rate the last movie you saw

[Eric Paddon]

Thanks for the warning. No need to have it at all!

[mkaroly]

My disappointment in the commentary track had more to do with the stretches of silence throughout - it is a pet peeve of mine where commentary tracks are concerned. I have not listened to any of the commentary tracks on any of the Pink Panther films, and I have not seen any PP films past TRAIL. I am unable to sit through people trying to imitate Sellers playing Clouseau. I suppose Sellers as Clouseau is a filmic "sacred cow" for me...lol...

[AndyDursin]

I've learned that the stretches of commentary silence are nearly always edits from the studio that owns the film. The speaker often isn't taking a break -- in most cases it's because they are touching upon something that the studio is editing out for whatever reason. So in this instance, it's not Kino Lorber making an edit, it's someone from MGM listening and wanting something removed from it. And since Maynard was "honest" in his track, he was probably talking specifically about the film's failure to a degree MGM didn't care for.

It's a fine line to walk. It's like when I was writing liner notes for Quartet and Paramount didn't like it when I wrote something about how INTERSECTION won a Razzie award. Then I had to quickly rewrite another paragraph because it was too "negative". A few alterations to a couple of specific sentences (it was that precise) and it was all set -- I think the Paramount rep even said "good job" -- but it's curious because I've read plenty of liner notes that are critical of the films they accompanied or at least mention a movie's "commercial disappointment". In my defense, I was just writing what I've read others do in their notes! It depends on what studio and who you are dealing with on a certain day.

In the case of the audio commentaries, they function much the same way but it's even more obvious when it happens because the speakers simply shut off. At first I think people thought the silence in these tracks was because the speaker had nothing to offer -- in a few cases that may be true, but in most cases, I've confirmed it's because the studio simply didn't like what was being said.

The most obvious example I recall recently was on DEATH WISH 3 where Paul Talbot started talking about the music, which was credited to Jimmy Page but most have said wasn't written by him. As soon as he started talking about the music over the opening credits -- and his thought wasn't even finished -- it shut off and there was 60 seconds of silence. It wasn't because he didn't have something to say!

[Monterey Jack]

It's a fine line to walk. It's like when I was writing liner notes for Quartet and Paramount didn't like it when I wrote something about how INTERSECTION won a Razzie award. Then I had to quickly rewrite another paragraph because it was too "negative". A few alterations to a couple of specific sentences (it was that precise) and it was all set -- I think the Paramount rep even said "good job" -- but it's curious because I've read plenty of liner notes that are critical of the films they accompanied or at least mention a movie's "commercial disappointment". In my defense, I was just writing what I've read others do in their notes! It depends on what studio and who you are dealing with on a certain day.

It reminds me of how the liner notes in the early days of FSM releases often had the same snarky, humorously honest tone of the print magazine when describing the (often poor) movies, but just a few years into the line they had become much more "professional".

I'm still miffed that the hilarious commentary track for The Thing has been the "PC version" since the first Blu-Ray release. And there, it wasn't even that the studio muted bits they didn't like...they had alternate takes of John Carpenter and Kurt Russell talking about the movie!

[mkaroly]

I did not know that Andy...thanks for sharing! Should not have been as harsh as I was.

[Eric Paddon]

That does explain a lot. If I hear silences in the future on a commentary I will take that into account!

[AndyDursin]

Hey, I'm here to enlighten, educate, AND entertain

[Paul MacLean]

Fantastic Planet (7/10)

Visually arresting sci-fi animated French movie from 1973 (and an obvious influence on Heavy Metal: The Movie some years later), with an intriguing (if at times disturbing) script. However, despite the highly imaginative visuals, the actual animation is often static, on an almost "Filmation" level. The pop / rock score is very dated as well. Despite a running time of 1:12, it also feels like a much longer movie. And a great deal of the most memorable imagery is in actually the trailer...




Lady Caroline Lamb (8/10)

I've wanted to see this film for a very long time, though it's been hard to find. Written and directed by Robert Bolt (his first -- and last -- directorial effort) it tells the true story of Caroline Ponsonby, and her marriage to up-and-coming MP William Lamb in the early 19th century. Caroline, an unbridled, indiscreet young woman, soon clashes with the proper, reserved William and she takes a shine to young, starving poet Lord Byron. Their openly adulterous affair creates a scandal in "high society" and ends in disaster when Byron publicly spurns her.

Although Robert Bolt penned some of the best screenplays ever -- Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, The Mission and of course A Man For All Seasons (based on his play), Lady Caroline Lamb is unfortunately not up to their level. It's a fine film, but just not a great one -- which is surprising, given the subject matter and Bolt's track record as a writer. The direction is more than competent -- but at the same time nothing special. It is a mostly interior, set-bound drama (like a television movie), and small in scope -- surprising, given that Bolt was a protégé of David Lean.

The acting is superb however, led by two up-and-coming stars -- Sarah Miles as Caroline, and Jon Finch as William (it's unfortunate, given the calibre of their work, that neither of them went on to "bigger and better things"). The supporting cast is also terrific, featuring John Mills, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, and Richard Chamberlain as Lord Byron.

Richard Rodney Bennett's score is gorgeous, and one of his best -- though there isn't much of it. Very few scenes feature music, and the spotting is a bit odd (few of the scenes depicting William's and Caroline's disintegrating marriage are even scored).

In all, a very good film, but (given the talent pool involved) not the "lost classic" I was hoping for. I have to add the DVD (released by New Star Video) has the second-worst transfer I've ever seen (Return of A Man Called Horse remains the worst). I only made it through the first ten seconds before turning it off, it looked so bad; I wound-up watching a better transfer someone uploaded to some website in Russia! I paid 17 bucks for that DVD too!

This is the link if anyone wants to watch it in somewhat acceptable quality...

[Eric Paddon]

From Here To Eternity (1953) 6 of 10

-Another freebie Blu-Ray pickup for me. I think I saw it once decades ago so this was my first in-depth study. There are some fine performances in the film and it helped that they shot this film on location in Hawaii. I will say though that I find it amusing how the film is considered a classic because in the conventional tellings, it was the first to break down certain barriers in what subjects films dealt with and they of course present this argument in the framework of how it began the process of weakening the Production Code. But the irony for me is that *because* the Production Code was still in place, this enabled the film to be much more accessible than if we'd seen an open and frank adaptation of the novel with its more unsavory aspects and foul language. In fact I think this is the ultimate joke on those who hail certain films of the 1950s and 60s as "groundbreaking" in terms of "breaking down barriers". They don't seem to realize that the restraints they had to work around ultimately made the films *better* than if they'd been done in the post-Code universe.

-That said, I don't think this film is as great as its reputation. In fact, the most ballyhooed scene, the Lancaster-Kerr make-out session on the beach really doesn't generate much sizzle from my standpoint. Maybe that's just my modern-day perspective, but I think one other problem for me is that I simply don't find Deborah Kerr to be as sizzling-sexy in this film as all the talking heads keep saying she is. I have found Kerr to be a lovely presence in many films, but I honestly don't think she looks that great in this film because like many redheads she is not served well by black and white photography (especially with the shorter hairstyle). She looked far more sensuous in "The King And I" by contrast in the famous dance with Yul Brynner (that scene is far more sexually charged than the beach scene of Eternity. Perhaps I'm also jaded from seeing the many parodies that have been done of that scene, starting with Sid Caesar's)

-Sinatra did deserve his Oscar and so did Donna Reed. I was glad the supplements also demolished the myth about George Reeves part being cut. I think the basis for this urban legend though is the fact that his Sergeant Stark character was apparently much more prominent in the novel and consequently those familiar with the novel might have assumed there was more of his character filmed but cut, when in fact the shooting scripts made clear that every scene scripted for Reeves was filmed. It is though curious that Reeves name was left off the credits completely and perhaps that was the source of Reeves later frustration, that the producers didn't want to acknowledge his presence in the film.

(I have NO intention of making this a read the book project. I have no desire to read Jones's original with its salty language and more graphic depictions of scenes that the film changed or did not do)

[Paul MacLean]

^^ That's one "classic" I still have never seen. My parents told me the Lancaster / Kerr scene on the beach was considered quite racy in its day!

[AndyDursin]

BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW (1970)
8/10



Despite routinely appearing on critical appraisals of the top British horror movies, I confess I'm late to the party and hadn't seen this one before. When Severin offered some copies of their sold-out limited edition BD/CD during their summer sale, I decided to take a chance with it -- thankfully this is one of those times when a movie lives up to its billing.

This 1970 chiller about satanic forces infiltrating a 17th century English village has dense, foggy surroundings, a supernatural mystery (that's not fully explained), and a lot of interesting narrative touches. As the film gets going, it's not entirely clear who the movie's central characters are -- in fact, some of the first ones you're introduced to, who aren't overly likeable, end up becoming the film's heroes by the picture's end. Others meet abrupt fates, just when you think the film is settling into convention -- something, to its credit, that it never does.

Patrick Wymark (last film before his death at age 44; it's crazy how much "older" people seemed back in those days!) is really good here as the Judge whose town becomes overrun with evil (namely in the form of childhood pranks that eventually lead to deadly sacrifices) but Linda Hayden steals the show as the sultry teen who becomes a tempress as a mostly-unseen creature preys upon the locals, causing most of them to develop a patch of hair on their bodies, marking them as the devil's prey.

The film keeps you off-kilter throughout and while it's not really "scary," it's an eerie and absorbing look at a pagan revival in an age of growing enlightenment -- a reverse "Wicker Man" of sorts, and for me, a superior piece of cinema. The movie's score by Marc Wilkinson is interestingly orchestrated with ondes martenot and while it goes over the top a few times, it's certainly richer and more interesting than your typical Hammer score (the Severin Blu-Ray I picked up has a copy of the soundtrack included within). So too is this movie -- it has a strange, offbeat quality and ends in a fiery flash (quite literally, the action climax is brief and to the point) that marks this as a deserved cult favorite through and through.

[mkaroly]

REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1955). 3.5/10 (maybe 4.5/10 in 3D). The Creature from the Black Lagoon is captured by scientist Joe Hayes (John Bromfield) and brought back to Florida's Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in order to be studied and bringnig money ad an attraction. Animal psychologist Clete Ferguson (John Agar) and ichthyology student Helen Dobson (the very lovely Lori Nelson) are among those allowed to study the Creature who is chained to the floor of a large aquarium. Clete and Helen fall in love and get engaged, but the Creature also has a thing for Helen. Eventually the Creature escapes and stalks Helen on land in the hopes of bringing her back with him to the Black Lagoon.

This film was originally released in 3D, and while I imagine I would have given it higher marks with the 3D effects, I don't have glasses or a TV or DVD player that is 3D compatible, so I don't think I'll ever know. The movie has its charm - it has that 50s sci-fi movie feel to it, has a great death scene (where the Creature picks up a dude and throws him against a tree...lol...well done!), and the Creature himself looks more streamlined. Clint Eastwood's film career began with this movie as he makes an appearance, and Lori Nelson is super beautiful. Unfortunately this movie basically recycles the first film (including direct scenes), except the Creature gets out and walks on land. Too much time is spent on Clete's and Helen's courtship, and it takes a bit longer than it should have to get to the climax. This movie also does a variation on the swimming scene from the first movie: both Clete and Helen swim in the water while the Creature follows them. While the first film's swimming sequence was balletic and suspenseful, this variation on it lacks anything special and, to be honest, is kind of poorly done in my opinion. And usong a cattle prod underwater seems like not so good an idea. Not a horrible film but definitely a let-down from the first film.

[mkaroly]

TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN (1969). 7/10 (guilty favorite). In this mock-documemtary which chronicles the rise and fall of one of the not-so-greatest criminal minds of the twentieth century, Woody Allen plays Virgil Starkwell, an incompetent criminal who has aspirations of becoming the world's greatest bank robber. His life story unfolds as a series of failures, dumb decisions, and ineptitude...and that is what makes the film funny in my opinion. Normally documentaries are really serious and, although the subject at the center of the documentary has a downside or dark skeletons in his/her closet, by the end it lauds the subject's brilliance or laments how we have all misunderstood the subject. Not so here - the people interviewed have very little or nothing at all positive to say about Virgil - and yet, while laughing at how bad of a criminal he is, I find myself always pulling for him.

I have seen this movie many times, but I don't remember all the bits or all the dialogue, so watching it here and there always provides something "fresh." I had forgotten about the cello teacher's line about how Virgil had no conception of the cello, for he tried blowing into it. One of my favorite moments is when Virgil goes to chapel and makes these weird gestures at the altar starting with a bow and then a huge sign of the cross thing...makes me laugh every time. However, mostly this time around I laughed at the final interviews with Louise Lasser ("I actually believed he was an idiot!") and the interview with the character Stanley Crim (Cretin) who shot the last known footage of Virgil Starkwell before he was captured and sent to prison for hundreds of years. I completely forgot this bit was in the film ("Can you get to the point?") - I couldn't stop laughing. Allen's weird and absurdist humor is appealing to me in these early films. I still greatly enjoy TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN.

[jkholm]

I haven't seen TAKE THE MONEY... in years but I've always remembered the bit with the illegible holdup note. "I have a gub."

[Paul MacLean]

For me, Take The Money and Run remains one of Allen's better films, which is saying a lot considering his sizeable of his body of work. It's also interesting that it is a more straightforward, "conventional" movie -- with an original score by Marvin Hamlisch (whereas Allen would later abandon original music in lieu of needle drops) and lacking the "black title card" credits which he would later adopt for all his movies (up to this day).