FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!

SUPERWOMEN BELTED BUCKLED AND BOOTED

The sublime reckless abandon of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) directed by Russ Meyer Starring Tura Satana, Haji, Lori Williams and Sue Bernard not so much a movie as a mission statement for  wild women and fast times.

MY HIT LIST: PEAKY BLINDERS

There are currently two quality TV shows set in 1920's Britain, one is Tea & Biscuits: comforting and relaxing, the other is Beer & Cigarettes: sensory and grimy. I'm talking about Downton Abbey and the wonderful Peaky Blinders. 

The Midlands has probably been most notable, televisually, for Crossroads but there was an unsung Midlands TV show that was ahead of it's time: Gangsters, a modern day set story of the criminal underworld of Birmingham. Peaky Blinders takes us into the same territory but the setting is that of a post WWI  Britain where many men did not return from foreign fields.

The cast are excellent as is the dialogue and the superb production values. It's almost Victorian industrial in it's look with shades of Lynch's Elephant Man along side the Gray glamour of the upwardly mobile protagonist Shelby family.
Cillian Murphy is particularly good as the cold and calculating leader of the Peaky Blinders, his ruthlessness offset by a dead eyed charm and Sam Neill plays a villain just the right side of moustache twirling. Strong women characters that are often merely cyphers in Gangster movies are notable by their presence and youth has its day in the casting. The use of contemporary music alongside strong sound design gives the show a unique feel as does the superlative costume design: from Haircuts to Boots the entourage cut a dash in the grim landscape.

Peaky Blinders has entered it's second series and I hope that it does not go the way of Ripper Street, that period piece that BBC audiences never quite took to, as it has more than enough facets to hook a variety of viewers.
If you've not seen it do yourself a favour and have a couple of nights in with the first series and catch the first 2 episodes of the new series on iPlayer: you won't be disappointed.

MY HIT LIST-CAROLINE MUNRO IN ACTION

Starcrash

The Spy Who Loved Me

Starcrash

Dracula AD 1972

Starcrash

Starcrash

Don't Open Till Christmas

ON INDEPENDENCE DAY THE QUINTESSENTIAL AMERICAN MOVIE

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW

A gallery of Americana at it's finest

 

 

 

MY HIT LIST: (MORE) ASIA MOVIE POSTER

Over on Twitter I have been putting out some oriental movie posters of Western films, mostly Japanese. There are some great websites and Blogs covering these works of art and here is a selection of some of my favourites (with thanks to the creators and sources)



UNDER THE SKIN GETS UNDER THE SKIN

 

Most have drawn analogies with Roeg, Kubrick and Lynch and for those that thought Only God Forgives was the most divisive film of recent times Jonathon Glazer's Under The Skin takes over that mantle in what is certainly a cinematic experience. In recent weeks I have seen 12 Years A Slave, American Hustle and The Wolf Of Wall Street: all intelligent mainstream movies so this independent was viewed as an opportunity for a sample of nontraditional structure and narrative.

Most are aware of the plot which sees Scarlet Johansson as an extra terrestrial predator but what reviews don't quite get across is the atmosphere that pervades the film. Much credit goes to the score which is compellingly jarring. It's naturalistic and stylised, its irritating and fascinating, its dull and intriguing but above all its unique.

I left not knowing what to conclude but I enjoyed the experience much in the same way I have with the work of Roeg, Kubrick and Lynch so in that sense I await the directors future work with anticipation.

Echoes of Roeg

Echoes of Kubrick

Echoes of Lynch