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Reviews
Gus (1976)
Worst sports movie ever
This is indicative of most 70's Disney fare: it looks more like it was written by a ten year old, rather than for one. It brings up the debate as to who was the bigger jackass: the mule or the executive who gave the green light to this turkey.
Don knots as a football coach is funny enough to carry a sketch, but not of movie. Tom Bosley as a mobster? Bob Crane's character was an all too obvious parody of Howard Cosell,(for those of you too young to remember a longtime ABC sportscaster who spoke in a long-winded monotone and was part of the Monday Night Football broadcast team from 1970 through 1983) Funny given pro football's popularity that nobody's really put out a good film about pro football. (yes that includes Any Given Sunday)
Johnny Dangerously (1984)
Fargin funny
Oh, what fun there is here!
Amy Heckerling has a flair for directing comedy (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Look Who's Talking) but here it looks like she told the actors to go out and have fun. Micheal Keaton breezes through the role of Johnny, easily his best screen performance. Joe Piscopo is great as the appropriately named Danny Vermin, what a shame directors didn't pick up on this. And I have even mentioned Richard Dimitri playing Moronie and the character's unique vocabulary. I don't think it's an accident that the bulk of the character's name is spelled MORON.
Good lines are sprinkled throughout the movie, with Peter Boyle, Griffit Dunne.Maurren Stapleton, Merilu Henner given good lines. Even actors with minor roles like Dick Butkus and Alan Hale get in a good lines.
recommend it to a friend.
Young Lady Chatterley (1977)
Very Likable Flick
This movie is very likable. Harley Mc Bride looks good and has a very earnest quality about her. What a pity she didn't break into the mainstream, as I think she could even carry a weekly series.
Mc Bride's earnestness works well when Cynthia discovers her aunt's old diary and she reads up on auntie's sexcapades back in the day. She's aroused and wonders starts wondering what it would be like for her.
What gives this a 7 instead of an 8 is the bathtub scene with Cynthia and Jeanette, as it seems a bit contrived. It seems odd that a film with sexually explicit themes would need a have set up a lesbian scenes like that. Sign of the times, I guess. Oh well, still better than anything on After Hours these days.
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Moore's Best Bond Effort
This was the Best of the Roger Moore Bond films, and not by default. Even if MOONRAKER and THE SPY WHO LOVED ME had lacked their identical (and Identically ludicrous) plots this still would be be his best. For once, the plot entails real world espionage concerns- the recovery of the ATAC device.
Carole Bouquet is an excellent Bond Girl and it's a shame she didn't become a bigger star.
The film plays up suspicions of who is Bond's adversary, even to the point of billing Topol third in the credits (after Moore and Bouquet), the traditional place for a Bond villain. Oh, and contrary to what some say, Bond does fulfill his mission, keeping the ATAC out of Soviet hands by throwing into an inaccessible chasm and destroying it.
One final note: until I saw this film, I didn't know the name of Margaret Thatcher's husband, or that he was still alive at the time, for that matter.
From Russia with Love (1963)
Yes, the best of the Bond series.
FRWL is the best of the Bonds films. The gadgets had not yet made their presence felt into the stories, and by incorporating the Soviets into the plot, it is grounded in real world international relations, despite SPECTRE's presence. It even had an influence on international chess tournaments- the giant chessboard seen in the early scenes was an invention of the movie makers.
Anyway, this wasn't the first movie to have a pre-credit sequence, but it introduced it to the Bond series. Unlike most later Bond films where the pre-credit sequence could stand alone as a short subject, this is an actual prologue. And what a prologue! It has you wondering just what's going on. I also like Kerim Bey. He's a surperb ally and has a good sense hospitality, as demonstrated by taking his coffee the same was Bond does on their first meeting.
Watch it. You won't be disappointed.
Bimini Code (1983)
Low budget cheese-ball, but enjoyable
"Bimini Code" which, while often muddled is enjoyable. About the only thing that is clear is the budget of this flick was microscopic. Are The young ladies private detectives or did they have some water related job, such as boat rental agents or dive instructors who happened to get involved in an adventure? I'm not sure, but that's not the point. There's some fun to be had here. We can hear what the brunette is thinking while she's gagged, and she and her blonde gal pal get themselves out of their tie-up situations rather than get saved by the guys. This no doubt comes from the fact the script was written by a woman, as does the chief villain being a woman. It satisfies everybody: men get eye candy, women get resourceful heroines. If this was, as I suspect, an unsold TV pilot, we could have had something there.
Another thing that's unclear: It's rarely seen, so it makes one wonder if Hulk Hogan bought up and destroyed every print of this film.
Thunderball (1965)
Peak of the early Bond series
I agree with the poster who said this film set the stage for Bond parodies. The title sequence was spoofed in "Spy Hard" and Largo's eyepacth and designation as Number Two was spoofed in the Austin Powers series.
Anyway, this has the best supporting cast of any Bond film. Claudine Auger, Martine Beswick, and Luciana Paluzzi were all fine Bond Girl, Assistant, and Villianess roles, but the male supporting characters are well played. Rik Van Nutter is a young and active Felix Leiter and seems to get on quite well with Connery, but the best supporting role is that of Adolfo Celi as Largo. Unlike Goldfinger, who was a brute and a bully, Largo is charming and debonair, which magnifies his ruthlessness when it shows up.
What keeps this from getting a perfect score is the stupid line involving Fiona's diatribe about coming over to the dark side after a nookie session. It's a harbinger of the awful scripts that would plague the Roger Moore films.
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985)
Underrated action flick
This is one of the most underrated action films ever. Despite, this the movie has some fine cracking dialog. I know some people will be turned off by an occidental actor playing a Korean, and a some of the dialog between Remo and Chuin are exchanges of insults, but Grey and Ward seem to be enjoying the verbal repartee of their characters. Even Remo's exchange with the horn blower and traffic cop are good, as is one exchange between Rayner and Chuin. It also has the alway good Wilford Brimley and the overlooked performance of Charles Chioffi as George Groves. Chioffi manges to put some genuine menace into a character into what could have been simply another hackneyed villain in an expensive suit.
Emily (1976)
The Shower is the highlight
If watching this for a great storyline, acting, writing, or character development, your definitely not watching for the right reasons. It's an el cheapo sex film, nothing more, nothing less. Of course, it's famous for the shower scene with Koo Stark and Ina Skiver. Much has been said by posters here about Koo Stark, but what about Ina Skivner. She had a fine, smooth figure, free of the the tattoos and hardware that seen in the "After Hours" stuff on Showtime and it's On Demand feature in digital cable. Remember, this movie was made just as the exercise boom was getting off the ground. Also, I liked the way Agustine smiled when Emily called for the massage. You get the impression that maybe she asked Emily to pose in a manner that a crick in the neck would occur.