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tommorg
Reviews
The Cobweb (1955)
give me placebo
Between the stilted family trauma given as back story and the spoiled brats in Richard Widmark's rat pack, it's no wonder that the shrinks sling drugs at these whiners today. Perhaps this form of psychotherapy (considered the top drawer treatment of the era) should be resurrected, maybe the 'family unit' scenario is called for in this world of today where innocence has been totally lost. Now that neurosis (at least) is accepted in our society, the problems of these people seem mildly absurd. Perhaps it's a farce and I was just too dense to get it. Interesting dynamic between the shrink and his wife: in 2014 she'd get lawyered up and take him for everything he's worth. Bacall is sultry and beautiful as always. It's amazing that she could do a movie like this, as Bogart, if he wasn't already deceased, had to be very very ill.
Tough Guy (1936)
some classic lines from the '30's
The back and forth between Jackie Cooper and Joe C. is at times hilarious. I love the touching scene with them at the camp fire toasting marshmallows while on the lam. "Hey, these ain't bad", quips Joe and then laughs to himself. "what's funny", says Jackie. "Oh...I was just thinking about what it be like to shove one of these in a guy's ear...". And in classic gangster lingo: "I got no use for dames; I had one once and she give me the air. What would you do if a dame did that to you?" "Why, I'd knock her block off!", says Jackie. "That's exactly what I did", chuckles Joe, "and they ain't found her YET" (both laugh). Yeah the dog's great too....
The Dunwich Horror (1970)
he would have hated it
but you'll love it; it's got it all: sex, multi-form monsters...for a low budget rendition of a Lovecraft story it's not bad. Almost up to par with Dagon. I only regret not getting to see Wilbur Whateley's guts ripped out by a German Shepherd dog in the library. I live in a state (CT) that actually has a Devil's Hopyard, so I can relate, and the only problem I had with the movie was the music soundtrack, which was so 70's. Big surprise. Probably some of the most erotic Lovecraft filmage ever done, I have to hand it to R. Corman this time. You've paid good money to see much much worse. The Necronomicon scenes are pretty spot-on. The vernacular is there. One might hope for a third treatment (forget the J. Coombs version) that could implement some CGI, but they canned At the Mountains of Madness too. When is Hollywood gonna wake up and see the potential in HP Lovecraft? A lot of raw material is going to waste and we don't need a Spiderman 5.
Stazione Termini (1953)
Fellini, minus the clowns
Saw it this morning on TCM and was three-quarters of the way through it before I realized I'd seen it before a few years ago. Now that is the definition of a forgettable movie. Jennifer Jones can be excused, but you'd think that Montgomery Clift could have done more with a Truman Capote script. This is what happens when the writer only does dialog and leaves the stage direction wholly to the crew. The most interesting thing in the entire movie was the subplot between the American aunt and her Italian puppy-eyed nephew. Too many marching bands, too many bizarre scenes (after all, it's not supposed to be lighthearted, is it?). Way too claustrophobic, but trains are like that sometimes. This one, I believe, is a wreck, a sleeper-car of sorts. Perhaps it's Truman Capote's fault, but that's unlikely Next trip I'm taking a bus.
The Shining (1980)
Family man, are ya, Grady?
With this many comments, it's doubtful if this one will ever be seen. The Shining, I believe, is one of the most terrifying movies ever made because it incorporates weirdness as well as a sense of physical and psychological threat. Yes, Wendy may be miscast; sure, she delivers her lines like she's reading them off a matchbook cover ("Over") But Jack Nicholson...holy cow! That lobotomy stare from Cuckoo's Nest, the claustrophobic feel to the whole thing. But my reason for writing this was to bring attention to something I never noticed in past viewings. The butler Grady was done before, although not in quite so threatening a manner, in the Spencer Tracy version of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. If Stephen King or Stanley Kubrick didn't have that movie in the back of their minds (right down to dialog "if I may be so bold as to suggest it, sir") I'll miss my guess. Seriously, check it out at your video store or Netflix, it virtually jumped out at me! The TV remake of this movie didn't even come close, and I've always preferred the Kubrick ending to "then everything blew up. The End", which, let's face it, is how most King novels wind up.
The Day It Came to Earth (1977)
Gee-Ga-Goo
the famous line from George Gobel as Dr. Bartholemew which I'm surprised you haven't included in your memorable quotes:" "I choose to call the creature the (writing on a blackboard here) "gee-ga-goo"---geological (underline) gaseous (underline) goon (underline).""
Probably the only movie other than The Indestructible Man where a mobster turns monster. The Day it Came to Earth must never be confused with its second-rate cousins The Day it Fell to Earth or The Man Who Fell to Earth.It was the best thing George Gobel ever did, including playing the accordion and occupying the corner on Hollywood Squares. It was never adequately explained why a meteor would reanimate a dead body, but as we all know, radiation can make you big, make you small, make your flesh melt off your bones, turn you into a wasp, give you super strength, allow you to pass through walls: do anything, in fact, except kill you...