1970s

There is a lot to admire in Emil Loteanu’s film My Tender and Affectionate Beast aka Moy laskovyy i nezhnyy zver (1978). First of all, the music by Evgeniy Doga, especially the Wedding Waltz, lives its own life, has become very popular and often performed piece in Russia, and is truly amazing. Camera work is very attractive, so are costumes, sets, and landscapes. Very famous and talented actors play principal characters. Among them -Oleg Yankovsky, the narrator, the tender beast of the title, Kirill Lavrov, a weak and corrupted count, and Georgiy Markov, the middle-aged widower who had hopes for new love with the girl of his dreams. Read More »

Synopsis:
Based on the best-selling manga series, the six intensely kinetic Lone Wolf and Cub films elevated chanbara to bloody new heights. The shogun’s executioner, Itto Ogami (Tomisaburo Wakayama), takes to wandering the countryside as an assassin—along with his infant son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) and a seemingly infinitely weaponized perambulator—helping those he encounters while seeking vengeance for his murdered wife. Delivering stylish thrills and a body count that defies belief, Lone Wolf and Cub is beloved for its brilliantly choreographed action sequences as well as its tender depiction of the bonds between a parent and a child.Read More »

Having succeeded in making himself the enemy of the entire Arab world, Commander Bloch, a senior agent in the Israeli secret services, flees to Libya and soon finds himself holed up in the French Embassy in Tripoli. His only hope of leaving the country alive is by being smuggled out in a diplomatic suitcase. Captain Augier is tasked with this delicate mission, but before the suitcase can reach Paris an airport strike takes effect. As a result, Augier and Bloch end up being confined to a hotel, which just happens to be the same hotel where the Israeli spy met the one true love of his life, Françoise. As he recalls this earlier romantic interlude in his life Bloch manages to convince himself that Françoise is the person who betrayed him. Read More »

Synopsis:
A group of people are crowded together in a crappy tenement slum. The place is ruled with an iron fist by its strict landlady, who along with her sleazy husband, tries to exploit their tenants in whatever way they see fit.Read More »

For this ambitious screen version of one the most powerful works of classic Greek theater, director Michael Cacoyannnis (ZORBA THE GREEK, THE CHERRY ORCHARD) unleashes the talents of four of the screen’s most exciting actresses(NY DAILY NEWS). Four time Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn (THE LION IN WINTER, A DELICATE BALANCE), Oscar winner Vanessa Redgrave (JULIA), Oscar nominee Genevieve Bujold (ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS) and Greek screen legend Irene Papas (ANTIGONE, Z) seamlessly mesh into an unprecedented ensemble cast that one could never hope to see on stage (Pauline Kael, NEW YORKER).Read More »

Synopsis:
In 1944, in France, the rogue American soldiers Lieutenant Robert Yeager, Private Fred Canfield, the murderer Tony, the thief Nick and the coward Berle are transported to a military prison. However, the convoy is attacked by the Germans and they survive and flee with the intention of cross the border of Switzerland. Along their journey, they fight against a German platoon and capture the German prisoner Adolf Sachs that offers to guide them to the Swiss border. When they meet a German troop, they kill them but sooner they discover that they actually were and American commando in a mission headed by Colonel Buckner to steal a German V2 warhead. Lt. Yeager, Fred, Tony and Nick offer to risk their lives to accomplish the mission.Read More »

Synopsis:
In the small New England town of Dunwich, a priest commits suicide by hanging himself in the church cemetery which somehow opens the gates of hell allowing the dead to rise. Peter, a New York City reporter, teams up with a young psychic, named Mary, to travel to the town where they team up with another couple, psychiatrist Jerry and patient Sandra, to find a way to close the gates before All Saints Day or the dead all over the world will rise up and kill the living.Read More »

Synopsis:
Shekhar Dayal has moved into a new neighborhood, and is just not pleased with the new surroundings. He resents the noise children make while playing, as he prefers quiet and solitude. His reclusion is shattered when his neighbor, Mili, comes into his life. At first he hates the intrusion, but then grows to be fond, and then ultimately fall in love with her. When the time comes for him to propose to this sunny, cheerful, and positive young lady, he is told that she has only a few more months to live.Read More »

Quote:
A brother and sister live together in a relationship which is unhealthily close, and has overtones of incest. The unpleasant couple are involved in other deranged and disgusting activities as well, including feeding raw meat (possibly from live puppies) to their pet poodle.Read More »