My latest installment of “Spy Games” is available to read at the Movie Morlocks and this time I’m discussing Mark Robson’s sxy espionage thriller THE PRIZE (1963) starring Paul Newman, Elke Sommer, Edward G. Robinson and Diane Baker. Here’s a little sample from my Morlock post: “THE PRIZE was based on a bestselling novel by Irving Wallace and scripted by Alfred Hitchcock collaborator, Ernest Lehman. … Continue reading Spy Games: The Prize (1963)
Top: The Walker Brothers – John, Gary & Scott Bottom: Sylva Koscina, Elke Sommer & Nigel Green in Deadlier Than the Male (1967) I was disappointed to learn that John Walker (aka John Maus) of The Walker Brothers died on May 7, 2011 after a long battle with cancer. He was 67 years old. The brilliant Scott Walker tends to overshadow the rest of the … Continue reading The Walker Brothers – Deadlier Than the Male
Elke Sommer and her bunny want to wish everyone a happy holiday weekend! Real world responsibilities, job hunting and a bad cold have been interfering with my writing and blog updates lately. I’m also going on a brief vacation tomorrow and I won’t return until Tuesday next week, but by then I should be feeling a lot better and you can expect me to start … Continue reading Bits & Pieces
When Lt. Joan Harrington isn’t tracking UFOs, she’s reading Cinebeats! I just discovered that Cinebeats has been nominated for a 2008 Blogger’s Choice Award in the category of “Best Pop Culture Blog”. I have no expectations of winning since I’m up against celebrity gossip blogs and sites about modern pop culture icons like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and various American Idol contestants, but the groovy … Continue reading The 2008 Blogger Choice Awards
A new issue of the British film magazine Cinema Retro arrived in my mailbox yesterday and it might be my favorite issue yet. I’ve been feeling under the weather lately, but flipping through a new issue of Cinema Retro overstuffed with fantastic color photos from ’60s and ’70s era films can cheer me right up. I’m tempted to refer to issue #10 as the “Blond … Continue reading Cinema Retro #10
Above: Elke Sommer ushers in the New Year
Happy New Year! The holidays are winding down and I’ve been enjoying catching up on my film watching and book reading lately. Apologies for neglecting to share any DVD Picks of the Week for the month of December (besides Latitude Zero), but I’ve been slowly compiling a list of my Favorite DVD Releases of 2007 which I plan to share soon. It will be a Top 30, much like the list I shared last year.
This weekend I spent some time catching up with various blogs I like to read and I want to mention a few things of possible interest:
– I’m in a Jess Franco State of Mind
I recently helped Robert Monell revamp his terrific blog I’m in a Jess Franco State of Mind. Robert is a great writer and he covers all kinds of different films with a special focus on European cult cinema. If you’re interested in the films of Jess Franco I highly recommend spending some time at Robert’s blog.
– Wildgrounds Now Available in English
One of my favorite blogs covering Japanese cinema is Michael’s Wildgrounds, which I first mentioned here way back in September. Wildgrounds is a French blog, but it now has a sister site in English so English speaking readers can easily enjoy all of Michael’s posts now.
– The Mod Squad at Moon in the Gutter
At Moon in the Gutter Jeremy has been enjoying the recent release of The Mod Squad on DVD and reviewing each episode. This terrific television series is easily one of the best DVD releases of December so if you’re curious about the show I highly recommend checking out Jeremy’s thoughtful review of the series. He recently covered one of my favorite episodes of the show called When Smitty Comes Marching Home.
– Oscar Chatter
The 80th annual Academy Awards are scheduled to happen in February with lots of interesting filmmakers like David Cronenberg, the Coen Brothers and Todd Haynes possibly in competition this year it could make for a worthwhile show. Over at Cinema Styles Jonathan has been warming up for the event all year by covering various aspects of Oscar history and if you’re a history buff like myself, you might find his posts on the topic as interesting as I do.
– Pro. Bertram Potts Hella Homework for the Holidays
Over at Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule Dennis has put together a Christmas Break Quiz for his blog readers to take part in. I always enjoy participating in these things and reading everyone’s responses and this Quiz might be his toughest one yet. If you’re so inclined please stop by his blog and participate. You can find my own answers there as well as below: Continue reading “On with 2008 . . .”
