The last post of the year.

Hello and welcome to the last Eccentric Sphere of 2021.

It's been a mixed year in many ways. Covid continues to bedevil us all but there has been many good things as well, at least for me.

I had a hard time getting my brain to formulate a thought on the subject, so I decided not to. There are enough retrospectives around if you like those, I just aim to entertain you a little bit.

So without all that much more ado, let me wish you a Happy New Year and a great and safe week. I'll see you in 2022 with more Eccentric Spheres!

 

  

 

Undecided

I had a hard time deciding what to talk about today.

I watched a poliziotteschi movie called The Big Racket (1976), but I didn't really like it very much. It's all about a police inspector who tries to take down a gang that runs a protection racket and commits horrible acts of violence against those they don't like. Parts, like a car rolling down a hill was superbly shot with the camera inside the car, and there were some nice action, but the main villain was lousy and the story as such made little sense. You could roll a car through the plot holes if you were so inclined. I realized that I can't really recommend it and if possible, I prefer to not blog about movies I don't enjoy.

Clearly this wasn't the topic for this week...

I also considered talking about how most of the AAA game company executives are keen to implement NFT (non fungible tokens) and block-chain technology in their upcoming games. In a nutshell, NFT's use the same technology that is used to farm cryptocurrency to create “unique” items in game, either for sale or to be earned through playing. These “unique” items can then be sold by the owner to other players for real money. The kicker is that the items don't need to be unique at all, just the code for this particular helmet makes it unique. It can look like every other helmet in-game. Sure, the items can be genuinely unique, but they still want to waste huge amounts of energy to create this market in order to cash in. It is incredibly bad for the environment and to top it off, they don't really seem to know what need or problem these NFT's would solve.

The backlash has been huge, with developers from the companies themselves like EA, Ubisoft and Take-Two asking their bosses what the point is, since microtransactions and in-game shops are already a thing. The bosses have no answers, they just mumble about “investments”, “metaverses” and other buzzwords. Ubisoft seems to be the keenest at the moment and are apparently planning on allowing players who own these items to transfer them from one game to another. Frankly, this is idiotic. Your fancy “property” is going to evaporate the second the game servers are shut down. Recently there was talk that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 would have NFT's until they realized the PR backlash and publicly stated that the game won't have them.

The NFT technology also raises serious questions about things like money laundering, capital gains tax, game companies holding valuable properties for players meaning that they might function like banks, etc. etc. Time will tell how this plays out, but they already had enough problems with children and loot-boxes. The defense then was that the boxes don't contain anything of real value, but the point of the NFT's is that they do have real value. Can children even earn them or what? Do they need to pay tax or does that get slapped on their parents? Some in-game items have sold for thousands of dollars already, so the potential is there. These are important questions that they don't seem to have asked themselves as they fall over each other to be first in a new gold rush.

Of course, this topic is a bit dull and negative, so I need to come up with something else. But now I'm running out of space so you'll have to settle for this comedy sketch.

Now it only remains to wish you Happy Holidays where ever you are, and I hope you will come back next time. Until then, have a great and safe week!

Bullitt

In last week's post about the Friends of Eddie Coyle, I mentioned that the director Peter Yates, had also directed Bullitt (1968). For a long time, I've meant to watch Bullitt, so I did.

Bullitt is a neo-noir cop drama about protecting a witness and solving crime. Story wise the plot is really nothing special. I found Steve McQueen as Lieutenant Bullitt okay but not that remarkable. Robert Vaughn as Senator Chalmers is amazingly nasty and slimy. So slimy in fact that when Vaughn tried to get into politics, his performance got in his way since people remembered how oily he was.

Beyond these two we have Jaqueline Bisset as Cathy, Bullitt's girlfriend and Robert Duvall as a cab driver. I don't think I've ever seen him in such a minor role before. All actors do a good job, the cinematography is great and the music is... 60's jazz. Good if you like the stuff. I think...

Where Bullitt really shines is in the influence it has had on the TV and cinema that came along afterwards. This movie became absolutely iconic in its time and I don't think it is unfair to say that Bullitt is the archetype for the cop who plays by his own rules and does whatever it takes to get the job done no matter who gets mad at him.

Bullitt's other huge claim to fame is the car chase that is still amazing to this day. Bullitt drives a 1968 Ford Mustang as he chases two killers in a 1968 Dodge Charger. Seeing these powerful muscle cars race around San Francisco is a treat. Keep in mind that there was no CGI at the time so the hairpin turns and jumps were performed for real. This movie is also probably the inspiration for multiple movies featuring car chases in San Francisco, with its twisting streets and many steep hills.

McQueen is credited as being the driver of the Ford but in fact some shots were filmed with a stuntman, the same stuntman who did the motorcycle jump in the Great Escape – Bud Ekins. When McQueen found out, he was furious as he had gotten quite a bit of flak for not doing the jump himself.

The driver of the Dodge was Bill Hickman, an experienced stunt-driver and racer. Hickman was a good friend of James Dean and was in fact the one who pulled Dean's body out of the crashed Porsche Spyder that killed him.

I could go on listing interesting facts about this movie like how there were no sets built. All scenes were shot on location. The Mayor of San Francisco was keen to promote his city as a film location and the crew got to shut down streets for hours at a time. They even got a hospital wing to film in. The only request that got turned down was to film on Golden Gate bridge.

I said I could go on, but why bother? Check the humongous trivia page on IMDB if you want to know even more. Okay, one more. Bullitt is often credited as being the first movie where the word “Bullshit” was uttered, but it is in fact the second. The first is In Cold Blood (1967).

Do I recommend this movie? Yes, I suppose so. It is a classic and there is nothing wrong with it. If all you care about is the car chase, you can see it on Youtube. Beyond that, movie buffs need to see it but I don't think it's any great loss if you skip it. Again, there is not anything really wrong with it, but I don't think it quite lives up to the enormous reputation it has.

 

 

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

I had heard the title before, but when a friend talked about this movie, I sat down and watched it the following day. The subject of this week is The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973). Based on the debut novel of the same name by George V. Higgins, this movie stars Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan and Steven Keats. It's directed by Peter Yeats who also directed the Steve McQueen classic Bullit.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a study in tense atmosphere. We follow the titular Eddie (Mitchum), a small time crook who is getting both old and nowhere fast. He is connected but unimportant. He knows how the game is played but isn't successful. He is known to be solid and is mostly used to supply guns to those who need them, but now he's looking at prison time and he's not sure he can do it. The question is what he can do to stay free.

His main clients are a trio of disciplined and clever bank robbers, one of whom is played by Alex Rocco, best know as Moe Greene in The Godfather. The other important character is the young hotshot gunrunner Jackie Brown. If the name is familiar it is because The Friends of Eddie Coyle had a big influence on Quentin Tarantino, who named one of his movies Jackie Brown.

This movie is pretty slow in many ways, but never boring. Don't go into this expecting a lot of fast paced action. It's a slow intense burn, and it burns all the hotter for it. The tension is thick enough to carve with a knife in several scenes and even when the movie relaxes a bit, it is still strained. You can never really relax and everyone is constantly guarded and ready for the worst.

Set and shot in Boston during the fall, everything feels cold, tired and miserable. Add to this Mitchum's wonderful portrayal as Eddie, who goes from tough and intimidating to cajoling and almost but not quite pleading. The end result is a movie that should be absolutely depressing but somehow isn't.

Even without the Hays Code I have a feeling that The Friends of Eddie Coyle would be just the same. This is one of those movies that really makes crime seem unattractive. It has no glamour or cool, only pragmatic business in a business where you can't trust anyone. To quote Jackie :”This life's HARD man, but it's HARDER if you're stupid!”

If I have managed to paint a picture of unrelenting depression and miserable suffering, don't worry, The Friends of Eddie Coyle isn't that gloomy, but it is extremely well made.

Do I recommend this movie? Absolutely! I would have hated it as a teenager, but being (hopefully) more mature, I found it fascinating. It wasn't well received when it released, but Roger Ebert gave it four stars, it has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.5/10 on IMDB. I suggest you give it a shot, I'm glad I did.

 

 

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have great and safe week!

Low in calories but not in fun

Alright, I haven't done a funny commercials post in a long while. So, to rectify that here are five commercials for Bud Light. Mind you, I have no idea if the beer is good or not, I've never had it but they do spend a lot of money on their ads. So much money that I'm starting to wonder if they're compensating for something...

Either way, please enjoy these commercials. Sadly the resolution is poor in some of them, they are pretty old, but they are still pretty damn funny!

So join me again next time, and until then, have a great and safe week!

 

  

 

  

  

 

Black Dynamite

A couple of evenings ago I was rummaging around on Youtube, trying to find something I felt like watching, and that's when I tripped across a scene from the movie Black Dynamite. I originally thought it was an old blaxploitation movie from back in the day, but to my surprise it was made in 2009. Intrigued, I sat down and watched it.

For those of you who are unaware of what blaxploitation is, here is what you get if you Google the term:

“Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, then president of the Beverly Hills-Hollywood NAACP branch.”

Now that that's out of the way we can talk about Black Dynamite. This movie is both a parody of, and a love letter to the genre as a whole. It also spoofs the kung-fu movies of the 70's as well as the whole cheaply made action cinema of the time. It in no way takes itself seriously and it must have been a blast to work on. They even intentionally do things like show the boom mic, change stuntmen in the middle of a fight, and a woman smokes a cigarette that is clearly not lit. There is even a scene where a guy looks back while driving and the rear projection shows him driving through an S curve perfectly. It becomes a thing in itself to find all the intentional goofs.

The dialogue is also hilariously bad, with lines like:

“Your knowledge of scientific biological transmogrification is only outmatched by your zest for kung-fu treachery!” or “I'd like to take the credit, but dig, mama, there's no "i" in "revolutio...", in "team.” or “These children are orphans, and orphans don't have parents!"

Black Dynamite is directed by Scott Sanders and stars Michael Jai White as Black Dynamite. White is also one of the screenwriters. His character Black Dynamite is the epitome of the badass superman. He can kick anyone's ass, and his revolver never runs out of ammo. All the women want him and his enemies fear him above all else. In a non-satire movie the character would be impossibly bad, but here it is perfect.

Having Michael Jai White in a martial arts role is always a treat as the man is ridiculously good at it. Watching him move is a treat just by itself, but we also get evidence that he can pull off a comedic role, which is something many action stars struggle with.

I won't mention the plot as I don't want to spoil anything, besides Black Dynamite is as much an experience as a story. Speaking of experience, I have often lamented that modern movies can't capture an era as long as the viewer can personally remember it. This movie does something interesting however. It adds a film grain effect over the whole thing, that together with the period cars and clothes, really makes it feel like the 70's. This is why I thought the clip I saw was from a genuine period blaxploitation movie. It's brilliant in its simplicity.

So, do I recommend the movie? Yes. Absolutely yes. Any comedy fan ought to like it, especially if you like spoofs like Scary Movie and Not Another Teen Movie. Black Dynamite is rude, raunchy and completely unapologetic. I had a blast and should you choose to watch it, I hope you will too.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

More crime action

I have a double billing for you all today.

Earlier in the week I was in the mood for yet another poliziotteschi movie so I sat down and watched The Mad Dog Killer, aka Beast with a Gun (1977).

Mad Dog Killer is a weird movie. There is no mystery, no conspiracy, only rage and violence.

A vicious killer, Nanni Vitali escapes from prison with some of his henchmen. Nanni wastes no time and goes on a rampage immediately. Foremost in his mind is revenge against the man who testified against him. Police commissioner Santini is hot on the trail and that's the whole plot.

What makes Mad Dog Killer stand out is Nanni played by Helmut Berger. He brings an intensity and insanity that is reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter, if Lecter ran around savaging and killing people like a hungry dog in a sausage factory. A person who is willing to risk anything to get even with you is terrifying indeed and Nanni is just that.

As usual I'm avoiding spoilers as much as possible so this is all I can really say. The plot is paper thin but that is all it is aiming to be. Fair warning though, Mad Dog Killer has a lot of violence in it, some of it directed at women, so if you need a trigger warning, this is it.

Over all, The Mad Dog Killer was entertaining and fairly well made. The only complaint I have is that the police come across as pretty incompetent, but overall I had a good time. Fun fact: Tarantino showed a scene in his film Jackie Brown.

However, with Mad Dog Killer being so simple, I figured we needed a second movie. So I watched Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (1976).

Here we follow Fred and Tony, two cops who belong to a secret division of the police in Rome who have license to kill. They ignore due process and people's rights and brutally execute criminals with no second though. They thoroughly enjoy their job too.

We follow them as they chase down thieves on a motorcycle (for 8 minutes!), foil a robbery and free a hostage but the central plot revolves around the hunt for a reclusive gangster boss.

Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man is an odd movie. Sandwiched in between all the action and violence is an absurd sense of humor that almost pushes it into exploitation cinema rather than the poliziotteschi genre. In many ways it feels more American than Italian, and it could easily be remade without too much fuss. It felt almost like a down and dirty James Bond movie, with the casual machismo and remorseless killing before hitting on the bosses secretary again.

Do I recommend these movies? Yes, for fans of crime cinema and 70's movies. Both are products of their time, and it shows throughout. I'd recommend The Mad Dog Killer a little less than Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man however.

Having now seen a few poliziotteschi movies, it is fun to see the same actors return in different roles. Two of the police commanders in Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man play mafia bosses in films I've written about previously.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!