Penitentiary is a blaxploitation film directed by Jamaa Fanaka, who was part of the “L.A. Rebellion” movement of young African-American filmmakers in the '70s, mostly from UCLA. The most notable member of the group was Charles Burnett. For the most part they rejected classical Hollywood filmmaking, opting for an experimental neo-realist approach. However, Fanaka was an … Continue reading Penitentiary – Blu-Ray Review
Hausu is a 1977 film made by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi, who had previously done commercials and experimental short films. Just previous to making this film, he had been busy with making a series of commercials for Japanese television featuring major American stars like Kurt Douglas and Charles Bronson. Toho, the biggest film company in Japan, wanted … Continue reading Hausu – Blu-Ray Review
The Fugitive Girls (1974) was the last film Ed Wood wrote before sadly passing away from chronic alcoholism. It’s a women-in-prison sexploitation movie, which was pretty much all he could do at that point. It’s more of an actual film than Orgy of the Dead, which really is just a strip-tease with The Amazing Criswell … Continue reading The Fugitive Girls – Blu-Ray Review
Orchestra Rehearsal is a Fellini film that he directed after Casanova, which was a big-budget film but not very successful (although it’s a very rewarding watch.) This film was originally done for Italian television, and is almost a mockumentary. It follows a TV company’s documentary crew that goes to film an orchestra as it rehearses. … Continue reading Orchestra Rehearsal – Blu-Ray Review
Something Wild is probably my second favourite Jonathan Demme film—it’s the one where everything comes together really well, with all the quirkiness that you want from Demme (something he lost after the Silence of the Lambs backlash). It’s a wild ride, with Jeff Daniels as Charles in one his earliest roles. (Daniels had done this … Continue reading Something Wild – Blu-Ray Review
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