Writing on Film
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A Most Bitter Piece of Candy: Joanna (1968)
Recently I fell in love with the delightful 1974 album Romance is on the Rise by the late South African singer, model, and actress Geneviève Waïte. Produced by her then husband John Phillips, Romance is on the Rise is a real treasure, and it’s such a bummer that it was the only album that Waïte… Continue reading
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Tinto Brass in 4K: Cult Epics’ ALL LADIES DO IT
Cult Epics’ hits the 4K market with an exciting new edition of Tinto Brass’ 1992 work, Così fan tutte. Known to English language audiences as All Ladies Do It, Brass’ erotic classic starring the delectable Claudia Koll is perhaps the defining film of Brass’ later career. Inspired by Mozart’s 1790 opera Cosi fan tutte, All… Continue reading
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Maximumrocknroll: Savage Beliefs (1984)
Imagine you’re a fucked up kid in the mid-eighties living in the Chicago area. School sucks, your job sucks, your friends and family suck, you’re broke, and the president is goddamn Ronald Reagan. Everything sucks and the only escape you have is the local hardcore music scene. Suddenly, a bit of much-needed good news breaks… Continue reading
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Death Shrugs at Murder: Serge Moati’s Nuit d’or (1977)
A fitfully inspired but ultimately pointless work from French filmmaker Serge Moati, Nuit d’or (1977) is an extremely odd little duck. Taking inspiration from works as random as John Boorman’s neo-noir classic Point Blank (1967) and Joe D’Amato’s mesmerizing Death Smiles on a Murderer (1973), while failing to match the brilliance of either of those… Continue reading
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Scenes From a Dutch Marriage: Ate de Jong’s Blind Spot (1977)
2024 is only about a week old and I have already made my first great film discovery of the year. Released in Dutch cinemas in 1977, Ate de Jong’s Blindgangers (Blind Spot) is an absolutely extraordinary and powerful look at the up-and-down relationship between an Amsterdam couple in the mid-seventies. Powered by two excellent lead… Continue reading
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Shadows and Vice: Tano Cimarosa’s Il vizio ha le calze nere (Reflections in Black)
Standing just over 5’5, armed with a wide mischievous grin and trademark bushy black mustache, Tano Cimarosa looked like he was ready-made for work as a prolific character actor from the very beginning. Born in Messina, Italy on New Year’s Day, 1922 Cimarosa is probably best known to English language audiences for his performance as… Continue reading
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No Knife to Slice: Louis Soulanes’ Les cousines (1970)
An elusive French thriller from director Louis Soulanes, Les cousines (1970) has all but slipped into obscurity despite the fact that it played throughout various parts of the world throughout the early seventies, including a run in The United States under the titles From Ear to Ear and The French Cousins. A twisted tale of… Continue reading
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The Evil That Men Do: Marleen Gorris’ BROKEN MIRRORS (1984)
Cult Epics continues its reign as the premiere distributor of classic Dutch films on HD in the States with their second Marleen Gorris title, the 1984 film Broken Mirrors (Gebroken spiegels). Arriving two years after her theatrical debut, A Question of Silence, and one year after her television short film, De geest van gras, Broken… Continue reading
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The Films of Marleen Gorris: A QUESTION OF SILENCE (1982)
“I kept writing and when I worked out the idea as a film script, I dared to confess to myself that it seemed good to me and that something had to be done with it. But I didn’t know anyone in the movie world; I had never had a special connection with that environment and… Continue reading