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[Geo (R.I.P.)]

For $15 you might still want to give it a try anyway. You get a collectors book with it, plus a poster, two Blue-Ray disks, one with the extras, and one with the 1977 Original Theatrical Version, 1980 Special Edition, 1998 Director's Cut. That's a heads-up on whats on there.

Geo

[profh0011]

SECRET AGENT:  SUCH MEN ARE DANGEROUS

Investigating "The Order"     *******

A man nearing the end of his prison term is offered a suspicious job once he gets out, and he decides to inform the authorities about it. Next thing you know, Drake is substituted for the man, and finds himself a recruit in a top-secret "Order" with neo-Nazi leanings bent on "removing" anyone in the government they deem a "menace to society".

A particularly tense, nerve-wracking story to sit thru. Some episodes of SECRET AGENT are very entertaining, but others (like this one) just keep me on the edge of my seat while thinking I'm glad I DON'T have Drake's job!

Interesting connections, this was directed by Don Chaffey, who did JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, and from that cast he's included John Cairney (who played "Hylas", Hercules' friend who died too young) and Jack Gwillim (who played the booming-voiced "King Aeetes", who used the Hydra's teeth to create unliving skeletal soldiers). I love looking up info like this online, especially when I know I recognize someone but not from where. Also in the cast is Erik Chitty as the butler (but who made an indelible impression on me as the librarian in the Tom Baker DOCTOR WHO story, "The Deadly Assassin").

It was Lee Montague as the French Major Latour who really got on my nerves, though. He was just TOO cold-blooded when it came to murder, and it the sort of person one really wishes the world COULD be rid of. (The character, not the actor!)

[josemas]

Just a heads up that tonight is the season premiere of Warehouse 13 on SyFy.  SyFy is also premiering tonight the new series-Alphas-which TV Guide refers to as "a new breed of super-hero.

Best

Joe

[profh0011]

The last few days...

DEAD OF NIGHT  (1946)
TO BE OR NOT TO BE  (1942)
SCARFACE  (1932)
MARS ATTACKS

[Menticide]

Just got back from the cheap cinema, I know the reviews were pretty lousy, but I rather enjoyed Thor. Very Larry Lieber/Jack Kirby inspired, thankfully not a lot Stan Lee's influence present.

[Menticide]

Iron Man 2, I bought the blu-ray months ago, but just now got around to watching it. After watching Thor, I can see how they are tying all of these movies together, and it's brilliant. So, I have to say that being a Marvel fanboy actually pays off, because DC never tried this on celluloid.

[profh0011]

DRACULA  (1931)

Never thought I'd say this, but after seeing countless Dracula films and quite a lot of various adaptations of the book... this film just KEEPS getting better each time I see it!  Bela Lugosi & Edward Van Sloan (and to a lesser degree, Dwight Frye) all seem to be operating on a different level from all the other characters in the story, as if they all exist in their own separate "world". Van Sloan's Van Helsing is one cool character, far more open & not the secretive guy in the book AT ALL. (Of course, in the novel, Dracula & Van Helsing NEVER come face-to-face until the finale at Castle Dracula.) I wish I could see him in more movies.

[boox909]

DRACULA  (1931)

Never thought I'd say this, but after seeing countless Dracula films and quite a lot of various adaptations of the book... this film just KEEPS getting better each time I see it!  Bela Lugosi & Edward Van Sloan (and to a lesser degree, Dwight Frye) all seem to be operating on a different level from all the other characters in the story, as if they all exist in their own separate "world". Van Sloan's Van Helsing is one cool character, far more open & not the secretive guy in the book AT ALL. (Of course, in the novel, Dracula & Van Helsing NEVER come face-to-face until the finale at Castle Dracula.) I wish I could see him in more movies.

I've been watching this one all week...I plan to watch the Spanish language version over the weekend.

[profh0011]

"All week"?  Do you mean, you're watching it in little installments, or the whole thing over and over again?


Tell you the truth, the last 2 times I watched it, it was so late I had trouble keeping my eyes open the last half-hour.  I think I may rewind the tape and JUST watch the last half-hour again tonight.

[boox909]

"All week"?  Do you mean, you're watching it in little installments, or the whole thing over and over again?


Tell you the truth, the last 2 times I watched it, it was so late I had trouble keeping my eyes open the last half-hour.  I think I may rewind the tape and JUST watch the last half-hour again tonight.

I'm a weird one in that I will watch a film in multiple sessions at a spurt. I usually will watch a film that really catches my interest at least ten times in a row if I have it on dvd. Multiply that by a few such sessions and you can see why I've watched Judge Dred at least 50+ times...and it is technically a horrid film, but my technique allows me to brainwash myself into liking nearly any film. 

[profh0011]

I'm a strange one... or at least, I have my OWN tastes when it comes to things.  Despite having read maybe 50 JUDGE DREDD comics, I liked the movie MORE than the comics!

[Menticide]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, I have yet to read or watch any of the Harry Potter stories, I'm just barely old enough to be more of Tolkien fan, but seeing as how my daughter is four years old, I am probably going to need to start reading the Potter books soon, and I guess I'll wait to watch the movies with her. Although, with my luck she'll be more into the whole Twilight thing, just like her mother.

BTW, Judge Dredd wasn't a dreadful movie, but I'm still a much bigger fan of the comic.

[Menticide]

The Night Stalker, one of my favorite TV movies ever, as I was informed by Boox the other night, they are going for yet another attempt at a remake. Why bother? As decent an actor as Johnny Depp maybe, he is a sorry replacement for Darren McGavin.

[josemas]

The Night Stalker, one of my favorite TV movies ever, as I was informed by Boox the other night, they are going for yet another attempt at a remake. Why bother? As decent an actor as Johnny Depp maybe, he is a sorry replacement for Darren McGavin.

The Lil' Missus and I re-watched The Night Stalker movies and series with Darren McGavin two or three years back.  I thought that the movies still held up really well.  I remember originally watching them in the early seventies when they first aired as Movies of the Week and being really impressed at the time and so was happy that they were as good as I remembered.

The series, on the other hand, just wasn't in the same league. Not horrible, mind you, but it suffered from much lower budgets and from losing Dan Curtis as producer.  Curtis knew had to squeeze everything he could out of a a small budget from his years working as a daytime soap opera producer (Dark Shadows) but the new producers couldn't quite pull it off and the show suffered from inconsistent writing and effects.  McGavin, alone, just couldn't hold it together.

I suppose I'll eventually see this new Johnny Depp version (the Lil Missus and I both like him) but, like you, I'm keeping my expectations low.

Best

Joe

[profh0011]

I loved both tv-movies when they first aired. I wished they'd done more (I read they couldn't agree on the 3rd script and so it never happened). When I heard about the weekly show, I thought, how are they gonna do that without running out of ideas real fast? (A standard complaint of my Dad's with tv shows, but I think it really applies here.) I was frankly surprised it was as GOOD as it was. I understand there was some behind-the-scenes confusion over who was supposed to be in charge of the show, and Darren McGavin and his wife both worked themselves to death to make it as good as possible, and much better than the network would have cared to. But after 20 episodes, they'd had it. I think it's a good thing it ended when it did.  It wasn't around long enough to get REALLY bad.

I wish I had a complete set of uncut episodes.  Most of mine came from THE CBS LATE MOVIE, which cut all the opening credits, except for 4 of them, "re-edited" into 2 abominably-bad "movies" (with 2 stories intercut together to make them look like they were taking place at the same time, instead of simply splicing 2 full episodes back-to-back as-is-- McCLOUD's 1st season was also mutilated in this same fashion, what was WRONG with syndicators back then???).

I tend to think the 2nd movie was the high point, partly because Dan Curtis directed that one himself! DAMN, he was good. It's just sad that Kolchak's 2 girlfriends from the movies were never seen after their stories.

[Menticide]

I think that if the network had allowed Dan Curtis to remain with the series it would have worked a whole lot better. He managed to keep Dark Shadows going for quite some time.

[josemas]

I wish I had a complete set of uncut episodes.  Most of mine came from THE CBS LATE MOVIE, which cut all the opening credits, except for 4 of them, "re-edited" into 2 abominably-bad "movies" (with 2 stories intercut together to make them look like they were taking place at the same time, instead of simply splicing 2 full episodes back-to-back as-is-- McCLOUD's 1st season was also mutilated in this same fashion, what was WRONG with syndicators back then???).

Henry if you do ever get a DVD player you'll be happy to know that both movies and the series are available complete and uncut again in that format.  I was very glad to be able to see them again like that after seeing those atrocious TV movie re-edits of the series.

Best

Joe

[josemas]

I think that if the network had allowed Dan Curtis to remain with the series it would have worked a whole lot better. He managed to keep Dark Shadows going for quite some time.

Actually the network did want Curtis to stay on as the series producer but he was more interested in doing movies at that period in time so he turned the series down (which I don't think they were expecting) and that left them scrambling to find a new producer post haste.

Best

Joe

[profh0011]

I would have preferred a series of movies. For the same reason I loved the NBC MYSTERY MOVIES so much, the format allows you to do fewer (and better) scripts per year, and have more time for character development and humor.  When McCLOUD ended, Glen Larson wanted to do BATTLESTAR GALACTICA the same way-- but at the last minute, ABC insisted on it being a weekly.  This resulted in 4 "bad" episodes in a row.  In retrospect, those episodes are actually kinda fun to watch... but they weren't the kind of thing the show was designed for.

In the long run, BG predicted HILL STREET BLUES' habit of being on the air for so many weeks, then off for so many weeks to let production catch up, which almost became the norm for most shows later on. It pissed me off to learn that BG actually had very good ratings when it was cancelled-- ABC yanked it because they felt it was "too expensive".  

Along similar lines, the revival of WKRP IN CINCINATTI (which I'm watching again right now) made money its 2 years in syndiaction-- but the backers felt it didn't make ENOUGH.  Overwhelming GREED is destroying this entire planet right now...

[josemas]

This has been going on for awhile now.  If a film (or series) doesn't "live up to expectations" (even if it does make money) then it is often considered a failure these days.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

Original Battlestar Galactica sound effects and scenes were reused to save money on Buck Rogers

[josemas]

Captain America movie marathon coming this Thursday on SyFy.

Both TV movies from the 1970s and the 1990 movie will be shown. 

I haven't seen the TV movies since the 70s and have never seen the later flick.

Best

Joe

[boox909]

Captain America movie marathon coming this Thursday on SyFy.

Both TV movies from the 1970s and the 1990 movie will be shown. 

I haven't seen the TV movies since the 70s and have never seen the later flick.

Best

Joe

You just set my Thursday!!!! 

[profh0011]

Let's see, the last few days...

DRACULA
MARK OF THE VAMPIRE
DRACULA'S DAUGHTER
SON OF DRACULA
HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN

Is it strange that after so many years, most of these just keep getting better?  (Or, if not, just screwier?)



Strange but true... MGM wanted to do an unauthorized adaptation of DRACULA.  They almost got sued over it, so the script got heavily re-written and became LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT.  A few years later, they decided to do their own "vampire" movie in response to DRACULA, and recruited both Tod Browning and Bela Lugosi,  but this time, Universal almost sued them over similarities, so they changed it (but not quite that much) to a semi-remake of LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT.  Having just watched DRACULA and MARK OF THE VAMPIRE back-to-back, it's mind-numbing they still didn't get sued anyway!  So many characters, situations, and even bits of dialogue, nearly-identical.  If it wasn't for the "twist" ending, MARK... might be looked at as nothing but a rip-off of the Universal film.  I wish the silent film still existed, because while MARK... is technically very well-done, story-wise, I can't shake the feeling LONDON... may have made more sense.  (I've got the "restoration", but as it consists of still photos, it takes a lot of concentration to get thru it and follow the plot.)

[Menticide]

Captain America movie marathon coming this Thursday on SyFy.

Both TV movies from the 1970s and the 1990 movie will be shown. 

I haven't seen the TV movies since the 70s and have never seen the later flick.

Best

Joe

You just set my Thursday!!!! 

DVD recorder time... I already have the 90s one and I know the two TV ones were pretty crappy too, but I need them for the collection anyway. Now, I need to get my hands on that Doctor Strange TV movie too.