Saturday, July 9, 2022

Weekend Open Thread

22 comments:

  1. Dark Glasses (2022 – Dario Argento)
    Last week I had the opportunity to watch Dario Argento’s Dark Glasses in the cinema. It is his first directed feature since 2012 (Dracula 3D) – and sadly, I don’t think it is a good movie, while holding elements, that are great. You can tell that he basically still has the look for good visualization, but his staging is off to a comedic extent. It leaves us with a weird mixture of great images that you can only see in (his) giallo movies, with characters acting off and odd within them. In older pictures, this might have pushed the movie to have a feverish energy, but this is missing here. It also doesn’t help that the characters have to do some things that I just didn’t comprehend – all at the same time while drawing at least one character that is very interesting to follow, that is our heroine of the movie, a blind prostitute portrayed (imo very well) by Ilenia Pastorelli.
    While I wouldn’t recommend the movie, I want to make sure that you check out the soundtrack by Arnaud Rebotini. Especially the title track, Occhiali Neri, with it’s hammering bass and memorable keys, will be a track that hopefully will follow me for the rest of my life.

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  2. Hey gang, hope everyone's having a good weekend.

    After the craziness of Junesploitation, it's been rather more quiet on the movie front for me. But I did see a few movies, none of which I loved. Thor: Love and Thunder is like Ragnarok (which I do love) but more so, with the comedy setting set even higher than last time. There's some great stuff there (most notably Christian Bale as the villain and scenery-swallowing Russell Crowe), but the story meanders and the jokes fall flat more often than not. James Caan (RIP) is great as the lead in Rollerball, but the movie didn't work for me. It delivers its message with the subtlety of a sledgehammer and the rollerball matches were fun at first but go on way too long. And Netflix's Girl in the Picture crystallized for me the way these true crime docs manipulate audiences' emotions with cheap tricks rather than the actual story, which should be gripping enough.

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    1. And to go back to Junesploitation one more time, after every June, I make a compilation CD of tracks from movies I watched. So I thought I'd share a few of my favorite tracks here as well:

      Seli from Mission Stardust
      The Legend of the Ninja from Ninja in the Dragon's Den
      Low Rider from Gone in 60 Seconds
      East Bound and Down from Smokey and the Bandit
      Lola (instrumental blues jam version) from Percy
      Blacula (The Stalkwalk) from Blacula
      In My Wildest Dreams from Mannequin
      Mothra's Song from Godzilla vs. Mothra
      Poison Ivy from Batman & Robin
      Dogg Named Snoop from Bones
      In the Middle of All That Trouble Again from Go for It
      Caribbean Women from Go for It

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  3. WOO HOO! HAPPY JULYSPLOITATION!!! whats that? June!?! Shit.

    I didnt get as much 'sploitation' in as hoped so ill probably ride this wave for a while..aww who am i kidding...ill ALWAYS watch sploitationy goodness.

    TerrorVision (1986)

    Ive been on a Charles Band kick lately with his new podcast (and previously mentioned autobiography). This ones been on my "need to see list" for a while. Its a wackadoodle weird movie. Very much low budget horror comedy that feels like it was written by its lead character...a 14 year old in the 80s. Its silly, meandering, and doesnt know if it wants to be a full on horror gory comedy OR a classic 80s 'treat kids more like adults and have them be the heroes'. The problem with it being the later is the entire parents storyline revolves around "swinging" culture. Its a weird egg of a low budget flick but i really dug its 80s cheeze vibe. Also it stars Gerret Graham who i love.

    1408 (2007 dvd rip)

    Recently re-read the Stephen King short story...which i HIGHLY recommend and decided to check out the adaptation. Overall i quite enjoyed it with two critiques: 1) 35m too long. 2) the tacked on sick kid storyline felt a bit too easy. Cusack and Sam Jackson are both very well cast and they play off of each other wonderfully in the opening moments as Sam tries to convince Cusack NOT to stay in 1408. Solid pick for scary movie month in September!!! (whats that? October?!. Shit)

    Peace .n. Movie Love

    Mash

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  4. Here's my belated top five favorites of #Junesploitation 2022 list:

    5. DEMONIA (1989). A psychic archeology student battles murderous ghosts of naughty nuns. It's Fulci!
    4. SWEET HOME (1989). Over-the-top haunted house flick that's somewhere between Evil Dead and Poltergeist, all cool visual style.
    3. GAMERA 3: REVENGE OF IRIS (1999) Gamera is no longer for kids in this slickly made and brutally violent modernized kaiju movie.
    2. LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI (1983). Over-the-top fantasy samurai action that's more than a little Star Wars-ish -- and I mean that as a compliment.
    1. METROPOLIS (1927). Maybe cheating by watching a bona fide classic, but it's a classic for a reason. Metaphor-laden sci-fi with sets and effects that are still mind-blowing decades later.

    Top five favorite Lloyd Kaufman picks:
    5. RETURN TO NUKE EM HIGH PARTS 1-2 (2013-2018)
    4. DIRECT YOUR OWN D*MN MOVIE (2009)
    3. TROMEO AND JULIET (1997)
    2. TERROR FIRMER (1999)
    1. THE TOXIC AVENGER (1984)

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    1. Legend of the Eight Samurai is a fun Watch, Mac. Sometimes one needs a classy film experience amidst the schlock and sleaze of Junesploitation to cleanse the palette.

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  5. Hello to everyone. Despite Junesploitation ending, the movie-watching continues. Last weekend I was pet sitting, and the pet owners have streaming services and channels that I do not have access to. I took advantage of that.

    BEACH BABES FROM BEYOND (1993, David Decoteau) – With a title like that and an early 1990s release, I suspected this was a silly T&A beach comedy for late-nite viewing. My suspicions proved correct, but I was not expecting extended soft-core sex scenes to take up so much of the run-time. The plot revolves around three sexy aliens who visit a California beach. Despite BBFB being terrible in so many ways, it is endearing in the way any time-capsule movie can be. I watched many films of this nature in the early 1990s. In the Internet age, one no longer has to sit through a mediocre movie to catch a glimpse of boobs.

    BOLERO (1984, dir. John Derek) – J.M. watched this for Junesploitation, mentioning that it is on HBO MAX. Being curious about whether the film lives up to its bad reputation, I pressed play. Bo Derek portrays a young woman inheriting a large fortune in the 1920s who is on the hunt for sexual adventure. (Bo obviously looks older than her part.) On a technical level, there is a lot that I liked. The really big issues with Bolero concern a rambling script and too many attempts to titillate the audience. The film is too long for what story there is. I could also bring up outdated stereotypes, the problematic sexual grooming of an adolescent, and bad acting. The Cannon connection is probably the only reason this gets remembered at all.

    CONFESSIONS OF A DRIVING INSTRUCTOR (1976) – A very British sex comedy about two men taking over a driving school. This is apparently part of series of films featuring those characters engaging in various business schemes. The comedy is full of awkwardness, double entendres, class humor, and "special" relations with customers. This may be an uneven comedy, but it delivers on the nudity. Even the male lead is frequently shown in a state of undress.

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  8. I wrote a couple of paragraphs about my night at the drive-in for VHS Fest, but the software deleted the post. I will be briefer this time. Hopefully that means the post stays on this time. There were four films on the program last night, which meant the sun was coming up as I drove home.

    1. SCREAM DREAM (1989) - This SOV title is about a witch who fronts a rock band. When she gets fired, she seeks revenge on those responsible for it. I found Scream Dream a watchable film that had some thought put into the production, but it still is an amateur production.

    2. SATAN'S STORYBOOK (1989) - This SOV production is far messier in its narrative and looks worse than Scream Dream. It is an anthology film that has two segments within a wrap-around story of Satan trying to get his wife back from a warrior. Satan's court jester tells him the two stories while the sword and sorcery style kidnapping happens. This was a rough watch to get through.

    Note: All of the VHS screenings were deliberately done (I asked about it) in a widescreen format. I can always tell when a 4:3 aspect ratio is being shown in a wider format. It annoyed me all night.

    3. GIRLFRIEND FROM HELL (1989) - Another VHS screening. GFH got a recent blu-ray release, and most to the comments I have seen about the film are positive. I found the zaniness of it hard to take, however. Maybe I was just not in the right frame of mind for the goofy tone. It is a big step up from the first two films, though.

    4. MAUSOLEUM (1983) - This feature concluded the night and was by far the most satisfying watch. For contractual reasons a 35mm print had to shown, which I did not mind at all. An ancestral demon takes possession of a woman, leading to many deaths and gratuitous nude scenes.This is a fun and fast-paced film that requires some suspension of disbelief to overlook the plot holes. I left the drive-in very content.

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  10. I also got to a couple of watches on Turner Classic Movies. GO, JOHNNY, GO (1959) is a rock'n'roll extravaganza featuring Chuck Berry and host of other musicians (including Richie Valens) of the period. It was produced by Alan Freed, one of the major promoters of the rock music in the 1950s. Those who enjoy early rock music would definitely get the most out of this time-capsule. The other watch, BLOOD OF JESUS, is an African-American Christian film from 1941. This is a cinematic artifact more than an engaging cinematic experience. The spirituals recorded for the film are the best part.

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    1. All of my failed posts from yesterday suddenly turned up. That is the first time that has happened.

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    2. Same here, looks like the song links I posted on Saturday have also reappeared. The Blogger software works in mysterious ways.

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  11. I tend to watch a lot of movies for podcasts I listen to. so this weekend it's:

    Child's Play 2 (1990 dir. John Lafia) - for With Gourley and Rust: Not sure, watching it tonight. I remember it as the weakest entry, but only because I remember nothing about it. But watching the first Child's Play again for the first time 20 years I finally liked it. I always hated the series because the absurdity of it never scared me. But now that I'm an old man I can just appreciate a great Brad Dourif performance.

    Magnum Force (1970 dir. Ted Post) - for Action Boyz: What a great movie. Client Eastwood decides to make a Dirty Harry movie to prove he's not a vigilante cop by making the plot about a group of rookie vigilante motorcycle cops. But it works! The group of cops are interesting and threatening, Eastwood plays Harry as a smart patient detective and the whole film is filled with rough 70's action that rules.

    Zorro, The Gay Blade (1981, dir. Peter Medak) - Vintage Video: OK not what I expected. In a good way. George Hamilton, who I never got until I saw this film, plays the dual role of Don Diego de la Vega (Zorro) and his gay identical twin brother, Ramón de la Vega (the Gay Blade) and it's surprisingly forward thinking. Yes, he has the gay mannerisms, but his brother never comments on it other than to support him and the film treats him as a capable hero. And the villain, man, this guy Ron Leibman, was so over the top fantastic I have to find out more about him. F! This Movie help me, this man was so fantastic at least watch this wacky Zorro film for that guy.

    I really, really recommend Vintage Video and With Gourley and Rust, both great podcasts. I don't recommend Action Boyz, to like the show you have to be a jerk.

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  12. Dark Glasses (2022 – Dario Argento)
    Last week I had the opportunity to watch Dario Argento’s Dark Glasses in the cinema. It is his first directed feature since 2012 (Dracula 3D) – and sadly, I don’t think it is a good movie, while holding elements, that are great. You can tell that he basically still has the look for good visualization, but his staging is off to a comedic extent. It leaves us with a weird mixture of great images that you can only see in (his) giallo movies, with characters acting off and odd within them. In older pictures, this might have pushed the movie to have a feverish energy, but this is missing here. It also doesn’t help that the characters have to do some things that I just didn’t comprehend – all at the same time while drawing at least one character that is very interesting to follow, that is our heroine of the movie, a blind courtesan portrayed (imo very well) by Ilenia Pastorelli.
    While I wouldn’t recommend the movie, I want to make sure that you check out the soundtrack by Arnaud Rebotini. Especially the title track, Occhiali Neri, with it’s hammering bass and memorable keys, will be a track that hopefully will follow me for the rest of my life.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dark Glasses (2022 – Dario Argento)
    Last week I had the opportunity to watch Dario Argento’s Dark Glasses in the cinema. It is his first directed feature since 2012 (Dracula 3D) – and sadly, I don’t think it is a good movie, while holding elements, that are great. You can tell that he basically still has the look for good visualization, but his staging is off to a comedic extent. It leaves us with a weird mixture of great images that you can only see in (his) giallo movies, with characters acting off and odd within them. In older pictures, this might have pushed the movie to have a feverish energy, but this is missing here. It also doesn’t help that the characters have to do some things that I just didn’t comprehend – all at the same time while drawing at least one character that is very interesting to follow, that is our heroine of the movie, a blind woman portrayed (imo very well) by Ilenia Pastorelli.
    While I wouldn’t recommend the movie, I want to make sure that you check out the soundtrack by Arnaud Rebotini. Especially the title track, Occhiali Neri, with it’s hammering bass and memorable keys, will be a track that hopefully will follow me for the rest of my life.

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    1. Ah, okay, seems to have worked. Anything related to one of the most essential parts of humankind, that is not water, food, or sleep, is simply not allowed on blogger anymore, because psst - we have weird double standards, and we don't like to talk about that topic, so you shall not either...

      And yes, the woman in the movie has a certain kind of job that I couldn't write (posted first yesterday), because it is strongly related to the topic we are not allowed to talk about anymore.

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    2. I had some issues posting yesterday, Derk. I was not even mentioning what you brought up, either. My first post brings it up with Confessions of a Driving Instructor, and I had no problems with that post. Much of the time I cannot figure out why the software accepts one post and rejects another. It definitely gets frustrating.

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  14. The first parts of Peter Pan (1953) are so good. I turned it on recently and realized I have never seen Peter Pan...never ever. The Darling family is SUPER darling. Wendy is perfect. She’s smart, fun, sweet, generous, curious. (Her only problem is her Peter Pan obsession. He is NOT deserving). All the family scenes are really tight and the animation of Mr. Darling is impressive. He’s funny. Disney was so good at animating the nuances of expression and emotion. I’m trying to think of a tighter family or opening sequence in any other Disney movie after and I don’t think I can.

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