Sunday 30 June 2019

More On Movies - July

RECENTLY RE/WATCHED


Freeway (1996)
Surprisingly compelling modern take on Little Red Riding Hood. Tonally it's in an odd liminal zone sort of seriously gritty but sort of ironic, a bit OTT but reigned in so it's not too absurd. Grim yet funny. It is very of its time but much more watchable and just plain better than say something else of the same ilk and era like Kalifornia (1993)Freeway's violent, disturbing, silly and pretty entertaining. I can't remember if the fairytale had pedophilia or revenge but Freeway does. Great performance from Reece Witherspoon.


Needful Things (1992)
Starts out great but ends just ok. Stephen King is hard to nail cinematically as the writers/directors don't know how to streamline his hefty tomes. They get confused about which sub-plots and characters to drop or keep or how to wind up the story without it being rushed. Needful Things was pretty entertaining though. The cast and direction were fairly on point. Special mention to Max Von Sydow who was fantastic as per usual. Not the worst way to spend a winter's afternoon.


Bringing Out The Dead (1999)
I hadn't seen this much maligned Martin Scorsese/Paul Schrader collaboration since it was originally in cinemas twenty years ago. It's getting a bit more love these days from film buffs but I'd guess the consensus would be pretty polarised and probably still tilted toward derision. Emma couldn't stand it and gave up. There were stretches where my mind wandered off and I thought 'Am I wasting my time here?' By the time I was halfway through I wanted to know what was going to happen even though it's not really a plot driven film. It's a character study of a sleep deprived NYC paramedic Frank (Nic Cage) and his driving partners over a 48 hour time period set in the early 90s. Schrader's script is a black comedy adaptation that's just not his usual high standard but there are some funny, fucked up, bleak and emotional moments. At other stages it was pretty stupid, lame and corny. They could have dropped Larry, John Goodman's character, as he was the weakest link and you don't really want to start off a film with boring scenes do you? The film gets a much needed jolt when Marcus (Ving Rhames) enters the scene to replace Larry in the ambulance's driving seat. With half an hour chopped off and a script editor this could have been another classic. I gotta say though I do prefer this film to more recent Scorsese efforts such as Gangs Of New York (2002), The Departed (2006) and Wolf Of Wall Street (2013).


Side Effects (2013)
Nifty psychological thriller. Steve Soderbergh gets a bit overlooked by cinephiles I reckon. Has he done too many dull commercial blockbuster movies to be taken seriously as the great director that he is. He's also a fabulous cinematographer and editor. He does all three on Side Effects and he hits near perfection. An experimental drug trial goes awry after Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara) stabs her husband while sleepwalking on the new medication. The story then unfolds in an unexpected manner from there. It's got Cathy Jones and Jude Law. Highly Recommended.


Stripped To Kill (1987)
This is basically a time capsule of stripping routines and ladies underwear fashion from the 80s. Oh and they add in a thin plot of a stripper murderer for some reason.


Penitentiary (1979) 
In the first ten minutes I was thinking 'This is so not for me!' Ten minutes later I was totally hooked and enjoyed every remaining minute of this late-blaxploitation/prison/boxing film. Too Sweet (Leon Isaac Kennedy) lands in the clink after killing a man in a fight. Gritty realism is mixed with comedic absurdity in this strange but compelling film of prison life in the 70s. Too Sweet may have a chance at early parole if he can perform well in the prison boxing tournament so he teams up with a wise old long term inmate Seldom Seen (Floyd Chapman) as his trainer. Weird shenanigans take place including mucho violence,...er boxing, a visit from inmates of a women's prison ensuring sex scenes and more. Good soundtrack too.


No Name On The Bullet (1959)
I can't press play on the Deadwood movie because I don't wanna be disappointed like I was at the end of season 3 which was an out and out anti-climax, nothing happened. So I'm just warming up watching a few real Western gems instead and this one just gets better with time. John Gant (Audie Murphy) is a renowned contract killer. He rides into the western town of Lordsburg making everybody nervous. Why is he there? Who has he come to kill? No Name On The Bullet is a Noir Western with a fabulous premise that's expertly executed. This film is so tight there's barely a second wasted here at all. One of the best westerns in my book.


Winchester '73 (1950)
Joe Dante reminded me of this terrific Anthony Mann directed Western when he mentioned it the other day in an interview on The Pure Cinema Podcast. A gun competition in Dodge City brings together and tears apart Lin McAdam (Jimmy Stewart) and Henry Dutch Brown (Millard Mitchell). Along the way there's a battle with an Indian tribe, a woman that goes from man to man and a classic climax.


The Man From Laramie (1955)
Will Lockhart (Jimmy Stewart) comes to the town of Coronado looking to avenge the death of his brother. Only trouble is he doesn't know who he's come to kill. Another classic revenge Western directed by Anthony Mann.


3:10 To Yuma (1957)
Suspenseful Western of the highest order. Dave Evans (Van Heflin), a down on his luck rancher, has to escort the murderous outlaw Ben Wade (Glenn Ford) to a train station to board the 3:10 To Yuma so he can earn $200. This is not going to be an easy task. Will he make it, give up or be killed by Wade's gang? This is top 10 Western.


Terror In A Texas Town (1958)
A top little Noir Western story of bittersweet vengeance. The only problem here is that the main protagonist George Hansen played by Sterling Hayden puts in an all time bad acting performance. In the last year I've been able to stomach Keanu Reeves, Nicholas Cage and Gillian Anderson without wanting to smash the telly in but this Hayden performance, Jesus Christ! To contrast his performance with Ned Young's is extreme as Young puts in a sterling performance as hitman for hire John CraleCarol Kelly as Molly and Sebastian Cabot as McNeil are also outstanding. Totally worth watching though as it's a classic with a legendary finale.

The Furies (1950)
If you can get used to the OTT operatic tone of this Western you are in for something outstanding and epic otherwise forget it. A demented melodrama with more two faced arseholes than the cast of Dallas. The Furies is a creepy family story of betrayal, vengeance and a whole lotta wrong.


Ramrod (1947)
A couple of ranch owners Connie Dickason (Veronica Lake) and Preston Foster (John Ivey) have a violent feud over a range in this Noir Western. Connie is the femme fatale here playing the men for her own gains in this sordid tale. What lengths will she go to? Will Connie get all that she wants in the end?


The Killers (1946)
Cracking noir classic that nailed reverse story telling way before Tarantino and Nolan. A payroll robbery goes awry and much double crossing ensues. This was Burt Lancaster's first movie role. Ava Gardener is the femme fatale. What more do want?


Bad Day At Black Rock (1955)
Worth watching for the splendid widescreen cinematography alone. Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Anne Francis, Walter Brennan etc. star in this creepy crime thriller. John Macreedy (Spencer Tracy) gets off the train in the tiny isolated desert town of Black Rock. The fifteen or so locals are suspicious, hostile and nervous as Macreedy is looking for a bloke named Komoko. The tension unravels from there. Claustrophobic to the max and it's all effectively done and dusted in a tight 81 minutes.


Edge Of Eternity (1959)
Good lil crime story directed by Don Siegel. Shot in wonderful Cinemascope. Murder in the Grand Canyon brings together Deputy Sheriff (Cornel Wilde) and gold mining heiress Victoria Shaw (Janice Kendon). The plot continues with more murder, robbery and gold smuggling but who's responsible? It all culminates in an amazingly dangerous fight scene in a cable car high above the canyon. Well crafted, fine entertainment. This is like a blueprint for what action TV shows were to become 20 years later. That doesn't take away from the film it means it was innovative and much admired as everyone wanted to copy this style of action-crime-drama. Imitation, flattery and all that.


The Nun (2018)
Totally absurd OTT nonsense. This is easily the worst of The Conjuring/Annabelle movies. I'm pretty sure they got a five year old to write the script. However we do get a showcase of stunning set pieces eg. lots of jump scares, boos, monster nuns, a frightening coffin scene, a cool spooky score and even someone spitting the blood of Jesus Christ at an evil sister. The Nun's a ninety minute rollercoaster of silly fun.

Contagion (2011)
A sufficient film but... you know...the suspense could have been ramped up to much more exciting levels but Soderbergh is happy for some reason to keep you at arms length. A virus outbreak film that's neither here nor there. So many name actors kept popping up here, it was pretty distracting but maybe that was a good thing...  
                             

THE RANOWN CYCLE
I watched 5 of the 6 Ranown Cycle which are a bunch of films directed by Budd Boetticher starring Randolph Scott made between 1956 - 1960. Some people include Westbound (1959) in the cycle but according to Boetticher it is not to be included in the cycle. The only one not in my watch list below is 7 Men From Now (1956).  These movies were a revelation to me as I'd never seen them before even though Marty Scorsese alerted me to them years ago in a documentary on American film. They are now amongst some of my favourite Westerns of all time. Each film has great unsavoury villains and there's rarely sappy sentimental bullshit. Sergio Leone fans take note - he must have been particularly influenced by these movies. These are tight films that are trimmed down to their essential elements. Read about these lean & mean flicks below.



The Tall T (1957)
Twenty minutes in I was thinking 'this is some corny shit right here. I need something more hardboiled with nasty villains.' The baddies arrived just in time for me not to switch off the movie and boy are they bad. This is a terrific tale of bull riding, serial-murder, betrayal, abduction and ransom. The Tall T goes pretty dark. Fine performances all round. My Favourite was scumbag Chink played by Henry Silva. This is another fine Elmore Leonard adaptation bought to the silver screen, this time, in fine stylee by Budd Boetticher.

Decision At Sundown (1957)
Another Boetticher/Scott revenge film but this one just didn't do it for me for some reason. Apart From Scott's unusually unhinged character Bart, his partner Sam (Noah Beery) and the drunk guy, I thought most of the rest of the cast were a bit too bland. This is the only movie that's just ok in the exceptional Ranown Cycle of 6 movies.


Buchanan Rides Alone (1958)
Great movie. Westerns don't get much better than this. This is Possibly my favourite of the Boetticher/Scott Ranown cycle of films. Buchanan (Randolph Scott) rides into the corrupt border town of Agry. He finds himself robbed, in gaol and charged with murder. Will he make it out of this strife alive?


Ride Lonesome (1959)
Revenge Boetticher/Scott style. Ben Brigade (Scott) a bounty hunter tracks down the wanted man Billy John (James Best). Then saves an abandoned lady (Karen Steele). Two outlaw cowboys Sam (Pernell Roberts) & Whit (James Coburn) tag along for the journey to Santa Cruz but they want Billy John for themselves. Just what is Brigade going to do? Great story with an incredible finale. Quite possibly the best Western.


Comanche Station (1960)
The final film in the Ranown Cycle and it's another bewdy. Jefferson Cody (Randolph Scott) rides out in search for a woman who's been abducted by Comanches. He trades goods including a gun with the Indians for her return. It's not so easy though, on his way back to town with the lady, he runs into three bad cowboys who are willing to cross Cody as there is a $5000 reward for Nancy Lowe's (Nancy Gates) return dead or alive. Fine performances from everyone and brilliant film-making with not a second wasted. I recommend.


Wednesday 12 June 2019

More On Movies - June


The Shallows (2016)
Blake Lively V Shark. What more could you ask for? Forget the script and just get into the battle between woman and shark. Good little bit of entertaining, edge of your seat action fun to pass 90 minutes of your time.

Jaws 2 (1978)
Many horror enthusiast say 'Oh Jaws 2 is much more fun and less boring that the original'. That's not true though is it? They make two hours feel like three! Having not seen this since I was little, I was expecting a zippy little action packed 'When Animals Attack' movie. What did I get? Roy Scheider pondering and pensive with no particular reason or suspense for what seemed like at least half of this movie. When the cameras finally made it to the sea with the shark it was very entertaining. Forty Five minutes of fat could have been trimmed off this film to make it more watchable. Totally disappointing. The VHS nerds get it wrong once again. Let's face it most Sequels suck.


The House Of Whipcord (1970)
This is the sort of thing I remember horror was when I was little. Grim Old scary people in dilapidated mansions who were scary and doing strange things. A beautiful young French model who had previously been arrested for public nudity is lured to a country mansion by her new enigmatic boyfriend. It turns out to be some kind of renegade prison for permissive ladies though. This is some disturbing shit right here as many transgressive shenanigans take place. There are definitely Nazi vibes happening here. House of Whipcord is put together with finesse and sophistication for such a low budget exploitation flick. I highly recommend.


Friday The 13th (1980)
This is a tight lil slasher that does exactly what it says on the tin. A summer camp at Crystal Lake is re-opening after tragedy closed the camp down 20 years earlier. The camp counsellors arrive to make the camp ready for its reopening. Yet they have been forewarned by the town's nutbar (Walt Gorney) that they are all doomed and he is not wrong as the gory bodycount soon begins. Everything is right on here including the pacing, the tone, the characters, the kills and the funny 80s gore FX to place it into the top echelon of this reviled sub-genre. How frightening is Mrs Voorhees (Betsy Palmer)?


Schizo (1976)
Another fine Pete Walker directed movie (House Of Whipcord (1970), Frightmare (1974), House Of Mortal Sin (1978)). Schizo is a proto-slasher-thriller with a score from the fabulous Stanley Myers. This was when horror was more about adults than teens which makes it so refreshing in 2019. Set amongst the mid 70s posh London set where a beautiful young figure skater Samantha (Lynne Frederick) is stalked by a creepy old man (Jack Watson). A body count begins as we wonder if Samantha is being gaslit. Why is Pete Walker not a massive legend amongst exploitation, cult and horror movie fans? He's made at least four classic movies and probably should be as rated as someone like the fabulous Jack Hill.


Friday The 13th Part 2 (1981)
Quite possibly more entertaining than the first instalment. Along with Aliens perhaps this is the exception to the sequel rule. Part 2 has a similar premise to the original, a bunch of camp counsellors are setting up a camp next door to the old crystal Lake site where Part 1 took place 5 years earlier. Bloody mayhem ensues and the new camp never really gets off the ground as Mrs Voorhees' son Jason is on the loose with murder on his mind. Look out for the spectacular wheelchair death scene. There are many unanswered questions though. What happened to Ted (Stuart Charno) the nerdy drunk guy who stays at the bar? or Terri (Kirsten Baker) the skinny dipping chick? & most importantly why did Vickie (Lauren-Marie Taylor) choose those gross brown undies as her best sexy time knickers? The soundtrack from Harry Manfredini really adds to the outstanding final battle between Jason and the final girl Ginny (Amy Steele). Is this the second best final girl scene ever after The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)?



The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
The most notorious film made during my lifetime. Is this the most terrifying movie ever made? I really am starting to think that just might be the case even though it's also a little bit funny. Just the sound of this film puts me on an edge that is too much for a human to bare. Strangely enough there is very little gore or violence onscreen, most of it is implied. So it's no mean feat that Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the most horrifying movies in the history of film. Brother and sister Sally and Franklin Hardesty set out on a road trip in a Kombi van with their friends Jerry, Kirk and Pam to see if their grandfather's grave has been robbed. They pick up a disturbed hitchhiker (Edwin Neal) then quickly turf him from the van after some abhorrent behaviour. Things start to get more weird  when they turn up at a gas station that has no petrol, then weirder still as they approach the farm house. The slaughter soon begins. Do movie critics ever discuss the cinematography? Because it's stunning and sometimes quite beautiful. Marilyn Burns should have won the Oscar for her outstanding and gut wrenching performance as Sally the final girl. That final Iconic scene of Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen*) flailing around maniacally with the chainsaw above his head in the sunset is so memorable, it's embedded into to my brain forever.

*Gunnar Hansen wrote a good book about the making of and continuing legacy of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre called Chain Saw Confidential (2013) which I recommend if you're a fan of the movie.

Silent Rage (1982)
In recent years I may have been converted to diggin me some Burt Reynolds and Charles Bronson flicks but fuck me here's where I draw the line - Chuck Fucking Norris. I think I watched over half of this movie and then thought 'Wait a minute, why am I watching this shite. This is the worst.'


Let's Scare Jessica To Death (1971)
I reckon I've watched this around twenty times in the last ten years. It has quite possibly become my favourite film of all time. Jessica has recently been discharged from a mental hospital so her and her husband decide to make a new beginning outside of New York by purchasing an old house in the bucolic countryside of Connecticut. Their new provincial town and back country are full of strange, unkind, creepy and possibly monstrous people. The rural idyll gradually begins to close in on Jessica in a sinister and nightmarish manner. She starts to question her mental stability and becomes unhinged or does she? The ambiguousness of whether or not the the locals are ghosts, demons or vampires or whatever doesn't matter if it's all in Jessica's head does it? This film is so atmospheric, eerie and compelling despite what detractors might say. The acting of Zohra Lampert who plays Jessica is phenomenal. I have very personal reasons for being so touched by this film. Lampert's depiction of someone having been through a breakdown and still experiencing all the alienation, paranoia, phobia, delusions and mania of mental illness is so incredibly nuanced, I cannot believe it's actually acting and not real. Zohrah Lambert's performance has to be one of the greatest performances of mental instability ever captured on celluloid.

Mad Max Fury Road (2015)
...er...I dunno...just don't think I was in the right frame of mind for this or it might just be complete and utter shite. I'll reserve my judgement until I've watched it again, which could be a while...like twenty years maybe.


Repulsion (1965)
More mental illness wonderfully portrayed on film. This time by the fabulous Cathy Deneuve. Carol Ledoux (Deneuve) is a young Belgian woman living in 60s London just before psychedelia happened. Carol is depressed, detached and forlorn. She has trouble dealing with everyday things like work, paying the rent, interest from men etc. She becomes unhinged, agoraphobic, starts hallucinating and it all becomes quite fucked up. Repulsion is another Roman Polanski gem that gets better each time I watch it.

*I love movies shot in London by foreign directors like Blow Up (1966), Deadly Sweet (1967) Deep End (1970), What Have You Done To Solange? (1972) etc. in the same way I enjoy films shot in Australia by non-Australian directors like They're a Weird Mob (1966), Wake In Fright (1971), Walkabout (1971) et al. You get an outsiders skewed but honest point of view of certain national characteristics that might be too close to the bone for an actual citizen to depict on celluloid.


Hellraiser (1987)
It's been a very long time since my eyeballs have been set on this movie so I was not expecting this to hold up in any way shape or form in 2019 but Hellraiser's a really enjoyable and unique movie. A weird sort of modern day gory S&M vampire/monster romance kinda thing (aren't they all?). This quintessential 80s occult classic includes a puzzlebox, hell, creatures called cenobites, a resurrection, a haunted house, different dimensions etc. 'Come To Daddy.'


The Thing (1982)
I've been thinking for a few years now 'Why is everyone so keen on The Thing these days? Wasn't that the world's most boring film?' So I finally braced myself to watch it again after over 25 years but I must have had John Carpenter's 1982 masterpiece confused with 1951's The Thing From Another World or something else entirely. Sci-fi-Action-Psychological-Horror doesn't get much better than The Thing. A bunch of American research scientists in Antarctica have their lives turned upside down when someone from the neighbouring Norwegian research station mysteriously shows up in a helicopter trying to shoot a runaway dog. It turns out an imitative alien virus is lurking in the icy wilderness making everybody in the camp nervous and vulnerable. Conditions then become very unsettling and tense for the rest of the movie. This film has aged like fine wine. I now totally understand why so many film buffs are obsessed with The Thing. The special FX, action, ensemble cast and cinematography are sensational as is the minimal Morricone does Carpenter score. I keep being surprised at how gross and gory 80s movies were. They seem more extreme now than they did back in the day. Were MacReady (Kurt Russell) or Childs (Keith DavidThe Thing and does it even matter?


Friday The 13th Part III (1982)
It's probably not as good as the first two instalments but it's still more fun than a Tarkovsky film innit? The opening tune is Friday The 13th goes electro which is is outfuckingstanding. Part III starts out very dodgy, quite funny and takes it's time to get to the usual maniacal killing spree. This time we don't have camp counsellors. Instead we get a motley bunch of friends going to a holiday house for the weekend. Harold (Steve Susskind) from the Crystal Lake shop is one of the grossest characters in 80s film. He eats fish food and is later filmed sitting on a toilet drinking booze while doing number 2s or what can only be described as plops (as The Hysteria Continues Podcast will attest). Why this scene is included, I do not know. Some highlights include a nasty biker gang wearing crazy 80s fashions, a mental eye-popping death and a pot smoking hippy couple who seem way to old to be hanging out with these doomed holidaying youngsters. Part III is probably not as gory as the previous two entries and it was made for 3D, making many of the scenes redundant for my normal telly. Still if you like the first two you'll probably enjoy this.


The Perfection (2019)
A very entertaining and inventive modern 'Horror Movie right there on my TV.' It stars Marnie (Allison Williams) from Girls and Logan Browning who put in fine performances. The Mrs thought The Perfection was gonna be a bit like The Black Swan (2010). I thought it was going to be a virus outbreak movie. It turned out to be much much more. The Perfection was unpredictable, didn't miss a beat and ended in a place I was totally not expecting. If only directors and producers would take note that 90 minutes is the perfect movie length. Best thriller/horror of 2019 so far!


Saturday 8 June 2019

Too Low For .215061






Listening to AFX's Analogue Bubblebath Volume 3 the other day and the first track .215061 had me thinking: 'What does this remind me of ?' I was thinking it actually could have been some kind of disguised tribute to Elton John's classic 80s tune Too Low For Zero. Am I right? Or just wrong in the head? Now I'm actually convinced he's sampled it.

Friday 7 June 2019

Holly Herndon - Proto


Holly Herndon creator of possibly the best record of the 10s Platform (2015) is back with a new LP. How excitement. Only one listen in...more thoughts about Proto later.

Thursday 16 May 2019

Mordant Music - Mark Of The Mould



It says this:
'Baron Mordant bows out with MM’s last full-length emission as eMMplekz meet an EMS Synthi-A 'Out of Town'…IBM' at bandcamp. Does that even make sense? More to the point did you expect that to make sense?

While there may not be a forthcoming eMMplekz LP as far as I know, Mark Of The Mould is close enough. It's Baron doing his thing with words and voice, only this time he's doing the music himself. That's no bad bad thing either as this is the gentleman who brought us one of the few all time classic albums of the 00s in Dead Air (2006). He IS a sonic technician as well a man crazy with his use of language. Mordant has a sharp insight into the absurdity of his/our lives. The word onslaught isn't quite as dense as that on those four great eMMplekz LPs as there's breathing space with longer stretches of sonic interludes. Also included in the album release is an entire instrumental version of the LP. Which I must admit I haven't listened to yet so I dunno if he's remixed or dubbed the fuck out the original tunes.

Still Baron Mordant is our modern day melange of Ralph Hutter, John Cooper Clark and Ian Dury except his lyrics have been encrypted into a microchip and then spat out randomly and wrong. We get to picture his/our fragmented decaying minds and attention spans. A bunch of useless/mindless/alienated snippets are heard emanating from Mordant's vocal chords. There are snapshots depicting our ridiculous relationships with the modern urban world and all the weight of technology that goes with it. While Baron remains belligerent, he's slightly more focused, poetic and even melodic compared to eMMplekz like he was on some of the more song oriented tracks from Mordant Music. Musically there's a hundred years of electronic sonic debris spilling out of an infected computerised music machine. However there is no doubt Mark Of The Mould is a 21st Century concoction albeit of the delirious, combustible and noxious kind. Somewhere on the internet they laughably tagged this as dance music, I'd like to see you try.

'There's thousands of LPs like this.' says Ian but there isn't though that's why this is probably THE sonic document of 2019...well It's looking likely.

*I've written about Mordant previously here & there & everywhere & this one.

**Thanks to Simon @Blissblog for alerting me to this in the comments section of that Ekoplekz review.

***I'll probably do a proper review with a deeper dissection of the album at a later date, hey I'm only 10 listens in.


Thank you for the music IBM (Baron Mordant, Mordant Music and eMMplekz)

Wednesday 15 May 2019

Moon Wiring Club - Ghastly Garden Centres

So There's this.



An untimely new Moon Wiring club album which is a cd only release this time, I do believe. The discombobulating thing is that it's not being released at Christmas time. Moon Wiring Club have only done this once before when they issued Somewhere A Fox Is Getting Married in honour of Will & Kate's unveiling of Pippa's arse. Ghastly Garden Centres has just come unexpectedly out of the blue though. Perhaps they're having a release change up at The Blank Workshop. Who knows what's going on. What a delightful mid-year treat. Can't wait for it to arrive.



Sunday 5 May 2019

Ekoplekz - Kirlian Visionz


The most exciting musical news of the year is this here new cassette from Ekoplekz Kirlian Visionz. Only a handful of listens in but it sounds mighty to these ears. I think this is is the first of three new albums to be released by Ekoplekz in 2019. A new eMMplekz album would be good too but I'm not sure if that collaborative project is still operational. Kirlian Visionz is another archival release of Ekoplekz material. According to the Seagrave label's twitter account this tape was compiled by The Fissure Family (?). Described variously as 'studio fragments' and 'several years of audio Shrapnel'. Don't let that put you off though as it's quite a cohesive (well as cohesive as Ekoplekz can be) little set. Track 2 Junction 18 is outstanding, he could do a whole LP of this kinda exhaust-y sonic bass debris and I'd be very happy. Perhaps Nick would have left off certain tracks from proper releases as he might have thought they sounded too close to his influences like Mouse On Mars (Kirlian Skank) or AFX (Nocturnalis) but these two tunes are just Ekoplekz homages that just end up sounding like Ekoplekz, like Ekoplekz doing a cover of these artists and totally making them his own. In fact what I assume will be side two (track 6-10) of the tape is pure fucking gold. Oh and the rest is good too. 

Friday 3 May 2019

N Chambers aka Panabrite


I've been wondering what happened to Panabrite. I think I did a search like a year ago and found nothing. It turns out he's now just using his own name instead of the Panabrite moniker. So now he's the artist formally known as Panabrite aka N Chambers. He's choosing to leave out his full first name which is Norm. Norm Chambers used to run the fabulous Lunar Atrium blog back in the day which introduced me to loads of great music. Panabrite released a spate of terrific albums from 2010 to 2016 including Nordsee, Contemplating The Observatory, Soft Terminal, The Baroque Atrium, Blue Grotto, Cortex Meridian Pavilion. I've only just realised he's released 5 albums under his own name since 2014, so that's rather exciting news. Air Example, from initial listens, sounds like Norm at the top of his game, giving any of those aforementioned Panabrite albums a run for their money. This is really cool meticulous electronic stuff and yes there are aquatic moments for your atmospheric listening pleasure. It even gets a bit dubwise in places. The best thing these ears have come across in 2019.


This glorious tune is taken from the N Chambers cassette Idea Region released in 2018 via Muzan Editions. I've just managed to track down a digital version of Idea Region at bandcamp, the tape is now sold out. Idea Region is just one of three albums he released last year. It might even be better than the new record. This aural splendour features bliss-scapes that turn sinister, underwater metagalactic drones, celestial oceans dripping with empty space, 5th world miniature toy gamelan orchestras and even something that sounds like Genesis P-Orridge leaving a static-y cosmogonic phone message.



Just discovered this recent marvellous dj mix from Mr Chambers too. Synth & Percussion Zones Vol. 1 was uploaded a month ago and it's an all vinyl set featuring avant-garde, electronic and experimental fringe dwellers such as Cleve Pozar, Daniel Palkowski, Giusto Pio & Mike Vickers. This made my day. Hopefully he will continue going down this musical path with more crate diggin deep cut goodness.

Wednesday 1 May 2019

More On Movies - May

But British Telly Though...


Over the last month movies old and new have really been put on the back burner as I've re-watched Line Of Duty again from season one through to the new season which is its fifth. That's a hell of a lot of telly. I could go on and on about the actoring, the amazing nefarious and clandestine storylines, the incredible tension created on screen and the masterful production but you probably already know all about that otherwise you're missing out, get on board! I've said this before and I'll say it again Line Of Duty is quite possibly the best cop show ever.


Oh and then there was Bodyguard (2018) which is another Jed Mercurio creation (He being the creator of Bodies & Line Of Duty). I missed it last year so I watched this six part series too. That was some spectacular telly right there. No wonder it was the highest rated drama in recent British TV history. Keely Hawes, who plays Julia Montague, has got to be the greatest living actress right now.


Also binged the first season of Derry Girls from 2018 which is fantastic unlike the embarrassingly unconvincing teen comedy-drama of 2019 Sex Education. Derry Girls is set in Northern Ireland in the 90s. It's about a bunch of catholic teenagers, their families and the troubles. Very bloody funny, great acting, terrific little plots and convincing characters. Sister Michael the unpredictable, negative and sardonic nun is without doubt my favourite character. It's great to see some Irish telly (yeah I know Northern Ireland is technically the UK but you know what I mean) which is rare for me. The only other good Irish TV shows I can actually think of from recent memory are The Fall and Father Ted. I'm sure there must be other good stuff but it just doesn't reach me. Bring on season two.  


Terror (1978)
I thought I'd never seen this before but it turns out I had. A sleazy good fun 70s British horror film with red herrings galore, family curses and bloody murder. The sound design is vey Suspiria-esque with its stormy weather, loud electronic score and noise. A giallo/slasher/supernatural/haunted kinda thing. Well worth checking out.


The Making Of Halloween (2010)
I found this on an old hard-drive so I have no idea if it's some kind of Blu-ray extra or a stand alone doc. The production quality is high though. This is a pretty good look at the the paradigm shifting 1978 horror classic Halloween directed by John Carpenter. We've got all the right talking heads including Jamie Lee Curtis, PJ Soles, John Carpenter, Debra Hill etc. Documentaries like this either interest you or take the magic out of film making for you. If you're in the former camp you'll probably enjoy it although you might already know much of what is being regurgitated here and if you're in the latter camp it might just be a little bit too boring, demystifying and/or annoying.


Bay Of Blood aka Twitch Of The Death Nerve aka Carnage aka Blood Bath (1970)
Mario Bava's proto-slasher giallo that comes unencumbered with the usual police procedural plot device. It's been documented before that Friday The 13th movies must have definitely ripped off some of these kill scenes. The phones, the fashion, the cars, the interior design and the bucolic setting all add to the incredible aesthetic of this stylishly put together movie. Bay Of Blood is a cohesive giallo plus it has a great ending. You don't need me to tell you this is a classic.


House Of Mortal Sin aka The Confessional (1976)
Wow I've never seen this before and what a little beauty it is. Where do I start? A Catholic priest (Anthony Sharp) gaslights a beautiful woman (Susan Penhaligon) who accidentally becomes an obsession of his. A brutal bloodbath ensues but you never quite know where the plot is going. House Of Mortal Sin is a total revelation for me. English horror from the 70s just keeps surprising me. We've got some very groovy 70s interior design, cars and fashion just before punk happened. Interesting take on Catholicism, that is now just as relevant if not more so than ever. I was brought up a catholic (now lapsed) and I never understood why priests couldn't get married. They should have women priests and married male priests and gay priests and whatever Jesus would want...er ok that's my rant. Watch out for the sensational uniquely Catholic death scene, all I can say is incense is involved. Highly recommended.

The Swimmer (1968)
Pretentious, corny American shit that reminds me of all the awful American literature we had to put up with in school (That shit was not a patch on Russian, English & French literature was it?) This film looks and feels more like the early to mid 60s than the late 60s. I'm going to use a phrase previously used in another Frank Perry directed film review: This is arty-farty navel gazing horse shit of the worst kind. Ned Merrill (Burt Lancaster) has the lame idea of swimming a lap of everyones pool in his neighbourhood on his way to eventually reaching his home on top of the hill. It's telegraphed early on that perhaps Ned's home and life mentioned may not be waiting for him when his stupid backyard jumping adventure is complete. Or that maybe this whole film is all in Ned's head. The film hits rock bottom with possibly the corniest scene in the history of film where Ned and some kid pretend to swim a lap of an empty pool. This made me want to poke my eyes out, chop off my ears and sever my head. Am I supposed to get emotional about these smug shallow upper middle class wankers? Why I watched the whole thing is a mystery to me. It gets even more awful as the soundtrack is incongruous and just plain bad music. The Swimmer's definitely strange but not in a good way, more of a naff way. If you wanna spend an hour and a half watching a fit 50-something year old Burt Lancaster in just his swimming trunks (he gets nude too) then this film is for you. Not for me.


Don't Go In The House (1979)
I needed a fire cleansing after the bourgeois travesty of the previous film. An old favourite like this was never going to disappoint. It starts out with a man catching fire in the first minute and it doesn't let up as it zips along at great pace. Much pyromania throughout as the disturbed Donny (Dan Grimaldi), who is hearing voices, goes mental with his flame thrower. Not forgetting the classic disco scene where Donny, in his brand new disco threads, sets his date's hairdo on fire. The soundtrack is excellent with mucho disco, some rock and the legendary Richard Einhorn supplying the score of delirious electronic interludes. Now this is what I call a movie worth watching!

God Told Me To (1976)
I started reading Men, Women & Chainsaws: Gender In The Modern Horror Film (1992) by Carol J Clover the other day and one of the first movies mentioned was this Larry Cohen directed effort. If I'd seen this film when I was a teenager I would have loved it but I first saw it only 15 years ago by which time my love for sci-fi had pretty much ended (and don't get me started on message films). Not that God Told Me To is straight sci-fi. In fact I don't know what the fuck it is. It's horror, drama, police procedural, upside-down biblical epic, message movie etc. All I know is: it's weird for weird's sake but not in a good way, for me anyway. This film has many admirers and a cult following. The self importance of the film just rubs me the wrong way. Even the Bernard Hermann music makes this film just much more dated than it is. A bunch of spree killings across New York are investigated by Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco) who finds out all the killers are saying God told them to do it. This is just the beginning of the strangeness. This film could be read in a number of ways and perhaps you should watch it at least once to see what all the fuss is about and for Andy Kaufman's first appearance on celluloid but don't blame me if you hate it. You might also want to see where Panos Cosmatos got his inspiration for Mandy (2018) from.
 


Sleepaway Camp (1983)
This was another movie mentioned in the first few pages of Men, Women & Chainsaws. It had been a while since I'd last watched it so I thought why not? Sleepaway Camp is an endlessly enjoyable and re-watchable flick with that memorable ending. Anything set in modern times that includes a death by bow and arrow is well worth watching I reckon. This is a teen angst slasher film of the highest order. We've got accidental death by boat, Paedophiles, nerds, crazy Aunties, bullies, realistic nasty dialogue, dads having sex with other men, men beating children, actual young actors playing young teens, death by a swarm of bees, mental 80s fashion, brutal curling tong violence... I mean it's got the lot! Many slashers don't stand the test of time but Sleepaway Camp seems to have gained in reputation over the last 35 years to become one of the all time classics of the genre that it is today. Who am I to disagree? This movie would be in my top ten best slashers of all time. Get out your quarter length t-shirt and let the good times & body count roll. One of the most unforgettable films in history.


Madman (1981)
From the golden year of the slasher comes this below average generic flick. They forgot to add in suspense or were just so incompetent they couldn't figure out how to. The legend of Madman Marz (similar to that of Cropsey) is told around a campfire at a summer camp which summons Marz back into crazed action. Marz goes on a slightly gory rampage and most of the camp's adults are killed. There are some odd moments like the lady playing a recorder on her own in a boat in the dark, the long hot tub love scene while a cheesy slow jam plays as Marz pervs through the window etc. One of the movie's saving graces is the very cool minimal electronic score. The best thing though is the excellent dark electro folk tune Madman Marz that plays over the closing credits, which is like Human League collaborating with Comus. Madman is for slasher completists only.


Blood Rage aka Nightmare At Shadow Woods aka Slasher (1983/87)
Now this is an entertaining slasher depending on what you consider entertainment that is. If you are mature and middlebrow forget it. This not necessarily a good film, it's the sort of silly movie you should watch off your head with your mates or when it's 1.00AM and you can't sleep or when you're 15 or perhaps never. Tonally Blood Rage is all over the place. Some actors are fully camping up the melodrama while others are severely underplaying their roles. Sometimes it's a little bit funny and other times it's a bit grim. There are exciting passages then really fucking boring ones. The gore and Richard Einhorn's soundtrack however are quite spectacular. A couple of identical twin children are involved in a murder at a drive in. The wrong twin Todd (Mark Soper) is sent to a mental institution. Ten years later Todd escapes causing his twin brother Terry (also Mark Soper) to go into a murderous frenzy. Special mention must go to Louise Lasser who puts in a splendid nutsoid performance as Maddy, the mother of the twins. I can't beleive David Lynch has never cast her in one of his films. All I've got to say is 'That is not Cranberry sauce'.

Sunday 7 April 2019

More On Movies - April


A New Leaf (1971)
Elaine May's directorial debut starring Walter Matthau and Elaine herself is a charming little film despite the huge production dramas behind the scenes. A spoilt trust fund adult Henry (Matthau) runs out of money. He decides the answer to his problems is to find a rich heiress to marry while keeping up appearances as still being wealthy himself. He finds Henrietta (May), a nerdy klutz, who fits the bill perfectly and the hi-jinx roll on from there. A silly black comedy that's worth watching.


Play It As It Lays (1972)
This is based on the Joan Didion book from 1970 so while it was released in 1972, it's definitely a late 60s film in vibe man. Arty-farty navel gazing existential horse shit of the worst kind or kinda groovy nonsensical, but with its own internal logic, meditation on the meaninglessness of life and how life affirming nihilism can be. I'm going for the latter this time but when I first saw this movie a couple of years ago I was absolutely in the first camp. Pretentious Moi? Frank Perry, I think that's Katy's late uncle, directed this time capsule of California and the emptiness of the film industry, fame and life itself. If you like the sound of all that then no worries, but otherwise steer clear. Another one I discovered on my Anthony Perkins investigation and he stars here once again with Tuesday Weld.

Romeo Is Bleeding (1994)
Noticed this was streaming on Stan (an Australian streaming service similar to Netflix), got five and a half minutes in and that was it. Oh My God what pretentious, generic and embarrassing crap those minutes were. Did I need to give it more time? It felt like I gave it a lifetime!


Dressed To Kill (1980)
After the surprise beginning of Angie Dickinson flicking the bean in the shower there's an absurdly lengthy museum scene which really seems to serve no purpose (except to to drive me & Emma crazy) as it could have been condensed into less than a minute. Once you get past the gallery scene, the film really begins and the suspense builds like only a Hitchcock rip off can. Academy award winning hair goes to Nancy Allen. Good funny twisted movie. Look out for false endings.


Arthur (1981)
It's funny, it's sad...I can't really think of anything to say about this film as I've seen it so many times. I don't even know if it's good or bad.


The Hot Rock (1972)
I gotta say I wasn't expecting much from this crime-heist movie as I'd never even heard of it until a couple of years ago. It's a Twilight Time release though so I thought I'd roll the dice. The Hot Rock starts off unassuming but unrolls quite nicely with unexpected twists and turns and never misses a beat. Robert Redford is peak handsome Redford but he's not just that, his actoring is good, along with the ever reliable George Segal. An enjoyable lil crime film.


The Honeymoon Killers (1969)
This was a first time watch for me and woah! it's the best discovery I've made in ages. This film has been on my radar for something like 30 years and it didn't disappoint. The filmmakers get you in, in the opening seconds of this movie and it just doesn't ever lull. Amazing story, perfect pacing, wonderful characters, strangely erotic, viscerally violent and it's based on a true story apparently. Raymond Femandez (Tony Lo Bianca) and Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler) develop a criminal scheme of ripping off lonely spinsters via a lonely hearts correspondence club with diabolical consequences. You think 'I wish there were a hundred films like this' but then you realise the uniqueness of The Honeymoon Killers is part of what makes this so great. A quintessential cult movie.


Cruising (1980)
Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is a heterosexual cop who goes undercover into the underground gay leather bar/S&M scene to investigate a series of murders that have occurred. An absurd little film set in the NYC cesspool era that's rather enjoyable although it does become quite strange towards the end. The ambiguous ending is not going to be for everyone so I'm not sure if I can actually recommend it but it is a fascinating curio from the end of the new Hollywood era so... I mean if you're into film history, Friedken, Pacino, Spinell or gay history you've probably already watched it anyway....


The Fly (1986)
Is this David Cronenberg's last great film? I Loved it when I was a teen and I was kinda shocked by it now as a somewhat older human. Quite sexual and erotic to begin with and then it turns into an absolutely grim monster movie. Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis are terrific as The Fly's main stars. Much more gory and sad than I remember though.

CAM (2018)
Gimme a fuckin break here Netflix. What a load of cods wallop! I thought this was going to be somewhere along the lines of the cyber-thriller Nerve (2016) or at least just as exciting after hearing many recommendations but that was not to be. A good premise executed poorly. A cam girl somehow gets her identity stolen then things go out of control from there but the suspense just doesn't build to high levels like it should, it gets pretty stupidly annoying and I just got fed up. Netflix original movies are losing their allure and I just can't imagine pressing play on one in the near future to be quite honest. They do some good series telly like Glow, Dirty John, The Sinner, Ozark, Mindhunter etc. but fuck I dunno what the hell is going on in their movie department.


Nail Gun Massacre (1985)
This was mentioned just too many times on The Hysteria Continues podcast for me to ignore. I had to finally seek it out. Confusing, low budget trash of the highest order. This movie could have almost been good. There's a killer on the loose, who is driving a hearse, wearing a motorbike helmet with a nail gun as their weapon of choice. Plenty of boobs and blood on the dusty backroads of Nowhere-ville Texas. For cult film enthusiasts, slasher completists and fans of bad acting. Nail Gun Massacre has some of the strangest dialogue ever caught on film. This is definitely not very good but it's often entertaining.