So, last week at this time, I asked you which movie I should watch on March 20th. I gave you twelve possible movies and I asked you to vote. 678 votes were cast and, despite strong showings by An Education, Crazy/Beautiful, and Nightmare City, the winner is Valley of the Dolls!
And for that, I thank you. As some of you may know, my dream is to someday play Neely O’Hara in a remake directed by our own Arleigh Sandoc.
I will be watching Valley of the Dolls tonight. Look for my review of it either on Wednesday or Thursday.
Well, here’s your chance to, once again, tell me what to do. I’ve randomly selected 12 films from my film collection. Whichever film gets the most votes will be watched and reviewed by me next Tuesday, March 20th.
Here are the films up for consideration:
1) Black Jesus (1968) — This Italian film stars Woody Strode as an African rebel leader who is captured by his country’s right-wing, American-backed dictatorship.
2) Capote (2005) — Philip Seymour Hoffman was an Oscar for best actor for playing writer Truman Capote in this film that details how Capote came to write his true crime classic, In Cold Blood. This film was also nominated for best picture.
3) Chappaqua (1966) — In this underground cult classic, drug addict Conrad Rooks seeks treatment in Switzerland while being haunted by a scornful William S. Burroughs. This film features cameo from Allen Ginsberg, The Fugs, and just about every other cult figure from 1966.
4) Crazy/Beautiful (2001) — Jay Fernandez and Kirsten Dunst have lots and lots of sex. This was like one of my favorite movies to catch on cable back when I was in high school. 🙂
5) An Education (2008) — In my favorite movie from 2008, Carey Mulligan is a schoolgirl in 1960s England who has a secret affair with an older man (played by Peter Sarsgaard), who has plenty of secrets of his own. Co-starring Rosamund Pike, Emma Thompson, Alfred Molina, and Dominic Cooper (who is to die for, seriously).
6) Female Vampire (1973) — In this atmospheric and ennui-filled film from the infamous Jesus Franco, a female vampire spends the whole movie wandering around naked and dealing with the lost souls who want to join the ranks of the undead.
7) Nightmare City (1980) — In this gory and fast-paced film from Umberto Lenzi, an accident at a nuclear plant leads to a bunch of blood-thirsty zombies rampaging through both the city and the countryside. Hugo Stiglitz plays Dean Miller, zombie exterminator! Nightmare City is probably most remembered for introducing the concept of the fast zombie and for serving as an obvious inspiration for Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later.
8) The Other Side of Midnight (1977) — Based on a best-selling novel, The Other Side of Midnight tells the story of a poor French girl who becomes a world-famous actress and who ends up sleeping with apparently every wealthy man in the world. Meanwhile, the man she loves ends up marrying Susan Sarandon. Eventually, it all ends with both a hurricane and a murder. Apparently, this film cost a lot of money to make and it was a notorious box office bomb. It looks kinda fun to me.
9) Peyton Place (1957) — Also based on a best-selling novel, Peyton Place is about love, sex, and scandal in a small town. Lana Turner is a repressed woman with a past who struggles to keep her daughter from making the same mistakes. At the time it was made, it was considered to be quite racy and it was even nominated for best picture. This film is a personal favorite of mine and it’s pretty much set the template for every single film ever shown on Lifetime.
10) Rosebud (1975) — From director Otto Preminger comes this film about what happens when a bunch of rich girls on a yacht are taken hostage by Islamic extremists. The film’s diverse cast includes Peter O’Toole, Richard Attenborough, Cliff Gorman, former New York Mayor John Lindsay, former Kennedy in-law Peter Lawford, Raf Vallone, Adrienne Corri, Lalla Ward, Isabelle Huppert, and Kim Cattrall.
11) Valley of the Dolls (1967) — Oh my God, I love this movie so much! Three aspiring actresses move to the big city and soon become hooked on pills and bad relationship decisions. Every time I watch this movie, I spend hours yelling, “I’m Neely O’Hara, bitch!” at the top of my lungs.
12) Zombie Lake (1981) — From my favorite French director, Jean Rollin, comes this extremely low budget film about a bunch of Nazi zombies who keep coming out of the lake and attacking the nearby village. Some people claim that this is the worst zombie films ever made. I disagree.
Please vote below for as many or as few of these films as you want to. The poll will remain open until March 20th and whichever film gets the most votes will be watched and reviewed by me.
Well, it took a nice, long weekend up at Lake Texoma (I actually got in the water and practiced swimming which is a big deal for a drowningphobe like me but then I ended up cutting my foot on a rock on the lakefloor — agck!) and another few nights of a little bit more sleep than usual but I am happy to say that I am back and I’ve brought the latest edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Trailers with me! So, without further ado, let’s get started…
1) Killer Fish (1979)
In honor of my weekend at the lake, let’s start out with this trailer for a little film called Killer Fish…
2) Dogs (1976)
Now, I may have conquered my fear of swimming for like 10 minutes at the lake but I have yet to conquer my fear of dogs and this trailer shows why. Seriously, dogs are freaking scary!
3) The Doberman Gang (1972)
Dogs don’t just kill people. They rob banks too.
4) King Frat (1980)
Wow! Those dogs are scary, aren’t they? Let’s take a break from scary dogs with another breed of dog — the American frat boy.
5) Chain Gang Women (1971)
I love trailers that brag about how the characters in the movie live by only “one rule.” (Speaking of chain gangs, I recently saw an excellent film from 1932 that was called I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang. But that’s something I’ll save for a future post…)
6) The Stranger and the Gunfighter (1974)
Yes, between the chain gangs, the killer fish, the dogs, and the frat boys, it’s a scary world out there. Luckily, protection is right around the corner because here comes “(a) savage…a saint…a stranger…”
I was recently lucky enough to catch a showing of the classic film The Godfather at the Cinemark West Plano theater down here in DFW and, in honor of that occasion, allow me to present this scene that I love. This is the opening of The Godfather and it’s one of the best first scenes in cinematic history. In just a matter of minutes, director Francis Ford Coppola tells us everything that we need to know about Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) and his business.
Hi everyone! It’s Oscar Sunday which, as we all know, is a national holiday.
And, like many holidays, things occasionally don’t go the way they should. Often times, the day starts with such promise and ends with such bitterness as the Academy announces that the best film of the year is a film that we all know didn’t deserve the title.
Below, you’ll find a list of 10 instances when the Academy got it wrong. Please note that these are just my own personal picks. You may disagree and you are welcome to do so (as long as you understand that, ultimately, I’m always right.)
Also, please note that I have limited myself to only considering films that were actually nominated for best picture. You could make a great argument for films like Psycho, 2001, The Dark Knight, and others. However, none of those films were even nominated for best picture and therefore, I have not considered them for this list.
(Also, if this list seems to be dominated by more recent Oscar picks, that’s because it’s more likely that I’ve been able to see a film that was released in 2007 as opposed to film from 1927.)
Anyway, here’s my chronological list of 20+ nominees that should have won:
1941 — Citizen Kane (lost to How Green Way My Valley)
1952 — A Place In The Sun (lost to An American In Paris)
1967 — The Graduate (lost to In The Heart of The Night)
1973 — The Exorcist or American Graffiti (lost to The Sting)
1976 — All The President’s Men (lost to Rocky)
1986 — Hannah and Her Sisters or A Room With A View (lost to Platoon)
1990 — Goodfellas (lost to Dances With Wolves)
1994 — Pulp Fiction (lost to Forrest Gump)
1995 — Sense and Sensibility or Babe (lost to Braveheart)
1996 — Fargo (lost to The English Patient)
1999 — The Sixth Sense (lost to American Beauty)
2000 — Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (lost to Gladiator)
2001 — In The Bedroom (lost to A Beautiful Mind)
2002 — Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (lost to Chicago)
2003 — Lost in Translation (lost to Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)
2004 — The Aviator (lost to Million Dollar Baby)
2005 — Capote or Brokeback Mountain (lost to Crash)
This weekend, because of both the Oscars and some personal matters I have to take care of, I will not be posting my usual Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Trailers post. I sincerely apologize but I promise that the feature will return in two weeks time, on March 10th.
Let me take this time to ask a question of my fellow grindhouse and exploitation film enthusiasts. Are there any trailers that I have yet to feature that you personally think I should? In other words, what are your favorite trailers? If you’re feeling too shy (or not shy enough) to use the comments box below, feel free to e-mail me at LisaMarieBowman@live.com.
Again, the feature will be back in two weeks. Until then, here’s a picture of a racoon holding a kitty.
Since every other film blogger and wannabe Awards diva is doing so, I figured I might as well post my predictions as to who and what will actually win when the Oscars are handed out on Sunday. Please remember, these are not the films and performers that I personally would choose to honor. (Indeed, I’ve never disagreed with the Oscar nominations more than I have this year.) These are just my predictions and random guesses at what will be honored on Sunday.
Best Picture: The Descendants
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants
Best Actress: Viola Davis in The Help
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer in The Help
Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants
Best Animated Feature Film: Rango
Best Foreign Language Film: In Darkness (Poland)
Best Documentary Feature: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Best Original Score: War Horse
Best Original Song: “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets
Best Sound Editing: Hugo
Best Sound Mixing: Hugo
Best Art Direction: The Artist
Best Cinematography: The Tree Of Life
Best Makeup: Albert Nobbs
Best Costume Design: The Artist
Best Film Editing: The Descendants
Best Visual Effects: Hugo
Agree? Disagree? Confused as to what just the Hell I was thinking when I made some of these predictions? Please let me know in the comments section below.
Well, it’s almost here! One more week and then, it’s Oscar time. This is the time of year that I always end up remembering an infamous little film from 1966 that I’ve always wanted to see. The film in question was meant to be an expose of all the sordid side of show business but instead, it has since become legendary for the number of critics who have declared it to be one of the worst films ever made. The film is called “The Oscar” and it even scored nominations for both its sets and its costumes. Each year, around this time, I swear that I’m going to track down and finally watch this movie. Will this be the year that it finally happens?
Probably not. To be honest, this is going to be a pretty busy week for me and, once this year’s ceremony is over with, I’ll probably be burned out on Oscar talk.
It happens.
However, even if I don’t see the film anytime soon, I can still share this YouTube video of highlights from 1966’s The Oscar.
Through the Shattered Lens