To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
Which American actor born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1937 went on to appear in three Italian directed Westerns?
Tom Betts, Bertrand Van Wonterghem and George Grimes knew that it was Lloyd Battista.
Which American actor dealt with Allen Klein on a movie before the actor began making movies in Italy?
Tom Betts, Bertrand Van Wonterghem and George Grimes knew that it was Tony Anthony.
Which American actor who made Italian Westerns reportedly turned down an offer to appear in MACKENNA'S GOLD?
George Grimes and Bertrand Van Wonterghem read that Clint Eastwood turned down an offer to be in MACKENNA'S GOLD. So I'm changing the question to:
"Which American actor who made 6 Italian Westerns reportedly turned down an offer to appear in MACKENNA'S GOLD."
And now for some new brain teasers:
Which American actor who made Italian Westerns lost part of his middle finger while building a playhouse for his daughter?
Which American actor who made Italian Westerns was born January 9, 1925 in Somerville, New Jersey?
Which American actor who made Italian Westerns worked as a sonarman in the U.S. Navy during World War II?
Name the movies from which these images came.
Tom Betts, George Grimes, Rick Garibaldi and Bertrand Van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Gianni Garko in 1000 DOLLARI SUL NERO, aka $1000 ON BLACK, aka BLOOD AT SUNDOWN.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes identified last week's photo of Louis Jourdan and Sylvia Syms in LE VERGINI DI ROMA, aka AMAZONS OF ROME.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes and Bertrand Van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of the late John Richardson in I CORPI PRESENTANO TRACCE DI VIOLENZA CARNALE, aka TORSO.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes identified last week's photo of the doomed Yang family 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:
Highly enjoyed:
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011) - After Woody Allen gave Barcelona and New York City the tourist treatment, it seemed fitting that Paris should be next and this movie starts with three minutes of just beauty shots of the city. There is no voice over or narration to mar the visuals. When we are introduced to engaged couple Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, we know their relationship is doomed because this is a Woody Allen picture. The sense of doom is intensified when we meet her parents, Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy (currently on TV's Mom). We know Wilson is a surrogate for Allen when he comments, "By the way, it's fine for your father and I to disagree. That's what a democracy is. Your father defends the right wing of the Republican Party, and I happen to think you've almost got to be, like, a demented lunatic... But it doesn't mean we don't respect each other's views." Wilson is able to speak Allen's words without ever doing an impersonation. Unwilling to go out dancing with his fiancée's married friends Michael Sheen and Nina Arianda, Wilson walks the streets of Paris, gets lost and ends up sitting on some steps when the clock chimes midnight. A vintage Peugeot car pulls up and its occupants bid Wilson to join them. Already a little drunk, Wilson gets in and soon finds himself at party for Jean Cocteau, where he sees Cole Porter (Yves Heck) and befriends F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom HIddleston) and his wife Zelda (Alison Pill). Soon they go to see Josephine Baker (Sonia Rolland) perform and then go to a cafe where Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stroll) is drinking. Wilson tells Hemingway about his novel which is about a man who runs a Nostalgia Shop. When Hemingway suggests that Wilson show his novel to Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates of SHADOWS AND FOG), Wilson leaves the cafe to get it. When he turns back, the cafe has become a laundromat. Obviously, Wilson has great nostalgia for Paris in the 1920s, and not surprisingly he falls in love with Marion Cotillard who plays a fictional character having an affair with Pablo Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo), but has had a string of affairs with other famous painters and writers. In the present, Wilson finds a book about Cotillard that says that while she was bedding these famous artists, she secretly was in love with Wilson. Returning to the past, Wilson spends more time with Cotillard when an horse drawn carriage pulls up and the occupants invite them to get in. It turns out that Cotillard, who lives in 1920s Paris, is nostalgic for 1890s Paris, to where the couple are magically transported. When Cotillard says that she doesn't want to got back to the 1920s, Wilson says, "I was trying to escape my present the same way you're trying to escape yours to a golden age... I'm having an insight now. It's a minor one... Yeah, that's what the present is. It's a little unsatisfying because life's a little unsatisfying." Luckily, after getting writing advice from Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway, Wilson returns to the present to sort out his unhappy state and meets Léa Seydoux. Seydoux runs a little nostalgia shop and also likes walking in the Parisian rain at night. It is hard not to go on and on about the allusions offered in this work, but my favorite is the location where Wilson and Cotillard stop Pill from jumping into the Seine River. It is the same location where Allen prevents Peter Sellers from jumping in WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT and where Allen and Goldie Hawn sing and dance in EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU. Also in the cast are Carla Bruni, Maurice Sonnenberg (in his 7th Allen film), Audrey Fleurot, Emmaunuelle Uzan (as Djuna Barnes), Adrien Brody (as Salvador Dali), Tom Cordier (as Man Ray), Adrien De Van (as Luis Bunuel), David Lowe (as T.S. Eliot), Yves-Antoine Spoto (as Henri Matisse), Laurent Claret (as Leo Stein), Sava Lolov (of the Nicolas Le Floch TV series), Vincent Menjou Cortes (as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec), Olivier Rebourdin (as Paul Gauguin), François Rostain (as Edgar Degas) and Kenneth Edelson (in his 14th Allen film). "Sony Pictures Classics Presents A Mediapro, Verstil Cinema & Gravier Production A Pontchartrain Production." Copyright by Mediaproduccion, S.L.U., Versatil Cinema S.L. and Gravier Productions Inc. This film has benefited from the tax credit for foreign film production in France. Cinematorgrapher Darius Khondji had prevously shot ANYTHING ELSE for Allen. Another "needle drop" soundtrack, this film featured Conal Fowkes singing Cole Porter songs.
TO ROME WITH LOVE (2012) - While not as blatant a tourist treatment as MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, TO ROME WITH LOVE delivers similar "chamber of commerce" value. What makes it special to me is that I went to most of these locations during my visit to Rome in the year 2000. The film starts with real life traffic cop Pierluigi Marchionne talking to the camera about how he sees everything that goes on in Rome, but this intro doesn't follow through with him narrating the film. If you love "Nel blu dipinto di blu (Volare)" by Domenico Modugno & Francesco Migliacci then you'll appreciate how it is used to open and close this film. However, "Amada Mia, Amore Mio", performed by The Starlite Orchestra, is the main musical theme for this movie, and its bounciness perfectly fits this warmly entertaining and charming flick. Juggling four different storylines, Woody Allen brings off his most straightforward comedy since HOLLYWOOD ENDING without any of the emotional scarring his more recent films exhibit - aside from a seeming endorsement of adultery. Reportedly Allen wanted to name the film BOP DECAMERON or NERO FIDDLES, but the title to which he finally agreed actually fits the movie better. Considering that the film is set in Rome, it has remarkably few references to Italian movies, though some feel that newlywed Alessandra Mastronardi's storyline in which she nearly goes to bed with movie star Antonio Albanese is a reworking of director Federico Fellini's LO SCEICCO BIANCO. STARDUST MEMORIES has more obvious references to Fellini films. Penélope Cruz makes her second Allen film appearance as a prostitute that fills in for the missing Mastronardi when her husband, Alessandro Tiberi, is dragged by his relatives to meet the most important businessmen at a garden party. Naturally, most of these businessmen are Cruz's clients. Alison Pill makes her second Allen film appearance as a student who falls in love with Roman lawyer Flavio Parenti. Judy Davis makes her fourth Allen film appearance playing Pill's mother, who comes to visit with her husband Woody Allen. Allen plays a retired opera director who is inspired when he hear's Parenti's father, played by real life opera star Fabio Armiliato, singing in the shower. Carol Alt makes a brief appearance as Alec Baldwin's wife before Baldwin wanders off to visit where he used to live in Rome in his youth. Baldwin meets Jesse Eisenberg near where he used to live and is introduced to Eisenberg's girlfriend Greta Gerwig just as she gets a phone call saying that her friend Ellen Page is coming to stay. Baldwin warns Eisenberg that Page's visit means trouble, and he ends up hovering throughout this storyline almost as an angel. Almost as a rewrite of CELEBRITY, Allen casts Roberto Benigni as an ordinary man suddenly proclaimed to be famous, for no reason, hounded and cheered by everyone. Now that he is Elliot Page, it is a safe bet that Ellen Page will never again play a "femme fatale", but his calling making this film the "biggest regret" of his career after Dylan Farrow decided to regurgitate the disproven sexual abuse allegations in 2017 has caused me to lose respect for him. Also losing my respect is Greta Gerwig, who made a similar statement. Also appearing in this film are Ornella Muti and Riccardo Scamarcio (the star of director Costa-Gavras' EDEN A L'OUEST and director Ferzan Ozpetek's MINE VAGANTI). It is unfortunate, that Giuliano Gemma didn't get a bigger role in this movie, or at least one in which you could clearly see his face. Daniele Massaccesi, the son of Aristide Massaccesi, worked on this film as "Camera/Steadicam Operator". From hiding behind the name "Larry Hessel" on ATOR L'INVINCIBILE to being the steadicam operator on MATRIX 4, Daniele must have some interesting stories to tell. "Italian Production Services by Cinecitta Studios S.p.A. in collaboration with Cineroma S.r.l." "This picture has been produced with the assistance of the Italian tax credit provided for by law no. 244 of 24 December 2007." Copyright by Gravier Productions. "Sony Pictures Classics Presents A Medusa Film & Gravier Production A Perdido Production."
Enjoyed:
The Kraft Music Hall "Woody Allen Looks at 1967" (December 27, 1967) This aired on GET TV, so it may have been shortened. In addition to some Allen standup, there are musical performances by Aretha Franklin and Liza Minnelli. Minnelli also participates in comedy sketches also featuring John Byner, William Pabst, Evelyn Russell, Robert Slater and Norman MacKaye, If you've been wanting to see Woody Allen spoof Shirley Temple then this is the program for you. To inject some seriousness, Allen hosts a Q&A with William F. Buckley and the audience. Mickey Rose, who went on to co-write BANANAS, worked on this with Marshall Brickman, who went on to co-write ANNIE HALL. Brickman was misspelled Brinkman in the credits by the way. Also writing on the show were Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth, Jack Burns and Pat McCormick. Allen calls BONNIE AND CLYDE "the finest American film made in 1967" as an intro to the spoof "BONNIE'S CLYDE".
Woody Allen: A Life In Film (2002) - This was made when HOLLYWOOD ENDING was the new Woody Allen film, so there was much not covered. Richard Schickel produced, wrote and directed this 90 minute cinematic survey for Turner Classic Movies, and it had some interesting comments from Allen. Also interesting was that there was only one mention of "Mia" and the only shot of her is from HUSBANDS AND WIVES showing the back of her head. I guess Schickel didn't want to ask her permission to show her clips. There was no mention of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S SEX COMEDY at all.
SCOOP (2006) - Things went so well making MATCH POINT that Woody Allen decided to try it again. Financing by the Bank of Ireland and co-production with BBC Films, but this time in association with Ingenious Film Partners LLP on behalf of Tishimingo Productions Limited. The copyright was no longer Jada Productions, but Jelly Roll Productions. DreamWorks did not return as distributor, but Focus Features did the job. Some critics pointed out that the murder plot of MATCH GAME resembled AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser, and the 1951 movie version A PLACE IN THE SUN, with the flip that the murderer wasn't caught by the police and that, unlike the character in CRIME AND PUNISHMENT by Fyodor Dostoevsky, he got over any feelings of guilt - just like the Martin Landau character in CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS. In SCOOP, the villain attempted to kill our heroine by staging a boating accident as in A PLACE IN THE SUN. Aside from that, SCOOP wasn't like those previous films. Here, the villain patterned his murder after an ongoing series of murders to avoid detection. As a murder mystery, SCOOP wasn't great, but the comedy was funny and the fantasy element delightful. The film began with a funeral for reknown journalist Ian McShane, who had a reputation for not even allowing death to keep him away from a scoop. On the barge of death, McShane can't get any answers from Death, but fellow passenger Fenella Woolgar told him that she believed that her boss, Hugh Jackman, poisoned her. Woolgar was wondering if Jackman might be the Tarot Card serial killer, and suddenly she found herself dead. McShane ached at not being able to follow up the lead, so he slipped off the barge. Scarlett Johansson was an American journalism student staying with friends in London, hoping to get an interview with big time film director Kevin McNally. She got the director to invite her up to his hotel room, but ended up having sex with him without getting the story. Despondent, she went with her friend, Romola Garai, to a magic show by Woody Allen. Allen invited her on-stage to step into a vanishing box where in she was visited by McShane's spirit who was looking for a journalist to pass on the lead. Eventually, Johansson enlisted Allen to help her investigate Jackman, and when they go snooping around Jackman's wine cellar, I immediately thought of director Alfred Hitchcock's NOTORIOUS - but the clue was not in the wine bottles but in the climate control vault which housed the vintage musical instruments. With this film, Allen finally made a successful comedy thriller with some effective suspense. With another "needle drop" soundtrack, Allen got good use of Edvard Greig's "In The Hall Of The Mountain King". The parade of terrific British actors in small roles was highly enjoyable including Elizabeth Berrington, Julian Glover, John Standing, Richard Johnson, Charles Dance, Victoria Hamilton (who was costumed quite provocatively) and Anthony Head. Repeaters from MATCH POINT included Margaret Tyzack, Alexander Armstrong, Alex Argenti and Anthony O'Donnell.
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (2008) - With all of the attention given to Scarlett Johannsson (in her 3rd Allen film) and Penélope Cruz (who won an Oscar) in this movie, I was surprised to find that the actual star is Rebecca Hall as the Vicky of the title. Never before has Woody Allen shown the influence of director François Truffaut as strongly as in this film, which echoes JULES ET JIM in both the use of a third person narrator (voiced by Christopher Evan Welch) and scenes of bicycle riding in the country. One also wonders if Penélope Cruz's character was partly inspired by what Truffaut did with the character of Catherine in his film, which was a complete distortion of the character from the original novel by Henri-Pierre Roché. In that Allen's film shows two women sharing a man, Javier Bardem, it brought to mind the other Truffaut film based on a novel by Roché, Les deux Anglaises et le continent, though the TWO ENGLISH GIRLS never shared a bed with the man at the same time. As in CASSANDRA'S DREAM, Allen splits his main character in two, with Johannsson and Hall seemingly portraying two different attitudes towards love. The way that the story battered the two characters reaffirmed Allen's attitude towards love as expressed in many of the earlier films, but in a new and entertaining way. It was surprising to find that some in Catalonia, Spain, objected to the use of public funds to make this movie as it was an almost 90 minute tourism commercial. Reportedly the government of Barcelona put up one million euros while the government of Catalonia put up ten percent of the budget. Allen repaid that contribution by showing Barcelona not only as one of the most romantic cities in the world, but also that the culture of Catalonia was worthy of international scholarship. As to be expected by a production partly financed by Spain, the director of photography was Spaniard Javier Aquirresarobe who had recently shot THE OTHERS. Also in the cast were Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Dunn, Maurice Sonnenberg (in his 6th Allen film) and Zak Orth (of MELINDA AND MELINDA). It was nice to see a clip from director Alfred Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT. Reportedly Joan Pera, the Spanish voice for Woody Allen for over 20 years, had a cameo in the film. Agusti Puig provided the paintings shown in the film to have been done by Bardem and Cruz. The copyright was held by Gravier Productions, Inc (who have returned to the credits after 2004's MELINDA AND MELINDA) and MediaProductions, S.L. (a Spanish company). "The Weinstein Company Presents A Mediapro and Gravier Production In association with Antena 3 Films & Antena 3 TV A Dumaine Production." Allen back to a "needle drop" soundtrack, but of mostly Spanish music.
WHATEVER WORKS (2009) - Someone must have pointed out to Woody Allen that his last movie amounted to a tourism commercial for Barcelona, so this one shows you New York City in a way Allen never before had. Back in Manhattan, Allen made a "feel good" comedy, even though misanthropic Larry David (in his 3rd Allen film) tells the audience that it won't be. Allen had characters talk to the camera in previous movies, but this time the other people in the scene ask him "what do you think you're doing?" He explains that he's talking to an audience that paid good money to watch, but they don't see the audience and just feel he's being eccentric. Early in the film, David commented that he couldn't be an "Henry Higgins" to young runaway street kid Evan Rachel Wood, but a rewrite of George Bernard Shaw's PYGMALION would seem to be what Allen had in mind. Some note that the fact that Wood came from the South and was new to the city referenced A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE by Tennessee Williams. However, the story goes in many different directions with the introduction of Wood's mother, Patricia Clarkson (of VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA), and father, Ed Begley Jr. Reportedly, the project was originally written in the 1970s as a vehicle for Zero Mostel, but was shelved when Mostel died. Another "needle drop" music track, WHATEVER featured Allen reusing music originally recorded for RADIO DAYS; "Auld Lang Syne" performed by Dick Hyman & His Orchestra. As in every Allen film since MATCH POINT, the message hammered home again and again was that luck played a more important role in life than intention. Coming out with another film featuring an older man having a relationship with a young woman seemed to be courting controversey, but the resulting film was quite funny and surprisingly warm hearted. The film opens with Groucho Marx singing "Hello I Must Be Going" from ANIMAL CRACKERS. Later there's the sound of a Fred Astaire movie on TV and a clip from TOUCH OF EVIL. There was also a credit for "Chinese Movie Posters courtesy of Tai Seng Entertainment". This time the copyright was solely by Gravier Productions, Inc. "Sony Pictures Classics Presents In Association with Wild Bunch & Gravier Productions A Perdido Production." Also in the cast were Michael McKean, Carolyn McCormick, Samantha Bee, Henry Cavill, Christopher Evan Welch (the narrator of VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA gets on screen this time), Jessica Hecht, Kenneth Edelson (in his 13th Allen film) and Quicy Rose (of MELINDA AND MELINDA).
AMERICAN HARDCORE: THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN PUNK ROCK 1980-1986 (2006) - Based on the book AMERICAN HARDCORE: A TRIBAL HISTORY by Steven Blush, Paul Rachman's documentary pulls together alot of performance video and talking heads clips to remember a time of excitement and promise for those who hated the Presidency of Ronald Reagan.
Mildly enjoyed:
CASSANDRA'S DREAM (2007) - This was the third film in a row by Woody Allen dealing with murder. As MATCH POINT was such a success, it would seem that Allen felt the need to do something similar since SCOOP wasn't well received. This time, though, it wasn't a single person dealing with murder, it was a pair of brothers, Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor. As with MATCH, the first half of the movie dealt with establishing where the brothers were in their lives and where they wanted to go. At first, we meet them trying to figure out how to buy a sail boat they christen "Cassandra's Dream" after the dog Farrell won a pack of money on betting at the track. Midway through the movie, their uncle, Tom Wilkinson, showed up to inform them that he would help them with their money problems if they would murder Phil Davis whose testimony might land him in jail. Having the lead role split between Farrell and McGregor, Allen was able to verbalize his themes without the characters speaking to themselves or to ghosts. The main point of suspense was whether Allen would allow both characters to get away with murder without feeling guilty, as in the case of CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS and MATCH POINT. He doesn't, giving the film a little grace by not being as cynical as those films. The real pleasure to be had in this film was with a sparkling cast including John Benfield, Clare Higgins, Ashley Madekwe, Andrew Howard, Hayley Atwell, Sally Hawkins, Jim Carter, Emily Gilchrist (of MATCH POINT) and Kenneth Edelson (in his 12th Allen film). Michael Harm, who was the location manager for Allen's two prior British films, got some onscreen time as an estate manager in DREAM. Camera operator George Richmond also got onscreen as Bernard. Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond made this his second collaboration with Allen after MELINDA AND MELINDA. Breaking with his use of "needle drop" soundtracks, Allen hired Philip Glass to write an original score for this movie. Unlike the previous two films, this was not done with BBC Films. "The Weinstein Company Presents In association with Virtual Films and Wild Bunch An Iberville Production." Production Financing City National Bank, Richard V. McCune, Scott F. Fitzgerald." The copyright was with Wolverine Productions Limited. As Wild Bunch was a French company, this was a British/French coproduction.
YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER (2010) - For a secular humanist and atheist, Woody Allen likes to do stories dealing with magic. Perhaps it is partly because of his study of magic tricks in his childhood, or perhaps it is because so many people he knows believe in that hokum. Anyway, back in London with co-financing from Spain, Allen again uses a third person narrator to inform us that "Shakespeare said, 'Life was full of sound and fury and in the end signified nothing.'" Are we to make something of Allen misquoting the line from Macbeth which is "Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing"? Tired of paying for expensive psychiatrists that only give her pills, Gemma Jones seeks out fortune teller Pauline Collins for advice. Collins assures Jones that she will be okay, so she seeks advice about her daughter, Naomi Watts, and son-in-law Josh Brolin. Jones' ex-husband, Anthony Hopkins, is having a mid-life crisis and is trying to recapture his youth with hooker Lucy Punch. Brolin is having trouble finishing his second novel and becomes distracted by the beautiful Freida Pinto who plays Spanish guitar beside her window across the way. Even though she relies on Jones to help pay the bills, Watts gets a job with art gallery owner Antonio Banderas. Watts developes a crush on Banderas until she discovers that he is having an extramarital affair with painter Anna Friel, to whom Watts introduced him. Allen doesn't pepper this script with one-liners and whatever humor is sardonic rather than funny. Everyone's life is disrupted in surprising ways, and Allen chooses to leave most of the plot threads dangling in the end. The narrator sums it all up with "It's time to close the book on our little tale of sound and fury, signifying nothing. And one has to wonder, given all of life's uncertainty and pain, how do we get through it? Well, as Sally told Roy, 'Sometimes the illusions work better than the medicine.'" Suddenly, one has to wonder if Allen was influenced by director Akira Kurosawa's DODES 'KA-DEN which ended with the idea that people need their fantasies inorder to get through life. Of course, Allen ended SHADOWS AND FOG with a similar thought. This is the first film directed by Allen for which Charles H. Joffe is not listed as an executive producer. He died in 2008, leaving Jack Rollins to look lonely on his title card. Copyright is held by Mediaproduccion, S.L., Versatil Cinema, S.L. and Gravier Productions, Inc. "Sony Pictures Classics Presents A Mediapro, Versatil Cinema & Gravier Production In Association with Antena 3 Films & Antena 3 TV A Dippermouth Production." Vilmos Zsigmond is back as the director of photography. This has another "needle drop" soundtrack, though I don't know that The Eddy Davis Trio doing "I'll See You In My Dreams" comes off a record. Eddy Davis is the banjo player in Woody Allen's monday night jazz band. Also in the cast are Ewen Bremner (of MATCH POINT), Celia Imrie and Zak Orth is the narrator (in his 3 Allen film). Repeaters from SCOOP include Rupert Frazer, Fenella Woolgar, Lynda Baron, Christopher Fulford and Meera Syal.
BLUE JASMINE (2013) - Woody Allen tells of his love for the work of Tennessee Williams and how he feels that the movie version of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE is perfect. "Blessed with a very great actress, Cate Blanchett, I do my level best to create a situation for her that will have dramatic power. The idea came from my wife and it's a good idea. But, it leans too heavily on Tennessee Williams... BLUE JASMINE was a success and Cate got her best actress Oscar... suffice it to say, I'm not Tennessee Williams, never could come close, and while I'm sure you've noticed, I just wanted to fess up to it and assure you, you haven't been wrong." Not having lived through the tumult that STREETCAR caused, I find it hard to understand what it means to people who did. I'm a bigger fan of Woody Allen than Williams, but having a film set in San Francisco start off with New Orleans jazz kind of alerts the audience as to what the director's intentions are. To his credit, Allen doesn't do a pastiche of STREETCAR with BLUE JASMINE, but so many of the elements correspond. Blanchett isn't as fragile as Blanche and Sally Hawkins (in her 2nd Allen film) isn't as downtrodden as Stella, but what is more interesting is that Stanley gets split between Andrew Dice Clay as Hawkins' ex-husband and Bobby Cannavale as her current boyfriend. And here Stanley isn't a bad guy and there is no rape. The bad guy is seen in flashbacks and he is Alec Baldwin (in his 3rd Allen film) as a Bernie Madoff type investor whose suicide leaves Blanchett destitute. Toward the end, Allen pulls a melodramatic twist similar to what Ingmar Bergman did to ruin AUTUMN SONATA. Allen also ends the film leaving the audience to wonder what happens next. What is impressive about the film is that Allen captured such terrific performances from his cast, including people like Andrew Dice Clay. Also in the cast are Joy Carlin (of DIRTY HARRY), Ted Neustadt (in his 3rd Allen film), Emily Bergl (though you can't see her), Max Casella, Michael Stuhlbarg, Alden Ehrenreich (who went on to star in SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY), Maurice Sonnenberg (in his 8th Allen film), Louis C.K., Peter Sarsgaard, Kenneth Edelson (in his 15th Allen film), Marshall Factora (of HOLLYWOOD ENDING) and Lynn Foley (of TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN). Javier Aguirresarobe, who shot VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, returns as director of photography, but Allen doesn't give San Francisco and Oakland the "tourist treatment" though the location work is nice. This is the first Allen film to start with a CGI shot, of an airliner in flight, and the third to be shot in the 2.35:1 aspect. It has been awhile since an Allen film didn't have European financing. This film is a Sony Pictures Classics release in association with Gravier Productions A Perdido Production.
Did not enjoy:
CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS (1972) - Under the name Benjamin Clark, the future director of BLACK CHRISTMAS, PORKY'S and A CHRISTMAS STORY made this low-budget so-called black comedy in which theater director Alan Ormsby forces those under contract to him spend the night on a cemetery island. He performs a resurrection spell and then seems disappointed that it didn't work. Eventually it does work and for some unexplained reason the dead dig their way out of their graves to re-enact NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD in color. No one seems to question how strong the resurrected dead are, how they are able to actually lure the living into a trap and why they are hungry for human flesh. Those recently killed do not become resurrected, so the film doesn't completely follow the rules of NIGHT.
THE IMAGEMAKER (1986) - Former White House staffer Michael Nouri wants to make a movie about how politicians manipulate the news media, so he and his producer, Jerry Orbach, plan a stunt for a live TV broadcast hosted by Maury Povich. Various political hacks think they need to derail Nouri's plans and so they set TV reporter Anne Twomey on him to discredit him for the second time. It is hard to imagine that this material would have been exciting even in 1986. A more interesting element is that Nouri has actress Jessica Harper pretend to be his dead wife on a videotape timed to wake him up in the morning and welcome him home at night. Farley Granger plays an Ambassador who is part of the plot against Nouri. This is the only feature film directed by Hal Weiner, who became a documentary filmmaker.
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Charles Gilbert watched:
THE CROSS AND THE SWITCHBLADE (1970) Based on the book by Reverend David Wilkerson and directed by actor Don Murray, country evangelical preacher Wilkerson (Pat Boone) reaches out to inner city gangs with reputed success leading to development of Teen Challenge. Costars Erik Estrada. In 2011 this retired pastor from NYC veered his car into an oncoming tractor-trailer on a Texas highway, without wearing a seat belt, and under doctor restrictions forbidding him to drive.
EARTH VS. THE SPIDER (1958). B&W. On his way home in his pickup truck with a jeweled gift for teen Carol, her father is killed by a giant arachnid. She and boyfriend Mike's search for her missing father leads them to a vast cave network inhabited by the monster complete with web and skeletal victims. Local authorities return with the teens and subdue the creature with DDT convinced they've killed it. On display at the highschool gym it revives when the class rock band begins rehearsing. Mike (who works at the theater showing other Bert I. Gordon flicks THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN and ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE), and Carol have returned to the cave to retrieve the bracelet she'd dropped as the spider returns to it's lair. Having prematurely sealed off the entrance the rescue crew then begin drilling from above. Armed with electrical generators they destroy the oversized menace with current. Filmed at Carlsbad.
TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING (1977) Disaffected idealogue ex USAF general Lawrence Dell (Burt Lancaster) and three other escaped convicts (William Smith, Paul Winfield, and Burt Young) manage to bypass security at an ICBM silo and assume hostile control to launch 9 missiles. Dell's demands to POTUS (Charles Durning) include divulging to the American public the machinations of the Viet Nam War. A phone parley between Dell and General MacKenzie (Richard Widmark) gains some time, and the President decides to meet with the three terrorists in person, but with tragic outcome. Excessive use of duel and quadrant screen.
THE FOURTH VICTIM (1971) Michael Craig and Carroll Baker make an attractive couple in this Italian psychological drama about a man in London who had consecutively married three wealthy women, each dying suspiciously.
TRUCK BUSTERS (1943) Known as Old School Trucker Wars on public domain B&W. Independent trucker Casey Dorgan (Richard Travis) declares war against big trucking companies acting as a syndicate by pressuring Atlas Finance to repossess the wildcaters' equipment. The stakes rise when his truck is sabotaged with faulty brakes leading to a crash that kills his brother. He's wearing a military uniform in the final hospital scene, which doesn't figure into the plot. Familiar faces include Frank Ferguson, Virginia Christine, John Harmon, Frank Wilcox, and Todd Andrews.
WILLA (1979) Pregnant single mom Willa Barnes (Deborah Raffin) with two children and an alcoholic mother (Diane Ladd) who lives with her, wants to quit her waitress job and become a trucker. Produce merchant Virgil (John Amos) reluctantly instructs the importunate lass leading to her Class A license. Things initially go awry with him, but then she meets up with a freewheeling older lady trucker (busty Cloris Leachman) with a new GMC General who teams with the eager tyro.
THE DEVIL WITH SEVEN FACES (1971) Giallo with Carroll Baker in various wigs, Stephen Boyd, and George Hilton. Protagonist Julie Harrison obtains help from a race car driver and an attorney when she's persecuted by a criminal gang searching for jewels. One of her protectors turns out to be allied with them. With Franco Ressel and Daniele Vargas. Filmed in Amsterdam.
Untouchables S01E13 'Syndicate Sanctuary'. Chock full of interesting guest stars: Gail Kobe, Anthony Caruso, Jack Elam, Frank Wolff, Mike Lane, Lewis Charles, Clark Howat, Lois de Banzie (disgusted judge in SUDDEN IMPACT).
Daniel Boone S03E21 'The Long Way Home'. William Marshall plays a redman-prejudiced escaped prisoner that his friend Daniel must bring back to trial in order to avert an Indian war. He was wrongly accused of killing a tribal chief. Ed Ames who plays Mingo appeared on Johnny Carson Show back then to teach him to throw a tomahawk; with hilarious result.
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David Deal enjoyed:
MILES DAVIS: THE BIRTH OF THE COOL (19) - Interesting documentary on the man, his music, and his personal life. Recommended.
CURSE OF THE CRYING WOMAN (61) - From 2006: "Mucho gothic atmosphere in this Mexican classic. It goes over the top with the horror elements and although the ending seems stretched out, I still give it a thumbs up."
THE KILLERS (64)
MANK (20) - The story of the writing of Citizen Kane by the mercurial writer Herman J. Mankiewicz. David Fincher's stylized biopic moves at lightning speed and brings out the best in Gary Oldman as Mank and Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies.
THE FALCON IN DANGER (43)
Mildly enjoyed:
UNSATISFIED LOVE (68) - AKA Love After Death. A woman and her doctor lover bury her cataleptic husband alive. He returns from the grave to have many sexual encounters with strange women and finally takes revenge. Argentine strangeness with lots of nudity and a shock ending. Not nearly as good as it sounds.
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Bertrand Van Wonterghem Highly enjoyed:
Black books – season 2 – episodes 4 & 5
WandaVision – season 1 – episode 4
The watch – season 1 – episodes 2 & 3
Enjoyed:
Dear dictator (2017, Lisa Addario & Joe Syracuse)
Doom patrol – season 2 – episodes 4 to 6
Gunjou no Magmell / Magmel of the sea blue (2018, anime) – episode 5
The invaders – episode « storm » (1966, Paul Wendkos)
Drums of Fu Manchu – episodes 1 & 2 (1940, William Witney & John English)
The wild wild west – episode « the night of the gruesome games » (1968, Marvin J. Chomsky)
Voyage to the bottom of the sea – episode « the death ship » (1966, AbnerBiberman)
Carillons sans joie (1962, Charles Brabant)
Mildly enjoyed:
Il cambiodella guardia (1962, Giorgio Bianchi)
Get Smart – episode « appointment in Sahara » (1967, Don Adams)
Did not enjoy:
Guillaume, la jeunesse du conquérant (2015, Fabien Drugeon)
Dunkirk (2017, Christopher Nolan) this movie is what we call in french "une daube"...
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