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MrGKB
8/7 - Worth a watch or more, good easily outweighing any miscues.
6/5 - Getting into Sturgeon's Revelation territory.
4/3 - Time-killer at best. Slim redeeming value, if any.
2/1 - The black hole of film-making.
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Destroy All Neighbors (2024)
Yeah, no....
...this movie really deserves nothing in the way of attention beyond being a vehicle for Alex Winter to have fun in heavy make-up. Everything about "Destroy All Neighbors" is pointless, ludicrous, wasteful, and a host of other negative characteristics that are typically assigned to the dregs of cinema in an effort to fulfill posting requirements while sufficiently warning what few readers there will ever be to stay far, far away from even the contemplation of watching the poor thing. I'll leave it at that; you do what you will. I have to add a few more characters to this blurb, and then I am outta...
Grey (2024)
A Good Samaritan tale of substance...
..."Grey" seemed to me to be one of the few Christian parables I've ever seen that wore no cross on its sleeve. The writer/director is an unknown to me, as are the two actors, yet the whole thing felt like I'd seen and been comfortable with these folks for years. I'll not spoil a thing; two men under pressure react in vastly different ways to arrive at a conclusion that neither one of them likely expected.
Everything is of a piece productionwise;it all serves the story in a straightforward, honest manner. Assured direction yields photography and editing that draws viewers in and holds them close, while the same deft handling of actors draws natural and organic performances from the cast. The script never wears out its welcome, despite a certain degree of unlikelihood. Highly recommended.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond (2020)
A watch-once franchise expansion...
....that likely could have been squeezed into a single season of a dozen tight episodes, "TWD:WB" provides backstory for TWDU that will eventually resolve itself in the Rick & Michonne spin-off, "TWD: The Ones Who Live." The story centers on four teenagers on a Wizard of Oz trek across a wasteland of "empties" between their doomed home in Nebraska and a missing father in New York. By and large, it's hit and mostly miss, thanks to a half-hearted, hairbrained script (it's always ultimately the script, isn't it? Yes. Yes, it is.), some questionable casting thanks to that script's mediocre world-building (the ostensible leads show no signs of being raised in an apocalyptic environment, somehow naive innocents in a world of zombie chaos, and not a one of them even vaguely appearing to have been trained to live and survive in such a world), and an overall tone to the storytelling that fails to capture a TWD vibe in any signicant way. Too many cooks, not enough broth. For TWDU completists only. I've been a fan since Day One, but am fairly certain I'll never watch this part of it again.
Inch Thick, Knee Deep (2021)
When emotions boil over...
...someone usually ends up taking the brunt of it all, and "Inch Thick, Knee Deep" proves to be no exception to that rule. The brainchild of auteur Anatasha Blakely, who surely deserves greater notoriety than she seemingly has so far earned, this well-crafted psycho-thriller (with an emphasis on psycho), builds its mannered way to a shocking climax that is rendered all the more effective by a quiet twist of an epilogue that leaves its traumatized audience wanting still more. Major kudos all around to the crew that put this gut-punch of a short together, mostly to its two leads who deliver utterly convincing performances, and of course even more so to one of those leads, Ms. Blakely, who wrote and directed the thing as well. I'm not going to say anything else except you can find this horrific gem on YouTube and probably elsewhere. For anyone who enjoys disturbing (and disturbed) filmmaking that doesn't rely on grue to work its magic, this is a must-see. With sugar or without.
Devil Girl from Mars (1954)
The title is progenitor clickbait...
...in that the titular character is neither a devil nor a girl, and we've only got her word for it that she's from Mars, but don't let that stop you from enjoying the solitary pleasures this graduate of the Ed Wood School of Filmmaking has to offer. Actually, the budget couldn't have been that scant, but it was only a step or so above. "Devil Girl from Mars" is a cheapie through and through, yet somehow manages to transcend its paltry budget in ways that have kept it in the genre spotlight to this day.
The primary appeal of the film, particularly with regard to its cult status, is without a doubt generated by Patricia "Quo Vadis" Laffan, whose imperious demeanor and fetish costuming command attention. This has led a lot of folks to describe the film as camp, but I don't see it; everything is played quite serious and straight, with nary a tongue to be found in a cheek and no assistance from a script that boasts anything beyond bright middle school plotting and dialogue. "I'm a scientist! I believe what my brain tells me to think!" The acting and direction is appropriately stagey, given the source theatrics, a play one can imagine was never actually produced as such. One can only wonder why a Shakespearean professional like John "Hamlet" Laurie took a role in a lowbrow film like "Devil Girl from Mars." Perhaps it was the lure of working with Ms. Laffan, who knows? Or maybe it was just a necessary paycheck.
At any rate, "Devil Girl from Mars" is just bad enough to be notably entertaining; worth a watch to secure bragging rights that you actually saw it. I've given it an extra star for that alone. The other four are for Nyah, of course, and for all the entertainment value I got from reading about it.
The Centrifuge Brain Project (2012)
"Gravity is a mistake"...
...and this brilliant short film is determined to prove it! Presented as a remarkably credible documentary (though in truth a clever mockumentary), the piece won writer/director. Till "Black Panther" Nowak a slew of awards, propelling him even further along a career track of visual effects, production design, and filmmaking.
What's notable to me is how dreamlike the thing is, while being firmly rooted in a reality indistinguishable from our own, the sort of thing that advances in Artificial Intelligence have promised, but so far failed to deliver. It remains to be seen if AI progresses to the point where it can match the creative imagination of the humans who gave us "The Centrifuge Brain Project."
Meanwhile, if you haven't seen it yet, hie yourself over to YouTube, where it's currently enjoying over 7.5 million views, and enlighten yourself. You won't regret the ride.
Rebirth (2020)
This is what happens...
...when folks who don't really know how to make movies make a movie. They end up Dunning-Krugering themselves into producing messes like "Rebirth," a scratch-and-dent remake of the seminal zombie classic, George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead." It's tone deaf in almost every respect, sad to say, and I have to put it on the quaking shoulders of faux auteur Roger Connors, who in writing/directing/co-producing and starring in the benighted project, has mystifyingly chosen to put a gay slant on things that plays poorly and adds nothing to the story. I'm not going to pick at the corpse; others have already done that here. I simply mean to caution potential viewers against any expectations of quality filmmaking, because you won't find any. "Rebirth" is as pure an example of Sturgeon's Revelation as you might ask.
TL/DR: Low return entertainment even if you don't value your precious, irreplaceable time.
Slayers (2022)
If nothing else, a pointed reminder of Sturgeon's Revelation...
...and that there has to be a battom of the barrel within that aphorism. "Slayers" offers itself up as such, continually prompting its audience to wonder, "Who bankrolls junk like this and why, and how do otherwise talented actors get themselves involved?
That this thing wrapped principal photography in eleven days speaks volumes, none comnplimentary. One can imagine how little time went into the script. Loads of B-roll footage can't conceal the paltry budget of the whole affair, nor the lack of any consistent direction or vision. Maybe writer/director/producer K. Asher Levin has some sort of deal going with Thomas "The Mist" Jane or something, a poker debt or something, and they managed to talk some friends into helping out and...and really, who cares? None of it came to anything worthy of attention. None of the ladies involved will be showcasing it on their CV; well, maybe. Lydia "Z Nation" Hearst, if only to prove she's staying busy.
Enough words expended on this contender for worst film of the year. You've been duly warned, and not just by me.
The Blob (1958)
Truthfully, of minor interest at best...
...mostly by virtue of being Steve "Bullitt" McQueen's first lead role, along with the same for Aneta "The Andy Griffith Show" Corsaut. It also anticipated the aggressive alien antagonist of John Carpenter's "The Thing." That's really about it insofar as cultural significance goes. Various commentaies have noted the script's metaphorical ripoff of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and its not-so-subtle Red Scare subtext, as well as its position as an early example of teen exploitation films, never mind the actual ages of its two leads or the existence of films like "Blackboard Jungle" and the like.
"The Blob" remains a favored nostalgia piece among boomers, though, whose collective memory has made much more of it than it deserves. Worth a watch if you've never seen it, mostly for the laughs engendered by its overall ineptitude, awful scripting, and generally cardboard acting.
Poser (2021)
Violates the cardinal sin of indies:...
...Don't. Be. Boring. "Poser" violates this precept far more often than not, and at times for far too long. Clocking in at nearly 1.5 hours, this paperthin story could have been told in about 20 minutes. I won't fault the production values; this is a very professional piece of work. But it's boring, and I hate saying that because I really wanted it not to be. It's boring and dull; we've seen these characters (such as they are) and their angsty antics many times before. The two leads, relative unknowns, are pretty enough and evince the chops needed to be in front of a camera, but the script (as is nearly always the case in efforts like this) fails to give them anything of interest to do, and as a result the audience doesn't really care what happens to them. They're just dolls being moved around to satisfy a threadbare plot.
If this is a film for twenty-somethings, well, they've been shortchanged again.
The House That Jack Built (2018)
Frustratingly pretentious, drawn out tedium...
...which, if marking the culmination of auteur Lars "Melancholia" Von Trier's career in filmmaking, can't have come too soon. Von Trier has absolutely nothing to say about the subject of serial killers that hasn't already been said by better writers and directors in better movies, and even less to add to the art of making movies. Please, Lars, do as you've supposedly promised: retire, go away, leave us alone! You're boring, irrelevant, and far too full of yourself to be entertaining, let alone instructional or inspirational. Your artsy is simply way too fartsy.
Nope, I'll not fault the acting, nor the production itself. It's all highly competent stuff, at least as far as the script allows; LVT can put a movie together, what a surprise, but really, man, with a subject as ripe as serial murder, can't you at least make it about someone--anyone!--an audience can relate to? You know, actually care about? I'm talking about the victims, I trust you understand. The only thing I cared about regarding Matt "Over the Edge" Dillon's protagonist was how appropriate his eventual comeuppance would be, and even that proved to be a great disappointment. The whole Dante's Inferno metaphor felt lazy and indifferent, a conceit, a rhetorical construct offered up as an easy excuse for any storytelling faults, and there are more than enough of those to go around.
Recommended hard pass on this one unless you're a Von Trier fan or a serial killer completist.
Revealer (2022)
Belying its title...
...and its premise by spending more time telling rather than showing, and ultimately revealing next to nothing of great import or interest, this Covid-era effort feels like it spawned from the shadows of higher-budget releases like Seth Rogen's "This is the End." Its script isn't as clever, though, and that's a fairly low bar, to be honest. The two relatively unknown leads acquit themselves pretty well despite said script's weaknesses; I was impressed that the peep show worker didn't sport a stereotypical toned and sculpted body and that her closeted antagonist was equally nondescript, despite sporting a rack that cried out for attention. Adolescent sexism to the side, casting was one of the strongest aspects of this production, with a special shout-out for casting a very likeable Bishop Stevens. It's a shame the story chose to shy away from the true horror of the situation. Oddly enough, at times I wondered if "Revealer"had originated as a stage play, though that may have been the effect of the "tunnel" walls that the ladies spent too much time in. It just felt...tame.
Target Earth (1954)
Failing on almost every level...
...to transcend its low budget, "Target Earth" proves itself to be of little note to any but the most devoted of genre buffs. Its cast of mostly reliable pros led by Richard "Creature From the Black Lagoon" Denning was saddled with a mediocre (at best) script under the direction of first-timer Sherman Rose, who should have stuck with film editing. The acting thus has all the emotional resonance of a slapdash comic book written by middle-schoolers who have no idea how human beings interact in crisis situations. What little science is presented in this ostensible science fiction tale is, well, little to none. Let's not even think about how a city can be evacuated overnight.
I can only surmise that its current rating on this site is an expression of nostalgia by older voters and some sort of odd appreciation for bad movies on the part of the younger ones. Or, who knows, maybe they simply enjoyed seeing Whit Bissell pop up in another spear-chucker role.
Sunbelly (2021)
No fleas on this puppy...
...and I'm not going to say a whole lot about it other than that if you're an animation fan, and a fan of surreal science-fantasy, you owe it to yourself to take the sixteen minutes needed to absorb this auteur effort. Free on YouTube and probably elsewhere, "Sunbelly" is a best of show.
The Stand (2020)
My rating is generous, and I'm not sure why...
...I'm being so magnanimous; possibly it's for the production values in this grievously mangled retelling of the 1994 mini-series. This version simply bones the pooch without mercy; it's a bit of a surprise that the story's canine managed to stay true to its character, something that most of the humans failed to do, the blame for which I put squarely on the writers and directors. This adaptation of Stephen King's epic apocalypse tale doesn't live up to its title at all. It barely gets to its knees.
The gravest mistake, as most critics have noted, is the destruction of the linear plot via way too many flashbacks. Tension is lost, character arcs fall by the wayside, and viewer identification is dispensed with.
Additionally, various worthy scenes are excised or strangely altered, and none of these changes improve things. I'll use a character side-by=side with the the '94 version as well as the novel to comment further:
My favorite character in the novel, Larry Underwood - The switch to African American is fine by me; Jovan "Fences" Adepo does a fine job with what he's given. Less fine, though, is the reduction of his tunnel gauntlet to a bland sewer crawl (despite having a proper Rita as a traveling companion, and never mind the reshaping of her character), as well as the change in his motivation for turning down Nadine's last-minute overtures, a key moment ruined by the excision of Lucy Swann from the story. Adepo plays the reformed lamb of sacrifice well; that aspect of the character managed to evade the scripters' penchant for rewriting things for the apparent sake of rewriting them. Novel - 10, 1994 - 9, 2020 - 7
Stu Redman - James "Hairspray" Marsden was decent, and I at least bought his relationship with Fran, but he lacked the everyman charisma of 94's Gary "The Green Mile" Sinise. Too handsome, perhaps, or too much of his Westworld persona rubbed off on the character. Novel - 10, 1994 - 9, 2020 - 7
Fran Goldsmith - I'd have to watch the series again to be more specific, and I'm very unlikely to ever do that for numerous reasons, but. Odessa "The Professor" Young's portrayal of Frannie struck me as more honest to the book, despite the rewrite hits her character arc took. At very least, she was better than 94's Molly "Sixteen Candles" Ringwald, who should never have been cast in the first place. Novel - 8 1994 - 4 2020 - 7.
Nadine Cross - another character severely altered in this version, much more so than her character melding in the '94 series. I had no real problem with Amber "Zombieland" Heard since the character was so revised from the book anyway. Amping up her complicity in the bombing plot was only one of several changes that rubbed me wrong. Novel - 9 1994 - 8 2020 - 6
Harold Lauder - the obvious author surrogate from the novel was painfully miscast in the '94 version, but despite the perfectly fine acting chops of Owen "It" Teague, the character is still mishandled in the new version. Teague's angular, almost emaciated features work against his efforts to become "one of the guys," let alone any sort of trustworthy member of the community dignified by the nickname "Hawk." Teague should have played Trashcan Man. Novel - 10 , 1994 - 6, 2020 - 6
Mother Abigail - Lessened in character by egregious scripting flaws, and all political issues to the side, Whoopie "Ghost" Goldberg's prophetess cannot help but hold no candle to Ruby "Cat People" Dee's witchy woman . Novel - 10 , 1994 - 8, 2020 -6.
Randall Flagg - Hampered by a script that strips away much of his fearsomeness and malignant charm, Alexander "The Northman" Skarsgard brings nothing new to the table beyond maybe a different haircut. Even his demonic form was unimpressive. Novel - 10, 1994 - 7 2020 - 6
Lloyd Henreid - There's no contest, Miguel "Robocop" Ferrer's portrayal is far more true to the character than Nat "The Naked Brothers Band" Wolff's smarmy pimp walk, and I fully blame the writers for that. Novel 9, 1994 - 9, 2020 -5
Tom Cullen - M-O-O-N, that spells more ill-conceived rewriting. I'll not fault the acting, though. Novel - 9, 1994 - 8, 2020 - 6
Nick Andros - Badly underwritten in this version. Henry Zaga has my sympathies. Novel - 10, 1994 - 8, 2020 - 6
Glenn Bateman - I had no problem with Greg "You've Got Mail" Kinnear's portrayal, much as I enjoyed Ray "My Favorite Martian" Walston's turn in the '94 edition. Novel - 9, 1994 - 7, 2020 - 7
That's enough, I suppose. Props to the likes of J. K. "Spider-Man" Simmons, Heather "Boogie Nights" Graham, and Clifton "Traffic" Collins, Jr., among others, for earning their paychecks without embarrassment.
Overall, this was a misconceived project that failed to illuminate the source material in any significant way, and n many cases distorted and lessened it. Down the line, folks will still be hauling out their copies (or streaming, or whatever) of the 1994 version, flawed as it was, for the enjoyment of a nostalgic encore. They won't be doing that with this botched attempt, despite whatever strengths it possesses.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
A serviceable money-grabber...
...the third entry in the original "Planet of the Apes" franchise is likely more notable for the trivia it represents than anything else, which is to say it really hasn't aged well. Plot holes abound, somewhat of a surprise given the CV of scripter Paul "Goldfinger" Dehn, workhorse Joseph "It's a Wonderful Life" Biroc's DP work is disappointingly unremarkable, and the direction from TV regular Don "Ride the Wild Surf" Taylor feels perfunctory at best. With a budget even lower than its pared-down predecessor, "Escape..." feels very much like a made-for-TV production, an harbinger perhaps of the short-lived series that would flicker briefly on the tube several years later and quickly die. And yet, somehow, it remains the best of the OG sequels, and I think this is primarily due to the strength of its cast.
No offense to his stand-in for "Beneath...," David Watson, but Roddy "Fright Night" McDowall makes a most welcome return as Cornelius, and is in fine form, despite playing second fiddle to Kim "A Streetcar Named Desire" Hunter's outspoken Zira in the course of our two heroes' tragic journey. There's plenty of name-brand support from the likes of Brad "Piranha" Dillman, Eric "Colossus: The Forbin Project" Braeden, William "To Kill a Mockingbird" Windom, Ricardo "The Singing Nun" Montalban, and Sal "Rebel Without a Cause" Mineo in his last film role before his senseless murder. As well, plenty of respected character actors keep things watchable, including John "Serpico" Randolph, Jason "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" Evers, Albert "Caddyshack" Salmi, Harry "Tales of the Texas Rangers" Lauter, and a thankless cameo from M. Emmet "Blade Runner" Walsh. No, casting is not the weakest link in "Escape..." As indicated earlier, it's the script and scaled-down production values that keep the thing from transcending Sturgeon's Revelation.
Even a few moments of consideration seriously weaken the suspension of disbelief necessary to accept the goings-on seriously, never mind the absurdities of what came before. How did a low-tech civilization such as that of the apes manage to retrieve, repair, refuel, and somehow launch a crippled spacecraft? Never mind the magical mysteries of time travel, consider the miraculous abilities of its occupants to pilot said spacecraft to a safe landing. Consider the blase attitudes of authority when confronted with simian creatures quite significantly evolved from their lesser cousins; does anyone honestly believe our government and/or military would carelessly remand such beings to the lax security of a zoo and its keepers? Ponder not the near-instantaneous effect of alcohol and truth serum on such primate creatures; ignore the nonsensical decision to deploy a contingent of armed troops to observe the hauling in of a beached spacecraft, and ignore (given our current situation) the utter lack of protocols for dealing with potential pathogens.
On second thought, don't. This film (and for that matter, all the franchise sequels) is best enjoyed with logic at a low setting; enough folks did just that back when it was first released to justify yet more mediocre sequels, so you'll be in good company.
The Earth Dies Screaming (1964)
It's hard to believe this clunker...
...was helmed by the director of many of the greatest Hammer horror films. The derivative script by Lippert Films workhorse, Harry Spaulding, moves from point to point without a hint of nuance, let alone memorable dialogue, and Terence "Horror of Dracula" Fisher seems totally out of his element without the energetic likes of Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing in his cast. The threadbare budget is no help, although Fisher and his cinematographer, Arthur "The Keep" Lavis, do manage to find a few effective images good for publicity stills if nothing else. Likely the high point of the film is the score by noted British composer, Elisabeth "Paranoiac" Lutyens. Truthfully, this is best suited for insomniac viewing only, and mercifully short, clocking in at just over an hour.
Red Light (2017)
Scylla meets Charybdis---
---in this heartrending clash of hopes and dreams and intentions, a downbeat O Henry-esque tale superbly acted by rising star Jessie "Beast" Buckley, and co-stars Martin "The Survivalist" McCann and Ben "Vampire Academy" Peel. Recommended.
Pieces of Me (2020)
An auspicious film debut...
...for a rising young actor that focuses on---surprise!---a rising young actor, "Pieces of Me" also puts a solid notch in the handle of a rising young writer/director, Julia Max. I'll not spoil anything, but once I saw the ineffable Caroline "Texas Chainsaw Massacre II" Williams show up, I knew this short was going to be a winner. Highly recommended as a Halloween treat, I caught this tasty giblet on the Alter channel on YouTube, and will be investigating the rest of Ms. Max's work, as well as keeping an eye out for Ms. Kaplan in her future projects.
Day the World Ended (1955)
Strictly a nostalgia film...
...with little to offer beyond fodder for MST3K ridicule and various bits of cinematic trivia, "Day the World Ended" features a risible post-apocalypse plot that ignores most of the likely consequences of thermonuclear war, horrendously stilted dialogue, cardboard characters that the actors gamely try to embody with minimal success (were there any rehearsals for this thing? Somehow, I doubt it), perfunctory direction from a young Roger Corman who had yet to come into his own, pedestrian lensing, a cheesy score by Corman regular Ronald Stein, and a budget that evinces every inch of its paucity. Ah, those were the days, eh? Crank 'em out, sell 'em to an indiscriminate audience, and hope for the best! Most of the cast either came from or went on to much better things. Despite its multitude of flaws, though, there remains something appealing about the movie, if perhaps only its brevity, prompting me to give it an extra star or two. What's not to like about the Marlboro Man shooting Mannix, who just earlier threw the body of "the girl with the million dollar legs" off a cliff?
Ruthless! The Musical (2019)
Why is there no credit for Tina...
...on this site? I'm aware that IMDbers will pay virtually no attention to this entry, but it ought to be at least kept accurate and complete. Anya Evans plays Tina, the Broadway-bound bad seed, and I'm here to tell you that she's right there with the rest of a powerhouse cast in a great show. That's all you need to know. Great show, great cast, go watch it.
2/3/21 edit: Thank you to whoever added the appropriate credit.
Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster (1965)
Deservedly considered one of the worst of the worst...
..."FMtS" sports minimal redeeming value beyond providing bits of geek trivia, putting it right up there with "Plan 9 from Outer Space" in the pantheon of cinematic wretchedness. I award it points for being the film debut of James "Return of the Living Dead" Karen, as well as that of Lou "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" Cutell (playing a mincingly hilarious baddie that surely inspired Mike Myers's Dr. Evil character in the Austin Powers franchise), along with the charmingly stilted presence of Playboy Playmate, Marilyn Hanold, and a cyborg "monster" (named Frank, of course) that presaged the look of Arnold Schwarzenegger's battle-damaged Terminator by nearly two decades.
MST3K fodder that it is, it gets a final point for period partygoing babes shaking their stuff in a laughable sequence of alien abduction, and the jarringly appealing, obscure single "To Have and to Hold" by The Distant Cousins as the music covering a time-killing sequence of Karen and his leading lady tootling around on a motor scooter. I will leave a few other bits of trivia unmentioned so as not to entirely spoil the fun of discovery by fans of cult kitsch.
Devotees of trash cinema will revere this hilarious misfire; all others are hereby warned to avoid this abject nonsense at all costs.
Runner (2017)
A strong calling card...
...for its auteur lead, this short's only real weakness is the conceit of its premise: a witness to an accidental death fails to report what she's seen to the authorities, and is eventually confronted by the equally irresponsible party to the killing. "Runner" presents a moral dilemma without resolution, which may well have been its creator's intention, i.e. a conversation piece, but this viewer felt somewhat cheated. I was left craving a deeper exploration of the situation, including the perspective of the inadvertent killer; there could well be a feature film hiding in this story. Nonetheless, the film is otherwise very well done on all counts. Ms. Cooney is quite obviously a talent to be watched; I wish her well in all her future endeavors.
Last Requests (2017)
Another rose in the crown...
...of Dale "Winter's Bone" Dickey, one of my favorite character actors currently working, is tyro writer/director Courtenay Johnson's adaptation of a short story by Giles Smith. She may never become a household name, but her rendition of this poignant tale will always be a choice gem on her own filmmaking crown as well. I hope she gets more opportunities to flex her creative muscles, though it appears producing is what she's pursuing. Caught this one on YouTube and enjoyed it immensely; it also features nice turns by Lindsay "True Blood" Pulsipher and Michael "Shotgun Stories" Abbott Jr.
The Bridge at Remagen (1969)
Plays a bit loose with history, but...
...John "The Towering Inferno" Guillerman's WWII action film serves well enough to offer an engaging perspective not only on a subject as yet unexamined by Hollywood, but also the inherent drama of human behavior in combat. As all films inherently are, "The Bridge at Remagen" speaks to its own time as well as that of its historical focus. Allusions to the Vietnam War are abundant, both in detail and in theme, while the WWII stuff plays out in typical tropes. George "King Rat" Segal turns in a credible Sgt. Rock performance, Ben "Anatomy of a Murder" Gazarra does well as his less-principled pal, and Robert "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." Vaughn shines as the doomed German commander of the ragtag defenders of the bridge. A healthy variety of recognizable faces rounds out the supporting cast, including a young Bo "The Wild Bunch" Hopkins in one of his earliest roles. The script by William "The Magnificent Seven" Roberts is mostly accurate in broad strokes, while sporting plenty of scenes made up out of whole cloth for dramatic effect. Production values are strong, never mind the various inaccuracies (where are the Shermans?), and the lensing by stalwart Stanley "The Magnificent Ambersons" Cortez keeps everything focused and understandable. Elmer "you have to ask?" Bernstein's score is suitably martial and inspiring as well. All in all, war film devotees will be satisfactorally entertained; I wouldn't call it a classic, but it's solid and certainly worth a watch.