It's The Point Of No Return And You've Reached It (original) (raw)

Wed, Feb. 22nd, 2006, 02:15 pm

teenagegangdeb: Cactus Flower & NYC in the Movies

I was watching Cactus Flower (1969) last night. I thought Goldie Hawn's character was going to be annoyingly kookie or just too groovey to the point where its too dated to enjoy, but I found her to be really charming. I loved Walter Matthau and even Ingrid Bergamn whom I usually can't stand. I think she's incredibily overrated. But I think the casting was pretty on point and her stiffness worked her favor. I thought the story was pretty good and had enough curves in it to keep it from getting stale. Plus, its based in New York City in the 60s. That's almost always a recipe for success for me. I think the subgenre of romantic comedy plays turned into movies based in New York during the 60s has got to be one of most favorite things ever. I'm starting a list of movies set in New York in the 60s so that I can reference whenever I go to the video store, etc.

The Apartment
Ask Any Girl
Barefoot in the Park (also directed by Gene Saks)
Boys Night Out
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Dutchman
A Fine Madness
Gidget Grows Up
Ask Any Girl
The Light Fantastic
Lover Come Back
No Way to Treat a Lady
The Odd Couple
Out of Towners
Pillow Talk
The Rat Race
Rosemary's Baby
Sweet Charity
Sunday in New York
That Touch of Mink
A Thousand Clowns
Wait Until Dark
Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?
The World of Henry Orient
You're a Big Boy Now

I'd also like to see more contrasting movies set in New York in the 80s where everything is scary, nightmarish and crime filled, etc. Stuff like After Dark or Ms. .45 any other suggestions?

Sun, Dec. 18th, 2005, 01:07 pm

teenagegangdeb: Django Kill...If They Live, Shoot!

I was just watching this documentary on IFC about Spaghetti Westerns and now I've got a long list of movies to try and netflix. I watched a bunch of the major films of this genre back when I was in high school and college. But then I got more interested in their soundtracks and Ennio Morricone, etc. than the actual movies, so I never really dug that deep and watched any of the really off-beat ones from the second cycle* of the Spaghetti Westerns. Like the ones when they start to branch out and make kung-fu and horror and overtly political versions of Spaghetti Westerns. (Why didn't anyone make a Werewolf SpagWest?! Seriously, somebody needs to get somebody on the horn and get the ball rolling on this!).

Anyways, the one I'm most looking forward to seeing is Django Kill!. It gets filed under the gothic-horror branch of the spin-offs. If that weren't enough, it gets even better with an overt homosexual storyline. Here's an excerpt from a description I found online:

Complications ensue when a rival band of homosexual criminals enter the scene, having heard that the slain bandits carried a cache of gold which the town's mayor now possesses. They attempt to blackmail the mayor out of his newfound treasure by kidnapping his young son and gang raping the kid until he commits suicide. Later, they learn that the gold may be buried in the town cemetery and in their zeal to find it, proceed to dig up every grave.

Yikes!

They showed a small clip from the movie in the documentary and the gay bandits were dressed in matching black outfits with silver-y fringe. It looks totally, totally hot. I can't wait to find a copy. I'll let you know how it goes.

*Does anyone know a good book on Film Genre. I'd like to read up on that subject again. A good book with some depth but not too essay-ish would be ideal.

Sun, Nov. 27th, 2005, 11:56 am

phyllisgabor: stunt casting

This weekend I watched Nashville Rebel, a very low-budget Jailhouse Rock type movie starring Waylon Jennings as a up and coming country music star with a crazy manager. The real mind blower was that the manager was played by Gordon Oas-Heim, best known as the bloodthirsty artist in Color Me Blood Red!

For the entire duration of the movie I was afraid ol' Waylon was going to get dismembered.

I just checked out Gordon Oas-Heim's entry at IMDB, and he was also in Andy Warhol's Bad and played the butler on The New Monkees. What a career!

Thu, May. 12th, 2005, 11:23 pm

spaceecho: tune in to album 88 this friday at 10am

on capsule this week amre is interviewing the director and another crew member of the new wrestling documentary lipstick and dynamite. the interview will be live tomorrow morning. again it is at 10am on 88.5 fm

Sat, May. 7th, 2005, 01:22 pm

phyllisgabor: MODESTY BLASÉ IS MORE LIKE IT!

I was kind of disappointed by Modesty Blaise. It's a mess, but it's a beautiful mess. The plot has the coherency of a fever dream, and the title character never really gets to do anything cool. The only reason we know she’s an internationally infamous spy and super criminal is that people keep telling us. BORING! The only neat thing she does is change her hair color at will. And she has great clothes and a groovy revolving apartment, but that’s it. She does not live up to her theme song, which is something a 60s spy movie character must always do.

The movie's main saving graces are its super mod sets and costumes. And Dirk Bogarde is brilliant as Gabriel, Modesty's fey, silver haired arch-nemesis (I think he's supposed to be what Andy Warhol would have been like as a James Bond villain).

Some other cool things:

--You get to see a SUPER VIXEN in an orange bikini and matching caftan strangle a mime to death with her thighs (this part is stupefying, but when I saw it I died a little inside, because I knew Orange Crush would be getting into a stupid cat fight with Modesty at the end, and sure enough, she did).

--Modesty Blaise is tortured by being thrown into a room with incredibly loud wallpaper (honest)

--Modesty's cockney sidekick Willie (played by Terence Stamp) is super hot when he’s not blonde (he has hair color changing powers too).

--At the end of the movie Gabriel is tortured by being left to bake in the hot, hot sun in the desert with a transistor radio blasting "Ice is Nice" (which is basically "Gloria" with different words) in his ear. "Champagne..." he gasps, "Champagne..."

This movie would be awesome playing in the background of a bar on mod night or something like that, but watching it in the comfort of your own home is a recipe for boredom with flurries of “oh, I like that wig.” I'm afraid the superior lady spy caper movie is Raquel Welch's Fathom.


Oh God, not the WALLPAPER!

Tue, Apr. 12th, 2005, 11:43 am

businesscasual: (no subject)

I just saw this movie was playing in my hometown in a few weeks and I can't wait to see it. On a related note, I've been looking for old women's wrestling footage for a long time now. Can anyone give me a heads up? Thanks!

Mon, Feb. 14th, 2005, 11:44 pm

phyllisgabor: Oh That Tony Lo Bianco!


I watched The Honeymoon Killers this evening for the first time in years, and had forgotten how TOTALLY HOT Tony Lo Bianco was in his role as professional lothario Ray Fernandez. Mercy!

Shirley Stoler gives an amazing performance--somehow she manages to be completely intimidating and nasty and tender and vulnerable at the same time. I also have to tip my hat to Mary Jane Higby, who gives a cringeworthy performance as Janet Fay, the most annoying of Ray n' Martha's victims. When she sneers (and I paraphrase) "A dollar eighty five for a VEAL CUTLET," you'll want to smack her, too.

Essential viewing!

Tue, Feb. 8th, 2005, 09:27 am

jumblebunny: vincent price+opium+chinese midget ladies=awesome!

i hope somebody can help me. i used to have this movie called "confessions of an opium eater" starring vincent price. in it, he's an opium addict (duh) that has to rescue all these girls being sold into servitude in san francisco's chinatown c. 1900. he's assisted by a chinese lady dwarf sidekick. and there's an awesome part where he smokes opium and then engages in a slow-motion fight sequence. anyhow, i lent it to somebody and never got it back. and it's hopelessly out-of-print. i don't suppose somebody might have it and want to make me a copy? i'd be willing to set up a trade.