Cinema - Comments / Reviews by George Slv

Cinema - Comments / Reviews by George Slv

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
George Slv 6th Nov 2016		Cinema The Spider (Earth Vs The Spider) (1958) (1958)	Did anyone see it named Earth Vs The Spider in theatrical release? I never heard of that until video releases. It was a typical teenage B horror movie of the time.
George Slv 30th Oct 2016		Cinema Arthur The King (Merlin And The Sword) (1985) (1985)	Internet Archive.
George Slv 26th Oct 2016		Cinema The Happening (1967)	Rated 8/10 I think the film is a chuckle, a parody of organized crime and hippies. Well made, everyone did a good job. Faye Dunaway's early breakthru role. What I find interesting is the personality type as related to the time era. At this time she was similar to other newcomers like Cybill Shepherd and singer Connie Smith. The title song existed at Motown before the film, and the producer bought the rights to it. Frank DeVol contributed to the composition. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
George Slv 9th Oct 2016		Cinema Dracula: Pages From A Virgin's Diary (2002) (2002)	Review This originated as a ballet by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. There's classical orchestral accompaniment, but I would not call that a "musical". I don't recall comedy that the description here states, and anything incidental would not make this a "comedy". The players are ballet dancers throughout the film, with the camera among them. A well-executed idea relating Stoker's novel. Mainly black and white, with subtitles, harking back to silent films. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
George Slv 19th Sep 2016		Cinema The Draughtsman's Contract (1982) (1982)	Youtube preview (alright alright, trailer, hahaha) [YouTube Video] And the movie title screen is the same as in the preview.
George Slv 13th Sep 2016		Cinema Quatermass And The Pit (Five Million Years To Earth) (1967) (1967)	Rated 2/10 What an unsuccessful movie this was in my opinion. Held no interest, let alone suspense. Did not involve me whatsoever. The story is that when excavating the London subway, they reach a spot where an ancient extraterrestrial people had been living. By excavating, they free the spirits, which then create destructive effects on London. Oh .... I don't know. Dig that female reporter in the underground as she questions the scientist. What kind of facetious acting is that when you are creating a sca-a-ary movie? By the way we need a screen of the British title. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
George Slv 8th Sep 2016		Cinema Scared Stiff (1953) (1953)	This is one that seemed too long for the subject. It's about a haunted mansion that someone inherits, but they don't get to it until 1:20 in the film. Then 20 minutes at that house and movie ends at 1:40. You wish they had spent much more time at the house. They could have cut out all that routine of gangsters at the hotel. Carmen Miranda is featured in musical numbers, before the time when she became embarrassed into leaving the US.
George Slv 7th Sep 2016		Cinema The Beast Must Die (1974) (1974)	Rated 1/10 Milton Subotsky, one of the heads of Amicus Films, is in Noo Yawk and gets this idea he'd like to make a werewolf movie. He scours his investor friends around the world and mooches enough money. He gets a screenplay put together as much as he can. Peter Cushing is offered it. Pete asks his wife to look it over, and she says there's only about 40 minutes of footage in the miserable thing. Well the producers have to get to work making it a 90 minute movie. So half this movie is like filler, people sitting around chatting and sipping tea. Okay one of the people at this weekend party is a werewolf and we will know who by the end. Just get ready for 90 minutes of lousy movie-making. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
George Slv 29th Aug 2016		Cinema Night Of The Eagle (Burn, Witch, Burn) (1962) (1962)	A supernatural thriller involving a teacher who is a skeptic and witchcraft in his surroundings. In US it was distributed by American-International and retitled Burn Witch Burn. It is compared to The Curse Of The Demon. My recollection from watching it was that the story was not made understandable in the screenplay. "You had to read the book"? It did not make an impression on me. If you want to try it out, I suggest do not read any descriptions of the story now, not the slightest summary, but see if you understand it on first viewing. But how much better a title can you think of than Burn, Witch, Burn? On Youtube I'm seeing this movie timed at ~1:47, 20 minutes longer than original. Don't know if there is 20 minutes of ads in them?
George Slv 24th Aug 2016		Cinema Those Redheads From Seattle (1953) (1953)	Image 1137364 movie poster. See how they publicized Rhonda Fleming in a showgirl costume, but she did not do that in the movie, only Teresa. The others disapproved.
George Slv 21st Aug 2016		Cinema Those Redheads From Seattle (1953) (1953)	Interesting to know that you have that professional background. Full-frame 35mm still photography fits horizontally on the strip, so Movie film is like half-frame, fitting across the width of the strip, and running vertically thru the camera. Except VistaVision which was horizontal full-frame. I need to know more about how 4:3 ends up 1.37 22x16mm. The audio is on the sides, which should only affect the width of 24mm.
George Slv 21st Aug 2016		Cinema Those Redheads From Seattle (1953) (1953)	Thanks a lot Twistin for more insight. Are you saying the soundtrack overlaps the left image? I didn't think so. This was half-frame photography, 24x18mm, is that right? Full-frame 35mm is 36x24mm. 1.37 was shown as 1.37 in theaters. For 4:3 TV and video the sides were cropped. Don't tell me it was squeezed horizontally. I'm afraid some video releasers may have done that.
George Slv 14th Aug 2016		Cinema Those Redheads From Seattle (1953) (1953)	With image 1131469 of the dance scene I wanted to talk about aspect ratios. See if anyone knows this subject well. This is from a 4x3 TV copy I assume, from someone's collection. My understanding is that the basic film is 1.37, and when cropped to 1.33 some of the sides are lost - black sides I've added. When that film was cropped to 1.667 for theaters, assuming the crop was simply in the middle, you get the white outline. If a DVD were issued that's what you should get. So full screen 1.33 loses a bit on the sides but gains vertically. Theatrical will lose some legs in many scenes. (This is my screen capture of my image editor showing a bit of the panel edges.)
George Slv 10th Aug 2016		Cinema Zeta One (1969) (1969)	Yutte Stensgaard is the main female in the movie, a love interest of James Word outside of his work. This seems like some kind of underground movie, I don't know how it was distributed in UK. Yutte does nudity. The aliens are not all topless, not the famous actresses. There is a squadron of female fighters who are topless, but not attractive or sexy. It's an amateurish production. (Would this site accept pictures?)
George Slv 9th Aug 2016		Cinema L'orribile Segreto Del Dr. Hichcock (The Horrible Dr. Hichcock) (1962) (1962)	It seems that we should use the name that's used on screen, shouldn't we? Rather than the name that we secretly know is theirs. Let them correct this as they choose. I also wonder if I should have used The Horrible Dr. Hichcock as the main title.
George Slv 4th Aug 2016		Cinema L'orribile Segreto Del Dr. Hichcock (The Horrible Dr. Hichcock) (1962) (1962)	Review One of the Italian horror films of the early 1960s that were released in English, some quite good. This one seems to have a favorable reputation, but I reject that. A doctor is a necrophiliac (relating to dead females), and then plays games drugging his wife so she will be corpse-like for a while. Things go wrong, the living die, the dead walk, fires burn, hero tries to rescue heroine, all dat stuff. Trouble is that the producers were totally inept at making this story clear to the viewer. You don't understand what you are watching. Ya gotta go ta IMDB 50 yars later to find out. This is in the category of "Italian dream logic". Quality junk production in my opinion. England and USA would have been too ashamed to produce this. Canada still would. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
George Slv 3rd Aug 2016		Cinema Val Lewton: The Man In The Shadows (2007) (2007)	Usually I think the directors seem to get much too much credit. Hitchcock this Hitchcock that. He was hired after someone else wrote and worked to produce the picture, to direct it. They were not "Hitchcock's films". Now here is the opposite.
George Slv 25th Jul 2016		Cinema The Draughtsman's Contract (1982) (1982)	Rated 6/10 A review at IMDB calls this "A bizarre, quite unique period film". It's an interesting experience, but certainly an adult film. In 1700s England a draughtsman (an "artist", for Pete's sake) is hired by a wealthy landowner [feelthie riche aristocrat] to make a few paintings of his estate. Now the draftsman for payment demands sexual favors from the ladies of the family. That's fine they says. But these rats have a devious plot in mind and this draftsman is in danger. Now you can spend your time at IMDB learning to understand what you just saw. There are horror style elements by the time it's over. They got this cute little guy who plays a "nymph" on the estate. Fully naked and painted green, he keeps showing up in humorous places. Hey when do we get a female like that, we aren't all homo. I can think of one actress ... The sex scenes are not your standard type, and are not sensuous. It's a quality production, you might be morbidly curious. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
George Slv 6th Jul 2016		Cinema The Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires (1974) (1974)	The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula was the US edit. Scenes were rearranged and it was shortened. It actually improved the pacing, starting off with fast vampire action. Julie Ege had been Miss Norway, and here joins this vampire hunting expedition just to travel to a northern destination. She might be sorry.
George Slv 6th Jul 2016		Cinema Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) (1974)	Rated 9/10 One of the movie projects of Brian Clemens, who had been producing The Avengers TV series. His other for Hammer Films was Dr Jekyll And Sister Hyde. He wrote the stories himself. This is a variation on the standard vampire theme, where the vampires don't drain the blood but the youth. See the young maidens after they have been drained. The film has some weaker spots in the screenplay but it turns out satisfying and has a "cult following" (the more discerning fans, ahem). The climactic sword fight in the sumptuous mansion (see the trailer credits picture) is especially colorful and dramatic. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
George Slv 22nd Jun 2016		Cinema The Emerald Forest (1985) (1985)	Review After John Boorman conquered the world with his legendary Excalibur, he went on to this pet project of his, using the setting of the Amazon forest. In the true story, Bill Markham's son is kidnapped by a jungle tribe, and ten years later Markham hunts for him. The potential is there being in the exotic forest, but I found that the screenplay was not strong and gripping enough, so it is on the mild side. There is topless nudity of tribal women, but the most significant is Tommy's girlfriend Kachiri working as a "topless waitress" in a bar, from where they rescue her. When scenes like that were cut the story was not so clear. There is a message here about saving the rainforest. Note that in 1990 environmentalists were crying that by 2000 the entire Amazon forest would be cut down. I know how totally incompetent their (non)thinking is. I was involved with some. Besides his greatness, John Boorman has some serious faults. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
George Slv 11th Jun 2016		Cinema The Secret Of Blood Island (1964) (1964)	Not likely to get an official release because of the racial issue. Calling for anyone who can find it with the original title. Title screen wanted.
George Slv 27th May 2016		Cinema Man At The Top (1973) (1973)	I got a kick out of Nell Brennan as the hotel waitress serving Lampton in the hotel room, with her "come and get it" allure. Must have been doing double-duty as a prostitute there. She's obviously Irish. See the photo.
George Slv 22nd May 2016		Cinema Sheena (Sheena: Queen Of The Jungle) (1984) (1984)	Rated 8/10 Actually a well-made film, with great location photography. You need to give credit where it's due, not show off your obnoxious scorn at every turn. But it has faults, especially the hammy lousy non-acting of the male stars. Tanya Roberts is great, and John Guillerman knew when to create sexy scenes (nudity, yes). Sexiness that's not blocked by American dorks, or spoiled by incessant European lesbianism, and done in a natural way. This movie comes off better than 1959's Tarzan's Greatest Adventure, also filmed on location but being low on story. One thing however, is that with the nudity it would have to be restricted, and you lose the logical target audience of young people. Kind of a quandary. You need two editions for both purposes, and I believe in providing cut editions as alternatives. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
George Slv 22nd May 2016		Cinema American Graffiti (1973) (1973)	When you've experienced the real era yourself, the movie is a well-crafted cartoon. Funny about Dreyfuss getting buddy-buddy with the bikers as if they're good pals like everyone else. We called those "hardrocks" in Canada. Interesting, I don't care for the surf and hotrod songs myself, falsettos and all. If you gonna take American Graffiti you gotta take Wolfman Jack. Seems like a biker type of American. Painted his face black? American djs are very smooth and professional. Jacko was on Winnipeg radio in the early 1990s interviewed by a CBC female. She asked him over-the-head intellectual questions, and all he said was like "just keep on boogying". Maybe she gave him a heart attack?
George Slv 21st May 2016		Cinema Against All Odds (1984) (1984)	Rated 9/10 Taylor Hackford did a good job on this one. Well staged and photographed, including Caribbean island locations. Rachel Ward is a pleasure to watch. A refilming of the 1940s film Out Of The Past, this one adds extra plot elements when Brogan gets back to US, involving a crime caper. The love story with Rachel and Jeff Bridges in the Caribbean is what makes the movie. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
George Slv 17th Apr 2016		Cinema Treasure Island (1990)	I've added images to compare the frames of TV and DVD.
George Slv 17th Apr 2016		Cinema Treasure Island (1999)	Here's a site listing all the film versions of this story.
George Slv 16th Apr 2016		Cinema Treasure Island (1990)	A co-production with British Lion Films of UK who made TV movies. It was shown in UK theaters in summer 1990, cropped to widescreen. The ship used was the Bounty from the 1962 film. The DVD is cropped to 16:9. There is some discussion whether it was framed for 4:3 and so loses some necessary picture.
George Slv 16th Apr 2016		Cinema Treasure Island (1950)	This was filmed many times in later years. This is the only satisfying one to me. The reason is that the story is made clear in the screenplay. The others couldn't be bothered taking such care, so we could not keep track of what faction was doing what for what purpose. More liberal times and less care.

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