July 29 - August 4, 2023

 

To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.

Brain Teasers:

Which French actress was under contract to Jean Pierre Melville, but asked out of the contract in order to work with other producers, including the makers of Italian Epic movies?

It was Isabelle Corey that Melville put under contract when they made BOB LE FLAMBEUR.

Which Western, directed by an Italian, starred three French performers?

Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was GLI SPECIALISTI, aka THE SPECIALISTS, with Johnny Hallyday, Serge Marquand and Sylvia Fennec.

Which American actor who appeared in Italian Westerns made his last film appearance in a superhero movie?

No one has answered this question yet.

In 1992, Walter Barnes got a table at a Ray Courts autograph show to honor what other American actor who had recently died?

Rick Garibaldi knew that it was Wade Preston

Which American actor who made Italian movies found that his wife had become mistress to director Federico Fellini?

Tom Betts knew that it was Walter Barnes.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which Italian actor made two Westerns in which his character was killed right near the beginning of the film, leading to plot complications for the heroes?

In which Italian Western does one of our anti-heroes attempt to rape the leading lady until he is stopped by the other anti-hero?

In the English language version of which Italian Western came the line "Scott is your father."?

Name the movies from which these images came.

Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Tatsuya Nakadai and Jeff Cameron in OGGI A ME... DOMANI A TE!, aka TODAY TO ME... TOMORROW TO YOU.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and Charles Gilbert identified last week's photo of Brad Harris wrestling Alan Steel in LA FURIA DI ERCOLE, aka THE FURY OF HERCULES.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Brad Harris in I FANTASTICI TRE SUPERMEN, aka THE THREE FANTASTIC SUPERMEN.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one has identified the above photo yet.

Can you name from what movie it came?

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I am interested in knowing what movies you have watched and what you enjoyed or not. So please send me an email at scinema@earthlink.net if you'd like to share. Here's what I watched last week:

Enjoyed:

Iron Man: Armored Adventures season one (2009) - A year after the successful IRON MAN feature film, this animated half hour TV series, primarily made by a French company, appeared on Nicktoons with a completely different take on the Iron Man saga. More like Spider-Man, this show is about Tony Stark in high school with James Rhodes as his best friend and Pepper Potts as a nosey teenage girl. After Tony's father is thought dead in an airplane explosion and Tony's heart is damaged, our hero becomes the ward of James Rhodes' mother. Tony has to have a successful high school career in order to inherit his father's company when he turns 18. Obadiah Stane, who we suspect engineered the plane explosion, is turning Stark International into a weapons manufacturer. In a disused warehouse, Tony continues to create his genius tech, including the Iron Man suit. He is determined to thwart all of Stane's evil plans, while also dealing with a whole bunch of other bad guys, including The Mandarin, Mr. Fix, The Controller, Whiplash, The Unicorn, The Crimson Dynamo and Blizzard. For fans of the IRON MAN feature film, this can be very confusing as it doesn't jibe with what happens in the MCU. But after you accept that it is different, the program is fun. Though, all of the high school hi-jinks can be annoying.

Jimi Hendrix Hear My Train A Comin' (2013) - This PBS American Masters documentary, directed by Bob Smeaton, is full of rare performance material and marvelous talking head bits from Paul McCartney, Chas Chandler, Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Eddie Kramer, Fayne Pridgon and Colette Mimram among many others. Oddly, to me, there is no mention of The Who and Eric Clapton. Plus there is no information on the circumstances of his death, nor a mention of Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. There is information about the Miami Pop Festival of May 18, 1968, which was put together by Michael Lang a year before he helped to put together Woodstock. 

Mildly enjoyed:

Jimi Hendrix Trapped In Amber (2017) - What's the point of doing a documentary about Jimi Hendrix without having the rights to play his music? (There is a clip of Jimi singing "Hey Joe" and a snippet from "Purple Haze".) Writer/director Finn White-Thomson might say that it was the only way for him to discuss some of the controversial aspects of Jimi's life - especially the possibility of manager Mike Jeffrey being a gangster. This program, which aired on AXS TV out of sync, does mention The Who and Eric Clapton, as well as Eric Burdon and War. It also mentions the flood of Jimi Hendrix material that came out after Jimi's death - much of which Jimi probably wouldn't have allowed if he was alive. Perhaps the most unforgivable aspect of this program is the "dramatic recreations" of events, as well as the non-Hendrix music, including "Apache" by The Shadows, being used in the background. This program does go into the circumstances of Jimi's death, with some people considering conspiracy theories, though there is again no mention of Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison and the "27 club".

Secret Invasion (2023) - This six part Disney + series is the first they've done that I didn't find much fun. After it ended, I found that I like it, but not as much as previous shows. We'll see how it impacts THE MARVELS.

Did not enjoy:

BEHAVING BADLY (2012) - In 2000, Ric Browde published a satirical autobiographical novel called WHILE I'M DEAD FEED THE DOG. Co-writer/director Tim Garrick made a movie based on it which Browde ridiculed with an internet posting "the story behind the story behind the movie that has nothing to do with the story". I'm guessing that the filmmakers were intending something like AMERICAN PIE, but failed to make the main character, played by Nat Wolff, likable or interesting. If the film's conclusion, with the "fixing" of the guy's family, is supposed to be important to the viewer, the filmmakers also failed to make the family members memorable. The cast is filled with talented folks, including Mary Louise Parker, Elisabeth Shue, Heather Graham, Ashley Rickards, Jason Lee, Cary Elwes, Patrick Warburton and Selena Gomez. If you find it funny that our "hero" starts off the movie complaining of "crabs" and then finding out that almost everyone else, including the local priest, also has crabs by the end of the movie, then you may get more chuckles out of this than I did.

                                                        

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Charles Gilbert Watched:

URANIUM BOOM (1956) B&W. Dennis Morgan and William Tallman vie for uranium claims and Patricia Medina

Ali vs. Frazier 1. March 8, 1971 I had not realized all these years that Burt Lancaster was a key announcer along side Don Dunphy and Archie Moore for this.

Ali vs. Frazier 2 January 28, 1974. Howard  Cosell at the mic with O. J. Simpson providing interlude sports news between a few rounds on Wide World of Sports.

Ali vs. Frazier 3 October 1, 1975. This time in Manilla, the fight is once again called by Don Dunphy and Ken Norton.

Highway Patrol B&W. 

    'Prison Break' (S1E01) Diane Brewster and Paul Burke have brief parts.

    'Bank Messenger (S4E39) Man and wife (Sheila Connolly) kidnap and murder payroll carriers.

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David Deal Enjoyed:

SON OF THE STARS (88) - A young boy is stranded on a spaceship after his parents are lost trying to do repairs. Luckily the ship is run by an all-knowing computer, BOB, that lands it on an inhabitable planet. There the boy grows up manifesting special powers, and he begins a journey of discovery thru the galaxy. Romanian animation from the same team responsible for Delta Space Mission (1984). Here, there is more of a story arc but the animation is as trippy and creative as ever.

EMERGENCY SQUAD (74) - From 2006: "Cop Tomas Milian tracks down his wife's killer,Gastone Moschin. Standard post-heist crime thriller that benefits from a low-key Milian and the always interesting Moschin."

SECONDS (66)

THE VAMPIRE'S COFFIN (58)

Mildly Enjoyed

MURDER IS MY BUSINESS (46)

LARCENY IN HER HEART (46)

BLONDE FOR A DAY (46)

THREE ON A TICKET (47)

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Angel Rivera Enjoyed:

"The Wrecking Crew" (1968) This one is more like it. It has as its main villain, Nigel Green. Along for the ride are Elke Sommer, Nancy Kwan, and Tina Louise who aid Green in his quest to dominate the world. The plot owes a little to "Goldfinger" (1964) in that Green steals a billion dollars worth of gold bullion as a means to destroy the world's economy so he can be Mr. Big and rule the world. (Side note: Green and Sommer worked together in the film "Deadlier Than the Male" (1967) an attempt to make super sleuth, Bulldog Drummond into a super spy like James Bond. The star of "Deadlier Than the Male" was Richard Johnson who had been one of the original choices for the part of James Bond in "Dr. No" (1962) before Sean Connery got the part.) To aid Matt/Dino in his mission to stop Green is the tragic and beautiful Sharon Tate in her last role. Here she shows what a great comedienne she would have been. She and Nancy Kwan have a martial arts duel for which they were trained by the great Bruce Lee listed in the credits as "Karate Advisor". (Apparently he got over his hatred of "American Stuntmen" which Quentin Tarantino claimed Lee had.) Martin and Tate have great chemistry together even as most of the time Dean puts Tate's character down for her clumsiness, but in the end all works out for the two as they foil the plans of Green.  Tate was supposed to return for the next Matt Helm film, but upon hearing of her tragic death, Martin did not want to do another Matt Helm film. Nigel Green is also known for playing Nayland Smith, the nemesis of Fu Manchu opposite Chistopher Lee's Fu Manchu in "The Face of Fu Manchu" (1965)  and "Hercules" in "Jason and the Argonauts" (1963).So I found "The Wrecking Crew" an enjoyable romp.

Mildly enjoyed:

"The Ambushers" (1967) Just got my copy of Cinema Retro's special edition about the Dean Martin/Matt Helm movies. This is the third one and considered the weakest. The female leads are Janice Rule, who had a prominent role in the 1966 film, "The Chase" which starred Marlon Brando, Angie Dickinson, Robert Redford, Jane Fonda and Robert Duvall. Also included in the cast is  Senta Berger. The villain, Albert Salmi has a deadly "flying saucer" for sale to the highest bidder. The problem is only a woman can fly the damn thing because any man who tries to fly it dies due to some kind of radiation poison that only effects men. Needless to say Matt/Dino saves the day.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

Deurim / Dream (2022, Byeong-heon Lee)

Akgwi / Revenant (2022) – episodes 4 to 10

Mildly enjoyed

The Flash (2022, Andy Muschietti)

Fool's paradise (2022, Charlie Day)

I diafanoidi vengono da Marte (1966, Antonio Margheriti)

Not enjoyed

Il pianeta errante (1965, Antonio Margheriti)

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