Proof is in two 1960s obscurities making their MOD DVD debut from Warner Archive, both from Italy: The Cats, which is not about cats, and Hate for Hate, which I did not. One of the most memorable lines in 1968’s The Cats — aka The Bastard — is delivered by Rita Hayworth, whose hot-mess-of-a-mother character […]
review
Posted inMusic
Double R — Dr. Digital
Crazy, but good. It’s totally sporadic and unpredictable, which would be a detriment elsewhere, but works here. It’s like swimming in his id: a sunny, jazz-inspired melody here; a swampy, Gothic hook there. These indulgences are overwhelming and exciting, especially in the darkest of moments. It’s your best, worst nightmare. Double R works as much […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Nurses Collection
Part of the label’s ongoing and hopefully never-ending “Roger Corman’s Cult Classics” line, The Nurses Collection presents a quadruple feature of the sexy, soapy, seriocomic flicks on two DVDs: 1974’s Candy Stripe Nurses, 1972’s Night Call Nurses, 1971’s Private Duty Nurses and 1973’s The Young Nurses. As you may have noticed, they’re not presented in […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Outrage: Way of the Yakuza
Here, a member of one crime syndicate unknowingly attempts to rip off a member of the other crime syndicate, via fleecing his nightclub bill. The insult eventually escalates to an all-out war as each side takes its turn exacting revenge, from several sacrificial fingers and a purposely botched act of dentistry to the most cruel […]
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Dark Shadows: Fan Favorites / The Best of Barnabas
It’s de rigueur for the Collins clan of Dark Shadows, the long-running Gothic soap opera from the late 1960s and early 70s, and a cult sensation ever since. Because the TV show is due for a modern reboot as Tim Burton’s take hits the big screen on May 11, MPI Home Video is naturally mere […]
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The game is afoot
Based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles chronicles a case in which the Great Detective and his colleague, Dr. Watson, are hired by a country doctor to discover the truth behind a mysterious family curse. The charming adaptation by Harvey Mackie, a beloved figure in the Oklahoma […]
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Clowning around
The aliens in Aliens with Extraordinary Skills aren’t extraterrestrials; they’re two illegal immigrants from the former USSR constituents of Moldova and Russia trying to make it in the good ol’ U.S. of A. And that’s about the most interesting thing in this play by Saviana Stanescu, directed by Rhonda Clark. Professional clowns Nadia (Gwendolyn Evans) […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Re:Generation
Record-breaking ratings of the recent Grammys award telecast suggest music is increasingly vital as a part of our national culture and identity. Music can bring people together, yet also break them apart. After all, mention the word “polka” at a party, and you just may clear the room. “Re:Generation,” a new documentary produced in association […]
Posted inArts & Culture
‘Morrie’ or less
Based on Mitch Albom’s best-selling nonfiction book, “Tuesdays with Morrie” explores the friendship of Albom, an accomplished journalist driven solely by his career, and Morrie Schwartz, his former college professor. Sixteen years after graduation, Mitch had forgotten all about his college experience until he caught a random episode of television’s “Nightline” featuring an interview with […]
Posted inArts & Culture
On-fire farce
Set in a New York City restaurant kitchen, Tom Rooney’s “Flaming Idiots” is a contemporary farce that has nothing to do with mentally deficient homosexuals, but instead follows the entrepreneurial misadventures of two former postal employees in their attempt to run a gourmet health-food restaurant. One problem: Carl and Phil have no idea what they’re […]