Send your movie questions to FlickChickQuestion Grindhouse did horribly at the box office it made a mere 11 million Any idea why it did so poorly when it opened to mostly positive reviews Michael PS I love you and the gang on the podcast I have recently been getting into exercising and am listening to every episode you have ever recorded very funFlickChick Thank you Michael As to Grindhouse theres a very real irony in the fact that back in the day real grindhouse movies made money despite negative reviews or more often no reviews at all in the mainstream press while Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguezs loving homage got terrific reviews and did poorly I can think of a number of explanations I suspect some people were put off by the three-hour length of Death ProofPlanet Terror plus trailers I think Rodriguez and Tarantino may have overestimated the number of moviegoers who share their enthusiasm for the down-and-dirty horrorsci-firoad-r
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Send your movie questions to FlickChickThis weeks DVD Tuesday pick was inspired by the recent limited re-release of a little-known indie movie called Something Wild 1961 not to be confused with the 1986 Jonathan Demme film of the same name starring 50s tough guy Ralph Meeker Watching it I couldnt help but think of Meekers greatest role Mickey Spillanes two-fisted private investigator Mike Hammer in the flat-out astonishing Kiss Me Deadly 1955Now Spillanes name is a red flag His novels are often dismissed as lurid misogynistic red-baiting sadistic anachronisms designed to glorify white male privilege and excuse fascistic vigilantism And thats not far off the mark though theyre also hypnotic pulp fiction Spillane a reactionary conservative to the core hated Kiss Me Deadly and not just because director Robert Aldrich and screenwriter AI Buzz Bezzerides who died less than two weeks ago dropped the comma from the title Thats only partly
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Question: I was a fan of Lost in Space, but was an even bigger fan of Zorro, who was played by LiS's Guy Williams. One thing I always wondered, though. Since he had a mask on, was that really him with the sword?
Answer: That it was, Jeff. Matter of fact, the only reason Williams, whose acting résumé was pretty much nonexistent up to that point, got the role was that he was mighty handy with a blade. It seems Williams, born Armando Catalano in New York City, was the only one to audition who could actually fence. His father, a skilled fencer in his native Italy, taught his son to handle a sword, but neither of them dreamed how valuable a skill it would prove to be after Williams became a contract player at Universal in the early '50s.
"I used to play anonymous men leaning in doorways with cigarettes dangling fr
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