Sunday, June 1, 2014

Junesploitation Day 1: Cops!

Live like a cop, die like a man!

49 comments:

  1. I'm planning Maniac Cop 2, Robocop, Robocop 2, and The Perfect Host (because; why the f not?)

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  2. Maniac Cop 2: Stuff of note

    Flashback to an awesome stunt from the end of part 1.
    That lady's hair... k
    Is it possible to cast a Bill Mosley Clone before Rob Zombie tried to make him a star?
    Wouldn't it be awesome if Heather Langenkamp was cast as the psych-vet?
    Shit... I'm running out of words 20 minutes in and I didn't mention The Chin once...
    Verdict: Watch Maniac Cop 2

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  3. Hawk Jones (1986)

    Lovably unwatchable yet surprisingly professional shot-on-video novelty pastiche of cop and mobster movie cliches, performed by an all-child cast. Valiant Duhart is endearingly misogynistic and homicidal as the prepubescent Hawk. Eschews the pie-fighting of Bugsy Malone for actual gunplay, and even some samurai swordsmanship. Plus, Invitation to Love finally meets it match, however briefly, in The Young and the Playful.

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    1. Cops! Day entry no. 2:
      Hollywood Cop (1987) trailer & full movie

      Within nine months of its release, Samurai Cop director Amir Shervan had already released his first attempt at riding Lethal Weapon's coattails with this expertly amateurish kidnapping-plot copstravaganza. There's a decapitation, Murtaugh substitute "Jaguar" mud-wrestles two strippers, a little boy develops a nearly psychic connection with a doberman, and the entire cast all get to make up their own dialogue.

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    2. Um....I think you just won Junesploitation. Those both sound incredible.

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  4. I plan to stick to the theme for the day, but will be watching genre movies rather than pure exploitation flicks. That said, I expect some of these turds to be exploiting my time.

    Havana 57 (2013)

    "A young cop witnesses a murder and must decide if he wants to play the corrupt game or go against shady cops and the mob with the help of a beautiful Tropicana dancer." Evidently, in 1957 people in Cuba spoke with Canadian accents. And. Stilted..... Dialogue.

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  5. LET JUNESPLOITATION BEGIN!!!!!!

    Hanzo The Razor: The Snare (1973)

    Renegade police officer, Hanzo "The Razor" Itami, fights thievery, sex trafficking and government corruption in Edo period Japan.
    This is the second Hanzo the Razor movie (out of 3) and it features many of the same characteristics of the first one. The story itself is intricate enough to be interesting, and the exploitation elements are first class (genital training, booby trapped home, boobies, etc). But when the surprise is gone due to having seen them before in the first instalment (Sword of Justice) it doesn't pack quite the same punch.
    I'll still recommend it along with the original and while I will likely watch the third movie ("Who's Got The Gold?"), this may be a case of, If you've seen one Hanzo the Razor movie you've seen them all.

    JUNESPLOITATION CHERRY POPPED!

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    1. In case anyone was interested. I attempted to watch Hanzo the Razor 3 last night but fell asleep, so I wont officially count it, but the typical HtR ingredients were there and they pretty much got them all out of the way in the opening credits, which was good. This time the movie appeared to have much more of a sense of humour about itself than the previous two, which I foudn to be effective because I was already familiar with the tropes so the shock was no longer there. I will likely return to it in full one day.

      In all honesty, im surprised this series isnt held in higher regard, simply for its B-Grade over the top-ness.

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  6. BAD LIEUTENANT (1992)

    Harvey Keitel is the title character and more than earns the name. Abel Ferrara fitfully directs with a dark, sleazy vibe. Definitely a movie that is hard to sit through, but worth it. Also, check out The Projection Booth podcast episode on this and the Nicolas Cage/Werner Herzog remake/sequel/opus with Patrick!

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  7. Heat Team (2004)

    Hong Kong action film cheerfully satirizes buddy cop movie cliches by taking them to their logical conclusion - nearly everything between the 2 cops is treated as a macho contest, leading in one scene to them nearly destroying their squad room to see who gets to be the boss. The extremely simple plot still manages to be nearly incomprehensible (thanks in part to poorly translated subtitles), but the film is so stylish and good-natured I didn't really care.

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  8. Martial Law (1990)

    Chad McQueen and Cynthia Rothrock play undercover cops up against David Carradine’s villain in this unbelievably dull 1990 kung-fu cop flick. Disappointingly light on violence and sex, it does feature an unintentionally hilarious cockney-Asian henchman, the creepy kung-fu guy from Grosse Pointe Blank and a condom themed nightclub, though…

    Don't. Just don't.

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    1. I refuse to believe any movie starring Cynthia Rothrock isn't worth sitting through, not even Badass Showdown.

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    2. Ha, that's what I had thought (hoped). Honestly, though, the film is so badly lit it's nearly impossible to tell it is her for the first half. She has the best kung fu of the leads though.

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  9. Cobra (1986) - First Viewing

    Cobra starts out sleazy and terrible (the villains are too slasher-like which removes the fun) but the movie gets better in the second half. The car chase in the middle particularly was badass. Epically bad soundtrack.

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  10. MAGIC COP (1990)
    More Hong Kong action. This one’s about a cop with magic powers. When there’s a case involving moving bodies (they’re not called zombies, just “moving bodies”) our hero cop, Uncle Feng Senior, is called into action. I like that the magic has its own internal logic, with incantations and mixing of ingredients and whatnot. This makes it interesting and different from the usual wizards shooting blue lighting at each other. The action scenes and practical effects are great, reminiscent of Sam Raimi on his good days. Unfortunately, there’s a ton of unfunny comedy shtick where Uncle Fung doesn’t like his niece romancing a fellow cop (I’m assuming she’s his niece, although everyone calls him “Uncle”) and this drags the movie down. This movie’s alternate title is MR. VAMPIRE 5, but it’s not actually part of the Mr. Vampire series. Also, there’s such a thing as a Mr. Vampire series.

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    1. More Mr. Vampire is never a bad thing, even if it's not actually Mr. Vampire. I'll be seeking this one out.

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  11. Mitchell (1975)

    Joe Don Baker, John Saxon and Linda Evans. Everything you would expect relating to the 70's including a great title sequence and funky score. Some nice quick zoom shots but ultimately the atmosphere doesn't work and nothing really happens. Mitchell is supposed to be this hard nosed cop, but they never really exploit that and frankly you don't buy it. First half of the movie he does nothing to prove that he's a tough guy. His police chief says "People don't like you, I'm not too fond of you myself, why is that?" Mitchell does not respond because it's never explained, HE doesn't even know why. I can't really recommend this but part of me loved it due to the 70's movie making 101 style.

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    1. Ha ha! Nothing really happening is the hallmark of a true exploitation movie!

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    2. Haha, yeah man. The more I think about "Mitchell" is one of the worst "tough guys" ever on film! He friggin addresses people as "Sir". WTF?!

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  12. The Super Cops

    Ron Leibman, movie star! I love when character actors take the lead, and Liebman and David Selby are great as the super cops of the title, based on a pair of real-life cops who became known on the streets as Batman and Robin due to their exploits. Not as exploitative as I was expecting (especially considering it was directed by Shaft's Gordon Parks) but it was tremendously entertaining, almost entirely due to the two leads. Fun movie.

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  13. End of Watch (2012)

    I did not expect to like this movie, but Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena deliver some truly awesome performances that fuse the usual buddy cop cliches with a genuine sense of weight, honor, and responsibility. I respected cops before, but now I want to hug every one I see to thank them for the risks they take day in and day out. Of course, I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to hug police on duty.

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  14. The Big Racket: A really cool way to kick off Junesploitation! Inspector Nico Palmieri is the cop willing to break all the rules as we follow him on his pursuit of the bad guys and meet some interesting characters such as the enjoyable Pepe. The film builds to the end shoot out with tight action sequences throughout.

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  15. I almost went with "Manic Cop 2" because it's the very essence and cinematic DNA that "Junesploitation" is made of. Alas, I'm saving that one for a 'Free' day.

    Jean-Pierre Melville's LE DEUXIEME SOUFFLE (1966) on Criterion DVD for the first time.

    In Melville cinema there is no distinction between cops and robbers, crooks or law men. There are only men who live by a code of honor (or pay lip service to it) and those who don't, regardless of whether they wear a badge or not. Though he clearly favors, and his movies tend to focus on, the criminal element by how much time and how many scenes he spends with those characters (the set-ups, the boredom between sudden bursts of violence, the damaged dames that stick through thick and thin for their men, etc.) Melville has always given the cops their due. Emphasis on the word "cops," as in the men (good and bad) who do their job professionally, not the institution of law enforcement that is just the other side of the same coin shared with criminals as each set of men (and token woman or two) follow what feels like pre-determined paths toward inevitable conclusions.

    All that said, "Le deuxième souffle" stands out in Melville's filmography because the lead officer, Inspector Blot (Paul Meurisse), is more than a platitude-spewing observer that plots from his office and then shows up at the end of the movie to nail the crooks. Sure, most of the movie consists of following recently-escaped con 'Gu' Minda (Lino Ventura, stoic and embodying the ideal Melville character to a tee) trying to lay low and score one big final hit before leaving the country. There's the big-paying job stealing a load of uranium that Melville shoots in wide open fields, a nice contrast to most heist movie's claustrophobic atmosphere and tightly-locked rooms. And yes, there's the inevitable snake-eat-snake backstabbing and triple-crosses when things don't go as planned, except here some of the cops are as bad as the criminals (embodied by Paul Frankeur's Insp. Fardiano and his torture-happy officers).

    But Insp. Blot is an active participant in Gu's downfall, trying to outsmart and outthink his nemesis even though it all leads to the inevitable moment when cop and criminal realize they're one in the same. It's a story-telling trope as old as the Gutenberg Press, but only in a Melville film would an honor-bound crook attempt to commit suicide rather than let torturing cops beat out of him the names of his accomplices. Why "Le deuxième souffle" (which means "Second Wind") isn't called "The Gu and Blip Show" is beyond me.

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  16. The Chase (1966)

    Marlon Brando plays a small-town Texas sheriff in 1960s trying to keep the peace when a local man breaks out of prison. Strong performances from an ensemble cast that includes Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Angie Dickinson, and Robert Duvall. Directed by Arthur Penn. The film touches on several bigger themes, but thankfully through "show, don't tell." Overall, worth watching. Aside: Angie Dickinson seems to be the inspiration for the Betty Draper look.

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  17. Blue Thunder (1983)

    HeliCOPtersploitation. Awesome Helicopter-Cop Roy Scheider drives a sweet prototype helicopter and helicopter-fights evil Malcolm Macdowell. Glossy Photography, cool synth score, tons of profanity, gratuitous nudity, no irony. Dangerous looking helicopter stunts through the canyons of downtown LA and the LA river (remember when movies had stunts?).

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    1. Yes! Love that movie, and viva practical stuntwork!

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    2. That sounds like a ton of fun. Ditto the love of practical stuntwork.

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  18. The Heroin Busters (aka La via della droga) (1977)

    The great Fabio Testi is an undercover cop working alongside David Hemmings to take down a drug ring. Enzo Castellari writes and directs this super-gritty, super-tough, super awesome cop movie with foot chases, motorcycle chases, airplane chases and a terrific score by Goblin. I had a blast with this and now want to go watch all of Fabio Testi's movies. I'm sure I'll hit a few more this month.

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    1. That sounds amazing. Was that streaming or on DVD?

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    2. I watched it on Full Moon Streaming, but a DVD exists from Blue Underground. You can get it as a triple feature with Street Law and The Big Racket for around $10.

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  19. Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment

    We've all seen it, probably numerous times on cable as kids, but it still makes me smile even after not seeing it for 25 years.

    Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li14AID0qW0

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    1. If forced to pick a "favorite" Police Academy movie, it would be that one.

      Not the new zoo. The old zoo.

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    2. IFC is showing the first three "Police Academy" movies back to back all night long today. Talk about being in synch and aligned with the Junesplaitation calendar! :-)

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  20. Dead Heat (1988)

    Patrick knows what he's doing - really enjoyed this 80s ZOMBIE BUDDY COP movie (complete with a goddamn credits song about the movie - themesongploitation!) because, hey, how the hell couldn't I?!

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  21. Freebie & The Bean (1974)

    First Junesploitation - Thought I had most of my bases covered with 70s cop movies but apparently not. This one stars James "Shoulders" Caan, and Alan Arkin in a really early example of the buddy cop action flick.

    Full of snappy one liners, car chases, violence, racism and sexism, I'm not even sure Caan knew he was in a movie as I think he became a resident of the Playboy mansion around this time.

    Overall it was much better than the horrifically bad title suggested it might be and a pretty good precurser to the later buddy cop films that would perfect this little sub genre.

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  22. Madigan (1968)

    Don Siegel's police potboiler plays like an episode of Dragnet gone noir. Richard Widmark's title character is a a plays-by-his-own-rules cop lacking traditional morals and anything resembling good luck. Henry Fonda is his foil, a boy scout commissioner whose black-and-white approach to the job is being eroded by politics, old alliances and mounting corruption. Where a traditional movie formula might pair the two together in buddy style, Siegel keeps them running parallel in a tightly coiled procedural tinged with nifty doses of sex, booze, and homicide. It's not a straight shot of exploitation by any means but it is a nice precursor to Siegel's much harder Dirty Harry.

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  23. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) - First Time Seeing It

    A gang stages an all-out assault on a closing Police Precinct. Another great movie from John Carpenter. The movie is filled with brutal violence, intense action sequences, and surprising moments of humor. I liked how the movie establishes a set of rules and does not back away from them. The music composed by John Carpenter is awesome as well. And Scream Factory did a terrific job with the blu ray transfer.

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  24. Hot Fuzz - First viewing (I know I'm late to the party)

    I don't know how I went so many years without making it a point to sit down and watch this. I could not stop smiling. Every element of the buddy cop drama is played up perfectly and the movie pays off everything that it sets up. Brilliant!!!

    Thank you Junesploitation! for giving me a reason to finally get this one out of my cue and into my happy memories.

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  25. RoboCop (2014)

    Fuck you guys; I liked it.

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    1. What? No. What? Hmmm. California has changed you.

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  26. Watched this last night-- fell asleep before I could post!

    City That Never Sleeps (1953)

    Interesting little noir in which disillusioned cop Gig Young has to decide to quit the force, go "on the take" and accept bribes, or remain a stalwart officer like his father. Lots of nice twists and turns... and a mechanical man!

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  27. Red Heat (1988)
    Copspoitation
    Sovietspoitation

    Tea, please.
    -In a glass, with lemon, right?
    Yes.
    -Yeah. I saw Dr. Zhivago.

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  28. I feel asleep during Dirty Harry. I hath failed thee F This Movie

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  29. RoboCop (1987)

    You just can't beat a toxic sludge melting body death scene.

    RoboCop, I love you.

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