Slashed To Thrill: Brian De Palma’s DRESSED TO KILL (Filmways 1980)

Posted on July 5, 2018 by gary loggins

Brian De Palma was a big deal back in the 70’s and 80’s, and his films like CARRIE, SCARFACE, and THE UNTOUCHABLES are still discussed. Yet works such as SISTERS, PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE, OBSESSION, BLOW OUT, and BODY DOUBLE seem unjustly neglected today, and some critics deride him for his over the top sex and violence. DRESSED TO KILL finds De Palma in full Hitchcock mode, an homage to PSYCHO that The Master of Suspense himself cited as more like a “fromage”, but one I find still entertaining.

The film begins with a sizzling hot shower scene with Angie Dickinson as Kate Miller, remarried mother of science nerd Peter (Keith Gordon, CHRISTINE ). Kate has problems in her marriage and with her own mom, not to mention being a nymphomaniac! She’s seeing psychiatrist Dr. Robert Elliott (Michael Caine ), but seemingly getting nowhere. We follow her to New York’s…

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TOMAHAWK Fights The War of Independence – in Comic Books!

Posted on July 4, 2018 by gary loggins

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There weren’t very many comic-book heroes (super or otherwise) whose adventures took place during the Revolutionary War era. In fact, I can only think of one – DC’s Tomahawk, who made his four-color debut in Star-Spangled Comics #69 back in 1947. Tomahawk fought not only the British, but Indian co-conspirators in the pages of Star-Spangled and World’s Finest, getting his own book in 1950, which had a 140 issue run until folding in 1972.

Writer Ed France Herron and artist Fred Ray produced the bulk of Tomahawk’s tales, and being a comic book there were some sci-fi elements added during the 50’s, and campy super villains in the 60’s. Tomahawk even introduced America’s first superheroine Miss Liberty, a frontier nurse by day who fought alongside Tomahawk in 22 issues. In honor of the July 4th holiday, here’s a gallery of covers chronicling the thrilling stories of Tomahawk:

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Celebrate Independence Day with Ray Charles and “America the Beautiful”

Posted on July 4, 2018 by gary loggins

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Today is the 4th of July, American Independence Day, and I can’t think of a better way to kick off the festivities than watching the great Ray Charles sing “America the Beautiful” at Game 2 of the 2001 World Series:

Happy 242nd birthday, America! Have a safe 4th of July celebration from Cracked Rear Viewer!

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On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: Errol Flynn in THE SEA HAWK (Warner Brothers 1940)

Posted on July 3, 2018 by gary loggins

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Warner Brothers pulled out all the stops for their 1940 epic THE SEA HAWK. There’s dashing Errol Flynn swashbuckling his way across the Silver Screen once again, the proverbial cast of thousands, high seas action, romance, political intrigue, superb special effects, and a spirited score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The only thing missing that could’ve possibly made this movie better is Technicolor, but since Jack and his bros had already spent $1.7 million (equivalent to almost thirty million today) to produce it, why quibble?

Flynn is in fine form as privateer Geoffrey Thorpe, captain of the pirate ship Albatross, in service to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I. When they attack and plunder a Spanish ship carrying Ambassador Don Alvarez de Cordoba and his beautiful niece Maria, Captain Thorpe is reprimanded and told to lay off the Spanish. Spain, however, is building up their Armada with world conquest in mind, and…

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Happy American Redneck Day from Gretchen Wilson!

Posted on July 3, 2018 by gary loggins

My father’s family is from South Carolina, my mother’s from Massachusetts, which makes me half Redneck, half Yankee, and 100% American! Since Lisa has already let us know today is American Redneck Day, let’s celebrate with Gretchen Wilson doing her 2004 country music hit, “Redneck Woman”:

Happy American Redneck Day, y’all! Now somebody give me a Hell Yeah!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Happy 102nd Birthday Olivia de Havilland

Posted on July 1, 2018 by gary loggins

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 lets the visuals do the talking. Hollywood royalty Olivia de Havilland is alive & well, and celebrating her 102nd birthday today! In her honor, here are 4 shots from the films of Olivia de Havilland:

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938; D: Michael Curtiz)

Gone With The Wind (1939; D: Victor Fleming)

The Snake Pit (1948; D: Anatole Litvak)

Lady in a Cage (1964; D: Walter Grauman)

Existential Exploitation: BOBBIE JO & THE OUTLAW (AIP 1976)

Posted on June 30, 2018 by gary loggins

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I discussed filmmaker Vernon Zimmerman in a post on his UNHOLY ROLLERS back in January. Zimmerman wrote the script (but did not direct) for 1976’s BOBBIE JO & THE OUTLAW, which on the surface is just another sex’n’violence laden redneck exploitation film. Yet after a recent viewing, it seemed to me Zimmerman was not just delving into exploitation, but exploring something more: disaffected youth, gun culture, the cult of personality, and violence in America, themes that still resonate today.

Former child evangelist turned rock star turned actor Marjoe Gortner is Lyle Wheeler, a drifter who enters quick draw contests and idolizes Billy the Kid. Lyle’s a hustler, as we find out as he pulls into a gas station and steals a Mustang from a travelling salesman. Lyle outruns a police car hot on his tail, causing the cop to go off the road, and revs into the next town, where…

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One Hit Wonders #16: “In The Summertime” by Mungo Jerry (Pye Records 1970)

Posted on June 29, 2018 by gary loggins

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British band Mungo Jerry soared to Number One on the pop charts not just here in America, but all over the world with their joyous skiffle-rock ode to summer fun “In The Summertime”:

Mungo Jerry at the time of their smash success were Ray Dorset (vocals, guitar), Colin Earl (piano), Mike Cole (bass), and Paul King (banjo, jug). Members came and went rapidly, but Dorset was always the one constant. The huge international success of “In The Summertime” led to a U.S. tour, and though the Jerries never scored another hit, “In The Summertime” remains a perennial on Classic Rock radio, especially at this time of year.

Something I always wondered was where on Earth did they come up with the name Mungo Jerry. So I did some intense research (ok, I looked it up on their Wikipedia page) and discovered the band was named after a poem in T.S…

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Midnight Snack: THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF (2Oth Century-Fox 1950)

Posted on June 28, 2018 by gary loggins

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THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF made it’s TCM debut last Saturday night on Noir Alley, hosted by “The Czar of Noir” Eddie Muller. This is a ‘B’ film I’d never heard of before, and since you all know how much I love discovering new/old ‘B’ movies, I stayed up past the midnight hour to give it a watch (which I usually do on Saturday nights anyway, being a Noir Alley fan!).

The film doesn’t waste any time, quickly introducing the main characters and getting right into the story. Thinking her husband is planning to murder her, rich San Francisco socialite Lois Frazer guns him down in cold blood directly in front of her lover, Homicide Lt. Ed Cullen. Ed dumps the body at the airport to make it look like a robbery/murder, tossing the murder weapon off the Golden Gate Bridge. Then he takes the lead in the investigation, along…

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Gettin’ a Woody: EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX* (United Artists 1972)

Posted on June 23, 2018 by gary loggins

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*(but were afraid to ask)

Say what you will about Woody Allen (and I’m sure some of you will), but from 1969 to 1977 he wrote, directed, and starred in some of the laugh-out-loud funniest movies ever made (after that, things got a bit pretentious, and his output has been hit-or-miss far as I’m concerned). Allen’s inventive mind took Dr. David Reuben’s best-selling sex manual EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX (*but were afraid to ask) and turned it into a hilarious anthology that skewers not only societal mores and morals, but every segment parodies a different film genre.

Some are better than others, but each has something funny to offer. The first, “Do Aphrodisiacs Work?”, finds Woody as a medieval court jester whose lousy Bob Hope one-liners bomb with the King (Anthony Quayle). The randy jester is dying to enter the Queen’s (Lynn Redgrave) “royal chambers”, but…

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