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Reviews
Blood Feast (1963)
The best Herschell Gordon Lewis movie
This is the best of the HGL movies. Features much fondling of animal innards, spread over the stomachs of sweet young things, most excellent eyebrows on the "old man" villain (probably about 32 years old), shameless reading of lines from convenient slips of paper, mugs, even the back of an actor's hand, and a limp which keeps shifting legs.
But I think it's the Police Dept who steal the show in this movie. They're always standing in the same position around the desk (all their scenes must have been shot in one take) pondering ancient Egyptian mythology and admiring an enormous lime green ashtray which is the focal point of the frame and which is forever imprinted on my mind.
Konec agenta W4C prostrednictvím psa pana Foustky (1967)
Nicely-shot James Bond spoof
Czechoslovakia, when it still existed, had its very own James Bond 007. His name: Cyril Juan W4C.
Maybe not quite the same ring to it, but this guy has the goods. As his boss exclaims, "What a man!".
Set in Prague, this film spoofs the James Bond films, with lashings of beautiful women, whizzy spy gadgets, big guns, tuxedoes, and dark glasses.
Cyril manages to fend off several baddies with machine guns without ever loosening the clinch he's in with the babe of the moment. All this without ever scuffing his white trousers.
The film is intentionally hilarious but is also quite nicely shot in black and white with some fine-looking scenes, many of which are shown as teasers in the opening sequence to the film, which freeze-frames on various punch-ups and tense moments.
This opening sequence is particularly good and is set to some 60s spy music that'll make you want to grab your fountain pen cum rocket launcher, slip on your shades, and get out there to mix with the espionage set.
The Screaming Skull (1958)
It's scary I tell you!
Hey, give a film a break! I saw this many a year ago on TV and I enjoyed it. It has great theremin music, great acting (well, YOU try and look like you really do have to fend off that skull trying to bite your neck, while standing in a fish-pond!), and great sets. (I said "sets").
If you're not scared when that skull rolls in the door ALL OF ITS OWN ACCORD then you just ain't got imagination.
I'm going to blow this votes average out of the water by giving it a big 4!
I vitelloni (1953)
Hilarious and fits into recent slacker genre
I can't believe this film is also known as The Young and Passionate ... it would be better named The Middle-aged and Slack!
This film is a hilarious look at the lives of a bunch of "young" and completely useless men who still live at home with their mothers avoiding jobs, commitment, or real life.
If you enjoyed Slackers, Clerks, Go, and the like, you may well enjoy this film as it fits in well with this genre.
The Vitelloni (I don't know what this means but I suspect it means "COMPLETE SLACKERS") wander around town talking about their plans to write the great novel, get married, get a job, etc etc etc but instead tend to end up wearing silly hats and falling over drunk.
And it's set in a pretty Italian town, so what more could you want?
Short Cuts (1993)
Derivative and too long
After what seemed like an eternity, but was only about half the film, we walked out of this movie. Despite the great cast, this just seem like a Hollywoodisation (new word!) of Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train.
Perhaps because I loved Mystery Train, I felt insulted that Altman had taken the idea of playing with timelines in the plot and used it to such trivial ends. (Mind you, Jarmusch himself showed how easy it is to go wrong with the device in Night on Earth).
Sure you can be impressionistic, but you don't have to be so BORING about it!