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Saturday, 16 February 2013

Guilty pleasures - Universal Studios films

This is an old family photo, but I got sick of citing Copyright
I am starting at 1960 (I was 4 years old, old enough to remember a movie, I reckon).
  • 1960 Midnight Lace; Spartacus (chalk and cheese)
  • 1961 Curse of the Werewolf (Hammer horror, with a young, but still creepy, Oliver Reed) 
  • 1962 Cape Fear; That Touch of Mink (bleak black&white nail-biter meets glossy Eastmancolor fluff)
  • 1963 40 Pounds of Trouble (as a kid I loved the Disneyland locations); The Birds (knockout phone booth scene)
  • 1964 The Chalk Garden (had a crush on Hayley Mills); Charade (great Mancini score)
  • 1965 The Warlord (Chuck Heston); I Saw What You Did (creepy little William Castle B flick)
  • 1966 Gambit (lots of caper movies in the mid 60's), Blindfold (liked the bayou setting)
  • 1967 Thoroughly Modern Millie (fun, but too long)
  • 1968 Coogan's Bluff (Clint Eastwood, on the verge of superstardom)
  • 1969 Colossus, The Forbin Project (taut sci-fi sleeper about a supercomputer - years before War Games)
  • 1970 Airport (cheesy but compelling)
  • 1971 The Andromeda Strain (great start, stunning production design, but God, it is so talky; Play Misty For Me (Clint's first time as director - has he ever directed a crap movie, even Hereafter?)
  • 1972 Frenzy (Hitchcock back in London and a return to form - rape screen in dating agency office is a worry "....Lovely.....Lovely" - chills the bones)
  • 1973 American Graffiti;  Day of the JackalThe Sting (what a year)
  • 1974 Earthquake (saw it in "Sensurround", basically big speakers under the seats so they seemed to shudder in seismic scenes.
  • 1975 Jaws (of course)
  • 1976 The Seven-Per-Cent-Solution (what a cast, love to see it again)
  • 1977 The Last Remake of Beau Geste (very patchy, some good sight gags)
  • 1978 National Lampoon's Animal House ("To-ga, To-ga, To-ga!")
  • 1979 Dracula; The Seduction of Joe Tynan
  • 1980 Coal Miner's Daughter; The Blues Brothers
  • 1981 Ghost Story (the book's better, but look at the stars: Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Melvyn Douglas, John Houseman, Patricia Neal - like Cocoon does Horror)                                        On Golden Pond (another movie full of old fogeys - Fonda and Hepburn)
  • 1982 The Thing (holds up very well compared with recent remake, mind-blowing Rob Bottin make-up)
  • 1983 Scarface (boffo finale, but 170 minutes ????)
  • 1984 Sixteen Candles (this film and Ferris Bueller's Day Off are John Hughes' best films - delightful throughout, great ensemble cast, great score - as you would expect in a John Hughes flick)
  • 1985 The Breakfast Club (this is No3, Simple Minds music helps)

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