Christmas Moviefest 2013

Every year, I have a Christmas moviefest. It's a 24-hour extravaganza of films, music videos, trailers, and other random stuff. Usually, I do a dozen films (12 days of Christmas, etc...) but due to other commitments, I only did eight. So, I'll have to make up for it next year. 16 movies...hello psychosis! Anyway, this year's line-up was:

1. Full Metal Jacket: Not my favorite Kubrick movie (that would be A Clockwork Orange) or my favorite Vietnam War movie (that would be Apocalypse Now) FMJ is still an awesome movie. From the intense first half of the film set in the Marine Corps bootcamp at Parris Island to the brutal fighting in Hue that wraps the movie up, Kubrick created an amazing look at how men are broken down and rebuilt as soldiers...and how they try to cope with the horrors of war.
2. Pitch Perfect: I thought I'd hate this movie about a college a cappella team, but this is a surprisingly funny movie. The musical numbers don't do much for me; I saw this because a friend of mine who loves Glee insisted...and Glee is one step below having fire ants inserted into my rectum. However, the cast does a nice job with stock characters and the writer (Kay Cannon) has a pretty good - and more than a little deranged - sense of humor.
3. Byzantium: Great vampire movie. You can see my review of it here.
4. Wild at Heart: David Lynch's version of The Wizard of Oz is a favorite of mine. Intense, over-the-top, operatic performances by Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern, random Lynchian weirdness...just wonderful. Not everything works - some of the odd images and character ticks don't seem to mean anything - but these are minor problems.
5. Snatch: Style over substance? Sure! And Snatch has lots of style. It also has a witty script, great acting, inventive camerawork, and a great soundtrack. IF you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor; stop reading this and go watch the movie.
6. Elysium: It looks great. Other than that...you know, I'm going to do a longer review in a little bit. The design work and the effects are very cool. The rest leaves a lot to be desired.
7. Zombieland: Bill Fucking Murray. And zombies. And Emma Stone, epic-hottie. And zombies. And Woodie Harrelson as the baddest-assed undead stomper since Ash. And zombies. A great, funny movie.
8. L.A. Confidential: The plot is a little confusing the first time around. However, the cast is stellar, the film has real sun-drenched, cotton-candy noir look (if that makes sense), that works to draw you in to Fifties LA. An amazing film that deserves every accolade it has gotten.

Interspersed with these were such delights as a 1960s Pathe film about the "new" Playboy Club in London, the Muppets version of Bohemian Rhapsody, a couple of burlesque videos from the Fifties and a really sweet video about the effects of LSD...which involve talking got dogs.

Movie Review - Byzantium (2012)

I saw Byzantium as part of my Christmas movie marathon. And no, the movie has nothing to do with Christmas; neither does my movie festival. I just have some time off, so I get to watch a lot of movies.

Anyway, Byzantium is a vampire movie, although it is more of character study than a horror film.

Synopsis (spoilers): Clara (Gemma Arterton) and Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan) are mother and daughter...and both are vampires. Clara was turned into a vampire in her twenties, Clara when she was 16. This happened over 200 years ago, when each went to a remote island and entered a stone building where they encountered a doppelganger...and emerged a blood drinking immortal. The two have spent the intervening year living below the radar. Clara uses her beauty in a variety of sex-trade professions while Eleanor mopes around. They have to "obey" some of the expected "rules" of vampires (need blood to survive, can't enter a home without permission) but not others (sunlight doesn't bother them). They are being pursued by a shadowy group of male vampires, the Brotherhood, for reason that are not exactly clear. In a seedy seaside resort town, Clara set up a brothel while Eleanor finds a sickly young man (Caleb Landry Jones) to tell her story to.

Gemma Arterton makes being undead look pretty darn hot.

Byzantium is mostly a good movie. The story is well told and interesting. Director Neil Jordan is more restrained than in his previous excursion into the world of the undead, 1994's Interview with the Vampire but this more subdued visual style fits the less melodramatic story. The acting is almost uniformly good. However, there are three things that detract from the film. First and foremost is the character of Frank, played by Caleb Landry Jones. Frank is simpering and annoying and Jones decides to express this by always seeming on the verge of tears. There is nothing appealing about him; certainly, nothing that would attract a 200-year-old vampire. The character needed to be more forceful and played by an actor with range, not one, whimpering, note. Second, Eleanor's character is oddly written. Although she is centuries old, she is played as if she is still 16. It may represent how Clara has tried to keep her sheltered; but it plays more like an attempt to appeal to a teenage girl crowd. This is not an acting issue; Ronan is very effective. This purely an issue of how a character is written. Finally, and less important, the overall motivations and purpose of the Brotherhood are not at all clear. Some mysteries in the film - like exactly how the vampire making building works - are fine; we know what it does and that's enough. But, the motivation of the Brotherhood is important, since they are the antagonists who keep Clara on the run. Why they banded together and what their ultimate purpose is would help to give more depth to the reason they have been pursuing Clara and Eleanor.

With those caveats, the movie is worth checking out. It is an interesting look at how a pair of immortals would try to survive while keeping their true nature secret.

Short Review - Lovelace (2013)

The best word to describe this biopic starring Amanda Seyfried as porn icon Linda Lovelace: disjointed. It is not a bad film. It is competently shot and well acted with Seyfried turning in a particularly good preform. However, the film does not deliver a coherent story. While individual scenes are interesting, even gripping (in particular the scene where Linda asks her mom (an almost unrecognizable Sharon Stone) for marital advice - and refuge from her abusive husband, Chuck Traynor (Peter Sarsgaard) - and is told to "obey" him, not realizing that Linda interprets this as "do porn for him"), they all feel like scenes not a flowing story. This is not helped by the decision to jump back and forth in the timeline. It is not always clear when a scene is taking place. While I was never lost, these transition are not well handled and, in general, do not add anything to the movie.

In the end, the story that is told doesn't amount to much - sheltered girl gets involved with abusive man who exploits her - even though all the parts needed to make a compelling movie are there. It's worth checking out for the performances and for those parts of the movie that do work and are engaging. However, don't expect to come away knowing much about the life of Linda Lovelace or the making of the film that immortalized her in pop culture, Deep Throat.

The Top Five Chicks Of Exploitation

Exploitation movies often revolve around women. Sometimes, they are the protagonists. Movies like Cleopatra Jones and TNT Jackson revolve around strong, butt-kicking women. In other films, they are the victims, the woman in distress. Marilyn Burns being chased by Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is "tough" only in the sense that she is able to take a lot of punishment and keep screaming. While the scream queens have their own charms (and healthy lungs), I've always been partial to the women who could chew up and spit out their foes...and look hot doing it. Here are my top five women of exploitation.

1. Pam Grier: The number one slot was the easiest to fill. Pam Grier combined amazing looks with a powerful on-screen charisma, no matter what the role. Her characters are almost always tough and independent, traits that Ms. Grier seemed to naturally embody. While she has had memorable performances since the Seventies, including her roles in Jackie Brown (1997) and Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983), she made her greatest impact starting with The Big Doll House (1971) and ending with Friday Foster (1975). Whether playing a tough jail bird (The Big Doll House, The Big Bird Cage), a woman in search of vengeance (Coffy, Foxy Brown) or a gladiatrix in ancient Rome (Arena), Pam is a welcome sight in any movie.
2. Claudia Jennings: Coming to the world's attention in the pages of Playboy, Jennings was in a handful of movies, but made a lasting impression. Beyond her obvious beauty, she was a pretty good actress. She was believable as an action star and had good comic timing. She was particularly good in The Great Texas Dynamite probably her best role (although I also have a soft spot for her post-apocalyptic sword wielding babe in Deathsport...plus, you get to see David Carradine in a loin-cloth...so appealing...). Unfortunately, just as she was getting starring roles, Jennings was involved in a fatal car crash, dying at age 29 in 1979.
3. Caroline Munro: This brunette bird from Britain made a splash in the Seventies. After appearing in bit parts in a few films, as well as serving as the corpse of Mrs. Phibes in The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again, she made a break-through at Hammer Films. While at Hammer, she had a supporting role in Dracula AD 1972 and co-starred in the underrated Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter. With her sultry good looks and enthusiastic performances, she was great playing a scantily clad slave-girl in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and a scantily clad native of Pellucidar in At the Earth's Core. With her stunning figure, it is no surprise that "scantily clad" figures in the description of most of her cinema wardrobe. As the Seventies ended and her career was winding down, she had her best role - and one that proved she had talent to go with her looks - 1980's Maniac.
4. Susan George: While she only starred in a few exploitation films, Susan George was great in all of them. She always conveyed a sexuality that was barely contained...or, often, not contained at all. The groovy, if slightly warped Mary from Dirty Mary Crazy Larry...the horny Southern belle in Mandigo...the flirtatious wife of Dustin Hoffman in Straw Dogs...whatever role she had, George oozed sex. While not a stunning beauty, she had a sunny attractiveness. Her big eyes and cute smile (if not quite so cute teeth; hey, she's British) helped her portray characters who would be fun to hang out with...and possibly get involved in a high-speed chase with. She also is a good actor, particularly adapting to the character contortions Peckinpah put her through in Straw Dogs. And, she always seemed to be having fun with her roles, something that makes for appealing characters and an enjoyable viewing experience.
5. Dyanne Thorne: Although really only known for four movies - the Ilsa pictures - Thorne is an icon of exploitation. Even people who have never - and would never - see Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS would recognize Thorne's voluptuous figure in her SS uniform...with the top mostly unbuttoned, of course. While not much of an actress, she did have something that a good exploitation queen needs: screen presence. Thorne made her heartless, ice cold, sex kitten characters seem both dangerous and desirable. Although her film career never progressed beyond the sex and violence trade, she did make a lasting impression.

Now, if only there had been a women in prison film starring all of five of them...with extensive shower scenes. for the drams, of course...it's always about the drama.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Trailer is out...

...and it looks pretty awesome. I liked Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which surprised me, since I thought it would be as much of a disaster as Burton's 2001 remake. It turned out to be a fun, inventive and entertaining reboot of the series. We'll see if the sequel is as good as Rise; based on the trailer I'm feeling pretty optimistic. Check it out below.

Exploitation December - The Black Gestapo (1975)

The Blaxploitation sub-genre of film flourished for such a short period of time, starting in 1971 with Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and petering out as the decade ended. The term itself was coined by the NAACP, to criticize movies that the organization saw as pandering to racial stereotypes; later the term was incorporated in film discourse in a less pejorative sense. While the films generally do indulge in stereotypes, this has much to do with their reflection of the cutlure of the time and the need to speak to audiences in terms that they would find popular, identifiable and willing to pay for. While most were crime thrillers (including films like the Shaft trilogy, Across 110th Street and Pam Grier's revenge films; e.g., Foxy Brown and Coffy) there were also horror movies (Blacula, Sugar Hill) Kung Fu movies (Black Belt Jone), historical trash-dramas (Mandingo) and even an animated film, Ralph Bakshi's Coonskin. They were known for having black protagonists, largely black casts, and usually a gritty, urban setting. They also often had black creative teams, something that was groundbreaking in the American film industry. As the Seventies ended, many of these ingredients were incorporated into more "mainstream" films like New Jack City (1991) and Blood and Bone (2009) eventually spawning homages, like Tarantino's Jackie Brown (1997) and the hilarious parody, Black Dynamite (2009)

Not exactly subtle, is it?

Black Gestapo fits into an interesting spot in the genre. It has an overt political message told within the structure of a crime drama. While hampered by a low budget and a cast that is more enthusiastic than professional, the movie is watchable and worth seeking out.

The film takes place in Los Angeles. White mobsters are preying on the black community. A group of khaki clad, red beret wearing black activists organizes the People's Army (led by General Ahmed (Rod Perry)) to push white criminals out of their community. Ahmed advocates a peaceful, community building approach. His second-in-command, Colonel Kojah (Charles Robinson), wants to take more direct action to combat crime and secure power. He forms his own group of thugs within the People's Army, turning them into little more than another gang. They succeed in pushing out the white criminals, but then take over the drugs, prostitution and protection rackets. General Ahmed and Colonel Kojah eventually come to blows, with Ahmed trying to maintain the People's Army as a peaceful agent of change and Kojah preaching race war to his fanatical followers. In a finale that wold not be out of place in an episode of The A-Team of Macgyver, Ahmed infiltrates and decimates Kojah's men with the help of a bag of guns and gadgets. The End.

The Black Gestapo is pretty entertaining. The white mobsters are so evil - a collection of violent, racist thugs - that when they get their comeuppance (including a castration for a rapist) it is satisfying for the audience. The action is pretty well done with decent fight choreography and camerawork. The cast overplays their roles and the characters are little more than caricatures and archetypes. Usually, this is okay in an exploitation film; however, it does detract from the more serious themes of the story, which is really what sets The Black Gestapo apart from it's peers. Yes, there are a lot of boobs (including one of my favorite babes from the Seventies, Uschi Digard) and blood; but there is also an attempt to tell a story with some depth.

I'll take any opportunity to post an image of Uschi Digard.

The story examines the old adage that "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." Both Ahmed and Kojah initially have a similar goal; the protection of black community. However, the paths they take are very different. Kojah, raises an army of loyal followers (who have assemblies where he gives rambling speeches while sounds from a Nazi rally play on the soundtrack; this is a message movie, not a subtle message movie) who are successful in pushing the white mob out. They speak the language of violence fluently, something that Ahmed, with his drug rehab clinics and food banks, does not embrace until the end and then only because Kojah tries to have him killed. Kojah quickly grows accustomed to power and wants more. Within a scene or two of forming his first "security squad" he's ready to take over the protection racket in the black community. His ultimate turn to decadence is shown when Ahmed visits his compound (you can tell it's a compound because it has a tennis court and armed guards, hallmarks of compounds everywhere). Kojah is indulging himself with booze and women...including white women. Yep, Kojah has turned his back on black womanhood. Ahmed, meanwhile, is still running his community outreach programs (although all we see is a single free clinic). His girlfriend is a black nurse and he is not interested in traditional power, wanting to create a self-sustaining community, in which drugs, prostitution and criminals - black and white - won't be tolerated. However, he has his own problems. Ahmed makes the point that the People's Army depends on "white money" to function (a grant of some sort). Later, it becomes clear that Kojah has been funneling at least some of the money from the protection racket to the more peaceful aspects of the People's Army. And, in the end, Ahmed has to turn to violence to neutralize the threat of Kojah.

The other overarching theme is an examination of two strategies (violent confrontation and community building) being advocated in the black community (and, really, in all minority communities) when faced with a majority (in this case, white) community that, at best, ignore them (when someone brings up the idea of going to the police about crime, this is scoffed at since the police "ignore" their duty to the black community) and, at worst, exploit and oppress them. Interestingly, neither strategy is found to be satisfactory. The violent approach followed by Kojah leads to corruption and delusion (he gives a speech about raising an army and attacking White American for "vengeance"). The more peaceful approach advocated by Ahmed fails to address both the challenge from Kojah and the violence of the white gangsters/majority community. He can't even get funding for his projects without either turning to "white money" or Kojah. It's a pretty bleak, cynical look at race relations and efforts by the black community to address the imbalance of power vis-a-vis white American society.

Black. Nazis. Riiiiight...

Even though the film tries to tell a story with some depth, there are problems. In addition to the acting, the film has a cheap, murky look to it. Night scenes are poorly lit, to the point that it is often difficult to follow what is happening. Much of the film is presented in master shots, although there are a few attempts to create dynamic images. The Nazi symbolism is heavy handed and out of place. The over dubbing of "Sieg Heil" on the soundtrack during Kojah's rallies, an early fade from a speech being given by Ahmed (in which he says "Martin Luther King had a dream....and it was blasted into eternity with him!") to newsreel footage of marching Nazis and a grinning Hitler and the decision by Kojah to clad his troops in black uniforms, complete with SS hats for the officers are all ham-fisted and unnecessary. The adoption of Nazi regalia, is the most out-of-place thing in the movie. Kojah never expresses any admiration for Hitler and it is strange that a black militant would use the uniform of one of the most racist groups in the 20th Century. Finally, a lot of time - too much - is spent with the white mobsters. They are all repellent - which is okay, since they are the villains - but also, the scenes with them are repetitious and not very interesting. A few scenes to establish who they are and how they operate is really all that is needed. More screen time for the main protagonist (Ahmed) and antagonist (Kojah) to develop their characters would have been welcome.

The Black Gestapo is worth seeking out. Even with the numerous problems cited, it does have a decent pace, a good amount of exploitation elements (boobs and blood) and tries to tell a story with some depth and thematic complexity. Oh, and Uschi's boobs...it has Uschi's boobs...

Tom Laughlin Has Passed On

Tom Laughlin has died at age 82. I remember the first time I saw him in Billy Jack and thinking "this isn't very good...but it is really earnest." I think that is the thing that stands out about Laughlin's films. He saw them as vehicles for his politics, but also made them entertaining, more or less. Although he faded from the movie scene after the Seventies, his Billy Jack movies - Born Losers (a biker flick that introduces the character and my favorite of the series), Billy Jack, The Trial of Billy Jack and Billy Jack Goes to Washington - are an interesting footnote in movie history, a quirky action/activist series. Check out the first two, at least.

Trailer For Edge Of Tomorrow Is Very Explodey

The new Tom Cruise sci-fi/action film Edge of Tomorrow looks good. Okay, the trailer looks good; who knows how the movie will turn out. I remember getting psyched after seeing the trailer for Avatar and I hated that movie. Still, I like the look and the main battle scene looks stunning. Check it out.

Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Just Cancel It.

Caught and episode of SHIELD last night. Take bland, stereotypical characters, add dull talk and boring action, stir in a screenplay that was, apparently, written by a 10-year-old and you have...MAOS. This is so bad, I think Marvel needs to pull the plug before it taints their movie franchise.

After 10 episodes, none of the characters have any personality or arc; they have a mishmash of action movie and Whedonesque tics and traits, but that's it. The actors, are generic, going through the motions, without bringing any depth to to roles. To be fair, they are given little to work with.

Which is the main problem with the series; the writing is terrible. The scripts are jammed full of cliches. In this episode we have the character saying something insulting about another character, then saying "he's right behind me, isn't he?" How original! This kind of laziness is endemic in the series.

Ultimately, the show is just too dull and unoriginal to watch. This is the first failure in the Marvel shared universe; let's hope subsequent films and the Marvel/Netflix partnership learns from this miss-step. Marvel can work on the small screen; but only if the creative teams involved don't turn out dull, cliche-ridden stories.

New Godzilla Trailer Is Out

I'm a huge Godzilla fan. From his original 1954 Tokyo stomp-fest to 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars the films from Toho have never failed to entertain. The 1998 Roland Emmerich fiasco, of course, showed how not to try and port the character to US audiences. Next year, we will get Gareth Edwards take. His feature debut, Monsters, was pretty good and is one of my favorite low-budget monster movies. If the trailers are any indication, the new Godzilla should be pretty good. The latest one is out and, while light on Godzilla, it does look good. Hopefully, Edwards and company will avoid the mistakes Emmerich made and give us a tense and awe-inspiring film.