Friday, July 22, 2022

Movie Morsels, Pt. 8

 


LAKE OF THE DEAD (1958): A cool eerie Norwegian folk horror film that is part of the magnificent All the Haunts Be Ours folk horror box set that you really should own if you enjoy this sub-genre as I do. I know had more I wanted to say about this one but I waited too long to write this so I suppose that will have to wait for later date, post-rewatch. Oops.

HAPPY GILMORE (1996): As I've mentioned, I have been deep diving into silly/dumb comedies this year, many of which I'd never seen before. Somehow this was a first time watch for me, despite the fact that I was a teenager in the '90s. At long last, I have witnessed Bob Barker and Adam Sandler assaulting one another with my own eyes. Blessed be.

BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC (2020): I feared this would be awful but it was pretty sweet-natured and cute. I am not really a fan of Bogus Journey so I guess this is my second favorite Bill & Ted movie. If you are tired of unrelenting violence and bad news and you just want to turn off the old skull goblin (that's what I call my brain), this might be worth a watch.

GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN (1985): Very young Sarah Jessica Parker and very young Helen Hunt take a TV dance competition by storm. There is also a very very young Shannen Doherty in a little sister role. This is kind of like a sexless Dirty Dancing. The titular fun was had.

THE MONSTER CLUB (1981): I believe I read somewhere that this is the only movie in which Vincent Price played a vampire. If that's true, kind of a shame, as I think it suits him. I actually didn't know this was an anthology, but it is. The segments are a little forgettable but the wraparound (VP takes his would-be victim to the eponymous monster club) is pretty cool. Lots of fun campy musical numbers, including the one where a burlesque dancer takes off her skin and dances around as a skeleton that you may have already seen in animated gif form.

DRACULA'S FIANCEE (2002): When I bought this for my husband, who (like me) is a big Jean Rollin fan (sexy '70s vampire exploitation of the semi-nude ladies in gauzy gowns running through European castles variety), I had no idea it was from 2002. Frankly I didn't know Jean Rollin was still making films in 2002. It was pretty good! Especially considering how much filmmakers like Argento faltered in their more contemporary offerings, Rollin's aesthetic remained intact. 

MARY, MARY, BLOODY MARY (1975): Chosen for its lurid title and poster art, I found this so incredibly slow and forgettable that I can't tell you a thing about it beyond there's an upsetting scene where there are sea creatures in peril (sharks, turtles) on a beach and it bummed me out. I always get freaked out when there are animals in exploitation movies because I have no idea if the animals were actually harmed or not, you know?

THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943): This is my favorite Val Lewton movie and I love it more each and every time I see it. It's like film noir crossed with Satanic horror crossed with existential goth glamour, and it's only about 70 minutes long. Saw it on the big screen on a 35mm print courtesy of Cinematic Void and it was such a pleasure.

PISTOL (2022): Danny Boyle's Sex Pistols bio series. I kind of hated it, and then I ended up kind of enjoying it. I think you have to be interested in '70s punk rock to make it all the way through. Boyle's frenetic style that I loved so much in Trainspotting felt irritating here. John Lydon has said some terrible things in real life, but his fictional counterpart ended up being my favorite character. If you liked this, I'm begging you to watch Alex Cox's Sid and Nancy. Was it accurate? I dunno, but Chloe Webb and Gary Oldman are absolute screeching, bleeding, yowling, careening treasures.

HIS HOUSE (2020): Really cool horror movie about Sudanese refugees in England trying to adjust to living in a strange new place while coping with unimaginable grief and guilt. The first feature from writer/director Remi Weekes. One of those movies that is more about processing trauma than goosing an audience with jump scares.

CIRCUS OF BOOKS (2019): An interesting-enough doc about the nice heterosexual Jewish couple who owned the titular gay adult bookstore in LA and how they ended up being kinda reluctant stalwarts of the community. 

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)/INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984)/INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989): Indiana Jones is a little uh, problematic (try not to think too much about the implications of his relationship with Karen Allen in Raiders, or the racism/exotification in Temple of Doom) but these are still really entertaining action-adventure summer popcorn movies. Also, I did not realize how much Indiana Jones has influenced my vacation fantasies, but wow. Is this why I'm so obsessed with rope swings into swimming holes, Venice, and the lost city of Petra?!

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