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#11
Off Topic Discussion / Re: strange dream depository
Last post by Trevor - November 14, 2025, 09:23:13 PMJust woke up from a dream where I was back at work. I was just about to leave when the FBI, Tommy guns, hats, coats etc raided the place and I had been doing my laundry 😳😄
No more cheese, bean and peanut butter burritos before bedtime 😳😉😏
No more cheese, bean and peanut butter burritos before bedtime 😳😉😏
#12
Bad Movies / Re: Generate Movie Poster with...
Last post by bob - November 14, 2025, 09:04:52 PMQuote from: Rev. Powell on November 14, 2025, 08:32:20 PMQuote from: bob on November 14, 2025, 07:24:58 PM
I should have typed "The Incredibly Strange Hebrews Who Ate Pork and Became Crazy Mixed-Up Gentiles," but thank you. Chat-GPT, or does Copilot continue to show a double standard between me and Bob?
copilot
#13
Good Movies / Re: Recent Viewings, Part 2
Last post by M.10rda - November 14, 2025, 09:02:31 PMAN ANGEL FOR SATAN (1966):
It's always a pleasant surprise when you settle in for a modest, unassuming 60s B+W gothic horror flick and you get a Real Movie with a script and storyline and production values and tasteful cinematography and characters with 2+ dimensions and good acting (and still some genre frisson into the bargain). AN ANGEL FOR SATAN is a little closer to IL DEMONIO and THE THIRD EYE (which is to say legitimate art films, or I guess the 60s version of what folks call "elevated horror" today) than it is to other Barbara Steele vehicles of the era like NIGHTMARE CASTLE or CASTLE OF BLOOD or even BLACK SUNDAY. Yeah I think this is a better film than BLACK SUNDAY, so if that perks up your ears, read on.
In a deeply moody opening that has almost Tarkovskian qualities, a sculptor arrives in a foggy, remote Italian county - maybe even an island, as it seems you can only get there in a boat (and very slooooooowly). The sculptor is played by Anthony Steffen, an actor to whom I've never paid any attention because I've only ever seen him play poorly dubbed Django-like cowboys in an endless array of mediocre-to-bad westerns. Here he looks like a cross between James Mason and Peter O'Toole with maybe Dirk Bogarde sprinkled in, and he's compelling. (It's possibly he's dubbed here, too, but he's dubbed well by a real actor.) Oh yeah - Steffen the Sculptor has been hired to repair a spoooooooky old damaged statue that looks suspiciously like Barbara Steele, who plays the heiress who will soon inherit the palatial estate that overshadows the poor community. Steffen is enamored by the statue - of course he is, it looks like Barbara Steele! - and then Barbara Steele shows up in the flesh, and he's even more enamored... and it seems kind of obvious where AN ANGEL FOR SATAN is going. But there's still an hour of movie left, and AN ANGEL OF SATAN has more storylines to incorporate than just a single haunted romance.......
Let's talk about the main attraction, Ms. Steele. Most of her characters in the early 60s (obviously excluding BLACK SUNDAY) were hapless damsels in the clutches of forces beyond their control Not so here, where Steele's character is the prime mover of and at the center of the many plots, or at least that's how it appears until the film's final moments. That gives her a lot to play - possibly as many as two (!) characters and a whole lot of distinct colors and flavors per each. That's one reason AAFS seems like the quintessential Barbara Steele film - if nothing else, you can't argue she gets 500% as much screentime and dialogue as or more than she gets in BLACK SUNDAY. Moreover, though, this is Steele six years on from her breakthrough role. She explicitly understands the assignment - to be as Barbara Steele as possible! She's in total control of all the gifts God gave her: her voice (her own voice, it seems), her hands, her hips, the inclination of her head (showcasing of course those unholy cheekbones), and naturally her singular eyeballs. I think Steele was never sexier or creepier than she is in this role.
Although the film could be watchable just on Steele's account, it's worth mentioning again that there is a rather complex plot that (mostly) makes sense and develops methodically and effectively. Perhaps it shouldn't surprise me that it's adapted from a short story, not in the way that 60s producers adapted Poe for instance (which is to say: loosely!) but rather in a way that reflects the logic and thoughtfulness of a carefully written piece of literary fiction. The direction is steady, confident, if not flashy; the director worked almost entirely in Italian comedies, so if he was playing his cards close here, at least he never missteps. AAFS could have been exploitative - Steele repeatedly takes off her top in front of other characters and in one (...stirring...) scene, she whips a dude while topless (!). However the cinematographer refuses to ever show us the goods - the most we ever get is her erect nipples through her blouse - and that choice proves frustrating in all the best ways.
Things get very dark towards the film's climax: Steele and/or the forces channeled through her really mess up the lives of a lot of innocent (or more-or-less innocent) poor folks. My only real qualms w/ AN ANGEL FOR SATAN derive from the last 3 minutes or so, where a hidden door slides open, there's a gunshot, someone proclaims "It was I!", and briefly it feels like we're watching a finale spliced in from another euro-thriller. I suppose the ending does underline one of the film's primary themes, that being that the petty insecurities of the aristocracy always get played out at the expense of the working class. Jeez, that's a theme that resonates with the news, eh?
4/5 Nice one.
It's always a pleasant surprise when you settle in for a modest, unassuming 60s B+W gothic horror flick and you get a Real Movie with a script and storyline and production values and tasteful cinematography and characters with 2+ dimensions and good acting (and still some genre frisson into the bargain). AN ANGEL FOR SATAN is a little closer to IL DEMONIO and THE THIRD EYE (which is to say legitimate art films, or I guess the 60s version of what folks call "elevated horror" today) than it is to other Barbara Steele vehicles of the era like NIGHTMARE CASTLE or CASTLE OF BLOOD or even BLACK SUNDAY. Yeah I think this is a better film than BLACK SUNDAY, so if that perks up your ears, read on.
In a deeply moody opening that has almost Tarkovskian qualities, a sculptor arrives in a foggy, remote Italian county - maybe even an island, as it seems you can only get there in a boat (and very slooooooowly). The sculptor is played by Anthony Steffen, an actor to whom I've never paid any attention because I've only ever seen him play poorly dubbed Django-like cowboys in an endless array of mediocre-to-bad westerns. Here he looks like a cross between James Mason and Peter O'Toole with maybe Dirk Bogarde sprinkled in, and he's compelling. (It's possibly he's dubbed here, too, but he's dubbed well by a real actor.) Oh yeah - Steffen the Sculptor has been hired to repair a spoooooooky old damaged statue that looks suspiciously like Barbara Steele, who plays the heiress who will soon inherit the palatial estate that overshadows the poor community. Steffen is enamored by the statue - of course he is, it looks like Barbara Steele! - and then Barbara Steele shows up in the flesh, and he's even more enamored... and it seems kind of obvious where AN ANGEL FOR SATAN is going. But there's still an hour of movie left, and AN ANGEL OF SATAN has more storylines to incorporate than just a single haunted romance.......
Let's talk about the main attraction, Ms. Steele. Most of her characters in the early 60s (obviously excluding BLACK SUNDAY) were hapless damsels in the clutches of forces beyond their control Not so here, where Steele's character is the prime mover of and at the center of the many plots, or at least that's how it appears until the film's final moments. That gives her a lot to play - possibly as many as two (!) characters and a whole lot of distinct colors and flavors per each. That's one reason AAFS seems like the quintessential Barbara Steele film - if nothing else, you can't argue she gets 500% as much screentime and dialogue as or more than she gets in BLACK SUNDAY. Moreover, though, this is Steele six years on from her breakthrough role. She explicitly understands the assignment - to be as Barbara Steele as possible! She's in total control of all the gifts God gave her: her voice (her own voice, it seems), her hands, her hips, the inclination of her head (showcasing of course those unholy cheekbones), and naturally her singular eyeballs. I think Steele was never sexier or creepier than she is in this role.
Although the film could be watchable just on Steele's account, it's worth mentioning again that there is a rather complex plot that (mostly) makes sense and develops methodically and effectively. Perhaps it shouldn't surprise me that it's adapted from a short story, not in the way that 60s producers adapted Poe for instance (which is to say: loosely!) but rather in a way that reflects the logic and thoughtfulness of a carefully written piece of literary fiction. The direction is steady, confident, if not flashy; the director worked almost entirely in Italian comedies, so if he was playing his cards close here, at least he never missteps. AAFS could have been exploitative - Steele repeatedly takes off her top in front of other characters and in one (...stirring...) scene, she whips a dude while topless (!). However the cinematographer refuses to ever show us the goods - the most we ever get is her erect nipples through her blouse - and that choice proves frustrating in all the best ways.
Things get very dark towards the film's climax: Steele and/or the forces channeled through her really mess up the lives of a lot of innocent (or more-or-less innocent) poor folks. My only real qualms w/ AN ANGEL FOR SATAN derive from the last 3 minutes or so, where a hidden door slides open, there's a gunshot, someone proclaims "It was I!", and briefly it feels like we're watching a finale spliced in from another euro-thriller. I suppose the ending does underline one of the film's primary themes, that being that the petty insecurities of the aristocracy always get played out at the expense of the working class. Jeez, that's a theme that resonates with the news, eh?
4/5 Nice one.
#14
Bad Movies / Re: Generate Movie Poster with...
Last post by Rev. Powell - November 14, 2025, 08:32:20 PMQuote from: bob on November 14, 2025, 07:24:58 PM
I should have typed "The Incredibly Strange Hebrews Who Ate Pork and Became Crazy Mixed-Up Gentiles," but thank you. Chat-GPT, or does Copilot continue to show a double standard between me and Bob?
#15
Off Topic Discussion / Re: What are you cooking?
Last post by Rev. Powell - November 14, 2025, 08:28:50 PMMade 2 pasta dishes this week:
Sweet Macaroni Salad
Baked Spaghetti
Sweet Macaroni Salad
Baked Spaghetti
#16
Games / Re: Answer the question with a...
Last post by bob - November 14, 2025, 07:35:23 PM
Where is the best place to buy dog food?
#18
Bad Movies / Re: Generate Movie Poster with...
Last post by bob - November 14, 2025, 07:24:58 PMQuote from: Rev. Powell on November 14, 2025, 10:35:49 AMCopilot refused to make "The Sinful Pleasures of Pastor Graham" due to "policy restrictions around suggestive or religiously sensitive content. The combination of sexualized imagery, religious symbols, and themes of torment crosses a line for visual generation—even in parody." It did give me a concept via text.
It refused to make "The Incredibly Strange Gentiles Who Ate Pork and Became Crazy Mixed-Up Gentiles" due to "policy restrictions around religious parody and potentially offensive content."
Finally got it to do one. I like it.
#19
Bad Movies / Re: RECENT VIEWINGS (Bad Movie...
Last post by lester1/2jr - November 14, 2025, 06:56:37 PMSeekers of the Lost Worlds (2017) - This is part of a new category I've discovered that you might call Adult Ed Cinema: movies that look like they were made by ordinary people with very rudimentary film making skills in emulation of the kind of movies they like to watch. Robot Wars, The Amazing Bulk, and now Seekers of Lost Worlds are the flagship turkeys in this new, lamentable, technology and social media aided art form.
Most of this movie is in black and white in an attempt to cover up all the green screens (a hallmark of the genre) it uses to simulate different locations. Right off the bat, the terrible script and acting hits you right between the eyes. The jokes are particularly awful. The story itself is actually kind of enjoyable if not "good":
A seemingly random couple receive a tablet with ancient cuneiform writing on it. It's the key to finding the lost city of Atlantis! They then get clues and so forth Carmen San Diego style, meeting two different overweight middle aged women along the way. "Is everything as it appears?" obvious type stuff ensues.
No sexuality to speak of from the female characters. The story is sloshably (new word) okay, but the whole thing feels like when your teacher makes you and your group create a skit in 11th grade English class.
2.25 /5
Most of this movie is in black and white in an attempt to cover up all the green screens (a hallmark of the genre) it uses to simulate different locations. Right off the bat, the terrible script and acting hits you right between the eyes. The jokes are particularly awful. The story itself is actually kind of enjoyable if not "good":
A seemingly random couple receive a tablet with ancient cuneiform writing on it. It's the key to finding the lost city of Atlantis! They then get clues and so forth Carmen San Diego style, meeting two different overweight middle aged women along the way. "Is everything as it appears?" obvious type stuff ensues.
No sexuality to speak of from the female characters. The story is sloshably (new word) okay, but the whole thing feels like when your teacher makes you and your group create a skit in 11th grade English class.
2.25 /5
#20
Bad Movies / Re: RECENT VIEWINGS (Bad Movie...
Last post by zombie no.one - November 14, 2025, 03:01:30 PMQuote from: M.10rda on November 14, 2025, 01:41:04 PMCase in point:
I really like SCROOGED... maybe I love SCROOGED... however all of ZNO's criticisms resonate for me. SCROOGED was directed by Richard Donner, who I think was a largely mediocre, sometimes utterly inept, and certainly often strident director who would aggressively direct scenes at maximum speeds and volumes down the throats of his viewers over and over again, usually with no appreciation for nuance whatsover! I find all the LETHAL WEAPON sequels to be borderline nonsensical - all of the actors might as well be shouting Cantonese at each other incoherently, with Mandarin subtitles superimposed along the bottom of the screen.
Yet I like the original OMEN, somehow, and I like SCROOGED a lot, even though those two films still very much bear the Donner touch. Bill Murray is a masterful screen personality and performer, and he puts SCROOGED over for me....... quite persuasively. ZNO, it's too bad you didn't make it to the closing song/credits, which (on its strength) makes me willing to forgive SCROOGED any other Donnerian excess.
ah, yeah well my habit of ditching out of films before the end (which I somehow never used to do till more recently) will mean I can potentially miss some good stuff. my loss
was actually surprised by SCROOGED in many ways and yes Bill Murray is pretty much the perfect choice for that role at that time... just couldn't handle the onslaught of 'stuff' as it went on.
-- didn't actually click that it was the same director who did THE OMEN... prob my fav 70s horror film!