Kitten in a Cage (1968)

Director: Richard MacLeod

Writer: ???

Composer: ???

Starring: Miriam Eliot, John Dunham, Tony Warren, June Roberts, Guido Conte, Richard Woods, Jacques Lyon, Charles Stanton, Robert Marshall, Marcia Moreau, Linda Boyce, Inga Daar, Gay Lamour, Genevieve Wilde

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Trapped...she was made to witness! Bound...she was forced to submit! Here, in the cage, they could defile her in any way their perverted minds wished.

Plot: Detailing "the most insane day of Julie's life," the poor girl is pursued by a mysterious stranger in a ski mask who keeps trying to drug her (and who attacks a stripper for... well, no particular reason). Apparently, Julie knows something about something that she really doesn't know anything about, and some very dangerous goons are after her for it.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

This is loaded with gratuitous nudity which has nothing to do with the plot.  Yay!!!

Yellowbeard (1983)

Director: Mel Damski

Writers: Graham Chapman, Peter Cook, David Sherlock, Bernard McKenna

Composer: John Morris

Starring: Graham Chapman, Peter Boyle, Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Peter Cook, Marty Feldman, Martin Hewitt, Michael Hordern, Eric Idle, Madeline Kahn, James Mason, John Cleese, Kenneth Mars, Spike Milligan, Stacey Nelkin, Nigel Planer, Susannah York, Beryl Reid, Peter Bull, Bernard Fox, Ronald Lacey, Nigel Stock, David Bowie

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A picture filled with public floggings, saucy tarts, looney lords, outrageousness, offensiveness, even a stuffed crocodile and sheep!

Plot: Yellowbeard, a pirate's pirate, is allowed to escape from prison to lead the authorities to his treasure. He finds that his wife neglected to tell him that he now has a son, 20, and shame of shame, an intellectual. The British Navy, Yellowbeard, his son, and members of Yellowbeard's old crew all go after the treasure.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? Maybe in another 30 years.

It's probably been close to 30 years since I last saw this and I have to say it's better than I remembered.  The cast alone is a who's who in British comedy and it's worth it alone just to see them.  Madeline Kahn is tops on the list of women who need to have my babies and she's fantastically funny and talented in this one.  To have a movie that includes Marty Feldman, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Peter Cook AND James Mason is special even if it doesn't deliver the laughs that it should.  They all put in fine performances but it's in the script where the film suffers.  The story is almost immaterial since it's the actors and the jokes that matter but being light on jokes is one of the problems.  I'll only mention the fact the having a map tattooed on the kid's skull is made out to be a big deal but it's never utilized once that character is part of the gang.  My biggest issue is the lack of Yellowbeard, the Pirate.  Graham Chapman is fucking hilarious and filled with spastic energy but he's got far too little screen time.  But every scene he's in is priceless.  I hope I'm around a few more decades because despite enjoying it, it leaves me feeling disappointed because this should have been a much funnier film considering the talent involved.  I'd sure like to find out who dropped the ball on this one.

Las Vegas Lady (1975)

Director: Noel Nosseck

Writer: Walter Dallenbach

Composer: Alan Silvestri

Starring: Stella Stevens, Stuart Whitman, George DiCenzo, Lynne Moody, Linda Scruggs, Joseph Della Sorte, Hank Robinson, Karl Lukas, Emilia Dallenbach, Andrew Stevens, Max Starky, Frank Bonner

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The most daring Vegas career.

Plot: In Las Vegas, Lucky and two of her girlfriends, Carol and Lisa, plan to steal half a million dollars from the sadistic manager of the Circus Circus Casino. A shadowy man is their contact and organizer. Each of the women could be a weak link in a scheme that has to be flawless: Lucky's boyfriend is a security officer at the casino, Lisa is a trapeze artist who's now plagued with vertigo, and Carol is in debt to a nasty thug. Can the gals pull off the heist, or is the plan, with it's mysterious organizer, too complicated to succeed?

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Have you noticed Stella Stevens' acting talents?

Isn't she scrummy?  She's about the best reason to watch this, really.  She and the other gals...

It helps that there's a little bit of quality nudity in this picture because it's pretty middle-of-the-road drab.  Not even the heist is exciting.  The drama leading up to it is only serviceable.  I did perk up near the end of the heist when Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek on WKRP IN CINCINNATI (1978-1982)) shows up in a bit part.

The performances aren't to blame.  All of the players are doing just fine.  It's just a lackluster film who's only crime is not being interesting nor bad enough to be funny.  My family took a couple of big road trips out West in the late 70s and both times Las Vegas was part of the trip so I have some nostalgia for movies filmed in Vegas in the '70s.  That had more interest to me than anything else in the picture but it's not likely to be enough to hold anyone else's. 

The Big Fix (2012)

Directors: Joshua Tickell, Rebecca Harrell Tickell

Writer: Johnny O'Hara

Starring: Jashua Tickell, Rebecca Harrell Tickell, Peter Fonda, Amy Smart, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Kevin Curole, Margaret Curole, Jeff Goodell, Chris Hedges, David Korten, Nomi Prins, Bernie Sanders

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The truth is deep beneath the surface

Plot: A documentary that examines the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico following the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

Living along the Gulf Coast in an area affected by the 2010 BP oil spill puts me in a position to give more shits about this film than probably most viewers.  I also have relatives that live on the GC in AL.  An uncle retired from shrimping in that area a few years ago but he still goes out from time to time for old times sake to bring home the most delicious seafood you've likely ever tasted.  So this whole thing was a big deal because we at least knew people whose lives were directly affected and who lost a majority of their income.  To say the whole thing sucked is an understatement.  This film presents a lot of information you may not have know and it does it in a non-threatening manner.  Some of the stories from the interviewed victims are heartbreaking.  And then there's the other side, the corporate side, that will probably piss you off.  The film goes into what BP did (and didn't do) as well as the role the government played in the aftermath, which politicians benefited from BP, etc. If what is presented as fact is true then it's pretty fucked up.  The only thing that bugged me was having Peter Fonda and Amy Smart (less her than Fonda) listening to people and giving their opinions.  But then if having a famous face helps get the word out or if they're instrumental in helping getting something done then I supposed that's a good thing.  But sometimes it just seems cheesy.  See for yourself.  You can watch the entire film below.

Welcome to Hard Times (1967)

Director: Burt Kennedy

Writers: Burt Kennedy, E.L. Doctorow

Composer: Harry Sukman

Starring: Henry Fonda, Janice Rule, Keenan Wynn, Janis Paige, John Anderson, Warren Oates, Fay Spain, Edgar Buchanan, Aldo Ray, Denver Pyle, Michael Shea, Arlene Golonka, Lon Chaney Jr., Elish Cook Jr.

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A town can be killed by a bullet...just like a man!

Plot: In the town of Hard Times, a stranger rides in and terrorizes the small settlement. He kills a number of townsfolk, including Fee, the town's founder. Mayor Will Blue fails to stand up to the man, who rapes saloon whore Molly and burns down the town. Blue promises to rebuild the town after the stranger rides on, but the townsfolk give up and leave. A wagon load of prostitutes led by "entrepreneur" Zar shows up and together with Blue, they rebuild the town. But Molly's desire for revenge and her anger at Blue for not protecting her eat at her, and Blue promises that things will be different when the stranger returns. And return he does.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

It's a story with plot points you see coming two and a half miles away.  The players do a fine job but the only thing I dug was the beginning and end when the bad guy, Man from Bodie (Aldo Ray), pulls into town and causes a lot of deadly mischief.  After he devastates the small town it's all about rebuilding.  That's where some of the uninteresting bits happen like waiting out a severe storm.  You know the few buildings there will remain standing so there's not much drama there.

What's this?  Lon Chaney Jr. drinking whiskey?  Say it ain't so!

It doesn't pick up until the end when the Man from Bodie shows up and repeats what he did at the outset.  His fate ends as you expect it to but not without some nice innocent casualties.  That part was unexpected and nice to see for a change.  I'm a sucker for Westerns so even without having such greats as Fonda, Wynn, Oates and Cook, I'm already there. 

JFK (1991)

Director: Oliver Stone

Writers: Oliver Stone, Zachary Sklar, Jim Garrison, Jim Marrs

Composer: John Williams

Starring: Kevin Costner, Sissy Spacek, Gary Oldman, Sally Kirkland, Edward Asner, Jack Lemmon, Vincent D'Onofrio, Brian Doyle-Murray, Wayne Knight, Michael Rooker, Laurie Metcalf, Joe Pesci, Walter Matthau, Tommy Lee Jones, Tomas Milian, John Candy, Kevin Bacon, Donald Sutherland, Dale Dye, Lolita Davidovich, John Larroquette, Frank Whaley, Martin Sheen

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The Story That Won't Go Away

Plot: On November 22, 1963, president John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald is arrested for the crime and subsequently shot by Jack Ruby, supposedly avenging the president's death. An investigation concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby acted alone in their respective crimes, but Louisiana district attorney Jim Garrison is skeptical. Assembling a trusted group of people, Garrison conducts his own investigation, bringing about backlash from powerful government and political figures.

My rating: 9/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

It's been ages since I saw this but I recently watched Stone's director's cut for the first time and it blew me away.  This near-three and a half hour version is captivating and excellent story-telling.  It grabs you by the short and curlies and doesn't let go until the credits roll.  The cast is superb, although I'm still not completely on board with casting Costner.  It's beautifully shot (Robert Richardson) and masterfully edited (Joe Hutshing and Pietro Scalia).  Normally I find Stone's use of camera and film tricks overdone but here everything he included worked with the film instead of feeling like he's showing off.  One of the most important players in this picture is easily John Williams.  His score it pitch perfect and it's one of the most effective tools that make this such an intense thriller.  While I haven't seen everything Oliver Stone has done, I feel this is his best work.  The director's cut is the way to go and despite the much longer running time, it's one hell of a thriller that doesn't have a dull moment.

Vincent Price: The Sinister Image (1987)

Director: Stanley Sheff

Writers: David Del Valle, Steve Biodrowski

Composer: no music

Starring: David Del Valle, Vincent Price

More info IMDb

Plot: Host David Del Valle sits down with his longtime friend, Vincent Price, over the course of an hour discussing his career and his later years as a horror icon.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

Vincent Price is such an icon in cinema that you just have to watch him whenever he sits down for an interview.  He's such an engaging presence and his memory at his age is incredible.  He seems like he'd be the nicest guy to his fans.  It's impossible to cover one's career with any decent amount of detail in an hour but Del Valle does an admirable job.  It's mentioned toward the end that he'd known Price since '68 and he'd been trying to get him to sit down for an interview for 4 or 5 years.  They cover a lot of ground including his early days in Hollywood, through the transition to horror with films like HOUSE OF WAX (1953), the Poe films with Roger Corman, the Phibes pictures and beyond.  It's a no-brainer, must-watch for fans of this wonderfully talented actor.