Week of February 12 - 18, 2022

 

 

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

Brain Teasers:

In which Italian Western does our hero shoot the crutches our from under an old man who is accusing him of being a criminal?

It is IL SUO NOME GRIDAVA VENDETTA, aka THE MAN WHO CRIED FOR REVENGE.

What reason did Frank Wolff give for accepting the role in UN DOLLARO TRA I DENTI?

No one has answered this question yet.

Which Spanish veteran of Italian Westerns played a priest in a film by Pedro Almodovar?

Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Manuel Zarzo in ENTRE TINIEBLAS, aka DIRTY HABITS.

Which American veteran of Italian Westerns appeared on stage with James Dean?

George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that James Dean appeared on stage in New York City with Arthur Kennedy in SEE THE JAGUAR. I meant to ask which American veteran of Italian Westerns appeared on stage with James Dean at UCLA? George Grimes knew that it was Frank Wolff, who played MACBETH with Dean as a spear carrier.

Which American veteran of Italian Westerns appeared in an American TV show with Jack Klugman?

George Grimes knew that Frank Wolff did a Twilight Zone with Klugman.

And now for some new brain teasers:

How many Westerns did Jim Brown make in Almeria, Spain?

How many Westerns did Jolly Films make with Clint Eastwood?

How many Westerns had music by Dan Savio?

Name the movies from which these images came.

George Grimes, Bertrand van Wonterghem, Rick Garibaldi, Charles Gilbert and Angel Rivera identified last week's frame grab of Catherine Spaak and Jim Kelly in TAKE A HARD RIDE.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's photo of Loredana Nusciak and Carl Mohner in IL CROLLO DI ROMA, aka THE FALL 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 photo of  Corinne Clery and Reb Brown in IL MONDO DI YOR, aka YOR HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Sonny Chiba in SAMURAI RESURRECTION.

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:

Rome season one (2005)

Enjoyed: 

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. "Mario Lopez and Melissa Villasenor" (2022)

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. "Terry Crews and Tony Danza" (2022)

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS (2020) - Director Lisa Rovner's documentary celebrates the female pioneers in electronic music. Interestingly, while Laurie Anderson narrates the film, she and her work is not mention. I wondered if there would be a mention of Wendy Carlos, who achieved fame as Walter Carlos, and there was because of the success of "Switched On Bach", but Suzanne Ciani is made to quickly denigrate the effort to translate Baroque music into electronic sounds. She, and most of those profiled, were attempting to create a new music. Bebe Barron, and her husband Louis, are celebrated for the score to FORBIDDEN PLANET, which the Musicians Union succeeded it labeling "electronic tonalities" rather than music. Delia Ann Derbyshire is celebrated for her work at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and popularizing electronic sounds with her arrangement of Ron Grainer's theme for the TV series Doctor Who. Also profiled are Maryanne Amacher, Pauline Oliveros, Daphne Oram, Elaine 

Radigue, Clara Rockmore and Laurie Spiegel.

Mildly enjoyed:

THUNDERBIRD 6  (1968) - In 1957, producer Gerry Anderson began his TV career with The Adventures of Twizzle, a show intended for children with a puppet hero. It was here that he first worked with puppeteer Christine Glanville, special effects technician Derek Meddings and composer Barry Gray. Reportedly Anderson wasn't happy working with puppets, but it became his career with shows like Torchy the Battery Boy, Four Feather Falls, Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray and Thunderbirds. The success of the Thunderbirds TV series resulted in a feature film, THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO. Even though that feature was a commercial disappointment, a second film was made. while Anderson continued on TV with Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. I can understand why special effects people might prefer working with puppets instead of live actors, but as a viewer I prefer looking at people. While the original intention may have been to amuse children, this film's screenplay by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson is remarkably lacking in humor and surprisingly dark in tone with characters being callously killed. Since the idea is to replace human actors with puppets, every time an insert shot is shown with an actual human hand - or a real airplane flying in the sky - it seems like a failure of imagination on the filmmakers part. While there are miniature replicas of the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty and the Egyptian pyramids, there are also real shots of Istanbul and other locales. Nothing dates this series more than the heroes using "F.A.B." as their call sign. As with most Anderson productions, everything that happens just seems to be an excuse to put off the big explosions that will be the climax, but I kept wondering about the financial impact on the company to have the new Skyship One and an entire missle base destroyed.

Did not enjoy:

TERRA RIBELLE, aka TIERRA INDOMABLE, aka REBEL LAND (2010) - I check out the listings for L.A.'s Spanish language station KWHY-TV because they often play European films. When I saw Lando Buzzanca in the cast list, I knew I had to check this out. A co-production of Albatross Media and RAI Fiction, this series is set in Maremma, in Tuscany, Italy, but mostly filmed in Argentina and Uruguary. Set in the 1870s, this plays like a novella styled as a Western. The story tells of two men who fall in love with the same woman. The evil man, Fabrizio Bucci (Italian), gets the good guy, Rodrigo Guirao (Argentine) sent to prison and then rapes Anna Favella (Italian), even though he is married to her sister Sabrina Garciarena (Argentine). Guirao escapes from the prison - which looks just like the prison in A LONG RIDE FROM HELL and soon joins a band of brigands that resembles Robin Hood's Merry Men, but with six shooters. After about sixteen hours, Garciarena betrays Bucci with his foreman and Guirao rescues Favella. Don't you just hate stories where the good guy doesn't kill the bad guy - after the bad guy has murdered dozens of innocents, raped the heroine and shot the hero twice - because it is discovered that they are brothers? The first season is directed by Cinzia Th. Torrini, who had a great success with an earlier series called Elisa di Rivombrosa in 2005. In the end, Bucci escapes to catch a ship headed for South America, where I believe everyone will end up in season two. And Lando Buzzanca doesn't show up until season two. Italian composer Fabrizio Bondi did the music.

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David Deal Enjoyed:

RADIO ON (79) - A DJ looks for clues about his brother's death.  But that's not really what this black and white British art film is all about. Hanging from the wisp of a plot are the angst, alienation, and existential qualities of life. The Zeitgeist of the punk/new wave era is reflected in the popular radio hits spicing the journey of this fascinating time capsule.  Recommended.

AGENT FOR H.A.R.M. (66) - Mark Richmond is the agent assigned to protect a defected scientist working on the antidote for a deadly spore from space. TV level spy-jinx with effective and clever direction from Gerd Oswald (The Outer Limits). Martin Kosleck is the villain and Barbara Bouchet the femme fatale.

INCIDENT AT PHANTOM HILL (66) - Following the Civil War, ex-Reb Dan Duryea is offered a pardon if he will show government agent Robert Fuller where he buried a million dollars in gold. Duryea is always great but this is a flat "road trip" western that never rises above adequate entertainment.

THE LAUGHING WOMAN (69) - The Mondo Macabro Blu-ray looks great.

TERROR IN THE MIDNIGHT SUN (58)

SCREAM OF FEAR (61)

Mildly Enjoyed

ACCOUNT RENDERED (57) - When a disliked socialite is murdered, suspicion falls on her unlikeblae friends. British programmer is part police procedural and part melodrama.  Gains speed in the second half with a tidy climax. An early role for Honor Blackman.

THE TRUE STORY OF THE NUN OF MONZA (80) - Supposedly based on true events, Bruno Mattei's naughty nuns entry is okay entertainment once.

SHOOT (64)

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Angel Rivera Watched:

First I saw the new version of "Nightmare Alley" (2021). Unfortunately I could not enjoy it because in my head, I kept comparing it with the original, I know, oh so well.

To begin with the first thing they show is what a "geek" is; at least in its  original meaning. They actually  show a "geek" chewing off the head of a chicken.  (I guess they did that to show to those who only know a "geek" as another name for a nerd.) (This is different from the original, where what a geek does is never shown, only mentioned.),

Each scene played to me as "Oh, this is what is being done different in this version."

Of the new version I was most impressed by Cate Blanchett's performance; even though I am not a big Cate Blanchett fan. The sepia tone coloring they use throughout the film to invoke period, just makes the film look dark. (As this version is a period piece it takes place just before WWII, while the original takes place post-war.)  So I can't really say if someone not so familiar with the original would enjoy this version.

Next I discovered on YouTube, the original Italian dub of "Zorro Contro Maciste"(1963) (aka "Samson and the Slave Queen") with English subtitles. It was amazing how the translated subtitles were so close to the English dub in wording. What is also amazing is the scenes that were cut out of the original film when the film was released in the US by AIP.  Namely one of the scenes showing Pierre Brice who is Ramon/Zorro making out with Maria Grazia Spina, the blonde "good" princess  and the scene showing Moira Orfei (the dark haired "bad" princess) making out with her paramour, Massimo Serato who portrays the evil Captain Garcia. Alan Steel (Maciste) even gets into the act, when at the finale, he gets to make out with the servant girl, Carmencita, (Rosy di Leo) who helped him in his quest to right the wrong. All these make out scenes were cut from the original when the film made the trip across the ocean. We even get to hear the original score, which was replaced in some of the film by AIP, with music by Les Baxter.  The rest of the changes you probably know. Any way a most enjoyable film.

After that,  I watched the first sound Zorro movie "The Bold Caballero" (1936) which was shot in an early color process. The hero is played by Robert Livingston who also portrayed the Lone Ranger in one of Republic Studio's serials. The villain is played by Sig Ruman, who is probably better known for his comic performances in a few Marx Brothers comedies where he  is also the "villain". Livingston even dresses up as a woman to escape capture in one scene and is only in Zorro costume for a short part of the film.  Still a mildly entertaining and enjoyable film.

Next I pulled out my copies (that were on VHS) of the Disney films, "The Sign of Zorro"(1960) and "Zorro, the Avenger" (1960) culled from different episodes of Disney's "Zorro" TV series which starred Guy Williams. The first film had theatrical distribution in the US, while the other played mostly in European theaters. They both came to US cable television in the 1990s when the Disney Channel was a premium cable channel and one could only get it by subscription and they aired only old Disney shows with no commercials except after the programs aired. That's when I recorded them. Even though Disney had all 78 episodes of the series colorized, the movies were shown in their original B & W. They are mostly entertaining as nostalgia pieces. An interesting note is that in the first film, Tony Russel (here listed as Tony Russo, his real name) plays a Zorro imposter. In an interview in "Video Watchdog" magazine,  Tony Russel stated that he, Brit Lomond and Guy Williams were all up for the role of Zorro. He claims that although he and Lomond were better fencers than Williams; Williams still won the role. Lomond would become  Capt. Monasterio, the wicked comandante, while Russo ended up playing the Zorro impersonator meant to discredit Zorro. Tony Russel would later move to Italy were he started an English dubbing studio and starred in several Italian films including "Behind the Mask of Zorro" (1965) where he played the title character, as well as in "Wild, Wild Planet" and "War of the Planets" where he portrayed Commander Mike Halstead.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

Loki – season 1 – epis 1 to 4

Uptown Saturday night (1974, Sidney Poitier)

The man who wasn’t there (1983, Bruce Malmuth)

Murderville – season 1 – epis 1

The invaders – epis « wall of crystal » (1967, Joseph Sargent)

Mildly enjoyed:

Bulgasal, immortal souls – season 1 – episodes 3 & 4

La bourse et la vie (1965, Jean-Pierre Mocky)

Did not enjoy:

Eternals (2021, Chloe Zhao)

Agente X 1-7 operazione oceano (1965, Tano Boccia)

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Charles Gilbert watched:

MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1966) B&W.  Disjointed political thriller has army soldiers captured by communists during the Korean War, and psychologically conditioned as assassins against the U. S.  The method of mind control during a session parallels with 'Aunt Bee's flower guild meeting' (?). Upon release Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) in particular suffers from recurring nightmares and commits despicable acts when triggered by the Queen of diamonds during games of solitare. His war pal Ben Marco (Frank Sinatra) moves to help and find the operator for Raymond's big assignment. Ben's confrontation with one commie agent (Henry Silva) results in an amateurish karate match - both using the forearm in a horizontal guard position. It just so happens that Raymond's mom and stepfather (Angela Lansbury and James Gregory) are Washington power brokers scheming against their own presidential candidate. Mom was the one dealing traitorously with the Korean enemy without considering her son to emerge as the manipulated hitman. Leslie Parrish and Janet Leigh respectively, are love interests for the two pals.

Woolworth Fire of 1979. In Manchester England lives were lost at a department store. Six years earlier a  fire erupted at another Woolworth in Colchester. Neither place was installed with a sprinkler system.

IT THE TERROR FROM VEYOND SPACE (1958) B&W. A team on a mission to Mars arrests an officer still there from a previous trip for murdering his fellow shipmates. A malicious alien stows aboard on the return trip and proves invulnerable until the astronauts compromise his sensitive lungs in the end.

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Week of February 5 - 11, 2022

 

 

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

Brain Teasers:

In which Italian Western does our hero throw double sixes before killing four gunmen?

It is IL SUO NOME GRIDAVA VENDETTA, aka THE MAN WHO CRIED FOR REVENGE.

In which Italian Western does our hero shoot the crutches our from under an old man who is accusing him of being a criminal?

No one has answered this question yet.

Which executive at MGM was responsible for distributing UN DOLLARO TRA I DENTI in the U.S.?

George Grimes knew that it was Allen Klein.

What reason did Frank Wolff give for accepting the role in UN DOLLARO TRA I DENTI?

No one has answered this question yet.

What reason did Reg Lewis give for only doing one movie in Italy?

Bertrand van Wonterghem answered, "According the interview with Reg Lewis (made by Gérard Dessere in 1990 and published in Pierre Charles’ fanzine « Cine Zine Zone 57). Reg Lewis was ready to play a second film (« Taur » by Antonio Leonviola) but he didn’t want to play the aquatic sequence. He wanted a stunt double for this sequence. He also explain that he was too expensive for the producers. So, without a project, he and his family returned to the States."

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which Spanish veteran of Italian Westerns played a priest in a film by Pedro Almodovar?

Which American veteran of Italian Westerns appeared on stage with James Dean?

Which American veteran of Italian Westerns appeared in an American TV show with Jack Klugman?

Name the movies from which these images came.

George Grimes identified last week's photo of Anthony Steffen in ¿Quién grita venganza?, aka CRY FOR REVENGE, aka I MORTI NON SI CONTANO, aka THE DEAD ARE COUNTLESS, aka  DEAD MEN DON'T COUNT.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes, Bertrand van Wonterghem and Charles Gilbert identified last week's frame grab of Giuseppe Addobati and Mark Forest in  MACISTE CONTRO I MONGOLI, aka HERCULES AGAINST THE MONGOLS..

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of  Tony Anthony and Lucretia Love in PIAZZA PULITA, aka A CLEAN SWEEP, aka PETE, PEARL & THE POLE, aka 1931: ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW YORK.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Liu Chia-Hui, aka Gordon Liu, in THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, aka THE MASTER KILLER.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

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I am interested in knowing what movies you have watched and what you enjoyed or not. So please send me an email at scinema@earthlink.net if you'd like to share. Here's what I watched last week:

Enjoyed: 

L'ALBERO DELLE PERE, aka THE PEAR TREE, aka SHOOTING THE MOON (1998) - Writer/director Francesca Archibugi's 8th film is a portrait of a teenage boy named Siddharta, played by Niccolo Senni. His parents, Valeria Golino and Sergio Rubini, were into Buddhism when he was born. After 15 years, Rubini, a documentary filmmaker, left Golino because of her irresponsibility. She took up with Stefano Dionisi and had a girl, played at the age of five by Francesca Di Giovanni. Dionisi got custody of Di Giovanni, but is allowing her to stay with her mother and half brother for the Christmas holidays. Senni is practicing with his band when Di Giovanni pulls their plug because she is bored. The brother puts his sister in the bathroom so that the band can keep practicing. She finds her mother's handbag and goes through it. When Senni checks on her, he finds that she's mistaken an hypodermic needle for a "bogie-picker for grown-ups" and has drawn blood from her nose. Worried about AIDS and not trusting any of the adults in his life, Senni seeks advice on the internet. It suggests that he get her tested for hepatitis B, C and HIV. Getting that done without parental permission shows how ingenious the boy can be, but when he can't get the results without an adult in tow, he grabs the paper and leaps through a closed window at the clinic. Not surprisingly, this leads to a police investigation and his mother's secret being revealed. Archibugi gets astonishing performances from her young cast while the adult actors come off well, too. This film won the Golden Lion at the 1998 Venice Film Festival where Niccolo Senni was also given the Marcello Mastroianni Award. The original title, THE PEAR TREE, refers to an ancient symbol of femininity. I think the English title of SHOOTING THE MOON was an attempt to remind audiences of the successful 1982 movie about a broken family called SHOOT THE MOON. Or, like that title, it is a reference to an attempt to achieve something that is very difficult.

THE BEE GEES: HOW DO YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART (2020) - Frank Marshall, the director of CONGO, turns to documentaries for this wonderful exploration of the Brothers Gibb and their place in music history. However, the filmmakers skip over my favorite thing the Bee Gees ever did - the songs for MELODY. And it would have been nice to have Barry comment about the SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND movie. I also kind-of resent their holding up Rick Dees' "Disco Duck" as an example of bad disco.

Mildly enjoyed:

ENTRE TINIEBLAS, aka IN DARKNESS, aka DARK HABITS (1983) - Nightclub singer Cristina Sanchez Pascual brings home the smack her loutish boyfriend, Will More, demands and then retreats to the bathroom considering that she should leave him. Hearing a thud, Pascual leaves the bathroom to find that the boyfriend has died from the injection. Convinced that she is being followed, Pascual flees. Later she finds a card in her purse for "Comunidad Redentoras Humilladas 'Venid a mi, yo soy vuestro refugio'". (Humilited Redeemers Community "Come to me, I am your shelter".) Flashing back to Mother Superior Julieta Serrano (of PEPI, LUCI, BOM Y OTRAS CHICAS DEL MONTON) coming backstage to get an autograph, Pascual decides to seek refuge in that convent. Writer/director Pedro Almodovar is not interested in making a "Nunsploitation" flick like LA MONACA DI MONZA, but instead makes a satirical comedy about the Church trying to embrace the plight of sinners by humiliating themselves. So, the Mother Superior shares heroin and cocaine with Pascual. The other members of the convent have taken derogatory names like Sor Estiercol - Sister Manure (Marisa Paredes), Sor Perdida - Sister Lost or Sister Damned (Carmen Maura of PEPI), Sor Vibora - Sister Snake (Lina Canalejas), and Sor Rata de Callejon - Sister Rat of the Sewars (Chus Lampreave). Priest Manuel Zarzo compulsively smokes - even while saying the Mass. The convent has relied upon funding from a Fascist Marquis in return for the care of his daughter, but now that the Marquis is dead, Marquesa Mary Carrillo has decided to withdraw her support and Serrano considers becoming a drug mule to keep the convent open. Almodovar plays this material in a "matter of fact" way, never underlining the absurdity - even the keeping of a full grown tiger as a pet. Reportedly, this project came about because millionaire Herve Hachuel wanted to make his girlfriend, Pascual - who had appeared in Amodovar's two previous films, a movie star. Ironically, this movie was just about the end of her film career. A reviewer on the IMDb feels that this film metaphorically chronicles the end of the Movida Madrilenia in early 1980s Madrid, with the convent being closed and the members scattered.

¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!, aka WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS? (1984) - The film starts with Carmen Maura working as a cleaning woman at a kendo dojo in Madrid as what sounds like Italian music plays on the soundtrack. She sees Luis Hostalot showering naked and he invites her to join him. I was confused as to whether they looked disappointed because the sex wasn't satisfying or if they felt guilty. Later on, we find out that Hostalot suffers from erectile dysfunction. We are next introduced to Maura's husband, Angel de Andres Lopez, who works as a taxi driver blissfully remembering his time when he was a chauffeur for German writer Katia Loritz. Able to perfectly copy anyone's handwriting, Lopez forged some letters supposedly from Hitler to help Loritz's biography of a pro-Nazi performer. He tells this story to writer Gonzalo Suarez, who is a passenger going to visit prostitute Veronica Forque who lives next door to Lopez and Maura. Suarez would later suggest that Lopez forge an Hitler memoir which would make them all rich. Perhaps as an homage to early Sophia Loren/Vittorio de Sica movies, writer/director Pedro Almodovar shows Maura as an overworked wife and mother living in a low-rent tenement who has to work as a cleaning woman to help pay bills. Not surprisingly, Maura becomes addicted to "pep" pills to get her through her days, and becomes upset when her pills are used by her eldest son, Juan Martinez, to cut the heroin he deals. Her 12-year old son, Miguel Angel Herranz, has sex with older men, so when dentist Javier Gurruchaga takes an obvious interest in him while talking about wanting to adopt a child, Maura doesn't mind when the boy agrees to go and live with Gurruchaga. Also in the tenement building is Kiti Manver, who hates her daughter, Sonia Hohmann, because she reminds her of the father who left. Like CARRIE, Hohmann has telekinetic powers which she secretly uses to annoy her mother. Lopez's mother, Chus Lampreave, also lives in the apartment, but dreams of returning to the small village from which she came. Maura's frustrations explode when her husband hits her and she clobbers him over the head with a ham bone. She then quickly visits Manver and Forque in order to establish an alibi. Hostalot is the detective assigned to investigate Lopez's death, but is soon distracted by Forque because he needs to bring his "girlfriend" to the doctor working to cure his erectile dysfunction. During the film, when the TV is on, we see commercials featuring Cecilia Roth and director Almodovar. The director's younger brother, Tinin Almodovar, has a small role as a bank teller. 

THE PYX (1973) - Karen Black wrote and sang three songs in this Canadian thriller, with the help of Musical Consultant Bob Johnston (a good two years before she wrote her own tunes in NASHVILLE). They add an eerie quality to the film which, for the most part, is a "whodunit". Based on the 1959 novel by John Buell, the film starts with Karen Black dead for a fall from an high rise building. Detective Christopher Plummer arrives on the scene to investigate and finds a crossing and an amulet in Black's hands. (After watching seven seasons of Da Vinci's Inquest, I couldn't help but question the professionalism of the Montreal P.D.'s handling of the crime scene, particularly Plummer not putting the cross and amulet into evidence but pocketing them to pull out while he questions various people.) Screenwriter Robert Schlitt and director Harvey Hart decide to intercut Plummer's investigation with flashbacks to Black's last days. It gets a bit confusing because no one is having the flashbacks, and Plummer is not gathering the information the audience is getting. Perhaps inspired by KLUTE, the filmmakers give Black an opportunity to create a vivid portrait of a junkie prostitute made poignant by the fact that we know she is going to die. The only way for audiences to understand which time frame they are seeing is whether the characters shown are dead in the "present" storyline. It turns out that Black was chosen by occultists (Unlike ROSEMARY'S BABY these guys aren't identified as being Satanists, or is their purpose explained as in THE DUNWICH HORROR.) for some ritual, which her Catholic upbringing leads her disrupt. Or, as in THE EXORCIST or SEVEN, is the Detective the actual target? Much is left ambiguous which helps to leave a viewer with disturbed feeling.

THE SCRIBBLER (2014) - Daniel Schaffer adapted this from his own graphic novel and director John Suits seemed to not understand that comic book imagery doesn't quite make sense in a live action film unless a certain sense of reality has been established. No accredited mental facility would be allowed to fall into the disrepair shown at Juniper Tower - which seems to have no staff to respond to patients splattered all over the front of the building. Plotwise this is a "whodunit" with investigators Michael Imperioli and Eliza Dushku questioning a dissociative identity disorder patient played by Katie Cassidy about a series of possible murders. Doctor Billy Campbell is experimenting on Cassidy with a new electroconvulsive therapy machine that is supposed to be able to rid her of multiple personalities. The most persistent personality is "The Scribbler" who writes on everything backwards. There is very little in this movie that resembles my reality such as a large apartment building filled with beautiful female mental patients and one male patient who has free access to have sex with all of the females. "Every hen house has to have a rooster." The "whodunit" eventually becomes a superhero origin story which just adds to the strangeness. Birthed by semen from David Cassidy, but raised by her mother, Sherry Williams, and stepfather, Richard Benedon, Katie Cassidy makes for a compelling heroine. It is the cast of this film which keeps it watchable through the strangeness as it includes Imperioli, Dushku, Campbell, Gina Gershon, Michelle Trachtenberg (but she is unrecognizable under that hair and makeup), Sasha Grey, Kunal Nayyar, Richard Riehle, Ashlynn Yennie [from THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FIRST SEQUENCE)], Sara Tomko [of Resident Alien] and Garret Dillahunt. For you fans that count - that makes three cast members from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

Did not enjoy:

BABO 73 (1964) - Writer/director Robert Downey made this 57 minutes "feature" after the 24 minute short Balls Bluff of 1961. At a time of interest in "underground" movie making, Downey was celebrated for his humor. Using Taylor Mead, known for appearing in a film about the San Francisco Beats called THE FLOWER THIEF (1960) before joining the Andy Warhol crowd with TARZAN AND JANE REGAINED... SORT OF (1964), as the new President of the United Status of America, Downey stages a number of unconnected skits making fun of U.S. fears of invasion by the Red Siamese, racial integration and how the U.S. economy depends on funding the military. With seeming no structure, the film quickly becomes sleep-inducing and isn't funny. 

CHAFED ELBOWS (1966) - Reportedly made for $12,000, this mixture of motion picture film and still photographs tells the absurd story of a fellow having his annual November nervous breakdown. Writer and director Robert Downey's early work is of historic interest, but I fell asleep over and over again trying to watch this unfunny 

collection of pointless skits.

PUTNEY SWOPE (1969) - Reportedly Mel Brooks is in this film, but I can't find him. You can't miss Antonio Fargas, Allan Arbus, Peter Maloney and Allen Garfield, but I miss the point of this unfunny collection of pointless skits written and directed by Robert Downey.

CREATURE, aka THE TITAN FIND (1985) - The look of this science fiction/horror film is good; more like PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES than ALIEN, but the chunky dialogue, slack plotting and dull direction by William Malone keeps spoiling the fun. Wendy Schaal, Annette McCarthy and Marie Laurin succeed in keeping my attention until Klaus Kinski shows up to steal all of his scenes. Thankfully the filmmakers provide an ending and the reference to THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD is welcome. 

LA MANO CHE NUTRE LA MORTE, aka THE HAND THAT FEEDS THE DEAD (1974 ) - Instead of a dietary report on cadavers, this is a boring period gothic version of LES YEUX SANS VISAGE with an emphasis on female nudity in addition to unconvincing graphic gore. Twanging a tweezer like a tuning fork, a woman covered completely in dark veils torments hunchback servent Erol Taş to go out and find female victims on which Professor Klaus Kinski can experiment. Kinski is performing skin graphs on the mysterious woman to replace burned tissue. Naturally, those experimented upon die and Taş is ordered to make them disappear. A couple honeymooning in the country naturally has a carriage accident outside Kinski's castle, so they are brought inside. Husband Ayhan Işık and wife Katia Christine find two other guests there,  Marzia Damon and Carmen Silva. Damon is supposedly working on a biography of Kinski's deceased mentor, Baron Ivan Rassimov (which is also the name of the actor who starred in Sergio Garrone's directoral debut SE VUOI VIVERE... SPARA!), but is actually investigating the disappearance of her sister. The filmmakers spend a lot of time featuring the actors wandering around the castle, until Damon and Silva decide to spend the night making love. In the morning, Kinski orders both women "disappeared" but Işık gets too distracted raping Damon to properly kill her. I do not want to relate all that happens, but Garrone comes up with a rather stupid ending. While the Italian version of the film only credits Amedeo Mellone as producer, as well as production designer and costumer, Wikipedia reports that Turkish producer Şakir V. Sözen was the fellow who convinced writer/director Sergio Garrone that rather than make one film in six weeks, they should make two films in eight weeks, leading to the concurrent production of LE AMANTI DEL MOSTRO. Sözen also brought to the production Ayhan Işık as the ineffectual hero and Erol Taş as the hunchback assistant to Professor Klaus Kinski. While Katia Christine gets co-starring billing, she is the only female cast member to not get naked. Wikipedia correctly reports that while credited, Carla Mancini does not appear in the film. This film was not released in Turkey until 1986 after Yilmaz Duru bought the negative from Sözen, re-edited the film, added music by Arif Melikov and gave it the title Ölümün Nefesi, aka BREAD OF DEATH.

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David Deal Enjoyed:

MARK OF THE TORTOISE (64)

AEON FLUX (05)

KING KONG (33)

THE VILLIERS DIAMOND (38)

GAMBIT (68)

CAVE OF THE LIVING DEAD (65) - I've seen this a few times and I still believe this is an underrated gem.

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Angel Rivera Watched:

"Along Came Jones"(1945). I was thinking of the song by the Coasters, then thought of the movie of the same title which starred Gary Cooper and which I had never seen. So I sought it out. While the song and movie share the same name, they are very different in plot. Gary Cooper plays a tall thin lanky cowboy who gets mistaken for a murderer and all round bad guy played by Dan Duryea, who is also "lanky". Loretta Young is also in it as the bad girl who is really a good girl. She saves and gets her man by saving his life. (Spoiler Alert: Cooper thought she was aiming at him and missed her mark. But she tells him in what is one of the wittiest lines in the film; that she  tells him she always hits what she aims at., Which is also referring to a running gag of the film; Cooper could not shot straight.)

William DeMarest of "My Three Son" fame plays Cooper's sidekick.

So unlike the song  the movie was only mildly enjoyed.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

Inside job (anime) – season 1 – episodes 5 & 6

Prisoners of the lost universe (1983, Terry Marcel)

La guerra di Troia (1961, Giorgio Ferroni)

Mildly enjoyed:

Guida astrologica per cuori infranti - season 1 – episodes 1 & 2

Bulgasal, immortal souls – season 1 – episodes 1 & 2

Moth effect – season 1 – episodes 3 & 4

Did not enjoy:

Infinite (2021, Antoine Fuqua)

Ma femme est une panthère (1961, Raymond Bailly)

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Charles Gilbert watched:

WAR GODS OF BABYLON (1962) Unusual to see Howard Duff in a peplum. He plays king of Nineva whose brother (Luciano Marin) takes mountain girl Jackie Lane to wife. Spousal coveting begins as the younger is coronated. Exceptional special effects when the city is deluged

MACISTE IN THE VALLEY OF THE THUNDERING ECHOES (1964) aka HEECULES OF THE DESERT. The legend of Maciste but he's referred to as Hercules. The battle in the cave with the beer belly goons is reminiscent of Kirk's first film.

THE HAUNTED STRANGLER (1958) B&W. Boris Karloff waived makeup in transforming into a Jekyll and Hyde type by just mussing his hair and biting his lower lip at the corner. Inane.

NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955) B&W. Suspenseful story that begins as a psychological melodrama, then weaves into a tour de force for a young boy with Sawyeresque aplomb,  Lilian Gish takes up the end in a memorable performance as a 'mother goose'  Vierwing is highlighted with expressionistic southern cinematography.  I have to remind myself that it's not Hitchcock but Charles Laughton that directed, John Wayne chided Kirk Douglas for ignobly portraying Vincent Van Gogh, I wonder if he did the same to Robert Mitchum for playing a deranged religious fanatic in this.

A REASON TO LIVE A REASON TO DIE (1972) Set during the War Between The States Union Colonel Pembroke (James Coburn) recruits Eli Sampson (Bud Spencer) and four other condemned men from the gallows to carry out a mission ostensibly promising gold. The opposing Confederate commandant Major Ward  (Telly Savalas who doesn't appear until midpoint in the film) is now in control of Fort Holman Santa Fe that used to belong to the Yanks. Repossessing the formidable outpost is the objective.

Poverty in the USA: Being Poor in the World's Richest Country. This documentary focuses on the destitute living out of their cars in San Diego  evictions in Richmond Virginia, perennial impoverishment and food stamps in Appalachia, and the greatest population of homeless in Los Angeles.Finally  in Waco, Texas a church group issues the homeless challenge by having donors 'walk in their shoes' for a day. Apparently filmed by and for Europeans as currency is described in euros 

STAGECOACH (1986) TV movie directed by Ted Post. Remake features mostly country music legends. Willie Nelson produced and stars as Doc Holliday  a twist in the roster from previous versions; Johnny,  June, and Billy Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson as Ringo. Also has Mary Crosby (dad Bing was in the 1966 rendition)  Incorporates a syncopated leitmotif from Marty Robbins tune ' 'Big Iron'.

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