PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Friday Night Movies 1056

The Stuff 1985 Written and directed by Larry Cohen. We watched the extended cut of the film that appears on the new 4K release from Arrow. It added about 30 mins of material that was cut from the film. 

The Stuff is found by a couple of guys who are working for a mining company. It's a whipping cream like substance that's percolating out of the ground. One of the guys tastes it and it's good stuff. The pair tell the company and become executives. The company sucks The Stuff out of the ground and packages it for the public. It's a big hit and people rapidly become addicted. At first sales plummet for deserts then other foods take a hit as people only eat The Stuff. 

Michael Moriarty is an ex-FBI agent who's become an industrial spy. He's kind of a dick but he does get results. Big Ice Cream hires him to save their business by getting something on the company that sells The Stuff. He teams up with Andrea Marcovicci to investigate. The pair travel about the country on their investigation, eventually it leads them to the source of the goo. With the help of a kid the trio reveal that The Stuff is addictive. The public catches on and the company is DOA, The Stuff is reduced to the black market. 

The extended version has a lot of scenes that were cut from the movie, some were deserving of getting the chop. I have little memory of that film from the last viewing in 2016 so I'm not sure what was added back in. I'm sure someone might have made a list, if not already, soon. I'm not looking for it. I have enough to read. Despite it's nearly 2 hour running time it still moves along at a nice pace most of the time. There's a few short lags scattered through the film but they aren't too bothersome. There's plenty of gags and some of the best ones made me laugh. The cast is fairly good, I recognized a lot of them, Garrett Morris, Patrick O'Neal, Andrea Marcovicci, Paul Sorvino, Scott Bloom, Danny Aiello, Alexander Scourby, Brooke Adams, Tammy Grimes, Abe Vigoda and Clara Peller. Keep an eye out for Eric Bogosian, Patrick Dempsey and Mira Sorvino in cameos. 

I was happy to watch it and plan to pick up the new Arrow 4K, even without a 4K player, I'll be happy to have it. 

You Never Can Tell 1951 Story by Lou Breslow, screenplay by Lou Breslow and David Chandler, directed by Lou Breslow. A fantasy comedy murder mystery with a dog detective. Dick Powell plays the dog detective. In the 1930s Powell did a lot of  comedy films and musicals, in 1944 he changed his image somewhat when he played Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet. He did well in that and a number of other crime films. He transitioned to TV in 1954 and stayed there until he passed away in 1963, he was only 58.

King is a dog, a German Shepard, who belongs to a rich guy. The man dies before the movie starts and King inherits the man's fortune. If King dies the $6 million inheritance passes along to Ellen, the rich guy's secretary played by Peggy Dow. She lives with King in the rich guy's big old house. A short time passes and Charles Drake shows up, he's playing Perry, a ex-soldier who used to abuse King in the dog training center in the Army. He weasels his way into Ellen's life and convinces her to marry him.

Shortly after the proposal King is murdered with poisoned meat. He ascends to animal heaven where he's give a chance to bring his killer to justice. Dick Powell plays Rex Shepard, he's a private eye with an office and his name painted on the window. Rex has an assistant who used to be a champion race horse called Golden Harvest. Joyce Holden uses the human name Goldie Harvey. She's one of the more entertaining characters in the movie. 

Rex and Goldie get on the case but they don't do so well as detectives. Ellen thinks their weird, the cops think they're crazy but despite the hitches in their investigation they manage to convince Ellen she shouldn't marry Perry and the cops to arrest Perry for dog murder. The happy ending is a bit goofy but I was entertained.

I think I had seen this in the late 80s of early 90s on TCM or AMC but nothing was familiar. I didn't keep a Watched Movie List back then so who knows. I put it on the list. I'd picked up the Kino Lorber Blu-ray kind of on a whim and I'm glad I did. I'll be glad to watch it again someday. I listened to the commentary on the disc, it's the only extra other than a handful of trailers. It's by film historians Michael Schlesinger and Darlene Ramirez. It was somewhat informative but Michael's sense of humor is pretty weak. He makes weird connections to stuff in the movie. At one point he sees a sign by a door that Dick is exiting. The sign says Ira Roth diamond dealer and Michael makes a joke about Roth IRAs being invented in the 1990s. There's no really connection between the two and there's no need for it to be in the commentary. There's a couple more and they weakened my enjoyment of the commentary. A minor complaint that doesn't effect my enjoyment of the film. 

Bookish Series 1 2025

Bookish Series 1 2025. Created, written and starring Mark Gattis as Gabriel Book.

Polly Walker plays his wife and Connor Finch as Mr Book's new employee Jack. It's set just after WW2 with Belgium filling in for post war London. Nice sets, costumes and plenty of interesting locations. Six episodes, 3 stories, plenty of poison. There's a fair bit of backstory, all the characters seem to have something going on. It aired today in the UK and well be airing soon on PBS in the US.

Der Geheimnis Der Roten Quaste 1963

Der Geheimnis Der Roten Quaste 1963 Script and direction by Hubert Frank. An Austrian krimi film called The Secret Of The Red Quaste in English. A quaste is a tassel, in this case a tassel attached to the bottom of a gun. 

Richard Warren is a secret agent pretending to be a journalist. He's in Caracas to sell a uranium formula. A dancer in a revue at the Hotel Excelsior is supposed to give him an important message. She's as dead as a door nail when Richard gets to her and there's a red tassel lying near the body. Richard runs off and gets befriended by a woman called Regina. 

The cops are on his trail and so are the baddies. The cops want the murderer and think Richard could be their guy. The baddies want the formula and they'll kill for it. Things get dicey for Richard and the dancer once they become more involved with each other. Eventually things work themselves out. 

I enjoyed it but it's barely above average. Nothing as outrageous like one might find in an Edgar Wallace krimi. I found it on YouTube, but only in German. I used a downloader app to download and add English subtitles, it worked but the subtitles are a bit annoying to read. Life is hard, huh.

The Demon Of Mount Oe 1960

The Demon Of Mount Oe 1960 Based on Ōeyama Shuten Dōji by Matsutarō Kawaguchi, screenplay by Fuji Yahiro, directed by Tokuzō Tanaka. A Japanese horror movie, Samurai battle a demon and his followers. It stars Raizô Ichikawa and Shintarô Katsu. After this film Tanaka would go on to direct plenty of films and some TV, he directed a couple of Shintarô Katsu's Zatoichi films. 

Some local warlords are bothered by a demon who lives on Mount Oe. During a battle with the demon he cuts its arm off. If he manages to keep the demon from getting the arm back the creature would die. The demon has shape changing abilities, it tricks Shintarô into letting it into his compound by appearing as Shintarô's aunt. It also appears as a giant spider and a very large snorty water buffalo. 

Shintarô is loyal to the Mikado. Shintarô has to fight some of the local lords who don't support the Mikado. He's also got to deal with a bunch of different woman who complicate his life. There's plenty of chatter, some fighting and a bit of magical business. 

I enjoyed it but wished it was a bit quicker paced. It's a 113 min movie so there's plenty going on. The fights were passable and there's some nice sets and costumes. I'd want to see it again someday. 

 

Science Fiction Sunday 855

Murderbot Series 1 2025 Based on The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, TV series created by Paul and Chris Weitz, written and directed by various. 

A securitybot defeats his governance chip and gains autonomy. This is illegal so he still has to take orders from his clients in order to escape detection. All he really wants to do is watch his soaps from TV. As the show starts he's picked to be the securitybot for a science team that's got rights to a planet.

Alexander Skarsgård plays Murderbot. Most of the rest of the cast were new to me, I've seen David Dastmalchian, Noma Dumezweni, John Cho and Jack McBrayer in a handful of TV shows and movies. I thought they picked good actors who carried off their parts well. 

I enjoyed the story and wished the episodes were longer than 25 mins each. They've created a decent universe, the evil corp was the only plot point I've grown tired of, my own bugaboo. The sets were nice, the props well made and the CGI excellent. I'm already wishing the second series was here. One of the reasons I like shows that have completed their run before I get to see them. 

Friday Night Movies 1055

an

An Inspector Calls 1954 Based on a 1945 play by J B Priestly, screenplay by Desmond Davis, directed by Guy Hamilton. The Inspector in the Priestly play is called Goole. The name has been changed in many of the adaptations. This is the second time the play was adapted for TV, radio or film, it's followed by 11 more adaptations. It was adapted in Britain 7 times, twice in Bengali and Russia, once in Switzerland and Hong Kong. 

Alastair Sim plays Inspector Poole, he arrives at the Birling house to investigate the suicide of a young woman. It's 1912 and the Birling's are well off, upper middle class, and absolutely privileged, self absorbed and selfish. Arthur Young plays the father, Olga Lindo plays the mother, Bryan Forbes plays the son, Eileen Moore plays the daughter, Brian Worth plays the daughter's fiance.

It turns out that each of the 5 people had some contact with the girl and the Inspector's questions reveal their bit in her fall. The conversations with them sure point out the gap between rich and working class people and it's not just about money, it's their attitudes that makes them so scummy. Things haven't improved much since then.

I bought the Kino Lorber Blu-ray during their last sale even though I already had the KL DVD. I don't normally upgrade a DVD just for an actor but I'm a big Alastair Sim fan. I'd recommend him in the St Trinian's and Inspector Hornleigh films. Others worth a watch include Cottage To Let, School For Scoundrels, Left Right And Center, The Green Man, Laughter In Paradise, The Happiest Days Of Your Life, Green For Danger and Bombsight Stolen. I've seen An Inspector Calls at least 4 times already and plan to watch it again at some point. 

Mad Cats 2023 Written and directed by Reiki Tsuno. A Japanese comedy about cat lady assassins. 

A guy called Taka is told his brother has been kidnapped. He sets off on a bike to rescue him. He meets a hobo along the way. They travel together in a stolen car. Cat lady assassins are sent to kill them. Another cat lady helps them out. The murderous cat ladies have multiple lives and can change from a cat to a human.

It's rather like a personal fever dream. It's the sort of movie you can describe to someone and they might go "Are you high?" When you tell them it's Japanese they'll go "Oh." It's got some funny bits, some annoying bits and a few gun battles. I found it sort of amusing but I wouldn't think it would be for everyone. You can watch it, link above, maybe you'd like it. I didn't think I needed a copy. 

Trapped Series 1-3

Trapped Series 1-3 Created by Baltasar Kormákur, written by Sigurjón Kjartansson and Clive Bradley, directed by Baltasar Kormákur, Baldvin Zophoníasson, Börkur Sigthorsson and Óskar Thor Axelsson. An Iceland police procedural mostly set in the small and remote town of Siglufjörður.

The first series has police chief Andri Ólafsson investigate the murder of a man who's dismembered body was found in the sea by a fisherman. He's joined by Siglufjörður police officers Hinrika Kristjánsdóttir and Ásgeir Þórarinsson. Trausti Einarssson is the chief of the Reykjavik Bureau of Investigation and Andri's old partner. Andri was banished to Siglufjörður for beating a suspect. The two have some animosity that disappears over the three series.

The investigation is hampered by a big snow storm. It traps the local cops in town and keeps Trausti from bringing his officers. Andri and his officers keep working the case though they are told to wait for Trausti. There's a lot of people who don't follow orders in the 3 series. The storm gets worse and there's another murder. That was one of my favorite parts, the storm, not the murder. The scenery of Iceland is pretty spectacular at times and the storm just adds value. The mystery is OK, there's a complex story involving human trafficking that's smothered in small town personal drama. Everybody has a story and most of them are miserable. Kind of fits the bleak hostile landscape. 

I got through the 10 episodes of Series 1 and mostly enjoyed it. I didn't think I'd need to watch it again.

Series 2 has Andri back in Reykjavik working with Trausti, they get along a bit better. A case comes up that takes Andri back to Siglufjörður where Hinrika is now the chief of police. Someone has been dumping hazardous waste into the volcano. It contaminates the water and kills the wildlife. Things go poorly for some of the locals, one officer is killed and local citizens don't do much better. Not as interesting or entertaining as the first series.

Series three has Andri back in Siglufjörður investigating the murder of a man who was involved with a cult called The Family. The leader of the cult has a nice piece of land that the head of a motorcycle gang called The Horns has his eye on. More bad things happen and Andri gets sent to jail for a couple of years. He'd shot a guy who was going to kill a woman. Trouble for Andri, he was suspended for not obeying orders and wasn't supposed to be there or carrying a gun. I didn't care for the story much and wouldn't watch the series again. 

Miss Sherlock Series 1

Miss Sherlock Series 1 A Japanese adaptation of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. It was a HBO Asia and Hulu Japan production, 8 episodes were released in 2018, there is only one series.

Yuko Takeuchi plays Sara "Sherlock" Shelly Futaba and Shihori Kanjiya plays Dr. Wato "Wato-san" Tachibana. Dr Wato volunteered in Syria, she returns home and meets up with her mentor. A remote bomb detonates inside him. She meets Sherlock when they are thrown together during the investigation. Sherlock helps the police occasionally. Sherlock is abrasive and somewhat annoying. Later Dr Wato takes a room in the same house Sherlock is living in. 

Each episode is mostly self contained, there's an interesting and somewhat odd murder, some amount of friction between Sherlock and Dr Wato, same with the police officers they work with. There's plenty of investigating and running about. 

It's an entertaining show that captures some of the Sherlock and Dr Watson vibe. I enjoyed it and might watch it again sometime. 

Science Fiction Sunday 854

Time Loop 2019 Written and directed by Ciro Sorrentino. An Italian time machine movie. It got released in the US in 2020.

A young man who has been studying in London helps his father build a time machine in his home town in Italy. The town of Cancellara, where the film was shot, has great scenery, rocky, rugged, vertical and bleakly gorgeous. Just the sort of place that drones love to shoot. The scenery is the most interesting part of the movie. The story on the other hand is rather lack luster and unoriginal. Nothing much happens, other than a lot of scooter riding.

People really pounded the movie's acting on the IMDb. I agree the acting was  below average.  I thought they might be struggling to act in English or they're amateurs. Not sure. I see the father, one of the least interesting characters, with little range, did most of his acting in the 1990s and for TV. Sam Gittins is an English actor, he's decent and kind of likable. Not likeable enough to keep the movie from being below average. You can check it out on YouTube. Link above. Not one I'm going to want to see again.

The Outsider 1997 Story by Patrick Highsmith (Avi Nesher), screenplay by Patrick Highsmith and Evan Spillotopoulos, directed by David Bishop. A made for TV movie that was originally called Gangster World, the home video release was titled The Outsider.

The story is basically a rip off of Westworld. The 1930s gangster world simulator is packed with robot androids and paying guests who want to kill robot androids. The operating system is being changed, the 3.0 system is supposed to be even better. There are glitches and the trouble shooting team is trying to track them down and fix them. Gabriel Dell Jr and Bridget Flanery are the team. I thought Gabriel might be a relative of Dead End Kids regular Gabriel Dell but not the case. I don't recall ever seeing Bridget before. Her IMDb listing reminded me she appeared in an episode of Babylon 5. Sadly I don't remember her. I did see Jerry Doyle in the cast list, you might remember him as Mr Garibaldi on Babylon 5. He plays one of the robot android gangsters, not much of a part but a guy's gotta work. 

At some point the robot android making machine creates an "outsider" or someone that doesn't belong in the theme, he's an assassin played by martial artist Xavier Declie. A former member of the French Foreign Legion Xavier became famous for his work out videos and modelling. Sadly many of his fights were poorly filmed, or shot in the dark, it's hard to see much. The story isn't much either. I got bored with the corridor running and dumb quips. I doubt I'd ever watch it again. You can check it out on YouTube, link above.

Friday Night Movies 1054

The Blonde Fury 1989 Written by Sai-Shing Shum and Michael Swift, directed by Hoi Mang. The US title is Lady Reporter. We watched the Hong Kong version of the movie from the newish Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray. 

Cynthia Rothrock is an FBI agent working undercover as a reporter, she's in Hong Kong investigating a counterfeiting ring. That's Cynthia with Chin Siu-ho on the left and Hoi Mang on the right, Chin is an undercover cop and Mang is a journalist. Ronny Yu plays the villain Wong Dak and Melvin Wong plays a police man called Melvin Wong. Wu Ma is one of my favorite Hong Kong actors, he plays Hoi Mang's father and the editor of the newspaper where Mang works. 

There's plenty of sneaking about and everywhere the investigators go they seem to run into a fight. Plenty of jumping and leaping with punching and gun fire. The story often makes little sense. This is somewhat common in a HK action movie. The locals don't seem to care. The action is fairly good and moves along quite quickly so it doesn't give you much time to think about the dialog. The jokes are pretty weak and often politically incorrect. 

I enjoyed it but it hasn't made me interested in getting a copy of the disc. 

Double Crossbones 1951 Story by Oscar Brodney, screenplay by Oscar Brodney and John Grant, directed by Charles Barton. We watched the Kino Lorber Blu-ray.

Donald O'Connor plays Davey, he's an apprentice in an antiques shop in Charleston South Carolina. Will Geer plays his friend and co-worker Tom Botts. Morgan Farley plays the antiques dealer. The Governor brings his ward Lady Sylvia to the shop to see the new acquisitions. Helena Carter plays Lady Sylvia. The Governor discovers that they are selling a pin that he knows was stolen by pirates. He has the dealer and his workers arrested and sent to jail. The Governor later shoots the dealer to keep him from revealing that he and the Governor were in cahoots in the buying and selling of plunder from the pirates. 

Davey and Tom escape and book passage with Captain Wickett to the Caribbean. Wickett turns out to be a pirate, he plans to pop Davey and Tom into the sea and keep their money. The Governor proposes to Lady Sylvia but she's not interested. They sail for Virginia with a load of prisoners on board. Over on Wickett's ship Davey and Will wake to find the pirates have raised the pirate flag. Wickett wants them to drink so they'll drown quicker when thrown in the drink. Davey's allergic to alcohol, he breaks out in red sports which the pirates think is the dreaded pox and abandon ship. Davey and Tom sail on and the first ship they come across is the Governor's ship with Lady Sylvia aboard. They trick the Governor into thinking they have a crew that out numbers them. The boys take the prisoners as their crew and sail to Tortuga where they join the pirate society. Eventually things sort themselves out well enough for Davey and Lady Sylvia to hook up.

Despite it's short length, 76 mins, the movie has something going on most of the time. What it's lacking are some better jokes. They could have cut the weak musical number and it could use a bit of a pump up in the action department. Mostly I enjoyed it. The Blu-ray looks nice and there's a commentary I want to listen to sometime. I'd probably watch it again in a few years, maybe have a bit of a pirate comedy marathon.