Another whirlwind month behind us as we begin the Summertime in earnest. Some of my movie-watching has waned in favor of bike rides, patio hangs, and other outdoors pursuits - however, I still have a lot of screenings to talk about. I don't have anything new to plug but I was welcomed in to the Minnesota Film Critics Alliance this past month. The Alliance includes some terrific critics and writers and I'm excited to be included. Hopefully I can learn a thing or two from them. I am generally too obstinate to stick to many movie "theme" challenges but I have been doing the F This Movie! Junesploitation challenge for a few years now. 30 days, 30 different prompts, hopefully 30 movies of genre insanity. If you've never tried it and are vaguely interested, I find it to be a fun way to knock out some of those persistent watchlist barnacles as well as pushing myself in some different directions. Unlike horror or noir challenges, I appreciate the variety of different exploitation genres and the spirit of inclusiveness among the participants. Hop around the schedule if you want, change your movie selections, maybe you only watch five Junesploitation movies, however you do it works. I'll do a full roundup at the end of the month but you can check out my (tentative) list of selections here.
China Girl (1987) - Abel Ferrara's take on Romeo and Juliet set on the border between Manhattan's China Town and Little Italy. This had been on my watchlist for a long time but a recent visit to the area prompted me to finally sit down for it. I assumed Ferrara would deliver a grittier, NYC location based production but in actuality it's a much more stylized, set bound film. While there's still a bit of Ferrara chaos bubbling underneath the sleek veneer - China Girl feels almost like a music video in its precise shot composition and overall mood. This suits the attractive if somewhat vapid lead performers well enough but I can understand not all audiences connecting with it. There are some solid supporting turns from Minneapolis born James Hong and a young David Caruso which bolster the drama a bit. Also, when the inevitable violence kicks in it is palpably visceral. Maybe one more for Ferrara completists or 80s NYC maniacs but definitely worth a look.
Street of the Damned (1984) - Another film from Fun City Editions' Seeing Red set I received in April. I really need to re-visit this one to more firmly cohere my thoughts on it, but it's a fascinating watch. Though there's nothing explicitly said about when the film is set, it strikes an out-of-time mood that reminds me of other weirdo 80s street life films like (also released by FCE) Alphabet City. The otherworldliness in only exacerbated by the Paris suburb where it is set - something I've seen utilized well by Alain Jessua and even Claude Chabrol. The plotline is essentially a lone streetfighter standing up against the local toughs but Bernard Giraudeau's Chet isn't exactly a good guy and the film leans as much into existential drama as it does junkyard brawling. I keep mentioning the strangeness of it, and it is that, but I think it has the potential to join the ranks of cult classic, vaguely post-apocalyptic, counter-culture films from around the same time.
Black List (1984) - The final film for me in the Seeing Red set and what a way to wrap things up. A heist gone sour draws in a widowed auto-repair shop owner played by Annie Girardot in an attempt to reunite with her estranged daughter. I don't want to reveal too many details, but suffice to say I did not know how badly I needed a hard driving, ruthless Annie Girardot in my life before watching Black List. Perhaps even more impressive to me is that she manages to imbue the standard angel of vengeance style role with a genuine and heartfelt emotional core. This film looks tremendous and it really moves, too. I'm hoping to write an extended review of all three films in the set. Highest recommendation.
The Lineup (1958) - Erica from Unsung Horrors recommended this to me ages ago because it contains a fantastic dummy drop and it's just a damn good 50s noir. Don Siegel is at the helm for this one and he puts together a ripping crime story with economy but his direction is never austere. The attraction for a lot of viewers is going to be the absolutely fantastic San Francisco location work that includes the former Sutro Baths. It doesn't hurt that it was shot by absolute film legend Hal Mohr who demonstrates an agility with his camera even later into his career. Eli Wallach smolders as a psychopathic bag man who goes by the name of Dancer, but his performance is beautifully complimented by Robert Keith who plays his comparatively reserved partner in crime. This one is under 90s minutes and there's a gorgeous looking transfer on Prime at the moment. Easy recommendation for classic crime fans.
The Jericho Mile (1979) - Michael Mann's first directorial effort is primarily a prison drama but it is one embedded in the structure of an underdog sports movie. Peter Strauss plays a convicted killer who notably is doing his own time not only in eschewing most prison affiliations but also committing to an unrelenting schedule of daily running. I have a real weakness for these 70s/80s convict narratives - they can feel somewhat naive compared to the explicit grimness of later films and true crime documentaries - but Jericho Mile as well as movies like Short Eyes and even Straight Time were all written by ex-cons and have their own sense of authenticity. Further emphasizing that authenticity was Mann's decision to shoot almost entirely on location at Folsom Prison. Jericho Mile employs some terrific supporting actors like Roger Mosley, Brian Dennehy, and Ed Lauter but also makes tremendous use of non-actors to fill the prison with interesting, believable characters. Like many television productions of its time, Jericho Mile is expertly shot and produced even though I don't know that it nods towards the cooler-than-cool stylization that Mann would be so well known for. What is clear is his respect for lived experience and his willingness to work with people outside of Hollywood to find that core of reality.
Darker Than Amber (1970) - I have been wanting to watch this Robert Clouse adaptation of a John D. MacDonald Travis McGee story for ages but have been holding out for a better looking copy then the taped-off-tv versions I was able to find. I finally caved when it popped up on Tubi - it's still definitely a vhs rip but at least it was subtitled so I could work with the murky sound. MacDonald's most famous creation has the air of a 1960s mens' magazine fantasy - intermittently employed McGee lives on his boat in Florida where he takes up fishing, drinking, beautiful women, and the occasional adventure. He's not James Bond but he isn't some Chandler-ian hard luck case either. Rod Taylor's imposing physicality and Aussie charm serve the character perfectly and he's equally believable lounging on his boat or in the middle of a fistfight. Suzy Kendall - bond girl and giallo regular - makes for a compelling femme fatale that McGee literally pulls out of the water as the entry to the film's central mystery. Clouse's production plays out like a particularly good television movie with the exception that some of the violence feels extreme for 1970. Apparently Taylor and bad guy bodybuilder William Smith genuinely got into it during their climactic brawl - this bit of screen brutality caught the eye of Bruce Lee who then pursued Clouse to direct Enter the Dragon. Darker Than Amber failed to catch fire at the box office and it's really too bad. I would have loved to see a series of these even as a television productions like the Columbo or Kojak movies.
Yakuza Wolf: I Perform Murder (1972) - Arguably my pick for best titled film of anything I watched in May, Yakuza Wolf presents another point in the East influences West influences East cycle as it takes stylistic and plot elements from Spaghetti Western films, which were of course famously influenced by Samurai films, and transposes them into a Yakuza film. Sonny Chiba stars as a vengeance seeking man-in-black replete with duster and broad brimmed hat looking to take on multiple yakuza clans. My favorite Chiba roles tend to find him raging and brutal or gregarious and charming and his character here is much more in line with the grim, taciturn protagonists of Leone or Corbucci. Exchanging a horse and a Winchester for a Ford Mustang and a silenced automatic handgun, Chiba's Gosuke Himuro pursues his aim first with a Yojimbo/Dollars style gambit of pitting two sides against each other and then morphing towards a desperate mission of vengeance that recalls the finale of Django. This first entry of Yakuza Wolf is a properly gruesome and sleazy slice of 70s Yakuza film which pairs well with its Italian inspiration as they pushed genre boundaries forcefully as well. There is a follow up movie that has almost nothing to do with this one save that Sonny Chiba is in it and yakuza are involved but I found it far less interesting.
I... For Icarus (1979) - A big budget Henri Verneuil political thriller that also serves up a heady blend of 70s paranoia goodness. Very much inspired by JFKs assassination featuring Yves Montand as the attorney who is tirelessly pursuing the truth underneath layers of conspiracy. Per usual, Verneuil delivers a gorgeously produced film that includes some solid location work to go along with his typically astounding sets. He collaborates once again with Ennio Morricone as a composer even if music is rather sparsely employed in the film, but it's a terrific theme when it does kick in. Verneuil plays a bit with themes around media - television appearances, interrogation recordings, an analogue of the Zapruder film - but the main appeal is this tense conspiracy as the body count climbs higher.
Réjeanne Padovani (1973) - This is the third film released by Canadian International Pictures in what forms a loose trilogy of crime movies from Denys Arcand's early career. Chronologically Réjeanne Padovani is actually the middle film between the darkly absurd Dirty Money and the thrilling and brutal Gina. By comparison Réjeanne is the far more reserved of the three - focusing squarely on spoken interactions - dinner conversations, backroom negotiations, telephone calls, and bar small talk. Still, it paints a convincing picture of how business, politics, and crime forms an ugly alliance in Montreal. Though Réjeanne is very much a product of the 70s, it was only in 2011 that the Charbonneau Commission was formed in Quebec to investigate corruption as well as organized crime connections into the management of public construction contracts. Réjeanne may be more compelling as a cultural document and less so as an entertainment compared to Arcand's other early films but it does make for a fascinating snapshot in time and credit's Arcand's prescience regarding social issues.
Revenge of the Punks (1991) - Picking up right where the last movie left off, Revenge starts with a prison break for Tarzan who has only one thing on his mind - revenge. Vengeance takes form of the punks riding to Detective Marcos' daughter's birthday party where they proceed to rape and kill everyone in attendance save for Marcos. That's certainly one way to open a movie. The film then transitions to Cannon Death Wish territory as Marcos does his best Bronson - singling out gang members and dispatching them in increasingly elaborate ways: Impalement, snakes, fire, and acid are only a few. While the premise is certainly as wild as Intrépidos Punks and it still contains enough bare breasts for a Russ Meyer film, Revenge feels less goofily chaotic and more viscerally violent. Gone are the pro-wrestling fight moves and punk dancing montages. They've been replaced with satanic rites featuring real animal parts and Marcos' grim string of violent killings. I still liked the sequel a great deal but it is perhaps less "fun" than the previous film if this kind of thing fits your definition of fun to begin with. Weirdly, I stumbled across these not because of the forthcoming VS release but because they were on a list of Mad Max rip-offs. I would not really call these Maxploitation but if you like the especially wild films in the biker genre, these should definitely be on your radar.
Theatrical Screenings!
T.R. Baskin (1971)- Baskin was one of my favorite new-to-me picks last year so I was thrilled to be able to catch it at the Trylon. My admiration for the film and Bergen's and Boyle's performances haven't diminished a bit and the theatrical presentation made it easier for me to appreciate the sound design. It's a detail that not every movie captures and the constant din of traffic noises and city sounds really does underscore Baskin's isolation. Another thing I've been thinking about in regards to Baskin is Carnal Knowledge which came out the same year and also features Bergen. I don't know many who love Carnal Knowledge but it certainly was the more acclaimed of the two pictures and arguably has persisted in the culture more prominently - it's a bigger film with a wild cast. The films take on different subjects but there is some overlap in themes of self-discovery and forming relationships. It's striking at how Baskin is certainly skeptical of modern life and relationships but ultimately a far more nuanced portrait of human existence wherein Knowledge is so deeply cynical and ultimately kind of cruel.
Evil Does Not Exist (2023) - I feel like I'll have to give this another watch one day considering the enthusiastic praise it has gotten from so many people. I thought it was beautifully made but perhaps I'm resisting the parable elements of Evil Does Not Exist as I found its messaging a little flat. I'm totally sympathetic to a film about the stupidity of corporations and our obliviousness to the environmental harm we're all complicit in, but I think I was struggling with the portrayal of a village that has a perfect understanding of that. I've lived in small towns - stupidity and obliviousness are universal conditions, not limited to urban dwellers. I've also attended my fair share of public hearings and the opinions expressed during those are rarely as wise and artful as the briefing featured in the film (though it's a excellently constructed scene). The premise of Evil Does Not Exist immediately reminded me of Shunya Ito's Curse of the Dog God from 1977. They are very different films, but Ito (and I can't believe I'm saying this) seems to have a much more nuanced perception of the urban/rural divide in Japan. Still, Hamaguchi's film is gorgeous with a tremendous score and some excellent sequences.
1980s Action Extravaganza - I wasn't sure what I'd be getting into with the Trylon's first ever 80s Action mini-marathon. Four surprise films (3 on 35mm) which could have been total fan favorites or the deepest of deep cuts. I liked that it was only four films and that it wasn't overnight so when I saw there were still tickets available online, I scooped them up. It turned out to be a good time and the Trylon's years of running the much more challenging overnight Horrorthon every year were very much in evidence as this little fest ran super smoothly. The absolute standout for me was John Woo's The Killer shown in 35mm. It's a movie I watched dozens of times as a young man but haven't watched in a while - largely due to its absence on streaming or an officially sanctioned blu ray release. My one gripe about the films were that they were all things I'd seen before and largely things I'd seen many, many times before. The trailers shown between the films had me more excited than some of the actual selections. Still, it was fun to be there and who knows if I'll have the opportunity to do another one.
Enter the Clones of Bruce (2023) and The Clones of Bruce Lee (1980) - This was an inspired bit of programming by Tim Holly over at Emagine Willow Creek featuring David Gregory's new Brucesploitation documentary followed by a classic Brucesploitation feature. Weirdly, I was attending another screening in NYC last year during the Tribeca Film Fest when Enter the Clones was making its debut. I recall walking by the poster and wondering if I had really missed out. Luckily Tim had our backs and brought this weird slice of film history to our doorsteps. It's a solid doc. and is especially interesting when it leans into stories of Hong Kong film production of the 70s and 80s. I'm not sure it has enough narrative thrust to appeal to the uninitiated as I found my attention wandering at parts, but I'm so glad to have caught it. Clones of Bruce Lee isn't a great kung-fu movie but it is positively bonkers and absolutely the kind of thing I prefer seeing with an audience. I don't think I'm the target market for Severin's Bruceploitation box set but I'm glad it exists and that I got to catch a taste of it.
WarGames (1983) - This was a member screening for the Cult Film Collective. I don't know that WarGames would have been my first choice for a screening but there is something special about watching it on 16mm in a wood paneled side room of an Eagles' Lodge. It's still an entertaining movie and I give the venue 1000/10. Would do again in a heartbeat.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) - I am not the biggest Fury Road enthusiast - I didn't love it when it came out and I haven't watched it since the theater - so I did not approach Furiosa with high expectations. I guess those expectations were met? I thought this was okay. It was definitely too long and I was fairly bored at parts. I don't think Miller really handles narrative or character very well and I struggle with his modern aesthetic sensibilities. Why spend 78 days shooting practical effects for a single sequence and then cover it in 10k layers of digital fuckery? I just don't get it. Anyway, don't listen to me, enjoy what you enjoy, I'll be over here watching Intrépidos Punks.
