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  • Calvaire - (2004) Dir. Fabrice Du Welz

    Basically a Belgian version of Deliverance. Didn't enjoy it much but still a huge fan of Philippe Nahon from his early collaborations with Gaspar Noe.

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    • Safe to post again. Phew.

      Style Wars (Henry Chalfant, Tony Silver, 1984). Great PBS film on the NYC graffiti scene, with enough hip hop context to make it a pretty much essential document. The dvd came with a sticker about a (pre-kickstarter) campaign to make it available on HD: I threw it away, but it sounds like a good idea. I loved the Frazetta/Bode shout-out over the BEASTMASTER poster. Koch comes off like a comic villain, but the real evil is Cap, who'll put his tag up over anything. Those white trains rolling out of the station are like a George Lucas THX 1138 dream about Moby Dick. I'm no writer, and know almost nothing about it (other than it's way uglier to see painted-out lozenges in alleys than it is to see graffiti), but this is exciting stuff. The current public art films DVD release is pretty wonderful, even if it's not HD: commentaries, interviews, whack of galleries, and a cool half-hour loop of trains. Dumb spindle-stack packaging's the only minus.

      Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme (Kevin Fitzgerald, 2000). Freestyling is like flyting, poetic combat out of your head, for glory and the rush of it: this documentary makes it sound like a poetry jam, a little, but also gives enough background (freestyling ain't what it used to be; the line from preaching to rap; some culture) to show the differences. The set-piece on the battle between Juice and Supernatural is a little artificial -- I got the feeling most freestyling faceoffs are more personal, more in the moment -- but it's pretty great. Loved Juice hauling out his rhyming dictionary (Clyde). Poetry.

      Cutaway (Guy Manos, 2000). Stephen Baldwin (narc) inflitrates a Miami sky-diving/drug-running team led by Tom Berenger. It's like POINT BREAK as a DTV, with all the cheapass lowrent flavour that implies, but the skydiving video's pretty. Ron Silver brings his beard, and Dennis Rodman gets a line or two; Casper Van Dien plays Iceman from TOP GUN. Stupid; I watched the whole thing.

      Chronicle (Josh Trank, 2012). Not a very funny episode of MISFITS, written by John Landis' kid Max. Three guys gets superpowers, fuck up. Found-video, yeah, okay; friends bullshitting, yeah, okay. But I liked the way they goofed on their new powers, and the big mayhem scene at the end didn't entirely suck. Liked it more than I expected.

      The Babysitter (Don Henderson, 1969). I never got around to this on the BCI releases, got the Code Red disc in case it was an improvement. Sure shows a lot of grain in some shots, but I was pleased with how it looked & sounded. Really enjoyable. "Maybe we play too much bridge..." Package swears that Don Henderson is not Tom Laughlin -- the bra-cutting sure did remind me of Billy Jack, though.

      True Identity (Charles Lane, 1991). I dug Charles Lane in POSSE, so I ordered the R2 of this, and it's pretty great, like a Gene Wilder/Richard Pryor movie where Lenny Henry plays 'em both. The makeup had me staring at the screen, the gags are funny, and Frank Langella and Andreas Katsulas add a lot (they're now some of my favourite white people). Disney/Touchstone, so a little denatured, but enjoyable.

      We don't want threads on all those, do we?

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      • Already posted about Oedipus Orca and Zatoichi on the Road elsewhere, But I also watched:

        DIE BETTHOSTESSEN (1975)

        A pudgy guy in a mullet tries to convince Erwin Dietrich to make a movie about all the sex he's seen people having (which I guess is *this* movie...how meta.) This was like a perfect storm of how to screw up filming cute girls taking their clothes off: bad lighting, bad makeup, static camera setups, uninspired direction. When Ingrid Steeger fails to liven up your film, you're doing it wrong. Was pretty funny though -- I have no idea how much of the humor was in the original script and how much came in via the English dub but there were some pretty amusing lines, some of them even intentionally so.

        Special note should also be made of the final segment. Whereas the preceding segments all seemed like 3rd rate Schoolgirl Report outtakes, the final segment was at the very least different. Now, I've seen a lot of cinematic Satanic sex rituals (what do is say about my taste in movies that that statement is true?) -- but I've never seen one like this. In this cinematic universe, apparently the Black Mass consists of having sex on a barn floor while five naked guys stand in a circle around you staring, unmoving. And you drink big goblets of wine that are also snakes. Mmmmmmkay, I'll take the "Satan's Blood" style ritual over that one any days, thanks.

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        • Originally posted by 47lab View Post
          Calvaire - (2004) Dir. Fabrice Du Welz

          Basically a Belgian version of Deliverance. Didn't enjoy it much but still a huge fan of Philippe Nahon from his early collaborations with Gaspar Noe.
          I really love this one, even though I definitely think your comparison is valid. For me, it has a very distinctive style that sets a very ominous and depressive mood. It's like DELIVERANCE, except less country bluegrass and more black metal (there's no black metal in CALVAIRE, this is just in reference to that film's nature). I'd definitely still recommend checking out VINYAN even though you weren't blown away by CALVAIRE. It's techincally a better, more accomplished film for one, but it's also got some haunting moments and truly greats performances from the entire cast. See it half-asleep to emphasize the otherworldly melancholia that the film evokes!

          As for myself, I've been enjoying the Intervision Picture line what with BURNING MOON and SLEDGEHAMMER. Both masterpieces in their own right: BURNING MOON is raw nihilism on a budget with a heavy dose of comic lunacy. SLEDGEHAMMER takes slasher conventions and projects them on a small (but bigger than I had expected) budget and really delivers the goods as far as atmosphere goes. The hallway shots are terrifyingly perfect. THINGS will be the next film I watch from Intervision. Hopefully, they continue to release more films, although with the recent Severin controversy, who knows?

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          • Originally posted by James View Post
            although with the recent Severin controversy, who knows?
            Not to take the thread off topic, but I must be out of the loop. What controversy?

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            • Originally posted by Apronikoff View Post
              Not to take the thread off topic, but I must be out of the loop. What controversy?
              On their Facebook page there was buzz because apparently Severin had not paid someone for a print used last year of the film A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER. So the guy posted on Facebook that he wanted money. I guess it was all settled, but since Severin and Intervision are basically co-partners now, I wonder if it will be a problem for them. It seemed like Severin was having problems since 2011. Furthermore, A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER was used as a special feature trailer on one of the Intervision releases. It's very possible they were planning to release it and won't now.

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              • Originally posted by James View Post
                On their Facebook page there was buzz because apparently Severin had not paid someone for a print used last year of the film A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER. So the guy posted on Facebook that he wanted money. I guess it was all settled, but since Severin and Intervision are basically co-partners now, I wonder if it will be a problem for them. It seemed like Severin was having problems since 2011. Furthermore, A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER was used as a special feature trailer on one of the Intervision releases. It's very possible they were planning to release it and won't now.
                Ah, gotcha. I've been curious what's going on with them. Compared to previous years, even last year, they've released next to nothing this year...

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                • Originally posted by Apronikoff View Post
                  Ah, gotcha. I've been curious what's going on with them. Compared to previous years, even last year, they've released next to nothing this year...
                  They posted a picture of Franco being interviewed, so maybe there's more of him on the way. There's also those two 50s war films, but those don't really interest me and don't really seem to fit the rest of the Severin catalog.

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                  • Originally posted by James View Post
                    I really love this one, even though I definitely think your comparison is valid. For me, it has a very distinctive style that sets a very ominous and depressive mood. It's like DELIVERANCE, except less country bluegrass and more black metal (there's no black metal in CALVAIRE, this is just in reference to that film's nature). I'd definitely still recommend checking out VINYAN even though you weren't blown away by CALVAIRE. It's techincally a better, more accomplished film for one, but it's also got some haunting moments and truly greats performances from the entire cast. See it half-asleep to emphasize the otherworldly melancholia that the film evokes!
                    James, thanks for the heads up re: VINYAN. I'll definitely check it out. :up:

                    Just rewatched Haute Tension for the first time since I saw it in the theater nearly a decade ago. What the hell happened to Aja? Every movie since has been progressively worse. To think, he showed such promise back then & was considered one of the rising stars of horror genre.

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                    • Originally posted by 47lab View Post
                      James, thanks for the heads up re: VINYAN. I'll definitely check it out. :up:

                      Just rewatched Haute Tension for the first time since I saw it in the theater nearly a decade ago. What the hell happened to Aja? Every movie since has been progressively worse. To think, he showed such promise back then & was considered one of the rising stars of horror genre.
                      Yeah, that movie was awesome. I didn't even mind the twist as it fit in line with the main character's illness. It's funny you mention Aja fading. I think the whole New French Extremity thing is basically done sadly.

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                      • Record highs in Columbus, so it was too damn hot to go outside or do much of anything. Perfect day to sit on the couch watching movies. So that's exactly what I did:

                        VELVET VAMPIRE - Pretty neat take on Carmilla set in the American southwest. Really dug the atmosphere and music, would have liked it even better had the main couple not been such tools. The other feature on the disc (Lady Frankenstein) will definitely get more repeat plays, but well worth watching.

                        MY DEAR KILLER - Nice giallo with a really well plotted out mystery and some gore and sleaze sprinkled in for flavor. George Hilton's always fun, and anything with a Morricone score always has at least one big thing going for it.

                        SEX HUNTER - Picture Suspiria and/or Black Swan as a Nikkatsu Roman Porno. Terrific visual style, crazy as all hell, and really sexy -- one of my favorites in the genre. If you're an NRP fan and haven't seen this one, you should *definitely* check it out.

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                        • Originally posted by Apronikoff View Post
                          SEX HUNTER - Picture Suspiria and/or Black Swan as a Nikkatsu Roman Porno. Terrific visual style, crazy as all hell, and really sexy -- one of my favorites in the genre. If you're an NRP fan and haven't seen this one, you should *definitely* check it out.
                          Gotta' check this one out!

                          Edit: Holy shit, the guy who directed Sex Hunter Toshiharu Ikeda also directed Evil Dead Trap 1 and 3 and committed suicide in 2010. I didn't even know he died.
                          Alex K.
                          Senior Member
                          Last edited by Alex K.; 07-07-2012, 11:47 PM.
                          "Ah! By god's balls what licentiousness!"

                          Marquis de Sade, The 120 Days of Sodom.

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                          • Originally posted by Alex K. View Post
                            Holy shit, the guy who directed Sex Hunter Toshiharu Ikeda also directed Evil Dead Trap 1 and 3 and committed suicide in 2010. I didn't even know he died.
                            Oh yeah, I'd forgotten it was the same guy who did Evil Dead Trap. Hadn't heard about hs death...that's too bad.

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                            • Originally posted by James View Post
                              Yeah, that movie was awesome. I didn't even mind the twist as it fit in line with the main character's illness. It's funny you mention Aja fading. I think the whole New French Extremity thing is basically done sadly.
                              I know a lot of critics panned that movie based on the twist but I had no problem with it either. C'est la vie...yeah, you're right about NFE movement but we got some damn good flicks out it while it lasted. Martyrs, Inside, Frontier(s), Trouble Every Day are some of the best movies from the horror genre that I've had the pleasure of viewing & horror really isn't my thing. :up:

                              Let Me In - the US remake of the Swedish movie, Let The Right One In

                              I heard this movie got good critical reviews & accolades and was lauded as being one of the few remakes that stayed true to the original but never got a chance to catch it until today when I noticed the wife was watching it in the living room. Glad I did. ^_^

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by 47lab View Post

                                Let Me In - the US remake of the Swedish movie, Let The Right One In

                                I heard this movie got good critical reviews & accolades and was lauded as being one of the few remakes that stayed true to the original but never got a chance to catch it until today when I noticed the wife was watching it in the living room. Glad I did. ^_^
                                Not been brave enough to watch that one yet....worried it is TOO close to the original....so no surprises.....

                                300...

                                yeah I know....long time has passed since it came out...just never got round to seeing it....was on TV last night so watched it....OMG, such over-acting (scary eyes, big open mouths, lots of shouting, posing)...didnt really enjoy it at all...I guess because it needed to be seen on a big screen to get the CGI and atmosphere..just didnt work on my (large screen) TV....

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