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Reviews
Martians Go Home (1989)
Movie is one of the worst of all time, but not the worst... Spoiler comments...
I read the book on which this was based years ago. The book was clever.
IMDb needs to change their vote thingie to list a film as zero. Perhaps an icon of a trash can.
But the only thing that saves this film is the performance by the redheaded doctor. She makes the film and is the only redeeming part of this film.
Particularly annoying was whomever was playing the fat & incredibly obnoxious Martian.
My girlfriend and I wanted to kill the guy long before the film was over.
This is not the worst film ever.
The worst one I have ever seen is one called Fearless Frank. Jon Voight's first film. It is worse than Plan 9 From Outer Space.
I would avoid this one at all costs if you value your sanity.
Shadow on the Land (1968)
A prescient movie
When this film came out, it was decried by both critics and science fiction fans as being preposterous because in America such an event could never happen.
Now the conspiracy theorists say that our current President is ready to have events occur which will bring this movie to a realization.
I have always been surprised that this movie has never come out on tape or DVD as a warning that it COULD happen here.
The movie is flawed in many ways, but having to show id at airports, being screened at airports, on roads, at bus & train stations was unthinkable 40 years ago, yet it has occurred.
Sinclair Lewis was right. We did not learn from his book or take heed the warning of this film.
Politicians once they have power will do anything to keep it, even usurp the Constitution which they have sworn to protect and defend.
Mister 880 (1950)
Burt Lancaster tracks down elderly counterfeiter...
This film is shown so rarely as to be virtually unknown. Like a number of black and white films, it does not get seen anymore and when I have mentioned it to people they have NEVER heard of it.
Twentieth Century Fox should release this on DVD, if they haven't already.
I believe Turner Classic Movies may have shown it once.
It is great fun and I think everyone will enjoy it.
Lancaster plays a Secret Service agent is driven crazy as he tries to track down a counterfeiter who has eluded the government for years and Gwenn's performance is a delight. His rationale for counterfeiting makes perfect sense, but drives a judge and Lancaster crazy.
The movie is dated with the passage of time, but it is fascinating to see how the Secret Service of the day tracked down counterfeiters and the New York of the early 50s.
I also seem to recall this movie had an Oscar nomination too, but I could be wrong.
george senda martinez, ca
Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle (1981)
Hottest woman ever
For my money, the sexiest woman in porn. I saw all of her films in the 80s and wished I could have met her in person. She exuded sexuality and made you want to have sex with her and hug her at the same time.
At one time, she was working at a massage parlor in Berkeley, but sadly I found out too late where she had been working.
The current porn films have no style nor do they arouse you...it is sad.
The other 2 women who I loved were Carol Connors ( whom I got to meet ) and another actress who was from England and who was the ultimate older woman type. She was in Seven Into Snowy and I can't recall her name. One other one who quit porn at the demand of her husband was Jennifer Welles, her performance in Honeypie was incredibly hot.
The 80s was the golden age of porn and no one knows how to make films that get you aroused anymore.
Search (1972)
Search pre-empted too much, maybe why it failed
As I recall, this show wasn't given a chance. I know that in the San Francisco Bay Area it was preempted 5 times ( ! ) in it's original run, including for 2 shows on the energy crisis !!
I loved the show, but the best episodes were the one's with Hugh O'Brien and I can still hear Burgess Meredith going practically insane and yelling " Lockwood ! Do you copy ! " and Lockwood ignoring him.
The episodes with Doug McClure, and Franciosa weren't as good.
I had a terrible crush on Angel Tompkins, too.
A guy in Palos Verdes Peninsula was selling copies of the Probe scanner. Wish I still had one but I lost it.
George Senda Martinez, Ca
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964)
My favorite show of all time !
When U.N.C.L.E. was "on" it was great and when it was not it was awful. As a 10 year old in San Francisco, me and every kid I knew had our U.N.C.L.E. Specials and T.H.R.U.S.H. rifles and we regularly pretend we were attacking T.H.R.U.S.H. HQ somewhere. Even then, I had developed a talent for voices and did a fairly good imitation of Robert Vaughn's voice and so was always playing Solo. I wanted to grow up to be like Vaughn and couldn't believe the gorgeous women on the show then. Years later I became friends with David McDaniel, a writer of the U.N.C.L.E. books and through his association with Norman Felton, I was appointed head of T.H.R.U.S.H. for Nevada. So when you hear about evil doings in Las Vegas, you know your unfriendly neighborhood T.H.R.U.S.H. Satrap is on the job !
Recent action movies have tried to revive the spy shows of the 60s but fail because the producers and writers don't have a sense of history and a feel for what the various shows were about ( The Wild Wild West, The Avengers).
There is a Yahoo group about U.N.C.L.E. and I am awaiting the release of the DVD set.
Curiously, there has been a U.N.C.L.E. movie in the works kicking around the studios for about 10 years, but nothing ever seems to come of it ( the same goes for an A-Team movie.
There are U.N.C.L.E. references in the show NCIS and the A-Team.
Closing Channel D....
George Senda Martinez, Ca.
Ironside (1967)
Burr had another hit with this one !
I lived in San Francisco from 1964-1980 and had a great fondness for the city. Raymond Burr had an immediate hit with this show and I enjoyed it immensely. It was always interesting to see the shots of where Mark Sanger was driving and how they would cut to a studio set when they got out of the van. I always wondered how they made the old Hall of Justice look like it was still on Montgomery Street when it had been torn down by the start of the series.
Another enjoyment was the development of the characters, particularly Mark Sanger who went from an uneducated street punk to a cop and then an attorney over the years.
Barbara Anderson got an Emmy for her work on the series as I recall.
If you look at the guest star list, there are a lot of character actors on it who appeared in everything from the 50's to the 80's including Richar Anderson, Michael Conrad, and Jack Soo.
An exciting show and I find little on TV today which makes me want to watch it every week like I did with Ironside.
George Senda Martinez, Ca
My Favorite Year (1982)
Movie star goes on TV and becomes a hero for real
I have always been a sucker for classic comedy and this movie is great fun.
I understand that the O'Toole character was based on Errol Flynn, even though he had died before this movie supposedly is set. O'Toole is great in the role.
I was born in1952, so it is nice to see what fashions, cars and other things looked like in the New York of that era.
The King Kayser character has echoes of Sid Caesar when you hear him.
This movie is one to watch if you want something to watch on a night when there's nothing else on.
George Senda Concord, Ca
The Best Man (1964)
The more politics changes the more it remain the same..
I work at a movie theatre and in a time of one-week wonders ( yes, one film with an action star lasted 3 days in our chain !) it is refreshing to see a film again where the acting is good and the story keeps your interest.
I am watching this movie after not seeing it for 30 years. It made an impression on me and I started listening to both Gore Vidal and William F Buckley because of it.
Henry Fonda's character is clearly based on Adlai Stevenson. Cliff Robertson echoes Richard Nixon so much it is scary. His arrogance is such that he gives the former President orders !
People decried the smoke-filled room politics of this era but I wonder if we got better leaders back then. They seemed to make decisions based on the courage of their convictions and not what the latest poll says. Fonda's character comments on his ignoring polls, whereas now, politicians can't seem to brush their teeth without worrying about public opinion and not what is best for the country.
The actors in this movie didn't need special effects and could ACT unlike so many of the baby-faced wanna-bes of today.
This movie reflects sex, immorality, infidelity, integrity. God and judgement day are even mentioned, something that is anathema today. And what's shown in here shows that times change but one could replace current politicians for these actors and see them immediately.
Lee Tracy is great in this movie and it could be easily watched for just his performance.
Of note, is the glad-handing by William Russell at a public pool. No security guards, no secret service people.
And mention of a nervous breakdown by Fonda's character. Remember Thomas Eagleton?
If you haven't seen this movie, see it and Seven Days In May afterward. It will give you an idea of how poliiics was looked upon in a totally different era.
George Senda Concord, Ca.
In Harm's Way (1965)
Too much talking not enough action...
I've never been able to get past the melodramatic romance part of this movie. It is shown seemingly constantly on TCM & AMC but this part of the film just bores me to tears.
The character of Wayne's son and the Congressman just annoy the hell out of me and the son is a total rat
I will have to record it sometime for the battle sequences.
I have always wondered why Preminger did this film. It didn't seem to be the type of film he would normally have done. I have never seen a copy of the book but remember when this came out in the theatres.
George Senda Concord, Ca
The Organization (1971)
Not a bad film but sort of hokey even then but still fun to watch
I lived in San Francisco from 1964-1980 and got to see a LOT of movies filmed there. I watched them film the sections in Bart ( being built back then and one of the film's chase scenes goes on in the tunnel) and Muni and saw this and the 2 previous Virgil Tibbs films in San Francisco theatres.
It is fun to look at this movie after 30+ years and see what is still there and what has changed over the years. The 70's seems like a million years ago. The Phillips gas station on Beach Street has had about 10 different brands over the years. The hofbrau on Turk Street ( Iate there every night, it was cheap) and Lew Lehr's steak house disappeared in the 80s.Hare Krishna's on Market Street across from the Sheraton Palace.
I feel this movie is better than the previous Tibbs film, but my opinion is, of course, subjective. Even a bad detective movie has some merits.
Of course, the premise of this film, that 6 people could bring down "the organization" ( mafia?) by stealing 4 million dollars worth of heroin is kind of silly. And the organization is having a hard time coming up with cash to buy back the drugs? Come on guys....
As for the 70s music, well, Lalo Schiffrin and others composed a lot of movie music back then and times change. I liked the music myself.
The 70s saw a lot of movies filmed in the city by the bay. Bullitt, The Laughing Policeman, The Dirty Harry Films, The Monk ( TV film, not the recent TV show, this was with George Maharis and Janet Leigh), The Towering Inferno,and the Streets of San Francisco TV show. I worked as an extra in films in those days and miss that era of cheap food, cheap rent, and cheap Giants tickets...
A great site I just found shows probably every movie filmed in San Francisco.
http://www.MisterSF.com
click on cinematic sf !
George Senda Concord, Ca
Fearless Frank (1967)
Worst movie ever !
I used to review movies years ago and have seen hundreds of films.
This movie is full of double, triple and multiple-exposed images of Jon Voight as a Superman clone and was so bad we watched it twice on late night TV because we couldn't believe how bad it was.
Voight plays a country bumpkin who goes to the city, gets killed and is revived by a mad scientist into a Superman-like hero who becomes psychotic. The scientist develops a clone of the hero and they fight it out in the skies over St. Louis.
It's NOT in the list of credits usually listed for Jon Voight. It was his first film.