Jesse Stone 1: Stone Cold (2005)

AKA: Stone Cold

Director: Robert Harmon

Writers: John Fasano, Michael Brandman, Robert B. Parker

Composer: Jeff Beal

Starring: Tom Selleck, Jane Adams, Reg Rogers, Viola Davis, Alexis Dziena, Kohl Sudduth, Polly Shannon, Stephen McHattie, Shawn Roberts, Alex House, Mimi Rogers, Vito Rezza, Victoria Snow, John Dunsworth

More info: IMDb

Plot: In the small town of Paradise, Massachusetts, the experienced Chief of Police Jesse Stone is investigating a murder and a rape case. When a series of murders happen with the same "modus-operandi", Jesse discloses the identity of the killers. However, without the motive, proof or weapon, he has to wait for an opportunity to catch the murderers.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I made the wonderful mistake of accidentally seeing the second film first, JESSE STONE: NIGHT PASSAGE (2006). The second film turns out to be a prequel to this one, the first in the series of 8 TV movies (with a 9th in post as of this writing...YAY!!!) and it plays very well like that.  It's also a better film than STONE COLD but you can't win them all.  Jeff Beal's low key score is great and it's like that throughout the series.  Selleck plays Stone just like Beal scores it, too, and he's wonderful.  It's the kind of role that you wish he'd have played in a regular series for many seasons.  There are always two stories playing out in each film.  The rape story in this one plays out rather nicely and it goes to some dark places.  The other plot about the serial killers is good up until the conclusion where it goes to shit.  There's no way a cop would do what Stone did the way he did it.  He'd be dead due to the many variables that could have gone all wampus kitty.  That really cheesed me off and it was a shitty way to end an otherwise good film.

Shots in 3/4 Time (1965)

Original title: Schusse im 3/4 Takt

Director: Alfred Weidenmann

Writers: Ludmilla Kirsch, Herbert Reinecker

Composer: Charly Niessen

Starring: Pierre Brice, Heinz Drache, Daliah Lavi, Jana Brejchova, Charles Regnier, Walter Giller, Terence Hill, Gustav Knuth, ANton Diffring, Senta Berger, Daniel Sola, Walter Regelsberger, Hans Unterkircher, Karl Zarda, Erica Vaal, Paola PItagora

More info: IMDb

Plot: Tissot (Brice) is French secret agent No. 11011 in this James Bond-style spy thriller. He is sent on a mission to retrieve stolen plans for a newly developed steering mechanism for rockets.

My rating:  4.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I'm a huge pre-Brosnan Bond fan and I'm more in love with the idea of 60s EuroSpy movies than the films themselves.  This becomes more apparent the more of them I see (and I've got a lot more to go).  It's hard to judge acting sometimes when you're watching a dub.  Sometimes the line deliveries are strange, especially from whoever dubbed Brice.  It's no secret that these leading men are trying to be Sean Connery and there's only one of him.  The locations are nice for us here in the States that have never been to Europe but some of it is hindered by the fullscreen VHS copy I watched (with Dutch subs burned in to boot).  Did you see that video above of the opening credits?  The first couple of gunshots are cute but then it quickly slides into annoying.  Fortunately that effect isn't used anywhere else in the picture and unfortunately that theme is played ad nauseam.  It's a good theme but not so good that you can stand hearing it 20 or more times in 79 minutes.  As the story goes, it's OK and it serves its intended purpose of getting our hero from one place to another but it's as bland as everything else.  Seeing this in a theater with a proper print would help but it's certainly no cure. 

The Other F Word (2011)

Director: Andrea Blaugrund Nevins

Writer: Andrea Blaugrund Nevins

Starring: Tony Adolescent, Art Alexakis, Tony Cadena, Rob Chaos, Chris De Wolfe, Joe Escalante, Fle, Lars Frederiksen, Josh Freese, Chris Gorog, Jack Grisham, Brett Gurewitz, Tony Hawk, Greg Hetson, Mark Hoppus, Jim Lindberg, Kevin Lyman, Michael McDermott, Tim McIlrath, Fat Mike, Mark Mothersbaugh, Duane Peters, Joe Sib, Nato Thompson, Rick Thorne

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Sometimes a little anarchy can be a life-changing experience.

Plot: What happens when a generation's ultimate anti-authoritarians -- punk rockers-- become society's ultimate authorities -- dads? With a large chorus of Punk Rock's leading men - Blink-182's Mark Hoppus, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea, Rise Against's Tim McIlrath - The Other F Word follow, Jim Lindberg, 20-year veteran of skate punk band Pennywise, on his hysterical and moving journey from belting his band's anthem, 'Fuck Authority', to embracing his ultimately pivotal authoritarian role in mid-life, fatherhood.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Well here's something you don't see. It's interesting to see punk rockers of the 70s and 80s all grown up with families and adult responsibilities.  It's not surprising that they all seem well adjusted.  Flea had a heart-felt moment when talking about his rocky childhood as did some of the other guys.  It's no surprise that these cats gravitated toward the punk lifestyle.  They were practically born to it.  It's good to see that many of them have stopped the cycle to be there for their children.  Some still live a watered-down version of that lifestyle but they're having their children be a part of it.  It's rather touching hearing these guys talk about their kids and family life.  What a great idea for a film.  The Oscilloscope DVD has some extras including a commentary track, 2 outtakes and an outtake compilation (13 minutes), A solo performance from Art Alexakis (of Everclear) singing "Father of Mine" and one from Tim McIlrath (of Rise Against) singing "Swing Life Away", 2 music videos from The Black Pacific ("Living with Ghosts" and "The System"), a SXSW Q&A (15 minutes), the theatrical trailer and 5 trailers for other Oscilloscope pictures. 

At Close Range (1986)

Director: James Foley

Writers: Elliott Lewitt, Nicholas Kazan

Composer: Patrick Leonard

Starring: Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Mary Stuart Masterson, Chris Penn, Millie Perkins, Eileen Ryan, Tracey Walter, R.D. Call, David Strathairn, J.C. Quinn, Candy Clark, Jake Dengel, Kiefer Sutherland, Stephen Geoffreys, Crispin Glover

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Yesterday, Brad was nobody. Today, he's front-page news.

Plot: In 1978 rural Pennsylvania an absentee father is reacquainted with his estranged teenage sons and they become intrigued with romanticized life of crime.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Maybe.

I've never seen this before but the first thing I noticed was the opening bars to Madonna's song, Live to Tell, but the song doesn't happen until the end credits.  The composer of the film is the co-writer of that song and was Madonna's producer at that time.  He gets a lot of mileage out of those few notes throughout the film.  Having 30 years of hearing that tune (I dig it) it's weird to not hear that little theme out of context. Anyway, the film moves along alright for the first hour and a half with things progressing as they should I suppose.  It's not until the final act that the shit hits the fan and it gets REALLY good.  The performances are strong, Leonard's synth score fits the mood nicely, and the relationship between Brad Sr. (Walken) and Brad Jr. (Penn) gets tighter but there's still a distance between them (Sr. keeps the wedge between them as if not to fully trust Jr. or let him get close (maybe hence the title?)).  When the shit starts hitting the fan in the last half hour, that's when the tension is ratcheted up and it's VERY good.  Walken is in full-on Walken mode which is both fun and frightening (fun if you're overly familiar with his work or more frightening if you're not).  It's that last half hour that's going to eventually push me to giving it another look.  I don't know who put it out the DVD I have (MGM and 20th Century Fox are both on the packaging) but it's on a double bill with another Penn flick, Colors (1989).  The print is non-anamorphic widescreen with not a single extra.

I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (1968)

Director: Richard L. Bare

Writers: Richard L. Bare, Henry Irving, George O'Hanlon

Composer: Philip Springer

Starring: Gardner McKay, Fred Clark, Diane McBain, Pat Buttram, Richard Denning, Edy Williams, Mary O'Brien, Jeanne Rainer, Bebe Louie, Arlene Charles, Betty South, Douglas Mossman, Zulu, Al Alawai, Duke Kahanamoku's International Surfing Champs

More info: IMDb

Tagline: It's ship-shapely all-girl crew took turns shaping up for the captain's watch

Plot: 'Generous' Josh belittles the sailing abilities of his friend Terry O'Brien, and Terry counters by betting Josh $20,000 that, using an all-female crew, he can beat him in a race to Tahiti. Terry's crew consists of novice sailors - a murderess, a cocktail waitress, and two other women who go along for the ride - while Josh has an experienced crew.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? Nope.

I know, I know.  I give this a 6/10 and lower scores to some films that are considered classics.  But what it comes down to is how much enjoyment I get from a movie.  If it bores me I go 5/10 or less.  A 6 isn't great but this silly picture is reasonably entertaining.  It's 60s sexism with a thin plot that's filled with goofy scenes, a great title that says it all, gorgeous gals, beautiful scenery (you know, foreign locales, coastlines, island beaches, etc.), a cheesy 60s score and then there's the awesomeness of having Fred Clark and Pat Buttram in the picture.  It would have been nice if it was loaded with nudity but there's not a single side boob or nipple in sight.  It's a little racier than GILLIGAN'S ISLAND and far from anything Russ Meyer would have cooked up. The thing is, if it was loaded with boobs the overall quality of the film would have suffered because it would've been a completely different production.  Still, it would've had boobs and everyone knows boob and Tahiti go together like boobs and anything else. Boobs.  Mmmmmmmm.

Battlefield: The Battle of Kursk (1995)

Directors:  Andrew Aitken, Dave Flitton, Justin McCarthy

Writer:  Peter Mooney

Composer:  Paul Farrer

Starring: Tim Pigott-Smith (narrator)

More info: IMDb


Plot:  In the summer of 1943 more than 2,000,000 men and 6,000 tanks of the German and Soviet Armies faced each other near the Soviet city of Kursk. The ensuing battle was, to this day, the largest tank battle ever fought in history. It marked the last major offensive operation of German forces in the East and, combined with the Soviet victory at Stalingrad, was the decisive turning point on the Eastern Front.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably.

Man, they sure pack a lot of information in the span of 90 minutes!  The filmmakers do a great job in giving you what you need when it comes to the lead-up to the battle, the extent of each side's armaments, troop numbers, positions, battle plan, etc.  There's so much in here that it almost requires multiple viewings to soak it all in and understand it all.  Well, for guys like me with crap memories, that is.  The DVD for this episode is stupendously expensive but we can all watch it free on YouTube along with other episodes in this excellent series!  Yay!!!  I'm a sucker for WWII documentaries but most of the ones made for American TV are poorly produced with incessant repetition of information, recapping after commercial breaks and overly produced bells and whistles.  This Canadian/UK series is top notch and restores my faith in good made-for-TV documentary filmmaking. 

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones

Writers: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin

Composer: ???

Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Connie Booth, Carol Cleveland, Neil Innes, Bee Duffell, John Young, Rita Davies, Avril Stewart, Sally Kinghorn

More info: IMDb

Tagline: You can do worse than see it.

Plot: King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Grail, encountering many very silly obstacles.

My rating: 9/10

Will I watch it again? YES!!!

I remember first seeing this in the early 80s shortly before discovering MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS.  It slayed my with laughter then and it still does after all these years.  I'm not going to go into how much I love this film because I'd rather watch it than talk about it but there are far too many classic, laugh out loud moments that no one should overlook this picture.  Just like their TV show, the humor runs from the utterly silly and slapstick to clever, witty and sublime.  Their comedy runs the gamut, something for all ages and walks of life but then it's not a movie that everyone is going to dig.  Those who do love the shit out of it and will put it in our top comedies of all time.  It's brilliantly made and age hasn't hurt it one bit.  There's a part of me that wants to give this a solid 10 out of 10 but the final act does slow down and drag a bit despite some funny moments.   It feels like the boys, after having so much fun up until the last fifteen minutes, threw their hands up having spent the funny and trudged their way to the credits.  Still, it's one of the funniest movies ever made.  The Sony Blu-ray transfer is breathtakingly gorgeous!!!  Before this release I'd only ever seen it on horrible VHS-esque transfers.  I was in awe through to the closing credits how clear and brilliant the film looked.