Selfsploitation Press

Thieves Like Us(1974):
This prison…sponsored by Coca-Cola.
This prison break…sponsored by Coca-Cola.
This bank heist…sponsored by Coca-Cola.
This awkward romance while on the lam…sponsored by Coca-Cola.
Watch the movie, then watch it again with the director’s commentary. It’s worth it just to have the Coca-Cola thing explained. The setting is dank, moisture saturated Mississippi in the 1930s. Robert Altman talks about having to avoid active flood zones during filming in the commentary. Shelley Duvall and Keith Carradine are total naturals in their acting. They are fantastic together. Louise Fletcher is powerful in her role as Mattie. Keith Carradine’s dog plays a small role, too. Old radio serials used as part of the soundtrack really enhance the mood.
While watching the movie, I jokingly made a prediction about a certain prop. I was sorry to be right.

Gold Diggers of 1935:
Good story with Marx Brothers style comedy, only without the Marx Brothers. In just two years, most of the cast of the 1933 version had moved on to bigger and better things, or faded into obscurity, except for Dick Powell, who stars here. Frank McHugh just about upstages everyone with his comedic performance. The dancing pianos are quite a novelty. Also, I never loved and hated Lullaby of Broadway so much. That is some cold ass shit, Busby Berkeley.

Black Panther(2018):
My standard superhero movie “review” applies: Lots of stuff gets broken, glass gets shattered, asses get kicked, things get really bad until they get better again.
This one is exceptionally pretty while it does those things. The locations, costumes, and special effects are terrific. I really like that being the Black Panther is something that has to be earned, and defended. It can be inherited. It can be challenged for in ritual combat. It can be transferred, which is a great concept.
Whoever designed the Jabari throne room deserves an award.

Stink!(2015):
It does a lot to educate the general public, many of whom use multiple fragranced, chemical laden products in their daily routines. It also touches on extreme chemical sensitivity, and how difficult, if not impossible, product manufacturers and chemical companies make it for consumers to find out exactly what chemical ingredients are being used. People(like me) who have fragrance allergies, and other chemical sensitivities will find themselves nodding along. The people who need to see this the most are the ones walking around in their own personal synthetic stink cloud.
One thing I’ve learned the hard way(after a few itchy rashes), always wash new clothes before wearing them. Always. Even if the items don’t smell foul to you –ALWAYS!
A lot of dyes used in clothing are highly caustic; any residue left in the fabric after the manufacturing process can irritate skin. Also, the darker the color, the nastier the chemicals used to make the dye. I don’t know why this is so, but it is. I favor black as the color of choice in my wardrobe; I’m speaking from experience. There is one pair of black pants that I had bought a few years ago, which I gave up trying to get the chemical stink out of after about ten washes. I relegated them to gardening/home improvement project use, and even then I wear another pair of pants under them to avoid getting a rash. I’m too frugal to throw them out, and too embarrassed to give them to a charity clothing drive, because of how bad they reek.
Thankfully, many personal care and household products offer unscented versions. I use these, because I have no choice, and neither does anyone who chooses to live under the same roof as I.
Whenever I discuss this topic, I can’t help but think of The Incredible Shrinking Woman.

Elle(2016):
This is the only one on the list that I didn’t like. It’s really too bad, because it’s also an incidental Christmas movie, which I get a kick out of.
It seems their budget would only afford them one song. The song: Lust For Life[Iggy Pop] is a poor fit. The first time that it gets played, the characters joke about how no one likes it except for one guy. It works in that one scene, but using it more than once was a mistake. There is an indecisiveness in the overall tone. Is it supposed to be a dark comedy? If so, it’s not funny. Is it supposed to be a hard hitting drama? If that’s the case, its punches miss the mark by a mile.
I love watching Isabelle Huppert, but her character here is thoroughly despicable beyond the reach of audience sympathy. The first time I saw her on screen was during my senior year of high school, when my English teacher had the class watch Madame Bovary(1991). It was our reward for finishing the book.

Lost in Space: Season 1(2018):
There is a lot of science in this sci-fi series, which is how I like it. The ever rapidly changing planet is a brilliant plot point. The bots are beautiful, and terrifying. Molly Parker(Maureen Robinson) and Parker Posey(Dr. Smith/June Harris) play some amazing point-counterpoint. Molly Parker also deserves an award for the Best Implied Use of an Expletive in Space. It’s a family show, so you don’t hear her say the complete word, but you know what it is; it’s the only word appropriate for the given situation.

Tokyo Decadence(Topâzu - 1992):
This is my second time around with this one. I watched it instead of biting my nails over election results coverage on November 6th. Over the years, titles featuring adult sexual content have been culled from [movie rental service]. Of what remains, Tokyo Decadence is one of the more interesting and less tame choices. Ai(Miho Nikaido) is a sex worker, whose specialty appears to be BDSM. She is timid, soft-spoken, but very professional. At first, she seems well adjusted, lonely, but not unhappy. In truth, she is superstitious, consulting with a fortuneteller(Yayoi Kusama). She also has an unhealthy fixation on her ex-boyfriend. The best parts are in the first hour. The rest is a minor nervous breakdown. For the most part, it follows her mundanely through her work day, which would be considered anything but mundane by many people.
The works of Xavier Cugat and Pérez Prado enhance the soundtrack, though their CDs take some abuse in the longest, and perhaps best scene in the movie.

Fitzcarraldo(1982):
No one portrays terminal madness quite like Klaus Kinski. Here he plays a desperate(and always sweaty) entrepreneur, whose previous business endeavor to build a railroad across the Andes mountains met with failure, and made him a laughing stock among his collegues. His fetish-like love of opera cements his reputation as an eccentric fool. The story begins with him seeking a loan to build an opera house in what is basically the jungle in South America in the early 1900s. No one will loan him money for his opera house, which leads him to purchase of a boat for yet another business endeavor in the hopes of being able to finance his pet project with the proceeds.
With the boat lies the rest of the story…a story is based in truth, which is drawn from certain events in the life of rubber baron Carlos Fitzcarrald. Yes, there really was a boat, and it was really taken over a mountain, but not in the fantastic way depicted here.
I liked this, but not as much as I liked Aguirre, Wrath of God, which I have seen twice now, and hope to own a copy of someday. I strongly recommend both titles.

Daredevil: Season 3(2018):
I give it an “S” for satisfactory. The dynamic of three holds it together for yet another season. Having done eight years hard time in Catholic school during my childhood, the heavy-handed Catholicism both entertains and irritates me. I still think they are cancelling the wrong Marvel shows. Not that I want any of them cancelled, I don’t, but Iron Fist was just starting to get good, when they killed it. So, yes, I neglected to do a real review here, because I’m still sulking about Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. Also, Misty Knight should have her own show.

Nite Owl(AKA: Night Owl - 1993):
For good, this is bad, but for terrible, it’s truly great. A very low budget vampire movie, John Leguizamo is the biggest star, though he was not yet a star at the time this was made. Quick appearances by Michael Musto, and Holly Woodlawn add to the off-kilter ambiance. It’s fairly traditional as vampire stories go, though more sexually graphic than many of the classics, which is a plus in my book. Being shot in black and white gives it an extra gritty feel. It’s also a glimpse of a less commercially homogenous NYC circa 1990.
This is the second movie with the title Night Owl that I’ve seen this year. The other one starred Jennifer Beals, and came out the same year as this one. Maybe that is why this one has that deliberate misspelling…
I had no intention of seeing either of them. I was looking for a much older movie of the same title(proper spelling). [Movie rental service] had never heard of it, and suggested two completely different movies that happen to have the same title, which makes no sense, but here we are.

Earth(1947:Earth - 1998):
I don’t want to put down a movie for reasons unrelated to its content, but I have a duty to warn those who would rent it on DVD. The copy I was sent promised a choice of original language with English subtitles or English audio, but it would only play in English. English would be fine, but it’s not entirely in English, and much of the English that is spoken is heavily accented. Fine…English with English subtitles it is. The problem there is the heavily accented English has no subtitles. For me it’s just an annoyance, but for people with hearing difficulties, this one is an absolute bitch.
Thus concludes my complaints about the disc itself. Now, onto my complaints about the movie:
It has story, but no heart. Characters are not fleshed out enough to care much about them. Nandita Das is good here as Shanta the nanny of the young girl, Lenny(Maia Sethna). It is through young Lenny’s eyes that we are supposed to view the life and strife of 1947 India, immediately before the India-Pakistan partition. The trouble there –the kid is just not very likeable. She seems too naive for her age, whether it’s a product of her insulated, privileged upbringing, or maybe she is just not that bright. She spends most of her time with her nanny, who spends a lot of her time getting fawned over by at least one man of every religion in India. Everyone is good friends, but conflict grows as the day of “independence” draws near, dividing people as well as land. The hate toward a certain group is not subtle, and neither is the violence.
I think having seen Fire(1996) and Water(2005) before this set a certain level of expectation on my part, which simply was not met.

Street of Shame(Akasen chitai - 1956):
The best comes last in Kenji Mizoguchi’s Fallen Women series. It’s interesting to see how the nature and legal status of sex work in Japan transitions over time in these films. For the first part of the series, the settings are freshly post-war. The women drift through rubble strewn surroundings. In each subsequent film, the gradually rebuilding of the nation, physically, if not psychologically is evident.
The influence of the American occupation becomes more and more apparent. Western clothing and hair styles begin to creep into the everyday culture. Although it is alluded to several times, American soldiers patronizing Japanese prostitutes is not depicted in any of these films. It’s a glaring omission, and I suspect, a deliberate one. For a film less shy about that aspect of post-war Japan, I highly recommend Seijun Suzuki’s Gate of Flesh(1964).
By the time of Street of Shame, prostitution is not exactly illegal, nor is it fully legal, and the brothels are subject to restrictions as to how and when they can operate. Reconstruction has come a long way since the war ended. The brothel, Dreamland Salon, where the women work is a cross between a nightclub, and the modern “soapland”. Pending legislation to make prostitution completely illegal plays its own part in the story. The brothel owner, and radio news keep the ladies updated on its progress. I spoil nothing in revealing that the proposed law does not pass, which is in contradiction of the reality of 1956 Japan. That year the anti-prostitution law did, in fact, pass.
The characters are realistic and memorable. Their motives, and backgrounds vary. Their age range is broad, so much so that it is conceivable that the oldest among them could have been any one of the women in the earlier movies, working from just after the war to the time depicted. They are mothers, wives, and daughters. Their financial debts in life, and to the brothel itself compel them to keep working. Some work to support their children, one works to support her unemployed spouse and their baby, another works to pay off a bad debt for her father, and a capricious delinquent works for spite.
Often the family members who benefit from the income these women earn, are ungrateful for the work they do. They are ashamed of it, and even openly hostile about it, but they spend the money all the same. Their selfish attitudes cause a lot of misery, and invite tragedy.
The camaraderie among the women is strong, but so is the competition for clients. The top earner, Yasumi, is particularly shrewd when it comes to getting and keeping money. She even engages in loan sharking. She lends money to the other women, collecting payments with interest. She manipulates her clients with remarkable guile to both her benefit and detriment. Yumeko and Yorie are the two oldest. Yumeko is a widow, who works to put her son through school. Yorie gives the impression that she has been at it since her youth. Mickey is a spoiled brat fond of Western fashion, and other material things. Bespectacled Hanae has potential tragedy forever nipping at her heels, along with(and in part because of) her less than supportive husband.
This final film has the best balance of hope and heartbreak. Though its final scene might be the most heartbreaking of all. It is also Kenji Mizoguchi’s final film; he died later in the same year it was released.
Also of note is the striking avant-garde score created by Toshiro Mayazumi.

The Warriors(1979):
At last, I’ve seen the entire movie! It only took me three decades. I was only four years old when it came out though. I needed some time to get old enough to see it.
There is one scene that everyone seems to know, even if they haven’t seen the movie. Hint: It involves David Patrick Kelly and some bottles. [I have never seen him play a normal, boring person. It’s almost like when you see him in anything, if shit is not abnormal when it starts, just wait and it will be, because David Patrick Kelly is in it.] That famous scene combined with the bits and pieces that I’ve seen over the years were almost enough to be the whole thing, except for the end. I may have even been mentioned it in one of my old movie lists(on a website not this one).
Back in 2004, I was working a bakery job that had me on shift at five o’ clock in the morning, which was about an hour before I would typically go to bed. One bleary early afternoon after work, my boyfriend decided to watch The Warriors. I paid as much attention as I could while struggling to stay awake. Fourteen years later, I finally gave it a proper, fully alert, viewing. Better still, someone was generous enough to share their Ultimate Director’s Cut on Blu-ray edition with me. Thanks, by the way.
I loved the freeze frames that end each scene being given the comic book look. It lent a nice touch. Having some idea of the geography made it a much more interesting experience. Up until more recently than I care to say, my knowledge of the layout of NYC and its immediate surrounds was embarrassingly poor. The 1970s ambiance is fabulous, so much gentrification since then, probably too much.
There is not much for female viewers to latch onto here. I can relate to Mercy(Deborah Van Valkenburgh), yet I’m a long way from being her. I’m not Lizzie material, and I don’t decoy in the park like Mercedes Ruehl. In terms of character relatability, I’m half Rembrandt(Marcelino Sanchez) and half Mercy.
To be hard pressed against the sea, yet able to rejoice in it comes from a lifetime of fighting on surrounded ground. We are fighting on surrounded ground. Our backs are to the sea. We will not quit this shore no matter how many bat swinging, roller skating, high hatting motherfuckers get sent our way.

Logan(2017):
I have never read an X-Men comic book. I have not seen any of the other X-Men movies. I really liked this. It has more emotional depth and frailty than a lot of superhero movies do, but also a tremedous amount of violence.

42nd Street(1933):
Underwhelming…I think maybe I waited to long to see it in that I saw the better movie musical of that same year first. Gold Diggers of 1933 boasts many of the same cast members, the same choreographer, a better story, better costumes, better songs, and better dance numbers.

Justice, My Foot!(Sam sei goon - 1992):
A crazy, kung fu comedy starring Stephen Chow, but the best jokes and moves come from Anita Mui. The humor is profuse though a bit vulgar –as in fart jokes, and a sidekick named “Ah Fuk”.

I Married a Witch(1942):
There is not much comedy to be found in this comedy. It has its cute moments, but the dad character is too repugnant. If you like the madcap matinée type, you might like this. It reminds me of Arsenic and Old Lace, which I also don’t like.