Change Your Image
ejprice
Reviews
Red Sky at Morning (1971)
War and aftermath
When the navy officer father goes off to war and leave his son and wife to cope and the uncle moves in to be the "man of the family" but is nothing more than a leach things get interesting. Set against the background of the second world war and new Mexico I find many contemporary comparisons. Richard Thomas as the son and Claire Bloom as the mother are both excellent. Gregory Sierra as the sheriff trying to maintain order in a mixed race town is excellent. In our world today there is always a background of war as there was then, yet young people must come of age and mature and this movie captures that time of youth as no other I have seen. It is not sugar coated, but presented as life is. It mesmerizes you and at the same time makes you feel slightly uneasy about a time when the world was at war, fathers left to serve and families coped as best they could. I recommend seeing red sky at morning and let yourself be taken back to another era and at the same time to the era in which we live.
Deadline Auto Theft (1983)
Detroit Iron being smashed at its finest!
One scene in the film shows an auto dealer billboard at his Buick Dealership saying "'73 model clearance, save $$$" I would say the person that commented it was a 1974 film that had scenes added would be correct. If you look at the cars in the film none are newer than 1974. Don't know how they came up with a 1983 release date unless it was released that year and was 10 years later than it was made. A great chase movie with real mayors and city folks in the movie. Don't think you could film that chase scene today with insurance and all. I used to live down in Torrance, CA and recognized the area and streets they used during the filming.
Teenage Millionaire (1961)
1961, What a year!
A great little period piece! Was 17 when this movie was made. What an innocent time for America. The movie centers around the record industry and is a showcase for some of the singers of the time. Kinda cool to see everyone with a shave and the girls looking like girls! No hippies in this one, just a light story with lots of videos of the stars of that era. Yeah the plot line is corny and the dialog coached but then again maybe we were corny back then and our dialog a little coached. Liked it a whole lot better when you could tell the boys from the girls the biggest thing I worried about was getting gas for the car and palmade for my hair. A movie without drugs, fighting, sex or murder, what a concept! Maybe we should go back to corny and coached dialog....
EJ
WarGames (1983)
What if?
A great little movie that asks "what if?" I saw this film with my son when he was a youngster and again recently on cable. The overview is that the government slowly realizes that their war computer (called the "Whopper") has a slight defect in that it let's outsiders in through its "back door". This kid played by Broderick is randomly searching out any and all numbers with an auto dialer. He is looking for the latest video games and such to play before anyone else sees them. The autodialer finds the government site and he logs onto the "Whooper" and plays a game of "thermo nuclear war" which simulates an attack by the soviet union on the united states. Just about the time the folks at NORAD are ready to launch a counter attack Brodericks mom tells him to "put out the trash" and he shuts him computer down and the simulation ends at NORAD. The only problem is the "Whooper" continues to play the game and does not consider it a game and prepares to launch our nuclear ICBM's. What follows is a chase against time, finding the designer of the "Whoopers" program and getting the computer to realize "This is a game that cannot be won". Too bad we can't teach governments this as the truth is no one will win in a nuclear confrontation. The ending is nail biting to say the least as Broderick and Dr. Falken fight for control of the computer and the disabling of the launch of the ICBM's. As the computer hunts for the launch codes the Dr. and Broderick finally make it play "TicTacToe" a game which has no winner. Forget about the outdated technology and the youth of the actors and focus on the message: No on wins in a nuclear confrontation. Take a look and enjoy!
Hopalong Cassidy: Public Hero #1 (2001)
Charming trip back to my childhood hero
Very well done documentary. With Dennis Weaver narrating and Hoppy's wife adding insider information I found this man was very dedicated to image for the good of children who followed him. I will never forget those days at the Strand Theater in Redondo Beach when a quarter gave me a whole days entertainment and many times Hoppy was on the bill. When the lights went down I was wisked to a magic world of cowboys where good guys wore white and the bad guys wore black. You knew the good guys would win and Hoppy would always close with a smile. After fifty years those days are still as clear as ever. The strand is gone now as is the fable of black and white but thank goodness that one time in america there was a Hop-Along Cassidy!
I miss Mr. Boyd, the Strand and innocense.