A Good Way To Die

Every so often that scene from Monty Python’s Meaning of Life goes through my head – the one where the guy pick’s his way of execution and it’s a bunch of naked women chasing him off a cliff. I think to myself – what would be my most ideal death in that vain?

Well, after watching a couple cult films recently my eyes have been opened to the foxy Barbara Bouchet – and I think I’ve got something.

You have Barbara Bouchet, Christina Lindberg, Reiko Ike, Edwige Fenech and Soledad Miranda – at the peak of their beauty – in complete 70’s hair, make-up and clothing – you have them come into a room and beat me to death with flirtatious looks! In 15 minutes – heart attack – dead!

If 15 minutes is too long for you – you just have them come up to me and give me a kiss on the cheek – nothing more. Seriously, they don’t have to do anything more than that – just a kiss on the cheek – heart attack - dead!

Barbara Bouchet

Christina Lindberg

Reiko Ike

Edwige Fenech

Soledad Miranda

Case closed (or should I say 'casket' closed?) - I'd be one happy dead guy!

Holy Bitches!

I am so jonesing for some cult movie goodness - and this trailer for an exploitation tribute movie caught my eye recently. It's loads of smashing fun - enjoy!


Run! Bitch Run! Trailer from Freak Show Entertainment on Vimeo.

Feb 7th - Feb 8th - Movie Watching Part 2

Traitor [2008]

A twisting turning tale of a bomb expert in a terrorist organization that has plans for a massive strike on the US on Thanksgiving.

What ruined this film was the title. We all know terrorism is a sensitive topic – and with the lead character a Muslim bomb expert it would be perceived as a Hollywood risk. Meaning - if you want to make it hard for the audience to root for your main character initially - you'd better let them know that it's okay - because there's a twist coming (hence the title). It’d be better to leave the audience guessing the entire time – and the let the twists unfold from the perspective of the FBI agents. I liked the acting by all the principles (fantastic cast!) – it’s just the convoluted and fairly predictable story arc that does in the movie.

Recommendation: Hunt it down only if you are bored

Downfall [2004]

Chronicling the final days of World War II from the perspective of the people in Hitler’s bunker.

This could easily pass as a sort of big budget documentary on the end of the Nazi regime – with how spot on everything seems to be. The details paid to the acting – especially Bruno Ganz as Hitler was outstanding. The story humanizes the leaders of the Nazi party – yet you feel no sympathy for their plight – simply because they don’t ask for it (and in context of history – it is well documented that they don't deserve it). This is easily one of the best WWII films out there – as morbid and real one would expect it to be.


Recommendation: A must see

Feb 7th - Feb 8th - Movie Watching Part 1

Dirty Pretty Things [2002]

When a night porter discovers a heart in the toilet of room 510 – a series of events unfold that leave him and one of the maids facing deportation.

This film was good – not great. I thought the acting was wonderful on both the leads parts – the story was interesting and kept my attention – but nothing about it really sold me that it was anything more than good. The story – even though it was interesting – was for the most part predictable. What also bothered me was how the characters unfolded – especially the character of Senay (played by Audrey Tautou). It just didn’t seem right to me that she’d go from point A to point B personality wise in such a short time.

Recommendation: Hunt it down if you are bored



Get Carter [1971]

Mystery surrounds the death of Jack Carter’s brother (or does it?) – and Carter’s out to investigate and bring the responsible parties to the justice he sees fit.

I really liked this movie the story kept you guessing and Michael Caine was excellent as Carter. I appreciate the realism – you don’t see people in real life running at full sprint for miles - which is something I’ve been keeping a keen eye on these days. I also much prefer these kind of gangster tales than the big shot deals that seem to be popular with US audiences. The story and actors are gritty and uncaring – much more than rich and privileged. More about the film though – it’s a classic – Michael Caine brings charisma to the role that few actors could – he brings a humor and charm – as well as a believable rage. The some of filming techniques were borderline amateur – but I really liked them – it brought an interesting touch.

Recommendation: See it

Monday Movie Muzak

What recent movie features this track by DeVotchKa?

A theory in comedy – Hot Fuzz [2007]

Hollywood likes to believe that there are simple formulas for creating a good movie. If you splash something up on the screen featuring X, Y and Z – you’ll have a box office success. Sometimes it works – usually I find those movies are the kind that I tend to roll my eyes at. Like the current box office champion Paul Blart: Mall Cop – it doesn’t look like it’d be very good – but for whatever reason it is a big successes at the box office and Hollywood believes that we want more of that particular kind of film.

And I believe the formula for this kind of film to be: Funny character + Funny situation

The jokes should write themselves, right? What can’t you do with someone who takes his boring job too seriously – and uses little kitty band-aids to bandage the little nick on his arm?

The only problem is – this film will not gain any following after it has left the theaters. People will have heard of it by the big marketing campaigns – and make snap judgments on it from the initial trailers. The people who will want to see it – will have seen it – and the people who want to buy it will buy it – but no gains. And I argue the studio will be selling the DVD at a hefty discount by Christmas time.

The actual formula for making a lasting comedic film I believe is: Serious character + Serious situation

Hot Fuzz – another film where the main character takes his boring job too seriously – but this time – the boring job is a serious job. Nicholas Angel is trapped in a serious situation in the small town of Sanford where the murder rate is so low but the “accident” rate is so high. Of course the situation he’s stuck in becomes more absurd – but the premise never is.

Nicholas Angel is also the straight man in the film to the eccentric townsfolk who are the comedic foils. He nary cracks a joke that wouldn’t be found in a serious or respected action film – and that’s giving him too much credit. The funny thing about Hot Fuzz is the situation becomes more absurd as the characters around him become more serious – and that creates even more comedy.

Hot Fuzz is the kind of film that people will point out in the movie store proudly and say – “hey, have you seen that one?” – because it’s overlooked. There’s no big marketing campaign behind it – and it didn’t become a blockbuster (at least not in the States). And outside of Timothy Dalton - someone who doesn’t follow movies will wonder where they’ve seen certain actors from Hot Fuzz before. It’s sneaky that way.

Hot Fuzz is the kind of film that picks up more fans as it hits DVD – and potentially becomes the bigger moneymaker. Okay, now I’m probably in my own little dream world with that statement – but that’s how I think it should be.

Am I off my rocker about this one – or did I mess up my whole theory? If anyone is reading this – what do you think about the: serious character + serious situation = lasting comedy theory?

The Wrestler [2008]

Mickey Rourke plays an old broken down ex-superstar wrestler – Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson - who plays small venues for small dollars. He collapses in the locker room after a particularly brutal match – and he’s told he can’t perform anymore. He then tries to put his life onto a different track – but it’s easier said than done.

It’s a good movie – and maybe after watching it again – I’d call it great. I just don’t feel like it comes together for me and gels into a future masterpiece. I really liked the handheld camera work – it makes this intimate portrait really work outside of the story and on a filmmaking level. I thought the story was very tight – but like some have said – it’s really nothing we haven’t seen before in an aging hero film. Marissa Tomei was very good in her role as the aging stripper Cassidy (and she looks quite good for her age).

I wondered while I watched Rourke’s award winning performance – is he playing the part or is the part playing him? Could Stallone play the part with equal vigor? If Arnold wasn’t busy governing – could he put the tights on in Mickey’s stead? Maybe.

The one thing I recognized – was Mickey was built for the role. His physical appearance reminded me a lot of the wrestlers of the 80’s. And there’s no doubt his life story shares similar hills and valleys of the title character – which would probably make him perfect for the role over Sly or Arnold – but still does he play the role – or does the role play him? Meaning – does his life story make him too perfect for the role – so perfect that acting isn’t what we’re witnessing?

What I really enjoyed thinking about after the film was – the film follows a bell curve – but it depends on who you are and how you look at the story if the bell curve is swinging up – or swinging down. I like to think that the bell was swinging up – but if I sat down with The Ram and talked about his life – he’d tell me it was going down. I think this is the most interesting part of the film.

- - -

I haven’t decided if I’m going to put stars up along with my reviews – but I like the format where I write up a short synopsis – and a longer analysis. I figure you can read what the movie is about almost anywhere – if you are checking out blogs you are probably more interested in other people’s takes.