What classics did you see last week? (31 May to 6 June)

Hi all,I hope everyone is having a good weekend,and I've recently seen:

Auteurs of Spain trio:



Pedro Almodovar's Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom (1980) 7

Detailing in the Archives book dedicated to his credits by Paul Duncan that the project originally started as a planned Photo-Story for La Vibora magazine until Carmen Maura (who he was appearing on stage with at the time) said it should be turned it a film instead,leading to the first 40 minutes being shot in June 1979,and the rest not being filmed until May and June 1980! Despite the stop-start process of the production, the early stages of the future recurring themes and motifs in writer/directing auteur Pedro Almodovar credits are drawn on the film.

Inspired by the American underground cinema of the era, Almodovar & cinematographer Paco Femenia play a wonderfully brash Punk Rock atmosphere, going into the real underground of Punk and Drag Queen shows, where the murky venues the events are held in,get lit up by Almodovar gloriously kitsch fashion design for the three female friends.

Retaining the Photo-Book roots with Comic-Panel inserts breaking the movie into chapters, Almodovar snaps outrageous subversive Comedy on the Melodramatic trio and Pop media such as adverts in jagged tracking shots filmed on the dusty side streets of the city. Stating later in the book that the low budget meant he was "Forced to relinquish some scenes and also meant that I couldn't replace fragments of the material shot at the beginning, with sequences, that a year later, seemed more appropriate."

The fragmented way the screenplay by Almodovar came together, actually works with the Punk sensibilities of the movie, thanks to the intimate relationship between the three women, ( Almodovar displaying a early interest in women- led films.) fluctuating between sudden gross-out Comedy and hanging out at Punk Rock gigs, on a memorable weekend with Pepi, Luci and Bom.



Jose Ramon Larraz's Luto riguroso (1977) 8

Starting a occasional partnership that would last until the Goya (1985) TV mini-series, writer/directing auteur Jose Ramon Larraz & cinematographer Fernando Arribas twirl the motifs and themes displayed in the surrealist Horror stylisation they later gave The Coming of Sin, (1978-also reviewed) into a fantastic,brooding Gothic Drama atmosphere.

Larraz holds the ghostly memory of the father to hang over the isolated family home/mansion,as Larraz stylishly hovers the camera above all the surviving family members who can't free themselves from the long shadow of the past hanging over them. In a family where personal secrets hold them together, Larraz returns to his chilly countryside backdrop to touch on the recurring theme of abuse taking place in the outdoors when Loli is attempting to return from her secret escapade, which Larraz breaks with close-ups on Loli's face and bruised legs,that brings out a new level of compassionate family support in elegant dissolves over Piedad.



Uncle Jess's Oasis of the Zombies (1982) 4

Detailed in Stephen Thrower's superb book Flowers of Perversion:The Delirious Cinema of Jess Franco that the studio rushed the production out after Zombie Lake (1981) was a hit,and that the film maker, (who had quit Zombie Lake) was later vocal of his hate for the zombie genre, co-writer/(with Ramon Llido) directing auteur "Uncle" Jess Franco makes his distaste for zombies palpable in the opening sequence, where Uncle Jess's signature button bashing trombone zoom-ins unwind from a distance, played with a air of disinterest in getting up close to the zombie shocks.

Rising up with off-cuts from regular composer Daniel White's past scores, Jess keeps the walking dead moving with unintended dips into Comedy,cast in the zombies being covered in cornflour and visibly annoyed at worms being placed on their faces. Just before the zombies get their hands on the humans, in the final 10 minutes Jess displays some of his unique stylisation in magic hour wide-shots panning along the humans dipping into the zombie oasis.

Cinema of Hong Kong trio:



Dr. Lamb (1992)8

Operating in front of and behind the camera,co-director/ (with Billy Tang Hin-Shing) actor Danny Lee gives a meaty performance as Inspector Lee, whose blunt approach to policing is rolled up by Danny in beatings Lee gives to the suspect,in the hope of kicking the truth out of him. Making a killing driving his taxi in the rain, Simon Yam gives a slithering,slimy performance as Lam Gor-Yu, whose thin smile Yam holds as Gor-Yu describes the precision he placed in dissecting his latest victim.

Partly based on real life murderer Lam Kor-wan, the screenplay by Kam-Fai Law dices clinical Crime tension from the interrogation by Lee unravelling the identities of Gor-Yu's victims, with wacky CAT III odd Comedy, which brings out a sleazy atmosphere, as the investigators joke around with evidence slipping out of their hands,in the middle of visiting the scene of the crime! Episodically tracking Gor-Yu with his next victim, Law smartly keeps things measured in building up Gor-Yu's level of depravity, reaching a peak with the last victim.

Investigating a category infamous for being down & dirty, directors Danny Lee and Billy Tang Hin-Shing are joined by cinematographer Kin-Fai Mau in snapping Gor-Yu's crimes with a crystallised stylisation,recording Gor-Yu noting down his crimes with inferred blues and reds photographing Gor-Yu's murders, whilst pelts of rain tap on the windscreen in wide-shots,as screams come from within the car. Smashing the windscreen, the directors unload Gor-yu's crimes with a sleazy Grindhouse CAT III atmosphere tossing body parts and grisly photos,taken by Dr. Lamb.





Kung Fu Jungle (2014) 6

High- kicking the killer karate chopping up a body count, the screenplay by co-writer/(with Tin Shu Mak and Ho-Leung Lau) director Teddy Chan takes the enticingly odd outline of a serial killer who murders with his Kung-Fu skills,and sadly sands it down with a miss-judged,too serious tone, hacking back to the ghosts that haunt criminal turned investigator Hahou Mo, rather than going for the more off-beat offering of the killer targeting people who are each experts in different forms of martial arts.

Twisting out of the straight line style of the script, director Chan & John Woo's HK-era cinematographer Wing-Hang Wong unleash a barrage of ultra-stylised,peculiar action set-pieces,crunching bones onto and inside a human skeleton the size of a T-Rex dinosaur fossil (!) and the final,full-on fight between Hahou Mo, (played by a great, no nonsense Donnie Yen) and the killer sliding between slick wide-shots catching the duo use the environment around them for weapons, and burning red close-ups on Hahou unleashing killer Kung-Fu.



Drug War (2012)8

Revealed later that the original written ending was for the baddie to get away with it all, a ending that was never filmed due to suspicious the Chinese ratings board would not approve, the screenplay by Ka-Fai Wai/Nai-Hoi Yau/Ryker Chan and Xi Yu find a fittingly sly compromise, where justice gets served, but is a hollow one after the level of destruction inflicted on the cops. Untangling a major drug operation, the writers load up the frantic action with psychological thrills, as the team of detectives attempt to decode the criminals messages,whilst also heightening tension in the game of trust between Captain Zhang and informant/ drug dealer Choi.

The first of his works to be shot on the Mainland, directing auteur Johnnie To reunites with cinematographer Siu-Keung Cheng, and stylishly continues to build on the recurring comedic quirks To injects his Thrillers with,via discussions on planning a drug bust being done in sign language,anxiety being cast across the faces of the cops in excellent sequences involving secret mics being under risk of getting found, and To altering the speed of the film for the final battle,in order to give the final boss a wonderfully pulpy, video game gloss.

Shining a light on the Mainland underworld with blue lens flair, To & Cheng bring their eye for break-neck Action set-pieces over to the Mainland that incredibly include cops in the body count, (usually a huge no-no from China's ratings board) thanks to crispy long track shots rumbling down the roads in chases between the cops and the gangs,which turn into slick whip-pans on the hand to hand combat. Working with To for the 10th time,Louis Koo gives a gloriously all guns blazing turn as Choi, whose violent mood swings Koo uses to keep Choi on the edge, between both sides in the drug war.

Other flicks:



Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street (2019)7

Going right back to Mark Patton's (who is also a co-producer) early years on stage being directed by Robert Altman, directors Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen claw the most fascinating aspects of the doc from the archive footage of homophobia in Hollywood and the press in the 80's,with the directors layering press clippings and TV clips, (from A-List stars demanding everyone takes a blood test before productions began, to magazines attempting to whip-up fear of gay people,after the death of Rock Hudson) across the screen.

Travelling with Patton to Horror conventions, the directors present a positive image on the Horror community, with Drag Queens who watch A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 for the "Camp" aspect,sitting as equals with those who have come for the gore. Mentioning in the film that he had decided to quit acting,despite getting some roles after Elm Street 2, the up close and personal approach the directors take,leads to the personal hardship Patton has faced, (losing partner Timothy Patrick Murphy) being crossed with a bitterness towards Elm Street 2,thirty years later.

Building up to reunions with the cast and crew of Elm Street 2, the directors leave the impression of only featuring a small snippet of the exchanges which took place, most noticeable in the one on one discussion Patton has with Elm Street 2 script writer David Chaskin, who apologises over claiming for years that he had not written a gay subtext in the script,and blamed it on Patton, but points out that parts of Elm Street 2 Patton blames him most for (the "girly scream") were the director's decision not his, which gets oddly dissolved to a friending ending to the chat,as Freddy comes out of the closet.

Cornered / Edward Dmytryk (1945). RKO Radio Pictures. Cinematography by Harry J. Wild. This was Dick Powell’s follow-up film to “Murder, My Sweet” which thoroughly revamped his image from song-and-dance man into a hard-boiled investigator. “Cornered” was a big hit because of that and because the hard-boiled-ness is ramped up to eleven. However, it has faded from the collective memory over the decades and there are reasons for that. Powell plays a recently discharged Canadian Air Force pilot. During the war he had been shot down in occupied France but was hidden by the resistance. He met a woman in the resistance whom he married but they were separated by the war. She was later killed. Now, he is back and he wants to find and kill the French collaborator who was responsible for her death and the deaths of many others who had helped him. He eventually ends up in Argentina where he finds himself surrounded with a multitude of shady characters. The plot is certainly labyrinthine and takes more than 100 minutes to tell it but I’m not sure it holds up. It is more disjointed and rambling than complex. Furthermore, Powell’s performance is pretty much one-note. He never uses any subtlety. He’s always ready to bully or bludgeon anybody who gets in this way or won’t answer his questions. Walter Slezak is in there, full of sweaty insincerity. Also with Micheline Cheirel, Morris Carnovsky, Steven Garay, Jack La Rue, and Luther Adler in his second film.





Six Black Horses / Harry Keller (1962). Universal International Pictures. After Ben Lane (Audie Murphy) is saved from being hanged unjustly by Frank Jessie (no kidding), played by Dan Duryea, the two become buddies. In the next town, the two drifters are attacked by men they don’t know and are forced to kill them. The next day they are hired by a mysterious woman named Kelly (Joan O’Brien) who seemingly has bottomless resources and offers them an exorbitant sum to escort her through dangerous Indian territory to meet her husband in another town. Murphy, of course, is his usual reliable, likable self. The two main ingredients that set this particular oater above many others are 1) the performance by Dan Duryea and 2) an excellent script from Burt Kennedy who, you no doubt remember, was the writer of most of the Randolph Scott/Budd Boetticher western partnership, viz., 7 Man From Now, The Tall T, Comanche Station, and Ride Lonesome. Joan O’Brien had a brief movie career but is very good here. She is probably most remembered as the wife of Capt. Dickenson and the sole Anglo survivor of the battle in John Wayne’s The Alamo.




Le Deuxième Souffle (Second Wind) / Jean-Pierre Melville (1966). One of Melville’s best crime films, it clocks in at 2:30 but there is not a time you will look at your watch. The director keeps the action moving and, most importantly, the lead actor performance by Leno Ventura is brilliantly realized. It begins with a prison escape by Gustave “Gu” Minda who was in for a long stretch for murder and armed robbery. He turns for help to his former colleagues, his sister, Manouche (Christine Fabréga) and former right-hand man Alban (Michel Constantin). Meanwhile, quiet spoken, patient, but all-knowing, all-seeing Police Commissioner Bolt (Paul Meurisse) is on his trail. To explain my reaction to this film and Ventura’s performance, I have to compare him to James Cagney, even though doesn’t resemble the American actor either physically or in style. It is just that, although Cagney can play a criminal with no redeeming values whatsoever in films like “Public Enemy,” “White Heat,” and “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,” your attention is fixed on him, not because he is in any way a sympathetic character but because his acting, screen presence, and personality makes you stay with him all the way to his inevitable ending. Lena Ventura gives us a criminal protagonist of this sort. You will want to see what happens next.





Snatch / Guy Ritchie (2000). Crime film set in the Cockney criminal world with flash cuts, overlapping time lines, a non-omniscient narrator, and a mix of comedy (mostly) and violent crime. In other words, much like Ritchie’s previous hit film, “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.” One of the joys of this one is a great comic performance by Brad Pitt as a Romani with a strange accent. The Cockney speakers are tough enough for American audiences, but Pitt’s dialect can’t even be understood by the Cockneys. With Jason Statham, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, and Vinnie Jones. American viewers: use the English subtitles. A lot of fun.





As You Like It. Rice University, Houston. Enjoyable student-acted production. The lead role of Rosalind is the longest that Shakespeare wrote for a female character; longer even than Cleopatra or Juliet – and remember that the first Rosalinds were acted by teenage boys. AYLI is one of about half of Shakespeare’s plays that were saved from very possible extinction by the First Folio, a Complete Works tribute volume published seven years after his death. This is one of Will’s most consistently funny and warm comedies. Sure, there are a couple of blustering villains in the first scenes to kick off the plot and drive the main players into the Forest Of Arden, but they don’t reappear until the end when they are quickly converted to goodness. YouTube streaming.

The Truth about Charlie (2002) 4/10

Chopping Mall (1986) 5/10

The Woman in the Window (1944) 6/10

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines (2019) 7/10

Scarlet Street (1945) 8/10

Inchon (1982) 3/10

A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) 5/10 

Wow! You make the film sound incredible Man. I'm hoping this month to dig into my 60's Japanese DVDs/Blu's,so will be putting this at the top of my "Must Get" list. 


 Related:A few days ago I stumbled on a Japanese title you mentioned a few weeks ago,that I'll hopefully be watching next week.

Stardust (2007).



Charlie's Angels (2019).



Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017).



Jumanji: The Next Level (2019).



Christopher Robin (2018).



Fantasy Island (2020) - 'Unseen Version'.



Mary Poppins Returns (2018).



Swallows and Amazons (2016).



Yes, all this^ took a while to put together (hence why I've only just gotten around to posting it now).

It had been a long time since I saw the animated Anastasia and I was surprised how similar it was to the Ingrid Bergman movie - except for the supernatural Rasputin which was pretty weird.

They are good together and we thought it was a fun film, sort of a science adventure appropriate for young people. She's a role model.

Their chemistry here is of partners first in conflict, then in mutual respect. No romance, which is a change, perhaps hinted at for the future in the closing scenes.

The CGI balloon work serves well and we have harrowing action moments.

Hi Leb,I hope you had a good weekend,and how did you find Spring to be?
Going in knowing nothing about it,I was extremely taken by the unique way it mixed low-key indie romance Drama,with Creature Feature. From when I first saw it in 2016.


Placing the viewer right at the centre of Louise's mutated heart,writer Justin Benson and fellow co-director Aaron Moorhead give the title an atmosphere of incredible warmth, weaving elegant extended tracking shots to soak up each subtle change in body language and breaking of personal space between Louise and Evan. Unafraid to show the more grotesque side of the couple, Moorhead and Benson splash out on Body-Horror on their limited budget,with a slippery, gooey glee. Whilst brilliantly using good old fashion practical effects and well-placed minimal CGI to deliver the Body- Horror shocks, Moorhead and Benson always keep tentacles in the romance,as sweeping drone shots casts an omniscient presence over Louise and Evan's love.

Traveling in the hope of finding some sort of peace, Lou Taylor Pucci gives a brilliant performance as Evan,whose pain from mourning Pucci keeps just under the surface of the growing sincerity and care that Evan has for Louise. Remaining elusively out of reach at the start of the movie,the magnetic Nadia Hilker gives an alluring performance as Louise,which sparks in the naturalistic flow of the conversations she has with Evan,and carrying Louise on a graceful air of mystery,even when Hilker is caked in mutant goo.

Touchingly opening the movie with Ethan sharing a final moment with his mum,the screenplay by Justin Benson fully embraces the couple via Benson displaying a keen ear for giving the dialogue a playfulness which gives Ethan's and Louise exchanges a breezy vibe. Peeling open Ethan's troubled life in frank discussions with Louise,Benson makes the release of Louise's Body-Horror secret one that gives the film a gory bite,and also gives a depth to Louise trying to keep her distance,as a new season dawns.


10.