Dog Star Man's Film Reviews.

[Dog Star Man]

I've seen other site's on the net experiment with "Member Reviews" so I thought to myself, "Hey, why not try it out here!" Hopefully what I have to say will be enjoyed by all, and I'd love to get feedback from you guys whether you agree or disagree with my opinions. Heck, we're all friends here, and what makes the world such a wonderful place is that not everyone is of the same mold. Hopefully I can put out some films as recommendations or red flags to steer clear from. Either way, I'd like to have fun with this. I'm not going to post up a review in my first post as I'd like it to be an "Editing Reference" point were I can re-direct certain review URLs to this main post. Hope you enjoy!

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The Reviews So Far:

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
Harder They Come, The (1972)
Interim (1952)
Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)

[Dog Star Man]

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!(1965)

I want to start off my reviews on a semi-serious/semi-humorous note with a film I've loved since my prepubescent years, Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. Now when I was a young kid, I was a huge fan of shlock B/Z-movie entertainment, with Attack of the 50 foot Woman and Plan 9 from Outer Space. Those were the classics outside of the classics, but lets face facts here, when you start to grow older and you want to look are pretty girls, not a lot of options are open to you. That's where Russ Meyer changed my life with his low budget sexploitation flicks... but they weren't demeaning to women, and they weren't pornography either, they were entertaining flicks about busty women who didn't take shit from their male, (or female), counterparts. In a film which John Waters called, "The Greatest Film of All Time", Russ Meyer's magnum opus Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! opens with a warning to any prepubescent male, much like myself at the time, that:

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to violence, the word and the act. While violence cloaks itself in a plethora of disguises, its favorite mantle still remains... sex. Violence devours all it touches, its voracious appetite rarely fulfilled. Yet violence doesn't only destroy, it creates and molds as well. Let's examine closely then this dangerously evil creation, this new breed encased and contained within the supple skin of woman. The softness is there, the unmistakable smell of female, the surface shiny and silken, the body yielding yet wanton. But a word of caution: handle with care and don't drop your guard. This rapacious new breed prowls both alone and in packs, operating at any level, any time, anywhere, and with anybody. Who are they? One might be your secretary, your doctor's receptionist... or a dancer in a go-go club!"

BAM! Cut to the girls in to go-go club! Meet meanest, toughest, bustiest women you've laid eyes on. But they are the forbidden fruits of this cinematic-tree because the minute you cross them, they'll beat you... to death. As perverse as it may sound, this is where Russ Meyer triumphs. He creates wonderful camp entertainment, it may very-well be sexploitation, but as I mentioned before, its far-far from pornography! As John Waters would later put it in The Simpsons, "Its camp! The tragically ludicrous! The ludicrously tragic!" Such a line could easily sum up Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. However, summing the film up in that context would be missing all the wonderful quirks of the movie itself.

Yes, the dialogue may be shotty; yes, the plot may be full of holes; yes, the actings not all there... but for the film itself... there is a lot of care going into the film actually. Russ Meyer isn't haphazardly putting together a film that won't stand up. In fact, for all its issues, it should fall apart, but it doesn't. It stands up tall because its filmed with a conscience. Had it not, it not only would have been totally disregarded as toilet-trash, but its camp value wouldn't have survived. That's part of the films bizarre genius.

For anyone who is even remotely interested in camp, I highly recommend Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

My Rating:

4 1/2 Stars of 5

[TFD]

I haven't seen this film and don't really have much interest in B-movie camp kitsch stuff. But I do look forward to reading more. I appreciate your style of criticism.

Love the Simpsons quote

[Bullitt68]

Very fun film. I understand why you'd say you have no interest in it, TFD, but if you ever come to a point in your film viewing where you want to explore the lower depths of so-bad-it's-good cinema, this is a good place to start

Dog Star: What are your thoughts on a Tarantino remake? He's one of the biggest fans of B-movies in the public eye, and he's planning on a remake, and from what I've read, he wants Tera Patrick in the lead.

Cringeworthy or exciting?

[Dog Star Man]

Originally Posted by Bullitt68

Very fun film. I understand why you'd say you have no interest in it, TFD, but if you ever come to a point in your film viewing where you want to explore the lower depths of so-bad-it's-good cinema, this is a good place to start

Dog Star: What are your thoughts on a Tarantino remake? He's one of the biggest fans of B-movies in the public eye, and he's planning on a remake, and from what I've read, he wants Tera Patrick in the lead.

Cringeworthy or exciting?

I'm really not a fan of Tarantino to be honest, his attempts to bring more underground cinema to the mainstream is admirable, but its a failed experiment in style in my opinion. I'm more of a fan of older B/Z-movies. Though the cinematic underground puts out some great B/Z-movies even today, so I can't limit myself completely, Samurai Cop comes to mind. But honestly, I wish he'd keep his paws off Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and make his own sexploitation flick if he really wants to make one. You can't emulate that time period today, it just doesn't work.

[Bullitt68]

I love Tarantino, and I think, if he makes a few more legendary films over the next 10 years or so, that he has a great case for consideration as one of the all-time greats. However, as much as I enjoyed Kill Bill and Grindhouse, I want him to continue where he started to go with Inglourious Basterds, making his own films again.

Kill Bill is quite possibly the greatest homage in film history, the way it so brilliantly pays its respects to the films that claim special places in Tarantino's heart while also being a great film that can stand well on its own two feet. Still, though, I don't want to just see him making his own versions of chop socky, grindhouse, and sexploitation films, and an actual remake is even less interesting to me.

But, as a fan, I'm looking forward to it, and if he's seriously committed to the idea, I expect another great film from him, as always.

[Deaf_Null]

Originally Posted by Dog Star Man

For anyone who is even remotely interested in camp, I highly recommend Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

Nice review, that movie is great. I really enjoyed Russ Meyer when I was younger (and still do). I have a few of him on VHS, including this one. Another favorite of mine is Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Those Vixen things he did were so lousy, that they were good in it's own unique way.

I picked this poster up in London once years ago, priceless

[jonnyhiboy!]

Nice picture btw Deafnull.

I am enjoying this thread. Dog Star, what's the newest film you have seen? Just curious...

[Dog Star Man]

Originally Posted by jonnyhiboy!

I am enjoying this thread. Dog Star, what's the newest film you have seen? Just curious...

The "Newest" Hollywood films, (which I think is what your referring to), that I've seen are Inglourious Basterds and Transformers 2. Mind you I went to go see Transformers 2 with some friends of mine, but I inevitably walked out of the film within the first 15 minutes and got my money back. As far as Inglourious Basterds is concerned, I saw the whole film and was disgusted at the very end of it. Easily one of Tarantino's worst.

[Bullitt68]

I absolutely loved Inglourious Basterds.

Originally Posted by Bullitt68

Just got back from Inglourious Basterds, and if I can start my post off with a terrible pun: It was glourious

Seriously, fucking phenomenal. Best thing Tarantino's done since Jackie Brown. Better than both volumes of Kill Bill combined and better than Death Proof.

That sounds like I'm gearing up for some insane praise, but I wasn't that taken away with it. It's not top ten of the last decade, probably not even top ten of the last five years, but now that Shutter Island has been pushed back to next year, I think Inglourious Basterds will very easily hold firm to the #1 spot as the best movie of this year.

District 9 seems to be really popular and I have a feeling popular vote will have that as the #1, and I have no idea when Inception comes out, but everybody seems to love Christopher Nolan, so if that comes out this year, that'll probably bump it, too, but I will be shocked beyond words if I see a film that came out this year or that will be coming out in the year's closing months that'll surpass Inglourious Basterds.

Hilarious, violent, emotional. A perfect combination of Quentin Tarantino. Everything he does great, he does great in Inglourious Basterds, and he gets bonus points for having the balls to have so much of the film subtitled.

Think of it like this: If you've ever liked anything Tarantino's done, watch Inglourious Basterds.

Aside from the expected brilliant dialogue, Christoph Waltz was amazing, Brad Pitt was hysterical, and the scene-stealer for me and probably my favorite performer in the film, Til Schweiger as Sergeant Hugo Stiglitz, the Nazi-turned-Basterd.

I also want to mention, aside from the film, the moviegoing experience today was like none I've had before. I've never watched a film where the entire audience was in sync. First off, every time Brad Pitt did anything, the audience loved it, but more than just that, everyone was behind the characters and extremely invested in the story, and the only time I've ever been in a movie theater where the audience clapped, it was The Dark Knight. After today, that's happened to me twice.

I was ecstatic seeing Tarantino not only return to form, but finally return to the level he'd raised the bar in the '90s. Inglourious Basterds was a thoroughly satisfying cinematic experience, a ballsy and brilliantly-executed film, and, like I said, will likely be the best film of the year.