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[struth]

Memoirs of an Invisible Man, 1992. Director John Carpenter






Ivan Reitman was originally set to direct the film, but when he and Chevy Chase constantly had heated arguments over the film's tone, Reitman refused to work with Chase and demanded the studio choose either he or Chase. They chose Chase.
This was John Carpenter's first film during the 1990s, and also his first major studio film since Big Trouble in Little China (1986). The reason he'd had not done one, was due to the fact that he'd received a lot of studio interference on that film, and felt restrained to do the films he would've liked independently. Prince of Darkness (1987) and They Live (1988) were made during that time independently.

John Carpenter has stated that this is his least favorite of all the films he's directed, and is the film he "hates thinking about the most". One reason was because of the constant studio interference that didn't allow Carpenter much creative freedom. Carpenter also called Chevy Chase "a director's worst nightmare" and "nearly impossible to direct", also saying the same about Daryl Hannah. According to Carpenter, Chase would complain non-stop about the film's tone and hated wearing the special effects, often prematurely removing his makeup and ruining hours of filming. At one point, Carpenter broke a clipboard in half over his knee in a fit of rage when Chase removed his makeup mid-take. Carpenter said that Chase and Hannah were "immune to any punishment from the studio, and they knew it, so they walked over me and everyone else on set and essentially told us we'd be replaced if we had any problem with them...it was like working with your boss's snooty children who would tattle on you if you didn't bend to their every will." Despite this, Carpenter ended up bonding and seeking comfort in Sam Neill over the troubling production and the two became close friends, with Neill agreeing to work with Carpenter again on In The Mouth Of Madness.

[struth]

The Man Who Knew Too Little, 1997.






When Wallace Ritchie (Bill Murray) uses the mallet to break down the door, he yells "Here's Johnny!" This is a nod to Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) breaking down the door with an axe and saying the same thing in The Shining (1980). The mallet is also the signature weapon used by Jack Torrance in Stephen King's novel The Shining, unlike the axe used in the Stanley Kubrick movie.

[struth]

Joanne Whalley was drop dead gorgeous in her day..

now, .... Tora!, Tora!, Tora!, 1970... A strong cast for this fairly good retelling of the Pearl Harbor attack by the nasty Nip!!, as they were then.. At the time of its initial release, the film was thought to be a box office disappointment in North America, but was a huge success in Japan.




When Japanese characters refer to the date of the attack, they actually say "December 8." It's technically correct, as Japan is a day ahead of the U.S. It was translated as "December 7" in the subtitles to avoid confusing U.S. audiences.


The wounded sailor shown firing back at the strafing Japanese planes late in the film near the conclusion of the attack is based on Chief Ordnanceman John Finn, who was stationed at Kaneohe Naval Air Station on December 7, 1941. He set up a .50 caliber machine gun mount, and despite being wounded several times, fired back at strafing Zero fighters during the second attack wave, hitting several of them, and even shooting down one, piloted by combat unit leader Lieutenant Fusata Iida. Finn was later awarded the Medal of Honor for valor beyond the call of duty.

[Macca]

'The Enemy Below' (1957)

Robert Mitchum is the new skipper of a destroyer scouring the South Atlantic for U-Boats in WWII. When he goes after Curt Jurgen's sub the crew quickly realise he knows his trade. But Jurgens is a worthy opponent.

Good watch this, doesn't try to be fancy just tells the story, and Mitchum is always good.

Seen in revisionist light the film is clearly about 'The Good German.' There was a concerted propaganda effort back in the 1950s when it became clear that West Germany would need to be re-armed in the face of the Soviet threat.

So Germans in 1950s American WWII films are shown as 'Just doing their duty', Nazis are disliked or even mocked by the other German characters, and when the fighting is over it's all mutual respect and 'Put her there, pal.'

Of course you could still make a war film back then that vilified the Germans but you were unlikely to get the cooperation of the armed forces.

Season 1 episode 14 of the original Star Trek series rips off much of the plot of this film. The Enterprise encounters a Romulan ship that can become invisible and a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, with Enterprise as the destroyer and the Romulan spacecraft as the submarine.

The director of the episode, Vincent McEveety, had seen 'The Enemy Below' but only noticed the similarities between its plot and this episode later. He admitted "Obviously, it's the same story.'

[struth]

'The Enemy Below' (1957)

Robert Mitchum is the new skipper of a destroyer scouring the South Atlantic for U-Boats in WWII. When he goes after Curt Jurgen's sub the crew quickly realise he knows his trade. But Jurgens is a worthy opponent.

Good watch this, doesn't try to be fancy just tells the story, and Mitchum is always good.

Seen in revisionist light the film is clearly about 'The Good German.' There was a concerted propaganda effort back in the 1950s when it became clear that West Germany would need to be re-armed in the face of the Soviet threat.

So Germans in 1950s American WWII films are shown as 'Just doing their duty', Nazis are disliked or even mocked by the other German characters, and when the fighting is over it's all mutual respect and 'Put her there, pal.'

Of course you could still make a war film back then that vilified the Germans but you were unlikely to get the cooperation of the armed forces.

Season 1 episode 14 of the original Star Trek series rips off much of the plot of this film. The Enterprise encounters a Romulan ship that can become invisible and a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, with Enterprise as the destroyer and the Romulan spacecraft as the submarine.

The director of the episode, Vincent McEveety, had seen 'The Enemy Below' but only noticed the similarities between its plot and this episode later. He admitted "Obviously, it's the same story.'

good, suspenseful film. dialogue is a bit thin tho. ive got that one somewhere.

[struth]

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, 1966.





During the scene right before the final duel where Tuco (Eli Wallach) is running frantically through the cemetery, a dog can be seen running on-screen at the beginning of the scene. In reality, that was improvised on the spot. Sergio Leone, who was afraid that the scene was going to slip into melodrama, released the dog without informing Eli Wallach first--thus, his look of surprise is quite genuine.

In the gun store, everything Tuco (Eli Wallach) does with the guns was unscripted. Wallach knew little about guns, so he was instructed to do whatever he wanted. Most of the Storekeeper's (Enzo Petito's) bemused reactions throughout the scene are genuine. The scene where Tuco shoves the open or closed sign in his mouth was also Wallach's idea.

[struth]

The 39 Steps, 1935... yes, again...

[struth]

Peeping Tom, 1960. Director Michael Powell...





Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 25 Most Dangerous Movies".

One of Martin Scorsese's favorite films. Coincidentally, Scorsese's lifelong editor Thelma Schoonmaker was married 1984-90 to Michael Powell, the director of this film.

The critical mauling and public outcry about the film resulted in it being pulled from British cinemas after just five days, and destroyed the career of director Michael Powell..

The film is regarded as one of the first slasher films in horror movie history, although it was not the first horror movie to use the convention of seeing things from the killer's point of view as claimed in Scream 4 (2011). That technique had already been done in The Lodger (1944) and Hangover Square (1945), two films that both starred Laird Cregar and were directed by John Brahm.

[walpurgis]

Peeping Tom, 1960

Remarkable film. Saw it when first released, I sneaked into the cinema unnoticed. Kids weren't allowed.

[struth]

Remarkable film. Saw it when first released, I sneaked into the cinema unnoticed. Kids weren't allowed.

yes it was on a par with psycho, but on a slightly different bent i guess.

Mark uses a pair of unconventional for time, electric space heater like loudspeakers in his workshop. The Quad Electroacoustic model ESL-57 can be seen prominently in the background in the final scene with Mark playing the screaming audio tapes to Helen.

After filming a scene where she's fully nude on a bed, Pamela Green remained on the bed so the production photographer could shoot some still photos. Then she was suddenly aware of a stranger's presence at the foot of the bed, aiming a camera straight up her naked body. She sat up quickly yelling, "You're shooting me from that angle? No pictures! Get him off the set!" Electricians pounced on the intruder, whipped away his camera and ejected him off the set. It turned out to be some photo-journalist who had got wind of the fact that there was a naked girl on F Stage and wanted to get photos of the "first nude woman in a British feature length film."