JONATHAN KAPLAN DIRECTS RAY LIOTTA IN 'UNLAWFUL ENTRY'

<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/AVvXsEgvOvJ3i1E9VvKVzEoS9nmtpFL1lOgdlYDxBW4Rc0ukdev967ZlVIbl58AuQmF6cafYLHPIpyecHI4IXUHSt7ZJxQbbAEHOn3SczYhUmodfb8Lrn0RAt18zo_eeZoMVlbIpc2Xo956GlA4RWHZdlHYL4i20axLBnfFx0y95N9tejc7NVNS3YOUrOV1gXw/s2027/1%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="858" data-original-width="2027" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvOvJ3i1E9VvKVzEoS9nmtpFL1lOgdlYDxBW4Rc0ukdev967ZlVIbl58AuQmF6cafYLHPIpyecHI4IXUHSt7ZJxQbbAEHOn3SczYhUmodfb8Lrn0RAt18zo_eeZoMVlbIpc2Xo956GlA4RWHZdlHYL4i20axLBnfFx0y95N9tejc7NVNS3YOUrOV1gXw/s16000/1%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ray Liotta in UNLAWFUL ENTRY Year: 1992 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Some former student directors of low-budget movie-producing icon Roger Corman, no matter how big they got, still held onto an economic style liken to the straightforward simplicity of an old school marquee b-movie, and Jonathan Kaplan was one of the A-students...<br> <br> Although his best (or most well known) movies came after "graduation" with vehicles such as the cult teen angst rebellion classic, OVER THE EDGE, and then guiding Jodie Foster's first Oscar-winning role in the more conventional THE ACCUSED and later on, using the actor from fellow Cormon crony Jonathan Demme (who directed Foster's second big win) for his risque road journey SOMETHING WILD...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

cop, dick miller, harry northup, jonathan kaplan, ken lerner, kurt russell, madeline stowe, ray liotta, roger e. mosley, suspense, thriller

JONATHAN KAPLAN DIRECTS RAY LIOTTA IN 'UNLAWFUL ENTRY'

Ray Liotta in UNLAWFUL ENTRY Year: 1992 Rating: ***1/2 Some former student directors of low-budget movie-producing icon Roger Corman, no ma...

STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS KURT RUSSELL SELLING 'USED CARS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/a/AVvXsEhznkORU5byTHQ2R-NRrzR2y-BSgPM9z7epSOeUG7SbP6TUW18Fdrip_8OGJjgg7dw6UgBM03Y13e0OEEDHmyOiXXC5n59OMdCRQ91SovXNL-Lw7_HITV3zy1tw5IjDyk2qb_7dqxQ0ED6f3ptoDV1OLAiiwq6nb2CTk-uNOtbWd9ZG0FsaZplbnKJndw=s1439" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="1439" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhznkORU5byTHQ2R-NRrzR2y-BSgPM9z7epSOeUG7SbP6TUW18Fdrip_8OGJjgg7dw6UgBM03Y13e0OEEDHmyOiXXC5n59OMdCRQ91SovXNL-Lw7_HITV3zy1tw5IjDyk2qb_7dqxQ0ED6f3ptoDV1OLAiiwq6nb2CTk-uNOtbWd9ZG0FsaZplbnKJndw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: USED CARS Producer: Steven Spielberg Director: Bob Zemeckis Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Around the time that <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/11/1941.html">Steven Spielberg's WWII comedy</a> started vanishing from the collective moviegoer memories, the entire <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/11/1941.html">1941</a> team, also including producer John Milius co-writing with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, had a new movie out that bombed in theaters, unlike 1941 that, despite its maligned reputation, <i>did</i> turn a profit...<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>The irony is the Robert Zemickis directed USED CARS, co-written by Gale and produced by Milius and Spielberg, was getting the kind of "sleeper" attention within its predecessor's ebbing wake... <br></p><span></span>

bob gale, comedy, deborah harmon, eighties, exploitation, frank mcrea, gerrit graham, harry northup, jack warden, kurt russell, robert zemeckis

STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS KURT RUSSELL SELLING 'USED CARS'

Title: USED CARS Producer: Steven Spielberg Director: Bob Zemeckis Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2 Around the time that Steven Spielberg's WWII...

COOLLY CRUISING THROUGH DISNEY'S OFFBEAT 'SUPERDAD'

<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/AVvXsEiBYP83Fo-U-NceaNr2Zi4BT0C8X893O2JpnG1md5GD4WTOloJpTUZtAshCFaC75J72fNASphcF0omddcMxbm_l-1QAeRnyUk14Czx2B54Ub8AGzUN72NRDMavV6L8LXqJXeFXGE8i8npTb/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-02-02+at+9.05.37+AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBYP83Fo-U-NceaNr2Zi4BT0C8X893O2JpnG1md5GD4WTOloJpTUZtAshCFaC75J72fNASphcF0omddcMxbm_l-1QAeRnyUk14Czx2B54Ub8AGzUN72NRDMavV6L8LXqJXeFXGE8i8npTb/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-02-02+at+9.05.37+AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kurt Russell kicking back in SUPERDAD Year: 1973</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A bizarre Disney film called SUPERDAD starring HOGAN’S HEROES star Bob Crane who, at this point, after his show was finished, appeared in more clandestine sex videos than mainstream movies. and so, Disney gave him a chance to upstart a fledgling career... <br> <br> Maybe knowing Crane's backstory, the opening sequence is downright creepy and awkward. Bob Crane’s Charlie McCready doesn’t think his daughter deserves anyone else but Daddy...<br>

barbara rush, bob crane, bruno kirby, comedy, disney, ed begley jr., family, joby baker, kathleen cody, kurt russell, seventies

COOLLY CRUISING THROUGH DISNEY'S OFFBEAT 'SUPERDAD'

Kurt Russell kicking back in SUPERDAD Year: 1973 A bizarre Disney film called SUPERDAD starring HOGAN’S HEROES star Bob Crane who, at ...

KURT RUSSELL, MARTIN SHORT & MEADOW SISTO SAIL 'CAPTAIN RON'

<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/AVvXsEjoGBirQgTUUaLx36XtIZSZYqXv4yTZJoiPJ1dUd3YelaeI522qEuGQc1QQphUKOTYn4S9Cbgprtr0d0vgxJkd0PNQT6riGFSYhee6cBU8DK1uq-aKb7pUOfDX7W4VrnO7A-auqQUmUWcZz/s1600/0+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1012" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoGBirQgTUUaLx36XtIZSZYqXv4yTZJoiPJ1dUd3YelaeI522qEuGQc1QQphUKOTYn4S9Cbgprtr0d0vgxJkd0PNQT6riGFSYhee6cBU8DK1uq-aKb7pUOfDX7W4VrnO7A-auqQUmUWcZz/s1600/0+2.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kurt Russell, Martin Short and the beautiful Meadow Sisto in CAPTAIN RON Year: 1992</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Martin Short's greatest role was in THREE AMIGOS as a man who looked like a boy who acted like a teenager. But when he plays a husband/father, i.e. a typical guy in the VACATION style comedy CAPTAIN RON, it doesn't completely wash; and is one of many movies where a successful, hard-working yet uptight businessman learns how to become a flake in order to be liked by his family. Which happens all the time, on screen...<br> <br> With the reluctant, almost accidental "help" of Kurt Russell, resembling ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK Snake Plissken's goofy identical brother had he had one, he's the title character who passive-aggressively pilots a dilapidated boat Short was left by his dead uncle: And of course, the scraggly yet endearingly hopeless Ron is their only hope as he basically tags along on a busman's holiday around Caribbean-like islands...<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/AVvXsEhMjbgCEndTkdJG_TqJqsy1w7bdaiVa8DlR3_gNP3Fk-hwyD_F0kOxsqWYMhbElm0eVOXWTsDP6d4uCue6FBHTxLut9I3EgCZbxxelFWZyfEUm1OfNlZvqHzqF62Zud4FRGWo5nBWu4fQXD/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-01-28+at+10.35.02+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMjbgCEndTkdJG_TqJqsy1w7bdaiVa8DlR3_gNP3Fk-hwyD_F0kOxsqWYMhbElm0eVOXWTsDP6d4uCue6FBHTxLut9I3EgCZbxxelFWZyfEUm1OfNlZvqHzqF62Zud4FRGWo5nBWu4fQXD/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-01-28+at+10.35.02+PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Meadow Sisto as Caroline Harvey hotly walks the deck in CAPTAIN RON which Rates: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> During this uneven adventure/comedy our heroes encounter smugglers, guerillas, bad weather and a bevy of semi-chuckle situations that keep this boat floating, but only in shallow waters. What helps is both Mary Kay Place, as the wife/mom, and Meadow Sisto, as the daughter/sister, both wearing skimpy summer clothes and looking quite lovely. Like mother/daughter Karen Austin and Kerri Green in SUMMER RENTAL, Mary Kay and Meadow compliment each other perfectly. Both are the kind of personal pretty you eventually fall head-over-heels for.  <br> <br> Chartered by the 1980's zombie-yarn NIGHT OF THE COMET director Thom Ebersol, the rhythm and timing is a tad off, which doesn't matter when it comes to a semi-enjoyable, semi-comfortable, glossy-neon 1990's time-filler. Yet the cast seems in on the joke — if this came out six years earlier, it'd make much more sense. And is Russell parodying himself, the genre, or the previous decade in which he finally grew up after all those years at Disney? <br>

adventure, comedy, family, kurt russell, martin short, mary kay place, meadow sisto, nineties, thom eberhardt

KURT RUSSELL, MARTIN SHORT & MEADOW SISTO SAIL 'CAPTAIN RON'

Kurt Russell, Martin Short and the beautiful Meadow Sisto in CAPTAIN RON Year: 1992 Martin Short's greatest role was in THREE AMIGOS...

BLOODY BAGFUL OF MOSTLY UNNECESSARY JOHN CARPENTER FILMS

<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/AVvXsEhC_isOOq3CV44reChoY0Xl6pvO48bignF3DieKv_l4raYIH3x3ow5h4KNO2LkDVSH8dQEP9mI0yHYTFfynxX5ZOquxCZfj0tJksmdwSRjvqK9niay1P8Gs7ITkE_hBMF7vi8kjO2pa2QQ2/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-08-29+at+4.16.49+AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1480" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_isOOq3CV44reChoY0Xl6pvO48bignF3DieKv_l4raYIH3x3ow5h4KNO2LkDVSH8dQEP9mI0yHYTFfynxX5ZOquxCZfj0tJksmdwSRjvqK9niay1P8Gs7ITkE_hBMF7vi8kjO2pa2QQ2/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-08-29+at+4.16.49+AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kurt Russell surfing L.A. vs a shifty Steve Buscemi Year: 1996</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>ESCAPE FROM L.A</u>: "I was a Muslim in South Dakota," a beautiful Los Angeles prisoner tells Snake Plissken. And that's why she's considered a criminal in the new United States, which makes the famously infamous, horrendously awful ESCAPE FROM L.A. not altogether dated: released in 1996 while taking place in a "futuristic" 2013, Hollywood would proudly write a line like this today.<br>   <br> The set-up has our ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK anti-hero Plissken, played by Kurt Russell returning as Carpenter's very own Sergio Leone era Clint Eastwood, now delivered in chains to the former City of Angels, which has become an island to itself after an immense earthquake predicted by a Commander-in-Chief so Right Wing he's more of an underline villain... Even compared to prison ruler Cuervo Jones, a Playboy Che Guevara type about to... take over the world, somehow, with the help of the President's daughter, caught awestruck under his revolutionary spell and, once again, Snake has a certain amount of digitally run-down time to find a particular gadget that, whether in the hands of the equally evil Far Left or Far Right leader, wouldn't be a good thing.<br> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <span id="goog_850212217"></span><span id="goog_850212218"></span><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/AVvXsEhz4EwTny14Q6fg4DPO9p67U-3xQuLYjf5Og8RIl_7yrWx07JTOMG3Sm3RI2DVezIalPK-z0BrbmDgaXklhgVbb6tEjxFpPEf1sQJFelKdYxj9HB4HeEbZKCVszP_tuCKykHa0l2XK8_ECI/s1600/39179.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="356" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz4EwTny14Q6fg4DPO9p67U-3xQuLYjf5Og8RIl_7yrWx07JTOMG3Sm3RI2DVezIalPK-z0BrbmDgaXklhgVbb6tEjxFpPEf1sQJFelKdYxj9HB4HeEbZKCVszP_tuCKykHa0l2XK8_ECI/s320/39179.jpeg" width="245"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>ESCAPE FROM LA Score: *1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Stacy Keach is the narrow-eyed Lee Van Cleef, and wields an expository cool edge over Cliff Robertson's eventually weak-kneed, zealot stooge. And Carpenter brings Plissken through the same basic roaming journey template only with horrible results this time around...<br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> First blasting off in a mini submarine underwater to reach the island; overall, while the embarrassing special effects and forced political undertones hinder what the original's beautifully basic Spaghetti Western Science Fiction romp had going for it, there<i> is</i> actually enough banal action to keep the viewer, well, kind of entertained.<br> <br> In place of Ernest Borgnine's resilient guide Cabbie is Steve Buscemi, fitting within the retro styling during the crest of the Tarantino craze. One scene in particular, using some of that revitalized PULP FICTION guitar vibrato groove, Snake and hippie-dude Peter Fonda (doing a rambling druggie impersonation of his EASY RIDER co-star Dennis Hopper) actually surf a tsunami, which, faker looking than a Frankie and Annette picture, is unbelievable to witness, trumping even a scene involving Bruce Campbell as a mutant plastic surgeon.  <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/AVvXsEj1ou23WF2SFWD0ZONULIYHpfYFacua9umjb7CK0WROnyMLFO4rxfO8sqjyXuP3e_QF9-QljVRm7nh1HC90wUAmlITenZM5LWO1_hQbvFHn8iqy0D3jbHIWnfsw_j-MX-yQR-euxZiy_uIq/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-08-29+at+3.47.11+AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="805" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ou23WF2SFWD0ZONULIYHpfYFacua9umjb7CK0WROnyMLFO4rxfO8sqjyXuP3e_QF9-QljVRm7nh1HC90wUAmlITenZM5LWO1_hQbvFHn8iqy0D3jbHIWnfsw_j-MX-yQR-euxZiy_uIq/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-08-29+at+3.47.11+AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kurt Russell and Peter Fonda in Escape from LA</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> In the form of Harry Dean Stanton's Brain is another ex-partner of Snake: Pam Grier plays a former man (with a horrendously dubbed voice), resulting in a high-flying finale with more bullets than logic. But the worst sequence mirrors in desperation what could be the best part of the original: when Snake fought the muscular gladiator in the pivotal cage match surrounded by cheering hordes... <br> <br> Well this time around, Snake has to... get this... shoot hoops in an outdoor basketball court to save his skin... Making him not only an iconic criminal but both a champion NBA star and surfer in what has to be John Carpenter's worst venture; one that he never recovered from. Hell, compared to this, the maligned GHOST OF MARS and VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is THE THING, or... ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. <br>

action, amber heard, bagful, body count, horror, john carpenter, kurt russell, nineties, peter fonda, peter jason, sam neill, sequel, tens, zeroes

BLOODY BAGFUL OF MOSTLY UNNECESSARY JOHN CARPENTER FILMS

Kurt Russell surfing L.A. vs a shifty Steve Buscemi Year: 1996 ESCAPE FROM L.A : "I was a Muslim in South Dakota," a beautiful...

DIVING INTO DISNEY'S KURT RUSSELL DEXTER REILLY TRILOGY

<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/AVvXsEhQpLWvKfuzC_ojZP337zRtKdGVXeDjtjw-oVRn_Ew3u88Naru5LYRlolQwPBJW-e7k5SYGvxtErYhSwuaqGEan-6OAjkYumsK-pNJmB3OBSESBUTzsv4fiza9B8ox48DHjroX-W6uY-d5w/s1600/41038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="725" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQpLWvKfuzC_ojZP337zRtKdGVXeDjtjw-oVRn_Ew3u88Naru5LYRlolQwPBJW-e7k5SYGvxtErYhSwuaqGEan-6OAjkYumsK-pNJmB3OBSESBUTzsv4fiza9B8ox48DHjroX-W6uY-d5w/s400/41038.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dexter Riley Cinema Years in Action are 1968 to 1975</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES, the first of three Disney "Dexter Riley" films starring Kurt Russell as the leader of a group of eavesdropping science-students at a financially-strapped University, is fun but a tad too plot-heavy and flower-power dated: Dexter gets electrocuted by a computer (giant machines at that time) and his brain becomes one, allowing him to pass tests with ease and excel at anything having to do with facts or memorization...<br> <br> There's a cookie-cutter blond kid named Peter, supposedly the more well-balanced and popular, or something, and yet Russell, despite a somewhat forced geeky persona, looks and even acts much cooler. In later Dexter films, poor Pete's completely replaced by the much better sidekick in Michael McGreevy as Schuyler, who<i> is</i> in this movie but hasn't become Archie's full-on Jughead quite yet. There's too much emphasis on otherwise entertaining adult actors Caesar Romero, William Schallert and Joe Flynn and not enough of the kids: which is odd during the late 1960's student-driven era, but it's as if Disney wouldn't completely let-go of the old safe middle-aged paunch. Surprisingly, COMPUTER isn't an underdog-revenge team effort like it should be, so the premise gets pretty tired quick... but later improves...<br> <div> <div> <br></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/AVvXsEhSZGjdwjn3iGpNoTH-QCOkUWOFmgT9a2WZM4WvbYZ6PpTXMDAL8e9Dh0vw2bVf-kECgiwg6sruNfaT_jr3942DG2OTe0nLnPVuiTuz-kipeqWNA5khxBhMeFdqsvKTYoGbG-afoVgOoO3c/s1600/tumblr_ma6zlyiemA1qkcj94o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="485" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZGjdwjn3iGpNoTH-QCOkUWOFmgT9a2WZM4WvbYZ6PpTXMDAL8e9Dh0vw2bVf-kECgiwg6sruNfaT_jr3942DG2OTe0nLnPVuiTuz-kipeqWNA5khxBhMeFdqsvKTYoGbG-afoVgOoO3c/s400/tumblr_ma6zlyiemA1qkcj94o1_500.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kurt Russell Now You See Him Lobby Card</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> If COMPUTER were a "Dexter Riley" TV-series pilot based on his science class University cohorts, the followup, NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU DON'T would be the best episode overall; the worst being its follow-up and third/last venture, THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD, which, like COMPUTER but even more-so, overplays the grownup input that takes too long for the titular payoff to unveil through barbell lifting gags, etc... <br> <br> Again, the handsome Kurt Russell looks more like a popular jock than a science nerd, although you forget he's anyone else but the energetic young man who starred in many live-action Disney movies of the sixties and seventies before becoming John Carpenter's own personal Clint Eastwood. In NOW YOU SEE HIM it's mostly about Dexter, his smart/pretty ingenue Joyce Menges, and goofball buddy Michael McGreevy returning more prominently as Schuyler: a unique, oddball, human cartoon that was born for Disney cinema: They create a spray for a science contest that turns things invisible (and to free the school from debt once again)... <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/AVvXsEgmLxGmtMwxq3NO4GFOdl08_wXxF2W-FAAJDpMyOh8V_dGal0jPJWNOuIUTW4u4Id_6XWQnbruWikmuNjfZY96MM_VsCbpqezeWCumMO5hEau6zrlvAmid2mcZb_Z7Vc5NFbyOqD3AFatHO/s1600/affiche4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="355" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLxGmtMwxq3NO4GFOdl08_wXxF2W-FAAJDpMyOh8V_dGal0jPJWNOuIUTW4u4Id_6XWQnbruWikmuNjfZY96MM_VsCbpqezeWCumMO5hEau6zrlvAmid2mcZb_Z7Vc5NFbyOqD3AFatHO/s320/affiche4.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Computer: **1/2 Now You See: ***1/2 Strongest: **</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> The kids follow their clumsy dean Joe Flynn to the golf course: he's a complete hacker trying to impress a millionaire golf-nut who runs the contest. Dexter, sprayed invisible, helps Flynn with his game, which is the funnest part... after which that string of purposely-frustrating "Disney-letdowns" occur: the things that once worked now fail because of a villain's (or nature's) tampering.<br> <br> The spray is stolen by Caesar Romero, a crime boss with plans to turn the campus into his own Las Vegas. He and muggy cohort Richard Bakalan... always the square-jawed Disney thug but most recognizable as the dead-eye cop who shoots Faye Dunaway in CHINATOWN... become invisible bank robbers. The last act involves a chase between the students, cops, and the bad guys in their invisible car. Here things peter-out creatively for mainstream mindless action, and yet it's still pretty fun and entertaining. So if you wanna <i>meet </i>Dexter watch THE COMPUTER WEARS TENNIS SHOES, but to <i>really know him</i> SEE this second film, first, and skip the third altogether. </div>

caesar romero, college, comedy, disney, joe flynn, kurt russell, michael mcgreevy, science-fiction, seventies, sixties

DIVING INTO DISNEY'S KURT RUSSELL DEXTER REILLY TRILOGY

Dexter Riley Cinema Years in Action are 1968 to 1975 THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES, the first of three Disney "Dexter Riley"...

DISNEY TRIPLE FEATURES 'NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN' WITH 'HOT LEAD & COLD FEET' AND 'THE BAREFOOT EXECUTIVE'

<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/AVvXsEiDI-9LIZoDzYgXpOaSrxeiQUwE5IF6ZCZUu-6jlIOT9SsACJRZN65AXWFnnJazRiE_EgJQbBJmjnkO2D1sE1qV8SGdSbOLn3luS3O_eMfw6og2pLGkuuUAyrkdkpQPd8zAloxb5B8EvFp-/s1600/adffce70-fcf7-0132-f422-0e18518aac2f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="703" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDI-9LIZoDzYgXpOaSrxeiQUwE5IF6ZCZUu-6jlIOT9SsACJRZN65AXWFnnJazRiE_EgJQbBJmjnkO2D1sE1qV8SGdSbOLn3luS3O_eMfw6og2pLGkuuUAyrkdkpQPd8zAloxb5B8EvFp-/s400/adffce70-fcf7-0132-f422-0e18518aac2f.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1976 Rating: **</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN</u>: Disney flick with Don Knotts whose usual, more natural Tim Conway sidekick is replaced by Darren McGavin as one of two dimwitted brother-in-law safecrackers tangled with two prep-school kids...<br> <br> The girl being Kim Richards (your author's first crush, as made public on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, episode <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3448200/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast">The Curse of Carlton</a> taking place at an autograph show) who, along with familiar child actor face Brad Savage, ditch their stuffy grandfather David Niven at the airport, and the kids learn their thief-pals owe money to a crime boss (Vic Tayback) and to help they come up with a plan to fake a kidnapping. The ransom by wealthy gramps will bring in the money needed. Niven keeps avoiding the payments, knowing it's all a practical joke. And other than some car chases and Don Knotts chasing a pet skunk, that's about the gist of it. It all seems like a bunch of actors stuck in a constrained story. McGavin is miscast as Knott's straight man and Knotts isn't very funny as the doofus. There are better Disney flicks. Take CANDLESHOE, also starring David Niven (with Jodie Foster as the kid) and involving wily kids who, unlike this, have a decent, more interesting premise to follow.<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/AVvXsEjTvMj6a2kXT4Qoilw_T0LhlDH7kgBp9F3JSnPz3Tk51aj45cAHrW9lFry1UGtpQ_88IKzzJBmru35K-qAzlJIvVZ2Pi5gC-funatVMciqMapzdh1l0pCpUsbBt9wKZ63XjiyHO9PjODHK-/s1600/51N7PTW482L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="349" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTvMj6a2kXT4Qoilw_T0LhlDH7kgBp9F3JSnPz3Tk51aj45cAHrW9lFry1UGtpQ_88IKzzJBmru35K-qAzlJIvVZ2Pi5gC-funatVMciqMapzdh1l0pCpUsbBt9wKZ63XjiyHO9PjODHK-/s320/51N7PTW482L.jpg" width="223"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1978 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>HOT LEAD & COLD FEET</u>: Having watched this movie as a kid the only scenes remembered were of Don Knotts involved in unsuccessful take-ten-paces-and-draw showdowns. But the main storyline is about two brothers... played by the same actor, Jim Dale, a Disney regular and now very obscure... one a mean gunslinger the other a preachy do-gooder taking part in a race involving mini stream-engine trains, canoes down rapids and mountain-climbing, all in order to inherit a load of money from their crazy white-bearded father (also played by Dale... the white Eddie Murphy of his time)...<br> <br> The good brother wants the money for... good reasons (building a church with tough and pretty school teacher Karen Valentine and two savvy orphans) and the bad brother wants the money for — you get the idea. The town bullies and the crooked banker, along with Disney 1970's go-to Darren McGavin, are rooting for the villain because they have something to gain, sabotaging the good brother in a tortoise-vs-hare fashion throughout this semi-funny Disney film with enough happening to keep you interested, although the build-up, introducing the siblings in contrasting lives before they meet, fares better than the wacky race: which not only gets tiresome but neglects the other characters. And those Don Knotts scenes happen only sporadically; he's sort of a cameo-with-hiccups.<br> <br> <div style="text-align: right;"> </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/AVvXsEgmSU5nxTHJMep86rXgAuK1pe0n0Duq6UNzKKhqJe_HmfFmXJeQRJHQiMkZkJtiGQCV18JsG7OI-9K7J96lBvWCqJujWx011E8ZC_tJYtFhgu8kQGcVtYF-KPi2ouTuNfnLhASLU8Vk5wo/s1600-h/barefoot+executive.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396993946615381298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmSU5nxTHJMep86rXgAuK1pe0n0Duq6UNzKKhqJe_HmfFmXJeQRJHQiMkZkJtiGQCV18JsG7OI-9K7J96lBvWCqJujWx011E8ZC_tJYtFhgu8kQGcVtYF-KPi2ouTuNfnLhASLU8Vk5wo/s200/barefoot+executive.jpg" style="float: right; height: 150px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 200px;"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1971 Rating: *1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>THE BAREFOOT EXECUTIVE</u>: Disney's child-teen regular's regular Kurt Russell plays a climber. A dreamer. A junior college student working as a gopher at a television studio, and he wants to be a programmer but has no idea what shows are good... And most important — his girlfriend adopts a chimp who also sits and watches TV, with a twist...<br> <br> The chimp sits mesmerized when he likes a show, and goes bonkers when he doesn't. It turns out, the chimp has a pulse on what shows work and what shows don't as later indicated by the ratings. And if the same monkey were watching this film it'd commit suicide, and yet, somehow, it's not that entirely god-awful, with some entertaining chase scenes. But overall this standard by-the-numbers live-action Disney film that never really evolves just isn't worth the climb. <br>

caper, comedy, darren mcgavin, david niven, disney, don knotts, jack elam, jim dale, kim richards, kurt russell, vic tayback, western

DISNEY TRIPLE FEATURES 'NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN' WITH 'HOT LEAD & COLD FEET' AND 'THE BAREFOOT EXECUTIVE'

Year: 1976 Rating: ** NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN : Disney flick with Don Knotts whose usual, more natural Tim Conway sidekick is replaced by ...

MOST UNDERRATED FILMS OF 2015 BY MARK SULLIVAN

<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/AVvXsEi4GdgDgEmPbmyR39P5YVlAf32kxjxBgWUYTC2s_LlxKlnLfjQRoiyiMnJCfpl-AlGiTHaGzg76pYjQlQK9kDU4RZHh4_IVEJI7T92w0ggIrlSXfZ-_6zBhOLaCUuD0t0G2KBVFBaM0wRA/s1600/LegendFB_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4GdgDgEmPbmyR39P5YVlAf32kxjxBgWUYTC2s_LlxKlnLfjQRoiyiMnJCfpl-AlGiTHaGzg76pYjQlQK9kDU4RZHh4_IVEJI7T92w0ggIrlSXfZ-_6zBhOLaCUuD0t0G2KBVFBaM0wRA/s640/LegendFB_1.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Hardy plays both Kray brothers in LEGEND in an article by guest contributor<b> Mark Sullivan</b></u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

2016, chris hemsworth, contributors, kurt russell, list, ron howard, tom hardy

MOST UNDERRATED FILMS OF 2015 BY MARK SULLIVAN

Tom Hardy plays both Kray brothers in LEGEND in an article by guest contributor Mark Sullivan

CARPENTER & RUSSELL ESCAPE FROM L.A.

<div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/08/bagful-carpy.html"><span style="font-size: large;">ESCAPE FROM LA HAS MOVED SO CLICK HERE</span></a><br><div style="text-align: right;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCWNxlTkKxDDqFcibMoYmraG_wc-n2MlbTSfyuuldsYoJwKhp5bn9MMWf-tg8fYmVbhjcqcfyMf0-CMqUh7nZLmJgDsXEknP9mYpSGlNw9yxexzgLir75f5Yox7FFZEhLbjqXb1ZbWos/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCWNxlTkKxDDqFcibMoYmraG_wc-n2MlbTSfyuuldsYoJwKhp5bn9MMWf-tg8fYmVbhjcqcfyMf0-CMqUh7nZLmJgDsXEknP9mYpSGlNw9yxexzgLir75f5Yox7FFZEhLbjqXb1ZbWos/s200/2.jpg" width="168"></a></div>

cliff robertson, john carpenter, kurt russell, nineties, pam grier, peter fonda, peter jason, robert carradine, science fiction, sequel, stacy keach, steve buscemi

CARPENTER & RUSSELL ESCAPE FROM L.A.

ESCAPE FROM LA HAS MOVED SO CLICK HERE

CARPENTER & RUSSELL RETURN FOR BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA

<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/AVvXsEjPO7YJ1H7fb644_BD7y8vZaPOV5rT1v0JjXcnEd0LrzZ2fB-4WFoFQYUqK8DKPuJh66jA__iLXeuXkNN4T7cAkMa_VAYqh3oTqaQXmfB0GaoQCNAhObQ34YN5262Vn4sTo3G4yS1op7P4/s1600/1-1.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/AVvXsEjPO7YJ1H7fb644_BD7y8vZaPOV5rT1v0JjXcnEd0LrzZ2fB-4WFoFQYUqK8DKPuJh66jA__iLXeuXkNN4T7cAkMa_VAYqh3oTqaQXmfB0GaoQCNAhObQ34YN5262Vn4sTo3G4yS1op7P4/s320/1-1.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1986</td></tr> </tbody></table> As grungy truck driver Jack Burton, director John Carpenter’s stock action star Kurt Russell is a Snake Plissken for the GOONIES generation, making BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA feel like ESCAPE FROM WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, or as one character points out, a "radical ALICE IN WONDERLAND"…<br /> <br /> For BIG TROUBLE is an adventure where each level brings a new chaotic challenge, making the overall plot not matter much – that being a kidnapped green-eyed Asian beauty caught in the mazy labyrinth beneath Chinatown where Burton and an eclectic band of misfits, including and especially Dennis Dun as the resilient Wang Chi and tough ingénue Kim Cattrall as Gracie Law, survive various elements to reach the literal bottom of things. But as far as the players go, BLADE RUNNER actor James Hong is the man here, and an old one at that. His ancient Lo Pan needs to wed the green-eyed McGuffin, who’s engaged to our likable young sidekick. In that, Dennis Dun has equal screen time with the often benign Russell, who remains impartial during most of the karate-filled bouts.<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/AVvXsEiP1YzpsSHyyF8zbH_kqdeVAEyXYFsyw7PJHoVd93CmpPN3sgbp0p5DB-JApPSLIruDc5qOFJ-poNs2qsKgoikfIU_xiYIu-FypgkL6NebTc8vGXMtfL9H6M8wlKUdsHiWopt8mgrXvr60/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-09-09+at+11.30.40+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP1YzpsSHyyF8zbH_kqdeVAEyXYFsyw7PJHoVd93CmpPN3sgbp0p5DB-JApPSLIruDc5qOFJ-poNs2qsKgoikfIU_xiYIu-FypgkL6NebTc8vGXMtfL9H6M8wlKUdsHiWopt8mgrXvr60/s320/Screen+shot+2015-09-09+at+11.30.40+AM.png" width="241" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Much Cooler Image Poster</td></tr> </tbody></table> Awkward dissolves aside, John Carpenter keeps the pace moving effectively with quick-cut close-ups providing a comic book panel styling, colorfully reminiscent of Walter Hill's STREETS OF FIRE, and turns in a more upbeat soundtrack than usual: though his ominous synth remains an undercurrent.<br /> <br /> And where Russell’s NEW YORK Plissken paid homage to Clint Eastwood’s iconic Spaghetti Western loner, this super-macho fella has a John Wayneish delivery, at times going so overboard that the performance feels more like a quotable-contrived satire than a genuine action hero… <br /> <br /> But with loads of mystical fantasy, an exploding samurai, costumed monsters and tacked-on special effects that often distract from the basic pulpy peril, you shouldn’t take LITTLE CHINA very seriously. In fact the whole rollercoaster ride, seeming purposely tailor-made for a cult-following even before successfully acquiring one, is much better experienced than evaluated... In one ear, out the other... Relax and enjoy. <br /> <br /> RATING: ***1/2

adventure, eighties, james hong, john carpenter, kim cattrall, kurt russell

CARPENTER & RUSSELL RETURN FOR BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA

year: 1986 As grungy truck driver Jack Burton, director John Carpenter’s stock action star Kurt Russell is a Snake Plissken for the GOON...

KURT RUSSELL & TIM MATHESON: 'THE QUEST' DOUBLE-FEATURE

<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/AVvXsEhJKjIPP2K2bJUP-ygco0ny_tpziKEARAzN-BjgFlgCd0hXGBtLVJJs34W356A60cee_GFkz8-YhWMaVtgrh2CokNS0StuKQGFmStnPDS3Jih0sQOWhg67YaJkUy_rxDrkOmdZKbac-KIc/s1600/q1.jpg" imageanchor="1" 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/AVvXsEhJKjIPP2K2bJUP-ygco0ny_tpziKEARAzN-BjgFlgCd0hXGBtLVJJs34W356A60cee_GFkz8-YhWMaVtgrh2CokNS0StuKQGFmStnPDS3Jih0sQOWhg67YaJkUy_rxDrkOmdZKbac-KIc/s200/q1.jpg" width="142" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1976</td></tr> </tbody></table> <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/AVvXsEhMJbbHyYx5UrAIddyCAfXD8Fs_W-ngteflM0a13RMUNWkrU1vU64u7STyG_wmovLQIe5aZRIzLmKILqemyXHkb10AMVCyUmT7eYC93vTDgMng3w4bZKlfRdCXCxbjvz-DA6q_GyCZaCpc/s1600/q2.jpg" imageanchor="1" 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/AVvXsEhMJbbHyYx5UrAIddyCAfXD8Fs_W-ngteflM0a13RMUNWkrU1vU64u7STyG_wmovLQIe5aZRIzLmKILqemyXHkb10AMVCyUmT7eYC93vTDgMng3w4bZKlfRdCXCxbjvz-DA6q_GyCZaCpc/s200/q2.jpg" width="146" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">combined grade: B+</td></tr> </tbody></table> Before Kurt Russell joined forces with director John Carpenter and Tim Matheson partied with the Delta Fraternity, the ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and ANIMAL HOUSE alumni, both lifelong child actors turned leading men, played estranged brothers reunited in the short-lived Western television series THE QUEST…<br /> <br /> And while the first and only season isn't yet (and may never be) on DVD, the pilot episode and THE LONGEST DRIVE is available to the public...  Although the show starts out centering more on crippled gunslinger Tank Logan, played by Brian Keith, who winds up, once Russell’s Morgan and Matheson’s Quinton go to a small town where not only most of the story takes place, but the title is all but forgotten – and there’s not much of a quest, really, yet this is a fun, eclectic ninety minute ride nonetheless.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-kwB8MjVeY0tSjalgtWWqiMd1PjIkMS-7h45pEgtQBplAtBxrd0gRxFZb4-eVZqUqWrYoYA0AgTl-UMA4iVzmVKSy1yINPyLV4ny5Yzpcg7bhxzF3Kdo7y6IhBlj9PFpzwC59JQfVMx0/s1600/MV5BMTg3NDM1MDk3NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwODYwNzU2._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-kwB8MjVeY0tSjalgtWWqiMd1PjIkMS-7h45pEgtQBplAtBxrd0gRxFZb4-eVZqUqWrYoYA0AgTl-UMA4iVzmVKSy1yINPyLV4ny5Yzpcg7bhxzF3Kdo7y6IhBlj9PFpzwC59JQfVMx0/s200/MV5BMTg3NDM1MDk3NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwODYwNzU2._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg" width="136" /></a></div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8FYg-BnPZb9NZ1ECXp3bBBC4IZX1Xt2Mi7noRt_wPCCwA6uDcmfca3UvBwG4RR57IYs7OdM2zfpApVwosM2cTbR_X3OssX_n9HKRXwoGvU-_VfV_6yahoXkacqgJ7oRmCbaKeovd0bmI/s1600/MV5BMTkyODA3NDIxNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNDYwNzU2._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8FYg-BnPZb9NZ1ECXp3bBBC4IZX1Xt2Mi7noRt_wPCCwA6uDcmfca3UvBwG4RR57IYs7OdM2zfpApVwosM2cTbR_X3OssX_n9HKRXwoGvU-_VfV_6yahoXkacqgJ7oRmCbaKeovd0bmI/s200/MV5BMTkyODA3NDIxNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNDYwNzU2._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg" width="151" /></a>Russell is the both main character and sidekick. Serving as a Caucasian Tonto with a nickname of “Two Persons,” he was captured at a young age and raised by Native Americans, or as called back in the day, Indians, making his speech halting and his idealism strong, the polar opposite of the more narrow-minded white man surrounding the main stars, including Keith’s Logan...<br /> <br /> Which doesn’t mean he’s not an endearing character readymade for audiences to root for: Montage scenes where Tank teaches Quinton (Matheson), who was a young doctor in San Fransisco, how to use a six shooter like a Wild West outlaw are fun and involving, allowing the always likable and wide-smiling Matheson to step out of his co-star’s shadow.<br /> <br /> Russell and Matheson’s chemistry, which was to be the basis of the entire show’s plot about two estranged brothers searching for their missing sister, is overshadowed by Brian Keith and his connection with either sibling – as a mentor to one and an example of a flawed but ultimately kindhearted outlaw to the other. So much attention is given Keith, one would except him to headline the series that followed.  <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeI48btiT2jgiM4PmvU5dyR6aHd3cLXImYCCQqW-jKIf0bMixhgv55iBuBmzzi-TXYydkzk-TVfbD5FiZ84iUNVPRXgjyZ1c88USO9qACjRZtCektsJ7EV9wRhkI9LTPpHR0m0yzHUgeM/s1600/q2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeI48btiT2jgiM4PmvU5dyR6aHd3cLXImYCCQqW-jKIf0bMixhgv55iBuBmzzi-TXYydkzk-TVfbD5FiZ84iUNVPRXgjyZ1c88USO9qACjRZtCektsJ7EV9wRhkI9LTPpHR0m0yzHUgeM/s200/q2.jpg" width="130" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXp9TD6PD7tBLL9WkbsMkbSa_JTI3I8xt_jEEbc9eeBwK_2KBik_GnqbBHt44m7dpTxPNB2CgQYPVkWPOxc7483D-5e78VAIkxgeUOeaqE1Wum1yzw3ezVnsxa4Zq4pgZDPnRPSYHwyE/s1600/q1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXp9TD6PD7tBLL9WkbsMkbSa_JTI3I8xt_jEEbc9eeBwK_2KBik_GnqbBHt44m7dpTxPNB2CgQYPVkWPOxc7483D-5e78VAIkxgeUOeaqE1Wum1yzw3ezVnsxa4Zq4pgZDPnRPSYHwyE/s200/q1.jpg" width="110" /></a>And in the middle of the first and only season, a two-part episode titled THE LONGEST DRIVE has now become a "movie" although it's really a prolonged episode...<br /> <br /> Which doesn't mean that DRIVE, where Russell's Two-Persons and Matheson's Quinton help another old man out, isn't a fully fleshed out yarn...<br /> <br /> Unlike the intentionally endearing Brian Keith character from the pilot, Dan O'Herily is a tough old codger who, running a dilapidated ranch, needs someone, anyone, to herd his cattle across the plains for enough money to keep the business going. Although O'Herily's Matthew Hatcher does loosen up a bit, he's a hard boss to endure, mostly taking it out on Erik Estrada's Santos, a lifelong ranch hand.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZE_eM7bzLbDjhVMB0KnfAk5zd-nWdSXW-Iq8k-7FZQbXJJ_gsvFVQgzP1oMr7wy4KLBUNOHsWyQirMnMgtQCMoEe8zrXuPGHz25Kff-VWDcAmbT7aN2-jc-OLEdbW5UBOWFL0xIzVneg/s1600/q1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZE_eM7bzLbDjhVMB0KnfAk5zd-nWdSXW-Iq8k-7FZQbXJJ_gsvFVQgzP1oMr7wy4KLBUNOHsWyQirMnMgtQCMoEe8zrXuPGHz25Kff-VWDcAmbT7aN2-jc-OLEdbW5UBOWFL0xIzVneg/s200/q1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div> Along with Estrada, who was a year away from his star-making CHIPS role, is an eclectic mix of "losers" including Gary Lockwood as a womanizing gambler; an out of place John Rubinstein as a young sketch artist (you'll notice his character's work above and below)...<br /> <br />  Keenan Wynn as an alcoholic cook (his son Tracy wrote most of the series); Woody Strode as a stubborn blacksmith; and two young brothers with underlying nefarious agenda to steal cattle along the way.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuK8ijHsTAtCWigT2XomnzAcMSTedyv47_Yp9sjOiST5Sky8WMmBuO_jbZfD_FqshNCvuI_cMAwympTqqFPMIlLewSUkdqPUDkfBEgpLPJxZRn8x822eKh-8dH6beWiF-D2K5QodpuWIs/s1600/q6.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuK8ijHsTAtCWigT2XomnzAcMSTedyv47_Yp9sjOiST5Sky8WMmBuO_jbZfD_FqshNCvuI_cMAwympTqqFPMIlLewSUkdqPUDkfBEgpLPJxZRn8x822eKh-8dH6beWiF-D2K5QodpuWIs/s320/q6.jpg" width="144" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvVywOCHuRTiPr3PMxdN-7QhCG1JO8EojYxwz7-E84h-mGXdRm62MqWKAsnZCut4PsOi-BeJkRBYkYoVTstu6PXP85zshTjHw7NV9m9Eb05UuG6jrJ0wyx_J1FhdwOJM1R3elQBdCDOI/s1600/q5.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvVywOCHuRTiPr3PMxdN-7QhCG1JO8EojYxwz7-E84h-mGXdRm62MqWKAsnZCut4PsOi-BeJkRBYkYoVTstu6PXP85zshTjHw7NV9m9Eb05UuG6jrJ0wyx_J1FhdwOJM1R3elQBdCDOI/s320/q5.jpg" width="144" /></a>THE LONGEST DRIVE is an involving adventure as this unfit group head out under the scorching sun, and yet the snags that occur along the way, including an Indian visit and a group of armed teenage poachers, are resolved much too easily, leaving the two white trash rustlers with the most potential for an impending threat.<br /> <br /> The last part, after a few characters bite the dust early, involve the survivors risking their lives to make the drive on time across the most dangerous terrain, although everything's summed up into one five minute scene where each character, practically dying from the heat, discusses their past, wherein a skinny, wimpy looking Rubinstein, reminiscing on his Yale Football past, takes you out of the Western genre peril... And yet he surprisingly pulls off a good fight scene earlier on, showing he's more than a token wet-behind-the-ears city slicker. And the chemistry between Russell and Matheson is so established and cozy they hardly interact at this point. So in a nutshell, THE QUEST, based on these two available episodes, seemed like a fairly decent show. Too bad, during the mid-to-latter 1970's, the Cowboy genre was no longer popular with television audiences. So keep your fingers crossed for a compete bagful of QUEST reviews, possibly coming to a frontier near you...<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

brian keith, kurt russell, morgan woodward, tim matheson, TV

KURT RUSSELL & TIM MATHESON: 'THE QUEST' DOUBLE-FEATURE

year: 1976 combined grade: B+ Before Kurt Russell joined forces with director John Carpenter and Tim Matheson partied with the Delta...

MAC & WINDOWS IN JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING

<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/AVvXsEgpAhUx86hnsAsI-Utf9oC8x02E6snARVhumYlc38mvTfP_bwXlh9WOjyI9MDFHSzHCQc88P7XG6ryuPQXiq9li6eLkixv70YRjkSiW5THvaDfRjRw82Um9A2ZcQVxQS1c52g2PM2bBKomEOFQrDxLY6ML3wDkgAPgu2hyphenhyphenkuoKlyd_FHn8v76oMrEuJMApv/s814/Screen%20Shot%202017-11-20%20at%2011.18.41%20PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="814" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpAhUx86hnsAsI-Utf9oC8x02E6snARVhumYlc38mvTfP_bwXlh9WOjyI9MDFHSzHCQc88P7XG6ryuPQXiq9li6eLkixv70YRjkSiW5THvaDfRjRw82Um9A2ZcQVxQS1c52g2PM2bBKomEOFQrDxLY6ML3wDkgAPgu2hyphenhyphenkuoKlyd_FHn8v76oMrEuJMApv/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202017-11-20%20at%2011.18.41%20PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Photofade of Windows & Mac in THE THING</u></td></tr></tbody></table> Before the age of home computers, John Carpenter's THE THING had two characters within a group of a dozen poor souls trapped in an icy compound. One guy's named MAC (short for MacCready, but he's almost only referred to as Mac) and there's WINDOWS...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDttSA58nGh2-aEJX3pSkyfCbMICOwXRL8d7s1QdQfd37Shq_eZop4Ci8RtE-ijCd714O7-5az_Gv5esCe3YkQbeOgeUywQYy_KWvWJjzwstam_AoPyV2VNjYpk-8voUHJQv6xK74wDQ/s1600/9780552120555.jpg" 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/AVvXsEjeDttSA58nGh2-aEJX3pSkyfCbMICOwXRL8d7s1QdQfd37Shq_eZop4Ci8RtE-ijCd714O7-5az_Gv5esCe3YkQbeOgeUywQYy_KWvWJjzwstam_AoPyV2VNjYpk-8voUHJQv6xK74wDQ/s400/9780552120555.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Alan's awesome book</td></tr> </tbody></table> Whether this means anything symbolically relevant, MAC, played by Kurt Russell, is an industrious loner who winds up destroying a computer pouring bourbon in the console after losing an automated chess match while Windows, played by Thomas G. Waites, is a techie who ultimately goes bonkers... And both have beards.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Waites, also a co-star in THE WARRIORS, personally shared that he overheard a conversation between a group of rowdies on a subway, and one guy was referred to as Windows... So Waites changed the communication officer's name, which was originally Sanders in the script and the Alan Dean Foster novelization.<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/AVvXsEgjtR4wUSxwXQRqlVA0EzqoW8AxQtsHt3wGn9DuEbyK4WXlTXU-hK6tXFR33as97pmcZnD5DH67fUZmlJ2XZaUIz9aajY6SfxqLjYVjYT15DdD6pei2JY1Hb0g3LpHy8VpgS1mGJGpp2gM/s1600/screenshot5475.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjtR4wUSxwXQRqlVA0EzqoW8AxQtsHt3wGn9DuEbyK4WXlTXU-hK6tXFR33as97pmcZnD5DH67fUZmlJ2XZaUIz9aajY6SfxqLjYVjYT15DdD6pei2JY1Hb0g3LpHy8VpgS1mGJGpp2gM/s1600/screenshot5475.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Mac Laptop</td></tr> </tbody></table> It's a mere coincidence that these now iconic monikers, from a film with advanced and awesome special effects, became the two most important elements of the technological age only a few years later.<br /> <b><br /></b> <b>ALAN DEAN FOSTER ON HOW HIS NOVELIZATION STANDS OUT...</b><br /> <br /> <i>Most notably, the final scene differs from the one that was used in the film. And I was able to get even gorier than the picture. Another very underrated film and much truer to John W. Campbell's original story WHO GOES THERE? than the 1950's version.</i>

eighties, john carpenter, kurt russell, photofade, thomas g. waites

MAC & WINDOWS IN JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING

Photofade of Windows & Mac in THE THING Before the age of home computers, John Carpenter's THE THING had two characters within a gr...

VIEWING SUPERDAD THROUGH ROSE-COLORED GLASSES

<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/AVvXsEgQwuKlCWHDEYRh0g7cRXxoEomEfgTsdkguKBjydrfxIq79D_oKy4m1NHKUUioP3jhLj05DwtrUoT5y4fEkzlcsp5SUbPSLvTWd04G7dQmUsOFvVdQwVBAF1NCgtC9oXFEll8XdqbyZFl49/s1600/sd4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQwuKlCWHDEYRh0g7cRXxoEomEfgTsdkguKBjydrfxIq79D_oKy4m1NHKUUioP3jhLj05DwtrUoT5y4fEkzlcsp5SUbPSLvTWd04G7dQmUsOFvVdQwVBAF1NCgtC9oXFEll8XdqbyZFl49/s400/sd4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Year: 1973</td></tr> </tbody></table> The sixth letter is “D”, not “B,” so don’t mistake this with the popular slacker comedy...<br /> <br /> A bizarre Disney film called SUPERDAD starring HOGAN’S HEROES star Bob Crane who, at this point, appeared more in clandestine sex videos than mainstream movies. Disney gave him a chance to upstart a fledging career and nothing came of it. DAD remains only on VHS, although there are ways to stream this to your computer (and now, since this was written, the movie is on DVD but rather cheap and dark toned). Either way it’s a lost/forgotten curio: All this would make you think SB was a really bad flick. Well it is and it isn't: The opening sequence is creepy and awkward. Bob Crane’s Charlie McCready doesn’t think his daughter deserves anyone else but Daddy... Thus the first five minutes plays out like a flu dream version of a condom ad with daughter Wendy and her lifelong boyfriend Bart, played by Disney stock actor Kurt Russell, walking on a dusky beach while Charlie’s ghostly voice-over reminds her of his omnipresence… And like all desperate fathers, he eventually loses touch with Daddy’s Little Girl. She grows up to have lots of beachy friends and just wants to have... you know... fun.<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/AVvXsEjJDlLRqpEGCNAllcDRfZr01iYqdHxFs5Q6EMyN3hWNbacYIz8xy3XNuhntuKP89njwHz_DzHEJVcbbkMTaDUD3GPnNVLLtrm77GcwAAEuGzcjoMW75sc_QGXfudNwkJ76Z07lt5Lz6m7YC/s1600/COVER-SD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDlLRqpEGCNAllcDRfZr01iYqdHxFs5Q6EMyN3hWNbacYIz8xy3XNuhntuKP89njwHz_DzHEJVcbbkMTaDUD3GPnNVLLtrm77GcwAAEuGzcjoMW75sc_QGXfudNwkJ76Z07lt5Lz6m7YC/s1600/COVER-SD.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gang includes Ed Begley and Bruno Kirby</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> Charlie works as a lawyer, lives in a nice house in the cozy suburbs, but wishes that the generation gap separating himself from his daughter would close up, completely. During perhaps the best and most memorable scenes, Charlie spends a day at the beach with her friends, trying to take part in volleyball and eventually waterskiing. Everything he touches turns to fool’s gold. The really strange thing is hearing Crane's high pitch screaming, like a sow being poked before slaughter, whenever things get too hairy.<br /> <br /> Made during the early seventies, it’s fun watching Disney kowtowing to young hip audiences. There aren’t drug or rock n’ roll references, but the kids are freespirited and of that independent mind-set that the conservative middle-age Charlie cannot relate to.<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/AVvXsEid5nzCbvc9UGSkCo_hEL1n9vKHlwt9_9EAYH2D00brszbsthoZbscnJs8IR13YkskLlbepe8Yie1rFuFDrSUZ_oUV9zwq1lFdIYueI_Ru7dVSd9RSSuzoKyXS2X6R9DM-84doS3ohE3EWl/s1600/sd12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid5nzCbvc9UGSkCo_hEL1n9vKHlwt9_9EAYH2D00brszbsthoZbscnJs8IR13YkskLlbepe8Yie1rFuFDrSUZ_oUV9zwq1lFdIYueI_Ru7dVSd9RSSuzoKyXS2X6R9DM-84doS3ohE3EWl/s640/sd12.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob Crane tries to rescue his daughter from college life</td></tr> </tbody></table> A gist of the film takes place at college: Charlie wants Wendy to get away from Bart and his friends, including the great Bruno Kirby who's not so great with an annoyingly high voice and Ed Begley Jr., but things eventually backfire and she winds up with a nefarious beatnik artist in San Francisco.<br /> <br /> The final act makes an already lackluster film fall apart completely. Charlie has to rescue his daughter and, with the secret help of Russell’s Bart, he goes up against Joby Baker’s Klutch, a cross between Charles Manson and a cast member of THE ELECTRIC COMPANY. Klutch is perhaps the worst villain in Disney film history.<br /> <br /> Throughout the misadventure, we forget about our put-upon heroes’ quest to be SUPERDAD and yet, things work out perfectly. And it takes a bizarre, uneven, yet completely interesting movie to make that happen.<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/AVvXsEhZuaSA0tjvlVV3S3N55HreTqdtjL-jki-MteRDMb6CCdgrmory_u3-ZvFo76fB7hG5cd1rgYEulfiDsjl-S0xhvEqWV0J0XQNqGDzY_R6yZj0S5nw8XRcevmEWjlbK1F9h3QYcfz3qF02U/s1600/sd23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="469" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZuaSA0tjvlVV3S3N55HreTqdtjL-jki-MteRDMb6CCdgrmory_u3-ZvFo76fB7hG5cd1rgYEulfiDsjl-S0xhvEqWV0J0XQNqGDzY_R6yZj0S5nw8XRcevmEWjlbK1F9h3QYcfz3qF02U/s640/sd23.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kathleen Cody looks at Bob Crane</td></tr> </tbody></table> <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/AVvXsEh91PGo3nCZvBqqK0vrKvGErvkUz41HTF2MIoU6og4MZcGlR_tlxyAx0DYktSI1cbQ3d8s8xsZBStRTB1HrIPNXXXUU97CR2NqPsqeDXfoluE9jbGXKYApLOEEzoaftdKT7LGVcsV8lplSG/s1600/sd14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh91PGo3nCZvBqqK0vrKvGErvkUz41HTF2MIoU6og4MZcGlR_tlxyAx0DYktSI1cbQ3d8s8xsZBStRTB1HrIPNXXXUU97CR2NqPsqeDXfoluE9jbGXKYApLOEEzoaftdKT7LGVcsV8lplSG/s640/sd14.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob Crane and Bruno Kirby</td></tr> </tbody></table> <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/AVvXsEhUX9s7roFVyu1c0cTBKZ8eY5mcnd67iWgdW_WU0DzU2uz29PTKDWj94cJM-GUnByjauwJSzQ2xRuHMBxT3qmUC1Gvu8ins1Er1v-_xCxZRgyCTp2mzmIMXftF8OHT4E9H3Y5WPbj39FMJL/s1600/sd11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUX9s7roFVyu1c0cTBKZ8eY5mcnd67iWgdW_WU0DzU2uz29PTKDWj94cJM-GUnByjauwJSzQ2xRuHMBxT3qmUC1Gvu8ins1Er1v-_xCxZRgyCTp2mzmIMXftF8OHT4E9H3Y5WPbj39FMJL/s640/sd11.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Driving dad on waterskis...</td></tr> </tbody></table> <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/AVvXsEhMVtb5lawvvnR3B4QvGYkQuqfkQvbSrY0ZMaDQyLMY-2p_FvOlbYZiksxjh3cnkuCYHMaGdvg43hBw_otWpbtABdKyOR8a6bY7LT-9HVxtcNBN9cSnxCT637rgXeTj9UVfaiRUI6NofhIH/s1600/sd9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVtb5lawvvnR3B4QvGYkQuqfkQvbSrY0ZMaDQyLMY-2p_FvOlbYZiksxjh3cnkuCYHMaGdvg43hBw_otWpbtABdKyOR8a6bY7LT-9HVxtcNBN9cSnxCT637rgXeTj9UVfaiRUI6NofhIH/s640/sd9.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob Crane tries wooing his daughter's friends</td></tr> </tbody></table> <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/AVvXsEi_2HDlJWR5-3QkiMz3rWnD-xJvaOZvvJBtnBa2SCTTD83nlMWG27-LxXv-KNo4nhQdF5ZNhlLEdXWAncrCcNXSzcLfJ4S1vFEaIKUp3TmbG55ZfpW9sDbOdZWZ2VwD4cG4hgL90RaToI0D/s1600/sd2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_2HDlJWR5-3QkiMz3rWnD-xJvaOZvvJBtnBa2SCTTD83nlMWG27-LxXv-KNo4nhQdF5ZNhlLEdXWAncrCcNXSzcLfJ4S1vFEaIKUp3TmbG55ZfpW9sDbOdZWZ2VwD4cG4hgL90RaToI0D/s640/sd2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kathleen Cody with Kurt Russell</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <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/AVvXsEhSbepVcmXrewl5vcZLrMtT4y0Qu2zoKSmRNj4j7k49IfWFmOKEncD6NiaPejSpkJH1HKJXHROEbJ8r_7IOt2gSC-lz7VSnHVmZZucStfqtgsVHvHBUMhawhD6WjMOuLhxDEOMJ8mDR4K4z/s1600/sd18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbepVcmXrewl5vcZLrMtT4y0Qu2zoKSmRNj4j7k49IfWFmOKEncD6NiaPejSpkJH1HKJXHROEbJ8r_7IOt2gSC-lz7VSnHVmZZucStfqtgsVHvHBUMhawhD6WjMOuLhxDEOMJ8mDR4K4z/s640/sd18.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joby Baker as the villainous beatnik Klutch</td></tr> </tbody></table> <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/AVvXsEihjJPuvRAjaiZ2nfwwledBO8iKs4pS0cUiCkBY7GkYvVPucfddZHzvPO6_U5nXxzI3BgT3gMvjSZ93hw-Sx0ofZE-bxErjFFMuXm4pa8wUXLp2_V96E9FzRDbDdd0uq_0Fu2bEFj8u5s_U/s1600/sd22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihjJPuvRAjaiZ2nfwwledBO8iKs4pS0cUiCkBY7GkYvVPucfddZHzvPO6_U5nXxzI3BgT3gMvjSZ93hw-Sx0ofZE-bxErjFFMuXm4pa8wUXLp2_V96E9FzRDbDdd0uq_0Fu2bEFj8u5s_U/s640/sd22.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nicholas Hammond as dad's daughter's hopeful boyfriend</td></tr> </tbody></table> <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/AVvXsEjpEXxT2aBFBaiMSVhcBip7KG7LLQpuCZJUqpUpciVVhWlT8gswegwQ-HyH59WfUkODQZoOC8EVvu3JiCc-BL0yxZr2GTlxABT_OBdjb4HNgxFXAmWz4LPcBq-90sVNnomJ8rkF0FkJobqj/s1600/sd33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpEXxT2aBFBaiMSVhcBip7KG7LLQpuCZJUqpUpciVVhWlT8gswegwQ-HyH59WfUkODQZoOC8EVvu3JiCc-BL0yxZr2GTlxABT_OBdjb4HNgxFXAmWz4LPcBq-90sVNnomJ8rkF0FkJobqj/s640/sd33.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob Crane and Kathleen Cody in SUPERDAD</td></tr> </tbody></table>

bob crane, bruno kirby, disney, kurt russell, seventies

VIEWING SUPERDAD THROUGH ROSE-COLORED GLASSES

Year: 1973 The sixth letter is “D”, not “B,” so don’t mistake this with the popular slacker comedy... A bizarre Disney film called SUP...

FOLLOW ME, BOYS

<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/AVvXsEhP0p3_7-gTebSipeJLtkQ56pYNwKc1xY0sJj0VPWGFO-EbokSe7bMSzHFNMmt5mPRgs9VkBK7u4AlmTtR4caPBlgznxo3VJFHmPRN4uZj1pZZuG3j5Z6Fvxeo-pK8guRWZDMdyXW9WUPol/s1600/title00_011139691.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0p3_7-gTebSipeJLtkQ56pYNwKc1xY0sJj0VPWGFO-EbokSe7bMSzHFNMmt5mPRgs9VkBK7u4AlmTtR4caPBlgznxo3VJFHmPRN4uZj1pZZuG3j5Z6Fvxeo-pK8guRWZDMdyXW9WUPol/s640/title00_011139691.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1966 cast: Fred MacMurray, Vera Miles, Kurt Russell  rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> There’s a relaxing quality to Fred MacMurray’s Lemuel Siddons and his contentedly wayward life. Although, being part of a traveling band, sitting in the back of the bus as the musicians play their hearts out, something just isn’t right.<br /> <br /> Lemuel promises when the first opportunity arises he’ll settle down. So a sign outside a drugstore in a Norman Rockwell era small town reading CLERK WANTED is just the ticket.<br /> <br /> The first twenty minutes is the most charming – getting to know the gossipy townsfolk, he eventually becomes the first scoutmaster, inspired by lovely local Vera Miles who, like all love interests, dates a real jerk – making her decision for our friendly hero that much easier.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1hQ_JBi3didOlXSi8d5gwRNcvO4NHuyf3sviNT9HUK7jR_I9ZUnWo0wyTIpWIXZm2pT72zUaDiBFCRhNG9ZielJeoKZBpPsSqiH7y21eKe5G6fr2xj4zvHIlPWrjGTnfvHO98JfjLixaB/s1600/title00_011215408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1hQ_JBi3didOlXSi8d5gwRNcvO4NHuyf3sviNT9HUK7jR_I9ZUnWo0wyTIpWIXZm2pT72zUaDiBFCRhNG9ZielJeoKZBpPsSqiH7y21eKe5G6fr2xj4zvHIlPWrjGTnfvHO98JfjLixaB/s640/title00_011215408.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div> </td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> Fred MacMurray leads the troops</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> Kurt Russell plays Whitey, the town problem child with a boozing father. He doesn’t want any part of the troop but then eventually becomes a leader, saving one boy in a suspenseful rock climbing scene. But something happens...<br /> <br /> The troop, out on a rural excursion, happen upon military war games, providing slapstick Disney fare that derails the real story about Lemuel and Whitey’s budding relationship: the man needs a son and the boy needs a father.<br /> <br /> Then, after another pointless detour about a nice old lady's sanity (keeping Lem and wife from owning lucrative property), the movie skips decade after decade – Whitey becomes a bland married doctor advising Lemuel to retire from the scouts earnestly. And that's too bad…<br /> <br /> If the entire movie centered on that initial time frame, and remained on the kids we were getting to know, there’d be much more here to follow. <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

comedy, disney, fred macmurray, kurt russell, sixties, vera miles

FOLLOW ME, BOYS

year: 1966 cast: Fred MacMurray, Vera Miles, Kurt Russell  rating: *** There’s a relaxing quality to Fred MacMurray’s Lemuel Siddons a...

SWING SHIFT

<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/AVvXsEjJBBu3lop1xeqOzZYaCz4-bGcoOBdCcZVhB4Pw7Tkzf4rNCNti4Tpwny3k3kt-af05xnbosGCo-ryDv-4t641dktbyeLqPTDwocbrElXoAl0ltVgASrz1vEOpo2xEBk3U9KsEC16RYMBxt/s1600/rfa509b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJBBu3lop1xeqOzZYaCz4-bGcoOBdCcZVhB4Pw7Tkzf4rNCNti4Tpwny3k3kt-af05xnbosGCo-ryDv-4t641dktbyeLqPTDwocbrElXoAl0ltVgASrz1vEOpo2xEBk3U9KsEC16RYMBxt/s640/rfa509b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1984 cast: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti, Fred Ward, Ed Harris rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Centers on a housewife whose husband goes to war after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Thus Goldie Hawn is called, along with many other women, to aid in the war effort by working in a bomber factory. <br /> <br /> Christine Lahti steals scenes as her outgoing, lusty best friend. And Kurt Russell is a trumpet playing player named "Lucky," who doesn't have to fight the war because of a heart condition... which doesn't keep him from playing trumpet all night, drinking, chain smoking, and having an affair with the wife of a fighting soldier. <br /> <br /> According to Jonathan Demme, the movie was ruined in the editing room, making it more of a standard romantic comedy than a character-study of women working in factories. And while SWING SHIFT is a somewhat entertaining time-waster, it could have been much better centering more on Hawn and Lahti than the  uninteresting Hawn/Russell romance. <br /> <br /> At the very end, when Hawn and Lahti look back upon their friendship... and when all the factory ladies reflect upon their first day on the job... the audience wishes there was more of that to experience.

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

SWING SHIFT

year: 1984 cast: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti, Fred Ward, Ed Harris rating: **1/2 Centers on a housewife whose husband goe...

GIBSON, RUSSELL & PHEIFFER IN TEQUILA SUNRISE

<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/AVvXsEhwWdGvyGbl4oMSxNCiA2rAauHkkNuu24LhyAT1mervKc4D4fKXg9GxDFHbJxPxhDPiOgfSzkBqkLbDpvCjhCbNFawu57GgTLgwedj_qT90lzD9tqVtFTAGAQtOlrK5icfiOjd5INqLIeo/s1600/175px-Tequila-sunrise1988.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/AVvXsEhwWdGvyGbl4oMSxNCiA2rAauHkkNuu24LhyAT1mervKc4D4fKXg9GxDFHbJxPxhDPiOgfSzkBqkLbDpvCjhCbNFawu57GgTLgwedj_qT90lzD9tqVtFTAGAQtOlrK5icfiOjd5INqLIeo/s1600/175px-Tequila-sunrise1988.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1988 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Anyone thinking this will be a corny movie involving three great looking people in a steamy crime melodrama dealing with a predictable love triangle, like the poster implies, you’re only half right...<br /> <br /> Written and directed by Robert Towne, who penned CHINATOWN, arguably the greatest original script-to-film ever made, this starts out all right: building enough suspense and interesting characters through tight dialogue, making you wonder who Mel Gibson, as an infamous L.A. drug pusher, is waiting to connect with as Kurt Russell, playing his high school friend who's a detective, and Michelle Pheiffer, as a restaurant owner, are caught in-between: Gibson, who swears he's gone straight, plays down as a guy being watched by everyone: from the feds to junkies to other dealers.<br /> <br /> Kurt Russell provides an effective counterbalance as the good cop (especially compared to seedy agent J.T. Walsh) with the hots for Pheiffer, who eventually realizes she’s in love with Gibson: and your typical steamy love scene ensues. This, along with searing saxophone riffs heard in every eighties cop film, turns an involving dialog-driven plot into soap operatic fare… yet a tense vibe remains that’ll keep you locked in till the end. And it could have used a better, more fitting title.

cop, eighties, kurt russell, mel gibsin, melodrama, michelle pheiffer, neo noir, robert towne

GIBSON, RUSSELL & PHEIFFER IN TEQUILA SUNRISE

1988 rating: *** Anyone thinking this will be a corny movie involving three great looking people in a steamy crime melodrama dealing w...