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| No...more...Nazisploitation. Got it? |
Back again, my friends!
After the previous week’s gluttony, I found myself not only cleaning up the damage such a spree can cause (i.e. writing reviews), but wriggling out from under the weight of screener copies that had recently landed in my lap. To further complicate matters, I made a trip to the good ol’ Chicago Public Library to secure a few civilian flicks that had captured my fancy while on our recent road trip to the Colorado Plateau.
Finally, I felt compelled to round out the earlier Nazisploitation viewings by visiting (and revisiting) the pioneers of the subgenre, so those got chucked in the pile along with a Godzilla fan film for dessert. All in all, another diverse trip down the twisty, thorny path of terror. Never a dull moment.
As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.
Enjoy!
HORROR:
Bloody Moon (1981) d. Franco, Jess (Germany) (3rd and 4th viewings)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***
Deported Women of the SS Special Section (1976) d. Silvestri, Rino di (Italy) (1st viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***
Final Terror, The (1983) d. Davis, Andrew (USA) (3rd and 4th viewings)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***
Godzilla: Battle Royale (2014) d. Dubose, Billy (USA) (1st viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR BILLY DUBOSE***
Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975) d. Edmonds, Don (Canada) (2nd viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***
Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears, The (2013) d. Cattet, Helene / Forzani, Bruno (Belgium) (1st viewing)
Some people dream in black-and-white, some in color, and some in Giallo. A grand experiment, similar to the couple’s previous effort Amer, that is considerably style over substance, generating a sense of appreciation without necessarily entertaining. I’d love to see them make an actual movie someday instead of these extended formal experiments, but maybe that’s not what they’re interested in. Thanks to Jason Coffman for picking up the import DVD tab and allowing my cheapskate ass over to watch.
CIVILIAN:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) d. Hill, George Roy (USA) (5th viewing)
“Who are those guys?” Paul Newman was generous enough to share the spotlight with an up-and-comer named Robert Redford and the rest is history. William Goldman won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar his first time at bat, cinematographer Conrad Hall picked up a statuette (his first of three career Oscars), and Burt Bacharach took home two of the golden boys for Best Score and Song “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.” Who woulda thunkit.
Night Porter, The (1974) d. Cavana, Liliana (Italy) (1st viewing)
Dirk Bogarde’s ex-Nazi camp official reunites with his former concentration camp captive and lover Charlotte Rampling. Against all odds, she sends her composer husband on ahead and stays at Bogarde’s hotel to pick up where they left off. It’s a slow and deliberate tale of S&M, one that sharply divided critics of the day. I found it a fascinating and daring story, though it never feels like anything other than an intellectual “what if” scenario.
Pearl Jam: 20 (2011) d. Crowe, Cameron (USA) (1st viewing)
Spirited documentary about the Seattle band’s rise to fame and subsequent struggles to survive the rock n’ roll circus. Even though I probably haven’t heard anything of theirs since 1998’s Yield, I’m still calling myself a fan.
Tootsie (1982) d. Pollack, Sydney (USA) (4th viewing)
Picked up the 25th anniversary DVD from the CPL, and while I enjoyed the feature just as much as ever, I was more interested in watching the behind-the-scenes material and retrospective interviews than anything else. Considering how much everyone lauds her for the film's ultimate success, I’ll never understand how Elaine May didn’t earn a screenwriting credit. Also, as great as Dustin Hoffman is in the role(s), he really does come off as a flakey flakey flake. Saying that Pollack had to play his agent so that he could “believe” that no one would hire him? I mean, come on. It’s called acting, Dusty.
Tyrannosaur (2011) d. Considine, Paddy (UK) (1st viewing)
Speaking of acting, you’re not going to find much better than this grueling character study about an embittered widower (Peter Mullan) who literally takes refuge in a sunny-but-cowed Christian woman’s (Olivia Colman) resale shop, and the unlikely relationship that grows between these two broken souls. Tough going, but rewarding. Considine’s feature directing debut, based on his 2007 short film Dog Altogether.
2014 Totals to date: 175 films, 103 1st time views, 104 horror, 23 cinema
Strange Colour is getting a midnight screening on campus this fall (on Halloween, naturally), so I'm very much looking forward to that (and playing catch-up with Amer in the interim).
ReplyDeleteah, so you haven't seen AMER yet? Both it and STRANGE COLOUR are extremely stylish, so much so that this seems to be their reason for being. I'd like a little more content, but there's enough imagery to make up three or four movies.
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