The Wild Rebels (1967)

Director:  William Grefe

Writer:  William Grefe

Composer:  Al Jacobs

Starring:  Steve Alaimo, Willie Pastrano, John Vella, Bobbie Byers, Jeff Gillen, Walter R. Philbin, Robert Freund, Seymour A. Eisenfeld

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  THEY LIVE FOR KICKS...LOVE FOR KICKS...KILL FOR KICKS!

Plot:  A stock car driver goes undercover as the wheel man for a motorcycle gang.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

Dig those sounds, man!

I've watched a lot of movies recently that suffer a similar problem.  They've got a bang-up fun and interesting first third, things settle down for the next third and a half and then what's left with the finale delivers enough as if to make up for the lackluster middle section.  That way you leave  thinking about the big finish, maybe forgetting the preceding dull shit.  Is it because screenwriters are full of energy when they begin a script, get tired, bored, or run out of ideas for a few dozen pages and then try like hell to wrap it up enough to wake up the audience?  This movie follows the same pattern.

The pop music in this and the main theme are really fun.  That first half hour is a blast.  Then after the gang rob a gun shop things slow down and stay that way until the last twenty minutes when they rob a bank, things go awry and lots of cops and robbers die of lead poisoning.  That last bit was great but it's hard to commit to watching this again because of that dull mid-section.  The acting's not so good but Steve Alaimo as Rod, the stock car driver and hero of the story, does very well.  This guy was selling it like a pro in the first act.  After that there wasn't all that much of interest for him to do.  This was the first of only four movies he acted in.   The best of the action is saved for the end.  The rest of it is your average, low budget fistfight shenanigans.  Nothing special there.  This is definitely worth a look.  It's a fun ride except for that middle part.  You'll love the beginning and end.  Well, I did.

The Big Tease (1999)

Director:  Kevin Allen

Writers:  Sacha Gervasi, Craig Ferguson

Composer:  Mark Thomas

Starring:  Craig Ferguson, Chris Langham, David Rasche, Frances Fisher, Mary McCormack, Donal Logue, Kevin Allen, David Hasselhoff, Drew Carey, Cathy Lee Crosby, Bruce Jenner, Melissa Rivers, Charles Napier, Larry Miller, Sara Gilbert, Ted McGinley, Jay Thomas

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  He saw. He combed. He conquered.

Plot:  lamboyant Glasgow hairdresser, Crawford Mackinzie, gets a letter from the World Hairdresser International Federation inviting him to its prestigious annual contest in L.A. Filmmaker Martin Samuels is making a fly-on-the-wall documentary about Crawford; he and the crew go too. After maxing out his credit card at the Century Plaza Hotel, Crawford discovers he's been invited to participate in the audience, not the contest; he tries every angle imaginable to get in the competition: he phones fellow Scot Sean Connery, he gets a union card, he asks the reigning champion for help, and he connects with Connery's publicist, who's having a bad hair day. Will he succeed, for the little people?

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  Nah.

Craig Ferguson's now defunct late night talk show (that followed Letterman) was hilarious. The show was an hour long (including commercials) show and for the first few years he spent the first half hour just talking and telling jokes to the audience.  Half the show was just him interacting with the audience!  I can't see any other late night hosts pulling that off and succeeding.  Later they brought on some stupid puppet for him to interact with but it was a step down; the man was charismatic and funny enough without it.  The camera loved him.  If you don't like him then you won't like this movie.  He's a lot of fun as Crawford Mackenzie, Scotland's finest hair stylist (or so he believes).  I found this flick very funny with a few laugh out loud moments. 

Lately I've been frustrated with the number of movies I've been watching that run out of gas a third in and then pick up steam in the last few minutes.  Not this one.  The funny keeps going until the credits roll.  When it comes down to it, it's just a comedy taking the piss out of the glitzy showbiz world of the top hair stylists in the world. The cast is great.  There are no weak links here.  Outside of Ferguson, my favorites are David Rasche as Crawford's nemesis, Stig, and the always amazing, Charles Napier.  There are few actors I genuinely miss after their passing and Napier is on it.  I dig that guy's works.  What a mug!

Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)

Director:  Gordon Douglas

Writer:  Charles Eric Johnson

Composers:  James Brown, Fred Wesley

Starring:  Jim Brown, Ed McMahon, Don Stroud, Brock Peters, Gloria Hendry, Dick Anthony Williams, Art Metrano, Judith Brown, Scatman Crothers,

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  The mob put the finger on Slaughter...so he gave them the finger right back--curled tight around a trigger!

Plot:  When a gunman in a plane tries to pull a "fly-by" on Slaughter, he knows his battle with the mob -- and corrupt cops -- is far from over. Helped by an honest detective and a good-hearted pimp, Slaughter goes on a mission to expose a list that names every politician and policeman on the mob dole. But it won't be easy. The list is in the home safe of the big man himself (McMahon) and he'll do anything -- including kidnapping Slaughter's babe -- to keep it!

My rating:  6/10

Will I watch it again?  Nah.

I think seeing this one two times is enough.  It's an almost worthy sequel to SLAUGHTER (1972).  It's not as good but it's still better than the average Blaxploitation flick of the day.  Jim Brown's still kicking ass.  He seems more alive in this one than some of his others where it looks like he just woke up.  Having Ed McMahon as the big bad, Duncan, was great except it would've been truly amazing if he had some action.  Just having Slaughter and Duncan in a knockdown fistfight (using some good stunt doubling, camerawork and editing) would've killed.  Don Stroud is a good, dependable choice for the heavy.  It's not a bad picture.  There's enough action sprinkled here and there to hold your attention and keep you entertained.  Anyone who crosses Slaughter's path and doesn't play nice gets their asses handed to them in short order.

The California Reich (1975)

Directors:  Keith Critchlow, Walter F. Parkes

Composer:  Craig Safan

Starring:  Allen Vincent, Ken McAllister, Paul Raymond, Wayne Raymond, Fred Surber, James Surber, Arnie Anderson

More info:  IMDb

Plot:  A rare look at American crackpots. Young children give the "Sieg Heil," addle brained housewives bake swastika-decorated cakes, and hate-filled brown shirts march along American streets.

My rating:  7/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

It's interesting seeing a documentary presented like this where there is no narration.  What you see and here are the subjects talking about their beliefs and seeing a little into their world.  If you're against the subjects then this will solidify how much you hate them.  If you're for what they believe, it'll make you proud.  JESUS CAMP (2006) is like that.  These people are scary in how deep their hate is.  Watching these people is tough, especially when small children are Nazi saluting and saying how much they hate "niggers" and "jews".  It's revolting.  But there is hope as later in the film another small boy says he only does the saluting and dressing up only because his father likes it.  He says he won't be like that when he grows up.  It's the one brief moment of hope.  It's fleeting because of other things he says.  He is his father's son, after all, and he's learning to be a racist.  I came across this when looking at film composer Craig Safan's filmography and seeing this was his first film score.

Boob Tube: Sex, TV and Ugly George (2008)

Director:  Danny Schechter

Writer:  Danny Schechter


Starring:  Ugly George, Ed Koch, Danny Schechter

More info:  IMDb

Tagline: Hide your daughters!

Plot:  Before reality TV, before "Girls Gone Wild", before the idea of young ladies baring their breasts for the camera became vogue, Ugly George roamed the streets of New York and persuaded young women to undress for his camera. How did he get away with it? Why would any woman in her right mind cooperate?  "Boob Tube" documents two stories, one about a one man crusading machine against hypocrisy and two, about society's deep rooted obsession with naked women.

My rating:  7/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Man, I wish I lived in NYC in the 70s & 80s AND had cable.  This guy was walking the streets dating back to the mid-70s with a camera rig strapped to him trying to get women to show their tits and strip.  And he made over 700 half hour TV shows of it!  Is it gratuitous?  Yes.  Is he a pig?  Yes.  But you have to understand one thing and that bare boobs!  OK, I guess that's technically two things...from a certain point of view.  My pre-pubescent self would've gone apeshit of that show.  But, that was then and this is now.  I'm shocked that, after all these decades, I'm just now finding out about this guy.  He's an unabashed, unapologetic pig, and a cocky one at that.  It drove me nuts how he said 'girls' as 'goils'.  Maybe he's got a little Popeye in him.  This documentary is LOADED with nudity and you're going to want to check this out if you're a fan of boobs.  Fans of dongers are going to have to look elsewhere.  I wonder if there's a female equivalent to Ugly George.  Anyway, learning about what this guy did and got away with is interesting.  Even though he's a misogynist pig, he makes for a very colorful character.  Plus, boobs.

The Great Texas Dynamite Chase (1976)

Director:  Michael Pressman

Writers:  Peter Macgretor-Scott, Mark Bruce Rosin

Composer:  Craig Safan

Starring:  Claudia Jennings, Tara Strohmeier, Jocelyn Jones, Miles Watkins, Nancy Bleier, Buddy Kling, Oliver Clark

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  They'll Blow You Away!

Plot:  A couple of slutty, thievin' chicks like to blow stuff up, rob banks and drive cars real fast.

My rating:  6/10

Will I watch it again?   No.

Well, I'll be.  This wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.  Of course, the abundance of nudity is a big plus.  Usually movies of this ilk are pretty bad and are filled with what's supposed to be "comedy", along with horrible rinkydink music to mimic the "comedy".  This one doesn't really have anything like that which is a welcome relief.   Claudia Jennings and Jocelyn Jones do a great job, you know, for a low budget drive-in picture like this.  No one's going into this expecting the likes of Laurence Olivier caliber of acting.  Their boobs do most of the heavy lifing anyway.  California, as usual, is the stand-in for Texas.  They rob some banks, have some sex, and generally enjoy themselves on the run from the fuzz.  The ending has some surprising moments which was welcome.  Dishing out something different in a movie that is so much like all the others of its day is nice.  Did I mention the boobs?

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953)

Director:  Roy Rowland

Writers:  Dr. Seuss, Allan Scott

Composers:  Friedrich Hollaender, Heinz Roemheld, Hans J. Salter

Starring:  Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy, Hans Conried, Tommy Rettig, Jack Heasley, Robert Heasley, Noel Cravat

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  Bringing a new dimension of screen entertainment! The first musical Wonderama!

Plot:  A young boy travels to an imaginary world where, assisted by his family's plumber, he must save other piano playing kids like himself from the dungeons of his dictatorial piano teacher who also mind-controls his mother.

My rating:  5.5/10

Will I watch it again?   No.

It looks like this is the only feature Dr. Seuss wrote and I can see why.  I read that after test screenings, lots of scenes and songs were scrapped and more were written and shot for the finished product.  I haven't a clue as to what was cut but if this is what they were happy with then what the hell did they want in the first place?  It doesn't take long at all after the opening credits before we're in Bart's vivid imagination, and there's no doubt from the look and feel of the picture that this is from the fertile, creative mind of Dr. Seuss.  I'm guessing the target audience would've been children 8 and under, something the family could go to without the fear of seeing boobs or something scandalous.  The sets are colorful, minimal and strange.  The songs, and there are a lot of songs, aren't memorable enough to walk out of the theater humming.  I can't think of a single tune.  Maybe it's because there are so many.   I can't think of any way to make this better.  It feels low budget but it doesn't look it.  Those sets don't build themselves.  I was bored but the colorful visuals and constant sound kept me from nodding off.