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!
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Al Pacino! It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Al Pacino Films
The Godfather (1972, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)
The Godfather Part II (1974, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)
The Irishman (2019, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Rodrigo Prieto)
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019, dir by Quentin Tarantino, DP: Robert Richardson)
2014’s Doc Holliday’s Revenge takes place in late 1800s, just outside of the town of Tombstone. Following the murder of Morgan Earp, the legendary Doc Holliday (William McNamara) is seeking revenge and hoping to kill every suspected members of the Clanton gang before he himself is killed by tuberculosis. When a suspected Clanton gang member named Indian Charlie (Oliver Rayon) stumbles wounded into the homestead of Elizabeth (Ashley Hayes) and Joseph Cooley (Bart Voitilla), Holliday comes looking for him. Elizabeth stands up to the gunslinging dentist.
This is a bit of an odd viewing experience. Much like David DeCoteau’s earlier Bonnie and Clyde film, it’s an attempt to do a historical film on a budget. As such, there’s a lot of narration and sepia-toned stock footage. Newspaper headlines flash across the screen. Tom Berenger, as Judge Wells, narrates the story and is filmed in extreme close-up and with a greenscreen behind him. Strangely, the same thing seems to have been done with William McNamara, who spends most of the film sitting on his horse and talking to people who are clearly off-camera. It also appears that the majority of McNamara’s scenes were also done with a greenscreen. It’s a weird effect, one that leaves the viewer wondering if both Berenger and McNamara are meant to be playing ghosts. That said, it’s oddly effective. At the very least, it reinforces the idea of Holliday being a mythical figure, a ghostly spirit of Americana. Eric Roberts also shows up very briefly at the beginning and the end of the film, playing Elizabeth’s estranged father. Unlike McNamara and Berenger, it’s clear that Roberts actually was on the set when he filmed his scenes.
DocHolliday’sRevenge feels like a companion piece to David DeCoteau’s Bonnie and Clyde:Justified. (Ashley Hayes was in that film as well, playing Bonnie Parker.) The budget is low and the dialogue is far too modern for a historical film but the cast at least seems to be trying and the film holds your interest while you’re watching it. (Good luck remembering much about it afterwards, though.) If nothing else, it’s better than Bigfoot vs DB Cooper.
Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly watch parties. On Twitter, I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday and I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday. On Mastodon, I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, at 10 pm et, I will be hosting #FridayNightFlix! The movie? 1984’s Missing in Action, with Chuck Norris and friends!
If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag! I’ll be there tweeting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
2014’s Bigfoot vs DB Cooper tells what happens when a bunch of shirtless frat boy types go turkey hunting in the Washington wilderness in 1971. One of them is planning on getting married and this weekend is going to be their last chance to all get together and stare at each other in their underwear. One-by-one, each member of the group strips down to his underwear and then poses with his rifle and then flexes in front of a mirror. Finally, the groom takes a shower and starts to….
What?
You’re right. This is indeed a David DeCoteau film.
Now, the title is not a lie. Bigfoot is in the movie and receives a “….as himself” credit. He’s big and covered in red fur and he spends a lot of time voyeuristically watching the frat boys while they run around the woods in their underwear. His dialogue consists of growls and I will admit that I smiled whenever the captioning read, “GROWLING!”
D.B. Cooper is also in the film. The film gives us the details of skyjacking and his subsequent jump into the night over Washington. In this film, he lands just in time for a climatic fight with Bigfoot. Of course, that fight last for one minute and it features Cooper saying, “The most successful skyjacking in aviation history can’t end like this!”
That said, the film is mostly just a collection of scenes featuring the handsome but oddly sexless frat boys wandering around in their underwear and standing in front of mirrors. The camera lingers on them to such an extent that it almost starts to feel like David DeCoteau is intentionally parodying himself. For the record, I’ve enjoyed quite a few DeCoteau films. I love the “Wrong” films that he’s done with Vivica A. Fox. He’s a director who is willing to embrace the melodrama and who has a good sense of humor and healthy self-awareness about the films that he’s making. (And again, I think it can be argued that there’s some intentional self-parody at work in this one.) Unfortunately, Bigfoot vs D.B. Cooper is incredibly dull.
Eric Roberts and Linnea Quigley are top-billed, though neither actually appears on screen. Roberts narrates the film and talks about Vietnam. Quigley provides the voice of the unseen flight attendant who speaks to D.B. Cooper.
Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:
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!
Today would have been the 95th birthday of director Richard Donner. It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Richard Donner Films
The Omen (1976, dir by Richard Donner, DP: Gilbert Taylor)
Superman (1978, dir by Richard Donner, DP: Geoffrey Unsworth)
Lethal Weapon (1987, dir by Richard Donner, DP: Stephen Goldblatt)
Scrooged (1988, dir by Richard Donner, DP: Michael Chapman)
Back in 1976, Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland did a movie together called FROM NOON TIL THREE. The western set, romantic comedy featured Jill singing the song “Hello and Goodbye.” The music was written by Elmer Bernstein, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. It would go on to be nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1977 for “Best Original Song.” In honor of her birthday, I’m sharing it with you today!
VIOLENT CITY opens with Jeff Heston (Charles Bronson) and Vanessa Shelton (Jill Ireland) living it up on a tropical island. They boat, they make love, and then spend some time enjoying the local island culture. Unfortunately, this is all a mirage and Jeff can’t escape the effects of his day job, that of a professional assassin. Soon a group of men are after him in a high speed chase on the narrow streets of paradise. Just when he thinks he’s gotten away, he’s double crossed and shot by his former associate, Jerry. Even worse, Vanessa gets in the car with Jerry and the two speed off. Waking up in jail, Jeff is visited by Steve (Umberto Orsini), the lawyer of his former boss Weber (Telly Savalas). Steve and Weber want him to come back and work for their organization. Jeff is more interested in finding Jerry and Vanessa, so when he finally gets out of jail, he turns their job offer down and continues on his odyssey into New Orleans. Jerry’s not too hard to find because he’s a professional race car driver. Jeff goes to his next race and shoots his tire out from long distance with a high powered rifle and watches as his car explodes in flames of death! Vanessa’s not so easy, not because he can’t find her, but because he loves her. He’d much rather make love to her than kill her, so that’s exactly what he does a couple of more times when he locates her. Even when he finds out she’s actually married to Weber, she’s able to convince Jeff that she only married him so she could be safe and that she despises him. She convinces Jeff that for them to be happy together that he should kill Weber. Does she really love him, or is she just using his badassery again?
In honor of Jill Ireland’s birthday (April 24, 1936), I thought I’d review a Charles Bronson film that features a strong performance from his beautiful wife. And speaking of beautiful, she has never been any more beautiful than she is in VIOLENT CITY. I mentioned earlier that the film opens in a tropical paradise. Let’s just say that Bronson and Ireland are in peak physical condition and absolutely striking as they walk the island streets. With his chiseled features and mustache, Bronson is the perfect image of masculinity. With her blonde hair, curvaceous figure and perfect tan, she’s a vision of feminine beauty. Bronson’s Jeff Heston is as tough as it gets, and we soon find out that no man can get the better of him. It’s a tribute to Ireland’s performance that we don’t necessarily blame him for continuing to give her second and third chances, even to his own peril. And she saves her best work for the end, when we all find out that she has more going for her than just beauty.
VIOLENT CITY was directed by the Italian filmmaker Sergio Sollima, whose other credits include the excellent spaghetti western, THE BIG GUNDOWN with Lee Van Cleef, and the solid “Polizziotteschi” crime film REVOLVER, with Oliver Reed. He gets more sensual performances from the stars than we’d get in future years, as they do lots and lots of loving on each other throughout the course of the film. The musical score is from the master composer himself, Ennio Morricone. It’s not quite ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST level, but it’s really good stuff and quite memorable. If I had one complaint it would be that I wish Telly Savalas had more screen time as Weber. His character added life to the film whenever he appeared. He could be a real asshole, but he seemed to have a lot of fun, and he makes one hell of a cocktail (the moonlight passion)!
My final word on VIOLENT CITY is that it’s a solid Italian crime film, with a lean, mean Bronson, good action sequences, and a more than adequate Jill Ireland as a beautiful femme fatale. I certainly recommend it. Happy Birthday, Jill!
VIOLENT CITY was initially released in America under the name THE FAMILY in hopes of drafting off the THE GODFATHER. See the trailer below.
The other day I was heading to the movies to see SINNERS when I got a text from my son, “Have you seen the trailer for Jordan Peele’s new movie?” I hadn’t, and upon further review, he was talking about the movie HIM, which is produced by Jordan Peele. And then the trailer for HIM played before SINNERS. It’s definitely an interesting looking movie. Every year for my birthday I go to the theater to watch a movie, and it just so happens that HIM is scheduled to open on my birthday this year. I just may go watch it after I’m finished with my ribeye at the Texas Roadhouse! Check out the teaser trailer below!
Seriously, 2016’s Hunting Season is so mind-numbingly dull and bad that I have no idea what to say about it. Usually, when I see an indie film that is this bad, I keep it to myself because I generally don’t believe in kicking people when they’re down. I’m far more comfortable trashing a bad film from a major studio than a mediocre one that was shot by some guy who put the entire budget on his credit card. But a visit to the imdb revealed several comments from people who worked on the film and were never actually paid for their efforts so screw it. This is one of the worst films that I have ever seen in my life.
Stock brokers are kidnapping people and hunting them for sport. Tom Sizemore plays Nick, who I guess is supposed to be the head stockbroker. If I sound confused, it’s because the soundtrack was so muddy that I often struggled to understand what people were saying. Sizemore disappears from the film, which is a shame because his unhinged, seemingly improvised performance was one of the only interesting things about the film. (At one point, Sizemore looked straight at the camera and extended his middle finger. I’m not sure if that moment was scripted or not.) Eric Roberts shows up for four scenes, playing the father-in-law of one of the stock brokers. The character’s daughter apparently has some sort of psychic connection with her husband and she shouted all of her dialogue. Clifton Powell shows up as a guy in a bar. Miguel Nunez Jr. plays an FBI agent.
Along with not being able to hear the dialogue, I also struggled to understand just where everyone was in relation to everyone else. The film was so haphazardly edited that it was impossible to really keep track of time or location or anything else that would have helped make the film interesting. It’s a talky film but good luck understanding what anyone’s saying. Most of the scenes have so many visible edits and so many close-ups that I got the feeling that everyone was on set at a different time. It makes for a disjointed and dull story. I couldn’t follow a bit of it.
Eric Roberts has appeared in nearly 800 films. This one might be the worst.
Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:
Through the Shattered Lens 