The Adventures of Hercules II (1985)

Original title: Le Avventure dell'Incredibile Ercole

Director: Luigi Cozzi

Writer: Luigi Cozzi

Composer: Pino Donaggio

Starring: Lou Ferrigno, Milly Carlucci, Sonia Viviani, William Berger, Carla Ferrigno, Claudio Cassinelli, Ferdinando Poggi, Maria Rosaria Omaggio, Margit Evelyn Newton

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The World Needed a Hero. It Got a Legend.

Plot: Hercules searches for the Seven Thunderbolts of Zeus, which have been stolen by renegade gods.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.


The first thing you'll notice is that the opening credits last nearly 8 minutes.  It's 8 minutes of titles and music inspired/ripped off by SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978).  It's also an 8 minute sizzle reel of the greatest hits from the first film, HERCULES (1983).  Now there's only 80 minutes left in the picture.  If you saw the first film, it's pretty much more of the same as far as acting and production values are concerned.  Whoever dubbed Ferrigno has a voice that could easily pull off a great Adam West impersonation.  Hearing Adam West's voice in my head helped me get through it with a smirk on my face.  This picture, much like the last one, is a series of brief adventures/tasks that Hercules gets through with relative ease until the big fight with the baddie, King Minos (Berger), in space as neon animated characters that change into different animals and light fight until Hercules vanquishes him.  Oops...spoiler.  Then there's something about Hercules given more power from Zeus to push the approaching moon back to its rightful place.  It's about as so-bad-it's-good as the first film.  It's mildly entertaining and rarely boring in that there's a lot going on and the pacing isn't bad enough to bring on the sleep monster. 

M (1951)

Director: Joseph Losey

Writers: Norman Reilly Raine, Leo Katcher, Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou

Composer: Michel Michelet

Starring: David Wayne, Howard Da Silva, Martin Gabel,Luther Adler, Steve Brodie, Raymond Burr, Glenn Anders, Norman Lloyd, Jim Backus, William Schallert

More info: IMDb

Tagline:  The most gripping motion picture you've ever seen! "M" has struck again!

Plot: In this Americanization of the 1931 German thriller, both the police and the criminal underworld stalk a mysterious killer who preys on small children.

My rating:  7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

Maybe it's me but I find it unusual for subjects as dark as this to be covered so seriously when this was made.  I've seen gobs of movies from this era so I think I might be right but who knows.  Anyway, it's been at least twenty-five years since I saw the Fritz Lang's 1931 classic, so long that I remember only a few key beats.  This remake is pretty damn good.  It's got the period tough talk you find in crime pictures and it's got an often stark look to it but not as stylish as Lang's.  I like the harshness of it all.  There are long stretch of no music which work really well.  You don't get to see the child murders on screen.  Less than halfway into the picture the chase is on and things pick up a little but it's already a briskly-paced flick. The finale with the mob is chilling and passionate.  The killer's compelling plea is strong.  There are some valid arguments made between he and the alcoholic attorney.  I think the original ended differently but it makes no difference, really.  This remake is a strong picture on its own.  Losey & co. did a masterful job.

The Demon of the Derby (2001)

Director: Sharon Rutter

Composer: Jeff Pittson

Starring: Ann Calvello

More info: IMDb

Tagline:  The Ann Calvello Story: She's not just alive...she's kicking!

Plot: This documentary portrait follows Roller Derby's "Meanest Mama on Skates", Ann Calvello. Now in her 70s, Ann refuses to give up the limelight - she is still bashing heads on the banked track of any upstart league that will have her. And she's still acting like the bawdy bad girl of the Derby, even as she bags groceries at her part-time job at Safeway. In the two years the documentary follows her, Ann simultaneously grapples with her declining ability to skate and her determination to be the first professional athlete to have competed continuously in a sport for six decades.

My rating:7/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

In the past couple of years I've been to a few roller derby games (my first) and they're lots of fun.  That's when I sought out movies and documentaries on the subject.  This was the first one I watched.  This stuff was HUGE when I was a kid in the 70s but I'd mostly forgotten about it in the time since.  Anyway, this 53 minute documentary gives you about everything you'd want in a career overview of the game's most notorious and violent players.  She comes across very full of herself and that she's still got that chip on her shoulder.  Part of that could be playing up her celebrity image but I think she's genuine in that regard.  She's rough around the edges and doesn't give a shit about much of anything.  To hear her colleagues talk about her, she's a total bitch (well, some of them think that).  Still, she led an interesting and vibrant career in the sport, full of controversy which is probably the only way she liked it.  The best part of this film, though, is the gobs of vintage footage of the games.  That was a lot of fun to watch.  I'd love to see one of them in its entirety someday.  Now I'm ready to move onto some of the movies made on the subject back in the 70s. 

The Six Thousand Dollar Nigger (1978)

AKA: Supersoul Brother

Director: Rene Martinez Jr.

Writers: Laura S. Diaz, Rene Martinez Jr.

Composer: Saxton Kari

Starring: 'Wildman' Steve Gallon, Joycelyn Norris, Benny Latimore, Peter Conrad, Lee Cross, Wild Savage, Addie Williams, John A. Jacobs, Larry Hannah, Eric Gregory Gallon, Herbert Murray, Janine Cracchiolo, L. Dea Towers

More info: IMDb

Tagline: He's Sexy! He's Bionic! He's a Stud!

Plot: A bum agrees to allow an experimental drug to be administered to him. What he doesn't realize is that the doctor who's doing the experiment is a criminal, trying to create an unstoppable thief that's immune to bullets. Steve gains all the powers that Superman has, and after getting his revenge against all those who harassed him on the street, discovers the truth about the doctor's plans for him.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably not.

Years ago I watched THE GUY FROM HARLEM (1977) and I was so taken with actor 'Wildman' Steve Gallon that I looked up his credits and found THE SIX THOUSAND DOLLAR NIGGER.  With a title like that, I just had to watch it.  I'm just surprised it took me as long as it did and I've watched it twice now (which I think is enough).  It's just as low budget as HARLEM (also directed by Martinez - this being his third and final film) and it's just as likeable, thanks to Gallon.  He's got a motormouth that just won't quit.  It's like Martinez told him he has to fill every second talking random shit.  He's pretty damn funny and I bet he was a hoot to hang around with.  The acting from everyone is pretty bad but it's fun bad.  There are some funny jokes and some really bad ones but that adds to the charm.  It's a cheesy, low budget Blaxploitation flick that's fun enough to not feel like you wasted your time.  And by 'you' I mean anyone who doesn't mind watching low budget stuff like this.  It's also got one of the strangest (if not THE strangest) theme songs in the Blaxpolitation genre.  It sounds like it's sung by a 5 year old.    I've got one more of Martinez's movies to see, a biker flick called ROAD OF DEATH (1973), and I really hope it doesn't take me long to getting around to it.

Creature from Black Lake (1976)

Director: Joy N. Houck Jr.

Writer: Jim McCullough Jr.

Composer: Jaime Mendoza-Nava

Starring: Jack Elam, Dub Taylor, Dennis Fimple, John David Carson, Bill Thurman, Jim McCullough Jr., Roy Tatum, Cathryn Hartt, Becky Smiser, Michelle Willingham, Evelyn Hindricks, Roger Pancake, Karen Brooks, Chase Tatum, Bob Kyle, Joy N. Houck Jr., I.M. 'Buddy' Brumley Jr.

More info: IMDb

Plot: Two men exploring the Louisiana swamps encounter a Bigfoot-type creature.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This isn't a bad picture.  It could use a lot more Bigfoot action (there's not much in it but what there is is pretty good) but the story's alright as is just about everything else.  The print I watched was a dirty anamorphic widscreen one which was awesome (I watched in projected on my 11' wide screen).  I would love to see this at a drive-in which is where it was meant to be played.  It's always fun watching Elam and Taylor.  I love those guys.  The two leads are likeable which helps.  Overall the acting's not that bad and the story is paced well enough I guess.  The ending is anti climactic but when you consider everything else and the great Louisiana shooting locations, it's a neat little flick to knock out on a Saturday night.  Or you could chalk it up to my being a sucker for movies set in swamps and the woods.

Sleepers (1996)

Director: Barry Levinson

Writers: Lorenzo Carcaterra, Barry Levinson

Composer: John Williams

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Billy Crudup, Robert De Niro, Ron Eldard, Minnie Driver, Vittorio Gassman, Dustin Hoffman, Terry Kinney, Bruno Kirby, Frank Medrano, Jason Patric, Joe Perrino, Brad Pitt, Brad Renfro, Geoffrey Wigdor, Jonathan Tucker

More info: IMDb

Tagline: When friendship runs deeper than blood

Plot: After a prank goes disastrously wrong, a group of boys are sent to a detention center where they are brutalized; over 10 years later, they get their chance for revenge.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

All around good flick.  The performances (including the kids), cast, setting, story, direction, all solid.  It's a downer, even after some things go right.  No one gets out unscathed.  The Warner Bros. DVD I had was a flipper disc with the movie split in two.  At least it had an anamorphic widescreen print.  The only extra is the theatrical trailer, also anamorphic widescreen.

The Epic That Never Was (1965)

Director: ???

Writer: Bill Duncalf

Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Robert Graves, Josef von Sternberg, Merle Oberon, Flora Robson, Emlyn Williams, John Abbott, Eileen Corbett, John Armstrong

More info: IMDb


Plot: The story of the aborted 1937 filming of "I, Claudius", starring Charles Laughton, with all of its surviving footage.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Oh, yeah.

Here's a fascinating look into a film that was never finished.  It's a good story as told by those still alive that were in front of and behind the camera 30 years prior.  One notable absence is Charles Laughton, who died five years earlier, but his presence is very much alive.  Some of the interviewees get overly dramatic in recounting their experiences and you get the impression that Laughton was even more a egotistic drama queen who was incredibly difficult to work with.  That may very well be true but there's no denying his genius as an actor.  The more I see of him the higher he places in the craft.  In this 70 minute TV documentary we get to see many clips from the film and they're brilliant.  What's more, Laughton delivers a monologue in final minutes of the film that had me emotionally enthralled.  Fortunately we viewers don't get to experience what actors go through to "find their character".  That probably couldn't be more true in this case.  Laughton struggled intensely with this role and everyone around him suffered for it.  But what we see from him that was shot, and it's a damn shame the film was never completed, is a remarkable performance that isn't to be missed, even in this truncated form.