Saturday, September 26, 2009
IT IS MY DEAREST WISH TO BE ABLE TO DO A DAILY HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN LIKE THE ONE I DID HERE TWO YEARS AGO. 
It is also realistic to admit that at the present time I've only been able to get online about once a week IF I'M LUCKY. These two facts tend to clash a bit. Which probably means that this year I'll once again be unable to pull off a Halloween countdown unless there are some drastic changes and quick!
For those of you of a nostalgic nature, you can click here to see my first (and so far only) Halloween countdown from 2007. I'll still try to put up as much Halloween content in October as ghoulishly possible but. . .if youse be so inclined to pick up the broom and fly with it . . . why not give a Halloween countdown a try yourself on your own blog. It's a lot of work but even more fun to do and, if I could, I'd love to do another one. Maybe someday. But until then, one of the consistently best Halloween countdowns will shortly begin on John Rozum's blog; there will also be a list of many other blogs participating this year. Also there is a Countdown to Halloween site which coordinates daily Halloween countdown bloggers. That's the origin for the cool Halloween Countdown video I've posted as well. So, if the spirit BOOS you, give a Halloween Countdown a try. And yeah, I'm talkin' to YOU, Cheekies! 
It is also realistic to admit that at the present time I've only been able to get online about once a week IF I'M LUCKY. These two facts tend to clash a bit. Which probably means that this year I'll once again be unable to pull off a Halloween countdown unless there are some drastic changes and quick! For those of you of a nostalgic nature, you can click here to see my first (and so far only) Halloween countdown from 2007. I'll still try to put up as much Halloween content in October as ghoulishly possible but. . .if youse be so inclined to pick up the broom and fly with it . . . why not give a Halloween countdown a try yourself on your own blog. It's a lot of work but even more fun to do and, if I could, I'd love to do another one. Maybe someday. But until then, one of the consistently best Halloween countdowns will shortly begin on John Rozum's blog; there will also be a list of many other blogs participating this year. Also there is a Countdown to Halloween site which coordinates daily Halloween countdown bloggers. That's the origin for the cool Halloween Countdown video I've posted as well. So, if the spirit BOOS you, give a Halloween Countdown a try. And yeah, I'm talkin' to YOU, Cheekies!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
A STRANGELY FORGOTTEN 1949 FILM NOIR: "THE WINDOW" IS WELL-WORTH LOOKING INTO. (OK, I promise no more bad jokes). 
With a story by Cornell Woolrich (credentials don't come much noiry-er ... and Woolrich was also the author of ANOTHER story involving a window with which Hitchcock fans should be QUITE familiar!), "THE WINDOW" is an at times nail-biting movie that had a much higher profile back when it was released and, in fact, earned it's young star an Academy Award. That young star, of course, was Bobby Driscoll: Disney's very own PETER PAN who also appeared as the juvenile lead in TREASURE ISLAND and SONG OF THE SOUTH. In fact, "THE WINDOW" features a title card stating the fact that the youngster was loaned out by Walt Disney in order to make this film. 
Another title card makes mention of Aesop's Fable "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" which is exactly what this movie is about.
Director Ted Tetzlaff (better known as an Oscar-nominated cinematographer) begins "THE WINDOW" with a rather brave ploy. We first see Bobby Driscoll as young Tommy cowering in a loft somewhere and he appears to be overacting horribly. Oh no, the viewer thinks, here we go having to sit through an entire movie with a hammy child actor. However, this "hamming it up" is deliberate since we aren't into the actual plot yet; young Tommy is merely playing cops and robbers with some other kids and is emoting in just the way kids do when playing such games. Rest assured, although I am no fan of child actors, I can honestly state that Bobby Driscoll is one of the best of them and no bad acting will be demonstrated in this film.
Tommy Woodry has a big problem; he likes to tell tall tales and whoppers involving gangsters and killings in the street. One such fib he tells the neighborhood kids is that his dad has a ranch in Texas and they'll be moving to it in a couple days (as soon as all the Injuns have been taken care of). Soon afterward, the landlord shows up at Tommy's parents' door with prospective renters to take the place after they leave. Tommy's lie has nearly upended his family right into the street. 
Arthur Kennedy and Barbara Hale play Tommy's weary parents very realistically; they give Tommy a serious but not caustic talking to about telling lies and then Dad goes off to his job on the night shift. The New York tenement building (a step down in quality from Ralph Kramden's place) is sweltering in the summer heat and Tommy asks his mother if he can sleep out on the fire escape. Once there, the heat is still stifling. Looking up, Tommy sees a breeze way up at the top of the tenement lift some washing hanging on a line so he decides to climb up to the top-most fire escape for some air. 
This fire escape is outside the apartment of the Kellersons (excellently played by superb characters actors Paul Gregory and Ruth Roman). Peeking inside the window of the apartment, Tommy witnesses the Kellerson's struggle with and ultimately stab an unknown man with a pair of scissors. 
He scampers downstairs (leaving his pillow outside the window) to tell his mom he's just seen a murder. Of course, Ma doesn't believe "the boy who cried wolf" and sends him to bed.
Tommy keeps on about the murder until his parents get fed up and lock him in his room. Naturally, Tommy escapes out his window and heads on down to the police department to report the murder. In a scene very reminiscent of the later 50's science fiction classic INVADERS FROM MARS (a film which shares remarkable similarities with this movie), Tommy approaches the immense desk and tries to convince the cop he's seen a murder. Never really convinces, a patrolman DOES promise to check it out but, when he walks Tommy home, marches him right up to his front door and hands him over to his mother. However, the cop does go upstairs and, under the pretext of renovating their apartment, takes a look around the Kellerson's place but finds nothing. Already suspicious that their secret is out, the Kellersons are further rattled when Tommy's mother marches him up to the Kellersons to apologize for "telling stories about them". Tommy won't open his mouth but the Kellersons now begin to suspect the kid knows something. Mr. Kellerson promises his wife to find out exactly WHAT when he can get the kid alone.
Wonderfully sinister lurking about ensues while poor little Tommy gets more and more frantic that the Kellersons now know he saw the murder and that they plan to murder him! Mrs. Kellerson brings a "misdirected" telegram to Tommy's mother saying her sister is sick. Tommy thinks the Kellersons faked the telegram in order to get him mother out of the apartment while his father is at night work so that they'll find Tommy alone. A prudent phone call from the local drug store reveals that the telegram is actual genuine (one of several "fake outs" the script pulls on the viewer) but the end result is the same; Mom goes off to take care of her sister and Pop goes off to his night job and Tommy is left all alone in the apartment for the night. Who ever heard of day care in the 40's, right?!? Don't coddle your kids!!! Tommy leaves a note saying he's running away from home (more for self-preservation than enmity towards his parents) and provides a nice little P.S. to the note saying that everything he said about the Kellersons was true. 
As he is about to unlock the front door and leave, the door swings open of its own accord. Oh No! It's that homicidal Kellerson guy!!! No, wait, it's just Tommy's Dad home on a break to check on his son. (Another great fake out). But catching Tommy in the act of walking out the front door, Dad locks Tommy in his room and NAILS HIS WINDOW SHUT! (Fire codes were also pretty lax with parents in the 40's as well, I guess!). Then off Dad goes to work once more.
The Kellersons wait until 2 am before sneaking downstairs. Mrs. Kellerson takes a flashlight and climbs down the fire escape to shine a light through the terrified boy's window. The scene features Tommy scuttling across the wall just out of reach of the flashlight's beam and it's truly nail-biting. 
Meanwhile, Mr. Kellerson uses a passkey to come in the front door (unbeknownest to Tommy). The industrious kid uses a wire hanger to poke the key out of the lock on the other side of the door so he can pull it under the door and make his escape. The poor kid doesn't realize that, the whole time he's trying to hook the key, Mr. Kellerson is standing RIGHT OUTSIDE THE LOCKED BEDROOM DOOR staring bemusedly down 
and, at one point, even places the key where Tommy's wire hanger can reach it. 
Tommy opens the door and comes face to face with Kellerson! 
Soft-soaping the boy with plans to take him to the police station so all this can be straightened out, Mr. & Mrs. Kellerson walk Tommy out the door and down the street. They suddenly push the boy into an alley but Tommy somehow wriggles away and leads the Kellersons on a New York street chase. Sadly, they nab the boy and load him into a taxi (pretending they're his parents). 
A particularly brutal scene in the backseat finds the Kellersons trying to subdue the struggling boy. Tiring of this, Mr. Kellerson pulls his wife in front of Tommy to block the view of the cab driver (and us) and literally hauls off and punches the boy in the face! Knocking him unconscious. Now at their mercy, the pair carry the boy up to their apartment where they precariously place him on the fire escape so that he will have a convenient "accident".
Ted Tetzlaff shoots the screenplay with a swift, sure hand keeping suspense ratcheted up quite well. It is strange that he didn't make more films as a director since he demonstrates a sure hand with this movie. Also, great use of New York exteriors is made in which the sweltering heat of the city seems to ensure crime will bubble up. The entire cast is small but excellent without exception. Barbara Hale and Arthur Kennedy portray Tommy's parents with palpable weariness but still manage to convince us of their basic decency. Ruth Roman and Paul Gregory are exceptional as the seedy and genuinely threatening Kellersons. 
And Bobby Driscoll makes a fine little leading man. He obviously had the acting chops which is why the fact of Hollywood's "chewing him up and spitting him out" once he hit adolescence and was no longer "cute" is particularly tragic. Tossed aside and forgotten (just like the murdered man in "THE WINDOW"), Bobby Driscoll's unidentified dead body would be found in a similar abandoned tenement building in 1968 surrounded by empty bottles and religious pamphlets; it would take some police work to identify the nameless corpse as Disney's one-time top child actor and winner of a juvenile Academy Award for his performance in "THE WINDOW".
With a story by Cornell Woolrich (credentials don't come much noiry-er ... and Woolrich was also the author of ANOTHER story involving a window with which Hitchcock fans should be QUITE familiar!), "THE WINDOW" is an at times nail-biting movie that had a much higher profile back when it was released and, in fact, earned it's young star an Academy Award. That young star, of course, was Bobby Driscoll: Disney's very own PETER PAN who also appeared as the juvenile lead in TREASURE ISLAND and SONG OF THE SOUTH. In fact, "THE WINDOW" features a title card stating the fact that the youngster was loaned out by Walt Disney in order to make this film. Another title card makes mention of Aesop's Fable "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" which is exactly what this movie is about. Director Ted Tetzlaff (better known as an Oscar-nominated cinematographer) begins "THE WINDOW" with a rather brave ploy. We first see Bobby Driscoll as young Tommy cowering in a loft somewhere and he appears to be overacting horribly. Oh no, the viewer thinks, here we go having to sit through an entire movie with a hammy child actor. However, this "hamming it up" is deliberate since we aren't into the actual plot yet; young Tommy is merely playing cops and robbers with some other kids and is emoting in just the way kids do when playing such games. Rest assured, although I am no fan of child actors, I can honestly state that Bobby Driscoll is one of the best of them and no bad acting will be demonstrated in this film.Tommy Woodry has a big problem; he likes to tell tall tales and whoppers involving gangsters and killings in the street. One such fib he tells the neighborhood kids is that his dad has a ranch in Texas and they'll be moving to it in a couple days (as soon as all the Injuns have been taken care of). Soon afterward, the landlord shows up at Tommy's parents' door with prospective renters to take the place after they leave. Tommy's lie has nearly upended his family right into the street. Arthur Kennedy and Barbara Hale play Tommy's weary parents very realistically; they give Tommy a serious but not caustic talking to about telling lies and then Dad goes off to his job on the night shift. The New York tenement building (a step down in quality from Ralph Kramden's place) is sweltering in the summer heat and Tommy asks his mother if he can sleep out on the fire escape. Once there, the heat is still stifling. Looking up, Tommy sees a breeze way up at the top of the tenement lift some washing hanging on a line so he decides to climb up to the top-most fire escape for some air. This fire escape is outside the apartment of the Kellersons (excellently played by superb characters actors Paul Gregory and Ruth Roman). Peeking inside the window of the apartment, Tommy witnesses the Kellerson's struggle with and ultimately stab an unknown man with a pair of scissors. He scampers downstairs (leaving his pillow outside the window) to tell his mom he's just seen a murder. Of course, Ma doesn't believe "the boy who cried wolf" and sends him to bed.Tommy keeps on about the murder until his parents get fed up and lock him in his room. Naturally, Tommy escapes out his window and heads on down to the police department to report the murder. In a scene very reminiscent of the later 50's science fiction classic INVADERS FROM MARS (a film which shares remarkable similarities with this movie), Tommy approaches the immense desk and tries to convince the cop he's seen a murder. Never really convinces, a patrolman DOES promise to check it out but, when he walks Tommy home, marches him right up to his front door and hands him over to his mother. However, the cop does go upstairs and, under the pretext of renovating their apartment, takes a look around the Kellerson's place but finds nothing. Already suspicious that their secret is out, the Kellersons are further rattled when Tommy's mother marches him up to the Kellersons to apologize for "telling stories about them". Tommy won't open his mouth but the Kellersons now begin to suspect the kid knows something. Mr. Kellerson promises his wife to find out exactly WHAT when he can get the kid alone.Wonderfully sinister lurking about ensues while poor little Tommy gets more and more frantic that the Kellersons now know he saw the murder and that they plan to murder him! Mrs. Kellerson brings a "misdirected" telegram to Tommy's mother saying her sister is sick. Tommy thinks the Kellersons faked the telegram in order to get him mother out of the apartment while his father is at night work so that they'll find Tommy alone. A prudent phone call from the local drug store reveals that the telegram is actual genuine (one of several "fake outs" the script pulls on the viewer) but the end result is the same; Mom goes off to take care of her sister and Pop goes off to his night job and Tommy is left all alone in the apartment for the night. Who ever heard of day care in the 40's, right?!? Don't coddle your kids!!! Tommy leaves a note saying he's running away from home (more for self-preservation than enmity towards his parents) and provides a nice little P.S. to the note saying that everything he said about the Kellersons was true. As he is about to unlock the front door and leave, the door swings open of its own accord. Oh No! It's that homicidal Kellerson guy!!! No, wait, it's just Tommy's Dad home on a break to check on his son. (Another great fake out). But catching Tommy in the act of walking out the front door, Dad locks Tommy in his room and NAILS HIS WINDOW SHUT! (Fire codes were also pretty lax with parents in the 40's as well, I guess!). Then off Dad goes to work once more.The Kellersons wait until 2 am before sneaking downstairs. Mrs. Kellerson takes a flashlight and climbs down the fire escape to shine a light through the terrified boy's window. The scene features Tommy scuttling across the wall just out of reach of the flashlight's beam and it's truly nail-biting. Meanwhile, Mr. Kellerson uses a passkey to come in the front door (unbeknownest to Tommy). The industrious kid uses a wire hanger to poke the key out of the lock on the other side of the door so he can pull it under the door and make his escape. The poor kid doesn't realize that, the whole time he's trying to hook the key, Mr. Kellerson is standing RIGHT OUTSIDE THE LOCKED BEDROOM DOOR staring bemusedly down and, at one point, even places the key where Tommy's wire hanger can reach it. Tommy opens the door and comes face to face with Kellerson! Soft-soaping the boy with plans to take him to the police station so all this can be straightened out, Mr. & Mrs. Kellerson walk Tommy out the door and down the street. They suddenly push the boy into an alley but Tommy somehow wriggles away and leads the Kellersons on a New York street chase. Sadly, they nab the boy and load him into a taxi (pretending they're his parents). A particularly brutal scene in the backseat finds the Kellersons trying to subdue the struggling boy. Tiring of this, Mr. Kellerson pulls his wife in front of Tommy to block the view of the cab driver (and us) and literally hauls off and punches the boy in the face! Knocking him unconscious. Now at their mercy, the pair carry the boy up to their apartment where they precariously place him on the fire escape so that he will have a convenient "accident".Ted Tetzlaff shoots the screenplay with a swift, sure hand keeping suspense ratcheted up quite well. It is strange that he didn't make more films as a director since he demonstrates a sure hand with this movie. Also, great use of New York exteriors is made in which the sweltering heat of the city seems to ensure crime will bubble up. The entire cast is small but excellent without exception. Barbara Hale and Arthur Kennedy portray Tommy's parents with palpable weariness but still manage to convince us of their basic decency. Ruth Roman and Paul Gregory are exceptional as the seedy and genuinely threatening Kellersons. And Bobby Driscoll makes a fine little leading man. He obviously had the acting chops which is why the fact of Hollywood's "chewing him up and spitting him out" once he hit adolescence and was no longer "cute" is particularly tragic. Tossed aside and forgotten (just like the murdered man in "THE WINDOW"), Bobby Driscoll's unidentified dead body would be found in a similar abandoned tenement building in 1968 surrounded by empty bottles and religious pamphlets; it would take some police work to identify the nameless corpse as Disney's one-time top child actor and winner of a juvenile Academy Award for his performance in "THE WINDOW". Friday, September 18, 2009
OK, SO WHAT SONG AM I OBSESSING ABOUT NOW?!? 
You know what I mean. You keep playing the same song over and over. Endlessly repeating it for no apparent reason. This happens fairly frequently and I just reckon I'll put the song up here whenever that happens. So that way, while I'm endlessly listening to it you'll be stuck with it too. This week's offender: Steely Dan's "Black Cow". I wouldn't call myself much of a Steely Dan fan but this is probably my favourite song of theirs . . . and dumb luck happened to strike when I placed a random cd mix into my car stereo and the song came on . . . and I kept hitting repeat...repeat....repeat....
You know what I mean. You keep playing the same song over and over. Endlessly repeating it for no apparent reason. This happens fairly frequently and I just reckon I'll put the song up here whenever that happens. So that way, while I'm endlessly listening to it you'll be stuck with it too. This week's offender: Steely Dan's "Black Cow". I wouldn't call myself much of a Steely Dan fan but this is probably my favourite song of theirs . . . and dumb luck happened to strike when I placed a random cd mix into my car stereo and the song came on . . . and I kept hitting repeat...repeat....repeat.... Wednesday, September 09, 2009
GATHER 'ROUND ALL YOU CLOWNS...IN HONOUR OF THE RELEASE OF THE REMASTERED BEATLES BOX, I THOUGHT I'D CONTINUE THE DESERT ISLAND DISC THEME WITH MY TOP 50 FAVOURITE BEATLES SONGS. 
Here are my 50 favourite Beatles songs in alphabetical order:
Here are my 50 favourite Beatles songs in alphabetical order: - ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (ALTERNATE TAKE FROM BEATLES ANTHOLOGY 2): "Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup"
- ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE: "There's nothing you can do that can't be done"
- AND I LOVE HER: "Bright are the stars that shine, dark is the sky"
- ANOTHER GIRL: "I ain't no fool but I don't take what I don't want"
- BABY YOU'RE A RICH MAN: "How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?"
- BECAUSE: "Because the world is round it turns me on"
- BIRTHDAY: "Yes we're going to a garden party"
- BLACKBIRD: "All your life you were only waiting for this moment to arrive"
- CAN'T BUY ME LOVE: "I'll buy you a diamond ring my friend if it makes you feel all right"
- CRY BABY CRY: "You're old enough to know better"
- A DAY IN THE LIFE: "I read the news today, oh boy"
- DON'T PASS ME BY: "I listen for your footsteps coming up the drive"
- ELEANOR RIGBY: "Ah look at all the lonely people"
- FOR NO ONE: "Your day breaks, your mind aches"
- FOR YOU BLUE: "There go the twelve bar blues"
- GOLDEN SLUMBERS/CARRY THAT WEIGHT/THE END: "And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make"
- GOOD NIGHT: "Now the sun turns out his light"
- HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN: "She's not a girl who misses much"
- HELLO GOODBYE: "I don't know why you say goodbye I say hello"
- HELP!: "When I was younger so much younger than today"
- HERE COMES THE SUN: "It's been a long cold lonely winter"
- HERE, THERE & EVERYWHERE: "Changing my life with a wave of her hand"
- HEY JUDE: "Take a sad song and make it better"
- I'LL BE BACK: "If you break my heart I'll go"
- I'M ONLY SLEEPING: "Please don't wake me now, don't shake me, leave me where I am"
- I'M SO TIRED: "Curse Sir Walter Raleigh he was such a stupid get"
- I AM THE WALRUS: "You should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe"
- I WANT YOU (SHE'S SO HEAVY): "It's driving me mad, it's driving me mad"
- IF I FELL: "Don't hurt my pride like her 'cause I couldn't stand the pain"
- IN MY LIFE: "Some have gone and some remain"
- LET IT BE: "Speaking words of wisdom"
- THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: "Yeah yeah yeah yeah"
- MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR: "Roll up"
- MOTHER NATURE'S SON: "All day long I'm sitting singing songs for everyone"
- NOWHERE MAN: "The world is at your command"
- OH DARLING: "I'll never do you no harm"
- REAL LOVE: "Lonely to be alone"
- ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC: "It's got a back beat you can't lose it"
- RUN FOR YOUR LIFE: "That's the end little girl"
- SAVOY TRUFFLE: "You'll have to have them all pulled out"
- SHE'S LEAVING HOME: "Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins"
- SOMETHING: "You're asking me will my love grow"
- THIS BOY: "He'll regret it someday"
- TWIST AND SHOUT: "Shake it up baby"
- WAIT: "It's been a long time now I'm coming back home"
- WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLE WEEPS: "I look at you all"
- WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS: "What would you think if I sang out of tune"
- YOU KNOW MY NAME (LOOK UP THE NUMBER): "Good evening and welcome to Slagger's"
- YOU NEVER GIVE ME YOUR MONEY: "And in the middle of negotiations you break down"
- YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW: "Let's all get up and dance to a song that was a hit before your mother was born"
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN (1960): SIMPLY ONE OF THE BEST CAPER FILMS EVER MADE. 
I can certainly understand why Weaverman returns to it again and again (as it says in his superb review of the film found here). Blessed with an absolutely magnificent cast, faultlessly directed by Basil Dearden from a Bryan Forbes-penned screenplay that alternately sparkles and rivets, THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN simply has to have been at least a subconscious influence on that other great British caper film THE ITALIAN JOB several years later. Seriously, I can't think of a thing wrong with this film. 
Ex-army officer Jack Hawkins (who climbs out of a manhole wearing a tuxedo in the opening scene) has been "made redundant" after serving in the military for years. Stinging from this shoddy treatment, Hawkins brings together a group of similarly down-on-their-luck ex-military men to plan and execute a spectacular daylight robbery of a bank. All the men (whom have never met each other or Hawkins) receive in the post a package containing half of a 5 pound note, a novel called "The Golden Fleece" and instructions to read the book and meet at a hotel to collect the other half of the 5 pound note as well as a fine luncheon and the possibility of an unnamed business venture. 
The men do show up at the meeting and are, at first, dubious; however Hawkins knows quite a bit about their "sordid" pasts and gains their attention. Eventually, they all come around and agree to attempt the robbery with Hawkins. The film then concerns the planning, rehearsing, and completing of the caper as well as the aftermath. 
I must say that the actual bank robbery sequence was edge-of-your-seat gripping! All the characters are extremely well drawn with distinct and memorable personalities so the viewer knows exactly who everyone is at all times. An impressive task for such a large ensemble cast. This, of course, owes a lot to the writing as well as the beautifully-cast set of British actors starting with Jack Hawkins (BEN-HUR, BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI), Nigel Patrick (allergic to razor blades in TALES FROM THE CRYPT), Richard Attenborough (from BRIGHTON ROCK to directing GANDHI), Kieron Moore (DOCTOR BLOOD'S COFFIN, DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS), actor/writer/director Bryan Forbes (also seen acting in QUATERMASS 2: ENEMY FROM SPACE), Roger Livesey (A MATTER OF LIFE & DEATH, THE LIFE & DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP), Terence Alexander (BERGERAC), Norman Bird (BURN, WITCH, BURN), and Robert Coote (THEATER OF BLOOD). Hell, there are even small parts featuring Melissa Stribling (HORROR OF DRACULA) and Patrick Wymark (BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW) as well as as small gay camp cameo by Oliver Reed(!). And speaking of gay, Weaverman is quite right in his review of the film when he says that Kieron Moore's character is quite obviously homosexual but he is portrayed perhaps for the first time in film without any stereotypically gay mincing mannerisms or effeminate weakness; in fact, Moore is probably the most rugged member of the cast and dispels any hint of such camp nonsense portrayals that 99% of films at this time would impose on the character. 
Apart from the suspensefulness of the robbery itself, the film also features some genuinely funny lines: particularly when Nigel Patrick notices a painting of Jack Hawkins' wife and asks if she's dead. "No," Hawkins sighs as he walks up the stairs, "I regret to say the bitch is still going strong!" This scene takes place inside a house Hawkins has stashed away where he and Patrick participate in domestic chores such as cooking dinner and washing dishes. 
This scene naturally reminded me very much of similar scenes appearing in the classic French gangster film TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI; in fact Hawkins physically reminds me of Jean Gabin in that film. I'll tell ya, I just watched this movie last week and I want to watch it again right now. That's surely the test of a really great film. And THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN passes with full marks. A true classic.
I can certainly understand why Weaverman returns to it again and again (as it says in his superb review of the film found here). Blessed with an absolutely magnificent cast, faultlessly directed by Basil Dearden from a Bryan Forbes-penned screenplay that alternately sparkles and rivets, THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN simply has to have been at least a subconscious influence on that other great British caper film THE ITALIAN JOB several years later. Seriously, I can't think of a thing wrong with this film. Ex-army officer Jack Hawkins (who climbs out of a manhole wearing a tuxedo in the opening scene) has been "made redundant" after serving in the military for years. Stinging from this shoddy treatment, Hawkins brings together a group of similarly down-on-their-luck ex-military men to plan and execute a spectacular daylight robbery of a bank. All the men (whom have never met each other or Hawkins) receive in the post a package containing half of a 5 pound note, a novel called "The Golden Fleece" and instructions to read the book and meet at a hotel to collect the other half of the 5 pound note as well as a fine luncheon and the possibility of an unnamed business venture. The men do show up at the meeting and are, at first, dubious; however Hawkins knows quite a bit about their "sordid" pasts and gains their attention. Eventually, they all come around and agree to attempt the robbery with Hawkins. The film then concerns the planning, rehearsing, and completing of the caper as well as the aftermath. I must say that the actual bank robbery sequence was edge-of-your-seat gripping! All the characters are extremely well drawn with distinct and memorable personalities so the viewer knows exactly who everyone is at all times. An impressive task for such a large ensemble cast. This, of course, owes a lot to the writing as well as the beautifully-cast set of British actors starting with Jack Hawkins (BEN-HUR, BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI), Nigel Patrick (allergic to razor blades in TALES FROM THE CRYPT), Richard Attenborough (from BRIGHTON ROCK to directing GANDHI), Kieron Moore (DOCTOR BLOOD'S COFFIN, DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS), actor/writer/director Bryan Forbes (also seen acting in QUATERMASS 2: ENEMY FROM SPACE), Roger Livesey (A MATTER OF LIFE & DEATH, THE LIFE & DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP), Terence Alexander (BERGERAC), Norman Bird (BURN, WITCH, BURN), and Robert Coote (THEATER OF BLOOD). Hell, there are even small parts featuring Melissa Stribling (HORROR OF DRACULA) and Patrick Wymark (BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW) as well as as small gay camp cameo by Oliver Reed(!). And speaking of gay, Weaverman is quite right in his review of the film when he says that Kieron Moore's character is quite obviously homosexual but he is portrayed perhaps for the first time in film without any stereotypically gay mincing mannerisms or effeminate weakness; in fact, Moore is probably the most rugged member of the cast and dispels any hint of such camp nonsense portrayals that 99% of films at this time would impose on the character. Apart from the suspensefulness of the robbery itself, the film also features some genuinely funny lines: particularly when Nigel Patrick notices a painting of Jack Hawkins' wife and asks if she's dead. "No," Hawkins sighs as he walks up the stairs, "I regret to say the bitch is still going strong!" This scene takes place inside a house Hawkins has stashed away where he and Patrick participate in domestic chores such as cooking dinner and washing dishes. This scene naturally reminded me very much of similar scenes appearing in the classic French gangster film TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI; in fact Hawkins physically reminds me of Jean Gabin in that film. I'll tell ya, I just watched this movie last week and I want to watch it again right now. That's surely the test of a really great film. And THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN passes with full marks. A true classic.
NANCY DREW: A CAPSULE REVIEW. 
Speaking of precocious kids who like to solve crimes, I just stumbled across (for free, so you can't beat that) the 2007 movie "update" of NANCY DREW. You know, I was surprised at myself for actually enjoying it. Doubtless it is a lightweight bit of fluff that COULD'VE been better. But it COULD'VE been a whole lot worse. Director Andrew Fleming is best known by me for having directed that 90's teenage witch movie THE CRAFT but he also helmed one episode of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT so he can't be all bad, right? Here Fleming manages to place the Nancy Drew franchise firmly in the 21st century while still managing to evoke enough of that old-fashioned vibe to keep Nancy Drew fans (of which I am not one) placated. Nancy herself prefers to go around in 50's & early 60's fashions but still manages to keep her Mac and her ipod in her sleuthing kit. 
The plot, such as it is, concerns the mystery of an old-time (read 1970s) movie actress who mysteriously disappeared, re-appeared and was murdered. Nancy and her father move into the actress' deserted (Sunset Blvd-like) mansion which is rumoured to be haunted. There is also the question of a possible child born secretly to the actress and given up for adoption; this daughter stands to inherit all of the dead movie star's estate. While the "mystery" element (combined with quite light horror elements) of the film is diverting and there are one or two dangerous scrapes to keep things moving, the real reason to watch the film, I think, is for the performance of Emma Roberts in the title role. She seems to get it. Her portrayal of Nancy Drew actually makes us believe that this girl IS more interested in pathology than pajama parties. Coming over strongly like a reincarnation of the young Debbie Gibson combined with my cousin Loran at her age, Emma Roberts manages to carry the entire film. 
The rest of the cast is adequate and likeable, the limited special effects are a little dodgy once or twice (particularly in the "bomb down the manhole" explosion scene) and the haunted house set is quite superb. The whole vibe of the film is something akin to that early 90's favourite of mine: MATILDA -- but without the psychokinesis. So, without strongly recommending it, I would say that it's worth a watch if you're at all interested in this kind of thing. Which I'm usually not. So I suppose it's a better example of the genre. Whatever that is. Hell, go watch it. You could do a lot worse! And hey, I hear there's already a sequel on the way. I wonder if it really will concern Nancy Drew's visit to Loch Ness?!?!?! If so, I'll be looking for it more than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick.
Speaking of precocious kids who like to solve crimes, I just stumbled across (for free, so you can't beat that) the 2007 movie "update" of NANCY DREW. You know, I was surprised at myself for actually enjoying it. Doubtless it is a lightweight bit of fluff that COULD'VE been better. But it COULD'VE been a whole lot worse. Director Andrew Fleming is best known by me for having directed that 90's teenage witch movie THE CRAFT but he also helmed one episode of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT so he can't be all bad, right? Here Fleming manages to place the Nancy Drew franchise firmly in the 21st century while still managing to evoke enough of that old-fashioned vibe to keep Nancy Drew fans (of which I am not one) placated. Nancy herself prefers to go around in 50's & early 60's fashions but still manages to keep her Mac and her ipod in her sleuthing kit. The plot, such as it is, concerns the mystery of an old-time (read 1970s) movie actress who mysteriously disappeared, re-appeared and was murdered. Nancy and her father move into the actress' deserted (Sunset Blvd-like) mansion which is rumoured to be haunted. There is also the question of a possible child born secretly to the actress and given up for adoption; this daughter stands to inherit all of the dead movie star's estate. While the "mystery" element (combined with quite light horror elements) of the film is diverting and there are one or two dangerous scrapes to keep things moving, the real reason to watch the film, I think, is for the performance of Emma Roberts in the title role. She seems to get it. Her portrayal of Nancy Drew actually makes us believe that this girl IS more interested in pathology than pajama parties. Coming over strongly like a reincarnation of the young Debbie Gibson combined with my cousin Loran at her age, Emma Roberts manages to carry the entire film. The rest of the cast is adequate and likeable, the limited special effects are a little dodgy once or twice (particularly in the "bomb down the manhole" explosion scene) and the haunted house set is quite superb. The whole vibe of the film is something akin to that early 90's favourite of mine: MATILDA -- but without the psychokinesis. So, without strongly recommending it, I would say that it's worth a watch if you're at all interested in this kind of thing. Which I'm usually not. So I suppose it's a better example of the genre. Whatever that is. Hell, go watch it. You could do a lot worse! And hey, I hear there's already a sequel on the way. I wonder if it really will concern Nancy Drew's visit to Loch Ness?!?!?! If so, I'll be looking for it more than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick.
Monday, September 07, 2009
THE THREE INVESTIGATORS FINALLY MAKE IT TO THE SILVER SCREEN! 
Those wacky Germans have done it again! This time they've made not one but TWO motion pictures based on those treasured Hardy Boys-like books I loved as a child. For those of you not in the know, check out the 3 Investigators site link over there on the right hand column of this blog. The book series "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators" begin in the 1960's. The books featured extremely bright (if stocky) Jupiter Jones and his friends Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews as a trio of junior detectives who took on baffling mystery cases and reported back to film director Alfred Hitchcock. 
Below this post you will find the movie trailers for BOTH of these new films (I hear a TV series in in the offing as well). The first film made was (strangely) the 6th book in the series: THE SECRET OF SKELETON ISLAND. 
While these German-made films were apparently filmed in English, the second movie trailer (taken from the first book in the series) THE SECRET OF TERROR CASTLE is dubbed into German (!). Ah well, you still get the idea. The trailer gives an indication that the film looks very much like the Harry Potter films. There are two big controversies about these films, however: 1) that they are updated to the present day (a 1960's setting would be better) and 2) the young actor cast as Bob is TOTALLY WRONG for the part. But hell, I never thought I'd see a 3 Investigators movie AT ALL so I'll take what I can get. Unfortunately, I can't get 'em because they haven't been released in this country as yet. Come on, Buena Vista/Disney, get moving! You just bought Marvel Comics, don't you think you can spare the time to release these 3 Investigators movies over here?!?!? Anyway, I hope you enjoy the two movie trailers below.
Those wacky Germans have done it again! This time they've made not one but TWO motion pictures based on those treasured Hardy Boys-like books I loved as a child. For those of you not in the know, check out the 3 Investigators site link over there on the right hand column of this blog. The book series "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators" begin in the 1960's. The books featured extremely bright (if stocky) Jupiter Jones and his friends Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews as a trio of junior detectives who took on baffling mystery cases and reported back to film director Alfred Hitchcock. Below this post you will find the movie trailers for BOTH of these new films (I hear a TV series in in the offing as well). The first film made was (strangely) the 6th book in the series: THE SECRET OF SKELETON ISLAND. While these German-made films were apparently filmed in English, the second movie trailer (taken from the first book in the series) THE SECRET OF TERROR CASTLE is dubbed into German (!). Ah well, you still get the idea. The trailer gives an indication that the film looks very much like the Harry Potter films. There are two big controversies about these films, however: 1) that they are updated to the present day (a 1960's setting would be better) and 2) the young actor cast as Bob is TOTALLY WRONG for the part. But hell, I never thought I'd see a 3 Investigators movie AT ALL so I'll take what I can get. Unfortunately, I can't get 'em because they haven't been released in this country as yet. Come on, Buena Vista/Disney, get moving! You just bought Marvel Comics, don't you think you can spare the time to release these 3 Investigators movies over here?!?!? Anyway, I hope you enjoy the two movie trailers below.
Welcome. Welcome! Welcome, foolish mortals, to our sister blog BATHED IN THE LIGHT FROM ANDROMEDA where this week we'll be (belatedly) celebrating the 40th anniversary of the opening of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion.
Jump in your doom buggy and (severed) head on over!
Jump in your doom buggy and (severed) head on over!
MUSICAL ROTTEN APPLES. SO HERE'S THE SCENARIO: THERE'S A MUSICAL ARTIST WHOSE ENTIRE OUTPUT YOU PRETTY MUCH LIKE. BUT THERE'S THIS ONE SONG THEY DO WHICH EVERYBODY ELSE SEEMS TO LOVE AND YOU CAN'T STAND!!! 
In other words, there's one song that is a particular blot on a musician's body of work and you seem to be the only one who hates it. Otherwise, the rest of their songs are good. Now, this can't be that you like a few of their songs and there's one song you hate; no, it has to be an artist whose songs you practically like completely and totally. . .but there's this ONE SONG that you hate and most other people seem to love and sway with bic lighters ablaze to. Now you get the picture, here's some of mine. I heartily encourage yours in the comment section. Presenting those musical rotten apples:
In other words, there's one song that is a particular blot on a musician's body of work and you seem to be the only one who hates it. Otherwise, the rest of their songs are good. Now, this can't be that you like a few of their songs and there's one song you hate; no, it has to be an artist whose songs you practically like completely and totally. . .but there's this ONE SONG that you hate and most other people seem to love and sway with bic lighters ablaze to. Now you get the picture, here's some of mine. I heartily encourage yours in the comment section. Presenting those musical rotten apples:
- TINY DANCER by Elton John. Everyone who knows me knows that basically I love Sir Reg's entire output. But this damn song (made even more popular by that damn movie) is torture. I mean, could the music in the chorus be ANY MORE REPETITIVE? It's the same note's over and over: "hold me closer tiny dancer/count the headlights on the highway/lay me down in sheets of linen..." I mean, what, did Bruce Springsteen write that music, fer chrissakes?!?!?! The words Bernie wrote are good but they deserved better music put to them.
- MOONDANCE by Van Morrison. I like most of his other stuff but here's another song that I find extremely annoying; maybe it's the faux jazz vibe or the endlessly repetitive, circling melody which basically reminds me of a toilet flushing. I just find the melody uninspiring.
- THE JEAN GENIE by David Bowie. While I can't REALLY say I hate thing song, it's certainly the one Bowie song I will always skip over. It's basically a nothing of a song that's carried solely by a (momentarily) catchy guitar riff which quickly loses it's interest about 10 seconds in. Similar to a certain Queen song I will get to momentarily.
- ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST by Queen. Well, here we are, as promised. Another song which is solely a bass line with a non-melody slapped on top of it. It takes more than that to hold my interest in a song.
- RUBY TUESDAY by The Rolling Stones. Never a huge Stones fan but I like most of their stuff (with the obvious exception of their geriatric recent output which nobody in their right mind would like). Hum the chorus. Go ahead. Not much there, right. I only feel vindicated in the fact that Mick Jagger hates the song as well.
- I CAN'T HELP MYSELF (SUGAR PIE, HONEY BUNCH) by The Four Tops. This one probably gets on my last nerve because it's been seriously overplayed for DECADES now. As soon as I hear the beginning notes start, I leap for the skip button. If I never hear this song again, it'll be too soon!
- RAIN ON YOUR PARADE by Duffy. We all know I love Duffy and she won Penguin Awards last year for both album and song of the year. However, this obviously rushed out single is terrible.
- TAXI by Harry Chapin. Arguably his most famous song, the one people ooh and ahh over as some sort of masterpiece. Just because it's long don't make it an epic masterpiece, people. It annoys the living hell outta me.
- MONDAY MONDAY by The Mamas & the Papas. I must be zoning in on something because this song is ALSO not liked by the members of the Mamas & the Papas. They've expressed disappointment that their first number one song was such a bad one.
- THE JOKER by The Steve Miller Band. As soon as ole Steve begins singing this, there's always a big whoop from the audience. There's a big groan from me. It truly baffles me why this became such a monster hit since there's very little going on in it, not much melody to speak of and nothing much to hold my interest for the duration of the song.
- FINGERTIPS PT. 1 by Stevie Wonder. This was the first single that broke Little Stevie Wonder at Motown, the one that got everyone's attention, the one that started all the genius talk. He would later (quite soon) prove he was a genius but not here. It's not a song, folks. There's no song here. It's just Stevie demonstrating his playing ability. It's more like an audition for a band looking for a new member. So he was very young and very talented on many musical instruments. Without a song to go with it, it's just joikin' off.
- PROUD MARY by Tina Turner. Another "show stopper" whenever Tina breaks into it at a concert. I truly HATE this song -- no matter WHO does it. I only assigned it to Tina because I don't like CCR in the first place and it's such an eagerly-anticipated part of Tina Turner's live shows.
Well, that's a pretty good list for now. I'm sure there are others but these are the main ones that popped into my head and plagued me throughout my entire life! As stated before, if there are similar songs which a favourite artist of yours has perpetrated on YOUR ears, let me know in the comments below.
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