posted
Star Wars, 1977. I had not seen it since I think either the 80's or early 90's. We picked up the trilogy of the first three on VHS at a thrift store. I've never seen The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi.
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posted
Just finished a marathon of classic british comedies, all on Youtube:
Make Mine Mink 1960 Too Many Crooks 1959 Sailor Beware 1956 What A Whopper 1961 Crooks Anonymous 1962 I'm All Right Jack 1959 Ladies Who Do 1963 The Rebel 1961
Posts: 3646 | From: Shermer, IL - where else? | Registered: Mar 2001 | Site Updates: 37
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i just watched the 1970 boys own adventure - you can't win'em all starring charles bronson and tony curtis.
filmed entirely on location in turkey and featuring many of the countries fantastic acient ruins it's a fun adventure with some nicely shot action set pieces as well as decent performances from both its two male leads but at the end of the day it wouldn't ever get into a best of list of either actor.
saying that it is pretty decent watch overall and it certainly looked like curtis and bronson had a hell of a great time!
i'd give it about a 6.5/10.
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Helen_S
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I could feel a Giallo binge coming on so started with one of my faves, Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key.
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Helen_S
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The Haunted Palace is one of Corman's more underrated films, along with Premature Burial and The Tower of London. Palace is more Lovecraft than Poe, but it's a darned cool film.
Posts: 2008 | From: Dixieland | Registered: Oct 2008 | Site Updates: 0
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posted
What a lovely set of terrific films! But it's missing one of my favorites, The Masque of the Red Death. Anyway, if I were forced at gunpoint to rank these, it would go something like this:
1. Tomb of Ligeia, not just a great horror film, but a great film period, the best of the Corman/Price Poe films, with one of Price's best-ever performances 2. The Fall of the House of the Usher, the first one that set the high standards for the rest of the series--Richard Matheson, screenplay; Floyd Crosby, cinematography; Anthony Carras, editor; Daniel Haller, production design; and Les Baxter music. Price completely embodies Roderick Usher. He's brilliant. 3. Tales of Terror, the first funny/scary Poe film, well done and a whole lot of fun. Price and Peter Lorre will definitely make you laugh. 4. The Raven, all funny. Peter Lorre is just great once again, with the added bonus of Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff. 5. The Haunted Palace, more H.P. Lovecraft than E.A. Poe, but still excellent 6. The Pit and the Pendulum, most folks would rank this much higher--and I do like it a lot--but these films are all so consistently great that it's a tough call. This one has Barbara Steele and sumptuously fantastic production design, but Price is a little too over-the-top for my tastes.
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Helen_S
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1. The Pit and the Pendulum 2. The Haunted Palace 3. Tomb of Ligeia 4. Tales of Terror 5. The Raven 6. The Fall of the House of Usher
If Masque were included that would be second.
Usher is the only one I don't have mad love for. Can't put my finger on why. Just left me a bit cold.
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posted
Interesting--and I know that I am in the minority about Pit. Just about everybody has it in the top few. Masque would be #2 for me also. I would probably stick Premature Burial in there at #4. I really like it, though it doesn't get much love.
How would you rank the "pseudo-" or "second wave" Poe series? Here's my go:
1. The Conqueror Worm a/k/a Witchfinder General, far and away, one of the best UK films of all time. 2. Murders in the Rue Morgue, again, a film that doesn't generate a lot of support, but if you see director Gordon Hessler's original cut, you'll be blown away. It's great, Hessler's best film as director. 3. The Oblong Box, a film that, despite it's flaws, is well made and directed by Hessler, not to mention, Price and Lee are great. I have a real soft spot for it. 4. Cry of the Banshee, another underrated Hessler, though not as good as the previous two. 5. War-Gods of the Deep a/k/a City in the Sea, yes, it's "based" on Poe, and despite some nice underwater photography, I didn't even find it that amusing the first time I saw it when I was about 12 years' old. And it's one of those rare times that Price seemed disengaged from his performance.
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Helen_S
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1. Witchfinder General, my Dad's fave horror and one of my fave Vincent Price films. 2. The Oblong Box, only seen once but really enjoyed. 3. Murders In The Rue Morgue, it was ok. 4. War-Gods of the Deep, not a fan.
I don't think I've seen Cry of the Banshee.
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posted
I saw a remastered, uncut, with proper soundtrack, version of Witchfinder a couple of years ago on Turner Classic Movies in the U.S. Fantastic film. You and your Dad have great taste. For years, the only version you could get in the states on VHS and laser was one where MGM replaced the entire music track with a "sound-alike" track done on a synthesizer because they couldn't get the rights to the original music for some reason. Needless to say, those versions were dreadful! Seeing it restored to all its spur-kicking (wink) glory like the good old days was great!
Go track down Banshee. I think that you'll like it. And also track down the remastered director's cut of Murders in the Rue Morgue. I think that you will like it even more. Posts: 2008 | From: Dixieland | Registered: Oct 2008 | Site Updates: 0
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Two old movies, among the least-seen films of Brian DePalma in his long and storied career:
"Dionysus 69" (1970), a filmed version of a stage performance of the Greek tragedy by The Performance Group, an unorthodox NY theatre troop. If ever a film qualified as a "time capsule" piece this is it. It shows the late 60's avant garde theatre scene in all its full glory--staging in an old garage, actors warming up for performance with primal scream therapy, the play spilling out into the audience, and the shocked/bored reactions of those present... Even early in his career, DePalma was thinking outside the box: The entire film is done in grim black-and-white with split-screen, an excellent artifice to enliven the stagy proceedings. Most probably won't make it 20 minutes into this weird relic, but if you do, it is very interesting. The print I saw posted on Youtube comes from a French DVD box set of Brian DePalma: The Early Years, which is the only official version of this hard-to-see film. (A few years ago, I saw a really murky version on an on-line film archive.) Anyway, it begins with the "X-rated" card, though today, it would be a rather tame "R." (There is a fair amount of nudity.) William Finley, a DePalma regular throughout his lifetime, is excellent here in the lead. He's Dionysus, but he constantly refers to himself by his own name, relates tales from his childhood, and ultimately stages a campaign for President of the United States, which is hilarious. It's a fantastic, funny, captivating performance. He should have been a big star. For DePalma completeists, this is the Holy Grail.
Get to Know Your Rabbit (1972), DePalma's first studio film and a hugely unhappy experience for him. He had just done a couple of highly regarded counterculture comedies--"Greetings" and "Hi, Mom"--when he was hired by Warner Brothers to do this counterculture comedy intended to make TV star Tom Smothers a movie star. He fought constantly with Smothers and was ultimately fired by the studio, which re-edited the film and dumped it into a couple of theatres with no fanfare two years after it was finished. I had seen it once before, about 40 years ago, on a rare CBS Late Movie showing and thought that it was better than folks said, but it was still not great. It was impossible to see until a few years ago when the Warner Archive started manufacturing discs for those who wanted it.
Anyway, the set-up is super. Bored, burned-out corporate exec Smother ditches it all to become a tap-dancing magician--taught by Orson Welles, no less! After a sprightly opening--including one of those trademark long DePalma tracking shots--the film just slowly peters out with scenes of Smothers performing his act on the road in seedy strip joints while a crazed John Astin, as his ex-boss, tries to woo him back. The film works better in its small, Monty Pythonesque surreal set-pieces. One has Smothers accosted by a piano tuner even though Smothers has no piano. Another has Allen (Goorwitz) Garfield as a bra salesman. And a third has Bob "Super Dave Osborne" Einstein as a nervous commercial airline pilot literally up a tree before a flight.
I enjoyed Rabbit despite its flaws and shaggy-dog construction. Astin is wonderful in his insane role, beautiful Katharine Ross shows up billed only as "The Terrific-Looking Girl" (but unfortunately has little to do), John Alonzo did the ace cinematography, the film has a nice score, and it looks just great overall. Actually, the weakest thing other than the inconsistent screenplay is Smothers himself, who comes off as incredibly bland and, at times, a little too smug. DePalma's direction is excellent. You can easily see that even in the earliest part of his career, he had "it." Vincent Canby of the New York Times remarked, in one of the few reviews of the film from back in the day, that one day DePalma would direct a great comedy. (Roger Ebert had said pretty much the same thing in his review of Greetings.) It's interesting to ponder what would have happened if the film had been a hit: DePalma probably would have done a bunch of studio comedies with huge names. But since his experience was so bad, he moved on to Sisters. And the rest is film history...
[ 20. April 2015, 19:14: Message edited by: Crash ]
Posts: 2008 | From: Dixieland | Registered: Oct 2008 | Site Updates: 0
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i watched the awesome 1973 charles bronson action thriller - the stone killer.
really enjoyed this one,it's got some very well staged action sequences,the motorbike chase scene reminded me a bit of the winner bronson combo - the mechanic from around the same time.
this is one of only a couple bronson outings that i had yet to see,not sure why it's took me this long to get round to watching it but i'm pleased that i finally did.
Does anyone know if bronson's - st ives from 1976 is any good?
[ 27. April 2015, 09:14: Message edited by: the young warrior ]
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aTomiK
.... has green eyes as well....
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posted
I´ve never seen The Stone killer but i sure remember the finnish vhs cover art from old video store magazines. Sounds good (like any other 70s Bronson film) so i think that i´m going to get this one. I own St. Ives on dvd and i´m sure we had a thread here too but.... you know the rest. It´s another fine Bronson/Thompson collaboration so i think that you should like it also.
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Cheers atomik i'll check it out,definitely pick up stone killer I think you'll definitely like it!
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Helen_S
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Have you seen Day of the Animals? That´s another good film from William Girdler. Too bad this guy died so young (30 yrs.) in 1978. I saw a making of documentary and feel that Girdler could have been a top director also in the 80s.
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Day of the Animals sounds good. Will have to look out for it
Yes that's where I watched it Warrior. I'm not sure if I've seen Chiller.
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Helen_S
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I will be watching The Wicker Man today as I try to do every May Day Posts: 4057 | From: uk | Registered: May 2007 | Site Updates: 0
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Awwww...The Wicker Man on May Day. You are a true Brit, Helen. Posts: 2008 | From: Dixieland | Registered: Oct 2008 | Site Updates: 0
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