Movie of the Day – The Toxic Avenger

In my last post, I talked about Poultrygeist and how it was going to be part of a double feature with Mr. Lloyd Kaufman at our local Alamo Drafthouse.  As nutty and shit house insane that movie was, the Troma is well versed in the absurd as The Toxic Avenger is the ultimate flagship property and mascot of a company that deals in exploitative schlock.  And this movie also happens to be part of the Double Feature so why not cover it as well.

Toxic Avenger 1a Read more of this post

Shit Movie of the Day – Kangaroo Jack

I kept hearing about this movie for a while when I first decided to watch all these shitty movies.  Like whispers of a movie that shouldn’t have been and only talked about as if you were mention Voldemort or discussing a shadow government.  I have to admit I was intrigued considering I have never seen the trailer for this movie until a few days ago and also because of how bad the word of mouth is for this movie.  I looked into it and thought how could a PG family friendly movie be so terrible?  I mean it’s for kids right?  So this shouldn’t be utterly horrific or offensive?

Read more of this post

Shit Movie of the Day – Barb Wire

I am a simple man when it comes to movies.  Sometimes I prefer a deep, thought provoking film that challenges me as a viewer.  Other times I prefer a movie that is just tits, guns, explosions, mindless action, something worthwhile and entertaining.  I don’t mind pandering a bit, but then again I enjoy the absurdity of some movies.  So I wonder why it took me so long to finally watch Barb Wire for the first time since its release back in 1996.  Well after watching the movie, I can see the clear distinction as to why I have never watched it.

Read more of this post

Movie of the Day – Coffy

After yesterday’s trip to the grindhouse theater with Machete, I just had to do another post in the exploitation genre that I love and enjoy so much.  If you have read my blog for some time, or not, whatever, then you know my general affinity for the Blaxploitation genre.  I have review Shaft, Superfly, Black Dynamite and even Blacula, all because I love watching people stick it to the man.  Also because that genre spawned some of the best soundtracks ever.  Shit I still listen to Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly soundtrack in the car when I am cruising.  But I do have to give some undying love to the Nubian Queen of the Blaxploitation genre, the baddest mamma in the land, Pam Grier.  Coffy is the breakout role that led to her future roles in Foxy Brown and becoming the strong, force in strong willed women in cinema.  She is also, still, a stone cold fox.

Read more of this post

Movie of the Day – Shame

In a shameless (ha Shame) attempt to court more page views than necessary when referencing this movie and the two stars of the film, Michael Fassbender and Michael Fassbender’s penis, I decided to go back to this movie for today’s post.  My initial review of the film netted a middle of the road rating of 3 out of 5, but it wasn’t for a lack of liking the overall product.  For me, Shame was a daring film that attempted, in the most artistic and graphic way possible, to showcase the pain behind the life of a sex addict.  To be fair, how can someone pity a man like Michael Fassbender and his counterpart, his penis.  I am sure most people (men who end up seeing this) will envy the life this man leads.  I mean he has sex, like a lot, in this movie, but it isn’t the act of copulation that is explored.  It is the psychological connection between the act of sex and the meaning that derived from it.  An unfathomable thing to think about that something so pleasurable to a lot of people might be destructive to another.

Awesome marketing campaign poster

Read more of this post

Movie of the Day – The Girlfriend Experience

I find that a lot of people are not so forth coming about their appreciation of Steven Soderbergh’s work.  He seems to have this new found polarizing effect on film goers with his recent rash of lo-fi films.  Lo-fi meaning he casts leads that aren’t of the traditional Hollywood sense and strips down the films to the bare essentials of story telling to tell a straightforward narrative with a tenuous emotional connection.  Sure, it doesn’t seem like something fun, but I appreciate the intimate, voyeuristic views that Soderbergh’s films give us.  The Girlfriend Experience is an interesting view on the dynamics of a escort and her clients who want a particular kind of experience.  One where  sex isn’t necessarily the end game, rather they want a connection, even if it is paid for.

Read more of this post

Movie of the Day – Not Quite Hollywood

Grindhouse, exploitation films, and B-movie cinema makes up the staple of any film fans diet.  There is just this love that you have for the reckless abandonment of film technique and norms that permeates every film cell in the camera.  Any film fan worth their salt will tell you that you haven’t really experienced film watching if you haven’t watched the delights of low-budget cinema from around the world.  We are used to watching films slowly but surely cross the line from time to time on indecency or violence or whatever the hell you can think of that offends people, but so few directors took up the challenge to make truly unique and delightfully over the top films than the Australian directors of the 1970s and 1980s.

The trailer for this film is after the jump, mainly because the trailer contains ridiculous amounts of violence and  tons of nudity.  So let me repeat for the express purpose of warning the readers and getting cheap page views from SEO, the trailer below contains copious amounts of nudity from the female kind; boobs, tits, butts, sexual content, violence, and more female nudity.  Those wacky Aussies really pushed the envelope in exploitative cinema.

Read more of this post

Movie of the Day – Lust, Caution

Time for sexy spy, thriller, Asian film, which I am certain that statement has filled some niche fetish out there, but I am talking about a classy sexy spy thriller.  Lust, Caution is another phenomenal from Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) that is both a historical, period piece and also a finely tuned spy thriller.  The film though is more so remembered for the controversy that it courted as it was rated NC-17 for explicit sex scenes.  Sadly this movie will be remembered for that fact rather than the beautiful acting and engaging story.  It’s weird that if you bring up this film, the sex scenes are probably the only thing that people will recall if they have heard of the movie.  What the fuck is the deal with people being hung up about a little acrobatic sex in movies?  Well I want to do this film justice and also talk about the sex scenes for some additional page views.

Read more of this post

Movie Review – Shame

From the outset, Shame is a provocative movie.  The mere mention of the name of the film might elicit some whispers or murmurings from fellow movie goers about the NC-17 rated film.  We are used to seeing films that deal with addiction, whether alcohol or drug related, but never a movie that goes right for an already taboo subject like sex addiction.  Yes I can hear the groans, pleasurable or not, that this is an art-house film that talks about sex.  Shocking I know.  You might have heard about sex addiction, sometimes in a joking manner as some people jest about the seriousness of this addiction.  For some, how can you feel bad about a person getting sex all the time?  It’s an enjoyable experience, one that a lot of people engage in, but deep down inside, for some it might be more than pleasurable, it could be downright painful.

Read more of this post

Movie of the Day – Choke

I love Chuck Palahniuk books, so when they decide to make a movie based on one of his book, I am intrigued.  I love Sam Rockwell and when they cast him a lead role in a movie, I am going to watch.  Combining the two into a film immediately means I am going to see it.  If you haven’t read any Palahniuk books before, they have a certain satiric bite to them.  Very dark comedy interspersed between these satiric looks on current society.  They are fascinating reads and some of my favorite books.  Choke, which movie is based on, is one of my favorite novels next to Invisible Monsters and Fight Club.  The subject matter is dark in terms of what happens to the characters and how they interact with one another.  It is a series of maladies and lies that plagues characters and it makes for interesting dark comedy situations.  More fucked up observational humor and weirdness plague the book.  So to take a book like Choke which is filled with sexual deviance and childhood trauma and make movie out of it might seem a bit difficult, but like all of Palahniuks works, there is this beautiful madness to be found in the work and the translation to film.

Read more of this post

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 856 other followers