cult film freak: November 2018

Written by James M. Tate / 11/28/2018 / No comments / action , body count , cult , drive-in , drugs , exploitation , killer car , marley shelton , quentin tarantino , rosario dawson , rose mcgowen , sydney poitier , thriller , vanessa ferlito , zeroes , zoë bell

VANESSA FERLITO ENHANCES QT'S INFAMOUS 'DEATH PROOF'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0YBeVtV3sLU/XxbVbwGLjUI/AAAAAAABWE0/f0tZEYuZUUsibzdnA0HmDnYzbkGVx8RtgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2018-11-28%25252Bat%25252B6.42.21%25252BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0YBeVtV3sLU/XxbVbwGLjUI/AAAAAAABWE0/f0tZEYuZUUsibzdnA0HmDnYzbkGVx8RtgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2018-11-28%25252Bat%25252B6.42.21%25252BPM.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Foreboding perspective of Tarantino's DEATH PROOF Year: 2005</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Like there are two movies in GRINDHOUSE, there are also two in the second feature, written, directed and photographed by Quentin Tarantino titled DEATH PROOF: story one is eerie, torturous, dark, bizarre, perverse, shoddy and dodgy-looking while the second <i>looks</i> far more professionally filmed but is overall, unbearably awful... <br>
<br>
The device of DEATH PROOF and Robert Rodriquez's co-feature, PLANET TERROR, are an abundance of deliberate aesthetic flaws: a tribute to b-movies that played so many times in low-rent "grindhouse" theaters, they wound up tarnished and with entire reels missing. In the two-parts of DEATH PROOF it's one man, Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike, who connects each...<br>

action, body count, cult, drive-in, drugs, exploitation, killer car, marley shelton, quentin tarantino, rosario dawson, rose mcgowen, sydney poitier, thriller, vanessa ferlito, zeroes, zoë bell

VANESSA FERLITO ENHANCES QT'S INFAMOUS 'DEATH PROOF'

Foreboding perspective of Tarantino's DEATH PROOF Year: 2005 Like there are two movies in GRINDHOUSE, there are also two in the seco...

CAMERON CROWE IGNITES MORE HIGH TIMES W/ 'THE WILD LIFE'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ksu_yDV1qcA/W_98W2w8nRI/AAAAAAAA8XA/Kg8s1FgRYOc1uRzSPOVkVUhIYPXLo4UXgCLcBGAs/s1600/1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="960" height="272" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ksu_yDV1qcA/W_98W2w8nRI/AAAAAAAA8XA/Kg8s1FgRYOc1uRzSPOVkVUhIYPXLo4UXgCLcBGAs/s400/1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ilan-Mitchell Smith in The Wild Life YEAR: 1984</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
THE WILD LIFE, an underrated and unappreciated for being relatively obscure and unknown teen sex comedy, directed by Art Linson and written by FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH creator 
Cameron Crowe, has a somewhat facetious title...<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5_h-I_CWr0/W_-v4MgWaEI/AAAAAAAA8YU/IODECQKXxKg40iq2ejwjPJUqEEklnBAzQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-11-29%2Bat%2B1.17.11%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="363" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5_h-I_CWr0/W_-v4MgWaEI/AAAAAAAA8YU/IODECQKXxKg40iq2ejwjPJUqEEklnBAzQCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-11-29%2Bat%2B1.17.11%2BAM.jpeg" width="138" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>EVH mixing TWL</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although
 two of the main characters — Chris Penn as Tom Drake, channeling Sean’s Jeff Spicoli in jock form, and future WEIRD SCIENCE actor Ilan-Mitchell Smith as stoner kid Jim 
Conrad — are rebellious enough, the buried lead goes to Jim’s big brother Bill, who, played by Eric Stoltz, moves into an apartment complex for his twenty-something independence...<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L27thOX601I/XZ6lh5eUbHI/AAAAAAABIxI/yUX6DNJUuRAAvnxI7ON6tdc9U_4qp3hmACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-10-09%2Bat%2B8.04.45%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="488" height="307" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L27thOX601I/XZ6lh5eUbHI/AAAAAAABIxI/yUX6DNJUuRAAvnxI7ON6tdc9U_4qp3hmACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-10-09%2Bat%2B8.04.45%2BPM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christopher Penn aka Chris Penn</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For the most 
part, the "wild" in the title becomes something to avoid more than 
embrace but not for long because, after Tom, who works with Bill at the local bowling alley, moves in to share the rent, the pad becomes a 
dilapidated and eventually partying-till-you-drop hangout. Meanwhile, Bill's ex girlfriend Anita, played by Lea Thompson, is a mousy 
donut store employee having an affair with a muscular, married cop (BREAKING AWAY bully Hart Bochner). And poor put-upon Bill simply gets no thrill out of life, wild or otherwise... <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b-c5J3po8k0/W_zZReOZQTI/AAAAAAAA8Lc/SZ04a1LP3Vw7q8XUG-ijihEYJ9IwwHGPQCLcBGAs/s1600/47093699_608266106269236_4844070837499723776_o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1144" data-original-width="569" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b-c5J3po8k0/W_zZReOZQTI/AAAAAAAA8Lc/SZ04a1LP3Vw7q8XUG-ijihEYJ9IwwHGPQCLcBGAs/s400/47093699_608266106269236_4844070837499723776_o.jpeg" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Chris Penn fixes up/takes down</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
Unlike little brother Jim, who confidently wanders 
town with a ghetto blaster in hand, a cigarette dangling from scowling 
lips and most importantly, being a fan of APOCALYPSE NOW and friends 
with a real vet, he's entranced by the Vietnam War.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G21Y2fHFdfg/W_zSc3IU3LI/AAAAAAAA8Kw/lejsCIP-kY0U6co76JoXRjvziXZzUQvWwCLcBGAs/s1600/46753118_608254299603750_7457331529698508800_n%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="288" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G21Y2fHFdfg/W_zSc3IU3LI/AAAAAAAA8Kw/lejsCIP-kY0U6co76JoXRjvziXZzUQvWwCLcBGAs/s400/46753118_608254299603750_7457331529698508800_n%2B2.jpeg" width="166" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Another Penn pothead</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
During
 the late 70s/early 80s, with an exception to OVER THE EDGE, not many 
films have heavy metal youths in the forefront. Shaggy, loaded teens 
were prominent in schools and suburban neighborhoods throughout America,
 yet their role in cinema was mostly peripheral<br />
<br />
And on the flipside is 
Bill's ex, Lea Thompson’s Anita, the melancholy victim of one-dimensional puppy 
love, overshadowed by Jenny Wright as Eileen, working at a trendy New 
Wave boutique and, while dodging the advances of her dorky boss, 
keeps at arm’s length with Penn’s persistent Tom, seeking her hand in 
marriage while drinking beer or trying to buy some with a fake ID, smoking pot, partying at a seedy strip club, and making a real mess of everything he touches...<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lElzR50cIMg/W_zS2gBxC9I/AAAAAAAA8K8/1-f6-gP4L1oIoovCExx4YPInIL4ka-rZwCLcBGAs/s1600/46753118_608254299603750_7457331529698508800_n%2B3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="340" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lElzR50cIMg/W_zS2gBxC9I/AAAAAAAA8K8/1-f6-gP4L1oIoovCExx4YPInIL4ka-rZwCLcBGAs/s400/46753118_608254299603750_7457331529698508800_n%2B3.jpeg" width="206" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>THE WILD LIFE Rates: ****</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Perhaps the most important element is the awesome 
soundtrack by Edward Van Halen, providing instrumental hard rock tracks,
 equally funky and soulful. This is one of the few times you’ll hear the
 iconic guitar god jamming, sans a strutting blond lead singer (you 
choose) at the forefront. The devilish riffs especially befit Jim’s 
head-banger odyssey...<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RZBjJCA2Mlw/W_z2bwEILiI/AAAAAAAA8N4/DiLH71eYnCMsEfi8xxmqWmLTIg1QS-mfwCLcBGAs/s1600/46798363_608266402935873_1942179130304888832_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="919" data-original-width="607" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RZBjJCA2Mlw/W_z2bwEILiI/AAAAAAAA8N4/DiLH71eYnCMsEfi8xxmqWmLTIg1QS-mfwCLcBGAs/s400/46798363_608266402935873_1942179130304888832_n.jpeg" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Signed by Ilan-Mitchell Smith</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After all, he’s the one who’d probably spend 
quality time listening to Roth-era Van Halen on his bedroom stereo...<br />
<br />
Although 
Eric Stoltz and Chris Penn play cool cats, neither are strong enough to carry the picture, making their opposing synergy 
that much more dynamic. An Oscar/Felix relationship sheds light on each 
persona, tugging the apartment in a wishbone fashion – unfortunately for
 Bill and luckily for us, the partying Tom ultimately wins, somewhat.<br />
<br />
We’ve
 all known obnoxious guys like Chris Penn's Tom Drake (in those FOOTLOOSE days, Chris billed as Christopher Penn) and have felt vulnerable, used-up and stepped-upon
like poor Bill (who Drake calls "The Bill Man"), making this movie less WILD and more underdog relatable… And while 
Crowe’s classic FAST TIMES is much funnier and complete, LIFE is 
breezier and, to coin Tom Drake’s favorite word, way more <i>casual</i>: subtly borrowing from the sex comedy template without having to force-push the envelope.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jsTsvmYyTU4/W_-uBUzNP2I/AAAAAAAA8X4/HBf32F5FJKgGjSLJ9jyN20pt0uWwS3MtACLcBGAs/s1600/11.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="750" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jsTsvmYyTU4/W_-uBUzNP2I/AAAAAAAA8X4/HBf32F5FJKgGjSLJ9jyN20pt0uWwS3MtACLcBGAs/s1600/11.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ron Wood cameo in THE WILD LIFE </u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wf6fZlF_2iA/W_z5mz0nWOI/AAAAAAAA8OE/cjZmFhWFSRkS1TTtrzYIsxeQrcAb1XeGwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-11-26%2Bat%2B11.58.17%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1122" data-original-width="1600" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wf6fZlF_2iA/W_z5mz0nWOI/AAAAAAAA8OE/cjZmFhWFSRkS1TTtrzYIsxeQrcAb1XeGwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-11-26%2Bat%2B11.58.17%2BPM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Eric "The Bill Man" Stoltz hangs with Chris "It's Casual" Penn outside the lanes in THE WILD LIFE</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gpKt2PpyXe0/W_zxYrgp88I/AAAAAAAA8NQ/KZqw70h8LBctr4AZ7KLzIi6hB3XLf-GcQCLcBGAs/s1600/4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="960" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gpKt2PpyXe0/W_zxYrgp88I/AAAAAAAA8NQ/KZqw70h8LBctr4AZ7KLzIi6hB3XLf-GcQCLcBGAs/s1600/4.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Cari Anne Warder as Julie (Jim's cute blonde crush) in THE WILD LIFE</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ThroL5Y0EOE/W_z6bg_SNqI/AAAAAAAA8OM/goZV-mx_vAAR9KUZ8FW7Y_q6qdDTooFFACLcBGAs/s1600/46771507_608282579600922_5909431389303865344_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="960" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ThroL5Y0EOE/W_z6bg_SNqI/AAAAAAAA8OM/goZV-mx_vAAR9KUZ8FW7Y_q6qdDTooFFACLcBGAs/s1600/46771507_608282579600922_5909431389303865344_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ilan-Mitchell Smith with buddy Brin Berliner THE WILD LIFE</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>

chris penn, comedy, edward van halen, eighties, eric stoltz, hart bochner, ilan-mitchell smith, jenny wright, lea thompson, rick moranis, teen

CAMERON CROWE IGNITES MORE HIGH TIMES W/ 'THE WILD LIFE'

Ilan-Mitchell Smith in The Wild Life YEAR: 1984 THE WILD LIFE, an underrated and unappreciated for being relatively obscure and unknown ...

Written by James M. Tate / 11/25/2018 / No comments / art garfunkel , cop , crime , denholm elliott , eighties , harvey keitel , neo noir , nicolas roeg , theresa russell , thriller

NICOLAS ROEG CHEATING DEATH IN VIENNA WITH 'BAD TIMING'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sbq4deuLKDQ/XNAoIlSxd3I/AAAAAAABDt4/UjUalgjjb1oc3wv85JsMsn5UsMfKg4x8QCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-05-06%2Bat%2B5.26.02%2BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="1556" height="306" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sbq4deuLKDQ/XNAoIlSxd3I/AAAAAAABDt4/UjUalgjjb1oc3wv85JsMsn5UsMfKg4x8QCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-05-06%2Bat%2B5.26.02%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Theresa Russell playing a color test book in BAD TIMING</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From slap-happy, smitten Film Noir jerks onward, the cinematic equivalent of a girl that's <i>just no good</i> or a "no good dame" is usually one who's simply <i>too good to be true</i>. And when a loose, liberal young lady from America — in the usually idyllic dreamland of Vienna — hooks up with a loose yet intellectual American professor who thinks he's more liberal-minded than he actually is, things go from... well in this case, worse to better to pretty bad to pretty good to downright awful... for her, that is...<br>
<br>
Initially taking place at a hospital emergency room where Theresa Russell's Milena is being kept alive by desperate surgeons, BAD TIMING consists of flashbacks concerning her doomed romance with leading man Art Garfunkel as Alex. The most intriguing aspect of Nicolas Roeg's comparably obscure motion picture is how a dying Milena is edited into sporadic bouts of love-making, laughter, arguments, more love-making, tantrums, aspersions, more tantrums, wandering through Vienna and even a quick road trip along desert terrain, like where the late auteur shaped his future assisting David Lean on a little excursion titled LAWRENCE OF ARABIA before carving-out his own desolate territory for WALKABOUT...<br>
<br>

art garfunkel, cop, crime, denholm elliott, eighties, harvey keitel, neo noir, nicolas roeg, theresa russell, thriller

NICOLAS ROEG CHEATING DEATH IN VIENNA WITH 'BAD TIMING'

Theresa Russell playing a color test book in BAD TIMING From slap-happy, smitten Film Noir jerks onward, the cinematic equivalent of a g...

DONNA LOCKE BATTLES 'NEON MANIACS' W/ LEILANI SARELLE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y6R91o5vt_o/W-05_3LJAnI/AAAAAAAA7aY/mNUgwOpx4iMpqd-Lt8XuPZvsLM1Ret9uwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-11-07%2Bat%2B6.43.08%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="298" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y6R91o5vt_o/W-05_3LJAnI/AAAAAAAA7aY/mNUgwOpx4iMpqd-Lt8XuPZvsLM1Ret9uwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-11-07%2Bat%2B6.43.08%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Surfer Fangforth & Tribal Birdspear in NEON MANIACS year: 1986</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Right when you think the low budget 1986 horror flick NEON MANIACS is about one thing, it goes in another direction. Which is good <i>and</i> bad...<br>
<br>
The bad is it's an awkward and uneven film, dragging at times. The good is pretty much everything else, starting with a nighttime vanful of partying high schools students, which includes a gorgeous blonde who isn't an uptight virgin like the cliché potential sole survivor...<br>
<br>
That's because this isn't<i> the usual</i> Body Count Slasher where doomed teens randomly perish along the way. And her shallow girlfriends and jerky guy-friends wind up quickly massacred by the titular maniacs that resemble a creation from a comic book addict's reverie, and there's a combination of nightmarish monstrosities rolled into this lethal gang including tribal warriors and mutant samurais... <br>

body count, creature, cult, donna locke, eighties, horror, indie, leilani sarelle, marta kober, monster, slasher, thriller

DONNA LOCKE BATTLES 'NEON MANIACS' W/ LEILANI SARELLE

Surfer Fangforth & Tribal Birdspear in NEON MANIACS year: 1986 Right when you think the low budget 1986 horror flick NEON MANIACS is...

GEORGE HARDY OF 'TROLL 2' CULT LEGACY IN 'TEXAS COTTON'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fo8vXFL2r8g/W_UfY-0XOxI/AAAAAAAA7rQ/5zBNchpziu0axTzqk539N5QsSYAjDuNFgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-11-20%2Bat%2B11.39.07%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="915" data-original-width="1236" height="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fo8vXFL2r8g/W_UfY-0XOxI/AAAAAAAA7rQ/5zBNchpziu0axTzqk539N5QsSYAjDuNFgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-11-20%2Bat%2B11.39.07%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tiffany Shepis & George Hardy stalk Texas Cotton YEAR: 2018</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A kind of CHINATOWN on sleeping pills, and taking place in the Lone Star State, TEXAS COTTON is actually a pop culture party trick of a Modern-Western Thriller, being it stars the star of what's considered the best-worst movie ever made...<br>
<br>
That being George Hardy of infamous TROLL 2 niche fame, who in real life is a smiling, upbeat, jovial personality... and a dentist at that...<br>
<br>
So for the ultra-serious role of a veteran cop seeking clues in a small town in which he's a dedicated and stubbornly honest sheriff, Hardy is played safe, for the most part, with a one-note, dissatisfied expression of someone who not only tasted a bitter cup of morning coffee, but has grown contemptuously accustomed to it...<br>

2018, george hardy, indie, indie corner, juliette danielle, neo noir, thriller

GEORGE HARDY OF 'TROLL 2' CULT LEGACY IN 'TEXAS COTTON'

Tiffany Shepis & George Hardy stalk Texas Cotton YEAR: 2018 A kind of CHINATOWN on sleeping pills, and taking place in the Lone Star...

RACING THROUGH EARLY JACK NICHOLSON 'THE WILD RIDE'

drama, exploitation, jack nicholson, jazz score, race car, sixties, teen

RACING THROUGH EARLY JACK NICHOLSON 'THE WILD RIDE'

A young Jack Nicholson in THE WILD RIDE Year: 1960 Before the term "Speed Kills" referred to drugs it was for souped-up fast c...

TOM LAUGHLIN'S FIRST & BEST BILLY JACK 'THE BORN LOSERS'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sWmhUY1vUVk/W_EOM89P9mI/AAAAAAAA7ek/5uq2YejtRzc1K-V78YDnHCC3WLLIxL4DACLcBGAs/s1600/46436808_602809760148204_1085677585360224256_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="960" height="292" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sWmhUY1vUVk/W_EOM89P9mI/AAAAAAAA7ek/5uq2YejtRzc1K-V78YDnHCC3WLLIxL4DACLcBGAs/s400/46436808_602809760148204_1085677585360224256_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Elizabeth James and Tom Laughlin on equal ground YEAR: 1967</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
THE BORN LOSERS wasn't supposed to happen but thank God it did since BILLY JACK is one of the most embarrassing counter-culture action flicks ever made...<br>
<br>
Tom Laughlin in the title role as a part Indian do-gooder who defends a ridiculously "progressive" high school full of teens and preteens, singing corny protest songs off-key with beyond-novice acting disabilities, and a dated, obvious push for an older guy trying way too hard to relate to that era's flaky and spacey youth: So it's much better, more universal and exploitation-entertaining that he defend three older, legally sexy college coeds who get raped by a gang of scruffy bikers while Billy Jack is, for most of THE BORN LOSERS, a quiet, ambiguous sort of Lonely Man character, taking his time to defend not only the girls, but himself...<br>

action, biker, bob tessier, counter-culture, elizabeth james, exploitation, jack starrett, jeff cooper, jeremy slate, kung fu, sixties, tom laughlin, william wellman

TOM LAUGHLIN'S FIRST & BEST BILLY JACK 'THE BORN LOSERS'

Elizabeth James and Tom Laughlin on equal ground YEAR: 1967 THE BORN LOSERS wasn't supposed to happen but thank God it did since BIL...

COENS' WESTERN ANTHOLOGY 'THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-owvOMp5V-A0/W-8F40paDhI/AAAAAAAA7c8/yRyMgmLIp_E0CSE8iQruPpdBp2IhMTdHACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-11-16%2Bat%2B9.29.17%2BAM%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1185" height="298" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-owvOMp5V-A0/W-8F40paDhI/AAAAAAAA7c8/yRyMgmLIp_E0CSE8iQruPpdBp2IhMTdHACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-11-16%2Bat%2B9.29.17%2BAM%2B2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Release: 2018</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A more fitting title for The Coen Brothers' Western Anthology <u>THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS</u> would be <i>Six Ways to Die in the West</i>. Not only is each vignette about death, but the misleading title refers to the first story and that's it. Maybe if Tim Blake Nelson's singing cowboy was the blanket narrator it would make more sense...<br>
<br>
Then again, he's so annoying, maybe not. In fact, SCRUGGS is one of several of the main characters that doesn't only die but deserves death: The hybrid of a THREE AMIGOS style gussied-up Amigo, Pinhead from FREAKS, Jim Varney's Ernest and Kermit the Frog, the entire point of a surprisingly lethal crooner <i>who only looks nerdy</i> steps upon the second story featuring James Franco as a scruffy bank robber, titled <u>NEAR ALGODONES</u>. In this case, Franco's outlaw loner only <i>seems</i> more resilient than a timid and chubby bank teller played by nerd's nerd Stephen Root. There's some potential in the sparse-shot, Spaghetti Western tableau, but like the first story, it ends before it really begins (and concludes with an absolutely gorgeous actress, Grace LeSueur, in a quick but very important cameo)... <br>

2018, action, anthology, coen brothers, grace lesueur, james franco, liam neeson, netflix, new, stephen root, tom waits, western

COENS' WESTERN ANTHOLOGY 'THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS'

Year of Release: 2018 A more fitting title for The Coen Brothers' Western Anthology THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS would be Six Ways ...

RAMBLING FACT-CHECKING REVIEW OF 'BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VN1_XXATuI8/W-ucUC14U9I/AAAAAAAA7YQ/H7PPj2yXTL82kAuOPWjz3i9YEsMSx4M7QCLcBGAs/s1600/queen-bohemian-rhapsody-film-trailer-watch-1526391283-640x427.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="508" height="328" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VN1_XXATuI8/W-ucUC14U9I/AAAAAAAA7YQ/H7PPj2yXTL82kAuOPWjz3i9YEsMSx4M7QCLcBGAs/s400/queen-bohemian-rhapsody-film-trailer-watch-1526391283-640x427.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gwilym Lee looks more the part than Rami Malek attempts it Year: 2018</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hardcore QUEEN fans might get frustrated, or perhaps just confused, that the movie goes from the first album's "Keep Yourself Alive" to "Killer Queen," which is okay so far since QUEEN II was more progressive rock before their stardom... but then during the first tour of America, they're playing "Fat Bottomed Girls" from the latter 70's Jazz album, and that's before recording their 1975 epic "Bohemian Rhapsody" on A Night at the Opera, skipping right past the brilliant followup A Day at the Races...<br>
<br>
And then we're at a party hearing "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" from The Game circa 1980 before Brian May comes up with "We Will Rock You" from News of the World in 1977: and then back to The Game with "Another One Bites The Dust," ducking under the failure of the funk-themed (and actually underrated) Hot Space album, and playing the most famous track "Under Pressure" well after they supposedly broke up... which NEVER happened... And backing up to the repeated heckling of Roger Taylor's "I'm In Love With My Car," one of their greatest songs, ever...<br>

2018, biopic, music, new, rami malek

RAMBLING FACT-CHECKING REVIEW OF 'BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY'

Gwilym Lee looks more the part than Rami Malek attempts it Year: 2018 Hardcore QUEEN fans might get frustrated, or perhaps just confused...

SEAN S. CUNNINGHAM'S 'THE NEW KIDS' WITH LORI LOUGHLIN

bully, drama, eighties, eric stoltz, high school, james spader, john philbin, lori loughlin, paige price, sean s. cunningham, teen, tom atkins

SEAN S. CUNNINGHAM'S 'THE NEW KIDS' WITH LORI LOUGHLIN

Lori Loughlin & Shannon Presby are The New Kids YEAR: 1985 Sean S. Cunningham's THE NEW KIDS is a different kind of high school ...

CAINE VERSES SAVALAS IN 'BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE'

disaster, ensemble, jack warden, michael caine, peter boyle, sally field, sequel, shirley jones, telly savalas, veronica hamell

CAINE VERSES SAVALAS IN 'BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE'

Villains of Beyond The Poseidon Adventure While not as bad a sequel as you might have been led to believe, BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE...

ORSON WELLES LONG-AWAITED 'THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jKcl5vhk53k/XoVVIFsxvTI/AAAAAAABP0w/Qaf1Lks78EkNjuEPziZPydxkj_gU2eslQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-01%2Bat%2B7.58.39%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="1600" height="296" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jKcl5vhk53k/XoVVIFsxvTI/AAAAAAABP0w/Qaf1Lks78EkNjuEPziZPydxkj_gU2eslQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-01%2Bat%2B7.58.39%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Oda Kodar and Robert Random in the film's film YEARS: 1972-2018</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The anticipated Orson Welles film THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND is two pictures in one...<br>
<br>
The first is a pseudo documentary using multiple cameras centered on veteran director Jack Hannaford, played by John Huston, at an all-night anti-wrap party where people are coming and going around a jump-cut patchwork of color and mostly black-and-white footage...<br>
<br>
Much like Orson's buddy, Henry Jaglom's decades-later SOMEONE TO LOVE, which was the 
last movie Welles appeared in (playing himself but without his name being mentioned) and George Lucas's low-budget masterpiece, AMERICAN GRAFFITI, it's a dusk-to-dawn experience, and in this case, the two-hour run 
time can often feel like eternity...<br>

2018, counter culture, drama, gary graver, new, norman foster, oja kodar, orson welles, peter bogdanovich, pseudo documentary, seventies, susan strasberg

ORSON WELLES LONG-AWAITED 'THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND'

Oda Kodar and Robert Random in the film's film YEARS: 1972-2018 The anticipated Orson Welles film THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND is two ...

GARY KENT IN RAY STECKLER'S 'BODY FEVER' AKA 'SUPERCOOL'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q_aWxrrZEGE/W9pB3Tm-_YI/AAAAAAAA7LU/ZYL9YUB443IWtGFY2Ng9romTSNPSsSWagCLcBGAs/s1600/45144595_2105173716193564_3520784872366931968_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="735" height="278" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q_aWxrrZEGE/W9pB3Tm-_YI/AAAAAAAA7LU/ZYL9YUB443IWtGFY2Ng9romTSNPSsSWagCLcBGAs/s400/45144595_2105173716193564_3520784872366931968_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ray Dennis Steckler and Gary Kent fight in Super Cool YEAR: 1969</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Film Noir/Gumshoe/Private Eye films have a main character wandering (and wondering) from one location to the next in search of something, or someone, or both...<br>
<br>
What they get along the way are a lot of names, mostly red herrings. Sexy dames and tough broads with tougher boyfriends. Fights. Gunshots. Psychedelic drugs and heroin or...<br>
<br>
Well the last sentence doesn't fit the Humphrey Bogart-era films, in which this was inspired all the way to director and here main star as well, Ray Dennis Steckler looking into a HIGH SIERRA poster with his image reflecting onto Bogie's. And in SUPER COOL, the real title's shown in the opening credits despite being packaged as BODY FEVER and with other names like CHEAT FOR LIFE, THE LAST ORIGINAL B MOVIE and DEADLOCKED...<br>
<br>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OxC3Xk5gegQ/W9pCevEnUjI/AAAAAAAA7Lc/SKaclCr_QWghWjK4QY67GlsBHiuyZLfaACEwYBhgL/s1600/45089360_594050697690777_7978350524862824448_n.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="871" height="263" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OxC3Xk5gegQ/W9pCevEnUjI/AAAAAAAA7Lc/SKaclCr_QWghWjK4QY67GlsBHiuyZLfaACEwYBhgL/s400/45089360_594050697690777_7978350524862824448_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gary Kent grabs the bag of loot from his director Score: ***</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It's an urban/suburban odyssey of Steckler's scrawny gumshoe Charlie Smith, trying to find a missing dame, played by his real life star and perpetual ingenue Caroyln Brandt, who stole a ton of drugs (after all, she's a cat burglar who dresses like Catwoman)...<br>
<br>
The best elements pit Smith against Frankie Roberts, played by Steckler's stock heavy Gary Kent (a formidable ax-murderer in THE THRILL KILLERS), who not only keeps women addicted to smack but smacks them regularly. And like those mazy Noirs of the forties and fifties, the plot is purposely convoluted: so the audience is as confused as the snoop... But the flat conclusion seems a bit forced: ending a breezy jaunt that could've gone on forever. Or at least fifteen (or ten, perhaps?) minutes longer.<br>