Cannonball.

Review #2559: Cannonball.

Cast: 

David Carradine (Coy "Cannonball" Buckman), Bill McKinney (Cade Redman), Veronica Hamel (Linda Maxwell), Gerrit Graham (Perman Waters), Robert Carradine (Jim Crandell), Belinda Balaski (Maryann), Mary Woronov (Sandy Harris), Diane Lee Hart (Wendy), Glynn Rubin (Ginny), James Keach (Wolf Messer), Dick Miller (Bennie Buckman), Paul Bartel (Lester Marks), Stanley Bennett Clay (Beutell Morris), Judy Canova (Sharma Capri), Archie Hahn (Zippo), and Carl Gottlieb (Terry McMillan) Directed by Paul Bartel (#955 - Eating Raoul, #2231 - Death Race 2000, #2440 - Private Parts)

Review: 

Yes, the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash inspired quite a few movies. Once upon a time, in the 1970s, a couple of people got together and wanted to go cross-country across the United States really really fast. It was devised by car magazine writer/auto racer Brock Yates and Car and Driver editor Steve Smith that ran a couple of times in the 1970s (1971, 1972, 1975, 1979) that liked to celebrate the interstate highway and protest against traffic laws.* Various things came about involving speed limits and car rallies (One Lap of America and Gumball 3000, specifically). Believe it or not, Yates actually was planning to do a movie screenplay but was instead beaten to the punch by Samuel W. Gelfman, a producer who hired Paul Bartel and David Carradine (fresh off Death Race 2000 [1975]) to make a movie that would be distributed by Roger Corman's New World Pictures. The resulting script was cobbled together from Paul Bartel and Donald C. Simpson (this was Simpson's only credited screenplay, as the following year saw him named vice president of production at Paramount). Released in July, it was released one month before The Gumball Rally from Warner Bros. (the car race movie with Michael Sarrazin as star). Bartel later stated that while he was never interested in cars or racing, he decided loading the film with cameos and gimmicks that interested him would work out for him (which included a scene of Bartel playing the piano, naturally). The movie (which includes a gauntlet of cameos from Roger Corman to Sylvester Stallone) was not as big a success as Death Race 2000. Yates did get his screenplay made into a film, albeit with an all-star ensemble cast in Hal Needham's The Cannonball Run (1981), complete with a cameo appearance. Coincidentally, both movies had funding from Hong Kong companies: Cannonball had the involvement of Shaw Brothers Studio while The Cannonball Run had the involvement of Golden Harvest (and even the involvement of Jackie Chan as one of the stars).

It's a movie with a very macho Carradine that goes around driving through the mayhem that comes from exploding cars, mid-wit brothers, cars piling onto themselves, and good ol' scrappy fun. Sure, it does plod along at 93 minutes with an array of jokes and action set-pieces that are pretty hit and miss. But I enjoy the general enthusiasm that comes through to say that it is at least curious to sit through once, perhaps as part of a double-header with Death Race 2000 (or, to see the comparison of familiar faces, The Cannonball Run, a movie my dad surely liked enough to have on DVD). If you like Carradine and cars, this is somehow second of a sort-of-trilogy of Carradine, cars, and New World distribution. In 1978, Carradine happened to do another vehicle-related car movie with Deathsport (1978) for New World (with Allan Arkush and Nicholas Niciphor as director). It's the usual type of understated macho performance from Carradine that coasts through the experience with a few kicks and the same number of expressions as say, Clint Eastwood (in other words: fine?). McKinney and his loosely defined adversary position is at least interesting to see play off Carradine here and there, but it mostly is a film for bits and pieces of things (most significantly with Miller, the "that guy!" king). Hell, he probably is almost outshone by R.Carradine and Balaski taking the time in doing the race (which even sees them take a competitor to the hospital). It's a movie built for theatrics: guys playing country songs in a fast car will eventually go by the wayside for a stunt jump over an unfinished bridge (which is cool). Strangely enough, this and Cannonball Run share the same type of conclusion: the lead doesn't actually win the race because a last-second snafu (okay it's a bit dourer in this film as compared to the other one, but still) with its own type of punchline in bringing the wreck back home. It's a movie where you either go "cool", "eh", or "nope", pure and simple. As a whole, it certainly is a step down from Death Race 2000 (1975) in terms of entertainment with the second and last collaboration between Bartel and Carradine, but it still is worth a watch for those who like offbeat movies on the road that is sometimes funny but generally involving to see to the end.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Song of the day!

*In a movie, it's whatever, but here's an easy take: follow traffic laws. People shouldn't die because some pissant had to go 100 on a 75 or because some moron doesn't use their turn signals. 

The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Review #2554: The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Cast: 

Clint Eastwood (Josey Wales), Chief Dan George (Lone Watie), Sondra Locke (Laura Lee Turner), Bill McKinney (Captain Terrill), John Vernon (Fletcher), Paula Trueman (Grandma Sarah Turner), Sam Bottoms (Jamie), Geraldine Keams (Little Moonlight), Woodrow Parfrey (Percy Long), Joyce Jameson (Rose), Sheb Wooley (Travis Cobb), Royal Dano (Ten Spot), Matt Clark (Kelly), John Verros (Chato), Will Sampson (Ten Bears), William O'Connell (Sim Carstairs), Madeleine Taylor Holmes (Grannie Hawkins), John Quade (Ciril E. Forebaugh), Frank Schofield (Senator James Henry Lane), Buck Kartalian (Shopkeeper), Len Lesser (Abe), and Doug McGrath (Lige)

Directed by Clint Eastwood (#1252 - Space Cowboys, #1310 - Million Dollar Baby, #1476 - Pale Rider, #1501 - Unforgiven, #1550 - Gran Torino, #1638 - Bird, #1757 - Sudden Impact, #1831 - High Plains Drifter, #2487 - The Rookie)

Review: 

"When people stop me in the street, it tends to be about Josey Wales. They seem to like that one. I rented it recently, it still holds up."

As we approach the Semiquincentennial of America, I suppose it only makes sense to cover a film that came across in the dawn of the Bicentennial fifty years ago. The movie was based on a book called The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales (titled Gone to Texas in later editions), which was published in 1973 with the writer being listed as Forrest Carter. He had sent the book unsolicited to Eastwood's office with a letter talking about "Eastwood's kind eyes", and go figure, producer Robert Daley felt it looked like a good idea to approach it to Eastwood, who soon agreed to work with optioning Carter's book. When Philip Kaufman looked at the book for the first time, he thought, well, that it was written by a "crude fascist". He co-wrote the screenplay with Sonia Chernus, which included the characters of Terrill and Fletcher that was not previously included in the book. It didn't help with filming, as disagreements with Eastwood in the shooting led to Kaufman's firing in favor of Eastwood, which he once said was "the worst moment of my life"*. It was his fifth film as a director, after the release of The Eiger Sanction (1975). The resulting film made over eight times its $3 million budget back with audiences when released (premiering in late June for a festival before going into release in July and August). As for Carter, he actually was born Asa Earl Carter, an Alabama-born segregationist who for whatever reason decided to try and rebrand himself as a writer with Cherokee background that lived in Abilene, Texas. Sure, there were rumbling questions about who Carter really as early as 1975 (only a few years prior, he ran a failed campaign for governor of Alabama), but Carter kept the facade on long enough to have written three further books, one of which was The Education of Little Tree (which was adapted into a film in 1997). He died at the age of 53, which apparently came after choking on his own vomit after a fight with his son. Plans to do a movie based on his second novel with the Wales character in The Vengeance Trail of Josey Wales (1976) did not come to pass with Eastwood involved. In 1986, Michael Parks directed and starred in The Return of Josey Wales, which dealt with confronting corrupt lawmen in Mexico.

Sure, you might wonder how it goes to make a movie about an ex-Confederate guerilla (incidentally, Jesse James was one of them), particularly with a person that believed that the "values of a civilization never died so long as they’re kept alive in legend.” Simply put, there are people who really thought there was a lost cause to a group of losers who never won a war, never deserved a monument to being traitors, and never did anything meaningful for the United States of America besides dying, because goddamn it, you should know the war was fought over slavery before you leave high school*. But, and this is the important part, it is such a worthwhile movie to see a tale of a man at war with himself that becomes whole again (besides, some people called Dirty Harry "fascist", it didn't stop them from making four more of those movies), or at least much as possible when the iron in his words is akin to the iron of a pistol. All he wants to do is move on and pick up what was broken in him from the war and move on. As Eastwood once said, man becomes his most creative in war, so you can only do so much to clean the blood stain from the tapestry. It isn't even that much of a revenge tale, because McKinney (and to a lesser extent in adversarial nature, Vernon) is not present in the movie as much as, say, George is for the 135-minute runtime, as if to suggest that it matters to see the frontier for what it really is beyond the cliches matters more than if one is going to rattle the sabre right into a man's heart, which, well, yes. It's a violent movie that also has plenty of offbeat moments, such as the moment where one says that hell is coming to breakfast. Everything collides for a reckoning of the soul, whether that's Eastwood and his ambivalence, George and his straightforward nature or otherwise. New order, old order, we thrive on the myths and tales we tell for ourselves, regardless of where they may spring from. As a whole, The Outlaw Josey Wales freewheels history and the usual conventions of the Western for a pretty solid result in offbeat entertainment that is expertly filmed and executed by Eastwood and company for a movie that reckons with community and what really matters to live or die on the frontier.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Song of the day!

*If one goes by this interview, Kaufman has never seen the film: Philip Kaufman: The Hollywood Interview | The Hollywood Interview

*If I remember correctly, my dad had a license plate cover of the Confederate battle flag. And yet, I turned out the way I did. 

Eaten Alive.

Review #2281: Eaten Alive.

Cast: 

Neville Brand (Judd), Mel Ferrer (Harvey Wood), Carolyn Jones (Miss Hattie), Marilyn Burns (Faye), William Finley (Roy), Stuart Whitman (Sheriff Martin), Roberta Collins (Clara Wood), Kyle Richards (Angie), Robert Englund (Buck), Janus Blythe (Lynette), and Crystin Sinclaire (Libby Wood) Directed by Tobe Hooper (#348 - Poltergeist, #1297 - The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, #1909 - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, #2134 - Lifeforce)

Review: 

"I like the unknown and strange, bizarre things. It's really weird because I've had people ask me about making these films. Do they scare you when you're making them? No, it's not at all scary. When you shoot these things and you see that they work, you're laughing, and it becomes a comedy to you."

It sure is weird to get a runaway classic on your second try as a director. In 1974, Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel wrote the screenplay to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which you already know would be Hooper's crowning achievement. However, less people might know of his next effort with this film, one that was written by Henkel, this time co-writing it with Alvin L. Fast and Mardi Rustam. The movie apparently took inspiration from the serial killer Joe Ball, who killed at least two people in the 1930s and had an alligator pit (he apparently didn't throw people in there, but "Alligator Man" was one nickname applied to him anyway) in his place in Texas. The film apparently has had several alternate titles (probably because Mars Productions didn't exactly make a killing on original release), such as "Death Trap", "Horror Hotel", and "Starlight Slaughter". Incidentally, Hooper grew up to a family that operated their own theater. Hooper had a few disagreements with producers (supposedly leaving the production before it finished), with the money that had come to do the film apparently only coming with the stipulation that he would do the film, which had a bit of handwringing in writing. However, he would keep busy in the next couple of years, directing a TV miniseries of Salem's Lot in 1979 before he got his first prominent studio film with The Funhouse (1981).

It's funny, if you make a hokey little movie with some commitment to gore or at least one energetic performance, you have my attention. Of course, this is a movie that decides to start itself off with a hooker rejecting the advances of a man trying to get behind for his services, so one has a feel that this is going to be a weird one. With a film filled with a key eccentric performance and a few sticking points of would-be and known names to go along with one strange set piece, you have the stage for a curious bit of low budget sleaze hokum. I actually kind of like this ridiculous movie. The whole film was shot on a sound stage at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, complete with a large pool that doubled for the swamp. Hooper aimed for a "surrealistic, twilight world" with the hotel in terms of lighting, which is amusing to see play out for such a delightful exploitative film that would be right at home for people who liked, say, Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964), complete with little to really say about the characters beyond mayhem. Brand went through the gamut of acting as a heavy (Western or otherwise), tough-guy roles and the occasional lead for film and plenty of TV. Here he clearly was given the light to just go nuts and have fun, complete with getting to use a scythe at one point. He makes for a capable unstable monster worth following along with, a terror in his own square of squalor that seems to like his space and his gator. The movie isn't really that big on showing the alligator, showing it only for scenes involving, well, the body count, but I don't mind too much (others might be weirded out by one pet death, but, well....). You have your mix of actors of varying experience of familiarity like Burns (returning to work with Hooper in probably her second most known film role), Jones (in her penultimate film role), Ferrer (a career vet on the mend), and Englund and Richards (in the horror film before each became more well known, although Englund did work with Hooper twice more with Night Terrors [1993] and The Mangler [1995]). Burns probably comes out the best when it comes to reacting to terror, although there is something amusing about seeing Englund play a sleazeball with ease (Jones is more a cameo than anything). The 91-minute runtime might not be the easiest sit for everybody when it comes to weird and alluring sleaze, but there is something curious about the whole affair that keeps me going even when it just looks like a vehicle for death, mostly because that hotel set really is quite striking to get stuck looking into. As a whole, Hooper was a curious director that used his fascination with the strange and murky things to make a film that works for a specific kind of interested horror fan that goes in knowing Hooper was more than just a one-trick pony. In that sense, it might be for you.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

The Monkey Hustle.

Review #2176: The Monkey Hustle.

Cast: 

Yaphet Kotto (Daddy Foxx), Kirk Calloway (Baby D), Thomas Carter (Player), Rudy Ray Moore (Goldie), Rosalind Cash (Mama), Debbie Morgan (Vi), Randy Brooks (Win), Lynn Harris (Sweet Potatoe), and Donn Carl Harper (Tiny) Directed by Arthur Marks.

Review: 

Oh sure, the "blaxploitation" genre had their share of hits and misses in that noted era of the 1970s, some of which being pretty evident to see fall in and out of the public eye. Arthur Marks was one of those directors that made a handful of films in that decade that can be thought of as belonging to that certain label. Born in Los Angeles to a family involved in show business, Marks was an assistant director in the early days of television alongside film before getting his chance to direct with television, most notably with over 75 episodes of Perry Mason. Marks started directing features with Togetherness (1970), but the films that likely stick with people best were the five (for which he also sometimes produced) in the "blaxploitation" label with each featuring a prominent name (in varying levels): Detroit 9000 (1973, starring Alex Rocco), Bucktown (1975, starring Fred Williamson and Pam Grier), Friday Foster (1975, starring Grier with Yaphet Kotto and Godfrey Cambridge), J. D.'s Revenge (1976, with Glynn Turman and Louis Gossett Jr.), and this feature, which actually was his last as a feature director. He directed a bit of TV afterwards before his death in 2019 at the age of 92. The film was cited later by Michael Jai White as an inspiration when growing up (prior to starring in films such as Black Dynamite), where he described it as "just brash, unlike anything I'd ever seen".

The script was done by Odie Hawkins and Charles Eric Johnson (which ended up as the last feature screenplay credited to each) for distribution by American International Pictures. Honestly, the fact that Kotto is featured with Rudy Ray Moore (in his first non-Dolemite film) on the poster seemed like a useful enough argument to go looking for this film, even though it sounded like one of those films that could go either way in varying entertainment level. Unfortunately, the movie is not particularly consistent enough to work for 90 minutes beyond the occasional chuckle. It may seem like an interesting ensemble idea, but it lacks proper tension and all-around energy to actually pull it off. It seems more like a collection of half-baked ideas of trying to shape the youth into productive lines of work (read: hustling) that practically begs for a bigger presence in the overall endgame. Kotto does have a generally useful presence when it comes to huckster charm, because his confidence in not needing to do an honest day of work to live another day for the tricks of trade is satisfactory to the bare minimum required. Oh to live with better material to watch. Moore does not have as much schtick to play with  (who appears lightly but has his own music cue pop up a handful of times when he appears in a scene), but he at least seems game to actually play the role of playing the strings of the community in flair rather than just sit there. Good God, I'd rather watch Kotto and Moore try to ham each other out rather than spend time with Calloway and the nonconsequential story that comes in youth (remember that that the main "plot" only comes together because of having to appeal to the folks lording over the rest in hustles and not anyone else). Who care about romance between a bunch of folks in the mean (citation needed) streets of Chicago when they have the connection of a battery with 5% remaining? It basically is a series of vignettes that loosely tie together with the all-encompassing "protect the streets from pesky construction" that falls on deaf ears. If the action or hustling (the plans shown here sure are detailed enough for such small-time gains) is going to seem like something you've seen before, the least one can do is have some fun with ham acting or noted names, but here it just is a flatly average experience all the way through. Everything is rudimentary here, but a 5 is just about right for a few curious stares on a late night, because a halfway there rating seems accurate enough in hustle and accuracy.

Overall, I give it 5 out of 10 stars.

Murder by Death.

Review #1996: Murder by Death. 

Cast: 

Eileen Brennan (Tess Skeffington), Truman Capote (Lionel Twain), James Coco (Milo Perrier), Peter Falk (Sam Diamond), Alec Guinness (Bensonmum), David Niven (Dick Charleston), Elsa Lanchester (Jessica Marbles), Peter Sellers (Sidney Wang), Maggie Smith (Dora Charleston), Nancy Walker (Maid), Estelle Winwood (Nurse), James Cromwell (Marcel), and Richard Narita (Willie Wang) Directed by Robert Moore.

Review: 

Admittedly, the appeal is in how much you are invested in mystery characters being spoofed. No, not Sherlock Holmes (that was a deleted scene), but characters such as Sam Spade and Nick & Nora Charles (as created by Dashiell Hammett) to go alongside the works of Agatha Christie in Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Oh, and Charlie Chan (as written by Earl Derr Biggers). Neil Simon, playwright and screenwriter of previous ventures such as The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and The Sunshine Boys (1975) wrote the screenplay for this film. This was the first film for director Robert Moore, who had done a handful of productions in the theater such as The Boys in the Band in 1968 and Promises, Promises the following year (Moore did a number of television shows and three total films as a film director before his untimely death). Falk, who is imitating Sam Spade that was notably portrayed on screen by Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon (1941), returned with Moore and Simon to play a parody of Bogart with The Cheap Detective in 1978 alongside Brennan, Coco, and Cromwell. So yes, here are with a movie that wants to have fun with the "old dark house" genre that was pretty big in the early part of the 20th century, complete with plenty of name actors to go around, which includes two actors making their final appearance in Winwood and Walker and one in Cromwell making his first.

You know, for the most part, it is a pretty good time for 94 minutes. Sure, not every joke is bound to land, and it probably lingers a bit in being too smart and silly for its own good, but it does generally work the points it wants to do when it comes to in the realm of the mystery spoof. It is breezy without laboring hard within its one setting and one eventual punchline to outdo the setups done prior to the climax. It's interesting to watch Falk here in a role that makes light of a hard-boiled detective, mostly because a considerable amount of time has been spent by me (in the past few months) watching him in probably his most famous role as Colombo. But he is a talented actor, playing to the hard-nosed expectations of the spoof role and exceeding it quite well in generating chuckles without playing it as just an easy buffoon, which basically means dry warmth, and Brennan clings with resourceful timing that fits for a genre riff. Guinness seems to be having fun with this role, which mostly has him stumble around for effect with a few offbeat lines and play a blind man. Sellers is in prosthetics to play a character that most famously had been played by Swedish-born actor Warner Oland, much in the same way that Sellers did a decade earlier when playing an Indian in The Party (1968), which is easily the most dated aspect of the film. He does bring a few chuckles, if only because the lines seem so intentionally corny to begin with, one who seems intentionally out of date with the times to make laughs. Of course, Sellers would (in)famously have his last role end up being the title role of The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu in 1980 (one year after that film, Peter Ustinov (another non-Asian actor) played Charlie Chan in Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981), and since that film, neither of the two characters have been portrayed on film). Niven and Smith make a decent pairing in the expense of The Thin Man that namely involves them playing the role to pleasantries. Capote is, well, a writer brought in to play against the other mystery spoofs in his first and only major role in a film. It has been said that Simon and Moore thought about replacing him with an actor but that it never came to pass. Eh, he does what is needed in parts, since it isn't really his movie to steal the scenery as is the case with the others. Coco and Lanchester prove fine in the mildest sense of comic relief. The cliche elements of old are lovingly utilized to chuckles, whether involving an old dark house or hired help with more on the mind than housewares or convivences stacked upon conveniences (which makes for an amusing ending). As a whole, the movie takes a familiar presence with familiar detective types (be it the rough detective or general sleuth) and has a fun time with it, finding a clear balance between ribbing the dynamics that come with trying to play around with an audience and not simply just tearing the dynamic to shreds. It is good fun without being wrapped up in annoyance for its audience, which on the whole makes for a solid recommendation.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Next: Creed III.

The Human Tornado.

Review #1974: The Human Tornado.

Cast: 

Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite), Lady Reed ("Queen Bee"), Jimmy Lynch (Mr. Motion), Howard Jackson (Himself), Gloria Delaney (Annie "Hurricane Annie"), Jerry Jones (Pete), Sir Lady Java (Herself), J.B. Baron (Sheriff Beatty), Jack Kelly (Captain Ryan), Herb Graham (Cavaletti), Barbara Gerl (Mrs. Cavaletti), James R. Page (Jimmy), and Ernie Hudson (Bo) Directed by Cliff Roquemore.

Review: 

"I wasn't saying dirty words just to say them... It was a form of art, sketches in which I developed ghetto characters who cursed. I don't want to be referred to as a dirty old man, rather a ghetto expressionist." - Rudy Ray Moore

I'm sure you remember Dolemite, the 1975 blaxploitation crime comedy directed by D'Urville Martin that saw Rudy Ray Moore as cowriter/star. As the story goes, Moore took the idea for the character from stories he had heard from a man that was around the record store Moore was working at, who did them in rhyme. Moore took the idea and did it himself to the tune of jazz and R&B music for comedy albums, which he distributed from word-of-mouth. The movie that came from it was one that (to put it mildly): kicked ass from all sides of the street. Granted, it was ridiculous in execution to see a hero with sexual prowess and kung-fu fighting skills with profanity galore in a movie that couldn't even keep the boom mic from being seen (at least if one was watching it on a VHS or DVD). Moore would appear in a starring role in four further feature roles after Dolemite: The Human Tornado (1976), The Monkey Hustle (1976), Petey Wheatstraw (1977), and Disco Godfather (1979). Moore has been cited as an influence in rap, as cited by noted icons such as Snoop Dogg, and Moore was the subject of Dolemite Is My Name (2018), which had Eddie Murphy play him in the process of making Dolemite, and the 2009 film Black Dynamite (a parody/homage of the blaxploitation era) even honors the first film with visible boom mic shots. As for the director of the sequel, Cliff Roquemore was behind the director's chair.  The Detroit native studied theater at Wayne State University and directed a variety of regional productions before becoming involved in film, for which he was behind the production of a handful of blaxploitation features, with him directing Moore in this film Petey Wheatstraw. Jerry Jones wrote the script for this film just like he did for Moore's last film, albeit without Moore serving as a writer this time. 

You know, this may actually be slightly a better-made feature than Dolemite, but that isn't exactly saying much. Saying random highlights might be a disservice when one could see it for themselves, really. The original film was sheer ridiculousness in the level of things it wanted you to go with when it came to general staging. The sequel isn't quite as ridiculous, but there are still various little moments of "of course that happened" here and there, such as trying to pass off the opening as taking place not in California when you can see the Hollywood sign and then find yourself looking at Bronson Cave, the familiar cave of countless B-movies. Hell, Dolemite is shown doing a routine in various clothes, as if they could only film some the funny bits of Moore's act and have to come back on random other days without regard for if the clothes matched or not. The "kung-fu" action is just sped-up regular moving (complete with funny noises), which somehow is sillier than when Dolemite was blowing people away the first time around (since he had a stable of women that were trained in kung-fu). Hell, now you have scenes of Dolemite doing a scene of lovemaking in, uh, a trippy sequence where the "bed" is first seen as building blocks. It even has an "Instant Replay" scene right before the character rolls down a hill (naked, I might add).  It is a weird movie that sees Moore talk mostly in rhymes (which seems more noticeable this time around than the previous film). The actors that return from this film aren't any different than before, which sure says something when one deals with a plot involving kidnapping and brief appearances from folks best known for either Maverick or Ghostbusters. The villain this time is just a bunch of weirdo white folks, which is a bare change from the minimally developed villain of the last film (well, at least when you consider that the first film not only had hustlers as adversaries but crooked cops). Hell, the climax is scattershot to the max, considering it ends with our hero having a bullet taken for him only to see him minutes later trick the villain into shooting him in the back due to his convenient bullet-proofed vest (considering all of this started because of adultery, you would think the man would check for more than five seconds about a man he just shot). Calling this a sleazy B-movie is like calling your dumb friend a dumb friend when they do something dumb: what do you expect?  These were movies made for audiences that wanted to see Moore and some fun action, which works to the benefit of a viewer who knows what they are going for with Moore: silly weird fun that is clearly of the 1970s. That doesn't mean I endorse the movie as "good", but there isn't anything here that is reprehensible (unless one really expected a "film" rather than a "movie"). A man unlike no other in terms of vibrant ambition, Rudy Ray Moore made a worthwhile second feature after Dolemite that continued the entertainment value found within a persistent and distinctive personality that clearly has a place within black cinema, or cinema in general when it comes to movies that might as well qualify as outsider art. 

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

Next time: Killer of Sheep.

Bugsy Malone.

Review #1951: Bugsy Malone.

Cast: 

Scott Baio (Bugsy Malone), Florrie Dugger (Blousey Brown), Jodie Foster (Tallulah), John Cassisi (Fat Sam Staccetto), Martin Lev (Dandy Dan), Paul Murphy (Leroy Smith), Sheridan Earl Russell (Knuckles), Albin 'Humpty' Jenkins (Fizzy), Paul Chirelstein (Smolsky), Andrew Paul (O'Dreary), Jeffrey Stevens (Louis), Donald Waugh (Snake Eyes), Peter Holder (Ritzy), Michael Kirkby (Angelo), and Dexter Fletcher (Baby Face) Directed by Alan Parker.

Review: 

"It was a lunatic idea that one would only attempt at the beginning of a career, infused as it is with such ingenuousness, yet also with almost manic, devotion. Looking back after all this time, it’s easy to see that we must have been crazy even to have attempted it, but curiously, back in 1975, it never occurred to us for a moment that such an absurd creative notion would not work. As for the impossibly difficult logistics of actually filming it, that too eluded us."

Alan Parker was born in Islington, London, England with no aspirations to become a director. His first profession was in advertising, which he entered in 1962 when he was not even twenty years old. By 1968, he had gone from copywriting to directing TV advertisements. One of his numerous employers was Collett Dickenson Pearce, where he met David Puttnam and Alan Marshall, who each proved key in helping to produce this film years later. In fact, it was Puttnam that encouraged him to write what became his first screenplay in Melody (1971). He did a widely appreciated play on television with The Evacuees in 1975. Over time, he had written a handful of scripts, but most were rejected because they were deemed "too parochial" or "too English". Undaunted by this, he thus decided to write a script that seemed "American", despite having little knowledge of the country besides a few trips there to shoot commercials...but he did know American movies. The script that became this film was one inspired by the stories he told to his children to keep them occupied on journeys spent in the car, which involved gangsters and showgirls in New York. It was his eldest son who insisted that the characters were children. Parker did a tour of classrooms all throughout the States to go along with trips around American Air Force bases. Kids were cast from all around to the point where nearly 10,000 kids were seen in a cast that ultimately ended up being around 200 (with respective paperwork needing to be done for licenses, medical approvals, and you get the idea). Most of the filming was done at Pinewood Studios. So, we have a gangster film that is told with children that involves kids being splurged with cream (through the power of illusion, the guns shown shooting doughnut cream is actually done by editing shots of the gun shooting ping-pong balls to go with someone off-camera throwing cream at the actors). Parker described the film thirty years later as one where he has "ambivalent feelings of pride and embarrassment", one that seems quite different from the later films that Parker directed, although the mixed success of the film with audiences (a hit in the United Kingdom and less so in America) probably did not help. At any rate, he wrote a version of the film for use with amateur productions (which he took well), and a handful of stage productions have occurred since Parker's writing of the music book for a West End production in 1983. Over time he felt that as the years went by, the film still looked modern to him without looking dated and therefore was one he was proud of. Over the next three decades, Parker directed fourteen films, which included Midnight Express (1978), Mississippi Burning (1988), and Evita (1996); Parker retired in 2003 and died in 2020 at the age of 76.

It is indeed an odd film, but it is one that achieves the ideal any director would strive for: spontaneity. This is a film where Parker got exactly who he wanted for a palatable modern feel to a 1920s sound with Paul Williams as music composer, which means one hears kid actors having adults dub their voice for the songs in this gangster musical. It is that lives and dies on the effect generated by seeing a familiar story turned into amusement by seeing it with energy and all-around style that means one isn't going to be reminded of a glossier version of The Terror of Tiny Town (1938) or The Little Rascals. It isn't a movie that rides a joke down to the ground and stays there, instead being a film that earnestly has fun with committing to being a celebration of the gangster and musical genre that is pleasant. It is a movie that ends with a quality pie fight, how can one go wrong? Baio wanted to be on television when he was a kid, which resulted in a few commercials, but by the time he was approached to read the script for this film, he threw the script down and left - this show of spirit evidently won him the part, which was his first film role. He clearly is having a good time here with a role that encourages a bit of screwball zip without turning into sappy parody. Dugger was cast originally in a small role, but when the original actress cast for the female lead opposite Baio developed a growth spurt, Dugger became the lead in what became her only feature role (instead opting for a job in the military as a medical administrator and later ophthalmology). She proves fine for a role of mostly cliches, where chemistry isn't really important when the stakes are mostly kid hijinks. Cassisi was cast as a result of Parker's tour of classrooms all throughout the States (specifically a Brooklyn Catholic school) - when Parker asked a classroom who was the most badly behaved kid in the class, they all responded with Cassisi, and he is pretty amusing in a role that is basically the ham, which is generally amusing when paired against the other "kid boss" in Lev. Jodie Foster was Jodie Foster, a name already familiar with show business by the time she was 15. She has a good knowing sense of what to do in a supporting role that has good timing in terms of humor that obviously was destined for bigger things. The rest of the cast is fairly decent, giving credence to the plot not being lazy farce by giving their best to the odd material. The songs work to the level of the film in charm and timing without coming off as gooey or off-putting. As a whole, it may be an odd one to start a film career with, but Parker and company made a solid winner with this film in terms of bizarre charm that will likely be just right for the whole family.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Next up, a film from the Czechs.

Assault on Precinct 13.

Review #1874: Assault on Precinct 13.

Cast: 

Austin Stoker (Lieutenant Ethan Bishop), Darwin Joston (Napoleon Wilson), Laurie Zimmer (Leigh), Martin West (Mr. Lawson), Tony Burton (Wells), Charles Cyphers (Special Officer Starker), Nancy Loomis (Julie), Peter Bruni (Ice Cream Man), John J. Fox (Warden), and Marc Ross (Patrolman Tramer) Written and Directed by John Carpenter (#068 - Halloween (1978), #634 - Escape from New York, #712 - The Thing (1982), #732 - Escape from L.A., #1221 - Dark Star, #1298 - They Live, and #1479 - Big Trouble in Little China, #1605 - Starman)

Review: 

I'm sure that hearing me say that John Carpenter is a vastly underrated director sounds like repetition, but there is one little caveat to make: John Carpenter is a vastly underrated great director. If you remember, Dark Star (1974) was the first movie that John Carpenter brought onto the screen. Granted, it wasn't particularly great, but it serves as a low-budget curiosity for those who are into that sort of thing with loose sci-fi comedy. After the movie was done, Carpenter had two scripts he wanted to do for himself: this film and "Eyes", with the latter being sold to Jon Peters and eventually grounded and spit up into what you know as Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), but Assault did attract attention for financing that Carpenter could make, provided that he could do it for $100,000; Carpenter had a friend named J. Stein Kaplan from USC that served as producer, joining in tandem with Joseph Kaufman to produce. The budget restraints meant that Carpenter would have to change his idea of making a Western in the style of Howard Hawks' El Dorado or Rio Lobo into basically an urban rendition of Rio Bravo (1959). Given that Hawks is Carpenter's favorite director, this is an ideal pairing to make a movie that would basically serve as his coming out party to bigger and better things. Carpenter shot it over the course of three weeks and says it is his most enjoyable film experience, one where he also served as editor and cinematographer (he used a pseudonym for one of the roles, referring back to Rio Bravo). One certain scene in the movie would have possibly given the movie an X rating, if not for Carpenter cutting the scene in the copy given to the MPAA and then distributing the movie with the scene put back (he later regretted shooting the scene in that fashion). The success of the film led to Carpenter being approached about making a movie about a killer stalking a babysitter on Halloween night...and you get the idea.

What we have here is an ideal main trio of characters packed in a wonderfully captured movie that is wrapped up in tension with distinct characteristics in an endless cycle of violence. It is a grimy, wonderful movie. It is the most famous film for each of its main actors: Stoker, born in Trinidad and Tobago, had done stage work and a handful of blaxploitation films before this feature, while Joston and his characteristics when living in the same apartment as Carpenter while also having his own share of stage and TV work. Zimmer had three further film roles before retiring in 1979 to teach. Stoker does his best with the role here, packed in steely-laced patience and charm that makes a quality rendition of the hero seen from stuff like Rio Bravo. It is the stoic loyalty shown by Joston that proves the most striking for the film, one that takes in all of the sensibilities seen in Westerns such as Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) to worthy effect in sardonic charm. It comes through despite the background of the character, which means one really did a wonderful job in acting. The two make for a quality tandem when they meet in the film, one that isn't quite a buddy film but a useful collaboration that rewards both actors, complete with their final scene together. Zimmer matches them in screen presence that is self-assured and ready at the helm for action and tension, one with an unspoken rapport against Joston that keeps the movie fresh. Burton and Cyphers don't have as much to do, but they are nice character actors to see make an impression early in their careers (each started appearing in movies in the 1970s). One could maybe talk about the fact that there are very few lines for the threat presented in the relentless criminal gang that is shown cutting their hands to put blood in a bowl. Others would say: who gives a crap? You are here to watch a movie that is basically Rio Bravo meets Night of the Living Dead (1968), and it accomplishes all it sets out to do as an action thriller that utilizes its surroundings for a wonderfully built ride, one that rolls in tension the narrower and narrower things get within 91 minutes. Carpenter balances the three initial plot threads handily with no weak link before it eventually segues into moments of action that Carpenter stages with good timing and framing. There are movies that have come out in its wake that seemed their villains as obstacles to be taken down by the hero in a blaze of effects or perhaps doesn't take itself too seriously. This is not the case here, shown most strikingly with the scene most remembered: a scene in an ice-cream truck where someone is shot at point-blank range in the chest. Regardless how shocked one is at the scene, it certainly is a striking sequence fitting for its decade in grimy realism, and that is all that matters. Carpenter's music score also proves quite effective in setting the tone for the film in its tone and pace. As a whole, this is Carpenter's first big accomplishment as a director, one that shows him make an urban rendition of Rio Bravo with his resourceful methods of direction that would have him grow further in his subsequent career.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings.

Review #1805: The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings.

Cast: 

Billy Dee Williams (Bingo Long [P]), James Earl Jones (Leon Carter, All-Star [C]), Richard Pryor (Charlie Snow, All-Star [RF] / "Carlos Nevada" / "Chief Takahoma"), Stan Shaw ("Esquire Joe" Calloway, An All-Star [CF]), Tony Burton (Issac, All-Star [CF]), Rico Dawson (Willie Lee Shively, All-Star [RF]), Sam "Birmingham" Brison (Louis Keystone, All-Star [SS]), Jophery Brown (Emory "Champ" Chambers, All-Star [3B]), Leon Wagner (Sam "Fat Sam" Popper, All-Star [1B]), John McCurry (Walter Murchman, All-Star [LF]), DeWayne Jessie (Rainbow, All-Star [Batboy]), Ted Ross (Sallison Potter [Owner]), Mabel King (Bertha Dewitt [Owner]), Ken Foree (Honey), and Carl Gordon (Mack) Directed by John Badham (#088 - Short Circuit, #1293 - Dracula (1979), #1456 - Saturday Night Fever, #1610 - WarGames)

Review: 

If you didn't already know about the Negro leagues when it comes to baseball, you really should. Oh sure, I will get to the review of the film soon, but I figured that this matched perfectly with this particular month in black history. Baseball, as we all know, is a great game. However, it was not a perfect game when it came to handling color, as the line between white and black players arose in the late 19th century that excluded the latter from league play. In 1887, the first black league was created, but independent play was the norm until the 20th century. In 1920, the Negro National League was formed by the legendary pitcher/manager Rube Foster, and it became the first definitive major league for black baseball. Six other leagues would come and go in the next two decades that featured many great players and managers all across the country, such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Willie Wells, Turkey Stearnes, Candy Jim Taylor, Vic Harris, and plenty more. Integration of Major League Baseball occurred in 1947 with Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby, which turned the Negro leagues into a barnstorming unit (most notably with the Indianapolis Clowns); Robinson would be the first black player to become a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, but it was only nine years later that a committee was formed to induct players that were involved in the Negro leagues, starting with Paige. Although numerous great players have been honored from this era, it was only in 2021 that MLB made a decision to recognize those seven leagues as major leagues. To tie all this together with how Negro league baseball inspired folks, consider the fact that John Badham grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where the Black Barons played in the era. Badham (in his directorial debut) seemed like the ideal director to adapt the 1973 novel of the same name that was written by William Brashler. Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins did the screenplay for the film, while Berry Gordy (known for his work in Motown Records) served as one of the producers.

Honestly, there are ingredients for a great piece of entertainment, one that could have really been a tremendous period comedy that took inspiration from the famous names that starred in the Negro leagues. Some of this is present here when it comes to antics reminiscent of players such as Paige (who liked to call in the outfield in an inning to strike out the side on occasion) and Gibson (a power-hitting catcher) with a little bit of Jackie Robinson (of course, the film is set in 1939, which makes the ending of the film curiously out-of-place). Of course, by the time one finishes its 110-minute runtime, they will find a film that is...more of a long single rather than a home run, shall we say. It might sound dissapointing, but one does want a bit more from a baseball movie than just one that plays for a few laughs. There is something begging to be told about the story of players who toil to make a few bucks while dealing with both the realities of that time in America, but one seems to see more antics than foundational points. The baseball action is also just okay, since a good deal of it is meant to be charming in the style of the Harlem Globetrotters than say, The Pride of the Yankees. Charming, sure, but one can see where perspective might have helped when it comes to seeing people struggle to make a living within segregated baseball. 

At least one can say Williams and Jones are at their best here. Incidentally, Williams, who grew up in New York City, used to watch Negro league (and Cuban) players play in Central Park before he developed dreams of becoming a painter and actor. He proves engaging in a charming role filled with confidence that is quite infectious. Jones accompanies him with solid chemistry while essentially playing the straight man in a film with a handful of chuckles to go around, which works fine for him. Pryor is technically the third star of the film, even if he really only has four scenes to show for it, with two of them involving him impersonating a Cuban and Native American. He does fine schtick, I guess. Shaw does fine as the essential leader of the supporting cast (which includes a dwarf ballplayer), while Ross seems suited for more scenes to chew on as the heel (King is also interesting, but she is mainly used for a one-note joke). To me, the movie is most interesting when one sees the baseball diamond and the history it invites more than a few sly jokes (the firecracker bit being the best), but it generally manages to be charming enough to make the final result worth it. With a suitable cast and a fair foundation behind it, I would say this makes for a decent baseball movie and decent one to pick out for encouraging further research in black history.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Next Time: Friday.

The Enforcer.

Review #1666: The Enforcer.

Cast: 

Clint Eastwood (Inspector Harry Callahan), Tyne Daly (Inspector Kate Moore), Harry Guardino (Lt. Al J. Bressler), Bradford Dillman (Captain Jerome McKay), John Mitchum (Inspector Frank DiGiorgio), Bill Ackridge (Andy), DeVeren Bookwalter (Bobby Maxwell), Albert Popwell (Big Ed Mustapha), John Crawford (The Mayor), and Robert Hoy (Buchinski) Directed by James Fargo.

Review: 

Did you know that this was supposed to be the last Dirty Harry film? I thought the most surprising thing about the series of Dirty Harry films would be the fact that Clint Eastwood ended up directing only one of them, although he certainly had his level of control (at least in terms of re-takes) with how they ended up with his production company in Malpaso. Why don't we just recap how we got to a third film, shall we: Harry Julian Fink and Rita Fink were the folks that came up with the original script for what would become Dirty Harry (1971), one that showed the blurred lines between criminal and cop with the hunt for a serial killer (in this case inspired by the Zodiac killer) that showed a lesson on the ends justifying the means. Further contributions came through Dean Riesner (a writer who had contributed scripts to a number of Eastwood films starting with Coogan's Bluff in 1968) alongside un-credited writers such as John Milius and Terence Malick. Don Siegel's efforts in wrangling the script to something Eastwood liked made for one of the most memorable cop films of the era, albeit one that certainly proved a shock to certain audiences. Magnum Force (1973) was done as a reaction against complete vigilantism, complete with Milius as story writer and Michael Cimino as co-writer. It was an okay film, one that might have run a bit too long to wander in all the directions it wanted. Originally, Eastwood was slated to direct this film (after having disputes with Ted Post with the last one), but troubles with The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) meant that he had to focus his attention elsewhere (he took over directing for that film and had to supervise the editing). James Fargo was a familiar presence for Eastwood, since he served as his assistant director on numerous movies, and the Washington native would be brought in by Eastwood to direct his first feature film. The script came out of a hodgepodge of four writers in Stirling Silliphant and Dean Riesner (screenplay) to go with Gail Morgan Hickman and S.W. Schurr (story). Hickman and Schurr made a script that had Eastwood's character going up against a violent group that harkened to real-lie events of the day (such as the Symbionese Liberation Army and the Black Panther Party - the former was a domestic terrorist group comprised of left-wing thugs that committed two murders alongside robbery and kidnapping (most notably Patty Hearst), and as for the latter group...search and interpret for yourself). Meanwhile, Silliphant had come up with a script that paired the lead character with a female partner, but Eastwood wanted more action from it (rather than the emphasis on character); at any rate, Riesner would be brought in to re-write the script after Silliphant had done re-writes to both his original script and Hickman/Schurr's script. 

So how is the overall movie? For something that proved such a popular hit with audiences (at least in terms of being the biggest hit of the series until the next film seven years later), it certainly is a weird one to think about. On the one hand, having a shorter run-time (96 minutes) helps, but really one can't help but wonder what exactly has changed from the previous features. It almost delves into ham-fisted amusement with its attempts at balancing action with light moments that can range from crashing a car to foil a robbery/hostage situation after giving a remark about giving a car to a quite long foot-chase that is equivalent to a jog around your house to a final encounter at Alcatraz Island that I suppose made sense somewhere on the line. On a cheesy level, it is firmly in the middle of what you would consider in that department, wracked with a bleak tone that may or may not be overkill in action (one count in the body-count suggests one of nineteen, for example) that contrasts with moments of disjointed narrative movement. In other words: it is a decent movie in terms of not wasting my time, but it sure is an average way to do so with a cast that could have done better. I feel like if someone really wanted to make fun of the ham-fisted nature of these films, all one would need to do is to just trim a little bit from here and just add in a few more points of furor over hippie-I mean criminals doing actions against Callahan; he already loses more partners than pairs of keys, to begin with. Eastwood grits through a role that he certainly supervised to not speak as much as he didn't want to, complete with meeting the need for action to keep up with the fans. It isn't a bad performance, but it is exactly the kind of thing you have seen before that makes one see the logic in this being thought of as the last intended one - where else could he go with this character of smart remarks and vigilance? Daly had rejected the role a few times before being convinced to do it on one key change: omitting a relationship beyond professional between her and Eastwood's character. The interesting thing about Daly is that she would wind up playing a police officer again a few years later with the noted hit Cagney & Lacey in 1982. She does pretty well here in terms of wedging in clear-cut professional chemistry with Eastwood that never feels phoned in - she stands her ground in respect that seems a bit more memorable than the usual partner with Eastwood. Guardino is here and there when it comes to having the shoulder presence of authority, serving more for exposition more than anything; Dillman however is used as a foil to the usual beat against the main character that feels quite hollow. I had forgotten that Mitchum was making his third and last appearance in the series, but I'm sure he had a decent time with what is there for shock in setting up the obvious. Bookwalter makes for a fair stock performance in deranged nature that honestly needed more from the script (again, it's hard to top the first film and its choirboy faced killer). If the sequels to Dirty Harry are this distinctive in oddness, one almost wonders how sequels to other movies involving vigilance or cop action end up being, particularly for a feature like The Enforcer that is diverting if not just an excuse to rack up a few thrills with a somewhat game script and cast that result in a cheesy but likely serviceable effort. It kept the attention for what was needed as a continued reflection of 1970s action that has its moments for an overall mixed bag of curiosity.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars. 

Harlan County, USA.

Review #1656: Harlan County, USA.

Cast:

Featuring Lois Scott, Basil Collins, Nimrod Workman, John L. Lewis (UMW President), Carl Horn (Duke Power Company President), Norman Yarborough (Eastover Mining Company President), Logan Patterson (Chief Negotiator), Houston Elmore (UMW Organizer), Phil Sparks (UMW Staff), John Corcoran (Consolidated Coal President), John O'Leary (Former Director of Bureau of Mines), Dr. Donald Rasmussen (Black Lung Clinic of West Virginia), Dr. Hawley Wells Jr, Tony Boyle (UMW President), Joseph Yablonski, Chip Yablonski, Ken Yablonksi, and Arnold Miller. Directed and Produced by Barbara Kopple.

Review:

"It also sharpened my determination to continue in my profession as a filmmaker. And it’s more than a profession. It’s a lifelong quest to be able to tell stories about people who you respect, and who are your heroes."

When it comes to cinéma vérité, Barbara Kopple has managed to cultivate a lengthy career in documenting people in the moment. The native New Yorker grew up in a co-op vegetable farm, and she would study psychology at Northeastern University before shifting her interest to film, having seen protests during college relating to the Vietnam War (she has described herself as political first, then as a filmmaker). She decided to attend the School of Visual Arts, and it was there that she met David and Albert Maysles, as they needed help with a film. They proved her biggest influence, one who treated her as an equal as part of a filmmaking "family". She would do work for them in the camera department for Salesman (1969) and Gimme Shelter (1970). Influenced by filmmakers such as the Maysles brothers and D.A. Pennebaker, she wanted to make intimate films that would watch their subject (much as one might see in something like Don't Look Back (1967), for example). She was part of the Winterfilm Collective that helped to direct Winter Soldier (1972), alongside several filmmakers (such as David Grubin) that served as her first feature effort. It was a portrayal of soldiers returning from the Vietnam War with regards to viewing/participating in war crimes that referred to the investigation of the same name that took place in Detroit, Michigan (the investigation, like the film, would generally not see as much attention outside Detroit, although obviously time has been different for each). She has continued on with filmmaking for nearly a half-century, revolving from documentaries of current issues to portraits of artists to episodes in television.

One can tell the time it took by the fact that one of the title-cards talk about industrial action in 1973 (involving Harlan, naturally). Keep in mind, in the time it took from Kopple's initial idea to do a film (with $12,000 initially raised) about the fight to get control of the UMW from its tough boss Tony Boyle...who ended up going to prison after having hired a hitman to kill his competition in 1969. Of course, the story really goes back to the 1930s, within previous strife between locals and bosses in "Bloody" Harlan that practically operated towns like that one. The film touches upon events outside its own area as well, talking about the Farmington Mine and the disaster that occurred on November 20, 1968 that had dozens of miners perish in the small towns of West Virginia. Kopple worked on this film for four years, which included living with subjects on-and-off for that time in order to gain trust, and it was made on a budget of $300,000 that had to be scrounged by Kopple in odd jobs whenever in New York (she would also serve as the sound person for this film); Kopple and the crew would experience their share of danger during filming (a scene is shown of them being attacked by goons in the night time, remember), but the presence of the crew has been thought of as a form of security by the strikers (because who is going to commit a crime on camera?). It still seems prevalent now for the town, since there was a standoff between miners and a coal train in 2019 over disputed pay.

So, what we have here is a portrayal of a struggle in community with labor. There are few interviews and no voiceovers to be found here, as we have a film that does not flinch at what it wants to depict about trouble in a small town. It goes where it wants to go in direct cinema that be comprised of a few sentences: a strike that lasted 13 months. A time capsule of a time long ago in Kentucky that might as well be anywhere with a town built on industry and hard work. A line of work that requires sacrifice to one's mind and body that could prove dangerous. A confrontation between scabs and workers that lead to danger all around. Division all around in terms of leadership that make for contentious moments everywhere. Galvanizing support for their fellow folks to the picket line, complete with someone pulling a gun from their clothes. You get a feel for these folks because you can see a little bit of oneself in the pursuit of a better life, really. Of course, the real sticking part is the songs that are sung in the film, as they capture the culture of the people that live there, most notably with writer/singers Hazel Dickens, Merle Travis, and David Morris (the song "Which Side Are You On?" was a noted song about the town since 1931 that has had numerous cover renditions). In other words, one finds themselves paying attention to the sounds they hear as close as they can, such as hearing about Lois Scott (who would live up to the age of 74) and her attempts to rally the women to support their miners while brandishing a weapon to move for protection. It makes for an interesting 103 minutes to sit through, racked with the gamut in moods that range from tension to persistence that all of us can see in our fundamental being. It is as direct as it can be without losing the story. At any rate, there are no easy endings when it comes to the fight for a proper life in the line of work, particularly when it comes to meetings and broken promises and the ever growing hand of wants and needs that reflect now more than ever after over 40 years since the release of the film. One will take the side they want to take when it comes to this particular vision, but one can not resist its perspective with heart to spare. When it comes to documentaries, this Academy Award winner manages to tell a worthwhile story that connects with its audience in its sights and sounds that make it a prime effort for its field and its director.

Next Time: The first feature-length effort from Penelope Spheeris with The Decline of Western Civilization (1981).

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

Car Wash.

Review #1637: Car Wash.

Cast: 

Franklyn Ajaye (T.C./Theodore Chauncy Elcott), Sully Boyar (Leon 'Mr B.' Barrow), Ivan Dixon (Lonnie), Bill Duke (Duane / Abdullah), Antonio Fargas (Lindy), Michael Fennell (Calvin), Arthur French (Charlie), Leonard Jackson (Earl), DeWayne Jessie (Lloyd), Jack Kehoe (Scruggs), Lauren Jones (Marleen), Henry Kingi (Goody), Melanie Mayron (Marsha), Garrett Morris (Slide), Clarence Muse (Snapper), Leon Pinkney (Justin), with Richard Brestoff (Irwin Barrow), Carmine Caridi (Foolish Father), George Carlin (the Taxi Driver), "Professor" Irwin Corey (The Mad Bomber), Lorraine Gary (the Hysterical Lady), Richard Pryor (Daddy Rich), and The Pointer Sisters (The Wilson Sisters) Directed by Michael Schultz.

Review: 

"In many films, I want to tell a story everybody can understand. But more importantly, I want an audience to come out of a film with more than what they went in with—thinking, feeling, laughing, crying."

There are quite a few directors and actors who made a name for themselves within African American cinema in the 1970s, and Michael Schultz belongs in the conversation for that era. He attended the University of Wisconsin before dropping out to work in a steel mill and then moving on to study and graduate at Marquette. He made his debut as a stage manager in The Old Glory (1964) Having already been involved in theater productions in high school, he was well-suited for when he moved on to attend Princeton University, where he directed his first play in 1966 (he would manage or direct numerous performances from 1964 to 1974). His staging of To Be Young, Gifted and Black resulted in success alongside a re-staging for television two years later. Alongside entering television for several series, he also moved into films with Together for Days (1972) and Honeybaby, Honeybaby (1974), although his breakthrough would come with Cooley High (1975) with audiences that has been noted as a classic by future directors like Spike Lee. Although Schultz's career moved down a tick with the noted failure Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), he continued his work in film and television, and he can still be found in the latter category to the present day.

How many movies are there that involve a slice-of-life portrayal of a job that could be described in the same way one could say about future films about crabby lines of work? Or for that matter, how many are ones that were thought of as intended to be a musical? When the production head at Universal Pictures was pitched the play idea, he hated it, but told producers Art Linson and Gary Stromberg to just get the writer behind Sparkle and make a movie instead. Car Wash is certainly that one, a film that actually had its soundtrack recorded before the film started production in order for the actors to listen to it, complete with using a real car wash (Figueroa Car Wash in Los Angeles) for filming. The soundtrack was done by Rose Royce, and the title song became a number one hit while the soundtrack won a Grammy Award (the film has been argued to be one of the first disco-infused films). Believe it or not, the film was written by Joel Schumacher, who had just one prior writing credit (Sparkle, released the same year), having moved up from costume and set design to writing to eventually directing by 1981 (but not before writing another famed film with disco influence with The Wiz). What we have here is a trove of ensemble fun, one that settles in like a series of sketches as the day (90 minutes) goes by, with an assortment of fair highlights among a few noteworthy check-ins and an interesting closure. Those familiar with films like American Graffiti (1973) will have a fine time with an ensemble piece with radio-infused style and narration. There are some charmers in the cast when it comes to lovable crass folks, such as Ajaye (known for his brief string of comedy albums) and his carefree range of buzzy charm, which goes along with other fun-loving sly folks like Fargas or Kehoe or beleaguered ones like Boyer; on the other side of focus is Dixon (best known for his lead role in Nothing But a Man (1964) and support in Hogan's Heroes), who provides shining struggle to go with the coarse Duke (in his debut film role) that shows the reality of what they do (meager job, meager pay, but one has to do it).

And then of course there are the small bit from notable folks. Carlin (a well-known comic of the counterculture with his second film role) has an interesting time spent with wandering amusement that rambles for a short time. The same goes for Corey and his nutty small turn to set up a gag with a bottle in the air, while Gary plays hysterics to that key breaking moment. Believe it or not, Pryor (a stand-up comic in his prime) making a cameo appearance in the film was not actually planned at first. For one, it was intended to be a fellow named Reverend Ike (who would be playing a character inspired by himself), but when he turned it down, Pryor stepped in (Schultz and Pryor gave differing assessments on the performance, as the former noted the actor as doing numerous variations on one theme that a director has to guide/pick while Pryor thought he should have known better but was under the influence of cocaine at the time to notice) - for me, it's the most interesting appearance, one with a music group to make prime flim-flam benevolence. Be thankful one can see the film in its full form and not have to live in a time with edited TV versions circulating, one of which that takes out the raunchy elements alongside adding/deleting characters (Lindy out for a character played by Danny DeVito, who is all but deleted from the original version except in the background). At any rate, what we have is a deserving favorite by the audience that have warmed up to it in the four decades since its release, one that has a charm worth looking into.

Next Time: Sure, this director has been covered plenty of times before. But it is his portrayal of the life of one of the most famous jazz saxophonists that merits discussion, especially since it wasn't given its due upon release with its key lead performance from Forest Whitaker. Rock the beat for Bird (1988).

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

A Star is Born (1976).

Review #1454: A Star is Born.

Cast: 
Barbra Streisand (Esther Hoffman Howard), Kris Kristofferson (John Norman Howard), Gary Busey (Bobbie Ritchie), Paul Mazursky (Brian Wexler), Joanne Linville (Freddie Lowenstein), Oliver Clark (Gary Danziger), Venetta Fields (One), Clydie King (Two), Sally Kirkland (Photographer), and Marta Heflin (Quentin) Directed by Frank Pierson.

Review: 
"Filming with Barbra Streisand is an experience which may have cured me of the movies."

"For us, the picture cost $6 million and a year of our lives. For the audience it's $3.50 and an evening out. If it's a bum evening, it doesn't make me any better or worse as a person. But if you think the film is you, if it is your effort to transform your lover into a producer worthy of a superstar, if you think it is a home movie about your love and your hope and your deepest feelings, if it's your life that you laid out for the folks and they don't smile back, that's death."
I think I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting myself into when it came time to do this film. It isn't exactly the first time I've seen this kind of story done of a film before. We've moved from romantic drama to musical to musical romantic drama when it comes to A Star is Born, and the easiest thing that can be said is that it certainly is the worst of the bunch in making a consistent romance and tragedy. It seems completely perplexed at times what to do when the camera isn't incessantly focusing on Streisand (who also served as executive producer for the film) as the whole thing threatens to collapse as an ego experience. It is only the curiosity of seeing the limits of where Streisand can go in this "pop and roll" style combined with the enjoyment of seeing Kristofferson stagger with charisma and self-destruction that make things not self-destruct into oblivion for a baffling 142 minutes. This is ridiculous junk, but I'll be darned if I didn't get some sort of cackling enjoyment from seeing how far one can really go in making such a murky 70s film that seems like the ideal sellout and embarrassment for all involved. My particularly favorite memory with the film is not so much a particular scene but actually an article that director Pierson wrote for New West magazine a month before the film's release with "My Battles With Barbra and Jon", which detailed some of the conflicts that Pierson had with producer (and star) Streisand and producer Jon Peters (a hairdresser-turned-producer and Streisand's boyfriend at the tine). There are some interesting little moments involving clashes of ego, but one of my favorite baffling moments is Pierson's meeting with the two in which at one point Peters actually asked if the lead male star had to commit suicide at the end as opposed to having it be an accident instead, since it sounded like such a turnoff. By the time Pierson was approached by Warner Brothers to do the film, numerous writer and directors had been brought in and brought out of doing the film, which had originally been written by Joan Didion and John Dunne as a rock musical with a couple like James Taylor and Carly Simon in parallel careers. Oh but the troubles did not stop with just Streisand (as amusing as it might seem to lay all of the squabbles and jokes on one star/producer). Kristofferson chafed when it came to filming, since he felt that they were making a "Barbra Streisand lollipop extravaganza" rather than some sort of statement about rock music (at least he has the excuse of drinking to act for a drunk lead). Sure, one could debate the ethics of doing an article so close to a film's release, but I heartily enjoy details like this, and even without the article the film is amusing to pick and poke at for its ambitions that crash like a motorcycle on stage.

It is entirely possible that there is a movie here worth really looking into the jagged turns that fame can do to a rock star that the other two films had done for actors. Of course the main problem with that theory is that perhaps Streisand just can't entirely pull off a nervous unknown given a push into stardom. It all seems too manufactured to really stick, too absorbed in showing off without letting you really breathe an actual romance, since the two leads seem entirely focused on literally anything but the other person in front of them. To say the film is all sizzle and no steak is an understatement: the steak got so caught up in re-writes that it turned into a small nut to disintegrate on the grill. On the other hand, I did rather enjoy Kristofferson (a native of Brownsville, Texas that took upon acting to go with his singing-songwriting) and his distant demeanor in his weary entertaining performance. He may be playing a jerk, but man does it invite more conviction and more of a look than what comes out on screen. Busey, an eccentric playing an eccentric peddler of producer (and other certain things) is amusing to see in the few scenes that he is in. Mazursky, who started work as an actor (debuting in Fear and Desire in 1953) before taking on writing and eventually directing (with films such as Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice in 1969), does a careful job here in balancing out the line between producer and man trying to keep someone off the deepest end. The others are here and there, just people to fill in the background before yet another wild or silly antic between our strange stars. To put it mildly, this film stinks, but it sure is a funny one to think about. It is a testament to how overproduced and micromanaged a film can be in hands that believe they are truly making something that can match up to what was old (and classic) while serving the masses with no problem then and now, a hubris unmatched in mediocrity. I know one can see better films with Streisand or Kristofferson, but none could probably be as ridiculous to view play out like this one.


Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.