USA

  • Jonathan Demme – Stop Making Sense (1984)

    Jonathan Demme1981-1990DocumentaryMusicalUSA

    Quote:
    An innovative concert movie for the rock group The Talking Heads. David Byrne walks onto the stage and does a solo “Psycho Killer.” Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz join him for two more songs. The crew is busy, still setting up. Then, three more musicians and two back-up singers join the band. Everybody sings, plays, harmonizes, dances, and runs. They change instruments and clothes. Bryne appears in the Big Suit. The backdrop is often black, but sometimes it displays words, images, or children’s drawings. The band cooks for 18 songs, the lyrics are clear, the house rocks. In this concert film, the Talking Heads hardly talk, don’t stop, and always make sense.
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  • Richard Linklater – Dazed and Confused (1993)

    Richard Linklater1991-2000ComedyUSA

    Quote:
    Richard Linklater’s follow-up to Slacker, Dazed and Confused, flopped at the box office, but Dazed and Confused went on to become a huge cult hit. It’s set somewhere in suburban Middle America (filmed in Texas) on May 28, 1976, on the last day of school, and everyone’s looking for something exciting to do. First, however, the incoming freshmen students must spend the day fleeing from bizarre initiation rituals from paddle-wielding, abusive seniors – while everyone else does their best to get stoned or get laid. Set over the course of 24 hours, Linklater’s observations about the rituals of teenage life, and about small town mentality, is spot on – as is his attention to the smallest details of time and place. The camera swerves between some two dozen youngsters and a handful of stories, but Linklater keeps everything and everyone on the same level. All parties congregate at a huge beer bust in the middle of the woods, but amidst the keg parties, fights, dope-smoking, classic rock tunes, and endless partying, not much happens.Read More »

  • Jennifer Welles & Joseph W. Sarno – Inside Jennifer Welles (1977)

    USA1971-1980EroticaJennifer WellesJoseph W. Sarno

    Dries Vermeulen:
    Blonde,busty Jennifer Welles is one of the all time great porn superstars and not just because of her obvious physical qualities. In addition to those,she possessed striking screen presence and – as Armand Weston’s EXPOSE ME, LOVELY clearly attests – honest to goodness acting ability. This lavishly produced semi-documentary, but one (though perhaps the best) in a long-running series, is a present to her fans who should be legion. The wonderful Ms. Welles appears in every single sex scene and what sex scenes they are. Whew! Of special note is her smoldering Sapphic slurp with lanky cross-dresser Marlene Willoughby, which was allegedly Jennifer’s first foray into same sex territory. Horse-hung Peter Andrews turns up for the boy next door/banana pie scene, double-teaming our hot heroine with swarthy stud muffin Pepe. The number of partners seems to multiply with each successive sexual encounter. Rumour has it that the four Oriental guys she finishes her climactic orgy scene with were not professional porno people but just happened to be catering on the set!Read More »

  • Louis King – The Way of All Flesh (1940)

    Louis King1931-1940CrimeDramaUSA

    This is the third film based on a story by Lajos Biro and Jules G. Furthman. The first two were silent films, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Whispering Chorus in 1918, and The Way of All Flesh in 1927. In this melodrama, Paul Kriza (Akim Tamiroff), a respectable bank cashier, leaves his wife Anna (Gladys George) and their children to seek greater fortunes in the big city. But instead of making his mark, he makes a mess of his prospects, and he ends up destitute. Ashamed to face his family, he remains in the city, and is presumed to be dead.Read More »

  • Joseph W. Sarno – Dirty Blonde (1984)

    1981-1990EroticaJoseph W. SarnoMysteryUSA

    When a ladies’ man disappears, a string of beautiful women go looking for him, including his ex-wife, his new fiancée and a sexy private eye.Read More »

  • Michael Kang – The Motel (2005)

    Michael Kang2001-2010ComedyDramaUSA

    Quote:
    Writer-director Michael Kang makes his feature debut with the coming-of-age comedy, The Motel. Newcomer Jeffrey Chyau stars as Ernest Chin, a chubby 13 year-old Chinese-American boy whose mother (Jade Wu) runs a sleazy motel in upstate New York. The clientele of The Motel are predominantly prostitutes and their johns, which spurs Ernest’s budding sexual curiosity. When he’s not cleaning rooms, eavesdropping on guests, avoiding the local bully, or tormenting his little sister Katie (Alexis Chin), Ernest harbors a crush on Christine (Samantha Futerman), who works at a nearby Chinese restaurant. Ernest has entered a writing contest at school with a story about his unhappy life at The Motel, and won an honorable mention. Read More »

  • Stephen Silha & Eric Slade & Dawn Logsdon – Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton (2013)

    Stephen Silha2011-2020Dawn LogsdonDocumentaryEric SladeExperimentalQueer Cinema(s)USA

    I learned and stole a lot from James Broughton…
    See this movie!” – Gus Van Sant

    Review (from slackerwood.com)
    James Broughton’s epitaph says about all you need to know about him: Adventure — not predicament.

    For those who want to know more, the splendid documentary Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton is a terrific tribute to the revered poet, writer and pioneering experimental filmmaker.

    Born in 1913, Broughton overcame a difficult childhood to have a long, fulfilling career and personal life. His father died when Broughton was five, and his overbearing mother sent him to military school at age 9, hoping to break him of his effeminate tendencies. These experiences no doubt informed his work and his lust for life and love as an adult.Read More »

  • Phillip R. Ford – Vegas in Space (Troma) (1991)

    1991-2000CampPhillip R. FordQueer Cinema(s)Sci-FiUSA

    Three soldiers are ordered to change their gender (via a pill) and are sent on a secret mission (undercover as show girls) to the women only planet of Clitoris’ capital city “Vegas in Space.” Once they arrive, they must maneuver through complex politics and decadent parties, to uncover a plot to disrupt the most important pleasure planet in the Universe. This release from Troma Entertainment is a hilariously camp John Waters-esque sci fi.Read More »

  • Joseph W. Sarno – Sleepy Head (1973)

    1971-1980EroticaJoseph W. SarnoUSA

    A frustrated sexually repressed woman lives with her even more repressed sister. When the woman’s domineering lesbian ex-lover shows up, she tries to resist her, but the lover will sex up sisters’ lives whether they like it or not.Read More »

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