A few reviews

[Zaharoff]

Baise Moi - 2000 - 6/10
AKA - Rape Me



No holds barred French rage flick as two abused hookers barrel into crime spree.
Sleazy, graphic, repellent to many.
Violent robberies, counterbalanced with lulls featuring hardcore sex. Leads were porn actresses.
Sensitive male viewers, be warned, gun fire targets the crotch.
A fun film? Hardly.
You want a “road movie” with nasty souls, enduring an ugly world, with no sense of humanity?
Dial this up.

[Mr. Veech]

Good stuff, Zaharoff! You've just joined, yet you've already proven to be a very valuable member of TLO.

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[Zaharoff]

Pulp Empire - 1980/2013 - 7/10



Ever wonder, what if Tarantino had dabbled with a galaxy far away?
Complete deconstruction and reworking of The Empire Strikes Back.
Linear narrative is tossed in favor of flashbacks and foreshadowing.
John Williams score removed in favor of funky blaxsploitation cues.
Bits of New Hope, Return Jedi, Sith, Clones Wars, pitched in the cut, and running time trimmed almost thirty minutes.
Pulp Empire quite the grindhouse gem, with Darth Vader a badass mack daddy.

[Zaharoff]

Innkeepers - 2011 - 5/10



Last days of famed New England inn/hotel.
Only a few rooms are rented, and a two person skeleton staff tag-team seven hour shifts.
Employees also spend free time searching for the famous ghost, said to haunt the premises.
I watched the female desk clerk huff her inhaler twice in fifteen minutes. Straight off I figure, “you in trouble, girlfriend.”
Barely recognizable Kelly McGillis (above), Cruise’s hot babe in Top Gun, plays late arriving, ex-actress, now occult dabbler.
Competent low budget production, though predictable and slow paced.

[Zaharoff]

We Are What We Are - 2013 - 5/10



Marketed as a horror film, though it really isn’t (unless you are a vegan).
Reclusive family, living in a tiny Catskill community, fasts during the weekend.
They are waiting for Lambs Day, a celebration of their own, peculiar religion.
Constant rains and flooding make everything difficult, and early on, the mother, clearly ill, drops dead in a ditch.
Nevertheless, the two daughters have to carry on with tradition.
Dark, dreary mood piece, lacking gushers for gorehounds.
Barely recognizable Kelly McGillis, Cruise’s hot babe in Top Gun, plays trailer park neighbor.
Viewers of a certain age will recognize Michael Parks as suspicious village doctor.

[Zaharoff]

John Cleese: The Alimony Tour - 2011 - 8/10



Aged 71, John Cleese hits the road after being mauled in an ugly and expensive divorce.
Lucky for us, his one man show is sidesplitting funny.
With brief clips from Monty Python, A Fish Called Wanda, The Frost Report, At Last The 1948 Show, Flowery Twats (Hey! That was how it was spelled in episode 11), and Monty Python & The Holy Grail.
Cleese skewers his recent divorce, talks about growing up in boring Weston-super-Mare, and the extraordinary luck that fell his way throughout his early career.
Entertaining as anything, live at the Theatre Royal in Bath.

[Zaharoff]

Bluebeard - 2009 - 7/10
AKA - Barbe Bleue



French film by Catherine Breillat.
Two young sisters climb into the attic and begin reading the Perrault fairy tale.
In a secondary narrative, the tale comes to life, and two sisters are kicked from the convent after their father dies.
The sisters return home and watch as creditors reclaim family possessions.
One sister realizes their powerful neighbor, Bluebeard, is rich beyond measure.
The neighbor also has a thing for young - very young - brides.
A beautiful film, but chilly in tone, with a dark undercurrent.
Both narratives plunge into dark territory.

[Zaharoff]

Inside The White Slave Traffic and Traffic In Souls

Two “docu-dramas” released during the frenzied phenomena of white slavery paranoia.

Inside The White Slave Traffic - 1913 - 5/10



Inside The White Slave Traffic is the briefer and more crude of the pair.
An exploitation quickie, this roused censors and authorities wherever it was screened.
Female is lured into prostitution - where she remains for the remainder of the movie.
Despite two lost reels, this shows tricks for luring girls, slang words, and the nationwide network of slavers.
Outdoor photography in this captures dirt streets, boardwalks, horse and wagons.

Traffic In Souls - 1913 - 6/10



Traffic In Souls is a better film, storywise and budget wise. At 88 minutes, this is also an early feature.
There are multiple storylines: the rich family, the two sisters, and two sets of girls who arrive in New York.
Methods and roles within the slave ring are displayed, also some eavesdropping technology.
Acting in both films is melodramatic. (Pickford would largely change that.)
DVD of Traffic In Souls has an insightful commentary by historian Shelley Stamp.
Most of her comments pertain to social mores of 1913, film reaction, and white slave hysteria.

While I prefer Silent films from the 20s, the earlier films have their own creaky charm.
The look and attitudes hark back to the Edwardian or Gilded Age.
Moralizing intertitles, declarative gestures, formal manners, swept away in the Roaring 20s.

[Zaharoff]

Best Worst Movie - 2009 - 7/10



Documentary on Troll 2, often listed as the worst movie ever made.
Unlike Troma camp, Troll 2 was not meant to be awful, but a cascade of bad acting, inept script, an Italian director and writer who could not speak English, zero production values, resulted in a reel of brown goo.
Then the movie went on to become a cult favorite, though the Italian director still insisted Troll 2 was an artistic triumph, full of meaning and family values.
The documentary catches up with old cast members (George Hardy is now a dentist) and shows packed midnight movie houses.
Real passion from people who love bad movies.
Consider yourself warned.

[Zaharoff]

Meek's Cutoff - 2010 - 6/10



A group of pioneers heading for Oregon in 1845 hires a mountain man who knows a shortcut.
Yes, shortcut. Females worldwide are shaking their heads.
Of course he gets them lost. In the desert, no less.
Adding to their parched thirst, a Paiute Indian is prowling about.
The film is very slow, colours washed out, dialogue sparse.

Much of the film is from the women's point of view.
Thus we cannot hear what menfolk quietly discuss.
Not an action flick, but a mood piece that will try the patience of many.