moonspinner55
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try again
Are There ANY Strong Gay-Themed Films Besides "Brokeback Mountain"?
Reviews
Scanners (1981)
Non-mind-blowing...
This Canadian-made thriller from writer-director David Cronenberg is cool, calculated, and aloof. It asks great patience from viewers and doesn't even deliver an eventful finale. Power-mad psychotic (after world domination!) is pitted against a telepathic man recruited by a scientist to destroy him. Though the picture looks soupy and unattractive as photographed by Mark Irwin, Cronenberg does deliver one queasily suspenseful scene: a lecture conference that climaxes with an explosion. It wasn't enough to engage mainstream audiences at the time--however, cultists seem to love it. Jennifer O'Neill and Patrick McGoohan head up a most underwhelming cast. * from ****
The Mechanic (1972)
One of Bronson's best films!
Charles Bronson stars as assassin Arthur Bishop, working for a secret organization while mentoring impudent rube Jan-Michael Vincent, the ambitious son of a big shot who happens to be on Bishop's hit list. Tight Lewis John Carlino screenplay is full of sly betrayal and dark character content, while Richard H. Kline's gritty cinematography sets the perfect bitter tone. A terrific vehicle for Bronson, who had it stipulated in each of his contracts that wife Jill Ireland would be part of the cast (she appears here as "The Girl"). Bronson is once again partnered with British director Michael Winner, whose work here is solid--especially his staging of a morbidly funny finale, imitated for years to come. *** from ****
Baby Blue Marine (1976)
The supporting players make it worthwhile
Jan-Michael Vincent plays a "Baby Blue Marine" (i.e., a Marine boot camp failure) during World War II. He's initially sent home in disgrace after just five weeks--wearing baby blue fatigues--until he's knocked unconscious (by a white-haired Richard Gere), forcing him into a different uniform: that of a Raider Marine. Original screenplay by Stanford Whitmore opens with a hilarious loser's outfit overseen by an incredulous drill instructor (Michael Conrad, who's terrific). The rest of the film isn't quite so good, especially with Whitmore's overripe narrative playing out like a Preston Sturges wannabe accented with barracks talk, introspective drama, and curlicues of wobbly comedy. Vincent (laying on the sensitive soul routine) isn't the recruit I wanted to follow, anyway; that honor would go to Bruno Kirby (B. Kirby Jr.) as a fake bed-wetter who just wants to get home to his lonely wife. **1/2 from ****
Clean and Sober (1988)
Keaton stretching his acting chops--and yet he's miscast here
12-step drama from director Glenn Gordon Caron, working from an overwritten screenplay by Tom Carroll, features a miscast Michael Keaton as a Philadelphia real estate salesman with a cocaine problem. He steals $92K from an escrow account, but loses some of it in the stock market and most of it buying blow. Hiding out in a rehabilitation center, Keaton's screw-up gets a sponsor and meets other addicts, falling for abused co-dependent fellow addict Kathy Baker. Carroll's writing is contrived in a pseudo-serious key, while the acting is arduously phony; Keaton is out of his depth and Baker overdoes the 'ordinariness' of her doormat druggie. Audiences were smart enough to stay away...you know something's wrong when even Morgan Freeman can't break through the plastic. * from ****
Batman: True or False Face (1966)
The highlight of "Batman"'s freshman year...
Two-part episode (numbers #17 and #18) from "Batman"'s freshman season features the show's creepiest villain, False Face (played by Malachi Throne, but curiously credited as ?). Master of Disguise replaces jeweled Mergenberg Crown with a ringer, traps Batman and Robin in his subway hideout where he glues the Dynamic Duo to the train tracks. This pair of "Batman" episodes are genuinely suspenseful for once instead of merely cartoony, featuring tight direction from William A. Graham and excellent work by director of photography Jack Marta (the colors are luxuriant, and False Face really pops off the screen).
Skyway to Death (1974)
"Disaster" movie without much of a disaster...
Aerial tramway in the California mountains gets stuck 8,000ft above rocky terrain with seven tourists and a tram-guide in attendance. Seems a recently-fired technician sabotaged the wiring, and now the two (count-'em-two) men running the operation from base are desperate for a rescue plan. A helicopter shows up but does more harm than good (I blame the pilot), but a ground mechanic thinks he can talk an engineer on-board via telephone into getting the tram in motion. Throw out the misleading title and you have a cast that keeps things somewhat interesting, even if the writing is terribly clichéd: Bobby Sherman is the college-age guide, Joseph Campanella is the engineer in love with marriage-reluctant Stefanie Powers, Severn Darden is a pickpocket, Ross Martin is cheating on wife Nancy Malone, John Astin plays an acrophobic who's brave when he acts without thinking, and Ruth McDevitt is wily old lady on a break from her nursing home. Aside from one glaring mistake in the back-projection, the visual effects aren't too shabby, and the lack of hysterical melodrama is a relief. *1/2 from ****
Cry Rape! (1973)
Third-act surprise will either be welcomed or be a deal-breaker...
Hard-hitting CBS-TV movie initially appears to be a cut-and-dry case of a serial rapist and his victims, his hotshot defense attorney, his uncertain mama and loyal sister, and a looming court case--but writer Will Lorin, working from an original treatment by himself and Leonard Freeman, adds a Hitchcockian touch to the proceedings that is not only surprising and effective (if far-fetched) but also welcomed. "Cry Rape!" threatens at numerous points to turn into an episode from any number of TV cop dramas of the early '70s, with only a few strong performances (particularly by Andrea Marcovicci as the sex fiend's fourth victim) to distinguish it. However, the third-act twist is a good one, and the denouement is satisfying. One Emmy nomination: Best Original Writing in a Drama to Lorin. **1/2 from ****
Della (1965)
A mere footnote in Crawford's career...
Failed pilot for a proposed NBC-TV nighttime soap opera guest stars Joan Crawford as diamond-studded, stinking rich recluse Della Chappell--living with her grown daughter in a mansion on the hill in Royal Bay--whose father was the town's founder. Della doesn't want progress to change Royal Bay, and so has declined all offers to sell family-owned land to developers. Paul Burke, an attorney for his father's shipping business, gets a rare invitation to Della's estate and tries wheedling his way into Della's good graces, hoping to get her to sell property to his father, but immediately becomes smitten with Della's daughter, whose skin condition (a sort of sun allergy) has left her a prisoner in luxury--and resentful of her mother. Written by executive producer Richard Alan Simmons, this footnote in Crawford's career would be deadly dull if it weren't so ridiculously over-scored by Fred Steiner and hideously over-dressed (including an indoor/outdoor backyard set complete with statue garden, tree swing and a telescope hut!). Both Crawford, whose close-ups are softened by filters, and daughter Diane Baker are alternately mercurial, neurotic, lovestruck, and breathlessly melodramatic...and still this thing is a slog. Joan's final soliloquy, explaining her complicated relationship with her daughter, is topped off by an outfit which is color-coordinated with the drapes and the chrysanthemums on the piano. *1/2 from ****
A Death in Canaan (1978)
Buckling under pressure...cop pressure
Dramatization of Joan Barthel's book by writers Thomas Thompson and Spencer Eastman is a fact-based account of a murder which occurred in Canaan, Connecticut in 1973. Teenager comes home one night after band practice to find his single mother--the town drunk last seen at the market flashing a wad of cash--on the floor, dying, after an attack by an intruder. He calls his friend's family and then for an ambulance, but once the police arrive, they immediately suspect the kid even though he has no marks on his body, no blood on his clothes, and he has a tight alibi (which no one in charge appears to take into consideration). But this isn't a story about catching mom's killer--rather, it's a document about how police sway, persuade and coerce an innocent, naïve, easily-led kid into incriminating himself. Director Tony Richardson (of all people) goes heavy on the villains of the piece: the police chief, his subordinates, even the conductor of the lie detector test (who exchanges knowing smirks with the chief once they've got the boy where they want him). Meanwhile, Stefanie Powers (as Bethel) and the townspeople rally to the teen's defense. It's hard to be infuriated by this movie for the reasons intended. Obviously, the miscarriage of justice (which includes a hard-ass judge in the courtroom) gets our blood boiling, though the slant Richardson and the writers take is even more aggravating. As the accused, Paul Clemens is likely giving Richardson what was intended here, yet his character has been made sketchy, often acting benumbed and open-mouthed vacuous. Powers' casting is another problem: she does little but write in her notepad, agree with the locals with a reassuring smile, or toss off clichéd dialogue such as, "There's a story here and I'm going to get it!" There's definitely a story here but I don't think anyone really got it. ** from ***
Sweet, Sweet Rachel (1971)
Telepathic hypnosis: brainwashing from a distance!
Overstuffed TV movie-of-the-week has a psychic researcher from a California university and his blind assistant (who really is psychic!) investigating a young widow and her relatives after she comes to him distraught over her husband's suspicious death--seems he leapt from an upstairs window in their cliffside manor calling out her name. Portly Alex Dreier and calm, rational Chris Robinson are quite the twosome on this baffling case, prompting one to wonder if "Rachel" was meant to be the pilot for a weekly series (apparently it wasn't, but it's a nifty idea!). "Special guest star" Stefanie Powers gets convincingly hysterical under the thumb of her nefarious aunt and uncle (Louise Latham and Pat Hingle, a nightmarish duo), while Dreier pulls a fast one on a homicide detective after his department fails to do an autopsy on a dead body. Directed by television veteran Sutton Roley from a teleplay by Anthony Lawrence, this is an eerie little effort, though the lack of any light relief is distinctly felt. ** from ****
Sunday in the Country (1974)
"Straw Dogs" for oldsters...
British-Canadian co-production stars Ernest Borgnine as a churchgoing grandpa who heads three fugitive bank robbers off at the pass when they try taking refuge on his farm. Borgnine's granddaughter Hollis McLaren, whom gramps continually calls out for ("Lucy! Lucy!"), naturally wants to go into the town and bring back the police, but gun-toting Ernie decides he'd rather "tend to things" first. Pedestrian wallow, a masochistic melodrama in the "Straw Dogs" vein but for oldsters only. Borgnine gives it his usual fortitude but it's a lost cause, and features the most grating gospel-country songs in B-movie cinema. * from ****
Out of Sight (1966)
"This is really serious!" .. "I'll say! I'm the only one here without a date!"
Beach bunny overhears nefarious plans by "Big Daddy" to bomb the upcoming beach fair, enlists the aid of a nerdy special agent (top-billed Jonathan Daly, who acts like his teeth are too big for his mouth). Universal aping the A. I. P. "Beach Party" flicks, which were already going out of style. Musical guests Gary Lewis & the Playboys and The Turtles help, but nothing could possibly compensate for the lack of laughs in this script, the leering/nudging performances, the ugly cinematography, and the slow, wooden direction by one Lennie Weinrib, who helms these proceedings like someone who's never seen a movie before much less directed one. * from ****
Get Carter (1971)
A bit arty, but worthwhile for Caine's performance...
This adaptation of Ted Lewis' novel "Jack's Return Home" by director Mike Hodges is rather arty for a tough guy drama, but it gets the job done. Michael Caine stars as London gangster Jack Carter who doesn't believe his brother was killed in a car accident, returning to his old haunts in Newcastle to find the hoods responsible. Hodges, making his feature directorial debut, likes to show off with the camera, but he has a great asset in his leading man. "Get Carter" is cool and calculating, and the gritty location shooting is flavorful. One BAFTA nomination: for Ian Hendry (playing Eric Paice) as Best Supporting Actor. Remade in 2000. ** from ****
Somewhere (2010)
Somewhere lousy...
"Somewhere", written and directed by Sofia Coppola, doesn't go anywhere--and if that's her idea of amusing irony, her career is in a lot of trouble. Tale of a busy but burnt-out actor in today's apathetic Young Hollywood isn't new ground for Coppola, and casting slack-jawed Stephen Dorff as the movie star at the center of the non-action was another mistake. We understand that the Sunset Strip youth of today are aimlessly hedonistic, indifferent and spoiled, but Coppola views them dispassionately in a rock-and-roll din. An early sequence with Dorff's head covered in plaster for a life mask seems to symbolize the alienation inherent in an actor's life, but those who really believe that celebrity living occurs in an isolated bubble is playing right into the filmmaker's hands. Coppola obviously respects the cliché she's peddling here--and she isn't the first to do so--but I wouldn't call her intentions good, nor would I accuse her of being naïve. She's so 'in touch' with this milieu that she's out of synch with her art--and her audience. * from ****
Lifeforce (1985)
The vampires are interesting...but that's about it
British-US space shuttle comes upon spacecraft hidden in the coma of Halley's Comet. The investigating astronauts bring back an alien being that resembles a large bat, also three naked humanoids, two men (their nether-regions discreetly covered) and a woman (who is on full display). Adaptation of Colin Wilson's novel "The Space Vampires" is full of life-sucking sequences (complete with mouth-to-mouth kinetic electricity), ghoulish shapeshifting, sexual hypnotism and telepathy, autopsies, the works (even that old standby: an erotic nightmare which climaxes with colonel Steve Railsback awakening with a scream à la James Stewart in "Vertigo"). Director Tobe Hooper (who reportedly was handed a blank check by Cannon Films' producers Golan & Globus after his success with "Poltergeist") knows how to mount a serious science-fiction tale without that '80s-trendy tongue-in-cheek overlay; still, the vampires are the only interesting aspect of the picture--the military and medical personnel being stiff and boring. A box-office dud at the time, "Lifeforce" has now acquired a loyal following. *1/2 from ****
Helter Skelter (1976)
Strictly as a courtroom drama, tight and gripping...
194mn television event via Los Angeles prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's non-fiction bestseller covering Charles Manson's capture and trial after the Tate/LaBianca murders of 1969. Steve Railsback riveting in the lead (almost too chilling, as this role quickly became an albatross around the actor's neck). No portrayals of the victims--and none were necessary; the film is purely a court case/docudrama and is all the better for it. Three Emmy nominations: Tom Gries for his direction, Billy Goldenberg for his music, and for film editing. Gries also received a DGA nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Specials. *** from ****
Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
"If you're gonna make it in show biz, you're gonna run into some pretty weird types!"
Low-budget pulp thriller, the epitome of a Guilty Pleasure, casts Juliet Prowse as a Broadway hopeful working nights as a record-spinner in a small discotheque; she's being hounded by obscene phone calls and complains to the police. Script by Arnold Drake and Leon Tokatyan is alternately thin and overwritten, though the movie does boast a most interesting group of actors. Prowse has a nice, dry way of tossing off a line; Jan Murray is just fine as a smitten police lieutenant and single dad; Elaine Stritch is terrific as Juliet's salty, concerned boss (and proverbial predatory lesbian); while Sal Mineo is erotic and hypnotic as the club's busboy. Mineo may be doing sort of a low-rent Brando here--and I'm not completely sure he's really invested in this role--but you can't take your eyes off him when he's on the screen. Distributed by Magna Pictures, "Teddy Bear" isn't much, though it's better than it had to be. Director Joseph Cates keeps it moving and gets lively support from the pop songs by Bob Gaudio and Al Kasha. Cinematographer Joseph Brun captures Manhattan circa 1965 quite wonderfully, though the padded film tends to dawdle over shots of theatre and movie marquees (which may be heaven for stage and screen buffs). Drive-in fare, certainly, but highly entertaining of its type. **1/2 from ****
Our Winning Season (1978)
Not much headway from TV's "Happy Days"...
High school seniors in 1967 hope to get a lock on their futures: Scott Jacoby is the track and field jock who needs to win the big meet in order to get a college scholarship; Dennis Quaid is the goof-off; Joe Penny is the romantic and the first to be drafted. 'Nostalgic' teen pic has a fine cast, though the focus is strictly on the boys (the ladies are either girlfriends, sexual conquests or, in Joanna Cassidy's case, a prostitute). No cliché goes unturned in this script. It's a by-the-numbers underachiever despite a handsome production including great-looking classic cars (but, curiously, no vintage pop songs on the soundtrack). Shot on-location in Georgia, the woodsy settings never become vital to the proceedings (this story could have taken place anywhere). Not much headway from TV's "Happy Days"; worse, the movie had the unfortunate luck of opening in the US one month prior to "Grease", after which it promptly sank. * from ****
Who Is the Black Dahlia? (1975)
Snippets of information on the victim about as suspect as the plot detail...
Surprisingly uneventful "real life" crime-drama for NBC does not--and, in fact, cannot--answer its own question. Lucie Arnaz made her dramatic acting debut as Elizabeth Short, party-girl in 1940s Southern California, who wound up dead in 1947, her mutilated body left in an empty lot in Los Angeles. Directed by Joseph Pevney from an original teleplay by Robert W. Lenski, "Black Dahlia" gives us an enigmatic young woman who lived in different places and dated different men but was the kind of restless girl who didn't make friends (one acquaintance tells the police sergeant, "The longer I knew her, the less I knew her."). Using a past-and-present story structure, we get snippets of information about Elizabeth, but these character attributes are as suspect as the plot detail (right away Lenski gets things wrong, with a little boy and his grandfather discovering the body). Arnaz is well-cast and does as much for the part as anyone could, but Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Is a bit much as the obsessed sergeant who squints at the camera and narrates the proceedings as he if were channeling Humphrey Bogart. Supporting cast (including Macdonald Carey, Ronny Cox, Tom Bosley, Donna Mills, Mercedes McCambridge, Gloria De Haven, and Lana Wood) is solid, while the period detail is mostly achieved with '40s costumes (but not hairstyles!) and vintage autos. ** from ****
If Ever I See You Again (1978)
It feels about as real as a TV commercial...
Divorced New York City jingle writer, unhappy composing music for dog food and airline commercials, reunites himself with the girl who got away: his first love from college who broke his heart before going off to Paris to study art. Director Joe Brooks' name is all over this thing: he's also the star, the composer-arranger-conductor of the songs, the co-writer of the screenplay and the film's producer! His acting is the one credit that mostly comes under question: Brooks has the chops for writing ballads, and some of his dialogue exchanges have a casual sort of charm, but a movie star he is not. Looking like a bespectacled Mr. Ed underneath a shapeless splodge of dark hair, Brooks somehow convinced Columbia Pictures (who picked up his independent production "You Light Up My Life" the previous year, grossing some $8M) that he was the next Ryan O'Neal. Yet one recoils from the endless close-ups of his hangdog face (and I personally felt sorry for Shelley Hack having to kiss him or cuddle in bed with him). The script proves problematic as well--the details don't add up (why would airline advertisers accept a commercial jingle all about flying to California--what about to the rest of the planet?). Hack, who has a lovely if oddly inquisitive little face, is sweetly-seductive with her low tones, but her character doesn't make much sense, either. Brooks loves a montage (driving, walking, sailing) and lots of stray conversation; however, as a writer and filmmaker, what he needed was a better editor trained in trimming the chaff from the folly. "If Ever I See You Again" seems to go on forever, covering the same territory, until these depressive sweethearts finally look into each other's glasses and see true love. *1/2 from ****
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
Pretty corny, even for 1939...
Boris Karloff's final bow as The Monster, here rendered mute after being revived by the son of the late Dr. Frankenstein. Well-produced Universal Pictures addition to their popular monster franchise; however, director Rowland V. Lee isn't James Whale--he's goes in heavy for the corny thunder and lightning effects--and the pacing is extremely and unnecessarily poky for the first 45 minutes. Worth-seeing for Karloff, certainly--and also for a bearded Bela Lugosi playing nefarious Ygor. The black-and-white cinematography by George Robinson is also fine. Otherwise, a minor entry in the series. ** from ****
Out of Bounds (1986)
Attempt to turn teen star into Dramatic Actor comes a cropper...
Kid from the sticks relocates to Los Angeles to live with his brother--but while he's at the airport, his suitcase full of clothes is switched with a drug lord's cache of heroin. The old baggage switcheroo resurrected once again! It's a plot device so old it wheezes, but what exactly it's doing in a movie from 1986 is the real puzzler. Anthony Michael Hall has the lead, straying too far from the Breakfast Club. An absolute disaster from director Richard Tuggle and screenwriter Tony Kayden, neither of whom shows any inspiration, instead going with a now-dated "trendy" look and spare parts recycled from other movies. NO STARS from ****
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
Too much of Ameche gazing at Alice Faye; otherwise, enjoyable...
Tyrone Power as a studious, pre-World War I violinist from San Francisco's (S)Nob Hill who moonlights at night in the Barbary Coast playing with the boys a new kind of music: ragtime. Alice Faye is a flashy-trash singer who first introduces the band to ragtime and insinuates herself into the group as their vocalist. Despite a difference in personalities, everything on-stage clicks...but will Power's mother ever forgive him for turning his back on the classics? Thanks to a tight direction by Henry King and a solid screenplay by Kathryn Scola and Lamar Trotti (working from Richard Sherman's adaptation of a biographical story by Irving Berlin, who also lent the film his vast songbook of tunes plus an original, the Oscar-nominated "Now It Can Be Told"), "Alexander's Ragtime Band" is more than a cliched backstage story. The romantic clinches and proverbial patriotic slant are certainly present--and one waits for the daffodils while pianist Don Ameche gazes glassy-eyed at Alice Faye--but the personalities are well-drawn and King shows he has a sense of humor (there's a funny waiter at the Cliff House, and Jack Haley is a stitch as Power's trap drummer). Six Oscar nominations in all, with one win: Best Scoring by Alfred Newman. **1/2 from ****
The Tale (2018)
A well-intentioned flatliner...
Laura Dern plays this film's writer-director, Jennifer Fox, a documentary filmmaker investigating events in her now-hazy childhood that included being sexually abused as a 13-year-old by a grown man she trusted: her horse-riding coach. After a showing at Sundance, this autobiographical drama was picked up by HBO--apropos, since the film is strictly movie-of-the-week in concept and presentation. The flashbacks have a fancy overlay of 'art'--Fox's documentary eye coming to the fore, though inappropriate here--which compete with a narrative pulled along by phone conversations, internet investigations, drop-in visits to long-ago acquaintances, family albums, photographs and--God help us--searching for that elusive box of old letters! Dern's challenge of playing the same lady who's directing her in the movie must have been daunting, yet her performance isn't impressive--how could it be when Fox has her on the phone chatting with Mom, driving pensively in her car, arguing childishly with her lover (who wants to get to know her) or sleeping with a pained look of sudden remembrance on her face? This is a very superficial picture about serious issues; it's heartfelt, it's well-intentioned, and it flatlines. *1/2 from ****
The Beguiled (2017)
Not much improvement over the original...
In 1864 Virginia, an injured Yankee soldier is cared for by women from a girls' boarding school. Adaptation of Thomas P. Cullinan's novel, previously filmed by Don Siegel in 1971, is a gothic tale of sexual repression and, seemingly, a perfect fit for director Sofia Coppola, who also wrote the screenplay. It's a handsome-looking drama, carefully mounted to heighten the sexual tension, and yet the psychological ramifications are ultimately too obvious. Coppola also has trouble with her cast getting their accents right (a constant irritation). Both this version and the original are disappointments, with Colin Farrell about as miscast as Clint Eastwood was the first time. Coppola won the Best Director prize at Cannes and was a nominee for the Palme d'Or. *1/2 from ****