Week of September 11 - 17, 2021

 

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

Brain Teasers:

Which Sicilian born actor played Richard Harrison's brother in a Western directed by a Spaniard?

Bertrand van Wonterghem knew it was Claudio Ungari, aka Robert Hundar, from EL SABOR DE LA VENGANZA, aka GUNFIGHT AT HIGH NOON, directed by Rafael Romero Marchent.

Can you name a Western starring Gianni Garko in which he does not play Sartana, but that name is used in the title?

George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was UN PAR DE ASESINO, aka SARTANA KILLS THEM ALL.

Which character from The Bible that was played by Gianni Garko?

George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was David in SAUL AND DAVID.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which American actor worked with directors Mario Bava, Enzo G. Castellari, Vittorio Schiraldi, Jose Antonio de la Loma, Alberto De Martino and Sergio Martino?

Which Italian actress worked with directors Daniele D'Anza, Peter R. Hunt, Giuliano Montaldo, Allen Baron, J. Lee Thompson and Duccio Tessari?

Which Italian writer went from collaborating with Federico Fellini to directing Italian skin flicks?

Name the movies from which these images came.

George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Thomas Hunter in UN FIUME DI DOLLARI, aka THE HILLS RUN RED.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Enrico Maria Salerno in L'ASSEDIO DI SIRACUSA, aka SIEGE OF SYRACUSE.

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?

George Grimes, Angel Rivera and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Kien Shih and Ahna Capri in ENTER THE DRAGON.

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:

CRUSADE IN EUROPE (1949) - The disc I have features three episodes 6) The Campaign, 7) Rommel Routed and 8) Sicily, Operation Huskey. I wasn't aware that 26 half hour TV episodes were made based on Dwight Eisenhower's book, but the ones I saw were quite good.

EMANUEL (2019) - Director Brian Tetsuro Ivie delivers a moving documentary about the June 17, 2015 mass shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Interviews with the friends and families of the nine murdered churchgoers inform us of the lives lost, but the main focus of the film is how the bereaved countered the expressed hate of the shooter with forgiveness.

FIST OF LEGEND (1994) - A remake of FIST OF FURY, aka THE CHINESE CONNECTION, this effort by director Gordon Chan improves on the original with a more complex portrait of Shanghai in the 1930s and a better sense of character. Chan, and producer Jet Li, even come up with a way to make the film less anti-Japanese, though FIST OF FURY was an huge success in Japan with all of its anti-Japanese sentiment. With Martial Arts choreography by Yuen Woo-ping, the film is filled with exciting action and star Jet Li even does some Bruce Lee-like moves. However, Bruce Lee never allowed an opponent to seem at all his better or equal. Yasuaki Kurata is splendid as an understanding Japanese Martial Arts master, and Shinobu Nakayama is charming as our hero's Japanese girlfriend. Billy Chau makes an impressive villain, and the filmmakers make no attempt to give him any sense of depth.

FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1974) - Shane Bryant's understated performance helps to make Peter Cushing's last appearance as Victor Frankenstein a wonderful finale. John Elder's script is usually criticized for reusing old plot elements, but director Terence Fisher brings a wonderful atmosphere complimented by James Bernard's music.

THE GATEKEEPERS (2012) - Five former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service, are interviewed by director Dror Morech about their roles since the 1967 "Six Day War". Using archive footage and computer generated animation, the major events leading up to the current mess between Israelis and Palestinians are discussed. 

Mildly enjoyed:

Marvel's What If...? episode five (2021)

It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown (2000) - Released seven months after the death of Charles M. Schulz direct to home video, this was the 39th animated special supervised by Schultz and unfortunately showed that inspiration was at a low ebb. The story of the Pied Piper always struck me as problematic as a children's story, and adapting it to the Peanuts characters only results in softening it. Snoopy playing a concertina allows for alot of the running time to be taken up with music as he rids the town of sports mice. Instead of taking away the town's children when the Mayor and this Council welch on the deal, Snoopy takes away the Major and his Council with the music inspiring them to do barbershop quartet style songs.

Midsomer Murders "The Christmas Haunting" (2013)

THE TECKMAN MYSTERY (1954) - Seeing Duncan Lamont as a Scotland Yard Inspector is almost as much fun as watching Margaret Leighton as a femme fatale. Wendy Toye directed but her film isn't as amusing or as suspenseful as it wants to be.

UNCNSRD "Bebe Winans" (2021)

UNCNSRD "Loretta Devine" (2021)

Did not enjoy:

FARAON, aka PHARAOH (1966) - Slowly paced and frustrating as hell, director Jerzy Kawalerowicz's film version of Boleslaw Prus' novel was an huge success in its native Poland and was even nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1967 Academy Awards. It seems like a film made by Egyptologists who were frustrated by the simplistic presentation of power in most movies about Ancient Egypt. Three years in the making, the film is a convincing portrait of ancient Egypt, though we never view the lives and homes of the peasants. Jerzy Zelnik plays the heir to the throne who can't wait to take power and straighten out the kingdom. He wants to take away the power of the priests, but frequently makes wrong decisions that play into the hands of this enemies. A number of sympathetic characters are introduced, particularly Krystyna Mikolajewska as Sara, who are mistreated by our "hero" and get no dramatic satisfaction in the storytelling. It would appear that no one protested the "gray face" makeup on all of the Poles playing Egyptians.

WEST OF CARSON CITY (1940) - After the Four Notables  sing "Let's Go", reporting how everyone should take cover because the cattle roundup is over and there's no more reason to be sober, Johnny Mack Brown takes off to stop the Pony Express rider to tell him to inform Fuzzy Knight that he'll have to keep the ranch running a little longer as Brown is not finished yet helping a neighbor with his cows. When the rider arrives in the now ghost town to deliver the newspaper to the store owner, he finds that Knight is sleeping on the sidewalk. However, when Ernie Adams rushs up to inform everyone that he's finally found gold on his claim, the rider takes off to spread the news. Suddenly, the town is booming again, so Harry Woods assembles his henchmen to take advantage with crooked gambling and stagecoach robbery. When Brown arrives at his ranch. it is in shambles with only the cook still around. He informs his boss that everyone else has run off to the gold strike. Brown sets off to get his men back, but gets distracted by stopping a stagecoach robbery. It turns out that the bad guys weren't planning to rob the stage - they were intending to prevent Judge Robert Homans from bringing law and order to town. Dispite Woods' various efforts, Homans does bring law and order to town with the help of Brown. Woods sends two men out to take care of Brown, who is on a riding date with Homans' pretty daughter Peggy Moran. Even though the villains are shooting at a woman, our hero doesn't kill anyone - only knocking their pistols out of their hands. Brown orders Woods to clear out of town in 24 hours, so Woods counters by kidnapping Homans and Moran and forcing Homans to pen a note telling Brown to lay off. Brown rescues the judge and his daughter and then leads his cowboys into town to throw Woods and company out. The Four Notables sing "On the Trail To Tomorrow" as our heroes pilot a stagecoach full of prisoners down the road. Fuzzy Knight's comic schtick seems to have been stuck into the film as he figures very little in the proceedings. There is more reused footage from other movies here than usual for a Universal Western and no one mentions Carson City. Ray Taylor directed.

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David Deal enjoyed:

HEAVY TRIP (18) - After playing in the basement of a reindeer slaughterhouse for 12 years, a Finnish metal band has a chance to play at a festival in Norway, so they determine to write an original song, pick a band name, and make the best of it.  Hilarious and sweet, this is a clear winner.  Highly recommended.

THE WEB (47) - Small time lawyer Edmond O'Brien is tapped for a sucker by Vincent Price to take the wrap for murder.  Nicely woven tale keeps the viewer guessing.  Ella Raines is the twist and William Bendix is the suspicious cop.

GO GORILLA GO (75)

THE SINISTER MONK (65)

CRYPT OF THE VAMPIRE (64)

Mildly enjoyed:

THE MYSTERIANS (58)

TWO RODE TOGETHER (61)

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Charles Gilbert watched:

WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST (1956) B&W. Why would a giant hypodermic needle need finger holes?

Honey West episode 1 "The Swingin' Mrs. Jones" The fetching private "I" practices judo with partner Sam Bolt (John Ericson). She has a pet oscelot. Ray Danton guest stars in this first episode.

THREE BLONDES IN HIS LIFE.(1961) B&W. Globetrotting insurance investigator and ladies' man Jock Mahoney grills three glamorous gals xabout the death of a client. Sidekick Jesse White is also on the case. With Greta Thyssen.

THE CRUEL TOWER (1956) B&W. Working class melodrama about a tower maintenance crew. Young John Ericson plays a tramp taken in by Harry "Stretch" Clay (Charles McGraw). Jealously ensues with Mari Blanchard around becoming a dangerous catalyst at those heights.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Highly enjoyed: 

Edge of the world (2020, Michael Haussman)

Enjoyed:

Only murders in the building – season 1 – episode 1

Chapelwaite – season 1 – episode 1

Comme des garçons (2018, Julien Hallard)

Jombitamjeong / Zombie detective (2020, Jae Hyun Shim) – season 1 – episodes 1 to 12

Mildly enjoyed

Un par de asesinos (1970, Rafael Romero Marchent)

Did not enjoyed:

The tamarind seed (1974, Blake Edwards)

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Angel Rivera wrote: 

I watched the Spike Lee documentary "NYC Epicenter: 9/11- 2021 1/2" Parts 5 & 6 which deals with 9/11. I live in the borough of Queens and worked @ Elmhurst Hospital at the time and remember the hospital setting up to maybe take in victims of the attack only being told that condition had changed from rescue to recovery and that no patients would be heading our way. Watching the documentary, I saw things I had not known at the time; such as boats going to evacuate people from Manhattan island; the sight of people jumping from the towers before the towers collapsed and an interview with a United airline flight attendant who knew members of the flight crew of United 93 and believing that the flight may have been shot down because of what he saw of the crash site. Just now I finished watching an ABC news special "9/11:  America remembers" where someone who was with VP Cheney and Condoleezza Rice hearing the VP ask the pilot "was United 93 shot down?" and the pilot's response that they could not confirm that the flight had been shot down, but the person realizing about reports that the passengers had tried to prevent the plane from crashing into a building and causing the crash into the field where it hit..

I also watched "Titans" episode about the origin of Hawk and Dove, two superheroes I remember reading about back in the seventies; although these were not the heroes as I remember them. The series is very violent and now included nudity I was not expecting.

I also watched "Stargirl"; "Supergirl"; "Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail"; "Awkwafina is Nora from Queens" (a comedy not for every one's taste, but humorous for me): "Brooklyn Nine Nine; and "Younger".

I also saw two episodes of "Alfred Hithchcock presents". One which featured George Segal and Anne Baxter titled, "A Nice Touch" from 1963 in which Seagal, is an actor who seduces talent agent Baxter into helping him get parts and then tricking her into killing her husband with promises of being with her if she removes the husband as an obstacle to their "happiness". The other episode from 1957 featured a teen-aged Carol Lynley (she was 15 at the time) who has just caused the death of her domineering aunt, played by Jeanette Nolan and tries to frame a pre-"Ben Casey" Vince Edwards of the murder.

I also pulled out  my DVD copy of "Flaming Star" and watched it and every time I watch it I see something I had not realized, like the film also featured Richard Jaeckel  as Barbara Eden's brother who loses his fiance in a Kiowa attack and L. Q. Jones who is also a victim of the same attack. The one song Elvis sings in the movie is placed in such a way that a family heading home from the festivities at Elvis's home are singing the same song before they are killed in the Kiowa raid. The performances are all good, especially presenting the prejudices of the characters which are a fitting reflection of the troubled times of the early civil rights struggles. (The film was released in 1960.)  The film was also directed by Don Siegel who would also direct several of Clint Eastwood's films as well as the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"(1956).

On YouTube I tried to watch "Vengeance of Ursus" which featured Samson Burke, a name I only remembered  from "The Three Stooges meet Hercules" and did not really know that much about him. I found the movie to be too formulaic for this type of movie and could not really enjoy it. Burke's performance was also pretty awful in my opinion.

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Week of September 4 - 10, 2021

 

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

Brain Teasers:

On what movie did Robert Woods and George Hamilton work together?

Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem, Charles Gilbert and George Grimes knew that it was WHERE THE BOYS ARE.

On what movie did Robert Woods and Henry Fonda work together?

Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem, Charles Gilbert and George Grimes knew that it was BATTLE OF THE BULGE.

On what TV production did Robert Woods and Lindsay Wagner work together?

Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem, Charles Gilbert and George Grimes knew that it was Scruples.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which Sicilian born actor played Richard Harrison's brother in a Western directed by a Spaniard?

Can you name a Western starring Gianni Garko in which he does not play Sartana, but that name is used in the title?

Which character from The Bible that was played by Gianni Garko?

Name the movies from which these images came.

George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Jesus Puente, Benito Stefanelli and Luis Gaspar from 100,000 DOLLARI PER LASSITER, aka DOLLARS FOR A FAST GUN.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes, Bertrand van Wonterghem, Angel Rivera and Charles Gilbert identified last week's frame grab of Rhonda Fleming, Ettore Manni and Lang Jeffries in LA RIVOLTA DEGLI SCHIAVI, aka REVOLT OF THE SLAVES .

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?

George Grimes identified last week's photo from THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS, aka THE VENOMS.

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:

FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (1969) 

HANNAH ARENDT (2012) - Born into a German Jewish family in 1906, Hannah Arendt studied, and was a lover, with Martin Heidegger before getting her doctorate in philosophy with Karl Jaspers in 1929. In 1933, after an arrest by the Gestapo, Arendt fled Germany and eventually arrived in the U.S. in 1941. The film begins with the 1961 trial in Jerusalem of Adolf Eichmann, and Arendt's request to The New Yorker for them to send her to Israel to write about it. With the 1951 publication of her book THE ORIGINS OF TOTALITARIANISM, Arendt had become such a respect celebrity that the magazine was happy to grant her request. Arendt was shocked to find that Eichmannn was not the monster she had expected and to discover how he relied up cooperation from the Jewish leaders in the ghettos to help facilitate his bureaucratic effort to ship them to the camps. She coined the phrase "the banality of evil" in describing Eichmann and criticized how Israel had to invent reasons to prosecute him. When her articles, and the book EICHMANN IN JERUSALEM, was published, she was severely attacked with many of her friends rejecting her. This is the real story of this film, showing Arendt and her New York City "tribe" before the controversy, her weathering the storm, and her strength in never wavering in her view of the truth. Barbara Sukowa is marvelous in the title role, and every appearance of Janet McTeer as her friend Mary McCarthy - best known as the author of THE GROUP - is a joy, partly because she is a steadfast friend. The rest of the cast is sterling, including Axel Milberg, Nicholas Woodeson and Julia Jentsch. German director Margarethe von Trotta has accomplished something quite impressive here, though one may fault her for not having better noted that Arendt's work would become celebrated and her detractors forgotten.

Marvel's What If...? episode four (2021)

Mildly enjoyed:

CROSSING DELANCEY (1988) - Based on a play by Susan Sandler, this movie was obviously made by Jewish women as it is concerned with a Jewish woman being torn between her crush on a foreign born writer and the nice Jewish owner of a pickle store. Amy Irving works at a book store and writer Jeroen Krabbe, who lives in the neighborhood, loves the fact that she is a fan. Irving's grandmother, Reizi Bozyk, engages a marriage broker, Sylvia Miles, to introduce Irving to Peter Riegert. Not surprisingly, Irving resents Riegert because of the set-up and because he doesn't fit into her idea of what a modern woman involved with writers would want. Director Joan Micklin Silver presents a warm portrait of life in the Jewish community, and handles the romance with sensitivity. Having The Roches handle the soundtrack helps to achieve a light humorous tone, and Suzzy Roche puts in a nice performance as one of Irving's friends. The future David Hyde Pierce, billed here as just David Pierce, has a small role.

STRIPPED: LOS ANGELES (2020) - So Mill Creek Entertainment has produced an original documentary that aired on Starz and Starz Encore. Marc Ostrick is the director of this profile of five adult entertainers who attempt to dispel the negative image of women who work in this field. Bama Babii talks about how becoming a pole dancer saved her life after contemplating suicide following being gang raped while serving on a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier. A highlight is Nikki Knightly doing comedy standup and encouraging her audience to find and masturbate to her stuff on the internet.

Did not enjoy:

THE ANGRY HILLS (1959) - Perhaps Leon Uris' novel was too complex to be made into a satisfactory movie, but I would have been interested in seeing what director Robert Aldrich had in mind before Producer Raymond Stross decided to recut the film. As it is now, the film is incredibly choppy with little flow between scenes; important story elements are mentioned rather than shown, and minor bits drag on for much longer than needed. Reportedly, Stross wanted Clark Gable as his star. Then Alan Ladd was considered before Robert Mitchum took the job. Aldrich said that he was disappointed that he was unable to get Mitchum to do more than "walk through the role". Just as the Nazis take control of Greece, Donald Wolfit gives Mitchum an important list of freedom fighters. Suddenly, Mitchum finds himself being chased by Gestapo Officer Stanley Baker and his Greek collaborator Theodore Bikel. Eventually, Mitchum finds himself being cared for in a small village by George Pastell, Kieron Moore and Gia Scala. After Pastell and Moore are killed, Scala takes Mitchum to a monastery, where he is picked up by Elisabeth Muller. Muller is a Greek patriot who was hired by German General Marius Goring to spy on Baker, with whom Baker has fallen in love. Knowing that Muller is helping Mitchum, Baker threatens to kill Muller's two children if she doesn't turn Mitchum over. Sebastian Cabot suddenly shows up to provide the possibility of an happy ending. Jocelyn Lane looks great as Bikel's dark haired sister who attempts to entice both Baker and Goring.

HEART OF A DOG (2015) - The coming together of Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson always seemed a bit mysterious, and this film sheds no light on their relationship. While the synopsis for this film usually mentions that Reed's death was an inspiration for the film, he's never mentioned. He sings "Turning Time Around" over the end credits during which a photo of him with the terrier Lolabelle is shown. The film is dedicated to him, but most of the film is taken up with Anderson's relationship with her dog Lolabelle. Lolabelle's death inspires Anderson to contemplate the meaning of love and death often through Tibetan and Buddhist philosophies. With impressionistic images, many shot on Anderson's iPhone, the film seems intent on creating a meditative mood in the viewer.

HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN (1970) - Jimmy Sangster was working in Hollywood on TV movies when Hammer sent to him a new Frankenstein screenplay for him to possibly rewrite. Sangster wasn't interested unless he got the chance to direct. Hammer agreed, Sangster rewrote the script injecting in to it what he thought was humor. In retrospect, Sangster thought that the film would have been better if the old executives who knew how to make movies were still around and able to help him. In any case, this attempt to reboot the Hammer Frankenstein series with Ralph Bates was dreadful. 

MOONRAKER (1979) - Even by the low standards of the other Roger Moore James Bond movies, this is stupid. Interestingly, this is credited as a "Franco-British coproduction" which may explain why so many stalwarts of French cinema are wasted here including: Michel Londsdale, Corinne Clery, Jean-Pierre Castaldi, Guy Delorme and Marc Mazza. Toshiro Suga made one yearn for Burt Kwouk as Cato in the Pink Panther movies. Director Lewis Gilbert redeemed his reputation with his next film - EDUCATING RITA.

THE SEA WOLVES The Last Charge of the Calcutta Light Horse (1980) - When this movie came out, I dismissed seeing it. Who wants to see a "larky" combat movie set during World War 2 starring a bunch of older actors? Plus it was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, a fellow who only made one movie that I liked - THE DEVIL'S BRIGADE, and I only liked that because it was the first film I saw after THE WILD BUNCH to employ alot of blood squibs during the climactic battle. SEA WOLVES came around on TCM so I decided to give it a look and it contained some surprises. 1) It is not a "larky" combat movie, though the music by Roy Budd often tries to pretend it is. 2) I never knew that Portugal had a colony in India called Goa which was officially neutral during World War 2. 3) This movie is based on a true story which was turned into a novel by James Leasor called BOARDING PARTY. McLaglen is unable to find the proper tone to balance the humor of sidelined British vets yearning to "get into the action" with the reality of combat. Plus a section featuring Roger Moore acting as a secret agent on the ground in Goa feels like a James Bond movie minus the intentional humor. "How about James Bond falling in love with an enemy agent that he has to kill?" As many of the technicians who worked on this film also worked on the James Bond series, this resemblance isn't too surprising. Heck, Matt Munro even sang a song over the closing credits. However, any movie that starts with Dan van Hussen and Robert Hoffmann in close up isn't completely worthless, but did Hoffmann pissoff cinematographer Tony Imi so that his face is never shown clearly? Casting Gregory Peck and David Niven obviously was intended to remind viewers of GUNS OF NAVARONE, but this film doesn't work the same way. There's quite a pile of recognizable British actors on show including Trevor Howard, Patrick Macnee, Patrick Allen, John Standing, etc. but few get a chance to stand out from the crowd. Producer Euan Lloyd was hoping that this film would continue the success he had with THE WILD GEESE.

TARZAN Y EL ARCO IRSIS, aka TARZAN E LA PANTERA NERA, aka TREASURE OF THE EMERALD CAVE, aka TARZAN AND THE BROWN PRINCE (1972) - Like TARZAN EN EL GRUTA DEL ORO, this film could easily have been set in South America, though the credits don't say so. It seems certain that all of the scenes with wild animals were filmed in Florida and that no one paid attention to what indigenous area they belonged. As Richard Rod, Ricardo Rodriguez continues his career playing Native Americans and he wants his followers to kill Tarzan. (He's called Tarzan on this English soundtrack.) Steve Hawkes as Tarzan knows that Rod wants to be the king of his tribe, now that the previous ruler has died. To become king, Rod has to best little boy Robin Aristorenas in a race to find where "the Green God" is hidden. Aristorenas has the map, but refuses help from Hawkes as he must do it himself to prove worthy of leadership. Meanwhile, American wild life catchers Angel del Pozo, Agata Flori and Peter Lee Lawrence are in the jungle hoping to make a bundle providing critters to zoos and circuses. Tarzan wants them to leave the animals alone, so Lawrence conspires with Rod to capture Hawkes thinking that a "white man of the jungle" would be a money-maker. Hearing about a cave filled with emeralds, the villains capture not only Hawkes, but also his swimming partner Kitty Swan, hoping that torturing her will get him to give up the location. She spills the beans and then Rod, del Pozo and Lawrence take off in a helicopter (From where in hell did that come?) to find the waterfall. Aristorenas finds a barrel and goes over the waterfall in order to swim underwater to find the cave. After too long, Hawkes does his animal call and an herd of elephants destroys the villains' camp and a lion sets our hero free. Repeating a shot from GRUTA DEL ORO, Hawkes and Swan say goodbye while riding elephants and Hawkes says that he knows a shortcut to the Emerald Cave. Swinging from tree to tree, Hawkes arrives as Rod and Aristorenas are fighting over the Green God statue. Aristorenas wants no help from our hero, and eventually kills Rod by using a slingshot to put a pointed emerald in Rod's head.Stopped from making off with the emeralds, Lawrence grabs Aristorenas and the Green God and takes off in the helicopter. Hawkes jumps onto a landing skid, saves the boy and the statue, and causes Lawrence to crash in a big ball of flames. Flori and del Pozo find some emeralds in his pocket, so they leave the jungle happy, while the film ends with the same shots of Hawkes and Swan swimming underwater that ended GRUTA DEL ORO. The copy of I saw of this film didn't seem as choppy at the copy viewed of GRUTA DEL ORO, so I concluded that director Manuel Cano was just a lousy storyteller, not the victim of a lousy copy. 

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David Deal enjoyed:

LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (55)

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (39)

TO COMMIT A MURDER (67)

WRATH OF MAN (21)

THE VERDICT (46)

THE BIG LEBOWSKI (98)

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR (42)

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Charles Gilbert watched:

The Wild, Wild West S01E24 B&W. 'The Night of the Druid's Blood'. Ross Martin's friend Don Rickles plays an evil magician linked to devil worship that doctor Rhys Williams employs to abduct eminent scientists. 

THE ADVENTURES OF SCARAMOUCHE (1963) Colorful costumer employs virtually full time circus atmosphere.  Despite Italian dialogue I was complelled for the duration just to see Michele Girardon and Gianna Maria Canale.

THE BEAST MUST DIE (1974) Amicus Production with Bahamian actor Calvin Lockhart as a big game hunter on the trail of loup garou. His palatial estate is venue to a host of guests on extended stay with one being a werewolf. With his high tech surveillance equipment he makes a game of discovering who. Too much like an Avengers episode. Peter Cushing and Anton Diffring are wasted on miscasting. Viewers are invited at 20 minutes from the ending to guess who is the werewolf. Svengoolie plays the 30 second theme of 'Final Jeopardy'. Virtually no monster makeup.

JOHN WYCKLIFFE : THE MORNINGSTAR (1984) English champion of holy scripture seeks to comfort the ignorant of superstition, and thus embarks on the mission to provide bibles for the Anglo masses. His efforts were thwarted by opposing peremptory councils of the 14th century church. And his followers called Lollards, much to his disapprobation, resorted to violence, even beheading Bishop of Canterbury Simon of Sudbury. He died of a stroke before the work was completed; his bones subsequently dug up and burned with the ashes symbolically scattered

JOHN HUS : A JOURNEY OF NO RETURN (2016) The declamation and imprisonment of Czech churchman John Hus parallels that of Wyckliffe. Also declared a heretic to the Holy Roman Church, he is compelled to recant or face execution at the stake.

UNDEFEATABLE (1993) Perky redhead waitress Kristi (Cynthia Rothrock) fights underground for remuneration of her sister Karen's college tuition. Her acrobatics and martial arts skills are brought to bear when a crazed rapist karateka murders Karen. Kristi gets a lot of exercise fighting established gangs in the mean time, and a policeman (John Miller) takes interest in her quest. Extremely moody soundtrack.

LASER MISSION (1989) The world's largest diamond is stolen by Russian operatives. CIA counterpart Brandon Lee is dispatched to South Africa to extract a laser scientist (Ernest Borgnine) who, it is later revealed, can couple it with lasers to create an atomic bomb. Both are being held at a diamond mine compound. Debi Monahan costars.

MANHATTAN CHASE (2000) Ex con (Loren Avedon) struggles to raise his young son as he sheds ties with the old drug gang. Cynthia Rothrock plays a NYPD cop in a back seat role.

HONOR AND GLORY (1993) John Miller (reminds me so.much of MMA legend Ken Shamrock) from UNDEFEATABLE gives a hammy performance as  megalomaniacal financier Jason Slade who arrogates a purge of the old guard left over from the days his dad was chief. He's also schemed a venal plan to purchase a weapons detonator stolen from the Russians. FBI agent Traci Pride (Cynthia Rothrock) takes case cues from her news reporter sister Joyce ( Donna Jason) who's been publicly covering the disreputable banker. And their father is a CIA agent closing in with a clandestine approach. Rothrock again gets star billing but not much celluloid time.

TIGER CLAWS (1991) Mysterious serial killer named Chong and known as the 'Death Dealer' (Bolo Yeung) in NYC leaves renowned martial artists with fatal claw marks. Two detectives (Cythia Rothrock and Jalal Merhi) are on the hunt. He goes undercover by joining a traditional Tiger dojo in Chinatown 

TIGER CLAWS 2 (1996) Chong was incarcerated in the first movie, and here has escaped on the way to trial with the help of arms dealers. They take the action to San Francisco where the two detectives from before engage in a Chinese New Years tournament. Cynthia now has shoulder length hair, and Merhi, who produced the film, has cut his pony tail.

TIGER CLAWS 3 (2000) The supernatural elememt is introduced with three malicious Chinese fighters, invulnerable dynamos of energy coming to life at a crowded magicians performance in NYC where the pair of detectives have returned for assignment. Linda (Cynthia R) is "killed" in a brawl with the three masters, as they protect Stryker the wisecraking magician (Loren Avedon). Surprise ending.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Highly enjoyed: 

Hauru no ugoku shiro / Howl’s moving castle (2004, Hayao Miyazaki)

Enjoyed:

Gojira / Gojira 1985  (1984, Koji Hashimoto)

The invaders – episode « Moonshot » (1966, Paul Wendkos)

Allo, allo – episode « The funeral » (1984, David Croft)

Forever – season 1 – episodes 1 & 2

Chuck – season 5 – episodes 2 & 3

Maeumui sori : reboot / The sound of your heart : reboot – season 1 – episodes 9 & 10

Gojira vs Biorante / Godzilla vs Biollante (1989, Kazuki Omori)

Mildly enjoyed

Carry on cruising (1961, Gerald Thomas)

Ghost lab (2020 Paween Purijitpanya)

Hashoter Hatov – season 1 – episode 6

Did not enjoyed:

Approaching the unknown (2016 Mark Elijah Rosenberg)

Hidden 2 (1993, Seth Pinsker)

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Angel Rivera watched: 

...the latest episode of "Stargirl". The series has become one of my favorites to watch because as a kid growing up in the sixties, I really enjoyed the comic books featuring the JSA, the forerunner of the JLA. And while the series isn't about the JSA as I knew them, it provides an amalgamation of the JSA and of the eighties comic book series, "Infinity, Inc". which featured the "children" of the JSA and was a sort of sequel to the adventures of the JSA.

The TV series features a live-action version of both comic book series which is fun for me to watch and is well constructed as an adaptation of the comic book series. The series is well cast in their choice of actors for the heroes of the show as well as the villains. If you liked American comics from the DC brand featuring these characters as I do, it is well worth watching.

Aside from other TV series I am following (i.e., "Supergirl"; "Titans"; "Love Life"; "Younger"; Spike Lee's documentary series, "NYC Epicenters 9/11--2021 1/2") ; I also caught another Audie Murphy western, "Bullet for a Badman", which features Murphy and Darren McGavin as two former Texas Ranger buddies who are now on opposite sides of the law with McGavin now a bank robber whom Murphy has to form a posse to catch. Complicating maters is the posse who helps capture McGavin want him dead so they can split the money McGavin stole, amongst themselves. The friends then  join forces against  the corrupt posse. A minor subplot has Murphy married to McGavin's ex-wife and raising McGavin's son (unbeknownst to the child who calls Murphy, "Dad"!)

The film from 1964 features in its cast several actors who soon would star in famous TV series of the sixties, such as: Alan Hale, Jr. (Skipper on "Gilligan's Island" and Edward Platt (The Chief on "Get Smart") among others.

I also became interested in Disney's version of "John Carter" as there is a new comic book series based on the characters from Edgar Rice Burroughs "John Carter of Mars" series. I had not watched the movie since it debuted in 2012 and had purchased the DVD for my collection, but had not watched it at the time of purchase; so this was my first time watching it since then.

While I had my reservations about the choice for lead (Taylor Kitsch as John Carter), the female lead (Lynn Collins as the Princess of Mars, Dejah Thoris) was more pleasing. The film as a whole was a fairly faithful adaptation of ERB's first book, "A Princess of Mars", but probably could have been better served as a mini-series like "Game of Thrones" (although the movie had little in the way of sex, which I believe may have helped "Game... in its audience interest, but that's just my opinion as I never watched the series.) The movie when it was originally released was a box-office failure. But I think  that may be more because of the way it was advertised, than its faults. The film was advertised as a precursor of "Star Wars' and those with that mindset would have been disappointed as there are no battles in space and  no villain like Darth Vader to hiss and boo.

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