Flash Gordon (1980) - 2 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

When I reviewed "Ted"on this blog I remarked about the references to this film by having a actor from it,become a main character in it.I also reviewed a film called"Flesh Gordon"which was a "adult"take off of it.Considering I also saw as a child,the old serials about Flash,I thought it was now time to revisit this 1980 version that runs 111 minutes.Well its 50/50 at best.The pros are what I already mentioned as its a iconic name in sci-fi.Also good was a fun campy cast and some music by Queen.Now the negatives.I wasn't buying the "camp"at all.I've seen much better.So,all in all,yours to see if you like Flash and think some camp is all good camp !!!!  Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary below.

In this update of the 1930s comic strip, Flash Gordon is a football hero who is skyjacked aboard Dr. Hans Zarkov's rocketship along with beautiful Dale Arden. The threesome are drawn into the influence of the planet Mongo, ruled by Emperor Ming the Merciless. Ming has been testing the Earth with unnatural disasters, and deeming it a threat to his rule, he plans to destroy it. He also intends to take Dale as his concubine. Flash must avoid the amorous attentions of Ming's daughter, and unite the warring kingdoms of Mongo to rescue Dale and save our world. Written by David Thiel <d-thiel@uiuc.edu>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUrJQbBFez8

Some Like It Hot (1959) - 4 stars out of 5 stars

Marilyn Monroe,Tony Curtis,Jack Lemmon and a host of A+ crime movie gangster stars and some fine looking women make for a film that was the 50's.A sexy naughty yet very innocent film by todays standards and one that surly inspired many others.The reason I revisited this film from my youth was to see the inspirational link to a film called"Connie and Carla"which I reviewed earlier on this blog and yes,it is quite apparent.I tool 1 star off because it is so dated and shot in B&W but there is so much to love.Funny idea of 2 guys hiding out in a women's band,the "dumb"blond but sweet Marilyn and a poke at the great George Raft and a quite funny turn by legendary comic Joe E. Brown.released in 1959 it runs a little long at 120 minutes but well worth it.Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary below.Don't miss it !!!

When two Chicago musicians, Joe and Jerry, witness the the St. Valentine's Day massacre, they want to get out of town and get away from the gangster responsible, Spats Colombo. They're desperate to get a gig out of town but the only job they know of is in an all-girl band heading to Florida. They show up at the train station as Josephine and Daphne, the replacement saxophone and bass players. They certainly enjoy being around the girls, especially Sugar Kane Kowalczyk who sings and plays the ukulele. Joe in particular sets out to woo her while Jerry/Daphne is wooed by a millionaire, Osgood Fielding III. Mayhem ensues as the two men try to keep their true identities hidden and Spats Colombo and his crew show up for a meeting with several other crime lords. Written by garykmcd

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2371683353/

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - 4 stars out of 5 stars

Bogie stars along with the directors,John Huston dad,Walter Huston and Tim Holt in this classic film from 1948 that runs 126 minutes.I took 1 star off for being very dated ( see the CPR like scene ) and shot in B&W which will limit the audience today sadly.That said just the irony of americans looking for work in Mexico makes it a must see.That also said,the story is timeless.What makes men what they are and change if they can??In this case one for the better and one for the worse  and one rolls along as always its seems.There is a clarity of morals also not seen in many films for many years.Another reason to see it.Finally classic lines like ,
"Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges."
Yes from this film.I love it and highly recommend as a bucket list film for true film buffs.
Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary below.

Fred Dobbs and Bob Curtin, two Americans searching for work in Mexico, convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi567346201/

An American in Paris - 3 stars out of 5 stars

They say after awhile memories change.In his case,the film just seemed dated.Released in 1951 and running 113 minutes,what is still fine is Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron,maybe two of the finest pure dancers ever on screen at anytime or place.Sadly not enough in this film and also the music of legend George Gershwin,again,not enough.Too much Oscar Levant and a story that only has Paris as truth and nothing else.But that WAS hollywood then,pure escape from reality.Thats another meaning to the phase"they don't make em like they used to".Its a historic vital film of that time and should be seen by pure dance students.However,unless you want a trip down memory lane,and it is the lane you THINK you remember,its a risk.Thats why I took 2 stars off.Trailer URL follow the picture and a IMDB summary is below.

Three friends struggle to find work in Paris. However, things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi769957145/

Repo Man - 2 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 1984 and running 92 minutes,this odd film has a "cult"status I just don't see.Punk music and L.A.Cal. form the back drop for a idea about aliens and radiation and time travel and,repossession of automobiles,and,well you get the idea.The cast is what I liked.Emilio Estevez and that man Harry Dean Stanton,are enough for me to see it once,but for you??Thus only a 50/50 2 1/2 star rating,I will say however,it is a different sort of sci-fi film.Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary below.

 Frustrated punk rocker Otto quits his supermarket job after slugging a co-worker, and is later dumped by his girlfriend at a party. Wandering the streets in frustration, he is recruited in the repossession of a car by a repo agent. After discovering his parents have donated his college fund to a televangelist, he joins the repossession agency (Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation) as an apprentice "repo man". During his training, he is introduced into the mercenary and paranoid world of the drivers, befriended by a UFO conspiracy theorist, confronted by rival repo agents, discovers some of his one-time friends have turned to a life of crime, is lectured to near cosmic unconsciousness by the repo agency grounds worker, and finds himself entangled in a web of intrigue concerning a huge repossession bounty on a 1964 Chevy Malibu driven by a lunatic government scientist, with Top Secret cargo in the trunk. Written by Baroque <gopher_baroque@hotmail.com>

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1253285913/

Titanic ( 1997 ) - 5 stars out of 5 stars

There used to be a joke saying when this film first came out,"Why see it,you know how it ends."Well I reviewed "A night to remember"a film based on a novel by a  surviving crew members accounts of that fateful voyage, on this blog and there are a few other films about that voyage,but this film is like "Casablanca"which I also reviewed on this blog,it just stays with you.See the trip is well known but a fine corny,weepy and well, damned good love story of a love so intense it lasts forever even if the lovers don't.Thats the Casablanca connection.Great performances by both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet,highlight a fabulous cast and the FX is state of the art and fits like few FX films do without overpowering the story,rather they compliment it as well the should but sadly don't in far too many films.Kudos to writer and director James Cameron.What I liked most was the ending where the old woman goes to the end of the ship and…….( see the film)
Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary is below.

84 years later, a 101-year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story to her granddaughter Lizzy Calvert, Brock Lovett, Lewis Bodine, Bobby Buell and Anatoly Mikailavich on the Keldysh about her life set in April 10th 1912, on a ship called Titanic when young Rose boards the departing ship with the upper-class passengers and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, and her fiancé, Caledon Hockley. Meanwhile, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets to the ship in a game. And she explains the whole story from departure until the death of Titanic on its first and last voyage April 15th, 1912 at 2:20 in the morning. Written by Anthony Pereyra <hypersonic91@yahoo.com>

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4010911513/

The Ten Commandments ( 2006) - 4 stars out of 5 stars

 Hallmark Entertainment produced this 2006 TV movie/mini series,that runs 167 minutes. Can't say for sure,but I came across a DVD of it and I must say it stays with you.Yes the 1956 version with Heston,reviewed on this blog, as Moses was fabulous but I guess this version is more "Biblical"in the sense God is also shown as a vengeful mean and unforgiving instrument of punishment thru Moses,and NOT just to the Egyptians,much as in the real Biblical text.We can debate the paradoxes of God all day,that is what man has done forever,and in that longest,best selling book of all times,The Bible as well.So in that real sense this is far truer version to the Bible than Heston's 1956.Is it better tho?? Well on the tech side,the acting is a little uneven especially Dougray Scott's Mose's compared to Heston's. However could that be a preconceived idea of what Mose's was according to Heston?? Food for thought.On the effects side,it stands well by todays FX standards.
I guess it also has to do with the 50's vs the 2000's times in which it was filmed.
Many of todays remade updated film's of classic's are far "darker"than the originals.
Many even change the basic shorelines to achieve that darkness.Thats why most suck !!!
However in this case,being darker simply means showing sides of the"going biblical on your all a _ _'s"that are in the Bible itself and the 1956 version couldn't for that time really show.Because I'm not really sure myself,so I took 1 star off.However if you do read the Bible and want your children to understand it in all its paradoxes,despite the blood and violence,this might be the version for them.You have to decide for yourself,but by all means be aware of this version.Trailer URL follows the picture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2HfEBm-Nso

Things to Come ( 1936 ) - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Consider that WW11 was on the horizon when this film was released its not the propaganda film you think it would be.Perhaps that is because it is based on a HG Wells novel and he also adapted it for this film so science is at the forefront.That is also its weakness. HG had some good ideas but also bad ones as well.So I took 1/2 off for B&W,1/2 off for being a very dated film and finally 1/2 star off because the science was lacking.Really,being shot into space by a "Gun"?? The science that people still buzz about is the single wing aircraft HG foresaw. Anyway,the film never mentions who starts this final world war,only hints at"you know who HE is."So you think Hitler,but as the film progress and we get to war lords,one played well by Ralph Richardson,I thought of Mussolini instead.But as far as acting goes its all Raymond Massey as the man who"saves"civilization although the great actor Cedric Hardwicke ,in a future after the war that has a  strangely Roman feeling,doesn't agree.So,despite being B&W and dated and lacking in some of its science,its still sci-fi of the first order and a bucket film for serious cinema fans.Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary is below.

A story of 100 years: a decades-long second world war leaves plague and anarchy, then a rational state rebuilds civilization and tries space travel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wemRBFFbhKI

Multiplicity - 2 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Disappointing considering the cast headed by Michael Keaton and directed by Harold Ramis. Comedic GODS.Everyone has a bad day now and then I guess.Released in 1996 and running 117 minutes,its a 50/50 proposition at best.The story sounds great but is slow,very slow,and without any science or believability that it"could"happen at all,none.The only good thing is that the second half is FAR better that the first half of the film because by then Keaton has taken over the film and at times his performance rocks,BUT the problem is siting thru the FIRST half to see it.So a very tepid recommendation for Keaton fans only.Trailer URL follows the picture and a brief IMDB summary below.

A man who never has enough time for the things he wants to do is offered the opportunity to have himself duplicated.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1251672345/

The Last Brickmaker in America - 5 stars out of 5 stars

Maybe its corny,maybe its too family values but maybe because the world is going to hell in a hand basket it might just be time to reflect and rediscover values that made this country great at one time and perhaps once again hopefully and that is the value of this film.The story is simples,even dull but if you don't see part of what YOUR life was,or wished it could be or even tries to be today,than,with respect,your lying to yourself.  Perhaps your moving to fast and have lost sight of"the forest for the trees"THAT my friends is the simple yet so often missed  or just forgotten message of a truly rare family film as relevant today as in the year it was released 2001,and running only 85 minutes.The cast is headed by legendary Sidney Poitier as a 76 year old brickmaker whose wife of 60 years has recently died,and a few other fine character actors along with a relative unknown Cody Newton,as a 13 year old troubled teen, weave a story that won't work for everyone but just might let you see that damned forrest that those trees keep getting in the way of if your willing to give it a chance and open those big baby blues of yours.
Trailer URL follows the picture and a brief IMDB summary below.Family film at its finest.

A man must cope with the loss of his wife and the obsolescence of his job before finding redemption by becoming a role model to an equally lost 13-year-old.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi938384665/

Django Unchained ( 2012) - 5 stars out of 5 stars

Shockingly now that I have seen this latest film by Quentin Tarantino I think it is even better than "Argo",so it is now my favorite film from last year.yes its violent and bloody and might anger some who wish to forget the past,but geez folks what did you really think slavery was all about?? Sure all the whites are bad in this film,even the German who frees Django is a cold blooded killer,but this is a story and the aim of most movies is to prove a point no matter the overkill. Tarantino was a fan of spegette westerns as well as asian martial films and back in 66 there was a spegette western called "Django"which I haven't seen BUT will soon because of this film.As good as Jamie Foxx is in the title role,this won a deserved academy award for Christoph Waltz as the German and fast becoming a staple of Tarantino films.The rest of the cast is also great but the violence is overwhelming and as such at times funny.NOT FOR KIDS AT ALL!!!Some cool music in the film as well.So see this 2012 release that runs 165 minutes only if you are not offend by blood that flows like the red river.Trailer URL follows the picture and a brief IMDB summary is below,as if you didn't already know.

With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi286566169/

The Trouble with Bliss - 2 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Brie Larson who plays Stephanie Jouseski is the reason I saw this film along with the casting of Michael C. Hall as Morris Bliss,and some of you will understand what I mean ( Dexter)That said, this 2011 film that runs 97 minutes is really not funny.The romance between Brie and Morris is not even that strange as it was 10 years ago.So I can only give a 50/50 and thats based on Ms.Larson who has a future as a comedic actress,REALLY !!
So again a film I recommend only for the casting in a sub par story.Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary is below.

A comedy/drama about 35-year-old Morris Bliss, who is clamped in the jaws of New York City inertia: he wants to travel but has no money; he needs a job but has no prospects; he still shares an apartment with his widowed father; and perhaps worst of all the premature death of his mother still lingers and has left him emotionally walled up. When he finds himself wrapped up in an awkward relationship with the sexually precocious, 18-year-old daughter of a former classmate, Morris quickly discovers his static life unraveling and opening up in ways that are long overdue. Written by Anonymous

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1785504025/

TV Series - Jericho - 5 stars out of 5 stars

This series only ran 1 and 1/2 seasons and was a victim of the writers strike of 2007/08.
However in the 29 episodes that were filmed there was a sort of closing of loopholes ear leaving a storyline for the future.There are even rumors that "Netflicks"may order new exclusives episodes as part of their new exclusive programming,but that is still only a rumor.
The cast for this TV series fits well so its unfair to single anyone out but their great acting breath life into a strangely compelling story of love and survival in the midst of horror.Part of the realism of the love and survival is not to dwell visually on the horror of the nuking of 23 US cities on the same day,although the story never lets you forget it happened,yet the love and loyalty and just plain day to day coping is much more compelling drama.Some might think that a negative,like duck and cover,but I see its a positive of hope rather than despair.What I loved most was family and perseverance and believe it or not,TEXAS is the key to the future and a new civil war !!!So do yourself a BIG favor,check it out.Trailer URL follows the picture and a brief IMDB summary below.

A small town in Kansas is literally left in the dark after seeing a mushroom cloud over near-by Denver, Colorado. The townspeople struggle to find answers about the blast and solutions on how to survive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MapXib82Mtc

Taken 2 - 3 stars out of 5 stars

Wasn't a big fan of the first movie so don't look for it on this blog,however this 2012 sequel,that runs only 92 minutes is watchable.The reason I took 2 stars off was because it couldn't decide what kinda movie it wanted to be so it was weak in both types.I'm not buying Liam Neeson as this generations Charles Bronson however the actress that plays his daughter,Maggie Grace, is intriguing  and we'll see what the future has in store for her.She gives this film the second level of a "family"coping with coming of age and reconciliation,film
The plot of this movie is simple and really pointless but the action is fast and well done,both the car chases and martial art fight scenes.Its not a big waste of time but there are better films so I recommend only for the action,not the story. Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary below.

In Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2484381465/

Breakaway - 5 stars out of 5 stars

This is the sort of film Hollywood was famous for making back in the day and has now forgotten how to make.Thank GOD for a vibrant Canada film industry.Bollywood has learned how to try to reach more western filmgoers and this 2011 release that runs 101 minutes has everything you need.The standard coming of age and rebellion of family,sports and ethnic adjustment to a white world while keeping its ethnic pride and truths.There is nothing wrong with this film,nothing.A great group of ethnic actors with 2 familiar white faces for the masses and the timeless story of being accepted while remaining true to ones own identity and family pride.Throw in interracial romance as the final tie in and well,its now my favorite sports movie but its a whole lot more.My favorite part is when the all Sikh hockey team is ready to play in a tournament final,their appeal to not wear helmets,because their religion dictates a turban at all times, is finally rejected and they might have to forfeit the finals,is avoided by the white girl friend and sister of the team's white coach showing that the new design of a metallic headdress in place of the standard helmet MUST be accepted because of rights protection under the law.This also works for the Sikh's because its modeled on the metal helmet worn by a famous historic warrior.Thats a compromise !!!!!Enjoy this film as I did.Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary below.

An ethnic Canadian hockey player struggles against traditional family values and discrimination from mainstream hockey players.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2177671705/

Heavy Metal - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 1981 and running 86 minutes,this cartoon is strangely funny although very lurid like a pulp comic book.The story as a array of vignettes tied together by the idea of universal evil being fought by a warrior each generation to hold it at bay.My favorite is the WW11 bomber sequence.Now I took 1 and 1/2 stars off because like a pulp comic its full of gratuitous sex and violence and that makes it unsuitable for many.However it still is"different"and well,I liked it somewhat as far as cartoons go.Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary is below.You have been warned……..


A glowing orb terrorizes a young girl with a collection of stories of dark fantasy, eroticism and horror.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4004249881/

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid - 2 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

This might be my least favorite Steve Martin film,but boy is Rachel Ward stunningly beautiful !!!!!  Released in 1982 and running only 88 minutes its also in B&W BUT has it has to be because ,as I stated above, of its interesting concept,and that was to splice in REAL clips from 1940's era films by the most famous stars of that day,to THIS film in the classic "gum shoe for hire by a beautiful client" storyline.Thats a great idea but somehow the jokes are crude and not all that funny and the"story"is weak and the Nazi thing,common man!!!Thus the 50/50 and I guess I blame Carl Reiner who wrote and directed and has a part in this film.He's just not that good without Mel Brooks as his partner. So I only recommend for seeing the clips from those classic actors and films and Ms Ward who shined as bright on screen in this film as any I've ever seen.Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary below.

Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are "The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta." Searching for answers, Rigby encounters assorted low-lifes: dangerous men and women who were the hallmarks of the classic detective movies of the 40's and 50's. Filming in black and white allows scenes from old movies to be cut into this film. It is through this process that Rigby's assistant is none other than Philip Marlowe himself. Written by Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>, Ed. by Peter Victor <thevictor99@yahoo.com>

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3768582425/

A Clockwork Orange - 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Stanley Kubrick just might be the greatest film maker of our time and this is by far his most interesting but very troubling film in IMHO.Released in 1971 and running 136 minutes,on the surface its still violent even by todays standards because of the  gratuitous violent nature of the main character,Alex,played as only Malcolm McDowell could have played him.Thats why I took 1/2 star off.This is most defiantly a adult story that challenges ones sanity in ones self and the familiar intuitions around us.Singing in the rain,Ludwig Von Beethoven and the old ultra violent in and out,are mixed in a way you could not imagine in your wildest dreams in a future that still has typewriters and NO cell phones or PC's,but Kubrick can and did,and you are better for it.I shan't tell you more other than its a 70's film and even today its better than 99.9% of the crap hay make but you must be ready for it pulls no punches.Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary is below.

In future Britain, charismatic delinquent Alex DeLarge is jailed and volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society's crime problem... but not all goes to plan.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3502113049/

Detachment - 2 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

At best this 2011 film that runs 97 minutes is a 50/50 proposition.There are a few views one can take from the film and as such I can recommend it,however,I also feel,sadly,that "damaged"people can become teachers in too great a number as all the teachers in this film are damaged,so how "heroic"are they really?Anyway,thats my take away and I'm sure that was not the films aim,or,maybe it was?? Still the acting is what makes it worth a view.There is a well know cast of actors doing smaller parts and all well,but its is mainly two that stayed with me,Adrien Brody,who is this generations Al Pacino because of his range and sometimes bad choice of projects,as the substitute teacher and young and upcoming Sami Gayle as a young street "pro".Talk about range,there is a future for her.
However as far as a story with any hope of changing todays dead end city schools,you'll not find any answers here.Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary below.Be warned,it is also very hard to watch in parts.  


Detachment is a chronicle of three weeks in the lives of several high school teachers, administrators and students through the eyes of a substitute teacher named Henry Barthes. Henry roams from school to school, imparting modes of knowledge, but never staying long enough to form any semblance of sentient attachment. A perfect profession for one seeking to hide out in the open. One day Henry arrives at his next assignment. Upon his entry into this particular school, a secret world of emotion is awakened within him by three women. A girl named Meredith in his first period. A fellow teacher Ms. Madison, and a street hooker named Erica, whom Henry has personally granted brief shelter from the streets. Each one of these women, like Henry, are in a life and death struggle to find beauty in a seemingly vicious and loveless world. Written by Anonymous

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2060363545/

The Man From The Alamo - 4 stars out of 5 stars

OK,movie executives brainstorming,what if 1 guy left the Alamo??Everyone thinks he's a coward,but he lost a lottery with fellows from the same area and had to leave to warn THEIR families of renegades in their area.
Now that seems how the idea came about to make this movie ???
But dang if-in it just done works !!!!!!!
I love the cast,all great from that era,headed by Glenn Ford,as the"coward"and Julie Adams as the woman who believes him.I'm sure there was a very subtile political message hidden because at the time this 1953 movie was made,the cold war was at its hight and "commies"were everywhere and courage,well,that came in short supply.What better way to dramatize that then going back to something as religious non debatable patriotic as the Alamo and yet have someone, such a coward for leaving that temple,actually be bearing  news about renegades truth??? Er,or just the movie exec brainstorming,ether way its a thrilling ride with old west values and fine right vs wrong character portrayals we don't see enough of in today"gray"heros.Well worth the view.It only runs 79 minutes and I took 1 star off for the crazy idea even though it worked.Trailer URL follows the picture and a IMDB summary is below.

During the war for Texas independence, one man leaves the Alamo before the end (chosen by lot to help others' families) but is too late to accomplish his mission, and is branded a coward. Since he cannot now expose a gang of turncoats, he infiltrates them instead. Can he save a wagon train of refugees from Wade's Guerillas? Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

http://www.starz.com/titles/TheManFromTheAlamo