the Mini-Skirt Mob

"They ride hard...no matter what they're mounted on!"

This was slightly unusual for a biker genre film. It's from 1968 so it's right in the midst of the genre, but it stands out from the pack due to the sinister jilted lover played by Diane McBain. She's actually a cut above the normal bottom of the barrel acting we're used to from films of this ilk. But of course she isn't backed up by anyone with any real acting capabilities either, so the film is still filled with poorly delivered lines from a script that a teenage boy could have written in between classes in high school. As you well know, that's a winning combination. Crap dialog, shit acting, motorcycles, and hot chicks in mini-skirts. It's all good, brothers and sisters. It's all good.

Most of the characters, nay, all of the characters in this film are morons. Biker films of this vintage aren't generally filled with Nobel laureates and rocket scientists, but still, even for biker films these guys seemed dumber than dumb. Single digit IQs all around. Maybe it's cuz most of them were rodeo bikers (an odd concept, I know). I felt like I was watching "George Dubya: The Early Years" or something like that. I gotta say, I prefer my bikers to be bikers...not redneck rodeo douches. But that was one of the film's unique angles, I guess. Some of the actors went on to do a lot of movies you'd recognize, actually. And some of them are biker genre regulars.

It had all the hallmarks you want from a biker flick like the obligatory 60's love-in scenes in the dessert, and great chase sequences. There were some hilarious lines delivered in this movie. Sometimes accidentally and sometimes not. But we were rollin' quite a lot. I'll tell you what though, they got some hot chicks for this flick with knock-out bodies! Holy smokes, a couple of these broads had incredible bodies by anyone's standards. I was really digging on Sherry Jackson (Connie) and Patty McCormack (Edie). They knew how to cast for legs that looked great in mini-skirts, that's for sure. Mmm mmm.

Oh yeah, the plot: Arizona rodeo champ leaves his biker gang and crazy-ass (but hot) biker chick to marry a "normal" chick who works at a bank. Said chick is hotter than his ex and nowhere near as crazy. She also seems to be a bit of a nympho. So he trades up. Good for him. However, the ex is scorned and vows to exact revenge to sooth her broken heart. She'll either get her rodeo biker back, or she'll kill them in the process! She manipulates all the goons in the gang to terrorize the rodeo star and do her evil bidding. Death and calamity ensue.

It's a good flick. I mean, it's shit. But it's worth watching if you're into hot 60's biker babes and Bonnevilles. And who isn't?

Foxxy Lady

Nice shorts, bro. He's a bit of a pussy to be honest. Like a third-rate Steve McQueen. But he got a lot of ass.

NEDS

I just watched NEDS, and would you bloody believe that there's no way to turn the subtitles off even with the DVD?! It's like a conspiracy against me. I found it pretty distracting at times to read the English subtitles when I can understand everything they're saying. Granted, unless you've spent any considerable time in Scotland this movie would seem like the actors came from another planet. (The subtitles weren't always accurate, either.)

Anyway, I really enjoyed it. Immediate comparison to This is England, which I would definitely give the edge to. But still, this was top class. A pretty good performance from most of the cast. Normally I hate child actors, but these guys pulled it off. 

While I never got caught up in knife fights or otherwise hospitalizing other kids, this is a very accurate portrayal of Glasgow youth culture. The side I stayed away from as much as possible. Fortunately it doesn't represent everyone, but it's rampant and pretty saddening. The fucked up part is how young these idiots are who are walking around with shivs, just looking to stab anyone for no reason. Doesn't matter who you are, if there's a half dozen wide-o's looking to rumble, they'll make it happen.

A couple other British flicks you might want to look into are This Sporting Life and If.... They're both by Lindsay Anderson and If.... features none other than Malcolm McDowell in the lead. The former is a kitchen sink drama and the latter is a more art house school boy rebellion flick. Definitely recommended. And both easier to understand than NEDS. 

Also, if you want some real bleak kitchen sink shit then check out Nil By Mouth by Gary Oldman. I have all these on DVD btw if you need to borrow them. I'd suggest both Anderson films first, but if you want some self-masochistic realism then watch Nil By Mouth.

Back to NEDS: I liked the story, pacing and editing. It's definitely not half bad and anyone reading this other than you (Hammer of Doom) could do no wrong by adding it to their Netflix queue. 

Y'know the beginning when they're showing how the teachers are? That's accurate down to a T. 

Teachers in Scotland are maniacs. 

Midnight In Paris

I know you really liked this and I had heard lots of good things about this one....but I am not a Woody Allen fan.

I can appreciate the idea behind this film because I consider myself rather nostalgic. What I cannot appreciate is the dialogue and Owen Wilson. Wilson has been all downhill since Bottle Rocket (ok, I liked Shanghai Noon). He is just so sappy, which I guess goes well with Allen's dialogue.

Obviously we're supposed to figure out that Wilson and his fiancee don't go well together but it's just soo obvious. The conversation between those two characters was not believable. Really? There's a woman out there that's completely bored by Paris? I doubt it. I'm not even gonna talk about how bad of characters her parents were.

Whatever though. I didn't hate it. I just didn't think it was that great. My favorite part was the opening credits. It got me really excited to be in Paris this spring.

Hunger

This is a movie about Irish republican Bobby Sands and the hunger strike he lead while in prison in 1981. It's no secret, so it's no spoiler that he was on strike for 66 days before eventually dying. You'll be treated to some brutal, disgusting violence, as well as seeing what exactly a "no wash" protest is.

Violence, male nudity and feces make this movie difficult to watch, but well worth it. Michael Fassbender makes a insane physical transformation into a man starving to death that is equal to Christian Bales performance in The Machinist.

Overall the film is pretty artsy. There's a great single shot scene that lasts about 17 minutes and that's probably the most dialogue in the whole movie.  You don't really get to know any of the characters too well but that doesn't diminish their importance. For example, there are two prison guards that have little to no dialogue and are only in a couple scenes but they show two very different/critical sides of the prison guards viewpoint.

It's director Steve McQueen's first feature film and the first movie I've seen of his. I've been wanting to see his other movie Shame that came out last year, also starring Fassbender.

50/50

This probably isn't in your queue...but I think it should be. The acting was top notch.  JGL delivers a great performance as usual and Seth Rogan is funny as usual. I actually prefer Rogan in a supporting role like this one. His schtick can get old when he's the lead actor. Anjelica Huston has a small role but does a great job as the overbearing/overwhelmed mother. 

The movie is 50/50 funny and sad...go figure. I don't usually find myself getting involved with a movie emotionally but there were a few scenes that were sad as hell. Got a little teary eyed. 

Check it out.

Page One: Inside the New York Times

I watched Page One: Inside the New York Times last night before I hit the sack. Being in the publishing industry I was interested in the premise of the documentary. It focuses on the "demise" of print media and the growth of digital media as it relates to the New York Times in particular.

Our company has shifted from being a litho printer to developing mobile web, mobile applications, video, etc, and seen a very real decrease in print-runs. Print will never die. It just won't, and I don't want to get into a discourse on why print is superior or necessary...but just like most things in life, moderation is the key. It's no longer a one-sided industry. There's a blend of media out there and that's the present and that's the future. You can't get better than a gatefold record experience with a fucking mp3 any more than you can get better than a beautifully printed book with a download to your iPad. But vinyl doesn't play in your car, and you can't take that that oversized tome with you on the subway. So we need both.

Anyway, this flick is very well done, down to the Phillip Glass-esque score. It has high production values and it's very well edited. The film is about how newspapers are collapsing on the one hand, and how consumers are consuming information on the other hand. It doesn't really play out like you expect it. It's not some bullshit heavy-handed diatribe against the internet. It's smarter than that.

I found it very enlightening and palatable. The politics don't go over your head and the jargon isn't over the top. This is an excellent documentary and I'd recommend it to anyone. While we're on the topic of slick documentaries, I want to mention Client 9: the Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. I watched it last year and while it won't get a review on Cürrent451, I would definitely suggest you watch it, too!

If you're gonna bang a top-dollar hooker, it might as well be Ashely Dupre.

Being Elmo

I didn't even know Elmo was red. I thought he was blue.

Well, unless you consider him black.

Marie heard an interview on NPR with Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind Elmo, a while back. She said the movie sounded interesting so we checked it out at the DFT last night.

I'll pretty much see anything at the DFT because they have the best curator in town. I'd wager to say one of the best in the country. And Being Elmo was no disappointment. It wasn't terribly well done, it seemed somewhat low-budget to be honest, but the story was well told. Kevin was engaging and he seemed like a really genuine, nice dude. As bizarre as it sounds, he's been passionate about creating puppets ever since he was a little kid growing up in Baltimore. Even when kids would bully him for it. He should have been playing ball or whatever. He was just into puppets. Whatever floats your boat.

The film shows how he simply stuck to his guns, followed his dreams, and insert any other cliched lines you want...and ended up as an integral part of Sesame Street. He had the desire and managed to make it a reality. He was mentored by his idols and now he's carrying Jim Henson's torch.

I dunno why but it was a pretty emotional ride. I think it's cuz Kevin seems so selfless.

I wouldn't run out and see this, but I'd throw it on your queue and check it out some time when you're feeling in a documentary mood about something you know absolutely nothing about.

Like I said, I thought Elmo was blue.

Rosemary's Baby

I just finished Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin. Marie had an old edition from 1968 kicking around the house so I thought I'd check it out.

It's a bummer reading it when you know what's gonna happen. It loses the thrill of the plot unfolding when you know damn well who's in on the conspiracy, but whatever. It's a good read nonetheless. It's really quick and accessible.

I really dig the design of the book cover. And the original poster (with the type at the bottom) is one of my all time favorite posters. I almost bought an original for $195 or so a while back. I thought that was a fair price. It's a fucking awesome poster and an incredible film.

Reading this book in the 60's would have been a trip. It's a callous and terrifying premise for a novel. The book builds at a pretty slow pace but starts to gain and gain towards the latter half as the pieces of the puzzle start slotting together. Levin puts in the work up front and it really helps for the pay-off in the end. It's a bleak ending, but really pretty satisfying. I think endings are the hardest part for any author to get right, but Rosemary's Baby nails it pretty well.

Again, I don't have to say much on this. You've seen the movie, now read the book. It's quick and it's worth it.

Fallen Angels

If Quentin Tarantino was on vacation in Hong Kong in 1995 and he had a dream about Nouvelle Vague cinema, then it might end up looking something like Wong Kar Wai's "Fallen Angels."

Crystal clear? Good.

I'm a huge Wong Kar Wai fan. I've got two more flicks to see and then I would have seen his filmography. I need to see his debut and Ashes of Time. I'll watch em both this year. Maybe I should watch all of them in order in 2012. That sounds like a grand plan!

Anyway, not only does he write the most compelling stories, but much like Tarantino, he uses a select group of actors and artists to craft his movies time after time. What will the next Tarantino film be like now that his long-time editor, Sally Menke, has passed away? She was so key to his visual style. In the same way Sally was crucial to Quentin's output, Christopher Doyle seems like a cornerstone in Wong Kar Wai's jigsaw puzzle. He is an incredible cinematographer who has an instantly recognizable style. He bathes his films in a beautiful wash of deep light. You know the scene in Vertigo when the neon sign of the hotel outside the apartment is glowing red and casting a rich hue across the room? That's like the predecessor to Christopher Doyle right there. It's like his films are deep oil paintings but somehow rendered with watercolor.

I haven't really touched on Fallen Angels in particular, though. It's cool. It's about a hitman and lost love. It's slow and kind of dream-like. It has a couple different plots that loosely connect to one another. They're firmly connected thematically, though. There's a good amount of shoot-em-up action. Great soundtrack. The 'partner' is super hot.

Wong Kar Wai is like a romanticized, self-mutilating, art-fag Quentin Tarantino. And I mean that in the highest regard to both men. They're the two greatest directors on Earth right now, in my humble opinion.

Having said that, if I were new to Wong Kar Wai then Fallen Angels wouldn't be my first choice for an introduction. Or even second or third. I would start with his greatest achievement, In the Mood for Love. Then go to Days of Being Wild, then Chungking Express, then 2046, and then Fallen Angels, Happy Together and My Blueberry Nights (his only film in English, and unfortunately upon seeing it in the theatre in Thailand I wasn't very impressed. I'll definitely watch it again this year, though). I can't comment on As Tears Go By or Ashes of Time as I haven't seen either yet.

By the way, I want to mention that I actually sat down to stream NEDS tonight but once it came on I realized that it was fucking subtitled. It's in English for fuck's sake. I don't need subtitles to watch something in English!!! It really pisses me off that just because it's shot in Scotland it defaults to subtitles. If you can't understand them, then get tae fuck, ya wee prick. So I'll have to get the disc so I can watch it as it should be seen.

Rant over. Wong Kari Wai is as close to god as you or I will ever know.

Watch my movies, motherfucker.

Sukeban Gerira

Dude, I've blogged about this on the FSMC page. I LOVE this film and I've seen it three times in about four months. Needless to say; it comes highly recommended. (The above video is a link to the entire flick, but you're better off getting the disc from Netflix for the audio commentary and better quality.)

While people were cramming into seedy theaters in Times Square during the 70s to see the Grindhouse film de jour, the Japanese were gettin' down with their Pinky Violence genre (aka Pink Film or softcore sexploitation) in no doubt equally scummy theaters. This flick is the third in a series of seven movies that focus on girl crime bosses. I watched it again last night with the Flying Skülls cuz Sukeban Gerira is about an outlaw female motorcycle club called the Red Helmet Gang. While the motorcycles aren't exactly aplenty, most everyone in attendance thoroughly enjoyed it. It's hard not to with so many bad ass chicks showin' their boobs every two minutes and getting in gnarly chick fights.

My cohort, PH (you can ask me what that stands for later), said it reminded him of the flick Bitch Slap. I checked that out real quick and that seems to be an accurate comparison. Bitch Slap is streaming on Netflix. It's a 2009 throwback to 70's sexploitation films. Looks tight (if that's what you're into for an evening) so I added it to my queue. I hope it's even 1/4 as good as Black Dynamite!

Anyway, back to the hot asian bikers at hand...
If you rent the dvd from Netflix then watch the movie a second time with the audio commentary on. I found it really illuminating. There are a couple über nerds going on about the cast and whatnot, but I found the societal perspective of the film rather interesting. What seems like a straight up exploitation flick on the surface is actually deeper if you look into the context of what's going on. I'm sure living in Japan as seeing this film in the early 70's would be really cool and slightly shocking. At its heart its a film about rebellion and rejection of normal society, uptight tradition, bullshit establishments, and 'the Man'; which is something we can always dig! FTW!

She's so freakin hot in this flick.