The Day Mars Invaded Earth

The Day Mars Invaded Earth (1963)

Runtime: 70 minutes

Directed by: Maury Dexter

Starring: Kent Taylor, Marie Windsor, William Mims, Betty Beall, Lowell Brown

From: 20^th Century Fox!

A movie that unfortunately is too somnambulistic for me. As I mentioned in my last review (for It Conquered the World) I saw that and this in a single video posted as a simulation of a drive-in experience, complete with trailers for the two movies, vintage ads for the refreshment stand and the 1933 cartoon Betty Boop’s Crazy Inventions—that featured her, Bimbo and Ko Ko presenting various inventions in a circus tent until it takes an odd turn. Not the best I’ve seen from Betty but it still entertained.

As for The Day Mars Invaded Earth, it is an obvious riff on The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Despite being released by 20th Century Fox, the low budget is obvious as much of the action takes place on an estate as a family (the patriarch works at NASA) slowly realizes that also present are their doppelgangers. Rather than The Tethered, they are “Martian energy” who wish to eradicate that family in an attempt to prevent further visits to Mars. 

The movie isn’t bad or pathetic; the general idea seemed fine and the execution wasn’t spectacular yet was serviceable at best. Regrettably, the movie is best described as “sleepy” and “drowsy”. It felt long despite a brief 70 minute runtime and not even the presence of cult actress Marie Windsor as a lead makes this worthy of a watch instead of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (any version of the tale)… or any further comments on the merits of this motion picture from me.

 

It Conquered the World

It Conquered the World (1956)

Runtime: 71 minutes

Directed by: Roger Corman

Starring: Peter Graves, Beverly Garland, Lee Van Cleef, Sally Fraser, Russ Bender

From: AIP

FAR better than what I was expecting from a film where the main villain looks like either a carrot or a cucumber w/ a mean face and pinchers for hands.

To be frank, after seeing the cheesy bad 50’s sci-fi film within a film in Amazon Women on the Moon, it only seemed logical to me to next check out an actual cheesy genre effort from the 50’s. Turns out, it was smarter and more thoughtful for an AIP effort directed by Roger Corman-I should have known that something starring three talented actors plus a nice supporting role for the great Dick Miller wouldn’t be crap-but before I talk of the film itself, how I did so has to be addressed. 

As of now there’s a YouTube account (which I won’t name specifically) which frequently uploads simulations of the drive-in experience where two B-movies are put together alongside a cartoon and various vintage drive-in advertisements, typically for food & drink items located at the refreshment stand. Before that channel possibly gets zapped in the future, I decided to check out one of their videos. Tomorrow night I’ll review 1963’s The Day Martians Invaded Earth; that managed to pair rather well with this. Also in my next review will be a few words said about the Betty Boop cartoon also included in that video.

Silly-looking monster aside, you pretty much don’t see it until the final 10 or so minutes. Before that, it is a drama where Lee Van Cleef is a genius scientist who is best described as “embittered” as he’s been ridiculed for previous ideas. Thus, what a target he is for a Venusian to play him as a fiddle and allow for the giant cucumber to arrive on Earth, cripple all electronic devices, and send out what look like flying bats to attack people then mind-control them. Sure, Van Cleef thinking that the alien will help humanity by ridding them of emotions sounds nice and all… of course, what results is martial law and people being rounded up in a small California town.

The movie was different and better than expected. The goofy creature is hardly seen until the end, there is much philosophical dialogue and two characters trying to reason with Lee’s character Tom (his wife Claire and his best friend Paul, played by Beverly Garland and Peter Graves, respectively), the movie is rather grim for the decade, Claire manages to be a strong female character in a believable fashion and space carrot aside, this is better than the typical film you’d see on MST3K.

Amazon Women on the Moon

Amazon Women on the Moon (1987)

Runtime: 85 minutes

Directed by: Joe Dante/Carl Gottlieb/Peter Horton/John Landis/Robert K. Weiss

“Starring: Lots of Actors”; that line legit appears in the opening credits, and is true

From: Universal

In the last of this genre of films I plan on seeing for awhile-due to my restless nature-I might as well check out a cult classic and something that has many online fans yet last night was my first experience with it. AWotM has a credit which states “Starring: Lots of Actors” and it’s true. I saw the theatrical version rather than the TV cut that’s available on disc but even then, what an experience it was to see something that has Henny Youngman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joey Pants, Sybil Danning, David Alan Grier, B.B. King, Rosanna Arquette, Henry Silva, Paul Bartel, Carrie Fisher, Andrew Dice Clay AND Russ Meyer, among many others.

The movie is framed as channel-surfing done between a showing of a really bad 50’s sci-fi movie known as… Amazon Women on the Moon-I point at the screen like I’m Rick Dalton. I noticed it was in particular inspired by an actual 50's sci-fi which wasn't a really bad B movie (Destination Moon), and in fact actually uses some props from that film. There are really too many sketches to mention but I’ll mention that they include everything from Arsenio Hall having a VERY bad time at home and Grier as a Black man w/ no soul to Silva hosting a spoof of Ripley’s Believe it or Not* to actual pirates pirating media from Universal, which made the film… wait a minute, did the term “pirating media” come from this movie?!

Me liking this movie a little more than the consensus is a little surprising; admittedly, there are still juvenile moments-such as Monique Gabrielle appearing nude the entire time she’s on screen-yet this gave me plenty of laughs between the gags, the later callbacks to previous moments, how accurately certain segments spoofed a topic, all the famous faces present, etc. The movie even has a loving piss-take on the Universal The Invisible Man. My having to check out the movie “less than ethically” is a darn shame; why isn’t it available for legal streaming? Unlike many cult films, this is on Blu—from Kino and by all reports that is a solid release.

* An old show starring Jack Palance which I recall long ago was in reruns on the Sci-Fi Channel; bizarrely, it also reminded me of Robert Stack hosting Unsolved Mysteries, which actually was a show AFTER this movie came out. Silva even wears what looks like a trench coat that he borrowed from Stack.

The Groove Tube

The Groove Tube (1974)

Runtime: 75 minutes

Directed by: Ken Shapiro

Starring: Shapiro, various actors I haven’t heard of… along with Chevy Chase in his movie debut and Richard Belzer!

From: Syn-Frank Enterprises/K.S. Productions

It wasn’t the plan beforehand but on another site after I mentioned my viewing of The Kentucky Fried Movie, more than one person asked "Will you be watching other similar sketch comedy films of the era?" My response was, “I probably should.” Nothing’s on the agenda for the next few days so might as well.

The most famous aspect is that this featured two performers who would soon become much more famous: Richard Belzer and Chevy Chase. Lord is the movie ever uneven, captivated by sex/nudity, filled with off-color moments (including both brownface and blackface in the same segment, regrettably; if you ever wanted to see Belzer as a black woman for 30 seconds…) and like how KFM has a 32 minute segment, this has an almost 20 minute segment featuring director Ken Shapiro and Belzer as drug dealers. For something only 70 minutes before the end credits, “padded” is a term I can use more than once for something that mainly revolves around parody of TV shows & commercials.

Yet, this still inspired enough chuckles and laughs where overall I can’t say this was bad. For those that like “shocking” humor and wishes current comedy is “safe” and “not woke”-I won’t say where I stand in this debate! I know better than to declare my beliefs concerning such a controversial topic-then some moments will greatly fulfill that need. Admittedly, I may have been swayed by the opening 8 or so minutes in a movie that is wildly uneven but for me that was enough for this to just get a passing grade.

The Dawn of Man segment in 2001: A Space Odyssey is spoofed-the punchline I dare not spoil. After that are brief opening credits, and much to my shock the strains of Curtis Mayfield’s Move on Up is heard. Then… the hominids from the first few minutes are shown dancing to the song! It is a stone-cold classic, so understandable. Then, the song keeps playing through the next segment, which is a few minutes of a hippie girl in a Volkswagen Beetle convertible picking up a male hitchhiker hippie, which ends in both stark-naked then another punchline which won’t be revealed.

Kentucky Fried Movie

Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)

Runtime: 83 minutes

Directed by: John Landis

Starring: A wide variety of people, only some of whom I recognized in this sketch comedy film

From: United Film Distribution Company

No! No, not Detroit!

Quite simply, the one time I saw this movie was about 20 years ago. My memories of it were hazy, someone elsewhere referenced the film last year and for months KFM has been on Prime free for me… about time to check out something I recalled as being “fine”. The second time around, the opinion is the same.

KFM is in a sketch comedy format where 32 minutes of the 83 minute production is spent on a blatant Enter the Dragon ripoff called A Fistful of Yen. That sticks out among the rest which is mostly parody of television shows and movies… typically puerile and juvenile yet having comedy which more often than not did make me laugh. It wasn’t just the vulgar moments which inspired chuckles—there were also sight gags, wordplay, puns, and escalating absurdity which also amused me. The spoofs included courtroom drama, blaxploitation, sexploitation, newscasts, commercials and talk shows. The racial humor definitely plays differently now than it did back then.

This ZAZ production isn’t as funny as Airplane or the Naked Gun pictures and indeed some moments are of their time; likewise, this John Landis film (as a human being, I don’t love him but as a director some of his films are worth seeing*) isn’t The Blues Brothers or Coming to America. That said, this was the first ZAZ movie and early in the career of Landis so I shouldn’t complain as this was still good despite how uneven the end product was. After all, what a cast of actors this has, even if they are all in cameo appearances: Donald Sutherland, Bill Bixby (as himself), George Lazenby, Henry Gibson (as himself), Tony Dow, Branscombe Richmond, the Rhee brothers of martial arts fame AND Uschi Digard.

* I need to mention that in the next few days, via popular request on another site I’ll be viewing something else w/ Landis involvement. That is “via popular request”, as I’ll refer to it.

 

Late Spring

Late Spring (Banshun) (1949)

Runtime: 108 minutes

Directed by: Yasujiro Ozu

Starring: Chishu Ryu, Setsuko Hara, Yumeji Tsukioka, Haruko Sugimura, Hohi Aoki

From: Shochiku

Featuring more discussion of pickles and radishes than I was expecting.

Quite simply, last night felt like a night to check out a famous movie from a director known for gentle, comfy-feeling films that manage to address family drama while still feeling pleasant. Thus, Yasujiro Ozu and the Criterion Channel. This is not an all-timer like Tokyo Story; don’t worry, that’s no slight as it’d be foolish to think every movie I see from Ozu during the last 15 years of his life should be so grand that they all get the highest of ratings. Late Spring is still a great, great picture.

Setsuko Hara-in the first of six Ozu movies she did. When he died in ’63, that and previous health problems was why she peaced out and never returned to film again, putting a hard stop to her career-played Noriko, a 27 year old lady who is (gasp!) still not married, partially due to recovering from illness and partially due to living with her widowed dad and loving that austere lifestyle. Her aunt is unhappy that she is still single so she does some underhanded things to try and change her life.

What sounds like a simple story manages to display many different emotions along this journey, in a Japan that was still under occupation so there was some censorship issues but Ozu still managed to subtly show life in the Land of the Rising Sun despite any constraints… and also presents various Japanese traditions. Another person that joined Ozu’s stable was his old pal, screenwriter Kogo Noda. After this they worked together the rest of Ozu’s life.

It’d be a shame for me to say much more and thus spoil the magic and the wonder of this journey that the main characters go on, so I won’t. It isn’t a spoiler to say that Ozu’s trademarks are on full display: his pillow shots (I’m talking about outdoor landscape shots that are used to transition between scenes), camera real low to the ground, conversations between two characters that break the 180 degree rule, etc. All I’ll say is: wait until you see a scene involving a vase. As surprising as it may sound, the usage of such has sparked debate for decades now and its true meaning will likely forever be up for discourse.

Quick Change

Quick Change (1990)

Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Howard Franklin/Bill Murray

Starring: Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards, some famous faces who have small roles

From: Warner Bros.

Well, at least I can’t say anything bad about Geena Davis IRL…

This is a case where I can share a personal story about the film. In this case, would you believe that as an 8 year old boy with my family in the summer of ’89 we went to visit New York City (where my aunt lived at the time) and on a guided tour of the city, the vehicle passed by a set where they were filming this? We were not in the midst of any filming so no celebrities were seen and the set we passed was a bank, not the many “crappy New York City of old settings shown in the second and third acts. Despite that, it was just last night that I FINALLY actually saw the movie; that thought was in the back of my head forever yet for whatever reason the trigger wasn’t pulled until now.

Sadly, by now Randy Quaid has been bonkers for years and according to Geena Davis’s recently released memoir, Bill Murray engaged in harassing behavior with her more than once on set. As he was also co-director and a producer… a shame that he probably isn’t as lovable an oddball as he’s been portrayed but I will judge the movie not based on that unfortunate information or any later behavior.

Based on a book which was adapted just a few years earlier into a French-Canadian Jean-Paul Belmondo vehicle I had never heard of before until after viewing this (Hold-Up; it co-starred Kim Cattrall!), I was unsure of the movie at first as immediately we are thrusted into Murray dressed as a clown entering an NYC bank and commits a robbery that at first seems awkward and bizarre but eventually the scheme makes much more sense. All the people involved in that scheme try to flee New York… and that’s when the trouble starts. Many odd and surreal moments happen, none of which I dare spoil.

The film is stranger than anticipated; yet, the end product did win me over in the second and third acts. There was enough humor between the one-liners, the oddball scenarios, the obscure references, and Murray’s expected deadpan persona, in the framework of straightforward storytelling and an 89 minute long film. There are nice performances from Murray, Davis, Quaid and Jason Robards as the chief of police on the hunt to crack this case. No surprise that this eventually became a cult film after underperforming at the box office. For the 33 ½ years of backstory and anticipation to see a random movie I happened to find out about during production, it is fortunate then that Quick Change (as a movie) wasn’t a letdown. Learning more about Murray’s off the screen behavior and how there may be many other tales of terror… that IS a letdown.

Hapkido

Hapkido (He Ki Dao) (1972)

Runtime: 97 minutes

Directed by: Wong Fung

Starring: Angela Mao Ying, Carter Wong, Sammo Hung, Ing-Sik Whang, Ji Han-Je

From: Golden Harvest

FORBEARANCE

Via Arrow’s streaming site I was able to check out this Golden Harvest film; just last week Arrow released both that and Lady Whirlwind together in a two disc Blu-ray set as both movie star Angela Mao. As typical the restoration effort was excellent so whether you pick up the physical media or stream it, the viewer will be very satisfied.

The plot sounds simple on the surface yet for reasons I won’t spoil here it is more complex than what I’m leading on. Chinese people who happened to be stuck in Korea when Japan was occupying it during the 1930’s were naturally discriminated against. This is even if you are part of a Hapkido school. A skirmish happens; this is a teaser of what happens once they return to China. For reasons too elaborate to explain here, the Japanese are present there too so there’s a feud between their school and a Nipponese school that is filled with evil bastards. Thus, there is no shortage of action. Not only is it plentiful, all the martial arts is a blast, especially from Mao. Especially neat for me is that not only does Sammo Hung shine in a big (and early) role, there are blink and you miss it from several actors later to become stars: Biao Yuen, Corey Yuen and even Jackie Chan.

Ji Han-Je has a small role in the film as the greatest teacher of Hapkido. Only after the film’s conclusion did I find out that at best he was the founder of Hapkido and at worst was one of the key building blocks in its creation. Thus, I won’t question the authenticity of what was presented. Those that enjoy the Shaw Brothers movies of the 70’s that have similar plots will enjoy the similar action beats, where people easily flip and fly around. A big difference: a few times you get to see big bruises and other injuries after especially violent moments.

 

Missing

Missing (2023)

81% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 80 reviews)

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: Nicholas D. Johnson/Will Merrick

Starring: Storm Reid, Joaquim de Almeida, Ken Leung, Nia Long, Tim Griffin

From: Sony

Not a bad film to choose as my first 2023 picture. Back in 2018 I saw Searching; me not remembering too much of it from that one theatrical viewing may sound bad, but I still have fond memories of how well the conceit worked and it felt so fresh. Might as well see its standalone sequel the same way, right? I hadn't seen Joaquim de Almeida in a new movie in at least a decade; then again, the last time for Nia Long was almost THIRTY years ago! She played a 43 year old although in real life she was like 51 when this was filmed... she was totally believable as a 43 year old.

Instead of a father searching online for his missing teenage daughter and the entire POV is his computer screen, 18 year old Storm Reid is trying to find missing mother Long, who vanished in Colombia alongside her boyfriend. The trailers appeared to reveal everything (they didn't, but it was still too much) so if you've seen those, it is not a secret that boyfriend Kevin has a sketchy past. Via social media, Google and brute force hacking she is able to assist in trying to crack the case. Perhaps it is not the most plausible of scenarios but at least it's thrilling-this leans more into the thrills than Searching did-and there are message of how it's not good that TikTok and YouTube “sleuths” offer baseless speculation on true crime mysteries while only possessing a small fragment of all the data in the case that law enforcement has.

What was most appreciated by me: this uses the same basic concept as Searching yet isn't a carbon copy of that; enough changes were made to make this feel fresh. It was nice to see the familiar faces although Storm Reid (who I had only seen before in The Invisible Man) was the highlight as lead girl June. At first she's a bratty teenager but as expected, that attitude changes. It once again successfully captures time spent with computer and phone screens; this includes the 9th level of Hell known as CAPTCHAS. Quite simply, this was an engrossing tale the whole way through so I'll deem this as “pretty good.”

Wild Girl

Wild Girl (1932)

Runtime: 78 minutes

Directed by: Raoul Walsh

Starring: Joan Bennett, Charles Farrell, Ralph Bellamy, Eugene Pallette, Irving Pichel

From: Fox

An obscurity I am glad is currently on the Criterion Channel. It is part of a 9 film Joan Bennett collection currently on the platform; I'd seen some of them before but never this one. It's a Raoul Walsh picture based on a character present in stories written by Bret “The Hitman” Harte... actually, that wasn't his nickname. However, there really was a late 19th century writer known as Bret Harte; in middle school I read one of his short stories and as a pro wrestling fan that name has always made me chuckle.

The reason why Bennett is the titular Wild Girl: she has the temerity to be a tomboy in the Wild West. Her character is known as SALOMY JANE; no, I don't know what a “Salomy” is either. Anyhow, she has several suitors, who are on various levels of skeeviness. Even the guy she falls for (the “Meet Cute” happens while skinny-dipping, because it's Pre-Code)-a stranger to the area-wants to kill one of her suitors, because that SOB did something horrible to the stranger's family. The movie has several elements: melodrama, action, comedy, and romance.

It is a very entertaining 78 minutes (the last two minutes on the Criterion print is simply a musical coda done to a black screen) where because it's based on a book they decide to have frequent screen wipes appear to be pages of a book turning. The explanation for the introduction being the main characters speaking to the camera and stating a few sentences which reveal their characters & motivations... that is not as clear, although that was not a bad way to deliver an exposition dump. The story and characters are interesting so my attention never wavered but the true highlight was that much of the film was shot in Sequoia National Park in California. That's as in Giant Sequoia trees which provide a stunning landscape. I mean, the one town in the area even has giant trees right by storefronts.

That along with the unique touches this has perhaps has me rating this a bit higher than I should... yet I had fun seeing Bennett as Salomy Jane, Ralph Bellamy as the most ambiguous of the suitors, and character actor Eugene Pallette (Friar Tuck from the Errol Flynn Robin Hood) as the gregarious stagecoach driver Yuba Bill; he was certainly the most extravagant persona in the picture.

The Violin Case Murders

The Violin Case Murders (Schusse Aus Dem Geigenkasten) (1965)

Runtime: 84 minutes

Directed by: Fritz Umgelter

Starring: George Nader, Heinz Weiss, Sylvia Pascal, Helga Schlack, Helmut Fornbacher

From: A few different German and French companies

More criminal operations should operate out of bowling alleys.

Last night I was unsure of what to check out; there’s never a lack of options for me, which does sound great… except that at times it is difficult to actually make the selection. Finally, it was decided to continue on seeing a wide variety; all sorts of different people follow me, so I follow them and there is no shortage of obscurities that are reviewed. This includes ratings of German films based on the German/Finnish pulp novel character Jerry Cotton. As this is on YouTube, why not check it out?

The story presented here is undoubtedly pulp: Cotton is an FBI agent who goes undercover in a gang that operates out of a bowling alley. He sweet-talks the moll of the group as he attempts to stop the nogoodniks from a NYC robbery; this is after they scored big on heists in the Los Angeles and Chicago areas. As you hear an awesome Peter Rogers jazzy score throughout, we get to see brawls, a car wreck, chases, intrigue, action on a boat, and even a machine gun disguised in a violin case, which is why one of its alternate titles is The Violin Case Murders. Note that the scheme for the robbery concerns planting a bomb in a school as if it’s Die Hard with a Vengeance.

It's not the wildest genre effort you’ll ever see—after all, there’s no exotic locations, exotic women or even more exotic gadgets. Be that as it may, it was still breezy entertainment which provided enough action & thrills for me to say this was fine. At least once in awhile I’ll take in a Eurospy effort. By the way, the only recognizable name in the cast is George Nader; he was fine here so no one’s opinion should be colored that his one famous American starring role was in… ROBOT MONSTER.

The New Centurions

The New Centurions (1972)

Runtime: 103 minutes

Directed by: Richard Fleischer

Starring: George C. Scott, Stacy Keach, and many famous faces familiar to me

From: Columbia

I'd love to drink w/ George C. Scott at a gentleman's club! In my last review (for The Seven-Ups) I noted my affinity for 70's cop dramas. It sparked the idea for me to see another effort from the early 70's which I somehow hadn't experienced before. Thus, via Tubi I finally checked it out and like with The Seven-Ups, it was very good. Centurions, though, was definitely a 70's picture, meaning “downbeat”. I won't elaborate on why this is the case.

Stacy Keach plays a new graduate of the police academy in Los Angeles. He is partnered with veteran Scott. Originally, he joins the boys in blue as he's in law school and needs to pay the bills as he has both a wife & daughter. He then really starts to like the crazy job and all the excitement... even if you're an ACAB sort, you likely know that this line of work is quite difficult on families. Well, Centurions-based on a Joseph Wambaugh book-does not sugar-coat how rough it can be for the officers themselves. Even if having to use your gun is likely only on rare occasions, many in the public do hate you and/or you likely have to encounter someone in their worst moment, right after someone bad happened to them. That is why Keach in one scene compares police officers to the ancient Roman Centurions. The movie is on the bleak side although at least there are also touching moments so the movie was never a slog for me.

What a cast it has: Keach, Scott, Scott Wilson (for all you Walking Dead fans), Erik Estrada, Ed Lauter, Rosalind Cash, Clifton James, James B. Sikking, Isabel Sanford, William Atherton, Roger E. Mosley, Dolph Sweet and even a familiar 80's face at the very end for about 30 seconds. The cast as a whole is swell although of course it's the two leads who stood out the most with great performances. Mix in an awesome Quincy Jones score and this is a downbeat effort which was still endlessly fascinating experiencing the highs and all the lows of several characters... the camaraderie, triumphs and tragedies. One of the many reasons why I dig 70's cinema in general is that it can be unafraid to present life realistically even if it means that there are many heartaches and sour moments along the way. Thankfully the movie is not too difficult to find online although Tubi is the one legal way to stream it.

The Seven-Ups

The Seven-Ups (1973)

Runtime: 103 minutes

Directed by: Philip D’Antoni

Starring: Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Richard Lynch, Larry Haines, Bill Hickman

From: 20^th Century Fox

After feeling too “blah” to watch any films on Tuesday night-it was a night where I felt that “everything is lousy”-I felt better after that day off so last night I went to the DVR and saw a recording made last week on Turner Classic Movies. A 70’s cop movie will get my attention anyhow but a car chase sequence that is held in high regard… actually, it’s the sort of picture where there’s no good excuse for my lack of viewing until now, its lack of availability concerning legal streaming notwithstanding.

As this stars Roy Scheider as an NYC cop and there are a few other The French Connection connections, it’s no surprise that I would end up thinking of this as very good overall. Roy’s character (who isn’t too different from Cloudy Russo) leads a small group of police officers who use unorthodox tactics-which yes, sometimes means rather bad behavior-to land bad guys in prison for at least 7 years—points at the TV like I’m Rick Dalton. We witness dirty dealings, kidnappings, and other crimes; as Richard Lynch is in the cast playing a character known as Moon, is it really a spoiler to say that he’s one of the bad guys? In short, those kidnappings are done by villains posing as cops.

It's a tough and gritty look at a world full of money exchanges and two-person conversations in fancy hotels, greenhouses, school campuses, and all other sorts of locations. The legendary car chase is done after a funeral; that scene deserves its accolades as one of the best in cinematic history. Producer Philip D’Antoni (who had that job for both The French Connection and Bullitt) had his sole directorial credit here-this is one of the best “one and done” director’s performances you’ll ever see. Heck, one night of this, Bullitt and Connection will be a great night for you, at least if you share my tastes.

A great Don Ellis score, a nice escalation of tension, Scheider at his very best, a look at The Bad New York City of Old-another favorite trope of mine-Joe Spinell playing exactly the sort of hood you’d expect him to--maybe one day this movie will be easier for everyone to see.

M3GAN

M3GAN (2022)

95% on RottenTomatoes (out of 248 reviews)

Runtime: 102 minutes

Directed by: Gerald Johnstone

Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis

From: Several different production companies, including Universal and Blumhouse

Or: More and more people are starting to realize that Maria Menounos laughs like Woody Woodpecker! More info will be shared in a funny anecdote I’ll mention at the very end, but aside from there being more than one toddler in the audience (sigh… that wasn’t ideal) seeing this with a decent-sized crowd was beneficial. The movie often leans hard into the comedy so hearing everyone laugh at all the wacky/silly moments made the theatrical experience better. Like with many, the trailer sold me on giving this a shot; after all, why was a robot girl dancing before she kills some SOB? Turns out… she danced as some sort of taunt for the hell of it!

From the very beginning the tone was set-the movie is supposed to be fun, and it is. There is also some serious drama concerning robotics nerd Allison Williams and how because of technology, she can’t relate to 9 year old niece Violet McGraw that she suddenly has to take care of so this leads to M3GAN’s creation. To the movie’s credit, Cady does act like a typical 9 year old-for better or for worse-and Gemma is chastised for her behavior and how it PERHAPS was a poor idea to rush the AI/how the program learns.

It was only a few days ago that I learned director Gerald Johnstone also directed 2014’s Housebound, a very entertaining horror/comedy from New Zealand. M3GAN brought both the chuckles and the thrills of a robotic doll killing SOB’s for the purpose of trying to protect Cady. There is an R-rated version of the movie that may see the light of day on disc or streaming in the future; as is, I was more than fine with the PG-13 rating when the movie was still a blast even without graphic gore. The movie has done far better than expected; from hearsay, part of the success is due to… “the gay community” embracing the movie. As a straight cis white male I can’t offer any definitive explanation as to why but no matter the explanation I’m glad that an original fun movie has been a success.

I’ll give credit to Williams, McGraw, Amie Donald (who portrayed M3GAN when she wasn’t a practical effect) and Jenna Davis voicing the title character for their performances. As I prefer genre efforts like this to pretentious smug films that are dreadfully dull if they aren’t infuriating, this was a grand old time at the cinema. What I’ll remember the most from this night: the pre-show entertainment hosted by Maria Menounos. I’ve noticed this before but her laugh… rather odd and many probably will laugh in disbelief hearing such an aural “delight”. That’s what several parties of people at that screening did! Whenever that happened, they howled with glee. I knew then that I found the right crowd for M3GAN.

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession

This is a 2004 documentary about an interesting channel and an interesting human being: 

Watching this documentary fulfilled a promise made on Letterboxd… this past fall. A mutual left a comment on my review for Heaven’s Gate that he learned about HG from this documentary, and he recommended I check it out. As it’s me, last night was finally the occasion for me to learn about a famous cable channel from the past.

Z Channel was in the Los Angeles area and ran from 1974 during the early days of cable to 1989. They became famous after Jerry Harvey was hired to program its schedule and due to his incredibly eclectic tastes ran everything from Rocky and Rear Window to foreign films, obscure or famous. Plenty of motion pictures later to be part of the Criterion Collection were programmed, which was great for film buffs. Most importantly, he championed for the original cut of Heaven’s Gate to be played, which is how that finally found respect after it was savaged due to its all-time terrible production woes. The channel’s impact can be appreciated by all us dorks on Letterboxd, especially those that watch obscurities which probably deserve more attention in the community. A tastemaker for movie nerds, he proved to be.

It also demonstrates what a troubled person Jerry Harvey was. He had his personal demons and those weren’t always dealt with well. There were also problems with various women; the documentary documents this far better than I could in this space. He ultimately lost that battle with those demons and without giving it away, the circumstances of his death were rather awful. At least this piece was honest in displaying the negatives along with the positives.

The documentary is presented in a standard way: talking heads (some of whom like Tarantino and especially James Woods aren’t always looked at now as well as back then) discuss the channel and not only are vintage clips shown, footage from films that Z Channel played is also presented to demonstrate the eclectic playlist that those in the area were lucky to see for years. Even specific niches-such as a love for Jacqueline Bisset-was discussed for a few minutes. The downfall of Z-the channel, not the documentary-was not only Harvey’s death, but also them showing sports, along with WWF wrestling.

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession was a fascinating look by Xan Cassavetes-the daughter of John-at a topic of interest to me which I knew little about. As I learned quite a bit and everything was presented well, I’ll deem this a success. I won’t name the person here who made the recommendation but I’ll thank them for doing so; apologies for taking so long to fulfill that request.

Fair Game

Fair Game (1995)

Runtime: 90 minutes

Directed by: Andrew Sipes

Starring: William Baldwin, Cindy Crawford, Steven Berkoff, and various actors who only show up for a short amount of time

From: Warner Bros.

What a route I took in deciding to watch this film. A few days ago when I viewed The Mechanic it was via a video legally available on YouTube for free in HD quality (at least for me as a Premium member; some may scoff but I use YouTube often and not having to see constant ads is more than worth the cost) one of the recommended films down at the bottom as I streamed it on my TV was for this. Alas, that was in SD quality. As I won more than a few dollars playing a scratch-off lottery ticket I picked up alongside a Mega Millions ticket-I may say more about that once that ticket is redeemed-why not spend a few dollars to stream the movie on Prime in 1080p quality?

Another important detail: I had actually seen parts of this before, and via a setting perhaps unusual to some. My family was on vacation (as we sometimes did) and it must have been HBO in a hotel room one night, probably in '96. All I remembered beforehand was the leads spending time in the swamp and my mom bemoaning how stupid it was that Cindy Crawford made purchases via a credit card when she was on the run from bad guys with connections; even then that was pretty dumb-in 2023 that is far worse. It was actually multiple credit card purchases!

I mean, both lead characters (she a civil trial lawyer, he a cop) you'd think would know better; instead, they are complete nincompoops. The thought shouldn't be “yeah, you're right!” when a henchman notes how how stupid our heroes are, yet that's what occurred due to their repeated mistakes. Sure, the action isn't bad and in fact at times is amusingly absurd; there are several massive explosions. However, it is clear why Crawford did not continue an acting career and William Baldwin never became a steady action lead. The plot, as is: the two leads are on the run because of a dispute over a boat that is being used in highly illegal activities by-get this-evil Russians... insert your own comments if you wish. Somehow, this picture was based on the same novel that gave us... COBRA?! Baldwin's character is no Marion Cobretti, that is for damn sure.

At least this schlock had some highlights. Not a surprise that by this point, Steven Berkoff could play an evil Russian quite well. Salma Hayek is entertaining-but is only present for a few minutes. It was nice to see familiar faces like Jenette Goldstein and Dan Hedaya for varying amount of times. The South Florida scenery at least looked nice; from the time I spent there a lot of it in general looked quite familiar. There are definitely better and more entertaining B action movies from the 90's that are more worthy of viewing; however, what made me howl with laughter in disbelief was apropos out of nowhere, while the leads were in a train car hauling automobiles they suddenly have sex and it looks straight out of a 90's erotic thriller!