Lisice (1969)iMDB Rating: 7.7 Date Released : 20 July 1969 Genre : Drama Stars : Fabijan Sovagovic, Adem Cejvan, Jagoda Kaloper, Ilija Ivezic. Small village in mountains of Dalmatinska Zagora is under total control of Andrija, local Party official. One day two members of secret police come to the village and everybody knows they are going to arrest somebody, but nobody knows whom." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Small village in mountains of Dalmatinska Zagora is under total control of Andrija, local Party official. One day two members of secret police come to the village and everybody knows they are going to arrest somebody, but nobody knows whom.
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Review :
Power Corrupts
A very carefully composed film, with a message so austere, stark and frankly honest that it could only have been filmed in black and white. If you want to have a fun night out with some easy 'feel-good' entertainment, see another film.
Set in a remote Yugoslavian village in 1948, when Tito broke away from Stalinist orthodoxy, the film does not in any way involve itself with the ideological differences between these political tendencies, it shows only the inherent treacherousness of political relationships.
From the opening scene, which slowly pans across a harsh and barren mountain range, to the accompaniment of a mournful chant, and then turns to the summary arrest of a peasant, before moving to a wedding procession making its way through the hills, it becomes clear that one is in for a disturbing and painful film. But the brilliance of the film lies in the fact that it does not degenerate into a series of blood soaked cliches. Instead it develops an atmosphere of impending tragedy, where the guests have to pretend that they are enjoying themselves, while the celebration is actually taking place in the darkening shadows cast by the harbingers of impending misfortune. The story, scenery, the rhythmic dancing and the haunting sound-track complement each other exceptionally well in a complex film that has many pauses and silences for reflection.
The political situation, and the wedding celebration are used as allegories to expose the ugly core of power, and the base instincts of 'humanity', and not only in a political sense. When one considers the horrendous civil war that was to overcome this country several decades after it was made, this film sounds a chillingly prophetic note of warning, with a relevance that transcends this specific situation.
What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969)iMDB Rating: 7.1 Date Released : 20 August 1969 Genre : Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller Stars : Geraldine Page, Ruth Gordon, Rosemary Forsyth, Robert Fuller. As Aunt Alice, Ruth Gordon applies for the job of housekeeper in the Tucson, Arizona home of widow Claire Marrable in order to find out what happened to a missing widowed friend, Edna Tilsney. The crazed Page, left only a stamp album by her husband, takes money from her housekeepers, kills them, and buries the bodies in her garden. Alice is a widow too. So is neighbor Harriet Vaughn. Lots of ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
As Aunt Alice, Ruth Gordon applies for the job of housekeeper in the Tucson, Arizona home of widow Claire Marrable in order to find out what happened to a missing widowed friend, Edna Tilsney. The crazed Page, left only a stamp album by her husband, takes money from her housekeepers, kills them, and buries the bodies in her garden. Alice is a widow too. So is neighbor Harriet Vaughn. Lots of widows here.
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Review :
Method Melodramatics
The Grand Guignol/Grande Dame sub-genre of suspense in its decadent phase (though that might sound redundant). Lacking the cinematic iconography of waning Hollywood movie queens like Joan Crawford or Bette Davis, Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon (and Mildred Dunnock, in a featured part) compensate for it with Method histrionics -- and a thrilling confrontation scene to boot -- rising above the stale directing and prosaic mise-en-scenes. Indeed, Page's manic looniness largely carries the contrived but entertaining script (based on "The Forbidden Garden" by Ursula Curtiss), nicely matched by the perpetually plucky Gordon, both wearing bad fright wigs. A respectable entry in the pantheon of menopausal malevolence and, certainly, the type of film they don't make any more. The movie pretty much just runs out of steam, however, unfortunately lacking a satisfactory end, its hair-raising climax coming too early. Gerald Fried's score is expressive and stirring, and certainly a plus.
Un par de asesinos (1970)iMDB Rating: 6.0 Date Released : 11 September 1970 Genre : Western Stars : Gianni Garko, Guglielmo Spoletini, María Silva, Andrés Mejuto." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
As in most Spaghetti-Western also this Movie has a good Music Score. In my eyes this is one of the best aspects of Santana kills them all. The Movie has his funny moments, but I will never call it excellent. In 1970the Spaghetti-Western started to be weaker and wanted to be comedies, but in a childish way. This is very disturbing for today, when someone makes a cynical joke and in the next moment he is killing brutally a man. These guys are not heroes like in most of the Action Movies. They are Antiheros, Outlaws who shares no mercy to their victims. Sartana and his friend and almost everybody in this movie are typical for this genre. "Sartanakills them all", reminds on most of the Italian Western but has nothing to do with the Sartana Movies with Gianni Garko. The Director was Rafael Romero Marchent who did a lot of other Spaghetti Western,Spanish Horror Movies and Thrillers. One of the Screenwriters is Joaquin Luis Romero Marchent, who also directed a lot of western and made one of the most violent spaghetti-western ever: Cut Throats Nine (Condenados a vivir).
Gianni Garko is playing Sartana (or Santana) together with his "Tuco" like buddy Marco (William Bogart). They are two bandits who are searching for 100.000 Dollars and they are killing everybody who disturbs them on their way. Only some of the beautiful ladies have the luck to survive. One of them is Maria (Cristina Josani) a widow who wants to own a saloon once and also crosses the way (and the feelings) of Sartana and Marco. All the other men, deputies, bandits are shot or get killed brutally on several ways, but always with some jokes. So Sartana kills them all is Violence mixed with Humor.
I wouldn't call it a disappointment, but with a better script this movie could be better either. The music is pretty good, but the pictures and the photography are average. If you like to see violence and Gianni Garko in Action it will not be a waste of time. Don't expect too much (which you never should as Spaghetti-Western fan) and you will have some enjoyable moments.
Mali vojnici (1967)iMDB Rating: 8.0 Date Released : 7 July 2000 Genre : Drama Stars : Stole Arandjelovic, Marija Tocinoski, Zaim Muzaferija, Zlatko Madunic. After the end of WW2 a blonde boy arrives at an orphanage made for the children of Partizans or people being killed in the war. The headmaster knows that the boy's parents were Nazis but conceals that fact from others, fearing violence by vengeful children. He invents the boy's life story, but the other children get suspicious." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
After the end of WW2 a blonde boy arrives at an orphanage made for the children of Partizans or people being killed in the war. The headmaster knows that the boy's parents were Nazis but conceals that fact from others, fearing violence by vengeful children. He invents the boy's life story, but the other children get suspicious.
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Review :
For Theodore!
It is so amazing! When my ex wife and my two kids and me decided to go to live in Dubrovnik, we were warned by the director of this film Bato Čengić who I knew personally not to go to live there, because Dubrovnik is a small and a backwater place, destroyed by war. He said that a destiny of a kid portrayed in this film could come and hunt my sons.
I am sorry to say that my son Theodore lived a mobbing not very different from the mobbing of the Nazi kid portrayed in this film.
After my ex wife saw this film she came to ask me, since we were already divorced, to sign the papers so she and the kids could go and live back to the USA. I happily signed those papers, and my son Theodore is far away from the horrors which Dubrovnik can offer.
This film was not made in Bosnia or Serbia, but in Dubrovnik, more precisely in the summer residence of the Dubrovnik aristocracy in what today is marina for the yachts in Ombla river area. (By the way it is the shortest river in the world, it immediately runs into Adriatic Sea as soon as it springs out).
What a film! Apart that I am personally connected to the events portrayed in this film, you should see it, because it is a remarkable film!
Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen (1970)iMDB Rating: 7.1 Date Released : 2 February 1971 Genre : Comedy, Drama, Horror Stars : Helmut Döring, Paul Glauer, Gisela Hertwig, Hertel Minkner. The inhabitants of an institution in a remote country rebel against their keepers. Their acts of rebellion are by turns humorous, boring and alarming. An allegory on the problematic nature of fully liberating the human spirit, as both commendable and disturbing elements of our nature come forward. The film shows how justifiable revolt may be empowering, but may also turn to chaos and depravity. ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
The inhabitants of an institution in a remote country rebel against their keepers. Their acts of rebellion are by turns humorous, boring and alarming. An allegory on the problematic nature of fully liberating the human spirit, as both commendable and disturbing elements of our nature come forward. The film shows how justifiable revolt may be empowering, but may also turn to chaos and depravity. The allegory is developed in part by the fact that the film is cast entirely with dwarfs.
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Review :
has its moments, but generally is not top-shelf Herzog despite it's ambitions
I actually admire what writer/director Werner Herzog was going for with Even Dwarfs Started Small even if I think he didn't quite execute it in a manner that involved me enough. It's got a great idea behind it- inmates at a mental institution, on one of the Canary Islands pre-tourism, create an anarchic uprising with practically no one else in sight, and the headmaster locks himself in with a retarded patient while the others go wild and crazy, albeit still staying in the confines of the grounds of the area. I also liked when Herzog went for an interesting route in the picture psychologically and in mood, which was to show how chaos and disarray, even if among little people, can actually become rather aimless and uncanny. There is no plot, it's just a series of interconnected segments that seem to be happening in real time, where they do things like ogle at naked girls in magazines, kill a pig randomly, give constant torture to a couple of blind dwarfs, circle around a constantly 360 degree spinning car, and with Herzog sometimes just as interested in the animals (chickens, a camel, the pig, a monkey) on the premises as he is with his whacked out little folk.
But the problem arises then with the work that since it is plot less- even if it ends with the headmaster, talking to a branch outside, as a metaphor for human control and what is and what isn't a free will or spirit perhaps- there's the danger of becoming tedious with what goes on, and that's exactly the trap that I think Herzog falls into here. It's not that he is out blatantly to mock them (although, like with Stroszek, the tendency to laugh is hard to avoid at times, especially with its documentary-style anything-goes approach), but there isn't any grand metaphor I could really obtain from the material, at least from a first viewing, and Herzog seemed to be having too much fun getting the dwarfs to do both the mundane and whatever to get something consistently interesting. While he does have one character who ends up being quite memorable, the freaky-laughing, hilarious Hombre (all one-note, of course, but then again isn't everyone here), there's nothing to tie the parts together that are worth watching for to make it good enough for the whole. There's surrealism of course (the fate of the monkey and the car), and an image or two that strikes greatly (when the headmaster or whomever tries to get the attention of the one-passerby on the island), but it just didn't compel me or surprise me in ways that Herzog at his best can do.
Not that I'm telling you to not see the film, as a fan I mean. The title alone should be a calling card to anyone who might have a bit of interest in the subject matter, and I'm sure a work like this has inspired a few avant-garde director's out there (I saw it as a possible fore-father for Korine's Gummo). Yet it's own lackadaisical use of narrative and Herzog's insistence on ambiguity and derangement, makes it a kind of schizophrenic work that makes it a fun yet flawed trip.
Frau Wirtin treibt es jetzt noch toller (1970)iMDB Rating: 3.7 Date Released : 25 September 1970 Genre : Comedy Stars : Teri Tordai, Glenn Saxson, Gunther Philipp, Paul Löwinger." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Up Your Teddy Bear (1970)iMDB Rating: 4.5 Date Released : 23 December 1970 Genre : Comedy, Fantasy, Romance Stars : Julie Newmar, Wally Cox, Victor Buono, Claire Kelly. Clyde King, a toy store employee whose hobbies include making wooden toys and stalking women, is coveted by the female owner of one of the biggest toy companies in the world. She is enchanted by King's hand-carved toys, and she delegates the recruitment of the toy-maker to her second-in-command, Lyle "Skippy" Burns. However, King will not join her company as she reminds him of his mother. She ..." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Clyde King, a toy store employee whose hobbies include making wooden toys and stalking women, is coveted by the female owner of one of the biggest toy companies in the world. She is enchanted by King's hand-carved toys, and she delegates the recruitment of the toy-maker to her second-in-command, Lyle "Skippy" Burns. However, King will not join her company as she reminds him of his mother. She becomes the subject of bizarre fantasies in which "Mother," the toy company owner as imagined by King, brow-beats and humiliates him. Discovering King's predeliction for leaving the toy store to stalk women, Skippy first tries to entice Clyde into signing an employemnt contract by supplying him with women, even going as far to dress himself up in drag as a prostitute. But every time he sets King up with a woman, the encounter ends disastrously, so Skippy finally decides to kill him.
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Review :
Catwoman And King Tut Meet Underdog!
Take the Monkees' movie "Head" (1968), "The Love God?" (1969) with Don Knotts, and Russ Meyer's "Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls" (1970), and put them in a blender. The resulting concoction would resemble "Up Your Teddy Bear" (a/k/a/ "The Seduction Of A Nerd.") Wally Cox stars as Clyde King, a toy designer who lives in a house filled with toys. He also likes to follow beautiful women as they're walking down the street. Mother (Julie Newmar) desperately wants him to work for her toy company. Her morbidly obese son Lyle "Skippy" Ferns (Victor Buono) gets the brilliant idea of having beautiful women seduce Clyde, which would persuade him to go to work for the Mother Knows Best Toy Company. Because Clyde has a Mother fixation, he can't bring himself to work for her company, no matter how beautiful the women tempting him are, including Angelique Pettyjohn. The groovy music for this movie was supplied by the legendary Quincy Jones. Wally Cox's dancing scene at a nightclub was hilarious. The scenes in which Wally was singing were painful to listen to. Victor Buono's scene where he attempts to get into a small compact car was painfully unfunny. Victor's scene where he dressed up in drag as a hooker was strangely reminiscent of Divine in "Pink Flamingos" (1972), and was one of the highlights of this film. Julie Newmar, who didn't appear in the movie nearly enough to satisfy me, was stunningly beautiful. In one of the bonus features, Julie is interviewed, around 35 years after the movie was made. She has high praise for the film and her fellow actors. Not surprisingly, she still looks beautiful!
Shoot, Gringo... Shoot! (1968)iMDB Rating: 6.1 Date Released : 31 August 1968 Genre : Western Stars : Brian Kelly, Keenan Wynn, Erika Blanc, Folco Lulli. Mexican land-owner Gutierrez offers to save Chad Stark from hanging if Stark will agree to find and return Gutierrez' runaway son, Fidel. Stark soon finds Fidel who's joined up with an outlaw band run by Stark's former acquaintance, "the Major." Stark tricks the Major into letting him take Fidel to lay the groundwork for a projected train robbery. Stark then forces Fidel on a hazardous journey ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Mexican land-owner Gutierrez offers to save Chad Stark from hanging if Stark will agree to find and return Gutierrez' runaway son, Fidel. Stark soon finds Fidel who's joined up with an outlaw band run by Stark's former acquaintance, "the Major." Stark tricks the Major into letting him take Fidel to lay the groundwork for a projected train robbery. Stark then forces Fidel on a hazardous journey across a desert where they meet up with the Londonderry family heading west to California. Back at the Gutierrez ranch with the unhappy Fidel, Stark discovers that Fidel is not Gutierrez' son. It seems the woman Gutierrez married was, unbeknownst to him, already pregnant with another man's son. Gutierrez is now determined to avenge his honor by killing Fidel. A shoot-out results with deadly results, especially after the Major arrives on the scene. When the dust settles, Stark heads off to California where he hopes to meet up with the Londonderry's pretty daughter. Joining him is ... Fidel!
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Review :
a fairly decent spaghetti western
This movie has an interesting story and plenty of gun-blazing action. The overall plot is easy to follow, but could have been smoothed out a bit more. I'm not sure if the English version was poorly edited or if the production was a bit sloppy to begin with, but it just seems like some of the events in the story need a little more background or explanation than is given.
Brian Kelly and Fabrizio Moroni give very good performances in the lead roles. Moroni seems kind of like a 19 year-old Tomas Milian in this film. The other actors are just so-so. Keenan Wynn's performance is a bit disappointing considering that he is the most well-known actor in the film.
This is not one of the most highly stylistic Euro-westerns, but it does have it's moments, especially near the end.
The best thing about this movie is the music score. In fact, it's almost too good for the film. I don't remember ever seeing the name of this composer, Sante Maria Romitelli, before. But if I ever do again, I will surely take notice.
All things considered, this is a pretty entertaining film for spaghetti western fans.
Carry on Up the Jungle (1970)iMDB Rating: 5.8 Date Released : 1 March 1970 Genre : Adventure, Comedy Stars : Frankie Howerd, Sidney James, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims. The Carry On team send up the Tarzan tradition in great style. Lady Evelyn Bagley mounts an expedition to find her long-lost baby. Bill Boosey is the fearless hunter and guide. Prof. Tinkle is searching for the rare Oozalum bird. Everything is going swimmingly until a gorilla enters the camp, and then the party is captured by an all female tribe from Aphrodisia..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
The Carry On team send up the Tarzan tradition in great style. Lady Evelyn Bagley mounts an expedition to find her long-lost baby. Bill Boosey is the fearless hunter and guide. Prof. Tinkle is searching for the rare Oozalum bird. Everything is going swimmingly until a gorilla enters the camp, and then the party is captured by an all female tribe from Aphrodisia...
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Review :
Not the best, but still fun
I do like the Carry on movies, and I have to say I did enjoy Carry on Up the Jungle. It is not their best, but it is far from their worst either. One or two of the story lines are disjointed and the film is too short I think. But a lot compensates, especially the very funny and snappy one liners, and also the splendid sets, quirky music, skilled direction and fun performances. When it comes to the performances, the regulars are great and are always amusing especially Sid James, Charles Hawtrey and Joan Sims(Sims getting a snake up her dress is one of the film's highlights). But for me, Frankie Howerd steals the show in a fussy, campy but very enjoyable performance. The mating ritual was wonderful as well. All in all, not the best Carry on but a fun one. 8/10 Bethany Cox
Les novices (1970)iMDB Rating: 4.8 Date Released : 1 April 1975 Genre : Comedy, Drama Stars : Brigitte Bardot, Annie Girardot, Jean Carmet, Jacques Duby." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
THE NOVICES (Guy Casaril and, uncredited, Claude Chabrol, 1970) **
To begin with, I managed to obtain a number of Brigitte Bardot's star vehicles (even if they have largely proved bland affairs!) in the last few years. Apparently, the two leads of this one (the other being Annie Girardot) were so dissatisfied with original director/co-writer Casaril's handling that they pushed to have him fired and replaced with Claude Chabrol (who had often worked in conjunction with producer Andre' Genoves and screenwriter Paul Gegauff, though never with them). Interestingly, this was one of three films in which Bardot was flanked by a female star almost as big as herself: she had previously appeared alongside Jeanne Moreau in Louis Malle's delightful VIVA MARIA! (1965) and, later on, would co-star with Claudia Cardinale in Christian-Jaque's THE LEGEND OF FRENCHIE KING (1971; in which, ironically, Guy Casaril was also involved in an uncredited capacity).
Though ostensibly naughty, with Bardot a reluctant nun(!) and Girardot a hooker (decked-out in the customarily tacky fashions of the era), the film under review maintains a light tone throughout; mildly enjoyable but thoroughly forgettable, the main assets here are the splendid Parisian locations and a pleasant score by the late Francois de Roubaix. Meeting in a police station, the two women begin by setting up house together: however, Bardot's constant interruption of Giradot's intimate 'work' (especially after taking in a mangy stray dog!), almost causes her to be thrown out. Eventually, she is trained in the art of seduction by her companion but, after failing in this as well(!), Bardot connives her way - thanks to Girardot's connections - into an ambulance-driving position at the local hospital!
This gives Girardot the idea of converting the vehicle into a traveling brothel after office hours – a good 13 years prior to Ron Howard's NIGHT SHIFT!; among their clients are Jess Hahn (as an American expatriate prone to reciting poetry), Jean Carmet (later the ill-fated father of the protagonist in Chabrol's own VIOLETTE NOZIERE [1978]), Noel Roquevert (the villain at the center of Henri-Georges Clouzot's LE CORBEAU [1943]) and Jacques Jouanneau (who had been the amiable private eye in Georges Franju's JUDEX [1963]). The ruse goes very well at first, leaving the couple wealthy if understandably exhausted...until Girardot inadvertently picks up Bardot's superior at work for a 'quick one'! The direct result of this is that our heroines first dispose of the ambulance and then re-join the nunnery from which Bardot had fled to begin with!; they still fail to keep the pace with the other novices and make eyes at the young priest celebrating mass at their remote convent!
In Istanbul, the lawyer of Simpson & Simpson Linda Westinghouse has erotic dreams with a strange woman every night and her analyst Dr. Alwin Seward suggests her to find another lover. Linda is assigned to resolve an inheritance issue with the Hungarian Countess Nadine Oskudar that has inherited a real estate from Count Dracula. Linda leaves her boyfriend Omar in the Istanbul Hilton and travels to the Kadidados Island. While waiting for transportation in the continent, Linda is advised by a local that the island would be a place of death and insanity and she should not travel to there. However, she does not pay attention to the man and meets Countess Oskudar that is a lesbian vampire fascinated by Linda. The Countess drinks the blood of Linda and she has amnesia and is sent to a mental institution where Dr, Steiner, who is also a vampire expert, treats her and puts an advertisement in the newspapers. Omar finds Linda and Dr. Steiner teaches her how to kill a vampire. Linda has to be ...
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Review :
An Erotic and Cult Version of Bram Stoker's Dracula
In Istanbul, the lawyer of Simpson & Simpson Linda Westinghouse (Ewa Stromberg) has erotic dreams with a strange woman every night and her analyst Dr. Alwin Seward (Denis Price) suggests her to find another lover. Linda is assigned to resolve an inheritance issue with the Hungarian Countess Nadine Oskudar (Soledad Miranda) that has inherited a real estate from Count Dracula. Linda leaves her boyfriend Omar (Victor Feliman) in the Istanbul Hilton and travels to the Kadidados Island. While waiting for transportation in the continent, Linda is advised by a local that the island would be a place of death and insanity and she should not travel to there. However, she does not pay attention to the man and meets Countess Oskudar that is a lesbian vampire fascinated by Linda. The Countess drinks the blood of Linda and she has amnesia and is sent to a mental institution where Dr, Steiner (Paul Muller) who is also a vampire expert, treats her and puts an advertisement in the newspapers. Omar finds Linda and Dr. Steiner teaches her how to kill a vampire. Linda has to be very powerful to resist the spell of Countess Oskudar that has a crush on her and destroy the vampire.
"Vampiros Lesbos" is an erotic and cult version of Bram Stoker's Dracula by Jesus Franco. The story is very similar to the classic novel of 1897, but instead of Count Dracula, the vampire is a sexy female that was raped by Dracula centuries ago and does not like man. The lead actresses Ewa Stromberg and Soledad Miranda are very beautiful and undress practically in every scene. The film is very entertaining and funny. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Vampiras Lésbicas" ("Lesbian Vampires")
Vladimir et Rosa (1971)iMDB Rating: 6.1 Date Released : 16 April 1971 Genre : Drama, History Stars : Yves Afonso, Juliet Berto, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin. In Godard and Gorin's free interpretation of the Chicago Eight trial, Judge Hoffman becomes Judge Himmler (who doodles notes on Playboy centerfolds), the Chicago Eight become microcosms of French revolutionary society, and Godard and Gorin play Lenin and Karl Rosa, respectively, discussing politics and how to show them through the cinema." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
In Godard and Gorin's free interpretation of the Chicago Eight trial, Judge Hoffman becomes Judge Himmler (who doodles notes on Playboy centerfolds), the Chicago Eight become microcosms of French revolutionary society, and Godard and Gorin play Lenin and Karl Rosa, respectively, discussing politics and how to show them through the cinema.
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Review :
Some thoughts and reflections on the film, from an incredibly poor quality print
INTRODUCTION: The version of this film that I saw was seemingly sourced from incredibly poor-quality video cassette with burnt-in subtitles. I'm not sure if this was the intention of Godard and Gorin, but regardless, I feel that certain elements of the film may have been lost as a result of the poor image quality. The entire film seems to be submerged in a dull, red tint (almost rust-like in appearance) with many of the scenes under-exposed to the point of almost total darkness. Likewise, the film is framed in such a way as to limit the amount of on-screen information conveyed, making the compositions vague and hard to decipher. PRESENTATION (1): Being somewhat familiar with Godard's work, both pre-1968 and post-1980, I recognise certain stylistic traits and his use of largely deconstructive elements that conspire against the audience - making the process of viewing as difficult as possible without losing sight of the original intent - but even then, I wonder whether or not the particular devises used here are an invention of the filmmakers, or simply a result of the poor quality print.
BACKGROUND: Vladimir and Rosa (1970) was one of many works produced by The Dziga Vertov Group between 1969 and 1971, continuing the collaboration between filmmakers Jean Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin from the earlier works, A Film Like Any Other (1968) and British Sounds (1979), and leading into the similarly progressive likes of Pravda (1970), Wind from the East (1970) and Struggles in Italy (1971). Afterwards, the duo would use their own names on the more widely seen satire Tout va bien (1972), before bringing the experiments to a close with the final Dziga Vertov film, Ici et ailleurs (1976). PRESENTATION (2): The first step in this was Godard's Le Gai Savoir (1969), which took the influence of Brecht in a direction later copied by Derek Jarman and Lars von Trier; with Godard faming the self-reflexive political discussions of Jean-Pierre Léaud and Juliet Berto against the plain black background of an empty television studio. Although the presentation was more radical than even Week End (1967), or preceding works like 2 or 3 Things I Know about Her (1967) and La Chinoise (1967), it was still very much a Godard film at heart; with the deliberate compositions and occasionally jarring appearance of those rich primary colours once again showing the director to be much more potent as an artist than as a political free-thinker.
DZIGA VERTOV: Like much of Godard's work from the mid 1960's on, Vladimir and Rosa is defiantly political. However, where the Dziga Vertov films differ from his own work, pre-Week End, is in the presentation of the content; with Godard ceasing to make political films and turning instead to film-making that was political! The difference here was in Godard's rejection of artistry; choosing to share all responsibilities with Gorin and forsaking on screen credits in favour of recognisable voice-over narration, whilst simultaneously striving to make the experience as jarring and (visually) ugly as humanly possible. Taking into consideration the quality of the tape that I saw, I will have to assume that Godard and Gorin didn't really intend for the images to be quite so dark and tinted. However, even if that were not the case, the majority of the images, particularly in the first half of the film, are fragmented completely beyond recognition; with that cut-up combination of images that seem part cinema and part documentary eventually leading to later projects, in which still photographs and archival footage were also used to argue a point.
THEME: The film could be thought of as both a political satire and a court-room thriller; with the Godard and Gorin using the background of the Chicago Eight trial and the sidelines into the plight of Bobby Seale and his connection to the Black Panther Party (eventually leading to the Chicago Seven) to create a work of highly provocative agitprop. The film dramatises certain elements leading up the arrest, including the background of the 1968 Democratic National Convention and the implication of police violence and intimidation leading to riots and angry protests. From here, the trial is documented in a way that is somewhat reminiscent of the visual approach of Le Gai Savoir, right down to the use of minimal production design with the barren black background of theatrical artificiality and the way that the characters speak directly to the camera in a completely deconstructive approach. PRESENTATION (3): There are also Godard's continual experiments with the juxtaposition of sound and images and the jarring use of editing and sound design; as well as some inventive visual compositions that draw our attention to the artificiality of the production and how the inherent falseness of it all relates to the issues expressed within the film.
POLITICS: The political subtext of the film is incredibly weighty here, with neither Godard nor Gorin pulling their punches in regards to the bombardment of information, both spoken and textual, that appears on screen. Naturally, its context is incredibly dated now, with the political climate and the background of the film having been confined to a brief moment of twentieth-century history that is no doubt of incredibly limited interest to the majority of contemporary viewers experiencing this work. As a result, Vladimir and Rosa will be a difficult, if not entirely hopeless film, for the vast majority of viewers at odds with Godard's style or the progressive attitudes of the Dziga Vertov Group. For me, as someone with a genuine admiration for Godard's style and approach, I would rate this as one of his most visually arresting works, definitely in need of a DVD restoration so that we can better appreciate the film on a purely cinematic level. It might not be an entertaining film in the traditional sense, but without question, this is a completely interesting work, that benefits from Godard's intelligent direction.
Hornets' Nest (1970)iMDB Rating: 5.6 Date Released : 9 September 1970 Genre : Drama, Action, War Stars : Rock Hudson, Sylva Koscina, Sergio Fantoni, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart. A commando unit is dropped behind the German lines in Italy and its mission is to blow up a strategic dam. However, the unit is ambushed and only its leader survives. He is picked up by a ragtag group of local youths, who strike a bargain with him--they will help him blow the dam if he will help them get revenge on the Germans, who have taken over their village and killed their parents." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
A commando unit is dropped behind the German lines in Italy and its mission is to blow up a strategic dam. However, the unit is ambushed and only its leader survives. He is picked up by a ragtag group of local youths, who strike a bargain with him--they will help him blow the dam if he will help them get revenge on the Germans, who have taken over their village and killed their parents.
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Review :
The movie made me stop flipping channels.
I was flipping channels and came upon Hornet's Nest. I thought I was watching Force 10 From Navarone (no digital cable) until the hospital scene. The movie had elapsed 20 minutes but for some reason I was drawn into the story. There was quite a lot of carnage in the movie and I hope I had to assume that Rock raped the doctor lady. The real character that you have to clap for is the German Captain that was dissed by all his superiors pretty much for the whole movie when he was just doing his job in the best interest of the Fatherland.
I went through all possible emotions during the flick and was overall happy with the movie having never seen it before. I had to log onto the database to know it's title which brings me to making my comments. I give it a 7.
Gebissen wird nur nachts (1971)iMDB Rating: 4.7 Date Released : 4 June 1971 Genre : Comedy, Horror Stars : Pia Degermark, Thomas Hunter, Yvor Murillo, Ingrid van Bergen Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
An American actress inherits a castle in Transylvania. What she doesn't know is that her ancestor, the Baroness Catali, was in actuality a vampire countess, and emerges from her tomb to ravage the nearby village and Catholic seminary.
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Review :
"They should ship that dyke back to Holland".
Have a taste for blood… well let me throw in a side tray of goofy humour and seedy sexual activity. The (post-hippie stage) early 70s "The Vampire Happening" is a playfully sexy low-budget German produced horror spoof that sinks its teeth into the vampire genre. While not always on the mark with the gags (where sometimes the script didn't throw up enough or just repeated the gimmicks or rowdiness), as the fangs could have use a sharpen, but it remains rather diverting because of the idiotic silliness and free flowing skin.
Hollywood star Betty Williams, but her real name countess Von Robenstein has made her way to her newly inherited castle in Transylvania. Upon checking it out, she decides to stay. Unknowingly to her, Claramonde Catani her great grandmother is kept in a tomb in the castle and happens to be a vampire. They look so alike except for the colour of their hair and that of their nail polish, but Catani constantly switches identities with her granddaughter who confuses her anxious servant Josef and the town's folk.
The robust story is pure ham, digging up every opportunity to poke fun at the vampire conventions and the superstitious framework. The film's closing half focusing on the swinging orgy party filled with vampires and a special guest --- Count Dracula himself (a terrifically amusing mock turn by Ferdy Mayne) takes the icing. It's exploitative in its revealing, if tempting visuals (don't count the cheap, charming make-up) and the clumsy script is constantly cheeky with its innuendos. Pia Degermark is a complete hoot, as she's seductively saucy in her dual roles Williams / Catani. She's a prowess! Yvor Murillo is fitting as the bumbling comic servant Josef and Thomas Hunter is acceptable as William's lover. Director Freddie Francis does a surefooted job, if nothing overly special, but the choice of locations bathe nicely in a Gothic ambiance despite the modern setting. Liked the illustrated opening credits.
The Landlord (1970)iMDB Rating: 7.0 Date Released : 20 May 1970 Genre : Comedy, Drama Stars : Beau Bridges, Lee Grant, Diana Sands, Pearl Bailey. At the age of twenty-nine, Elgar Enders "runs away" from home. This running away consists of buying a building in a black ghetto in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. Initially his intention is to evict the black tenants and convert it into a posh flat. But Elgar is not one to be bound by yesterday's urges, and soon he has other thoughts on his mind. He's grown fond of the black tenants and ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
At the age of twenty-nine, Elgar Enders "runs away" from home. This running away consists of buying a building in a black ghetto in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. Initially his intention is to evict the black tenants and convert it into a posh flat. But Elgar is not one to be bound by yesterday's urges, and soon he has other thoughts on his mind. He's grown fond of the black tenants and particularly of Fanny, the wife of a black radical; he's maybe fallen in love with Lanie, a mulatto girl; he's lost interest in redecorating his home. Joyce, his mother has not relinquished this interest and in one of the film's most hilarious sequences gives her Master Charge card to Marge, a black tenant and appoints her decorator.
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Review :
"Black is something new"
Movies that deal with race have often been awkward things. One of the biggest problems is they tend to be horribly patronising in tone, many of them looking essentially at how white people can help black people. Most of them were of course written by someone white, which while it doesn't necessarily make it ill-informed, it doesn't tend to help either. The Landlord is one of the few from this era that is based on source material by a black writer (novelist Kristin Hunter). Hunter's novel was adapted by Bill Gunn, who is also black. Of all the pictures I have seen dealing with race in America, it is by far the most confrontational, and really the only of this period that really challenges white social supremacy as well as overt racism.
The late 60s and early 70s was really the age of the odd-looking movie, especially with all the new, young directors that were cropping up. The Landlord was the debut of Hal Ashby, a former editor who had recently won an Oscar for his very fine job on another race-related movie, In the Heat of the Night. Ashby has a somewhat blunt approach, and like most young directors seems to be trying to make his mark with lots of unusual but ultimately pointless camera angles and extremely obvious symbolism. One thing that is very striking is how the scenes at the Enders family home are very white and the scenes at the flat block are very black. This is not done so much with set and costume design, but with lighting, strip-light brightness for the former and gloomy half-light for the latter. In fact the movie might as well be in monochrome for all the actual colour tone there is in it. The black/white metaphor of this is a little heavy-handed but at least it also serves the purpose of highlighting the stark difference in quality of life. What is probably best about Ashby's method here is the distance he puts between camera and subject, often putting a bit of scenery in between us and the action, making us feel like snooping witnesses. He will then suddenly take us by surprise with a close-up as a character delivers some key line of dialogue.
In line with Mr Ashby having been an editor, The Landlord is very much an editor's movie. This was also the age of weird editing pattern, and there is a lot of cutting back-and-forth, mixing various scenes together. Sometimes this is rather effective (for example the powerful montage of schoolchildren towards the end, or the sight-gag inserts of what Lee Grant is imagining when she finds out she will have a black grandchild), but mostly it is just a little distracting, and because it is so mechanical it threatens to alienate the audience from the material. However, shining through the rather ostentatious style are some very fine acting performances (especially from Bridges, Grant and Diana Sands), notable for their realism in spite of the occasionally bizarre situations they are in. And what's more, in amongst this choppy editing is a story which is at turns comical, thought-provoking and gently poignant, which alongside its hard-hitting stance ultimately carries a message of hope and humanity.
The Walking Stick (1970)iMDB Rating: 6.4 Date Released : 5 June 1970 Genre : Crime, Drama, Romance Stars : David Hemmings, Samantha Eggar, Emlyn Williams, Phyllis Calvert. A young woman's highly ordered and structured life is turned upside-down when she meets a handsome stranger at a party. Friendship soon develops into romance and for the first time in her life she is truly happy. This happiness is short lived, however, as little by little she discovers her partner has been lying to her about his past. It is soon revealed that he and his friends have been planning..." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
A young woman's highly ordered and structured life is turned upside-down when she meets a handsome stranger at a party. Friendship soon develops into romance and for the first time in her life she is truly happy. This happiness is short lived, however, as little by little she discovers her partner has been lying to her about his past. It is soon revealed that he and his friends have been planning to rob the auction house that she works for and they require her inside knowledge in order to pull off the crime.
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Review :
An underrated and lovely film...
A very beatiful low key film about a woman and a man meeting and getting to know one another little by little. Underneath, things are not what they appear to be...
In "Walking Stick" Samantha Eggar and David Hemmings give very fine and clear performances as unseeming Londoners. The actors were very hot and coveted starlets at the end of the sixties, starring in loads of ambitious films and then later never to be heard from again... Shame really, they´re brilliant.
Adventurers search for World War II gold in the Philippines.
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Review :
More questions than answers
This movie isn't that bad as it is confusing. One wonders why three people were needed or why they didn't do it earlier in the first place. Do Indians really say "Ay Chihuahua?" This film doesn't even have the pleasures of a caper film, because of all the loose ends. The ending was pretty anti-climatic as well. I wonder why screenwriters allow these plots to be so flimsy. Watch only if you enjoy Far East scenery.
Lisice (1969)iMDB Rating: 7.7
