The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Director: Robert Wise

Writers: Edmund H. North, Harry Bates

Composer: Bernard Herrmann

Starring: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, Frances Bavier, Lock Martin, 'Snub' Pollard, Stuart Whitman

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A robot and a man . . . hold the world spellbound with new and startling powers from another planet!

Plot: An alien (Klaatu) with his mighty robot (Gort) land their spacecraft on Cold War-era Earth just after the end of World War II. They bring an important message to the planet that Klaatu wishes to tell to representatives of all nations. However, communication turns out to be difficult, so, after learning something about the natives, Klaatu decides on an alternative approach.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

It's been at least 20 years since I last saw this and it gets better with every view.  The performances are solid and I dig Billy Gray's performance as the kid, Bobby. Say, how crazy is it that Bobby's mom and friend are totally OK with leaving him alone with Klaatu after having just met the guy minutes/hours before?  My how times have changed.  Rennie does a fantastic job as the alien, Klaatu.  Hell, the whole cast is great.  What makes this one stand out among the countless other sci-fi flicks of the 50s is the seriousness given in the story and Bernard Herrmann's wonderfully moody and eerie score.  It's one of the all time best for this era (if not THE best).  It's a great flick all the way around.  Funny story, I picked up the Blu-ray for a couple of bucks at a flea market.  It was cheap because it was the 3 disc edition of the remake that included the '51 film but it was missing the disc for the remake and only had the original film.  That's all I cared about.  I have no desire to see the remake. The original is all I need to see. I say that now but I forget about the countless hours of absolute crap that I find myself watching.

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

Director: Richard Attenborough

Writers: Cornelius Ryan, William Goldman

Composer: John Addison

Starring: Sean Connery, Dirk Bogarde, Ryan O'Neal, Gene Hackman, Edward Fox, Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins, James Caan, Maximilian Schell, Hardy Kruger, Wolfgang Preiss, Walter Kohut, Liv Ullmann, Elliott Gould, Ben Cross, Denholm Elliott, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, John Ratzenberger

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Out of the sky comes the screen's most incredible spectacle of men and war!

Plot: A historical telling of the failed attempt to capture several bridges on a road to Germany in World War II, in a campaign called Operation Market-Garden.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again? Naturally.

It's been ages since I saw this last and it's better than I remembered.  Sure, it's got some casting flaws but overall it's a great picture. It's one of the last (if not THE last) 'kitchen sink' WWII spectacle films that we used to get back in the 60s and I love it.  This time I watched in on a much larger screen than ever before and it's just a gorgeous film.  Geoffrey Unsworth's cinematography is absolutely stunning.

That shot is much more impressive when you see it blown up on the big screen, by the way.  John Addison's upbeat score sometimes feels a bit too much in that rally-the-boys propaganda kind of way but for the most part it works and he's got a great theme.  It's at its best when it gets somber.  There's a ton of action and it's all through the picture.  The quality of the stunt work, explosions, etc. is fantastic.  Fans of the WWII video games Medal of Honor and Call of Duty are going to recognize a few places.  It's clear that this film was one of the inspirations for both series.

If there's anything to take task with it's the casting.  They were clearly trying to bank on getting butts in seats by adding everybody that could that had any kind of box office draw.  For the most part they did a great job.  I don't recall Sean Connery or Michael Caine every hurting a picture.  The cast is largely stellar.  But then you get weak or over the top performances by Ryan O'Neal and Elliott Gould.  O'Neal feels like he's in a different film.  I like the guy but he sticks out in a bad way.  Gould is chewing up the scenery more than the cigar in his mouth.  He's there to provide some comic relief but he's just too much.  It's funny but the American roles feel a bit underwritten while the British ones are fleshed out more.  Having said that, James Caan has one of the best performances and scenes in the film.  You know the one I mean, when he forces a doctor to look at his dying friend. He takes a risk in doing so but it ultimately saves his friend and gives the film some emotional weight.  And Arthur Hill (as the medical officer) also delivers one of the best performances in the picture.

For as much as I dig this picture, one thing that gets me is how some scenes feel unnatural in how the characters play out. Like when Lt. Browning (Bogarde) explains the operation in the beginning of the picture.  When it came to his interaction with Major Sosabowski (Hackman), it's like the camera gives the actors their moments, one at a time, instead of blending them...if that makes any sense.  I could be that Hackman is overplaying it more than I think.  Regardless, it's the sum of what's great in this that makes it so good.  I remember very little about Operation: Market Garden from my school days and my early fascination (which never left me) with WWII so I don't know how accurate it is but as a 3-hour WWII spectacle film, it's a blast.  The Blu-ray (which I picked up this week for $5!) looks marvelous but beware that the sound during the dialogue is considerably quieter than the action scenes which will leave you frequently reaching for the remote to alter the volume.

I Am Legend (2007)

Director: Francis Lawrence

Writers: Mark Protosevich, Akiva Goldsman, Richard Matheson, John William Corrington, Joyce Hooper Corrington

Composer: James Newton Howard

Starring: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Willow Smith, Emma Thompson

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The last man on earth is not alone

Plot:  Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.

My rating:  7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

LAST OMEGA SPOILERS ON EARTH!!!! YARRRRR!!!

Good flick.  I dig the long stretches of silence or no dialogue and what's there works just fine.   Smith pulled off a great performance.  I totally bought it when he had to snuff out the dog.  That had a lot of emotional weight and everything Neville (Smith) did seemed logical for a man who's been alone for a few years except when he meets the woman and her child.  He's off at first but it felt a little rushed for him to accept this dynamic so quickly.  The ending I saw had Neville sacrifice himself to let Anna and her kid make it out with the blood sample.  I'm only just now watching this flick and I've heard for years how everyone hated the theatrical ending.  I'm guessing what I saw wasn't it because I dug it.  I watched the ending on the second disc and that one was crap with the Alpha Male monster coming to take his woman back without killing Neville.  That was horseshit.  Other than that, it was a fine film. 

Lifepod (1993)

Director: Ron Silver

Writers: Jay Roach, Pen Densham, Alfred Hitchcock, Harry Sylvester

Composer: Mark Mancina

Starring: Robert Loggia, Jessica Tuck, Stan Shaw, Adam Storke, Kelli Williams, Ed Gale, CCH Pounder, Ron Silver, Lisa Waltz, Sam Whipple, Cork Hubbert, John Mahon, Pat Destro

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A futuristic retelling of the classic Hitchcock film "Lifeboat"

Plot: Lifepod chronicles the trip of eight passengers after the ship they were traveling on blew up on Christmas Eve. Immediately people start dying. The passengers begin to investigate why the ship blew up and how it relates to them.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

It's not that bad, really.  It's obvious with the actors who has more experience than others.  Ron Silver does a good job (I should hope so, he also directed it).  It was his name and Loggia's that got me to watch it.  It was neat seeing CCH Pounder.  I recognized Stan Shaw from HARLEM NIGHTS (1989) but couldn't place him until the picture was over.  It's a TV movie so the running time has to fit a certain schedule.  There's too much time spent in the beginning with the ship exploding and everyone doing what they can, eventually ending up on the pod.  Once that happens is a by-the-numbers picture with the usual stereotypes we're used to seeing.  Everything's moving along pretty slowly until something happens with one character that changes everything.  Then folks start dying and some stay dead.  THAT was nice.  I really dug it.  But that's the best part of the movie.  I'm glad it happened but it was almost a case of too little, too late.  In the end, I just wanted to see Hitchcock's LIFEBOAT (1944) instead. 

Children of the Stars (2012)

Director: Bill Perrine

Composer: Bill Perrine

Starring: Ruth Norman, Charles Spiegel, Lani Calvert, Decie Hook, Kevin Kennedy, Tracey Kennedy, Billie McIntyre, William Proctor, David Reynolds, Dan Smith, Diana Tumminia

More info: IMDb,  www.childrenofthestars.com

Tagline: Science Fiction is real

Plot: (from www.childrenofthestars.com) Using rare archival footage and interviews, Children of the Stars chronicles a UFO contactee group as they relive their past lives on other planets by making their own science fiction films.  In 1973, Ruth Norman, a 73 year old widow and self described cosmic visionary purchased 67 acres of land in the mountains east of San Diego, California as a landing site for the Space Brothers, emissaries from the Intergalactic Confederation. Nearly 40 years later, a group of dedicated followers still await their arrival. At the Unarius Academy of Science death does not exist, Nicola Tesla was a Space Brother, Satan drove a Cadillac and science fiction is real. To relive their pasts the students film their own sci-fi extravaganzas with the increasingly extravagant Ruth Norman as the star and the lines between fantasy and reality dissolve. Using spectacular footage from original Unarius films and Hollywood Sci-Fi flicks to illustrate, comment upon, and subvert interviews with the remaining Unarius students, “Children of the Stars” covers millions of years, hundreds of galaxies and dozens of B movies to present a sympathetic look at faith and how people justify it in different ways.

In 1973, Ruth Norman, a 73 year old widow and self described cosmic visionary purchased 67 acres of land in the mountains east of San Diego, California as a landing site for the Space Brothers, emissaries from the Intergalactic Confederation. Nearly 40 years later, a group of dedicated followers still await their arrival.

At the Unarius Academy of Science death does not exist, Nicola Tesla was a Space Brother, Satan drove a Cadillac and science fiction is real. To relive their pasts the students film their own sci-fi extravaganzas with the increasingly extravagant Ruth Norman as the star and the lines between fantasy and reality dissolve.
Using spectacular footage from original Unarius films and Hollywood Sci-Fi flicks to illustrate, comment upon, and subvert interviews with the remaining Unarius students, “Children of the Stars” covers millions of years, hundreds of galaxies and dozens of B movies to present a sympathetic look at faith and how people justify it in different ways.
- See more at: http://www.billingsgate.org/children/index.html#sthash.UTRxrczo.dpuf

In 1973, Ruth Norman, a 73 year old widow and self described cosmic visionary purchased 67 acres of land in the mountains east of San Diego, California as a landing site for the Space Brothers, emissaries from the Intergalactic Confederation. Nearly 40 years later, a group of dedicated followers still await their arrival.

At the Unarius Academy of Science death does not exist, Nicola Tesla was a Space Brother, Satan drove a Cadillac and science fiction is real. To relive their pasts the students film their own sci-fi extravaganzas with the increasingly extravagant Ruth Norman as the star and the lines between fantasy and reality dissolve.
Using spectacular footage from original Unarius films and Hollywood Sci-Fi flicks to illustrate, comment upon, and subvert interviews with the remaining Unarius students, “Children of the Stars” covers millions of years, hundreds of galaxies and dozens of B movies to present a sympathetic look at faith and how people justify it in different ways.
- See more at: http://www.billingsgate.org/children/index.html#sthash.UTRxrczo.dpuf

In 1973, Ruth Norman, a 73 year old widow and self described cosmic visionary purchased 67 acres of land in the mountains east of San Diego, California as a landing site for the Space Brothers, emissaries from the Intergalactic Confederation. Nearly 40 years later, a group of dedicated followers still await their arrival.

At the Unarius Academy of Science death does not exist, Nicola Tesla was a Space Brother, Satan drove a Cadillac and science fiction is real. To relive their pasts the students film their own sci-fi extravaganzas with the increasingly extravagant Ruth Norman as the star and the lines between fantasy and reality dissolve.
Using spectacular footage from original Unarius films and Hollywood Sci-Fi flicks to illustrate, comment upon, and subvert interviews with the remaining Unarius students, “Children of the Stars” covers millions of years, hundreds of galaxies and dozens of B movies to present a sympathetic look at faith and how people justify it in different ways.
- See more at: http://www.billingsgate.org/children/index.html#sthash.UTRxrczo.dpuf

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

I'm largely going to let these images speak for themselves...

This is for real, y'all.  Remember Paul Dooley's character in WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (1996), the guy who tells the story about his UFO abduction?  Yeah, these folks are exactly like him.  Exactly.  I was captivated by this from the first minute and I stayed in disbelief until the end.  Bill Perrine delivers a film that shows you who they are and what they believe.  It doesn't judge.  The guests interviewed tell their unflinching stories with such passion.  I'm on the other side of the screen slack-jawed and giggly.  I think they're delusional as all get-out.  For those who don't believe in this and/or religion, it's hilarious.  They claim Gene Roddenberry was one of them, although I'm sure he didn't know it.  And they all knew that the alien landing was going to be postponed when 9/11 happened. They made their own science fiction movies (as a matter of factual record).  I have GOT to see them.  We see clips in this film and it looks like stuff that's right up my alley.  Randin Graves' score is nice and under the current of the film.  It's a very well done documentary.  I'm uncertain if he believes this or if he thinks they're off their nutters like most of us would.  I suspect that it's the latter and that he professional enough to know how to make a great film and keep any opinion about his subject out of it.  There's no two ways about it, this is a cult and it's the most peaceful and amusing cult I've ever had the pleasure of coming across.

Jennie: Wife/Child (1968)

Directors: Robert Carl Cohen, James Landi

Writer:???

Composer: Michael Terr

Starring: Jack Lester, Beverly Lunsford, Jim Reader, Virginia Wood, Richard Cowl, David Allan, Don Epperson

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Jennie is 'Lolita' and 'Candy' wrapped up in one!

Plot:  You know the story...young Jennie (Lunsford) is married to the MUCH older farmer, Albert (Lester).  Dissatissfied, she looks for lovin' with hubby's dim-witted farm hand, Mario (Reader).  Jennie doesn't stop there, she wants Albert's money so they plot to take it.  When Albert finds out he has plans of his own.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

This sounds like the makin's of a fun little exploitationer but it's only the beginning of one.  If only it'd been Russ Meyer that made this with Stuart Lancaster in the lead of Albert...wait, this sounds exactly like something he'd do...Hmmmmm.  Consider this a much tamer and less interesting version of a classic Meyer picture.  There's no nudity, although it certainly hints that there'd be...

Something else that makes this unlike a Meyer picture is the female lead in Jennie is weak in the beginning.  Throughout the film she becomes stronger as her hatred for her hubby grows as does her desperation to get away from him. The picture's less than an hour and a half (which helps) but it does take a 45 minute movie and nearly doubles it, creating some drag periodically.  It doesn't help that Mario is an idiot (boy, do I hate this type of character).

How funny could a Davy Crockett comic book possibly be?

Jim Reader plays it too doofus-y and stupid.  That hurts.  The rest of the performances are fine, actually.  Jack Lester reminded me of Stuart Lancaster but without his spark of fun and timing.  But there's one thing that felt weird and that's the lack of nudity.  It's hinted at a few times and there's a glimpse of Jennie skinny dipping but that's it.  It's one of those cases where having some would have help spice up the picture a little.  It's also shot in beautiful black & white and in the 60s which lends itself to exploitation pictures like this.  One thing you might find fun are the songs written specifically for the film which even include the character's names in the lyrics.  They're not all that great but they are kind of fun.  The birthday suit song is cute. 

The best part of the picture is when Albert has his Lolita bride and her lover chained in the basement and he's out digging their graves.  It's in the video above and it's a great sequence that looks like it's going to deliver a great payoff.  Unfortunately the film ends happily for everyone.  It's one of three hicksploitation pictures on a Something Weird Video DVD which doesn't have much for extras save for one trailer and the usual gallery of exploitation art with audio trailers.  Here's hoping that COMMON LAW WIFE (1963) and MOONSHINE LOVE (1969) are good enough to make the disc worth the purchase.

The Ark of the Sun God (1984)

Original title: I Sopravvissuti dela citta Morta

Director: Antonio Margheriti

Writers: Giovanni Paolucci, Giovanni Simonelli

Composer: Aldo Tamborelli

Starring: David Warbeck, John Steiner, Susie Sudlow, Luciano Pigozzi, Ricardo Palacios, Achille Brugnini, Aytekin Akkaya, Suleyman Turan, Nick Alexander, Domiziano Arcangeli, John Gayford, Susan Spafford, Pat Starke

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The powerful story of one man's quest for the greatest prize of all

Plot: A safecracker takes a job where he must go to Istanbul and steal a scepter that once belonged to the god Gilgamesh but is now in the temple of a secret cult.

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I'd rather watch a STAR WARS (1977) knock off than one of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981).  At least they're usually in outer space and they've got some semblance of a budget (albeit they're almost always low).  With the RAIDERS rip-offs, the budgets are low and they're usually set in contemporary times ('cause, you know, budget).  This is one of them.  Woof.  You can only blame the English dub so far (in this case, not very) as the acting is silly and over the top, the sets are cheap, the camerawork is cheap, and so on.  It's obvious the 'inspiration' came from Raiders but I was constantly reminded of that MUCH better picture.  This one is a cheap, picture with nothing to offer.  I can usually find something good in any film but not this one.  The only nice thing I can say, really, is that it's not a complete bore.