DVD/Blu-Ray Picks Of The Week - 9/6/11

They Call Him Chad's Pick: X-MEN: FIRST CLASS (Region 1 DVD & Blu-Ray; 20th Century Fox)
Technically, X-Men: First Class arrives this Friday rather than tomorrow for some strange. Hey, it's a few days for your wallet to recover as this is one particularly loaded week of releases as I'm sure my GGTMC cohorts will display. I want to see someone have the stones to recommend that $700 Scarface special edition Blu-ray packaged in a humidor, by the way. As for X-Men: First Class, I was stunned that this film turned out so well. It's a further testament that Matthew Vaughn is the real deal and is certainly the go-to-guy for comic book adaptations. It all works, somehow -- the prequel harness, the period setting, the rushed production, the lack of Wolverine, the interwoven Cuban Missile Crisis, the less familiar cast and characters -- it all works. Well, except for January Jones as White Queen maybe. Michael Fassbender adds a whole new dimension to Magneto, deepening empathy for this character and layering it with a significant amount of badassery. I'll be shocked if this doesn't stand as one of the best performances of the year when the dust settles. I'm probably alone in saying that I'm far from weary of superheroes films, and it's entries such as this that keep my enthusiasm high.

Links:
Amazon DVD and Blu-Ray

They Call Him Chad's Bonus Pick: SCREAM TRILOGY - 5 FILM SET (Region 1 Blu-Ray; Miramax/Lionsgate)
Alright, since my other pick isn't actually released today, I'm taking the liberty of recommending something you can swipe off the shelf immediately.

I know this pick might make some cringe, and I understand Scream hate based on the far inferior sequels and gamut of knockoffs that polluted the horror scene for so many years afterward. That said, I'm always surprised to hear so much backlash against the original Scream. It features the best slasher heroine in Sidney Prescott since Halloween's Laurie Strode. The film challenges the genre, even if it is largely through self-referential gimmicks. There's an earnest attempt to develop all the focal characters and their relationships, which is uncommon to the genre. It has a couple of nice twists, and Wes Craven brings the terror when it's needed. And I admire that this is a rare mainstream slasher film where you're not really rooting for the killer. Scream is one of my favorite horror films ever, easily in Top 10 Horror territory for me.
For those counting at home, the five film set does not include Scream 4 (a.k.a SCRE4M) because the distribution rights are owned by two separate companies (Miramax owns Scream 1-3 and The Weinstein Co. owns Scream 4). The extra two films are the supposedly well-made and insightful documentaries Still Screaming and the Biography Channel produced Scream: The Inside Story. For the record, while I'm okay with the subsequent sequels despite their diminishing returns (and I don't think they're nearly as bad as advertised), the current price point of this set is about the cost of purchasing the original by itself. At that cost, I'll gladly fork over the dough and happily take on the sequels plus two hopefully great docs.

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray.com

Sammy's Pick: DRESSED TO KILL (Region 1 Blu-Ray; MGM/20th Century Fox)
De Palma is a film maker not unlike Tarantino who takes his influences and wears them on his sleeve. He has never stated that I know of anyway, that he was much of a giallo fan but if you have seen this film you know he must have seen a few at the very least. Dressed to Kill is pure cinematic gold, like a lot of De Palma films they depend on if you like his style or not but there is a sequence in this film that is possibly one of the best De Palm ever shot. It involves a museum and very little if any dialogue. If you are going to buy a De Palma this week, make it Dressed to Kill...Scarface has become a parody of itself and this is the De Palma to get this week!!!

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray.com Review

The Mercenary (1968)

Directed by: Sergio Corbucci

Starring: Franco Nero, Tony Musante, Jack Palance

What spaghetti western lover wouldn't want to have Sergio Corbucci's directorial career? Well, except for Sergio Leone perhaps. It's too bad that Corbucci is often so heavily overshadowed by Leone's work. Although, with the advent of DVD, Netflix, streaming, etc., Corbucci has closed the gap in the "There's Leone and then everyone else" sentiment. Corbucci has definitely carved out his own slice of spaghetti western real estate, making some of the most diverse entries in the genre with standouts such as The Great Silence, Django, Navajo Joe and Companeros. After watching The Mercenary, I can safely add yet another signature film to this list and further say with confidence that "There's Leone and Corbucci and then everyone else."

The Mercenary follows a peasant field worker turned Mexican revolutionist named Paco Roman (Tony Musante) on his rise to power and high stature. While Paco has the spirited vitriol to lead his rebellion, he doesn't have the tactical knowledge to strategically succeed against Mexican military forces overseen by General Garcia. Paco hires polish mercenary Sergei Kowalski (Franco Nero) to advise him and his band of rebels in battle against the threatening armed forces. Under Sergei's tutelage, Paco easily overcomes all their adversaries, military and nefarious filthy rich bastards included.

Their successful arrangement sputters as the pair draw attention and the ire of ruthless and conniving tycoon Curly (Jack Palance). Initially, Curl has his sights set on Sergie's knowledge of a very valuable, hidden silver reserve. But when Paco kills Curly's henchmen, Curly craves bloody revenge on both men and aligns himself with General Garcia to ensure he has an opportunity to dole out the comeuppance. Further, a female member welcomed into Paco's rebellion, Columba, drives a wedge between the men by introducing romantic jealousies and denigrating their profiteering under the guise of freedom fighting.

Sergio Corbucci delivers another fantastic western with The Mercenary. This time proving that he can master the political spaghetti sub genre. One of Corbucci's strengths is that he continually subverts the standards of the genre, and he has arguably introduced more inventive traits to spaghettis than any other Italian helmer. For one, he resist utilizing an American protagonist, and there's certainly not even an redeeming American to be found anywhere in the cast. The lone American, Curly, is the primary antagonist and carries no real admirable traits or features that command respect. Curly isn't rugged or tough like so many others baddies typifying American traits in these films. This character is the opposite, seemingly weak, exuding a certain femininitiy and homosexual undertones. Instead, Corbucci's hero is literally very un-American. He chooses to anchor his narrative to a character with a Polish heritage, which is an especially peculiar choice given that the majority of spaghetti westerns opt for characters of Mexican or Indian descent to fulfill the main protagonist role in the absence of an American lead. The Mercenary also commendably elevates its female presence with Columba inspiring the film's gestating coda and instigating the eventual showdown. This is in direct contrast to the genre trappings that normally relegate women to bit parts, inconsequential supporting roles or non-existence.

That's not to say The Mercenary is a think tank or artistic snoozefest. This is a film packed with action from start to finish. If you're familiar with Corbucci then you know that the man loves his automatic weapons and he serves up another classic here. Sergei gleefully mows down droves of Garcia's troops with his recently purchased machine gun in a glorious gunfire barrage. The fun of this scene is maximized as Sergei overcharges Paco for every step he takes in dispatching their foes with this weapon, ringing up $200 to use the machine gun, $200 to load the machine gun and finally $200 to fire it.

The casting is clearly superb. It is headlined by spaghetti legend Franco Nero as the polish merc. Like Corbucci, Nero has stretched the genre more than any other actor, always successfully displaying versatility in films known for their archetypes. Nero is barely recognizable, though his steely eyes give him away, disappearing into this role and completely immersing his accent without missing a beat. Jack Palance as Curly is a stroke genius, completely cast against type, eschewing his usual glass-chewing roughneck attitude for the soften-spoken effeminate villain.

The score is composed by none other than the iconic Ennio Morricone. Outside of Leone, this may be Morricone's best spaghetti score or at the very least his most integral to the overall picture. Of course, you'll immediately notice some of it from Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, but you'll see here the same thread of nobility that ties the two films together despite their differences. Morricone pours the glue that fills in the cracks, selling the inner struggle and burgeoning valor within Paco that isn't routinely well-drawn through the story.

Make or Break scene - I could rather easily select Sergei machine gunning charging army droves, but I think the scene that makes The Mercenary for me involves when Paco rescues Sergei from Curly and his thugs. This scene does so much for the film by establishing an identity for our main villain. To this point in the film, our heroes' adversaries are vague definitions of greedy land owners or cutthroat militants. Curly is cut from a different cloth from not only in this film, but also amongst other western villains of this era. After being apprehend, Paco's men ransack Curly for all his valuables and go so far as to start stripping off his clothes. Before Curly's left with nothing at all, Paco halts his looters and instructs them to leave him with his pants. In a really great moment of defiance, Curly refuses Paco's leniency and sheds the rest of his clothes and walks off into the desert stark naked. Further to this, Palance expertly sells Curly's emotion after Paco kills his main henchman, clearly displaying how much he cared for his men (and maybe even for this one a little too much).

MVT - Sergio Corbucci, big surprise. Actually, it's of little surprise to watch a Corbucci spaghetti western and discover another great entry in the genre. His name promotes an expectation of excellence. And as aforementioned in this review, Corbucci delivers these films in varying ways and not settling for straightforward simplicity and The Mercenary is no exception.

Score - 7.75

Episode #147: The Offence with Brian Higgins

Welcome to another episode of the GGtMC folks!!!

This week Sammy and William's schedules couldn't gel, so William and great friend of the show, The Brinn, bring you a review of the Sean Connery film The Offence (1972) directed by Sidney Lumet.

Direct download: The_Offence_with_Brian_HigginsRM.mp3

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

We will get you that Django the Bastard/Revenger show with The Brinn as soon as we can....Sammy couldn't pass up those conversations after all.....

Adios!!!

Exterminators Of The Year 3000 (1983)

The end is nigh. Always has been. Prophets, scientists, and madmen have been prophesizing the end of the world for years, centuries even. An Italian prophet, Savonarola, convinced artist Alessandro Botticelli and thousands of others that the Apocalypse would occur in the 16^th Century. Savonarola was eventually excommunicated and executed, Apocalypse-less. The Large Hadron Collider in Europe was feared for its potential to create a black hole big enough to swallow the Earth. It hasn't. Yet. Now they're using the machine to search for the hypothetical Higgs boson or "God Particle," and while there have been some murky results so far (at least from a lay perspective), it has also been speculated that the machine itself will not produce such a particle, because it knows that the consequences would very likely be catastrophic. That's like your car refusing to turn down a particular street, because it knows that a horrific accident awaits if you do. Super-chiseler-at-large Harold Camping predicted the Rapture would occur three separate times in three separate decades. Every time it didn't come to pass, a different, glib explanation was proffered as to why not.

Regardless of your personal religious/spiritual beliefs, the end of the world (and what will come after) has been big box office for decades. In the 1950s, movies like Arch Oboler's Five concentrated on the shakeup of American norms and mores. Would we maintain our stalwart values or devolve into animals in the face of civilization's destruction? In the anti-establishment, increasingly cynical 1960s, Earth-changing events took on a more fantastic element. From Day Of The Triffids to The Last Man On Earth, Armageddon was less likely to be caused by commie nukes than by viruses or aliens (of course, nuclear proliferation was still a consideration). Then in the 1970s, we were shown that not only had the much-feared nuclear holocaust already happened, but also the car stunts got about a million times better. 1979's Mad Max showcased a civilization holding on by its fingernails, where ultra-violent justice was meted out by leather-clad cops in super-charged cars. It was a game-changing film, and I would argue that every post-apocalyptic film since has borne a heavy influence from it and (at the very least) its first sequel, The Road Warrior.

Certainly, this is the case with Giuliano Carnimeo's (aka Jules Harrison) Exterminators Of The Year 3000. After the ozone belt portion of the stratosphere is destroyed by nuclear bombs, water becomes a scarcity. A small group of people hide out in caves, nurturing plants they plan to use to reinvigorate the planet's eco-system. The problem is plants need water, and the last person they sent out to get some still hasn't returned. Young Tommy (Luca Venantini) is more concerned than most, because it's his father that's missing. He stows away on the next tanker that is sent out to get water, but their convoy is attacked by Crazy Bull (Fernando Bilbao) and his dune-buggy-riding minions, who are lured by the sight of the tanker and the prospect of an easy target. Tommy escapes death along with the map to the secret water reservoir. Eventually, he comes upon thief, murderer, and all-around scumbag, Alien (Robert Iannucci). Tommy tries to convince Alien to help his people restore the planet, but Alien is only looking out for Alien. Will Alien finally become an altruist and discover true friendship and a purpose to life? Eh. Not really.

This is an example of what is sometimes referred to as "Pasta-pocalypse Cinema." Seeing as how it was an Italian/Spanish co-production, you can guess why. It has the "futuristic" fashions we've come to expect: Lots of leather and exposed skin (odd considering the lack of ozone in this future), motocross and football pads, studs, spikes, and chains wherever they can be added. And let's not forget the eyeliner/face makeup. All the vehicles are re-purposed from "the past." Apparently, every car in the future needs bars and grates across the windows and the front grill (and often over the wheel wells). Basically, they're "hoopties." Villains are required to ride in open-air autos. There are lots of dune buggies (though nothing as eye-catching as the one in Alabama's Ghost), dirt bikes, and pickups with the roofs removed. Settings are comprised of deserts and rock quarries, anything that can be done with a minimum of set dressing or permits. All of these requirements are met by this film. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much more than meet the basics. Even Alien/Crazy Bull's car, "The Exterminator," fails to impress as "the most powerful car in all the forbidden lands" (and if anarchy reigns, who declares areas "forbidden," anyway?). The interior consists of some flashing lights and a TV monitor for driving with the venetian blinds closed (yes, really). Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary is done with this vehicle. It doesn't talk, have flamethrowers or missiles, or even seem to handle all that well. The last of the V-8 Interceptors has nothing to fear from the Exterminator.

On the subject of Mad Max influences, the largest of them must be addressed. That would be car stunts. Miller's film, as it's been said dozens, if not hundreds, of times, captured the high adrenaline feel of super-fast car chases. The use of undercranked cameras and low-angle shots turned scenes of cars speeding around the roads of Australia into virtual car pornography. Carnimeo's film, by contrast, does not. Oh, there are enough car chases, and some of the stuntwork is even impressive. The problem is twofold. One, the style of shooting and editing these sequences together is flat. They're mostly shot from a good distance away and the shots hold for so long (probably for padding reasons), they lose any dynamism they may have had. Two, the sequences themselves overstay their welcome. Hard to believe in a film where they're the main attraction, but when the action is so lackluster, you'd prefer them not to stick around. There are some nice, slow motion shots, but they're rare and simply not enough to sustain prolonged interest.

Generally speaking, these films are thematically concerned with two ideas. One is how we got here. This is typically an anti-war/anti-nuke sentiment and is used more as exposition than having anything intrinsically to do with the story. In Max's world, gas becomes a rare commodity, in Alien's world, it's water. This reflects the second theme – how we get to tomorrow. Funnily, Carnimeo's movie has the more interesting variation on this idea. After all, you can't live without water, but you can get from place to place without a car. The mistake the filmmakers make is in giving this aspect short shrift. The quest for water is nothing more than a McGuffin to string together action scenes (and is presented as such). This apathy pervades the film and only helps drag it down, in my opinion, particularly once we get to the end.

This movie is not done any favors by the writers or actors either. The dialogue is in the realm of "So Bad It's Good." Witness: "Once more into the breach, you mother-grabbers. Let's purloin that water." "A snakebite's better than a kiss from you." "Even a son of a bitch has a soul." And many more. Tragically, it just doesn't help to elevate the movie, even on a kitsch level. The thespian antics are spastic and po-faced simultaneously, but they're nothing more nor less than what you would expect from the time and place of the film's production.

The only scene that I found truly engaging was in the warehouse with the underground reservoir. There are a bunch of great, pulp-style deathtraps, including a spiked, whirling log on chains and light-triggered arrows. Plus, the place is guarded by fire-and-brimstone-shouting mutants dressed like members of A.I.M. But it's just too little, too late to bring this movie out of the morass of mediocrity. When all's said and done, Exterminators Of The Year 3000 is strictly middle-of-the-road.

MVT: The car stuntwork is plentiful, and there are some decent enough gags. It's their monotonous handling that drains the excitement from them.

Make or Break: The "Break" for me was the final scene, where a Deus Ex Machina of the highest order negates everything that came before. In a film that's not about much to begin with, somehow they managed to make it about even less.

Score: 5/10

DVD/Blu-Ray Picks Of The Week - 8/30/11

They Call Him Chad's Pick: IF... (Region 1 Blu-Ray; Criterion)
If.... is one of the strangest films I've ever seen. I first saw it during film school at a screening and Q&A honoring Malcolm McDowell in which the man himself hand-picked If.... as the film he most wished to show us from his expansive filmography. At the time, I'd never heard of the film and it wasn't something readily available on video. I didn't know what to expect, and that made If.... even better because it's a movie that defies expectation. The film starts off rather straightforward (and maybe a tad mundane) then unspools in a maniacal stylistic mash-up of Kubrick, The Coens and Lynch. While I don't want to spoil anything, there's at least one moment in If... that'll make you utter "what the hell?" in laughter at the unadulterated lunacy. If you don't know what you're in for, I suggest that you avoid all measures to educate yourself and fully enjoy the mania. God bless you, Lindsay Anderson!

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray
Criterion.com
Blu-Ray.com Revew

Large William's Pick: POLICE, ADJECTIVE (Region 1 DVD; Kimstim/Zeitgest)
One of the films from tiff a few years ago, that got a boatload of hardware at Cannes, etc, finally come to region 1. I had the pleasure of finally seeing it last year, and it really is in line with the best films of the recent celebrated Romanian new wave. Absurdist, blackly comic, commenting on the inherently broken nature of their once communist society. It follows a police officer and his tailing of a low lever drug dealing youth and the implications that come of it. It's worth the price of admission alone for the philosophical, dictionary pulling final scene. Check it out gang!

Kisses,
William

Links:
Amazon DVD

Episode #146: A Bullet with Zeke Pinheiro

This week the Gents tackle a different approach from our regular programming by interviewing film maker Zeke Pinheiro and discussing his short film The Price and other projects he is working on...and also giving you a film review by covering A Bullet for the General (1966) directed by Damiano Damiani.

We had a great time discussing cinema with a great friend from the show and trust me, this is a funny episode, if not just for the fact that Sammy puts his foot in his mouth often with tasteless humor....pretty much what you have come to expect from GGtMC!!!

Direct download: A_Bullet_With_Zeke_PinheiroRM.mp3

We are providing a limk to Zeke's Kickstarter campaign to help with his project The Cheerleaders Must Die.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/1371792136/the-cheerleaders-must-die

Please go over and help a friend of the show out!!!

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

Slaughterhouse (1987)

Buddy Bacon (Joe B. Barton) lives forever in my memories for one image. It was in a horror magazine ("Gorezone," "Toxic Horror," or another, I cannot recall). Anyway, the photo shows Buddy, a hulking, scruffy man in filthy bib overalls, leaning casually with one foot up on a broken chainsaw. In his hand is a knife-fingered glove reminiscent of that Elm Street fellow (I think Buddy might even be picking his teeth with one of the blades, hinting that Mr. Krueger sure was tasty). Somewhere on the floor is a beat-up hockey mask. Where Godzilla was announced in America as "King of the Monsters," we are to intuit from this oh-so-subtle picture that Buddy is "King of the Slashers." Well, not quite. What the image does do well is convey the overall tone of Slaughterhouse (aka Bacon Bits; I love that one). This is a fun little slasher movie that has its tongue planted firmly in its cheek (almost poking out the other side), that never received much recognition for what it gets right.

Jerk slaughterhouse owner Tom Sanford (Bill Brinsfield) has been trying for some time, with the help of his attorney Harold Murdock (Lee Robinson), to buy old man Lester Bacon's (Don Barrett) dilapidated property, on which also stands a slaughterhouse. Along with Sheriff Borden (William Houck), the men visit Les and his obviously not-all-there son, Buddy, and inform him that his property is going into foreclosure. Lester, who laments the death of craftsmanship in the slaughter industry and is Tom's former mentor, basically tells them to pound sand. Meanwhile, the sheriff's daughter Liz (Sherry Bendorf) – get it? – is preparing with her pals to shoot a horror video for some vague reason (a competition, maybe?). Guess where they wind up shooting. However, Lester has discovered Buddy's handiwork on a couple of whippersnappers who messed with his pigs and decides to lure his enemies to his abattoir and kill them, one at a time.

The film starts with a relatively non-graphic (yet decently bloody) double kill. The titles then come on with shots of pigs in a slaughterhouse going through their daily "routine." This is accompanied by a Bacharach-ian musical number. The entire movie bears this dichotomy. But it's not comedy versus horror. The two seem well-blended, so one doesn't overshadow the other. Some of the later kills in the film are fairly graphic in their depiction. Buddy himself is the center of both comedy and violence, but more on that later. Lester, on the other hand, is funny for all the wrong reasons. Despite his groan-worthy, pun-filled dialogue (which is not his fault), Barrett's delivery is so over-the-top, you start to wonder if it's really John Carradine in disguise. I'm thinking of starting an award for the most immoderate of performances. I'm undecided whether it should be called the B.E.M. (Bug-Eyed Monster) or Robert Marius (first commended for his efforts [okay, the only time so far] in my Zombi 3 review viewable here) Award. Food for thought.

The movie is presented as a slasher movie, and while it uses many of the subgenres tropes, it also twists some of them around. It contains the standard POV shots of Buddy stalking his victims on a couple of occasions. I never understood this convention, personally. The whole concept is fait accompli. You know where it's going. You know how the shot's going to end (with little variation). It doesn't generate suspense (I refer again to Hitchcock's "timebomb" theory [aka "the desire/frustration theory of suspense"]). Maybe it worked the first few times it was used, but certainly not by 1987 and certainly not after. Also, the victims are all dispatched in different ways. This has always been solely to keep the audience from being bored. If a killer (serial or otherwise) has an effective death implement, one would think they would tend to stick with it. It's the same reason why if you start off a video game with a .22 revolver and you're finally able to upgrade to a nuke-powered shotgun or what-have-you, you would be reticent (not to mention pretty dumb) to go back to the revolver.

On the flip side, the action doesn't focus primarily on the "teens" (I hesitate to call them that, because they don't look like teens, but they act like teens, kind of) but on the conflict between the adult characters. I actually found this refreshing. It gives the film a slight 1970s horror feel, which is almost always welcome. The teens themselves are almost indistinguishable from each other, as if writer/director Rick Roessler didn't care whether they were in the movie or not. They also don't seem to want to get in each others' pants, get drunk, or smoked up. How odd. The young'uns won't come under direct threat until the third act (and then arbitrarily, because you need teen victims in a slasher movie – and now you know why they're not developed as characters). It's not typical of the genre, but it works.

Slaughterhouse, regardless of its 1970s shadings, also keeps itself steeped in the 80s. There is some direly bad synth-rock that pops up whenever we get an establishing shot of the younger protagonists. The shooting of the horror video is presented in a devastating, soda-commercial-esque, kids-just-havin'-fun montage. I still found it funny. The big "Pig Out" party sponsored by radio station KFAT – get it? – features some of the most spastic 80s dancing ever captured on film (but sadly not the "Rerun", whose time I guess had passed by then).

The film borrows heavily (as any film with this setting and premise must) from both The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Motel Hell. Buddy wears the rubber mask stolen from a victim a la Famer Vincent's glorious pighead and Leatherface's, um, leather face. Effigies fashioned out of animal remains festoon Lester's slaughterhouse. There are hints at cannibalism as the bodies start piling up. As an interesting aside, there is brief mention of Buddy having a younger brother that mysteriously disappeared. Nothing is ever made of this, but I found it to be a nice touch. And then there's Buddy himself, a Brobdingnagian man-child who, in fact, squeals like a pig.

It's Buddy, funny enough, who is the center of pathos in the movie. He looks like one of the Moondogs crossed with Randall "Tex" Cobb in Raising Arizona. Nonetheless, he's portrayed as a sort of ani-man. He has a tremendous affinity for his pigs, and the inference we're lead to draw is that there's some bestiality going on. He kills, yes, but he doesn't really mean it, because he doesn't know better, and he's following his dad's lead anyway. He's a slightly less sociable "Lenny" with a giant cleaver. And it is his childlike demeanor that drives the humor of the film. It's gallows humor, to be sure, but humor nonetheless, and it comes from character, which makes it work. Consequently, Buddy (as all popular horror characters do) generates sympathy, and a modicum of empathy, for himself while feeling none for his victims. I think it would be hard to continue stories with this character, because he could very easily become self-parodic. Still, the final time we see Buddy in the movie, while not unexpected and highly improbable, was nicely satisfying.

MVT: Buddy is the most valuable thing here. I think the above paragraph explains my thoughts as to why.

Make or Break: The "Make" scene is when Buddy dresses up like a cop and takes a cruiser out for a spin. It's, by turns, funny and horrific and it cogently encapsulates the tone of the film.

Score: 7/10

DVD/Blu-Ray Picks Of The Week - 8/23/11

Samurai's Pick: TROLL HUNTER (Region 1 Blu-ray; Magnet/Magnolia)
This film was a blast, I thought it was really well photographed and it kept it's story nice and tight. It is a found footage type film, which I honestly am tired of, but it takes a nice spin by having some really nice special effects and a great performance from the lead actor, Otto Jespersen.

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray and DVD
Diabolik DVD and Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray.com Review


They Call Him Chad's Pick: ROUNDERS (Region 1 Blu-Ray; Miramax/Lionsgate)
If you can get past the horrendous photoshop cover art, Rounders is one great little film centered on the underground poker scene. John Dahl has long been a favorite under-the-wire director of mine, consistently churning out small films (not to mention some great television episodes) that usually develop followings yet not one large enough to propel him into bigger budget features. His natural modern noirish aesthetic fits perfectly here and exudes the gritty NYC atmosphere. The cast, of course, is stellar, featuring outstanding work by Matt Damon, Edward Norton, John Malkovich and John Turturro. If you're familiar with screenwriters David Levien and Brian Koppleman, this is them at their best, crafting a script packed with fun moments and slick dialogue exchanges. Rounders is one of those films where you'll find yourself latching onto numerous characters and wondering what a spinoff movie featuring some of these supporting players might be like. Released slightly prior to the poker boom, it's too bad that Rounders was a bit ahead of its time and wasn't profitable enough to warrant a logical sequel set during the rise of poker, online card playing and televised tournaments.

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray.com Review
High-Def Digest Review

The Kindred (1987) @ CineFamily

Directed by: Stephen Carpenter & Jeffrey Obrow

Starring: Rod Steiger, Kim Hunter & David Allen Brooks

When I attend an art house revival cinema if there's one thing I desperately hope for above all else -- even more so than discovering a fantastic film -- it's that I'm about to have a one-of-a-kind movie experience. In my first visit to The CineFamily Theatre in Los Angeles to see the 80s horror gem The Kindred all the ingredients for such an experience were apparent immediately. A lively and talkative crowd. An exuberant pair of highly knowledgable programers. A cool screening room that felt more like a loungey basement replete with couches, theater seats with pillows for cushions and food n' drink stands between the armrests.

But then, we're informed that the night's screening would be plagued by technical difficulties in the form of a broken equipment, relegating our viewing to a single projector. Translation: we'd have to endure a five minute plus intermission after each reel concluded (or about every 20 minutes) so the projectionist could cue up the next one. Refusing to let this damper the event, the programmers turned this complication into that unique benefit that I'd craved upon arrival. After each reel, we would be treated to a short Q&A hosted by co-director Jeffrey Obrow, incorporating the cadre of crew members on-hand that included numerous visual effects artists, the co-writer and editor, the set nurse (?!) and even Obrow's sister (?!?). What resulted was something along the lines of live director's commentary albeit one with large gaps of silence. A very one-of-a-kind experience indeed. A few of the great bits this produced were:

- After receiving crappy direction, Rod Steiger ordered the entire crew to take a break so he could ask Obrow if he'd directed actors previously. Steiger reminded Obrow that he attended the Actor's Studio and then proceeded to teach Obrow a few things about providing actors with better motivation.

- Another recipient of bad direction, Kim Hunter stopped Obrow to similarly ask if he'd ever directed anything before this movie. She also reminded Obrow that she attended the Actor's Studio and tried to give him pointers on communication with actors.

- Obrow's sister stepped forward to recount the nightly dinners where her brother's anxiety would manifest routinely with a stressed-out statement like "I only have 27 days to turn a woman into a fish and I have no idea how I'm going to do it!" This same thing happened every night after, only difference being the countdown lessened by one day.

- One of the producers invested money in The Kindred based on a concept video/short film without ever reading the screenplay. Upon reading the script, this producer frantically called Obrow to say that they needed to find a real writer (i.e. - not Obrow, who also served as the writer) to fix the script. And thus, enter Joseph Stefano (Psycho, The Outer Limits).

- Obrow's father, who had no artistic background at all, read the script and offered a single note that greatly enlightened the writers and impacted the story. He suggested that one of the male characters should be changed to a female in order to create love triangle tensions for the main character and his love interest.

- And best of all, one of the F/X guys brought up The Kindred itself, one of the original puppets utilized during filming, to show off to the audience.

- Obrow also confirmed that Synapse would distribute the film on Blu-ray & DVD in 2012.

The Kindred concerns Dr. Amanda Hollins' (Kim Hunter) deathbed plea to her son, John (David Allen Brooks), to destroy all of her remaining lab notes that she didn't have time to dispose of before falling ill. She's worried that her work will fall into the wrong hands, like those of the diabolical Dr. Phillip Lloyd (Rod Steiger), a former colleague that does not have good intentions for Amanda or her research. In urging John, Amanda accidentally lets slip that John may have a brother named Anthony the no one else knew existed.

After arriving at his mother's secluded house, John soon discovers his illegitimate brother is actually real. Except, Anthony isn't really his brother, but rather a fish-like Lovecraftian beast created from John's cell tissue. Worse, John's monstrous sibling still stalks the premises and turns his anger toward John's companions, horrifically dispatching of them one-by-one. This leaves John with no other option than to kill this creature, but Dr. Lloyd locates them and will stop at nothing to preserve this monster to serve his own interests.

The Kindred was co-directed and co-written by Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter who double-teamed The Power and The Dorm That Dripped Blood prior to this film. If I were to pay compliment with a comparison, The Kindred feels like a poor man's Stuart Gordon film, which is a comparison I don't believe I've ever made in relation to other films and perhaps illuminates Carpenter and Obrow's weird nuance. With this in mind, the overriding characteristic is the sheer lunacy of the characters, effects and story. The filmmakers embrace a genuine B-movie quality, not manufacturing that through intentional campiness to conceal larger faults. This is a film that sees a pregnant watermelon give birth to a hideous monstrosity. The Kindred is like a mix tape of genre staples, utilizing elements from Re-Animator and It's Alive! as well as facets inspired by John Carpenter's The Thing, Alien and Dr. Moreau.

The incredible Rod Steiger leads the cast and honestly sets the tone in a lively performance. Steiger dances all over the fine line between devious and insane, making for a performance that's both playful and intense. In a fantasy world, I wouldn't have minded Steiger rocking a slight accent and changing his character to be Herbert West's mentor Dr. Hans Gruber in a quasi-spin off/prequel based on Re-Animator. That said, Steiger renders some curious line deliveries where it is difficult to tell if he's intentionally poking fun at the absurdity; it's as though Dr. Lloyd is daring others to acknowledge that he's going to kill them in typical scenes foreshadowing unavoidable deadly outcomes. But when it counts, Steiger always hits the correct notes, especially when dialing up his fervor, and he truly sells the final scene.

From the various Q&A segments, one great strength that I learned from Obrow's recollections is that he's a strong collaborator, constantly turning the reigns over to those with more expertise to shape the picture in certain areas. It is this approach that no doubt resulted in some of the best effects works I've seen in any horror film short The Thing. In an age of CG and watered-down visuals, it was refreshing to witness exquisite practical effects on display at this superb level.

Led by special makeup effects master Matthew W. Mungle, the crew does, in fact, quell Obrow's fears and gloriously pulls off stunning visual and makeup work in transforming a woman into a fish. At another juncture, Mungle's believable makeup forced many in our audience to cringe and look away when the creature's tentacle entered a woman's ear canal, bulged her through cheeks and face before exiting through a nostril. It came as little shock that Mungle would go on to win an Academy Award for his work on Bram Stoker's Dracula. The usage of the effects in the film are not only impressive, but they're well paced, starting small and steadily escalating through the duration until erupting by the film's conclusion.

Make or Break scene - Make all the way. I've gone back and forth between two scenes here, but I'll go with the final confrontation that sees Dr. Lloyd meet the monster over the fish woman transformation. It's a riveting confrontation that Steiger completely commits to and sells. There's also a cool effect where we see John's face revealed within the monster, which is something Obrow himself never realized until watching the film this latest time.

MVT - Matthew W. Mungle, easily. The Kindred is a lot fun without the masterful visual effects, but the effects are simply the best trait of the film and the driving force to searching this out.

Score - 7.5/10

Episode #145: Johnny Boogens

Welcome to another episode of the GGtMC, with possible audio issues causing us problems in the morning...the very early morning...

This week we have a Cinema de Bizarre show for you Gentle-minions, we cover Johnny Hamlet (1968) from director Enzo Castellari and The Boogens (1981) from director James Conway. We also cover some feedback and we get a report from Ben (aka dissolvedpet) on the Melbourne International Film Festival!!!

Direct download: Johnny_Boogens.mp3

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

Who? (1973)

You may or may not have heard of Croatian music teacher, Frane Selak. A train on which he was a passenger derailed and pitched into a frigid river. Flying on a plane, a door blew off; He was sucked out of the plane and landed on a haystack. A bus he was aboard careened into a river. Two of his cars exploded in flames with him in them. He was hit by a bus. He jackknifed a car through a mountain road guardrail and landed on some tree branches. His car exploded hundreds of feet below. Then, in 2003, he won over one million dollars in a lottery. Mixed blessings, huh?

Whether you see Mr. Selak's luck as good or ill, it really can't compare to that of Dr. Lucas Martino (Joseph Bova) in Jack Gold's Who? (aka The Man With The Steel Mask). While in East Germany (this is before the power of Hasselhoff made the Berlin wall topple), Martino's car is run off the road and explodes. The East German doctors are able to save Martino by replacing most of his sensory organs with metal and robotics. They then release Martino back to the Americans, but before he can return as head of the Neptune Project, it must be established that this is, in fact, Martino. This is agent Sean Rogers' (Elliott Gould) task, and when he finds out that communist spymaster General Azarin (Trevor Howard) was involved in Martino's recovery, he becomes even more skeptical of Martino's identity. Now, Mr. Selak may have blown up a couple times and taken a few bad tumbles, but that's arguably better than being turned into a cyborg and having Elliott Gould on your ass.

Based on a 1958 novel by science fiction author Algis Budrys, Who? is set during the height of the Cold War. In 1973, the Vietnam War was at its apex, and though most Americans were hopeful for the success of "détente," many were still checking nightly for a "Red" under their bed. This innate distrust and anxiety over an imminent war with the USSR is what propels this movie forward on a narrative level. Rogers is the ultimate cynic, and even when everyone else is convinced of Martino's authenticity, he remains the sole holdout. Consequently, Gould plays Rogers with an icy aloofness, but you can see that he wants to trust Martino. Azarin's involvement, though, precludes this luxury.

On the technical end, the film is well-made, though the sets are spartan at best and utilitarian at worst. The few scenes of action are handled smoothly, if not particularly breathtakingly. The performances are all solid but not Oscar-worthy. It's unfortunate that the cyborg makeup is so poor. I kept thinking of Andy Kaufman in Heartbeeps with the puffy, Jô Shishido-esque cheeks. But this is a low budget film (produced by Barry Levinson, no less), and these are the constraints of that situation. Further, the film is not about being ostentatious and flashy. It wants to engage us on a more intellectual level, and it does so admirably.

The film is set up like a political thriller in the vein of The Manchurian Candidate or Three Days Of The Condor. However, aside from a couple of low-adrenaline action scenes (including an assassination attempt by thugs in a car bearing a very large red-and-white-checkered flag), the film is more melodrama than thriller. As a result, the audience becomes drawn in not by exhilaration but by the mystery of Martino. The viewer is teased into trying to outsmart the movie, to figure out if he is who he says he is before Rogers does, and it does a nice job of maintaining pace and interest in this way.

This bread trail, if you will, is laid down in the movie by the concept of the unreliable narrator. Whereas films like The Usual Suspects have deceitful onscreen characters, here it is the movie itself that is deceptive. The structure of the film bounces between the present situation, flashbacks to Martino's time behind the Iron Curtain, and flashbacks to Martino's memories themselves. Yet, the flashbacks, with only two noticeable exceptions, are not set off visually by the filmmakers. There are no dissolves, wipes, or wavy transitions. We are simply shown General Azarin and Dr. Korthu (Alexander Allerson) discussing Martino. We can't be absolutely certain that these are flashbacks, per se, because we have not established if Martino is Martino. Is the man in the bed Martino and the man sent back a mole? Is the man interrogated by Azarin Martino or a mole undergoing training? The film doesn't tip its hand in this regard until about the last quarter, but by then we've moved away from the Cold War angle of the film (though we're still intrigued by it). No, by this point, we've moved into the real theme of the film: identity.

It's been said that science fiction is the literature of change, and I suppose that statement can be interpreted socially or personally. The point is that the advancement of technology affects us as human beings, and good science fiction deals with these issues explicitly. Here, the same technology that saved Martino's life also makes him a suspect. Only Martino knows if he is Martino or not (or does he?), but without his face (and even in possession of Martino's right arm), he cannot be allowed to reclaim his life. This idea is very interestingly revealed in the scenes of Martino's personal memories. Gold employs POV camera techniques to be Martino's perspective as we watch events in his past. We are not allowed to look directly at Martino during these scenes. In fact, we never see what Martino looked like pre-accident at all. It raises the issue of what defines us as individuals. Certainly our outward appearance is unreliable and even events in our past can be retold by ones other than ourselves, but we know who we are at our core. Our individual viewpoints are unique. The quest for Martino's outside identity is ultimately the path by which Martino discovers who he is inside.

MVT: Joseph Bova does a great job with a difficult role. He is able to make us both believe in and distrust him, by turns, and portray a good deal of humanity under a lot of (bad) makeup. No small feat.

Make or Break: The "Make" is the scene when Martino goes to visit his former love, Edith (Kaym Tornborg). On the one hand, her reaction to Martino is supposed to supplant any misgivings we may have about his identity, but the actual content of the scene also gives us more reason to be suspicious. An elegantly complex scene.

SCORE: 7/10

DVD/Blu-Ray Picks Of The Week - 8/16/11

Samurai's Pick: THE KILLING (Region 1 Blu-Ray; Criterion)
Kubrick is my favorite film maker and this film is close to perfect in my opinion. Great performance from Sterling Hayden and possibly one of my favorite endings of all time. Don't even hesitate, just buy...seriously!!!

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray and DVD
Blu-Ray.com Review
Criterion.com

They Call Him Chad's Pick: DEMOLITION MAN (Region 1 Blu-Ray; Warner Home Video)
Demolition Man always felt like a film a little ahead of its time. The mixture of serious hard-hitting action, satire, social commentary and self-referential narrative seemingly confused Sylvester Stallone fans back in the early 90s (not me, though -- I was a stupid kid and I just wanted to see Sly blow crap up and cuss. So, I was enthralled and couldn't spell "satirical" let alone figure it out), making the film something of a cult movie as it has gradually developed a stronger following over the years. The plot focuses on a cryogenically frozen cop, who was too reckless for his own good and received a sentence as a human popsicle, thawed out 36 years later in a much less dangerous, near pacifist-like future to apprehend an ultra-violent nemesis from his era that's escaped a similar icy hibernation to continue his killing spree.

It's odd that both Sly and Arnie tried to pull off similarly stylized films in the same year, though The Governator's Last Action Hero goes full blast in satirizing the genre and its star. As for Demolition Man, it works on all those aforementioned levels -- great action and genuinely humorous moments. The three sea shells is almost a classic bit by now, in terms of Stallone's career, at this point. This is the last great Sly film, for my money. He's bad ass, charismatic and witty as John Spartan. This is the niche that I hope The Rock could finally settle into one day. Wesley Snipes is just off-the-charts electric as Simon Phoenix. And to me, Sandra Bullock earned her Oscar for portraying officer Lenina Huxley in this film (unfortunately, they gave it to her like 15 years too late). She's honestly never been better nor more attractive. I'll say it, this is one of the great Stallone films. Check it out and maybe have yourself a Stallone double deuce with another classic Sly offering, Cobra, which is also out on Blu today (and that some here's bound to recommend)!

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray.com Review

Large William's Pick: COBRA (Region 1 Blu-Ray; Warner Home Video)
In one of the more painstaking decisions I've made for this column, I've chosen trash over class this week by taking Stallone's Cobra over Kubrick's The Killing. The Killing is essential studio noir from Kubrick, but is an incredible noir that is absolutely worth your chingoleros. Cobra, well that's a pantheon GGtMC film if there ever was one. In fact, it's my favorite non Rocky Stallone film, hands down. Quintessential 80's action featuring a too cool for school hero with a pearl inlaid handgun, an amazing batmobile with his old Merc, the most imitated knife in the history of action cinema, and perhaps the greatest improvised Italian culinary dissection in the history of cinema. If you have the disease of never seeing Cobra, then this blu ray release is most definitely the cure...

Kisses(after I remove the match from my mouth),
William Cobretti

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray.com Review

Episode #144: One Tough Manhunt

The GGtMC is back and on the internets for your listening pleasure!!!

This week the Gents dedicate an episode to our good friend, The Stone Cold Norwegian Beef Bjornar, and cover One Tough Bastard (1995) starring Brian Bosworth and Manhunt in the City (1975) starring Henry Silva and directed by Umberto Lenzi.

It's an episode made for GGtMC coverage and it was great to get some icons of our podcast back on the air.

Direct download: One_Tough_ManhuntRM.mp3

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

The Aurora Monsters: The Model Craze That Gripped The World (2010)

I used to have a photo of one of my brothers from when he was a kid. Granted, this, in and of itself, is nothing to get excited over. In the image, my brother," Hans" (not his real name), is wearing a "Snidely Whiplash" mustache which was probably cut out of a loose piece of faux fur that was lying around (hey, it was the 70s). This is not the interesting part (it is, unfortunately, the funny part). No, what is most interesting is in the background. Standing majestically on a table behind "Hans" is a model of Jack Kirby's Devil Dinosaur, the cherry red co-protagonist (along with semi-primate, Moon Boy) of the comic book of the same name. I wanted that model. I still do. Of course, it wasn't until decades later that I discovered that what I thought was the coolest toy in the universe was actually a Tyrannosaurus Rex model from Aurora's "Prehistoric Scenes" line. Sadly, this photo has been lost to time, but I know deep down that it was really a Devil Dinosaur kit, just disguised as a T-Rex.

This is the overall feeling both informing and evoked by The Aurora Monsters (for brevity's sake, we'll skip the subtitle in this review), a documentary love letter to, specifically, Aurora's line of monster and horror-themed model kits first produced in the 60s. Sadly, there are no Devil Dinosaurs presented herein. Produced for The Witch's Dungeon (a museum dedicated to classic horror) by Dennis Vincent and Cortlandt Hull (the Dungeon's founder and great nephew of Werewolf of London's Henry Hull), the documentary is set up in segments of individual interviews bookended by short skits and introductions with legendary horror host Zacherley and puppet sidekick Gorgo the gargoyle as a framing device. While trying to cure Gorgo's sinus problems, the duo find some old Super 8 film reels and play the interviews therein. That's basically it.

Now, I like nostalgia. I think, in general at least, nostalgia is a good thing (hell, it's given Joe Franklin an entire career). It's only when your sense of nostalgia prevents you from moving forward that it becomes restrictive and harmful. If it weren't for nostalgia, I probably wouldn't watch and review half the movies I do. If it weren't for nostalgia, you probably wouldn't be reading this at all, I'd guess (unless you're one of the people I bribe to read it). And it is the sense of nostalgia as an inspirational factor that really drives this doc. The filmmakers are not so concerned with history (only about a half-hour is devoted to the people involved directly with Aurora at the time the line was introduced) as they are with the "monster kids" who were fans of the kits and how their future endeavors were stimulated by them. For Example, there's artist Daniel Horne who paints and sculpts classic horror characters. Actor Jeff Yagher sculpts garage kits that more closely resemble the James Bama box art than the Aurora originals did. And so on…

If the producers' point of view regarding the subject is under any doubt, their use of the "Cool Ghoul" as emcee eradicates it handily. Touted as one of the first (and certainly the most famous this side of Elvira) television horror hosts, Zacherley gives it his all in each of his segments. It is easy to see how the man has maintained so rarefied a career for over half a century. He delivers his lines, hits his marks, and most of all, sells the character and his situations. As cornball as it sounds, on some level you have to believe that a horror host is more than a collection of bad puns and crappy slapstick with a tinge of the horrific, and Zacherley accomplishes this with an exuberant ease (especially praiseworthy considering the man's almost 100-years-old). This was my first experience with Zacherley, and his mastery of the form is in full evidence. The effectiveness and need for this framing device is open to debate, but to me it's like chocolate and peanut butter, spaghetti and meatballs, Captain and Tennille, etcetera. Yes, it is incongruous and tangential to the subject matter, but it feels right. Monster kids build Aurora monster models and play with them while watching late night horror movies hosted by characters like Dr. Morgus, Uncle Ted (our own local talent), and Zacherley.

In documentary films, the idea of objectivity has been at the center of debate since the medium was invented (even before, probably). While some feel that the camera presents truth, others feel that its mere presence constructs truth. Personally, I fall in the latter category. Once there is a person behind the lens, no matter what the intent is (or says it isn't), some form of editorializing takes place. You can give ten people ten cameras, have them all film the same event (you can even stipulate the intent), and you will get ten different documents with ten different points of view. But that's a discussion for another day. Suffice it to say, The Aurora Monsters doesn't worry itself with ideas of objectivity at all. After all, the filmmakers aren't out to attain any lofty societal goals. They are all about spreading their affection for this short-lived and much-loved trend. Does that make this a "good" documentary or a "bad" one? Well, as a documentary, it won't have the Frederick Wiseman's and Errol Morris's of the world in fear for their jobs. But that's not really the point, is it? Mash notes don't have to be particularly well-written or be transcendent. They only need to be heartfelt. And this is.

I was astounded at how little of the film deals with the people who were personally involved with Aurora at the time of the line's inception. What's here, though, is fascinating, and listening to the three interviewees (James Bama, Andrew Yanchus, and Ray Meyers) is informative and entertaining. These interviews are interspersed with (what I'm sure are rarely seen) behind-the-scenes artwork and photos. Sadly, I wanted more of this history but didn't get it. Perhaps there are practical reasons behind this. Perhaps there's no one else from then still alive. Perhaps the historical aspect was only intended as a springboard into the monster kids' later exploits. Only the producers know for sure, but for something titled The Aurora Monsters, you'd think it would have a stronger emphasis on the eponymous objects.

Which brings me to structure, and this may be the films' biggest problem. It plays like this: Zacherley and Gorgo do a little sketch, Gorgo finds a reel of film, they roll the film, and we watch the interviews (ostensibly from the film reels), one at a time. The interwoven photos do some of the heavy lifting at fending off boredom (and they are thankfully shown with notations of who they portray), but the monotony of the formula gets old. Ultimately, it gives the proceedings the feel of a show on the Discovery channel (not that that's necessarily bad). I believe that, had they intercut between interviewees, they could have built and maintained a nice sense of momentum, even including Bama, Yanchus, and Meyers throughout the whole film instead of only at the start. They could have still had Zacherley in it, and it would have been a more unified whole. Still and all, if you were ever a monster kid (or ever wanted to be one), you can certainly do much worse than wasting a couple hours with The Aurora Monsters.

MVT: The James Bama interview. If you ever saw any of the man's artwork, you'd understand why this interview is such a treasure for his fans. Plus, he seems like a damn nice guy.

Make or Break: The Mad Geppetto segment is the "Make" for me. These guys take their love of classic monsters to a new level. This is the best example in the film of innovation over imitation (not that the others herein are just imitators). Great stuff.

Score: 6.5/10