Week of January 14 - 20, 2023

 

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

Brain Teasers:

Which Polish born actress made Westerns with Tomas Milian, Tony Kendall and Rik Van Nutter?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes knew that it was Halina Zalewska, best known as Ella Karin in THE BOUNTY KILLER.

Which Italian actor, born in 1936, was killed in movies by Tony Anthony, Gordon Mitchell, Anthony Steffen and George Hilton?

No one has answered this question yet.

What American collaborator of Sergio Leone wants credit for translating the script into English and thus getting the English speaking actors to sign on to make C'ERA UNA VOLTA IL WEST?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes knew that it was Mickey Knox.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which actor, born in Guyana in 1931, appeared in three Italian sword & sandal films and three Italian Westerns?

Which actor who starred in director Melvin Van Peebles first movie went on to make three Italian Westerns?

Complete the lyric: "Woman you're not a friend. Everytime I come to you _ ____ ____ _____ _______  ___ ____>"

Name the movies from which these images came.

Rick Garibaldi, George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Marilu Tolo and Milo Quesada in SE SEI VIVO SPARA, aka DJANGO KILL! IF YOU LIVE SHOOT!

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem, George Grimes and Charles Gilbert identified last week's photo of Amerigo Santarelli, Samson Burke and Robert Chevalier in LA VENDETTA DI URSUS, aka VENGEANCE OF URSUS.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's photo of Adrienne LaRussa and John (Janos) Bartha in director Lucio Fulci's BEATRICE CENCI, aka THE CONSPIRACY OF TORTURE.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one identified the above photo.

It shows Tatsuya Nakadai in director Hideo Gosha's THE WOLVES.

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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:

Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates, Jr. "Clare Danes and Jeff Daniels" (2023)

THE WEEKEND (2018) - With a jazzy piano music score by Robi Botos, the third film from Canadian writer/director/producer Stella Meghie has a slight resemblance to a Woody Allen film, minus the dixieland jazz sound. This is partly because the lead, Sasheer Zamata, is a stand-up comedian, and the film is about messy romantic relationships. Zamata talks about on stage the pain of her three year old breakup with

Tone Bell, who still wants to be her friend. As Zamata's mother, Kym Whitley, has turned their old home into an Inn, Bell decides to fulfill his new girlfriend's - DeWanda Wise - desire to meet his ex by having the three spend a weekend at Whitley's place. Naturally, Whitley is worried about her daughter because she's over 30 and unattached. Another guest, Y'lan Noel arrives, unexpectedly without his girlfriend. When Noel and Zamata start to bond over lost romantic partners, Bell becomes possessive of Zamata, much to Wise's displeasure. There's nothing new here, and the laughs aren't big ones, but the cast is attractive and nobody is stupid, so it is a pleasant viewing experience.

Did not enjoy:

BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR  (2021) - I don't think I was the intended audience for this comedy, but it gets points to being zany. Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo had an hit co-writing BRIDESMAIDS, so they were able to put together the deal to make this film, with some help from Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. This begins with a small Asian boy, Reyn Doi, seeming to deliver newspapers from his bike to a neighborhood. The boy then rides out of town, to a tree, which turns out to have an elevator inside. Suddenly, we are introduced to a James Bond style villain played by Kristen Wiig in pale white skin and black hair. She has coerced a scientist to create mosquitoes with deadly stings that hone in on a beacon to kill everyone around the beacon. As a teenager, pale Wiig was humiliated during the "Seafood Jam" in the Florida resort city of Vista Del Mar, so she plots to use her mosquitoes to kill everyone there. After murdering the scientist, pale Wiig sends the lovelorn Jamie Dornan to Vista Del Mar to place the beacon on the stage of the festival. Meanwhile, in the small town of Soft Rock, Nebraska, two middle aged women, Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo find out that their circle of friends plan to take a vacation to Vista Del Mar, but our heroines have never before left town. After inventing the story of Trish, a woman who became a water spirit, they decide to adventure in Vista Del Mar. Naturally, they bump into Dornan there, who is beginning to doubt that pale Wiig really loves him. Both women pursue Dornan, but Wiig beds him, and tries to keep it a secret from Mumolo. Pale Wiig sends Damon Wayans Jr. to ensure that Dornan completes his mission. Meanwhile, pale Wiig forces Wiig and Mumolo to jump off a cliff. Luckily, the middle aged women are wearing culottes which act as parachutes. Everything works out happily for all involved when Wiig and Mumolo learn that pale Wiig is evil because she's never had a friend, and they tell her that they'll be her friend. Everyone seems to have forgotten that she murdered the scientist, and even Doi shows up to urge everyone to party. There are two musical numbers in this movie, Andy Garcia has a cameo and Reba McEntire shows up as Trish, the water spirit. After a few acclaimed documentaries, director Josh Greenbaum made this his feature film debut.

BLOODSHOT (2020) - The Valiant Comics character created in 1992 by Kevin VanHook, Don Perlin and Bob Layton was originally Mafia hitman Angelo Mortalli. In 1997, Acclaim Entertainment bought Valiant Comics and the character became, under writer Len Kaminski and artist Sal Velluto, covert operative Raymond Garrison who uses the cover identity of Mortalli. Valiant Entertainment took over in 2004, and in 2012 Duane Swierczynski, Arturo Lozzi and Manuel Garcia created the current version of Bloodshot. Eager for another comic book franchise, Sony/Columbia intended this to be the first in a series involving the "Valiant Comics Universe". Even though the theatrical shut-down due to Covid limited the box office for the film, plans are still going for a sequel and more. At first the premise sounds like UNIVERSAL SOLDIER with "super soldiers" being created from dead or wounded military men. When they got into implanting false memories and mind control, the story ventured into Doll House territory. Vin Diesel's resurrection is because of nanites infused throughout his body, which allows for almost instant healing for any damage that occurs. The film starts off with a false narrative, which we learn later was fed into Diesel's brain to give him a revenge motive to commit the murders desired by Guy Pearce at Rising Spirit Technologies. Going into action, Diesel performs like Painkiller Jane - a character created by Event Comics in 1995 and made into a TV series in 2007 - who takes any punishment thrown at her but keeps going due to remarkable regenerative abilities - but no nanites or mind control for her. Eventually, Eliza Gonzalez betrays Pearce and with the help of Lamone Morris sets Diesel free to kill all of the bad guys. At 109 minutes running time, BLOODSHOT feels like it under went extensive re-editing - probably to take out a lot of explanations in favor of cutting to the action. As with Painkiller Jane, BLOODSHOT seems to deliberately act in the dullest and dumbest way possible when on the attack. This results in some spectacular bits that have no excitement. Elon Musk's ex-wife Talulah Riley appears in Diesel's false memories. Dave Wilson directed.

THE HUSTLE (2019) - For some unknown reason Rebel Wilson and Roger Birnbaum thought a female version of DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (1988) - which was a remake of BEDTIME STORY (1964) - was a good idea. I'm guessing that Anne Hathaway joined to have the opportunity to play something different from the nice girl roles she usually gets. British comedian Chris Addison made his directorial debut with this film. No one involved seems to have a sense of humor with which I can identify and I found the entire film an irritating drag. And they even were able to make Hathaway look unattractive.

ILLEGALLY YOURS (1988) - Having declared bankruptcy in 1985, director Peter Bogdanovich said he made this movie for the paycheck. Rob Lowe liked the script and hoped that working with Bogdanovich would result in another WHAT'S UP DOC? For better or for worse, Bogdanovich rewrote the script to provide a role for Louise Straten, the sister of the murdered Dorothy Stratten - who had been Bogdanovich's  girlfriend. Louise would become Bogdanovich's wife shortly after. (They divorced 12 years later.) In addition to production problems, the film also suffered because of the financial meltdown of the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group. Bogdanovich also accused studio head Dino De Laurentiis of having the film completely re-cut. Few things are more irritating that an unfunny screwball comedy, which is what this film is. Rob Lowe narrates the film which begins with Kim Myers and L.B. Straten driving David Reeves to the house shared by Marshall Colt and Linda MacEwen. Myers and Straten are being followed by Tony Longo and Howard Hirdler who actually want to murder Reeves, who gets into the house with Colt and MacEwen before they can shoot. It turned out that Reeves was blackmailing everyone and just about everyone was stealing from shipping magnate Kenneth Mars. Myers was being blackmailed about a drug bust she didn't want Mars, her father, to know about. Anyway, Myers and Straten sneak up to spy on what was going on in the house, and see Reeves pull a gun to threaten Colt and MacEwen. In the struggle over the gun, MacEwen shoots and kills Reeves, which happens before Longo was able to fire his sniper rifle. As Colt and MacEwen roll the dead body up in a carpet, they find that Reeves was recording the transaction on a portable cassette machine. MacEwen ejects the cassette and places it on the shelf with other cassettes. As Colt took the body into the garage, Colt's ex-girlfriend Colleen Camp stormed in to get her stuff left in Colt's house. Among the items Camp collected was her cassette tapes. Now why she would think that a formerly blank tape would be the proper contents to a professionally made tape box of David Bowie's Hunky Dory was just one of the dumb elements of this movie. Realizing that Camp had taken incriminating evidence, MacEwen fought with Camp, but Camp made it outside the house. Jumping into her car, MacEwen tried to run Camp over, but Camp pulled out her pistol and fired at her. Camp missed MacEwen, but wounded a mailman on his route. Meanwhile, Myers and Straten took off, without being seen. Meanwhile, in Winston-Salem, Rob Lowe came home to find his girlfriend cheating on him. He jumped into his car and set off to return to his hometown. Along the way, his car breaks down, and he hires towtruck driver Harry Carey Jr. to continue the journey. Through complicated events, Lowe found himself on the jury for the attempted murder case against Camp. Remembering that he had a crush on her since the first grade, Lowe decided to lie in order to stay on the jury hoping to help her. Without even making himself known to her, Lowe attempted to protect Camp from Colt, MacEwen, Longo and Hirdler outside the court, with the unexplained help of Myers and Straten. There was a lot of slapstick bit and a lot of running around, which was't funny. It seemed odd that while we saw a copy of a David Bowie album, there was no Bowie music in the movie. Instead, we hear three original songs - co-written by Bogdanovich - sung by Johnny Cash. On the plus side, Colleen Camp looked good, and so did Rick Jason, who played Lowe's mother's new boyfriend.

INNOCENT (2011) - Made for TNT, this is a sequel to PRESUMED INNOCENT, which was Scott Turow's first novel. In PRESUMED INNOCENT, Prosecutor Rusty Sabich, played in the movie by Harrison Ford, was accused of murder by cop Tommy Molto, played by Joe Grifasi, just before they were to compete for the job of District Attorney. Sabich beat the rap in court, and it turned out that the murder was committed by wife Barbara Sabich, played by Bonnie Bedelia. She made it look like her husband killed his mistress, while she actually did the deed. INNOCENT begins with son Nat Sabich, played by Callard Harris, finding Rusty, now played by Bill Pullman, beside the dead body of mother Barbara, now played by Marcia Gay Harden. Assistant D.A. Tahmoh Penikett, rushes into the office of D.A. Molto, now played by Richard Schiff, to announce Harden's death suggesting that now Schiff can finally get Pullman for murder, after failing the first time. The plot, as usual, gets very complicated - especially after Pullman's son falls in love with Pullman's former adulturous lover Mariana Klaveno. In the end, Pullman is again acquitted for murder with the revelation that Harden committed suicide leaving evidence suggesting that Pullman killed her after she failed to poison him. Written and directed by Mike Robe, this isn't a compelling mystery or courtroom drama. Interestingly, Pullman acts guilty from the first close up we see. Alfred Molina takes over the role of Sandy Stern, played in PERSUMED INNOCENT by Raul Julia.

OVERBOARD (2018) - While the original 1987 film was considered a box-office disappointment, it became something of a "cult classic". Leslie Dixon's screenplay always seemed to me to be a soften remake of director Lina Wertmuller's TRAVOLTI DA UN INSOLITO DESTINO NELL'AZZURRO MARE D'AGOTO, aka SWEPT AWAY, in which a snooty rich woman is taken down by a working class guy. Like the Wertmuller film, OVERBOARD was accused of being sexist, so co-writer and director Rob Greenberg decided to flip the sexes, and have a working class widowed mom, Anna Faris, take down a snooty rich guy, Eugenio Derbez. I wonder if making the rich guy Mexican, and infusing the film with references to Telenovelas was inspired by the success of the TV series Jane the Virgin. Eva Longoria plays Faris' friend and employer who suggested that she get even with the amnesiac rich dude in the hospital, who wouldn't pay for her cleaning services, by claiming to be his wife. The film blithely portrayed another employee of Longoria as being easily able to forge the documents needed for the subterfuge. Naturally, suddenly in a working class household with three girls, the rich guy realized what was important in life and became a model father and husband. Swoosie Kurtz and John Hannah were enjoyable in the supporting cast.

THE ROW (2018) - To update this old fashioned slasher movie, the makers of THE ROW decided to shoot a lot of this with shakey cam and hyper kinetic editing. Also, the insistent music score is mixed really loud. Even though the film is populated with attractive women, it hasn't a single moment that isn't annoying. Detective Randy Couture seems to have a good relationship with daughter Lala Kent when he drops her off at college. He is soon back in cop action, where, of course, he won't wait for back-up and a fellow officer is grabbed by a woman holding a knife to the officer's throat. In trying to shoot the woman, Couture kills the officer, too. So he is suspended from the force and can't investigate when his daughter finds the body of a murdered sorority sister. Parts of the young woman's body have been replaced with parts of a mannequin. Kent is drawn to the sorority because she discovers that her dead mother, about whom she knows just about nothing, had belonged. Kent quickly becomes unlikable as she screams at her father for not telling her more about her mother. Of course, it turns out that her mother had been involved in an hazing incident which resulted in a pledge killing herself. Someone is out for revenge, and writer Sarah Scougal serves up a lot of red herrings. It all climaxes with the murderer holding a knife to the daughter's throat and we're supposed to be worried that Couture might repeat his mistake from earlier in the movie. Someone must have decided that modern slasher movies don't have resolved endings, so a scene gets tacked on after the end credits finish seemingly showing that the bad guy is still around. This is the second film directed by Matty Beckerman and hopefully the last.

THE VATICAN TAPES (2014) - Mix in elements from THE EXORCIST III, THE OMEN and various other EXORCIST rip-offs, and you get this lousy movie with a touch of THE DAVINCI CODE with secret Vatican archives. After a nauseauting montage mixing faux news stories and found footage like recreations of supernatural shenanigans under the opening credits, the film begins with Vatican officials Djimon Hounsou and Peter Andersson considering information about a possible case of demonic possession involving Olivia Taylor Dudley. Michael Pena gets the usual "Father Karris" role as a local priest finding himself in a situation over his head. Eventually, it is revealed that Dudley was born of a prostitute and that she is possessed by the Antichrist. Andersson decides that he must kill Dudley in order to kill the Antichrist, but that allows the Antichrist to be resurrected after death. She then kills all involved in the exorcism except Pena, who is instructed to inform the Vatican that the Antichrist walks the Earth. At the Vatican, Hounsou invites Pena into a secret archive where they are monitoring Dudley's growing popularity as a miracle faith healer. With Brian Taylor, director Mark Neveldine delivered the splendid CRANK movies. Without Taylor, he's delivered this hyper kinetic spook show that is energetic but dull.

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Charles Gilbert watched:

VENGEANCE OF URSUS (1961) Samson Burke assumes the role, and is regarded in the script as a giant, but he's not much taller than Nerio Bernardi.

THE RAVEN Roger Corman.  Hazel Court reason enough to watch repeatedly

REPRISAL (1956) Half breed Frank Madden (Guy Madison) wants to settle in a highly bigoted town heavily populated by native Americans, including beautiful squaw Kathryn Grant. But Frank is smitten by the daughter (Felicia Farr) of the land agent from whom he obtained a ranch. Evenually he reveals his heritage.

 

THE LAST FRONTIER (1955) Cavalry versus Indians the backdrop for soap opera battle amongst trapper scout Jeb Cooper (Victor Mature), fort commander Col Marston (Robert Preston), and the colonol's wife Corinna (Anne Bancroft). Guy Madison and James Whitmore costar.

THE WALKING TARGET (1960) B&W. Noir film from director Edward L.Cahn about a convict named Nick Harbin (Ronald Foster) released after serving 5 years for an armored car robbery with the loot unrecovered. All the authorities promise to shadow him suspecting he hasn't truly reformed. 

SECRET OF DEEP HARBOR (1961) B&W. Another Cahn noir with Ron Foster, who plays a news reporter on the waterfront. Girlfriend Janey's (Merry Anders) father operates a charter boat making filthy lucre by smuggling operatives for the syndicate. 

NO GREATER LOVE (1960) B&W. 1940's Universal starlet Evelyn Ankers came out of retirement for this her last film appearance. Here she stars with husband Richard Denning in a faith-based production about professionals donating their time and talent to Christian mission work abroad. They play a couple assisting in dentistry for the needy in Madagascar. Cast includes Art Linkletter, Robert Cornthwaite, and Ross Elliot. 30 minutes run time.

Mary Tyler Moore Show S05E21 "The Green Dress" Mary models a voluptuous dress for a friend who aspires to couture. Coworker Ted (Ted Knight) is smitten when he drops in to see her posing in it.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

Indian uprising (1952, Ray Nazarro)

The spoilers (1942, Ray Enright)

Badlands of Dakota (1941, Alfred E. Green)

Martha, Jane, James, George et les autres (doc) (2019, Linda Tahir)

Ovni(s) – season1 – episodes 3 to 12

Hoshi no samidare / Lucifer and the biscuit hammer (anime) – season 1 – episodes 4 & 5

Tupyo / Into the ring (2020) – season 1 – episodes 3 & 4

Mildly enjoyed:

Digital man (1994, Philip Roth)

Winchester 73 (tv movie) (1967, Herschel Daugherty)

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David Deal Enjoyed:

THE KID FROM TEXAS (50) - Audie Murphy is Billy the Kid, made out to be a reasonable fellow who was pushed into murdering 21 people before being cut down by Pat Garrett at 21 years old. This pic was a hit and Murphy's string of westerns began. Not bad entertainment, and Murphy's brooding Billy is interesting to watch. Will Geer has a strong supporting role. With Albert Dekker and Gale Storm.

GOLDFINGER (64)

FOUR FACES WEST (48) - Joel McCrea pulls a bank job and, while on the run, makes the acquaintance of the beautiful and understanding Frances Dee. The law keeps dogging him, in the person of Pat Garrett (Charles Bickford), until an act of kindness by McCrea leads to his salvation. Perhaps the only western completely without gunfire or fights, this chase western is interesting and carried with ease by McCrea. Recommended.

HANA-BI (97)

PISTOL FOR RINGO (65)

KEEPERS OF THE MAGIC (16) - Another excellent documentary on cinematographers. See also Visions of Light. Both highly recommended.

JOHNNY CARSON KING OF LATE NIGHT (12)

PERVERSION STORY (70)

GODZILLA (56)

THE WHIP AND THE BODY (63)

THE GHOST OF SIERRA DE COBRE (64)

BROKEN FLOWERS (05)

DR. ORLOFF'S MONSTER (64)

Mildly enjoyed:

SON OF THE RED CORSAIR (59)

SO DARK THE NIGHT (46)

KILL POINT (84) - Leo Fong, a cop who works for Richard Roundtree, is assigned a case that involves a theft of an armory, an insane arms dealer (Cameron Mitchell), and local gangs shooting up grocery stores with automatic weapons. Mitchell's right hand man Stack Pierce seems to be the only one with his shit together. Low budget action is only satisfying on a drive-in, time-killing level.

KILLER SHARK (50) - After a dozen years in school, Roddy MacDowell meets up with his shark boat-owning dad (Roland Winters) down Mexico way for a fishing trip. After his dad loses a leg to a shark, Roddy wants to make up for it and take the boat out again. It doesn't go well. Before director Budd Boetticher hit the big time with his string of top westerns with Randolph Scott, he toiled on Poverty Row. This Monogram effort is breezy but doesn't shy away from tension and action. Winters played Charlie Chan in Monogram's series.

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Week of January 7 - 13, 2023

 

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

Brain Teasers:

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

It was CATCH-22.

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

Tom Betts and Charles Gilbert knew it was Gordon Mitchell back when he was known as Charles Pendleton.

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

Tom Betts and Angel Rivera knew that it was Julian Ugarte.

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

Tom Betts knew that it was Jose Nieto.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which Polish born actress made Westerns with Tomas Milian, Tony Kendall and Rik Van Nutter?

Which Italian actor, born in 1936, was killed in movies by Tony Anthony, Gordon Mitchell, Anthony Steffen and George Hilton?

What American collaborator of Sergio Leone wants credit for translating the script into English and thus getting the English speaking actors to sign on to make C'ERA UNA VOLTA IL WEST?

Name the movies from which these images came.

Tom Betts, George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Patty Shepard and Julian Ugarte in LA DOVE NON BATTE IL SOLE, aka EL KARATE EL COLT Y EL IMPOSTOR, aka BLOOD MONEY, aka THE STRANGER AND THE GUNFIGHTER.

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 Walter Grant and Loris Loddi in ERCOLE SFIDA SANSONE, aka HERCULES SAMSON AND ULYSSES.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one has identified the above photo yet.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one has identified the above photo yet.

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:

Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over (2023)

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. "Edward Norton & Julia Roberts" (2023)

WHITEOUT (2009) - In 1998, Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber created a four issue comic book, which almost immediately caught the attention of movie producers. It wasn't until 2006 when producer Joel Silver got a hold of it for Dark Castle Entertainment, and director Dominic Sena, who before made SWORDFISH with Silver, requested to come aboard that the film finally got made. As Kate Beckinsale had proven herself as a star with the UNDERWORLD movies, it didn't seem all that strange that she was cast as the U.S. Marshal stationed in Antarctica. She is introduced doing something like a strip tease before taking a shower, which doesn't show the "naughty bits", but establishes that she is an attractive woman. The movie is not a chore to watch, but the plot doesn't really hold together and eventually becomes very predictable. The novelty of a murder mystery set in Antarctica is kind of fun, though the film, at times, resembles John Carpenter's THE THING, but with really annoying flashbacks as to why Beckinsale was posted to such a remote location. So the mystery becomes: 1) what was the Soviet plane carryng that inspired the flight crew to get into a gun battle with the guards and crash in the 1950s, 2) who is killing the meteor researchers that accidentally found the buried Soviet plane in the ice, and 3) which one of Beckinsale's trusted colleagues will turn out to be her enemy in a repeat of the trauma of her flashbacks? Tom Skerritt and Gabriel Macht are also in the cast.

Did not enjoy:

CUBAN FURY (2014) - Young Ben Radcliffe is inspired to become a Salsa dance champion with his sister Isabella Steinbarth and his coach Ian McShane. Unfortunately, on his way to the finals, he gets beaten up by some bullies and renounces his dance ambitions. Twenty five years later, he becomes Nick Frost and works at an engineering company, where he is bullied by Chris O'Dowd. The sight of his new boss from America, Rashida Jones, ignites a spark in Frost, which O'Dowd immediately sees and inspires a competition. When Frost discovers that Jones is taking Salsa dancing lessons, he decides to see his sister, now Olivia Colman, and his old teacher, still McShane, to see if he can regain his old skills. Well, of course, O'Dowd tries to thwart any possible romance, but when Jones sees Frost and Colman perform at a Salsa competition, she is won over - especially after she dances with Frost. Under the end credits, we see that Frost and Jones become a Salsa champion couple. If you've ever wanted to see Olivia Colman and Ian McShane briefly dance Salsa, this is the movie for you. Unfortunately, the movie isn't very funny while it follows the usual romantic comedy scenario, and it now seems odd that no one questions the legality of work place entanglements. On the positive side, Rashida Jones looks terrific. Nick Frost is credited with coming up with the idea for the movie, while TV writer Jon Brown scripted it. This was the feature film debut for TV director James Griffiths. 

DEATH WISH (2018) - Supposedly, the idea of a remake of the 1974 film began in 2006 with Sylvester Stallone set to star and direct. After Stallone left the project Joe Carnahan came aboard, and even though he also left, he ended up getting sole screenwriting credit. So let's blame him for the idea of changing the premise of an architect taking on crime in the streets, to a surgeon going on a revenge rampage. We get to know our hero's wife and daughter - the beautiful Elisabeth Shue and the beautiful Camila Morrone, before they are assaulted. This time they do not live in Manhattan, but in the suburbs. And instead of going after every criminal that gets in his path, our hero, Bruce Willis, is trying to find the thugs who attacked his family. When he finds one on his operating table, he subtly kills him. It is not surprising considering that Eli Roth became the director of the final film to find this flick filled with extreme gore effects with some bits of torture. Whether Roth intended this to be humorous or not, the result is that the film is laughable. Especially in the depiction of social media going wild over Willis' actions. There is an element of grace in the film though with the daughter making a full recovery and in the end going off to university. Vincent D'Onofrio and Len Cariou are also in the cast as Willis' relatives.

MEET THE BLACKS (2016) - From that title, I never expected this to be a parody of THE PURGE. Wearing a long hair blonde wig, and white face, Executive Producer Snoop Dogg starts the film explaining the rules of the Purge. During the animated opening credits, Carl Black, played by Mike Epps, explains that because of all of the street violence in Chicago, he wanted to move. After the local drug dealer got busted while Epps was fixing the wiring in the man's house, Epps stole his stash of drugs and cash and moved to a gated community in Beverly Hills "because rich people don't Purge". Of course the black gate keeper to the community doesn't believe a black family lives in the community, but Epps finally talks him into letting him in. The family hasn't even finished unloading their moving boxes when President El Bamba, played by George Lopez, appears on TV to announce the beginning of The Purge - 12 hours in which anyone can commit any crime they want. First off, daughter Bresha Webb's boyfriend King Bach tries to kill Epps, but Webb pushes him off the 2nd floor balcony to his death. Then a parade of creditors Epps thought he left behind in Chicago show up to kill him. Eventually, it turns out that the President of the Home Owner's Associaton, Gary Owen, regretted approving Epps application and invited all of the creditors to visit - including Mike Tyson as the owner of a bounce house. Even the all-black members of the Beverly Hills KKK show up - including Paul Mooney, as well as the newly released from prison drug dealer Charlie Murphy. Naturally Epps, his wife Zulay Henao, daughter Webb, son Alex Henderson and cousin Lil Duval survive the night and move to a cabin near in lake in the country. Of course, it turns out that Jason Vorhees stalks the area. Reportedly made for only $900.000, MEET THE BLACKS made over $9 million at the box office which resulted in a sequel called THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR: MEET THE BLACKS 2. While just about everyone who worked on the first film came back for the sequel, the sequel bombed, so co-writer and director Deon Taylor moved on to other projects. This was the last film made with Charlie Murphy and Paul Mooney before their deaths.

THE PRODIGY (2019) - I enjoyed Taylor Schilling on Orange Is the New Black, so I looked forward to seeing her in something different. I did not enjoy seeing her in a variation on THE OMEN, except now it's the mother investigating the demonic child instead of the father. Both films end the same, but PRODIGY doesn't have the outlandish kill scenes of THE OMEN. The film starts with Brittany Allen escaping the cabin of serial killer Paul Fauteux. She stops a passing motorist and exclaims, "He cut off my hand." As the police arrive at Fauteux's cabin in Ohio, Schilling gives birth to a boy in Pennsylvania. The police shoot the naked Fauteux dead, and the bullet holes in his chest match the afterbirth blood on the baby's body. Eventually, the boy, Jackson Robert Scott, begins to exhibit disturbing behavior from mutilating the baby sitter to clobbering a classmate with a wrench. Schilling audio tapes Scott talking in his sleep, which turns out to be an obscure Hungarian dialect about mutilating a woman before killing her. Schilling comes to believe that Scott is fighting the evil soul trying to possess him, and after the boy kills the family dog and causes the auto accident that puts her husband in a coma, she figures that if Scott completes his murder of Allen then her child will be free. So. she takes the boy to where Allen is living and plans to murder the woman herself with a pistol. Naturally, she can't do it, but Scott comes in and murders the woman himself with a knife before running outside. Schilling takes the pistol outside and is about to shoot the evil boy when a farmer shoots her dead to defend the seemingly helpless child. Now living with a new family, Scott see Fauteux's reflection in the mirror and plots more mayhem. Bleech, bleech, bleech! Jeff Buhler is credited with the script while Nicholas McCarthy, who also made THE PACT starring Caity Lotz, directed.

SANCTUM (2011) - Inspired by co-writer and producer Andrew Wight's experience on a 1988 cave diving expedition in the Nullarbor Plain underwater cave system in Australia during which 13 people were trapped when a freak storm collapsed the cave entrance, this film tells of an expedition in the Esa'ala Caves of Papua, New Guinea. Confident that they would get advance warning of a coming storm, the explorers are trying to find if the cave reaches the ocean. The storm hits suddenly, the entrance collapses and everyone has to start looking for an exit as torrential rain floods the above water portion of the cave. Accidents and self-sacrifice take out a number of the team, with mercy killing taking out some more. Eventually, only one makes it through to the ocean. James Cameron became one of the executive producers when the Australian production chose to use the 3D cameras he developed for AVATAR. Alister Grierson directed.

TANK (1984) - Filmed entirely in Georgia, here's a film with the message that if your son is the victim of injustice by a bigoted small town sheriff in Georgia, break him out of a prison work farm and get him and yourself over the border to Tennessee. Newly stationed in an Army base in Georgia, Command Sergeant Major James Garner arrives with his wife, Shirley Jones, and son, C. Thomas Howell and his personally owned vintage Sherman tank. One thing that Garner won't stand for is abuse, and when he sees Deputy Sheriff James Cromwell slapping around local working girl Jenilee Harrison in a bar, Garner decks the S.O.B. The one thing Sheriff G.D. Spradlin won't stand for is not being in control, so after whipping Harrison with a belt, he has Cromwell set up Howell on a marijuana bust. Spradlin tells Garner that he'll release the boy for a bribe, but when Garner gives him the bribe, he takes it and demands more. Fed up, Garner drives his tank off the base, destroys the sheriff's office, picks up Harrison (who can't live in this town anymore) and breaks Howell out of the prison work farm. With the help of some locals who also have a beef with Spradlin, Garner sets out to Tennessee where he figures he can get his son a fair trial. Of course, Spradlin sets up an elaborate trap at the border in order to stop Garner from winning. Naturally, this becomes a big media story and Jones convinces the Governor of Tennessee to guarantee that her family will get a fair legal hearing, or she will tell the assembled reporters that he is an "asshole". Aside from Garner's easy charm, director Marvin J. Chomsky keeps the audience's attention by having Jenilee Harrison wearing a skimpy tank top under which her nipples never relax. Dan Gordon scripted this project which could have been made for TV with a few less swear words.

THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME (1947) - Much has been made of producer Joan Harrison's long time association with Alfred Hitchcock, but this film suffers from ignoring the story telling principles which Hitchcock followed - 1) focus on the character with whom the audience should identify, and 2) always let the audience know what the jeopardy is. Robert Young is on trial for the deaths of two women. Demanding that he be allowed to testify, Young takes the stand to tell how he didn't commit murder. Married to Rita Johnson, Young planned to run off with Jane Greer. However, Johnson is rich and promises to make Young's ambitions come true. Moving to Los Angeles, Young has the job he wanted but soon also meets Susan Hayward. When Young decides to run off with Hayward, Johnson moves them to a ranch in the country. After a bit of time, Young has an excuse to go back to L.A. where he plots to steal his wife's money and run off with Hayward. On the road to Reno, Young and Hayward have a traffic accident and Hayward is burned beyond recognition. Since she was wearing a wedding ring. the authorities believe the body is that of Young' wife, not his mistress. Young doesn't correct the mistake and then sets off back to the ranch in order to murder his wife. However, she's already been killed in a fall off a cliff. Young hides Johnson's body to maintain that Hayward was killed in the car accident. Traveling around South America and the Caribbean, Young bumps into Greer in Jamaica and hopes to restart their relationship. However, it turns out that Greer is working with Tom Powers in trying to find where Hayward is. Eventually, Young's ranch is searched for Hayward's body, and Johnson is found. Young finishes his testimony and Greer reassures him that the jury will find him not guilty. Young, however, says that he's already decided the question of his guilt or innocence himself. In court, before the verdict is read, Young tries to jump out the window of the high rise building and is shot dead by the courtroom guard. The verdict is read: "Not guilty". Young's character is a louse and the film becomes irritating as it asks us to follow his story. He even admits in his testimony that he wanted to murder his wife and he thinks little of ruining the lives of the women around him. What these women see in him is never explained so they come off as stupid and uninteresting. The "twist" ending is just the sort-of thing I didn't like in many episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which Harrison would produce starting in 1955. 

12 ROUNDS (2009) -  Having successfully launching wrestler "The Rock" in a movie career, WWE Films/Studios has proceeded to try the same with other professional wrestlers. This film stars John Cena as a cop in a variation on DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE. Cena captured master criminal Aidan Gillen, but Gillen's girlfriend, Taylor Cole, tried to run away and was killed by a truck. A year later, Gillen has escaped from prison and wants revenge. He's kidnapped Cena's girlfriend, Ashley Scott, and threatens to kill her unless Cena wins "12 Rounds" of puzzles and challenges. As with VENGEANCE, the villain isn't really out for revenge - he has a spectacular heist in mind. WWE got DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER director Renny Harlin to helm this, so the action is big and loud and captured with shakey cameras and slam-bang editing. It's all rather tiring instead of thrilling and, of course, unbelievable. The film did well enough for WWE to make two follow-ups for home video that are completely unconnected to the 2009 film.

12 ROUNDS: RELOADED (2013) - Randy Orton is the wrestler playing the hero this time. And this time he's a paramedic married to Cindy Busby. On a date one night, Orton and Busby witness a two car accident and Orton jumps into action. He rescues the driver of one car, and the passenger of the other, but can't get the other driver, a woman, out because of extensive damage. The female driver, Janene Carleton dies. A year later, Carleton's husband, Brian Markinson wants revenge on everyone, but puts Orton through a grueling "12 Rounds" contest. It turns out that the driver who caused the accident, Tom Stevens, is the son of Governor Devlin Weaver, who has already been kidnapped by Markinson. Venus Terzo is the cop trying to find the Governor, and soon begins to see a connection between what is happening to Orton and what happened to the Governor. With two cast members from Da Vinci's Inquest aboard, it is apparent that this movie was shot in Vancouver, Canada. Anyway, the governor got his son a reduced sentence for manslaughter, so Markinson wants to kill Weaver, Stevens, the Judge, the lawyer, the Police Officer on the scene and our hero and his wife to get justice for his dead wife. If you ever wanted to see a graphic CGI depiction of man burning to death, this is the movie for you. Naturally, our hero survives with his wife, and, as in the first film, the villain is blown up by his own bomb. Veteran Dutch director Roel Reine has already worked for WWE Films with Ted Di Biase Jr. in THE MARINE 2.

WONDER PARK (2019) - I'm not an ideal audience for animated feature films, so I didn't expect to enjoy this much. I probably would have enjoyed this more if it was live action and I got to watch Brianna Denski instead of just hearing her voice as the young girl with an active imagination who loves amusement parks. With her mother, voice by Jennifer Garner, Mali imagines a wild amusement park run by her stuffed animals. She turns her neighborhood into an amusement park ride, and after causing wild spread damage and nearly getting killed in traffic, the girl decides to dial it down a bit. Her mother gets sick and has to go away for treatment, so her Dad, voiced by Matthew Broderick, decides to send the girl to summer camp. On the road, Mali suddenly worries about her Dad living alone, so she gets her best friend to pretend to vomit forcing the bus to stop and she escapes to head back home on foot. She gets lost in the forest and seems to come upon her imagined amusement park, Wonderland, having fallen into disarray. Eventually, she figures out that she's neglected the place since she found out her mother was sick, and since she created the park, she can fix it. There's a lot of shouting and screaming and explosions, but she finally re-awakens the joy of the park and everything begins to work again. Finally, getting home, she discovers that she wasn't away over night as she thought, but was only gone for about an hour. She relaunches her plans to turn the neighborhood into a amusement park just in time for her mother to return having beaten her ailment. The film ends with her running a make-shift amusement park out of her house, but also whispering instructions for the imaginary park to create a new ride. Reportedly, Jeffrey Tambor was voice cast in this film, but after accusations of sexual misconduct led to his being fired from Transparent, he was also dropped from this project. Director Dylan Brown reportedly had just about finished this film with the title AMUSEMENT PARK when accusations of sexual misconduct led to his being fired. Clare Kilner and Robert Iscove stepped in to complete the film, but no one took a director's credit on the final release.

X/Y (2014) - This is the kind of movie which feels like it came out of improvisations during an acting class. Ryan Piers Williams and America Ferrera are having relationship problems. The first sign that we see is that he can't finish as they are having sex. She accuses him of not being communicative, but then springs the news that she's slept with another man. The film then goes into chapter headings as we see how each character is miserable. First up is Williams' character, who moves in with his friend Jon Paul Phillips. Williams has a screenplay that he's trying to interest David Harbour in supporting. Various other people pass through the film, including Amber Tamblyn. Seperated from Williams, Ferrera spends time with Common, the co-worker with whom she cheated on Williams. She soon realizes that she really misses Williams and breaks it off with Common. Meanwhile, Phillips, who reveals that he treats women he has sex with poorly, convinces Williams to smoke a joint with him. They then have sex - but the film doesn't clarify if Williams finishes this time. Williams really misses Ferrera, but only talks to her when it turns out she took a day off work and caught him back in the apartment printing out a copy of his screenplay. They make up and promise to try harder to make it work. The fact that in real life Williams and Ferrera are a married couple can't help but make the viewer wonder how much of this film, for which Wiliams gets writer and director credit, is inspired by real life. Even with four credited film editors, the movie feels unstructured and subject to the whims of the actors, who really could have used a stronger script with which to work.

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Charles Gilbert watched:

THE FLIGHT THAT DISAPPEARED (1961) B&W. Three government contract experts on warfare (Craig Hill, Dayton Lummis, and Paula Raymond) are summoned to Washington D. C. for an urgent session. On the flight from Los Angeles they experience an Outer Limits moment Directed by Reginald LeBorg (THE MUMMY'S GHOST)

12 HOURS TO KILL (1960) B&W. Young Greek engineer Martin Filones (Nino Minardos) on the day he arrives in Americat, witnesses a gangland killing The local police (Grant Richards and Russ Conway) send him to a little town called Denton for low profile from the mob. Only one of the cops on the take (?) gives up his location for targeting. Two cerebrally dense hitman (Richard Reeves and Gavin MacLeod) are waiting. Local resident Lucy Hall (Barbara Eden) befriends the Greek.

THE TREASURE OF SILVER LAKE (1964) A treasure map becomes rapacious desiderata for an ambitious gang led by Colonol Brinkley (Herbert Lom) He possesses half of the map, and is desperate to locate the other, even if they have to resort to murder. Shatterhand (Lex Barker) and Winnetou (Pierre Brice) help a friend hunt these killers of his father. For levity their posse include the Pioneer poet and a wandering dandy on expedition for butterflies. A remote lake guarded by Indians adjoins where "x marks the spot" in a cave housing a trove of gold articles where both contingents converge.

Red Skelton Show: Boris Karloff and Vincent Price play father and son mad scientists in a comedic skit involving Clem Kladiddlehopper.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

Has anybody see my gal ? (1952, Douglas Sirk)

Kaamelott- season 2 – episodes 1 to 35

Paris police 1905 – season 1 – episodes 3 & 4

Willow – season 1 – episodes 5 & 6

Hoshi 

no samidare / Lucifer and the biscuit hammer (anime) – season 1 – episodes 1 to 3

Tupyo / Into the ring (2020) – season 1 – episodes 1 & 2

Mildly enjoyed:

Men’s favorite sport (1963, 

Howard Hawks)

Yves Robert le cinéma entre copain (doc) (2020, Jérôme Wybon)

Ovni (s) – season 1 – episode 1

Abbott and Costello go to Mars (1952, Charles Lamont)

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David Deal Enjoyed:

ROLLING THUNDER (77)

20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (57)

THE SLAVE (62)

BULLITT (68)

THUNDER OVER THE PLAINS (53) - From 2018 "Conflicted Texan Randolph Scott is a Union soldier stationed in Texas after the Civil War as part of the occupying force before the state was allowed back in the Union. This is a high-quality adult western from Andre De Toth with impressive natural-light photography.  Good turns by Charles McGraw and Lex Barker who both play against type."

HOUSE OF HORRORS (46)

THE MALTESE FALCON (41)

PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (66)

THE ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA (54) - From 2019 "John Derek is Hajji who agrees to escort an ornery princess (Elaine Stewart) to her arranged wedding. Their journey to her villainous husband-to-be is interrupted when amazonian warriors kidnap them. Very fun and colorful adventure from the director of The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (and episodes of every television show ever made). Amanda Blake leads the amazons."

TO CATCH A THIEF (55)

Mildly enjoyed:

DANGER IN THE MIDDLE EAST (60) - From 2019 "Francoise Arnoul, the widow of a criminal who died with knowledge of secret papers worth a fortune, joins forces with Michel Piccoli to find them. One of those small spy films that existed before Bond changed the landscape.  Rosanna Schiaffino, as the villain's moll, is a striking diversion."

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Angel Rivera Highly enjoyed:

"Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris" (1992) Angela Lansbury stars as a "charwoman"in London who dreams of going to the House of Dior in Paris, /France and purchasing a Dior dress. Set in the 1950s Mrs. Harris (or as she is colloquially known, Mrs. 'Arris) saves up enough money to buy the dress and goes after her "dream". The movie is very charming.

Mildly enjoyed:

"Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris" (2022) Lesley Manville, best known for her role on the Netflix drama "The Crown", among other roles, plays the cleaning woman who dreams of owning a Dior dress. The film is based on the Paul Gallico novel and contemporizes the novel with diversity casting in the supporting roles and is some what gimmicky in its execution.

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