The week’s highly anticipated list of cinema selections appears below:
Cinema Cess Pool Selection:
1. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Play List (2008) Dir. Peter Sollett – US
2. Blood and Roses (1960) Dir. Roger Vadim – France
3. The Velvet Vampire (1971) Dir. Stephanie Rothman – US
The Banal, The Blah, The Banausic:
1. Shadows (1922) Dir. Tom Forman – US
2. Outside the Law (1920) Dir. Todd Browning – US
3. Fig Trees (2009) Dir. John Greyson – Canada
4. Chef’s Special (2008) Dir. Nacho Velilla – Spain
5. The Fiend (1972) Dir. Robert Hartford-Davis – UK
6. Football Under Cover (2008) Dir. David Assmann & Ayat Najafi – Germany/Iran
Astounding Cinema, Cup-Runneth-Over Awards:
4. La Belle Captive (1983) Dir. Alain Robb Grillet – France
3. Training Rules (2009) Dir. Dee Mosbacher & Fawn Yacker – US
2. Daughters of Darkness (1971) Dir. Harry Kumel – Belgium/France
1. The Children (2008) Dir. Tom Shankland – UK
Theatrical Releases:
3. Departures (2008) Dir. Yojiro Takita – Japan 5/10
2. Easy Virtue (2008) Dir. Stephan Elliott – UK 8/10
1. Don McKay (2009) Dir. Jake Goldberger – US 9/10
Please visit mnfilmtv.org for a review of Training Rules, Football Under Cover, Chef’s Special and Fig Trees.
Please click here to read my column “Past Cinema Regression: Lesbian Reappropriation and Yonic Symbolism in Daughters of Darkness (1971)”
In the cess pool this week, I happened to catch Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, a film that I first saw advertised at last year’s Toronto Film Festival. The ads for the film made me cringe at the time, and after listening to the vapid Kat Dennings promote the film, spouting something about how “there isn’t a more truthful film out there” racket, I was almost sure I would never see it. You might say I was predisposed or biased against this film before I politely pressed play (and not fast forward) upon inserting the film in my DVD player. I was all set to give it half a chance, as the comments of Shawn Edwards from FOX-TV published on the back cover states the film is “An all out fun experience that will make you fall in love with the magic of movies.” The above comment, turns out, would have been better placed on the cover of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Not only does the film focus on three incredibly stupid females, plus Michael Cera treading the only territory he knows, it just oozes the pretension of the indie music scene, except without the smelly body odor and dandruff from unwashed hair. And then we’re supposed to sympathize with Dennings, daughter of a music producer, whose character is nothing more than an idiot female seemingly unable to see that all the boys in bands only want to know her to get to her father. Now, gay people that watch this film will see that it is an extremely gay positive film, with Cera being the only hetero member of a queer band called The Jerkoffs---unfortunately, the characterizations of the gay band mates aren’t enough for this homo to champion it. The most enjoyable part of the film, for me, was realizing that Kat Dennings was eating a meal at Veselka, a lovely Russian/Polish restaurant that I’ve had the fortune to gorge myself at. My reminiscing of the restaurant was the only enjoyable moment of witnessing this train wreck of indie music pretension, forcing us to follow a loosely related band of people try to discover the secret 4am performance of a made up indie band called “Where’s Fluffy,” that we never get to hear or see. If I had directed the film, Where’s Fluffy would have turned out to be George Michaels, but hey, that’s just me trying to make something of nothing.
I watched a few lesbian vampire movies over the week, and two old VHS copies of Blood and Roses and The Velvet Vampire finally got a screening. Needless to say, neither was campy or entertaining enough to merit even a bitchy rundown. I must say, Roger Vadim has to be one of the most overrated directors ever. True, I’ve only ever seen the extremely dull yet infamous Barbarella (1968), but how this man ever romanced Bardot, Deneuve and Jane Fonda, I will never know. And with Blood and Roses, he gets then-wife Annette Vadim to play the dull lead in his faux art-house film, who is obviously copying Bardot’s look. Before the film was even premiered, the couple had split and all I can say is besides an interesting looking dream sequence, the extremely disturbing look of Mel Ferrer in the film was supremely distracting. Strong in the face. As for The Velvet Vampire, a sort of feminist lesbian vampire film, poor director Stephanie Rothman---she just wanted to make movies and got stuck making exploitation. Velvet is simply dull dull dull, with awful lead performances from “actors” Michael Blodgett and Sherry Miles. Celeste Yarnall, as the decidedly unvelvety vampire doesn’t fare much better, with a truly craptastic demise sequence.
As for the mediocre selections from this week, my biggest disappointment was Tod Browning’s film Outside the Law, starring Lon Chaney in a dual role, one of them as an extremely creepy Chinese man named Ah Wing. More of a star vehicle for Priscilla Dean, the film doesn’t have any sign of the macabre that generally accompanies a Browning flick, like his classics including Freaks (1932), Dracula (1931), The Devil Doll (1936) and The Unknown (1927). I watched this film with another silent Lon Chaney film, Shadows, directed by Tom Forman. Though considered ahead of its time, Chaney is again playing a Chinese man, his face and body contorted as if he was handicapped rather than Chinese. Slightly offensive and altogether not memorable, both films are sadly mediocre. Robert Hartford-Davis’ British exploitation flick, The Fiend, was also a bit mediocre and almost crosses over into so bad it’s good cinema with a few scenes involving a black church lady consistently belting out rocking hymnals at strange religious cult meetings. The cult is trying to kill Ann Todd by denying her insulin, and overall, sounding suspiciously like Christian Scientologists. Truth be told, it is her psychotic son the film’s title refers to, sexually conflicted and marginally affiliated with the cult.
After watching La Belle Captive, the 1983 French fever dream from auteur Alain Robb-Grillet, I’m hot to trot on acquiring his other works, specifically Last Year at Marienbad (1961), written by Robb-Grillet, directed by Alain Resnais and starring Delphine Seyrig. La Belle Captive stands as the only film directed by Robb-Grillet available in the US, who went from a novelist-turned-screenwriter and finally a director, whose work is often criticized for being pornographic while being recognized for his bizarre narrative structures. I found his 1983 film to be hardly pornographic, but it plays like a hallucinogenic mind-fuck, and its effect is rather like having a rambunctious feverish dream, except the naked woman wouldn’t be quite so prominent in my own nighttime psychological psyche forways. Anyhow, the film is supposed to be crafted around paintings by Magritte, and the extremely loose plot centers around Walter (Daniel Mesguich) and a woman that steps into his life one drunken night as if directly from his fantasies. The film skirts the edge of tediousness, but manages to reel one back in with its unique style.
And then, rounding us out at number one for the week, the British horror film The Children stands as one of the best horror films I’ve seen from recent memory. This film is a good reason to go buy a multi-region DVD player and buy the Region 2 DVD. And watch it with a group of people that dislike children and love horror movies. I made fallopian tube noodles to accompany the movie screening, which were basically Spinach ricotta egg noodles. Get it? Egg noodles. I thought they were good. But then, I love ricotta and could eat it plain. Anyhow, I would love to see a sequel to The Children, which, as mentioned in a previous post, concerns two families, an isolated wintry cabin, and a bunch of children going murderously berserk. Some intense sequences and grotesque but curiously entertaining violence against children (a rarity in films) positions this film as a must see for fans of compelling and intense filmmaking.
Cinema Cess Pool Selection:
1. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Play List (2008) Dir. Peter Sollett – US
2. Blood and Roses (1960) Dir. Roger Vadim – France
3. The Velvet Vampire (1971) Dir. Stephanie Rothman – US
The Banal, The Blah, The Banausic:
1. Shadows (1922) Dir. Tom Forman – US
2. Outside the Law (1920) Dir. Todd Browning – US
3. Fig Trees (2009) Dir. John Greyson – Canada
4. Chef’s Special (2008) Dir. Nacho Velilla – Spain
5. The Fiend (1972) Dir. Robert Hartford-Davis – UK
6. Football Under Cover (2008) Dir. David Assmann & Ayat Najafi – Germany/Iran
Astounding Cinema, Cup-Runneth-Over Awards:
4. La Belle Captive (1983) Dir. Alain Robb Grillet – France
3. Training Rules (2009) Dir. Dee Mosbacher & Fawn Yacker – US
2. Daughters of Darkness (1971) Dir. Harry Kumel – Belgium/France
1. The Children (2008) Dir. Tom Shankland – UK
Theatrical Releases:
3. Departures (2008) Dir. Yojiro Takita – Japan 5/10
2. Easy Virtue (2008) Dir. Stephan Elliott – UK 8/10
1. Don McKay (2009) Dir. Jake Goldberger – US 9/10
Please visit mnfilmtv.org for a review of Training Rules, Football Under Cover, Chef’s Special and Fig Trees.
Please click here to read my column “Past Cinema Regression: Lesbian Reappropriation and Yonic Symbolism in Daughters of Darkness (1971)”
In the cess pool this week, I happened to catch Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, a film that I first saw advertised at last year’s Toronto Film Festival. The ads for the film made me cringe at the time, and after listening to the vapid Kat Dennings promote the film, spouting something about how “there isn’t a more truthful film out there” racket, I was almost sure I would never see it. You might say I was predisposed or biased against this film before I politely pressed play (and not fast forward) upon inserting the film in my DVD player. I was all set to give it half a chance, as the comments of Shawn Edwards from FOX-TV published on the back cover states the film is “An all out fun experience that will make you fall in love with the magic of movies.” The above comment, turns out, would have been better placed on the cover of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Not only does the film focus on three incredibly stupid females, plus Michael Cera treading the only territory he knows, it just oozes the pretension of the indie music scene, except without the smelly body odor and dandruff from unwashed hair. And then we’re supposed to sympathize with Dennings, daughter of a music producer, whose character is nothing more than an idiot female seemingly unable to see that all the boys in bands only want to know her to get to her father. Now, gay people that watch this film will see that it is an extremely gay positive film, with Cera being the only hetero member of a queer band called The Jerkoffs---unfortunately, the characterizations of the gay band mates aren’t enough for this homo to champion it. The most enjoyable part of the film, for me, was realizing that Kat Dennings was eating a meal at Veselka, a lovely Russian/Polish restaurant that I’ve had the fortune to gorge myself at. My reminiscing of the restaurant was the only enjoyable moment of witnessing this train wreck of indie music pretension, forcing us to follow a loosely related band of people try to discover the secret 4am performance of a made up indie band called “Where’s Fluffy,” that we never get to hear or see. If I had directed the film, Where’s Fluffy would have turned out to be George Michaels, but hey, that’s just me trying to make something of nothing.
I watched a few lesbian vampire movies over the week, and two old VHS copies of Blood and Roses and The Velvet Vampire finally got a screening. Needless to say, neither was campy or entertaining enough to merit even a bitchy rundown. I must say, Roger Vadim has to be one of the most overrated directors ever. True, I’ve only ever seen the extremely dull yet infamous Barbarella (1968), but how this man ever romanced Bardot, Deneuve and Jane Fonda, I will never know. And with Blood and Roses, he gets then-wife Annette Vadim to play the dull lead in his faux art-house film, who is obviously copying Bardot’s look. Before the film was even premiered, the couple had split and all I can say is besides an interesting looking dream sequence, the extremely disturbing look of Mel Ferrer in the film was supremely distracting. Strong in the face. As for The Velvet Vampire, a sort of feminist lesbian vampire film, poor director Stephanie Rothman---she just wanted to make movies and got stuck making exploitation. Velvet is simply dull dull dull, with awful lead performances from “actors” Michael Blodgett and Sherry Miles. Celeste Yarnall, as the decidedly unvelvety vampire doesn’t fare much better, with a truly craptastic demise sequence.
As for the mediocre selections from this week, my biggest disappointment was Tod Browning’s film Outside the Law, starring Lon Chaney in a dual role, one of them as an extremely creepy Chinese man named Ah Wing. More of a star vehicle for Priscilla Dean, the film doesn’t have any sign of the macabre that generally accompanies a Browning flick, like his classics including Freaks (1932), Dracula (1931), The Devil Doll (1936) and The Unknown (1927). I watched this film with another silent Lon Chaney film, Shadows, directed by Tom Forman. Though considered ahead of its time, Chaney is again playing a Chinese man, his face and body contorted as if he was handicapped rather than Chinese. Slightly offensive and altogether not memorable, both films are sadly mediocre. Robert Hartford-Davis’ British exploitation flick, The Fiend, was also a bit mediocre and almost crosses over into so bad it’s good cinema with a few scenes involving a black church lady consistently belting out rocking hymnals at strange religious cult meetings. The cult is trying to kill Ann Todd by denying her insulin, and overall, sounding suspiciously like Christian Scientologists. Truth be told, it is her psychotic son the film’s title refers to, sexually conflicted and marginally affiliated with the cult.
After watching La Belle Captive, the 1983 French fever dream from auteur Alain Robb-Grillet, I’m hot to trot on acquiring his other works, specifically Last Year at Marienbad (1961), written by Robb-Grillet, directed by Alain Resnais and starring Delphine Seyrig. La Belle Captive stands as the only film directed by Robb-Grillet available in the US, who went from a novelist-turned-screenwriter and finally a director, whose work is often criticized for being pornographic while being recognized for his bizarre narrative structures. I found his 1983 film to be hardly pornographic, but it plays like a hallucinogenic mind-fuck, and its effect is rather like having a rambunctious feverish dream, except the naked woman wouldn’t be quite so prominent in my own nighttime psychological psyche forways. Anyhow, the film is supposed to be crafted around paintings by Magritte, and the extremely loose plot centers around Walter (Daniel Mesguich) and a woman that steps into his life one drunken night as if directly from his fantasies. The film skirts the edge of tediousness, but manages to reel one back in with its unique style.
And then, rounding us out at number one for the week, the British horror film The Children stands as one of the best horror films I’ve seen from recent memory. This film is a good reason to go buy a multi-region DVD player and buy the Region 2 DVD. And watch it with a group of people that dislike children and love horror movies. I made fallopian tube noodles to accompany the movie screening, which were basically Spinach ricotta egg noodles. Get it? Egg noodles. I thought they were good. But then, I love ricotta and could eat it plain. Anyhow, I would love to see a sequel to The Children, which, as mentioned in a previous post, concerns two families, an isolated wintry cabin, and a bunch of children going murderously berserk. Some intense sequences and grotesque but curiously entertaining violence against children (a rarity in films) positions this film as a must see for fans of compelling and intense filmmaking.
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