The Lonely Lady.

Review #2150: The Lonely Lady.

Cast: 

Pia Zadora (Jerilee Randall), Lloyd Bochner (Walter Thornton), Bibi Besch (Veronica Randall), Joseph Cali (Vincent Dacosta), Anthony Holland (Guy Jackson), Jared Martin (George Ballantine), Ray Liotta (Joe Heron), Kerry Shale (Walt Thornton, Jr), Sandra Dickinson (Nancy Day), Lou Hirsch (Bernie), Ed Bishop (Doctor Baker), and Shane Rimmer (Adolph Fannon) Directed by Peter Sasdy (#1159 - Taste the Blood of Dracula)

Review: 

I didn't have this film initially in mind for Turkey Week 4, you know. I thought to myself, hey, what was the next film adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's works after Valley of the Dolls (1967). Well, The Love Machine (1971) did seem like an idea, but I found my way to something that might as well be part of it all. The Lonely Lady was a novel released to stores in 1976 by the hands of Harold Robbins. He dedicated the book to Susann (who had died in 1974). Robbins was notable as a writer in his own right, of course; born and raised in New York to Jewish emigrants, he served in the U.S. Navy for a time before going on to work a variety of jobs that even included Universal Pictures. He started writing in 1948 and basically wrote melodramas for the rest of his life, which would see various film adaptations that went from King Creole (released in 1958, after changing the title from the book) to The Adventurers (1970) to The Betsy (1978). He was the kind of racy book writer that lived a life so colorful that had people such as Stephen King say didn't want to end up like him as a "nightmare". Needless to say, Robbins led a strange life that probably would've made for its own film, even if he liked to fib about his upbringing; he died at the age of 81 in 1997. And then there's Pia Zadora. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey to a violinist and wardrobe supervisor, she actually was an actor from a young age, which included what else but Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964). She later married Meshulam Riklis, who wanted to push her as an actress, complete with financing from his company. This would culminate in Butterfly (1982), a film that saw her get critical savaging and a "Newcomer" Golden Globe. Fake-Out (1982) isn't even remembered as the follow-up, because, well, the next one was this film. It all aligns together because Riklis helped out the logjam that Universal Pictures had when it came to doing a film based on that Robbins book that had stalled for years despite having Susan Blakely in mind to star. The eventual screenplay credit went to John Kershaw and Shawn Randall with a story credit for Ellen Shepard. Peter Sasdy never directed another theatrical film after this failure, which had the dubious honor of having an ad campaign lead by John J.B. Wilson, the guy behind the Golden Raspberry Awards who "liked" what he saw (Zadora apparently said that receiving a nomination but not winning would've been something she "hated" - take one guess how that worked out). Robbins called the film crap but liked the fact he received $600,000 before it opened.

I should mention that Zadora called the film a turkey upon release. She had one more star role in her with the B-flick sci-fi musical Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984) and has since been more known for her musical career. It is kind of like watching a perverted cousin of The Oscar (1967), another film involving an awards ceremony setup (but that one had the actual Oscar statuette). It actually is a short film at 92 minutes, and if you avert your eyes as the ridiculous amount of sex scenes, it is even shorter, unless one really needed to see a guy shoot a pool ball at a naked woman on a table. I think the preening title song has the most life next to Zadora when it comes to such ridiculously lowkey acting around it all. Holland is probably the only "normal" person in the film, which includes plenty of perverts and lurid attempts at hard-hitting dialogue that has the impact of light cat scratching. Bochner and Cali might as well be mailing it in from downtown. Zadora may have been the target of criticism because, well, title character, but who could have helped this film? She really tries to show the trouble and toil that come with an industry that seems to value the body of a woman over a body of work and where it can lead someone to go down the road of shame. Of course, skin showing aside, there is nothing for anyone to grab on to because the dynamics of the film are skewed into lame soap opera with no sense of dignity or interest. For a "writer", you see exactly one line of dialogue that she suggests, which really can apply to dubious choices of any kind: "Why?". I can't tell what is most embarrassing in the opening sequence: Zadora supposed to be playing a high schooler among other near 30-somethings or, well, the garden hose moment. The fact that the particular sequence has Ray Liotta (a future member of being in even worse material than this) making his debut is probably a testament that if you can make it there, you can...escape to anywhere. The movie dives into the mud early, puts oil all over said mud and decides lighting a match would be better than the garden hose to top it off. Calling the film silly trash is actually a bigger joke than you think, because this is the kind of movie you show to someone who thought Valley of the Dolls lacked that cheesy factor. The closing sequence takes the cake for such empty dramatic heft that Zadora gamely tries to make stick, for better and certainly for worse. I especially like how she just leaves the ceremony to no one around, as if the film was about to hang itself in shame. The points that the film that stop one from going all "zero stars" is mostly on her shoulders, because the script and director failed her most of all. As a whole, it is a lurid and ridiculously terrible time to spend for all the reasons you would expect, but Zadora at least seems like she deserved better than the reviews of the time gave her. It isn't the worst of anything, but if you love some Hollywood trash, you have something to consider.

Overall, I give it 3 out of 10 stars.

Once more on Turkey Week, let's consider some religion. The Left Behind (2014) kind.

Dr. Strangelove.

Review #1301: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

Cast: 
Peter Sellers (Group Captain Lionel Mandrake / President Merkin Muffley / Dr. Strangelove), George C. Scott (General Buck Turgidson), Sterling Hayden (Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper), Keenan Wynn (Colonel Bat Guano), Slim Pickens (Major T. J. "King" Kong), Peter Bull (Soviet Ambassador Alexei de Sadeski), James Earl Jones (Lieutenant Lothar Zogg), Tracy Reed (Miss Scott), and Shane Rimmer (Capt. Ace Owens) Directed and Producted by Stanley Kubrick (#044 - Full Metal Jacket, #065 - The Shining, #093 - 2001: A Space Odyssey, and #1046 - Barry Lyndon)

Review: 
When it comes to satire and black comedies, Dr. Strangelove sure comes to mind as one of the best. It should come as no surprise that it is the work of masters in terms of cast headlined by Peter Sellers and its director in Stanley Kubrick, who are each at their prime in a film that is razor-sharp in every aspect. The film was based off the novel Red Alert by Peter George, a thriller novel that treated its scenario of nuclear accident seriously. In his attempts to write a screenplay based on the book, he found that their was comedy present involving the absurd or paradoxical when it came to the balance of terror that was the arms race between the two superpowers of the world of the time, the United States and the Soviet Union. There certainly was plenty of inspiration involving Cold War tensions for Kubrick to make light of, with the Cuban Missile Crisis, the closest the two powers came to nuclear war, having occurred just two years prior. The "doomsday / mine-shaft" gaps are parodies of the missile gap, which had been popularized for political effect in the late 1950s. As such, the screenplay was credited to Kubrick, Terry Southern (an American novelist known for his dark absurdist style), and Peter George.

On the surface, one might wonder humor could be found with the scenario of an accident that could lead to nuclear warfare. The answer comes out pretty quickly with a film that captures an atmosphere where such a ghastly thing could happen in eccentric hands with subtlety. This for a film with plenty of interesting to go around, such as a general who believes in a Communist plot involving water fluoridation prior that threaten one's precious bodily fluids, or a crazed scientist resisting the urge to have his hand rise to a familiar position, or even a cowboy style wearing pilot that provides the most famous image from this film for its climax involving a missile and him. Sellers is the star of the show, playing three roles with such brilliance that could only come from a comically unique actor, for which he had already showcased with his various disguises in Kubrick's previous film Lolita (1962). He just blends into his two surrounding sets and actors (one being Hayden and the other being Scott and Bull) with perfect ease, each having their own distinct mannerisms and voices without seeming like a distraction from artistic depth. Scott is just as excellent in his role, where over-the-top isn't so much a guild-line as it was a case of Kubrick utilizing takes that were thought to be warm-ups for less ridiculous takes with the actor (for which he swore to never work with Kubrick again, although he later came to appreciate his performance). One can see him give his all with unapologetic grace and bluster that is keen to the moment needed. This goes just as well for the gritting Hayden, who is absolutely the one needed for a madman general like this, needing only a cigar and some talk about the water to make him captivating to view in humor. Pickens (a rodeo performer who also appeared in Westerns), told to play the role straight, is just as fine a highlight in part because his natural cadence shines through to make for laughs without seeming inauthentic. The rest of the cast have their small moments, such as Wynn and his deadpan delivery for his last line that lands perfectly, or Bull and his expressive nature when he first comes into the war room with a small camera, or Jones (who had acted on stage for nearly a decade) with a short but capable way to make a film debut, or Reed and her one-scene show with Scott.

The film is a funny one about such serious things because it knows how to utilize its surroundings without playing everyone for complete fools while having plenty of style to go around in terms of cinematography (Gilbert Taylor, with that wonderful look) and its set design (Ken Adam, with that wonderful war room), where one can see a thriller alongside the satire without seeming like two different films. After all, a serious rendition of potential nuclear warfare through accident would be shown that same year with Fail Safe (itself based off the novel of the same name from Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler), which ended up being released ten months after this film from the same studio after Kubrick and George had sued for copyright infringement. In any case, this is a wonderfully dark comedy that plays on the fears and culture of the time with zest and prime work from its cast and crew to make this an easy winner for everyone, having a bittersweet climax that seals everything up quite nicely (changed from the original intent of having it end with a massive pie fight). It still stands true today because its basic framework of human error and the attitudes of warfare when the chips all seem to be in place for it.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

Thunderbirds Are Go.

Review #1118: Thunderbirds Are Go.

Cast: 
Sylvia Anderson (Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward), Ray Barrett (John Tracy / The Hood), Alexander Davion (Space Captain Greg Martin), Peter Dyneley (Jeff Tracy), Christine Finn (Tin-Tin Kyrano), David Graham (Gordon Tracy / Brains / Parker), Paul Maxwell (Captain Paul Travers), Neil McCallum (Dr. Ray Pierce), Bob Monkhouse (Space Navigator Brad Newman / Swinging Star Compere), Shane Rimmer (Scott Tracy), Bud Tingwell (Dr. Tony Grant / Angry Young Man / Public Relations Officer), Jeremy Wilkin (Virgil Tracy / Space Exploration Center President), and Matt Zimmerman (Alan Tracy / Messenger), with Cliff Richard and The Shadows (Themselves) Directed by David Lane (#512 - Thunderbird 6)

Review: 
Nearly five years ago, I encountered Thunderbird 6, the second of two movies based on the series. At the time, I did the film on a lark - with strange results. Needless to say, it was not a film that I had too much enjoyment with, although finding it at a store for $1.86 made it somewhat worth it. I never thought I would encounter Thunderbirds Are Go, the first film based on the series - and yet here we are, so I am obligated to close the loop, even if my experience with the show is nonexistent. Hopefully this review will still prove satisfactory to the standards I try to hold regardless of such fact.

Thunderbirds was a British science-fiction series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson that went from 1964 to 1966, with 32 episodes produced and distributed by ITC Entertainment during that span, each lasting 50 minutes. It was made in Supermarionation, which is a blend of the words "super", "marionette" and "animation", with this process having been used before by the Andersons in prior shows such as Four Feather Falls (1960) and used in later shows such as Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967). This film was released on December 12, 1966, thirteen days before the last episode of the series; the show ended production due to attempts at selling the show for American networks by show financier Lew Grade failing, which meant that the second series had only aired six episodes by its end, in contrast to the 26 aired in the first series. In any case, both films made off the show were not financial successes, although I can't say that either film is too terrible to watch. I also will say that neither are particularly "good" films, but I can see the appeal.

Perhaps it is my unfamiliarity with the show that hinders my ability to view the movie through its lens, but it's not like I had that problem with other films based off television shows such as the Star Trek films or Maverick (1994). Perhaps this material works best as a show than a movie. The special effects pieces are done under the supervision of Derek Meddings, who would later do special effects work on films such as the first three Superman films and numerous James Bond films such as Live and Let Die. The effects are certainly interesting to look at times, with the destruction moments holding up for the most part. While I can appreciate the ingenuity it takes to make everything work at times, I feel that the movie suffers from pacing and inconsistency in excitement. The dialogue isn't terrible by any means, but it feels very standard and not as inviting as you would probably expect for an adventure like this, having a dryness that never really kicks into full gear. The actors do fine in delivering the expository nature of the dialogue, but no one besides Anderson really stands out. She has a fair bit of charm to her that sticks out fairly well any time she is on screen. The movie lingers between mild feelings of excitement and boredom, with the strangest moment being a dream sequence involving Cliff Richard and The Shadows. It's a ridiculous moment that is too silly to work on any level, but it sure inspires laughs even if it has no real importance. The film runs at 93 minutes, but the pacing can make it feel longer, particularly when focusing on model sequences. The climax is fine for what it is, and there isn't anything that will prove terrible for kids, but on the whole I can't say that this is something that works for me. It has a look that is fine at times, but it can't quite fulfill all of its expectations.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Thunderbird 6.

Review #512: Thunderbird 6.

Cast
Peter Dyneley (Jeff Tracy), Sylvia Anderson (Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward), Shane Rimmer (Scott Tracy), Jeremy Wilkin (Virgil Tracy / Hogarth), Matt Zimmerman (Alan Tracy / Carter), David Graham (Gordon Tracy / Brains / Aloysius Parker), John Carson (Captain Foster), Keith Alexander (John Tracy / Narrator), Gary Files (The Hood / Steward Lane), Christine Finn (Tin-Tin), and Geoffrey Keen (James Glenn) Directed by David Lane.

Review
I knew nothing about how "Supermarionation" looked on screen until this film. Supermarionation is (apparently) a filming process that combines scale models and special effects with marionette puppet characters, which is what the series Thunderbirds (and a few other series) used, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. They both produced and wrote the film, which is a sequel to Thunderbirds Are Go (both films being commercial failures with mixed reception). Now I'm going to be a bit short with these puppets and outright say this film just isn't that interesting to watch. While I admire the Andersons' attempt to make these dummies look less ridiculous, the film that is built around them is just mediocre in plot, short on excitement (The Thunderbird 6...is an old bi-plane. I know it makes some sense to have a link to the past in the apparent future, but this still counts as a cop out.), and just not much fun, unless you count making fun of the big eyed, big headed little puppets. The voice acting is fine (not so wooden, if you will), though had I known anything about the characters before watching this, I probably wouldn't- Scratch that, I'd still be making fun of Captain Foster, or as I like to call him, Evil Man With A Moustache, who joins Ed Rooney, Ming the Merciless and White Goodman in the Evil Men With A Moustache Club, or EMWMC for short. I doubt that kids will spring much interest into the film, and while it does finally show some life at the end, for others its too little, too late. It may be okay for some, but it's just a show of boredom for me. Not sure if it was worth the $1.86 I spent to buy this movie though.

Overall, I give it 4 out of 10 stars.