Had things gone as originally planned, our 'X' movie would have been Ti West's X  — which we were scheduled to run as part of our year-end wrap-up marathon in The Slaughtered Lamb Cinema this week. Unfortunately, a positive Covid test put those plans to rest, and in the hope that we might be able to salvage some of that event at a future date, I opted to go with a different 'X' title — one that I hadn't watched since renting the original Thorn EMI videotape nearly 40 years ago. My recollection of Xtro was that of a sleazy sci-fi/horror hybrid, with the feel of an 80s Italian horror film, containing an unforgettable scene of a woman giving birth to a fully grown man after being impregnated by an inelegantly designed alien creature. In addition to reviewing trailers of several possible 'X' films, I watched Siskel and Ebert's review of Xtro to see what they said about it at the time, which I've inserted below in case you're interested in their...

Growing up, Doug McClure was a staple of weekday afternoon television thanks to three Amicus Studios fantasy films he starred in based on the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs ( The Land That Time Forgot , The People That Time Forgot , and my favorite,  At the Earth's Core , in which he starred opposite Peter Cushing and Caroline Munro). I was surprised years later to discover that he did a fourth fantasy film (not for Amicus, and from an original screenplay), Warlords of Atlantis . I've had a copy in the library for years, but after showing Vonna the trailer (which showcases several of the films interesting creatures), we selected this one for our 'W' film. McClure is the creator of a diving bell helping a scientist and his son interested in finding the lost city of Atlantis. On their first dive, they're attacked by a sea creature, and after a narrow escape they find a golden statue — an artifact of Atlantis. The ship is attacked by a giant octopus, and several of the ...

The all-star cast of The Vanishing (a remake of a French film from a few years prior) convinced us to select this title (we could probably write a blog just detailing the weekly process of elimination when it comes to picking what to watch!).  Kiefer Sutherland plays a writer who's girlfriend (Sandra Bullock in an early film role) mysteriously disappears while they're stopped at a gas station while on vacation. He doesn't realize that she's been kidnapped by an eccentric man played by Jeff Bridges. He spends years searching for any information about her disappearance, when he meets and falls in love with a waitress played by Nancy Travis. After a few years, the abductor reaches out to the still obsessed boyfriend and offers to show him what happened to his girlfriend, step-by-step, and he can't help but agree to go along with it. While one might worry this would ultimately lead to his own death, his girlfriend is clued in to what's going on and takes matters in...

Despite what you may be thinking, 'U' is not for Ursula Andress, although that wouldn't be a bad reason to pick this film. Our feature selection for this week was the Philippe Broca film starring Jean-Paul Belmondo,  Up To His Ears (aka Les tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine ). I acquired the film (in a double-feature paired with Broca's That Man from Rio , which we have yet to watch) in part because both films were referenced as inspirations for the Indiana Jones films. And while it's not like  an Indiana Jones film, per se , it's not difficult to see the elements that justify the statement.  Up To His Ears is the story of Arthur, a rich but despondent individual dead-set on committing suicide. His fiancee's family isn't too troubled by the idea, provided that their daughter be set to receive his wealth. When his financial manager explains that due to volatility in the market, he's now broke, Arthur tries once more to kill himself, only to be st...

Peter Bogdnoavich's They All Laughed is an amusing romantic comedy filled with women he found beautiful (Collen Camp, Patti Hansen, Dorothy Stratten), opposite an eclectic mix of male counterparts (Ben Gazzara, Blane Novak and John Ritter). The three men play private detectives tailing women suspected of adultery, and two of the three manage to get themselves involved with their subjects, and many of the other women they interact with, along the way. Vonna felt Gazzara was way out of his league playing such a ladies man who all the women seemed to be captivated by. Ritter, right in the middle of his star-making run on Three's Company , plays to type as a bumbling romantic, frothing over Dorothy Stratten's character. I've always liked Ritter, and am a particular fan of the film he did just before this ( Hero at Large ). My enjoyment of this film was in large part based on his performance. The real surprise to me was crazy-haired Blane Novak, who co-wrote the film with B...