BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1964) / AMER (2009) GIALLO ROUND TABLE!!

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1964) d. Mario Bava (Italy)
AMER (2009) d. Bruno Forzani / Helene Cattet (Belgium/France)

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In 1963, director Mario Bava made The Girl Who Knew Too Much and gave birth to the Italian film genre known as the Giallo. Named after a series of crime paperbacks with yellow covers, the Giallo was boldly contemporary, eschewing the cloaks and capes of Hammer’s Gothic melodramas. A year later, Bava made the film that would define and popularize the giallo for years to come, Blood and Black Lace.

Fool's Views (5/23 – 5/31)

"Your motivation skills are very persuasive, Fraulein..."

Howdy, folks!

Apologies for the delay. I’ll be honest, I was having a hard time finding motivation casting my mind toward cinematic criticism in light of current events. I hope you are all doing okay. I know it’s been stressful on multiple levels and it’s not like we had a lot in the tank to begin with.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reading numerous statements from organizations, as I’m sure you have, stating their positions on the state of the world and their place in it. For my part, I have been doing my best to show up, shut up, and listen up, because it is not necessarily my voice that needs to be heard at this time but rather my presence as an empathetic and supportive citizen of the world.

When the #metoo movement gained national attention a few years back, I felt confident that I was already on the “right” side. I identified as feminist. Previous October Scare-a-Thons had donated to Planned Parenthood, Resilience, American Women’s Self Defense Organization, and Chicago’s Greenhouse Shelter. I was even a member of an anti-sexual harassment organization, Not In Our House (Chicago). But, to be an effective ally, there was still more I could do. So I did more.

I feel the same way regarding Black Lives Matter. There is absolutely more I can do, more voices to be heard, more lessons to be learned, more action items to be taken, and I am dedicated to being a better ally. As in all things, it’s about gathering information, exploring options, and making choices, decisions, and commitments. I invite all of us to do the same. We can all do better – key word “DO.” Action is everything.

And that’s enough out of me about that.

We have a lot to get to, including the first-ever online version of Turkey Day in May, the first installment of Kicking the Seat’s "Accademia Giallo," another pair of rock docs, and stand-up people doing stand-up, so let’s just dive right in, shall we?

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

Fool's Views (7/1 – 7/31)

Study, work, show, sleep. Study, work, show, sleep. Watch movie. Review it. Study harder. Sleep less.

That was July. Which is too bad, because I would have like to have given more virtual ink to three pretty great discoveries in the horror department which I had previously heard very little about (Honeymoon being the exception, having shown up on several best-of lists come the end of 2014). Long Pigs is one of the best faux horror docs I’ve seen, ranking just below Man Bites Dog, which with it shares more than a few similarities, while the terrific horror/comedy All About Evil I had only heard of as “that Peaches Christ movie,” even though the cult personality is only featured in a few scenes. Anyway, all three are well worth tracking down.

In the civilian department, if there’s a more mindfuckingly chilling ending to be found than that at the end of Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy, I’m all ears. Combining this with Prisoners, End of Watch, and last year’s should-have-been-nominated Nightcrawler, I’m finally convinced Jake Gyllenhaal is the real deal. Big thanks to John Pata for these recommendations, as well as for the completely underrated Disconnect. Check 'em out, sez I.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

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