cult film freak: geoffrey lewis

Showing posts with label geoffrey lewis. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 8/08/2023 / 1 Comment / action , catherine mary stewart , eighties , geoffrey lewis , horror , interview , kelli maroney , robert beltran , sharon farrell , thriller , zombie

THREE ACTRESSES REFLECT THE CULT CLASSIC 'NIGHT OF THE COMET'

<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/AVvXsEjkzu_cosVUlwPIe1RZj_a3wgt61JxdeICeM5bSr6XCRGXBCE2XswTAstavtkIROnkhAmEsQ-wnQGrx95ZG4cQvEX4wR3TXM-GmiyEhPQcx9jggDxrUOqkETz6I5aCbW5TtCy0yLVtHcPwcQyqq1oMTMgFzxIUVMWrJXGevhUTYreHTPHqFTzrJ1ayrToGv/s1844/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-13%20at%2010.48.35%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="1844" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzu_cosVUlwPIe1RZj_a3wgt61JxdeICeM5bSr6XCRGXBCE2XswTAstavtkIROnkhAmEsQ-wnQGrx95ZG4cQvEX4wR3TXM-GmiyEhPQcx9jggDxrUOqkETz6I5aCbW5TtCy0yLVtHcPwcQyqq1oMTMgFzxIUVMWrJXGevhUTYreHTPHqFTzrJ1ayrToGv/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-13%20at%2010.48.35%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interview selections with Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney and Sharon Farrell from Night of the Comet</td></tr></tbody></table>“At the time that we were shooting it and when it was released, I didn’t really think a lot about its popularity or longevity. I knew it was a quirky little film," Catherine Mary Stewart wrote in a Cult Film Freak Interview. "Even the producers weren’t sure exactly what to do with it. Thom Eberhardt, the writer/director, had always intended it to be tongue in cheek – a kind of salute to the old-fashioned horror genre with a twist of wry humor... "The producers looked at it in terms of being a serious horror film, perhaps knowing that there was a more solid market for that sort of thing... Fortunately, it ended up the way Thom had envisioned, which of course makes it stand out and adds some sort of weird validity to it."

action, catherine mary stewart, eighties, geoffrey lewis, horror, interview, kelli maroney, robert beltran, sharon farrell, thriller, zombie

THREE ACTRESSES REFLECT THE CULT CLASSIC 'NIGHT OF THE COMET'

Interview selections with Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney and Sharon Farrell from Night of the Comet “At the time that we were shoot...

CANVASING THE UNIQUE CAPER OF 'THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT'

<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/AVvXsEgQ6GkisxXEHkX9avasJnODPr7TRSNMl3end-uZs6IKG7kalnMWJMcVojIUTvsmN_OkRU3sawuaf3bB439Xl3VI0Sl6-_CXNBvjrTDjxMtw4jPDBZLVL7B2_iqAUlGn2Lb--uqWZtyqIVMiIv9w9rYravZfYpv4GWf-ddu6TLCptpraYfuem1v4s43ERA/s1122/36.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="1122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ6GkisxXEHkX9avasJnODPr7TRSNMl3end-uZs6IKG7kalnMWJMcVojIUTvsmN_OkRU3sawuaf3bB439Xl3VI0Sl6-_CXNBvjrTDjxMtw4jPDBZLVL7B2_iqAUlGn2Lb--uqWZtyqIVMiIv9w9rYravZfYpv4GWf-ddu6TLCptpraYfuem1v4s43ERA/s16000/36.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT Director: Michael Cimino Stars: Clint Eastwood Year: 1974 Score: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>There's a quote in the 1974 cult action flick THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT about an experienced ex-bank robber played by Clint Eastwood teamed with a young freewheeling Jeff Bridges... 
  Ironically "Stick with me, kid, you're gonna live forever" is young Jeff's line as Lightfoot to Clint's Thunderbolt since the enigmatic, offbeat youngster  speaks in almost all hackneyed adages...

action, bill mckinney, catherine bach, chase, clint eastwood, geoffrey lewis, george kennedy, hangout, heist, jack dodson, jeff bridges, june fairchild, michael cimino, roy jenson

CANVASING THE UNIQUE CAPER OF 'THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT'

Title: THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT Director: Michael Cimino Stars: Clint Eastwood Year: 1974 Score: **** There's a quote in the 1974 cu...

TOBE HOOPER DIRECTS THE TV VAMPIRE MOVIE OF 'SALEM'S LOT'

<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/AVvXsEj5bK2QdZk6eNrc2LFoc7C-OqUnNSr3nq3-3vIfWZohzDvD8sEJLy-o30FJgXFKh6uSfpMDaB0lEZUp4qLBkX930PTCd-y7GyGISg2O75vonqZyp9jbk262S-9iSc0z2cUN7XbVHoTxh267BeMkB1mcE-iBsEul-dPrAIDedrfy2pFhkHXrdkf4oG6sPQ/s1600/22.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="891" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5bK2QdZk6eNrc2LFoc7C-OqUnNSr3nq3-3vIfWZohzDvD8sEJLy-o30FJgXFKh6uSfpMDaB0lEZUp4qLBkX930PTCd-y7GyGISg2O75vonqZyp9jbk262S-9iSc0z2cUN7XbVHoTxh267BeMkB1mcE-iBsEul-dPrAIDedrfy2pFhkHXrdkf4oG6sPQ/s16000/22.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Soul in SALEM'S LOT Year: 1979 Rating: ****1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Although groundbreaking horror/exploitation director Tobe Hooper is best known for and forever linked to the legendary low-budget slasher TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, his coolest, tightest and most accessible work is fulfilling and utterly frightful, unlike some other television movies/miniseries during the 1970's in which Stephen King's SALEM'S LOT rode the crest of... 
 Involving an eclectic ensemble from several cinematic generations behind leading man David Soul as a second-rate author returned to the titular New England hometown, doing investigative research on the locally-infamous, spooky-looking haunted manor on a hill described to former English teacher/mentor Lew Ayres: "Can a house be evil in its stone foundations? In its wooden beams? In the glass of its windows?"

body count, david soul, fred willard, geoffrey lewis, horror, james mason, julie cobb, kenneth mcmillan, lance kerwin, lew ayres, miniseries, seventies, stephen king, tobe hooper, tv movie, vampire

TOBE HOOPER DIRECTS THE TV VAMPIRE MOVIE OF 'SALEM'S LOT'

David Soul in SALEM'S LOT Year: 1979 Rating: ****1/2 Although groundbreaking horror/exploitation director Tobe Hooper is best known for...

RIP WILLIAM SMITH 'ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN' CLINT EASTWOOD

<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/AVvXsEgNefBCvC7n0DGYke1OwKyVlWq3goCZHHFNzD98l5ykGPOBisc9-A0hJJQHN_drTz2SlcridcRFgPmSCElL5QscpNSueSp7G5fw8r-3ab0F-Fwxl6dUz_ZFDFR_kIm82ZLjONT31-9dMYgw/s1354/23.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1071" data-original-width="1354" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNefBCvC7n0DGYke1OwKyVlWq3goCZHHFNzD98l5ykGPOBisc9-A0hJJQHN_drTz2SlcridcRFgPmSCElL5QscpNSueSp7G5fw8r-3ab0F-Fwxl6dUz_ZFDFR_kIm82ZLjONT31-9dMYgw/w400-h316/23.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Smith pointing the way Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2 </td></tr></tbody></table>The popular sequel ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN surpasses BUT LOOSE by getting the bickering love story between Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke out of the way, and while Geoffrey Lewis as Clint's junkyard business partner deserved more scenes, William Smith adds genuine bad ass legitimacy and alone takes the place of the random HARD TIMES style money-brawls spread throughout the original, as it's all one big anticipated match here, a kind of QUIET MAN moveable bout filmed nicely by Clint's stuntman buddy Buddy Van Horn who, like Smith himself, also died recently, so let this be a quick memorial for both...William Smith was one of the great heavies of cinema, and television, peaking a few years back as villain's villain Falconetti in both <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/06/falcon-eddie.html">RICH MAN, POOR MAN</a> series, and before that swung fists in a slew of biker, horror, blaxploitation and exploitation flicks. But what made the more mainstream ANY so great is he's a nice tough guy, who becomes friends with Clint's Philo Beddoe before the match... Philo whose beloved pet is that famous orangutan pet Clyde, doing the same "Right Hook" to knock down a biker gang, one of several repeats including Ruth Gordon doing her noisy old broad character: Thus ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN allows the viewer to hangout with these hangout-movie characters instead of going through the motions of getting to know them. So Beer's To You, William Smith... and Buddy Van Horn too.

action, adventure, clint eastwood, comedy, eighties, geoffrey lewis, ruth gordon, sondra locke, william smith

RIP WILLIAM SMITH 'ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN' CLINT EASTWOOD

William Smith pointing the way Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2 The popular sequel ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN surpasses BUT LOOSE by getting the bickerin...

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;">Sam Bottoms, Sondra Locke, Clint Eastwood and Bill McKinney in BRONCO BILLY Year: 1980</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...

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...

EASTWOOD & BRIDGES ARE 'THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT'

<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/AVvXsEi2-0c7HYDPkaSEgsem74qOiGlQHwMSVTlLd14a5GbQ0ShaZjSbz0oX9_FiIr9nAmzPzqR_fToqsHaWvUpj8krIJRkCLVsPt1oj1DkmrXWc1BnJCISPHhaTEftWGDwDCLo9KX3r-Xi4d9A/s1600/0.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/AVvXsEi2-0c7HYDPkaSEgsem74qOiGlQHwMSVTlLd14a5GbQ0ShaZjSbz0oX9_FiIr9nAmzPzqR_fToqsHaWvUpj8krIJRkCLVsPt1oj1DkmrXWc1BnJCISPHhaTEftWGDwDCLo9KX3r-Xi4d9A/s400/0.jpg" width="260"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Year: 1974</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
By the end, it's pretty obvious Jeff Bridges' Best Supporting Actor nomination for THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT was a result of what occurs during the last twenty minutes, but this relatively underrated movie, directed by MAGNUM FORCE (the second and best DIRTY HARRY flick) co-scriptwriter and future DEER HUNTER visionary turned HEAVEN'S GATE studio-breaking Michael Cimino, isn't altogether normal... 
 
In fact, Jeff plays one of the most bizarre and unique and, at the same time, utterly simplistic, naive and innocent characters in the gritty 1970's (in this case, 1974) Action/Adventure genre... 
 
<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/AVvXsEiHM71-YlqTOEfXF7HqWsFVPhlvUP4PlMWICujWF1M1FKSOI4s0FU6ERkqeUq8pNdKjdmGvH0zB2Hzr7fgeSOgDSu9zpAg6YWUCApRjeox5NBOJWDqb9Tw4gToXDesNCLMD9R4aumPyHnA-/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-08-06+at+1.23.32+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="522" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHM71-YlqTOEfXF7HqWsFVPhlvUP4PlMWICujWF1M1FKSOI4s0FU6ERkqeUq8pNdKjdmGvH0zB2Hzr7fgeSOgDSu9zpAg6YWUCApRjeox5NBOJWDqb9Tw4gToXDesNCLMD9R4aumPyHnA-/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-08-06+at+1.23.32+PM.jpg" width="160"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clint Eastwood</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although Caper/Heist should be thrown into the multi-genre mix since what everything boils down to are four guys trying an "impossible" theft that actually was accomplished years earlier... that we learn through dialogue and never witness. Things went extremely awry and now the strongest, most intimidating of the bunch, George Kennedy's Red, in his most formidable, intimidating roles, has, in the edgy present, one goal in mind... 
 
To kill bank-robbing genius Clint Eastwood who, as road-wise THUNDERBOLT to Jeff's more local-leaning LIGHTFOOT, turns in one of the most natural, loose performances of his career, beginning as a "preacher" that gets (sought out and) hunted by Red's partner, played by tough-guy staple Roy Jenson, and is then saved by the aforementioned young fellow who, having just stolen a car right off the lot, and seeming already on the run, perpetually quoting cliche one-liners and with no actual destination or substantial backstory for his own existence, becomes a partner with an initially annoyed THUNDERBOLT, and then two even more reluctant veterans are driven nuts by the ever-jokey "kid" who still knows a thing or two, and always takes chances...

action, caper, clint eastwood, geoffrey lewis, george kennedy bill mckinney, hangout, heist, michael cimino, road movie, seventies, suspense, team-up

EASTWOOD & BRIDGES ARE 'THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT'

Year: 1974 By the end, it's pretty obvious Jeff Bridges' Best Supporting Actor nomination for THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT was a re...

DOUBLE IMPACT

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaq9OVR2ZH6Sh4qeHoeiIj8PqWf_I6E4aCvK3aEYER5JMO5K544gvfF6eP6rflQpOgdWr72YzIhc4DZIwcWEik99exmr0u7x0P3sj8EudKwLliEu807ErdTkD2fj0jcv6oUQkw9ALeL-0/s1600/vandammes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaq9OVR2ZH6Sh4qeHoeiIj8PqWf_I6E4aCvK3aEYER5JMO5K544gvfF6eP6rflQpOgdWr72YzIhc4DZIwcWEik99exmr0u7x0P3sj8EudKwLliEu807ErdTkD2fj0jcv6oUQkw9ALeL-0/s1600/vandammes.jpg" /></a></div>title: DOUBLE IMPACT 
year: 1991 
cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Geoffrey Lewis 
rating: *** 
 
If one Jean-Claude Van Damme was never enough, here's the movie for you: a decent action flick beginning with two infants separated during a bloody shootout in Hong Kong… Their father did a favor for a mobster who didn’t need his services any longer. Thanks to Geoffrey Lewis as a bodyguard turned uncle, one of the brothers, who winds up a pretty boy karate instructor to rich, horny women in Los Angeles, is saved. But he’s drawn back to cutthroat Hong Kong where he meets his shady twin, an arms dealer who couldn’t be more different. Together, along with Geoffrey Lewis and of course a beautiful love interest, they take on the mob boss who killed their parents, and even with two Dammes, it won’t be easy. The best scenes involve the milquetoast brother getting tougher through various fights, especially with the iconic ENTER THE DRAGON badass Bolo Yeung (fitfully scarred-up from the opening scene, making him even more intimidating). But the crooked brother, who had so much promise as a rogue maverick in the beginning, becomes but a jealous whiner as his put-upon lady starts preferring Abel to Cain. It’s a movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and there’s an abundance of insert/close-ups that lead one to believe the budget wasn’t too high. But the characters are interesting enough to care about and it’s the fights that matter, occurring enough to appease hardcore karate buffs.

action, bolo yeung, geoffrey lewis, jean-claude van damme, karate, nineties