planktonrules

"60 Miles to Hell" is the penultimate epsiode of the original "Kojak" series. And, it also might show that the series was running low on ideas, as nearly all the show is set around Las Vegas.

Crocker is in Vegas in order to bring a prisoner back to New York to testify. However, Crocker and the prisoner, along with a couple other people, are kidnapped! Now you'd THINK it had to do with the prisoner being extradited...but the kidnappers don't even know who they guy is. So why would they kidnap these folks? See the episode and see Kojak chasing crooks in the Nevada desert.

This isn't a bad episode at all...just very strange as Nevada is as far from Manhattan as you can get! Worth seeing and most unusual...and with a VERY difficult to believe romance between Kojak and a lovely woman half his age.

Of all the major US studios, MGM was the last to make sound films as apparently the studio head, Louis B. Mayer, thought that talkies were a fad! As a result, their early sound films are a bit rough compared to other films of the day. So, while many 1929 films have decent sound quality, many of the early MGM talkies sounded tinnier and were a bit more stilted when it came to the dialog. This can easily be said about "The Idle Rich"...a decent film but one whose sound deficiencies are pretty obvious...especially when everyone seems to be talking over each other in many scenes.

Interestingly, the film was directed by William C. De Mille, Cecil's older brother. Also interesting is that they worked for different studios...William with MGM and Cecil with Paramount. Also, oddly, Cecil changed his last name to 'De Mille' as I suppose it sounded more sophisticated than 'de Mille'!

When the film begins, a rich boss and his secretary declare their love for each other. Despite never having dated, he asks her to marry him and he's eager. But she seems pensive...unsure if her lower-middle* class family would be able to handle her new wealth. To me, this is a NICE sort of worry to have...though in the film it's really a big worry for some odd reason. And, when you see the family, some of them seem almost snobbish about class...buying into the notion that they and the rich shouldn't mix. To me, however, I think it's less about class and more about some of the lady's family being jerks. How is the boss going to handle this?

As I mentioned above, the film suffers when it comes to sound. I also think the whole class angle isn't developed well, as the boss seems like a nice guy...lacking pretense and being down to earth. This makes the snobby opinions of the family seem silly. Also, it's roots as a play seem pretty obvious and the film is a bit stagy...with little, if any, action and no outdoor scenes. Overall, a mildly interesting look into 1929 but not exactly a film which screams 'you MUST see me!'.

*The summary says 'middle class'. Well, perhaps for 1929 they are, but a large family living in an apartment, to me, doesn't yell 'middle class' but, perhaps, lower middle class...at least by today's standards.

Three friends go into the North Carolina wilderness to look for a famed treasure. Along the way, they have some very weird adventures...such as finding a cult, making friends with a hawk, and having a HUGE fight in a Bass Pro Shop-like business.

"Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain" is a movie made by the comedy trio from "Saturday Night Live". On that show, they are known for their bizarre short films...and they are excellent in these and I really enjoy them. However, this movie takes the trio of writers/actors to new lengths...literally. So, instead of making cute five minute bits, they instead are at 92 minutes...a HUGE departure for them.

Sadly, the movie made LESS than $15,000 at the box office. Some of this, no doubt, was due to it not being in wide release. Some of this, no doubt, was its lack of publicity. But some, and perhaps most, is because they simply can't sustain their odd style of comedy for this long. Too often, there are parts of the film that are slow or don't work...and you'd think these would be edited out. Or, worse, they sing...something that brings the movie to a crawl. If they worked WITH other writers who are experienced with full-length movies, it could have worked. On their own, it's occasionally funny but overall misses the mark.