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Showing posts from June, 2011

The Bloodstained Shadow (1978) **

El Topo (1970) ***1/2

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Bandidos with shoe fetishes, armless men with legless men strapped to them, randy elder women demanding pampering from manservants.

The Grapes Of Wrath (1940) ****

Sadly, I've never read the book.  This is only the fif th John Ford film that I've seen. Of those, I own two: Young Mr. Lincoln ( 1939 ) & The Searchers ( 1956 ). Recommended if you enjoy frequent squatting men, police officers who throw rocks through windows, and/or grossly overloaded cross country trucks.

Vampyres (1975) *** [Lesbian Vampire Double Shot Pt. 2]

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More ridiculous beauties chowing down on the red stuff. This one is slower, more bloody, more lesbiany, more vampiry, more sexified ( copious nudity) and not as good overall compared to  Pt. 1 of the LVDS, but still fun.

Daughters Of Darkness (1971) ***1/2 [Lesbian Vampire Double Shot Pt. 1]

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Enjoyed this one even more the second time. A perfect blend of style, eroticism, lush cinematography, interesting camera shots and mysterious music. Delphine Seyrig is just so damn seductive; I don't know how Danielle Ouimet escapes her charm for as long as she does.

Apocalypse Now Redux (1979/2001) ****1/2

This was my first time watching Redux & my third time watching the film. The added scenes are good, but not necessary. Recommended if you like helicopters, explosions, olive green, poetry, smoke and/or sweat. The Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic...with extreme prejudice.

Army Of Shadows (1969) **** [CC Night #8]

So, I don't know if anybody who reads my blog pays attention to this or not, but with my  Criterion Collection Night posts, I state three (usually humorous) reasons why you might enjoy watching the film viewed, which is a parody of Criterion's  Three Reasons . Recommended if you want to watch Resistance fighters who spend 90 % of their time getting captured by the enemy, poorly executed parachute jumps by men with glasses taped to their faces, and/or swift badass knife-to-chin action.

Machine Gun McCain (1969) ***

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Cassafrigginvetes , snappy dialogue, fun Morr - score (see below... seriously were there any Italian films from the 60s/70s that weren't scored by him?) and babes!

Thao & Mirah "Thao & Mirah" (2011) ****1/2

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Late star rating. Revisiting this album and it gets better each time.

Barry Lyndon (1975) ****1/2

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"I'm not sorry. And I'll not apologize."

Se7en (1995) ****1/2

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Tonight's film viewing was based on majority vote from my Facebook friends. "This is not even my desk." "He's a nut-bag! Just because the fucker's got a library card doesn't make him Yoda."

Vanishing On 7th Street (2010) **1/2

Meh.  Brad Anderson has made two good films, one excellent film, one so-so film (that I've seen) and directed some good episodes of TV shows. I feel like he has it in him to make another excellent film.

Doctor Zhivago (1965) *****

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The epic to end all epics. What's great about this film is that it's so simple at its core and manages to stay interesting for over 3 hours. Eventually, I'll get around to reading the novel. Here's a great rendition of Maurice Jarre's memorable theme, as perfrmed by Chet Atkins :

The Soundtrack Of Our Lives

The following is a comment (slightly amended) that I left in response to a blog post by horror film shirt-makers  Fright-Rags . I thought I'd post it here as well. This is just what springs to mind at the moment. I guess my list is less about very specific memories overall and more about landmarks in my life. The Cure   Disintegration   (1989) &   Mixed Up   (1990) What I would play while making love with my first girlfriend, who was also my first love. Nerf Herder Nerf Herder   (1996) One of the many CDs I would play on my car stereo at night as a teenager while causing trouble with my friends around our home towns. I bought this album simply because I liked the cover, a risk I never take anymore. Michael Jackson   Thriller   (1982) & various   "Weird Al" Yankovic   albums I used to play these on cassette on my rad silver boombox in the mid ‘80s. I miss that boombox dearly. Thriller  is also one of only two albums that I've owned on cassette,

The Tree Of Life (2011) ****

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I liked The Tree Of Life (2011) a lot.  If you like Terrence Malick films (story and traditional narrative are not typically the focus), you may or may not like this one, but you should have at least an inkling of what you're getting into if you go see this.  I've now had the priviledge of seeing 3 of Malick's films in the theater, when they were released. That's not bad, considering the only other 2 films that he has directed were both released before I was born. I also like The Fountain  (2006) a lot, another film which I feel Tree is similar to, and which has also been described as "pretentious."  It's hard to avoid 2001: A Space Odyssey   (1968) comparisons, but this is definitely a different type of film.  I actually think this summary, from a user on IMDb, hits it home pretty well: _______________________________________________________ How can you sum up trees? and life? If a summary was possible then the film it'd deal with wo

Giallo Films That I Own & Have Seen

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Inspired by the Movie Matters Podcast #8 - Giallo Special , I decided to get all the giallo films from my personal collection together for a photo op. Just look at all those lurid covers! Yep, a whole kitchen table full (almost) o' giallo-y goodness. Here's the rundown: 26 titles 14 released by Blue Underground 4 released by NoShame (R.I.P) 4 released by Anchor Bay 2 released by  Shriek Show (Media Blasters) 1 released by Severin 1 released by Mya 1 . The Girl Who Knew Too Much ( 1963 ) 2 . Perversion Story ( 1969 ) 3 . The Bird With The Crystal Plumage ( 1970 ) [Responsible for the popularity of the giallo film] 4 . Five Dolls For An August Moon ( 1970 ) 5 . The Forbidden Photos Of A Lady Above Suspicion ( 1970 ) 6 . A Lizard In A Woman's Skin ( 1971 ) [ 2 DVD releases] [There is another, supposedly superior, DVD release available, but I can't see buying a third version when a Blu-ray seems inevitable (Pleeeease?)] 7 . The Fi

X-Men: First Class (2011) ****

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I was pleasantly surprised by X-Men: First Class  (2011). Really enjoyed this. As my friend Rygar stated, it hits all the right emotions at all the right moments. Lots of random cameos and bit parts from quasi name actors.

Santa Sangre (1989) ****

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Jealousy, revenge, circus performers, blasphemous religion, armless mothers, deaf/mute lovers, hallucinations, and dying elephants. I found  Santa Sangre  (1989) to be more narrative than either El Topo  (1970) or The Holy Mountain   (1973). It feels simpler, more straightforward and a bit less self-conscious. It's still bizarre...but it has heart. I enjoyed the first half of the film more though, well perhaps the first two-thirds. The end starts to feel a little cliche (elements of giallo ) and there's no real great mystery revealed (at least, not for me). It felt similar to  Hardware , in that both films seem like they should be so kick ass on the surface, but some of the execution left me feeling just the slightest bit let down. Incidentally, Simon Boswell scored both those films. But the visuals are superb and most of the performances are great, particularly Blanca Guerra and the director's son,  Axel Jodorowsky 's physical performance. I'll never

King Kong (1933) ****

Recommended if you enjoy freshly chewed/stomped victims, broken Allosaurus jaws, and/or Fay Wray   screaming over and over and over again.

Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) *****

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My favorite western. Sound, music, beauty and brutality, mixed to perfection. "Can't imagine how happy it makes a man to see a woman like you. Just to look at her."

My Morning Jacket "Circuital" (2011) ***1/2

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Circuital is a really good album. It doesn't quite give me the boner that the new Death Cab does, but it's solid. Also: this song gives me major wood. An atypical song for MMJ (very little guitar). I find myself often liking the songs/albums by bands that sound the least like them and/or are more "produced". All the early material MMJ snobs probably hate this tune.

Death Cab For Cutie "Codes And Keys" (2011) ****

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First listen: I thought, "this is decent, some good tunes". *** Second listen: I thought, "this is really good, I'm liking it more." *** 1 / 2 Third listen: I thought, "you know what, this album is excellent." **** I can't believe I've been listening to Death Cab   for 11 years.  [Comment about how I'm old]

Machete (2010) ***1/2

Jeff Fahey : easily my favorite thing about this film. This one's got it all - blood, boobs and bullets. And a cast that you wouldn't expect to see in a movie like this.

Lolita (1962) ****

"Queer how I misinterpreted the designation of doom."