JIM KELLY KICKS FRONT IN ROBERT CLOUSE'S 'BLACK BELT JONES'

<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/AVvXsEhb_ZyctjLulHuxom7SCmwbLpaEv2HXGhPZq-ZwJZGX1ZvkklKji3g026I0RbRhCAfGpAY1ouXldaW0QUl7wa-aljy-bCqkTlytW0lvIYdIOdlOl7opQ1UwLpUcT6VotT-fJY3UWoZIZ8cA3lhleZ25WWtC4Ruyo7N0oSa6OE2zOLyLOu4j8y_0ioQFMTBw/s1570/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-29%20at%206.48.03%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_ZyctjLulHuxom7SCmwbLpaEv2HXGhPZq-ZwJZGX1ZvkklKji3g026I0RbRhCAfGpAY1ouXldaW0QUl7wa-aljy-bCqkTlytW0lvIYdIOdlOl7opQ1UwLpUcT6VotT-fJY3UWoZIZ8cA3lhleZ25WWtC4Ruyo7N0oSa6OE2zOLyLOu4j8y_0ioQFMTBw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-29%20at%206.48.03%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster deliberately transforming Bruce Lee into Jim Kelly for BLACK BELT JONES Year: 1974 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Anyone thinking ENTER THE DRAGON director Robert Clouse simply got lucky need only experience BLACK BELT JONES starring Bruce Lee's cocky black rival and overall fan-favorite Jim Kelly who, giant afro and all, takes on the mafia in what Clouse neatly balances as part martial arts, part gritty downtown-blaxploitation and part GODFATHER-inspired mafia crime flick...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The latter serves the plot as Jones's friend Scatman Crothers owns an urban karate studio, and the mob needs the land... eventually inherited by the first James Bond girl in Gloria Hendry as Crothers' daughter, who winds up both Jones's love interest and a practically equal karate partner...</p><p><span></span></p>

alan weeks, blaxploitation, eric laneuville, exploitation, gloria hendry, jim kelly, karate, mafia, malik carter, marla gibbs, scatman crothers, seventies, spy, ted lange, vince barbi

JIM KELLY KICKS FRONT IN ROBERT CLOUSE'S 'BLACK BELT JONES'

Poster deliberately transforming Bruce Lee into Jim Kelly for BLACK BELT JONES Year: 1974 Rating: **** Anyone thinking ENTER THE DRAGON dire...

RALPH BAKSHI BLAXPLOITATION-ANIMATION OF 'COONSKIN'

<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/AVvXsEhNboiGSYBo9CItym2nA3XC4Zjmq90WfY9PCPSMDZHfqX7UwyEHmwoX1RA1DoUPXwisNrnQOXR3MLgDyF0fL2ipalo4Ct3yqxF93kSPpJEweOl5IMBQiZ1OY56pvHPyw_hrytfaORAnB2xcLxwFC-Mg39CcXuGr9jYpcjBIIspSJSq9-KSrkusYmfdVNCOW/s2134/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-13%20at%208.30.51%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1086" data-original-width="2134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNboiGSYBo9CItym2nA3XC4Zjmq90WfY9PCPSMDZHfqX7UwyEHmwoX1RA1DoUPXwisNrnQOXR3MLgDyF0fL2ipalo4Ct3yqxF93kSPpJEweOl5IMBQiZ1OY56pvHPyw_hrytfaORAnB2xcLxwFC-Mg39CcXuGr9jYpcjBIIspSJSq9-KSrkusYmfdVNCOW/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-13%20at%208.30.51%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: COONSKIN aka STREET FIGHT Director: Ralph Bakshi Year: 1975 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2024/10/htraffic.html">HEAVY TRAFFIC</a> where cult director Ralph Bakshi inserted cartoon characters with actual urban backdrops, he went to the next level, combining character-driven live-action in what begins a super-low-budget blaxploitation prison-break that just might've been something on its own... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>As hidden escapees Philip Michael Thomas and the narrating Scatman Crothers await friends Barry White and Charles Gordone to pick them up, Crothers tells a story based on SONG OF THE SOUTH: transforming into a symbolic cartoon with Thomas as a skinny/slinky Rabbit; Barry White a gigantic Bear; and Gordone a preaching Fox...</p><p><span></span></p>

animation, barry white, blaxploitation, cult, philip michael thomas, scatman crothers, seventies

RALPH BAKSHI BLAXPLOITATION-ANIMATION OF 'COONSKIN'

Title: COONSKIN aka STREET FIGHT Director: Ralph Bakshi Year: 1975 Rating: **1/2 After HEAVY TRAFFIC where cult director Ralph Bakshi inser...

JACK NICHOLSON 'THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS' BRUCE DERN

<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/AVvXsEgADuYZIywSyw6eT4Z89zbHZ5WMsyIaTMTiMtIbfuodxfo1kw84Ym6sl6e9MeLHn9GwFeNiL2JNb7c2z2sYyXVKq2qyU_w-jp-KtgRscENa-HpEC4W6ikFNR19pCo8J9Wr-Mb_iMZF6hDsSC3hSNHSBNBEx0VhfYUt_DoBOMq-TMGiRxZsGKeuJcjg7CbVb/s1985/Screen+Shot+2021-09-26+at+4.57.44+PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="1985" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgADuYZIywSyw6eT4Z89zbHZ5WMsyIaTMTiMtIbfuodxfo1kw84Ym6sl6e9MeLHn9GwFeNiL2JNb7c2z2sYyXVKq2qyU_w-jp-KtgRscENa-HpEC4W6ikFNR19pCo8J9Wr-Mb_iMZF6hDsSC3hSNHSBNBEx0VhfYUt_DoBOMq-TMGiRxZsGKeuJcjg7CbVb/s16000/Screen+Shot+2021-09-26+at+4.57.44+PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bruce Dern and Jack Nicholson in THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS Year: 1972 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Maybe directors never really outgrow their film school mindset: And in that, following what would forever remain their collaborative pinnacle, FIVE EASY PIECES director Bob Rafelson gave his close friend Jack Nicholson a break from the stereotype of being the feisty rebel type, here a meek Philly-dwelling radio host of melancholy monologues...<br></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>Then again maybe he should have played Bruce Dern's conniving con-man older brother Jason Staebler, on the stumbling verge of an Atlantic City land deal with a few obstacles including a potentially dangerous kingpin (Nicholson's three picture co-star, Scatman Crothers) and especially his women...<br></p><span></span>

bob rafelson, bruce dern, crime, cult, ellen burstyn, gambling, indie, jack nicholson, julia anne robinson, neo noir, scatman crothers, seventies, thriller

JACK NICHOLSON 'THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS' BRUCE DERN

Bruce Dern and Jack Nicholson in THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS Year: 1972 Rating: *** Maybe directors never really outgrow their film school mi...

MOTIVATION OF JACK NICHOLSON GONE CRAZY FOR 'THE SHINING'

<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/AVvXsEiqWZLCrTV8q4714BBVXoYeb6YVgtgFYojhc1VoCDgqWMqy7yMFC3aAaAas-Vkp_5ocYdNRMQILzo5aGsuCJde2Y-N9wPIjsI496qgH_GWwJ7SZWEQtzKmUXVZrwCpO0RtWzP6PGBePTOJPvdNN_RSwyr3_DrZIriKEDjhKYFkgbTBWBSuD9B7BYXNFHRAV/s1600/6.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWZLCrTV8q4714BBVXoYeb6YVgtgFYojhc1VoCDgqWMqy7yMFC3aAaAas-Vkp_5ocYdNRMQILzo5aGsuCJde2Y-N9wPIjsI496qgH_GWwJ7SZWEQtzKmUXVZrwCpO0RtWzP6PGBePTOJPvdNN_RSwyr3_DrZIriKEDjhKYFkgbTBWBSuD9B7BYXNFHRAV/s16000/6.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Article on the madness of King Jack Nicholson and Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING from 1980</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Thanks to the famous image of a grimacing madman's head through a slashed door, it seems THE SHINING would be nothing more than a fiendish axe-wielding Jack Nicholson running amok. The sinister “Here’s Johnny!” line is as overrated as the TAXI DRIVER “You talkin’ to me?” scene — yet there’s more going on here than a crazy antagonist.<br> <br> It's unfortunate that young horror fans anticipating scare-a-minute thrills are often misled into a deliberately slow-paced cerebral-surreal journey that takes time to encompass the film’s true villain — The Overlook Hotel... <br> </p>

adaptation, anne jackson, article, barry dennen, barry nelson, eighties, essay, horror, jack nicholson, joe turkel, philip stone, scatman crothers, shelley duvall, stanley kubrick, stephen king, thriller

MOTIVATION OF JACK NICHOLSON GONE CRAZY FOR 'THE SHINING'

Article on the madness of King Jack Nicholson and Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING from 1980 Thanks to the famous image o...

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN & JOHN TRAVOLTA IN 'TWO OF A KIND'

<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><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/AVvXsEiIbLPkMq5vs2Kf4rpok04CY-LE2UPjgQzc2myONKVzb7k0gBM-HBq7jV6Ay7DM7unUrDj4ZK3eMqtdl83T7JoSt-dBIEm501R5QpwqMIPnOIFQUo0lnxS0UHjvcqlUQ5oJf4K2u6g19j_Zn8NphsKyEhFRwOov1sf1cVGqsJsR-oOBpLP74fE82RMbtA/s1578/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-08%20at%204.37.44%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="1578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIbLPkMq5vs2Kf4rpok04CY-LE2UPjgQzc2myONKVzb7k0gBM-HBq7jV6Ay7DM7unUrDj4ZK3eMqtdl83T7JoSt-dBIEm501R5QpwqMIPnOIFQUo0lnxS0UHjvcqlUQ5oJf4K2u6g19j_Zn8NphsKyEhFRwOov1sf1cVGqsJsR-oOBpLP74fE82RMbtA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-08%20at%204.37.44%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Olivia Newton-John Travolta in TWO OF A KIND Year: 1983 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Iconic <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/09/grease-revisited.html?fbclid=IwAR0-PhBPy889pCmRszKQD5oPStQoljiUhS7-RsVTruqtL-UYJW8GzAmLKS4">GREASE</a> stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John turned down reprising their roles in the sequel because of a bad script, and yet they chose the bizarre TWO OF A KIND instead, a romantic comedy involving guardian angels... <br></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></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>Including Charles Durning and Scatman Crothers who, to save Earth from God voiced by Gene Hackman, must prove that the randomly selected John Travolta, as a bank robbing inventor, could risk everything for equally broke bank teller Olivia Newton-John, pulling off what Elliott Gould did to Christopher Plummer in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/02/need-a-plummer.html">THE SILENT PARTNER</a>: keeping the money the crook reportedly stole...</p><p><span></span></p>

charles durning, eighties, fantasy, gene hackman, heist, john travolta, oliver reed, olivia newton-john, richard bright, romantic comedy, scatman crothers

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN & JOHN TRAVOLTA IN 'TWO OF A KIND'

Olivia Newton-John Travolta in TWO OF A KIND Year: 1983 Rating: *** Iconic GREASE stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John turned down re...

JACK NICHOLSON 'THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS' BRUCE DERN

<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/AVvXsEhkEM-zVMB89sc_7TmeDqIvqQ9m2rtwmfY1fs53Xy5z9e49AlaH_OrwCgdumwlUDeU1_lkzx1wLIUguhcELz7iswHOAyeI9ni8ASq5HfjTr5K6FIv8mnhbSk0bfJ85ct36haqsew3HuUu7X/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-07-28+at+5.05.59+AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1075" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEM-zVMB89sc_7TmeDqIvqQ9m2rtwmfY1fs53Xy5z9e49AlaH_OrwCgdumwlUDeU1_lkzx1wLIUguhcELz7iswHOAyeI9ni8ASq5HfjTr5K6FIv8mnhbSk0bfJ85ct36haqsew3HuUu7X/s400/Screen+Shot+2020-07-28+at+5.05.59+AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jack Nicholson in THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS Year: 1972</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Who knows, maybe directors never really outgrow their primal, rudimentary, symbolic, allegorical, idealistically pretentious, metaphysical, narcissistic, nostalgic mindset of film school...<br> <br> And in that, following what would forever remain their collaborative pinnacle, FIVE EASY PIECES director Bob Rafelson gave his close friend and future multi-collaborator Jack Nicholson a break from the (possible) stereotype of being the discontented, blunt, feisty rebel type, which he'd proven to be perfectly suited for: Then again, maybe he should have played Bruce Dern's conniving con-man older brother Jason Staebler, on the stumbling verge of an Atlantic City land deal with a few obstacles including a potentially dangerous kingpin and especially his women...<br>

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

JACK NICHOLSON 'THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS' BRUCE DERN

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

JACK NICHOLSON & BOB RAFELSON NEO-NOIR TRIPLE FEATURE

<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/AVvXsEi1D4yj0v9EEs7B6b9S-lyMfTxeiBUwdwLfCaIp2_UOEOxegn9PEdntAs-SXCYS06ilydnXWEBzYBlCELMCUb2s3qfEBDy3dV3tIMxyGC3zxD28K3LInvzhLoW7D54l3DinqWvvWE7dagLv/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-03-11+at+3.45.44+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="1600" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1D4yj0v9EEs7B6b9S-lyMfTxeiBUwdwLfCaIp2_UOEOxegn9PEdntAs-SXCYS06ilydnXWEBzYBlCELMCUb2s3qfEBDy3dV3tIMxyGC3zxD28K3LInvzhLoW7D54l3DinqWvvWE7dagLv/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-03-11+at+3.45.44+PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jack Nicholson unhitches The Postman Always Rings Twice</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In the late 60's, Jack Nicholson and director Bob Rarelson, when both were relatively unknown, a cinematic partnership was born, and of their five total we'll center on three Neo Noir vehicles, one per decade, ending in the later-1990's and starting in the early-1970's...<br> <br> <u>THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS</u>: Who knows, maybe directors never really outgrow their primal, rudimentary, symbolic, allegorical, idealistically pretentious, metaphysical, narcissistic, nostalgic mindset of film school: And in that, following what would forever remain their collaborative pinnacle, FIVE EASY PIECES director Bob Rafelson gave his close friend and future multi-collaborator Jack Nicholson a break from the (possible) stereotype of being the discontented, blunt, feisty rebel type, which he's proven... even in early Roger Corman vehicles and Richard Rush biker flicks... which he was perfectly suited for...<br>

bob rafelson, eighties, ellen burstyn, jack nicholson, jennifer lopez, jessica lange, julia anne robinson, michael caine, neo noir, nineties, remake, scatman crothers, seventies, shark, thriller

JACK NICHOLSON & BOB RAFELSON NEO-NOIR TRIPLE FEATURE

Jack Nicholson unhitches The Postman Always Rings Twice In the late 60's, Jack Nicholson and director Bob Rarelson, when both were r...

CHEERS TO CLINT EASTWOOD & SONDRA LOCKE IN 'BRONCO BILLY'

<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/AVvXsEj6FCJ9j7pDRIluoZoMmzWRcwUDq4440IE8vXMJ131Zymqtac10GxLEedB_hdl-2DdKIUFYQAGWxrVy_B5JBnl7J_sPe1M4W7ZDuLXMQr7bSXiJ3obVpUlsMOxCNERx4uiSdZznY4gz84Wx/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-01-13+at+4.15.58+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FCJ9j7pDRIluoZoMmzWRcwUDq4440IE8vXMJ131Zymqtac10GxLEedB_hdl-2DdKIUFYQAGWxrVy_B5JBnl7J_sPe1M4W7ZDuLXMQr7bSXiJ3obVpUlsMOxCNERx4uiSdZznY4gz84Wx/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-01-13+at+4.15.58+PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sam Bottoms, Sondra Locke, Clint Eastwood and Bill McKinney in BRONCO BILLY Year: 1980</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> At one time this was Clint Eastwood's favorite movie directed and starring, Clint Eastwood. Not sure if that's changed from when the statement was originally stated by the man who has directed plenty... But for Cult Film Freak it holds up as completely logical and legit, still...<br>

adventure, bill mckinney, clint eastwood, eighties, geoffrey lewis, juliette lewis, mental ward, sam bottoms, scatman crothers, sondra locke, tessa richarde, walter barnes

CHEERS TO CLINT EASTWOOD & SONDRA LOCKE IN 'BRONCO BILLY'

Sam Bottoms, Sondra Locke, Clint Eastwood and Bill McKinney in BRONCO BILLY Year: 1980 At one time this was Clint Eastwood's favorit...

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN TRAVOLTA STAR IN TWO OF A KIND

<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/AVvXsEj8TLmiZ1i7uRnWnHb78t6MhuTFxLS1A0Sdjk6hS85KK2zHKl5XRb04WavTnPIHHzIlTqCcY4D_ca-VhK0rZoPvCQ0Uorl2n4bZTjXiZIuFaGot51mQNxdeToYuhoyxBTuVSCVQSkNOqR4/s1600/8.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/AVvXsEj8TLmiZ1i7uRnWnHb78t6MhuTFxLS1A0Sdjk6hS85KK2zHKl5XRb04WavTnPIHHzIlTqCcY4D_ca-VhK0rZoPvCQ0Uorl2n4bZTjXiZIuFaGot51mQNxdeToYuhoyxBTuVSCVQSkNOqR4/s400/8.jpg" width="260"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year Released: 1983</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Not being a huge fan of what's considered the so-called Golden Era of Cinema wherein Welles, Hitchcock and Film Noir is more of a Sleek Silver, this used to happen all the time...<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/AVvXsEjHjC2tIUiL2GJzrl_uQiH7IHnEv5sv3yBIAIxujHHcM3NVUKdWoCop4At7k9-kD5hTuPnBlqxscRwswrOPnpzF5q_Y1bGWPpXM14pxt4tWDg3633k_Q2axrM-cekgBTGyOFoYAiZSOqe1C/s1600/8.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/AVvXsEjHjC2tIUiL2GJzrl_uQiH7IHnEv5sv3yBIAIxujHHcM3NVUKdWoCop4At7k9-kD5hTuPnBlqxscRwswrOPnpzF5q_Y1bGWPpXM14pxt4tWDg3633k_Q2axrM-cekgBTGyOFoYAiZSOqe1C/s400/8.jpg" width="261"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poster Image Rotated</td></tr> </tbody></table> Back when an actor and actress teaming up for a handful of different vehicles, not always sequels which, since the 1980's, have become something of a typical Hollywood expectation when two people spark in one film and are expected to sustain as those same characters thereafter: To name a few past couple/partners in cinema are Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. Or more intense duos John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Bogart and his young trophy wife Lauren Bacall. James Cagney and Joan Blondell. But more befitting this particular film occurred a few years later, when no-name actress turned superstar PRETTY WOMAN Julia Roberts and Richard Gere returned for what wasn't an anticipated sequel of their blockbuster, but a project (with the same director) all it's own about a RUNAWAY BRIDE. And so, onto the subject at hand, the year following GREASE 2, where (of the youngsters) only Didi Conn's ex Pink Lady returned, the world must have been yearning for that John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John chemistry that made the original GREASE – along with being a fantastic musical with terrific side characters – so incredibly dynamic...<br>

charles durning, gene hackman, john travolta, oliver reed, olivia newton-john, romantic comedy, scatman crothers, team-up

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN TRAVOLTA STAR IN TWO OF A KIND

Year Released: 1983 Not being a huge fan of what's considered the so-called Golden Era of Cinema wherein Welles, Hitchcock and Film ...

OUT OF THE HAT REVIEW OF 'TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <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/AVvXsEgIMiWrphaX1tkVRI9AATMEmm4rA9_QrydISPc9OYiaEADI8QPpXXxSzbrFr8LkCtr7CCLqc5v4Rysa87UVvaRCcP7eP-h7kV0L-pNtmUK76t9S2Y6MArpVK4pSMZSg9f6QSgcwcvI7uxs/s1600/twilight+zone+movie+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMiWrphaX1tkVRI9AATMEmm4rA9_QrydISPc9OYiaEADI8QPpXXxSzbrFr8LkCtr7CCLqc5v4Rysa87UVvaRCcP7eP-h7kV0L-pNtmUK76t9S2Y6MArpVK4pSMZSg9f6QSgcwcvI7uxs/s400/twilight+zone+movie+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1983 cast: Vic Morrow, John Lithgow rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> The tragic deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children aside, this theatrical version of Rod Serling’s groundbreaking television series has a few other problems...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> The first story, directed by John Landis, centers on Morrow as a racist loudmouth spouting epitaphs in a bar – overheard by a group of tough black dudes who, if they only beat him up when he walked out the door, would have deleted any need for the character’s descent into various historical settings where racism reigned: From walking a ledge as a Jew in Nazi Germany to sloshing through swamps as a Vietnamese native (the tragic helicopter sequence was filmed there), Morrow discovers sticks and stones have nothing on words.<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/AVvXsEi02HIPgLFx4hEd9_maGlmtnQbeuWzf8yOooMSFGgjUVuIo66_2PFJPw497r14EpWApZMYdknnVuvTPYMm3YZpk-YweZwqZq9GfayuyInI3Eb6F4EGd-7mUc2K9EDE37u18Uddj_bksdec/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-10-13+at+1.17.25+AM.png" 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/AVvXsEi02HIPgLFx4hEd9_maGlmtnQbeuWzf8yOooMSFGgjUVuIo66_2PFJPw497r14EpWApZMYdknnVuvTPYMm3YZpk-YweZwqZq9GfayuyInI3Eb6F4EGd-7mUc2K9EDE37u18Uddj_bksdec/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-10-13+at+1.17.25+AM.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not Shining Here</td></tr> </tbody></table> The story itself is somewhat intriguing – you’ll wonder what’ll happen next – but the ultimate punishment of the main character, as unlikable as he might be, is too forced and would have been much different had there been no on-set tragedy: Vic Morrow's Bill Conner could have learned his lesson and saved the Vietnamese children.<br /> <br /> The worst of the lot is Steven Spielberg’s KICK THE CAN. Making for an eerily nostalgic fable on the original series, Speilberg's take, with his flowing signature style overdosing to the point of seeming like a Spielbergland Theme Park, is a mushy melodrama centering on rest home old-timers who yearn for youth. The discontented coots turn into youngsters that seem part of a corny stage play. The child actors, instead of simply being children, are doing imitations of their older selves, so the entire episode feels like a parody. Veteran icon Scatman Crothers, as the mysterious traveler who wields the magic, tries his best but to no avail.<br /> <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/AVvXsEjCWuXfHJbM1eLPVDRPnu29ps-SKKxPMyEk4oKjqpAOKyO_mL38wm0g-hdUvYVsOoSIWNKgnSYyQ9v_WnEhufvRjx1UHIQvtca8YSqHs-6QzpSdaNECsjxM7MbdwxVYvX09GRUrkU4nwI8/s1600/twilight+zone+movie3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWuXfHJbM1eLPVDRPnu29ps-SKKxPMyEk4oKjqpAOKyO_mL38wm0g-hdUvYVsOoSIWNKgnSYyQ9v_WnEhufvRjx1UHIQvtca8YSqHs-6QzpSdaNECsjxM7MbdwxVYvX09GRUrkU4nwI8/s400/twilight+zone+movie3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bart Simpson's voice actress stalked by killer cartoons</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> Leading to the third entry as THE HOWLING director Joe Dante re-imagines one of the coolest episodes of the original series. Remember Billy Mumy as a sinister child holding his family, and the residents of a small town, at bay with evil powers to send chosen people into the Cornfield?<br /> <br /> The boy this time around is, like director Dante himself, heavily into cartoons. His house has a TV in each room and his family makes sure everything goes his way. When the maniacal brat brings home a beautiful passerby (Kathleen Quinlin), she witnesses this strange behavior. Although it can get too bizarre for its own good, Dante builds suspense nicely, setting a taut vibe where anything can happen – including the actress who’d later voice Bart Simpson being hunted by demonic cartoons: inside a television set!<br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <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/AVvXsEjJXK8okdn1deax0kWmhXxnZX6EyshQ0IFIQAK6T1vu75X19f1j7NjOJkJcWFG8hK5YU3ZW5rkYoD3cNmRI3jEC7Vg5TP4wycbMF0SucFVJUtXyVfFYlBnvDlTJaj4oGv_HLei2eO5RZEmx/s1600/twilight%252Bzone%252Bmovie%252B6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="324" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJXK8okdn1deax0kWmhXxnZX6EyshQ0IFIQAK6T1vu75X19f1j7NjOJkJcWFG8hK5YU3ZW5rkYoD3cNmRI3jEC7Vg5TP4wycbMF0SucFVJUtXyVfFYlBnvDlTJaj4oGv_HLei2eO5RZEmx/s400/twilight%252Bzone%252Bmovie%252B6.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Monster on the wing in the best segment</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Leading to the last, and by far the best, episode: John Lithgow (reprising William Shatner) plays a man terrified to fly. Stuck on a plane during a raging lighting-packed thunderstorm, he sporadically witnesses a scheming creature on the wing.<br /> <br /> MAD MAX director George Miller paints an intense canvas. From the claustrophobic fuselage to the storm-struck exterior where the monster wreaks havoc, each element adds nightmarish touches of one man’s descent into a personal hell. Lithgow turns-in the best performance, balancing manic desperation and edgy pathos, eventually facing off with the sinister ALIEN-looking Gremlin. And although Landis's first story fails in content... His prologue/epilogue involving hitchhiker Dan Aykroyd getting a ride from nice guy Albert Brooks – jovially discussing old TV shows like THE OUTER LIMITS and, yes, THE TWILIGHT ZONE – is both humorous and ultimately intense, leading to a terrific twist ending... Making you forget the first half was practically, and tragically, a complete throwaway. <br /> <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/AVvXsEjyE1mllhCnTZ02nkMXRKDwqFzu9O5niSKb_SBGhcYGVa9CrpAjJlaCUHCcwEn7oMElSaNZfDRxSl0cZcD7kQ5IxrDNXOoi-1RwjG1hxeXNEN0lD3VSN4M6f1E7TtbX6Kk7JsGlgXrjcus/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyE1mllhCnTZ02nkMXRKDwqFzu9O5niSKb_SBGhcYGVa9CrpAjJlaCUHCcwEn7oMElSaNZfDRxSl0cZcD7kQ5IxrDNXOoi-1RwjG1hxeXNEN0lD3VSN4M6f1E7TtbX6Kk7JsGlgXrjcus/s1600/13.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The demonic alligator creature just ate Bart Simpson...</td></tr> </tbody></table>

dan aykroyd, eighties, joe dante, john landis, john lithgow, remake, rod serling, scatman crothers, science-fiction, steven spielberg, vic morrow

OUT OF THE HAT REVIEW OF 'TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE'

year: 1983 cast: Vic Morrow, John Lithgow rating: *** The tragic deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children aside, this theatrical ...