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Post by Franko on Sept 2, 2017 23:42:35 GMT -5
"Dual-broadcasting" my old PCW series here ...
Zapped!
“Zapped! Sweeps Oscars” -- Our Dumb Century
“I get more people asking about that movie than anything, no lie.” -- Scott Baio, 2014
When I was -- oh, cripes, about age 5 or 6 -- I remember catching Zapped! on TV* with my mom. We happened to tune in just before the grand finale, when Barney (Baio) snaps, using his telekinesis to rip everybody’s clothes off at the senior prom. Seeing that blond guy in those red bikini briefs with the Rolling Stones lips ended up being quite the experience, even if I wouldn’t know why it mattered for a long, long time.
*Comedy Central, which used to air censored versions of stuff like this as part of the “T&A Matinee.” I want to say I’ve seen Private School.
Setting aside nostalgia, Zapped! just isn’t a good film. Baio is miscast as Barney, a misfit who develops his powers after inhaling a combination of plant food, marijuana oil and beer. On the other hand, he has decent chemistry opposite Felice Schachter, serving up girl next door realness as class president/investigative yearbook reporter/amateur scientist (of course, she’s cute without her glasses) Bernadette. The montage where they have a perfect date (to David Pomeranz’s “Got to Believe in Magic”) is sweet, even though things get awkward when he tries to mentally lift her shirt.
Please don’t make me talk about the stuff with the adult characters. Okay, quickly … We’ve got the divorced school principal (Robert Mandan) hooking up with an adoring English teacher (Sue Ann Langdon), who answered his ad in the personals. Things go so well, she’s giving him a BJ during their first date at a fancy restaurant. Meanwhile, beloved coach Dexter (Scatman Crothers) inhales a whole bunch of extra-potent weed, causing him to dream of Einstein, his Viking-clad wife (LaWanda Page) and sausages as weapons. Finally, Barney’s mother (Mews Small, the original Frenchie in Broadway’s Grease) is convinced he’s on drugs, then possessed. His father (Roger Bowen, an inaugural member of the Second City) mixes booze with prune juice, then spills it on himself.
Baio’s best chemistry is with Willie Aames, who plays Barney’s scheming friend, photography enthusiast Peyton. But let’s face it, for most people, Zapped! is only worth talking about for one reason. One blonde, pink undies, garter belt-wearing, those-aren’t-my-boobies** reason. Ladies and gentlemen, a big round of applause for Heather Thomas!
**They couldn’t have found a double whose hair actually matched Heather’s?
“Look, whatever happened last night, I faked every bit of it.” *haughtily walks off*
“... That's why it was so good.”
Not recommended.
Thoughts:
-- Box Office: Nearly $17 million, placing it at #46 for 1982. Zapped! actually played in limited release before opening (not quite) wide over Labor Day weekend.
-- Fanservice Junction: I already told you, the finale! Barney also gets revenge on a car of taunters, ripping off the women’s tops and levitating the men, who are mooning him***. Plus, there’s cougarette Hilary Beane****, as a school secretary Peyton’s fooling around with. Other than that, things are tame. One AVC commenter once called Zapped! “an R-rated episode of Saved by the Bell,” which pretty much sums it up.
***For whatever reason, he sends the men over the picnic table of a Spanish couple.
****I completely forgot she played Martin Mull’s icy underling in Mr. Mom.
-- Look, it’s Liane Mars! Corinne Bohrer, who popped up earlier this year in I, the Jury, plays one of Peyton’s prom dates. Corinne, who presumably kept her clothes on, has the indignity of sporting one gnarly hairdo.
-- Scott had the decency to praise the film’s special effects. “There was no CGI or anything, so all of the bottles flying around was a guy up above us, like a puppet master, moving stuff with wires. … We had to walk in and out of it. It was kind of cool.” Yes. Kind of cool. I did smirk at the time-filling Star Trek spoof, where people doing lousy imitations of Kirk, etc. panic about Barney’s dog eating the Enterprise.
-- Missed Opportunity: Barney doesn’t strip Robert (Greg Bradford), the pre-law student who’s Peyton’s rival for Jane’s affection. Then again, Bradford’s attitude might have been similar to Heather’s. He already bared it all in the barely-a-film Let’s Do It!. People, don’t make the mistake I did and look up what he’s been up to since the 1980s. It’s a bizarre mix of gay panic and conspiracy theories.
-- Prior to Zapped!, Schachter was a castmember on The Facts of Life. Nearly three years later, a poster for the film appeared in the episode “The Last Drive-In.” Both FOL and Zapped! were Embassy productions. Ditto Square Pegs, which co-starred Merritt Butrick (Gary, the class badass). And now I’m wondering if Jami Gertz read for Bernadette.
-- There’s more. Hunky bit player Demetre Phillips (Robert’s dark-haired goon) appeared on FOL, in the episode where Over Our Heads was used for a stakeout. Oh, and Bradford appeared in the episode where they actually learned the facts of life. Which, god help me, I ended up watching with my father.
-- “This is a poem about something that's pretty important to me and that I get real confused about a lot. It's called ‘Chicks.’ ‘Chicks/Sometimes I feel like I'm so much above them/And sometimes I feel like I'm so much below them/Sometimes, I hate them/And sometimes, I love them/But if I was a caveman/I think I'd just club them.’”
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Franko
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Whatever happened to learning karate?
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Post by Franko on Sept 9, 2017 22:05:41 GMT -5
Tempest
“We have got to convince Dad to go.”
“Well, sweetheart, it's not going to be that easy, you know.”
“He's crazy isn't he?”
“Yeah. Sometimes he's crazy, sometimes he's not, mostly he is.”
“Then why do you stay?”
“Ummm … folie à deux. … Well that's a French expression, and what it means is … well when one person's nutty, and he's with another person, and pretty soon the other person catches the nuttiness … and then they're both nutty — well that's folie à deux.”
“You mean love.”
“Yeah.”
Suffering from a midlife crisis, architect Phillip (John Cassavetes) relocated to a remote Greek island. He lives with daughter Miranda (Molly Ringwald), who is regretting her choice to go with him, and girlfriend Aretha (Susan Sarandon), whom he hasn’t had sex with in six months. Kalibanos (Raúl Juliá), another island resident, spends much of his time trying to seduce the underage Miranda*.
*And saying such bon mots as “I will eat you like this fig” and “I want to balanga you with my bonny johnny!”
Loosely** based on The Tempest, Paul Mazursky’s Tempest never justifies its length (142 minutes) or its reason for being. Most of the first 90 minutes are devoted to Phillip, Miranda and Aretha recalling how they ended up on the island. He’s tired of his marriage to actress Antonia (Gena Rowlands) and designing casinos for gangster Alonzo (Vittorio Gassman). Miranda’s upset about Antonia and Alonzo ending up in a relationship. Aretha’s had two failed marriages and is hoping to eventually make it back to New York City.
**Or too closely, according to some critics.
“What do you get when you cross a hooker with an elephant? A 2,000-pound blonde who puts out for peanuts.”
Tempest concludes with an abridged version of the play. Miranda falls in love with Freddy (Sam Robards), Alonzo’s son. Phillip creates a storm that leads to his reuniting with Antonia, Alonzo and the latter’s entourage. Aretha tells Phillip it’s time to forgive.
“Are you my teacher or my pupil?”
“Oh, I'm just a catholic girl from New Jersey whose destined to roam the Earth in search of Mr. Nice. In the meantime, you want to dance?”
Not recommended.
Thoughts:
-- Box Office: Just over $5 million, placing it at #98 for 1982. Played in limited release before opening wideish (under 700 theaters) and then closed after a month.
-- Critic’s Corner: “There’s one thing you’ve got to give Paul Mazursky -- he shows good taste when it comes to rummaging around in the works of others, which he frequently does.” Meow, Vincent Canby! It gets better: Tempest “is an overblown, fancified freak of a film.” Canby also wished Tempest concealed its inspiration, allowing the audience “to enjoy, if possible, a work that does not seek to justify itself by awesome antecedents.”
-- Marquee Watch/Blooper: Philip, Antonia and Miranda pass through a jammed West 45th Street en route to Alonzo’s party. The scene is presumably set on December 31, 1980. However, the Martin Beck (now Hirschfeld) and Plymouth (now Schoenfeld) theaters are advertising The Little Foxes and Piaf, both of which opened in 1981.
-- Atlantic City Watch: Bally’s Park Place (now Bally’s Atlantic City) fills in for Alonzo’s casino. Also visible are the Golden Nugget (eventually the Atlantic Club, now closed), Resorts (still going), the Sands (now closed) and the Claridge (no longer a casino)
-- Hey, It’s the Early ‘80s!: Miranda dreamed of smoking pot at a Go-Gos concert, she tells Philip and Aretha. “Whip It” and Oingo Boingo’s “Little Girls” play on Miranda’s boombox. Later, Miranda asks Freddy if punk music is still popular. Also, an instrumental “Rapture” plays at Alonzo’s party.
-- Awards Watch: Ringwald was Golden Globe nominated for New Female Star of the Year. Juliá also scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
-- Today in Homsexuality: Trinc (Jackie Gayle), a third-rate comedian, is relatively unfazed about the idea of hooking up with Kalibanos and Sebastian (Anthony Holland) in the former’s cave. Later, Sebastian dances with a hunky sailor (Luigi Laezza) when Phillip’s forgiving everyone.
-- Fanservice Junction: Lucianne Buchannan, as bimbo Dolores. She ends up with Kalibanos, calling him a poet. “My ‘charisma’ is growing like mountain flower in springtime.”
-- Tempest concludes like a play, with the 15 principal actors coming out for a curtain call and company bow. I’d kinda like to see more films do that.
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Franko
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Whatever happened to learning karate?
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Post by Franko on Sept 9, 2017 22:06:14 GMT -5
Hammett“That'll stop a kitten if you're lucky.” “It'll stop a tiger if you know how to point it.” Truth is stranger than fiction, they say, but sometimes it’s a photo finish. Dashiell Hammett (Frederick Forrest) might agree following the events of Hammett. Ostensibly directed by Wim Wenders from Joe Gores’ novel, Hammett is the story of a called-in favor, a missing woman (Lydia Lei), Chinatown, potential sex scandals among San Francisco’s elite, triple-crossing and two no longer starry-eyed lovers. Forrest is more appealing here than he was in One from the Heart. Marilu Henner as Kit, Hammett’s girlfriend, is suitably saucy. Peter Boyle as Jimmy, Hammett’s old friend, steals the show. I found Hammett to be fun, with an engaging story and strong performances. It’s that rarity, a throwback that’s good enough for its era and the one it evokes. “Here I am, 34 years old, and the only two people I can trust in the world … are a librarian with a smart mouth … and a would-be bomb thrower!” “You got two you can trust. You got two more than most people, Hammett.” Recommended. Thoughts: -- Box Office: Just under $43,000, placing it at #130 for 1982, according to Box Office Mojo. -- According to Wenders, Hammett was shot twice. His first cut, shot entirely on location in San Francisco, was rejected by Orion Pictures. Orion was financing the film, while American Zoetrope produced it and Warner Bros. distributed it. Wenders: “There wasn’t too much action, too much time was dedicated to Hammett the writer and not enough to Hammett the detective.” The first cut “never saw the light of day … It was destroyed. It doesn’t exist now.” Apparently, Zoetrope was open to the idea of Wenders completing it for an eventual release, before discovering the negative was gone. -- That fits with Wenders’ recollection that despite conflicts between he and executive producer Francis Ford Coppola, “we stuck it out and we respected each other.” Wenders also gave the standard argument for Coppola apologists: “The entire Hollywood community didn’t want him to succeed. They thought (Zoetrope) was too ambitious, too highbrow.” On the other hand, Wenders admitted “Francis was too much of a director himself so he didn’t really delegate enough. … I think it was too utopian, really.” -- Hammett’s theatrical cut, the one I watched, “was (shot) entirely in one sound stage.” It was a learning experience for Wenders, who vowed never again to be a hired hand director. A 2005 review by Noel Murray states Coppola himself shot the theatrical cut. Had the original cut been released, audiences would see Brian Keith and Ronee Blakley’s performances as Jimmy and Kit. Hammett isn’t mentioned in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, so I appreciate IndieWire for interviewing Wenders. -- Critic’s Corner/Spoiler Space: “It is apparently the film’s arrogant intention to convince us that the caper we see in Hammett is the real-life story that eventually prompted Hammett to write The Maltese Falcon,” Vincent Canby wrote. “That, I think, is called chutzpah.” -- Hey, It’s Early 1928!: Sheet music for Show Boat at the newsstand. -- Today in Homosexuality: English Eddie (Roy Kinnear) and The Punk (David Patrick Kelly). The Punk, a.k.a. Winston, is the original “gunsel.” -- Next Week: Pink Floyd -- The Wall: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uy1o4vVIXU
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Post by Franko on Sept 16, 2017 22:02:21 GMT -5
Pink Floyd -- The Wall
“(with a constant echo) Stop … I wanna go home Take off this uniform and leave the show And I'm waiting in this cell Because I have to know have I been … guilty … all this time?” If nothing else, The Wall is an experience. Over the course of 95 harrowing minutes, director Alan Parker, animator Gerald Scarfe, co-composer and screenwriter Roger Waters and star Bob Geldof take us through the journey of one man’s mental collapse. Who can blame Pink (Geldof)? He’s relentlessly tormented, for reasons ranging from being raised fatherless to being unable to cope with fame. If that weren’t enough, his mother was smothering, his marriage is failing and he’s a child of George VI’s United Kingdom. “There’s no compelling reason to accept the pretense that life has ganged up on Pink in a particularly dreadful way, or the pretense that this young slug is somehow representative of a whole generation’s anxieties.” -- Gary Arnold, The Washington Post
The Wall works, I think, because we know Pink’s always been lonely. That’s “particularly dreadful.” Having Pink be famous, with a seemingly dangerously impressionable audience, might be a little too expected. It does, however, work for both ease of the narrative and verisimilitude. Okay, so Parker, Scarfe and Waters spent their time making The Wall at each other’s throats. They and Geldof still created something both powerful and emotionally resonant. “And when they've given you their all, some stagger and fall After all, it's not easy banging your heart against some mad bugger’s wall.” Recommended. Thoughts: -- Box Office: $22.2 million on a $12 million budget, putting it at #33 for 1982. The Wall had already been playing in France and the United Kingdom for two months by the time it opened wide-ish (under 700 theaters) in America. -- Critic’s Corner: “An overpowering experience … a shameless all-out assault on the senses,” wrote Janet Maslin. The Wall, she continued, suffers from towering self-importance and lack of focus, dwarfing Parker’s bold direction and handsome images. -- So, what do we think became of Pink? “Outside the Wall,” as performed in the film, feels hopeful. Can we assume Pink recovered from “setting himself free,” as Wikipedia puts it? -- Arnold’s comments also have me wondering. Has anyone put together a definitive canon of the most navel-gazing work from people born between 1939-1965? What would you add? I love it, but I want to nominate Billy Joel’s An Innocent Man album. On the other hand, I think the lyrics “‘Cause the good days weren’t always good/and tomorrow’s not as bad as seems” work as a counteracting credo. I’m digressing, but discuss. -- Although Parker called The Wall his most miserable professional experience in 2010, he said he was proud of it, became close friends with David Gilmour and Nick Mason and that Christopher Nolan screened it prior to shooting Inception. -- Egad, Dame Vera Lynn is still with us. She turned 100 last March. -- Awards Watch: For whatever reason, “Another Brick in the Wall” was deemed an original song by BAFTA. Speaking of other quirky nominations, Scarfe’s poster art was nominated for a Saturn Award. It lost to E.T.. -- Which leads to my favorite bit of possibly apocryphal trivia. Parker recalled seeing Spielberg mouth “What the f**k was that?” to Terry Semel, head of Warner Bros., following the film’s premiere at Cannes. It’s a little too good to be true, but granted, I wasn’t there. -- Next week is a double feature: Inchon -- I couldn’t find a trailer. Yes, Giorgio: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldiKLKvwUHQ
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Post by MarkInTexas on Sept 22, 2017 10:20:29 GMT -5
I haven't ever seen Yes, Giorgio, but the fact that this was the only starring role for Pavarotti outside of an opera is not a good sign. It is an Oscar nominee, though.
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Franko
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Whatever happened to learning karate?
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Post by Franko on Sept 23, 2017 23:05:34 GMT -5
Inchon“Nothing is beneath me if it pays well.” -- Laurence Olivier ![]() cineplex.media.baselineresearch.com/images/410407/410407_full.jpgYes, that’s Olivier. He’s playing Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The makeup immediately undercuts any attempt at convincing an audience to take things seriously. It’s all downhill from there. Olivier “provides the kind of outrageous performance that cannot be demurely described. It is without price,” howled Vincent Canby. I’d also single out Laird Koenig and Robin Moore’s script for why Inchon is so lousy. If you told me anything not involving MacArthur -- including Terence Young’s direction and Jerry Goldsmith’s actually quite good score -- was originally intended for a disaster film, I’d believe you. Ben Gazzara does his best Heston as Maj. Hallsworth, who ends up reconciling with his wife (Jacqueline Bisset). She’s conveniently been humanized after driving a whole bunch of Korean children to safety. Richard Roundtree is the Hallsworths’ close friend, Karen Kahn is Gazzara’s noble mistress and Toshiro Mifune is Kahn’s father. David Janssen (who died during production) and Rex Reed make extended cameos as reporters. To <i>Inchon</i>’s credit, the film acknowledges the oddity of Reed’s presence. He plays a critic reassigned to be a temporary war correspondent. Inchon is a disappointment. It fails as a compelling war movie, it fails when depicting personal growth or spiritual triumph and it absolutely fails the so bad it’s good test. It’s just so damned boring, which isn’t what I expected from seeing a $46 million film renowned in awful movie circles. Then again, isn’t that *just* like the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who produced? Promises, promises. Not Recommended. Thoughts: -- Box Office: A humiliating $5.3 million, placing it at #96 for 1982. Data from Box Office Mojo suggests Inchon was pulled from theaters after two weeks. -- Critic’s Corner: Inchon “looks like the most expensive B-movie ever made … everyone is quite foolish,” Canby declared. -- Awards Watch: This was the big winner at that year’s Razzies, “scoring” for Worst Picture, Worst Actor (for Olivier), Worst Director and Worst Screenplay. Gazzara was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actor. -- “If there’s anybody gonna save this world, you just know it has to be you.” -- Inchon’s failure marked the end of Rev. Moon’s moviemaking career. It’s interesting to see he had considered making films about Elvis, Jesus or stories from the Bible. Nowadays, Moon would be more successful (or at least turn a profit) if he eschewed big stories and released simple projects about faith.
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Franko
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Post by Franko on Sept 23, 2017 23:09:59 GMT -5
Yes, Giorgio“If you don’t take risks, you don’t conquer.” -- Luciano Pavarotti Admirable sentiment, but undercut by the fact that at the end of the day, Yes, Giorgio stars an opera singer as an opera singer who spends at least a third of the film singing. After nearly an hour of singing and setup, Giorgio (Pavarotti) and Pamela (Kathryn Harrold) begin their fling. He seems to be pursuing her to pass time in America and assert his superiority, which aren’t the best the best motivations for a romantic comedy. Giorgio’s married with children and makes Pamela promise she won’t fall in love with him. She does anyway, since her interest in continuing the relationship seems to be proving she can fall in love, even at the cost of her dignity. The sex is also apparently great, but we’re thankfully denied visual proof. Giorgio and Pamela do, however, play both tennis and bocce ball, then have a food fight after he accidentally sat on a pie. By this point, the setting has moved from Any Village, Italy to Boston to San Francisco. What has stayed constant is director Franklin J. Schaffner’s fondness for aerial photography. It reaches its nadir during when Giorgio sings “If We Were In Love”* while taking a hot air balloon ride with Pamela. At one point, the happy couple appears to be flying into the opening credits of Falcon Crest. *One of two “out of his comfort zone” performances by Pavarotti. The other is an abridged rendition of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Speaking of soap operas, that’s what Yes, Giorgio resembles as we enter the home stretch. Pamela wants Giorgio to think of her as special. After all, she’s the one giving him the confidence to try again at the Met (another location change), where he was humiliated. But he won’t leave his unseen wife, whom he’s comfortable (and has kids) with. Pamela goes back to Boston, Giorgio woos her again. She watches his triumphant performance in Turandot, then leaves for good. I don’t mind bittersweet endings, but this one feels like it was tacked on. Maybe Harrold wanted to get off the set as soon as possible. “Pamela, you are a thirsty plant. Fini can water you.” “I don't want to be watered on by Fini.” Not Recommended. Thoughts: -- Box Office: An even more humiliating under $2.3 million, placing Yes, Giorgio at #111 for 1982. It’s possible the film spent its also apparently entire two weeks in release outside the top ten. -- Critic’s Corner: Janet Maslin and Roger Ebert agreed. Maslin: “Without (Pavarotti), there wouldn’t be a movie here at all; with him, at least there is a good-natured spectacle.” Ebert: “This is a bad movie, but it would have been a great deal worse were it not for Pavarotti’s almost childlike charm.” -- According to IMDB, Pavarotti was a handful during shooting, making demands about how many hours he worked and how he was filmed. In his review, Ebert questioned why Pavarotti’s “considerable girth” was often hidden. “Al Pacino has a better figure, but can he sing?” For his part, Pavarotti said he made Yes, Giorgio with the hope it would be good for the opera world. Evidently not. -- Yes, Giorgio was based on a 1961 novel by Lady Anne Piper, who died in June. Her obituary states her novels have become e-books. I’m tempted to read Yes, Giorgio and find out which of the story issues were hers and which were screenwriter Norman Steinberg’s. -- Awards Watch: “If We Were In Love” picked up Golden Globe and Oscar nominations, likely because it was written by John Williams with lyrics from Alan & Marilyn Bergman. Not bad for a song Maslin called “painfully lighthearted.” Pavarotti, the film and its screenplay were Razzie nominated, but lost to Inchon. -- Next week is another double feature. My Favorite Year -- www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTjNQ2JkiioLadies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains -- www.youtube.com/watch?v=06kCwPpyjCk
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Franko
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Post by Franko on Sept 30, 2017 22:45:41 GMT -5
My Favorite Year
![]() i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/131215170623-13-peter-otoole-horizontal-large-gallery.jpg“At least you’re an actor. Actors are supposed to make up names.” “It’s not just a name, ‘Stoneberg.’ The studio made up an entire life for me, and I let them do it, and now I can’t tell where the bogus one ends and the real one begins, and nothing about me is what it seems to be. Even the reason why I’m doing your Comedy Cavalcade program. It’s not because I want to. It’s a deal I made with my new partner, the Internal Revenue Service. If I do the show and give them half the proceeds, they promise not to throw me out of the country. … Tonight, your mother said ‘Shame on you’ and she was right. I’m fed up with people letting me get away with things. And everybody does. My friends, my agent, my manager, my doctor, my former wives, even my daughter.” Longtime readers will recall I watched The Dick Van Dyke Show for Thoughts On back in 2015. It was a memorable event, both because of how good the show is, and because of how honest the show is. A job is a job, even if it is in television. Once in awhile, you get a great moment. Sometimes you feel like you get nothing but great moments. That’s the case for Benji Stone (Mark Linn-Baker, who scores an “Introducing” credit), hero of My Favorite Year. Over the course of a week in the fall of 1954, Benji babysits his idol, Hollywood’s Alan Swann (Peter O’Toole). Along the way, the playboy Swann drinks excessively, Benji’s relationship with unable-to-tell-a-joke K.C. (Jessica Harper) improves greatly and one larger than life wall temporarily breaks as easily as Comedy Cavalcade’s scenery. “I think O’Toole. I’d choose O’Toole.” -- Linn-Baker, choosing between him or Bronson Pinchot as a companion for eternity, AV Club, April 2017 O’Toole and Linn-Baker are excellent throughout, playing their roles* with heart and humanity. If we didn’t believe in Swann’s charm and innate likability**, or Benji’s admiration for him, the film would be dead. O’Toole and Linn-Baker’s chemistry, aided by Richard Benjamin’s direction and the screenplay by Dennis Palumbo and Norman Steinberg, absolutely carries My Favorite Year. *Analogues for Errol Flynn and Mel Brooks, who in reality barely interacted with each other when Flynn was a guest on Your Show of Shows. **I cannot stress enough how essential Swann being a member of the Golden Age of Hollywood is to his characterization. Hypothetically -- nobody should, of course -- you could do a remake with, say, Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson or even The Rock, but they just aren’t stars in the sense that a Swann or Flynn would be. “Look at me! I'm flesh and blood, life-size, no larger! I'm not that silly God-damned hero! I never was!” “To me you were! Whoever you were in those movies, those silly goddamn heroes meant a lot to me! What does it matter if it was an illusion? It worked! So don't tell me this is you life-size. I can't use you life-size. I need Alan Swanns as big as I can get them! And let me tell you something: you couldn't have convinced me the way you did unless somewhere in you you had that courage! Nobody's that good an actor! You are that silly goddamn hero! My Favorite Year also features a first-rate ensemble. Joseph Bologna is top notch as King Kaiser (read: Sid Caesar). You could actually buy King as a successful television star of the era, and Bologna’s quite funny in the scene where he stands up to the inspiration for his “Boss Hijack” sketches (Cameron Mitchell). Lainie Kazan is charming as Benji’s loving mother and Tony DiBenedetto is marvelous as the ever-present Alfie. Harper, Bill Macy, Anne De Salvo, Basil Hoffman, Adolph Green, Teresa Ganzel and Selma Diamond also do fine work as members of the Comedy Cavalcade staff. Anyway, how could I not love a film with a “live performance goes to hell” finale? How could I not love one where everyone -- including King, who moments earlier was being beaten up -- has a moment of awe when Swann arrives? “The way you see him here, like this. This is the way I like to remember him. I think if you had asked Alan Swann what was the single most gratifying moment in his life, he might have said this one right here. The next day, I drove up to Connecticut with him and Alfi. This time, he knocked on the door, and when he and Tess saw each other, it was like they'd never been apart. Like Alfi says, ‘With Swann, you forgive a lot, you know?' I know.” Recommended. Thoughts: -- Box Office: $20.1 million, placing it at #41 for 1982. Opened at #3, never played more than 720 theaters, but stayed in circulation for two months. -- Critic’s Corner: “Funny and good natured,” wrote Janet Maslin. Benjamin’s direction was “occasionally inspired, always snappy and never less than amusing.” O’Toole “seems to have dedicated himself to the cause of giving decadence a good name,” Time added. -- “California? You can't write comedy in California! It's not depressing enough!” -- Awards Watch: While My Favorite Year was nominated for the Writers Guild of America’s “Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen” award, it lost to Tootsie. Year earned Golden Globe nods for itself, O’Toole and Kazan (losing again to Tootsie) and Oscar nods for its script and O’Toole (losing this time to Gandhi). -- Around awards season, in February 1983, Sid Caesar hosted SNL. According to many accounts, it was another instance where the stars turned out to be fans. While Caesar led a 14-minute (!) silent film sketch, one piece he pitched -- a Tootsie/ Rocky fusion -- never made it to air. Incidentally, Comedy Cavalcade broadcasts from Studio 6B, current home of The Tonight Show. -- I’ve actually never seen or listened to Year’s musical adaptation. Is it any good? I like Ahrens & Flaherty, Tim Curry and Andrea Martin, but sometimes the whole isn’t equal to the sum of its parts. I do see that in the musical, Martin leads “The Duck Joke.” -- Poster Watch: Swann and Benji get hot dogs in Shubert Alley, advertising shows like Fanny and House of Flowers. -- Once again, Corrine Bohrer shows up, as the roommate of Swann’s initial hookup in NYC.
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Post by Ben Grimm on Oct 1, 2017 12:17:44 GMT -5
My Favorite Year also features a first-rate ensemble. Joseph Bologna is top notch as King Kaiser (read: Sid Caesar). You could actually buy King as a successful television star of the era, and Bologna’s quite funny in the scene where he stands up to the inspiration for his “Boss Hijack” sketches ( Cameron Mitchell). Lainie Kazan is charming as Benji’s loving mother and Tony DiBenedetto is marvelous as the ever-present Alfie.  (Also my great-uncle. I forgot he was in My Favorite Year. I will never forget he was in Space Mutiny.) |
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Post by Franko on Oct 1, 2017 15:56:05 GMT -5
My Favorite Year also features a first-rate ensemble. Joseph Bologna is top notch as King Kaiser (read: Sid Caesar). You could actually buy King as a successful television star of the era, and Bologna’s quite funny in the scene where he stands up to the inspiration for his “Boss Hijack” sketches ( Cameron Mitchell). Lainie Kazan is charming as Benji’s loving mother and Tony DiBenedetto is marvelous as the ever-present Alfie. (Also my great-uncle. I forgot he was in My Favorite Year. I will never forget he was in Space Mutiny.) That's awesome! Did he ever share any anecdotes from filming? |
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Post by Ben Grimm on Oct 1, 2017 16:15:05 GMT -5
(Also my great-uncle. I forgot he was in My Favorite Year. I will never forget he was in Space Mutiny.) That's awesome! Did he ever share any anecdotes from filming? Not to me. I never really knew him - there was kind of a split in the family after my great-grandfather died, when I was only 2 or 3. Our side of the family only knew Space Mutiny existed after MST3K did it (side note: we discovered MST3K thanks to an earlier episode, Stranded in Space, that he was also in, that we stumbled on flipping channels), and he died a few years before that. Also: two of his children - my mother's first cousins - were also in Space Mutiny; his son played Blake and his daughter Camille (who's actually made a career of acting, probably most prominently in Smallville, though she was on Legion for an episode or two) had a brief voice role. |
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ArchieLeach
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Post by ArchieLeach on Oct 1, 2017 20:00:11 GMT -5
-- Egad, Dame Vera Lynn is still with us. She turned 100 last March. Dame Vera was recently on TV, sounding sharp. In fact, she's again fighting a good fight, raising 1 million pounds for the White Cliffs of Dover. www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-41432066 |
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Franko
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Post by Franko on Oct 7, 2017 23:38:57 GMT -5
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains fanboynation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/stains-2-1.jpg“I had 14 people in the cast who hadn’t done a film before — or had done one, in the case of Diane.” -- Lou Adler “At 15, you’re just an egg out of its shell walking around, trying desperately not to get maimed emotionally. I was just mortified that we were supposed to be as bad as we were as a band. That was my 15-year-old agenda: Do we really have to suck this bad? Couldn’t we be on key at least?” -- Diane Lane It’s time once again for a tale of two movies. We’ve got Nancy Dowd’s often over-simplified story of three teenage girl musicians and their quest to never “put out” by getting screwed, being a jerk or being had. Then there’s Lou Adler’s completed film, which, seemingly for no other reason than Paramount praying for appeal with MTV viewers, includes a tacked-on happy ending. Attitude is everything for Corinne “Third Degree” Burns (Diane Lane). An orphan, Corinne convinces sister Tracy/”Depleted” (Marin Kanter) and cousin Jessica/Peg/”Dizzy Heights” to essentially run away and become punk rockers. Despite their inexperience (three long rehearsals can only get you so far), the Stains gain a following thanks to Corinne’s knack for provocative comments and their look, combining a skunk-style hairdo with a sexy wardrobe. Fame quickly dissolves, however, when jealous Billy (Ray Winstone) convinces The Stains’ audience that “You’re an advert. You’re a commercial.” In the early ‘80s, this was something to be angry about. In 2017, those girls would (a) shrug it off, (b) claim they enjoy The Stains ironically, or (c) get mad at Billy for mansplaining. With that in mind, Adler’s ending, where the Stains survive their career setback and ultimately become celebrities, is slightly more realistic. Lane has the most to work with of the central trio, and as a result gives the best performance. Christine Lahti, as Jessica’s mother, steals Stains with an excellent monologue about what the girls’ success means. The male musician characters, including Fee Waybill as a past his prime headliner and Barry Ford as a fed-up Rastafarian, are underdeveloped. For cripes sake, you had Paul Simonon, Steve Jones and Paul Cook. Spend more time with them, less with Billy and Corinne’s relationship woes. “You are so jealous of me. I'm everything you ever wanted to be.” “A c***.” “Exactly.” Not Recommended. Thoughts: -- Box Office: Under $26,000, making it the second-lowest grossing film of 1982, #131, according to Box Office Mojo. Night Flight.com states Stains received disastrous test screenings and was only theatrically released in Denver. Following that, Stains became a favorite on Night Flight and eventually played film festivals. -- Paramount was likely interested in making Stains, Adler said, based on Dowd’s success as co-screenwriter of Coming Home and his success directing Up in Smoke. Stains ended up being Adler’s last film to date as a director, while Dowd was credited under the pseudonym “Rob Morton.” Dowd also went from Stains to writing for the first two episodes of Jean Doumanian’s ill-fated Saturday Night Live. -- Critic’s Corner: “Neither funny nor incisive,” wrote Janet Maslin in 1985. “Has a weird integrity, striking and holding a chord designed to resonate with rebels-in-the-making,” wrote Keith Phipps in 2008. -- The depiction of TV journalism is perfect, from the opening 60 Minutes parody (“... in our segment on Charlestown, Pennsylvania, the town that will not die.”) to local newswoman Alicia (Cynthia Sikes) running with the Stains story (which gets her promoted to a network gig!) to John Lehne’s excellent performance as Stu, Alicia’s patronizing co-anchor. “Well, whatever it was you were selling -- lies, truth, I don’t know -- but your fans certainly seem to resent it.” According to Adler, there was tension on set between the neophytes and the likes of Lehne. -- While Lane, Kanter and Dern bonded, there was apparently no shortage of backstage drama. Dowd was groped by a camera operator, but according to her, that wasn’t why she took her name off the film. “It was when Adler made her punk heroine wield a tambourine,” nightflight.com wrote. According to Waybill, not only did Winstone aggressively hit on Lane throughout shooting*, but didn’t pull his punch during Billy and Lou’s fight scene. If that weren’t enough, prop cocaine was replaced with the real deal**. Finally, 13-year-old Dern had to sue for legal emancipation from Diane Ladd just to do the damn film anyway. *Which makes me wonder if Adler used body doubles during the shower scene. **I wonder if Waybill’s embellishing to call more attention to Jerry’s overdose. -- Will Harris interviewed both Dern and Brent Spiner for Random Roles. As she put it, “Who knew that if you want your child to never use drugs, you should send them for five months on a movie with The Sex Pistols? Because they’ll never do drugs.” According to Brent, his role was larger, but he presumably pissed off Adler after approaching him about staying with the film as an acting coach for Lane (which Dowd suggested). -- So, what do you think happened to The Stains? If we ignore the music video ending, I’m guessing they’d return to Charlestown and hopefully get their high school diplomas. If we go with the music video ending, I’m guessing they now play state fairs and casinos. -- After years of disowning the film, Dowd now has some sense of pride towards it. “... all the fans I have met, each and every one, have given me huge joy and a conviction that there is the possibility that our worst moments, our darkest days, may be/might be transfigured, given time, luck and the good intentions of perfect strangers,” she wrote in 2014. -- For a counterpoint to my writeup, here’s Jake Fogelnest’s interview with Nathan Rabin: thedissolve.com/features/compulsory-viewing/96-jake-fogelnest-in-on-a-quest-to-make-people-watch-/ |
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Franko
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Post by Franko on Oct 7, 2017 23:41:23 GMT -5
First Blood i.pinimg.com/564x/b6/b2/30/b6b230a6d8f2fd01420110957fdf07b3.jpg“We ain’t huntin’ him. He’s huntin’ us.” It’s also time for me to once again belatedly engage with an iconic piece of pop culture. I’ve only known “Rambo” as a punchline, the shorthand for (a) testosterone overdrive and (b) when Sylvester Stallone decided to be a full-time movie star rather than a limited but effective storyteller. There’s certainly examples of that first point in First Blood, but I’m guessing my complaints with Stallone would probably crystallize with First Blood Part II. You wouldn’t think there’d be common ground between Stains and First Blood, but both are effective snapshots of their era. Think of how much we’ve learned about PTSD in the past 35 years. Think about how law enforcement attitudes have changed. Sheriff Teasle (Brian Dennehy) immediately uses intimidation, as opposed to playing “good cop.” Think about how attitudes towards law enforcement have changed, or how they haven’t. Teasle spends a lot of time on the defensive for his men’s cruelty and his underestimating of Rambo. He’s easily a more fallible character than Trautman (Richard Crenna), despite the latter admitting “God didn’t make Rambo, I made him.” This week, two of my county commissioners briefly discussed the NFL kneeling controversy. The elder one, a Vietnam veteran, said he told an assembly of teenagers that athletes aren’t heroes. The other one, a man not much older than myself, said he finds wearing the American flag on clothing more disrespectful than kneeling for it (which he wouldn’t personally do, but understands the right to do so). I thought of that exchange when Teasle tells Rambo that wearing the flag on his Army jacket, “looking the way you do, you're asking for trouble around here, friend.” That’s another thing that’s so fascinating, is how much weight Teasle -- and, by extension, Hope and countless other towns -- places on Rambo’s appearance. People, I’ve seen drifters. Rambo looks like a magazine cover in comparison. Finally, screenwriters Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim and Stallone, plus director Ted Kotcheff, do an excellent job of escalating the tension among Rambo, Teasle, the seven sheriff’s deputies and eventually Kern and Trautman. I don’t know how much of that was already in David Morrell’s novel, but, like The Thing, you get the idea these guys have or could have a history with equal amounts of hostility and camaraderie. “Now you listen, boy, and you listen to me good. I'm gonna get that son of a bitch and I'm gonna pin that Congressional Medal of Honor to his liver. And I'm gonna do it with you or without you.” Recommended with reservations. Thoughts: -- Box Office: $47.2 million on a $15 million budget, placing it at #13 for 1982 according to Box Office Mojo. First Blood opened at #1 and spent seven of its eight weekends in release in the top three. -- Critic’s Corner: “Ragged and flashy,” according to Janet Maslin. “It ought to be a big success with audiences that value action for its own sake.” As with Yes, Giorgio, Maslin and Roger Ebert found <i>First Blood</i> to be a star-driven film. Her: “As a tough, powerful, silent presence, he is unexpectedly commanding.” Him: “(Stallone) invests an unlikely character with great authority.” -- Musical Moment: While Jerry Goldsmith’s score is excellent, it’s unwisely used for “It’s a Long Road.” Hal Shaper’s awful lyrics narrowly beat out the cheesy duo of Dan Hill’s performance and Bruce Botnick’s production. -- Fanservice Junction: A quick glimpse of Stallone’s ass as he’s being hosed down. -- So, how soon after all this do you think Teasle had to resign? Or did he? I could see him being the star witness at any and all sanity or parole hearings for Rambo. -- October 29 will be a triple feature: Halloween III: Season of the Witch -- www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MnaYzBhx0AThe Sender -- no trailer Q -- www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bjsag2vYlQ |
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Post by Mr. Greene's October Surprise on Oct 8, 2017 4:47:24 GMT -5
...I thought Teasle died?  |
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Post by Incense on Oct 8, 2017 8:57:24 GMT -5
Thoughts: -- Box Office: Under $26,000, making it the second-lowest grossing film of 1982, #131, according to Box Office Mojo. Night Flight.com states Stains received disastrous test screenings and was only theatrically released in Denver. Following that, Stains became a favorite on Night Flight and eventually played film festivals. Night Flight is where I saw Fabulous Stains when I was 13 or 14. When I was that age, this movie (and The Outsiders and Return of the Jedi and all of the new wave/pop/rock music released that year) was everything to me. I have a strong emotional attachment to this movie to this day because of how I felt watching those girls flip off the world and more or less get away with it. It doesn't sound as though it holds up well, though. I'm torn about seeing it again; I don't want my memory of it firing up my defiance to be ruined by finding that as an adult, I think it's crap. On the other hand, I'd kind of like to see it again anyway. Which will be tough, because it's been around $60 for a dvd on Amazon for a while now and my library doesn't have it. I found this on tumblr back in 2011, so the movie is still floating around in pop culture:  |
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Post by Ben Grimm on Oct 8, 2017 9:50:44 GMT -5
It doesn't sound as though it holds up well, though. I'm torn about seeing it again; I don't want my memory of it firing up my defiance to be ruined by finding that as an adult, I think it's crap. On the other hand, I'd kind of like to see it again anyway. Which will be tough, because it's been around $60 for a dvd on Amazon for a while now and my library doesn't have it. You can rent it from Youtube for $3 and Amazon for $4. |
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Franko
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Post by Franko on Oct 8, 2017 9:59:46 GMT -5
...I thought Teasle died? He tells Rambo to kill him, but Trautman stops that from happening. |
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Post by Incense on Oct 8, 2017 11:32:47 GMT -5
It doesn't sound as though it holds up well, though. I'm torn about seeing it again; I don't want my memory of it firing up my defiance to be ruined by finding that as an adult, I think it's crap. On the other hand, I'd kind of like to see it again anyway. Which will be tough, because it's been around $60 for a dvd on Amazon for a while now and my library doesn't have it. You can rent it from Youtube for $3 and Amazon for $4. Dude! Thanks, I had no idea it was on YouTube. As for Amazon, that's weird, I'd looked before and not seen it. |
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Post by Mr. Greene's October Surprise on Oct 8, 2017 19:13:10 GMT -5
...I thought Teasle died? He tells Rambo to kill him, but Trautman stops that from happening. For some reason, I misremembered Teasle going out in some self-caused fiery explosion during the climax -- or maybe having a storefront dropped on him, or something.  Weird. |
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Franko
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Post by Franko on Oct 29, 2017 23:03:50 GMT -5
<i>Halloween III: Season of the Witch</i> images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNGYyMGE3ZjAtYzQ0ZC00NGZkLWEwYzktOTM3NzM2YzdiNDBlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTAyNDQ2NjI@._V1_.jpg“Do I need a reason? Mr. Kupfer was right, you know. I do love a good joke. And this is the best ever. A joke on the children.” Oh, if only <i>Season of the Witch</i> was intended as a horror comedy. It would make watching it so much more enjoyable. We’re all familiar with the misfortune surrounding this one, right? John Carpenter and Debra Hill felt the story of Michael Myers was finished. However, they were convinced there were plenty of stories to be told under the <i>Halloween</i> title. Carpenter relinquished the writing and directing reins to newcomer Tommy Lee Wallace, whose final film features the unhappy marriage of Savini-style gore, downright British atmosphere and goofy B-movie charm. “You don't pull someone's skull apart without a little lower arm strength. Know what I mean?” Our heroes are Dr. Challis (Tom Atkins) and Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin), who find out the over the top truth about Silver Shamrock Novelties. Conal Cochran (Dan O’Herlihy) plans to kill every child wearing one of his Halloween masks, which contain a fragment of Stonehenge. Those fragments, when activated by a signal to be broadcast on all three broadcast networks, will cause deadly insects and snakes to manifest. It’s a little vague, but they may also cause the child’s head to be crushed. Watching <i>Season of the Witch</i>, I wished Wallace had been more satirical. Legal issues be damned, think how much more plausible it would have been if Cochran was a Walt Disney type rather than a highly successful manufacturer. The deadly broadcast is part of “The Big Giveaway,” anticipated to have 43 percent of the audience tuning in*. What is advertised as being given away? Money? A vacation? How is Silver Shamrock expecting people to care, other than that annoying “(x) more days to Halloween” jingle? Cochran is described as “always paying attention to detail,” but I’m not sure Wallace is the same way.** *Don’t even get me started on this one. It’s scheduled for 9 p.m. PST and 12 a.m. EST. What kid is going to be awake, or want to wear a Halloween mask, at midnight? What parent would let them stay up on a school night? 43 percent also feels a bit small, ratings wise, for a three-network simulcast in 1982. **I’m also shaking my head over the idea that America’s youth would be clammering for skull, witch and jack-o-lantern masks. Obviously, 20th Century Fox and Hanna-Barbera would never have allowed it, but imagine if the masks were <i>Star Wars</i> and <i>Smurfs</i> designs. Either that, or there should have been a line about how these were cartoon characters or something. <i>Season of the Witch</i> is occasionally chilling. It’s an inspired choice to have the montage of trick or treaters nationwide right before we have the full understanding of what’s going on. However, it suffers in comparison to every other thriller I’ve watched this year. The best ones, like <i>Poltergeist</i>, had characters I could care about. <i>Season of the Witch</i> has only types. “The world's going to change tonight, Doctor. I'm glad you'll be able to watch it. And Happy Halloween.” Not Recommended. Thoughts: -- Box Office: $14.4 million on a $2.5 million budget, placing it at #53 for 1982. Opened at #2, dropped to #8 the weekend after Halloween and was gone right after. -- Critic’s Corner: “Manages the not easy feat of being anti-children, anti-capitalism, anti-television and anti-Irish all at the same time,” according to Vincent Canby. -- By my estimate, the Silver Shamrock jingle plays partially or in full ten times, three times within the first 12 minutes. -- Having “the immortal classic” <i>Halloween</i> airing on Halloween in this film’s universe was intended as an in-joke, but that actually occurred in 1982. NBC aired a broadcast-safe cut for the second year in a row. -- Fanservice Junction: Nelkin’s black negligee and just hidden nudity beats Atkins’ ass. -- Like I said, this had a $2.5 million budget. With that in mind … thepinksmoke.com/images/h3invasion.png-- Tomorrow: <i>The Sender</i> |
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Franko
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Post by Franko on Oct 31, 2017 23:39:23 GMT -5
<i>The Sender</i> “John Doe’s having a nightmare.” (cut to mental hospital ward, where staff are working to calm down frightened patients) “(after taking a breath) Tell me about it.” If stress and fear weren’t potent enough emotions in our own lives, imagine having your life affected by someone else’s. That’s the inventive concept behind <i>The Sender</i>. An amnesiac, the title character (Željko Ivanek) has the ability to share what he’s thinking and dreaming of with others. He most frequently does so with Dr. Gail Farmer (Kathryn Harrold). Farmer, who quickly develops empathy for The Sender, advocates for talking through his problem. She also wants to figure out why he fears his elusive mother, Jerolyn (Shirley Knight). Farmer’s supervisor, Dr. Denman (Paul Freeman), would rather perform electroconvulsive therapy on The Sender, or induce a coma so they can observe exactly how telepathy works. You usually have to wait for thrills in <i>The Sender</i>, but when they come, they’re genuine. I especially enjoyed the sequence where Denman attempts ECT, unwittingly everyone in the vicinity in peril. The film was written by Thomas Baum, who went on to write for <i>The Hitchhiker</i>. Director Roger Christian contributed art and set direction for <i>Star Wars</i> and <i>Alien</i>, among others, before ending up directing <i>Battlefield Earth</i>. Ivanek, making his film debut in <i>The Sender</i>, is compelling. Harrold also does well in a difficult role, playing a capable but easily believing straight woman to her unusual situation. Unfortunately, Freeman only has so much to work with. On the other hand, Knight steals every scene she’s in, even if Jerolyn occasionally feels like she could be a long-lost relative to Piper Laurie in <i>Carrie</i>. “Sweet Jesus, when are you ever going to learn? There’s no place for you out there.” Recommended. Thoughts: -- Box Office: Just over $1 million, placing it at #116 for 1982. <i>The Sender</i> apparently played only one weekend in 300 theatres. -- Critic’s Corner: In a 1983 interview with Tom Shales, Siskel and Ebert recalled some disagreements. Ebert favorably compared Harrold’s performance to Ingrid Bergman in <i>Gaslight</i>. Siskel: “And I said, ‘Roger, just ask her out for a date.’” -- Fanservice Junction: Gail’s first experience in one of The Sender’s dreams occurs while she’s at home, not at all wearing a bra under her nightshirt. -- My interpretation of the ending: <spoiler>The Sender is still haunted by Jerolyn because he hasn’t yet gotten over the trauma of her smothering parenting, let alone trying to kill him. Until he can do so, The Sender’s still going to be dangerous in times of stress and fear. It seems odd that Gail and company seem to have believed that his regained memory was enough of a solution.</spoiler> -- This is the second film this week where someone <spoiler>loses a head</spoiler>. That’ll teach “The Messiah” (Sean Hewitt) to go around calling The Sender a mama’s boy. -- Later this week, <i>Q</i>: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bjsag2vYlQ |
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Post by repulsionist on Nov 1, 2017 3:53:18 GMT -5
Franko, nifty lil flick. Glad you dug it. I sure did too.
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Franko
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Post by Franko on Nov 5, 2017 20:51:42 GMT -5
<i>Q</i> images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMDJmZjM1MzAtYzZmMS00MWU4LTk4NDMtZDM2ZGE4N2VkMDlhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_UX182_CR0,0,182,268_AL_.jpg “The Empire State Building had their monster, but I thought the Chrysler Building was a better-looking building, so I thought, ‘Well, they should have <i>their</i> own monster!’” -- Larry Cohen, writer-producer-director, as told to Will Harris Quetzalcoatl’s people-snatching, decapitating antics may have attracted audiences. But our titular Aztec god and winged serpent ends up as second fiddle to Quinn (Michael Moriarity), a lovable loser, ex-junkie, small time crook and would-be jazz pianist who’s not above leading enemies to their doom and trying to shakedown New York City. “Take another photo. No, get ‘em back here. I want my photo op. C’mon. This city needs me now! And get the owner of that newspaper, what’s his name -- Murdoch! Get Rupert down here with his arm around me.” Shepard (David Carradine), a police detective, is straight man to the craziness. He’s seeking a link between the high-rise hijinks and cases where corpses are found sans skin. Also on the side of law, order and saving lives are Sgt. Powell (Richard Roundtree) and Quinn’s girlfriend Joan (Candy Clark). “There was one scene we shot in Central Park where we’re kind of looking up and pretending we’re seeing the winged serpent. That was fun: me, Michael Moriarty, and David Carradine, running around Central Park, looking up in the sky, going, ‘AAAAAAAH!’” -- Clark, to Will Harris Although the scene Clark’s describing was cut, there’s plenty of endearingly goofy moments in <i>Q</i>. One gets the impression every bit player was cast based on the strength of their screaming. And who doesn’t love old school stop-motion animation? “... New York is famous for good eating.” Recommended with reservations. Thoughts: -- Box Office: Figures range from $255,000 (Wikipedia) to $4.5 million (Cohen’s recollection). Impeding <i>Q</i>’s box office momentum was the fact it was released regionally, by United Film Distribution (thank you, Alien Jesus). The budget was reportedly $1.2 million, a fraction of what <i>I, The Jury</i> (which Cohen was fired from) cost. According to Cohen, <i>Q</i> was filmed in three weeks. -- Critic’s Corner: “In the middle of this exploitation movie, there's Moriarty, rolling his eyes, improvising dialogue, and acting creepy,” wrote an impressed Roger Ebert. Ebert also introduced the legend of Rex Reed praising Moriarty’s performance (in the middle of “all that dreck”) to producer Samuel Z. Arkoff (“The dreck was my idea.”), complete with <i>Q</i> being screened at Cannes. -- If the quotes from Cohen and Clark were enough to tantalyze you, why not read all of Will Harris’ oral history of <i>Q</i>?: thedissolve.com/features/oral-history/111-an-oral-history-of-the-cult-classic-q-the-winged-s/. -- Musical Moment: “Evil Dream,” composed through improvisation by Moriarty, has to be heard to be believed: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCzX3_IyynM Even better, it’s reprised during a chase scene! -- Fanservice Junction: One of Q’s victims is a topless female sunbather. Additionally, the idea of flaying skin in sacrifice to Quetzalcoatl means that a couple men have shirtless scenes. -- <spoiler>The 1998 <i>Godzilla</i> stole <i>Q<i>’s ending!</spoiler> -- Tomorrow, <i>The Man from Snowy River</i> (I have the notes, just need to write). |
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Post by Mr. Greene's October Surprise on Nov 5, 2017 22:40:27 GMT -5
Franko , you seem to be having trouble with your forum italics coding...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2017 23:12:17 GMT -5
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Franko
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Post by Franko on Nov 6, 2017 20:28:35 GMT -5
Franko , you seem to be having trouble with your forum italics coding... Oh, I'm just lazy and don't bother to fix what I'd posted elsewhere. I really should take the extra minute or two and put the care in. |
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Post by Mr. Greene's October Surprise on Nov 6, 2017 21:05:22 GMT -5
Franko , you seem to be having trouble with your forum italics coding... Oh, I'm just lazy and don't bother to fix what I'd posted elsewhere. I really should take the extra minute or two and put the care in. Well, do so, Franko!  |
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Nov 7, 2017 7:39:33 GMT -5
Franko , you seem to be having trouble with your forum italics coding... Oh, I'm just lazy and don't bother to fix what I'd posted elsewhere. I really should take the extra minute or two and put the care in. I vote that you keep doing the way you have been. It gives them a certain charm. |
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Franko
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Post by Franko on Nov 12, 2017 0:02:57 GMT -5
<i>The Man from Snowy River</i> wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/summathissummathat/files/2014/12/Snowy-River-Too.jpg “It changes so suddenly, doesn’t it? One minute it’s like paradise and the next it’s trying to kill you.” “Yup, that’s how it can be up here. But, uh, if it was easy to get to know, there’d be no challenge. You’ve got to treat the mountains … like a high-spirited horse. Never take them for granted.” “It’s the same with people, too.” *great big kiss as the music swells* There’s something to be said for old-fashioned storytelling, as well as unashamedly on the nose dialogue. <i>The Man from Snowy River</i>, adapted from Banjo Paterson’s poem by screenwriter John Dixon and director George T. Miller, is charming. Not only that, it’s gorgeous. <i>Snowy River</i> tells the love story of Jim (Tom Burlinson) and Jessica (Sigrid Thornton). It also tells of Jim’s love for the Australian mountains he was raised in. Between those extremes is Kirk Douglas, in a dual role as brothers Harrison and “Spur.” Harrison, who raised Jessica, owns land and livestock. Spur, who may have fathered her, is an unsuccessful miner. Every so often, Jessica argues with Harrison over her independence. If that weren’t enough atmosphere, there’s also a mob of wild horses that threatens to gain Harrison’s prized colt. Longtime readers know that westerns are one genre I’ve never quite warmed to. I’m willing to try, though. Anyway, <i>Snowy River</i> feels like less of a western and more like a romance. Harrison may be impressed with Jim’s abilities, but he’s not the family member that matters. “You’ve got a long way to go yet, lad.” “He’s not a lad, brother. He’s a man. … He’s a man.” “The Man from Snowy River.” Recommended. Thoughts: -- Box Office: Nearly $20.7 million on a $3.5 million budget, placing it at #39 for 1982. <i>Snowy River</i> grossed slightly less -- $17.2 million -- but became Australia’s highest grossing film for several years. -- Data from Box Office Mojo suggests <i>Man</i> was also regionally-released in America. It never played in more than 517 theatres at once, never scored higher than eighth place for a weekend and appears to have had its theatrical run consist of three bursts lasting between 3-7 weeks. Vincent Canby’s review reveals the New York premiere didn’t occur until January 1983. Roger Ebert’s review is dated from April of that year. -- Critic’s Corner: “Corny in places,” “kind of dumb” and practically pre-censored for TV airings, according to Ebert. On the other hand, he was impressed with the aerial photography “and the invigorating grandeur of the Australian landscape.” -- Awards Watch: Nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, this lost to <i>Gandhi</i>. It was not submitted for Academy Awards consideration in that field. -- This happens to be my editor’s favorite film. No, I didn’t tell her I was watching it. |
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Weird. 
