![Screening Log: Weekend of 27 April 2012
1. The latest Community [Hulu]
[Numbers 2-8 were part of this year’s eXFest, a 12-hour marathon of exploitation cinema put on by Exhumed Films.]
2. The No Mercy Man (1973, Daniel Vance) Misleadingly-named hot pot of genre fun, which is like Rolling Thunder if the PTSD-besieged ‘Nam vet fought carnies, combined with bits of hicksploitation, blaxploitation, kung fu and wardrobes by Wrangler. Features a melee whose sudden build into ridiculous carnage — with grenades — could have served as inspiration for Anchorman. [repertory screening]
3. Fear is the Key (1973, Michael Tuchner) Watch as a Barry Newman vehicle somehow turns from a car chase on-the-lam-with-hot-hostage thriller into an underwater treasure thriller featuring John Vernon and a young (and poorly recoreded) Ben Kingsley as baddies. Have yet to see Vanishing Point, but Newman is fantastic: coiled, impatient, pissed-off. And this guy drives like a motherfucker. [repertory screening]
4. The Man From Hong Kong (1975, Brian Trenchard-Smith) Cheerfully slapdash attempt to milk a shotgun wedding of kung fu and Ozploitation into a Bond-ish romp. Lots of OTT set pieces, in particular one scene where our hero fucks up a kitchen and restaurant, turning over table like they’re his enemies. Slows down only for strange hang-gliding respites. Also, lots of racist jokes, usually involving the word “yellow.” The ’70s! [repertory screening]
5. Death Weekend (1975, William Fruet) An Ivan Reitman-produced rape-and-revenger, only with not so much rape and a strange comic bent. Rated X in England, but don’t worry. [repertory screening]
6. The Boss (1973, Fernando Di Leo) Not the best Di Leo, I’m told; it’s too convoluted, and in a way that’s not complex. Henry Silva is fantastic, but ’70s Silva looks distractingly like ’70s Chevy Chase. I mean, look at that picture up top. I’m so right. [repertory screening]
7. /Vice Squad/ (1982, Gary Sherman) Allegedly Martin Scorsese thought this was the best film of ‘83. Maybe? And sorry, Morgan Freeman, but Wings Hauser is cinema’s premiere movie pimp. Ramrod 4eva. Gorgeous print, too. [repertory screening]
8. Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS [R-rated cut] (1975, Don Edmonds) As my eXFest pal Simon Abrams argued, this isn’t worth anything if it’s abridged. It needs the highly dubious gore, otherwise it’s just a pointless slog. [repertory screening]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3b9q2uSo51qzoio3o1_500.jpg)
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Screening Log: Weekend of 27 April 2012
1. The latest Community [Hulu]
[Numbers 2-8 were part of this year’s eXFest, a 12-hour marathon of exploitation cinema put on by Exhumed Films.]
2. The No Mercy Man (1973, Daniel Vance) Misleadingly-named hot pot of genre fun, which is like Rolling Thunder if the PTSD-besieged ‘Nam vet fought carnies, combined with bits of hicksploitation, blaxploitation, kung fu and wardrobes by Wrangler. Features a melee whose sudden build into ridiculous carnage — with grenades — could have served as inspiration for Anchorman. [repertory screening]
3. Fear is the Key (1973, Michael Tuchner) Watch as a Barry Newman vehicle somehow turns from a car chase on-the-lam-with-hot-hostage thriller into an underwater treasure thriller featuring John Vernon and a young (and poorly recoreded) Ben Kingsley as baddies. Have yet to see Vanishing Point, but Newman is fantastic: coiled, impatient, pissed-off. And this guy drives like a motherfucker. [repertory screening]
4. The Man From Hong Kong (1975, Brian Trenchard-Smith) Cheerfully slapdash attempt to milk a shotgun wedding of kung fu and Ozploitation into a Bond-ish romp. Lots of OTT set pieces, in particular one scene where our hero fucks up a kitchen and restaurant, turning over table like they’re his enemies. Slows down only for strange hang-gliding respites. Also, lots of racist jokes, usually involving the word “yellow.” The ’70s! [repertory screening]
5. Death Weekend (1975, William Fruet) An Ivan Reitman-produced rape-and-revenger, only with not so much rape and a strange comic bent. Rated X in England, but don’t worry. [repertory screening]
6. The Boss (1973, Fernando Di Leo) Not the best Di Leo, I’m told; it’s too convoluted, and in a way that’s not complex. Henry Silva is fantastic, but ’70s Silva looks distractingly like ’70s Chevy Chase. I mean, look at that picture up top. I’m so right. [repertory screening]
7. /Vice Squad/ (1982, Gary Sherman) Allegedly Martin Scorsese thought this was the best film of ‘83. Maybe? And sorry, Morgan Freeman, but Wings Hauser is cinema’s premiere movie pimp. Ramrod 4eva. Gorgeous print, too. [repertory screening]
8. Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS [R-rated cut] (1975, Don Edmonds) As my eXFest pal Simon Abrams argued, this isn’t worth anything if it’s abridged. It needs the highly dubious gore, otherwise it’s just a pointless slog. [repertory screening]
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![Screening Log: 23 April 2012
1. First episode of Veep. Friends and regular followers of my work know I obnoxiously worship at the alter of Armando Iannucci’s show The Thick of It and its equally-but-slightly-differently brilliant movie spinoff In the Loop. (Helpful aside: The Thick of It is now back on YouTube. Watch it through ten times. And In the Loop, as ever, resides on Netflix Instant.) Yes, my expectations were unfairly high for Veep, which should have — and still could be — The Thick of It in America. And that shouldn’t be hard: the American stuff in In the Loop is as killer as the British stuff, so I don’t think it’s a case, as one friend postulated, of the English and Scottish accents being some kind of pixie dust. I just don’t think Veep has found its speed and voice yet. And Iannucci & co. definitely haven’t found a way to do this venal government expose without Malcolm Tucker, whom you can sample here (and, yeah, should be needless to say, but NFSFW). Still funny, though. That Jonah guy is awesome and I’m right now on the prowl for a way to interject “pencil-fucked” into mixed conversation. [YouTube — here, in fact]
2. Episode 11 of Cosmos. Sorry, but this weekend I fell off the wagon with my vow to watch a Cosmos ep every day. I’m back on. [Netflix Instant]
3. My Way (2011, Kang Je-gyu) Review forthcoming. I didn’t think it was as terrible as others think, though it is pretty goddamned monotonous. [screener]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2zw8pnNUT1qzoio3o1_500.jpg)
Screening Log: 23 April 2012
1. First episode of Veep. Friends and regular followers of my work know I obnoxiously worship at the alter of Armando Iannucci’s show The Thick of It and its equally-but-slightly-differently brilliant movie spinoff In the Loop. (Helpful aside: The Thick of It is now back on YouTube. Watch it through ten times. And In the Loop, as ever, resides on Netflix Instant.) Yes, my expectations were unfairly high for Veep, which should have — and still could be — The Thick of It in America. And that shouldn’t be hard: the American stuff in In the Loop is as killer as the British stuff, so I don’t think it’s a case, as one friend postulated, of the English and Scottish accents being some kind of pixie dust. I just don’t think Veep has found its speed and voice yet. And Iannucci & co. definitely haven’t found a way to do this venal government expose without Malcolm Tucker, whom you can sample here (and, yeah, should be needless to say, but NFSFW). Still funny, though. That Jonah guy is awesome and I’m right now on the prowl for a way to interject “pencil-fucked” into mixed conversation. [YouTube — here, in fact]
2. Episode 11 of Cosmos. Sorry, but this weekend I fell off the wagon with my vow to watch a Cosmos ep every day. I’m back on. [Netflix Instant]
3. My Way (2011, Kang Je-gyu) Review forthcoming. I didn’t think it was as terrible as others think, though it is pretty goddamned monotonous. [screener]
![Screening Log: Weekend of 20 April 2012
1. California Solo (2012, Marshall Lewy) Review forthcoming, but short version: strong/charming Robert Carlyle perf and interesting choice of a protagonist* help buttress an overly-familiar indie. [screener]
2. Hi My Name is Ryan (2008, Paul Eagelston & Stephen Rose) Needs a lot more distance from its subject, particularly during the drippy final stretch. But this kid is awesome. And that grown-ass man who became his rival is a hilariously oblivious douchebag. Review forthcoming. [screener]
3. Meeting Evil (2012, the guy who directed S. Darko) What. The. Fuck. Was. That. Review forthcoming. [screener]
4. The Pirates! Band of Misfits/In an Adventure With Scientists (2012, Peter Lord & Jeff Newitt) Review forthcoming, but short version: no instant classic but still wonderful and chock full of amusing couldn’t-resist gags. [advance screening, where some hyperactive 6 year old boy to my right mildly groped me]
5. /The Silence/ (1963, Ingmar Bergman) I turned on Bergman sometime during film school; he was one of my gateways into world cinema/cinephilia, so that was probably inevitable, as I have historically (and sometimes unfairly) turned on anything I liked in my youth (see also: Fellini). I’m still not hot on his most celebrated mid-’50s work (not that I’ve bothered revisiting them). But his mid-to-late ’60s stuff is really fantastic: you sense he’s trying to expand beyond his heavy art film rep, not just in Persona but even in something more intellectually modest like A Passion, which changes direction every half hour. The Silence seems to fall between periods: it’s still heavy with philosophy, showing a breakdown in communication that’s sometimes literal (our central trio spend the film in a fictitious European city, where everyone speaks a made-up language that, of course, is never subtitled), sometimes character-driven (the two sisters hate eachother and only speak in typical-Bergman angry third act monologues). But it’s also playful, snaky, even heavier with sickeningly hot atmosphere and, at times, surprisingly warm. (FYC: The hall porter, pictured above, a much-needed source of comic and human relief.) Just as Persona is, under its art film pretentions, a shockingly trenchant portrait of forced habitation, The Silence functions in part as a brutal look at sibling rivalry, and at the growing resentment that arises when one has to care for the sickly, particulalry when the sickly is someone you don’t quite like in the first place. [repertory screening]
* Since Carlyle is a former musician in a once-faddish Britpop band, this movie is tantamount to a query asking ”Whatever happened to that one guy from Menswear?”](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2xre4e0m61qzoio3o1_500.jpg)
Screening Log: Weekend of 20 April 2012
1. California Solo (2012, Marshall Lewy) Review forthcoming, but short version: strong/charming Robert Carlyle perf and interesting choice of a protagonist* help buttress an overly-familiar indie. [screener]
2. Hi My Name is Ryan (2008, Paul Eagelston & Stephen Rose) Needs a lot more distance from its subject, particularly during the drippy final stretch. But this kid is awesome. And that grown-ass man who became his rival is a hilariously oblivious douchebag. Review forthcoming. [screener]
3. Meeting Evil (2012, the guy who directed S. Darko) What. The. Fuck. Was. That. Review forthcoming. [screener]
4. The Pirates! Band of Misfits/In an Adventure With Scientists (2012, Peter Lord & Jeff Newitt) Review forthcoming, but short version: no instant classic but still wonderful and chock full of amusing couldn’t-resist gags. [advance screening, where some hyperactive 6 year old boy to my right mildly groped me]
5. /The Silence/ (1963, Ingmar Bergman) I turned on Bergman sometime during film school; he was one of my gateways into world cinema/cinephilia, so that was probably inevitable, as I have historically (and sometimes unfairly) turned on anything I liked in my youth (see also: Fellini). I’m still not hot on his most celebrated mid-’50s work (not that I’ve bothered revisiting them). But his mid-to-late ’60s stuff is really fantastic: you sense he’s trying to expand beyond his heavy art film rep, not just in Persona but even in something more intellectually modest like A Passion, which changes direction every half hour. The Silence seems to fall between periods: it’s still heavy with philosophy, showing a breakdown in communication that’s sometimes literal (our central trio spend the film in a fictitious European city, where everyone speaks a made-up language that, of course, is never subtitled), sometimes character-driven (the two sisters hate eachother and only speak in typical-Bergman angry third act monologues). But it’s also playful, snaky, even heavier with sickeningly hot atmosphere and, at times, surprisingly warm. (FYC: The hall porter, pictured above, a much-needed source of comic and human relief.) Just as Persona is, under its art film pretentions, a shockingly trenchant portrait of forced habitation, The Silence functions in part as a brutal look at sibling rivalry, and at the growing resentment that arises when one has to care for the sickly, particulalry when the sickly is someone you don’t quite like in the first place. [repertory screening]
* Since Carlyle is a former musician in a once-faddish Britpop band, this movie is tantamount to a query asking ”Whatever happened to that one guy from Menswear?”
![Screening Log: 19 April 2012
1. Surrogate Valentine (2011, Dave Boyle) As advertised, familiar but likable, benefitting greatly from the low-key charm of musician-star Goh Nakamura. [screener]
2. Daylight Savings (2012, Dave Boyle) The above’s sequel. Not exactly more of the same, and benefits from replacing the obnoxious TV actor with ”Nakamura“‘s disreputable ex-con cousin, who, of course, is more calm. [online screener]
3. Of Love, Death and Beyond: Exploring Mahler’s “Resurrection” Sypmhony (2011, Jason Starr) Filmic annotation. Ignore the odd bum move (bad recreations, worse special effects sequences) and it’s a fine breakdown. [screener]
[1-3 are part of a music film festival I’m covering]
4. The ninth episode of Cosmos. (To those paying attention, I had to backtrack after stupidly watching the tenth first. Anyway.)](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2sh18vOV81qzoio3o1_500.jpg)
Screening Log: 19 April 2012
1. Surrogate Valentine (2011, Dave Boyle) As advertised, familiar but likable, benefitting greatly from the low-key charm of musician-star Goh Nakamura. [screener]
2. Daylight Savings (2012, Dave Boyle) The above’s sequel. Not exactly more of the same, and benefits from replacing the obnoxious TV actor with ”Nakamura“‘s disreputable ex-con cousin, who, of course, is more calm. [online screener]
3. Of Love, Death and Beyond: Exploring Mahler’s “Resurrection” Sypmhony (2011, Jason Starr) Filmic annotation. Ignore the odd bum move (bad recreations, worse special effects sequences) and it’s a fine breakdown. [screener]
[1-3 are part of a music film festival I’m covering]
4. The ninth episode of Cosmos. (To those paying attention, I had to backtrack after stupidly watching the tenth first. Anyway.)
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