A Couple Klaus Shout-Outs on a Saturday Morning

Gotta love the internet. While looking for some info on what BAD MOON star Michael Pare is up to these days (working with Uwe Boll, apparently!) I stumbled across a few Klaus Kinski shout-outs. One was something I'd been meaning to mention for a few weeks and the other is just one of those silly "Top 10" lists but I never pass up the opportunity to give Klaus some props.

First up, 70s starlet Vonetta McGee passed away in early July at the age of 65. Though best known for her roles in such 70s fare as BLACULA, HAMMER, THE EIGER SANCTION and SHAFT IN AFRICA, Eurotrash and Spaghetti Western fans will always remember her as Pauline in Sergio Corbucci's amazing THE GREAT SILENCE starring Kinski as a vicious bounty hunter. The flick is a Top 10 Eurotrasher in my book, features one of Klaus' all-time best performances, and would likely top my list of Favorite Spaghetti Westerns.

Do yourself a favor. If you've never seen the film get your hands on it.

Next up, the site We Are Movie Geeks posted one of their Top 10 lists and Kinski gets a small, but deserving, plug in their list of Top 10 Evil Henchmen. The character of vampire flunky Renfield makes the list and the writer gives a shout out to Klaus for his remarkable interpretation of the character in Jess Franco's EL CONDE DRACULA. Though the flick didn't quite hold up for me when I caught it on DVD a couple years ago, Kinski's wordless, impassioned performance is well worth checking out.

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An UNDISPUTED Happy Birthday to Wesley Snipes

Is it my imagination or is Wesley Snipes – born on this date in 1962 – sorta like The Black Steven Seagal?

At one time both had promising careers as big-time action stars. Both have recently been dogged by legal woes. And both have been largely relegated to the direct-to-video section of the video store. (Do we still have video stores?)

All Wesley needs to complete the comparison is a bloated reality TV show in which he rides around with some local cops, dispensing Zen justice and signing an autograph or two. ("Oh my gawd?! Is that Wesley Snipes? Oh that's one handsome man! Wait'll I tell my auntie, she watches ALL his movies! Well... not the new ones.")

If you're looking for a flick to pop in for a birthday celebration of Snipes-ian proportions, you could do worse than the underrated prison boxing flick UNDISPUTED, co-starring Ving Rhames and directed by the always-reliable Walter Hill. Lost in the shuffle during his BLADE flicks and attempts to hold onto his Bankable Action Star Membership Card with the likes of ART OF WAR, UNDISPUTED had a blink-and-you-missed-it theatrical run but has spawned at least two sequels directed by Isaac Florentine.

As for the original, Ving Rhames (PULP FICTION, Vanessa Williams' Radio Shack commercial hubbie) stars as The Iceman, an undefeated heavyweight boxing champ serving time for rape. Sound familiar?

Birthday boy Wesley Snipes (BLADE, ART OF WAR) is Monroe Hutchens, serving a life sentence for a murder committed in the heat of passion (naturally). A highly-regarded fighter while on the outside, Hutchens has taken advantage of the prison's boxing program and hasn't lost a fight in the decade that he's been in the joint.

Sent to the same prison where Hutchens reigns supreme, The Iceman quickly tries to establish his dominance through violence and intimidation. When the wheels of the system get set in motion, a battle between Hutchens and The Iceman is inevitable. And to Hill's credit, the inevitable winner isn't a forgone conclusion.

It's too bad that they couldn't have cast The Iceman role with somebody more athletic or believable than Rhames. While he's certainly an imposing presence, he comes off as big and lumbering, not an athlete who dominates his sport on the outside. Snipes, on the other hand, is in marvelous shape (big surprise) and gives his character more humanity, poise and depth than was probably needed.

Unfortunately, writer/director Walter Hill's prison/boxing hybrid was in and out of theaters in a flash and got lost in the 2002 event flick shuffle. Not that it's anything great like Hill's EXTREME PREJUDICE, but it certainly wasn't deserving of this fate.

UNDISPUTED is available from Amazon.com. (ER receives a small referral fee for purchases made through our Amazon links. Thanks for your support.)

LOVE & MONEY Available from Warner Archive

I picked up a sealed VHS of this flick a year or so ago but if tapes aren't your thing James Toback's LOVE & MONEY is now available from the Warner Bros. on-demand Archive Collection service. The flick stars Ray Sharkey, Armand Assante and Klaus Kinski.

Sharkey stars as an LA banker who accepts a million-dollar deal with a global silver magnate (Kinski), starts an affair with the tycoon's wife, and eventually crosses path with his former college roomie who is now a Latin American strongman (Assante). Got all that?

The Warner Archive Collection is an on-demand DVR service that provides fans and collectors with copies of films that the studio doesn't deem profitable enough for wide release. The discs come with full-color packaging, though it's still sorta pricey for a glorified DVR.

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Calling All Kinski Fans: Jesus Christ Saviour on DVD

Back in May I posted that those lucky ducks in Montreal were getting the chance to see Peter Guyer's long-awaited documentary KLAUS KINSKI - JESUS CHRIST SAVIOUR on the big screen.

Though I'd still love to see this look at Klaus Kinski's infamous 1971 performance in front of a Berlin audience on the big screen, the folks at Diabolik DVD now have the import DVD (PAL Region 2) available for purchase.

Check out this look at a Berlin crowd ostensibly attending a reading of the irascible actor/poet's Jesus Christus Erlöser, only to have the evening erupt into anger and amazement.

Hans, Bubi: Happy Anniversary DIE HARD!

Twenty-two years ago John McTiernan's DIE HARD premiered to much skepticism. After the role of detective John McClane was turned down by seemingly every big name actor in Hollywood, the producers paid a then-jaw-dropping $5 million to Moonlighting star Bruce Willis.

We all know how this story turned out. DIE HARD became a smash hit that spawned three sequels, Willis became one of the world's biggest movie stars, and the pitch "It's DIE HARD on (fill in the blank)" turned into a cliché that resulted in flicks like SPEED (bus), UNDER SIEGE (boat), UNDER SIEGE 2 (train), AIR FORCE ONE (plane), etc.

I still remember checking DIE HARD out a few days before its official release. The studio was sneaking it at a local theater to help build word-of-mouth and the strategy worked. My buddies and I raved endlessly about the flick for the next 48 hours and even went to see it again opening weekend. And again and again after that. I'd guesstimate I saw DIE HARD about 15 times in the theater.

Hey, what do you want, I had a lot of free time on my hands in those days.

Thank you DIE HARD. Thank you for reinventing the over-the-top action film. Thank you for making it possible for films like HUDSON HAWK and THE LAST BOY SCOUT to get made. Thank you bringing us Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber. Thank you for being one of the single most re-watchable films of the last 25 years.