‘The Unseen’ (1980): Time for some trashy, Halloween-season schlock
You know…someone really should change that diaper.
‘Bluebeard’ (1972): So much potential, but mostly goes to waste
With the days getting more brisk as the sun loses its power to warm us, and the nights getting longer and more still, it wouldn’t be unexpected to have a certain melancholia creep into one’s temper. Drinking and cleaning your guns in the dark helps to shake it loose, but only so much. What one really… Read More ‘Bluebeard’ (1972): So much potential, but mostly goes to waste
‘Monsignor’ (1982): Christopher Reeve without the cape is less than Super
There’s this smug little reel going around Facebook that shows pissy, insufferably superior, utterly humorless Christopher Reeve complaining to David Letterman (in 1982) that Marlon Brando wasn’t a “good role model” because he was mean to him and ignored him on the set of Superman. I’m serious.
‘Wicked, Wicked’ (1973): The only Duo-Vision movie ever released has us seeing two
Okay, enough. I swear to god if I hear my kid “lecture” me one more time about how essential it is to see The Second Coming of Christ’s director Christopher Nolan’s latest portentous snoozefest in its proper “cinematic form,” I’m going to lose it. This is the kid who’s never seen Lawrence of Arabia or… Read More ‘Wicked, Wicked’ (1973): The only Duo-Vision movie ever released has us seeing two
‘Branded’ (1950): A neglected gem of ’50s Westerns
“You got any friends?”“My guns.”“Kinfolk?”“My horse.”
‘Modesty Blaise’ (1966): Modest Bond spoof has high expectations, but lacks game director
We have a joke around the Mavis digs (besides myself) that whenever a royalty check from my publisher arrives in the mail, it’s even money at best that the postage paid will be more than the check amount…if a royalty is even generated that particular quarter. Such is the fate of the author of a… Read More ‘Modesty Blaise’ (1966): Modest Bond spoof has high expectations, but lacks game director
‘True Grit’ (1969): John Wayne’s Oscar-winning performance is still fresh, funny & exciting
I was trying to think of a movie that reminded me of my old man (to celebrate this upcoming Father’s Day), and since I couldn’t find anything titled, Hilariously Funny/Psychopathically Maladapted Depressive with Sadistic Personality Disorder and Suicidal Tendencies, I turned to ‘ol John Wayne. My old man used to laugh at him…but he loved… Read More ‘True Grit’ (1969): John Wayne’s Oscar-winning performance is still fresh, funny & exciting
‘Hannibal Brooks’ (1969): A most unusual example of a big-scale WWII actioner
In an effort this Memorial Day weekend to watch something—anything—other than The Dirty Dozen or Where Eagles Dare or Kelly’s Heroes or The Green Berets for the umpteenth time, I rooted around and came up with a real overlooked gem from the late 1960s: the captivating, offbeat big-scale WWII adventure, Hannibal Brooks.
‘Boxcar Bertha’ (1972): Early Scorsese gangster flick isn’t good, but it’s entertaining
So I spent the equivalent of 20 goddamn hours (it seemed) watching Scorsese’s laughably bad, The Departed, with one of my kids, who then spent another hour or so trying to explain to me why it was so great and why I was so wrong in hating it. He, of course, failed. If I want… Read More ‘Boxcar Bertha’ (1972): Early Scorsese gangster flick isn’t good, but it’s entertaining
‘Killer Force’ (1976): Energetic heist actioner is dumb, but fun
Amiable, mindless (…and mostly inexplicable) thick ear for fans of 70s all-star international co-productions.
