Track the Films You Watch (2005)

First time viewings in Red
Out of


Night and the City (1950) (10/10)
Low-life hustler Richard Widmark sets out to “control all wrestling in all of London” in this film-noir masterpiece by Jules Dassin. This is what gets me electrified towards film an example of what drives me to seek out the deeper catalog titles.

Bunny Lake is Missing (1965) (7/10)
A young girl turns up missing in this strange psychological thriller directed by Otto Preminger. Laurence Olivier plays the inspector on the case.

Mean Creek (2004) (8/10)
A group of teens set out on a boat trip, planning to teach the local bully a lesson when something goes wrong. Like Steve I could raise comparisons to Stand By Me, but I’d also throw in River’s Edge & a little Deliverance. The outstanding young cast and the sublime & artful direction make this film stand out.

Joe,


I'm pleased to see that you're currently going through Warners' "Gangster Collection" and, based on your IMDB entries, enjoying it so much! Have you acquired it for yourself by any chance (in which case it must have been one hell of a worthwhile quasi-blind purchase for you - I can't quite recall if you've ever watched THE PETRIFIED FOREST [1936])?

I also noticed that you've changed some of their ratings around quite a bit since you first posted them here - particularly with ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES which you first gave a *** rating, then upgraded to a ***1/2 and then even a ****! Don't worry...I'm with you on this one: ANGELS has always been a **** film for me (ever since I first saw it back in 1986 when it was shown on local TV to commemorate James Cagney's passing) and in fact I'd go so far as to say that it's the finest film in this stellar collection.

I'm also very pleased that you've caught up with (and appreciated) TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962; which I've watched a couple of times and currently have on my "DVDs To Watch" pile), as well as some more Bogies. It's a shame that Warners didn't deem it fit to upgrade the current barebones disc of KEY LARGO (1948) and give it a similar lavish treatment like the other "Gangsters" titles mentioned above as, in my opinion, it would have fitted nicely in this collection. Perhaps they thought that one stagey Gangster flick was enough for this collection. Maybe next time...

TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944) is also awaiting its turn to be viewed on DVD, alas. In its case, despite some reportedly choice extras, I also happen to think that Warners missed the boat somewhat since they could easily have turned it into a 2-Disc set - or, at the very least, a dual-sided disc a` la DR. JEKYLL & MR HYDE (1931/1941) and GASLIGHT (1940/1944; which I've yet to get hold of myself) - by including the Michael Curtiz/John Garfield remake, THE BREAKING POINT (1950; also a Warners property) which I've never watched but have heard good things about (it's not like they'll be giving it a DVD release of its own anytime soon, is it?)! As a matter of fact, it's never even been shown on local or cable TV over here so I don't know at all what the score is with this one. Anyhow, I still had to have TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT in my DVD collection since, as you may know, not only is Bogie one of my favorite film stars but Howard Hawks is my all-time favorite American film director. This wasn't always the case, however: in fact, I wasn't all that impressed with this one (which I practically dismissed as merely a second-rate CASABLANCA [1942] clone), THE BIG SLEEP (1946; too convoluted) or RIO BRAVO (1959; overlong) the first time I watched them! Heresy, I know, but one matures with time and so do his film viewing choices and predilections. I give most of the credit for this "change of heart" towards Hawks' work to world-renowned film critic, David Thomson, whose essential tome, "A Biographical Dictionary Of The Cinema", did much to challenge, refine and expand my preconceived cinematic notions. Incidentally, the newest edition of this book even sports an image from TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT on its cover...and, once again, I've yet to purchase it! Besides, I'm currently watching again three Howard Hawks films which I've rented on DVD: THE OUTLAW (1943; credited to Howard Hughes but the Hawksian touch is unmistakable), HATARI! (1962) and EL DORADO (1966) and have Todd McCarthy's massive biography, "Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox Of Hollywood" beckoning me from my bookshelf...

It's very ironic to me that we're discussing Warners' "Gangster Collection" since I've yet to add it to my collection: as a matter of fact, I have yet to purchase a SINGLE DVD in 2005!! As it happens, late last year I've made the decision to drastically diminish my "DVDs To Watch" pile (currently standing at a staggering 271!) before proceeding with my reckless purchasing. Naturally, storage space has had a lot to do with this admittedly difficult resolution but, given the mouth-watering array of recently released or upcoming titles, I feel just like paraphrasing Lloyd Bridges' character in AIRPLANE! (1980): "Looks like I picked the wrong year to quit buying DVDs". How about these for starters:

01/11/05:The Letter
01/11/05:Random Harvest
01/18/05:Carrie
01/18/05:Casque D' Or
01/18/05:Touchez Pas Au Grisbi
01/25/05:Little Caesar/The Public Enemy/The Petrified Forest/Angels With Dirty Faces/The Roaring Twenties/White Heat [6-Disc Set]
01/25/05:Victory/The Wicked Darling
01/25/05:The Killer Must Kill Again
02/01/05:The Life Of Emile Zola
02/01/05:The Palm Beach Story
02/01/05:Leave Her To Heaven
02/01/05:A Letter To Three Wives
02/01/05:Thieves' Highway
02/01/05:Night And The City
02/08/05:Lizard In A Woman's Skin
02/08/05:Boxcar Bertha/New York, New York/The Last Waltz/Raging Bull [5-Disc Set]
02/22/05:Twentieth Century
02/22/05:We Were Strangers
02/22/05:Bitter Victory
02/22/05:Behold A Pale Horse
02/22/05:99 Women
02/22/05:Venus In Furs
02/22/05:The Mansion Of Madness
03/01/05:Piccadilly
03/01/05:The River
03/01/05:Bambi [2-Disc Set]
03/01/05:Arrowsmith
03/01/05:We Live Again
03/01/05:Come And Get It
03/01/05:Dinner At Eight/Libeled Lady/Stage Door/Bringing Up Baby [2-Disc Set]/The Philadelphia Story [2-Disc Set]/To Be Or Not To Be [8-Disc Set]
03/15/05:The Eclipse [2-Disc Set]
03/15/05:Young Torless
03/15/05:Laura
03/15/05:Call Northside 777
03/15/05:Panic In The Streets
03/15/05:Easter Parade [2-Disc Set]/The Band Wagon [2-Disc Set]/Brigadoon/Bells Are Ringing/Finian's Rainbow [7-Disc Set]
03/22/05:Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia
03/22/05:Voodoo Island/The Four Skulls Of Jonathan Drake
03/22/05:Tales Of Terror/Twice Told Tales
03/22/05:Panic In Year Zero/The Last Man On Earth
03/22/05:Die, Monster, Die!/The Dunwich Horror
03/22/05:War Gods Of The Deep/At The Earth's Core
03/29/05:Andrzej Wajda - Three War Films: A Generation & Ceramics From Ilza/Kanal/Ashes And Diamonds [3-Disc Set]
03/29/05:Jules Et Jim [2-Disc Set]
03/29/05:Kagemusha [2-Disc Set]
03/29/05:A Bell from Hell
04/05/05:The Professionals
04/05/05:Leaves From Satan's Book
04/12/05:Captain Blood/Dodge City/The Private Life Of Elizabeth And Essex/The Sea Hawk/They Died With Their Boots On/Bonus Disc [6-Disc Set]
04/19/05:The Four Feathers
04/26/05:F For Fake/Orson Welles: One Man Band [2-Disc Set]
04/26/05:Love Rites [The Director's Cut & The Complete Version]
05/24/05:Anna And The King Of Siam
05/24/05:The Razor's Edge
06/07/05:Nightmare Alley
06/07/05:The Street With No Name
06/07/05:House Of Bamboo
06/14/05:The War Of The Worlds
09/06/05:The Lodger
09/06/05:Hangover Square
09/06/05:The Dark Corner

DOUBLE POST

The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

Viewed 2/3/2005

One of the great Hollywood biopics stars Paul Muni (in a magnificent performance) as the socially-conscious French author Emile Zola. The bulk of the film is given over to Zola's involvement in the infamous Dreyfus affair. His climatic courtroom speech is spellbinding. Great stuff.

out of


Also watched the nifty National Geographic documentary SuperCroc which details the discovery of a 110 million year old crocodile fossil that was later determined to be 40 feet long with an estimated bite force of 18,000 pounds.

Double down

I have Thieves Highway on the way. Wish I'd put Night and the City above it with all the raves I've seen in the past couple of days for the movie.

Saw Mean Creek in the theater. Didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of you, though definitely worth seeing.

I watched the A&E Biography W.C. Fields Behind The Laughter extra to finish off the Fields box. Good overview of his sad life, though i wish they'd talked more about some of his films I haven't seen, like The Flying Trapeze (not even mentioned) and Never Give A Sucker An Even Break. Also what is up with Harry Anderson's hair? He must be seeing Trump's barber.

I really need to pick up a Field's biography and do some reading. Also got me interested in seeing "W.C. Fields And Me" with Rod Steiger as Fields. Anyone seen it?

No time for detailed reviews, but I would rank the movies in the box:

1. The Bank Dick (Comic Genius) - A
2. My Little Chickadee (the story is a throwaway and calling the production values "shoddy" would be kind, but who cares when a movie is this funny?) - A-
3. Never Give A Sucker An Even Break - B+ (another trifle of a story and too much time is given to Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, but Fields is as riotous as ever)
4. International House - B (Fields is gold, and there's some other good material too, but with so many separate personalities given their due, it is all over the map qualitywise)
5. It's A Gift - B- (almost a completely different Fields - very few quotable lines, mostly slapstick and situation comedy rather than jokes and props, no drinking...just not what I expect in a Fields movie)

While traveling through Afghanistan we lost the corkscrew. Had to survive on food and water....

I'm going to try and bug the hell out of him so that he'll do a blind buy with RAGING BULL.


Mario, was BRIDE OF THE MONSTER your first Ed Wood film? I'm sure you know that I LOVE his films with a passion much in the same way as some love Jess Franco. The funny thing about Franco is that I've quite often called him an Ed Wood type filmmaker because quite often my enjoyment comes from laughing at silly moments in the film. The orgy scene and Romay running into the door in EXORCISM gets laughs. How Franco is killed in BARBED WIRE DOLLS gets laughs.

I think Franco has made some "real" brilliant films like A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD and LORNA, THE EXORCIST but most of the rest (WIP films) I've found myself enjoying because of how silly they are. THE FEMALE VAMPIRE is my third favorite and I was disappointed to see you didn't enjoy this one. I've only found a few people who actually love this film but IMO it's the best of the vampire/lesbian type of films. I thought Franco's poetic beauty really shined through and I thought Romay was terrific visually. Most people don't like it because of what kind of "sucking" she does in the film but this is why I put it above the rest. I enjoyed this different take on it and I'm really not sure I'd enjoy the horror version with the casual sucking of the blood.

Nice "to buy" list. Mine was just as big, if not bigger but I decided to cut back on my buys this year after I realized that I was spending between $400-$800 a month!!! I finally signed up with Netflix, which I've enjoyed so far.

Hi, Mario. Yes, I am loving this Gangsters Collection, and as of right now THE PETRIFIED FOREST I haven't seen, ever.
I went out and bought the box set on my own, having already seen and liked ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES and THE ROARING TWENTIES enough to take the chance. I like Cagney, Bogart and Eddie Robinson so it wasn't a risky blind buy.


My ratings sometimes change when I re-watch a film, either for better or worse. Most of the time they remain the same, though.

You may be noticing too that I tend to go back and forth as to whether or not I use "half-star" increments for my ratings system! While my actual "opinions" on films remain the same, it's sometimes the "symbolism" I experiement with. It's always driven me a little crazy.

At present I'm no longer using the half star increments. Because with my current system, **** is given for a film that I consider to be "EXCEPTIONAL OR OUSTANDING", and not necessarily "EXCELLENT OR PERFECT" (there is a difference between these distinctions, and so few movies, if any, are truly "perfect and excellent"). So with my present method, there is more room for me to cut very good movies (that may be a hair off) some slack. If I were using half stars, I might have given ANGELS WITH DIRTy FACES, WHITE HEAT, PUBLIC ENEMY and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD only ***1/2 each, as they're not quite 100% "flawless" to me; however, with my present system, ALL these films certainly warrant an "EXCEPTIONAL" rating (****)!


Believe it or not I'm most partial to THE PUBLIC ENEMY and LITTLE CAESAR! Once again -- with the new system, all these films are given more room to be considered "exceptional", though, and they all warrant a solid **** by that criteria.


I actually decided to join NETFLIX, which is going very well so far; that way I can rent the films and decide whether or not they warrant a purchase from me. I obtained TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, KEY LARGO and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD as my first three choices, and I think you'll be very interested when you see some of the other films I currently have awaiting mailing from my queue. NETFLIX bills you $18 a month, and you may order, watch, and mail back as many DVDs as you can in a month. If you watch a lot of titles as we do here at HTF, this is a good deal. The ability to receive 10 or more DVDs for your monthly payment - or even more if you can watch them and mail them back fast enough - is very handy.

I appreciate the feedback, Mario - I knew you'd get around to it when you saw me listing a Howard Hawks title!

Wow. How short were some of these?

I was expecting that.

I've updated since you quoted but the 39 films were around 75 minutes total. THE MOVIES BEGIN is a set by Kino, which features 130 films from 1894 to 1913. It's fun seeing the true pioneers of cinema. There are four "adult" features, which I guess we'd call Something Weird titles today, which were a lot of fun. It's funny but those four titles were from Biograph Studio, which is best known as the home of D.W. Griffith. The films from the 1890's were up to 10 seconds with the longest being THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1903) at 13 minutes.

Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

“Mario, was BRIDE OF THE MONSTER your first Ed Wood film? I'm sure you know that I LOVE his films with a passion much in the same way as some love Jess Franco.”

Actually, no – this was my third Ed Wood film, following PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1959) and NIGHT OF THE GHOULS (1959). Alas, I can’t share your enthusiasm – or Tim Burton’s, for that matter – for his work: while its complete ineptness may lead to a modicum of entertainment on the viewer's part, the one undeniable feeling I find myself experiencing after watching his films is utter embarrassment - but I guess that is a matter of opinion. Suffice to say that I felt ED WOOD (1994) unbalanced itself somewhat by offering a more compassionate portrayal of Bela Lugosi (richly deserved, mind you) than of its intended subject. By the way, I thought YOU were one of those who loved Franco's films "with a passion"...


Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

“The funny thing about Franco is that I've quite often called him an Ed Wood type filmmaker because quite often my enjoyment comes from laughing at silly moments in the film. The orgy scene and Romay running into the door in EXORCISM gets laughs. How Franco is killed in BARBED WIRE DOLLS gets laughs.

I think Franco has made some ‘real’ brilliant films like A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD and LORNA, THE EXORCIST but most of the rest (WIP films) I've found myself enjoying because of how silly they are. THE FEMALE VAMPIRE is my third favorite and I was disappointed to see you didn't enjoy this one. I've only found a few people who actually love this film but IMO it's the best of the vampire/lesbian type of films. I thought Franco's poetic beauty really shined through and I thought Romay was terrific visually. Most people don't like it because of what kind of ‘sucking’ she does in the film but this is why I put it above the rest. I enjoyed this different take on it and I'm really not sure I'd enjoy the horror version with the casual sucking of the blood.”

As I’ve often said, Jess Franco is an exasperating film-maker more than anything else because his output is so extremely erratic: he has shown himself capable of tackling an intriguing premise from time to time, but even here he usually comes up short of realizing its full potential – defeated, no doubt, by his own idiosyncracies in the form of sloppy technique (budgetary limitations notwithstanding) and the willingness to be sidetracked into tediously protracted (and pointless) sex scenes! That said, of the 38 Franco films I’ve watched so far, I’d rate these the highest (in order of preference): VENUS IN FURS (1968; I’m certainly glad this one will soon be available on DVD), THE DIABOLICAL DOCTOR Z (1965), EUGENIE…THE STORY OF HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION (1969), AL OTRO LADO DEL ESPEJO aka THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR (1973), EUGENIE DE SADE (1970), LES POSSEDEES DU DIABLE aka LORNA THE EXORCIST (1974), SUCCUBUS (1967), A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD (1971), VAMPYROS LESBOS (1970), LOVE LETTERS OF A PORTUGUESE NUN (1977), EXORCISM (1974), JACK THE RIPPER (1976) and DORIANA GREY (1976).


Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

"Nice 'to buy' list. Mine was just as big, if not bigger but I decided to cut back on my buys this year after I realized that I was spending between $400-$800 a month!!! I finally signed up with Netflix, which I've enjoyed so far."

Oh...I see I'm not alone in my predicament! My local DVD rental shop is well-equipped with a variety of both catalogue and new releases but I sure wish we had a Netflix-like service over here because, most of the time, I have had to buy the more obscure releases for me to watch them - not that I've ever REALLY regretted that!

By the way, Mike, I see you've finally caught up with THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928) and GUNGA DIN (1939). While the latter is one of Hollywood's finest adventure flicks and among my own favorites in the genre, the former is, in my opinion, the greatest Silent film ever made and as such merits the full **** rating from me as, incidentally, do both SCARFACE (1932; arguably the greatest Gangster flick ever made) and A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964).


Quote (originally posted by Joe Karlosi):

"Hi, Mario. Yes, I am loving this Gangsters Collection, and as of right now THE PETRIFIED FOREST I haven't seen, ever. I went out and bought the box set on my own, having already seen and liked ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES and THE ROARING TWENTIES enough to take the chance. I like Cagney, Bogart and Eddie Robinson so it wasn't a risky blind buy."

Good for you. I await your opinion of THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936) with bated breath.


Quote (originally posted by Joe Karlosi):

"My ratings sometimes change when I re-watch a film, either for better or worse. Most of the time they remain the same, though.

You may be noticing too that I tend to go back and forth as to whether or not I use 'half-star' increments for my ratings system! While my actual 'opinions' on films remain the same, it's sometimes the 'symbolism' I experiement with. It's always driven me a little crazy.

At present I'm no longer using the half star increments. Because with my current system, **** is given for a film that I consider to be 'EXCEPTIONAL OR OUSTANDING', and not necessarily 'EXCELLENT OR PERFECT' (there is a difference between these distinctions, and so few movies, if any, are truly 'perfect and excellent'). So with my present method, there is more room for me to cut very good movies (that may be a hair off) some slack. If I were using half stars, I might have given ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES, WHITE HEAT, PUBLIC ENEMY and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD only ***1/2 each, as they're not quite 100% 'flawless' to me; however, with my present system, ALL these films certainly warrant an 'EXCEPTIONAL' rating (****)!"

For the longest time, I adopted the "no half-stars" system (borrowed from the famed Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide) but lately I've found the half-stars system (as per Leonard Maltin's Film Guide) more "realistic". For the record, my rating system goes something like this:

**** - Excellent; ***1/2 - Very Good; *** - Good; **1/2 - Above Average; ** - Fair; *1/2 - Poor; BOMB - Awful


Quote (originally posted by Joe Karlosi):

"Believe it or not I'm most partial to THE PUBLIC ENEMY and LITTLE CAESAR! Once again -- with the new system, all these films are given more room to be considered "exceptional", though, and they all warrant a solid **** by that criteria."

That's good to know, Joe. LITTLE CAESAR and THE PUBLIC ENEMY may seem a tad primitive nowadays compared to, say, ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES and WHITE HEAT but they're great films nevertheless. Even so, as I said earlier, I consider SCARFACE to be the finest of them all; the fact that it was directed by Howard Hawks may have had something to do with that opinion, but I don't think I'm alone in that school of thought. For what it's worth, I also prefer BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) to THE GODFATHER (1972), MEAN STREETS (1973), THE GODFATHER PART II (1974), ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (1984), GOODFELLAS (1990) and CASINO (1995).


Quote (originally posted by Joe Karlosi):

"I actually decided to join NETFLIX, which is going very well so far; that way I can rent the films and decide whether or not they warrant a purchase from me. I obtained TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, KEY LARGO and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD as my first three choices, and I think you'll be very interested when you see some of the other films I currently have awaiting mailing from my queue. NETFLIX bills you $18 a month, and you may order, watch, and mail back as many DVDs as you can in a month. If you watch a lot of titles as we do here at HTF, this is a good deal. The ability to receive 10 or more DVDs for your monthly payment - or even more if you can watch them and mail them back fast enough - is very handy.

I appreciate the feedback, Mario - I knew you'd get around to it when you saw me listing a Howard Hawks title! "

Can you drop some hints as to which titles I should expect to discuss with you (and Michael) in the future...even directors' names would suffice for now! Anyhow, I look forward to these discussions whatever the titles. Enjoy!

Thankfully over here we have TCM, which is a blessing to film buffs since they do play the popular stuff as well as the rare stuff. I've got five Tracy films sitting here to watch and late last year caught some rarer stuff like THE MURDER MAN, which also featured Jimmy Stewart in his first role. I'm also excited that the original BEN HUR will be on in May but the biggie right now (for me) is DeMille SIGN OF THE CROSS, which is on this Sunday. After Joe's little write up I'm really looking forward to this. The Fox Movie Channel is getting better because they're finally showing some of their 1930's stuff. I recorded six Loretta Young films earlier this year and I doubt Fox will bother releasing them to DVD.



I love him enough to sit through all of his One Shot films as well as those two porno's I watched last month. I love his films because you never know what you're going to get but I really can't call him a great filmmaker because his made several films I'd give a BOMB rating to. I've given at least 7 of them BOMBs and several others just one star. I just ordered FLIGHT FROM HELL last night from Xploited as well as some nunsploitation flick with Lina Romay. The new Shriek Show release of GOLDEN TEMPLE AMAZONS is due in Monday and I got KILLER BARBIES VS DRACULA coming from Netflix on Monday.

The Burton film will always be a masterpiece to me because I feel it did give Wood some respect. The first time I saw the film was when it was originally release and I left the theater more pissed than I had ever been before. I was cussing and throwing a fit because I felt the movie was making fun of Wood and Lugosi. On my second viewing is when I realized that we were just laughing with them just as we do with the Wood films. The Wood movies are certainly badly made but they've got a poetic feel to them, which sets them apart from other bad films and bad filmmakers. Burton could have made a film about ANY bad filmmaker but I think Wood got the nod because his films are actually watched and enjoyed by many.

Did you ever buy that THE MOVIES BEGIN set? I remember us talking about it at one time but I can't remember. I'm not sure if you know or not but Kino is releasing a box set of Edison shorts on 2/22. 130 of his films. I also finally replaced my ART OF BUSTER KEATON set yesterday so that there will be taking up a lot of my time in the coming weeks.

Mario,
During those times when I DO use half-stars, yours is precisely how I describe my ratings guide, too. The only slight difference for me would be: *1/2 - Below Average; * - Poor; BOMB - Awful.

But then I get into those debates with myself where I ask: "Hmmm.... do I think (blank) is a "very good" film or an "excellent" film? Is that other film more of a "Fair" or does it earn an "Above Average"? It starts to feel like splitting hairs! But the good thing about utilizing the **1/2 rating is, it looks kinder than a ** does (even though, for me, a ** is still worth watching). Don't be surprised if I go back to half stars some day.


My next three already arrived today, and I only mailed back the other three returns a mere two days ago (that Netflix is fast!) I don't know exactly how fast I'll be watching them, but all three have the same actor in common, Slim

I wish I still had that write up now, but it got lost at the old site I placed it on It's not a "great" film, but it was amazingly heavy stuff for its time, pre-code.

I'll burn you a copy on DVD-R, Joe. I promise to get that package in the mail this week.

Re: Netflix

I mailed back my last 3 picks on Wednesday. They shipped my next three on Friday and they were in Saturday's mail!!! That's 9 movies for that time frame, which is great for the $18. I'm getting ready to watch my first selection of the three and I think I'll shock you on this one.


02/01/05

Karate Kid, The (1984)

Lightweight coming of age story about a weak kid (Ralph Macchio) who learns karate from an older man (Pat Morita) so that he can defend himself. I grew up watching this film and it’s one of my favorites even though looking at it today I can see some rather weak spots but overall this is still a lot of fun. Macchio and Morita are wonderful together and the story is uplifting enough to make it highly entertaining. I personally think this is a lot better than Rocky.

Karate Kid 2, The (1986)

Decent if totally unnecessary sequel has Macchio and Morita traveling to Okinawa where Morita is challenged for a fight for his life. The two performers are once again very good but the story just doesn’t have enough going for it. The fighting could have been left to the side so that the story could concentrate on the country. The opening continuation of the previous film is still the highlight however.

02/02/05

American Nightmare, The (2000)

Interesting documentary about the horror films of the late 60’s, early 70’s and how culture had an impact on them. The likes of Craven, Carpenter, Romero, Hooper, Savini and others are interviewed about their films and their meanings. I didn’t always agree with the comparisons to culture but there is still some interesting talk for horror fans.

Passion of Joan of Arc, The (1928)

Carl Theodor Dreyer’s film about Joan of Arc’s trial, torture and eventual burning at the stake is certainly a landmark film but I feel this is a case where there’s too much style and not enough substance. I’m going to give a film another viewing but with my first viewing most of my attention was with the incredibly style. With all the eye candy going on I had a rather hard time getting too involved in the story. The look alone makes this an all-time classic.

Disorderly Orderly, The (1964)

Totally unfunny Jerry Lewis film finds him playing (gasp) a dumb orderly who wishes to become a doctor. Lewis falls in love with a suicidal patient and she could hold the key to him getting his wish. I really love Jerry Lewis and find him quite funny in interviews but man have I been disappointed in his solo work. One of the characters tells the dumb orderly that his problem is that he tries too hard and I think that’s the problem with Lewis. The jokes are so forced that they are more annoying than anything else. A few laughs but after thirty minutes I started looking at my carpet.

02/03/05

Saint’s Double Trouble, The (1940)

The Saint (George Sanders) is on the trail of a lookalike who is committing crimes trying to frame the hero. This is your typical boring mystery from the period, which is full of boring mysteries. The actual case isn’t interesting and none of the characters are too interesting either. Bela Lugosi has a thankless role.

Petrified Forest, The (1936)

A writer (Leslie Howard) with no will to live stops at a gas station in Arizona where he meets a beautiful blonde (Bette Davis) but soon a wanted gangster (Humphrey Bogart) shows up. This is a very good and intense film that has some terrific characters, although the first 20 minutes drag a bit. I also prefer the semi-remake Key Largo but this is still a first rate classic.

02/04/05

The Movies Begin: Disc 1

Edison Shorts: These early Edison shorts are really short of course but as a film fan I just can’t help but love each one of these because of their historic value. These guys were the real pioneers of the filmmaking business so seeing this early work is something special and something everyone should do. The Kiss (1896) shows a couple….you got it, kissing. Serpentine Dances (1895) is a unique little film that shows two people dancing and the use of the tint is pretty neat. The Strong Man (1894) shows a man showing off his muscles. Comic Boxing (1894) is a pretty funny short about two brothers mixing it up in the ring. Cock Fight (1896) is exactly that as two roosters go at one another. The Barber Shop (1894) is exactly (shock) what the title says. Feeding the Doves (1896) is a woman…feeding the doves of course. Seminary Girls (1897) shows a room full of girls having a pillow fight.

The Movies Begin: Disc 1 Lumiere Films

Swimming in the Sea (1895)
Children Digging for Clams (1896)
Loading a Boiler (1895-97)
Dragoons Crossing the Saone (1895-97)
Promenade or Ostriches (1895-97)
Childish Quarrel (1896)
Lion, London Zoological Garden (1896)
Photograph (1895)
Transformation by Hats (1985)
Carmaux: Drawing Out the Coke (1895-97)
Poultry-Yard (1895-97)
Arab Cortege, Geneva (1895-97)
New York: Brooklyn Bridge (1897)
New York: Broadway and Union Sq. (1897)
Policeman’s Parade, Chicago (1897)

I actually enjoyed this shorts more than the Edison ones because it appears the director was going for more than just showing images of everyday life. Transformation by Hats was a favorite because it shows one man in front of the camera as he keeps changing his appearance by just hats. Policeman’s Parade, Chicago is another interesting short because you’ve gotta imagine that most of the young guys in the parade would go on to fight the legendary gangsters of Chicago. The two New York films are also interesting due to how things looked in 1897.

Trip to the Moon, A (1902) A+

Georges Melies’s brilliant sci-fi opus about space travel to the moon is one of the reasons why I say screw CGI. This is an incredibly beautiful film to watch with the editing top notch as are the special effects, some of which still hold up quite well today.

President McKinley at Home (1897)
Packtrain on Chilkoot Pass (1898)
Skyscrapers of New York City (1903) B-
Georgetown Loop, The (1903) B-
San Francisco: Aftermath of Earthquake (1906) A
Dog and His Various Merits, The (1908) B+
Moscow Clad in Snow (1908) C
Airplane Flight and Crash (1910) A-

The above section of shorts are in the documentary style and are quite interesting. Packtrain on Chilkoot Pass is my favorite as it shows a train ride around a very twisty pass. The fun thing is that everyone on board knows that the film is being made so their heads are all out the window trying to see what’s going on. Airplane Flight and Crash is the next best as it shows a plane trying to take off only to crash within minutes. San Francisco: Aftermath of Earthquake has some incredible footage of that tragic day. Moscow Clad in Snow has some great shots of Russia buried under the snow but overall the short is quite boring.

Fire in a Burlesque Theatre (1908)
Airy Fairy Lillian Tries on Her New Corsets (1908)
From Showgirl to Burlesque Queen (1908)
Troubles of a Manager of a Burlesque Show (1908)

These four are adult “blue” movies from the Biograph Studio. I had a great time with these. It’s funny to see “adult” entertainment from such an early period. The first film has the camera set outside the theatre, which catches fire. The firemen show up and we get our “adult” look at the women coming out a window, barely dressed and climbing down a ladder. The second film features a 400 pound woman trying to fit in her corset. The other two films are pretty much stripteases but hey, that’s okay.

Great Train Robbery, The (1903) A+

This here is credited as the first film to use a narrative storyline and what a great and classic story it is. This is a very adventurous film that packs a nice little punch with its scenery as well as its early use of violence. The hand colored sequences also work very nicely.

Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog, The (1905) C+

A one joke film about the Dam Family and their strange names. An example includes Miss I.B. Dam. Not so ha-ha.

Golden Beetle, The (1907) A-

Wonderful sci-fi tale about a magician who creates a golden beetle. The hand color is quite nice and the special effects aren’t too bad considering the time.

Bright Young Things (2003)

Disappointing directorial debut from Stephen Fry about the 1930’s London and the rich folks who party the night away. The visual look of the film was wonderful but the story was incredibly boring, the performances weren’t there and worst of all is that I never laughed.

Paul McCartney’s Get Back (1991)

I’m not the biggest Beatles fan in the world but I did love McCartney’s Back in the U.S. disc and concert. This thing here was a major disappointment because it seemed McCartney was never into the concert. His voice wasn’t that strong, the songs were lifeless and I just didn’t have fun.

The Palm Beach Story (1942)

Viewed 2/5/2005

Wacky Preston Sturges comedy about a wife (Claudette Colbert) who decides that she and her husband would be better off without each other. So she heads to Palm Beach for a quickie divorce and ends up being romanced by a millionaire (Rudy Vallee). Meanwhile her husband (Joel McCrea) is hot on her heels and when he does catch up to her he finds himself in the sights of the millionaire's sister (Mary Astor). Got that? Riotous and darn funny.

out of


The Long Good Friday (1979)

Viewed 2/5/2005 (first viewing)

Solid gangster flick with Bob Hoskins as a confident crime boss who finds himself under attack by mysterious aggressors. Can he hold his empire together? Good support from a young and ravishing Helen Mirren. Pierce Brosnan also has a bit part.

out of

Some older movies I've seen recently, by viewing date...
(NOTE: POST EDITED TO REMOVE 2004 movies and place them in this thread).

ALL RATINGS OUT OF (FIVE) STARS

Carlito's Way (1993)
Okay gangster movie with Pacino and the "one last job" story you've only seen about a thousand times before. I'd say it compares to Scarface but not to Goodfellas or even Donnie Brasco. I heard they are making a prequel...ehhhh

Diner (1982)
Talky picture about growing up in the 50s, made funnier by the cast almost exclusively consisting of the Where Are They Now group of the 80s (Steve Gutenberg, Mickey Rourke, etc). Some nice stuff, though rather conventional and safe overall.

Taste of Cherry (1997)
Yikes. First Criterion DVD I've ever actually hated, and I get the feeling I'm the only one. 85 minutes of mostly silent driving around the dusty hills of Iran, with occasional pretentious subtitled dialogue before a what the hell ending which didn't do much for me either way.

On the Waterfront (1954)
Glad I was finally able to see this. No need to recap, but I will say that most of it lives up to the hype, including the "coulda been a contenda" speech and the just about every scene with the pastor. The ending rang somewhat false to me, and after doing some investigating, I discovered that while most of the movie was based on a true story, that last part was not, go figure.

DELETED POST (see below)

Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

"Thankfully over here we have TCM, which is a blessing to film buffs since they do play the popular stuff as well as the rare stuff. I've got five Tracy films sitting here to watch and late last year caught some rarer stuff like THE MURDER MAN, which also featured Jimmy Stewart in his first role. I'm also excited that the original BEN HUR will be on in May but the biggie right now (for me) is DeMille SIGN OF THE CROSS, which is on this Sunday. After Joe's little write up I'm really looking forward to this. The Fox Movie Channel is getting better because they're finally showing some of their 1930's stuff. I recorded six Loretta Young films earlier this year and I doubt Fox will bother releasing them to DVD."

THE SIGN OF THE CROSS (1932) has eluded me so far but I have watched BEN-HUR (1925) twice on VHS and have yet to give THE MURDER MAN (1935) - which I've taped off TCM UK - a first viewing. Unfortunately, although TCM UK does show an occasional good flick which I've yet to get acquainted with, most of the time they repeat the same movies over and over so regularly that it's practically pointless to look through their listings anymore! I don't know what the situation is with TCM over there but it's certainly disheartening in my case.


Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

"I love him enough to sit through all of his One Shot films as well as those two porno's I watched last month. I love his films because you never know what you're going to get but I really can't call him a great filmmaker because his made several films I'd give a BOMB rating to. I've given at least 7 of them BOMBs and several others just one star. I just ordered FLIGHT FROM HELL last night from Xploited as well as some nunsploitation flick with Lina Romay. The new Shriek Show release of GOLDEN TEMPLE AMAZONS is due in Monday and I got KILLER BARBIES VS DRACULA coming from Netflix on Monday."

I've had 3 Franco films - EUGENIE, HISTORIA DE UNA PERVERSION (1980), MACUMBA SEXUAL (1981) and EN BUSCA DEL DRAGON DORADO (1983) - on DVD-R lying unwatched since last September (given to me by another "passionate" Franco admirer while I was in Venice attending the Film Festival) but, given my disappointment with the last couple of flicks of his I've watched - not to mention the fact that they're in Spanish without any subtitles - I can't say I'm in all that much of a hurry to give them a try. I am looking forward to getting Blue Underground's disc of VENUS IN FURS (1968), though...Have you ever watched that one by any chance?

By the way, Mike, I don't know that we've ever discussed other directors dealing in erotica: how do you stand on Walerian Borowczyk, Russ Meyer and Tinto Brass? I recently sent my Venetian friend two DVD-Rs of Borowczyk's IMMORAL TALES (1974) and LA BETE (1975) but, apparently, he didn't think much of them. While I was somewhat let down by the former myself, I think the latter is an outrageous, hilarious and genuinely erotic film that has to be seen to be believed. Even so, it's rather unfortunate that an artist of Borowczyk's caliber - one really needs to watch films like BLANCHE (1971; supposedly in the works for an upcoming DVD release from Cult Epics), THE STORY OF SIN (1975; released on R2 DVD by Nouveaux Pictures) and DOCTEUR JEKYLL ET LES FEMMES (1981; still obstinately unavailable on DVD and, therefore, thank heavens for VHS) to put his obvious talent in perspective - is usually branded a pornographer by film buffs and critics alike, thus ensuring his work only a marginal availability; I'm certainly glad that Cult Epics will soon be giving us two other Borowczyks on DVD, both of which I've yet to watch for the first time - his last completed film, LOVE RITES (1988; which will include 2 distinct versions of the film) and, hopefully later on during the year, GOTO, ISLAND OF LOVE (1968; his first feature).

I've watched 5 Russ Meyer films so far - VIXEN! (1968), BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1970), SUPERVIXENS (1975), UP! (1976) and BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRAVIXENS (1979) - and have another 4 on VHS which I hope to get around to in the coming days - LORNA (1964), FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! (1965), MOTOR PSYCHO (1965) and MONDO TOPLESS (1966). All I can say is that for exploitaition flicks, they're pretty slickly done and definitely "intentionally" funny...which certainly can't be said of several Jess Franco films I've watched. I aim to do my best to convince my local DVD rental shop owner (whom I've had the dubious honor of introducing to Franco's work) to get a hold of the 18(!) Russ Meyer films which will be released on R2 DVD in 2005.

As for Tinto Brass, I've only ever watched 2 of his films: DEADLY SWEET (1967), a good psychedelic giallo which was "presented" by Joe Dante at the "Italian Kings Of The 'B's" retrospective held during the Venice Film Festival last September with Tinto in attendance(!) and, on TV while in London in September 2002, the infamous CALIGULA (1979). It's ironic that, given the prevalence of Italian TV channels in my country, I've actually had to be abroad to catch his films; having said that, his films do get shown a lot on Italian TV "after dark" but I'll probably just rent them on DVD from the usual place. It's a pity that it hasn't got Blue Underground's 2-Disc Set of SALON KITTY (1975) which interests me the most given its similarities to Luchino Visconti's THE DAMNED (1969) - not least in having two of the same actors, Ingrid Thulin and Helmut Berger as its stars!


Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

"The Burton film will always be a masterpiece to me because I feel it did give Wood some respect. The first time I saw the film was when it was originally release and I left the theater more pissed than I had ever been before. I was cussing and throwing a fit because I felt the movie was making fun of Wood and Lugosi. On my second viewing is when I realized that we were just laughing with them just as we do with the Wood films. The Wood movies are certainly badly made but they've got a poetic feel to them, which sets them apart from other bad films and bad filmmakers. Burton could have made a film about ANY bad filmmaker but I think Wood got the nod because his films are actually watched and enjoyed by many"

Let's just say that the thought of purchasing Image's highly affordable 6-Disc Ed Wood Box Set had entered my mind at one time while the one for the Tim Burton film is still firmly lodged there...


Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

"Did you ever buy that THE MOVIES BEGIN set? I remember us talking about it at one time but I can't remember. I'm not sure if you know or not but Kino is releasing a box set of Edison shorts on 2/22. 130 of his films. I also finally replaced my ART OF BUSTER KEATON set yesterday so that there will be taking up a lot of my time in the coming weeks."

Yes, we did talk about those in the past but so far I haven't purchased any yet and, with my current DVD purchasing plans, I probably won't for a long time to come! That's great about the Buster Keaton Set which is certainly one of my most treasured possessions.


Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

"Passion of Joan of Arc, The (1928)

Carl Theodor Dreyer's film about Joan of Arc's trial, torture and eventual burning at the stake is certainly a landmark film but I feel this is a case where there's too much style and not enough substance. I'm going to give a film another viewing but with my first viewing most of my attention was with the incredibly style. With all the eye candy going on I had a rather hard time getting too involved in the story. The look alone makes this an all-time classic."

Dreyer is one of my favorite directors and I've watched almost all of his films, none more so than THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928) itself. The Criterion DVD was a revelation for me and I still think of it as one of the best "Special Editions" they've ever produced. You're right about the film's apparent stylistic overkill but, believe me, its inherent spirituality does get to you on repeat viewings; it certainly leaves all other cinematic Joan Of Arc treatments biting in the dust - including, surprisingly enough, Robert Bresson's (no stranger to "spiritual" films himself) LE PROCES DE JEANNE D'ARC (1962). If you haven't watched them yet, I also highly recommend Dreyer's equally essential DAY OF WRATH (1943) and ORDET (1955), also available from Criterion.


Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

"Disorderly Orderly, The (1964)

Totally unfunny Jerry Lewis film finds him playing (gasp) a dumb orderly who wishes to become a doctor. Lewis falls in love with a suicidal patient and she could hold the key to him getting his wish. I really love Jerry Lewis and find him quite funny in interviews but man have I been disappointed in his solo work. One of the characters tells the dumb orderly that his problem is that he tries too hard and I think that's the problem with Lewis. The jokes are so forced that they are more annoying than anything else. A few laughs but after thirty minutes I started looking at my carpet."

When I was a kid I used to lap up Jerry Lewis' movies but, on viewing them as an adult, I found myself getting increasingly impatient with his childish shtick. Actually, THE DISORDERLY ORDERLY (1964) is one I remember with affection but it's been years since I've last watched it so I don't know how it will hold up for me nowadays. I did consider purchasing a couple of films of his on DVD - THE BELLBOY (1960), THE LADIES' MAN (1961) and THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (1963) - but I guess it's just as well that I didn't. Maybe I'll try and convince my local DVD dealer to get hold of some of them particularly since a few days ago he expressed interest in getting the mouth-watering 21 Disc Laurel & Hardy Box Set available in the UK (which I'm also on the fence about).


Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

"Petrified Forest, The (1936)

A writer (Leslie Howard) with no will to live stops at a gas station in Arizona where he meets a beautiful blonde (Bette Davis) but soon a wanted gangster (Humphrey Bogart) shows up. This is a very good and intense film that has some terrific characters, although the first 20 minutes drag a bit. I also prefer the semi-remake Key Largo but this is still a first rate classic."

This almost word for word on how I feel about the film myself.


Quote (originally posted by Joe Karlosi):

"Mario,

During those times when I DO use half-stars, yours is precisely how I describe my ratings guide, too. The only slight difference for me would be: *1/2 - Below Average; * - Poor; BOMB - Awful.

But then I get into those debates with myself where I ask: "Hmmm.... do I think (blank) is a "very good" film or an "excellent" film? Is that other film more of a "Fair" or does it earn an "Above Average"? It starts to feel like splitting hairs! But the good thing about utilizing the **1/2 rating is, it looks kinder than a ** does (even though, for me, a ** is still worth watching). Don't be surprised if I go back to half stars some day.¡¨"

Actually, I've often wondered why Leonard Maltin does not make use of the * rating myself but even so I've adopted his system for easy reference. Anyway, one should use the system that best suits him at any time and neither one is REALLY better than the other in the long run.


Quote (originally posted by Joe Karlosi):

"My next three already arrived today, and I only mailed back the other three returns a mere two days ago (that Netflix is fast!) I don't know exactly how fast I'll be watching them, but all three have the same actor in common, Slim"

Slim? Would that be Lauren Bacall? In that case, you'd have written "the same ACTRESS in common" unless you wanted to throw me on a wild goose chase. In any case, I've caught a glimpse of the grand old lady herself (and Nicole Kidman) in person while in Venice promting BIRTH (2004). How about that?

I haven't seen VENUS yet but I do have it pre ordered. Here's the Franco I've seen so far:

Awful Dr. Orloff ** 1/2
Sadistic Baron Von Klaus ** 1/2
Diabolical Dr. Z ** 1/2
Succubus **
Two Undercover Angels ** 1/2
Blood of Fu Manchu 1/2 *
Castle of Fu Manchu * 1/2
Bloody Judge (german) ** 1/2
Bloody Judge (BU cut) ** 1/2
Girl From Rio * 1/2
Count Dracula ***
Eugenie...The Story of ***
Eugenie De Sade *** 1/2
La Fille de Dracula ** 1/2
Les Demons **
Virgin Among the Living Dead ****
Virgin Among the Living Dead (X-rated cut) ***
Virgin Among the Living Dead (rollin cut) ***
Vampyros Lesbos ***
She Killed in Ecstasy ***
Virgin Report ***
Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein * 1/2
Female Vampire *** 1/2
Erotikill **
Exorcism ***
Lorna The Exorcist ****
Barbed Wire Dolls ***
Jack the Ripper ***
Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun *** 1/2
Ilsa, The Wicked Warden ** 1/2
Women of Cellblock 9 ***
White Cannibal Queen * 1/2
Sadomania ***
Bloody Moon ** 1/2
Linda ***
Devil Hunter * 1/2
Oasis of the Zombies BOMB
Oasis of the Living Dead 1/2 *
Revenge in the House of Usher ***
Falo Crest **
Phalastio *
Faceless ***
Killer Barbies **
Tender Flesh *
Lust for Frankenstein *
Mari Cookie **
Vampire Blues 1/2 *
Dr. Wong's Virtual Hell BOMB
Red Silk BOMB
Broken Dolls **
Helter Skelter *
Blind Target 1/2 *

I prefer the 1970's sleeze stuff more than anything made before that. His more serious films of the 1960's usually leave me very bored. Right now I'm going to try and catch up on the 1980's stuff but the only downside is that most of this stuff is in Spanish only without English subs. However, I never enjoyed COUNT DRACULA until I watched it in Spanish without any English. I'm also checking out Romay's non-Franco works like ROLLS ROYCE BABY, which I enjoyed and there's a new titles Xploited just got in, which I should have this week. Apparently it's a remake of Franco's LOVE LETTERS, which was released the same year!!!




CALIGULA is one of the worst movies ever made IMO. I haven't seen any of the other Brass titles so I can't comment on them. As for Meyer, I hated BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and gave it a BOMB rating but I'm wanting to revisit it. I was around 10 when I watched it and only watched it because my friends and I were wanting to watch something dirty. I too will be ordering those R2 discs. The rest of my "adult" films come from Joe D'Amato who I really enjoy more than Argento and Fulci. BEYOND THE DARKNESS is one of my favs and the uncut version of THE GRIM REAPER is worth watching even with its slowness. EROTIC NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD features brilliant zombie/horror footage but the porn stuff kills it. I keep meaning to buy the cut DVD so the porn will be missing. PORNO HOLOCAUST is....interesting but I hated it in the end. EMMANUELLE IN AMERICA was all hype so I didn't care too much for it either.


I certainly want to watch PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC again. As I said, for the most part my mind was on the style so I had a hard time getting into the story. I watched the film with the musical score but next time I think I'll go into it totally silent. As for Lewis, I thought he was great in THE KING OF COMEDY but I'm thankful I didn't buy all ten of those Paramount discs. Thankfully I traded for THE LADIES MAN, which I didn't care for and DISORDERLY came from Netflix. THE STOOGE is one I really enjoyed and I'm looking forward to the other Martin/Lewis films, which will be on TCM in April. I didn't care for AT WAR WITH THE ARMY because that film is one I've seen plenty of times before with Abbott and Costello. I've got the other Lewis films coming from Netflix so I hope I find one I enjoy since I actually like Lewis. I actually found BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA a lot funnier than DISORDERLY.



I'm finally going to order this one on Monday when my credit card clears up. This months buys are the L&H set and the Buster Keaton stuff so that should keep me busy for a while. I've seen all of the Keaton's but I've missed quite a few of the L&H, although I bought a public domain disc, which had around 20 of their solo silents.

double post (what's up with this?)

When all is said and done, of course, it's all about what you "say" when you review the film; the star ratings make it a handy way to get a general idea "at a glance".
Just to keep you on your toes, I think I'll go back and re-edit my film list with half stars again! I know this sounds inconsistent, but just keep telling yourself that with me, the review (text) for a movie doesn't really change, just the symbolism for the review


No, It's not Bacall. Anyhow, here's looking at you, Mario.

An update of my Watched movies list 2005


31/01: The Thing from Another World (1951)
01/02: Torpedo Bombers (1983)
02/02: Elgar (1962)
02/02: Short: Futurama S01E05: Fear of a Bot Planet
02/02: Short: Futurama S01E06: A Fishfull of Dollars
04/02: Short: Futurama S01E07: My Three Suns
04/02: Short: Futurama S01E08: A Big Piece of Garbage
04/02: Short: Futurama S01E09: Hell Is Other Robots
04/02: La Mala Ordina (1972)
05/02: Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
05/02: L'Ultimo Treno della Notte (1975)
06/02: Short: Futurama S01E10: A Flight to Remember
06/02: Short: Futurama S01E11: Mars University
06/02: Short: Futurama S01E12: When Aliens Attack
06/02: Short: Futurama S01E13: Fry & the Slurm Factory
06/02: Fargo (1996)


Good news. I finally got through Season 1 of Futurama. Only 3 more to go... Aside that, last week was rather interesting. This week's winners are the Russian movie Torpedo Bombers and the Italian La Mala Ordina. Ken Russell's Elgar is a documentary I can recommend to everybody interested in classical music.


I also noticed a handful of people are interested in Jess Franco movies One of Franco's producer's, Erwin Dietrich, has made a few movies himself as well (e.g. Eine Armee Gretchen). You may want to check out the following links:

Ascot DVD Shop
VIP Collection

Mad Foxes is quite a notorious movie produced by the same Dietrich. I can recommend it, but don't watch it when mummie is near

Wouldn’t you know that after waiting over a week for the gangster set, it finally arrives Friday along with the other Dassin Criterion noir, Palm Beach Story & Samurai Assassin.


First time viewings in Red
Out of


Thieves’ Highway (1949) (8/10)
Jules Dassin’s proletarian noir has Richard Conte seeking revenge against the crook (Lee J Cobb) who caused his father to lose his legs & trucking business. Excellent. Another great blind-buy.

The Petrified Forest (1936) (7/10)
Fugitive gangster Humphrey Bogart holds a group of people hostage in a southwestern diner. Story centers on the travails of Leslie Howard as a disenchanted writer & Bette Davis as the local waitress dreaming of a better life. Good film though more of a melodrama than a straight-up gangster film.

Angels with Dirty Faces(1938) (9/10)
Michael Curtiz tries his hand in the gangster genre with excellent results. Boyhood pals James Cagney & reformed hood turned priest, Pat O’Brien end up on opposite sides of the fence in this terrific film. Marred only by some heavy-handed preachy overtones, this features one of the great endings in classic films.

Samurai Assassin (1965) (9/10)
Toshiro Mifune is a masterless samurai (ronin) who joins up in a conspiracy to assassinate the Shogun in order to curry a position. Based on a true story this starts slow but builds momentum as the Greek-like tragedy unfolds. Directed by Kihatchi Okamoto (Sword of Doom). Outstanding.

Quote (originally posted by Joe Karlosi):

“When all is said and done, of course, it's all about what you ‘say’ when you review the film; the star ratings make it a handy way to get a general idea ‘at a glance’.

Just to keep you on your toes, I think I'll go back and re-edit my film list with half stars again! I know this sounds inconsistent, but just keep telling yourself that with me, the review (text) for a movie doesn't really change, just the symbolism for the review ”

I told you the “half stars” method was better, didn’t I? Just kidding with you. Anyhow, I’m still kicking myself for not adopting that mini-review approach that you and Michael have taken to your “Track The Films You Watch” listings. But now that I’m already 68 titles into my list, I guess it’s pointless to start halfway through, so to speak. Besides, you know me, once I start “reviewing” a film, it’s hard for me to stop so they probably wouldn’t have been “capsule reviews” in the first place!


Quote (originally posted by Joe Karlosi):

“No, It's not Bacall. Anyhow, here's looking at you, Mario.”

I can see that Miss Bacall - as she appeared in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944) – clearly went to your head, Joe! Apparently you weren’t paying enough attention to recall that “Slim” was Bogie’s epithet for Bacall’s character in the film; the “real” name of her character was Marie Browning…just as, in the film, Bacall renamed Bogie’s character from Harry Morgan (as he was also called in Ernest Hemingway’s source novel) to “Steve”. Besides, “Slim” was the nickname Howard Hawks gave in real life to his own second wife (who discovered Bacall in the first place)! You see, if you were sufficiently familiar with Hawks’ films, you’d know that this was a typical occurrence in his films to delineate better the relationship between the person bestowing the nickname and the one receiving it. There are countless examples of this but, just to illustrate this, I’ll mention the two Hawks films I’ve recently rented on DVD (and which, no doubt, I’ll eventually purchase in the future): James Caan’s character in EL DORADO (1966) is named (no kidding) Alan Bourdillion Traherne but he is dubbed “Mississippi” simply because he was born there; likewise, Elsa Martinelli is called Anna Maria D’Alessandro in HATARI! (1962) but she sees that the guys (John Wayne, Red Buttons, Hardy Kruger, Gerard Blain) are having some difficulty pronouncing that so she allows them to call her “Dallas”! Who said that following a director’s career isn’t a fascinating or “fun” exercise? Anyway, here’s hoping that your Netflix subscription allows you to catch up with as many Bogart and Hawks films as possible. And Bunuel, naturally....


Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

“I haven't seen VENUS yet but I do have it pre ordered. Here's the Franco I've seen so far:

Awful Dr. Orloff ** 1/2
Sadistic Baron Von Klaus ** 1/2
Diabolical Dr. Z ** 1/2
Succubus **
Two Undercover Angels ** 1/2
Blood of Fu Manchu 1/2 *
Castle of Fu Manchu * 1/2
Bloody Judge (german) ** 1/2
Bloody Judge (BU cut) ** 1/2
Girl From Rio * 1/2
Count Dracula ***
Eugenie...The Story of ***
Eugenie De Sade *** 1/2
La Fille de Dracula ** 1/2
Les Demons **
Virgin Among the Living Dead ****
Virgin Among the Living Dead (X-rated cut) ***
Virgin Among the Living Dead (rollin cut) ***
Vampyros Lesbos ***
She Killed in Ecstasy ***
Virgin Report ***
Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein * 1/2
Female Vampire *** 1/2
Erotikill **
Exorcism ***
Lorna The Exorcist ****
Barbed Wire Dolls ***
Jack the Ripper ***
Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun *** 1/2
Ilsa, The Wicked Warden ** 1/2
Women of Cellblock 9 ***
White Cannibal Queen * 1/2
Sadomania ***
Bloody Moon ** 1/2
Linda ***
Devil Hunter * 1/2
Oasis of the Zombies BOMB
Oasis of the Living Dead 1/2 *
Revenge in the House of Usher ***
Falo Crest **
Phalastio *
Faceless ***
Killer Barbies **
Tender Flesh *
Lust for Frankenstein *
Mari Cookie **
Vampire Blues 1/2 *
Dr. Wong's Virtual Hell BOMB
Red Silk BOMB
Broken Dolls **
Helter Skelter *
Blind Target 1/2 *

I prefer the 1970's sleeze stuff more than anything made before that. His more serious films of the 1960's usually leave me very bored. Right now I'm going to try and catch up on the 1980's stuff but the only downside is that most of this stuff is in Spanish only without English subs. However, I never enjoyed COUNT DRACULA until I watched it in Spanish without any English. I'm also checking out Romay's non-Franco works like ROLLS ROYCE BABY, which I enjoyed and there's a new titles Xploited just got in, which I should have this week. Apparently it's a remake of Franco's LOVE LETTERS, which was released the same year!!!”

For the record, here are all the Jess Franco films I’ve watched so far, together with their ratings:

The Awful Dr. Orloff (Spanish Version)**½
The Diabolical Dr. Z***
Attack Of The Robots**½
Lucky The Inscrutable**
Succubus***
The Blood Of Fu Manchu*½
99 Women**½
The Castle Of Fu Manchu*½
Venus In Furs***
Marquis De Sade’s Justine**
The Bloody Judge (BU Cut)**½
Eugenie...The Story Of Her Journey Into Perversion***
Eugenie De Sade***
Nightmares Come At Night**½
Vampyros Lesbos***
She Killed In Ecstasy**½
A Virgin Among The Living Dead***
La Fille De Dracula**½
The Erotic Rites Of Frankenstein (Spanish Version)**
Les Demons (US Version)**
Les Demons (Director’s Cut)**½
Sinner**½
Plaisir A` Trois**
Les Croqueuses*½
The Other Side Of The Mirror***
La Noche De Los Asesinos**½
Female Vampire**
Exorcism***
Lorna The Exorcist***
Barbed Wire Dolls*½
Jack the Ripper***
Doriana Grey***
Love Letters Of A Portuguese Nun***
Ilsa, The Wicked Warden**½
Blue Rita**
Sexy Sisters**½
Sinfonia Erotica**½
Gemidos De Placer**
Faceless**

By the way, Mike, I know you’ve watched DORIANA GREY (1976), so I guess your leaving it out of your list was just an oversight. Besides, I’m surprised you haven’t yet watched MARQUIS DE SADE’S JUSTINE (1968), NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT (1970), THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN (1972), BLUE RITA (1977) and SEXY SISTERS (1977), all of which have been available on DVD for some time. As for myself, I still have to rent LOVE CAMP (1977) and VOODOO PASSION (1977)…


Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

“CALIGULA is one of the worst movies ever made IMO. I haven't seen any of the other Brass titles so I can't comment on them. As for Meyer, I hated BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and gave it a BOMB rating but I'm wanting to revisit it. I was around 10 when I watched it and only watched it because my friends and I were wanting to watch something dirty. I too will be ordering those R2 discs. The rest of my "adult" films come from Joe D'Amato who I really enjoy more than Argento and Fulci. BEYOND THE DARKNESS is one of my favs and the uncut version of THE GRIM REAPER is worth watching even with its slowness. EROTIC NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD features brilliant zombie/horror footage but the porn stuff kills it. I keep meaning to buy the cut DVD so the porn will be missing. PORNO HOLOCAUST is....interesting but I hated it in the end. EMMANUELLE IN AMERICA was all hype so I didn't care too much for it either.”

For all its campy trashiness, BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1970) definitely merits more than a BOMB rating in my book but, having said that, I’m not quite sure it earns a place in The Criterion Collection either…if that long-rumored SE DVD ever comes to pass, that is. On the other hand, BOMB is exactly how I rated Joe D’Amato’s EMANUELLE IN AMERICA (1976) and, although the version I watched (shown on late-night Italian TV) was heavily cut, I doubt whether the added footage would have altered my view. My local DVD dealer does have THE GRIM REAPER (1981) for rental – although I’ve no idea whether it’s cut or not - and I was on the verge of getting it many times (and will eventually do so some day).


Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

”I certainly want to watch PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC again. As I said, for the most part my mind was on the style so I had a hard time getting into the story. I watched the film with the musical score but next time I think I'll go into it totally silent. As for Lewis, I thought he was great in THE KING OF COMEDY but I'm thankful I didn't buy all ten of those Paramount discs. Thankfully I traded for THE LADIES MAN, which I didn't care for and DISORDERLY came from Netflix. THE STOOGE is one I really enjoyed and I'm looking forward to the other Martin/Lewis films, which will be on TCM in April. I didn't care for AT WAR WITH THE ARMY because that film is one I've seen plenty of times before with Abbott and Costello. I've got the other Lewis films coming from Netflix so I hope I find one I enjoy since I actually like Lewis. I actually found BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA a lot funnier than DISORDERLY. ”

I’ve watched THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928) with the music on myself and, good and appropriate as the score was in itself, I felt it detracted from the overall effect of the film. Again, I’ve toyed with the idea of renting AT WAR WITH THE ARMY (1951) – which I can’t recall whether I’ve ever watched or not - several times but have yet to do so. Actually last year, following the announcement of their DVD release, I’ve watched Lewis’ THE BELLBOY (1960; arguably his best solo work) and THE ERRAND BOY (1961; which I didn’t like much) on Italian TV and, although they also showed THE STOOGE (1951), CINDERFELLA (1960), THE LADIES’ MAN (1961; which I had watched previously), THE PATSY (1964) and THE DISORDERLY ORDERLY (1964), I decided to skip them! Other films of his which have turned up on TV recently, all of which I missed, were SAILOR BEWARE (1951), JUMPING JACKS (1952), ROCK-A-BYE BABY (1958), VISIT TO A SMALL PLANET (1960) and BOEING-BOEING (1965)! Well, one certainly can’t say that Mr. Lewis isn’t popular anymore…


Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

“I'm finally going to order this one on Monday when my credit card clears up. This months buys are the L&H set and the Buster Keaton stuff so that should keep me busy for a while. I've seen all of the Keaton's but I've missed quite a few of the L&H, although I bought a public domain disc, which had around 20 of their solo silents.”

Actually, all of Buster’s Silent films will apparently be reissued in France by MK2 (which had previously handled the Charles Chaplin films later distributed by Warners in the US) in the coming years and I will probably acquire their already available 2-Disc edition of Buster’s masterpiece, THE GENERAL (1927), which is not only appropriately paired with 2 similarly-themed shorts – THE IRON MULE (1925) and THE RAILRODDER (1965) – but is bound to be of better video quality than Kino’s disappointing print.

Don't kick too hard Mario -- I'm pretty much keeping my mini-notes/reviews over at IMDB, with a link at the bottom of my list on page one. I always like to discuss them here at HTF, though, if you'd like. I hope to see your IMDB tally rising soon too - you haven't written anything since December (I think).


Mario, Mario, Mario -- I'm surprised at YOU, Sir -- what I was trying to hint at for you was that I've got three BOGART movies!! Not Lauren Bacall, but specifically BOGART! By using his "Slim" line, and later "Here's looking at you, Mario" I hoped it would be obvious enough for you to guess!!

Quote (originally posted by Joe Karlosi):

“Don't kick too hard Mario -- I'm pretty much keeping my mini-notes/reviews over at IMDB, with a link at the bottom of my list on page one. I always like to discuss them here at HTF, though, if you'd like. I hope to see your IMDB tally rising soon too - you haven't written anything since December (I think).”

Yes, and I regret that...but, at least, that very fact permits me to have even more time to allocate for film viewing. With the insane amount of unwatched DVDs and VHS I have on my hands, not to mention the DVDs I keep renting week after week despite telling myself over and over that I don’t really need to, God knows I need as much time as I possibly can!


Quote (originally posted by Joe Karlosi):

“Mario, Mario, Mario -- I'm surprised at YOU, Sir -- what I was trying to hint at for you was that I've got three BOGART movies!! Not Lauren Bacall, but specifically BOGART! By using his ‘Slim’ line, and later ‘Here's looking at you, Mario’ I hoped it would be obvious enough for you to guess!!”

This is getting to be even more complicated than THE BIG SLEEP (1946) itself! Joe, just so you know, I guessed from the very start that you were alluding to Bogart but, since your first clue was “Slim”, I can’t really be faulted for thinking it was Bacall…and, given that one of those mysterious discs happened to be DARK PASSAGE (1947) after all, in a way you did too!

Incidentally, I could have sworn that you were alluding to DARK PASSAGE (*** in my book), a film I’ve watched twice myself and, despite finding it to be a well-made, offbeat little thriller, I can’t say it’s one of my favorite Bogarts; one thing is certain, however - it’s clearly the weakest of the Bogart/Bacall pairings...or do you find that to be THE BIG SLEEP, Joe? Besides, if you find the film’s use of subjective camera for the first half hour to be “a poor choice”, I wonder what you’d think of LADY IN THE LAKE (1947) which adopts that very technique towards its main character Philip Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) almost exclusively throughout the picture!

In any case, DARK PASSAGE is also on my “DVDs To Buy” list, as are the following Bogart films (apart from Warners’ “Gangster Collection”, of course): THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940), HIGH SIERRA (1941), CASABLANCA (1942; 2-Disc Set, a double-dip for me), SAHARA (1943) and IN A LONELY PLACE (1950). Could SIERRA and PLACE be the other two Bogies you rented? Anywhow, I guess I’ll know soon enough, wont’t I?

You never know, Mario! But before I get to the other two "rented" Bogart discs, I first dipped back into my Warner Gangsters box for THE PETRIFIED FOREST - a film I absolutely loved throughout. Very interesting characterizations in a quaint and isolated setting, and now I'm interested in seeing more early Bette Davis films. The ending didn't turn out the way I would have preferred at first, but in the final decision I felt it was a poetic one and the correct choice.

I want to watch THE BIG SLEEP again now that I have more to gauge with many of Bogart's other films now under my belt. But I can already easily say I would not consider that particular Bacall/Bogart pairing one of the "least" by no means, as Bacall is still on fire in that one and the chemistry with Bogie was one of the things I did enjoy about it.

Finally got around to watching the new Criterion Dassin films noir...

Night and the City (1950)

Viewed 2/8/2005

Richard Widmark is a small-time hustler who finally schemes his way to the top as a wrestling promoter. But his success is short-lived as friends and enemies alike conspire to bring him down. The essence of noir and a must-see.

out of


Thieves' Highway (1949)

Viewed 2/8/05

A tough ex-G.I. seeks revenge on the shady fruit market operator who crippled his father. Not all that noirish; more of a drama along the lines of They Drive By Night. Lee J. Cobb is great as the villain.

out of

Alien Vs. Predator (2004)

Viewed 2/9/2005 (first viewing)

This long-awaited franchise crossover is better than I was expecting, but then I wasn't expecting much. (Hey, Freddy Vs. Jason wasn't very good and frankly, neither is the beloved Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, with the monsters' climatic "fight" being a real letdown.) A decent time-killer, but it deserved better.

out of


Garden State (2004)

Viewed 2/9/2005 (first viewing)

Yet another entry in the "troubled young adult returns home" genre. Good of its type, but overrated.

out of


The Notebook (2004)

Viewed 2/9/2005 (first viewing)

Old-fashioned romance by the author of The Horse Whisperer. Longish and somewhat innocuous, but the appealing cast makes it worthwhile.

out of


Herdsmen of the Sun (1989)

Viewed 2/9/2005 (first viewing)

Werner Herzog documentary on the Wodaabe people of the Sahara region. Included as a bonus feature on the R2 Where the Green Ants Dream DVD.

out of


Carl Th. Dreyer - My Metier (1995)

Viewed 2/9/2005 (first viewing)

Engrossing documentary on the life and career of Carl Dreyer, best known perhaps for his film The Passion of Joan of Arc.

out of