GOODBYE, MARGARET LEE

To espionage, exotica, comedy and fear, you became a friend (with several choice encounters with international stars, Klaus Kinski and Christopher Lee, as well as esteemed directors, Jess Franco and Lucio Fulci). 

Your vivifying titles tell it succinctly: Our Agent Tiger; Secret Agent Super Dragon; Our Man in Marrakesh; The Bloody Judge (aka Night of the Blood Monster); Venus in Furs; Circus of Fear; Coplan Saves His Skin; Double Face; Five From Hell; I bastardi (aka The Cats); Five Golden Dragons; Slaughter Hotel; The Violent Four; Two Sergeants of General Custer; The Twelve-Handed Men of Mars; Casanova 70; Ghosts-Italian Style; Action Man; Agent 077: From the Orient with Fury; Dick Smart 2.007; Spy Pit; The Mona Lisa Has Been Stolen; Viva America!; The Secret of Dorian Gray; Cinderella 1969; Bang! Bang! You're Dead; I Kill, You Kill; Killer's Carnival; Macisti Against the Monsters (aka Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules); Samson and the Sea Beast (aka Samson Against the Pirates); Cleopatra 1963; Arriva Dorellik (How to Kill 400 Duponts); Rendezvous with Dishonor; Djurado (aka Johnny Golden Poker); L' Apocalypse; What Did Stalin Do to Women?; OSS 17: Murder for Sale; Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die; The Killers are Our Guests; Three Violent Nights; Web of Violence; Via Venento; The Rogue; Master Stroke; Bandits in Milan; Cry Chicago; The Double Bed; House of Pleasure; Neapolitan Sting; Two Public Enemies; The Maniacs; and The Swindlers.   

Throughout your career, Ms. Lee, you remained a feast for the eyes and a consummate performer, an coquettish queen whose reign will remain interminable and untouched. 

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: DOUBLE THE SLAUGHTER

 

R.I.P. LORENA VELÁZQUEZ

You sure could raise a pulse with your striking agility. The evidence is in your films, each one fun and provocative.

Just a glimpse at your pulpy queue confirms it: Doctor of Doom; Wrestling Women vs the Aztec Mummy; Wrestling Women vs the Aztec Ape (Doctor of Doom revamped); She-Wolves of the Ring; Ship of Monsters; Santos vs the Vampire Women; Santos vs the Zombies; Santos Attacks the Witches; Santos vs the Diabolical Hatchet; The Rape of the Sabine Women; Planet of the Female Invaders; Girls Boarding School; Los desalmandos; el Puma; la Inocente; and onward and upward. You covered so many bases so well! 

You also enacted the beautiful, rough-and-tough female well in advance of many others, for which you deserve tons of credit.

As the years pass, your impact will only increase, Ms. Velazquez, as will the generations of fans who'll relish what you've shared.  

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

Collectible Time: Kingdom/Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Cloxks Tin Posters

My wife has sent me high, where the eagles dare fly, or at least where the simians dare train them. For one, Donna surprised me with an 8" x 10" tin sign, poster reproduction of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, by Cloxks.  

The sign, as one can see, shows Owen Teague's silhouetted Noa on horseback as an eagle descends. The backdrop is rugged, dystopic and therefore in tune with not only Kingdom, but the Apes saga  in general. 

But that's not all! As a powerful, Cloxks, companion piece, Donna gave me an 8" x 10" tin poster of the franchise's most revolutionary: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.

Roddy McDowall's Caesar-fied profile is prominent in this thunderous, 1972 depiction, as the fabled son of Cornelius accompanies his disciples in glorious, civil disobedience. 

(Each tin is fringed by a ragged, brown border that accentuates the asborbing artwork.) 

I've loved Planet of the Apes since I was a wee lad, and my love for the saga continues to grow. Such stylish gifts as these comprise a huge part of the reason why. (Thank you, dear Donna!)

WISE WORDS:

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY 2024 (5/12)

 

I saw Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Director Wes (The Maze Runner) Ball's Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, scripted by Josh (Terminator: Dark Fate/Paramount's The War of the Worlds 2005) Friedman occurs an implied, several hundred years after Matt Reeves/Andy Serkis' Caesar-led War of the Planet of the Apes. 

Per the plot, the intent of Caesar's constitution has become perverted, prompting apes to attack apes, despite the franchise's noted adage, "Ape shall never kill Ape" (though, let's face it, that proverb never held much practicality in the saga's social contention).

Owen (The Stand 2020/It Chapter Two) Teague's Noa heads the effort, a chimpanzee stationed somewhere between Caesar and Cornelius' ideologies. Noa's eagle-honoring village is burned by Kevin (Abigail/Robin Hood 2010) Durand's power-hungry gorilla, Proximus Caesar, with Noa's father, Neil Sandiland's Koa, killed during the invasion. 

It's been said that Kingdom is about seeking truth, but this noteworthy nugget is only part of the larger picture. Noa may seek truth, but he also seeks vengeful comeuppance, even if after much searching and contemplation, wrapped as it were in a self-preserving cloud. It's an understandable, if not logical approach, since allowing Proximus Caesar to go unscathed means his tyranny will spread. This Caesar also pursues the remnants of human technology to expand his regal stranglehold: disastrous leverage if permitted.  

Other characters participate in Noa's quest: Freya (The Witcher) Allan's Mae, aka Nova, a human whose starry sobriquet graces other Apes adventures; Sara (High Country) Wiseman's Dar, Noa's endearing mother; Peter (The Orville) Macon's mentoring orangutan, Raka; Lydia (Mr. Corman) Peckham's encouraging chimpanzee, Soona; Travis (Gallipoli 2015) Jeffrey's nervous but committed chimpanzee, Anya; Eka Darville's brutal, commander gorilla, Sylva; and William (Fargo 1996/Psycho 1998) H. Macy's Trevathan, a scholarly human wedged within Proximus Caesar's dictatorial dynasty.

Though several characters tend to get philosophical, most tend to fight, but then doesn't fighting leap from a philosophical perch? And those who fight look good doing so, especially through the lens of cinematographer Gyula (Maze Runner) Pados, who used old, camera techniques to give the movie (in particular its action scenes) anamorphic flair, in alignment with full-blown, avant-garde CGI. Much can be said, as well, of John (Maze Runner) Paesano's battle-ready score, which taps Jerry Goldsmith's psychotic percussions and Michael Giacchino's tribal swings. 

I can't say that Kingdom redefines the Apes legacy. However, I can say it's a top-caliber chapter in a juxtaposing mythology that keeps its ever morphing multiverse thriving. 

Since 1968, Planet of the Apes has stirred audiences' emotions, scrutinizing the human condition through its simian vantage. We're lucky to be blessed by a saga this provocative, and Kingdom perpetuates that tradition in a respectful and rousing way that should leave the generational legions yearning for more. 

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

NORTH BY NORTHWEST: FANDANGO/TCM RETURNS HITCH'S CLASSIC TO CINEMAS

Alfred Hitchcock's suspense masterpiece, North by Northwest, returns to the big screen for its 65th anniversary via Fandango & TCM on May 19 & 22 (hosted by the ever informative Ben Mankiewicz). 

North by Northwest is the tale of a Madison Avenue businessman, Cary Grant's Roger Thornill, who becomes embroiled in a matter of misconstrued identity that leaves him on the frenetic lam, with tension and twists building until the bitter and breathtaking, Mount Rushmore end. 

Grant is joined by Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Martin Landau, Adam Williams, Leo G. Carroll, Jessie Royce Landis, Josephine Hutchinson, Edward Platt, John Beradino, Les Tremayne, Philip Coolidge and Malcolm Atterbury, who inject the ominous proceedings with an aesthetic consistency that pleases the eye and accelerates the heart. (Bernard Herrmann's pulse-pounding score braces every tense step of their absorbing exchanges.)  

North by Northwest, which was penned by the incomparable Ernest (Family Plot/Black Sunday 1977) Lehman, acts as a precursor to AMC's Madmen (in its officious look and feel), while predating the exotic zeal of cinematic 007 by only a few years.  

To see this one again on the big screen will be a major treat. Be certain to check local listings for times and theater locations.  

HAPPY TWILIGHT ZONE DAY 2024 (5/11)

Collectible Time: Diamond Select 9" Goblin Queen/Madelyne Pryor Marvel Gallery Figure

I'm continuing my Diamond Select/Marvel Gallery kick by adding another female figure to my collection, Mutant X's Madelyne Pryor as the Goblin Queen. 

Man, oh man, is Cyclops' ex ever a sweetie ... well, sort of, for all the seductive, Jean Grey-imprinted beauty she bestows, designed in this instance by Uriel Caton, sculpted by Sam Greenwell, and standing at an impressive 9". Wow!

To empower her sinister allure, our green-eyed Goblin Queen is depicted in a tight-fitting outfit (sporting a wee, circle-cut cape), with a fair sum of skin exposed, her scarlet hair flowing to enchant. 

The base is equally inviting, flaunting a growling goblin on a foundation fixed of stone, skulls and translucent smoke. How Aurora-esque! (As an aesthetic bonus, the display-case packaging flatters the entire piece with a pleasing, three-color scheme.) 

Ah, I'm in love, or maybe it's more a matter of lust. Either way, this is quite a striking statue. If I had only known the gamut of its glory, I'd have surely procured it sooner.