I have had time to catch up on some reading while sheltering at home with the coronavirus pandemic raging on. I came across an interesting observation made by Kim Newman in his “Apocalypse Movies” book. He observed that in several 1950’s era science fiction movies, the military and scientists combined their efforts to rid the world of alien menaces with some new sonic based weapons. Newman imagined that the sonic weapons could have either been introduced as a safer, more progressive form of warfare, especially when having to secure the safety of the civilian population, as opposed to nuclear weapons [More]
“The Satan Bug” (1965) has an intriguing concept, the world could possibly end if a germ warfare agent known as the Satan Bug were to be accidentally exposed to an unknowing public. Well, in the desert, there exists a germ warfare lab and it appears that a vial of the Doomsday Drink is missing. Ah…..Espionage is afoot. This is all well and good but I must say that trying to follow all the clandestine activity and all the bodies involved in the nefarious deeds and double crosses (TODAY’S HEADLINES, ANYBODY?) was a bit migraine inducing. What I find very alarming [More]
Martin Scorsese’s epic crime movie of The Mob setting up shop in Las Vegas and the rise and fall of a few of the characters involved. It is hard to believe that this thing is almost three hours long. Violence, greed, colorful dialogue and equally colorful characters inhabit this desert landscape. Episodic in nature, the exploits of all the bad guys and their battles for power and control are nicely interwoven and interesting. Great performances by Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone. This is one of my favorite Scorsese films.
I used to listen to the CBS Mystery Theater radio program late at night as a kid and, then, in later years tried to relive those happy moments by collecting old cassette recorded copies of similar radio drama programs. I stumbled upon this gem, the 1950’s era Escape show and its feature, “The Abominable Snowman”. The story is presented in an economic style with a handful of characters, emotive music and gobs of sound effects. All the better that there are no visuals involved so that your mind’s eye can more effectively play tricks on you. The imagination can be [More]
Sadness at the passing of great character actor Dick Miller. A wise cracking, world weary, dependable presence in many horror and science fiction pictures including “The Terminator”, “The Howling”, “Gremlins” and an early starring role in the Roger Corman directed “A Bucket of Blood” which is linked to here. Macabre in the extreme, “Blood” is the tale of a destitute artist who turns his fortunes around and becomes the darling of the local Art crowd after he adopts a shocking new change to his sculpting style. Can you guess how? A twisted, enjoyable romp made back when Miller was younger [More]
Here is a disaster flick with an unhappy New Year’s theme. A luxury cruiser on its final voyage has the misfortune of confronting and ending up on the losing end of an earthquake generated massive tidal wave. The net effect is that the USS Poseiden is flipped upside down by the wave and as a result everything down is now up and vise versa. A group of survivors of the initial disaster then mount an effort to find a way to be saved by the eventual rescue crews. What proceeds from this point is a potboiler of clashing ideologies and [More]
You may be a big fan of Christmas themed movie at this time of the year and that is fine. But there is a wide variety of viewing experiences available to you and a good action movie may be what you are looking for. I will recommend a few thoroughly enjoyable action/adventure flicks. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) – Clint Eastwood as a bank robber on the run who winds up getting drawn back into a repeat heist attempt on a bank where everything eventually went bad the first time out. The second attempt ends up no better. This is a [More]
When you get right down to it, there are a ton of potential choices for Halloween movie viewing marathons. For the sake of brevity, I am choosing just five selections which will still take you a good day to get through so plan ahead to take the day off from your work or school grind! Wolfen (1981) – a cop is assigned to investigate a series of animal attacks. Is there a pack of werewolves on the loose in modern day New York? Some creepy situations and a suspenseful story should keep you entertained throughout. Albert Finney and Gregory Hines [More]
I have given a minute or two of thought to what I would enjoy most viewing on Halloween. I would most definitely need to take the day off of work because this lineup would probably consume a good 10 hours. Sacrifices must be made! Granted this is the first of what may be a series of some of my most adored movies piled together in one marathon viewing. These movies are what came off the top of my head at the time and can definitely be mixed and matched and replaced with other selections. I think that makes sense. 5 [More]
A real creepy premise in this flick: giant, mutated ants are on the loose and stalking victims in isolated areas of the God forsaken desert! I bring you this cinematic, sci-fi gem because of a recent summer time invasion of the small variety of ants in our house in pursuit of the cat’s food. These little beasts are annoying enough in their present miniature state as they scamper in all directions as you try to eradicate their presence inside your home. In addition to the trouble of getting them picked up and removed, you get the sinister feeling that the [More]
Legendary science fiction and fantasy writer Harlan Ellison has passed away. Call him an iconoclast, outspoken, a larger than life character who didn’t suffer fools, especially those he felt tampered with the integrity of his work. He reached a settlement with CBS 40 years after his script for “Star Trek”-TOS, “City on the Edge of Forever” had been delivered to reclaim his share of the profits generated from his work. He had more impressions on the television industry collected in his series “The Glass Teat”. Acidic observations to say the least. I count Ellison as an early influence in my [More]
Although this TV movie was released in 1982, it seems like history rolls around again and the Cold War is a timely topic again. War and aggression in the World. Some things never change. A strategic United States “listening post” located near the Bering Strait becomes compromised by Russian agents masquerading as U.S. soldiers and suddenly a gateway opens up to an invading force to get onto American soil. Hostilities have been brewing between both countries as a result of a grain embargo that would have otherwise fed starving Russian masses and then some KGB machinations take place which result [More]
Great World War 2 set action adventure movie starring the unlikely combo of Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. Burton was a movie star at the time and Eastwood was suddenly hot after his run of spaghetti Westerns. Why not toss them together and pour them into this macho, adrenaline-fueled blockbuster? This picture clocks in at around 3 and a half hours but it certainly won’t seem so! In the days before Star Wars and Indiana Jones, this movie was the shit. Completely absorbing espionage caper where a team of Allied agents attempt to go deep behind German lines to recover [More]
It is the week of the Fourth of July. Why not round out the week by enjoying some glorious, cinematic firepower brought to you by “Predator” (1987). This is a favorite scene of mine from this alien on the loose science fiction classic. Nice gun play and explosions at the expense of the jungle. The rainforest was never the same after this.