Bigger Than Life

Bigger Than Life (1956)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Nicholas Ray

Starring: James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau, Robert F. Simon, Christopher Olson

From: 20^th Century Fox

Note that I am posting this way earlier than usual for a good reason-I'll be out of town until Friday night. I'll be at the beach about 2 hours away getting to see some family members for the first time in ages. It should be a lot of fun; besides being on the beach itself, deep sea fishing will be done on Friday so that will be a unique experience. Sometime in early May I'll have to watch an aquatic-themed movie and it'd be even better if it had at least a scene involving deep sea fishing.

Anyhow, it was sort of a last minute decision to check this out when it played on TCM last night. Even though it has been released by Criterion it's not on the Criterion Channel... nor is it on any other streaming service. Thus, it was only prudent to see something I heard really strong praise for. As this worked even better for me than expected, thank goodness I made the right decision. It is definitely a 50's melodrama which gets WILD in the final act yet it sadly is quite a bit more relevant today than over 60 years ago. You see, it's about abusing a prescription drug—I don't know about the rest of the world but in the United States that has become a major problem in the 21st century. Millions are abusing pills (usually painkillers) and it's become a national issue.

In this case, James Mason-presumably never better than he was here-is an average man living in the suburbs of a city w/ a doing wife and young son, and is a school teacher. However, he has a rare heart condition which requires the then-new treatment of cortisone to try and extend his life. Things spiral downward for him; hell if I know if it was ever possible to have that sort of reaction, but for him he became more and more psychotic, especially once he starts abusing the drug. Not only does he make outrageous statements and starts treating his pals like trash, but the same goes for his wife and son. The final act becomes quite outrageous, for reasons I dare not spoil. Just note that it includes the phrase “God was wrong!”, which is always a warning sign that someone is not well. It features plot elements that I was shocked were in a major studio release from '56.

As others have speculated, it probably would not be a surprise if David Lynch loved this movie. It's a searing and blunt look that skewers the idea of The American Dream and suburban life... behind the white picket fence and quaint house are troubled people who are so flawed, it seems as if the Sword of Damocles are constantly over their heads. Not only is this an obvious examination of prescription drug abuse but there is plenty of subtext and interpretations that can be made. After all, even before the drug abuse, Mason's character is someone who not only keeps hidden the illness that has affected him for at least half a year, but also him working a second job at a taxicab service. Can it be said that the abuse actually reveals the horrible truths that he has always believed and brought those vicious beliefs to the surface?

There are other nice performances, from the kid actor Christopher Olsen to poor Barbara Rush as the wife who struggles w/ trying to maintain the facade of a happy home, and Walter Matthau as a loyal friend. It was expertly directed by Nicholas Ray; he utilizes the wide aspect ratio of Cinemascope to perfection. It managed to work for a movie mainly shot on sound stages; the house is made to look increasingly claustrophobic and smothering, not to mention Mason more and more terrifying as he deteriorates. I could swear he started to slur his speech but it was a great performance from someone who also produced a movie that flopped at the time but has received its well-due recognition as a great motion picture decades later.

The Northman

The Northman (2022)

89% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 282 reviews)

Runtime: 137 minutes

Directed by: Robert Eggers

Starring: Alexander Skarsgard, Anya Taylor-Joy, Claes Bang, Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke

From: Focus Features/Regency

I'll have to remember in the future to BURP and FART if someone ever wants me to prove that I'm not a dog.

To be frank: while I found The Witch (or The VVtch, as some demand it be called) to be great, my reaction to The Lighthouse was much more meh, which was not the fault of Pattison or Dafoe. “Cautious optimism” was my opinion going in. There definitely are some interesting wide release films this April, and “the big one” I may finally check out next week, but seeing something that reminded me of the awesome Skyrim at times just from the trailer (which was fulfilled) was enough to entice me.

The story is basically Hamlet. It's not really a spoiler as it's based on the Scandinavian legend of Amleth, which Shakespeare used for Hamlet. A king is murdered by his brother and his young son escapes. For years he's been wanting revenge and he finally has the opportunity to as an adult. Of course, this movie has pretentious moments and overall wants to be more than “just a revenge movie”. I did not always love those pretentious moments although they weren't automatically rejected by me either. From the trailers I knew there would be mystical moments—there was more of that than expected.

It is a rather dark tale and for various reasons, it's not a stunning revelation that the general public's reaction to the movie is far more mixed than among us dorks on Letterboxd. Even if I do prefer The Witch, it was still a treat to see this on a huge Dolby Cinema screen. The performances, the cast, the great score, the shot compositions, the lovely yet barren wastelands that comprise the majority of the film... I was happy to watch this Viking movie featuring graphic moments, people going berserker, big F'ing swords & what sounded like blackened death metal vocals at times to satisfy me.

If it did seem to drag at times, God Bless those that allowed us to have Robert Eggers release a big budget epic featuring serious themes revolving around how revenge and hatred can consume people... hopefully it does at least OK at the box office. One last thing: Bjork's participation in this is rather, well, limited. That said, if someone told me that the outfit she dons for her scant screen time was straight out of her closet... I'd believe it!

The Serpent And The Rainbow

The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

Runtime: 98 minutes

Directed by: Wes Craven

Starring: Bill Pullman, Cathy Tyson, Zakes Mokae, Paul Winfield, Brent Jennings

From: Universal

Or: I finally learn how to Shudder properly.

For all the months and the movies I've streamed on Shudder, would you believe it was just a few days ago (via a mutual's review) that informed me there was a way to find the information on what was leaving the service & when? After a brief conversation-thanks to this individual, BTW-there is more than one day to do so. Besides a Reddit thread from the official staff that may be more accurate anyhow, that info is displayed in the app itself; look in the Collections tab, the Featured Collections subsection to be exact. I couldn't have been the only one that had no idea...

Anyhow, this is how I discovered it would only be on Shudder for April and as it sounded interesting to me (not to mention “directed by Wes Craven”) it was worthy of a stream. Thankfully this was pretty good despite some moments I could pick some nits at. There is occasional narration which seemed like “this was done after the fact at the studio's request” yet it does not ruin the movie—it's no “Blade Runner narration”.

Most of the movie is set in Haiti (and in fact part of it was filmed there... only to have to move across the island to The Dominican Republic because of strife in the country, which was a real life aspect incorporated into the plot) and for those unaware, for decades the country hasn't been doing well. Among other issues, the “wonderful” father and son duo of “Papa Doc” and his son “Baby Doc” Duvalier, who killed many of their own citizens, corruption ruled the day and they had a private military force best described as “jack-booted thugs”. The time period of the movie was '85/'86 for a specific reason; the Duvalier family is mentioned by name and it was suggested that it was awful how the nice people in the country had to deal with them and the loathsome toadies who followed the government's lead. As just last year the leader in the country was assassinated... sad to say not a lot has changed.

Bill Pullman plays an anthropologist from Harvard who is asked by a pharmaceutical company to go to Haiti to investigate what drugs are used to create the effect of... zombies. Indeed voodoo is well-practiced there and believe it or not, this movie is rather loosely based on a real life claim of how via drugs a Haitian man named Clairvius Narcisse was poisoned, “died”, then was revived as a zombie to work on an A-hole's sugar plantation, but after the A-hole died the effect wore off and he became “normal” again. Wild, right? Not to crap on the entire Vodou (as it's officially known) religion but the drugs used to create that spell... scientifically it's been proven to not work as advertised. BTW, the opening explains that in the religion the serpent represents Earth and the rainbow represents Heaven.

Ignoring that, the story here is that the drug could be used as a better anesthetic for surgery (!) so Pullman better try and get it. In Haiti, he soon discovers how bad the rulers are, and specifically an individual known as Dargent Peytraud is pretty repugnant as he uses voodoo & creates zombies for his own gain. The movie is a nice examination of a world too often ignored, has enough effective scares-of course given the director there are a few nightmares shown-and has a quality score from Brad Fiedel that is appropriate for such an exotic setting. However, it is the character of Peytraud and the performance from Zakes Mokae that helps make the movie work. It was nice to see the likes of Paul Winfield and like others it is a shame that Cathy Tyson did not have a better career but Mokae was the standout.

I now regret not giving this a shot sooner, and hopefully the other “lesser” Craven I check out in the future will be as rewarding a journey.

Bob Le Flambeur

Bob Le Flambeur (1956)

Runtime: 98 minutes

Directed by: Jean-Pierre Melville

Starring: Roger Duchense, Isabelle Corey, Daniel Cauchy, Guy Decomble, Andre Garet

From: Several different French companies

For awhile now I've been wanting to see this Melville movie; however, a nice copy of it for cheap was just not out there. I am glad I waited until it played on TCM earlier in the month during a weekend devoted to Paris and French movies as it was in good quality. It was DVR'ed and I finally saw the movie last night.

The title translated to English is “Bob the Gambler”, who that older gentleman indeed is. He is a well-liked cat (he even counts the chief of police as a pal) and after spending time w/ Bob and the others he associates with-including a comely young dame named Anne-you see that his luck takes a nosedive. Desperate, he decides on a daring casino heist (I'll safely presume Ocean's 11 was inspired by this) despite the odds being extremely long that it can be pulled off.

Of course I don't want to reveal too much of the journey; while a lot of it is what you'd expect from a heist picture, there definitely are some surprises along the way. There are colorful characters-personally, Isabelle Corey as Anne stood out and as she was only SIXTEEN when this was filmed I am only referring to her performance-a cool score that featured jazz, scene transitions that were usually band wipes that went from left to right—although once it went from up to down for variety's sake, I presume. I've seen others note that this had to be an influence on the upcoming French New Wave; there's no doubt in my mind that's true. If you want a caper movie infused w/ old French cool a la Rififi or Le Cercle Rouge yet is different from those two, Bob Le Flambeur just may steal your heart.

Dangerous Men

Dangerous Men (2005)

Runtime: 80 minutes

Directed by: Jahangir Salehi Yeganehrad, who wisely decided to call himself something else when he reached America. Why he landed upon JOHN S. RAD, I am not sure... but God Bless him for that decision

Starring: No one anyone would have heard of before

From: Sima Sim International

Suddenly, I now have more appreciation for GODFREY HO as a filmmaker.

It's been a long while since I've first heard of this amazingly inept film. Drafthouse Films brought it to prominence in 2015 and when it was released on Blu I was tempted but decided to save my dollars. A few days ago I discovered it was on Tubi so I was going to finally check it out there, then via Googling realized it was also on YouTube. That was better for me so what a perplexing 80 minutes I had last night.

This was from director Jahangir Salehi, who among other things actually made at least one movie in Iran before he fled to the United States during the Iran Revolution. Why he decided to bill himself as JOHN S. RAD for this movie is unknown... but I am happy he did. From searching around and what I could find piecemeal, this began filming sometime in the early 80's and something was screened in 1985 but additional footage was shot in late '95 (a calendar you briefly see in one scene reveals this) and the finished product did not release-“escape” is perhaps a better term-until '05. From what I understand, Melody Wiggins, who played lead girl Mina in the 80's footage, broke her leg during filming and as no one paid for it, no wonder she said “F it!” and never returned to set. Then again, Mr. Rad apparently took the car that his daughter owned and paid for & used it in a stunt where it was destroyed and she never knew what happened to it until watching the movie! He may not have been a great human being, dare I say...

The 1980's footage had Mina on the rampage after two bikers sexually assaulted her and kill her lover. The bikers die, along with some others. As it's a world where most men sexually assault on the regular, her snapping and trying to kill all the men isn't really a shocking revelation. The 90's footage-which features more rape!-is centered around a cop, who is Mina's lover's brother. He goes after the son of a biker who was killed as he thinks that somehow this will lead to Mina being found. The 90's villain is known as BLACK PEPPER, BTW. They try to tie everything together into a cohesive whole but when I say that Godfrey Ho did it better, that is no lie—as shocking as that may sound for some.

Whether 80's or 90's, it's all pathetically made. The ADR is appalling; besides some of the audio on phone calls sounding like a mic was placed to a phone receiver, there's several instances of dialogue being spoken and the actor's mouths are obviously closed. The “fight choreography” is laughable, there are gunshot wounds that are bloodless, plenty of padding for a movie only 80 minutes long, and the music, that sounds like it was stolen from an old porno even though that was also apparently done by Rad.

IMO, this was more “painful bad” like Birdemic or The Room rather than “fun bad” like Miami Connection or Samurai Cop. That said, Birdemic and The Room still can offer many laughs in disbelief, and the same goes for Dangerous Men. After all this time I was still glad to have finally experienced this disaster in person.

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) 

Runtime: 84 minutes

Directed by: Russ Meyer

Starring: Tura Satana, Haji, Lori Williams, Sue Bernard, Stuart Lancaster

From: Eve Productions

It was fascinating seeing Russ Meyer's Id on screen. This was something I had watched before... many moons ago; plus, even now it's my only Russ Meyer experience. For certain it'd be one hell of a ride to take a deep dive into his filmography.

Even if this is low-budget to its core and (for example) the acting is not always good, it is still wildly entertaining. It follows a trio of incredibly tough go-go girls who after killing a young man in the desert who was racing w/ them, they-actually the leader of the gang, Varla-take his girlfriend and after hearing a rumor attempt to steal a large sum of money from a physically handicapped older man and his two drastically different two sons. As there are subsequent murders and the entire motion picture takes place in the desert, it is that type of movie.

The most obvious Meyer trope is “strong, busty women”; in this case it was led by real-life badass Tura Satana, someone who not only actually burlesque danced and once dated Elvis, but is said to have actually used martial arts (which are exhibited in Pussycat) to kick the ass of everyone who sexually assaulted her when she was just a child. She contributed much to the character, including the best lines of dialogue in a movie that has acres of memorable dialogue. You don't want to root for Varla & her psychotic acts but the handicapped fellow is a woman-hater himself; don't worry there are still several sympathetic characters.

Added to this intoxicated mix is a loud sometimes brash score; no wonder this is a cult favorite and is one of the most popular flicks from the director. It also has an amazing opening: as vertical sound waves are seen, a narrator recites some dialogue (which contains some big words) which begins w, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to violence” then talks about violent women. It's great. Even if the other Meyer movies I might check out in the distant future aren't as fun as this, I would be given plenty to discuss in my reviews.

This Day And Age

This Day and Age (1933)

Runtime: 84 minutes

Directed by: Cecil B. DeMille

Starring: Charles Bickford, Judith Allen, Richard Cromwell, Harry Green, Bradley Page

From: Paramount

Where do I even begin with this loony motion picture? OK, I'll mention the one plot point mentioned everywhere: there is A PIT FULL OF RATS that someone is hung by rope over!

This is part of the Criterion Channel's Pre-Code Paramount collection. I was bemused when I read the plot description they had up, then someone I follow here on Letterboxd put up a review that enticed me due to the sheer insanity that was mentioned. Oh, and this is from Cecil B. DeMille, who from said review I now know has made multiple mad movies I need to put in my figurative queue as while I did not love This Day and Age, it doesn't mean I wasn't wildly entertained by all the bizarre events and moments that paraded by me... and at one point in the final act there was a literal parade that was held by high school students who sung marching band tunes! You see, if I gave a full spoiler review of this, many will likely think I am making it all or some of it up as a gag. As I never do such things anyhow I'll give some basics of why this is so wild.

Basically, a gangster is pissed that a Jewish tailor refuses to pay him protection money. Thankfully there is no anti-Semitism present and in fact because he is located right by a high school, most of those students must love him. After all, when the tailor is murdered those high schoolers (some of whom hope to be involved w/ local politics) are disillusioned when he is found not guilty. After another death they become so pissed that not only do they get the students from the other high schools in the city involved, they become vigilantes and put the gangster on trial in their own kangaroo court as if they had just seen the movie M! At the time, people did accuse this of being fascist.

Here are some other plot points:

* An underaged girl is used as bait against the gangster's bodyguard, only known as Toledo

* There is a high school love triangle

* Not only is there a long camera shot from the POV of a gym locker room, another is from a grave being lowered into the ground

* The gangster owns a nightclub which among other things has a roller skating trio act perform

* This does have a few recognizable names; Charles Bickford plays the gangster, John Carradine is in this for about 30 seconds and as the district attorney is Charles Middleton, i.e. Ming from the Flash Gordon serials

* In addition, lol to how I know the transfer was directly taken from an MCA Universal Home Video release in the 90's (this was one of many Paramount titles that Universal has due to the former selling them to the latter for money). That's because the first thing you see on the stream is the MCA Universal Home Video logo I saw on many VHS tapes in the 90's. The transfer itself isn't dirty... it just looks VHS-quality.

In recent years there has been a rise in “the youth” becoming interested in fighting against injustice; what a bizarre example of that This Day and Age is. I can't say it's a great movie—however it was wildly entertaining and I need to experience more movies from De Mille if they are as outrageous as this.

Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams

Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams (1981)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Thomas Chong

Starring: Besides Cheech & Chong, there's Peter Jason, Tim Rossovich, Evelyn Guerrero, Paul Reubens, and Stacy Keach in what had to be his most bizarre role

From: Columbia

Yes, this was watched on the night of 4/20 for lol reasons. No, I did not partake in “the devil's lettuce” either before, during or after viewing this motion picture. Personally, this is no Cheech & Chong's Next Movie, let alone Up in Smoke; be that as it may, at least it had sporadic laughs, which I understand are harder to find in the Cheech & Chong theatrical movies that came after this. From the law of averages there has to be at least one person reading this who sparked up yesterday to celebrate the big day; hopefully you all had a delightful Wednesday full of pizza & Mountain Dew...

Basically, it is a series of sketches that loosely revolve around our duo running an “ice cream truck” that rather obviously dispenses weed instead. Law enforcement is after them, including Stacy Keach returning as Sgt. Stedenko from Up in Smoke... only now he is a pothead. There are really stupid characters, Cheech nude for 5 minutes straight during a wacky setpiece involving a biker stereotype and his Hispanic girlfriend, Paul Reubens as a coke-sniffing mental patient, Dr. Timothy Leary as himself, bad bad that turns people into lizards... no I am not joking. It's all hit or miss and perhaps this is best if you take hits from a bong while watching it.

It is quite the trip thinking of how different attitudes are now (at least in the United States) compared to when this movie was released when it comes to marijuana. A number of states have decriminalized pot and others have it legalized for medicinal use. Personally I am glad that this change has happened as many people got hurt in “The War on Drugs” that did not really have any positive contributions. Hell, Tommy Chong went to prison almost 20 years ago and served 9 months all for... running a company that sold glass bongs. Ridiculous, although it is amazing that his cellmate was JORDAN BELFORT.

All that is said to note that I can't get too mad about an uneven stoner comedy with some moments that have aged poorly when this still gave me occasional laughs. After all, I imagine that Keach had a grand old time with his bizarre role.

Jeepers Creepers

Jeepers Creepers (2001) 

Runtime: 90 minutes

Directed by: Unfortunately, Victor Salva

Starring: Gina Philips, Justin Long, Jonathan Breck, Patricia Belcher, Eileen Brennan

From: United Artists

Due to recent events I feel I should talk about director Victor Salva for those that don't know. I won't provide the details but a mutual saw Jeepers Creepers 2 and wasn't a fan... then after the viewing had the unpleasant experience of finding out about the director's past. As all sorts of people around the world use Letterboxd, I shouldn't just assume that everyone knows the story. After all, it is amazing that he's done a number of movies since his 1989 debut Clownhouse. To be blunt, during the filming of Clownhouse, Salva was convicted of molesting the young boy that was the lead of the film (Nathan Forrest Winters)... who was 12 at the time. He spent a little over a year in prison for the crime.

If that wasn't bad enough, he now only has made 9 other movies but one of them was Powder, which was released by the former Hollywood Pictures, which was owned by DISNEY... who alleged they did not know until after filming had started. Even more mind-boggling to me is that Clownhouse was financed by Francis Ford Coppola and despite what happened, he was one of the producers on the first two Jeepers Creepers films. Everyone can decide for themselves how they feel about those that have worked on any of his movies since Clownhouse; as I've said before there have been plenty of terrible people that have been in the motion picture industry since it began, although this crime is rather heinous. I also won't fault anyone that likes the director's films whether or not they know of his past. It just makes Hollywood look particularly scummy for releasing his work and while never convicted of any other crimes, I pray that Victor Salva has never harmed any other children.

All that said, my low rating of Jeepers Creepers has nothing to do with my opinion of the director. The reason I did not really like the film was that it was just annoying and irritating more than anything else. Most of the characters are are just dumb annoying stereotypes, I would have thrown myself out of the car rather quickly if I had to go on a road trip w/ Trish and her brother Darry, and I sighed in frustration quite often. A shame, as the general idea of The Creeper as a villain was not bad; it did look creepy enough for my tastes. The first act was the strongest as it involved Creeps causing havoc in his giant vehicle as he went all Duel on the leads (although hilariously, part of the opening act was based on... a segment shown on Unsolved Mysteries! It's no coincidence—look up Dennis DePue. A number of elements in that segment made their way here). I was irked even then by the two lead characters but things only started to fall apart despite there being effective horror moments throughout the duration of the movie.

Now I know there's another reason for me not to see the rest of the director's work: my not liking this movie. However, I will close out by mentioning that this was filmed in Central Florida, most of the locations about an hour away from where I live. That is how the rural area of Central Florida can look, abandoned churches and all.

The Sea Hawk

The Sea Hawk (1940)

Runtime: 127 minutes

Directed by: Michael Curtiz

Starring: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp, Flora Robson

From: Warner Bros.

I realize that there have been various unsavory accusations made against Errol Flynn in the past; this includes hanging out w/ girls not exactly 18 years old and two-way mirrors all over his mansion as he allegedly was a perv. That said, TCM is showing many of his movies in April and if you ignore his off-screen boozing (& worse), what a star he was on screen. I'm not surprised that when my mom was alive, she was a fan of his. I've watched a few of his films but this was new to me.

Quite simply, it's a fun adventure of old that is perfect for the adage “they don't make 'em like they used to.” Flynn plays a privateer in the days of Queen Elizabeth... the first. The opening is his ship capturing a Spanish ship that has not only an ambassador, but also his lovely niece, who thankfully is of age, along with English men forced to be galley slaves that row the ships. The relationship between the niece and Errol goes as you'd expect; first she hates them then... as the Spanish are portrayed as the villains of the piece it is easy to root for the English against the evil machinations planned by Spain. In fact this was an allegory to World War II and Spain was a substitute for Nazi Germany.

This had exactly what I wanted: intrigue, spies, double-crossers, romance, sword fights, brawls on ship decks, swamp action, plenty of dialogue that remains interesting as it advances the feud between the two countries, and a speech at the end from Elizabeth that was meant to psych audiences to fight against the enemy in war. The movie was a lot of fun, and a huge asset was the great score from Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Among talents I knew like Flynn, Claude Rains and Donald Crisp, it was Flora Robson who shone the brightest in her supporting role as Elizabeth I.

One last note: most of the movie looks like a standard grey-colored black and white picture. When the section set in Latin America begins, however... it turns into a yellow-colored hue. Yes, that apparently was a cliché in Hollywood more than 80 years ago and isn't a 21st century trope to have warm cinematography for Latin America.

Death Walks At Midnight

Death Walks at Midnight (La Morte Accarezza A Mezzanotte) (1972)

Runtime: 102 minutes

Directed by: Luciano Ercoli

Starring: Nieves Navarro, Simon Andreu, Peter Martell, Carlo Gentili, Ivano Staccioli

From: Cinecompany/C.B. Films S.A.

As I viewed Death Walks on High Heels the previous night, why not check out the movie w/ a similar title from the same director and sharing many of the same stars? As I enjoyed High Heels more than expected, it only made sense to also stream this on Arrow's service. Midnight I did love at much-be that as it may this was still a fun time.

This time the attractive Nieves Navarro plays a model (a former line of work for her in real life) who takes a new version of LSD and while tripping thinks she sees a murder. She then discovers that it was similar but not exactly like a killing which took place half a year beforehand. Eventually it does make sense although not only was the plot a little far-fetched to say the least, the story was presented in an odd way even by giallo standards.

That said, this still gave me enough genre thrills to satisfy me. Navarro played another memorable protagonist, this one having a “take no s***” attitude. Like in High Heels, Simon Andreu portrayed her slimeball paramour. Carlo Gentili was another police inspector, just one not as entertaining. One change was that doing the score this time was Gianni Ferrio; it was pretty groovy. Along the way is an asylum that was stereotypically portrayed, some amazing 70's décor, and a villain (not RZA) who uses an f'ing Iron Fist as a weapon, which was pretty bitchin'. In addition, somehow all the disparate elements shown in the first half are successfully tied together.

Director Luciano Ercoli did not do that many more movies before retiring from the business; why it happened couldn't have been any better for him. He was already married to Navarro and after receiving a large inheritance, that's when he peaced out. Who wouldn't do the same thing? I mean, if only we could all be so lucky.

Death Walks On High Heels

Death Walks on High Heels (La Morte Cammina I Tacchi Alti) (1971)

Runtime: 108 minutes

Directed by: Luciano Ercoli

Starring: Frank Wolff, Nieves Navarro, Simon Andreu, Carlo Gentili, George Rigaud

From: Atlantida Films/Cinecompany

 

I usually don't watch something for the purpose of appealing to all the followers I have (almost 1800! The high amount will never not be a surprise to me and thank you to everyone that does follow) but the warm reception that my take on the giallo-influenced The Corruption of Chris Miller made me think that I should see that niche at least once in awhile. For years now I've heard good things about director Luciano Ercoli's pair of giallo movies, this and Death Walks at Midnight. Death Walks on High Heels worked even better for me than expected.

The plot: there is an “exotic dancer” named Nicole who performs in Paris, has a drunken douche of a lover and an older English man has the hots for her. Oh, and her father is a master thief who is killed by a black gloved killer on a train in the opening. As Nicole was played by the fetching Nieves Navarro, multiple men drooling over her isn't so hard to understand. Definitely, all her assets were on display; this (unfortunately) includes an early scene where she's dancing while covered w/ what might as well be shoe polish to “play an exotic character”. That was regrettable... otherwise I have no major complaints. Anyhow, the older man has a wife and well, this dude definitely has a type.

Anyhow, this killer goes after Nicole as he believes she has diamonds that her father nabbed soon before his death. Not even fleeing Paris for England stops this menace. Now, the movie has plenty of sleaze, whether it be abusive men, voyeurism, copious amounts of nudity or bloody moments. While there aren't that many deaths, I was still greatly entertained. It was a mystery that had various surprises and certainly had many twists, yet was not so convoluted or muddled that it was impossible to follow along-or care. There were some rather colorful characters-my favorite being a droll police inspector-a few darkly comic bits and a score that I adored from Stelvio Cipriani. It may be what I think is the best, and I've heard seven other scores from him through the years.

For certain, I'll be viewing other movies that director Ercoli has done, especially Death Walks at Midnight. He was also a fan of Navarro; they married soon thereafter and remained so until he passed away in 2015. As she's in Midnight...

A Night To Remember

A Night to Remember (1958)

Runtime: 123 minutes

Directed by: Roy Ward Baker

Starring: Kenneth More, David McCallum, Jill Dixon, Laurence Naismith, Honor Blackman

From: The Rank Organisation

It'd be accurate to say that I read the book the movie was based on; it'd also be accurate to say that it was when I was in elementary school, meaning “at least 30 years ago” so I barely remember any of its contents. Rather, I only recall digging it at the time. On the 110th anniversary of the Titanic sinking, there was no more apt motion picture to view.

In the past I have seen Titanic, the James Cameron verson-albeit years after the fact. That was enjoyable despite the cliché romance and the stereotypical villain role from Billy Zane. While nicely acted, overall I do prefer this British presentation of those tragic events. Various characters are followed from even before the ship launches through it sinking and all those lives lost. The various events also portrayed in Cameron's film are presented here, from the third class passengers being treated unfairly, the chaos surrounding the lack of lifeboats, the band playing through the very end, etc.

It was a lavish production w/ nice practical effects for the time, fine acting from various performers that I did or did not recognize (David McCallum & Honor Blackman made up the former) and a focus on the hardships the various characters experience-whether crew or passengers—viewing tragedies is never easy but A Night to Remember succeeds as entertainment. Via a straightforward style, there is a gamut of emotions shown that make this a compelling journey even if overall a sad one.

Speedy

Speedy (1928)

Runtime: 86 minutes

Directed by: Ted Wilde

Starring: Harold Lloyd, Ann Christy, Bert Woodruff, Byron Douglas, Babe Ruth!

From: The Harold Lloyd Corporation

“Harold Lloyd gives the finger to himself in a mirror” was not what I was expecting to write here, but...

The actual reason for me watching this last night was that late last week the newest season of Major League Baseball began; furthermore, April 15 is the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in the MLB. A subplot of Harold Lloyd's last silent is that he's a fan of the New York Yankees and one scene has THE Babe Ruth having a crazy taxi experience w/ Lloyd driving him from an orphanage to Yankee Stadium. This time of year is exciting for baseball fans like me; you are happy to see exciting games in general and there's always hope that your favorite team will be able to win a World Series this year.

Well, except for the Baltimore Orioles. They've been pretty rotten the past few years but maybe they'll be better several seasons from now.

Speedy concerns Lloyd as a young man who can't hold down a steady job, much to the consternation of both his girlfriend and his father, the latter having a horse-drawn trolley—something that was antiquated even in the late 20's. Along with the main plotline of heels wanting to acquire dad's business by hook or by crook, there's also Harold's employment problems & him going to Coney Island on a date. One highlight of this is being able to view both NYC and Coney in the 1920's.

While not a classic like Safety Last!, this was still very good. There was enough in the way of laughs (such as there being at least 5 minutes of the havoc that arises from Lloyd having a crab in his pocket), constant misunderstandings and funny setpieces to satisfy me. For those familiar w/ Pride of the Yankees, you get to see Lou Gehrig at bat for a few seconds. Plus there's the unexpected sight of a middle finger—from what I understand this may have been the first time on film but there apparently were a few other occasions before The Hays Code. Whether or not you're a fan of (what was) America's pastime, I was happy to see some silent hilarity last night.

Universal Soldier

Universal Soldier (1992)

Runtime: 102 minutes

Directed by: Rolland Emmerich

Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Ally Walker, Ed O'Ross, Leon Rippy

From: Carolco

Seeing this in 4K certainly beats my last viewing-back in the VHS days. In another attempt to see something different from the norm, why not check out something I hadn't experienced since the 90's? For the record I bought the 4K stream awhile ago from Amazon instead of rented it as it was available for a song-now you can't even rent the movie in 4K over there.

As I've mentioned before, most Roland Emmerich movies I tend to avoid; his version of Godzilla is quite bad even if it's just a bad kaiju movie and you divorce it from the legendary franchise. Yet there is still work he's done which I've liked. That includes this motion picture-give me that over what sounds like brain-dead nonsense of Moonfall. Now, Universal Soldier itself is rather dopey, something you don't want to scrutinize too hard. As others have noted, in its tale of dead soldiers from the Vietnam War being reanimated to life, you'll be reminded of other, better motion pictures like The Terminator and RoboCop. After all, like RoboCop the memory wipes don't quite work so in this case the beef that Van Damme and Dolph had back in the late 60's has resurfaced.

It's dopey yet it is not so insultingly stupid that I become offended. Instead, it's enjoyable nonsense as JCVD's character (like in Hard Target a Cajun) starts to regain his memories and he wishes to return home. As Dolph becomes an unstoppable megalomaniac and (hard) targets Van Damme, a reporter befriends Jean-Claude and tries to return him home. There's enough explosions, carnage and brawls to satisfy me. Various familiar names like Ed O'Ross and Tiny Lister appear in smaller roles, while Jerry Orbach has a glorified cameo. While never seen by me, I know there's an alternate ending where Orbach has another scene and is more critical to the plot-who knows why they didn't go with what on paper sounds like a better conclusion. Speaking of conclusion, at least this does have a Body Count song that plays during the end credits-which greatly exemplifies the early 90's.

Anyhow, I have watched two of the sequels in the past which one day I'll revisit. Regeneration was an entertaining B-movie while Day of Reckoning is not only pretentious nonsense, it has bold strobe effects which will give seizures to those affected by such things and if you're like me, it'll just give you a splitting headache unless you look away.

Who Killed Teddy Bear?

Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Joseph Cates

Starring: Sal Mineo, Juliet Prowse, Jan Murray, Elaine Stritch, Margot Bennett

From: Phillips Productions

Yes, this oddity does explain why it has such a peculiar title.

While I have heard of it before (how could you forget something known as Who Killed Teddy Bear?) it was a positive review from a mutual last night that pushed me to tracking it down-I saw the movie on... Tubi. I'll talk about my initial impressions of that service at the very end. The movie is an independent production so it doesn't follow any moral code. Yet it's not “a nudie cutie” or “roughie” that are no-budget efforts mainly due to titilate. This instead has people you've actually heard of before: Sal Mineo, a young Bruce Glover NOT as a villain and (get this) even Elaine Stritch.

The movie is still rather sleazy for the time: a young lady known as Norah is harassed on the telephone by someone who also is a voyeur. It's the expected “saying lewd things to a woman while heavily breathing into the receiver” thing. That is investigated by a police lieutenant... who is a dick—there's no other way to put it. He's condescending, does not treat Norah with kid gloves, and you'd think he wouldn't bring his work home to where his 10 year old daughter can hear all about his investigations of S&M, sexual predators, and whatnot... but he does! He has a tragic backstory so he is a single dad; then again, so does the villain. Because of a childhood accident, his 19 year old sister is mentally handicapped. So this is just as bright and sunny and charming as a basket full of warm puppies! There's also homoeroticism and I am not sure how much of that was intended. After all, it mainly involved real life bisexual Mineo, sometimes seen all hot & sweaty.

For such a dark movie which does have the novelty of getting to see Times Square in the 60's (it can be as sleazy as I say NYC was from the 70's through the early 90's) the entire movie may be a rare bird. I am unsure of how many American movies between the enforcement of The Hays Code and the start of the MPAA were serious adult fare that had legit talent involved. While I wish the lieutenant would have been a more charming character, otherwise it was a trashy tale which still entertained and featured various damaged people. After all, Norah works in a small club where she spins records, catchy tunes are heard (from Bob Gaudio of The Four Seasons fame) and it does have one of my favorite tropes: white people dancing! Oh is there plenty of that, and it's hilarious. Oh, and I almost forgot: the director was Joseph Cates, who primarily worked in television and yes, that's Phoebe's dad. Of all the talent involved, I was most impressed with Mineo, Stritch and as Norah, Juliet Prowse.

Before last night, I was “oh, whatever” and scoffed at Tubi. It's a free service where you have to watch periodic ads Then recently I looked into it and while there is a LOT of modern no-budget product that I'll presume is the dirt-worst, there is also movies like this and giallo put out by Vinegar Syndrome that you can't stream anywhere else. So I'll be using that once in awhile. It actually was fine as a free service and the ads weren't as obtrusive as I first feared.

 

The Terrible People

The Terrible People (Die Bande Des Schrekens) (1960)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Harald Reinl

Starring: Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, Fritz Rasp, Dieter Eppler, Ulrich Beiger

From: Rialto Film

This is the first of two reviews I'll post today. The second review will be of something even more peculiar than this: 

I've mentioned krimi movies in the past yet I have had precious little time with the genre that inspired the likes of giallo, among other various niches. In essence, they were low-budget West German movies based on the novels of English writer Edgar Wallace, who apparently was quite popular in the country between the World Wars. Before last night I had only seen the first one (1959's The Fellowship of the Frog) and the last two in '72, which were co-productions w/ Italy and were the more famous Seven Blood-Stained Orchids & What Have You Done With Solange? I won't see this in any particular order yet this was one of the first.

Those movies generally had various cast & crew appear in multiple productions. That includes director Harald Reinl helming many entires & Reinl's wife Karin Dor naturally did the same. So did the lead here, Joachim Fuchsberger. Apparently, Wallace's novels were wild affairs filled with creepy locations, events that seemed impossible, double-crosses, and various mystery tropes. What I've seen so far, while they aren't must-see motion pictures all of them are fun and should be thrilling for mystery fans.

This includes a creepy mask, a creepy clock, a creepy house and creepy events at... a get-together at a golf tournament. One surreal aspect of the genre is that despite the German language they were all set in England although they were filmed in Germany. The actual plot is that right before he's to be executed, a criminal swears revenge against those responsible for his capture... which does happen. Is it his ghost? It's more mystery than horror, although there are a few moments of the latter alongside comedy that does not rise above “the police photographer constantly faints at gruesome crime scenes.”

There's a plethora of twists & surprises in an hour and a half; it was a little absurd but overall entertained me. In the future I'll check out a krimi at least once in awhile.

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

Runtime: 117 minutes

Directed by: Sidney Lumet

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney, Michael Shannon

From: Several independent production companies

Even more of a bummer than I recalled. You see, I actually saw Before the Devil Knows You're Dead theatrically back in '07, and hadn't watched it again until now. After My Cousin Vinny, why not check out another Marisa Tomei joint I had experienced in the past? She had quality performances in both—how different those two roles and movies were demonstrated her versatility as an actress. At the time I was happy to see a Sidney Lumet film on the big screen as a new release. After he passed away I was glad to have experienced his swan song that way.

As I stated at the beginning, my memories were that this was dark—holy crap, it was even more bleak than what I was expecting from those memories. It was a devastating look at a family and what happens after a botched robbery at a mom and pop jewelry store in a suburban New York City area shopping plaza. The movie starts off on an interesting note w/ Tomei and Philip Seymour Hoffman... having hot sweaty sex w/ each other. After that, it's a much more sobering look at a pair of tremendously flawed brothers. In a tale told in a nonlinear fashion, a botched robbery of a mom and pop jewelry store is shown in the first 10 minutes, then the setup and aftermath.

It's not the most comfortable journey to be on, but it was an engrossing one nevertheless. What a cast it has: Hoffman, Tomei, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Amy Ryan, Michael Shannon. Thankfully their talents were not wasted here. The performances from Hoffman, Hawke, Tomei and Finney were all exemplary. In fact, there are a few great scenes of acting which were a delight. While I may not watch such a bummer of a movie a third time, I was happy to see it a second time so it could be discussed here. Later in the month I'll revisit another Philip Seymour Hoffman joint, which is something I'm excited for-and I'll also happily note how amazing Sidney Lumet's career that he made a classic in '57 and half a century later ended his time in the director's chair with something very good.

My Cousin Vinny

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

Runtime: 120 minutes

Directed by: Jonathan Lynn

Starring: Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei, Fred Gwynne, Lane Smith, Ralph Macchio

From: 20^th Century Fox

This is another movie I DVR'ed last month when I had some premium channels available for free during a long weekend. Indeed it was something I watched in the 90's but to be frank I don't think I had seen this movie since the 90's. Of course I remembered bits and pieces (“Two Utes” being the keystone moment) but there's always the fear it was not as funny as was ingrained in my mind from my ute... I mean youth.

It's a standard Fish Out of Water tale as stereotypical New Yorkers are in rural Alabama. Two young men about to enter college are erroneously accused of murdering a gas station clerk so one has their lawyer cousin defend them... despite Vinny being so new that he somehow does not know basic procedure or even what discovery is. As expected he eventually figures it out after many awkward moments with stereotypical Southerners and help from his fiance who thankfully was more than just a pretty face.

There were quality performances from Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei (there will always be conjecture about how it won an Academy Award; at least it was the best in the movie) and Ralph Macchio, but a big asset is all the character actors that rounded this out: Lane Smith, Austin Pendleton, Bruce McGill, Fred Gwynne as possibly the World's Tallest Judge, Maury Chaykin, James Rebhorn... those are the building blocks that helped set the foundation. Gwynne not only was memorable as the droll judge, it was a nice close to his career as this was his final feature film before passing away the following year due to cancer.

Key is not only was that by movie standards it was actually a relatively accurate look at the judicial process, but that it was consistently amusing & was not just about the culture clash. Finding the two college boys easy to root for also help in my enjoyment. Thank goodness this wasn't a letdown that ruined the good memories I had of it. As someone who lives in Florida but a few times actually drove to Kansas and back in the preceding decade: rural Alabama still looks like that. Technically, this movie was filmed in rural Georgia but those two look exactly alike. Quaint towns that may have some rundown areas, highways that go through woods, horse manure on sale, tiny bodegas that look ramshackle, logging trucks: all those sights I've experienced on those LONG drives.

The Corruption Of Chris Miller

The Corruption of Chris Miller (La Corrupcion De Chris Miller) (1973)

Runtime: 113 minutes

Directed by: Juan Antonio Bardem

Starring: Jean Seberg, Marisol, Barry Stokes, Perla Cristal, Rudy Gaebel

From: Xavier Armet P.C.

There are many different niches in the film world I need to do a deeper dive on. This includes the likes of “Indian movies”, “Pre-Code”, “Krimi” and a few different actors/directors. Two of those happen to be “Movies from Spain” and “Giallo flicks”. This fits both, although it's more a giallo influence or perhaps it's like one from the 60's which is mostly a blind spot for me. The director being Juan Antonio Bardem-a director I'd seen only once before, the serious 50's drama Death of a Cyclist-intrigued as this was far from a serious drama. Yes, Javier is his nephew. Before Vinegar Syndrome nicely restored this then released it, apparently this was impossible to find outside of Spain so shoutout to them.

What a peculiar movie this is. Jean Seburg plays the stepmother of a young adult-played by Marisol, who I understand was a child star in the past but between her bra-less fashion sense and wearing a skimpy bikini in one scene was not portrayed as a chaste child star grown up-and they are residing in a villa after Jean's husband abandoned them. Note that Marisol's character is actually the Chris Miller in question. A handsome young Englishman who is wandering around Europe ends up there one night and this results in friction.

There's one heck of a cold open. A bitchy woman yells at some random dude who was a one night stand and is... dressed as The Tramp, complete w/ Charlie Chaplin mask?! Later there's an explanation but you haven't lived until you see a Tramp cosplay brutally murder a woman. After that there is a LONG stretch where it is a trashy drama-yet despite a lull or two overall it was amusing due to the sleaze factor. Then it goes from 0-100 as for a few minutes it turns into a slasher that feels much more modern. In the final act there's a protracted death so at least the kills do deliver.

Overall, this was an oddity that managed to entertain me. Solid direction, fine performances (even from Seberg; I put it that way as I understand she was not a fan of how sleazy it was but she needed the paycheck), a quirky score that fit & scenic rural Spain meant that this was fun for something I would have never known existed if Vinegar Syndrome did not rescue it from obscurity.

Men Without Women

Men Without Women (1930)

Runtime: 73 minutes

Directed by: John Ford

Starring: Kenneth McKenna, Frank Albertson, J. Farrell MacDonald, Warren Hymer, Paul Page

From: Fox

Another collection recently added to the Criterion Channel that was of interest to me was Young Mr. Ford, as in some of the movies that John Ford made for Fox early in his prolific career. Of course I've seen classics like The Grapes of Wrath, Stagecoach or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but what little I've seen from the beginning through the late 30's is also intriguing to me. '34's The Lost Patrol is a solid drama where a small patrol is stuck in a desert outpost by an unseen enemy, '35's The Informer is a very good tale involving an Irish man's guilt after he turns in his best friend to the British for a cash prize, and '32's Flesh at least made me laugh because it had Wallace Beery playing a professional wrestler. Point is, I'm happy to see a few of those while the channel has that collection available.

From the premise this was selected; I know there are “better” titles yet the idea of a movie mainly set in a sunk submarine and the small crew attempting to survive with a dwindling supply of oxygen-sign me up. This was only fine but perhaps the form it's in is a small reason why: much of it is silent but sometimes there's dialogue. You see, there was a sound version but the complete version is long gone. Instead there's only snippets; the rest is an International Sound Version. It'd take forever to explain in full but basically, that was done in the early years before subtitles and for movies which did not have a foreign language version made such as the Spanish Dracula from 1931. It has music and other sounds over the dialogue and there's intertitles in English or any other language. What they cobbled together here was any second of “the talkie version” over the surviving full print. This means that not only does it switch between the two during a scene, but more than once it was in the middle of a line of dialogue! A bizarre experience, it was.

While I wish the all-sound version still existed, as is this was still fine. A submarine crew (which is indeed a situation where it's Men Without Women) is first seen in Shanghai, literally acting like drunken sailors on shore leave. That provided laughs the first fifteen minutes. After that, it was sobering as the sub is struck by a ship and they sink to the ocean floor. Tempers flare and this demonstrates that disaster movie cliches existed even back almost a century ago. Not everyone survives to the end and among other things, “Give this message/item to my loved one if I don't make it” was an older trope than I first realized. If not a must-see, this was still solid and for a cast which had a familiar Ford face or two, they were fine. Note that in the final act, John Wayne has about 90 seconds of screentime in a minor part.

The Driver

The Driver (1978)

Runtime: A lean mean 91 minutes

Directed by: Walter Hill

Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani, Ronee Blakley, Matt Clark

From: 20^th Century Fox

It was something I listened to recently that led me down a rabbit hole of searching what's available on YouTube-I'll be honest here. Lord knows I've watched plenty of motion pictures that way without acknowledging the fact but this is a flick that had to be viewed on that platform as there's no other streaming option.

It has a plot distilled to its essence with no wasted time or superfluous BS. In just an hour and a half we follow both The Driver, who does that task for criminals and The Detective, who is rather tenacious in trying to bust him... in fact he is less than ethical in his obsession w/ capturing that white whale. Yes, none of the characters have an actual name-instead they are known as their archetype or what their role is. That trend isn't a recent phenomenon, folks. As we don't really get to know the characters aside from the basics, I suppose it's alright their birth names aren't shared.

The movie could have been a bore or even a frustrating watch. Thank heavens it was not; the performances were so strong and what action we do get (especially the car chases) were superb. There's really no heroes to speak of yet thankfully this wasn't nihilistic or a miserable slog. This movie has clearly inspired the likes of Tarantino, Wright and Refn—I'll just say that Ryan O'Neal as The Driver might as well have worn a silver jacket w/ a gold scorpion on the back. As others have noted, this was probably inspired by the French classic Le Samourai. Bruce Dern plays The Detective (as in, police detective) yet he does many questionable things so it's still the type of character you'd expect Dern to play. Isabelle Adjani did impress in her Hollywood debut.

This even has a nice aesthetic; there's plenty of green, whether it be the background or the lighting, sometimes rather overtly. Once I check out Hard Times sometime in the near future, I am pretty sure that I'll then get to say that I thought Walter Hill's first seven movies were either pretty good or very good-what a start to his career.

RRR

RRR (2022)

Runtime: 183 minutes

Directed by: S.S. Rajamouli

Starring: N.T. Rama Ro, Jr., Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Ray Stevenson!

From: Several Indian companies

Imagine an even more absurd Fast & Furious w/ more homoeroticism, song & dance numbers and less Axe body spray douchiness.

Me applying such a high rating is a surprise even to me yet the rave reviews I saw in some places made me go see this Indian movie, only the third I've seen theatrically. I honestly should watch more from that country on the big screen. It's in this second week and there's a reason I did not see it first week which I'll address at the end; it concerns a release strategy which I hope Hollywood does NOT ever copy. This is a Telugu language movie although the version I saw was dubbed in Hindi-which was noticeable.

The setting is 1920 India and as there's British occupation, they (well, mainly the men) are portrayed as evil incarnate. One family (portrayed by Alison Doody & Ray Stevenson-no, really) takes a local girl as if she was their pet. The leader of the village (Ram) is PISSED so he wishes to take her back. Meanwhile, Raju is an officer in the occupying army who is actually undercover wishing to acquire weapons so his village can fight back. Ram and Raju meet up, have an epic bromance for the ages, and a LOT happens in a movie a hair over 3 hours long.

The chief fact to note: this is absolutely absurd. This is actually quite loosely based on real life figures at the time, although presumably they didn't have a bromance where one carries the other piggyback after a dance-off, no, that actually happens. They also aren't superhuman figures that Nick Fury should be recruiting for The Avengers, although that trope is common in most of the country's output I've seen that's been made in the 21st century. Yet the movie is so earnest, so bold in being melodramatic to the max, displaying raw emotion, having wacky music, presenting Ram (who you first see kicking a tiger's ass!) needing his bro's help in trying to talk to a pretty British girl, the epic length, how horrible the villains are... it is bold, and also bold entertainment that was a blast to experience on the big screen.

There are three quality, satisfying action scenes in the first 45 minutes—then the opening title card appears. Take that, Fresh! From there amongst the madness was a few more action setpieces that are absolutely stellar, absolutely over the top, in a gleeful manner-I dare not spoil the best moments. It was an exhausting 183 minutes yet I was happy to be on the roller coaster ride. It's not for all tastes yet it successfully scratched my itch; I had such a good time, granting this a very high rating felt warranted.

As for what I mentioned at the beginning concerning its release in the United States: in the first week, not only could you not use a service like AMC A-List, a ticket cost at least 25 bucks... hell, I saw that there was a Dolby Cinema screening where you had to pay FORTY-THREE dollars to get in. After that initial week, prices went down to something more acceptable and I could use an app instead of paying for a ticket. Plenty of tickets were still sold despite the jacked-up prices, so eventually I developed the horrifying thought of Hollywood deciding this would be an appropriate way to make even more cash from their blockbusters. I'm not egotistical enough to believe that any mover or shaker would be reading this, but please don't ever release a movie where a family of five would theoretically have to pay at least 150 bucks just to see the next MCU entry.

Magnificent Obsession

Magnificent Obsession (1954)

Runtime: 108 minutes

Directed by: Douglas Sirk

Starring: Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead, Otto Krueger, Barbara Rush

From: Universal

A few times you'll point at the screen like Rick Dalton.

This is my first Douglas Sirk, and won't be my last. Some of his movies were added last month to the Criterion Channel; as they'll be leaving at the end of this month, I wanted to try at least one out. I went with what sounded the most schmaltzy, and schmaltzy it was. It's based on a novel first adapted to the screen in '35, and both were rather faithful to the page. This includes a rather questionable philosophy that forms the backbone of the movie. You see, if you do good deeds and help others without credit or wanting to be repaid in money, then great things will happen to you. Sounds nice... except that when a rich doctor does this, he hardly leaves any cash for his surviving wife and daughter. Not to mention it sounds like a bastardized form of Christianity. Notwithstanding, it IS still nice to be altruistic when you can & help out those in need. I wish that more than a billionaire or two would follow such a philosophy but let me not be controversial here.

This has text instead of subtext. After all, Hudson plays a wealthy douche who crashes when racing a boat and because a resuscitator is used on him instead of that rich doctor when he suffers cardiac arrest, the doctor dies. His wife and daughter don't take that news well, and when Hudson attempts to make right, things become much worse. Finally, he hears that crucial bit of advice and he properly turns his life around so he's not an ignorant oaf any longer.

It's melodramatic silliness yet I was thoroughly charmed. After all, it's filmed in Technicolor so every image is resplendent, especially during outdoor scenes. I've heard the term “baroque” used to describe Magnificent Obsession, and I agree. It has a lush musical score that at times features an angelic choir (which only adds to the outre feel of this picture) and key is that Hudson and Jane Wyman both delivered as the leads. The movie is quite sincere and manages to work even if an air of naivete is ever-present. Later this month I'll see at least one more Sirk picture, and it will probably be more tawdry than this.

Highway Racer

Highway Racer (1977)

Runtime: 101 minutes

Directed by: Stelvio Massi

Starring: Maurizio Merli, Giancarlo Sbragia, Angelo Infanti, Glauco Onorato, Lilli Carati

From: Cleminternazionale Cinematografica

Well, at least this put over the Citroen DS rather strong... that is a very distinctive car made from '55 to '75 which was decades ahead of its time. That was used by the villain of this piece. Oh, and most importantly I haven't seen too much from the poliziotteschi genre in the past two years and to note that Arrow's streaming service put up a new collection featuring just those movies. More than a few I've seen in the past and this in particular has been available independently for awhile but I went with the title newest to me that I knew something of beforehand.

Unfortunately for me, I thought the lead character was a real putz, not to mention an A-hole. He's a loose cannon cop who proclaims himself great behind the wheel, but instead he's a dick who doesn't listen to his superiors, antagonizes his poor partner, and even is rude to his girlfriend. Personally, if I had a girl like Lilli Carati who worked at a Lancia car dealership... his boss is also on the prickly side although amusingly so. Besides understandably being miffed at an officer who wrecks multiple cars as he actually doesn't have that much in the way of driving skills, the boss himself actually DOES have race car driver skills. Plus, he wears some sweet grandpa sweaters.

The second half is better as believe it or not it becomes a proto Point Break in a way-yet I never warmed up to our protagonist. I usually like the parts that Maurizio Merli plays-perhaps it was because here he did not have his trademark mustache. While I don't love the movie like some do, at least it had some of the sleaze I expect from a poliziotteschi and as you'd hope for a movie known in English as Highway Racer, all the automobile action was awesome. Chases, crashes, spinouts, stunts... that provided plenty of thrills. Those were coordinated by Remy Julienne, who did the same for some Bond films. Meanwhile, an aural treat was the funky score from Stelvio Cipriani.

Those that have the service & want to see some poliziotteschi, whether it be for the first time or you want to see more. Caliber 9 and The Italian Connection are musts. After that, if you want something not made by Fernando Di Leo, Colt 38 Special Squad is one I remember digging a lot back in 2014. Of course, a full list of what I've seen through the years can be located here.