a wolf remains a wolf, even if it has not eaten your sheep

A walk through the obscure classics section of the video store....

The Black Hole (1979) - "A research vessel finds a missing ship, commanded by a mysterious scientist, on the edge of a black hole."
source: DVD
I watched it because: I was on a mini Anthony Perkins run
IMDB: 5.9/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 42% Audience: 45%
my IMDB: 4/10

notable quote: "A pint cannot hold a quart, Mr. Pizer. If it holds the pint. it's doing the best it can."

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Gary Nelson

my notes: undeniably weird and creepy, at which Maximilian Schell excels. Perkins isn't given much to work with. Robert Forster has the best role, which is telling.

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Cinematography—Frank V. Phillips
• Best Effects, Visual Effects—Peter Ellenshaw, Art Cruickshank, Eustace Lycett, Danny Lee, Harrison Ellenshaw, Joe Hale

overall: not  recommended except for the campy element

Conrack (1974) - "The true story of Pat Conroy, a handsome, idealistic Caucasian who is an elementary-school instructor for a group of poor Black children in an isolated school."

source: DVD
I watched it because: it's one of my mom's favorite movies
IMDB: 7.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 69% Audience: 78%
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "There ain't a family on this island that hasn't pulled somebody - somebody - from that river. They fall in that river, they go down, like a stone."

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Martin Ritt

my notes: to say that this movie is inspiring is to be blind to everything else that's alive here. It's very funny. It's gentle. It's revelatory. It's set in a place unlike anywhere I've ever been, or that I've even heard about. A beautiful place that's both hot and cold at once. It taught me some things, and left me thinking. And Paul Winfield, as Mad Billy, is marvelous.

overall: strongly recommended

The Caine Mutiny (1954) - "When a U.S. Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardizes the ship, the first officer is urged to consider relieving him of command."
source: DVD
I watched it because: it's another classic I'd never seen, and I like war movies
IMDB: 7.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 93% Audience: 87%
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "I don't want to upset you too much, but at the moment you have an excellent chance of being hanged."

MPAA rating: NR (TV-PG)

directed by: Edward Dymtryk

my notes: this is not the movie that I thought it would be, but it's a good one nonetheless. Humphrey Bogart is terrific as Lt. Cmdr. Queeg--intense, eccentric, and thoughtless. José Ferrar is wonderful as attorney Barney Greenwald. And Van Johnson takes the cake as Lt. Steve Maryk, the unintentional focus.

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture—Stanley Kramer

• Best Actor—Bogart

• Best Supporting Actor—Tom Tully

• Best Writing, Screenplay—Stanley Roberts

• Best Sound, Recording—John P. Livadary

• Best Film Editing—William A. Lyon, Henry Batista

• Best Music, Score—Max Steiner
overall:  recommended

Wait until Dark (1967) - "A recently blinded woman is terrorized by a trio of thugs while they search for a heroin-stuffed doll they believe is in her apartment."

source: DVD
I watched it because: I'd never heard of it, but had the opportunity to see it and couldn't resist after reading that Stephen King called it the scariest movie ever made.
IMDB: 7.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 96% Audience: 91%
my IMDB: 7/10

AFI: 100 Years…100 Thrills (2001) #55

notable quote: "'Gloria?'

    'Yeah?'

    'How would you like to do something difficult and terribly dangerous?'

    'I'd love it!'"

MPAA rating: NR (TV-PG)

directed by: Terence Young

my notes: scary! I'm really glad I watched it during the day so I could get over the willies before I went to bed. There's something deeply frightening in seeing a blind woman being taunted and abused, especially over a really damned creepy porcelain doll. Ish.

Academy Award nominee: Best Actress—Audrey Hepburn
overall:  recommended

 

High Anxiety (1977) - "A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep."
source: DVD
I watched it because: Mel Brooks has done some of my favorite films (Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein)
IMDB: 6.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 75% Audience: 67%
my IMDB: 4/10

notable quote: "Yes! The woowoo. Perhaps the most significant psychological feminine component known to mankind."

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Mel Brooks

my notes: too frenetic for my taste, and kinda schticky

overall: not  recommended

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) - "A surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret."

source: DVD
I watched it because: I haven't seen much of Elizabeth Taylor's work, nor Montgomery Clift's
IMDB: 7.5/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 68% Audience: 83%
my IMDB: 5/10

notable quote: "Truth is the bottom of a bottomless well."

MPAA rating: approved

directed by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

my notes: based on a Tennessee Williams play, this is a deeply disturbing story. There's no sane person involved. Lies and double meanings and symbols abound. And if you don't get the Venus flytrap reference...you will when it's done.

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Actress—Katharine Hepburn
• Best Actress—Elizabeth Taylor

• Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Black and White—Oliver Messel, William Kellner, Scott Slimon

overall: only mildly recommended

 

[the title quotation is from The Black Hole]