Godzilla 1985 (1984)

Original title: Gojira

Directors: Koji Hashimoto, R.J. Kizer

Writers: Tomoyuki Tanaka, Tony Randel, Lisa Tomei, Straw Weisman

Composer: Reijiro Koroku

Starring: Raymond Burr, Ken Tanaka, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Yosuke Natsuki, Shin Takuma, Keiju Kobayashi, Eitaro Ozawa, Taketoshi Naito, Kenpachiro Satsuma, Warren J. Kemmerling, James Hess, Travis Swords, Crawford Binion, Justin Gocke

More info: IMDb

Tagline: There goes the neighborhood.

Plot: Thirty years after the original monster's rampage, a new Godzilla emerges and attacks Japan.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I've seen a few Godzilla pictures in my time and I don't remember one that had as much Godzilla action and screen time as this one does.  It takes a good half hour before he shows up but he's not off screen long for a lot of the next hour which is great.  You don't watch these movies for the acting or even the ground-breaking special effects (this one is still, thankfully, a man in suit Godzilla) except maybe for those of us who REALLY appreciate the great model work these films usually deliver.  The familiar Ifukube music is absent as he turned down the opportunity but the score works well enough.  In the final ten minutes when Godzilla is being driven away to his possibly impending doom, the music is heartbreaking.  I couldn't believe it.  After seeing all of the destruction this mofo had wrought over the 50 minutes I'm feeling sorry for the guy and that's all due to the beautifully tragic theme.  That theme changes into something less sad when he gets to the island and that thing happens.  My big complaint is one that unfortunately gets said all too frequently and that's the monster action happens at night.  They do this to hide the flaws in the effects and it pisses me off.  If this were a CGI Godzilla it would've been raining as well at an attempt to disguise the flaws.  But it's still an entertaining movie and a good enough direct sequel to the film that started it all 30 years earlier.

Flat Top (1952)

Director: Lesley Selander

Writer: Steve Fisher

Composer: Marlin Skiles

Starring: Sterling Hayden, Richard Carlson, William Phipps, John Bromfield, Keith Larsen, William Schallert, Todd Karns, Phyllis Coates, Dave Willock, Walter Coy

More info: IDMb

Tagline: Bombshell story of the Navy's Hell-Divers ... scorching the Pacific skies!

Plot:  During the Korean War, aboard the U.S.S. Princeton, Navy Commander Dan Collier reminisces about his first assignment on the same aircraft carrier in the war against Japan.

My rating:  6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

If there's one character type Sterling Hayden excelled at it was the hard-nosed, no nonsense, gettin' shit done kind of guy and that's exactly who he is here.  He's the leader of these flyboys, he's got the 3rd most confirmed kills in the Navy and he expects nothing but the best from his boys even though they find him to be an uncaring S.O.B..  It's that kind of picture.  Fortunately for the audience they get lots of chances to take down the enemy at sea and on a coastal base and I do mean lots.  Usually movies like this give you a couple of action scenes in the air and that's it but not this one.  Once the fighting starts it keeps going every few minutes.  That's a huge plus in addition to seeing Sterling Hayden gnaw on some dialogue.  The color areal combat photography is great, too.  As you'd expect, all of the shots of the pilots flying (from inside and outside of the cockpits) is cheesily done but what are you going to do?  If anyone can point me to some examples of the era when it was done well, please let me know.   I don't know how else it could've been done back then but there must have been a way to cut down on the phony-ness of it.  It's poorly done in this film.  The uncredited list of actors on IMDb lists James Best and Alvy Moore in this but I didn't see them.

Bank Shot (1974)

Director: Gower Champion

Wrtiers: Wendell Mayes, Donald E. Westlake

Composer: John Morris

Starring: George C. Scott, Joanna Cassidy, Sorrell Booke, G. Wood, Clifton James, Bob Balaban, Bibi Osterwald, Frank McRae, Don Calfa, Harvey Evans, Hank Stohl, Liam Dunn, Jack Riley, Pat Zurica, Harvey J. Goldenberg, Jamie Reidy

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The Biggest "Withdrawal" In Banking History!

Plot: A bank, temporarily housed in a mobile home while a new building is built, looks like an easy target. On the other hand, why not steal the whole bank and rob it in a safer location?

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

How about that trailer, huh?  I love it!  The movie?  Not as much.  It's definitely got it's feet firmly planted in comedy.  I didn't laugh much but when I did it was loud.  The cast does a wonderful job and Joanna Cassidy takes the cake for MVP in this picture.  She's so much fun and she brings an awful lot of energy to the picture.  It's neat hearing music from John Morris that's not from a Mel Brooks picture but it gets really silly.  I'm sure that's exactly what the director, Champion, wanted.  This was Champions last film as director and only his second feature with a few TV credits prior to this one so maybe he wasn't a great choice although he did a good job.  I mean, just check out this amazing shot.

This neat little sequence lasts for less than a minute but I couldn't take my eyes off it.  There's just something missing that keeps this from being a great comedy.  It's short at only 83 minutes which turns out to be a good thing.  And what a coincidence that I watched two movies back to back with the exact same running time (the other was MR. ACE (1946))?  Maybe it just needed more gags.  Anyway, fans of any of these actors will not go wrong by watching this and it's loaded with familiar faces.

Mr. Ace (1946)

Director: Edwin L. Marin

Writer: Fred F. Finklehoffe

Composer: Heinz Roemheld

Starring: George Raft, Sylvia Sidney, Stanley Ridges, Sid Silvers, Jerome Cowan, Sara Haden, Alan Edwards, Roman Bohnen, Joyce Brant

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Where there's smoke there's...RAFT

Plot: A rich society woman uses a gangster to win a congressional election.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Ya know, I want to like George Raft but he's so darn stiff in a lot of pictures, especially the ones where he's not playing a bad guy.  He's just wooden in a romance and not the kind of wood you're looking for, amIright? (cue applause).  Everybody else does a fine job.  The story isn't too shabby if a little far fetched.  In the course of a campaign season Congresswoman Margaret Chase (Sidney) wins the party bid for Governor, gets blackmailed by her husband for a divorce, announces she's no longer running, gets a divorce, then some unknown backers convince her to get back in the race as an independent to fight against the corruption that's rampant in her state's politics.  See?  But still, you go with it.  There's a romance of sorts between her and Mr. Ace (Raft) that has its troubles but, like just about every movie from the 1940s, it ends well for the lovers.  It's a little shorter than usual at 83 minutes which feels like the right amount of time for this picture.  I think having a better actor as the titular role would've been an improvement.  And what's with the title when this is a lot more about Chase than Ace?

Faster (2010)

Director: George Tillman Jr.

Writers: Tony Gayton, Joe Gayton

Composer: Clint Mansell

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Guigino, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Maggie Grace, Moon Bloodgood, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Tom Berenger, Mike Epps, Xander Berkeley, Michael Irby, Josh Clark

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Justice is swift. Vengeance is faster.

Plot: An ex-con gets on a series of apparently unrelated killings. He gets tracked by a veteran cop with secrets of his own and an egocentric hit man.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

For the most part this flick is badass.  Driver (Johnson) is a Terminator-style killing machine.  When it comes to exacting revenge he's just like a Terminator in his execution.  NOTHING gets in this guy's way.   Cop (Thornton) has an interesting character arc that I totally dug even if if felt a little too obvious.  Then the third big player in this picture is Killer (Jackson-Cohen), one that got on my nerves a few times, who is a very young hitman for hire tasked at taking out Driver.  He talks too much and spells out everything to his girlfriend, to whom he marries.  His arrogance gets old.  The story is good enough and it has some interesting elements but it doesn't feel as thoroughly thought out as it needed to be.  It's so close to being a very good movie but there's just enough holding it back that I'm not sure if I'll ever want to revisit it and I'm sure I'll be tempted. Oh, and isn't the the same wedding chapel from KILL BILL (2003)?

Wild Card (1992)

Director: Mel Damski

Writers: Ted Thackrey Jr., Scobie Richardson

Composer: W.G. Snuffy Walden

Starring: Powers Boothe, Cindy Pickett, Terry O'Quinn, Rene Auberjonois, M. Emmet Walsh

More info: IDMb

Tagline: Preacher still believes in God.  They're just not speaking right now.

Plot: Thriller about a former preacher, now a professional gambler, who heads down New Mexico way to visit an old buddy, only for him to be killed. It is not long before the Preacher is uncovering a hotbed of corruption and murder in the seemingly peaceful town, aptly named Farewell.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I figured this wasn't going to be all that good but considering I'm a big fan of Powers Boothe, Terry O'Quinn and a HUGE fan of M. Emmet Walsh and the story sounded less boring than adopting kids or something.  It is better and thanks to the cast.  The story moves along pretty well so at no point was I bored but there's no escaping the film's low budget TV movie feel.  Director Damski has worked almost entirely in TV since his first in 1974.  Hold on to your butts because he's currently working on GARAGE SALE MYSTERY: THE MASK MURDER (2018).  No joke.  It's in pre-production so it may be a while before you get to see it.  WILD CARD seems like it's a story you've seen a hundred times and for the most part it is but then you've got the three leads mentioned that elevate it.  The climax brings some welcome twists that also help the picture.  It's an OK movie that's neither very good nor is it even bad.  But there's one thing that was so atrocious I have to share this clip.   Preacher (Boothe) and Dana (Pickett) are walking along and then suddenly a helicopter appears out of nowhere but there is no way possible they wouldn't have seen it nor would they have not heard it a mile away and it literally comes from below and it hovers literally a few feet away from them.  Un-Fucking-Believable!  See for yourself and take a minute to pick your jaw off the floor.

Hillbilly Blitzkrieg (1942)

Director: Roy Mack

Writers: Ray Harris, Carl Harbaugh, Glen Lambert

Composer: Paul Sawtell

Starring: Bud Duncan, Edgar Kennedy, Cliff Nazarro, Lucien Littlefield, Doris Linden, Alan Baldwin, Jimmie Dodd, Frank Austin, Nicolle Andre

More info: IMDb

Tagline: IT'S HOWL-OSSAL!...THRILL-ARIOUS! Enough to make a top sergeant laugh!

Plot: Nazi spies mistake Snuffy Smith's moonshine for a new secret rocket fuel and try to steal the "formula."

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I had no idea they made movies with the beloved comic strip characters Snuffy Smith & Barney Google.  Bud Duncan and Cliff Nazarro were nicely cast as the pair (especially Duncan).  It looks as though Duncan came out of retirement to do PRIVATE SNUFFY SMITH (1942) and this one before retiring from film acting for good.  When he stopped the first time in 1931 he'd made over 200 films, nearly all of them comedy shorts.  In this picture the 4'11" Duncan stars alongside one of the most consistently great character actors, Edgar Kennedy (who stands over six feet).   Kennedy had an impressive nearly 450 credits before he died at the young age of 58.  Here he plays a sergeant to Duncan's private but he's only Snuffy's part time foil.  Snuffy, Barney and Sgt. Gatling have Nazi spies to contend with.  It's harmless fun and for the most part I found it mildly amusing until the end of the picture when Snuffy finds himself airborne after hiding inside the experimental rocket the Nazis were after.  It's right out of DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) that was another 22 years away.

Kubrick just had to have seen this which makes me chuckle just thinking about what that must've been like.  Maybe he saw it as a kid (he would've been 14 at the time of this release).  It's only 62 minutes long so it's an easy investment in your time.  Who would've thought that the Nazis had such a hard on for getting their hands on moonshine-based rocket fuel.  I'm sure this was an effort by the War Department to make sure every American felt threatened by our new enemies and even Hillbillies had a steak in seeing that we pushed those goose-steppin' bastards all the way back to Berlin before they got their hands on our precious party liquor and barefoot women!