| Intl. Notebook | Jun 9 2019 |
Endless sights in the City of Light.
We're back from Paris and it was as expected. We found a lot of great items we'll be uploading in the next days and weeks. And months, probably. Paris has many great sights, in every part of the city, but this time we ended up staying in Montmartre, an area that reminds us a bit of Washington Square, in San Francisco, that same feel of a tourist zone in a big city that has somehow managed to hang onto a neighborhood identity. As we wandered around town we saw scores of bookstores, some of which you see photos of below, and many had the type of material we were searching for. The focus this time ended up being on cinema magazines and comic books. Keep your eyes peeled. We have amazing things to show you.
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FranceParisMontmartreThe Seven Year Itch7 ans de réflexionMidnight LacePiège à minuitMarilyn MonroeDoris Daycinema
| Modern Pulp | Mar 15 2019 |
Pink and yellow are normally so cheery.
Zûmu in: Bôkô danchi, for which you see a poster above, is another Nikkatsu roman porno movie, with a serial killer/rapist on the loose dispatching women in baroque and horrible ways. The star of the movie, Erina Miyai, falls victim to a rapist early on but is not killed. When the murders start she wonders if it's the same man. That question is answered quickly, but mystery is not really the point here. The goal seems to be making a mash-up of Japanese pinku (pink film) and Italian giallo (yellow film).
For example, during one of the killings a woman is pursued past an apartment block, but in filmmaking terms she's running in place, which lends the scene the nightmarish quality characteristic of giallo. All the windows beyond her are illuminated, but as she screams for help the lights go out one by one. As far as mixing filmmaking palettes goes, it's nice work. As far as the message, was director Naosuke Kurosawa also trying to tell viewers Japan was becoming inured to violent crime? Perhaps.
Based on the existence of roman porno Japan was for sure becoming inured to violent movies. Zûmu in: Bôkô danchi is more violent than most, but with its deliberate attempt to transcend—however slightly—the requisites of roman porno, it's also better than most. Does that mean it's actually good? Not as such, but for serious film buffs it's worth a glance and a discussion. It premiered today in 1980.
JapanNikkatsuZûmu in: Bôkô danchiズームイン 暴行団地/ 宮井えりな 梓ようこZoom In: Rape ApartmentsErina MiyaiNaosuke Kurosawaposter artcinemaroman pornopinkumovie review
| Vintage Pulp | Mar 14 2019 |
That moment when you realize your neighbors have known all along you've been watching them.
Above, a poster for Danchizuma: Kanki no yoru, aka Apartment Wife: Night of Pleasure, starring Junko Miyashita, Tatsuya Hamaguchi, and Masumi Jun. This is of course another Nikkatsu roman porno romp, with all that the label suggests. This entry was seventh in a franchise that eventually totaled twenty-one films. It premiered in Japan today in 1973.
JapanNikkatsuDanchizuma: Kanki no yoruApartment Wife: Night of Pleasure団地妻 歓喜の夜Junko Miyashitaposter artcinemapinkuroman pornosexploitation
| Modern Pulp | Nov 15 2018 |
Eli Roth and AMC make History with a seven part look at horror cinema.
Those of you in the U.S. who appreciate horror cinema may want to carve out a little time Sunday night for the final episode of the retrospective Eli Roth's History of Horror. It's been airing weekly on the cable network American Movie Classics, aka AMC, since mid-October. Though the British network BBC broadcast a very good three part horror retrospective in 2010 (and it even had a similar title—A History of Horror), genre landscapes shift quickly. The Brit series was made before important films like Get Out, It, Let Me In, its remake Let the Right One In, et al hit cinemas. Eli Roth's History of Horror is a newer and deeper look at fright films. Each 60-minute episode focuses on a specific type of terror, such as vampires, monsters, demons, and slashers.
Overall the series is great. Roth discusses not just the movies, but horror's cultural impact, and weights those observations toward the last ten years. Because of the change that has occurred this decade those sections resonate nicely. Horror's ability to make social issues digestible as allegories is a key part of the form's worth. For instance, Get Out's idea of the sunken place, a metaphor for living (and dying) while black in America, would be rejected by many white filmgoers if it were in a standard narrative. But for us the social impact of horror movies is merely a bonus. We love them viscerally first, intellectually second. We love
the tension that results from not knowing—usually, at least—which characters will survive. We love how the films' kinetic and often low budget natures lead to amazing little accidents, such as the bit in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre when Leatherface grabs Teri McMinn on the porch of his house and both the girl's sandals fly off. That sort of detail isn't in a script. It happens during the shoot, and the director thanks the filmic gods for the extra iota of serendipitous realism.
the tension that results from not knowing—usually, at least—which characters will survive. We love how the films' kinetic and often low budget natures lead to amazing little accidents, such as the bit in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre when Leatherface grabs Teri McMinn on the porch of his house and both the girl's sandals fly off. That sort of detail isn't in a script. It happens during the shoot, and the director thanks the filmic gods for the extra iota of serendipitous realism. While very good, the series isn't perfect. In the episode on zombies, Roth discusses slow moving zombies for a while, then erroneously credits the arrival of speedy zombies to Danny Boyle 2002 hit 28 Days Later. But it was 1985's Return of the Living Dead that featured the first sprinting zombies in an American movie, and this was preceded by the 1980 Italian zombie epic Incubo sulla città contaminata, aka Nightmare City. We also were surprised Near Dark was ignored in the vampire episode. Time
has shown it to be better and more influential than The Lost Boys, which was discussed at length. If you doubt that, note that Near Dark's critic score on Rotten Tomatoes is 88%, while Lost Boys' is 27%. Critics are often wrong, especially when it comes to horror, but that level of variance is no fluke. And just to settle the argument, the audience rater on that website also prefers Near Dark. We suspect either box office receipts or Roth's personal preference played a role there, when quality should have been the deciding factor.
But we were gratified to see that many of our cherished beliefs were echoed by Roth and his co-hosts Rob Zombie and The Walking Dead producer Greg Nicotero. Yes, the towering werewolf from The Howling is the scariest ever put on screen. Beyond a doubt, John Carpenter's The Thing, which was close to universally panned upon release, is a top tier thriller. We're anticipating the segment on ghosts, the focus of Sunday night's series finale. We imagine these were saved for last because viewers are most interested in the subject, a curiosity that derives from the fact that many people actually believe ghosts exist. We expect the episode to discuss such old and new classics as The Haunting, The Shining, The Ring, and The Woman in Black. We'll see. But no spoilers, please. If you're in the States you can watch it before we do, whereas we'll have to (totally legally, we swear) download it the next day. But whenever you watch it, the show has been a nice treat for horror aficionados.
has shown it to be better and more influential than The Lost Boys, which was discussed at length. If you doubt that, note that Near Dark's critic score on Rotten Tomatoes is 88%, while Lost Boys' is 27%. Critics are often wrong, especially when it comes to horror, but that level of variance is no fluke. And just to settle the argument, the audience rater on that website also prefers Near Dark. We suspect either box office receipts or Roth's personal preference played a role there, when quality should have been the deciding factor.But we were gratified to see that many of our cherished beliefs were echoed by Roth and his co-hosts Rob Zombie and The Walking Dead producer Greg Nicotero. Yes, the towering werewolf from The Howling is the scariest ever put on screen. Beyond a doubt, John Carpenter's The Thing, which was close to universally panned upon release, is a top tier thriller. We're anticipating the segment on ghosts, the focus of Sunday night's series finale. We imagine these were saved for last because viewers are most interested in the subject, a curiosity that derives from the fact that many people actually believe ghosts exist. We expect the episode to discuss such old and new classics as The Haunting, The Shining, The Ring, and The Woman in Black. We'll see. But no spoilers, please. If you're in the States you can watch it before we do, whereas we'll have to (totally legally, we swear) download it the next day. But whenever you watch it, the show has been a nice treat for horror aficionados.
AMCEli Roth's History of HorrorReturn of the Living Dead28 Days LaterIncubo sulla città contaminataNightmare CityThe ThingNear DarkThe Lost BoysThe HowlingThe ShiningThe Woman in BlackThe Texas Chainsaw MassacreGet OutItLet Me InLet the Right One InThe HauntingThe RingEli RothDanny BoyleRob ZombieTeri McMinnJohn Carpentertelevisionhorror
| Femmes Fatales | Nov 10 2018 |
You guys have fun on the mountain. I'm skiing directly over to the chalet and hot tub.
There are those that ski and those that get loaded on Champagne in the jacuzzi. U.S. born actress Jane Wald seems to be in the latter category. Though she may have been a high altitude partier, she was more of a medium altitude actress, with a career comprising mostly guest slots on television shows, including two appearances on Batman. But this shot is epic. It's from 1966 and first appeared in the Belgian magazine Ciné-Revue.
| Vintage Pulp | Aug 28 2018 |
Maybe I should have listened to my parents and stayed in community college.
Above, a nice James Avati cover for Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham, copyright 1949. The hardback of this came out in 1946, and it was adapted to the big screen in 1947 with Tyrone Power in the lead role, so this art reflects the movie, which is why the cover femme looks like and is dressed like co-star Coleen Gray. This is one of many mid-century novels set in and around carnivals, and it's one of the better ones, we think. The film version adheres reasonably close to Gresham's original vision. We talked about it several years ago, so check here if you're interested. We've also talked about several other carnival books over the years and now we have an idea to put together a cover collection along those lines. We'll have to see if there are any examples left to find. But in the meantime you can see what we've already collected here, here, here, and here.Signet BooksNightmare AlleyWilliam Lindsay GreshamJames AvatiTyrone PowerColeen Graycover artliteraturecinemafilm noir
| Modern Pulp | Aug 16 2018 |
Altman and company get gangsta in the heartland.
Auteur and maverick Robert Altman directed several films centered around crime, but perhaps only his 1930s gangster flick Kansas City truly fits the bill as a pulp style effort. The plot tells the tale of Blondie O'Hara, whose petty crook husband Johnny is captured by gangster Seldom Seen and held at a nightclub, prompting Blondie to kidnap the wife of a local politician in an attempt to blackmail him into using his connections to free Johnny. Sounds straightforward, but Altman's approach to this is leisurely and episodic.
Kansas City is generally considered to be a lesser effort from the legendary director, but even if it's not in the class of Short Cuts or M*A*S*H*, it has some points of interest—a slithery jazz score, lots of smoky nightclub scenery, Steve Buscemi warming up for another gangster role in the brilliant Miller's Crossing, Harry Belafonte playing it cool, and Jennifer Jason Leigh giving her actorly all as the drawling, flapperesque Blondie.
Another plus is this killer promo poster. When we saw it we had to watch the movie. But what's the most important reason to watch it? Altman, of course. It's always fun to see what a director does with the 1930s. What's the main drawback? Aside from its narrative quirkiness, we suspect its racial content may be a bit much for those with millennial sensibilities. But don't fault art for holding a mirror to history. When we can't reflect the past in cinema we'll have fallen pretty far. Kansas City premiered in the U.S. today in 1996.
Another plus is this killer promo poster. When we saw it we had to watch the movie. But what's the most important reason to watch it? Altman, of course. It's always fun to see what a director does with the 1930s. What's the main drawback? Aside from its narrative quirkiness, we suspect its racial content may be a bit much for those with millennial sensibilities. But don't fault art for holding a mirror to history. When we can't reflect the past in cinema we'll have fallen pretty far. Kansas City premiered in the U.S. today in 1996.
Kansas CityBoardwalk EmpireMiller's CrossingJennifer Jason LeighHarry BelafonteSteve BuscemiMiranda RichardsonDermot MulroneyRobert Altmanposter artcinemamovie review
| Femmes Fatales | Dec 16 2017 |
Vera to the right, Vera to the left, Vera all over the place.
You often see U.S. born Vera-Ellen's name spelled without the hyphen, but it needs to be there. She was born Vera-Ellen Westmeier Rohe. She had another hyphen too—she was an actress-dancer, working both on Broadway and in Hollywood. Some of her films: On the Town, Let's Be Happy, The Kid from Brooklyn and Carnival in Costa Rica. The above photo was made for 1954's White Christmas, and just for fun there are more below. If you weren't already in the holiday spirit, we hope you are now.
White ChristmasOn the TownLet's Be HappyCarnival in Costa RicaThe Kid from BrooklynVera-EllenVera-Ellen Westmeier Rohe
| Vintage Pulp | Nov 30 2017 |
Swedish goddess Christina Lindberg explodes onto the international cinema scene.
The movie Rötmånad premiered in Sweden today in 1970, and since a good scan of its promotional poster is almost impossible to find, here you go—a nice clean version featuring star Christina Lindberg walking across a dock in all her glory. We can't imagine where this poster was displayed, unless it was in adult cinemas. Or maybe we're just prudes. Maybe it actually hung in the lobbies of every Swedish movie house and people from Sundsvall to Malmö got a nice look at Lindberg's little fur coat while going into showings of Darling Lili and The Aristocats.
Rötmånad's Swedish title would translate as “dog days,” but when it arrived in English speaking countries it was called What Are You Doing
After the Orgy? And funny thing, the film features no orgies, although sex is central to the story. What happens is a man and his seventeen-year-old daughter Anna-Bella's tranquil lives in a lakeside house are turned upside down when mom comes back home after five years away. Surprised at how beautiful her daughter has become, she concocts a scheme to open a brothel in the family boathouse and make Anna-Bella the star attraction. She's for sure not going to win mother of the year for this move, but in her favor, at least she plans to do some of the hard (sex) work herself.
When Anna-Bella meets a nice boy his presence threatens to ruin mom's plan to turn her daughter into a tourist attraction. The situation looks like it will necessitate a drastic solution, but what exactly can you hope to get away with on an idyllic Swedish lakeshore? Rötmånad is billed as a comedy, but if so it's a dark one. No surprise there, since Nordic humor is generally thought of as challenging for other cultures. But whether comic, tragic-comic, or just plain tragic, in the end Rötmånad is still little more than a vehicle for Lindberg to introduce her ample gifts to the world. She does exactly that—explosively. Watch the film and you'll see what we mean. She was nineteen—not seventeen—when the movie was made, she was gorgeous, and after this debut her stardom was assured.
Rötmånad's Swedish title would translate as “dog days,” but when it arrived in English speaking countries it was called What Are You Doing
After the Orgy? And funny thing, the film features no orgies, although sex is central to the story. What happens is a man and his seventeen-year-old daughter Anna-Bella's tranquil lives in a lakeside house are turned upside down when mom comes back home after five years away. Surprised at how beautiful her daughter has become, she concocts a scheme to open a brothel in the family boathouse and make Anna-Bella the star attraction. She's for sure not going to win mother of the year for this move, but in her favor, at least she plans to do some of the hard (sex) work herself.When Anna-Bella meets a nice boy his presence threatens to ruin mom's plan to turn her daughter into a tourist attraction. The situation looks like it will necessitate a drastic solution, but what exactly can you hope to get away with on an idyllic Swedish lakeshore? Rötmånad is billed as a comedy, but if so it's a dark one. No surprise there, since Nordic humor is generally thought of as challenging for other cultures. But whether comic, tragic-comic, or just plain tragic, in the end Rötmånad is still little more than a vehicle for Lindberg to introduce her ample gifts to the world. She does exactly that—explosively. Watch the film and you'll see what we mean. She was nineteen—not seventeen—when the movie was made, she was gorgeous, and after this debut her stardom was assured.
SwedenRötmånadWhat Are You Doing After the Orgy?Ulla SjöblomCarl-Gustaf LindstedtChristina Lindbergposter artcinemasexploitationnuditymovie review
| Femmes Fatales | Sep 26 2017 |
Whoa... is the floor swaying or is that me?
Audrey Totter isn't as well known today as she should be, considering she appeared in The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Lady in the Lake, F.B.I Girl, The Unsuspected, The Set-Up, Main Street After Dark, and Tension, but she was well appreciated in her day as a bad girl and film noir stalwart. Her career spanned radio, cinema, and television, and her life spanned ninety-five years, a good run on both counts. This promo photo of her in the typical bad girl's natural habitat—the local gin mill—was made in 1946 and appeared in Life magazine.
Life MagazineThe Postman Always Rings TwiceThe Lady in the LakeThe UnsuspectedThe Set-UpTensionMain Street After DarkF.B.I GirlAudrey Totterfilm noir
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