Retro Movie Reviews
Retro Movie Reviews by Jean-Paul
Tertocha
This
section of thingstohear.com will have posted reviews of past movies.
Mainly from the 1950’s to the 1980’s.
I
have found out reading other reviews, that if the review is good, the
movies sucked, and of course, if the review was bad, the movie was usually
quite good.
Two
of the worst of these characters, in my opinion of course, are; Lenard
Maltin and Phil Hardy. Here
are a couple of embittered people whose reviews seem to come from an
individual who was beaten as a child and grew up hating just about
everything.
Now, the
reader, that is you, must actually make their own judgment.
Because you see movies are a form of art, as well as entertainment,
and viewed with firm subjectivity. Just
as I will write the reviews posted here.
(c)2011 Jean-Paul Tertocha
Born
Free <>
1965 <> 95m
If there ever is a movie that is the epitome of motion
pictures, that is one that sets values, this is it.
Of course the movie industry, fortunately, noticed this as well,
awarding this motion picture two Academy Awards, including one for best
score.
Yes, the music for this flick is outstanding.
Very well suited to the action and emotion of the movie.
The cinematography is second to none.
Stunningly filmed in Central Africa, with majestic scenes to
backdrop the superb acting, editing, and directing, achieved in this
movie. The incidental shots in
the film are a pleasure to watch. My
favorite, when the wild pig counter-attacks Elsa the lion on one of her
first trials at hunting. This
pig, repeatedly dashes into the front and side of a bewildered lioness.
How the people and animals accomplished this scene is beyond me!
Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, who portray the married couple
dealing with Elsa, fit the part flawlessly.
They are so adept at acting their parts, after a short time into
watching the movie one can FEEL the emotion they are portraying.
And if a watcher does not get a lump in his or her throat, or shed
a tear or two watching this movie, that person’s heart is made of stone!
With all the majesty of this motion picture the premise is quite simple actually. Three lion cub’s parents are killed, and the humans involved attempt to correct the matter, with a lot of adventure and pathos.
(c)2011 Jean-Paul Tertocha
Five
Million Years to Earth <>
1968
The version I viewed for this review is actually a 107 minute
version abridged compilation of a BBC miniseries written by Rudolph
Cartier. Cartier himself
supervised the editing of this form of the movie.
Andrew Keir plays
the stately lead character, Professor
Bernard Quatermass. And is a
leading example of one fine point of this movie.
The casting is well done as each character has an actor or actress
that physically fit the part. Not
only that, the players did a fine job of delivering the dialog with the
proper and right amount of whatever physical motion goes along with the
dialog of the moment. Julian
Glover perfectly adds to the movie as a genuine, snobbish, military prick.
I found I actually began to loathe the character myself.
The dialog I find
quite entertaining. Of course
I am biased as I prefer the British use of the English language.
This movie is well written and to compliment that, the players
delivery is quite believable, and draws the watcher into the movie.
OK, what is it about? Well, you need to watch it to find out really. But for a hint, I would state it could be an extra-terrestrial invasion gone wrong that has been discovered. Or did the invasion go right?
(c)2011 Jean-Paul Tertocha
Audio Honorable Mention
Below is is list of music albums. Being on this list means the album is well produced, mixed, and recorded. Plus it is aesthetically pleasing as well.
`Ö - Ö'
#447 <> Marshall Crenshaw <> 1999
four <> Blues Traveler <> 1994
Fiend
without a Face <> 1957 <>
74m
Any reader of reviews should realize instantly that reviews are
subjective. I just wanted to
remind you of this. Because
this review is about one of my favorite movies of the monster genre.
I will tell you why later.
Fiend
without a Face is simply a cleaver, format movie with a slight twist.
The USA military has a base in Canada that uses atomic power for some kind
of DEW line defense test. Ah
oh, does that seem familiar? The
ole atomic bomb shtick? Well,
not exactly in this movie, as the atomic energy does not cause the
monsters nor do they destroy them. Atomic
power is an intricate part of the story however.
Puzzled? Good!
Maybe this will cause you to watch the movie.
Well
anyway, the sub-plot is routine as the locals claim the military base is
screwing up their cow’s milk production.
Then grisly murders occur that the locals blame on an AWOL nut case
from the base. Well of course
the base commander cannot deal with this and someone is assigned to look
into the problem.
The
locals are completely off base J,
because monsters are causing the problem.
And the monsters in this movie are really unusual.
Now I must give away part of the surprise. These monsters CAN BE SHOT! And the results are fatal and quite messy for the monsters involved. In just about every movie about monsters, guns are not effective. Not in this flick. However, shooting them does not solve the problem, you must watch the movie in order to find out how the US military gets rid of this monster peril.
The
Bat <>
1959 <> 80m
Although bats, the animals, are involved in this movie, they are
not the prime character. The
Bat is actually a serial killer that seems to resurface when money is
involved. Imagine that? :)
Agnes Moorhead plays a writer
that rents an eerie mansion to put together her latest mystery novel.
The mansion is owned by a financier whose bank is missing some
funds as well as the banker himself. The
banker’s doctor, played by Vincent Price, gets involved in a very
convoluted scheme. Things get
so confusing, that a first time watcher of this movie probably will get
lost and not have a clue as to what is going on.
This is good though, as this is a mystery movie.
All around virtuous movie as far as the technicalities go as well. Shot in a baroque style, dark and foreboding. Very good character development through the aid of well composed dialog. This movie flows right to the logical end.
(c)2012
Jean-Paul Tertocha
Meteor
<> 1979
<> 1h 47m
Although made in 1979, this
movie will fit nicely into a home theater with surround sound.
Way ahead of its time in that respect,
This film also boasts spectacular cinematography, witty dialog full
of cleaver one-liners, romance, escapades, action, and of course, pathos.
And to add even more power to this movie, it boasts an all-star cast as
well.
I found the plot quite
believable. Especially the
part where the stupid politicians and administrators are being told the
Earth is in peril. The
overseers of course being in denial and wanting to hide the very item that
would solve the dilemma. The
lead character, played by Sean Connery, is gruff, and bitter in the
beginning of the show. And he
does have every right to be.
Well, Karl Malden, the
support character, has a clever idea to work around the red tape.
And soon the Earth’s rescue is started.
No simple thing
redirecting a rouge meteor, and these people got to work at it.
Then an enormous climax ensues and all settles down, for a while.
And just when you think all is well….
(c)2012 Jean-Paul Tertocha