Second viewing, pushed this into pro territory. I’m always disappointed when a romantic comedy forces itself into a more conventional arc as it goes along and I think my initial mixed reaction was to the conventional cut and paste Apatow third act which forces a “Trainwreck” to get her act together, which is to say that I think comedic characters learning lessons and getting better is very overrated, I’d rather they stick within the general confines of their established characteristics…
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Inferno 1980
Second viewing, first was probably 20 years ago on the Anchor Bay dvd. Only thing I remembered was the set piece where the gimp gets attacked by rats and calls out for help but the arriving Good Samaritan slashes his throat instead. This time, I was a bit more taken with it, because in the years subsequent to that first viewing, I’ve seen so many of these genre films that run on dream non-logic that I can forgive a lot…
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Blonde Death 1984
I’ve had to grapple with this one a bit. I love punk rock music and this is probably a rough cinematic equivalent in some ways to the Angry Samoans songs we hear throughout the film, but I’m not sure I respond to a purely punk aesthetic in film. Smart, angry and funny but also so rough aesthetically that I have to admit it’s not really aligned with what I’m looking for from films when I dive into these lost treasures.…
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The House by the Cemetery 1981
Or WHEN A CREATURE ASCENDS THE STAIRS. Develops more slowly than usually Fulci and is filled with strange characters developments and nonsensical plot beats that could be charitably described as “dream logic.” Arrives at a climax which is memorable both for the grisly violence but also for the alarmingly incongruous idea of soundtracking the grotesque creature with the sound of a child whimpering; nightmare fuel that I don’t expect to shake anytime soon. A bit of a mixed bag, neither as memorably grisly as CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD or as surreal as my favorite Fulci films, this occupies a middle ground.
60/100
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Past Lives 2023
Pretty sure it was Mamet that said something like “the first twenty minutes of every film should be cut.” With PAST LIVES, I’d go further and cut everything before Hae Sung arrives in New York.
54/100
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The Beekeeper 2024
If MR. MAJESTYK were made in 2024, Charles Bronson’s watermelon farmer would come from a long lineage of watermelon farmer CIA wet work assets and there would be so much world building about the importance of watermelons.
41/100
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The Libertine 1968
Highly recommend watching the “Fantasy, Futurism & Frivolity” featurette by Rachael Nisbet on the Nucleus Films blu ray, a very thorough dissection of the production design and costume design in THE LIBERTINE, which is far and away the most exceptional aspect of the film. I had a lot of trouble latching onto the film beyond appreciating the way it looked, I much preferred Festa Campanile follow-up CHECK TO THE QUEEN/THE SLAVE, which covers similar ground.
58/100
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The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh 1971
Third viewing. Realized this time that the strange vice of the title doesn’t really shape the plot, except for added sexual violent titillation. This is pretty similar to the early Baker Lenzi gialli, in that it’s very indebted to both GASLIGHT and DIABOLIQUE in equal measure. Fenech is in many ways the perfect giallo heroine, stunningly gorgeous and seemingly uninhibited but also able to embody complicated, dark sensuality. The score here is romantic, at times strikingly similar to Legrand’s romantic…
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Torso 1973
Third viewing. Second time in the theater but previous time was a print of the butchered US edit. This time some of the elements seemed creakier than I remembered, probably highlighted by the annoying laughter from the crowd. The set pieces all work fantastically and the long stretch of time-stretching suspense filmmaking in the second half of the film is still a genre peak (Martino confirmed in the Q&A before the film that this section was what inspired him to work on the film). Score is jaunty and unexpected.
76/100
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The Spirit of the Beehive 1973
One of those films I’d been holding off on for quite awhile because I was fairly certain I’d love it, and I wanted to save it for a time when I needed an unseen film to love. Alas, I didn’t love it, although I think it’s pretty close to great, I think most of my problems with the film would be lost if Erice has more strictly limited the film to the perspective of the children. That’s where the magic…
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Ride the High Country 1962
Second viewing, first was twenty years ago on pan and scan VHS. I remembered it being kind of slow and conventional, but that’s only true for the set up. Once the action gets to the mining camp, you start to feel Peckinpah pushing against Old Hollywood (and what has proceeded it), peaking with the brothel wedding sequence (a precursor to the rape scene in STRAW DOGS) which is queasy and shifts gears very effectively.
72/100
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D.A.R.Y.L. 1985
Funny that Vinegar Syndrome keeps doing these deluxe editions for films that I remember very fondly from my early VHS renting days, with D.A.R.Y.L. joining CLOAK AND DAGGER and RAD, as movies I remember as much for their great, evocative VHS box art as I do for the actual movie. Rewatching D.A.R.Y.L., I’m pretty sure I only saw this film once previously because I only caught glimmers of nostalgia from my childhood. I can’t say the film works particularly well,…