What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

[Rita Hayworth]

Fossy ... Nice to see you back ... I love the MAD GENIUS too!

[Fossy]

Thank you for those comments Jack. On the question about Luis Alberni. I will say that it is just a coincidence that he appears in a couple of movies that I have mentioned. A quick search tells me that he appears in at least 15 movies in my collection. I see that he appeared in 174 movies, which includes shorts, and "not credited" movies. He must have been a hard worker.

[JackFavell]

Thanks, Fossy! I guess with credits at the 174 mark, it would be hard to be a classic film fan and NOT see a couple of Luis Alberni films every once in a while.

[MikeBSG]

Today I watched "Invisible Ghost" (1941) directed by Joseph H. Lewis and starring Bela Lugosi.

It was an interesting, if unsuccessful, film. The first two minutes are terrific, as Lugosi comes down the stairs, looks at the painting of his dead wife, and then goes to sit at dinner, insisting that the servant serve the empty place where the wife is supposed to sit. This established a very creepy atmosphere, which the rest of the film never lived up to.

Part of the problem was Lugosi. He was in a dual role, that of a nice-guy widower who becomes a raging maniac every three months or so. He had a lot of dialogue that just didn't come out well, lines like "Apple pie? How wonderful!" This was a role that cried out for Boris Karloff (someone very much at home in the language). Also, Lugosi seemed almost feeble here, and I don't think it was acting. (He seemed far healthier in "Black Friday" and "Dark Eyes of London" in 1940 and '39.)

Clarence Muse played the family servant, and he gave the movie much of its charm. Muse would be the wonderful servant in Lubitsch's "Heaven Can Wait" in 1943.

Lewis clearly was using every stylistic trick to pump life into the material, including the "Santa Claus shot" (the camera is in the fireplace, with flames leaping up in front of the lens, to add tension and excitement to a scene of mundane dialogue.)

This Monogram film just showed how much more polished Universal's B films, like "Night Monster," were.

[MikeBSG]

Today I saw "Cloud Atlas" (2012) directed by the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer.

This is the movie with six different stories braided together. One takes place in the 19th Century, two in the 20th Century, one in the present, and two in the future.

The movie didn't work for me. It was too long and too preachy. I also think Tom Hanks has passed his sell by date for me a long time ago. The neo-Appalachian dialect they used is the most future story got on my nerves really fast. The special effects for the cyber-Korea episode just seemed like computer generated effects and I couldn't care about the action in that sequence.

However, the movie wasn't a total bust. I enjoyed the episodes (1936, 1973 and 2012) that were directed by Tom Tykwer. They were so much better than the ones the Wachowskis directed that it wasn't funny. I thought Halle Berry and Jim Broadbent gave very good performances (Broadbent was hilarious in the 2012 episode.)

I am a bit surprised that no one compared "Cloud Atlas" to "Intolerance." Maybe this shows how little film critics know about silent film.

[RedRiver]

I liked BOUND. I guess that's the only Wachowski movie I've seen. Not a Matrix person! CLOUD ATLAS does sound a bit hard to digest.

[CineMaven]

Turning the channels I saw that "COBRA WOMAN" was coming on and I watched. Great fun! Beautiful color. Maria was beautiful but the acting was horrible and the stunts ack! So why did I STILL have fun with this one. I love classic films.


"GIVE ME THOSE COBRA JOOOLS!!!"

* * * * *

"BOUND" was fantastic!!!!!

[RedRiver]

Overall, CULT OF THE COBRA is more fun. I saw BOUND with a good friend who abrubtly stopped speaking to me a few years later. No explanation. I was too proud to ask. We saw it at Chicago's Three Penny Cinema, and had dinner at the restaurant next door. The Jury Room?

[ChiO]

The late and much missed "The Seminary" (across the street from DePaul, after all). I fell asleep, face first, in many a 3am omelet there after an evening at Glascott's and The Everleigh Club.

It is now a McDonald's.

So it goes.

[RedRiver]

From a restaurant that figures into fond memories to McDonald's. I give up!

[CineMaven]

Chicago tears down its landmarks?

New York City'd never do that.

[RedRiver]

As long as they don't touch Super Dawg!

[ChiO]

Chicago tears down its landmarks?

No -- it was not torn down. It was converted to another use: from a Greek joint (with a Roman Catholic name) serving fine cuisine (as long as it was breakfast related) 24 hours a day to a fast food hamburger purveyor with a faux-Scottish name.

Aha! As Groucho said to Chico after a particularly frustrating conversation, "There's my argument. Restrict immigration."

[CineMaven]

ha.

no one jumped on my new york remark? are you guys sleeping? dreaming? dreamt-ing?

[ChiO]

New York? New York City?

Who pays attention to it? Or, paying attention to it is done by whom?

For architecture, theater (or, theatre) and sports (on occasion, but those occasions are savored all the more due to their infrequency) there's only one city.

See you there in May.