Fool's Views (5/1 – 5/31)

Remember those April showers? Yeah, May is when the wheels really came off, as Shout! Factory, Severin, Synapse, and Arrow all decided to release a wealth of home video gold that all landed in my lap at once… just as I was starting rehearsals for To Kill a Mockingbird with Oak Park Festival Theatre. Of course. 

Then an impromptu movie party at Kitley’s Krypt turned into an impromptu Gobblerfest hereafter to be known as Turkey Day in May. And to further compound my mirthful misery, the month kicked off with the 3rd Annual Chicago Critics Film Festival, which saw me at the historic Music Box Theatre every night for the entire week, tallying 20 flicks in all.

The CCFF marked the first time I’d seen a movie in the cinema since January (WTF), and the month ended as it began, taking in the magnificence splendor that was Mad Max: Fury Road and Ex Machina, as well as the Chicago Cinema Society's screening of Der Samurai.

I also shared the mike with Kicking the Seat’s Ian Simmons to discuss the train wreck that is The Human Centipede 3, a sad affair since both of us are/were big fans of the first two installments. You can hear our grousing HERE.

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

Enjoy!

AC fends off the screeners with his usual gusto

HORROR:
Applecart (2015) d. Mills, Dustin (USA) (1st viewing)

Goodnight Mommy (aka Ich seh, Ich seh) (2014) d. Fiala, Severin / Franz, Veronika (Austria) (1st viewing)

The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence) (2015) d. Six, Tom (Netherlands) (1st viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR KICKING THE SEAT PODCAST***





BLU-RAY REVIEWS:
Empire of the Ants (1977) d. Gordon, Bert I. (USA) (6th viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

Extraterrestrial (2014) d. Minihan, Colin / Ortiz, Stuart (as The Vicious Brothers) (Canada) (1st viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

The Food of the Gods (1976) d. Gordon, Bert I. (USA) (8th viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

Frogs (1972) d. McCowan, George (USA) (3rd viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

Island of Death (1976) d. Mastorakis, Nico (Greece) (2nd viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

Late Phases (2014) d. Bogliano, Adrian Garcia (USA) (1st viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

Der Samurai (2014) d. Kleinert, Till (Germany) (1st viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

She Killed in Ecstasy (1971) d. Franco, Jess (Spain/West Germany) (1st viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

Society (1989) d. Yuzna, Brian (USA) (2nd viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

Stigmata (1999) d. Wainwright, Rupert (USA) (3rd viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne (1981) d. Borowczyk, Walerian (France/West Germany) (1st viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

Vampyros Lesbos (1971) d. Franco, Jess (Spain/West Germany) (3rd viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***




TURKEY DAY IN MAY:
***CLICK HERE FOR THE KITLEY'S KRYPT RECAP***


From Hell It Came (1957) d. Milner, Dan USA (2nd viewing)

Endless Descent (aka The Rift) (1990) d. Simon, Juan Piquer Spain/USA (1st viewing)

A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973) d. Franco, Jess Belgium/France (2nd viewing)

Superstition (1982) d. Roberson, James (USA) (1st viewing)

Paganini Horror (1989) d. Cozzi, Luigi (Italy) (1st viewing)

Jaws of Satan (1981) d. Claver, Bob (USA) (1st viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***

Satan's Blade (1984) d. Castillo, Jr., L. Scott (USA) (1st viewing)

CIVILIAN:
After Hours (1985) d. Scorsese, Martin USA (3rd viewing)

Big Hero 6 (2014) d. Hall, Don / Williams, Chris USA (1st viewing)

Buck and the Preacher (1972) d. Poitier, Sidney USA (1st viewing)

Ex Machina (2015) d. Garland, Alex (UK) (1st viewing)

her (2013) d. Jonze, Spike (USA) (1st viewing)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) d. Miller, George (Australia/USA) (1st viewing)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) d. Leone, Sergio (Italy) (2nd viewing)






CHICAGO CRITICS FILM FESTIVAL 2015

Digging for Fire (2015) d. Swanberg, Joe (USA) (1st viewing)

Raiders! The Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (2015) d. Coon, Jeremy / Skousen, Tim (USA) (1st viewing)

Kahil Gabran's The Prophet (2014) d. Allers, Roger / Various (USA) (1st viewing)

The New Girlfriend (2014) d. Ozon, Francois (France) (1st viewing)

Results (2015) d. Bujalski, Andrew (USA) (1st viewing)

Unexpected (2015) d. Swanberg, Kris (USA) (1st viewing)

Call Me Lucky (2015) d. Goldthwait, Bobcat (USA) (1st viewing)

Slow West (2015) d. Maclean, John (New Zealand) (1st viewing)

People Places Things (2015) d. Strouse, James C. (USA) (1st viewing)

Batkid Begins (2015) d. Nachman, Dana(USA) (1st viewing)

Quitters (2015) d. Pritzker, Noah (USA) (1st viewing)

Heaven Knows What (2014) d. Safdie, Ben / Safdie, Joshua (USA) (1st viewing)

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon (2015) d. Tirola, Douglas USA (1st viewing)

The Connection (2014) d. Jimenez, Cedric (France) (1st viewing)

The Second Mother (2015) d. Muylaert, Anna (Brazil) (1st viewing)

The End of the Tour (2015) d. Ponsoldt, James (USA) (1st viewing)
Night Owls (2015) d. Hood, Charles (USA) (1st viewing)

The Overnight (2015) d. Brice, Patrick (USA) (1st viewing)

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) Gomez-Rejon, Alfonso USA (1st viewing)




2015 Totals to date: 141 films, 84 1st time views, 68 horror, 24 cinema