The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972)

Director: Philip Kaufman

Writer: Philip Kaufman

Composer: Dave Grusin

Starring: Cliff Robertson, Robert Duvall, Luke Askew, R.G. Armstrong, Dana Elcar, Donald Moffat, John Pearce, Matt Clark, Wayne Sutherlin, Robert H. Haris, Jack Manning, Elisha Cook Jr., Royal Dano, Mary-Robin Redd

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The Real Story of Legendary Outlaw Jesse James' Most Daring Bank Robbery

Plot:  The final days of the infamous James gang are meticulously detailed in this riveting account of the group's most daring robbery. Led by the introspective Cole Younger (Cliff Robertson) and the nearly psychotic Jesse James (Robert Duvall), the much-glorified desperadoes set their sights on the biggest bank west of the Mississippi. The gritty action and dialogue, based on documented fact, chronicles the robbery from Younger's decision to storm the seemingly impregnable depository right up to the precision-planned assault.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

I need to watch more Cliff Robertson films from the 60s and 70s.  He's so damn charismatic in this picture (and just about everything else I've seen him in) that he's ridiculously watchable and the main reason to see this film.  It's got a good supporting cast and feel but it's got some minor issues.  There's some obvious studio dubbing that rubs me the wrong way, there's some padding like in the baseball game sequence that over stays its welcome for a couple of minutes and the lead Pinkerton man seems too eager and righteous (much like the buffoonery from THE WILD BUNCH (1969) - shit, it's been a long time since I watched that one, one of my top Westerns).  It's strange seeing Jesse James portrayed as a half dimwit and half 'getting messages from god' kind of guy.  That's movies for you. But all of that feels like I'm being picky when you stack it up against how good and likable Robertson is as Cole Younger.  It's worth watching just for that but there's more to like.

The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Director: Robert Wise

Writers: Michael Crichton, Nelson Gidding

Composer: Gil Melle

Starring: Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olson, Kate Reid, Paula Kelly, George Mitchell, Ramon Bieri, Peter Hobbs, kermit Murdock, Richard O'Brien, Eric Christmas, Mark Jenkins, Peter Helm, Joe Di Reda, Carl Reindel, Ken Swofford, Frances Reid, Richard Bull, John Carter

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The picture runs 130 minutes!... The story covers 96 of the most critical hours in man's history!... The suspense will last through your lifetime!

Plot: When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico are found to have died after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. Many years prior to this incident, a group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone advocated for the construction of a secure laboratory facility that would serve as a base in the event an alien biological life form was returned to Earth from a space mission. Stone and his team - Drs. Dutton, Leavitt and Hall - go to the facility, known as Wildfire and try to first isolate the life form and to determine why two people from Piedmont, an old wino and a months old baby, survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device should it manage to escape.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Maybe.

Man, this is a damn fine sci-fi thriller!  If you like hefty doses of science-based science fiction then check this out.  Yeah, it's 131 minutes long but it's taut and moves at a pretty brisk pace.  But what really makes it move is that it's so compelling. If you don't dig on science then stay away from this one because it will bore the pants off you.  There's a great scene where Dr. Ruth Leavitt is working with another Doctor (I forgot his name).  Everyone's exhausted and Ruth wants to take the shortcut into finding something while the other guy is insistent on taking the long way to be meticulous as possible.  Even though you know he's right, I loved how insistent he was and how strong his argument was to do it the proper, scientific way.  The film makers also go the long way to show what might be involved in solving a problem like this. The sets look fantastic and real.  I don't know how true to life the science is in the picture but it felt real and you didn't have young, attractive scientists (not one in the bunch) doing it, either.  This is great, intelligent sci-fi, from a decade that gave it to us in spades.  Loved it.

Wanda Sykes: Sick and Tired (2006)

Director: Michael Drumm

Writer: Wanda Sykes

Composer: ???

Starring: Wanda Sykes

More info: IMDb

Plot: Wanda Sykes has been called "one of the funniest stand up comics" by her peers and ranks among Entertainment Weekly's 25 Funniest People in America. She won an Emmy in 2003 for her work on Inside the NFL and was showcased for 5 years on HBO's The Chis Rock Show and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Now catch her hilarious stand up skills in this side-splitting program where she serves up comic truth and turns common sense into thought-provoking humor.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

I laughed.  A lot.  Her bit on detachable pussy was hilarious.  It's an opposite riff on a Sam Kinison bit but it's still funny.  She takes an idea and runs with it, seemingly exhausting it.  The titties routine had me laughing out loud.  I've got another of her DVDs that I'll have to slap in sooner than later.

The Devil and Daniel Mouse (1978)

Director: Clive A. Smith

Writers: Patrick Loubert, Ken Sobol, Stephen Vincent Benet

Composer: John Sebastian

Starring: Jim Henshaw, Annabel Kershaw, Martin Lavut, Laurel Runn, John Sebastian, Chris Wiggins

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A song from the heart beats the Devil every time!

Plot: Finding their audience drying up in favour of rock music, two young mouse folk singers find themselves with a bleak future. Desperate for a better career and life, the female vows that she would do anything to become a rock star. Instantly, the Devil arises to take advantage of that and offers to make her a star in exchange for her soul. She agrees and she quickly becomes the star she's dreamed of while her boyfriend, Daniel Mouse, is left behind. On the night of her greatest triumph, the devil comes to collect on her soul. In desperation, she turns to Daniel who must attempt the impossible task of trying to find an escape loophole for his girl's release.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Directed by the same cat (ahahahahahaha) who brought us ROCK & RULE (1983) a few years later, this is very much a blueprint for R&R in not only style but substance.  Fortunately, what ruined R&R for me, the excessive silliness of a lot of the side characters, isn't present here. At only 22 minutes there probably wasn't much time for it and that's a good thing.  What you do get instead is a critical satire of the popular music industry that uses and destroys artists.  There are some clever and funny gags that are lots of fun.  I wasn't wild about the songs but folk music isn't my bag much anyway.  That doesn't detract from the film, though.  It's fun.

Crawlspace (1986)

Director: David Schmoeller

Writer: David Schmoeller

Composer: Pino Donaggio

Starring: Klaus Kinski, Talia Balsam, Barbara Whinnery, Carole Francis, Tane McClure, Sally Brown, Jack Heller, David Abbott, Kenneth Robert Shippy, David Schmoeller

More info: IMDb

Tagline: He seduces them in his mind and traps them in his crawlspace.

Plot: A man who runs an apartment house for women is the demented son of a Nazi surgeon who has the house equipped with secret passageways, hidden rooms and torture and murder devices.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again? Nein.

This is on one of those great MGM Midnite Movies double feature DVDs, this one paired with THE ATTIC (1980) a film that bored the piss out of me.  CRAWLSPACE wasn't as bad but it suffered from its length.  It's only 80 minutes but it could have used a good ten minutes trimmed from it.  Some scenes go on too long which starts begging for attention to wander.  Kinski as Karl is creepy as shit and when a new girl shows up looking to rent an apartment I couldn't for the life of me understand how she still wanted it after Karl leered at her sexually (in that disgusting, sick-o sort of way) and asked her all kinds of perv-y questions.  OK, so maybe she's just a dumb college kid. I really dug how, after each kill, he puts blood on a bullet, puts it in a gun against his head and pulls the trigger.  I'm not sure if that was supposed to give him the justification he needs to kill again or if he feels guilty about it.  It's not explained but it is brought back later so I guess that's the only reason it existed.  All of the good qualities from this film can't outweigh the slow spots and there are a few.  At least it's a lot better than THE ATTIC (1980).

The Attic (1980)

Director: George Edwards

Writers: George Edwards, Tony Crechales

Composer: Hod David Schudson

Starring: Carrie Snodgress, Ray Milland, Ruth Cox, Rosemary Murphy, Frances Bay, Fern Barry, Marjorie Eaton, Dick Welsbacher, Joyce Cavarozzi

More info: IMDb

Tagline: She's Daddy's Little Girl ... FOREVER!

Plot: Louise (Snodegress) is a dowdy librarian, obsessively grieving 19 years after the disappearance of her picture-perfect boyfriend. This prolonged sadness is aggravated by her apparently disabled father (Milland), who dominates her life with such abusive bitterness that she descends even deeper into tortured desperation.

My rating: 3/10

Will I watch it again? NOOOOOOOO!

I was so bored by this picture that it took three attempts to finish it.  This is on one of those great MGM Midnite Movies double feature DVDs, this one paired with CRAWLSPACE (1986).  Unfortunately both movies weren't all that good and they both suffered from the same problem - pacing which led to slow and tedious.  THE ATTIC is 104 minutes and only the last 6 are interesting.  For more than an hour and a half I kept waiting for something, ANYTHING, to happen.  Louise (Snodgress) is losing her marbles for a very long time. Her father (Milland) is the cause of it only she doesn't realize it until those last few minutes and by then, for her, it's too late.  All of the players are fine I suppose.  Milland is a monster of a father.  He was great and despicable.  Snodgress was fine I guess but the fact that the movie is so long and her unraveling feels like a long time coming that her performance is repetitive and too much.  It doesn't take long before you know she's losing her shit and it's only going to get worse.  I just didn't need to have that message hit home over and over again.  The ending is great (although it opens up some logistical plot holes I'd like to discuss with someone), but like so many films that suffer from pacing issues and overstay their welcome, it's too late by the time it happens.  I stopped caring a long time ago.  I've already got one foot off the train and onto the platform.  

The Stepfather (1987)

Director: Joseph Ruben

Writers: Carolyn Lefcourt, Brian Garfield, Donald E. Westlake

Composer:Patrick Moraz

Starring: Terry O'Quinn, Jill Schoelen, Shelley Hack, Charles Lanyer, Stephen Shellen, Stephen E. Miller, Robyn Stevan, Jeff Schultz

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Who Am I Here?

Plot: A family-values man named Jerry Blake marries widows and divorcées with children in search of the perfect family. As soon as his new family members show signs of being human and not robots who will march unquestioningly to his tune, his dreams of domestic bliss begin to crumble, and he kills them. Then he alters his appearance, assumes a new identity, and skips to another town to begin the deadly ritual all over again. He marries Susan Maine, who sees him as the ideal surrogate father for her teenage daughter Stephanie, and he is soon up to his old tricks when she proves to be too much of a troublesome teen to handle.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

The first time I saw Terry O'Quinn in anything where I sat up and took notice of who he was was as John Locke on LOST (2004).  Locke was my favorite character so when I looked at his credits and saw that he was in this picture, one that I'd heard about since it came out, I was all about giving this one a spin.  While I'm disappointed in it, it's not all that bad.  It suffers from dragging a lot and Jerry's (O'Quinn) slow descent into madness as a trapped animal as people start to figure out his gruesome past.  Once the shit hits the fan in the last fifteen minutes it's fun.  We also get some gratuitous (I say gratuitous because there's no reason we need to see Stephanie (Schoelen) take a shower) nudity.  I'm glad it's there.  At this point in the picture after lots of slow goings-on it picks up the pace or at least wakes you up to witness the final kills.  Having Jerry throw out some one liners after he kills was a pretty weak attempt at trying to be like a lot of the popular horror movies of the day (not that it wasn't limited to just horror movies - thanks, Stallone & Schwarzenegger).  There are some nice moments in this film but not enough for me to sit through again.