1960s

Remember that scientist that was trying to perfect a matter transportation machine but got fused with a fly when one of the little critters got into the transporter with him? Well, this story is about three of his descendents (a son, Henri Delambre, played by Brian Donlevy and two grandsons). Seems the son wants to continue and perfect the machine while his two sons want to get out of the scientist business and live “normal” lives. The oldest son, Martin, decides to take a wife (who just happens to have escaped from a mental hospital after her parents died). Martin’s father is not happy with this intrusion but finally gives in because he understands him son’s needs. They all try to be a happy family until humans used in botched experiments are discovered by the new bride and the police nearly discover the lab while looking for Martin’s wife. Everyone tries to get out of there via the transporter but things just don’t go according to plan …Read More »

Synopsis:
Charlie is just out of the prison when he learns about his friends’ failed attempt at carrying out a heist in Italy. Now with the Mafia close on his heels, he intends to carry out the job himself.Read More »

This film is loosely based on Goethe’s Dr. Faustus. It’s the second feature that Gonzalo Suárez made, when he still was a member of the Barcelona School (Escuela de Barcelona). The Barcelona School was a 1960s group of Catalan filmmakers, concerned with the disruption of daily life by the unexpected, whose stylistic affinities lie with the pop art movement of the same years and with the French Nouvelle Vague. Among their members: Joaquin Jordà, Jacinto Esteva, José María Nunes, and also, at the begining of their career, Vicente Aranda and Gonzalo Suárez.Read More »

Steve Seid writes:
Clouzot’s final foray into features takes us into another tortured love triangle to explore voyeurism and, by extension, the very gaze that so draws us to cinema. Josée (Elisabeth Wiener) meets her artist-lover’s gallerist, the chic but kinky Stanislas Hessler (Laurent Terzieff), whose hobby is photographing female nudes in S&M postures. Naturally, Josée succumbs to the temptation to pose, but finds she needs bonding not bondage. Enter the obsessive kinetic artist Gilbert (Bernard Fresson), and the triangulated trap is sprung. Like Peeping Tom, Woman in Chains uses the camera’s gaze as a substitute for our own voyeuristic impulse.Read More »

A scientist trying to better mankind nearly destroys the world as we know it in this sci-fi thriller. Dr. Stephen Sorensen (Dana Andrews) is doing research in geo-thermal energy; he’s convinced that if men can find a way to drill through the earth’s outer crust into the molten magma near the center, the heat can be harnessed and used to warm dwellings around the world. His assistant, Ted Rampion (Kieron Moore), is skeptical about this idea and believes that there could be dire consequences, but Sorensen boldly moves ahead with his plan, prodded by his secret knowledge that he suffers from a terminal illness and might not live long enough to undergo a longer testing period. However, Rampion’s fears soon prove well founded when Sorensen’s drilling causes a large crack in the earth which begins to rapidly expand, threatening to split the world in two with disastrous consequences. Crack in the World was praised on initial release for its intelligent approach and solid special effects work.
— Mark Deming (AllMovie)Read More »

Synopsis:
Tasked with investigating the kidnappings and brainwashed reappearances of top scientists, including Dr. Radcliffe (Aubrey Richards), the insubordinate British spy Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) navigates his way through criminals, secret agents, and his superiors (Nigel Green, Guy Doleman). While attempting to bring in the suspect Bluejay (Frank Gatliff), Palmer discovers a mysterious audiotape labeled “IPCRESS,” an inconspicuous, but ominous, piece of evidence.Read More »

Synopsis:
If Jack Griffith’s wife doesn’t like the color of a neighbor’s house, he’ll arrange for it to be a house of a different color. If the owner of the ice cream parlor doesn’t believe in selling triple banana splits for a penny, Jack will buy the establishment. And if Jack’s little girl wants the pony in the circus parade, why not buy the entire circus! This last prank sends Amberlyn Griffith back to Texarkana c. 1900, where her father is running for his third term as mayor. Jack follows, bringing the entire circus.Read More »

Synopsis:
American Lt. Col. Dan Kiley (Henry Fonda), a military intelligence whiz, discovers that the Nazis are planning to attack Allied forces near Belgium. Certain that the exhausted enemy can’t muster much force, Gen. Joe Grey (Robert Ryan) isn’t convinced by Kiley’s findings, and his men pay the price when the German tanks begin their offensive. In the heat of this key World War II battle, Kiley must come up with a plan when it becomes clear that the Nazis are trying to steal fuel from the Allies.Read More »

Quote:
Beautifully dark movie which grants Mia Farrow the freedom to showcase the strange range of her gift. Elizabeth Taylor stays close with a deep and sensitive touch, flashing a legitimate side of herself, oft covered up. Robert Mitchum achieves repulsive perfection lurking in the garden, symbolic of the disgust and fear we share in our hide. The entire cast in breath and stone include every sense in totality, placing the actors and ourselves together to spy on each other from above, and within the ornamental mansion. Intense hallucinogenic 1968 camera shots intimately portray the family by chance’s horrific existence. Read More »