Nice, likable fable about a race to land the first person on the Moon. The Russians and the Americans are locked in battle again to be the first nation to get a person on the Moon. The Americans opt for a barely space worthy civilian to represent the US in an effort to match a similarly progandistic move dreamed up by the Russians. A last second flurry of preparation sends James Caan rocketing to the Moon with Robert Duval acting as his more experienced coach. The whole thing is drenched in melodrama but don’t let that deter you. You will [More]
These days, I don’t think you will find an action movie that does not include the phrase, “GO, GO, GO!!!” screamed out by a character in full flight motion. And you’ll probably hear this shouted several times more throughout the stock chase, pursuit, frantic action sequences that clog up these crazed action vehicles. Is it an entitlement to the action film scripter to include this chestnut multiple times amidst all the sweat, smoke, fire and explosions? I guess it must be. Everyone else includes it. Why don’t I? It is most certainly a cliché lazily included because what else would someone say who [More]
A 1960’s attempt to bring Wonder Woman to the small screen. After the huge success of the campy Batman series starring Adam West, a small effort was made to test out if the same serio-comic approach could be applied to the comic book character Wonder Woman. Here is the result of that effort. Best that it was passed over. Maybe more promising would be to screen the Batgirl pilot which never made it to network TV created during the TV Batman series’ period of popularity and bedlam.
“What is this place?” It is not as if we haven’t been here before or heard this particular line repeated over and over again in a multitude of movies. I would have to categorize this sample of dialogue as one of the quite often imitated exclamations of myriad characters who become the mouthpieces of unimaginative script writers. Call it dependence on cliché, simple laziness or a belated regurgitation of all of the media crap they have ingested over the years but this particular example of puzzled profundity pops up a lot. Here’s just one example from one of The X-Men movies. [More]
Here’s a novel idea! A charismatic drifter spouting off about an idealized lifestyle appeals to a certain youthful segment of the population who become his “family” of followers and unwittingly carry out his hidden, nefarious plans. Could this be an early Manson biopic? Are we looking in on any particular politician? Oh. One little item that needs to be added to this story description is that the “Deathmaster” is actually a modern day vampire who actually preys upon his flock in order to extend his diabolical undead existence. Robert Quarry, who stars, came up with this story idea and it was eventually “fleshed” [More]
A made for TV fright film that touts a modern day werewolf on the loose in Louisiana. Although this movie gets a little talky in spots, I like the atmosphere present from the Louisiana setting and the modest amount of frights served up: Some nice POV shots of the monster descending on his soon to be victims. Also, some creepy moments as a country estate is stalked at night by the howling, marauding wolf man and a hospital is plagued by the unwelcome presence of the destructive monster. Certainly not the best monster make up you will see but thankfully we [More]
This is a very enjoyable view. Witness these debauched tales of popular entertainers who liked to party. A lot! These were men who made it a habit to indulge and overdue it with the booze, women, lunacy and mayhem. We get segments chronicling the mad exploits of actors Richard Harris and Oliver Reed. Then, we move on to Keith Moon, Alex Higgins and Liam Gallagher. All consummate performers, these lit up characters really enjoyed the element of entertaining and “performing” crazy stunts and otherwise abusing their bodies and reputations all for the benefit of us, their adoring public. Long may their stories of excess [More]
One of the swan song performances of the Monkees. This is from a TV special called “33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee” that no one really watched when it first came on. This is a great Mike Nesmith penned tune. The four Monkees converge on to the set after Peter Tork’s noodling electric piano play and kick in to the tune. There then commences a musical “freak out” of the assembled TV special guests. Peter Tork left the band shortly after this show.
We just lost another great performer. Actor Bill Paxton just recently passed away. I have fond memories of Paxton as the cowardly but ultimately heroic Private Hudson in “Aliens”. There were also noteworthy acting turns in the science fiction and horror genre films “Predator 2” and “Near Dark”. He had another great role as a treasure hunter in “Trespass”. I have heard many good stories of Paxton, the man. He was described as being a very friendly, warm human being. Our sympathies go out to his loved ones.
Another bass playing giant has left us. John Wetton enters the ranks of those beloved bass players who have recently passed away. Chris Squire, Lemmy, and Greg Lake preceded Wetton into the afterlife and all were unique and irreplaceable. John Wetton always impressed me with his passionate, powerful vocals and his strong, at times, brutal bass chops. He ripped it up with King Crimson for years and had stints in Roxy Music, Family, UK and Asia. An utterly immense talent. I saw this tour of the three piece dynamo known as UK. They opened for Jethro Tull in Oakland, CA. Their [More]
The limits of endurance are tested for those who choose to scale the highest spot in the world, Mount Everest. The pitfalls involved include the mind and body altering effects of high altitude, sudden, unpredictable onslaughts of violent weather, fending off the encroaching cold and avoiding frostbite. Climbing the mountain has always presented a formidable challenge for those who attempt to reach its summit. Along came Rob Hall who devised “Adventure Consultants”. This was a venture that presented a group ascent of Everest under his, his assistants’ and his team of Sherpa’s guidance. The venture proved to be both profitable and influential as a [More]
A more muscular, 4 and 6 string driven rendition of this early 1980’s gem from Gary Numan: “Cars”. Numan these days has ventured from his Bowie like posturing and has taken on more of a resemblance to actor Robert Carradine with a bit of Klaus Kinski thrown in. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (I have no shame), age will have its rage. With us all. Like this fresh take on the song, though.
I recently caught this movie again and I came away more impressed than I have in the past. The print I saw had been digitally restored and the imagery benefits greatly from the treatment. I include this clip because it shows a lot of the road trip that these two anti heroes (dope dealers, Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda, travelling cross country on motorcycle “choppers” and taking it easy on the open road, while taking in the sights) initially debark upon. It also is accompanied by The Bryds’ “I Wasn’t Born To Follow”, a nice country rock style tune which [More]
“Chato’s Land” was a late entry in the Western film genre that had proliferated at the movie theaters for 50 years but started to fall out of favor by the 1970’s. To draw in viewers who might be lured away by other fare, some of these latter day “oaters” resorted to adding more violence and depravity. That sensibility shows up in this film, a blood soaked tale of a hastily drawn together posse of cruds who go off in pursuit of a wrongly accused Indian who kills a lawman in their town. As the misbegotten mob gets drawn deeper into his “Land”, a [More]