In 1964, US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously attempted to explain what constituted pornography by saying, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced... but I know it when I see it ..." I take great joy in believing that he would be flummoxed by Vernon Chatman’s Final Flesh from 2009. Chatman wrote a four-part script and sent the sections off to four separate porn sites that specialize in creating custom fetish films for their customers, none of which were advised about his intentions.
Read MoreLaurel & Hardy: The Definitive Restorations (2020) #BluRay
Beginning as a 7-year-old in the early eighties, I’ve consistently had a bit of a personal connection with Laurel and Hardy. I’ve always been a huge fan of all of the classic comedy teams – Three Stooges, Abbott & Costello, ZaSu Pitts/Thelma Todd, The Little Rascals, The Marx Brothers. I was lucky enough to catch the tail end of an era in which it was pretty common for shorts to be shown prior to the features in the tiny movie theater where I grew up.
Read MoreHarpoon (2019) #BluRay
I’m a sucker for films that take place in one location. The critically acclaimed Cube comes to mind, but it doesn’t get any better than the wide and open world of the ocean. I mean, when you really think about it, the ocean is a lot like space.
Read MoreSatanic Panic (2019) #BluRay
In Satanic Panic, Sam’s first day as a pizza delivery driver is not going according to plan. At the end of a long day and not enough tips, her last delivery turns out to be for a group of Satanists looking for someone to sacrifice. Now in a fight for her life, Sam must fend off witches, evil spells and demonic creatures, all while trying to keep her body and soul intact.
Read MoreGhost World (2001) #BluRay
Based on a 90s cult comic released in 2001, it was an eerily prescient look into the future, foretelling the rise of hipster culture and beautifully encapsulating the struggle of twenty-something Millennials in the 2010s before that struggle had ever begun. It’s a coming of age story focalized through two teenage girls that don't have sexual awakening at its’ center. It’s a movie that, like people, goes through cycles, and those who’ve loved it at one point in their lives may find that it gains and loses and regains relevance as they age, change, and grow.
Read MoreSerial Mom (1994) #BluRay
In a way, the career of John Waters reflects the evolution of exploitation cinema itself. Starting out in the 1960s with black-and-white microbudget shorts that didn’t so much have narratives as they were a series of shocking, hallucinogenic set pieces, he moved on in the early 1970s to more coherent feature films that were still more shock than substance. In the latter part of the decade and early 80s, he reached a comfortable midpoint, releasing pictures that still retained a certain grindhouse quality while focusing more on conventional storytelling.
Read MoreThe Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) #BluRay
I’ve been pretty quiet about The Autopsy of Jane Doe until now, and, I’ve got to admit, the reason is a bit odd.I was actually one of the first people to see the film, sitting literally front-and-center at its’ Fantastic Fest premiere in Austin last year. I’d received some press releases about it in the lead up to the festival, and they’d piqued my interest—a movie set in one location, built around an autopsy, starring Brian Cox?
Read MoreRoboCop 2 (1990) #BluRay
Robocop is undeniably one of the quintessential 80s films, a cinematic classic that stands not only as a timelessly enjoyable piece of sci-fi/action but a timely critique of the culture from which it emerged. Though it was only the second American feature from Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, he’d already gotten his thumb firmly on the pulse of a nation bursting at the seams with prosperity whilst simultaneously ridden with crime, a glitzy age whose neon aesthetics hid an underbelly of dank corruption and crippling selfishness. With its’ intersection of drug lords and evil businessmen, love/hate relationship with technology, pulsing discos and intrusive commercials, Robocop got the darker aspects of the 80s, in a way that other similarly executed films were able to wrap themselves around the era’s virtues.
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