Saturday, September 30, 2023
FILMFAX #163: A FIVE OUNCE TON OF INTELLIGENT FUN
As most are aware, there have been big gaps between Filmfax issues, with #163 & #164 being among the holdups. Issue #164 is now on backorder (i.e. nearing print), though was scheduled for a May '23 release. At any rate, I received #163 in the mail today, and so (better late than never), I can now share its edifying contents. Drumroll, please ...
Filmfax #163 pays special tribute to South Korea's once-believed lost, Yongary rival, Wangmagwi, aka Devil King, the Space Monster; as well as The Great Buddha Arrival, a sequel to Japan's long-lost kaiju founder.
In addition to this Asian rarity, #163 holds an interview with one of imagi-movies' most attractive and talented pin-ups, Mara (Tarantula/Black Scorpion/Giant Claw) Corday; conjoined with articles on the brawling, biker epic, Rebel Rousers (starring Jack Nicholson, Cameron Mitchell, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd and Harry Dean Stanton ... I know, what a cast!); kid-star supreme, Tammy (Twilight Zone/Snow Queen/Brothers Grimm) Marihugh; the biting yet humorous House Shark; Space Age comic books; and 1950s monster-movie matinees.
On the whole, Issue #163 is an eclectic success (and well worth the wait), but copies are as scarce as hen's teeth. For those bold enough to pursue the quest, editions can be found among hit-and-miss, online hubs. Happy hunting!
Thursday, September 28, 2023
FATHOM EVENTS/TCM PRESENTS THE EXORCIST: A WILLIAM FRIEDKIN/50TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE
The Exorcist (extended cut with 4K restoration) returns to cinemas with a 50th-anniversary rerelease from Fathom Events, hosted by TCM's John Mankiewicz.
The movie, based on William Peter Blatty's moralistic novel (and scripted, no less, by the author), spewed shockwaves upon its day-after-Christmas, 1973 advent, leading it to become a revered blockbuster.
The Exorcist's cast is eponymous with the terror tale: Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max Von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn, Lee J. Cobb ... Mercedes Cambridge. Its foreboding, theme music, Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells," remains one the most recognized pieces in movie history. Indeed, from every vantage and from start to end, The Exorcist is the epitome of a thought-provoking, pop-cultural breakthrough.
Thanks to Blatty's allegorical angle, The Exorcist also plays like a religious rendition of Rocky, with underdog Father Damien Karras tapping his fractured faith to liberate the abused Regan MacNeil from the figurative, supernatural pedophile, Pazuzu. Director William Friedkin stirs the suspense, using pensive, slow-burn shuffles that engage one from the earliest, mysterious frames, only later to pepper one's soul with pugnacious, round-after-round, good-vs-evil jabs.
The Exorcist revival acts as a memorial to the late, great Friedkin, who passed away this August. Many consider The Exorcist his greatest achievement. To re-experience his jarring jewel seems a respectable gesture, as it repossesses theaters Oct 1 and 4.
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Monday, September 25, 2023
SO LONG, DAVID MCCALLUM
Some of my earliest memories are of you and Robert Vaughn (as Illya Kuryakin and Napoleon Solo), beaming from my family's black-and-white set. That sealed the deal, making me one of your forever-fans.
It wasn't only The Man From U.N.C.L.E. that charmed me, for I was as enamored by your titular effort on The Invisible Man, a fanciful, espionage update of the H.G. Wells' classic.
You were also amazing in Frankenstein: The True Story, with a quirky reinterpretation of Henry Clerval that's impossible to forget. (In fact, Clerval may be your best performance, and that's saying a lot.)
Long-running appearances on NCIS (as "Ducky" Mallard), Colditz, Trainor, Sapphire and Steel, Mother Love and The Education of Max Brickford only entrenched you further in the pop-cultural view, as did your guest spots on The Outer Limits (with the inarguable classics, "The Sixth Finger" and "The Form of Things Unknown"); The Six Million Dollar Man; Babylon 5; seaQuest DSV; Team Knight Rider; Jeremiah; Ben 10 (via your smooth, recurring voice); Monsters; Rod Serling's Night Gallery; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense; Perry Mason; Matlock; Murder, She Wrote; McCloud; Father Downing Mysteries; Deadline; The Master; Strike Force; JAG; The A-Team; Mr. and Mrs. Smith; Sir Francis Drake; Profiles in Courage; Sex and the City; Please Don't Eat the Daisies; Hullaballoo (as special host) and Ancient Prophesies (as its distinguished narrator).
On the feature stretch, you also knocked it out of the park, whether your scenes were hefty or compact: She Waits; Night of the Lepus; The Haunting of Morella; The Watcher in the Woods '80; The Wind; Around the World Under the Sea; Hauser's Memory; A Night to Remember; The Great Escape; The Greatest Story Ever Told; Billy Budd; Sol Madrid (The Heroin Gang); King Solomon's Treasure; The Kingfisher Caper (Diamond Hunters); The Man Who Lived at the Ritz; The Long and the Short and the Tall; Hell Drivers; Robbery Under Arms; Violent Playground; Jungle Street (Jungle Street Girls); These Dangerous Years (Dangerous Youth); Rascal; Healer; Freud: The Secret Passion; The Mosquito Squadron; The Ravine; Dogs; Three Bites of the Apple; Terminal Choice; Fatal Inheritance; Dirty Weekend; Hear My Song; The Big T.N.T. Show (where you showed off your skillful orchestrations, for you were, after all, an accomplished musician/composer) ... and per your refined tonality in the DC/WB, animated features (and their related series), Wonder Woman; Batman: Gotham Knight; Son of Batman; and Batman vs Robin (as Alfred Pennyworth for those latter three).
My respect for you is infinite, Mr. McCallum, and an endless queue of others feel the same way, as will future generations who discover your work. Indeed, you are one of the cinematic eternals. (Oh, and if you could do me a favor, say hello to good ol' Robert for me.)
Sunday, September 24, 2023
Collection Recommendation: Mr. Lobo's Cinema Insomnia (War of the Planets, Remastered Blu-ray)
Mr. Lobo's Cinema Insomnia fans have reason to rejoice, with the remastered, Blu-ray release of Cosmos: War of the Planets, aka Year Zero - War in Space.
Directed and co-scripted by Alfonso (Super Stooges vs the Wonder Women) Brescia, the 1977, Star Trek/Star Wars hybrid stars John (One Million Years B.C.) Richardson as fearless Captain Fred Hamilton, who tracks astral signals to a far-out planet where a jumbo, HAL replica drains its silver-skinned inhabitants of their precious vigor.
The Blu-ray is, without question, a substantial upgrade of the DVD oldies.com edition (thanks to producer, Aaron M. Lane), presented in AI-enhanced, widescreen HD (though, of course, for collectible purposes, the prior release remains an equal must-have). This spankin' new release is crisper, cleaner ... better frame-aligned. The Blu-ray also sports fresh, cover artwork from the uber-talented Dixie Dellamorto Lobo, accompanied by the War of the Planets theatrical cut (without Cinema Insomnia accompaniment), delivering a package as well rounded as any space-opera junkie could crave.
For the sake of the Cinema Insomnia presentation, Mr. Lobo sprinkles his humble humor throughout, sharing trippy trailers and sensational commercials (spotlighting a swimsuited Marilyn Monroe, a tipsy Orson Welles, plus Ray Charles promoting the picture-quality of a LaserDisc player). There's also an uproarious, Close Encounters spoof and appearances by, and an interview with, horror-host icon, John (Creature Features) Stanley; the beautiful, blue-crowned space babe, Cosmonauti Prime (Stephanie Hyden); and the mecha-furry and cute-as-a-button Ro-Mana (Mrs. Lobo).
FYI: The War of the Planets, Blu-ray extras include an extended cut of the Stanley interview, a spankin' new, Stanley interview and a Matt Mercury in the SpaceWays' animated adventure, guest-starring Mr. Lobo and his faithful friends that makes Trek's "The Menagerie" and "Space Seed" look darn tame by comparison.
Don't hesitate to seize this labor-of-love rerelease. It's formatted to please on so many "misunderstood" levels.
Order Cinema Insomnia's War of the Planets at
https://osi74.square.site/product/blu-ray-pre-order-cinema-insomnia-war-of-the-planets-special-widescreen-edition/171?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=true
