Trailer Park Friday: Noir, and Neo-Noir

The Killers. Hemingway. Siodmak. Siegel. One author. One story. Two directors. One style. Two completely different films.

First up, the 1946 version:


Next, the 1964 version (and check out whose playing the dastardly villain.):

In Memoriam: Julius Carry (1952-2008)

Julius Carry, a wonderful character actor, passed away today without much fanfare or adulation. The name may not be familiar to a lot of you, but if I throw out Lord Bowler or The Shogun of Harlem it might ring a few more bells to those of us who had the pleasure of watching this man in action as the cranky bounty hunter in the woefully underrated The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and the bat-shit insane villain in the equally under-ballyhooed The Last Dragon. And those of us who've been around a little longer will even remember him in The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh and The Avenging Disco Godfather.

The man in action. (The Last Dragon.)


Now that's an entrance.

Thanks, Mr. Carry. Your familiar scowl and low-burn grumble and growl will be sorely missed. Sho-nuff.

Picture Monday: Brawndo! The Thirst Mutilator!

(Hang in there, buddy. Help's on the way soon.)

Trailer Park Fridays: Theatrical Screenings

Got to thinking the other day about theatrical screenings. Why? Well, this year has been kind of an aberration for me, movie-seeing wise, with an all out blitz of actual movie theater attendance. With the likes of Iron Man, The Hulk, Wall-E, Indy 4 and an anniversary screening of Animal House all out in '08, I've found myself at the cinemaplex more this year than the past five years combined very easily. A combination of non-comfort -- a man of my tonnage and cup-holders do not get along all that well, general audience behavior, a second-shift profession, and if we're going to be honest, nothing really turning my crank enough to get my fat-ass into those little seats for a weekend matinée, kept me at home waiting for the DVD, but lately, thanks to a new daily matinee policy, lower prices, thinner crowds, and a few pounds off my butt, have gotten me back into the movie-going habit of my youth. Which got me to thinking about what movie from my misspent youth had I paid to see the most times at a theater. And here's what I came up with to the best of my recollection.

Coming in at number three:

At least seven times (actually a tie with Jurassic Park* but I like this movie better). And this is kinda of recent entry, but this movie made me laugh so hard and made me feel so good after each screening, that I just had to see it again and again, and I kept dragging more and more different people with me to spread the happy hillbilly bumpkin viral hootenanny joy-gasm that this wonderful film is.

Coming in at number two:

Easily nine times. Between the hard-top run and the recirculation through the local Drive-In, it seems that one whole summer, after legion baseball practice, a whole herd of us went and saw this Hal Needham ode to high-octane and celebrity cameos. (And I know it isn't the trailer because I couldn't find a theatrical trailer.)

And the film that I saw the most times in the theater is...

..ass a whopping 14 times. "Aw, Ray, the sponges moved about a foot and half."

Now I know these numbers may be small, but when you consider that for the first twenty or so years of my life the nearest theater was thirty miles away, I think I did pretty good because there a big lump of films that were viewed at least five or six times. And now that I think of it, I've completely lost track of how many times I saw Harry and the Hendersons one summer, but it was a lot. Sucker for Bigfoot am I.

* Frankly, I'm not sure if the seventh time I saw Jurassic Park counts, because I saw it during the 39th week of a 53 week run at the Starship 9 Dollar Theater and the print was so mangled about a third of the film was missing.

Tune-Age Tuesdays: The Big E

Ladies and Gentlemen, the King.

Promised Land:


American Trilogy.


I'm sorry. Excuse me, just gotta little something in my eye.

Picture Monday: Birthday Boy!

Ah, B-Fest. Happy birthday, pal!
(C'mon The Blue Bird of Happiness wasn't that bad.)

Trailer Park Fridays: Mad, Mad, Mad Muppets

This is pilfered from another thread over on the BMMB about recasting movies with nothing but Jim Henson's Muppets. Personally, I chimed in with It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Muppet World, and here's how I thought the cast would shake out:

Spencer Tracy (Culpepper) ... Steve Martin (Token Human)
Milton Berle (Finch) ... Kermit
Dorothy Provine (Emaline) ... Annie Sue
Ethel Merman (Mrs. Marcus) ... Miss Piggy
Sid Caeser (Melville) ... Gonzo
Eddie Adams (Monica) ... Camilla
Mickey Rooney (Dingy) ... Rowlf
Buddy Hackett (Benjy) ... Fozzie
Jonathan Winters (Pike) ... Animal
Jimmy Durante (The Smiler) ... Dr. Teeth
Dick Shawn (Sylvester Marcus) ... Link Heartthrob
Terry Thomas (Hawthorne) ... The Swedish Chef
Phil Silvers (Otto) ... Rizzo the Rat
Marvin Kaplan (Irwin) ... Bunson
Arnold Stang (Ray) ... Beeker
Don Knotts (Motorist) ... Lew Zealand
Peter Falk (Cabbie) ... Floyd
Eddie Anderson (Cabbie) ... Zoot
Jim Backus (Fitzgerald) ... Snookums
Paul Ford (Col. Wilburforce) ... Sam the Eagle
Carl Reiner (Air Traffic Controller) ... Scooter
Jesse White (Air Traffic Controller) ... Pops
Three Stooges (Firemen) .. Grover, Harry Monster, Cookie Monster
Jack Benny (Motorist) ... Oscar the Grouch

And here's the trailer for It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World:


And the only trailer I could find for the Muppets was this:

Tune-Age Tuesdays: Movie Themes!

Here's a tune that is almost guaranteed to bring out the Solid Gold Dancer in just about anyone.



A full write-up and review of Moon Zero Two will be posted over on Micro-Brewed Reviews just as soon as I burn out the urge to replay that clip and stop dancing. Now, if you'll excuse me...

Picture Mondays: 1941 Screen Cap.

"I don't think you're gonna hit him, Ward."
-- Angelo Sciolli, 1941

Trailer Park Friday: Outlaw Bikers!

First up a film that is a helluva lot better than its title would imply.

Werewolves on Wheels:


I'm serious, it's not that bad!

Next, we have a film that is no where near as good as its title would imply.

Satan's Sadists:


How could this possibly be bad? Two words: Al and Adamson.