#maximillian schell

[all-action-all-picture]

"The most destructive force in the Universe" but enough about me this is the 1979 novelisation of The Black Hole movie by none other than movie novelisation mainstay Alan Dean Foster.

[duranduratulsa]

Now showing on DuranDuranTulsa's Disaster Theater...Deep Impact (1998) on glorious vintage VHS 📼! #movie #movies #actionadventure #disastermovie #asteroid #deepimpact #TeaLeoni #elijahwood #morganfreeman #LeeleeSobieski #maximillianschell #JonFavreau #VanessaRedgrave #JamesCromwell #BlairUnderwood #richardschiff #CharlesMartinSmith #kurtwoodsmith #DeniseCrosby #concettatomei #robertduvall #90s #vintage #vhs #durandurantulsa #durandurantulsasdisastertheater

[bastam]

The Young Lions (1958)

[eclecticpjf]

Now watching:

[streamondemand]

'Wiseguy' – TV's great undercover cop drama on Prime Video and Peacock

Ken Wahl stars as Vinnie Terranova, a veteran FBI agent making a transition to deep cover operative in the (fictional) Organized Crime Bureau divitaion, in the undercover thriller Wiseguy (1987-1990). Created by Stephen J. Cannell and Stanley Lupo, it took a radically different approach to TV crime as it charted the long, slow process of Terranova infiltrating the mob. His first assignment is to…

[anithemonsterlover]

hmm call me an Erik apologist all you want, but after thinking it well, i think the complaints people have about "sexy phantoms" and how "adaptations never adapt POTO well, they romanticize the story too much, it's a horror story not a romance" are kinda...unfounded?

Yeah you can make a potential argument about adaptations missing the mark, removing the deformity from Erik (which shapes Erik's whole character), and that...But also...how much is this true, and how much this has been exaggerated by really one or modern interpretations?

And i wonder...is it really? Phantom has had such a number of different adaptations all over the years, from different creative minds, and each of them presented a different view on Erik. Do most of them not adapt the book? Yes (as in no birth deformity, no Daroga, no scorpion or grasshopper, etc etc). Do they really change the main themes and mood presented in the novel, turning it more erotic? Are really all adaptations with a "sexy Erik and cucked Raoul!", as critics state? Heem, let's take a look.

We'll mostly analyze the big film adaptations, since Phantom has been told over and over again in different books, comics, videogames, tv shows, and it would take us A LOT to go through every one (also let's be realistic...we have to analyze the most "well known" Phantom adaptations so to see if the critics' words hold some water. I don't think it would make much sense to point out a Phantom adaptation that has these elements but like...only four people know of it lol)

Lon Chaney...Nope. Erik was still deformed, and the few sympathetic traits he has were erased to give him a boring clichéd "kill the monster" ending, going against what the book stated, where Erik dies of a broken heart and not lynched (curiously, how the same people that go "we must portray the book accurately, not show him sympathetically" don't mind this change, huh)

Claude Rains...Nope. Still ugly, dies by the end. No sexuality. Even the "love triangle" element is changed so that it focuses on Christine and her being annoyed by the two Raouls.

Herbert Lom...Still ugly and dies. This adaptation even cuts his attraction to Christine yet keeps his obsession with music, even cuts down his biggest crimes to lay it on the hands of his sidekick (imo this is probably the most "sympathetic" Phantom, imo, since he's interpreted as an artist who had his art stolen, only wanting to "get back" at the thieves; but nobody talks of him when discussing sympathetic Phantoms)

Phantom of the Paradise...Still ugly, loses, but like Herbert Lom, redeems himself through death.

Maximillian Schell...Ugly, dies by the end.

Cartoon - Ugly, dies, Christine doesn't go with him. This is the most book accurate novel but in another angle, haha (Daroga is here, death's head, abusive mother...not exactly what the smart ass critics want ;)).

Robert Englund...Ugly, loses, doesn't get Christine...In fact I'd claim this is probably the most villainous version of Erik, turning him into more of a Freddy Krueger clone than the complicated character Erik truly is. Really amps up the horror for all those "IT'S A HORROR STORY" smart-ass critics if they're so desperate for an "accurate" version (Erik didn't flay people in the novel, iirc, so, so much for "being accurate to the novel"!)

ALW-verse / the musical / Gerard Butler film / Love Never Dies / Phantom of Manhattan (i'm placing all of this in the same venue because basically, it's really the same universe / canon, ergo we're really talking about the same intrepretation / the same creator). Ugliness is there, but sorta downplayed...This verse often ends with Erik and Christine getting together...yup, this is the one version where the criticism is legit.

Charles Dance / Yeston Kopit musical / Takarazuka (again, same universe, same creator, same interpretation). Possibly the nicest Erik yet, but he's still deformed, and he still doesn't get Christine. He's sympathetic, a little romantic, but I don't think it's on the same league as the sexuality present in Point of no Return's lyrics or Gerard Butler's open puffy shirts.

Susan Kay's novel - This one is interesting because it takes a lot from the musical (i'd argue even more from that than the novel), and then influenced the musical and future iterations of it (this novel amps up the sexy angle A LOT), so I'm not sure to categorize it as its own thing or added to the musical verse. But, still...it follows the plot points from ALW (and elements we see in future installments of ALW's POTO, like the secret child, first appeared in Kay, i think, based on publication dates), yet Erik is still hideous, but his sexuality is present in the novel...as well as his murderous tendencies. This is the one version that combines elements of both horror and sex, imo.

Dario Argento - for fuck's sakes, nobody likes this version, lol, and even the normies don't know of it. BUT ANYWAY, IF WE'RE GONNA MAKE THE COMPARISON....Not deformed, "gets Christine", in a way, but woof this version also amps up the horror and has the most unlikable Erik of them all imo.

And everything else...Do people really care or know about those versions? Wishbone's or the other musicals, or the ass long number of books? Not really...

So really...the number of Phantom adaptations that have a "sexy, romantic" Erik can be chalked up to 2-3...against all the other adaptations that keep the horror elements or have Erik still looking horrible. And the great majority of them keep it in canon with the original ending- ea Erik dies and Christine goes with Raoul (it's really only Kay's novel and LND that have the "sexy Erik cucks Raoul" interpretation...and LND has always always always been mocked and rejected by the fans)

So it's people really throwing a tantrum over the ALW version being popular, really. (And i'm really curious how they don't mind when Erik is turned more villainous, like in Lon Chaney or Robert Englund's version, even though those are also inaccurate to the novel. (Erik wasn't a sexy doomed hero, no, but he also wasn't this Freddy Krueger bastard.) Funny that).

[wheel-of-fish]

Do you stream other Phantom movies like the Claude Rains one and shows like the Wishbone episode?

I do, occasionally! There's less of a demand for it, and I'm also limited (by Cytube) to what's available on YouTube. Sadly, that means I can't currently stream the 1943, 1962, 1989 or 2004 movies, or Phantom of the Paradise, unless maybe people are cool with the ad-ridden Bilibili, which is kind of a pain. But here are some of the things I've shown in the past that would still be options currently:

1925 film (Lon Chaney)

1983 made-for-TV movie (Maximillian Schell & Jane Seymour)

1987 animated film

1989 Phantom of the Mall

1990 miniseries (Charles Dance)

1995 Phantom of the Opera on Ice (my personal favorite to stream)

1996 Wishbone's "Pantin' at the Opera"

Various other stage adaptations (Yeston & Kopit, Ken Hill, Takarazuka Revue, David Staller, etc.)

I also have a couple other kids' show options. I've had the 1990 miniseries on my short list for a while; I'm just always hesitant to show it because it would require two streams to show both parts. But maybe this is my sign to stream it soon!

Anyway, if there's demand for this stuff, I'd be thrilled to incorporate it more often! I think I fell into a very heavy reliance on the ALW musical with the Broadway series and haven't quite found my way back out.

(Also, I was actually planning to stream a non-ALW production next week that I haven't listed here, so you'll have to wait a few days to find out what it is!)

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | The Black Hole (Nelson, 1979)

Mindboggling that Disney funded and released a Star Wars cash-in this weird and slow and actually a gothic horror rather than a space opera that also goes full on psychedelic in its last twenty minutes. It's like a bunch of Disney execs decided to drop acid in a boardroom and say, "What if we made 2001 for the kiddies?" Unimaginable that they'd release something this idiosyncratic today. You think Bob Iger has ever dropped acid? You think Bob Iger ever let a weird thought pass through his head without actively suppressing it out of fear of the shareholders? Nah man, he's just got his finger on the button, a big red button that says "$$$". We have to go back.

Truth be told, this is pretty slow for around two thirds of its runtime, but in that final stretch it really goes off the rails. This was presumably made for children, but the bulk of the production design and special effects suggests it was made for those who watched 2001 zonked out of their minds, and the last few minutes feel like all your favourite prog rock and metal album covers all mashed together. And there are a couple of things that would be way too disturbing to put in the children's movie these days, but I guess back then filmmakers didn't care about sanding off the edges from these things or whether they'd accidentally traumatize an entire generation. I'm a grown ass man watching this in 2024, and let's just say I'm glad I came to it at this age.

This also has a pretty impressive cast, although the bulk of them don't have much to do. The only ones that do make an impression are Maximillian Schell playing the Most Interesting Man in the Universe, and Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens as the voices of V.I.N.CENT. and B.O.B., a pair of adorable wide-eyed levitating robots who it must be said compare favourably to their counterparts in Star Wars in some respects. V.I.N.CENT. especially distinguishes himself with his combat prowess, and without giving too much away, I must report that I was eventually quite moved by the two robots' relationship. You think anyone cried over C-3PO? You think anyone sympathized when R2-D2 started beeping and booping in his absence? Nah man, they've just got their finger on the button, a big red button that says "Kill C-3PO."

[kwebtv]

Peter the Great -  NBC  -  February 2 - 5, 1986

Historical Drama (4 episodes)

Running Time:  480 minutes

Stars:

Maximilian Schell as Peter the Great

Jan Niklas as Peter the Great in early adulthood

Vanessa Redgrave as Tsarevna Sophia

Omar Sharif as Prince Feodor Romodanovsky

Laurence Olivier as William III and II

Trevor Howard as Sir Isaac Newton

Ursula Andress as Athalie

Olegar Fedoro as Boyar Lopukhin

Natalya Andrejchenko as Tsaritsa Eudoxia Lopukhina

Helmut Griem as Captain Alexander Menshikov

Renée Soutendijk as Anna Mons 

Hanna Schygulla as Catherine Skavronskaya 

Christoph Eichhorn as Charles XII

Lilli Palmer as Tsarina Natalya

Mel Ferrer as Frederick 

Elke Sommer as Charlotte

Jan Malmsjö as The Patriarch

Boris Plotnikov as Tsarevich Alexis

Jeremy Kemp as General Patrick Gordon

Geoffrey Whitehead as Prince Vasily Golitsyn

Graham McGrath as young adult Peter the Great

Dennis DeMarne as the figure of Peter the Great at the narrating scenes of the later years

Ann Zacharias as Daria Lund

Algis Arlauskas as Father Theodosius

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Cross of Iron (1977). Artwork by Robert Tanenbaum.

[citizenscreen]

Maximilian Schell (December 8, 1930 – February 1, 2014)

[rhettakins]

Vampires (1998)

Ever since his parents were murdered by vampires, Jack Crow (James Woods) has had one purpose in life: putting stakes through bloodsuckers' hearts. With his battle-hardened crew of vampire killers and the assistance of the Catholic Church, Crow roams the New Mexico desert looking for undead lairs to annihilate. But he meets his match when, at a roadside motel, he comes face to face with Jan Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith), a vampire kingpin possessed of incredible powers.

[tavoit]

Maximillian Schell, clean-shaven and with a beard

[streamondemand]

'The Black Hole' – Captain Nemo in space on Disney+

‘The Black Hole’ – Captain Nemo in space on Disney+

The Black Hole (1979), Disney’s first foray into the Star Wars-inspired big-budget sci-fi sweepstakes, is an odd sort of landmark for the company. It was the company’s first live action feature aimed at breaking out of family movie ghetto to claim an adult mainstream audience, their first PG film, and an expensive flop. A deep space research ship captained by the quietly authoritative Robert…

[vintagegeekculture]