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Starring: Margo Winchester, Janet Wood, Raven De La Croix, Linda Sue Ragsdale, Robert McLane, Candy Samples,Su Ling, Edward Schaaf, Elaine Collins, Kitten Natividad. Sexploitation/DriveIn/Grindhouse.Directed by Russ Meyer.

Synopsis: A rich man with a lot of secrets, and who bears an uncanny resemblance to one Adolph Hitler, is murdered in his bathtub by use of piranhas and, with plenty of suspects, the race is on to find the murderer.

Anyone who has seen a Russ Meyer film knows that they are hard to describe, which is a good thing if you like this genre and his style of filmmaking.

And Up! is, in my opinion, the quintessential Russ Meyer film, heavily satirirical, frenetically paced, with the story unfolding amid a bevy of buxom beauties.

The thing to understand about Meyer films, for those of you who are uninitiated, is that it's not only scantily clad, large busted women looking for an excuse to get naked. Sure, there is plenty of that, but there is something else going in Meyer movies and Up! is no different. There is a strong undercurrent of female empowerment going on, albeit from the standpoint of our female protagonists using their natural assets and womanly wiles to foil the (unfailingly) dense and or corrupt male characters. 

In Up!, the action begins in frenetic and intense sensual fashion, with one Adolph Schwartz (Edward Schaaf) who has his head between the ample bosom of a nude, hooded woman (Candy Samples) while he is being whipped by a man in a Pilgrim outfit, our male protagonist, Paul (Robert McLane). Soon, there will be a visit from two more nude, busy beauties and Schwartz also doesn't limit his desire solely to the female gender.

Okay.   

And, from there, things really start to pick up. Schwartz, a dead ringer for Aldoph Hitler, is soon murdered by a faceless killer who puts killer piranhas in his hot tub.  Well, the pace only quickens from there and we meet some other interesting characters in town, like Sweet Li'l Alice (Janet Wood Slumber Party '57) , who is Paul's significant other and partner in the diner...and also finds time to have a little lesbian love on the side, Homer Johnson (Monty Bane) the salacious deputy, and also Margo Winchester (Raven De La Croix) a visitor to town who seems more than determined to get to know all of the interesting characters in town. 

The film unfolds mainly in the present tense with continual cutaways to our ensemble cast. I've been somewhat remiss, as they say, by not telling you the most unique aspect of this flick: you have an "on screen narrartor", called The Greek Chorus (Kitten Natividad Sugar Boxx) who, I should mention, gives us her (dubbed in English accent) narration completely in the buff. 

Look, this is schlock and sexploitation, no doubt about it, but that doesn't mean it isn't good. Meyer obviously had a unique view of the world and the latent power of sex, perhaps even more than that, sexual tension. His use of actresses with exceptionally sized breasts and putting prosethic organs on his male actors, to me, is his expression of how important a factor in life the sexual tension usually is and he is satirizing our pretension and denial about the potency of that reality. Just my thought.

This isn't Schindler's List or Traffic  and we know that going in...in fact,let's be honest, we don't want it to be. When you look at this box cover or decide to see a Meyer movie, you pretty much have an idea of what you want-to entertained and titillated-and this delivers.

The uninitiated as to Meyer films also need to understand this is not porn. At the time of it's release, the flick was rated X, but the rating had not been totally coopted by porno movies then. As some of you surely know, flicks like Midnight Cowboy and A Clockwork Orange   carried the X rating, too. Those movies would be R if released today as would Up! 

Being a Meyer fan means joining a niche fraternity, something I happily did years ago. His films are not for everyone, but those who do enjoy will have the type of flicks that literally are not, and could not, be made again. Mr. Meyer was one of a kind, some will argue that Up! was not his best film. 

But it is definitely my favorite of his unique body of work.

  

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis,Rosanna Arquette, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, Christopher Walken, Amanda Plummer,Harvey Keitel. Directed by Quentin Tarantino.Action/Drama/Comedy.

Synopsis: Two philosphical hit men run into a day's worth of unexpected events after starting the morning on a simple assignment from their drug dealer boss.

 

O.k., I know those of you (everyone?) who have seen flick know that my poor attempt at a synopsis does dot come close to doing this film justice. I know that, I get that. I feel you.

But, how do you describe this ensemble, non-chronological, realistic satire, modern day homage to both film noir and grindhouse schlock?

I'm not sure you do, other than this, it's really, really good. 

Pulp Fiction is quintessential Tarantino, the proverbial "one they will remember him for", no disrespect to some of Mr. Tarantino's  other well regarded films. You have Travolta and Jackson  working together, both at their best and playing off one another beautifully. The dialogue between them is priceless, my guilty pleasure being the 'spiritual debate' between them before the accidental shooting death in the car. It's simply hilarious, which I know sounds really bad...unless you've seen the flick, in which case you'll understand.

Bruce Willis (16 Blocks) is wondeful as Butch, the aging fighter who is looking for one last grab at the brass ring and, like Jules (Jackson) and Vincent (Travolta) is connected to drug king pin Marsellus Wallace. (Ving Rhames The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard   Shooting Gallery )

Arguably the most memorable scene in a movie that is, basically, a collection of memorable scenes, is the overdose scene of Marsellus Wallace's wife, Mia (Uma Thurman My Super Ex-Girlfriend), after she has been out for the night with Vincent (with her husband's blessing). Vincent's friends who help him out of this awkward situation, married couple Eric Roberts (Break A Leg) and Rosanna Arquette are memorable, to say the least.

Christopher Walken's (King Of New York) one scene might be the funniest monologue in movie history. The "fix up the accidental killing" scene with Harvey Keitel (Wrong Turn At Tahoe) is my personal favorite, but no discussion of this flick would be complete without reference to the scene that most people who see this movie will remember vividly until they lay down for their eternal rest: the Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames "one gets saved and one doesn't from homosexual rape" scene. Trust me, any scene that can spawn this line(s) in context "...you hear me, buddy boy? I ain't through with you by a damn sight. I'm about to get medieval on your ass!!!" ...is part of a movie that is one for the ages. 

I loved the non-chronological flow as well as the sense that there wasn't so much of a standard 'plot', per se, but that I was just being introduced to these interesting characters and I very much wanted to see what happened next. 

This is a truly unique film that has a fresh and cynical take not only on our society and culture, but also on our culture of movies and what we like in them.

A timeless classic, in my humble opinion.

 

  

Starring: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Rapaport, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Matt Servitto, Gino Cafarelli, Serafina Fiore.Directed by Robert Siegel. Comedy/Drama. Synopsis: A man who is single and living at home with his mother as he nears middle age is sustained by his passion for the New York Giants, even at the expense of his own well being and pressure from his family. 

Directed by James Gunn. Starring Michael Rooker, Elizabeth Banks, Don Thompson, Nathan Fillion, Gregg Henry, Tania Saulnier, Jenna Fischer. Horror/Sci-Fi.Synopsis: A small town is overrun by symbiotic extra terrestrial creatures who have an insatiable taste for all kinds of meat.

There is always room for a couple of good snickers not to mention some outright laughs when you're looking a lower budget horror movies. And, when your main protagonist has the same first and last name, "Grant Grant" (Michael Rooker Eight Men Out) you know the flick is not going to take itself too seriously, which is more often than not a good thing when it comes to this genre.

Grant seems like a decent enough guy, married to a beautiful though much younger wife, Starla Elizabeth Banks(40 Year Old Virgin, W) who both might have just a little bit of the old wandering eye, though neither has acted on it...yet. One night, when Grant is very close to doing so, something strange happens...some kind of funny looking thing-a-magig is right near a tree in a spot where Grant might be breaking his vows. When going over to investigate, something shoots out quickly, entering his mouth (the preferred orifice of entry for our creatures, we will soon learn).

Things kind of get going from there, Grant is feeling real hot, but he can't say much because he was kind of being almost naughty when this weird thing happened. The big thing is he is just developing this hunger for meat...raw, cooked, and otherwise. When his appearance starts to deteriorate and his "infects" his intended mistress by letting the slithery thing out of his mouth into hers, well, the cat is out of the bag and soon the whole town is in danger.

The thing about these snake looking creatures is that they enter the mouth and sometimes incubate, as in the case of Grant's unfortunate intended fling, who blows up to four times her normal size before she, ready for this? Bursts with countless slithery things coming out of her. Very good schlocky horror movie stuff.

Grant is, if you will, the "host" or the "main" slither thing and even we morphs into some half human, half slither thing that preys on live meat like cows (the 16 oz. cuts from the grocery store just don't satify anymore) he still has mad love for Starla. And, Starla, being the faithful wife, tries to reciprocate...its just that Grant isn't looking so good anymore. One of my favorite scenes is when Starla, looking like she is trying to keep her food down, approaches the mutant that is now Grant (in an effort to lure him for the kill by the other survivors) and mouths the "we said it was for better or worse, Grant, I'm still with you..." I don't know, just loved that scene.

As I said, the humor is always there in this flick without going into too much slapstick. A special shout out has to go to Gregg Henry (White Lie,  uncredited as a corrupt congressman in Scarface) as the fast talking local politician who is long on complaining and sex drive, short on courage and couth. He was hilarious.

The good thing is that, despite the dark humor, the film stays true to the genre, we have creepy and disgusting creatures, empathetic heroes, and the obligatory messy 'kill scenes' and one god bathtub scene. You'll get what you expect and probably even a little more with Slither, I predict one day it will qualify as a cult classic. Some actors have a low budget horror in their past they probably wish they could erase from the CV (e.g. Kevin Bacon Friday The 13th, Laurence Fishburne & Johnny Depp Nightmare On Elm Street)

I don't think any of the actors in this fun little horror flick will feel that way, nor should they.

 

Winner of the Oscar for Best Picture. Starring Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Ryan Phillipe, Brendan Fraser, Ludicris, Loretta Devine,Terrance Howard, Jennifer Esposito, Thandie Newton 

Synopsis: "Crash" is a movie featuring an emsemble cast dealing with events that transpire over a short period of time in Los Angeles, yet connects these people of differing backgrounds.

When I first saw Crash on dvd a while back, there was no question in my mind that it was the best movie of the year, and maybe one of the best of the last several years. Foremost, it touched on a very real and relevant overall topic, which is how citizens deal with each other in our ever diversifying culture. 

The best thing about the picture is that it gives us a look at the multi layered and sometimes ambiguous actions and behaviors of people we deal with who may be from different cultures or who we may perceive to be different from us.

I say that because in the movie, I was thinking that the Persian store owner and the Latino locksmith had much more in common on an everyday basis than differences due to ethnicity. Likewise, I felt that the same way about the "good" police officer (Ryan Phillipe, Five Fingers  Stop-Loss) and Terence Howard's character. As you saw in the movie, there was a big clash between both of these pairs as we see almost everyone in the film forming opinions, attifudes, and actions towards others based on their beliefs as to that person's ethnic or socioeconomic group.

Two of the characters who exhibit the most overt prejudice in the film, Matt Dillon and Sandra Bullock, also show exceptional empathy or feelings for members of the very same groups that they were loudly prejudiced against in the film. Some might say that the film is pie-in-the-sky or Hollywood trying to impose its "values" on those of us who want to be content with our prejudice But, I don't think this was the intent of the film, which is why it resonated so well.

For many of us with similar real life experiences to some of the characters in the movie, it is not surprising that the racist cop character played by Matt Dillon could have a father who was unusually kind to people of color before it was fashionable, then display incredible courage to help an African American woman who had earlier been the victim of his racism. It is not surprising that Sandra Bullock's character, after a traumatic experience with a couple of non-whites, could rail loudly, and in the presence of her Hispanic locksmith, against Hispanic "gang members" and then realize and accept that her best friend is a Hispanic.

Those are only two of the many instances within this excellent film, but, to me, it has the ring of truth and reality. Certainly, the movie's Los Angeles setting provides a setting for the intersection of cultures that many people might not experience on a day to day basis. But, ,there is something there for everyone, even within cultures, as we see with Don Cheadle's character as opposed to his family in the film.

I think Crash is one of the most important films to come out in some time and, no, I'm not one who thinks all films need to have some life changing meaning. To me, its fine if a film is just a two hour escape or a good time. But, when a film does have something to say or, more importantly, make us think about, its all the better.

And I would not classify this film as controversial, just real. For all of the criticism-much of it deserved-about the type of films that Hollywood produces for us, it needs to be congratulated when it makes a concerted effort to gives us a superior effort like this movie.

The Oscar was well deserved and, frankly, no other film of the year was even close.