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Author: Craig

Logan’s Run: The Utopian Sequel to Soylent Green?

Logan’s Run: The Utopian Sequel to Soylent Green?

Released: June 1976 Directed by: Michael Anderson Cast: Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan, Roscoe Lee Browne, Farrah Fawcett-Majors, and Peter Ustinov as Old Man. By 2274, humanity had overcome the over-population, starvation, and cataclysmic civilization destroying conflicts of the 2020s. Earth’s population now live in isolated domed mega-utopias, where all their needs are met. Gone are the days of feasting on Soylent Green, stepping over one another just to get down a flight of stairs, or being dumped into…

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Soylent Green: “How Did We Come to This?”

Soylent Green: “How Did We Come to This?”

Directed by: Richard Fleischer Released: April 1973 Cast: Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Connors, Brock Peters, Paula Kelly, Joseph Cotton, Edward G. Robinson as Solomon Roth. As we sit here, in 2024, society is in rough shape. The gap between the wealthy and poor is ever increasing, homelessness is at an all-time high, governments and politicians are more interested in their own personal gain over the need of the people they were elected to serve, the gap between government and…

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The Strange Case of Joe Patroni: Part Three

The Strange Case of Joe Patroni: Part Three

By the end of Airport ’77 we cannot help but wonder if Joe Patroni is the only one to disappear into the Bermuda Triangle, along with all the carefully documented unanswered questions. Lord knows the Devil’s Triangle does not give up its secrets easily. The only thing new offered is Joe’s phantom company, Patroni’s Gently Used Airplane Parts and Stress Points. What was clear, Universal hit the jackpot again with another huge return on investment. Audiences were still hungry for…

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On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: Merry Christmas 007

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: Merry Christmas 007

Released: December 1969 Directed by: Peter R. Hunt Cast: George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas, Gabriele Ferzetti, Ilse Steppat, Lois Maxwell, George Baker, Bernard Lee, Desmond Llewelyn. Yup, spoilers. Ernst Stavro Blofeld has no redeeming qualities, save one, he is not a quitter. Like his contemporary, Wile E. Coyote-Super Genius, he continues to plot, scheme, and execute said plots. His operative in Jamaca, Dr. No was charged with toppling U.S. missiles and failed. In a revenge, extortion scheme, Rosa Klebb…

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A Christmas Wish aka The Great Rupert

A Christmas Wish aka The Great Rupert

Released: March 1950 Directed by: Irving Pichel Cast: Jimmy Durante, Terry Moore, Tom Drake, Frank Orth, Sara Haden, Queenie Smith, Chick Chandler, Jimmy Conlin, Rupert the Squirrel. I’ve believed for a long time that squirrels are the dolphins of the backyard, and A Christmas Wish confirms that belief. Rupert the Squirrel is the most amazing squirrel I have ever seen. He not only dances, but he does a Scottish jig that would make any Highlander proud. He is an astute…

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1941: “To Hollywood…and Glory!”

1941: “To Hollywood…and Glory!”

Released: December 1979 Directed By: Steven Spielberg Cast: Dan Ackroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Christopher Lee, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, John Candy, Warren Oates, Robert Stack, Treat Williams, Nancy Allen, Eddie Deezen, Bobby Di Cicco, Dianne Kay, Slim Pickens, Wendie Jo Sperber, Lionel Stander. When I went to see Steven Spielberg’s 1941 when it was first released in 1979, I knew I was going to like it. What I didn’t know was how much. It turned…

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Santa Claus Conquers the Martians: That Magical Time of Year When We Turn to Warm Thoughts of Alien Invasion.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians: That Magical Time of Year When We Turn to Warm Thoughts of Alien Invasion.

Released: November 1964 Directed By: Nicholas Webster Cast: John Call, Leonard Hicks, Vincent Beck, Bill McCutcheon, Victor Stiles, Donna Conforti, Chris Month, Pia Zadora. It was the middle of Septober on the planet Mars, and Kimar (Leonard Hicks) was concerned. His children, Bomar (Chris Month) and Girmar (Pia Zadora), were addicted to watching Earth programs on the video scope. If you saw the programs the kids were watching, you’d be concerned as well. KID-TV was broadcasting live from Santa’s Workshop…

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TORA! TORA! TORA!: “…with a terrible resolve.”

TORA! TORA! TORA!: “…with a terrible resolve.”

Released: October 1970 Directed by: Toshio Masuda, Kinji Fukasaku, Richard Fleischer. Cast: Martin Balsam, Soh Yamamura, Joseph Cotton, Tatsuya Mihashi, E.G. Marshall, Takahiro Tamura, James Whitmore, Koreya Senda, Jason Robarts. I have always found the Pearl Harbor story fascinating. As a 13-year-old it was likely the ships, airplanes, and explosions. But I wanted to know more, so I did something dangerous, I began to read books. What I learned over the years was a fascinating and complicated story revolving the…

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Crossplot: The Forgettable Movie I Can’t Get Out of My Head.

Crossplot: The Forgettable Movie I Can’t Get Out of My Head.

Released: November 1969 Directed By: Alvin Rakoff Cast: Roger Moore, Claudie Lange, Martha Hyer, Alexis Kanner, Derek Francis, Ursula Howells. Bernard Lee. I hadn’t planned on writing anything about Crossplot beyond my blurb on Twitter (I refuse to call it ‘X’) and Letterboxd, referring to the film ultimately as forgettable. However, a Twitter follower commented on my blurb thinking the movie poster and the plot looked interesting. I replied saying the plot was very Hitchcock-like and the film itself was…

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Casablanca: Monsieur Rick, Signor Ugarte, and the Fine Art of World Building.

Casablanca: Monsieur Rick, Signor Ugarte, and the Fine Art of World Building.

Released: January 1943 Directed By: Michael Curtiz Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre. By the time we meet Richard Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) in the first act of Casablanca, two German couriers have been murdered and two valuable letters of transit have been stolen, Capt. Louis Renault (Claude Rains) has rounded up the usual suspects, Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt) of the Third Reich shows up ahead of the impending arrival of Victor…

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