Track the Films You Watch (2009)

Hey y'all,


I gone an' rubbered off all 'em offendin' posts from yonder pages before - includin' my bitchin' an' cussing an' whinin'. I sweah I'm a-not gonna do it no more, no how, no sir.

I hope Mastah Alons is pleased now that I've removed those eyesores from his vision. Yessum, I sure hopes so. 


Your obedient Garbage Collector,


Lazybones.
Edited by Mario Gauci - 7/14/2009 at 10:39 am GMT

Oh, come on. Really!

We're all facing the same problems. Everyone reacts his own way, but you make it sound like lots of the problems were specifically aimed at you. And you did post a string of garbage.
But when I protest, I'm "Mastah Alons"? And you're a "garbage collector"? Just because you chose to collect, well your own garbage you created?


Cees

I wish I'd had the chance to read what Mario wrote :(

A long string of unstructered text spickled with bracket-tags and old type smilie and star sequences. But he chose to remove it totally after I hinted at an effort of his to make it more readible.


Cees

Picked a good day to read the thread I guess...Gave up on trying to get page 1 to load but see this is a common problem. Maybe I'll just start tracking my stuff on Facebook since I rarely post on here anymore anyway.

Mario, I was also let down by Coffin Joe. I actually dig the first movie (the only one I own). It's strange, a little different, and hits the right level of low budget cheeseiness to make for a satisfying horror movie. But the 2nd movie is mediocre and the third is an unwatchable mess.

In olden days I would now launch into a defense of poor Federico from all these "overrated" "don't see what the big deal is" posts, but it would be a terrible amount of effort and Fellini doesn't need my help anyway. Personally I prefer the flights of fancy - Juliet, the sublime ...And the Ship Sailed On, 8 1/2, and yes Amarcord to I Vittelloni or Anthony Quinn. I've seen other movies like his early films (Rosselini films like The Flowers of St. Francis and Stromboli come specifically to mind), it's the imagination, imagery and life of the later work that makes Fellini, Fellini. Even "lesser" films like Orchestra Rehersal, Ginger and Fred, City of Women (which I had a number of problems with) and Intervista have magical, memorable moments that one doesn't find anywhere else. Nor could they, as like any great director, these later films build off themes and images from earlier work.

And Amarcord doesn't tell "an overarching story" because it is a film about remembering and celebrating the past. One doesn't remember his life in "overarching story" form, one remembers little vignettes and occurences, some important, some seemingly inconsequential. I've experienced this myself quite recently as within the past week I finally succumbed to Facebook and have quickly become addicted to reconnecting with friends I haven't seen in almost 20 years that used to be such an important part of my life.

You see, Brook, if getting to Page 1 of this thread wasn't being such a headache, I would've noticed that Michael Elliott had given a measly *1/2 star to the unofficial "Coffin Joe" entry STRANGE HOSTEL OF NAKED PLEASURES (1976) at the start of this year and it would've saved me the trouble of acquiring it last week! But, alas, I only realized this when it was too late to do anything about!

As for Fellini, it's nice to know that you care about him and, really, I don't want to sound like I'm being overly harsh on him. I agree with you that it is the sheer self-indulgence in his personal (and, perhaps thankfully, unique) preoccupations which made him such a household word around the world. I don't mind the repetition and his retreading the same ground so much - in fact, to my mind, that's one of the prerequisites which makes a director an auteur. But, still, Bergman and Bunuel also dealt (almost exclusively) with the same themes (particular to them) throughout their career and yet they had the good sense (in Bergman's case, that is, until the early 1970s) to keep their movies at a reasonable length (in Bunuel's case, for example, his longest film runs for just 105 minutes) - although it is said that, originally, both ROBINSON CRUSOE (1952) and DEATH IN THE GARDEN (1956) had been much longer than the versions everyone is familiar with today.    

Unfortunately, Fellini's films were all relatively long from LA DOLCE VITA (1960) onwards. Not that I mind it in the case of, say, 8 1/2 (1963) since the 'film-maker in distress' theme is something that hits home for somebody like me and, obviously, the film yielded any number of indelible images during its 138-minute running time. No one will doubt that SATYRICON (1969) has a striking visual texture but does it counter the film's incessant wallow in debauchery and make it any less heavy-going a viewing experience that it actually is? Earlier on, I forgot to mention the fact that I do indeed find ORCHESTRA REHEARSAL (1978) to be a pleasantly enjoyable little film but, somehow, it doesn't seem to me like a bona-fide Fellini film - no fat, ugly whores are to be seen anywhere (unless I'm mistaken!) and it has an admirably short running time of (gasp) 70 minutes. 

It's curious you should mention CITY OF WOMEN (1980) as being a film you have problems with since this is the only Fellini feature that I haven't watched yet; I had recorded it on VHS off Italian TV several years ago but never watched it but, as it happened, it was shown again a few weeks ago and, having since acquired a DVD recorder I gave it another go on that machine. For what it's worth, whenever I meet my ex-manager who is a film/music buff and the conversation turns to Fellini, he always tells me how much he loathes this film! This - and the film's typically unwieldy running time - certainly don't win CITY OF WOMEN any points in its favor...at least, in my book. 
Edited by Mario Gauci - 7/16/2009 at 04:07 pm GMT

Man of Marble - Wajda's story about a young filmmaker on a Citizen Kane-style quest to uncover the true history of a bricklayer who was built up as a Communist propaganda celebrity and subsequently torn down. It's an interesting study of media's ability to distort the truth, and an indictment of political oppression. While the film is pretty good at keeping you engaged, there are a couple of minor issues. It's aged quite poorly, noticeably in the fashions but more egregiously in the terrible music. The larger problem is Krystyna Janda's manic performance as the documentarian. It's like Wajda pumped her full of cocaine before every take (maybe he did, it was the late 70's). It's uncomfortable watching her twitch and shift around all the time. As a sidenote, from certain angles the bricklayer and his associate vaguely resemble Mark Wahlberg and John C. Reilly, making it kind of like Boogie Nights but without all the porn and with much shittier music. Rating: 8


An Affair to Remember - Good romance, good comedy, with charming performances by Kerr and Grant. I had a couple of problems with it, though. There are a handful of musical numbers shoehorned in. That's fine and most of them are okay, but there's two sung by a throng of little brats that are incredibly annoying. At one point, the two black children in the choir step out to do an embarassing bit of softshoe. The other thing that bugged me was that the second half hinges on one of those ridiculous Hollywood contrivances.  Why is it that when someone in the movies gets stood up on a rendevous, they never ask any questions, make a couple of phone calls? They just assume they've been rejected and slouch away in self-pity, not to have the matter cleared up until the end of the picture.  Oh well, otherwise I liked it, even got a little choked up at times. Technicolor was made for Deborah Kerr and her startling red hair. Rating: 7


For All Mankind (rewatch, Blu-Ray) - Haven't seen this for about 9 years, it was nice to get a fresh viewing of all that incredible footage in hi-def. Interesting thing I've noticed about documentaries... usually the director just has that one movie in them. Occasionally you'll get a repeat offender like Errol Morris or D.A. Pennebaker or the Maysles brothers (or Herzog, of course). But most of them just have that one that gets all the attention, and then either nothing else, a handful that no one cares about, or they move into fictional works. And Al Reinert is not a Morris or a Pennebaker: he left his mark with For All Mankind and that's it (he's credited with something named A Land Called Texas but I can't find any info on it). But it's quite a nice mark he left. He doesn't burden the viewer with facts about the Apollo program; there's no focus on who did what, or when they did it, or how anything worked, or what the specific challenges were (the Apollo 13 mishap is given about a minute of screen time). Instead he focuses on the emotional reactions and philosophical musings of those who made the journey. It's beautiful and inspirational and fires the imagination. Rating: 9

Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!
In Reunion!, folks come home to Hazzard and discover a plot to turn Hazzard Swamp into a theme park...leaving the swamp critters high and dry. Before you can say wait a durn minute, the cousins are back in the General Lee, tearing up the roads to stop the nefarious scheme.

My Thoughts:
The Dukes of Hazzard has been a favorite of mine since my childhood! Good Ole Boys... General Lee... and of course Daisy Duke! What more could any all American Red-Blooded country boy ask for? It was so good to see so many of the original cast back for this reunion movie. Unfortunately Sorrel Brooks, who played Boss Hogg, passed away before the making of this movie. But they were sure to do right by his memory in this movie. Back in the '80s and '90s I was huge into Martial Arts movies... since then I have not watch many. But it was cool seeing Cynthia Rothrock... and her talented feet in this movie. Almost makes me want to go out and pick up some of her old martial arts movies. Whatever happen to her anyway?... I haven't seen or heard much of her for a long time now. Unfortunately there is no extras what so ever on this disc.

I tried to have a Lucio Fulci night but for some strange reason two of the DVDs froze up at the 45-minute mark.  Strange that both discs would do that at the exact same time. 



Smart as a Fox (1946)
 

Extremely cute and entertaining short from Warner about the first year in the lives of some fox cubs.  With narration we hear what all the foxes have upcoming and why many of them don't live to see their first birthday.  This is a pretty strong short from start to finish and we get some great footage of the foxes out in the wild.  There's one scene where a dog goes after the cubs and their mother must give her life so that the dog won't find the babies.  I'm sure this would be hard for some younger viewers to see and I was curious if the producer's were hoping for something like this to fit that BAMBI mode.  The narration isn't the greatest out there but there's enough going on here to make fans of all ages to want to check this out.  The Oscar nomination was a worthy one.

 

Bride Wore Black, The (1968)
 

Francois Truffaut
 

Truffaut's homage to Hitchcock deals with a mysterious woman (Jeanne Moreau) who, after a failed suicide, decides to track down and kill the five men responsible for her husband's death on their wedding day.  Needless to say, this film was pretty much remade by Quentin Tarantino in the two KILL BILL films but you can see the films influence go even further with various exploitation movies including Jess Franco's SHE KILLED IN ECSTACY as well as the notorious I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE.  I think this film works very well as a homage but doesn't work too good on its own.  What I was shocked to find is that there's very little emotion of any kind here.  There's really no drama, no one to really care for, no suspense and very little mystery.  I'm really not sure what the point of the film was except perhaps for Truffaut to show his appreciation to Hitchcock and try to copy a film like the mystery master would have made.  The movie has some very good stuff in it but again, I'm sure it could have been better had a few things been changed.  The five murders are pretty much like separate short films and this is something I liked.  I like how all five murders appear just like their own movies but this does lead to one of my complaints, which is the running time.  It really seemed like the movie was padded with needless scenes and stuff that could have been handled in less time.  I found all the murders to be quite fun in their own right and that includes the ending, which really worked even though I've read it was different than what was in the novel.  Another major plus is the performance by Moreau who manages to be very believable in the role.  I thought she came off perfect as the quiet assassin even though you could look into her eyes and see the pain she's feeling for her dead husband.  The supporting players, mainly the five men, are quite good as well, although none of them really stick out as being great.  The Bernard Hermann score does a good job at reminding us of his previous work with Hitchcock and there are plenty of nice references to the master's films.  
 

Les mistons (1957)
 

Francois Truffaut

Early Truffaut short has five young boys following around a beautiful woman who they begin to have feelings for even though none of them know exactly what the feelings are.  They follow the woman around with her young lover as they walk, play tennis and eventually make love.  This is a pretty good short with the director, apparently, reliving his youth and his first awakening to beautiful women in their short skirts.  The movie is extremely well-made and I couldn't help but get a big chuckle at of the various situations that the boys put this woman and her lover in.  I couldn't help but remember certain situations in my own use where my friends and I would spy on my friend's older brother and his girlfriend.  Those innocent feelings are perfectly displayed in this film as Truffaut does a great job at bringing the children's feelings up front and also their confusion as to what they are doing and feeling.  For all the innocence in the film I think it's fitting that the film takes a rather drastic turn towards the end.  I won't reveal what happens but it too is a part of childhood and I think it fit the film very well.  The performances by the five kids are quite good but the real beauty here is Bernadette Lafont as the woman.
 

Song of Revolt (1937)
 

Roy Rowland
 

Rather dull historical drama from MGM tells the story of how France got their national anthem.  During the French Revolution, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (Leon Ames) was asked by the King to write a song, which would rally their troops into winning the war.  Rowland directed many shorts from MGM but this here isn't one of his best.  There's a lot wrong with the film including just a lack of direction because it's never quite clear what the film is trying to do.  At one part it seems like a musical but then it switches over to a historical drama before switching again to some patriotic fighting rally.  There's nothing wrong with mixing genres together but the problem here is that there's no emotion or power to anything going on.  Ames, best known for MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, manges to turn in a decent performance but it's certainly not among his best.  The film also suffers from a low-budget that doesn't help matters any. 
 

How to Start the Day (1937)
 

Roy Rowland
 

Entry in MGM's "How to..." series with Robert Benchley playing your average man.  In this episode (as the title tells you) he teaches us how we should go about starting the day so that we arrive at work refreshed and on time.  This includes the best way to wake up in the morning as well as the best way to get dressed and brush your teeth.  This is a pretty weak entry because the narration is so incredibly bad and unfunny that it quickly grows on your nerves and not in a good way.  There are a few funny physical gags running throughout the film but they're all pretty much ruined by the narration.  Whenever Turner Classic Movies plays this short I'd highly recommend turning the sound off and just pretending you're watching a silent film.  Benchley does a pretty good job in terms of the physical stuff but the screenplay really lets him down.  This short isn't as bad as HOW TO VOTE but it's not as funny as HOW TO EAT or HOW TO WATCH FOOTBALL. 
 

Dark Magic (1939)
 

Roy Rowland
 

MGM short has Joe McDoakes (Robert Benchley) walking into a gift shop where he wants to look at some magic tricks.  A pro shows him the tricks so Joe takes this home to perform in front of his son but of course things don't go as planned.  This is a pretty good short that manages to get a few laughs even though the screenplay is rather lazy and goes for all the obvious jokes.  Of course McDoakes isn't going to be able to do the tricks and when he does do one it just gets him into more trouble.  The ending is pretty nice but the real highlights are in the shop when the tricks are actually being done.  Whenever watching magic tricks I always try to catch how they're being done and the ones here are without question the easiest I've ever spotted.  The easiest one is the ball under the cup trick, which is done repeatedly here but it's very obvious to see how they're doing it because of being able to see the balls. 

 

Red Men on Parade (1941)
 

Outside the rather politically incorrect title, this episode in MGM's TravelTalks series is actually one of their best.  The film takes a look at various Indian tribes from around the country and tries to show them in a much better light than many of the Westerns around at the time that showed them as dumb, violent and drunk.  The film shows us how they make pottery, rugs and why they want to stay on their land and not go too modern.  The movie mentions that there were more Indians in 1941 than when Columbus came to America, which I'm not sure how true it is but other bits of information like this are on display.  Once again the Technicolor really makes things jump off the screen and the print shown on Turner Classic Movies was very good.  It's somewhat refreshing to see this type of short considering how Indians were being shown in various movies around this time.  Fans of the series will find plenty to enjoy here and even though not familiar will probably enjoy this one.
 

Private Screenings: Sidney Lumet (2005)
 

Another wonderful entry in the series with Lumet taking center stage this time.  The legendary director discusses many films including 12 ANGRY MEN, THE FUGITIVE KIND, THE PAWNBROKER, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, NETWORK, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS and THE VERDICT.  Lumet worked with many great actors and some nice stories are told about Fonda, Brando, Pacino, Phoenix, Hepburn and various others.  It was interesting to hear him talk about Henry Fonda's shyness of watching himself, Brando being easy to work with and what he thought about Pacino's style of acting.  The director is constantly coming up with great stories but host Robert Osborne also does a great job at asking all the right questions.  There are several films that are skipped over and Lumet's recent films aren't mentioned but there's only so much you can do with fifty-minutes.  Fans of the director will certainly want to check this out as with those just getting into his movies.

 

Awakening of the Beast (1970)
 

Jose Mojica Marins

Bizarre film from Marins using his Coffin Joe character as a fake thing to try and create a social commentary on society.  In the film we see a television show where various doctors are debating the effects drugs have on society.  The controversial actor/director Jose Mojica Marins is involved in the debate because people are wondering if his character Coffin Joe might influence people to do drugs.  The final twenty-minutes has four people given LSD to see how they react.  This is a complete mess of a film but I guess that adds to the surreal nature of the movie and series for that matter.  I've read that Marins couldn't get a third Coffin Joe film off the ground so he had other filmmakers send him left over film stock just so he could throw something together and this is the result.  The film is extremely well made as I'd be lying if I said Marins directing style wasn't something completely original.  The visual look of the film is quite amazing as the director paints a very ugly picture of the underground drug community and its easy to see why the government had the movie banned in Brazil.  Marins paints a cruel and ugly world full of abuse, both sexual and physical and the images brought to the screen are certainly unlike any other.  There's one sequence where men line up to put their face up the skirt of a woman.  Another scene where an overweight pervert tries to seduce a young woman.  We get various acts of perversion and then the LSD sequences turn to full color and really give the eyes a treat.  The performances are all about what you'd expect, although Marins puts himself above the rest.  The movie is all over the place and I'm really not sure how strong the message on society is but those whose who enjoy strange and bizarre movies are bound to eat this one up.

 

Conquest (1983)
 

Lucio Fulci

Fulci's cash in on the Sword and Sorcery genre, which was at that time was popular due to films like BEASTMASTER, is what many would consider a low point in his career but I call it a fascinating mess that contains a little bit of everything.  A young man (Andrea Occhipinti) is given a magical bow and for some reason ends up traveling in a strange place where wolf like monsters and cannibals are.  He teams up with an older man (Jorge Rivera) to try and destroy these monsters who are being led by a wicked princess (Sabrina Siani).  I think the people who are going to have the biggest problem with this movie are those expecting a horror movie like ZOMBIE or THE BEYOND.  It seems Fulci's non-horror films always take a beating an in some cases (MANHATTAN BABY) it's really not called for and I'd say that's the case here as well.  This certainly isn't a good movie or a well made one but I have to judge what it is and that's an Italian rip off.  There are so many campy and over the top moments that I can't believe the film doesn't have a larger camp appeal.  The English dubbing isn't horrible but the dialogue certainly is and some of the lines spoken appear to have been written by ten-year-old boys.  The performances are on the fair side but there's really not too much acting required.  The gore is also here with some nice looking effects including top of heads being chopped off, body sores oozing pus, the werewolf like creatures getting their heads beat in, cannibals and even a stranger scene where zombies attack.  As you can see, just about every genre is thrown into the mix here and on that level the film was mildly entertaining.  The adventure aspect could have been pumped up and the movie certainly needs more energy but there's enough goofy stuff here to keep the movie going for its 93-minutes.  
 

American in Paris, An (1951)
 

Vincente Minnelli

Marvelous MGM feature has Gene Kelly playing a poor American painter living in Paris.  A rich woman (Nina Foch) soon takes an interest in him and his paintings but his heart is with another woman (Leslie Caron).  This is the type of film a negative person could walk into wanting to hate it and just rip it to shreds but by the ten-minute mark they'd be captivated by what they're seeing.  This film certainly isn't flawless and I'd question it winning the Best Picture Oscar but there's no question this is quite an achievement.  I'll get the biggest flaw out of the way first and that's the screenplay, which shockingly also won an Oscar.  I thought the love story was all too familiar and really wasn't original any step of the way.  I thought the dialogue was decent but it was really the great performances that brought the words to life and gave them some juice.  With that out of the way, there's plenty to love here and one can't help but feel the passion director Minnelli paints for the screen.  I know he and Kelly were highly upset that MGM wouldn't let them film in Paris but I thought the sets were excellent and the director really captured a French tone that is missing some from actual French movies!  The movie has one great dance sequence after another but my favorite was probably the already used "I Got Rhythm".  This sequence, in front of the flower shop and with a bunch of children, is a real beauty on the eyes and the ears.  "S Wonderful" and "Our Love is Here to Stay" are two more highlights.  The one thing I don't think gets enough credit are the performances, which I found very rich and exciting.  Needless to say, Kelly steals the film with his wonderful dancing and singing but also that comic timing that appeared to be staged and planned out to perfection just like the dancing.  He really makes a very believable character that mixes well with the two leading ladies.  I was really impressed with Foch's acting here and thought she too delivered a great character even though the screenplay didn't throw her anything overly great.  Caron is perfect as well with that amazing face and her chemistry with Kelly is top-notch.  Even though the first 100-minutes are beautiful, the real genius comes in the final fifteen where we get an amazing ballet that words really can't describe.  It's certainly one of the highlights of the genre.  Even with the flawed screenplay, there's so much to enjoy here that it's hard to imagine anyone not falling for the charm on display.
 

Escape From New York
This early John Carpenter film has become rather influential in recent years.  The premise is irresistible, the cast is full of excellent cult actors and Kurt Russell's portrayal of Snake Plissken is iconic.  The movie itself is still energetic and fun although is showing its age.  I'm surprised that this one has not been remade yet.

Killing Gene
This film tries to put a scientific twist on Saw within the context of a police procedural.  Although the scientific thread in the plot ultimately seems thin and the plot twist is telegraphed, I still enjoyed the film for trying something different.  Strange type of movie to see Stellan Skarsgard and Selma Blair in. 

Streets of Fire
Another film I have not seen in years was really worth watching again as I slowly work my way through Walter Hill's filmography.  The concept is rather unique (it's billed as a "rock and roll fable") and the film plays like a Jim Steinman song come to life and is certainly not to be taken seriously.  There are echoes of 1950s biker movies, rock operas, film noir, and Hill's The Warriors. 

Thieves' Highway
This film noir has an unusual background - the fight to bring new fresh apples to market and get a good price for them - and makes the most of it as it is a gripping story the whole way.  All the business with the trucks reminded me of Wages of Fear.  The film was at its strongest when concentrating on the main story - I did not really buy the whole good girl/bad girl dilemma and the ending was a disappointment.

Lady Vengeance
Conclusion to Chan-Wook Park's Revenge Trilogy is more of the same.  This one seems a little disjointed and drawn-out although there are many great scenes. 

House with the Laughing Windows 1/2
One of Italian horror's high points is also one of the most disturbing.  It is a giallo with a beautifully orchestrated mystery but there is so much more to enjoy - the countryside atmosphere, meditation on art and suffering, that creepy recording, a violent conclusion and a jaw-dropping final revelation.  It may be a cheat but it is still effective.

Suture
Some films use a gimmick to get you to watch but then misuse the gimmick.  This film has a great gimmick that enhances the film's intent.  The gimmick is to use a black actor (Dennis Haysbert) and a white actor (Michael Harris) to play brothers who apparently look the same (but of course to the viewer they do not).  When one tries to kill the other and the latter gets amnesia, it is the starting point for a fascinating look at identity, memory and personal history.  There are lots of strange touches in the movie - the dialog is deliberately stilted, the performances are reined in and the thriller elements are almost an afterthought.  The film is shot in black and white and is full of many startling images that use the two colors in contrast.  It all sounds pretentious (and occasionally is) but this is a true cult film.

American Psycho 
Good version of the notorious book features dark satire, some visceral violence and an excellent Christian Bale performance. 

Well, shut my mouth and call me Lucio! I've just seen CONQUEST (1983) for the first time myself last night and MANHATTAN BABY (1982)'s up next as soon as I get off the PC!! Actually, I've decided to counter the stifling Summer heat over here by watching me some mindless Euro-Cult stuff all through this past week. 

I'm afraid I have to agree with the naysayers on CONQUEST as I think it's just about the worst Italian "sword-and-sorcery" flick I've seen so far! Hell, I just might be induced to write a genuine "back-to-my-roots" review of this one just to counter Michael's claims more officially... 

Daylight
Rob Cohen directs and Sylvester Stallone stars in this urban underwater disaster drama with big-bang special effects by Industrial Light & Magic.

An accidental explosion rips through a jammed commuter tunnel beneath the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey, sealing off both ends and trapping a diverse band of survivors inside. A disgraced former emergency medical services chief manages to reach them and then struggles through fire, noxious gases, explosions, collapsing walls, massive flooding and rats to lead them to daylight

Daylight co-stars Amy Brenneman, Viggo Mortensen, Dan Hedaya, Jay O. Sanders, Karen Young, Claire Bloom and Vanessa Bell Calloway. Director Cohen works again with Executive Producer Raffaella De Laurentis, with whom he made Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and Dragonheart.

My Thoughts:
This morning I felt like an action-packed disaster movie. And this is one that I always liked. Sure it has it's share of plot-holes, It is basically a leave your brain at the door pop-corn movie. But it is a good one that I enjoyed a lot. This is a Collector's Edition DVD with a nice selection of extras.

Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood
The whole gang head west for Hazzard in Hollywood and a big-time recording deal. It turns out the deal includes a Russian mobster, a sultry songstress from the 'hood, and a beautiful blonde vice'mayor with the hots for Enos.

My Thoughts:
I am so torn on this one. Part of me loved every minute of it... as it was all the gang that I loved so much in The Dukes of Hazzard (minus Sorrel Brooks [Boss Hogg] & Denver Pyle [Uncle Jesse] who both has passed away before the making of this movie). But at the same time I hated the fact that it took us away from Hazzard to brought them to Hollywood where they are out of their element. But not only were they out of their element... (now maybe this was just me) but the entire movie seemed to make fun of the whole idea of country life. Of course they always do... but it felt like a different way. A way that just didn't feel right for the show. Of course there was definitely some great parts in it as well. Which was just barely enough saving grace for me so that I was not completely disappointed in the movie.

Tropical Malady - I've now seen all of Weerasethakul's feature-length films, and this is probably my least favorite (or maybe tied with Adventures of Iron Pussy, which is funny but ultimately just an exercise in camp). There are intriguing ideas here; like Syndromes and a Century, it's divided into two parts that present a relationship in totally different contexts. The first part involves a budding gay romance between a soldier and a villager. The second part puts the same characters into a jungle ghost fable. There's some pretty amazing moments in each section, but overall it didn't connect with me like his other works. The second part really plods along, with lots of trudging through the jungle. You could say the same thing about Blissfully Yours, I suppose, but there was more character interaction there, and the serenity of it was captivating. Here it's more of a chore, more like dead space between the really good moments. And I have to admit it's a bit harder for me to relate to a homosexual relationship than a hetero one. It's handled respectfully and has some sweetness to it, but it makes it tougher for me to get invested. Still, Weerasethakul is incapable of making an uninteresting film, and his flair for the unusual is always appreciated. Rating: 7


Ride the High Country - Well, not bad for a Peckinpah. One of his earlier films, it's still drenched in that ugly nihilism that I find unappealing, but it's tempered with a note of optimism. Veterans Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea are excellent as two grizzled gunslingers on different paths to retirement. The film moves briskly and is mostly free of annoyances (a couple of obnoxious bits, but nothing nearly as awful as Cable Hogue). I still think Peckinpah is overrated, but this one was relatively enjoyable. Rating: 7


Port of Call (rewatch) - With so many movies around here I need to watch, I almost forgot about my weekly Bergman. My opinion hasn't changed much on this one... I think Gosta's reaction to Berit's backstory is out of character, as is his drunken rant, but otherwise it's a really solid drama with some great photography from Gunnar Fischer (his first film with Bergman). Rating: 7


Sex Mission - A movie called "Sex Mission", starring Jerzy Stuhr? Sign me up. It's about two guys (Stuhr and Olgierd Lucaszewicz) who are put in hibernation as an experiment and awakened 53 years later... in an all-female world. Needless to say, there are numerous opportunities for these women to take their tops off. Yes, a lot of the comedy is broad, stupid and sexist but there is some pretty funny stuff here. The film manages to be quite entertaining from start to finish, with some fairly incisive social commentary. I'm continually amazed by what got past the Polish censors, as there are several moments where the totalitarian society is clearly meant to be an indictment of Communist oppression. There's a lot of retro charm here, although some of it will seem dated. The cinematographer goes way overboard on the lens flares, I guess that's someone's concept of "futuristic". Stuhr has wonderful screen presence, as always. Rating: 8


Juliet of the Spirits - There's a lot to love about this movie: the Nino Rota score, the eye-popping Technicolor cinematography (Fellini's first color film), the amusing flights of fancy, and the endless array of unique, unforgettable visuals. Several times I found myself gasping in awe (or delight, such as the tongue-in-cheek tribute to the final scene of Seventh Seal) at what I was witnessing. Out of all the films I've seen by him, it most fully embodies the spirit of what we think of when we say "Felliniesque". However, this has a downside. Masina's performance often gets overwhelmed by the carnival-like festivities, both real and imagined. Subsequently, I found it much harder to care for Juliet like I do for Cabiria. And with the minor characters doing so much theatrical mugging for the camera, it frequently feels like Masina is stuck hanging out with those obnoxious kids from the high school drama club. It occasionally gets tiresome, especially with such a lengthy running time. Still, if this came out on Blu-Ray I'd probably see it again, maybe even buy it, for the magnificent imagery if nothing else. Rating: 8


The Small Back Room - Oh, how I agonize sometimes over these silly mini-reviews. It's difficult to say anything about this movie. It's a solid character study/romantic drama with a dash of wartime thriller, no complaints about it at all but it's too restrained to be worthy of much attention. It's hard to imagine it being anyone's favorite film, or even their favorite Powell & Pressburger. The one moment that stands out is the clock/whiskey hallucination, which is either clever or silly depending on your mood. Rating: 7

07/17/09: CONQUEST (Lucio Fulci, 1983) *1/2
 

Despite being released on DVD by Blue Underground some five years ago, I have never come across this Italian "sword and sorcery" item on late-night Italian TV and, now that I have seen it for myself, I know exactly why. Not because of its director's typical predilection for extreme gore (of which there is some examples to be sure) or the fact that the handful of women in it parade topless all the time (it is set in the Dark Ages after all)…it is, quite simply, very poor stuff indeed. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it may very well be the worst of its kind that I have yet seen and, believe me, I have seen plenty (especially in the last few years i.e. following my excursion to the 2004 Venice Film Festival)! Reading about how the film's failure at the time of initial release is believed to have led to its director's subsequent (and regrettable) career nosedive into mindless low-budget gore, I can see their point: I may prefer Fulci's earlier "giallo" period (1968-77) to his more popular stuff horror (1979-82) myself but, even on the latter, his commitment was arguably unquestionable. On the other hand, CONQUEST seems not to have inspired Fulci in the least – seeing how he decided to drape the proceedings with an annoyingly perpetual mist, sprinkle it with incongruent characters (cannibals vs. werewolves, anyone?), irrelevant gore (we are treated to a gratuitous, nasty cannibal dinner just before witnessing the flesh-eating revelers having their brains literally beaten out by their hairy antagonists!) and even some highly unappetizing intimacy between the masked, brain-slurping villainess (don't ask) and her slimy reptilian pet!! For what it is worth, we have two heroes for the price of one here: a young magic bow-carrying boy on some manhood-affirming odyssey (Andrea Occhipinti) and his rambling muscle-bound companion (Jorge Rivero i.e. Frenchy from Howard Hawks' RIO LOBO [1970]!) who, despite being called Mace (short for Maciste, perhaps?), seems to be there simply to drop in on his cavewoman from time to time and get his younger protégé out of trouble (particularly during an exceedingly unpleasant attack of the 'boils'). Unfortunately, even the usual saving grace of such lowbrow material comes up short here as ex-Goblin Claudio Simonetti's electronic score seems awfully inappropriate at times. Fulci even contrives to give the film a laughably hurried coda with the surviving beefy hero going aimlessly out into the wilderness (after defeating one and all with the aid of the all-important magic bow…so much for his own supposed physical strength!) onto his next – and thankfully unfilmed – adventure! 
Edited by Mario Gauci - 7/19/2009 at 08:28 am GMT

Black Dog
Patrick Swayze, Randy Travis and Meat Loaf team up to deliver explosive nonstop high-speed action in this adrenaline-pumping highway road war. A 40-ton truck is a lethal weapon and veteran driver Jack Crews (Swayze) knows how to use it. Desperate for cash, he's got one last delivery to make. The trip's barely begun when he and his partner Earl (Travis) discover they've been set up and are being chased by Red (Meat Loaf), a relentless fanatic who's as deadly as he is greedy. Now, with his family, his life and his freedom on the line, Jack's going to buckle up, put the pedal down and show Red and the Feds a thing or two about road rage. After being double-crossed and rudely underestimated, Jack and Earl shift gears, becoming a two-man wrecking crew, trucking down the highway blazing a trail of diesel-powered destruction.

My Thoughts:
I bought this movie several years ago... and only watched it once. I am not sure why since I remember I enjoyed it at the time. And I remembered right... I did enjoy it. I have seen better... but this is a good way to waste an hour and a half. I mean you have the big rigs speeding down the road playing bumper cars... regular car chases... gun fights as well as a couple fist fights thrown in for good measures. Randy Travis' character didn't cut it for me... but I did like the character of Sonny Played by Gabriel Casseus. I like the legend of the Black Dog they talk about on here. It is the first I ever heard of it and see no mention of such a urban legend online from my short search so I imagine it is one the writers made up for this movie. But it was pretty cool.

Dressed to Kill (1946)
A convicted thief in Dartmoor prison hides the location of the stolen Bank of England printing plates inside three music boxes. When the innocent purchasers of the boxes start to be murdered, Holmes and Watson investigate.

My Thoughts:
all the sudden I got in the mood for some classic Sherlock Holmes movies. I haven't seen many of these... matter of fact I have 3 in my collection I never seen. I got this movie in the free 20 Disc 40 movie boxset I got for subscribing to Total Movie Magazine. So I thought I would at least work on those some today. It is the first time I ever seen this movie. It wasn't a bad movie... but I have seen better. The ending was kind of sudden and a bit contrived. Quality has been bad to decent in this boxset. This one the quality was ok... but definitely could have been better. There is some film damage that was  never cleaned.

The Incredible Hulk
Academy Award® nominee Edward Norton stars as scientist Bruce Banner, a man who has been living in shadows, scouring the planet for an antidote to the unbridled force of rage within him: the Hulk. But when the military masterminds who dream of exploiting his powers force him back to civilization, he finds himself coming face to face with his most formidable foe: the Abomination - a nightmarish beast of pure aggression whose powers match the Hulk's own!

Also starring Liv Tyler, Oscar® nominee Tim Roth, and Oscar® winner William Hurt, The Incredible Hulk is "steeped in action and spectacular special effects" (Claudia Puig, USA Today) and delivers a mind-blowing final showdown that can only be summed up with one word... INCREDIBLE!

My Thoughts:
This is the second time I watched this movie since I bought it back in January. And I must say... I enjoyed it the second time around just as much as I did the first time. The action... the effects... the story... I enjoyed it all. This is the way the first Hulk movie should have been done!

I just watched my 200th movie so far this year!



Knight Rider 2000
On the edge of loosing a local government contract, the Foundation and Devon recall Michael from retirement to oversee the completion of the Knight 4000. In a town where handguns are outlawed, crime has become rampant, and the current system of freezing convicts is not working. Michael returns on one condition, to reunited with his friend KITT. Sadly, KITT has been dismantled by KITT has been dismantled and the parts sold by Russell Maddock the new head of the Foundation. Devon manages to recover all but one chip which has been implanted in the head of Shawn McCormick, a female cop whose brain was destroyed by a bullet. He and Shawn, who has a chip on her shoulder as well as in her head, are teamed to stop the current handgun situation where they discover the hidden secrets of the local police department and restore KITT into a new vehicle.

My Thoughts:
This is a reunion movie that was hoped to become a whole new series... which unfortunately never happened. This reunion movie was a bonus feature of the Knight Rider: Season 1 boxset I have heard a lot of people say they did not like this movie at all... I did though. I thought it was a good movie... though I do miss seeing the original K.I.T.T. From what I understand... this was supposed to serve as a pilot to s new spin-off series... unfortunately this never happened.  I know I would have liked to seen it.

Well Mario, I'm rather shocked that we watched the same film so close but I'm even more shocked that you even wasted your time with that title.  Seeing some of your lower ratings for his "better" films would make me think you'd skip that one all together. 


This weekends double feature of FRANKENSTEIN and THE MUMMY drew even more people than the films last week.  A worker there said 857 people were there for FRANKENSTEIN but added that "more" were there the night before.  THE MUMMY had at least that many and perhaps a little more.  A lot of people (myself included) were fairly bored at THE MUMMY but FRANKENSTEIN went over a lot better.  For some reason the drowning got quite a few laughs, which didn't make too much sense.  You could tell a lot of people in there hadn't seen the movie because there was a rather large "gasp" when she died and at the end when the doctor was thrown off the wind mill. 

I always said that seeing PSYCHO with 2000+ people was one of my most memorable times in a theater but it came close to be matched with FRANKENSTEIN.  With so many people in the theater there were constant mild noises like clearing throats, popcorn eating or sneezing (or whatever) but when it came time for the monster to appear it was as is time stood still because there wasn't a single noise in there.  It was as if everyone was holding their breathe waiting for Karloff to take the steps backwards and then turn around.  The film was so much more effective on the big screen because of how "tall" the monster actually looked.  So much more detail to the make up, which was amazing to see why like PHANTOM last week.  

If seeing 10 Universal movies wasn't great enough, I learned today that a theater five miles from where I work is hosting the "Attack of the B Movies" festival this summer.  I've never heard of it before but for $5 you get double features with the last night they show 4 movies.  The line up for those who adore bad movies:

7/23: Devil Girls From Mars/The Bride and the Beast
7/30: Teenagers from Outer Space/Robot Monster
8/6: Giant Gila Monster/The Wasp Woman
8/13: Gorgo/Gamera
8/20: Brain That Wouldn't Die/Screaming Skull
8/27: The Killer Shrews/Attack of the Giant Leeches
10/8: Amazing Transparent Man/Last Man on Earth
10/15: Little Shop of Horrors/House on Haunted Hill
10/22: Tormented/Bloodlust
10/29: Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory/The Bat/Bucket of Blood/Night of the Living Dead

Magnificent Obsession - Not as subversive as Sirk's better works, but I've decided that the subversion is not the real reason I like him so much. It adds an extra layer of depth, but it's really just a sideshow. The main attraction is Sirk's wonderful flair for melodrama, the way he elevates it above the usual soapiness one expects from the genre. You never feel the characters are being stupid or unreasonable. And this is a mighty fine melodrama. Tears were jerked. Hudson and Wyman make a better pairing in the later All That Heaven Allows, but they're quite wonderful here too. Rating: 8


Mr. Hulot's Holiday (rewatch) - The keyword in Criterion's DVD essay is "afterglow". This film has a beauty and warmth that you can bask in for days afterwards. It's the nicest of Tati's films. All of them are imbued with sweetness, but here there's none of the shallow social climbers of Mon Oncle, the clueless tourists of Playtime, or the downright nastiness of Trafic. All of the characters, despite their foibles, are endearing. Tati takes the viewer on vacation with Hulot, and while there are plenty of great gags to be seen, there are other moments that are simply relaxing. The only thing that I don't like is that Hulot is such an inept bumbler in it, causing chaos through his self-absorbed clumsiness, whereas later he becomes more like an instrument through which chaos speaks. But that's a very minor quibble. An absolutely charming, effortless movie. Rating: 9


The Unknown - Well, this was just ridiculous. Besides the goofy premise, there were some questions that continually nagged at me. I can't say much without spoiling anything... they're not plot holes, necessarily, but stuff that didn't add up to me (really? not one person in the circus notices that his fucking arms are just tucked into his shirt? really?). Chaney's performance didn't particularly impress me, either (except for how adept he was with his feet, if those even were his feet). At least the film is short. But the whole thing is so damn silly, I had more fun just filling in my own crude dialogue. Rating: 5


Before the Rain - Decent but occasionally heavy-handed anti-war film, set against the backdrop of Balkan conflict. The film's gimmicks are sometimes annoying: the interconnected stories, the circular timeline, the repeated motifs. Some of it is interesting, but it tends to come off as contrived. Out of the three stories, I thought the first one was by far the best and most profoundly moving, and I was disappointed to leave the character of Kiril. The second section, despite Katrin Cartlidge (who I quite like), just seems out of place and pointless. Things pick up a little with the Rade Serbedzija thread, but I didn't like the character much and by that point the gimmickiness was getting to me. Awfully inconsiderate of Criterion not to provide subtitles for the English portion of this film. Just because I can speak the language doesn't mean I can comprehend everything beneath all the thick accents, mumbling, and background noise. It's not as bad as I'm making it out to be, but I did struggle with a lot of the dialogue. Most of my points here are for Part 1. Rating: 7

You could always post them at IMDB and just post the link here. 

With what we were talking about, it's not so much me asking if you are wasting your time but if you go into something like CONQUEST thinking you will watch it and end up give it three stars or higher.  I haven't seen MURDER ROCK yet even though I've got the DVD here.  I've heard some bad things about this one but I do go into it with thoughts of it being good or at least delivering what I expect from a Fulci film. 


Frankenstein (1931)
 

James Whale

Universal masterpiece about a scientist (Colin Clive) who tries to bring a dead body back to life and succeeds but the monster (Boris Karloff) turns out to go on a rampage.  While I think BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is the much better movie, this one here might deserve the title of the greatest pure horror film.  It's rather amazing to see how well this thing still holds up and how effective the movie is even though we've got countless versions of this story over the years.  There are several key ingredients in making this film work but the majority of them belong to Whale's marvelous direction and the brilliant performances of the cast.  We can start with Karloff but he brings so much life and emotions to the role that you really can look at him as a person and not simply as some monster with face paint.  The masterful scene of him raising his arms towards the sun is so touching while he also manages to be quite scary and in the end makes us feel sympathy for the creature.  Another cast member that quite often gets overlooked is Clive who is perfect and nearly steals the film.  The sequence of the creation where he has that famous breakdown is some of the best acting in horror film history.  Throughout the scene you can just see and feel his character go through the roof before eventually collapsing.  The way Clive brings this character to life is without question the best anyone has done in the role.  Edward Van Sloan, Mae Clarke and Dwight Frye are all very good as well.  Then we have the brilliant and now legendary make up work by Jack Pierce.  I love the way Karloff's face can slight be seen through the make up but it doesn't take away from the creature look and it's also flexible enough to give the actor the full range to bring the monster to life.  Whale's direction is perfect from start to finish as he knows how to effectively move the camera, build up a scene and eventually pay it off.  Just look at how marvelous this movie look and how fresh it still holds up and especially compared to DRACULA, which was released earlier in the year.  Again, I think the next film was the perfect fantasy/black comedy but this one here, pure horror, is brilliant and deserves its reputation.
 

Mummy, The (1932)
 

Karl Freund

An expedition to Egypt unearths the tomb of a mummy (Boris Karloff) who eventually shows up as a prince in search of his long lost love who he believes is a young woman (Zita Johann) in modern times.  There's a lot to enjoy in this film but it's never been a favorite of mine as I find the movie was too slow and the 72-minute running time seems double due to the pacing.  Freund was a masterful cameraman but his directing skills left a lot to be desired (as you can definitely see in GIFT OF GAB).  The entire movie has a beautiful look and Kreund is able to capture a nice atmosphere but in the end all of it is wasted.  The biggest reason to view this movie is the wonderful performance by Karloff who, as the mummy or as Ardath Bey, is pitch perfect.  The way Karloff pays the role once again, as with Frankenstein's monster, makes for chills as well as a bit of sympathy.  Zita Johann is also pretty good in the movie as is Edward Van Sloan and Arthur Byron.  David Manners doesn't come off as good here but the screenplay could probably be blamed for some of this.  Some attack this horror film for featuring Karloff as the mummy yet only having him in character for a total of a couple minutes.  This use to disappoint me but it's just something we have to put up with.  You can only judge what you have and what we get here is Karloff not in make up too much.  I do have to wonder what Jack Pierce thought about creating this great work and then it not being shown too much. 
 

Africa Speaks -- English (1933)

Roy Mack
 

Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy's plane goes down in the jungles of Africa after they run out of gas.  Soon cannibals come up on them and want them for dinner.  Being 1933 and seeing the title, you should expect some rather racist humor and you get it here.  The black natives are constantly joked on about being cannibals and there's even mention of other stereotypes so if you're sensitive then you might want to stay away.  If you're not sensitive then you might want to stay away as well because there's not too many laughs here.  In fact, there's not a single laugh in the film even though it does stay interesting just as a form of this is what kept people entertained back in the day.  This is, I think, my third Bergen and McCarthy short and I haven't been overly entertained by any of them.  The jokes are rather bland and way too obvious to work but perhaps those in 1933 found them funny.
 

Golden Years, The (1960)
 

Throughout the 1960's we got all sorts of fun shorts warning us about unprotected sex, the harms of drunk driving and even more shorts dealing with troubled teenagers.  Then we also got some rather family friendly shorts like this one from Brunswick, which tries to tell us why we should go bowling.  The company pushes the new advances in their system including optical lenses, less traffic ball returns and of course the always needed pin setter mask.  Ok, this film mildly works because of the history behind it; it was nice seeing what bowling lanes looked like back in the day but outside of that this is a complete bust that probably looked worse in 1960 than it does today.  The movie is extremely boring and the narrator needed to be a tad bit more interesting considering he was trying to sell this product.  And remember, the 60's will be known for its bowling (according to this short).

 

We Never Sleep (1956)
 

Larry O'Reilly

RKO-Pathe short takes a look at the day in the life of a Pinkerton National Detective agent, which just happens to be the oldest private eye company in the country (at the time at least).  This is another entry in RKO's Screenliner series and I've yet to be overly impressed with any of the films.  The biggest problem is that the narration is rather boring and never really gets you interested in the stuff you're seeing.  The film was obviously shot silent because they knew the narration would be doing all the work.  None of the "action" that we see is all that entertaining because it seems rather rushed and just hacked together.  We see how a detective might follow someone and how they might find out if that person is working with others.  Nothing much is learned and nothing is covered that various other shorts weren't doing twenty-years earlier.
 

Snuff Trap (2003)
 

Bruno Mattei
 

Before his death in 2007, Italian director Mattei, known in some placed as the Ed Wood of Italy, made a semi-comeback with a string of low-budget movies ranging in various subjects from cannibals to zombies and of course women-in-prison.  This film here comes off as a semi-remake of HARDCORE but those expecting a lot of sleaze might be disappointed.  In the film, a mother (Carla Solaro) goes into the darkest corners of Italy and France trying to track down her daughter who was kidnapped and might have been sold for a snuff film.  The mother must try and buy her way to the underground where killing women on film is high dollar.  Mattei is known for ripping off various films and creating some of the worst bad movies ever made including the infamous HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD.  His recent stuff must have been made on budgets lower than $10,000 and you can see it but at the same time I must admit that this is perhaps the best movie I've seen from him.  Not in terms of gore or entertainment but in the technical sense of filmmaking.  The movie manages to be mildly entertaining even if it does go on for way too long and Mattei actually manages to build some suspense towards the end when we start to learn what has happened to the daughter.  There are a few plot twists late in the film that are easy to spot but for the most part this film works.  Those expecting a lot of sleaze are going to be disappointed because Mattei actually takes it pretty easy considering the plot.  There's quite a bit of nudity but the violence is pretty tame and there's no gore to see.  Solaro is a lot better than you'd expect and the supporting cast are decent, if nothing great.  Not only does the plot lift from HARDCORE but you've also got a sex scene in the back of a limo that rips off the one in NO WAY OUT.  If you're a fan of Mattei then you'll certainly want to check this one out but just be prepared for what you're in for.

 

At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964)
 

Jose Mojica Marins
 

First is the series has director/writer Jose Mojica Marins playing the famous Ze do Caixao (Coffin Joe), a foul-mouthed, evil gravedigger who is upset at his wife who can't give him children.  He spots a beautiful young woman who he wants as his bride but first he has to get rid of the wife as well as his best friend who just happens to be with the new girl.  This was the first official Coffin Joe film I've seen and while it's not as experimental as some of the director's later work, that really doesn't take anything away from this because it's still mighty impressive.  Anyone half way familiar with the series knows that Brazil has no film industry so the director was working with a zero budget with non-actors but this actually pays off because it brings an atmosphere that you can't buy with money.  The film is very moody due to the low budget and I'd go even further and say that at times it's very poetic and beautiful in its own way.  What works the best is Marins himself in the main role.  Everything from his look to his talk to his walk is perfect and really paints an evil man and brings him to life.  There's no question it was a blessing when the original actor couldn't appear in the role.  The supporting cast are all fair to decent but, again, this helps makes the film seem all the more real.  The B&W cinematography is actually quite nice as are the locations and various nice edits that happen throughout.  The entire film has a perfect feel of death to it and this is what's so unique about the film.  This certainly deserves its label as a cult classic even though it does run on a tad bit too much but this doesn't take too much away from an other wise very impressive film.

 

This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse (1967)
 

Jose Mojica Marins
 

Sequel to AT MIDNIGHT I'LL TAKE YOUR SOUL, picks right up where that movie left off.  Coffin Joe (Marins) survives his ordeal and is freed from all murder charges due to a lack of evidence.  He heads back to a small town to search for a bride to give him a son and kidnaps several women for possible candidates but ends up killing the wrong one as she swears vengeance on his soul.  Even though this here is a sequel, it does play out more like a remake as both films are pretty much the same story, although its drawn out more here.  The film being drawn out to a whopping 107-minutes is the real downfall because it could have lost a good fifteen or twenty-minutes and the pacing would have been much better.  With that said, there's still plenty to enjoy here with Marins once again doing a great job on such a small budget.  The budget is obviously bigger than the previous film but I'd say the majority of it was spent on the highlight of the film, which is an amazing sequence where Coffin Joe goes to Hell.  This is when the film switches over the color and how they created the look of this secret really had my brain rambling in trying to figure it out.  The only way I can explain the colors are if you've ever seen a melted bag of Skittles.  The way this sequence comes off is never scary but it's certainly an amazing treat for the eyes as not only do we get the great color but we also get all sorts of strange stabbings, beatings and various other bad deeds being carried out by Satan himself.  Marins once again gives a great performance and the supporting cast are decent enough for what they have to do.  It's worth noting that the kidnapped women were all very brave considering they had to let spiders and snakes all over them.  One woman on the bed was obviously terrified as can be seen with her extremely heavy breathing.  The ending packs a nice little punch as well as the music score.  Fans of the first film will certainly want to check this one out and while it's not as good as the first, it does have enough going for it to make it worth viewing. 

Edited by Mario Gauci - 7/22/2009 at 03:05 pm GMT

Intentions of Murder - The Japanese sure do have a lot of rape in their movies. If there was a "Prix du Rape" award at Cannes, Japan would win that shit every year (except maybe when Gaspar Noe has a film in competition). In fact, it seems like you rarely see a normal sexual relationship in a Japanese film, especially from the 60's. It's all violent, disturbing or deviant. So anyway, here's another rape movie. There's more to it than that, obviously, but it's not much more pleasant. Sadako has to contend with her emotionally needy rapist, her bratty son, her hypercritical mother-in-law, her dickhead husband, and his shrewish mistress. Imamura keeps it interesting with some bold flourishes (some of which were seen before in The Insect Woman) but the whole thing is so harsh to its protagonist that, despite the occasional injection of humor, it's hard to "enjoy". Rating: 7


Made in U.S.A. - While not as dire as 2 or 3 Three Things I Know About Her, this is still awfully tedious. Boring word games, a barrage of shallow political jargon, uninteresting observations... the usual Godard bullshit. I'm fine with him deconstructing cinema and tossing narrative structure to the wayside. But if you're going to do that, you'd better come up with some good stuff to take its place. And here he only succeeds about a quarter of the time. In keeping with the film's noirish plot (what there is of it), he gives characters and places names that pay homage: Widmark, Hecht, Preminger, and so forth. Okay, I guess that's somewhat amusing. Breaking the fourth wall, making direct references and remarks to the audience? Eh, a little less so. There just aren't many magic moments to be had (even the drawn-out death scene is basically recycled from Breathless), but the primary color scheme is lovely and there were a few stretches where I wasn't thinking about what a bratty putz Godard is. Rating: 5


Black Sunday - My first Bava, and Bava's first feature as well. This is pretty impressive for a debut, a first-rate gothic horror film. The mood is appropriately creepy, the music is very good, the cinematography quite thoughtful and evocative. It's a little cheesy, but horror and cheese often go together well. I'd definitely check out more Bava... giallo in general is an area I have very little exposure to. Rating: 8

I still can't get that multi-quote to work.  Oh well.

Mario,

<<<<It's all well and good  to  say  that  you  shouldn't  allow  preconceptions  to  cloud ones judgment  but, if a film is bad, no amount of goodwill or tolerance on the spectator's part is going to really make it any better in the end! Wouldn't you  say  so?  I  may not be too hot on most of the earlier Italian peplums that I've seen but, frankly, Fulci's involvement here augured for something better  than  usual  >>>>

Preconceptions would make an interesting topic on its own.  I know some people who want to go into a movie blindly, without knowing what genre, who's in it or what the reputation is.  I'm not one of those as I actually read about a movie beforehand as long as the review/article is spoiler free.  With that said, I think I'm still good at going into a movie without the preconceptions or at least to a point where I can give it a fair shake.  One could say that all the negative stuff around CONQUEST made me enjoy it more because it turned out not to be as bad as I had read.  With a film like this, I expect trash, nudity, violence and gore.  The film delivered that and it was bad enough to be entertaining. 

It's interesting to hear you say you expected more from Fulci.  That's something I've been debating myself over this month.  I had planned on so many other foreign films but my work schedule and all these theatrical movies is going to end up cutting it short.  With that said, it's funny but my first foreign movie wasn't a Bergman, a Fellini or a Kurosawa.  It was Bava's, and not Mario, DEMONS.  My knowledge of foreign directors were Argento, Bava(s), Fulci and those likes.  Horror films have always been looked down upon in this country and it's funny but the same is true overseas.  When you speak Italian cinema, people are going to discuss Fellini.  Argento is a step down and then a step further down is the likes of Fulci.  I really started thinking that as highly as us fans hold up the likes of an Argento, he really hasn't done much that would be considered great.  Fulci's best films are overlooked by his lower-tier gore films.  Bava never got the credit he deserved when alive or perhaps he would have done better than the countless (well made) B movies he made. 

Having recently read a Leone story about ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST in Video Watchdog, I was rather shocked to see how much he was disliked back in the day.  Whereas Fellini was high class in this country, Leone was looked at as a bum.  The countless rips that OUATITW inspired got better theatrical showings than Paramount gave this masterpiece.  Do you want to know what's sadder?  When Paramount finally gave the film the respect it deserved and restored it (partially) is the same time Warner was cutting up his ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA.  Poor Leone gets his old classic finally restored only to have his dream project ripped from his hands and torn apart!!!


The Japanese sure do have a lot of rape in their movies.

It's funny you mention this because it's so true.  I've never understood why Japan shows the most graphic violence and rape yet they at one time had that law where frontal nudity had to be fogged out.  Japanese investors wanted gore, gore, violence, violence and told producer's to kill more animals because it made films like CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST popular over there YET, fog out the frontal nudity.  I've been slowly going through some Japanese "pinki" films and they're strange to say the least.  Why they show so much hatred towards women and pleasure in rape would make for an interesting read.

As for Bava, you're lucky that most of his films have been released with great transfers and nice extras.  If you do ever get to something like RABID DOGS, be sure to watch the original version and not the "recut w/new scenes" that his son and producer did several years back.  BLOOD AND BLACK LACE is probably his most famous giallo but TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE is my favorite.  Even though he's known for horror, RABID DOGS is his best film IMO.

Discosex (1978)
 

Jean Rollin
 

Being a die-hard fan of various Euro Horror directors, I've had to sit through some rather bad films from a wide range of genres.  What I loved most about these guys is that they were able to work through a wide range of genres.  Rollin might be best known for THE SHIVER OF A VAMPIRE or THE LIVING DEAD GIRL but like Jess Franco and Joe D'Amato, he too worked in the porn market.  This film here has a disco band showing up at a studio to make a new album but they're mobbed by some female groupies.  Needless to say, a big orgy eventually breaks out.  This is the first flat out porn I've seen from Rollin and I can say, from at least this film, he was better in the genre than at least D'Amato.  Whereas D'Amato hated the genre, it appears Rollin was very interested in it or at least being a very good sport and giving it all of his attention.  Those who know the director's trademark style will see it on display here as on a technical level this film looks pretty good.  The film runs just under 75-minutes and Rollin keeps the film moving at a fast pace as we see one sex scene after another and after a while I forgot who was doing this or that.  The movie starts off with about a ten-minute dialogue sequence but it was in Italian so I'm not sure what was going on as the boot I had featured no subtitles.  I think porn fans will be a lot more interested in this than your casual Rollin fan. 
 

Great American Mug, The (1945)
 

Cy Endfield
 

Another nice entry in John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series from MGM.  This time out we get to take a look inside a barber shop from 1945 and hear the various discussions one might have.  Then we go back several generations to see how a barber shop was ran in older times.  This is a pretty interesting little short because it contains that great, nostalgic feel that the best episodes were always able to make but it also has some rather nice antiques to look at.  We get to see various brands of older cigarettes and cigars that were sold in barber shops back in the day and getting to see these were very entertaining and you could say a nice way to preserve some history.  We also got to see various styles men would wear their beards and the ways you would put certain perfumes on your head to make your hair grow.  Nesbitt's nice narration helps build that nostalgic feel making this another must see.

 

Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
 

Federico Fellini
 

Surreal classic has a wife (Guilietta Masina) fearing that her husband might be cheating on her.  A group of spirits then try to convince her that she's better than the husband treats her and that she should leave him.  This film has so much going for it that it was rather hard trying to keep track of all of it in my first viewing.  I think the story is incredibly strong, as are the performances and the visual look.  The surreal nature Fellini brings to the movie is top-notch and his first color movie certainly delivers one very impressive look.  I think the story itself is probably the most important aspect because it's strong enough to hold up during all the strange visuals and other surreal things going on.  Had the story been weak then I think it would have fallen and taken a back seat to all the visual stuff but since it didn't it just made the film twice as strong because we could care for the wife and feel her pain as everything breaks loose.  Masina's performance is incredibly strong and I can't help but wonder why she didn't get more critical acclaim when the movie first came out.  The way her character is at the start of the film compared to it at the end really makes it appear like two different characters.  It's rather amazing to see how much the character changes from scene to scene yet Masina never slips into anything corny or unbelievable.  She's perfect from start to finish as is Sandra Milo as her neighbor.  The visuals in the film are all remarkable and the deep colors really jump off the screen and help create a surreal and fake like world.  The cinematography and score are also perfectly done with one of my favorite shots being when Masina is at her husband's lovers house and goes to get on the phone with her.  The shot is very simple and I'm not sure how many people would have noticed it but the camera pans to the left and instead of keeping the phone in the center of the frame, the director puts it in the far right.  Why did this stick out so much to me?  I'm sure I could over analyze it but I'll just leave it at saying it was refreshing not to see what most directors would do and keep the central character, in this case the phone, dead in the center.  I wouldn't say the film is without flaws as I found the 137-minute running time to be a tad bit long but this is still a very impressive film that people should check out. 
 

Let's Sing a Song About the Moonlight (1948)
 

Jack Scholl

"Memories from Memory Lane" is the title given to this short from Warner, which is actually an excellent trip down just that...memory lane.  I always find the idea of a group of people sitting in a theater singing to be rather funny but that's what this short does.  We get four different songs being sung by professionals before the narrator steps in and tells the crowd to sing.  We get the words up on the screen so that people can follow along.  By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Moonlight Bay, In the Evening of the Moonlight and Shine On, Harvest Moon are the four songs performed.  Ann Sheridan's singing of the last song, from SHINE ON HARVEST MOON, is shown then of course it's the crowds turn.  I haven't seen too many of these sing-a-long shorts but this one here was a lot of fun.  No, I didn't sing along with the screen but it was fun without my horrid voice adding anything. 
 

Trouble Maker, The (1957)
 

Herk Harvey
 

Director Harvey is best remembered for his cult classic CARNIVAL OF SOULS but before making that movie he dealt with various subjects as part of the "Discussion Problems in Group Living" series.  This one here takes a look at a nerdy boy named Mel who is constantly spreading gossip even though he doesn't ever know the full story to what he's talking about.  If you've seen any of the countless "classroom" films out there then you should know what to expect out of this one.  This one here is certainly better made than many like it but it still has the ultra low-budget, bad acting and silly sets.  One could argue the story itself is rather silly as well as one of the big issues is a football player who stays up past his bedtime of ten o'clock!  If you enjoy these types of shorts then you'll certainly want to check this one out but others should beware.
 

High and Low (1963)
 

Akira Kurosawa
 

Toshiro Mifune plays a rich executive at a show company who is about to take all his possessions and put it into the company so that he can take it over.  Before he can do this he gets word that his son has been kidnapped and he has no problem exchanging his money for the life of his son.  However, things change when it turns out the kidnappers actually took his chauffeur's son instead.  This is another incredibly impressive film for director Akira Kurosawa who certainly knows how to tell a story and get every bit of suspense out of it .  The first two hours of this movie is a pure masterpiece, although for me it started to slag during the final twenty-minutes.  The pay off to the film really didn't work for me and I'd also add that the whole Dope Alley sequence didn't work either.  That still doesn't mean people shouldn't check out this film because the first two hours among some of the most suspenseful moments I've seen from any thriller.  The way Kurosawa constructs the action and dialogue sequence is masterfully done and this includes the opening sequence where the father is playing the businessman and laying down certain morals on how a company should make its products.  It's even more interested seeing how his morals come into play when he thinks it's his son who has been kidnapped and how those morals change when he finds out it's someone else's.  Even more interesting in this first hour are how the police are more interested in the father who has the money instead of the father who's son is actually missing.  I think there's a strong message of greed and its evils but also the differences between how the rich and poor can go about such tense situations.  The second hour, dealing with the police looking for the kidnapper, is just as interesting, although not as suspenseful.  I thought the structure of how the police would do their job was even more interesting because of one of the first sequences where we see all the detectives gathered in a room and talking about the evidence they have gathered in their small parts of the case.  Kurosawa's direction is masterful throughout but the performances also deserve a lot of credit.  I become more and more obsessed with Mifune each and every time I see him and there's no doubt he's one of the greatest actors to have every appeared in a movie.  The way he shows the anger, grief and confusion of his situation is just a marvel to watch and he kept pushing it further and further as the situation continued to grow.  Tatsuya Nakadai, Jyoke Kagawa, Tatsuya Mihashi and the rest of the supporting cast are very impressive as well.  There's one scene where the detectives turn their backs on Mifune, which had me wondering if it was a homage to 12 ANGRY MEN.  Either way, this is an incredibly well made movie that certainly ranks as one of the greatest thrillers out there even with the weak final sequence.
 

Michael -- here is a very good link explaining how to do the multi-quotes:
http://www.screencast.com/users/DaveF/folders/Jing/media/428afeba-5af0-4e99-8f69-6136504344be

Windtalkers
In the brutal World War II Battle of Saipan, Sergeant Jo Enders (Academy Award Winner Nicolas Cage) guards - and ultimately befriends - Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach), a young Navajo trained in the one wartime code never broken by the enemy, the Navajo Code. But if Yahzee shoudl fall into Japanese hands, how far will Enders go to save the military's most powerful secret?

My Thoughts:
This is one of the several I have that I never seen before. But I had always thought the trailer looked good. And I did enjoy this movie quite a bit. I didn't realize until I watched it that this movie was based on a true story. I never personally been much of a fan of Nicolas Cage... but never disliked him either. I do think he did a fine job in this movie. I would definitely recommend this movie... especially if you like war movies.

Well  done  Michael  - both for catching up with 2 more distinguished World Cinema titles and for your well-written comments.

With  regards  to  JULIET  OF  THE  SPIRITS (1965), my sources give an even longer  running  time  of 148 minutes but, ironically enough, on Italian TV they show an even 'shorter' 129-minute version quite regularly. Even though I own the Criterion  DVD,  I've  only seen the film once so far many years ago (via a VHS  recording of just such a late-night Italian TV screening); Fellini's eye-popping use  of color is certainly remarkable but the heady brew gets heavy after a while.

As  for HIGH AND LOW (1963), I would argue that it's probably the best film about  a  kidnapping  ever  made  anywhere.  When I first watched it in the mid-1990s - as an original VHS released by the British Film Institute which I  imported  from  my  now-defunct UK supplier - I was expecting a good but minor  film  from  Kurosawa  since my sources gave it just a * star (Leslie Halliwell  -  which  is equivalent to roughly **1/2 if half stars are taken into  account)  and  *** (Leonard Maltin). Actually, Halliwell's rating got bumped  to  **  (equivalent  to ***) in a later edition of his Guide but it still  sold  the  film short in my opinion. It's quite long compared to its contemporaries  in the genre, true, but, nowadays, it's quite common that a thriller  like,  say,  THE  NEGOTIATOR  (1998)  runs for such an inordinate length  of time and I don't really think that Kurosawas' film feels long or has  a  weak  ending.  In  fact,  I think it was quite brave of Kurosawa to divide the film into two distinct parts; besides, I even like the opium den sequence  which seems like an odd but effective throwback to an old, tawdry Fu Manchu serial or something. Frankly, this segment doesn't feel so out of place  either  when  one  realizes that the film's Japanese title literally translates  to  "Heaven  And  Hell" that could well stand for Mifune's lush lifestyle vs. the kidnapper's sleazy surroundings. By the way, I still own that VHS and have yet to upgrade to Criterion's 2-Disc re-issue.
 
Just so you (and perhaps Brook and Martin) can really ask why I'm wasting my time on trashy Euro-Cult titles at the moment, here is some never-before-seen World Cinema/Euro-Cult stuff I'm currently sitting on...awaiting for the merciless Summer season to get by (culled from my DVD, DVD-R and DivX collection i.e. excepting VHS):

10,000 Dollari Per Un Massacro

A Bittersweet Life [Director's Cut]

A Black Veil For Lisa

A Man There Was

A` Nos Amours A Real Young Girl

Adalen 31

Adios, Sabata

Adua E Le Compagne

Agi Murad - Il Diavolo Bianco

Agnus Dei

Agony: The Life And Death Of Rasputin

Alice, Or The Last Escapade

Amanti

Amore Libero - Free Love

Amuck!

An Italian Straw Hat

And Give Us Our Daily Sex

Anima Persa

Anna (1967; TV)

Anno Uno

Anonimo Veneziano

Assassination (1964)

Baron Munchhausen (1962)

Beyond The Door (1974)

Black Book (2006)

Blood Ceremony (1973)

Boccaccio '70

Bolero (Les Uns Et Les Autres) (1981)

Boxes

Buffet Froid

Buongiorno, Notte

Burden Of Dreams

Cafe` Express Caged Women

Caligula II : The Untold Story

Cannabis

Cantata

Carosello Napoletano Catene

Catherine (Une Vie Sans Joie) Cerasella Chi E` Senza Peccato

Children Of Hiroshima

Chushingura (1962)

Circuito Chiuso

Conversation Piece

Count Dracula's Great Love

Coup De Torchon

Cristo Si E` Fermato A Eboli [Theatrical Version]

Cronaca Familiare

Crypt Of The Living Dead (Young Hannah: Queen Of The Vampires)

Daisies

Dangerous Liaisons (1960)

Days And Nights In The Forest

Death Rite

Despair

Diamonds Of The Night

Diavolo In Corpo

Divina Creatura

Divine Emanuelle

Dr. Jekyll Versus The Werewolf

Earth (1930)

Elektra, My Love

Elvira Madigan

Emanuelle And The White Slave Trade

Emanuelle In The Country

Emanuelle On Taboo Island

Emanuelle, Queen Of Sados

Emanuelle's Perverse Outburst

Emil And The Detectives (1931)

Empress Yang-Kwei-Fei

En Cas De Malheur

Endgame

Enfances

Enrico IV

Erotikon (1920) Erotikon (1929)

Eva Nera - Black Cobra

Faithless

Fata Morgana (1971)

Fox And His Friends

Fruit Of Paradise Fumeria D' Oppio

Gate Of Hell (1953)

Gigi (1949)

Gion Festival (A Geisha) Giorno Di Nozze

Girl With A Suitcase

Golgotha

Gwendoline [Unrated Director's Cut]

…Hanno Cambiato Faccia

Histoire De Marie Et Julien

Hitler: The Last Ten Days

Horrors Of Malformed Men I Figli Di Nessuno

I Live In Fear

I Magliari

I Nuovi Barbari I Nuovi Mostri I Terribili Sette

I…Comme Icare

Il Cavaliere Misterioso

Il Tetto

Ilya Muromets

In A Glass Cage

In A Year With 13 Moons

In The Folds Of The Flesh

In The Forest…Again

Ingeborg Holm

Invaders Of The Lost Gold

Io Ho Paura

Is Paris Burning?

J' Accuse! (1919)

J' Accuse (1938)

Jack Frost (1964)

Je T' Aime Moi Non Plus

Kapo

King Lear (1971)

Kisses

Knights Of The Teutonic Order Knock

Kokoro (The Heart)

Krabat - The Sorcerer's Apprentice

L' Air De Paris L' Angelo Bianco

L' Argent (1928)

L' Inhumaine L' Intrusa

L' Osceno Desiderio (La Profezia) L' Ultima Violenza

La Baie Des Anges

La Bandera

La Cabina

La Chevre

La Chienne

La Citta` Delle Donne

La Commare Secca

La Fin Du Monde

La Grande Guerra

La Loi

La Luna La Mandragola

La Marge

La Nave Bianca

La Noia

La Polizia Sta A Guardare

La Prima Notte Di Quiete La Risaia

La Ronde (1964)

La Roue

La Settima Donna

La Strada Per Forte Alamo

La Vacanza

La Verite`

L' Amour Fou

L' Armata Brancaleone

Le Cinque Giornate

Le Grand Meaulnes

Le Magnifique

Le Malizie Di Venere

Le Quattro Giornate Di Napoli

Le Ragazze Di San Frediano

Le Silence De La Mer

Le Soldatesse

Le Voyage Imaginaire

L' Eredita` Ferramonti Les Amoureux Sont Seules Au Monde

Les Espions

Les Miserables (1934)

Les Visiteurs Du Soir

Letter To Jane

Letters From Iwo Jima

Lola (1960)

Love And Anger

Love Meetings

Love One Another

Love Train For SS

Lucrezia Borgia (1935)

Ludwig (1973)

L' Uomo Dalla Croce

L' Urlo

Maedchen In Uniform (1931)

Man Of Iron

Man, Pride And Vengeance

Mayerling (1936) Melancolico Autunno

Memories Of Underdevelopment

Mio Dio, Come Sono Caduta In Basso!

Miss Oyu

Morgiana

Murder Obsession (Follia Omicida)

My Way Home

Napoleon (1927)

Nine Lives

Nju

No Regrets For Our Youth Non C' E` Pace Fra Gli Ulivi

Odd Obsession (The Key) (1959)

Ogro

On The Comet

One Deadly Summer

One Wonderful Sunday

Osaka Elegy

Ossessione Paolo E Francesca (1949)

Paris Nous Appartient

People On Sunday

Pioneers In Ingolstadt

Porno Esotic Love

Que Viva Mexico!

Quest For Fire

Red Angel

Return Of Sabata Rise Against The Swords

Roma, Citta` Libera

Sabata

Sadko

Salon Kitty

Samurai Assassin Samurai Banners

Samurai Saga

Sanshiro Sugata

Sanshiro Sugata II

Sawdust And Tinsel

Scenes From A Marriage (Film & TV Versions)

Secret Agent (1947)

Secrets Of A Soul

Seven Blood-stained Orchids

Sexy Nights Of The Living Dead

She (1982)

Silence (1971)

Silence And Cry

Silip

Sister Emanuelle

Sisters Of The Gion

Snake Woman's Curse

So Sweet…So Perverse

Strange Hostel Of Naked Pleasures

Strange World Of Coffin Joe

Strawberry And Chocolate

Street Of Shame

Suzanne Simonin: La Religieuse

Sweet Movie

Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance

Szindbad

Teodora

The Alcove

The Beast And The Magic Sword

The Blue Eyes Of The Broken Doll

The Bride Of Glomdalen [Reconstructed Version]

The Bridge (1959)

The Burglars

The Burning Soil

The Cremator

The Crook

The Crucified Lovers

The Cry Of The Owl (1987)

The Day The Earth Froze (Sampo)

The Decameron

The Devil Strikes At Night

The Designated Victim

The Dirty Seven

The Fabulous World Of Jules Verne

The Fifth Offensive

The Finances Of The Grand Duke

The General Line

The Ghost Story Of Yotsuya

The Golden Horns

The Holy Mountain (1926)

The Horseman On The Roof [Edted U.S. Theatrical Version]

The Hunchback Of The Morgue

The Idiot (1951)

The Iguana With The Tongue Of Fire

The Image Makers

The Joke

The King And The Clown

The Last Days Of Mussolini

The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short

The Model Couple

The Monastery Of Sendomir

The Most Beautiful

The Outlaw And His Wife

The Party And The Guests

The Phantom Carriage (1921)

The Phoenix (1978)

The President (1919)

The Railroad Man

The Red And The White

The Saga Of Gosta Berling

The Sailors Of Kronstadt

The Sicilian Clan

The Silver Globe

The Sinful Dwarf

The Story Of The Late Chrysantemums

The Story Of Women

The Stranger (1967)

The Third Part Of The Night

The Travelling Players

The Twelve Chairs (1962)

The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg

The Visitor (1979)

The Water Magician The White Devil (1930)

Tih-Minh

Time Regained

Tire-Au-Flanc (The Sad Sack) (1928)

Tis Pity She's A Whore

Todo Modo

Tokyo March Tony Arzenta

Too Beautiful For You Tormento Torna!

Tusk

Two Girls On The Street

Ulysses' Gaze

Un Dollaro Bucato

Un Marito Per Anna Zaccheo Un Soir, Un Train

Une Femme Douce

Until The End Of The World [Parts 1-3]

Uomini E Lupi Up To His Ears

Vaghe Stelle Dell' Orsa

Vassilisa The Beautiful

Velluto Nero

Vengeance (Joko, Invoca Dio...E Muori) (1968)

Violent Summer

Violette Noziere Vortice

Wedding In Toprin

Who Are You, Polly Magoo?

Witches' Hammer

Woman In The Moon

Woman Of The Rumour

Women's Prison Massacre

Wooden Crosses

WR - Mysteries Of The Organism

Yuppi Du

P.S. I've now italicized the "Euro-Cult" titles so as to differentiate them from the more respectable "World Cinema" ones.


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