Movies, Movies, Movies and ….. “Let’s play ball.” Yes there’s finally a sport attempting to make a go of it in this world turned upside down. So I fully expect my movie watching to drop a bit in the coming months and with the chase for Lord Stanley’s Cup beginning August 1st I just might have to give up movie watching once and for all.
And if you believe that then I’ve also got an original 1933 King Kong one sheet for sale at a low low price of just $1,000,000.
And on to the round up. Be sure to check your scorecard on titles you’ve seen. Do you agree with my short ad libs?
Cell 2455, Death Row (1955) Campbell gives us his inner Cagney.
Bird of Paradise (1932) – A must see pre-code with Dolores Del Rio on a desert isle with Joel McCrea.
Captain America 1 and 2 (1979) These TV flicks play like the old Incredible Hulk / Lou Ferrigno series but I had to check them out as Christopher Lee is in the second entry and up to no good as we might expect vs. Reb Brown as the title character.
Blood of the Zombie (1961) I lost an hour of my life watching this and wound up in a zombie like state. Don’t make the same error.
Barbarosa (1982) Enjoyable Willie Nelson-Gary Busey western that deserves an audience.
Knife for the Ladies (1973) A slasher western with Jack Elam that plays like a 70’s TV Movie only a tad to violent.
Late Night (2019) Had a great time with this one and it’s easy to recommend.
Hustlers (2019) Honestly, I expected more. Too depressing even with J-Lo working the stripper pole.
Lifeboat (1944) With just a handful of people in a lifeboat, Hitchcock finds a way to score a cameo in this tense WW2 thriller. Most highly recommended.
Broken Arrow (1950) Jimmy Stewart’s first western is a fine film from director Delmer Daves.
Marked Woman (1937) Bette Davis finds herself marked for death by the mob but maybe Bogie can save her.
Belle of the Yukon (1944) A Randolph Scott western that breaks out in a musical.
Stormy Monday (1988) Had me hooked for a while but can’t say I liked the third act.
Along Came Jones (1945) Previously featured but picked up a recent blu ray release of this Gary Cooper western comedy.
The Female Bunch (1971) If it’s an Al Adamson effort it’s got a cult following. Still, it’s a sad end to Lon Chaney’s career.
Death Wish II (1982) Bronson returns to wipe out another gang of hoods as the screen’s best known vigilante.
The Proud and the Damned (1972) Somebody nudge me please. This one’s putting me to sleep.
Crawlspace (1986) Warped fun with Klaus Kinski as a landlord who only allows attractive female tenants in his apartment building.
BlacKkKlansman (2018) Spike Lee’s film is hard to pigeonhole but it’s easily going to end up in the top 10 new to me film’s I will have seen this calendar year.
Venom (1982) A stellar cast including Sterling Hayden, Oliver Reed and Klaus Kinski make this thriller an enjoyable outing.
Red (2008) A pleasant surprise and a first rate Brian Cox stars as a man looking for justice after the senseless killing of his dog by three teenagers.
Final Score (2018) Ho hum …. Die Hard at a soccer match with Dave Bautista playing the hero but it does have some good action scenes.
Out of the Blue (1947) Lesser screwball comedy that has some laughs with George Brent, Virginia Mayo and Turhan Bey.
Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) A new blu ray release and once again I’m revisiting the best Chuck Norris film.
Nine Deaths of the Ninja (1985) Laughable….
The House on Carroll Street (1988) Superior Hitchcock like Noir thriller with Kelly McGillis and Jeff Daniels attempting to uncover a Nazi plot in the 1950’s.
Cannon For Cordoba (1970) George Peppard heads south of the border like he’s in a Peckinpah western.
Passengers (2016) A sci-fi date movie with Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt. Can easily see myself rewatching this one as I found it both enjoyable and well …. romantic?
The 7 Randolph Scott/Budd Boetticher westerns – Yeah I binge watched them all.
Wolf Lake (1980) Rod Steiger chews the scenery (perish the thought) in a tale that borrows heavily from The Most Dangerous Game via director Burt Kennedy.
Human Experiments (1979) I somehow missed this years ago on VHS but finally tracked it down for the Geoffrey Lewis factor and not surprisingly he’s far better than the material.
I ended the month with a pair of Jimmy Stewart/Anthony Mann westerns due to number 2 son, Kirk, combing his way through the collaborations of the actor and director. Watching both The Far Country and The Naked Spur back to back the similarities jump out with Stewart playing it icy cold while the “villain” is the scene stealing performer. In these cases it’s John McIntire and Robert Ryan. Great way to wrap up the month with a pair of Essential westerns, the genre I return to more than any other.
In closing let’s not forget that we’ll always have the movies when we feel like visiting both John Saxon and Olivia de Havilland who we lost this month. May they rest in peace.
Mike's Take On the Movies 
Quite a mix; was thinking of giving Stormy Monday a go, and saving Final Score for a quiet day. Far too many great talents dying off right now, and not getting the right farewell; thanks for what you do, highlighting great work from the past!
Appreciate that. With me it’s always been a passion and the blog serves as an outlet to share.
Cell 2455 Death Row has been sitting for months in the prison waiting room me to do a post! Some nuts scenes in that. The burning car!! The Slasher western looks good. Funny I watched Jack Elam in a Twilight Zone episodes last night.
Can’t imagine I’d ever watch Hustlers but J-LO working the pole does sound like krypton for this wolf.
Lifeboat is so brilliant. Yep I 2nd that high praise.
Still not seen Passengers! I do love me sci-fi not sure why I by-passed it to be honest!
Wolf Lake was an early Wolfie website review.
I need to see 9 Deaths Of The Ninja for a giggle and hope to see Dave Bautista pop up on Netflix so I can give that a brain shut off watch.
Dude awesome massive selection of watched goodies.
Always like to keep mixing it up withold and new and various genres. Don’t let Mrs. Wolfie catch you watching and rewinding that J-Lo scene to often. Might serve you up a silver bullet for dinner.
“Might serve you up a silver bullet for dinner.” LOL (whispers under my breathe) “I wouldn’t put it past her to be honest.. “
A lot of neat movies in that list, Mike, and surprisingly I’ve seen quite a few of them. Like Wolfie, I too have Cell 2455 Death Row waiting in the wings, as well as Out of the Blue, which of course features the lovely Carole Landis. Recently watched Broken Arrow, which I liked, and I thought I was the only one who enjoyed The House on Carroll Street. Red, Lifeboat, and Lone Wolf McQuade are also on my ‘already seen’ list, but The Female Bunch? That one I HAVE to add!
Cell 2455 surprisingly has some heavy content for the era. Carroll Street was a first time for me and I liked it but can see why I didn’t bother years ago as it wasn’t action or horror which appealed to me at that age. Beware The Female Bunch …. LOL.