See cinema differently
The mid '90s were a strange place for celluloid feminism, especially if you dipped your toes in the still-murkier waters of B-movie horror and sci-fi. Misogyny was still the main order of the day. And though some titles faired better than others at making their strong women smart and capable (hello Rachel Talalay's exuberant Tank …
Director: Michel Franco Stars: Naian Gonzalez Norvind, Diego Boneta, Darío Yazbek Bernal Bong Joon-Ho's globally lauded Parasite wasn't exactly sly with its observations on class disparity, but it seems positively nuanced when set beside the blunt force trauma of Michel Franco's latest offering from Mexico. New Order presents a rapidly escalating conflict between working and upper …
Year: 2010 Director: Alexandre Aja Stars: Jerry O'Connell, Elisabeth Shue, Kelly Brook The so-called 'B-movie' (the original concept itself long abandoned by cinemas) spins in and out of the modern mainstream with some regularity, usually dependent on some aberration or other hitting it big or creating meme-worthy content. From killer sharks to killer crocs to …
Year: 1972 Director: Stanley H Brassloff Stars: Marcia Forbes, Evelyn Kingsley, Harlan Cary Poe The first word we hear in Toys Are Not For Children is a husky, lustrously whispered "Daddy". Jamie (Marcia Forbes) is lying naked on her bed with a large toy soldier. She's in the throws of a sexual fantasy, and the …
Continue reading "Why I Love… #109: Toys Are Not For Children"
Stray dogs roam the Californian beaches. Among them strays Bonnie (Candice Rialson); a beautiful blonde, on the run from her domineering, violent and resentful brother. Raphael Nussbaum's 1973 grindhouse classic Pets will follow her through a triptych of sexually charged situations, as the film at large explores themes of possession. Spoilers ahead... Newly reissued in the …
Year: 1974 Director: Jack Hill Stars: Jo Johnston, Rainbeaux Smith, Rosanne Keaton Is there such a thing as an elevated exploitation film? In the documentary on the Filipino B-movie boom Machete Maidens Unleashed, cult director John Landis laughs off the notion, rejecting the idea that filmmakers who indulge in exploitation pictures have any loftier intentions …
Continue reading "Why I Love… #106: The Swinging Cheerleaders"
Director: Alice Rohrwacher Stars: Adriano Tardiolo, Alba Rohrwacher, Luca Chikovani This review contains some mild spoilers. I've tried to keep it vague, but I really couldn't help it if we're to talk about the movie in any meaningful way. There's a flavour of 70's Italian rebel Pasolini about Alice Rohrwacher's Happy As Lazzaro; a singularly …
Year: 1972 Director: Shunya Ito Star: Meiko Kaji, Kayoko Shiraishi, Fumio Watanabe A product of Japanese film studio Toei in the early 1970s, the Female Prisoner Scorpion series - known in some circles as Female Convict Scorpion - detail the misadventures of Nami Matsushima (Meiko Kaji), a woman wrongfully imprisoned - framed by her former boyfriend - …
Continue reading "Why I Love… #92: Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41"
Director: Francis Lawrence Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Matthias Schoenaerts, Joel Edgerton Director Francis Lawrence and the star of his three Hunger Games features, Jennifer Lawrence, reunite for something altogether different (yet naggingly familiar) with this smooth, slick and wholly soulless spy thriller based on a book by Jason Matthews. J-Law stars as Dominika Egorova, a renowned Bolshoi …
Year: 1981 Director: Abel Ferrara Stars: Zoë Lund (Thana), Albert Sinkys (Albert), Darlene Stuto (Laurie), Helen McGara (Carol), Nike Zachmanoglou (Pamela), Editta Sherman (Mrs. Nasone) Genre: Thriller, Exploitation Quantifying why I love Ms. 45 is going to be trickier than most of these essays as it can be a hard film to love, or rather, can seem …
Director: Eli Roth Stars: Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo Between his Hostel features, Cabin Fever and his minor role in Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, Eli Roth has secured himself the position of modern horror cinema's troublesome, occasionally deplorable, but overall harmless fratboy. A cheeky prankster who trades away subtlety for gleeful rolls in the dirt, encouraging …
Director: Joe Lynch Stars: Salma Hayek, Gabriella Wright, Hiroyuki Watanabe I cast my mind back to my 14-year-old self living in the year 1997, going to school, coming home, listening to Steve Lamacq and John Peel on the radio, playing Nintendo 64 games with friends and watching any VHS we could get our hands on …
Year: 1965 Director: Russ Meyer Stars: Tura Satana (Varla), Haji (Rosie), Lori Williams (Billie), Ray Barlow (Tommy), Susan Bernard (Linda), Dennis Busch (The Vegetable), Stuart Lancaster (The Old Man), Paul Trinka (Kirk). Genre: Exploitation Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! has been on my list to cover off in this series since I decided to start …
Continue reading "Why I Love… #40: Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!"
Director: Jason Eisner Stars: Rutger Hauer, Molly Dunsworth, Nick Bateman ***originally written 2 August 2011*** How does a film review best serve its readers? More precisely, how does the reviewer best advise others? Is it to set aside personal preference and instead speak as though to the masses? And in doing so might one end …
The Lost Highway Hotel 