TOM COURTENAY 'THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cyF2PQClsy3Zq3ZOKs6ecjxS5gsTRFylfpOKss1810A9XdMBntG6sSDuScYAuUcfw8JzevzPsJM3IDGkFwoQ8OMeUID-CGKs8RfNASGlNXTArm0PAKVn2xEsETdjm0Y6vV8872uZz4A2l3_vC7KsB3GqZa1AgNH1orp8WEoluu2esCEJubXBODQy8w/s2625/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-20%20at%207.47.00%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1255" data-original-width="2625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cyF2PQClsy3Zq3ZOKs6ecjxS5gsTRFylfpOKss1810A9XdMBntG6sSDuScYAuUcfw8JzevzPsJM3IDGkFwoQ8OMeUID-CGKs8RfNASGlNXTArm0PAKVn2xEsETdjm0Y6vV8872uZz4A2l3_vC7KsB3GqZa1AgNH1orp8WEoluu2esCEJubXBODQy8w/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-20%20at%207.47.00%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER Year: 1962 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Although SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING gets credit for igniting the <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/british%20new%20wave">British New Wave</a>, otherwise known as Kitchen Sink Dramas centering on the working class in England's late 50's/early 60's, that film's producer Tony Richardson's directorial THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER really thrust the movement forward...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>With an active sport-plot behind character-driven, documentary-style social themes, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/tom%20courtenay">Tom Courtenay</a> plays young contented loser Colin Smith, newly arrived at a rural juvenile detention center from a renovated castle, run by ambitious warden (aka governor) Michael Redgrave...</p><p><span></span></p>

british new wave, cult, drama, frank finlay, indie, james bolam, jazz score, julia foster, michael redgrave, prison, sixties, sport, tom courtenay, tony richardson, topsy jane

TOM COURTENAY 'THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER'

Title: THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER Year: 1962 Rating: ***** Although SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING gets credit for igniti...

ZENA WALKER & DENNIS WATERMAN IN THE DRAMA 'SNOWBALL'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSxG9_0ABxRIou_HuID5GUJOXDqrS4DhLCXkz2SuxNsImcaKwFF8DLGrpUpYAksAo3TrbWNeEwy2mPH3xp0p1W4omYWU1KA1ygYHEBJV6O7tZzPqrqNIuSa_TYKt5WeiJxFz_RTqWgTGdkylJtrxyZDddggJojrBVuxrk3ii_E-fwmVJuDhGcLbdPQA/s1423/1%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="841" data-original-width="1423" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSxG9_0ABxRIou_HuID5GUJOXDqrS4DhLCXkz2SuxNsImcaKwFF8DLGrpUpYAksAo3TrbWNeEwy2mPH3xp0p1W4omYWU1KA1ygYHEBJV6O7tZzPqrqNIuSa_TYKt5WeiJxFz_RTqWgTGdkylJtrxyZDddggJojrBVuxrk3ii_E-fwmVJuDhGcLbdPQA/s16000/1%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Zena Walker in SNOWBALL Year: 1960 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A unique<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/british%20neo%20noir"> British New Wave/Kitchen Sink melodrama</a> involving how fate works... not the first or last... and SNOWBALL is set in some pretty warm weather, so the title's about gossip gaining momentum...<br><br>And all because of child actor <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dennis%20waterman">Dennis Waterman</a> as an English suburban kid who shares to his parents and neighbor how a bus driver dumped him off: having to walk home four miles — the last stretch of that seemingly breezy stride opening the movie with credits shown...</p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

british new wave, daphne anderson, dennis waterman, gordon jackson, kenneth griffith, melodrama, roddy mcmillan, sixties, zena walker

ZENA WALKER & DENNIS WATERMAN IN THE DRAMA 'SNOWBALL'

Zena Walker in SNOWBALL Year: 1960 Rating: *** A unique British New Wave/Kitchen Sink melodrama involving how fate works... not the first ...

SYLVESTER STALLONE & TOM SIZEMORE IN JOHN FLYNN'S 'LOCK UP'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLf6HAWB7twK90ef_1caFRFiIoywGYDzO8LkyiIk2VeEhj0c-3iobwdcm2dEkK1NaAgPJbglD3pj8adtUQurzf7hZ6aUHzVUC3x_E646HWlBJIWq74Ro7wvqDr1yC73ofTjRRLVaQnO4AEcNNeqGMyxELd_t0oUvbBa52GnFGRE6ApSDR87MelZqaJw/s1562/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-22%20at%204.15.04%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLf6HAWB7twK90ef_1caFRFiIoywGYDzO8LkyiIk2VeEhj0c-3iobwdcm2dEkK1NaAgPJbglD3pj8adtUQurzf7hZ6aUHzVUC3x_E646HWlBJIWq74Ro7wvqDr1yC73ofTjRRLVaQnO4AEcNNeqGMyxELd_t0oUvbBa52GnFGRE6ApSDR87MelZqaJw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-22%20at%204.15.04%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u> <span>title:</span> LOCK UP <span>year:</span> 1989 <span>cast: </span>Sylvester Stallone, Donald Sutherland, Tom Sizemore <span>rating:</span> ***1/2 </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Somewhere within the corny, bombastic, 80's-style action is the cool little John Flynn-directed prison flick LOCK UP starring Sylvester Stallone as a furloughed convict with six months to go — until being suddenly thrust from a nice location to a really nasty one thanks to villainous warden Donald Sutherland, more befitting an overboard science-fiction film (like later in THE HUNGER GAMES)... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Sutherland’s cartoonishly vengeful tyrant aside, it’s Stallone (again backed by a Bill Conti score) doing his usual strong silent type and — with the aid of fellow prisoners like a talkative exposition-spouting yet ultimately mischievous Tom Sizemore (an energetic scene-stealer as usual) and gentle-giant Frank McCrae as the head of the jailhouse auto garage — he has some fun, fixing up a dream car to muscular 70's rock... </p><span></span>

action, darlanne fluegel, donald sutherland, eighties, frank mcrea, john ams, john flynn, prison, sonny landham, sylvester stallone, tom sizemore

SYLVESTER STALLONE & TOM SIZEMORE IN JOHN FLYNN'S 'LOCK UP'

  title: LOCK UP year: 1989 cast: Sylvester Stallone, Donald Sutherland, Tom Sizemore rating: ***1/2 Somewhere within the corny, bombas...

STEVE COCHRAN & LIZABETH SCOTT IN VAL GUEST'S 'THE WEAPON'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRhiCQR7fEp9LGnsbO2JDTe7HktpbZYJyX93yowJZWfphUV-H_aQR-aOv1epz3S622pKqcd1uKr2ggjyOKE0oE07xOcp7U2s9NarGE3gVqNLu2VFIvD3U1gCu7QZ_i3Uy5j6KHBew6XqNzfm7RecrqbERfCIAHkHVc6_oGXIcyjdgFPqy2gD0NBsyDqvY8/s931/81Ba0hrocML._AC_SL1500_.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="931" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRhiCQR7fEp9LGnsbO2JDTe7HktpbZYJyX93yowJZWfphUV-H_aQR-aOv1epz3S622pKqcd1uKr2ggjyOKE0oE07xOcp7U2s9NarGE3gVqNLu2VFIvD3U1gCu7QZ_i3Uy5j6KHBew6XqNzfm7RecrqbERfCIAHkHVc6_oGXIcyjdgFPqy2gD0NBsyDqvY8/s16000/81Ba0hrocML._AC_SL1500_.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE WEAPON Pictured: Steve Cochran and George Cole Year: 1957 Rating: **** </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Post War British a decade past, hence the genuine bombed-out ruins where a pistol (THE WEAPON) is buried from an unsolved wartime murder, and local little boy Jon Whiteley finds it, accidentally shoots a bully, and runs like hell... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Morphing <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/val%20guest">Val Guest's</a> thriller from war to noir as Whiteley's Erik hits the dark shadowy streets while worried American widow/mom Lizabeth Scott, in her penultimate still-young big screen role, hitting the right emotional marks, is charmed by shady Brit George Cole while putting up with ultra-serious military investigator Steve Cochran... </p><p><span></span></p>

british film noir, drama, fifties, george cole, herbert marshall, jon whiteley, lizabeth scott, mystery, nicole maurey, sally anne field, steve cochran, thriller, val guest, war

STEVE COCHRAN & LIZABETH SCOTT IN VAL GUEST'S 'THE WEAPON'

Title: THE WEAPON Pictured: Steve Cochran and George Cole Year: 1957 Rating: **** Post War British a decade past, hence the genuine bombed-o...

BURT REYNOLDS AND CLINT EASTWOOD TEAM FOR 'CITY HEAT'

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdH0keeL8EP_DhcTnkaPU1AJnaGxXY3HonsP7aRL65NT2VTeVjw1VfIuLPRQU0591PogFDWguVtAj3XRB34B8PURJzeehgmT1d4syTDiXeSVI5RZsRdXnOoFCrBSblhyR0QZbMxEyIjiFMl-6X6P_zuLTZcfwt5OFNJRfxSh_LwdRn7K72yPS3Ik0LaQx3/s991/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-18%20at%207.30.39%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="991" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdH0keeL8EP_DhcTnkaPU1AJnaGxXY3HonsP7aRL65NT2VTeVjw1VfIuLPRQU0591PogFDWguVtAj3XRB34B8PURJzeehgmT1d4syTDiXeSVI5RZsRdXnOoFCrBSblhyR0QZbMxEyIjiFMl-6X6P_zuLTZcfwt5OFNJRfxSh_LwdRn7K72yPS3Ik0LaQx3/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-18%20at%207.30.39%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: City Heat Stars: Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds Year: 1984 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Remembering the time, as a young action movie fan, when realizing CITY HEAT did <i>not</i> take place in an edgy modern setting — before the knowledge and love of Film Noir and/or Classic Gangster flicks — was a complete letdown...<br> <br> Years have opened the mind, and, while remaining an overall dud to what it could have been given the collaborative talents of Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds, CITY HEAT has gotten a little more entertaining... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, bruce m. fischer, buddy, burt reynolds, clint eastwood, cop, eighties, gangster, gumshoe, jane alexander, madeline kahn, neo noir, richard benjamin, richard roundtree, team-up

BURT REYNOLDS AND CLINT EASTWOOD TEAM FOR 'CITY HEAT'

Title: City Heat Stars: Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds Year: 1984 Rating: *** Remembering the time, as a young action movie fan, when realiz...

CLINT EASTWOOD STARS IN DON SIEGEL'S 'ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NMPbGR7g33hXOhOea16iVFXLDy79HlkFJyKKA-qTNKkfvlNELXZ--xFhSETJFBPHVaxjlT1osuyYCbj7bWX-TWtucyIgc508bEufPEhv_eHlmnkzktZuUntqkaxR6BkUY3QrRhtdDq6RbCrwOXB-NjH0O9h-kY4KmrXQcasdviU_5rVkxHZzGaKiBg/s1597/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-17%20at%205.31.47%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="1597" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NMPbGR7g33hXOhOea16iVFXLDy79HlkFJyKKA-qTNKkfvlNELXZ--xFhSETJFBPHVaxjlT1osuyYCbj7bWX-TWtucyIgc508bEufPEhv_eHlmnkzktZuUntqkaxR6BkUY3QrRhtdDq6RbCrwOXB-NjH0O9h-kY4KmrXQcasdviU_5rVkxHZzGaKiBg/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-17%20at%205.31.47%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Clint Eastwood in ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ Year: 1979 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Don Siegel's ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ starred his most famous actor/collaborator, Clint Eastwood, and it turns out the picture seems more Eastwood-directed because of the rather safe, mainstream appeal...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>For instance, once Eastwood as new inmate Frank Morris... the real life prisoner who actually escaped with two brothers and were never heard of since... enters the infamous rock island as horror movie lightning lights up the dark Alcatraz interior, the upcoming sequences has Clint's character meeting friendly inmates and, with one major exception, the most notorious prison in American history doesn't seem all that awful...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, bruce m. fischer, clint eastwood, don siegel, escape, exploitation, fred ward, jack thibeau, larry hankin, patrick mcgoohan, paul benjamin, prison, roberts blossom, seventies

CLINT EASTWOOD STARS IN DON SIEGEL'S 'ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ'

Clint Eastwood in ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ Year: 1979 Rating: ***1/2 Don Siegel's ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ starred his most famous actor/collabo...

BRANDO AND BRYNNER IN THE WARTIME THRILLER OF 'MORITURI'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyffmQQszDaOIXPSlcDE4g0lg8_ZXatUwhLJeMztXVu3UT45_TObooET7yNsrBJu9U8uNb6E3TP_kMC9Lw26FMXJZ7fjeR5_CES32ArHuwWSMIri5-A_DtCdvrZ5DlvFHKsPB6hvV2X-pbuggf_n8fW7EFzIXhqr-DSMFuZ1C74FZ3cnLn6-1Ps_wWWVIv/s2008/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-21%20at%2010.11.59%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="2008" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyffmQQszDaOIXPSlcDE4g0lg8_ZXatUwhLJeMztXVu3UT45_TObooET7yNsrBJu9U8uNb6E3TP_kMC9Lw26FMXJZ7fjeR5_CES32ArHuwWSMIri5-A_DtCdvrZ5DlvFHKsPB6hvV2X-pbuggf_n8fW7EFzIXhqr-DSMFuZ1C74FZ3cnLn6-1Ps_wWWVIv/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-21%20at%2010.11.59%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marlon Brando and Yul Brynner in MORITURI Year: 1965 Grade: B— upon a **1/2 star rating</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>During Marlon Brando's lost decade — of box office and critical failures in-between ONE-EYED JACKS and THE GODFATHER — he played the unlikeliest of World War II-movie heroes in MORITURI... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which is where Brando's Robert Crain begins... in an expository mission-setup sequence with Trevor Howard, who finds Marlon's pacifist German character hiding out in India before thrusting him into the complicated task...</p><p><span></span></p>

espionage, janet margolin, marlon brando, nazi, sixties, thriller, trevor howard, william redfield, world war II, yul brynner

BRANDO AND BRYNNER IN THE WARTIME THRILLER OF 'MORITURI'

Marlon Brando and Yul Brynner in MORITURI Year: 1965 Grade: B— upon a **1/2 star rating During Marlon Brando's lost decade — of box offi...

MICHAEL PARE WITH TOM BERENGER IN 'EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsO46oV9qHKgIlhlAfOvHacVZwtCfUAesg-ZonsofCOEtliUdtQpwLOmzBBkGgtb4RoWBjiWmLPy4HByCCoK_EAssXLXzFZb8LtOB472Ffd2dZqLX4P78RAc5PM77rAHFOuIaG3MTXe_3vzeWXTKoiTQG2aqUhFQGZwWLiQxaKsgpEUHvhDcThKoQ7ap2J/s1402/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-16%20at%205.13.10%20PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1402" data-original-width="1126" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsO46oV9qHKgIlhlAfOvHacVZwtCfUAesg-ZonsofCOEtliUdtQpwLOmzBBkGgtb4RoWBjiWmLPy4HByCCoK_EAssXLXzFZb8LtOB472Ffd2dZqLX4P78RAc5PM77rAHFOuIaG3MTXe_3vzeWXTKoiTQG2aqUhFQGZwWLiQxaKsgpEUHvhDcThKoQ7ap2J/w321-h400/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-16%20at%205.13.10%20PM.jpeg" width="321"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1982 Grade: C+</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Director Martin Davidson wanted EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS to be like Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE in that half the film takes place in the present, where an interviewer (Ellen Barkin) is asking questions and getting answers from characters we also experience in random flashbacks centering on, in this case, a supposedly long-dead rocker the likes of Jim Morrison of The Doors; providing the haunting question of what if Morrison... in this case Eddie Wilson... were still alive? And also, what would be the status of his former friends and band-mates decades later? These include buried lead Tom Berenger, a comparably conservative classics-loving pianist and literature-based lyricist who had befriended Michael Pare's muscular, New Jersey rocker on the beach, straight out of how Doors keyboardist Ray Manzerek met poet and future counter-culture crooner Morrison in Venice,  California...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And there's a lot of potential in the overall backstory since Pare looks beyond game for his own rock n roll fable (which he'd get in STREETS OF FIRE)... And although his songs sound more 1980's semi-throwback Bruce Springsteen than anything brand new from 1962, his rough-and-tumble looks fit perfectly with actual singer John Caffterty's urgent blue collar voice, making the songs really seem like Eddie's own: It's just an era problem that makes it almost impossible to believe in the music and the legacy it garnered... And as a two-tier story there's simply not enough time spent on the mystery aspect of the present (if Eddie's not only alive but desperately trying to locate his missing album) for that to provide enough tension and suspense... while the nightclub-blaring small-time-band's backstory consists of scenes so quickly played-out, they never feel beyond what they are... someone's plot-important recollection... And god knows that Pare, Berenger and beautiful ingenue/background-singer Helen Schneider deserved far more than being a mere collection of memories.</p><p><span></span></p>

eighties, ellen barkin, melodrama, michael pare, music, tom berenger

MICHAEL PARE WITH TOM BERENGER IN 'EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS'

Year: 1982 Grade: C+ Director Martin Davidson wanted EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS to be like Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE in that half the film...

STEPHEN BOYD IN 'FANTASTIC VOYAGE' WITH RAQUEL WELCH

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7cDuBMZYcnXDoVvunTECsCPxYCTjMJclEKj0-TiXTuKI6YIR1j7O1YMfX_m3d4flhFeJQfJxk_iQGE_wk0JEnzwyDbKO5gh3wopBbh42BWstOgEbbF8AuKdSt8aWCAur3gSLOd5lIZCIhqYsukE1UYpirBfQYdXv4nEAuAXk6Rb3uZIBMi_KCoRSFA/s1867/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-15%20at%204.56.57%20PM%203%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1009" data-original-width="1867" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG7cDuBMZYcnXDoVvunTECsCPxYCTjMJclEKj0-TiXTuKI6YIR1j7O1YMfX_m3d4flhFeJQfJxk_iQGE_wk0JEnzwyDbKO5gh3wopBbh42BWstOgEbbF8AuKdSt8aWCAur3gSLOd5lIZCIhqYsukE1UYpirBfQYdXv4nEAuAXk6Rb3uZIBMi_KCoRSFA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-15%20at%204.56.57%20PM%203%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: FANTASTIC VOYAGE Year: 1966 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the time a miniaturized submarine is placed into the body of an important scientist... the vessel manned by two surgeons, a security agent, a female assistant and the pilot... the insanely fantastical premise of FANTASTIC VOYAGE is pretty much grounded since it takes around forty-minutes for the actual innerspace adventure to begin...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet the Richard Fleischer classic is more like an<i> oute</i>r space mission with colorful special effects that, while of course dated today, look as mesmerizing and hypnotic as the meticulous, often surreal soundtrack similar to the latter Jupiter sequence from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY...</p><p><span></span></p>

adventure, arthur o'connell, cold war, donald pleasence, edmond o'brien, fantasy, ken scott, raquel welch, science-fiction, stephen boyd, william redfield

STEPHEN BOYD IN 'FANTASTIC VOYAGE' WITH RAQUEL WELCH

Title: FANTASTIC VOYAGE Year: 1966 Rating: **** By the time a miniaturized submarine is placed into the body of an important scientist... th...

SIDNEY LUMET DIRECTS AL PACINO IN THE TRUE CRIME 'SERPICO'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ibw5oyh-S2opm0mmEpHMFt4doSBbZ-2E-TRMgBWajmMV2K47FII6PejcdU8VyGk00bJ6FV0bw_4kpgOD_2YyyJa0malVhvSgN-LqbJ6v1Q_YvjV2jd0cZFn8AM4f2DLgCaSI8BkOptpxHIy1QyF7grJijNpmBK-NJq5J0WjdB1HOoIxn9nim9l6dhQ/s1649/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-07%20at%203.15.38%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1649" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ibw5oyh-S2opm0mmEpHMFt4doSBbZ-2E-TRMgBWajmMV2K47FII6PejcdU8VyGk00bJ6FV0bw_4kpgOD_2YyyJa0malVhvSgN-LqbJ6v1Q_YvjV2jd0cZFn8AM4f2DLgCaSI8BkOptpxHIy1QyF7grJijNpmBK-NJq5J0WjdB1HOoIxn9nim9l6dhQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-07%20at%203.15.38%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Al Pacino in SERPICO Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Between the two GODFATHER films that made Al Pacino not only a star but a living legend. he headlined SERPICO, where, like Michael Corleone, he starts out youthfully idealistic and winds up...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well in this case he goes from idealism to becoming purposefully annoying... refusing any shortcut that cops can acquire in New York City, starting with the kind of sandwich he gets for free...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, al pacino, biopic, cop, cornelia sharpe, judd hirsch, mary-louise weller, nathan george, seventies, sidney lumet, thriller, tony roberts

SIDNEY LUMET DIRECTS AL PACINO IN THE TRUE CRIME 'SERPICO'

Al Pacino in SERPICO Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 Between the two GODFATHER films that made Al Pacino not only a star but a living legend. he h...

AL PACINO SHIFTS TO CRUISE CONTROL FOR 'BOBBY DEERFIELD'

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lj_Kgb8ifHhR32FfNiiMWPFQy8kyCYONapknyjVl0ex0IOf62BhdM6lS_ho_5kfOEIv9uO1D5Vi6UiFhL0h_AzmQULMrN2HtzriCxpBLln6eDcoFbR7ASWaFhI2E2uEVqaFIh-VDt1WRNkRVm25KldS1x8CaVD1Zll9b7L-6raQbSsEIaYQFB2BD0A/s907/52991280_659238614505318_7676804796610772992_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="907" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2lj_Kgb8ifHhR32FfNiiMWPFQy8kyCYONapknyjVl0ex0IOf62BhdM6lS_ho_5kfOEIv9uO1D5Vi6UiFhL0h_AzmQULMrN2HtzriCxpBLln6eDcoFbR7ASWaFhI2E2uEVqaFIh-VDt1WRNkRVm25KldS1x8CaVD1Zll9b7L-6raQbSsEIaYQFB2BD0A/s16000/52991280_659238614505318_7676804796610772992_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Al Pacino in BOBBY DEERFIELD Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Not a race car movie, but one that centers on a famous driver... The man, BOBBY DEERFIELD, especially after a fatal accident by another driver in <i>his</i> car, simply doesn't care much for humanity or even his own family, and only gets a personality after meeting, and then traveling aimlessly with, a beautiful woman in a hospital...<br> <br> In fact, his <i>real</i> turnaround occurs after discovering this mystery woman's deep, dark secret: Thus the free-spirited confidence of Marthe Keller's personality makes sense after this revelation, as does the film...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

al pacino, drama, marthe keller, melodrama, race car, romance, seventies, sport, walter mcginn

AL PACINO SHIFTS TO CRUISE CONTROL FOR 'BOBBY DEERFIELD'

Al Pacino in BOBBY DEERFIELD Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2 Not a race car movie, but one that centers on a famous driver... The man, BOBBY DEE...

CLINT EASTWOOD WITH JESSICA WALTER IN 'PLAY MISTY FOR ME'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3LZ4I4jO_fy_AvsdL0QsmxbcOTFLkChnIjKomE346JGCqX9SecvOiFTzE8oI0lbLxToEkBapxD9ofDUbOCV4cqb7Ucj0r0zamTSnpttySs3jNSrTb9TTd0WLLxzG5Ifl0Xx_1CcKUd3PAFNwOh3XwLsXWh0DHQQ26LDqokwVyUjcTsSgK-TRiYlOxIdlL/s2232/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-27%20at%203.43.55%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="2232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3LZ4I4jO_fy_AvsdL0QsmxbcOTFLkChnIjKomE346JGCqX9SecvOiFTzE8oI0lbLxToEkBapxD9ofDUbOCV4cqb7Ucj0r0zamTSnpttySs3jNSrTb9TTd0WLLxzG5Ifl0Xx_1CcKUd3PAFNwOh3XwLsXWh0DHQQ26LDqokwVyUjcTsSgK-TRiYlOxIdlL/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-27%20at%203.43.55%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Clint Eastwood directs and stars in PLAY MISTY FOR ME Year: 1971 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Clint Eastwood, in moving from actor to director and combining both... directing himself... isn't quite the scowling tough guy he became famous for — although he has his share of grimacing expressions from a one-night-stand turned obsessed lover Jessica Walter, at one point describing how his nostrils flare when he gets really riled...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>She's enough of a manipulating woman turned lethal nightmare to make anyone reach their breaking point, and, in basically the same role (including a pivotal suicide attempt) that would earn Glenn Close an FATAL ATTRACTION Oscar nomination, poor Jessica doesn't get nearly enough time to spread her devil wings throughout...</p><p><span></span></p>

britt lind, cannonball adderley, clint eastwood, don siegel, donna mills, exploitation, irene hervey, jack ging, james mceachin, jazz-score, jessica walter, john larch, romance, seventies, thriller

CLINT EASTWOOD WITH JESSICA WALTER IN 'PLAY MISTY FOR ME'

Clint Eastwood directs and stars in PLAY MISTY FOR ME Year: 1971 Rating: ***1/2 Clint Eastwood, in moving from actor to director and combini...

CANVASING THE UNIQUE CAPER OF 'THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT'

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ6GkisxXEHkX9avasJnODPr7TRSNMl3end-uZs6IKG7kalnMWJMcVojIUTvsmN_OkRU3sawuaf3bB439Xl3VI0Sl6-_CXNBvjrTDjxMtw4jPDBZLVL7B2_iqAUlGn2Lb--uqWZtyqIVMiIv9w9rYravZfYpv4GWf-ddu6TLCptpraYfuem1v4s43ERA/s1122/36.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="1122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ6GkisxXEHkX9avasJnODPr7TRSNMl3end-uZs6IKG7kalnMWJMcVojIUTvsmN_OkRU3sawuaf3bB439Xl3VI0Sl6-_CXNBvjrTDjxMtw4jPDBZLVL7B2_iqAUlGn2Lb--uqWZtyqIVMiIv9w9rYravZfYpv4GWf-ddu6TLCptpraYfuem1v4s43ERA/s16000/36.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT Director: Michael Cimino Stars: Clint Eastwood Year: 1974 Score: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There's a quote in the 1974 cult action flick THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT about an experienced ex-bank robber played by Clint Eastwood teamed with a young freewheeling Jeff Bridges... <br> <br> Ironically "Stick with me, kid, you're gonna live forever" is young Jeff's line as Lightfoot to Clint's Thunderbolt since the<i> </i>enigmatic, offbeat youngster  speaks in almost all hackneyed adages...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

action, bill mckinney, catherine bach, chase, clint eastwood, geoffrey lewis, george kennedy, heist, jack dodson, jeff bridges, june fairchild, michael cimino, roy jenson

CANVASING THE UNIQUE CAPER OF 'THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT'

Title: THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT Director: Michael Cimino Stars: Clint Eastwood Year: 1974 Score: **** There's a quote in the 1974 cu...

CLINT EASTWOOD STARS/DIRECTS DIRTY HARRY IN 'SUDDEN IMPACT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMOwMF8gR-2QoNO7iMAJ_ZWX29r723yMthihNkr0Dvej2qWm8Vt1LBIFjo8sVCwG_4zrvYnRAuI9HSO10m07Zz_V_G9humW4phAbfh0ojmrixT1ZOaNlatk-V7qmGCEAhv8xHLlXzgEzy_HNpj72ZB4ty1p9e7-El-6Xvs7cl0U98_UKtFSieS8-OJQ/s1985/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-13%20at%205.50.12%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1985" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMOwMF8gR-2QoNO7iMAJ_ZWX29r723yMthihNkr0Dvej2qWm8Vt1LBIFjo8sVCwG_4zrvYnRAuI9HSO10m07Zz_V_G9humW4phAbfh0ojmrixT1ZOaNlatk-V7qmGCEAhv8xHLlXzgEzy_HNpj72ZB4ty1p9e7-El-6Xvs7cl0U98_UKtFSieS8-OJQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-13%20at%205.50.12%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Clint Eastwood in Sudden Impact Year: 1983 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The penultimate Dirty Harry is an exploitation of slick, mechanized 1980's violence, body count style, twofold, as vengeful killers stalk Callahan while the mainline has artist Sondra Locke seeking her own revenge from a group of small town San Paulo locals that, years earlier, under a carnival pier, raped her and her sister, inspiring morbid gallery paintings, and, hiding in plain sight, she's restoring the same carnival's carousel while randomly killing off the rapists...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Harry is, ironically, being punished for leaving a trail of dead villains who wanted <i>him</i> dead first... sent on what he thinks is a busman's holiday/nowhere murder case, also in San Paulo where the second act has an investigatory town-with-secrets noir vibe, connecting the picked-off perverts with a stern local sheriff...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, albert popwell, audrie neenan, body count, bradford dillman, clint eastwood, cop, dirty harry, eighties, exploitation, franchise, mara corday, pat hingle, sondra locke, thriller

CLINT EASTWOOD STARS/DIRECTS DIRTY HARRY IN 'SUDDEN IMPACT'

Clint Eastwood in Sudden Impact Year: 1983 Rates: **** The penultimate Dirty Harry is an exploitation of slick, mechanized 1980's violen...

JOHN CARPENTER'S TV-MOVIE THRILLER 'SOMEONE'S WATCHING ME!'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtYArQtu0CdX6KLfoy9lVli41o2XQn7fgQR3ljCCgMpx6puYsikvEHv3z6uDuk0qHPpLb6ZxxH19lEaCMxNN5ZRZc6dkJEt12z4YTrBFa7S45trY3LePH99A5N5TYvFy2U73lCPRizKNgU8vfnRt62-8BJx0oebfjCcL5BR4V4mzP6SKdIs2BdIMM8Q/s1875/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-01%20at%2012.42.57%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="1875" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtYArQtu0CdX6KLfoy9lVli41o2XQn7fgQR3ljCCgMpx6puYsikvEHv3z6uDuk0qHPpLb6ZxxH19lEaCMxNN5ZRZc6dkJEt12z4YTrBFa7S45trY3LePH99A5N5TYvFy2U73lCPRizKNgU8vfnRt62-8BJx0oebfjCcL5BR4V4mzP6SKdIs2BdIMM8Q/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-01%20at%2012.42.57%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title Sequence for Someone's Watching Me YEAR: 1978 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After John Carpenter hit surprise bombshell with the horror/slasher HALLOWEEN, a made-for-TV movie being the next step is a bit strange, but for the small screen it's not bad... </p><p></p><p></p><p>The tense, rather slowburn plot centers on a director played by Lauren Hutton who is, as the title implies, being watched by someone in the building across from her own... </p><span></span>

adrienne barbeau, david birney, horror, john carpenter, lauren becall, mystery, suspense, thriller, tv movie

JOHN CARPENTER'S TV-MOVIE THRILLER 'SOMEONE'S WATCHING ME!'

Title Sequence for Someone's Watching Me YEAR: 1978 Rating: *** After John Carpenter hit surprise bombshell with the horror/slasher HALL...