posted
You know, that's something you don't see in American arthouses anymore--foreign comedies. Back in the 70s, something like The Adventures of Rabbi Jacob or La Cage aux Folles not only got a theatrical release, but also did pretty well with audiences. I am currently watching a Danish TV show Klovn which is an unabashed copy of the awkward/cringeworthy/politically incorrect U.S. comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm. I understand that they did two theatrical films based on the series, the latest of which is headed to a couple of theatres and simultaneous video-on-demand here this fall. I guess that's better than nothing.
Posts: 2008 | From: Dixieland | Registered: Oct 2008 | Site Updates: 0
| IP: Logged |
Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804
posted
Robin and Marian - I'd forgotten the ending to this film. I wish I could again. Just doesn't work at all. The rest is really enjoyable with some great performances.
Posts: 4057 | From: uk | Registered: May 2007 | Site Updates: 0
| IP: Logged |
"Record executives want a highly-regarded record producer to focus on a white pop act whom they feel has the sound America wants. To keep his creative integrity, Buckmaster carefully begins to fight the system that has made him the respected producer he has become." (IMDb)
Watched That´s the Way of the World (1975) which was directed by Sig Shore who also has a cool role in the film.
I liked this movie very much. Harvey Keitel is Buckmaster, the man with "golden ears" and he´s very good here. It´s interesting to see him working as he tries to turn a mediocre demo song to a hit tune.
The band Earth, Wind and Fire are The Group, the band Buckmaster really wants to work with but the studio execs (especially Ed Nelson gives a strong performance) think that what America needs right now is the family band The Pages.
The Earth, Wind and Fire soundtrack album was a hit but the movie didn´t found it´s audience. For many years it was known as a "lost" film but nowadays it´s available again. Scorpion Releasing has released a nice blu-ray version.
Posts: 7054 | From: Finland | Registered: Feb 2008 | Site Updates: 7
| IP: Logged |
Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804
posted
The Man Who Haunted Himself - This type of story has been done lots of times but there's just something in the way it is done here that is just wow. It has a fantastic slow build that pulls you into the awful confusion of the main character's head. Roger Moore is simply divine here. Never seen him better. The music is gorgeous and heartbreaking at times. And the ending is edge of your seat stuff!
Posts: 4057 | From: uk | Registered: May 2007 | Site Updates: 0
| IP: Logged |
posted
I remember catching this on TV late at night many years ago. I couldn't tell what the hell I was watching, but I was engrossed!
When you hear the title 'The Man Who Haunted Himself', it sounds like a bad b-movie. But when you hear it stars Roger Moore... suddenly everything makes sense!
quote:Nice to see you too!
Pure cheek.
Posts: 3383 | From: England | Registered: May 2003 | Site Updates: 21
| IP: Logged |
posted
I like that cheap looking poster for The Man Who Haunted Himself, distributed in the U.S. by Levitt-Pickman, a tiny company that also released the Hammer double-bill that no one wanted: Scars of Dracula/Horror of Frankenstein. I read a scholarly book on Hammer from a purely financial angle, and the author said that the big studios like Warner Bros. that had good success with Hammer Films in the U.S. passed on those two because they looked cheap and not-professional. I was surprised to learn that Hammer wasn't so much a producer of films as more of a factory where folks gave Hammer money to use the facilities and technicians. That explains why films made very close in time could look so different and have radically different quality. For example, EMI financed Scars/Horror on the cheap, while The Vampire Lovers, made almost simultaneously, looks so much better because of the influx of AIP money. AIP only co-produced that one film with Hammer because Arkoff and Nicholson said that the Hammer execs were bad businessmen and careless with money.
Posts: 2008 | From: Dixieland | Registered: Oct 2008 | Site Updates: 0
| IP: Logged |
posted
Barry Lyndon - How did I go all my life without seeing this, fantastic. I would put it just under The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut. I was glad when Leonard Rossiter was bumped off quite quickly because I just couldn't unsee Reginald Perrin and it was taking me out of it a little
Posts: 4057 | From: uk | Registered: May 2007 | Site Updates: 0
| IP: Logged |
aTomiK
.... has green eyes as well....
Member # 6575
posted
Barry Lyndon is my favorite Kubrick film with 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Posts: 7054 | From: Finland | Registered: Feb 2008 | Site Updates: 7
| IP: Logged |
posted
Barry Lyndon is one of the most beautifully shot movies in history. It looks great--and it is great. While A Clockwork Orange is my favorite Kubrick film, with 2001 in a close second, Barry Lyndon certainly ranks very high. It's a work of art. Enough said!
Posts: 2008 | From: Dixieland | Registered: Oct 2008 | Site Updates: 0
| IP: Logged |
posted
Helen's right as always. The Man Who Haunted Himself is an outstanding thriller. I had read a little about it over the years, but kind of like And Soon the Darkness, it had always eluded me. I have to agree with star Roger Moore. It's his best performance. And it's tightly directed with a fine score and a killer ending. This film deserves a cult. It's excellent.
Posts: 2008 | From: Dixieland | Registered: Oct 2008 | Site Updates: 0
| IP: Logged |
Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804
Space Probe Taurus (1965) is typical B movie fare, showing a time when all you needed to go into space was a pair of coveralls and a smile...
12 To The Moon (1960) was very similar. It took scientists from a dozen countries up in a rocket, and let them hurl nationalistic epithets at each other until those pesky aliens got in the way...
Carry On Don't Lose Your Head (1966)
By far the best of these three movies, it's a rollicking farce in a world where the word 'rollicking' doesn't get used as much as it ought. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, it ridicules the tale of the Scarlet Pimpernel, the English aristocracy, and the French socialists in equal measure.
Posts: 3646 | From: Shermer, IL - where else? | Registered: Mar 2001 | Site Updates: 37
| IP: Logged |
Cool 1973 cop thriller starring the ever awesome Roy Scheider as the leader of an elite police squad known as The Seven-Ups who use every dirty trick in the book to bring the bad guys to justice!
Really enjoyed this one it moves at a fair old pace and had an absolute corker of a car chase that just seemed to go on and on,Scheider was excellent as usual and there's appearance's here from the always sleazy looking Joe Spinell (Maniac) and Ken Kercheval who later played Cliff Barnes in Dallas.
Also you've got the late great Richard Lynch playing the main villain (Moon) with all his usual conviction and he certainly made for a sinister looking Bad Guy.
Shot all over New York State and even though I can't recollect seeing any snow it looked seriously cold and in each outdoor shot you could literally see the actors shivering!
Really good Blu Ray release From UK distributor Signal One Entertainment which is jam packed with special features and has a decent Picture/Sound transfer.
Great stuff i'd never seen this before and I'm pleased I've added it to my collection!
posted
Sounds good, warrior. Bro also got this one so i need to pay him a visit.
Posts: 7054 | From: Finland | Registered: Feb 2008 | Site Updates: 7
| IP: Logged |
Boy, Did I Get A Wrong Number (1966) starring Bob Hope, Elke Sommer and Phyllis Diller.
Fed up with being more famous for taking bubble baths on screen than acting, beautiful actress Didi (Sommer) runs off, and whilst hiding out, a crossed line connects her with real estate salesman Tom Meade (Hope). In trying to help, he gets himself deeper and deeper into trouble, not least with his wife, and the attentions of their kooky maid (Diller) only make things worse.
Fast paced and funny in places, it's a good showcase for the three leads.
Posts: 3646 | From: Shermer, IL - where else? | Registered: Mar 2001 | Site Updates: 37
| IP: Logged |
Helen_S
Hiding behind the shower curtain.....
Member # 5804
"The Doolan family are trying to make a go in the freight hauling business in Queensland, Australia. The problem is it's the 1920's, the Doolans use horses and motorized vehicles can do it faster. The proud father Paddy has difficulty accepting change." (IMDb)
This was pretty decent period drama directed by Donald Crombie and based on award-winning novel by Australian author Elizabeth O'Conner.
The film stars Michael Craig (the sadistic camp leader from Turkey Shoot), Simon Burke, Robyn Nevin, Lou Brown and Bryan Brown.
I enjoyed the nice Queensland, Australia locations and the overall atmophere here is quite melancholic. I get the end of an era feel. The cast did a good jod, especially Craig and Nevin.
The film was a disappointment at the box office and not many people know about it. While it´s not a lost classic, i can´t find any major flaws either.
Paddy´s "team" Posts: 7054 | From: Finland | Registered: Feb 2008 | Site Updates: 7
| IP: Logged |
Five Weeks In A Balloon (1962) starring Red Buttons, Barbara Eden, Peter Lorre.
Tame version of the Jules Verne book, following a mismatched crew of a balloon as they race across Africa to beat slave traders to claim new territory for the British crown.
Posts: 3646 | From: Shermer, IL - where else? | Registered: Mar 2001 | Site Updates: 37
| IP: Logged |
Mission Mars (1968) starring Darren McGavin, Nick Adams and George De Vries.
I probably used the word 'starring' incorrectly above. They were the leads, but in no way did anyone 'star'in this decidedly b- movie.
The plot (such as it is) follows the first manned trip to Mars, where the US astronauts discover that a) they were not the first to get there, and b) when they arrive, they are not alone.....
Posts: 3646 | From: Shermer, IL - where else? | Registered: Mar 2001 | Site Updates: 37
| IP: Logged |
Italian-Spanish Bond rip-off with a whole bunch of unknowns, such as Anthony Eisley, Wandisa Guida and Folco Lulli. Detailing the investigation into the sabotage of America's moon rockets, the movie suffered from poor acting, a threadbare script into which they tried to cram too much, an over-reliance on narration rather than action, and clashing with the Olympic Tennis...
Posts: 3646 | From: Shermer, IL - where else? | Registered: Mar 2001 | Site Updates: 37
| IP: Logged |
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
