Love cult film and TV? Want to chat about it on a much-talked about social networking site? Well, now you can as Cinedelica has just created a Twitter account.
To follow us, all you have to do is go to http://twitter.com/Cinedelica and you're away. And don't worry - you don't have to talk about film and TV all the time!
Remember Viva? We reviewed it some time back when it was doing the rounds of the arthouse circuit, but now the movie has finally made it to DVD in the UK.
Check out our full review or let us tell you that Viva is a take on the Russ Meyer/Herschell Gordon Lewis-style exploitation flick of the late 60s and early 70s (think Beyond The Valley of the Dolls), with director Anna Biller heading up the cast as a bored housewife looking for kicks in 1972 LA - model work, call girl, stage star etc etc. It's very good, but don't take our word for it, check out the review and numerous others that give the movie the thumbs up.
You can pick it up from 6th July 2009 for just under £10 from Amazon via the Cine Excess label. Not heard of that? Well, you soon will do - a collaboration between Brunel University's Cult Film Archive and film director Roger Corman, it promises to offer some never-before-seen movies from the cult movie man's archive for the first time in the UK. We don't now what as yet - but we're already seriously excited about the prospect.
Find out more about Viva at the Amazon website
I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that I don’t know a thing about the cinema. Either that, or my memory is playing me up. My reason for booking to see The Damned was basically that I thought that I had seen it many years ago on a late night TV showing and wanted to see if it lived up to my memory of it. Even ‘memory’ is a misnomer, as all I could remember was a scene on a beach with Oliver Reed and his biker cohorts cavorting with a girl. Some things just stick in your mind, as the song goes!
If you happen to be in the UK, check out BBC4 on Sunday 5th July, which sees a re-run of the 1981 BBC adaptation of Jhn Wyndham's sci-fi classic, the Day of the Triffids.
It's not exactly packing the best special effects you'll ever see on your TV, but it is fairly faithful to the original novel, throwing in a distinctly 80s twist too, which should only add to the nostalgia. Check out a clip below - and add a note in your diary.
To coincide with the Manchester Jazz Festival, Manchester's Cornerhouse is running a short series of jazz-related movies under the title Birth of the Cool.
Kicking of with the classic Chet Baker-inspired movie Let's Get Lost from '88 on 22nd July, the cinema is also showing Jazz On A Summer's Day, Mo' Better Blues and Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown. If that's not enough jazz for you, there's also a gallery of photos shot by jazz photographer William Ellis.
Want to know more? See the website below.
Cornerhouse website
A scorching hot day on the South Bank of the Thames, bright, bright sunshine reflecting off the concrete and a bottle of Australian Chardonnay to sustain us, me and my good lady picked our way to the NFT with two fellow mod era film fanatics to see The Flipside’s latest Brit Exploitation offering. With my admittedly limited knowledge of Anthony Balch’s film output, and my expectations a little on the low side I was surprised to learn what a varied career this director had. Starting out with the type of ‘beatnik’ films familiar to those of you who were regulars at the late, lamented Scala Cinema at London’s King’s Cross, he was one director who seemed to remain on the fringes of filmmaking, with Horror Hospital representing some sort of stab at a more popular genre.
Continue reading "Horror Hospital (1973) at the NFT reviewed" »
Some time back, someone threatened to send me a copy of Clubbed. It never appeared and to be honest, I wasn't that bothered. But with so little available to rent right now, I decided to pick it up. Well, if nothing else it has a decent soundtrack.
I would review it properly, but if the PR firm don't seem bothered, why should I? So instead, I'll give you the brief highlights and a general opinion. Which is Liverpool, early 80s, a divorced bloke has self-esteem issues, not least because he's had a kicking in the local in front of his kids by the muscle of the local gangster. He falls into boxing, joins a small gym which is run by a bouncing firm, gets in with them and gets involved in the fallout from their fall out with said gangster.
If you are a fan of 60s cult classic Blow Up, you'll not want to miss the open air screening of the movie in one if its iconic locations, Maryon Park.
A stone's throw from Charlton Athletic's football ground, Maryon Park was the place where David Hemmings' character Thomas snapped Jane (Vanessa Redgrave), as well as where he watched the invisible tennis match. Maryon Park hasn't changed a great deal - even the antique shop is still there (although it no longer sells antiques - or didn't when I last went).
The evening includes a full outdoor showing of Blow Up (starting at 10pm) and there will also be tours of film locations in the Park at 7.30 and 8.45pm, along with a 'swinging sixties disco'. Oh yes - you'll need to being a rug or folding chair too and be over 15 (that's the certificate).
Find out more at the Greenwich Council website
I only have vague recollections of Magpie from my childhood, but I do remember one thing loud and clear - it was far more cool than Blue Peter. To me, the BBC's magazine show was an extension of school, whereas Magpie was more of a cool youth club. Watching the now reissued Magpie DVD all these years later, it seems even more true.
Let's be honest, when your presenters included a Marc Bolan lookalike, a 60s 'it girl' who didn't think much of wearing underwear on-screen and best of all, a former actress who starred in both a Bond movie and a Pete Walker horror, you're already well ahead of the game. But it wasn't just the people, watching the surviving episodes today and you find a programme that didn't patronise its teen demographic, didn't necessarily play safe and above all, managed to educate its audience by keeping things interesting. If only modern-day kids TV did the same. Having a theme tune by the Spencer Davis Group didn't do Magpie any harm either.
We're big Pete Walker fans here, but I have to admit, I've never seen Home Before Midnight. Until now that is, as the movie has been issued for the first time on DVD by Odeon.
Home Before Midnight is one of Pete Walker's more controversial flicks in terms of subject matter, although it's dealt with in a very Pete Walker way (if you know what I mean). Mike Beresford (James Aubrey) is a successful 28-year-old lyricist for one of the big bands of the moment. He's rich, successful and cruising the highways in his Jensen Interceptor. He spots a young girl in the cafe, then gives the hitchhiker a lift home to London. Things develop and before too long, they're out on a date, spending time together and in a relationship. But there's just one thing that Ginny Wilshire (Alison Elliott) has forgot to mention to her new partner - she's just 14 years old and still at school. Not that you'll guess - the actress playing her must have been in her 20s when she took the role (thankfully).
Continue reading "DVD Review: Home Before Midnight (1978)" »
Once upon a time, late night TV in the UK used to be the best place to see 60s and 70s Brit horrors. Indeed, for many, it was the only way to see more obscure flicks from the likes of Amicus and Hammer, titles that weren't actually available on video or later on, DVD. The only downside was the alarming regularity that some titles cropped up - one of which was Asylum.
Yet since those heady days of late night horrors in the school holidays, Asylum is a film I've neither owned or seen, but it's one I remember fondly. So in the interests of research, I reacquainted myself with it this week. It didn't disappoint.
We're big supporters of the British gangster movie, especially those of the vintage variety, so we're really looking forward to seeing one that's evaded us so far - The Flesh Is Weak.
Directed by Don Chaffey and dating back to 1957, it's the story of Tony Giani (John Derek), a pimp who preys on the naive, 'just off the bus' young women who come to post-war London for fame and fortune. He wines and dines them, gets them a place to stay and even finds them a job. Then he pretends he needs money fast and convinces them to prostitute themselves - to become a 'Giani Girl'. Marissa Cooper (Millie Vitale) is one such girl fresh off the boat from Italy but when she sees Tony for who he really is her life is suddenly put in extreme danger.
Both picture and sound have been restored by BBC Post Production and the release comes with a booklet based around the movie, along with some extra vintage trailers. Look out for it on 27th July 2009, priced just over £7.
Find out more at the Amazon website
One of Pete Walker's less-seen (and certainly more controversial) movies is coming to DVD for the first time (in the UK) in July, Home Before Midnight.
The subject matter is certainly where the controversy is. Songwriter Mike Beresford (James Aubrey) and his band, Bad Accident, is climbing the charts. he has money, a flash car and everything else success brings. But one day he offers Ginny (Alison Elliot) a lift home and they eventually become lovers. The trouble is Ginny is only 14 and when he eventually discovers the truth, he’s too deeply in love to give her up. It’s only a matter of time before Ginny’s parents (Mark Burns & Juliet Harmer) and the authorities find out.
The release is sourced from the original widescreen negatives and features booklet notes with a foreword by Pete Walker. Look out for it from 27th July for just over £7.
Find out more at the Amazon website
It just might get even more grim up north when the Arty Farty Film Party in Manchester goes kitchensink for its next event.
The events take place every first Wednesday of the month at An Outlet, Dale Street, Manchester, kicking off at 7pm, so by our reckoning, the next one should be on Wednesday 3rd June.
The theme this time is 60s kitchensink, so you get to vote online for either A taste Of Honey, Kes, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, A kind Of Loving, Billy Liar, Cathy Come Home or The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. Or you can add another choice of your own. Voting closes at 9am this Friday, so get your vote in now at the website below.
Arty Farty Film Party website
Via Electric Roulette
In these days of the ‘hit, git and split’ approach to filmmaking, a film’s title has to say it all to its perceived audience. Today’s filmmakers seem to feel that there’s no sense in using a ‘clever’ or ‘oblique’ title if what they basically have is the second instalment of a superhero’s adventures, or another romcom with one of the cast of ‘Friends’ in it. It’s with this in mind that the casual viewer might get completely the wrong impression from the bare bones of The Bed Sitting Room.
Anyone, perhaps reasonably, expecting a ‘kitchen sink’ drama will end up very puzzled and surprised by this surreal, post-apocalyptic offering from the closing years of that golden decade. Once again, the ‘Flipside’ team have come up with three ‘Bars’ and a replay on the cinematic one-armed bandit, in securing a gorgeous print of this long neglected film for us to rave over, and hot on its heels, a DVD release for those who can’t make the trip to London’s South Bank or who were indisposed that night - good excuses only, now!
Continue reading "Review: Flipside presents The Bed Sitting Room at the NFT " »
Manchester's Cornerhouse cinema is still running its excellent Breakfast Club events and if you head down there on June 21st 2009, you can catch a screening on the big screen of Quadrophenia.
There's no point in telling you about the film, you might as well just check out our review right here (sadly within our old layout). If you want to check it out, the Breakfast Club showing throws in a full English breakfast (meat-based or veggie) and a cup of tea before or after the showing.
It kicks off at 11:50am and tickets (including that food) are £9.50.
Cornerhouse website
The early 1930s was the era of the gangster movie - and that era, along with all that followed, is being celebrated with the Gangsters season at the BFI in July.
From the original era, you can enjoy the likes of Little Caesar (1930), Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932) and The Public Enemy (1931), along with later movies like Dillinger (1945), Al Capone (1959), Roger Corman’s The St Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967), Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967), the remake of Scarface (1983), Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America (1983) and The Newton Boys (1998) from the modern era.
Want to know more? See over the page for a full breakdown and summary of all the movies showing.
At last, after talking them up for the last few weeks, we've finally got our hands on the first releases from the Flipside label. Where do we start? Well, why not go in chronological order, kicking off with London in the Raw.
London in the Raw is a documentary. Well, not really, but that's how it is pitched. In reality, this is as much a work of fiction as fact, staged recreations of real life intended to entertain and titillate, despite the high moral tone of the movie's commentary. Yet despite that, you'll still learn an awful lot about 1960s London in this 'mondo' flick and indeed, from the shorts that accompany it.
A classic kids TV show is soon to make its first appearance on DVD - Magpie.
The cult ITV kids show is widely thought of as one of the more hip shows of the 1970s - so hip, it even had a theme tune by the Spencer Davis Group (under the alias of The Murgatroyd Band). It ran from from 1968 to 1980, mixing music, fashion and kid-friendly fun throwing in some hippy presenters and a weird overweight bird-like mascot.
Magpie Volume 1 pulls out 12 of the best episodes from the 100 or so that survive, adding in some extras, including a 1971 special, some film inserts from 'lost' episodes and a PDF of the first Magpie annual. Is it worth buying? We don't know as Network no longer sends us TV discs to review, but if you want to take a chance for the sake of nostalgia, Magpie Volume 1 is available from 29th June 2009, priced around the £13 mark.
Find out more at the Amazon website
Looking for some cult Czech new wave cinema from the 1960s? You're in luck as the cult classic Daisies (Sedmikrásky) is being reissued by Second Run on 1st June 2009.
A bizarre movie, directed by director Vera Chytilova, it follows two young women (both called Marie) who decide to carry out 'pranks' and acts of rebellion against the oppressive world around them. There's not much plot, but this is a hugely influential film that's also a genuine treat for your eyes. And perfect for a psychedelic backdrop...!
A clip below and if you like it, you can order one from Amazon right now ahead of that June release date for a heavily discounted price.
