Saturday August 2nd, 2008
The Midnight Meat Train (2008) ** - Ryuhei Kitamura's adaptation of Clive Barker's excellent short story has been getting the shaft by it's studio Lions Gate. So much that it only opened on the contractually obliged 100 screens and with that, only at second run discount houses. Advance word of mouth on the film would have you believe it was a horror masterpiece. It falls well short of that mark but has moments of gory mayhem that are worth the price of admission. The story is about a young photographer who is slightly obsessed with finding the gritty "real" side of New York city through his lens. While trying to do so, he discovers a disconnected butcher stalking the late night subway trains who is brutally killing lone passengers like cattle. Soon the two will find their lives intertwining as we discover what purpose the murders on the trains serve. The short story this is based on is direct, compact and to the point. So the film had to take a lot of liberties to flesh it out. Pretty much the whole book is here (there are some slight changes to the ending) but the whole photographer bit is new to the film. All of that works fine. What doesn't work is that the script loses its footing in a couple of places, most notably in that the main character keeps having nightmares about the murders on the train, even before he has any knowledge of them. The pacing also flags at times, with a start/stop feel that bogs down when we are spending time with the photographer's domestic life. But then that could be more to do with the complete miscasting of the lead actor. The photographer is played by Bradley Cooper who has most recently been seen as a supporting player on Nip/Tuck. He's one of those pretty boy actors who, thanks to his expensive bridge work, looks like he is smirking all the time. Which works fine for his goofy TV roles, but when he is trying to be serious it doesn't work at all. He looks like he is laughing even when he is trying to perform pathos. His girlfriend Leslie Bibb, also another Nip/Tuck alumnus, is pretty much the same thing. A pretty face with limited acting ability who fails to register on screen. Vinnie Jones plays the butcher and does fine considering he has one line in the whole film. What does work however are the extremely brutal kill scenes. Even though they are largely digital work, they are creatively handled, suddenly vicious and have some weight to them. So kudos for trying to play it seriously. Kitamura keeps his cinematic fireworks in check unlike his Japanese films such as the abominable Versus (which everyone seems to love but me, I think its terrible) and thank the gods for that. If this had been over directed like his other work it would have been nigh unwatchable. As it stands now, it is somewhat enjoyable but hamstrung by weak performances and some lazy script wirting. First time seeing this.
A.P.E. (1976) *1/2- Paul Leder director of such grindhouse classics as I Dismember Mama and My Friends Need Killing made this King Kong rip off and is clearly out of his depth and seems to know it from the get go. There is no real story to get in the way of the goofiness as a ship carrying a giant ape appears at sea. A captain and his deck hand quietly share a smoke and explain that there is a giant ape on board and that he is sedated and should be asleep for several days. Then suddenly, a gigantic fake monkey hand bursts though the set. The ship mate in the most dead pan voice in the history of cinema says "oh shit." Cut to a toy boat breaking apart and a guy in a money suit rising from the water and then it is non-stop stupidity from there on out. The giant ape makes his way to the shores of Korea and starts stomping his way across country. Meanwhile an American actress played by the mom from Growing Pains is busy making a film there that only seems to consist of rape scenes, who is being romanced by a reporter. It is only a matter of time before the monkey finds her and falls in love. Between those moments he interrupts a Kung Fu movie shoot, chases a bunch of kids at an amusement park, breaks lots of model buildings and pisses off some military guys who never leave the same room until the end of the movie. During one scene where the ape fights off military helicopters he flips them the bird showing just how seriously Paul Leder was taking the movie. He eventually does kidnap the babe but does nothing with her and the Army moves in for the big showdown. Thats the plot, nothing more deep than that. Monkey breaks shit. Army breaks monkey. Apparently at some point this must have been conceived as a 3-D movie as tons of stuff gets jammed into the camera, but I've not seen a print anywhere that actually looks to have been in 3-D. Ridiculous, sometimes fun, but more often than not, plodding and a little bit dull. First time seeing this.
Thursday August 7th, 2008
Wanted (2008) ** - Completely over the top action spectacle about an anxiety ridden office boy who discovers he is the son of a famous assassin who worked as part of a secret society of killers. It seems he is now marked to take his father's place and take out the dude who did pops in. Over-directed to the gills by Russian director Timur Bemambetov who made the similarly over the top Nightwatch and Daywatch. From the get go, this thing is filled with computer animation, sped up and slowed down footage, altered shots, anything else you can think of to take it out of reality. If you thought The Matrix went too far with this sort of thing this movie will drive you bonkers. But its tongue is firmly planted in cheek, but made bearable by the fact that no matter how far over the top it goes, the cast is playing it very straight. So it is a live action cartoon being played out seriously. The script is no great shakes, taking liberal heaps of Fight Club in the first half before pumping up the action. But what I did like about it was the general viciousness of the movie. During a late in the movie train wreck sequence the good guys cause pretty much all the passengers to die without blinking an eye. No one seems to care or ever is it mentioned. There's bodies everywhere, but we're supposed too think its an okay thing to do to get the bad guy! There is also a shitload of interpersonal violence sprinkled throughout the movie as well. Lots of knife wounds and splashy bullet hits. It is surprisingly violent for a summertime action film (to see the opposite just look at the trailer for the Vin Diesel Babylon A.D. movie which I saw today and has a PG-13). Overall Wanted is ridiculous and actually pretty stupid at times. But I'll be damned if it isn't entertaining too. First time seeing this.
Friday Aug 8, 2008
Hate.com (2002)** -This America Undercover documentary for HBO about hate groups on the web is pretty informative, but the fact that it is so short (part of the America Undercover format) it doesn't delve nearly deep enough into the subject matter. Many of the movers and shakers of the various hate groups are interviewed but not enough to get under their skin. A lot of time is spent on the idea of the "Lone Wolf" which is basically how these groups get away with various violent crimes. A person will go out and kill in the name of say the Aryan Nations but since the hate groups are so splintered the groups basically say he was a lone wolf acting on his own accord and not on any kind of directive by the group. Also quite a bit of time is given to William Pierce's book The Turner Diaries and how it has basiclaly helped indoctrinate many people into his hate group The National Alliance. The explore the theory that Timothy McVeigh was inspired by the book to blow up the Oklahoma City building. But my conspiracy theory self doesn't believe that. First time seeing this.
Psycho Kickboxer: The Dark Angel (1997) ** - Perfectly servicable no budget actioneer and starring vehicle for one Curtis Bush 5 time Kickboxing Champion. This thing has been kicking around in the $1 bins for years but Pop Cinema has put it out now on their Shock-O-Rama lable wih a fairly nice transfer (it gets REAL grainy towards the end though) with a second film called Carnival of Blood. I had heard that Psycho Kickboxer was terrible over the years but it actually isn't at all. As far as these kinds of American chop socky flicks go its no worse than the dozens of Kung Fu movies that Roger Corman pumped out through the 90's. Curtis Bush plays the kickboxing son of a cop. But when Mob thugs kill his dad (with a shocking exploding head shotgun blast you may want to rewind) gang rape and kill his fiance and leave him for dead, its time for revenge. He's nursed back to health by a warehouse dwelling Black Army vet who was crippled by the same Mobster his dad was hunting. So the Black Crippled Guy helps train our hero in street smarts so he can take on the bad guys. Along the way he starts sneaking out into the streets in a ninja outfit and putting the whoop ass on criminals for the hell of it, thus being labled by the press "The Dark Angel". The acting ranges from okay (the pretty female tabloid reporter) the the atrocious (his fiance who gets raped) and everywhere in between. The martial arts aren't bad at all, but they are not shot very well and edited even less so. But what saves them is that there is lots and lots of bloody violence. Obviously they were Steven Seagal fans (and Seagal fans will appreciate that Curtis Bush runs even funnier than Seagal does, which is saying something!) because they emmulate his splatter filled fight scenes. Bush himself is fine during the fighting, but is pretty flat during scenes when he is trying to emote, but shit, thats not much different than a lot of other action stars. I really don't see why this didn't sell to cable or get a better release than it did. I think it just fell into piss poor rip off distribution. Hopefully this new DVD will change that. First time seeing this.
Saturday August 9th 2008
Can I Do It Till I Need Glasses? (1977)* - No this is not a documentary about my sexual self abuse practices as of late, but instead a late 70's sexy comedy sequel to the drive in hit If You Don't Stop You Will Go Blind! which played well in many bible belt cruise ins. This movie is a weird one,being a skit comedy film with each skit leading up to ONE punch line. Not a series of small jokes leading to one big punch line, but huge sets ups, involving lavish costumes, sets, special effects, titles and music all for one lousy punchline. And they are usually ones you've heard. For example. Doorbell rings, inside a couple are arguing. The man opens the door to find a guy wearing a bag over his head, holding a gun but otherwise naked. The husband yells out "Take all our money, just don't hurt us!" The guy with the bag on his head says "I'm not a robber! I'm a rapist!" So the husband turns to his wife and says "Hey Honey its for you!" Badabump! And that was actually the shortest and funniest set up of the movie. The coup is that Robin Williams appears for all of two minutes but it was enough for this movie to get a rerelease when he hit it big on Mork & Mindy. This new release from Code Red looks pretty good. The colors are a bit muted here and there most likely from being a print source, or maybe just it was filmed on the cheap that way. It sounds fine. As much as I love Code red, I didn't buy this one and I don't see me adding it to my collection either. First time seeing this.
Death Weekend (1975) **1/2 - Fairly tense Desperate Hours style riff with that nasty Last House on the Left type vibe going for it too. Don Stroud plays a leader of a group of ruffians who almost run Bredna Vaccaro and Chuck Shamata off the road. But it turns out she is a top notch speed driver and takes them for a run thus deflating their manhood and then takes them right into a creek bed. This explodes the boys macho rage setting the stage for them to hunt the couple down and take care of some business. But once at the house we realize that our male hero is not such a great guy either. He's possessive and proud of his money. He see's people as objects and has two way mirrors with cameras behind them so he can watch his female companions undress. Soon the gang show up and it is a battle of the wills as the slow burn starts with each man trying a bit of territorial pissing, until an escape attempt brings out the loaded shotgun and things get ugly fast. But surprisingly it turns out to be the woman who takes charge and brings the final battle to a boiling point. Director William Fruet does a good job with the material and should be commended for trying really hard to pour some social commentary in about class struggles as well as having some sympathy towards both sides of the coin. Unfortunately the movie lags pretty hard in the mid section, especially when they start trashing the house. It should be distressing but instead it just seems silly and overlong. The lack of any real likable characters hurts the movie as well. Its hard to get attached to Brenda Vacaro's cold fish character, and her love interest is just as prick. Stroud is a very scary bad guy and plays it well, you can't like him at all. There is one great moment when he is trying to rape Brenda Vacaro. The whole time she is struggling and fighting and yelling, while he continues to tell her to "fight more, it makes it more exciting". Then she just stops fighting him, goes limp and just looks at him with fear and disgust. She says nothing, but her look says everything. And he just stops dead cold like a deer in headlights. Like she just saw through who he really was. He tries to keep the facade up for a second saying "Why'd you stop?" But he realizes he can't rape her anymore. He can't get it up and do it. She just took his power away. Even after she slaps him again. He just roughs her up and pushes her out of the room. This scene is the movies crown jewel moment. The rest is serviceable. First time seeing this.I actually watched it over a week ago and forgot to blog about it though...
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Movies so far in June
Tues June 3rd 2008
The Devils (1971) **** - Ken Russell's masterpiece based on the book The Devils of Loudon by Aldous Huxley is a terrifying and thrilling piece of cinema that is still shocking today. Hence why it is still not on legit DVD and censored in all existing prints. The story of a priest, who cannot help himself to the pleasures of the flesh because as he puts it, he has a thirst to get to God quicker, finds himself forced into a position of defence as Loudon comes under attack from the crown. Meanwhile a nun that is infatuated with him is used being against him to topple his authority. This causes the entire convent to be accused of being possessed resulting in mass hysteria and a trial for witchcraft and heresy. The film is rife with imagery that is blasphemous and horrifying such as the purification of the nuns through enema's, the scene where the nun imagines the priest as Christ coming off the cross as she licks his wounds and fellates him as well as the only reinstated in the bootleg cuts, infamous "Rape of Christ" scene where the insane nuns pull a huge statue of Jesus down and literally fuck it. But the movie is about so much more than ballistic theatrics. It is about a man who finds God when he least expects to. About a time when corruption reigns supreme both in church and state and about when those two things intertwine to the point of pure strangulation. It is about how of love and sexuality should not excluded from loving the lord, and how those things can be perverted for political ends. Truly it is an amazing work for audiences that can take the risk.I have seen this many times before.
Saturday June 7th 2008
Werewolf In A Womans Prison (2007) ** - This shot on Hi Def video splatter/ Women in Prison/ Monster mash certainly tries very hard to please, and truthfully if drive-ins and grindhouses still existed to show exploitation movies this is the kind of thing they would show. So on that level it succeeds. A woman is bit by a werewolf while camping with her boyfriend in Mexico. Her boyfriend dies and she is imprisoned for his death in a brutal woman's prison where they use the prison's population for soft core porno. Soon she is seeing her dead boyfriend's ghost who warns her that under the ful moon she will change into the werewolf herself. After a prison yard dust up where she breaks arms and busts heads, she finds herself turning beastly and wrecking extremely bloody havoc. There is tons of boobs bared (some very impressive), gallons of blood and creative gore and a real attempt to throwback to the days of yore. The problem is that the acting is from acceptable to bad, the effects are only okay (with really poor digital work), and the story line lifts way too much from An American Werewolf in London for comfort. So it all just levels out as just an okay time waster at best. If your looking for gore and boobs this will fit your bill, but it could have easily gave us much more. First time seeing this.
The Sinful Dwarf (1973) **1/2 - This is one grimy little movie! I guess this was supposed to be a sex movie but what it ends up being is a twisted, grotesque little peep into a perverse world that is so fucked up you almost have to appreciate it just for the sheer repellent factor. The story is about a dwarf named Olaf and his Mother (a former actress) who own a boarding house. But in the attic they keep a room full of chained naked women that are hooked on heroin that they pimp out to particularly disgusting men looking for a lay. When a down on their luck newly wed couple rent a room Olaf and Mommy set their sights on the new voluptuous gal to add spice to the midnight playpen. Olaf is played by a dwarf actor named Torben who apparently was a children's show host in Denmark. He's a frickin force of nature with his gravel voice, insane laugh and penchant for playing with toys. Whenever he is on screen the movie is locked in for the kill. You can't take your filthy eyes off of it. Mommy has a penchant for reliving her glory days by doing sad renditions of Carmen Miranda numbers complete with full on costumes and smeared liptick. These are some of the most frightening moments in the film and are sure to send chills up your spine. The whole movie is dark, brooding and looks like it was dipped in piss, right down to the set design and props. Nothing is clean in this movie and you will feel dirty for watching it. But for some reason I find that to be a reason to recommend it. Seen this before. BTW the DVD that is floating around from over seas is NOT remastered. Severin DVD is planning a new release. Check out this bit from You Tube about that upcoming release. Its hilarious!
Wed June 11, 2008
Dream Deceivers:The Story behind The Judas Priest Trial (1992)***- Very engrossing hour long documentary about the whole backmasking hootanany that almost took down the band Judas Priest in the mid 80's because a couple of Midwestern teens decided to blow their brains out. One of them lived after shotgunning off his face and claimed that it was the music of Judas Priest that led him to do it. His Christian conservative parents sued the band claiming that the song "Better By You, Better Than Me" contained subliminal messages and hidden phrases including the words "do it". This documentary includes a lot of interview footage with the band, James Vance the boy who blew his face off (now severely deformed) and his family. Much of the trial is shown as well. Many experts are brought in to analyze the music in which they find lots of little messages, many of which "could" be something. Yet it seems more likely the power of suggestion is at play. More important is the discourse of Vance himself who openly admits to doing drugs and seems intent on hanging his misery on the music instead of his home life. He's a sad figure who was clearly depressed and probably mentally ill. His abusive stepfather who admits to beating him in the documentary but lies about in the trial probably didn't help matters. All in all its clear that the band is totally innocent of any wrong doing and that the family is at fault but totally running from their demons. Ironically enough, a theme in much of Judas Priests music. First time seeing this. Watched it on Google video.
Thursday June 12, 2008
Sylvia (1976) **1/2 - Entertaining and goofy porno that is enlivened by surprisingly high production values and an energetic performance one time performer Joanne Bell. The movie is a take off on the popular (and recently remade) 70's mental illness drama SYBIL in which a woman who has multiple personality disorder from some sexual experience in her past starts fragmenting in her adult life. In this movie Sylvia acts out sexually and dons several personalities such as Mona who ravishes a vacuum cleaner salesman (played by Marc "10 1/2" Stevens) or a bullish lesbian. Frankly all her personalities seem the same though as they all shed their clothes, are aggressive, leer hysterically and perform analingus on the surprised dudes she is shagging. The most hilarious scene has her defrocking a pastor after terrorizing him with a giant crucifix she has torn off the wall. There is an impromtu exorcism scene too that is a riot. Directed by one Peter Savage aka Armand Peters who was a "made man" in the New York film scene and friends with the boxing legend Jake LeMotta. He basically helped write the book that Raging Bull was based on. The movie is kookily directed with lots of off kilter cutaways and loving melodrama that makes it feel like you have tuned into a a hardcore soap opera from another planet. But it is impressively shot with slick camera work, nice music and decent production values making it a unique movie both for its genre and vintage. But the real reason to buy this disc is the outstanding, must listen, commentary from assistant director and genre legend Bill Lustig (director of Maniac and Blue Underground head honcho, like you needed to know that). He is a great story teller and filled with dozens from the era, not just of the hardcore industry. He's hilarious, but so informative making the track outstanding. This is seriously one of the best commentary tracks ever. His tales of dealing with Joanne Bell, (though his hatred of her is a bit much), are enough for the price alone! A decent movie made a must for the commentary. First time seeing this.
The Zodiac Rapist (1971) *1/2 - Ultra no budget xxx that sought to capitalize on then hot news topic of the Zodiac Killer. Uh, yeah when I want to get hot and bothered the first thing I want to think of is the current serial killer on the loose! This has got to be one of the most wrong headed ideas for a porno ever. John Holmes stars as the title dude but don't take it too literally as the women he goes after are hardly what you would call victims. This is pure goofiness and while there is nonstop sex, no one is ever really "assaulted" as they see Holmes and his huge member and immediately want him to do his stuff. Only in the porno world... Immediately we know we are in no budget lunacy from the get go as we watch a girl planting flowers with no pants or underwear. In a tasteless close up we see that she has the hairiest, dirties butt in porno history. But John Holmes just happens to be hiding in the bushes and turned on by this nasty brown eye. He's Naked and masturbating. When she sticks the rake handle into her nether regions he decides he'd be better suited and they go to town. All the sound is post dubbed and doesn't match. I mean at all. Mouths are closed but moans are loud and furious. Later we meet Sam Dobbs the hero of the story, a clean cut, kinda chubby, perpetually naked detective on the case of the Zodiac Rapist. If only because the rapist keeps calling and pestering him. Dobbs is doing his secretary who is wearing this intensely scary nursing bra in which her nipples stick out of like horrifiying flesh torpedoes. Dobbs tells her in a dubbed over voice " I don't mind being sucked by you, but I hate being fucked by the Zodiac!" He's interrupted by an applicant for another secretary whom he proceeds to screw as a test to see if she could lure the Zodiac out of hiding. Later when she goes home the Zodiac climbs a tree to see her in her room and masturbates while in the tree. It's kind of impressive. He breaks into the house where her and another girl are sleeping on the bed together and announces "I'm the Zodiac Rapist" and a huge blast of guitar feedback shoots through the soundtrack as his theme. They both let him ravish them until Dobbs shows up. Holmes jumps off the balcony, doing his own impressive stunts. Later we see Holmes driving around looking for new victims and he is masturbating even while driving! Finally Dobbs gets help from a dominatrix Police woman who will help him catch the Zodiac but for some reason Dobbs has a real hard time getting it up for her (even though shes the cutest girl in the movie). This thing is nuts. Its terrible, the sex is unappealing for the most part (one girl's vagina looks like uncooked pot roast) but there is enough hilarity, especially the dubbed over dialogue to make it worth it at times. Holmes is clearly having a blast doing stunts and whacking off in public. This is way before the coke starting ravaging him. Too goofy to ignore. There is another Sam Dobbs adventure in this DVD package I have yet to watch. First time seeing this.
Sunday June 15th 2008
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) **1/2 - Decent enough Americanization of the Hong Kong fantasy/action films that characterized the Chinese output of the eighties. The plot is pure hokum and pretty disposable as an American kid finds a magic staff in a Chinese pawn shop and during a robbery by some young punks is whisked away into feudal China. There it turns out the staff belonged to the Monkey King, an always jovial, very hairy Kung Fu god who was turned to stone by an angry general 500 years before. Seems this kid is now the chosen sentry to take the staff back to the now concrete Monkey King so he can will be freed. But the General is still ruling since he is Immortal or magick or some shit, so it wont be an easy task. All of this information is related by Jackie Chan during one long flashback and dialogue sequence by the way. The kid befriends Jackie Chan who basically reprises his famous Drunken Master roll from the series he made famous. Along the way they pick up a vengeful and beautiful harp playing gal and a renegade monk played by Jet Li (who also plays the Monkey King). The movie moves at a brisk pace and the fight choreography is outstanding as to be expected. The big money fight between Jet Li and Jackie Chan in the middle of the movie is a ten minute long show stopping affair that is worth the price of admission alone. If you came to see those two titans battle it out with all the famous styles of Kung Fu, you will be satisfied. The fights are shot and edited like a Hong Kong flick too, so there is a noticable lack of fast editing and too close for comfort camera work to try and hide anything. The action is the reason to see the movie. Though it is also curiously un-exciting at times (save the Li/Chan fight) mainly because the movie is clearly aimed at families you never get the feeling there is real danger. Though there is some surprising violence now and again (the good guys kill a couple of people) it still feels kind of like going through the motions. Things are not helped by the lead character played by Michael Angaramo. I don't know if it was his performance, or the writing of the character, but the kid is a zero watt bulb. He's such a wuss that you want him to get his ass kicked throughout most of the movie just to teach him to man up a little bit. In fact, even though the plot hinges on him, you wish he'd just disappear and let the other character's lead, as they are out doing him charisma wise in every single shot. Another interesting thing about the movie is the amount of references to classic Hong Kong cinema. Numerous Bruce Lee nods abound, Jackie Chan doing the Drunken Master routine, Li playing the Monkey King from famous Monkey series, and there is a villainess who is clearly The Bride With White Hair (from part two though, after she became a man hating assassin). In fact they name check that movie just so you get it. The opening credits are a wonderful collage of poster images from classic Kung Fu movies. So over all its fun and diverting with one classic fight in the center. But it is the American elements (I.E. the kid, the flimsy script) that make it less than it could have been. First time seeing this.
The Machine Girl (2008) ** - Completely over the top Japanese splatter/Yakuza/comedy tries so hard to be hip that it almost hurts. While the movie at times is fun, and there is more than a few arresting images and moments, ultimately this has more in common with a video game than an actual movie. The plot is fairly simple, too simple actually. A college age girl's brother is killed by other similar age thugs, one of whom is part of a Yakuza/Ninja family. For reasons never explained, she has a lot of martial arts training and goes after these thugs and the Yakuza family. In the process she is caught, tortured and has her arm chopped off. She manages to escape and is taken in by the mechanic family of the other boy that was also killed. they create a gatlin gun replacement arm for her and she (as well as the mother of the boy) go and a killing spree of revenge. She also replaces her hand with a chainsaw at one point too just in case you weren't getting the Army Of Darkness reference. The movie is extremely over the top, with gallons of blood spilled in great geysers, even beyond the typical Japanese arterial spray found in the Baby Cart films. The gore in this movie has more in common with the early films of Peter Jackson than anything else. But while the gore is going over the top, the film itself tries to play everything completely straight, no matter how super-ludicrous it gets. Which SHOULD work, but most of the time doesn't. It takes a director with a special flare to pull this off. Takashi Miike has done it over and over such as in Ichi The Killer or Fudoh both of which this movie seems to want to be like (minus the sexuality, this movie is totally absent of sexuality). Yet director Noburo Iguchi doesn't seem to rise to the challenge. Instead the film feels forced and flat, only coming to life during the outrageous gore scenes and not even all of those work, hampered by some poor effects and situations that are so extreme you are taken out of the movie. In the Peter Jackson movies you were dealing with the supernatural so you could go overboard and make it work, here you are still sort of playing in the real world to an extent. So when a guy is having nails driving into his face over and over and doesn't die. You sort of are jsut left wondering why its happening. But what do I know? It is already becoming a huge cult hit and everyone seems to love it. I just felt like it was missing the mark and recycling stuff that other filmmakers have done better. First time seeing this.
Sunday June 22, 2008
Sole Survivor (1983) *** - Solid, atmospheric and fairly scary flick that has recently been released on DVD from Code Red is a little diamond in the rough waiting to be rediscovered. The plot is fairly similar to the Final Destination movies, so much so that the director of this movie tried to initiate legal proceedings at one point. A young woman mysteriously survives a plane crash only to start having creepy people following her everywhere. A washed up actress dreamed about her situation before it happened and is trying to warn her about the impending doom that is oncoming. Seems that these figures are something much more deadly. The plot devices here aren't that hard to figure out and owe a pretty big debt to Carnival of Souls (no she is not already dead though). But what makes this movie sing is that it takes it time to build up realistic characters and a real sense of dread. Beautiful camera work and a slow, careful direction really crawls under your skin so when the well timed scares happen they are immensely effective. There is a bit of jumble in the midsection where the movie tries to through in some exploitation elements to try and appease the grindhouse crowds (Brinke Stevens makes an appearance and takes off her shirt for no good reason at all), but the film gets on track pretty quickly for a rousing climax. Though I found the epilogue to be a bit unsatisfying. But otherwise this is highly recommended. First time seeing this.
The Devils (1971) **** - Ken Russell's masterpiece based on the book The Devils of Loudon by Aldous Huxley is a terrifying and thrilling piece of cinema that is still shocking today. Hence why it is still not on legit DVD and censored in all existing prints. The story of a priest, who cannot help himself to the pleasures of the flesh because as he puts it, he has a thirst to get to God quicker, finds himself forced into a position of defence as Loudon comes under attack from the crown. Meanwhile a nun that is infatuated with him is used being against him to topple his authority. This causes the entire convent to be accused of being possessed resulting in mass hysteria and a trial for witchcraft and heresy. The film is rife with imagery that is blasphemous and horrifying such as the purification of the nuns through enema's, the scene where the nun imagines the priest as Christ coming off the cross as she licks his wounds and fellates him as well as the only reinstated in the bootleg cuts, infamous "Rape of Christ" scene where the insane nuns pull a huge statue of Jesus down and literally fuck it. But the movie is about so much more than ballistic theatrics. It is about a man who finds God when he least expects to. About a time when corruption reigns supreme both in church and state and about when those two things intertwine to the point of pure strangulation. It is about how of love and sexuality should not excluded from loving the lord, and how those things can be perverted for political ends. Truly it is an amazing work for audiences that can take the risk.I have seen this many times before.
Saturday June 7th 2008
Werewolf In A Womans Prison (2007) ** - This shot on Hi Def video splatter/ Women in Prison/ Monster mash certainly tries very hard to please, and truthfully if drive-ins and grindhouses still existed to show exploitation movies this is the kind of thing they would show. So on that level it succeeds. A woman is bit by a werewolf while camping with her boyfriend in Mexico. Her boyfriend dies and she is imprisoned for his death in a brutal woman's prison where they use the prison's population for soft core porno. Soon she is seeing her dead boyfriend's ghost who warns her that under the ful moon she will change into the werewolf herself. After a prison yard dust up where she breaks arms and busts heads, she finds herself turning beastly and wrecking extremely bloody havoc. There is tons of boobs bared (some very impressive), gallons of blood and creative gore and a real attempt to throwback to the days of yore. The problem is that the acting is from acceptable to bad, the effects are only okay (with really poor digital work), and the story line lifts way too much from An American Werewolf in London for comfort. So it all just levels out as just an okay time waster at best. If your looking for gore and boobs this will fit your bill, but it could have easily gave us much more. First time seeing this.
The Sinful Dwarf (1973) **1/2 - This is one grimy little movie! I guess this was supposed to be a sex movie but what it ends up being is a twisted, grotesque little peep into a perverse world that is so fucked up you almost have to appreciate it just for the sheer repellent factor. The story is about a dwarf named Olaf and his Mother (a former actress) who own a boarding house. But in the attic they keep a room full of chained naked women that are hooked on heroin that they pimp out to particularly disgusting men looking for a lay. When a down on their luck newly wed couple rent a room Olaf and Mommy set their sights on the new voluptuous gal to add spice to the midnight playpen. Olaf is played by a dwarf actor named Torben who apparently was a children's show host in Denmark. He's a frickin force of nature with his gravel voice, insane laugh and penchant for playing with toys. Whenever he is on screen the movie is locked in for the kill. You can't take your filthy eyes off of it. Mommy has a penchant for reliving her glory days by doing sad renditions of Carmen Miranda numbers complete with full on costumes and smeared liptick. These are some of the most frightening moments in the film and are sure to send chills up your spine. The whole movie is dark, brooding and looks like it was dipped in piss, right down to the set design and props. Nothing is clean in this movie and you will feel dirty for watching it. But for some reason I find that to be a reason to recommend it. Seen this before. BTW the DVD that is floating around from over seas is NOT remastered. Severin DVD is planning a new release. Check out this bit from You Tube about that upcoming release. Its hilarious!
Wed June 11, 2008
Dream Deceivers:The Story behind The Judas Priest Trial (1992)***- Very engrossing hour long documentary about the whole backmasking hootanany that almost took down the band Judas Priest in the mid 80's because a couple of Midwestern teens decided to blow their brains out. One of them lived after shotgunning off his face and claimed that it was the music of Judas Priest that led him to do it. His Christian conservative parents sued the band claiming that the song "Better By You, Better Than Me" contained subliminal messages and hidden phrases including the words "do it". This documentary includes a lot of interview footage with the band, James Vance the boy who blew his face off (now severely deformed) and his family. Much of the trial is shown as well. Many experts are brought in to analyze the music in which they find lots of little messages, many of which "could" be something. Yet it seems more likely the power of suggestion is at play. More important is the discourse of Vance himself who openly admits to doing drugs and seems intent on hanging his misery on the music instead of his home life. He's a sad figure who was clearly depressed and probably mentally ill. His abusive stepfather who admits to beating him in the documentary but lies about in the trial probably didn't help matters. All in all its clear that the band is totally innocent of any wrong doing and that the family is at fault but totally running from their demons. Ironically enough, a theme in much of Judas Priests music. First time seeing this. Watched it on Google video.
Thursday June 12, 2008
Sylvia (1976) **1/2 - Entertaining and goofy porno that is enlivened by surprisingly high production values and an energetic performance one time performer Joanne Bell. The movie is a take off on the popular (and recently remade) 70's mental illness drama SYBIL in which a woman who has multiple personality disorder from some sexual experience in her past starts fragmenting in her adult life. In this movie Sylvia acts out sexually and dons several personalities such as Mona who ravishes a vacuum cleaner salesman (played by Marc "10 1/2" Stevens) or a bullish lesbian. Frankly all her personalities seem the same though as they all shed their clothes, are aggressive, leer hysterically and perform analingus on the surprised dudes she is shagging. The most hilarious scene has her defrocking a pastor after terrorizing him with a giant crucifix she has torn off the wall. There is an impromtu exorcism scene too that is a riot. Directed by one Peter Savage aka Armand Peters who was a "made man" in the New York film scene and friends with the boxing legend Jake LeMotta. He basically helped write the book that Raging Bull was based on. The movie is kookily directed with lots of off kilter cutaways and loving melodrama that makes it feel like you have tuned into a a hardcore soap opera from another planet. But it is impressively shot with slick camera work, nice music and decent production values making it a unique movie both for its genre and vintage. But the real reason to buy this disc is the outstanding, must listen, commentary from assistant director and genre legend Bill Lustig (director of Maniac and Blue Underground head honcho, like you needed to know that). He is a great story teller and filled with dozens from the era, not just of the hardcore industry. He's hilarious, but so informative making the track outstanding. This is seriously one of the best commentary tracks ever. His tales of dealing with Joanne Bell, (though his hatred of her is a bit much), are enough for the price alone! A decent movie made a must for the commentary. First time seeing this.
The Zodiac Rapist (1971) *1/2 - Ultra no budget xxx that sought to capitalize on then hot news topic of the Zodiac Killer. Uh, yeah when I want to get hot and bothered the first thing I want to think of is the current serial killer on the loose! This has got to be one of the most wrong headed ideas for a porno ever. John Holmes stars as the title dude but don't take it too literally as the women he goes after are hardly what you would call victims. This is pure goofiness and while there is nonstop sex, no one is ever really "assaulted" as they see Holmes and his huge member and immediately want him to do his stuff. Only in the porno world... Immediately we know we are in no budget lunacy from the get go as we watch a girl planting flowers with no pants or underwear. In a tasteless close up we see that she has the hairiest, dirties butt in porno history. But John Holmes just happens to be hiding in the bushes and turned on by this nasty brown eye. He's Naked and masturbating. When she sticks the rake handle into her nether regions he decides he'd be better suited and they go to town. All the sound is post dubbed and doesn't match. I mean at all. Mouths are closed but moans are loud and furious. Later we meet Sam Dobbs the hero of the story, a clean cut, kinda chubby, perpetually naked detective on the case of the Zodiac Rapist. If only because the rapist keeps calling and pestering him. Dobbs is doing his secretary who is wearing this intensely scary nursing bra in which her nipples stick out of like horrifiying flesh torpedoes. Dobbs tells her in a dubbed over voice " I don't mind being sucked by you, but I hate being fucked by the Zodiac!" He's interrupted by an applicant for another secretary whom he proceeds to screw as a test to see if she could lure the Zodiac out of hiding. Later when she goes home the Zodiac climbs a tree to see her in her room and masturbates while in the tree. It's kind of impressive. He breaks into the house where her and another girl are sleeping on the bed together and announces "I'm the Zodiac Rapist" and a huge blast of guitar feedback shoots through the soundtrack as his theme. They both let him ravish them until Dobbs shows up. Holmes jumps off the balcony, doing his own impressive stunts. Later we see Holmes driving around looking for new victims and he is masturbating even while driving! Finally Dobbs gets help from a dominatrix Police woman who will help him catch the Zodiac but for some reason Dobbs has a real hard time getting it up for her (even though shes the cutest girl in the movie). This thing is nuts. Its terrible, the sex is unappealing for the most part (one girl's vagina looks like uncooked pot roast) but there is enough hilarity, especially the dubbed over dialogue to make it worth it at times. Holmes is clearly having a blast doing stunts and whacking off in public. This is way before the coke starting ravaging him. Too goofy to ignore. There is another Sam Dobbs adventure in this DVD package I have yet to watch. First time seeing this.
Sunday June 15th 2008
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) **1/2 - Decent enough Americanization of the Hong Kong fantasy/action films that characterized the Chinese output of the eighties. The plot is pure hokum and pretty disposable as an American kid finds a magic staff in a Chinese pawn shop and during a robbery by some young punks is whisked away into feudal China. There it turns out the staff belonged to the Monkey King, an always jovial, very hairy Kung Fu god who was turned to stone by an angry general 500 years before. Seems this kid is now the chosen sentry to take the staff back to the now concrete Monkey King so he can will be freed. But the General is still ruling since he is Immortal or magick or some shit, so it wont be an easy task. All of this information is related by Jackie Chan during one long flashback and dialogue sequence by the way. The kid befriends Jackie Chan who basically reprises his famous Drunken Master roll from the series he made famous. Along the way they pick up a vengeful and beautiful harp playing gal and a renegade monk played by Jet Li (who also plays the Monkey King). The movie moves at a brisk pace and the fight choreography is outstanding as to be expected. The big money fight between Jet Li and Jackie Chan in the middle of the movie is a ten minute long show stopping affair that is worth the price of admission alone. If you came to see those two titans battle it out with all the famous styles of Kung Fu, you will be satisfied. The fights are shot and edited like a Hong Kong flick too, so there is a noticable lack of fast editing and too close for comfort camera work to try and hide anything. The action is the reason to see the movie. Though it is also curiously un-exciting at times (save the Li/Chan fight) mainly because the movie is clearly aimed at families you never get the feeling there is real danger. Though there is some surprising violence now and again (the good guys kill a couple of people) it still feels kind of like going through the motions. Things are not helped by the lead character played by Michael Angaramo. I don't know if it was his performance, or the writing of the character, but the kid is a zero watt bulb. He's such a wuss that you want him to get his ass kicked throughout most of the movie just to teach him to man up a little bit. In fact, even though the plot hinges on him, you wish he'd just disappear and let the other character's lead, as they are out doing him charisma wise in every single shot. Another interesting thing about the movie is the amount of references to classic Hong Kong cinema. Numerous Bruce Lee nods abound, Jackie Chan doing the Drunken Master routine, Li playing the Monkey King from famous Monkey series, and there is a villainess who is clearly The Bride With White Hair (from part two though, after she became a man hating assassin). In fact they name check that movie just so you get it. The opening credits are a wonderful collage of poster images from classic Kung Fu movies. So over all its fun and diverting with one classic fight in the center. But it is the American elements (I.E. the kid, the flimsy script) that make it less than it could have been. First time seeing this.
The Machine Girl (2008) ** - Completely over the top Japanese splatter/Yakuza/comedy tries so hard to be hip that it almost hurts. While the movie at times is fun, and there is more than a few arresting images and moments, ultimately this has more in common with a video game than an actual movie. The plot is fairly simple, too simple actually. A college age girl's brother is killed by other similar age thugs, one of whom is part of a Yakuza/Ninja family. For reasons never explained, she has a lot of martial arts training and goes after these thugs and the Yakuza family. In the process she is caught, tortured and has her arm chopped off. She manages to escape and is taken in by the mechanic family of the other boy that was also killed. they create a gatlin gun replacement arm for her and she (as well as the mother of the boy) go and a killing spree of revenge. She also replaces her hand with a chainsaw at one point too just in case you weren't getting the Army Of Darkness reference. The movie is extremely over the top, with gallons of blood spilled in great geysers, even beyond the typical Japanese arterial spray found in the Baby Cart films. The gore in this movie has more in common with the early films of Peter Jackson than anything else. But while the gore is going over the top, the film itself tries to play everything completely straight, no matter how super-ludicrous it gets. Which SHOULD work, but most of the time doesn't. It takes a director with a special flare to pull this off. Takashi Miike has done it over and over such as in Ichi The Killer or Fudoh both of which this movie seems to want to be like (minus the sexuality, this movie is totally absent of sexuality). Yet director Noburo Iguchi doesn't seem to rise to the challenge. Instead the film feels forced and flat, only coming to life during the outrageous gore scenes and not even all of those work, hampered by some poor effects and situations that are so extreme you are taken out of the movie. In the Peter Jackson movies you were dealing with the supernatural so you could go overboard and make it work, here you are still sort of playing in the real world to an extent. So when a guy is having nails driving into his face over and over and doesn't die. You sort of are jsut left wondering why its happening. But what do I know? It is already becoming a huge cult hit and everyone seems to love it. I just felt like it was missing the mark and recycling stuff that other filmmakers have done better. First time seeing this.
Sunday June 22, 2008
Sole Survivor (1983) *** - Solid, atmospheric and fairly scary flick that has recently been released on DVD from Code Red is a little diamond in the rough waiting to be rediscovered. The plot is fairly similar to the Final Destination movies, so much so that the director of this movie tried to initiate legal proceedings at one point. A young woman mysteriously survives a plane crash only to start having creepy people following her everywhere. A washed up actress dreamed about her situation before it happened and is trying to warn her about the impending doom that is oncoming. Seems that these figures are something much more deadly. The plot devices here aren't that hard to figure out and owe a pretty big debt to Carnival of Souls (no she is not already dead though). But what makes this movie sing is that it takes it time to build up realistic characters and a real sense of dread. Beautiful camera work and a slow, careful direction really crawls under your skin so when the well timed scares happen they are immensely effective. There is a bit of jumble in the midsection where the movie tries to through in some exploitation elements to try and appease the grindhouse crowds (Brinke Stevens makes an appearance and takes off her shirt for no good reason at all), but the film gets on track pretty quickly for a rousing climax. Though I found the epilogue to be a bit unsatisfying. But otherwise this is highly recommended. First time seeing this.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Erotic Werewolf in London
Tuesday May 6th, 2008
An Erotic Werewolf in London (2008) **1/2 - When rating a seduction cinema flick you basically have to take into consideration if it does what the movie sets out to do, which is deliver lots of hot girls making out with each other with a little horror thrown into the mix for good measure. This one succeeds on that level in spades. Seduction cinema poster girl Misty Mundea actually shot this several years ago and it has been sitting on a shelf awaiting editing, which turned out to be good for the company since she isn't doing the soft core flicks anymore. But she isn't really the star of this one. Euro-beauty Anouska plays the werewolf of the title, a woman who becomes a beast upon orgasm. Right from the beginning we start with Misty getting down with my favorite Seduction Cinema girl Ruby La Rocca (who looks amazingly gorgeous here, not that she doesn't all the time, but damn!). They get busy, then Anouska comes in and gets busy with Misty as Ruby stomps off in a huff. this leaves our lyncanthrope there to bite misty thus turning her into a werewolf too. Then Anouska jets back to London and does and interview with a tabloid reporter explaining what it is like to be a werewolf in modern times. Eventually she allows the reporter to let her watch her seduce and bite a neighboring woman (played a by a very attractive model, who keeps staring off screen for direction). Our reporter goes to America to find the girl that was bitten there and warn her friends and does just that but it all ends with a downbeat and sudden ending. Basically in between all the plot I just described is wall to wall sex, all of which is a bit more graphic than the usual Seduction Cinema fodder. There are crotch shots, loads of masturbation and the sex seems a lot more enthusiastic than some of the other films. And no more than a few minutes go by before another scene comes along. All the repertory players are her including Darian Cain and Julian Welles too, but for my money the best scenes belong to Ruby. But thats just me talking. On the down side, the werewolf make up is cheesy as all get out, the editors got way too happy with the filter effects (too many scenes with weird visual effects that didn't need them) and the climax shouldn't have been the end of the movie, but the beginning of what could have been the actual climax (as in what happens to Anouska?). But overall its better than most stuff from the S.C. label and definitely one of William Hellfire's stronger efforts. Worth a look for fans. There is a really cool interview with Ruby as an extra were she looks back on her career in these films. She comes off super cool and it made me have an even bigger crush on her. She's awesome! First time seeing this.
An Erotic Werewolf in London (2008) **1/2 - When rating a seduction cinema flick you basically have to take into consideration if it does what the movie sets out to do, which is deliver lots of hot girls making out with each other with a little horror thrown into the mix for good measure. This one succeeds on that level in spades. Seduction cinema poster girl Misty Mundea actually shot this several years ago and it has been sitting on a shelf awaiting editing, which turned out to be good for the company since she isn't doing the soft core flicks anymore. But she isn't really the star of this one. Euro-beauty Anouska plays the werewolf of the title, a woman who becomes a beast upon orgasm. Right from the beginning we start with Misty getting down with my favorite Seduction Cinema girl Ruby La Rocca (who looks amazingly gorgeous here, not that she doesn't all the time, but damn!). They get busy, then Anouska comes in and gets busy with Misty as Ruby stomps off in a huff. this leaves our lyncanthrope there to bite misty thus turning her into a werewolf too. Then Anouska jets back to London and does and interview with a tabloid reporter explaining what it is like to be a werewolf in modern times. Eventually she allows the reporter to let her watch her seduce and bite a neighboring woman (played a by a very attractive model, who keeps staring off screen for direction). Our reporter goes to America to find the girl that was bitten there and warn her friends and does just that but it all ends with a downbeat and sudden ending. Basically in between all the plot I just described is wall to wall sex, all of which is a bit more graphic than the usual Seduction Cinema fodder. There are crotch shots, loads of masturbation and the sex seems a lot more enthusiastic than some of the other films. And no more than a few minutes go by before another scene comes along. All the repertory players are her including Darian Cain and Julian Welles too, but for my money the best scenes belong to Ruby. But thats just me talking. On the down side, the werewolf make up is cheesy as all get out, the editors got way too happy with the filter effects (too many scenes with weird visual effects that didn't need them) and the climax shouldn't have been the end of the movie, but the beginning of what could have been the actual climax (as in what happens to Anouska?). But overall its better than most stuff from the S.C. label and definitely one of William Hellfire's stronger efforts. Worth a look for fans. There is a really cool interview with Ruby as an extra were she looks back on her career in these films. She comes off super cool and it made me have an even bigger crush on her. She's awesome! First time seeing this.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Movies I'm watching in April 2008
Monday April 06, 2008
Delinquent School Girls (1974) *1/2 - REALLY trashy low down exploitation number is so sleazy that you will be amazed at what you are watching at times. Unfortunately it is also so stupid and unremittingly misogynistic that its hard to have a good time with too. Three convicts escape from the local asylum and end up heading towards the local school for troubled girls where by chance all of them have double D breasts (okay I liked that part). The criminals are the mastermind who also does impersonations(!) the black thug (who constantly has his shirt off to show off his physique) who only wants to get laid to an alarming degree, and a screaming homosexual played by the gay guy from the AIRPLANE movies. For the first 45 minutes the movie is just one scene after another of the girls exercising without their bras (their idea of showing women's lib. Seriously!) or lounging in their underwear or in a very creepy scene being dosed a roofie by a old coot (one girl says "my god he's really old, he must be at least fifty!") and then groped. Any reason to get their hooters on display. Then at the midpoint there is an home invasion scene where the Black thug rapes Buck Flower's sexually frustrated (big breasted) wife that goes on forever and the tone of the movie changes from leering to kinda ugly. Its bad enough that it has that horrid 70's rape theme where the women get raped and then end up loving it going on (literally here, in one scene two girls are getting raped by the trio, the camera cuts away, then comes back and they are having a party with wine and food and laughing!) but the music during the rapes is comedy music! The actresses are acting like its serious, fighting and crying and playing like its atrocious while this calliope funhouse music is playing! yeuch! Later the Roofie teacher has the same girl hypnotized and tries to shove a gardener snake up the girls snatch... There is some so bad its good moments too like when the black guy is getting beat up by one of the students when they find him raiding the kitchen and he is still eating his sandwhich on the ground. Or the worlds lamest karate instructor who knows absolutely NO karate at all and can't even subdue the fumbling gay guy. But overall this one leaves kind feeling sleazy and not in too good a way. Seen part of this before but not the whole thing.
Tuesday April 07. 2008
Man In White aka The Unforgiven Man With The Soul Of A Tiger (2003) *** - Somehow this Takashi Miike gangster movie missed the reference books and isn't mentioned in the biography AGITATOR by Tom Mes which makes me think it is later than 2003. Anyway it is a very straight forward movie, especially for Miike. When a Yakuza godfather is killed in an elevator on his way to a wedding his bodyguard survives and goes on the warpath to find who did it. this young man was taken in by the godfather off of the streets when he was a child because his psychotic brother had killed his real Father and his mother had hung herself. so he starts killing his way through the ranks of the Tokyo gangster scene until he gets the information he needs which leads to a full on yakuza war brewing. The first thing you notice is that this is shot digitally and hand held which can be distracting until you get used to it and in some of the night shots it is hard to tell what is going on at times. But it does lend an immediacy to the proceedings too. But at the end of the day this is just a solid yakuza picture, with good action, some blood and a lot of posturing. there really is very little in the movie that would tip you off that this is a Miike movie. There is only one strange little scene and the abrupt (and unsatisfying) ending that smell of his directorial style. Otherwise this is solid but not spectacular stuff. First time seeing this.
Wednesday April 09, 2008
Human Beasts (1980)** - One of Paul Naschy's directorial efforts is also one of his weaker entries. This film also finds Naschy in a rather pessimistic mood as no one in the film (except one character) is worth redeeming. Naschy plays a thief and criminal who betrays his partner and woman who loves him on a diamond heist. The Japanese syndicate her and her brother work for hunt him down but Nachy kills all of them except her in the process. But he ends up left for dead in the mountains and is found by a kindly old doctor and his two beautiful daughters who have a pig farm. they nurse him back to health while his old flame is still hunting for him, now wanting revenge for the murder of her brother. The the movie suddenly shifts to a weird giallo with people being bumped off at the villa and one guy in a very vicious scene being fed to the pigs. The climax is not a huge surprise. the biggest problem with this movie is that once it gets to the cottage the movie slows down to a snails pace and just drags along trying to be a Gothic horror/giallo with a sexy side. But it is just so slow that you find yourself drifting away from it. Naschy's character spends like a half hour or more of the film in a bed nearly unconscious which doesn't help matters much. there's some good shocks along the way, it starts off good and ends with a bang but that mid section is a real problem. But the cynicism of the movie is appealing. First time seeing this.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Frontier(s) (2007) *** - Ultra-violent, mean spirited and ugly as hell are only a few ways to describe Xavier Gen's survival horror film that is getting some buzz in the horror community because it was booted out of last years 8 Films To Die For After Dark Horror Fest when it got the NC-17 rating. For once maybe that rating was the correct one as this isn't some goofy shit like Hostel, of twisty/turny splatter fantasy like Saw. This is some depraved hardcore shit. The way I like it! We meet a small group of twenty-something's in France have used the cover of a political revolution and rioting to commit a robbery (that we never actually see) with the lead girl being pregnant and her brother dead from a gunshot wound. They remaining four flee into the country side to a small set of hotels that happens to be run by a inbred, cannibalistic family of Neo Nazi's descendant from the Third Reich. Their plan is to eat these kids and us the female as a fresh blood breeder since their own bloodline has become so polluted from the inbreeding. When they find out she is already pregnant they are delighted because the can have their first healthy child in the family in many generations. From here on out it is just balls to the wall brutality and splatter dolled out with a viciousness that seems to only come from France these days. the films of Alexandre Aja have a similar feel for violence as this one did, but thankfully this doesn't have the twist to fuck it all up like HIGH TENSION did. It is not perfect. There is a whole side plot about the cast off children of the family that is not fully developed or done much with and a couple of the main characters are rather annoying. But these are small complaints in a bigger picture which is that this is one of the best most serious horror films in years. Too bad its rating, which it deserves due to its rough content, kept it out of theaters. First time seeing this.
Sunday April 13, 2008
I Don't Know Jack (2002) *** - Very warm yet sad documentary about the life of Jack Nance most remembered as the tall haired frekazoid lead in David Lynch's Eraserhead. This movie covers basically from his early years as a stage actor and struggling actor in Hollywood (He came down to the other choice for both In Cold Blood and The Graduate both movies that would have redefined his career). We cover his time doing Eraserhead and the other Lynch films. But mostly we cover his life as a raging alcoholic and how it crumbled the relationships around him. We also cover how of all people Dennis Hopper helped him get sober. then there is the sad business of his second wife's suicide and his tragic and probably avoidable own death from a beating outside a donut shop. this is a very simple documentary that just lets people tell their stories about jack and it is all the better for it. First time seeing this.
Fear And Loathing In Gonzvision (1978) **1/2 - British Television portrait of Hunter S Thompson and his Artist friend as the traverse the distance between his home and Las Vegas and then to Las Angeles to discuss a film that ultimately never got made. throughout Hunter complains that people only want to see his fictional alter ego Raoul Duke the drugged up, out of control monstrosity that causes so many problems. Yet he tends to become that character whether he likes it or not. Stoned all the time, having to smoke a joint to come down enough to do an interview, snorting coke enough to come back up. Shooting guns all the time, out running cops on the highway and being found in his hotel room paranoid beyond belief with his face painted white babbling ont he phone to the producers of the very show he is in. The show finally ends with him designing a giant two thumbed metal fist that will shoot his ashes into the sky after he dies and then be a several story monument to his life. I have no idea if they built that when he died but in this show he claimed it would be in his will. First time seeing this.
Thursday April 17th, 2008
Loose Change The Final cut (2007) ***1/2 - This extended recut of the searing and controversial documentary about the government involvement in the 9/11 atrocities is a much more evenhanded document than the previous editions. gone now is the accusatory tone, replaced with much more on camera testimony from eye witnesses, mostly culled from news reports. Things are much more convincing when he have bloody survivors that have just been dragged out of Building 7 saying they just experienced an explosion in the lobby. The same with the twin towers. It is interesting were as in the second edition much was laid out as fact, such as a plane couldn't have hit the pentagon due to factors X,Y & Z, where as now, the film is careful to state its claims differently, laying out its evidence then simply asking you the viewer to make your own conclusion, but stressing that you should ask more questions. It seems that a LOT has been learned from the guerrilla style of filmmaking of the earlier cuts to the much more polished and professional style here. It works well and I think this may sway more people. But then again there are those who simply refuse to even take this idea into consideration because they see it as conspiracy theory idiocy and no amount of research, fact checking, or questions will change their mind. I'd rather hear out the ideas and look into it myself and see what validity is there. And there are a lot of questions on this issue. Questions I was asking well before encountering Loose Change. First time seeing this cut.
Friday April 18, 2008
88 Minutes (2008) *1/2 - VERY standard thriller where Al Pacino plays a college proffesor (who gets all the young chicks) who also helps put away serial killers. Seems his big high profile case is up for parole and there is a copycat killer causing people to believe he may be totally innocent. Then our hero starts getting calls telling him he has 88 Minutes to live, which it just so happens is the exact same among of time it took another killer to dismember Pacino's baby sister. This is all standard stuff, re hearings abound, a car bomb explodes, his buddy the cop (played by the always welcome William Forsyth) almost doesn't believe him and tries to take him in, hell there is even a very mild lesbian scene and some hip hop music. Debora Kara Unger is TOTALLY wasted in her role as the college dean, and Lelee Sobieski ends up having the worst time with her ultimately silly role. She's horribly miscast and doesn't show her cleavage which is her beast reasons for being hired. Alicia Whitt is on bored as the February December love interest and she is cute as ever but not given much to do either. But I'm always glad to see her anyway. this movie is rated R for reasons that are very unclear, as it could play on broadcast TV without cuts and probably will someday soon. First time seeing this.
Saturday April 19th 2008
Gang Wars (1976) * - Okay I have a great love for shit movies. anyone who reads these blogs (you masochists you!) know that I can find a saving grace in just about any piece-o-shit (and can find a political slant where there is none too!). But this motherfucker tested even my well worn cinematic meddle. This is one of those movies that you just can't help but wonder what anyone was thinking. the plot, and surprisingly there is one, is about two martial artists, one big afroed black dude played by the hilariously monikered War Hawk Tanzania, and his bug eyed, coke-fiend Latino buddy go to Hong Kong for some training. While there the Latino dude finds an amulet left thousands of years ago by some monks (yes this is starting to sound a little like that Brady Bunch episode with Vincent Price!). Taking the amulet lets loose an evil spirit that possesses people turning them into the most hilarious zombies in movie history. they literally paint white eyes on the actors EYELIDS and have them wander around with their eyes closed! Then its back to New York where the Latino dude is burned in a coke deal by a Chinese gang and the gang war of the title is kicked off. there are several martial arts fights that make the ones in Rudy Ray Moore movies look like Bruce Lee and the zombie attacks all take place in the subway tunnells under New York. Without Lights. At all. In complete darkness. As in you can't see shit. Interesting enough one of the guys attacked by the zombies is I Drink Your Blood director David Durston and Brother Theodor shows up as a street preacher. I think I've done a disservice in describing this movie because I've not made it sound as thuddingly dull as it is. This is sloooooowwww moving with grade school acting and nothing much else to recommend it. this isn't even so bad its good except for the one goofy looking zombie. it would be a challenge for MST3K to take this one on. First time seeing this.
Sunday April 20, 2008
Street Kings (2008) **1/2 - This is basically an episode of the Shield with Keanu Reeves in the lead role. Reeves plays a hard bitten, alcoholic cop who has a penchant for killing his suspects. His old partner is apparently talking to the FBI about his behavior. One day when Reeves has followed his old partner to beat the shit out of him for ratting on him two thugs corner them in a store and execute the partner gangland style leaving Reeves holding the bag and so begins the investigation into why it happened, who was dirty etc. Forrest Whittiker is the superior officer and friend. This scores points for being a brutal and uncompromising street level crime movie (the opening shoot out is a stunner) but it looses a lot of ground for what turns into a very obvious storyline that has been done a dozen times before. this ends up going exactly where you think it is going and becomes way too predictable for its own good. too bad because the first half is really good. The second half is entertaining, but unfortunately you've seen it before. First time seeing this.
Monday April 21st, 2008
The Lost (2005) ** - Adaptation of Jack Ketchum's book (which I have not read) has a few good things going for it but ultimately hangstrings itself with too self aware direction and cinematography that is consistently distracting (at least to me). Ray Pye is a sociopath loosely based on Charles Starkweather, who in the first scene of the movie kills two girls camping (played by genre favorites Erin Brown, who has yet another full frontal nude scene, and Ruby LaRocca) just for kicks. The scene is brutal and uncomprimising and sets a galvonizing tone for the rest of the picture to live up to. At times it does, when the movie is at its quietest allowing the actors to explore the characters it works. But too often the movie falls into cinematic conventions of changing filmstocks, bizarro editing and ironic music choices to get across the action which actually successfully derails a lot of what was working fine without it. the actors are all committed enough that the movie didn't need the theatrics to pull it along. The climax is suitably brutal and ugly but unfortunately our lead psycho goes too far over the top flailing his arms around and squawking quips to make damn sure you know he is a psychopath. Once again the less is more approach the acting had been taking earlier worked better. So all in all it is a missed opportunity with some good stuff in it but a lot that hampers it along the way. First time seeing this.
Tuesday April 22, 2008
Fall From Grace (2008) *** - Solid and frightening documentary about everyone's favorite hellfire and brimstone hate spewing preacher, Reverend Fred Phelps, the bigoted fucktard who has been in the news lately because he has taken to picketing the funerals of dead soldiers returning from Iraq. But as this fascinating document shows this dirtball and his psychotic inbred brood have been pushing their hate speech on the people of Topeka Kansas for the last decade and a half or more. This documentary has unlimited access to Fred Phelps the man and his huge family all of whom gladly open up to the cameras spewing how much they as well as GOD hate "fags", how AIDS is a gift from the lord to cleanse the word of "fags" and degenerates etc. The most disturbing footage comes from impromptu interviews with the children of Phelps family, scatly four years old and screaming about how horrible "fags" are and how God should kill them. Thankfully the director gets the other side of the debate too, most interestingly a biblical scholar who delves into the controversial Leviticus passage that most homophobic Christians (including Phelps and his brood) latch onto and how it relates to the times it was written. He addresses how that verse is preached heavily be some churches while most of the other Leviticus verses are simply ignored because they would make life inconvenient for modern people. He also explains that the homosexuality in biblical times was actually talking about pederasty and not the committed gender relationships of current times. Its a lot of mental meat to chew on. There are also other lawyers, politicians, and preachers all of whom disagree with Phelps that speak their minds. Most enlightening is two of Phelps children that got away from the flock that explain, by phone, how he was an abusive Father with rage problems who used God as a way to torment, terrify and subjugate his family and followers. Then there is the whole issue of the picketing the Funerals of the soldiers which is so convoluted, twisted and makes so little sense except in the twisted, deranged mind s of the Phelps that it is astonishing. In the words of his own son who got away "Fred Phelps is running a cult. And all it would take is for him to say that God wants for them to kill someone and it will happen." This is true terror folks. First time seeing this.
Rush To War (2007) *** - Engrossing, intricate documentary that traces how America's own decisions regarding foreign policy, have made us the Bad guys of the world, thus setting the stage for 9/11. And how that led the way to open the flood gates for the current administration to put the current war machine into motion. Much of the information here is available in other more non-partisan documentaries. BUt what makes this one good is that it is less partisan (though it still paints the current administration in a bad light, but it is probably impossible to tell the truth and paint them any other way). Most damning is the 1997 GOP vision statement that outlines how to get America to become the dominant world power, that states boldly that the plan is wholly unethical and un-American and thus would require a catastrophe along the lines of another Pear Harbor styled incident. The documentary stops short of saying the US caused 9/11 but the do say they exploited it for all it was worth in the following 18 months to get into Iraq and start dominating that country and its oil supply. The film also covers America's authorized use of torture and the outing of an FBI informant by Scooter Libby because her husband pointed out a bold face lie about the WMD speech our President made to get us into Iraq. This documentary was made before Scooter Libby was pardoned by the President himself for the blatant criminal offense. This documentary basically spreads out the war crimes against the Geneva Convention, the UN and the world that our current Administration is guilty of and lets you the viewer decide what to make of them. Its is truly heartbreaking that America has done nothing. First time seeing this.
Wed April 23, 2008
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2004) *** - Very solid drama/horror film loosely based on a true story of a priest on trial for criminal negligence because the young woman he was caring for, and providing an exorcism for, died under his watch. The film is primarily a courtroom drama, which pissed off a lot of viewers when this hit theaters because it was sold as a straight horror film upon release. when two thirds of the movie take place in a courtroom or jail cell that almost can be considered false advertising! But the other third is flashbacks to the actual possession and those scenes are winners. Jennifer Carpenter who can now be seen on the Showtime original series Dexter as the lead character's spunky cop sister, plays the title roll of Emily Rose and does a tremendous job. She is not only a charmer, but she turns in one of the most physically demanding performances in recent memory selling the possession almost entirely through her own body language and physicality. She's truly amazing in this. The cinematography and effects work in the flashback scenes are also top notch strongly evoking Dario Argento back when he was at his peak. The scene when she runs screaming from her college classroom into the rain is so evocative of Suspiria that it HAS to be a conscious homage. But unlike other films, the scene is NOT a rip off, it just evokes the same nightmare quality that the Argento film did. That is high praise indeed. The movie falters in the wrap up as everything wraps up a little too tidily for comfort, especially considering the fate of our main character the Lawyer played by Laura Linney. Her law firms reaction is simply not believable at all. But it is this final act that keeps the movie from reaching greatness, otherwise this is a fine film, well worth visiting. First time seeing this.
Thursday April 24, 2008
American Drug War, The Great White Hope (2006?) ***1/2 - Excellent documentary exploring how America's war on drugs is a complete sham designed to perpetuate a cycle that keeps the poor people down, locked up and doing drugs, while the government is able to allocate billions of dollars to fight this so called war and fill their pockets with tons of money. The film covers in detail how crack was developed, put onto the streets, how the cocaine that it was made from came directly from US government so the could fund the Iran/Contra conflict. It covers how prisons have become privatized and big business so if more people are imprisoned the make more money and that funnels back to the business and the government. It covers how pot is considered a class one drug on par with heroin, cocaine and crystal meth and how people are locked up with nearly life long sentences for simple pot possession, It explores the issue of Medical Marijuana and how the government continues to prosecute sick people as criminals for possession because they are simply just another body in a money making system. they go to Amsterdam to see how their forward thinking drug laws have affected their culture and see that they have LESS drug abuse and addiction than the United States. This is an eye opening and stunning documentary that goes from the streets talking to the gangs who sell the dope all the way to the current administrations Drug Czar who is hopelessly clueless about how real people interact with drugs on a daily basis. This even covers prescription drug addiction. I have no idea if this movie is available legit. I got it through "other" means... so find it by any way you can. It is a necessary document for our times. first time seeing it
Friday April 25th 2008
Dark Chamber (2007) **1/2 - Pretty well made and very well meaning low budget suspense/ horror flick takes the high road by having no gore or nudity or any other exploitable elements (which makes you wonder why Pop Cinema released it at all?), and largely succeeds. it does this through an interesting story and earnest characterizations and a very wise decision to play the entire thing straight faced. The story is about a college aged dude who moves back to a small down to life with his police detective father against the wishes of his seemingly crazy mom. The town he moves to has a group of Satanists called The Black Circle running around killing people and his Father is working the case. Our hero briefly befriends a creepy red haired chick who hangs around with one of the tenants his Father leases the other apartments of their house too. But soon she shows up dead on their lawn and our hero is attacked by members of the cult. He is not killed though and comes to believe that someone that lives in the sublet apartments is the killer so he and his college buds wire the apartments with mini spy cameras and start recording their every move trying to suss out who might be guilty. The movie then takes a sharp turn into a voyeuristic landscape as we watch the lives of these various people including Felissa Rose from Sleepaway Camp as a "massage therapist" (read prostitute in this film's world) and her mentally handicapped firebug sister, a man with cancer and a taste for whores, and a young married couple with abuse problems. Naturally all of them are involved in some way, but not the obvious. The movie is surprisingly well mounted for a shot on video production with excellent editing and shooting, and the script is literate and well done for the most part. But in the final third it starts to fall apart as a major character literally leaves a place during a fade out and is replaced with a different character in the same location just so he can be killed. Then the final twist is pretty obvious and protracted, taking away from the rest of the film. And truthfully the movie could have used a little more "bite" to it as the pay off, is a little weak at the end. But for the most part it is still a well done and worth recommending flick. First time seeing this.
Wicked Little Things (2006) **1/2 - Good but not great little zombie yarn has a nice concept at the center. A group of children that were labor for the coal mines in the early 20th century are killed when the mine is blasted. Cue the current day when a single mom and her two daughters are moving into the broken down old house they have inherited on the property that is now haunted by the zombies/ghosts of those same kids who are hunting down the bloodlines of the families that killed them in the first place. There is some great atmosphere in the movie with wonderful sweeping shots of fog enshrouded woods with gangs of the zombie kids wandering about. There is also a couple of really sweet gore scenes that deliver the goods too. But the movies just drags in spots and the teenage daughter is such an annoying little bitch for most of the movie that you want to slap the snot out of her nose. Plus the woman they cast as the Mom only looks to be about eight years older than the teen daughter! some of it hits upon old cliche's too with the crazy old man who knows what is going on and the greedy landowner who gets his comeuppance (though i always enjoy that cliche'!) but over all the good outweighs the bad and the zombie kids are creepy enough. First time seeing this.
Saturday April 26 2008
Cloverfield (2008) *1/2 - Impressive effects and some beautiful images of destruction can't save the fact that this is some of the biggest crap in a while. the first twenty minutes of this movie are seriously painful to watch. As you spend "quality time" with the main characters of the film, all upwardly mobile apparently well off Manhattanites, having a going away party for their friend, you quickly begin to root for the as yet to be seen monster to come and fucking eat all of them. Especially the annoying knob running the camera for this "found" footage epic. A bigger whiny asshole I cannot recall in a movie except for maybe one of Kevin Smith's flicks (which I hate for this very reason). All the main characters are either just flat and uninteresting, idiots or just assholes. So when the monster finally attacks its like finally getting to be excused from a long plane ride with people you don't want to be with. The movie picks up from there with some impressive action scenes, that are more impressive considering our post 9/11 attitudes. Images of New York being torn apart with buildings collapsed and clouds of dust filling the streets are terrifying because they are still fresh in the psyche of America and this movie taps that brilliantly. too bad you can't care about the characters caught in the madness. Plus the whole conceit of the movie being captured on camera by one of the characters starts somewhat believable but after a certain point credibility gets tossed out the window as any normal human being would not still be shooting. Not to mention things like batteries running low or running out of tapes. then there is the scene of the monster eating a major character near the end but leaving the others that lapses past logic too. I will give it credit for the downbeat (for anyone who actually liked the characters anyway) ending. It says something about todays climate to end a movie that way. there's rumors of a sequel dealing with the situation from the Military fighting the monster's point of view. I think that would be a more interesting movie. First time seeing this.
Diary Of The Dead (2008) *** - First off let me say FUCK THE WEINSTEINS for making me have to see this on a tv screen instead of in the theaters where I took a day off of work to see it originally. I understand they were gunshy after the tanking of Grindhouse, but this was guaranteed at least a little bit of money if properly released. But to do a limited release and try and do a half-assed regional platform release in this day and age is preposterous. So this never played Ohio at all I don't think. At least nowhere near me. I would have gladly gave it my money. Unlike Cloverfield that I watched earlier today, this movie, also a "found footage" epic supposedly shot by characters within the film, succeeds with its premise. Diary of the Dead does two things right that Cloverfield gets deadly wrong. Diary has a group of main characters that aren't screaming asswipes, and two, it goes out of its way to keep the running camera aspect realistic and explained throughout the movie. Things like editing, music, running low on batteries, are all addressed and dealt with. So little nagging questions are snagged and released before they derail the movie. The movie takes the living dead premise back to square one as the dead are just now coming back to life. What we are watching is a documentary shot by a group of film students who banded together and went on the run trying to get home from school when the crisis hit. Along the way they have been shooting everything on camera and editing it quick and uploading it to the internet as well as downloading the occasional footage from elsewhere in the world to add into the project. the film says up front that what we are seeing is the finished piece with some music added for effect and edited. So that takes care of those problems right there. Director George Romero this time tackles the issues of media saturation and manipulation as his message. it gets heavy handed at times with characters often just outright voicing the messages instead of letting us glean them for ourselves, but at least the themes are there. this movie seems to have Romero fans split down the middle, people seem to either love it or hate it calling it it a piece of shit or a return to form. I think it is neither, but a solid zombie film that looks at it from a different perspective. It is never really as scary as it should be and has a few instances of REALLY out of place humor, especially considering how serious it is for the most part. And the ending is someplace Romero has already been with the Remake of Night Of The Living Dead 1990. But even with all that aside, its is a rock solid movie. Not as good as the other Dead films. But still good all the same. I just wish I could have seen it in a theater like I was supposed to have. First time seeing this.
Sunday April 27, 2008
Vantage Point (2008) ***- Really nice throwback to the political thrillers of the late seventies with a modern twist in that it takes a look at the action from the point of view of at least a half dozen or more various characters. Literally rewinding to show how each of them experienced the main incident. this allows us to get more information from each person's viewpoint until the final reel when it all comes together as a whole. The plot details the president of the United States visiting a peace conference in Spain as he goes to speak at a huge public forum he is shot by a sniper. As his aids and the secret service scatter to find the shooter several bombs go off in the square killing dozens of people. The film shows you how this went down from the news crews perspective, the main Presidential guard (Dennis Quaid), A bystander in the crowd with a video camera (Forest Whitaker), The President Himself (William Hurt) and finally the terrorists themselves. The plot is deceptively simple but has many interesting twists and turns but the constantly turning viewpoints keep you interested as it unfolds like a jigsaw puzzle. what marks this as a successful thriller though is that if you pulled the movie apart and re-edited it as a linear experience would it hold up a s good thriller? I think there is enough going on that it would. the only flaw is a clichéd and overly sentimental climax that stretches believability past the breaking point. Otherwise this is a fine thriller for grown ups. First time seeing this.
The proposition (2005) *** - Writer Nick Cave and Australian director John Hillcoat team up once again after their searing, violent and excellent prison drama Ghosts of the Civil Dead for this equally searing western. At times, violent, yet at other times poetic and beautiful this takes both these men's unique outlook into a well worn genre and makes it seem fresh. the film stars Guy Pearce as Charley Burns an outlaw in a family of outlaws. the local sheriff (Ray Winstone) has caught him and his younger brother Mikey and cuts a deal. he is going to hang Mikey on Christmas day unless Charley goes and finds their oldest brother Sean and kills him. then they will both be set free. Seems that Sean raped and killed a pregnant woman that was friends with the sheriff's wife (Emily Watson) (and maybe all three of the brother's were involved). And so the stage is set for brotherly betrayal amongst killers and outlaws in the Australian outback. Fantastic performances ground a very good script with incredible cinematography and lashings or brutal violence, with a very bizarre score by Nick Cave himself. this is not quite like any other western you can name. The movie is a bit slow in spots and Pearce's character survives a bit of violence that is a bit unrealistic to live through at one point, but overall this is a tremendous piece of work. First time seeing this.
More to come...
Delinquent School Girls (1974) *1/2 - REALLY trashy low down exploitation number is so sleazy that you will be amazed at what you are watching at times. Unfortunately it is also so stupid and unremittingly misogynistic that its hard to have a good time with too. Three convicts escape from the local asylum and end up heading towards the local school for troubled girls where by chance all of them have double D breasts (okay I liked that part). The criminals are the mastermind who also does impersonations(!) the black thug (who constantly has his shirt off to show off his physique) who only wants to get laid to an alarming degree, and a screaming homosexual played by the gay guy from the AIRPLANE movies. For the first 45 minutes the movie is just one scene after another of the girls exercising without their bras (their idea of showing women's lib. Seriously!) or lounging in their underwear or in a very creepy scene being dosed a roofie by a old coot (one girl says "my god he's really old, he must be at least fifty!") and then groped. Any reason to get their hooters on display. Then at the midpoint there is an home invasion scene where the Black thug rapes Buck Flower's sexually frustrated (big breasted) wife that goes on forever and the tone of the movie changes from leering to kinda ugly. Its bad enough that it has that horrid 70's rape theme where the women get raped and then end up loving it going on (literally here, in one scene two girls are getting raped by the trio, the camera cuts away, then comes back and they are having a party with wine and food and laughing!) but the music during the rapes is comedy music! The actresses are acting like its serious, fighting and crying and playing like its atrocious while this calliope funhouse music is playing! yeuch! Later the Roofie teacher has the same girl hypnotized and tries to shove a gardener snake up the girls snatch... There is some so bad its good moments too like when the black guy is getting beat up by one of the students when they find him raiding the kitchen and he is still eating his sandwhich on the ground. Or the worlds lamest karate instructor who knows absolutely NO karate at all and can't even subdue the fumbling gay guy. But overall this one leaves kind feeling sleazy and not in too good a way. Seen part of this before but not the whole thing.
Tuesday April 07. 2008
Man In White aka The Unforgiven Man With The Soul Of A Tiger (2003) *** - Somehow this Takashi Miike gangster movie missed the reference books and isn't mentioned in the biography AGITATOR by Tom Mes which makes me think it is later than 2003. Anyway it is a very straight forward movie, especially for Miike. When a Yakuza godfather is killed in an elevator on his way to a wedding his bodyguard survives and goes on the warpath to find who did it. this young man was taken in by the godfather off of the streets when he was a child because his psychotic brother had killed his real Father and his mother had hung herself. so he starts killing his way through the ranks of the Tokyo gangster scene until he gets the information he needs which leads to a full on yakuza war brewing. The first thing you notice is that this is shot digitally and hand held which can be distracting until you get used to it and in some of the night shots it is hard to tell what is going on at times. But it does lend an immediacy to the proceedings too. But at the end of the day this is just a solid yakuza picture, with good action, some blood and a lot of posturing. there really is very little in the movie that would tip you off that this is a Miike movie. There is only one strange little scene and the abrupt (and unsatisfying) ending that smell of his directorial style. Otherwise this is solid but not spectacular stuff. First time seeing this.
Wednesday April 09, 2008
Human Beasts (1980)** - One of Paul Naschy's directorial efforts is also one of his weaker entries. This film also finds Naschy in a rather pessimistic mood as no one in the film (except one character) is worth redeeming. Naschy plays a thief and criminal who betrays his partner and woman who loves him on a diamond heist. The Japanese syndicate her and her brother work for hunt him down but Nachy kills all of them except her in the process. But he ends up left for dead in the mountains and is found by a kindly old doctor and his two beautiful daughters who have a pig farm. they nurse him back to health while his old flame is still hunting for him, now wanting revenge for the murder of her brother. The the movie suddenly shifts to a weird giallo with people being bumped off at the villa and one guy in a very vicious scene being fed to the pigs. The climax is not a huge surprise. the biggest problem with this movie is that once it gets to the cottage the movie slows down to a snails pace and just drags along trying to be a Gothic horror/giallo with a sexy side. But it is just so slow that you find yourself drifting away from it. Naschy's character spends like a half hour or more of the film in a bed nearly unconscious which doesn't help matters much. there's some good shocks along the way, it starts off good and ends with a bang but that mid section is a real problem. But the cynicism of the movie is appealing. First time seeing this.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Frontier(s) (2007) *** - Ultra-violent, mean spirited and ugly as hell are only a few ways to describe Xavier Gen's survival horror film that is getting some buzz in the horror community because it was booted out of last years 8 Films To Die For After Dark Horror Fest when it got the NC-17 rating. For once maybe that rating was the correct one as this isn't some goofy shit like Hostel, of twisty/turny splatter fantasy like Saw. This is some depraved hardcore shit. The way I like it! We meet a small group of twenty-something's in France have used the cover of a political revolution and rioting to commit a robbery (that we never actually see) with the lead girl being pregnant and her brother dead from a gunshot wound. They remaining four flee into the country side to a small set of hotels that happens to be run by a inbred, cannibalistic family of Neo Nazi's descendant from the Third Reich. Their plan is to eat these kids and us the female as a fresh blood breeder since their own bloodline has become so polluted from the inbreeding. When they find out she is already pregnant they are delighted because the can have their first healthy child in the family in many generations. From here on out it is just balls to the wall brutality and splatter dolled out with a viciousness that seems to only come from France these days. the films of Alexandre Aja have a similar feel for violence as this one did, but thankfully this doesn't have the twist to fuck it all up like HIGH TENSION did. It is not perfect. There is a whole side plot about the cast off children of the family that is not fully developed or done much with and a couple of the main characters are rather annoying. But these are small complaints in a bigger picture which is that this is one of the best most serious horror films in years. Too bad its rating, which it deserves due to its rough content, kept it out of theaters. First time seeing this.
Sunday April 13, 2008
I Don't Know Jack (2002) *** - Very warm yet sad documentary about the life of Jack Nance most remembered as the tall haired frekazoid lead in David Lynch's Eraserhead. This movie covers basically from his early years as a stage actor and struggling actor in Hollywood (He came down to the other choice for both In Cold Blood and The Graduate both movies that would have redefined his career). We cover his time doing Eraserhead and the other Lynch films. But mostly we cover his life as a raging alcoholic and how it crumbled the relationships around him. We also cover how of all people Dennis Hopper helped him get sober. then there is the sad business of his second wife's suicide and his tragic and probably avoidable own death from a beating outside a donut shop. this is a very simple documentary that just lets people tell their stories about jack and it is all the better for it. First time seeing this.
Fear And Loathing In Gonzvision (1978) **1/2 - British Television portrait of Hunter S Thompson and his Artist friend as the traverse the distance between his home and Las Vegas and then to Las Angeles to discuss a film that ultimately never got made. throughout Hunter complains that people only want to see his fictional alter ego Raoul Duke the drugged up, out of control monstrosity that causes so many problems. Yet he tends to become that character whether he likes it or not. Stoned all the time, having to smoke a joint to come down enough to do an interview, snorting coke enough to come back up. Shooting guns all the time, out running cops on the highway and being found in his hotel room paranoid beyond belief with his face painted white babbling ont he phone to the producers of the very show he is in. The show finally ends with him designing a giant two thumbed metal fist that will shoot his ashes into the sky after he dies and then be a several story monument to his life. I have no idea if they built that when he died but in this show he claimed it would be in his will. First time seeing this.
Thursday April 17th, 2008
Loose Change The Final cut (2007) ***1/2 - This extended recut of the searing and controversial documentary about the government involvement in the 9/11 atrocities is a much more evenhanded document than the previous editions. gone now is the accusatory tone, replaced with much more on camera testimony from eye witnesses, mostly culled from news reports. Things are much more convincing when he have bloody survivors that have just been dragged out of Building 7 saying they just experienced an explosion in the lobby. The same with the twin towers. It is interesting were as in the second edition much was laid out as fact, such as a plane couldn't have hit the pentagon due to factors X,Y & Z, where as now, the film is careful to state its claims differently, laying out its evidence then simply asking you the viewer to make your own conclusion, but stressing that you should ask more questions. It seems that a LOT has been learned from the guerrilla style of filmmaking of the earlier cuts to the much more polished and professional style here. It works well and I think this may sway more people. But then again there are those who simply refuse to even take this idea into consideration because they see it as conspiracy theory idiocy and no amount of research, fact checking, or questions will change their mind. I'd rather hear out the ideas and look into it myself and see what validity is there. And there are a lot of questions on this issue. Questions I was asking well before encountering Loose Change. First time seeing this cut.
Friday April 18, 2008
88 Minutes (2008) *1/2 - VERY standard thriller where Al Pacino plays a college proffesor (who gets all the young chicks) who also helps put away serial killers. Seems his big high profile case is up for parole and there is a copycat killer causing people to believe he may be totally innocent. Then our hero starts getting calls telling him he has 88 Minutes to live, which it just so happens is the exact same among of time it took another killer to dismember Pacino's baby sister. This is all standard stuff, re hearings abound, a car bomb explodes, his buddy the cop (played by the always welcome William Forsyth) almost doesn't believe him and tries to take him in, hell there is even a very mild lesbian scene and some hip hop music. Debora Kara Unger is TOTALLY wasted in her role as the college dean, and Lelee Sobieski ends up having the worst time with her ultimately silly role. She's horribly miscast and doesn't show her cleavage which is her beast reasons for being hired. Alicia Whitt is on bored as the February December love interest and she is cute as ever but not given much to do either. But I'm always glad to see her anyway. this movie is rated R for reasons that are very unclear, as it could play on broadcast TV without cuts and probably will someday soon. First time seeing this.
Saturday April 19th 2008
Gang Wars (1976) * - Okay I have a great love for shit movies. anyone who reads these blogs (you masochists you!) know that I can find a saving grace in just about any piece-o-shit (and can find a political slant where there is none too!). But this motherfucker tested even my well worn cinematic meddle. This is one of those movies that you just can't help but wonder what anyone was thinking. the plot, and surprisingly there is one, is about two martial artists, one big afroed black dude played by the hilariously monikered War Hawk Tanzania, and his bug eyed, coke-fiend Latino buddy go to Hong Kong for some training. While there the Latino dude finds an amulet left thousands of years ago by some monks (yes this is starting to sound a little like that Brady Bunch episode with Vincent Price!). Taking the amulet lets loose an evil spirit that possesses people turning them into the most hilarious zombies in movie history. they literally paint white eyes on the actors EYELIDS and have them wander around with their eyes closed! Then its back to New York where the Latino dude is burned in a coke deal by a Chinese gang and the gang war of the title is kicked off. there are several martial arts fights that make the ones in Rudy Ray Moore movies look like Bruce Lee and the zombie attacks all take place in the subway tunnells under New York. Without Lights. At all. In complete darkness. As in you can't see shit. Interesting enough one of the guys attacked by the zombies is I Drink Your Blood director David Durston and Brother Theodor shows up as a street preacher. I think I've done a disservice in describing this movie because I've not made it sound as thuddingly dull as it is. This is sloooooowwww moving with grade school acting and nothing much else to recommend it. this isn't even so bad its good except for the one goofy looking zombie. it would be a challenge for MST3K to take this one on. First time seeing this.
Sunday April 20, 2008
Street Kings (2008) **1/2 - This is basically an episode of the Shield with Keanu Reeves in the lead role. Reeves plays a hard bitten, alcoholic cop who has a penchant for killing his suspects. His old partner is apparently talking to the FBI about his behavior. One day when Reeves has followed his old partner to beat the shit out of him for ratting on him two thugs corner them in a store and execute the partner gangland style leaving Reeves holding the bag and so begins the investigation into why it happened, who was dirty etc. Forrest Whittiker is the superior officer and friend. This scores points for being a brutal and uncompromising street level crime movie (the opening shoot out is a stunner) but it looses a lot of ground for what turns into a very obvious storyline that has been done a dozen times before. this ends up going exactly where you think it is going and becomes way too predictable for its own good. too bad because the first half is really good. The second half is entertaining, but unfortunately you've seen it before. First time seeing this.
Monday April 21st, 2008
The Lost (2005) ** - Adaptation of Jack Ketchum's book (which I have not read) has a few good things going for it but ultimately hangstrings itself with too self aware direction and cinematography that is consistently distracting (at least to me). Ray Pye is a sociopath loosely based on Charles Starkweather, who in the first scene of the movie kills two girls camping (played by genre favorites Erin Brown, who has yet another full frontal nude scene, and Ruby LaRocca) just for kicks. The scene is brutal and uncomprimising and sets a galvonizing tone for the rest of the picture to live up to. At times it does, when the movie is at its quietest allowing the actors to explore the characters it works. But too often the movie falls into cinematic conventions of changing filmstocks, bizarro editing and ironic music choices to get across the action which actually successfully derails a lot of what was working fine without it. the actors are all committed enough that the movie didn't need the theatrics to pull it along. The climax is suitably brutal and ugly but unfortunately our lead psycho goes too far over the top flailing his arms around and squawking quips to make damn sure you know he is a psychopath. Once again the less is more approach the acting had been taking earlier worked better. So all in all it is a missed opportunity with some good stuff in it but a lot that hampers it along the way. First time seeing this.
Tuesday April 22, 2008
Fall From Grace (2008) *** - Solid and frightening documentary about everyone's favorite hellfire and brimstone hate spewing preacher, Reverend Fred Phelps, the bigoted fucktard who has been in the news lately because he has taken to picketing the funerals of dead soldiers returning from Iraq. But as this fascinating document shows this dirtball and his psychotic inbred brood have been pushing their hate speech on the people of Topeka Kansas for the last decade and a half or more. This documentary has unlimited access to Fred Phelps the man and his huge family all of whom gladly open up to the cameras spewing how much they as well as GOD hate "fags", how AIDS is a gift from the lord to cleanse the word of "fags" and degenerates etc. The most disturbing footage comes from impromptu interviews with the children of Phelps family, scatly four years old and screaming about how horrible "fags" are and how God should kill them. Thankfully the director gets the other side of the debate too, most interestingly a biblical scholar who delves into the controversial Leviticus passage that most homophobic Christians (including Phelps and his brood) latch onto and how it relates to the times it was written. He addresses how that verse is preached heavily be some churches while most of the other Leviticus verses are simply ignored because they would make life inconvenient for modern people. He also explains that the homosexuality in biblical times was actually talking about pederasty and not the committed gender relationships of current times. Its a lot of mental meat to chew on. There are also other lawyers, politicians, and preachers all of whom disagree with Phelps that speak their minds. Most enlightening is two of Phelps children that got away from the flock that explain, by phone, how he was an abusive Father with rage problems who used God as a way to torment, terrify and subjugate his family and followers. Then there is the whole issue of the picketing the Funerals of the soldiers which is so convoluted, twisted and makes so little sense except in the twisted, deranged mind s of the Phelps that it is astonishing. In the words of his own son who got away "Fred Phelps is running a cult. And all it would take is for him to say that God wants for them to kill someone and it will happen." This is true terror folks. First time seeing this.
Rush To War (2007) *** - Engrossing, intricate documentary that traces how America's own decisions regarding foreign policy, have made us the Bad guys of the world, thus setting the stage for 9/11. And how that led the way to open the flood gates for the current administration to put the current war machine into motion. Much of the information here is available in other more non-partisan documentaries. BUt what makes this one good is that it is less partisan (though it still paints the current administration in a bad light, but it is probably impossible to tell the truth and paint them any other way). Most damning is the 1997 GOP vision statement that outlines how to get America to become the dominant world power, that states boldly that the plan is wholly unethical and un-American and thus would require a catastrophe along the lines of another Pear Harbor styled incident. The documentary stops short of saying the US caused 9/11 but the do say they exploited it for all it was worth in the following 18 months to get into Iraq and start dominating that country and its oil supply. The film also covers America's authorized use of torture and the outing of an FBI informant by Scooter Libby because her husband pointed out a bold face lie about the WMD speech our President made to get us into Iraq. This documentary was made before Scooter Libby was pardoned by the President himself for the blatant criminal offense. This documentary basically spreads out the war crimes against the Geneva Convention, the UN and the world that our current Administration is guilty of and lets you the viewer decide what to make of them. Its is truly heartbreaking that America has done nothing. First time seeing this.
Wed April 23, 2008
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2004) *** - Very solid drama/horror film loosely based on a true story of a priest on trial for criminal negligence because the young woman he was caring for, and providing an exorcism for, died under his watch. The film is primarily a courtroom drama, which pissed off a lot of viewers when this hit theaters because it was sold as a straight horror film upon release. when two thirds of the movie take place in a courtroom or jail cell that almost can be considered false advertising! But the other third is flashbacks to the actual possession and those scenes are winners. Jennifer Carpenter who can now be seen on the Showtime original series Dexter as the lead character's spunky cop sister, plays the title roll of Emily Rose and does a tremendous job. She is not only a charmer, but she turns in one of the most physically demanding performances in recent memory selling the possession almost entirely through her own body language and physicality. She's truly amazing in this. The cinematography and effects work in the flashback scenes are also top notch strongly evoking Dario Argento back when he was at his peak. The scene when she runs screaming from her college classroom into the rain is so evocative of Suspiria that it HAS to be a conscious homage. But unlike other films, the scene is NOT a rip off, it just evokes the same nightmare quality that the Argento film did. That is high praise indeed. The movie falters in the wrap up as everything wraps up a little too tidily for comfort, especially considering the fate of our main character the Lawyer played by Laura Linney. Her law firms reaction is simply not believable at all. But it is this final act that keeps the movie from reaching greatness, otherwise this is a fine film, well worth visiting. First time seeing this.
Thursday April 24, 2008
American Drug War, The Great White Hope (2006?) ***1/2 - Excellent documentary exploring how America's war on drugs is a complete sham designed to perpetuate a cycle that keeps the poor people down, locked up and doing drugs, while the government is able to allocate billions of dollars to fight this so called war and fill their pockets with tons of money. The film covers in detail how crack was developed, put onto the streets, how the cocaine that it was made from came directly from US government so the could fund the Iran/Contra conflict. It covers how prisons have become privatized and big business so if more people are imprisoned the make more money and that funnels back to the business and the government. It covers how pot is considered a class one drug on par with heroin, cocaine and crystal meth and how people are locked up with nearly life long sentences for simple pot possession, It explores the issue of Medical Marijuana and how the government continues to prosecute sick people as criminals for possession because they are simply just another body in a money making system. they go to Amsterdam to see how their forward thinking drug laws have affected their culture and see that they have LESS drug abuse and addiction than the United States. This is an eye opening and stunning documentary that goes from the streets talking to the gangs who sell the dope all the way to the current administrations Drug Czar who is hopelessly clueless about how real people interact with drugs on a daily basis. This even covers prescription drug addiction. I have no idea if this movie is available legit. I got it through "other" means... so find it by any way you can. It is a necessary document for our times. first time seeing it
Friday April 25th 2008
Dark Chamber (2007) **1/2 - Pretty well made and very well meaning low budget suspense/ horror flick takes the high road by having no gore or nudity or any other exploitable elements (which makes you wonder why Pop Cinema released it at all?), and largely succeeds. it does this through an interesting story and earnest characterizations and a very wise decision to play the entire thing straight faced. The story is about a college aged dude who moves back to a small down to life with his police detective father against the wishes of his seemingly crazy mom. The town he moves to has a group of Satanists called The Black Circle running around killing people and his Father is working the case. Our hero briefly befriends a creepy red haired chick who hangs around with one of the tenants his Father leases the other apartments of their house too. But soon she shows up dead on their lawn and our hero is attacked by members of the cult. He is not killed though and comes to believe that someone that lives in the sublet apartments is the killer so he and his college buds wire the apartments with mini spy cameras and start recording their every move trying to suss out who might be guilty. The movie then takes a sharp turn into a voyeuristic landscape as we watch the lives of these various people including Felissa Rose from Sleepaway Camp as a "massage therapist" (read prostitute in this film's world) and her mentally handicapped firebug sister, a man with cancer and a taste for whores, and a young married couple with abuse problems. Naturally all of them are involved in some way, but not the obvious. The movie is surprisingly well mounted for a shot on video production with excellent editing and shooting, and the script is literate and well done for the most part. But in the final third it starts to fall apart as a major character literally leaves a place during a fade out and is replaced with a different character in the same location just so he can be killed. Then the final twist is pretty obvious and protracted, taking away from the rest of the film. And truthfully the movie could have used a little more "bite" to it as the pay off, is a little weak at the end. But for the most part it is still a well done and worth recommending flick. First time seeing this.
Wicked Little Things (2006) **1/2 - Good but not great little zombie yarn has a nice concept at the center. A group of children that were labor for the coal mines in the early 20th century are killed when the mine is blasted. Cue the current day when a single mom and her two daughters are moving into the broken down old house they have inherited on the property that is now haunted by the zombies/ghosts of those same kids who are hunting down the bloodlines of the families that killed them in the first place. There is some great atmosphere in the movie with wonderful sweeping shots of fog enshrouded woods with gangs of the zombie kids wandering about. There is also a couple of really sweet gore scenes that deliver the goods too. But the movies just drags in spots and the teenage daughter is such an annoying little bitch for most of the movie that you want to slap the snot out of her nose. Plus the woman they cast as the Mom only looks to be about eight years older than the teen daughter! some of it hits upon old cliche's too with the crazy old man who knows what is going on and the greedy landowner who gets his comeuppance (though i always enjoy that cliche'!) but over all the good outweighs the bad and the zombie kids are creepy enough. First time seeing this.
Saturday April 26 2008
Cloverfield (2008) *1/2 - Impressive effects and some beautiful images of destruction can't save the fact that this is some of the biggest crap in a while. the first twenty minutes of this movie are seriously painful to watch. As you spend "quality time" with the main characters of the film, all upwardly mobile apparently well off Manhattanites, having a going away party for their friend, you quickly begin to root for the as yet to be seen monster to come and fucking eat all of them. Especially the annoying knob running the camera for this "found" footage epic. A bigger whiny asshole I cannot recall in a movie except for maybe one of Kevin Smith's flicks (which I hate for this very reason). All the main characters are either just flat and uninteresting, idiots or just assholes. So when the monster finally attacks its like finally getting to be excused from a long plane ride with people you don't want to be with. The movie picks up from there with some impressive action scenes, that are more impressive considering our post 9/11 attitudes. Images of New York being torn apart with buildings collapsed and clouds of dust filling the streets are terrifying because they are still fresh in the psyche of America and this movie taps that brilliantly. too bad you can't care about the characters caught in the madness. Plus the whole conceit of the movie being captured on camera by one of the characters starts somewhat believable but after a certain point credibility gets tossed out the window as any normal human being would not still be shooting. Not to mention things like batteries running low or running out of tapes. then there is the scene of the monster eating a major character near the end but leaving the others that lapses past logic too. I will give it credit for the downbeat (for anyone who actually liked the characters anyway) ending. It says something about todays climate to end a movie that way. there's rumors of a sequel dealing with the situation from the Military fighting the monster's point of view. I think that would be a more interesting movie. First time seeing this.
Diary Of The Dead (2008) *** - First off let me say FUCK THE WEINSTEINS for making me have to see this on a tv screen instead of in the theaters where I took a day off of work to see it originally. I understand they were gunshy after the tanking of Grindhouse, but this was guaranteed at least a little bit of money if properly released. But to do a limited release and try and do a half-assed regional platform release in this day and age is preposterous. So this never played Ohio at all I don't think. At least nowhere near me. I would have gladly gave it my money. Unlike Cloverfield that I watched earlier today, this movie, also a "found footage" epic supposedly shot by characters within the film, succeeds with its premise. Diary of the Dead does two things right that Cloverfield gets deadly wrong. Diary has a group of main characters that aren't screaming asswipes, and two, it goes out of its way to keep the running camera aspect realistic and explained throughout the movie. Things like editing, music, running low on batteries, are all addressed and dealt with. So little nagging questions are snagged and released before they derail the movie. The movie takes the living dead premise back to square one as the dead are just now coming back to life. What we are watching is a documentary shot by a group of film students who banded together and went on the run trying to get home from school when the crisis hit. Along the way they have been shooting everything on camera and editing it quick and uploading it to the internet as well as downloading the occasional footage from elsewhere in the world to add into the project. the film says up front that what we are seeing is the finished piece with some music added for effect and edited. So that takes care of those problems right there. Director George Romero this time tackles the issues of media saturation and manipulation as his message. it gets heavy handed at times with characters often just outright voicing the messages instead of letting us glean them for ourselves, but at least the themes are there. this movie seems to have Romero fans split down the middle, people seem to either love it or hate it calling it it a piece of shit or a return to form. I think it is neither, but a solid zombie film that looks at it from a different perspective. It is never really as scary as it should be and has a few instances of REALLY out of place humor, especially considering how serious it is for the most part. And the ending is someplace Romero has already been with the Remake of Night Of The Living Dead 1990. But even with all that aside, its is a rock solid movie. Not as good as the other Dead films. But still good all the same. I just wish I could have seen it in a theater like I was supposed to have. First time seeing this.
Sunday April 27, 2008
Vantage Point (2008) ***- Really nice throwback to the political thrillers of the late seventies with a modern twist in that it takes a look at the action from the point of view of at least a half dozen or more various characters. Literally rewinding to show how each of them experienced the main incident. this allows us to get more information from each person's viewpoint until the final reel when it all comes together as a whole. The plot details the president of the United States visiting a peace conference in Spain as he goes to speak at a huge public forum he is shot by a sniper. As his aids and the secret service scatter to find the shooter several bombs go off in the square killing dozens of people. The film shows you how this went down from the news crews perspective, the main Presidential guard (Dennis Quaid), A bystander in the crowd with a video camera (Forest Whitaker), The President Himself (William Hurt) and finally the terrorists themselves. The plot is deceptively simple but has many interesting twists and turns but the constantly turning viewpoints keep you interested as it unfolds like a jigsaw puzzle. what marks this as a successful thriller though is that if you pulled the movie apart and re-edited it as a linear experience would it hold up a s good thriller? I think there is enough going on that it would. the only flaw is a clichéd and overly sentimental climax that stretches believability past the breaking point. Otherwise this is a fine thriller for grown ups. First time seeing this.
The proposition (2005) *** - Writer Nick Cave and Australian director John Hillcoat team up once again after their searing, violent and excellent prison drama Ghosts of the Civil Dead for this equally searing western. At times, violent, yet at other times poetic and beautiful this takes both these men's unique outlook into a well worn genre and makes it seem fresh. the film stars Guy Pearce as Charley Burns an outlaw in a family of outlaws. the local sheriff (Ray Winstone) has caught him and his younger brother Mikey and cuts a deal. he is going to hang Mikey on Christmas day unless Charley goes and finds their oldest brother Sean and kills him. then they will both be set free. Seems that Sean raped and killed a pregnant woman that was friends with the sheriff's wife (Emily Watson) (and maybe all three of the brother's were involved). And so the stage is set for brotherly betrayal amongst killers and outlaws in the Australian outback. Fantastic performances ground a very good script with incredible cinematography and lashings or brutal violence, with a very bizarre score by Nick Cave himself. this is not quite like any other western you can name. The movie is a bit slow in spots and Pearce's character survives a bit of violence that is a bit unrealistic to live through at one point, but overall this is a tremendous piece of work. First time seeing this.
More to come...
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