STANLEY BAKER AND TOM BELL SNEAK THROUGH 'A PRIZE OF ARMS'

<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><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/AVvXsEh7RUcjfPowY5kNMV_rlEaVifubAOaxqbRx6RMUNEBePOYeKEUDEWAsXPoTooXd_MxhztxXNRtznJB0y4IdpBuQXDjWs2cn7JDtqSpiMWwon-2WOlLUB3SK4iTdi8hv4EFTiPiZeOHCOkyus00U1PAMA6irtvK-coFAWZ3QYN8jZvh31CJ7ydArFC0oNLB6/s2058/Screen%20Shot%202026-09-29%20at%2011.07.31%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1352" data-original-width="2058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RUcjfPowY5kNMV_rlEaVifubAOaxqbRx6RMUNEBePOYeKEUDEWAsXPoTooXd_MxhztxXNRtznJB0y4IdpBuQXDjWs2cn7JDtqSpiMWwon-2WOlLUB3SK4iTdi8hv4EFTiPiZeOHCOkyus00U1PAMA6irtvK-coFAWZ3QYN8jZvh31CJ7ydArFC0oNLB6/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202026-09-29%20at%2011.07.31%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Stanley Baker in A PRIZE OF ARMS Year: 1963 Rating: ****1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>The most suspenseful parts from the final act of THE GREAT ESCAPE a year after A PRIZE OF ARMS and the middle of the original decade-later STAR WARS entails hiding in plain site, behind <i>enemy </i>lines while wearing their uniforms and keeping everything in perfect surreptitious motion, without getting noticed and thus, caught and captured... </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></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which ARMS is, practically from beginning to end, epitomizing the sparse heist thriller where two British crooks with one German go undercover to politely infiltrate a British military compound before an overseas mission, since the armory will be loaded with cash... all for the taking...</p><p><span></span></p>

anthony bate, british, british new wave, caper, heist, helmut schmid, michael ripper, military, patrick magee, roddy mcmillan, sixties, stanley baker, suspense, thriller, tom bell

STANLEY BAKER AND TOM BELL SNEAK THROUGH 'A PRIZE OF ARMS'

Stanley Baker in A PRIZE OF ARMS Year: 1963 Rating: ****1/2 The most suspenseful parts from the final act of THE GREAT ESCAPE a year after A...

JACK NICHOLSON WITH OTIS YOUNG TAKING ON 'THE LAST DETAIL'

<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/AVvXsEgOBS57UT-Kx4MRV9iGVHvAEWRmAespguMpXgTbXVdZgg7stjQ0r96_ROhGF4aqE8gxLYhO0lra09lKBXzVaNakUdInoAuJuOg2-tLbPXlpm3yjY39qhW5zlQaGl-8ys05KZxR5509rkhkzybQMXSelKEhMwIeRJwAlYZPQ5QCHVkTLbLWmW3ynYU5hboc3/s2048/AVvXsEjGdJGvt5d_ROQYPZ7l5NnIHrXhi5PMDTs31Svth1LOqHHmhV_Y70T4kAZ8dFpLQPtK8UECJT19Y1zKu8Xv760e_gQz7hh31cQGwy5Jh6A-wylbe8hgCBnIZF22F2l-nc6dfn7kDTpYkh_XFFFO0BMjQUE8FxCHJl39PTOZerrOi7psWsejPojTkFJ90A=s16000.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBS57UT-Kx4MRV9iGVHvAEWRmAespguMpXgTbXVdZgg7stjQ0r96_ROhGF4aqE8gxLYhO0lra09lKBXzVaNakUdInoAuJuOg2-tLbPXlpm3yjY39qhW5zlQaGl-8ys05KZxR5509rkhkzybQMXSelKEhMwIeRJwAlYZPQ5QCHVkTLbLWmW3ynYU5hboc3/s16000/AVvXsEjGdJGvt5d_ROQYPZ7l5NnIHrXhi5PMDTs31Svth1LOqHHmhV_Y70T4kAZ8dFpLQPtK8UECJT19Y1zKu8Xv760e_gQz7hh31cQGwy5Jh6A-wylbe8hgCBnIZF22F2l-nc6dfn7kDTpYkh_XFFFO0BMjQUE8FxCHJl39PTOZerrOi7psWsejPojTkFJ90A=s16000.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jack Nicholson and Otis Young in THE LAST DETAIL Year: 1973 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>What makes THE LAST DETAIL as much comedy as drama is the brilliant use of quick editing, like whenever Navy lifer Jack Nicholson gets too drunk and boisterous, turning a would-be fight into just another time-filling tantrum... </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>Cutting to the next scene before what seems important rolls into the overall road trip journey from New York to Boston on buses and trains, throughout in the snowy East Coast in what's very often regarded (by both critics and fans) as Jack Nicholson's greatest performance...</p><p><span></span></p>

comedy, counter culture, cult, drama, hal ashby, indie, jack nicholson, luana anders, military, nancy allen, otis young, randy quaid, road movie, seventies

JACK NICHOLSON WITH OTIS YOUNG TAKING ON 'THE LAST DETAIL'

Jack Nicholson and Otis Young in THE LAST DETAIL Year: 1973 Rating: ***** What makes THE LAST DETAIL as much comedy as drama is the brillian...

ROD STEIGER COMMANDS 'THE SERGEANT' WITH JOHN PHILLIP LAW

<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 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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSc4_ix08RGWWjEjiNTtMyoegbGtX0-CRzPH7Vk78cUfzLpmMco3cK15XCAk116vxFKrugb4F-axvt3QQIkQfh4z_qnceEn_V-qT4ZQASiqiX3OUy5lntBpKnCqXS2hPNanj8AikeTWJoLgLnT7OghVMqpyes1lzlMaQPDmMHrzDIr-yPGjOefWwKfdQ/s992/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-15%20at%204.28.33%20AM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="699" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSc4_ix08RGWWjEjiNTtMyoegbGtX0-CRzPH7Vk78cUfzLpmMco3cK15XCAk116vxFKrugb4F-axvt3QQIkQfh4z_qnceEn_V-qT4ZQASiqiX3OUy5lntBpKnCqXS2hPNanj8AikeTWJoLgLnT7OghVMqpyes1lzlMaQPDmMHrzDIr-yPGjOefWwKfdQ/w225-h320/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-15%20at%204.28.33%20AM.jpeg" width="225"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1968 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's not just <i>what</i> THE SERGEANT is about, or even <i>who</i> it's about: An American World War II hero returned to France ten years later for an otherwise breezy peacetime gig not as risky or daring...</p><p>This Army Sergeant of military construction laborers wielding old-school brass tactics to shape things up... until both someone <i>and</i> something distracts him... because MSgt. Albert Callan is a closet homosexual, and on the surface, Rod Steiger portrays a lonesome Army lifer who finally finds a true friend he can mentor and/or simply hang around with...</p><p></p><p></p><p>Of course it's deeper than that... but as a film from 1968 <i>about</i> 1952, John Flynn directs with a unique, strategic, cautious approach aptly suited for and catered to Steiger's creepy-harsh yet desperately sympathetic performance...</p><p></p><p>And on the other side is tall, handsome John Phillip Law, who often plays calm wooden types but he plays them well... His targeted Pfc. Swanson to Steiger's subtle style of persuasive bullying... after being shifted to his personal office clerk... is, in its own way, equal to the intense title role...<br> </p><p>Law's oblivious reactions to the passive/aggressive action that only an offbeat genius like Steiger could effectively pull off within this sparse, subtle maze countered by French starlet Ludmila Mikaël as Law's gorgeous town-next-door girlfriend (who he's captivated with like Steiger is to him), caught in the middle of something that would not only be considered completely impossible back then, but never fathomed in the first place: And yet, putting the controversial theme aside, THE SERGEANT is an outright buddy flick bromance coinciding with the gentle male/female love story. Surprisingly, it's the latter that comparably lacks conviction and seduction.</p><p><span></span></p>

controversial, drama, exploitation, frank latimore, homosexual, john flynn, john phillip law, ludmila mikaël, military, rod steiger, sixties, warner archives

ROD STEIGER COMMANDS 'THE SERGEANT' WITH JOHN PHILLIP LAW

Year: 1968 Rating: ****1/2 It's not just what THE SERGEANT is about, or even who it's about: An American World War II hero return...

TOM CRUISE RETURNS FOR THE POPULAR 'TOP GUN: MAVERICK"

<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/AVvXsEiciyXZqCJUAWS6a3tOpSJa1pCMv-Qar0jf5WuZhvbyM6UxMf8To1l4Fr6UP7maWIK6GKcNBV-xZIayYkO30rdmr9DKXkvbDK6ZNusHdrbaIWVM-DgLA7bSjWJYIrrfyj2CdNBjm4vMnnIZquz56jWHtg3USqSNGLDdlCEdiBZo8-Y8erPF0t6e73YCgQ/s960/top-gun-maverick-poster-crop.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiciyXZqCJUAWS6a3tOpSJa1pCMv-Qar0jf5WuZhvbyM6UxMf8To1l4Fr6UP7maWIK6GKcNBV-xZIayYkO30rdmr9DKXkvbDK6ZNusHdrbaIWVM-DgLA7bSjWJYIrrfyj2CdNBjm4vMnnIZquz56jWHtg3USqSNGLDdlCEdiBZo8-Y8erPF0t6e73YCgQ/s16000/top-gun-maverick-poster-crop.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: TOP GUN: MAVERICK Year: 2022 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before deliberately channeling the STAR WARS Death Star trench run, TOP GUN: MAVERICK mirrors THE RIGHT STUFF with a breaking-the-barrier sequence that even features Ed Harris, playing the first of two uptight authority-figures, frowning and scowling at anything our returning/rebellious hero does... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The thing is, Tom Cruise's MAVERICK really doesn't break many rules, sent back to the familiar TOP GUN headquarters to train a group of youngsters for the Lucas-inspired mission: a single plane (flanked by guardians) needs to strategically drop a bomb into a perfectly tight space to blow-up an entire villainous compound...<br></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

2022, action, adventure, ed harris, jennifer connelly, jon hamm, miles teller, military, mission, new, sequel, tom cruise, val kilmer

TOM CRUISE RETURNS FOR THE POPULAR 'TOP GUN: MAVERICK"

Title: TOP GUN: MAVERICK Year: 2022 Rating: ** Before deliberately channeling the STAR WARS Death Star trench run, TOP GUN: MAVERICK mirror...

BRITISH STANLEY BAKER JUNGLES THROUGH 'THE LAST GRENADE'

<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/a/AVvXsEgquLZRhF9BQo4RKq54IErf087mIvwLSIydB5DNIAQ7yWg4m1jvJ2GYuMqHThmlzHkG3Kl5-9YCa9jqKBr_jBPTMTi_ad3VJaBcTVhZOWBhfcQC8i50Y3On97OSnaIhWb6bOvKdREs9fKfyA-BYkpFPOZ4Z6Ci_vPt4nrNDHZfsgpifBJMoqdL0WjXXdg=s1483" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="1483" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgquLZRhF9BQo4RKq54IErf087mIvwLSIydB5DNIAQ7yWg4m1jvJ2GYuMqHThmlzHkG3Kl5-9YCa9jqKBr_jBPTMTi_ad3VJaBcTVhZOWBhfcQC8i50Y3On97OSnaIhWb6bOvKdREs9fKfyA-BYkpFPOZ4Z6Ci_vPt4nrNDHZfsgpifBJMoqdL0WjXXdg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Alex Cord with Stanley Baker and Honor Blackman in THE LAST GRENADE Year: 1970 Rates: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While THE LAST GRENADE is perhaps the longest 90-minutes you'll ever spend on an action flick, it actually needed to be a half-an-hour longer, right up front, since once-good-mercenary-turned-double-crossing Alex Cord is so deadly so soon, there's nothing to base things on when former partner Stanley Baker feels so betrayed...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Directed by Gordon Flemyng, the beautiful jungles (and crowded city) of Hong Kong China are shown in revealing wide shots, not only to establish the location but to show it off... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, alex cord, andrew keir, honor blackman, john thaw, military, rafer johnson, richard attenborough, seventies, stanley baker

BRITISH STANLEY BAKER JUNGLES THROUGH 'THE LAST GRENADE'

Alex Cord with Stanley Baker and Honor Blackman in THE LAST GRENADE Year: 1970 Rates: **1/2 While THE LAST GRENADE is perhaps the longest 90...

EARLY JAMES CAGNEY MILITARY COMEDY 'HERE COMES THE NAVY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_gkxTUoOsREc705RQ3cSGDY2r1Ap69VvBgVirEAaeoP2AUFPkBnfEicOrN2jkE3kvf1JwU-FhJqzXTvWNoAHkl1SzylVFETG5-UA3Ob8Inj2t4nAPplmb4SRWlTg503tdJJBFHinUmgFAaQi9qX3-MQ_waN-SZr_4l3onOz96E-WSKgvcfb2j296J8Q=s531" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="531" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_gkxTUoOsREc705RQ3cSGDY2r1Ap69VvBgVirEAaeoP2AUFPkBnfEicOrN2jkE3kvf1JwU-FhJqzXTvWNoAHkl1SzylVFETG5-UA3Ob8Inj2t4nAPplmb4SRWlTg503tdJJBFHinUmgFAaQi9qX3-MQ_waN-SZr_4l3onOz96E-WSKgvcfb2j296J8Q=w400-h345" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>YEAR: 1934 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>James Cagney as feisty construction worker/dance-contest running Chesty O'Brien has a row with Navy braggart Pat O'Brien, so he joins-up to simply punch out his rival in Lloyd Bacon's HERE COMES THE NAVY, another early Cagney programmer, here with most of the screen-time onboard the doomed/legendary U.S.S. Arizona aircraft carrier, in 1934...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Cagney, along with his usual tubby comic-relief sidekick Frank McHugh, meet up in a 90-day boot camp that flies by too quickly.... </p><p>But with HERE COMES THE NAVY, featuring bad (as in flirtatious two-timing) dancing girl Dorothy Tree followed by the token perfect girl <i>who just happens to be O'Brien's little sister</i> Gloria Stuart predictably falling for Cagney yet in an equally mutual fashion, the best scenes showcase how Chesty cuts corners onboard the Arizona, from taking an illegal liberty to working extremely hard to NOT have to work as hard as everyone else... That's until the inevitable tables turn and Cagney goes from snarky clown to intrepid hero, equally a stretch to how and why he'd joined in the first place... but it's all lightweight fare with the resilient young Cagney once again making pure adventure out of just a few locations.  <br></p><span></span>

action, adventure, comedy, dorothy tree, frank mchugh, gloria stuart, james cagney, military, pat o'brien, thirties

EARLY JAMES CAGNEY MILITARY COMEDY 'HERE COMES THE NAVY'

YEAR: 1934 Rates: **** James Cagney as feisty construction worker/dance-contest running Chesty O'Brien has a row with Navy braggart Pat ...

RITA HAYWORTH IS 'MISS SADIE THOMPSON' W/ CHARLES BRONSON

<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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFD5BktEAxeDUQwVq9yhynsIpVn6fV9fmD-qu_vqwWoiOSjeW0_pNLB9uJFKsnq0ilvq8xYHovFPq3P_5almcqbKUmW06aWqBBH2nUOG-ySchQoD0WI_CxsE7IzwpHXYqiVfXDwg349ncU/s1831/1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1312" data-original-width="1831" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFD5BktEAxeDUQwVq9yhynsIpVn6fV9fmD-qu_vqwWoiOSjeW0_pNLB9uJFKsnq0ilvq8xYHovFPq3P_5almcqbKUmW06aWqBBH2nUOG-ySchQoD0WI_CxsE7IzwpHXYqiVfXDwg349ncU/w400-h286/1.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson and Henry Slate Year: 1953 Rates: ***</u>1/2</td></tr></tbody></table><p>This adaptation of Somerset Maugham's sordid tale about an alluring woman who gets progressively judged and berated and then lusted upon by a Christian missionary is less about moral hypocrisy and more about Evolution since, from the moment Rita Hayworth lands on a Samoan island full of Marines, the biggest and toughest jarhead in Aldo Ray has her number, and won't let go... None of his underlings, not even a more muscular Charles Bronson, harmonica-playing Henry Slate or goofball Rudy Bond has a chance... and most of MISS SADIE THOMPSON seems like PR for the noticeably-aged Rita Hayworth to still be a relevant sex symbol... for young male audiences...<br></p><p></p><p>And she <i>does </i>look pretty great despite overacting the 'good time girl' routine, singing her lines while speaking her songs. But that older, experienced countenance neatly blends into a free-spirited yet enigmatic character that bible-belting Jose Ferrer realizes <i>could have</i> been a prostitute, forcing our marooned goddess in bright red (symbolically contrasting with the grainy-dull browns and greens for what was originally 3D) into a sudden guilty change of conscience. And this 11th hour melancholy-Hayworth, although turning in a far more subtle, natural performance, is but a means to an extremely rushed ending: Instead of building a hate/trust/lust relationship between leads Hayworth and Ferrer, the latter gradually frowns then sermonizes and then explodes, leading back to that rushed romance with Ray, an infatuation as equally empty and hollow — but on HER terms. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

aldo ray, charles bronson, drama, fifties, jose ferrer, melodrama, military, religion, rita hayworth, romance, rudy bond

RITA HAYWORTH IS 'MISS SADIE THOMPSON' W/ CHARLES BRONSON

Charles Bronson and Henry Slate Year: 1953 Rates: *** 1/2 This adaptation of Somerset Maugham's sordid tale about an alluring woman who ...

SUMMARY REVIEW OF 'D.A.R.Y.L.' BECAUSE THE POSTER IS COOL

<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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5urqPQGH8uXMWVTQgqXWED4iX5uM4RKWX9arYImmgtTX_NgUpHAbZfAe3cGkpHJgheqnDG68HLtqLbDGcT6Bu-kam4bE9vn_aTG4F0sBoXdbX_QhFKT99I9FwhbiiuXPhXlGTBmmoE-3/s1600/Screen%252BShot%252B2019-09-23%252Bat%252B9.56.46%252BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1045" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5urqPQGH8uXMWVTQgqXWED4iX5uM4RKWX9arYImmgtTX_NgUpHAbZfAe3cGkpHJgheqnDG68HLtqLbDGcT6Bu-kam4bE9vn_aTG4F0sBoXdbX_QhFKT99I9FwhbiiuXPhXlGTBmmoE-3/s400/Screen%252BShot%252B2019-09-23%252Bat%252B9.56.46%252BPM.jpeg" width="398"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>One of those better movie posters than the movie movie YEAR: 1985</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Young Daryl has some sort of amnesia and very special powers. He can play piano without having played before and can hit a baseball right out of the park. The scenes involving Daryl (played nicely by Barrett Oliver between an inspired, performance in THE NEVERENDING STORY and lifeless turns in both COCOON films), his foster parents, and his buddy, Turtle — our comic relief here — are part of a fun and semi involving 1980's sci-fi kids flick. Then, something happens...<br> <br> Fifty minutes through — just as the audience is getting into the rhythm of a very laid-back fish-outta-water story — Daryl is picked up by his real parents i.e. the scientists that "created" him. His name is spelled D.A.R.Y.L., which stands for "Data Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform" and. at this point, it's all downhill and keeps going until you just don't care if little D becomes a pile of scrap metal, or if he finds a new life as a <i>real boy</i>. More family fun and less formidable military evil and this would have been a terrific movie. But Reagan was in the White House, and for Hollywood, the government was always up to no good (until 1992 when all was good in the jungle). Either way, Michael McKean fans will like him in a "normal" part, which he never did back then.  <br>

barrett oliver, chase, cult, eighties, kids, michael mckean, military, science-fiction

SUMMARY REVIEW OF 'D.A.R.Y.L.' BECAUSE THE POSTER IS COOL

One of those better movie posters than the movie movie YEAR: 1985 Young Daryl has some sort of amnesia and very special powers. He can p...

STACY KEACH & SCOTT WILSON IN 'THE NINTH CONFIGURATION'

<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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6vTn9X_z4HwVwzYjM5LwLUCiWemjcPy08DCjKxf_f3bcwE4EsCJmfyq2nKM2d6AqfvB40vDXWvPNwxWbNeD6H2dlFU_Z-KomvelPLkVyiUXfAbeIiglqhE_-TjjDd7rTVMtPex5yFaY8U/s1600/30707081_462728544156327_7884275141759205376_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="960" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6vTn9X_z4HwVwzYjM5LwLUCiWemjcPy08DCjKxf_f3bcwE4EsCJmfyq2nKM2d6AqfvB40vDXWvPNwxWbNeD6H2dlFU_Z-KomvelPLkVyiUXfAbeIiglqhE_-TjjDd7rTVMtPex5yFaY8U/s400/30707081_462728544156327_7884275141759205376_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Good guy, Bad guys, and Linda Blatty YEAR OF RELEASE: 1980</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Writer/Director William Peter Blatty, whose novel THE EXORCIST was made into a groundbreaking horror masterpiece by THE FRENCH CONNECTION Oscar-winner William Friedkin, takes personal, independent pride in his very own picture, THE NINTH CONFIGURATION...<br> <br> Mostly because the critics deemed how insanely original it is since "Robert Loggia sings Al Jolson in blackface" and "Jason Miller rehearses HAMLET using dogs" and "Moses Gunn wears superhero spandex" or "a man dressed as a nun tries exorcising a soda machine" or "an image of the crucifixion on the moon," and on and on the weirdness goes but, in the reality of this surreal anti-war, existentialist vs religion fable — set inside a castle that serves as an insane asylum, there could have been even more nutty stuff... Anything goes in a story about human beings who are seemingly without logic or limits... And in that, NINTH is actually an extremely grounded vehicle...<br>

eighties, jason miller, mental ward, military, richard lynch, robert loggia, scott wilson, stacy keach, thriller, william peter blatty

STACY KEACH & SCOTT WILSON IN 'THE NINTH CONFIGURATION'

Good guy, Bad guys, and Linda Blatty YEAR OF RELEASE: 1980 Writer/Director William Peter Blatty, whose novel THE EXORCIST was made into ...

TOM CRUISE ONCE AGAIN AS JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK

<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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZGj-rQcXMWCLJZphPRbh9E8yrDk5kSTlEpCn_wKUk749ARZQ27SLNiehx3EMzN9L-rx7BIvIRM9ClZ9hsMIoRAmaP9UtWzBGaEOVJRveuDC2oT-3ap9pJNSGP7ZWFvTx4zKmPJfFtwePf/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-06-28+at+2.07.44+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="525" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZGj-rQcXMWCLJZphPRbh9E8yrDk5kSTlEpCn_wKUk749ARZQ27SLNiehx3EMzN9L-rx7BIvIRM9ClZ9hsMIoRAmaP9UtWzBGaEOVJRveuDC2oT-3ap9pJNSGP7ZWFvTx4zKmPJfFtwePf/s400/Screen+Shot+2017-06-28+at+2.07.44+PM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>It's a family affair this time for JACK REACHER Year: 2016</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There's a sequel titled SON OF KONG so why not DAUGHTER OF REACHER? Well for the most part, it's not a foregone conclusion he's really the father. Either way, a tagalong kid (or teen) doesn't usually belong in an espionage/action flick...</span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Although in the original there was a troubled girl but this time it's closer, and personal. The first thing the icy asskicker has <i>really</i> cared about. He's the kind of (ex-Army) rogue hero bordering on anti-hero who knows the score before each maneuver. So there was a touch of slowburn Neo-Noir in the first picture, and now, one of that genre's major plot-lines is the core: Jack's a "Wrong Man," accused of, as the story goes on, several deaths along the path where he's already been...</span><br>

2016, action, cobie smulders, espionage, military, sequel, suspense, tom cruise, wrong man

TOM CRUISE ONCE AGAIN AS JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK

It's a family affair this time for JACK REACHER Year: 2016 There's a sequel titled SON OF KONG so why not DAUGHTER OF REACHER? W...

FIRST OF TWO ROBERT VAUGHN TRIBUTES: THE LIEUTENANT

<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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFmYDguzthVZSfzY8iiHUBAPqJqsC_Tw-lw89zVFakM58rUpisw1IUOPzTQWT7mwwvy3aNX_VDKutKgE1fsMuyR67TWeT9y-qCJB3rXTPQHB1UyOM9CaSX4s1IocvQQHb07h7dWYDkAv-/s1600/14980778_225104161252101_9133984254379745923_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFmYDguzthVZSfzY8iiHUBAPqJqsC_Tw-lw89zVFakM58rUpisw1IUOPzTQWT7mwwvy3aNX_VDKutKgE1fsMuyR67TWeT9y-qCJB3rXTPQHB1UyOM9CaSX4s1IocvQQHb07h7dWYDkAv-/s400/14980778_225104161252101_9133984254379745923_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Robert Vaughn with Garry Lockwood on TV in 1963</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The Original STAR TREK series, created, co-written and produced by Gene Roddenberry, took the crew of The Enterprise WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE, not only part of William Shatner's pre-credit narration but the title of one of the first episodes, which guest stars Gary Lockwood, best known as astronaut Dr. Frank Poole in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, and before that he worked with Roddenberry when TREK was just blasting off...<br /> <br /> THE LIEUTENANT, a fulfilling, character-driven, one-season series, centered on our man either helping, loving or fighting man or womankind; although, taking place after Korea and in the phantom heels of Vietnam, it didn't involve actual war (save a few episodes, if memory serves) as Lockwood, playing the young and ambitious Lt. Bill Rice, works, lives and breaths not exactly blood but there's enough sweat and tears to go around at the Southern California Marine base, Camp Pendleton, which becomes a sort of character in itself. Although more time's spent at taverns, hotels, motels, and wherever else he's needed for the service of duty and friendship — the latter that the first episode, A MILLION MILES FROM CLARY, is all about...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWr3NMTL08UEaWMAn8rBQT8jG1iLDYUsdHzDwmzrOHDfHX766yak2XZt3hr8R86PyKoMgTpr1J2iWpmK_sbU3uS6Xy65AE9U59aBz67pnNf751pvy7iR1qVqJbBNRYBv2uzRVNtPkulwp/s1600/15032763_225104157918768_3447400526728361212_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWr3NMTL08UEaWMAn8rBQT8jG1iLDYUsdHzDwmzrOHDfHX766yak2XZt3hr8R86PyKoMgTpr1J2iWpmK_sbU3uS6Xy65AE9U59aBz67pnNf751pvy7iR1qVqJbBNRYBv2uzRVNtPkulwp/s400/15032763_225104157918768_3447400526728361212_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gary Lockwood and Robert Vaughn on THE LT.</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In films before and after, ranging from (our current favorite) CANYON PASSAGE to MEAN STREETS, the subject of two long-time friends, one responsible and the other incredibly flakey, has been a standard plot-line that keeps the viewer intrigued since it's no telling what kind of trouble the instigating wild card, in this case, Rice's buddy, Pvt. Stu Sallaway, played by Bill Bixby (who shared co-starring in Elvis Presley vehicles together), will get himself into — and guess who has to get him out? That's where some lightweight yet intriguing suspense occurs — Rice putting his reputation on the line in front of the men he <i>didn't </i>share a past kinship with. Bixby, as the kind of charming b.s. artist he'd portray on television years later in the miniseries RICH MAN, POOR MAN, wields the perfect combination of someone you want to party with, punch in the gut, or both. And it's an odd pilot episode, not exactly igniting the series with a bang, or providing any kind of expository introduction: A MILLION MILES FROM CLARY (their hometown in-common) feels more like part of a show that'd been on for a little while, and Lockwood's Bill Rice has very little backstory except what we learn in the process...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMhmF4YJMILERBpvcrWAUsTbf2FBNQWa31GoyHKdvNorB9Q5JPW5Vh4vG2RD3YwTyxp8U20qaFUCHlI_u60Tyv_bLtkxo-8zlZlJgQ_s7c9MLvJZAYdyNBV4Ry4ufwt7OxLHo59WFKweq/s1600/15032214_225104154585435_2352467395245922554_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMhmF4YJMILERBpvcrWAUsTbf2FBNQWa31GoyHKdvNorB9Q5JPW5Vh4vG2RD3YwTyxp8U20qaFUCHlI_u60Tyv_bLtkxo-8zlZlJgQ_s7c9MLvJZAYdyNBV4Ry4ufwt7OxLHo59WFKweq/s320/15032214_225104154585435_2352467395245922554_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bill Bixby, Robert Vaughn, Gary Lockwood GRADE: A</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> And now to unbury the lead: THE LIEUTENANT is eventually forced to bark orders at his friend — yet who's really in charge, and respectively feared by everyone, is an extremely mature young actor who, only a few years prior, starred in b-movies including and infamously bad caveman flick (riffed by Mystery Science Theater)...<br /> <br /> And another with our ongoing retrospective starlet, Merry Anders — as a twenty-something slacker in NO TIME TO BE YOUNG, covered here soon: Making this the first of two parenthetical tributes to an actor that could play either the hero, like his most famous role on TV's MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., as well as gentleman heavies like the snooty politician in Steve McQueen's best film (and performance), BULLITT, reuniting two MAGNIFICENT SEVEN stars (who have now all passed away). Vaughn was even talented enough to "replace" Gene Hackman as the human antagonist in the SUPERMAN franchise — and helped make the flawed part 3 a worthwhile experience.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfv3zt0hL60AwUKvtE2Q03TynkNcu64hq6fCVB8nfztl0wfJjAWaG8QIF0_2bHH_ccC4H3K80sOSmgRsGB7vyBlxXrBLsewNHC6iD85i9to_B9-8ehfeo-2AXieKzzRjoOGoVjV-4cGdf/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-11-12+at+6.11.30+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpfv3zt0hL60AwUKvtE2Q03TynkNcu64hq6fCVB8nfztl0wfJjAWaG8QIF0_2bHH_ccC4H3K80sOSmgRsGB7vyBlxXrBLsewNHC6iD85i9to_B9-8ehfeo-2AXieKzzRjoOGoVjV-4cGdf/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-11-12+at+6.11.30+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>With MAGNIFICENT SEVEN co-star Steve McQueen in BULLITT</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Far more than just a talented, capable actor, he legitimized every role he played, and the projects along with them...<br /> <br /> Like anyone who makes a lifelong career of Hollywood, as time passed, he didn't always chose (or get handed) the best roles, but he kept working... And back to the pilot of THE LIEUTENANT: his Captain Raymond Rambridge, a relatively young man with the countenance of a fifty-five year old war vet, was not a special guest star like Bixby, but a semi-regular who, by his mere presence, kept the title character standing firm while Lt. Rice kept his men on their toes. PS What led to this obscure show being the first tribute for Vaughn: The day after he died, there was a feeling to, out of nowhere, re-watch this particular episode, having forgotten anyone besides guest star Bill Bixby, and, within moments, there he was, in all his subtle, cleft-chinned, pelican-regal glory... A very serious man who, whether shining in the forefront or placed slightly in the background, always made a difference.

bill bixby, gary lockwood, gene roddenberry, military, one season, robert vaughn, series, sixties, war

FIRST OF TWO ROBERT VAUGHN TRIBUTES: THE LIEUTENANT

Robert Vaughn with Garry Lockwood on TV in 1963 The Original STAR TREK series, created, co-written and produced by Gene Roddenberry, too...

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

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ9cfBOgwFlU5r2pmCvMSO-rphZE3VHpXqH3CVjBd5c7KrY11nYhPlm-eYPBLbdhXmbzJz_sziRwQR7IjAoTIQzzsbTRocmD1U1siTDnDNvwW9WSvvUgbOoj7dZxcQ3BGz_6hJ7M2kYBE/s1600/14379660_190490821380102_7144340110358413834_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ9cfBOgwFlU5r2pmCvMSO-rphZE3VHpXqH3CVjBd5c7KrY11nYhPlm-eYPBLbdhXmbzJz_sziRwQR7IjAoTIQzzsbTRocmD1U1siTDnDNvwW9WSvvUgbOoj7dZxcQ3BGz_6hJ7M2kYBE/s400/14379660_190490821380102_7144340110358413834_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Neat Opening Credit Title Card for BAND OF THE HAND Year: 1986</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Stephen Lang, the nefarious military man from AVATAR currently spooking audiences as a creepy and lethal blind war vet in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/09/DBreath.html">DON'T BREATHE</a>, is a natural for playing the villain...<br /> <br /> Although he initially garnered attention as "Indian Joe" in the 1986 teenage version of THE DIRTY DOZEN titled BAND OF THE HAND – the one person who can whip a group of eclectic, hopeless juvenile convicts into shape is, of course, the film's good guy and yet, it depends on the perspective since he's not very popular at first: His narrow eyed, steel-jawed, monotone, meticulous and muscular character has all the ingredients of a determined, impenetrable heavy – but it takes one to know five, and Lang's Joe knows exactly how and where to get the reluctant, flaky bad boys changed into sturdy young men.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRj97G6tB-8u6y3xC82fOvXK1-33zt47tbTjnrMAYc1v8_YGojy8neEq9vctseD0uZm1YiTHX8spP5r1iFcnI-QlG57kObJudxvfFCxxAu3OBQhZaXYuRaPib0Kqo904fqswqxNOuzx_A/s1600/14379639_190490828046768_2935659876519969241_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRj97G6tB-8u6y3xC82fOvXK1-33zt47tbTjnrMAYc1v8_YGojy8neEq9vctseD0uZm1YiTHX8spP5r1iFcnI-QlG57kObJudxvfFCxxAu3OBQhZaXYuRaPib0Kqo904fqswqxNOuzx_A/s320/14379639_190490828046768_2935659876519969241_o.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Stephen Lang as Indian Joe</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> What BAND seems to be about occurs in a flash:The survival sequence in the Everglades, including a deadly snake, a wild boar and various shots of wild cats, seems more of a breezy tour than duty...<br /> <br /> Having been taken from lock-up to a paddy-wagon to a reed-pummeling fan boat, they enter the murky destination, all dressed up with no place to run, knee deep in mud, bickering, fighting and are initially fleshed-out by their anti-chemistry<i> against</i> each other: from the loudmouth to the lunatic to the maverick to the tough, silent type, it's all pretty much covered...<br /> <br /> Sadly, right as things get interesting, we cut to a b-story involving an overlong sequence with ingenue Lauren Holly and the film's chief antagonist to Larry Fishburne's more physical, mobile heavy – that being James Remar as a gangster into black magic, an eccentric, strange element probably inserted to make Remar more menacing, which the edgy WARRIORS and 48 HRS alumni needn't any help with...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUkdO3cedq06HzRcN1p4x6khWO5ugJTmH3vCnr4tZFaCSh-3y_Rn0w0h2RXXgbV6xVadPH9uIH_zHGT25b9554XtSGF3TKTgSawSOinec7uoRi8Ow7j97CPtguHWkEiVMH_ama2Kvcevk/s1600/14352357_190490824713435_8917196619516144580_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUkdO3cedq06HzRcN1p4x6khWO5ugJTmH3vCnr4tZFaCSh-3y_Rn0w0h2RXXgbV6xVadPH9uIH_zHGT25b9554XtSGF3TKTgSawSOinec7uoRi8Ow7j97CPtguHWkEiVMH_ama2Kvcevk/s400/14352357_190490824713435_8917196619516144580_o.jpg" width="272" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>His name <i>was</i> Larry Fishburne, MATRIX-heads</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Cutting back to the swamp-struggling main characters feels like returning from an intrusive commercial break. And by Day Two, although running scared from what they're supposed to be hunting, the boys seem as if they'd been roughing-it for a week or so (and if it had been a week, it seems more like a month). Up to this point, while the overall pace is fun and involving – especially the set-up as each individual crime, arrest and incarceration is shown – there seems to be a big chunk missing...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0y02lEbNTwHT6hSTARp2FjftvWDy4mg_UCIaToRG_AGpOr5aVXmvfG9TuZL6OpV0TQhZryfrWsEQku0ntT6oBQRa5XnCSXHHKVmQakkEQ3swmN5UyJGy8meB__KpULJ5aiieoTQ2-FY/s1600/14372323_190490831380101_7523510588978292122_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0y02lEbNTwHT6hSTARp2FjftvWDy4mg_UCIaToRG_AGpOr5aVXmvfG9TuZL6OpV0TQhZryfrWsEQku0ntT6oBQRa5XnCSXHHKVmQakkEQ3swmN5UyJGy8meB__KpULJ5aiieoTQ2-FY/s400/14372323_190490831380101_7523510588978292122_o.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lang's tough guy repose</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Although it turns out the important stuff's left for the graffiti-laden slums of Miami: Taking over a Crack House (back then referred to as a building full of junkies, pimps and dealers), Lang and Gang have a dangerous fight ahead – their prime adversaries have already been introduced, and they're not alone. At this point, only one of the boys really stands out as a character apart from the group, and he wants his girl, Holly's Nikki, back – she's now a bonafide, bikini-clad gangster's moll: her story had skipped ahead as fast as the males.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZG0gZAhkeO2iy_MsRM7lVSDaghVWOzpNzdOjldL3TJEG8G7qK5_xkdRiZp2X18jGtv6eGoZRlGEEP6dvvRQFX4dLuSodsjl6YCbP1zjSOjbtF7k0pV6-xKoJx8vqSKN4TPwob8zBe-wc/s1600/s-l225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZG0gZAhkeO2iy_MsRM7lVSDaghVWOzpNzdOjldL3TJEG8G7qK5_xkdRiZp2X18jGtv6eGoZRlGEEP6dvvRQFX4dLuSodsjl6YCbP1zjSOjbtF7k0pV6-xKoJx8vqSKN4TPwob8zBe-wc/s1600/s-l225.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Soundtrack LP featuring Bob Dylan</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> With a gritty, street-savvy, politician-scolding title song by Bob Dylan backed by Tom Petty's Heartbreakers (who Dylan toured with the previous year), and produced by MIAMI VICE 80's/90's crime guru Michael Mann, BAND OF THE HAND is in fact a hands-on, lean and mean tough guy machine, slightly hindered by the loud, bright neon clothes that the 1980's had "totally" veered into at the crest of the decade's midpoint: Hell, even the good bad boys are dressed to shill their multicolored era and yet, flaws aside, what was rushed in the swamplands is slightly made up for later on, when there's just-enough high-octane action during the third act, as Lang does like John Wayne in THE COWBOYS, clearing the way for a strategic crash-course finale with the people that matter most.

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

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

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

BODY COUNT NIGHTMARE OF WALTER HILL'S SOUTHERN COMFORT

<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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoQuJ_0dPYamSpBBMEs8S2W_UbDE9e4ao7dveBZ0AshHyZOwzJtL9-3KCzOFw5SZuHwal5TlhdS5SsilSvWboYqx5YgMrvs5mhyl0cGOhdBa7G1fvTdOekOkZOXOIvw3-_Hke4COjSFf8/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoQuJ_0dPYamSpBBMEs8S2W_UbDE9e4ao7dveBZ0AshHyZOwzJtL9-3KCzOFw5SZuHwal5TlhdS5SsilSvWboYqx5YgMrvs5mhyl0cGOhdBa7G1fvTdOekOkZOXOIvw3-_Hke4COjSFf8/s320/download.jpg" width="152" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1981 rating: ****1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> According to the bonus feature documentary from the Shout Factory Blu-Ray/DVD combo, the creators and actors of SOUTHERN COMFORT have different ideas on the movie’s significance and origin…<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsYSNrtNc1R45fxDTwroJZ0z4aPdQetnKv6o5Esh_4IuJlyVT5CKEHt-tBODxsjkc_DSkmnfk4OwTrjQhzAvdpaEZi1GAGbTgkoDz400_f11XAUkSxuVjYihdeuIXSdj6buyHswQwiGq4/s1600/southern-comfort.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsYSNrtNc1R45fxDTwroJZ0z4aPdQetnKv6o5Esh_4IuJlyVT5CKEHt-tBODxsjkc_DSkmnfk4OwTrjQhzAvdpaEZi1GAGbTgkoDz400_f11XAUkSxuVjYihdeuIXSdj6buyHswQwiGq4/s1600/southern-comfort.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RIP Powers Boothe 5/15/17</td></tr> </tbody></table> While the actors (especially Peter Coyote) are convinced it’s a take on Vietnam, the filmmaker, Walter Hill, and his co-writer David Giler, believe the film’s about… well… a squad of National Guardsman who are hunted by evil Cajuns in the swamps of Louisiana… And in this 1981 cult classic, what you see is pretty much what you get.<br /> <br /> But SOUTHERN COMFORT is much more of a military style horror than anything else... Liken to an outdoor body count slasher flick, each character has a particular fate they either deserve or are simply begging for: That includes Fred Ward as the nefarious Reece, whose cold, piercing eyes can chew through granite. Or Lewis Smith as his young white trash sidekick, Stuckey, igniting trouble by firing blanks at a group of Cajuns after the Guardsman “borrow” their boats for a swampy shortcut. <br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45Yr2g_IFb3DxDLkgweuepGrRvsuJTHhSzttE76mcy2HnwdTKXkeGd597AGUvvfwTzD6MoEjLCSJRhKgoqpbyv4pGpuxKfzKCenMZfYTw-IHkM4nkS3I5hShHtJW-XCZzwi3jgXsciGI/s1600/fullwidth.f0efb3ae.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi45Yr2g_IFb3DxDLkgweuepGrRvsuJTHhSzttE76mcy2HnwdTKXkeGd597AGUvvfwTzD6MoEjLCSJRhKgoqpbyv4pGpuxKfzKCenMZfYTw-IHkM4nkS3I5hShHtJW-XCZzwi3jgXsciGI/s200/fullwidth.f0efb3ae.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We're gonna need bigger boats</td></tr> </tbody></table> Then there’s Peter Coyote playing the group’s Sergeant, a hardnosed decision-maker just as lost as everyone else. To provide a spoiler wouldn’t be kind, but Sgt. Poole is the Janet Leigh of the movie. His exit forces the group to reluctantly rely on an inept second-in-command, Casper, played by character actor Les Lannom, exuding a perfect combination of desperately intrepid and pathetically oblivious, ultimately allowing our two main heroes, played by Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe, to slowly but surely step up to the plate. <br /> <br /> And here, in a selection from a full interview on SOUTHERN COMFORT, Les Lannom discusses one scene where the men scramble for their lives after being tipped over in canoes.  <br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> <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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji_U8-tkx9DNPOHGdN7L92DNVgbbh-zah2gJSFIwXbdKUf2wqF6TbRneERztGNDnZ62yrf8NABKinbI_xzkbbCBC5g1fU8vz9m87oJJDoikg9zlNsU0M44s3hvOAtmz_XAYbjRYK__N-Y/s1600/3.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji_U8-tkx9DNPOHGdN7L92DNVgbbh-zah2gJSFIwXbdKUf2wqF6TbRneERztGNDnZ62yrf8NABKinbI_xzkbbCBC5g1fU8vz9m87oJJDoikg9zlNsU0M44s3hvOAtmz_XAYbjRYK__N-Y/s1600/3.jpg" width="130" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Les Lannom</td></tr> </tbody></table> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2010/03/les-lannom-southern-comfort.html"><span style="color: black;">LES LANNOM (CASPER):</span></a> </span><i>The camera and sound were on boats and were there in the water with us. There was no marked difference in the number of takes required to cover the stuff. You always have cover shot from the distance and that is followed by a number of closer shots from various angles and covering varying numbers of cast members. </i><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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSceeomyEjEydV3p69wpGxy87sKkn5lbSYqrNNQ4qzcrh9pFYNRq6Eme7X0kgK6EkfLyLrZ2lTLolny0jsJem13m8BmlIXFeKREoJH6oEGNaY5hfKfPxnWvtElaqJLvQXP2FWwkbJNa2Y/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSceeomyEjEydV3p69wpGxy87sKkn5lbSYqrNNQ4qzcrh9pFYNRq6Eme7X0kgK6EkfLyLrZ2lTLolny0jsJem13m8BmlIXFeKREoJH6oEGNaY5hfKfPxnWvtElaqJLvQXP2FWwkbJNa2Y/s1600/11.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Les Lannom</td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>Walter just took these shots until he felt he had the scene and action sufficiently covered. He just shot until it was right, and Walter seemed to be very good at knowing when to stop and move on to the next shot.<br /><br />The one significant problem we encountered was losing a very expensive M-60 machine gun in forty feet or so of damned cold water. They looked for it but never found it. We were all wearing wet suits, so none of us were in danger of drowning (you couldn't sink!); and the most difficult part about it was making it look like it was a desperate situation. Fun stuff, though!</i><i> </i><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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh91WgcSYA83XFCLEkiBc_vmH6id36ru5cRat8LGXvUlIfskBC1Ore-nKgK440Ms7VbkccjNTlTZpUPgbcMdHXSlRNGuVBTrLrMD4i3DOa4mijUl3DFy1vt4KyYO6ruxh_uMvKVmRTnNo8/s1600/images.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh91WgcSYA83XFCLEkiBc_vmH6id36ru5cRat8LGXvUlIfskBC1Ore-nKgK440Ms7VbkccjNTlTZpUPgbcMdHXSlRNGuVBTrLrMD4i3DOa4mijUl3DFy1vt4KyYO6ruxh_uMvKVmRTnNo8/s200/images.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Borrowing</td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>And when we finally waded ashore and filmed the rest of the scene, we couldn't wear the wet-suit booties. Had to wear the combat boots, as our feet would be seen. </i><i>Everybody's feet were aching from soaking in the water. The water was cold (this was fairly early in the shoot) and the air temp was about 36 degrees. The socks were not much insulation when they got wet. All of us parked our feet up next to some kerosene heaters to try to thaw them out. </i><i>And a little later, because this was an ongoing problem, Keith Carradine found out that he could peel off the sole from the booties and stuff them into a slightly over-sized combat boot and make the situation bearable. All of us followed suit, and the rest of the shoot was a lot more comfortable... </i><i>If you discount the fact that every morning we arrived at the set and had to put on still-freezing damp wet-suits that had hung all night in our un-heated dressing rooms in the honey-wagons!</i><br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UYWDJP1KYfNnAe_T6LYwfoR62I7SCFTtYcTebicz0PA5SFr6upsqxC1Y-LtNsbxm084vRDrS9JvKIj073sJkhbbSsEwgWXPwYbzPWyYt3VOyC2wMvOho-d-fMp-sqEOsFmUtok9WdxA/s1600/sc04.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UYWDJP1KYfNnAe_T6LYwfoR62I7SCFTtYcTebicz0PA5SFr6upsqxC1Y-LtNsbxm084vRDrS9JvKIj073sJkhbbSsEwgWXPwYbzPWyYt3VOyC2wMvOho-d-fMp-sqEOsFmUtok9WdxA/s1600/sc04.jpg" width="136" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Take no prisoners"</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>As the nightmare continues... </b>making this canoe dunking catastrophe seem tame, Keith Carradine’s smart-alleck Spencer and Powers Boothe’s slowburn Hardin are what Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds were to DELIVERANCE: being out of their element yet trying to keep cool along the way. <br /> <i><br /></i> Carradine, who had worked with director Hill in THE LONG RIDERS, gets first billing and is the peripheral leader, yet the buck really stops with Boothe’s steely gaze: a newcomer to the group, having previously resided in the Texas Guard, it's like nothing can phase Hardin. Hell, even his cigarettes can survive a trip through swamp water.  <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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixV6M1chTciBKRY6HyhBuh6MeNY6FX60lbMsMsoh_133FVr9gEDDHsACS9gTUjY7JGf_f8yN_pbwf2fNvt4x8f5f0GIl4OUTNrFiFwE03aQ8Vq1_JE2ij_AQcLKTdhn7IYICeN-IshNaE/s1600/1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixV6M1chTciBKRY6HyhBuh6MeNY6FX60lbMsMsoh_133FVr9gEDDHsACS9gTUjY7JGf_f8yN_pbwf2fNvt4x8f5f0GIl4OUTNrFiFwE03aQ8Vq1_JE2ij_AQcLKTdhn7IYICeN-IshNaE/s200/1.jpg" width="158" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Comfort-Bluray-Combo-Blu-ray/dp/B00JGR3M80/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412748931&sr=8-1&keywords=southern+comfort+blu+ray">Shout Factory Cover</a></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Several important scenes have Carradine and Boothe’s characters sporadically discussing the situation at hand. Either commenting on the inability of the lesser men around them, or trying to make sense of the inevitable doomsday, they're a barometer for the audience and the unnerved, rattled Weekend Warriors who, through bad decisions, invite more punishment to be hurled upon them.  <br /> <br /> They include Franklyn Seales as the group’s shuddering fear-meter, Sims. The late actor best known for playing an uptight account on SILVER SPOONS made his ground as the nicer of two cold-blooded killers in THE ONION FIELD. Also on board is T.K. Carter, familiar to horror fans as the skating cook in John Carpenter’s THE THING, serving up unforced and alleviating comic relief. And our token outcast/oddball  is the towering Bowden, played by Carlos Brown aka Alan Autry, a Cowardly Lion type with an unpredictable personality: that spooky red cross on the Blu Ray cover is his doing.  <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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyeaboyhV7zLpP-hMFI1HsSlClcpkWL13hWKEr21ITU5BluoRwzs3Qtd3ViormURVUZHut3Im0GWp3FtaifKgjAdNs4cSSP7aoHrPXAII6abxrm1PqDfo2Ejx-Lef7NrtC3uVj4yDtSZk/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyeaboyhV7zLpP-hMFI1HsSlClcpkWL13hWKEr21ITU5BluoRwzs3Qtd3ViormURVUZHut3Im0GWp3FtaifKgjAdNs4cSSP7aoHrPXAII6abxrm1PqDfo2Ejx-Lef7NrtC3uVj4yDtSZk/s320/12.jpg" width="205" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"You betta haul ass"</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> After getting to know the men, each scene, where the ominous swamp is like a character in itself, provides another perilous situation for the men to survive, or not. This includes an attack of ferocious Rottweiler’s, falling trees and eventually an all-out hunting spree with the kind of slow motion deaths that Walter Hill, who scripted the original GETAWAY, might have learned from mentor Sam Peckinpah.<br /> <br /> One of the most important elements is heard, not seen. Ry Cooder grooves a moody slide guitar soundtrack that feels part of the location – a misleadingly laidback sound that fits the film's ironic title, not the dire situation... <br /> <br /> And the survivors have their biggest challenge once the formidable hunt is over... It’s here we get to know Hardin (Powers Boothe) the most: As he remains suspicious during an outdoor Cajun cookout, we realize he’s not only the guy to root for, but he knows what’s up better than anyone: Well not entirely. Towering BLADE RUNNER badass Brion James plays a one-armed Cajon who, through the entire midsection, is captured, questioned, interrogated and flung around like a meaty ragdoll. But when watching and rewatching SOUTHERN COMFORT, it’s his expressions to really center on: because while Hardin and Spencer may know the score, Brion’s Trapper is keeping it.

body count, brion james, eighties, fred ward, keith carradine, les lannom, military, powers boothe, suspense, walter hill

BODY COUNT NIGHTMARE OF WALTER HILL'S SOUTHERN COMFORT

1981 rating: ****1/2 According to the bonus feature documentary from the Shout Factory Blu-Ray/DVD combo, the creators and actors of SOU...

G.I. JOE: RETALIATION

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyHJ6ga2IlN9Gh3x7cN2ZFSn-H_eSheSj45LaiScCWdmTEsRhwm2VUDKWi9UnYQrzqo4D0NWDq94Y-IECqx-qekCGZnn89qXq1ZrgkS-n9kRPKa0qKNjkdiGvO_NzmLxoebjH8nojc78/s1600/gijoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyHJ6ga2IlN9Gh3x7cN2ZFSn-H_eSheSj45LaiScCWdmTEsRhwm2VUDKWi9UnYQrzqo4D0NWDq94Y-IECqx-qekCGZnn89qXq1ZrgkS-n9kRPKa0qKNjkdiGvO_NzmLxoebjH8nojc78/s640/gijoe.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2013 cast: Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum <b>rating:</b> **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Channing Tatum might have seen the Kurt Russell action thriller EXECUTIVE DECISION and thought highly of Steven Seagal, who played a potentially vital character for the first twenty minutes. Following a similar doomed cameo in SIDE EFFECTS, Tatum’s Duke is in charge of G.I. JOE, a crack unit based in the desert that winds up slaughtered by an assault team manned by the President of the United States, played by Jonathan Pryce. But that’s not really the President – a devious double has taken over and now the maligned unit, sans the unlucky yet heroic Duke and now led by Dwayne Johnson's Roadblock, has to stop whatever else Evil Prez has in store, including a stockade of nuclear missiles.<br /> <br /> Once we’re out of the desert and into other regions, the best scenes take place around the perimeter of a mountaintop monastery where good guys and bad guys battle it out using tons of rock climbing rope and cables. These resilient heroes aren’t our central trio, who are busy crashing a Washington party before winding up in the suburbs where a third-act savior awaits in the form of Bruce Willis… the "original Joe" himself… providing enough guns and ammo to start a… or rather, hopefully end a… Third World War.<br /> <br /> The finale is contained within an assortment of grumpy world leaders (with several jokes against North Korea) gathered around their own red nuclear buttons, as a mad-gleaming Pryce needs only a purring lap cat to be a world-dominating Bond villain (he was one, actually). Thus a worthy team up of The Rock and Willis is never quite realized… We needed more Army action figure types than the amour-plated Ninjas, who seem straight out of a corny graphic novel. Thus the combination of reality and fantasy make RETALIATION an assortment of bombastic action sequences that doesn't gel together as a whole.

2013, action, bruce willis, dwayne johnson, franchise, jonathan pryce, military, sequel

G.I. JOE: RETALIATION

year: 2013 cast: Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum rating: **1/2 Channing Tatum might have seen the Kurt Russell action thr...

NINETIES REBOOT SMACKDOWN: MCHALE'S NAVY VS SGT. BILKO

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvnh4GlegABmp_JWjc48TZVaE9EGrgIsJoey6fivQgZNmiHTLFJIchwT4hUdljsgQDWmmGklT3oQLGz0NHncAUM8fXF4K4yKIAwyX5NjYAje70V3oHN8TRtmd0u24hSLmGSuCaWZ5_Pex/s1600/halesNavy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvnh4GlegABmp_JWjc48TZVaE9EGrgIsJoey6fivQgZNmiHTLFJIchwT4hUdljsgQDWmmGklT3oQLGz0NHncAUM8fXF4K4yKIAwyX5NjYAje70V3oHN8TRtmd0u24hSLmGSuCaWZ5_Pex/s400/halesNavy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> year: 1997 cast: Tom Arnold, Dean Stockwell rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>IN THIS CORNER</b>… MCHALE’S NAVY starring Tom Arnold, more of a breezy action film than a comedy... and the action’s pretty decent.<br /> <br /> Arnold, a horrible actor whilst married to Rosanne Barr, provided a miraculous turn in James Cameron’s TRUE LIES and, with feet firmly planted into Hollywood’s soil, became a passable "leading man." Not all his roles were very special (and his ride didn't last long) but he’s pretty natural as the deal-making ex-Navy officer who’s turned the tropical island barracks into his very own garage sale. He’s got McHale’s brand ice cream, beer, whiskey and just about everything while his buddies live a permanent vacation – sounds perfect, right? Well not when Dean Stockwell’s antagonistic Navy Admiral shows up and puts McHale’s business to rest. But the real bad guy’s none other than eyebrow-wielding Tim Curry – a second rate terrorist who takes over half the island where native kids play baseball. He’s got a really cool supersonic speedboat loaded with big guns, and McHale’s sloppy straw-roof yacht is no match. One scene has McHale’s men, including Bruce Campbell and David Allen Grier (unsuccessfully taking the Tim Conway role), party in Cuba leading to a bar fight and is a pretty good time. But there’s a downside to all the running around – we need a few laughs and one-liners from funnier characters. Ernest Borgnine, the original McHale, makes an appearance as the Pentagon General in charge of everything: and there's a twist...<br /> <br /> <table align="center" 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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPAQwpJIjUtwQwK4f8Cl_HB3VSOZRPRAUWkGAXWfJjA0giXUWnMAbR_s-vNzUMFsK2Xlz8sfYhd4JFsOoaEJsju-09yyLhFfUNZabMw4QNa7bKqj9msdmr4xTA0iVydb9EIWF1zwr9Lsx/s1600/sgt-bilko-movie-still-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPAQwpJIjUtwQwK4f8Cl_HB3VSOZRPRAUWkGAXWfJjA0giXUWnMAbR_s-vNzUMFsK2Xlz8sfYhd4JFsOoaEJsju-09yyLhFfUNZabMw4QNa7bKqj9msdmr4xTA0iVydb9EIWF1zwr9Lsx/s400/sgt-bilko-movie-still-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1996 cast: Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd, Phil Hartman  rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>AND IN THIS CORNER:</b> SGT. BILKO (also based on a classic TV series) runs the Army motor pool like his very own casino.<br /> <br /> Seen through the eyes of a new recruit mechanic with an annoying penchant for honesty, we see all the wily goings-on: from poker games to a wrestling match between a fat dude and a horse. Steve Martin throws all his rubbery physical hijinks into the same pot and comes across as a hyperactive game show host rather than a Navy con artist. And Phil Hartman’s commander provides the antagonists: a former rival of Bilko, he’s returned from Iceland with one goal: change the party-hardy unit into a well-oiled machine. Too soon we’re thrust into the lovable slobs having to deal with an adversary. The good times don’t roll long enough until the audience, like the characters herein, have to end the party. And despite stale jokes, boring side-characters (including a tubby Dan Aykroyd), a pointless subplot about a hovering tank, and Bilko's put-upon love interest, it’s not much of a party to begin with.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> <b>THE DECISION:</b> Although Bilko scores a few points for coming out a year earlier, McHale knocks him out with ease!!!</div>

bruce campbell, comedy, dan aykroyd, ernest borgnine, military, nineties, steve martin, tim curry, tom arnold, TV adaptation

NINETIES REBOOT SMACKDOWN: MCHALE'S NAVY VS SGT. BILKO

 year: 1997 cast: Tom Arnold, Dean Stockwell rating: *** IN THIS CORNER … MCHALE’S NAVY starring Tom Arnold, more of a breezy action fil...

A FEW GOOD MEN

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggdwBpZvAEjg5Xo7mU90nZ8w4m3lD7PXj5oAWiPjaledcktOajalS3cnwF9e_DEUf1D5KSZrhPdxRVn2Dww-wqbn6kznHV2UzePh4rmy38SKNqLDW9cK4cFy1JPam6JOb2bDkXiUs5WA8/s1600/a-few-good-men.jpg"><strong><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576993495894009330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggdwBpZvAEjg5Xo7mU90nZ8w4m3lD7PXj5oAWiPjaledcktOajalS3cnwF9e_DEUf1D5KSZrhPdxRVn2Dww-wqbn6kznHV2UzePh4rmy38SKNqLDW9cK4cFy1JPam6JOb2bDkXiUs5WA8/s200/a-few-good-men.jpg" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 143px; float: right; height: 200px;" /></strong></a><strong>title:</strong> A FEW GOOD MEN<br /><div><strong>year:</strong> 1992</div><div><strong>cast:</strong> Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollock, Kevin Bacon</div><div><strong>rating:</strong> ***1/2</div><br /><div></div><div>The last good Rob Reiner film before he went <em>North</em>, never to return. Tom Cruise is both effective and annoying (one in the same with Tom) as a slacker military lawyer defending two Marines for the murder of a passive grunt in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which might be linked to the "God and Country" Lieutenant (played with over-amped gusto by Keifer Sutherland) or even the big bad wolf General: scene-stealer Jack Nicholson who, during his four scenes (especially one in which he belittles Cruise's partner-in-law Demi Moore) completely steals the show. Prepare to wince as Cruise sulks about living in his father's shadow; and sustain disbelief for a very implausible ending. But the direction flows and the cast, especially Kevin Pollack as Cruise's grounded sidekick/conscious, morphs the otherwise unbelievable (and often contrived) proceedings into a decent courtroom melodrama. </div>

christopher guest, courtroom drama, demi moore, jack nicholson, keifer sutherland, kevin bacon, military, nineties, rob reiner, tom cruise

A FEW GOOD MEN

title: A FEW GOOD MEN year: 1992 cast: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollock, Kevin Bacon rating: ***1/2 The last good R...

IRON EAGLE

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHdlXD-8xxnogRMRbRuGWMz_1xy93b-Zlq2hflpuFXaPBEf3HmySBCBKG51B_hok_kHe6ssPoM7FF7gFl_qW23N3x9gtV-TXlYHPKe5fxGU8Z2C4gPoBZ3HFtKwLPT74Aa3cTdDpPYFbU/s1600/iron-eagle.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529861306096018450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHdlXD-8xxnogRMRbRuGWMz_1xy93b-Zlq2hflpuFXaPBEf3HmySBCBKG51B_hok_kHe6ssPoM7FF7gFl_qW23N3x9gtV-TXlYHPKe5fxGU8Z2C4gPoBZ3HFtKwLPT74Aa3cTdDpPYFbU/s200/iron-eagle.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 177px" /></a><strong>title:</strong> IRON EAGLE<br /><div><div><strong>year:</strong> 1986</div><div><strong>cast:</strong> Jason Gedrick, Louis Gossett Jr., Jerry Levine, Larry B. Scott, Robbie Rist, Tim Thomerson</div><div><strong>rating:</strong> *</div><br /><div>Begins as an enjoyably bad film, the likes you'll on cable on a weekend afternoon, centering on a teenager, Jason Gedrick, whose military dad is captured in a third world country. He and his misfit buddies aim to pull off what the military won't: a rescue. Unfortunately, Gedrick's friendship with maverick flyer Louis Gossett Jr. takes over, and the other kids, including Robbie Rist, Jerry Levine, and Larry B. Scott, are replaced by tedious bouts of Gossett's rambling dialog to his young protegee, thus leading to the mission/dog fight that never quite establishes who's being battled up there. </div></div>

action, eighties, jason gedrick, larry b. scott, louis gossett jr., military, robbie rist, teen, tim thomerson

IRON EAGLE

title: IRON EAGLE year: 1986 cast: Jason Gedrick, Louis Gossett Jr., Jerry Levine, Larry B. Scott, Robbie Rist, Tim Thomerson rating: * ...