Crazy Chan

CITY HUNTER-1993- is Jackie Chan's slapstick martial arts taken to the max. Nearly every scene is comical with a character spouting some dumb dialogue and/or joke and making funny faces. Director Jing Wong loads the film with gags and there's this weird "Streetfighter" video game parody near the end! It's based on a Japanese manga.

Chan plays Ryu, a womanizing detective trying to rescue his late partner's daughter from a cruise ship taken over by terrorists led by Australian martial arts vet Richard Norton (but he's supoose be American) and Gary Daniels (a local kickboxing champ who's starred in his own movies including a live action version of FIST OF THE NORTH STAR). It's a little annoying at times but it's never dull (despite a very long musical number). Norton was later in MR. NICE GUY with Chan.

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The Devil's Backbone

THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE-2001-This supernatural ghost story from Spain is great! After his father is killed in The Spanish Civil War, a young boy named Carlos (Fernando Tielve) goes to an orphanage run by the kindly Prof. Casares (Fererico Luppi: he starred in John Sayles’ MEN WITH GUNS) and his unfaithful one legged wife. They also have a small cache of gold that the slimy caretaker (Edvardo Noriega) is after. Besides the usual peer pressure and bullying the orphanage seems to be haunted by the spirit of a dead boy.

Director Guillermo del Toro (CRONOS, MIMIC, HELLBOY) doesn’t allow the story to get lost in visual effects and creates some mesmerizing scenes.

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Bond..

CASINO ROYALE-2006-It’s a ironic that the most serious and violent adaptation of a James Bond story would be the one that was first done as a comedy. Blond haired James Craig is a very different 007: a detached anti-hero with a big ego and violent tendencies. Still in a film world where every leading man is a detestable jerk, Craig at least holds your interest and makes you want to see more of him in action. The stunts and action scenes are the usual over the top kind but very well done. A murky torture scene (although part of the original novel) seems unnecessary however. Bond has a wild ride on a gasoline truck, gets poisoned and plays high stakes poker.

Craig had had supporting roles in movies like TOMB RAIDER THE ROAD TO PERDITION MUNICH and THE JACKET. Director Martin Campbell had directed GOLDENEYE with Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Also with Eva Green (from Bertolucci’s THE DREAMERS), Giancarlo Giannini, Jeffery Wright and returning Judi Dench as “M”.

The original film version of CASINO ROYALE was first adapted for American TV in the '50's with Barry Nelson as "Jimmy Bond".

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Seven

SEVEN MEN FROM NOW-1956-Great but overlooked Western by the underrated Budd Boetticher features Randolph Scott as a former sheriff out for revenge on the seven bank robbers who killed his wife. After killing 2 of them in the opening scene he meets up with a couple heading for California. Lee Marvin and Don Red Barry show up looking for the stolen gold the robbers are suppose to have. Meanwhile the remaining robbers wait in town for the seventh man to deliver the loot.

SMFN is one of several unusual westerns Boetticher made in the late ‘50’s (several of them produced by John Wayne and also featuring Scott). The directing and acting are very good and the script (by future director Burt Kennedy) features some good dialogue with touches of sarcastic humor (mostly from Marvin in a standout role) and sexual tension between Scott and leading lady Gail Russell as well several plot twists. John Wayne wanted to play the Scott role but was busy doing THE SEARCHERS (for John Ford who almost directed).

SMFN also features John Larch, Fred Graham (later the sheriff in THE GIANT GILA MONSTER), John Beradino, Pamela Duncan (ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS) and in one scene Stuart Whitman. After many years out of circulation TCM finally showed this and a very interesting documentary on Boetticher.

Now all TCM has to do is show THE TALL T, COMMANCHE STATION and the rest of his westerns!

Note: I just found out TCM has shown COMMANCHE STATION so I guess I screwd up!

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Bats and Rains

VAMPIRE BAT-1933-is a creaky low budget horror film from the early 30's but despite it's obvious restrictions and drawbacks it's fairly entertaining.

The great Lionel Atwill stars as Dr. Von Neimann, the local doctor in a village where vampire like murders are taking place. Whenever giant bats appear at night, some unfortunate local dies, the body drained of blood. Melvyn Douglas (who was in James Whale's THE OLD DARK HOUSE the year before) is the investigating police constable. Fay Wray (the same year as KING KONG) is his love interest.

The best performence though is by Dwight Frye, essaying another village idiot role (it would type-cast his career) as Herman, a bat loving red herring (who meets his demise at the famous Bronson Canyon).

Familiar '30's character actor Lionel Belmore (2 Lionels for the price of one! What a movie!) also appears. The photography is a little too dark at times and there's a lot of talk but it's short running time makes it enjoyable.

Screenwriter Edward T. Lowe had been writing movies since the '20's (including HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME with Lon Chaney). He later penned HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, HOUSE OF DRACULA, several Charlie Chan and Bulldog Drummond mysteries and other stuff.

Director Frank Strayer made several unusual movies in the '30's (THE MONSTER WALKS, THE GHOST WALKS and CONDEMNED TO LIVE) before devoting most of his time to the movie series based on the "Blondie" comic strip in the '40's.



I also recently saw THE CLAIRVOYANT (aka THE EVIL MIND)-1934-made one year later and also featuring Fay Wray.

The always entertaining Claude Rains (one year after his film debut in THE INVISIBLE MAN) stars as a phony mind reader named Maximus who's predictions start to come true whenever he's around a certain woman (English actress Jane Baxter). Wray is his assistant-wife who fears his new power. Rains' trance states are very eerie (especially his last!). It's ok and probably influenced a few future films.

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