STARDUST MEMORIES: SELF STUDY

In 1980 director/writer/actor Woody Allen had been making hit comedies for several years. With the success of films like SLEEPER, LOVE AND DEATH and ANNIE HALL he was the critic’s darling. But he felt unfulfilled and turned his back on comedies for more insightful dramatic fare. While ANNIE HALL had slightly turned in that direction he followed that with INTERIORS a near total drama that didn’t do well. The next year he came out with MANHATTAN garnering praise once more as he melded drama and comedy. Then he made STARDUST MEMORIES.

Allen had admitted more than once that he was influenced by director Ingmar Bergman. Scenes in LOVE AND DEATH often reminded critics of Bergman’s films. But here he was using much of the style that Bergman used to tell a more personal story. STARDUST is perhaps one of Allen’s most autobiographical films.

He stars as director Sandy Bates, a fan favorite for the comedy films he’s made in the past who now wants to direct more serious pictures. He wants to make films that explore the meaning of life and how we fit into the scheme of things. But the studios are reluctant to let him move in that direction. They want to insert humor into his work in an effort to bank on his past successes.

Bates is convinced to attend a film festival where they will be honoring him for his past achievements. While there the fans continue to push him towards the comedies they are used to and they as well as numerous friends he runs into try to monopolize his time and attentions. Still he finds time to reminisce about his life and reflect on what he’s accomplished.

 While there he also reflects on the loves he’s had over the years. Dorrie (Charlotte Rampling) continues to haunt him, appearing in his mind at various times. A troubled woman she represents his past. At the festival he meets and is attracted to Daisy (Jessica Harper) even though she’s there with a pompous college professor Jack (John Rothman). But before that romance can be set in motion Bates’ current girlfriend Isobel (Marie-Christine Barrault) arrives unexpectedly at the festival.

A combination of fantasies, dreams and reality mix to swirl around in the head of Bates as he tries to figure out his place in life. Mixed with the weekend of festival activities and adoring fans as well as friends he’s known for years he stirs the pot and by the end of the film may or may not have come to terms with his life.

As with the reality of Allen at the time the film delves into his own personal issues of leaving behind more blatant comedy in an effort to make more serious films. There was an effort to force him back to that mold which he broke from. The end result was a career where he was capable and able to make both kinds of films with more success than those who didn’t seem to have faith in him expected.

Allen’s love life was also part and parcel with his role here. He’d had more than one muse in various women, most of whom had become his leading ladies as well. That struggle with what to do not only with his work but his personal life is a major issue discussed in the film as well.

When I first saw this film I loved it. Watching it now it remains one of his better films though many might not recall it. Hopefully more will discover it and realize there is a more complex mind at work than the simple joke writer so many have thought Allen is.

Perhaps my favorite scene in the movie though involves an alien spaceship that lands and a group of aliens who talk to him. It turns out they are fans of his earlier films. One goes so far as to tell him he should go back to making funny movies.

Twilight Time is releasing this film in their standard beautiful style with a gorgeous edition in the clearest black and white cinematography seen. Extras are sparse here with just an isolated score track and the original theatrical trailer. As with all their films this one is limited to just 3,000 copies so pick one up if you’re a fan.

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L7 PRETEND WE’RE DEAD: DON’T CALL THEM AN ALL GIRL BAND

Rockers L7 were a band made up of four talented female musicians. But in a world where people attempt to peg every act out there they were known first as an all-female band rather than just a rock band, something they weren’t fond of. Who’s to blame them? I mean how many all-male bands are designated that way? And yet that sort of labeling continues to this day.

I was unfamiliar with the band so looked forward to learning about them via this documentary, a film that takes a look at the band from formation to their current status. Formed by Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner, the band played a heavy grunge style metal music that found fans around the world. The band was not the typical all girl band though the labelers tried to give them that identity. Instead they rocked out with the best of them.

The movie takes us to the meeting of the two, their fast friendship and love of metal music and their formation of the band. It moves forward from there to the time they spent on the road, living that hard lifestyle so familiar to fans of rock and roll. Touring began in small vehicles and never really extended to that huge mega private jet that most band shoot for. Instead this band kept it real, kept it tight and kept playing.

But the perks of mega-stardom come hand in hand with album sales and sell out concert halls. While the band was popular with a select crowd it never peaked at the level that was required to push them to that point. Music videos helped as did numerous appearances on shows, mainly on MTV back when they actually played music on the channel. But something always seemed to keep them just from that top notch.

Eventually the band succumbed to the tried and true issues that all bands seem to. Burn out, agitating atmospheres and the grind of daily travel and performing for smaller crowds in smaller venues took its toll on the band. One by one some were replaced with the leaders of the band tiring at some point as well. While their popularity in some countries was high in the states it never did as much. Eventually the group disbanded in 2001.

Now they have a chance to be rediscovered with this documentary. Considered a huge influence on female rockers to have attempted that role in the heavy music world the band gets the recognition long deserved with this film. Compiled with over 100 hours of home movies taken by the band over the years it shows us life on the road for them from the start. We get to see the highs and the lows, the places played and the crowds that embraced them. We get to hear the music they made, music that once heard will make you want to pursue finding it in digital or disc format.

The movie pretty much follows the usual method of showing us a band in various stages as well as interviews. It breaks no real new boundaries in style but that’s not what we came here for to begin with. Those of us not familiar come to the movie to learn about the band. Those who were fans come to celebrate the band that they loved. And along the way new fans will be made and perhaps, one day, we’ll see the band opening for major acts again. Who knows, it might just lead to their finally hitting that pinnacle all bands aspire to.

 
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BAT P**SY: LOST LOW END PORN

So if you’re like me, someone who grew up in the sixties during the whole Batman TV heyday then when you hear about something Batman related your curiosity gets the best of you. When I saw that this was being released by AGFA (American Genre Film Archive) I thought there must be something to this. Well there is and there isn’t but more of the isn’t than is. How’s that for a fun sentence?

The movie was made in the early 70s and many consider it the first of the porn parody films ever made. These were films that would steal the concept of a major release and then parody much of what the film/series was about while throwing in a generous portion of porn. It was discovered in the storeroom of a Memphis, TN, adult theater and saved from extinction by Something Weird Video. Following that it developed a bit of a cult following where many discussed how bad and flawed it was. As if most porn from those days were technically adept.

The thin plot involves a married couple named Buddy and Sam (as in Samantha) in a small apartment bedroom. Buddy is reading an article in SCREW magazine about oral sex and convinces Sam to give it a try. Most of the movie has them attempting this but throughout they both criticize one another on their performance. On the other side of town the title character senses something is going on and heads out to find out what on her hoppity ball. Yes, one of the large balls with a handle on it that you sat and then bounced on. She gets to Buddy and Sam’s apartment and then jumps into their sexual acts for a threesome.

Watching this film my thoughts drifted to smoke filled lodges across the country, hearing the sound of ice cubes tinkling in glasses of whiskey as talk filled the air, laughter rose from the gathering of men and the tunnel of light shone from the projector to a screen erected at the far end of the hall. It felt more like that than a movie what would have played out in an actual theater.

No opening or closing credits. Terrible single camera photography. Scratched film on display. Better acting found asking someone on a street corner to read a phone book. Washed out color tint that has been enhanced from what it originally was. Yes this movie, at under an hour, is quite the mess. But fans consider that the charm of the film. Myself? I watched wondering what in the world people thought was great about it. Sure, there is the notoriety of the film being that first known parody porn flick, but other than that what’s the allure?

The AGFA release includes plenty of extras including a commentary track with Something Weird’s Lisa Petrucci and Tim Lewis and the AFGA team, crime-smut trailers and shorts, liner notes by Mike McCarthy and Lisa Petrucci, a bonus early porn flick ROBOT LOVE SLAVES and reversible cover art with illustration by Johnny Ryan. Of these extras the most entertaining was the collection of shorts like THE DOS AND DON’T OF DATING and the like. The truth is the extras this time around were better than the movie that was featured.

For those who collect obscure porn or are curious about just how bad it was at the time you may want to pick this one up. Amazingly with a few clips here and there these films are less outrageous than the T&A films channels like Showtime and Cinemax present late at night. Compared to what a 30 second search via google can present to anyone this is incredibly tame. But for the sake of curiosity you may want to give it a look. Everyone else will be content to look at the cover and have the through what were they thinking?

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