September 5 - 11, 2026

 

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

Brain Teasers:

Can you name two actors who made Italian Westerns who had daughters who made movies accused of being child pornography?

Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that Walter Barnes daughter, Laura Wendel starred in MALADOLESCENZA when she was 11. So that's half of an answer.

Which French actor who appeared in Italian Westerns has a small role in the first feature film directed by a former writer for Cahiers du Cinema?

Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Jean Martin.

In which Italian Western does a roulette wheel signal the moment for the final shootout?

Steve Mason, Angel Rivera and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was I QUATTRO DELL'AVE MARIA, aka ACE HIGH.

In which Dean Strafford Italian Western can you hear music from BLIND MAN?

Angel Rivera knew that it was I SETTE DEL GRUPPO SELVAGGIO, aka SEVEN DEVILS ON HORSEBACK.

In which Luis Davila Spanish Western can you hear music from GUNFIGHT AT RED SANDS?

Angel Rivera knew that it was VIVA CARRANCHO!, aka L'UOMO CHE VIENE DA CANYON CITY, aka MAN FROM CANYON CITY.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which Italian Western begins with Klaus Kinski breaking rocks in the hot sun?

Which Italian Western has the villain say "Adios, gringo" before being shot dead by Anthony Steffen?

Who was Renzo Genta?

Name the movies from which these images came.

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Iris Berben in VAMOS A MATAR COMPANEROS, aka COMPANEROS.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Capucine and Hiram Keller in director Federico Fellini's SATYRICON.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Steve Mason and George Grimes identified last week's frame grab from director  Federico Fellini's OTTO E MEZZO, aka 8 1/2.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Liu Chia-Hui and Ying-Hung Hui in THE EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER.

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:

The Saint "The Death Game" season 5 episode 17 (1967) - Normally I watch old episodes of The Saint for the actresses that appeared. This episode I watched because it featured John Steiner in an early homicidal killer role. Leslie Norman directed this tale in which an international criminal, played by George Murcell, sought to recruit killers by having psychology students participate in a game in which they were awarded points for figuring out how to do in their fellow students. Needless to say, Roger Moore figured out how to stop it all.

Mildly enjoyed:

ANOTHER CINDERELLA STORY (2008) - In 2004, Leigh Dunlap wrote a modernized version of Cinderella called A CINDERELLA STORY for Warner Bros. It was successful enough to spawn a franchise of six movies, none of which were related to one another except from the inspiration of the fairy tale by Charles Perrault in 1697. ANOTHER CINDERELLA STORY is the second in the "series". 15 year old Selena Gomez took time away from Wizards of Wavery Place to play the daughter of a dancer working for fading pop singer Jane Lynch. After her mother died, Gomez was hired as a maid by Lynch, and is tormented by Lynch's daughters, Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle. This was the fourth movie where Perkins and Isabelle were partnered after GINGER SNAPS in 2000. They both appeared on the TV series DaVinci's Inquest, but never had a scene together. Drew Seeley, like Gomez a frequent performer for the Disney Company, played a pop star who returned to finish high school after touring. Of course Gomez and Seeley fell in love, but just about everyone worked to keep them apart. Lynch even spoiled her chance to audition for the Manhattan Academy of Performing Arts. Eventually, with the help of Seeley's friend Marcus T. Paulk and Gomez' friend Jessica Parker Kennedy, the couple were united by performing together at a dance competition. With an engaging cast and surprising plot twists, ANOTHER CINDERELLA STORY was a mild delight. Damon Santostefano directed a script credited to Erik Patterson and Jessica Scott. Amelia Randal was Gomez' dance double while Phil Green doubled Seeley. Michelle Johnston, who appeared in SHOWGIRLS, was the choreographer.

Millennium "Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense" season 2 episode 9 (1997) - A satiric look at "Selfosophy", this is probably my favorite episode of this very downbeat sister show to The X Files. Charles Nelson Reilly is very entertaining as a character originally introduced on The X Files with Lance Henriksen playing scenes with a brighter than usual attitude. Unfortunately, Megan Gallagher does not appear in this episode.

OUTPOST: BLACK SUN (2012) - The best thing these filmmakers did was to cast Catherine Steadman in the lead role. It was because of her that I stuck with this flick until the bitter end. Just as the first close up of Naomi Watts keep me watching CHILDREN OF THE CORN IV: THE GATHERING, Steadman's presence kept me going even after I realized that this was another "Nazi zombie" movie. When I put this DVD in the machine, I wasn't aware that this was a sequel to OUTPOST (2008), which I haven't seen. OUTPOST was personally financed by a couple in Scotland, Arabella Croft and Kieran Parker, for which they created Black Camel Pictures. That film did well enough that they brought back writer/director Steve Barker to do a sequel. Barker was at loss how to do a sequel since he had killed off everybody in the first film, so he came up with a new story, with Rae Brunton (who wrote the first film) involving Steadman as a Nazi hunter out to find the final war criminal her deceased father blamed for their horrific World War 2 experience. Clues lead her to "Eastern Europe" where NATO forces are already dealing with what turns out to be a murderous horde of Nazi soldiers that are controlled by an expanding electromagnetic field. After our heroes break into the secret Nazi bunker, the film becomes rather tedious with confusing scientific mumble-jumbo and various plot twists. The film ends obviously screaming for a third film, which eventually came in 2013 called OUTPOST: RISE OF THE SPETSNAZ. The third film is a prequel, so it does not resolve the story line of the second film, and it doesn't feature Steadman, so it holds virtually no interest for me. Also in BLACK SUN is Richard Coyle, whom I quite enjoyed as John Strange in the short lived TV series Strange (2002).

Did not enjoy:

...ARRIVANO DJANGO E SARTANA... E LA FINE, aka DJANGO AND SARTANA ARE COMING... IT'S THE END, aka DJANGO AND SARTANA'S SHOWDOWN IN THE WEST (1970) - This Demofilo Fidani Western does not have a director's credit for Miles Deem, Fidani's usual alias. It is credited to Dick Spitfire, whom some identify as being production manager Diego Spataro. Fidani does give himself the producer's credit as well as the writer's credit, which he shares with production designer M.R. Valenza, aka Mila Vitelli Valenza - his wife. This got me to think that the script was created around the sets and locations that were available. And that the film turned out so poorly that Fidani didn't want to stain Deem's reputation with it.The story is simple enough. Having scored a big gold heist (which we never see), Gordon Mitchell decides that to ensure a safe escape to Mexico his men should kidnap the daughter of a rich man, Simone Blondell - the director's daughter. However, rather than frightening the forces of law and order into paralysis, Sheriff Ettore Manni decides to raise the reward on Mitchell's head. This attracts bounty killer Hunt Powers, as Django, and the local goody-good gunman Chet Davis, as Sartana. Hearing that the good guys are coming after him, Mitchell splits his gang into two groups to get the heroes before they arrive. Rather than shooting the good guys when they get the drop on them, the idiots decide to engage in brawls. They may capture the heroes, but much screen time is taken up with the good guys escaping and then finally killing all of the bad guys. Making certain that the movie is feature length seems to be the main concern of the filmmakers, so there is a lot of endless shots of people riding horses going this way and that. There is also a very long and pointless poker game, and I'm not talking about the poker game Mitchell plays with his reflection in a mirror. "You cheat more than I do!" Some of this might be mistaken for satire if the overall movie wasn't so dull. The gunfights, when they finally arrive, are poorly staged and seem designed to give the stuntmen opportunities to come up with even more acrobatic deaths than the previous ones. A few are even done in slow motion which helps add to the running time. The credit list for this movie is very similar to that of INGINOCCHIATI STRANIERO... I CADAVERI NON FANNO OMBRA!, aka STRANGER THAT KNEELS BESIDE THE SHADOW OF A CORPSE, aka DEAD MEN DON'T MAKE SHADOWS, which also came out in 1970. I believe that some footage from DEAD MEN is used to pad out the running time of this film as well.

CHICKEN LITTLE (2005) - Chicken Little alerts the town of Oakey Oaks, which has the best acorns in the universe, that "the sky is falling." When no one can find evidence to back up his claim, the small clucker is ridiculed by every other animal in town. (There are no humans.) Our hero can accept the disdain of the other residents, but is very hurt when his father doesn't believe him either. Eventually, it becomes obvious to all that what fell from the sky was part of an extraterrestrial space ship that periodically comes to Oakey Oaks because it has the best acorns in the universe. During one visit, an extraterrestrial child is left behind, whom our hero finds and protects. Discovering the missing child, the extraterrestrial parents launch a full scale invasion of Earth convinced that the child was kidnapped. It all works out in the end and Hollywood makes an incredibly exaggerated movie about the incident. I don't know if this film worked better for the under-aged audience for which it was probably intended, but I found it rather irritating and that includes all of the pop songs sprinkled throughout the film to perhaps appeal to the adult viewers. For the English version, Zach Braff, Joan Cusack, Steve Zahn, Garry Marshall, Amy Sedaris, Don Knotts, Fred Williard, Catherine O'Hara, Patrick Stewart, Wallace Shawn, Patrick Warburton, Adam West and Harry Shearer provided voices. 

CINDERELLA (2015) - The idea of Lily James playing Cinderella seemed a splendid idea. And Cate Blanchetta as the evil stepmother. This should be fun. It wasn't. For me, the basic problem was that the writers and director of this film didn't come up with anything to keep me  amused while the very familiar story played out. There were some positive moments, such as portraying Ella's happy childhood with mother Hayley Atwell, and having our heroine first meet Prince Richard Madden in the forest while convincing him not to kill a stag on a royal hunt. Having the Prince already interested in Ella before meeting her at the royal ball worked well. Having Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother also worked well. Having the evil stepmother figure out that our heroine was the object of the Prince's search and conspiring with Grand Duke Stellan Skarsgard to keep them apart was irritating, but dramatically sound. However director Kenneth Branagh was unable to make this too familiar story compelling. I spent much of the running time trying to figure out why evil stepsister Sophie McShera looked familiar. I later found out she was Daisy on Downton Abbey. Downton was also where I first became aware of Lily James. Of course, Branagh brought in Derek Jacobi to play the dying king. I can't argue with the message of the film, "Be kind and have courage and believe in a little magic."

TESTA O CROSE, aka HEADS OR TAILS, aka TAILS  YOU LOSE (1969) - This was the last film for writer/director Piero Pierotti who died shortly after this film was completed. I wonder if the fact that he was soon to die at the age of 58 had anything to do with this film feeling choppy with a number of scenes feeling unfinished. In any case, he seemed to feel that the Italian West needed a romantic tragedy, but was unable to bring the elements together to make a compelling drama. Before the opening credits, we see John Erickson robbing a stagecoach. Since this has nothing to do with the main plot of the film, it feels like someone felt that the star should be shown before he actually enters the story after the film's first half hour. Sheyla Rosin, aka Yugoslavian actress Spela Rozin, is the star performer at a saloon, who soon ignites the passion of two men in the audience who step outside to win her favor. After both men are found dead, the town's women begin to call for her expulsion. Meanwhile, banker Ugo Pagliai attempts to force her to have sex with him. After a gunshot is heard, Sheriff Franco Lantieri breaks down Rosin's door to find the woman unconscious in her bed with a dead Pagliai next to her. Her gun is found between the two, so everyone assumes that she killed him. The town's women riot, attack the saloon and tar and feather the saloon girls. Lantieri has Rosin in jail, and decides that his two deputies should get her out of town for her safety. On the road, the deputies meet up with a fellow named Buck who they think has good whiskey. That night, Buck suggests that they rape and murder Rosin. This is where Erickson enters the story. He finds Rosin naked but alive in the desert. He takes her with him, even after she tries to kill him. With the help of Indian maiden Dada Gallotti, Rosin is nursed back to health, and shortly thereafter she falls in love with Erickson. Hearing her story, Erickson decides that he wants revenge on the three who tried to kill her and he wants to solve the murder of which she has been wrongly accused. And he wants to arrange for Rosin to get the reward offered for him. Did Pagliai's widow, Daniela Surina, arrange the murder of both her husband and of our heroine? What sort of pervert is she as she seems to enjoy watching saloon girl Edwige Fenech lose her top before being whipped by the towns' women during their riot? For an Italian Western made in 1969, HEADS OR TAILS has a surprising amount of topless female nudity.Unfortunately, the  music by Carlo Savina is disappointing, and features perhaps the worst song ever performed by Raoul. In the copy I've seen of this under the title TAILS YOU LOSE, right before the opening credits we see a wanted poster for Erickson where he is identified as William Hudson, aka Black Talisman. It is missing from most of the HEADS OR TAILS copies that I've seen.

TREASURE BUDDIES (2012) - Again this is a movie not designed for me to enjoy. I didn't know that it was considered to be the sixth installment of the AIR BUDDIES franchise, as I didn't know of the existence of that series. The AIR BUDDIES was an off-shoot from the AIR BUD series of six films about a golden retriever who played basketball. This film is narrated by a monkey in Egypt voiced by Maulik Pancholy, who relates the story to his nephew, voice by Aidan Gemme, of how he helped Air Bud's puppies find the tomb of Queen Cleocatra. This is not an animated film, but live action with animated mouth movements for when the animals speak. Human Richard Riehle plays an archaeologist who found half of a dial with clues to the location of the tomb. Riehle tells his grandson, Mason Cook about the dial just before rival archaeologist Edward Herrmann arrives saying that he has the other half of the dial and that they should all go back to Egypt to find the tomb. Herrmann has an hairless cat, voiced by Elaine Hendrix, who is allergic to dogs, so the buddies can't come along. Of course, the retriever puppies sneak aboard Herrmann's plane so they all end up in Egypt. There the buddies meet the monkey and a talking camel, voiced by Kaitlyn Maher, who is looking for her mother. Eventually, it becomes apparent that Herrmann is a treasure hunter in league with his cat to awaken the living cat statues in the tomb to do away with our heroes. Canadian director Robert Vince specialized in talking animals movies, beginning with 1999's THE DUKE, continuing with the MVP: MOST VALURABLE PRIMATE and then AIR BUD: WORLD PUP in 2000. I will try to avoid watching any more of his work.

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Angel Rivera Highly enjoyed:

"TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" (1962)

A classic and my late lady's favorite film.

 

"JACK, THE GIANT KILLER" (1962)

One of my all time favorite films.

 

"FIREFLY" (2002) S1, E1: "Serenity"

"FIREFLY" (2002) S1, E2: "The Train Job"

A great series and also one of my all time favorites. 

 

BIOGRAPHY: The Harlem Globetrotters: America's Court Jesters"

Interestingly, none of the players were from New York; let alone Harlem. The name was made up to make audiences realize they were watching an all black players team, as this was rare back in the days of segregation in the USA, when the team was first formed and an all black players basketball team was a rarity.

 

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David Deal Enjoyed:

ARABIAN NIGHTS (42)

TRICK 'R TREAT (07) - A small midwestern town takes Halloween VERY seriously. This is a clever quartet of scary tales all centered around the denizens of the town. The stories intertwine nicely and provide plenty of horror along with smart humor. To say too much would spoil the goings on, so I'll just say I enjoyed it.

BLAZING MAGNUM (76) - My favorite Stuart Whitman flick.

COLT .45 (50)

X THE UNKNOWN (56)

THE SCARLET CLAW (44)

Mildly enjoyed:

SLAUGHTERHOUSE ROCK (87) - Not sure how this ended up on my watch list, but it wasn't a complete waste of time.

STAGE STRUCK (48) - When her younger sister is killed in New York, Audrey Long follows from middle America to find out what happened. Cops Conrad Nagel and Ralph (Dick Tracy) Byrd are on the case. We know that white slavery operators Kane Richmond and John Gallaudet are guilty, but it will take the entire movie to expose them. A breezy Monogram thriller that edges close to forbidden subject territory.

SPIRITISM (61) - A family on the brink of bankruptcy turns to the occult for help with predictable results. South of the border supernatural hokum has plenty of seances and other spooky goings on, but it feels simplistic and overly dramatic, at least in the K. Gordon Murray English dub.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Highly enjoyed:  

Le dimanche de la vie (1967, Jean Herman)

Enjoyed:

Macao, l'enfer du jeu (1939, Jean Delannoy)

Gunfight at Rio Bravo (2023, Joe Cornet)

The guest (2018, Kim Hong-seon) – episodes 1 & 2

Party down (2023) – season 3 – episodes 5 & 6

Naeildo chulgeun / See you at work tomorrow ! (2025, Jo Eun-sol) – episode 3 

Mildly enjoyed:

Abus de confiance (1936, Henri Decoin)

Amants et voleurs (1935, Raymond Bernard)

Les contrebandières (1967, Luc Moullet)

Liliom (1934, Fritz Lang)

Did not enjoy:

Adémaï au moyen-âge (1935, Jean de Marguenat)

You can't kill Stephen King (2012, Ronnie Khalil, Monroe Mann & Jorge Valdes-Ida)

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