Sex Freedom in Germany (1970)

What happened to good old fashioned German morals? - narrator

Mondo style documentary on sex in Germany is intercut with a couple frolicking.

Screened around the world in 1970 and hitting US screens in 1973, right before hardcore porn hit the mainstream, this is an amusing time capsule back to a time when a little nudity was daring and anything more was shocking. This film has a little bit more and probably was frequented by lots of men in raincoats...

The film's informational segments include a trip to a condom factory who has once called Anti Baby Condom (ABC), an expose of the German Sex Party, group sex, a couple that performs naked music at the local bar, a discussion between erotic art and porn, transgendered women, lesbians, a defrocked priest trying to prevent young men from turning tricks at bus stops, a gigolo, a high class adult book store and a few others. Everything is set to some really good German rock music.

I was amused. I was entertained and I had a good time.

Is it titillating? Not particularly, but it is strangely informative. Granted we've moved on in the last 40 years but it's amusing to see where the cutting edge once was... about where the cutting edge of TV is today.

Don't get me wrong the film isn't tame, this is still very much an adults only film, it's simply that we've moved on from this being shocking.

Something Weird has put the film out on DVDR and down load with some racy films at the end , including one of a performance artist who paints with her naked body.. You'll be amused.

Bestialita aka Dog Lay Afternoon (1976) (potential adult content)

This review of the film originally appeared on IMDB. Its of a film that will curl the toes of most people. Implied subject matter aside it's actually a good thriller. If you're iterested you'll have to do some sleuthing because I have no idea where to get the film. I picked it up from the now seemingly gone Revenge is My Destiny website. And if you do go looking be careful since the title can, especially if misspelled, bring you to places that you really don't want to go to (trust me I had this post up earlier today and realized I misspelled the titled and then in looking for the film, without just checking the DVD, I ended up with listings that were kind of frightening.)


In these "enlightened times" I'm hard pressed to know if one should admit to having seen this movie, but considering that its actually a pretty good erotic sleaze film, I'll happily say I saw it.

The plot is told mostly in flashback. It begins with a young girl seeing her mom have (simulated) sex with a dog. Dad comes home drags mom and the girl away and then sets fire to the house with the dog inside. The film then jumps forward as we watch a man waiting for something. The story then flashes back as we see the man and his wife arrive at an island full of party people. Periodically the man and woman catch sight of a young woman with a dog. The woman looks like a younger version of the woman at the start. I'll leave it for adventurous film goers to unravel what happens next, though I will say while its often sexy it all ends badly.

Despite this film being in Italian, a language I don't speak, I rather enjoyed this movie. Sure its sleazy but at the same time it seems to be a well done drama with an "off-beat" edge. I had no problems following the plot. I liked that after the opening you were very much of balance wondering what sort of madness was going to show up. Granted its a cheap trick but it did help to keep things properly tense.

Obviously this is NOT for all tastes. I think most people will have shut it off during the opening credits (which quite frankly is where anything offensive is, mostly the film is just an erotic triangle.). If you can get past them and don't mind sleazy sexy drama I think you'll enjoy this, on some level, if you're open to it...

...Just don't look for an English version of this film. I can't imagine anyone being bold enough to attempt to release this in either England or the US, its opening is just a bit too much for most people

Hanna D The Girl in Vondel Park (1984)

I think the only way this film could be more exploitive would be to have a rip roaring gun fight, and while that doesn't happen this is still manages to be one really sleaze exploitation film.

This is the story of Hanna. Her parents have split, her mother is a drunk with a younger boyfriend (who would much rather sleep with Hanna). Many of her friends are junkies and worse. Hanna gets money by letting people see her naked. Eventually her home life goes from dysfunctional to destructive (a short hop) and Hanna needs to escape. She begins to use heroine and eventually takes up with a guy who pimps her out. As her life begins to slide she meets a nice young man who falls in love with her and she tries to get clean. However her old life is still lurking out there.

This is a very sleazy film. Its a walk on the wild side. I have no idea if its true or not but the picture it paints isn't particularly pleasant. As an exploitation film its an okay time killer. The lead is good looking both in and out of her clothes. The gory details of the life of our heroine is suitably unpleasant. The problem is that after a while the film simply becomes very talky and repetitive. How many times will people shooting up shock? How many sex for money encounters where the girl secretly cries do we have to see before it stops effecting us? It all wears thin after a while and we become desensitized to anything by the second half (although the retrieval of the drugs in the rehab center is an exploitation classic)

If you want a sleazy exploitation film, and don't mind it repeating itself in the second half then see this movie. If you want anything else stay away.

Nightcap 5/19/13- random talking out of my hat

The decompression of the first part of the year is continuing nicely. I have not been running around like a chicken with my head cut off and I’ve actually been working to get Unseen Films in order without needing to take Zantac. I’m not buried with extra films to review in a short time, though I do have coverage of films from The Brooklyn Film Festival in the cue as well as some from Lincoln Center’s Open Roads Italian Film series and some yet to be released titles all coming.

The big craziness around Unseen Films has been the appearances of Jackie Chan in New York. Chan’s appearances were supposed to be part this year’s New York Asian Film Festival which was giving him the Star Asia Award, but scheduling forced the appearances to happen on June 10th and 11th. Once tickets went on sale there was a mad dash to get them as everyone slammed the Film Linc and Asia Society websites. I’ve gotten tickets, as has Mr C for both appearances. I’m still not sure who is going to what beyond that since there has been lots of screaming and yelling and rending of clothes by those without tickets. What I am sure is that Unseen will have a presence at both screenings as well as the English Language Press Conference (and if I can twist an arm the Chinese one as well) that will be happening in connection with Jackie’s appearances.

I do want to say that there is a good chance come say August or September we may run out of reviews. Right now I have things scheduled into August, but at the same time I'm kind of stalled. Most of the reviewable films I'm seeing are for a series or a festival and fit into neatly constructed holes in the schedule. However outside of those films I am not seeing many films that I feel the need to write up, and much worse the ones on my very long list list of titles to write up when I get a minute hasn't been inspiring me. It may not happen, but there is a chance at about the 3 and a half year mark Unseen Films might actually miss a day or two.

On the other hand over the next couple of weeks I'm hoping to get some longer pieces and essays pulled together. With the crush of the first part of the year done I'm hoping to finally transcribe the Roger Ebert piece, return to found footage films,pull out the piece on that stupid ass anti-Muslim film that no has ever really seen and caused some riots, write on some subjects that have been kicking around the film world and a few other things. I'm also talking to a couple of Unseen writers about what Randi has dubbed the Unseen Book Club. We'll see where it all leads.

Speaking of books and Little Nemo, panels of which I've been using for the nightcap illustrations- I finally read the Ray Bradbury screenplay for a Little Nemo film. While its gets certain things right, the feel for the early part of the 20th century when the film is set, it misses the point in every other way. Setting up an elaborate way into Slumberland (which Nemo creates with the help of a twin named Omen) the film is more like a way too simplistic children's film  for way too simplistic children. As unbelievable it is to think that Bradbury wrote it, it's completely understandable as to why it was never produced, it's not very good.

Right now anyone can post a comment at Unseen but all comments are moderated. This has lead to a problem of spam comments. To be certain some of them are amusing as all get out, but at the same time they are annoying the hell out of me withe the result that I find I'm just dumping the anonymous comments without looking them over. If you've posted something anonymously and it hasn't posted I apologize. Its the spammers fault. I'm seriously considering shutting off anonymous commenting, but not yet. We still do get some comments that way so I feel its a shame to ban  them all. Just to be safe if you want your comment to count sign in before you post.

I would like to state that I am finally starting to catch up with all of the various posts and reviews of my friends and acquaintances across the Internet. I know I have been lax, I haven't been reading every one's blogs as I should.To be honest I'm only just getting around to reading many peoples Tribeca coverage partly because of lack of time, and partly because I just wanted never to see another word on the festival again...that feeling is gone and I'm at last going back and reading...so expect possible comments.

I think thats it for now.  Off to bed...

This weeks selections are best described as provocative with films from both the art house and grindhouse that are guaranteed to push your buttons.

Fear No More (1961)

I can’t decide if Fear No More is unsettling because it’s a well done or because it’s badly done. I can’t decide if I like it or not, I do know that it made me stare at the screen wondering what I was seeing all the way through it much more than I do with better films.

The plot of the film has a woman get on a train to deliver a package for her boss. On the train she’s menaced by a big man who appears in her compartment, finds a dead woman and is told by the police she’s crazy. That last point maybe true as our heroine has experiences, such as finding additional bodies, that later prove not to be true.

It’s a bumpy ride and for a good chunk of the film I wasn’t sure what was going on.

I’m not sure what I think of the film. Yes I sat there glued to the screen for the whole 75 minutes, but at the same time I think it was more to find out what happened rather than because I was completely enjoying myself. I think the problem is that the filmmakers bounce through the real or not twists too much early on, to the point that I wasn’t sure if it was good film making or bad. I understand they had a limited time to do what they were doing but because we’re coming in kind of mid action the feeling is similar to being a drift at sea. I felt uprooted from the moment our heroine steps on the train and it didn’t end until the credits rolled. Yes I knew what was going on but at the same time I still wasn’t sure.

I know you’re wondering if I’m not sure about the film why am I suggesting you see it.

Two reasons

First not only did the film hold my attention it provoke a reaction beyond liking it or disliking it. It’s a film that made me ponder it to the point I was more than just a receptor. This is a film that forces you tom think about it-whether you want to or not.

The second reason is it’s easily available as part of the 6 film Weird Noir set from Image. It is weird. It is strange and as part of a cheap 6 film set it’s worth investigating

7th Commandment

Completely weird film noir about a con man who staggers from a car accident with amnesia. He becomes a successful preacher healing the sick, building hospitals and churches and being a good man of god. When the girl he was with in the car sees his picture in the paper she plans revenge for his leaving her to take the rap for the accident. Working with her boyfriend she takes steps to get money from him and ruin his life.

Full of sleaze and praises for Jesus, this twisted little tale is kind of a must see for anyone wanting a truly psychotronic film. So much weird stuff happens that I was watching the second half of the film with a kind of morbid curiosity that one gets at the scene of a grizzly accident. I kept wondering what the next twisted twist was going to be, outside of what might happen in the next couple of seconds I couldn’t guess where this was going to go. I really do mean it when I say I had no clue what truly whacked things were going to happen in the last 20 minutes. It’s one unbelievable thing after another…

…most unbelievable of all is the fact the film makes it work. It shouldn’t but it does. I’m guessing that it works because it’s all so far out there that by the time it gets really weird and the bodies start piling up you can’t help but go along. To be certain you’re laughing at what’s happening but you’re also riveted to the screen because you can’t get wait to see what happens next.

I have no idea if I like the film but god damn I’m in awe of it. Hell I played a couple of sections over a couple of times simply because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and was certain I missed something. I hadn’t.

If you want to see a truly out their film noir give this film a shot. I’m sure it’s weird gyrations will hold your attention.

Out as part of Images/Something Weird’s Weird Noir collection (and boy is it ever)

Some blockbusters and some not so blockbusters

BFI Fiilm Library

A few weeks back after Tribeca I ran a bunch of short reviews of some big budget or highly promoted films that I had seen. In the interest of showing that we do watch more than the off the beaten path films I present a bunch more big studio capsules.

SIGHTSEERS- A socially awkward couple with personal issues leave her controlling over bearing mother and travel across England only to begin a murder spree along the way. Black as night comedy is fused with a British comedy of manner/errors to make what is being hailed by many as one of the best films of the year. I wouldn't go that far, I'd say it’s a very good film that did quite work click for me. For me things are a little too rigid and I never felt after a certain point that anything could happen, which was what I felt at the start. Definitely worth seeing but I suspect you’ll like it more than love it.

SIMON KILLER has a college kid getting away from it all in Paris after the breakup of a five year relationship. Falling into a relationship with a prostitute things are fine for a while until it all begins to spiral out of control. I had a ticket to this back in February at Film Comment Selects but ended up selling it because the previous movie was five intense hours- and looking back selling the ticket was the best thing that could happen. Deep slow moving pretentious thriller will either thrill you or bore you silly…I was bored silly. Watching this on IFC in Theaters I was scanning through chunks of it.

SCARY MOVIE 5- not as bad as you might think send up of recent horror films suffers in that after four previous entries the series has stopped being funny and it has become something you watch in order  to see where they are taking each movie referenced. Cable fodder

TYLER PERRY'S TEMPTATION is a painfully dull film. Far be it for me to pick on Perry, who I actually do like both as an actor and a director, but he really has to stop making 15 films and 37 TV series a year since the more he vomits out the duller his films become

DEAD MAN DOWN- Confused and confusing mob revenge film starring Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace. I admire all of the intense acting and strong scenes, I just wish there was some sort of plot line to tie it all together. In a related matter it's becoming painfully clear that Ms Rapace is a very good actress but she has a limited range.

A HAUNTED HOUSE is a crappy comedy sending up the Paranormal Activity films.

IDENTITY THIEF is a weak TV sitcom on the big screen.You asking us to pay for this crap?

ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH- Okay juvenile animated film about aliens trying to escape from our planet and go home. Unremarkable but not bad.

CROODS-I can't believe that Chris Sanders directed this. The jokes are stupid, worse they are obvious and repeated to the point of annoyance. The characters are jerks...this is a good looking but badly written film that makes me understand why some films have been pulled away from him (Bolt aka Family Dog).

PAPERBOY- I missed this at last years New York Film Festival- thank god for small miracles. This is an awful film about trashy people you wouldn't want to .. on. Yea the performances are good but the rest of this film should flushed

GAMBIT Cohen Brothers written remake of a Michael Caine film concerns an art heist that goes side ways. The cast ( Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Cameron Diaz and Stanley Tucci ) are great. Script is too affected and the direction too stiff.

Having at last seen it I can now say MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS disappointed. Looking like a film that is some kid's idea of a way cool martial arts film (mixed with a gangsta epic) it takes too much pleasure in the cool shots of the wire work and not enough in the story. Give the film a partial pass since it's clear that in cutting the film down to 100 (theatrical)or 110 (extended) minutes hurt the film (there are bits in the deleted scenes that are referenced in the finished film plus the rough cut ran allegedly over four hours).  It does have some great moments and a great performance by Russsel Crow, but it still is draft or two away from being something.

HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 GHOSTS OF GEORGIA well acted, competently made the film collapses almost from the get go by insisting on have scares and shocks from the first second. We never get any real chance to know anyone except when they are under stress. Things are always  at a fever pitch so there is no scares only shock jumps. We are never in the film, we are always outside it.

I got GREETINGS FROM TIM BUCKLEY on VOD and finished it. I say this because I saw the first half at Tribeca and walked out because it wasn't grabbing me and After 9 days in the dark I wanted to be in the sun. For those who don't know the film is the story of son Jeff Buckley trying to connect with his dad at a concert in Tim's honor. The short answer is the film has great performances and great music, with the the concert itself being a stunner, but the rest of the film feels unfocused and as if the filmmakers were just killing time until they could get to the music. Wait for cable or better by yet buy the soundtrack.

Zatoichi vs The Flying Guilotine (aka Blind Swordsman Revenge aka A Sword Renowned) (1974)

Strange rewriting of the Zatoichi tale has the blind man returning to China after being dragged off five years earlier by Japanese Pirates.  He is hunted by a man with a flying guillotine who wants revenge for some past misdeed. He is however willing to wait until Zatoichi gets revenges on a master swordsman who allegedly killed his brother leaving his sister in law and nephew without support. (Actually the brother committed suicide after losing. And in a weird twist of fate the swordsman is now acting as the protector of the sister in law and nephew.

No none of it makes any sense though some of it is better than you expect.

First and foremost is Lung Sing as Zatoichi. He's the spitting image of Shintaro Katsu to the point I really thought that this was a chop up job that used footage of the original to form a new story. If he isn't the man himself he's close enough that you really won't care because he manages to get it down enough so as to be enjoyable.

Some of the the fight scenes are quite good with the framing such as in the battle between Zatoichi's brother and the master swordsman being beautifully done.

The trouble in the film comes from several places, first, as I said at the top the film makes no sense. Its simply characters dancing around each other until 90 minutes have run and the survivors walk off into the sunset. More importantly why are some of the characters here, I mean the flying guillotine guy has no reason for being here since he's at the opening and the end and not in the middle.

Secondly some of the fights are down right bad with them sped up to Keystone Cops rates. Its awful and funny for all of the wrong reasons.

Thirdly this film is choppy as all hell. Even allowing that the only copies I've seen are pan and scan it looks like someone took a pair of sheers to the film and cut out about 15 minutes. It makes for one messy viewing experience.

If you can get into the film say 15 minutes in and you haven't pulled your hair out the film isn't all that bad...it isn't all that good, but there are some pretty good sequences worth seeing such as Zatoichi gambling, the battle in the casino, the final fights and a few others. This is not a great viewing experience, but it is an okay one. Certainly it would play better with friends and beers.

I wouldn't pick this up for more than a buck, but it is in a couple of multi-DVD multi-film sets in which case it's worth trying.

State 194 (2013)

If you build the foundations of peace will it come? Promo material for State 194

Good looking film that seeks to examine the quest for peace between Israel and Palestine.  Focusing  on Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and his work to create a state for Palestine by proving to the world that they not bad people the film takes a hard look at the chances for peace and how it maybe the small things that bring about change.

Its probably not a good thing to have the first thing you say about a political documentary, especially one as important as this one, is that it looks good but that was my over riding reaction to the film. the film is full of carefully composed images, great looking news footage and few shots that are much too polished for a film such as this (did we really need crane shots of cars traveling?) The film is one of the most artfully assembled films I've seen in 2013.

Getting away from the technical aspects and diving into the important stuff, the subject of Palestinian and Israeli peace the film is a good look at the difficult subject. It's a film that presents Fayyd as a tireless worker who bounces around the globe in an effort to gather support for his people and to keep the peace. As the above line infers Fayyad is building the foundations for the end or at least the great reduction of tension.

Film maker Dan Setton has made an important film that manages to go into detail about what the leaders are doing to bring about peace. Most films on the subject such as 5 Broken Cameras deal with the issues on the average Joe level, which is all fine and good but after the 12th look you kind of wonder who the leaders are and what they are doing. This film fills in that gap and does so nicely.

That may sound like small stuff but it's not . It's something the world needs to see since we have to see  what is being done at a higher level than the village one when the Israelis decide to build yet another settlement.

The trouble is that the film is so artfully assembled and slick that the film seems like a commercial more than an expose. I return to this point because to be perfectly honest the film is so slick that for a good fifteen or twenty minutes my attention was slipping off the screen. There was too much flash to start and it wasn't until the film settled down that I fully engaged with the film.

Worth seeing.

For additional information on this important subject please go here.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad

Brooklyn Film Festival Schedule is up and tickets are on sale

Here's the Press release-

BROOKLYN FILM FESTIVAL SCHEDULE ONLINE,TICKETS & PASSES ON SALE

Festival to Hold a Variety of Special Events Including 9th annual kidsfilmfeston June 1 and BFF Exchange & Brooklyn Meets Spainon June 8

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, May 15, 2013 – Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), which announced its film line-up last week for its 2013 festival themed MAGNETIC, has made available its film schedule online. The competitive event will run from May 31 through June 9 in Williamsburg at indieScreen (289 Kent Avenue) and for the first time at Windmill Studios NYC (287 Kent Avenue). Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/tickets/ , and the schedule is online at: http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/films/2013/index.asp?cid=0&cnt=&order=show&kw=.

BFF is extremely proud to announce two returning special events at the 2013 festival: BFF Exchange and the 9th annual kidsfilmfest, as well as one new special event, Brooklyn Meets Spain, a partnership with Mecal, International Short Film and Animation Festival of Barcelona. With these events, BFF continues to expand its demographic outreach and further its commitment to bring to Brooklyn the best films the world has to offer.
On Saturday, June 1 from 1:00pm till 3:00pm at indieScreen, BFF will present the 9th annual kidsfilmfest, which aims to discover, expose and promote children's filmmakers while drawing worldwide attention to Brooklyn. The film program is tailored for children of all ages (films are rated "G"), and consists of numerous short animation, live-action and documentary films from Australia, Canada, India, United Kingdom and the United States. There will be a Q&A with the directors and actors as well as an interactive workshop following the screenings. Tickets are $12 for adults, and children 12 and under are free. For the full kidsfilmfest line-up, visit http://www.kidsfilmfest.org/films/2013/.

On June 8, the Festival will continue its BFF Exchange project, launched last year, free and open to the public, from 10:30 a.m. till 4:30 p.m., followed by a happy hour, staged at indieScreen. BFF Exchange is aimed at giving filmmakers access to the wealth of industry expertise that the city offers. BFF Exchange will feature a pitch session for local documentary filmmakers featuring reps from POV, Sundance and more, a BFF alumni distribution panel, a Short Film Distribution discussion led by Roberto Barrueco of Mecal, and a Microcinema in Brooklyn panel, featuring reRun, UnionDocs, indieScreen and Nitehawk. The Exchange will also feature a presentation by Kickstarter on how to use their platform to fund your film. For the BFF Exchange schedule, visit http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/exchange/

Also on June 8, as an immediate follow up to BFF Exchange at indieScreen and Windmill Studios NYC starting at 5:00 p.m, BFF is proud to partner with Mecal, International Short Film and Animation Festival of Barcelona, on Brooklyn Meets Spain, including two programs: the feature-length documentary 30 Años de Oscuridad directed by Manuel H. Martín, and a collection of animated shorts. A party with a special guest DJ Turmix from Spain will follow at indieScreen. The screenings and the party are sponsored by the Consulate General of Spain. To learn more about Mecal, visit: http://mecalbcn.org/. For the full film line-up of Brooklyn Meets Spain, visit: http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/events/mecal/.

About Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF):

The organizers of the Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF), have been staging international, competitive film events since 1998. BFF’s mission is to provide a public forum in Brooklyn in order to advance public interest in films and the independent production of films, to draw worldwide attention to Brooklyn as a center for cinema, to encourage the rights of all Brooklyn residents to access and experience the power of independent filmmaking, and to promote artistic excellence and the creative freedom of artists without censure. BFF, inc. is a not-for-profit organization.

For more info about Brooklyn Film Festival, visit http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/.

BFF on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BrooklynFilmFestival

BFF on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brooklynfest

For info about indieScreen, visit www.indieScreen.com.

For info about Windmill Studios NYC, visit http://windmillstudiosnyc.com/.