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Topics - Banjo
1
« on: September 25, 2010, 03:27:25 AM »
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« on: May 09, 2010, 01:43:11 AM »
Please welcome Cigar Joe and Dust Devil as new board moderators.It seems that i've been doing this job solo for quite a while so it's great that we now have two long term members helping out. 
3
« on: November 17, 2008, 06:22:44 AM »
Saw this movie the other day on the UK Movies4men sattelite channel which documents Mussolini's desparate struggle to flee Italy during the closing stages of World War 2.It plays out as one big tug of war between multiple parties(Germans,Americans,partisans) trying their utmost to preserve or lynch him. Rod Steiger is excellent throughout as the ill fated "Il Duce" brilliantly portraying him as a broken man haunted by his past acts rather than the usual brash OTT meglomaniac dictator seen in old b&w footage.Director Carlo Lizzani who previously made two very action packed sw's delivers a very talky piece of work which nonetheless still manages to hold ones attention as it builds into a very tense climax.Franco Nero and Henry Fonda provide great support as the lead partisan and Cardinal respectively and Morricone excells as expected with the soundtrack . My rating 8 out of 10.
4
« on: September 04, 2008, 03:08:16 PM »
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« on: July 10, 2008, 12:47:39 PM »
I watched this a couple of days ago and it has to be the most disappointing Terence Hill western that i've seen.The other western Hill made with Bud Spencer about the same time THE FIGHT BEFORE XMAS aka TROUBLEMAKERS is far superior,heartwarming but full of fun.I saw the opening credit sequence on Youtube for LUCKY LUKE thought it was pretty good with Hill hilariously trying to outdraw his shadow on a rock but this is probably the best thing about the movie. Lucky Luke looks exactly like Hills MY NAME IS NOBODY character but thats where the similarity ends because Luke very boringly plays it totally straight leaving all the (barely funny) jokes to his talking horse sidekick.A dull and predictable storyline annoyingly intercut in places with footage of the modern world there's not much good you can say about it really apart from a bit of Morricone from MNIN and BIG GUNDOWN which with added Leone gun duel camera angles leads me to conclude that this should qualify as a sw albeit a poor one. A very disappointing 3 out of 10. 
7
« on: April 08, 2008, 02:11:29 AM »
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« on: January 24, 2008, 08:40:04 AM »
Check this out everyone! http://www.palgrave-usa.com/catalog/product.aspx?isbn=1845115716I'm halfway through this excellent companion piece to Howard Hughes brillant filmgoers guide to sw's(not the pocket guide).It has chapters devoted to 26 important westerns including OUATITW,JOSEY WALES,UNFORGIVEN,MAG 7,RIDE LONESOME but also discusses several dozen in some detail. I've also borrowed from the library his CRIME WAVE filmgoers guide to crime thrillers which has a chapter about OUATIA.
9
« on: October 09, 2007, 04:46:38 AM »
Review from Arizona Colt:-
HATE FOR HATE 1967 aka ODIO PER ODIO
Antonio Sabato (Miguel), John Ireland (Cooper), Fernando Sancho (Coyote)
Directed by Domenico Paolella; Writers include Fernando Di Leo, Bruno Corbucci; Music by Willy Brezza
Miguel (Sabato), an honest and carefree Mexican has big dreams of heading North to the city to be an artist. He stores his $512.00, all the money he has, in a bank. Said bank is about to be robbed by Cooper (Ireland), an outlaw partnered with the psychopathic Moxon. Once the job is done, Cooper finds that Moxon has killed everyone inside. During their escape, Moxon tries to kill his partner leaving him the sole proprietor of the loot. While this is going on, Miguel gives chase only wanting his $512.00 back. After Cooper supposedly does away with his unscrupulous partner, both Miguel and Cooper are captured. Miguel is later freed and Cooper escapes. Meanwhile, Moxon recuperates and gets his old band of cutthroats together to steal back the money and kill off Cooper and his family. Cooper and Miguel meet again and the stage is set for a revenge fueled climax between three principle characters.
Finally, John Ireland gets a starring role in an Italian western. I've seen him in others but this is the first where he's given a chance to shine. I've always appreciated him as an actor and he's good here as the soft-hearted aging outlaw who is ashamed of his profession and wants to get his family to a better place to keep what he does from affecting their lives. This comes to a boil when his lunatic ex-partner kidnaps his wife and daughter (who is unaware he is her father) and Cooper mistakenly believes Miguel has done it not knowing his devious former partner is still alive. Cooper is so blinded by self-hate for what he does, he refuses to accept truth from the only real friend he has. Since he himself is a good man at heart making a living out of robbery, the thought of believing the word of an unknown commodity doesn't appear likely. Although Cooper trusts Miguel completely when they're in prison, once it appears that Miguel has done something terrible to his wife and daughter, he immediately wants him dead. This unwittingly works in his favor towards the end when Cooper finds his former partner still alive after tracing Miguel to Moxon's hideout.
Sabato is highly likeable in this movie. His character is really funny as the honorable and decent Mexican who, even though he has a chance to make off with a lot of stolen money, only wants what was taken from him. When asked why he wouldn't take the money he says "People wouldn't like it." His friend asks who and he names off his friends and family members who would be shamed if he had done anything underhanded. I'm beginning to like Sabato more and more. I didn't think much of him in BEYOND THE LAW (1968) or VIOLENCE FOR KICKS (1975) apart from having a good look about him, but he is definitely growing on me as a capable performer. Love his turn in Lenzi's GANG WAR IN MILAN (1973). In HATE FOR HATE, for a seemingly naive character, he later proves himself to be most resourceful especially when dealing with the bad guys. However, his trusting ways get him into trouble towards the end. He also gets to spout some really funny lines.
Frequent baddie Sancho has what seems like an extended cameo as Coyote, another good natured bandit with a broken leg. Possibly, Sancho really had a broken leg during the shoot which may account for his small participation in the film.
The music is good and appropriate and considering the impact of Morricone, it does ape his style as well as that of Bacalov but is a good score nonetheless. Especially the end theme after the film ends in typical spaghetti western fashion. I'd be interested in seeing any other SW's from director Paolella.
This is a character driven oater and the action scenes are few and far between but have more punch because of the investment given in the characters. Although during the last 30 minutes the action picks up considerably, you spend a good deal of time with the participants. If you enjoyed films like DAY OF ANGER (1967) or FACE TO FACE (1967) then this is similar in that the characters are built around the action and not vice versa like so many other Italian westerns. This version is from a TNT broadcast and it is unknown if anything is cut but this is definitely worth a look should it ever get a DVD release.
10
« on: October 08, 2007, 08:28:50 AM »
Directed by Sergio Merolle. A gang of murderous cattle rustlers, with their stock,are stranded in the mountains by severe snowy conditions.Led by the sadistic Skaife(Bruno Corazzari),the gang seek refuge in a nearby town inhabited by peaceful farmers.Sheriff Ransom(Raymond Pellegrin) rightly suspects that this gang mean trouble and despite (initial)firm opposition from his adopted son Tony(Andrea Giordana),takes it upon himself to drive out the troublemakers.It transpires that one of the gang Dan El(John Ireland) just happens to be Tony's real father and following the swift death of the Sheriff teams up with his son(under the pretense of being Tony's fathers friend) to free the town from Skaife's tyranny. Heavily influenced by GREAT SILENCE this enjoyable snowbound western has a similar apocalyptic tone to Corbucci's masterpiece.In this film the "bandits" are for real,they are there to bleed the town dry,and Skaife acting like a Nazi commandant proclaims the townsfolk to be "no longer men,they are my hostages" and forces them to fell trees etc in order to build a coral for his cattle.As Tony,sporting a look similar to Silence with furry collared overcoat,picks off Skaifes men one by one,in reprisal Skaife organises mass hostage executions. Amongst this doom and gloom there is light relief provided by Ireland and Giordana (displaying great chemistry ) as the fatherly Ireland character teaches his son gun play including shooting a snowman to pieces.With an excellent musical score from Fransesco De Masi i rate this one 8 out of 10.
11
« on: September 27, 2007, 05:10:07 AM »
Leone/sw fanatics check this out:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFFzJpu_LjcJust watched this movie in full and its the most blatant stab at a spaghetti western i've seen from the Shaw Brothers .Its absolutely brilliant, easily the best kung fu western i've seen and if it was Italian in origin i'd say it would sit comfortably in the top 20 at the very least. The story is similar to Carlo Lizzani's HILLS RUN RED in that two bank robbers split,one taking the loot and running while the other takes the can in jail.The robber with the loot changes his identity setting himself up in a life of luxury as a corrupt patriarch running a town.The robber in jail(Lo Lieu) is betrayed by his partner by being left to rot and is further double crossed once he does manage to escape. All the sw elements are here in this tale of revenge with wind swept landscapes and sound effects,bloody shoot-outs with Great Silence-like automatic pistols,crushed and broken gun hands,the obligatory final duel and to accompany this is huges chunks of Morricones music from ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST,a bit of DUCK YOU SUCKER amongst other excellent tracks.And with all the usual Shaw Brother kung fu brilliance i'm not hesistating in rating this film a well deserved 10 out of 10.
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« on: August 19, 2007, 03:55:52 PM »
Directed by Umberto Lenzi. Johnny Sweet(Mark Damon) and Owl(John Ireland) join forces with two Mexicans Paco(Eduardo Fajardo) and Gomez to find a cache of gold.They manage to track down a mysterious Indian known as Copperface who had snatched and hidden the stolen gold from bandit leader Caranza(Fernando Sancho) in retaliation for Caranza stealing his devious wife Maria.But once this very uneasy alliance gets the gold the story turns into a series of double crosses as each man tries to seize all the gold for himself and in the tradition of GBU Gomez even says to Paco at one point "for the men in this world there are two kinds,those that look at the gold and those that take it!". This is a mildly entertaining sw with plenty of humour alongside a healthy serving of action and gun duels though would have benefited from the pace being upped a bit in various places.Its an excellent cast,Damon and Ireland are great together and has a fine heavily Morricone influenced musical score. My rating 7 out of 10. 
13
« on: August 18, 2007, 07:18:24 AM »
Directed by Gianni Crea. This western opens reasonably enough with a violent raid on a wagon shipping gold by the henchman of the notorious outlaw called The Crow(William Berger),and hot on his heels are the Connolly siblings Link(Lincoln Tate),Tornado and Sally for reasons that aren't revealed until much later on.Unfortunately following the promising start the movie soon degenerates into inept comedy with badly choreographed slapstick fights as the Connollys turn detective as it turns out that the robbery was faked. What really prompted me into checking this sw out was William Berger but shamefully he doesn't turn up until after three quarters of an hour .But its a memorable entrance as Berger,as ever oozing charisma,appears almost like the Grim Reaper menacingly decked out in a huge black gown,however criminally his contribution is way too brief.  The movie is rescued to some degree by the finale involving an assault on the barricaded town by Crows men and the chaotic camera angles create a sense of claustrophobia which i found effective,but overall i can only rate this one a disappointing 5 out of 10.
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« on: August 18, 2007, 02:57:10 AM »
At Cigar Joes suggestion Cal has agreed to add on new ORGANISED FILM DISCUSSION categories similar to the Clint Eastwood Web Board. http://www.clinteastwood.org/forums/But he would like us to give him descriptions for these,so can you help me out guys? 
15
« on: August 15, 2007, 04:52:36 AM »
Italian title: Su le Mani,Cadavere!Sei agli Arresti. Directed by Leon Klimovsky. Its the end of the Civil War,a sadistic Union captain is systematically gunning down in cold blood the helpless Confederate remnants.A medic tries to prevent the captain from butchering hospital inmates so mockingly the captain offers him his pistol but the medic is pathetically unable to take his chance. Fast forward and the medic having learnt his gun craft is now Kid Johnson(Peter Lee Lawrence) an altogether more cocky and self assured character.He joins the Texas Rangers and is immediately assigned to Springfield where a land baron Clayton(Aldo Sambrell),previously the Union Captain,has been terrorising the local ranchers into selling their properties in anticipation of the impending railroad.Posing as a perfume salesman,and aided by the cool mysterious black clad Dollars(Espartaco Santoni),the Kid uses his guile as well as his pistol in outsmarting Clayton at every turn. This is a very entertaining sw incorporating plenty of humour amongst the excellent gun play and action throughout with the big final gun battle being particularly memorable.I'm now getting to be a fan of Lawrence who utterly convinces here and its also great to see Sambrell playing a substantial role as the bad guy in which he always delivers.To top it all we have a brilliantly cool musical score provided by Alessandro Alessandroni. A very recommended 8 out of 10.
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