Still Trying To Watch Those Movies
I'm still pursuing my movie-a-day project. Obviously, the review portion of the project has fallen through, but I'll be posting lists of titles, starting today, with maybe a brief comment for each film. At this point I've just watched movie #190 for the year, which pits me about 40 or so movies behind. Of course, I can't count things like the Rifftrax Live show I saw this week, because I've seen Plan 9 less than 15 years back, but I am able to revisit things like "Get Crazy" (which I just watched on Youtube; thanks for bringing that up, ninjacooter !) which I saw some time in the early 90's.
So here's a chunk of my movie list, numbers 39-50:
39: Teenage Exorcist (1991, USA; D: Grant Alan Waldman; W: Brinke Stevens, story by Fred Olen Ray)
Cheerfully cheesy horror/comedy, hold the actual horror. All-star cast (of a sort): Brinke Stevens, Robert Quarry, Michael Berryman, and Eddie Deezen in the title role. Amiable crap.
40: The Land That Time Forgot (1975, UK; D: Kevin Connor; W: James Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock; based on novel by Edgar Rice Burrough).
English seamen plus one woman and an American (Doug McClure) are picked up by German U-Boat during WWI. After much intrigue, the find themselves in a lost world in the Antarctic, full of primitive humans and plastic dinosaurs. Earnest, but not quite up to the task.
41: Horror of Frankenstein (1970, UK: D: Jimmy Sangster; W: Jeremy Burnham and Jimmy Sangster)
Attempted re-boot of Hammer's Frankenstein series, it's an odd and sexed-up remake of The Curse of Frankenstein. Ralph Bates as Frankenstein and Dave Prowse as his creature are no substitute for Cushing and Lee. Film leans too hard towards camp, and ends on an anti-climax posing as a sick joke. Kate (The Rani on "Doctor Who") O'Mara makes for a fine lusty wench, though.
42: Coraline (2009, USA; D: Henry Selick; W: Henry Selick, from book by Neil Gaiman)
Wonderfully creepy stop motion kid's movie. Story is similar to other Gaiman tales (MirrorMask and "The Wolves in the Walls" particularly) but some ideas stand up to variations on the theme. Shown in 3-D.
43: Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939, USA: D: Norman Foster W: Norman Foster and Philip MacDonald, based on character by John P. Marquand)
Eighth and last of the original Moto films. Mixed bag of action and humor: action is top-notch (as is the ever reliable Peter Lorre), the humor is somewhat grating, thanks to a sub-Bertie Wooster upper-class twit character. Still, fast moving fun.
44: The Beast of the City (1932, USA; D: Charles Brabin; W: John L Mahin, Story by WR Burnett)
Grimly vicious cops vs. gangsters movie, with two cop brothers, one honest (Walter Huston), one crooked (Wallace Ford) pitted against each other. Heavy family melodrama impeded by poor sound recording, requiring everyone to speak a little too loudly. Jean Harlow is the crooked cop's girlfriend. Nicely violent climax kills off almost everyone in the movie (oops, spoiler!).
45: Superman: the Movie (1978, USA; D: Richard Donner; W: Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, Robert Benton)
Mildly amusing film, vacillates between silly and earnest. When I saw this when I was 11, I felt let down by the lack of hitting things. Don't these guys know what superheroes are all about? 30 years on, I still wish there had been more hitting things. On the other hand, there was lots of that in Superman II, and that didn't really work out much better. OK, I guess.
46: The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973, UK; D: Alan Gibson; W: Don Houghton)
Last of the Hammer Draculas, and not good at all. Shabby, meandering, half-heartedly sleazy. Even the gratuitous naked-girl-tied-to-altar (who they keep returning to throughout the first third of the film) is sub-standard. With Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Joanna Lumley.
47: Chloe, Love Is Calling You (1934, USA; D&W: Marshall Neilan)
Bad print of a bad movie. I thought it would be of historic interest, being about a mixed-race gal who falls in love with a white man on a Southern plantation. Throw in a vengeful voodoo lady, and you might have something there. Unfortunately, what you end up with is Golden Dawn transplanted to the julep-sippin' American south, complete with out-of-the blue voodoo sacrifice climax. Yes, the heroine turns out to really be all white after all. Feh.
48: The Return of Mr. Moto (1965, UK; D: Ernest Morris; W: Fred Eggers)
Low-budget spy/crime thriller starring Henry Silva as Mr. Moto. Silva plays the ostensibly Japanese Moto in straight-up American style, all back slapping good nature, and no accent (except when in disguise). Decent enough, like an over-long TV episode, but nothing special, and no real reason to be Moto other than name recognition.
49: The Sea Hawk (1940, USA; D: Michael Curtiz; W: Howard Koch and Seton I Miller)
Classic Errol Flynn pirate film, from the director of Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood. English pirates versus Spanish tyrrany! Flynn vs. Claude Rains! With Una O'Connor, Alan Hale, Flora Robson as Elizabeth I, and a monkey. Shot in B&W so they could re-use old ship-battle footage. Includes a scene with the king of Spain talking about re-drawing the map of the world in order to draw a clear parallel with then-current events. Great fun.
50: Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974, UK; D: Terence Fisher; W: Anthony Hinds)
The last of the Hammer Frankensteins. Throwing out the reboot of Horror of Frankenstein, we now find Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) posing as the head doctor in an insane asylum, still intent on carrying out more experiments. Meandering, but respectably grim horror tale, with much mordant humor and a thoroughly hopeless ending. Dave Prowse is yet another monster. With Patrick Troughton (the second Doctor) and Bernard Lee (M!)
And that's enough for now. Hopefully more soon.
So here's a chunk of my movie list, numbers 39-50:
39: Teenage Exorcist (1991, USA; D: Grant Alan Waldman; W: Brinke Stevens, story by Fred Olen Ray)
Cheerfully cheesy horror/comedy, hold the actual horror. All-star cast (of a sort): Brinke Stevens, Robert Quarry, Michael Berryman, and Eddie Deezen in the title role. Amiable crap.
40: The Land That Time Forgot (1975, UK; D: Kevin Connor; W: James Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock; based on novel by Edgar Rice Burrough).
English seamen plus one woman and an American (Doug McClure) are picked up by German U-Boat during WWI. After much intrigue, the find themselves in a lost world in the Antarctic, full of primitive humans and plastic dinosaurs. Earnest, but not quite up to the task.
41: Horror of Frankenstein (1970, UK: D: Jimmy Sangster; W: Jeremy Burnham and Jimmy Sangster)
Attempted re-boot of Hammer's Frankenstein series, it's an odd and sexed-up remake of The Curse of Frankenstein. Ralph Bates as Frankenstein and Dave Prowse as his creature are no substitute for Cushing and Lee. Film leans too hard towards camp, and ends on an anti-climax posing as a sick joke. Kate (The Rani on "Doctor Who") O'Mara makes for a fine lusty wench, though.
42: Coraline (2009, USA; D: Henry Selick; W: Henry Selick, from book by Neil Gaiman)
Wonderfully creepy stop motion kid's movie. Story is similar to other Gaiman tales (MirrorMask and "The Wolves in the Walls" particularly) but some ideas stand up to variations on the theme. Shown in 3-D.
43: Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939, USA: D: Norman Foster W: Norman Foster and Philip MacDonald, based on character by John P. Marquand)
Eighth and last of the original Moto films. Mixed bag of action and humor: action is top-notch (as is the ever reliable Peter Lorre), the humor is somewhat grating, thanks to a sub-Bertie Wooster upper-class twit character. Still, fast moving fun.
44: The Beast of the City (1932, USA; D: Charles Brabin; W: John L Mahin, Story by WR Burnett)
Grimly vicious cops vs. gangsters movie, with two cop brothers, one honest (Walter Huston), one crooked (Wallace Ford) pitted against each other. Heavy family melodrama impeded by poor sound recording, requiring everyone to speak a little too loudly. Jean Harlow is the crooked cop's girlfriend. Nicely violent climax kills off almost everyone in the movie (oops, spoiler!).
45: Superman: the Movie (1978, USA; D: Richard Donner; W: Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, Robert Benton)
Mildly amusing film, vacillates between silly and earnest. When I saw this when I was 11, I felt let down by the lack of hitting things. Don't these guys know what superheroes are all about? 30 years on, I still wish there had been more hitting things. On the other hand, there was lots of that in Superman II, and that didn't really work out much better. OK, I guess.
46: The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973, UK; D: Alan Gibson; W: Don Houghton)
Last of the Hammer Draculas, and not good at all. Shabby, meandering, half-heartedly sleazy. Even the gratuitous naked-girl-tied-to-altar (who they keep returning to throughout the first third of the film) is sub-standard. With Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Joanna Lumley.
47: Chloe, Love Is Calling You (1934, USA; D&W: Marshall Neilan)
Bad print of a bad movie. I thought it would be of historic interest, being about a mixed-race gal who falls in love with a white man on a Southern plantation. Throw in a vengeful voodoo lady, and you might have something there. Unfortunately, what you end up with is Golden Dawn transplanted to the julep-sippin' American south, complete with out-of-the blue voodoo sacrifice climax. Yes, the heroine turns out to really be all white after all. Feh.
48: The Return of Mr. Moto (1965, UK; D: Ernest Morris; W: Fred Eggers)
Low-budget spy/crime thriller starring Henry Silva as Mr. Moto. Silva plays the ostensibly Japanese Moto in straight-up American style, all back slapping good nature, and no accent (except when in disguise). Decent enough, like an over-long TV episode, but nothing special, and no real reason to be Moto other than name recognition.
49: The Sea Hawk (1940, USA; D: Michael Curtiz; W: Howard Koch and Seton I Miller)
Classic Errol Flynn pirate film, from the director of Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood. English pirates versus Spanish tyrrany! Flynn vs. Claude Rains! With Una O'Connor, Alan Hale, Flora Robson as Elizabeth I, and a monkey. Shot in B&W so they could re-use old ship-battle footage. Includes a scene with the king of Spain talking about re-drawing the map of the world in order to draw a clear parallel with then-current events. Great fun.
50: Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974, UK; D: Terence Fisher; W: Anthony Hinds)
The last of the Hammer Frankensteins. Throwing out the reboot of Horror of Frankenstein, we now find Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) posing as the head doctor in an insane asylum, still intent on carrying out more experiments. Meandering, but respectably grim horror tale, with much mordant humor and a thoroughly hopeless ending. Dave Prowse is yet another monster. With Patrick Troughton (the second Doctor) and Bernard Lee (M!)
And that's enough for now. Hopefully more soon.