Cinema Cycle - The World At War / Volume 5 / Pincers

The World At War - Pincers

Thursday, 03.11.2020

Media

DVD

Attendees

Bruce Johnson

Notes

1. Seen this many times, but always a great documentary
2. The series focuses on the tragedy of war, not the glory. 
3. The best laid plans…...

Cinema Cycle Notes

• 9.5 miles
• 52 minutes
• Odometer =  11803.3 miles  

Cinema Cycle - Sex and the City / Season 2 - Episode 4 (They Shoot Single People Don't They?)

Sex and the City

Thursday, 03.9.2020

Media

DVD

Attendees

Bruce Johnson

Season 2 / Episode4

They shoot single people don't they?

1. Good looking wealthy women and the pitfalls of faking relationships / orgasams
2. If I had a 12 year old son, I would require him to watch this series.  So he knew what to expect in his future. 
3. A somber episode, with Cynthia Nixon as a quasi-porn star, but it is funny. 

Cinema Cycle Notes

• 5.6 miles
• 25 minutes
• Odometer =  11798.4 miles  

Cinema Cycle - Lena's Holiday

Lena's Holiday

Thursday, 03.4.2020

Media

DVD

Attendees

Bruce Johnson

Notes

1. Odd opening, thrown into a foreign situation.
2. Apparently star vehicle for the lead actress, who I have never heard of.
3. So far ignorant foreigner lost in 1990s L.A.
4. Emphasis on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the liberation of East Germany.
5. It appears that Lena wears less and less clothes as the film progresses.
6. This movie has flow issues, follow on scenes are not plausible. 
7. Chis Lemmon is a dead ringer for his father.
8. Less clothes is right!
9. Sort of like Dorothy from East Berlin, visits Ozziewood.
10. There is good production value here.
11. I could use a bit less stock footage with music overlay.  
12. Definite fantasy, no one in LA lives like this

Cinema Cycle Notes

• 19.8 miles
• 100 minutes
• Odometer =  11,812.6 miles  

Cinema Cycle - Naked City: A Hole In The City

Naked City

Thursday, 02.24.2020

Media

DVD

Attendees

Bruce Johnson

A Hole In The City

1. First 10 minutes, armored car robbery and chase, wow.
2. The best thing about this series are the young group of actors who went on to win Oscars. In this case Robert Duvall.
3. A whole lot of murder going on.
4. A young Ed Asner with hair.
5. The simplistic idea of police work back in the day
6. I love the cinematic style.
7. The dream sequences in this segment are just surreal
8. Ow no, they shot Lew Grant!
9. ….and the ending with the classic hail of gunfire.

Cinema Cycle Notes

• 10.4 miles
• 51 minutes
• Odomenter =  11765.8 miles  

Cinema Cycle - The Three Stooges / Quiz Whiz

The Three Stooges

Thursday, 02.20.2020

Media

DVD

Attendees

Bruce Johnson

Title: Quiz Whiz

1. Stooges, the latter years.
2. A live action cartoon.
3. Black & White Dumb and Dumberer
4. Filler between reels, time to visit the snack bar.
5. Inappropriate today, but funny.

Cinema Cycle Notes

• 3.3 miles
• 16 minutes
• Odometer =  11755.4 miles  

Cinema Cycle - Man With A Camera (2 Episodes)

Man With A Camera

Tuesday, 02.18.2020

Media

DVD

Attendees

Bruce Johnson

Two Strings Of Pearls

1. Charles Bronson, bad as photographer
2. Love the camera equipment, all 4X5 and 120. No 35mm in sight!
3. The modern equivalent would be 'Young Man with a Drone'.
4. Back when photography was a swashbuckling career.
5. Love the 50s production values.  
6. The final scene at the airport.  OMG.
7. Bad girls go to jail….good ridence.
8. More entertaining than I thought it would be.

Missing

1. Complex plot for a 30 minute show.
2. Location shooting in 1950s Los Angeles.  The cars!
3. Charles Bronson, tough guy photographer outsmarts the police.
4. Charles never develops his own film, he lets the geeks do that.
5. OMG, Tijuana border patrol and smuggling.  So simple, sooo inept. 
6. Film Noir Los Angeles
7. Back when diamonds where the currency of the underworld.
8. Shoot out in the car wash. Film Noir Classic.

Cinema Cycle Notes

11 miles

52 minutes

Odomenter =  11752.1 miles  

Cinema Cycle - Naked City: Robin Hood and Clarence Darrow, they went out with the bow and arrow

Naked City

Friday, 02.12.2020

Media

DVD

Attendees

Bruce Johnson

"Robin Hood and Clarence Darrow, they went out with the bow and arrow"

Setup / Background

1. First impression, I have no idea what is going on.
2. Lots of background.  Very depressing
3. Also artsy in a 1950s sort of way.
4. The old cliche scene of talking to a headstone to fill in background.  No voice overs back then.
5. OMG a very young Christopher Walken!  (As Ronnie Walken in the credits)
6. Plot finally makes sense.  Geez the 50s were repressed.
7. Social injustice and the struggle of the common man.
8. Again with the headstone
9. Basically the movie "Falling Down" set in 1950s New York
10. Best thing about this series, location shooting in 1950s New York.
11. Surprise ending
12. Almost every episode I have seen ends in a bloodbath.  Bad men die violent deaths.
13. More father son bonding in the end.
14. Why does he hate his father? Because he loves him?

Cinema Cycle Notes

• 11.1 miles
• 51 minutes 
• Odometer =  11703.1 miles  

Cinema Cycle - Lord of War

Lord of War

Friday, 02.09.2020

Media

DVD

Attendees

Bruce Johnson

Disc One

Setup / Background

1. Best opening credits ever.
2. Beginning moves along quickly, a lot of voice over.
3. No female lead yet, but a lot of brother bonding.
4. Let's sell arms to EVERYBODY!
5. Goodbye brother, hello love interest.
6. Bye bye Soviet Union, Arms Sale Free-For-All
7. Lots of sick corrupt people in this world.
8. The scene with the cargo plane, OMG
9. He loses his wife, his son and his brother, didn't expect a happy ending.
10. In the end he loses everything, or does he?
11. The final scene with Ethan Hawk, should be required viewing. 

Cinema Cycle Notes

• 12.6 + 15.5 =  28.1 miles
• Time = 2 hours 2 minutes (122 minutes)
• Odomenter =  11692 miles  

He Saw / She Saw - Why We Fight

Sue:

This movie was so informative and just confirmed what “informed” people already know.  Our Government is so corrupt and lays it out clearly.  Too bad most of society will keep on believing what they are told by the Government.

Bruce:

A fascinating well done documentary about what President Eisenhower appropriately coined the "Military Industrial Complex".   This is a well balanced film that has some profound insights and behind the scenes views from individuals who have knowledge of the American war machine far beyond the average citizen.  After watching, the viewer walks away with the nagging realization that the United States government has been hijacked by powerful individuals and corporations that only seek self interest and not the common good. 

He Saw / She Saw - TV Detectives - Dragnet

The Big Hit & Run

The Big Bunko

Sue:

Entertaining mostly for its nostalgia and how different customs and manners were back in the day.  Apparently, in L.A. in 1955, you didn't need a warrant to walk into someone's house and start questioning them. 

Bruce:

This is Dragnet before it was picked up by major studios.  In the early days, this was pretty much Jack Webb's show and he did it the way he wanted to, which was quick, staccato, direct and over righteous and determined.  After watching this, you will be glad that police don't operate this way any more. 

He Saw / She Saw - The Sea Hawk

Sue:

A lavish film that is fun to watch.  However some of the scenes went on too long. 

Bruce:

Entertaining in the extreme.  This is the Star Wars of its day, with lavish sets before the onset of special effects.  I found it charmkng how the whole film went sephia tone in the New World, but went back to black & white in Europe.  The Movietone News reel and cartoon shorts included in this matinee edition were a rare treat.

Cinema Cycle - Bewitched S1E3

Not the comedy you remember from childhood. What you see now is the Fellini side of Madison Ave in the 1960s. What if Pete Campbell in Mad Men had a witch for a wife? Just substitute Darrin and Samantha. An added bonus are all the guest stars they parade through each 25 minute episode. In this particular case. Jack Warden as a lecherous baby food magnate.

Cinema Cycle - Gossip Girl S1 E3

The more I watch this series the more of a guilty pleasure it becomes. It is well done from the production value / writing perspective. On the social perspective it is a prequel to the "Real Housewives of New York". How do youth act with no parental supervision and endless wealth in New York? Watch this to find out.

Cinema Cycle - Hill Street Blues S1E1 - Presidential Fever

He Saw / She Saw - The Book Thief

Cinema Cycle - Sex and the City S2E3 - The Freak Show

In this episode, the freakish / repressed side of women, nurtured by anxiety is explored. Great Stuff.

Cinema Cycle - Naked City: When The Saints Lost Their Halos

A real treasure of 1960s television. I never got to watch this as a kid since some affiliates found the subject matter a bit to hardcore for their audience. A gritty crime series, shot entirely on location in New York in 1961. The list of guest stars reads like a whos who of Hollywood elite 20 years later. In this case, Peter Fonda, Martin Sheen and Jo Van Fleet.

Cinema Cycle - MadMen Season 6 Part 2 - New Business

One of those series that never gets old and you end up picking out more and more the more you watch. Here, Don and Megan split for good. The final scene of Don standing in his empty Manhatten apartment that has been stripped bare by his mother-in-law is priceless.

Cinema Cycle - Gossip Girl S1 E2

This series appears to be a prequel to 'Sex and the City', with young, affluent Caucasian youth running rampant in a New York social elite scene. Laughably, before the invention of Facebook or Twitter, so everyone is texting gossiping) back and forth to each other.

Cinema Cycle - Sex and the City S2E2