“Cemetery Man” (1994) is a film adaptation of the novel “Tiziano Sclavi” and directed by Michele Soavi. It’s an interesting hybrid of horror, comedy and art film in which Rupert Everett plays a caretaker of a cemetery whose recent arrivals come back to life a few days later. This zombie film stands out of the crowd for its visual flair and philosophical subtext. Cemetery Man should appeal to fans of early Sam Raimi, Dario Argento, and cult horror cinema in general.
“Panther” (1995) is an excellent yet underrated historical drama directed by Mario Van Peebles and written by his father Melvin Van Peebles. The film traces the founding of the organization and backlash from the FBI’s COINTELPRO program. Unlike many historical dramas, Panther is engaging, entertaining, and stays close to historical facts. It also features excellent performances from a great cast including Kadeem Hardison, Bokeem Woodbine, Marcus Chong, Angela Bassett, Chris Rock, Joe Don Baker and M. Emmet Walsh.
No, not the 1996 disaster flick, but a relatively little-known indie movie from 1989 directed by Michael Almereyda and based on the novel “Oh” by Mary Robison. The film explores the self-contained world of an eccentric family whose various escalating emotional issues coincides with an oncoming tornado. What it may lack in comparison to a standard Hollywood budget and plot it more than makes up for in atmosphere, humor and unforgettable performances.
It features one of Harry Dean Stanton’s best performances (after “Paris, Texas” and Repo Man”), Crispin Glover’s most eccentric character (out of many he has portrayed), great supporting roles by Charlayne Woodard, Suzy Amis, Dylan McDermott, and cult actress Jenny Wright, and a cameo by William S. Burroughs.
Source: AmericanDrugWar.com
The War on Drugs has become the longest and most costly war in American history, the question has become, how much more can the country endure? Inspired by the death of four family members from “legal drugs” Texas filmmaker Kevin Booth sets out to discover why the Drug War has become such a big failure. Three and a half years in the making the film follows gang members, former DEA agents, CIA officers, narcotics officers, judges, politicians, prisoners and celebrities. Most notably the film befriends Freeway Ricky Ross; the man many accuse for starting the Crack epidemic, who after being arrested discovered that his cocaine source had been working for the CIA.
AMERICAN DRUG WAR shows how money, power and greed have corrupted not just dope fiends but an entire government. More importantly, it shows what can be done about it. This is not some ‘pro-drug’ stoner film, but a collection of expert testimonials from the ground troops on the front lines of the drug war, the ones who are fighting it and the ones who are living it.
Source: AKATommyChong.com
At the height of popularity of the Bush administration — the federal government entrapped and subsequently imprisoned Tommy Chong. Josh Gilbert began documenting the federal case against his long time friend, for the terrible crime of selling bongs.
This film examines the personal effects on Tommy, the motivations and tactics of the politicized Justice Department under George Bush, set against the back drop of the War on Drugs and the legal issues involved. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to huge press and critical acclaim, and appeared at many other film festivals. It premiered theatrically at Film Forum in New York City and went on to a successful arthouse theatrical release throughout North America. It was recently broadcast on Showtime and the CBC in Canada.
“Is That All There Is?”(1995) was part of a series commissioned by the BBC documenting directors around the world and their surroundings. This episode featuring anarchist director Lindsay Anderson depicts his home life and community in North London and offers a glimpse into his personality and interests. Anderson is best known for his groundbreaking films “If…” and “O Lucky Man”, and this film serves as a final tribute since he passed away shortly after.
Source: Dangerous Minds
Set sometime in a none too distant future, Peter Watkins’ debut feature Privilege from 1967 told the story of god-like pop superstar Steven Shorter, who is worshiped by millions and manipulated by a coalition government to keep the youth “off the streets and out of politics.”
Inspired by a story from sitcom writer Johnny Speight (creator of Till Death Us Do Part which was remade in America as All in the Family), Privilege was an antidote to Swinging Sixties’ pop naivety. While Speight may have had a more biting satirical tale in mind, screenwriter Norman Bogner together with director Watkins made the film a mix of “mockumentary” and political fable, which was a difficult balance to maintain over a full ninety minutes without falling into parody.
Though it has its faults, Watkins succeeded overall, and presented the viewer with a selection of set pieces that later influenced scenes in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, Lindsay Anderson’s O, Lucky Man! and Ken Russell’s Tommy.
Watkins also later noted how his film:
….was prescient of the way that Popular Culture and the media in the US commercialized the anti-war and counter-culture movement in that country as well. Privilege also ominously predicted what was to happen in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain of the 1980s – especially during the period of the Falkland Islands War.
On its release, most of the press hated it as Privilege didn’t fit with their naive optimism that pop music would somehow free the workers from their chains and bring peace and love and drugs and fairies at the bottom of the garden, la-de-da-de-dah, no doubt.
In fact Privilege was at the vanguard of a series of similarly styled films (see above) that would come to define the best of British seventies cinema. The movie would also have its fair share of (unacknowledged) influence on pop artists like David Bowie and Pink Floyd, while Patti Smith covered the film’s opening song “Set Me Free.”
What’s also surprising is how the film’s lead, Paul Jones (then better known as lead singer of Manfred Mann) never became a star. As can be seen from his performance here as Steven Shorter, Jones could have made a good Mick Travis in If…, or Alex in A Clockwork Orange.
Jones went onto make the equally good The Committee but (shamefully) little work came thereafter apart from reading stories on children’s TV.
Ah, the fickle nature of fame, but perhaps he should have known that from playing Steven Shorter.
“Get to Know Your Rabbit”(1972) is an offbeat comedy Brian DePalma directed early in his career about a successful but unsatisfied corporate executive Beeman (Tommy Smothers) who quits his job to become a tap dancing magician under the mentorship of Mr. Delesandro (Orson Welles). When his new venture becomes a successful corporation, Beeman finds his path has come full circle. The film features a brief uncredited cameo by cult character actor Timothy Carey as a cop.
“Quatermass” (1979) (aka “The Quatermass Conclusion” and “Quatermass IV” is the fourth and final production written by Nigel Kneale featuring the character of Bernard Quatermass, a British space program scientist who seems to encounter extraterrestrial life forms on a regular basis.
In this last chapter of his story, Quatermass is struggling as a grandfather in post-collapse London desperately searching for his missing granddaughter. At the same time, he investigates an unusual signal from space and a cult-like nomadic community of young people traveling to various neolithic sites. Quatermass ultimately connects the various plot lines into a seemingly logical narrative, but the story is made more interesting if interpreted as a once-brilliant man’s descent into madness as he attempts to make sense of a decaying and chaotic society, inexplicable cosmic events, the loss of his relationship with his granddaughter and a vast generation gap. Though the film is stylistically dated and obviously low budget, it’s worth watching for its intelligent but deeply pessimistic screenplay and parallels with other dystopian visions.
INDIAN COUNTRY NEWS
"It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error"..Thomas Paine
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I See This
blog of the post capitalist transition.. Read or download the novel here + latest relevant posts
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After the Crash 