To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
In what year did Craig Hill make his first Western in Spain?
Tom Betts, Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was 1965 with OCASO DE UN PISTOLERO, aka GUNMAN'S HANDS.
In what year did Rafael Romero Marchent direct his first Western?
Tom Betts, Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was 1965 with OCASO DE UN PISTOLERO, aka GUNMAN'S HANDS.
What relation is Joaquin Luis Romero Marchent to Joaquin Romero Marchent Gomez de Avellaneda?
Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem, Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that he is the son.
And now for some new brain teasers:
Which Italian Western sets the ending of The Odyssey in the U.S./Mexico border?
Which Italian Western offers a Western version of HAMLET?
Which Italian Western offers a Western version of ROMEO & JULIET?
Name the movies from which these images came.
George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Craig Hill in PER IL GUSTO DI UCCIDERE, aka TASTE OF KILLING.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
Bertrand van Wonterghem, Charles Gilbert, Angel Rivera and identified last week's frame grab of Ugo Sasso and Lorris Loddi in MACISTE L'EROE PIU GRANDE DEL MONDO, aka GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Helmut Berger in DAS BILDNIS DES DORIAN GRAY, aka IL DIO CHIAMATO DORIAN, aka DORIAN GRAY. Angel Rivers commented, 'Picture #3 is well known to me as I have two versions of this film. The version released by AIP and the DVD version released under its Italian release title which has an English soundtrack and contains scenes cut from the AIP release. My all-time favorite book is "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. This picture is of Helmut Berger as "Dorian Gray" (1970) (aka "the Secret of Dorian Gray" and "Il Dio Chamato Dorian")'
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Lo Meng and Chen Kuan-Tai in HUMAN LANTERNS.
Above is a new photo.
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:
Hullabaloo episodes 09/27/1965 & 10/04/1965 - Decades ago, when Tower Video was selling off their Beta tapes, I got this Video Yesteryear recording of two episodes of one of my favorite shows from when I was nine years old. In one, David McCallum performed "Agent Double 0 Soul" with The Animals doing "We Got To Get Out Of This Place", while on the other The Byrds did "The Times They Are A-Changing" and Jackie DeShannon did a Burt Bacharah song that wasn't memorable, but did it while looking quite fetching.
A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Unknown Story (2022) -
I stumbled upon these shows while flipping channels looking for something to watch on the morning of the 4th of July. It was on Reez, a channel I usually ignore. Now that Icons Unearthed on Vice seems to have gone away, this is an agreeable substitute, though it features fewer interviews with the filmmakers, it does have some interesting trivia.
Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Unknown Story (2022)
Fast & The Furious: The Unknown Story (2022)
Jurassic Park: The Unknown Story (2022)
Mildly enjoyed:
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (2024) - I had seen Wednesday on Netflix before I saw this sequel to BEETLEJUICE and I kept getting the two mixed up. It was not just that both starred Jenna Ortega, but that Monica Bellucci looked a lot like Angelica Huston. The contentious mother-daughter relationship in both were similar, as was the visual styles. BEETLEJUICE 2 is certainly an unnecessary sequel, but it wasn't hard to sit through and generated a few chuckles
Did not enjoy:
PUPPY SWAP: LOVE UNLEASHED (2019) - This was perhaps the final film featuring Margot Kidder (her other "final film" is ROBBER'S ROOST which hasn't been released yet), which was released the year after she passed. She plays the aging owner of an animal retreat in a small town in Montana where two identical puppies, voiced by Preston Nativo and Corinna Wagner-Smith, are waiting to be adopted. When one is adopted, the other is very depressed. However, Sara Fletcher soon shows up to adopt the other as a present for her boyfriend. Naturally, its turns out that the first puppy was adopted by the boyfriend, Rib Hillis, as a present for Fletcher. Hillis gets down on his knees to propose marriage to Fletcher, but, of course, drops the ring, which one of the puppies promptly eats. Kidder assures the couple that the ring will pass from the puppy and offers to officiate at their wedding. In three months, though, the couple breaks up as Fletcher gets a job offer in Los Angeles. She takes one puppy, who is upset over the break-up. Four years later, after Fletcher is successful at her job at a cosmetic company, her boss, Corin Nemec, proposes marriage, but she first has to go back to Montana to sell her product. Of course, the now grown dogs find each other and plot how to get Fletcher and Hillis back together. While there is some resemblence to THE PARENT TRAP, this is not a full remake. Co-producer Ari Novak gets a co-writer credit for this, but Mike Gut is brought in as director. Attractive animals and actors in an attractive setting with a predictable plot may appeal to some people, but not me. It is interesting to watch Margot Kidder, perhaps the year before her "suicide", to play a kind-hearted but befuddled animal caretaker.
TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF GOLD (1966) - The advance word on this movie was that it was like a James Bond movie. Tarzan, played by Mike Henry, arrives in Mexico wearing a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase. He is met at the airport by a killer posing as a chauffeur. So far, so DR. NO. The bad guys drive our hero into the middle of a bullfighting arena where a sniper tries to shoot Tarzan. After a bit of running around, our hero kills the sniper by pushing a giant Coca Cola bottle at him. A little boy, played by Manuel Padilla Jr., came out of the Mexican jungle saying that he can't find his way back home. The boy says that his home was an hidden Aztec city rumored to have a treasure in gold. This comes to the attention of villain David Opatoshu, who sends his goons to murder everyone at the Ruiz Ranch and kidnap Padilla. Ruiz, played by Frank Brandstetter, had already sent for help from Tarzan, with whom Ruiz had worked to secure wild animals. As Padilla had befriend a leopard on the Ruiz Ranch, Tarzan relies on that big cat to track where the boy has been taken. Also at the ranch is a lion that Tarzan and Ruiz had rescued when he was injured, so our hero takes that big cat as well to act as his "army". Naturally, there is also a friendly chimpanzee named Dinky. After rescuing the boy - during which the leopard is killed, our hero must down a helicopter with grenades, rescue Nancy Kovack who has a bomb around her neck and use a B.A.R. in a gunfight with Opatoshu's men. The filmmakers did not continue the comparison to James Bond by having Tarzan have sex with Kovacks. At the lost city, Tarzan is unable to convince the head man, Francisco Reiguera, that he must defend himself against Opatoshu. But after the villain kills some locals by shooting a shell from his tank, Reiguera uses the villain's greed to lure him into a deadly trap. As director Robert Day had just had a big hit with SHE from Hammer Films, he probably seemed the right choice for another "search for a lost city" picture. Unfortunately, he brought no inventiveness to the proceedings. The rather dull screenplay is credited to Clair Huffaker who is mostly known for Western novels and scripts. Probably because they could speak English, many of the Mexican cast would also appear in THE WILD BUNCH, including Enrique Lucero. Also of interest is Don Megowan, who had returned from a time working in Europe so that Mike Henry could grapple with someone bigger than he is. And Carlos Rivas.
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Angel Rivera Highly enjoyed:
A GUIDE FOR THE MARRIED MAN" (1967)
Amusing comedy with ready to cheat husband, Walter Matthau getting "tips" on how to do it right, so as not to get caught from Robert Morse. Matthau's character is married to the lovely Inger Stevens who wears a bikini in one scene that will knock your socks off. Great fun with a myriad of stars illustrating the rights and wrongs of "cheating."
Enjoyed:
"GOLDFINGER" (1964/5)
James Bond didn't really become James Bond until this film came out. While the first two Bond films were good; "Goldfinger" is the one that set the standards for all the ones to follow. And still can't be beat. Connery is at his best here with former British "Avengers" star Honor Blackman as his costar and love interest, "Miss Pussy Galore". Gert Frobe is an interesting villain as "Auric Goldfinger". (Eventhough his voice is dubbed by British voice actor, Michael Collins.) and of course the unforgettable Harold Sakata as "Oddjob".
"PLANETS AGAINST US" (1962)
With a visual style reminiscent of "La Dolce Vita", aliens clone a dead scientist's son and try to sabotage the Earth's space program. With Michel Lemoine, Maria Pia Luzi and Jany Clair.
Did not enjoy:
"SUPERGIRL" (2026)
I guess because I'm too familiar with the old comic book version of "Supergirl" that this new version did not sit well with me. The film is okay, but it gets a 3 out of 10 (10 being the highest) rating out of me.
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David Deal Enjoyed:
FOLLOW ME QUIETLY (49) - Cop William Lundigan is after a serial killer who calls himself The Judge. Pesky, perky reporter Dorothy Patrick is after a scoop that only Lundigan can provide. This dour noir programmer, based on a story by Anthony Mann, has plenty of dark atmosphere and darker attitudes. The Judge only kills in the rain and it rains a lot in this brisk and recommended thriller directed by Richard Fleischer (Narrow Margin, His Kind of Woman).
CURSED (05) - Sister and brother Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg are both wounded by a werewolf after they have a car crash. Things get complicated. Wes Craven's thriller is smart and funny and doesn't take itself too seriously except when it should.
THE SECOND TWIN (66) - When a man is killed, suspicion falls on famous attorney Robert Hossein. He and the victim were both in love with and had affairs with Michele Mercier. Christian-Jacques' (Dead Run) murder mystery unfolds largely in flashbacks, feeding the viewer with pieces of information sometimes contradicting or confirming each other. This is better than its various ratings. I liked the story and its style.
THE MISSING JUROR (44) - George Macready is tried and sentenced to death for murder. Just before he's to hang, new evidence is uncovered that proves his innocence. Having had a nervous breakdown in the meantime, Macready retreats to a nursing home to convalesce where he sets his room on fire and hangs himself, his body burned beyond recognition. And then the jurors who condemned him begin dying, one by one. A fun little programmer that's not much of a mystery but Macready does his usual excellent work and there is plenty of creepy atmosphere. Jim Bannon is the reporter on the job who falls for Janis Carter, one of the jurors in danger. Mike Mazurki runs an all-night steam bath. Budd Boetticher's directorial debut.
THE STRAIGHT STORY (99) - David Lynch's "straight" movie is well worth revisiting. Richard Farnsworth should have won the Oscar.
CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB (64) Can't resist this mid-cycle Hammer flick.
HERE COMES MR. JORDAN (41) The funny and clever film that Heaven Can Wait was based upon.
THE CREATURE WITH THE BLUE HAND (67) - Nice to have this late-cycle German Edgar Wallace entry on Blu-ray.
Mildly enjoyed:
DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER (69) - The townsfolk of Cottonwood Springs have about had it with aging marshal Richard Widmark. They feel he's holding back progress, but there's a dark secret behind their enmity. Backlot western has a television feel and a deep cast that proves it. Directed by pseudonymous Alan Smithee, this was apparently finished up by Don Siegel after Robert Totten failed in the eyes of Widmark. Regardless, it's a tired, cheap late-cycle western that will still please afficionados in a pinch. Jazz great Oliver Nelson did the soundtrack but you'd never know it.
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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:
The bad lieutenant : port of call New Orleans (2009, Werner Herzog)
Voyage to the bottom of the sea – episode 'Dead men's doubloons' (1966, Sutton Rolley)
Mildly enjoyed:
Adventures of Superman – episode 'The birthday letter' (1951, Lee Sholem)
Did not enjoy:
Te marre pas... c'est pour rire (1982, Jacques Besnard)
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