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Drive, He Said (I) (1971)
7/10
A real icon for the late 60's college experience
25 March 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Good luck finding this film to even watch - it's not yet released on tape or DVD. I saw on release in the early '70's, was lucky enough to catch it via American Cinematheque's preservation efforts, and it still has some tangible moments that stayed with me for thirty years.

No reason to repeat rwint's accurate comments here. As a come-out Director soon after the soaring success of Five Easy Pieces, Jack N has been said to have managed the low budget effort as best as possible, and it certainly shows in the wandering and meandering that could have used some re-cutting. But it's also a memorable icon for it's time: the all very intense clashes of late 60's college sports, student movements, sexual revolution, and more.

Why see this film? It was probably a ground breaker in some scenes: the frisky male bonding in the after-game showers; Karen Black's scene with Tepper in the car will catch you a little off guard - but it's the first use of a word I hadn't witnessed in film before; and the casual and unexpected use of nudity overall. There are probably others I'm omitting.

Look for a nice surprise of a young Cindy Williams in one of her first films; a thin David Ogend Stiers; Mike Warren fresh out of his powder-blue UCLA uniform and readying for a dark-blue TV uniform; Robert Towne - Actor; and a whole lot of folks simply playing themselves.

Now: any connection between Harry Gittes last name, Robert Towne, and a certain character in Chinatown and the Two Jakes?

It gets a "7" based on Karen Black. You'll see why.
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The Vikings (1958)
Testosterone-City Adventure
26 October 2004
There were and are flaws in the production (without any digital replacement technology of course, Tony Curtis' amputated arm often looks mighty lengthy at times - and it's hard to not notice his Brooklyn accent....yet.... Unavailable for a long time, to me, a very overlooked film. Sam Pekinpah's Wild Bunch has the ability to make you feel just plain dusty and sweaty for two hours. The Vikings pulls the same sensory trick in the Scandinavian fjords, the feasting in the viking hall, in the boats crossing the sea to England, the halls and rooms of the English castle, and in the final attack scenes. The story of two half-brothers is so compact that you will miss it if not listening closely. The look in Ernest Borgnine's eyes at times is worth the price of rental or purchase alone. OOOOOODIN! A terrific shot of a eagle-helmeted Kirk Douglas with his buds on the peninsula readying to give the business to the English evil-doers. Wheeeeee. Where is my Viking battle axe? The ending?? - ahh, when men were men......just place me on the ship and send me off to Valhalla. How did they do all this without making me feel silly?
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