cult film freak: jonathan demme

Showing posts with label jonathan demme. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 7/30/2023 / No comments / biopic , charles napier , comedy , dabney coleman , denise galik , drama , eighties , elizabeth cheshire , indie , jason robards , jonathan demme , mary steenburgen , michael j pollard , paul lemat

PAUL LE MAT DRIVES JONATHAN DEMME'S 'MELVIN AND HOWARD'

<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/AVvXsEjNzKOS1bZez1zDzDjeJH4ECCt9A7QN148l1rSOU0whkZKlGUONEDQyRy4E_I-HuvF1UczlhO6wk4ovwcwJD1MyFhuJYjfBd5_SYH8v4fdXB0cWz1KdF2tazK5sbs1M2HQnr0qh_lJNItWIj1M6IXJ-02YRz1JqGetACE7F6CX21LbsfK0fhJGzLQM0NC37/s1192/363351384_1775756192853549_8465661431329407813_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="1192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNzKOS1bZez1zDzDjeJH4ECCt9A7QN148l1rSOU0whkZKlGUONEDQyRy4E_I-HuvF1UczlhO6wk4ovwcwJD1MyFhuJYjfBd5_SYH8v4fdXB0cWz1KdF2tazK5sbs1M2HQnr0qh_lJNItWIj1M6IXJ-02YRz1JqGetACE7F6CX21LbsfK0fhJGzLQM0NC37/s16000/363351384_1775756192853549_8465661431329407813_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Michal Hendrych's artwork for MELVIN AND HOWARD Year: 1980 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Quirky biopic based on the truth as told by a liar, in this case Melvin Dummar played by AMERICAN GRAFFITI hot-rod hotshot Paul Le Mat, again behind the wheel in the important first act consisting of twenty-minutes with Jason Robards portraying the Howard of MELVIN AND HOWARD — as in the infamously reclusive billionaire Hughes, who Dummar claimed left $150M in his will... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>As the then low-budget director Jonathan Demme tells the dodgy tale as if it were entirely legitimate, after Hughes crashes a motorcycle and, partially injured with the ragged, zombie-pale hangdog  countenance, is picked up and taken by overnight driver Dummar to "his hotel" in Las Vegas — both eventually (and in Hughes' case reluctantly) sharing favorite songs as Robards makes terrific use of the short yet important screen-time... </p><p><span></span></p>

biopic, charles napier, comedy, dabney coleman, denise galik, drama, eighties, elizabeth cheshire, indie, jason robards, jonathan demme, mary steenburgen, michael j pollard, paul lemat

PAUL LE MAT DRIVES JONATHAN DEMME'S 'MELVIN AND HOWARD'

Michal Hendrych's artwork for MELVIN AND HOWARD Year: 1980 Rating: **** Quirky biopic based on the truth as told by a liar, in this case...

JONATHAN DEMME'S QUIRKY CULT ROAD PICTURE 'SOMETHING WILD'

<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/AVvXsEhb2h22aIp8bS_p-R2pOyKbn_27Atohrkr1D-W0-zzUDzb6sF2PhiCAsXClPcI3EyTQR91e5LvALnUhAcdL4wFiQ7eZpLFHXG5flWo0l6j3qJDfkb3o90q6eg1uvJ8i7D6ilnhKVWpOdJP9f4u8ruZ4YpF7PKqOdSsyF7ECCm6D4XDIapevRocEp_yDD6cN/s2230/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-03%20at%2012.32.04%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1162" data-original-width="2230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb2h22aIp8bS_p-R2pOyKbn_27Atohrkr1D-W0-zzUDzb6sF2PhiCAsXClPcI3EyTQR91e5LvALnUhAcdL4wFiQ7eZpLFHXG5flWo0l6j3qJDfkb3o90q6eg1uvJ8i7D6ilnhKVWpOdJP9f4u8ruZ4YpF7PKqOdSsyF7ECCm6D4XDIapevRocEp_yDD6cN/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-03%20at%2012.32.04%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ray Liotta's  in SOMETHING WILD Year: 1986 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Director Jonathan Demme's sexy road-flick SOMETHING WILD plays around with its title threefold, beginning with stiff-suited yuppie Jeff Daniels skipping out on a humble New York cafe's lunch check...<br>
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And after being spotted and then picked-up by an extremely loose and experienced Melanie Griffith, taken down the departing highway to a rural motel for some ultra-R-rated sex, the audience (and Daniels) only <i>think</i> they know who's truly WILD here...<br>

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</div><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/AVvXsEgEryiUGaSGJmwZOpHGBfKbPl8S-1Om6JOZUvrPP3BJZcCC2lE5rgty-vpzHfo90_3bxF-UUFS9ZGeDeX6NkCG3o5LGs4JdTsGUq8cPAf2tqf-VNdTdw08_ZuwsK0yKNtDeUO5tudPj2t15l-6u-Nd_nUaBMxUToE1g6_orwoZAj-OJqgoAeYR-9niOJIKB/s1330/Screen+Shot+2020-01-12+at+9.29.30+PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="1330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEryiUGaSGJmwZOpHGBfKbPl8S-1Om6JOZUvrPP3BJZcCC2lE5rgty-vpzHfo90_3bxF-UUFS9ZGeDeX6NkCG3o5LGs4JdTsGUq8cPAf2tqf-VNdTdw08_ZuwsK0yKNtDeUO5tudPj2t15l-6u-Nd_nUaBMxUToE1g6_orwoZAj-OJqgoAeYR-9niOJIKB/s16000/Screen+Shot+2020-01-12+at+9.29.30+PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ray Liotta in SOMETHING WILD</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Until the 45-minute "Kong-mark" when, after the romance hits a peak at Griffith's ten-year high school reunion, purposefully bordering on endearing small town cinema saccharine, Ray Liotta as Ray — Griffith's freshly sprung ex-con/ex-husband — shows up, and the breezy vehicle veers from fun-wild to wildly-dangerous: A quirky romantic comedy now sharing a Neo Noir/thriller template... <br>
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During the best scene in another, more dark and shabby motel, Daniels is stuck between Liotta and Griffith in what's been natural to them all along... having nothing to do with sex, only facts. Daniels's initially polite cat-and-mouse wordplay with Liotta makes one forget his prior risque physicality and odd couple banter with Griffith the film once seemed entirely built around: <i>the boys</i> wield the truly daring anti-chemistry, and at this point even <i>she</i> knows it... <br>
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eighties, indie, jeff daniels, jonathan demme, kristin olsen, margaret colin, melanie griffith, quirky, ray liotta, road movie, romantic comedy, thriller

JONATHAN DEMME'S QUIRKY CULT ROAD PICTURE 'SOMETHING WILD'

Ray Liotta's in SOMETHING WILD Year: 1986 Rating: ****1/2 Director Jonathan Demme's sexy road-flick SOMETHING WILD plays around wi...

GETTING IN CHARACTER WITH HARRY NORTHUP: AN INTERVIEW

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ6R20deNXKdPxs_yfXBJi2XyPiR6VD-tSVc5X5AAPMKTfwQVrla0yIEJrda4KjgGQJIthAsIMNP2FCuUDJWoxKVrQ8BXoMFxyEA86W8weQDRqpACgGB40nYqJPKibSf2pxXGWMZmAluEu/s1600/harry.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="754" data-original-width="960" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ6R20deNXKdPxs_yfXBJi2XyPiR6VD-tSVc5X5AAPMKTfwQVrla0yIEJrda4KjgGQJIthAsIMNP2FCuUDJWoxKVrQ8BXoMFxyEA86W8weQDRqpACgGB40nYqJPKibSf2pxXGWMZmAluEu/s400/harry.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Cult Film Freak Interview with actor Harry Northup</u></td></tr>
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Harry Northup can play just about anything. Characters that are gentle, naïve, funny, sad, determined, or mean as hell... through the course of five decades he’s been there, done that – wonderfully...<br>
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Few actors are as genuine, believable, and versatile on screen...<br>
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Among a long list of motion pictures and television shows he’s appeared in numerous projects with top-notch directors such as Martin Scorsese (including “Taxi Driver”, "Mean Streets," "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," "Boxcar Bertha"), Jonathan Kaplan (“Over the Edge”), Paul Schrader ("Blue Collar") and Jonathan Demme (“The Silence of the Lambs”, "Crazy Mama"): And along with show business, Harry's the author of nine published books of poetry.<br>

eighties, harry northup, interview, jonathan demme, jonathan kaplan, martin scorsese, nineties, peter boyle, robert deniro, roger corman, seventies, sixties

GETTING IN CHARACTER WITH HARRY NORTHUP: AN INTERVIEW

Cult Film Freak Interview with actor Harry Northup Harry Northup can play just about anything. Characters that are gentle, naïve, funny,...

MERYL STREEP IN RICKI AND THE FLASH

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: **</td></tr>
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Family squabbles can be a nerve-wracking chore, for everyone involved. And that's the word of the day here... involved. Just imagine you hardly know the bickering clan, and are stuck, right off the bat, inside arguments that have more weight than can be lifted by the one person you're supposed to center on, feel for or side with. In this case it's a wannabe has-been rock n' roll singer... that is, she wants to be a has-been but actually, never-was...<br />
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And in the title role, Meryl Streep is given potential to not only cross the line, but to move it along to fit her unpredictable rhythm: to hell with everyone else. She's even a staunch Right Winger, which holds (ultimately wasted) potential for arguments and opinions ala Archie Bunker that can give her a limitless rein of blunt terror. But Ricki's really just a singer in a mediocre bar band, still being judged for, years earlier, taking off on the family; and she refuses to dress normally, not even during a big finale wedding.<br />
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Streep's real life daughter Mamie Gummer as Julie, recently dumped and suffering depression, is so high-strung and opinionated her wild mother fails to be as unpredictable as intended, visually contrasting with ex-husband Kevin Kline's mansion and hardly lifting us above the vapid drama. Meanwhile, 1980's rocker <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/11/thanks-mr-larson.html">Rick Springfield</a> (who was an actor before coveting "Jessie's Girl") plays the super nice guy musician in Ricki's corner. And that's part of the problem...<br />
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Our heroine has very few enemies or obstacles within her "uphill climb" as a stranger in a strange land. By the end, this FLASH seems more like a reason for Streep to rock out in-between Lifetime Channel style melodrama, failing to connect with the viewing audience the way like she does that rowdy barroom crowd: they truly adore a woman that we hardly get to know.

2015, diablo cody, drama, jonathan demme, kevin kline, meryl streep, music

MERYL STREEP IN RICKI AND THE FLASH

2015 rating: ** Family squabbles can be a nerve-wracking chore, for everyone involved. And that's the word of the day here... involv...

Written by James M. Tate / 2/26/2015 / No comments / bill paxton , chicks with guns , cloris leachman , dennis quaid , dick miller , donny most , exploitation , fifties-era , gangster , harry northup , jonathan demme , road movie , roger corman , seventies

CRAZY MAMA WITH CLORIS LEACHMAN

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill Paxton in CRAZY MAMA </td></tr>
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Not to be confused with the Roger Corman production BLOODY MAMA where Shelly Winters, with sons Robert DeNiro and Don Stroud, roll the countryside robbing banks: a depression era, sometimes heavy-handed exploitation, differing from this mellow jaunt set in the fifties with a rockin' and rollin' wall-to-wall era soundtrack.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486093514926217010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicNv4zC7eNRgbIXVmtvwU8QF4TBQWvZwGxsS7mza7C_1aARDt7av5lO_7GtZfVk2khDAHuII4Aqkuq-ZDv2piLGvRLaVXkvO1nSNSTCUaFEDHiYaKbZkbViUhmfl_ESn_Df8w7p8kVCes/s320/crazymama1.jpg" style="color: #0000ee; height: 150px; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 200px;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Year: 1975 CrazyScore: ***1/2</td></tr>
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Adding to that is Donny Most, best known as "Ralph Malph" from HAPPY DAYS, as the surfer boyfriend of sexy vixen Linda Purl, the daughter of title character Cloris Leachman who, along with her chattering mother, and Purl's granny, Ann Southern, cruise around robbing just about anyone and anything and then, aided by millionaire Stuart Whitman and Leachman's real life son Bryan Englund, attempt an ingrown kidnapping plot. The ragtag bunch, despite being against the odds... cops out to kill them... have a laidback, frolicking fun time. Director Jonathan Demme keeps things moving smoothly. And keep an eye out from first-timer's Dennis Quaid, as a bellboy, and Bill Paxton, as a rookie cop.

bill paxton, chicks with guns, cloris leachman, dennis quaid, dick miller, donny most, exploitation, fifties-era, gangster, harry northup, jonathan demme, road movie, roger corman, seventies

CRAZY MAMA WITH CLORIS LEACHMAN

Bill Paxton in CRAZY MAMA Not to be confused with the Roger Corman production BLOODY MAMA where Shelly Winters, with sons Robert DeNiro...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/01/2012 / No comments / christine lahti , ed harris , eighties , fred ward , goldie hawn , jonathan demme , kurt russell , roger corman , romantic comedy , war

SWING SHIFT

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1984 cast: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti, Fred Ward, Ed Harris rating: **1/2</td></tr>
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Centers on a housewife whose husband goes to war after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Thus Goldie Hawn is called, along with many other women, to aid in the war effort by working in a bomber factory. <br />
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Christine Lahti steals scenes as her outgoing, lusty best friend. And Kurt Russell is a trumpet playing player named "Lucky," who doesn't have to fight the war because of a heart condition... which doesn't keep him from playing trumpet all night, drinking, chain smoking, and having an affair with the wife of a fighting soldier. <br />
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According to Jonathan Demme, the movie was ruined in the editing room, making it more of a standard romantic comedy than a character-study of women working in factories. And while SWING SHIFT is a somewhat entertaining time-waster, it could have been much better centering more on Hawn and Lahti than the  uninteresting Hawn/Russell romance. <br />
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At the very end, when Hawn and Lahti look back upon their friendship... and when all the factory ladies reflect upon their first day on the job... the audience wishes there was more of that to experience.

christine lahti, ed harris, eighties, fred ward, goldie hawn, jonathan demme, kurt russell, roger corman, romantic comedy, war