To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
What is the family relationship between Moira Orfei and Liana Orfei?
Bertrand van Wonterghem, Angel Rivera and Charles Gilbert knew that they are cousins.
Which Italian actress worked for directors Mario Costa, Luigi Capuano, Federico Fellini, Massimo Pupillo and Albert Band?
Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Liana Orfei.
Which Spanish actor worked for directors Victor Matellano, Sergio Leone, Vittorio Cottafavi, Luis Arroyo and Nicholas Ray?
Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Conrado San Martin.
And now for some new brain teasers:
Which Spanish actor worked for directors Ridley Scott, Leonard Schrader, Jesus Franco, Paul Mazursky, Hugh Wilson, Sergio Corbucci, Luis Bunuel and William Friedkin?
Which actress, born in Austria but considered to be German, was a step mother for five years to Jamie Lee Curtis?
Which actress posed nude in Playboy in 1999 and was proclaimed to be "Germany's most beautiful grandmother"?
Name the movies from which these images came.
Bertrand van Wonterghem and Charles Gilbert identified last week's photo of Conrado San Martin in ALL'OMBRA DI UN COLT, aka IN A COLT'S SHADOW.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
John Black and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Liana Orfei in LA LEGGENDA DI ENEA, aka ANEAS, aka THE LAST GLORY OF TROY, aka THE AVENGER.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
No one identified the above photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
No one identified the above 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:
ANORA (2024) - For such a slight story, this film is very long - 139 mins.
Frontline "Remaking the Middle East: The U.S., Israel & Iran" (2026)
GIRL FROM HUNAN (1986) - Shen Congwen wrote the short story Xiao Xiao, aka Hsiao Hsiao, in 1929. Considered one of the most important writers in modern China, he was slated to win the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature, but died at the age of 85 before the ceremony. Xiao Xiao is a 12 year old girl promised in marriage to a 2 year old boy who lives in a remote village in the mountains. The village is governed by clan rules, which can be strict and the women in the village begin to gossip as Xiao Xiao grows up and doesn't bind her breasts or her feet. The young woman begins to take charge of her husband more as a mother than as a wife, though the boy still takes milk from his birth mother's breast. He calls Xiao Xiao "sister". A farmhand, who is single, becomes infatuated by the virgin wife, and eventually seduces her when she is about 14. Not surprising, Xiao Xiao becomes pregnant. About that time, the village captures another couple engaged in adultery. The man is beated severly and the woman is drowned in the river. Our heroine suggests that she and the farmhand run away. He does, without her. Terrified, Xiao Xiao makes many efforts to abort the baby, and but they all fail, so she tries running away on her own. It is unclear how she ends up back in the family barn, but her mother-in-law is uncertain what to do with her. Efforts to sell her to another family fail, and the grandmother advises that drowning a pregnant girl would curse them. As the elders await the birth of the child, one proposes that if it is a girl, that they drown the baby. Luckily, a boy is born and the family celebrates by naming it Bull. Times are changing as the sight of "girl students" in town confuse everyone, with their Western dress and reading books. Xiao Xiao's husband is now a student in town, and is teased by his female classmates because there is a rumor that he's married. The husband now has to travel back to the village to attend the infant Bull's wedding to another adolescent girl. Xiao Xiao is now celebrated as the mother of the groom, and her mother-in-law suggests that it is time for her to finally have sex with her husband. Fu Jingsheng is credited with the wonderful photography, and if you love picturesque images of rural China, this is the movie for you. Xie Fei and U Lan share the director's credit and are probably responsible for the slow pacing, which may match the pace of life in this remote village. As soon as Deng Xiaoguang as the farmhand begins to eyeball Naren Hua, aka Na Renhua, the audience knows that this will cause problems. It is hard for some viewers to not yell "Get On With It!" knowing how this will develope, but I doubt if many Western audiences would guess how it would end.
Grace and Frankie season two (2016)
IT'S A DRINK! IT'S A BOMB! (1985) - Respected director of photography David Chung ended up getting co-director credit on 1977's THE CHASE with Ping To. 8 years later, producer Sammo Hung decided to give him a moden day chase comedy for his credited directorial debut. It is Christmas time and corrupt H.K. cop Kong Lau gets assistant Kai-Chi Liu to make two bombs inside Sarsae soda cans. After a successful test of one can in front of Japanese gangsters Eddy Ko and Elvis Tsui, Lau sends Liu to deliver the second can so that they can get paid. Liu decides not to give them the can and hides it just as Tsui plugs him in the back with a miniature crossbow. Liu ends up seeking help from George Lam as Bobo. After a wild chase, taxi driver John Sham, as Lion Head, gets involved after the bad guys side swipe his car. Lam crashes his motorcycle and the villains finally kill Liu, in front of bicyclist Maggie Cheung, as Cat. Before Liu dies, he gives an ambiguous clue to Cat as to where to the find the bomb. A whole lot of sillyness ensues, complicated when the trio try to explain what is going on to Sgt. Paul Chun. Naturally, Chun tries to hand the case over to his superior, Lau. Eventually, it all works out and the bad guys get arrested. The trio walk away wondering what they should do next, with Lam trying to claim Cat's attention away from Sham. Fast paced but nonsensical, IT'S A DRINK! IT'S A BOMB! becomes tiresome since much of what happens doesn't necessarily follow what has previously occurred. However, some bits do elicit a laugh.
Leanne season one (2025)
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David Deal Enjoyed:
SAMPO (59)
TRON (82) - The 4K looks great.
SUPER SEVEN CALLING CAIRO (66) - See The Eurospy Guide for a review of this Roger Browne entry.
ENCOUNTER OF THE SPOOKY KIND II (89)
FOUR GUNS TO THE BORDER (54) - Outlaw Rory Calhoun and his gang (George Nader, Jay Silverheels, John McIntire) plan to rob the Cholla Bank. Along the way they meet up with old friend Walter Brennan and his pretty daughter Colleen Miller who has eyes for Rory. Thing is, the bank robbery is an excuse for Rory to back home and take revenge on Charles Drake who stole his woman Nina Foch. Meanwhile, the local Apache tribe is getting restless. That's a lot of name dropping but Richard Carlson's western has a deep cast plenty of plot to keep them busy. A good, fun oater.
I AM WAITING (57)
THE KILLER LIKES CANDY (68) - Another one for The Eurospy Guide.
DEAD MEN WALK (43)
Mildly Enjoyed:
DEFEAT OF THE MAFIA (70) - A female drug courier with two suitcases containing heroin makes a switch at the airport when she arrives in Rome. She gives her bags to her partner and the mob goons sent to get them end up with the phonies. Shortly thereafter the courier is found dead and crime boss Luciano Pigozzi wants his dope. Cop Pier Paolo Capponi is on the case, and the courier's supposed cousin, Victor Spinetti (A Hard Day's Night), flies in from New York to handle the business of the deceased. Writer-director Warren Kiefer had quite the background story that I won't go into here. He also made Castle of the Living Dead that featured the debut of Donald Sutherland who named his kid after the director. As far as this film is concerned, it's a rather dull and crude affair with not much to recommend it other than a few familiar cast members.
CROSS OF THE DEVIL (75) - A writer is haunted by dreams of a woman being terrorized by the Knights Templar AKA the Blind Dead. Soon he receives a panicked letter from his sister who thinks her husband may kill her. When he journeys to meet her, he discovers her already dead. How do these events tie together, and do we care? This was John Gilling's (The Plague of the Zombies) final film made after his move to Spain, and I wouldn't say he went out with a bang. Co-scripter Paul Naschy creates some opportunities for exploitation, but they are not taken advantage of, and the result is another lackluster Euro-horror entry.
DR. STRANGE (78) - Peter Hooten is Dr. Strange, a psychiatric doctor with heretofore unknown supernatural powers. Strange finds himself a pawn in an epic battle between Good and Evil, enlisted by John Mills to fight the evil Jessica Walter. Can he keep the beyond at bay? A TV pilot film for a failed series, this does offer some atmosphere and not-too-shabby special effects, and a synth soundtrack that sometimes feels inspired by Goblin and the De Angelis brothers.
FOR A FEW BULLETS MORE (66) - Another version of the story of Pat Garrett (Fausto Tozzi) and Billy the Kid (Peter Lee Lawrence). And yet another second-string Euro western, this time from the middling Julio Buchs (A Bullet for Sandoval). To the good there are plenty of familiar faces here, but as a bridge western straddling the classic American style and that of the Leone future, this lands on the wrong side of that fence.
Did not enjoy:
DICK BARTON, SPECIAL AGENT (48) - British spy Dick Barton (Don Stannard) uncovers a Commie plot to poison the waters around England to ruin the fishing industry. This Hammer product feels a warmup for the science fiction classics they would produce in the coming years. As it is, we have a boys' adventure that, though occasionally mildly humorous, wears thin quickly.
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Bertrand van Wonterghem Highly Enjoyed:
Francesca (2015, Luciano Onetti)
Enjoyed:
Le professionnel (1981, Georges Lautner)
Young Sherlock (tv serie) (8 epis)
Thief (1981, Michael Mann)
Ddo Oh Hae Yeong / Another miss Oh (2016, Lee Jong-jae & Song Hyeon-wook) – episodes 1 to 6
Mildly enjoyed:
The story of a great enemy (1939, Paul H. Sloane)
Did not enjoy:
Bad man of Deadwood (1941, Joseph Kane)
Voulez-vous un bébé Nobel ? (1980, Robert Pouret)
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Angel Rivera Enjoyed:
"ARTHUR" (1981)
TCM is showing its 31 days of Oscar and I caught a few that I haven't seen in awhile. First up is the original version of "Arthur" (1981) that starred Dudley Moore and Liza Minelli. As well as Sir John Geilgud in an Oscar winning performance as Arthur's man-servant and "father". Still funny after all these years.
"MIDNIGHT COWBOY" (1969)
The only X-rated movie to win best picture; I've only seen the toned down for an R-rating version. Still a formidable film to win best picture Oscar! Scenes still relevant today. Like the scene when Voight notices there is a man lying on the street and people are just walking around and past him as though he weren't even there. Still has powerful imagery and relevance to today.
"TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" (1962)
Best picture "Oscar" and winner of Best Actor for Gregory Peck. A real document of its time; especially how memorable some of the scenes are and its relevance for today's audiences.
TCM is showing its 31 days of Oscar and I caught a few that I haven't seen in awhile. First up is the original version of "Arthur" (1981) that starred Dudley Moore and Liza Minelli. As well as Sir John Geilgud in an Oscar winning performance as Arthur's man-servant and "father". Still funny after all these years.
"MIDNIGHT COWBOY" (1969)
The only X-rated movie to win best picture; I've only seen the toned down for an R-rating version. Still a formidable film to win best picture Oscar! Scenes still relevant today. Like the scene when Voight notices there is a man lying on the street and people are just walking around and past him as though he weren't even there. Still has powerful imagery and relevance to today.
"TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" (1962)
Best picture "Oscar" and winner of Best Actor for Gregory Peck. A real document of its time; especially how memorable some of the scenes are and its relevance for today's audiences.
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Charles Gilbert watched:
FATE IS THE HUNTER (1964) B&W. Soon after takeoff a jet passenger liner loses an engine to fire, and crashes into a beach pier. Airline executive Glenn Ford searches for the cause when most observers believe it was pilot error; his friend Rod Taylor. Much of the tale depicts flashback of his time in the army. Jane Russell appears as herself entertaining troops overseas when she was a popular pinup.
TERROR OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1973) Delightful ensemble of golden era actors solving the murder of a London chamber of horrors curator (John Carradine). Ray Milland, Broderick Crawford, Louis Hayward, Patric Knowles, and Elsa Lanchester.
LONG DAYS OF VENGEANCE (1967) Lengthy Italian oater with Giuliano Gemma in the lead role. He's unrecognizable at first with long hair and beard from hard labor in prison. When he breaksbandits. heads straight for the barber, then goes after those who framed him, chiefly the Conrado Sanmartin character. Also stars Franco Cobianchi as a Mexican bandito.
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