Fool's View (12/21 – 12/31) (Part 2 of 2)

"Yeah, baby, that's the finish line!! Punch it!!!"

And we’re back!

I devoted the final week of 2020 wrapping up the triple projects of Charles Bronson, Quentin Tarantino, and Joel and Ethan Coen, a decidedly eclectic bunch of titles within their own lane and as a whole.

I had only previously dabbled in Bronson’s work, having seen his ensemble efforts (Dirty Dozen, Magnificent Seven, Great Escape) and the occasional starring role, usually out of interest in the director (Hard Times, Once Upon a Time in the West) or pop culture significance (Death Wish). But a viewing of Mr. Majestyk earlier this year piqued my interest and I concluded that an actor who regularly cranked out a movie (and often two) every year, usually with his name above the title, probably deserved a little of my attention. Besides, I find myself fascinated these days by movie stars who had thriving careers despite critics endlessly declaring that they can’t act.

Having seen Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in January for awards season, it seemed like a fine time to revisit QT’s career in reverse order, since the femalien had not yet seen them all and I hadn’t seen them in a while. It’s been an interesting, rewarding, and occasionally confounding journey.

The Brothers C. Project was born of a comfort food triple-feature at the beginning of pandemic and just kept going. 18 flicks later, I’m happy to report that they haven’t lost their touch nor their way. While they share a predilection for homage with their younger cinematic comrade, it never feels quite as shamelessly derivative or “look at me” clever, which I appreciate.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

Fool's Views (5/1 – 5/10)

"G'day, mate! I'll have the Double Impossible Whopper...
What do you mean no substitutions? Let me talk to your manager..."

Hey there, kids!

Hope everyone is staying safe, staying healthy, and staying the course!

The opening May Day celebrations entailed knocking out the remainder of the Death Wish films (special thanks to Dan and Tim for riding shotgun), which was quite the cause for celebration. We also clocked a couple more Bronson flicks (over 30 for the year!), as well as sampling a double scoop of Stallone, a pair of peliculas peligrosas for Kitley’s Krypt, and kept things reel/real with another smattering of documentaries.

We’ve got a ton of fun stuff on the to-watch stack, so let’s get to it without any further delay.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

Fool's Views (3/23 – 3/31)

Still a little unclear about this social distancing thing....

Greetings, my friends!

The last week of March was not quite as frenzied in terms of intake of the fluttering image. (Although some may debate this, based on the number of flicks consumed, there was a little more structure and pacing than the week prior.) In addition to increasing the All Things Bronson tally, Amazon Prime graced me with three worthwhile documentaries about fright flicks and the creative forces behind them while Shout! Factory delivered the goods both on physical media and streaming.

I also knocked out my Kryptic Army Assignment just in the final lap (inspired by personal fears, mine being of sickness and infirmity – nice timing, right?), and sampled the debut features from two filmmakers who would change the face of cinema, John Hughes and George Lucas.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

Fool's Views (3/16 – 3/22)

Feeling a little lost in the woods? Join the club.

Greetings, my friends,

Well, not a lot to say that hasn’t already been said. It’s a bit of a zoo out there, so this might be a good time to step into the Wayback machine and revisit the cinematic climate of Dr. AC’s office three weeks ago, just as the COVID-19 crisis starting hitting Chicago. We got the word to shelter-in-place, and we took Gov. Pritzker (who’s been doing a damn fine job, I gotta say, along with Mayor Lightfoot) at his word and stayed home as best we could. I ventured out at one point to donate blood/platelets when I heard that there was an understandable shortage due to a drop in donors, and we went to the grocery store a couple times, but that was about it.

As I’m sure many of you experienced for yourselves, there was a sense of stunned shock and disbelief and “what are we supposed to do?” in the air, so I immediately dove into my coping device of choice: watching as many movies as possible. (In case you hadn’t noticed, this is a one-week report as opposed to a bi-monthly!) As luck would have it, I had a pile of Bronson all ready to go, and Shout! Factory TV and my new four-pack of Coen Brothers movies took care of the rest quite nicely. And you’re not mistaken, there wasn’t much in the way of horror Views – the real world seemed scary enough.

I didn’t ONLY watch movies during the first week of the crisis. But I’m not gonna lie, I watched a mess of them. Try not to judge too harshly.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

Fool's Views (3/1 – 3/15)

"Don't mind me. I'll be in here for while....."

“Beware the Ides of March.”

“He is a dreamer; let us leave him. Pass.”

The month came in like a lamb and, almost as if on cue, March 15 came crashing in like a ton of bricks (if the bricks were all radioactive and labeled “Stay the #$%*&$#@ in your house!!!!”) and the world will never be the same again. It’s strange, looking back on this period of time, going through it thinking it was just another ordinary couple weeks. Not so, said the crow.

Truth be told, my main focus was to watch a few VHS movies that my buddy Gert had ordered from a U.S. dealer and get them relayed onto him in Brussels. It seems so benign in retrospective: plugging in the VCR and adjusting the tracking accordingly to viddy a few flicks the old fashioned way, and then repackaging them to send overseas. (Here’s hoping they arrive soon, amigo!!!!) Then I banged out a few other films that I had borrowed from friends (Tim, Jason, Jon), thinking, “Okay, I’ll finish these up and then set up a time when I can return them and we can watch a bunch more together.”

And now, here we are. Advised to stay indoors and avoid contact with anyone. It’s looking like it will be at least a few more weeks of the same, and no one knows when the communal viewings will resume. It’s a strange realization. But the femalien and I are both healthy and hopeful, which is about all anyone can ask. We’ve got food and shelter and each other, and we live in a world where most communication occurs online anyway, so the world – while undeniably different – isn’t all that different. And there are movies to be watched and Fools to View them. For this, I am extremely thankful.

I wish you, Faithful Reader, the very best to you and yours during these strange days. Thank you for spending a little time here at the Doc’s office. It means a lot.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

10 TO MIDNIGHT (1983) Blu-ray Release!!

10 to Midnight (1983) d. J. Lee Thompson (USA) (102 min)

Charles Bronson plays Leo Kessler, a cynical Los Angeles cop on the trail of Warren Stacy (Gene Davis), a homicidal maniac who turns rejection from beautiful women into the ultimate revenge. When the legal system sets Stacy free, Kessler plants evidence to put him behind bars for good. But Kessler's plan backfires, leaving him with only one option: to hunt down Stacy on his own before the crazed killer can strike again!