Being the fringe culture lover that I
am, there's a special kind of thrill whenever a movie you love gets
referenced in a song that you love. It doesn't happen too often, but
one instance of this sonic-geekery kismet would be “Debaser” by
The Pixies. Not only is this a great song but it is also the greatest
song about “Un Chien Andalou.” Okay, it's probably the only song
about “Un Chien Andalou” but still, it's one of the best songs by
a fairly stellar band. (I'll save my paean to Kim Deal for a later
date.) The manic way that Frank Black sings/yells “slicing up
eyeballs whahohoho” is one of those things that makes me happy. Fun
random trivia: Pixies drummer David Lovering is also a professional
magician.
Over the weekend, my husband and I
ended up getting massively hooked on a YouTube series entitled,
“Unboxed, Watched & Reviewed.” Hosted by the fabulous
Obulious Toobach (one helluva of a nom de plume, eh?), “Unboxed,
Watched & Reviewed” first came to my attention thanks to the
“What to Watch” feature on YouTube. The review in question? The
1976 “Taxi Driver” meets colonic horror adult film, “Water Power,” starring the inimitable and unforgettable Jamie Gillis. I
hit play and was instantly hooked. Obulious is my favorite kind of
fan; funny, a little snarky, smart and obviously loves fringe cinema.
On top of that, his reviews are great, well edited and he traipses
into territory that both angels and most film writers fear to tread.
The man's cinematic testicular fortitude is impressive. Plus, any one
that makes references to Gus Pratt and owns a “Liquid Sky”shirt
is instantly cool in my book.
Speaking of film reviews, I was
recently invited to contribute a list of some my personal favorite
underrated horror films for one of the best film blogs out there,
Rupert Pupkin Speaks. I got to contribute for the site awhile back
for their “Top Underrated Drama” feature, so it was a pleasure
getting to come back and give some love to films ranging from Michael
Findlay's psycho-sexual “Janie” to the brother-sister vampire
film, “The Black Room.” Hope you guys enjoy it!
There's been a lot of buzz lately about
Lars von Trier's upcoming film, “Nymphomaniac.” The buzz in
question has little to do with the all star cast (including this
week's birthday boy and one my uber-acting loves, Udo Kier) but
instead of von Trier's choice to include unsimulated sex utilizing
body doubles being digitally added to the actors. Von Trier has done
some good work and in fact, it was me citing “Breaking the Waves”
that invoked some snobby Waspy academic ire during my FSU film school
interview years ago, so he has a place in my heart for that. But this
feels almost Castle-like in its gimmickry. Having your actors go the
extra mile has been featured in films ranging from Gerard Damiano's
classic “Devil in Miss Jones” all the way to Michael
Winterbottom's flawed but interesting 2004 film, “Nine Songs.”
So using explicit sexuality is nothing
new, even for von Trier, going back to his film, 1998's “The Idiots.” Which makes the whole digital body double thing sound
incredibly silly. If you're going to be outre, be outre but do not
half ass it. What's sad is that there are critics that will call this
art, which is fine, but largely will never use the “A” word
regarding the pioneers who were using explicit sexuality, like
Damiano and many of his peers, decades ago. This is not von Trier's
fault, but instead the old guard film critic attitude. All the more
reason for a proper cultural revolution. Rip it up and start again.
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