Sunday 26 May
OKG Newsletter
Rod Lott
The Burning
Third-degree terror.
Horror
Rod Lott
It speaks to the strength of The Burning’s reputation among cult-film fans that what’s most memorable about the 1981 slasher is not that it was written by the Weinstein brothers, nor that it represents early appearances of the likes of Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens. It’s that its Cropsy is just a damned good villain.
Fast & Furious 6
Not so ‘Fast.’
Action
Rod Lott
Right down to the dramatic shot of the cast members walking in a single row toward the camera, the title sequence for Fast & Furious 6 feels every bit like that of a TV series. It’s only natural, given how episodic this entry is — all it lacks is the “Special Guest Star” credit. (But on that note, don’t leave as soon as it ends.)
Renoir
Pretty as a picture.
Dexter: The Seventh Season
A cut below the previous.
Television series
Rod Lott
There's no way to discuss the seventh and penultimate season of Showtime's hit Dexter without acknowledging how the previous year ended. Therefore, if you haven't finished the sixth season, stop reading now. You've got work to do.
Nightfall
It’s no mystery: ‘Nightfall’ is a superlative thriller.
Thriller
Rod Lott
As Simon Lam gets older, he gets better. The veteran actor has appeared in such in seminal HK action films of the 1990s as Once Upon a Time in China (opposite Jet Li) and Bullet in the Head (directed by John Woo); in the aughts, he graced audience and critical favorites Election and Ip Man.
Grand Duel
To catch a Cleef.
Western
Rod Lott
Lee Van Cleef enjoyed a secondary career in Italy cranking out spaghetti Westerns, with little regard to quality. However, 1972’s Grand Duel — aka The Big Showdown — is deserving of its Grand label. No wonder Quentin Tarantino borrowed its sweeping theme song by Luis Bacalov for Kill Bill; you'll recognize it in two notes.
Texas Chainsaw
Heard the good buzz?
Horror
Rod Lott
One of the most inconsistent franchises in movie history is the one beget by Tobe Hooper's 1974 classic, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. How does one follow all those less-than-beloved sequels? Lionsgate's latest in the series — the seventh — has a solution: Ignore 'em.
The Last Stand
Welcome back, Arnie. But that's it?
Action
Rod Lott
Early in The Last Stand, the small-town sheriff played by Arnold Schwarzenegger says, "It's my day off. Should be a quiet weekend." That's the new way of saying, "I've got one week to retirement," because it signals — with flashing neon and everything — that life is going to royally upend those plans.
Dark Circles
Postpartum depression can be a real bitch.
Horror
Rod Lott
With the Broken Lizard comedy troupe becoming increasingly broken, member Paul Soter has branched off to write and direct something about as far away as one can get from the likes of Super Troopers and Beerfest: a horror film. Now that I've seen it, I'm thinking maybe he should stay on his own.
Captain America: Collector’s Edition
He was the big screen’s real ‘First Avenger.’
Action
Rod Lott
Not long after Batman changed Hollywood in the summer of 1989, every studio wanted to have the next comics-based blockbuster. I remember visiting Penn Square Mall’s multiplex (as I did often back then) and seeing a poster for Captain America. The one-sheet was comprised of little more than a close-up of Cap’s iconic shield and a promise to arrive next summer.
Nice Guys Don’t Work in Hollywood: The Adventures of an Aesthete in the Movie Business — Curtis Harrington
But Harrington did!
Nonfiction
Rod Lott
Curtis Harrington’s autobiography is how I imagine the man to have been: soft-spoken, honest and intelligent. Those wondering, “Who’s Curtis Harrington?” should know that is part of the book’s point. Here was a talented filmmaker who never quite got his due, for reasons that had nothing to do with creativity and everything to do with commerce. Here was an artist who worked in a system that had no interest in art.
The Bletchley Circle
A code well worth cracking.
Television series
Rod Lott
Nearly a decade after World War II ends, four British women who performed a valuable (albeit hush-hush) service breaking codes for their country find themselves restless and feeling useless in the era’s expected roles of barefoot-and-pregnant subservience.
Childrens Hospital: The Complete Fourth Season
Rx: lotsa laughter.
Television series
Rod Lott
Fresh off its Emmy win in the short-format live-action category, Adult Swim’s 11-minute marvel known as Childrens Hospital returns for a fourth go-round.
The Aquabats! Super Show! Season One! 2012
Ritalin! Not! Necessary! But! It! Won't! Hurt!
Television series
Rod Lott
For those Ritalin-chompin’ children who find Nickelodeon’s Yo Gabba Gabba! too slow-paced, The Hub’s The Aquabats! Super Show! should satiate them. After all, its title has double the exclamation points.
Blancanieves
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to the arthouse we go, for Spain’s ‘Blancanieves,’ the most unique twist on the Snow White story you’re apt to see.
