The Virginian (1929)

 

THE VIRGINIAN  (1929)  ¢ ¢ 1/2

    D: Victor Fleming

    Gary Cooper, Walter Huston, Mary Brian,

    Richard Arlen, Chester Conklin, Eugene Pallette

In his first all-talking movie, a lean, young Gary Cooper plays Owen Wister's nameless cowboy, who stands up to a rustler played by Walter Huston, romances a schoolmarm played by Mary Brian, and rolls and lights a cigarette using just one hand. Movies were still figuring out what to do with sound at that point, and Cooper was still figuring out how to act in them. They'd both improve a lot in the next few years. According to IMDb, Randolph Scott was Cooper's dialect coach, resulting in what may or may not pass for a Virginia accent. 

Two Moon Junction (1988)

TWO MOON JUNCTION  (1988)  ¢ 1/2

    D: Zalman King

    Sherilyn Fenn, Richard Tyson, Kristy McNichol,

    Louise Fletcher, Burl Ives, Martin Hewitt,

    Juanita Moore, Millie Perkins, Don Galloway,

    Dabbs Greer, Milla Jovovich, Hervé Villechaize

Softcore, soft-focus erotica about a society princess who falls for a carnival hunk. The sex scenes - the whole point of something like this - aren't nearly enough to make up for the dullness of the romance-novel plot. Kristy McNichol does a lively bit as a fun-loving truck driver, but appears too briefly and disappears way too soon. 

Utopia (1951)

 

UTOPIA  (1951)  ¢ ¢ 1/2

    D: Léo Joannon, John Berry

    Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Suzy Delair, Max Elloy,

    Adriano Rimaldi, Luigi Tosi, Claude May

Laurel and Hardy's last movie, in which Stan and Ollie inherit a topical island and a boat to take them there, isn't quite as bad s its reputation suggests. Some of the gags land, especially early on, but overall, it's hit-and-miss, and it drags toward the end, with a detour into political satire. Stan was visibly ill during filming, and while his performance is fine, his emaciated appearance undercuts some of the funny stuff. "Here's another nice mess you've gotten me into," Ollie says just before the end title rolls. They're the last words he'd ever say onscreen. "I couldn't help it," Stan says, crying, just as he had in other films many times before. And with that, Laurel and Hardy's movie career was over. Original title: "Atoll K". 

Naked Edge / Take 9

 

Kate Winslet in "Iris"

Stella Stevens in "Slaughter"

Marion Cotillard in "Ismael's Ghosts" 

Sienna Miller in "Factory Girl"

Emma Stone in "Poor Things"

Molly Parker in "Suspicious River"

Neve Campbell in "I Really Hate My Job"

Eva Green in "Proxima"

Sean Young in "Blue Ice"

Melora Walters in "20 Bucks"

An Angel For Satan (1966)

 

AN ANGEL FOR SATAN  (1966)  ¢ ¢ 1/2

    D: Camillo Mastrocinque

    Barbara Steele. Anthony Steffen, Claudio Gora,

    Mario Brega, Marina Berti, Ursula Davis,

    Vassili Karis, Aldo Berti, Antonia Corevi

A sculptor accepts a commission to restore a 200-year-old statue that's been dredged from a lake and which the local villagers believe to be cursed. Also, Barbara Steele plays a witch. Or does she? Nicely shot Italian horror with black-and-white images of men and boats on the water that look like something out of Bergman. (Director Camillo Mastrocinque was making movies as early as 1937, so maybe Bergman learned something from him.)

Satan's Wife (1979)

 

SATAN'S WIFE  (1979)  ¢ ¢

    D: Pier Carpi

    Anne Heywood, Lara Wendel, Valentina Cortese,

    Frank Finlay, Marisa Mell, John Phillip Law,

    Irene Papas, Paola Tedesco, Ian Bannen, Enzio Miani

The devil takes possession of a 13-year-old girl, which is kind of what happens to 13-year-old girls, but usually not like this. 

Satan's Slave (1976)

 

SATAN'S SLAVE  (1976)  ¢ 1/2

    D: Norman J. Warren

    Michael Gough, Martin Potter, Candace Glendenning,

    Barbara Kellerman, Michael Craze, Gloria Maley

A young woman named Catherine goes to spend a few days with an uncle at his house in the county. Her holiday starts out badly when, as soon as they reach the estate, her dad drives the car into a tree, and while she runs to get help, the car explodes and her parents are burned to death. Then she has these dreams - she calls them premonitions - that involve devil worship. But are they really dreams? And will she survive, or will she, you know, become Satan's slave? A little skin, a little blood, and a veteran horror star (Michael Gough) playing the uncle, but way too much talk and not enough Satan. (In a movie called "Satan's Slave", you'd better give the devil his due.) Side note: The naked blonde woman being tortured by Satanists in one of Catherine's dreams is Moira Young, one of the film's producers. Apparently, as the time to shoot the scene approached, it turned out the actress hired to play the part was in jail, so Young stepped in as a replacement, and that's her by the tree, being whipped and branded.