Rupert Pupkin Speaks: August 2011

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Netflix Instant "Gems" Vol. 27

Apologies for the delay in getting this new volume out. I have started writing a bit for Daily Grindhouse and that has taken priority. Great site btw, check it out. So I have fully switched over to just streaming from Netflix at this point. I may go back to discs as well. I wasn't enraged by the price hike, but honestly had been renting discs less and less so I decided to try streaming only for a bit. There's still plenty of good stuff there to be viewed, but it seems that the 1st of the month model is the primary influx of huge #s of catalog titles. That being said I was very pleased to see BLUE COLLAR show up. It's my favorite Paul Schrader film and one of my favorites of the 70s. Great performances by all leads, despite apparent on set tension. Also worth your time is the excellent Mazursky flick AN UNMARRIED WOMAN, featuring the late Jill Clayburgh in one of her finest roles. DAVID HOLZMAN'S DIARY is perhaps the first 'Mockumentary' and a film that has had a substantial influence on up to our current TV narratives. Speaking of influence, Jack Cardiff is one hell of a Cinematographer and his career is well worth exploring in the doc CAMERAMAN: THE LIFE AND WORK OF JACK CARDIFF. On the quirky side, FIVE CORNERS is a neat little film from the writer of JOE VS. THE VOLCANO (and the director of MY BODYGUARD). TREMORS 2 is actually a pretty fun sequel in my opinion if you're into those films(I even like 3 and 4). And VIDEODROME is of course Cronenberg at the height of his powers. Watch it. Same goes for a great doc from 2008 called FUEL.

ATTACK FORCE Z(1982; Tim Burstall)
BLUE COLLAR(1978; Paul Schrader)
CAMERAMAN: THE LIFE AND WORK OF JACK CARDIFF(2010; Craig McCall)
CLEOPATRA(1963; Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
DAVID HOLZMAN'S DIARY(1967; Jim McBride)
DO YOU REMEMBER DOLLY BELL?(1981; Emir Kusturica)
DREAM HOME(2010; Ho-Cheung Pang)
EDDIE MACON'S RUN(1983; Jeff Kanew)
THE ELECTRIC HORSEMAN(1979; Sydney Pollack)
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN(1980; Don Taylor)
FIVE CORNERS(1987; Tony Bill) FUEL(2008; Joshua Tickell)
THE CLOWNS(1970; Federico Fellini)
THE LEFT HANDED GUN(1958; Arthur Penn)
LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING(1955; Henry King)
MARK OF THE DEVIL(1970; Michael Armstrong)
MILLENIUM(1989; Michael Anderson)
MR. MAGOO IN SHERWOOD FOREST(1964; Abe Levitow)
TREMORS 2: AFTERSHOCKS(1995; Andy Wilson)
AN UNMARRIED WOMAN(1978; Paul Mazursky)
VIDEODROME(1983; David Cronenberg)

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Movie art!

I know this is far from a new trend, but I really can't help but get excited for all the movie related art out there now. Of course we're all aware of Mondo's wonderful limited edition movie prints. Great stuff(if difficult to get without paying a bunch of $$). Their most recent BUCKAROO BANZAI and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3 Posters were both excellent. Here in L.A. there have been a few film art shows of late that caught my attention. The Crazy 4 Cult series and the Pee Wee Herman related art shows at the glorious Gallery 1988 are just jaw-dropping in terms of the collection of amazing and geeky pieces exhibited there. Artists like Dave Perillo and Tom Whalen have really caught my eye. Also, just saw some prints from Charles Forsman yesterday. His JAWS in the style of Peanuts and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK in the style of the Popeye comic strips are just inspired(and going fast). Beyond prints there is much creative energy being put into geek movie t-shirts. I am a huge collector of these myself. Sites like Shirtoid, are great for keeping track of new geek wear from other sites like Ript, Teefury, Redbubble, Threadless & Found Item Clothing. Oh and let's not forget Last Exit To Nowhere(aka film nerd heaven) and of course Fright Rags. All this movie art in its various forms has really eased my complete and total dissatisfaction with the state of movie posters today. Not that I needed anything new to collect...
(*Special thanks to Badass Digest & /Film for keeping me up to date on all the cool film art out there)

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Netflix Instant "Gems" Vol. 26

Apologies for the delay in putting out this new volume. I've noticed(as you all probably have) that Netflix is now putting less new stuff up on Instant Watch lately. This trend disturbs me just a bit with the September 1st plan switch date rapidly approaching. I do hope they will get back to putting more films and TV on with more regularity, but only time will tell. Nonetheless there are some good films and some junk films(or worse) for you all to enjoy. First, the good. This group includes things like Tim Hunter's RIVER'S EDGE, the Steve Tesich(BREAKING AWAY) scribed EYEWITNESS, DRESSED TO KILL, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE, WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS, MARRIED TO THE MOB, MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY, HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE, The Phil Ochs Doc, DEAD END, WINTER'S BONE, THE MUMMY and maybe STREETS OF FIRE(though many might put that in the junk category). The junk includes the likes of STAYIN' ALIVE, THE MANSTER, STRANGE DAYS, DIE HARD 2(and UNDER SIEGE 2), THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS and the glorious Linda Blair trifecta of ROLLER BOOGIE, THE EXORCIST 2 and HELL NIGHT. If you're looking for a quick pick me up, the opening scenes of ROLLER BOOGIE alone should make you smile. My favorite moment comes when a couple who has chosen to make out on top of a dumpster, jumps down from said perch to join a roller skating conga line. If Linda Blair's not your thing then perhaps a nice double of Don Adams with THE NUDE BOMB and GET SMART AGAIN? And of course there are always Seagal options. Also this week there is a special section of sub-junk type films and that umbrella covers things like BIRDEMIC: SHOCK AND TERROR and FRED: THE MOVIE(both indescribably bad in their own ways, BIRDEMIC being much more entertaining).