B-Movie Gazette: HARD EIGHT (1996) - LONG BEFORE "MAGNOLIA" AND "THERE WILL BE BLOOD," P T ANDERSON'S DELICIOUS FIRST FEATURE PAVED WAY FOR HIS ENSEMBLE HITS

B-MOVIE OF THE MONTH - WITHOUT WARNING (1980)

Greetings All - It would be cool to do a post one time called the ten most essential B-flicks, sort of a B-Movie 101 thing. If that ever happened I would have to include this sci-fi horror classic from Graydon Clark (Black Shampoo, Satan's Cheerleaders.) This one's a don't pass go and don't collect $200 folks, just see it, Or watch it again. I'm not even going to begin to explain the plot except you have these flying disc things that attach themselves to people, in this case campers on an outing and kill and feed on them. Eventually these discs are tied to an alien, a hungry alien. A forerunner to 1987's Predator sort to speak and with a flat-out goofy cast. Jack Palance and Martin Landau, say what? And looking drugged out I might add but the real surprise here is veteran character actor Larry Storch, from the '60's, a guy who knew 150 dialects and here he is in this as a boy scout leader lol. Also known as It Came Without Warning, this gem is streaming free now only on Plex. 2.75 stars/2.75

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

HARD EIGHT (1996) - LONG BEFORE "MAGNOLIA" AND "THERE WILL BE BLOOD," P T ANDERSON'S DELICIOUS FIRST FEATURE PAVED WAY FOR HIS ENSEMBLE HITS

PHILLIP BAKER HALL/JOHN C REILLY

PHILLIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN IN A SCENE STEALING CAMEO

Hey all - Happy Thanksgiving 😊 hope u watch a lot of 🎬 movies, here's an oft overlooked gem from P T Anderson's impressive canon of work. A lot of these actors went on to work with him on multiple films 🎥 except maybe Gwyneth Paltrow who is actually great in this. I don't care what anyone says, the girl can act!

Phillip Baker Hall plays Sydney, a sort of mysterious angel here on earth 🌎 kind of loner who picks up John (John C Reilly) a destitute gambler and offers to drive him back to Vegas , loan him fifty dollars 💸 and show him how to parlay it into a lot more. I won't spoil the rest but let's just say a lot of the quirky 🤪 characters, their choices and the predicaments they ultimately find themselves in foreshadows both Boogie Nights and Magnolia.

I'm a huge fan but must admit I haven't been too happy with most of the stuff from The Master forward and as brilliantly gifted Anderson is, he seems to have lost the charm of his earlier films or at least traded some of it in for bigger set pieces. If you're a fan of that earlier work then this is a must see, a John The Baptist if you will of what was to come. 3.75 stars/5