A great scene from a mediocre movie: Louis Armstrong and Danny Kaye in The Five Pennys
Movie Title: Horror Express (1972)
Starring: Christopher Lee as Professor Sir Alexander Saxton, Peter Cushing as Dr. Wells, Alberto de Mendoza as Father Pujardov, Julio Pena as Inspector Mirov, Silvia Tortosa as Countess Irinia Petrovska, George Rigaud as Count Maran Petrovski and Telly Savalas as Captain Kazan
Written by: Arnaud d’Usseau & Julian Zimet
Directed by: Eugenio Martin (billed as Gene Martin)
Two of my favorite actors who are frequent participants in many a horror film are Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Our latest October movie features both of them and for one of the few times, they are equals and are working together instead of trying to destroy one another.
In real life, Mr. Cushing and Mr. Lee were dear friends and enjoyed working together. Christopher Lee is best known for playing Dracula and Peter Cushing for playing Doctor Frankenstein for the Hammer studio. In Horror Express they play mere scientists and work together to hunt down a monster terrorizing the Trans-Siberian Express.
It’s the early 20th century and Professor Saxton (Christopher Lee), a prominent scientist in the field of archaeology has unearthed a humanoid creature, frozen in the Himalayas for millions of years. He believes the fossil will definitively prove evolution.
Countess Irina: I have heard of evolution. It’s… it’s immoral!
Professor Saxton: It’s a fact. And there’s no morality in a fact.
But before he can even get his find on the train, the dead bodies start appearing – the first right next to the crate containing his find. The local authorities know the dead man – he’s a well-known thief – but can’t explain why the man’s eyes have turned completely white.
Also traveling on the Trans-Siberian express is another prominent scientist, Dr. Wells (Peter Cushing). From the moment Dr. Wells steps into frame it is very clear that these two men share a mild animosity. Lee and Cushing play this perfectly and it’s a real shame that they couldn’t have shared more screen time as equals instead of mortal enemies.
Although the science is completely ludicrous, the sharp writing and superb performances by Lee and Cushing make this film a pleasure to watch. It also contains a few great quotes.
During the great monster hunt on the train, they deduce that the creature can actually body-hop and could be anyone. Saxton and Wells team up to look for the monster. Inspector Mirov walks in and finds them loading guns.
Inspector Mirov: The two of you together. That’s fine. But what if one of you is the monster?
Dr. Wells: Monster? We’re British, you know.
This movie is in public domain so beware of poor print quality. The best that we’ve seen so far is from Image, but that version is long out of print.
Rating: Eight Screaming Pumpkins out of ten.
Over the weekend the husband and I watched three October-appropriate films – An eighties slasher flick Happy Birthday to Me, an eighties horror-comedy House II: The Second Story and the more recent The Batman Vs. Dracula animated direct-to-video movie.
Let’s start with the animated movie:
Movie 2: Saturday October 2, 2009
Film Title: The Batman Vs. Dracula (2005)
Starring (voice actors): Rino Romano as The Batman/Bruce Wayne, Alastair Duncan as Alfred Pennyworth, Peter Stormare as Count Dracula/Alucard, Tom Kenny as The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot, Kevin Michael Richardson as The Joker and Tara Strong as Vicky Vale
Written by: Dave Capizzi
Directed by: Michael Goguen
This movie is part of The Batman animated series that was on the WB for a while not too long ago. My husband and I are huge Batman fans but never had much interest in this version. After watching this movie I’m glad that we never wasted our time.
The movie isn’t terrible, but it certainly isn’t something I would recommend anyone seek out.
For some unknown reason (even to the story writer, apparently) Dracula’s coffin was removed from Transylvania post-heart-piercing and dumped into a Gotham city underground crypt. After breaking out of Arkham Asylum The Penguin (who sounds and acts more like the animated Beetlejuice than any incarnation of The Penguin I’ve ever seen or read) stumbles across this crypt looking for buried treasure. Mr. Cobblepot escapes the fangs of Dracula but falls prey to Drac’s hypno-gaze and becomes The Count’s new Renfield.
Meanwhile, Vicky Vale is interviewing (and hitting on) a young Bruce Wayne but he’s too distracted by the new rash of strange disappearances and she’s pretty much out of luck.
But so is The Batman. Due to witnesses seeing a ‘batlike’ creature when these Lost Ones disappear, the city starts hunting down The Batman believing he is the one kidnapping all the missing persons.
The Batman figures out who Dracula is – but really, it’s not that hard. Drac even gives his name as Alucard to Bruce Wayne at a party. This has become so common it’s positivily cliche. What’s really sad is that ol’ Brucey had to write out the letters and hold them up to a mirror to figure it out. I know, I know – that was more to let the audience in on the joke, but really – it just made Bruce look stupid.
By the time the story ends, the Joker’s been turned into a vampire, cured by The Batman, and Vicky Vale has been kidnapped and nearly turned into Drac’s vampire queen. Fortunately, Batsy is able to defeat The Count with Wayne Industries’ newest technological feat.
There are many problems with this movie, the biggest being that it’s just plain dull. I did not like the character designs, Alfred Pennyworth seemed quite out of character (he did a spit take for goodness’ sake) and the voice actor they cast for Batman – ick. He sounded like almost all Hollywood men today – boyish and boring. Batman needs a deep, commanding voice. How can you strike fear into the hearts of men when you sound like a teenage boy?
I will say this for it though – The Joker as a vampire is pretty damn creepy. What’s even creepier is that while a vampire and as The Batman’s prisoner, he dined on Bruce Wayne’s blood nightly.
Okay, so moving right along. Don’t worry – I actually liked the other two movies we watched this past weekend.
Rating: Three Screaming Pumpkins out of ten
Purchase The Batman Vs. Dracula from Amazon
Movie 3: Saturday October 2, 2009
Move Title: House II: The Second Story (1987)
Starring: Arye Gross as Jessie, Jonathan Stark as Charlie, Royal Dano as Gramps and John Ratzenberger as Bill
Written by: Ethan Wiley
Directed by: Ethan Wiley
The first House movie is a lot of fun and sometimes genuinely scary. The sequel – which has nothing to do with the first movie aside from the fact that it centers around a haunted house – is just fun.
When Jessie moves into the house his parents – who he never knew – left him, he starts exploring and finds that the strange mantlepiece on his fireplace is missing something rare and valuable – a crystal skull. After even more research he deduces that this skull might just be buried with his great great grandfather, with whom he shares his name.
He convinces his best friend Charlie to help him dig up the old codger and lo and behold – there’s the skull – and along with the skull is ol’ gramps. He’s decayed and very, very old but still kicking.
Jessie and Charlie take Gramps and the skull back to the house but is is almost immediately stolen – by a barbarian from a prehistoric alternate universe that anyone can get to just by going into the upstairs study.
And that’s how this movie goes up until the end. Jessie and Charlie visit three alternate universes trying to keep their hands on the skull and therefore keeping Gramps alive. In the end, Gramps’ old friend-turned-enemy shows up demanding the skull but Jessie shoots it out with him until only one of them is left.
Along the way Bill Maher shows up as a smarmy record producer and a few non-descript women look pretty on the screen for a few minutes but are never developed past a two-dimensional shell. However, a cute little pterodactyl and dogerpillar make up for lack of female character development.
Rating: Five Screaming Pumpkins out of ten
Purchase House II The Second Story from Amazon
Saving the Best for last :
Movie 4: Sunday October 4, 2009
Title: Happy Birthday To Me (1981)
Starring: Melissa Sue Andersen as Virginia Wainwright, Glenn Ford as Doctor David Faraday, Tracey Bregman as Ann Thomerson and various other Canadian youths
Written by: John C.W. Saxton, Peter Jobin & Timothy Bond
Directed by: J. Lee Thompson
Although a slasher flick, this movie is very short on gore. The kills are quick and the camera never lingers on the aftermath.
However, the interesting story that keeps you guessing right up until the end makes up for it.
Virginia is a popular girl in her (high school? College? – it’s very unclear) and is even in what the locals call ‘The Top Ten’ – meaning the top ten most popular people in the school.
However, all is not perfect in pretty little Virginia’s world. Three years prior she had been in an accident that left her in a coma. After experimental brain surgery, she recovered but with very little memory of the accident itself or what led up to it.
In the meantime, members of the Top Ten slowly disappear. The viewer knows they are dead – we see each kill although we never see the killer – but the townspeople don’t know if they’re dead or alive. None of the bodies turn up.
By the end of the movie we find out exactly where those bodies went along with how and why.
As with most slasher movies, this film has a female lead performed adequately by Melissa Sue Andersen of Little House on the Prairie fame. A few other familiar character actors from early eighties films pop up along with Glenn Ford.
Rating: Seven Screaming Pumpkins out of 10
Since it’s October, the husband and I have decided to try to watch at least one horror film a night. The exception to this would be Fridays upon which we have been watching the James Bond films in order – including the ones not part of the ‘official’ film series (Casino Royale, Never Say Never Again).
So, what better time to resurrect my long-neglected Myriad of Reflections blog? It was this time last year that I started the blog and then failed to keep it going on a regular basis. Let’s see if I can do better this time.
Movie 1 – Thursday October 1 2009
Film Title: Infestation (2009)
Starring: Chris Marquette as Cooper, Brooke Nevin as Sara, Wesley Thompson as Albert, E. Quincy Sloan as Hugo, and Ray Wise as Ethan (a Myriad of Reflection favorite – he was in Twin Peaks, how could he not be a favorite?!)
Written and Directed by: Kyle Rankin
I had never heard of this movie before my husband received his review copy yesterday in the mail. I noticed that the male lead on the box (Chris Marquette) was someone that I have liked in the few movies I’ve seen him in – Fanboys and Freddy Vs. Jason – so I wasn’t adverse to watching it.
The plot in a nutshell: Almost immediately after being fired from his telemarketing job, Cooper (Marquette) and everyone in his office are bombarded with an earsplitting sound that renders everyone unconcious. The next thing he knows, he’s waking up in a web cocoon. After fighting off a beetle the size of a Boxer, he rouses several people and pulls them out of the webbing, including the daughter of his boss.
The group ventures outside and finds that in addition to the beetles, there are huge flying bugs that tend to swoop down on anything that makes noise and either carries them off toward an ominous cloud or stings them in the back.
The group takes off to find relatives and help, fighting off the bugs along the way and coming to terms with their new seemingly-post-apocalyptic life.
The movie is fun, the characters deep enough to evoke some feeling when they die and the special effects convincing. By the end of the movie not all questions are answered (including where these bugs came from in the first place), but I believe this is on purpose. Especially from the last scene of the film, I’m certain the filmmakers are hoping for a sequel and I, for one, would definitely enjoy watching a second movie in this world.
Rating: Seven Screaming Pumpkins out of ten.
This past Sunday (November 23) was the 45th anniversary of the airing of the first Doctor Who episode on the BBC network entitled 100,000 B.C.
Originally intended as an educational program to teach children about history, it was soon obvious that the ratings always went up when the show had monsters and the education bit was left behind to make way for more fantastic story lines.
And lucky for us because despite its dull start, Doctor Who turned into one of the best written, albeit cheaply produced, programs on any continent. Even though it was still considered a children’s program the writing and acting were strong and with a bit of imagination the cheap special effects could be overlooked, allowing an enjoyment of a strong premise and story.
Doctor Who, for those of you not in the know, is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels the universe in his T.A.R.D.I.S. (Time and Relative Dimension in Space) – a space ship as well as a time machine – which has a broken chameleon circuit causing it to be stuck in its current shape, that of a blue, mid-twentieth century police box. Fortunately, it’s bigger on the inside than the outside.
The Time Lords are a noble race. Well, to be blunt, they can be rather snooty and condescending. The Doctor himself is sometimes just as bad, but he’s always been a sort of rebel. His fellow Time Lords often look down on him, even taking away his space travel privileges at times.
Time Lords have the ability to regenerate and can do so up to twelve times, meaning that eventually, there will have been thirteen doctors. Currently, the series is up to number ten and will soon move on to number eleven.
In his travels, the Doctor often picks up ‘companions’ mostly female humans, but sometimes they are alien and occasionally even male. The fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, seemed to prefer an entourage as opposed to a single companion but most of the time, the Doctor only has one tag along.
I’m a relatively new fan of Doctor Who. I had heard of the program, of course, but I had never seen it until I moved in with my husband 9 years ago. It took a few months before he made me watch a story and I won’t claim that I loved it from the start, but I liked it well enough to watch a few more stories.
I don’t even remember which Doctor was my first or which story but eventually I became a fan and although I like all the Doctors I have seen (I have yet to see a full story with the first Doctor) I do have my own favorite – Jon Pertwee, the third Doctor. Some of the best stories are in the fourth Doctor’s run (Tom Baker) but I’ve always loved how Pertwee played the part. He was strong, always in charge and while he was often curt and even harsh, he could be very kind and never backed away from a challenge.
I have to admit that I didn’t become a Big Fan until the newest series of Doctor Who, starting with Chris Eccleston, the ninth Doctor. Writing and good actors had always been Doctor Who’s strongest points and special effects had always been its weakest. Now the show not only had excellent writing and acting, it also had a budget to allow the show runners to realize the writer’s visions.
The new show also allowed the Doctor to be more ‘human,’ for lack of a better word. Maybe because he was now alone in the universe (the Time Lords, had been wiped out in a great war) his affection for his companions, especially Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), became deeper and much more personal lending more weight to the sometimes tragic story lines of the series.
Doctor Who has it all, really – science fiction, fantasy, drama, comedy, farce, tragedy, apocalypse, redemption, romance – you name it, it’s been in a Doctor Who story somewhere, and sometimes all in the same episode.
The Doctors:
1 – William Hartnell
2 – Patrick Troughton
3 – Jon Pertwee
4 – Tom Baker
5 – Peter Davison
6 – Colin Baker
7 – Sylvester McCoy
8 – Paul McGann
9 – Chris Eccleston
10 – David Tennant
I consider myself a big entertainment buff and have been since I was thirteen. I try to keep myself informed about what’s going on in the biz, read my entertainment sites, read the magazines, listen to the news. I’ve been this way since I was thirteen. In fact, I can even give you an exact date if you need it (August 30, 1985).
Before I saw Back to the Future on that fateful August night, I had my favorite actors – Shaun Cassidy was the first actor I can remember singling out and then Tom Hanks when he was on Bosom Buddies – but my ‘fanship’ of those two was nothing compared to what happened when I finally noticed Michael J. Fox.
If you don’t believe me, check this out. Yeah. That’s my website. I’m not ashamed of it – a little defensive, maybe – but never ashamed.
After becoming the uber-geek-fan of MJF back in 1985, I started reading every teen magazine my parents would let me buy, attempting to keep abreast of all things Michael J. Fox. As a result, I started following other ‘non-threatning boys’ careers such as Ralph Macchio, Ricky Schroeder and Kirk Cameron. I read most of those magazines from cover to cover and eventually started reading more grown-up, more reputable publications as well. I just wanted to know what was going on and after a few years, it wasn’t just those cute boys I was interested in.
However, my obsession with all-things-MJF did not stop just because my interests were expanding. Because of my teenage angst obsession, I started trying things those fan magazines said he liked. I even tried Linguini in Clam sauce, for cripes sake – and that was some of the nastiest stuff I ever tasted. Ugh!
He was often quoted as saying he was a big James Cagney fan. I had never even heard of James Cagney so I had no idea what he was all about. And so, one Friday night in Southeast Texas, the local t.v. station had a James Cagney film on their schedule – Something to Sing About. Fortunately, I wasn’t one of those kids that wouldn’t watch anything in black and white – I watched Mr. Ed every night on Nick-at-Nite – and I watched it. And loved it.
It snowballed after that and now I’m a huge fan of classic films of all genres – musicals, comedies, dramas, film noir, gangsters – you name it. If I happen across anything in black and white on television, I’ll stop to see what it is or who’s in it. I won’t always do that for color films.
I never really met many others who were into films, music, books and television the way I was. I feel extremely lucky that I met a man who is just as interested as I am. I’m doubly fortunate in that we have a lot of the same likes, but we also have many different likes. Before I met my husband, I had never heard of Bruce Campbell and I wouldn’t have been able to name Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee if you showed me their pictures. Now, I can’t imagine my entertainment world without them. And while I’ll never really feel the need to ever see The Girl Hunters ever again, I am honestly glad that I at least saw it once.
It’s not the most important area of my life and I know that it’s not as important as trying to keep out economy out of another great depression but I’m glad that I have plenty of places to go whenever things get tough. I can watch a movie, read a book, listen to some music and even though the problems may not go away, I almost always feel better able to face that problem. Even though entertainment doesn’t rank up there with world peace, it’s still pretty consequential.
So, my thanks go out to Mr. Fox. He changed my life in many ways and for most of those changes, I’m still grateful.
On August 18th Julius Carry passed away from pancreatic cancer. Apparently he wasn’t famous enough to get mention anywhere that I read even though he was the co-star of the geek favorite ‘The Adventures of Brisco County’ and the 80’s action flick ‘The Last Dragon.’ He was famous enough in our house to cause sadness at the news of his death.
So long, Mr. Carry. RIP.
Yesterday was James Cagney’s 109th birthday. Watch a Cagney movie to celebrate!
Sad news today. Cyd Charisse has passed away at the age of 87. Read the AFP article HERE.
Fred Astaire only made two films with Cyd but the impression these two films made on me were significant. The Bandwagon – arguably Fred Astaire’s best film – and Silk Stockings are filled with humor, great music and, of course, wonderful dancing. Cyd was one of Fred’s best partners and he was generous enough to let her show it. When she danced with Gene Kelly it always seemed that all Gene wanted to do was lift her and carry her around. Fred let her keep her feet on the ground and actually dance.
And, wow, could she dance. I have no problem understanding what Fred meant when he said, “When you dance with Cyd Charisse, you’ve been danced with.”
I’m not feeling well today and i’m stuck at home in bed so I thought I’d make another entry in my ’series’ of favorites. Today’s entry is the third actor in my trio of number ones – James Cagney.
Two posts ago I told how I first became interested in James Cagney via Michael J. Fox. As I wrote then, my first encounter with James Cagney was not through a gangster film filled with sneers, smacks on the chin or the ventilation of snitch-filled car trunks. Mine was of a short, well-mannered man in a tux dancing around an overly-done art-deco night club. Something to Sing About is not one of Cagney’s best films, but I’ve always liked it very much.
After I saw that movie back in high school, I didn’t really go out looking for Cagney films. I did, however, watch them when I happened upon them. The second Cagney film I saw was (a badly colorized version of) Yankee Doodle Dandy while I was in college. This one wasn’t hard to come by – it plays on many stations every Independence Day. I liked this one even more than Something to Sing About and I was a little miffed at my roommate at the time who made fun of his stiff-legged dancing. His style wasn’t as graceful as Astaire, but that didn’t make it bad and I liked it quite a bit.
It wasn’t until a few years later, when I did start seeking out Cagney films, that I finally saw the type of movie Cagney is most famous for and, to be honest, I don’t remember which one it was. Maybe The Roaring Twenties but I know it wasn’t Public Enemy. The first time I saw Public Enemy I was a little shocked at how brutal it was (this was before I knew about ‘pre-code’ films and how they differed from the ‘post-code’ films I was used to seeing) and just how damned scary Cagney could be. Before these gangster films, the worst I had seen Cagney’s characters behave was due to an overabundance of self-confidence.
I love Cagney’s gangster films – or, at least, I love him in these films – but I personally prefer the non-gangster roles. The musicals, the comedies, the straight dramas. When I hear people talk of Cagney today, it’s always in reference to his tough guy roles.
“Does anyone know what a Jimmy Cagney love scene is? It’s when Cagney lets the good guy live.” – Shoot ‘em Up, 2007
His comedic, (non bad-guy) dramatic and musical talents are rarely mentioned in pop culture. I know what a James Cagney love scene is and so did Ann Sheridan, Bette Davis, Rita Hayworth, Olivia DeHaviland and countless other leading ladies.
(As an aside, I actually really like the movie that quote up there is from. It’s spoken by a really, really bad man so I can’t expect him to know any better.)
To get a really well-rounded look-see at what Cagney was really all about, I would recommend the following:
- Public Enemy (as Tom Powers) – Cagney’s break-out role. He was originally cast as the ‘good’ best friend but it was soon clear that he was better suited to the intense role of Tom Powers.
- The St. Louis Kid (as Eddie Kennedy) – A schizophrenic film that starts off as a romantic comedy but turns into a heavy pro-labor union drama.
- The Irish in Us (as Danny O’Hara) – Sharing the screen with two of his best friends, Pat O’Brien and Frank McHugh, Cagney plays the irresponsible brother to Pat O’Brien’s good brother – a pattern that repeated in almost all the movies they shared (one really good exception – Torrid Zone)
- Angels With Dirty Faces (as Rocky Sullivan) – One of Cagney’s most famous roles, which is very much deserved. He is again playing a gangster but this time he is endangering children by encouraging them to follow in his footsteps. He best friend, the priest (Pat O’Brien once again) who looks over these youths, asks him to make a huge sacrifice that goes against Rocky’s very being.
- The Oklahoma Kid (as Jim Kincaid, The Oklahoma Kid) – Yep, this is a western. Cagney made a few more westerns, but not until he was much older. Cagney’s image was very urbane, but his first choice of career was to be a farmer so this role actually felt natural to him and he was disappointed that the public didn’t agree. The bad guy in this movie (complete with an all-black outfit, including his hat) was equally urbane Humphrey Bogart. Not a bad movie and a hoot to watch just for the stark differences in role types for both of these icons.
- The Strawberry Blonde (as T.L. ‘Biff’ Grimes) – A romantic comedy, one of the few Cagney made, this is one of my favorite Cagney films period. The plot isn’t all that original (boy loves the wrong girl – the right girl loves him – the boy finally realizes the wrong girl is an utter bitch and falls for the right girl after having been married to the right girl for years) but the period setting and wonderful performances help it rise above all of this. Rita Hayworth is utterly gorgeous (of course) and can even make the beautiful Olivia DeHaviland look plan in comparison, but we all know which one is worth Cagney’s time, right?
- Yankee Doodle Dandy (as George M. Cohan) – Everyone knows this one, but in case you don’t this is the biographical film of one of the stage performer/composer/director greats. Fred Astaire was Cohan’s first choice, but Cagney was the bettert choice for the role. Fred was a good actor, but Cagney was much better at playing the brash, egotistical, in-your-face – but still likeable – jerk.
- White Heat (as Cody Jarrett) – Yes, another gangster role but this time he’s a ruthless, insane Mama’s boy – a dangerous combination if there ever was one. This was Cagney’s return to a genre he wasn’t thrilled to go back to, but at least he came back with a bang…literally.
- Love Me or Leave Me (as Martin Snyder) – Another bio-pic about a stage man, but this time he’s an ‘agent’ and not the performer. This movie is more about Ruth Etting, played wonderfully by Doris Day, than it is about Snyder, but Cagney’s performance as the brutal and insanely jealous manager is as scary of his role as Tom Powers in Public Enemy. Only, this time, he charms his prey to trap them instead of gunning them down.
There are many others that are just as good, but the above roles are different enough from the others and do a good job at showing just what Cagney was capable of. Not all of these films are available on DVD but you might be able to catch them on Turner Classic Movies if you keep an eye out. Hopefully they will all be available soon.
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