Change Your Image
darklybrite
Reviews
The Gun (1974)
Possible inspiration for opening sequence in Lord of War
I recall seeing this made-for-TV movie around 1974 when it was released and being very impressed by the cold, docudrama approach used. From what I remember, it is a powerful statement against the over-prevalence of gun use, without being preachy. From what I have read in reviews so far of the just-released Nicholas Cage film, Lord of War, the opening sequence of the Cage movie (which visually traces the history of a bullet from manufacture in the U.S. to its use executing a person in Africa) seems to have been inspired by the story technique used in The Gun from beginning to end. It's sometimes a little surprising what certain directors did earlier in their careers. I would not have associated John Badham with this movie.
Two on a Guillotine (1965)
Two on a Guillotine very effective horror
Like some others who've seen this film as children, I have fond memories of Two On a Guillotine when it played as a Friday night movie on network TV in the mid-1960s. The sight of a lifeless Cesar Romero being lowered into a grave in a glass coffin at the beginning sets the spooky tone for the rest of the story. His character, a famous magician, promised to one day perform his greatest feat of all by returning from the dead. His wife (identical to his daughter) died some years before when he botched the guillotine trick she was assisting with. Without giving anything away, a lot of the suspense is built on the anticipation of his re-materializing at any time, to the horror of his daughter. This is a movie which has many of the elements necessary for genuine horror. No spilled guts, no splatter. It works on a neater, more effective plane.
Madame Zenobia (1973)
Madame Zenobia
I remember seeing this movie at a small neighborhood theater around the time it came out in the early 1970s. As a regular movie, I suppose it could be considered bad. The acting is laughable, as it almost always is in porno films. But as pornography, I seem to recall that at the time, it was regarded as a notch above the rest because it had some style. This movie was one of the last porno flicks made on film, just before the time the porno industry started committing everything to video. With lots of action but very little eroticism, the 'erotic' seems to have been almost completely taken out of porno film-making since then. Madame Zenobia harks back to a time when porno film directors actually went to great lengths to produce something that was truly erotic.
Barbie of Swan Lake (2003)
Q. on Barbie of Swan Lake
An excellent film for young and not so young viewers. Although artificially generated, the animation is superb and keeps the viewer's attention focused throughout most of the film. I was surprised to learn only afterwards that Kelsey Grammar had lent his voice for one of the characters. I have a question regarding the animation system used in making this film. The facial characteristics of the animated characters resemble those I've seen in software programs used by clothing and apparel industry manufacturers to simulate human models for garment design. I know that software designers often re-use modules from other projects they've worked on. Does anybody know anything about the technical background of the animation software used for this film?