The Trip

Editor’s note : a big thank you to Olive Films for the promotional copy of this Blu-Ray release of this cult classic.

The Trip (Roger Corman, 1967)

Paul Groves (Peter Fonda), a television commercial director, is in the midst of a personality crisis. His wife Sally (Susan Strasberg) has left him and he seeks the help of his friend John (Bruce Dern), a self-styled guru who's an advocate of LSD. Paul asks John to be the guide on his first "trip".

Often cited as the worst film of all time, The Trip is a gem that reflects the spirit of its time. This experiment, cause filming those kaleidoscope drug trips permitted to lead to Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider also starring Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson who wrote The Trip. Fonda’s performance is interesting and well nuanced in this extravagant film that has a look of the 1960’s of Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blowup with the depiction of free sexuality and rock music.

Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead

Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead (Stephen Herek, 1991)

Five kids are left home when their mother leaves town on a three-month vacation to Australia, only to have their geriatric babysitter die of a heart attack, leading to the eldest teen, Sue Ellen (Christina Applegate), to scam her way into taking a job at a hip Los Angeles fashion company to feed and support her needy siblings.

Repo Man

Repo Man (Alex Cox, 1984)

Young punk Otto becomes a repo man after helping to steal a car, and stumbles into a world of wackiness as a result.

Lately, I’ve joined the Cult Film Club and Alex Cox’s Sci-fi amalgam of counter culture of punk rockers blended with a metaphor on American Capitalism was the subject of their latest podcast. Having never seen this film before, I was intrigued with the poster on the website of the club. Added to that, Repo Man was included for the first time in the 2015 list of They Shoot Pictures’ 1000 greatest films of all time.

Westworld

Westworld (Michael Crichton, 1973)

A robot malfunction creates havoc and terror for unsuspecting vacationers at a futuristic, adult-themed amusement park.

In a not so distant future, people are traveling to a remote setting where they can experiment the life of three distant past : the Old West, a Medieval court, and the Roman Empire. All of this is controlled by programmers that control robots with humanoid appearance. Much like HAL 9000 in 2001 : A Space Odyssey, the robots eventually take control of the amusement park and drift from the original purpose of the park and becomes harmful for its visitors. Staring Yul Brynner as one of the robots a full copy of his character in The Magnificient Seven, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin as two visitors of the Old West, Westworld is a reference in pop culture and an iconic Science fiction film.

Inspired from the Disney parks and the trademark animatronics, Westworld presents a way to vacation that is not that far from us with the constant eveolution of technologies at the service of humans. It could have been even more interesting to see a social commentary on the fat that the machines were evolved and revolted against humans who serviled them as their slaves. Just like the robot that refuses the advances of one of the Medieval visitors. The technicians see it as a malfunction but it could be a normal reaction for a real woman to refuse the advances of a man.

Director Michael Crichton who also was a succesful author of many novels including Jurassic Park, which is a better twist and exploitation of the concept he explored in Westworld, was one of the reasons why I wanted to watch the 1973 film. There’s also an episode of The Simpsons where they get to the Itchy and Scratchy Park populated with robots trying to kill the family. Those are some of the many reasons why Westworld is worth the look, but as a film this is more on the okay side of appreciation and the ending feels a bit flat.
Crichton wanted his settings to be cliché and almost false or fake to remind us that his characters are in an amusement park inspired by films and the imaginary perception we have of times in History. Just like that old saying from the great John Ford : print the legend. Crichton wanted to create a world where the commentary and the story surpass the sets and the clichés.

Irréversible

Irréversible (Gaspar Noé, 2002)

Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in the underpass.

After all this time, I've finally got to sit to watch Gaspar Noé's most widely known film: Irréversible. Staring two of the best French actors of their generation, and a couple in real life, Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel give striking performances as the onscreen couple that gets their life completely change over one shitty night. Let's say it like this. As the film is legendary known to be edited in reverse, the scenes are in the unchronological order, their are not that many things to spoil for the reader who never watch this unforgettable film.

Let's get this out, this is disturbing, violent, and two particular scenes that probably anyone who has ever heard of this knows; the famous brutal murder scene with the fire extinguisher and the crude rape scene where Bellucci might have given her life changing performance and probably the worst scene to act for a woman. It looks so true that at some point, we believe it is happening in front of our eyes. There are two things I have to say about this. First, yes it is very difficult to watch, but rape happens every day and it is part of life. If people are not disgusted by it well the rate won't drop. Let's just hope that anyone who watches that will think about twice before committing such an ugly crime. Second, since art and media are the reflection of life, well it should not be censored or passed over. Cinema is there to illustrate the best and the worst of humans. And Irréversible is one of the most human films I've ever seen.

The evolution of the story is so well executed and I believe that Noé's approach to the whole idea is not only a gimmick of telling the story backwards. It could have been a gimmick, nothing is more true than that. But Noé wants us to ask ourself, is the story weaker because I already know the ending? No. It even makes more sense when the emotional angle is observed, knowing what's going to happen in their lives we kind of have even more empathy for those characters. The movie gets all our attention and we easily get to identify with them.

Finally, it is a mandatory film and probably one of the most important film of the 21st Century. However, I don't think I'll ever watch it again. Just like a great piece of art I wonder how long I will think about it. Mandatory, difficult, but more noticeable it is essential.

Night of the Ghouls

Note: this review is a contribution to the Accidentally Hilarious Blogathon hosted by the great folks over at Movies Silently. A blogathon of unintentional humor in classic film.

Night of the Ghouls (Edward D. Wood, Jr., 1959)

The sequel to Ed Wood's infamous Plan 9 From Outer Space, Night of the Ghouls presents the story of a phony medium called Dr. Acula (Kenne Duncan), okay they had me right there

Footloose (1984)

Footloose (Herbert Ross, 1984)

It tells the story of Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon), an upbeat Chicago teen who moves to a small town in which, as a result of the efforts of a local minister (John Lithgow), dancing and rock music have been banned.

Body Double

Body Double (Brian De Palma, 1984)

A young man tries to make it as an actor in Hollywood but he struggles with his fear of confined spaces and his voyeuristic behaviors. This later vice will mix him with a mysterious murder of hitchcockian scape.

Dressed to Kill

Dressed to Kill (Brian De Palma, 1980)

It centers on the murder of a housewife and an investigation involving a young prostitute who witnessed the murder, the victim’s teenaged son and her psychiatrist.

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (Russ Meyer, 1970)

Three young women—Kelly MacNamara (Dolly Read), Casey Anderson (Cynthia Myers), and Petronella "Pet" Danforth (Marcia McBroom)—perform in a rock band, The Kelly Affair, managed by Harris Allsworth (David Gurian), Kelly's boyfriend. The four travel to Los Angeles to find Kelly's estranged aunt, Susan Lake (Phyllis Davis), heiress to a family fortune.

Seconds

Seconds (John Frankenheimer, 1966)

What would you do if you were given a second chance to do things right in your life? This is what banker Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) is given when he becomes the painter Tony Wilson (Rock Hudson). Having the opportunity to go back to his thirties with a different appearance since his first life was wasted. His wife (Frances Reid) and him were not close anymore and his daughter was living far away with her husband. An old friend calls him and convinces him to go to the Company and use their business. This is where his transformation takes place. Once he is Wilson, he realizes that he didn’t really is what he really wanted.

Hairspray (1988)

Hairspray (John Waters, 1988)

The original campy comedy that generated a Broadway hit musical and an average remake in 2007, John Waters’ Hairspray is a whole lot of fun. With the last appearance of the star of his trashy films like Pink Flamingo, Divine, Hairspray celebrates music and the evolution of tolerance in America.

Stranger Than Paradise

Stranger Than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch, 1984)

Widely known as the precursor of Independent American Cinema, Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise is so hip that it the term hipster could have been invented just for it. The late Pauline Kael compared Jarmusch‘s film to Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot where nothing is actually done and where Beckett wants us to notice every little thing.

Re-Animator

Re-Animator (Stuart Gordon, 1985)

Gory as hell and funny as it could be, Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator is a horror film lover’s wet dream. With enough classic elements of Sci-fi and Horror with the genius turned mad scientist in Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) openly based on H.P. Lovecraft’s Herbert West, Re-Animator story and a distant homage to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Re-Animator didn’t become a cult classic for the quality of its acting. Maybe. But it’s the outstanding use of gore and blood that at first gets in your face. Then it’s the cartoonesque story of the two young students Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) and West (Combs) playing with life re-animating every corpse that gets in their way and the always in the wrong place Megan Halsey (Barbara Crampton) that is the tender half of Dan. 

An American Werewolf in London

An American Werewolf in London (John Landis, 1981)

David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are two young men on a backpacking trip in Europe beginning by England and then fleeing to Italy. After a long day of walking in the rain, they attend a weird pub where they get expelled for asking a wrong question. Just after, they are attacked by a mysterious beast. It easily get obvious that it was a werewolf. Jack dies of his wounds but David got saved by the villagers who kill the beast. David then wakes up in the hospital getting treated for his scars and traumatism but it slowly gets clearer that he is now the new werewolf and that the curse of the werewolf must be stop by killing the last of them.

Harold and Maude

Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971)

Harold (Bud Cort) is a twenty something son a of a wealthy socialite woman (Vivian Pickles) who wants him to become someone and be more like her. He is just doing the exact opposite and simulates his death by multiple simulated suicides. He even regularly attends funerals and he is captivated by death. Until one day, at a funeral, he met Maude (Ruth Gordon) who is passionate about life and is 79 years old.

The Devils

The Devils (Ken Russell, 1971)

Banned in many countries and rated X in others, Ken Russell’s telling of Urbain Grandier’s (Oliver Reed) priest life and trial is an unforgettable film. Depicting a sexually repressed head nun, sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave) masturbating and dreaming of Grandier as a christ figure that she wants to fornicate with. She goes berserk when she learns that the priest got married with another woman. Accusing him of witchcraft and fornication.

Soy Cuba (I Am Cuba)

Soy Cuba (I Am Cuba) (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1964)

Presenting the Cuban revolution with the angle of the Soviet propaganda films, Mikhail Kalatozov’s filmmaking techniques overlays on its actual subject and shadows his storytelling. The sumptuous and extraordinary tracking shots of this visual masterpiece present four vignettes on the people of Cuba and how it led them to a revolt. Shot during the Cuban Missile crisis, Soy Cuba plays more like a documentary than a fiction. Manipulative and objective as it can be, the outstanding cinematography isn’t the only thing to notice.

Sharknado

Sharknado (Anthony C. Ferrante, 2013)

The fine folks over at Video Services Corp and The Asylum have granted me of a screener of the film. It is a very good quality DVD and the transfer is amazing. The Canadian release date is September 10 2013.

Presented as the new B-movie of the moment, Sharknado stars more or less has-beens like John Heard, Tara Reid, and Ian Ziering. Produced by Asylum entertainment, the first minutes of it picturing dozens of sharks swimming into one direction with very very low budget special effects doesn’t really gives seriousness to the best movie title ever. Even the catch phrase of the poster : Enough said, is enough to make anybody laugh. Once we get passed the cheap 3D animations of sharks flying around, we are in for a treat that links the early careers of Ziering (90201) and Reid.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World



Scott Pilgrim vs. the World(Edgar Wright, 2010)

Adapted from Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels Scott Pilgrim, this Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz)  piece of cinematic extravagance has a certain appeal to the Y generation in its obvious use of sounds of classic Nintendo and Sega Genesis games.

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is 22 years old and plays bass in a band called Sex-Bob-Omb and he has a new girlfriend the 17 years old Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) that all his friends disapprove of. Not really long after his new relationship has debuted he meets another mysterious girl that he dreams about and rapidly fall in love with. She is Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and looks like a gothic hipster girl with coloured hairs. She seems fragile and Scott is torn between the two girls until he decides to go with Ramona he soon discovers that he’ll have to defeat her seven evil exes to get to go out with her.