USA

  • John Carr – Death Wish Club AKA The Dark Side to Love AKA Carnival of Fools (1984)

    1981-1990CultExploitationJohn CarrUSA

    Quote:
    “Kind of reminds me of a really drugged up version of a David Lynch film”

    “Imagine David Lynch directing the script of a low I.Q. first time screenwriting mental patient while both of them abused unapproved prescription meds in a closed garage full of open paint cans.”

    “David Lynch without the pretension & the budget”Read More »

  • Billy Wilder – Ace in the Hole (1951)

    1951-1960Billy WilderClassicsFilm NoirUSA

    Review:
    All Movie
    A movie truly ahead of its time, Ace in the Hole (also known as The Big Carnival) turned out to be too bitter and cynical for moviegoers in 1951. An unrelenting portrait of media sensationalism and the human obsession with tragedy that propels it, the film is based on a true story that also spawned Robert Penn Warren’s novel The Cave. Director, screenwriter, and producer Billy Wilder suffered perhaps the biggest commercial and critical failure of his career with Ace, losing much of his standing at Paramount, even though the movie was released between two of his most enduring and popular triumphs, Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Stalag 17 (1953). Ace was perhaps not up to the standard of those works, but it clearly stands as one of Wilder’s many achievements. It’s hardly surprising that this film failed to find a mainstream audience, despite the added attraction of emerging star Kirk Douglas in the lead. American culture wouldn’t be ready for such a large dose of pessimism until the 1970s; even then, a film such as 1976’s Network, which clearly paralleled the tone of Wilder’s effort, was dismissed by many viewers as too hysterical. – Brendon HanleyRead More »

  • Mervyn LeRoy – Anthony Adverse (1936)

    1931-1940AdventureDramaMervyn LeRoyUSA

    In late 18th century Italy, a beautiful young woman finds herself married to a rich but cruel older man. However, she is in love with another, younger man. When the husband finds out, he kills the lover in a swordfight, and takes his wife on a long trip throughout Europe. Months later, she dies giving birth to a son. The husband leaves the child at a convent, where he is raised until the age of 10; then he is apprenticed to a local merchant, who gives him the name “Anthony Adverse” because of the adversity in his life. But his adversity has only begun, as fate takes him to Cuba, Africa, and Paris. Written by John Oswalt {[email protected]} (IMDB).Read More »

  • Budd Boetticher – The Killer Is Loose (1956)

    1951-1960Budd BoetticherFilm NoirThrillerUSA


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    Plot:
    A bank robber’s (Wendell Corey) wife is shot during his arrest by a cop (Joseph Cotten). He escapes to kill the cop’s wife (Rhonda Fleming) as retribution. Despite the cop’s protest, the police decide to use Fleming as a lure. From Warner Brothers Website!Read More »

  • George Englund – The Ugly American (1963)

    1961-1970DramaGeorge EnglundPoliticsUSA


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    The Ugly American (1963)
    An intelligent, articulate scholar, Harrison MacWhite, survives a hostile Senate confirmation hearing at the hands of conservatives to become ambassador to Sarkan, a southeast Asian country where civil war threatens a tense peace. Despite his knowledge, once he’s there, MacWhite sees only a dichotomy between the U.S. and Communism. He can’t accept that anti-American sentiment might be a longing for self-determination and nationalism. So, he breaks from his friend Deong, a local opposition leader, ignores a foreman’s advice about slowing the building of a road, and tries to muscle ahead. What price must the country and his friends pay for him to get some sense? Read More »

  • Robert Altman – A Perfect Couple (1979)

    1971-1980ComedyRobert AltmanRomanceUSA

    Ebert’s plot description:
    “A sometime rock singer and a middle-aged Greek-American businessman who meet through a videotape computer dating service…
    The movie’s mostly about the perfect couple of the title, a matching of Second City veteran Paul Dooley and Broadway actress Marta Heflin. He’s part of a genuinely bizarre family presided over by a ruthless Greek father who requires compulsory attendance at such family rituals as concerts and dinners. She plays a somewhat forlorn member of a music group, ‘Keepin’ em Off the Streets,’ which is part rock band, part extended communal family.”Read More »

  • Alfred E. Green – The Duke of West Point (1938)

    1931-1940Alfred E. GreenDramaUSA

    Plot:

    Louis Hayward plays an arrogant Cambridge student who emigrates to America and enrolls at the West Point. Hayward’s cocky attitude earns him the enmity of his fellow students and the derisive nickname “the Duke”. Those viewers familiar with college pictures will know as early as the opening titles that Hayward is down deep a swell guy. He proves this by helping impoverished plebe Richard Carlson pay his college costs and winning a crucial hockey game against a Canadian team. 20-year-old leading lady Joan Fontaine fits right in as the beautiful target of Hayward’s attentions.

    Read More »

  • Andrew Marton – The Wild North (1952)

    1951-1960AdventureAndrew MartonUSAWestern

    Synopsis:

    In 1952, many “outdoors” adventure films would be shot on the studio back-lot, with fake-looking backgrounds and interior sets masquerading as exteriors. The Wild North benefits greatly from the fact that much of it was shot on authentic locations (the American state of Idaho standing in for northern Canada). The film also benefits from a clutch of strong leading performances from Stewart Granger and Wendell Corey, plus the ravishing Cyd Charisse (cast – some might say miscast – as a native Indian). The whole film is smartly presented by Andrew Marton, whose last film prior to this was another outdoor adventure with Stewart Granger, the 1950 version of King Solomon’s Mines.Read More »

  • John Fasano – Black Roses (1988)

    1981-1990CultHorrorJohn FasanoUSA

    Synopsis: Mill Basin is your typical peaceful community where nothing out of the ordinary or exciting ever happens. That is until a heavy metal band named “Black Roses” announces that they are going to play their first ever concert in Mill Basin. At first all the parents in town are against the “Black Roses” performing in their town and corrupting the minds of their children. The band “Black Roses” conceal their true identities and motive for coming to Mill Basin by brainwashing everyone in town. Now firmly in place in Mill Basin can anyone stop the “Black Roses” before they acquire the souls of everyone in town?

    Read More »

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