Rating: **** There's nothing better than when a bad blonde steals a film noir, and none have been ...

ROBERT RYAN VS RHONDA FLEMING & WILLIAM LUNDIGAN 'INFERNO'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCF0o2oZvs4kDhD34nDSPZl0wT7oyh3Ws2PKgwVEgRSy6o1S3Kl51WT2RECAnUpi0ZDLMVAjvj3-hcTtxAOWsgskLrF0LXQpcErDqTEOJjk6PuVzrzBv53V2lQMrfUceU6Z1PANoFf6T7GVtyfNzXFlnKI4j7VESAO-y74GqWmFlro9O-jkq2nvqREUPzK/s1552/NEWEST.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCF0o2oZvs4kDhD34nDSPZl0wT7oyh3Ws2PKgwVEgRSy6o1S3Kl51WT2RECAnUpi0ZDLMVAjvj3-hcTtxAOWsgskLrF0LXQpcErDqTEOJjk6PuVzrzBv53V2lQMrfUceU6Z1PANoFf6T7GVtyfNzXFlnKI4j7VESAO-y74GqWmFlro9O-jkq2nvqREUPzK/s16000/NEWEST.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster for Ronda Fleming INFERNO Year: 1953 Rating: *** </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Leading <i>and</i> character actor Robert Ryan is difficult to root for since he played contentedly bitter types who didn't want rooting for... but with INFERNO his rich-husband character gets so screwed-over by his wife and her lover, left in the scorching desert — with a broken leg — to trudge through rocky terrain before he's lunch for condors, there's no other option but to have complete sympathy, if anything else for the movie (and his dire situation) to conclude...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet the most intriguing scenes not only alleviate the halting, awkward tension but add a touch of paperback-pulpy and best yet, film noir/melodrama to the stranded-in-peril, fight-to-survive adventure...</p><p><span></span></p>

3D, action, adventure, desert, fifties, melodrama, rhonda fleming, robert ryan, rural, survival, thriller, william lundigan

ROBERT RYAN VS RHONDA FLEMING & WILLIAM LUNDIGAN 'INFERNO'

Poster for Ronda Fleming INFERNO Year: 1953 Rating: *** Leading and character actor Robert Ryan is difficult to root for since he played co...

JACK NICHOLSON DRIVES 'THE PASSENGER' WITH IAN HENDRY

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsawegnt2bdIasdQXVRoYby0CXk1J94aP4_bsIWCgwCe_wlBbmKM6OmrNLK8RUhEsdnky-uYXnbiD02ONpC4fPlJ4ZSWqGZHdlU0_bJW1ocaqkBMmEWYzRm65hV-jLbiGL1NC5JytbSoWdz5Alz6cpjxeYGFZzSw96c-_XqgEnJcJuIVEu-0W0D6dikQ/s1184/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-15%20at%208.04.03%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="1184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsawegnt2bdIasdQXVRoYby0CXk1J94aP4_bsIWCgwCe_wlBbmKM6OmrNLK8RUhEsdnky-uYXnbiD02ONpC4fPlJ4ZSWqGZHdlU0_bJW1ocaqkBMmEWYzRm65hV-jLbiGL1NC5JytbSoWdz5Alz6cpjxeYGFZzSw96c-_XqgEnJcJuIVEu-0W0D6dikQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-15%20at%208.04.03%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jack Nicholson in Michelangelo Antonioni's THE PASSENGER Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For a legendary arthouse director inclined to create more character than plot-driven films, BLOW-UP auteur Michelangelo Antonioni's THE PASSENGER is almost entirely plot — heavily built into the main character... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>After Jack Nicholson — as a reporter originally named Locke — takes the identity of a dead arms-dealing doppelganger, he goes from scorched Algerian desert terrain into various European locations tailed by shady businessmen, separated-wife Jenny Runacre and BBC producer-boss Ian Hendry... all clinging to the secret-identity device that, while panning-out in a slow-burn, ambiguous manner, is more primary than parenthetical... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

arthouse, desert, europe, ian hendry, indie, jack nicholson, jenny runacre, maria schneider, michelangelo antonioni, neo noir, romance, steven berkoff, thriller

JACK NICHOLSON DRIVES 'THE PASSENGER' WITH IAN HENDRY

Jack Nicholson in Michelangelo Antonioni's THE PASSENGER Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2 For a legendary arthouse director inclined to create ...

DUSTIN HOFFMAN & WARREN BEATTY WANDER THROUGH 'ISHTAR'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7OR4Z-2Qa8VkV_B0jR52Ffzb91HfMmwH9TkGNl4bdffiuQEBpj6kj3dWX1oV6ocDVAVuf8WcS5I0fvZCd60V31hUNeGwcFI-QaIdQJpxbsuRxGUjmMvs0zpO9Ce02caDe3Js0cP0uScwz4D7AX6CZxNy3drrwxTgdSFoDLq1_YedglNOSdC51kQmw1s-a/s2126/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-11%20at%2010.04.27%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="2126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7OR4Z-2Qa8VkV_B0jR52Ffzb91HfMmwH9TkGNl4bdffiuQEBpj6kj3dWX1oV6ocDVAVuf8WcS5I0fvZCd60V31hUNeGwcFI-QaIdQJpxbsuRxGUjmMvs0zpO9Ce02caDe3Js0cP0uScwz4D7AX6CZxNy3drrwxTgdSFoDLq1_YedglNOSdC51kQmw1s-a/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-11%20at%2010.04.27%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dustin Hoffman in ISHTAR Year: 1987 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In one scene from the famously infamous 1987 mega-flop ISHTAR, a shy and introverted Warren Beatty admits that, in order to get women, he wished he looked more like Dustin Hoffman: which is funnier than anything else in the movie... <br> </p><p></p><p></p><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><p> Both are straight men without comic relief (Beatty's sweet and stupid while Hoffman's stupidly confident), and there isn't a touch of humor to be found: Especially not in the muddled screenplay written by director Elaine May and centering on two awful lounge singers, Lyle Rogers and Chuck Clark, who don’t seem realistic enough to be genuine failures... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, buddy, charles grodin, comedy, desert, dustin hoffman, eighties, elaine may, espionage, isabelle adjani, jack weston, warren beatty

DUSTIN HOFFMAN & WARREN BEATTY WANDER THROUGH 'ISHTAR'

Dustin Hoffman in ISHTAR Year: 1987 Rating: ** In one scene from the famously infamous 1987 mega-flop ISHTAR, a shy and introverted Warren...