Billy Jack is so cool! Billy Jack is my hero! Tom Laughlin stars as Billy Jack, an ex-army guy and half-Indian who has settled down at an alternative school in a quiet part of America. The school is run by a woman named Jean Roberts (played by Laughlin's real life wife Delores Taylor) and it is an interesting school as it gives the kids an opportunity to learn what they want to learn. Some of the things they are involved in are theatre, music, art, and other similar activities. A very cool idea that incorporates many of the ideals of youth from that time and also has no discrimination with anyone being allowed to go there and everyone getting along in harmony. The local redneck townspeople do not understand what Jean is trying to achieve at the school and are frightened by what they see as dirty, hippie vagrants that include whites, blacks, Mexicans, and many other types. It does not take long for the rednecks to take what they don't understand and lash out violently against the school and it's pupils. Jean tries to teach the students to be pacifists so it is up to Billy Jack to keep things under control before they get too out of hand. The tensions mount and it is up to you to see the movie to find out what happens. I thought Laughlin did a fantastic job of starring, writing, producing, editing, and directing this film (under a variety of alternate names). Billy Jack is also a master of hapkido kung-fu which comes in handy in some of the film's fight scenes. A real interesting blend of pacifist and violent attitudes and the struggles Billy Jack faces to keep a balance between the two. The movie was also quite original in crossing the genres of western, martial arts, drama, action, and having a message at the same time. The subject matter with the alienated youth was also very representative when the film came out in 1971. An all around enjoyable movie.
Cherry, Harry, And Raquel! (1970)
Another fine addition to the wonderful filmography of Mr. Russ Meyer. This one is not as famous as "Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!" or "Supervixens" but it is just as entertaining. Linda Ashton, Charles Napier, and Larissa Ely star as the love triangle of title characters and each give the campy performances that are standards of Meyer's movies. This one was surprisingly bloody and had some interesting social commentary. I love all of Russ Meyer's movies and the cinematography of this one had the same style that makes me such a big fan. The soundtrack was also very cool. There are numerous shots of Uschi Digart dancing around as "Soul". Check it out.
This is the sequel to the hugely popular Hong Kong action flick "The Heroic Trio". I enjoyed this one much more than the first one although I do recommend seeing them in order. Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, and Maggie Cheung star as the three superheroes out to fight evil. This time they are against a crazy doctor who is polluting the world's water supply. Sometimes annoying and sometimes menacing Anthony Wong ("Untold Story") plays the doctor. There are a lot of cool fight scenes, explosions, and stunts in this movie and it is much more dramatic than it's predecessor. I have found that a typical action movie tends to center more on the action and less on the drama while this movie manages to ensure that both aspects are dealt with equally. Things happen in this film that are very untypical of action movies for the most part. I guess that we must remember that this is a Chinese action movie which are usually better than American ones anyways. If you are a fan of Hong Kong action or are thinking of a place to start, I would definitely recommend "The Heroic Trio" and "Executioners".
Pacino strikes again making another controversial and engaging movie. I think this guy has a 98% success rate of making a good film when he looks at a script as he is one of the finest actors around. "Cruising" was made in 1980 and Pacino stars as Steve Burns, a cop who is put undercover into the homosexual underground to try and find a serial killer. He plays the part of Burns with his usual grace and makes a very difficult role seem as easy as breathing. As the character has conflicts with what he is doing, he begins to lose himself over time much like Pacino seems to be totally absorbed in the character. There are some wonderfully tense moments in this film and no, you don't know who the killer is in the first 5 minutes. A great mystery in a daring setting for the time that has never been explored (and may never be again) in a big-name Hollywood movie. Karen Allen ("Raiders of the Lost Ark") co-stars as Steve's girlfriend along with Paul Sorvino as his boss and Joe Spinell ("Maniac") as a dirty cop. There are also a number of small parts including familiar faces such as James Remar, Mike Starr ("EZ Streets"), and Powers Boothe ("U-Turn"). It was directed and written by William Friedkin ("The Exorcist") based on a novel by Gerald Walker.
I don't really know what genre to put this in as the box made it sound like an erotic thriller but in reality, it was a "feel-good" direct to tape video. Let me explain. Shauna O'Brien stars as Elke, a really cute girl with a really cute voice who arrives at the home of Linda and Jeff (Griffin Drew and C.T. Miller respectively). It seems that Linda and Jeff are having problems with their marriage and their two children Montana and Josh (Lisa Boyle and Will Potter). When Elke shows up, things start changing around the house and everyone starts to gain a new understanding about life and each other. So when I say "a new understanding about life" does that not sound like a tag line for a new Shirley McLaine movie? Anyways, I tried to figure out who had sex with who in this movie and I think everyone had sex with Elke and everyone else had sex with at least one other person. Nevertheless, if you took out all of the nudity, you would almost have an episode of "Family Ties" around Christmas time. Raelyn Saalman is also in it.
Many people warned me against this one as they said it was "weird" and "didn't make sense". Well, I think the people who told me that are nonsensical weirdos. The story was simple in that there is a major power outage in LA that has an effect on people when they begin to panic about not being able to get necessities such as medicine and gas. It also brings up the issue of the effect a gun can have on one's life when some of the main characters feel the need to buy one for protection. Kyle MacLachlan ("Twin Peaks") and Elisabeth Shue ("Leaving Las Vegas") star as a married couple who are experiencing the blackout. They soon hook up with an old friend (Dermot Mulroney) who decides to wait out the blackout with them. I really liked this movie as there was a really tense feeling from the first frame to the last. People arguing all the time, everything being busy, it really makes you feel neurotic and succeeds in carrying this through the remainder of the film. You never know who you can trust and who is going to snap. A really neat movie. Richard T. Jones ("Brooklyn South") and Michael Rooker ("Henry") co-star.
Abducted II : The Reunion (1994)
Not a bad little crazy mountain man kidnapping beautiful young campers movie. This was filmed here in the forests of BC and was pretty decent. I started watching it at midnight and didn't fall asleep so it had something going for it. Three women who are old school friends meet every year to go on vacation for a few days. Unfortunately for them, this year they decide to go camping in the same woods as a nutbar mountain man everyone thought was dead. This guy is the stuff of legends. The performance of the psycho by Lawrence King is great - think of John Malkovich on a really crazy day and cross him with the singer of that 80's hard rock band Helix in the "Rock You" video. Yes kids, sometimes I only make sense to myself. Co-stars Debbie Rochon ("Tromeo and Juliet") as one of the girls and Jan-Michael Vincent and Dan Haggerty ("Grizzly Adams") as a couple of hunters. Aside from the most unnecessary sex scene I have ever seen in my life, this was a good flick.
Night Eyes 4 : Fatal Passion (1996)
The adventures of Will Griffith (Andrew Stevens) and his Night Eyes Security Company continue in the fourth entry in the series. The difference is that Will gets shot in the first few minutes and is laid up in a coma for most of the movie. This leaves room for a new security guy named Steve Caldwell (Jeff Trachta) to occupy the throne previously occupied by Stevens. The usual story ensues with Caldwell doing personal security at the home of a beautiful doctor (Paula Barbieri) and getting entangled in a web of deceit and nudity. A little surprise that I was unaware of upon renting this is that one of the main co-stars is Casper Van Dien who will be seen very soon in Paul Verhoeven's "Starship Troopers". Weird. I must admit that I generally have enjoyed the series but my main reason for renting this was Barbieri as I can never get enough of seeing media figures in movies. I don't know why, it's just something that I find interesting... I guess I am just like every other lamb. Where the hell is that Tonya Harding action picture anyways?
I gotta tell you, in the middle of studying for midterms there is nothing like a little Fred Olen Ray post-apocalyptic fare to cure the studying blues for 90 minutes. This is the story of a couple of renegades who are trying to get back the lead renegade's wife from the Warlord. No deep meanings, just a simple story with some action. Push play and boom, it's over. My kind of movie when the brain is fried. David Carradine ("Kung-Fu") stars as the guy who wants his wife back and Dawn Wildsmith plays his newfound sidekick. David also carries around a mutated head named Ammo that is a real smartass but appealing somehow. You have to be in the mood. Brinke Stevens pays David's wife and Olen Ray usual Ross Hagen plays the Warlord's right hand man. Also has some brief appearances by scream queens Michelle Bauer and Debra Lamb as scantily clad desert women.
"It will take your breath away." Well, it almost did as I pretty much had an asthma attack gasping at how bad this movie was. Why, oh why, were such good actors as Jon Voight, Eric Stoltz, and Jennifer Lopez in this movie? Why does Hollywood insist on taking a pretty good idea and completely trashing it with those friggin' CGI effects? You know, I thought, how can you screw up a movie about a giant snake. Snakes are scary in my world. Not this one, it looked like the actors were trapped in a part of that video game called "Spawn". Oops, that was a movie wasn't it. CGI is destroying what could have been good films. I don't know, this just really pisses me off when there is so much that this movie could have been but I emitted a little chuckle everytime I saw how ridiculously fake the stupid snake looked. I hope that actors will take more care in their roles and make sure that the effects that will be in the movie will be decent before they sign on. Thankfully, the actors in this film couldn't see how unscary it would be when they were acting in it as they could not see the finished product. And this movie made some serious cash at the box office. My question is how? Did people really like this?
This was not what I thought it would be. I guess I was just going on the controversy surrounding the film and how it effectively destroyed director Michael Powell's career. I suppose that when this was made it was pretty heavy stuff as it is basically about a weird cameraman who like to make snuff movies by stabbing people with the bottom of his tripod while he films them die. I sound kinda nuts myself saying that this is not controversial, don't I? The film was generally slow moving but it had some great scenes. For me, the great scenes just didn't seem to overpower the tedium of the rest of the movie. Carl Boehm did a decent job as the killer and Moira Shearer should be given an award for the most annoying female ever to appear on screen. It was a good movie, don't get me wrong, it just seems that most of the reviews I have read hail it as a masterpiece. It was ahead of it's time, sure, but I would not call it a masterpiece. That's just me though.
Now this is a masterpiece! The scary movie about the giant shark that enjoys feeding on tourists at Amity Island. Roy Scheider plays the police chief, Richard Dreyfuss is a shark expert, and Robert Shaw is a grizzled old shark hunter. Masterfully directed by Steven Spielberg and masterfully acted by everyone involved. The film is based on Peter Benchley's book of the same name and the pacing and suspense levels are impeccable. If you haven't seen this, it's a must see... a classic dammit! Oh, if you get the special edition re-release, fast forward the first 10 minutes. It is one of those annoying re-releases that shows you all the main scenes in the supplemental material before the film starts. It will ruin the movie if you have never seen it before. Who hasn't though?
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