4 Shots From 4 Films: Stanley Kubrick, The Early Years


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking. Stanley Kubrick was born on this date in 1928. Beginning as a photographer, Kubrick moved to motion pictures and became one of the most influential filmmakers in history. Here are 4 Shots from the early career of Stanley Kubrick, movie maker:

Fear and Desire (1953)

                                         Fear and Desire (1953)

Killer's Kiss (1955)

                                                     Killer’s Kiss (1955)

The Killing (1956)

                                                           The Killing (1956)

Paths of Glory (1957)

                                      Paths of Glory (1957)

4 Shots From 4 Films (*Sigh*): Every Young Woman’s Battle (2014), The Creation Adventure Team: Six Short Days, One Big Adventure (2002), Let Me Die A Woman (1977), If Footmen Tire You What Will Horses Do? (1971)


There are so many movies/videos that I am sitting on. Some I have seen, and some I only know because I have seen a review of them, but I do have a copy of them. I thought I would share four of the real crazy ones. If nothing else, just in case I never get to them.

Every Young Woman's Battle (2014)

Every Young Woman’s Battle (2014)

I actually have a partial review of this written. It’s been sitting in the drafts section since April. The reason is that there is just so much crazy that the review is going to be really long. The video is a speech given by Shannon Ethridge to a small room of middle-aged Asian women and one guy basically telling them that your husband is not the one who is going to satisfy your “emotional needs.” That’s what Jesus is for in a marriage. So, it’s kind of like War Room (2015), but a whole lot crazier.

How crazy? First, she opens up the lecture by telling us she is passionate about sexual purity because she has AIDS. Visual AIDS! Then she shows pictures of her family. She goes on to tell us about the time she came to her husband and told him he wasn’t satisfying her “emotional needs.” I put them in quotes because she will make it clear she means sexual needs along with the emotional component. So, how does her husband respond to this? He says he could line up all the men in Dallas outside her door, but it wouldn’t be enough for her. That’s right. He offered to arrange a Debbie Does Dallas (1978) gang bang for her. That’s just one example of the crazy, and how this is really sad for Ethridge at the same time.

The Creation Adventure Team: Six Short Days, One Big Adventure (2002, dir. Cathy Henderson)

The Creation Adventure Team: Six Short Days, One Big Adventure (2002, dir. Cathy Henderson)

An apple on the end of an arrow gets shot into the nose of a dinosaur in the Garden of Eden. Do I need to say more? This is a video that was meant to teach creationism to kids, but actually winds up making everyone alive ashamed to be part of the human race regardless of what they believe. Oh, and it has a sequel where they explain the whole dinosaur situation in creationism.

Let Me Die A Woman (1977, dir. Doris Wishman)

Let Me Die A Woman (1977, dir. Doris Wishman)

In the transploitation mondo “documentary” Let Me Die A Woman (1977) they felt it was necessary that we see what happens when you have sex too soon after having bottom surgery. It’s very important that we see it, and can’t just be told. How else do you do this scene, but to have the trans woman have sex with a cab driver played by no less then Deep Throat (1972) pornographic superstar Harry Rheems. He says, “Thanks, lady,” which is immediately followed by her noticing blood on the sheets in between her legs before quickly grabbing the phone. It then cuts back to Rheems who seems happy about the situation before leaving the room. That shot above is from when he tells her “thanks”. We learn from the “doctor” of this movie right afterwards that what she had was “sex impatience”. Apparently, sometimes you just have to have Harry Rheems’ dick in you.

That’s not all this movie shows either. We have the graphic bottom surgery scenes, the dick chopping off scene, the maintaining your new vagina with a dildo-like object scene, and more!

If Footmen Tire You What Will Horses Do? (1971, dir Ron Ormond)

If Footmen Tire You What Will Horses Do? (1971, dir. Ron Ormond)

This is one I have only seen a review of, but I do have a copy of it. The film is basically a cross between a Christian and Communist scare film. This is from the end of the Communist part of the movie. At the end, there is just a little kid left. He won’t give up his belief in Jesus, so the Communist solider pulls out a machete, chops off his head, and throws it off into a field. That’s it right there. This from a director who survived a plane crash and decided to stop making exploitation films to make Christian scare films instead. As Brad Jones (The Cinema Snob) said: “He never really stopped making exploitation films. He just made sure to mention Jesus in all of the them.”

What’s great is that the first film and the last one here actually have a connection to each other. In If Footmen Tire You What Will Horses Do? (1971) there is a scene where Communists are apparently going to teach boys about the seven erotic zones of passion in every woman. Of course they cut away from that because that situation doesn’t exist. In Every Young Woman’s Battle, Ethridge says the devil perverted sexuality seven different ways or seven different times in the Bible. That’s where that 1970’s Christian scare film got that from.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Happy Birthday Raymond Chandler


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Raymond Chandler was born on this date in 1888. He began publishing his short crime fiction in the pages of the pulp magazine Black Mask, and soon became one of the greatest “Hard-Boiled” writers of the 20th Century. Chandler’s detective Philip Marlowe is the most iconic PI in fiction, and his novels and stories have been adapted to the screen numerous times. Here are 4 Shots from the movie works of Raymond Chandler:

rc1

Murder, My Sweet (1944, D: Edward Dmytryk)

rc2

Double Indemnity (1944, D: Billy Wilder)

rc3

The Blue Dahlia (1946, D: George Marshall)

rc4

Marlowe (1969, D: Paul Bogart)

4 Shots From 4 Films (William Atherton): Ghostbusters (1984), Real Genius (1985), Die Hard (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990)


Yesterday, Arleigh spotlighted Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears for Fears. I grew up listening to the song all the time because it was featured in one of my all-time favorite movies: Real Genius (1985). At the heart of the movie is a slimy embezzling college professor who is taking advantage of smart kids to build a special laser for the government to assassinate people from space. However, this wasn’t the first, or last time that Atherton was cast as a scumbag in the 1980s. I thought it would be fun to spotlight four of them, including his turn as Professor Hathaway in Real Genius.

Ghostbusters (1984)

Ghostbusters (1984, dir. Ivan Reitman)

Real Genius (1985)

Real Genius (1985, dir. Martha Coolidge)

Die Hard (1988, dir. John McTiernan)

Die Hard (1988, dir. John McTiernan)

Die Hard 2 (1990, dir. Renny Harlin)

Die Hard 2 (1990, dir. Renny Harlin)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Gone With The Wind, The Snake Pit, Lady In A Cage, The Swarm


Olivia De Havilland and Friends

Olivia De Havilland and Friends

I hope that you will join us all in wishing a happy birthday to the wonderful and legendary Olivia De Havilland, who turns 100 years old today!  Not only is Olivia the last surviving cast member of Gone With The Wind but she’s also one of the last surviving stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age!  Not only was she a wonderful actress but Olivia’s rivalry with sister Joan Fontaine continues to be one of the legendary moments of Oscar history!

This edition of 4 Shots From 4 Films features four movies that starred the one and only, Olivia De Havilland!

4 Shots From 4 Films

Gone With The Wind (1939, dir by Victor Fleming)

Gone With The Wind (1939, dir by Victor Fleming)

The Snake Pit (1948, dirby Anatole Litvak)

The Snake Pit (1948, dir by Anatole Litvak)

Lady in a Cage (1964, dir by Walter Grauman)

Lady in a Cage (1964, dir by Walter Grauman)

The Swarm (1978, dir by Irwin Allen)

The Swarm (1978, dir by Irwin Allen)

By the way, do you know who shares a birthday with Olivia De Havilland?  OUR VERY OWN PATRICK SMITH!  Happy birthday, Pat!!!!!!

4 Shots From 4 Films (Pierre Kirby): Thunder of Gigantic Serpent (1988), Dressed to Fire (1988), Hunting Express (1988), Zombie vs. Ninja (1989)


Maybe one of these days I’ll actually get around to reviewing all the films of Pierre Kirby. But for now, here’s four iconic and varied examples of his work as the world’s most obscure action star whose career was cut very short.

Thunder of Gigantic Serpent (1988, dir. Godfrey Ho)

Thunder of Gigantic Serpent (1988, dir. Godfrey Ho)

We remember Kirby one-liners like, “What a useless guy,” but usually not the names of the characters he played. Realistically, there is only one character’s name that people consistently remember. That’s because of his James Bond introduction in that shot above: Fast, Ted Fast.

Dressed to Fire (1988, dir. Phillip Ko)

Dressed to Fire (1988, dir. Godfrey Ho)

Pierre Kirby crying. There’s nothing else that needs to be said. Even in his 9 movie career, Kirby showed that he could probably have played just about any role.

Hunting Express (1988, dir. Phillip Ko)

Hunting Express (1988, dir. Phillip Ko)

Pierre Kirby as the villain. It’s the one and only time he did this, but he did it well. Those good looks and smile could just as easily be paired with evil as Sergio Leone did with Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). Little bit of additional trivia. The film that Thunder of Gigantic Serpent spliced Pierre Kirby into actual used not only the theme from The Terminator (1984), but Morricone’s main theme to Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) for its’ tragic end.

Zombie vs. Ninja (1989, dir. Godfrey Ho)

Zombie vs. Ninja (1989, dir. Godfrey Ho)

Despite the fact that Kirby certainly played other roles, he is most remembered as the ninja who wanders the endless forest battling other multi-colored ninjas.

4 Shots From 4 Films: A Fistful of Dollars, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Tighrope, A Perfect World


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Happy birthday, Clint Eastwood!

4 Shots From 4 Films

A Fistful of Dollars (1964, directed by Sergio Leone)

A Fistful of Dollars (1964, dir by Sergio Leone)

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976, dir by Clint Eastwood)

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976, dir by Clint Eastwood)

Tightrope (1984, dir by Richard Tuggle and Clint Eastwood)

Tightrope (1984, dir by Richard Tuggle and Clint Eastwood)

A Perfect World (1993, dir by Clint Eastwood)

A Perfect World (1993, dir by Clint Eastwood)

4 Shots From 4 Films: An American Hippie in Israel, Ciao! Manhattan, David Holzman’s Diary, Eggshells


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Let’s hop in the cinematic time machine and take a trip to the distant past with these 4 shots from 4 independent films!

4 Shots From 4 Films

David Holzman's Diary (1967, dir by Jim McBride)

David Holzman’s Diary (1967, dir by Jim McBride)

Eggshells (1969, dir by Tobe Hooper)

Eggshells (1969, dir by Tobe Hooper)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Friday the 13th, Friday the 13th Part 2, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Happy Thursday the 12th!  Guess what tomorrow is?  That’s right, it’s Friday the 13th, my favorite day of the year!

Ellie_2

These 4 Shots From 4 Films will help you get into the spirit!

4 Shots From 4 Films

Friday the 13th (1980, directed by Sean S. Cunningham)

Friday the 13th (1980, directed by Sean S. Cunningham)

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981, dir by Steve Miner)

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981, dir by Steve Miner)

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985, dir by Danny Steinmann)

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985, dir by Danny Steinmann)

Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood (1988, dir by John Carl Buechler)

Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood (1988, dir by John Carl Buechler)

Back in 2012, I reviewed every single film in the Friday the 13th film franchise!  It was a lot of fun!

Everyone loves Friday the 13th!

Everyone loves Friday the 13th!

My Friday the 13th reviews:

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!

friday13th3

4 Shots From 4 Films: The Ape, The Broken Tower, Child of God, The Sound and The Fury


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Happy birthday, James Franco!

4 Shots From 4 Films

The Ape (2005, dir by James Franco)

The Ape (2005, dir by James Franco)

The Broken Tower (2011, dir by James Franco)

The Broken Tower (2011, dir by James Franco)

Child of God (2013, dir by James Franco)

Child of God (2013, dir by James Franco)

The Sound and The Fury (2014, dir by James Franco)

The Sound and The Fury (2014, dir by James Franco)