updated as of summer of 2015
Updates :
Katherine . . . anti govt. drama with Sissy Spacek and Henry Winkler . . . '75
Idaho Transfer . . .sci fi film of '73
Messiah of Evil . . . horror film of '73
Alvin Rides Again, and Again! And Again! And Again! . . australian comedy of '74
expansion of our original review of the film 'Ace in the Hole'
Reviews of 2 PATTY DUKE films ; 'My Sweet Charlie', and 'Me Natalie' and some other old films . . .
Updates in our punk section below ~ Pistol Whip, Tyranna, etc.
This 2nd section of B films was created due to some technical problems in 2011 to the index where our original B Movie section resides, you can still get there from our homepage, here we'll bring some new additions of films we have saw to share with our viewers, and we made a new wave/punk section at the bottom of this site due to not being able to update our page 7,..........the above photo is of lovely actresses Barbara Stanwyck and Theresa Harris in the film 'The Purchase Price' from the 1930s.......
this is funny, this is a funny movie and the camp element is up high, from japan it has the kitsch element you might be seeking, the cover has a family holding hands mimicing a scene from the Sound of Music, the plot involves a family who purchases a plot of land in the middle of nowhere near Mt. Fuji and open a hotel, eventually guests start arriving but slowly and they all seem to die by accident or is there something lurking behind the scenes ? anyways they have to bury the people that keep dying because they think a death at a newly opened hotel will ruin their business, this movie is silly and campy in the right kind of way, and some of the music scenes such as where the daughter begins to daydream about the sailor/ex con are super ! this one can be clasified under Super-pop with a whole boatload of people dancing away to a funky beat like something out of a discarded take from a scene of the Love Boat, throughout the film the family remains very close and loyal to one another, there are so many funny scenes from early on when the son asks why are they are all staring at him to the end when the police decide to pay the hotel a visit, stop what you are doing from all these pointless reviews and watch this scene at youtube where these people are dancing to a funky beat called "The Feeling of Love " at this link here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIjMnu36Hag
FRANCES
Great portrayal of the actress FRANCES FARMER by Mrs. JESSICA LANGE, allthough it begins a typical hollywood setting attempting to document the troubled life of Frances, the film gets better as it goes along thanks to great acting from Mrs. Lange and good acting from SAM SHEPPERD, Frances after traveling around the world gets into hollywood films and becomes a big star in the 1930s - 40s but because she was very head strong and did not bow down to authority and spoke up for herself she was blakclisted for a while by the industry, arrested, thrown into jail and later her mother had her committed to a mental institution where she was subjected to rapes from orderlies and soldiers who in those days would pay to sleep with the women who were institutionalized, ( bet it still goes on today on a smaller scale ) she eventually gets out after spending several yrs in an institution and is a changed woman, the film itself raises questions about the atrocities that went on behind the doors of such places as well as what went on in hollywood behind the scenes, Frances was notable for being the first star to really speak her mind, laugh in the face of extremely corrupt men who wanted women to sleep with them to get a part, and was a very strong woman who survived horrible disadvantages in life after being a beloved star for yrs, this is a film you won't forget and could be a good introduction into the career of Mrs. FRANCES FARMER....
The SNAKE PIT
OLIVIA de HAVILLAND stars as Virginia Cunningham a troubled woman who is in a mental institution but cannot remember how she got there, this film from 1948 also stars MARK STEVENS as her husband and LEO GENN as the very helpful Dr. Kik, Mrs de Havilland does a great and convincing job as a woman struggling with her sanity which was due to old fiance being killed, this story could have been modeled after many people who undergo severa trauma after the death of a loved one, the film and setting re all very realistic with several of the scenes being humorous, the dance scene where all the patients meet and dance with each other is very good as is the song in it, the title refers to an old remedy wherein doctors actually use to take a patient beyond help and drop them into a pit of snakes thinking that this would cure them, yes this was a real procedure used in the old days, watch this film and you will not be dissapointed....
ACE in the HOLE
starring Kirk Douglas, this film is a very interesting spotlight on attempts to rescue a man who gets stuck in a mining accident inside a mountain, this came out in 1951....nothing ever goes on in this small town and when this individual becomes trapped, Chuck Tatum ( Douglas ) sees his chance for the story of a lifetime as he travels back and forth to communicate with this man trpped underneath the mine.....Jan Sterling does a good job acting as the trapped man's wife played by Porter Hall, Sterling and Douglas also have a lot of convserations during the days he is trapped and the whole thing turns into a big media carnival complete with food, rides, arts and crafts all camped out at the mountain, what happens next is for you to see, not for us to reveal, but all in all a well acted and enjoyable film from the old days....
Ace in the Hole ( expanded update )......upon further recent revelation it occurred to us what happened in this film happens all around us every day, what happens is - The exploitation of everyday people by the media for profit . . . Anytime any tragedy happens to one person or a group of people the media blows any such news out or proportion and makes money off of it. Whenever there is a mass shooting some of the people in the media love this, why ? Because they make money from it as do many other facets indirectly related to our govt. In the film the media created a circus around this man who was in jeopardy of dying, think about it, this happens every day in the news; tv, internet, radio, newspaper, etc. Also the courts make millions from these mass shootings, think about it. When an individual is obviously guilty the situation to delay the case as long as possible, why you ask ? It's all about $$$$. Lawyers, judges, court personnel, media people, authors, t shirt vendors, and so on all profit from these tragedies. They also make celebrities out of dumb people to cater to dumb people, it's like a mass dumbing down of the American iq.
H. Emilie Cady, Lessons in Truth
Let a man rejoice when he is confronted with obstacles, for it means that he has reached the end of some particular line of indifference or folly, and is now called upon to summon up all his energy and intelligence in order to extricate himself, and to find a better way; that the powers within him are crying out for greater freedom, for enlarged exercise and scope.
James Allen, Byways of Blessedness
A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And as he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden power and possibilities within himself.
James Allen, Morning and Evening Thoughts
BALL OF FIRE
from 1941 starring BARBARA STANWYCK and GARY COOPER, this is a funny comedy with a very original storyline and a charming and funny film all the way thru,......Stanwyck plays a nightclub singer named Sugarpuss O'Shea and the film opens with her doing a cool jazz tune called 'Drum Boogie' which in the 2nd part she has everyone gather around while her musician friend uses matchsticks near the microphone for a musical effect, we were impressed by the musical sounds they came up with, right after Professor Betram Potts ( Cooper )comes to her dressing room as he would like to interview her sometime for a survey he is doing on street slang. He lives with 8 older professors in a large house where they all have been gathering information of all sorts for an encylopedia they are doing,........she turns him down, but from here things happen quickly and because of her ties and affair with a mobster she has to get out of town fast as the police want to question her, so she soon visits Betram at his house and the older professors love her, they also realize that they have been out of mainstream socity for so long that some of her street slang sounds alien to them, from here on out she hides out at their home while none of them have no idea that the police are looking for her, somewhat reminiscient of another Stanwyck fil of the 30's called The Pucrahse Price as she too hides from an underworld boyfriend in that great film, eventually and as she dances and acts up the maid really can't stand her at all.........during this time of her stay the house is visited by townspeople randomly chosen by Bertram so he can learn slang from them for his entry in the encyclopedia, they are a newsboy, a trashman, and one or 2 others, from here on out things progress and as you can guess O'Shea and Betram take a liking to one another allthough socially they are worlds apart, Stanwyck is such a good actress, she brings real authenticty to any role she plays and what happens next is for you to find out
THE PURCHASE PRICE
very charming old fashioned film , BARBARA STANWYCK plays Joan Gordon a showgirl with an underworld boyfriend, and GEORGE BRENT plays Jim Wilson a farmer who lives in a small town in north dakota, her friend shows her a photo of a man she is supposed to marry thru a mail-order bride company, well guess it wasn't so easy to meet potential mates in those days, Gordon sees this oppurtunity as her ticket to get out of the big city, away from her underworld boyfriend and free to live her life as an anonymous wife of someone she never met, so she goes to meet Jim and even though times at his small farm are tough they grow to like one another and eventually get married, the small town has some of the usual redneck charcacters who are very corrupt one of whom likes Gordon and does not want their farm to succeed, eventually the mob finds out where she is at and what happens next is for you to find out, again Stanwyck plays with intelligence beyond her yrs and has such an adorable face and cute personality she steals the show :)
BABY FACE
in this one from '33 which came out after 'The Purchase Price' BARBARA STANWYCK plays Lily Powers who lives in the slums of pittsburgh with an abusive father with her fellow bar worker Chico played by THERESA HARRIS. A philospher visits her in the bar and gives her a book meaning well but nietzsche never anyone much good, her father dies in an accident but it os looked on as a good thing as he forced her to sleep with various men early on, she and Chico decide to split and head for the big city, so Lily sleeps her way to the top more or less without any regrets all the while singing 'St Louis Women' on occasion.The music heard on the soundtrack throughout the film, perfectly punctuating the plot, is ‘Baby Face' (1926) by Benny Davis & Harry Akst and ‘St. Louis Blues' (1914) by W.C. Handy, she lands a very wealthy boyfriend but eventually a scandal breaks, what happens next we won't tell but this is a very enjoyable film , much more so than 'Double Indemnity' which was well acted along with Fred Macmurray and the film won an award in '44 but nior is not quite our thing.
The music heard on the soundtrack throughout the film, perfectly punctuating the plot, is ‘Baby Face' (1926) by Benny Davis & Harry Akst and ‘St. Louis Blues' (1914) by W.C. Handy
. . . Without charity external work is of no value, but anything done in charity, be it ever so small and trivial, is entirely fruitful in as much as God weighs the love with which a man acts rather than the deed itself. God weighs the love with which a man acts rather than the deed itself.
both excerts from Book One of ' The Imitation of Christ' by THOMAS a KEMPIS.
PATTY DUKE films
'MY SWEET CHARLIE'
to us the name PATTY DUKE is a name from the past, a name we have heard of but actually never saw anything she did till we saw the following 2 films, she began her career as a child star and became a huge success including a groundbreaking film where she played HELEN KELLER when she was a preteen, so then one night in 2015 we saw this film 'My Sweet Charlie' from 1970 and did we ever laugh, this is the type of film that they just don't make anymore, a girl who seems to be in her early 20s it appears is pregnant and has been kicked out of her home by her father, so she hits the road, it doesn't give any idea of how long but she ends up in a small texas town and finds an abandoned house, after a few days she gets a visitor, AL FREEMAN Jr. a black guy on the run, at first they clash and don't get along, seems he is a lawyer on the run from the law and was in a confrontation in town, eventually she decided its ok he can stay since they both have no place to go, what is so funny is the dialogue between the 2, he is obviously more intelligent than her and she holds the typical small town prejudice against black people that many people had back then because they just didn't understand the other culture, the film has many bright funny moments even though they both know they cant stay there forever, they both interact with the town general store and she puts up a great act when a couple come next door to check up on their place, christman comes and she appears more pregnant every day, what happens, well we cant say, we don't include spoilers, we want you to view these films for yourself, this is a GREAT family film, or a film for a rainy day...
ME NATALIE
well in this film from '69 PATTY plays a completely different girl and she looks much different too we must say, she plays a Ny girl who lives with her parents and must be about 20 or so and decides to move out and get her own place, later she gets involved with a married man although she doesn't realize that he was married when they started dating, MARTIN BALSAM plays a good supporting role as her uncle Harold, and this film is also said to be AL PACINO's debut, but its a very small role.......the film is really about the generation gap of the time of the late 60s - early 70s, what makes this film interesting is the atmosphere, the bright colors that come into focus at the beginning when she was little and the ROD McKUEN spoken word music that plays in certain spots in the film showing street scenes from Ny, it's not as good as My Sweet Charlie but it is a good family film nonetheless, and a well played part by the star PATTY DUKE :)
LOVE STORY
from 2008 this documentary about ARTHUR LEE and Co. which discusses the story of the band Love and their rise to stardom in the 60s, Love where the biggest band in L.a. before the DOORS stole the spotlight and while the Jim Morrison and friends were an incredible band they nor anyone else ever released an lp like "FOREVER CHANGES",........that said this film is an informative and sometimes funny romp thru L.a. and the music scene of the late 60s thru the eyes of Lee and bandmates ; Maclean, Echols, Snoopy, Forsi, Stuart and friends of the band like John Densmore, they talk about the beginnings of the band, thru their heyday at the castle and talk in length about the recordings in and around their 3rd lp, the film is done in a good documentary style complete with snippets of sound and cheer thrown in for extra measure, the film does a good job at opening up new concepts such as what if Love ever toured outside of L.a. and out of the states too in other countries ?
how to followup the documentary ? get the FOREVER CHANGES concert which was recorded in 2005 after Arthur got out of prison, we'll review that next.
WHO KILLED NANCY
documentary that came out in 2009 sheds some very interesting info as to who really killed Nancy Spungeon, if you made it this far to this website then like us you probably agree that Sid was not only INNOCENT, but framed as well,.....seems from the witnesses it was a thief who had visited them in the middle of the nite, as they was 1000s of dollars unaccounted for,.......really good interviews and testimony from folks who knew them very well, from STEVE DIOR, to ALAN parker to HELIN KILLER, HOWIE PYRO and many others throw in their 2 cents to tell this story thats never been told.......and if you have ever aw the garbage that came out back in the 80s then you might agree that it was really the worst film about a singer ever released, so phony and how can anyone take a movie about punk with courtney love seriously ?
N.Y. DOLL
GREAT film from 2005 about the life of MR. ARTHUR KANE from the DOLLS, very insightful and often funny look at his daily activities in the Los Angeles Mormon Temple all the way to finally being reunited with his old band mates Johansen and Sylvain, ....... when they play 'JET BOY' they are really reviving something great and all their own, along the way Arthur discusses how he watched back and saw Mr. Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan and the other guys all go on to fame after the Dolls broke up except Arthur ended up going further into obscurity and alcohol, interesting testimony from his ex-wife who even quotes from the bible at one point,....for those interested we do have the 3 song 45 from the Killer Kane Band which was released in '76, it' a mix of hard rock and glam mixed into pre-punk sounds, it is reviewed somewhere on this site, check one of our back gateways ....
FALLEN ANGEL
this documentary on the country rock singer Mr. GRAM PARSONS is well told with interviews with KEITH RICHARDS, Gram's ex wife Gretchen as well as his sister Avis was released in 2004 before Avis died, tells of his early childhood being born into a rich family that was beset with tragedy, there are also good interviews with musicians such as BERNIE LEADON, CHRIS HILLMAN, EMMYLOU HARRIS and PAMELA DES BARRES all throwing in their 2 cents and telling the story of his rise to fame with the FLYING BURRITO BROS. thru their disintegration thru his early 70s band with Mrs. Harris and friends and then the story surrounding his death and the body being stolen from his family and taken to Joshua Tree and cremated but in a rather undistinguished way, it was Gram's request that he be buried there though, our only complaints are the same as other reviewers said at imdb.com, why do half of these docuemntaries show only snippets here and there of songs instead of a whole performance ? they could have added a whole clip of the superb tune 'OLDER GUYS' or '6 DAYS ON THE ROAD' but you get only snippets here and there and then at the ending do you get a complete song.......
SMALL FACES
GREAT documentary on a great and somewhat overlooked band of the 60s, full of interviews with all 4 members and chock full of great songs from ALL or NOTHING, LAZY SUNDAY, ITYCHKOOPARK, TIN SOLDIER, ODGEN's NUT GONE FLAKE featuring kinetic drumming and dancing girls all the way to latter day songs like The UNIVERSAL, and they play whole clips and not just snippets, a 10 out of 10
excert from the book 'Validity of Religious Expierence' by F.E. ENGLAND
CANDY the MOVIE
this is a really GREAT film, the kind they used to make but don't anymore, starring Swedish actress EWA AULIN when she was about 17 or so, she portrays a girl about that age in this funny, funny film :) . . . there is no real plot to speak of per se, but this film has an all star cast, aside from the cute Ewa Aulin, this film stars ; Ringo Starr, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn, Walter Mathau, and several more big stars of the day, basically Candy wanders through her days randomly and encounters various men of one occupation or another ; philosopher, teacher, gardener, army general and so on and most of them hit on her and try and make out with her, for examply Ringo Starr is the family gardener whom she has a brief fling with and then goes on to meet the others through various ways and the end result is funny in that just the certain way these are filmed combined with great acting, if you thought the film STRAIGHT to HELL starring Jow Strummer and others had a certain acquired sense of humor then this film has that certain sense of humor of the finest order, you will hve to see what we mean and see this film today ! . . . Mr. Ringo Starr would go on to star in a film the next year called The MAgic Christian with Peter Sellers, Mrs Aulin would go on to many more films including some Italian films in the early 70s and ended up leaving the film industry for many yrs until yrs later accepting another role . . .
MESSIAH of EVIL
a young woman travels to a small town in california ( point dume in Malibu ? ) to search for her father who has gone missing only to find strange zombie like people inhabiting the town, it stars Michael Greer who does a very good job acting, pretty Marianna Hill who also does a very good job acting,cute and silly Joy Bang who plays her part well, and Anitra Ford a sophisticated actress also plays her role well, eventually she meets her father but it is too late as he has changed as the others have and she has to think fast,. . . the film is well produced and very atmospheric as a good horror film should be, note - most horror movies are too predictable and poorily acted, this film can be classified into the Hall of Fame of horror films...
IDAHO TRANSFER
this sci fi film produced by PETER FONDA and released in '73, also has gone under the title DERANGED, it is not too well known, it is well acted and produced and although not a masterpiece it is a enjoyable film on time travel, the plot revolves around a group of student scientists who are using a time machine at some sort of secret government center as a means to find out what happens in the future in their area of rural Idaho is it ? . . . they find out that the area is empty of human civilization as it seems is the rest of the world in the future, eventually one of the student scientists goes bonkers and well you will have to watch it for yourself as we don't want to give away what happens next as you'll notice we don't do full reviews for the majority of films we review as we don't want to spoil anything for the viewer, however their is an amount of govt. corruption as goes most stories, good acting from the pretty girls - Kelly Bohanon, Caroline Hildebrand, Kevin Hearst acts well, but David Carradine is not given that much dialogue, overall very interesting to say the least, coulda been a little better though,
EQUINOX
originally came out in '67, but remade in 1970, have to say the original is somewhat better as it contains important dialogue and ideas that were later cut out, why ? this is a horror film that could be classified as a 'bad' movie, you know the kind thatthe gang at Mystery Science Theater like to sit back and make fun of while you watch the film, however like a rather good horror film that they poked fun at 'Touch of Satan', Equinox is an entertaining film with some good ideas.......seems an old professor found a book that is over 1000 yrs old and contains secrets about evil and how to protect oneself against demons and other worldly monsters, one of his students invites a friend and 2 girls to go and visit him because he has been reported missing, when they get to his cabin out in the woods they find it partly destroyed, then sometime later they see a castle in the midst, it looks more like a mirage, they meet an old man in a cave who gives them the book, then the professor sees them with it and tries to steal it but they get it back, throughout the ordeal they come in contact with a strange park ranger who turns out to be some kinda low life street hustler, some monsters, an entry way into another world, all the while they try and consult the book's translations to find a solution out of there and to find the professor, what happens next is not so good, so you know we never give endings away and allthough this is a student made film and has some amatuerish acting, the ideas of good vs evil and of the secret evil that lurks within the world, also it's a good film for some of the special effects, mirages, etc. make for a pretty good old fashioned horror film, try it , you'll like it,
A VIRGIN AMONGST THE LIVING DEAD
aka Cristina Princess of Eroticism......this is one of Jess Franco horror films of the early 70s, 1973 to be exact, we've saw another film or 2 of his in the past, can't recall the titles, here a girl played by lovely Cristina Von Blanc is summoned to a castle as she is to inherit some of her father's fortune along with her father's relatives whom she never met, as she arrives in this town is Montserrat spain she is told no one lives in the castle, she goes there to find her relatives there but they are odd and act strangely, she finds her stepmother on her deathbed and she tells her to Run ! then dies, afterwards things begin to spiral into the strange and bizarre for a young girl, she doesn't realize it but they have all died and come back to life which explains their aloofness and strange behavior, this film is very atmospheric with dreamlike sequences and music to match, as one reviewer says Franco goes on exploration into the grey area between life and death . . . GOOD horror film
THE DEVIL WALKS at MIDNIGHT
horror film that came out in '71 by director Jean Brismee.....this atmospheric setting showcases the old fashioned type of horror movie that makes it genuine, it begins with a murder during ww2 in Nazi Germany, then the film fast forwards to the 70s..... a group of 7 tourists in Europe traveling in a bus find a road out of something of this nature and are referred to an old baron who lives in a castle. Amongst them are a priest, a married couple, 2 attractive women and a couple of clowns, well not really clowns but the atheist acts like one. They don't realize a woman who comes to join them for dinner is a succubus, the devil in the form of a woman.....nice atmospheric theme song...
THE FLESH and BLOOD SHOW
Starring LUANN PETERS, ROBIN ASKWITH, TRISTAN ROGERS in '72 and a few others, this film is really more a mystery than anything else although the trailer might make you think it's a horror film, the scenario is a setting of a small English seaside town where a new theater group is staging a play in an old playhouse that has been boarded up since a mysterious murder, more a disappearance of a couple who were actors at the theater back in WW2, then slowly people began disappearing, and then eventually murderdered, but who is doing it ? Are the current murders connected somehow to couple who disappeared many yrs ago ? Makes one wonder, . . . . Of note is around '72 LUAN PETERS shot 13 episodes of a tv show crime caper called 'GO GIRL', but according to sources only the pilot ' Give me a ring sometime' was shown, the other 12 episodes were shelved then lost, one thing for sure, this pilot makes for a great showcase for the emerging glam scene of the time complete with a SLADE track, dancing girls in go-go boots and hotpants, the actual crime caper is beside the point, see our latest downloads section and also youtube for this novelty download :)
ALVIN PURPLE RIDES AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN !
Graeme Blundell starred in the Sex Therapist in '73 which was a big hit comedy in Australian, we will just say that one was a silly sex comedy with hot girls, however the followup was far far better, Blundell plays someone who meets with a Mafioso mob boss in a club and it appears to everyone that they look exactly alike, you get to meet his mob girls the Happiness Girls and wait till you see them all pay tribute to 'Skippy the Bush Kangaroo' ! complete with the theme song playing with them all gathered around the tv, shenanigans ensue and the mob boss is accidentally shot when one of his henchmen shoots him, so they convince Alvin to imitate him so they can continue with business, a rival gang then pursues Alvin and his new friends and what happens next we wont say but one of the shining moments is when they are in a club and a rock band plays a Mott the Hoople styled number with 3 female backup singers, Brian Cadd is the singer, . . . all in all a great old fashioned comedy that has some funny slapstick here and there :)
Katherine
just a simple glance at the date - 1975, and the stars - Sissy Spacek and Henry Winkler and you can just tell that this is a long lost gem of a film, Winkler was in his prime when this was being filmed, he hadn't even yet reached his peak with his character the Fonz from Happy Days, and Sissy Spacek played her part very well and this was several yrs before Coal Miner's Daughter, in this film Katherine plays an all American upper class girl who instead of choosing a safe route that her parents want her to pursue, she decides that after high school and sometime after college she wants to help out impoverished people in mexico and these scenes where she is helping dirt poor farmers to read are very authentic, after she realizes she can only do so much and that the area is very corrupt she chooses different avenues of career paths such as helping out young black students in the racist south get a better education than they now receive, the scene where she and Winkler end up facing a group of prejudice black panther types who tell them they don't want or need their help is also very realistic, somewhere along the way she ends up joining an SLA type freedom fighter anti government type group, so then this film is very realistic portraying the way life really was back in the 1970s, both good and bad, but what happens in the end you will have to watch to find out, overall a rather good film that is sometimes told thru other's eyes about their friend Katherine by looking back . . .
TEAHOUSE of the AUGUST MOON
from '56 came this comedy with big stars and the setting is a japanese village after WW2 ran by the army, GLENN FORD stars as the army personnel sent in to bring a small village up to standards, MARLON BRANDO stars as a japanese translator ( he had makeup applied to make him look japanese ) and EDDIE ALBERY is the army psych doctor, not to give to much away but this is an old fashioned comedy where Brando assists Ford in trying to help out the small town folk of this village in trying to make money, they end up hitting a goldmine and running an illegal distillery and make tons of money, that is until a superior officer shows up right when Ford has them all singing 'Deep in the Heart of Texas' :)......they don't make movies like this anymore,....bonus points for the lovely japanese sunsets, . . . .
JOURNEY THROUGH ROSEBUD
interesting film with slight anti-government theme starring Kristoffer Tabori, Robert Forster, Victoria Racimo, it is actually about an American indian reservation that Tabori ends up at as he is a draft dodger and goes there to seek solace, he makes friends with an ex married couple who don't like one another anymore and ends up in an affair with Racimo, this is anot a great film but it is an interesting time capsule nonetheless, Tabori does the best acting job and cant quite figure it out but we've saw him in other 70s films many yrs ago . . .
The MOST DANGEROUS GAME
starring Joel Mcrea and Fay Raye this film from 1932 deals with an island where people end up shipwrecked and guests at a count's castle, seems though the count's love of hunting is twisted and goes far beyond animals which is wrong to begin with as he tells his 2 guests that he likes to hunt humans on the island, soon he frees the 2 main characters and tells them if they can survive till sunrise of his chasing them then they can go free, what happens next is a game of wits and survival as he hunts the 2 main characters with a bow and arrow and a rifle, allthough the setting of the island is a beautiful tropical setting the film degrades into survival at any means necessary, an entertaining but short film at 63 minutes....
ANDROCLES and the LION
charming movie starring Victor Mature and Jean Simmons, about a good sheperd who finds a hurt lion and removes a thorn from his paw, later when he and his fellow christians are thrown to the lions in Ceasar's roman arena the lion remembers this good deed, this one has some funny scenes and good acting, what happens in the end we won't say, as we never do, but it's a good movie, not a great epic though....
DEAD END
from '37 this is a BOGART film, also starring Joel McCrea and a pretty gal named Sylvia Sidney.....set in N.y. in a ghetto by the docks next to a high rise apt. building where rich folks mix with the poor on the streets this was the first appearance of the Dead End Kids who later evolved into the East Side Kids and later the Bowery Boys, Bogart is baby face Martin an old gangster who comes back to his old neighborhood many yrs later and finds that his power is not what it used to be, he stakes out the scene for his next crime, but an architect ( Mcrea ) ends up getting in his way while Sidney tries to be a good sister to one of the troubled kids who hangs in the streets, all in all very good acting, if you like old films from the 30s you'll like this....
GLEN and RANDA
we actually have not saw this film, only the trailer and read lots of reviews, it's actually been on our list for many yrs, it's a sci fi story of a young couple who go in search of life many yrs after a nuclear holocaust and came out in '71, it is supposedly a very unique film and there is no soundtrack although they play a 45 of the great Stones single 'Time is on my Side' and it reoccurs in the film, maybe one day we will post our review here . . .
Joyce's corresponding argument runs:
" Pain is the great stimulant to action. Man no less than animals is impelled to work by the sense of hunger. Experience shows that, were it not for this motive the majority of men would be content to live in indolent ease. Man must earn his bread. " One reason plainly why God permits suffering is that man may rise to a height of heroism which would otherwise have been beyond his scope. Nor are these the only benefits which it confers. That sympathy for others which is one of the most precious parts of our experience, and one of the most fruitful sources of well-doing, has its origin in the fellow-feeling engendered by endurance of similar trials. Furthermore, were it not for these trials, man would think little enough of a future existence, and of the need of striving after his last end. He would be perfectly content with his existence, and would reck little of any higher good. These considerations here briefly advanced suffice at least to show how important is the office filled by pain in human life, and with what little reason it is asserted that the existence of so much suffering is irreconcilable with the wisdom of the Creator ".
And: " It may be asked whether the Creator could not have brought man to perfection without the use of suffering. Most certainly He could have conferred upon him a similar degree of virtue without requiring any effort on his part. Yet it is easy to see that there is a special value attaching to a conquest of difficulties such as man's actual demands, and that in God's eyes this may well be an adequate reason for assigning this life to us in preference to another. . . . Pain has value in respect to the next life, but also in respect to this. The advance of scientific discovery, the gradual improvement of the organization of the community, the growth of material civilization are due in no small degree to the stimulus afforded by pain ".
Excerts from the book 'God and Evil' edited by Nelson Pike
Rare, Obscure, and Forgotten Films
this movie fan at this youtube link reviews many obscure films that at the date of 2012 mostly wer only available on VHS, many he mentioned we never saw, amongst them are; The Ninth Configuration, Lokata Woman, The Devils, Uforia ( starring Cindy Williams ) and many more, see this link ~
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CojOgF1-qV4
well if you are wondering why we placed this here of all places it is because the index of our page 7 where most of our punk / new wave reviews have gone up in the past few yrs has become inaccesible like a few other of our pages, so this was made in the summer 2012, so we'll start this section with some rather unknown unknowns
DEAD's HEAD
' i was standing at the station, you were coming from another nation, i looked at you and you looked at me too, you and i were going back, you and i were going back ' go some of the lyrics from this power-pop new wave gem from germany entitled 'You and I Wer’e Going Back' it was released in '78 and it can be heard at the Pure Pop Blog where he compared it with the ONLY ONES 'Another Girl/Another Planet'...............and yes it sounds like maybe they heard that great single sometime in '78 and wanted to write something like it and came up with a very very good number, we really like this one......'I Love You' the b-side is another enjoyable rocker....
The PREFECTS
uk punk band who began in '76 and broke up in '78 managing to get out one single, Joe Crane was a member and the sound is somewhat like the BUZZCOCKS only a bit of a harsher attack on some songs, youtube has 18 minutes of unreleased material, judge for yourself at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmxxGeJwRrI
THE WELDERS
this one were a 4 piece all girl pop-punk band from St. Louis Missourri, beginning in their teens in 1975 and releasing a single for the punk era 'SOS/TEENAGE DEBUTANTES' in the punk era reveals 2 really catchy songs showcasing talent beyond their yrs, they had some demos which can be heard on youtube and also regrouped a few yrs back for a great set ! see also our gallery on these great lookin gals in our latest gateway . . .
TYRANNA
female fronted punk band from Canada had one rare single and recorded also a lot of demos, they were together from '78 - 79 and featured vocalist Vera “Rabies” Skye, and bassist Gerry “Johnny Bubblegum” Smith, and 2 other members, later others came and went, 'Back Off Baby' is fast and loud and is their most well known song, another good one is called 'Johnny'....check out youtube for these rare punk numbers...
PISTOL WHIP
'HEARTHROB/UNTOUCHABLES', cool glam inspired punk single that came out in 77, their only release, they were from erie Pennsylvania and the 45 shows 5 guys with short punk hair and lather jackets and t shirts, perhaps they picked up on the Pistols early on and wanted to do their own punk release, not sure how the a-side sounds but 'Untouchables' is a cool glam inspired number turned into a new wave punk song, they take the fun sound that KISS did with 'Kissin Time' and made it into something new for the punk era and they succeeded ! .....'When your out in your car or baby down in the bar, you know you see them everywhere, fancy shoes......'......the band resurfaced many yrs later and played live with the original lineup, see this link for this cool song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OSku0Z9Ovs
The BAMPOTS
Wichita sisters Shari and Kathy Kelley, better known as The Bampots, released an lp in a punk/new eave style 1982 on BMC Records, it was recorded at High Fidelity Recording Studio, Wichita, KS........not sure how many other members were in the band or who they were but one can tell just from the cover that this must be pretty good, soon we may have a gallery in our gateway
Tracklisting
Victim of Society, Mother Earth, I Believe, The Animals are Out, That's What You Get,
Backseat Lover, Everybody's Looking for Someone, Raymond, Cool Numbers.
The KLITZ
all girl Memphis punk band who were active in Memphis in the late 70s and had production and band help from ALEX CHILTON of BIG STAR. The members were GAIL ELISE CLIFTON, LESA ALDRIDGE, GAIL's sister and 2 other members played with them in the late 70s to about '80, then in '80 a singer named SARAH FULCHER who sang for the GRATEFUL DEAD in the early - mid 70s and ended up playing with the KLITZ for 2 shows.....they had a single release and quite a few demos are out there, more info to come, check out a youtube documentary with JIM DICKINSON and also there are a few later day downloads on youtube that are pretty good we must say, check out also for some good latter day songs by a late 70s band by another all girl punk band called CHEAP PERFUME, here is a documentary on the KLITZ -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om5uVvIMM2s
THE CANDY APPLES
this punk trio of girls surfaced about '79, they sing new wave punk influenced type tunes and were featured on the CHRISTY ENGLISH a show which featured Christy singing usually on acoustic guitar to one of her pop numbers or covers then she would introduce bands, this was a cable tv show and can be seen at youtube. . .
quotes from the film ~ The Last Temptation of Jesus Christ
