Hello all, First off, thanks to everyone who read, enjoyed and posted comments on my Paul Morrissey interview. The first bit of exciting news is that this interview was re-printed in Bright Lights Film Journal last month. Paul Morrissey himself found my blog and asked if there was a newspaper version of it that he …
Category: Articles/Reviews
“Americathon” (1979)
"Americathon" is woefully unfunny given the immense talent involved. George Carlin narrates; able comedian John Ritter stars; Fred Willard (later a regular in Christopher Guest's mockumentaries) and Harvey Korman (of "Carol Burnett Show" and "Blazing Saddles" fame) appear in principal roles; and even Elvis Costello turns up for a stellar rock performance. Yet oddly enough, …
The Hollywood Fixer: “Galaxina” Director William Sachs
Director William Sachs is perhaps best known for "Galaxina," the deliberately schlocky, Mel Brooks-esque spoof of "Star Wars" and other sci-fi epics. Released in 1980, the film featured Dorothy Stratten--the 20 year-old Playboy centerfold murdered the same year by her husband--in her most prominent film role, as a sexy, mostly mute robot that wows a …
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Jackie Collins’ “The World is Full of Married Men” (1979)
While studying in London fall semester junior year, my flatmates and I stumbled upon a BBC2 showing of "The World is Full of Married Men," a fabulously awful adaptation of the tawdry 1968 novel by Jackie Collins. It had such resonance that, a few weeks later, when we attended a comedy show and the duo …
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“Dangerously Close” (1986)
While I'm on the subject of 1980s pretty-boy actors that turned to writing and/or directing too young, I might as well devote some space to "Dangerously Close," the 1986 teen exploitation outing co-written by actor John Stockwell; while not on Netflix, it can be viewed in its entirety on YouTube. Produced by my favorite overzealous …
“Wisdom” (1986), with Emilio Estevez
"Wisdom"is easily one of the dopiest made-in-earnest films I've ever seen, and not only because its star, writer and director, Emilio Estevez, has named the lead character after the title. (It's not on Netflix but can be viewed on YouTube). Estevez has a comically sulky face that can't be taken seriously when it explodes in …
“Speedy” (1928), with Harold Lloyd
A few weeks ago, I caught a screening of "Speedy," Harold Lloyd's last silent film, at Williamsburg, Brooklyn's Nitehawk Cinema, which has classroom-style desks and table service--during the movie--of cocktails, $9 milkshakes and lime and Thai chili-infused beef jerky, among other choices. Admittedly, what I'll remember most about the evening is the delightful musical accompaniment …
Coming soon…
Apologies for the scarcity of posts on my end lately. I've been working hard on a freelance story about some of the original "Dark Shadows" writers, which sprung up randomly when I was doing interviews for the blog. That should come out in mid-June, somewhere, somehow, while "Dark Shadows" is still in theaters. I have …
Animals Were Harmed: Richard Brooks Films Not Available on Netflix
If Richard Brooks were alive today, he'd be exactly 100 years old; he died of heart failure in 1992. But the rarely compromising, notoriously angry writer/director (who brought us films as varied in scope, mood and locale as "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "In Cold Blood," "Lord Jim," "The Professionals" and "Blackboard Jungle") would …
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“Jimmy the Kid” (1982)
What is it about precocious child actors that induces anger, if not outright violence, in even the gentlest movie-goers? Even as a nine year-old seduced by the endless Nintendo plugs within "The Wizard," I found it a bit absurd that the pre-pubescent kids played by Fred Savage and Jennie Lewis were able to hitchhike cross-country …
Hidden Films 