Reviews

A nice little cheap noir, but the one distracting thing for me was the age difference between Preston Foster and Belita.

Her character was 16 when she was sent to jail, yet she was supposed to have a torrid affair with mid 40ish "boyfriend" Preston Foster before her arrest.

I don't know, just a little weird since Foster was about 47-48 when he made the film.

Maybe it's just me.

If you took a blender and added a little bit Steve Buscemi, Arnold Stang and Nicolas Cage from "Vampire's Kiss," you'd get the whiny, bug-eyed bad acting from John Chandler in his first and only lead role.

Everyone else in the cast, including Savalas and Orbach were fine, but Chandler's performance was absurd, comical, and sort've fun to watch in a guilty pleasured way.

Not a bad Ed Wood/Corman-like film to watch and make fun of, so a few stars for the laughs.

Just watched this marvelous documentary about actress and activistt Marsha Hunt.

If you enjoy Hollywood history, coupled with an unbridled display of activism and just plain unadulterated ballsy-ness, you'll fall in love with the ageless Ms. Hunt.

With a memory better than most people I know, the spry 101 year old (who turns 102 in a few months) reminisces about her life, entertainment career and activism. She talks fondly of her parents, going to Hollywood and becoming a leading lady in her first film, taking on the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC, a real "witch hunt"), being blacklisted (but refusing to back down), and opening housing for the homeless.

Just about everything in this Roger C. Memos' production rings true today and sometimes it was hard not to bite my lip with the realization that we're still going through most of this.

But in the end, there's the beautiful Marsha, Marsha, Marsha...who continues to fight for meaningful and righteous causes.

Long live this tough yet soulful lady.

My wife and I caught this show for the first time tonight. We're both saying "what the hell is this? It's gotta be a comedy, right? Cause this can't be a drama, it has to be a parody.

Checked IMDB and it says drama, romance, action. But no comedy listed, and this is on network?

But, have to admit we were laughing, so have to give them that.

Disjointed finds its voice from episode 6 on.

Was really funny but smartly serious at times.

I hope the producer's trash the laugh track in 2018 as it's an annoying distraction and detracts from the show. Looking forward to the next 10 episodes.

PS - Those that work in dispensaries are generally not stoned all the time nor smoking on the premises. But hey, it's TV.

Amazing - There's really no reason to go beyond that, but IMDb asks for a minimum of 10 lines, so I'll fill the rest in with gushing hyperbole.

Jean Dujardin is just fantastic as a cross between Gene Kelly and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. The dog? What can you say about that dog? Or those dogs (there were three of them)? They are the canine equivalent of Jackie Coogan. Bejo, Goodman, Cromwell and Miller were so expressive. I haven't stopped smiling since I saw it - and that's what films were supposed to do in the silent era. OK, that's about 10 lines. So let's get back to basics - the film is an amazing display of filmmaking and a total joy.

How cool will it be to have a silent b&w film win the Oscar for Best Pic?

Don't be fooled by the title. Surfwise is much more than a surfing movie. It chronicles the amazing journey of "Doc" Paskowitz, his nine kids and his beautiful and understanding wife Juliette. After two failed marriages, the doc packs up his "normal" life and goes Bohemian, living off the earth while teaching people how to surf. The highly religious man meets his life partner in Juliette and they immediately start having kids - one after the other. But that's where the normalcy ends. They travel around the country in a 24' cramped trailer – all eleven of them, eating healthy, the kids getting home schooled, surfing everyday, and staying below the radar from truant officers. To make money, the Paskowitz' start a surf school and "Doc" would occasionally take low-level medical positions. As was the case with "Doc," the kids became champion surfers and the family was profiled numerous times in magazine articles and television segments. Although many outsiders found this nomadic lifestyle idyllic, the kids started to rebel against "Doc." He was unyielding, he didn't offer them options, and it was either his way or "off" the highway as it were. It also didn't help that their parents were having sex just about every night in a small trailer with the nine of them watching and listening. As their hormones kicked in, they needed sexual release as well, but those needs were not met because they were constantly travelling without any chance to make their own relationships. One by one, they left the fold. Many of the kids became estranged from their parents and each other. But through it all, the kids turned out to be smart, intelligent, good parents, creative and successful in many ways. The cynicism in many would think that out of this dysfunctional upbringing would come the typical end game of suicides, failed marriages, or any other downers. But this couldn't be further from the truth.

What lingers is the fact that I really liked these people. I wanted to get to know them better and hang out with them. What "Doc" was preaching years ago is now fact – eating well, preserving the planet and loving one another is essential to survival. And although he didn't give his kids a choice and forced them to live life "his way," one can't really fault him for trying to give them the best that he thought was right.

Doug Pray makes great documentaries and I look forward to his next one.

Screened at the Starz Denver Film Festival.

Viewed at Starz Denver Film Festival. This IS the film if you want a crash course on LA's hipster art scene of the mid '50s and late '60s. Thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. It was at Ferus Gallery that bookwormish Walter Hopps (who cared about the art) and Cary Grant-like Irving Blum (who cared about the money) brought together a unique and odd collection of off-beat artists to La Cienega - Ed Kienholz, Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell, John Altoon, Billy Al Bengston, Ed Moses, Robert Irwin and Kenneth Price, among others. Bon vivants, artists, collectors and cigar afficionados Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell are interspersed throughout. The gallery housed Warhol's first exhibit, brought in Lichtenstein, and got busted by the cops for an exhibit deemed obscene. After seeing the film, I suggest going to Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood - to look up the ghosts.