First off I'll admit to my slowing down at publishing new articles and that's mainly due to laziness on my part thanks to the many hobbies I have getting in the way not to mention my day job. Hobby Number #1 is of course watching movies and I have so damned many piled up that the more I watch the less time I have to write about them though I've plenty of ideas lined up for 2023 to write about and feature. Fingers crossed.
I just celebrated my ninth anniversary here on line and want to thank one and all for dropping by and checking out what I've got to say about the many films and topics I've featured here over that time. And just what were the most read articles of the past year? here are the Top 5.
What The Peeper Saw (1972), ... The Animals (1970), ... Jill Ireland Joins Charles Bronson On Camera, ... Slumming With Teen Sex Comedies, ... Charles Bronson In the Movies : From A to Z.
Did you keep track of how many movies you sat in on this year? I managed to watch 434 titles. 243 new to me titles and 191 revisits. Why not join me in 2023 on the app Letterboxd. You can find me under the handle MikesTake. No space between the two. I'd be happy to follow along with your own handle to see what you've been watching as I'm always looking for recommendations.
New to me titles that I'd like to recommend include Zodiac (2007), Naked Alibi (1954), The Father (2020), Seven Days to Noon (1950), Against the Ice (2022), Elvis (2022), The Informer (1935), The Duke (2020), A Night to Remember (1958), The Window (1949), 711 Ocean Drive (1950), Fat City (1972) and It Happened in Hollywood (1937).
Rediscoveries of movies I hadn't seen in many years or perhaps never fully appreciated all that much the first time around include Against All Flags (1952), The Killer is Loose (1956), The Five Venoms (1978), A League of Their Own (1992), Deep Red (1975), The Screaming Woman (1972), The Hot Rock (1972), King Boxer (1972), The Lost Patrol (1934), Maniac Cop (1988), Private's Progress (1956), Suspiria (1977), Murder By Contract (1958), They Drive By Night (1940), The Westerner (1940), The Mob (1951), Bound For Glory (1976), Bedazzled (1968), The Lady From Shanghai (1947) Scandal Sheet (1952) and Rancho Notorious (1952).
Old favorites I love to revisit that come with my highest recommendations include Hard Times (1975), Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962), Vampires (1998), The Vikings (1958), Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Quiet Man (1952), Dirty Harry (1971), Kill, Baby, Kill (1966), Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), Amazon Women On the Moon (1987), Dead of Winter (1987), The Brotherhood of Satan (1971), Death Hunt (1981), The Borrowers (1973), 3:10 to Yuma (1957), Snatch (2000), Night of the Creeps (1986), 10 to Midnight (1983), House of Usher (1960), The Omen (1976), Bandolero (1968), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), Casablanca (1942), The Shootist (1976), Once Upon a Time In America (1984), The Ninth Gate (1999), It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Dirty Dozen (1967).
And then we come to guilty pleasures (usually horror flicks) that are generally frowned upon by critics with their nose in the air that I've always found enjoyment in include Ticks (1993), Bloody Pit of Horror (1965), Cemetery of Terror (1985), The Barbarians (1987), The Vampires Night Orgy (1974), Turkey Shoot (1982), Savage Harbor (1987), Jet Over the Atlantic (1959), Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973), Death Ring (1992) and The Astro Zombies (1968) with the always entertaining John Carradine.
Not to be left out are those tagged with the moniker, Dishonorable Mention. Sword of the Valiant (1982) sorry Mr. Connery, Joshua (1976), God's Gun (1976), The Final Programme (1973) and the title I'd call the worst film I saw this year, Hard Rock Zombies (1987). Do your best to stay clear of these timewasters. There were some others but I do my best to remain positive out here at Mike's Take.
As a long time Hammer Film Fan I continue to rewatch the studios output and this year took in a total of 13 titles. The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960), The Damned (1962), Visit to Canton (1960), Scars of Dracula (1970), The Scarlet Blade (1963), Pirates of Blood River (1962), The Brigand of Kandahar (1965), Fear In the Night (1972), Blood From the Mummy's Tomb (1972), Rasputin : The Mad Monk (1966), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Night Creatures (1962) and The Horror of Dracula (1958).
On the topic of Horror of Dracula I'd like to point out the kindness of a very good friend. He knows I'm an avid collector of Hammer memorabilia and read my piece on the film that turned Christopher Lee into the screen's greatest Dracula. I'd made mention that I had not one single piece of memorabilia from the film. No posters or lobby cards. Within a couple weeks that close friend gifted me an original 1958 lobby card with a great image of Lee. A special thanks to you, Kevin.
Other spotlights I had fun with this past year included interviewing Dwayne Epstein on his Lee Marvin biography, an ironic Charlton Heston adventure, featuring Roger Corman in an A to Z spotlight, elevating Richard Jaeckel to top billing and poking fun at Movie Might Have Beens,
As per usual I added to my ever growing collection of movie posters and I really should learn to count just how many I acquire during a calendar year. Best guess for 2022 comes in at 250. A large number for me but that's due in part to acquiring a large collection of 97 posters and over 300 lobby cards in one sale. Would you believe they all feature the same actress? That they do and more on that in a special post in the coming weeks. I will add that by chance she is one of my all time faves.
I also had the linen backing of my 1968 3 sheet for 2001 : A Space Odyssey completed. Time to pick my next project for 2023.
A special nod as usual to the companies that continue to put out obscure titles and classic films of all genres restored to blu ray with an abundance of bonus features for us self appointed film historians to devour. Severin, Kino Lorber Studio Classics, Arrow Video, Vinegar Syndrome, Indicator, Scream Factory, Second Sight and Eureka among them.
With the new year upon us I'm looking forward to finally getting around to spotlighting certain actors and actresses that I've been wanting to now for quite some time. I might even poke fun at an Oscar winner in an all new Slumming With feature, shine the light on a blonde haired cult actress who made plenty of action films long ago ( yeah that's a shot) and hopefully get another A to Z completed on a legendary actor we all know and love.
To all who dropped by this year I'd like to thank you for taking the time and encourage you to drop me a line on my FB page or leave a comment right here if you'd like to. Here's wishing that 2023 brings you much happiness and success moving forward.
Cheers .... Mike and Brando.
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