Week of November 19 - 25, 2022

 

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

Brain Teasers:

Which Italian screenwriter of about 20 Westerns is best known as the director of Italian Cop movies?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes and Angel Rivera knew that it was Fernando Di Leo.

What was the ethnic heritage of Henry Silva?

George Grimes and Angel Rivera knew that his parents were from Sicily and Spain.

Which Italian stunt man and bit player in Westerns became a star thanks to Vittorio De Sica?

Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Fabio Testi.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which Italian male actor had a younger sister appearing in THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY?

Which actor, born in Italy, played a role in 1970 that was previously played by Steve Reeves?

Which Italian male actor worked for directors Alberto De Martino, Lucio Fulci, Stefano Roncoroni, Phil Karlson, Leon Klimovsky and Mario Bava?

Name the movies from which these images came.

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes identified last week's frame grab from IL BUONO IL BRUTTO IL CATTIVO, aka THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Giuliano Gemma and Rosemary Dexter in VIOLENZA AL SOLE, aka BLOW HOT BLOW COLD.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one identified the above photo.

It shows Alexander Fu Sheng battling Wang Lung-Wei in the 1976 SHAOLIN TEMPLE from Shaw Brothers.

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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:

MIFUNE: THE LAST SAMURAI (2015) - I would hate to sound like one of those "experts" on the internet, but calling Toshiro Mifune a samurai is incorrect, as his father did not come from a family with a samurai heritage. Director Akira Kurosawa did come from such a family, which is why some feel he never made films criticizing the samurai class - as other "golden age" Japanese directors did. However, Mifune came to embody in the West the image of the heroic samurai warrior because of films such as director Hiroshi Inagaki's trilogy about Musashi Miyamoto. Also, the split between Mifune and Kurosawa here is seen as a mystery, while decades ago it was explained to me simply that Mifune had to make a lot of movies inorder to keep Mifune Productions afloat, and he couldn't afford to spend as much time making one movie as Kurosawa demanded. In any case, this documentary, directed by Steven Okazaki is incredibly worthwhile, if for nothing else, for the plethora of clips from silent chanbara (I'm used to it being spelled chambara) as well as the marvelous interview clips with Mifune's sons and collaborators. It is a wonderful reminder of a time when Japanese Cinema was one of the best in the world.

Enjoyed:

CSNY DEJA VU (2008) - A documentary about the 2006 CSNY Freedom of Speech tour as well as a poignant look at returned military veterans from Iraq. Mike Cerre, who was a reporter embedded with a Marine unit during the invasion of Iraq, was invited to be embedded with the tour and share his experience from the war and the experience from the tour. Neil Young made this film under his Bernard Shakey moniker.

DISCIPLES OF SHAOLIN, aka THE INVINCIBLE ONE (1975) - Considering the sour view this film has of management/labor relations, I can't help but wonder if this was indicative of the troubled relationship director Chang Cheh had with studio head Run Run Shaw. Set in the time when Chinese men still wore queues, the film begins with star Alexander Fu Sheng (aka Sheng Fu) doing an impressive kata showing his strength and form behind the film's credits. Fu Sheng arrives in town to meet with his "brother" Chi Kuan-Chun who works at a textile mill. Chi warns Fu to not reveal that he's a fighter. It soon becomes apparent that a rival textile mill, run by Chiang Tao, is trying to poach workers which, or course, leads to fights and death. In a flashback, we understand what Chi knows - bosses expect the workers to fight and die for them, but don't care at all about the welfare of employees. Fu fights off an attack led by Fung Hark-on, and so if given financial rewards by his boss. Disgusted by Fu's seduction with status symbols - a pocket watch, clean shoes, an house with a live-in girlfriend, Chi leaves town. Not long after, Fu is killed - as usual for a Chang Cheh film during a long and bloody final fight. Partly out of guilt, Chi returns to town to kill those responsible. There is no mention of Shaolin in the film so the attempt to tag this to the series of Shaolin films Chang, Fu and Chi made is tenuous. However, the film poignantly captures the charm and athleticism of star Fu Sheng, showcased by the impressive choreography of Liu Chia-Liang. Unusual for a Chang film, we see that two women have fallen in love with Fu and neither betrays him.

JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass (2021) - James DiEugenio published DESTINY BETRAYED: JFK, CUBA, AND THE GARRISON CASE in 1992 which, naturally, appealed to JFK director Oliver Stone. Stone and DiEugenio collaborated on this Showtime documentary detailing newly declassified information about the JFK assassination with mounting evidence of a conspiracy to cover up the reality of the murder. One complaint is that Jeff Beal overlays the entire 118 minutes with constant music. Whoopi Goldberg, Donald Sutherland and Stone alternate narrating duties.

Mildly enjoyed:

Her War, Her Story: World War II (2022) - Tim Gray's hour-long TV documentary about the experiences of women during World War 2 is a rather superficial look at what should have been a fascinating subject.

Did not enjoy:

ALLIGATOR II: THE MUTATION (1990) - Why did it take ten years for a sequel to ALLIGATOR to be made? Possibly because none of the creative talents behind the original thought it was a good idea. Obviously producer Brandon Chase thought it could make money, but it seems that no one thought the result was good enough to give it much of a theatrical release. Credited to writer Curt Allen and director Jon Hess, the film was basically a remake of the first film without any of the energy or wit of the John Sayles/Lewis Teague original. Joseph Bologna made for an interesting action hero, and it was novel to see Bill Daily as a corrupt mayor. Dee Wallace Stone looked great and no one made a mention of the E.T. joke about "alligators in the sewers". Though it wasn't mentioned, the sequel took place in Los Angeles, with extensive location work around Echo Park Lake. I wonder if the local residents complained about the disruptions as loudly as the movie's residents did about evil land developer Steve Railsback's attempts to buy up their neighborhood. Brock Peters also appeared in the film, as did Martin Sheen's son Ramon Estevez.

DAFFY DUCK'S MOVIE: FANTASTIC ISLAND (1983) - As much as I love the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts, I hate all of the attempts to reused the shorts as part of a feature length movie. 

FLESH AND BONE (1993) - As a little boy, Dennis Quaid aided his father, James Caan, in burglarizing a rural home in Texas. When the owners awaken, Caan kills the father, the mother and their son. Caan wants his son to kill the baby girl, but the boy won't. As an adult, Quaid works a circuit supplying vending machines and jukeboxes. One night he sees a drunk Meg Ryan failing at her job as a cutie popping out of a cake. Quaid takes the passed out Ryan to his motel room so that she can sleep it off. Eventually, they become a couple and Caan finds them. It turns out that Ryan is the baby he failed to kill 30 years ago, so Caan decides that she must die now. Steve Kloves wrote and directed this flick, which does feature a semi-nude scene with Ryan, and another one with Gwyneth Paltrow. If you've always wanted to see a movie in which Dennis Quaid never flashes his star-making smile, this is the movie for you. Also in the cast are Scott Wilson and John Hawkes.

KICKBOXER 3: THE ART OF WAR (1992) - Shuttling back and forth from Hong Kong to American based films, Dennis Chan Kwok-sun worked on the first three Kickboxer films. Sasha Mitchell returned from KICKBOXER 2: THE ROAD BACK for this lame action film with Chan in tow. Mitchell and Chan were in Rio de Janerio for a fight, but wound up helping a little boy rescue his virgin sister from an American white slaver. Dennis A. Pratt got the credit for writing this by-the-numbers flick and Rick King got the credit for the dull direction.

KICKBOXER 4: THE AGGRESSOR (1994) - Sometime between 3 and 4, Sasha Mitchell was framed for murder by the villain from the first two KICKBOXER films - Tong Po. Michel Qissi was replaced in the role for 4 by Kamel Krifa, who was given the worst Asian eyelid prostetics since Peter Sellers in THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU. The fact that his character was able to run away at the end of 4 signals that the producers figured his character was worth bringing back in the future. Also, since 3, Mitchell got a wife, Deborah Mansy, just in time for her to be kidnapped and made a sex slave by Krifa, who became a major drug lord in Mexico. DEA Agent Nicholas Guest offered to get Mitchell out of prison if he would help get Krifa. It seemed, like the villain in ENTER THE DRAGON, Krifa hosted an annual fighter tournament and the DEA wanted Mitchell to get an invite. Mitchell succeeded by beating up some locals. In the villain's compound, our hero donned somethng like ninja garb to look for his wife. Meanwhile, he became friends with Brad Thornton, who shared a nude bed scene with Jill Pierce. Eventually, Mitchell's identity was revealed and Krifa revealed that all contestants must fight to the death or he would kill them. KICKBOXER 2 director Albert Pyun returned to make 4, and opinions differed on whether he was an improvment over Rick King.

THE REDEMPTION: KICKBOXER 5 (1995) - Jean Claude Van Damme started the series, which Sasha Mitchell took over as Van Damme's brother. Now, Mark Dacascos became the hero as Mitchell's friend. James Ryan, South African star of KILL OR BE KILLED, was kicked out of the world kickboxing league because he used an illegal punch which killed his opponent. In retaliation, he decided to start his own organization and invited kickboxing champions from around the world to join. He invited Sasha Mitchell's character to join, but the fellow replied "kiss my ass". So, Ryan sent some goons to kill Mitchell, which they accomplished under the opening credits. Having Mitchell's character shown as a black silhoutte allowed the producers to kill him without having to pay Mitchell to appear. Dacascos was a kickboxing champion who retired from competition to teach children. His friend, Denny Pierce, won a title and was invited to join Ryan's organization. Pierce declined the invitation, so Ryan's goons kill him and steal his championship belt. Ryan had Geoff Meed released from prison to kill our hero, but Meed decided to warn Ryan instead. Both end up on an airplane heading for South Africa, and they were met at the airport by Ryan's goons planning to kill them both. After failing to kill our heroes, the bad guys get the police to arrest them on a trumped up charge. Luckily, they end up in jail with a prisoner who was knowledgeable enough to prevent them being firebombed, and who also had an escape plan. Meed and Dacascos crash a fund-raising event for Ryan's new organization, which eventually leads to Dacascos and Ryan facing off at Ryan's estate. Both Ryan and Dacascos were enjoyable to watch in motion. Unfortunately, director Kristine Peterson shot some of the fights in close up, so we didn't get to see the beauty of their movements. On the plus side, she incorporated a lot of humor into the action, which helped the viewing experience.

MISSING IN ACTION (1984) - I'm always surprised to remember that MISSING IN ACTION came out before RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART 2. So, I guess it was a rip-off of UNCOMMON VALOR and another in the Vietnam MIA-sploitation genre. - Actually, rumor had it that James Cameron's unproduced script for RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART 2 had inspired Cannon to make this film. - This was Chuck Norris' first movie for Cannon and was successful enough for them to make ten films together. Director Joseph Zito got the job done with no finese and a poor ability to stage action. How come no one thought to give Norris a G.I. haircut? James Hong was called upon to play an evil Vietnamese General while J. Claude Van Damme was listed among the stunt players.

MISSING IN ACTION 2: THE BEGINNING (1985) - Reportedly this was intended to come out before MISSING IN ACTION and they were shot back-to-back.Cannon decided that 1 had a better chance of being an hit, so it came first, and after it was an hit, out came the prequel. 2 was directed by Lance Hool and it can easily been seen why Cannon thought 1 was a better bet. It possessed a plot with forward momentum, with the hero actively working toward something. 2 had the hero in a slave labor camp in Vietnam, as part of an opium operation. It isn't until halfway through the film, that Chuck Norris begins efforts to escape and to get even with sadistic commandant Soon-Tek Oh. Former wrestler Professor Toru Tanaka, who previously squared off with Norris in EYE FOR AN EYE, was just one of the Vietnamese soldiers to be killed. While neither film had exciting action scenes, 2 spent a lot of time showing Norris evading his enemies in the jungle, and his enemies tramping about looking for him.

BRADDOCK: MISSING IN ACTION III (1988) - Reportedly, Cannon was having financial difficulties and so asked Chuck Norris to do a third MISSING. Norris wasn't interested until the plight of Amerasian children in Vietnam was brought to his attention. With James Bruner, Norris wrote the script giving Braddock a Vietnamese wife who he thought was killed during the fall of Saigon in 1975. 12 years later, the priest running an orphanage for Amerasian children tells our hero that his wife wasn't killed and that she gave birth to his son. Norris didn't believe him, until C.I.A. agents picked him up and told him it wasn't true. Convinced it was true. Norris went to Thailand to recruit Ron Barker to get into Vietnam. C.I.A. agent Jack Rader showed up with the Bangkok police to prevent Norris from causing trouble, which led to an high speed car chase and much mayhem. Norris parachuted into the waters off the coast of Vietnam and used an high tech speedboat to evade enemy patrols. Eventually, Norris found the orphanage and priest Yehuda Efroni took him to his wife and son. Naturally, Vietnamese soldiers were waiting. Wife Miki Kim was executed, but evil General Aki Aleong wanted to play sadistic games with father and son rather than kill them straightaway. Of course, Norris and his son, Roland Harrah III, escape, but Harrah was recaptured when he returned to the orphanage and Aleong arrested all of the boys and girls and the priest. With a super high tech gun, Norris broke the orphans and priest out from confinement with the aim of getting them across the border into Thailand. With Aleong frequently screaming our hero's name, he determined to stop our hero. As Chuck's brother Aaron had been in charge of the action on the previous two MISSING flicks, it was not surprising that he ended up directing this one. Aside from a more focused storyline, MISSING III wasn't noticably different in quality from the other two.

TWISTED LOVE (1995) - Writers Rob Kerchner and Mark Evan Schwartz and director Eb Lottimer seem to have figured that a teenage version of MISERY was a good idea. So, awkward high school student Lisa Dean Ryan rescues football player Sasha Jenson after a motorcycle crash, and holds him prisoner in an empty mansion. When gardener Clint Howard investigates, she stabs him to death. When Ryan goes home, she gets molested by her father, Arthur Taxier. When Jenson's friend Mark-Paul Gosselaar investigates, Ryan stabs him to death, too. Back at home, Ryan gets her father's pistol and shoots both of her parents dead. Followed to the mansion by Jenson's girlfriend, Soleil Moon Frye, Ryan plans to murder her in front of Jenson, but fails. Jenson and Frye leave Ryan alone, refusing to put her out of her misery.

THE UNBORN (1992) - If you've ever wanted to see Kathy Griffin killed with an hammer, then this is the movie for you. An ineffective combination of FRANKENSTEIN, IT'S ALIVE and ROSEMARY'S BABY, THE UNBORN has James Karen trying to create a better world by helping infertile women to give birth to babies that are stronger and smarter than normal. They also come out homicidal; sometimes killing the mother before they are born, or sometimes killing them after they're born. Brooke Adams and Jeff Hayenga are the young couple trying to have a baby. Lisa Kudrow is the brunette receptionist at Karen's clinic who helps with the paperwork. After months of unbearable pain, Adams gets an abortion while Hayenga is out of town. Naturally, the aborted baby doesn't die and even kills Hayenga before escaping. Adams confronts Karen and discovers that he's figured out a way to grow the babies in something like glass jars, saying now they don't even need mothers. Not surprisingly, Adams doesn't take this news well, kills Karen in a struggle and destroys the clinic. While trying to drive away, Adams and her mother are attacked in the car by the baby which causes a crash that kills the mother. Adams seems ready to shoot the baby, but its cries convince her to drag herself over to try and comfort the infant. Ugh! Under the name Henry Dominic, John Brancato and Michael Ferris wrote the screenplay. They would later use their real names as the writers of THE NET (1995), TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (2003) and CATWOMAN (2004). This was the first feature credit for director Rodman Flender, who would go on to do IDLE HANDS (1999) and  a lot of TV. This is the first feature film for which Gary Numan composed the score, along with Michael R. Smith. Smith went on to make music for THE BIKINI CARWASH COMPANY II (1993). Kathy Griffin plays half of a lesbian couple that has a birthing class untainted by the male perspective. Her partner is Karen's patient and is driven to smash Griffin's head in with an hammer in order to give her growing baby her full attention.

THE UNLOVED (2009) - I was impressed by Molly Windsor on the TV series Traces, so I looked for other things in which she appeared. THE UNLOVED was a Channel 4 TV movie Windsor made when she was eleven and was her first professional job. As the movie was focused on her almost entirely, she was again able to be impressive under the direction of first time filmmaker Samantha Morton. Morton also co-wrote the film, which was semi-autobiographical about her growing up in the U.K.'s child welfare system. While it was admirable that Morton wanted the audience to "feel" what it was like to experience the sense of isolation and alienation of being an "unwanted" child, she unfortunately took inspiration from the films of Yosujiro Ozo and Win Wenders. So, there were very long takes in which not much happens and emotions were repressed and unexpressed. That didn't make for a riveting viewing experience. I was a "wanted" child, but I, too, experienced isolation, alienation and abandonment growing up, and felt that this could be expressed on film with a snappier pace. Reportedly, the first assembly of this film was over five hours long, so the final running time of 106 minutes was the short version. Staring at Molly Windsor was the only reward I found. If you've been wanting to see Robert Carlyle take a belt to a young girl, this was the movie for you. He got a Scotish BAFTA award for best TV actor for it, while the movie won the BAFTA for Best Single Drama.

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Charles Gilbert watched:

Wild  Wild West episodes

    'The Tottering Tontine S02E16 Secret Service agents West and Artemis are assigned to guard a VIP specializing in arms for the U. S. government  who is on his way to a meeting with a brotherhood bound by a tontine. One by one the group is being snuffed out. With Harry Townes  Michael Road, Lisa Pera, In 1969 this show was deemed ultra violent for audiences, so, episodes were shuffled (whatever good that did) and this episode from two seasons earlier was inserted. (?)

Rifleman episode # 64

   'A Time For Singing' Four men and a woman planning a bank robbery in Northfork have killed a newly-hired parson and his wife on the trail to town. Two of them pose to conduct a noisy "hellfire and brimstone meeting right away to obscure the robbery. Kinda like the method used by the modern Word of Faith practitioners. Robert Knapp plays the phony reverend, and Patricia Barry the phony wife, who in the story is married to master outlaw Spence Hadley (Chris Alcaide, stepfather to Cher) Slow witted brother Bo Hadley is played by John Milford whose key engineering acumen reified the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

LEGEND OF EL HOMBRE LOBO (2019) Exceptional tribute movie to Jacinto Alvarez Molina (Paul Naschy) by a group of independent filmmakers around McConnellsville, Pennsylvania (former residence of Conrad Widener) near Pittsburg with production helmed by Eric Yoder. Just 40 minutes long and fast moving with the character Waldemar Daninsky introduced later on in the short film as the wolf man battling vampires and a witch. Recommended.

CURSE OF THE WOLF (2004) Fire Assault Pictures, a group of Ball State (Muncie Indiana) college students, put together an atrocious hour long histrionic farce about a werewolf on campus. Monster costume especially limp.

CITY OF FEAR (1959) B&W. Escaped convict (Vince Edwards) has purloined a flask he believes contains a stash of heroin, but instead contains highly radioactive Cobalt 60. On the lam he slowly becomes ill, spreading contamination, making police officials (John Archer, Lyle Talbot, and Steven Rich) anxious. Girlfriend is Patricia Blair.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

Au hasard Balthazar (1966 , Robert Bresson)

Il cappotto (1952, Alberto Lattuada)

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961, Stanley Kramer)

The english – season 1 – episode 1

DC’s legends of tomorrow – episode «Romeo v. Juliet : dawn of justness » (2019, Alexandra la Roche), 

« Zari, not Zari » (2019, Kevin Mock) & « the great british fake off » (2019, David Geddes)

Mildly enjoyed:

Young Sheldon – season 4 episodes 6 to 12

They live (1988, John Carpenter)

The pale door (2020, Aaron B. Koontz)

Up the creek (1958 , Val Guest)

Manaos (1979, Alberto Vazquez Figueroa)

Did not enjoy:

Lost planet airmen (1950, Fred C. Brannon)

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David Deal Enjoyed:

THE BECKETT AFFAIR (66) - See The Eurospy Guide book for a complete review of this Lang Jeffries entry.

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (40)

THE SOUND OF 007 (22) - Good documentary on 60 years of music for the Bond franchise.

MAN MADE MONSTER (41)

Robin Redbreast (70) - A young woman moves to the country and soon the locals are acting funny, and her car and phone break down. This slow burn creepy tale has the feel of The Wicker Man. This is an episode of the Brit TV series Play for Today (1970-84). It's interesting enough and boasts one of those good old enigmatic endings.

BLACK ANGEL (46)

HIRED KILLER (66)

WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS (74)

THE STORY OF O (75)

DAMES DON'T CARE (55)

BILL MURRAY STORIES (18) - Documentary on the many stories about Bill showing up at house parties, karaoke nights, weddings, etc.

HORROR ISLAND (41)

Mildly enjoyed:

CRIMES OF THE FUTURE (22) - Viggo Mortensen has a habit of growing new and strange organs in his body. His partner, Lea Seydoux, removes the organs as performance art. Another strange meditation on the new flesh from David Cronenberg that is at once repulsive and fascinating.

Did not enjoy:

This Body is Mine (71) - Scientist John Carson has a invented a mind-swap machine. Since his financial backer is not forthcoming, John and his wife conspire to swap John's mind with the backer's so he can get some more money. Naturally, things don't work out as expected. Another episode of the Brit TV series Out of the Unknown. The sci-fi angle is downplayed while the drama of his predicament is the main thrust. Not unenjoyable.

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Angel Rivera enjoyed:

"Calamity Jane" (1953)

I was never a fan of 50's musicals, but I happen to catch this one, one afternoon on TCM and saw the great Doris Day give a bravura performance as the Wild West heroine and that woman "sing her ass off". Very entertaining. The song "Secret Love" comes from this musical.

"Jack, the Giant Killer"(1962)

One of my childhood favorites. I seem to remember that this film is the first film I saw in a theater. While the FX are not the best, they are still pretty good for this type of fairy tale movie.

Mildly enjoyed:

"Thor: Love and Thunder"(2022)

It was great to see Natalie Portman as Jane Foster again, especially when she was dressed up as "Thor" because Thor gave her his hammer to mystically protect her. Spoiler Alert--Thor's powers can't save Jane Foster from what mortal science still can't cure--cancer. All in all seeing Thor vanquish evil is still good.

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