Watermelon Man is Melvin Van Peebles' only studio film, made immediately before his game-changing independent Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. It shares some of the radical politics with that film, but in a more user-friendly form, and is far less confrontational. It's basically a take on Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, but instead of a man waking up to … Continue reading Watermelon Man – Blu-Ray Review
Cisco Pike is a decent little early '70s hippy crime flick, which is probably most notable for being the debut of Kris Kristofferson as a leading man (he had previously played a small role in Dennis Hopper's wildly experimental The Last Movie.) It was one of the first counter-culture films greenlit by Columbia after the runaway shock … Continue reading Cisco Pike – Blu-Ray Review
Revenge is pure genre cinema, but it repurposes the rape-and-revenge film in a more artistic, stylish manner. I wouldn't call it a feminist film, but it manages to take a tacky genre setup and tell its story without being exploitative or sexist. It mildly subverts the genre and makes the brutal justice feel empowering. The sight … Continue reading Revenge (2018) – Blu-Ray Review
Destry Rides Again was James Stewart’s first western, a genre he did not return to again for over a decade. In 1950 he stared in Broken Arrow and Winchester ‘73, which sparked a series of westerns with Anthony Mann that changed Stewart’s image to something a bit darker and more psychological, paving the way for … Continue reading Destry Rides Again – Blu-Ray Review
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse is Fritz Lang's final film, the last entry in one of the most impressive careers of any filmmaker who ever walked the earth. It's also the final film in his "Mabuse trilogy," which all work as stand-alone films in their own right. This film, however, would spawn a string … Continue reading The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse – Blu-Ray Review
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