The Rat Pack are in full swing in this 1964 musical comedy. Starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr, the movie takes as its inspiration the Robin Hood legend, transposed to 1920s Chicago. Sinatra and pals play gangsters with the names of Robby, Little John and Will. Bing Crosby also pops up as…
Rio Bravo
Howard Hawks’ 1959 Western Rio Bravo was made as a riposte to the (allegedly) left-leaning High Noon. John Wayne stars as the decidedly un-conflicted, courageous sheriff, and Dean Martin hardly stretches his acting abilities to play the town drunk who helps him heroically defend the town from a gang of ranchers. Hawks liked the story…
All About My Mother
I’m not a huge follower or fan of Spanish director Pedro Almadovar. The only one of his movies I remember definitely seeing is his very strange thriller The Skin I Live In (heavily inspired by Eyes Without A Face). I don’t think I’ve ever seen 1999 comedy-drama All About My Mother. It deals with some…
Aces High
British war film Aces High, from 1976, is an airborne version of 1920s play Journey’s End. The story once again centres on a week in the lives and (mostly) deaths of a First World War battalion, with the action moved from the trenches to the skies. The cast is a veritable who’s who of…
Violent Playground
I’ve never seen 1958 British crime drama Violent Playground. (Ok, frankly I’d never heard of it either before finding this poster…) However, that didn’t stop me buying this Spanish one-sheet on a whim. Its a great image, I think, and the film also boasts a fantastic cast: Stanley Baker, Peter Cushing and, in an early…
The Masque Of The Red Death
The Masque Of The Red Death is arguably the best of the Edgar Allen Poe adaptations that Roger Corman made with Vincent Price in the 60s. The film is the last but one of 8 Poe adaptations Corman directed. It was made in the UK, and was stylishly shot in color by cinematographer (and later…
Pink Floyd The Wall
“All in all you’re just another brick in the wall…” If you grew up in the 80s The Wall was inescapable. First there was the 1979 double album and hit single, mostly conceptualised by Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, then a tour featuring animatronics designed by artist Gerald Scarfe, who also produced the album artwork. The…
L’Aine Des Ferchaux
I must admit I had never heard of 1963 French film L’Aine Des Ferchaux (aka Magnet Of Doom) until this huge poster landed on my lap as part of a large lot I bought. The movie is (apparently) a neo-noir directed by renowned New Wave director Jean-Pierre Melville (Le Samourai and others) and based on…
Exorcist II : The Heretic
When it comes to discussing terrible sequels to great movies, Exorcist II is invariably at the front of the conversation. It’s a movie which manages to throw out just about everything which made the original so compelling. Linda Blair returns as a teenage Regan, and Max Von Sydow plays a young Father Merrin in a…
Mishima
I must admit I fell asleep in the cinema during Mishima, which is probably rather unfair on Paul Schrader’s movie. Maybe it was a long day, maybe I wasn’t in the mood for subtitles, but I did find it rather dull at the time (hence the snooze). Mishima is the bizarre true story of a…