The Big Bird Cage (1972, Jack Hill)

"Grier and Haig are thieving mercenaries who engineer a prison break from the outside."

I loved this one so much. I loved every single campy second of it and it will soon be in my favorite guilty pleasures.

The plot deals with a loving couple, Pam Grier and Sid Haig, who are revolutionists in the Philippines. One day their group of rebels decides that they need to build up their army by kidnapping woman. Instead of kidnapping them though, they decide that they should stage a prison break in the local evil women prison where the evil gay wardens torture the hot women non stop.

This is a very simple outline of the plot. We are treated to a lot of great stuff through out the movie. Most of these things take place during the prison scenes where we are treated to tons of classic stuff. We get the nympho prisoner who is more mad that she can not get some than the fact that she is in an evil prison. We get the hatred between the tall dyke and the short dyke. We get the gay wardens of course, The evil and intense prison warden. The wooden cage that drives woman wild and crazy! Half naked girls all the time. Mud fights and we of course get Sid Haig getting a job at the prison later on by posing as a gay man. This film has it all.

The film is always fast and pretty self conscious of what it is. It doesn't try to go for big emotions and because of this the film is a lot of fun. It also doesn't hurt that the direction is not bad at all given the type of film it is and it's also great to see some good acting for once in one of these old exploitation films.

There is once again not a lot to write about for this one. It's a fun ride while it lasts if you are able to just lose yourself in the camp. I was able to and I loved it more than I probably should have.

- Ridiculously Awesome

Matando Cabos (2004, Alejandro Lozano)

"A dark, offbeat comedy about a group of Mexico City teens embroiled in a kidnapping involving a retired wrestling legend and a parrot."

Matando Cabos (Killing Cabos) was one of the most popular Mexican film in 2004/2005. It even won a couple of awards and took home the MTV en Espanol award for "Favorite Movie" among other things. I was curios to watch it to just see what a big mainstream film is like in Mexico and how it compares to an American film. I am happy and both sad that there is a big difference between the two but I am sad to say that it's not that big of a difference really.

The movie is about two young guys who by mistake kidnap one of the guys father in law. They set off to simply take him home and dump him on his front lawn but when an ex Mexican wrestler,a fighting midget, 2 would be kidnappers, and a crazy next door neighbor become involed over the night everything becomes crazy and close to impossible to pull off.

With a plot like that you can expect the film to be a lot of fun, which it is, but it also should ring a bell in your head. If it does, it's because you have already seen this film over,and over, and over again. It falls into the "Tarantino Wannabe" pile along with Lock Stock,Snatch, Boondock Saints, Go, and plenty of others. It's one of those films where every other character has something eccentric about them and every other scene uses some cinematic device like a flashback scene, or a "5 minutes earlier" scene to establish each of these "crazy" characters pasts. When the film started to do this I even thought "awwww shit not another one" but to my surprise it was actually good.

The thing that Matando Cabos has that most of these other wannabe films do not have is a small dose of creativity. It was nice to see the Tarantino formula put into a non gangster film. The plot of this film at least uses the multi story plot device to make things move along in a very fun way that keeps everything to a point where you don't know whats going to happen next.

Matando Cabos is an odd film to critique. It's nothing new because it uses plot devices which have become cliched ,so it's nothing new. Yet it is something new because it uses them to move along a fresh approach to these kinds of films. I don't know if I should applaud this or not but I do know that i had a lot of fun watching it.

- ***

Save the Green Planet! (2003, Joon-Hwan Jang)

"Byeong-gu believes that the world is on the verge of an alien invasion, and sets out to save the world."

Just looking at this DVD cover/poster makes me mad. This film is nothing and I really do mean nothing like how the poster portrays it as. This is one dark and extremely unique film.

I used to bump into this DVD all the time at my library. I used to see the cover and just brush it off because it just looked bad. However based on some great word of mouth I decided to see what all the fuss was about and I was not let down at all. I am glad to spread the word of mouth just a little tiny bit more that way more people see past the horrible cover and check this film out.

Save the Green Planet! is a tough film to write about. It's such a unique film that you can't really explain it and it's such a crazy journey that it's hard to write about it without spoiling anything or implying anything that will spil anything. This is one of those films that the less you know about it the better. All I am going to do is post the trailer that way you can get a feeling of how this film is....



It shouldn't work at all and yet it does. You shouldn't care for some characters and yet you do. You should be thinking that the film is too over the top and ridiculous but you never think this. This is just a great film. That simple. It takes something that could very easily become bad and makes it charming,quirky,smart and tons of fun. This really is one great film that deserves the cult following it so desperately needs. Nevermind films like Slither that try hard to be an immediate cult film. This is the cult film everyone is looking for but few know about.

Just please give this one a chance. It's a one of a kind film.

- ****

Fight for your Life (1977, Robert A. Endelson)

Fight for your Life (1977, Robert A. Endelson)

"This is the story of three escaped convicts who take a middle-class Black family hostage for a relentless nightmare of racist humiliation, sexual violence and extreme vengeance."

While reading up on this film I read that it is flat out banned in Britain it almost caused riots where it was shown. Most of the time when I read facts like this or "it made people faint!" I always take it as an exaggerated comment. After seeing this film I really do believe the comment. I still can not believe that this film exists and that it was in one time in theaters.

Fight for your Life is hands down the most politically incorrect film I have ever seen and on top of that it's one of the most offensive films I have ever seen. Having said that this film is incredible. It's beyond insane and it's beyond intense. It really qualifies as one of those films that you have to see to believe.

Where to begin with this one.....William Sanderson gives one hell of a performance as the lead convict. He plays the most racist character I have ever seen and will ever see. Every racist remark you can think of he says and every racist thing that you think a person can do he does. He is also over the top in every single way. This is a trademark in these exploitation films but it works in this one given that the film breaks any and all boundaries. So the over the top acting fits right in place.

What else is in this film other than this beyond racist character? Everything. Seriously. Everything. There is a certain death that is just crazy. There is rape. Oh and of course there is some revenge. It's got everything and it pushes everything to an uncomfortable boundary. It might offend most people and some people will find it horrible. I found it amazing.

This is hands down the best exploitation film I have seen. If you are into these kind of films you have to check this one out. It really is insane.

- Ridiculously Awesome

The Muthers (1976, Crio H. Santiago)

"A group of women sister pirates must get into a prison/slave market and save their sister who is in there by breaking out."

This film is just beyond ridiculous. It's a postapocalyptic, pirate, blaxploitation, women in prison, prison breakout, war film with some nudity here and there. Whats even more ridiculous is that it somehow works.

I don't really know why it works or why it turns out good but I think it's because of the overall over the top sense of story we are presented. It reaches such an odd point where you just want to watch to see how it all turns out. Given this and the over the top bad guys and girls that are given to us thanks to the over the top film we can't help but cheer for the The Muthers as they try to breakout.

Sure, the film has some horrible and stiff acting but if you are able to look past all this the film is a lot of fun. I can honestly say that I enjoyed it way more than I maybe should have. If it was on DVD I would already own it too.

- ***

Just awesome.

Once again I had the pleasure of going to the grindhouse fest again. Once again everything was nothing but amazing. The thing that made this day stand out though were the films which were actually good in both of their own ways.

The audience was great like always and so was everything else, especially the trailers. I had the great experience of watching a lot of trailers from the guy who directed the first film. The Muthers, and what a bunch of trailers! This guy might be the most over the top filmmaker ever and I am dying to see his Road Warrior rip offs which just left me in awe.

I really don't want this festival to go away but oh well.....hopefully they will do this again next year or at least do a version of the infamous QT Fests that have long been going on in Texas I believe. I hate being this kind of person but why the hell Texas and not LA Tarantino???? Seriously, I thought you loved LA?

Nothing much can be said. I can't wait to go again.

A big sad sigh....

I used to love going to forums where people talk about film. I have stopped doing this and it's been a long time since I have visited one. Why? Well, first of all, I am not a film snob and I do not think I am better than anyone else. Now having said that....

The reason why I have not visited these sites has been because I just got tired of it all. I got tired of the endless Fight Club/Clockwork Orange/Donnie Darko *fill in a well known good film here* threads. It seems that more and more of these "film buffs" are just watching films to scratch off their lists so they can later on pull it out to reference that they know what they are talking about because they have seen ______. There are very few people out there who I truly consider film buffs. By this I mean people who have not only seen some of the well known good films but have also spent time checking out more films by certain directors or some little gems or what I like to call "digging for films"

Once again, by this I mean that it seems that everyone now on these forums say stuff like "Scorsese is a god!" and when asked what films they have seen they answer with "Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Taxi Driver" I'm all for this but whatever happened to After Hours, King of Comedy, Last Temptation of Christ etc... There is no passion to discover films by yourself anymore. Everyone just looks at lists or watch "Lawrence of Arabia" because dear god what will other film buffs think?!!! It just all annoys me.

There also seems little to no true film discussion and instead seems to be a lot of people just circle jerking eachother because they have all seen a good film but when asked whats so good about it resolves to a simple one sentence answer. I'm not saying that this happens all the time but it does seem to happen a lot of the time. The other main thing that bothers me is that very few films are discussed that are pre 70's. So many great classic films out there but no one bothers to watch them unless if they are in AFI top 100 .

Anyways this is the main reason why I have grown tired of these film forums. I was bored tonight and decided to check out one of these forums and this is the first thing I read after the first post. These are someones ratings...

Me and You and Everyone We Know(2005- July) 59
Grindhouse (Rodriguez/Tarantino) 97
300 [2nd] (2007- Snyder) 93

Why does this bother me so much? Where to start.....Me and You and Everyone We Know is the film that Little Miss Sunshine tried to be and it's one of the last true indie films that established an original plot mixed in with original realistic characters and above all it also gave us Miranda July who is in my opinion one of the best bets in new directors. True, you can debate to no end with this but if I were to read that you also gave 300 a 93 and went to go see it twice then I really already think you have no merit to hate Me and You and say that I am wrong.

And then there is Grindhouse......

When I saw this ahead of everyone I knew that it would come back to haunt me. I really liked the film but I couldn't help but think of all the "posers" that would see the film and praise it to no end. I bet you whatever you want that if you were to get 50 people who praise the film so much on these forums that only about 5 or 6 are true grindhouse cinema fans. The others are just people that think grindhouse films are cool and the film was just like it because "they had scratched prints and the trailers!" I'll bet you anything that you want.

This is just meant to be a rant. I once again don't think I am better than everyone else but a lot of these people claiming they are "film buffs" just annoys me and to a certain point offends me. Film lovers? Ok. But film buffs? No. They lack the amount of passion that makes film buffs stand out so much.

Death Race 2000 (1975, Paul Bartel)

"A champion of a brutal cross-country car race of the future where pedestrians are run down for points."

This one lives up to it's title and plot. It is a low budget quickie from grand master Corman and its a quick and fun ride while it lasts but sadly like most Corman films it suffers for the same reasons. I know this one is regarded as a B movie classic and it certainly deserves it's spot but I couldn't help but feel that this could have been an A movie classic with a little more of a budget. I highly doubt it though since I can't see any studio at the time actually making this outrageous film.

Death Race 2000 is just an excuse to exercise a lot of cool low budget style while sticking in enough action and nude scenes to make everyone happy. The film is at its most funnest when we get to to see some of the over the top racing scenes which luckily comes often. Everyone in this one is also just as over the top, especially David Caradine who spends the entire film in an odd S&M type of costume. There is not much more than could be said. Everything is just ridiculous and over the top but that's what makes it fun.

I really wish I could write more but writing more on this odd gem is not doing it justice. If you like these type of films then you have already seen it and if you haven't then I'm sure it's on your "to watch" list. It's been on mine for awhile and I'm happy to say that it lives up to it's title and reputation.

- ***

David Caradine as Frankenstien and his car.
How can this movie not be awesome?

Screams of a Winter Night (1979, James L. Wilson)

"10 college students go camping, when they get there, they tell scary stories to each other."

This should be great cheesy fun, like Slithis, but instead is kind of creepy and intense. I attribute these things to its low budget feel and cheap directing skills. For example, since the budget was low the camera hardly cuts during its spooky scenes. This makes you feel like something if going to jump out at you all of a sudden . It never really does and the scares don't deliver but the feeling it gives is very uncomfortable.

Once again, I don't know what else to say about this one. The scary stories the characters tell eachother are nothing new but one manages to be kind of creepy. I seriously think that if the film had a bigger budget this could have become a great horror film. The other reason I think this is because of the ending sequence. I have no idea why but the ending feels extremely intense. I don't even know what was going on in the ending but it was intense for sure.

Not much else to say about this one.....

- **

Slithis (1978, Stephen Traxler)

"A nuclear leak creates a mutant Slithis sea monster, which terrorizes the variety of pets, winos, and hippies who hang around Venice, California."

I loved Slithis. I can honestly say that I loved every single minute of it. This one has everything that you would want from a B movie. It has horrible acting, horrible cinematography, horrible special effects, horrible edits and reaction shots, it even has horrible over the top characters. So in other words....this movie is awesome. I even loved how it tried to be an old school horror film while trying to be a modern scare fest. Everything in this film is so ridiculous and over the top that you cant help but be amazed by it. I would buy this on DVD in a second if it was out.

I also want to point out how much I loved one actor in this. I don't know his name or who is character actually was. I think he was a police captain or something but I am still in awe of him. He has to give the most over the top performance I have ever seen. Seriously this is the most over the top acting you will ever see. He is in this one for about 10 minutes but he absolutely kills ever single second and every single minute. His background acting is even over the top. Just sheer power. That's the only way I can review his acting.

I don't know what else to say about this one. All these "grindhouse films" are hard to write about and even harder to rate. There is not much to write about them and that's why I love them so much. I would even go as far to say that you know everything about each of these films after just looking at the poster. I mean, look at this poster. It just screams of coolness and it is.

- Ridiculously Awesome

Double feature of horrors at the Grindhouse Fest

I seriously love,love,love the Grindhouse film festival. Every single film has been amazing there. Well, maybe not the films themselves but the experience of watching them with this audience has been. I have seen everything from sexploitation to kung fu films to Grindhouse (the film) at this film fest and every single one has been nothing short of amazing. It's going to be a bummer seeing the film fest end and then being only able to go once a month. I really hope they do the film fest again next year.

I went to the Grindhouse fest the other night to watch a double bill of horror films. The first film was Slithis and the second one was Screams of a Winter Night. Both films were amazing in their own odd way. The audience was rowdy and tons of fun. Everything was just a lot of fun.

Nothing much can be said but this night was probably one of the funnest if not the funnest night I have had there.

Double Dare (2004, Amanda Micheli)

"A double-barreled, action-packed documentary about the struggles of two stuntwomen in male-dominated Tinseltown to stay working, stay thin, and stay sane."

This documentary follows two stuntwomen who are struggling in Hollywood. The first, Jeannie Epper, is a well established stuntwomen who is struggling to get work because of her age. The other, Zoe Bell, is a newcomer who is out of work and trying hard to get her name known. The documentary starts telling their stories separately but when the two stuntwomen meet the documentary really takes off. This is when it becomes another little hidden gem.

What makes this one so great to watch is the two women that we get to know. It's that simple. At first both stories that are being told are both interesting and at times tough to watch. Zoe Bell in New Zealand in her last days of doing Stunts for Xena and Jeannie Epper shuffling around Hollywood trying to get work. It's when Zoe Bell decides to leave New Zealand to come to Hollywood that thing get really interesting. When she comes to Hollywood the documentary crew decides to have Zoe and Jeannie meet and the documentary then transformers into something else.

Jeannie immediately takes Zoe under her wing and we get to see their friendship develop to the point where Jeannie treats Zoe just like her daughter. Everything from this point on feels really intimate and we really begin to see the troubles the two stuntwomen face in Hollywood. What is also fun is that we never feel like we are watching a documentary but instead a series of home videos. By this I mean we don't get a feeling of the two women acting phony or hiding their personalities. By the end of this documentary you truly get a feeling of having gone behind of the scenes of how Hollywood works. The final 20 minutes of the documentary are also great because of the paths we see both women take (especially Zoe) It truly feels like an ending that was preplanned. I mean this in a good way.

I wished I could have seen this documentary before seeing Grindhouse, Zoe's first film as an actress. After seeing the documentary I hope that the poor box office of Grindhouse doesn't affect her career too much. You really just feel like cheering for her after watching Double Dare. The only complaint I had with the documentary is that we don't get to see much of Jeannie Eppers work and very little is said about her past as a stuntwoman. Some more interviews from some filmmakers would have been great to see as well. It's really odd to see Spielberg or Tarantino pop out for just a minute and then never come out again.

- ***

One a Sidenote.....

I was exploring the special features on the DVD and found the (kind of) full Tarantino interview. This has to go down as one of my favorite special features ever. I may have some issues with Tarantino the director but I love Tarantino the person. When he is given the chance to rant by himself I find him hilarious. This interview is a perfect example of this. In this 20 minute or so interview we get to see Tarantino go on a huge rant about why Xena is amazing and we also get to see Tarantino begin to reenact movies and trailers all by himself. Whats even more fun is that he seems to be talking to himself since we only hear the person asking the question once and then hearing Tarantino go on and on and on about the question and almost never answering the question. The reason I put (kind of) is because believe it or not even the director chooses to cut him off by having edits when Tarantino starts ranting. I would seriously watch a whole movie of just Tarantino talking to himself and reenacting things by himself.

Midnight Run (1988, Martin Brest)

"An accountant is chased by bounty hunters, the FBI, and the Mafia after jumping bail."

I will seriously go as far as saying that this is a little hidden gem. I have never read of a person talking about this film. Sure, it's filled with cliches and it's nothing new and it's predictable but it has something that a lot of recent films fail to have. That certain thing is chemistry. With enough great chemistry between the actors any film can become a lot of fun, like this one.

The film not only has the great chemistry between the two main actors but it also has some great typecasting. I hate typecasting but sometimes it can also help out a film if it's played just right. Midnight Run is a perfect example of this. De Niro is the tight lipped bounty hunter with no sense of humor and Grodin is the wisecracking smartass white collar criminal he has to transport across America. They work great off eachother and the dialogue which could easily become annoying is fast, witty, and always fun. The action delivers also and also helps the film fly by really fast.

Once again it's nothing new but to put it simple, it's just a fun film. Nothing is too over the top and nothing is too serious. It's sad that we at least don't even get fun movies like these anymore. Instead we are treated to crap films like Hollywood Homicide or The Last Shot which try to have this fun chemistry between the actors and instead fall flat in every single way. It's also sad that they don't even make mainstream films like they used to.

- ***

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2003, Judy Irving)

"A homeless musician finds meaning to his life when he starts a friendship with dozens of parrots."

This is a beautiful and heartbreaking film about Mark Bittner who over the years has grown to love the wild birds that live around his house. The story it tells is a simple one but it's a beautiful and sometimes very intimate one that pulls on your heartstrings a lot.

Everything you see in this documentary feels so natural and innocent that you also get swept into this perspective where by the end of the documentary you see the birds as Mark Bittner does. So much so that the final 20 minutes will leave you beyond heartbroken and maybe a little bit depressed. I love this one because of this.

Every documentary that comes out, at least to me lately, seems to be about 9/11 or Iraq or some other event or situation which is causing a profound effect on our culture. I'm all for this but sometimes I get tired of these documentaries that set out to tackle such an extreme subject. I'm all for it but sometimes I feel that I am no longer watching a documentarian but rather a journalist behind the camera. The best documentaries I have ever seen have always been about a personal subject matter to the filmmaker or something that he finds interesting. The best documentaries also seem to tell a story. It's these "true life stories" which make documentaries so memorable. That's why no matter what Michael Moore does in the future his best film will still be Roger and Me. It has that emotional connection that most other documentaries, including his later efforts, seem to lack.

This is also why Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill feels like a breath of fresh air. It feels like so long ago that I have seen a documentary that was about something simple but yet told a profound story. The simple story this film tells about a man and his parrots will get to you more than any other documentary you have seen in a long time. I guarantee it.

There is not much more to say about this one. Just go watch it. It's a beautiful little documentary.

- ****

Stop Making Sense (1984, Jonathan Demme)

"An innovative concert movie for the rock group The Talking Heads"

I have never been that big of a Talking Heads fan. I only knew 3 songs from them and that was about it. I had long heard that they were an amazing band and one of the best things to come out of the 80's but I just never had that certain urge to hear and see more of their stuff.

Another thing that I had heard a lot about was their concert film, Stop Making Sense. This one along with The Last Waltz and Woodstock seem to top every "best concert films" list I have ever seen and Stop Making Sense and The Last Waltz seem to fight eachother for the top spot in those lists. A couple of nights ago I stumbled upon Stop Making Sense in a used DVD bin and decided to blind buy it and see what all the fuss was about.

Before the first solo performance with a boombox was over I knew that I was going to watch one amazing film. I stress the word film and not "concert film" because I think that this one is so good that it surpasses it's sub genre. Sure, it's a band doing a concert but there is much more to it. Although, the thing is that there really is not much more to it....or is there? Here lies the genius of watching Stop Making Sense.

When your watching the film at first it feels like a straight forward concert but as the band slowly begins to form and the performances become more and more eccentric and intense you get a certain feeling that you are no longer watching something but experiencing something. It seems that it's no accident and the film, as well as the bands performance, is designed like this. It truly feels as if you go on a weird journey through the mind of David Byrne and The Talking Heads. When it's over you are left speechless at what you saw. Well, at least I was.

The only flaw I can say the film has is that it feels too short. Sure, there is the odd song here and there that aren't so great but David Byrne is so gloriously eccentric and crazy that you are smiling your way through every song. If anything watch this one just to see him. He is by far one of the greatest lead singers I have ever seen. Watch it for his romantic dance with a lamp or his marathons around the stage or just for the infamous big suit. Seriously, just watch it to see him. No words can describe how awesome it is to watch him go wild in every song.

After watching Stop Making Sense I can see what all the fuss is about. It's something that you won't really get until you watch it and when you do you will somehow understand it's odd brilliance.

- ****

wow.

This might be the best animated short I have ever seen. I am in awe of it right now.

Notes on a Scandal (2006, Richard Eyre)

"A pottery teacher enters into an affair with one of her students, causing upheaval in her personal and professional lives."

I have never read about a person who hated this film. I have read of people not liking it too much but never a bad review. After seeing the film I can see why this one is hard not to like. The film has a lot of things going for it but the main thing that elevates this film a lot are the two powerful and intense performances by Dench and Blanchett. I am happy they got the recognition they truly deserved last year.

This film is another case of horrible advertising. The trailers and TV spots made it out to be a straight forward drama. This is not the case at all with Notes on a Scandal. This is one intense and to a certain point disturbing psychological thriller. It only lasts less than an hour and half but that hour and half will take you for a very dark journey and that will have you squirming a lot. Dench in particular is chilling and scary in this one, surprisingly. Out of all the nominated performances I have seen of last year she gives the best one by far.

The other thing that Notes has going for it is that it's a true psychological thriller. It feels like so long since I have seen a true thriller. It seems that nowadays everything seems to be labeled a thriller. Premonition is the latest example of this. A film that has car crashes and time travel is not my definition of a psychological thriller at all. Red Eye is another example of these modern "psychological thrillers" I also think that Red Eye is far from being a true thriller. However, Notes on a Scandal is the definition of a psychological thriller.

The film feels like it's action packed and very intense. You really do forget that the whole film is just people talking to each other. You also know that you are watching a great film when even the slightest sense of danger gets you glued on to the screen even more. Notes on a Scandal is filled with these kinds of scenes. The kind of scenes that leave you wanting to shout at the TV. When you combine this type of intense atmosphere with some even more intense performances and on top of all that some great direction you are guaranteed a memorable time.

I was truly loving the heck out of Notes on a Scandal until the very end. The film could easily fall into being classified as being too trashy or a little bit campy but yet it never does. Well, not until the ending. During the course of the film I kept wondering how the ending would be pulled off. I thought it could either go really extreme and take you out of the film or really subtle and just leave you wanting more. The ending had to be just right and the film called for a great ending that delivered everything you wanted it to deliver. Sadly the film goes the extreme route and completely takes you out of the film. I found the ending to be really over the top and felt too much like a typical Hollywood ending. It felt like the type of ending you would see in Premonition or Red Eye, not in a true psychological thriller like this one. I'll just say that I felt cheated in a small way.

Notes on a Scandal has it's share of flaws but they hard to really find. The great direction combined with the performances by the entire cast easily makes this one of the best films of 2006. I can't say that I loved all of it but I can say that I loved a great deal of it. It's worth watching just for Dame Judi Dench. I never thought I would say that, but seriously watch it just see her frightening performance.

- ***