Movie review - "Slaughter" (1972) ***

 Jim Brown had made a bunch of movies before this but this feels like his first blaxploitation one - with its black hero hero ex Vietnam vet kicking racist white arse and bedding a white woman. I mean he did that things in earlier movies but this one feels like the first to address the formula, if that makes sense.

It doesn't stuff around - the opening scene has Brown's dad killed and Junior is soon kicking arse and smacking people around. There's an above average support cast - Cameron Mitchell as the cranky racist agency head, Stella Stevens (showing all and sundry) as the mafia gal who falls for him and most of all Rip Torn as the trigger-happy mafia dude. I love the banter between Brown and off sider Don Gordon, and support Mafia actors are strong. Location photography in Mexico is visually interesting.

Lots of action. Brown looks better with a moustache.

Movie review - "Small Soldiers" (1997) ***

Not as big a hit as it should have been, like so many Joe Dante films, even though this had many elements of Gremlins - to wit, boy and girl battle small creatures in small town, some good others bad. Maybe it lacked a Gizmo. I do think the opening sequence with Jay Mohr and Dennis Leary could've been cut and they could've just gone into the kids (I'm sure this was discussed). Also maybe the nice animals lack a bit of personality.

But when the soldiers go on the rampage it's a lot of fun. Kirsten Dunst is a star - the male not so much. The computer screens and fringes and flannos date it in a 90s way.

Book review - "Killin' Generals: The Making of The Dirty Dozen, the Most Iconic WW II Movie of All Time" by Dwayne Epstein

 I love the movie and enjoyed the book though I'm not sure there's enough material here for a whole book. The film wasn't too complicated - man heard rumour from Russ Meyer, wrote book, book sold to MGM, book was turned into script and then film quite quickly, made relatively easy. It was a guys on a mission WW2 action movie, they weren't inventing the wheel. The film was fortunate in its timing and stars - got it cresting at the right time. There's an interview with Ken Hyman which is a coup - a book on his career would've been better. The film had some colourful actors but under Robert Aldrich everyone was kept in line. I enjoyed it, just think maybe this was better as an article.

Movie review - "Riot" (1969) **

 A really strong director would've made this sing. Buzz Kulik can't bring it. It should be good: solid story, real life locations, taciturn Jim Brown teams well with more chatty Gene Hackman.

But it's so lethargic. No excitement in the riot, or suspense in the siege, or sense of urgency. All the elements are there. I think James Poe wrote a good script.

A disappointment.

Book review - "Cinema Speculation" by Quentin Tarantino

 Loved it. Full of genuinely fresh takes, fascinating autobiographical insights, so much love for cinema. In depth pieces on filmmakers like Brian de Palma, Don Siegel, Sam Peckinpah. Tobe Hooper. Jim Brown. Kenneth Thomas of the LA Times (who he attributes a lot of the success of the Corman school to - he'd give them a good review and they'd get an agent out of it.) Very seventies. I could read books by him on every decade.

Movie review - "I Escaped from Devil's Island" (1973) **1/2

 Roger Corman but not New World - Gene Corman produced it, and got it released the same time as Papillon.

It looks terrific with impressive production values - beaches, cells, prison guards, palm trees. The cast is strong - Jim Brown and Chris George as duelling prisoners.  I liked the guy who played the guard, the one in The Student Nurses.

William Witney directs with pace and vigour.  The script has some complexity with the prison population - Quentin Tarantino loved its depiction of the gay population, who are a segment but not made into a joke. The story is a little wonky. It's hard to tell the prisoners apart and it feels it takes forever to escape. It doesn't seem to build - lacks a vivid third character maybe or a twist or something.

Still, worth a watch.

Movie review - "Dark of the Sun" (1968) ****1/2

Have seen this film a bunch of times but it was a pleasure to view it again. Some thoughts:
* How stunning does it look? The photography, the location work in Jamaica, the sets...
* It has an intense atmosphere. Even the "settled" city at the beginning is a war zone, with cars overturned and armed soldiers everywhere. Every corner has danger. A night or two alone and you risk desk.
* I think the fact director Jack Cardiff was British helped him have more a feel for Africa - he gets the rough nuances of say Belgian administration in the way that an American director mightn't. It's a very colonial view though - the local Africans are very savage. (There are two nice black characters, Jim Brown and Bloke Modisane)
* The script is first rate. For the most part. It sets up brilliantly and efficiently - the lead characters, the mission, the ticking clock. The characters are distinctive and richly drawn. There are good twists, like the safe having a time, and the train rolling back to the Simbas.
* There are some script flaws. The girl part (Yvette Mimieux) is nothing. She starts of memorably, running from a massacre, but then just sort of hangs around. She's not even kidnapped at the end. I think she's mostly in the film to prove Taylor is straight even though the crux of the film is his love for Brown.
* The Bloke Modisane character becomes all important at the end but isn't in it much at the start. His part could've been beefed up more - or had his stuff given to the Olivier Despax character.
* The theme is muddled. The big fight between Taylor and Brown feels confusing. Like, Taylor is cynical and Brown scolds him for not thinking that Kenneth More was brave for dying, but Brown trusts Taylor with the diamonds and... um...? I get what they were going for - Brown's concern that Taylor stood for nothing - but it feels as though these scenes had been "worked" on and didn't quite fit in with the whole.
* It's a bleak film. They're going the mission for a black guy, admittedly, but Calvin Lockhart seems pretty ruthless. Two kids talk to the mercenaries then are shot by Peter Carsten. The nicest character, Jim Brown, is stabbed in the back. Nuns are raped. Kenneth More stays to help a mother give birth and they're all killed - so it was for nothing. Taylor kills Carsten, on entirely reasonable grounds (the guy deserves to die) but then he turns himself in. (It's a different ending - I always assume he'll change his mind).
* The acting is very good. Kenneth More, Brown, Taylor - it's perhaps Taylor's best performance.
* The action is great. There's two Taylor-Carsten fights - one with chain saws one on rivers which ends with Taylor breaking Carten's arms and stabbing him. The Simba attack is exciting, as is the final raid. It's one of the great sixties action films.

RIP Burt Reynolds

He hadn't been in good health for a long time but this is still sad. There was no bigger star in the period of 77-83... His work was always a lot more interesting than he got credit for (he'd done Broadway, hosted talk shows, turned director)... he'd often be a hilarious interview subject... no one was funnier or more self deprecating about himself... Then in 1983 he decided to do "Stroker Ace" instead of "Terms of Endearment" and it was like the movie gods cursed him... he had a run of bad luck like few other stars - "Man Who Loved Women", "City Heat", "Stick", "Cannonball Run 2", "Heat", "Malone", "Rent a Cop"... at least he came back for "Boogie Nights" and was never out of work... RIP Burt

A Top Ten

1) Boogie Nights (1997)

2) The Longest Yard (1974)

3) Hustle (1975)

4) Deliverance (1972)

5) Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

6) Hooper (1978)

7) The Cannonball Run (1981)

8 ) Striptease(1996)

9) Sam Whiskey (1968)

10) Sharky's Machine (1981)

The troublesome production top ten

1) City Heat (1984) - Eastwood fires director Blake Edwards

2) The Man who Loved Cat Dancing (1973) - Sarah Miles’ lover killed himself for a time Reynolds was suspected of murder

3) Heat (1986) - the 1986 William Goldman one not the Michael Mann - five directors one of whom Reynolds punched out

4) Stick (1985) - Reynolds directed and Universal made him refilm half

5) At Long Last Love (1975) - musical which got worst reviews of any Reynolds film til then (actually isn’t that bad)

6) Shark! (1968) - Sam Fuller took his name off as director

7) 100 Rifles (1969) - weird sexual tension and fighting on set between Jim Nrown and Raquel Welch

8 ) Boogie Nights (1997) - Reynolds fights with PT Anderson so badly he refuses to be in Magnolia

9) The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) - Burt fights with Dolly and insists on singing

10) Switching Channels (1989) - should’ve been a comeback for Burt (we’d say this every few years in the 90s) - he fought badly with Kathleen Turner

Movie review - "Original Gangstas" (1996) ***

This blaxploitation throwback has a fine premise - a bunch of old blaxploitation stars (Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Pam Grier) reunite to take on a gang that they helped set up which is causing grief in the town of Gary, Indiana.

The structure is solid - a kid is killed for hustling a gang at basketball (I loved the low stakes-ness of this) and an old man is wounded for helping the police, prompting the old man's son (Williamson) to return and team up with the parents of the dead kid (Grier, Brown) to get revenge.

There's some satisfactory scenes of middle aged men kicking young arse - this film is kind of aimed at the black Clint Eastwood crowd. The quality of the cast is high - it includes Ron O'Neal, Richard Roundtree, Robert Forster, Charles Napier and Wings Hauser.

The script deals with some important issues, there's complexity to the characters. I don't feel it's as good as the premise - you could get a sequel or two out of it - but I liked this a lot more than I thought it would.

Movie review - "100 Rifles" (1969) **

The teaming of three legends (in their own way): Raquel Welch, Jim Brown and Burt Reynolds. It was the brief period of stardom for both Welch and Brown - both getting lots of PR, and with the backing of major studios (Brown with MGM, Welch with Fox, who made this), both famed for their physiques and personal lives rather than their acting, both with reputations for being difficult on the set. Apparently things were tense between them on the set with Reynolds acting as referee. I get the feeling the behind the scenes story was more interesting than what we see.

I wish this film had been better. It sounds like it's going to be great, with Brown as a sheriff teaming up with wildcat Welch and bank robber Reynolds to help protect the local Indians against nasty Mexicans (led by Fernando Lamas)... it's set in the Pancho Villa era of 1912 Mexico. Dan O'Herlihy pops up as a gun runner and there's decent production values with trains, machine guns, extras and hangings.

But it's too dull too often. The action scenes lack zip. I've never seen so many Mexican extras and bit parts shot but all the genocide gets depressing after a while. There's a battle between Mexicans and Indians, then another one, then another one... it's hard to get too fired up and/or care. I don't think Tom Gries was much of an action director.

Occasionally it flares to life - there is genuine chemistry between Brown and Welch and their sex scene was hot (once they got past the bit where he forced himself on her). He's got that great build and she's awesome in a wet T shirt blowing away Mexicans.

In a way I wish this film had been trashier - more cleavage and torsos and sex and violence - with the roles rewritten to suit the stars more. Have Jim Brown full of pride and violence and rage, have Raquel play an imperious princess who is brave and gutsy and smart, and give Reynolds lots of self-deprecating jokes. It's in there a little bit, but not enough. The story of this is good - you've got anti heroes helping the Indians take on the baddies, sex, inter-racial stuff, buddy comedy, Western feminism... but they muffed it.

Movie review - "The Split" (1968) ***

A Jim Brown starring vehicle from the period he was under contract to MGM, who made a decent stab at turning him into an action draw. This is based on a Richard Stark "Parker" novel, a series which had previously been filmed as Point Blank - the same studio and producers made this, only with Brown instead of Lee Marvin.

It's an entirely decent heist movie - not incredibly memorable, certainly not in the class of Point Blank (director Gordon Flemying wasn't in John Boorman's class; ditto Brown re: Lee Marvin) but it's a strong story, and has an impressive support cast: Brown's fellow thieves include Julie Harris (effective as the mastermind), Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oates and Donald Sutherland; his ex wife is played by Diahan Carroll (the nicest person in the film), whose landlord is James Whitmore; Gene Hackman is a detective.

It's a shame Hackman's role is relatively short (though crucial) - he doesn't appear for the last 20 minutes. I could have done with less build up to the heist and more trouble afterwards; also Whitmore's orgasmic face after killing someone is a bit off and the final shot should have had Brown realizing the voice he heard was from a dead girl instead of being too try hard enigmatic.

I think I like the idea of Jim Brown movie star more than the actuality - the concept of this football champion headlining all these MGM action films in the late 60s is very winning, and he does have presence, but I can't help feeling he was more effective in his supporting roles than the lead. But he does add to the charm of the piece (especially considering the plot of this revolves around robbing a stadium during a football game).

Movie review - "Ice Station Zebra" (1969) ***

Bridge on the River Kwai kicked off the golden age of guys on a mission action films - Guns of Navarone, Zulu, Where Eagles Dare, McKenna's Gold. This one came towards the end of the cycle - it probably accelerated said ending because it was a box office disappointment. It's still a lot of fun - though never quite as good as you hope it's going to be (the title is surely one of the best of all time).

The set up is very good - secret Arctic base, crashed satellite, a Yank sub sent to get there before the Ruskies, a secret agent on board. As usual in Alistair Maclean adaptations someone is a mole, or are they - and there's spies who are seen to consistently change sides. Patrick McGoohan and Ernest Borgnine are enjoyable as dodgy spy types, Rock Hudson likeable as the decent American, the one you can trust (like Clint Eastwood in Where Eagles Dare).

But I think there's a lack of action - unlike the team in Navarone or Eagles there's never any sense the sub and its crew won't get back - you just think maybe a person or two will die, which is the case. I think maybe there needed to be some massive disaster on the sub, with it leaking and sinking and only a few survivors or something - to get the blood racing.

It's entertaining, don't get me wrong - there's a lot of tough guys acting tough. But the suspense and death count are lower. And the treacherous women who usually appear in Maclean novels are missed.

Still there is fine work from the (all male) cast, which also includes Jim Brown and Australia's Murray Rose.

Movie review - "Dark of the Sun" (1968) ****1/2

A terrific, gripping action film that tries to deal with serious topics like the nature of violence and contains many memorable scenes. The acting is top notch: Rod Taylor’s performance as the vicious mercenary afraid of his own nature is one of the best things he ever did, an intelligent man who nonetheless embraces his “animal” side with an intensity that later repulses him.

Jim Brown is extremely likeable as his idealistic friend, as is Kenneth More as the alcoholic doctor who finds redemption and Yvette Mimieux as a shell shocked citizen caught up in war.

The film is very exciting, with the scene of the mercenaries waiting to open a time-locked safe while the Simbas are coming being particularly tense. It really looks and feels like it is taking place in Africa, and Jacques Louissier’s score one of the most memorable of any action film. It is one of the best films that Rod has ever made

Movie review - Corman #46 - "Gas-s-s-s-s-" (1971) **1/2

Roger Corman's second last film until he stopped directing, and the film that marked his break from AIP (though he did produce Boxcar Bertha for them later) - after years of no interference, Corman claims that AIP cut the film around, changing the ending, and removing the voice of "God" from the film. While AIP owed Corman better, one can be sympathetic because this is a totally insane film - genuinely free-wheeling and anarchic, even more so than the films Corman made from scripts by Charles Griffith (George Armitage wrote this script).

It is set in a world where a gas has killed everyone over 25 (some links to AIP's earlier Wild in the Streets (1968)). Robert Corff and Elaine Giftos play the leads, two young kids who meet in a confessional (he’s on the run from the cops after a prank and is pretending to be a priest; she is confessing having an affair with his professor). They like each other instantly and form a bond as they flee persecution from their fellow youngsters. They hook up with a black revolutionary (Ben Vereen), his 60s pop-mad girlfriend (Cindy Williams), a cowboy (Bud Cort) and a freak girl (Talia Coppola, later Talia Shire) and set off to find a pueblo in New Mexico where everyone is living together. That’s all the plot really, an excuse for various adventures – they run into various conservatives, most notably a bunch of football players but also some golf-loving bikies.

Although Corff and Giftos dig each other he winds up sleeping with a girl at a drive in concert a quite sexy psychedelic love scene, reminiscent of the one in The Trip. Giftos doesn’t mind. For all the peace and love stuff, note how the hippies get their car back by using guns, and that they break up the interracial couple (Williams wants to hang out listening to rock music, enabling Vereen to run off with a black woman.)

Corman fans will see a lot of self parody - a character on a motorbike dressed as Vincent Price called "Edgar Allan Poe", references to Westerns and biker movies, The Trip love scene.

The cast are enthusiastic (Corff and Griftos make a likeable pair of leads, Cindy Williams has a great monologue, there is a strong support cast) but the real star is the script - well, that's half correct: the script is frustrating and episodic, but just when you get sick of it they throw in a curve ball of some line of brilliance. The ending is unexpectedly uplifting - everyone coming together in a party (I'm not exactly sure why). Some of the highlights: a shoot out where the characters keep yelling out cowboy star names (Vereen yells out “Jim Brown” – because “he’s the only one” i.e. only black); Billy the Kid having a horse called “pretentious”; Country Joe and the Fish talking to God and God responding about a car in the parking lot having left its lights on; a footballer tries to inspire a crowd – after yelling “one more time” the crowd replies “one more time”); bikers talk in war metaphors on the golf course; some tangy dialogue: “was that a bomb?” “no it was more ironic than that”. It pokes fun of the military, Nixon, the JFK assassination, Westerns, early 60s rock, B movie Western stars, Edgar Allen Poe, football players.

On the downside, the stuff where football players practiced their rapes was a little off.; ditto the scene where Giftos offers herself up as a “rapee” – she ends up having sex with three men and apparently enjoy it. Also, the film feels abrupt in places – one moment the world is normal, then we hear the gas is coming – then the gas has hit and kids are already recreating fascism. There’s never any weeping for anyone’s parents, relatives or friends over 25 – it’s all a bit of a joke.

Stephanie Rothman and Charles Swartz worked on the film as production associates – which on this sort of movie was presumably everything.