cinema history class: lady terminator

Session: Babes with Bodies that Kill, Week 4
Movie: Lady Terminator (1989)
Directed by Jalil Jackson

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

Plot:
An American anthropologist, possessed by the spirit of the South Sea Queen, is rampaging through Jakarta* to exact the Queen's revenge for an ancient insult.  Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:

Here's an example where some understanding of context matters. A central plot point at the beginning of the movie involves a snake that lives in the South Sea Queen's vagina. Later, it is living in the American anthropologist's vagina, and its entrance (through the cloth of bikini bottom, which is -- frankly -- a detail that I just can't understand) is what signals the possession. But while that is important as set up, it quickly fades to background. The rest of the movies is essentially a story of a rampaging invulnerable woman shooting things up while the heroes try to stop her. After watching it, I was wondering why they threw in the vaginasnake angle, since they surely could have come up with an alternate origin story to explain the rampaging woman. Keith's explanation that that's part of the local mythology helped me to understand what otherwise seemed like an unnecessarily prurient aspect of the film.

With that out of the way, this is kind of an obvious (though somewhat convoluted) movie. If you like car chases (and car explosions), gunfights, and some humorous drunken stupidity, then this could be the movie for you. You have to check your brain at the door, but if you're willing to overlook some issues of logic and some head-scratching WTF moments, it can be enjoyable.

But, as much as this movie is a silly and trashy good time, when it comes down to it it's just another snake-in-the-vagina movie.

Ratings:

Me: 7
Dave: 9
Ethan: 6
Joe: 9.5
Sean: 4 out of 4

*Truthfully, I don't know if it was Jakarta. But it was a large city, and the movie is Indonesian, so I'm assuming Jakarta.

happy zmedsday!! (lxiii)

pietrusza on the year of six presidents

Growing up, I was never a history buff. I'm still not. But with Ethan getting more and more into history -- especially when it deals with interesting personalities, I've found myself going with him to talks by biographers, historians and pundits. The latest -- that is, the latest that I attended with him -- was up in Plymouth Notch, Vermont (where Calvin Coolidge was born, sworn in as President and buried).

David Pietrusza was talking about the 1920 election, which he wrote about in his 2008 book, 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents.* Ethan and I had seen him talk about the subject before -- a month or so ago we caught the talk in Northampton, Massachusetts. I'm not sure what I can say to recommend the talk enough -- especially since you can watch the video (that's me asking a couple questions at about the 51 minute mark). But, if actions speak louder than words, keep in mind that, having already heard him Pietrusza talk on the subject, Ethan and I drove four hours each way to hear it again.

*The six presidents referred to in the title (as Pietrusza explains) are Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt. Watch the talk (or read the book) to understand why.

cinema history class: deadly weapons

Session: Babes with Bodies that Kill, Week 3
Movie: Deadly Weapons (1974)
Directed by Doris Wishman

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

Administrative Detail:
My apologies, but I could not find the trailer for Deadly Weapons on Youtube. It's on imdb if you want to see it here.

Plot:
After mobsters kill her boyfriend, Crystal hunts them down and kills them with her breasts. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:

I used to have a friend who was a breast man. He loved large breasts. The larger, the better. The classic anecdote about him is that he once called a mutual friend in the middle of the night and asked him if he could imagine breasts being too big. The friend, half asleep, responded that, yes, he it could be possible for them to be so big that they are no longer attractive or even practical. "That," came the response, "is where you and I are different." He then hung up. I couldn't help but think of that anecdote as we watched Deadly Weapons, a movie that was little more than a vehicle to show off Chesty Morgan's (billed as Zsa Zsa)  freakishly large chest.*

This was an ugly movie. The cinematography was ugly, the people in it were ugly.** Even the sound was ugly. There was a little bass riff that kept playing to move things along. At first I kind of enjoyed it. But they went back to it too many times, and I just got sick of it.

That said, I should note in the movie's favor that there is a plot and even a twist ending. So from that standpoint, it's OK. But I just found it painful to watch.

Ratings:

Me: 4.5
Dave: 9.1
Ethan: 4
Joe: 9.8
Sean: 0 out of 4

*FWIW, it's all natural
**Actually, Harry Reems (billed as Harry Reemes) was slim and attractive if you're into hairy-chested men with mustaches. I'm not really, but credit where due.

cinema history class: invasion of the bee girls

Session: Babes with Bodies that Kill, Week 2
Movie: Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973)
Directed by Denis Sanders

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

Plot:
Men are being fucked to death, and the authorities want it to stop. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:

Invasion started off very strong. I enjoyed the way it began with short teasers alternating with bits of credits. It created some real anticipation and the promise of an exciting movie. A few minutes in, and I was in the zone. And it continued strong for a while, but somewhere along the way it lost its momentum. Even after that, there were still some exciting bits. But it never quite reestablished itself. So in the end it wasn't quite the movie that it started out being.

I did particularly like the way the script slowly introduces us to the concept that the killers have some kind of bee-related nature. The first time it's in the form of sound effects. As one victim is being killed, we hear a swarm of bees. Later, we see men through the bee women's compound eyes. Next up we see what their eyes look like. Eventually we see the process of bee-ification. And that's one of the highlights of the film.

Bottom line, I enjoyed this, but not as much as I thought it would when it started. And it was good enough to make me wish it were better.

Ratings:

Me: 6.5
Dave: 9.4
Ethan: 6
Joe: 10
Sean: 1 out of 4