Alex Cox

Moviedrome Mondays: The Phenix City Story (1955)

by John Charet

Once again, I could not find a youtube video link of Moviedrome presenter Alex Cox introducing director Phil Karlson’s 1955 expose film noir classic The Phenix City Story, so I will have to made do with Cox’s intro transcript (read here). The episode’s original airdate was August 12, 1990 (read here). Fittingly shot in black-and-white and filmed on location (which gives it a documentary feel), this may be one of (If not) the grittiest film noirs to emerge from the American cinema during the 1950’s. The plot deals with attempts to clean up a seedy Alabama town and it was reportedly based on a true story (read here and here). If any of you readers are interested in reading my list of my favorite Phil Karlson films, read here.

I could not find a youtube video link to the film’s original theatrical trailer either.

Moviedrome Mondays: A Wedding (1978)

by John Charet

Since I could not find (once again) a youtube video link of Moviedrome presenter Alex Cox introducing master filmmaker Robert Altman’s 1978 satirical comedy A Wedding, readers will have to (once again) made do with Cox’s intro transcript (read here). The episode’s original airdate was August 5, 1990 (read here). Though I disagree with Cox when he implies that Altman had stinkers in his career (I love A Perfect Couple and Quintet every bit as much), everything else he says here is spot-on. I especially agree with that last paragraph of his. If any of you readers are interested in reading my list of my favorite Robert Altman films, read here.

Since I could not find an original theatrical trailer link, here is a youtube video link to a TV spot of the film

Moviedrome Mondays: Yojimbo (1961)

by John Charet

Since I could not find a youtube video link of Moviedrome presenter Alex Cox introducing legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s 1961 undisputed Samurai classic Yojimbo, readers will have to make do with Cox’s intro transcript (read here). The episode’s original airdate was July 29, 1990 (read here). Cox perfectly sums up everything about why this film is a masterpiece. In addition, I too will say that as much as I loved director Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars – the iconic Italian 1964 spaghetti western remake – Yojimbo (the original) still ranks as the best.

Here is a youtube video link to the film’s original theatrical trailer

Moviedrome Mondays: An American Werewolf in London (1981)

by John Charet

I have posted a youtube video link below to Moviedrome presenter Alex Cox’s introduction to director John Landis 1981 horror classic An American Werewolf in London. My readers can also read Cox’s transcript here. The episode’s original airdate was July 22, 1990 (read here). Though I greatly admire Joe Dante’s The Howling and Michael Wadleigh’s Wolfen (also from that aforementioned year), I greatly adore An American Werewolf in London, which towers above them all as the best of the bunch. Along with The Howling, it features quite possibly the most spectacular werewolf transformation sequences ever displayed on film – courtesy of makeup effects artist Rick Baker. Last, but not least, Landis blending of comedy and horror here is seamless. Before I post the links, let me borrow a quote from the film to send to you dear readers: keep off the moors, stick to the roads. The best to ya… 🙂

Here is a youtube video link to Alex Cox’s Moviedrome intro to An American Werewolf in London

Here is a youtube video link to the film’s original theatrical trailer

Moviedrome Mondays: The Loved One (1965)

by John Charet

I have posted a youtube video link below to Moviedrome presenter Alex Cox’s introduction to British director Tony Richardson’s 1965 film The Loved One – adapted from the 1948 novel of the same name by celebrated British writer Evelyn Waugh. My readers can also read Cox’s transcript here. The episode’s original airdate was July 15, 1990 (read here). This film version of Waugh’s aforementioned book hits and misses for the very same reasons Cox so eloquently states in his intro. I also agree with this very fascinating write-up about the film on the TCM website (read here).

Here is a youtube video link to Alex Cox’s Moviedrome intro to The Loved One (the sound comes on at the 0:15 mark)

Here is a youtube video link to the film’s original theatrical trailer

Moviedrome Mondays: Ulzana’s Raid (1972)

by John Charet

Once again, I could not find a youtube video link of Moviedrome presenter Alex Cox introducing director Robert Aldrich’s 1972 underrated revisionist western masterpiece Ulzana’s Raid, so readers will have to rely on the transcript (read here). The episode’s original airdate was July 8, 1990 (read here). Based on what I have read from Cox’s intro, he seems to admire the film as a whole, but with reservations. He is a fan of his films, but Cox seems to come off as a little more reserved on some of his later work (i.e. The Grissom Gang). As for myself, I absolutely adore Ulzana’s Raid – it has a thought-provoking script from the always fascinating late screenwriter Alan Sharp (Night Moves) and, as to be expected, expert direction from Robert Aldrich. As others have implied, the film also works as an insightful allegory to the United States then involvement in the Vietnam War.

Here is a youtube video link to the film’s original theatrical trailer

Moviedrome Mondays: The Honeymoon Killers (1970)

by John Charet

Since I could not find a youtube video link of Moviedrome presenter Alex Cox’s introduction to one-time director Leonard Kastle’s once rarely shown 1970 lovers-on-the-lam cult item The Honeymoon Killers, readers will have to rely on the transcript (read here). The episode’s original airdate was July 1, 1990 (read here). Along with George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead from two years earlier, The Honeymoon Killers has often been cited (and deservingly so) as a genuine cult classic. Shot on a low-budget with black-and-white cinematography that resembles a style similar to that of a documentary, the film’s disturbing true-life subject matter and it’s unglamorous depiction of it (loosely based or otherwise) would arguably influence equally masterful later day entries like director John McNaughton’s 1986 (though first released in 1990) serial killer masterpiece Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Trivia:  this serves as the only film that Kastle ever directed and it also reportedly served as French New Wave filmmaker Francois Truffaut’s “favorite American film” (read here).

Here is a youtube video link to the film’s original theatrical trailer

Moviedrome Mondays: The Terminator (1984)

by John Charet

Sorry for posting this a day late – family emergency. I have posted a youtube video link below to Moviedrome presenter Alex Cox’s introduction to director James Cameron’s 1984 seminal sci-fi action classic The Terminator. My readers can also read his transcript here. The episode’s original airdate was June 24, 1990 (read here). Once again, there is nothing more I can add that has already been said about this timeless cinematic gem – except that I personally prefer it to the bigger-budgeted 1991 sequel, which was Terminator 2: Judgment Day. As much as I greatly admire the latter, the earlier film is so tightly executed in every single way that it can’t help but feel subtly unique at the same time. When all is said and done, it makes Terminator 2: Judgment Day (even with all of it’s spectacular special effects) look conventional by comparison.

Here is a youtube video link to Alex Cox’s Moviedrome intro to The Terminator

Here is a youtube video link to one of it’s two theatrical trailers

Here is a youtube video link to the second of it’s two trailers

Moviedrome Mondays: Dead of Night (1945)

by John Charet

Once again, I could not find a youtube video link of Moviedrome presenter Alex Cox introducing Ealing’s 1945 British anthology horror classic Dead of Night, so readers will have to rely on the transcript (read here). The episode’s original airdate was June 10, 1990 (read here). I agree with everything Cox has said about this masterpiece of horror especially the ventriloquist segment.

Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer

Moviedrome Mondays: Goin’ South (1978)

by John Charet

Since I could not find a youtube video link of Moviedrome presenter Alex Cox introducing director/star Jack Nicholson’s 1978 curio western comedy Goin’ South, readers will have to rely on a transcript of his introduction instead (read here). The episode’s original airdate was May 27, 1990 (read here). Goin’ South was Nicholson’s second film as a director – seven years after his previous film Drive, He Said and 12 years before The Two Jakes (a sequel to Chinatown). The third title was very good, but as with Drive, He Said, Goin’ South are little more than good. Make no mistake, this is not a bad film, but as a comedy, it is only half as funny as it should be and as a 70’s western, it lacks everything that made both The Hired Hand and The Missouri Breaks so poetic (like the former) or deeply fascinating (like the latter). I agree with everything Cox says about it, especially how it pales in comparison to the latter from two years earlier in 1976 (read here).

I can’t really seem to find a theatrical trailer to it so I am afraid you dear readers will have to read it’s wikipedia or watch youtube clips of it.