ajb60-1 Reviews

Christmas by Starlight (2020 TV Movie)

Best Hallmark movie of 2020

[8/10 · 27 November 2020]

This was really enjoyable and the chemistry between the two leads is great. In fact, all of their movies so far have been great. A different sort of plot with nice touches of humor. Highly recommended.

Octaman (1971)

Lousy but laughable fun

[3/10 · 4 July 2010]

The three stars out of ten is because of the fun I had laughing at this god-awful movie. Absolutely hysterical. Ridiculous monster, a totally unbelievable Kerwin Matthews, and Pier Angeli, who died shortly after this film was completed. I watched the entire movie fascinated by two things, the horrible monster costume, and Pier Angeli, who was once a very promising young actress back in the 1950's. She still looked good, but what a waste for her to act in something like this. Even more sad is that this apparently was her final acting job. Very sad. It is hard to believe that this was the only role that she would be hired for. I had read that she had hoped to act in The Godfather, and also that she had overdosed before finding out that she had been hired for a role on Bonanza. Does anyone know if she accidentally overdosed, or did she commit suicide?

Night of the Dark Full Moon (1972)

Good thriller except for camera work, budget

[6/10 · 4 July 2010]

I enjoyed this and did not guess the killer. That is always a good thing. The film obviously was made on a very, very slim budget, the night scenes are almost impossible to see. In a film like this, that can be good and bad. There was potential here for a real old fashioned early 1970's Gothic thriller. It has its moments, and you can see the potential is there. The director had some good ideas, and several scenes are memorable. But the cheap budget does hurt. The performances by Mary Woronov and James Patterson are perfect for this kind of film. Patterson always intrigued me, you cannot really find anything about this very interesting actor who died very young. I know he won a Tony award, did a lot of stage work, appeared in two interesting Mission Impossible episodes, and died either while filming this movie, or shortly afterward. He was only 40 and apparently had terminal cancer. He reminds me a an early version of Robert Davi in appearance, and could have had a good career as a character actor had he lived. I wish we could find out more about him. The film does mislead somewhat in listing Patrick O'Neal and John Carradine as stars. I am not sure what Carradine is even doing in the film, and O'Neal is not in it for very long. All in all, though, I enjoyed this film.

The Last Hunt (1956)

Taylor's best performance

[8/10 · 7 July 2006]

I saw this film about twenty years ago on the late show. I still vividly remember the film, especially the performance of Robert Taylor. I always thought Taylor was underrated as an actor as most critics saw him as solid, almost dull leading man type, and women simply loved to watch his films because of his looks. This film, however, proved what an interesting actor he could be. He did not get enough roles like this during his long career. This is his best performance. He is totally believable in a truly villainous role. From what I have read, he was a very hardworking and easy going guy in real life and never fought enough for these kind of roles. He basically would just do what MGM gave him. This film proves that he could have handled more diverse and difficult roles. The other thing I remember about this film is how annoying Lloyd Nolan's character was. Nolan was a great actor, but this character really aggravated me. The last scene of the film has stuck with me for all of these years. This film is definitely worth a look.

The Comic (1969)

One of the better "little known" films

[8/10 · 26 February 2005]

I have just seen this movie for the first time in over 25 years. I still remember the last time I saw it. It was not a great movie by any means but I am a big film fan and this movie was memorable for me. The last scene of Van Dyke's character getting up in early morning hours just to watch one of his old films with his ex-wife always stuck with me. It is a really sad scene. Van Dyke is great in this, he would have made a great silent comedian. While the character is obviously based an awful lot on Buster Keaton, Van Dyke to me actually resembles Stan Laurel at times. The brief clips of the silent films his character does make you want to see the entire films. I also enjoyed Mickey Rooney's performance, too. I highly recommend this to anyone who is a silent movie fan or a Dick Van Dyke fan.