Posts Tagged ‘Henry Mancini’
Tuesday, August 8th, 2023
August 12, 1983
So far in this series we’ve seen the third STAR WARS movie, the second PSYCHO movie, the thirteenth James Bond movie, the third SUPERMAN movie, the second Tony Manero movie, and the third JAWS movie. (We skipped the second PORKY’S movie, but that also came out, and we looked at the second GRIZZLY movie, which did not come out.) Among all these, one of the least remembered, for justifiable reasons, is the eighth PINK PANTHER movie, CURSE OF THE PINK PANTHER.
Though people my age tend to be more interested in the animated cat character spun-off from the Friz Freleng-directed title sequence of the first movie in 1963, the PINK PANTHER is of course a series of mystery slapstick comedies about the clumsy but accidentally effective French detective Inspector Jacques Clouseau, played by Peter Sellers in THE PINK PANTHER, A SHOT IN THE DARK, THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER, THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN and REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER. After Sellers died in 1980 the series became an experiment in ways to continue after the death of a star that was 98% of the attraction. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Art Leonardi, Bill Nighy, Blake Edwards, Burt Kwouk, Capucine, Christopher Reich, David Niven, Denise Crosby, Ed Parker, Henry Mancini, Herbert Lom, Joanna Lumley, Joe Morton, Leslie Ash, Robert Loggia, Robert Wagner, Roger Moore, Ted Wass
Posted in Reviews, Comedy/Laffs | 13 Comments »
Wednesday, April 20th, 2022
We’re all sad that Bruce Willis has retired, and more than that to have confirmation of his long rumored cognitive issues. He’s still there, and unable to say goodbye. It’s crushing.
The upside is how nice it’s been to have everyone on the same page again and celebrating his great career and all the happiness he’s brought us over the years. That made me want to watch something of his I’d never seen before – thanks for the recommendations, everyone. I decided to check out Blake Edwards’ SUNSET (1988), since it’s from that period when Moonlighting was still on the air, and I truly believed Bruce represented the maximum coolness potential for a human being. The earlier Edwards/Willis joint BLIND DATE has a terrible reputation, but I liked it, so SUNSET seemed worth a try. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Andreas Katsulas, Anthony B. Richmond, Blake Edwards, Bruce, Bruce Willis, Dermot Mulroney, Henry Mancini, James Garner, Joe Dallesandro, M. Emmet Walsh, Malcolm McDowell, Mariel Hemingway, Richard Bradford, Rod Amateau, Tom Mix, Vernon Wells
Posted in Comedy/Laffs, Mystery, Reviews | 31 Comments »
Thursday, May 20th, 2021
May 10, 1991
Okay, I’m looping back a little here. I initially skipped SWITCH because it didn’t look very fun to me. But as I think about MADONNA: TRUTH OR DARE and a couple of the movies coming up later I’m realizing that changes in the portrayal of women in pop culture will be a major theme of this series, so it seems like a mistake not to look at a movie about a sexist guy waking up in the body of a woman. Also, Bryan in the FX2 comments wrote, “I don’t blame you for not wanting to review SWITCH but I was excited to hear your thoughts about it. It seems it could teach us a lot about 1991.” Good point. So I’m doing it.
SWITCH is late period Blake Edwards. That’s not a period held in high regard by anyone I’ve come across, but I did kind of like BLIND DATE (four years and three movies before this), which got terrible reviews. So you never know.
Steve Brooks (Perry King, CLASS OF 1984, MANDINGO) is “one hell of an advertising man,” which of course means he’s introduced in his office putting golf balls into that thing that business assholes putt into in all ‘80s and ‘90s movies. Then he gets an an unexpected call. Three of his ex-girlfriends, Margo (JoBeth Williams, POLTERGEIST), Liz (Lysette Anthony, KRULL, Bryan Adams videos) and Felicia (Victoria Mahoney, Brewster Place) invite him over for “a surprise party.” (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Blake Edwards, Bruce Hornsby, Bruce Payne, Catherine Keener, Ellen Barkin, Faith Minton, gender switch, Henry Mancini, Jim J. Bullock, Jim Lovelett, Jimmy Smits, Jobeth Williams, Linda Gary, Lorraine Bracco, Lysette Anthony, Perry King, Summer of 1991, Tea Leoni, Victoria Mahoney
Posted in Reviews, Comedy/Laffs | 35 Comments »
Monday, September 19th, 2016
LIFEFORCE is a crazy fuckin movie, my third or fourth favorite from director Tobe Hooper. Three years after POLTERGEIST and one before THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 he made this distinctly weird but effective sci-fi horror film, his first of three Golan and Globus productions.
Based on a 1976 novel called Space Vampires by Colin Wilson, it is about exactly that. Astronauts on a British space shuttle mission to study Halley’s Comet find themselves landing on a weird flower-shaped object and discovering hundreds (maybe thousands) of dessicated corpses of giant space bats. But also they find three naked humanoids hibernating in glass cases, much like the underwear girls behind the front desk at the Standard Hotel.
Most people, including myself, sometimes refer to this as NAKED SPACE VAMPIRES. But another good title would be DON’T BRING SHIT BACK FROM SPACE. But this is a momentous discovery, so understandably the astronauts want to get some samples, including all three of the humanoids. And I don’t want to give anything away so I will just say it is possible that they will come to Earth and scientists will have many great breakthroughs from studying them and there will be numerous benefits for mankind. That is one possibility. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: 70mm, Cannon Films, Colin Wilson, Dan O'Bannon, Halley's Comet, Henry Mancini, Mathilda May, space shuttle, Steve Railsback, Tobe Hooper, vampires
Posted in Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction and Space Shit | 20 Comments »
