May had some absolute bangers; both old and new. The biggest film highlights mostly consisted of Nordic extravaganzas: Robert Eggers' The Northman was the type of Hollywood style movie I've been craving for in what feels like forever; Hanna Bergholm's Hatching was an incredibly impressive directorial debut; and Eskil Vogt's The Innocents was an enthralling spin on today's never evending capeshit. Other first time viewings which I enjoyed a lot were Things to Come, Witchhammer, Alison's Birthday and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954).
In non-film entertainment: the B.F.I's online panel discussion on New French Extremity was an entertaining glossary on the movement.
Hyped for Phil Tippet's Mad God finally being released next month.
Film:
Things to Come (William Cameron Menzies, 1936)*
The Seventh Commandment (Irvin Berwick, 1961)*
Witchhammer (Otakar Vávra, 1970)*
The Big Doll House (Jack Hill, 1971)
Sweet Sugar (Michel Levesque, 1972)
Frightmare (Pete Walker, 1974)
The Witch Who Came from the Sea (Matt Cimber, 1976)*
That Sinking Feeling (Bill Forsyth, 1979)*
Alison's Birthday (Ian Coughlan, 1981)*
Death Wish II (Michael Winner, 1982)
One Deadly Summer (Jean Becker, 1983)*
The Initiation (Larry Stewart & Peter Crane (uncredited), 1984)
The Killer Is Still Among Us (Camillo Teti, 1986)
House Party (Reginald Hudlin, 1990)
Mr. Bean's Holiday (Steve Bendelack, 2007)
New York Ninja (John Liu & Kurtis Spieler, 2021)*
Everything Everywhere All at Once (Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, 2022)*
Hatching (Hanna Bergholm, 2022)*
The Cellar (Brendan Muldowney, 2022)*
The Innocents (Eskil Vogt, 2022)*
The Northman (Robert Eggers, 2022)*
Television:
Nineteen Eighty-Four (Rudolph Cartier, 1954)*
First Tuesday -Season 8; Episode 12 - Paul Sykes: At Large (Nick Lord, 1990)*
*First time viewings.
Dada Debaser Notes:
- Matt Cimber's The Witch Who Came from the Sea is another grail film I can finally tick off the watch list. For whatever the reason, it just didn't click for me. Giving it another shot at a later date.
- Ralph Richardson as a Mad Max style post-apocalyptic warlord ruler in futuristic England (the 1970s), was one of my favourite parts from the Things to Come. Loved the future tech designs, too.
- Didn't realise this Frightmare easter egg until now, but the film that Deborah and Graham were watching at the cinema was La Grande Bouffe (1973).
- Hats off to Talking Pictures TV for having The Seventh Commandment, a delightfully sleazy noir being broadcast on a Sunday afternoon. Great alternative to the kid-friendly and chick flick shite that's usually on around that time.
- Full Force deserved their own House Party spin-off movie, imo.
- The hilariously suggestive girl/candle artwork for The Initiation is the only memorable thing relating to the film. Much prefer The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982) - aka Pranks, the other slasher with Daphne Zuniga appearing in it.
- Not seen the uncut version of Death Wish II before. The assault on the maid is way more graphic than I originally remember it being. Doubt I'll ever get my hands on the fabled Greek VHS version, but one can hope. One of the best Bronson lines in that film.
- Might have been a little too long, but the plot twist revelations in One Deadly Summer kept me hooked throughout. First class performance from Isabelle Adjani (in her daisy dukes), too.
- Carson Clay's Playback Time, as featured in Mr. Bean's Holiday is a completely on point derision of pretentious film makers.
- Derivative and unoriginal as The Cellar was, I dug the finale and the obvious homage to Lucio Fulci's classic The Beyond.
2 comments:
Word to a Full Force movie.
R.I.P Liotta. Him dying inspired me to finally watch Something Wild. Gonna rewatch No Escape next.
Best TV I watched this month: Peacock (good BBC cringe-comedy) and Wanted (Aussie drama about 2 birds on the run from a crooked cop + his professional hitman.)
Saw No Escape in the cinema. Liked it a lot at the time and wouldn't mind checking it out again; especially after discovering Terminal Island earlier this year.
Not really caught any TV shows this month, but I noticed there's a bloke in BBC's Doctors that looks like a dead ringer for 21 Savage.
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