I was disappointed with most new movies I saw this year and really just wanted to watch old westerns and kung fu movies. Here are a couple lists of things I enjoyed watching for one reason or another.
REALLY BAD MOVIES THAT WERE SO FUNNY THAT I WATCHED THEM TWICE
1. The Great Skycopter Rescue (cut rate regional action film with the dude who played Blacula as the bad guy plus there’s skycopters)
2. The Best of Everything (an obvious inspiration for Mad Men)
3. Susan Slade (another hysterical melodrama)
4. The Big Cube (dated and “trippy” anti-drug film starring Lana Turner)
5. Burial Ground (thanks to Dormarth for hipping me to this outrageous and tacky Italian zombie trash)
6. No Retreat No Surrender (set in Seattle, though they probably only spent a day or two here, this is a hilarious Karate Kid rip off that features a fat kid eating an entire cake while standing in the middle of the street among its many questionable highlights)
OLD MOVIES THAT I WATCHED THIS YEAR AND REALLY LIKED (mostly westerns and martial arts)(this list is not in any particular order. I just numbered them as I recalled the films)
1. Black Tavern (lots of fights and strange characters, a new fave from the Shaw Brothers)
2. Hit! (little seen French Connection variation starring Billy Dee Williams and Richard Pryor- a few scenes take place in Seattle!)
3. Delightful Forest (another Shaw Brothers winner that is part of the Water Margin stories)
4. The Duel (not the Spielberg truck movie, this is a cool Cheng Cheh gangster/martial arts/knife fight/gun shooting movie from 1971 that set the stage for people like John Woo)
5. Down Home Music (change of pace here, this is a neat documentary that the guy who runs Arhoolie Records helped make for German TV in 1963 that has been recently re-edited. A great overview of authentic American sounds circa 1963. There is no kung fu in this movie)
6. Try And Get Me (a gritty, obscure and socially aware noir directed by Cy Endfield)
7. The Ox-Bow Incident (while this would certainly be considered a western it is really a strong statement about mob mentality and capital punishment.)
8. Dark Command (my new favorite John Wayne movie. Loosely based on Quantrill’s Raiders.)
9. Yellow Sky (I always liked Gregory Peck in the Gunfighter so I watched this. I’m surprised I hadn’t before as it also stars Richard Widmark (another favorite of mine) and am glad I finally got around to it).
10. Colorado Territory (a western variation on High Sierra. I like this one better than the Bogart movie)
11. Copper Canyon (enjoyable western with colorful technicolor sets and dresses (worn by Hedy Lamarr) and a slick, sharpshooting Ray Milland. Not quite as good as the other westerns on this list but still a lot of fun)
12. Randy Rides Alone (a tight little poverty row western starring a young John Wayne)
13. The Far Country (another movie I’m surprised I never watched before…and another solid Jimmy Stewart/Anthony Mann western)
14. Max Manus (the only movie on this list shot in the 21st century. There have been a lot of great World War 2 resistance movies made in the past few years. I liked them all and this one is especially good).
15. 99 River Street (Phil Karlson is one of my favorite directors and this is one of his best. A twist filled film noir with lots of bare knuckle action. Shamefully obscure.)
16. Bastard Swordsman (okay, one last kung fu film. very weird and funny with lots of action, sword fights and imaginative details).
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