Author Archives: Jedadiah Leland

Thunder Mountain (1947, directed by Lew Landers)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Having been away at agriculture school, Marvin Hayden (Tim Holt) returns home to discover that the ranch that he inherited from his father is about to be auctioned off due to unpaid back taxes.  It’s all a part of a scheme concocted by Sherriff Bagley (Harry Harvey), Trimble Carson (Harry Woods), and Johnny Blue (Tom Keene) to get control of the land so that they can make a financial killing when the railroad comes through.

(As in so many B-westerns, Thunder Mountain presents the railroad as something that will help build a lasting society while also bringing out the worst in greedy people.)

Even though Marvin refuses to carry his father’s guns, he’s still viewed as being a threat.  Because the Haydens have long feuded with the Jorth family, Carson murders Chick Jorth (Steve Brodie).  Marvin is arrested for the crime.  It falls to Marvin’s friends Chito (Richard Martin), Ginger (Virginia Owen), and Jim Gardner (Jason Robards, Sr., not to be mistaken for his son) to help Marvin break out of jail so that he can prove his innocence, save his ranch, and win the heart of feisty Ellie Jorth (Martha Hyer).

This was Tim Holt’s first starring role after he returned from serving in World War II and he makes the most of it.  Holt plays Marvin Hayden as being a haunted man, someone who has seen firsthand the results of violence and frontier feuds.  Unlike the heroes that Holt played before World War II, Marvin Hayden doesn’t want to carry a gun but, ultimately, circumstances don’t leave him with much choice.  This movie is a perfect example of why Holt’s films are held in such high regard by B-western fans.  The plot may not be anything special but Holt’s intelligent performance brings some unexpected shadings to the proceedings.  Holt gets good support from Martin, Owen, and Robards and there’s a lot of spark to his scenes with Martha Hyer.

Based on a Zane Grey novel and featuring a brisk, 60-minute running time, Thunder Mountain is one of the better B-westerns out there and a good showcase for Tim Holt.

Music Video of the Day: Pay No Mind (Snoozer) by Beck (1994, directed by Steve Hanft)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This song finds Beck in a folk mood.  It took a lot of people by surprise in 1994, when Beck was still best-known for Loser.  This is one of the songs that showed Beck wasn’t going to be the one-hit wonder that many people expected.

Director Steve Hanft has also done videos for Pride & Glory, Milk Dee, Hootie & The Blowfish, Eels, and … Carrot Top?  Everyone has to make a living.

Enjoy!

Perfect Profile (1989, directed by Jim C. Harris)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Brad Johnson (Tom Campitelli) is the millionaire owner of a manufacturing company and also the owner of Dallas’s basketball team.  (Even though this film was shot in Dallas, the team is never specifically referred to as being the Mavericks).  Brad’s company is a success and has just signed a contract with the Pentagon.  However, Brad is more concerned with why his team keeps losing games.  He goes to the “Fourth Floor,” the section of his corporate headquarters where nerdy Doc Alvins (Mike O’Dell) can use his computer, Delphi, to predict the future.  Brad has Mike program Delphi to compute what is wrong with his basketball team.  Delphi reports that the team needs a new point guard and that Brad should sign Terry Williams (Nancy Lieberman).  Terry becomes the first woman to play in the NBA!  She also sleeps with the team owner but she’s probably not the first player to do that.

Perfect Profile is a strange film.  Depending on the source, it was released in either 1989 or 1991 but it has the aesthetics of a film that was shot a few ears earlier, maybe around 1984 or 1985.  The boxy computers and the cheap graphics come straight from the late 70s and early 80s and, with his taped glasses and pocket protector, Dr. Alvins is a dead ringer for Robert Carradine in Revenge of the Nerds.  The film is technically a comedy but a scene in which the computer suggests that the ideal point guard would be a black version of Larry Bird is about as edgy as things get.  With one key exception, the actors often seem to be lost.  I’m going to guess this was a regional production and that the majority of the cast and crew were locals.

Nancy Lieberman, who played Terry, is considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of women’s basketball.  She played for the Dallas Diamonds in 1984, which is how she probably ended up in this movie.  Lieberman is likable as Terry and she brings some authenticity to the basketball scenes.  The film may not have been good but Nancy Lieberman did her best.

 

 

Music Video of the Day: Twilight Hotel by Quiet Riot (1986, directed by Dominic Orlando)

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Twilight Hotel was the second single to be released off of QRIII, the fifth studio album from Quiet Riot.  Unfortunately, neither the single nor the video was as popular as the other single released off of QRIII, The Wild and the Young.

Director Dominic Orlando also directed videos for Kansas, The Beach Boys, Celine Dion, Dolly Parton, The Fat Boys, and several other artist that you would not necessarily expect to see at a Quiet Riot concert.

Enjoy!

Runaway (1984, directed by Michael Crichton)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The year is 1991 and humans are using robots for everyday tasks.  Because the budget is low and Michael Crichton had already done Westworld, none of the robots are humanoid or capable of original thought.  The majority of them are boxy and they look harmless until they malfunction.  All police departments now have a division of cops trained to deal with robots.  Being a part of the “runaway squad” is not prestigious but it’s perfect for Sgt. Jack Ramsey (Tom Selleck), a good cop who suffers from a crippling fear of heights.

Ramsey and his new partner, Karen Thompson (Cynthia Rhodes), investigate a murder that was apparently committed by a robot.  Their investigation leads them to Jackie Rogers (Kirstie Alley) and her boyfriend, renegade scientist Charles Luther (Gene Simmons).  Luther has not only programmed robots to kill but he’s also designed smart bullets that can lock onto a target’s unique body heat.

It’s hard to resist Runaway.  Stalwart Tom Selleck vs an overacting Gene Simmons?  Kirstie Alley as a neurotic femme fatale?  Robots spiders that inject acid into their victims?  Remote control smart bombs that chase cars down the highway?  Countless point-of-view shots of the smart bullets tracking their victims?  It’s an entertaining B-movie, no matter what you may think of the plot or some of the acting.  I don’t know what logic led to Michael Crichton casting Gene Simmons as a crazed computer scientist but I’m glad that he did.  Watching a movie like this, you can see why Tom Selleck remains a television star.  He doesn’t have the bigger-than-life persona of a movie star.  But Selleck’s mild persona works perfectly when matched up with Gene Simmons acting like the phantom of the park.  And then there’s Kirstie Alley, playing a dangerous secretary with the right mix of sexiness and humor.  Cynthia Rhodes may have been the female lead but Kristie Alley is the one who stole the movie.

When Runaway was first released in 1984, it was expected to be a hit but it was instead overshadowed by another film about killer future robots, The Terminator.   Needless to say, the simple heroics of Runaway can’t compete with intense action of The Terminator and even Gene Simmons at his most unhinged can’t beat Arnold Schwarzenegger saying, “I’ll be back,” but Michael Crichton’s vision of a future full of killer roombas still feels prescient today.

Music Video of the Day: All Summer Long by Kid Rock (2008, directed by Deaton Flanigen)

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Tomorrow is not just Father’s Day.  It’s also the first day of summer.  This song by Kid Rock seems to be one of those songs that people either love or they absolutely hate, if just because they always think they’re about to hear Werewolves of London during the opening chords.

Though the song takes place at Lake Michigan, the video was filmed in Tennessee.  Actress Colby Crain plays the friend who was smoking funny things all summer long.

Along with his work with Kid Rock, director Deaton Flanigen has directed several country music videos.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Slow An’ Easy by Whitesnake (1984, directed by ????)

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Slow an’ Easy was Whitesnake’s first big hit in the United States and the video, which featured the band, a car crash, and an act of strangulation, was Whitensake’s first big video on MTV.  It’s certainly much darker than the video for Here I Go Again.

Slow an’ Easy, by the way, appeared on an album called Slide It In.  Whitesnake was never particularly subtle but they still rocked.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: We Care A Lot by Faith No More (1988, directed by Bob Biggs and Jay Brown)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

We Care A Lot, written as a parody of benefit concerts like Live Aid, was the first Faith No More Song to have an accompanying music video and it is also the band’s second-most popular song, right after Epic.  What the bands cares a lot about depends on which version of the song that you hear as We Care A Lot is frequently re-written to keep the lyrics updated and topical.  Over the years, Faith No More has cared a lot about Madonna, Mr. T, the LAPD, the money that Live Aid made, Transformers, and the Garbage Pail Kids.

Enjoy!