Wasted Weekend - 9.24.21

 Hello friends. Between work and travel I haven't had a lot of time to blog but I'm back and there were a few things bouncing around streaming that I thought I might draw your eyeballs to. I've already kicked off my HoopTober challenge but am still finding time to watch non-spooky movies as well. I've got a mix of things to talk about so whether you're looking for things for your own October viewing or fitting in some non-horror viewing before the big binge, I hope to have you covered.

Do you like screaming? Do you like machine gun fire? How about the combination of screaming and machine gun fire? If the answer is "yes" then please let me direct you to Bruno Mattei's Rambo-sploitation duo Strike Commando and Strike Commando 2 . Severin released discs for these a little while ago and I do love Italians running around the Philippines blowing stuff up. Sure the actor playing the lead changes between films but that's probably the least crazy thing on offer from the fertile minds of Mattei and co-writer/nonsense master Claudio Fargasso. These films don't have the sci-fi angle of the Mattei helmed Robowar but promise similar dumb-but-fun good times. Both of these are currently streaming on Tubi and Prime

I had the good fortune to catch a screening of Frederic Hobbs' Godmonster of Indian Flats recently and it was exactly the kind of hyper-regional, scrappy, low-budget American exploitation movie I've grown to love over the years. Unfortunately I missed out on Hobbs' somewhat more obscure film from the same year (1973) Alabama's Ghost. The tale of a nightclub janitor who stumbles on the personal effects of a powerful magician and uses them to become a popular nightclub celebrity. Of course dabbling with the dark arts comes with a price and Alabama finds himself entangled with voodoo, a vampire cult, and an elephant for some reason. I don't believe this has gotten a release since VHS but a rip of that tape is currently streaming on Prime if you're down for some regional zaniness.

Speaking of regional zaniness, on the opposite coast from Hobbs low budget filmmaker and playwright Andy Milligan was churning out frequently sadistic sex and gore packed weirdness including 1970s Torture Dungeon. My own experience with Milligan is limited to Fleshpot on 42nd Street which I really liked so I would definitely be curious to see his take on a period piece. Torture Dungeon interestingly enough seems to draw a lot of comparisons to Game of Thrones due to it's royal intrigue and...well...torture and stuff. Check it out on Tubi

I realize I'm not keeping things too classy in this week's installment but for those of you who want "professionally" made movies for some reason I noticed that Guillermo del Toro's masterful ghost story The Devil's Backbone is currently on Prime. Seriously, if you haven't seen The Devil's Backbone or like me haven't seen it in some time - check it out - it will make for great October viewing and won't cause your friends and relatives to ask you if it's a "real" movie like some of these other suggestions.

That's what I've got this week, go watch a movie already!

Wasted Weekend - 9.3.21

 Just as last week there was a bit of a lull in the streaming catalogues - the beginning of the month brings with it heaps of new titles to sift through. I've seen a lot of great titles pop up across the web including all time favorites like The Long Goodbye, The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three, Thief, What's Up Doc?, and A Fish Called Wanda. If you need me to encourage you to see any of those - consider this your encouragement. However, we're here to get a little off the beaten track and this is what caught my eye this week.

I generally like to champion movies a little on the older side, but Jumbo (2020) is one I've been really looking forward to since hearing about it last year. The feature directorial debut of Zoé Wittock is the age old tale of a girl who meets and develops a romantic relationship with an amusement park ride. It just sounds so deliriously weird and what I've seen of it looks absolutely gorgeous. Jumbo is currently streaming via the Arrow Player and while I don't normally bring up rentals, it's available for a buck from Vudu

If my list of favorites above wasn't already enough of a clue - I am a big fan of crime films. I especially love off-beat, shaggy crime films of the 1970s and early 80s and Cutter's Way is about as shaggy as it gets. It's an excellently written, beautifully performed - with Jeff Bridges, John Heard, and Lisa Eichorn - portrait of disaffected, post-Vietnam, hangout noir. It's bleak, it's funny, it's weird, and it's one of those films you have to imagine the Coen Brothers saw and internalized. It's been up on Criterion for a bit but recently appeared on Pluto TV.

If you're looking for something a little more upbeat - it's hard to go wrong with one of my absolute favorite 60s caper films Topkapi. Jules Dassin applies every bit of heist technicality he displayed in the peerless Rififi and combines it with an anarchic travelogue showcasing the comedic talents of Peter Ustinov - who won an Oscar for his performance. Topkapi was also Dassin's first color movie and it is - sometimes literally - a kaleidoscopic explosion of color. I find it endlessly charming and Brian De Palma liked it enough to give its acrobatic jewel heist a nod in Mission Impossible. You can catch this one also on Pluto TV.

My final crime pick for this week comes as part of the Criterion Channel's New York City series they recently uploaded. There's plenty of great films in there, but I have to mention the Alan Arkin directed Little Murders. Featuring Elliott Gould and Marcia Rodd and based on a play of the same name, Little Murders is one of those films that has just become difficult to see these days. It's the kind of thing it might be worth signing up with Criterion for free trial or just a month if you aren't a regular subscriber.

October was once the month of ultimate horror film indulgence but for many of us September is when we start to ease into our own personal spooky season. Maybe you would prefer to save your horror picks for the month of Halloween but if you're looking to kick things off why not check out John Carl Buechler's Cellar Dweller? This is solidly B movie territory but with the special effects mind behind Ghoulies, Trancers, and even Mausoleum - Cellar Dweller delivers on rubbery goods and spooky spirit. It's currently up on Hulu. 

Best New to Me - August 2021

 I have been doing monthly recaps of some sort for a while and over a variety of different platforms. Most recently - and regularly - I was recapping my favorite first time watches on Facebook and the feedback I was getting on those is one of the things that led me to writing in this space. I like doing these for a couple of reasons - the short form reviews are good practice at getting to what's important about a movie and I like to be up-front about the things I've never watched before. My watchlist is huge, I haven't been the most consistent film viewer over the years, and listening to critics and podcasters can leave you feeling like you'll never catch up or that you missed the boat on something cool. None of that shit matters though - Edgar Wright said something that I've tried to internalize and make my mantra over the last few years of film watching - "It's never too late to see a great movie." So here's my list of the best new-to-me films I watched in August.

Female Prisoner Scorpion - The First Three Films (1972-73) - I could have sworn I had seen at least the first film in the Female Prisoner Scorpion series and somehow I had relegated it in my brain as not my cup of tea. I couldn't have been more wrong - these films are an absolutely delirious genre throw down with the perfectly cast Meiko Kaji. Yes, there are some hard to watch sequences but I feel that it serves a savage indictment of misogyny and authoritarian power structures rather than being purely exploitative.

The Baby (1973) - I've been dragging my heels on this one for ages and I definitely shouldn't have. The Baby is exactly my flavor of American regional, drive-in weirdness. The idea that someone really needed to bring this story of an adult baby to the screen and was willing to put this much talent and effort behind it is a wonder to me.

Blind Beast (1969) - I don't know what I can tell you that would adequately prepare you for the wildness of Blind Beast. Surreal visuals, intense drama, challenging themes, and it made me look up "sybaritic."

Doberman Cop (1977) - Brutal 70s cop picture that's also a rural/urban fish out of water story that's also about a pop star competition somehow. Sonny Chiba was truly one of the greats.

The Hitcher (1986) - Other than not growing up with HBO, I'm not sure how I can explain not seeing The Hitcher before. Masterclass of chilling nihilism from Rutger Hauer meets absolutely bonkers nightmare logic of a story resulting in pure genre perfection.

Something Wild (1986) - Demme's surprisingly dark take on the screwball set up. John Waters appears as a used car salesman, The Feelies are playing at a high school reunion that's also attended by Su Tissue - how can I not love this?

Vampyres (1974) - There's no shortage of 70s lesbian vampire movies and they are of varying quality and interest to me but this groovier, British-ier, almost folk horror take on the genre was definitely my bag. People keep coming to this old manor in the woods, women in capes run through a graveyard, copious amounts of wine are consumed!

Blood Games (1990) - The silly premise of a foxy lady baseball team playing against a bunch of hillbillies takes a hard right into Deliverance territory and make for a gritty exploitation jam that seems somewhat out of time in 1990.

Chasing Sleep (2000) - Bill Pullman plays an insomniac professor who's wife has gone missing. Anxiety ridden, paranoia fueled hallucinations follow in what I thought was a pretty effective noir riff.

Jakob's Wife (2021) - Effectively gross and wonderfully performed by Barbara Crampton. The practical effects and feminist messaging were definitely working for me here.

Penitentiary (1979) - Can your humanity be reclaimed both by beating the shit out of fellow inmates for entertainment and semi-anonymous trysts in the bathroom? Only one movie has the courage to ask!

The Oracle (1985) - Solid NYC horror flick with a familiar premise of things going wrong for yuppies in a new apartment. Some absurdly wonderful puppet effects and great location work.

Scalpel (1977) - Southern gothic thriller about a greedy plastic surgeon who alters the face of a comatose stripper to look identical to his estranged daughter so he can claim her inheritance. They also strike up a relationship of sorts. If this sounds messed up that's because it is.

Spookies (1986) - I caught a screening of this which is definitely the way to best appreciate it. You want to be in a room of horror fans when the farting muck men turn up.

Sting of Death (1966) - Kooky, low budget 60s monster mash about a killer jellyfish man-thing. There are dance numbers, secret lairs, and a surprisingly high body count. Do the jilla-jella-jellyfish!

Stone (1974) -  Sold as a precursor to Mad Max but really more of Ozploitation Easy Rider of sorts with bar brawls, drag racing, smoking grass, strip poker, and the occasional skinny dip. Take the trip!