It seems that I always get stuck in the rut of avoiding films that are praised by critics and end up renting the usual underdogs full of no-names and hopefully originality. On this fine evening, I decided to go with the hype and rent "The Ice Storm". As usual, when I break down and rent a movie in the dramatic genre, I loved this. Great screenwriting in a film is very difficult to find these days as so much has already been done but every so often, you see a movie that just glues you to the screen for the running time. The reason is not only the fact that it is nice to look at but because what happens to the characters really matters to you. Also, when a movie is set in the 70's, I am always interested. The actors were very good, especially when you consider the fact that I usually do not enjoy Kevin Kline or Sigourney Weaver in a big way. Christina Ricci and the rest of the supporting players all give above average performances as the members of two main 70's households and the explorations of their relationships. Believe everything good that you have read or heard about this movie and rent it.
This movie was first released under another title which was "Witchfinder General" that is also the name of a really cool 70's metal band. I thought I'd see where they got their name from and I have always been a Vincent Price fan. Price stars as Matthew Hopkins, the witchfinder general, who is basically a badass outlaw type who scours the countryside for women that he can make "confess" that they are witches. He then proceeds to kill them (generally by hanging) and collects money from the local townsfolk for getting rid of the evil forces. The plot thickens when Hopkins and his assistant John Stearne (Robert Russell) kill a priest and rape the daughter of an army officer. He is pissed when he finds out and takes on a vendetta to find and kill the two main bad guys. I found this movie very well shot and mildly disturbing with the lack of morals on behalf of Hopkins and Locke but all the characters were quite cool and you felt for them. It's too bad that director Michael Reeves killed himself the year after this was released.
The lost erotic classic that I have been wanting to see for years has finally been re-released on video. It was almost exactly what I was expecting and that's ok by me. Super sexy Sylvia Kristel stars as Emmanuelle who decides to experience the far reaches of eroticism by cheating on her husband with women. I always thought the story, moral, or whatever would be more pronounced but I guess that my assumption was incorrect. I am sure that this was quite risque on its release in the early seventies but by today's standards, it is fairly tame. I am not sure if the re-release was cut or not but it did not seem to be. I suppose that this is worth a look simply for cult value but I guess that I was not as "turned on" as I was supposed to be or whatever.
For those of you who did not feel quite fulfilled by "Emmanuelle", this is the movie for you. This one is wall to wall sex of any kind (and quite graphic I might add). Director Tinto Brass ("Caligula", "Salon Kitty") stars as himself and he receives letters from female fans that contain fantasies which are conveniently reenacted for the film in all their glory. I can't really comment on acting, story, or any of those aspects because basically all we see is nudity and acts of erotica. Actually, erotica may not be the right word as none of the sex is really "tender" or anything. I don't even know why I am writing this review. I guess because it is a Tinto Brass film and people who are into obscure Italian movies may be interested. I guess I also wanted an excuse to mention the scene where Tinto drops his drawers and a giant elephant member erupts from it's cage and begins to probe and a woman complete with that elephant sound that I can't figure out how to spell. Classy it's not.
Quite a good little horror anthology from some of the better rising stars of super low-budget filmmaking. Three directors take on three separate stories in a finished product that is probably the best that I have seen so far in the slew of these anthologies of recent years. First we have Rita Klus with her story about a man who exaggerates everything and his exaggerations eventually become reality. Good little story but the lead character was too annoying and I didn't care about his well-being. The second story was from Mick McCleery ("Addicted To Murder") and had a man who is haunted by his big brother and is driven to murder. This was very well thought out and the acting was especially good with Brett Heniss and John Collins deserving special mention. Finally, we have a story from Kevin J. Lindenmuth ("Vampires and Other Stereotypes") with a story of a man who is part man, part vampire, and part werewolf and the problems he must deal with in everyday life. Mick McCleery stars as the man and this was the funnest story of the three with some well written black humour elements thrown in. Overall, if you are looking for a good horror anthology and don't mind a low budget, this is above average and well worth checking out.
Another one that I have been wanting to see for a long time that I found to be quite good although I may have been too tired to enjoy it properly as I found myself getting confused a few times. Treat Williams ("Deep Rising") stars as a cop named Danny Ciello who is working in a special unit that operates almost completely unsupervised. It is known that many of these cops are dirty and that they are sometimes unscrupulous in getting their confessions or evidence. Some of them are also known to partake in some questionable activities such as drug use. Danny decides to come forward and help the feds expose some of the activities among organized crime and cops. I am starting to get confused but I am trying to convey that Danny is essentially a "rat" and he soon has cops and criminals all not too pleased with his actions. It doesn't take long for him to discover that the feds were full of empty promises and he is put in a position where he may have to give up his own partners to save himself. At almost three hours long, there was just too much going on and I started losing it as there was a large number of big characters in this film. All in all, I think that if I had spent a quiet night at home alone and watched this, it may have sunken in but this is one of those movies that you really have to pay attention to. Don't get me wrong, it was excellent and Treat Williams was superb as Ciello but it was just too much for me to take on the night I watched it. I will probably rent it again in the future because this could turn out to be one of my favorites if I give it another chance as it has that gritty, cool New York style that I am always attracted to. Jerry Orbach ("Law and Order") co-stars as Ciello's main partner as does Lance Henriksen ("Millennium", "Aliens") as a district attorney.
The story of Patty Hearst is one that I have heard bits and pieces about so I thought I'd rent the movie and see what this woman is all about. Ms. Hearst was a rich-girl kidnap victim in the 70's and she shortly joined forces with her radical kidnappers and their cause which basically involved trying to set the stage to start a revolution in America. This story is a great study of how a young person can be influenced by others and how it can alter their life. It was quite a sight to see the transformation of a sheltered college student to change into a violent and disillusioned revolutionary. Natasha Richardson played Patty and from the movie it seemed as though the character was well played with the personality shift being made while the character never seemed to lose the naivety from the beginning of the film. Director Paul Schrader ("Hardcore") also had some great ideas such as the inability of the viewer to see the abductor's faces until a certain turning point in the plot. Supporting players include William Forsythe as one of the revolutionaries, Dana Delany as another one, and Ving Rhames as the leader.
I really liked this movie about a group of grad students who meet every so often to discuss various philosophical and social issues over dinner. They have a guest over one night who is a racist war vet and he is accidentally murdered by one of them in self defense. Soon, more and more guests are brought over for the mini debates but the guests are unaware of the very important fact that if they don't agree with their hosts, they may end up in the tomato patch in the backyard. This was a great premise with great writing, acting, and pretty much everything else. The core group of five students (including Ron Eldard, Cameron Diaz, and Courtney B. Vance) were fantastic as were the numerous supporting players which included Bill Paxton and Ron Perlman ("Cronos"). An original and enjoyable little black comedy that is well worth the price of a rental.
Cheri Caffaro stars in this second installment of the "Ginger" trilogy from the 70's. Caffaro stars as Ginger who is a undercover, unofficial cop type who is employed to try and bust up an abduction operation which involves the kidnapping of young girls (including cheerleaders) who end up as part of a white slavery ring. I was hoping that this would be the ultimate seventies trash complete with funky music a high cheese factor but I just didn't feel that it was complete or something. Sure, there was mega-nudity and this was a primo example of 70's exploitation, but I need more than that to really love a movie like this. There needs to be a lot of funny lines, emphasis does not need to be on nudity and sex, and that "wucka-wucka" guitar needs to be playing on a regular basis. This had major potential and was better than most of the sexploitation films that I have seen but it was strong in the wrong areas.
Bloodsport II - The Next Kumite (1996)
Not a lot that I can say about this sequel to the movie that made Jean-Claude Van Damme a star other than Mr. Van Damme is not in this one. Instead we have Daniel Bernhardt playing Alex, a thief who gets caught when double crossed by his partner. He is sent to a prison camp and given a chance at freedom if he can retrieve the sword that his partner stole and bring it to the famous martial arts tournament. To do this, Alex must find a way to enter the tournament and track down his ex-partner. This had some decent fighting and the same essential layout as the original "Bloodsport" with a tournament in progress where contestants are knocked out until a winner is declared. This was decent for what it was, a low-budget martial arts movie but that is about it so if you like that kind of movie, chances are you will like this. The more notable co-stars were Donald Gibb (Ogre from "Revenge of the Nerds"), Pat Morita from the "Karate Kid" movies, and James Hong.
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