SPAGVEMBERFEST 2017 - THE KILLER CALIBRE 30: DAY 26
Polishing off the Dollars trilogy very shortly with the Spag of Spags, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Leone, 1966). Probably should’ve finished Spagvember with this one since it’s a bloody hard act to follow, but it’s also a perfect Sunday Afternoon picture, so today it is.
Ah, SpagvemberFest. Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't. To spag, or not to spag? That is the question. So, how to follow the very best? Why, it would have to be something positively Shakespearian, wouldn’t it? Well alrighty then. Later on, I shall be closing out my final double-bill of Spagvember with Johnny Hamlet (Castellari, 1968). That it should come to this!
*26. Corbucci: The White, the Yellow, and the Black
-Watching the Eli Wallach interview from the WE’s Don’t Turn the Other Cheek disc made me want to see this film again. Damned! Mostly horrible experience, seeing Wallach in drag is something you’ll never forget and Milian’s japanese mumbling is about to drive you crazy. 3/10
Bill, I feel your pain.
I’m almost certain I will embark on some ill advised project some time in the future which will force me to watch this film again and I am dreading it already.
Well… it’s not quite the end yet, after the past week of festivities I’ve taken the time to finish Savage Guns, which I’ve been putting off doing for awhile now. It’s entertaining in the schlocky kind of way that we’ve all come to adore Fidani for. If any of you are thinking of picking this one up for next year or even this year, you’re in for an interesting treat.
I’m going to do my best to watch The Crazy Bunch on Amazon and finish my review on the film, and I’m also going to try and stomach The Ballad of Django and make some sort of review for that as well. I’ve already finished reviews for the genre’s only animated feature West and Soda and for A Man Called Invincible. Maybe I’ll reward myself with Faccia a Faccia at the end!
*27. Bianchi: Fasthand is Still My Name
-Film remembered mainly for it’s violence and the presence of William Berger. Otherwise there isn’t much, music is terrible (there’s a very unfitting night club music in some scenes), plot is stupid (why did the hero let himself be captured and tortured?) etc… In the end scene Berger has a magical revolver (even for sw) which shoots 19 shots without reloading. 5/10
For a film with the words “Don’t Wait” in the title it’s something of a surprise that it consists mainly of people hanging around in various locations, well…waiting. This is however interspersed at regular intervals with often pointless shootouts just to keep everyone awake.
This makes it sound worse than it actually is to be fair. The film was obviously shot on absolutely no money. The inside of the ranch house being so obviously shout on a roofless facade being evidence to that. It also has a script that would fit on the back of an envelope. Hence all the waiting about probably. But you get two Rassimovs for the price of one. Wish Ivan and Rada had played brother and sister more often. It has a nice twangy soundtrack and the waiting about is often shot quite well, producing some nice tension. Ivan also delivers a roll and shoot and a natty bit of behind the back gunplay for extra value.
All in all a bit slow but a pretty decent effort with such obviously scant resource.
edit. I just read back over my post about it on the film’s thread and it seems I focused on all the same things but was slightly less positive. I must be softening in my old age.
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2017 - THE KILLER CALIBRE 30: DAY 27
Aagh! I’m really late (been out and about) but I’m sticking my spag-of-the-day on right now, and it’s the wonderfully grimy Keoma (Castellari, 1976), featuring Franco Nero hiding underneath a record 96 beards, the most ever worn by one actor in a single movie at once. Also featuring the worst theme song in all of recorded human history, and unrecorded non-human history.
Might just be a considered for Tomas’ list of metaphysical, acid, existentialist, or just plain weird westerns. A number of profound comments on existential matters here like (on religion): “When a seven becomes an ace, that’s a miracle that beats the hell out of resurrection”, or (about women): “… someone might find this beautiful body with a couple of holes more than it need”. Or (about dying): “I’m not about to do any ballroom dancing”.
24. Find a Place to Die
Watched half of this in August then somehow forgot about it till now. This film has nothing much but atmosphere, but it has that, and how! One I will watch again (if I remember, and I hope I will).
25. Per un pugno di dollari
That’s right, an Italian version (and I think perhaps the Italian version, running for 99 min 35 seconds?). More often than not with spags I find the Italian audio to be better than the English. Not so with this one. But nice to have watched it in Italian anyway.
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2017 - THE KILLER CALIBRE 30: DAY 28
Going for one of the greatest Spags outside of the “Sergios” today, bringing together (and then tearing asunder) titans Lee Van Cleef and Giuliano Gemma in Day of Anger (Valerii, 1967) .
A nice mid range spag this one. Looking back at my response a few years ago it seems I am again more forgiving these days. The horses in boxes named after their previous gunslinger owners, all from previous spaghettis, is a nice touch and all the cast deliver well. I described this as a lesser Garrone before (faint praise indeed) but actually I would consider this a decent effort from the 4th Sergio now.
*28. Tessari: Alive or Preferably Dead
-Film I’d like to like more. I think it has some good combination of action and comedy. Gemma is in top form making some spectacular stunts and Sydne Rome is really hot. But the story just doesn’t seem to know where to go and it’s too episodic. Too bad because it has potential to be better. 6/10
Btw, I had not noticed that joke about Man With No Name before.
This one holds it ground in my alternative 20. Could have done with a little more low tuned acting from the lead man and little more low tuned score though.
Good gritty S.Western from Lucio Fulci that doesn’t disappoint. Franco Nero and George Hilton are very effective as brothers who must face a sadistic madman in this unusual but entertaining Spagh.
22. THE RUTHLESS FOUR (1968)
Remember the first time I watched it i didn’t care for it, but re-watching this one again made me realize how good of a S.Western this is and now it’s one of my favorites. Greed is the name of the game in this slow burn Spagh but it manages to entertain nevertheless with a great cast.
“One more bullet left friend, to put between your eyes.”
No, amigo, you have already fired six rounds. But what the heck, when Steffen can fire seven in his last dive and roll, isn’t it only fair that Berti should have seven too? But why go on killing when you have an empty gun?
These two have some similarities plotwise. Watched them back to back, and I think it’s hard to say which is the better. The latter is probably more well made, and it has this terrific ending, but all in all it seems I like the first one more.
Rassimov shares the lead with Gianni Garko here and most people probably remember it as more Garko’s film but Rassimov is the hero and has equal screen time even if GG gets top billing.
A psychological drama with revenge themes this one is stylishly made and visually interesting throughout. Played with a heavy brush but enjoyable for all that. A pleasant re-visit for me.
*29. Caiano: Ringo, The Face Of Revenge
-Treasure hunt western with good cast, Frank Wolff and Eduardo Fajardo along with Steffen. Fajardo is especially good here, it’s refreshing to see him playing something else than evil army officer for a while. Not a great one but pretty good. 6/10
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2017 - THE KILLER CALIBRE 30: DAY 29
My penultimate movie for Spagvember brings the fantastic Tatsuya Nakadai into the Spag fold where he excels as the sadistic Elfego in Today it’s Me… Tomorrow it’s You! (Cervi, 1968), my favourite of the men-on-a-mission spags.
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2017 - THE KILLER CALIBRE 30: DAY 30
What? Finished, already?? No! But I LOVE the constant… well, spaghettiness of Spagvember. Whenever December rolls around, it always feels as though there’s a void where my spag-of-the-day should’ve been. Like, an eerie quiet. Like a great silence…
Well, with the cold weather just starting to bite hard here in “wonderful” (ie “f*cking dreadful”) Pitsea it seems apt to welcome the Winter with the winteriest spag: The Great Silence (Corbucci, 1968), officially designated by this very site as the greatest spag not made by Sergio Leone. When I first saw TGS I have to say it left me rather cold (Ba-dum! Tish!) but, like most true greats, it seems to improve every time I see it. It’s a tremendous way to see off my SpagvemberFest 2017, which will also be the first Spagvember I’ve managed to complete 100%.
5/10
