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Reviews
Ace in the Hole (1951)
Poop in the hole!
This guy 's legs are stuck under rubble, he's flat on his back, but for days on end they keep feeding him and giving him water. His pants must have been FULL of feces and he must have been SOAKED in urine, causing severe skin breakdown. Not to mention the smell in that confined area. Yet not a word was said about that in the movie - nor, until now, has it been mentioned by any IMDB reviewer or professional critic, at least to my knowledge.
Cold Dog Soup (1990)
The lawsuit prompted by "Cold Dog Soup" receipts
It's interesting that some people here speculated that the ratings on this movie were the subject of a "hit job," because the history of the movie is tragic. Here's how it was explained in BILLBOARD in 2001:
A judge threw out George Harrison's bid to keep his former business manager and partner Denis O' Brien from declaring bankruptcy. Harrison had just had lung cancer surgery and his lawyer told a judge in St. Louis he was too ill to testify. The judge didn't buy it. Of course, Harrison later died from lung cancer, but at the time, the judge said that his failure to appear was "obviously willful."
Harrison had already won an 11 million dollar judgment against O'Brien. Of course, declaring bankruptcy is a common thing - to avoid paying such judgments.
Losses on the film "Cold Dog Soup" prompted Harrison to sue O'Brien.
The Danish Connection (1974)
The film was made from outtakes from THE TROPIC OF PASSION
Director Bob Chinn states in an interview on a therialtoreport.com pod-cast that that the law was getting too close for comfort on the West Coast for his pornographic film projects, so he went to Hawaii to film the Johnny Wadd series movie THE TROPIC OF PASSION. Due to airfare and location fees, TROPIC OF PASSION cost more than previous Johnny Wadd movies - Chinn estimates a budget of $3,000. To recoup the money, he sold the outtakes to Manuel Conde, who fashioned them into THE DANISH CONNECTION.
Given Holmes' notoriety, it's pretty safe to assume that Conde made a nice profit from this feature in the '70's, when there were still lots of drive-in theaters running soft-core exploitation films.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964)
Beware--One of the Worst Shows Ever
There were two major reasons -- no, three, this cornball show succeeded.
1. Like Gilligan's Island, it allowed the brain to switch off completely. 1/2 hour of this was equal to at least two hours of deep sleep.
2. While the Vietnam War raged, these "Marines" focused on something that looked like an endless slow-paced boot camp, marching in formation and policing the area, doing field training ad nauseum, and shouting "GOLL-LY." It just made you feel good about how calm and placid things really were as American boys were getting their heads blown off by Charlie snipers.
3. All the old Grandmas loved their boy Jim Nabors--oh his beautiful untrained operatic voice, his boyish grin, on and on. Even if they were a little secretly bothered that they heard something about Rock Hudson.
The Prince of Pennsylvania (1988)
Absolutely horrible and annoying waste of time
I'm amazed by the positive comments posted about this one. Some of them are understandable--okay, you're from the Podunk area in Pennsylvania and you've never seen your old stomping grounds on film before. You love it. I understand. I hope they make a movie on your patio someday, that will be even better.
The big problem is the plot. There's absolutely no good motivation driving the behavior of Keneau's character. He's a dumb kid with a stupid haircut, and Bonnie Bedelia keeps telling him what a genius he is and how he's so much better than the other small town Scrapple eaters. On what evidence? He's a moping little whiner who doesn't have the acting chops to play the James Dean game, and the weak script gives him no motivation that justifies his way-overboard actions.
On that last point--without offering a "spoiler"--the Kenau character's actions throughout this movie, and particularly in climactic scenes, are far from charming. He's got way too high an opinion of himself, and gives himself way too much license. His nemesis isn't really that bad--so he comes off as an unhinged spoiled brat, and not even an entertaining brat, just an annoying arrogant punk.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking this is some cult classic you have to seek out. There are very good reasons you haven't heard of it. I cannot recommend this offensive and boring yawner, not even to the Pennsylvania Dutch.
The Neon Empire (1989)
Guilty pleasure if ever there was one, Sharkey is great
This is a guilty pleasure if ever there was one. For those of you who haven't seen him, Ray Sharkey made everything he was in great. If you look at the New York Times review that was written when this was new, it's actually pretty positive, but notes that the movie fades at the end because Sharkey isn't in it as much. Fortunately, he's in most of it.
For those of you who enjoyed the (probably greatest) story arc that Ray Sharkey starred in on the classic TV series WISEGY, this production was made around the same time. You don't get Ken Wahl, and it ain't WISEGUY, but Ray's performance is definitely reminiscent of the Sonny Steelgrave character.
I loved the sets and scenery, as they evoked the feel of a lost Vegas, drowsing in the sun and unaware of its destiny. Unfortunately, there also are "filler" scenes with narration and old footage that is painful to watch. Thankfully, that doesn't last long, and is probably to be expected from a production that was budgeted for late '80's premium cable rather than the big screen.
Gary Busey seems somewhat wooden and has a bit of a pot belly in this, but he's fun too. Martin Landau is very very good in this one. The story has elements of the real history of the founding of Las Vegas, but twists them around and makes no effort to be a historical drama. But--anybody who loves Ray Sharkey as much as me will consider this one a DO NOT MISS fun ride with a very much mourned and beloved actor.