An Italian French West German historical drama directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Robert De Niro and Gérard Depardieu.
A rich boy and poor boy are born on the same day. The rich boy is the heir to a Padrone dynasty, ruling over a farm and making all the money, but doing none of the work. The poor boy is from a family of laborers on the farm who do all the work, but make no money. There is also a conflict going on between communists, socialists, fascists and Bolsheviks.
5 hours and 15 minutes! The plot included the 2 boys as they became men and grew old, but it also included the political and financial issues of the time. There were oodles of characters, but the 2 main characters were dynamic and developed. Video reminded me of spaghetti westerns and early gangster flicks because that's where and when it was made. Good thing it was not made in the 1960s, I would not be able to take a 5 hour peplum. I found a version with English audio and subtitles and could hear all of the dialogue. There were some sections with annoying music. One scene comes to mind, in which a group of peasants are singing and a different non-diegetic song is playing. Holding my interest for over 5 hours is a difficult task. I watched in smaller chunks, but could follow the story fine. Still, it did not captivate my attention. I would have liked it to be more about the 2 main characters, with less historical context and political material. There was male and female nudity including a scene in which the 2 boys compare penis shapes and an old woman displaying her breasts before being shot by a fascist. I'm glad that someone tried to make such an epic film, but if a film is over 5 hours, it should really be better than this. I rate it o.k. You should probably read more about it somewhere else before deciding whether to watch it.
A Chinese kung fu directed by John Woo, starring Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.
A military leader has destroyed Shaolin and some various fighters team up to defeat him.
Yet another standard kung fu. If you're looking to see what old school fu was like, it was like this. If you're looking to watch a good movie, steer clear. How many revenge plots involving the destruction of Shaolin by a singular villain can there be? The shallow characters did not do it for me. They were like every other fighter in any of the hundreds of kung fu films I've seen. Dialogue could have been copied and pasted from other films and I seriously doubt that anyone would notice. You probably wouldn't even have to change the names. Acting was the same. Same, same, same. There was lots of fighting with weapons and hand to hand as well as discussion of different styles. I swear the filmmakers all used the same sets and costumes. They were like community property for anyone in China who wanted to make a kung fu flick. There was some shot variety in the camera-work and editing. Two that I noticed were an actor seen from between the feet of a horse and a flashback to training during the final fight. Special effects were the same as every other kung fu and so was audio. IMDb lists a rating of 6/10, AllMovie lists 2/5 AllMovie rating with 3.5/5 user ratings and Rotten Tomatoes lists 44% audience score for an average of 53.5%. That sounds right to me because it was so dull and could not be differentiated from any other fu flick. I rate this tolerable because it was not painful to watch.
I might be taking a break from this soon. School taught me too much about movies and I've watched too many. 2500 and something reviews over 8 years is not a bad run if that's all I do with my film blog.
An American crime directed by and starring Burt Reynolds.
A moonshiner who just got out of jail helps the cops to catch a gangster/politician.
This was bad, but not intolerable. The plot was not clearly communicated and hence, did not hold my attention. Characters appeared and disappeared for seemingly no reason and with no warning. I think the real problems were piss-poor pacing and crappy continuity. The video and audio seemed fine. I rate this poor. You should probably just watch the opening chase scene.
An American crime directed by William Dear and Thomas L. Dyke.
A group of motorcyclists are passing through a town and hold a wedding on a farm. A young couple go to the barn to have sex. When cops show up, the bikers leave. The cops find the couple and rape the girl, who is the daughter of a town politician. The cop tells the father that the bikers raped his daughter and conflict begins.
This is a keeper. The plot held my interest well with lots of violence and bikers on the road. I was cheering for the bikers and hating the cops the whole time. The head cop has a douche bag face and was cast well. I also liked the casting of the young couple. Video was grainy and gritty, but properly exposed and used plenty of creative camera angles. Some of the editing was just a little off though. The audio was full of '70s psychedelic rock, but the dialogue was mixed too low. Overall, an extremely memorable film. I rate this good. Watch it!!!
An American documentary directed by Barbara Kopple.
Coal miners in a small town strike for better wages, healthcare and conditions.
This was immersive. The plot followed the strike chronologically, showing meetings and picket lines. The characters were not extremely well developed, but the combination of all of the speaking in the same manner left a lasting impression. The video was amazingly well done, considering the conditions in which filming took place. How steady could you hold the camera and how nicely could you frame things when miners are trying to block the road against scabs? The audio is what made this. Everyone in it was sporting the same Southern accent and it really created a space for the film to exist in. It let the viewer know context and environment immediately. The solo vocal music added to this effect. The songs and dialogue worked so well together to define a place. Overall, a quality documentary that covered the event well. I rate this good.
An American crime thriller directed by Larry Cohen.
A police detective is investigating a series of multiple murders in which the killers' last words were always "God told me to."
"Jesus! Did you see what GOD just did to us, man?" - Gonzo, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
This was so '70s. The plot ran like any other detective flick until the last few minutes. The characters were stereotypical of the time and genre. Video was just as grainy and gritty as expected. Audio was typical of the time. My main problem with this is that it was so predictable. If you've seen one '70s detective flick, you've seen them all. Guy gets into the case and is told he is overworking, needs to go on vacation. neutral color suits as far as the eye can see. Overall, I was definitely unimpressed. I rate this tolerable. You should not watch it if there are other options available.
An American animated sexploitation written, directed and produced by Don Jurwich, starring Hal Smith and Frank Welker.
Charged with disturbing the peace, a person claiming to be Mother Goose appears in court and tells the "real" versions of the famous stories.
This was lewd, crude and hilarious. The plots intentionally had trouble getting started, but soon became clear. The humor was all sex jokes and was difficult to misunderstand. The characters were not really all that important, but there were some good ones, like Little Red Riding Hood and Jack (of beanstalk fame). The animation style was classic cartoon drawing. Not since Urotsukidoji have I seen so many cartoon genitals and animated sexual acts. Being x-rated, nothing was really off-limits. The audio featured some really cheesy synthesizer music that I actually liked. Overall, an hour and 20 minutes of cartoon sex jokes is difficult to screw up. I rate this awesome. Watch it!!!
An American sexploitation directed by Russ Meyer.
A man who thinks he is Hitler is murdered by an unseen person. A young woman is seen by the sheriff running on a nearby road. She is later picked up by a man in a pickup truck, whom she kills. The sheriff lets her bribe him with sex and she gets a job at a local restaurant.
Typical Russ Meyer. I think this one showed a little bit more, though. The plot was a little unclear and the characters were mostly under-developed. Obviously lots of female anatomy points. The video was a little grainy and blurry. The audio was not mixed correctly (another Meyer staple). The dialogue was too low and the music was too loud. Overall, I got what I expected: boobs. I rate this o.k.
American comedy films directed by Michael Ritchie and Richard Linklater, starring Walter Matthau and Billy Bob Thornton.
A baseball coach who had a small amount of fame long ago is now an alcoholic and coaches an underdog kids team.
I haven't done a comparison review in a while. As always, the original is better. Walter Matthau faced tougher odds because the parents funding his team told him to shut it down. That was the main plot difference. The characters were relatively similar, except for Amanda. She was older in the remake and had a clothing shop instead of selling maps to the homes of stars. There was a gigantic difference in production. The remake blew the original away in this department just by camera technology alone. What separates good movies from alright movies is clearly demonstrated if you watch these in a row. It's that undefinable thing that I call style. Some people call it spark. It's a combination of all the film elements that is just right. The original had that. The remake was an overdramatized, vulgar and stupid imitation. It had most of the same ingredients, but the chef burned it. Overall, I say the original gets a good rating and the remake a poor rating.
An American western directed by and starring Clint Eastwood.
A man's family is killed in the civil war. When the north wins, he refuses to surrender and begins running from or killing any men sent to track him down. He is first accompanied by a fellow soldier, but later befriends an old Indian chief, squaw and the remains of another family broken by war.
This was not too shabby. The plot was epic (not to mention the length: more EPIC!) and had tons of room for many characters to be well-developed. They were also memorable. To help things along, action scenes and gunfights break up the story drama at good intervals. There was lots of good camera-work showing beautiful outdoor scenes, but also some very bad camera-work. "Let's shoot in this log cabin with no lights!" The audio was good and subtitles were almost unnecessary, but appreciated. Overall, this is what I'm looking for in a solid green rating. A little bit long, but I'll let that slide. I rate this good. Watch it!
An American action film directed by John Carpenter.
A gang of criminals is in possession of a large quantity of stolen guns. A death-row inmate of a prison is being transported, along with 2 other inmates, when one of them gets sick. A father is driving with his daughter when he stops to use a pay phone and she approaches an ice cream truck. A rookie cop is spending his first night on the job at a station that is in the process of being relocated.
The many converging plot-lines actually ended up making sense and the characters were alright. I wish they had developed the father character more. As it is, he's like a glowing match that is carelessly thrown on flammable materials. The main secretary seemed like she was about to be developed into the plot all the way through, but to no avail. I would call her a glorified extra. I liked how the action rose through the duration, with only a quick clean-up of an ending. However, 2 minutes and 30 seconds of credits to start the film was a little excessive. Obviously, we've got some pacing issues and uneven character development. The video was extremely dark because of the night setting and the gang cutting off electricity to the building did not help this. Overall, it was a decent flick that is worth watching once. I rate it o.k.
An American western directed by Larry G. Spangler, starring Fred Williamson.
A black man returns home after the civil war to find that his mother has been killed and the outlaws responsible have stolen the wife of the man who owned his mother as a slave.
This was very VERY poorly made. The repetitive soundtrack made anger rise in my heart with it's 3 single-bar songs. The acting was terrible. Let me explain: When you watch a normal movie, the actors work to convince you that they are the characters and the director works with them and the camera crew to convince you that you are seeing events pertaining to the characters and the plot. In this film, it was painfully obvious that the actors were just people standing there and saying lines or pretending to be in a fight. Some of the camera shots had good composition, but I didn't feel that the director was trying to convince me in the least bit that these things were happenning. The pacing dragged like a tricycle with no wheels. The female actresses were either mostly so similar looking that it seemed like one woman playing multiple parts or it actually was one woman playing many roles. Besides camera shot composition, there was only one other positive part of this film. Joshua ties one of the harriers to a tree and a gun to another tree. He then uses a wet strip of leather to tie the trigger. The leather dries, shrinks and KABLASTO! A creative execution. I have to rate this bad because it looked like it was planned and acted by novices.
A West German, Canadian, French, Italian slasher horror directed by Denis Heroux.
A soldier is in England on his way from Vietnam to America. He enters a house where a group of nurses live and kills them.
Female anatomy points! This movie has boobs and as Smeagol would say, "they are young they are tender they are nice" (picture). The plot took a long time to actually get to the point and the characters weren't developed. I don't think that this was meant to be a great film. I believe the filmmakers knew it was about boobs and blood from the very start. If that's what you're looking for, this is it. I rate it o.k. because I would prefer a little more from a film, but appreciate what it has.
An American science fiction horror directed by Richard Ashe.
A young man is struck by a piece of a meteorite. He experiences headaches and turns into a lizard when the moon is full. While in reptile form, he kills people. He later awakens as a human with no memory of the events.
This should not have been made. The plot is stale and the characters shallow. The pacing is unbearably slow and there is no style to speak of. The bad audio was too loud to the point of distortion and the bad video was sub-par '70s underexposed dark. Music detracted from the value of an already inferior film using cheesy synthesizers. There was a hippy folk song that was stereotypical, but not bad. I believe that they were actually perfoming this musical number, rather than faking to a backing track. That is the only thing in this film that earns any points in the positive direction. This is a bad movie. Do not watch it.
A German American action romance directed by Jack Arnold.
A supposedly secure Swiss bank is robbed and account holders are killed. The bank hires an American former treasury official to find who is disrupting business. While involved in this investigation, he falls in love with a woman.
Everything was mediocre, '70s and boring. The editing was a little sloppy, video grainy and audio had clarity problems. The characters were easy to identify, but the plot almost put me to sleep. This is just another crappy movie that I had to sort through in search of diamonds in the rough. I rate it poor.
An American action film directed by William Girdler, starring Leslie Nielsen.
A man involved in a secret government group of assassins tries to leave the group and runs away, but is pursued by another man from the group and a crime boss who wants to sell him to another country.
I think that Leslie Nielsen is a good actor and should have been in a better movie than this one. The plot was simple and so were the characters. The style was piss poor and stereotypical. I really can't think of anything good to say about this, so I rate it bad.
An Italian crime film directed by Fernando Di Leo, distributed by Troma.
A low level loan collector in an organized crime group teams up with a friend to defeat the boss of their organization.
I don't usually like crime films or Troma films, but this one was alright. The plot was interesting and I liked the characters. It was clearly presented and had some style. The only criticism that I have is that the soundtrack was a little bit annoying at times. During the ending action scene, there was a clicking sound that got old fast and stayed around too long. I'm rating this adequate.
An Italian crime film directed by Antonio Margheriti, starring Yul Brynner.
A retired hit man and a guy who fixes horse races using a pellet gun team up against high level mafia bosses.
Blah blah blah, car chase, shootout, repeat. If that's what you want, this film is for you. I tend to not go for this type of thing and desire a little more from a film. Granted, I'm writing about public domain films, but there are standards that must be met. The audio was noisy and the video grainy. The few main characters were difficult to lose track of, but everyone else was anonymous. The plot was a total disaster because it was presented so shoddily. The acting was alright on the parts of Yul Brynner, his sidekick and girlfriend. I'm rating this poor because the plot was so difficult to follow.
An American action crime film directed by Paul Kyriazi.
An Asian woman has a trio of fighters whom she send to kill people for her. A crime boss soon finds out that the Asian woman wants complete control of all hit men in the city and will kill anyone who tries to kill someone without her guys. The trio attack a karate studio where they kill everyone except one student who sets out to get revenge.
The plot was murky like a Louisiana bayou on a moonless night and the characters were similarly unidentifiable. Is the hero one of the villains? If you like cheesy '70s music (and I know you do), the soundtrack is awesome. The acting was some of the worst I've ever seen and the editing was off-time. Hence, the pacing was terrible. There were a few good scenes including 2 bar/restaurant brawls and an office timebomb freakout session. The first restaurant brawl was accompanied by Christian country music and it seemed very Tarantino-esque. I'm rating this o.k. because it sucked something fierce, but had it's moments.
An American crime film directed by Joe Tornatore.
A group of Vietnam veterans gets involved in the ongoing conflict between white mafia, black gangs and the cops.
I was being too nice to the public domain movies. Now it's time to get nasty. What a horrible load of crap! The acting was some of the worst I've ever seen, the editing was sloppily timed, camera-work was lame, characters undeveloped, plot boring and the quality of the audio and video followed along these lines. It was like an hour and 20 minute Sabotage video by The Beastie Boys. Then in the last 5 minutes, a back-story develops for one character and twists the plot of the whole film retroactively. It seems like they tried to justify the whole stupid movie by making the last few minutes interesting. Too little too late! I'm rating it bad.
