A few reviews

[Zaharoff]

Mantis In Lace - 1968 - 3/10
AKA - Lila



So ... while watching German “comedy” Lila Lila, my brain started hearing the old song, “Lila.”
Bad tune, from a bad movie, that I have viewed several times. Feeble mind.
Topless dancer Lila shimmies at da club, gyrating to her signature “Lila” song.
Guys pick her up and she hauls them to her nest.
Abandoned warehouse, stained mattress, candles in Mateus bottles.
Lila drops LSD, drops her dress, and before she can cry, “Oh my God!”
Her acid trip goes haywire and she starts killin’. Repeat - repeat - repeat.

No one watches this for acclaimed acting or nuanced script.
Nope, the allure is vast stretches of nudity punctuated with gruesome deaths.
Warning to current era viewers. All females are from the bush era.
If your preference is Barbie’s waxed sheen, you will likely hurl your nachos.

Afterthought - The DVD has lots of extras, including a couple “dangers of drugs” docs,
and over 100 minutes of deleted scenes and outtakes. More dancers, tons more flesh.
One dancer I recognized from Russ Meyer’s Mondo Topless. Err, her assets ... I mean.

[ToALonelyPeace]

Quote Originally Posted by Zaharoff

Exit Through The Gift Shop - 2010 - 7/10 Documentary on the underground graffiti scene with Banksy, Space Invader, Zevs. By turns interesting and provocative when cameras trail artists in the bleak hours. Gradually, the focus shifts to Theirry Guetta (AKA - Mr Brainwash) a hanger-on with zero artistic talent. Not that having #### for inspiration ever stopped sock puppet heads. In no time flat, Brainwash puts on his own exhibitions, deluding gallery owners, curators, and the wine n cheese crowd. Black satire, acidly funny, mean spirited, and mocking pretensions of all sorts. Directed by Banksy, with pitiless detail.

Mr. Brainwash could be a character straight from a novel with his sideburns and Just-you-wait-I-will-be-an-artist talk at the end. I haven't cared for Banksy until this film, so thanks for reviewing it.

[Zaharoff]

Trio Of Fanedits

Darkman Lives! by MusicEd921

MusicEd921 trims director Raimi’s silly interludes, as well as goofy nonsense.
Also renders this to black n white, creating a 1930's Universal Studios look.



Trims were minimal, yet the overall tone differs greatly.
By design, this edit brings to the fore the pulpy elements. Violence is toned down.
This is a PG, popcorn experience. While violent, it should be OK for older children.
A fun film, though not as dark as before. I think I would have preferred a rougher ride.
Still, if you want action, yet want to avoid obscenities and gore, this is a great choice.

* * *

Diabolique: Alternative Cut by Dr Sapirstein



The editor tackles the flawed 1996 remake which was overlong and overloud (aimed at the blind deaf).
This black and white conversion brings the look closer to 50's Noir, but there are few hard shadows or low angles associated with that style.
Dr. Sapirstein’s substantial removal (23 minutes) results in a quicker film, though not necessarily a better film.
I have tried over the years to like this remake, or even appreciate it.
This is simply a bad film, and not a “fun bad” film. Lead actors do their darnedest, but in the end this is turgid dreck.
The edit, however, is superior to the 1996 version.
Do yourself a favor and seek out the 1955 original, directed by H G Clouzot.

* * *

Mr. Wick by Maniac



Two John Wick vehicles. No canines, no love interest.
As with most of Maniac’s edits, this is pedal to the floor action.
The two films do not splice together well, however.
More like two, high voltage television installments paired back to back.
To be more specific, by excising Wick’s “personal life,” this becomes a shooter game, with infrequent lulls to realign the plot.
There is no character development, and the backstory is limited.
Wick is barely more than a pair of hands, holding guns or clenched into fists.
Go into this expecting a fury blazer and you will not be disappointed.
For what it is, an efficient distillation of the two Wick films, this is a relentless edit.

[njhorror]

oops! Nothing to see here. Move along...

[Zaharoff]

Jane Austen: Behind Closed Doors - 2017 - 6/10

Historian Lucy Worsley guides viewers on a tour of Miss Austen’s many homes.
Along the way, she shares influences and incidents at each.
Reenactment is minimal, an actress reading Jane’s letters, from time to time, in different settings.



This is one of the better docs by Worsley. No blaring pop tunes in this, for instance.
Essential for Janeites.

[Zaharoff]

Lost In Austen - 2008 - 7/10



Warning! Chick Flick Alert!
Loving homage to Pride And Prejudice.
Passionate Austen reader, Amanda Price, somehow enters the alternate literary universe and switches places with character Elizabeth Bennett.
Miss Price, knows the characters and knows the narrative, so she tries to help the plot with unexpected consequences.
Next, she tries to repair her mistakes and further compounds the disasters.
This film (mini series, actually) was devised with heart and invention. It was released two years after the Keira Knightly version of P & P, which I loathed (tried to vamp the plot to ADD types).

Note: Seek out the UK version. Versions in other countries are missing Amanda's ringtone, which was a nice joke, as well as the funny “Downtown” scene.

[Zaharoff]

Pride & Prejudice - Having A Ball - 2013 - 7/10



Irresistible documentary for hardcore Janeites and casual Austen fans alike.
This focuses on that key element of the Regency world for the young, the ball.
Dance steps were actually fiendishly complicated, and physically demanding.
Status could be seen in choice of candles, desserts served, as well as clothes.
Speaking of clothes, female knickers were crotchless. Male clothing was very form fitting, to display . . . mmm . . . simply to display.
Casually mentioned was how increasingly modern, and wrong-headed, modern adaptations of P&P have become.
If you have reread Austen numerous times, if you have multiple film versions of P&P, S&S, as well as Emma, Mansfield Pk, and Persuasion, not to mention Lost In Austen (w/ Downtown intact), then this documentary is for you.
γνῶθι σεαυτόν. If you are a Janeite, rate this much higher.

[Zaharoff]

Hunderby - 2012 - 7/10



Genius! Sheer genius!
Wicked spoof of Jane Austen shows, overwrought Brontë series, even Gothic potboilers like Rebecca.
Eight part series follows young Helene (an identity she assumed) as she marries local curate (marriage #2 for him, after first wife disappeared), and all the shenanigans (primarily sexual) occurring in tiny village.
Each episode less than 30“ and features truly fruity dialogue. Examples
“I wish I could lie with thee forever, nuzzling thy nectar nook.”
“You have conjured some fevered notion that I am eaten up with lust for another, and wake each hour with sticky britches.”
“I should love to plunge you, and stay inside you all day like a dozing mouse.”
All lines delivered dead-panned. I don’t know how actors did this straight faced.

[Zaharoff]

The Crimean War - 1997 - 7/10



Three-part documentary about an almost forgotten conflict.
This makes full use of photos, letters, engravings, drawings.
Talking heads are minimal - fine by me, too many speakers smack of padding.
First section deals with the causation. Russia wanting Istanbul,
Next is of the war itself, blunders, starvation or freezing of soldiers.
Finally, the aftermath and the seeds laid for World War One.
Actual voices include Tennyson reading “The Charge Of The Light Brigade,”
as well as one of the original buglers, playing the call to charge.

[Zaharoff]

Verdun: Visions d'histoire - 1928 - 7/10



Long (150 minutes) dramatization / reenactment of the historic battle for Verdun during World War I.
This is helped along with some stock footage, as well as maps, diagrams, and rough animation.
WWI had ended only a decade earlier, so original audiences would have been quite familiar with the history.
Tactics are shown for both German and French. Victories are noted, as are defeats.
British troops are referenced, but they were busy at the Somme.
Yanks would not enter the war until 1917, a full year after Verdun.
For history buffs - especially war buffs - this is interesting throughout.
This is a nice companion to the BBC series, The Great War (1964).