JIM KELLY IN AL ADAMSON'S SPY BLAXPLOITATION 'BLACK SAMURAI'

<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/AVvXsEhWDeeBxE4BMZH8fXvrdziXiJNEYOhM_cILtZypBw861dM7w40DksiGtLfQ2DRAJKQ7qCTYCE09wIjr476oNs0caRcGCke3KNN-8LH3pNL27btQ3IY3squxNjDwbTPPA1n1enedH8Dyyl5ckEoAtJ3_axnL7dgI17idpoeay4rDJ7OA4eDxgY6E84PUgCOk/s1931/morered.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1931" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDeeBxE4BMZH8fXvrdziXiJNEYOhM_cILtZypBw861dM7w40DksiGtLfQ2DRAJKQ7qCTYCE09wIjr476oNs0caRcGCke3KNN-8LH3pNL27btQ3IY3squxNjDwbTPPA1n1enedH8Dyyl5ckEoAtJ3_axnL7dgI17idpoeay4rDJ7OA4eDxgY6E84PUgCOk/s16000/morered.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jim Kelly and </u><u>Chia Essie Lin</u><u> in Al Adamson's BLACK SAMURAI Year: 1976 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After Jim Kelly's Agent Robert Sand alias BLACK SAMURAI visits the Satanic high priest villain's dark mansion lair, which includes girls dancing, a trio of deadly henchman, a sexy black witch, a snake-pit dungeon and an overseeing pet vulture, he winds up... following a car chase... rocketing up on a jet-pack, landing and battling a midget in the forest — only to wind up right back at that central fortress... <br></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>Making what's exploitation director Al Adamson's most satisfying project (based on a book series by Marc Olden) in what's a hybrid of James Bond and of course blaxploitation, at this point on its last legs... </p><span></span>

action, adventure, al adamson, biff yeager, blaxploitation, chia essie lin, jim kelly, karate, seventies, spy

JIM KELLY IN AL ADAMSON'S SPY BLAXPLOITATION 'BLACK SAMURAI'

Jim Kelly and  Chia Essie Lin in Al Adamson's BLACK SAMURAI Year: 1976 Rating: **** After Jim Kelly's Agent Robert Sand alias BLACK...

JIM KELLY VS HAROLD SAKATA IN AL ADAMSON'S 'DEATH DIMENSION'

<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/AVvXsEgFgZy0fECGgtmAH9q7yPbVJCu_sjkWeMXCDp5QrCsajEbaNSZM1YbD9YiGaNBopaOqgpyhH9bq86o1-EZ5jD3-4SLzTZWqFyc6E1NR7tMgKME6uDrNB2FfE8WEBC6DKSN0qoporsnEyRQtxJWmOaZn1l-hQVhJgMzaGI8Q4nw5gTRdE5jehNYXULd2DWl9/s1777/3%202%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="1777" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFgZy0fECGgtmAH9q7yPbVJCu_sjkWeMXCDp5QrCsajEbaNSZM1YbD9YiGaNBopaOqgpyhH9bq86o1-EZ5jD3-4SLzTZWqFyc6E1NR7tMgKME6uDrNB2FfE8WEBC6DKSN0qoporsnEyRQtxJWmOaZn1l-hQVhJgMzaGI8Q4nw5gTRdE5jehNYXULd2DWl9/s16000/3%202%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jim Kelly in Al Adamson's DEATH DIMENSION Year: 1978 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Any movie featuring Jim Kelly is an unrelated homage to ENTER THE DRAGON, the Bruce Lee classic in which he's the cocky token-black karate champ... and DEATH DIMENSION is the second directed by b-movie icon Al Adamson that's trying to be a James Bond flick...</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>Here, following BLACK SAMURAI, the original German title Der Einzelkämpfer translates to THE LONE FIGHTER, partly true since Kelly does most of the action against two Bond franchise legends...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, al adamson, aldo ray, bob minor, george lazenby, harold sakata, jim kelly, karate, linda lawrence, seventies, spy, terry moore

JIM KELLY VS HAROLD SAKATA IN AL ADAMSON'S 'DEATH DIMENSION'

Jim Kelly in Al Adamson's DEATH DIMENSION Year: 1978 Rating: *** Any movie featuring Jim Kelly is an unrelated homage to ENTER THE DRAGO...

JIM KELLY'S NOT BLACK BELT JONES IN 'THE TATTOO CONNECTION'

<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/AVvXsEhUTFrArfvfSCmnqXxnghJ5IegGs40lSshdSW6vV7mbpE73u60fLA0Wkn_YUecMfnRJBnuwkhfoYWBwRZ_P2_8xdv9POjQj9QSsb3zffq648PfnoSNzj3sbJ7yQ5A3jtx-CnMNtYa1e1bSEOc29wib7nYBMZ3RtV_-i5OdT_UQMsNNQDrGme9yYcBlP0HqK/s1176/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-22%20at%2011.22.18%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="1176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUTFrArfvfSCmnqXxnghJ5IegGs40lSshdSW6vV7mbpE73u60fLA0Wkn_YUecMfnRJBnuwkhfoYWBwRZ_P2_8xdv9POjQj9QSsb3zffq648PfnoSNzj3sbJ7yQ5A3jtx-CnMNtYa1e1bSEOc29wib7nYBMZ3RtV_-i5OdT_UQMsNNQDrGme9yYcBlP0HqK/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-22%20at%2011.22.18%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jim Kelly in THE TATTOO CONNECTION Year: 1978 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With the famous style of camera zooms going quickly forward and pulling back even quicker, THE TATTOO CONNECTION is more of a noirish Asian crime flick than martial arts... although with groovy-smooth ENTER THE DRAGON co-star Jim Kelly imported for universal value and local master kicker Tao-Liang Tan the third-billed buried-lead, there's a whole lot of the latter...<br><br>Misleadingly deemed BLACK BELT JONES 2, Kelly (who returned as Jones in HOT POTATO) is an agent named Lucas, and appears about twenty-minutes in after establishing a frantic underworld where a young man's in-hiding after turning on the formidable mob boss...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, bolo yeung, jim kelly, karate, mobster, nami misaki, neo noir, seventies, shu-ying cheng, tao-liang tan

JIM KELLY'S NOT BLACK BELT JONES IN 'THE TATTOO CONNECTION'

Jim Kelly in THE TATTOO CONNECTION Year: 1978 Rating: ***1/2 With the famous style of camera zooms going quickly forward and pulling back ev...

JIM KELLY RETURNS AS BLACK BELT JONES HANDLING 'HOT POTATO'

<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/AVvXsEiFOo3P4kD0zLsFcS_14SE_EiMg0NLjntFbPombb7LyWacnMBJfYXIUOkGZ0Ehc14O2ps3tv9RnUw6W06nELykxRQs8vrDQiNEx67B6H0TB9vWBirSVlMoU80RCWE8KQnRIOjLyU_6K5mywhebNctfu0SWkD__dy6mK-yzdz4U5v7OdHBFzeJ-5Bjw-xfp4/s1214/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-22%20at%208.08.23%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFOo3P4kD0zLsFcS_14SE_EiMg0NLjntFbPombb7LyWacnMBJfYXIUOkGZ0Ehc14O2ps3tv9RnUw6W06nELykxRQs8vrDQiNEx67B6H0TB9vWBirSVlMoU80RCWE8KQnRIOjLyU_6K5mywhebNctfu0SWkD__dy6mK-yzdz4U5v7OdHBFzeJ-5Bjw-xfp4/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-22%20at%208.08.23%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: HOT POTATO Year: 1976 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>No one could fathom why the urban blaxploitation BLACK BELT JONES would have a pulpy-adventure sequel set in the Thailand jungle, so it's often regarded as basically, not a sequel: but it <i>definitely is</i> given that ENTER THE DRAGON icon Jim Kelly's name is, once again, Jones, and the original film's writer is now both writer and director...</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>The plot has Judy Brown as a politician's daughter being kidnapped, and Kelly and his cohorts traipse through the bulwark-laden jungles to bring her safely home... the first problem being that Jim's got too many sidekicks...</p><p><span></span></p>

adventure, george memmoli, irene tsu, jim kelly, judy brown, karate, sequel, seventies

JIM KELLY RETURNS AS BLACK BELT JONES HANDLING 'HOT POTATO'

Title: HOT POTATO Year: 1976 Rating: *** No one could fathom why the urban blaxploitation BLACK BELT JONES would have a pulpy-adventure sequ...

JIM KELLY KICKS FRONT IN ROBERT CLOUSE'S 'BLACK BELT JONES'

<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/AVvXsEhb_ZyctjLulHuxom7SCmwbLpaEv2HXGhPZq-ZwJZGX1ZvkklKji3g026I0RbRhCAfGpAY1ouXldaW0QUl7wa-aljy-bCqkTlytW0lvIYdIOdlOl7opQ1UwLpUcT6VotT-fJY3UWoZIZ8cA3lhleZ25WWtC4Ruyo7N0oSa6OE2zOLyLOu4j8y_0ioQFMTBw/s1570/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-29%20at%206.48.03%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_ZyctjLulHuxom7SCmwbLpaEv2HXGhPZq-ZwJZGX1ZvkklKji3g026I0RbRhCAfGpAY1ouXldaW0QUl7wa-aljy-bCqkTlytW0lvIYdIOdlOl7opQ1UwLpUcT6VotT-fJY3UWoZIZ8cA3lhleZ25WWtC4Ruyo7N0oSa6OE2zOLyLOu4j8y_0ioQFMTBw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-29%20at%206.48.03%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster deliberately transforming Bruce Lee into Jim Kelly for BLACK BELT JONES Year: 1974 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Anyone thinking ENTER THE DRAGON director Robert Clouse simply got lucky need only experience BLACK BELT JONES starring Bruce Lee's cocky black rival and overall fan-favorite Jim Kelly who, giant afro and all, takes on the mafia in what Clouse neatly balances as part martial arts, part gritty downtown-blaxploitation and part GODFATHER-inspired mafia crime flick...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The latter serves the plot as Jones's friend Scatman Crothers owns an urban karate studio, and the mob needs the land... eventually inherited by the first James Bond girl in Gloria Hendry as Crothers' daughter, who winds up both Jones's love interest and a practically equal karate partner...</p><p><span></span></p>

alan weeks, blaxploitation, eric laneuville, exploitation, gloria hendry, jim kelly, karate, mafia, malik carter, marla gibbs, scatman crothers, seventies, spy, ted lange, vince barbi

JIM KELLY KICKS FRONT IN ROBERT CLOUSE'S 'BLACK BELT JONES'

Poster deliberately transforming Bruce Lee into Jim Kelly for BLACK BELT JONES Year: 1974 Rating: **** Anyone thinking ENTER THE DRAGON dire...

JIM KELLY, FRED WILLIAMSON & JIM BROWN 'THREE THE HARD WAY'

<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/AVvXsEiTeh0ZC2oewEWBeO8KLxsex9_1ulHTs2dcihKvOhacqJ87gUoZKwQwZfAo4K6gMnVbMF2Cr4DFnEksC0Ig6-oZtHuLzKhQjooU8FqUd5IEdPEURn57MtrUanT90IdjYmTbVTXDDbPGRFFpD6nPP1b6CtCvxKCIS4sNGjE_X_OSg5ysNLcgZtJvZ_0LE4kD/s1883/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-29%20at%209.07.04%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1092" data-original-width="1883" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTeh0ZC2oewEWBeO8KLxsex9_1ulHTs2dcihKvOhacqJ87gUoZKwQwZfAo4K6gMnVbMF2Cr4DFnEksC0Ig6-oZtHuLzKhQjooU8FqUd5IEdPEURn57MtrUanT90IdjYmTbVTXDDbPGRFFpD6nPP1b6CtCvxKCIS4sNGjE_X_OSg5ysNLcgZtJvZ_0LE4kD/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-29%20at%209.07.04%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THREE THE HARD WAY Year: 1974 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the time three multicolored motorcycles are cruising down downtown Chicago that are soon to be revealed carrying sadistic multiracial hotties, THREE THE HARD WAY has gone from a somewhat awkward, clunky and extremely uncomfortable prologue into an enjoyably entertaining action-packed mainline... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Initially involving the imprisonment and torture of random black men leading to the titular collection of THREE popular athletic black actors, eventually fighting a myriad of racist militants who created a potion that will, in a kind of Jame Bond supervillain fashion, wipe out <i>only</i> their race...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, alex rocco, blaxploitation, corbin bernsen, exploitation, fred williamson, howard platt, irene tsu, jay robinson, jim brown, jim kelly, karate, seventies

JIM KELLY, FRED WILLIAMSON & JIM BROWN 'THREE THE HARD WAY'

Title: THREE THE HARD WAY Year: 1974 Rating: **** By the time three multicolored motorcycles are cruising down downtown Chicago that are soo...

JACK STARRETT DIRECTS JIM BROWN VS RIP TORN IN 'SLAUGHTER'

<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/AVvXsEinAiW_G1OWdOEotTh_2-ZhNSeZPUA11D5f2NyUpjAj_V5okzvMB2GlC7GV0_qjqwi28tp2i4-ZbEk76Hq7_zKHlPO-zH-dobT2lkUhJoDOqOPl3JyBqdE5jHNMF-Uff7TA4orIq6HdFqV79Q9O4mrxF_PLTc4hyEDlp_P-88auXfzM1dpTI9E6fmWcJtOR/s2679/1111%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="2679" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAiW_G1OWdOEotTh_2-ZhNSeZPUA11D5f2NyUpjAj_V5okzvMB2GlC7GV0_qjqwi28tp2i4-ZbEk76Hq7_zKHlPO-zH-dobT2lkUhJoDOqOPl3JyBqdE5jHNMF-Uff7TA4orIq6HdFqV79Q9O4mrxF_PLTc4hyEDlp_P-88auXfzM1dpTI9E6fmWcJtOR/s16000/1111%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: SLAUGHTER Director: Jack Starrett Year: 1972 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the time Rip Torn as a mobster's main hit-man kills the very boss who hired him to kill Jim Brown's titular black tough guy SLAUGHTER... seeking revenge for his father's mob-ordered death... the 1972 anything-goes/gun-blasting extravaganza is only halfway through...</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>And has already featured some worthwhile actors including Cameron Mitchell and sidekick's sidekick Don Gordon, right at home in a b-movie that passes for mainstream... like something from the Bond franchise as Jim Brown, wearing a dapper tuxedo, walks coolly into the antagonist's crooked casino, winning money and even landing a sexy moll, who at least three of the uncompromisingly racist mafiosos are after...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, blaxploitation, cameron mitchell, jack starrett, jim brown, mafia, marlene clark, revenge, rip torn, robert phillips, seventies, stella stevens

JACK STARRETT DIRECTS JIM BROWN VS RIP TORN IN 'SLAUGHTER'

Title: SLAUGHTER Director: Jack Starrett Year: 1972 Rating: ****1/2 By the time Rip Torn as a mobster's main hit-man kills the very boss...

ROBERT FOXWORTH BEARS JOHN FRANKENHEIMER'S 'PROPHECY'

<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/AVvXsEgpqu-jae__wDcdUv07R_ONjAex7gyl-GSi3z345ls4kNEk5AchpolvLIfHo2GTMdhMOrNQMI2Uh1iSTwnoxUE3iCmQwF5g9oGvtY_eCTwrUWWOJuXGYEi3mzvsE0WQCUcV2Hry0yJjsfZQuRGBbSLkOjL2LVqwmuc-JoFHmcflgF8-XwUQUy9gGR0kGq5K/s1717/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1717" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpqu-jae__wDcdUv07R_ONjAex7gyl-GSi3z345ls4kNEk5AchpolvLIfHo2GTMdhMOrNQMI2Uh1iSTwnoxUE3iCmQwF5g9oGvtY_eCTwrUWWOJuXGYEi3mzvsE0WQCUcV2Hry0yJjsfZQuRGBbSLkOjL2LVqwmuc-JoFHmcflgF8-XwUQUy9gGR0kGq5K/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: PROPHECY Year: 1979 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At one point, when idealistic city doctor Robert Foxworthy and quiet musician wife Taila Shire are in the Oregon woods investigating strange happenings around a Native American community, we cut to an immense paper-mill with formidable music that would usually prelude a march of Nazi soldiers, or their mustached leader...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile polite antagonist Richard Dysart, a few years before being part of a gory monstrous takeover in THE THING, is subtly covering things up: overall making the liberal-minded eco-horror PROPHECY far more ambiguous than if it were made today (or in the last thirty-years)...</p><span></span>

armand assante, eco-horror, john frankenheimer, mia bendixsen, richard dysart, robert foxworth, talia shire

ROBERT FOXWORTH BEARS JOHN FRANKENHEIMER'S 'PROPHECY'

Title: PROPHECY Year: 1979 Rating: ***1/2 At one point, when idealistic city doctor Robert Foxworthy and quiet musician wife Taila Shire are...

RUSHING THROUGH JOHN SCHLESINGER'S 'HONKY TONK FREEWAY'

<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/AVvXsEiaX9xJ39a3JdrTj4Jji1T_bdXGvfXxEEjSaYgzK12-y1LTvtqkE3lNyPWtaIspDDYUFqU-7bmfkpLp7fO1_wFlNh3IX6QY9mlRseQO9NZvu4tOQqjAm_8k7mo0YE0JxMG_gXjJvUu-MaW4rxEA42UjyPh4Gb_AJ9xtOZ700LHxd0Q3K6-0JDxIU9u9X3WH/s1280/maxresdefault%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaX9xJ39a3JdrTj4Jji1T_bdXGvfXxEEjSaYgzK12-y1LTvtqkE3lNyPWtaIspDDYUFqU-7bmfkpLp7fO1_wFlNh3IX6QY9mlRseQO9NZvu4tOQqjAm_8k7mo0YE0JxMG_gXjJvUu-MaW4rxEA42UjyPh4Gb_AJ9xtOZ700LHxd0Q3K6-0JDxIU9u9X3WH/s16000/maxresdefault%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: HONKY TONK FREEWAY Year: 1981 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>John Schlesinger's HONKY TONK FREEWAY has two composers: Elmer Bernstein doing his usual triumphant march while Beatles producer George Martin's melancholy interludes are thrown in randomly for an offbeat cross-country road-movie with everything...<br><br>And while known for having cost and lost tons of money, FREEWAY is both a fast-moving adventure and witty ensemble-comedy with only a few central characters representing both points on the map...</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>

beau bridges, beverly d'angelo, comedy, deborah rush, howard hesseman, hume cronyn, jessica tandy, john schlesinger, road movie, teri garr

RUSHING THROUGH JOHN SCHLESINGER'S 'HONKY TONK FREEWAY'

Title: HONKY TONK FREEWAY Year: 1981 Rating: **** John Schlesinger's HONKY TONK FREEWAY has two composers: Elmer Bernstein doing his usu...

LANCE GUEST WITH ROBERT PRESTON IN 'THE LAST STARFIGHTER'

<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/AVvXsEipGiYCQfl5g-_AoEQ_Z_SksNItElfanALiYJFj9O5YhVF7E3JA7rBvmQcxSh92MZwVp9MfZYIWwBTXv0tsM3D8e_HNV7IdMtEtgZImvxqjhc1lxu7woT1-haf46Ib32yMbQDs05NuqTR_WW051Jog9TNlzL-RAmgRVjGxILZ7Ugbq0jikyhyphenhyphenTAelZCSXCx/s929/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-04%20at%208.10.47%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="929" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipGiYCQfl5g-_AoEQ_Z_SksNItElfanALiYJFj9O5YhVF7E3JA7rBvmQcxSh92MZwVp9MfZYIWwBTXv0tsM3D8e_HNV7IdMtEtgZImvxqjhc1lxu7woT1-haf46Ib32yMbQDs05NuqTR_WW051Jog9TNlzL-RAmgRVjGxILZ7Ugbq0jikyhyphenhyphenTAelZCSXCx/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-04%20at%208.10.47%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE LAST STARFIGHTER Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The connection of THREE AMIGOS, GALAXY QUEST and TROPIC THUNDER... of actors thinking they're taking part in just another paid gig that turns out to be incredibly real and dangerous... in a way began with Nick Castle's THE LAST STARFIGHTER where Lance Guest plays the oldest son of a trailer park landlady... in the kind of lonely Middle American town that Steven Spielberg practically created for CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (and a bit like the "there's something better somewhere else" planet of Tattooine in STAR WARS)...</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>Castle includes other Speilbergian touches, like a highway speed-limit-sign rattling from the power of a spaceship.... here belonging to scene-stealer Robert Preston, who, with his signature speaking voice that practically sings every line, is beyond perfect as the pre BACK TO THE FUTURE DeLoreon-driving alien-in-human-form recruiter for an actual "star war" that Guest's Alex Rogen is hired to fight in...</p><span></span>

action, catherine mary stewart, cult, dan o'herlihy, fantasy, lance guest, nick castle, robert preston, rural, science-fiction, war

LANCE GUEST WITH ROBERT PRESTON IN 'THE LAST STARFIGHTER'

Title: THE LAST STARFIGHTER Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2 The connection of THREE AMIGOS, GALAXY QUEST and TROPIC THUNDER... of actors thinking ...

ROGER MOORE & LOIS MAXWELL 'THE SAINT: INTERLUDE IN VENICE'

<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/AVvXsEhoADP1mZCsa_x_yCpPFlvAPyvdnOpuMlcSCT61HrLgaA6htpy5A5VHb41v5tMeiTVQqmMZB890arZm3TVFwNgej72Pd0vpU58X25QW2JZ209jQeeE0m3Cd6fOD62rN61slygmsPEX4NMySIOdbMaN9OiSFYB3mQsjYUDM40XChFo-q4hW-Q8Pat9uU9M2R/s1296/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-29%20at%202.34.58%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="1296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoADP1mZCsa_x_yCpPFlvAPyvdnOpuMlcSCT61HrLgaA6htpy5A5VHb41v5tMeiTVQqmMZB890arZm3TVFwNgej72Pd0vpU58X25QW2JZ209jQeeE0m3Cd6fOD62rN61slygmsPEX4NMySIOdbMaN9OiSFYB3mQsjYUDM40XChFo-q4hW-Q8Pat9uU9M2R/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-29%20at%202.34.58%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Roger Moore in The Saint: Interlude in Venice Year: 1966 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There are good episodes and bad in all television shows, old and new, including THE SAINT, the spy thriller about not a secret-agent but philanthropist helping various people throughout the world, ironically played by future secret-agent/007 James Bond actor Roger Moore in his younger days, but he's still cool, classy, sophisticated, humorous... <br><br>And Lois Maxwell, who played Miss Moneypenny beginning with Sean Connery and continuing into Roger Moore's entire run, is a relatively younger wife of a millionaire whose spoiled daughter (cute and spicy scene-stealer Quinn O'Hara) is accused of killing a womanizing charlatan in INTERLUDE IN VENICE, mostly talking place there (or made to): backed by future 2001 actor William Sylvester, bookending one of the <i>very good</i> episodes with swift direction and enough twists and turns to be like its very own crime programmer. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

british tv, espionage, joyce blair, lois maxwell, paul stassino, quinn o'hara, roger moore, sixties, the saint, william sylvester

ROGER MOORE & LOIS MAXWELL 'THE SAINT: INTERLUDE IN VENICE'

Roger Moore in The Saint: Interlude in Venice Year: 1966 Rating: **** There are good episodes and bad in all television shows, old and new, ...

DARRELL HOWE WITH JUDY HOWARD IN 'ANATOMY OF A PSYCHO'

<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/AVvXsEhGqdQAX_se_9ruyNc6qDGpKL7Npsq5gYJ1sAj3wXsT0S31Jc8wpVu6Pe8DfcxSAN5s-Rk3Zg9QzyKrU981nONTpyZp5L13m7cNHxwZfM00oKXF2UJJ64cTOWpoB7Fo-wGBlBhMgUri28Rf8H2d9owcMfo_qJIu_Vt-kRpIhXENEfV-xZFmlsPQ5QOj4_Oi/s1164/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqdQAX_se_9ruyNc6qDGpKL7Npsq5gYJ1sAj3wXsT0S31Jc8wpVu6Pe8DfcxSAN5s-Rk3Zg9QzyKrU981nONTpyZp5L13m7cNHxwZfM00oKXF2UJJ64cTOWpoB7Fo-wGBlBhMgUri28Rf8H2d9owcMfo_qJIu_Vt-kRpIhXENEfV-xZFmlsPQ5QOj4_Oi/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Judy Howard in ANATOMY OF A PSYCHO Year: 1962 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>When token investigator Michael Granger is kind of affably/subtly questioning local hoodlum Darrell Howe on he and his gang's whereabouts when some people got beat up the night before, Howe's facially-scared Chet lies about going to a movie... specifically <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2022/03/cpn.html">CRIME AND PUNISHMENT</a>... an ironic parallel the cop instantly understands...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet is only partially what ANATOMY is inspired by... as the law's only around right after bad things happen: like a rich man's house burning because his son hooked up with Chet's loose and lithe <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2024/10/DragstripH.html">GHOST OF DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW</a> ingenue Judy Howard, who, with only a few scenes, smoothly combines passionate seduction with perplexed vulnerability...</p><span></span>

don devlin, exploitation, frank killmond, gang, judy howard, michael granger, neo noir, pamela lincoln, ronnie burns, russ bender, russell howe, sixties

DARRELL HOWE WITH JUDY HOWARD IN 'ANATOMY OF A PSYCHO'

Judy Howard in ANATOMY OF A PSYCHO Year: 1962 Rating: **** When token investigator Michael Granger is kind of affably/subtly questioning loc...

JOHN GUILLERMIN DIRECTS RICHARD ROUNDTREE 'SHAFT IN AFRICA'

<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/AVvXsEjlHJRJE-A1RbYZbYI8FLde9fduyVRHbxaxDNS0sVTvbFZQ82i2WksQrhoTRKtNBL_ZWbYxcVsO8YarNJ1I9QCKxAgXIrfAyIFIWuajYPGCFMKk_oE1yb7xkizA19iwt0dYKzbvokFkmqZVvrorgj4fxSyseC-1T7LZzXQfNEQXiwdnKLwA4T6EcXoAl54H/s1294/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-02%20at%208.57.43%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="1294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHJRJE-A1RbYZbYI8FLde9fduyVRHbxaxDNS0sVTvbFZQ82i2WksQrhoTRKtNBL_ZWbYxcVsO8YarNJ1I9QCKxAgXIrfAyIFIWuajYPGCFMKk_oE1yb7xkizA19iwt0dYKzbvokFkmqZVvrorgj4fxSyseC-1T7LZzXQfNEQXiwdnKLwA4T6EcXoAl54H/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-02%20at%208.57.43%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Richard Roundtree from SHAFT IN AFRICA Year: 1973 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Director John Guillermin's SHAFT IN AFRICA is such a deliberate espionage/spy flick, at one point the title character... who originated on paper before being adapted into one of the first blaxploitation heroes... is told to (after he actually references James Bond) burn his mission after reading...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>To pose as an African in Africa to be taken into a European slave-trade, which sounds more complicated than it really is... as this final SHAFT sequel's basically one handed-off desert-traipsing adventure sequence after another...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, blaxploitation, espionage, frank finlay, frank mcrea, john guillermin, neda arneric, richard roundtree, seventies, shaft, vonetta mcgee

JOHN GUILLERMIN DIRECTS RICHARD ROUNDTREE 'SHAFT IN AFRICA'

Richard Roundtree from SHAFT IN AFRICA Year: 1973 Rates: ***1/2 Director John Guillermin's SHAFT IN AFRICA is such a deliberate espionag...

MARLON BRANDO & VAL KILMER RUIN 'THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU'

<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/AVvXsEiZcpkoBSsUNliEi-EKOlUGI5kMxQSZdYCRnnU5XByWA3e_K_Gj7YSOQalshkw41o-6CJ8iQpu5jK3RCGpCbg-UJYY8RyQjkdS6YsMnKnbUAIvmZr7ND2IKcRNuDMxCtw0N66-tVh46AcTtt7h2pnh1bsy96uxXEsr2AA9NhbB1yN7700q2uflPUbuJwIfE/s1869/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-02%20at%2010.20.55%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="974" data-original-width="1869" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZcpkoBSsUNliEi-EKOlUGI5kMxQSZdYCRnnU5XByWA3e_K_Gj7YSOQalshkw41o-6CJ8iQpu5jK3RCGpCbg-UJYY8RyQjkdS6YsMnKnbUAIvmZr7ND2IKcRNuDMxCtw0N66-tVh46AcTtt7h2pnh1bsy96uxXEsr2AA9NhbB1yN7700q2uflPUbuJwIfE/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-11-02%20at%2010.20.55%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Val Kilmer in THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU Year: 1996 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>As the story goes, original director and screenwriter Richard Stanley was fired from THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, replaced by veteran John Frankenheimer who, prone to making action movies, seems confused whether it's an aggressive PLANET OF THE APES creature-uprising prequel or the quirky sci-fi/horror that the quirky Richard Stanley probably intended...<br><br>What's really strange is that big-budget superstar Bruce Willis was going to star in <i>that</i> original arthouse horror... replaced with offbeat British actor David Thewlis, seeming more like he'd be Stanley's choice over Frankenheimer's, who would have been able to do a high-octane Bruce Willis flick with his aged-eyes closed... meanwhile the more ambiguous Thewlis allowed the strange story to unfold before his vulnerable eyes as opposed to Willis (or Rob Morrow even), who would probably seem far above and beyond the situation... Thewis is there for the audience <i>and</i> the story... <br></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>

creature, horror, john frankenheimer, marlon brando, nineties, science-fiction, val kilmer

MARLON BRANDO & VAL KILMER RUIN 'THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU'

Val Kilmer in THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU Year: 1996 Rating: ** As the story goes, original director and screenwriter Richard Stanley was fired...