S.W.A.T.!!!

I used to watch this show as a kid.  Loved it!!!  I loved all those cop shows. Adam 12, The Rookies, Starsky and Hutch, Hawaii Five-O, KOJAK!!!  This all probably fed into my current infatuation with 70's crime movies.  I would end up riding around SA with my mom and see the S.W.A.T. truck.  Could not believe it.  "Look mom, it's the S.W.A.T. truck!!!" 

"No, mijo, that's UPS." 

Huh? 

What are you, crazy?  You just watched the latest episode with me.  It's the S.W.A.T. truck!! 

...kids are stupid.

The theme song still gives me goosebumps. 

Joe Spinell (1936-1989)

Who?

Oh you know him.  You just don't know it.

With the upcoming remake of Maniac (1980), word should be getting around about this legendary character actor.  The remake stars Elijah Wood and I just don't see how he's gonna pull it off.  He's got to fill the shoes of Joe Spinell?!?!?!?  JOE SPINELL!!!

I hope he can pull it off, but my expectations are pretty low.  Anyway, here are a few screen caps of the man, himself, and a video tribute courtesy of you tube enjoy.

Joe in Taxi Driver

Joe is Star Crash

Joe in The Seven-Ups

Joe in Rocky

Joe in The Ninth Configuration

Joe in Nighthawks

Joe in Maniac

Joe in Godfather II

Joe in Godfather

Joe on You Tube

Hey, this sounds familiar...

Sitting Target 1972

Get Carter 1971

I tried to get some screen caps from this movie for this post.  Unfortunately, the movie is as drab and dreary looking as good old mother England.  Instead, I've decided to include some photos of the star of this movie, the legendarily coif-challenged Michael Caine.

Now, I'm not hating, mind you.  I love the man just as much as anyone who witnessed his starring turn as Hoagie in 1987's Jaws: The Revenge.

Get Carter is usually found on any self respecting 70's british crime film fans favorite movies list.  Go ahead, ask all your 70's british crime film fan friends.  My understanding is that the movie was more or less before it's time.  It came and went during it's theatrical run, but has only recently begun to find favor with critics and was listed by the BFI at 16th on the Top 100 British Films of the 20th century list.  So what's not to like?  It's got nudity, porn, murder, a fat chick cat fight, phone sex and the politically incorrect referencing of cigarettes as "fags".

Ahhh, those bloody Brits...
Speaking of bloody...they sure can throw that word around.

"Give him a bloody bottle"
"If you're a traveler, I'm bloody Twiggy"
"Suppose you tell me what the bloody hell is going on"
"You bloody whore..."

"What the bloody hell's all this?  Do you know what the bloody time is?  It's two o'clock in the bloody morning!"

Ohhhhh,....the bloody trifecta!!!

So, sticking with 70's Michael Caine output, I've still got 1974's The Black Windmill to watch.  I'll let you know what I think, when I get around to it.

Robert Duvall Likes Hats

Death Game 1977

This is kinda what Hard Candy (2005) would have been if it were made in the 70's.  Some scummy dude having the tables turned on him by the young tenders that he was preying on.  Of course, you're supposed to side with the victims, but both of these films, somehow, bring the audience around to rooting for the scummy guy to get away.
...or maybe it was just me.

 

Apparently, this movie was made before Hollywood realized that there was money in them there soundtracks.  

Who'd wanna get away from this?

The Town 2010

2010's The Town has got to have set some kinda record.  

 

The Blu-ray format has already started to double dip on some of the earliest released Blu-ray titles.  Titles like Full Metal Jacket, Patton, Terminator 2 and The Fifth Element were all early releases (around 2006) that failed miserably to take advantage of the new formats capabilities.  The double dip on these titles was expected and necessary.  Ben Affleck's The Town was released in 2010.  I have never been a fan of Mr 'fleck (Ben Who 'fleck? -Mango SNL) .  I was not particularly impressed with his collaboration with Matt Damon and no one was impressed with Daredevil...or Gigli, for that matter.  

This DVD cover is teh cool.

Fast forward to 2012. I'm minding my own business.  I finally get around to picking up The Friends of Eddie Coyle on DVD.  Somebody left a copy on the interwebs which I had been enjoying for about a year.  (I'll be doing some kinda bloggy write up on that one, soon.)  So,...I do my customary search of the blogosphere for any kinda write ups and opinions on this particular masterpiece.  Come to find out, Mr Who Fleck is a massive fan of Eddie Coyle and this movie served as a major inspiration for The Town.  Me thinks, "Reeeeallly?"  So I give The Town a shot.  LOVED IT!!!  If someone wants to say it sucked,...I'm ok with that, but I had a good time.  Time to pick up the Blu-ray, right?  Turns out there are 3 different copies available on Blu.  If you could capitalize numbers, that 3 would have been.  THREE!!!  3 different Blu releases for a movie that came out less than 2 years ago.  Whose idea was this?  Who's triple dipping on this release?  Why isn't Sorcerer on Blu?  Why am I buying a Ben Who Fleck movie? 

Anyway, here are the covers...for those of you who don't believe me.  

...it's funny.  I'm typing "those of you" like anyone is even reading this blog. 

No one's reading this...I loved Gigli.

Regular

Extended

Ultimate Collector's

Sorcerer 1977

Allow me to gush,...

This movie, pretty much, just blew me away. Can't recommend it enough.  It's got man vs man, man vs machine, man vs nature and man vs the mafia.  It's a great thrill ride that takes it's main character (played by Roy Scheider/originally intended for Steve McQueen) from a flight for survival to a misguided act of redemption/hope and ultimately to his own insanity.  I got a little confused during the first half of the movie because, for whatever reason, my mind didn't make the jump with the characters from act 1 to act 2. Once I got my head wrapped around a few things, I was strapped in and being dragged along for the ride.  If you've never heard of this jem, it isn't really too big of a surprise.  The movie tanked at the box office.  There have been a few theories thrown around as to why that happened.

-It was released one month after a little film some of you may have heard of called Star Wars.  

-This was William Friedkins follow up to The French Connection and The Exorcist which set expectations for mainstream moviegoers very high.  I would argue that the movie was simply ahead of it's time. 

-Can we get a more misleading title?   Let's see.

Watch the following movies:

Snakes on a Plane...got it.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre...saw that one coming

Edward Scissorhands...Oh, Tim Burton?  Ok, makes sense. 

Driving Miss Daisy...really???

Sorcerer...Huh?  

Another big reason for this movies obscurity is it's lack of presence on VHS, Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-ray.  Best I can tell, this movie has been released three times.  One VHS, one laserdisc and one DVD.  That's relatively unheard of, nowadays.  No Special Edition?  No Collectors Edition? No 2-Disc Directors Cut Edition? No Remastered Ultimate Edition?  No Anniversary Edition? No Sorcerific Essentials Box Set?  

There is also a lot of confusion regarding the "aspect ratio" on the available releases.  All of them have been full frame.  The confusion  is whether or not these releases were full frame pan and scan or full frame open matte.  Friedkin has been quoted as saying that he preferred his films to be seen in the full screen format which gives us some indication that the presentation on home video is actually open matte.  He doesn't, however, come right out and state this explicitly. 

Well, that's about all I've got to say about this great movie except that you should find a copy and enjoy.  I believe Sorcerer was available on Netflix instant watch at one point.  Good Luck!

Here is a link to a great and informative article about Sorcerer.  I'm really glad you read my write up, first.

http://www.money-into-light.com/2011/12/sorcerer-william-friedkin-1977.html 

Wouldn't this be nice?  I must admit, though, I literally jumped up off the ground when I found my used copy of Sorcerer on DVD at a store in San Antonio.  Oh, happy day.

Hey, this sounds familiar...