Guys,
I just finished delving into the latest issue, which is like a
sweet vacation every time I open a copy. The continued David McCallum interview
is still a great read, but you're killing me by continuing it again! I want to
read it to it's completion, but if you've got that much information out of him,
go ahead and drag it out another year. I could easily read this most excellent
detail of a still very contemporary actor.
Raymond Benson's top ten
almost always draws me in. I may not agree with him on certain films, but his
excellently worded reviews make me want to watch every film again, even if I've
seen it hundreds of times. And sometimes he reminds me that I have to watch a
film again. Keep this guy around, he's got a great way with the
word.
The deep focuses on specific films, such as Dirty Harry or Salem's
Lot, are always welcome. I love the stories from the various levels of
production but there's one thing that I still think is lacking in articles of
this nature. With surviving actors, it'd be nice to see what they're up to
these days, if they have anything coming out, if they're retired, what have
you. It's a rare thing to see this sort of thing and you'd be one up on other
publications for it.
Ray Harryhausen? You slay me. As a huge
Harryhausen fan, it's always a treat to see what the Master says. I still watch
Jason and the Argonauts on a regular basis, I still think Nigel Green's
portrayal of Hercules far surpassed any I'd seen before (prompting me to search
for all his performances) and the skeleton fight scene is so beautiful to behold
I still cheer for Jason's men even though I know they're going to die. Making
the interview a multi-parter only makes me desire the next issue all the
more.
The mention of Bruce Dern at The Players club reminded me that he
was in one of the most overlooked science fiction movies of the seventies:
Silent Running. I've seen stock footage of the movie show up in other, low
budget science fiction shows and films, but none can beat the original. It's
almost a one-man act and I'd love to see a retrospective of it some
day.
Hell, I'd love to see a retrospective on Battlestar Galactica, the
theatrical release. Having seen the remake, I have concluded that the original
has yet to be surpassed in it's creation. I guess I just like model SFX versus
the CGI stuff. You just can't beat it.
Great issue all around again,
folks.
Jon Johnson
Cinema Retro responds: Thanks, Jon. We couldn't have written a more flattering letter ourselves (we know this is true, because we try all the time!) Issue #9 has proven to be our most popular to date as well as our best selling so far, thanks to the support of movie fans like yourself. As for the never--ending David McCallum interview, it's only because we were influenced by the plot of The Spy With My Face. We've actually got McCallum locked in a basement and forced to respond to our questions while an exact double is taking his place on NCIS. As for your suggestions, we're working on a profile of the long-neglected great British actor Nigel Green and we hope to get some comments from Bruce Dern about Silent Running in the near future. Re: Battlestar Gallactica, it's been suggested before, but we confess that we're not acquainted with the series very well. Once Lorne Greene traded his horse for a spaceship, it left us depressed. However, it might be featured as a web site article in the future. Thanks again for keeping the faith. - Lee and Dave