To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
Which Italian Western was shot in Russia?
Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was JONATHAN DEGLI ORSI, aka JONATHAN OF THE BEARS.
Which Italian Western was shot in Colombia?
Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was DJANGO 2 IL GRANDE RITORNO, aka DJANGO STRIKES AGAIN.
Which Italian Western was shot in Algeria?
Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was 3 PISTOLE CONTRO CESARE, aka DEATH WALKS IN LAREDO.
And now for some new brain teasers:
Which American actor reported that he was a stunt man on SPARTACUS?
Which three American actors, who stared in films in Italy, appeared in the movie version of a Rogers & Hammerstein musical?
Which American actor, who starred in an Italian Western, starred not only in the Broadway production, but also the movie version, of a Rogers & Hammerstein musical?
Name the movies from which these images came.
Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Klaus Kinski in CHE BOTTE RAGAZZI, aka WHAT A BEATING GUYS aka IL RITORNO DI SHANGHAI JOE aka THE RETURN OF SHANGHAI JOE.
Above is a new photo.
Can you identify from what movie it came?
Charles Gilbert, George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Roberto Dell' Acqua and Michele Giradon in ANTHAR L'INVINCIBILE, aka DEVIL OF THE DESERT AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes identified last week's photo of Lee Van Cleef and Rene Abadeza in GEHEIMCODE WILDGANSE, aka CODENAME WILDGEESE.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes identified last week's photo of Jackie Chan in RUMBLE IN THE BRONX.
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:
ASTEROID CITY (2023) - The films of director Wes Anderson tend to be a bit quirky, and in collaboration with Roman Coppola, this film is perhaps the most quirky of them all. Partly a fictional documentary about the making of a fictional play with scenes from the play itself, it takes a while before the viewer can begin to understand what is going on. But after it becomes apparent that the story involves the 1955 visit of an extraterrestrial to the touristy site of an asteroid crater, everything starts to make sense. As usual, Anderson is able to gather an impressive acting ensemble including Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson (as a brunette), Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreider, Hope Davis, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe and Margot Robbie. Jeff Goldblum is unrecognizable as the alien wearing some king of environmental suit. Reportedly, this was originally set to be shot in Rome, but ended up being lensed in Spain, probably using green screen to create a cartoony small town in the American Southwest. Bill Murray was scheduled to appear in this, as he has done in every Wes Anderson film since 1996's BOTTLE ROCKET, but he came down with covid so Steve Carell played his role. One of the pleasures of this movie is that it reintroduced me to the song "Freight Train", performed here by The Charles McDevitt Skiffle Group with Nancy Whiskey.
Mildly enjoyed:
Great Performances "Jimmy Webb American Songwriter" (2026) - I give Jimmy Webb respect for a number of songs he did with Glen Campbell. However, it was only recently that I learned that "Galveston" supposedly referenced the War in Vietnam. This program made me painfully aware of some songs he wrote that I find unforgivable - "Up Up And Away" and "MacArthur Park". The rest of the songs performed in the program had no impact on me at all.
Did not enjoy:
GODZILLA MINUS ZERO, aka G Minus 0 (2026) - I was very happy with GODZILLA MINUS ONE. I felt that it handled the drama very well and had some interesting variations on the Godzilla stuff. I went into MINUS ZERO knowing just about nothing about it. So, imagine my surprise when GIDORAH THE ONE HEADED MONSTER showed up. When it mutated into the three-headed creature we all know and love I almost cheered. But that didn't make up for all of the tear jerking war orphan material. The crazy professor's fantasy of having Godzilla destroying New York City is fun, but that actor's hammy performance negated much of that pleasure. You would think that Toho Productions would stop using American servicemen stationed in Japan and just hire actors for those few roles, but you would be wrong. And ending the film by having the U.S. military double-crossing our heroes just left a bad taste. I figured that their earlier duplicitous looks meant that they were thinking of dropping the H-Bomb on the big G. I didn't guess that the filmmakers were setting up a sequel in which our heroes are on the run, kind of like the ending of BATTLE ROYALE.
STEP UP (2006) - I have enjoyed a few of the recent dance movies, and even one of the cheerleader variants - BRING IT ON. But when they are saddled with a very predictable storyline - Story by Duane Adler, Screenplay by Duane Adler and Melissa Rosenberg - no matter how impressive the dancing is, I find the entire experience irritating. Veteran choreographer and first time director Anne Fletcher stated that the message of STEP UP is how finding a direction in life can lift you from the unfortunate circumstances in which you live. Even though he is white, Channing Tatum is immersed in the black culture of lower class Baltimore, Maryland. After being threatened by a guy with a gun, Tatum is pulled out of a dance party by his friend Damaine Radcliff and Radcliff's young brother De'Shawn Washington. Blowing off steam, the trio get into a fight throwing garbage at each other. Tatum breaks a window which Washington immediately decides to go through. They end up on the stage at a dance school, where they proceed to demolish the standing set. A security guard suddenly appears and grabs a hold of Radcliff. Tatum sacrifices himself to set Radcliff free and ends up getting sentenced to "community service" at the dance school. Of course, he soon catches the eye of a promising student, Jenna Dewan, who needs a new partner. Meanwhile, Washington is eager to be seen as a tough guy, so he keeps antagonizing the guy who threw them out of the dance party. Naturally, he ends up being shot to death, so Radcliff finally gets over being jealous that Tatum is spending all of his time with the rich kids at the dance school. Eventually, the film ends with Tatum joining Dewan in a big dance number, a number he pulled out of earlier to be with Radcliff. The dance number goes over so well, that school director Rachel Griffiths will allow Tatum to become a student. The film became such a success, that it was followed by four sequels, a TV series and a marriage between Tatum and Dewarn. They produced Everly Elizabeth Maiselle Tatum in 2013, and, of course, divorced in 2019.
STEP UP REVOLUTION (2012) - I put this on thinking that it was the second film in the franchise, but it turned out to be the fourth. What immediately struck my interest is how these movies went from Touchstone/Summit/Offspring to Offspring/Summit/Lionsgate. Since Duane Adler came up with the story for the first film, he still gets the credit "based on characters created by Duane Adler" even though none of the characters in this flick have carried over from the first one. Set in Miami, Florida, REVOLUTION introduces a dance crew called The Mob, which starts off the film clogging up Ocean Drive with the kind of low rider cars that would fit into THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS. Then the dancers take over the street like the kids in FAME. If these are amateur neighborhood kids, who is backing their play? This is never questioned or answered. The Mob is hoping that their internet notoriety will end with them winning a contest, which might help pay for their antics. The plot kicks in with the news that land developer Peter Gallagher is planning to have their neighborhood torn down for his latest project. Ryan Guzman is one of the leaders of The Mob, who falls in love with aspiring dancer Kathryn McCormick. McCormick wants to get into Windwood Dance Academy Company, and Guzman helps to prepare her audition piece as a duet. However, Guzman's best friend, Misha Gabriel, is jealous of Guzman's attention to McCormick, and when he finds out that she is Gallagher's daughter, he deliberately sets out to wreck their relationship with a protest dance performance during one of Gallagher's P.R. events. McCormick fails the audition without Guzman, while Guzman rejoins Gabriel in a protest dance performance with the help of The House of Pirates group from STEP UP 3D. They tell Gallagher that they can't stop the land developer's plans, but they wanted him to see what will be destroyed. As in the end of METROPOLIS, Gallagher shakes Guzman's hand saying that maybe they can work together. Guzman and McCormick then perform their duet which convinces Gallagher to support McCormick's desire to become a dancer. Amanda Brody gets screenplay credit with music video veteran Scott Speer is the director.
STEP UP 2 THE STREETS (2008) - Okay, this is the sequel to STEP UP. And it earns the "based on characters created by Duane Adler" by having Channing Tatum showing up for a brief bit and the setting being the Maryland School of the Arts in Baltimore. Opening narration identifies Briana Evigan as a wanna be street dancer who was turned on by seeing performers with her mother. Her mother has died and Evigan now lives with legal guardian Sonja Sohn (of The Wire). Evigan is a member of the 410 dance crew, who enjoy taking over public spaces for illegal performances. Hoping to give her charge a better direction in life, Sohn insists, with some advice from Tatum, that Evigan enroll at the MSA or move out. For the 410 crew, being at MSA is wack so she is kicked out of the crew. Eventually, Evigan meets Robert Hoffman, whom she saw at the warehouse dance venue called The Streets, another student at MSA. They decide to create their own crew with other MSA students. Eventually, Evigan and Hoffman take their crew to dance battle with 410 at The Streets, but 410 declares them to be outsiders. So, Evigan and Hoffman takes the audience with them outside to perform on the street - in the rain. Interestingly, not only the dancers, but the audience, accept getting drenched and no one uses an umbrella. Of course, not only does 410 walk away humiliated, but Will Kemp, the MSA director who had previously expelled Evigan, shows up to welcome her back to the school. When Evigan first arrives at MSA, only Adam Sevani welcomes her as another misfit student surrounded by rich kids. Sevani would go on to star in STEP UP 3D and appear in the two other films in the series. Evigan could appear in the fifth film, STEP UP ALL IN (2014), as well as a number of Horror films. Playwrite Toni Ann Johnson, who worked on the effort to adapt SAVE THE LAST DANCE to a TV series, is credited as the co-writer of the screenplay for this, along with Karen Barna. Jon M. Chu came to movie producers attention with his work on YouTube, and became the director of STEP UP 2 after a number of feature film projects failed to jell. He would go on to redeem his reputation with the film CRAZY RICH ASIANS, not to mention the two WICKED feature films.
STEP UP ALL IN (2014) - In the fifth, and so far final, film in the franchise, many of the performers from REVOLUTION return, with Ryan Guzman as the star. The Mob dance crew have moved from Miami to Los Angeles, but find that they can not get work. In a dance battle at a club, they are challenged by the Grim Knights and lose. Most of The Mob move back to Miami, but Guzman stays in L.A., when he sees that there is a Las Vegas TV competition called The Vortex. Putting together a new crew called LMNTRIX, Guzman works to get good. Eventually, the crew win a place in the competition only to find that they will be competing against the Grim Knights and The Mob.Even though Guzman and Briana Evigan are dancing together, their romance is over. When Guzman's new crew beats The Mob in the competition, his old friends are angry at him. Two members of LMNTRIX discover that the host of The Vortex, Izabella Miko, is in a relationship with the Stephen "Stevo" Jones of The Grim Knights and that she will tip the competition to them. So, Guzman apologizes for being selfish to both The Mob and to Evigan, so that everyone joins together to win the final round of the game. John Swetnam gets the screenplay credit, "based on characters by Duane Adler", while music video director Trish Sie made this her feature film debut. In 2017, she would make her second feature - PITCH PERFECT 3 - which proved to be a more compelling work than ALL IN. However, her best work maybe the music videos she made with OK Go.
TARZAN THE APE MAN (1959) - Previously I reported that I didn't have a copy of this attempt by MGM to cut into Sy Weintraub's continuing Lord of the Jungle franchise. MGM still had the remake rights to their 1932 movie starring Johnny Weissmuller, so they exercised them with a new script credited to Robert Hill and directed by Joseph M. Newman. Angel Rivera let me know that a copy of this film was on YouTube mislabeled as the 1981 TARZAN THE APE MAN. Oddly, this version is narrated by Robert Douglas as Col. James Parker, even though he dies way before the end of the story. With footage from 1950's KING SOLOMON'S MINES, this movie portrays Africa as a seething pot of tribal conflicts with violence between natives marking the arrival of Joanna Barnes as Jane Parker to the outpost from which her father and treasure seeker Cesare Danova are preparing to leave. Danova wants to find the fabled "elephant's graveyard", just as they did in the original film. Douglas just wants to find safety, but bonehead Barnes decides to join Donova because there is no point living in England without money. Denny Miller as Tarzan doesn't appear until about twenty minutes into the film, but we hear the Johnny Weissmuller yodel before that, which no one has a clue about. Miller, who sports the usual no body hair look with a well groomed 1950s hairstyle, saves Barnes from an attacking animal and take her to his treehouse. There, she suspects him of improper motivations, but he reacts like a little boy, without a trace of lust. Barnes is easily the least agreeable Jane in all of the Tarzan movies, and her change to showing our hero some affection is rather abrupt, after he dunks her in the river, with her fully clothed. The only sensuality Barnes exhibits in the film is when she is overcome by African heat and Danova cuts her out of her girdle. Barnes throws away the girdle, which lands on a porter, who attempts to wear it. There is much footage from the Weissmuller films, tinted to "blend" in with the color stuff, which really makes this exercise seem really cheap. There are also many optical shots, which look awful. The climax of the film comes when Douglas, Danova and Barnes find a temple in a lost city which suddenly closes on them and the inhabitants appear to burn them alive. Danova identifies the inhabitants as pygmies, which tries to explain the use of footage from the 1932 version, but doesn't explain why the extras in the color footage don't even look like "little people". Douglas dies, which ends the narration. Miller, Danova and Barnes escape on an elephant who is mortally wounded, so the people follow it to the elephant graveyard. While Danova imagines being rich from the sale of ivory in London, Miller walks away. In what seems to be a completely unmotivated change of heart, Barnes decides that she is going to stay in the jungle and gives Miller a kiss. The last shot shows Miller and Barnes next to a very badly composed optical showing them on a cliff overlooking a spectacular waterfall. This remake gives me more respect for the 1932 version, which I couldn't stand, but at least Maureen O'Sullivan gave it a sense of the sensual. With a dumb hairstyle, which stays up even when wet, Barnes is given no chance to be appealing. The continuity people can't even keep track on when she's wearing boots or not.
TARZAN AND THE GREAT RIVER (1967) - The three films that Mike Henry did with producer Sy Weintraub began with TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF GOLD which was shot in Mexico. GREAT RIVER was the second and was shot in Brazil. I wish I knew what sort of business deals Weintraub was making for him to take the Edgar Rice Burroughs' character out of Africa to make two in Asia and three south of the U.S. border. And why he made this one for Paramount after the last two for MGM. In any case, as in VALLEY OF GOLD, Mike Henry arrives by jet plane wearing a suit and tie. Professor Paulo Gracindo asks Henry for help in dealing with a jungle death cult led by Rafer Johnson that use poisoned jaguar claws. Gracindo thanks Henry for helping him to stock his research zoo with Cheeta and the lion Baron. Whlie Henry is visiting with his animal friends, someone sneaks in and kills Gracindo with a jaguar claw. That night, Henry sets out to get Johnson with the help of Cheeta and Baron. And he has changed to his usual loin cloth. On the way, he saves riverboat Captain Jan Murray, and his young assistant Manuel Padilla Jr. In exchange, Murray allows Henry and his animals aboard his boat to travel to the village where Murray is deliver medical supplies to Dr. Diana Millay. By the time our heroes reach the village, Johnson has already destroyed it and has taken the inhabitants as slaves to work on his massive diamond operation. As Johnson seems determined to have nothing to do with the outside world, for what he wants all those diamonds remains an unanswered mystery. He tells Millay to inform her people that white people do not belong in the jungle. When Millay meets with the heroes on the riverboat, she insists on continuing to the village where she has heard that they are suffering from a plague. After taking out an attack by Johnson's men in canoes, and an alligator, Henry faces a new attack by Johnson's men in canoes. Pouring gasoline into the river, Henry ignites a blaze with a flaming arrow, which bares a similarity to how James Bond dealt with pursuing speed boats in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. The plague suffering villagers are convinced that they are dying because of a curse Johnson placed on them. And they don't trust the silver dart which would be used to inoculate them, Padilla bravely steps up to take the shot, which convinces the villagers to also do it. Henry then calls out Johnson to fight "man to man", and you can predict how that ended. As Henry was a professional football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the L.A. Rams, the filmmakers take the time to show his impressive running skills. Rafer Johnson was an Olympic Gold Medal Decathlete, but he is mostly shown to have the ability to glower menacingly. Bob Barbash and Lewis Reed are credited as the writers on this, while Robert Day returns as the director. Veteran director of photography Irving Lippman returned to behind the camera from VALLEY OF GOLD, which was probably shot back-to-back with GREAT RIVER and the following flick TARZAN AND THE JUNGLE BOY. The chimpanzee playing Cheeta was named Dinky who reportedly bit Henry on the jaw causing him to get twenty stitches. Dinky was destroyed, and Henry later sued Weintraub for unsafe working conditions after finishing his three picture contract.
TARZAN AND THE JUNGLE BOY (1968) - I previously reviewed this flick back in June, and I really didn't want to force myself to watch it again. Here is a rewrite of my previous review. This was the final effort by Mike Henry as Tarzan. Reportedly he was to star in the TV series, but he quit the series, citing unsafe working conditions, and the role went to Ron Ely. There is no question that JUNGLE BOY takes place in Africa, as the frequent 2nd Unit shots of the wild life attests, though the movie, like the other Henry films, was shot in Brazil. Interestingly, all three Henry Tarzan movies had wrapped production before the first, TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF GOLD, was theatrically released in 1966. Wrapping his 7 year old son in a sleeping bag along with a baby cheetah, a geologist sets off down a river in a canoe. Not surprising, he hits rapids which over turns the canoe. Five years later, National Geographic photojournalist Aliza Gur, with her assistant Ron Gans, lands a plane in the African jungle because photographic evidence indicates that the boy may have survived his father's drowning. She seeks out our hero, Mike Henry, who also had a miraculous survival story of being orphaned in the jungle. Henry agrees to help find the boy, but fails to convince Gur and Gans not to follow him. It turns out that the boy is in a section of the jungle belonging to a tribe that will not allow those not born in their land to enter. In an effort to get permission. Henry goes to the sports competition being held in neutral territory to elect a new king, as the old fellow is dying. The king's sons, Rafer and Ed Johnson, are competing, and it soon become apparent that Rafer is evil, trying to sabotage Ed's efforts. Because of this, the king elects Ed to be the next king, so when Rafer hears that Henry wants to find the white boy in the jungle, he promises to kill the boy as soon as he can. Ed tells Henry that he can not enter the tribe's land, but that he will find the boy for him. Not surprisingly, Rafer ambushes Ed and stakes him to the ground hoping that he will be killed by a lion. Henry sets off to secretly look for the boy, and against our hero's instructions, Gur and Gans hire a guide to take them into the jungle to also look for him. Luckily for Ed, the boy, Steve Bond, finds and frees him from the staking. Bond then helps the wounded Ed to the cave where he has been living all these years with his now grown up Cheetah. Eventually, Henry finds Bond, and Henry convinces Ed to not kill him because a good king will change unjust laws. Meanwhile, Gur's expedition is set upon by Rafer and all of the men are killed. Luckily, Henry overhears Rafer's ceremony to kill Gur and, or course, he and Ed arrive to see that justice is done. Even though Rafer Johnson played the South American villain in GREAT RIVER, he returns here with his real brother Ed Johnson. Aliza Gur was Miss Israel in 1960 and made her feature film debut wrestling Miss Jamaica Martine Beswick in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. Perhaps the highlight of TARZAN AND THE LOST BOY is seeing Gur tied spread eagle while being prepared for death near the end. Sy Weintraub takes the Executive Producer credit for this film with Robert Day listed as Producer. Former child actor turned director Robert Gordon stepped away from this work on TV to make this film. Reportedly production on this movie was fraught with diseases and bad weather which destroyed sets.
TARZAN AND THE LOST CITY (1998) - In 1966, Sy Weintraub took Tarzan to NBC-TV. Ron Ely starred in 57 episodes with Manuel Padilla Jr. playing a new orphaned boy in 56. Like the Mike Henry films, production was done in Brazil and Mexico, with Woody Strode appearing in 6 episodes, Bernie Hamilton in 5, William Marshall in 5, Jock Mahoney in 4, Nichelle Nichols in 2, James Earl Jones in 2, Raymond St. Jacques in 1, Barbara Bouchet in 1, Chill Wills in 1, Leo Gordon in 1, Brock Peters in 1, Rafer Johnson in 1, Diana Ross in 1 as well as many many other actors including Ted Cassidy as Sampson. I've not seen any episodes of this show, but I know that a number of episodes were edited into at least four feature films, including TARZAN'S JUNGLE REBELLION, TARZAN AND THE PERILS OF CHARITY JONES, TARZAN AND THE FOUR O'CLOCK ARMY and TARZAN'S DEADLY SILENCE. In 1981, former actor turned producer/director John Derek followed his hardcore pornographic movie LOVE YOU with his TARZAN, THE APE MAN, which made the sensuality of the Tarzan films into an R-Rated adventure starring his wife Bo. Long time Edgar Rice Burroughs fan, and Oscar winning screenwriter, Robet Towne announced in 1974 that he wanted to make LORD GREYSTOKE, which would be a faithful version of the story. Unfortunately, his directorial debut, PERSONAL BEST, failed at the box office and he lost the project to Warner Bros. Warners brought in director Hugh Hudson, whose film CHARIOTS OF FIRE had just won the Best Picture Oscar. Hudson ended up making GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES in 1984. In 1996, Keller Siegel Entertainament produced Tarzan: The Epic Adventures, starring Joe Lara, for syndicated TV. 22 episodes aired. In 1998, producers Stanley Canter, Dieter Geissler and Michael Lake convinced Warner Bros., and Village Roadshow, to attempt a new series of Tarzan films to be shot in South Africa starring Casper Van Dien, the star of STARSHIP TROOPERS. How the IMDB came to list actor Dustin Hoffman as one of the co-producers of this flick is a mystery since his name is nowhere in the film's credits.
This film seems intended as a sequel to GREYSTOKE with none of the guys who worked on that film returning. But it turned out to be more of a remake of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, without Nazis or Jewish spirituality. It is 1913 and white mercenaries, led by Steve Waddington, are burning and killing their way to try and find the lost city of Opar (which came from the Burroughs' novels). While celebrating his upcoming wedding in England to Jane March (as Jane Porter, the character from the novels as opposed to Jane Parker of the Weissmuller movies), Casper Van Dien (as John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, aka Tarzan) gets a vision of a village on fire in Africa. March is not pleased when her bridegroom informs her that he must go to Africa immediately. It takes a while, but, unfortunately, March will follow him to Africa and complicate an already tense situation. Van Dien very shortly sizes up Waddington as the villain, and when he discovers that the bad guys have a machine gun, he tries to convince the local natives that attacking them would be fatal. Native shaman Winston Ntshona ends up saving our hero numerous times during his failed effort to stop Waddington from blowing up an ancient statue and finding the cave entrance to Opar. Needless to say, March is captured by the bad guys, but Van Dien saves her. In a scene reminiscent of JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, Ntshona spreads out some bones which turn into warriors to fight the mercenaries. For the finale, it is African magic which destroys Waddington, so Van Dien's efforts are really superfluous - just like Harrison Ford's efforts in RAIDERS. Interestingly, there is a tree house in this film, though Van Dien says that it is his father's house. Also, Van Dien wears clothes for most of the movie, switching from a shirt and torn pants, to just shorts, until he finally sports a loin cloth toward the end. Bayard Johnson and J. Anderson Black get screenplay credit with German born Carl Schenkel listed as the director. Like Mike Henry, Van Dien was reportedly bitten on the chin by his chimpanzee co-star, who is not called Cheeta.
In 1999, Sony/Wonder Enchanted Tales released an animated musical called TARZAN OF THE APES, directly to home video which ran only 48 minutes. Made in 1997, it wasn't released until Walt Disney Feature Animation TARZAN got a theatrical release. Disney's TARZAN was so successful that it spawned a TV series in 2001, The Legend of Tarzan, which ran for 39 episodes over two years. In addition, there were two direct to home video sequels, Tarzan & Jane and Tarzan II: The Legend Begins.In 2016, Village Roadshow and Warner Bros. did the live action THE LEGEND OF TARZAN starring Alexander Skarsgård, written by Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer. David Yates took a break from making Harry Potter movies to direct this. It has been years since I watched this, but I remember mildly enjoying it. Especially as Margot Robbie played Jane.
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David Deal Enjoyed:
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (93)
300 (06)
THE MATRIX (99)
SUSPIRIA (77) - My favorite Argento.
A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (64) - The shot heard 'round the world.
ANGEL HEART (87) - From 2015: "Looking back nearly 30 years, I think Alan Parker exceeded his expectations. This vintage vision of mid-century America is a timeless concoction, a thing removed, but the terror of losing oneself remains disturbingly immediate. The Blu-ray is gorgeous and the soundtrack inspired. Top 100. Probably top 50." (The 4K is excellent too.)
THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (40)
MOONRISE KINGDOM (12)
BRANDED TO KILL (67) - From 2006: "Still a stunning achievement after many viewings and one of the great hitman movies to boot. Boil rice!"
THE FORBIDDEN PHOTOS OF A LADY ABOVE SUSPICION (70) - From 2006: "Dagmar Lassander and Susan Scott make a beautiful pair of peacocks in their high fashion duds. Not the giallo that some disappointed reviewers wanted, this top-notch Euro-ambience entertainment is about sexual politics, mysterious motives and washing down loads of tranquilizers with hard liquor. Great Morricone score, fun set design, and outstanding cinematography. Stylish and twisted, this comes highly recommended."
THE DUELLISTS (77) - From 2011: "Ridley Scott's first feature holds up as not only a visual masterpiece, but it also manages to capture the essence of Joseph Conrad's essential volume on honor, loyalty, and betrayal. Top 100. Top 50."
THE FALLING MAN (68) - From 2006: "The ETC copy of the US version of this film must be one of the oddest Euro-viewing experiences around. Not only does the American cut deconstruct the action so the entire film unfolds as Henry Silva is falling to the floor after being shot but the absurdly poor video transfer actually enhances the trippy quality of that editing scheme. The filmmakers throw in some experimental electronic music too making this a genuine idiosyncratic wonder."
EXOTICA (94) - Hadn't seen this since it came out over thirty years ago. This dark masterpiece from Atom Egoyan retains its power today.
ENDSTATION 13 SAHARA (63) - From 2022: "Peter van Eyck, Ian Bannen, Denholm Elliot, Mario Adorf, and Hansjorg Felmy are working on an oil station out in the middle of the Sahara, getting on each other's nerves. Felmy, who worked in some of the Edgar Wallace flicks, is the newbie who challenges the authority of Eyck. When Carroll Baker and her murderous ex-husband arrive, things come to a boil. Seth Holt's tail of lost and broken men was a pleasant surprise to me. Great cast with a good script and clever direction put this far above what I expected. Recommended."
TERROR BY NIGHT (46)
KNIVES OF THE AVENGER (65) - From 2008: "This Viking Western holds up well as a nuanced exploitation actioner aping SHANE. Too bad we don't get Cam the Man's real voice, but his performance, his last for Bava, is one of his best."
GOKE, BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL (68) - From 2003: "Trippy Japanese horror/sci-fi hybrid that is gorgeous to look at and loads of fun to boot. “Join us. We’re digging our graves out here!”"
BLACK FRIDAY (40)
DRESSED TO KILL (46)
THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT (55) - From 2015: "Brian Donleavy's no-nonsense Quatermass is immensely enjoyable but it is Richard Wordsworth's tragic astronaut that remains the film's soul."
OSS 117 MISSION FOR A KILLER (65) - See the Eurospy Guide.
TONY ARZENTA (73) - Tops in the hit man dept.
THE MUMMY'S HAND (40)
BLADE RUNNER (82)
THE VAMPIRES (61) - This is the particularly creepy horror peplum with Gordon Scott.
COUNTERFEIT (65) - AKA The Counterfeit Man. An episode of the British TV series Out of the Unknown starring a young David Hemmings. The doctor on a spaceship realizes they have an alien on board who can replicate anyone of the crew. Although not credited as such, the idea here seems quite like the story Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell that inspired both versions of The Thing.
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (40)
MURDER PARTY (62) - From 2018: "A man who just murdered his mistress bumps into a friend and realizes he must kill his friend to cover his tracks. They end up at a party where a parlor game gives him an opportunity. Helmuth Ashley's Hitchcockian thriller unfolds in a modern environment as ice cold as its characters."
FANTASTIC VOYAGE (66)
FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON (70)
THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF (62)
MAN MADE KONSTER (41)
Mildly enjoyed:
MACADAM (46)
THE TOUGH ONES (76)
THE DEVIL'S WEDDING NIGHT (72) - From 2005: "This prime slice of Euro-Gothic, drive-in horror never fails to please with its craggy locations, devil plot, and the classic image of the blood-covered nude body of Rosalba Neri."
THE DEAD ARE ALIVE (72)
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Angel Rivera wrote:
I looked in my copy of "Tarzan on Film" by Scott Tracy Griffin, and according to Griffin, Tarzan producer, Sol Lesser had to negotiate with the producers of the Tarzan radio show to produce a TV series and they did not come to an agreement until both "Tarzan and the Lost Safari" and "Tarzan's Fight for Life" were completed. The TV series was filmed right after "Tarzan's Fight for Life" was completed. That is why the proposed TV series had the same characters and actors from "Tarzan's Fight for Life". Lesser had also struck a deal with MGM to release the two films because the studio he had been dealing with (RKO Pictures) was suffering financial trouble. I had read that every Tarzan picture in the series was profitable. I was surprised that you did not enjoy any of the films with Gordon Scott as I am one of those fans who think "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" is one of the best Tarzan films ever made as Tarzan, as written for the movie is almost as he appeared in the novels and the villains were interesting. BTW did you ever read any of ERB's Tarzan novels. For me "Tarzan of the Apes" has the best opening lines of any novel I have ever read. The opening lines IMO are in the same class as the opening lines of "A Tale of Two Cities". I guess the films just did not hold up for you.
Highly enjoyed:
"GODZILLA MINUS ZERO" (2026)
Interesting follow-up to "Godzilla Minus One" (2023). The film takes place in 1949, during the Occupation, of Japan by Allied Forces (mainly the USA) and continues the story of the little family formed by circumstance.That is the failed Kamikaze pilot, the woman he meets and the orphaned baby girl she has found. This time Ghidorah is "born" and starts to cause havoc and the plan is to somehow, after the bomb the Americans have given the Japanese fails to destroy Ghidorah, get Godzilla, who has regenerated himself, to fight Ghidorah.
Definitely worth the viewing if you liked the previous film in the series.
Enjoyed:
"TARZAN, THE APE MAN" (1932)
While I don't remember seeing the Tarzan/Weissmuller films when they aired on TV, I did see this film, once at a retrospective theater which was showing the complete series of Tarzan films; scheduling a few daily. Any way the main draw for me was the charismatic beauty, Maureen O'Sullivan. There is the scene where she removes her dress and is left in nothing but a slip. This in front of her father! The camera takes advantage of her slightly ample cleavage. O'Sullivan portrays Jane as having a slight coquettish manner and innocence that causes men to take notice. A very young Neil Hamilton, (later to be better remembered as "Commissioner Gordon" on the 1966 Batman TV series) is one of those men taken by Jane. Unfortunately for him, any feelings she may have had for him, are waylaid because there is a half-naked man with a swimmer's body who literally takes her off her feet. At first she is afraid of him, but he "kinda" grows on her. The jungle is also a scary place for her, even though she is a crack shot. But Tarzan is the perfect "body guard". Lots of footage of Africa from "Trader Horn" (1931) makes the film interesting as we have our little jungle romance. I can see why audiences back in 1932 made this film a hit.
Mildly enjoyed:
"TARZAN, THE APE MAN" (1959)
I remember seeing this in the theaters probably when it was reissued to my neighborhood theater, but again my memory of the film is slight. This a remake of the 1932 film and stars a former basketball player/athlete named Denny Miller. Denny will play a similar "Jungle Man" on Gilligan's Island. His Jane is portrayed by the lovely Joanna Barnes who is probably better known for her roles in such films as, "Auntie Mame" (1958), and the original "Parent Trap (1961). The rest of the cast is made up of Robert Douglas who portrayed the villain opposite Errol Flynn in the 1948 "Adventures of Don Juan" playing Jane's father. And as his partner, Cesare Danova, probably best known as Elvis' rival for Ann-Margret in the film, "Viva Las Vegas" (1964). He also stars with Errol Flynn in the film released in the USA as "Crossed Swords" (1954), but its original Italian title was "Il Maestro di Don Giovanni" (Translation: "The Teacher of Don Juan").
This remake even uses footage from the original film. Also Jane's father receives a worst fate in this film than the character did in the original. There is not much "coming on" by Cesare Danova in this one, as Hamilton did in the original, but we're all still rooting for Tarzan and Jane to end up together. Still I can see why I didn't remember much about this film.
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Charles Gilbert watched:
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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:
Misfits – season 1 (2009 – 6 epis)
Mildly enjoyed
Extra ordinary (2019, Mike Ahern & Enda Loughman)
Macbeth (2006, Geoffrey Wright)
Riding the bullet (2004, Mick Garris)
Blood simple (1984, Joel Coen)
Ôritsu uchûgun Oneamisu no tsubasa / The wings of Honneamise (anime) (1986, Hiroyuki Yamaga)
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