The Green Slime Directed by Kinji Fukasaku Written by Bill Finger, Tom Rowe and Charles Sinclair; story by Ivan Reiner 1968/Japan/Italy/US IMDb link
First viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Commander Jack Rankin: Wait a minute — are you telling me that this thing “reproduced” itself inside the decontamination chamber? And, as we stepped up the current, it just… it just GREW?[/box]
Bad movie made worse by its love triangle subplot.
Astronauts must destroy an giant asteroid heading on a collision course with Earth. In so doing they pick up a small amount of green slime that grows up to be Japanese children in ludicrous rubber suits.
The best thing about this really bad movie is its hilarious US theme song. You have been warned.
Faces Directed by John Cassavetes Written by John Cassavetes 1968/US IMDb link
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] Richard Forst: I’m serious.
Jeannie Rapp: Definition of serious: Blah blah blah blah…[/box]
This is the kind of movie that gets me excited about cinema all over again. Love its raw emotion.
Richard (John Marley) and Maria (Lynn Carlin) Forst seem jolly enough at first but it is soon clear that there is a certain something missing from their marriage. Richard goes out with the boys and they pick up Jeannie Rapp (Gena Rowlands). She takes them back to her flat where all continue to drink. Richard and Jeannie somehow click and Richard tells Maria he wants a divorce. He is leaving tonight and never coming back, he says.
That same night Maria goes out to a go-go club with the girls. They pickup party guy Chet (Seymour Cassel) and take him back to Maria’s place. I will stop right there.
To start with I think everything about this film is perfect. I wouldn’t want to leave anything out! The acting and direction combined with the brilliant dialogue make me feel like I’m eavesdropping on these people’s most intimate moments. I’m a big fan of Gena Rowlands and this is one of her most brilliantly crafted parts as the most authentic of the characters. Lost none of its impact on this repeat viewing. Highly recommended.
The Thomas Crown Affair Directed by Norman Jewison Written by Alan Trustman IMDb link
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime
[box] Vicki Anderson: What do you get for the man who has everything?[/box]
Main selling point seems to be extreme close-ups of two beautiful people engaging in sex scenes that would not have been allowed just a couple of years earlier. Not my thing.
Thomas Crown (Steve McQueen) is an independently wealthy thrill-seeking bank director. He and his associates conduct a high-stakes robbery of his own bank and nets $2 million dollars. The bank’s insurer sends its sexiest and craftiest investigator Vicki Anderson (Faye Dunaway) to find and retrieve its money.
The remainder of the movie consists of a cat and mouse game between Thomas and Vicki. She is forthright in her pursuit. He is generally one step ahead of her.
Despite my love affair with Steve McQueen, I’m not crazy about this movie.It plays like a heist version of a Bond movie, complete with product placements and rich men’s toys but with steamier sex and no sense of humor.I love the theme song but also think that Noel Harrison’s lugubrious rendition of “The Windmills of Your Mind”, used in the movie at least two or three times, is the worst ever.
Michele Legrand and Marilyn and Alan Bergman won the Oscar for Best Music, Original Song. Legrand was nominated for Best Original Score for his first Hollywood score.
No Way to Treat a Lady Directed by Jack Smight Written by John Gay from a novel by William Goldman 1968/US IMDb link
First viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Mrs. Brummel: I am sickened at heart when my own son goes looking at dead women’s naked bodies. I tell you Morris, it is no way to treat a lady.[/box]
1968 was certainly a year for serial and spree killer movies! This one straddles that fine line between thriller and comedy and mostly does it well due to some fine acting.
A rash of murders, Boston Strangler-style, is disturbing the already shaky equanimity of New York City. The killer (Rod Steiger) is crafty. Witnesses see only his disguise, never his real face. Detective Morris “Mo” Brummel (George Segal) is on the case. Poor Mo has a stereotypical Jewish mother (Eileen Heckart) who is always hectoring about his lowly employment and comparing him to his MD brother.
During his investigation, Mo meets eye-witness Kate Palmer (Lee Remick), a non-Jew who rings every one of his bells. In the meantime, the murderer may be exposing himself by taunting his pursuer by phone.
Often when Steiger is given free rein to ham it up he blows it. Here fortunately he exercises enough restraint to give five or six impressive performances. The rest of the cast is also rock solid. It’s the weaker of the thrillers I’ve been watching lately but enjoyable for all that.
The Boston Strangler Directed by Richard Fleischer Written by Edward Anhalt from a book by Gerold Frank 1968/US IMDb link
First viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Capt. Ed Willis: We’ve got a full-blown maniac on our hands.[/box]
Solid performances and direction make a “true crime” story enjoyable.
This is supposedly the true story of the investigation and ultimate capture of Albert De Salvo (Tony Curtis), who strangled and mutilated thirteen women in the Boston area in the early 60’s. The first half of the movie is a police procedural about the increasingly desperate efforts of law enforcement to halt the killings, which span several different jurisdictions. Finally, the State Attorney’s Office takes over to coordinate. John S. Bottomly (Henry Fonda) takes charge. Little progress is made as the investigators continuously focus on “perverts” (read homosexuals).
The police get their break when family man De Salvo leaves a survivor (Sally Kellerman), who bit him on the hand. She has blocked the identity of her attacker and much of the incident out her mind. There is no physical evidence to tie him to the murders. De Salvo is diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. Bottomly gets him to open up to a certain extent at the mental hospital by promising nothing he says will be used against him. With George Kennedy and Murray Hamilton also investigating.
Tony Curtis gets a chance at working outside his comfort zone and gives a good low-key performance as the confused killer. I thought the movie worked best, however, in its first hour with its well-edited killings and surprisingly sexually frank content. (I guess I still have to get used to demise of the Hayes Code.)
There are theories that De Salvo did not commit all of the murders but apparently the police were satisfied and the attacks stopped after his arrest/involuntary commitment.
Romeo and Juliet Directed by Franco Zefferelli Written by Franco Brusati, Masalino D’Amico, and Franoco Zefferelli from Shakespeare’s play 1968/UK/Italy https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063518/reference
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Romeo: Thus with a kiss I die.[/box]
This dreamy, romantic, lush film has held up beautifully over the years.
Surely nobody needs me to explain the plot of this movie. With Leonard Whiting as Romeo, Olivia Hussey as Juliet, John McEnery as Mercutio and Michael York as Tybalt.
When this first came out its big selling point is that the star-crossed lovers were played by actual age-appropriate teenagers and for being somewhat racy. All the performances are good. I like John McEnery’s Mercution best. But the high points go to the fabulous Renaissance production and costume design. The Nino Rota score is also a gem. Beats the Norma Shearer-Leslie Howard version by a mile. Recommended to Shakespeare lovers.
Romeo and Juliet won the Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design. It was nominated in the categories of Best Picture and Best Director.
Clip – Love at first sight
Dire Straits in Sydney – just because I love this song so much.
Destroy All Monsters (Kaiju soshingeki) Directed by Ishiro Honda
Written by Ishiro Honda and Takashi Kimur
Japan/1968 IMDb link
First viewing/Criterion Channe
[box] Kilaak Queen: Ghidorah is a space monster. The monsters from Earth cannot win. I will get in touch with you, when you feel like giving up.[/box]
As a break from more serious fare, I took a chance on this utterly lame monster movie so you don’t have to. Unless you want to, of course.
The alien Kilaak people have vowed to enslave the human race. The first step is gaining control over all the monsters segregated on Monster Island and some of their human keepers. All the series monsters are then unleashed on major world capitals where they crush skyscrapers with their mighty feet. Mankind’s last hope are some lunar astronauts who figure out how to unleash the combined power of the Earth monsters on Space Monster King Gidorah.
This one never grabbed me. I thought Toho had reached rocked bottom on its special effects in 1967, but nooo, these are even worse. So some laughs for some people on some days.
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter Directed by Robert Ellis Miller Thomas C. Ryan from a novel by Carson McCullers 1968/USA IMDb link
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Jake Blount: Huh? “John Singer. I am…” Um – a MUTE? Chee-rist! And all this time I thought you was a good listener![/box]
If you are looking for a bittersweet Hollywood movie with some superlative acting, look no further.
This has an involved plot and I’ll be leaving out quite a bit. Alvie Singer (Alan Arkin) is a deaf-mute. His best friend is Antonopoulis, who is also a deaf mute and seems to be mentally retarded as well. Antonopoulis’ custodial relative has him committed to a mental hospital when he gets in trouble one time too many. Singer moves to an even smaller Southern town to be near his friend until he can take custody of him.
Singer rents a room in a home with a complicated family life. He befriends its dreamy 16-year old daughter Mick (Sondra Locke in her film debut). Circumstances make him the favorite listener of several other lonely people. With Stacy Keach (in his film debut) as a drunk; Percy Rodrigues as a pround black physician; and Cecily Tyson as his angry daughter.
I last saw this on original release. It stuck with me (even if I did not see the ending coming yet again) and I loved it this time as well. Arkin is amazing in a detailed, nuanced performance in which his face and demeanor convey a rich interior life that is not guessed at by the many people who lean on him. The supporting players are also uniformly excellent. Recommended.
Alan Arkin was nominated by the Academy for Best Actor. Sondra Lock received a nod for Best Supporting Actress.
Black Cat (Kurnoneko/Yabu no naka no kuroneko) Directed by Kaneto Shindo Written by Kaneto Shindo 1968/Japan IMDb link
First viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1000 Best Horror Movies on They Shoot Zombies, Don’t They?
My mind was always on the commoners, not on the lords, politicians or anyone of name and fame. — Kaneto Shindo
Kaneto Shindo gives us a beautiful and truly creepy ghost story that rivals his Onibaba(1964).
War rages in Japan. A mother and her daughter-in-law live in an isolated hovel scraping out a meager existence as peasant farmers. Their son/husband was snatched away by samurai three years previously. Suddenly, they are attacked by a troop of samurai, gang raped, and killed. Their hovel is reduced to ashes.
Their ghosts vow to the evil god to suck the blood of and kill every last samurai. They proceed to do this. Things get complicated when the son/husband comes home in triumph as a very successful samurai himself.
Might be the first film of the year for the 2020 Favorite New-to-me Films list. I thought it was absolutely superb. The score, soundscape, editing, and slightly surreal imagery combine to make the chills run up your spine. Highly recommended.
Targets Directed by Peter Bogdonovich Written by Peter Bogdonovich; story by Bogdonovich and Polly Platt 1968/USA IMDb link
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
One of 1000 Best Horror Movies on They Shoot Zombies Don’t They?
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Byron Orlok: Oh, Sammy, what’s the use? Mr. Boogey Man, King of Blood they used to call me. Marx Brothers make you laugh, Garbo makes you weep, Orlok makes you scream.[/box]
Not too shabby for a feature film debut, Mr. Bogdonovich.
There are two stories running concurrently. In one, a writer played by Bogdonovich tries to convince elderly horror star Brian Orlok (Boris Karloff) to star in a straight role in his new movie. Both are clearly playing themselves. Simultaneously, a young clean-cut Vietnam War Vet plans and carries out mass murder.
Everybody meets up at a drive-in where Orlok is making a publicity appearance for his latest movie.
Bogdonovich was a huge film geek and just can’t help himself from going meta at this young age. The really compelling story is the sniper’s and the other story gets in its way here. That’s a shame because the other story features one of Karloff’s many memorable performances. That too, might have made a great movie in the hands of a more mature director. This quibble aside, the film is well worth seeing.
Producer Roger Corman gave Bogdonovich a free hand with the film so long as he used clips from The Terror (1963) and hired Karloff for the two days still owed on his contract with Corman. The infirm actor ended up working five days and doing a splendid job.
I’ve been a classic movie fan for many years. My original mission was to see as many movies as I could get my hands on for every year from 1929 to 1970. I have completed that mission.
I then carried on with my chronological journey and and stopped midway through 1978. You can find my reviews of 1934-1978 films and “Top 10” lists for the 1929-1936 and 1944-77 films I saw here. For the past several months I have circled back to view the pre-Code films that were never reviewed here.
I’m a retired Foreign Service Officer living in Indio, California. When I’m not watching movies, I’m probably traveling, watching birds, knitting, or reading.
Photographs and videos found in this blog, unless indicated, are not owned by me and are here only for the purpose of education and discussion. Media found here are not intended for any commercial purpose. Copyright infringement is not intended.
Written material belongs to me and is copyrighted by flickersintime.com
(Kurnoneko/Yabu no naka no kuroneko)
