Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Friday Watch Party: Gorilla at Large






reminder:  you can always see what we're up to each week by clicking on the Watch Party tab or seeing what's up by checking under the "Interaction" label.  



Friends, this may be the most exciting title for a movie I've ever seen in my whole g-d life.  

I was pretty thrilled with just the name, but then I saw it stars Anne Bancroft, Raymond Burr, Lee J Cobb and Cameron (Space Mutiny) Mitchell, and, y'all, I done lost my mind when I noted an appearance by none other than Lee @#$%ing Marvin.

Do I know anything about this movie?  I do not.  But how can we go wrong with a gorilla, a circus, and Lee J Cobb?

Day:  Friday 02/03/2023
Time:  8:30 Central/ 6:30 Pacific
Cost:  $4


link live 10 minutes prior to showtime




PodCast 230: "Jaws 3-D" (1983) - An Angry Animal Movie w/ Jamie, SimonUK and Ryan



Watched:  01/22/2023
Format:  AMazon
Viewing: First
Decade:  1980s
Director:  Joe Alves




Jamie, SimonUK and Ryan go back in the water - at Sea World! It's been 40 years since this 3D film hit theaters, so what better way to watch it than in 2D with 1/10th the excitement of the original, and 2x the co-contributors?!! It's a sequel that doesn't care what made the first one work, but it raises the stakes, finds a sunnier locale, adds sharks, half-heartedly continues the saga of the Brody family, and defies biology and physics to bring you excitement and terror!


SoundCloud 


YouTube


Music:
Jaws 3 Main Title Theme - Alan Parker 


Angry Animals Playlist

Cindy Williams Merges With The Infinite




Cindy Williams, who played Shirley on the popular sitcom Laverne & Shirley, has passed.  

It seems her passing must have been sudden as just last week I saw an ad for Williams' one-woman show, Me, Myself and Shirley, which was coming to Austin.  

Williams was a staple of 70's and 80's television, and a star of George Lucas' breakthrough hit, American Graffiti.  Williams appeared in the great Coppola film The Conversation, as well as countless movies and shows over the years.



Monday, January 30, 2023

Lisa Loring Merges With The Infinite



Lisa Loring, who most famously played Wednesday Addams on The Addams Family from 1964-1966, has passed.  

Like many child actors, Loring's post-Addams Family life was complex, dipping in and out of the spotlight from time to time, through tabloids and media appearances.   And, like many celebrities of retro media, Loring had made a career out of the fan shows and convention circuit.  She did act in TV and film, keeping mostly to guest starring roles and smaller films.

Remarkably, Loring really did grow up to somewhat resemble Carolyn Jones.  So, whomever from casting picked her out in 1964, well done.

Loring is survived by her two daughters.

Here's to the original Wednesday cutting a rug.


Saturday, January 28, 2023

Watch Party Watch: The Amazing Mr. X (1948)




Watched:  01/27/2023
Format:  Amazon Watch Party
Viewing:  First
Director:  Bernard Vorhaus (sp?)


This is "moral relativism, the movie".  Not often do you see a movie where you're straight up unclear why you should care about anyone in the film, but this is it.  If you believe women should be helpless dummies, I guess you can pick the two rich, guileless sisters who are shown to mostly be cotton-brained marks through 90 minutes of film, and who discuss their long history of what easy targets they've been, but when your hero of the third reel is the guy who has been outmaneuvered by the even shittier guy in the movie... woof.

These characters kind of all deserve each other.  

I dunno.  The version we watched for free on Amazon Prime was a very, very rough, dark print that hadn't been touched since being put away probably in 1949.  John Alton was the DP, and there's some gorgeous John Alton stuff in this movie that was unfortunately dimmed by time.  I will pay to see this again in a restored version just for the photography.

I was willing to see this movie immediately because it co-starred Cathy O'Donnell, who is fantastic in They Live By Night, Side Street and The Best Years of Our Lives, but here she's mostly asked to be a simp and whine a lot, and...  it's fine, but it's thankless.  Playing a gullible dummy isn't a good look for anyone.

I know Lynn Bari less.  She's in Nocturne, which is a fine film, but that's the only place I've seen her.  And while the picture was blurry and dark, she's, how does one say?  fun to watch.  

The plot is that two rich sisters live in a Manderlay like mansion on an ocean cliff.  Two years prior, Lynn Bari's husband died in a fiery car crash.  She's both mourning him and about to be engaged to a too-practical attorney.  Her sister, O'Donnell, is a character type we'd start seeing a lot in this era- the teen or young woman who is certain in her belief she's smarter and wiser than everyone around them.  

Well, Lynn is being set up by her housekeeper (who is playing a Swedish maid) and her partner, the shady Alexis (the titular Mr. X, I guess), and they basically do the spiritualism bit on her, convincing her he's magic and there are ghosts.  

The movie goes to great pains to show us how the shenanigans of a seance work, and do the job of showing us how a complex spook show convinces both sisters (O'Donnell's character predictably wants to be on Mr. X).  But, lo, and behold, the dead husband shows up as NOT dead, and begins blackmailing our scammer into partnering.  

And, honestly, the pragmatic attorney does kind of blow.  Mr. X is played by character actor Turhan Bey, who was a wildly prolific talent, but who didn't really star in much other than this movie and The Mummy's Tomb.  The film's third-reel decision to have him grow a conscience seems... iffy.  He's dedicated his whole life to scamming.  And I think there's probably a good movie in that idea, but this isn't it.

Anyway, I actually enjoyed watching the film in part due to Alton, the two female leads, and because it's completely bonkers.  Is it a good movie?  Not particularly.  But it's a great late-late-show kind of movie that deserves a better print than what we saw.



Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Friday Watch Party : The Amazing Mr. X



housekeeping note!  HEY.  We've added a "Watch Party" tab to the main menu.  If you ever wonder what's up with the next Watch Party and can't immediately find a link, click on the "Watch Party" option.

So, I'm told The Amazing Mr. X is being shown at this year's Noir City in Oakland.  By K, who works in Oakland.  I guess she knows.  

Anyway, I ain't against anything with THIS poster, and it has Cathy O'Donnell, who is great.

Let's watch this thing. 

Day:  01/27/2023
Time:  8:30 PM Central/ 6:30 Pacific
Cost:  Free for Amazon Prime members

(link live 10 minutes before show)


PodCast 229: "The Addams Family" Comics, TV, Movies and More - Jamie and Ryan



Movies/ TV Watched:  
  • Addams Family (1991) 01/16/2023
  • Addams Family Values (1993)  01/17/2023
  • Addams Family (animated - 2019) 01/19/2023
  • Wednesday (2022)
  • The Addams Family (original series, 1964-1966)
Format:
  • Addams Family/ Values/ Wednesday - Netflix
  • Addams Family (animated film)/ original series - YouTube
Viewing:
  • Addams Family/ Values - Unknown
  • Addams Family (animated) - First
Director:
  • Addams Family/ Values/ Wednesday - Barry Sonenfeld
  • Addams Family (animated film) - Greg Tiernan/ Conrad Vernon



Join us as we get creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky, and all together ooky, as Jamie and Ryan talk Addams Family comic strips, television, movies and more! We ponder questions of family values, romance, and what makes an ever-evolving franchise work when it passes through so many hands as new generations get involved. And what IS movie perfection, and why is it only seen in the two Addams Family films?


SoundCloud 


YouTube



Shakespeare!


Music:
The Addams Family Theme - Vic Mizzy
Addams Groove - Hammer


What is Love? Playlist




Monday, January 23, 2023

Screwball Watch: Libeled Lady (1936)




Watched:  01/23/2023
Format:  TCM
Viewing:  Second
Director:  Jack Conway

You can do worse than a movie with Myrna Loy and Jean Harlow.  But our male leads are Spencer Tracy and William Powell.  So.  

A newspaper accidentally runs a badly sourced story about a rich young woman (Loy), claiming she carried on with a married man, but it's not accurate.  Tracy is attempting to marry Harlow, but the emergency (threats of libel and slander suits) pulls him away from his own wedding.  Looking to find a way to get the $5 million lawsuit dropped, he employs scoundrel William Powell to set Loy up for a fall in front of cameras and make her lawsuit moot.  

There's nothing I don't like about the movie.  It's brilliantly conceived, acted and it's hysterical, careening from one sequence to another.  It's top tier talent making the most of a great set-up.  





Sunday, January 22, 2023

Watch Party Watch: Zardoz (1974)




Watched:  01/20/2023
Format:  Amazon Watch Party
Viewing:  First
Director:  John Boorman

So, my college pal, Robb, was a big fan of this movie, which really set the bar for me.  He's the same guy who would pitch a Saturday as "let's watch Stalker and then Bullit".   Circa 1999 or so, my brother, Steanso, and myself decided to give Zardoz (1974) a whirl, and I think we made it twenty minutes in before giving up and watching Xena or Cleopatra 2525.  

I will not say I hated or even disliked Zardoz, while acknowledging - this is not a movie for everyone.  The film contains a million concepts and ideas all crammed into one movie.  I don't think it really succeeds (for me) as story, commentary or entertainment, but it is absolutely a thing to watch for its tremendous ambition, low-budget-swing-for-the-fences approach, and unique visuals.  It's trying to do some Very Important Stuff via sci-fi, and I can't say it fails, exactly.  The ideas are interesting enough.  It's just not a movie that is amazingly fun to watch (sober).

Friday, January 20, 2023

Friday Watch Party: ZARDOZ (1974)



I've never seen Zardoz beyond the first 20 minutes, and so now I'm going to watch it.  We're ALL going to watch it.  

Here's all you need to know:  

I would kill for 1/200th of the confidence it takes to say "yes, put me on film in that"



Anyway, I am told the movie occurs in 2023, which is now.  So, put on your red diaper and hurt-me boots, and let's watch this thing.

Day:  Friday, 01/20/2023
Time:  8:30 Central, 6:30 Pacific
Service:  Amazon
Cost:  $4, and a small bit of your sanity


(link live 10 minutes before show)

BEHOLD!  The trailer.