TNT JACKSON (1974, ROKU CHANNEL) PRIVATE DUTY NURSES (1971, PLUTO) WAVELENGTH (1983, YOUTUBE)
"TNT Jackson" came at just the right time to help me get over the Junesploitation! fatigue hump. Courtesy of a script originally written by Dick Miller (!) and director Cirio H. Santiago's typical Philippines-as-Hong Kong production acumen, this blaxploitation/martial arts hybrid delivers the entertainment and sexy goods. A low-level drug dealer is killed in the HK underground, and her karate-expert sister comes from America seeking to upset the drug dealing trade. No disrespect meant to leading lady Jeannie Bell when I say her Diana 'T.N.T.' Jackson is a great poser (still images of her in this role are iconic) who looks/talks/acts tough. It's when the camera undercranks and a wig-wearing stuntman takes over Bell's fighting duties against waves of baddies that things turn ridiculous and hugely entertaining. Diana's friends/allies (Chiquito's Joe and Pat Anderson's Elaine) hold their own during (topless) fights, Stan Shaw's Charlie makes a great henchman and the nudity (from Filipino locals and both leading ladies) plentiful. The finale set during a parade with tons of extras slaps, and at 72 minutes it's a fat-free fun ride. 4 AIRPLANE LANDING GEARS MAKING TOUCHDOWN NOISE BEFORE TIRES TOUCH THE GROUND (out of five).
Tamer than advertised (though there's plenty of nude/s%x scenes to qualify as softcore), "Private Duty Nurses" is the middle of a trilogy of unrelated-to-one-another features ("Student Nurses" in '70 and "Night Call Nurses" in '72) with different casts/stories. Like medical TV shows there are 'A,' 'B' and 'C' stories intercutting the three attractive nurses as they go about their lives on and off the hospital. Nurse Lynn (Pegi Boucher) falls in love with a Vietnam vet bike rider (Dennis Redfield's Domino) whose war injuries could end his life. Blink and you'll miss Paul Gleason ("Breakfast Club," "Die Hard") in an early role. Black nurse Lola (Joyce Williams) tries to help a militant black doctor (Herbert Jefferson Jr.) get a staff position from an indifferent administrator (Robert F. Simon, Jonah Jameson on the '70's "Spider-Man" TV show). And nurse Spring (Katherine Cannon) tries to uncover the source of potential beach contamination with the help of a smitten doctor (Joseph Kaufmann) while fending off the harassment of a one-night stand lover (Paul Hampton in a quirky, meant-to-be-annoying role) who won't take no for an answer. More of a sexy hangout melodrama than anything, this is classic Corman formula filmmaking at its passable best. 3 DEAD TURKISH DRUG DEALERS (out of five).
Last and certainly least, "Wavelength" (available on YouTube since March of '13) feels like a poor man's "E.T./Close Encounters..." sci-fi rip-off whose finale looks an awful lot like the end of John Carpenter's "Starman." Despite having a twenty-something lead couple (Robert Carradine and Cherie Currie) helping a trio of space children escape from a military facility (with the help of a bearded Keenan Wynn and some Native American extras) the narrative constantly switches back to the clueless military to see what they're up to. Tangerine Dream delivers a neat electronic score that gives "Wavelength" something every other aspect of this production lacks: personality. Easily the most boring and forgettable movie I've seen all month.1.5 GUARDIAN DOGS NAMED FRANK (out of five).
I watched the Director's Cut. The first half was quite breathtaking, especially the explosive scenes with Stowe and Costner—starting with the rain scene strongly drawing you into what's developing between them. The second half was slower but was aided with the appearance of a very good Miguel Ferrer.
I want to see the theatrical version to see if it has more to say about the "love triangle", or if the second half feels more significant. But this was pretty good already, and Tony Scott didn't disappoint.
Only one week left of Junesploitation 2025! I feel the fatigue but am pressing on till the calendar changes over to July. The list of candidates for viewings is being whittled down every day now. This month has been a highlight of the year for me since 2018, and I am always a little sad to see it conclude. Oh well, on with the watching.
THEY'RE PLAYING WITH FIRE (1984, dir. Howard Avedis)
Having watched so many 1970s productions so far this month, I wanted go with a 1980s film. When I saw They're Playing With Fire show up in the Wikipedia listings for New World, I remembered the DVD that has been sitting around here for many years.
The experience of watching the film was… interesting. Sybil Danning is great in the film, and Andrew Prine was never dull in anything I have seen him in. The actor in the lead role of Jay, however, I did not like at all. There is no chemistry with Danning, and his character comes across as unlikeable throughout the film. The switching up of genres as the film progresses can be jolting. There is a general trashiness to everything after a while. In the end, I had more fun with the film than unpleasantness, making it a watch I do not regret. I would likely choose this over Howling II most days.
Looking back at what people wrote about They’re Playing With Fire on Sybil Danning day in 2017 (I was observing Junesploitation with some participation that year), I can see that my reaction was not uncommon.
My Pam Grier fix this year is this cool little swords-and-sandals jam that belatedly delivers on the promise of Black Mama, White Mama, big time. Margaret Markov should've had a bigger career - she's so good in this, she almost outshines Pam Grier (almost, because that's prime Pam Grier we're talking about.)
New World Pictures has a large and diverse amount of titles to choose from!
Private Eyes (1980) {review in the form of a running poem gag from movie}
Conway and Knotts unite to make a murder mystery Two great comic actors, best at comedy mugging history A family friendly movie filled with bit after silly bit. Oh, by the way, you are standing in dog do-do.
A pleasant revisit after many many years. Its a cute flick with a few genuine laughs (primarily at Conways incredible physical ability/timing for silly prat fall kind of stuff) but also a LOT of schticky humor. I think the mistake was making Knotts character the abrasive "straight man"...he's got more range and humor when hes playing the goofy/scared sidekick.
This is a very rough movie by design. Spheeris doesn't sugarcoat the nihilism and unpleasantness of the punk scene. The acting is unpolished but that isn't a negative.
Three bros want to hire a stripper for a frat party, so they head to a sleazy strip joint to browse. What they don't know is the joint, as well as the whole neighborhood they've entered, is mostly populated by vampires.
Starts as a fun romp, loses steam in the middle when the main characters are trying to figure out what the audience already knows, but finishes pretty strong. Overall a pretty enjoyable little vampire comedy. Grace Jones just naturally looks like she's evolved above us puny humans, so she's perfect casting for a vampire queen, but outside of a hypnotic dance number scored by her one of her own songs, her role is disappointingly small. Dedee Pfeiffer is adorable.
The Velvet Vampire (1971, dir. Stephanie Rothman)
A young couple meet an alluring woman at an art gallery, and are invited to her estate in the middle of the desert. You'll never guess what the pale, blood-obsessed woman turns out to be!
There's some occasional style and verve to the direction and the locale looks pretty nice, but it suffers from the same problem Vamp did, the uncompelling main characters spend most of the runtime baffled by their host's eccentricities and confused about what's happening, while the audience is just waiting for them to get there. Still, it skates by on style alone to a middling three-star rating.
Vamp was my choice as well. You summed it up pretty well. I have to echo your sentiment on the unicorn Grace Jones. She's amazing as always and this movie would have been improved by her part being bigger or even central.
Leon Isaac Kennedy is a hero in these parts, and wow, I only thought he made magic like in the movies Body and Soul and the Penitentiary. He wrote this movie, which was produced by Miami Gold, the company owned by Michael Franzese Sr., allegedly a caporegime in the New York City Colombo crime family and son of former underboss Sonny Franzese. The “Yuppie Don” was making $8 million a week when he was sent to jail and has since become a born-again motivational speaker. But for some time, he was partnering with Russian organized crime in a tax scam that allowed the combined criminal group to supply “between one-third and one-half of all gasoline sold in the New York metropolitan area,” and kept 75% of the profit.
Kennedy plays Troy, the leader of The Royals, a street gang who is branching out into being a band, even if Joey (Nicholas Campbell, who was in The Brood and played The Hitchhiker on HBO decades before he got weird and old and dropped racist words on the crew while working on the CBC series Coroner) disagrees. Plus, they have The Mechanics gang taking over their territory and corrupt police officer McGruder (Floyd Levine) ruining everything they try to accomplish. As you can figure, McGruder has sold out to the other gang and jails our protagonists, only for them to meet Twilight Records owner Mr. Delamo (Michael Ansara) behind bars. He believes in them, but his daughter, Brooke (Janine Turner), runs the company. But she soon falls for Troy, which you can imagine thrills her pop.
Can they thrill talent show judges Jeff Kutash and Smokey Robinson? Will they meet Kurtis Blow and the Fat Boys in prison? Will you hear Shannon’s “Let the Music Play” more than once? And what if Breakin’ and The Warriors made a baby? What if that baby was kind of stupid, but you loved it anyway? And why can’t a 37-year-old, Too Sweet, play the leader of a teenage gang? And you know how they made the reverse color Michael Jackson Thriller jacket, and you always wondered, “Who would wear the black and red Michael Jackson jacket that Hills has tons of when the red and black is sold out?” Leon Isaac Kennedy, that’s who.
This has bad guys who live in a tugboat. A dance training sequence. Denny Terrio of Dance Fever. All directed by the man who made music videos for Barlin’s “The Metro,” “Up the Creek” by Cheap Trick, “If You Don’t Want Me” by 1985 Norman Nardini & The Tigers (Pittsburgh represent) and several Celine Dion efforts, Dominic Orlando. This looks like a Filmirage movie — yes, I watched it in Italian, which helped — and has some great-looking scenes in it, because Rolf Kestermann was the DP. He also shot Disorderlies, Surf Nazis Must Die and the videos for Chris Issak’s “Wicked Game” and The Coupe de Villes’ “Big Trouble in Little China.” He also directed Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian” video!
Anyways — this is the gift that keeps giving. The balls on this movie! Sammy Davis Jr. was in a scene, and they cut it. Who does that?
COVERGIRL (1984) A young woman goes to the big city to pursue a modeling career, only to learn that the world of glamor has… an ugly side. It’s the usual tawdry soap opera/tabloid potboiler, except this one has robots! A subplot is about making a deal with a Japanese tech company, so the Japanese robots show up every few scenes. I hoped the third act would go full-on Chopping Mall with all these robots running around, but the filmmakers were more concerned with the rags-to-riches melodrama. Bummer.
30 days of Georges Melies, day 23: THE TREASURES OF SATAN (1902) A wealthy old man hides his wealth in an impenetrable treasure chest, only for (you guessed it) Satan to show up and steal it, leaving behind spooky sights to torment the man. The shorter Melies films have no story, and instead they’re just “Look, here’s a magic trick.” This is more like one of those. Amusing, but it’s over as soon as it begins.
THE GEORGIA PEACHES (aka Follow That Car) 1980 - dir. Daniel Heller
A Dukes of Hazard/Smokey and the Bandit-esque feature length pilot for a series that never happened, starring Battlestar Galactica’s Dirk Benedict, country star Tanya Tucker and Berlin’s Terri Nunn.
It’s a solid, dumb, totally 80s, action flick.
Tanya Tucker gets dragged behind a boat and then is stuffed into a freezer. And its got a Trans Am Firebird with a motorcycle on its trailer hitch for Zod’s sake!
They're Playing With Fire (1984): To choose a NWP movie is a difficult task. Considering they distributed a lot of Corman stuff, the choices are vast and varied. But I went with this because I always wanted to see it, and I like me some skin in my teen comedies (also, it's not a teen comedy). Who can say no to Sybil. I didn't read much about the movie, other than non-specific comments, like today's Patrick piece on NWP, so I only had a vague idea of the content of the movie. I was kind of expecting a trashier version of The Graduate, but I got much more than I bargained for, and was not disappointed, despite its flaws. Here's hoping for a reissue of the blu-ray
THE WATER MARGIN (1972, Chang Cheh, et al) First-time watch, Shout Factory Blu-ray, 9/10. Distributed theatrically in the US by New World, WM has been on my watch list for too many years. Covering chapters 64-68 from the original epic text, this Shaw Bros outing gets you ready for chapters 69 & beyond while still delivering whole-film satisfaction. What's in those chapters, you ask? No idea. The beginning piles a bunch of names on you, creating needless anxiety about trying to remember any of them (Fukasaku's YAKUZA PAPERS series does this in every film). Rebels want the aid of a lord but he's just been betrayed by his cheating wife. Bribes, treachery, honor, cool weapons, badass names, groovy acid rock soundtrack, a great finale & an unforgettable "chicka chicka chah" stinger remind you that Chang Cheh is a master. Considering who might've been involved in the English dub, I'm disappointed that it's not available on the disc I have.
The Kids are Alright (1979) Twenty-two-year-old superfan Jeff Stein assembled this terrific collection of live Who performances and early television appearances, then persuaded the band to cooperate with the production and film special material just for the film! The Kids are Alright is a treasure trove: the band performs “Shout and Shimmy” at the National Blues and Jazz Festival in 1965, we see the promo film for “Happy Jack” that never aired on BBC’s Sound and Picture City, unused footage from their famous Woodstock performance, the band performing “A Quick One While He’s Away” from the unreleased Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus television special, and two musical numbers staged just for the film, “Baba O’Reilly” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” These would be the last performances of Keith Moon with the Who; he died one week after seeing the rough cut of the film. The Kids Are Alright was distributed the New World Pictures; they didn’t just make quickie exploitation films. They also distributed documentaries and foreign films by Fellini, Bergman, and Kurosawa.
First time watch. This movie is absolutely bonkers. This is the kind of movie where "Drugs" deserves a writing credit. It has the plot of a porn movie - one man's sensational penis is needed by the government to repopulate the Earth - except, you know, with mutant frogs. According to IMDB trivia, New World wanted Daniel Stern for the Roddy Piper role. DANIEL STERN.
Very recently a coworker showed me the "SHUT YOUR HOOOOOOOOLE!" scene and I KNEW I needed to to see this film. Does it make sense how many cute sets of lingerie appear in this? No. Do I care? Also no. This movie rules.
Efficiently told (81 minutes), nearly by-the-numbers Fillipino Women In Prison flick with an extra dash of nastiness and a bonus pinch of nihilism from director de Leon, whose pedigree also includes Blood Island entries TERROR IS A MAN, BRIDES OF BLOOD, and MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND. Features Pam Grier, Roberta Collins, and Judith Brown, who all appeared in THE BIG DOLL HOUSE. Here, Grier turns the tables and plays the misanthropic prison matron named Alabama (even though she’s from Harlem), sexually exploiting and sadistically torturing our wrongly-accused heroines till the inevitable escape attempt. While this doesn’t scrape the depths of depravity of some WIP films (think ILSA or Jess Franco’s efforts), there’s a sweaty intensity, established by tight, intense close-ups, creative camerawork and lighting, and an atmosphere of unsavoriness that make it a memorable entry in the genre. Did I mention 70s n!pples? Oh, and a final shot that is devastating and demoralizing.
THE CREMATORS (1972, Harry Essex) First-time watch, Tubi, 6/10 w/a heart. The director of OCTAMAN presents the tale of an entomologist who finds pretty rocks that have a tendency to call forth a giant flaming ball that rolls over & roasts anyone who disturbs them. There's enough psychedelic nonsense mixed in with cool analog visual FX & no-fi sci-fi to make me happy. Hands that glow after clapping, running down the beach with a cat, humans reduced to ash, a message about the environment(?), Maria De Aragon & other stuff happens over 72 minutes. I probably would've gone a full star higher had the running time been presented pure, instead of stretched by Tubi ads. This is not cerebral, but you start to get a rhythm going that either excites or pacifies. Ads for Glueboneryfix or whatever do neither.
'NEW WORLD PICTURES' VALUE MENU' TRIO
ReplyDeleteTNT JACKSON (1974, ROKU CHANNEL)
PRIVATE DUTY NURSES (1971, PLUTO)
WAVELENGTH (1983, YOUTUBE)
"TNT Jackson" came at just the right time to help me get over the Junesploitation! fatigue hump. Courtesy of a script originally written by Dick Miller (!) and director Cirio H. Santiago's typical Philippines-as-Hong Kong production acumen, this blaxploitation/martial arts hybrid delivers the entertainment and sexy goods. A low-level drug dealer is killed in the HK underground, and her karate-expert sister comes from America seeking to upset the drug dealing trade. No disrespect meant to leading lady Jeannie Bell when I say her Diana 'T.N.T.' Jackson is a great poser (still images of her in this role are iconic) who looks/talks/acts tough. It's when the camera undercranks and a wig-wearing stuntman takes over Bell's fighting duties against waves of baddies that things turn ridiculous and hugely entertaining. Diana's friends/allies (Chiquito's Joe and Pat Anderson's Elaine) hold their own during (topless) fights, Stan Shaw's Charlie makes a great henchman and the nudity (from Filipino locals and both leading ladies) plentiful. The finale set during a parade with tons of extras slaps, and at 72 minutes it's a fat-free fun ride. 4 AIRPLANE LANDING GEARS MAKING TOUCHDOWN NOISE BEFORE TIRES TOUCH THE GROUND (out of five).
Tamer than advertised (though there's plenty of nude/s%x scenes to qualify as softcore), "Private Duty Nurses" is the middle of a trilogy of unrelated-to-one-another features ("Student Nurses" in '70 and "Night Call Nurses" in '72) with different casts/stories. Like medical TV shows there are 'A,' 'B' and 'C' stories intercutting the three attractive nurses as they go about their lives on and off the hospital. Nurse Lynn (Pegi Boucher) falls in love with a Vietnam vet bike rider (Dennis Redfield's Domino) whose war injuries could end his life. Blink and you'll miss Paul Gleason ("Breakfast Club," "Die Hard") in an early role. Black nurse Lola (Joyce Williams) tries to help a militant black doctor (Herbert Jefferson Jr.) get a staff position from an indifferent administrator (Robert F. Simon, Jonah Jameson on the '70's "Spider-Man" TV show). And nurse Spring (Katherine Cannon) tries to uncover the source of potential beach contamination with the help of a smitten doctor (Joseph Kaufmann) while fending off the harassment of a one-night stand lover (Paul Hampton in a quirky, meant-to-be-annoying role) who won't take no for an answer. More of a sexy hangout melodrama than anything, this is classic Corman formula filmmaking at its passable best. 3 DEAD TURKISH DRUG DEALERS (out of five).
Last and certainly least, "Wavelength" (available on YouTube since March of '13) feels like a poor man's "E.T./Close Encounters..." sci-fi rip-off whose finale looks an awful lot like the end of John Carpenter's "Starman." Despite having a twenty-something lead couple (Robert Carradine and Cherie Currie) helping a trio of space children escape from a military facility (with the help of a bearded Keenan Wynn and some Native American extras) the narrative constantly switches back to the clueless military to see what they're up to. Tangerine Dream delivers a neat electronic score that gives "Wavelength" something every other aspect of this production lacks: personality. Easily the most boring and forgettable movie I've seen all month.1.5 GUARDIAN DOGS NAMED FRANK (out of five).
Revenge 1990
ReplyDeleteDirected by Tony Scott
I watched the Director's Cut. The first half was quite breathtaking, especially the explosive scenes with Stowe and Costner—starting with the rain scene strongly drawing you into what's developing between them. The second half was slower but was aided with the appearance of a very good Miguel Ferrer.
I want to see the theatrical version to see if it has more to say about the "love triangle", or if the second half feels more significant. But this was pretty good already, and Tony Scott didn't disappoint.
Only one week left of Junesploitation 2025! I feel the fatigue but am pressing on till the calendar changes over to July. The list of candidates for viewings is being whittled down every day now. This month has been a highlight of the year for me since 2018, and I am always a little sad to see it conclude. Oh well, on with the watching.
ReplyDeleteTHEY'RE PLAYING WITH FIRE (1984, dir. Howard Avedis)
ReplyDeleteHaving watched so many 1970s productions so far this month, I wanted go with a 1980s film. When I saw They're Playing With Fire show up in the Wikipedia listings for New World, I remembered the DVD that has been sitting around here for many years.
The experience of watching the film was… interesting. Sybil Danning is great in the film, and Andrew Prine was never dull in anything I have seen him in. The actor in the lead role of Jay, however, I did not like at all. There is no chemistry with Danning, and his character comes across as unlikeable throughout the film. The switching up of genres as the film progresses can be jolting. There is a general trashiness to everything after a while. In the end, I had more fun with the film than unpleasantness, making it a watch I do not regret. I would likely choose this over Howling II most days.
Looking back at what people wrote about They’re Playing With Fire on Sybil Danning day in 2017 (I was observing Junesploitation with some participation that year), I can see that my reaction was not uncommon.
The Arena (1974)
ReplyDeleteMy Pam Grier fix this year is this cool little swords-and-sandals jam that belatedly delivers on the promise of Black Mama, White Mama, big time. Margaret Markov should've had a bigger career - she's so good in this, she almost outshines Pam Grier (almost, because that's prime Pam Grier we're talking about.)
I watched a Pam flick as well! Hard to avoid her during Junesploitation... and why would we want that, anyway??
DeleteNew World Pictures has a large and diverse amount of titles to choose from!
ReplyDeletePrivate Eyes (1980) {review in the form of a running poem gag from movie}
Conway and Knotts unite to make a murder mystery
Two great comic actors, best at comedy mugging history
A family friendly movie filled with bit after silly bit.
Oh, by the way, you are standing in dog do-do.
A pleasant revisit after many many years. Its a cute flick with a few genuine laughs (primarily at Conways incredible physical ability/timing for silly prat fall kind of stuff) but also a LOT of schticky humor. I think the mistake was making Knotts character the abrasive "straight man"...he's got more range and humor when hes playing the goofy/scared sidekick.
Suburbia (1983)
ReplyDeleteDir. Penelope Spheeris
TW: So MUCH violence against/by dogs!
This is a very rough movie by design. Spheeris doesn't sugarcoat the nihilism and unpleasantness of the punk scene. The acting is unpolished but that isn't a negative.
Hope you like downer endings.
Vamp (1986, dir. Richard Wenk)
ReplyDeleteThree bros want to hire a stripper for a frat party, so they head to a sleazy strip joint to browse. What they don't know is the joint, as well as the whole neighborhood they've entered, is mostly populated by vampires.
Starts as a fun romp, loses steam in the middle when the main characters are trying to figure out what the audience already knows, but finishes pretty strong. Overall a pretty enjoyable little vampire comedy. Grace Jones just naturally looks like she's evolved above us puny humans, so she's perfect casting for a vampire queen, but outside of a hypnotic dance number scored by her one of her own songs, her role is disappointingly small. Dedee Pfeiffer is adorable.
The Velvet Vampire (1971, dir. Stephanie Rothman)
A young couple meet an alluring woman at an art gallery, and are invited to her estate in the middle of the desert. You'll never guess what the pale, blood-obsessed woman turns out to be!
There's some occasional style and verve to the direction and the locale looks pretty nice, but it suffers from the same problem Vamp did, the uncompelling main characters spend most of the runtime baffled by their host's eccentricities and confused about what's happening, while the audience is just waiting for them to get there. Still, it skates by on style alone to a middling three-star rating.
Vamp was my choice as well. You summed it up pretty well. I have to echo your sentiment on the unicorn Grace Jones. She's amazing as always and this movie would have been improved by her part being bigger or even central.
DeleteKnights of the City (1986)
ReplyDeleteLeon Isaac Kennedy is a hero in these parts, and wow, I only thought he made magic like in the movies Body and Soul and the Penitentiary. He wrote this movie, which was produced by Miami Gold, the company owned by Michael Franzese Sr., allegedly a caporegime in the New York City Colombo crime family and son of former underboss Sonny Franzese. The “Yuppie Don” was making $8 million a week when he was sent to jail and has since become a born-again motivational speaker. But for some time, he was partnering with Russian organized crime in a tax scam that allowed the combined criminal group to supply “between one-third and one-half of all gasoline sold in the New York metropolitan area,” and kept 75% of the profit.
Kennedy plays Troy, the leader of The Royals, a street gang who is branching out into being a band, even if Joey (Nicholas Campbell, who was in The Brood and played The Hitchhiker on HBO decades before he got weird and old and dropped racist words on the crew while working on the CBC series Coroner) disagrees. Plus, they have The Mechanics gang taking over their territory and corrupt police officer McGruder (Floyd Levine) ruining everything they try to accomplish. As you can figure, McGruder has sold out to the other gang and jails our protagonists, only for them to meet Twilight Records owner Mr. Delamo (Michael Ansara) behind bars. He believes in them, but his daughter, Brooke (Janine Turner), runs the company. But she soon falls for Troy, which you can imagine thrills her pop.
Can they thrill talent show judges Jeff Kutash and Smokey Robinson? Will they meet Kurtis Blow and the Fat Boys in prison? Will you hear Shannon’s “Let the Music Play” more than once? And what if Breakin’ and The Warriors made a baby? What if that baby was kind of stupid, but you loved it anyway? And why can’t a 37-year-old, Too Sweet, play the leader of a teenage gang? And you know how they made the reverse color Michael Jackson Thriller jacket, and you always wondered, “Who would wear the black and red Michael Jackson jacket that Hills has tons of when the red and black is sold out?” Leon Isaac Kennedy, that’s who.
This has bad guys who live in a tugboat. A dance training sequence. Denny Terrio of Dance Fever. All directed by the man who made music videos for Barlin’s “The Metro,” “Up the Creek” by Cheap Trick, “If You Don’t Want Me” by 1985 Norman Nardini & The Tigers (Pittsburgh represent) and several Celine Dion efforts, Dominic Orlando. This looks like a Filmirage movie — yes, I watched it in Italian, which helped — and has some great-looking scenes in it, because Rolf Kestermann was the DP. He also shot Disorderlies, Surf Nazis Must Die and the videos for Chris Issak’s “Wicked Game” and The Coupe de Villes’ “Big Trouble in Little China.” He also directed Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian” video!
Anyways — this is the gift that keeps giving. The balls on this movie! Sammy Davis Jr. was in a scene, and they cut it. Who does that?
COVERGIRL (1984)
ReplyDeleteA young woman goes to the big city to pursue a modeling career, only to learn that the world of glamor has… an ugly side. It’s the usual tawdry soap opera/tabloid potboiler, except this one has robots! A subplot is about making a deal with a Japanese tech company, so the Japanese robots show up every few scenes. I hoped the third act would go full-on Chopping Mall with all these robots running around, but the filmmakers were more concerned with the rags-to-riches melodrama. Bummer.
30 days of Georges Melies, day 23: THE TREASURES OF SATAN (1902)
A wealthy old man hides his wealth in an impenetrable treasure chest, only for (you guessed it) Satan to show up and steal it, leaving behind spooky sights to torment the man. The shorter Melies films have no story, and instead they’re just “Look, here’s a magic trick.” This is more like one of those. Amusing, but it’s over as soon as it begins.
THE GEORGIA PEACHES (aka Follow That Car) 1980 - dir. Daniel Heller
ReplyDeleteA Dukes of Hazard/Smokey and the Bandit-esque feature length pilot for a series that never happened, starring Battlestar Galactica’s Dirk Benedict, country star Tanya Tucker and Berlin’s Terri Nunn.
It’s a solid, dumb, totally 80s, action flick.
Tanya Tucker gets dragged behind a boat and then is stuffed into a freezer. And its got a Trans Am Firebird with a motorcycle on its trailer hitch for Zod’s sake!
They're Playing With Fire (1984): To choose a NWP movie is a difficult task. Considering they distributed a lot of Corman stuff, the choices are vast and varied. But I went with this because I always wanted to see it, and I like me some skin in my teen comedies (also, it's not a teen comedy). Who can say no to Sybil. I didn't read much about the movie, other than non-specific comments, like today's Patrick piece on NWP, so I only had a vague idea of the content of the movie. I was kind of expecting a trashier version of The Graduate, but I got much more than I bargained for, and was not disappointed, despite its flaws. Here's hoping for a reissue of the blu-ray
ReplyDeleteTHE WATER MARGIN (1972, Chang Cheh, et al)
ReplyDeleteFirst-time watch, Shout Factory Blu-ray, 9/10.
Distributed theatrically in the US by New World, WM has been on my watch list for too many years. Covering chapters 64-68 from the original epic text, this Shaw Bros outing gets you ready for chapters 69 & beyond while still delivering whole-film satisfaction. What's in those chapters, you ask? No idea.
The beginning piles a bunch of names on you, creating needless anxiety about trying to remember any of them (Fukasaku's YAKUZA PAPERS series does this in every film). Rebels want the aid of a lord but he's just been betrayed by his cheating wife. Bribes, treachery, honor, cool weapons, badass names, groovy acid rock soundtrack, a great finale & an unforgettable "chicka chicka chah" stinger remind you that Chang Cheh is a master. Considering who might've been involved in the English dub, I'm disappointed that it's not available on the disc I have.
The Kids are Alright (1979)
ReplyDeleteTwenty-two-year-old superfan Jeff Stein assembled this terrific collection of live Who performances and early television appearances, then persuaded the band to cooperate with the production and film special material just for the film! The Kids are Alright is a treasure trove: the band performs “Shout and Shimmy” at the National Blues and Jazz Festival in 1965, we see the promo film for “Happy Jack” that never aired on BBC’s Sound and Picture City, unused footage from their famous Woodstock performance, the band performing “A Quick One While He’s Away” from the unreleased Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus television special, and two musical numbers staged just for the film, “Baba O’Reilly” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” These would be the last performances of Keith Moon with the Who; he died one week after seeing the rough cut of the film. The Kids Are Alright was distributed the New World Pictures; they didn’t just make quickie exploitation films. They also distributed documentaries and foreign films by Fellini, Bergman, and Kurosawa.
Hell Comes to Frogtown (1988)
ReplyDeleteFirst time watch. This movie is absolutely bonkers. This is the kind of movie where "Drugs" deserves a writing credit. It has the plot of a porn movie - one man's sensational penis is needed by the government to repopulate the Earth - except, you know, with mutant frogs. According to IMDB trivia, New World wanted Daniel Stern for the Roddy Piper role. DANIEL STERN.
Hell Comes to Frogtown (1988)
ReplyDeleteVery recently a coworker showed me the "SHUT YOUR HOOOOOOOOLE!" scene and I KNEW I needed to to see this film. Does it make sense how many cute sets of lingerie appear in this? No. Do I care? Also no. This movie rules.
WOMEN IN CAGES (1971, Geraldo de Leon)
ReplyDeleteEfficiently told (81 minutes), nearly by-the-numbers Fillipino Women In Prison flick with an extra dash of nastiness and a bonus pinch of nihilism from director de Leon, whose pedigree also includes Blood Island entries TERROR IS A MAN, BRIDES OF BLOOD, and MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND. Features Pam Grier, Roberta Collins, and Judith Brown, who all appeared in THE BIG DOLL HOUSE. Here, Grier turns the tables and plays the misanthropic prison matron named Alabama (even though she’s from Harlem), sexually exploiting and sadistically torturing our wrongly-accused heroines till the inevitable escape attempt. While this doesn’t scrape the depths of depravity of some WIP films (think ILSA or Jess Franco’s efforts), there’s a sweaty intensity, established by tight, intense close-ups, creative camerawork and lighting, and an atmosphere of unsavoriness that make it a memorable entry in the genre. Did I mention 70s n!pples? Oh, and a final shot that is devastating and demoralizing.
THE CREMATORS (1972, Harry Essex)
ReplyDeleteFirst-time watch, Tubi, 6/10 w/a heart.
The director of OCTAMAN presents the tale of an entomologist who finds pretty rocks that have a tendency to call forth a giant flaming ball that rolls over & roasts anyone who disturbs them. There's enough psychedelic nonsense mixed in with cool analog visual FX & no-fi sci-fi to make me happy. Hands that glow after clapping, running down the beach with a cat, humans reduced to ash, a message about the environment(?), Maria De Aragon & other stuff happens over 72 minutes. I probably would've gone a full star higher had the running time been presented pure, instead of stretched by Tubi ads. This is not cerebral, but you start to get a rhythm going that either excites or pacifies. Ads for Glueboneryfix or whatever do neither.