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  • Fritz Lang – Rancho Notorious (1952) (HD)

    Fritz Lang1951-1960USAWestern

    Quote:
    An under-valued classic
    Fritz Lang’s superlative western teeters dangerously on the edge of campness, (it’s that infernal ‘Legend of Chuck-a-Luck’ ballad pounding away on the soundtrack, continually reminding us that this is a tale of ‘hate … murder and revenge’). Then, of course, there is that great gay icon Marlene Dietrich, looking extraordinary at fifty one as Altar Keane, boss of the outlaw hideout Chuck-a-Luck where Arthur Kennedy comes seeking the man who killed his girl in a robbery. In many respects the film is a perfect companion to Nicholas Ray’s not dissimilar “Johnny Guitar”, made around the same time and both featuring dominant women and weaker men and both dealing explicitly with ‘hate, murder and revenge’.Read More »

  • Mark Robson – The Seventh Victim (1943)

    Mark Robson1941-1950ClassicsHorrorUSA

    “Death is good” is how producer Val Lewton summarized the message of his films, a credo that received its most explicit expression in this strikingly nihilistic shocker, the first film directed by regular Lewton editor Mark Robson. Kim Hunter makes her film debut as a young boarding-school student who, in search of her missing sister (proto-goth icon Jean Brooks), travels to New York’s bohemian Greenwich Village, where she uncovers a sinister shadow world of devil-worshippers and murder. And what about that mysterious room furnished with nothing but a chair and a hangman’s noose? With its daring treatment of depression and queerness, The Seventh Victim has haunted the margins of cinema for decades, its radical bleakness undiminished by time.Read More »

  • John Francis Dillon – Behind the Mask (1932)

    1931-1940ClassicsCrimeJohn Francis DillonUSA

    Behind the Mask is a typically virile Jack Holt vehicle, with the hero at one point shooting himself in the arm to establish an alibi! Holt plays a federal agent named Hart who has himself planted in jail as a convict to get the goods on a drug syndicate. Befriending small-time gangster Henderson (Boris Karloff), Hart follows the trail of clues to unmask the head of the syndicate, who turns out to be the supposedly respectable Dr. Steiner (Edward Van Sloan). In the rip-roaring climax, Steiner prepares to perform an “operation” on Hart, gleefully informing his victim that his chances for recovery are next to nil. Because of the presence of Boris Karloff and Edward Van Sloan in the cast, Behind the Mask was included in Screen Gems’ “Shock Theater” TV package, even though there’s nothing really horrific in the film.Read More »

  • Various – 42nd Street Forever: XXX-Treme Special Edition (2007)

    Various2001-2010EroticaExploitationUSA

    Review taken from IMDB:
    This is volume 3 of the series and continues the movie trailer montage, except it switches to covering grindhouse’s next door neighbor (namely porn).Read More »

  • Howard Hawks – Air Force (1943)

    Howard Hawks1941-1950ActionUSAWar

    On December 6, 1941 nine B-17 bombers set off on a flight from San Francisco to Hawaii. One of the bombers, the Mary Ann, is commanded by ‘Irish’ Quincannon. The bombardier, Tommy McMartin, has a sister living in Hawaii and the co-pilot, Bill Williams, is sweet on her. The men are all highly professional with the exception of aerial gunner Joe Winocki, a bitter man who has every intention of leaving the Army Air Corps. They arrive at Hickam Field on the morning of December 7, just as the Japanese are attacking Pearl Harbor and other military facilities. All of the men prepare to face the enemy, including Winocki whose attitude changes quickly. The bomber and its crew will participate in many missions but not all will survive.Read More »

  • Jack Conway & Howard Hawks & William A. Wellman – Viva Villa! (1934)

    Jack Conway1931-1940Howard HawksUSAWesternWilliam A. Wellman

    Quote:
    In this fictionalized biography, young Pancho Villa takes to the hills after killing an overseer in revenge for his father’s death. In 1910, he befriends American reporter Johnny Sykes. Then a meeting with visionary Francisco Madero transforms Villa from an avenging bandit to a revolutionary general. To the tune of ‘La Cucaracha,’ his armies sweep Mexico. After victory, Villa’s bandit-like disregard for human life forces Madero to exile him. But Madero’s fall brings Villa back to raise the people against a new tyrant…Read More »

  • Mike Cahill – I Origins (2014)

    2011-2020DramaMike CahillSci-FiUSA

    Quote:
    I ORIGINS, the second feature film from writer and director Mike Cahill, tells the story of Dr. Ian Gray (Michael Pitt), a molecular biologist studying the evolution of the eye. He finds his work permeating his life after a brief encounter with an exotic young woman (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey) who slips away from him. As his research continues years later with his lab partner Karen (Brit Marling), they make a stunning scientific discovery that has far reaching implications and complicates both his scientific and spiritual beliefs. Traveling half way around the world, he risks everything he has ever known to validate his theory.Read More »

  • Charles Barton – Island of Doomed Men (1940)

    Charles Barton1931-1940CrimeDramaUSA

    Undercover agent Mark Sheldon gets paroled to a remote tropical island with a diamond mine manned by slave labor run by sadistic Stephen Danel.Read More »

  • Jacques Tourneur – Wichita (1955)

    Jacques Tourneur1951-1960DramaUSAWestern

    PLOT: Former buffalo hunter and entrepreneur Wyatt Earp arrives in the lawless cattle town of Wichita Kansas. His skill as a gun-fighter make him a perfect candidate for Marshal but he refuses the job until he feels morally obligated to bring law and order to this wild town.Read More »

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