tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post116098201352938152..comments2024-03-24T13:26:57.317-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: WELCOME TO THE ROBERT ALDRICH BLOG-A-THONDennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-58683024925916943792008-05-24T18:46:00.000-07:002008-05-24T18:46:00.000-07:00Bob Aldrich was my Uncle. He was most proud of hi...Bob Aldrich was my Uncle. He was most proud of his work with Burt Reynolds, with whom he formed Bob-Burt Productions. I last saw him in 1974 and he Loved the limelight Burt brought to his films.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161851416699613422006-10-26T01:30:00.000-07:002006-10-26T01:30:00.000-07:00Hi, Dennis, I know this is too late, but I was hop...Hi, Dennis, I know this is too late, but I was hoping you'd take the time to add <B><A HREF="http://journals.aol.com/noelbotevera/MyJournal/entries/2006/10/24/ulzanas-raid-robert-aldrich-1972/1119" REL="nofollow">my little piece on <I>Ulzana's Raid</I></A></B>.<BR/><BR/>Great 'thon, by the way.Noel Verahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05904212081036547668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161496559415243322006-10-21T22:55:00.000-07:002006-10-21T22:55:00.000-07:00Dennis, e-mail would be best. Simply let me know w...Dennis, e-mail would be best. Simply let me know when you've posted the list on your blog, and on the 30th I'll post mine. I'll continue to update the blog throughout the next 2 days with links to all those who participated. I look forward to it!Joe Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10160822944514723178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161360534049965942006-10-20T09:08:00.000-07:002006-10-20T09:08:00.000-07:00You're on, Joseph. Shall we e-mail them to you?You're on, Joseph. Shall we e-mail them to you?Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161321698267503102006-10-19T22:21:00.000-07:002006-10-19T22:21:00.000-07:00Sad I missed the Aldrich blog-a-thon Dennis, but I...Sad I missed the Aldrich blog-a-thon Dennis, but I've seen so few Aldrich (regrettably) and the best titles I've seen were given exhaustive write-ups anyway. How about this... I'm inviting everyone to post a list of their 15 favorite, scary, most disturbing, or whatever horror films over at my blog. I'd love your participation. Check it out and I look forward to everyone's lists.Joe Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10160822944514723178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161288187005737972006-10-19T13:03:00.000-07:002006-10-19T13:03:00.000-07:00I really wanted to participate in this party, but ...I really wanted to participate in this party, but life has once again conspired against me. I know this is cheating, but I'm pretty proud of <A HREF="http://www.longpauses.com/blog/2000/04/attack-1956.html" REL="nofollow">this piece</A> I wrote a few years ago on <EM>Attack!</EM>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161284858627228072006-10-19T12:07:00.000-07:002006-10-19T12:07:00.000-07:00Matt: If Darvocet can be credited with this piece,...Matt: If Darvocet can be credited with this piece, then where can I get me some? (I draw the line at self-induced back injuries.) Sorry to hear about your accident, but I'll tell you, if I was laid up like that, I would have tabled the blog-a-thon. That said, I'm glad you didn't. I thoroughly enjoyed your consideration of <I>Kiss Me Deadly</I>, and I know others did too. I'm really excited about the excellent writing this blog-a-thon seems to have inspired, and it's all so much more worthwhile because we're talking about a director that just hasn't gotten his due. I really hope that <I>Ulzana's Raid</I> and <I>Twilight's Last Gleaming</I> will soon be making their digital debuts.<BR/><BR/>Steve and Alex: Your contributions have been noted and updated in the body of the post. Thanks so much for making the Robert Aldrich Blog-a-Thon more of a week-long event! I certainly don't mind that at all!<BR/><BR/>Tom: Some excellent observations. I would agree that his '70s stuff is among his best stuff. A run that starts with <I>Ulzana's Raid</I> and ends with <I>Twilight's Last Gleaming</I> should be much more well-known than it is. I very much appreciate your taking the time to check in on these terrific movies. <BR/><BR/>And it's funny-- of all the movies to be delayed on Netflix, <I>The Grissom Gang</I> sits waiting on my queue, held up in "short wait" status. My theory: their two copies of the movie are checked out by some of the other writers and readers who have been inspired by the Aldrich Blog-a-Thon to take another (or a first) look at this talented, challenging director. Why else would there be a run on <I>The Grissom Gang</I>, one of the most forgotten of Aldrich's movies?Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161226951477251082006-10-18T20:02:00.000-07:002006-10-18T20:02:00.000-07:00My piece on Kiss Me Deadly, Los Angeles economics,...My piece on Kiss Me Deadly, Los Angeles economics, RAND, game theory, Victorian architecture, Fritz Lang and the beach at Santa Monica is here:<BR/><BR/>http://motionpictureitscalled.blogspot.com/2006/10/kiss-me-deadly-from-dr-mabuse-to-rand.html<BR/><BR/>Enjoy!Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16615199937354749817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161217468675291892006-10-18T17:24:00.000-07:002006-10-18T17:24:00.000-07:00Awright, mine's finally up at my home base. Sorry ...Awright, mine's finally up at <A HREF="http://www.moviesteve.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">my home base</A>. Sorry about the procrastination and all that... hope it was worth the wait...Steve C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161190622758726442006-10-18T09:57:00.000-07:002006-10-18T09:57:00.000-07:00Thanks for doing this, Aldrich is shamefully under...Thanks for doing this, Aldrich is shamefully underrated, especially his 70s stuff. Some short notes here...<BR/> <BR/>The Grissom Gang (1971, 128 min)<BR/>Probably Aldrich's most under-valued film, this pitch black take on James Hadley Chase’s kidnap novel 'No Orchids for Miss Blandish' is a grotesque parody of American family values and the class conflict (it’s set in the Midwest during the Great Depression). Scott Wilson is riveting as the psychopathic Slim, who falls for heiress Kim Darby. It's as close as Aldrich got to a love story. <BR/><BR/>Ulzana's Raid (1972, 105 min)<BR/>Aldrich was revising Western conventions in the 1950s, but by the time of 1972 he was free to do so without censorship or compromise. Written by Alan Sharp, and teaming Aldrich with his Apache star Burt Lancaster (playing a white man this time, the cavalry scout McIntosh) Ulzana’s Raid anticipates Cormac McCarthy’s insistence on the blood-soaked savagery of the American West. This mature masterpiece also figures as the last of Aldrich’s singularly bleak, challenging war movies. <BR/><BR/>Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977, 146 min)<BR/>One of Hollywood's most politically-minded directors (his grandfather was a senator), Aldrich made the last great conspiracy thriller of the Watergate era, a scarily cogent film about government corruption, nuclear brinksmanship, and idealism gone insane, all wrapped up in a rationale for the Vietnam war. The use of split-screen is particularly effective. Rarely shown in its full version, this movie deserves to be much better known.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161131206204820122006-10-17T17:26:00.000-07:002006-10-17T17:26:00.000-07:00Hi, Dennis--Actually, contrary to your surmise, it...Hi, Dennis--Actually, contrary to your surmise, it wasn't weather that delayed my entry, it was a back injury. I was biking to school with my nine year old daughter as usual yesterday morning, and after helping her lock up her bike and watching her go inside, I walked over to my own bike, put the kickstand up, swung a leg up, and felt a horrendous knifing pain in my left trapezius muscle, which has flared up occasionally in the past due to repetitive stress issues. So I wasn't able to get the thing up on the official day. But with bed rest and the aid of some powerful pain pills, I forged ahead. If the result, posted <A HREF="http://mattzollerseitz.blogspot.com/2006/10/state-of-nature-moralistic-nihilism-of.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>, reads a bit on the purplish noir side, well, blame the Darvocet.Matt Zoller Seitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16921028537989131859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161130330775758902006-10-17T17:12:00.000-07:002006-10-17T17:12:00.000-07:00Absolutely no worries, Maya. I have a feeling thin...Absolutely no worries, Maya. I have a feeling things will be trickling in all week, so I'm just gonna do daily updates. Anything you bring to the table is going to be worth reading, and I'd hate to think of missing it, so please consider the Aldrich Blog-a-Thon as one deadline you can stretch as long as you need it to stretch!Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161129710930584552006-10-17T17:01:00.000-07:002006-10-17T17:01:00.000-07:00Dennis, I'm under some tight publishing deadlines ...Dennis, I'm under some tight publishing deadlines but can probably have a post up a little later this week, if it's not too late. I would hate to miss out on contributing to this incredible wealth of commentary.Michael Guillenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464792353062386579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161119554077922432006-10-17T14:12:00.000-07:002006-10-17T14:12:00.000-07:00Why, I oughta-- !I still think the Mets are gonna ...Why, I oughta-- !<BR/><BR/>I still think the Mets are gonna win the NLCS, but I must say the Cardinals, who looked either asleep or severely drugged at the end of the regular season, are at least giving them a contest. But my disdain for Tony La Russa outweighs any ill will I might harbor against the Mets, who played straight-up ball against the Dodgers and, especially in Game One, took full advantage of the Dodgers' insistence upon beating themselves, so I wish the Mets well and hope for a Detroit-NY series. (No happy thoughts to you, though, Mr. Lo Duca.)<BR/><BR/><I>Manhattan</I> is on its way!Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161119107287698732006-10-17T14:05:00.000-07:002006-10-17T14:05:00.000-07:00:-)Want to go double-or-nothing next season?:-)<BR/><BR/>Want to go double-or-nothing next season?andyhorbalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11579148222763743531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161102699452772902006-10-17T09:31:00.000-07:002006-10-17T09:31:00.000-07:00As I read different contributions to this blog-a-t...As I read different contributions to this blog-a-thon and the comments that they elicit, I feel much less chagrined about my relative unfamiliarity with Mr. Aldrich. He really is, rightly or wrongly, a neglected director, isn't he? Even amongst cinephiles...<BR/><BR/>I'm looking forward to getting to know his work better. I have <EM>Attack!</EM> pending at Neflix, <EM>Flight of the Phoenix</EM> en route from my local library, and <EM>Emperor of the North</EM> and <EM>Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte</EM> already waiting for me at home.<BR/><BR/>Great idea for a blog-a-thon, Dennis, and a very nice post, too! I love your description of the final shot, because it describes what I'm seeing as I explore Aldrich's work: it's unsubtly nuanced, ambiguously black-and-white. It's very straighforward, but it clashes with what I know about and expect from the genres he works in...andyhorbalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11579148222763743531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161096913096525062006-10-17T07:55:00.000-07:002006-10-17T07:55:00.000-07:00We were late getting to it, but Wagstaff's great p...We were late getting to it, but Wagstaff's great piece on <A HREF="http://eddieonfilm.blogspot.com/2006/10/i-didnt-know-one-man-could-bleed-that.html" REL="nofollow">Attack</A> is now up on my <A HREF="http://eddieonfilm.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">site.</A>Edward Copelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12463676135131274426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161069041105949152006-10-17T00:10:00.000-07:002006-10-17T00:10:00.000-07:00Dennis, I've actually come through with some kind ...Dennis, I've actually come through with some kind of piece on <I>Apache</I>, though how much of it actually relates at all to Robert Aldrich I'm not sure. But it was fun to write! Thanks for hosting this, now I'm going to go read the others.Brian Darrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17693169310367670898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161063606882318562006-10-16T22:40:00.000-07:002006-10-16T22:40:00.000-07:00H'mmm...now you've made me want to see this movie ...H'mmm...now you've made me want to see this movie at last; dunno why I never have before! It's funny: when you mention in the post that its original title was EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE, I thought--yes, that's what I thought the title was. Could it have been released for awhile under that title, or do I just have that fixed in my memory because I read the reviews out of New York?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161059251560929102006-10-16T21:27:00.000-07:002006-10-16T21:27:00.000-07:00Wow, Dennis, you really whet my appetite for "Empe...Wow, Dennis, you really whet my appetite for "Emperor" -- I was too young to see it when it came out, but I've always remembered it as "the really brutal hobo movie." Fortunately, I also have a very short memory for plots -- I've seen "Diabolique" at least three times and, for the life of me, I can't remember the big surprise in that film -- so I'll probably forget who won that final battle by the time I see it. "Hustle" sounds great too...I mean, cops and prostitutes; what's not to like?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161043195692587482006-10-16T16:59:00.000-07:002006-10-16T16:59:00.000-07:00Thanks, Flickhead. As I've said elsewhere, one of ...Thanks, Flickhead. As I've said elsewhere, one of the best things about this blog-a-thon for me was not only discovering that <I>Emperor of the North</I> was actually even better than I remembered it, but seeing so many Aldrich films so close to each other and disocvering one in particular-- <I>Hustle</I>, which I'd never seen before-- that I really do think is an unsung masterpiece. I regret that you couldn't take part this time, but there are plenty more opportunities for blog-athonning left in 2006, including your very own Forrest J. Ackerman Blog-a-Thon, which I'm REALLY looking forward to. I've got some videotape of my visit to the Ackermansion several years ago which I may try to YouTube and use as part of my entry!Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161042509117955782006-10-16T16:48:00.000-07:002006-10-16T16:48:00.000-07:00Excellent post, Dennis.I remember the TV ads for E...Excellent post, Dennis.<BR/><BR/>I remember the TV ads for <I>Emperor of the North Pole</I> when it first came out...very gritty stuff for its time.<BR/><BR/>It's cliche, I know, but my favorite Aldrich is still <I>Kiss Me Deadly</I>, with <I>Vera Cruz</I> a close second.<BR/><BR/>When oh when will <I>The Legend of Lylah Clare</I> be out on DVD???<BR/><BR/>Sorry that I couldn't contribute to this Blog-a-Thon, but other commitments have been demanding my time.Uncle Gustavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08501032829800803300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161039145166731822006-10-16T15:52:00.000-07:002006-10-16T15:52:00.000-07:00Beautiful. We awaits yer takes!I watched it again ...Beautiful. We awaits yer takes!<BR/><BR/>I watched it again when I made your dub, and I have to say I liked it better this time too. (Less sleepy whilst watching it, I think!)Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161038847760960112006-10-16T15:47:00.000-07:002006-10-16T15:47:00.000-07:00Just a quick note -- it got too busy at work today...Just a quick note -- it got too busy at work today, so I was unable to get up the <I>Big Leaguer</I> appreciation today. (Liked the film quite a bit, BTW.) Tomorrow morning, it'll be polished 'n' ready.Steve C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1161025641335936822006-10-16T12:07:00.000-07:002006-10-16T12:07:00.000-07:00Dennis, fabulous commentary on EMPEROR. I was sort...Dennis, fabulous commentary on EMPEROR. I was sort of holding out on watching that one, but I'm heading to my Netflix account now!The 'Stachehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03426658288145524160noreply@blogger.com