Knockin em back & rollin the film
Blaxunshine will be back once again @ week's end (or sometime during
next week) w/ 6 Pack Cinema Awards vol VI.
Viewing is well under way
for the next instalment where movies are being watched that begin w/
the letter L.
That's right L..as in the LCBO that
pulls my truck to it like a magnetic force during the work week after
5 o'clock to stock up on my daily recommended allowance of God's
sweet golden amber.
Hope to see you back again for another
alcohol fuelled awards show.
Coming to the end of another week of 6
pack cinema..
I was almost rethinking the concept of
this show when I stopped off @ the beer store as they were promoting
where you can make your own 8 packs w/ the slogan (w/ a octopus) 'an
8 pack is enough for me'. Well an 8 pack will work if you want to
get drunk but I think I'll stick w/ the slight buzz of 6 for now...as
my saying goes I don't drink a lot / I just drink often..well except
for the weekend.
Before tying to all up w/ the big award
one last nomination for Best Picture of the Week of Color.
From 1980 Lieh Lo's Fist of the White
Lotus
Chia Hui Liu & Hu Ah-Piao kill the
White Lotus Abbot & Priest White Lotus wants vengeance. He sends
out his men to kill the two brothers & they are successful @
executing Hu Ah-Piao. Chia Hui Lui flees w/ Hu Ah-Piao pregnant
wife. He trains & goes to extract revenge / he fails. He trains
some more / he fails almost dying for the 1000 step exploding palm.
He trains some more but this time he get some help from his sister in
law & learns a more gentle technique. He returns to face Priest
White Lotus w/ new skills & a few tricks up his sleeve.
Alright that will do it for the 6 films
that are up for the best picture of the week but before I serve it up
of course some self pandering. As always you can follow Blaxunshine
on twitter @Blaxunshine. Im not an attention whore but always
looking for interesting followers that I can follow back.
A couple new people Im following who
have followed me back this week & I recommend you check you their
stuff – IntheFrame1 & TheFilmBambina Some older contacts as
there was a TNA PPV this last Sunday & their review is up on
youtube IWRSHOW ..as well the always entertaining & cool
grindhouse 60/70s throwback blog radio of Lost_on42ndSt (who I'd
throw a couple of bucks but I need my cash right now for rent, beer &
the occasional midget hooker.)
As stated @ the top of the show 15 flix
viewed this week w/ colors in their titles. Those that didn't make
the cut for Best Picture were Blue Lagoon, Pink Cadillac, Black Gunn,
Red Queen Kills 7 Time, Yellow Hair & the Fortress of Gold, Green
Berets, White of the Eye, Mean Dog Blues & the fucking terrible
Black Widow.
Now time for the Best Picture Award for
the Week of Color – The Pabst Blue Ribbon
Again the nominees were Red Rock West,
Purple Rain, Blue Collar, Brown's Requiem, Black Caesar & Fist of
the White Lotus.
And the winner is..
Blue Collar
As I said when Pryor took The Bud this
is his best movie & I would probably put it in my top 30 of films
from the 70s. There actually could have been more nominees for best
actor as both Harvey Keitel & Yaphet Kotto are excellent in this.
As an unsatisfied union man myself this movie strike a hard cord w/
me. Sometimes I wonder what exactly Im paying for except for 80 %
dental & medical coverage & a retirement plan that won't
cover the cost of living when the time comes. Those dues I pay &
the shit I still eat from management don't seem balanced. I could
spend that money better elsewhere like on more beer & some
chicken wings..maybe throw Lost_on42ndSt a few buck to keep
independent radio alive...oh well as Rick Springfield said Im like a
working class dog & I just get by.
..I think I'll leave you w/ that this
week while I continue to enjoy cinema w/ a buzz.
Getting near the bottom of this weeks 6
pack but still a couple more including The Blue Ribbon for best
picture of the week of color. Before the next golden amber here's
the next nomination for Best Picture of the Week.
From 1984 Albert Magnoli's Purple Rain
A talented musician from Minnesota
battles for night club supremacy w/ a rival band. As a new girl
comes to town w/ dreams of stardom of her own the two of them find
instant attraction. Just when it looks like he's on his way to the
top things are really being ripped apart by the seams as it appears
he is going to repeat the history of his abusive father, his ego
running rampant w/ the band & his music losing touch w/ his
audience. Possibly the greatest music driven movie seen since 1977's
Saturday Night Fever. Purple Rain is funk-pop heaven.
Time to serve up the 4th
golden amber of the week.. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly award for
that moment that was so good, so bad it was fucking awesome or just
plain ugly that it stuck w/ me more then anything else this week –
The Colt 45
The nominees are..
Blue Collar – Yaphet Kotto Will Beat
Your Ass
After finding out who is responsible
for the safe heist the union has the hit out on Harvey Keitel.
Yaphet Kotto gets Keitel's wife out of the house & lays in wait
w/ a baseball bat. Once the assailants arrive Yaphet Kotto greets
them w/ some stone cold shit of his own & lays a beating
down..but not nearly enough in my eyes. He should have beat those
mother-fuckers to a bloody pulp coming into a man's home like that.
Fist of the White Lotus – Priest
White Lotus Has Balls Of Titanium
To defeat White Lotus you must strike
his pulse but it can be hidden anywhere...even his is nut sack. Chia
Hui Liu makes many attempts to luggage crush the Priest but he has
mad kung fu defense that you can beat away @ his gronk like there's
no tomorrow..he even has such insane skillz that it can grip your
hand like a vice.
Black Caesar – Art Lund Gets Black
Faced
Racist cop on the take never let Fred
Williamson forget his humble beginnings as a shoe shine boy but
Williamson just the last laugh of justice as he smears Lund's face w/
shoe polish, gets him to sing a minstrel song & beats him to
death. That's some stone cold badass mother-fucking shit.
Purple Rain – Prince's Stinky Fingers
In fine foreplay style Prince gets
behind Apollonia, reaches around & massages her pussy...I had
this movie when I was 12 & my mom had never seen it. One day she
watched it w/ me & when this scene came on I lost this tape
forever..little did she know I had seen worse w/ my dad's porn
collect w/ Seka in action.
Mean Dog Blues – George Kennedy Loves
His Dog
I understand that people show their
dogs a fair amount of affection but Kennedy seems to have some real
unhealthy love for his prisoner killing Doberman Rattler. He'll let
him rip your face off & bite through your ass but then it all
hugs, kisses & doggie treats. Kennedy couldn't be prouder of the
fact that his canine had already killed 2 men.
Red Rock West – Dennis Hopper Eats A
Sandwich
One of my running jokes for years is if
I like an actor so much I can watch him in anything & I can even
watch him eat a sandwich & be entertained. Well Hopper finds a
sandwich & eats it in Red Rock West. If it had been ham instead
of turkey it would have been even better but it was still a thing of
beauty. If you can entertain me by eating a sandwich your a fucking
legend...fuck that just makes me hungry for a sandwich thinking about
it.
And the winner is..
Art Lund Gets Black Faced
I like ironic justice. Hell I love
racial justice & Im not even a minority. Of all the
blaxploitation movies that I have seen (which has to be close to 100)
I would put this in the top 3 of powerfully racial justice been
served (Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song would probably come in
first). First time I saw it it floored me. It's one of Fred
Williamson's greatest moments, a striking blow against racial
prejudice & raw film making.
Gonna wrap in all up in a moment / one
last trip to the fridge for a cold one.
Moving past the 3 beer buzz / it's all
down hill from here so hold tight & I'll get to the 2nd
half of this week's golden amber for color coded cinema. Before
serving up the next one here's the next nomination for the Blue
Ribbon for Best Picture of the Week.
From 1978 Paul Schrader's Blue Collar
Auto workers Zeke, Jerry Smokey tired
of the injustice of being working men & never getting ahead
decide to break into the union's safe. The financial haul turns out
to be a bust but inside are ledgers keeping records of the unions
illegal high interest loans. The three of them decide to blackmail
their union but don't realize the power they are up against as it
could cost them their lives.
Cracking into 4th golden
amber. The first one might be the most refreshing but by the time you
hit #4 they start going down like God's natural spring water. Time
for the Best Male Performance of the Week – The Bud
The nominees are..
Michael Rooker as Fritz Brown in
Brown's Requiem
Brown's Requiem turned out to be quite
the little find & mostly for Michael Rooker. Sure it has that
old gumshoe noir narrative but there is progression to his character
& performance. As his investigation continues he's deeper &
deeper committed to it. He constantly tells himself he should walk
away but his demons won't let him. His pride, his want for revenge &
his alcoholism consumes him. Even in the end when he is able to have
restitution he still lost because he was beat by his demons.
Prince as The Kid in Purple Rain
I debated having Prince hit this list
because it's not like he has a pure acting performance here (I
especially hold that opinion after watching Paul Simon's One Trick
Pony last week which is sorta like this film but of a different
color) but you can't deny his actual charisma & magnitude of a
stage presence. He & his music drive this movie. Drive it like
a mother-fucker. It's actually magic in a bottle that's only
achieved once. Doubt me? Watch Under the Cherry Moon & Graffiti
Bridge.
Dennis Hopper as Lyle in Red Rock West
When Dennis Hopper shows up in Red Rock
West it go from being a good movie to something special. He's a
fucking legend. When isn't he ever good in something? Ive never
seen Super Mario Bros but I bet he's even brilliant as King Koopa.
Here he has me grinning from ear to ear & almost caused me to
spit take my beer from laughing when ever he was swigging from a
bottle of bourbon. Nobody works a bottle of booze like Hopper.
Fred Williamson as Tommy Gibbs in Black
Caesar
Black Caesar may be Fred Williamson's
finest moment. I love the Hammer just on badass charisma alone.
Williamson sorta made a career w/ the same strong persona black hero
over & over again through his career but here he blurs that line.
He's not a African American role model because he is still a hustler
& a gangster but he does give that target audience something to
cheer. I would almost say he's a tragic character if he had actually
died @ the end of this like it was intended & there was no Hell
Up in Harlem. It probably would have had more power but as
Williamson stated in American Grindhouse 'The Hammer never dies'.
Richard Pryor as Zeke in Blue Collar
Pryor is able to do many things in Blue
Collar that eludes so many comedian in heavier films. He is able to
mix his comic talents w/ serious subject matter & neither one is
compromised. He's naturally funny & it fits w/out once feeling
forced & in the same motion it can be real as hell. Never once
do you think that he's changing persona. It's all one character. I
can't name one comedian that can do this even though they've tried.
Not Robin Williams. Not Jim Carrey. Not Eddie Murphy. You can't
convince me otherwise..Pryor is the king.
Lieh Lo as Priest White Lotus in Fist
of the White Lotus
Although no one actually gives actors
much credit for their actual performance in martial arts movies I do
based on kung fu skill alone. That's what makes me different then
Leonard Maltin (other then he can buy me 1000 times over but I can
drink him under the table..& Im sure I've had more pussy). He
holds no respect for the multitude of kung fu movies & won't even
waste his time watching them where I actually think there's an art &
rhythm to them & will watch them..well maybe about 97% of them.
Someone from this movie had to hit this list for the mad skillz on
display here & if you actually want it to base it on skill it
should have been Chia Hui Liu (or Gordon Liu that most know him as)
but Lieh Lo brings much to the legendary White Lotus character. From
the expressions, to the beard strokes, to the laugh, to the mad
skillz Lieh Lo has it down pat.
And the winner is..
Richard Pryor in Blue Collar
Blue Collar is Pryor's best film &
his best performance. My drama teacher once told me (& she had
little respect for actors saying the were a dime for 2 dozen) that
comedy is easy but drama is the true challenge. If you can have them
laughing one moment & crying the next that's true talent. Now
Pryor doesn't have me crying in Blue Collar but I do often feel his
rage & desperation shift very quickly after I am laughing. He
can flip it like someone turning on a light switch.
The man can almost get me from tears of
laughter to tears of sadness though. All I have to do is watch Here
& Now...goddamn I miss him.
More rounds still to come but I think Im
going to throw a Norman Bates style toasted cheese sandwich on this
booze.
Gonna cap off the 1st half
of this 6 pack in a moment & work on that 3 beer buzz but before
getting to more of the delicious golden amber here's the next
nomination for Best Picture for the Week of Color.
From 1998 Jason Freeland's Brown's
Requiem
Disgraced ex-cop & recovering
alcoholic Fritz Brown sometimes works as a repo man because his
private detective business doesn't always pay the bill. That all
changes for Fritz when he is hired by an overweight dirty but
financially well off caddy to tail his sister who is shacked up w/ an
elderly bag man for the mob. The investigation become complicated
as the corruption leads to the head of the LAPD internal affair (the
man who kicked Fritz off the force). His client soon turns up dead
but Fritz can't let go because now it has become a personal vendetta.
He couldn't walk away if he wanted to because now he's a marked man
for what he knows & the evidence in his possession.
Time for the next award of the week
given to the film w/ the best soundtrax or score – The Rolling Rock
The nominees are..
Blue Collar
Blue Collar's soundtrax reeks of the
sweat of the hard working/ hard drinking everyman who just can't get
ahead. Driven by Jack Nitzsche & including Captain Beefheart,
Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ike & Tina Turner & Howlin Wolf it has the
blues @ it's heart & the soul of Detroit 70s working class dogs.
Red Rock West
Although Im not overtly a fan of more
modern country music that is feature in Red Rock West like Toby
Keith, Dwight Yoakam, Kentucky Headhunter & Shania Twain the
couple of songs by Johnny Cash are more then enough for this to hit
the list.
Black Gunn
Tony Osborne's score may be the best
thing about Black Gunn. That's just not saying it's a bad film just
sorta middle of the road for the genre which could have been better
w/ Jim Brown in it. Always a fan of blaxploitation scores Osborne's
kept me more interested then the film itself.
Purple Rain
You can't be an 80s fan & not get
behind this soundtrax. Prince is in top form w/ possibly the best
record of his career (even though I might argue that w/ 1999). This
album dominated top 40 radio when it was released in 84. He's not
alone w/ the smokin gun as The Time also have some fantastic songs
from Ice Cream Castles featured here...Damn even Sex Shooter by
Apollonia 6 is hot.
Black Caesar
James Brown drives the urban feel of
Black Caesar. Full of soul, anger & funk. Quite possibly one of
the 3 best blaxploitation soundtracks & perhaps a personal top 10
favourite score for films from the 70s. I can't stop listening to
it since I watched this movie again. Fan-funking-tastic!
The Red Queen Kills 7 Times
Sometimes the key element to giallos is
the music that determines my enjoyment. Although not high on the
scales of the genre The Red Queen Kills 7 Times has a great score by
Bruno Nicolai. In fact it almost blinds you from some of the
weakness of the film itself. I had seen this about 8 months ago I
thought highly of it & cracked it out again not nearly enjoying
it as much. Then I realized what really stuck w/ me was the score.
And the winner is...
Purple Rain
This soundtrack was a staple of my
preteen years. I owned the vinyl, I had The Time Ice Cream Castles
on cassette & then I went out & bought all the 45s so I could
have the B-sides. I used to tape Friday Night Video so I could see
the videos. This movie was the first thing I ever owned hard copy
original on VHS. I was fucking Prince obsessed. You know many claim that
Michael Jackson was the king @ the time but to me Prince blew him the
fuck out of the water. He was my sexual awaking through music.
Thanks to this entire musical project my cracking innocence was
shattered...and for that I am truly thankful.
Still plenty of that delicious golden
amber to be handed out but before getting to some more rounds the
next nomination for Best Picture of the Week of Color.
From 1993 John Dahl's Red Rock West
Michael Williams comes from Texas to
Wyoming & ties to get a job on a drilling crew but his bum leg
costs him the position. Spending his last 5 dollars on gas he heads
into Red Rock stopping into a bar & is mistaken as a hit-man that
the bartender had sent for to murder his wife. Cash strapped Michael
assumes the identity of the mechanic & sets out to do the deed
only he informs the wife of her husband's intentions. She then hires
him to kill her husband. Michael agrees but has no plans to kill
anyone & just take the money & get the hell out of Red Rock.
Things don't quite go the way he had planned as he hits a man w/ his
car on the way out of town & has to return to face those involved
including the hit-man who's identity he had assumed.
Time to reach back into the 6 pack for
the 2nd award of the week..Best Female Performance – The
C.L.I.T.
The nominees are..
Bernadette Peters as Lou Ann McGuinn in
Pink Cadillac
Peters as Lou Ann takes the rap on a
counterfeiting charge for her husband & his neo-nazi friends.
Posting bail on a bond she skips town w/ her baby & high tails it
to Nevada in her husbands pink Cadillac & a shit pile of funny
money. W/ a skip tracer & those who she took the counterfeit
money from on her heels she hopes to turn the bogus bread into really
cash in Reno. Many feel that Pink Cadillac is sorta Eastwood's black
eye but Peters in one of it's stronger parts. Constantly a fan of
her Peter's able to rise above a lot of the film's mediocrity.
Barbara Bouchet as Kitty Wildenbruck in
The Red Queen Kills 7 Times
Although it is difficult to actually
judge a performance when you are watching a film dubbed from another
language Bouchet does stand out in this often convoluted albeit
stylish giallo. W/ her grandfather passing Barbara is heir to the
estate but w/ murders talking place by a mysterious woman in a red
cloak she suspects it's her sister that she had killed some time ago.
It puts her in a state of doubt almost to the point of madness.
Wide eyed & attractive in the role Bouchet portrays that well &
she does have a couple real stand out moments. The after shock when
she is raped is eerily good . I also liked seeing her tormented by
rats & fighting for her life as she's trapped in the cellar as it
fills w/ water. She's a good woman in peril.
Brooke Shields as Emmeline in The Blue
Lagoon
To me growing up Shields was an
innocent face that didn't have any problem being naked. @ a very
young age I remember seeing her on the cover of Playboy or Penthouse
(I don't remember which) @ the newsstand. Along w/ starring in films
like The Blue Lagoon she stirred something inside my loins even if I
didn't have hair one of my balls. Although no one claims her to be a
great actress in this movie she does fit this sexual coming of age
film very well. She doesn't look like the type of girl that would
take her clothes off but she does & she looks very natural doing
it. Seeing her again it makes me long for my own days of sexual
innocence just wanting to swim the tropical waters w/ an attractive
budding flower..buck ass naked.
Lara Flynn Boyle as Suzanne in Red Rock
West
Lara Flynn Boyle sorta goes through a
transformation of sorts in Red Rock West changing w/ twists. It's
difficult to explain w/out giving away too many of the plot details
of this movie which makes it more enjoyable if you really don't know
too much about it. Boyle always plays it cool & strong even when
her life's in jeopardy & she's sexually seducing Nicolas Cage. My
favourite line of her's when the jig is finally up – 'shit'.
Cathy Moriarty as Joan White in White
of the Eye
Outside of Raging Bull I don't think
Moriarty quite gets the credit that she rightfully deserves. She has
a great progression here as the girl from the city who ends up in
Arizona (as told in flashbacks), guiding mother, affectionate wife, a
woman scorned full of rage to one who finds out the horrific truth &
is running for her life. Sadly White of the Eye becomes a little
more style over substance but when given the opportunities Moriarty
delivers like she usually does.
Apollonia Kotero as Apollonia in Purple
Rain
In a Prince (albeit great) vanity
project Apollonia hold her own quite well which is a difficult thing
to do when you're sharing screen time w/ The Purple One & Morris
Day. Her good looks & sensual on screen appeal carries her a
long way. Seeing her bust out her sugarboobies when I was12 is
forever burned in my psyche. She actually has some musical talent &
stage charisma...bustiers & garters are a fantastic look.
And the winner is...
Cathy Moriarty in White of the Eye
I really like Cathy Moriarty as an
actress. She was one of the main reasons that I decided to watch
White of the Eye this week. This is the 3rd film of her
career after Neighbors & Raging Bull that it's too bad after what
I would consider a good start to a career poor reviews of Neighbors &
an auto accident kept her out of the business for 6 years. Although
still making film & doing television work I don't think that
Moriarty's career ever got close to where it rightfully should have
been for her talent. It could have been the strains of the accident
but mostly I think it's the unfortunateness that if you drop out of
the Hollywood eye long enough they forget about you...I hope that
Tarantino uses her someday.
Gonna get things rolling & onto the
first award in a moment but first one of the 6 films nominated for
the big Blue Ribbon for best picture of the week of color.
From 1973 Larry Cohen's Black Caesar
Raised in the ghetto Tommy Gibbs has
great ambition to become a full-fledged player in the criminal
underworld. From a shoe shine boy running payoffs for the mob he
raises in power to the head kingpin of Harlem. Through violence &
muscle he puts the squeeze on the Italian mafia & a cop on the
take. His ambition in a business not respected others because of his
race is too much for his rivals to endure & the hit is out on
Gibbs...A blaxploitation classic.
Time for the first golden amber of the
week. The Lifetime of Influence Under The Influence awarded to the
individual in media who has had an impact on me over the years –
The 40
This week's recipient is the legendary
Redd Foxx.
Personally I found the 70s produced
some of the best TV sitcoms & one of my favourites was Sanford &
Son. Actually this might still be my favourite sitcom of all time.
Watching Sanford & Son growing up @ such a young age I didn't
catch the racial satire of this show but thankfully w/ the advent of
DVD & it being released to enjoy once again in its entirety I see
Foxx's brilliance. It's one of those shows that can actually make me
laugh when I have become so jaded over the years that I just smile on
the inside other then have outbursts. All though television may have
limited Foxx's exuberant 'blue' talent his persona is larger than
prime time.
To achieve the complete genius of Redd
Foxx you have to see a live stage performance (or listen to one of
his albums). As a teenager I had a real love for stand up comics
especially those w/ a 'dirty' mouth. Thanks to the VHS serge I was
fortunate enough to see some of favourites but Foxx was going to be a
little hard to come by. His Video in a Plain Brown Wrapper was in
the X rated section of the video store amongst all the porn (censored
because Canada didn't allow hardcore yet) & Fritz the Cat. By
the time I was 15 I started renting from this section. I don't think
it was because the video store didn't care just wanting the rental
money but because I looked older then I actually was. I got served @
the liquor store w/out being carded @ this time too so as a teen my
friends & I had some adult perks. My best friend & I watched
Foxx in concert & almost pissed ourselves from laughing so hard.
If nothing else in life Redd Foxx
taught me you gotta wash your ass.
Bottom of the bottle so back to the
fridge for another cold one.
Blaxunshine is back yet again w/
another alcohol fuelled awards show.
This week all films viewed had a color
in their title & I really had to be careful @ one point because I
could have completely had the winners dominated. I don't think that
it comes to anyone's surprise that the greatest movie of all time w/
a color in its title is Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange. Some may
argue The Blues Brothers is but Clockwork Orange is one of my top 10
all time favourites. @ one point in time it was in my DVD player &
I was going to watch it because NightShadow was over & she had
never seen it. That's the good thing about watching movies w/
NightShadow she has hardly seen anything outside of Breakfast @
Tiffany's (to be fair I had never seen Breakfast @ Tiffany's until
recently but that's basically because it doesn't have the word 'FUCK'
in it, there's no nudity, no one gets shot & it doesn't even have
a midget in the cast). Not having any orange movies & that I
hadn't seen Clockwork Orange for about 5 years I thought that maybe I
should include it..& then I decided not to. It's not fair to
everything else. Look for it in a future vol when I watch movies
that can compete w/ it but this week it got shelved.
Even w/out it I did get through a chunk
of color movies this week. 15 in fact but after I decided on the
nomination for everything it really comes down to 12. 2 of the 3
(The Green Berets & Yellow Hair & the Fortress of Gold)
although not bad didn't have anything that really stood out. The
last movie I watched late Saturday night (Black Widow) was fucking
awful..& not in a good way. Sure I liked briefly seeing Theresa
Russell's peace while I cutting the beer w/ Dr McGillicuddy's but
that hardly entitles it to any golden amber awards.
So I will get things under way in a
moment & starting handing out this week's 6 Pack but first how I
like to start off this show every week to get my 50 proof blood
flowing..a music number.
From last week's Best Soundtrax
nominated One Crazy Summer here's Billy Preston (featuring the
Rolling Stones) w/ Outta Space.
Alright time to switch up beverages
from coffee to some 5% fuel.
