REST IN PEACE, STELLA STEVENS - FEMME FATALE PASSES AT 84, STARRED IN MANY MOVIES INCLUDING "THE SILENCERS" (1966) WITH DEAN MARTIN

 

Stella Stevens on the set of The Silencers. 

One of the all-time greatest femme fatales, Stella Stevens, has passed at age 84. A hard-working actress, her contributions to '60's and '70's cinema can not be understated, she also starred on stage and TV. In her spare time and later on in life, she loved animals and had a horse and llama farm as well as an organization that saved cats. 

In today's tribute pick, she starred wonderfully alongside Dean Martin in the first Matt Helm movie The Silencers. She plays a clumsy, inept but beautiful enemy agent who along with Matt Helm tries to bring down an evil enterprise out to destroy the world. It's a great mid-'60's film that mixes spy and comedy, three sequels followed. 

Currently streams on Tubi, Crackle, and Fubo.  3.0 stars/5

PENELOPE CONTINUED - SPEAKING OF HOLLYWOOD YOU CAN'T GET MORE HOLLYWOOD THAN "HOLLYWOOD VICE SQUAD" (1986) WITH ROBIN WRIGHT IN HER FIRST FEATURE

 

A killer targets prostitutes in Hollywood and a mother comes to Hollywood to search for her missing teen daughter played by Robin Wright in her feature film debut. This quickly sums up the plot for this sleazy story which is a bit uneven and shallow compared to the aforementioned The Boys Next Door. Still it is an enjoyable watch especially as a perfect snapshot of Hollywood and particularly Hollywood Blvd back when it was still Hollywood Blvd. (Ya dig?) 

Look for a slew of other familiar faces including Carrie Fisher, Joey Travolta and Ronny Cox. If you've ever wanted to jump in a time machine and set the dial for Hollywood 1986, then here's your opportunity to do so. Hollywood Vice Squad streams on all the free services including Tubi, Vudu Free & Plex.  2.5 stars/2.75

MAXWELL CAULFIELD & CHARLIE SHEEN ARE COLD-BLOODED MURDERERS IN PENELOPE SPHEERIS' "THE BOYS NEXT DOOR" (1985)

 

Maxwell Caulfield & Charlie Sheen as "The Boys Next Door." They're not exactly here to borrow a cup of sugar. 

Some kids who graduate from high school go right on to college. Others take jobs until they can figure out what they want to do. Then there's Roy and Bo, our two protagonists, for whom life after high school represents one big crime and murder spree. Where do they decide to carry out these fun activities? Los Angeles, of course! 

Penelope Spheeris should be considered a legend for her "Decline Of Western Civilization" series alone. Her five feature films of the 80's (I'm including Summer Camp Nightmare which she wrote but didn't direct) are a mixed bag though and working with actors wasn't necessarily her forte. Suburbia is probably the most mentioned but I don't revere it as much as others, this one is my top pick. One thing that is great about all these films is that she loved to shoot in Hollywood. And her music supervision is always outstanding in all her films. 

Caulfield and Sheen make a surprisingly good pair for this violent story, Caulfield is an absolute monster. You can tell these guys were having a good ole time starring in this, there's a few other familiar faces you'll see, notably a very young Chris McDonald as a cop. As young as he looks this was already film number seven on the road to his now over a hundred film appearances. 

The Boys Next Door currently streams on Tubi.  2.75 stars/2.75

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (2022) - COLIN FARRELL GIVES MASTERFUL PERFORMANCE IN DRAMA DOWNER

 

At one time or another I think we've all had a situation with a close friend where they shut us out completely and didn't explain why. To what extent would you go to save the friendship and on their side what extent would they go through to keep you out of their life? A great basis for a drama but once you start bringing in mutilation as sacrifice into the equation, it's bound to have some seriously depressing and disarming effects. Let me put it to you this way -  in the dictionary under "buzzkill," it says to see this movie. Heavy is heavy but this is sledgehammer over the skull stuff. 

Best picture material? Yeah, I suppose so. It is a beautifully shot and well-done picture, very thought-provoking and likely to stay with you for a while after viewing. Farrell is absolutely deserving of his nomination and proves once again why he's one of the greatest thespians of his generation. Irish actor Barry Keoghan is nomination worthy as a village idiot kind of character, he's totally awesome in this.

File this one under Love Story, Terms Of Endearment or any other heavy drama you consider to be guaranteed to bring you down. But if you don't care about that stuff and just look at the film without emotion and by objectivity, it's a must-watch.  3.5 stars/5

THOMAS HADEN CHURCH PROVES EVERY GUILTY PERSON IS HIS OWN HANGMAN IN "WHITEWASH" (2013)

 

A Canadian psychological thriller starring Thomas Haden Church as a snowplow operator who while very drunk hits a pedestrian, passes out and wakes up to find he plowed his way into a section of forest. He hides the body, covers up the snowplow and starts to live out of it while he figures out what to do. While this is happening a series of flashbacks reveal the pedestrian was actually a house guest of Church's who starting taking advantage of his host's generosity and slowly reveals himself to be a total creep. 

I seem to always like Canadian films due to their laid-back and easy-going nature. They seem to move slower but cut deeper in meanings. Whitewash is an excellently done thriller powered by Thomas Haden Church's performance that borders on nomination-worthy. The film did win several Canadian awards including best director. Actor Marc Labreche portrays the epitome of creepiness and I wouldn't have let him in my house for one minute. 

I like this one, a unique editing style with the flashbacks kind of gives it extra personality. Once again, kudos to Church, an actor who I believe still has further depths to be explored, this unfortunately being his last substantial performance in a feature. Whitewash streams free on Tubi, Pluto, and Popcorn.  3.0 stars/5

REST IN PEACE, CINDY WILLIAMS - IF YOU WANT TO PAY TRIBUTE, WATCH "THE CONVERSATION" FIRST, THEN WATCH YOUR LAVERNE & SHIRLEY EPISODES

 

It's already getting hard to keep up with 2023 - Jeff Beck, Robbie Knievel, David Crosby....now Cindy Williams passing? I suppose it's a good time (and with this movie, when is it not?) to bring up Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation in which Williams had a very different role. Not exactly the prudish "Laurie" from American Graffiti trying to get to college but now all grown up and in the center of a murder conspiracy. Here we see the dark side in her passively haunting turn as Ann, a character whose name is never mentioned. 

She's never really present in the story either as we mostly see her every time Harry Caul listens to "the conversation" and then only in the murder sequences which are flashes and it's left up to the viewer to decide if they even really took place or are just in Harry's paranoid mind. She does actually encounter Harry in an elevator ride but nothing is said only for her to reappear later in one of Harry's nightmares. 

The Conversation currently streams on Paramount +, Direct TV, Pluto and all VOD.

The Conversation 5 stars/5