GibbsGrad2002
Mr. Nice gallery
Forever Strong (2008)
What is the latest good film you watched ?
- Thread starter bobblez
- Start date
Hyena (British film)
newish
newish
Shutter Island (2010)
Big Bad Mama. The sequel is on my list to watch, but I had to go through the original, as I'm kind of a completist. I hope the sequel lives up to the original, because this was really good. Very short too, and once I saw the logo for New Horizons, I knew exactly what to expect. I didn't know it was a Roger Corman production, but once that came to my attention, there was no way I would be surprised with the skin here.
Roger Corman productions predominantly have action and nudity, most I've seen in the Woman in Prison films, as well as some exploitation flicks. This is an exploitation one, I guess "hicksploitation," as it takes place in the South, though mostly Texas. With exploitation, there's the nudity, young nubile women doing it, and surprisingly [NOBABE]Angie Dickinson[/NOBABE]. They teased with her because she goes full nude, but first scene they showed her butt. A bit of nipple action, later scene they showed the breasts, and the last scene of her nude, they showed it all, briefly. Given that she was in her 40s, I think, during this, my goodness, MILF body.
The heart and soul of the movie lies in [NOBABE]Angie Dickinson[/NOBABE], everyone else is in for the ride. Well her storyline daughters are also very cute and lovable, until the second half of the film. The story just gets seedier and more corrupt as the McClatchie girls go from a poor, bootlegging family, to a crime gang, along with Tom Skerritt's Fred Diller, and eventually, fucking William Shatner. I don't preview films on imdb or other places a lot, so seeing that name in the opening credits surprised me. Bill plays Bill Baxter, and he tries for a Southern accent. It's quite funny. The whole Southern exploitation thing makes me think most of the actors aren't even from the South, and put on a Southern accent, with mixed results. Dickinson's from North Dakota for example, and she does pretty good. Bill on the other hand is a bit too laughable to accept his Southern accent.
The story is simple, there are funny bits here and there, thrilling car scenes and nice dialogue. It lives and breathes on Angie's lead role though, and notably when she's not in a scene, that's when I get a bit nitpicky. Story elements that don't involve her bother me, but in a good way I think, it shows the story getting to me. The pregnancy thing bothered me the most, because Diller's an asshole, he acts like it wasn't his fault, but he banged Wilma's daughters, so he's to blame.
I guess it's typical of Southern exploitation films to have a banjo-centric score, most of the music sounds identical, like it's one song split into pieces, looped over and over. That probably is the weakest part of the film, and too stereotypical for my taste. It doesn't help that I watched Sassy Sue before this, and so I was exposed to Southern exploitation's limited music range already.
Naturally I think of other movies that are like this, and I can't remember what I thought of at the very beginning. It's embarrassing, it came up before the first escape scene. I do know the ending, I thought of Thunderbolt & Lightfoot, because of what happened to Angie's character. That being said, I am curious how the sequel will explain what happened after the end. Wilma is struck after the amazing and wild shootout, and only she and her daughters survive. Diller and Bill get shot. Wilma is either dead, or just mortally wounded, but how the film ended, it looked like she died. If it had her open her eyes before, then I'd think she's alive. So how does the sequel explain this. I'll have to wait and see, it's directed by Jim Wynorski, that's why I'm very interested. That was before seeing this film, and now hoping it lives up to the original. This is really entertaining, a great shot in the arm, moves quick, it's a fun time killer basically. [NOBABE]Angie Dickinson's[/NOBABE] the star of this, carrying it with her performance and the motherly persona she embraced. A certain small part happened when she embraced her daughters and kissed them on the cheek in a hotel room, that's a lovely scene and represents the film perfectly.
I did a quick look at the sequel, [NOBABE]Kelli Maroney's[/NOBABE] in it, and [NOBABE]Monique Gabrielle[/NOBABE] was Angie's body double, uncredited. Now I'm more interested!
Roger Corman productions predominantly have action and nudity, most I've seen in the Woman in Prison films, as well as some exploitation flicks. This is an exploitation one, I guess "hicksploitation," as it takes place in the South, though mostly Texas. With exploitation, there's the nudity, young nubile women doing it, and surprisingly [NOBABE]Angie Dickinson[/NOBABE]. They teased with her because she goes full nude, but first scene they showed her butt. A bit of nipple action, later scene they showed the breasts, and the last scene of her nude, they showed it all, briefly. Given that she was in her 40s, I think, during this, my goodness, MILF body.
The heart and soul of the movie lies in [NOBABE]Angie Dickinson[/NOBABE], everyone else is in for the ride. Well her storyline daughters are also very cute and lovable, until the second half of the film. The story just gets seedier and more corrupt as the McClatchie girls go from a poor, bootlegging family, to a crime gang, along with Tom Skerritt's Fred Diller, and eventually, fucking William Shatner. I don't preview films on imdb or other places a lot, so seeing that name in the opening credits surprised me. Bill plays Bill Baxter, and he tries for a Southern accent. It's quite funny. The whole Southern exploitation thing makes me think most of the actors aren't even from the South, and put on a Southern accent, with mixed results. Dickinson's from North Dakota for example, and she does pretty good. Bill on the other hand is a bit too laughable to accept his Southern accent.
The story is simple, there are funny bits here and there, thrilling car scenes and nice dialogue. It lives and breathes on Angie's lead role though, and notably when she's not in a scene, that's when I get a bit nitpicky. Story elements that don't involve her bother me, but in a good way I think, it shows the story getting to me. The pregnancy thing bothered me the most, because Diller's an asshole, he acts like it wasn't his fault, but he banged Wilma's daughters, so he's to blame.
I guess it's typical of Southern exploitation films to have a banjo-centric score, most of the music sounds identical, like it's one song split into pieces, looped over and over. That probably is the weakest part of the film, and too stereotypical for my taste. It doesn't help that I watched Sassy Sue before this, and so I was exposed to Southern exploitation's limited music range already.
Naturally I think of other movies that are like this, and I can't remember what I thought of at the very beginning. It's embarrassing, it came up before the first escape scene. I do know the ending, I thought of Thunderbolt & Lightfoot, because of what happened to Angie's character. That being said, I am curious how the sequel will explain what happened after the end. Wilma is struck after the amazing and wild shootout, and only she and her daughters survive. Diller and Bill get shot. Wilma is either dead, or just mortally wounded, but how the film ended, it looked like she died. If it had her open her eyes before, then I'd think she's alive. So how does the sequel explain this. I'll have to wait and see, it's directed by Jim Wynorski, that's why I'm very interested. That was before seeing this film, and now hoping it lives up to the original. This is really entertaining, a great shot in the arm, moves quick, it's a fun time killer basically. [NOBABE]Angie Dickinson's[/NOBABE] the star of this, carrying it with her performance and the motherly persona she embraced. A certain small part happened when she embraced her daughters and kissed them on the cheek in a hotel room, that's a lovely scene and represents the film perfectly.
I did a quick look at the sequel, [NOBABE]Kelli Maroney's[/NOBABE] in it, and [NOBABE]Monique Gabrielle[/NOBABE] was Angie's body double, uncredited. Now I'm more interested!
Luxman
#TRE45ON
Two sci-fi classics.
Alien (1979) Directors Cut (2003), is one minute shorter than the original release, it has a surprising new scene I never saw before.
I'm not sure what scenes were replaced from the original, which I saw about 15 years ago.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/
Aliens (1986) Special Edition (1992), is 17 minutes longer than the original and has some good scenes that explain the story better.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090605/
Alien (1979) Directors Cut (2003), is one minute shorter than the original release, it has a surprising new scene I never saw before.
I'm not sure what scenes were replaced from the original, which I saw about 15 years ago.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/
Aliens (1986) Special Edition (1992), is 17 minutes longer than the original and has some good scenes that explain the story better.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090605/
Watched the "Back To The Future" trilogy running now on AMC . We are just over 30 years since the first movie was released and a couple of weeks from the "Future" (9/21/2015) portrayed in the 2nd movie. Most of the predictions they got wrong (flying cars, Mr Fusion, Hover boards, weather control, etc.) were more jokes than serious predictions. What they really missed on was electronics, not a cell phone in sight. Otherwise they held up well and are still funny, and I'm someone that doesn't like Time Travel stories.
Popatoplis. I don't watch a lot of documentaries, but I'll still say that so far it's the best one I've seen. It's a documentary on Jim Wynorski, a B-movie director, during production of the Witches of Breastwick. It's a pretty short one, around 75 minutes long, but it's par for the course, as most of Jim's movies are around that time. I don't think he ever made it to 100 minutes. I think he made it to 90, but for the most part, it's 75 minute ones.
The documentary is dated, the production of the movie was in 2005, and this was released in 2009. I'm not sure if he still does this kind of film making, but I wouldn't be surprised if he still did it. That's making a film in 3 days. The documentary shows how completely not glamorous it is. Very cheap, a handful of guys make up the crew. It's basically just a cinematographer and a sound guy, a production assistant when it's time, writer/producer, and the director himself. A handful of cast members, only 1 guy and the rest are busty women.
One of them is [NOBABE]Julie K. Smith[/NOBABE], who was the best interview here. There really isn't a lionization of the man, everyone gives their opinions, but are all respectable. Julie is that, but also brutally honest. I should've known it was a foreshadowing of what happened during production of Breastwick, because she lays it out that it's not all pleasant. Arguments, constant botching of lines, which is important to excuse because of how fast the production goes. 3 days for crying out loud. Also the personality of the director, very social when not working, but when it's on, he's a tough man. Julie mentioned the lack of a director taking the actor aside, talk with them and hash out everything to get a scene ready to roll. 3 days, there's no time for that, and that leads to botches in doing dialogue. One scene with Julie talking was a disaster, she kept messing up, he kept starting the line over, and it was painful to watch. When it finally finished, Julie had a meltdown, which is totally acceptable.
Not once though do I lose favor with the director, in the end he's on a very tight schedule. One of the talking heads said it best, Jim always says "Yes." I can relate to that, but it does take a particular set of skills to get a 3 day production down. This isn't mentioned in the documentary, but it's a great comparison piece, Scream Queen Hot Tub Party. While it was co-directed by Fred Olen Ray and Jim, the film was shoot in 1 day. So it's totally possible to get a film done that quick, but you have to be good at it. Even though he's not the most pleasant, he's good at fast productions.
As a young male, I lap up the softcore movies, but he's done a lot other types of films that were great. Offering his expert opinion on B-movies is Andy Sidaris, the interview done before his 2007 death. Which, man, seeing him in the documentary was a bit painful. He looked sick for sure. Another bit of wince was Jim's mom. She's also a highlight of the film, but there was a part where she finished her phone conversation with Jim, and she had trouble putting the phone on the receiver. That was a bit uncomfortable, she's a really old woman, the man himself was over 50 at the time of this. So the mom, yeah. But she offered lovely talk of Jim, as you'd expect a mother would.
[NOBABE]Julie Strain[/NOBABE] is pretty funny and she lays it out straight too about Jim and the state of B-movies. Julie comments on B-movies too. There's the usage of pornstars to do the naughtier stuff, actresses that would do that, retire or just not do these anymore. The B-movie actress was becoming nonexistent. Julie took issue with the usage of porn girls, in contrast to her being a trained actor. It's not mentioned, I read she trained at the Stella Adler studio of acting. Towards the end both those hot ladies said the B-movie pretty much is dead. The films Jim are (at the time of this documentary) C ones.
Again, it's dated, I think the B-movie is coming back, or has already. Keeping the genre alive is Troma and Asylum, and Fred and Jim are still making films. Looking at imdb, it seems Jim got back into making proper B-movie romps. It's clear in some footage that he rides the lightning of popular cinema. Dinosaur Island was made and released during Jurassic Park hype, before that film was released. Bare Wench Project releasing after Jim not liking Blair Witch. Recently, it's the shark movies, piranha movies, CGI monster fests. The most recent is Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre, which I so want to watch.
The dating of the movie, the length, juicy talk by Strain, Smith, and a few others, the footage of Jim's movies, Jim's collection of movies and movie poster. Pretty much the whole documentary, made me want more! A sequel, longer version of this, I seriously wanted more of this. I really just sat and watched this, no bathroom break, no multitasking, nothing, just this. I didn't look at the time until it ended. I was so sucked into this, and felt bummed that it ended. That speaks a lot of the documentary. Well done, the format was great, the music was simple and fun. You learn a bit of Jim's life, a lot about his filming style and career, a great deal of his personality when working and when not working, his love of films. That can't be disputed, it's that love and passion for films and making them that ultimately makes him a lovable guy. He's basically an older, more stubborn and tense version of Seth Rogen.
It succeeded in making me like Jim more. Before this though, I loved all the films he did. Every single one, for many different reasons. You know, liking a softcore comedy is not the same as liking a horror flick. I even liked Sins of Desire, even though he's very upfront that he hates [NOBABE]Tanya Roberts.[/NOBABE]
I should also mention Roger Corman having a great presence here. A documentary on him would be nice, legendary producer of many exploitation and B films, and produced a lot of Jim's movies. He and Andy Sidaris were the experts adding their two cents on Jim's film making. On that note, it would've been awesome if they had Fred Olen Ray, career parallels between the two, Pepsi and Coke without the competition.
Fantastic documentary. Highly recommended to get an idea on how to make a low budget movie...in 3 days! Yeah these don't get released in theaters, this particular movie goes straight to late night TV, Playboy, HBO, Cinemax, then DVD. Still, 3 days man, that's incredible. It ends on a great note with Jim saying that while he doesn't paint Picasso, he's fine just painting Elvis, and loves it. That's what it all boils down to, he wouldn't be doing what he does, what he did, if there was no love in his work.
And thank goodness he didn't go with the original plan to make The Witches of Breastwick in 2 days!
The documentary is dated, the production of the movie was in 2005, and this was released in 2009. I'm not sure if he still does this kind of film making, but I wouldn't be surprised if he still did it. That's making a film in 3 days. The documentary shows how completely not glamorous it is. Very cheap, a handful of guys make up the crew. It's basically just a cinematographer and a sound guy, a production assistant when it's time, writer/producer, and the director himself. A handful of cast members, only 1 guy and the rest are busty women.
One of them is [NOBABE]Julie K. Smith[/NOBABE], who was the best interview here. There really isn't a lionization of the man, everyone gives their opinions, but are all respectable. Julie is that, but also brutally honest. I should've known it was a foreshadowing of what happened during production of Breastwick, because she lays it out that it's not all pleasant. Arguments, constant botching of lines, which is important to excuse because of how fast the production goes. 3 days for crying out loud. Also the personality of the director, very social when not working, but when it's on, he's a tough man. Julie mentioned the lack of a director taking the actor aside, talk with them and hash out everything to get a scene ready to roll. 3 days, there's no time for that, and that leads to botches in doing dialogue. One scene with Julie talking was a disaster, she kept messing up, he kept starting the line over, and it was painful to watch. When it finally finished, Julie had a meltdown, which is totally acceptable.
Not once though do I lose favor with the director, in the end he's on a very tight schedule. One of the talking heads said it best, Jim always says "Yes." I can relate to that, but it does take a particular set of skills to get a 3 day production down. This isn't mentioned in the documentary, but it's a great comparison piece, Scream Queen Hot Tub Party. While it was co-directed by Fred Olen Ray and Jim, the film was shoot in 1 day. So it's totally possible to get a film done that quick, but you have to be good at it. Even though he's not the most pleasant, he's good at fast productions.
As a young male, I lap up the softcore movies, but he's done a lot other types of films that were great. Offering his expert opinion on B-movies is Andy Sidaris, the interview done before his 2007 death. Which, man, seeing him in the documentary was a bit painful. He looked sick for sure. Another bit of wince was Jim's mom. She's also a highlight of the film, but there was a part where she finished her phone conversation with Jim, and she had trouble putting the phone on the receiver. That was a bit uncomfortable, she's a really old woman, the man himself was over 50 at the time of this. So the mom, yeah. But she offered lovely talk of Jim, as you'd expect a mother would.
[NOBABE]Julie Strain[/NOBABE] is pretty funny and she lays it out straight too about Jim and the state of B-movies. Julie comments on B-movies too. There's the usage of pornstars to do the naughtier stuff, actresses that would do that, retire or just not do these anymore. The B-movie actress was becoming nonexistent. Julie took issue with the usage of porn girls, in contrast to her being a trained actor. It's not mentioned, I read she trained at the Stella Adler studio of acting. Towards the end both those hot ladies said the B-movie pretty much is dead. The films Jim are (at the time of this documentary) C ones.
Again, it's dated, I think the B-movie is coming back, or has already. Keeping the genre alive is Troma and Asylum, and Fred and Jim are still making films. Looking at imdb, it seems Jim got back into making proper B-movie romps. It's clear in some footage that he rides the lightning of popular cinema. Dinosaur Island was made and released during Jurassic Park hype, before that film was released. Bare Wench Project releasing after Jim not liking Blair Witch. Recently, it's the shark movies, piranha movies, CGI monster fests. The most recent is Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre, which I so want to watch.
The dating of the movie, the length, juicy talk by Strain, Smith, and a few others, the footage of Jim's movies, Jim's collection of movies and movie poster. Pretty much the whole documentary, made me want more! A sequel, longer version of this, I seriously wanted more of this. I really just sat and watched this, no bathroom break, no multitasking, nothing, just this. I didn't look at the time until it ended. I was so sucked into this, and felt bummed that it ended. That speaks a lot of the documentary. Well done, the format was great, the music was simple and fun. You learn a bit of Jim's life, a lot about his filming style and career, a great deal of his personality when working and when not working, his love of films. That can't be disputed, it's that love and passion for films and making them that ultimately makes him a lovable guy. He's basically an older, more stubborn and tense version of Seth Rogen.
It succeeded in making me like Jim more. Before this though, I loved all the films he did. Every single one, for many different reasons. You know, liking a softcore comedy is not the same as liking a horror flick. I even liked Sins of Desire, even though he's very upfront that he hates [NOBABE]Tanya Roberts.[/NOBABE]
I should also mention Roger Corman having a great presence here. A documentary on him would be nice, legendary producer of many exploitation and B films, and produced a lot of Jim's movies. He and Andy Sidaris were the experts adding their two cents on Jim's film making. On that note, it would've been awesome if they had Fred Olen Ray, career parallels between the two, Pepsi and Coke without the competition.
Fantastic documentary. Highly recommended to get an idea on how to make a low budget movie...in 3 days! Yeah these don't get released in theaters, this particular movie goes straight to late night TV, Playboy, HBO, Cinemax, then DVD. Still, 3 days man, that's incredible. It ends on a great note with Jim saying that while he doesn't paint Picasso, he's fine just painting Elvis, and loves it. That's what it all boils down to, he wouldn't be doing what he does, what he did, if there was no love in his work.
And thank goodness he didn't go with the original plan to make The Witches of Breastwick in 2 days!
