Wishin' and Hopin' with Dusty

Dusty Springfield should be known by any cult film fan from her song Son of a Preacher Man in Pulp Fiction, but her story of blue eyed soul goes back for years before that with hits like Wishin' and Hopin',  You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, a version of Spooky, and The Look of Love from the Woody Allen, Peter Sellers, David Niven comedy version of Casino Royale. 

You don't have to say you love Dusty because now you can show it. Check out this design on a variety of products at the link below.  

https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/62517487-dusty-springfield?store_id=2969989

From Dusk 'Til Dawn: The Series- Episode 3: I Could Review This For Ya' If You want Me To

I'm back again for another dose of Dusking Til Dawning, and this week the series really starts to come into its own. In the first two episodes, I both bemoaned the fact that it was adhering so closely to the film while skimping on the expanded story-line to flesh out the tale. With this week's episode, "Mistress", the series strikes out on its own, and it begins to build a world familiar to fans of Tarantino and Rodriguez's work while plying a mythos original to the series. Plus, this week we get a spin on the "I could do that for you" scene, a mess of freaky visions, and Jake Busey. 

From Dusk 'til Dawn: The Series 1 & 2: These Geckos Will Not Help YouSave 15%

When I heard that Robert Rodriguez was going to bring From Dusk 'till Dawn, the film he co-directed with Quentin Tarantino, to his new El Ray network as a series, I was skeptical. Now, after two episodes, which clock in at just under the running time of the original film, I feel cautiously skeptical. I still can't upgrade it to any level of optimism, but there are moments and performances that almost work in this expansion of the crime story/vampire tale.

Destiny Turns on The Radio (1995) If Only I Would Turn Off the Movie.

There are many reasons that I don't normally walk out of a movie. First off, I am all kinds of cheap. So if I spring for a movie ticket, chances are good that I'm going to stay. Secondly, I can generally find something to focus on with any film that will get me through a bad one. Some actor, set designer, or a cinematographer will do something to keep involved. Lastly, there is generally a specific reason I make the trip to the Multiplex. It may be to review a film, tag along with a friend to see something I don't necessarily find to be my cup of tea, or because it has an actor I like in it, but there is always a reason. That being said, I have walked out of one film in my 36 years. Today, I'm going to relive those painful memories as I watch the film that drove me down aisle. So anchors away and fate be damned as Destiny Turns on the Radio for the second time in my life. I don't know what karmic debt I am repaying, but I should be even after one and half lifetime viewings of today's "classic".

34 Things I Love About Jackie Brown- My Birthday Gift To Myself

Hey folks. Today is my 34th birthday, and so to celebrate, I thought I would take a look at what might possibly be my favorite movie ever, Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film Jackie Brown. What I didn’t want to do today is give you folks a straight up review of a film that many or most of you have probably seen. So instead I thought I would just list the 34 things that I love about Jackie Brown.

1. The way that the opening tracking shot, set to the strains of Bobby Womack’s Across 110th Street, establishes Pam Grier's character before she even says a word. On a side note, the version of the song used is not the same as in the 1972 crime flick Across 110th Street, but rather a version that Womack later recorded for an album.

2. Chicks Who Love Guns.

3. The Killer had a .45 so they’ve got to have a .45.

4. Ordell (Sam Jackson) playing the Brothers Johnson’s “Strawberry Letter 23” while he shoots Beaumont (Chris Tuckers). Great song and Tarantino plays with the positioning of the sound during this scene which is fascinating. As a side note, “Strawberry Letter 23” is actually a cover song. The original is by rarely heard of songwriter/guitarist Shuggie Otis.

5 The perennially barefoot, stoned, beach bunny Melanie played by Bridget Fonda. Not only is she off the charts hot, but her storyline with Di Nero’s ex-con Louis amuses me.

6. The scene where Max Cherry (Robert Forrester) goes to get Jackie out of jail. The instant connection between the two characters is visible, and from this very first scene the film establishes one of cinema's great subtle love stories.

7. This exchange:

Ordell: “Is that what I think it is?”

Jackie: “What do you think it is?”

Ordell: “I think it’s a gun pressed up against my dick!”

8. Fonda and Di Niro’s sex scene. Sure it's one of the shortest of all time, but Fonda’s line “That was nice, now we can catch up.” always makes me laugh. (You also get a quick shot of Fonda’s bum at the end of the scene, but you gotta look fast.)

9. Max Cherry discovering the Delphonics. When Jackie puts on a record of the Delphonics singing “Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time” when Max comes by her place, the bail bondsman finds music that summons Jackie forth in his mind. It’s not long before he’s hitting Sam Goody for a tape and playing “La-la-la-la-la (Means I Love You)” as he’s cruising down the road.

10. The clip from the film that Fonda’s character is watching is the Italian film Ferocious starring Helmut Berger, and not as Ordell thought, Rutger Hauer.

11. All throughout the film there is incredible movement and life in the camera that keeps Tarantino’s world vibrant and exciting. Tarantino worked with cinematographer Guillermo Navarro who also filmed From Dust Til Dawn, and he brought a similar pop to the camerawork here.

12. “Turn up the volume as loud as you want, but don’t go messin’ with my levels, I got them set just the way I like.” -Ordell to Louis

13. Michael Keeton as Ray Nicolette, a character he would later portray again when Elmore Leonard’s Out Of Sight was filmed.

14. Sid Haig’s cameo as a Judge. Haig and Grier co-starred many times in the 70’s in films like The Big Bird Cage and Coffy.

15. The Cockatoo Inn lounge. If my neighborhood bar was as pimpin’ as that, and women like Ms. Brown frequented it, then I would be a permanent fixture.

16. The difference between a manager’s fee and an agent’s fee.

17. The appearance of one of Tarantino’s movie brands. While there are no Red Apple cigarettes or Big Kahuna burger in Jackie Brown, Jackie does eat from Teriyaki Doughnut, the same place that Marsellus Wallace was getting takeout from in Pulp Fiction when Butch runs him over.

18. The chemistry between Pam Grier and Robert Forrester. In my opinion, Jackie Brown is one of the most overlooked and underrated love stories ever. It remains a subtle part of the plot, but it eventually becomes a heartbreaker in the end.

19. Jackie smoking in the mall. I remember when you could smoke in a mall. Ahh, the good old days.

20. Max Cherry: “You’re rationalizing”
Jackie: “Cause that’s what you got to do to finish the shit you start.”

21. The amazing close-up of Max Cherry’s eyes as he stands in the mall watching Ordell’s plan unfold before him.

22. Louis and Melanie watching Crazy Mary, Dirty Larry starring Bridget’s dad Peter.

23. The musical sequences on the way to the last caper. Jackie listening to Randy Crawford’s “Street Life” and Louis getting irritated by Melanie blaring the Grassroot’s “Midnight Confessions” while Max Cherry drives in silence.

24. The suit that Jackie buys that looks strikingly like Mia Wallace’s duds in Pulp Fiction.

25. “When you robbed banks did you have to look for your car too?”- Melanie to Louis

26. Cars that stall during getaways.

27. The sound tracking during the scene where Max goes in the dressing room. He walks in to a tense baroque piece, but when he comes out with the bag, it’s to the strains of Roy Ayres track “Escape” taken from the soundtrack to Coffy.

28. “You know all them motherfuckers are as crooked as a barrel of snakes.” -Ordell

29. Ordell’s final words to Louis.

30. Max’s phone call with Ordell. Shooting it from behind Ordell with smoke billowing around him denies the audience from Sam Jackson’s face during his dramatic threats, but it ratchets up the tension for the final scenes of the film.

31. Jackie practicing with the gun.

32. Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister’s small role as Winston, Max’s right hand man.

33. Max and Jackie’s final scene.

34. The fact that there is no better cinematic translation of Elmore Leonard’s work. Sure Tarantino made some pretty liberal changes from Leonard’s original novel Rum Punch, but the speech patterns and situations in the film are pure unfiltered Leonard magic shown through the prism of Tarantino’s world.

So there you have it. Thirty four reasons that I love Jackie Brown. I could name a hundred, and if I live to be that old I might just have to do it. Before I sign off for today, I want to remind everyone about the Two Years, Too Awesome Giveaway I have going on all month. Send in your entries and join me back here later this week for more reviews.

The Mercenary (1968)- Sergio Corbucci Gets Revolutionary

Last week I kicked off Once Upon a Time in Italy by talking about a horror film. This week I decided to go with the other genre that the Italians are primarily known for, the western. During the late ‘60‘s and early ‘70‘s, there were hundreds of Spaghetti Westerns made, and the big star to come out of this movement was director Sergio Leone. Leone made many, many great Westerns, but today I want to talk about another lesser known and hailed Sergio. After directing a number of films over fifteen years, from sword and sandals epics to horror and war movies, Sergio Corbucci made his indelible mark on the Western genre with his 1966 film Django. For this film alone and the influence it had, Corbucci should be held up as one of the genre’s best directors, but he would go on to continue to make many more great films that get much less attention.

One of those films made its debut only 2 years after Django and reunited Corbucci with that film’s star, Franco Nero. The Mercenary (Italian: Il mercenario) stars Nero as Sergei Kowalski, the Polish, a mercenary who is first hired to find out what became of a shipment of silver. When he arrives at the mine to investigate, he discovers that it has been taken over by would be revolutionaries Paco Roman (Tony Musante) and his band of rebels. Sergei takes a job with Paco teaching him how to plan a revolution, but of course, there is plenty of money in it for him. They are relentlessly pursued by Curly (Jack Palace) a foppish American with a grudge against both men, and soon the revolution is undone by Curly’s devious plans, Kowalski’s greed, and Paco’s misplaced bravado.

One thing that sets The Mercenary apart from the other Westerns is the setting of the film. The place was Mexico, but the time was the early 20th century, the era of real revolution in Mexico. There are several films in the sub-sub-genre, such as Leone’s A Fistful of Dynamite and Damiano Damini’s A Bullet for the General, that have been labeled the Zapata Western. These films usually rely on political themes, and they feature a different world from many other Westerns. They are set in a time when planes fly across the skies and cars share the roads with horses. The Mercenary also does a very good job of capturing the era though these means, but it also had the additional boost from terrific costuming. There is a distinct look and feel to the film, and from the opening frame you can tell this will not be the typical Western film.

Instead of the wide open panoramic John Ford inspired look that Sergio Leone had in many of his films, Corbucci’s work often has a much darker tone. For this film, Corbucci worked with cinematographer Alejandro Ulloa who would go on to work on Fulci’s 1969 film Perversion Story and Ercoli’s Forbidden Photos of a Lady above Suspicion. The camera work is visually stunning, and often I was amazed how much depth the film had when so much of it was limited to a brownish color palette. While the cinematic style of the film was much different, Corbucci employed frequent Leone collaborator Ennio Morricone along with Bruno Nicolai to score the film. As is typical for Morricone, the score is stirring and features many of his trademark signatures, primarily the use of whistling. The theme song to The Mercenary, L’Arena, might sound familiar to genre fans as well as it was used by Tarantino in his film Kill Bill Pt 2.

The acting in The Mercenary is what really sets the film apart from so many of its contemporaries. I make no secret that I am a huge fan of Franco Nero, and The Mercenary features some of his best acting. His character, Kowalski (most often called Polock in the film), is not he grim hard-ass that Nero has played so many times. He is surely a cool customer and a bit of a jerk, but there is also a good amount of levity in his performance. The Mercenary does a good job of including humor without becoming a farce like 1971’s They Call Me Trinity, and much of the credit has to go to Nero and the other lead actors. I also want to point out that Nero’s character can light a match anywhere, your foot, a bullet, a heaving bosom, or even someone’s teeth. This was a pretty interesting little piece of characterization and added another dimension to the role.

While Nero plays cool and controlled with only a bit of humor, Tony Musante’s Paco Roman stars as a revolutionary, but he ends up working as a clown. Musante’s role was the trickier of the two leads, and in the hands of another actor, Paco could have easily descended into clowning long before he donned the makeup. Musante is extremely charismatic, and even though his flaws, he shows us why people would follow Paco into a revolution. He is a visionary and a dreamer who needed the guidance of Kowalski to show him the realities of conflict. The relationship between the two men is fraught with tragedy, but ultimately it becomes an uplifting tale that is far more important than the political subtext of the film. Musante would have a lengthy career including 2009’s We Own the Night, but if you haven’t caught his performance as Schibetta on the first season of HBO’s Oz, I thoroughly recommend checking that out.

The Mercenary also features two well played supporting performances. I never thought a film would make me want to see more and less Jack Palance at the same time. His character Curly is an intriguing villain, and it was interesting to see Palance play against type as foppish dandy. (It’s also interesting to note that his City Slicker’s character was also named Curly.) The only detraction from Palance’s part was that he has precious little screen time and I really wanted to see more of him. There were a few moments that I needed less of Jack though. When Paco and Kowalski capture Curly, they strip him naked before sending him out to walk across the desert. So while I needed more of Palance’s performance, I could have used less of his bare ass. The other good supporting player is Giovanna Ralli as Paco’s love interest Colomba. Where Kowalski teaches Paco about the logistics of being a revolutionary, Columba teaches him what is at the heart of the revolution. She also looks damn good doing it which doesn’t hurt either. She also has a great scene where she's disguised as Jesus and opens fire on a crowd of Mexican regulars with a machine gun. If that doesn't entice you, I don't know what will.

The Mercenary is a different kind of Western than what you may be used to. It doesn’t have the dry, dusty quality of Leone’s films, the weird imagery of Fulci’s Four of the Apocalypse, or even the darkness of Corbucci’s own film Django. The Mercenary moves along at a great pace, fuses humor with violence, and even provides an anti-fascist political message along the way. The last few moments of the film will now rank among my favorite endings, but I would not want to spoil a second of them for anyone. Unfortunately, The Mercenary has yet to have a DVD release, but hope is not lost. You can pick up this title over at Cinema De Bizarre, and I can guarantee you will be pleased by the crisp, clean print they can provide you with. So head on over and pick up and copy, and don’t forget to tell them the Bugg sent you.

Bugg Rating

Sometimes Mondays Can Be A Real Basterd

I haven’t chance to watch much in the last few days. I seem to have watched half of two movies and four episodes of Deadwood. Oops. However, I did manage to venture forth this weekend to the movie theater. With the wife’s purse full of snacks (yeah, I am that kind of cheapskate) and Fran Goria in tow, we ran out to the theater to catch a Sunday matinee of Inglorious Basterds. I was kind of stunned at how many people turned out on a Sunday to check out a movie about Nazi killin’ from Tarantino. It warmed my heart to look around see the wide demographic that Quentin had brought out for his film. Young and old, all races and creeds ready for some Nazi scalping…. or had some of these folks been fooled by the presence of Brad Pitt?

We’ll get back to that because before the movie starts of course the trailers. Well, actually, first we listen to “The Look of Love” and debate the merits of it as a song. I came down on the side that it was good, but that is neither here nor there. The trailers saved us from all that, and they kicked off quite nicely with The Wolfman. I have read and seen basically nothing about this flick, and to me, it looks like it has potential. But, ehhh. Now the movie I want to see was up next, Armored. That’s right. I voluntarily want to see a movie that has Skeet Ulrich in it. I know, I find it hard to believe as well. Anyhow, looks like good mindless fun, and it’s not a remake of anything. Speaking of, Halloween 2 closed out the set, and unlike the first of the Zombie remakes, I’m actually going to go see this one. Maybe, and by God I mean, maybe, he can deliver this time. All the stuff with the masks looks creepy as hell, so I’ve got my fingers crossed.

Then the feature begins, and for two and a half hours, I am somewhere in Nazi occupied France. I’m not going to delve too deeply into the flick, but if you like Tarantino or even if you don’t then you might want to check this one out. Lovers of Italian genre cinema should bring along a spoon because you’re going to be eating this shit up with it. It’s a feast for the eyes, exciting as hell, and and art film. It's what Quentin does best. Tarantino treads some new water in Basterds with much more use of suspense, but he still finds time for flourishes like having HUGO STILITZ appearing in giant gaudy letters to introduce a character.

The film delivers on his long awaited war movie far beyond my expectations. Especially the performances, everyone delivers with the exception of Ryan from The Office whose one scene seems like Ryan from The Office goes to war. Pitt and Waltz both do great jobs, and Eli Roth even manages to be convincing. The weaker storyline tends to be when the camera is not on Pitt and the Basterds or Waltz being a bastard of another sort. Diane Kruger's performance was the standout of the two female leads, and she was also the lucky actress graced with Quentin's foot fetish shot for the film. A shot which Tarantino goes to some lengths to cleverly set up.

That’s not to say I’m not without reservations about IB. I really wanted more time with the team to build them up as characters a little more, but Tarantino had the two and half hours crammed packed with story so there wasn’t really any time for it. Inglorious Basterds still revels in the same homage territory that Quentin dwelled on with Kill Bill, but I think it would be much harder to pin down specific inspirations that went into this flick. It’s definitely one that I’m going to try to check out again in the theater. If for nothing else than the fact that I never spotted Enzo Castellari’s cameo, and I know it’s in there somewhere. I did catch Bo Stevenson, but you got to see him fast or he’s gone.

As far as those people who might have been lured in by Mr. Pitt. I saw quite a few people turn away from the scalpings, my wife included. I didn’t see anyone walk out, and at the end people applauded, and I don’t recall hearing that on a Sunday afternoon in a theater in a long, long time.

I don't think you folks need a trailer for Basterds so check out Armored instead. Seriously. It looks like fun. Come on, it's got Jean Reno in it.

B.L.O.G Presents Rose McGowen in Planet Terror (2007)

When you’ve been married as long as Ms. Directed and I have, then you sometimes have to deal with each other’s little idiosyncrasies. Take for example my wife’s television viewing habits. If there’s a series that has anything to do with science fiction or supernatural, then she’s there. So that means lots of Buffy, Supernatural, Heroes, and worst of all Charmed. The three former shows I can watch, but I can’t claim to be a big fan of any of them. Charmed, however, I find to be terrible, and if there’s anything I can do rather than watch it, I will. Well, that is except the episodes that tonight’s B.L.O.G. was in. Yes, even I will watch Charmed if you mix it with a little…..

Rose has long been a favorite of mine going back to her early years when she starred in the indie flick The Doom Generation, a very enjoyable and nearly forgotten film. The same year she showed up in Wes Craven’s Scream, and then in 1999, she starred in one of my favorite all time black comedies, Jawbreaker. I can even forgive her tryst with Marilyn Manson for two reasons. First, the chain link dress she wore to the MTV Music awards, and secondly that she continued to star in films that I liked such as the much-maligned Monkeybone (2001) and her turn as Ann-Margaret in the Jonathan Ryes Meyer’s TV version of Elvis’ life. Sadly, soon after that, Charmed took her out of movie roles for the next few years, but in 2006, she returned to the screen with a part in The Black Dahlia. Yet nothing peaked my interest more than when I first heard she would play a part in the Rodriguez/Tarantino co-production Grindhouse.

I want to say right off that I’m not going to look at the double feature version of Grindhouse as a whole, but just the Robert Rodriguez helmed portion, Planet Terror. I have plans to talk about Tarantino’s part of the picture soon, but for now, you’ll have to wait to find out what my thoughts are on his portion of the film. The only thing I will say is that my favorite part of seeing Grindhouse in the theater was Planet Terror, and I have re-watched it several times since then.

Planet Terror is the story of Cherry Darling (Rose McGowen), a go-go dancer who’s had just about enough of her job. She quits her job to peruse a career in stand up comedy (even though no one thinks she is funny), and soon finds her way to local BBQ joint, the Bone Shack, where she drowns her sorrows in a bottle of Shiner Bock beer. There she meets up with her former boyfriend Wray (Freddie Rodriguez), and she hitches a ride in his tow truck. While trying to avoid something in the road, Wray loses control of the truck and crashes it off the side of the road. No one is hurt, well, that is until Cherry is pulled from the truck by some mysterious attackers and her leg is torn from her body. Wray fights the attackers off, and he gets Cherry to the hospital. It soon becomes apparent that the populace of the Texas town has been infected by something that is turning them into flesh eating zombies, and soon Cherry, Wray, and a band of survivors are all that is left to defend against the zombie plague.

Since this post is intended to be about Rose McGowen’s role as Cherry, I focused on her role in the film with the synopsis, but to be fair the film is much more than that. It features a couple of other storylines and a ton of great performances, which I will get into in a moment here. First, let me talk about McGowen. Rose was the perfect casting as go-go dancer Cherry, and with her beauty and her sardonic delivery, she brings the character fully to life. It makes a lot of sense to me that Robert Rodriguez said that Planet Terror was intended to be a throwback to the films of John Carpenter. Cherry, like all the other characters, displays the kind of reserved cool that characters in films such as Escape from New York or They Live embodied.

McGowen’s dancer is one of the most kick ass females I’ve seen in movies in quite some time, and nothing, and I do mean nothing, in film in the last 10 years has pleased me quite so much as the machine gun leg. The sight of McGowen blowing away her foes (including Tarantino in a rather disturbing lecherous role) was a sight to behold. When I saw it in the theater, I had to fight the urge to stand up and cheer, and luckily, now with the film in a take home format, no one can stop me from doing such in my own living room.

Speaking of kick ass, there’s a ton of other kick ass people in this flick. This is the first film that brought James Brolin to my attention. While No Country for Old Men cemented his reputation in my mind, his turn in PT as an eccentric doctor was a highlight of the film. Also really blowing me away was Freddy Rodriguez. I only knew Freddy from his reserved role as an undertaker on the Alan Ball series Six Feet Under. What I didn’t know is what a great action star this guy could be. Wray (or should I say El Wray) is a deadly force all to himself, and the diminutive actor sells every moment. It’s a shame that in the years since I haven’t seen any more roles like this from him.

Planet Terror also brings the cameos and brings them strong. I’ve already mentioned Quentin Tarantino popping up (his best line is no doubt, “I’m going to get my dick wet.”), but you also get a characters that references Quentin’s films. Yes once again veteran actor Michael Parks shows up as lawman Earl McGraw (as he also does in Grindhouse’s other half Death Proof). I love it each and every time he shows up in this role, and in my wildest dreams, Quentin will give this man his own film. There’s also a great small part in Planet Terror played by Bruce Willis. While he is barely in the film, I really enjoyed his scenes. The film also boasts parts for Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, Naveen Andrews of Lost, the man himself Tom Savini as a bumbling deputy, as well as Silverado’s Jeff Fahey as BBQ connoisseur J.T., and the original Kyle Reese, Michael Biehn, turns up as the town’s sheriff.

While sporting quite the impressive cast, Rodriguez also brings heaps of style to the film. Of the two parts of Grindhouse, I enjoyed how Robert decided to bring the style to the screen. The best part is probably the “Missing Reel” at the beginning of the third act, but what astounds me is the distressed look of the film. All throughout the flick, it appears to be scratched, warped, and generally in poor shape. While the film doesn’t try to be a period piece (some of the action specifically referring to modern events), it really captures the feeling of watching a film in a run down theater while a bad print unfolds in front of you. I hear that on the Blu Ray release of the film there is an option to turn this effect off, but I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would. As someone who never got a chance to see a film in a real grind house theater, seeing Planet Terror gave me a taste of what it might have been like to do so, and even now seeing it at home on my TV, I still enjoy the feelings that it brings me.

While I have long been a fan of Rodriguez, I find Planet Terror, and the original El Mariachi, to be the films of his I go back to the most. PT is a film that is intended to be mindless fun in the vein that just isn’t made anymore. It’s the kind of over the top popcorn flick I long for during long summers like this one filled with giant robots, re-boots, and neutered horror films. While I have some qualms about the Grindhouse film experience taken as a whole, I have no reservations saying that Planet Terror is a hell of a great ride.

Bugg Rating

LADIES NIGHT with Miss Directed and Fran Goria present: Hellride(2008)

The Lair was as quiet as it could be. Too quiet perhaps. As I loafed on my throne and leafed through the newest issue of Videoscope, I wondered if it was such a good idea to send all the guards and staff off to the Lair's Office X-mas Party. Eh, what could happen anyhow. I'm the ruler of the moon, I thought, and that was the last thing that went through my brain before the sack went over my head and I got shoved in a closet. 

Not again! They're trying to take over again! They're invading the lair and making it.....

Yes once again the Ladies of the Lair have taken control and are giving you a female perspective on Genre film. Tonight the ladies have settled down and chosen a movie that seemed to have everything going for it.... produced by Quentin Tarantino... starring Michael Madsen, Dennis Hopper, and David Carradine... a slick new film featuring bad ass bikers, but now that the ladies have chosen they're in for a real....

Hellride (2008) starring Larry Bishop, Michael Madsen, Eric Balfour, Dennis Hopper, and David Carradine. Written and Directed by Larry Bishop. 

Hellride is the story of two badassed rival biker gangs going out to settle the score... maybe? Pistolero (Bishop), the head if the Victors (the good guys?) is seeking out Deuce (Carradine) head of the evil Six-Six-Sixers. Pistolero together with The Gent (Madsen) and Comanche (Balfour) are seeking revenge for the murder of Cherokee Kisum, Comanche's mom and Pistolero's old flame, way back in 1976. With the help of Eddie Zero (Hopper), The Victors set their revenge in motion..sort of...

Tid-Bits

**The film's tagline is :The Rebellion against all that there is."

**In the 1970's Larry Bishop, son of ratpacker Joey, was in biker-sploitation flicks such as The Savage Seven, Angel Unchained, and Chrome and Hot Leather. 

With a cast like this how can you go wrong? No, really, I'm not kidding, how can you go wrong? Was it the hard to follow and incredibly vague plot line? Or, was it the dialog that tried so desperately to be cool but wasn't? Maybe it was the complete and total absence of kick ass biker action! I mean the title at least promises me a ride, and it may well have been to hell.

There was one good scene in this whole thing involving the Gent and a "get out of jail free card". Seeing as it is the high point, I don't want to say any more about it so as not to spoil it for anyone who might actually see the film. Saying it was the best part, well, it was good, but one scene is not enough to save a movie. Next time I'm in the mood for biker action, I'll just break out She Devils on Wheels, thank you very much.

Fran Goria's Lady Rating

From the beginning of the film it seemed apparent that it would be dialog driven. Not a problem. A whole lot of great movies are. Perhaps my favorite being producer Tarantino's own Reservoir Dogs. However in great movies of that ilk, the dialog actually moves the plot along. With Hellride you have to piece together the plot like it's being guarded by the Illuminati.  

Along the way there was plenty of sex, a couple people get shot, and even some beheading, but call me old fashioned if you have a biker gang war then lots of bikers have to die. I was expecting the streets of Cali to run red just from Michael Madsen cutting off ears. The last stand-off sees a fair amount of blood, but nothing that made me turn away from the screen. Let me put that in context, I turned away from parts of 2000 Maniacs. My other complaint is the shock and awe (or perhaps shoe to the head) approach to symbolism. It left me wanting to crawl into my brain cave and wait for my liberators. By the time I was done trying to figure out what the point was, I didn't want to know. 

All this aside, I have to admit there were parts that were cool. The problem is cool does not drive a movie alone. 

Miss Directed's Lady Rating

Well the Ladies sure had their work cut out for them tonight, and I think overall I was happy enough being stuffed in a closet instead of watching this one. Luckily I broke free just in time to give you folks a weeks worth of X-mas goodies. So stay tuned tomorrow as we light up the Yule Log, break out the Egg Nog, and celebrate the birth of presents, right here on The Lightning Bug's Lair. 

Kill Quentin Part III: The Final Chapter -Marriage, Revenge and Lists.

Hello Moonies, and welcome to Tuesday and the final chapter in the Kill Quentin series spotlighting the films that influenced Kill Bill 1 & 2. Today we'll be talking a bit about a movie based off a book by Cornell Woolrich. He was the writer behind the source material for two of my favorite films Rear Window and Cloak & Dagger. In fact, he had to take Hitchcock to court to get his due for Rear Window ( a scenario ironically being repeated with the Hitchcock estate and last years Disturbia). Cloak and Dagger was obviously more loosely based on his work. The original story, The Boy that Cried Murder, probably did not involve Atari cartridges or over the top performances from Dabney Coleman, but that's not what we're here to talk about. It's time to begin the last tale of Tarantino's source material, and to see if the intrepid director lives to fight another day. I give you....

The Bride Wore Black (1968) starring Jeanne Moreau, Micheal Bouquet, Jean-Claude Brialy, Charles Denner, and Claude Rich. Directed by Francois Truffant.

After an attempt at suicide, Julie Kohler (Jeanne Moreau) decides to pack her bags and leave town. At least, she tells everyone she's leaving town, but she gives her friend the slip at the train depot and takes off on her mission. She first tries to bribe her way into the room of a Mr. Bliss, but is thwarted by the nerdy concierge. Bliss and his pal, Rene, wonder who the mysterious woman was as Bliss gets ready for his engagement party by taking a bubble bath. (It becomes quite obvious how very French this movie is going to be from that point on.) The party goes off splendidly, and when Rene spies a woman in white eyeing him he approaches her, but she would rather speak to his friend Mr. Bliss. She takes Bliss out onto a balcony and her scarf flies off her and onto a overhang. She promises him she will answer all his questions if he retrieves it. Naturally, as men are stupid, he climbs over the railing and reaches out, but his chivalry is all for nothing as Julie pushes him off to fall to his death. There is a beautiful piece of cinematography here with her scarf coming free and floating over the French landscape. To me it echoed the bag in the wind shot from American Beauty.

When next we see Julie she is on a plane and has a little book in her hand where she crosses a name off her list. She goes to see the shy Mr. Coral who I thought looked like a young French Harvey Keitel, but Miss Directed informed me was a young Tim Gunn (of Project:Runway). She seduces him at an opera and sets up a date with him. She comes to his place with a bottle of wine and record. (I'm not good with classical music, but the song she played used to be in commercials for the jewelry store Zales.) She then gets him drunk off the wine which she has poisoned. Julie finally gives us a clue as to what she is up to when she has a flash of her wedding day, and we see her husband get shot. She keeps moving down her list one by one picking men off, and her tale of revenge and the details of her wedding day come spilling out little by little as the movie draws to a close.

So what is Tarantino borrowing from this film? Well it's both less and more than the others at the same time. Really the only things lifted were the death on the wedding day and the list of names. There were not really any other shots or artistic influences I picked up on, but that being said picking out the meat of the plot is a sizable chunk to borrow. So while the Kill Bill movies owe less to TBWB, the Bride herself and her tale of woe is definitely beholden an influence.

As for the film itself, I was not a big fan. Of the three movies I've looked at for this series, it was the weakest. While the story itself was quite good, it moved far too slowly. It definitely tried to be a Hitchcock style thriller, but it never really succeeded in making for any kind of real tension. The death scenes were also less than thrilling with the men either being killed in a bloodless manner or their deaths happening off screen. While it was shot well, it just barely was able to keep my attention with the plodding narrative and lackluster suspense, for my dollar give me Thriller or Lady Snowblood any day over TBWB.

I want to take a moment before I close this out and give you the Bug Rating of this film to say a bit about Quentin. I think anyone who's seen these films, or read these posts, would be hard pressed to deny that Tarantino has utilised source material for his films, but is that really such a bad thing? After all, art builds on art. You can't have rock without blues. You can't have impressionist painters without those of the Renaissance. You can't have The Lord of the Rings without the Odyssey. So to slam a filmmaker for doing the same seems silly. What Quentin does with his films is throw all these influences (and probably a 1000 more than I wouldn't even pretend to know) into a gumbo of sequences with his own special blend of Tarantino spices.

Without Quentin I'm sure that I would have eventually come across these films because they're the kind of movies I love, but thanks to Quentin they've been pointed out. Filmmakers like Quentin, Eli Roth (although I am no big Roth fan), and Rob Zombie celebrate the majesty in the lost cult classics. They bring a new life to them, and that gives these films a gateway to still be vital far into the future. Kill Quentin? Nah, I don't think so. I want to see what he has up his sleeve next.

Bug Rating

I want to give a thanks to everyone who read the Kill Quentin series. This was my first ongoing series and I hope you liked it. I also wanted to throw out a little reminder that I'm still looking for several more entries for the Horror Top 5's. There's only 12 more days until the Lightning Bug's Halloween Top 13 starts, and I would love to have a top 5 list for each day so get them lists in, folks!