Cutter's Way (1981)

CUTTER'S WAY  (1981)  ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2

    D: Ivan Passer

    Jeff Bridges, John Heard, Lisa Eichhorn,

    Ann Dusenberry, Arthur Rosenberg,

    Stephen Elliott, Nina van Pallandt

A sail-boating golden boy, a damaged Vietnam vet and the sister of a girl who's been murdered try to pull off a blackmail scheme that can only go badly in a sinister thriller that vaguely echoes "Chinatown". Whatever you've seen John Heard do, he never did anything else like this. He's the shambling ghost of the Vietnam War, a demented avenging angel, and apocalyptically pissed off. The ending's as perfect as it is abrupt, and it's mighty abrupt. Original title: "Cutter and Bone". 

Cult of the Cobra (1955)

 

CULT OF THE COBRA  (1955)  ¢ ¢

    D: Francis D. Lyon

    Faith Domergue, Richard Long, Marshall Thompson,

    Kathleen Hughes, David Janssen, Jack Kelly,

    William Reynolds, Leonard Strong, Walter Coy

Five G.I. buddies, settling back into life in New York City, are stalked and seduced by an exotic woman who can turn herself into a deadly snake. Schlocky horror with a good cast of soon-to-be television stars playing the Army vets and Howard Hughes protégé Faith Domergue as the snake lady. What happens to her clothes when her reptile persona takes over goes unexplained. 

Cleo From 5 To 7 (1962)

 

CLEO FROM 5 TO 7  (1962)  ¢ ¢ ¢

    D: Agnes Varda

    Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Loye Payen,

    Dominique Davray, Dorothée Blanck, Michel Legrand, 

    Lucienne Marchand, Robert Prostec, Sami Frey,

    Jean-Luc Godard, Anna Karina, Eddie Constantine

A woman spends a couple of hours drifting around Paris while she waits for the results of a biopsy that will tell her whether or not she has cancer. That's the setup, and that's pretty much the film. So she goes to a couple of cafes, and an art studio, and a cinema, and a park. Spends time with a soldier and a couple of songwriters and a nude model. Gets her fortune told and tries on a few hats. Then the doctor tells her how the test came out and the movie ends. "Fin," as they say in French. Also, there are a couple of cute kittens and a guy who eats live frogs and a little kid in an alley playing a toy piano and Paris looks real good in black and white.

Chinatown (1974)

 

CHINATOWN  (1974)  ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢

    D: Roman Polanski

    Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston,

    Perry Lopez, John Hillerman, Darrell Zwerling,

    Diane Ladd, Roy Jenson, Nandu Hinds,

    Joe Mantell, Bruce Glover, James Hong,

    Jerry Fujikawa, Belinda Palmer, Roman Polanski,

    Burt Young, Rance Howard, Noble Willingham

Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.

Carry On Girls (1973)

CARRY ON GIRLS  (1973)  ¢ ¢ ¢ 

    D: Gerald Thomas

    Sidney James, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor,

    Kenneth Connor, Bernard Bresslaw, Peter Butterworth,

    Jack Douglas, Patsy Rowlands, Valerie Leon

Sid James organizes a beauty contest in one of the funniest (and least politically correct) entries in the long-running "Carry On" franchise. Typical gags involve Kenneth Connor losing his trousers (twice), Barbara Windsor losing her top (of course) a donkey, a catfight, some itching powder, and Bernard Bresslaw in drag. As usual, the women are stacked, the men are lecherous morons, and the punning is continuous. Innuendo and out the other, I suppose. Sorry, but that's "Carry On".

Breakthrough (1979)

 

BREAKTHROUGH  (1979)  ¢ ¢ 1/2

    D: Andrew V. McLaglen

    Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Rod Steiger,

    Curt Jürgens, Michael Parks, Helmut Griem,

    Klaus Löwitsch, Werner Pochath, Veronique Vendell

World War Two action (and a sequel to Sam Peckinpah's "Cross of Iron"), with a haggard, hollow-eyed Richard Burton in the role originally played by James Coburn. It opens with the Germans being chased out of Russia by the Red Army, and Burton's character, Sgt. Steiner, being arrested for assaulting his commanding officer. Somehow, instead of a court martial, Steiner gets a 14-day leave, which he decides to spend in Paris. (How he gets to Paris from the Russian Front is never explained, but maybe that's asking too many questions.) Next thing you know, he's back with his old unit, because they're in France, too, now, and the American cavalry is advancing, led by Col. Robert Mitchum. And on and on. So, yeah, credibility's a little low - toward the end, Burton's character acts in a way that would get any soldier in any army shot immediately - but it's fun to see Burton and Mitchum in a movie together. Andrew McLaglen's no Peckinpah, but he delivers the formula goods, which in this case is mostly a matter of directing traffic, making sure here's plenty of ammo, and blowing stuff up.

Body Heat (1981)

 

BODY HEAT  (1981)  ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2

    D: Lawrence Kasdan

    William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna,

    Ted Danson, Mickey Rourke, Kim Zimmer

A lawyer who's not as smart as he thinks he is hooks up with a woman who's a lot smarter than that in Lawrence Kasdan's steamy tribute to film noir. According to noir guru Eddie Muller, the movie was actually shot during a cold snap, so the body heat had to be faked. Turner and Hurt do a good job of that. You'll see.