To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
In which Italian directed Western did Guy Madison fire seven shots from a six-shooter in the final shoot-out?
Tom Betts and Rick Garibaldi knew that it was I 5 DELLA VENDETTA, aka 5 GIANTS FROM TEXAS.
Which Italian director of Westerns was known to cast his daughter as his leading lady?
Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem and Rick Garibaldi knew that it was Demofilo Fidani, aka Miles Deem. His daughter is Simonetta Vitelli, aka Simone Blondell.
Which Italian director of Westerns often had screenplays written by his wife?
Tom Betts and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Demofilo Fidani, aka Miles Deem. His wife is Mila Vitelli Valenza.
And now for some new brain teasers:
Which Italian former assistant director began his directing career with a Western starring Guy Madison?
By what name is Aurora Julia better known?
In which Italian directed Western did Giovanni Cianfriglia throw a knife into Antonio Molino Rojo's throat?
Name the movies from which these images came.
Tom Betts, Rick Garibaldi, Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes identified last week's photo of Chelo Alonso and Tomas Milian in CORRI UOMO CORRI, aka RUN MAN RUN.
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 Chelo Alonso in NEL SEGNO DI ROMA, aka SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR.
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?
George Grimes, Angel Rivera and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Jackie Chan and Shih Kien in THE YOUNG MASTER.
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:
6 DAYS (2017) - A tense and compelling dramatization of the 1980 hostage take-over of the Iranian Embassy in London, 6 DAYS provided director Toa Fraser with the opportunity to deliver a straight-forward thriller and gave actors Jamie Bell and Mark Strong a strong showcase. How come New Zealand filmmakers decided to recreate this bit of British history, aside from it being a splendid story? Having actual participants Rusty Firmin, Max Vernon and Kate Adie consult on the production helped to insure convincing accuracy. The hostage takers were Arab Iranians from the Khuzestan Province demanding the release of prisoners taken by the majority Persian government which was trying to suppress their independence. The suggestion is that they were aided in their efforts by Sadam Hussein's government in Iraq. There was no mention in the film that the Iran-Iraq war broke out shortly after this incident.
THOR LOVE AND THUNDER (2022)
She-Hulk (2022)
Mildly enjoyed:
THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY (1950) - After years of avoiding this movie because I thought it was going to be corny, I finally gave it a chance. You certainly can't fault this production for its sincerity, and while Jackie Robinson shows little evidence of being an actor, he brings an understated power to the portrayal of himself. The film is surprisingly crude in a low-budget way, but it tells its story in a straightforward manner with few obvious speeches. Racism is an obvious element in the story, but it is soft-pedaled in a way unimaginable nowadays. Wanting to appeal to a mainstream audience, Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey, played by Minor Watson, is the film's hero, though Robinson's strength is also celebrated. For me, the best part of the movie is seeing a young Ruby Dee as Rae Robinson, though it would have been nice if they had written more of a part for her. The film ends with the Dodgers winning the pennant at the end of Robinson's first year in big league baseball, and was supposedly filmed during the off-season after Robinson's third year. Alfred E. Green directed.
Did not enjoy:
ALIEN ADDICTION (2018) - After close to 15 minutes illustrating that male stoners in New Zealand are just as dumb as they are in the U.S., the movie finally shows us the two extraterrestrials that have landed nearby. They climb out of their flying saucer and immediately set about looking for something to smoke in their bong. When a female backpacker leaves a pile of shit in the woods, the aliens figure that it is an offering and proceed to smoke it. Liking the high, they soon tap into the sewage system of Auntie Veronica Edwards' home for continuing supplies. Jimi Jackson notices the tubing coming out of Auntie's home and follows it into the woods. He finds the flying saucer and soon bonds with the aliens in getting stoned. Unfortunately, UFO blogger Thomas Sainsbury happens to see the saucer landing and soon sets about to capture the extraterrestrials. If you found the Farrelly brothers crude and rude, you'll probably find writer, producer, cinematographer, editor and director Shae Sterling cruder and ruder. But Sterling isn't as funny, and ALIEN ADDICTION soon becomes tiresome. While looking like a pair of blue John Lithgows, the aliens act a bit like The Coneheads, but only speak English through a communicator. The movie ends on a bit of a down note, leaving the fate of one of Edwards' human friends in doubt as well as the fate of Sainsbury. Perhaps the moviemakers were hoping for a sequel? Reportedly, this movie was self-financed by Sterling over a period of five years, with him raising money shooting music videos for the likes of Sheila E., Stan Walker, Maisey Rika and Andrew Mockler.
ATTACK OF THE SOUTHERN FRIED ZOMBIES (2018) - It is remarkable that internet sources cite this as being 2017, but the copy I saw sports a 2018 copyright. In any case, this low-budget zombie flick, shot in Mississippi doesn't take itself seriously, but it isn't funny. It's got a lot of blood and guts - much of it CGI, but it isn't thrilling. It's has the "SAG-AFTRA" logo in the end, so it's not an amateur production, but it hardly feels like a professional effort. German scientist Miles Doleac and Japanese scientist Kiyomi Fukazawa enlist crop duster Timothy Haug in the ariel spraying of an experimental chemical which they hope will control the rapid spread of the Kadzu plants over the South Eastern U.S. Unfortunately, it has the side effect of turning the a local marijuana dealer into a flesh eating zombie who spreads the problem by biting everyone with whom he comes in contact. Just what does the end credit of "The animals used in the making of this motion picture were unmolested" mean? Co-star Moses J. Moseley also did a stint on TV's The Walking Dead and Watchmen before being found dead under mysterious circumstances at the age of 31.
PANAMA (2021) - Daniel Adams and William Barber originally wrote this back in 2014, but it took 45 different producers - including star Cole Hauser - to come together to get the movie made in Puerto Rico on a 14 day shoot. Mark Neveldine ended up as director without Brian Taylor, with whom he made the terrific movie CRANK. Unfortunately, PANAMA doesn't have the strong concept that made CRANK work, but Neveldine still shot most of the movie with shakey hand-held cameras making it a chore to watch. Basically, this was a standard action story made complicated by surrounding it with the milieu of the 1989 U.S. efforts to arrest Manuel Noreiga. Mel Gibson convinced Hauser to stop sleeping on his dead wife's grave in order to facilitate the purchase of a Soviet helicoptor for the Nicaraguan Contras in a plan to assassinate Panamanian dictator Noreiga. Not surprisingly, just about everybody double-crosses Hauser who even has his sister-in-law kidnapped by the bad guys in a dispute over one million dollars. Eventually, Gibson, who had been narrating the film, stepped in to help our hero straighten things out. Gibson's presence, even more than Kiara Liz's frequent nudity, made the movie watchable. Mick Fury's near constant music score didn't help the entertainment factor, nor did the poor sound mix. Perhaps the oddest element of the movie was the seeming endorsement of the cause of the Nicaraguan Contras nearly 30 years after they disbanded.
WINGS: SKY FORCE HEROES (2012) - I'm not the intended audience for this, but it is hard for me to understand what viewer could be. I wasn't too fond of PLANES (2013), which was an off-shoot of CARS (2006), but at least those Disney films had a certain logic. OT VINTA 3D was a Russian version of PLANES, retitled WINGS for English language audiences. Just as PLANES had a sequel, PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE, WINGS got a sequel as well. Anyway, airplanes Ace and the Colonel (at least in the English language version) have joined Sky Force Rescue - which is sort-of like Thunderbirds without those pesky humans, but with robot helpers. Not surprising, Ace is an hot shot and irresponsible plane, that won't listen to the advice of his boss, the Colonel. When an accident kills the Colonel, Ace leaves the force and gets a commercial job. Eventually, he goes to work for a mining company, but when the mountain side hanger seems doomed due to an avalanche, Ace rejoins the Sky Force Rescue team to save his fellow worker planes. When Ace's guilt seems ready to prevent him from helping, the Colonel's ghost appears to tell him to "trust in the Force" - or perhaps just trust in your instinct. Now the first WINGS is reported to be a Russian film directed by Olga Lopato in 2012, but SKY FORCE is reported to be from China, directed by Tony Tang. SKY FORCE was released in 2012, but WINGS: SKY FORCE HEROES came out in the U.S. in 2014. Were these films not actually intended to be related, but became attached by the U.S. distributor and weren't actually rip-offs of the Disney films? The Russians came back with WINGS 2 by director Vage Sargsyan in 2021. Will this be picked up for the U.S.?
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Charles Gilbert watched:
KONGA (1961) British monster flick produced by American Herman Cohen. Mad scientist Michael Gough experiments with a growth serum, turning his chimp into a gorilla that does his evil bidding. It gets as big as Big Ben until the army pummels him, shrinking him back into a chimp.
GENGHIS KHAN (1965) Tepid British recounting of Mongolian leader's (Omar Shariff) rise to power among the hordes in the Far East. Especially unconvincing with James Mason and Robert Morley posing as grinning Chinese royalty. The ruler's love interest is played by Francois Dorleac, elder sister of Catherine Deneuve that died at age 25 in an auto accident Viewing interest redeemed by Stephen Boyd, Telly Savallas, and Woody strode
MAN FROM PLANET X (1951) B&W. A misty Scottish town is backdrop for encounter with an alien whose planet is circling treacherously close to Earth. His diving bell shaped spacecraft is lodged in a hillside ironically adjacent to a celestial observatory tower manned by Robert Clarke and William Shallert.
The Wild, Wild West (S2E07) "The Night of the Poisonous Posey. British actress Delphi Lawrence guest stars as Lucretia Posey who heads a world-wide syndicate of crime until West and Gordon intervene.
The Untouchables B&W. (S2E20-21) "The Unhired Assassin" A two-part episode about the assassination of Chicago mayor Anton J. Cermak (Cincinnati-born Robert Middleton) in Miami during a visit from newly elected President FDR. Also titled "The Gun of Zangara". Lee Van Cleef has a small role.as Capone hood Frank Diamond.
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David Deal Enjoyed:
ONE JUMP AHEAD (54) - Reporter Paul Carpenter investigates a young boy's murder and the trail leads him to someone very close. Another nice, twisty Brit mystery with Canadian Carpenter playing his usual likeable self. Recommended.
ASSIGNMENT OUTER SPACE (60)
THE TALL T (57)
PEACEMAKER (90) - Robert Forster and Lance Edwards are aliens who look like humans and they are here to kill the bad guy, whichever one of them is him. Just who is who - cop or killer - is the crux of this action-packed flick with a wall-to-wall synth soundtrack and a zest to confuse the audience. Hilary Sheperd is the love interest who falls for each alien in turn until the truth is revealed.
NO SURVIVORS, PLEASE (63)
RENALDO & THE LOAF 23RD CENTURY GIANTS (22) - Fun documentary about the strange Ralph Records recording artists.
LUST FOR A VAMPIRE (71)
THE THING (51)
THE TREASURE OF SILVER LAKE (62)
THE BIG COMBO (55)
Mildly Enjoyed
ON THE SPOT (40) - When a big city gangster breaks in on small town buddies Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland and dies on the spot, the world, including his gangster buddies, think he spilled the beans concerning the whereabouts of some robbery dough. So the two determine to solve the case themselves before before coming down with lead poisoning, if you know what I mean. Darro and Moreland made a fun, fast-talking comedy team, and this is harmless enough. Also features Tris Coffin.
ONE DANGEROUS NIGHT (42) - Warren William (AKA The Lone Wolf) gets involved in the death of a blackmailer (Gerald Mohr) when he's accused of the crime. Naturally, all of the cad's victims are beautiful women, and must be investigated thoroughly. The penultimate entry in the series with William in the role, this is adequate entertainment but the real delight is LW's valet Eric Blore. His comedic talents outshine the rest of the goings on.
EYE FOR AN EYE (72) - When Jorge Luke was a child he witnessed his pa's death, shot down like a dog. As he grew up, he learned the way of the gun from Cameron Mitchell so he could go revengin'. However, Jorge turns into just another killer and must eventually pay the price. Mildly enjoyed this, with Cam the Man doing a nice turn.
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Angel Rivera Enjoyed:
"Hercules in the Haunted World" (1961) Interesting fantasy.
"The Third Man" (1949) A classic, especially the scene where a light shines on a surprise.
"Rawhide" (1951) Tyrone Power and the lovely Susan Hayward held captive by Hugh Marlowe and his gang.Lots of action and suspense.
Guillermo del Toro's "Pinocchio" (2022) Interesting variation on the Disney version. (Which is one of my favorites.)
"Is That Black Enough for You" (2022) a documentary about African American film making, especially the Blaxplotation period.
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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:
Boston strangler (2022, Matt Ruskin)
Scandal sheet (1952, Phil Karlson)
Leokki / Luck-key (2016, Kae-Byeok Lee)
Django – season 1 – episodes 9 & 10
Ghost town (2008, David Koepp)
Fargo (1996, Joel Coen)
Mildly enjoyed
The seven year itch (1955, Billy Wilder)
The brigand (1952, Phil Karlson)
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