A Maniac Grindhouse

The first cult film that we were exposed to this semester was the film “Maniac” directed by Dwain Esper. This work was written by Esper’s wife, Hildegard. I found this film to be quite entertaining, but one of the most interesting aspects of this film for me was the many “educational” interjections of white titles rolling on a black background that gave laughable information following mind boggling scenes.

As I scrambled to make sense of what I had just seen, I was then confronted with words such as “combat fear by replacing it with faith”, as I had just seen one bad actor shoot his louder counterpart. When you couple these aspects with the scenes where the cat was obviously thrown into the frame, the absence of a narrative within this film just seems right. Of course, I will always long for the tying of the loose ends, I have come to terms with this cult movie, and have gained a better understanding as to why it was created.

Dwain Esper, and many directors of this time, were only in this business to make money. Now I see nothing wrong with that because if it weren’t for shoe-string budgets, and money hungry directors, we would not have seen films like this. As Robert G. Weiner wrote, Esper did not care about the artfulness of his cinema, he was simply trying to milk profits from cheaply made films. Weiner also points out that Esper and many of his peers did not submit their movies to the motion picture board for approval. It was his disdain for the movie codes, and his drive to make money that left his mark on the cult Cinema world that we are studying this day.

I agree with Emma’s answer the question that was raised on Monday during the discussions of the readings. The question was along the lines of “do you think exploitation films would still have been made if it weren’t for directors like Esper?” We know that the major catalyst for the exploitation era was the Paramount decision, but even if that hadn’t have happened, men like Esper would still be directing, and showing their movies wherever they could. The Salesman of the world would stumble upon the film industry and use their talents to push through cost-effective media that was accepted by the public for lack of better things to do.

The documentary we watched on Wednesday titled “American Grindhouse”, reinforced a lot of things that I learned from the intro to film class that I took last year. Once I learned about what exploitations films were, I realized that I really like them. Its not necessarily always about what is on the screen though, but about what occurred to get the films to the year 2020. The amount of peddling and persistence that went on just to get a film into a “Grindhouse” has always impressed me.

Hearing John Landis talk about films is always funny, because he takes a no BS stance, and obviously knows his stuff as he directed “Animal House,” which is a movie that will no doubt live on forever. The only part of the exploitation era that always brings me down are the darker sides to these films. The genre “Roughies” was created because as George Muller said, “They couldn’t show sex, so they showed violence.” This just goes to show that no matter what, if there is money to be had, the films will be made, and later generations will study the masterpieces that result.

Run to Cinema!

This week marks our last and largest blog. To me, it is really bitter sweet. If I am being honest, this weeks’ screening was one of my favorites. The reading on “Run Lola Run” really cemented the movie for me and gave me a deeper understanding of this film. Many critics point to Franka’s “mythic charisma” as magnetic quality that is very much the reason for the film’s success. I agree with this; however, I also agree with the critics that look at the films “Germanness” applauding its use of time and chance and their philosophical implementations. I think that the use of chance and a “re-do” really makes this whole movie become dream-like in the sense that everyone has moments that they wish to go back and do differently.

My favorite part of the “re-do” is the way they captured it. It feels much more like art in motion than just a blunt selfish series of events. Lola tried to do the most efficient thing to save Manni each time she was granted the chance to do so. When Barbara Kosta begins her summary of the film, I was drawn to her observations of the heavy presence of clocks, and the filmmaker’s embrace of the “pop” culture that as she wrote “was the key to the present.” I failed to key on to the rebellious elements in this film, though as Ms. Kosta points out, “Lola’s” scream was very “non-conformist” and in fact, rebellious.

The editing throughout this film caught my attention immediately, but I couldn’t have put it any better once again than Barbara, as she writes “the fast pace editing coupled with Lola’s resiliency” created a new identity for the “post-wall” Germany.

One element to this film that I looked back on as amusing is the fact that Lola’s moped was stolen. I kept thinking that the outcome for many of these events would have been totally different, had she still had her moped. Although I think this portion of the story would have changed everything, I don’t believe that it would have been for the best. The whole theme running through this piece of cinema is Lola’s undying determination.

Lola never ran any slower (even though a lot of the clips were duplicated). She always pushed herself to the limit in her attempts to gather the 100,000 marks and save Manni’s life. Her actions were always as motivated as the first time she got the call from Manni telling her that he needed her and the money by noon, or he would be killed.

The funniest part of this entire film in my opinion was when Lola decided to rob the bank that her father worked for (well step father). When she finally exits the bank with all 100,000 marks in a garbage bag, she is greeted by what seems to be the entire city’s police force. At first, I thought “well she’s done for”, but when they all said, “get out of the way, you don’t want to get killed do you?” I lost it in my seat. The police officers had their robber in their sights, and they willingly helped her escape.

My thoughts on this class over the last semester are primarily gratitude. If my advisor hadn’t given this course to me as an option to fill my last required elective, I don’t think that I would have ever taken it. to be frank, this course has changed the way I will look at cinema in any context, forever. We have covered so many eras in film history, and that has made it so easy to fall in love with each and every decade. Knowing that we’d only be able to study each one for one week really made me delve into each era as we came upon it, and really try to digest what caused it, the people that were involved, and what would come out of it.

The week we covered American International Pictures was my favorite. The exploitation era in my opinion brought us some of the most memorable films and titles that will certainly withstand the test of time.

The way that the Paramount decision opened a door for AIP and many other small studios to put out movies that the big 5 had been blocking for years. For the first time in history, small studios became a big deal, and were able to grab their share of Hollywood.

The most influential person I encountered during this class was hands down, Roger Corman. When Professor Schlegel first talked about Roger, I knew he would become a figure that I looked forward to learning about. I could not have been more right in looking forward to our continuing interaction with him and his films. I was astonished at the work that Corman was able to produce with the budget he worked with, and the cooperation of all the moving parts that come with making a movie.

Another trait of Corman’s that I was especially impressed with was the impact that he had on people. Nearly everyone who worked under Corman and was Corman trained, rose to the top of whatever field they decided to enter after their time with Corman came to an end.

One of my favorite things in this class, was the presentation that we all gave in groups of four. Being able to choose a movie and present its contents to the class was really fun, and something I’ll remember for a long time. We all were able to dissect our films with the knowledge we had acquired from the weeks prior. I have always appreciated “Pit and the Pendulum,” but during the process of researching and re-watching the movie, I grew to understand elements of it that I had simply missed before.

With the completion of this class, I know that without a doubt that every movie I go to see from hence forward, I possess more knowledge, and frankly power. I now have the power and knowledge to look at films through so many lenses that I had not been privy to before. I fully appreciate this opportunity, and the knowledge that has been bestowed upon me.

Diva du Look

This week, we were exposed to a side of 80’s cinema that I can confidently say, I have not been exposed to before. We looked at the 1980’s era of Cinema du look and the Digital Revolution.

At this point in films’ history, international cinema was still differing significantly compared to Hollywood. The main difference was perhaps the structure of it all. Hollywood was still continuing to conglomerate and shift its focus to making the “Blockbuster.”

The documentary featuring Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), was one of my favorite ones that we have watched throughout this class. I found it so interesting to see how films that I grew up watching, came to life. I also believe that if the company was not founded for the purpose it served, the CGI scene might not be as fully developed as we see it today, and simply put, many of the movies that came out with ILM’s stamp might not have been made.

The reading this week gave me a lot of insight on the screening, especially Danny Peary’s entry on Diva. The one thing I was not expecting to read about after watching Diva, was controversy. Peary writes that Beineix’s second feature “Moon in the Gutter,” released in 1983 received a merciless attack from many French critics. Beineix viewed this criticism as a sort of revenge for Diva’s impressive achievements and vast success, even though it too, was unfavorably reviewed.

Watching Diva this week, was truly a great treat. It was another film that I had small expectations for. The cult score within this film fits every image and scene to a “T” and certainly represents the film well. In my notes for this film I was for obvious reason drawn to the cinematography. This film is beautiful on a whole other level. It speaks volumes of its cinematographer, and everyone involved in the making of this movie. I believe this is one of the best examples of Cinema du Look, and I feel that it alone represents what this era stands for.

As Peary quotes Beineix, the plot of the movie really has no other relevance than being a series of events that the audience can follow, and a story line that is “goofy,” but engaging none the less. The true story in this film, and the era of Cinema du Look, is the images. The beautiful scenes are unlike any other film I have see from a film of this point in time.

The scene that caught my attention was the shot of the diva, and the postman walking under the aqueduct. The way the camera captures not only the continuation of the developing relationship between the postman and the diva, but also the rich scenery and magnificent abilities of the cinematographer.

One of the goofy parts of this movie comes when the postman is at Gorodish’s loft, and he is cooking dinner. Gorordish has a snorkel mask on when the scene begins, and it seemed out of place and very odd to me, until I realized that he was cutting onions. However, even though he was wearing for the purpose of not crying, the mask seems a little over the top to me but adds in that dash of goofiness for which Peary quoted Beineix for having in this film.

I am truly marveled to have witness all that this film has to offer, and I can assure you, I will pursue the Cinema du Look era further.

The Synergy of The Fly

This week might have been one of the most memorable ones for me thus far. The movie “The Fly” which I will get to later, will surely remain ingrained in my entire being.

The topic we covered this past week was Hollywood in the 1980’s, and the perfection of synergy. The presence of frontloading was at a Zenith during this era, which only helped the presence of synergy within Hollywood. Creating just movies, was no longer the approach that studios took. Blockbusters became a major goal that all studios worked towards. The synergy created between film entertainment and many movie-related products.

As I am writing this blog, a commercial for a Harry-Potter theme park came on the tv, and I thought how funny it is that while I am writing about frontloading, and synergy, a real-life example is being displayed to who knows how many other sets of eyes, watching this same Hollywood goal being fulfilled.

As Professor said this week, this assimilation that Hollywood underwent into a larger media communications industry lead to a loss of actual art being made. Studios were making films that were virtually free of risk, and without risk, there is no art. This period lead to conservative blockbusters becoming the normal mode of movie production.

Now, transitioning to “The Fly.” One of the first things that caught my attention in this film, was the musical score. The work that this screenwriter did with lord of the rings, does not fall on deaf ears, and he certainly brought this film to a higher height with his touch on it.

The story that this film portrays can be interpreted many ways, depending on which scenes you choose to look at the most. I believe this is true no matter what film you study. I do believe beyond a doubt however, that this film can universally be observed through the lens of the bodily horror, and the abject genre.

The main driving force behind the horror many find while watching these types of film, is the distinction between what is self, and what is other. The horror comes when, in this case the two items are literally brought together. The doctor teleporting himself unfortunately with the fly, was at first exposure, quite a miracle, and interesting no doubt. But I knew form the second I saw that the fly was in the pod with him, that the doctor would no longer be the same man that went into that pod.

I found this film startling and unsettling for may reasons. The primary reason was the title. The second I heard the buzzing of the insect for which the film was named, I knew that it would be the source for some horror, but exactly how involved it would be, I had no idea.

I saw many of the jump scares before they occurred, but they still managed to catch me off-guard. I had no idea how graphic this film would be, and even though I knew it was just special effects, it got to me. This film will without a doubt stay with me for a long time, and of nothing else, has discouraged any desire of teleporting myself that I had prior to watching this film.

The Midnight Cults

This week was another very engaging week for me. We focused on the continuing of the 1970’s, and the midnight movie phenomenon. One of the first things we learned about that was occurring in this era of film was front-loading.

Front loading was and is the product of studios that are horizontally integrated. It involves many things such as the sale of merchandise both before and after the movie is released. The first huge implementation of this tactic belongs to the Jaws franchise. When the movie first began showing, everyone bought the t-shirts, cups, and even games that had “Jaws” on it. The impact that this movie made by selling this merchandise was unlike any other. The mas release of “Jaws” (450 prints) made the movie instantly popular across the country, and only helped merchandise sales further.

The reading this week was titled cult reception, and there was a section about midnight movies. The three midnight movies mainly featured in this section were “El Topo, Rocky Horror Picture show, and Donnie Darko.” One of my favorite talking points of this article was the paragraph that talked about the progression of the 1970’s. This progression brought about the loss of momentum that was the original countercultural moment. However, the popularity of midnight movies was widely spreading. The films that were widening the boundaries of cinema and replaced original titles, were regarded as aesthetic radicalism. A very good example of this type of film is “Pink Flamingos.

The screening that was exhibited this week was “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” I had never seen this film, and the anticipation I had before seeing it, was very high indeed.

The intro to this film with the red-lipped close-up singing a song is very recognizable. The frozen image of those lips will forever be an image that once see, will remind anyone who’s seen this film the joy that is shortly to follow.

When we first talked about this film on Monday, we learned that it was originally a theatrical production, and many of the roles in the production, were filled by the same people that were in the movie. This aspect to me was very astounding. As I have eluded to in my previous blogs, I was really big into musicals throughout my middle and high-school years. I only needed to listen to a few lines from the first song to know that I wanted to be able to see this original show in person, but even though that’s not possible, the movie grants it just about as much justice as I thought possible.

The audience participation in this film to me when I first heard it, was rather distracting, and I didn’t like it. But after a few scenes and getting to call Brand and Janet an asshole and a slut made me realize just how creative and fun the participation was.

I very much enjoyed this film, and I felt that it exceeded every expectation I had for it. I cant wait to see it at a drive-in this summer, and add some more viewings, and participation under my belt.

The Structuring of Poseidon

This week was yet another new experience for me, as we covered more topics in cinema that I have never paid much attention to.

However, I think the most important part of the week for was the reading we were assigned and directed to integrate into our blogs. When I decided to take this class, it was unbeknown to me, that I would have engaged in the material as much as I have thus far in the semester. I have learned so many things about cinema that I never knew I didn’t know.

It was only while reading “The Structure of the Industry”, that I realized how just how much I now know about cinema. The way the reading breaks up cinema that we have studied into three revolutions, brought all the knowledge I have gained into one mindset. The fact that Hollywood has survived as long as it has, is mainly because of the revolutions, and revamping it has undergone. These changes were not brought about simply because the industry wanted them, it demanded them. The Paramount decision, along with the post-WW2 revolution in film are the two areas of study that I have enjoyed learning about, and I feel that the reading more than adequately exhibited their importance to the fabric of cinema history of which they are woven into.

This weeks’ screening was not what I was expecting. If I am going to be completely honest, when I heard “Poseidon Adventure”, I was picturing the Greek mythology and a sort of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” vibe, even knowing that this film was cataloged under the cinema of disaster films. But I could not have more mistaken. I was pretty much waiting to see a trident, and the sea bending at the will of a Greek god, up until I saw people being killed by the flipping of the ship. I realize that this is a rather boyish immature view towards this film prior to its screening, but I can happily say that I was much more impressed with this film that of what I had thought it would be.

The main theme I observed from the moment tragedy hit, was that each of the main characters was basically volunteering to be the one who accomplishes a heroic deed, and they seemed all to eager to trade their lives for the continuance of others’. I myself have often thought about what I would do in a scenario requiring an act of heroism, and a trade of lives made unselfishly, but this film brought those thoughts to life.

The journey to eventually be saved, was very long, and proved to be deadly. However, it seemed that if any less passengers had joined the group that initially climbed up the tree, no one would have made it off that boat. No one person was more important that the other, but rather they survived off each other’s strength, and the constant reminder that death was all to obtainable.

This film was unlike any film I had seen in a while, and reminded me of the idea that as humans, we all serve a purpose, but in times of grave crisis, that purpose is incomplete without the help of other humans whom share the goal of survival.

Bonnie and Clyde

I would like to start my blog this week by congratulating this week’s presenters for our class. I have seen “Singing in the Rain” and I found it very enjoyable to have been once again presented with the beauty that comes along with that film. Since elementary school, I have sung songs form that score as a warm up for many concerts with the chorus, and seeing some of the clips the group showed, brought me right back, to the first time I experienced this film.

“Bonnie and Clyde” was this weeks’ feature film screening, and I could not have had more anticipation towards this film. I had never seen this film before, but everyone has heard of Bonnie and Clyde, and the acts that enamored the rural west, and cemented their name in our nation’s history for better or worse.

From the very begging of the film, I was drawn to Dede Allen’s flawless editing, and artistic design that accounted for what the film became, which has been supported as one of the most important films of the 1960’s.

One thing that was very unexpected to me was Bonnie and Clyde’s relationship. Being outlaws, and not doing anything by the books would lead someone to believe they would have been involved in intercourse throughout the film. However, Clyde seemed like he wanted nothing sexual out of their relationship; continuously stating that he wasn’t a lover boy. He ensued throughout the film to avoid any and every intimate moment and situation that he and Bonnie found themselves in. This aspect of their relationship kept me guessing exactly when they would become more involved and led me to become engulfed in their every scene and line.

Along with the ever-rising tension between Bonnie and Clyde, there were also so many comedic moments that simply put, warmed my heart, and made me enjoy the film even more. The first example that comes to me, is the first journey that the gang embarks on with Clyde and Buck riding in the same car, laughing and having a great time. Meanwhile the atmosphere could not have been any different in Bonnie, and Buck’s wife’ car.

The most hilarious sequence of scenes in the entire film, was Gene Wilder’s appearance. His character totally caught me off-guard, and I had no idea that he would be in this film. This sequence I speak of, was helped greatly once again by the editing of Dede Allen. The way she spliced together different stages of His and his partner’s interactions with the gang was in my opinion one of the funniest comedic feats I have ever seen.

As I found with most of the scenes, the action within this film goes from 0-100 really quick. There is no other way to say it other than one minute they’re eating chicken dinners and sleeping, the next, a tank is rolling up, and grenades are being thrown out of hotel windows complimented with seemingly never-ending crack of machine guns.

After watching this film, I was heartbroken, even though I knew the “cut-throat” couple would inevitably die, I was hoping that maybe this rendition of their story would let me down easy.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film, it brought joy, laughter, and tears to my eyes. I agree, that this is one of the most important films of the 1960’s.

Paramount Exploitation

This week was one of the weeks I was looking forward to after first hearing of it from one of the first weeks. This is because of the Paramount decision. The decision was rendered in 1948. It was filed as anti-trust legislation and addressed the evident monopoly that made it impossible for individual filmmakers to have their films shown to the audiences they desired. The direct cause of this legislation was the vertical integration that the big 5 and the minor 3 were using to make sure that their films were the only ones exhibited to the viewing public.

The tactic often used by these studios was called “block booking.” This process included selling or leasing large packages of films to theaters. For every high dollar film, the studious would also put lower ranking films in the package. This tactic prohibited other companies or smaller studios to exhibit their films.

Once the Paramount decision was put into action, it allowed for many independent film makers to finally have a platform to show their films.

During this period, a common act that the studios would do when exhibiting films would be to pair films of higher accolade, with lower received early Euro-horror films. This can be described as a “weird hybrid of high culture with low culture or high art and low art. This blending of cultures and art forms created one lane of culture that everyone who experienced it could view something that had never been done before. An example of this would be Wild Strawberries, and Black Sunday.

I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary on AIP. American International Pictures was founded by Jack and Sam, who where two of the most influential artists during the aftermath of the Paramount decision. They founded the very notion of exploitation films.

Exploitations films come in many shapes and sizes. The initial target for the exploitation films were teenagers. AIP had discovered that teenagers had never had films made and catered toward them. The film that caught my attention during the montage of their impressive 500 films put out was titled “I was a teenage werewolf.” I thought that this was a perfect example of the exploitation AIP was trying to accomplish. These films became wildly successful. Most thanks to the success of AIP was due to the director, and producer Rodger Corman.

Rodger was and is a very influential and pertinent figure in the field of exploitation films. He was able to produce films on a very tight budget within a very short period of time. Rodger often could not find someone he believed was capable of directing a film adequately, so he would do it himself.

Another aspect of AIP, and Rodger Corman that I found fantastically interesting was their tactic of creating artwork as advertisement for films, and pitch them to theatres to see if they would book the films. The interesting part of this was that the films weren’t even made yet. This business tactic not only was not only cost effective, because if a movie would not be booked, then it would save them making it, but it was genius because they would often bait and switch; not necessarily delivering on their promises of the posters, but the teenagers would still receive the films extremely well.

Wild Strawberries Still Grow

This week’s class was a very interesting one for sure. Monday, we obviously went over the material that we would find on the midterm. We also briefly covered a period of film history labeled Italian Neorealism.

Italian Neorealism blends Christian and Marxist humanism and emphasizes emotions rather than abstract ideas. In other words, quite unconventional when compared to other films before this era. Italian Neorealism avoids clear plots and aims to target a loose structure while designing the backbone of a film. An additional fact about Italian Neorealism is that it is specifically known for its use of actual locations and exteriors as opposed to on-site, indoor studio sites.

The scenes in Italian Neorealism use conversational speech, giving even more life to the “realism” in the type of cinema description.

Ingmar Bergman’s often contain depressing themes, and some of them are just downright hard to watch. That was not the case that found when we watched it in class this past Thursday. Wild Strawberries began with a narration read by the old man. He was talking about his life, and eventually we were immersed in one of the many strange dreams he’d been having lately.

The dream begins as the old man is lost. He is walking down a city street, but there is an overwhelming absence of anyone else on the street. He looks at his pocket watch as if time is quickly passing him by, and he notices that the watch has no hands. All of the sudden the old man turns around to see what looks like a person, but as we saw it was some kind of a dummy that liquified after he touched it. The end of that charade brought about a driverless carriage containing a casket. I had the most peculiar feeling in my stomach that the old man would indeed be represented inside the casket in some form. But even though I was fully ready for my theory to come true, it still somehow took me off-guard when it was executed.

It was at this moment that I became ingulfed in this film and wanted to see more of these lucid dreams for which I myself was looking for meaning.

The old man’s daughter in law struck me very angrily at the start of this film. I viewed her to have a bitter personality, and an erroneous stance towards the old man. It is very clear that for many other reasons than what she tells the audience, she dislikes the old doctor very much. She calls him shellfish, and her eyes tell the story of someone who has no compassion towards the doctor.

This aspect of the daughter in law becomes contradicted throughout the film. For instance, the gas station scene when the owners refuse tom let the old doctor pay for his gas because of the kindness he once spread. I cannot help but sympathize with the old man and his position, because it seems that it’s the ones closest to him that have never been able to catch a glimpse of the man he really is.

Casa-WW2

At the start of this week’s classes, we I felt we were once again brought into our worlds dark and gloomy past. But one of the most important part of history, is the study of it. Although much time has passed since the Holocaust, and the end of WW2, the images that were captured in 38mm film, and the moving pictures have been preserved.

Even though I had seen many of these images before, I was not, and nor will I ever be okay with looking at them. But they are images that should not be censored, and I believe anyone occupying this earth, no matter their ethnicity, or religious belief should bear witness to they horrid events that occurred during World War 2.

There have been many films based on battles in WW2, and the war in its entirety. However, the clip of a film we were shown was called “Thin Red Line”. It was based on the battle over the Pacific, and the “Island hoping”, that the U.S. had to do in order to fight Japan. This film from what I researched has many underlying tones. The tone that comes across the loudest is the subtle existence of the opinion that fighting the war in the pacific against the Japanese was very confusing and regarded by some as an interference with nature on these islands that have rarely been set foot on by Americans.

We delved into the film era of Film Noir or dark film. I learned that this category of film often coincides with a story of a crime and a not-so fairy-tale ending. The French coined the term dark film because of the obvious darker moods first observed in this era. I found it quite interesting to learn about different films, and different film experts’ view on exactly what they considered to be a Noir film.

When we arrived on our screening day featuring Casablanca, Emma and some of my other peers had me eager to watch it; as their reactions to the news that we would be viewing it shown through on Monday.

I really enjoyed the story this film told as a whole, but there were also some technical aspects that I was very much impressed with. Whatever special effects that brought the globe to life during the intro of the movie, really helped me picture the journey to an exotic locale to which we were embarking. Another scene that really grabbed me was the flash back that Rick and Ilsa were featured in. I caught a deeper meaning of Rick and Ilsa’s romantic past during this revealing flash-back, and it helped to put their story into perspective along with make me realize why they were acting they way they were to each other.

The note that Sam gave Rick contained words that might as well have broke my heart along with Ricks’. The circumstances of Ilsa not showing up, and Ricks’ ever lasting faith that she would be there were absolutely shattered when he read that note. The rain somehow transformed into tears streaming down that note and caused the ink to run. While Rick threw away the note in discontent, he could not throw away the sadness that he would carry throughout the duration of the film.

My favorite quote of the entire film is “Round up the usual suspects.” Its use earlier in the movie brings out a sort of uneasy feeling as there has just been a murder of unknown proportions. But its use at the end, was the comic relief, and the reassurance that Rick would not get into trouble for killing the German officer.