Sacred Flesh (2000)

Director: Nigel Wingrove

Writer: Nigel Wingrove

Composer: Steve Pittis

Starring:  Sally Tremaine, Moyna Cope, Simon Hill, Kristina Bill, Rachel Taggart, Eileen Daly, Daisy Weston, Moses Rockman, Emily Booth, Willow, Laura Plair, Leasa Carlyon

More info: IMDb

Tagline: In the midst of life we are in death

Plot: Torn between sexual desire, her vows of chastity and her fear of eternal damnation, a medieval nun struggles with her sanity.  Bordering on madness, she seeks solace in the savage worlds of sexual denial that are spoken to her by a disturbing 'Death Nun' vision.  Her sanity is further threatened by the imagined figure of Mary Magdalen, who challenges her concepts of sex as an evil, malignant force.  In between these discussions the nun's mind is filled with brooding, violent sexual fantasies that push her into a world of blackness, blood and orgasmic self destruction.

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Part of the Nunsploitation Project (July & August 2013). Click here for more naughty nun insanity!

This is the third and last of the Nigel Wingrove movies to watch for the Nunsploitation project and what makes this different and more difficult to get through is that, unlike AXEL (1988) and VISIONS OF ECSTACY (1989) which are both under twenty minutes each, this one is 75 minutes.  While that can be a good thing when it comes to eye candy...

The 'Human' Factor (1975)

Director: Edward Dmytryk

Writers: Thomas Hunter, Peter Powell

Composer: Ennio Morricone

Starring: George Kennedy, John Mills, Raf Vallone, Barry Sullivan, Rita Tushingham, Shane Rimmer, Thomas Hunter, Frank Avianca, Haydee Politoff, Arthur Franz, Fiamma Verges


More info: IMDb

Tagline: Every 24 hours an American family will be killed by radical assassins...if the CIA, FBI and police can't stop it...the human factor will!

Plot: After his family is brutally murdered in Italy for an unknown reason, a NATO computer engineer sets out to find those responsible.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? I could.

#266 on Drive-In Delirium Volume 1 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

The tagline is off a couple of days.  In the film it's clearly stated that every 3 days an American family will be killed.  It's a minor point but it helps the poster make it more thrilling, doesn't it? I'm a big fan of George Kennedy and I think the guy's a good actor.  Hell, he's had lots of practice having 181 credits on IMDb.  It's been a couple of years since his last film gig but he's almost 90.  I say keep going.  FACTOR was really fun.  The computer science behind it is way ahead of its time (and maybe ahead of ours with some of the stuff they did) but you have to overlook stuff like that if you're going to enjoy the picture.  There's nothing like technology that dates a movie.

Kinsdale's (Kennedy) family gets whacked in the first few minutes (look for a young Danny Huston as Kinsdale's son) and the build up made for an emotional impact once Kinsdale discovers it.  After that it's ON, baby!  He slowly uncovers the players behind it all. Yeah, it's far fetched and there's probably no way he would have realistically found out through the methods he employed but it's a movie and sometimes you just have to suspend your disbelief.

The ending is off the fucking charts fun.  He's already brutally killed one of the killers and now he's going to kill the rest of the flies with one swipe.  He's unstoppable and it's fucking awesome. Good score by Ennio Morricone and it's worth noting that this was director Edward "THE CAINE MUTINY (1954) Dmytryk's last picture.

Berth Marks (1929)

Director: Lewis R. Foster

Writer: Leo McCarey

Composer: (stock music) Milton Ager, William Axt, Jack Yellen

Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Harry Bernard, Sammy Brooks, Baldwin Cooke, Paulette Goddard, Charlie Hall, Pat Harmon, S. D. Wilcox

More info: IMDb

Plot: Big-time (so they think) vaudeville stars Stanley and Oliver take the train to Pottsville, their next booking. On board, they bumble into the wrong sleeping compartment, startling a semi-dressed woman. Her irate husband mistakes another passenger for the intruder and starts a coat-ripping free- for-all. The boys spend the rest of the trip trying to squeeze themselves into their cramped single upper berth.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Probably.

While it's not a laugh-fest, it has its moments.  The jacket ripping and its evolution is pretty funny but there's little to laugh at in the extended scene once the Boys are in the bunk.  I did laugh at the image of Laurel standing on Oliver's back getting into the bunk.  The pre and post train bits are good, too.

Axel (1988)

Director: Nigel Wingrove

Writer: Nigel Wingrove

Composer: Danielle Dax

Starring: Saskia Brandauer, Rubecca Mohamed, Sharon Robinson

More info: IMDb

Plot: A woman (listed as 'Girl' in the end credits, played by Brandauer) is visited by an wingless angel (Mohamed) who places a large mask on her.  She is lead to a horse-masked woman to be fondled.  Then she dies at the hands of the now-winged angel (of death).

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? Probably not.

Part of the Nunsploitation Project (July & August 2013). Click here for more naughty nun insanity!

This is Wingrove's first religious erotic short film.  For that, it's just fine.  7 minutes of images and moody music (no dialogue).

Unaccustomed As We Are (1929)

Directors: Lewis R. Foster & Hal Roach

Writer: Leo McCarey

Composer: (stock music) Milton Ager, William Axt, Jack Yellen

Starring: Stan Lauel, Oliver Hardy, Edgar Kennedy, Mae Busch, Thelma Todd

More info: IMDb

Plot: Oliver invites his friend Stanley over for a nice home-cooked meal, but Mrs. Hardy wants nothing to do with it and walks out. Mrs. Kennedy, Oliver's beautiful neighbor from across the hall, volunteers to help out, but the boys' bumbling soon has her dress on fire. Her husband, a policeman, investigates the ruckus just as Oliver gets the now partially-unclad Mrs. Kennedy hidden in a trunk. Kennedy's boasting of how he handles his own womanizing backfires when his wife pops out of the trunk and blackens his eye. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hardy has returned and wonders what all the noise is coming from next door.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Sure.

I recently acquired the Laurel & Hardy Essential Collection DVD set and I thought it was about time that I dove into it.  I've seen very little L&H over the years but I always laughed at what I saw.  I'm a HUGE fan of the Hal Roach Studio output (especially the OUR GANG/LITTLE RASCALS shorts - I was weened on that stuff) and I have a very large collection of silent and early talkie comedies.  This one, the first on the disc, is a good example of keeping it simple.  It's largely confined to one room and three characters.  L&H are great at prat falls.  I'm not familiar with Mae Busch's work (only her name), who plays Hardy's wife (her first of many in that role), but she's funny.  There's a bit where she starts bitching royally and Hardy puts on an record and her cadence begins to match that of the upbeat tune.  Funny stuff and well played. Thelma Todd had great comedic timing and she was crazy hot.  That's right, she needs to have my babies.  In this picture she once again shows how priceless she was.  And then there's the 'appears to be in everything' Edgar Kennedy.  It's funny because the picture opens with Hardy introducing Laurel to Mrs. Kennedy and the first thing I thought of was Edgar being her husband because in the Our Gang shorts he played a cop named Kennedy.  Sure as shit, in the last few minutes Edgar shows up as a cop.  Classic. 

Visions of Ecstasy (1989)

Director: Nigel Wingrove

Writer: Nigel Wingrove

Composer: Steven Severin

Starring: Louise Downie, Elisha Scott, Dan Fox

More info: IMDb & WikipediA

Plot: Sister Teresa has, well, visions of ecstasy; one with a strung-up nun and the other with Jesus while he is nailed to his cross.

HERE'S THE ONLY VIDEO I COULD FIND

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? Probably not.

Part of the Nunsploitation Project (July & August 2013). Click here for more naughty nun insanity!

At 19 minutes and not a single word spoken, this film will still offend just about anyone who 'believes'.

Tales from the Script (2009)

Director: Peter Hanson

Writers: Peter Hanson, Paul Robert Herman

Composer: T.J. Raider

Starring: A shitload of screenwriters including John Carpenter, Shane Black, Jane Anderson, Larry Cohen, Frank Darabont, Antwone Fisher, Mick Garris, William Goldman, Peter Hyams, Richard Rush, Paul Schrader, Ron Shelton, Guinevere Turner

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Hollywood screenwriters finally get the last word.

Plot: Dozens of Hollywood screenwriters share hilarious anecdotes and penetrating insights in "Tales from the Script," the most comprehensive documentary ever made about screenwriting. By analyzing their triumphs and recalling their failures, the participants explain how successful writers develop the skills necessary for toughing out careers in one of the world's most competitive industries. They also reveal the untold stories behind some of the greatest screenplays ever written, describing their adventures with luminaries including Harrison Ford, Stanley Kubrick, Joel Silver, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

I fancy myself as being pretty damn creative in certain areas.   Anyone who reads this blog will know that writing isn't one of them (but you like the pretty pictures, don't you?).  One thing I've always known about movies is you've got to start with a good script.  If you don't then you risk having a bad film.  Sure you can get guys like Brando or Olivier that make even the most trite dialogue sound reasonable and you can spend $50 million on special effects but that will only carry you so far.  If the story sucks the film will likely follow.  This documentary is almost dizzying with how many people we get to hear from and frequently but it never lost my interest.  I admire people who can create the starting point for a picture, the foundation.  It's shocking at the amount of lunacy that those in charge of production (the often talentless suits) inflict on the creative types that makes it happen.  Will it ever cease to amaze me?  Probably not but it's great hearing the stories these talented people have to tell.