Plato Shrimp / Recently Seen

**Posted by Jinnistan** 4/08/2023 3:59 pm

There may be a reason why Lamont Johnson is a lesser known 70s director.

I only have a passing acquaintance of his work, including a handful of Twilight Zone episodes (including one classic where Robert Redford plays Death), The Last American Hero which is one of the fine Jeff Bridges films during his outstanding mid-70s run (Fat City, Badlands, Rancho Deluxe, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Hearts of the West, Stay Hungry), that TV movie where Jeff Goldblum plays Ernie Kovacs and Spacehunter the 3d S&M sci-fi where Michael Ironsides plays a crippled cenobite. So with one good film, it's worth digging deeper.

This one is closer to Spacehunter camp. Definitely the dumbest of the 70s paranoid political thrillers, but hysterically enjoyable the less seriously you take any of it. George Peppard is almost Leslie Nielson-level ludicrous, the script is guffawsome. The slight strobe effect in some scenes helps the hallucinatory vibe, but that's more of a symptom of the poor Youtube copy than anything. Endlessly stupid and a lot of fun.

7/10

The TV film My Sweet Charlie has some good reviews, and maybe Johnson works better in that format. I'm mostly interested in it because it has Al Freeman Jr., a familiar character actor who I really only know from his uncanny turn as Elijah Muhammad in Spike Lee's Malcolm X. The other films are a mix of interesting casts and what what available.

**Posted by Rock** 4/08/2023 5:17 pm

Re: Lamont Johnson, I liked Lipstick enough. Some pretty good visual style, and between Mariel Hemingway and Chris Sarandon, there are some pretty good performances. Margaux though… Yeesh.

**Posted by Rock** 4/08/2023 5:19 pm

Also, re: Bridges, I recently watched Tron and it kinda owns? A case where a special effects showcase has genuinely creative visuals.

**Posted by Rock** 4/09/2023 1:14 am

Shut In
Color of Night
Vigilante
John Wick: Chapter 4

**Posted by Jinnistan** 4/09/2023 12:05 pm

Rock wrote:
Also, re: Bridges, I recently watched Tron and it kinda owns?

Absoultely. Obviously, for someone my age, it's a nostalgic treat (saw it in the theater; had the "see/hear/read" record/book), but I think it stands up very well. Even the metaphysics, which were ridiculed for awhile, have now seemed to have been embraced by the 'singularity' crowd. And the graphics, while technically crude, have a formalist style which has a retro-futurist flavor. It's telling how, by comparison, the sequel has aged much worse.

**Posted by Rock** 4/09/2023 12:08 pm

I liked the sequel enough, but the aesthetic feels very much like “LED lights on the side of your expensive gaming PC”. I think because photorealism was never in reach with the original, they’re forced to develop an actual interesting aesthetic.

**Posted by Rock** 4/09/2023 12:33 pm

Also, JJ, re: Bridges, have you seen 8 Million Ways to Die? I suspect it would be up your alley.

**Posted by Jinnistan** 4/09/2023 3:19 pm

Rock wrote:
Also, JJ, re: Bridges, have you seen 8 Million Ways to Die? I suspect it would be up your alley.

It should be. A Hal Ashby film written by Oliver Stone? But it's worse than bad, it's bland and boring. It was taken away from Ashby before he could finish it, and Ashby hadn't been doing very good work for years at that point. There's potential. but it looks like the producers slapped the final product together and dropped it off on VHS.

**Posted by Rock** 4/09/2023 9:23 pm

I read that a lot of the takes in the finished film were warm-up takes and not ones Ashby considered the "final" ones, which I think is somewhat apparent even if I do like the movie.

**Posted by Rock** 4/12/2023 11:56 pm

The Masque of the Red Death
Ball Busters
Femmes De Sade
The Pit and the Pendulum

**Posted by Rock** 4/16/2023 11:06 pm

The Raven
Air

**Posted by Jinnistan** 4/17/2023 10:54 pm

The Raven is just too silly for me. Even going down that route, I think I prefer the Tales of Terror films which also has Price and Lorre snipping at each other on gorgeous gothic sets.

**Posted by Rock** 4/18/2023 9:21 pm

Rock wrote:
Also, to nobody's surprise, Assault on Precinct 13 fucking rips on the big screen.

So does Rumble in the Bronx (to nobody's surprise).

**Posted by Rock** 4/18/2023 9:29 pm

Jinnistan wrote:
The Raven is just too silly for me. Even going down that route, I think I prefer the Tales of Terror films which also has Price and Lorre snipping at each other on gorgeous gothic sets.

I think I own a copy of Tales of Terror (it came in a Vincent Price box set) but I have yet to watch it.

I dunno, I'm in the mood for gothic horror in general at the moment, so I didn't mind the silly detour. These movies are benefiting from being watched in close proximity to each other.

Last edited by Rock (4/18/2023 9:29 pm)

**Posted by Jinnistan** 4/19/2023 10:25 pm

Rock wrote:
I dunno, I'm in the mood for gothic horror in general at the moment, so I didn't mind the silly detour. These movies are benefiting from being watched in close proximity to each other.

I love this era of gothic horror films, but The Raven is one of my least favorite, even among the more comedic ones. Definitely my least favorite of the Cormans, although Haunted Palace is pretty ho-hum. Hell, The Terror is more interesting to me than The Raven.

My favorite among them is Masque of Red Death, which I'm happy to see you give a positive review. If you land on one you may prefer to that one, it might be House of Usher or Tomb of Ligeia.

**Posted by Rock** 4/19/2023 10:45 pm

I'll have to hunt a bit for those, as they don't seem to be on Tubi or Youtube at a glance.

**Posted by Rock** 4/19/2023 10:45 pm

The Premature Burial
Rush Hour 2

**Posted by Jinnistan** 4/19/2023 11:34 pm

Rock wrote:
I'll have to hunt a bit for those, as they don't seem to be on Tubi or Youtube at a glance.

Which ones did that Vincent Price box set consist of?

**Posted by Rock** 4/20/2023 7:11 am

Jinnistan wrote:
Rock wrote:
I'll have to hunt a bit for those, as they don't seem to be on Tubi or Youtube at a glance.
Which ones did that Vincent Price box set consist of?

The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Tales of Terror, Theater of Blood, Madhouse, Witchfinder General m, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, Twice Told Tales.

The Corman ones I’m watching on either Tubi or YouTube.

**Posted by Jinnistan** 4/20/2023 8:38 pm

Rock wrote:
The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Tales of Terror, Theater of Blood, Madhouse, Witchfinder General m, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, Twice Told Tales.

The Corman ones I’m watching on either Tubi or YouTube.

Curious the box didn't also include Last Man on Earth since, I believe, it's public domain, and not a bad one either. (I'm sure it is on youtube.)