Piccu's Summertime Movietime Picks O' the Week for July 16-21

Well, better late than never I always say. I guess I forgot to leave you with your weekly Summertime Movietime picks last Friday so I will make it up to you by posting them Monday, today. All these will be found on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) or Netflix or wherever else great movies are found.

On July 19 at 12 AM EASTERN you can watch one of my favorite war movies in All Quiet on the Western Front. It tells the story of some young German soldiers in WWI. It is very interesting to see how the other side was affected by this huge war. It shows us that even though we are in war and fighting an enemy we hate, the soldiers of the enemy are just as human as our soldiers. It is a great film and really makes an impact. This film was number 54 on the original AFI 100 Films list.

Also on July 19 at 9:15 AM EASTERN you can see a crazy what if type movie in Fail Safe. It stars Henry Fonda as the president of the U. S. who has to make hard choices after a failure in the U.S. security systems threaten to start WWIII. This movie also stars Walter Matthau and Larry Hagman. I watched the movie a few years ago and it was a tense and suspense filled couple of hours. This movie could be called the serious version of Dr. Strangelove. This movie shows just how frighteningly one computer malfunction could end the world.

Also on July 19 at 6 PM EASTERN TCM presents a movie I just recently watched, The Thing from Another World. This movie is about UFOs and aliens in the Arctic. Some of you may have seen UFO and alien movies from the 1950s and for the most part they are crappy. This movie on the other hand is not one of them. I thought this move was the best 1950s alien movie I have seen. It is creepy and suspenseful without being hokey and over the top.

This movie stars James Arness, who went on to later fame as Marshall Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke, as the monster. This movie was produced by the legendary Howard Hawks and some historians believe that, even though the credits say this movie is directed by Christian Nyby, that Hawks himself had the most input on the direction of this film. That may explain why it is so good. A must see for sci-fi fans and Hawks fans. Also this movie was remade by John Carpenter and renamed The Thing and from what I hear it is as good or better than the original.

Lastly we have a movie that is part of TCM Underground which means it is going to be weird and or freaky. On July 21 at 2 AM EASTERN you need to watch a movie called I Bury the Living. This is a cult movie starring no one you know, but the story is excellent and after it is over you will wonder why someone hasn’t remade this film with a big Hollywood budget. Here’s the setup, a cemetery keeper thinks he can mark people for death. Pretty simple. It is low budget but is very intriguing and has a twist ending that may take you a few rewinds to totally grasp. Who could ask for more?

Well, there you go, a mini version for this week. If I can remember I will give you some more for next week on Thursday or Friday. Until then, keep your hands in the popcorn and your feet stuck to the floor.