tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60835605687020805472024-03-13T08:10:09.917+02:00The Last Movieblog.Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.comBlogger270125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-51883713914366037922020-12-02T18:50:00.003+02:002020-12-13T21:18:21.889+02:00Love & Anarchy Advent Calendar<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZ8GaZ_sUewqO1jckjeY4-_Gslro0dVEPocHBjFeNd384VqYHgJahAO9N_JX3HpBNprTD_9xFum5bZKJlywbG0r8292fVqBrMv7sLMrIk6n0ACoQ_WxFut9BoGujKsmzNWX1xL0mSZF4/s1958/ra_kansi.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="1958" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZ8GaZ_sUewqO1jckjeY4-_Gslro0dVEPocHBjFeNd384VqYHgJahAO9N_JX3HpBNprTD_9xFum5bZKJlywbG0r8292fVqBrMv7sLMrIk6n0ACoQ_WxFut9BoGujKsmzNWX1xL0mSZF4/s320/ra_kansi.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>So, we had a Love & Anarchy Film Festival this year as well. I was taking it slow in covering it, but then I realized it was over two months ago. But perhaps by starting an Advent Calendar I can cover 24 movies that were seen at the festival. They had chosen a really good program, and kept the audience as safe as possible in these circumstances. Check back to this post on every day of December to catch up on reviews.<br /></p><p>1. <b>First Cow </b>(USA, 2019)<br />Director: Kelly Reichardt</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsLA9_n5-Wxa8ysYA_PUiMc57Z8Pphtk1x2OhJKo-gTX5kqEQau-rl0qhRQOLAYC20m9onHglDYv9RfaLdFNdGjCs_nmj7jyqpt6AV56mWsAnj93AC5R8db7W3FcHlKjRgoxWOlm0iGw/s1080/firstcow.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsLA9_n5-Wxa8ysYA_PUiMc57Z8Pphtk1x2OhJKo-gTX5kqEQau-rl0qhRQOLAYC20m9onHglDYv9RfaLdFNdGjCs_nmj7jyqpt6AV56mWsAnj93AC5R8db7W3FcHlKjRgoxWOlm0iGw/s320/firstcow.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Kelly Reichardt </b>is known for making slow, quiet and ponderous movies, so it's kind of a jump when the new one is basically a buddy comedy of two grifters in the Old West. It's the kind of western that follows on the footsteps of <i>McCabe & Mrs Miller </i>and the like, everything is grey, brown, dirty, flimsily built and wooden. There's no glory or romanticism involved, even if the framing story tells of a modern woman finding out about the history involved.</p><p>The movie is a good, multilayered depiction of the friendship between two underdogs, played by <b>John Magaro</b> and <b>Orion Lee</b>. It also has some critique of the American Dream and drive towards entrepreneurship, which proves impossible for even the skilled ones if enough odds are against them right from the start. That's why they have to resort to cheating, stealing milk from the prize cow to improve their cakes and thus bake sales. The film has a cold, unflinching look at nature, which is at the same time utterly ruthless and oddly comforting. we are all parts of the woods in the end.<br /></p><p>★★★★</p><p>2. <b>Wendy </b>(USA, 2019)<br />Dir. Benh Zeitlin</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp2WjW_2pEyMpRCmnuhZvfzIas_or43cP8TN-GtbwgN9rikuGf1Jui1LUDtUiGMPbu3nYAgwanIn7d7-GFsF2GFjbPHT4FQyF3iFchFb3F-4p509I208LIK76ULXl0sSsNfxvSBG97wTg/s800/wendy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp2WjW_2pEyMpRCmnuhZvfzIas_or43cP8TN-GtbwgN9rikuGf1Jui1LUDtUiGMPbu3nYAgwanIn7d7-GFsF2GFjbPHT4FQyF3iFchFb3F-4p509I208LIK76ULXl0sSsNfxvSBG97wTg/s320/wendy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>The impressionistic director <b>Benh Zeitlin</b> with his crew has prepared his follow-up to <i>Beasts of a Southern Wild </i>for seven years. While that one saw wonder and childlike amazement in poor and devastated Southeast terriories, this one takes a jump toward even more fantastic storytelling. It's a reworking of the story of Peter Pan.</p><p>The film is again visually stunning, and the locations in the Pacific Islands with an active volcano are nothing short of breathtaking. This time around, Zeitling guides a larger cast of child actors, none of which are as strong to carry a movie as <b>Quvenzhané Wallis</b> was. It also seems that the long production period and kids growing up so fast has made it necessary to tell the story fragmented and disjointed. It may be argued that its due to the logic following children's playtimes, but it makes for a tedious thing to follow. There are some kind of cool reworkings of the Pan story set to a more modern backdrop, but some are basically terrible. Mostly anything to do with Captain Hook and his pirates. <i>Beasts of a Southern Wild </i>was not without its problems, but it had a more clear purpose, now it seems it's a bit too childish and dumbed down for adults and not exciting enough for kids, satisfying no one.</p><p>★★</p><p>3. <b>Lost Boys </b>(Finland/Thailand 2020)<br />Dirs. Joonas Neuvonen, Sadri Cetinkaya</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFS8IKmajzYFUIu5kKZRiMwyk_OrAz6CRRLWRM2a26BFUAvlOy1EQhXiz9ykCFXMLusDwPpTV8v2FEUzP0NQjDkpKCs6HQp2bWqVtYXyYjPj_OIEKNf0nJEBIS9jR4ErhGVemUop7LU4/s784/lostboys.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="784" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFS8IKmajzYFUIu5kKZRiMwyk_OrAz6CRRLWRM2a26BFUAvlOy1EQhXiz9ykCFXMLusDwPpTV8v2FEUzP0NQjDkpKCs6HQp2bWqVtYXyYjPj_OIEKNf0nJEBIS9jR4ErhGVemUop7LU4/s320/lostboys.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p>The documentary film <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/perkele-finnish-documentary-films-at.html">Reindeerspotting</a> made waves a decade ago, and also became a big hit in Finland. The movie depicted a group of drug addicts from Lapland in their daily lives, fighting against their urges, boredom, and the system. From the profits of the film, the real-life buddy group got enough money to fly to Thailand for the winter. After a few months of pure hedonism, sex, drugs and all other vices, only the film's director <b>Joonas Neuvonen</b> returned home. Soon after, one of the group was missing and the first film's main character <b>Jani</b> was found dead in shady circumstances. <br /></p><p>The sequel film is of Neuvonen's attempts to recollect, what went wrong and to try to find out what exactly happened to his friends. The material he had for this film were fragmented, some in pooor quality. The reason the film took a decade was that it needed multiple screenwriters, editors and even co-directors to make sense of all this. Considering this, the resulting film is a wonder, a docufiction that is both a horrifying psychedelic nightmare in the vein of <b>Gaspar Noé</b> and <b>Nicolas Winding Refn</b>. On the other hand, it is also a sad look at the dead end facing the first film's characters. They might get some fleeting moments of happiness late in their lives, but it's all a illusion and the ground is approaching fast. This time around, Neuvonen puts himself more to under the magnifying glass, emphasizes his own bad feelings about the case and maybe his own fractured psyche.</p><p>★★★★</p><p>4. <b>Radioactive </b>(UK, Hungary, China, France, USA 2019)<br />Dir. Marjane Satrapi</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5VR7dMAKDVtkBPJ4q42Mq3PQDrUOhJsY66j-BDCUrQPSDbRzEndMIPy-V3ctsCelltMaUaHVbiLk52IyBUMv3WdLboV2UR-bhMRlQ2HtEsroHMI1cAdzccxh8ZdjwBUwA7RI3aeWO7E/s477/radioactive.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="477" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ5VR7dMAKDVtkBPJ4q42Mq3PQDrUOhJsY66j-BDCUrQPSDbRzEndMIPy-V3ctsCelltMaUaHVbiLk52IyBUMv3WdLboV2UR-bhMRlQ2HtEsroHMI1cAdzccxh8ZdjwBUwA7RI3aeWO7E/s320/radioactive.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>The author of <i>Persepolis</i>, <b>Marjane Satrapi</b>, hasn't had the most successful career as a film director. His previous film, <i>Voices</i>, flopped in the Stateside, so she has had to resort to having an easy-to-sell biography project made with funding from around the world as her next project. The film tells the life story of chemist <b>Marie Curie</b>, discoverer of Radioactive elements. As it is, Radioactive has many moments of visual intrigue and good acting, but it can't avoid all the major pratfalls of the biography genre.</p><p><b>Rosamund Pike </b>carries the film as headstrong Curie. As Satrapi tends to do with her comics work, she also intercuts the story with asides that show consequences of the discoveries, both good (radiation treatments) and bad (the Chernobyl accident). Those asides however reveal the film's limited budget, even if it's stretched admirably to fit these parts. The major problem is, however, that like most scientists, the life story by itself isn't really that captivating, and showing of all the various awards and stuff seems like reading from a Wikipedia page. The center is the relationship between Marie and Pierre (<b>Sam Riley</b>), but it lacks tension since Pierre is doing his best to share credits and help Marie as much as he can. The adventures in World War I with her daughter, shrugged off in the film's last 20 minutes, would have been more interesting to follow than focusing on the early parts.</p><p>★★</p><p>5. <b>Nomadland </b>(USA, Germany 2020)<br />Dir. Chloé Zhao</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4UIwyBDpC1TnHFCdaYkAiwliQIf6bOL60LY8LT8fprsjKig8nfFOZQmUw-V5tc-koKGQtKS-ozyhDiN0_rh_32ANPgrtNJYBHrO6a4oNyJj9z_HjoCvdthBzV3adCK7ThPYdvjivC7Y/s1300/nomadland.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="1300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4UIwyBDpC1TnHFCdaYkAiwliQIf6bOL60LY8LT8fprsjKig8nfFOZQmUw-V5tc-koKGQtKS-ozyhDiN0_rh_32ANPgrtNJYBHrO6a4oNyJj9z_HjoCvdthBzV3adCK7ThPYdvjivC7Y/s320/nomadland.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Director Zhao once again finds a way to make a western that's relevant to the themes for today. And she does it with a docufiction style, having plenty of people with the nomad lifestyle essentially play themselves. It's a touching film about the inability to find one's place in the world, but for once, not through the eyes of a teen or a young adult, but an actual adult, magnificently portrayed by Frances McDormand.</p><p>McDormand's Fern is tossed out after the closure of a major factory and an entire town's livelyhood. She does meaningless part-time work for Amazon and lives in her trailer, traveling the Great Plains of USA. On her way, she tries developing relationships, but everything seems fleeting and avoid her grasp. The film has an anti-capitalist sting, but I feel the film could have had more brutally honest things to say about Amazon's worker practices, which were only alluded to here. It may be due to the realities of releasing such a melancholic film for adults, one can't rule out Amazon by biting the hand that may feed you. It's a shame Zhao herself seems to accept the odd job here and there, since she's moving on to the MCU. I think certain rising talents could produce incredible movies elsewhere, whereas with Marvel they'll probably do something reasonably entertaining but forgettable. But that's late-stage capitalism for you. It maximises profits, not art.</p><p>★★★★ 1/2</p><p>6. <b>Dogs Don't Wear Pants </b>(Koirat eivät käytä housuja, Finland, Latvia 2019)<br />Dir. J-P Valkeapää</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOw9eC32sa7JtweaHLfeYZnrygNdldQshvO-CddembLZX3akLIo3wwjYnw5XA0j_PUMzmypp47SfNbMS5E6wHIsipQ9k7-00iY47QOM58EbMzjkA1aJSO-1l47PWaBfV_5Te3Bk7fKRQQ/s1280/dogsdont.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOw9eC32sa7JtweaHLfeYZnrygNdldQshvO-CddembLZX3akLIo3wwjYnw5XA0j_PUMzmypp47SfNbMS5E6wHIsipQ9k7-00iY47QOM58EbMzjkA1aJSO-1l47PWaBfV_5Te3Bk7fKRQQ/s320/dogsdont.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I had actually seen this last year in festival screenings, but since then this movie has become a bit notorious abroad, so it warrants a mention. It's a sort of dark comedy of a man (<b>Pekka Streng</b>) struggling with grief finding a new lease in life with kinky sex and especially with a blossoming relationship with a dominatrix (<b>Krista Kosonen</b>).</p><p>Valkeapää is perhaps the most gifted visualist of the new generation of Finnish filmmakers. Here he has some shades of neon noir or the films of the likes of Noé and Friedkin, but manages to do something unique and undoubtedly his. It's a considerable step up of his previous work that had clearer pastiches. It's not as rough and kinky as one might expect, but it's also no surprise that some things get taken a bit far. The key of the movie is in its central triangle drama of sorts with a father being drawn into a sexy underworld, but his daughter also needing him in her struggles.</p><p>★★★★<br /><br />7. <b>My Octopus Teacher </b>(South Africa 2020)<br />Dirs. Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed</p><p>Filmmaker Craig Forster recalls an unusual encounter with an octopus in an underwater kelp forest. Octopi are as intelligent as house cats, so the fil m goes out its way to show how they too can act as personally, gracefully and smartly as any pet, with footage to support it. I'm usually wary of films that make of animal behaviour to be to human-like, and there are some interpretations here that near the line. As it is however, is a reminder that we have incredible species around the world that have their own emotions, and we just can't go on destroying the landscapes in which they live in. </p><p>★★★</p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-49061365842514951182020-12-01T20:14:00.004+02:002020-12-01T20:14:49.126+02:00Three laughs: Kinjite - Forbidden subjects<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmal-w5nI_RDFYvxNXl9zyb-Uu-fExWmqiRL7i7fTPqKAHZQl2oQFdEyrSynyaF9eaw2LaXoLT7HiUDBO-Iek4hBpZPAwwQAsFHa9Xz-la-FlkCq_guXJ3mf6_PmptgC85DERpUG5fuPk/s750/kinjite_ss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmal-w5nI_RDFYvxNXl9zyb-Uu-fExWmqiRL7i7fTPqKAHZQl2oQFdEyrSynyaF9eaw2LaXoLT7HiUDBO-Iek4hBpZPAwwQAsFHa9Xz-la-FlkCq_guXJ3mf6_PmptgC85DERpUG5fuPk/s320/kinjite_ss.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to
you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. <br />
<br />
★ or ★★★★★</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPEDhloaUkG5643BDt5rRM-HDVfWpVHZ808L_DXZBd_j8J_PFT9GqIW88Ddk9Ms6mZxo8MY28Y8CsdsvU_E4mgrpM1QKZc59eJ4c6g0lOu90TPabrov6X8mz_mOBRYbCkJ6oxvradTQw/s1733/kinjite.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1733" data-original-width="1156" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPEDhloaUkG5643BDt5rRM-HDVfWpVHZ808L_DXZBd_j8J_PFT9GqIW88Ddk9Ms6mZxo8MY28Y8CsdsvU_E4mgrpM1QKZc59eJ4c6g0lOu90TPabrov6X8mz_mOBRYbCkJ6oxvradTQw/s320/kinjite.jpg" /></a></div><p><br />
<br />
Three laughs case file # 25:<br />
<b>Kinjite - Forbidden Subjects</b> (USA, 1989)<br />
<br />
Director: J. Lee Thompson <br />
<br />
I know we are still on the edge about police brutality. Yet the cop-on-the-edge trope is one that's been central to a zillion action movies throughout the years. Now, in movies we usually take the cop's point of view, which tends to show that you may have to break a few rules to get to the goal you're reaching. Meaning, it's ok to use excessive violence if it's for purging streets of nasty criminals, who are evil for evil's sake.</p><p>But this is why trashy low-budget movies are more honest than their big budget counterparts. They have less to lose so they say what they mean without diluting the statement. Dirty Harry is a small fry when compared to some of the characters <b>Charles Bronson </b>played at films produced by Cannon Group.</p><p>At 1989 Bronson was getting pretty old, so the usual action movie tricks, like chases and gunfights were out of the question. That's probably why they upped the ante and made his character a racist who especially enjoys torturing criminals in inventive ways. When a japanese diplomat's daughter is kidnapped, he must find her even though he realizes that the family's father is the same guy that groped his daughter on a packed bus (or "touched her holiest of holies"). </p><p>Now, the film may have some idea that what Bronson is doing is questionable. But he is proven right in his prejudices in the end, and never faces consequences of killing a whole lot of people, so the point is mute. In fact, the entire film is kind of ridiculous in that it seems to contain a message that the Japanese are perverted and should be monitored. Not to mention latino criminals. So, a fair point is to give this film a <b>content warning</b>. If you can't find anything funny about a film that protects police rights to be racist and violent since "they all deserve it", I totally understand. This is one of those films that make me feel dirty for watching, let alone writing about.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMWY9V9fJkqlbtOuyRrY43gcSvlJX4cUnMhaFBlG4BIEfjDSd4XZD0Qjto78jb7LXG7tQRue4UFQGiA_c0ZOyEOjZ72gO8IezwPG5OYthmPVf8giw_FC6sEH5ATJ8Wko_82R_iGafNDs/s584/kinjite_ss2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLMWY9V9fJkqlbtOuyRrY43gcSvlJX4cUnMhaFBlG4BIEfjDSd4XZD0Qjto78jb7LXG7tQRue4UFQGiA_c0ZOyEOjZ72gO8IezwPG5OYthmPVf8giw_FC6sEH5ATJ8Wko_82R_iGafNDs/s320/kinjite_ss2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Three laughs (SPOILERS): <br />
<br />
1. Bronsons's cop specializes in capturing dirtbags. The first fight ensues when he interrupts a businessman trying to get it on with a teenaged girl. Now, Bronson's pretty old by this point, so he's never in the same shot with a punch or a kick being thrown, resorting more to stuntmen and quick editing. Where he is, however, is when the sleazebag is defeated and he decides to show him what's what. He grabs a handy dildo from his bag and the scene is cut just as he's about to shove it where the sun don't shine.<br />
<br />
2. In another scene a latino crook tries to bribe Bronson in a parked car with a gold Rolex. Bronson takes a look at the watch and tells he's like to shove it up his ass. But since that bit has been done already, he reaches for his gigantic handgun and threatens to blow the guy's head off if he doesn't eat the watch. The face he makes after the gulping is one of the most hilarious things in trash movie history. He also burns his car and threatens to kill him "dead in a gutter -dead".<br />
<br />
3. Since throughout the film he's tortured and killed suspects without a trial, one would assume that what he has in mind for the sex-trafficing main bad guy is especially horrible. And it is, but in a totally different way. Bronson locks him up in a cell with a bunch of sexed-up Mexican gangsters, including a young <b>Danny Trejo</b>. As the villain howls as he's impliedly raped, Bronson smirks while walking away and quips "Now THAT'S justice". That's this film's idea of justice, all right.<br />
<br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-49919823941304698692020-11-30T20:59:00.005+02:002020-11-30T20:59:38.974+02:00Sean Connery in Memoriam<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1012blfKxOASvsw9t2jGSTSHogEkgiLlPlkGyrf0zGwoTOIxD6HP6DoQnOWKRZ7-6Jkh7ComXo5t_4PQrkxJez-DgRx_qUF7Pam3lEFveg-_EpXP6FmECjC4MMtkSt-cTGTII4Sc-zw/s1019/seanconnery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1019" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1012blfKxOASvsw9t2jGSTSHogEkgiLlPlkGyrf0zGwoTOIxD6HP6DoQnOWKRZ7-6Jkh7ComXo5t_4PQrkxJez-DgRx_qUF7Pam3lEFveg-_EpXP6FmECjC4MMtkSt-cTGTII4Sc-zw/s320/seanconnery.jpg" /></a></div><br />Cinema lost another giant this year as the legendary Highlander <b>Sean Connery </b>himself passed away aged 90 in the Bahamas. Now, he might have had some very regressive personal ideas that have been repeated ad nauseum by leftists. But one can't claim that he wasn't a mesmerizing screen star, and also (his constant Scottish accent and lisping s's notwithstanding), quite a great actor as well. This post takes a look at some of his best performances. <br /><p></p><p><b>From Russia with Love</b> (UK, 1963)<br />Dir. Terence Young</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1rgdVfbnpqe4x225YIASV5c660xMbdRYTTXgWNT6yUYBCs5OU0qidlcBcBLlDcUGIe_xMk-bPd8MkD3t6xTQFRSTy0LA6g6kyZuv6oeRZuN18FG8eZwCAO4mHuoO-h053x408FnOxvE/s1024/frwl_bond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="683" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1rgdVfbnpqe4x225YIASV5c660xMbdRYTTXgWNT6yUYBCs5OU0qidlcBcBLlDcUGIe_xMk-bPd8MkD3t6xTQFRSTy0LA6g6kyZuv6oeRZuN18FG8eZwCAO4mHuoO-h053x408FnOxvE/s320/frwl_bond.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>There are many ways of approaching the Bond series, but it is also interesting to watch the earliest entries where everything was not that set in stone. While <i>Dr. No</i> already had a version of the basic formula, the first sequel in the series took a different path, having a more real world espionage-based and dark sequel. As it is one of the more serious entries in the franchise, I find it also surprisingly underrated.</p><p>It's still a Bond film, so there's plenty of ludicrousness. The entire film begins with a scene where Bond is seemingly killed, but it turns out it's just some guy wearing a rubber mask (for some reason) in Red Grant's (<b>Robert Shaw</b>) training exercise. Grant's dark reflection of Bond is one of the reasons people remember this film so fondly, but it has some other good characterizations as well, from the double-agent Tatiana Romanova (<b>Daniela Bianchi</b>) to the actual main villain Rosa Klebb (<b>Lotte Lenya</b>), who never even meets Bond face-to-face. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnU-pXWqreJveDqhATRVu1mNWxuqR9b-KLXu_kgY4tZTC5A6VD6HZCoQJSe1ktzROx6VuGqTz26DYS1JLJQI0Mu0Q9tfNntLqvOFwo2bLeOcKEew2jmNR0x7hgkQt9luQyK2WBa_I0tB0/s406/bond-vs-red-grant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnU-pXWqreJveDqhATRVu1mNWxuqR9b-KLXu_kgY4tZTC5A6VD6HZCoQJSe1ktzROx6VuGqTz26DYS1JLJQI0Mu0Q9tfNntLqvOFwo2bLeOcKEew2jmNR0x7hgkQt9luQyK2WBa_I0tB0/s320/bond-vs-red-grant.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But Red Grant does, in perhaps the best fight scene of the entire series.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </p><p>Before <b>Daniel Craig</b> came along, Connery was the only actor who managed to get a sense of danger out of the Bond movies. He is constantly in over his head, but his cocky nature and luck also make him come out on top of any situation. Bond is probably the worst secret agent possible, but it just adds to the allure of the character. Espionage is well below his radar after women and boozing.</p><p>★★★★ <br /></p><p><b>Marnie</b> (USA, 1964)<br />Dir. Alfred Hitchcock</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf3JU6BZCvKQrkvZu_BaXB4YZh72apMcFodIEZkdynWXOvDoAFbrCgzfEkE6I6gt0JEi6WaNLOiHCB0YryiFdZY_XYKbPtyZb2ihBiFQOH_FRj5wuEFc4DsXiop-aUIohYHVjgoUcHiIE/s1080/marnie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="765" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf3JU6BZCvKQrkvZu_BaXB4YZh72apMcFodIEZkdynWXOvDoAFbrCgzfEkE6I6gt0JEi6WaNLOiHCB0YryiFdZY_XYKbPtyZb2ihBiFQOH_FRj5wuEFc4DsXiop-aUIohYHVjgoUcHiIE/s320/marnie.jpg" /></a></div> <p></p><p>Late-era <b>Hitchcock</b> films aren't also quite as well-known, and it may seem even surprising that Connery starred in a Hitch movie. Marnie is a exploration of trauma and lies and their effects on a relationship. It also has a <i>Psycho</i>-like table-turn, in which we at first follow Marnie (<b>Tippi Hedren</b>) as she cheats, swindles and steals money from each of her employers. When she gets caught by Connery's Mark Rutland, he takes it upon himself to get to the bottom of her personality flaws and functions.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbK_J1Vdydb76yeyqmF0hR5Hc1fwZBoFgvPx4Ue5-A_b77KG-g8-Ef3cBtgEXNfgZc9YlMUmLr4wZGeRZrJYMuAi7TP5J5qzAby6XhPR8aCO8G1h92t167xiNjvHhNyweCtO2qhf97aQs/s824/marnie_ss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="824" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbK_J1Vdydb76yeyqmF0hR5Hc1fwZBoFgvPx4Ue5-A_b77KG-g8-Ef3cBtgEXNfgZc9YlMUmLr4wZGeRZrJYMuAi7TP5J5qzAby6XhPR8aCO8G1h92t167xiNjvHhNyweCtO2qhf97aQs/s320/marnie_ss.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p>As it was already the 60's, Hitch could have more graphic sex and violence than used to in his films. Connery is more of a hands-on actor than <b>Jimmy Stewart </b>or <b>Cary Grant </b>who had problems with their masculinity in Hitch's movies. The central character of Marnie, however, is way too half-baked, a damsel in distress with little agenda of her own. Hitchcock has interesting scenes play out her panic attacks, but is seems he could have grounded the end reveals a bit more with the role of Marnie's mother being almost nonexistant beforehand. I think the film showcases a little too clearly Hitchcock's problems with women, and as a result, it's a good try to have a multilayered psychological thriller, but times had already passed such a chauvinistic view of things. It's not among the best of it's director's standards.<br /></p><p>★★★</p><p><b>The Offence</b> (USA, 1973)<br />Dir. Sidney Lumet</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxNpNRNGVZ3fiRFwXpJTNnq6dx9dmS8Odj3jrkkFi3Qv1qHluqzzw5-hr4vDxROosGhfvURu_yP584293tIu_M5LNvBGLHsu-yPnqq2W3z_kZWSxyh7fJmXSvYxRWk4fDSl4SsHHMvXts/s823/offence2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="823" data-original-width="534" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxNpNRNGVZ3fiRFwXpJTNnq6dx9dmS8Odj3jrkkFi3Qv1qHluqzzw5-hr4vDxROosGhfvURu_yP584293tIu_M5LNvBGLHsu-yPnqq2W3z_kZWSxyh7fJmXSvYxRWk4fDSl4SsHHMvXts/s320/offence2.jpg" /></a></div> <p></p><p>Connery made four films in total with <b>Lumet</b>, and as directed by a veteran who leaned heavy on good scripts and getting the best out of his actors, he also made some of the best work in his career. Here he plays a British policeman driven evenly more desperate as a child-murderer's case lingers on.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw26mvtJ1iPtz_NsgGjAUkvwoQggLC0USbsWKsrT9NAwZt7IXfBbCEDJs4cwpEpywo-IqjHrh6ffGLBBxm6EaNBV5ibNDsGQ6wIX0cQ5ax9kwlyC9FDKwUe5BbQEPAwZuxRthw8vN9PZw/s630/The-Offence-Connery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw26mvtJ1iPtz_NsgGjAUkvwoQggLC0USbsWKsrT9NAwZt7IXfBbCEDJs4cwpEpywo-IqjHrh6ffGLBBxm6EaNBV5ibNDsGQ6wIX0cQ5ax9kwlyC9FDKwUe5BbQEPAwZuxRthw8vN9PZw/s320/The-Offence-Connery.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p>I'd say the bleak outlook on a 20-year police procedure has probably been a major influence on <b>Bong Joon-ho's</b> <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/directors-bong-joon-ho.html">Memories of Murder</a>. Lumet, however directs this mostly like a stage play, with minimalist interrogation rooms and very dialogue-heavy scenes. Lumet is interested in a breaking psyche, and the growing desperation that brings a seemingly good police to do atrocious deeds. It covers similar themes than a lot of showier films which is probably why this small-scale movie has had such relatively light attention.</p><p>Connery's role, however, is yet another character that takes out his inner anger and frustrations on women, in this case his long-suffering wife. Well, he has violent tendencies towards suspects as well, so he's not entirely likable by any means, but still, one has to wonder why so many of his characters share this woman-beating tendencies.<br /></p><p>★★★ 1/2<br /></p><p><b>The Wind and the Lion</b> (USA, 1975)<br />Dir. John Milius</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBQluS11lNT_ie7dIDOAheucdXBwO7Q5Wn8FoRKdkTF8a8Xdgg_BKoXbKjMpLvlkP1ME93X_bcghRb9HwfxwXVwOr-WtDO481IMd_dI_TnfJw6aJfPrwOo9BPc5Y23_MugPA2rBWbmNg/s1804/windandthelion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1804" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBQluS11lNT_ie7dIDOAheucdXBwO7Q5Wn8FoRKdkTF8a8Xdgg_BKoXbKjMpLvlkP1ME93X_bcghRb9HwfxwXVwOr-WtDO481IMd_dI_TnfJw6aJfPrwOo9BPc5Y23_MugPA2rBWbmNg/s320/windandthelion.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>Milius</b> found a good historical epic with which to tell a story about one of his greatest heroes, <b>Theodore Roosevelt</b>. It wasn't his last Roosevelt film, and Ol' Teddy is restricted here to a quite brief supporting role, though he is the Wind in the title. The Lion, then is Connery's Raisuli, a Berber prince out for glory. At that point it wasn't considered problematic to have Scots portray Arabs. Rather, he is used here to be a world-class lover and a fighter, in the same vein as <b>Rudolph Valentino</b>. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJCbUh1tIBb9SrWVLYYlM7UeZ3LAJhwB6MhSxf4XJu2ztv96d59g8JzY1nSrG7yTL7DtX2sdgr8OlevsAnWlC05D4VL0ACycWXYJfuA1_r9bZNwP0tMR6nGlTjd7rx0vceMNCcDZcwGg/s800/the-wind-and-the-lion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJCbUh1tIBb9SrWVLYYlM7UeZ3LAJhwB6MhSxf4XJu2ztv96d59g8JzY1nSrG7yTL7DtX2sdgr8OlevsAnWlC05D4VL0ACycWXYJfuA1_r9bZNwP0tMR6nGlTjd7rx0vceMNCcDZcwGg/s320/the-wind-and-the-lion.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>There's planty of action scenes equal to Milius's later <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/arnold-project-part-ii-arnold-barbarian.html">Conan the Barbarian</a>, and a Stockholm sydromish romance with <b>Candace Bergen's</b> reporter, who finds that there's more to the Berber lifestyle than meets the eye at first. Meanwhile, Teddy (<b>Brian Keith</b>) faces pressures on his foreign policy back home, but meets them with his personal philosophies, which isn't nearly as interesting. The seperate stories don't quite click together and the ending is quite underwhelming. nevertheless, it is an enjoyable film to watch since Connery's and Milius's approaches to tell manly men tales are tangentially similar.<br /></p><p>★★★</p><p><b>The Rock </b>(USA, 1996)<br />Dir. Michael Bay</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5cli0zklWLjS0J3x8uV7vXOfmXLUOwxghGeMVkJuoMIWL0QkkizBSDnCOIAROCn0KRMH_z-aolJo3PToz3mG4i9YOUQCRJQjmGzMpeDENqYrHtVSkBTQWbpfJMSuyR8Vh5X38S5EAcYM/s320/therock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5cli0zklWLjS0J3x8uV7vXOfmXLUOwxghGeMVkJuoMIWL0QkkizBSDnCOIAROCn0KRMH_z-aolJo3PToz3mG4i9YOUQCRJQjmGzMpeDENqYrHtVSkBTQWbpfJMSuyR8Vh5X38S5EAcYM/s0/therock.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Finally, among the last really entertaining romps Connery made, and also the movie was more or less to blame for many of Connery's late-era woes. <i>The Rock's</i> stunt casting sees him play pretty much a James Bond type that has been kept in a prison cell for 30 years. He's a quippy man of action, but at the same time a mentor too. That the aged Connery happend to fit into a thoroughly modern action movie so well gave the wrong imprsiion to other filmmakers who attempted similar approaches, the bottom of the barrel being 2003's <i>LXG</i> which made Connery quit acting altogether.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibYDJW88N8aqETBb72FBQWigHOBgKsaW1UCoXd9c043JyV_z6rohXz0iCaWAHnkWHvselVPusLCcYmQlC61ZPBt_op5ARS8oyDcmnMcTHw_wQmaFh-6ogBc8N0s5nSSJjJJtIN8ux2Y80/s581/therock_ss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="581" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibYDJW88N8aqETBb72FBQWigHOBgKsaW1UCoXd9c043JyV_z6rohXz0iCaWAHnkWHvselVPusLCcYmQlC61ZPBt_op5ARS8oyDcmnMcTHw_wQmaFh-6ogBc8N0s5nSSJjJJtIN8ux2Y80/s320/therock_ss.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p>You can find plenty to blame in <b>Michael Bay's</b> approach. Connery seems to enjoy to play a character that sees things to be as black-and-white as they were in the 1960's, which extends also on his sex politics. He also seemingly kills or maims a lot of innocent people in a very tacked-on car chase, that's nevertheless a great showcase of Bay's strengths as an action director. By contrast, <b>Nicolas Cage's </b>weirdo, modern action man and <b>Ed Harris's</b> noble main baddie are more nuanced characters, but Connery holds his own against these two great performances. Bay has only regressive things to say, but that's only if you try to search anything meaningful in his cavalcade of outrageous plot turns and huge explosions. As a 90's romp, it's still great fun, and perhaps should have been Connery's actual retirement film so he could have gone out on top.<br /></p><p>★★★★</p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-24144237856341243522020-11-21T20:41:00.002+02:002020-11-21T20:41:22.146+02:00Three laughs: Double Team<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFemPpses3qTQW3UrsUvLiMe_047_d7wJk9100cAhe9RRLn-qvz7JFFKVqx6XZ4CnFxNXN9uA-hfE5lbUdar1WzRxAnJROt4I3iuObcLpjv2sLlG09ycA6ZMRGVmkrhauYoIvPWv6l_N0/s2000/doubleteam1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="2000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFemPpses3qTQW3UrsUvLiMe_047_d7wJk9100cAhe9RRLn-qvz7JFFKVqx6XZ4CnFxNXN9uA-hfE5lbUdar1WzRxAnJROt4I3iuObcLpjv2sLlG09ycA6ZMRGVmkrhauYoIvPWv6l_N0/s320/doubleteam1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br />It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to
you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. <br /><p></p><p>★ or ★★★★★</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-pl91zfvriyS5KgpGPwGAbLg_2UmuZ9mFl2wSBzw9cEAq1aex-fEgqmjTaUf6qQoiJdzlHXGGRSr_dQJXaTQKvS5JXTkOJu7X72t__F-aOYn-IYRmXGaACPwtjQseZQBZcR_UR3RO2Q/s1930/doubleteam_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1930" data-original-width="1441" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-pl91zfvriyS5KgpGPwGAbLg_2UmuZ9mFl2wSBzw9cEAq1aex-fEgqmjTaUf6qQoiJdzlHXGGRSr_dQJXaTQKvS5JXTkOJu7X72t__F-aOYn-IYRmXGaACPwtjQseZQBZcR_UR3RO2Q/s320/doubleteam_poster.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Three laughs case file #44:<br /><b>Double Team</b> (USA/Hong Kong, 1997)<br />Director: Tsui Hark</p><p>It's been known to come out of my mouth to say that <b>Jean-Claude Van Damme</b> has a surprisingly good filmography. Well, y'know, not good-good, but there's plenty of really over-the-top and silly actioners that are a lot more fun to watch than many of his peers. He also managed to star in both <b>John Woo</b> and <b>Tsui Hark's </b>Hollywood movies.</p><p>The hongkong cinema legends became rivals over dispute of the <i>A Better Tomorrow</i> series, directed by Woo and produced by Hark. Initially Hark made the third part without Woo, who became an international superstar in hos own right. It's quite clear which one of them was more talented, but Hark never gave up trying to upstage Woo's style. Case in point was 1997 when they both ran in the competition of who would make the more ridiculous Hollywood action movie. Woo made <i>Face/Off</i>, Hark made this. <br /></p><p>The reason this film is called <i>Double Team</i> is first to cash in on Van Damme's previous <i>Double Impact</i>, but it also serves to remind that it's basically two very tangentially related movies in one. One, a gritty circle of revenge between a terrorist played by <b>Mickey Rourke</b> and Van Damme's counter-terrorist agent. The second, a weird ripoff of <i>The Prisoner</i>, where Van Damme is taken to a secluded scifi island retreat for ex-agents and plans for his escape.<br /></p><p>And where does <b>Dennis Rodman's</b> arms dealer fit into all this? Basically nowhere, it seems they had a hunch Rodman would be a bigger star than he was, so his short role had to be expanded to be another of a buddy cop duo, with outrageous fashion items, bright hair colors and basketballl-related one-liners. The plot is a mess, the film tries very 90's-like to be cool with off-putting camera angles, endless explosions and cool-for-cools sake sets, locations, effects and visual elements that serve little purpose and eventually don't go nowhere. It all makes for a very entertaining, trashy movie that gets dumber and dumber as it goes along. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDi38aCB_iWjo538t1kdROLeQytiJvP7GTu1A34U2W1pm0GwkFUr_x7fb6fUDhhFmnVE6TL7bl1pUQb4p1NFa1i5M1yHjiuav_W7aIkOQiObqfMJhlmbiLJo2Vwgbnjn5x_c7hB0qwAE/s1280/Double-Team-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDi38aCB_iWjo538t1kdROLeQytiJvP7GTu1A34U2W1pm0GwkFUr_x7fb6fUDhhFmnVE6TL7bl1pUQb4p1NFa1i5M1yHjiuav_W7aIkOQiObqfMJhlmbiLJo2Vwgbnjn5x_c7hB0qwAE/s320/Double-Team-2.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Three laughs (SPOILERS): <br /></p><p>1. When Van Damme finds himself on Conter-terrorist Island, he is immideately in a hurry to get out. His lover thinks he's dead and Rourke is out to get vengeance on him, since he accidentally killed his child (it's a weird position for a film's hero to basically be a child-killer). Thus, he begins a hilarious training routine in his motel room that gives fans of Muscles from Brussels what they bought their ticket for. He does the Splits climbing a door frame, punches a bucket full of gravel and lifts a bath tub all the while making pained expressions. He's also doing some MacGyver-like experiments with a Coke can that somehow will help him escape the daily routine later on.<br /></p><p>2. Since Rodman can't act his way out of a paper bag, and Van Damme famously has a limited grasp in English, all the buddy scenes between the two play out quite differently than the film's producers probably had in mind. My favorite scene is when the pair of them have to jump out of an airplane in the middle of nowhere (Rourke's base is in the Colosseum in the middle of Rome). They bicker since there was no parachutes, but luckily, Rodman did became prepared. He somehow turns on a giant basketball over the pair of them that somehow shelters them from the impact. Real xXxTREME SPORTS! <br /></p><p>3. The overly conveluted Finale is miraclous in itself, since it involves Rourke having dug landmines in the middle of the Colosseum and let out an angry tiger loose. Van Damme and Rodman are platforming around to find a missing baby. It's almost avant-garde how incoherent this all is, but one can't look away. The final coup the grace is when all the explosives are triggered and the pair saves themselves by shetering behind a number of Coke machines THAT CAME OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE! One gets a sneaking suspicion that this film might have been sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company.<br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-58327766848594698942020-11-04T21:49:00.002+02:002020-11-04T21:49:27.350+02:00Three laughs: Tokyo Gore Police<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXIPOK2SWLKTzmddJHN_dOQVYGLEq5Cssbn5VjchgQdUceASUA0wA6HCjOF6PxmVYlQD7ntanQGLqyXCRA2dRcdVHFoZdcwSLkmsitFbz5MWdL8LmZh0sVSXzVn5r1uS6XV874T_TIPo/s1280/tgp_ss1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXIPOK2SWLKTzmddJHN_dOQVYGLEq5Cssbn5VjchgQdUceASUA0wA6HCjOF6PxmVYlQD7ntanQGLqyXCRA2dRcdVHFoZdcwSLkmsitFbz5MWdL8LmZh0sVSXzVn5r1uS6XV874T_TIPo/s320/tgp_ss1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to
you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. <br /></p><p>★ or ★★★★★</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDvhH8ehWccla9-z9MaDa0d8rxHtwPI684LSUO-iDBH81ao43S6JJld_bpezVTMtPVaiM8_fzAACve0ND1GNGq8AYE3gwAeejxH-Or3PZXS7Aj617PvUiW9NDH4-PF6jcmw53eNweYb4/s1500/tokyogorepolice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1063" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDvhH8ehWccla9-z9MaDa0d8rxHtwPI684LSUO-iDBH81ao43S6JJld_bpezVTMtPVaiM8_fzAACve0ND1GNGq8AYE3gwAeejxH-Or3PZXS7Aj617PvUiW9NDH4-PF6jcmw53eNweYb4/s320/tokyogorepolice.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Three Laughs Case File #43: <br /><b>Tokyo Gore Police</b> (<span style="font-weight: normal;"><i lang="ja-Latn" title="Hepburn transliteration">Tōkyō Zankoku Keisatsu, </i>Japan 2008)<br />Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura<br /></span></p><p>We live at stressful times right now, so a way to make things feel a bit easier is to take some flights of fancy. Like, say, this Japanese film about a privaticed police that leads to major bloodbaths.... Wait, but it's more or less a parody of anime stylings and over-the-top violence in Japanese flicks in a way that's more reminiscent of <i>Braindead</i> with it's firehosing of actors with blood.</p><p>In future Tokyo, law-enforcement is left for companies and private entrepreneurs. One of the latter is Ruka (Eihi Shiina), a super-skilled katana-wielder, who's also after the persons who killed her policeman father. At the same time, odd body manipulations and mutations are all the rage in the underground. Someone is using these body-melt technologies to sprout biological weapons to kill cop company workers, though, so Ruka is off to find the culprit. <br /></p><p>I came of age at the time where most of the coolness and edge of Asian action movies had started to wear off. But there were still some last gleamings in parodies such as this, which I first saw at my beloved Night Visions film festival. This, along with stylistically similar OTT gore films <i>Meatball Machine</i> and <i>Machine Girl</i>, were one of the starting points of independent studio Sushi Typhoon, with which Nishimura and fellow director <b>Noboru Iguchi</b> made a string of bad taste gore flicks, with diminishing returns. You can't keep up if even before starting the business you've already gone to 11. Still, they managed to fund some of <b>Sion Sono's</b> films as well before closing doors so it was all for art in the end. </p><p>But at this point it was still odd and novel, inventive even, to do a sort of cross between <i>RoboCop</i>, <i>Akira</i> and <i>Tetsuo</i>. The film has its tongue firmly in cheek and offers plenty of surprises and cool practical effects so it has still stayed surprisingly fresh today. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-MNGR3U99Ec5XLpCjuk25VkgajXn2EeSezxKLuJYhk6yP3HDlbrRmZueZTWOLWNY-B2Rjo_wkHJeFd32T1Hi-1Q2BwtwXiLvLloKInNtafeRepAzESzlLhYQEuTJjv5BzV0wCOTnHcw/s490/tgp-alligator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-MNGR3U99Ec5XLpCjuk25VkgajXn2EeSezxKLuJYhk6yP3HDlbrRmZueZTWOLWNY-B2Rjo_wkHJeFd32T1Hi-1Q2BwtwXiLvLloKInNtafeRepAzESzlLhYQEuTJjv5BzV0wCOTnHcw/s320/tgp-alligator.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Three laughs (SPOILERS):</p><p>1. The film begins with a lengthy action scene where Ruka faces off against a guy wielding a chainsaw on a chain. After this we get a pretty straightforward nod to <i>Starship Troopers</i> with a propaganda commercial showing the strength of privatized police forces, who execute a guy tagged to be a murderer of 15 childern on a rooftom by repeatedly shooting him like he's Hitler in <i>Inglourious Basterds</i>. A later commercial features a family using a Wii-like katana controller in order to perform remote executions as a kind of party game.<br /></p><p>2. It takes a while to see just how gleefully perverted the movie is, but the auction scene is pretty hard to top in this regard. A cheerful crowd of punks and vampires is presented with a number of female dancers, each with a more bizarre mutilation. The snail-girl with her eyeballs in tubes is already pretty weird and disgusting but what takes the cake is the breathing half-woman-half-chair that squirts a lengthy pee to the faces of the ecstatic audience.</p><p>3. The main bad guy has a massive shotgun dick he uses to blast out police officers. That's it. That's the laugh. <br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-81876097282410462202020-10-31T14:34:00.005+02:002020-10-31T14:35:41.703+02:00Z is for Zombies<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSdvvJldTEMZizoVaBnEGWBAuDFrqywNeuuP4bhgGnmftWrnnTMPmlCewH725WpKtHSFdIk3hd9RH-kOhhxm-5jHHpktaaSzfG7EbyK49VOBEhHaIAa_J2ZredUbAvxUBA7xDcbLlcFiI/s780/zombi2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="780" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSdvvJldTEMZizoVaBnEGWBAuDFrqywNeuuP4bhgGnmftWrnnTMPmlCewH725WpKtHSFdIk3hd9RH-kOhhxm-5jHHpktaaSzfG7EbyK49VOBEhHaIAa_J2ZredUbAvxUBA7xDcbLlcFiI/s320/zombi2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Happy Halloween! It used to be a tradition at this blog to each year take a look at a particular movie monster and talk about movies where they appeared. I never got to do the Zombie one, partly because everyone knows which ones are the good ones. <b>George Romero's</b> <i>Dead Trilogy</i>, <i>Return of the Living Dead</i>, <i>28 Days Later</i>, <i>Shaun of the Dead </i>and the like. I would've liked to do top 10 more obscure zombie pictures, but never had the time to do enough research. But now I can talk about Italian zombies!<p></p><p>Most of the best Italian zombie movies use the walking dead pretty sparingly, as in <b>Lucio Fulci's</b> <i>The Beyond</i>. But that's not to say Romero's Dawn of the Dead wasn't really popular, and a major influence that showed how to do effective thrills on limited resources. Italians never really bothered with the light social commentary (we have <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/d-is-for-demons-demons.html">Demons movies</a> for that), they just liked the zombies as a cheap way of showing blood and gore. So, let's take a look.<br /></p><p><b>Zombie Flesh Eaters</b> (Zombi 2, 1979)<br />Director: Lucio Fulci</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9kaol77PEOg5nQCoq9J0eKYqlcN8EkmcsU_atjXdDESL5Ddjpb0oUlIyk-zzu8yRNz2UdClWwdmkrXY3pbMj8doOABlyiUzyXBw5uQxvFZWn-objYB1tJVJd9jbRrWkPIwBBIovcSMVc/s650/zfe_poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9kaol77PEOg5nQCoq9J0eKYqlcN8EkmcsU_atjXdDESL5Ddjpb0oUlIyk-zzu8yRNz2UdClWwdmkrXY3pbMj8doOABlyiUzyXBw5uQxvFZWn-objYB1tJVJd9jbRrWkPIwBBIovcSMVc/s320/zfe_poster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The grandaddy and best pure zombie flick Italians managed to do was marketed as a straight-up sequel to <i>Dawn of the Dead</i> (also known as <i>Zombi</i>). Fulci had the idea of doing a horror movie set on a remote island even before the premier of <i>DotD</i>, but relented in adding New York scenes in the beginning and end that can be seen of tying to Romero's film. One thing to note is that Italian films seem to have a better tie to the origins of zombie mythology in the voodoo culture... but use it mostly just to have insensitive depiction of natives and their savage ways. <i>Zombi 2</i> is not the worst in this regard, it came later with movies that cashed in both the Cannibal movie craze and zombies, such as <i>Zombi Apocalypse</i> (a.k.a. <i>Dr Butcher, M.D.</i>)</p><p></p><p>Fulci's film is a rollicking good adventure, starring an adventure seeker named Peter West (<b>Ian McCulloch</b>) and a spunky reporter Anne Bowles (<b>Tisa Farrow</b>), who embark on a dangerous mission after investigating a mysterious boat in New York's harbor. Fulci had an excellent eye for set-pieces and planty of them linger on in your memory forever after seeing them, even if they are only tangentially related to the plot. The best among them are an incredible fight between and underwater zombie and (a real) shark, and a woman's eye being slowly pulled towards a sharp wood splinter (eat your heart out, <i>Un chien Andalus</i>).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0xpgWocyFCcSEI9p9YIm-bFw2-WMP7se2MFhgXGnjndy64YUAPYdX03ii5YgLHPQx9zlfXxcfJ6qoffl1lReboS8oBJs9Nv2iMTFEtEnUDRO067dw7axkQUAX-1b_0uZVGmgo1qvKE4/s665/zombie_2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="665" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib0xpgWocyFCcSEI9p9YIm-bFw2-WMP7se2MFhgXGnjndy64YUAPYdX03ii5YgLHPQx9zlfXxcfJ6qoffl1lReboS8oBJs9Nv2iMTFEtEnUDRO067dw7axkQUAX-1b_0uZVGmgo1qvKE4/s320/zombie_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>While the zombies in Romero's movie were just cartoonish actors facepainted blue, here they are actually very creepy looking, wormy and worn-down corpses. I think the scene of the dead rising from their gravces is exceptionally creepy, with <b>Fabio Frizzi's</b> incredible score creating the necessary chills. Fulci's best skills are as a visualist, and this film started something of a golden age on his filmography (which we will take a closer look at soon enough).<br /></p><p>★★★★ <br /></p><p><b>Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 </b>(Zombi 3, 1988)<br />Dirs. Lucio Fulci, Bruno Mattei, Claudio Fragasso</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjks6PkDDW8pNbdKnzdwveMVnDq3JEcoKazWszvTWFyp6pr8kN_Y9l184wgxqVDlWMjT6mwpj-BLZesGtgGeI3qsCL80DUdB5QnEyjLr7K_x4VnBe8ZWcc68VHNS7JRQdiYKEy3_EqKHhc/s373/Zombi-3-poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="267" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjks6PkDDW8pNbdKnzdwveMVnDq3JEcoKazWszvTWFyp6pr8kN_Y9l184wgxqVDlWMjT6mwpj-BLZesGtgGeI3qsCL80DUdB5QnEyjLr7K_x4VnBe8ZWcc68VHNS7JRQdiYKEy3_EqKHhc/s320/Zombi-3-poster.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>A lot of unrelated films were sold as "Zombi 3" during the 1980's, but by the end of the decade, the aged Fulci was also lured to do an actual sequel. But the collaboration with the screenwriter <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/three-laughs-night-killer.html">Claudio Fragasso</a> didn't work out that well. Due to creative differences, Fulci was let go and Fragasso finished the film with his regular collaborator, <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2020/01/three-laughs-rats-nights-of-terror.html">Bruno Mattei</a>. Fulci later called the movie as made by "a bunch of idiots".<br /></p><p>I think Fragasso was trying to do a more ambitious version of his previous movie, <i>Zombie Creeping Flesh</i> (more on which below) and he needed Fulci's visual eye to achieve this. The end result is actually pretty okay entertainment, even if it's pretty easy to spot the visually nice and athmospheric scenes as being done by Fulci, and the cheaper shots by the Mattei/Fragasso team. Tonally they can't even keep up with what the zombies can do, whether they can run, wield machetes or even speak... at... a.. very.. slow... rate...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-ggNXOuU3k-eCDNi6Eqk_vlvuBZbIp-nrlVgPCuraNYQLgiWJZNbrMhDe0Jjw58R-zK5jp8GwyBKZXVgi3FPPMfSbyNLVTAco9SATbbKubQQPjf2YiKmtT40sD9Qf8U-ioVjt67VxzY/s1600/zombieflesh2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="939" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-ggNXOuU3k-eCDNi6Eqk_vlvuBZbIp-nrlVgPCuraNYQLgiWJZNbrMhDe0Jjw58R-zK5jp8GwyBKZXVgi3FPPMfSbyNLVTAco9SATbbKubQQPjf2YiKmtT40sD9Qf8U-ioVjt67VxzY/s320/zombieflesh2.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>A deadly virus gets loose from a research center and the military is employed to stop the spreading throughout Pacific Islands. There's also a group of rich dorks on a holiday that are on the way of the zombies. There's a lot of characters to follow, but never mind, most of them are zombie food anyway. There are some very memorable scenes, as one sees a zombie head fly out of a refrigerator and another a zombie baby burst out of its mother's belly, like a scene from <i>Alien</i>. The entire film is hosted by a radio DJ, who, in the end, is revealed to be a zombie himself. SURPRISE?<br /></p><p>There are two other movies that are usually told to be official Zombie Sequels, <i>After Death</i> (1989) and <i>Killing Birds </i>(1988). Both are cheap, cheesy and not terribly exciting in any way, though the first one has a voodoo cult and ninja-looking masked zombies, and the latter some zombie birds attacking people in the vein of <b>Hitchcock</b> (although so does<i> Zombie 3</i>). So that's enough of them at this point.</p><p>★★★<br /> </p><p><b>Zombie Creeping Flesh a.k.a. Hell of the Living Dead </b>(Virus, 1980)<br />Dirs. Bruno Mattei, Claudio Fragasso</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizTz8moTJ3_BlPcSE5sR-YmztxUq_yUg_GLL6fSg5aA0ABTK1o8p9xbF6IC3vFvHz5I_cWWXydnAJkY7MUGyKhjg1_S9oPpniZRdNTaE9zDlD26F4durMF_tnCjlroV2n4kHaUVNpFoLo/s2048/zcf_hotld.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1505" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizTz8moTJ3_BlPcSE5sR-YmztxUq_yUg_GLL6fSg5aA0ABTK1o8p9xbF6IC3vFvHz5I_cWWXydnAJkY7MUGyKhjg1_S9oPpniZRdNTaE9zDlD26F4durMF_tnCjlroV2n4kHaUVNpFoLo/s320/zcf_hotld.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>This cheapo <i>Virus</i> movie presents something Mattei always excelled at; marrying two very unrelated movies. As a deadly zombie virus takes over a military research center, most of the movie follows a group of soldiers of fortune travelling around Papua New Guinea. The film used mondo movie footage from <b>Akira Ide's</b> movie called <i>L'isola dei canibali</i>, and stole the score from <i>Dawn of the Dead</i> and <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/joe-damato-double-feature.html">Buio Omega</a>. It's so shameless one has to give the edge out to it when compared to the more sleek <i>Zombi 3</i>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgId92hzKRBXT4fM1_Djt1WRShy14nHfSuYamLUBVZIflbz8Zeyt8V3RjPWaWPFi66VinRR54wVebYvR5sSCMAUSCkIy-Y9YbLUtzBoFlIwkJ86ORFIEGetUeS2TDs1UfFSwRfAStrLJrM/s800/hotld_zcf.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgId92hzKRBXT4fM1_Djt1WRShy14nHfSuYamLUBVZIflbz8Zeyt8V3RjPWaWPFi66VinRR54wVebYvR5sSCMAUSCkIy-Y9YbLUtzBoFlIwkJ86ORFIEGetUeS2TDs1UfFSwRfAStrLJrM/s320/hotld_zcf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p> </p><p></p><p>But for a film made on such a shoe string budget, it had some ambitious gore scenes such as tearing out a woman's tongue and then grabbing the brain through the mouth with eyes bulging out. Also rare for a Mattei film, the plot moves along surprisingly briskly and keeps surprising the viewer. Of course, most of it is driven by the characters acting like total jerks or making the dumbest decisions the entire time. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8z6WV9IQmKw47yLCxVa1G5Tho2zgvWyQQyj_U5b6CjcwWhje9ZdFsF7Y13LKVFCSb2-RPe4dAiz5NX0yXjSLQlhHvmfqrCbxmz_t0399wetcVgSaep3zp8KP5D7ez2LmeHiFhhNhQ0gM/s400/zombiecreepingflesh.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8z6WV9IQmKw47yLCxVa1G5Tho2zgvWyQQyj_U5b6CjcwWhje9ZdFsF7Y13LKVFCSb2-RPe4dAiz5NX0yXjSLQlhHvmfqrCbxmz_t0399wetcVgSaep3zp8KP5D7ez2LmeHiFhhNhQ0gM/s320/zombiecreepingflesh.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p> One has to love Fragasso's ear for dialogue:<br />"Up your ass. Lt. Mike London, Shit Creek. The year is now."</p><p>★★★ 1/2</p><p><br /><b>Burial Ground</b> (Le notti del terrore, 1981)<br />Dir. Andrea Bianchi</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhywvxINzmBENkQG7HmgvYxDhjEYqB9UH4CPDyx6ld8zI3YxwnF3jJ14WaGVbaAqe2XRqQeLQs6pbdMD4FQKfQJBPOCSRmYeY-Tfddumiq8pZqUxGwJg2l2pFyxeDBbkeTHwSEtoJq3trk/s281/burialground.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhywvxINzmBENkQG7HmgvYxDhjEYqB9UH4CPDyx6ld8zI3YxwnF3jJ14WaGVbaAqe2XRqQeLQs6pbdMD4FQKfQJBPOCSRmYeY-Tfddumiq8pZqUxGwJg2l2pFyxeDBbkeTHwSEtoJq3trk/s0/burialground.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>For my money, however, the silliest of Italian cash-grab zombie pictures is this one, which tries to match Fulci's zombies in their creepiness, but just ends up having worm-faced mummy guys crawl out of flower beds and slowly stumble to grab the nearest overacter screaming their lungs out. <i>Burial Ground</i> is something of a morality take, as a swinger's weekend of debauchery in a secluded mansion takes a violent turn. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHW91JjRCv5bW2142u0Bw7rDT7qMuGfF-T8Hyhz9Zi5Kw5js9imOFiLvZ2OP_Su-94dnOR0HI7AoS1nQrDYlK86ynhPbaqbPvRFSFjKFpEX6NaqAWW3DjWajWjhAB6lL3sbGU3qEdxS1A/s344/burial_ground_movie.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHW91JjRCv5bW2142u0Bw7rDT7qMuGfF-T8Hyhz9Zi5Kw5js9imOFiLvZ2OP_Su-94dnOR0HI7AoS1nQrDYlK86ynhPbaqbPvRFSFjKFpEX6NaqAWW3DjWajWjhAB6lL3sbGU3qEdxS1A/s320/burial_ground_movie.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>There's some very fucked up things going on in the family, particularly with the 12-year-old Michael (<b>Peter Bark</b>) who doesn't want to die a virgin so he tries to achieve his long-time dream and nail his own mother before the zombies get to him. It's one of the Italian films that uses the legendary Etruscan people as a source of ancient terrors, but neglects to include much of actual Etruscan culture to go with it. Nevertheless, we get a healthy amount of zombie monks, too.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxJI5a3ca988SUFqMEKxRxaxtV2L3Fr-VTOoLJJ2ZALJFWKCh-rBP0MKcoKht_iLP5gMr_gnOu97nDIxvBNzy8KjWc5fy9pX6Gn2p7Qx2TEi0foUz3NwZj9AA5jv2aDZlw_4srs2AdJ40/s900/burialgroundzombs.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxJI5a3ca988SUFqMEKxRxaxtV2L3Fr-VTOoLJJ2ZALJFWKCh-rBP0MKcoKht_iLP5gMr_gnOu97nDIxvBNzy8KjWc5fy9pX6Gn2p7Qx2TEi0foUz3NwZj9AA5jv2aDZlw_4srs2AdJ40/s320/burialgroundzombs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>It's a great film to watch during boozy nights with friends, as the actors themselves seem to be quite relaxed as well. I love how when cast member become zombies, they seem to be quite happy with the development.<br /></p><p>★ or ★★★★★</p><br />Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-34894584160821716842020-10-29T18:31:00.002+02:002020-10-29T18:31:29.563+02:00Three laughs: Night Killer<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJBv_KxhsSVtVkzGi0ulm3wVdERUHTTzKqht3abb03RbnL_GEhn2GN1Z-9dpkjJSJwvTvT2Yuqy7hfDK-TBPLsaDfEBOGfO3KoSUGlPAc_4Zzuw65ia-tySCC7Erf0ixIcfDWz6jsZQI/s1440/night-killer-still.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQJBv_KxhsSVtVkzGi0ulm3wVdERUHTTzKqht3abb03RbnL_GEhn2GN1Z-9dpkjJSJwvTvT2Yuqy7hfDK-TBPLsaDfEBOGfO3KoSUGlPAc_4Zzuw65ia-tySCC7Erf0ixIcfDWz6jsZQI/s320/night-killer-still.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to
you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. <br /><p></p><p>★ or ★★★★★</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHus7LH1xoVQ1xnlf0EiC12NVdSVNIFfVBmUsd8BxHIRqhLGAoIX8xCOGjHogmH5axcsl69zwNdbptSUYeOTNSVzTa-VEa-FuZBinjgP0I0XxS1-PlgwB3XZC77lJjtZosOllqtlxkM8/s1080/nightkiller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHus7LH1xoVQ1xnlf0EiC12NVdSVNIFfVBmUsd8BxHIRqhLGAoIX8xCOGjHogmH5axcsl69zwNdbptSUYeOTNSVzTa-VEa-FuZBinjgP0I0XxS1-PlgwB3XZC77lJjtZosOllqtlxkM8/s320/nightkiller.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Three laughs case file #42:<br /><b>Night Killer</b> (Non aprite quella porta 3, 1990)<br />Director: Claudio Fragasso (as Clyde Anderson)</p><p>Ol' shlockmeister <b>Fragasso</b> is best remembered as the director of <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/worst-of-worst.html">Troll 2</a>, as well as having been the co-director of plenty of films by another trash master, <b>Bruno Mattei</b> (such as <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2020/01/three-laughs-rats-nights-of-terror.html">Rats: Nights of Terror</a>). Whereas Mattei was content on doing cheapo ripoff films for the lowest common denominator, Fragasso seems to have quite a high opinion of himself. Case in point is this 1990 horror movie, which the director himself has compared to the works of <b>Fellini</b>.</p><p>Well, to my knowledge Fellini never did shlock that featured a killer that looks like the offspring of Freddy Krueger and the Toxic Avenger. Fragasso would have wanted to make a psychological movie about trauma with parallel universes and dream-like logic, but the studio demanded him to have a more basic slasher plot. But it seems a compromise was reached, since these two sides seem to battle it out throughout the movie. Insult to injury, Mattei, who Fragasso kept saying stole his credits from their previous collaborations, was hired to add gore scenes to the movie. So the tables surely have turned.<br /></p><p>In Italy, the film was sold as <i>Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3</i>, even though it has even less to do with the franchise than <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/three-laughs-texas-chainsaw-massacre-2.html">Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2</a> did. In actuality, the film features gruesome murders at Virginia Beach where young women are stalked and killed by a rubber-faced fiend, seemingly with his bare claws. The killer has a grander plan for one of his victims, Melanie Beck (<b>Tara Buckam</b>), who has repressed memories of previously encountering the killer.<br /></p><p>CONTENT WARNING: The movie depicts sexual violence.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKr5XypvDtZ1Ar_F_G0nPcmRc8_BXatlwie25JvUxIsradzmfy73qsnXjSFppWef2zH96xluTHwHE0jPnL0oYDdv0rFTWxwB4tSMC1a4_Pps67DW3kFxVoK7PUWLITPHdkvDymbcUnvTE/s1920/nightkillerstill3-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKr5XypvDtZ1Ar_F_G0nPcmRc8_BXatlwie25JvUxIsradzmfy73qsnXjSFppWef2zH96xluTHwHE0jPnL0oYDdv0rFTWxwB4tSMC1a4_Pps67DW3kFxVoK7PUWLITPHdkvDymbcUnvTE/s320/nightkillerstill3-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Three laughs (SPOILERS):</p><p>1. The scene in the beginning with dancers practicing a dumb disco-dancing routine seems almost like a parody of later-era Argento with <i>Opera</i> or his production <i>Stage Fright</i>. The director's beration doesn't make any sense and the dramatic camera movements showing a really dumb Halloween-costume wearing fiend watching in the balcony just add to the bizarreness.<br /></p><p>2. In-movie, it seems to fluctuate whether that mask and glove is just cheap plastic or the real thing. For instance, the killer can easily stick his claws through a girl. The most bizarre kill scene comes, however, when he makes a plaster cast for another lady, then proceeds to sex up his own simulacrum.<br /></p><p>3. There's maybe some idea of females fighting against the pervy nature of the men around them in the movie. For instance, our lead has a scene where she lures a cat-caller to the toilet, then at gunpoint makes him strip and flushes his clothes. As the guy asks on how to get them back, we get an amazing line: <br /></p><p>"Just reach in and fish them out. It shouldn't be anything new to AN ASSHOLE FULL OF SHIT AS YOURSELF!"<br /></p><p>I have to mention the film's final moments as they have so many revealing twists that it's hard to keep up. Mostly because none of them make any sense. Anyway, the killer is shot to pieces by the police. But later on, in Christmastime, our lead's daughter gets a mysterious present. It turns out to be the killer's mask and once she puts it on, she wovs revenge. So, the mask was magical, too? Was this a prequel to <i>The Mask </i>(1994)? Either way, the film is SSSSSSSmoking!<br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-60872610945696711492020-10-23T21:52:00.001+03:002020-10-23T21:52:26.935+03:00Three laughs: Dead Heat<p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcakP5lt6mieuDPxQQasg7FJL4feomYywnAUP59wYtFyvAN9UPLAsKdDeZ0cJd6WmSQoq7FVhs66BdWc0RTmAIEfFYV0WT3s-9Sn0hgaDSQ2ET1F_NSCNFDeCv69HMI5Ol1XcB0nuIq54/s480/deadheat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcakP5lt6mieuDPxQQasg7FJL4feomYywnAUP59wYtFyvAN9UPLAsKdDeZ0cJd6WmSQoq7FVhs66BdWc0RTmAIEfFYV0WT3s-9Sn0hgaDSQ2ET1F_NSCNFDeCv69HMI5Ol1XcB0nuIq54/s320/deadheat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to
you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. <br /></p><p> ★ or ★★★★★</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIuW_XEfavTegiyx_jhyJ89DE74cQknFW0IkwCfr8hqe2zfN_ESMzzsKXdpykSsvG7j5-ui5uPYRX4Wk5QAaYnp8tuTvRgKhVIyZgTfvefW_Sqgvdsa_Z-kUP0lNYStY1dz0WtZXNxjV4/s883/dead-heat-poster2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="883" data-original-width="580" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIuW_XEfavTegiyx_jhyJ89DE74cQknFW0IkwCfr8hqe2zfN_ESMzzsKXdpykSsvG7j5-ui5uPYRX4Wk5QAaYnp8tuTvRgKhVIyZgTfvefW_Sqgvdsa_Z-kUP0lNYStY1dz0WtZXNxjV4/s320/dead-heat-poster2.jpg" /></a></div><br />Three laughs case file #41:<br /><b>Dead Heat</b> (USA, 1988)<br />Director: Mark Goldblatt<br /><p></p><p>How about a reanimator / buddy cop action parody made by <b>Shane Black</b>... 's brother? Well, ok, <b>Terry Black</b> isn't quite as droll a writer of the quips, or creator of ingenious action setpieces, but he has plenty of the same essence that takes you a long way. And it has a GREAT concept for a flick from the golden age of VHS. So, even though <i>Dead Heat</i> isn't quite as good a horror-comedy as you would want it to be, there's still plenty to enjoy, from truly weird effects work to major plot twists the kind you won't see in your run-off-the-mill action movie.</p><p>It features one of the final screen roles of <b>Vincent Price</b>, <b>Keye Luke </b>from <i>Gremlins</i>, and although the main pair isn't the most recognizable or generally even likable, they grow on you and the viewer wants to see the knuckleheads, if not succeed, at least uncover some weird shit. And to do a lot of wonton damage around town, and giving total disregard for human lives they may wreck. They may insult their corpses on the way out, as well.<br /></p><p>Detectoves Mortis and Bigelow (<b>Treat Williams</b> and <b>Joe Piscopo</b>) run across bank robbers, and general nuisances of stiffs that can't seem to stay dead. There's a bigger plot going on as Dante Laboraties have some bigger plans than to simply resurrect the dead. And you can't keep our heroes down, since the same techniques that bring their adversaries to life also work on them...<br /></p><p>At the very least for this time, it's a film that allows the phrase "the only good cop is a dead one" some consideration from the both sides.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwl2JAuHhvd9wKBd-QGhO6gYYVX-0RbzFBYklOQIq_7HKgVyZmKrVsb5TYUXhKBtLH6QC-ErY1XDSCtGZcKcmUVuYH1FPEO2u5r8lmMbc7uu-eHlhgDFk05Jc1DS8TIxW5is0VkE7bV0/s1058/deadheat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="1058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwl2JAuHhvd9wKBd-QGhO6gYYVX-0RbzFBYklOQIq_7HKgVyZmKrVsb5TYUXhKBtLH6QC-ErY1XDSCtGZcKcmUVuYH1FPEO2u5r8lmMbc7uu-eHlhgDFk05Jc1DS8TIxW5is0VkE7bV0/s320/deadheat2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Three laughs (SPOILERS):<br /></p><p>1. The film opens with a scene of a crew of jewel store robbers on a heist. When our heroes arrive, they do the normal cop routine of starting fire before asking too many questions. But they soon realize the robbers actuallu can't die from simple gunshots. To get rid of them, one has to be exploded, one run over with a car.</p><p>Cut to the key element of every cop action film: a pissed-off police captain yelling at the renegades for destroying everything around them. But at least they get results, man.</p><p>2. I like a sudden appearance of a gnarly monster man, especially as there's been a long while of exposition and getting to show the machinery that is used to bring people back to life. That's why it's a great joy as an obese biker zombie comes walking across an aisle to wrestle our heroes. It also gives the pleasure of seeing Treat Williams being knocked into an asphyxiation chamber and killed (he gets better).<br /></p><p>3. One of the greatest special effects scenes comes from a scene best described as <i>Big Trouble in Little China </i>meets <i>The Thing</i>. In a Chinese butcher's shop some electric shenanigans bring meat to life. It means honking duck heads, wrestling with a pig carcass and getting an alien-like slab of meat to the face. As a coup de grace, there's a headless bull torso out to get our heroes. Best believe they make quips out of all of these! <br /></p><p>"Zombie duck heads. What a concept."<br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-62844348797058429072020-10-15T18:48:00.004+03:002020-10-15T18:48:36.225+03:00G is For Gothic Giallo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpURYBfwr_b4MmhW1D-mtD7f3aZa_YYzoWYJ_9udah0aUupm83lsgSkD-ytAeYSDpZD9ysA3p52hW3tTtT7xZyjRclQAgBXVSRusHqN6nlzl5-uqFlBYIJSOTttNVoQ0WvCsCSSm1wwM/s720/hichcock2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIpURYBfwr_b4MmhW1D-mtD7f3aZa_YYzoWYJ_9udah0aUupm83lsgSkD-ytAeYSDpZD9ysA3p52hW3tTtT7xZyjRclQAgBXVSRusHqN6nlzl5-uqFlBYIJSOTttNVoQ0WvCsCSSm1wwM/s320/hichcock2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>The golden age of giallo didn't last more than a few years from the late 60's to early 70's. But it was just the latest fad in Italian horror movies. Before all that we had gothic horror movies, as established by <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2020/04/b-is-for-bava.html">Mario Bava</a>. That one used stark visuals on haunted castles, torture chambers and classical melodrama. They cashed in on the popularity of Hammer Horror films in the UK and <b>Roger Corman's</b> Poe films in America at the same time. Besides Bava, there were plenty of other talented directors working on the subgenre as well. Let's take a look at a few.</p><p><b>Mill of the Stone Women</b> (Il mulino delle donne di pietra, 1960)<br />Director: Giorgio Ferroni</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP9lbUVktjl8e_rhW9qyNFJz-x3jhOcolU0_109fiFLVHuIXgNhAOR3oE6km1EWxHgzPjoKtVe6Cgt08ePc5QSJK3a7_PY_0WUeA-rm12p5FsRDXlGKRf7X6nI2pKEX2wSGkcBbK7tgUk/s876/Mill_of_the_Stone_Women.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="876" data-original-width="580" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP9lbUVktjl8e_rhW9qyNFJz-x3jhOcolU0_109fiFLVHuIXgNhAOR3oE6km1EWxHgzPjoKtVe6Cgt08ePc5QSJK3a7_PY_0WUeA-rm12p5FsRDXlGKRf7X6nI2pKEX2wSGkcBbK7tgUk/s320/Mill_of_the_Stone_Women.jpg" /></a></div>Ferroni is someone that's a bit controversial in some circles due to his actions in WWII, but you can't say he wasn't a talented and effective filmmaker. This film is set in the Netherlands and in the similar art circles that Corman also sometimes depicted. A young art student travels to a Flemish village to see a windmill filled with stone sculptures of legendary women. He finds a mysterious woman and falls for her hard, but doesn't realize she harbors a horrible secret.<p></p><p>The ominous setting, with the gloomy Holland winter and ominous sound design from the mill's gearwork make the film's athmosphere of foreboding dread quite unique. Color photography wasn't that common this early, so that makes Ferroni's movie shine out compared to his contemporaries. It also emphasizes the meet of artistry and mad science also on display in the story.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq57uYhxXZfr9QHXwZkhSzAFKdXZIJInmkzhcaB3h_SmA-4p0Mc1zPtaTX5MtMOsWiflV0eNI1KrcCSfdy2HTXHvyjna9ttS47SJM4guDJVMn1NGOVNfQPzZeBQ73YHXnevn4s3r5PrE4/s640/millstonewomen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq57uYhxXZfr9QHXwZkhSzAFKdXZIJInmkzhcaB3h_SmA-4p0Mc1zPtaTX5MtMOsWiflV0eNI1KrcCSfdy2HTXHvyjna9ttS47SJM4guDJVMn1NGOVNfQPzZeBQ73YHXnevn4s3r5PrE4/s320/millstonewomen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> The major downside is the third act that gives a rather ludicrous explanation to all the murder and mayhem. The plot's romanticism also rings a bit hollow. Similar plot points were common in many contemporary movies, so it's a bit disappointing Ferroni couldn't top them in this one too.<p></p><p>★★★★</p><p><b>The Horrible Dr Hichock</b> (L'orrible segreto del Dr. Hichcock, 1962)<br />Dir. Riccardo Freda</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKo_smCkGIG27GL9AiPFWslIJHEEArpIRwM4HAnrM8EYYRfiWY_AlrP__y4KA1r2lv0j1Z0ZL3hX4WhQTTmIz2VOas7Sr-tETcGaUD67uG1rl6Mn3-Gc-rN_B_ppipmTrMF_QS0wY_oXg/s744/hichcock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKo_smCkGIG27GL9AiPFWslIJHEEArpIRwM4HAnrM8EYYRfiWY_AlrP__y4KA1r2lv0j1Z0ZL3hX4WhQTTmIz2VOas7Sr-tETcGaUD67uG1rl6Mn3-Gc-rN_B_ppipmTrMF_QS0wY_oXg/s320/hichcock.jpg" /></a></div>The Italian horror cinema owes a major debt to Hitchcock, of course, but still it's a bit much to use a misspelling of his name in a movie title or a major film villain. The titular doctor, played by <b>Robert Flemyng</b>, takes a new, young wife (<b>Barbara Steele</b>) to live with him in his vast old castle. Taking on the story of Bluebeard, the wife goes on to find out what happened to her predecessor and the doctor's deadly secrets.<p></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglWflsQXH58y0LZwBZK1OAVjuCVNrJAQByCpTEC2vJgaPBkeuaYh_6AwBajjjK_Y92jArXd8bkYbCKlxXHy_UMaDMS5OzwHpBIcznkApddRzVjiqInjaqfiPB-En77uVfpy7uPSixyTtQ/s853/hichcock3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="853" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglWflsQXH58y0LZwBZK1OAVjuCVNrJAQByCpTEC2vJgaPBkeuaYh_6AwBajjjK_Y92jArXd8bkYbCKlxXHy_UMaDMS5OzwHpBIcznkApddRzVjiqInjaqfiPB-En77uVfpy7uPSixyTtQ/s320/hichcock3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>This is another movie that takes a turn in the third act, but this time to be more outlandish and hysterical. It's a trick Italian horror movies tend to do perticularly well. Particularly as we've endured the uptight and very British manners of Flemyng for the first hour or so. This film was very taboo-breaking for its time since it's plot heavily
circles around necrophilia. This started a sort of trend in Italian
movies to try to up one another. Still, at this point everything was
done mostly in good taste and avoiding explicit scenes of sex and
violence. </p><p>Steele was one of the great leading women of the period, and she did admirable work here, too. The sets are lavish, gloomy and dark, as they should be, but otherwise this film seems to suffer a bit of lack of suspense being built until the final reveals.</p><p>★★★</p><p><b>The Whip and the Body</b> (La frusta e il corpo, 1963)<br />Dir. Mario Bava</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGTjghrpKf-zCYwmK3AHbOFc7Ro2lxHnIpnoFJYnX0X9zxUXoZoe9eU09p8DVZuBKtUJXgE245P5FnDDneJYhZqOmNVmwn3TM2WwKr_f8H0bwghPYH72R9gy2SaVCNurORj2upjYNNFM/s692/frusta17-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGTjghrpKf-zCYwmK3AHbOFc7Ro2lxHnIpnoFJYnX0X9zxUXoZoe9eU09p8DVZuBKtUJXgE245P5FnDDneJYhZqOmNVmwn3TM2WwKr_f8H0bwghPYH72R9gy2SaVCNurORj2upjYNNFM/s320/frusta17-2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Our old buddy Bava again, with one of his filmograhy's most dark-toned movies. The movie is all dark moors, stormy seafronts, damp cellars and unlit torture chambers. <b>Christopher Lee</b> had a few days to shoot his role for the film, but he was put in good use. After all, in Hammer's Dracula films he usually didn't show up for too long.</p><p>He plays a cruel and ruthless nobleman that likes to whip girls. The puritans around him don't much care for him, so he soon winds up dead. Or does he? Something unexplained, perhaps a ghost, begins to haunt the mansion. At the same time his would-be bride (<b>Delilah Lavi</b>) seems to start to desperately pine for him and perhaps develop a relationship with the ghost. The increased scares and bodies beginning to pile up cause and investigation on the matter.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB3qaTohtkj4gAxKvGqlEh60Mv8aEEWXc_jH7pMaB9F3jxL6iHZPW6Zmx0NNfgWf7rF9OPv3zNbO-7SyHjFmvIpBNknJ8KT_M3Q_D092jGdvuhmFr7Fl1S405uNZ76akOU2S_GKncgQYk/s500/whipandthebody.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB3qaTohtkj4gAxKvGqlEh60Mv8aEEWXc_jH7pMaB9F3jxL6iHZPW6Zmx0NNfgWf7rF9OPv3zNbO-7SyHjFmvIpBNknJ8KT_M3Q_D092jGdvuhmFr7Fl1S405uNZ76akOU2S_GKncgQYk/s320/whipandthebody.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Bava was a filmmaker that used minimal elements to maximum effect, and this is a clear textbook study of that work. His use of minimal light in particular makes his film a lot more eye-popping than any of his contemporaries managed. Then again, his use of sound and music isn't quite as good, and his disregard for reasonable plot development may be a bit long-winded to follow. The name implies for more S&M but it's actually left mostly to our imagination. <br /></p><p>★★★ 1/2 <br /></p><p><b>Castle of Blood</b> (Danza Macabra, 1964)<br />Dir. Antonio Margheriti, Sergio Corbucci</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg11VQeCPyW4N2yK4dpkCJYt9-7KpVgR3hIcwG-v5WgH_SZIU944PJP8sw5IUbtJhTklHsyg9CckWK3hGibBE2mh63pGllFAib4qne4C9GwmwLaWa_hb8nu-Fwte7Plj477QJjgf2PLAaU/s875/Castle-of-Blood-1-620x875.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="620" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg11VQeCPyW4N2yK4dpkCJYt9-7KpVgR3hIcwG-v5WgH_SZIU944PJP8sw5IUbtJhTklHsyg9CckWK3hGibBE2mh63pGllFAib4qne4C9GwmwLaWa_hb8nu-Fwte7Plj477QJjgf2PLAaU/s320/Castle-of-Blood-1-620x875.jpg" /></a></div><br /> A true Italian answer to Corman's Poe films, it also features a connecting opening scene that features the author himself. A rival author bets that he can spend the night at a haunted castle. While there, he enconters various lost souls and is forced to live out the ways they have perished within the castle's history. In the end, the ghosts demand a blood sacrifice themselves.<br /><p></p><p>Margheriti's step to the scene also meant for the genre to take a step more to psychedelia.The film was shot in black and white, but makes the most out of strong contrasts with candle-lit scenes and visible cobwebs in almost every frame. The film's castle is built so as to have a mystery or a secret attached to each room, corridor or nook. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9jHZTZwJooVJ0Qe9nEcjrymVOQZrh45HQDbG6zksqRYtFSqYnaQHX-u27r_1jOGyKCwn-9p7NWlwg_laeuzbgCRn2urBmKI3Q7N8auGHg_TVBcbSFkHxVu6j6IcIjNwmt6hc51wEUYAM/s920/danzamacabra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9jHZTZwJooVJ0Qe9nEcjrymVOQZrh45HQDbG6zksqRYtFSqYnaQHX-u27r_1jOGyKCwn-9p7NWlwg_laeuzbgCRn2urBmKI3Q7N8auGHg_TVBcbSFkHxVu6j6IcIjNwmt6hc51wEUYAM/s320/danzamacabra.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Legendary western director Corbucci worked as the co-director, yet was not credited for it. Barbara Steele is on top form in here as well, playing a sad remnant of a love lost. It's as melodramatic as they come and the finale takes on for a bit too long, but still, it's one of the brightest spots of the genre.</p><p>★★★ 1/2 </p><p><b>The Long Hair of Death</b> (I lunghi capelli della morte, 1965)<br />Dir. Antonio Margheriti</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mj1FPV1cG8j9ptqzRMYjkIrYMZI2rsMBpnDbxgGc7mlue8Drckxr1pXzlI8yGaWfx7nMVnwD5Ja0vpT18gaPoAGlOU9tgNCiwydMUtvZketbj1XQkZEbQJ_8X6YUPiBBlYA-Z1ItE2U/s314/The_Long_Hair_of_Death.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="314" data-original-width="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mj1FPV1cG8j9ptqzRMYjkIrYMZI2rsMBpnDbxgGc7mlue8Drckxr1pXzlI8yGaWfx7nMVnwD5Ja0vpT18gaPoAGlOU9tgNCiwydMUtvZketbj1XQkZEbQJ_8X6YUPiBBlYA-Z1ItE2U/s0/The_Long_Hair_of_Death.jpg" /></a></div>A true historical epic, this one takes place in the 15th century, witch a lover scorned threatening to burn his would-be wife on the stake for witchcraft. Death follows the entire family, until one of the daughters is old enough and the situation is apt to get revenge on the lord. A nice idea is to have everything revolve around the same castle through time, but I guess it's for the cost-effectiveness to limiting sets.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kOTbHT06fcJQgrzDlz_ik6pFNEH8uCHGXa6-06RtTIPNBC5WBiwPKdg4a9xcz9z6zW4OK6xFaMb7Wj-c6YqE3o_qHqX_nH93MxVkSpR_J7-3gzwbuy3ufVJ-hjOX9OTgrSgabSWadXs/s900/long_hair_of_death.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kOTbHT06fcJQgrzDlz_ik6pFNEH8uCHGXa6-06RtTIPNBC5WBiwPKdg4a9xcz9z6zW4OK6xFaMb7Wj-c6YqE3o_qHqX_nH93MxVkSpR_J7-3gzwbuy3ufVJ-hjOX9OTgrSgabSWadXs/s320/long_hair_of_death.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Another Barbara Steele classic that sees her do a dual role. The story and music repeat one another a bit too much with the witch-hunt, paranoia and hauntings going on. The cast of actors is particularly good here, as they manage to find a nice balance between hysteric melodrama and small nuances. </p><p>The morality tale on display here is very Catholic indeed, utilizing the iconygraphy of the Church and basically be about a post-generational vendetta. I think <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2020/10/d-is-for-demons-demons.html">Michele Soavi</a> was very influenced by this.<br /></p><p>★★★ <br /><br /><b>The Possessed </b>(La donna del lago, 1966)<br />Dir. Luigi Bazzoni, Franco Rossellini</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYUI-EcdKUh3iktvyDnYjzao6M9l9buvYrRGjBMl6Rl2EPWis7znLH2KSzLgJwjxUpCfwnBoxuBwoLNuswr6oypgrc7Yojc9Nw14HR9kcFud4YpXKw1gt6pHCr0VtnuSdKWfZDBsfkfU/s310/La-donna-del-lago-italian-movie-poster-md.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYUI-EcdKUh3iktvyDnYjzao6M9l9buvYrRGjBMl6Rl2EPWis7znLH2KSzLgJwjxUpCfwnBoxuBwoLNuswr6oypgrc7Yojc9Nw14HR9kcFud4YpXKw1gt6pHCr0VtnuSdKWfZDBsfkfU/s0/La-donna-del-lago-italian-movie-poster-md.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Shedding light on how the development from gotchicness to giallos came about, we have this slow-moving arthouse movie, shot in black and white. At this point, it feels a bit odd to have this kind of cinematography used in modern setting, though it does help to make the film's athmosphere.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnHnEOSs8ApWHFeupSGGEuN56UDxk4yWOpVvJk9HT0GCDt6o7EtuoVtqNCFpJQ5qgVXWl2Y3hFBe-3dM-WMeVQjtfv20xBVGIyU0t9khS7K-YyuLR7R91W7SDg2tOQliCtJCXIEgOmlKo/s1276/possessed.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="1276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnHnEOSs8ApWHFeupSGGEuN56UDxk4yWOpVvJk9HT0GCDt6o7EtuoVtqNCFpJQ5qgVXWl2Y3hFBe-3dM-WMeVQjtfv20xBVGIyU0t9khS7K-YyuLR7R91W7SDg2tOQliCtJCXIEgOmlKo/s320/possessed.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />The film is a murder mystery where <b>Peter Baldwin's</b> Bernard arrives for a seaside holiday in order to be able to write. Even as he had spent time therein before, he notices most of the locals give him the cold sholder and act weird. He finds out that Tilde, the chambermaid he had been in love with, had killed herself during the year. But is there something more to the case?<p></p><p>The film depicts the gloom and depression present in neo-realism, with surreal images of leavless trees and the cold embrace of the lake in question. The film doesn't have too strong a pull though, and it's mostly due to the uncharismatic lead turn by Baldwin. Nevertheless, it is a sense of styling that proves you don't need ghosts or spooky castles in order to have some good old-fashioned gothic dread.</p><p>★★★ </p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-47454144116202338292020-10-11T22:32:00.008+03:002020-10-11T22:32:55.226+03:00Three laughs: Birdemic - Shock and Terror<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICQE-M1RuT5AAOSElyNWPamxNaZGZ3PgTC5sbf1D9OvtRV6j_B4UCdrPwfxJTQPJH0kHRFvFtiwnH4Wq8otKJfRKXvYuDc5-VGVdvw7E8oVZakC4z8X2M7HgEBzghzCH7BLrXsP-agw4/s630/birdemic_1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICQE-M1RuT5AAOSElyNWPamxNaZGZ3PgTC5sbf1D9OvtRV6j_B4UCdrPwfxJTQPJH0kHRFvFtiwnH4Wq8otKJfRKXvYuDc5-VGVdvw7E8oVZakC4z8X2M7HgEBzghzCH7BLrXsP-agw4/s320/birdemic_1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to
you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. <br /><p></p><p>★ or ★★★★★</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdXm-73YVBkosbhWgqxdSaWZfrIprXBhOEEXLpgeA7v0PAQxivYPMhWVfVfwM54Kps7JerclvWkzPDKG6u82lwyEIGIt3cG5CZM-B446ox-OxuxcgqyyI89pYxLvaZ8nWYaFWCDN5Erc/s1480/birdemic_dvd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1480" data-original-width="1063" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdXm-73YVBkosbhWgqxdSaWZfrIprXBhOEEXLpgeA7v0PAQxivYPMhWVfVfwM54Kps7JerclvWkzPDKG6u82lwyEIGIt3cG5CZM-B446ox-OxuxcgqyyI89pYxLvaZ8nWYaFWCDN5Erc/s320/birdemic_dvd.jpg" /></a></div> <br />Three Laughs Case File #40:<br /><b>Birdemic: Shock and Terror </b>(USA, 2010) <br />Director: James Nguyen <br /><p></p><p>If you've noticed, I like to do a little something special every time this column reaches even tens. So, it was about time to get the other movie that gives <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/night-visions-back-to-basics-2012-part.html">The Room</a> a run for its money for sheer ineptitude. The fun of <i>Birdemic</i> is that its director <b>James Nguyen</b> obviously had lofty standards. It's the sort of self-serious film that takes a major issue (in this case, global warming) and trying to hammer the audience in the head with it in the guise of an easy to watch thriller movie.<br /></p><p>The movie has obvious reference points, the main one being <b>Hitchcock's</b> <i>The Birds</i>, which is given a shout-out several times. Nguyen goes so far as to bill <i>Tippi Hedren</i> third in the end credits for using a clip of her performance in <i>Julie and Jack</i>. It should be obvious, but Birdemic doesn't get anyone to change their minds about global warming, but the way it sets out to achieve this task makes for a bizarre and beffling journey.<br /></p><p>Rod (<b>Alan Bagh</b>) is a software salesman, living his daily life albeit ominous news of melting glaciers, heat waves and forest fires. Rod meets his old flame Nathalie (<b>Whitney Moore</b>) and they begin dating. But one day, everything changes and angry eagles start attacking and killing people. It's up to our (pretty useless) heroes to get to the bottom of what's causing the birds to attack, save children and bring balance back to nature.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPv8Ej3-4prxb7xK307QLZUR5ZJXI921NuPDu3Ua1JwWYl5rhypmnbuBi4VI-7cH50m1dp8cxUtTuUuyRL7QG5pQ2HWRCHBeuebl1qkpmTwyAtac4OGQdCu_-3mutx33sjSBOIGi4EIe0/s1200/birdemic+-shock-and-terror-screenshot2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPv8Ej3-4prxb7xK307QLZUR5ZJXI921NuPDu3Ua1JwWYl5rhypmnbuBi4VI-7cH50m1dp8cxUtTuUuyRL7QG5pQ2HWRCHBeuebl1qkpmTwyAtac4OGQdCu_-3mutx33sjSBOIGi4EIe0/s320/birdemic+-shock-and-terror-screenshot2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> Three laughs (SPOILERS):<br /><p></p><p>1. After the seemingly endless opening credits where the short main theme loops about three times, we get our first proper scene and it gives us a very good idea on what to expect. The sound mixing is terrible, making every line jump terribly and making it feel like you're watching a skipping record. About everything that's possible to be wrong about a quick scene of a man walking to a restaurant and being seated, is worng. The actors are hokey, the editing giving the scene odd emphasis and everything in general feeling awkward and weird. These kinds of bad movies are very good at revealing how odd our daily interactions may be, and as an entertainment it's something you don't get to see every day.</p><p>2. The dating scenes between Rod and Nathalie seem to go on and on, but there are occasional bright parts, like the one where they attend a R&B gig at a bar. The song "Hanging out with my Family" has hilariously bad lyrics, and it's cut to Rod and Nathalie doing the most hilariously awkward, white bread dancing. The next scene is the sex scene, so at least it worked for them.</p><p>3. The most famous terrible thing about the movie has got to be the special effects. The first scene of the birds attacking illustrates their hilarious ineptitude best. Shrieking GIF-animated birds fly up and about, with explosion GIFs added over the city (maybe the eagles are carrying TNT and kamikaze striking?). The high-pitched whine the birds keep making is also totally hilarious. Like everything else in the movie, it just keeps going, and going, and going...<br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-9160103942685713492020-10-07T10:52:00.001+03:002020-10-07T10:52:42.873+03:00Three laughs: Gamera vs. Guiron<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGP7kkNC-xGGg8E1CVPRgkv_EQxyRjswr7_5dr9GJoYmK32OkZqDXszvO1nq8sBMi3eWBFW7Oiy9eWeCoReYSzAW_3Cf5BqOYQsfBhg0QxMkem8HS7siYB0QdhqJBFVm0NG7SkfvfhJcE/s1112/gamera-vs-guiron-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="1112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGP7kkNC-xGGg8E1CVPRgkv_EQxyRjswr7_5dr9GJoYmK32OkZqDXszvO1nq8sBMi3eWBFW7Oiy9eWeCoReYSzAW_3Cf5BqOYQsfBhg0QxMkem8HS7siYB0QdhqJBFVm0NG7SkfvfhJcE/s320/gamera-vs-guiron-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br />It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to
you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. <p></p><p>★ or ★★★★★<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZK1dUrdHmHAKGYrtqYcl874zcT66lr0kLVz8s9pUZpo1QZxn0n4X0JSkWuG2vjwfmd5K2z8Yrijw5v1NxNbt_K0sxBrDGolqLVxaBxs-aJBmaSZdYfzD5Wm-GWpC7p9z2w8QQ-I5uRNo/s850/gameraguiron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZK1dUrdHmHAKGYrtqYcl874zcT66lr0kLVz8s9pUZpo1QZxn0n4X0JSkWuG2vjwfmd5K2z8Yrijw5v1NxNbt_K0sxBrDGolqLVxaBxs-aJBmaSZdYfzD5Wm-GWpC7p9z2w8QQ-I5uRNo/s320/gameraguiron.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>Three laughs case file #39:<br /><b>Gamera vs. Guiron (Gamera tai daiakuju Giron Japan, 1969) </b><br />Director: Noriyaki Yuasa</p><p>Compared to the more famous and glamorous Godzilla, Daei Studios' space turtle Gamera was an also-ran. Still, he has plenty of fans that swear on his name. The kaiju adventures were aimed more to smaller children, and thus Gamera also has a easily sung theme song and usually Earth children to protect from pesky aliens bent on conquering the world. </p><p>The thing that makes Gamera movies so intriguing is that even though they clearly have budgetary restrictions and are basically kids' movies, they still up the ante on gore and brutality. Sure, Gamera bleeds green blood, but it still burtsts out of him when he faces the knife-headed fiend Guiron. The film was the fifth entry into the series.<br /></p><p>Two small boys find a flying saucer and decide to take a trip in it. They are taken to a strange planet where an alien base is being protected by the nasty giant monster Guiron. Two sexy alien ladies reveal their plan is to get information from the kids' brains in order to take over the Earth. So, it's up to Gamera (established at this point to be a friend to children and a protector of our world) to defeat Guiron and save the children.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2CNMOAL3t71CeLt7zSA8YDlsie8-J0zOBdayCBPfSao389WRv-WAxwvgbDcEuterbUmqHBrKACSZr-GqvzVKgzSvPU_cLJBT0ReH6RNQlvT0SdLw-LnQcA_mJBcRjmLM3ugWnYhHIi0g/s620/gamera-vs-guiron-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="620" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2CNMOAL3t71CeLt7zSA8YDlsie8-J0zOBdayCBPfSao389WRv-WAxwvgbDcEuterbUmqHBrKACSZr-GqvzVKgzSvPU_cLJBT0ReH6RNQlvT0SdLw-LnQcA_mJBcRjmLM3ugWnYhHIi0g/s320/gamera-vs-guiron-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Three laughs (SPOILERS):</p><p>1. The amount of non-chalantness the main characters display here is something quite amazing by itself. Seeing a spaceship from a telescope? Wow! Finding the flying saucer out in the open? Wow! Taking off in to space? Wow! Seeing a giant turtle being propulsed by jet beams crushing asteroids from your way? Better sing the Gamera theme song. The creature effects are somehow super funny, all the monsters look to be either drunk or extremely hungover.<br /></p><p>2. In order to establish the threat of Guiron, the filmmakers go to the obvious route: have it defeat a character that used to be a strong opponent for Gamera himself. In this case it's the pterodactyl-like Gyaos. Gyaos tries to shoot Guiron with a laser beam, but it reflects on his knife-head and shoots Gyaos's leg clean off. The fight ends with Guiron chopping Gyaos into neat purple slices.<br /></p><p>3. The thing that's funny about the creature effects is how there are noticeable seams from guys in suit to animatronics to smaller-scale models. The final fight begins with Gamera lying unconscious on an ocean floor. What makes him wake up is a boulder dropping and hitting him in the jaw. The spinach to Popeye is getting hit to Gamera. As he rises he's also showing off his <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/thems-fighting-words.html">gymkata</a> skills by spinning around and around a chinning bar. It doesn't do much good against Guiron, but at least it startles it for a bit, probably? In the end Guiron's limbs are blown off with a missile. JUSTICE FOR GYAOS!<br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-21180650841292175242020-10-06T11:28:00.000+03:002020-10-06T11:28:11.938+03:00D is for Demons! Demons!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA58qIgYb-kuf2VBVu3Y-rCHJ7V3CHN7ZcRuypyMlwhI2gk77CO1oxlTl_kU8QMpj7bt27Xc1w5-8ii2Qocgv3W_MiQoLz-BW2fj6YwSolMW5WRSY9SDFOcd8Xc75m2qI_8tULBt1QPPA/s1024/demons-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA58qIgYb-kuf2VBVu3Y-rCHJ7V3CHN7ZcRuypyMlwhI2gk77CO1oxlTl_kU8QMpj7bt27Xc1w5-8ii2Qocgv3W_MiQoLz-BW2fj6YwSolMW5WRSY9SDFOcd8Xc75m2qI_8tULBt1QPPA/s320/demons-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Last month I missed out on doing any posts about Italian genre cinema, but October gives us the perfect time to catch up. And unholy monsters from hell gives us a perfectly seasonal adversaries to base a blog post on. In the late 80's, demons started to get the spotlight zombies used to have with a couple of fresh-faced directors. <br /><p></p><p><b>Demons</b> (Démoni, 1985)<br />Director: Lamberto Bava</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMW0P2N8M1m8w7uvucpjP7GQrAL6W0K9_1EfxegfvLxxgeoWyDmFMTcg0a9wiTxBb3iuKrKp60NCldZQcBK3GJE_hxqkD6jw3mem52CoyRNF_PDCDxjI-X89oOPpzHyc2hY7C1uLzyBew/s2048/demons_poster.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMW0P2N8M1m8w7uvucpjP7GQrAL6W0K9_1EfxegfvLxxgeoWyDmFMTcg0a9wiTxBb3iuKrKp60NCldZQcBK3GJE_hxqkD6jw3mem52CoyRNF_PDCDxjI-X89oOPpzHyc2hY7C1uLzyBew/s320/demons_poster.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The son of <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2020/04/b-is-for-bava.html"><b>Mario Bava</b></a>, Lamberto, started out as a assistant director in his father's films, but got to start his own directing career from the late 1970's onward. In the early 80's he was a ward of <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-is-for-argentos-animals.html"><b>Dario Argento</b></a>, who produced and co-wrote this 4th-wall-breaking movie to him. The artist also known as <b>John Old Jr.</b> considers this to be his best movie and probably is not wrong there.<br /></p><p>Shot in Berlin, a group of different people have won a ticket to a film premiere in a brand new movie theatre. The showing is to be a horror movie that has effects never before seen on the big screen. The event soon turns to a nightmare as it turns out the group is trapped inside the theatre and blood-hungry demons start slaughtering them one by one. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-bjaVjWdadhS0w5EDPCCbjPwE5-qUW9QKsXuX9dXkyK9AmJd0Yn_MLUAqCIih3WnPlm9nsf8xbck8C8a_Rxd7EMaK5B-0kLCbBFTsZ6FkAZNnEBLt_ym4_NRpsWcF5UuPFlYqFHs8j3s/s730/demons4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-bjaVjWdadhS0w5EDPCCbjPwE5-qUW9QKsXuX9dXkyK9AmJd0Yn_MLUAqCIih3WnPlm9nsf8xbck8C8a_Rxd7EMaK5B-0kLCbBFTsZ6FkAZNnEBLt_ym4_NRpsWcF5UuPFlYqFHs8j3s/s320/demons4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The film can't be said to be entirely serious. It has a sense of irony of having one of the cinema-goers be a blind man. Also the main theme from the soundtrack is probably the craziest composition Goblin's <b>Claudio Simonetti</b> ever did. But the film has a good eye for set pieces, a decent budget that paid for a lot of really expensive effects and a willingness to forget about certain details, such as the plot, in order to get going. The younger Bava never could quite match his old man's style, but still he was gifted as a creator of suspense and putting unique visions on screen. Not to mention gore, that comes bountifully. It was not actually a preference of Bava himself, so I expect Argento had his fingers in the game.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7MAIP0qfyq6WU3IHhNhqSRbB5XkXFEBJD-TjDOQgtQfhiRsN-xZfFIKNgZlCsCWc-M25GppXQaiajbID78mwoK4vvvIhrA4rSopTGmqilgPLChW192dptRdwwpIjDvcwyrdW47Ho44M/s1300/demons-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7MAIP0qfyq6WU3IHhNhqSRbB5XkXFEBJD-TjDOQgtQfhiRsN-xZfFIKNgZlCsCWc-M25GppXQaiajbID78mwoK4vvvIhrA4rSopTGmqilgPLChW192dptRdwwpIjDvcwyrdW47Ho44M/s320/demons-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />If there's a downside to this coked-up fever dream it's that Demons basically work too much like zombies, in that they can turn people into one of their own kind. That's why the apocalyptic ending seems way too familiar from plenty of zombie movies, Italian or otherwise, that show the disease spread to the entire world. But that was the 1980's when people had a common fear of an illness bringing about the end of the world.<br /><p></p><p></p><p><br />★★★★ </p><p><b>Demons 2</b> (Dèmoni 2... l'incubo ritorna, 1986)<br />Dir. Lamberto Bava</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCyrXxpnzvtcRVQ11xSfdhexwgPIXTd_k5kxqjGopqyTlmRY3D4K8LYr4_ml7lRE8vzqoluvw3MwVC3k-a8NtAjCUZziJl7bwEw3PHIpgJj_TEW-JXfspJHSXaPvu_JWanAyzbhvqInC8/s2048/demoni2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1418" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCyrXxpnzvtcRVQ11xSfdhexwgPIXTd_k5kxqjGopqyTlmRY3D4K8LYr4_ml7lRE8vzqoluvw3MwVC3k-a8NtAjCUZziJl7bwEw3PHIpgJj_TEW-JXfspJHSXaPvu_JWanAyzbhvqInC8/s320/demoni2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p>Like the <i>Die Hard</i> films, it seemed the Demons movies also were going to be set on bigger and bigger settings. This one sees an entire high-rise become a battlefield when Demons attack! This time they won't step out of the movie screen, but come from your TV sets standing in the most sacred places of your own homes.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbVky92_OQsXIscEvZh66pO-c1szbLnZHWFVrRemEIposA4X_M2KMR42T3zFGImgS33x1bM4MF1lVPhtIk4g4ZF7ZCtmIlbzCFX-Deuu1tDs68u7IS8dSWJlvD-kZULN0bgV0E9mxixF4/s480/demons-2-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbVky92_OQsXIscEvZh66pO-c1szbLnZHWFVrRemEIposA4X_M2KMR42T3zFGImgS33x1bM4MF1lVPhtIk4g4ZF7ZCtmIlbzCFX-Deuu1tDs68u7IS8dSWJlvD-kZULN0bgV0E9mxixF4/s320/demons-2-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The film has a new set of stock characters with their flimsy character arcs, or just colorful deaths. It feels the script is even more haphazard than the first one as a lot of set-up is just forgotten along the way. It's not bad, but it all just feels so uninspired. Almost all good ideas of the movie were already done in the first one.<br /><p></p><p>There's still some points of interest in this. Fans of architecture in Italian films may get a kick on how the film moves between different apartments. It's critiques of modern living and entertainment are also somewhat similar to the mayhem seen in <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-new-batch-revisited.html">Gremlins 2</a> four years later, but it doesn't really go far enough into these to reach the same dizzying heights.<br /> </p><p>★★ <br /></p><p><b>The Church</b> (La chiesa, 1989)<br />Dir. Michele Soavi</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnbUiBKnorrVD8qyF3-t_qSzNH9b-cF2mSSJX-dq3XeeibB_ekFL5PqlZXm5WUIL74vUUw1EvptYSz3CPgWU61GoyPb0Jr5Rv9xJfSbADq8NuEWum2k0BUCDRMb9n2r7vm_ZR2U4xP1k/s289/church-1989.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnbUiBKnorrVD8qyF3-t_qSzNH9b-cF2mSSJX-dq3XeeibB_ekFL5PqlZXm5WUIL74vUUw1EvptYSz3CPgWU61GoyPb0Jr5Rv9xJfSbADq8NuEWum2k0BUCDRMb9n2r7vm_ZR2U4xP1k/s0/church-1989.jpg" /></a></div> Along the way, Argento had a falling out with Bava, opting rather to work with his own second unit director, <b>Michele Soavi</b>. The man also called last great giallo director had debuted with<i> Stage Fright</i>. Reportedly, Soavi thought the <i>Demons</i> films to be "pizza shlock" and wanted to make a more sophisticated horror movie rather than a continuation. Still, his second film was sold to some audiences as <i>Demons 3</i>, as well as his next movie<i> The Sect</i> as <i>Demons 4</i>.<p></p><p><i>The Church</i> is interesting in just how Catholic it is. Past bloodletting done in the name of the Church comes to haunt modern librarians and priests trying to work in a building built on the blood of innocents. In Italy in particular, it seems a lot of the most bitter agnostic attacks against the power of religion came from horror movies, which is probably why they were seen so subversive back in the day. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7b5Rzjbm5M0WUTzl2AtRU7R12ZQJuTrJRAxkes1QOXPhQIzVVgqR5z-nwmOl9o0yqgUhVWm86slutBDFzkv8kdzkUDzes8fXJKrkKN9jwVlxCoxP3XO21wWwNaiWw2xqDkJxh4rPVm0/s526/church-lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7b5Rzjbm5M0WUTzl2AtRU7R12ZQJuTrJRAxkes1QOXPhQIzVVgqR5z-nwmOl9o0yqgUhVWm86slutBDFzkv8kdzkUDzes8fXJKrkKN9jwVlxCoxP3XO21wWwNaiWw2xqDkJxh4rPVm0/s320/church-lg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br />Soavi digs a hole for himself by having a too good, brutal and savage prologue set in the Crusades. The opening scene reads like something out of the catalogue of <b>Paul Verhoeven</b>, another critic of the violence done by institutions. But after the opening, the film lulls in athmosphere a bit too long. The Church itself with its dark corridors and ominous statues is a very nice environment, but after enough camera drives and crash zooms where scarcely nothing happens makes the audience groan for the movie to roll along. At this point Soavi wasn't that skillful in building up tensions, part of the reason being that his characters are always so paper-thin as to be boring to follow.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCp1ldJQ2FY3jp2c5PWbcOIa2JAXkbSXdkUIYP1HCZrkkvwd_HHPyTdA8t0ns6FVdvjT93UPKr2Hk33texn9ovgodmFNIUx5p_IiTyx1_ZP27ngzS4YTjU89leeUhomLPBiPyNzgqdJXg/s1910/church-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="1910" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCp1ldJQ2FY3jp2c5PWbcOIa2JAXkbSXdkUIYP1HCZrkkvwd_HHPyTdA8t0ns6FVdvjT93UPKr2Hk33texn9ovgodmFNIUx5p_IiTyx1_ZP27ngzS4YTjU89leeUhomLPBiPyNzgqdJXg/s320/church-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The film's music is an odd cocktail of Goblin, <b>Keith Emerson</b> and some <b>Philip Glass</b> compositions that seem to be taken straight out of <i>Koyaanisqatsi</i>. It's a good measuring stick on how Soavi has problems establishing a clear thoroughline for the film. Visually, though, it's very striking with magnificent effects work by <b>Sergio Stivaletti</b>. The gore and creature scenes in particular are nasty and memorable, so the film has plenty to offer for fans of Soavi's style, even if the film as a whole somewhat creaks at the seams.</p><p>★★★ <br /> </p><p><b>Cemetary Man</b> (DellaMorte DellAmore, 1994)<br />Dir. Michele Soavi</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDVy83o-NOcSSfQPm3enp77lbX0o31djZcKiWS8oet6rMuS73CsJrDyPSOysnJH3uObu0xVSX12w_2kJnio9Rylp_bpPLcGI16FCO6o15E52pq3IiKqhPxMdCF9zGdBOSTAdPHxi_1f8/s611/dellamorte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDVy83o-NOcSSfQPm3enp77lbX0o31djZcKiWS8oet6rMuS73CsJrDyPSOysnJH3uObu0xVSX12w_2kJnio9Rylp_bpPLcGI16FCO6o15E52pq3IiKqhPxMdCF9zGdBOSTAdPHxi_1f8/s320/dellamorte.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Since we are covering double D's, I have to throw in also Soavi's probably most popular and unique movie. Loosely based on the fumetti comic <i>Dylan Dog</i>, <i>Dellamorte Dellamore</i> is a kind of unique little gem in the horror comedy genre, a sort of match between the general skewed worldview and sense of humor of <i>Danger: Diabolik</i> and the hysterical antics of <i>Evil Dead 2</i>.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFfyCdiZsx0KvXg6_5N6bKIADgCHpP093EVxKMJpNXcqocjFfOxsRmDSAbO0AAyCunjHM7JWx66ep_0KT_wKKNHIMafpgJUdmRkExHgtb29cMRbhVIoQPuw44Rm6zQ1D9yZzRw8RVeT0/s450/dellamorte-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFfyCdiZsx0KvXg6_5N6bKIADgCHpP093EVxKMJpNXcqocjFfOxsRmDSAbO0AAyCunjHM7JWx66ep_0KT_wKKNHIMafpgJUdmRkExHgtb29cMRbhVIoQPuw44Rm6zQ1D9yZzRw8RVeT0/s320/dellamorte-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><br />Rupert Everett</b> plays a lonely but cynical cemetary groundskeeper Francesco Dellamorte who has a surprising amount tof work on his hands. The cemetary turns the dead back to life after three days so he has to make sure the zombies stay underground. But the lovelorn young man can't help to fall for either widows or corpses of young women, which is harder to combine with his line of work.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtpopIESZlaGe5a6-IACTMahRDSQevwsfVkVKVPczVOFA3hq6_0Exl5BxEaM6cQ4MVgznK5u1S6aCZrU5Spn_8Kl1iz18Aj5su8PKqhjFRCZs_1ZhKeyuEczF19ZyEvlSKZeRpVn4NuXs/s698/dellamorte-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtpopIESZlaGe5a6-IACTMahRDSQevwsfVkVKVPczVOFA3hq6_0Exl5BxEaM6cQ4MVgznK5u1S6aCZrU5Spn_8Kl1iz18Aj5su8PKqhjFRCZs_1ZhKeyuEczF19ZyEvlSKZeRpVn4NuXs/s320/dellamorte-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The film has a autumny visuals where it's all shades of brown and grey, down to earth, which contrasts nicely the cartoony aspects of the story and performances on screen. The film has a episodic nature, where it does resemble the comic books it is adapting. Likewise in the amount of sex and violence on screen, although to contemporaries like <i>Braindead</i>, the film seems downright tame.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErws2Vmq4Ei8ypDPtiA4y7QtHPIRVfakBwHYnFPZ9usEuZpcGWgDS8rKGvMVTxqL3z_Na0hvbEI2Ct4UpT0nmd372YcNOIluD62VctfLskj5h4cht3V9kRzA8VeBC7eaNgNdpfE9qYQ4/s702/dellamorte-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="702" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiErws2Vmq4Ei8ypDPtiA4y7QtHPIRVfakBwHYnFPZ9usEuZpcGWgDS8rKGvMVTxqL3z_Na0hvbEI2Ct4UpT0nmd372YcNOIluD62VctfLskj5h4cht3V9kRzA8VeBC7eaNgNdpfE9qYQ4/s320/dellamorte-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Not only about the duality of love and death, the film also depicts the longing to escape a small town and its repetitive cycles. Dellamorte goes through the same loops every night, but refuses to learn or to move on. His mute partner Gnaghi (<b>François Hadji-Lazaro</b>) fares better, and genuinely falls in love, albeit to a severed head. The movie, as outrageous a premise as it has and dry humor, is actually in favor of enjoying life and seeing as much of it as one can.<br /><p></p><p>★★★★ <br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-25710797732110265902020-09-30T16:08:00.001+03:002020-09-30T16:08:18.516+03:00Urban Gauntlets<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjveBoSEx9WeQOnlREDlX93dastssIuzTMrvPoABRMbcr-a-tDWRyws00afWa14m-XaOGBwmhlzLYWg3H0FJyhLLQS4yeOcapZ3e8dbfCHMf6i5ZlDJnxONE1hTaI8EormGr1AqHAA6jbM/s1000/after-hours-1985.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="1000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjveBoSEx9WeQOnlREDlX93dastssIuzTMrvPoABRMbcr-a-tDWRyws00afWa14m-XaOGBwmhlzLYWg3H0FJyhLLQS4yeOcapZ3e8dbfCHMf6i5ZlDJnxONE1hTaI8EormGr1AqHAA6jbM/s320/after-hours-1985.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />One thing that gets lost amid all this quarantine is that major cities are seething hellholes. That's probably where I'm particularly drawn into the sort of neo noir films, where a hapless protagonist tries their best, but it seems the entire cities (usually NYC) are against them in every way. So, let's take a closer look at three of such examples. <br /><p></p><p> </p><p><b>Killing of a Chinese Bookie</b> (USA, 1976)<br />Director: John Cassavetes</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWHBWpvtw-pCr9aB5q2868eGr2SNcyFQCw0vv9LPvxZkQ7Qj5PqwXOKGkhfil7qbG2b02mxRa_cDTymKsanuJDzGjCYpCqSoyIv5M2abSuaOjuAXVesOdCtwHWeJ82Cpy45Z1ut7lUos/s277/koacb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWHBWpvtw-pCr9aB5q2868eGr2SNcyFQCw0vv9LPvxZkQ7Qj5PqwXOKGkhfil7qbG2b02mxRa_cDTymKsanuJDzGjCYpCqSoyIv5M2abSuaOjuAXVesOdCtwHWeJ82Cpy45Z1ut7lUos/s0/koacb.jpg" /></a></div><br />In the sweaty seventies, <b>John Cassavetes </b>was making his own minimalist art in between shoots of major big-budget Hollywood epics. He bled his own situation into his films, like here where an owner of a burlesque house (<b>Ben Gazzara</b>) strives to make art out of making middle-aged men horny.<p></p><p>He's also a gambling addict that gets into trouble with the local mob. The only way out is to do a favor, which in turn might suck out the last of humanity out of him. These kinds of films are basically tragedies about the failure of the American dream. The plucky underdogs dream of being big, but always have to face some harsh realities, and in the end, violence as well. Cassavetes didn't really like violence in films, so it's shot very discreetly, but the realities it causes changes the tone of the entire film. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD4QpNkZDbS7rFA9NEplbNdgXUxm-b1i7gBwF_QQ-T_drxUlkm_OUVA7t7ynj-ITdyypF-3sOPVuhRjZ6l2KKxohqXUno_linov369cO1YmLVj53jc4xb9QqnLXXBbhzN5d65q6TrZYKQ/s1600/chinesebookie.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD4QpNkZDbS7rFA9NEplbNdgXUxm-b1i7gBwF_QQ-T_drxUlkm_OUVA7t7ynj-ITdyypF-3sOPVuhRjZ6l2KKxohqXUno_linov369cO1YmLVj53jc4xb9QqnLXXBbhzN5d65q6TrZYKQ/s320/chinesebookie.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Unlike the two other films in this list, this one is set in Los Angeles. It can be seen in the greater emphasis on cars, distances, and heat eminating from the entire film. Cassavetes as a director usually had a very limited color palette to his films, this one also looks like the film was overexposed in the sun, even though it's mostly set during the night.</p><p>The film is mostly talk and no action. One shouldn't expect it to even have a climax of sort. Cassavetes is interested in the implications of the situation more than anything. The entire thing also works as a metaphor for the corruption of the power of money. How far are you willing to sell your soul?<br /></p><p>★★★★</p><p></p><p></p><p>
<b>After Hours</b> (USA, 1985)<br />Dir. Martin Scorsese</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHQdlkks7JteEnSHWe7rWyRnK3OinKUvk1WS5Sa_f73nr-utf_siQKYLLTARoHAsP2652dDIzSI68R4qId51n0gXWfYFv5J7kznUGnSCrK5RuDEYzrUOsDNNjGtvfIx1HBT1vo-3y-sI/s1000/afterhours_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="807" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEHQdlkks7JteEnSHWe7rWyRnK3OinKUvk1WS5Sa_f73nr-utf_siQKYLLTARoHAsP2652dDIzSI68R4qId51n0gXWfYFv5J7kznUGnSCrK5RuDEYzrUOsDNNjGtvfIx1HBT1vo-3y-sI/s320/afterhours_poster.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>It used to be thought that the 1980's weren't really that good for the director <b>Martin Scorsese</b>. I beg to differ, I find he did some great work that riffed on ideas and themes he had set up in the previous decade. After Hours is one of his rare more comedic movies. But in fact, it's a thorough New York movie that sees the city, yuppified since the days of Taxi Driver, as dangerous as ever.</p><p>A hapless office worker (<b>Griffin Dunne</b>) is a regular young man but takes a few steps out of his comfort zone as he's looking for love. Out in the middle of the night in a weird part of the town alone and with no money seems to attract him to oddballs and authorities that don't mean him well and are out to get him. The neon-lit, cold and smoky New York never looked better but at the same time, more terrifying.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfjrUw56CUiqGutNRvjpcCgdQGcA2_i6Nm2AC7yrFTlIE9PzXF2lAH8oiXv_r48v2LCyr8Ght-lhsx8XIKC0d6MxzJohzukKt8upt91Cep41AuXX9DLnj7aK2Up47834wJBlrdPQcO2I/s1200/afterhours.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="791" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfjrUw56CUiqGutNRvjpcCgdQGcA2_i6Nm2AC7yrFTlIE9PzXF2lAH8oiXv_r48v2LCyr8Ght-lhsx8XIKC0d6MxzJohzukKt8upt91Cep41AuXX9DLnj7aK2Up47834wJBlrdPQcO2I/s320/afterhours.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The film is emphatethic towards everyone who's down and out in the Big Apple, even if it casts most of the characters of the city with major mental issues and cynicism. But the key is that circumstantial setbacks can pile up and minor things like losing a $20 bill may cause a chain-reaction that only adds to the plight of the outcasts. It's a film that also gets to the heart of the loneliness felt in cities, even if there are plenty of people around. </p><p>Scorsese has borrowed from <b>Woody Allen</b> a distrust of the city's
intellectual and artistic class and mercilessly mocks it. He also
manages to sneak in some of his personal obsessions, from late-night
diners to talking about film classics to the mix as well, making this
one of the movies surely influencing a young <b>Quentin Tarantino</b>. The only major problem with the movie is that it hits so close to truth it's not that funny as a comedy, but hey, you can't always have everything.</p><p>★★★★</p><p><br />
<b>Uncut Gems </b> (USA, 2019)<br />Dirs. Benny & Josh Safdie</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVz63pNNXEGdQAyweTLAg2ic0utD_Gdoq0Ni25_q4TT3lVkbLW-p4Svm8-oHC-lIrlAeoUG5CyiS-nXs2OtHQ3z0mPdFm63dns1KFNAJM7AkEZoWS1iZTXqEpSwjcfhUWTtIvjG6gVvM/s1500/uncut_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="967" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVz63pNNXEGdQAyweTLAg2ic0utD_Gdoq0Ni25_q4TT3lVkbLW-p4Svm8-oHC-lIrlAeoUG5CyiS-nXs2OtHQ3z0mPdFm63dns1KFNAJM7AkEZoWS1iZTXqEpSwjcfhUWTtIvjG6gVvM/s320/uncut_poster.jpg" /></a></div><p>The latest one, and the one that particularly inspired this writing comes from the arthouse cinema production house A24 and has Scorsese and Cassavetes in particular as influences. The seediness in the previous ones is now contrasted with more modern sports centers and auction houses. But even if it's not done in the open any more, the threat of violence looms even stronger behind every scene.</p><p>Lando Calrissian -styled gems dealer Howard Ratner (<b>Adam Sandler</b>) is at once a sleazy little rat, and a fast-talking trickster you can't help but to like even if his self-destructive adrenaline addiction is putting not only himself, but his his family and friends on harm's way. Ratner is about to make a huge sell on a particularly beautiful opal, which puts him in a position and mindset to make increasingly dangerous bets on sports. The movie follows as Ratner ups the ante again and again, always surviving by the skin of his neck, until finally the bets become way too big to handle.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjYNxFShXo1yDTsDto9dLiI3NUZC5ljVu08YZ1eo7Rwd0RHfVWhAdyx-hfrAgE5pA8B27m_swaVIYbgAlTD4swdUho_DrIJDdk8tzk7BzbG2dSbwIhxrLPmb50Cosj1bX3qWuAcvf2Gg/s2048/uncutgems.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjYNxFShXo1yDTsDto9dLiI3NUZC5ljVu08YZ1eo7Rwd0RHfVWhAdyx-hfrAgE5pA8B27m_swaVIYbgAlTD4swdUho_DrIJDdk8tzk7BzbG2dSbwIhxrLPmb50Cosj1bX3qWuAcvf2Gg/s320/uncutgems.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>For the fast-paced modern audiences, the movie is fast-cut and has plenty of side-plots going on at all times. The effect may be anxiety-inducing for some viewers, but the film also warrants repeat viewings if one is interested in seeing the strings of plotlines getting pulled. Given the chance, Sandler can be a great character actor, so it's a bit sad he didn't get the rcognition he deserved from this which will surely make him go back to making very half-assed comedies with no effort. But such are the joys and victories that the film presents, too. They are fleeting, and something much worse is yet to come soon enough.<br /></p><p> ★★★★ 1/2<br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-91061465763067393002020-09-25T23:17:00.002+03:002020-09-25T23:17:15.335+03:00Three laughs: Rocky IV<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ7QR8WfcQgKgsGQ1HwN5BUah92EgVZwWsqBo6BL2ED3Cx1alUDM62VdVfpO0NmzQBOIFvqV0oQ-dNn5szpWiXJ4wL7OkC7ZXilX5j15rh4rLkOty2ZMIqD5hiXoS0HH41NeOlYZBOWos/s1024/rocky-iv-robot.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ7QR8WfcQgKgsGQ1HwN5BUah92EgVZwWsqBo6BL2ED3Cx1alUDM62VdVfpO0NmzQBOIFvqV0oQ-dNn5szpWiXJ4wL7OkC7ZXilX5j15rh4rLkOty2ZMIqD5hiXoS0HH41NeOlYZBOWos/s320/rocky-iv-robot.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br />It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing
to you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. <br /><p></p><p>★ or ★★★★★</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZl0a3ts0gMqu7Gg83bJf17eZtSvi10KJt6xcqzaUJBtHu7RzyfmxgDxpq53kQK71GM81sC80wu5w62F1Ai9zfAMMV63cif4MzTYetlfL0sipdhecvvWcrfBZioBaWaIdI10WDWLi2pE/s1000/rocky4_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="664" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZl0a3ts0gMqu7Gg83bJf17eZtSvi10KJt6xcqzaUJBtHu7RzyfmxgDxpq53kQK71GM81sC80wu5w62F1Ai9zfAMMV63cif4MzTYetlfL0sipdhecvvWcrfBZioBaWaIdI10WDWLi2pE/s320/rocky4_poster.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Three laughs case file #38:<br /><b>Rocky IV (USA, 1985)</b><br />Director: Sylvester Stallone</p><p>So, as many movie directors these days have too much time on their hands, many have started to recut some of their films they feel didn't really work in their first form. Francis Ford Coppola is working on Godfather III, Steven Soderbergh has probably already gone through half of his filmography, and Sylvester Stallone has Rocky IV.</p><p>But why Rocky IV? It's as close to perfection as anything Stallone has ever made, and Creed notwithstanding, my favorite of the never-ending Rocky series. It turns out Stallone has changed his mind about Paulie's robot and he explains he doesn't like it any more. So, it would seem Stallone would cut out some of the movie's bizarreness and make it just a so-so melodrama, which the Rocky saga already has in abundance.</p><p>Well, here at Last Movieblog we are undoubtedly pro-robot. Stallone may recut all he wants but we will always have the original version (Right? He's no George Lucas, right?), so let's have a look at some of the laughs offered by the Rocky Ivee.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrQzwCvkTLRwKg-CTBYEQtP6CWlvFojR1dry4JKaLMJ-ZwFthZ1t6utHGrO1ctrbutLVIakSDeswz1INdgNjJbHYbYzSQxSPpLdDBVwxdpyOoAS49CrQ9x0uLBc2lmvJGVoQ1S1lxgl5I/s1800/rocky+iv_shot2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1012" data-original-width="1800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrQzwCvkTLRwKg-CTBYEQtP6CWlvFojR1dry4JKaLMJ-ZwFthZ1t6utHGrO1ctrbutLVIakSDeswz1INdgNjJbHYbYzSQxSPpLdDBVwxdpyOoAS49CrQ9x0uLBc2lmvJGVoQ1S1lxgl5I/s320/rocky+iv_shot2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Three laughs (SPOILERS): <br /></p><p>1. Before the movie has even settled to be a metaphor for the fight against the US and the Soviet Union, we see Ol' Rock has become a wealthy man since his underdog days. He lives in a huge mansion with his family. In fact, he even buys his friend Paulie (Burt Young) an expensive birthday gift. But he doesn't get the sports car he wanted, he gets a weird, bug-eyed robot that's probably meant more for Rocky's young son. In fact, the reason the robot is in the movie is that it's a helper tool that Stallone's actual son used for his autism.</p><p>Nevertheless, there's a big laugh coming on when inexplicably Paulie has switched the robots controls later on, so it uses a chirpy female voice and serves him beer. Knowing the background makes it even doubly bizarre that Stallone implies Paulie would use his robot for sex. </p><p>2. I always enjoy Dolph Lundgren and feel like, as an actor, he got served the short stick and could have given so much more in his heyday. The scene when he's raised to his fight with Apollo Creed is carried by his face of confusion when he sees a Las Vegas -style gaudy James Brown musical number with small airplanes in the roof, showgirls, acrobats, and some sort of giant golden calf statue. Is Stallone implying that Americans are worshipping a false god? The sneeding way Lundgren delivers his line "You will lose" to Creed who he's about to kill in the ring, is also nothing short of magnificent.<br /></p><p>3. A usual critique of the movie is that it's half montages set to the cheesiest arena rock the 80's had to offer. My personal favorite is the one set to Robert Tappert's No Easy Way Out where Rocky is driving around with tears on his faces thinking about his friend Apollo and the homoerotic scenes in Rocky III when they were running on the beach and bear-huuging in the waves. There's some shots of Adrian and classic Rocky training montages thrown in for good measure, of course, since the film is no homo.<br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-13972623095618792252020-09-18T11:16:00.004+03:002020-09-18T11:21:59.982+03:00Three laughs: Robotrix<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_A-OggSvA_wEvpEP27RufIPEfJu8DhDu_rvZTVT4zoUjba66TnaU3f66AmPj4W_uvr6cv5gMKcDXhv325_sehseOUdfcoq2vcHM6GiN5I5hCve1KvgWQiJ52VdSsDxDIjsfSloo_NrM/s282/robotrix-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="179" data-original-width="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_A-OggSvA_wEvpEP27RufIPEfJu8DhDu_rvZTVT4zoUjba66TnaU3f66AmPj4W_uvr6cv5gMKcDXhv325_sehseOUdfcoq2vcHM6GiN5I5hCve1KvgWQiJ52VdSsDxDIjsfSloo_NrM/s0/robotrix-2.jpg" /></a></div><br />It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to
you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. <br /><p></p><p>★ or ★★★★★</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1AQPhT9eQdugi4tLiHt-e3lUdxV2Ojr0cZiinameJk_SPYJSQDThpn2b2FGMFna2E1Fef086o1kLqlDjNFS2xYRsO_F6wNGzinwBgL20CE5ytQxzcuHyDIXHviipcwmec2NgbhyphenhyphenrS_o/s750/robotrix_poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1AQPhT9eQdugi4tLiHt-e3lUdxV2Ojr0cZiinameJk_SPYJSQDThpn2b2FGMFna2E1Fef086o1kLqlDjNFS2xYRsO_F6wNGzinwBgL20CE5ytQxzcuHyDIXHviipcwmec2NgbhyphenhyphenrS_o/s320/robotrix_poster.jpg" /></a></div>Three laughs case file #37: <b> </b><br />
<b>Robotrix</b> (Nu ji xie ren, Hongkong, 1991)<br />
Director: Jamie Luk<p></p><p>I've heard movie pitches a lot worse than "sexy RoboCop". During Hongkong's mad <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/three-laughs-ebola-syndrome.html">"CAT III"</a> years, someone had the bright idea, not only to do a combined scifi actioner and softcore film, but to also have it basically be <i>Terminator 2</i> as well, having two killer robots battle it out. The evil robot, played by <b>Billy Chow</b>, is REALLY EVIL, and during the course of the movie performs rather nasty sexual violence against sex workers. So, there's a <b>Trigger Warning</b> to go with the film, they really don't slow down as it gets started.</p><p>The film has a little tongue in cheek, as in the beginning we see a German robot that resembles a little of the ol' T-800, and an American robot that in turn has stereotypical mullet wig and if I needed to make a guess, seems to be a reference to Jean-Claude Van Damme's <i>Cyborg</i>. Mammary-heavy Amy Yip plays the android body into which a dead policewoman's brain is inserted into. There's little nudity, though, even though for the first time in Hongkong cinema, Chow also reveals his member in a quick scene.<br /></p><p>A lot of the film plays up the comedy rather than the serial-killing robot hunting. Not all of it is intentional, bad dubbing, bizarre dialogue and hammy acting carries a lot of the fun. Yip's cyborg is put on an undercover mission disguised as a sex worker, and caused by this, starts a really successful police-run brothel business, that also her co-workers in blue seem to enjoy using. Chikako Ayoma plays Yip's rival policewoman that comes to rely on her as a partner before the film's bloody climax.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW60L5Stw-2Ds_CtGjMj1sXJ8s4q3Nr5pP8PjkyuwoY4K5jbhN2KfeB1J9e1JzZbtAUdGI_N2oI7gyGoe2OVTw3XBdTSZQPStg5Ewf6FWA-8Imz8DOMPMqkl10zDTpDVnDkrjj7DYa4ig/s620/robotrix-4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="620" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW60L5Stw-2Ds_CtGjMj1sXJ8s4q3Nr5pP8PjkyuwoY4K5jbhN2KfeB1J9e1JzZbtAUdGI_N2oI7gyGoe2OVTw3XBdTSZQPStg5Ewf6FWA-8Imz8DOMPMqkl10zDTpDVnDkrjj7DYa4ig/s320/robotrix-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Three laughs (SPOILERS):<br /></p><p>1. The film's flimsy plot consists of several elements that don't quite click together. We are introduced to the villain of the film when he uses sleeping gas to knock out everyone in a bath house and to kidnap the daughter of an Arab prince to... ransom her for money? This idea doesn't really play out in the following scenes. But at this point Yip is still playing a flesh-and-blood policewoman. It is proven she is no match for the precision of a cyborg as she is immediately shot in the chest by the villain. She'll get better.<br /></p><p> 2. The bad android's sex drive is so huge, he goes to bars picking on small-time gangsters' girlfriends. This enrages the Triad guys and they take the fight... to the toilet? As the android refuses to pay to use her, he is attacked, but the robot just punches the gangster so hard to the stomach, it implodes. The <i>Itchy & Scratchy</i> -level cartoonish violence that reminds of films like <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/thems-fighting-words.html">Riki-Oh</a> is one of the best reasons to watch these CAT III films. There's also a memorable scene with a drill in this one.<br /></p><p>3. Of the police group's characters, the most annoying one is the bearded sex-hungry virgin guy, who also tried to get a free round with sex worker Robotrix by disguising himself. In the lead up to the climax, he is unceremoniously cut in half with a car. The characters in the film are very sad to see him die, the audiences back home may have an entirely different reaction to seeing the sleazebag go.<br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-1067946686712920772020-09-15T21:54:00.007+03:002020-09-15T21:54:57.073+03:00Night Visions: The New Ab-normal<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXccvYNaXcTJ2zSTllMUhghNS-29wnqRwU5yMvKh6LKePFfhyINFWHqjS72syvMfezFrGwxVellq_sBzBP0b3MiyOsdtU4JwpnCs5ViDo3oKhuULrndVjjsd7iU48lpFn2sDPL9BqJ4ZI/s1200/nv_abnormal2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="848" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXccvYNaXcTJ2zSTllMUhghNS-29wnqRwU5yMvKh6LKePFfhyINFWHqjS72syvMfezFrGwxVellq_sBzBP0b3MiyOsdtU4JwpnCs5ViDo3oKhuULrndVjjsd7iU48lpFn2sDPL9BqJ4ZI/s320/nv_abnormal2.jpg" /></a></div> <br />Things are different this year around, which meant for the regular spring edition of Night Visions film festival getting cancelled. But at least here in Finland things got a little better, so there was an opportunity to have a festival in August. Things are changing also in the way I'm writing a festival report after a long while.<b> <br /></b><p></p><p><b>Butt Boy</b> (USA, 2019)<br />Director: Tyler Cormack</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaqlbf0-VlwGvub4JBfzQzp8ZrBv14AFrqEMFniuYo8ILyNu6_FGUQRDLvfotrc9EuFYPePs4qZMUtUSyGYJTf9om7-Y8_O5_UF-ygCyotnddEDh7KvJ-aNAmMu53fCjxpVYGwk9E5hc/s1100/butt-boy-2_orig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="1100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaqlbf0-VlwGvub4JBfzQzp8ZrBv14AFrqEMFniuYo8ILyNu6_FGUQRDLvfotrc9EuFYPePs4qZMUtUSyGYJTf9om7-Y8_O5_UF-ygCyotnddEDh7KvJ-aNAmMu53fCjxpVYGwk9E5hc/s320/butt-boy-2_orig.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br />This is a movie about an obsession, addiction and the willingness to wreck lives to achieve it. It's also a serial-killer movie about a dude, who (SPOILER) sucks people and objects inside his cavernous butthole. As far as crazy premises go, this one takes itself as seriously as it physically can.<p></p><p>As a whole, this film moves quite slowly. It has some perks, like watching the slowly ravelling cat-and-mouse game between <b>Tyler Cornack's</b> perp and <b>Tyler Rice's</b> cop on the edge. When the actual reveal comes, it changes the film's dynamic entirely, making the last quarter or so a real blast of butt-jokes. It is not quite as crazy as I had hope it would be, but I got some good chuckles and the melancholic feel of the movie really got to me. <br /></p><p>★★★</p><p><b>Luz: The Flower of Evil</b> (Columbia, 2019)<br />Dir. Juan Diego Escobar Alzate</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQv7CnJUI64d-_KZqhGougxxdBexMm9doQpPKUu9RjVAWApP60dcjMS4PkcHxM1BaswU7sH35PqqKWRroUeYa8riMl0h9J7gEY1Qr-nfF_9IFBFKAM7AxEKI7Ab5jUvx5IIb45tPaZk-I/s657/nv_abnormal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="657" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQv7CnJUI64d-_KZqhGougxxdBexMm9doQpPKUu9RjVAWApP60dcjMS4PkcHxM1BaswU7sH35PqqKWRroUeYa8riMl0h9J7gEY1Qr-nfF_9IFBFKAM7AxEKI7Ab5jUvx5IIb45tPaZk-I/s320/nv_abnormal.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />This latest word in folk horror sees a reclusive cult live off the land. The cult leader El Señor (<b>Conrado Osorio</b>) keeps multiple wives and declares his youngest child to be the next Messiah. The other children, three daughters, find an object of the outside world and have different reactions, from wanting to escape to undying loyalty and laboring hard for the cult. The film doesn't really manage to give a good athmosphere or raise the stakes as one would wish from a horror film. Visually, it's clearly a fan product of the works of <b>Alejandro Jodorowsky</b>. But the actors are quite good in their roles, and one manages to sit through the film woith relative ease, even if it doesn't ever really deliver as good as one would want.<p></p><p>★★ 1/2<br /></p><p><b>Tezuka's Barbara </b>(Japan, 2019)<br />Dir. Macoto Tezuka</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi89Bz6EBNCTzc4dPG3DaMmb_Au9GvEhbwvvyBQUHtx79_erLQL36gcOqhI7mga9oofQr2MsvKkI6wD_c65SpzmjEgB7TadeCkqpt1OiJNV7znsYB6x910c7S3twzDgWL91TgLPckdk_yA/s300/tezukasbarbara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi89Bz6EBNCTzc4dPG3DaMmb_Au9GvEhbwvvyBQUHtx79_erLQL36gcOqhI7mga9oofQr2MsvKkI6wD_c65SpzmjEgB7TadeCkqpt1OiJNV7znsYB6x910c7S3twzDgWL91TgLPckdk_yA/s0/tezukasbarbara.jpg" /></a></div> <br />The pinku film seems to follow pretty clearly the godfather of manga <b>Osamu Tezuka's</b> comics. It is a story of a regular guy becoming increasingly obsessed by a homeless girl he meets on the streets of Tokyo. Like most pinkus I've seen, this one is quite slow with very few and not very graphic sex scenes. The ideas and obsessions around sex are more important than the act itself. There are a few scenes of note here that remind of Tezuka's odd sense of humour and richness of his imagination. But as a whole, the film is quite stilted, not utilizing what film can bring to the table as opposed to manga. So, this one felt quite dull in the end.<p></p><p>★★</p><p><b>Klovn The Final </b>(Denmark, 2020)<br />Dir. Mikkel Norgaard</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0qI1DG2W7N30M1rihYa2dclhrAQezoc86ezkXkacF9DN-i1HG2YcaXe7p-o4XMHZGoSRTX0I42zboQEI1fGCe4Cwwv0fDW-6KYNWiXPjSi4e5CIo99aNeJAiyV3KEZkLBCrivWdYM0c/s800/klovn_the_final_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0qI1DG2W7N30M1rihYa2dclhrAQezoc86ezkXkacF9DN-i1HG2YcaXe7p-o4XMHZGoSRTX0I42zboQEI1fGCe4Cwwv0fDW-6KYNWiXPjSi4e5CIo99aNeJAiyV3KEZkLBCrivWdYM0c/s320/klovn_the_final_poster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br />After the bit disappointing <i>Klovn Forever</i>, it's fun to see the third part in a trilogy somewhat return to its roots. At this point, <b>Frank Hvam</b> and <b>Casper Christensen's</b> rowdy comedies know what audiences are expecting, and both tease them with it but in the end, also deliver. It's not quite as graphic as the two previous ones, but altogether it might be ruder. It's crazy funny, at least.<p></p><p>The movie opened in Denmark just before the Corona crisis, so it's weird to see it tackle self-isolation for a length of its time. However, since an embarrassing mishap has cost them their trip in Iceland, Frank and Casper have to hide out in a vacant house next door to Frank's family. One small lie leads to bigger and bigger ones, and the strain to Frank's marriage in particular is stretched to a breaking point. Casper works as a ruthless id, caring little about anything else besides getting laid and getting the two into bigger and bigger troubles.</p><p>Not all of the film's gags quite land, and they are eager to set up some scenes that they oddly drop off at the blink of an eye. But when a good joke is laid out, waiting and then suddenly given an unexpected punchline, one can't help but to fall over laughing. I laughed, I cried, I hurled.</p><p>★★★★</p><p><b>Rabid </b>(Canada, 2019)<br />Dir. The Soska Sisters</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoeGOKK7xVWTSVRI6K0_zpfU92DhGp8srQ8sBXgbCAjeD-QbntttJTjF0OMB7oUaHrUByczSdEMNfz8Dvpt90kZjesQmoV1xhhdaqmo-WH1RT7pm6a-VrkCw4HPWfxF8hjLDgWimRUYg/s800/rabid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="542" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoeGOKK7xVWTSVRI6K0_zpfU92DhGp8srQ8sBXgbCAjeD-QbntttJTjF0OMB7oUaHrUByczSdEMNfz8Dvpt90kZjesQmoV1xhhdaqmo-WH1RT7pm6a-VrkCw4HPWfxF8hjLDgWimRUYg/s320/rabid.jpg" /></a></div> <br />Even if 1977's <i>Rabid</i> isn't the most popular film in <b>David Cronenberg's</b> filmography, it is still risky to even attempt to redo one of the corner stones of the body horror movement. <b>The Soska Sisters</b> realize this, and while the end result is definitely going to split viewers, I do think they managed to update the ideas to a modern setting quite well. Maybe this should be a Re:Make blog post later on?<p></p><p>The new version downplays sexuality and the inner shame caused by it, as seen in regular horror movie tropes. The idea this time around is more like a feminist satire showing a woman being punished by outside forces for showing initiative in general. Timid fashion designer Rose (<b>Laura Vanderwoort</b>) isn't getting the recognition she deserves until she has an accident and an experimental skin operation to fix it. Too bad it also makes her a Patient Zero in a vampiric disease that starts to wreack havock.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxoIaFOchwb2KPqpgwrGUWwTngSrlnN3BjUffg3kAyw0y_kj0TQ0gy9dpbu-_TthFXmTnII6OTeoYRfe8PQXb_SMOJKVk15vYuLNJllHV-vfaqOnmTs3D0CNt29WXt8CCqRzIlxFOjEyQ/s730/rabid_still.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxoIaFOchwb2KPqpgwrGUWwTngSrlnN3BjUffg3kAyw0y_kj0TQ0gy9dpbu-_TthFXmTnII6OTeoYRfe8PQXb_SMOJKVk15vYuLNJllHV-vfaqOnmTs3D0CNt29WXt8CCqRzIlxFOjEyQ/s320/rabid_still.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>It's kind of a wonder how ahead the curve the Soskas were last year. The vampire disease and the reactions of it, ranging from trying to shrug it off and continuing as if nothing is happening to outright maliciousness of trying to benefit from people dying, seems like satire from the reactions to COVID-19. There's even a barb at the police violence against poor people that have the disease. The Soskas make plenty of changes to the original, with a lot of emphasis on a sisterly relationship, and a thoroughly bonkers final reveal to match. All the bitterness surrounding the depiction fashion industry don't quite work, but the film bursts with ideas enough that one can give or take a few clunkers as something entirely else is just around the corner. <br /></p><p>★★★★</p><p><b>The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil </b>(Akinjeon, South Korea, 2019)<br />Dir. Lee Won-tae</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGaq49oYhMW9i_AmacJFJnEIWBkYCCkq1wEiw2Y6Cyzd0fuuMDRtQjFzy1cfngfzJM1fiT9WowKtz_NRMcJgQN-YTvpuFObMAKcYsk_f4mQGG3kfY0o7iY026vYTjJ9gIz_1VVDSu1nw/s2000/The-Gangster-the-Cop-the-Devil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGaq49oYhMW9i_AmacJFJnEIWBkYCCkq1wEiw2Y6Cyzd0fuuMDRtQjFzy1cfngfzJM1fiT9WowKtz_NRMcJgQN-YTvpuFObMAKcYsk_f4mQGG3kfY0o7iY026vYTjJ9gIz_1VVDSu1nw/s320/The-Gangster-the-Cop-the-Devil.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br />Supposedly this south korean crime actioner is based on actual events of a mob boss testifying in court against a serial killer. It does deliver some grisly violence, surprising twists and well-rounded characters. The actors are wonderful, especially <b>Ma Dong-seok</b> as the burly kingpin who has to revalue his pendant for violence and need for revenge as an even more ruthless murderer (<b>Kim Sung-kyu</b>) tries to kill him. There are only shades of grey here, as the cop (<b>Kim Mu-yeol</b>) himself is a corrupt gambler and a drunk, happily spending his spare time in mob-owned casinos. The film is well-done entertainment, but has a bit of an abrupt ending, like you would expect from a TV series, and it doesn't really feel to have a central idea strong enough to really elevate it into a classic. <p></p><p>★★★</p><p><b>Dolls</b> (USA/Italy 1987)<br />Dir. Stuart Gordon</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRkQLuxUpmkswF6fqVtkKi88H5A_HETBoCAmM9_UYXTRIlOSjMcetvmGq2811BojP81o6CRWv1HVGqKfP3M9X3CDZ31GSeNl6Htm2Z2lN3VNV4qqoLShCkBMlCBESefdRKg9uy1cyXDM/s600/dolls-1987.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRRkQLuxUpmkswF6fqVtkKi88H5A_HETBoCAmM9_UYXTRIlOSjMcetvmGq2811BojP81o6CRWv1HVGqKfP3M9X3CDZ31GSeNl6Htm2Z2lN3VNV4qqoLShCkBMlCBESefdRKg9uy1cyXDM/s320/dolls-1987.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <p></p><p>Night Visions also paid tribute to the late horror master <b>Stuart Gordon </b>with a screening of his classic horror-comedy. Dolls may not be quite among the very best of Gordon's filmography, but as is usual for the director's oveure, it is better than you would think. And it's generally thought to be the best of producer <b>Charles Band's </b>various killer toy movies that also include the <i>Demonic Toys</i> and <i>Puppet Master</i> franchises.</p><p>For the hardcore horror buff, the film might be a bit childish, though. It's central character is a little girl (<b>Carrie Lorraine</b>) and all the adult characters are overplayed caricatures, like you would find in a Roald Dahl book. They also meet similar grisly ends in a magic mansion filled with creepy dolls, or getting turned into dolls themselves. There are a couple of rowdy punk girls, evil yuppie stepparents, a weird elderly couple, and a plump but well-meaning dweeb (<b>Stephen Lee</b>). </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQCR2FvGbAd4OSAo5xfan6bvbUZtmpECzuo0P-4pvv8SF395X2f_OLIGQesD0MlPgwUZv_cTz0oWa-r9SgUNvs8whTSFn6hsnaPrASxcrAxUqAgYm49zexD9YTFd0qaweKXEHNwUnR5jg/s1024/Dolls+1987.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQCR2FvGbAd4OSAo5xfan6bvbUZtmpECzuo0P-4pvv8SF395X2f_OLIGQesD0MlPgwUZv_cTz0oWa-r9SgUNvs8whTSFn6hsnaPrASxcrAxUqAgYm49zexD9YTFd0qaweKXEHNwUnR5jg/s320/Dolls+1987.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />While the plot isn't anything terribly extraordinary, nor scary, the film is kept reasonably short and gives a few good one-liners to chuckle now and again. The puppet effects are kind of crude, but kept in a way that makes them mysterious enough. That was some of the magic of Gordon's filmmaking, he always knew how to stretch his budgets to suit the storytelling he aimed for.<br /><p></p><p>★★★ <br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-35178993849479836112020-09-13T21:56:00.002+03:002020-09-13T22:43:07.978+03:00DePalma x Hitchcock<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAAGwkNrhHVY3l-eP5dIUKauR18rNolc9dzcp7e8JiKHxdKkycX8gqj4hQRHzjb_k7yFCTRUi1mUSv9cpiD-zHlisS59vqdC08oeZ2Fi4uhfxAM6vvpOzz3srj7JWI1R6kouJFq2-Ar8/s960/dressed-to-kill.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAAGwkNrhHVY3l-eP5dIUKauR18rNolc9dzcp7e8JiKHxdKkycX8gqj4hQRHzjb_k7yFCTRUi1mUSv9cpiD-zHlisS59vqdC08oeZ2Fi4uhfxAM6vvpOzz3srj7JWI1R6kouJFq2-Ar8/s320/dressed-to-kill.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br />Director <b>Brian DePalma</b> just turned 80 years old (yesterday, but I'm having trouble keeping schedules), so it's a good opportunity to take a look at three of his movies. Throughout his career, DePalma has been criticized for outright stealing scenes, set ups and camera angles from well-known directors, mainly <b>Alfred Hitchcock</b>. As a sort of postmodernist, both winking at people familiar with films and developing them into something new altogether, DePalma is a clear forerunner for filmmakers such as <b>Quentin Tarantino</b> or <b>Ben Wheatley</b>. So in this post, I have three thriller films of DePalma's that really go all in in swiping stuff from Ol' Hitch, and see whether the steal made for a better movie or whether it's just a lukewarm version of stuff better made before.<p></p><p><b>Obsession </b>(1976)</p><p><i>Pilfers from: <b>Vertigo</b> (1958)</i></p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA7U7FGc1aoQy4Q3XzSQ1hKAkshoIPgFlAajIC7idO2FT81ZpfUEm2zVsm9phmhq8n7XD7VKk6yv6iSkPhSOIuawDpJ5mh6PEFopuGxqBHLg6mPUhqTkZsMSbPXopQSSi3se-ZNM4d2oU/s762/obsession_poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA7U7FGc1aoQy4Q3XzSQ1hKAkshoIPgFlAajIC7idO2FT81ZpfUEm2zVsm9phmhq8n7XD7VKk6yv6iSkPhSOIuawDpJ5mh6PEFopuGxqBHLg6mPUhqTkZsMSbPXopQSSi3se-ZNM4d2oU/s320/obsession_poster.jpg" /></a></i></div>While <i>Sisters </i>(1972) was DePalma's calling card for the world of the thrillers, this was a certain turning point in his career. For one, he managed to snatch Hitchcock's frequent collaborator, composer <b>Bernard Herrmann</b> to do the music. For the other, he got ire from Hitch himself, who considered the film to be a remake of his own <i>Vertigo</i>. Both movies are stories of an obsessed man (played by <b>Cliff Robertson</b> here) losing his beloved, but later finding a doppelganger who he remakes in her image. But in both cases, the "new" woman has a secret and some knowledge of the past that comes to cost the protagonist.<p></p><p>The original script was done by <b>Paul Schrader</b>, who is an expert in having troubled characters with an inner life in total turmoil. It was extensively rewritten by DePalma to better touch upon what he wanted from the film. Schrader had different ideas for the entire ending, which probably would have been considerably different from <i>Vertigo</i>. It would have been interesting to see another time-hop, since the 16-year skip in the beginning takes us quite by surprise.<br /></p><p>Robertson is perhaps not the most charismatic leading man, he does sell the inner anguish, but is like a cold fish in romantic scenes. DePalma has later said he didn't really buy his performance here, also perhaps due to the actor being difficult to work with. <b>John Lithgow</b> as his best friend and business partner steals a lot of the intrigue, and if you're familiar with some of DePalma's later efforts, you'll know what kind of a role he's playing here as well.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirmz4k39gFXaIlLrRF0lmtv0UqrYkZiKfv1wvV3ORZHXYTG9o4auTgeZ9WluUON2ftLRSl9KteoMZh3gfE7enadk4-kDegEyFQnsOn37oulUN7-gHlM4VaefaLFIYo_bDWTo3bv0CBCTc/s1200/obsession_still.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirmz4k39gFXaIlLrRF0lmtv0UqrYkZiKfv1wvV3ORZHXYTG9o4auTgeZ9WluUON2ftLRSl9KteoMZh3gfE7enadk4-kDegEyFQnsOn37oulUN7-gHlM4VaefaLFIYo_bDWTo3bv0CBCTc/s320/obsession_still.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The film goes into a lot more taboo subjects Hitch couldn't, including incest. They both don't really care on whether the central criminal plot makes little sense, but Hitchcock as a more mature filmmaker can better drive the focus of the film to be solely of the central character's, well obsession. Both movies are interested in trauma being played out, surfacing as PTSD in sudden bouts of madness. But the film is also perhaps too slow for its own good. Vertigo packs a huge story in a very compact running time, but here one keeps hoping the film would roll along, having mainly an interesting ending. It also seems like the ideas of the pain of lost love being mirrored in art or restauration thereof, was approached with more sophistication by Hitchcock.<br /><p></p><p>DePalma also takes cues from <i>Dial M for Murder</i>, <i>Rope </i>and <i>Marnie</i>.</p><p>★★★</p><p><b>Dressed to Kill</b> (1980)</p><p><i>Lifts from: <b>Psycho</b> (1960)</i></p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbkSqLm2muEpKT0Hqd04J-ZmGSmUJoi36ONsIED_Gbshi8Jt1anByrJVitgYk4A0HYyGvLatHx9HiPDoHx9lXqbMwybkR7LtUYiD2MhxysaSu7i3if_hsfTU3urSBZNv25j808QbO_Pg/s951/dressedtokill_poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="609" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbkSqLm2muEpKT0Hqd04J-ZmGSmUJoi36ONsIED_Gbshi8Jt1anByrJVitgYk4A0HYyGvLatHx9HiPDoHx9lXqbMwybkR7LtUYiD2MhxysaSu7i3if_hsfTU3urSBZNv25j808QbO_Pg/s320/dressedtokill_poster.jpg" /></a></i></div><i><br /></i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjya4plHp1Kzl4-1-YY9_CVV2UaOUsc6VSsRpif3-OIxYGBdkzK6FEKxMvH59Xbl_nNSoB7s1tNPr-GNmYsI8Uf1_HywORrbX1QQNF5EOaMdNRDzEMjyILcSSq53pDQBmzxH757EcbFY4s/s1000/dressedtokill3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="710" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjya4plHp1Kzl4-1-YY9_CVV2UaOUsc6VSsRpif3-OIxYGBdkzK6FEKxMvH59Xbl_nNSoB7s1tNPr-GNmYsI8Uf1_HywORrbX1QQNF5EOaMdNRDzEMjyILcSSq53pDQBmzxH757EcbFY4s/s320/dressedtokill3.jpg" /></a></div><br />This one starts and ends with a threatening shower scene. Also one of the key scenes of this film is a heavy reference of the seduction scene from <i>Vertigo</i>; both of the take place in an art museum, and use very little dialogue. DePalma can and will use a lot more explicit sex scenes. Classic Hollywood star <b>Angie Dickinson</b> is surprisingly game, even though in nude scenes she used a body double.<p></p><p>The most notable steal from Hitchcock's sole horror movie comes from the structire. Both films kill off the main female character midway through, and from thereon follow her sister trying to solve her murder, played here by <b>Karen Allen</b>. The film also uses other similar stock characters, such as a young man hung up on his mother, a sleazy private detective and a psychiatrist trying to find the reason on theories of sexual repression (played by <b>Michael Caine</b>). But DePalma also enjoys a bit of misdirection, having some familiar seeming roles be entirely red herrings. </p><p>DePalma can easily be criticized for misogynist attitudes in films, and in here too, an adulterer woman gets her comeuppance very bloodily. It's a bit of a SPOILER, but the trans community has also heavily criticized the film's portrayal of transsexual tendencies and, having the early 60's Psycho-like idea of having them act as serial killers. There really isn't anything positive the film will say about any sexuality out of your basic monogamous cis-sexuality, but at least Allen's character is a sex worker who also works as an active protagonist.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_PVxzm3nsbEC-nMPCPVfu8qHJ-We1Ig-CZ3Sp4Txk427SE3ozHvhNnXrSHJEy8p469GpFiTSRg71NSHsR-yJFQunA72MPawKZvhJ89wKzck0qmbsLBwVoHNPCczlMkkz_lQbY17or99I/s600/dressedtokill2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_PVxzm3nsbEC-nMPCPVfu8qHJ-We1Ig-CZ3Sp4Txk427SE3ozHvhNnXrSHJEy8p469GpFiTSRg71NSHsR-yJFQunA72MPawKZvhJ89wKzck0qmbsLBwVoHNPCczlMkkz_lQbY17or99I/s320/dressedtokill2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The film also has a point in pointing how Hitchcock's voyeristic tendencies are obsessive, damaging and toxic, taking their ideas to their logical counterpoint. But it also revels in these very same tendencies. DePalma also plays on his own experiences, since the infidelity that starts out the film was something that was happening in his own family as well. The film has great camerawork and a beautiful soundtrack that makes murder of women highly aestethicized and thus making the audience complicit of the filmmaker's perversions. Also the film's ending is frustratingly bad, having odd conclusions and a dumb jump scare straight out of<i> Carrie.</i><br /></p><p>★★ 1/2<br /></p><p><b>Body Double</b> (1984)</p><p><i>Purloins from: <b>Rear Window</b> (1954)</i></p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKadchLxYc-FczCpPXpdz5eRY82MbzbuxubtFB4RmbpNKUeJjpvMUbAqmtsbHL8VjwkUWOcQYN72XmgURvwk6G2dbFJq85lM8COtI66JXPX6BNjIlur4vpcX8cIIowqgDw1Yp6DO3Vfqs/s344/Body_Double_poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKadchLxYc-FczCpPXpdz5eRY82MbzbuxubtFB4RmbpNKUeJjpvMUbAqmtsbHL8VjwkUWOcQYN72XmgURvwk6G2dbFJq85lM8COtI66JXPX6BNjIlur4vpcX8cIIowqgDw1Yp6DO3Vfqs/s320/Body_Double_poster.jpg" /></a></i></div><i><br /></i>The idea of duality of an identity or dual personas is very central in DePalma's filmography which probably explains why he's so obsessed with <i>Vertigo</i> in particular. This one dives also deep into ideas of voyerism, prevalent also in Hitch's <i>Rear Window</i> and <i>Dial M for Murder</i>. It makes Hitch's distrust of authorities also an aspect of shame and self-hatred following from obsessive and sexual thoughts.<br /><p></p><p>The film has a cold open on a B-grade horror movie which reminds of <i><a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2020/07/blow-up-blow-out.html" target="_blank">Blow Out</a></i>. The main character (played by <b>Craig Wasson</b>) here is an actor struggling with mental illnesses such as claustrophobia. He wanders off the set and notices a woman who does erotic dances in her apartement every night. Looking at her through telescope, he becomes somewhat obsessed, but also starts to suspect her life may be in danger, giving him an excuse to stalk her in the streets. But even as he witnesses more and more evidence of brutal crimes being committed, he is not believed by the authorities because they see him just a pervert.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3ow2FHT366sDeVQKeNlWzYvbvC31uvz4vNH39NXME6DiF0TKliSqBl6ptoDKaTWd7OVg1BgUYKAyDTD-Wd-GpI4piE0OV4L23_HYvm8D9jRWTaaElvYUO84yDzryd9hz4J87Qb2BYLs/s1199/body-double-still1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3ow2FHT366sDeVQKeNlWzYvbvC31uvz4vNH39NXME6DiF0TKliSqBl6ptoDKaTWd7OVg1BgUYKAyDTD-Wd-GpI4piE0OV4L23_HYvm8D9jRWTaaElvYUO84yDzryd9hz4J87Qb2BYLs/s320/body-double-still1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />At the time, DePalma was seen having gone too far with his use of sex and violence in his films. It's easy to see DePalma just following on with what <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/giallo-krimi-policier-pt-1.html" target="_blank">the Italians were doing a little prior </a>(even if he himself strongly denies it), yet his success opened doors for plenty of Hollywood Erotic thrillers in the late 80's and 90's (most of which were a lot more moralizing). Also DePalma was very much on top of the neo noir movement, making sleek, beautiful pictures to go with gritty stories he was telling. The film even incorporates a Frankie Goes to Hollywood music video in the middle of itself. It's all highly entertaining.<br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7AcvXhHD2WGzFFDYH3e9wtD7Qs8DSPC2BG3iALjhd91DMLVNkFwer3GwsYg7RrJyWNIeoByfo1IgTZDEoKQaS2npMneCyACS015YDecOf_NoqLVjRgkzI9z9zLwiFApi_ZfrkaCIKZE/s1300/bodydouble_still.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="1300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7AcvXhHD2WGzFFDYH3e9wtD7Qs8DSPC2BG3iALjhd91DMLVNkFwer3GwsYg7RrJyWNIeoByfo1IgTZDEoKQaS2npMneCyACS015YDecOf_NoqLVjRgkzI9z9zLwiFApi_ZfrkaCIKZE/s320/bodydouble_still.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br />One can see how DePalma is working to solve some mysteries of film entertainment and its use in the world himself. With this and<i> Blow Out </i>a craftsman working in the film industry finds a "true life" plot which affects his way of working. Which is of course just as outlandish and over the top as anything else in Tinseltown. Is real world violence catching up, and does it have a symbiotic relationship with thriller films as well? Do they feed each other? In this case, the lines between movie and reality really fall apart in the 4th wall-breaking finale. Was all the suspense and thrills for nothing? Is the film completed?<br /></p><p>When he worked these ideas into his Hitchcock thriller, I think his constant steals also started to actually work for the film's own benefit. <br /></p><p></p><p>★★★ 1/2</p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-8850534393833286102020-09-10T22:55:00.003+03:002020-09-10T22:55:16.917+03:00Three Laughs: Showgirls<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2CCBHE4CIN8480seqVCvJJ4NOVv3yu5mgbPwsDQtgdRWizb9PMge06YaUEL46Ot3SB8vaycxIEumAGNqTRB4meIMccBmQTKLkoma3kImrfb8w9fhOnIoVVkEcllBsMCihx1Z5ax6iB4/s512/showgirls.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2CCBHE4CIN8480seqVCvJJ4NOVv3yu5mgbPwsDQtgdRWizb9PMge06YaUEL46Ot3SB8vaycxIEumAGNqTRB4meIMccBmQTKLkoma3kImrfb8w9fhOnIoVVkEcllBsMCihx1Z5ax6iB4/s320/showgirls.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing
to you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart.<p></p><p>Three laughs case file #36<br /><b>Showgirls</b> (USA, 1995)<br />Dir. Paul Verhoeven </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW3-bvYgrpMIR_SD2Hmi3P1BNYaIGD20TOwlVWkrFSJabOtxME1OS-EY9AZ-r0la-L5SXn-MH1BoTHr6KIbXGrvGHgGSu8fm2-SGlpo40MBky33ZWCXQIz7g7IP8MwARCGxPQe_YDJvQI/s1200/showgirls_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="630" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW3-bvYgrpMIR_SD2Hmi3P1BNYaIGD20TOwlVWkrFSJabOtxME1OS-EY9AZ-r0la-L5SXn-MH1BoTHr6KIbXGrvGHgGSu8fm2-SGlpo40MBky33ZWCXQIz7g7IP8MwARCGxPQe_YDJvQI/s320/showgirls_poster.jpg" /></a></div><br />Now, <i>Showgirls</i> is a cult film in the proper use of the term. It has a devoted league of fans that know the movie by heart and recite its lines. But even they can't really come to an understanding on whether the film is actually any good or if it's funny just because it's bad. There's even a new documentary called <i>You Don't Nomi </i>(2019, dir. <b>Jeffrey McHale</b>) that makes arguments for either case.<br /><p></p><p>I am more than willing to give director <b>Paul Verhoeven</b> the benefit of a doubt. After all, the crazy Dutchman has always provoked and in the meantime made some of my favorite movies of all time. But one has to also know that he's a bit of a perv, and even if he's doing a scathing movie of the treatment of young women in the entertainment industry, one can be sure he makes it gaudy, ridiculous and more than a bit male-gazey. Screenwriter <b>Joe Eszterhas </b>gets even less of a benefit of a doubt.</p><p>But the thing that makes Showgirls an entertaining movie is that it refuses to belong to any one box. It is more than happy to keep switching its tone, taking different aspects and running with them, and refusing to give easy answers. It's dumb, it's weird, and the acting in particular is all over the place. It is not an entirely successful movie, that much has to be said. I think one gets quite weary of it during the lengthy run time. But there's certainly the required laughs to be had in following Nomi's (<b>Elizabeth Berkley</b>) career from a stripper to showgirl to a genuine star.<br /></p><p>★ or ★★★★★</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFuGpYRma1cwKpMYxxkXN7fHMJ9TlwgGxH-g9C-8pGfW7SbPpHwz-yvMSUravvKccp5cxt0pOhuiJBXs1bstqU1IfJ40t50_FfkrIRQhXB6E5s3anQMWaWtGnIkpy1CdoHx2ueNBGPz0/s900/showgirls3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFuGpYRma1cwKpMYxxkXN7fHMJ9TlwgGxH-g9C-8pGfW7SbPpHwz-yvMSUravvKccp5cxt0pOhuiJBXs1bstqU1IfJ40t50_FfkrIRQhXB6E5s3anQMWaWtGnIkpy1CdoHx2ueNBGPz0/s320/showgirls3.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Three laughs (SPOILERS):<p></p><p>1. Some people in McHale's document claim to realize the film is very bad from the first scene onward. I feel like it's a bit heightened, but a true reveal on how the film is going to be is after Nomi arrives to Las Vegas and loses all of her belongings to a thief pretending to be a Samaritan. A kind soul (<b>Gina Ravera</b>) offers to help her, but also makes the mistake of asking her where she comes from. Nomi, just trying to eat a basket of fries, doesn't have any of it, throws the fries away and gives a wonderful delivery of the line "DIFFERENT PLACES!"</p><p>2. I think the film's funnest scenes include the super-bitch star Cristal Connors (<b>Gina Gershon</b>), and the All About Eve -style one-upping between her and Nomi. The film's funniest scene comes from the bonding at a restaurant they seem to have between eating dog food, and loving a perticular brand, Doggy Chow. To add up to the scene's oddness, they also toast chips when finding common ground. <br /></p><p>3. I just have to include the bizarre sex scene between Nomi and the sleazy rich boy Zack Carey played by <b>Kyle McLachlan</b>. They head out to a neon-lit pool for a bit of the old in-n-out, which Nomi performs similarly as her striptease, mainly throwing her legs around Carey and flopping on her back like a fish on heat in dry land. It's wet, it's wild, but it ain't erotic, I tell you that much. <br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-49267901982908822232020-09-01T23:28:00.005+03:002020-09-01T23:29:00.543+03:00Three laughs: The Last American Virgin<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsgyszjTLo21ZafUwIrdOznMeB5OcQX1MQEVLdCx51yFycgAqui8rHqKOaOQw6Hvc25JBzBwml821T7I9vPNkXtlgyUmpNidRVClynexZU68LNYYXi8GyoM7DPBpFu1bHivsJXn7JPbQk/s856/last-american-virgin-02.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="856" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsgyszjTLo21ZafUwIrdOznMeB5OcQX1MQEVLdCx51yFycgAqui8rHqKOaOQw6Hvc25JBzBwml821T7I9vPNkXtlgyUmpNidRVClynexZU68LNYYXi8GyoM7DPBpFu1bHivsJXn7JPbQk/w400-h225/last-american-virgin-02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <p></p><p>It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to
you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. <br /></p><p>★ or ★★★★★</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYp_tElP6QAwlv4qN8bQnE75-4MnCQ_CVj9x9qNuqQiOyY-08j2SvrsYNfmD-hGhQVGHRcJ04qZXoDvCX07CV5N2jjG9G3ielaT55K95crAfcU-SsRTO6ZXcINE63t_ZGYPhUV1qwDvc/s1500/Last_American_Virgin_Poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1010" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYp_tElP6QAwlv4qN8bQnE75-4MnCQ_CVj9x9qNuqQiOyY-08j2SvrsYNfmD-hGhQVGHRcJ04qZXoDvCX07CV5N2jjG9G3ielaT55K95crAfcU-SsRTO6ZXcINE63t_ZGYPhUV1qwDvc/s640/Last_American_Virgin_Poster.jpg" /></a></div> <p></p><p>Three laughs case file #35: <b> </b><br />
<b>The Last American Virgin</b> (USA, 1982)<br />
Director: Boaz Davidson</p><p>It's time to go back to school! I'm not usually big into teen movies, but there's an exception to this rule, a kind of ultimate how-I-spent-my-summer-vacation movie. As it turns out, it's also a straight remake of an Israeli <i>American Graffiti</i> ripoff, <i>Lemon Popsicle</i>. A lot of the modernization of Cannon Group's <i>The Last American Virgin</i> tries way too hard to capture the hearts of 80's teenagers, which makes it so preposterous and funny.</p><p>In particular, the movie's soundtrack is full of the cheesiest early 80's ballads you could imagine. The melodrama may suit the teenager mindset when every little crush is a matter of life and death, but it seems quite silly when half the movie is dumb dick jokes. Also the sad sack main character Gary (<b>Lawrence Monoson</b>) looks about to cry at any given moment. </p><p>The film quests Gary and his two meatheaded friends during one summer in a quest to get laid. They find plenty of opportunities, but insecurities keep Gary from gatting any. That, and a love for the new girl in the neighborhood, Karen (<b>Diane Franklin</b>). But sadly, there's a triangle drama as Rick (<b>Steve Antin</b>) picks her up and starts developing a relationship. One of the reasons I find this better than most teeny fare is the more realistic feelings of lovelorniness and unfairness throughout. I'm a cynic, but it feels more comfortable than fairy tales. The end scene in particular is a real coup de grace.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVvmS1XDGQegw8LIpPGjtxbykx5g9WHXEj21DXHmDscpCzn9MNK5X9NiL5Z5uh0IEkQsL2slDb6NKOl3NdCkuRBXGQjXDudGFDj3qhoqQro4Ci8pSnUQHhevpmnOFMIEaSIz26B1e3QI/s480/last-american-virgin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVvmS1XDGQegw8LIpPGjtxbykx5g9WHXEj21DXHmDscpCzn9MNK5X9NiL5Z5uh0IEkQsL2slDb6NKOl3NdCkuRBXGQjXDudGFDj3qhoqQro4Ci8pSnUQHhevpmnOFMIEaSIz26B1e3QI/s0/last-american-virgin.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Three laughs (SPOILERS):<br /></p><p>1. As Devo's <i>Whip It</i> plays on the background, first we have a nerd peeping into the girl's dressing room, and as he's caught in the act, it devolves into a scene with the entire gym class measuring and comparing their ding-dongs.</p><p>2. In a particularly unrealistic scene straight outta the letters column of Penthouse, the boys are seduced by a sexy Spanish woman, alone at home with her boyfriend being a sailor. The boys take turns in entertaining her in the bedroom. As the tubby Victor (<b>Bryan Peck</b>) get's a go, the other boys peep from the keyhole. KC and the Sunshine Band's <i>That's the Way (I like it)</i> plays as Victor thrusts.</p><p>3. In what is undoubtedly the best use of U2 in anything ever, <i>I Will Follow</i> plays on the background as Gary has to work his ass off in order to pay for Karen's abortion. It is intercut with the procedure. Yes, this movie has a U2 Abortion Montage.<br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-46586085009125582762020-08-31T21:43:00.003+03:002020-08-31T21:43:34.029+03:00Three laughs: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtSpj-LHihuWBkQzoUUzQ1ApHigM4EDsqtckHQHe7AFqMxeS_YOQvZPwKfrDfS2D9isG-JP0MWTmO0hhjgU-lb-HIRDujCOHOG0U-6FIGL6B8UKBnYvnV7eAi0uEwVa-LiATAauGUOW8A/s512/tcm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtSpj-LHihuWBkQzoUUzQ1ApHigM4EDsqtckHQHe7AFqMxeS_YOQvZPwKfrDfS2D9isG-JP0MWTmO0hhjgU-lb-HIRDujCOHOG0U-6FIGL6B8UKBnYvnV7eAi0uEwVa-LiATAauGUOW8A/s0/tcm2.jpg" /></a></div> It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to
you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. <br /><p></p><p>★ or ★★★★★</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dV5eyb7FirqGRJlP-OL3VGD4aEJ5CyzhbD27jFqvtXoQGvZv_Lo6pdRMKNAXjq2KlHEP4prafpdl4_-U2MN73Hf0wjIm9TxFOhP83ThnDZezXGUxh29HhMe12Z221XnC0OUE5dOx-XM/s300/tcm2_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dV5eyb7FirqGRJlP-OL3VGD4aEJ5CyzhbD27jFqvtXoQGvZv_Lo6pdRMKNAXjq2KlHEP4prafpdl4_-U2MN73Hf0wjIm9TxFOhP83ThnDZezXGUxh29HhMe12Z221XnC0OUE5dOx-XM/s0/tcm2_poster.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Three laughs case file #34:<br /><b>The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2</b> (USA, 1986)<br />Director: Tobe Hooper</p><p>It's strange how some horror sequels can get away with a more silly tone, such as <i>Evil Dead 2</i> or, to lesser extent, <i>Phantasm II</i> (maybe one could also argue <i>Dawn of the Dead</i>). Some that try out similar things are reviled, such as <i>The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2</i>. To be fair, <i>Evil Dead 2</i> sets a gold standard in horror-comedy filmmaking and others that go that route aren't nearly as good or funny. But that's not to say they are bad movies, far from it!</p><p>Director <b>Tobe Hooper</b> has insisted that even the first one is a sort of black comedy. There are perhaps some chuckles to be had from the mad exploits of the Hitch-hiker or the dinner scene late in the movie. Nevertheless, the sequel goes a lot further in this aspect. The film was made as a part of the director's deal with Cannon Group, which has brought up suspicions that it was made in order to secure funding to the more ambitious <i>Lifeforce</i> (1985), or perhaps earn back a little of what it lost.</p><p>The sequel sets out to skewer much more of the Americana than the previous did, with digs about the state of consumerism, media, sexual repression, dual moralism and 80's eat-or-get-eaten capitalism in general. It also dives deeper into distorted ideas of family values. Cannibalism and murder is a way of life, but the film's insane characters also revel in and enjoy it.</p><p>Basically the film's plot (such as there is one) is very similar to the one in the previous film. The lady DJ Vanita Brock, or "Stretch" (<b>Caroline Williams</b>) gets kidnapped by Leatherface and his family and must fight to survive in their secret lair, now close to Dallas in order to easier capture victims. Meanwhile Sheriff Lt. Lefty Enright (<b>Dennis Hopper</b>) is out to avenge the disappearance of his son in the previous film. This time, though having a "Chainsaw" massacre is not just empty talk, and power-tools buzz for a lengthy part of the movie. It's also made pretty clear on which body part these long blades are meant to be an extension of.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xLzfgKS9c6MHESQkuPqXAtACGt5rsvuT8nyltOboMXBw2y7-GDDmiBC-zidK0NzS0AN6QVOgp5w2yfCeOiG4ha8Xt4_uLamtknc5PPU_7HWJVqS_dn1IsEPpVuhDTPBUVelxBOgNCpQ/s1540/Texas-Chainsaw-Massacre-2-leatherface.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xLzfgKS9c6MHESQkuPqXAtACGt5rsvuT8nyltOboMXBw2y7-GDDmiBC-zidK0NzS0AN6QVOgp5w2yfCeOiG4ha8Xt4_uLamtknc5PPU_7HWJVqS_dn1IsEPpVuhDTPBUVelxBOgNCpQ/s640/Texas-Chainsaw-Massacre-2-leatherface.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Three laughs (SPOILERS):<br /></p><p>1. The very first scene makes clear the intentions and approach of the sequel as opposed to the first. A bunch of obnoxious yuppie teens hoot and holler, and blow people's mailboxes as they're driving to a party on their minivan. But when the night falls, they get a taste of their own medicine as a zombie geek jumps on the youngsters' car. In fact it's leatherface doing a bit of a puppet show with a corpse and soon gives them a show in the use of a massive chainsaw as well. Oingo Boingo is playing on the background for this scene.<br /></p><p>2. The film's biggest new character, Chop-Top (<b>Bill Moseley</b>) is a truly slimy and obnoxious dude, out to make Stretch as uncomfortable as possible. It's almost a relief when suddenly Leatherface burtsts through the door. But the clumsy oaf can't catch Stretch as she makes good use of a fire distinguisher runs through a safety door. Instead, he manages to injure Chop-Top's head, revealing the metal plate he got in 'Nam. But he woes more of the destruction of his terrible <b>Sonny Bono</b> wig. </p><p>3. Towards the end there's a touching but blackly comedic scene of Lt. Enright finding the remains of his son, which happen to be a gruesome skeleton on a wheelchair. He proceeds to destroy the entire lair with his own chainsaw. He comes to Stretch's rescue later on and declares himself "The Lord of the Harvest". But Leatherface isn't going to let the guy threaten his family, culminating in a once-in-a-lifetime duel with chainsaws. This was this franchise's high point. It was all downhill from there on.<br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-47613146378374960652020-08-26T17:15:00.000+03:002020-08-26T17:15:32.864+03:00The Best of Laurel & Hardy (shorts)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-b6vKMBwW7TsHAG9AC4W6zIsTj6gzaJQdpNTzrkjf0spc5aJOEamEpCcOfEIIFMzJtkR9QR3RPLRjdR98e_jrwtF_Lb29c8KiUMOaCrBynLaph0aVGCv3ClpQQqRW_RXMl277q4OpSY/s960/stan_and_ollie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="758" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-b6vKMBwW7TsHAG9AC4W6zIsTj6gzaJQdpNTzrkjf0spc5aJOEamEpCcOfEIIFMzJtkR9QR3RPLRjdR98e_jrwtF_Lb29c8KiUMOaCrBynLaph0aVGCv3ClpQQqRW_RXMl277q4OpSY/s640/stan_and_ollie.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>This is the 250th post on this blog. It looked pretty unlikely for years that we would ever get this far. But now we have the familiar swing back for a while, and if you have followed my back catalogue, some old story formats will make a comeback in the near future. We'll see how long this will last, but let's just make the most of what we have now.</p><p>One of the first films "reviewed" here was a short film of <b>Stan Laurel</b> and <b>Oliver Hardy</b> called <i><a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/movies-ive-seen-in-weeks-44-45.html">Laughing Gravy</a></i>. It's certainly among their best, and features a truly nasty ending gag. Recently, I realized that this was just in the two-reel version of the short. There's also a three-reeled version that replaces the end gag with minutes of Laurel & Hardy arguing about their friendship. It's really limp compared to the tight gag-fest of the shorter version, and of course not nearly as funny gallows humour.</p><p>Since I've been watching a few Laurel & Hardy compilation dvd's while in quarantine, I thought it would be of good public interest to make a list out of my favorite shorts. After all, while they were prolific and usually maintained a good quality throughout their team-up with producer <b>Hal Roach</b>, there are some gems that warrant a more closer look.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5V3oYFOpSL3k-3S8Bryrg4h3TY7UbcvcmUFXlFsB-ndj3tMFSiVr1bTIiodQVsXxYrh9v0Ggu8GP_dK2S1eAGihnOEuuAEfppqm8wycoUU2blREDHxA4BQK_eYGyc-0-UqDKDKY0rEh4/s422/bigbusiness2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5V3oYFOpSL3k-3S8Bryrg4h3TY7UbcvcmUFXlFsB-ndj3tMFSiVr1bTIiodQVsXxYrh9v0Ggu8GP_dK2S1eAGihnOEuuAEfppqm8wycoUU2blREDHxA4BQK_eYGyc-0-UqDKDKY0rEh4/s0/bigbusiness2.jpg" /></a></div><b><br />Big Business</b> (1929)<br />Directors: James W. Horne, Leo McCarey<p></p><p>This silent-era flick has basically everything you would want from a L&H short. It has an interesting premise, snowballing situations and lots of property damage. Moreover, the film pits the duo against the hot-tempered moustache-man <b>James Finlayson</b>, who had a supporting role in many of the Roach-era films. He had a very silly bug-eyed rage face, which made him an excellent foil to Laurel & Hardy's tomfoolery.<br /></p><p>In this story, sales tactics for a christmas tree fail to impress Finlayson, but L&H keep pushing it, making the angered customer destroy one of the trees. This causess L&H to retort and begin to do damage on the occupant's house, which in turn makes Finlayson attack Laurel & Hardy's car. At the point where the car is exploded and half the neighborhood is out to see the epic battle, a policeman arrives. </p><p>A lot of laughs are mined out of the characters trying to appear innocent as they have just busted a window wide open and destroyed just about everything inside. The cop is portrayed here as a mere observer, not even attempting to stop the wonton destruction but just biding their time to get to punish the people responsible.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4H1Api3BKPFpkhlovS9-od79vqwj316v052L7yH2yqTMuaX1HITisFpvdaJeuO6xfaw7iEGhWjUgJimgKnP2MBPgSYQPw291-_XIP3gDXgBm1WXcfBf_rWE49ZFQ9LZbEBSdDMT8OIg/s1011/liberty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="1011" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4H1Api3BKPFpkhlovS9-od79vqwj316v052L7yH2yqTMuaX1HITisFpvdaJeuO6xfaw7iEGhWjUgJimgKnP2MBPgSYQPw291-_XIP3gDXgBm1WXcfBf_rWE49ZFQ9LZbEBSdDMT8OIg/s640/liberty.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Liberty </b>(1929)<br />Dir. Leo McCarey<br /></p><p>Probably taking a page from the book of <b>Harold Lloyd</b>, this silent one sees the pair escape the police in a skyscraper construction site. But what really drives the plot is the fact that the pair has dressed each other's pants on and they try to switch them back.<br /></p><p>The gag-work is beautifully laid-out, with Ollie getting a live lobster in his pants near the beginning, that snips his bottom at key turns, making him almost drop again and again. The film works as a time-piece of a time where cities were building up almost overnight, and the unexpected adventures they could provide for the hapless wanderer. The cop chasing them with quite lethal means also gets his comeuppance in the end with a supermarioesque squashing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwaoAENY_B7DQAYmVcUibYgzUJDmhp7yVV0VY9f8t02f1Zcp-JNRS5GyMbi2a9-HrE6bmb96NF0OKADmX12nxyxwA2eFM5IMs8JNmYFqj22yKQiE0QgjLaTkhWPAPsu7dIqz4gsNiQIY/s858/brats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwaoAENY_B7DQAYmVcUibYgzUJDmhp7yVV0VY9f8t02f1Zcp-JNRS5GyMbi2a9-HrE6bmb96NF0OKADmX12nxyxwA2eFM5IMs8JNmYFqj22yKQiE0QgjLaTkhWPAPsu7dIqz4gsNiQIY/s640/brats.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Brats </b>(1930)<br />Dir. James Parrott<br /></p><p>There are several films like <i>Twice Two </i>(1933)
that see the actors do a dual role as their usual characters, and in
that case both of their wives. But I find it funnier when grown men play
children than women. It also requires a bit of trick photography as Stan & Ollie's kids in this one are a lot smaller than their grown-up counterparts.</p><p>Juniors won't go peacefully to bed, running amuck and pulling pranks well after their bedtime. Meanwhile, their dads attempt to play billiards and of course wreck their own story as well. Upstairs, Ollie Jr. gets shot in the butt and Stan Jr. makes the batroom overflow. The end gag could have been an even bigger one, with some consequences shown, but it is splendidly set up with Ollie's usual dismissiveness of Stan and cocky demeneour.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ9oJp7dXlUy7AUgOXb00dqTCi_TgsBDX7T6hk4pKzLGQ5h_dsBQo6kafWMDFps4B1jxrt0tvK6jjrZufZ0onxT06cncv3GteQZH2Rw46zZdr84b4Armgb8omAMEybt4_lMh8R6v2AaHM/s600/musicbox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="463" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ9oJp7dXlUy7AUgOXb00dqTCi_TgsBDX7T6hk4pKzLGQ5h_dsBQo6kafWMDFps4B1jxrt0tvK6jjrZufZ0onxT06cncv3GteQZH2Rw46zZdr84b4Armgb8omAMEybt4_lMh8R6v2AaHM/s0/musicbox.jpg" /></a></div><b><br />The Music Box</b> (1932)<br />Director: James Parrott<br /><p></p><p>One of their best-known films, this one sees Stan & Ollie as movers, set to deliver a piano into a fancy hilltop mansion. Of course even the staircase to the house proves to be a big obstacle, never mind getting the box containing the instrument inside the house. It is a good example of the farcical nature of snowballing destruction, as well as utilizing all manners of sight gags as well as the knowledge of the myth of Sisyphos. </p><p>The film's lofty reputation would let one to expect an even more outrageous finale as the owner of the house arrives to find a piano he didn't want as well as most of his property demolished. While this is one of the smoother-running shorts with good gags throughout, I also have a soft spot of shorts that have an even more outrageous ending. For instance, the silent short <i>Wrong Again</i> (1929) has a landowner fed up with shenanigans take out his shotgun and say to his mother to read about the murder (of Stan & Ollie) in tomorrow's newspaper. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJwn9hbNUxq3rGkK8SPljn4qtN54N0j3hSzZ48sLqR6ZvU_6Niu5tN7p6d87Q2Cka208n_ugIqaDF_Me_9ERaiQ1ak1ylvN9DZdotiGSfjJlwAw42bV5fZCDmtSVMGkOUwTvvf3Mdq5gk/s727/busybodies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="727" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJwn9hbNUxq3rGkK8SPljn4qtN54N0j3hSzZ48sLqR6ZvU_6Niu5tN7p6d87Q2Cka208n_ugIqaDF_Me_9ERaiQ1ak1ylvN9DZdotiGSfjJlwAw42bV5fZCDmtSVMGkOUwTvvf3Mdq5gk/s640/busybodies.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Busy Bodies</b> (1933)<br />Director: Lloyd French</p><p>This one sees Stan & Ollie in a new job at a woodshop. They soon annoy their co-workers and bumble about cluelessly as to make the whole plant turn against them.<br /></p><p>It is a great piece of prop comedy that uses all sorts of power tools and building materials to make Ollie's day worse and worse. It even has a more painful version of <b>Chaplin's</b> <i>Modern Times</i> gag where Ollie is sucked into the gears of a major machine and spat out. And as I love the destruction of cars in particular, the final gag sees their car being sawed in half by a giant buzz-saw. It has been said that the filming of this stunt was dangerous as all hell and could have easily killed our beloved duo.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEx4b3denlPEXlqqeka7PXi-A4Cd-FwW3910i1JtSVlLjFDzeF1N3MQeX9Npp9qOvpzf9DrIAjetAvGcS92uyoQR5GHFz9cDwdfrdFwkwCJhItnRNLFokuwyDubss37JLbgZ1x6u4mzSc/s512/dirtywork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEx4b3denlPEXlqqeka7PXi-A4Cd-FwW3910i1JtSVlLjFDzeF1N3MQeX9Npp9qOvpzf9DrIAjetAvGcS92uyoQR5GHFz9cDwdfrdFwkwCJhItnRNLFokuwyDubss37JLbgZ1x6u4mzSc/s0/dirtywork.jpg" /></a></div><p><b>Dirty Work</b> (1933)<br />Dir. Lloyd French<br /></p><p>Now, having Laurel and Hardy act as chimney-sweeps that manage to soot up the house and demolish the chimney is by itself funny, but not that remarkable. What makes this short so notable is that the house they're called to is also the house where a mad professor is acting out some strange experiments on a formula that rejuvenates ducks back into eggs.</p><p>These two sides of the movie have very little to do with one another, mainly a disgusted butler going in an out of the two ordeals going on at the time. Intercut together they create quite a lot of intrigue and even suspense. It's obvious Stan & Ollie will mess up the place and get turned into test subjects, and the waiting is a part of the fun, as well as all shotgun-related shenanigans. It does pay off in the end. It was rare for the Laurel & Hardy films to turn to straight-out science fiction, but in this case it makes for a memorable experience. Beyond that, "I have nothing to say!"</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcC8YWQ42q2Ri9T03qTDfelHjQ28kntE_qqlJYGB0TMqEu94SmqDuItpnOAf2CWi-zSckCympOEhMhvq87U1dFlKu1H_opGlYJCnMOA6zfb7WBScwkXIsgr7F8zEuPxM7TREOzXcSMQrE/s1114/thickerthan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcC8YWQ42q2Ri9T03qTDfelHjQ28kntE_qqlJYGB0TMqEu94SmqDuItpnOAf2CWi-zSckCympOEhMhvq87U1dFlKu1H_opGlYJCnMOA6zfb7WBScwkXIsgr7F8zEuPxM7TREOzXcSMQrE/s640/thickerthan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Thicker Than Water</b> (1935)<br />Dir. James W. Horne</p><p>As moviegoing changed, there was no more need for short films and Laurel & Hardy moved on to feature-length films. But they gave their one last shot in this one, that is probably the best one that deals with martital troubles and the friendship between the two characters. I often find the nagging wife -films to be a bit too much like boomer humor for my tastes, even if (or especially when) they get cartoonishly violent. But they also tend to give the impression that Ollie prefers Stan over his wife, which causes jealousy. Read what you will out of that.</p><p>Nevertheless, this film is conceptually quite inventive. Characters break the 4th wall literally, since the only way they can move from one location to another is to physically drag out the next scene over the screen. The film also has a quite unpredictable plot; from marital woes and money troubles we move on to an auction of a grandfather clock, and there to some hospital humor as Ollie needs a blood transfusion.<br /></p><p>This is a bit of a SPOILER, but the last scene is something special as the transfusion switches the pairs personalities, and we see the respective actors try each others maneurs on for size. Truly this was well ahead of its time, long before anyone had the idea of <i>Face/Off</i> in mind.<br /></p><p><i>Do you have a favorite Laurel & Hardy joint? I would like to hear from them, so I might maybe make a sequel to this post some day.</i><br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-84655616439847825942020-08-20T15:03:00.000+03:002020-08-20T15:03:02.534+03:00Joe D'Amato triple feature<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3r5-DBQ_AzModcYvljtAntVxsAuhnlzWv8YZJgSYNXQTo6rXn7JuN2B52Buk6KXa2YSSuNKtzOAsNjLohoXRc1tM0CtPrkjdwLZmWFugOyHm8dab9jkh6BU6Vi-CGM4meXHNxYeORZ4/s1000/buioomega.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="1000" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3r5-DBQ_AzModcYvljtAntVxsAuhnlzWv8YZJgSYNXQTo6rXn7JuN2B52Buk6KXa2YSSuNKtzOAsNjLohoXRc1tM0CtPrkjdwLZmWFugOyHm8dab9jkh6BU6Vi-CGM4meXHNxYeORZ4/s640/buioomega.png" width="398" /></a></div><p></p><p> </p><p>As a preview of next month's ABC's of Italian genre cinema post, I thought I'd take an opportunity to take a couple of monster movies that didn't make the cut for that one. Moreover, this post is to write a bit about <b>Joe D'Amato</b> (1936-99), born <b>Artistide Massaccesi</b>.</p><p></p><p>He's often seen as one of the more banal Italian genre film director, making shlock from popular cannibal and zombie genres. Yet I don't particularly find his movies "so-bad-they're-good". While he is not a brilliant horror director in disguise, I do find his films to often be more original and suspense-driven than their reputation suggests.</p><p>Probably what ruined his reputation was the moralistic fact that he also worked on Adult films, producing first the Erotic films like the <i>Black Emmanuelle</i> series, and then moving on to hardcore pornography (like making the notorious <i>Porno Holocaust</i>). But I have selected here three horror films that perhaps shed a light a bit on why D'Amato was an unique director after all, if not entirely successful.<br />
<br /></p><p><b>Antropophagus: The Beast (Antropophagous, 1980)</b></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6yXADU4LihrPUdzCMyQFhsOOx_LLyU6TQ2MTnVGzh4FcH4F3NXl0totJg0fHv2FwVnOWyNyIiKGtygcvQBTrDUx_Y9mEwK1iHePqDaUYcGI7glFxfbE5U1HeXIET9DJuNi48OAAB0RY/s913/antro_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="650" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6yXADU4LihrPUdzCMyQFhsOOx_LLyU6TQ2MTnVGzh4FcH4F3NXl0totJg0fHv2FwVnOWyNyIiKGtygcvQBTrDUx_Y9mEwK1iHePqDaUYcGI7glFxfbE5U1HeXIET9DJuNi48OAAB0RY/s640/antro_poster.jpg" width="280" /></a></b></div><b><br /></b>Italian film fans know the character actor <b>George Eastman</b>, often playing nasty brutes, from films like <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/post-apocalyptic-barbarians.html"><i>2019: After the Fall of New York</i> and <i>Warriors of the Wasteland</i></a>. He had a fruitful work relationship with D'Amato, working with multiple genres and even co-directing 1983's <i>2020 Texas Gladiators</i>. But with Antrophagus, he had a role of a lifetime. He also worked as one of the film's screenwriters.<br /><p></p><p>Most of the film concerns a group of young vacationers exploring a mysteriously empty Greek island. It's as if all the occupants therein had died or fled. To spoil a little, it turns out a cannibalistic and mute killer with a scarred face (played by Eastman) lurks there.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn5L_Y3LESIDE6WQJUUIaMVWtRwVz-GhDjra9e0vSZPcPH2jMKfAimT-zzOU9ncf_a6L66NQw_9w7QCJ7GAbEPadV3bGFd1RIJjzl6B9YNgQLnqQwLEvyXlFaoT2R87zThApqm9RjPN34/s1200/Anthropo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="925" data-original-width="1200" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn5L_Y3LESIDE6WQJUUIaMVWtRwVz-GhDjra9e0vSZPcPH2jMKfAimT-zzOU9ncf_a6L66NQw_9w7QCJ7GAbEPadV3bGFd1RIJjzl6B9YNgQLnqQwLEvyXlFaoT2R87zThApqm9RjPN34/s640/Anthropo.jpg" width="352" /></a></div><br />The film builds up very slowly, which is partly impressive for a film deemed a Video Nasty, but also partly a bit boring as the puzzle pieces don't seem to reveal themselves. Nevertheless, as D'Amato started out as a cinematographer, he manages to create an unsettling vastness of the island, and claustrophobic interior scenes with ease.<br /><p></p><p>The film's most memorable part comes when we get a flashback on the tragic events that made Eastman's character lose his mind and all sort of reasoning. D'Amato seems to have a point that we are only one bad day away from reverting back into cavemen and killing everyone within our territory.</p><p>★★★</p><p><b>Absurd (Rosso Sangue, 1981)</b></p><p><b> </b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKFTKWXl8uSgKe8SfLbr3j8dfrjM9nqRAJsCfg3Y4aBjEWYEAIwgKjovB8tw7dbhvJM2a7eLj9D8eN4wlWu7BgXCXM27CCKt8Mj4BhIOz62RoW1GtlAxcLuMNCC5GB77GHuo-ajqoNGuc/s500/absurd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKFTKWXl8uSgKe8SfLbr3j8dfrjM9nqRAJsCfg3Y4aBjEWYEAIwgKjovB8tw7dbhvJM2a7eLj9D8eN4wlWu7BgXCXM27CCKt8Mj4BhIOz62RoW1GtlAxcLuMNCC5GB77GHuo-ajqoNGuc/s0/absurd.jpg" /></a></b></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig42oHBFHFJg7TmbUxbj1T60KiGjDR8EFpdAp11SOfRcFUhZX8nFflj6PjNGqdpxRV0t4dFKDquSgUftCNFOAb4J8aTUVA1UTjIu2ZJ5yWHa5Nocz24JJhVENLnVFdjcQsfgc4KLHvXtM/s345/monsterhunter.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="230" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig42oHBFHFJg7TmbUxbj1T60KiGjDR8EFpdAp11SOfRcFUhZX8nFflj6PjNGqdpxRV0t4dFKDquSgUftCNFOAb4J8aTUVA1UTjIu2ZJ5yWHa5Nocz24JJhVENLnVFdjcQsfgc4KLHvXtM/s0/monsterhunter.jpg" width="167" /></a><b></b></p><p>A sort-of sequel to <i>Antropophagus</i>, except it actually has an
entirely different backstory. But Eastman looks and acts the same way.
The actor worked as a screenwriter in this one as well. This time,
Eastman's mute killer surfaces on the mainland, killing people that
happen on his way, and seeming impervious to bullets.</p><p>It turns out the killer has escaped from a medical facility. He battles a motorcycle gang and some cops, but ends up in the houselhold of a seemingly regular family, The Bennetts, who have to fight for their life against the unremorseful killer. The film is a bit darker, utilizing night scenes and the fear of the unknown within a city setting to its advantage. It includes all the basics of a slasher movie, with its unfeeling and unstoppable force coming out of nowhere to intrude on a normal family life.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjXQZAmRMaP2tb3AwaVJ2lcdDvrTEcog0tnsMv0Tixn_eYhWb7ymclhX5Eneqo2Onmu_2yY1e8GN_HCMbieo8GwT3ljShmsPeEJuy6L1m6NJ5ICuu5IxlhIth3wB6f3ZlNmUfPaPfxjU/s1024/Absurd2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjXQZAmRMaP2tb3AwaVJ2lcdDvrTEcog0tnsMv0Tixn_eYhWb7ymclhX5Eneqo2Onmu_2yY1e8GN_HCMbieo8GwT3ljShmsPeEJuy6L1m6NJ5ICuu5IxlhIth3wB6f3ZlNmUfPaPfxjU/s640/Absurd2.jpg" width="361" /></a></div><p>Compared to the previous one, this is more eventful, but also a bit confusing, as pieces don't seem to add up the same way to a big reveal as before. The violence is particularly brutal here, with plenty of gore and a particularly nasty scene where <b>Katya Berger's</b> head is being burned in an oven. This film turned out on the list of the notorious Video Nasties as well.<br /></p><p>Massacessi used the pseudonym <b>Peter Newton</b> this time around. It might be that since he had directed ten Erotic movies in the year between these two movies, the name D'Amato started to wear out.</p><p>★★★</p><p><b>Beyond the Darkness (Buio Omega, 1979)</b></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOzUkhOchjJg_67JWfpmYlnH5MDh4waokj5CTZU-NF9N0W-sOE9i8cDv9biVu3H5TbxwSPEYRVeRYoN5-4c1DUINsTBadot3Y7u5GxD1jQj11_qC3_HJxmgsYJ1TqM9FXMNYBMufoh0Y/s1000/buioomega.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="666" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOzUkhOchjJg_67JWfpmYlnH5MDh4waokj5CTZU-NF9N0W-sOE9i8cDv9biVu3H5TbxwSPEYRVeRYoN5-4c1DUINsTBadot3Y7u5GxD1jQj11_qC3_HJxmgsYJ1TqM9FXMNYBMufoh0Y/s640/buioomega.jpg" width="227" /></a></b></div><b> </b><p></p><p>As much as those two monster pictures had some nasty and disgusting shades, they pale in comparison with D'Amato's best horror work. It is a thoroughly disturbing serial killer movie that cares not of the boundaries of taste and reason. It has some shades of black comedy as well, that were later more realized in purely comedic films such as <i>DellaMorte DellAmore</i>. It also takes ideas presented by films such as <i>Psycho</i> to their logical extremes.<br /></p><p>Frank Wyler (<b>Kieran Canter</b>) loses his girlfriend to an illness. But instead of letting go, he decides to dig up the corpse and embalm her. The family villa houses this secret, but multiple people stumble upon the scene by accident and meet their grisly fate as punishment for this. Iris (<b>Franca Stoppi</b>), the strange housekeeper is culprit on all of this, finding also suitable victims for his young master and helping dispose of the corpses.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGBbIcPTXShE7ydrR90YFUlXzYXRk3vXEn5Odr4pl5WSfPfbi1fp1zDaXR_O3TQkgKqNu0d74YYGVC2lRqnpG7MXqGLXgoEHeZfoZYFS94J8eC9MLKdxpA6_IZfLzbkToIcbw82bysAXI/s1656/beyond_darkness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1167" data-original-width="1656" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGBbIcPTXShE7ydrR90YFUlXzYXRk3vXEn5Odr4pl5WSfPfbi1fp1zDaXR_O3TQkgKqNu0d74YYGVC2lRqnpG7MXqGLXgoEHeZfoZYFS94J8eC9MLKdxpA6_IZfLzbkToIcbw82bysAXI/s640/beyond_darkness.jpg" width="363" /></a></div> <p></p><p>The film is a gruesome remake of <i>The Third Eye</i>, but also revels in the historical knowledge on stuff such as how mummies were used to be embalmed (we can see this in all gory detail). While the film centers around necrophilia, it also includes cannibalism and gory dismemberments. It seems the effects budget for this was considerably bigger than in most of D'Amato's other works.<br /></p><p>While the film may seem to have so many tasteless elements in order to irate cencors and decency activists, it also has a very perculiar and odd sense of wonder in all this. The human mind in its most crazed can be oddly creative and logical in its illogicalities. It's not an easy movie to predict the next scene and it keeps surprising the viewer. The images are sterile and unmoving, which makes for an odd experience to follow such depravity.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQgkTN1cDrsjCINh1lsVrfALPafflZ1Fjk1Yz9Lzz4jqbR9lWXiYPlD5MTYlkuTG8Sq5AEDe0neU9HHnpvdBByPt1wZERYYsOuhHO3eLTBhfooTrpSdepKQiuCERPV4-czpNjBjoKPtIM/s457/beyondthedarkness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="457" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQgkTN1cDrsjCINh1lsVrfALPafflZ1Fjk1Yz9Lzz4jqbR9lWXiYPlD5MTYlkuTG8Sq5AEDe0neU9HHnpvdBByPt1wZERYYsOuhHO3eLTBhfooTrpSdepKQiuCERPV4-czpNjBjoKPtIM/s0/beyondthedarkness.jpg" width="303" /></a></div> <p></p><p>On the worse side, the ending seems rushed and a bit clichéd compared to the rest of the movie. It had some ingredients that could have made it a serial killer classic, but now it stays more or less just a curiosity for those that can stomach its contents. It has a very cool <i>Goblin</i> soundtrack, though.</p><p>★★★ 1/2</p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-77561420519924550262020-08-16T20:54:00.002+03:002020-08-16T20:54:26.197+03:00Three laughs: A Talking Cat?!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi73ieNsML2hIIOmN2iifkkFgCMutPDldxDchOu3LTwEOAzKp8i_030qgwPtgKACFDV1us7Sh2w1LfoM4eRR7my0UZ_P_bKqPT5evlZsRlOmU1XOEMaUBv5PlpdDxHLqrH5-XEIZzKN5D8/s294/talkingcat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="171" data-original-width="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi73ieNsML2hIIOmN2iifkkFgCMutPDldxDchOu3LTwEOAzKp8i_030qgwPtgKACFDV1us7Sh2w1LfoM4eRR7my0UZ_P_bKqPT5evlZsRlOmU1XOEMaUBv5PlpdDxHLqrH5-XEIZzKN5D8/s0/talkingcat.jpg" /></a></div> <p></p><p></p><p>It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to
you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. <br /></p><p>★ or ★★★★★</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAWjzqCPL_TjGOcAUaUBxCO7KWxVuLhyxkPIOQceWbmNhxptiFV7MfExCaDPuiKKHPtWXKl40hM5WJX7JELbpRl2stj__hDWU5z38VrQejJs41E-bKZ1LKHoskX_ILDMj9f7rJ0jKhF9s/s355/A_Talking_Cat_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAWjzqCPL_TjGOcAUaUBxCO7KWxVuLhyxkPIOQceWbmNhxptiFV7MfExCaDPuiKKHPtWXKl40hM5WJX7JELbpRl2stj__hDWU5z38VrQejJs41E-bKZ1LKHoskX_ILDMj9f7rJ0jKhF9s/s0/A_Talking_Cat_poster.jpg" /></a></div> <p></p><p>Three laughs case file #33: <b> </b><br />
<b>A Talking Cat?!</b> (USA 2013)<br />
Director: David DeCoteau </p><p>A very cheap family movie about a magic cat helping out a family with their problems might sound innocent enough. But when you have a director like <b>David DeCoteau</b> make it, known from his trashy films, you might be onto something odd. Adding to the comedy is main star <b>Eric Roberts</b>, a veteran on hundreds of movies, most of them bad, cashing in a check with a vocal performance that sounds like it was recorded in his car while driving to get some coffee and donuts. Or maybe the trunk of the car. <br /></p><p>The film has some penny-squeezing qualities (many of which we come to in a minute), some of which is that the main house used in the movie looks suspiciously like a set from a porn movie. And in fact the film's set WAS used in a little film called <i>Ass Worship 13</i>. </p><p>As you might know, cats aren't exactly known for being easy actors in movies, and the tabby <b>Duffy</b> with the physical side of the main part does look like he would have none of the bullshit the film keeps feeding us. He is replaced in the film's poster by a younger, cuter kitten. Other stars are made to be some wood-faced models, except the film's dad, played by <b>Johnny Whitaker</b>, who has some very unusual features for a leading man, which makes him of course all the more interesting to watch. One could only wish one of the cinematic Garfield movies was made with a similar who-the-fuck-cares attitude.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8IVoRPZvoS3-EAea4-7QbwbokFN5InaEhx2XiUiwBHOHI3qoBW2Hcx5KhtAApZQGgzW-NDmBENXVXXpH6dc2sz-McIOrXBcqCxt45tqWON3GUhbnF3nIIY2jgDVvh0EE50F5RZX6J4Q/s658/A_Talking_Cat_Whitaker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="658" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8IVoRPZvoS3-EAea4-7QbwbokFN5InaEhx2XiUiwBHOHI3qoBW2Hcx5KhtAApZQGgzW-NDmBENXVXXpH6dc2sz-McIOrXBcqCxt45tqWON3GUhbnF3nIIY2jgDVvh0EE50F5RZX6J4Q/s640/A_Talking_Cat_Whitaker.jpg" width="381" /></a></div><p></p><p>Three laughs (SPOILERS): </p><p>1. The movie has two main houses where the action is set in, but it leaves even <a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/night-visions-back-to-basics-2012-part.html">The Room</a> behind in its obsessive use of establishing shots. Hilariously, also many of these don't seem to fit together. Is the film supposed to be set on a beach, or a forest, or maybe the desert? Is it some tropical country or California? Well, at least the movie crept just above the required 85 minute length.<br /></p><p>2. Eric Roberts' lazy-ass dialogue is heard throughout the movie but in fact the titular cat can only talk to people once each. During the first 15 minutes it might be hard to recognize when people are hearing the cat, but once he really talks, you can't help but notice. The reason being that the cat's mouth has been animated by the cheapest possible MS Paint images put into a GIF animation possible.<br /></p><p>3.Getting back to the gay porn qualities of the movie, although the film has the most white bread and milquetoast romantic comedy plot possible, we do have an extensive scene where <b>Justin Cone </b>and <b>Daniel Dannas</b> have a conversation by the pool. The film lingers very long on the wet, shirtless and fit young dudes' bodies. The question remains if there's a problem the cat didn't help the boys with or if this is just an obsession of director DeCoteau he couldn't shake even when making a kids' movie. <br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-82376895986228589332020-08-13T15:43:00.002+03:002020-08-13T15:43:16.550+03:00Three laughs: Ebola Syndrome<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1nPIG2CkdIbLmLkzkBFaKFe1TIYARq3wKfstw8WgJwTSZYUvRLceCzlaHkg-BR9ELmO5OFUsU7Lbe08Q6g6Crd-oPZmWF0PC9N0awT2crALsHXPm2n3p0Boi63ert3tlDXSu7vwsHvaY/s620/ebola-syndrome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="620" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1nPIG2CkdIbLmLkzkBFaKFe1TIYARq3wKfstw8WgJwTSZYUvRLceCzlaHkg-BR9ELmO5OFUsU7Lbe08Q6g6Crd-oPZmWF0PC9N0awT2crALsHXPm2n3p0Boi63ert3tlDXSu7vwsHvaY/s0/ebola-syndrome.jpg" width="404" /></a></div> <p></p><p>It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really
good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might
be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most
"quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It
certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he
knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean
proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to
you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any
film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart. </p><p>★ or ★★★★★</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAboAEzlieu_DamGl1-YoOvCbmIH9ZBc5w5_79qMeqPJGR8wMbLys_bLY6xe7Nv0iNNlwHwaqflu-GkAxCkDVhfuow4VM6ukguVierj0xKRkYq1_YZZb3e8ZUtvLGPxZDZstJDLPF31Uw/s475/ebola_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAboAEzlieu_DamGl1-YoOvCbmIH9ZBc5w5_79qMeqPJGR8wMbLys_bLY6xe7Nv0iNNlwHwaqflu-GkAxCkDVhfuow4VM6ukguVierj0xKRkYq1_YZZb3e8ZUtvLGPxZDZstJDLPF31Uw/s0/ebola_poster.jpg" /></a></div> <p></p><p>Three laughs case file #32: <b> </b><br />
<b>Ebola Syndrome</b> (Yi boh lai beng duk, Hongkong, 1996)<br />
Director: Herman Yau</p><p>Has there been a pandemic going on long enough that we might have a bit of a black-hearted laugh about it? I recently had my Covid tested, and even that experience was enough for me to want to have a laugh at this shitty disease's expense. Or perhaps at the assholes who spread it because of no regard for public safety.</p><p>Today's film tells the story of one such individual. It is also a notoriously nasty and outrageous film, that could only have been made in liberal Hongkong in the 1990's. They used to have this CAT III rating that allowed directors to truly push boundaries, which resulted for a lot of erotica, but also some very out-there movies.</p><p><b>Herman Yau's</b> <i>Ebola Syndrome</i> is nasty in every sense of the word. It has a kind of racist approach to the disease spreading in Africa at the time, showing natives therein being just primitive tribespeople. The film's main character Kai (Anthony Wong) is one of the nastiest bastards in all of cinema history. A brutal sociopath, misogynist, rapist and murderer, he is a Triad henchman on the run from his bosses to Africa, where he catches a disease. He returns home to become a cannibal chef at a burger joint (in a move parodying the more straight-faced <i>The Untold Story</i>).</p><p>The film itself pushes the viewer's buttons and provokes at every turn. The approach is something akin to Troma movies, but made with a better budget and sense of cinematic shots. Yau is not a bad director, but he approaches the sort of nihilistic edgyness that was hip in the 90's, but a bit tiresome now. <i>Ebola Syndrome</i> doesn't apologize for anything, it is a throughly slimy and mean-spirited movie, and proud of it. And, for certain sorts of viewer, also very funny. Viewer discretion is adviced. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaXtmyvdxFjx9BAGcqxDuY6n2jZf_8o-dWAPDG0KHKqpKxPDWsePlofwRxWAR3vTLPJAXqLz4WIsuv2iRsSKyr747aADpWv41oMgiXrwjQIJYehBzto8dAtP1S258dP17cbYGn_4k6DY/s845/Ebola_syndrome.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="845" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGaXtmyvdxFjx9BAGcqxDuY6n2jZf_8o-dWAPDG0KHKqpKxPDWsePlofwRxWAR3vTLPJAXqLz4WIsuv2iRsSKyr747aADpWv41oMgiXrwjQIJYehBzto8dAtP1S258dP17cbYGn_4k6DY/s640/Ebola_syndrome.PNG" width="392" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Three laughs (SPOILERS):</p><p>1. The film's opening scene sees Kai having sex with his bosses' wife and getting caught in the act. The boss orders the sniveling underling under a golden shower, which shows quickly on what kind the film's sense of humour is. Nevertheless, the shlubby-looking Kai soon reveals that he is more cunning and ruthless than appears, and brutally murders everyone else in the room.<br /></p><p>2. The film's racism could almost be seen a parody of some old-school shockers, such as Italian cannibal movies. The shocking conditions in Africa, for instance, show pig corpses intended for food being stored in broad daylight next to human corpses. Needless to say, they get churn into hamburgers anyway. Both pigs and corpses.<br /></p><p>3. But dead people in a bun are not the most disgusting thing the film serves. Later on, we see Kai listening in on some next-door love-making while relieving himself on a piece of meat. Of course the same piece gets then thrown into a pan and served to customers. If this movie teaches something, it's taking distance and remembering at least some resemblance of hygiene.<br /></p>Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6083560568702080547.post-66552267256332953572020-08-07T22:07:00.001+03:002020-08-07T22:07:23.282+03:00H is for Hill and Spencer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbb2-jTS-KulWAFPTwxAKaPWh6kgthVgvIadfOY_DmkWQ5RCZh2167ubw6iwaInEBY2tefQmH_6Sqb0duFeBW6zQnYqM8C5hvwNvCgIFCFuPUu_Org9WIyLFnwPveCCkqGIbHKk4QGYsM/s1600/spencerhill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbb2-jTS-KulWAFPTwxAKaPWh6kgthVgvIadfOY_DmkWQ5RCZh2167ubw6iwaInEBY2tefQmH_6Sqb0duFeBW6zQnYqM8C5hvwNvCgIFCFuPUu_Org9WIyLFnwPveCCkqGIbHKk4QGYsM/s320/spencerhill.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
Some people love 'em, some loathe 'em. But there's no denying the films of <b>Terence Hill</b> and <b>Bud Spencer </b>aren't some of the most essential if one wants to understand Italian Genre Cinema. For one, their punching-and-burping brand of humour brought down the spaghetti western. In some ways the overly cynical subgenre was a parody in itself, but after these guys were done with it, it was impossible to take seriously any more.<br />
<br />
So let's take a look at the work done by them in the spaghetti western play field. Hill in particular was used quite a lot as a cowboy, as you might remember. As this post takes its H from his name, it shall focus more on his work, though Spencer was also alnong for the ride in most cases. <br />
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<b>The Colizzi Trilogy </b><br />
(Director: Giuseppe Colizzi)<br />
<br />
<b>God Forgives, I don't</b><br />
(Dio perdona... Io no!, Italy/Spain 1967)<br />
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The first starring role of the Hill/Spencer duo. At this point their mishaps were still a bit more violent and cynical than later on, reminiscent of the rivalry of Blondie and Tuco in <i>The Good, The Bad and the Ugly</i>. Colizzi's tongue in cheek approach was to create a sort of animal fable in the west, with Hill and Spencer taking attributes of a cat and a dog, respectively, and the main villain played by <b>Frank Wolff </b>being, of course, a wolf. Or maybe a cunning fox.<br />
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The film's plotting is divided into several viewpoints, but the core is that two buddies with a dangerous bandit on their tails, are traveling across the west to find loot that has gone from person to person after a train robbery. As it's a study of power dynamics, cheating to win, gambling and poker are also very important aspects of the film. <br />
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This was the point still when spaghetti westerns were racing to have ever more epic scopes and bigger action scenes. As a spectacle, the movie also delivers, even though the wandering across deserts takes a bit too much of the running time. The film is explodable and at times even brutal, which makes for an odd cocktail with all the animal-based slapstick, but it holds together surprisingly well. <br />
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★★★ 1/2<br />
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<b>Ace High</b><br />
(I quattro dell'Ave Maria, Italy 1968)<br />
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This film starts off straight from where the last one left off. The two buddies are wandering across the desert, with their loot packed in. But things get complicated when they meet up with a bandit (<b>Eli Wallach</b>) who has survived from a hanging, and starts to swindle them out of their earnings and perhaps enlist them to help him get revenge.<br />
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It's the longest and limpest part of the trilogy, that allows Wallch's Leone-tested maneurs and charisma to drive the film rather than more intricate plotting, humour or character dynamics. But . this time around the film's balancing of epic action, cynical brutality and comedy doesn't fit together as well, leaving a taste a bit too dry.<br />
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Once again there's a long heist sequence, here saved toward the end of the film, that shines as the best part of the movie. <br />
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★★ 1/2<br />
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<b>Boot Hill</b><br />
(La collina degli stivali, Italy 1969)<br />
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As the trilogy closes, the film explores more themses such as aging and settling down. Hill's scoundrel has a new get-rich plane, but he has to try to convince Spencer who has settled as a gold-digger with a new partner, to join him and a grizzled gun-fighter (<b>Woody Strode</b>) to battle a bandit (<b>George Eastman</b>) who has taken over an entire town.<br />
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At this point the comedy aspects are starting to take hold, and there are more jokes here than in the previous two films. The film's major plot concerns a traveling circus that is used as a Trojan Horse in order to gain access to the closed city. But the film works mostly as a cavalcade of nice stunts and gun-fights, it doesn't have the well-thought out plotting and character work of the first film in trilogy.<br />
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The circus acts foreshadow the reliance of slapstic and acrobatics in lieu of gunfire later on, but in here the bodies still pile up and people get a proper lead poisoning. <br />
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★★★<br />
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<b>They Call Me Trinity</b><br />
(Lo chiamavano Trinita..., Italy 1971)<br />
Director: Enzo Barboni (E.B. Clucher)<br />
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This was a turning point for the spaghetti western genre and a major box-office hit. I would think audiences were getting tired of the over-the-top cynicism on offer in so many spaghetti westerns (that were done in just an 8-year stretch of time. The intended audience for this one were born around the same time as the whole sub-genre.<br />
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The plot concerns the lazy bounty hunter Trinity meet up with his brother Bambino who has escaped the law in plain sight and become a sherriff for a small town. A rich dandy hires a group of Mexican thugs to create trouble, which threatens to hit also the small religious community out on the prerie, trying to build their own town. Trinity and Bambino, who walk on a morally grey line, must decide who they want to help build the west.<br />
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As a film, Trinity is overlong and uneven. The best secenes see Trinity and Bambino bickering, but neither is much fun by themselves. Barboni's greatest invention was to replace the final gundown with a
beat-em-up free-for-all. This has since been topped in many ways and
many times.<br />
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★★ 1/2<br />
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<b>A Man From the East </b><br />
(E poi lo chiamarono il magnifico, Italy/France 1972)<br />
Director: Enzo Barboni<br />
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Hill is playing solo here, as a New York dandy who gets an inheritance. It turns out to be not that much in money, but more in cameraderieship with a gang of rootin'-tootin' frontier men. They are in turn tasked to grow the young greenhorn into a real man. On the way, Hill also falls in love with a beautiful young lady (<b>Yanti Somer</b>).<br />
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So it's more or less a romantic comedy that's only set in the old west. Even though the films with Spencer weren't exactly that raunchy, this one has even less edges than them. The most memorable things regarding this film are a quite good barroom brawl scene, and a nice scenery-chewing turn of the film's villain, gunslinger Morton Clayton (<b>Ricardo Pizzutti</b>). Most of the actors playing Hill's gang members do their best to even out the buddy-comedy partnership, but none of them can really hold a candle to Spencer's irritability and Obelix-level imperviousness to any physical harm. <br />
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★★<br />
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<b>My Name is Nobody</b><br />
(Il mio nome è Nessuno<span class="description">, Italy/France/West Germany 1973)</span><br />
Director: Tonino Valerii<br />
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<a href="https://fastmovieblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/directors-sergio-leone.html">Sergio Leone himself</a> executive produced another spaghetti vehicle to his favorite star, <b>Henry Fonda</b>, and also secretly co-directed several scenes in the film. It turns out he preferred to do the more comedic parts of the film. Most of the film's more stylized scenes were done by the dependably talented director <b>Tonino Valerii</b>.<br />
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Hill plays a wild west weirdo who happens upon an old gunslinger Jack Beauregard (Fonda) who thinks of peaceful retirement. Much as the Italians had done in real life, he decides to stage a final showdown so that legends might be written in his name. In doing so, he messes up with some powerful enemies, and soon Beauregard and Nobody are facing the men of the Wild Bunch alone.<br />
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Fonda being more of a straight man requires Hill to play his basic character shtick even more unhinged (and annoying) than usual. The film has its share of cool setpieces, including a comicbooky Funhouse shootout. But the movie also had the bad luck to come out the same year than <b>Mel Brooks'</b> <i>Blazing Saddles</i>, which had plenty of more insightful ideas on comedically deconstructing the westerns. But it's still one of the better films Hill ever did, and <b>Ennio Morricone's</b> theme song is an ear-worm for the ages. <br />
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★★★ 1/2Paavo I.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12851716831592905878noreply@blogger.com0