What I'm listening to now?

Movie Review: "Blood Barrier" (1980) Starring Telly Savalas and Eddie Albert

Game on. HBO Guide challenge #1 January 1982, 8:30 am (not sure what they were thinking with this time slot given the film's violence and lack of a rating, but I digest). As indicated previously, I 'messed up' and started with the second movie of the month first - "Snowball Express" is actually in the 6:30 am slot - but we are just going to do this or the whole thing will stall in the gates. The guide refers to this film as "Blood Barrier"; clearly it WAS known by this title at some point in its history, but all current references, DVD's, etc., refer to it as "Border Cop". This is fitting as the former title is probably suggestive of a bit more subtlety than the film pulls off; human trafficking across the Mexican border is the topic, and our central character, played by Kojak star Telly Savalas, is out to "...see that justice is done" as per the guide description. The set up: Savalas is a border cop (hence the descriptive t...

L'une chante l'autre pas aka One Sings, the Other Doesn't (1977) directed by Agnes Varda

Another choice lifted from Kael's When the Lights Go Down , this French film has been alternately labeled a 'folk opera' or a feminist musical. Musically it's pretty forgettable -- one of the two lead characters, Pomme (Apple, played by Valerie Mairesse) is a singer of dubious renown, despite nearer the outset feeling as though she is going to be some sort of massive star. She never finds anything larger than an odd smattering of curious passersby willing to pay attention to her 'pro-choice' infused songs; this aspect of the film, her trajectory as the obvious half of the duo who sings -- as opposed to Suzanne who, as the film title suggests, does not -- is not horribly interesting. Does she sing well? Sure. Is this factoid central to the film's plot? No. What stands out is the playing out of the two's friendship over roughly a ten year period, beginning with a coming together over the central theme: reproductive rights, which are clearly in a state of ...

Movie Review: "Snowball Express" (1972) HBO January 1st, Friday, 6:30 am

The first movie listed in the January '82 guide is Snowball Express , airing at 6:30 am, perfectly appropriate for the little ones to wake to (see previous post for my comments on the similarly inappropriate scheduling of Border Cop immediately afterwards at 8:30). This is a Walt Disney production starring Dean Jones (whom I recognized from somewhere when I first saw him, and it appears I'm remembering from the Herbie the Love Bug Disney flicks as I don't see anything else in his oeuvre that looks remotely familiar) and the instantly recognizable Harry Morgan (actually instantly known from his characteristic voice more this his appearance, hidden as it is behind a scraggly beard in this appearance) from the TV series MASH . Also noteworthy is the little freckly ginger kid (Johnny Whitaker) from Family Affair , a late '60's/early '70's TV show I remember well in syndication during the late '70's, typically aired around the Partridge Family and si...

Ryan on a Tangent

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