Mission Stardust (1967)

 

MISSION STARDUST  (1967)  ¢ 1/2

    D: Primo Zeglio

    Lang Jefferies, Essy Persson, Luis Davila,

    Pinkas Brown, Daniel Martin, John Karlsen

Four astronauts blast off for the moon on a mission whose true purpose is a closely guarded secret, and find they're not alone up there. Low-impact, low-budget sci-fi with a musical score that couldn't exist anywhere except in a movie from the mid-to-late-'60s. Notable only for the participation of Swedish actress Essy Persson, who made her mark in erotic art-house features like "I, a Woman" and "Therese and Isabelle". She mostly stays covered up in this one, but still looks good in a space suit.

The Brain From Planet Arous (1957)

 

THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS  (1957)  ¢ ¢

    D: Nathan Hertz

    John Agar, Joyce Meadows, Robert Fuller,

    Thomas B. Henry, Ken Terrell, Henry Travis

An evil brain from another planet - a big, double-exposed brain with bright, gleaming eyes - takes over John Agar's body and threatens to destroy the Earth. It's also seriously horny - they don't call the planet "Arous" for nothing. Watch out whenever John Agar's eyes get all dark and crazy. That means something bad's going to happen, for sure. 

Mesa of Lost Women (1953)

 

MESA OF LOST WOMEN  (1953)  ¢ 1/2

    D: Ron Ormond, Herbert Tevos

    Jackie Coogan, Robert Knapp, Mary Hill,

    Harmon Stevens, Allan Nixon, Richard Travis,

    Tandra Quinn, Delores Fuller, Nico Lek

Slow-moving sci-fi about some people who survive a plane crash in an area of Mexico called the Desert of Death, where a mad scientist played by Jackie Coogan has created a race of mutant spider women. One of the women performs a nightclub dance routine that's both sexy and silly, but then she gets shot, which is bad, only she doesn't die, which is good, because she's the best thing in the movie, and there's a giant spider and an escaped lunatic with a gun and portentous narration by Lyle Talbot. 

The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (1906)

 

THE BIRTH, THE LIFE AND THE DEATH OF CHRIST  (1906)  ¢ ¢ ¢

    D: Alice Guy

A series of elaborately staged tableaus depicting familiar episodes in the life of Christ, shot in long takes with a static camera, the staging in each scene meticulously worked out. An ambitious movie for 1906, and at 33 minutes, an exceptionally long one. 

The Human Comedy (1943)

 

THE HUMAN COMEDY  (1943)  ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2

    D: Clarence Brown

    Mickey Rooney, Frank Morgan, James Craig,

    Marsha Hunt, Fay Bainter, Donna Reed,

    Van Johnson, John Craven, Ray Collins,

    Darryl Hickman, Mary Nash, Dorothy Morris

Wartime Americana with a script by William Saroyan, starring Mickey Rooney as a telegram delivery boy, Van Johnson as his brother who's off in the Army, Fay Bainter as his mother and Donna Reed as his sister. Rooney, who could chew the scenery like nobody else, gives a performance that's notable for its relative restraint. (It earned him an Oscar nomination.) Look for an uncredited Robert Mitchum as one of the soldiers who takes Reed and Marsha Hunt to the movies. 

The Holly and the Ivy (1952)

 

THE HOLLY AND THE IVY  (1952)  ¢ ¢ ¢

    D: George More O'Ferrall

    Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson, Margaret Leighton,

    Denholm Elliott, John Gregson, Hugh Williams,

    Margaret Halston, Maureen Delaney, William Hartnell

When the relatives of an aging parson get together for Christmas, old wounds come to the surface and secrets are revealed. This is funny without really being a comedy, or a comedy that's not entirely funny, a balancing act the Brits seem especially adept at pulling off. Denholm Elliott, whose widest recognition would come as Marcus Brody in the Indiana Jones movies, has an early role as a soldier on a two-day pass.

Bananas (1971)

 

BANANAS  (1971)  ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢

    D: Woody Allen

    Woody Allen, Louise Lasser, Carlos Montalban,

    Natividad Abascal, René Enriquez, Jacobo Morales,

    Don Dunphy, Roger Grimsby, Howard Cosell

Woody Allen plays Fielding Melish, a product tester who falls hard for a social activist (Louise Lasser) and ends up leading a Latin-American revolution. It's one of Woody's silliest, funniest movies, a series of crazy gags that practically trip over each other, as if he can't wait to knock one off and move on to the next. It starts with Howard Cosell doing the play-by-play at a political assassination and ends with Cosell again, broadcasting live from the bedroom on Louise and Woody's wedding night. When Woody's fans in "Stardust Memories" tell him how much they love his "early, funny" movies, this is one of the movies they're talking about. Look for the two goons he confronts in the subway car. You'll recognize one of them.