Monday, September 14, 2015

Satan's Angel: Queen of the Fire Tassels (2012)

Director: Joshua M. Dragotta

Composer: Anthony Marsico

Starring: Angel Walker, Vic Crotwell, Dixie Evans, Kitten Natividad, Michelle L'Amour, Ginger Lynn, Lilli Von Schtupp, Terry Earp, Angie Pontani, Tara Mi Sioux, Big Fanni Anni, Miss Kitty Baby

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A candid glimpse into the life of burlesque's hottest legend

Plot: Satan's Angel is a legend among burlesque dancers. Her legacy is filled with San Francisco counter culture, Las Vegas stage door Johnnies, and a sexuality she refused to closet. Angel has amassed four decades worth of fascinating, colorful, and riveting stories as she's traveled the globe performing the art of burlesque. This unique film documents her love for the craft and preservation of burlesque as well as her love for her life partner Vic.



My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

I loves me some burlesque so it was a no-brainer picking up this DVD a couple of years back.  I hope I paid less than ten bucks for it because it wasn't as good as I had hoped.  I say that because it's usually not cool watching someone talk about how awesome they are.  Angel is very proud of herself (which is natural) but she's also much too vocal about singing her own praises (not cool).  It was great seeing some of the gals who performed back in the 60s and 70s talk about their experiences in the business.  Those were the best moments.  For that, it's worth watching.  You do get to see lots of vintage pictures and some video, also very cool.  It was interesting, though, that big bones are made about her twirling tassels which are on fire only to see just a couple of seconds of her doing it but not from way back when (which would have been AWESOME) but from a recent gig she'd done (actually it was in the parking lot at the venue after gig since they couldn't have fire inside).  If you're into burlesque or just B-curious, you'll probably dig it.  It moves pretty quickly and there's a good deal of information bandied about.  The Breaking Glass Pictures DVD has a nice anamorphic widescreen print and lots of extras. You get a 16-minute video podcast with the two directors, a 6-minute interview with them and Angel from the Scottsdale Arizona Film Festival, a 1-minute clip of Angel talking about how she came about her name, 3 minutes of her talking about her 1960s all-girl topless band The Hummingbirds, 2 minutes with Angel talking about meeting Steve McQueen (this and the previous two are more like deleted scenes), two trailers for the film and trailers for other Breaking Glass films, and a bunch of very short (sub-one minute) promo videos that are either teasers taken from the film, the Kickstarter campaign, poster, soundtrack, etc.  You can pick it up online new for $6 all day long.  Fans of burlesque will be happy.


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