Cinematic Pig's Feet

There are some movies that, by all rights, should not exist. I don’t mean that they are bad movies. And I don’t even mean that the circumstances that would allow them to be produced are so rare as to be virtually non-existent. The kind of movies I’m talking about are movies that are just so damned strange, so far from… (more...)

I’m a fan of Buckaroo Banzai. I’m a fan of modern updates of pulp-era heroes and tropes, like Doc Savage. I’m a fan of Ellen Barkin, Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd, Clancy Brown, and Vincent Schiavelli. I’m a fan of science fiction, rock’n’roll, and snappy dialogue. I’m a fan of this movie. Related articles Shane Black Also Thinks… (more...)

Watching Lisztomania was a voyage of discovery. Both Katalin and I discovered all sorts of interesting historical tidbits about Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, George Sand, and other that we didn’t know before. I discovered that I have a deep affinity for the oeuvre of Ken Russell, and I and also discovered that Katalin does not. I would say that she discovered… (more...)

Aphaville. Ugh. I wanted to like this movie. I mean, I like weird, philosophical movies. I like low budget movies. Alphaville is a weird, low-budget movie, a takeoff on the Lemmy Caution character, evidently a staple of European action movies of a certain era, played by the actor known for playing him. It would be like getting Clint Eastwood to… (more...)

This week Katalin and John watched Rock & Rule, Canadian animation studio Nelvana‘s answer to Heavy Metal and all that loud music their Southern neighbors were playing. Featuring contributions from such rock luminaries as Blondie, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed, Rock & Rule succeeds in scratching both a rock, scifi, and weird-ass cartoon itch.

Happy 2016, everybody. Katalin and John are back to give you a heaping helping of movie weirdness and goodness. Are first catch of the year is Holy Motors, written and directed by  Leos Carax, starring  Denis Lavant and Édith Scob. It was a trip. Disturbing provocative, beautiful, fulfilling and at the same time frustrating. Darned good movie. This is the… (more...)

It is no secret that I am a holy man of the Church of the SubGenius. I have a fondness for their art. Let’s Visit the World of the Future was a SubGenius film before their was a CotSG, and a damned fine one, I would argue (and, upon listening to the podcast, I believe I have argued.) And here,… (more...)

After a few rather dreary movies, we thought we deserved a treat. So, Katalin and I watched a 70’s confection called the Phantom of the Paradise. It was bonkers.

Idiots and Angels is an animated feature written and directed by American animator Bill Plympton. It is a beautiful fill, with dreamlike, surreal imagery. The story is a bit thin, and the protagonist is damned hard to root for, but perhaps the beauty of the images will help you overlook those flaws. It didn’t quite help us. Here’s the trailer:

I wanted to like Aelita, Queen of Mars. This is one of the first science fiction movies, its the inspiration for such works as Flash Gordon and Metropolis, it has a cool aesthetic, and being Russian it has a perspective not normally seen in early sciifi films. Unfortunately, I did not like this film. It was boring. Most of the… (more...)