1940 - THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT, typical Warner studios movie

This film about independent truck drivers is actually half of a really good action drama and half a ridiculously turgid soap opera plot towards the end.  George Raft and fourth billed Humphrey Bogart are brothers who are trying to establish themselves as independent trucks.

The first half of the movie has all of the good stuff, lots of snappy dialog as Raft flirts with Ann Sheridan and some good driving stuff courtesy of director Raoul Walsh.  Unfortunately things come to a grinding halt when Raft gets involved with Ida Lupino the wife of The trucking line they eventually end up working for.

Lupino has the hots for Raft and she is so in love with him that it drives her to insanity in an incredibly improbable but entertaining way.  In fact Lupino is so nuts that it almost redeems the last half of the film.

Since this is a Warner Brother's film the production values are good and the film does move along at a fast clip  the film is a brisk hour and a half.

95 minutes, written by Jerry Wald and  Richard Macaulay.

1962 - KING KONG VS GODZILLA - Toho's monster mash

I suppose it was inevitable that Toho Studio's would get their hands on the King Kong character and have him face off against their monster Godzilla.  Sure enough somebody got stuffed into a monkey suit and squared off against the guy stuffed into the Godzilla suit

This is not a very good film but it is a rather entertaining one.  As usual if you are a lover of toys and little miniatures, Toho studios exceeds at creating this stuff.  It's almost too bad that the monsters have to stomp around and destroy these beautifully detailed models.  It really was a different time in the world of special effects.   

The film was directed as usual by Ishiro Honda a good Toho company man apparently.  

This version of King Kong Vs Godzilla has additional scenes added on by some American producer who bought the rights to this film.  These scenes mostly consist of some actor pretending to be a news anchor and rehashing scenes from the movie.  They are kind of unnecessary and interrupt the flow of the film.

97 minutes, written by Shinichi Sekizawa.

1966 - ONE MILLION YEARS BC, the dinosaurs and bikini epic

Hammer Studios remake of the rather shoddy original film from the 1940's is an adolescent male fantasy.

The film has some of Ray Harryhausen's best animation work with some great monsters.

The film also was a breakout part for an ungrateful Raquel Welch who apparently didn't want to have anything to do with the film.  Well she still looks great with her cave girl false eyelashes and makeup job.

The film was patronized by the critics when it was released but it is an entertaining "B" movie adventure film.

100 minutes. Written by producer Michael Carreras who has his name all over a lot of these Hammer Films.

1971 - STRAW DOGS, a violent mess of a film

Sam Peckinpah's film is usually called controversial.  However so much time has passed since the film was released and film violence has seen the bar raised to new levels about the only thing controversial about this film is the rather shoddy story structure.  I still wouldn't let the kids watch this film if you are looking for a fun family night at the movies.

Dustin Hoffman plays the wimp college professor living in Cornwall England with his little too sexy for her own good wife played by Susan George who specialized in these trampy parts.  After lots of what can only be called sexual harassment leading too non consensual sex (maybe) the film hits its climax with a violent attack on Hoffman's home by a bunch of the locals.  The point of this all appears to be that Hoffman discovers his ability to kill while defending his home.

For a guy who started his career as a writer and who took a writer's credit on this film.  The story structure is really a mess.  Hoffman's character is a very unpleasant guy so you can't work up much sympathy for him.  Susan George has the truly thankless role of being the tease who starts all the trouble.  Peckinpah is apparently trying to make some point about violence and sex but what?  Being a naughty girl can get you in trouble?

Even as a director this is a disappointing film.  There is none of his famous slow motion violence and the Cornish countryside is certainly not filmed to exploit it's scenery.  But who am I to say this film is considered a classic.

117 minutes written by Sam Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman.

1956 - THE KING AND FOUR QUEENS, boring Western.

All this western has going for it is the star power of Clark Gable because this is a fairly drab film.
Gable is a con man who shows up at a ranch run by 4 women and their battle axe of a mother in law.  He's in search of some buried gold.  Gable charms each of the woman and that's about it for a story.

I suppose the idea was to base the film around Gable's star power but this  approach probably called for a director who could bring out the personalities of the actors a little stronger.  Action director Raoul Walsh was probably not the ideal choice in this case.

The film was shot in CinemaScope which was probably not the best choice for an intimate chamber piece of a story.

86 minutes, written by Margaret Fitts and Richard Alan Simmons.

2017 - WONDER WOMAN, fell for the hype again.

Without a hair our of place Wonder Woman takes on the evil Germans during World War I in this way too long superhero film.

A lot has been made about the fact that the film stars a woman and was directed by a woman.   All this goes to prove is that women can make these boring cookie cutter superhero movies the same as any male director

I'm surprised this film got such good reviews because I've already seen this movie several times before right down to the overblown action scenes.

When you finally get down to it I suppose Wonder Woman is as good a piece of junk as anything else in the theater this summer.

141 minutes, written by Allen Heinberg.

1947 - A DOUBLE LIFE, the kind of stuff they give awards out for.

A famous actor goes nuts while appearing in Othello and can't separate reality from his performance in the play.

Ronald Coleman a popular actor during the 1930's and 40's with a melodious voice is the actor.  The script was by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin so the theatrical backgrounds are well established.  The film was well directed by George Cukor who was known for getting good performances out of actors. 

The problem with this film is that it is just plain dumb. Coleman rolls his eyes and breaks out into a sweat as he descends into madness.  The fact that no one seems to notice he is off his rocker until about the last 20 minutes of the film.

This is the kind of stuff people win Academy Awards for.  Lots of hysterics from the leading man.  A musical score that borders on the melodramatic from Miklos Rosza and of course a death scene to make sure everyone in the audience knows what great acting they are watching.

104 minutes.

1941 - I WANTED WINGS, Army Air Force film with a ridiculous plot.

This film was made as a tribute to the Army Air Corps and shows what is involved in training men to become pilots for the upcoming war.  This film also has one of the most ridiculous soap operatic plots that takes any sincerity the film is trying to promote and crashes it into the ground not unlike some of the pilots during their training.

Ray Milland is the rich kid trying to prove himself by enlisting in the Air Corps.  William Holden looking very young is the grease monkey mechanic hoping to better his social standing.  Veronica Lake is the bad girl they both get involved with.  The plot has Lake attempting to ruin the career of Milland if he doesn't marry her.  To keep Milland out of trouble Holden marries her instead which leads to all sorts of complications.  It ends up with Lake stowing away on Milland's bomber during a training mission in a very ridiculous climax.

As a film production I Wanted Wings looks great.  The special effects, photography and for the most part the acting aren't bad.  But man oh man what a ridiculous story line.  Veronica Lake as the bad girl is hot and this ridiculous part made her a box office star for a brief period during the 1940's.

Needless to say a film as dumb as this made a lot of money.  Never under estimate the movie going public. 

135 minutes, amazingly three screenwriters were involved with this, Sig Herzig, Beirne Lay Jr. and future James Bond screenwriter Richard Maibaum.

1954 - SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, a high point for the MGM musical

An acknowledged classic MGM musical.  This film is unusual in that it is an original musical with original music and choreography created especially for this film.

MGM had so little faith in this film that they cut the budget which accounts for some of the phony sets the actors perform against.  It turned out to be when of their biggest box office hits of that year beating out their overblown turkey Brigadoon.

The film was very well directed by Stanley Donen with the dances and musical numbers staged by Michael Kidd.  The dance numbers particularly the barn raising number are extremely well done.

A superior Hollywood musical during the 1950's.

102 minutes, written by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich and Dorothy Kingsley. 

1951 - SHOWBOAT, MGM updates an old musical

In 1936, Universal Studios made a version of Showboat that was directed by James Whale.  This version apparently follows the stage musical fairly closely.  MGM remade and updated it in the 1950's with some significant changes.  

The screenwriter an old Hollywood veteran named John Lee Mahin changed almost all of the dialog and condensed the action to have the lovers reunited while they are young instead of 40 years later.  MGM filmed Showboat in Technicolor and clearly poured a lot of money into the production.  They kept the Jerome Kern songs and hired Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson to belt out the score with their almost bombastic singing styles.

If you are looking for a version of Showboat as the ground breaking musical theater that it was in the 1920's this isn't it.  The racial issues that production addressed have been played down quite a bit and Julie the mixed racial tragic heroine is played by the very glamorous Ava Gardner,

Still the music is good the film looks great and the score is well sung.  The dancing in the film is from the then husband and wife team Marge and Gower Champion.  Overall this is a slick piece of MGM film making.

107 minutes.

1953 - KISS ME KATE, a good musical

MGM and director George Sidney did a very good job filming this Cole Porter musical.  The songs are good, the dancing is great and the film has that overall MGM polish that they always gave their films.

The stars were Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson who were acting together for the third time in a musical.  Grayson was a soprano and Keel was a baritone.  Their bombastic style made them a pretty good match when it came to singing together.

Kiss Me Kate is noted for the dancing and beginning choreography of Bob Fosse.  Fosse did a little two minute bit where you can see the start of his finger snapping and strutting style.  But really all the dancers are  excellent particularly Ann Miller a very good tap dancer and Tommy Rall who was no slouch when it came to dancing.

The film was shot in the silly 3-D process then released flat as the bottom feel out of the 3-D market.  You can see the scenes where they are throwing stuff at the camera and other such nonsense but this doesn't distract from the quality of the film.

109 minutes, screenplay by Dorothy Kingsley.

2017 - JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2, see John Wick

John Wick is back shooting a lot of people again in this sequel to John Wick.  It seems that John is indebted to some Italian bad guy who wants his sister killed so he can take over her crime business in Rome.  To persuade John to take the hit he blows up John's house.  So off John goes to Rome to shoot a lot of people before returning to New York to shoot more people.  It seems that the populations of Rome and New York are about 50% assassins as John blasts his way through about every other person he meets.  

Keenau Reeves must have spent a lot of time playing with guns as he practically caresses some of them.   There is no mention of a female love interest in this film as well as the first one.  The real sex scenes are the bullets that come blasting out of John's guns into every hit man and assassin he meets up with.  It's very Freudian.

This is basically an action movie with a somewhat sick sense of humor.  The whole idea that there is a secret society of assassins operating in broad daylight in major cities with a code of assassin ethics is actually pretty funny.  The long uncut scenes of John Wick running around the streets of Rome and New York City just constantly shooting people has a sort of twisted black humor all it's own.

I actually preferred this John Wick film over the first one.  I don't believe for a second the filmmakers took this secret society of assassins seriously for a moment and the constant violence became absurdly funny after a while.

122 minutes, written by Derek Kolstad.

1972 - WAY OF THE DRAGON, Bruce Lee auteur

A film written and directed by Bruce Lee.  This is an unusual Bruce Lee movie in that he attempts to mix some comedy with the usual martial arts action stuff.

The plot involves Lee flying to Rome to save a Chinese restaurant that is being threatened by local gangsters.  The story is really just an excuse as usual for Bruce Lee to beat up a lot of guys which he does with his usual finesse. 

The film is rather poorly directed but once Lee gives up on the silly comedy at the beginning of the film and gets down to the fighting stuff the film finally comes to life.  Towards the end Bruce Lee takes on Chuck Norris who was in his prime as a martial artist.  Guess who wins.

As with most Bruce Lee films the martial arts fights are really something to watch.

100 minutes,  written by Bruce Lee.

2017 - BECOMING BOND, a film about a man who made a bad decision

The life story of one George Lazenby the one film James Bond who probably gets a footnote in film history as the man who turned down the James Bond film series after On Her Majesties Secret Service.  Probably one of the worst decisions made in the history of film production.

Lazenby narrates the film and comes off as an amusing fellow as he relates his life story to the camera which is inter cut with a series of recreations of his life.  Is it all true?  Who knows but it is pretty entertaining.   

Is this an important film?  Not really but it is kind of fun.  Did Lazenby make the worst career decision of his career?  Probably, but he comes off as a guy who learned to live with his life choice.

Worth a look.

92 minutes, written by  Josh Greenbaum.

1998: THE WARLORD BATTLE FOR THE GALAXY aka THE OSIRIS CHRONICLES

A bad science fiction film that Joe Dante directed.  This was a pilot for a science fiction series about a crew of rebels flying around space attempting to reestablish a galactic republic.  

With the exception of Rod Taylor the acting is extremely poor.  The cast doesn't seem to be able to put over the plot with a spec of enthusiasm.  The extremely poor and very derivative script doesn't help since it is a mismash of elements from Star Trek and in particular Star Wars.  The film was obviously trying for a wide appeal with the appearance of busty women and teenagers in primary parts.  Our so called hero is a very poor man's Han Solo.

The production is extremely cheesy looking the cardboard looking sets look like they are about to topple down around the actors throughout the film.  The special effects aren't particularly well done with the usual computer image assistance of spaceships flying around shooting laser beams at each other.  

Clearly Joe Dante brought no passion to this project the film doesn't even contain any of his typical movie references or in-jokes.  A very depressing film.

97 minutes, written by Caleb Carr (huh).

1983 - OCTOPUSSY, Bond movie number 13.

The last Roger Moore James Bond film that was any good.  Moore was entirely comfortable in the part.  The production was the usual classy job from the Bond producers.  The action and stunts scenes were well done.  The final action scene in an airplane was particularly outstanding.   

 

Roger Moore was always a particularly lightweight actor and the part of James Bond was tailored for him accordingly.  His films had a lighter touch to them than the Connery films.  Roger Moore's Bond did toughen up later in the series but he was always a pretty laid back kind of actor.

This Bond film actually has an espionage plot for a change and the typical Bond gadgets are a little more realistic than usual.  Even the sexist girl stuff is not too tiresome in this film.

131 minutes written by George MacDonald Fraser, Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson.

1973 - EMPEROR OF THE NORTH or EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE

 During the Depression of the 1930's hobos ride the railroad and have to contend with conductors trying to keep them off of their trains.  One conductor in particular called Shack is particularly sadistic in dealing with kicking hobos off of this train.  It's up to one hobo in particular called "A-No-1" to face him down.

The photography is great the locations were the same ones used by Buster Keaton in The General. The director is macho man Robert Aldrich so you  be sure the action will be tough and rugged.

The film stars two of Aldrich's favorite actors Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine (who is very scary), so you can be sure this film will be dripping with testosterone to put it mildly.   

A very entertaining manly adventure drama.

118 minutes.