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Il grande duello (1972)
If Lee Van Cleef is in the movie, one can't go wrong
This flick may have too much in it for its running time....or perhaps not for while it is loaded, it does keep the action meshed together for the grand story. It ties the action nicely together with the life in the background of what it might have been like to live back then.....at least fantasy wise. Such as a rest station with the simple pleasures as games of checkers, in between the gun fights, of course.
The orchestra track is wonderful and copied, so they say, by movie makers in the future. There were some movie making flaws but for one, improper belt fed machine gun, can be glossed over and others, such as background failures, might not be noticed at all.
It may not be a movie to hold high for all time but it certainly is decent flick to get lost in for the evening.
The Firing Line (1988)
Well, the toys are nice....
Lots of bangbang and boomsbooms but otherwise, there is a lot that this flick doesn't bring to the table. Such as wisdom of the battle field such as if your supplies depend on what you steal from those you are rebelling against, one is not in the position to shoot on full auto all the time.
On the other hand, if one takes a high heeled, skirted, bright dressed in colors woman into the jungle, it does make sense to redress her in camouflage fatigues as soon as you can. But if one does that, why put her back in a white tee visible to the whole world?
I got stuck with this movie because it was part of a horror package and for so long, I was waiting for some monster to pop up.....but there is nothing like that in the story.
One consistency in the story is that it remains unsure who is fighting who. It appears that the government against the rebellion are fighting the communists....but then the rebellion wins after the hero and the heroine join them? In the many shoot them up scenes, it is unsure who shot who for several seconds until a "story booster" tells the audience if they should cheer or not.
Essentially, a movie not to spend money on.
The Seniors (1978)
Is Donatien Alphonse Francois giggling in his grave?
Generally, this flick is pretty dull even with all the topless actresses in it........but it does have one notable, perhaps not redeeming, element to it. It manages to reflect one of the Marquis de Sade's more atrocious works and reflect them in an R but almost PG version.
That is, a Bishop, a Judge, a Banker, and a Commissioner come together to be involved in debauchery. That's the basic of the written work and that could be a summary of this flick.
The problem is that the reflection is too subtle and probably is unseen to much of the audience. Further, any meaning of the movie occurs only in the last 20 minutes and while some of it is HILARIOUS, such as the dashing of great scientific discoveries, it is not enough to carry the movie. If anything, most of the movie is quite juvenile, a boy's fantasy in the sexual candy story.
A six for imagination in writing the screenplay, a 2 as something to spend one's money on.
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner (2004)
The pursuit of Evil.......or just an easy kill?
This story leans more toward police incompetency and why TV lawyers are so brilliant than a good mystery. Arrogant mid level officers who think they know all the answers without bothering to do the work, recently demoted detectives who are missing the entire point of their situation, and senior inspectors who allow underlings not only to constantly disobey orders but actually lie to them. To say nothing of letting conflicts of interest exist. These are the people who are suppose to be protecting the innocent?
Further to the case at hand is that there is no clear path to how the mystery is solved. It is just there when Havers pulls the rabbit out of the hat.
As an unfolding mystery, it is perhaps okay but as a show, the only characters who are likeable is the growing body count of victims. The good guys don't quite cross the line or at least not too much but it titters the show very much on becoming unwatchable. Cop shows that are, that become "the ends justifies the means" are shows that I turn away from. One wonders how this episode was written for "Who are these people and what have you done with those who use to wear their clothes?".
Les femmes (1969)
While the plot is similar to Hepburn & Holden...
.....that is, the publisher of a writer's blocked famed writer sends him a spirited young typist to get him going......they aren't the same movie. Oh, there may be one, possibly two scenes, that are similar to the flick of years before, it is not the same flick.
Moreover, this movie is really not there. The backgrounds are wonderful, the supporting actresses are beautiful in fantastic photography, Brigitte is wonderful to look at, .....it's a decent movie to practice one's French with......but otherwise, it's just not there.
It doesn't mean the movie is totally worthless, however. It is a relaxing movie to take away the stress of the day. Since it is in French with English subtitles, however, it is a movie that one can't multitask through. One has to sit through it all, thankfully less than 90 minutes, while not doing another thing.
Good for a mind ebbing screen saver but nothing really to pay money to see by modern standards.
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
Never drop one's guard when dealing with the British
Fairly entertaining. Having now watched Errol Flynn for a while, it can be said that he had the silent look of hurt down to an art.
Such movies should not be taken as a lesson in history but it still makes it curious that if the Irish used archers behind trees, then why were colonial Brits so surprised when the natives in the colonies fought successfully not using volley fire.
Errol Flynn movies tended to be heavily romantic and fictionalized but it was still a surprise when the bad guys won. Vincent Price may not have been very horrifying in this flick but he was very saucy early in his career.
An entertaining flick if slightly boring with the lack of romance.
88 (2015)
Slightly bouncy but still rather good
Being a movie watching fanatic such as with the works of Gregory Peck, the story of this flick is not unfamiliar. Still, though, for what I have seen, the answer should have been obvious to me but it wasn't, not even to the moments before.
Michael Ironside is an older, beaten up version of his younger self, at least visually, but underneath that old man not to turn one's back on is that almost fatherly charm that one would be best not to trust. Which may be a saving grace for his character's apparent stupidity which, if one thinks into the story, may be calculated sacrifices to arrive at the facts.
Christopher Lloyd plays it well as a local crime boss who is also a dirty old man.
Probably the only down side to the flick is the opening narration in text about the Fugue state. The movie is good but it would have been better if the audience didn't know about this but were left with the puzzle of what was going on.....as was the growing body count of the innocent bystanders.
Thriller: Night Is the Time for Killing (1975)
It may be a familiar story but it is done wonderfully
There are many similarities in this story, from Bond to a later Gene Wilder flick to maybe even Agent 86....or Shatner in an airplane. Despite being able to see similarities, of how others have done it before or will do it, this one still stands on its own.
Edison said that are only so many original stories but it doesn't mean that they all have to be the same after the first. Indeed, that can be part of the fun in finding the ways it was done "here".
There are familiar faces from those of great fame to those we might have only seen once but their faces are forever in our memories. Further, it is always fun to see a heavy being a prat!
Anno zero - Guerra nello spazio (1977)
Well, maybe the acting is better in its native language
Saturday night is my at home sci fi movie night and this flick came up. In the setting of being alone out on the frontier at night, it has its point or two but I certainly wouldn't recommend watching it any other way. The acting is wooden, any real points don't occur till the last 3rd of the flick, and the way events unfold seem questionable in continuity.
Still, philosophically speaking, it does have 2.5 worth points. The first is a warning of "people" getting too smart for their britches and developing machines that not only take over all work but end up taking over, period. Secondly, is the flaw of uniformity in fantasy movies. When everyone wears the same kind of head gear which covers the hair, it removes half of what makes the personality on face value. It becomes difficult to see any of the players individually, if at all, and develop feeling for them. It may make sense in a military environment but it really hurts the story telling.
Finally, while perhaps not intended, it was a brilliant stroke to have the "Master Cylinder" resemble a Japanese toy robot with its flashing lights.
The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)
How Hateful the Bad Guys can be
Michael Caine's character doesn't necessarily like being teamed with Sidney Poitier's character, but tolerance eventually becomes something closer and it probably does because of indirect means. That is, "I may not be too thrilled about being with you but I am really learning to despise those guys!".
Hence, the movie does it quite well by not only showing how miserable the enemy is but also generating allies to those shown in the movie, right and left. Those on the side of the "strong" in Apartheid South Africa show that is not only that they must win, but that everyone else who isn't on their side must lose.
The politics can't be put aside when watching this flick but they don't overwhelm the movie either, leaving lots of room for excitement and suspense to who will win and what tricks will be used to snatch victory or defeat from the powerful jaws in play.
Fishtales (2007)
A decent get away flick that doesn't require much thought
Leave most technology behind and go spend the summer at the beach. That's what this G rated (or it should be) family movie is about. Families finding themselves, a stupid but charming crook, and a gift from the sea.
Settings for why one watches this flick or that is important for as this flick is simple, perhaps even childlike, it may not work for someone expecting more out of the sexy world of mermaids. Or to put it another way, if one is watching a movie from a certain sphere or frame of mind, then any faults a flick might have are acceptable in that frame of mind. For me, this was watched on SUPERCHICK night, flicks with women as the front credits.
Having done working vacations by the sea, it was very easy for me to get into, to enjoy, to remember things that were familiar. Leave the modern world behind and enjoy nature.
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: A Traitor to Memory (2004)
When the Brit Cops are as BAD as the crooks!
This one certainly has a bad batch to go after, of arrogant suspects, criminals with no remorse, and superiors who trash the public for their own desires. The one good thing of all of this that since it is an Inspector Lynley, he gets a slap in the face to how the upper class really think about the commoners.
The only good for in the end, both he and Havers give in, for whatever reasons, by letting those who repress get away with their crimes of trashing the lives of others.
Morality wise, it's a BAD story but it is decent production wise. Still, when the heroes of a show start falling into corruption, one can hope, hold their breath that it is only one time, that it was a bad dream, and hope that it does not happen again....for if it does, then the series is over.
The Sea Hawk (1940)
When you have no choice in the matter
That is can be said about any flaws in this flick. "Yes, you are walking into an obvious trap, but you really have no choice, do you?". So while parts of the story may be obvious, it is best to enjoy the tension going into them.
Perhaps a fictionized version of Sir Francis Drake but that's no surprise of an Errol Flynn flick. In this one, there is probably nothing he does that is despicable. He may be a harsh Captain here and there but always with honor.
The battles, both between ships and individual, are impressive and if unbelievable at parts, is one fighting a man or a demon, then it must be remembered, it is that kind of movie. The hero fights to save England.
Certainly enough bare male chests, from Errol Flynn to Alan Hale!
While a little long for a 1940 movie, there is plenty of action to keep the story going and the audience entranced. A 10 flick.
The King's Thief (1955)
Oh, who ever thought David Niven could be so evil?
Why does one watch such a movie? Why, for swash buckling fun! This movie has it with flashing swords, acrobatic horse chases. And suave villainy.
Roger Moore can be difficult to find for, being early in his career, there no close ups but only wide shots. Further, with the limits of what those shots can do, young Sean McClory might be taken for him, instead.
Early special effects photography, such as being on a high tower, is pretty decently done for the technology of the time. George Sanders plays the King well for someone who is so vain.
Not too much delectable for the leading lady Ann Blyth but she decently communicates what it could be like, accurate or not, to live in such a time as a woman of means. This, however, is primarily a movie for the males.
David Niven is rather excellent as an uppity noble who wants it all and who has little care for others. The only down side to the movie is that after all the hate built up about him, his demise is done off screen.
A decent, wholesome flick.
The Heroes of Telemark (1965)
A story that can't be put down
Good, solid behind the lines movie. Realistic to an extent such as one saying that if the carpet bomb the town to stop the research, thousands will die.......making it quite clear that they have absolutely no idea what an atomic bomb will do....as history shows was the lack of so many.
Which.....probably explains one of the heroes to put the mission at risk to save a friend for again, even he did not fully appreciate what was at stake since that knowledge did not exist then.
The Germans are particularly brutal without the movie dwelling on the subject and there is even a flaw, as flaws exist, in the perfect fighting machine despite what the propaganda states. For whatever reason, a false muster was made and as such, the good guys win.
At two hours plus, it is a little bit long but it moves along decently enough so one is not bored.
Demon Rage (1982)
Nudity and not Britt Ekland is probably the biggest attraction
Lots and lots of toplessness! At first, only that of Lana but eventually, there is some beefcake as well.
Movies of a time of how things once were have to be seen in the proper setting to get a proper feel for them. Watching this flick in a movie theater, now, wold probably flop it. In one's own place, isolated like the beach house in the movie, though, one can get something out of the movie.
The organ like background music may have been a little much to suggest that something bad is about to happen. A line or two about the medieval relics in the basement, of why they happened to be there, would have helped as well.
STILL, though, when it is a horror flick, perhaps it is better to just accept the props as is and not question why they are there at all.....though it is something of a dead give away that when a tool of execution is present, someone is going to pay a cost with it.
More for the feelings of remembering the last century than the chests of the leading lady and man, this flick can be worth a look.......once.
Monstrosity (1963)
Once upon a time in a past far far away.....but not far enough
A LOT of narration which serves a purpose when the movie is SHORT for it gets the story moving where it needs to be. It doesn't does a thing for the audience, however, for did they pay to watch a movie or for someone to read to them?
Past that, I suppose one had to live in that time to truly appreciated what the movie was. That is, with not the entertainment technology that we have today, perhaps it might have actually been something.
Appearance wise, it was well cast. The villainess is perfect, her henchman is a milksop, the victims are delectable, and the mad scientist is classic.
Perhaps the flick could have been better if it was silent, if no one talked at all.
Bordello (2023)
It never really gets anywhere
It is a lot of terrific photography at and around a house of prostitution, but it never really comes together and tells a story till the last third, if not the very end of the movie.
It does have two terrific villains but they are more of a fixture than a driving force. Things to be introduced, used when necessary, but for what they contribute to most of the movie, it could have been written into the story as an off camera affair.
Character development is minimal. Even a flick about prostitution doesn't necessarily need nudity but it would be nice to see something about the women, the underdogs of the story, to have some interest in them, to be able to tell them apart, to feel something when the powerful throw them away. There is none of that here.
I got through the movie because I was doing my pioneer ways (cooking, cleaning) from my home on the frontier. For what it was showing in the small details, such as going to the country store for coffee and sugar, I could slightly relate......but just sitting on the sofa, I was left wondering "When is something going to happen?" Hence, in one or two viewing settings, it might be worth the ~$19 I bought it for.....but that's pushing it.
For the.history that some of the cast have, this movie is not to their credit.
Flareup (1969)
Takes a special eye to appreciate the Love in the movie
There is a lot of Love in this flick as Raquel (Michelle) leaves the city where she was almost murdered for another city. At first, it is to escape the immediate threat, but as time goes on, it may be just to escape her life before and bury it in the arms of a new one.
Like that, the movie is believable, but 97 minutes may be too short to communicate that message and still maintain the tension that homicidal maniac is after her. It is just not quite the right balance of things. A flick of all chase would get tedious after a while and would probably be a waste of an actress such as Raquel.....but the embraces of love leave one wondering when the next violent scene is going to be.
Luke Askew is perfect as the killer. He has the looks for the personalty for someone who sees people as just things to use for his own purposes. For better or worse, the killer has a cool calculating mind for even though people mean nothing to him, he knows their values to others.
The tension is decently done with nice surprises along the way for a movie made in a time when all the answers weren't so quickly obtained. It's a flick worth a look and not for the brief scene or two of topless dancers.
The Bionic Woman: Which One Is Jaime? (1978)
The Fun outweighs the camp
I've always loved this one, primarily for the life of the single young woman who is often undercover. That is in reality, the Control has got to appreciate that those undercover have to do things like shop as well and this episode hits it right on the nose, both with the good guys and the bad ones. Further, the bad guys have done their homework a little bit to recognize a woman with a very big dog, so don't attack anywhere where she knows the ground.
Callahan, good or bad, was always something of the comedy relief, so she can be a little wearing on the nerves here. Fortunately, she does not occupy too much of the screen.
Finally, one must keep in mind....that it is a spy show, so any errors that might be seen may not be errors after all. What comes out of a spy's mouth might not be the truth but meant, trained or intentional, to mislead. A spy who says "tapes" when there was only one might have meant to lay down a false path. Hence, when taken in that light, continuity errors or bad acting may not be that at all.
The episode is not perfect.....but it is fun.
Divergent (2014)
Then or Now, this movie has relevance for many
Been there, done that. That is, having been in regiments where fighting is part of the game, where one steps up to bat without hesitation, where one engages anyone without thought for there are no weaklings in the group, this movie gives me something I can identify with even if that kind of life was decades ago for me. I could feel with the heroine when she decided that they would have to physically throw her out, not just tell her, for I had been there as well.
But movies can't just be about seeing one's personal history on the screen and sooner or later, a story must be told. While the story is the same, that power corrupts, this version is well told.
The perhaps unfortunate part is that being so near perfect, a sequel (or two) must be made but what more can be said, in the right sense, for the near perfect story. Let the movie stand as it is now and go no further.
Pompeii (2014)
Well, it's a decent movie to get lost in...sort of
But, in all honesty, it is more like a fairy tale for children than an adult flick. It approaches the decadence of the soul but it never gets there. Neither in action nor in lines. Even the proper placement of lines to trigger the emotions would work, it certainly has the right setting, but the movie does not know how to trigger it.
What's missing? What I learned in acting that in order to play a role, you have to be able to feel their fear.......and that is not there in this movie. The words may be spoken but those that should feel it don't show it.
The movie realizes what is missing toward the end or maybe now that the mountain has blown, it can go for such action, the damsel in distress, people being turned into torches, but by then, it is too little, too late.
The movie does have one redeeming feature in that the villain is one never to turn one's back on, is totally evil, will alter the bargain, is quite sadistic with his words......and the crowd will cheer when his end comes.
Other than that, however, it is a mediocre movie to what it might have been.
Yin xiao yu jian cui yu shi (1977)
Is something lost in translation?
I suppose there is something to the lead femme fatale having all the sweet cuteness of "Gogo Yubari" but when one is on the bad side, one should occasionally show SOMETHING that they are the kind of person not to be trusted. The total sweetness may be something to look at but it does nothing for the story.... except in the very end when the sword falls.
It is the typical "kung fu" type flick where the hero or heroine defeats massive opposing armies only because they fight as individuals and not as a team. It further does not help the movie that in the end, everyone who was not truly evil is accepted as friend ...... and they all live happily ever after. Not a movie worth paying for in order to watch.
Joshua (1976)
End Product of a War
The 1hr 23 minute version. Not quite sure what they cut out as that there was certainly enough killing and rapes in this movie. Still, this movie is very powerful and a lot of it is not in what it says but how it communicates the message of this or that in what it does.
There are some down points in chases that are too much, that go on too long, but then, there is the tension one might feel in the grand chase which is the major theme of the flick, that he is not going to break off. There are cowboys on the side who look like they just came fresh from the laundry.
But overall, there are 4 major themes that communicate but are unsaid: being black, revenge, being tactically stupid against a warrior, and being a woman.
The hero runs into hostility toward his skin almost every step of the chase, one way or another. He may have been on the winning side of the Civil War but for so many he has met, nothing has changed. Revenge in that one can only be killed once but when there is enough anger, how one is sent off can be long and painful. On tactics, for a prize who is no Helen of Troy, the bad guys have no brains in their head of what their pursuer might have to do if they leave their captive in his path.
Perhaps it is just as well that such a ploy was not played in this movie for it is movie of revenge, not rescue. While the captured wife might seem deserving of her eventual fate, one must appreciate what it is to be a woman in a society where one is property, a point that was rather stated at the start as a mail order bride. Of what one must do, accept, in order to survive.
A fairly decent movie that shows, if it doesn't tell it, that the old West was not black and white.
Chill Factor (1999)
Avoid the trailers before seening the movie
My method of movie watching is simple; if the DVD looks interesting on the cover, if it is cheap enough, if it fits into the category I like, I buy it. Hence, this flick fell into my lap as a spy flick. It starts out pretty well, with credits of good players such as Peter Firth and Hudson Leick, has a terrifying threat, and sets the playing table for revenge. The comedy does not start till probably a good 20 minutes and it is not overwhelming. It can even be ignored though given the fame of those two players that might be difficult if one knows who they are.
The catch is that the trailer would lead one to believe this is a total comedy flick and as such, one might pass it by which would be a pity. It is decent as the evening movie, good for a pass if one does not have cable/streaming movie channel capability.