Diana Rigg Merges With the Infinite

Diana Rigg, actor and icon, has passed at the age of 82.  

Rigg was a cult favorite in the U.S. and a bonafide star in the U.K., and would have been well remembered just from her work on the UK whack-a-doodle adventure show The Avengers as Emma Peel - which laid the foundation for about 10,000 imitators and arguably indirectly to the most popular iterations of Black Widow in the Marvel Universe.  She also has the most solid of Bond-girl credits as Traci, the woman who Bond would marry in On her Majesty's Secret Service (and a favorite of the PodCast).  Most recently she'd been on Game of Thrones (which I didn't watch, but I know she's a fan favorite).  

She, of course, did so much more and was just one of those actors it seems everyone could agree upon.

Bear Watch: Grizzly (1976)

 

Watched:  09/07/2020

Format:  Amazon Streaming

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1970's

Director:  William Girdler

So, I very much remember this VHS box fading on the shelf of pretty much every video rental place I went from the mid-80's to the late 90's.  I think it was usually in the horror section, which is an inaccurate place to put the movie, but it's not action, either.  But I never thought much about it - I just didn't rent it.  Looked like a movie about a large bear eating people, and I was pretty far into my 30's before I realized I liked movies about large animals giving humanity a bad time.

So, apparently there's a sequel that was never released, and it includes actors like Louise Fletcher, John Rhys Davies, George Clooney and.. most importantly.. Laura Dern.  Shot in 1983, it's just NOW about to get a release.  And I figured "well, I don't want to not know what happened in the first one...", and even though the original is 100% Laura Dern-free, Jamie and I fired it up.  

Friends: what if Jaws, but bear?  

That is the question posited by Grizzly, the highest earning independent movie ever when it was released in 1976.  And I'm not exaggerating - someone went to see Jaws and wrote down the events of that movie, and tried to map their own script onto the story of Jaws.  But instead of a 25 foot shark, we have a 15' grizzly bear.  Instead of a Sheriff, we have a Captain of the Park Rangers.  

They even include scenes like the Captain getting drunk when someone gets killed, and a spooky monologue about a herd of grizzlies eating people.  There are three main characters, but one of them (played by "that guy" actor Richard Jaeckel) is a mix of Hooper and Quint (he even wears Hooper's little hat).  

There's a Park Manager who doesn't want to shut the park down, invites in hunters... you're maybe familiar with the plot.

Anyway - it's also kind of plodding and gives you an idea what Spielberg and his editors did so well that this movie did not.  But, again, wildly successful!  

Anyhoo... I want to podcast this with Simon at some point.  So, more to come.

Friday - Amazon Watch Party Watch: Johnny Guitar (1954)

Day:  Friday 09/11/2020

Time:  8:30 PM Central

AMAZON WATCH PARTY LINK 

I'm calling this a co-presentation with Jenifer, who finally pushed me to do this one before we roll into the Halloween season.

Johnny Guitar is one of those movies that isn't what you think it will be, is staffed with top tier talent - Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden and directed by Nicholas Ray - and is not entirely the camp fest you'd assume.  For those who think they know a Western when they see one - this turns that notion on its ear.

I genuinely hope you'll like it.  This movie is going through a bit of a renaissance and rediscovery, so jump on the film-twitter hep-kids train and be conversant in a sort of off-kilter classic.  

Ann Miller/ Lucille Ball Watch: Too Many Girls (1940)

Watched:  09/08/2020

Format:  TCM on DVR

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1940's

Director:  George Abbott

I'd forgotten this was living on my DVR and I needed something to watch on the elliptical - and it starred Lucille Ball.

Too Many Girls (1940) is a particular breed of Hollywood musical that was about big dance numbers loosely tied together with characters working through a paper-thin plot, and really an excuse to get a whole bunch of characters on screen at one time for song and dance numbers.  The better ones are the ones choreographed by Busby Berkeley, and then there's stuff like this with dancers sort of just running around a lot.

Noir Watch: The Unfaithful (1947)

 

Watched:  I dunno.  A couple of months ago.

Format:  Noir Alley on TCM

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1940's

Director: Vincent Sherman

I just totally forgot to write this one up and realized that today whilst thinking about Zachary Scott.  As you do.

The Unfaithful (1947) is essentially a domestic version of The Letter, the extraordinary William Wyler film starring Bette Davis.  This version transplants the action from rubber farms in the Maylay Peninsula to suburban Los Angeles just after WWII and puts Ann Sheridan in the lead.  None of that is a problem, and were The Letter not such a bombshell of a movie, The Unfaithful would shine brighter.  

Super Watch: Superman - Man of Tomorrow (2020)

Watched:  09/07/2020
Format:  Blu-Ray

Viewing:  First

Decade:  2020's

Director:  Chris Palmer

The best thing about a movie shouldn't be the trailer for an upcoming Batman Kung-Fu movie that happens to be on the disc you're watching.  

Watch Party Watch: Girls Just Want to have Fun (1985)

Watched:  09/04/2020

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  First

Decade:  so, so 1980's

Director:

Sort of like Teen Witch from roughly the same era, Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985) feels a bit like the people putting it together didn't really know how to make a movie.  Or else they didn't have the money to do what they intended to do, which is probably evidenced by the lack of ability to license the Cindy Lauper version of the titular song of the movie.  

A very young Sarah Jessica Parker plays a Catholic High School girl who has just moved to Chicago.  She's moved around a lot, but is excited by this move as Chicago is the home of a very famous dance show she watches religiously, and she wants to try out to be ON the show as a regular featured dancer.  She immediately becomes besties with Helen Hunt, who is struggling to play rebellious and daffy and maybe punk?  But who dreams of being the "music news" portion of the show.

Anyway - there's a rich girl who is mean, a dopey looking biker guy who just wants to DANCE, and nuns.  Oh, and Jonathan Silverman playing an 80's-excess-loving entrepreneurial teen/ a dork.  

This is why 80's kids gravitated to John Hughes movies.  Even when they were maybe problematic or kind of hand-wavy when it came to stories, they felt competent, and the teens weren't just shrieking and running from place to place.  Parents were occasionally more than cardboard cut outs.  Kids have recognizable issues, like "I just want someone to like me" or "see me".  

But this movie has weird issues like being unsure if the main character lives in an apartment or house.  Her dad is so blandly written he feels like a goddamn monster, cowing daughter and wife.  And Helen Hunt is acting mostly through hair clippies.  

I dunno.  I am not a 10 year old girl in 1985, and that's who this was meant for.  

Concert Film Watch: The T.A.M.I. Show (1964)

Watched: 09/07/2020 

Format: TCM on DVR 

Viewing: First 

Decade: 1960's 

Director:  Steve Binder

A concert film featuring Jan & Dean as hosts, you get a look at 1964 as a watershed year in American music.  The show features performances by:

• Chuck Berry
• Gerry and the Pacemakers
• Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
• Marvin Gaye
• The Blossoms (group featuring Signal Watch patron saint Darlene Love)
• Lesley Gore
• Jan and Dean
• The Beach Boys
• Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas
• The Supremes
• The Barbarians
• James Brown and the Famous Flames
• The Rolling Stones

There's a 10,000 word essay on what was happening in America in 1964 (Civil Rights Act), what Chuck Berry did to music in 1958, what co-option of R&B and  Rock and Roll by white kids and white kids from England meant and what happened to the genres as a result.  

But for the TAMI Show, it's looking at the past, present and future of music on one stage in a tight package.  Not all of the acts will become legendary or household names - I never even heard of Billy J Kramer before this - and not everyone is amazing.  The awards show was the Teenage Awards Music International - or, essentially, Teen-Choice Awards.  Which is also a reminder that these genres were in the process of being turned into music for kids.  Which is an idea people respond to violently, but when you see a room full of teenage girls screaming themselves hoarse at the mere sight of Mick Jagger, it's a reminder that your parents dragged that music into adulthood with them and institutionalized it.*  This was new in the 1950's and 60's, when the very idea of a "teenager" was new in the wake of WWII and post-war prosperity/ marketing.  

But that said - I'm a product of the generation that was screaming its head off at these acts (my mother graduated high school in '64, for example).  All of this was more than a decade in the past by the time I was even born, but it was what was on the radio and in our parents' vinyl collections and played on soundtracks of movies as we were growing up, so it became our music, too.  

Anyway - it's a hell of a movie.  And if you want to see a very young The Supremes and James Brown before he became weighed down with legal issues and drama, or a chance to see The Stones as they seem to be realizing the extent of their power - this is an amazing bit of film.

Fun bonus - Toni Basil and Teri Garr are in this as dancers.  I spotted Basil, but not Garr.  

*And there's a pretty similar model for what happened to comics in the 1980's

PODCAST: "Pride & Prejudice" (2005) - a Jamie Cinema Classic, w/ Ryan

Watched:  09/03/2020
Format:  Netflix
Viewing:  First
Decade:  00's
Director: Joe Wright

For More Ways to Listen


It's not all-genre-all-the-time at The Signal Watch! We jump on a literary classic translated to a very well received film from 15 years ago. We uncover Jamie's secret passion for this film, Ryan gets out of character discussing Jane Austen, and it's time to talk 19th-Century norms, fantasies that don't include being Batman, and much, much more!

The Signal Watch PodCast · 118: "Pride & Prejudice" (2005) - A Jamie Cinema Classic w/ Ryan

Music:

Dawn - Dario Marianelli, Pride & Prejudice OST
Mrs. Darcy - Dario Marianelli Pride & Prejudice OST


Jamie's Cinema Classics Playlist:

The Signal Watch PodCast · Jamie's Cinema Classics

Watch Party Watch: The Red House (1947)

Watched:  09/02/2020
Format:  Amazon Watch Party
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1940's
Director:   Delmer Daves

In a lot of ways, I'd categorize The Red House as "American Gothic".  The story has DNA in Jane Eyre and other books about recluses living with a mystery. 

The film stars Edward G. Robinson as a a farmer who keeps mostly to himself (he cohabitates with a niece and his sister, played by Judith Anderson of Rebecca fame).   His niece brings a classmate over to see if he can work the farm to assist Robinson, who is aging and can't do what he used to, especially as he has an artificial leg.  The teen is warned to stay away from some woods near the house, and not cut through them for an obvious shortcut.

In general - I liked the film.  It's got a sort of twisty mystery, and at least the female heroine was likable (jury is out on the male lead).  Robinson and Anderson are terrific, and Rory Calhoun is a lot of fun as a dick-swinging country boy after the male lead's girl (played by chanteuse Julie London, who seems like 10x too much woman for the male lead). 

Glad Jenifer chose it because I might have easily missed this one.

Watch Party on FRIDAY: Girls Just Want To Have Fun (1985)

Day:  Friday 09/04
Time:  8:30 Central
Amazon Watch Party Link

So.  I've never seen this.  It stars a very young Sarah Jessica Parker, Helen Hunt and Shannon Doherty.

I don't know what it's about. 

What I do know is that girls around my age apparently loved this movie in secret, because I'd never heard of it until I was dating Jamie and somehow it came up (I think I saw it for sale at Suncoast Video) and Jamie was all, like, "oh, wow!  Yeah!  That's fun and not something for you AT ALL."

So, easy enough.  I did not watch it.  But it's been probably 23 years or so since that conversation, and so... it is time. 

Let's find out why the girls want to have fun, and who is causing the dramatic tension by preventing them from having said fun and what kind of fun they'll have! 

TPR-Watch-Party Watch: In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Watched:  09/01/2020
Format:  Amazon Watch Party (Texas Public Radio)
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1960's
Director:  Norman Jewison

What a phenomenal film, and so shockingly, depressingly timely for something 53 years old.

The energy between Poitier and Steiger is famously some of the best on screen.  The entire cast is on fire in this one, which uses the Buddy-Cop formula to highlight people from different worlds and show how they clash.  Of course, this story is that of an African-American, Philadelphia-based homicide detective who happens to stumble into murder in a hick town in Mississippi, who partners with the local Sheriff who, while totally out of his depth, has the intelligence to be *aware* he's out of his depth.

Anyway - this is a terribly famous film, and - I'd argue - well worth a watch. 

I happened to have the delight of watching the film with the Texas Public Radio film fan community via Amazon Watch Party.  Hosted by our own NathanC, the chatter during the movie was lively, Nathan brought the trivia, and after the movie we met up in a GoToMeeting to chat about it.  Good times!  A+  Would do again.

PODCAST: "Showdown in Little Tokyo" (1991) - A SimonUK Cinema Series Episode (w/ Ryan)

Watched:  08/22/2020
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First, as it turns out
Decade:  1990's
Director:  Mark L. Lester

More ways to listen!


SimonUK and Ryan explore the 1991 film that brought Dolph Lundgren to the mean streets of LA's Little Tokyo as the ultimate Japanese man. It's action, mayhem, adventure and lots of nudity as Lundgren teams with the son of Bruce to take down the Yakuza before they something something protection racket/ sell pills in beer bottles. It's hard to say, but Tia Carrere is wrapped up in this mess, so you do have that going for you.

The Signal Watch PodCast · 117: "Showdown In Little Tokyo" (1991) - a SimonUK Cinema Series Selection (w/ Ryan)

Music:

Showdown in Little Tokyo - David Michael Frank


SimonUK Cinema Series Playlist!

The Signal Watch PodCast · SimonUK Cinema Series

Neo-Noir Watch: Nocturnal Animals (2016)

Watched:  08/29/2020
Format:  HBO
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's
Director:  Tom Ford

A lot of the coverage of the release of this film was that it was directed by Tom Ford, a fashion designer - which is an interesting idea.  One would assume a fashion designer has an eye for visuals, lifestyle cues, wardrobe and staging.  And - arguably, Ford delivers on all of these things.

He's cast beautiful people and dressed them well.  He's hired some beautiful people and dressed them down.  And, of course, there's the opening sequence which casts some (let's be honest) not gorgeous people and dressed them not at all.  For Ford - this is a hellish horror, absurd and tasteless, open to interpretation and meaningless, so awful its funny.  And knowingly hard to look at.  And... is, at best, a very small building block of what is arguably his point with the film, and set me to thinking about what and who a Tom Ford is and how that would set them for empathy and sympathy with characters in a story.

Chadwick Boseman Merges With the Infinite

Chadwick Boseman, actor, has passed at the age of 43.  I am absolutely heartbroken.

Boseman played T'Challa in Black Panther as well as in Civil War, Infinity War and Endgame.  Since I was a kid, I've enjoyed the character of Black Panther, but Boseman brought T'Challa to life - and, by extension - the world and promise of Wakanda.

In interviews, Boseman struck me as a good man who we were lucky was the person selected for the role.  Like a Christopher Reeve or Chris Evans, he seemed humbled by what the role meant, and understood his role within the role.  A fine actor, certainly, but you could see something in Boseman that existed on its own and shone through the costume and CG. 

I was ready to start following his career and was excited to see what he'd do next as an actor or wherever the world might take him.

And, of course, I don't think many of us knew he was sick. 

I don't have much more to say.  43 was far too young and far too early for him to go.

Watch Party for Friday: The Monster Squad (1987)

Day:  08/28/2020
Time:  8:30 Central
Amazon Watch Party Link HERE

Look, I get the skepticism - but this movie has a huge cult following, and that's not by mistake.

I was going to hold off for Halloween, but this leaves Prime at the end of the month.

Monster Squad is about a group of monster-movie fans who realize that Dracula, the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's Monster, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and a Mummy have arrived in their small California town to... well, it's not friendly.

It's got a great version of all the Universal Monster staples, some good storylines, and answers one question you never thought to ask!

And under the make-up are some cult-favorite actors.  Guys, it's @#$%ing Tom Noonan as Frankenstein's Monster.  And Duncan Regehr is AMAZING as Dracula.  And you'll be amazed at who plays Wolf Man.

Written by Shane Black, directed by Fred Dekker - I think you'll enjoy it.

Noir Watch: Journey Into Fear (1943)

Watched:  08/25/2020
Format:  TCM on DVR
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1940's
Director:  Norman Foster

Show on TCM as part of "Summer Under the Stars", Journey Into Fear (1943) was pitched as a Dolores Del Rio movie, and as I'd never seen a Dolores Del Rio movie and just knew who she was via a general awareness of classic film and talent. 

Well, first, Dolores Del Rio was a delight, and I look forward to watching her in more movies.  But I was also deeply curious as the film had Agnes Moorehead, my fave Joseph Cotten, and Orson Welles.  And if you're like "hey, that sounds like a Mercury Theatre production..." you are not wrong!

Honestly - this movie was terrific and I'd watch it again in a heartbeat.  It's a bit before the noir movement, but it features an everyman getting in way over his head by circumstance (but not obsession, which leaves me on the fence for calling it 100% noir).  There is a foxy dame (Del Rio) who is not his wholesome and unhelpful wife, shady characters abound, and the aesthetic kind of hollers noir. 

Cotten plays a munitions engineer on loan from the US to Turkey.  The Nazis figure if they bump him off, it sets the Turks back months or a year in Naval military advances.  And all Cotten wants to do is stay in the hotel with his wife - when he's whisked away by a cloying company man.  At a nightclub he's nearly missed as the target of an assassination attempt.  Welles, playing a bombastic head of the Turkish security forces makes moves to get him out of the city to meet up with his wife later. 

The boat which Cotten takes is full of folks who don't travel luxury class or in refined circles - and it's pretty great. 

There are a lot of really clever bits and touches that give the film character and texture.  Cotten himself wrote the screenplay, and he has a real knack for it.  The ending isn't even all that tidy, and we see his character go through a chance and arc.  But other characters are so well imagined (the businessman who became a Socialist to annoy his overbearing wife is brilliant), it's just a delight to watch.

I'd honestly love to watch it with an audience as there's plenty for classic film fans to chew on.

As a wartime movie, it's interesting none of these players served, and you get a bit of that "we're all on the same side here" stuff that makes wartime movies in non-American locales so interesting.  Before 42 and after 45, its tough to say that characters like Welles' Turkish character would be ancillary heroes of the film.  We'd return to making those characters untrustworthy and antagonistic.

Forgot to Post Watch: Catwomen of the Moon (1953)

Watched:  07/10/2020
Format:  Watch Party
Viewing:  Second
Decade:  1950's
Director:  Arthur Hilton

This is a very, very silly movie, but it stars Marie Windsor, so it can't be all wrong. 

They aren't women who are cats, they are women in cat suits.  Cat women.  You know. 

Watch Party Watch: Elvira - Mistress of the Dark (1988)

Watched:  08/21/2020
Format:  Amazon Watch Party
Viewing:  certainly not the first
Decade:  1980's
Director:  James Signorelli

I've both watched and discussed Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) numerous times here on Ye Olde Internets.

I noticed it's currently streaming on Amazon Prime, and so - breaking with tradition where we watch a less-than-amazing movie and discuss in real time, knowing that most people dismiss the movie out of hand, I decided to foist it upon those who joined us.

Frankly, I enjoyed watching a not-bad movie!  In fact, one people seemed to enjoy!

Anyway, I forgot to mention while we were doing the Watch Party I actually have an Elvira sticker on my current laptop, but I think - after Jenifer and I kept dropping Elvira trivia on them left and right - they got the idea that we happen to like Elvira.

further evidence

I will be able to identify my laptop in case of theft

PODCAST: "The Straight Story" (1999) - featuring an interview with screenwriter John Roach! Disney History w/ NathanC and Ryan!

Watched:  08/08/2020
Format:  Disney+
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1990's
Director:  David Lynch

For more ways to listen


NathanC returns for more Disney History - and this time he brings an interview with screenwriter John Roach! We're discussing the only G-Rated entry in the filmography of David Lynch, bringing his brilliance to a completely different kind of story. And - we have an interview with one of the key storytellers! Get some insight into this remarkable film courtesy a screenwriter who was there from start to finish! It's a very different (and special!) episode of The Signal Watch.

The Signal Watch PodCast · 116: "The Straight Story" (1999) Plus - Interview with John Roach! Disney History w/ Nathan & Ryan

Music:  
Laurens Walking - Angelo Badalamenti, The Straight Story OST
Country Theme - Angelo Badalamenti, The Straight Story OST


Playlist - Disney History w/ NathanC:

The Signal Watch PodCast · Disney History with NathanC