The College Crowd Digs Me

"I'd like to lick the coil some day... Like Icarus, who had to pay with melting wax and feathers brown. He tasted it on his way down." -- Phish -- This surprisingly twisted film, directed by legendary Frank Capra ...rolls comedy, horror, romance, and drama into one long, smooth and satisfying smoke. "Arsenic And Old Lace" (1944) is a whacked-out tale revolving around a hyperactive longtime bachelor...Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) who finally takes the marital plunge and returns to his hometown to announce the good news to his two favorite aunts who are now running a boardinghouse for elderly men. Crazy Aunts - Jean Adair & Josephine Hull These delightful old sisters are perfect as the sweetly naive and macabre spinsters who share a very strange secret. Mortimer, of course, accidentally stumbles upon his aunts..."charitable activities"...and quickly realizes his favorite relatives have been loitering just a little too close to Insan...

"Breakdown nearly every day. Shoulda known ya couldn't get away." --> Cheap Trick <-- "Valley Of The Dolls" is a guilty pleasure. A favorite mistake that rewards in spite of itself. It's a groan-fest frothing with over-the-top acting and show-biz cliches. But I absolutely dug it! Partly because of the look and vibe...but mostly because the actors are so freaking sincere. Without spoilers, 3 young girls (one very sweet...one very ambitious...one not so talented) get schooled in the shag-nasty ways of show-business circa late 60's New York City. Barbara Parkins, Sharon Tate, Patty Duke Barbara Parkins , I suppose, is the Dorothy on this yellow-brick road. Patty... "a hotdog makes her lose control" ...Duke is still a cutie. And Sharon Tate (who we all know from...well, you know) was considered a star on the rise. I've never been a huge fan of singer, Dionne Warwick , but she was the perfect choice singing the the...

"Shadows run in full flight, to run, seek and hide." --> Rory Gallagher <-- Woody Allen (the actor) is the quirky conundrum wandering through much of his films as the self-doubting timid-timmy. Never sure what his next move should be or when it should be made. Woody Allen (the director) doesn't have that problem. "Shadows and Fog" is first and foremost a loving homage to the great b/w directors of lore. Fritz Lang quickly comes to mind...as does Bergman . Hints of Hitchcock and Fellini and others I'm sure I've forgotten. And it looks fantastic! Woody Allen & Mia Farrow Woody skillfully uses darkness and light to present a beautiful and amusing story involving sheepish Kleinman ( Woody Allen ) being roused from sleep by vigilantes demanding help catching a serial killer. There's also a subplot about circus performers and brothel activities that loosely connect like old Legos. Initially panned, there was argy-bargy about the all...

"You don't have to tell the neighbors. A little silence ain't no sin." --> John Prine <-- There is a moment when Kenny Shopsin proudly recounts the time his wife brashly walked between 2 masked men holding up a fast food place because she needed more ketchup for her french fries. It is this kind of moxy that makes... "I Like Killing Flies" (2004) an oddly compelling documentary. Opinionated chef Kenny Shopsin ...is a long-standing owner of a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Greenwich Village.    His ball. His rules .   Or get the f*** outta here. It’s been rumored he was the inspiration for Seinfeld ’s famous ”Soup Nazi” episodes (he wasn’t) but comparisons are easily found. Kenny Shopsin Documentaries (good ones anyway) present their subject...flaws and all.  Never overstay their welcome. And create a memory burn long after the film has been streamed. This one succeeds on all 3 counts. The film is tagged with a...

"We are programmed just to do  anything you want us to." --> Kraftwerk <-- One of the allures of older sci-fi films is the message and vision the director tries to bring to front. Director Jean-Luc Godard creates a bleak, black-n-white futuristic world in a wonderfully odd film-noirish style. "Alphaville" (filmed on the streets of Paris) is a futuristic city controlled by a super-computer with a nasty wet-phlegm voice. It demands a society of hollow people void of emotion and free thought. To assist in sucking away all human feelings...the creative arts of every medium have been completely eliminated. (Or else death will be your Santa Claus). Eddie Constantine Eddie Constantine brings a great added noir flavor to the film as the haggard secret agent... Lemmy Caution . No flash or pose. A perfect choice. The film is subtitled but don't let this deter you . Dialogue is comfortably paced and easy to follow. And despite (or because)...

" Man comes home, chase the crowds in the rain. That's a vigilante man ." --> Nazareth <-- I enjoy the occasional Western from time to time...but rarely am I surprised by the methodology the movie chooses to take from point A to point B. "The Deadly Trackers" is a wonderfully weird and extremely violent journey of vengeance. Sure, the vengeance theme is familiar enough...but the cast of characters thrown into the mix are a tripper's dream. Richard Harris Richard Harris is the pacifist Texas sheriff who quickly gets over that...when his family are killed in a bank robbery gone bad. Then he becomes a one-track-minded terminator. The antagonists in this film are Rod Taylor , the snake-nasty leader of a snake-nasty gang that include... one mentally-challenged muscle head . one flashy-glam black cat gambler . one angry hoss with a heavy chunk of train-rail grafted to his arm from the elbow down...(I'm not kidding)...and played ...

"Are you my friend? Are you my plumber?" --> Iggy Pop <-- "Kansas City Confidential" is a B-movie crime caper ...surprisingly taught and tight in the telling...and very pleasing to the eye. Noir films have always been a guilty-pleasure and this one easily falls in the "better than most" category. A well-executed bank heist causes an innocent flower delivery guy ( John Payne ) to be arrested. Later released, but fired from his job anyway...ex-flower delivery guy goes hunting for the real robbers. Neville Brand & Lee Van Cleef Jack Elam The story is standard noir fare, for sure...with some clever twists. But it is the inspired bad-guy casting that sweetens the shuffle. The bugeyed Jack Elam . The throaty Neville Brand . The mustache-less Lee Van Cleef (looking like Cosmo Kramer ). All younger actors playing the heavies and they steal every scene. "Mask"  -   Iggy Pop /   Beat 'Em Up (2001)    You...