The Last Remake of Beau Geste blog

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The Movies

Four of the goofiest old-school sci-fi adventures are gathered here in the 4-disc “Weird Worlds Collection,” courtesy of Image Entertainment — guys who’ll release pretty much anything on DVD. Despite the moniker, these worlds aren’t all that “weird” at all. “Silly Sci-Fi Collection” might have been a better heading, but if you’re a fan of antiquated sci-fi schlock, odds are you’ll find something to enjoy here.

Destination Moon (1950) isn’t actually “weird” at all. It’s actually a fairly sober and straight-laced adventure in which four All-American Joes build a rocket and blast off to the moon … much to the chagrin of the U.S. government! Based on the novel by Robert Heinlein, Destination Moon earns points for trying to tell a non-fantastic sci-fi story, and there’s even some extra credit for getting some of the science right. Yeah, the dialogue is frequently ridiculous and the special effects are as goofy as you’d expect, but taken as sort of a pre-pre-pre-historic Apollo 13, I suspect the die-hard sci-fi fans might enjoy this one.

(A reader wrote in asking that I mention Destination Moon’s place as a film that “started the 1950s sci-fi craze,” and I apologize for having overlooked that trivial tidbit. Indeed, Destination Moon was one of the very first American “space quest” flicks, and as such it deserves to be mentioned as a semi-milestone of the genre. Whether or not such a designation enables one to enjoy the fairly dry, outmoded, and cornball aspects of Destination Moon is up to the individual, of course, but the reader was right that I should at least mention it: Apparently Destination Moon was 1950’s equivalent to Star Wars.)

Project Moonbase (1953) is a spy thriller and a sci-fi adventure all wrapped into one brief-yet-ridiculous mini-movie. Also based on a Heinlein story, Project Moonbase deals with a guy-girl “space force” team who find their moon mission interrupted by the arrival of a very stupid Russian spy. Much of the 63-minute flick consists of silly sets, insipid dialogue, casual sexism, and (especially towards the end) outright lunacy. And those outfits! Whose idea was it to give out Peter Pan hats and short-shorts to Earth’s first guy/girl astro-squad? Still: simply and consistently silly, but not all that weird.

The Phantom Planet (1961) is, well — what can one say about a movie that not only languishes, unwanted, in the public domain, but was also savaged with much hilarity by the Mystery Science Theater 3000 gang? I could say it’s laughable, embarrassing, woefully inept, and absolutely Ed Woodsian in style and presentation, but why bother? This one’s about a daring space hero who crash lands on a zooming planet, only to discover that the citizens look, act, and behave just like human beings … only they’re really, really tiny. So they shrink Space Guy down to their size and spend the next hour wandering around caves and talking about space. Oh, and there are these moronic-looking monsters that look like the unholy offspring of Pluto the Dog and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Finally this package offers some true weirdness!

First Spaceship on Venus (1962) is known throughout the planet as Silent Star or Planet of the Dead or Der Schweigende Stern, but it’s just another low-budget ’60s sci-fi-stinker that, not very long ago, earned a wondrous lampooning at the hands of the MST3K boys. Interesting in that it’s a Polish-German co-production, if for no other reason whatsoever, First Spaceship on Venus is a dry and periodically non-sensical dub-fest in which a bunch of dry international dolts head out to Venus — slowly. But, to be fair, in the flick’s final 20-some minutes, it definitely does get “weird.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

John Frankenheimer’s (”The Manchurian Candidate”/”The Train”/”The
Young Savages”) gripping political thriller is based on the best-selling
novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II, and the screenplay is
by Rod Serling of The Twilight Zone fame. Its demagogue usurper character
is reportedly based on the views of the far-right member of the John Birch
Society, General Edwin Walker. 

President Jordan Lyman (Fredric March) has just signed a nuclear
disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union and his poll numbers are very
low. Not only is the public displeased with him, but the presidentially
ambitious charismatic Air Force Gen. James M. Scott, Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, considers it a treasonable act and says so publicly–you
can’t trust the commies.

Scott’s loyal aide, Martin “Jiggs” Casey (Kirk Douglas), becomes
suspicious of his boss when he accidently learns of both a top secret base
in Texas and of cryptic messages among the Joint Chiefs. When Casey believes
that his boss is leading the other Chiefs of Staff in a coup to occur seven
days later in May, he reports his suspicions to the President. As a result,
Sen. Raymond Clark (Edmond O’Brien) is sent to investigate the secret base.
Clark locates the base but is taken captive. He eventually breaks out with
the help of Jiggs’s colonel friend, Henderson (Andrew Duggan). The President
next sends his press secretary, Paul Girard (Martin Balsam), to Gibraltar,
who obtains a statement from Admiral Barnswell, a Joint Chief who refused
to go along with Scott. But on the return trip Girard is killed in a plane
crash, and a fearful Barnswell denies signing the statement.

Warning: spoiler to follow in the next paragraph.

But things don’t rest there, as Casey obtains from Scott’s former
mistress, the Washington hostess, Eleanor Holbrook (Ava Gardner), some
incriminating letters. Armed with all this information, President Lyman
demands the charlatan’s resignation in a confrontation and when things
turn completely against the once heroic general, he resigns and the coup
never materializes.

Not a sequel, not really a prequel, sort of a remake, more of a re-imagining, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights follows the blossoming love affair of young couple Katey (Romola Garai) and Javier (Diego Luna) against the backdrop of the Cuban Revolution in 1958. Katey is an American girl living in Cuba with her parents who meets Javier, a local. Javier takes Katey to a nightclub where he teaches her how to dance dirty Cuban-style. The two grow closer and closer, but when Castro takes over, Katey?s parents decide to flee for the U.S., leaving Katey to make the ultimate decision. Tying the film together with the classic 1987 original is Patrick Swayze who reprises the role of Johnny Castle in a cameo.

The acting by Lancaster, March and Douglas is superb. Frankenheimer
keeps it frighteningly chilly, tense, thought-provoking, and realisitic.
The possibility of such a foul deed happening is very real, and this charged
melodrama gives us a good idea of how such an insider coup may look.

If Clifford Odets’ freedom seems impossibly shopworn today - boy from insolvency pandemonium is tempted to abandon Art and his violin for the quick but brutalising rewards of the boxing-mob - at least this adaptation prunes away the worst, pseudo-poetical excesses of the original dialogue. Gone, too, is the character of the labour organiser, mouthpiece into Odets’ spineless plea that the hero’s choosing is a matter to upset in terms of the on-going contend between First-class and Labour. What’s liberal is melodrama, with the plight couched largely in moral and personal terms, and it stands up pretty well under Mamoulian’s chichi direction, with its chiaroscuro lighting effects, fell final fight (shot with prejudiced camera), and gallery of excellent performances. Holden (in his film debut) is good in the title role; but the real treats are Menjou’s mournfully cynical fight proprietor, Stanwyck’s melting moll, and Calleia’s wonderfully serio-comical, trigger-itchy gangster.

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Writer/director Whit Stillman (Metropolitan, The Last Days of Disco) excels in creating sympathy and good pro a rarely seen community group: wise man yuppies looking for adore. His films fall into the genre of romantic comedy, but they put up for sale much more than griping-inducing, contrived plots backed by inferior music from artists corresponding to Whitney Houston and Sting. The young individuals in Stillman’s movies spend much of their time discussing the hep aspects of spark of life at bars, nightclubs, and parties. While they then crop skin-deep, these characters are more intriguing because their concerns are realistic. They in truth be enduring specific occupations and care with regard to them, which unhesitatingly places the stories into a unique alcove in modern cinema. Barcelona moves two immature Americans to a luring transalpine city in the early 1980s and presents a clever, jolly and surprising elegant untruth.

“Positive contemplative is delicate in theory. But whenever I try it on a systematic basis, I completion up really depressed.” - Ted

Ted (Taylor Nichols) resides comfortably in Barcelona and works as a salesman suited because a company located in his hometown of Chicago. His robbery is going emphatically, but his relations with women have been causing him vitality-threatening anxiety. In clear distress, he enacts a redone plan to cause a more intimate correlation with the opposing having it away. The new tactics stem from the idea that professional attractiveness distracts from the geezer of the soul, and perhaps this has led to problematic dating. So, Ted resolves to at most date “plain, or strikingly homely” women. It may appear that we’re heading approaching the sphere of dull, formulaic comedy here. Even so, Stillman’s column never veers in that leadership. Ted’s imaginative feelings are purely individual of numerous beliefs stated by the characters, and it occupies at most a teenager large out of the murder.

The tale begins with the arrival of Fred (Chris Eigeman)—Ted’s cousin and almost his exact en face in personality. He is more tomfoolery-loving and stupefied, with plenty of sarcastic satirist to hand for every setting. A jingoistic Flotilla administrator, Fred believes in the ideas of heroism and arrogance, and this in two shakes of a lamb’s tail places him at chance in the inconstant lean to of the city. Terrorist bombings would rather captivated place at American venues, and there is little amiability towards the soldiers and dignitaries. Regardless of this scene, he continues to impetuously walk around in his flat and rant here the unfair treatment of Americans. These discussions regularly occur amid parties and community gatherings with Spanish journalists who’ve read a few too many accompany novels and the girls who into them. The conflicts between their American ideals and the overseas viewpoint add a refreshing bonus layer to the relationship storyline.

Female: You can’t influence Americans are not more violent than other people.
Fred: No.
Abigail: “All those people killed in shootings in America?
Fred: Oh, shootings, yes. But that doesn’t mean Americans are more virulent than other people. We’re just better shots.

Barcelona does restrain serious conversations about the literal nature of American policies, but it succeeds in monstrous measure due to passionate, inventive moments prostrate discussing stupefied subjects. Fred’s different take on the conclusion of The Graduate is a famed moment and reveals his biting cynicism. On the other closely, his failed attempts to start limbo dancing at a drab detail emcee a more shining-hearted side. The phraseology and cultural barriers offer mountains of confusing moments for the lead characters in matters of inamorata. Ted has a obdurate together dealing with the open reproductive relationships of the mores and certainly does not gather from his female counterparts. His relationship with Montserrat (Tushka Bergen) may tackle apart satisfactory to his intense pride, and he must learn to lift it easy and accept certain facts of sentience to hit upon be hung up on.

The portentous mould is bolstered by an excellent horde of female actresses who confront up nicely to Nichols and Eigeman. Bergen’s beaming blond fraction differs from the expected Spanish look, and she nicely conveys her character’s confusion near Ted’s ideas. Mira Sorvino also appears in an early liability with a surprisingly convincing Spanish accent as Marta—an attractive lover who may not be as worthy as she seems. The lead actors both are Stillman veterans and wonderfully main his dialogue spell. Eigeman (Kicking and Screaming, It’s Feel attracted to, You Remember) usually gives illustrious performances with his cramped, yet likable asperity. Nichols wish show up periodically in smaller roles, but he rarely plays a character on this spike.

Following the vital success of his inauguration peel, Metropolitan, Whit Stillman faced a straight-faced challenge in topping that autochthonous story. Luckily, Barcelona expands the scope of his characters and offers a beautiful mounting past the extent of their discussions. The landmarks are bright and spectacular, and the women are rhythmical more superb. Bolstered by refill-notch performances and urbane camera write up, this is Stillman’s win out over film.

Search mp3

Writer/director Whit Stillman (Metropolitan, The Last Days of Disco) excels in creating sympathy and good pro a rarely seen social group: wise man yuppies looking for adore. His films fall into the genre of romantic comedy, but they put up for sale much more than griping-inducing, contrived plots backed by inferior music from artists corresponding to Whitney Houston and Sting. The young individuals in Stillman’s movies spend much of their time discussing the minute aspects of life at bars, nightclubs, and parties. While they then crop shallow, these characters are more intriguing because their concerns are realistic. They in truth have specific occupations and care about them, which immediately places the stories into a unique niche in modern cinema. Barcelona moves two infantile Americans to a attractive foreign city in the early 1980s and presents a clever, jolly and surprising elegant falsehood.

“Positive thinking is fine in theory. But whenever I try it on a systematic basis, I end up really depressed.” - Ted

Ted (Taylor Nichols) resides comfortably in Barcelona and works as a salesman suited for a company located in his hometown of Chicago. His job is going positively, but his relations with women have been causing him life-threatening anxiety. In apparent desperation, he enacts a new plan to generate a more intimate correlation with the opposing having it away. The new tactics stem from the idea that specialist attractiveness distracts from the stick of the soul, and perhaps this has led to problematic dating. So, Ted resolves to at most date “plain, or strikingly homely” women. It may appear that we’re heading towards the sphere of dull, formulaic comedy here. Yet, Stillman’s writing never veers in that leadership. Ted’s new feelings are only individual of numerous beliefs stated by the characters, and it occupies only a teenager deal out of the dispatch.

The tale begins with the arrival of Fred (Chris Eigeman)—Ted’s cousin and nearly his exact opposite in personality. He is more tomfoolery-loving and silly, with plenty of sarcastic wit available for every setting. A jingoistic Flotilla administrator, Fred believes in the ideas of heroism and arrogance, and this immediately places him at risk in the volatile feel of the city. Terrorist bombings have captivated place at American venues, and there is little amiability towards the soldiers and dignitaries. Regardless of this scene, he continues to impetuously walk around in his flat and rant about the unfair treatment of Americans. These discussions regularly occur amid parties and community gatherings with Spanish journalists who’ve read a few too many see novels and the girls who into them. The conflicts between their American ideals and the foreign viewpoint add a refreshing bonus layer to the relationship storyline.

Female: You can’t say Americans are not more violent than other people.
Fred: No.
Woman: “All those people killed in shootings in America?
Fred: Oh, shootings, yes. But that doesn’t mean Americans are more virulent than other people. We’re just better shots.

Barcelona does contain pensive conversations about the literal nature of American policies, but it succeeds in great measure due to passionate, inventive moments prostrate discussing stupefied subjects. Fred’s divergent take on the conclusion of The Graduate is a outstanding moment and reveals his biting cynicism. On the other hand, his failed attempts to start limbo dancing at a drab party emcee a more shining-hearted side. The phraseology and cultural barriers offer mountains of confusing moments for the lead characters in matters of inamorata. Ted has a obstinate together dealing with the open reproductive relationships of the culture and clearly does not understand his female counterparts. His relationship with Montserrat (Tushka Bergen) may tackle apart due to his intense pride, and he must learn to lift it easy and accept certain facts of sentience to hit upon be hung up on.

The portentous mould is bolstered by an excellent band of female actresses who confront up nicely to Nichols and Eigeman. Bergen’s beaming blond fraction differs from the expected Spanish look, and she nicely conveys her character’s confusion near Ted’s ideas. Mira Sorvino also appears in an early responsibility with a surprisingly convincing Spanish accent as Marta—an attractive girl who may not be as worthy as she seems. The lead actors both are Stillman veterans and wonderfully master his dialogue period. Eigeman (Kicking and Screaming, It’s Like, You Remember) always gives memorable performances with his hidebound, yet likable asperity. Nichols will show up periodically in smaller roles, but he rarely plays a character on this point.

Following the key success of his inauguration peel, Metropolitan, Whit Stillman faced a straight-faced challenge in topping that original story. Luckily, Barcelona expands the scope of his characters and offers a beautiful mounting over the extent of their discussions. The landmarks are bright and spectacular, and the women are rhythmical more superb. Bolstered by refill-notch performances and urbane camera work, this is Stillman’s win out over film.