Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: July 2024

7/02/2024

The Incredible Petrified World (1959) - Descend into the movie world of Jerry Warren

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Several natural sensations and a buxom blond in the grasp of a giant octopus are teased on this poster for Jerry Warren's The Incredible Petrified World

A team of four descend to sea in a diving bell, but when the wire snaps they manage to rescue themselves into an enormous underwater cave, where they fall upon a kind of caveman, who thinks they will never escape!

The Incredible Petrified World is written by John W. Steiner and produced and directed by Jerry Warren (Man Beast (1956)).

John Carradine (House of Dracula (1945)) is the engineer behind the catastrophic underwater mishap, but his character immediately gives up, which is very inauspicious as far as our sympathy for his character goes. Lighting, sound and image quality stinks here. The opening has a fascinating (archive footage) octopus/shark fight, and the idea of the lost underwater world is pure adventure and exciting. But the acting and dialog is also lame here. In the end everyone becomes friends again. The Incredible Petrified World is a bizarre trip to the ultra-low budget world of Jerry Warren.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[The Incredible Petrified World was released 12 November (South Carolina) and runs 67 minutes. Carradine was paid 100 $ a week for his performance. Phyllis Coates (Cattle Empire (1958)) was reportedly persuaded by ex-boyfriend Warren to be the film's main female star with a promise that the film would not be released in California. Coates was never paid for her performance, and the film was released in California, where it seriously damaged her acting career. Shooting took place around March 1957 in New Mexico, Arizona and California. The 'monsters' teased on the film's poster are not to be found in the film, as the monster suit Warren had made was deemed too bad by even him and was thrown away during production. The film went unreleased for more than 2½ years, before Warren released it in South Carolina, then North Carolina, and then wider, on a double bill with his Teenage Zombies (1959). Internationally, the film is only listed as having had a release in Argentina in 1962. Cost and gross details are regrettably not to be found. The film is now in public domain and can be seen and downloaded free and legally right here. Warren returned with Teenage Zombies. Carradine returned in 5 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960). 1.3k+ IMDb users have given The Incredible Petrified World a 3.1/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Incredible Petrified World?

7/01/2024

In Cold Blood (1967) - Authentic chills and insigth in Brooks' marvelous true-crime drama

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The frightening, guilty eyes of the actual murderers are used effectively on this strong poster for Richard Brooks' In Cold Blood

A family of four in a Kansan countryside home gets slaughtered one night by intruding strangers for the meager sum of 40 $. The two culprits are later arrested and put to trial.

In Cold Blood is written, produced and directed by Pennsylvanian master filmmaker Richard Brooks (Crisis (1950)), adapting the same-titled true-crime novel by Truman Capote (The Grass Harp (1951)).

Brooks' film is a role-model piece of true-crime storytelling, preoccupied with the actual crime, the actual criminals, and a close adaptation of Capote's masterwork. The film also gives a dimension that the novel cannot with its human portrait of the murderers, and especially Robert Blake (Second-Hand Hearts (1980)) as Perry Smith is excellent. Scott Wilson (Bottlewood (2009)) is also great as the other bastard, Richard. The scenes of Smith's childhood are devastating., yet subtle. The sudden, inexplicable, violent crime together with the film's strangely hard-boiled imagery (cinematography by Conrad L. Hall (Jennifer 8 (1992))) is part of its fascination.

Despite the sympathy for Perry that the film and Blake's performance creates, also through Brooks' advanced narrative, the punishment for the two, their execution, still stands as the only correct verdict, in my opinion.

In Cold Blood is eerie, disheartening, with great performances, outstanding cinematography and score by Quincy Jones (Roots (1977, miniseries)). A masterly film.

Richard Brooks: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) - He's GAY, ya get it?!?...

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3.5 mil. $

Box office: 13 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain, projected huge hit but at least a big hit (projected return of 5.71 times its cost)

[In Cold Blood premiered 14 December (New York) and runs 135 minutes. Capote was paid 400k $ for the rights to his novel, which reportedly earned him a total of 2 mil. $. Shooting took place from March - June 1967 in California, including in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Nevada, Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri and in Mexico, including in the area and actual home where the murders took place. The film earned 13.5 mil. $ in North America. A conservative projected total gross of 20 mil. $ would rank it as a huge hit. It was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Cinematography to Burnett Guffey for Bonnie & Clyde, Director to Mike Nichols for The Graduate, Score to Elmer Bernstein for Thoroughly Modern Millie and Adapted Screenplay to Stirling Silliphant for In the Heat of the Night. The film also won a David di Donatello award, was nominated for a Golden Globe and won 2 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, equal in rating with this one. Brooks returned with The Happy Ending (1969). Blake returned in Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969); Wilson in Castle Keep (1969). In Cold Blood is certified fresh at 76 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of In Cold Blood?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (7-24)

7/02/2024

The Incredible Petrified World (1959) - Descend into the movie world of Jerry Warren

7/01/2024

In Cold Blood (1967) - Authentic chills and insigth in Brooks' marvelous true-crime drama

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

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