ENTERTAINMENT THESE DAYS

 

Entertainment these days is nothing

But sex and violence, it appears to me

So is it really any surprise that I don’t

Have the time to watch films or TV

I LIKED THE OLD BOND MOVIES

 

With reliable heroes

And camp villains

But I watched on recently

And I found it quite exhausting

Foot chases, car chases,

Running here, driving there

It left me quite out of breath

It didn’t leave room for a story

The old Bond films had a story

Punctuated with action

Now they had action

Punctuated by more action

Bond was one of a kind

But now I’m not sure

If I’m watching James Bond

Or Jason Bourne

MATINEE

 

I don’t like modern films

Over hyped, over killed

They so often disappoint

The audiences once thrilled

 

I find now as I get older

The most joy that I can muster

Is from watching an old favourite

Than a modern blockbuster

AND THE BEST PICTURE IS

 

It’s that time of the year once more

When the motion picture industry

Pat them selves on their collective backs

And mark another year in their history

 

But when the time comes

How do we choose what to see?

Film reviews are little help

And critics add no clarity

 

Industry spokesmen and women

Film critics and film reviewers

Those who form the Oscar collective

Are of little use to film viewers

 

“Best picture Oscar” must be good

Well I fell in that trap

I watched “Gangs of New York”

And it turned out to be crap

 

Also I have found I am out of step

With the film critics view

So you have to decipher the code

That’s all you have to do

 

Just follow this simple guide

“Critically Acclaimed” = Crap

“Stunning cinematography” = No story

“Award winning soundtrack” = Artie crap

 

“Thought provoking” = No car chases

“Dark” = Badly lit

“Moving” = Alright for girls

“Moody” = Poor dialog and badly lit

 

“Oscar nominated” = Wasn’t good enough

“Poignant = Has no plot

“Oscar winning” = Over hyped

“Gritty” = They say fuck a lot

 

These simple tips may help

Save you wasting precious time

Watching an ill described film

Best designated as a crime

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – TRUE GRIT (1969)

 

“True Grit” is a Western drama, screenplay written by Marguerite Roberts from the novel by Charles Portis and Directed by Henry Hathaway.

 

The story of a stubborn 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) who sets out to capture hired hand Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey), following the murder of her father.

After settling her father’s affairs, she enlists the help of tough, drunken, hard-nosed U.S. Marshal Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn (John Wayne) to track down her father's murderer in Indian Territory.

Despite his shortcomings Mattie identifies him as a man with “true grit,” and insists on accompanying Cogburn and they are joined by an arrogant self-important Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf (Glen Campbell) who also has a claim on Cheyney for murdering a Senator.

It becomes apparent that their fugitive has taken up with a gang of outlaws led by Lucky Ned Pepper (Robert Duvall) and the unlikely trio find danger and surprises on the journey, and each has their “grit” truly tested.

Jeremy Slate, Dennis Hopper, Alfred Ryder, John Fiedler and the wonderful Strother Martin among others make up a very able supporting cast.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – BLUE THUNDER (1983)

 

“Blue Thunder” is an action, crime, drama, written by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby and Directed by John Badham.

 

Los Angeles Police pilot Frank Murphy (Roy Scheider) is chosen by Capt. Jack Braddock (Warren Oates) as test pilot for an experimental police helicopter, Blue Thunder, a specially modified, heavily armed helicopter designed to counter street insurgencies.

Unfortunately, his trainer for the trials is Col. F.E. Cochrane (Malcolm McDowell) with whom he has issues dating back to their time in Vietnam which adds to the tension.

But when Frank and his Observer, Officer Richard Lymangood (Daniel Stern) prepare to put the aircraft through its paces they discover the sinister implications of the new aircraft and the top-level conspiracy behind it, and with that knowledge comes danger.

 

A great movie of its time, although the technology dates it, but it is still very watchable and among a very accomplished cast Candy Clark stands out above the rest as Frank’s love interest, Kate.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – CARRIE (1976)

 

“Carrie” is a horror classic, screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen, based on the Novel by Stephen King and Directed by Brian De Palma.

 

High school senior Carrie White (Sissy Spacek), is a shy, unworldly, and friendless teenage girl who has been sheltered from real life by her domineering, fanatically religious mother (Piper Laurie), while struggling in secret with the special telekinetic powers she possesses, a secret which she cannot divulge to her mother as she would consider it to be a gift from the devil.

The only adult authority figure who tries to help Carrie with her life is her Physical Education teacher, Miss Collins (Betty Buckley) but she is warned by the Principle not to get too involved.

After an incident of bullying by her classmates the culprits are banned from attending the Senior Prom and blame Carrie so they plan to exact their revenge on her by humiliating her in front of everyone at the Prom.

So will they succeed or will she unleash her telekinetic powers on them in a horrifying display of rage.

Amy Irving, William Katt, John Travolta, Nancy Allen and P.J. Soles play Carries classmates, good and bad, in what is possibly the best movie adaptation of a Stephen King novel.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE DEAD ZONE (1983)

 

“The Dead Zone” is a horror thriller, screenplay by Jeffrey Boam, based on the Novel by Stephen King and Directed by David Cronenberg.

 

When a survivor from a road accident awakes from a coma after five years, schoolteacher Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) discovers he has psychic abilities, when he touches someone, he gets visions of the past, present or the deadly future.

However after five years he finds life has moved on without him, his girlfriend Sarah Bracknell (Brooke Adams) is now married; he no longer has a job and he's basically crippled due to his muscles having atrophied.

So he struggles to find his place in the world, but along the way he does use his abilities to help Sheriff Bannerman (Tom Skerritt) solve a murder case.

He then helps to save a child's life but when he discovers the chilling fate for the world, he must save everyone from an evilly corrupt presidential hopeful Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen) but at what cost.

Character stalwarts, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe and Colleen Dewhurst provide excellent support to the stars in the gripping movie.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE CHANGELING (1980)

 

“The Changeling” is a horror drama, Screenplay by William Gray and Diana Maddox from a story by Russell Hunter and Directed by Peter Medak.

 

When music professor and composer John Russell (George C. Scott) and his family are enjoying a perfect family vacation, a freak automobile accident claims the lives of his wife and daughter.

Consumed by grief, he is urged to rent a huge nineteenth century house, and the house seems to possess all the room John needs to reflect and hopefully write music.

However it isn’t long before he realizes he is not alone in the house as he shares it with the spirit of a murdered child who has homed in on John's grief and despair and uses him to uncover decades of silence and deceit.

With the help of Claire Norman (Trish Van Devere), who helped John secure the house, they set out to find the answers and the powerful and devious man who guards them.

This is not a violent or “Kensington Gore” type of horror, it scares with great story telling, eerie sounds and dark corners and it uses pathos with great effect.

The film also benefit from accomplished direction and the acting excellence of its stars and a great supporting cast including Melvyn Douglas, John Colicos and Barry Morse.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE SHINING (1980)

 

“The Shinning” is a horror classic, screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson, based on the Novel by Stephen King and Directed by Stanley Kubrick.

 

Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is an aspiring author and recovering alcoholic cursed with a persistent writer's block.

His solution is to take a job as an off-season caretaker at the secluded Overlook Hotel in Colorado's snow-capped mountains, and drags his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and his gifted son, Danny (Danny Lloyd) with him.

The Torrance’s arrive as the Hotel begins to shut down for the season, and they are given the grand tour, during which they meet the Hotel's chef, Hallorann (Scatman Crothers).

Halloran chats with Danny about the rare psychic gift they share called “The Shining”, and warns him about certain rooms he should avoid, as the Hotel has a grizzly past.

In the weeks that follow the closure of the Hotel Jack fails to overcome his writers block and little by little, Jack starts losing his mind.

He feels trapped in a gargantuan silent prison set in an unforgiving environment of seemingly endless snowstorms, his days are filled with strange occurrences and eerie visions and incessant voices in his head demand a sacrifice, leading to a thrilling and dramatic finale in true Kubrick style.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE FOG (1980)

“The Fog” is a horror thriller, written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill and Directed by John Carpenter.

 

The story is set against the backdrop of the peaceful community of the coastal town of Antonio Bay, California who are making preparations to celebrate the towns’ centenary.

However strange supernatural occurrences blemish the festivities as an unearthly impenetrable and opaque fog rolls off the ocean to shroud the seaside town and leads to unaccountable disappearances, so is there something evil lurking in the fog?

Could it be linked to events a century earlier when a hideous crime was committed by the town's elders when they sealed the fate of a ship full of drowned mariners now lying on the bottom of the sea.

So has the fog brought the restless dead seeking revenge and demanding justice?

Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman and Hal Holbrook bring this ghostly tale to life, while the photography by Dean Cundey makes it all seem real.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – HALLOWEEN (1978)

 

“Halloween” is a horror thriller, written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill and Directed by John Carpenter.

 

The movie begins on Halloween in 1963, when 6 year-old Michael Myers (Will Sandin) stabs his 15 year old sister Judith (Sandy Johnson) to death.

After being institutionalized for 15 years, Myers breaks out on the night before Halloween, and no one seems be too concerned that Myers' is heading back to Haddonfield, and that he’ll likely be there on October 31st 1978, except his psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence).

But by the time the authorities of the town realize he’s heading for Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again, it may be too late for many of its inhabitants.

Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Loomis, P.J. Soles and Charles Cyphers star in what was undoubtedly the first of the slasher film, which has influenced almost every slasher film made since.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – TOP HAT (1935)

 

“Top Hat” is a Musical Romantic Comedy, Written by Dwight Taylor and Allan Scott from the book by Dwight Taylor and Directed by Mark Sandrich.

The story follows American dancer Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) is working for his friend and producer Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton) in London, and Jerry demonstrates his new dance steps late one night in Horace's hotel room, much to the annoyance of a girl sleeping  in the room below Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers).

She goes upstairs to complain and the two are immediately attracted to each other complications arise however when Dale mistakes Jerry for Horace.

Horrified that she has become involved with a married man she runs away to Venice on the invitation of friend Madge (Helen Broderick), Horace’s wife and confesses.

But Jerry and Horace also head for Venice and when Dale discovers they are there she agrees to marry Alberto Beddini (Erik Rhodes) but Horace’s manservant Bates (Eric Blore) saves the day.

“Top Hat” is a happy film that keeps delighting viewers any time one is lucky enough to fall under its spell.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE GAY DIVORCEE (1934)

 

“The Gay Divorcee” is a Musical Romantic Comedy, Written by George Marion Jr, Dorothy Yost and Edward Kaufman from the book by Dwight Taylor, musical adaptation Kenneth S. Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein and Directed by Mark Sandrich.

The story concerns American dancer Guy Holden (Fred Astaire) and Mimi Glossop (Ginger Rogers), there’s clearly an attraction between them but Mimi keeps running off.

Then she visits a lawyer in London, Egbert 'Pinky' Fitzgerald (Edward Everett Horton) and tells him she wants a divorce from her absentee husband.

Meanwhile Mimi’s Aunt Hortense (Alice Brady) hires a professional Rodolfo Tonetti (Erik Rhodes) to play the correspondent in an apparent infidelity.

But what neither of them knows in that Guy and Pinky are friends so they travel down to Brightbourne together where the dancer meets Mimi again but she thinks that he is the correspondent.

When the dust settles and the confusion has been cleared up Mimi’s husband Cyril (William Austin) turns up but he refuses to grant a divorce, luckily the waiter (Eric Blore) comes to the rescue.

The movie is a feast of song and dance and won the first Oscar for Best Song: “The Continental”, a twenty-two-minute production number.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE ODESSA FILE (1974)

 “The Odessa File” is a historical drama, screenplay by Kenneth Ross and George Markstein based on the Novel by Frederick Forsyth and Directed by Ronald Neame

The story is set in Germany in 1963, at the time of the Kennedy assassination.

Following the suicide of an elderly Jewish man, freelance journalist Peter Miller (Jon Voight) takes possession of the man's diary and investigates the alleged sighting of a former S.S. Captain, who commanded a concentration camp during World War II.

His investigation leads him to Simon Wiesenthal (Shmuel Rodensky) and to a group of Israeli Secret Service.

Miller eventually finds himself involved with the powerful organization of former S.S. members, called “O.D.E.S.S.A.” and he s trained to infiltrate them.

It’s a very suspenseful film with fine performances from the supporting cast including, Mary Tamm, Maximillian Schell, Maria Schell, and Derek Jacobi.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – EARTHQUAKE (1974)

 

“Earthquake” is an action thriller disaster movie, screenplay by George Fox and Mario Puzo and Directed by Mark Robson.

The story focuses on a varied group of people in Los Angeles, construction Engineer Stuart Graff (Charlton Heston) who is estranged from his jealously possessive wife, Remy (Ava Gardner), and is having an affair with the widow of a co-worker, Denise Marshall (Geneviève Bujold) and Remy pressurises her father, Sam Royce (Lorne Greene), Stuart's boss, to stop Stuart from seeing Denise.

Also Rogue policeman, Lew Slade (George Kennedy), is suspended from the L.A.P.D. for punching another officer and contemplates quitting the force.

Jody (Marjoe Gortner) is a perverted grocery store manager, who lusts after Rosa Amici (Victoria Principal), and Rosa’s sister Sal (Gabriel Dell), is the assistant to Miles Quade (Richard Roundtree), an aspiring daredevil motor cyclist.

All the lives of all these people are devastated when a major earthquake rips through Los Angeles and reduces the city to ruins.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972)

 

“The Poseidon Adventure” is an action thriller disaster movie, screenplay by Stirling Silliphant and Wendell Mayes from the Novel by Paul Gallico and Directed by Ronald Neame.

The story takes place aboard the SS Poseidon, an aged luxury liner on her final voyage from New York City to Athens before being sent to the scrapyard.

However the new owners pressurise Captain Harrison (Leslie Nielsen) to push the Poseidon to her limits to save on the dismantling fees at their destination and as a result, on New Year's Eve, she is hit by a tidal wave which completely capsized her, so that all the internal rooms are suddenly upside down with the Passengers and crew trapped inside.

From the ensuing chaos a rebellious Priest Reverend Scott (Gene Hackman) takes a mixed band of survivors on a journey through the bowels of the ship in an attempt to survive.

The film won two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a Motion Picture Sound Editors Award, aided in no small way by a fine Ensemble cast including, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens, Pamela Sue Martin, Arthur O'Connell and Eric Shea.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – WESTWORLD (1973)

 “Westworld” is a Sci-Fi Thriller, written and Directed by Michael Crichton.

The story takes place at Delos, an exclusive vacation resort, an amusement park for rich, where guests get the choice of Medieval World, Roman World or Westworld, to live out their fantasies through the use of robots that provide anything they want.

Two of the vacationers Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) and John Blane (James Brolin) choose a wild west adventure, however, after a couple of days, a computer breakdown leads to a system wide malfunction, and they find that they are now being stalked by a rogue robot gunslinger (Yul Brynner).

A great movie of its time, although the technology dates it, but it is still very watchable and Brynner as the gunfighter is truly excellent.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – AIRPORT (1970)

“Airport” is an action thriller disaster movie, the first of a series, screenplay by George Seaton from the Novel by Arthur Hailey and Directed by George Seaton and Henry Hathaway.

The movie revolves around the airport manager of Lincoln International Airport, near Chicago, Mel Bakersfeld (Burt Lancaster), who has to contend with a paralyzing snowstorm, environmental concerns over noise pollution, a blocked runway, schedule issues, an habitual elderly Trans Global Airlines stowaway, Ada Quonsett (Helen Hayes), manpower problems, frozen runways, equipment malfunctions and a suicide bomber, D.O. Guerrero (Van Heflin) plans to blow up a Boeing 707 airliner in flight.

A first class movie which was the for runner of the disaster movie genre, helped in no small measure by a great cast including: Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset, George Kennedy, Maureen Stapleton, Barry Nelson, Dana Wynter and Lloyd Nolan.

ALL-TIME CLASSIC MOVIE FAVOURITES – THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974)

“The Towering Inferno” is an action thriller disaster movie, screenplay by Stirling Silliphant, from the Novel by Richard Martin Stern, Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson, and Directed by John Guillermin.

The focal point of the movie is a colossal skyscraper, designed by Architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman), which is nearing completion when he returns from a long vacation, but ahead of the “grand opening” party he discovers that his wiring specifications have not been followed and as a result the building has been experiencing an increasing number of electrical glitches.

He raises his concerns with his father in law, Jim Duncan (William Holden) and Project Manager Simmons (Richard Chamberlain) but they are brushed aside. 

Suffice is to say that during the party a fire breaks out and quickly spreads, which threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.

So Michael O'Halleran (Steve McQueen), who is the chief on duty as a series of daring rescues punctuate the terror of a building too tall to have a fire successfully fought from the ground.

It’s a tense and thrilling tale with an amazing cast assembled by producer Irwin Allen, who succeed in getting McQueen and Newman to co-star, he also signed Faye Dunaway to play Newman's love interest and cast Fred Astaire, against type as a con-man, but even more astonishing than that, he lured reclusive and legendary film star Jennifer Jones out of retirement for the sympathetic role of Lisolette Mueller.

He also secured other notables which included Robert Wagner, Susan Blakely, Susan Flannery, Sheila Allen, Robert Vaughn, O.J. Simpson and Dabney Coleman.