God's Gun/Diamante Lobo (1976) - Van Cleef/Garrett pair for revenge in trashy Italo-Israeli delight

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Lee Van Cleef strangely seems to be wearing a shiny diamont earring on this beautifully painted poster for Gianfranco Parolini's God's Gun

A priest is murdered by a ruthless thug, but his twin brother will come to take his revenge!

God's Gun is written by John Fonseca (The Great Adventure/Il Richiamo del Lupo (1975)) and co-writer/director Gianfranco Parolini (The Old Testament/Il Vecchio Testamento (1962)).
It is an entertaining and well-paced b-picture western that's also semi-exploitation; it has several shoot-outs, hot ladies and elaborate rape scenes. It also has a cool Lee Van Cleef (The Perfect Killer/Quel Pomeriggio Maledetto (1977)) in the dual twin brother roles, Jack Palance (Young Guns (1988)) as the heavy and the unusually pretty (at the time) Leif Garrett (The Next Tenant (1998)) as the boy Johnny, who helps the justified vengeance along. Also with a 'ghost' duplicity plan, which is well thought up.
Dragging down God's Gun are involuntarily funny scenes, primitive effects and a monotone photographic expression that relies on zooms in just about every second scene!

Listen to the film's theme in a video here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain
[God's Gun was released in Italy some time in 1976 and runs 94 minutes. Shooting took place in Israel. Sybil Danning, who plays Johnny's mother, was only 9 years older than him. Richard Boone left the film drunk and in poor health, before he had done his dub, (which was then completed by another actor), later calling the film "the worst picture ever made", as he derided its producer and director to an American reporter. The film was released in North America and at least 7 European markets, but its performance and budget is regrettably not known. It has apparently fallen into public domain and can be seen and downloaded free and legally here. Parolini returned with Giant of the 20th Century/Yeti - Il Gigante del 20° Secolo (1977). Van Cleef returned in Vengeance/Kid Vengeance (1977); Palance in Welcome to Blood City (1977). 1,182 IMDb users have given God's Gun an average 5.1/10 rating.]

What do you think of God's Gun?

Bagdad Café/Out of Rosenheim (1987) - Magic and human brotherhood succeed in Percy Adlon's quaint America-vision

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Wonderful, graphic poster for Percy Adlon's Bagdad Café

QUICK REVIEW:

We are in the California dessert Route 66 gas station small town Bagdad, where a German lady lodges at the motel after losing her husband. At first, the African-American woman who is the manager is very opposed to the new guest, but later everyone falls for Jasmine.

Marianne Sägebrecht and Jack Palance in Percy Adlon's quaint Bagdad Café

Bavarian actress Marianne Sägebrecht (Rosalie Goes Shopping (1989)) is the jewel of the film; very real and very charming. CCH Pounder (Avatar (2009)) is also good, but her character's development isn't fully convincing. And then there's Jack Palance (Le Mépris (1963)) ... - who's also just dandy!
A gay, free, dwelling movie with lovely painting and magic scenes and an unbelievable amount of boomerang-shots.
Bagdad Café is a slow, but rewarding film, very unique and fine. It is directed by Percy Adlon (Rosalie Goes Shopping (1989)), who, despite his English-sounding name, comes from Munich.
The film was shot in the Sidewinder Café in Newberry Springs, CA, where they since renamed their café to Bagdad Café and have received many visitors that are fans of the film since.

Watch the happy trailer here

Budget: Unknown
Box office: 3.5 mil. $ (US only)
= Reportedly a hit

What do you think of Bagdad Café?
Have you seen other Percy Adlon movies, and if so, how were they?

Batman (1989) - A huge, glitzy, empty joker

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A poster for Tim Burton's Batman

QUICK REVIEW:

Gotham City's gangster problem numero uno, played by Jack Palance (Shane (1953)), is exterminated, but the replacement is no better...
Michael Keaton (Jackie Brown (1997)) is good, but very yuppie-ish as Bruce Wayne. Batman has quite a few awkward 80s qualities, - among others songs by Prince composed for the movie. The first Batman of Warner Bros.' initial film series is strangely frigid, and the interest on behalf of the audience never grows out of the curious but essentially passive.

Jack Nicholson as the Joker

The main reason to watch Batman is, of course, top-billed villainous Jack Nicholson (Chinatown (1974)), who goes theatrical and all-in as the total wacko. Nicholson himself was no fool, however; he got paid an astounding 6 mil. $ salary for his part + a considerable gross percentage, which ran up to somewhere between 60-90 mil. $!

Jack Nicholson's goofing around in Batman earned him more money than few other movies have ever made their star

Batman was a huge production with impressive special effects, but, - though many people seem to love it, - it is certainly not among director Tim Burton (Batman Returns (1992)) best films, and it also isn't among the top 3 best Batman films.
Burton has himself expounded on his negative thoughts about it, calling its production "torture. The worst period of my life!" - As its budget spiraled upwards from 30 mil. to 48 mil. $. In retrospect he has said; "I liked parts of it, but the whole movie is mainly boring to me. It's OK, but it was more of a cultural phenomenon than a great movie." - And he is totally correct.

Related review:

Tim Burton: Batman Returns (1992) - Burton gives us the ultimate, Gothic spin on Gotham City and its sinister characters 
Beetle Juice (1988) - Burton and team serve one of the best horror comedies ever 

Watch the original trailer here

Budget: 48 mil. $
Box office: 411.3 mil. $ (+ 750 mil. $ of merchandise!)
= Huge blockbuster + first film to reach 100 mil. $ within 10 days of release

What do you think of Tim Burton's first Batman?