Recent Viewings, Part 2

[M.10rda]

SAVAGES (1972):
A large group of almost entirely white people (and one non-white woman) in blackface and/or tribal paint briefly wander around the woods of Eastern New York, grunting and eating marijuana plants, before they discover an empty mansion, make themselves at home, and quickly begin dressing and acting like early/mid-20th century socialites. After a brief series of vignettes about their aimless lifestyle, they throw a big party, which takes up the majority of the running time and (perhaps predictably) ends with them devolving back into, errr, primitive behavior?

If the synopsis above makes you think of Bunuel (as it did me), maybe you'll be less surprised than I was to find (upon some light Googling) that the screenwriters intended this as a uncredited remake or possibly satire of THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL. Maybe that shouldn't surprise me though considering that one of two co-writers was Michael O'Donaghue, the founding co-writer of "Saturday Night Live" but a pretty dark/experimental guy otherwise. The early scenes are narrated in German with no subtitles on the DVD print I watched, which I thought was a mistake, but actually seems like the kind of joke O'Donaghue might make. Unfortunately it's not a funny joke, and while some of the film's dialogue is interesting or clever, there's not much in the way of laffs. Granted there's not many real laffs in SALO, GOODBYE UNCLE TOM, or Lars Von Trier's THE IDIOTS (a film Rev. Powell reviewed last year) either, but at least those films are eventful and horrifying in a way that SAVAGES is not. It's mostly puzzling and a little tiresome.

This sophomore feature from director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant (yep, those perennial 1980s Oscar darlings) has not, let us say, aged well. The cast is initially introduced as "the mudpeople", with a vintage illustration of exaggerated African tribespeople. Superficially at least, SAVAGES seems to be initially suggesting that aboriginal people can evolve into snappily dressed Caucasians, making sure of course to relegate the one non-white (Indian?) woman to the role of housemaid (and using her as a sex object on occasion). There are three characters who today would likely be referred to as "non-binary" or "gender fluid", so that's sort of ahead of its time, I suppose.

Still it's mostly a movie about white people misbehaving very marginally (not even spectacularly, as in SALO or LA GRAND BOUFFE or something), thus not as interesting as the filmmakers must have intended. I was curious enough about these intentions to watch a bonus interview with Ivory and Merchant, where old white guy Ivory talks non-stop as his Indian producing partner tries and fails a couple times to interject a comment. (Ugh.) All that said, SAVAGES is still more interesting than most their other, more famous films.

BTW the cast features Sam Waterston, bringing a touch of class as "the Limping Man"; Factory Girl Ultra Violet (one of the reasons I watched this), who is fun to watch with her clothes on as well as briefly naked, and very young mean guy Martin Kove, who still looks great on "Cobra Kai" today.

[Alex]

The Menu.

I'd like to say more about this film, but I don't want to give any spoilers, so I'll just say it was an interesting watch.

[M.10rda]

"The Majorettes" (1987)
Unless you have a high tolerance for Z-movie pain, you can safely AVOID this one.

FatFreddysCat, would you believe that John Russo wrote a whole book about the making of THE MAJORETTES as a "how-to" guide for aspiring low-budget filmmakers? I read in it high school, apparently under the assumption than Russo was a model to be emulated. To be fair, I've never seen THE MAJORETTES, but I've seen Russo's lifeless (pun intended but sincerely) vampire movie HEARTSTOPPER, and THE MAJORETTES can't possibly inflict more "Z-movie pain" than that one.

[FatFreddysCat]

FatFreddysCat, would you believe that John Russo wrote a whole book about the making of THE MAJORETTES as a "how-to" guide for aspiring low-budget filmmakers? I read in it high school, apparently under the assumption than Russo was a model to be emulated. To be fair, I've never seen THE MAJORETTES, but I've seen Russo's lifeless (pun intended but sincerely) vampire movie HEARTSTOPPER, and THE MAJORETTES can't possibly inflict more "Z-movie pain" than that one.

I am not familiar with that book, nor with HEARTSTOPPER, but I'll take your word for it that it's bad. The Majorettes was more than enough of Russo's work for me. :D

On topic:
"Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics" (2010)
Ryan Reynolds narrates this documentary about the long, mostly proud, sometimes strange history of DC Comics, from its humble 1930s roots in the shady pulp-magazine industry to the multi-media powerhouse it has become today. Lots of amazing artwork, vintage film clips, and commentaries from comics pros past and present. Tons of fun for comic nerds.

[M.10rda]

Terrorizers (1986)

It is about the intersecting lives of a number of people in 80s Taipei: a doctor who is stuck in his job and wants to get ahead, his wife, an author struggling with writer's block and decides to leave her husband for another man, a son of a rich family who wants to be a street photographer (with some impressive gear) and who gets obsessed with a girl who is a small time grifter.

This reminded me a lot of Wong Kar-Wai. You have similar themes of chasing dreams and ambitions, difficulties of communication, resignation and loss. Visually as well, there is use of negative space, long shots of empty sets or details. I am not familiar with Taiwanese cinema, so I don't know whether that is a personal preference or a local style. If you don't mind bleak movies and indirect storytelling, well worth a look.

Not sure why it is called 'Terrorizers', though.

Great post, neat (if mystifying) movie. There is a subplot involving quasi-prank/obscene phone calls and I assumed the caller was the "terrorizer" and the other characters were terrorizing each other in related ways, but what do I know. Incidentally, watching this I felt like Hal Hartley and Atom Egoyan had seen it upon release and that it influenced the films they would make in the 90s. Lots of Hartley-esque compositions, lighting, and staging... mysterious structure ala Egoyan... I wonder if either director has credited Yang as an inspiration.

[M.10rda]

"Blood Tide" (1982)
a cast that's probably better than the movie deserves (James Earl Jones,

Man, you ain't kiddin'. Jones is fantastic in this - even getting to perform bits of Shakespeare and make classical allusions and so on. It's totally out of place yet also far and away the best thing about the movie. Anyone have any idea if 1.) the role was written for Jones, 2.) the role was written as-is and they were lucky enough to be able to hire Jones, or 3.) Jones agreed to do the film but only if he could add all the additional cool dramatic parts that have nothing to do w/ the plot? I presume it's Option #3, but does anyone know otherwise?

[Rev. Powell]

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH (2022): Puss finds himself down to the last of his 9 lives, and seeks a magical fallen star to wish on to restore them; but there are other fairy tale characters on the same quest, both allies and adversaries. Spectacular animation and action, reasonable characterization, plot and moral: kids will eat it up and adults should emerge entertained. 3.5/5.

[Trevor]

The Shining is now on Tubitv ( 5/5)

I will be sure to watch it 😉😉

[Trevor]

The Menu.

I'd like to say more about this film, but I don't want to give any spoilers, so I'll just say it was an interesting watch.

Agreed 🙂

[M.10rda]

THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE (1962):
A few posts on here motivated me to check out in its entirety a film that I'd only seen a few brief scenes from and assumed I could skip. I'm glad I did (thank you!). After a slow and static opening stretch (typical of the 50s and early 60s, I find), this began to win me over and eventually develops into something special. This must be one of the earliest horror films with gore, a year before BLOOD FEAST: a throat-chomping right out of Fulci's ZOMBI and a dismemberment scene that persists (in aftermath) for 2+ minutes and must have had teenyboppers rushing out the aisles. I also have to think it's (one of or) the first real, pre-Cronenbergian Body Horror films... besides EYES WITHOUT A FACE and maybe the comparatively subtle MAD LOVE, what else would qualify?

Pro facie TBTWD isn't much different from an Ed Wood horror: mad scientist traps women in a basement with his failed experiments while everyone spits hilariously purple prose, etc. Fortunately I like Ed Wood, but gradually TBTWD overcomes these trappings through the more disciplined performances of its cast and (ultimately) some smart choices from the co-filmmakers. For instance, Dr. Cortner is unequivocally a legitimate sociopath (not just a surgeon on a God trip)... cheating on his injured (ahem) fiancee with a trashy stripper, drugging an unsuspecting patient who's trusted him, and of course his entire plan through most of the film is not to place his decapitated lover Jan's head on another woman's body, it's to only remove her FACE and suture it on the skull of a different body. So he can just keep making love to her FACE...? Guy's depraved. Really the film ends up making the viewer reflect on the objectification of women's bodies even more than such films tend to do.

I also admired when Cortner returns to his lab in the final sequence to discover the havoc his fiancee has wrought, the OTT dialogue disappears abruptly and he just prowls the room silently, cautiously, taking it all in, pausing to sit near and regard Jan but not to speak to her... then he gets back to work. Highly effective scene. Also, considering the uh limitations of her role, Virginia Leith's performance is............ very very good.

I have agree that TBTWD is a film ahead (cough cough) of its time in many ways. And quite entertaining. 4/5!

[M.10rda]

Related vignette:
About 20 years ago I met and had a cup of coffee with Jeffrey Demunn, a very nice man who co-starred in CITIZEN X, THE MIST, THE GREEN MILE, THE BLOB, THE HITCHER, CHRISTMAS EVIL, the first couple seasons of "Walking Dead", and other stuff.
I asked him if he pursued roles in horror movies intentionally or if that was just the stuff that came to him. He was proud to state that he & his wife were huge horror movie fans, and that their favorite film was... THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE.
I think this puzzled me at the time but in retrospect - nicely played, Mr. Demunn!

[Trevor]

Related vignette:
About 20 years ago I met and had a cup of coffee with Jeffrey Demunn, a very nice man who co-starred in CITIZEN X, THE MIST, THE GREEN MILE, THE BLOB, THE HITCHER, CHRISTMAS EVIL, the first couple seasons of "Walking Dead", and other stuff.
I asked him if he pursued roles in horror movies intentionally or if that was just the stuff that came to him. He was proud to state that he & his wife were huge horror movie fans, and that their favorite film was... THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE.
I think this puzzled me at the time but in retrospect - nicely played, Mr. Demunn!

The Hitcher (1986) remains one of the most disturbing films I have ever seen: I've only ever seen it once. 

[indianasmith]

M3EGAN (2023) - Went to the theater last night with my daughters and saw this one.  Creepy fun; the M3GAN doll is just the right mix of charming and psychotic; the little girl was an excellent actress, and despite a couple of plot holes, the story was engaging and scary.  4/5

[RCMerchant]

68 KILL (2017)

Holy sheep sh!t, Batman!  
A really pxssy whipped shmuck  goes along  with his girlfreind to rob her pimp of 68 thousand bucks. And soon this spineless twit is catching lotsa bloody fuked up sh1t!
And more twists than Chubby Checker!
GREAT movie! WATCH IT!!!!

http://youtu.be/yiSlarVnfgg

[FatFreddysCat]

"Sheena" (1984)
Orphaned in the African jungle, a young girl is adopted by the Zambouli tribe and grows up to become Sheena (Tanya Roberts), the protector of their land. Sheena crosses paths with a dorky TV news reporter on assignment from New York, and together they have to stop a team of mercenaries from clearing the way for an illegal mining operation on the tribe's sacred mountain. Soooo, yeah basically this is "Tarzan" in a bikini.
This notorious box office flop, based on the 1930s comic strip, is a very nice looking movie - it was filmed on location in Kenya on what was clearly a fairly large budget -- but it's dreadfully slow moving, with not much action till the last half hour. It's still worth sitting through for the gorgeous African scenery and of course, the eye candy. Tanya Roberts (captured here at her absolute peak of hottie perfection) looks great in Sheena's plain brown wrapper, but God rest her, she never could act worth a damn.
A textbook example of a "so bad it's good" movie.