Monty Python:Eric Idle's Best

This DVD begins with our man Eric(present day)standing with the legendary HOLLYWOOD BOWL looming large directly in back of him. The Bowl, was the site of the last-stand Python reunion concert in 1980. After Eric's Bowl tour we are treated to a short interview with Eric's mum(played quite nicely by Eric himself)followed shortly thereafter with the bulk of this disc-about 2 dozen classic skits from the original Python tv series circa 1969-'72, as well as several pieces from the 1980 Bowl show. the exciteable Kenny Lust kicks things off introducing someone that he would just DIE for! which seques directly into a stone-cold Shakespearean Eric asking for $50 to mend the shed. next up is tv chat-show host Eric interviewing Marx, Lenin and Mr. Che Guvera proving the lot of them haven't the foggiest when it comes to British football. cut to John Cleese interviewing 3 schoolboys played by Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Eric who seem to find it quite giggly that their chum Eric has just written a naughtly little skit called 'nudge nudge' and just like that we are catapulted to the skit itself as performed at the Bowl show in 1980..."is your wife a go-er know what i mean know what i mean nudge nudge wink wink". and then it's back to a classic Python film from the tv series, this one The Olympiad with competitions such as the 100 yard race for people with no sense of direction. hilarious! followed by an interview conducted by Michael Palin wherein we meet a character played by Eric who can only speak in anagrams. this is a perfect example of the talent of Mr. Idle as we struggle to keep up with him. another interview features Eric as man unable to pronounce the letter C, the silly bunt! another glorious Python film depicts the nightmare adventures of the international hairdressers expedition as they endeavor to scale Mount Everest...unsuccessfully. half way through this disc i'm beginning to think, hmmmmm, was Eric the BEST Python player? you make the call                                                       3/24/07

Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band:40th Anniversary

the show opens with a note-perfect rendition of their first and very rare single "my brother makes the noises for the talkies" followed shortly thereafter by it's B-side "i'm going to bring a watermelon to my girl tonight" with Roger singing the lead, not quite as perfect as Neil on 'brother' but nevertheless a major treat and a happy surprise to see they would not abandon their deepest roots. Vernon shows off his musical saw technique on 'falling in love'. sam reports to center stage for his spoons solo during 'shiek of araby'. loved and was delighted they trotted out Hello Mabel. guest vocalist Stephen Fry was superb on the spoken bits during several songs. and Phil Jupitus was appropriately gruff on a superbly rocking "Mr. Apollo". Legs Larry Smith came out a few times to entertain-he barely made it. i really liked(should i make that 4 stars?) this celebration. Neil and the boys really put together a nice package. and it goes without saying...and as everyone must and will say it.....and as i repeat the solemn vow now too....oh how we all miss Viv so much                                             3/25/07

Kate Bush:Under Review

Its interesting to not know very much about a artist and then to be guided very expertly through her career by several people in the music business passionate about her songs. Along with samples from her song videos and numerous interviews with Kate herself, each album is discussed right up through 2005s Aerial with key tracks dissected and debated with a reverential appreciation. By the time the discussions arrived at Kates 4th album The Dreaming it became very clear to me that there really is no one else like Kate Bush in modern music. A true original                                                 4/8/07

Breakfast At Tiffany's

Just saw this today after many years of hemming and hawing,and of course its delightful-as im sure you all know. I know this has nothing to do with plot or story arc but i love those old New York city taxi cabs painted yellow and red or yellow and green. That just right there put a warm smile on my face :) One of the centerpieces of this movie has to be the party scene. I think it is one of most fun scenes in all of moviedom. Another fun scene is where Holly and Paul are sneaking around in the 5 and dime conspiring what exactly to snitch. The arrival of Buddy Ebsen in the movie makes everything complicated for Holly and Paul. Watch for the stylish outfit Patricia Neal wears in her final scene where Paul makes clear his position. The last 10 minutes from when Holly pushes her cat out of the cab to her finally finding him/her again and Holly,Paul and cat embrace in the pouring rain on a New York street by a side alley is wonderful. ah, but, really, this whole movie is wonderful.                                  4/9/07

Bell Book and Candle

thank goodness for revival houses. my local one played this today (35mm.)and it makes going home to see it on the small screen such a shame. with a face like Kim Novaks the bigger the screen the better. this has to be her crowning achievement. she is so intoxicating. watching her pad around her little shop in her bare feet and snuggling up with her cat Pyewacket will put you under a spell. and thats exactly what happens to unsuspecting Jimmy Stewart when he needs to borrow her phone. a limited amount of space here prevents me from including all of the wonderful aspects of this movie-an underground beatnik/witches nightclub,ernie kovacs slurring performance,elsa lancasters giddy auntie,the potion drinking in an old witchs lair,and the line that elicited the biggest response from the revival house crowd when Jimmy asks Kim if shes done something un-american. no, she says, just something very american..very early american..that she has lived her life as a witch. but if ever i were to be ..bewitched, it is Kim that does it to me.                                                     5/1/07

Bob Le Flambeur

Saw this the other night at a film society(35mm.)and afterwards rented the DVD. The DVD is sharper which is appreciated but nothing compares to seeing the giant closeups in a dark room with other people. But another plus with the DVD are the extra features including an 2001(i think)interview with Daniel Cauchy who plays Paulo in the movie. Daniel addresses every aspect of this film and is enormously informative. The real revelation for me was Isabelle Corey who plays Anne in this film. Her presence on the screen is magnetic. A few days after seeing this I saw Bell,Book and Candle with Kim Novak. Both Kim and Isabelles faces are an oasis of pleasure for the viewer. I guess this movie is so respected because the legion of fans who worship at the alter of the nouveau vague pin-point this as the template for that movement. For me, it certainly was a minor effort to sit through. The many scenes of Paris and Isabelle helped me make it through.                             5/1/07

Our Man In Havana

quite an opening scene-high atop a hotel overlooking a clean white city of Havana just before the revolution. looks like Miami really. Alec Guinness is a delight all through this movie as you would suspect. And Noel Coward is a sight to see as he struts the streets of the city dressed impeccably in his british suit and umbrella. Ernie Kovacs looking much more fit and trim than as he was in bell book and candle. Jo Morrow, the actress who plays Guinness daughter in the film seems to be abracadabra'd in from another movie-possibly Gidget or the Trouble with Angels.not Jo, i mean, but her character in the movie-Millie. She's so bright and perky, always addressing her dad as father, like the daughters in the tv series Father Knows Best. This movie has its dark moments intersperced with its light moments. A very good mix. And the Cuban locations will have you riveted.                               5/8/07

Backstage

fan gets to meet her idol but fan is quite unbalanced and proceeds to negatively ingratiate herself upon the private life of said idol. this whole mess was just about excrusiating to watch. the constant look of misery, pain and noncomprehension that shrouds the fans face in nearly every frame of this movie is agony to bare with and i barely made it through, if only for my interest with the idol played by Mrs. Roman Polanski and the sights in and around Paris and its suburbs. if not for that i'd have to drop the only star i'm giving it.                                     5/10/07

Jimi Hendrix:Experience

The highpoint of this disc is a live performance from Stockholm Sweden in early 1969. The Emcee introduces The Jimi Hendrix Experience promising the audience some 'electric church music'. Jimi walks out looking like he just got out of bed, plugs in an uncharacteristic Gibson SG and proceeds to lay into a long bluesy Red House that starts and stops as Jimi gets acquainted with his new axe. After a long workout they next trot out Cream's Sunshine of your Love and work on it like scientists in a laboratory including an unexpected Noel Redding bass solo. I bought this dvd just for this performance although the other 45 mins. are an excellent primer for the newbies and a fond recollection for the old-timers. Recommended                                     5/21/07

Fay Grim

Parker is a treat to watch as usual and the script is excellent. Jeff Goldblum is perfect as usual,and the continuing dutch angles are a fun diversion. I liked the occasional white-letter title cards that pop up throughout the movie. Oh...what's it about? Well, Fay is a somewhat kooky mom who gets dragged into the underbelly of international intrique due to the fact that her missing husband is now wanted by our government and the govt.,believes Fay can lead them to him.                                        5/29/07

Harold and Maude

Harold is a young man, living in his wealthy mother's estate. He is leading a rather directionless existance consumed only with acts of fake suicide to irritate his patient mother(wonderfully played by Vivian Pickles)and frequent visits to the funerals of strangers where he can absorb the grief and remain entrenched in his death-obsessed twilight. enter 79 year old Maude who also attends strangers funerals whereupon she meets young Harold. at first, he does not know what to make of her for she counters his love of death with a love of life. gradually Harold begins to see the error of his ways. songs by Cat Stevens throughout are excellent.                                        6/8/07

The Love God?

This is just a review for The Love God? Don plays a meek bird magazine publisher who gets hornswoggled into turning his publication into a smutty GIRLY magazine! But lo, the new magazine becomes a hit and Abner(Knotts)morphs into a swinging playboy complete with his sexy entourage, the Pussycat Girls and a string of wild nightclubs called The Peacock club. Don Knotts is of course hysterical all the way through this movie. You HAVE to see him prancing and mincing and mugging his way through a big production number called "mr. peacock". What i really liked though is Anne Francis who plays miss Lisa LaMonica, a big city editor who helps steer Abner along the rocky path of debauchery. A funny movie and the enticing Anne Francis definately kept my attention.                                  6/14/07

A Good Year

excellent movie. funny, introspective, touching, beautiful. my goodness, there isn't a false note to be had. acting, by everyone, superb. the scenery, taken place in the south of France, warm and sunny. the story features multiple flashbacks with Albert Finney as Max's(Russell)uncle when Max would spend his summers with his uncle on his estate. All of these memories come flooding back to Max as he is now a successful adult and faced with the propostion of selling his uncle's home even though his uncle would prefer Max to stay on there. But enough of story explanation. You will love this movie. and when you have savored the main course you will be alloted yet another treat with a feature-length commentary between director Ridley Scott and screenwriter Mark Klein that will embellish the enjoyment of the movie like a succulent after-dinner mint. Can not end without my personal salute to the two actresses in the film that had me slackjawed-Marion Cotillard(see picture on dvd cover)who struck me as a cross between a young Jacqueline Bisset and the french actress Anna Karina...and Archie Panjabi who plays Russell's assistant back at 'mission control'. also enjoyed the acting of Didier Bourdon who plays the caretaker of the estates wine groves and who in real life(we learn from the bonus features)is a director in his own write. great movie...wonderful movie. oh and, not to forget little Tati and a certain miniature smartcar making its screen debut.                                                    7/16/07

Dracula:The Satanic Rites

so many wonderful performances in this film. whether to start with Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing is the question. As everyone knows but I have only come to the party as of late, Christopher Lee's Count Dracula is as good as it gets. I only need to have you look at his first scene in this movie to rest my case. A heavy wooden door swings open amidst billowing dry ice and the Prince of Darkness enters the dark prison room where a very unfortunate damsel lies helplessly awaiting her fate. As the camera zones in on Lee's face we see his lips part ever so slightly to reveal the tips of the two fangs that confirm his identity. The Count nears the girl and fixes her with a powerful and supernatural gaze that hypnotizes her, so much so that she weakly smiles even as the vampire comes close, sits beside her and eases himself down toward her neck. And Peter Cushing, playing professor Lorimar Van Helsing with a sturdy sense of purpose yet every bit the gentleman. I beckon you to his scene with the always excellent Freddie Jones, playing a corrupt scientist. The professor visits the troubled man in his laboratory where the verbal exchange between these two veteran actors is one of the highlights of the movie. Jones is reduced to a bleating whimper warning the professor he need "feel the threat of disgust" and that "nothing is too vile, nothing is too dreadful". Watching Cushing at first humoring his old college chum and then realizing the extent of his madness is a pleasure to follow. But all through "Satanic Rites" can be found outstanding performances. Joanna Lumley's exploration within the dark sub-basement of Pelham House where several "retched creatures" are chained is nerve racking. Michael Coles, Richard Vernon and William Franklyn give cool under fire characterizations as 3 Scotland Yard police inspectors. My only quibble is with the ending when I thought the Count goes down a little too easily but 5 stars nonetheless.                                                  8/8/07

Frankenstein 90

An interesting take on the Frankenstein tale. Definately different! It's a comedy and a French one at that! A French comedic take on the Frankenstein tale updated to 1984, the year this movie was made. In this retelling, we have a monster(whom is named Frank but pronounced FRONK, with a french accent) that speaks quite fluently, learns the fine art of eating etiquette, is taken for driving lessons and fishing lessons by his creator(Victor Frankenstein played by Jean Rochefort)and problematic of all, falls in love with his creators girlfriend Elizabeth played by Fiona Gelin. But Fronk is a most unhappy monster for he bemoans the lack of beauty in his face. He longs for a more conventional handsomeness. After an episode where Fronk steels Elizabeth away in the middle of the night because he just wants "a little cuddle" Victor decides that Fronk must have a girlfriend of his own and sets out to create one. Without giving the rest of the story away let me summarize by advising all those considering giving this movie a go, to be prepared for something very unexpected in a funny and as the description above describes "offbeat" way.                                              8/18/07

St. Ives

I had a hard time navigating the story here but watching Bronson is always fun and watching Jacqueline Bisset is a test of will-power to resist picking up the remote and freezing every frame she's in just to wallow in her foxiness. John Houseman speaking in measured tones like Alfred Hitchcock plays a rich old man who hires Bronson to retrieve some stolen ledgers. Jacqueline is Houseman's right-hand woman. This is a good little detective flick with many twists and turns. There are scenes in a deli that I liked as well as scenes that take place at a drive-in theater which really brought me back to my younger days. How I miss the drive-in! The music also nails the time in which this film was made-very early 70's blaxploitation scratchy guitar. A bonus feature is included with the DVD in which we get to see behind the scenes/on the set.                                         9/3/07

The Bangles:Return to Bangleonia

ML of Orlando exaggerates when saying the Bangles' singing on this disc is weak and out of tune. They do hit a few off-key notes here and there which they laugh about and apologize for during the commentary track. But no, this is not an "embarrassingly poor concert performance". It's the opposite...strong, fun and a bit tearful being that it's bassist Michael Steele's final tour with the group. But all spirits are up and the concert is as fresh as when I saw them a few weeks ago at their final show of the 2007 summer tour. The bonus feature commentary on this dvd that the band gives during the concert is extremely informative and the photo gallery has numerous pics from the earliest stages of the group that I had not seen....very cool. All in all the concert on this dvd, the commentary, the photo's and history of the group given by Susanna, Vicky and Debbi will make 99.9% of Bangles fans quite happy!                                                   9/18/07

The Cape Town Affair

Opening with a birds-eye view of Cape Town, we follow the path of a city bus winding its way through the bustling downtown. A cool jazzy main theme provides a nice background as we are taken within the very crowded bus where we are introduced to our heroine of the story, Candy (Bisset) who is about to become the victim of a slick pick pocket played by Brolin. Skip(Brolin)discovers a mysterious piece of film inside Candys' wallet and Candy's connection to whom this piece of film was intended for delivery is not at all happy that she arrives without it! The film is coveted by some nasty communists but Candy thought she was delivering something far less ominous. Without expanding on the details I will summarize by complimenting the cast who all do fine jobs and a script making for a taut piece of adventure. Special mention to Claire Trevor who plays Sam who would rather die than turn over their precious piece of film to those rotten commies! The Cape Town locations are interesting, always bathed in unusually bright daylight and the entire film has the unmistakeable look and feel of 1967 B-movie atmosphere. I've watched this about 3 times now and it keeps getting better with every viewing. A remake of the 1950's "Pickup on South Street". They should package this with that for I think the remake makes a nice companion to the original movie.                                    10/5/07

All My Loving

What I liked most about this film were the interviews, all of them from 1968(7?) The lengthier interviews are with Paul McCartney, Frank Zappa,Anthony Burgess,Eric Burdon and Donovan. Shorter interviews appear with Ringo Starr, Pete Townshend,Jimi Hendrix,George Martin,George Harrison's mum and Manfred Mann. Two gentlemen from the business end of the pop music business are Eddie Rogers, a Tin Pan Alley producer and jingle executive Jim West. All of these interviews whether they are of the longer or shorter variety are all very interesting. The musical highlights portion of the film feature Pete of The Who pummeling his guitar onto the stage in some club in Iowa and Eric Burdon leading his new Animals through a song called Good Times. There are portions of Hendrix on stage and ever so frustratingly brief glimpses of The Beatles in the recording studio(that would be Abbey Road). Donovan is filmed singing and playing guitar and Pink Floyd are filmed bathed in a red spotlight as they perform Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun. Cream conclude the film with We're Going Wrong which I suppose is a statement that the filmmaker wanted to make to justify the various scenes of war and violence scattered throughout the film. The disc also contains an excellent interview with the present day film-maker Tony Palmer                                        10/30/07

Anita:Swedish Nymphet

This film tells the story of a 17 year old girl tortured by her compulsion to have sex with complete strangers on a very regular basis. It also tells the story of her relationship with a compassionate student doctor who tries to get at the source of her obsession and ultimately to free her from it. Although there are many scenes of star Christina Lindgerg naked and having sex it never crosses over into cheap titillation. We care for this girl and only want for her to find happiness. It's interesting to watch the good people of Sweden some time in the early 1970's deal with a story like this. All the locations in the city and countryside where this was filmed really held my attention.                                     12/1/07

Felicity

The cover picture is very misleading. The lead actress who plays Felicity barely resembles the pig-tailed chocolate bar lover. Instead I thought the girl starring in this film was, I hate to be unkind but, a bit of an ugly duckling. Which is one thing...but don't have a much more interesting girl posing on the cover of your dvd under false pretenses. ok, that out of the way, I must point out that if you are looking for female nudity this movie does NOT disappoint. There is TONS of female nudity. Felicity travels to Hong Kong and her natural curiosity and desire to experience love making is met with great success. But after a while I grew tired of her 'journey of sexual awakening' and didn't even finish watching it. I'm sure I would've hung in there if the girl on the cover was the girl in the movie.                          12/12/07

Lie With Me

I wish there were a star between the 2nd and 3rd star because I didn't exactly like it and I didn't exactly not like it. I didn't exactly not like it because the female star of the movie is just so intoxicating to look at. But her character walks around in a daze. I'm so sick of characters in movies walking around in a daze. And the guy she meets is even worse. He's like a moving statue or a board who's mouth will drop open on occasion. I just got so sick of the female character's wandering around in a semi-concious state of bewilderment and then to hear the actress herself during the commentary bursting out in laughter over any simple comment really ruined the whole thing for me. So, bottom line, loved gazing at the scrumptious Lauren Lee Smith but the movie itself was a slow march to blitheringland.                                    12/17/07

The World of Henry Orient

The delightful escapades of two young teenage girls as they joyfully romp around Manhattan circa 1964. I love the New York City locations and the two girls are wonderful to watch. Peter Sellers, Paula Prentiss,Angela Lansberry,Tom Bosley and Bibi Anderson all give top performances. What's not to like? Movies like this are an oasis from the hard cruel world.                                      1/10/08

Across The Pacific

Being a fan of The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Key Largo and To Have and Have Not, I decided it was time to see Across The Pacific. Bogart, Mary Astor and Sydney Greenstreet, and director John Huston all embarked on this picture following the famed Falcon movie. This is right up there with those other gems. Bogart is as crafty, sly and good natured as always and Mary Astor is a treat flirting with Bogie. Sydney, as always, is fun to watch and the story is an excellent one. Absolute 5 stars. No wonder Woody has this poster taking up all of his bedroom wall in Play It Again, Sam.                         2/1/08

The Drive by Night

For me, this is the picture that introduced me to miss Ann Sheridan. According to the accompanying featurette, miss Sheridan was known at the time as the "ummph girl". I was just transfixed from the moment she appears in this story as a waitress that the brothers(Raft and Bogart) meet at a roadside truckers diner. Initially I slipped this disc into the player thinking it was going to be a Bogart movie and Humphrey does indeed have many good scenes but it is really George Raft and Ida Lupino who are the real stars here. A very good story, a great conclusion, an excellent making-of featurette and the extreeeeemly pleasing to the eye Ann Sheridan!!                                   2/7/08

Basic Training

As with my explanation of my 5 stars from my National Lampoon's Movie Madness review, I nominate Basic Training with the golden 5 star award due to one and one only reason...its star Ann Dusenberry. The movie?....eh. It just serves as a of-no-consequence vehicle for Ann to appear in. But of course, that is why I like it. Very poor DVD cover art-work by the way. If I ran things over there at MGM art dept., I'd get Ann's pretty face front and center on that cover!                                  2/21/08

National Lampoon's Movie Madness

My entire 5 stars here are exclusively devoted to Ann Dusenberry who appears in the middle section of this 3-part movie. There should be a shrine constructed and roped off behind glass prominently featured in her own wing of the Hollywood hall of fame. And her part in Movie Madness would be the crowing achievement from her all too brief career with Basic Training serving as a pleasing after dinner mint.                                2/21/08

Pie In The Sky:The Brigid Berlin Story

I love the cheerful product description of this at the top of the page: 'hilarious wild ride'. uh, no. Pie in the Sky is the story of a high-society girl (Berlin) who mortifies her parents with her willful self-destruction. I felt so incredibly sad for them. Brigid's mother was gorgeous and you can see in some of the Polaroids that Brigid had taken of herself in her youth that she also could have been a real stunner. The one thing I admire about Brigid is her love of organization. But to watch this film is a very depressing 75 minutes. There is some archival footage that I found interesting but it all comes back to poor Brigid. Sooooo sad. So very sad.                               3/5/08

You Kill Me

This movie is in the mold of "Something Wild"..a balanced mix of dramatic yet humourous and I love that combination. It's all crafted with the expert touch of director John Dahl who also directed The Last Seduction which is one of our/his classic films of all time. This is much in that same vein except with a smidge more levity sprinkled throughout. This is an excellent movie. Ben Kingsley and the rest of the cast are great. That this movie slipped under the radar and is practically unknown makes me sorrowful for the status of what is and not excepted by moviegoers en masse. well, not totally. plenty of people loved 'michael clayton' and 'no country for old men' which i also consider to be classics so.....I don't know. Why can't ;The Last Seduction' and 'You Kill Me' be as celebrated as say..........Hostel...or Shrek? In my world , the Hostel's and Saw's and Saw II's and Schrek's and Pirates of the Carribeans would be the forgotten movies and The Last Seductions and You Kill Me's would be the one's on everyone's rent night list                                           3/10/08

How Much Do You Love Me?

A typical French movie. Monica looks good in parts of this but I didn't disolve dreamily as did some characters in the movie do, uttering hypnotized whisperings like "what a beautiful woman". To me, to ME, I find Catherine Zeta-Jones for example,more beautiful than Miss Bellucci. Her male friend I did not find pleasant to watch. The introduction of Gerard Depardieu mid-point is a plus and the party scene in the friends' apartment was a high-point. Loved the song they were all dancing to in this scene. I loved Monica best here watching her gleefully dance wearing a red sweater. The story was interesting with a few surprising moments. I downplay Monica's beauty but she is ....a very alluring creature.                                          3/28/08

Love American Style

                   

 

Melodie Johnson, a personal favorite of mine appeared in a bunch of late '60's/early 70's films and TV and then retired, marrying record producer Bones Howe and became a author. After checking her film resume courtesy of IMDB, I learned she appeared in 3 episodes of L.A.S., so when the first of her episodes came out on the season 1, vol. 2 set I placed it right into my queue. Melodie's episode from this set is called "Love and the high school flop out" and co-stars Barry Gordon as a teen who asks out the waitress at the diner after being dared by his friends. I was smitten with Miss Johnson from the very time I saw this when it originally aired on tv way back in December 1969 and have remembered her all these years. It was like climbing into a time capsule and being wisked back in time watching this episode again. There ought to be a Melodie Johnson revival tribute or something because she is so fetching!                                  4/7/08                       

Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman

This is about a woman who is at the end of her rope with her philandering husband. It's driving her to drink and she starts to see things, such as a very large translucent sphere plopped down in the middle of the old country road she is driving along. Imagine her terror when a giant emerges from the unidentifiable plopped down in the middle of the road object and proceeds to reach out with his big hairy ugly rubber paw to try and snatch the priceless jewel hanging from Mrs. Archer's neck! But wait...is she dreaming this all up or was that REALLY some kind of creepy gigantic space individual out there!? Will ANY of the townspeople or the police or the good doctor or her good for nothing scheming lout of a husband believe her? Of course not. All of this plays out for a good hour before we get to see what the exposure to the UFO's ugly giant has had on Mrs. Archer, which is, to cause her to grow to gigantic proportions herself. During the final 10 minutes of the movie we get to see the actual 'Attack of the 50 foot Mrs. Archer' slowly stalking across the countryside in a trance-like state, searching high and low(mostly low)for her snake of a husband. This was the best part of the movie as we see the giant scorned wife trudging across the land(sort of like the artwork for the cover but not really. she never really straddles some busy highway reaching down to grab some unfortunate automobile). The vintage 50's special FX make the 50 ft. wife look eerily almost see-through but the chillingest aspect is her unemotional walk and the passive look on her face. It's interesting looking at the extremely low budget FX used at this time-the audience back then didn't question for a minute the ludicrousness of the special effects and in fact were quivering in their seats watching a ridiculously fake rubbery hand feebly trying to scoop up a citizen or when the overgrown Mrs. Archer clutches what is clearly a mannequin in a suit (representing the lowly Mr. Archer.)                                                       4/19/08

The Complete Monterey Pop Festival

disc 3 here has a great collection of film footage that did not make the original movie. If you ask me, D.A. should splice all of these clips into the main body of his movie for the ultimate version but that exciting suggestion aside, we'll have to settle for this extra bonus disc which I for one am really glad I queued up. One of the most primal moments in the outtakes is of Laura Nyro emoting through her "Poverty Train". She was truly an exceptional singer as this clip so ably bares witness to. The Electric Flag rip through an exhilating "Drinkin' Wine"-they're all just flyin' as high as a kite and Michael Bloomfield lays down a smokin' guitar solo. Really worth seeing. And also a treat is to see some rare footage of Buffalo Springfield even though Neil Young had quit by then. More treats in store(this entire disc contains nothing but treats as a matter of fact)include the Paul Butterfield Blues Band(you get to see what a great singer and harpist Paul was)The Byrds(David Crosby tearing into the vocal for "Hey Joe")and Blues Project with their exploratory "Flute Thing" that became the centerpiece of these outtakes for me. I also was turned on to the song Quicksilver Messenger Service perform on here which is called "Dino's Song" but is listed on the disc as "All I Ever Really Wanted to do.....". Simon and Garfunkel are precise and sparkling with their 2 songs: "Homeward Bound" and "Sounds of Silence" and Janis is smiling from ear to ear throughout her band's "Combination of the Two". Plenty of crowd shots are intersperced throughout all of this as with the original film and the color is rich and vibrant which I really loved. The Mama's and Papa's festival closing set is here, intact, and it really puts you there on that chilly July evening in Monterey. I really loved this whole disc. Thanks D.A. for bringing all this out of mothballs.                                                  5/5/08

Zappa Plays Zappa

Watched all of this, both discs, last night. All of it was extraordinarily excellent. Me and my fellow big Zappa friend sat there watching this and repeatedly remarked how excellent it all was..amazed how close it all sounded to the records. Extraordinarily close. Impossible reproductions: check. Blinding fast and accurate mallot and vibes play: check. Incredible sax solo from multi-talented Scheila Gonzalez: check. Dweezil doing his father proud in the guitar solo dept.: check. With Napoleon Murphy Brock singing much of the lead vocals along with his on-stage spirited personality there comes an air of authenticity that Zappa fans want. Terry Bozzio's contribution was a real treat. The only thing I missed was Frank's patented unique droll voice on songs like Cosmic Debris, I'm The Slime and Trouble Comin Every Day et al. Dweezil gives a heartfelt thank you to all the fans at the show(filmed in Portland and Seattle) for supporting his father's music. Also the disc concluding interview with Dweezil describes the coming together of this project and of this band. Not a Frank Zappa and band live performance but I swear there is a hair's width of difference between the two.                           5/5/08

Screamplay

Excruciating. Made it through maybe 12 minutes of this and I couldn't take it anymore. And I WANTED to like it because George Kuchar was in it but, sorry, I could not take it. The key here is Troma I believe. A red flag went up when I saw this was produced by them but I figured I'd give it a shot. That was the last time I'll ever venture into Tromaland. What an utter waste of my bonus disc that I used for this. I need to cleanse my mind with another viewing of Sins of the Fleshapoids.                        5/22/08

The Electric Prunes:Rewired

this is a very generous helping of the subject, The Electric Prunes as we are invited along with them on their 2002 tour of the U.K. Along with a complete show filmed in Brighton, England the disc also offers 3 special features: 1.Bass player Mark Tulin talks about and describes each song that they perform during their concert 2.a making-of for their recently recorded cd "Artifact"(featuring a lengthy wig-out with guest guitarist Peter Lewis) and 3. my favorite part of the disc, a tour overview with filmed snapshots of all the stops on their tour-Canterbury, Manchester, Bristol, Southhampton, London and a swoop down to Athens. The full concert is great showcasing all of their classic songs with a few newer ones mixed in. I'd like to make a special mention of their drummer Joe Dooley who we learn was also their 1968 tour drummer as well. I loved listening to his playing throughout this show and I hope you wouldn't be too distracted by all the glowing psychedlic lights and patterns splattering over the band during the concert to the point of missing Joe's excellent chops.                                       6/6/08

Cool It Carol

A real artifact from 1970 England. As I was watching this I imagined a tiny darkened British cinema room with a handful of audience, watching this film during the few weeks it was playing on their movie screens. At the time, this film was surely viewed as ultra-modern but watching it today it seems so ultra-dated, but.......I like that. It's wonderful fun to watch the way men and woman interact in this. The British customs and manners on display throughout the film are a relic of times gone by but I enjoyed stepping into this time machine that shot me back to that era. I'm sure you know the general storyline so I will just mention that the leading lady is a very sweet girl who begins to get herself into some challenging escapades with her boyfriend as they take a stab at success in big brassy swinging London town circa 1970. I kept waiting for a catastrophic calamity to befall the two but......but......well, I shan't give the ending away. The disc comes with a superbly entertaining and comical trailer that compliments the main feature..not just rehashes it. One minor quibble......the girl on the dvd cover art surely is not the female star of the movie--I don't know why they DO these things!                          7/18/08

Hellboy II:The Golden Army

And now, from someone who did not see Hellboy I and is not a comic/movie fan and only really went to see this movie to check out Selma Blair. Well geez I was not disappointed with Agent Sherman nor any other facet of this grand movie. Right from the opening, a flashback of HB as a wee lad, to present day with a fully grown HB working for the paranormal institute alongside his buddies Abe Sapien and Liz(Agent Sherman)(Selma Blair)I completely enjoyed this great flick. Jeffrey Tambor, always amusing and the introduction of the vaporous Johann Krauss really lifted the procedings yet further. And of course, it is Ron Perlman who owns this movie with his wisecracking title character. Good grief I enjoyed this movie~! Saw it twice! I just may go again. One sad afterthought..I noticed in small print in the newspaper ad for HB2 this 'warning':"THIS FILM CONTAINS DEPICTIONS OF TOBACCO CONSUMPTION". Thank goodness we have some pansies on the job!                           7/31/08

Mannix

This review is for the episode "Warning:Wild Blueberries"(season 1/disc 2). I wanted to see this episode because rock group of yore Buffalo Springfield appears in it. The story involves a girl of about 19 who gets in trouble while staying at a commune. Her father hires Mannix to check up on her. The whole episode is naturally loaded with vintage 60's touches-casual cigarette smoking within office buildings, which Mad Men makes a point of presenting properly...the brown beltless slacks Mannix wears in one scene...a gorgeous open air interior view of a new Ford Mustang convertable as two characters are talking and driving as well as the to be expected representation of the youth of the day bedecked in flowers and nehru shirts sitting in a small underground club called the Lost Dimension which is where indeed we find the prized appearance of Steven Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin live on stage. Mannix has come to the club on a tip to try and dig up some information about our troubled leading lady. Their appearance is brief and largely in the background but there are several front and center full band camera pans of the group which is pretty exciting before the story is turned back to Mannix and his mission. They are seen and heard playing two songs, first at the beginning of the episode and once again at the end. First song is Bluebird and it is live, not just them lip synching to the recording. If you concentrate on blocking out the main dialogue between Mannix and the other people in the club you can follow quite nicely the Springfield's pacing through the song. And near episodes end we see them again running through a slightly slower but very expressive For What It's Worth. A real treat but at the same time torturingly brief. But I still recommend this certainly to any fans of B.S. as well as fans of the Mannix series. Special mention to character actor Phil Leeds and Valora Noland the troubled girl's roommate                   8/16/08

New York Giants:Road to Superbowl XLII

This here is a review of just disc 4, the NFC championship game vs. the Packers at frost bitten Lambeau Field where game time temperature dropped to a toasty -1. Third coldest game in NFL history. Oh, and a wind chill of -23. On this January 20th, 2008 night it was actually 23 degrees at the north pole but -1 in Green Bay! Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are the play by play men taking us through these 4 quarters and the deciding overtime when Laurence Tynes reverses the 2 previous missed field goal attempts by dunking a 47 yard long boy through the Green Bay uprights, sending a lot of Lambeau faithful home on a very cold night in Wisconsin and putting the victorious Giants on a plane to the Super Bowl. I like watching a football game in inclimate conditions and this one really fit the bill with the dirty yellow turf, the jumbo-sized, bare meat arms of the linemen...constant visible breath jetisoning from the players mouths and the apple red cheeks of Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. It's sad watching Brett Favre taken down to defeat but it is exhilarating watching the young Eli Manning take his team on a journey that no one had them pegged for. But for me, the piece de resistance of this dvd is the seemless splice job NFL films has done to exorcize the brutal momentum killing commercials that are foisted upon the fans at any break in the action. Watching this on dvd you see the game and ONLY the game with nary an ad in sight the entire game. It is sheer p l e a s u r e. This dvd is the antidote to what we have to suffer through during the live broadcast. It's the BEST way to watch a game! NO COMMERCIALS!!!!!!!!                                    8/27/08

Six In Paris

Six delightful short stories and candidate for the Criterion Collection, without a doubt.
A big advantage for Six In Paris (SIP) being Criterion'd would be a sprucing up of the english sub-titles, which are white and when presented over daylight scenes, can be difficult to read.
Would also hope Criterion includes the special features that are included with this New Yorker Films disc, they being 4 interviews conducted in 2008, one with Barbet Schroeder, editor Jackie Raynal, Albert Maysles and Film critic Richard Brody. Brody sheds tremendous light on the entire history of the French new wave film movement but also adds insight into each of the 6 stories here.
Barbet Schroeder is interviewed, also providing enlightening description on the whole production of SIP which as a 22 year old, he produced!

Each story is separated by approximately 20 seconds of black screen------

story #1--After a gorgeous opening featuring the the bustling streets of Paris (this is where the narration in white subtitles can be difficult to read) we settle in on an apartment scene with a girl and guy that becomes a heated exchange, a separation and a concluding twist. (don't want to give too much away)

story # deux--directed by Jean Rouch, this came to be my favorite of the six stories. Firstly, we have a story presented in, I'd like to say one long take, but I detect an edit halfway through, moving from a darkened elevator shaft to the concluding out-doors scene. But even so, two long unedited scenes, and, if true, one long unedited scene is amazing to follow. So much for the actors to memorize and execute without error.
Secondly, the small details...the breakfast table with the couple sipping their coffee from small bowls, baggette and butter vs. toast, .. on a blue and white striped table cloth and the vision of 22 year old Barbet in orange pajamas, countered with his later 2008 interview in the dvd's special features. Second time I've encountered a character named Odile, the first being Godards' Band of Outsiders. Friction between the two, this time of the married variety, as opposed to the singles in story 1, gains steam, featuring this exchange I thought worth noting: Wife- "The worse thing about marriage is that one is never alone. You've lost your mystery. When I first met you, I could imagine anything. Now, I know all your qualities and faults....I always know what you'll do. Can there be love when the mystery is gone?" He: "I don't understand you. Its the opposite for me. The more I know you, the more I love you. Even your little faults."
The shocking finale made me exclaim "Woooah-I didn't see THAT coming!"

story trois----A light souffle after a heavy meal. A slight man with an unforgetable face escorts an escort to his tiny apartment. She: "like winter in here!" With a portrait of his father gazing down upon them, the 'action' is postponed as they settle in for some supper. Quite amusing as we wait....and wait, for the ultimate transaction that will come to pass.....?

saving the big guns for last with stories 4, 5 and 6 directed by Eric Rohmer,Jean-Luc Godard and Claude Chabrol.

story quatre-Rohmer's story begins with an extensive explanation and pictoral of the center of Paris, the Arc de Triomphe, which as explained is the intersection of the 12 wide avenues. Because the Arc is a tribute to Napolean, the French never go there, being "disdainful of the prestige" it represents. It is only visited and looked on by tourists and foreigners. Soon however a story developes that I found the most curious of the six, that is to say, not uninteresting. Brody points out in his interview, the only story not involving a woman in a major role. Curious with moments of tension, humor and retribution....or not.

story Cinq-the story I was most interested in seeing by Godard but filmed by Albert Maysles-explained succinctly by Brody in the interview. As with all six stories, Godards' opens with some Parisian street scenes-traffic, pedestrians etc., although reassuringly vacillating between street sounds and silence as Godard is want to do. You wouldn't have it any other way. Johanna Shimkus,tres belle,in her second screen appearance, stars as a coquettish tease visiting upon two men, both lovers and both undecided by her whom she loves more. Once again, Brody's analysis of this story as what was happening in Godards own life between he and his then wife Anna Karina is facinating.

story six-directed and starring director Claude Chabrol , I'm only just realizing none of this is widescreen! Calling Criterion again! Interesting story, while I feel the slightest of the 6. Here, I realize that the French drink red wine with their meals. Nothing new to anyone I'm sure but something I find interesting nevertheless.
Claude gulps it down after a mouthful of food as he bickers with his wife "the queen mother" while their son seeks to block out all the noise.

In conclusion, while I appreciate that this DVD is available courtesy of New Yorker films, I would love to have it upgraded by Criterion or MOC or Olive or whomever with new subtitles and letterboxed AND not forgetting to carry over the essential special feature interviews included with the New Yorker release.                          1/1/13