grahamcallander Reviews

The Moonshine War (1970)

A fun movie to watch

[7/10 · 9 October 2006]

I saw this movie six times when it first came out, and loved it.

There were snatches of dialogue in it that were pretty funny, and Lee Hazelwood was outstanding as bad guy Dual Metters.

Richard Widmark plays a rascal better than anyone else, and he was perfect as Dr. Emmett Taulbee.

The movie also starred the great character actors Charles Tyner and Bo Hopkins.

I've often wondered why this movie hasn't been made available on DVD.

Saw it again about a year ago on a very blurry VHS tape, and although it was pretty dated after thirty-five years, it was still a watchable movie.

The Brain (1969)

Wish this would be issued on DVD

[10/10 · 22 November 2005]

I first saw this movie in 1971. My brother and I liked it so much that we saw it twice (we still use lines from it in conversation). Wish it would be issued on DVD. When I saw it again after a lapse of over 30 years, I was delighted to see skits I had forgotten about. This movie is stuffed full of hilarious moments. I have a badly scratched VHS version (a former rental), but it's still a lot of fun to watch. Bourvil (Anatole) and Jean-Paul Belmondo (Arthur) have some memorable bits of dialog and wonderful on-screen rapport. David Niven (Colonel Matthews) is the dashing villain with the brain, and he delivers his usual polished performance. I was never much of a fan of Eli Wallach's movies, but he's pretty good here as a gangster guarding his sister's virginity.