happy zmedsday!! (lxxxiii)

cinema history class: the wild pussycat

Session: Wild, Wild Films From a Wild, Wild World, Week 4
Movie: The Wild Pussycat (1969)
Directed by Dimis Dadiris

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
A woman seeks to avenge her sister who committed suicide after her abusive boyfriend kicked her out. So she locks him in a room and forces him to watch her having sex. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:

Well, isn't this quite the little sexploitation flick...In many ways it's an exercise in nudity (mostly female) masquerading as a morality tale. We see a man explicitly paying for his acts of cruelty, and it's very eye-for-an-eye. Well, not an eye actually, but you get the idea. There are additional elements of the punishment fitting the crime, since Mihalis (the torturee) had devoted a lot of energy to forcing his old girlfriend into sex with other men. Sadly, the end is somewhat perplexing and anticlimactic. There are ways it could have been done better, though I will refrain from going into detail here because I really don't want to spoil it in case you're inspired by this post to run out and see this film.

Of course, the plot is secondary when we're talking about movies of this sort -- everything is an excuse to see some nudity. And it's actually kind of quaint to realize that this was actually pretty shocking when it came out. Of course, if you're into the whole woman takes revenge on a creep -- and make no mistake, it's an understatement to call Mihalis a creep -- then you might get a kick out of this.

The one thing that really annoyed me was the soundtrack. The overbearing loud jazz music was too much ... well, too much. The movie would have been better with less.

Ratings:

Me: 5.5
Christina: 8
Ethan: 6
Sean: 1 out of 4

happy tunesday! "a gringo like me" by peter tevis

"A Gringo Like me," which is from the soundtrack to Gunfight at Red Sands, is among my favorite songs from Spaghetti Westerns. I first heard it years ago when I was at a Spaghetti Western Festival at the Film Forum. They had it playing in the theaters between movies, so I heard it over and over and over again. And I didn't get sick of it. I just love the lines, "There's just one kind of man that you can trust; that's a dead man" and "There's just one kind of man who tells the truth; that's a dead man."

And, as a bonus, I just learned today that Tevis also sang the theme from Underdog.

space: 1999 -- season 2 episode 12 -- the ab chrysalis

Season 2, Episode 12: The AB Chrysalis

This blog comes with the generalized warning that any post may contain spoilers. That is especially true of these Space: 1999 posts. So if you haven't seen this episode, intend to watch it, and therefore don't want spoilers, then don't read.

Plot Synopsis
Alpha is being buffeted by shockwaves from a series of explosions. Investigating the cause, Koenig learns that the explosions are planetary defenses being run by computers that are less than sympathetic to the moon's plight.

My Thoughts
Well, how do you like that -- two episodes in a row that are strong science fiction. I've come to the realization that season two episodes seem to fall into two categories -- silliness (e.g., "The Taybor") and decent sci-fi (e.g., this one). The latter type of episodes are what is saving the series, and many of them have plotlines that could easily have been Star Trek episodes (albeit mediocre ones). While we're on the topic, the talking orbs that communicate with Koenig remind me of Sargon from the ST episode, "Return to Tomorrow." The catch is that I just don't care about the characters the same way I cared about Kirk and company.

One thing that struck me is the way this episode started. We're immediately thrust into the action, as Alpha is preparing for an explosion and shockwave. It was an exciting start, and a good choice. But it may have been the first time in season two that an episode didn't start with  Dr. Russell's voiceover log. Her log, by the way, is very reminiscent of the Captain's Log entries that Kirk narrates in episodes of Star Trek. That's one way that S99 seems to be consciously copying ST. Another is the way the base seems much more like a military operation than it had during season one. I'm not sure whether I like it or not. Talk of a "science officer" and a "medical officer," and military-sounding instructions and orders may make for crisper storytelling, but it seems odd when I remember that, at the outset of the show, this was more of a scientific enterprise.

I have noted before the fact that, in season two, the characters are written with more personality than in season one. I bring this up now because the one real problem with it is the way they deal with Alan Carter. In season one, he and the now-absent Paul were much better conceived than most of the rest, and I really liked them. So it's frustrating to see how Carter's character was malwritten for season two. It's as if he's a new random redshirt each time (without the, you know, yucky death), and therefore a blank slate that can be given whatever personality the writer wants. In this episode, Carter has a sudden panicky tantrum that kills one of the aliens and comes close to destroying Koenig's attempt to save Alpha. That wouldn't have been a problem, except that it's so out of character that it just doesn't make sense. It kind of reminds me of "The Mark of Archanon," in which Carter inexplicably took to the young Etrec.

Koenig's and Dr. Russell's romantic patter still isn't great, but I am coming around to thinking of it as being a product of the time when it was made. As such, I'm finding that it bothers me less and less. And, of coutrse, even flawed attempts and giving the characters personalities is way better than the blocks of wood we had in season one.

On a sad note Yasko's back, and she's as annoying as ever. I should probably read up to understand why the show has gone back and forth between her and Sandra. Probably some kind of contract dispute.

thursday nights in new york: the french connection

As the pandemic continues, I continue my weekly push of a movie set in New York.

Tonight's offering: The French Connection (1971)
A good cop with a mixed past is trying to break a ring of drug importers.

Gene Hackman is great as Popeye Doyle, the cop who insists on following his hunch -- much to the concern of some others on the force. 

New Yorkiness Rating: 4 out of 4
This has a great gritty view of New York, and some of the best use of the New York subway that I've seen in any movie.