shot of STEPHANIE de SYKES and BILLY BOYLE from SIDE by SIDE
updated as of July 31st '10
recently reviewed ;
CARNIVAL OF SOULS ('63 )
UGETSU ( 1953 )
ALABAMA's GHOST ( '73 ),
WATTSTAX ('72 )
both in our Blaxploitation section,
WHERE ARE YOU POLLY MAGOO ('66 )
SOLARIS ( '72 )
WHAT WE DO IS SECRET ( 2007 )
TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE ( '57 )
NASHVILLE ( '75 )
oh yea those looking for info on KIPPER, they are at the very bottom of this page where they belong, scroll down after you find the lobby card from GODSPELL
After the movie section you'll find reviews of a 70s retro glam band who had a great cd out in 2001 called TEEN MACHINE, after it is our old review of the VELVET GOLDMINE soundtrack....
MOVIE SECTION
***************
we love B-movies, and since both of us agree that 90% OF THE FILMS THAT HOLLYWOOD HAS PUT OUT IN THE LAST 25 YEARS ARE COMPLETE POINTLESS GARBAGE ,we will spotlight old films here, and hey bruce willis is the WORST actor in the universe! ! ! and gary oldman is an idiot as well for starring in the horrible pretentious garbage called 'sid and nancy', we are asking that someone throw a rock and hit him in the head for dishonoring mr. vicious...
were gonna list our 5 favorites here followed by many runner ups....after # 5 the movies are in no particular order.........some are placed into categories like horror, blaxploitation, etc.
1 D.O.A.
is a great musical starring the SEX PISTOLS and other u.k. punk bands like SHAM 69, and X-RAY SPECS ....released in '78 it shows in depth footage of the PISTOLS touring the southern part of the states, and what was going on back in the u.k. political and musical spectrum at the time, it also has the famous SID and NANCY interview....allthough some parts of it are dark, one never tires of this fascinating rock film, love the correspondance with fans before and after the show........
2 GODSPELL
one of the greatest films ever ! VICTOR GERBER stars as JESUS in this rock musical based on the life of Jesus as told thru the eyes of FLOWER CHILDREN of the day, such as KATIE HANLEY, complete with songs and dancing, a film you'll watch over and over and never forget, see our in-depth reviews in our gateway 3....
3 SIDE by SIDE -
Super u.k. 70s glam rock musical comedy released in '75 starring STEPHANIE de SYKES, BILLY BOYLE, HELLO, MUD, FOX, TERRY THOMAS, JENNIFER GUY, and many more, 2 clubs compete side by side, well you should see first the info at the bottom of this page on this film, then head to our gateway 3 for an in depth review complete with pictures and so on, this is the CAMPIEST film of all time....:) recommneded for fans of ROCKY HORROR and R-n-R HIGH SCHOOL,
3
4 THE GREAT ROCK-n-ROLL SWINDLE.......another great film starring the SEX PISTOLS complete with animations and over 20 songs, true camp ! but we would say D.O.A. is a bit better....
5 WOODSTOCK......what can we say, we've watched this one over and over, everything from the interviews to the drum circle to the crowd shots make for the best in Retro films, if you have not watched it in sometime, try after 2 a.m. after you've had lots to drink, a true document of the late 60s....
NETWORK........FAYE DUNAWAYE, PETER FINCH, and WILLIAM HOLDEN lead an all star cast showing how the govt. corrupts and controls the population through tv media, excellent acting, and funny too :)
ROLLING STONES R-n-R CIRCUS.............EXCELLENT film of the STONES and bands like the WHO, with YOKO ONO , MARIANNA FAITHFUL, TAJ MAHAL, and others, a GREAT time capsule and some of the last footage of BRIAN JONES playing with the band.....'Salt of the Earth' closes the set :)
SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL
produced by GODDARD the studio footage of the STONES rehearsing one of their best songs is priceless and shows the whole band including JONES in their heyday throughout the film playing different variations of the title track, acoustic versions, sing-alongs and eventually the whole song towards the end, but what happens throughout is that between the band singing and chatting comes pointless banter between Black Panthers which is boring, another scene where a girl answers yes and no to questions, poetry reading, etc. by the 2nd time you watch this remember to fast forward the pointless filler to get to the Stones playing, the ending is unique and funny !......avoid Cocksuckers Blues as it is just too fragmented, Gimme Shelter is another great STONES film too :)
poster from SOLARIS ( 1972 )
THE WIZARD of OZ..........one of yours and ours favorite films starring JUDY GARLAND.....some interesting sites out there you can find on this film about all the tiny details......( there was a rock musical low budget b movie version from the mid 70s called 'OZ' see below for reviews on this one )
SOLARIS
................................ :) ....well now along comes a film like this you watch once in a blue moon and the whole movie and after effects stay with you for days, this is a long hallucinogenic trip for 3 hrs that feels like yrs, it is capitivating in some places, elsewhere it really makes you stop and think and ponder things you never thought of before, about looking at nature in a different way, think of an ocean as a large massive being with a brain and being able to project thoughts and hallucinations that are real, or are they ? yet this is an ocean on another planet, this is a russian film that won awards such as the Cannes award in '72 and changed not only film making but life as well for those who saw it, some parts such as the male-female relationship provoke memories of ORPHEAS from '49 ( see below ) elsewhere since SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE is from the same year it can be compared on an artistic level, but SOLARIS directed by Andrei Tarkovsky.......is far more a sci-fi film, much better than S Five and better than 95% of all films released, it is the real thing, one can write a book on this film, here are some quotes
Dr. Sartorius: Man was created by Nature in order to explore it. As he approaches Truth he is fated to Knowledge. All the rest is bullshit.
Hari: I have a feeling someone's deceiving us.
Dr. Snaut: We don't want to conquer space at all. We want to expand Earth endlessly. We don't want other worlds; we want a mirror. We seek contact and will never achieve it. We are in the foolish position of a man striving for a goal he fears and doesn't want. Man needs man!
Solaris is one of our all-time favorite movies, the film blends sci-fi, fantasy, and philosophy in a way that has been rarely committed to the screen, great acting from the 2 leads, it's a love story inside a sci-fi setting, a sad and disturbing love story, but fantastic as well.........interesting interviews on the dvd can be found also..... this film is a 10 out of 10.....
scroll down for a special section on some films of TARVOSKY's
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE
as good as the TIME MACHINE ? BETTER ? that would be for the viewer to decide, this is an excelent Sci-Fi film, also a war film, maybe a war film within a sci-fi film or vice versa, BILLY PILGRIM ( MICHAEL SACKS ), also stars Eugene Roche, Ron Leibman as Lazarro ( hey was this the Psycho in Stripes ?, and Valerie Perrine, the film begins as Billy is walking in the snow in Germany while a slow soothing piano plays as the credits go by, within minutes he is captured by German soldiers along with 2 other american soldiers, Billy got there by accident as he is time traveling and cannot stop it, he travels from his youth in WW2 - to the present in the 70s when he has a family, sometimes he travels back and forth within seconds and cannot stop anything, we'll stop there because the film is so great and awe-inspiring we don' t want to give the rest away, as what comes next is incredible, somewhere along the lines Billy realizes time is not relevant and that our lives are just a series of events going on, always going on and often we don' t have control over fate.......
BLOODFREAK
from '72, if you want a film that reflects the music on this site then go and rent a real original,.........there are a couple of films with this title so be sure and get the one about the guy who smokes some super-pot and goes nuts, and hey the narrator is a REAL pRo!
or take a trip back in time and rent
'the PETRIFIED FOREST'
starring LESLIE HOWARD, BETTE DAVIS, and HUMPHREY BOGART, you'll be glad you did...a REAL classic...in fact one of the best films of all time, from 1936....LESLIE HOWARD steals the show !
Orpheus
aka Orphee
Love and Death are the main themes of this fantastic film which deals with fantasy and the afterlife and the present, the poet Orpheus is torn between 2 women, his wife Eurydice and the princess who represents death, in this surreal setting the living are taken by the princess into the afterlife and some of the dead are able to go into our world through mirrors, it is suggested that when someone dies, another person comes thru a mirror, any mirror in the house and takes you to the next stage of life, a lot happens in the film, Orpheas goes thru changes in mind as does the people whom he associates with in the film, the first scene a fight at a poet's cafe quickly results in a riot and death, later Orpheas keeps getting a code sent to him which he uses in his poems, they are sent at first unknowingly by the princess and Heurtebise, so he pursues this sound, this code, eventually she taks him to the other side, the scene where they are in a courtrom on the other side in an old decrepit building is unique, we'll stop there as we don' t want to give away what happens, but all in all this is one of the best Love movies we' ve ever saw, it is beautiful and sad, and special, and spellbounding all in one, this is said to be one of JEAN COCTEAU's finest films, we insist you see this film with a loved one or else alone.......see this site for photos and more info ~
http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~lenin/jean_cocteau_orp.html#jcforphee
but you know in ORPHEAS the ending is the best when they say ' IT IS NOT NECCESSARY TO UNDERSTAND, IT IS NECCESSARY TO BELIEVE ',....... *
dehi nityam avadhyo 'yam dehe sarvasya bharata tasmat sarvani bhutani na tvam socitum arhasi
"O descendant of Bharata, he who dwells in the body is eternal and can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any creature." (Bhagavad-gita 2.30)
The very first step in self-realization is realizing one's identity as separate from the body. "I am not this body but am spirit soul" is an essential realization for anyone who wants to transcend death and enter into the spiritual world beyond. It is not simply a matter of saying "I am not this body," but of actually realizing it. This is not as simple as it may seem at first. Although we are not these bodies but are pure consciousness, somehow or other we have become encased within the bodily dress. If we actually want the happiness and independence that transcend death, we have to establish ourselves and remain in our constitutional position as pure consciousness.
Living in the bodily conception, our idea of happiness is like that of a man in delirium. Some philosophers claim that this delirious condition of bodily identification should be cured by abstaining from all action. Because these material activities have been a source of distress for us, they claim that we should actually stop these activities. Their culmination of perfection is in a kind of Buddhistic nirvana, in which no activities are performed. Buddha maintained that due to a combination of material elements, this body has come into existence, and that somehow or other if these material elements are separated or dismantled, the cause of suffering is removed. If the tax collectors give us too much difficulty because we happen to possess a large house, one simple solution is to destroy the house. However, Bhagavad-gita indicates that this material body is not all in all. Beyond this combination of material elements, there is spirit, and the symptom of that spirit is consciousness.
Consciousness cannot be denied. A body without consciousness is a dead body. As soon as consciousness is removed from the body, the mouth will not speak, the eye will not see, nor the ears hear. A child can understand that. It is a fact that consciousness is absolutely necessary for the animation of the body. What is this consciousness? Just as heat or smoke are symptoms of fire, so consciousness is the symptom of the soul. The energy of the soul, or self, is produced in the shape of consciousness. Indeed, consciousness proves that the soul is present. This is not only the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita but the conclusion of all Vedic literature.
see this site for more info and the rest of this scripture ~
http://www.harekrsna.com/philosophy/acarya/writings/beyond.htm
ROCK AND ROLL HIGH SCHOOL ( 1979 )starring the RAMONES and P.J. SOLES, one of the campiest and best cult films of all time period . excellent soundtrack !
BILLY JACK...GREAT early 70's film about one man seeking justice in a corrupt town starring TOM LAUGHLIN......
THE TRIAL OF BILLY JACK
BORN LOSERS of the late 60s was actually the 1st in the BILLY JACK series, we've never saw it , everyone has saw BILLY JACK from '71, however most have not saw the followup The Trial of Billy Jack, from early on in the film when a prosecutor questions Billy upon the stand and he answers him in a way where the prosecutor realizes he is up against someone with much higher intelligence you know this is gonna be a great film, ( see the very last page on our gateway to read what is said between them ) the film goes on showing the struggle between the indians, and the freedom school vs the government, one unique part shows Billy going on a spiritual pilgrimage and meets an indian maiden who helps him along the way and eventually he meets HIMSELF,.........along the way Billy kicks the shit out of racists, corrupt policemen and others, eventually it all leads to a showdown at the end where the national guard is called in and the students fight back, allthough some of the violence in the showdown is a bit overblown, the whole story is based on factual events such as the KENT state massacre, we'll stop there by insisting you get this film as it is one of the best of the 70s period, and there is a bonus in the film of some solo acoustic performances .......this is hard to find on vhs but search around online and you'll find it, and yes vhs is far superior to dvd format any day,
NASHVILLE
we really, REALLY really love this film, allthough on the first watch it was hard to keep up with everything because there are so many characters introduced ( 24 ) one after the other, that only after a 2nd viewing will you be able to follow everything closely, this is a grat film for the songs performed, ones that you can watch over and over, the situation gathers a loose knit group of country singers and fans whose lives intertwine over a few days in Nashville, the standout performance belongs to Mrs. BARBARA HARRIS at the end who tried to make the best of a bad situation and comes out really shining, in fact her performance is so damn good we'll say it is one of the very best moments in cinematic history of the 70s, the award for camp goes to the beautiful and multi talented GWEN WELLES for her portrayal of Mrs. Sueleen Gay, we like her so much we made a section for her on page 35 our Glam Girls section 2 which you can view at this link here -
https://www.angelfire.com/clone/pictures12/glittergirls75.html.
.... elsehwere in NASHVILLE the lovely CRISTINA RAINES ( yes she of horror film THE SENTINEL, see below ) shines out in a great singing performance, we included 3 clips of her on our downloads 7 page, as well as clips of Mrs. WELLES and Mrs. HARRIS, .....there are so many talented singers in this film, KEITH CARRADINE not only got an award for his 'I'M EASY' but he wrote the song Barbara Harris sings at the end which you can find out about when you see the film as we don't like to give endings away, elsewhere the lovely KAREN BLACK sings some great songs including self penned numbers such as 'ROLLING STONE'....and newcomer RONEE BLAKELY stars as BARBARA JEAN and sings well in the film also as does LILY TOMLIN with a gospel group, with that said please see the link above to read our review of Mrs. GWEN WELLES who posesses such sex appeal that she is more charismatic than 99% or women today, and we sincerly mean that, just check out her singing from this film at youtube !!
oh yea can't forget the best dressed award in the film goes to the adorable Mrs SHELLY DuVALL who shines out in campy glam outfits, platforms, tube tops and all :)
THE TIME MACHINE
starring ROD TAYLOR and YVETTE MIMIEUX released in '60 it is a fascinating tale of a man who invents a time machine in 1900 and travels far far into the future, along the way he meets his friend's son twice and much further into the future he meets a group of people who live under strange conditions and he sets out to save them from their keepers......must see film
THE LATHE of HEAVEN
BRUCE DAVISON from STRAWBERRY STATEMENT ( see above ) and WILLIARD stars in this UNIQUE sci-fi masterpiece about a man who's dreams are able to to completely change reality around him and in the world, but he does not understand what is happening so he goes to a psychiatrist who uses his powers of dreaming to manipulate DAVISON for his own use and the doctor begins to play GOD, fortunately for him he meets Heather along the way ( NIKI FLACKS ) who does not know what to think but eventually helps him to combat the doctor after reality changes around them everyday and they realize the doctor is the evil one in the world, excellent ideas of all kind run thru this sci-fi adventure, if you like SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5, and THE TIME MACHINE then you would like this film, which has someone in the future doing a Beatles cover, which is set up in a kitchsy sort of way by a robot, overall a charming film and unique in itself, they don' t make sci-fi films like this anymore, see this link for more info ~
http://www.thirteen.org/lathe/
LOGAN's RUN
GREAT sci-fi film starring JENNY AGUTTER, MICHAEL YORK and PETER USTINOV as the old man, here in this so-called perfect society people'd life ends while they are 30, only the people watching think it is a right to die as they are kept to believe they will be free when killed, so somewhere along the lines , the 2 characters break free and find themselves outside their world, their glass bubble amongst the ruins of what was once washington d.c., what they encounter changes the way they think of life, we'll stop there if you have not saw it, chances are you have and if you watch ity again like we did after 15 yrs of seeing it the first time around you'll love it again, top honors for the stage and design, which was also used later for anothe fantastic film called THE LATHE OF HEAVEN ( reviews to come )....
BLANK GENERATION is a really good video from n.y. showing all the underground bands from max's, and CBGB's in the mid 70s....
COP KILLER aka CORRUPT.....starring JOHNNY LYDON, in this film mr. ROTTEN uses his wits, and reverse pyschology to outwit a police officer who takes him hostage, allthough this is a serious film, some parts are really funny, EXCELLENT movie, it was released in the early 80's...
WHO ARE YOU POLLY MAGOO ?
......she says her name is Polly Magoo, daughter of Mack and Molly Magoo, she's from Brooklyn Ny, her uncle Macgregor Magoo gave her a rabbit she named Pat.....Polly is the biggest fashion model in the world.....this is one cool movie.....from '66 this was a film based on the Mod fashion scene of the time, to many Twiggy is a household name, but PEGGY MOFFITT is not a household name in too many houses but a lot of this film is based on her style, thin, short bobbed hair, mod clothing etc.......her real name is DOROTHY McGOWAN and she was pulled out of a Beatles crowd shot in real life and this role was her only role, we really love this movie, great direction and cinematography, GREAT dream sequences, and what a great folk number that closes the film, be sure to see the drawing of Pat the rabbit and other animation at the end by Roland Topor....director WILLIAM KLEIN has made a few other movies one that came a few yrs later in '69 was called MR. FREEDOM, but it is like a bad acid trip, totally whacked out psuedo commentary on the political system of the time on the u.s. and france and the world in general, but with bad acting, bad costumes and too much incomprehensible nonsense this one is a film we would not recommend, if it had some music in it it coula been better....stick to his masterpiece POLLY MAGOO, but do check out a GOOD film he did yrs later called 'THE MODEL COUPLE' from '77 ( reveiws below )
SPIRIT of '76...A great comedy released in the early 90's stars DAVID CASSIDY, OLIVIA d'ABO, and members of DEVO and REDD KROSS, and ROB REINER too,...keith partridge and friends take a trip back in time and accidentally get stuck in the 70's...GREAT ! ! !....love the ending with the parade and smiley faces... go to our downloads page to see a trailer....
ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW PURE CAMP, one of the best films of '75, and the glam music on it is much better than the film itself *
*ZARDOZ...is a great film from 74 starring sean connery, about a struggle between two cultures, the scene where connery discovers an old book from THE WIZARD OF OZ is one that made me have a FANTASTIC dream about it afterwards,
STRAWBERRY STATEMENT...GREAT protest movie from the late 60's starring BRUCE DAVISON...title track is sung by BUFFY SAINT-MARIE.....a cover of a JONI MITCHELL song done one step better....'were on a carousel of time'.........Davison later starred in WILLIARD, you know the film about the rats, and in around '79 - '80 he starred in a great but rather unknown film called 'THE LATHE OF HEAVEN' ( see below )....
QUADROPHENIA was a great film that told the true story of the battle between the mods and the rockers in england during the 60's...
SUBURBIA...Great film from the early 80's that shows california teenage punks living in an abandoned house trying to cope with life and dealing with small town prejudice...
*PHANTOM of the PARADISE* ' 74 produced by dePALMA is a great musical featuring glitter bands; the UNDEAD, and the juicyfruits, really GREAT songs here !
THE SWITCHBLADE SISTERS
ROBBIE LEE as Lace stars in a girl gang film that'll have you laughing hard as the girls and guys camp it up in what may be the best girl-gang film ever released, as Lace the leader of the Debs, LEE was the prettiest and best leader for the girls, her best frined Patch ( MONICA GAYLE ) does a great job as supporting actress, in the beginning she and her co-horts rob an evil landlord for 40 bucks that he just forced a poor mother of 2 kids to give him, soon they meet Maggie, ( JOANNE NAIL ) who also turns in a great acting job, ( love her dialogue between her and Crabbs ) and soon they're all in jail only to be sprung within the week, BUNNY played by JANICE KARMAN is very attractive and also has some very good lines, she was previously in a film called WHAM BAM THANK YOU SPACEMAN which was also from '75,
Dominic aka Nicki is Lace's boyfriend who is your average male chauvanist character and not too bright who ends up raping Maggie, ( somewhere between his character and his buddy Hook's character the guys behind Welcome Back Kotter must have gotten the idea for Vinnie Barbarino ! )........Lace finds out later and gets jealous, when she and Patch are talking Lace says 'everytime i tried to get close to Dom I can smell her stinking perfume'....FUNNY !....... later on there is a big showdown with Crabb's gang at the local roller rink where some gang members get killed, Lace ends up hospitalized and Maggie takes over for a while as leader of the Debs and renames them the Jezebells, another girl named Donut gets humiliated by the others throughout the film , ( Donut was played by LENNY BRUCE's daughter ), later in the film the girls team up with some sisters to get back at Crabb's cause apparently he's getting kids hooked on herion, great action scenes and some unintentionally funny moments make for a very entertaining and all around trashy film, this was afterall released in ' 75, if you want more trashy films from this year try 'Street Girls', also check out MILK-N-COOKIES glam tune 'Girls in Gangs' an unreleased number available on their live cd also from the mid 70s....a must see ! !
PRIVILEGE
very interesting film released in '67 and banned in some places in europe at the time of it's release, starring PAUL JONES of MANFREDD MANN, and JEAN SHRIMPTON model whose sister was MICK JAGGER's girlfriend for a time in the mid 60s, this would be Jean's only role, the first scene shows Jones ( STEVEN SHORTER ) being beaten by the cops in front of the audience right before he begins to sing, are they really beating him or is it all an act ( you'll have to get this film to find out ), somehow the British authorities use Steven as a medium to control the youth and people of the time, supposedly this is set in the future
later in the film they decide to use Steven to spread the word of God, but the pastor introducing him in this arena set up comes accross like a madman at a HITLER youth rally than someone who intends to do good, later in the film Steve and Vanessa ( SHRIMPTON ) discuss everything happening in his life and she suggests to him that he can stop it all now if he wants to, very surprising ending of which we can't tell you what happens, but this film has a very 1984 like setting involving media manipulation, mass control, big brother, and also how the music industry brainwashes youth, some rather good pop-rock songs are sung by Steven and another band too, overall a 7 on a scale from 1 - 10....
ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER
campy film starring BARBARA STREISAND about a girl named DAISY GAMBLE who goes to see a hypnotist to stop smoking, the film opens with Daisy singing in a garden and making flowers grow quickly and then has a 2nd opening which is vertigo-type graphics where the title track plays while hypnotic graphics pull the viewer in, reminded us a bit of a segment of CHARLIE and the CHOCOLATE FACTORY with music and graphics sung with words coming to the viewer in 3-D........ as she begins some sessions she begins to recall a past life of a woman who lived in england in colonial times named Melinda, seems Melinda was executed for speaking her mind at a time when women were not supposed to do so, her hypnotist Dr. Marc Chabot played by YVES MONTAND who becomes infatuated with Melinda, Daisy has a step brother played by JACK NICHOLSON,and her fiancee Warren is a nerd who wants to control her, throughout the film Daisy goes back and forth recalling the past while trying to live a normal life in the present, the segment where she tries and does entice a man named Robert Tentrees is well worth watching over and over, with her medieval outfit she oozes sex appeal like few women have on screen, so were not going to tell you how the film ends as you notice we don't give away endings, but the main theme of the film is - REINACARNATION, and this is one really good film :)....and as Montaud says in the film ' answers make you wise, but questions make you human'.......
OZ
( A ROCK AND ROLL ROAD MOVIE )
rock musical version of the WIZARD of OZ from '76, well kinda....the trailer for this film shows what looks like a great film especially with the hypnotic music playing while dorothy stares at a photo of the Wizard, but what starts out pretty good ends up a LOW BUDGET affair that would only be of interest to 70s glam rock enthusiasts as most people would find this film unsatisfying due to a general lack of ideas of lack of excitement perhaps ?.......to begin with Dorothy is played by a very talented and beautfil JOY DUNSTAN which it appears is her only film as she later only acted in some tv shows, she is dressed in cool 70s fashions and early on acquires red ruby platforms :) the movie is set down under in australia and starts out with Dorothy and her friend watching a local band at a high school or some place they were called Wally and the Falcons who were a glam band of the time called JO JO ZEPP, they're allright on stage, they are actually the same band who plays as 'THE WIZARD' in the end singing the same tune, only their version is hard pre-punk rock whereas the latter is done with synths for a spage age glam effect............soon Dorothy and her friend and riding along with the group in the van when the van crashes ( did they get this idea from the film GROUPIE GIRL from 1970 ? see below ), and Dorothy gets up and begins her adventure and soon finds out her van killed the town thug
she she meets her fairy godfather, a villian who threatens her for killing his brother the town thug, a surfer who represents the scarecrow in the first part, so in the first 30 minutes everything goes well with cool 70s rock music playing in the background which is supplied by ROSS WILSON, JO JO ZEPP and others singing songs like 'WERE LIVING IN THE LAND OF OZ', but after she meets a biker ( a cowardly biker ) and a mechanic ( a heartless one, get it ? ) the film meanders back and forth for the next 30 minutes going nowhere really as she keeps trying to get to the city to see the Wizard play a rock concert, so she eventually does get to see him and his band play as the Wizard is played by the same character who sang in the local band that played in the beginning only the band are in full glam clothing and the song is a hypnotic one wherein they sing 'little girl i need your kiss, your lips are driving me insane, insane.....'....some unique 3-d effects are added which appears to be the highlight of the film, later she meets him behind a curtain, a shower curtain and jions him in the shower, so the whole movie was set to a low budegt affair and leaves you wanting more when it ends, like for example the movie says the Wizards final concert has AC/DC playing with him in Melbourne ? well it was not in our copy, seems the one song was just played for fans, so anyways you know how the story ends, a happy ending, and even though it's not a masterpiece, JOY DUNSTAN is such a good actress and the songs in it are well played that there are some scenes one can watch over and over, still it coulda been made better had they added some munchkins and have had more happen in the film such as a poppy scene, an emerald city ?? but none of that is here, only mindless silly campy fun, so then this movie can be classified under - 70s campy fun :)
2 video downloads are here
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=confessions+of+a+pop+performer&search_type=
Note in the credits you can see the name - RALPH ROTTEN, and this was in '76 !
TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE
this one fits into the genre of 50s sci-fi films and is actually a well acted film with a surprise ending, Derrick the goodhearted alien lands on earth in a flying saucer with some other aliens ( they look just like humans ) and breaks away from his alien troop and escapes into a small town, he ends up renting a room from a Grandpa and Betty a nice looking gal who happens to be about his age , this is a small town that resembles Pleasantville if you have saw that film, a couple of the bad aliens follow his trail around town in an attempt to take him back, chaos ensues throughout the town when people are found murdered and reduced to skeletons, then a shoot out with authorities later, and yes this was one of the films that MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 made fun of and added lots of humor to in their version, but the movie stands up on it's own as well thanks in part to the 2 leads Betty and Derrick who begin a romance while on the run, they are DAVID LOVE and DAWN BENDER........as they movie builds towards a climax, the ending is one you won't expect, so better not to read too far into another review as lots of critic have no idea how to review films as you know we here hardly ever reveal endings, of great films :)
I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND '78
Classic b movie about BEATLEMANIA, sure you've saw this before, but try watching it again after all these yrs, a crazy loony ride back into 1964 full of magic, and as fun as watching 'R-n-R High School'..........has an all star cast also....
THEREMIN
WONDERFUL documentary film all about the Theremin and it's inventor Lev Sergeyvich Termen aka Leon Theremin, part of the film is about the inventor, other part is about it's use in modern music such as the BEACH BOYS 'Good Vibrations', we liked Theremin's wife playing and talking about the instrument, this film came out in the late 90s.....
here is a site all about the Theremin instrument -http://www.thereminworld.com/
CHATTERBOX from 1976 was a VERY UNUSUAL comedy about this uh.......gal named PENELOPE who shows off her singing talents, in a campy style that has to be seen to be believed...FUNNY !
SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS is a GREAT film of the 40's with VERONICA LAKE, about a couple taking to traveling by boxcar with the bums, with a great moral ending, sad, funny, and overall a film that will uplift the human spirit.....the scene at the church is very realistic and will make you laugh.......:) EXCELLENT MOVIE !
the PRESIDENT's ANALYSIST is a really good film starring JAMES COBURN, very looney 60's camp...* he also was in some great campy spy films as a character named FLINT - Our man Flint, well worth seeing :)
SIMON of the DESERT
from around '65 or so this is one of LUIS BUNUEL's masterpieces, before you watch this film do not read any other reviews as unlike us some reviewers give away the ending and in this one they give away the surprise cause you would never expect an ending in such a film as this, starring CLAUDIO BROOK and SILVIA PINAL, this film showcases Claudio as a hermit like devout man of God who lives atop a tower in a desrt like town speaking profound words of God and excerts from the bible all the time satan comes in the form of Mrs Pinal and tempts him several times, their conversations are funny and the overall effect of the movie has a nice atmosphere throughout, but in the ending she tells him that they are going on a trip and what happens next is something you would never expect, overall an enjoyable film, even though it's only 45 minutes, word has it they ran out of money and had to add in a quick ending, but it's what makes the film a triumph, see also PINAL in 'VIRIDIANA', a classic film from '61 where she is a nun and looks after some homeless people, thought we had reviewed this film somewhere here, but guess we did not....
THE MODEL COUPLE
meet CLAUDINE and JEAN MICHEL the average couple living in france circa 1977, they volunteer to undergo a series of tests wherein they are monitored 24 hrs a day by another couple, a pair of annoying scientists and they are also watched by the rest of the country, kinda like a primitive version of reality tv, but this is '77 so the colors are all neato and there are nic ecampy songs throughout the film, Claudine even mentions a singer early in the film one HUGHES AUFREY who appears to be an old friend of BOB DYLAN'S, ( btw we here at this website have never viewed any reality tv show, people who make and watch such trash need to get a life ), ok ho hum back to this exciting review, the couple are driven a little batty due to all the questions and they themselves wonder what it all adds up to........they begin to question the 2 scientists and humor abounds throughout, later a group of revolutionaries burst in and take them hostage, but they are all teenage kids, so is it for real or make believe ? we won't answer that, you'll have to see for yourself, one thing we say Claudine is really cute and atalented actress Jean Michel is talented himself and funny when he makes fun of the others, one thing they learn from the kids is that 'POLITICS IS JUST A SHOW', just like this one, overall a 7.4 out of a 10, enjoyable, a bit campy, and extra bonus for a slight sci-fi approach and campy music.......see our downloads 7 for a clip :) ....the director also made a greater film in '66 called 'WHO ARE YOU POLLY MAGOO' see above for reviews....
' WILD STRAWBERRIES '
a swedish film from INGMAR BERGMAN starring Victor Sj�str�m as Dr. Isak Borg, not a whole lot happens in the film, but it is well acted and if you are in the mood for something light and happy with a few meanderings into the countryside and into dreams then you may like this film, Isak is headed to an important place to pick up an award , a degree of some type honoring him for his work the medical field in the city of Lund, as he begins his journey he and his niece is it ?......pick up 3 young hitchhikers , 2 guys and a girl named Sara played by BIBI ANDERSON and also a couple of about 40 yrs of age, the couple begins to argue, eventually they leave and the 5 continue of their way to Lund, eventually the 2 young guys argue about God and his existence and later patch things up, the group eventually makes it to their destination where Isak is given his award in a ceremony, throughout the film there are dream like sequences and Isak has odd dreams, perhaps the most sincere part of the film is where Sara calls out to Borg and states that it is he that she really loves, always and forever. ..........Isak waves to her from the balcony,.......well overall we found this to be a nice and entertaining film
some HORROR FILMS
THE WICKER MAN
Classic HORROR film, yet plays more like a mystery, but we have to say, this is horror unlike anything you ever saw before, the horror here is REAL, real in the sense that people portrayed in the film really do exist in this day and age, released in '73 starring CHRISTOPHER LEE, EDWARD WOODWARD, BRITT EKLAND, DIANE CILENTRO, and many others, a police officer is summoned to a distant hard to get to isle of scotland to search for a missing girl named ROWAN MORRISON, as he asks around he notices the people and children there are more than just a bit unusual, Lord Summerisle ( LEE ) lives in a mansion surrounded by antiques, art, and lovely female creatures, ahh but something seems not quite right in this land of make believe, afterall a young girl is missing, or is she ? one has to follow closely thru the film to the very end to realize what goes on, all the while lovely scottish folk music the kind you can hear on old PENTANGLE and STEELEYE SPAN records plays during interludes and in the background as well
we will stop there as we don't wanna give away the ending, very interesting conversations on spirituality between the Christian ( Woodward ) and the Pagans he meets throughout the land, he believes that the soul is ressurected, the Pagans beleive more in transmigration of sorts, the film is very well acted and executed, great plot, wonderful scenery, all leading up to the island's MAY DAY......this film is a must see, since it is from ' 73 if you were to rent or buy it on a weekend, better to follow it up with a copy of GODSPELL............do not see the Wicker Man alone, bring a friend, btw do not see the remake, we hardly watch new films, they are BORING, nothing like 70s cinema for real movies :).......see this site NUADA for info on the film and lost scenes of which there is said to be different versions of the film -
http://www.nuada98.fsnet.co.uk/nuada%203/
The SENTINEL was a really good horror film from the late 70's, about reincarnation and a single gal living alone in n.y. city.....starring CRISTINA RAINES who gave a great perfomance, also had AVA GARDNER in a small role as her landlady....
LET's SCARE JESSICA to DEATH.....'71
EXCELLENT atmospheric film about a female vampire in a small town, and how she and the others attempt to drive a young woman out of her mind, she being one ZOHRA LAMPERT, a mysterious girl runs around in a white dress throughout the film, her name is GRETCHEN CORBETT, then there is a woman Jessica and her friends meet named Emily who seems to be a drifter, but she's actually a 200 yr old vampire, this film works well on all levels and is actually scary like a true 70s horror film should be, ever notice how horror films since 1980 or so are not at all scary, well this is one that will scare and entertain you, it's in a class all by itself
CARNIVAL OF SOULS
there used to be an abandoned amusement park between wendover and salt lake city in utah called The SALTAIR PAVILION, it serves as a focal point for this GREAT film about a young girl ( the lovely CANDACE HILLIGROSS ) who survives a car wreck where her 2 friends are killed, they find her wandering around the lake dazed and not knowing how she survived, she leaves town only to be followed by a ghoul at certain times, later she finds that at times people cannot see or hear her, as if she does not exist in our world.......she moves into a boarding house where the only other renter is some idiot who comes onto her and the lady who rents rooms there, she gets a pt. time job as a church organist only to be fired, she ends up visiting a psychiatrist who is unable to help her, she seems to drift in and out of the material world as she feels she is summoned to the Saltair Pavilion,......the film plays like an old TWILIGHT ZONE episode more so than say a horror film, but it can still be classified as horror too, we'll stop there as there is somewhat of a suprise ending, Candace was in another film called 'The Curse of the Living Corpse' , and starred in some tv shows also, so how do we rate this film ? HIGHLY, it's very well made, eerie in some places and has great music to go along with the ambiance, Candace tried to have a sequel remade over 20 yrs later but was unable to, read an interview here ~
http://www.bmonster.com/profile18.html
THE TOUCH of SATAN.........'71
a.k.a. CURSE OF MELISSA, a.k.a. NIGHT OF THE DEMON, a.k.a. THE TOUCH OF MELISSA,
VERY GOOD film overall that many people have criticized, we liked the 70s nowhere aspects of it, slow moving in parts but the acting by the 2 main characters is what makes the film a worthwhile and interesting venture, nice scenery, cool 70s fashions, pleasant conversations, not nearly as scary like say the above film which is also from '71 but the movie builds up well.......Jody ( MICHAEL BERRY ) is a college age guy whose father wants him to be a lawyer like him, but he wants to travel around teh country a bit before he makes up his mind, on his way to california he stops in a small town, just oh hanging out by a pond he finds and along comes a pleasant girl named MELISSA, ( EMBY MELLAY ) after talking she invites him to her parents walnut ranch where Jody encounters a strange woman who Melissa says is her crazy great grandma, who really is her sister, along the way 2 people in the town are murdered, people in town stare at Melissa because she is a witch,
there is some funny dialogue and the title track is sung in one part of the film which sounds like very corny 70s pop and doesn't sound like a song one would use in a horror film, along the way wouldn't you know Jody and Melissa fall in love, so this romance gets in the way of Jody truly understanding that something is WRONG here, the flashback sequence to the 1800's later in the film is well acted as well which explains the current dilemma of the Strickland family, this is Melissa's only film she was in which is a shame because she is an attractive actress which could have played well in any type of movie, the movie's most touching moment is when she sang 'Amazing Grace', we saw the MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATRE 3000 version of which info is near the bottom of this page, the critic and his 2 robot friends making fun of the film all the way thru turns it into a comedy, unfortunately they talk over some key moments of the film....on a scale from 1 - 10, we'll give this film a 7.7, see our downloads 4 page now to watch some clips from the film....
HORROR HOTEL.......good atmospheric film from '60, about a witch who sacrifices her guests in a dungeon beneath the hotel, stars PAMELA JESSEL , and DENNIS LOTTIS.......
DEVIL RIDES OUT.....GOOD film with CHRISTOPHER LEE about a a devil cult trying to kidnap people and brainwash them, good climatic ending....
FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND
leaving this one near the bottom of our horror film section where it belongs,'78 or '81, not exactly sure, well as soon as these guys hit the beach after landing from the hot air balloons and start the dialogue you know you found a winner, the acting is so bad, so bad you start to laugh, then for some reason actors get paralyzed in the arm at random whenever they mention a place like Kentucky, they meet some pretty jungle girls who smoke reefer out of skulls and play bongos, when the bums come in and one of them laughs a ridiculous laugh, you'll be the one laughing, laughing at how you are spending sat. night watching this mindless film, a lot more happens but we will not give away the ending, but there is a spinning pink box, a monster, and some unexplained occurences, so go to IMBD.com and read the user's comments about how bad/good this one is :)
FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND is a true masterpiece in every sense of the word .
CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS
from around '72 this one too is said to be a masterpiece of meaningless, bad acting and worse script and it's from the 70s so it has to be a winner, more info to come soon....
'MALPERTUIS'
aka 'LEGEND OF DOOM HOUSE'
odd film this one, made in '71, came out in '72, the scenario begins with a brother Jan and his sister Nancy, who are summoned to an invite to Malpertuis their uncle ( Orson Welles ) mansion, as the story goes eventually he will die and wants to divide his immense fortune amongst his family, so there are a few nutty aunts and uncles they must deal with, the worst being the family taxidermist, throughout the film strange things begin to happen, and there seems to be teeny tiny little people who are the size of rats and like to kill, both Jan and Nancy find mates, but somewhere in the film they decide they have had enough and want out of this whacked out place, the ending comes as a complete surprise as this is supposed to be a horror film, but plays more like a mystery, overall its alright, not a great film, except the ending where the real identies of the relatives are revealed will astonish you......well somewhat....
( on Jesus )
' He went to parties in disreputable company and was looked upon as a glutinous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners; he assaulted indignant tradesmen and threw them and their belongings out of the temple; he drove a coach and horse through a number of sacrosanct and hoary regulators ; he cured diseases by any means that came handy with a shocking casualness in the matter of other people's pigs and property; he showed no proper deference for wealth and social position; when confronted with neat didectical traps, he displayed a paradexical humor that affronted serious-minded people, and he retorted by asking disagreeable searching questions that could not be answered by rule of thumb.
But he had a daily beauty in his life that made us ugly, and officialdom felt that the established order of things would be more secure without him. So they did away with God in the name of peace and quietness.
WALKABOUT is a Really good underated film if you need an escape, starring JENNY AGUTTER in 71, who showed up 5 years later in the sci-fi classic LOGAN's RUN,.....
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH was the very good b-movie that DAVID BOWIE made in 76, and had some unshown scenes added a few years ago...
SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS is one of finest fims of the 60's, great acting and storyline, well developed plot, and the music in it is SUPER!...
ROBOT MONSTER...was one of the best films of the 50's , about a robot who terrorizes a mayberry-type family, and finally
ESCAPE FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN ( mid 70s )...is a good film about children with magical powers... "Return to Witch Mountain" was the sequel
ED WOOD's
*'GLEN OR GLENDA'* is among the greatest artistic achievements of the 20th century !!! ,BELA LAGOSI steals the show and reminds us of HITLER losing his mind in his final days,.......... if you haven't seen 'GLEN OR GLENDA' before, then forget about this idiot site and go rent it!, also *PLAN 9 from OUTER SPACE* is his other milestone, with superb acting that should have been nominated for a grammy at the time!
JAPANESE SECTION
UGETSU
from the early 50s this is a japanese film about a man who meets a ghost, although it is not really a horror film, more like a fantasy film, the setting is in the civil war era of japan where 2 couples sruggle to make a living making pottery and selling it at the market, but the war comes and disrupts their lives and hey all splinter, he main character meets a woman and her nurse and moves in with them later to find out that he relationship is forbidden because they are ghosts, this is a love story within a fantsy type setting, very good acting shows how honest japanese people are and how nice they treat each oher, well except for the killings and robberies, what happens later to both couples you will have to find out for yourself, we like this film because it has a good moral and surprise ending ........
JIGOKU
atmospheric japanese film circa '60 about love, betrayal and honor starring Utako Mitsuya and Shigeru Amachi, pretty good film here as it showcases honor and life in a way only a japanese film maker could, a young man is a passenger in a hit and run accident, they flee and afterwards he goes thru tragedy after tragedy, but he's being tested by God, eventually 2 thirds of the way in the film he goes to hell and sees lots of his family and friends there including his wife who has set their baby daughter Harumi on a lotus leaf down the river to escape this dreadful place, he goes after her yelling Harumi all over the place and has encounter after encounter with loved ones with whom he tries to help to escape hell, there are some funny parts along the way but some of the graphic scenes of hell were too strong for movie goers of the time, this film stands on it's own and is a pretty good one at that, we'll say a 7.5 out of 10 because it was rather entertaining and remember HARUMI translates as Spring and Beauty in japanese :) ( not sure if the name is the correct spelling though...
WOMAN of the DUNES
odd japanese film, a mystery really about a man who ventures into the desert on insect research, gets lost and a man he meets along the way puts him up for the night, the lodging is down a ladder into a house surrounded by sand, it actually ends up being a giant sand pit where he and the girl who live there have to spend every day digging out sand so that it won't cave in on them, seems she has been held captive by the strange villagers who drop supplies every week, he realizes that he is stuck in the trap with her and tries to make the best of it Eiji Okada is the scientist, and Kyôko Kishida is the pretty girl whom he develops a relationship with, eventually he tells the villagers he is going crazy and wants to visit the outside to see the ocean again.......there are a few metaphors to notice throughout the film such as how he at first keeps the insects in little traps captive only to soon find himself captive in a similiar way, also the sand reveals secrets about itself....we'll stop there as this is a film you won't forget....
THE IDIOT
from KURASAWA circa '51, interesting film about a simpleton as he is referred to in the movie who was actually emotionally damaged from the war, he tries to make his way in the world, his name is Kameda, who has been in an asylum on Okinawa, he later travels to Hokkaido, and there he becomes involved with two women, Taeko and Ayako, and allthough they are both engaged to others they come to adore his simple and odd nature and both fall in love with him, allthough the 2 other men who are supposed to marry these 2 women somewhat resent him, they also feel sorry for him and even have trouble in hating him, ....so umm what to do ? well things don't go exactly as planned and along the way Kameda spouts his own brand of philosophy and everyone gets to like him, but when he and Ayako go to visit the Taeko and her spouse things take a turn for the worse, overall an entertaining film with an odd ending....
AMAZON WOMEN on the MOON
released in '87, this is a great film which has lots of skits beginning with a spoof of a 50 sci-fi film, a film that came out in the late 70s Kentucky Fried Movie is one to aviod it's dull and not funny at all, this film like THE GROOVE TUBE is far , far better, from black people with no soul as told by BO DIDLEY, CARRIE FISHER too is funny in her skit, non-stop laughs and an all star cast make this film unforgettable :)
THE GROOVE TUBE
from 1972 this film was like a precursor to SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE with it's use of skits and short plays some of which are very funny, look closely and you'll notice CHEVY CHASE in some skits, and is that LAURAINNE NEWMAN in one scene ? campy good time music plays in the background, while some skits are not so good others are real funny....
WHAT WE DO IS SECRET
at first we were skeptical since this was a hollywood film release about a great punk band of the late 70s called the GERMS,....ahem...but we were surprised that the producers made a film authentic and made in flashback semi-documentary style, the actors sometimes would pop up randomly talking about the past as if being interviewed for comments after the fact, of course the music in it is great as are early scenes of punk rock from when the GERMS play their first gig ? if you wanna call ikt that in front of the DAMNED and a few others in early '77, later the SCREAMERS are shown playing a cover of a GERMS song ( the b-side of their 1st single ) and DON BOLLES shows up and says he drove all the way from arizona to be their drummer, there is no pretense here as most movies are these days, rather pretty good acting from SHANE WEST who played DARBY, BIJOU PHILLIPS ( daughter of MICHELLE PHILLIPS ) who played LORNA DOOM, NOAH SEGAN who played DON BOLLES, and we think the best acting part would go to RICK GONZALEZ who played PAT SMEAR, the band really tear it up at the end at the GERMS last show, staged sometime after DARBY returned from england,...super version of 'MY TUNNEL' documents their last show, and as everyone knows how the film ends, one thinks of the irony as Darby died the nite before JOHN LENNON was shot.....this is a rock-n-roll film well worth seeing
SMITHEREENS
this film deals with the present day of the early 80s new wave scene of N.y.( 1984 ) and has rather good, and realistic acting performances from both RICHARD HELL, and SUSAN BERMAN, and BRAD RINN, not a great film, but a decent one with good acting and best performances are from Hell and Berman, good soundtrack with songs by Hell and the FEELIES ( see page 6 ) among others HELL was also in BLANK GENERATION from '80 , never saw it but it boasts a good soundtrack too, another film called BLANK GENERATION ( he's featured in that one )is one we like a lot, they are music videos grouped together filmed in black and white from the N.y. CBGB's scene mid 70s, now thats one we'd call a GREAT film....
SOLO SUNNY
poor Sunny, she has promise to be a great singer as the centerpiece of the film is a really good if gloomy pop number circa 1980 that she sings in front of an audience who pays little attention, this is right after she made her escape from the Tornadoes, God no wonder she gets depressed throughout the film, the Tornadoes were about as clueless a band could get as to what was cool and what not in rock music, if you were a girl who happened to get hired temporarily by this band believe us you would try to escape too, only thing is Sunny was let go from the band and went wandering the neighborhoods and bars where she lived in Germany, she sleeps with a few different guys trying to find a mate without much success, not a whole lot happens in the film but she is a good actress and this is the kind of film to seek out for the song she sings alone.......Renate Krobner is the actresses name....
BREAKING GLASS....released in '80, is said to feature a cool new wave sound track...Kate ( HAZEL O'CONNOR ), stars in a movie about the u.k. new wave / punk scene of the late 70s and all the corruptness that surrounds it, it is said to be very good, we'd like to see it one day....
GROUPIE GIRL
a decent rock film about what happens to a girl who makes the wrong choices in partners and pays the consequences, you feel sorry for the girl in the end, and are thankful they are only acting, it is full of careless sex and the part is played very well by ESME JOHNS, we could not find any more films she was in, she is attractive and a talented actress, the good part of the film are the songs, from the opening title track till the last 30 minutes of the film where she meets BILLY BOYLE who starred in the far superior english rock film - 'SIDE by SIDE' ( see above ) , there is a funny part in the film right before she meets him when the cops bust a mansion where a rock band is hanging out, Boyle has 2 songs he contributed to the film - ' I WONDER DID YOU', and 'LOOKING FOR LOVE'.......overall the film is cold, but an honest portrayal nonetheless.......
ALICE in WONDERLAND
allthough a lot of film versions have been released on this story, we like this u.k. version that was released in '72 that features FIONA FULLERTON, she was around her late teens - early 20s when this film was made, consider this the pyschedelic version of 'Alice' with period costumes and some rather funny scenes throughout, 'but your just a bunch of card she says, this can't be true ' :)
ANGELS REVENGE
this came out in '79 and kinda mimicked CHARLIE's ANGELS in a non offending way, but in this film a group of 7 gals are out to put a stop to the crimelords who are getting young kids hooked on dope, the film is well acted and has a great plot, after viewing were sure you'll agree that this was one of the best films you ever saw......actually there were 1000s of better films in the 70s but this has some rather unknown and very talented actresses who for the most part only starred in a few other films and for a couple of them, this is their only film, one of the girls is in a disco band and there are 2 videos of her singing in las vegas.......the MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 version adds some laughs and makes for an overall better viewing :)
LILIOM
unique fantasy film from '34, really like the beginning with the unique carnival music..... starring CHARLES BOYER ( Gaslight ) as Liliom and MADELEINE OZERAY who Liliom a carnival barker refers to as his strange little girl, she's a cute girl and 30 minutes into watching this funny movie about life as it revolaround the carnival scene you feel that she deserves someone better than Liliom, not that Liliom doesn't have promise to be a good provider for her, but after he gets fired he gets lazy and becomes abusive towards her, things could have gone well from here on out but no, what does he do, he and a bum attempt to rob someone which goes wrong and results in Liiom's death and he goes to heaven wherein he is judged and is given one last chance to redeem himself, and what does he do ? well you'll have to see this film, very good acting and overall an 8 out of 10 :)
THE MASK OF FU MANCHU
enjoyable adevnture farce from the golden year of 1932, BORIS KARLOFF as the evil FU MANCHU, along with his daughter as played by MYRNA LOY are planning to take over the world with the help of GENGHIS KHAN's treasure, LEWIS STONE, KAREN MORLEY and others race to stop them, a funny moment abound when Morley calls Loy a silly little fool for trying to steal her man, unique adventure with lighting at the end adds to the spectacle, watcth it in magic mushrooms like we did for an even overall more enjoyable expierence.......:)
THE LOST WEEKEND
from 1945 starring RAY MILLAND as the drunk, he is a writer and is trying to get out a novel but drinking gets in the way, funny in parts especially when he types out the words The Bottle on the typewriter, good acting from JANE WYMAN too, eventually he ends up in a mental ward due to his drinking, but gets out, good use of the THEREMIN instrument in the film :)
THE CHEAT
TALLULAH BANKHEAD stars as Elsa Carlyle in the film from 1931 she is married to a rich man and takes advantage of his generousity and ends up getting into debt and in trouble, she borrows money from a shady rich man to cover up the debt she ended up getting into and then falls into a trap of sorts, she ends up in cort where her loving husband tries to cover up for her, but seems she really loves him and won't allow him to lie, what happens next is for you to find out, we enjoyed this old fashioned film and Tallulah is a good actress indeed, and did Suzi Quatro portray her at one point ?
TROUBLE in PARADISE
an oldie from 1932 and only a bit over an hour long, the film has some rather mumorous moments and the dialogue between KAY FRANCIS and MIRIAM HOPKINS is what makes the film standout, the film deals with a couple trying to con a wealthy woman out of something, you'll have to watch the film to find out what....
THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY
'80 or so, FUNNY ! info to come soon....:)
BUDDY HOLLY ' 78
GOOD film of the late 50s rock-n-roller as portrayed by GARY BUSEY, love the scene at the APPOLLO where they were the first white act to play, the crowd loves them, u will too, have to say LA BAMBA which came out yrs later is a bit better, which is because they went more in depth into the role........
LENNY '74
GREAT movie about LENNY BRUCE as portrayed by DUSTIN HOFFMAN, kids of today forget about how Bruce was one of the first heroes of the counter culture, paving the way for the 60s generation, he was placed in jail many times for using foul language in his comedy acts, VALERIE PERRINE does a good job as his wife......
MATRIX ( late 90s )
we don't care much for new movies here, but this one was a decent sci-fi film with a basic battle of good vs evil , but with sci fi effects as never witnessed before, always liked KEANU REEVES, he does a good job here, most interesting part is when he goes down the chamber and one can see people all lined up being used by machines for their bodies............well worth seeing again......he also had a convincing role in the DEVIL's ADVOCATE w/AL PACINO....
PLEASANTVILLE ( late 90s )
Great comedy with a good moral, and an overall political statement on how society came of age in the 50s, in this setting Pleasantville is all make beleive, for the folks who live here, all they know of the world is in this town, the geography starts and ends there, no words on the books, everything is straight out of LEAVE it to BEAVER/FATHER KNOWS BEST..........till the teenage brother and sister are sent there by DON KNOTTS who plays a funny role here...............eventually the 2 kids begin to upset the apple cart and slowly the town goes from black and white to color and in the end they expose some racist truths, has a happy ending too,
CRAZY PEOPLE
a lot of comedies that have been released in the 80s and 90s were not all that funny whereas some fall into a category of real funny, that can be said for Crazy People starring DUDLEY MOORE and DARYL HANNAH, DUDLEY is an ad exec who gets real stressed out and ends up at the funny farm where he falls for Mrs. Hannah who looks great in any film she plays in, love it when she 's says "I'M CRAZY", very convincing, later in the film the crazies help him in advertising and they succeed, overall GREAT comedy !
..... FAST FOOD NATION ( 2007 )
co produced my MR. MALCOLM McCLAREN, this is a decent film about the chain of activities that lead to, into and out of the fast food nation, based on true stories, this story is an ongoing one and gets worse everyday, then again since more and more people are switching to veggie diets everyday it's only a matter of time before people's health continues to improve in the long run................shows mexican immigrants heading over the border and finding themselves working in deplorable conditions inside slaughterhouses and when one of them makes 80 dollars in the first day it's as if they found the promised land, but some of them hate the work after the first day, scenes skip around quickly showing those who work at fast food restaurants, has a loser like Bruce Willis as a defender of the meat industry ( you know he ain't no vegetarian ), elsewhere it has an interesting scene of teenage environmentalists discussing what can be done about the meat industry and later their funny attempts at....well we don't give away too much here, you'll have to see for yourself, as for the scenes inside the slaughterhouse they resemble a horror film, we'll say for those who want an intro to thr truth of the matter this film is a good place to start....Note : we can recall on Jonesy's Jukebox back in '07 or so McClaren was a guest on the show and during which Malcolm told Steve about this film he asked malcolm if he was a vegetarian.......Jonesy himself stated he was a vegan for 8 yrs but fell off the wagon a few yrs back.....
Viridiana and the Milky Way both by BUNUEL to be reviewed here soon....
WILL FERRELL Section :
TALLADEGA NIGHTS
yea we like some new films too ya know and we enjoy comedies like those of MR. Ferrell....the ballad of RICKY BOBBY was a funny film starring WILL FERRELL, poking fun of the nascar white trash lifestyle and those who follow nascar, and applebee's too, who the hell would eat there ?
BLADES of GLORY
from 2007 also starring WILL FERRELL as an ice skating champion who along with his arch rival played by JON HEDER gets booted out of ice skating due to fighting and a few yrs later they re-enter the sport by pairing up as partners, there are some really funny parts that will make you laugh out loud, this is just as good as the Nascar film above....we also saw STEPBROTHERS from 2008 and we thought it was alright but a bit too corny and not too funny however the ending where Ferrell sings is worth the price of admission, allthough were not big fans of opera, he and John Reilly really sing a GREAT song in italian is it ? if that is really Ferrell singing then he has a great voice and this song is what makes the film, we liked it so much we included it on our downloads 7 page.... :)
STRANGER THAN FICTION
funny movie Ferrell co-starred with Maggie Gyllenhaal, the 2 make a great pair, first time we saw her in a film, she has a natural screen talent, Ferrell plays Harold Crick, a very plain accountant who somehow steps into a sci-fi setting where he is the only one who can hear a woman's vioce as done by Emma Thompson, she narrates his life while he is doing this and doing that, he begins to think he's going crazy, when in fact by some strange unsettling supernatural event he feels she is watching his every move, funny in some places and heartwarming in others, great song he chooses to sing to Gyllenhaal by WRECKLESS ERIC ( guess ), and if thats really him on guitar, must be because he sang very well in Stepbrothers then he has very good singing talent, we'll stop there as we don't reveal endings to films as the way films should be reviewed :)...
SEMI-PRO
another film by WILL FERRELL, this one is an entertaining film set in 1976 complete with fashions and Will even has his own disco hit out on a 45, as he tries to get his junior league team on the map and he does as they gain more fans with their enthusiastic approach, this film is not nearly as good as Talladega Nights, or Blades of Glory, but it has some funny moments, the best from an appearance by JACKIE EARLE HALEY ( Kelly from the BAD NEWS BEARS, remember ? )......he makes a half court free throw shot and is supposed to win 10,000, but Will does not have the money, he appears later in the film in some funny scenes :)
starring ADAM SANDLER in maybe the funniest role we've saw him in, thought we would include him in this section of newer films here....... this movie will make you laugh hysterically if you have a good sense of humor, ZOHAN is a superhero to the israeli people, but he gets tired of killing people over and over and wants to move to N.y. to become a hairdresser which is his dream, throughout the film they make fun of taxi cab drivers and other folks of middle east descent as well as american rednekcs but in a funny way not offensive at all, he ends up in a salon owned by a palestinian girl who he eventually falls in love with, but we don't give away endings so check out this film when you can !
if you go to imdb.com you'll notice a lot of people saying that this film is far, far worse then MANOS HAND of FATE and a few others which have been voted worst movie of all time, well we couldn't agree more, MANOS is a captivating film compared with this crap, the setting is in the droll dull 1950s and there is no plot at all, and like some of the viewers say this is painful to watch and the acting is not so bad it's good, it's just plain dull, no live whatsoever in the film, until you get to 30 or so minutes into the film when some guys and gals are dancing for about 2 minutes, but that it, thats the liveliest part of the whole film, halfway thru you'll notice that several of the actors are changed for some who look identical, thats because they ran out of money to finish the film, and the monster is some nut who appears maybe about 3 times in the film mindlessly bothering people who just run away including some gals who are sunbathing, if you want a few laughs catch the MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 version because by itself this film is like some reviewers say - torturous....actually our worst film award goes to El Topo, it's the pits...
FORBIDDEN ZONE
the film starts out promising showing a french family living in venice beach california with zany music playing, some intersting musical interludes accompany a dull film which jumps around too much in the 5th dimension as they put it to make it worthwhile, came out in '80 and we were not too impressed with this one :(
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN
from Alejandro Jodorowsky released in '73, what a pile of crap this film is, we thought it was gonna be something to do about Jesus, it was not, instead the viewer is treated to scenes that have nothing to do with one another of various people going nowhere and going thru towns here and there, gross scenes, lots of naked people, boring very BORING ! somewhere where they come to a scene where 7 or is it 9 people are in a meeting the film attempts some coherence in a unique sci-fi setting, but then again the film delves into bad taste, aviod this mess like the plague, 2 hrs of dullness, BORING !...and forget EL TOPO, we rank it as the worst film we ever saw, it's really boring, worse than MONSTER A GO GO....
CARNIVAL of the NIGHT
this crap film won a Cannes award ? why ? is a a japanese film we thought looked good from the cover, supposedly a look at the underground punk/new wave scene of the time - 1983, well aside from a couple of ok performances this film meanders aimlessly around a girl's aimless sexual adventures and her friends, this movie is pretty bad, don't waste your time with it, hoping the girl had better roles because she has some talent...
BLAXPLOITATION FILMS -
DARKTOWN STRUTTERS
what promises to be a great film is a collection of rather OUTSTANDING songs mixed in with camp and silliness, SYREENA and her girl biker gang wear outrageous costumes and get harrassed by the police in the first few minutes, but it is their dance 10 minutes into the film to a song about SYREENA ( TRINA PARKS ) that must be seen and heard, they really camp it up with great singing and dancing, then they meet a cool gang of bikers, unfortunately the movie resorts to predictable slapstick comedy throughout the film and the songs in it are what really stand out, such as one in the middle by the DRIFTERS and another very slow soul number where a gang sings, then the ending one, so you'll want this movie for the great singing and dancing in it which is not enough....the film does get a 10 in the costume dept. thougg
ALABAMA's GHOST
starring CHRISTOPHER BROOKS this film is in a class all by itself, released in '73 this had to have been made by director FREDRIC HOBBS under the influence of several hits of LSD !!!...his previous films are said to be ones of assorted bizzarreness and must be seen to be believed, they are 'GODMONSTER OF INDIANNA FLATS' ( '73 ), ROSELAND ( '70 ) and 'TROIKA' ( '69 )....we've never saw these but we can account that ALABAMA's GHOST is not only so bad it's great, but the acting is very well done and convincing and with all the large crowds it looks like someone spent a lot of money to make this film, HOBBS also used some cast members from his other films to make this MASTERPIECE.......BROOKS stars as ALABAMA a janitor who works in a nighclub, the opening scene is of a jazz band of which ain' t all that exciting, thus it sets the scene as Alabama is asked to close up the place as he does every night, he starts talkin' jive, and accidentally discovers a secret tomb underneath the club
he follows a vioce that calls to whoever as found the tomb, when he gose through a series of catacombs he evenetually finds the vioce which comes from a small record player spinning a 45 record, and he finds CARTER the GREAT's tomb complete with all his costumes and magic memorabilia as Carter was a real life master magician from a long time ago, Alabama finds an address inside and goes there to find CARTER's wife and granddaughter, so Alabama talks jive with granny and convinces her that he must take up Carter's position and travel around the world performing a magic show, only when he leaves is it revealed that granny is really a man in disguise, so we find out that Alabama is being used, yrs pass and Alabama bcomes KING of the COSMOS and a world-wide superstar performing magic tricks to millions of people worldwide, all thru the film you'll find yourself shaking your head in disbelief as such a funny bad/good film, we'll stop there as we won' t give the ending away, there may be a small comparison to the film Privilege ( see above ) in the way that the main character is exploited in front of a nation, but this is a GREAT film that must be seen by 70s movie fans, BROOKS gave the best acting performance as sometimes he looks as if he's thinking 'man how did i end up acting in this mess around all these nuts' ? :) , he played JESUS in a film also from '73 called THE MACK, and was in several more films, see this link for gthat list -
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0111917/
for some info on CARTER the GREAT see this link ~
http://www.sftradjazz.org/carterthegreat.html
COFFY '73
GREAT film starring PAM GRIER going undercover to find the supplier who got her 11 yr old sister hooked on herion, she was in another GREAT one called 'FOXY BABY' '74, and again in 'SHEBA BABY', '75 loses the decadence and is not nearly as good as these 2.....
5 on the BLACK HAND SIDE ' 73
early 70s black comdey drama about a family and neighbors rebelling against a very conservative father who lives in the stone age, he has to face his wife who stands up for women's rights, and has to attend his daughter's african wedding while he argues with all of his family, featuring JA'NET DU BOIS in a pre-GOOD TIMES role, also GODFREY CAMBRIDGE, GREAT title track as sung by KEISHA BROWN and PRIME CUT ( see page 5 )
'SCREAM BLACCULA SCREAM' ' 73
good horror movie and a FUNNY b movie as well, PAM GRIER has a good role as a voodoo priestess using her powers for good against evil, TOM MARSHALL plays the black dracula, a good actor as well, but some of the dialogue and exploitation aspects of this will make u LAUGH !......this was the sequel to 'blacula', never saw that one.....
THOMASINE and BUSHROD ' 74
VONETTE McGEE and MAX JULIEN played in this film as kinda a BONNIE and CLYDE, allthough they played black thieves who operate in the American south between 1911 and 1915, ..........Thomasine and Bushrod steal from rich, white capitalists, then give to Mexicans, Native Americans and poor whites.......a GOOD film, but has a sad ending, good acting by JO MO whoever he was,.......... ' jo mo shoot your babies'..........yea he was just joking ya know.......
TRUCK TURNER.....Great action film starring ISAAC HAYES with good action sequences, the lobby card pictured on this page is super ! see page 8 for a photo
PUTNEY SWOPE
actually the only review here is of the theme song which must be heard to be believed, these lyrics between a black and white couple are incredible ! the film is a comedy about a black ad exec at an all white ad agency, the film is from '69 and has been praised as a cult classic, see our reviews on page 5, oh yea don' t forget to check out one of the coolest videos on youtube.com ~
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9-D-0_jX1O0
WATTSTAX
couldn't forget this one, today this one is referred to as the 'Black Woodstock', but it was held in a coloseum in L.a., opens with a view of the Watts towers and people talking about the era, civil rights movement, it has a lot of soul singers of the day includiong RUFUS THOMAS, his 'Funky Chicken' is one of the highlights as many in the crowd storm the ffield and dance all over after this number, elsewhere soul crooners like the STAPLE SINGERS and singers like KIM WESTON sing mellow soul tunes, but MR. ISAAC HAYES steals the show at the end doing 'SHAFT' and another number which is much slower, get the dvd which has the original ending of the concert 'GOING UP A MOUNTAIN'.......we really liked this film, it's the type you can watch over and over....
some WAR FILMS
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
superb epic war film and an anti war film as well, led by TOM HANKS in ww2, a team of brave soldiers are sent to france to rescue sgt. Ryan whose 4 brothers were all killed in the war, very well produced and realistic war film, but why did they put ted danson here, why ?
'THE ODESSA FILE' is a superb film from 74 starring JON VOIGHT, about a german in the 60's who disguises himself as a former waffen s.s. to infiltrate ex-nazi underground...highly recommended...
'HOLOCAUST' is a really good film about life in and around concentration camps of WW2 starring JAMES WOODS and MERYL STREEP...
...'PATHS of GLORY' is a great film starring KIRK DOUGLAS about WW1 that deals with treason amongst other subjects, the movie is worth renting alone for the scene at the end where the girl sings for the french soldiers.....unforgettable *
if you are interested in WW1 and WW2 posters, then this site here has some beautiful ones
http://www.homestead.com/warposter/warposter s.html
- ANDREI TARKOVSKY -
we reviewed this director's 70s milestone - SOLARIS - above close to the top, so here is a section that showcases more of his films....
'VOYAGE in TIME' from '82 is an interesting documentary about a trip to italy, the film shows him in conversation with friends and poets and shows simple everyday life in italy at the time, the overall mood of the short film is something we liked but this is only for big fans of the director, like where he says that a good director does not necessarily become the film, rather it becomes him.......and we laughed out loud about the film he wanted to make about his wife....maybe if it were a comedy and he failed at the goal he stated could it have been a good one, we liked 'Voyage in Time'....
STALKER
from '79 we have to say with such a unique idea that this movie is or was supposed to be, we found this dissapointing to say the least.......tarkovsky stated that the original film could not be developed, something about technical problems with the actual film the movie was recorded on, but other claims are the soviet govt. not wanting the film to be released, so a year went by while he remade the film, so maybe the original we would like better....so in this film there is a 'ZONE' hidden and protected by soldiers who will shoot at you if you try and enter this wilderness area wherein a secret 'zone' lies within and one can find untold treasures, the first hour goes by and is so boring till they get there, some of the dialogue is well thought out and philisophical but the 3 guys on film wandering thru the wilderness just does not make this film that exciting, the best part is where the landscape gradually changes around them and keeps changing, raining, they find an old bunker, but then they find depression, well this could have been a lot better, maybe if there were better actors or if something MORE actually happened, some obvious ideas were taken from SOLARIS but overall this one is a letdown, worthwhile perhaps only for the philosophy found - within -
'The MIRROR'....from '74.....umm forget this one, has some good poetry weaved into dialogue that makes one stop to ponder but it's too fragmented and dull, nothing, nothing at all like SOLARIS, funny in his documentary he says he does not like what he did with SOLARIS, well we did and we think you will too :)
The KIRLIAN WITNESS
kinda in the sci-fi/paranormal.......category a woman learns to communicate with plants via telepathy, she is murdered, so then her sister tries to communicate with the plants to see what they know as they are the only witnesses ( to see some starting info on plant life, see our gallery on SOLARIS atop our gateway 7 )
'DEATH PROMISE' late 70s, supposed to be so bad you'll laugh, and laugh....well we've never saw this one, but we'd love to !
yea, yea, we've actually saw many more great films, but ya know our site is mostly on music, and spiritually, sometime we'll come here and add more, check out a super B movie site called PIMPADELIC WONDERLAND, another is SHOCKING VIDEOS,another is called TRASH PALACE both accessible from our LINKS pages.... ******
scene from GODSPELL *
Psalm 95
A Call to Worship and Obedience 1 O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice
our close friend from germany named Luna sent in reviews of 2 70s uk glam rock films, they are rather unknown today.....SIDE by SIDE is far, FAR better of the 2....there are 2 more of the same '74/'75 glam era
'SIDE BY SIDE'
Year: 1975 Genre(s): Comedy Runtime: 84 mins. Distributor(s): GTO Director: Bruce Beresford Producer: Drummond Challis Music: Mac and Katie Kissoon, Desmond Dekker
Music artists:
Stephanie de Sykes, Barry Humphries, Terry Thomas, The Second Generation, Mud, Kenny, Fox, The Rubettes, Hello, Mac and Katie Kissoon, Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band, Desmond Dekker and the Israelites, Kenny, Lauri Lupino Lane
Cast:
Barry Humphries: Rodney, Joss Terry-Thomas: Max Nugget, Stephanie DeSykes: Julia,
Billy Boyle: Gary, Dave Mount: Flip, Frank Thornton: Inspector Crumb, Jennifer Guy: Violet, Sheila Collings: Bessie
Sound Track:
Includes:
The Rubettes: I can do it,
Stephanie De Sykes: Born with a smile on my face
Hello: Bend me shape me
Mud: Side by side
The second movie with Mud, and especially Dave Mount, is called "Side by side" In this movie where also performances of The Rubettes, Stephanie de Sykes, Lynsey de Paul and Spike Milligan.
to see a review and some pictures of both these films, see this link at a MUD site -
http://home.hccnet.nl/paula.versnick/mud/films.html
HOWEVER go to our Gateway 3 and you'll see an in-depth review of what is one of the GREATEST films of all time ~ 'SIDE by SIDE', amazing !!
STEPHANIE de SYKES should have been nominated for an oscar , a grammy whatever, we give her the best female performance in a film of the 70s period !.....NOOSHA FOX does a great cameo performance but only in the song 'imagine me, imagine you', she should have acted as well,.....
'NEVER TOO YOUNG TO ROCK'
Year: 1975 Genre(s): Comedy Distributor(s): Libert International Director: Dennis Abey Producer: Greg Smith, Ron Inkpen
Music artists: Peter Noone, Scott Fitzgerald, Mud, The Glitter Band, Rubettes, Slick, Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band, Sally James
Cast: Mud, Rubettes, Glitter Band, Freddie Jones, Peter Denyer
Sound Track: LP, label:GTO
Includes:
Rubettes: Never too young to Rock, Sugar baby love, Tonight, Juke box Jive
Slik: Never too young to Rock, Boogiest Band in Town
The Glitter Band: Angel Face, Just for You, Let's Get Together Again, Shouted Out
Mud: Dyna-mite, Tiger Feet, Cat Crept In, Rocket
In May 1975 the comic rock-movie "Never too young to rock" went in premi?e in Dublin. In this movie also played The Rubbettes, The Glitter Band and Peter Noone.
this excert Luna got from a MUD site, we posted our reviews of this film in our Gateway 3 of the 70s invasion in the summer of '04, it is not as great as it sounds above, actually the film blows pretty bad like a cheap b movie, but it is very worthy to get for the song performances, of which SLIK's 'BOOGIEST BAND IN TOWN' is a standout, also MUD and the GLITTERBAND have great performances too, RUBETTES are good also so you'd just want this film to watch those clips over and over and especially the finale where the title track is sung, go to our Gateway 3 to see our reviews....
'CONFESSIONS of a POP PERFORMER'
( featuring KIPPER )
at the bottom where they belong, there exists nothing at all in rock music like the band who terrorized london moviegoers and rock fans alike like KIPPER, pre-punk, rock bottom glam, whatever they were labeled as, KIPPER defied all expectations in their brief period from ' 75 - ' 76 and as some claim singlehandidly gave birth to punk rock, that birth is anaylzed in the first song ' THE CLAPHAM ' from the film 'CONFESSIONS of a POP PERFORMER' ( '75 ), it was one of the period piece english sex comedies that in itself was a bit funny for the times, but mainly served as the showcase for the ( best/worst )band of all time, KIPPER.....funny thing ROBIN's brother in the film is named SIDNEY NUGGETT , in SIDE by SIDE - MAX NUGGETT was the owner of one club, but SIDE by SIDE is by FAR a much better film, except nothing in the world compares with KIPPER thats for sure....
' THE CLAPHAM '
this performance has to be seen to be believed and after the first viewing, many viewers have dropped their jaws in eye-popping expectations and shook their heads in disbelief, the 5 piece leather-clad band takes the stage to the delight of the few hundred fans who assembled to witness the barrage of rock and violence that night sometime in london circa ' 75, the singer looks quite a bit like IAN HAMPTON of JOOK but with a poofed out afro, they begin to play a bass heavy rock-bottom number with defiant guitar and drumming by none other than ROBIN ASKWITH,.......' HERE's A NEW DANCE FROM SOUTH LONDON, IT's CALLED THE KLAPPER, HERE's A NEW DANCE THATS GOING AROUND, IT'S GONNA BE THE RAGE OF LONDON TOWN, ...........IT's FINGER SNAPPIN', IT's FOOT STOMPIN' IT's THE CLAPHAM , DO THE CLAPHAM !!!!!!!!!!!......'...( a source says they are singing ' DO THE CLAPHAM' named after a town in england called Clapham.......sounds like they are singing DO THE KLAPPER.......
at this point the audience is up off of all their seats, many are dancing, some are beginning to fight, this was all documented live, and there were also a number of old-timers in the audience jioning in on the fun, next says the singer -
' NOW I WANT YOU TO GET REAL VIOLENT ' ( and he makes a fist and convinces the audience to really come alive, and they do as he says, a riot ensues and somehow towards the end of the song, a short in the electrical wiring goess off and smoke and minor explosions take place on the stage as the crowd goes wild, again nothing like this was ever witnessed till the SEX PISTOLS came about later, so one can say KIPPER set the stage for all to come....
'JACK THE RIPPER'
another number has the band playing a decent rock number with lyrics ' THE NAME IS KIPPER, MEAN AS JACK THE RIPPER', elsewhere in the film they are just rehearsing, we once read where they had an lp released or unreleased on a glam forum yrs ago,
this review was posted july 19th '06
we found the video which showcases the birth of punk rock here -
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=confessions+of+a+pop+performer&search_type=
'THREE FOR ALL'
from the golden year of 1974, we have posted song reviews in our gateway 5, this film was a campy one based on a touring band called BILLY BEETHOVEN.....some cast members; Paul Nicholas and Robert Lindsey feature prominently admist the supporting talent of Richard Beckinsale, Diana Dors, Liz Frazer, Hattie Jacques, Roy Kinnear, Arthur Mullard, Simon Williams and Edward "The Equaliser" Woodward, to name only a few.......also with
Adrienne Posta, Cheryl Hall, Lesley North Graham Bonnet, Robert Lindsay, Christoper Neil, Paul Nicholas, as "Billy Beethoven".....Guest Appearance of Showaddywaddy
SOUNDTRACK;
Side One
1. Three for All (Marionettes) 2. Don't Drink The Water (Billy Beethoven) 3. The Party (Rock 'n' Roll Party) (Showaddywaddy)
4. With A Girl Like You (The Troggs) 5. Driving in The Rain (Stephen Stapley) 6. Spanish Holidy (Hasta La Vista) (Marionettes)
7. Happy Machine (Kaplan Kaye) 8. Liza (Kaplan Kaye) 9. Dreams (Out In The Forest) (Billy Beethoven)
Side Two 1. Untitled (Here Comes The Rain) (Billy Beethoven) 2. Hot Rod (Willy Zango) 3. Lady (Granny)
4. We're Free (Billy Beethoven) 5. Rock on Man (Rock Island Line) 6. Things Get Better (Adrienne Posta)
7. Groovin' with Mr. Bloe (Mr. Bloe) 8. Roadsweepers Rag (Instrumental) 9. Three for All (Reprise) (Marionettes)
http://www.bonnetrocks.com/disco/early70s/early70s.htm
These below we have not yet saw, but they sound very interesting
FINAL PROGRAMME
sci-fi adventure about a rock star who travels thru time, from '73....
BLACK MOON
umm not sure about this one yet, the youtube vieo is interesting to say the least, a crazed girl speaks with a unicorn and attacks talking flowers, it came out in '75....
JUMPING BEAN BAG + GLITTER...........these 2 short unreleased films from '76 on the u.k. Glam scene now out, 'Glitter' featured TOYAH WILCOX, see our Links 4 page for the link.......
SHARPIES
the pre-punk skinhead look was alive in 1974 in melbourne australia, youth gangs dressed in straight leg jeans with short hair, they had girlfriends that followed their style too, there is a rare film that exists, for now see these 2 clips at youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNcdUbVWH8E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNcdUbVWH8E
INFO TO COME SOON
lastly a u.k. film were looking for
THE AMAZING MR. BLUNDEN........last , but not least a british fantasy film from the early 70s about some youngsters on an adventure of a supernatural nature......one of us thinks he saw this film when he was 5....we want to see this film, write us if you have it on vhs,
next is our review of l.a.'s TEEN MACHINE, and our friend from europe's comments, followed by our review of the music from the film VELVET GOLDMINE, about 70's glitter rock; then B movies, and a KONGS article :) .................................*
TEEN MACHINE
we listenened to sound samples of 'after school special' from the 'teen machine'
1 1 DEMOLITION GIRL...handclaps, electric guitar, teen vocals, reminded us very much of HELLO, the 2nd best track here :)
2 hot mom....lead vocals by MANDY, this is power pop with good vocals
3 bitchin camaro ....power pop with bubblegum-type harmonies
4 POP STARS......early 70's pop sound, this rates with the best of the PARTRIDGE FAMILY....GOOD one...
5 SCHOOL's OVER.......YEA ! SUPERB vocals by ANGEL, bubblegum harmonies, over loud 70's guitar sound, the BEST track, and our chioce for 'best summer song for 2001'...:)
6 sugarland.......some guitar crunch here and there, ...ok...
7 I'M GONNA STEAL YOUR GIRLFRIEND' pop-rock, most comparable to CHEAP TRICK...good one.....
well there you, they have some other songs on the lp as well, we are really impressed from what we have heard, retro 70's sound with an updated power-pop sound of 2001, if you like any of these 70''s bands ; HELLO, JOOK, MILK and COOKIES, the TEENS, and the PARTRIDGE FAMILY, then you'll love the sound of the TEEN MACHINE,
hope they can improve with the next lp, check out their tour schedule.....the link is on the homepage
we sent this link to a friend in europe, he listened to some samples, then compared them to some 70's glitter bands -
http://www.teenmachine.net/home.html
CHECK THIS BAND OUT - THIS IS LA.'s BAND's ATTEMPT AT A 70'S RETRO GLITTER, BUBBLEGUM style
They sure sounded glam! Just send them here, ask them to do some covers and they will be loved by all retro fans (me and my fellows). No, 70's acts are really loved in the clubs over here. But they have to play something which people have heard.
WERE YOU ABLE TO HEAR ANY OF THE SONGS FROM SAMPLES ? IF SO HOW DID THEY SOUND ?
When I got to hear about this band I was told this was a retro glam band. But I don't agree in this, it's more a powerpop act holding on to pop and harmonies rather than heavy guitars and drums. The album by Teen Machine is called "After school" and some songs can be heard on their home page in Real Audio. There were seven songs available. But... remind you that this is a modern sound, but with influenses.
the cd cover is from the old show 'AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL'.........remember ? ******************************************************
VELVET GOLDMINE SOUNDTRACK review -
So hollywood wants to release a film about 70's glam, the songs are a mixture of covers, 70's originals, and 90's originals, what we want to know is why there was so many ROXY, ENO, songs and some pointless covers and why the soundtrack did not include songs of SUZI QUATRO, SLADE, HELLO, and more HARLEY songs, why?
because thats hollywood for you ... aside from fine originals from REED,HARLEY,BOLAN,ROXY,ENO,etc. there are some good covers, some overblown covers too , but mostly good original songs like SHUDDER TO THINK'S 'hot ones' and the central piece 'the ballad of maxwell demon'... , PLACEBO does a good cover of T.REX's '20th century boy', and
THOM YORKE of RADIOHEAD has some nice songs like the cover of ROXY's '2hb', and 'ladytron', but the wylde rattz cover of 't.v.eye' blows, it's too pretentious, GRANT LEE BUFFALO's 'the whole shebang' is really nice, sounds like BOWIE circa '71,...PULP's 'we are the boys' is a good zombie like punk tune, and TEENAGE FANCLUB does a campy version of the DOLLS 'personality crisis' along with someone named DONNA MATTHEWS, elsewhere the cover of 'baby's on fire' sounds put on, but overall it's pretty enjoyable, however if you want the real thing then go and buy some of the real 70's glitter on this site like HELLO or ARROWS.......
**************...........****************........... -* we are afraid of wynonna judd * *************************************************
Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow; I am the diamond glints on snow;
I am the sunlight on ripened grain; I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning hush I am the quick uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight. I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there, I did not die.
Mary Frye 1932
SHONEN KNIFE 'MUSIC SQUARE' '93
I am very happy tonight We could be here today I was waiting for a long time To come to music square
When you sing the song that i love I can't stop the beating of my heart I don't know why
I am very happy tonight I could be close to you I was waiting for a long time To come to music square
Every song i will give to you I want you to have a merry day
I am very happy tonight I could see the beautiful stars I've been waiting for a long time
VIDEO MAIL ORDER, to get rare videos of the past - the present here are a few cool video sites, long live VHS....
1 PIMPADELIC WONDERLAND
2 TRASH PALACE
3 SHOCKING VIDEOS
4 CINEMA DE BIZZARRE
5 MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000
if you have not yet saw this show, you must if you are a fan of bad films, a guy named Mike and his 2 robot friends sit with you through all sorts of so bad they're good films and turn them into comedies by making fun of the film all through it, see this link for more info
http://www.mst3kinfo.com/daddyo/index.html
info to come on rare 70s films such as TAKING OFF, and THE VAN,
PHIL HENDRIE
since you have read this far then here is something you may have not been looking for but will be glad you found, Phil ran the best comedy radio show for yrs in L.a. before it was syndicated nationally only to end around 2006, his special brand of humor consisted of he imitating other people's vioces so well, in his case a revolving group of characters who would say ridiculous things on the air, then people out in radio land would become very upset and call the show live and begin to argue with one of these people while Phil acted as a host of the show often having to stop and calm both the caller and one of his made up characters, so well was his act that he fooled people from all walks of life including a u.s. senator into thinking they were speaking with 2 people when all the time it was just Phil they were speaking with,
Phil Hendrie's show made fun of people who listen to talk radio in the first place so one can say it was very anti-radio.......his radio show was so funny that the humor rivaled and often surpassed the humor of say the old Saturday Night Live tv show from the 70s into the early 80s.........and often left many listeners laughing so hard they would cry, another angelfire site has done a good job documenting his radio show allthough many of the links to sound clips no longer work, search around for some archives and you'll have found the best kept secret in comedy radio ever :)
see this link here for more info -
https://www.angelfire.com/ca2/oceanbrz/page61.html
Pierre de Chardin
https://www.angelfire.com/vt2/70sinvasion/