Lund, Art

The Molly Maguires

An expensive box-office flop when released in 1970, The Molly Maguires can now be appreciated as a compelling drama with potent political undertones. The talent involved is first-rate all the way: In addition to the volatile teaming of Sean Connery and Richard Harris on opposite sides of a Pennsylvania miners' war, director Martin Ritt and screenwriter Walter Bernstein were at the height of their Hollywood powers, determined to give viewers a visceral, grittily authentic drama about the exploitation of Irish immigrant miners in the centennial America of 1876. Connery's secret gang, the Molly Maguires, retaliates by destroying mines and equipment; Harris infiltrates the group as an informer hired by the coal-company owners, leading to his inevitable crisis of conscience. Pub brawls and manly action give the film its meat-and-potatoes appeal, and discerning viewers will appreciate the story's careful pacing and moral ambiguity; ironically, those qualities were blamed for the film's commercial failure. --Jeff Shannon

The Last American Hero (AKA Hard Driver)

It took him 20 years to find out who he was and 2 laps to let the world know.System Requirements:Run Time: 95 minFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 024543224723 Manufacturer No: 2232472

Black Caesar

Shot on the streets of New York, writer-director Larry Cohen captures the bustle and color of the city in this violent, low-budget crime film. Ambitious Tommy Gibbs (a swaggering, self-confident Fred Williamson) has risen from shoeshine boy to Harlem crime lord, but he wants a bigger piece of the pot. With a racist, high-ranking cop (Art Lund) in his pocket, he begins his expansion with a bloody takeover bid but finds himself betrayed from within and the target of both the cops and the mob. Cohen invests this fast-paced tale (partially inspired by the 1930 gangster classic Little Caesar with a touch of Scarface) with colorful characters (notably a hustling religious leader played by D'Urville Martin), high energy, and a scruffy style. Black Caesar is one of the most entertaining movies to come from the 1970s explosion of low-budget black cast genre pictures, more commonly known as "blaxploitation" films. --Sean Axmaker

Fred Williamson is imposing tough and unflappable (The New York Times) as a street kid who muscles his way into the big-time mob racket in this super-slick crime drama which became the smash hit of its genre and spawned a successful sequel (Hell Up In Harlem). Tommy Gibbs (Williamson) has always had it tough. Growing up on the streets without a father and trying to make his mother proud Tommy resorts to running errands for The Man. But when a crooked cop beats him up Tommy realizes there s a better way to live: by making The Man deliver for him! Infiltrating -- and then destroying -- the infamous Cardoza family Tommy takes over Manhattan as the first black Godfather and puts the squeeze on anyone who dares to get in his way -- including the crooked cop! But as he tightens his grip on others he loses his hold on the most important things in his own life making him the vulnerable target of every cutthroat gangster who ever dreamt of ruling an empire!System Requirements: Running Time 94 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 027616857811 Manufacturer No: 1001461

The Longest Drive

The two Beaudine Bothers refuse rancher Hatcher's offer to go on his cattle drive but change their minds when he is shot. So they head out with six other riders a cook and a recuperating owner heading 1500 cows towards Colorado 1000 miles away. Along the way they will face accidents Indians two of the riders aiming to rustle some of Hatcher's cattle and flee squatters demanding money a stampede and a lack of water.System Requirements:Running Time: 91 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 043396091276 Manufacturer No: 09127

It Lives Again / It's Alive 3 - Island of the Alive

Heads up horror fan you've got an Alive one here! You've got the final two films in the "It's Alive" trilogy of terror filmmaker Larry Cohen's cautionary cult-fave shockers that suggest that humankind's environmental meddling might lead to monstrous mutated born-to-kill offspring. What began as a lone little hellion in "It's Alive" grows more numerous when "It Lives Again." Frederic Forrest and Kathleen Lloyd play parents who realize that perhaps the only way to stop the mutants' deadly spree is to become the bait for their own monster/child. In "It's Alive III: Island of the Alive" the now global terrors are rounded up and relocated to a far-flung island - but not for long. Michael Moriarty and KarenBlack star in a tale of human choices and monstrous consequences. Whew parenthood is a tough gig!Running Time: 186 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR UPC: 085393354022 Manufacturer No: 33540

Bucktown

This middling but entirely watchable blaxploitation thriller from 1975 stars football-legend-turned-actor Fred Williamson as the brother of a murdered bar owner in a racially divided town. After bringing in a gaggle of tough street buddies from the old neighborhood to help break up a corrupt police force, Williamson's character figures he can settle into domestic bliss with Pam Grier. But there's a snag: the hero's restless posse decides to take over the white cops' graft operation, forcing a bloody finale of retribution. In the '70s genre of reactionary revenge movies, Bucktown is a minor entry, and Grier's rather passive performance is certainly anomalous in the blaxploitation vein. But it is worth a visit, especially for cult film completists. --Tom Keogh

Black Caesar [Region 2]

Shot on the streets of New York, writer-director Larry Cohen captures the bustle and color of the city in this violent, low-budget crime film. Ambitious Tommy Gibbs (a swaggering, self-confident Fred Williamson) has risen from shoeshine boy to Harlem crime lord, but he wants a bigger piece of the pot. With a racist, high-ranking cop (Art Lund) in his pocket, he begins his expansion with a bloody takeover bid but finds himself betrayed from within and the target of both the cops and the mob. Cohen invests this fast-paced tale (partially inspired by the 1930 gangster classic Little Caesar with a touch of Scarface) with colorful characters (notably a hustling religious leader played by D'Urville Martin), high energy, and a scruffy style. Black Caesar is one of the most entertaining movies to come from the 1970s explosion of low-budget black cast genre pictures, more commonly known as "blaxploitation" films. --Sean Axmaker

The Molly Maguires [Region 2]

An expensive box-office flop when released in 1970, The Molly Maguires can now be appreciated as a compelling drama with potent political undertones. The talent involved is first-rate all the way: In addition to the volatile teaming of Sean Connery and Richard Harris on opposite sides of a Pennsylvania miners' war, director Martin Ritt and screenwriter Walter Bernstein were at the height of their Hollywood powers, determined to give viewers a visceral, grittily authentic drama about the exploitation of Irish immigrant miners in the centennial America of 1876. Connery's secret gang, the Molly Maguires, retaliates by destroying mines and equipment; Harris infiltrates the group as an informer hired by the coal-company owners, leading to his inevitable crisis of conscience. Pub brawls and manly action give the film its meat-and-potatoes appeal, and discerning viewers will appreciate the story's careful pacing and moral ambiguity; ironically, those qualities were blamed for the film's commercial failure. --Jeff Shannon