Week of December 31, 2022 - January 6, 2023

 

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

Brain Teasers:

What was the first Italian produced Western featuring Ken Clark?

It was HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS produced by Carlo Ponti.

In what movie did Ken Clark man-handle Alan Arkin?

No one has answered this one yet.

Which Italian Western star died on April 20, 1974?

Bertrand van Wonterghem, George Grimes and Angel Rivera knew that it was Peter Lee Lawrence.

Which Italian Western star was married to Cristina Galbo?

Bertrand van Wonterghem, George Grimes and Angel Rivera knew that it was Peter Lee Lawrence.

On what film did Cristina Galbo work with her husband?

Bertrand van Wonterghem, George Grimes and Angel Rivera knew that it was DOVE SI SPARA DI PIU, aka ULTIMATE GUNFIGHTER, aka THE FURY OF JOHNNY KIDD. Bertrand also noted they worked together on LA FURIA DEI KHYBER, aka SLAUGHTER ON THE KHYBER PASS.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which American bodybuilder who played Maciste was a substitute teacher in the L.A. Unified School System?

Which Spanish actor who made Westerns died on December 27, 1987?

Which Spanish actor appeared in movies with Cary Grant, Jeffrey Hunter and Sean Flynn?

Name the movies from which these images came.

Rick Garibaldi identified last week's photo of Alberto de Mendoza in MANOS TORPES, aka AWKWARD HANDS, aka CLUMSY HANDS.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem, George Grimes, Charles Gilbert and Angel Rivera identified last week's frame grab of Gordon Scott in MACISTE ALLA CORTE DEL GRAN KHAN, aka SAMSON AND THE SEVEN MIRACLES OF THE WORLD.

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?

George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Szu Shih in THE BLACK TAVERN.

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:

Mildly enjoyed:

CIAKMULL L'UOMO DELLA VENDETTA, aka CHUCK MOOL, aka THE UNHOLY FOUR (1970) - Veteran director of photography Enzo Barboni chose E.B. Clucher for his director's credit with his first feature, right before he hit the big time with his second feature LO CHIAMAVNO TRINITA... Unlike most of his future career, Barboni's first film is mostly played straight, with only as much whimsy as director Tonino Cervi allowed in OGGI A ME... DOMANI A TE! - a film which shares a bit with CIAKMULL: both were shot in the autumnal colors of an Italian forest and both feature groups of men who insist on always riding shoulder to shoulder. The most whimsical element of this film probably wasn't intended as such - that the State Mental Prison would be right across the street from the Bank of Dodge City. It also seems odd that the Bank would be receiving a gold shipment in the middle of the night. This works well for Andrew Ray (aka Andrea Aureli) and his gang who set fire to the Mental Prison in order to distract the bank guards so that they can steal the gold. Escaping from the burning prison are Woody Strode, Peter Martell, Luca Montefiori (aka George Eastman, aka Luigi Montefiori) and Leonard Mann, the latter seeming to be in a mental haze. In an alley, one of the robbers is shot by a bank guard and falls at Mann's feet. Looking up he recognizes Mann and calls him "Chuck Mool" (Which is a name that sounds nonsensical in English. Does Ciakmull seem more reasonable to Italians?) before dying. Mann has no memory and so is excited to find out he has a name. Luckily, in the morning, five bounty hunters show up itching to make $50 a head for catching the escaped mental patients. Meanwhile, Ray's gang meets up with Lucio Rosato and his gang to split the gold. Naturally, Rosato's gang murders Ray's gang before they get too far. Our four heroes kill the bounty hunters and they now have new clothes, weapons and horses. As the four ride along, they come across the dead Ray gang, and one remarks : "Well, I guess it's just that kind of day." One of the gang isn't dead yet, and when Montefiori demands to know where is the gold, he says "Ozaka". Figuring that since the gang seemed to know who he is, Mann decides to go to Ozaka to unravel the mystery of his identity. The others tag along hoping to find the stolen gold. Franco Rossetti is credited with having the idea for the movie which he co-wrote with Mario Di Nardo. The IMDb seems to think that Montefiori should be included among the writers, which would explain why he's given more good scenes than Mann - the star. Ozaka is a town with two factions: Rosato and his father Giuseppe Lauricella, and Helmuth Schneider and his son Alain Naya. Naya is obviously envious of Mann, whom Schneider continues to mourn three years after his supposed death. Unfortunately, Rosato's men recognize Mann first, and soon kidnap Strode to torture him into telling why Mann is acting weird. Rosato has the idea to convince Mann that Lauricella is his father, and that he must kill Schneider. Rosato also forces his sister, Evelyn Stewart, to pretend to be Mann's sister - instead of his long lost love. So Mann is sent to murder Schneider, but, luckily, Stewart tells Montefiori what's going on. Stopping Mann from killing Schneider, Montefiorti explains the duplicity and Mann is introduced to his real brother and father. Deciding that he now must kill Rosato, Mann enters the town for a showdown. Rosato has men stationed all around to ambush our hero, but his three fellow mental prisoners join in the battle. While two of his friends are killed, Mann wins the battle and is about to leave with Stewart when Naya shows up with some men. In flashback, we see that it was the envious Naya who caused Mann's head injury and tried to kill him in a burning shack three years ago. Naya explains that Mann was a bastard born after a bandit raped his mother, but Schneider insisted on treating him like a real son - unlike Naya, who is his real son. Schneider gallops into town to prevent a shootout, but fails as Montefiori helps Mann kill Naya, before Montefiori is killed. Learning that Schneider isn't his birth father, Mann wanders away in a daze as Schneider calls out to him. Riz Ortolani can usually be relied upon to deliver a good music score, but this one seems too jaunty for a film this dark. Still it helps the pacing, which the film needs as it drags when the music isn't on. Among the familiar faces in the supporting cast are Dino Strano, Enzo Fierfmonte, Luciano Rossi, Romano Puppo, Pietro Ceccarelli, Giovanni Cianfriglia, Remo De Angelis, Emilio Messina and Roberto Dell'Acqua.

Leverage: Redemption season one (2021) - The TNT series has been revived on Freevee. The first season  had 16 episodes, and the second season is scheduled for 13.

Did not enjoy:

A DISTANT TRUMPET (1964) - I remember seeing this when I was eight years old, but my main memory of it was that I used it in a lie to my mother. She felt that THE NUTTY PROFESSOR with Jerry Lewis was too scary for me to see, so I told her I was going to see A DISTANT TRUMPET again when I snuck off to see the Jerry Lewis movie. Maj. Gen. James Gregory lectures at West Point about his failure to catch renagade Apache White Eagle. 2nd Lt. Troy Donahue is a rapt student, and soon finds himself posted to Fort Delivery in the area where War Eagle raids. 1st Lt. William Reynolds has been temporarily in charge of the fort, but has lost all interest in maintaining troop discipline or in paying attention to his wife Suzanne Pleshette. He soon leaves on another assignment leaving his wife behind. Meanwhile medic Capt. Judson Pratt takes command, and he has no problem with Donahue re-imposing discipline on the troops. Pleshette is being escorted from the Fort when Indians attack, but Donahue rescues her. Caught in a storm, the two seek shelter in a cave for the night, where the face the possibility that they may not have a future after tonight. Back at the Fort, Donahue keeps a photo of Gregory's niece, Diane McBain, who turned down his offer of marriage. When she shows up having reconsidered the marriage idea, she quickly sees that Pleshette is a rival. Eventually, Gregory shows up after he gets information from his Apache scouts that White Eagle has returned from Mexico and a big battle is brewing. Director Raoul Walsh has a reputation for directing action, and he doesn't disappoint with the battle scenes. Things get complicated when Gregory sends Donahue to negotiate White Eagle's surrender.

BERNIE THE DOLPHIN (2018) - Brother and sister Logan Allen and Lola Sultan kayak out to a cove where they have a camp. They love swimming with the dolphins and keeping an eye on nests of endangered turtle eggs. Allen documents everything with his video camera, including a trio of adults checking out the cove. It turns out that businessman Kevin Sorbo is trying to convince the mayor to go along with his construction scheme. Seeing the kids, Sorbo sends along an henchman to scuttle their kayak with a speed boat. Luckily, a dolphin helps to keep Sultan from drowning. When the kids tell their father and mother, Patrick Muldoon and Dahlia Legault, about what happened, all they get in response is that it is dangerous to be with dolphins in the wild. Later on, the kids can't find their dolphin friend and start putting up "missing" posters. They find out that the dolphin ended up on a beach suffering from a bad sunburn. The dolphin was taken to Marineland to recouperate, where they re-establish their friendship and name the creature "Bernie". Sorbo hires Muldoon to get the land from the owner who was an old college friend, saying that it will be for an ocean park. Meanwhile Sorbo's henchman is destroying the turtle eggs to erase any concerns about the property being a sanctuary. After Muldoon gets the land and signs it over to Sorbo, he discovers that the plans are not to bulid an ocean park but a chemical plant. Eventually, Muldoon helps his kids to expose Sorbo and the mayor. They also locate Bernie's family so that the healed dolphin can be returned to where he belongs. This film was successful enough for a sequel to be made. Kevin Sorbo is one of the producers on this film and may have something to do with his wife, Sam, and his children Shane and Braeden having small roles. Actor Kirk Harris directed.

THE BOUNCE BACK (2016) - This movie was loosely inspired by Karen Salmansohn's BOUNCE BACK! HOW TO THRIVE IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY, published in 2008. In the movie, Shemar Moore is on a book tour promoting his book THE BOUNCE BACK. Therapist Nadine Velazquez is frustrated by the platitudes her patients quote to her from the book, so she challenges Moore's qualifications to give advice during a Q&A session. Moore enjoys the debate so much, that he invites Velazquez to join him on the book tour. Needless to say, they fall in love as each discovers what has gone wrong in their previous relationships. Bill Bellamy plays Moore's agent and is used to remind us that this is a romantic COMEDY. Youssef Delara co-wrote the screenplay and directed this dully conventional film in which no one seems to have money problems.

SHERLOCK GNOMES (2018) - I am not the intended audience for this film. Executive Produced by Elton John for his Rocket Pictures, this film has John's music throughout (starring with John's duet with Kiki Dee on "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" over the opening credits) even though Chris Bacon gets a "music by" credit. While GNOMEO & JULIET was a big  hit in 2011, the sequel is considered a box office disappointment. The evil pie mascot Moriarty plans to smash all of London's garden gnomes, but Sherlock Gnomes and Dr. Watson are "the sworn protector of London's garden gnomes" and they rescue them in the Natural History Museum. Moriarty seems to have been killed by a falling dinosaur skeleton. After the gnomes from the first film have moved from Stratford-upon-Avon to a new garden in London, they soon are kidnapped. Gnomeo and Juliet run into Sherlock and Watson investigating the case with all clues pointing to Moriarty being behind it. The gnomes are being snatched by two gargoyles. Sherlock is baffled by the case, until Watson reveals that he is the evil mastermind. All the clues marked "M" should be turned over to reveal "W". Actually, it turns out, the garboyles work for Moriarty, who noticed how Watson resented being taken for granted by Sherlock and decided to dupe him into betrayal. Working together again, Sherlock and Watson and Gnomeo and Juliet foil the plan to smash the garden gnomes and with the Spring, the new garden looks dazzling. There's an all-star cast of voice performers, including Johnny Depp as Sherlock, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Watson, James McAvoy as Gnomeo, Emily Blunt as Juliet, Mary J. Blige as a plastic doll version of Irene Adler - who sings John's "Stronger Than I Ever Was", Michael Caine as Juliet's father, Maggie Smith as Gnomeo's mother and Ozzy Osbourne as a garden deer. Ben Zazove got the credit for the screenplay while John Stevenson has the credit for directing.

HOLMES & WATSON (2018) - When a Sherlock Holmes spoof starts, one wonders with which version of the character do the makers plan to have fun. It soon becomes obvious that it is the 2009 version starring Robert Downey Jr. I'm not a fan of Will Ferrell playing dumb, and having John C. Reilly making it a double act is even less fun. As with SHERLOCK GNOMES, these filmmakers feel the crux of the plot should involve someone being jealous of Holmes. Here it is Mrs. Hudson, played by Kelly Macdonald, though she's less jealous of Holmes than in trying to impress her absent father - Professor Moriarty, played by Ralph Fiennes. Other fine actors wasted here include Lauren Lapkus, Rebecca Hall, Hugh Laurie and Pam Ferris. Reportedly Etan Cohen's script had been in development since 2008. What producers saw in it is a mystery, and Etan Cohen the director didn't make it apparent to viewers. 

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022) - I really enjoyed director Peter Jackson's THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, but found THE HOBBIT trilogy much less compelling. This 8 episode first series was even less compelling as it didn't have the "mission" of TLOR. Fans of the books may be getting a kick out of seeing passages acted out, but I just wanted the filmmakers to "get on with it" and give me a reason to watch aside from the production value. But Markella Kavenagh is very appealing.

MACGRUBER (2010) - I admit that I had already composed the opening line of this review before I suffered to watch the movie: I've not enjoyed any movie based on a Saturday Night Live sketch, and this was no exception. However, Kristen Wiig looked good. What started out as a parody of the TV series MacGyver in which our resourceful hero was able to save the day by using innocuous objects to create life-saving devices - while MacGruber failed again and again when his "devices" failed to work, had turned into a part spoof of RAMBO, the James Bond films and still a little bit of MacGyver. If you find that the villain played by Val Kilmer was named Dieter von Cunth - pronounced "Cunt" -  was funny, then this film may be for you. If you find Will Forte making loud, obnoxious noises while sexually ejaculating funny, then this film may be for you - especially when he did it again thinking that he was having sex with the ghost of his dead fiance Maya Rudolph. If you find an inept hero continuing to threaten to castrate his adversaries to make them suck their own dicks funny, this may be the film for you. Powers Booth and Ryan Phillippe were in the supporting cast that was directed by first-timer Jorma Taccone. In 2021, a eight episode series was released on Peacock.

SAVING FLORA (2018) - Jenna Ortega is very appealing in this very conventional "a girl and her elephant" story. When it is perceived that Flora, the circus elephant, is to old and arthritic to perform anymore, the daughter of Circus owner David Arquette, Ortega, thinks that she will be taken to an elephant preserve run by Rhea Perlman. Arquette is told that the preserve won't take Flora and believes that it would be better to put Flora "down". Ortega sneaks Flora away to take her to the preserve. Frantically, Arquette searches for her, along with trapeze artist Leonor Varela. Along the way, Ortega and Flora see young Martin Martinez fighting with a farmer from whom Martinez has stolen some cabbages. Seeing the elephant, the farmer runs away. Martinez decides to come along on Ortega's journey, especially after he finds out there is a reward being offered for her. When the story of the missing elephant hits TV, redneck trophy hunter Tom Arnold decides that an elephant head would look good in his home. Sheriff Frank Gallegos joins in the hunt, while the TV coverage turns Ortega into an hero. The only surprise in the end is that Perlman has Flora's daughter in the preserve. Director Mark Drury Taylor came up with the story for this movie, which David Moss helped to write.

THINK LIKE A MAN (2012) - Like THE BOUNCE BACK, this movie was inspired by a published book. Unlike BOUNCE, the author of 2009's ACT LIKE A LADY, THINK LIKE A MAN, Steve Harvey, appears as  himself in the movie promoting the book and offering romantic advice. An all-star cast of men, including Michael Ealy, Romany Malco, Terrence J. and token white boy Jerry Ferrara, find their romantic lives in an uproar because the all-star cast of women, including Taraji P. Henson, Regina Hall, Gabrielle Union and Meagan Good, begin to follow the advice in the book on how to get what you want from your man. When the guys figure out that all of the women are following the advice given in the book, they decide to turn the tables on the women and pretend to be going along with them. Naturally, when the women discover the deception, they toss the men out of their lives. Of course, when the men figure out that what the women wanted from them was actually what they wanted from themselves, they work hard to get the women back. Even "The Happier Divorced Guy" Kevin Hart has a change of heart and gets back with his ex Wendy Williams. Also in the cast are Chris Brown, Kelly Rowland, Morris Chestnut and Sherri Shepherd. Gary Owen, not the announcer from Laugh-In, is another white guy in the group of men, but as "The Happily Married Man" he doesn't get much to do and we never see his wife. Having previously directed the two FANTASTIC FOUR movies starring Jessica Alba, Tim Story delivered a good-looking but dully conventional romantic comedy which was successful enough to warrant a sequel - THINK LIKE A MAN TOO.

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Charles Gilbert watched:

OLD SUREHAND (1965) Stewart Granger is the cotton sideburns, buckskin wearing frontiersman to Pierre Brice's Apache champion Winnetou. They search for the power broker fomenting tension between the red man and the white man. Ex baseball player Larry Pennell plays the dastardly General Jack O"Neal With Mario Girotti (Terence Hill) 

Fall Guy "Semi Catastrophe" S04E13 Cristina Raines plays a lady trucker who absconded with her impounded rig. Crooked freight manager (Lonnie Chapman) had her truck impounded over gambling debts. Colt Seavers (Lee Majors) on her case must also deal with a large jealous trucker (John Matusak). 

McCloud "Bonnie and McCloud" S07E01. Bonnie Foster (Leigh Taylor- Young) is on the run from nefarious trucking head named Straker (Gilbert Green). She is accused of shooting one of his henchman. McCloud follows her to Oklahoma to clear her name, but meets resistance from consorts of Straker, like a gas station attendant (Gregory Walcott). They get involved in a truck convoy that garners them much favorable attention.

Feb 16 1970 Heavyweight 2 fight card on ESPN Classics: George Forman vs. Gregorio Peralta Joe Frazier vs. Jimmy EllisHappy 

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

The big sky (1952, Howard Hawks)

Kaamelott - season 1 – episodes 41 to 100

Hush… Hush, sweet Charlotte (1964, Robert Aldrich)

Paris police 1905 – season 1 – episode 2

The crew (2000, Michael Dinner)

Mildly enjoyed:

The return of Dracula (1958, Paul Landres)

Did not enjoy:

The changeling (1980, Peter Medak)

Voyage to the bottom of the sea – episode « killers of the deep » (1966, Harry Harris)

Wind across the Everglades (1958, Nicholas Ray)

The looking glass war (1969, Frank R. Pierson)

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David Deal Enjoyed:

HERCULES UNCHAINED (59)

COLORADO TERRITORY (49)

KILL OR CURE (62) - Part-time PI Terry-Thomas investigates a murder at a health clinic. Brit comedy-thriller is quite fun and occasionally tense. Features Eric Sykes, Dennis Price, and Lionel Jeffries amongst the recognizable supporters.

GOOD NIGHT OPPY (22) - Excellent documentary on the Mars rover missions that were slated for 90 days but lasted more than a decade.

FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN (43)

THE SECRET MARK OF D'ARTAGNAN (62)

SON OF DRACULA (43)

THE SECRET OF THE SPHINX (64)

THE NINTH GATE (99)

THE MAD GHOUL (43)

WEREWOLF IN A GIRL'S DORMITORY (63)

THE INVISIBLE MAN'S REVENGE (44)

THE MUMMY'S GHOST (44)

THE HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (44)

Mildly enjoyed:

THAT TOUCH OF MINK (62)

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Week of December 24 - 30, 2022

 

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

Brain Teasers:

What was the first Italian produced Western featuring Ken Clark?

It was not LA STRADA PER FORT ALAMO.

In what movie did Ken Clark man-handle Alan Arkin?

No one has answered this one yet.

Which Italian Western originally sported an English title very similar to the English title of a 1943 film directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer?

Tom Betts, Angel Rivera, George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that I GIORNI DELL'IRA was originally called DAYS OF WRATH in English, similar to Dreyer's 1943 film VREDENS DAG, titled DAY OF WRATH in English. The U.S. title for I GIORNI DELL'IRA was DAY OF ANGER.

To which Italian director was Tonino Valerii an assistant before Valerii got his first director's credit?

Tom Betts, Angel Rivera, George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that Valerii worked for Sergio Leone.

By what name is Robert Bohr better known?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes knew that it is Tonino Valerii.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which Italian Western star died on April 20, 1974?

Which Italian Western star was married to Cristina Galbo?

On what film did Cristina Galbo work with her husband?

Name the movies from which these images came.

Tom Betts, George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Lee Van Cleef and Giuliano Gemma in I GIORNI DELL'IRA, aka DAY OF ANGER.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes and Charles Gilbert identified last week's frame grab of Leonora Ruffo rising from a tomb in ERCOLE AL CENTRO DELLA TERRA, aka HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one identified the above photo. It shows Charlotte Rampling and Dirk Bogarde in IL PORTIERE DI NOTTE, aka THE NIGHT PORTER.

George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Tomisaburo Wakayama and Shingo Yamashiro in LONE WOLF AND CUB: BABY CART IN THE LAST OF DEMONS.

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:

Mildly enjoyed:

BODYGUARD (1948) - After finishing his stint in the U.S. Army, future director Robert Altman co-wrote a script with George W. George which sold to RKO, where it was re-written by Fred Niblo Jr. and Harry Essex and eventually made into a B-movie with director Richard O. Fleischer. Perhaps based on his notorious private life, Lawrence Tierney was cast as an Homicide Detective who got into trouble punching out his superior officer. To soften Tierney's character, he was given lovely Priscilla Lane as his girlfriend and a group of East L.A. teenagers to mentor. Phillip Reed, the nephew of the woman who owns the Continental Meat Packing Corp., tried to hire Tierney to be the bodyguard for his aunt - but, or course, it was all a set-up for Tierney to be framed for the murder of the superior officer he had previously punched. My enjoyment of this efficient, if over complicated thriller, was in seeing location work all over Los Angeles that was still recognizable close to sixty years later. Future producer Elmo Williams was the editor on this effort. This was the last feature film for Priscilla Lane.

A CRIME ON THE BAYOU (2020) - If you need a refresher course on how lousy white people were towards blacks in 1960s Louisiana, this is the documentary for you. Telling the story of Gary Duncan, who touched a white teenager and was then charged with assault, the film details the phony law followed by Southern authorities regarding black folk and how Jewish lawyers from up North were harassed when they tried to put the light of federal law on injustice.

GLORIOUS 39 (2009) - In modern London, young Toby Regbo seeks out the elderly brothers Christopher Lee and Corin Redgrave to find out what happened to his grandmother's adopted sister, Romola Garai.  In flashback, we are told of the events of 1939. Garai's friend David Tennant, a member of Parliament, is outspoken about needing to ditch the present British government because Hitler is evil and must be stopped. After Tennant turns up dead, Garai begins to suspect something is amiss with her seemingly perfect aristocratic family. Writer/director Stephen Poliakoff constructed a thriller that ratchets up the tension, but ultimately fails to deliver a satisfying climax. Plus, he paced the film uncomfortably slow. However, he filled the cast with splendid actors including Bill Nighy, Julie Christie, Eddie Redmayne, June Temple, Jenny Agutter, Hugh Bonneville and Jeremy Northam. 

STRATTON (2017) - Just when you thought that Tom Felton had landed a role in which he played a good guy, the plot twist occurred. Duncan Falconer was a member of the U.K. Special Boat Service (sort of the U.K. version of Navy Seals) who wrote an autobiography, FIRST INTO ACTION: DRAMATIC PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF LIFE INSIDE THE SBS, after he retired. Time Warner publishers liked his autobiography so much, they paid him to write novels, in which he introduced a character modeled after himself: John Stratton. Falconer got co-screenwriter credit on this film with Warren Davis II, but it was not based on one of the published novels. Entering through the waste water pipe wearing scuba gear, Dominic Cooper and Tyler Hoechlin make their way into an Iranian factory seeking to get a bio-weapon. It turned out that the bio-weapon had already been stolen and villains were prepared to ambush our heroes. Ignoring the plans of their handlers - Gemma Chan, Jake Fairbrother and Felton, Cooper called for an helicoptor extraction, which succeeded except that Thomas Kretschmann delivered a fatal bullet into Hoechlin as they were getting away. Back at base, commander Connie Nielsen recognized Kretschmann on a video capture as a KGB agent that was supposed to have been killed 20 years ago. Cooper theorized that since "they" were waiting for them, that the group had a "mole". Kretschmann tested out the bioweapon on a village in Ukraine, so Cooper, with new partner Austin Stowell, go to Rome to find the most likely maker of the desperal device for the weapon. It seemed obvious that the filmmakers hoped that this would be the first of a franchise of films, so, at times, the movie felt like a pilot for a TV series. Despite the "0" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, STRATTON was a solid action film, and I would have liked to have seen Dominic Cooper do it again. Derek Jacobi played a supporting role as our hero's friend and father figure. The director was Simon West and this sat very nicely next to his work on the TV shows Keen Eddie and Human Target.

Did not enjoy:

THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1960) - Eddie Hodges playes the title role and former World Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion Archie Moore plays Jim in this dully conventional adaptation of the Mark Twain novel directed by Michael Curtiz. MGM packed the supporting roles with names like Tony Randall, Patty McCormack, Neville Brand, Mickey Shaughnessy, Andy Devine, Buster Keaton, Finlay Currie, Royal Dano, Sterling Holloway, Dean Stanton and John Carradine. 

BAYOU CAVIAR (2018) - "Louisana Caviar", explains Russian gangster Richard Dreyfuss, is what they call an human body ground up and fed to alligators. Why Cuba Gooding Jr. chose Eitan Gorlin's script in order to make his directorial debut is a mystery. It is a dreary tale about miserable people who decide to do awful things which ends badly for all involved. Jewish lawyer Ken Lerner wants to retire from working with Dreyfuss and have his son, Gregg Bello, take over his duties. Meanwhile, former boxing champion Cuba Gooding Jr. works as a bouncer at Sam Thakur's club and throws Lia Marie Johnson out of the club for being under-aged. Thakur gets Gooding Jr. to drive him to visit Dreyfuss. Dreyfuss murders Thakur and drafts Gooding Jr. to work for him. His first chore, is to gets "something incriminating" on Bello. Gooding Jr. seeks out Johnson and plays on her desire to be a "reality TV" star. Convincing her that a sex tape could make her famous, Gooding Jr. enlists his photographer friend Famke Janssen to capture underage Johnson having sex with Bello. Various complications arise to make the running time of the film longer before Janssen posts the video on-line. Dreyfuss gets what he wants - Bello is arrested and Lerner won't retire. Dreyfuss then has Janssen kidnapped (and probably killed) and then just about kills Gooding Jr. The film keeps inter-cutting between the main story and Gooding Jr. visiting his dying boxing coach in the hospital where they talk about how our hero ruined his life by leaving the old coach to go with a better known trainer. In the end, Johnson is interviewed about the new "reality" show she's on, and the comatose Gooding Jr. clinches his fist. 

BLOODSUCKERS, aka FREEDOM SEEKER, aka DOCTORS WEAR SCARLET, aka INCENSE FOR THE DAMNED (1971) - In 1960, Simon Raven's book DOCTORS WEAR SCARLET came out and was critically acclaimed for its examination of vampirism as a sexual perversion rather than a supernatural phenomenon. I am guessing that element was what suggested to film producers that the more liberal cinema of 1970 would be the right time for a film adaptation. Unfortunately, the material isn't really the stuff of an Horror film, but a critique of the British educational system. Feeling that his sexual impotence is the fault of pressure from his mentor - Provost Peter Cushing of Lancaster College, Oxford, Doctor of Greek mythology Patric Mower goes to Greece to do research. There he finds Imogen Hassall, who introduces him to sado-masochistic blood drinking and murder. Alex Davion of the Foreign Office is told that this English academic might be involved in a scandal including the son of an important Greek personage, so he is sent to bring him home. Taking with him Mower's friend and pupil Johnny Sekka as well as Cushing's daughter, Madeline Hinde - who is also Mower's fiancee, Davion arrives in Greece and gets help from British military attache Patrick Macnee in trying to find Mower. Eventually they find Mower in a trance in a castle in the mountains. After he comes out of the trance, Mower prays for strength from the gods and then sees a portent of someone dying. When Hassall returns to try and reclaim Mower, Macnee falls off a cliff to his death. Sekka stops Hassall from drinking all of Mower's blood, and after a chase, she falls off a precipice to her death. Davion prevents Sekka from mutilating Hassall's body before the Greek authorities help to get Mower back to England. Back at Oxford, Cushing resumes grooming Mower to become the new Provost and announces the young man's engagement to Hinde. Not surprisingly, this results, when Mower is forced to give a speech to which "doctors wear scarlet" to attend, in Mower condemning the academic system that seeks obedience and conformity. Shocked, the academics attack Mower, but he runs away with Hinde. Back in his room, Hinde tries to get Mower to finally make love with her, which inspires him to bite a chunk out of her neck and drink her blood. Davion and Sekka arrive too late to prevent Hinde's death, but give chase to the escaping Mower. Perhaps realizing what he's done, Mower finally falls off the roof of the college to be impaled on an iron fence. As Provost, Cushing has the authority to rule on any deaths in his college, and declares that both Hinde and Mower were suicides. In the end, Davion drags Sekka with him to drive wooden stakes into the bodies of Hinde and Mower. Julian More is credited with the screenplay, and one wonders if the narration by Davion was part of the original intention or was an effort to explain story points obscured by extensive reworking of the material in the editing room. Reportedly, director Robert Hartford-Davis had his name removed from the film and the copy of the film I saw had no director's credit. Wikipedia says that Hartford-Davis' credit was changed to Michael Burrowes. Edward Woodward fans may enjoy his one scene in which he explains blood drinking as a sexual perversion. If production of this film began in 1969, then it was made between Patrick Mower's turn as a young man under the hypnotic influence of Satanists in THE DEVIL RIDES OUT and his unknowingly being possessed by an vengeful demon in CRY OF THE BANSHEE. Imogen Hassall is another alumnus of Hammer Films, having tried to kill Victoria Vetri in WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH. Alexander Davion appeared in Hammer's PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES. 

BLOOD THIRST (1965) - As an assistant director, Newt Arnold has a sterling reputation from working with Sam Peckinpah, Francis Ford Coppola and William Friedkin. He only made three films as a director, BLOOD THIRST being his second. Shot in 1965, it sat on a shelf until 1971 when it was released on a double-bill with BLOODSUCKERS. In 1988, Arnold made his final film with Jean-Claude Van Damme called BLOODSPORT, which some people liked. There is no sign of artistic talent to be found in BLOOD THIRST, in which bland dialogue is delivered blandly by dull actors in bland camera setups. However, veteran Filipino director of photography Hermo Santos provides many beautiful and atmospheric black and white images to delight the eyes, while the viewer's brain is lulled to a stupor trying to follow the storytelling. The film starts promisingly, but predictably, with an attractive bar girl walking home alone in the night, only to be attacked by an hideous creature hiding in a tree. Manila Police Inspector Vic Diaz sees the woman's body hanging upside down from the tree and drained of blood. He figures that New York cop and friend Robert Winston can be of help. Soon after Winston arrives in the Philippines, the American and Diaz's sister, Katherine Henryk, start bickering, so you know they will become a romantic subplot. As the victim worked at Vic Silayan's night club, Winston decides to pose as a writer seeking a story at the club. The one scene which shows some planning and invention is the sensuous dance given by Yvonne Nielson. It doesn't take long before the viewer can figure out that Nielson is a century old South American "goddess" from Peru who needs the blood of beautiful young women to keep her looks. What isn't as predictable, or explained, is that the hideous creature who serves her is Silayan, who seems to mutate when on a murder mission. In an attempt to be entertaining, the filmmakers give Winston a lot of snarky dialogue, and, at times, the film feels like a spy spoof - with one legged undercover police officer Eddie Infante besting our hero in a series of single combats. 

THE FOOT FIST WAY (2006) - This is not my kind of comedy. Danny McBride runs a Taekwondo school in Concord, North Carolina - badly. His wife, Mary Jane Bostic, leaves him after performing a sexual act with her boss, so he tries to initiate sex with a teenage student - and fails. Action star Ben Best is McBride's hero, so he invites him to stay at his house in order to attend the school's belt test demonstration. In order to pay for Best's appearance, McBride sells his car. Meanwhile, Bostic comes back to McBride and asks for forgiveness. He agrees, only to find her having sex with Best. This leads to a brawl, which McBride loses. Bruised and battered, McBride tells Bostic the marriage is over and pisses on his wedding ring. At the demonstration, McBride challenges Best to a board breaking competition, which McBride wins. The film ends with McBride reading a new student pledge, encouraging those who learn Taekwondo to dedicate themselves to making peace. This film was co-written, co-produced and co-starring director Jody Hill, who reportedly based this material on his own experience as a Taekwondo instructor. He and I obviously have different senses of humor.

THE ORACLE (1985) - As a director, Robert Findley made about 40 movies, some hard core pornography, and none of them good. Because she was a woman, some feel the need to hail her as a "groundbreaker". But to celebrate a body of work just because of the gender of the filmmaker is demeaning. Her movies are crappy with poor scripts realized on the screen badly. After her spirit writing device scribbles out "MURDER", an elderly gypsy medium disappears. The writing device is put in the basement storage, where it is found by new tenant Caroline Capers Powers. Various weird things start happening - like the building superintendent seeing little creatures all over him that he tries to stab with a knife - eventually killing himself. However, the main plot finally arrives with the murder of the husband of Powers' friend Victoria Dryden. One of the two killers is a fat woman often mistaken for a man - especially by a Times Square prostitute that the fat woman murders; which is completely unrelated to the plot. Because Powers shows off her spirit writing device at a party, the murderers decide she's a danger to them and do a lousy job trying to kill her. Eventually, Dryden is discovered to have hired the killers of her husband, but while Powers keeps running away, the evil spirit shows up to get revenge. The film ends with the suggestion that Powers has taken the place of the old gypsy medium. 

OVERDRIVE (2017) - I am not a "car guy", so the proposed appeal of this flick was lost on me. It looked to me that this was a vanity project by a rich guy with an huge antique car collection who figured he could make some FAST & FURIOUS money while showing off his precious goodies. While director Antonio Negret ogled the automobiles, at least Ana de Armas provided me something to ogle at. Scott Eastwood and Freddie Thorp are half-brother car thieves who steal a rare car purchased at auction by crime boss Simon Abkarian. Abkarian captures the brothers, who promise to make-it up to the boss by stealing a prize car from rival crime boss Clemens Schick. There are numerous improbable car chases and foot chases, plus double and triple crosses, with no concern about morality from the writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. Half way through the film, Gaia Weiss joined the cast giving me something else to enjoy watching.

UNEARTH (2020) - This starts out as a dreary portrait of the miserable lives of two small farm families. Marc Blucas is in financial difficulty, so leasing his land to a fracking operation sounds appealing. Needless to say, this pisses off the neighboring family led by Adrienne Barbeau. Thanks to Jane Saunders' spooky music, we are clued into Horrors to come. Being modern filmmakers, directors John C. Lyons and Dorota Swies don't explain what happens, they just suggest. Horrible things seem to happen, but did they, or is everyone hallucinating? When monstrous things seem to be happening, it is hard to make out because most of it is filmed in widescreen hand held close-ups. And then the film concludes with a non-sequitur finale that explains nothing.

WALKAWAY JOE (2020) - After decades as a working actor on stage and television, Tom Wright got his chance to direct a feature film when he was 68 years old. Unfortunately, while Michael Milillo's screenplay seems to have its heart in the right place, it didn't result in compelling drama. Julian Feder is a 14 year old boy raised by his father, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, to become a pool shark. Undermining mother Julie Ann Emery's efforts to discipline the boy, Morgan decides to disappear on this family. Feder decides to runaway from his mother, thinking that he can find his father and get him to come home. Meanwhile, David Strathairn gets out of prison and hopes to give the money he got as inheritance from the death of his father to his estranged son. In his mobile home, Strathairn encounters Feder and decides to try and help the combative young man. It turns out that a man and a woman are also seeking Morgan because he owes them money. Eventually, everyone ends up in New Orleans, where Feder knows Morgan plans to enter a pool tournament. Having brought the son to his father, Strathairn plans to leave. However, those seeking money from Morgan find him and prepare to cut off his finger. To save his father's potential livelyhood, Feder tells the couple that they can find money in Strathairn's mobile home. Robbed and beaten, Strathairn ends up in the hospital, and the only way that Feder can pay him back is to win the pool tournament against his father. After winning the tournament, Feder drives Strathairn to attend his estranged son's wedding. There is no reconciliation, but Strathairn appreciates the gesture and he takes Feder back to his worried mom and they reconcile before Strathairn returns to the road alone. 

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Charles Gilbert watched:

INVISIBLE AGENT (1942) B&W. Third in the series introduces Jon Hall as the Griffin descendent possesing the potion that the Germans covet for the war effort. Ilona Massey is the fetching double agent who allies with the Allies,  thwarting the schemes of Nazi Conrad Stauffer (Cedric Hardwicke).

Walker, Texas Ranger episode 'Crusader' .Guest star wrestler Roddy Piper.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

Willow – season 1 – episode 4

Xin qi long zhu / Dragon ball : the magic begins (1989, Chunn-Liang Chen)

Kaamelott- season 1 – episodes 1 to 40

Mildly enjoyed:

I giorni dell’ira (1967, Tonino Valerii)

Baby the rain must fall ( 1965, Robert Mulligan)

Across the 110th street (1972, Barry Shear)

Hot blood (1956, Nicholas Ray)

Did not enjoy:

National treasure : edge of history – season 1 – episode 1

Hustle (1975, Robert Aldrich)

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David Deal Enjoyed:

THE MUMMY'S TOMB (42)

SWORDSMAN OF SIENA (62)

NIGHT FLIER (97) - A serial killer uses a small plane to fly into rural airports and leaves behind horrific scenes of utter carnage for the locals to figure out. Miguel Ferrer, a world weary famous reporter for a grocery store scandal sheet, is on the wain but picks up the story hoping to regain past glories. Saddled with a female cub reporter (Julie Entwisle) on the story, Ferrer ascertains a supernatural angle to the murders and begins to tread the fine line between sanity and madness in solving them. Based on a Stephen King story, this is high quality horror entertainment overlooked at the time. Not a lost classic but recommended nonetheless.

DANCE OF DEATH (60)

LAST YEAR IN MARIENBAD (60)

NIGHT MONSTER (42)

WAR OF THE WORLDS (52)

MIRRORMASK (05)

Mildly enjoyed:

DJANGO AGAINST SARTANA (70)

LABYRINTH (59)

JUGULAR WINE (94) - While on a visit to Alaska, college professor Shaun Irons is bitten by a vampire... he thinks. Back in Philadelphia, he can feel himself changing and being drawn into an underworld ruled by Legion, a most dangerous vampire because he hunts his fellow spectres. This movie has a lot of big ideas but not enough money or experience to pull it off. For instance, the film's soundtrack is a constant blur of noise and/or music meant to bring a confused unreality to the story, but it is not accomplished with much finesse and ends up more annoying than insightful. For some reason, comics greats Stan Lee and Frank Miller make cameos.

AVENGER OF THE SEVEN SEAS (61)

OLDER THAN IRELAND (16) - Documentary about Irish folk at least 100 years old, and there are quite a few! Entertaining enough.

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Angel Rivera Mildly enjoyed:

"Black Adam" (2022)

As a long time Justice Society fan, I became interested in the "Black Adam" movie when I learned the film would feature a version of the JSA.

First as a long time DC Comics fan, the version I knew of Black Adam was as a foe of the original "Shazam/Captain Marvel".

I know in current comics he is supposed to have been turned good. So I'm not too familiar with this current story line.

Also the JSA, I know is slightly different than the ones portrayed here. For one thing "Hawkman" is supposed to a cross between a reincarnated Egyptian and a space alien from a planet called Thanagar. In the comics the reincarnated Hawkman was represented as a tall blonde male Caucasian. For diversity's sake he is here portrayed by a black actor.

Okay those were the changes for me. "Now on to the show".

Dwayne Johnson gets to kill any one known as an enemy in the most gruesome manner imaginable. There are explosions and torn body parts galore.

About the best thing in the movie is Pierce Bronson as the Mystic Mage, "Doctor Fate", He gets to be all mystical and wise as a "Lord of Order".

There is plenty of action and mayhem. Also Sara Shahi as the pleasant voice of reason.

The JSA battle Adam at first, then he joins them in destroying the Big Evil.  At the end Dwayne Johnson's Adam meets Henry Cavill's Superman for a "chat".

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