Death Proof: The Soundtrack

Since the opening iconic credit sequence in RESERVOIR DOGS Quentin Tarantino has been an absolute master at using music in his films. His soundtracks have always played a hugely important role in his canon in not only fitting his films stylistically but in paying tribute to past films he has loved. DEATH PROOF is no different, it is a smashing cd filled with some really unexpected and exciting surprises. I thought I would go through track by track with some quick thoughts.
I have held off actually reviewing GRINDHOUSE, I will say that I haven't had as much fun at a film since seeing Fulci's THE BEYOND at a midnight movie several years ago. GRINDHOUSE is a rocking reference filled powerhouse tribute to seventies exploitation films with Tarantino's DEATH PROOF coming out as a major work, and a major addition to his already astonishingly impressive 15 year filmography.

The Soundtrack:

1. THE LAST RACE: Jack Nitzsche.
The DEATH PROOF cd opens up fittingly with the sound of a revving car engine and then we are launched into Nitzche's incredibly cool VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS theme. The song was originally an early single for Nitzsche that was copped for the VILLAGE soundtrack and it is perfect for DEATH PROOF. Tarantino even gives it special mention in the opening credits of his film and it sets the tone perfectly for the movie and cd.

2. BABY IT'S YOU: Smith.
Smith is one of those bands whose lps that I used to see beaten up copies of every time I went record hunting. Their roaring 1969 cover of this Burt Bacharach song was the major highlight of the one album I have by them, A GROUP CALLED SMITH. Gayle McCormick's vocal is particularly impressive here as is the thunderous bass line that carries the song. This was, I believe, their biggest hit for them and I was glad to see Tarantino using it in his film.

3. PARANOIA PRIMA: Ennio Morricone
Okay, we know we are in the right theater when a track from Morricone's soundtrack to Dario Argento's CAT O NINE TAILS starts playing. I must admit I got a little teary when I first heard this in the film. Argento gets a special thanks in the DEATH PROOF credits, as well on the soundtrack. Tarantino uses this track very well in the film and in a recent Fangoria interview he also mentions copying some SUSPIRIA'S lighting scheme for a shot in DEATH PROOF. I've always loved this slinky, seductive and scary Morricone track and it is a pleasure to have it on here.

4. planning and scheming dialogue. I must admit to being baffled why, in a film filled with some truly incredible lines, Tarantino decided to use this passage with Eli Roth to put on the soundtrack.

5. THE JEEPSTER: T Rex
What can I say about one of ELECTRIC WARRIORS best tracks? Bolan's classic felt like it was shaking the theater walls opening night of GRINDHOUSE. Essential stuff and it makes me happy to think the great Marc Bolan might be slipping into a few new homes with this cd.

6. stuntman mike dialogue.
A much wiser choice of dialogue is chosen here featuring Rose Mcgowan and Kurt Russell.

7. STAGGERLEE: Pacific Gas and Electric
I don't know too much about this group. A quick Internet search shows that this song comes from a 1970 album called ARE YOU READY. It's a fine southern soul and blues filled track that works particularly well in Tarantino's universe.

8. THE LOVE YOU SAVE: Joe Tex
Really lovely track by the Texas born Joe Tex. Tex's emotional vocal and gospel tinged sound really shine on this 1966 track. I had heard this track years ago and I am glad to have gotten re-acquainted with it on this soundtrack.

9. GOOD LOVE, BAD LOVE: Eddie Floyd
The Tennessee born Tarantino obviously knows his music and the great Memphis Stax label would obviously play a part in that. One of my favorite shots in DEATH PROOF was a close up of a spinning vintage Stax 45 in a jukebox .

10. DOWN IN MEXICO: The Coasters
The Coasters are of course one of the great vocal acts of the rock era and this incredible track is one of DEATH PROOF's highlights. This 1956 Lieber and Stoller song features some of the duo's sharpest lyrics and The Coasters performance is exceptional.

11. HOLD TIGHT: Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mike and Tich
Wow, speaking of shaking the theater walls. I can forgive Tarantino's swipe at The Who in the film as the use of this song during the first car crash sequence was one of the most thrilling things I have seen in a long time.

12. SALLY AND JACK: Pino Donaggio
My favorite moment on the DEATH PROOF soundtrack. This is of course the beautiful love theme from Brian De Palma's masterful BLOW-OUT. I remember a decade or so being thrilled to see Tarantino naming this De Palma classic as one of his ten favorite films. His use of this in DEATH PROOF provides the film with one of it's most calm and emotional moments.

13. IT'S SO EASY: Willy Deville
Hell yea!!! Fans of Friedkin's CRUISING, all three of us, will immediately recognize this intense Jack Nitzshe produced track as its closing credits song. I am pretty sure the underrated Deville wrote this specifically for CRUISING and it was one of the main reasons I spent years searching that elusive soundtrack down. I don't think I have ever heard Tarantino mention CRUISING before but perhaps the soon to be re-released film has at least one other fan.

14. whatever-however dialogue
Not a moment I would have chosen but it works well enough here.

15. RIOT IN THUNDER ALLEY: Eddie Beram
Rollicking percussive track from a early sixties film called THUNDER ALLEY which I have not seen. The short track works wonderfully well in DEATH PROOF and it makes me want to search THUNDER ALLEY down.

16. CHICK HABIT: April March
March's Serge Gainsbourg cover had people hanging out for the closing credits which is a rare thing these days. This, frankly awesome track, was originally recorded by the great France Gall in the mid sixties. March does the song wonderfully well and taps into Serge's subversive silliness splendidly. It's a great closing number for the film as well as the cd.

I am sure that I have missed a lot of references here but this was just a quick run down of what promises to be one of the best cd releases of the year. Tarantino continues his tradition of producing some of the best modern soundtracks around. While not as strong as his JACKIE BROWN disc DEATH PROOF remains an invaluable companion to his newest chapter in his thrilling cinematic journey.
Way to go Q.T.

Cruising Hits Cannes

Last night the new version of William Friedkin's CRUISING hit the Cannes film festival. A first hand account of the screening is being discussed over at the dvdtalk forum. Here is the link for anyone interested:

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=410508&page=2

Friedkin was on hand to introduce his controversial 27 year old feature starring Al Pacino, Karen Allen, Paul Sorvino and Joe Spinell. It sounds like several minor things have been reinstated and the disclaimer at the beginning has been dropped. I am very curious to see the new title sequence as well as the reinstated footage.
Tarantino was also present which I guess seals the deal that he is indeed a fan of this film, something I suspected after he used CRUISING'S closing credit song in his own recent DEATH PROOF.
The new version of the film does not include the forty plus minutes Friedkin had to cut out after studio and ratings board pressure back in 1980. Whether these scenes will be on the upcoming special edition remains to be seen as many contradictory statements have been released concerning them. Most recently Friedkin mentioned in a interview that they have been lost or destroyed but apparently there is a bootleg underground print circulating that does contain them.
The new dvd should be a winner with or without the elusive 40 missing minutes. Friedkin has already recorded a commentary and with Laurent Bouzereau in charge of the bonus materials we should get a solid documentary.
Friedkin's newest film BUG is getting mixed reviews but it is still one of his best received, and most talked about, films since TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A..

I will look forward to reading more about CRUISING at Cannes so if anyone has any further links please feel free to leave them in the comments section.

Travolta In The Seventies: From Barbarino to Blow-Out

Next week will see the long awaited release of the first season of WELCOME BACK KOTTER, a series fondly remembered by many people my age and the series that made John Travolta one of the biggest stars of the seventies.
Travolta had been doing television work since the early seventies and had a small part in the intriguing Robert Fuest film THE DEVIL'S RAIN before his role as the lovably dumb Vinnie Barbarino would catapult him into a major television star. Barbarino is one of the great characters of seventies sitcoms and Travolta's strutting and stuttering performance as the punk everybody loves landed him a role in Brian De Palma's CARRIE as well as a record deal.

Travolta's record deal would produce two albums of typically harmless seventies pop. LET HER IN actually hit the top ten and Travolta did some tv appearances promoting the song but thankfully it was his film career that would take off instead of his music.
Travolta's role as Billy Nolan, who connives with Nancy Allen's Chris to ruin Carrie White's shining moment, was small but brought an undeniable force to CARRIE and he's impossible to take your eyes off of. Whatever that mysterious thing is that makes a star a star, Travolta has it multiplied by ten.
Also released, along with CARRIE, in 1976 is the much loved television movie THE BOY IN THE PLASTIC BUBBLE. For all of the tv-movie trappings it falls into, THE BOY IN THE PLASTIC BUBBLE actually contains one of Travolta's finest performances. Here, for the first time, we can see all of the vulnerability and little boy frustration that Travolta can project so well. THE BOY IN THE PLASTIC BUBBLE is a sweet and well made little film that is majorly important in the evolution of John Travolta as an actor.

WELCOME BACK KOTTER might have made John Travolta a star but nobody, least of all Travolta himself, could have been prepared for the worldwide fame his next role would bring. It is often forgotten just how serious and rough the film SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER is. The film, and its astonishing Bee-Gees soundtrack, has saturated so completely into popular culture that actually sitting down and watching the film can prove a jolting experience. The original hard R version of the film, before it was cut down to a PG version that many people grew up with, is an angry, profane and tough film featuring a lead character that at times is despicable in his actions.
Tony Manero in any one else's hands would have just come across as a racist and overwhelmingly sexist punk but with John Travolta playing him the audience not only comes to understand but finally love him. Travolta is incredible in the role, bringing levels of humanity and hurt to Tony that few actors would have even thought to attempt. The tragic loss of Travolta's real life girlfriend, Diana Hyland, to cancer during the films shooting probably led Travolta into much darker places than he would have otherwise travelled in the role.

Travolta would receive a well deserved Oscar nomination for his role as Tony and the character and film would go onto to influence an entire generation of actors and filmmakers. One of my favorite tributes is Paul Thomas Anderson's shot of Dirk Diggler's bedroom in BOOGIE NIGHTS, a direct reference to SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER and just how much impact the film had in the seventies.
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER should have launched John Travolta's career as a serious actor but the one thread that runs throughout his career to this day is one of not taking risks. Travolta has always played it too safe, it is his biggest downfall. It is no coincidence that his best roles, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, BLOW-OUT, PULP FICTION, are all risk taking roles. A perfect example of Travolta's mistake of not pushing himself into darker terrains is his quitting AMERICAN GIGOLO in 1979. The role, which made Richard Gere a major star, would have changed the tragic direction that Travolta's career went to in the eighties.

So instead of following SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER with another hard hitting role Travolta delivered GREASE and MOMENT BY MOMENT. GREASE remains an incredibly alive and fun film, and one of the best musicals of the seventies. Most of the films strength comes from the blazing hot chemistry between Travolta and his costar, the lovely and talented OLivia Newton-John. GREASE would make Travolta even a bigger star and was one of the biggest hits of 1978.
MOMENT BY MOMENT was Travolta's first real slip up and an omen for some of the terrible decisions he would make in the next decade. Jane Wagner's painfully sappy and cringe inducing film stars Travolta along with Lily Tomlin. Take all the chemistry that Travolta had with Newton-John and put a negative sign in front of it and you've got him and Tomlin. MOMENT BY MOMENT was a huge bomb and it hurt Travolta's career. He wouldn't make another film for two years.
Travolta returned to the screen with URBAN COWBOY in 1980. It is a fun little film made better than it is because of a smouldering young Debra Winger and an undeniably great soundtrack. Travolta is good in it but he seems to be holding back. The film would make a lot of money but it seemed a long way from Tony Manero.
I often forget that BLOW-OUT is a film from the eighties. It seems so steeped as one of the greatest paranoid thrillers of the seventies that I often think of it, even more than RAGING BULL, as the decade's last scream of greatness before the ugly Reagan dominated eighties kicked into full gear.
Travolta's performance as sound man Jack in De Palma's film is his greatest and most complex role. Travolta goes for broke here and it is a haunting and mesmerizing turn that still resonates. Again working with the great Nancy Allen, Travolta delivers a turn that should have re-established him as a one of America's great actors and yet for some reason in the summer of 1981 very few people liked or even saw BLOW-OUT.
As many times as Pauline Kael's reviews would irritate and anger me, sometimes she would knock one out of the park and her writing on BLOW-OUT is dead on. She seemed to be the one critic who understood this was a major film and a great American masterpiece. It is one of her finest reviews and is well worth searching out. BLOW-OUT remains one of the most undervalued films of the eighties and contains the best work that John Travolta ever did.
The failure of BLOW-OUT sent Travolta's career into a major downward spiral and it would take him almost 15 years to recover. Starting with the regrettably bad SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER follow up STAYING ALIVE in 1983 Travolta's career would become a sad cartoon of bad films and poor choices. The period of 1983 to 1993 is one of the worst runs for a major actor and star in Hollywood history.
Quentin Tarantino was 18 when BLOW-OUT came out and I have always pictured him alone in a theater watching it and thinking, "that's the guy." Much has been written about Travolta as Vincent Vega in PULP FICTION and I don't have much to offer to the discussion. It is an incredible performance and it started a really incredible comeback for John even if he would inevitably start to play it safe again as soon as he wrapped Tarantino's film.
Ironically John Travolta is in yet another slump. His films are making money but looking at his resume from the past few years and his upcoming projects is truly depressing.
John Travolta is one of my favorite actors, even if it is mostly for work that he did in a very short period of time 30 years ago. I hope the guy pushes himself at least once more before everyone, including himself, forgets just how powerful he can be.

Some Thoughts On Hostel Part Two

NOTE: This post was written after I first saw Roth's film in the theaters. Since then I have seen it several times and I wanted to point out that my initial problems with the film have faded. HOSTEL PART TWO is a tremendous film that improves with each viewing. I will eventually take a longer look at it, but I wanted to point out that the couple of problems I have listed below don't apply for me anymore. Actually I love HOSTEL PART TWO so much at this point that it made me revisit Roth's first two films, and I must say that my admiration for them as grown as well.


***SOME SPOILERS FOLLOW***

I am going to wait until I can watch HOSTEL 2 on disc before I post a full fledged review of it but I did want to post my initial thoughts and reactions to it. First I would like to ask why in the world was this film was released in the Summer movie season opening against OCEAN'S THIRTEEN and SURF'S UP? I went Sunday afternoon and the theater was empty. I don't mean a relatively small crowd for a weekend, I mean totally empty. I typically like being in a theater alone but for horror and comedy, the audiences reactions are always a highlight. Just before the lights went down for Disney's UNDERDOG trailer (No, I'm not joking) one guy came in and that was it. I totally believe had LionsGate opened Roth's film up back in the early part of the year or in the fall it would have made triple the money it did this past weekend. But it didn't and, after all the discussion and debate this film has caused, it ended up performing very poorly at the box office and will no doubt be gone in a few weeks. I suspect the DVD will perform big but still I am disappointed in its take not just for Roth but for hard R horror films in general.

My feelings towards HOSTEL 2 are for the most part very positive. Roth continues for me to be improving with each film. He has yet to make a great film but I came out of HOSTEL 2 with the feeling that he will someday soon.
My biggest problem with the first HOSTEL was it's opening section. While I appreciated all the abundant nudity, much of the frat boy humor really grated on my nerves and I found myself really disliking the lead characters. Roth has solved this problem for me in casting three very talented young actresses this time as his leads and making them not only likable but very human. One of the aspects of HOSTEL 2 that works incredibly well is that I do indeed come to really like these three young women and I don't want anything to happen to them. By doing this Roth has made the second half of his film much stronger, the horror feels more heartfelt and real.
I was surprised that overall HOSTEL 2 is a bit toned down from the first one. Outside of two magnificent gory set pieces the new film concentrates much more on the characters and dialogue than the first. I felt this worked mostly to its advantage, again I missed some of the originals over the top extremities but overall I preferred the new film to the first.
Much has been made of Edwige Fenech returning to the screen for this film and her involvement was the thing that really made me want to see it in the first place. I have to admit that seeing "and Edwige Fenech" at the end of the opening cast credits gave me chills. Unfortunately her scene is very short. She looks ravishing and it was incredible seeing her again but I wish Roth would have given her a bigger part. There were two roles specifically in the film that I thought she would have been suited for that were considerably larger.
Two more small but very welcome roles were the great Luc Merenda as an Italian detective and a chilling cameo by director Ruggero Deodato that tips its hat to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and turns out to be a highlight of the film.
Roth's love of the genre really comes through in this picture. Referencing everything from BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE to FRIDAY THE 13 PART TWO to Jean Rollin's FASCINATION, HOSTEL 2 works splendidly as a nod to the films Roth cut his teeth on as a youth.
The cast is exceptional, I was particularly taken with Lauren German. She is a splendid young actress and she invests the role of Beth with a lot of depth and emotion. Also good are Bijou Phillips, Heather Matarazzo and the statuesque Vera Jordanova. In the role of the two main auction winners, Roger Bart and Richard Burgi both are chilling at portraying the very worst aspects of male aggression, cynicism and hostility.
The two goriest scenes are startling and quite brilliant. Specifically the Mrs. Bathory moment is one of the wildest and most effective horror scenes I have seen in a long time. Shot beautifully and played out with wild abandon by both Monika Malacova and Matarazzo, this is a go for broke sequence that proved as haunting as wince inducing. A scene like this would have been unthinkable in an American horror film a few years ago. Less effective but still pretty jaw dropping is the castration sequence. If the Bathory sequence recalled BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE then this is Roth tipping his hat to both CANNIBAL FEROX as well as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. I was frankly amazed by what the MPAA let Roth get away with in this scene and the final payoff with the dog was brilliant.
Okay now the problems. HOSTEL 2 is nowhere near a perfect film and one feels that it could have been a lot more than what it is. Roth gets a little rushed sometimes. The spa sequence starts off as really hypnotic and dreamlike but it soon collapses into just another chase scene. The Prague children aren't used as well in this one as they were the first and I feel he should have thought there scenes out a bit more or just left them out all together.
The film's biggest problem is its very last scene. I don't have any problems with how the film ends but I just wish Roth would have given it a little more thought and life. In what could have been a chilling moment that would have recalled Brigitte Lahaie's scythe wielding peer walk in FASCINATION, the scene instead plays out too quickly. The scene isn't the disaster some fans have made it out to be but it is a let down. The major thing it has going for is German's intensity but man I would have liked to have seen her walking towards the camera in a long tracking shot like Lahaie in Rollin's film. I also again think the kids could have been left completely out although the last few moments in the film reminded me of the gleeful children in Bava's TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE which isn't a bad thought to end the film on.

So overall I am very happy with HOSTEL 2. Roth still hasn't made a film that is as good as his idols but give him time, this guy is very young. Does he occasionally stick his foot in his mouth, sure he does but don't we all? What it really comes down to is that at the end of this film he took the time to thank Sergio Martino, Lucio Fulci, Edwige Fenech, Ruggero Deodato and many other names that I never thought I would see mentioned during the closing credits of a modern American horror film. Great film or not...Eli Roth is okay in my book.

Long Awaited Fulci DVDs Finally Announced

It looks like the great dvd company Severin is going to release Lucio Fulci's very interesting 1977 feature MURDER TO THE TUNE OF SEVEN BLACK NOTES (THE PSYCHIC) on October 30th. The short press release can be read here:

http://www.severin-films.com/news.html

I am very pleased that this film is finally getting a release on Region One disc. I have only seen the old full frame VHS version of it and have long wanted to see an uncut widescreen edition of the film. I am also glad Severin is handling it as they have done some exceptional work in the past couple of years since they arrived on the scene.
The disc will include a rare Fulci interview as well as interviews with the cast and crew.
THE PSYCHIC was originally announced back in the mid nineties as a film that Quentin Tarantino was going to release on disc but that never happened. Tarantino is a big fan of the film and there were even talks at one point that he was going to remake it with fellow Italian Horror fanatic Bridget Fonda but that also never came to be.
While I don't remember the film being among Fulci's best, I do remember being very intrigued by it and always thought a good transfer could be eye opening, or splintering as this is a Lucio Fulci film:).
Also being released by Severin on the same day is The EROTICIST starring the lovely Laura Antonelli (an actress I have meaning to post on for awhile now). I am greatly anticipating both releases and am sure Severin will deliver the discs with quality presentations.

Artist and Muse #31

Quentin Tarantino and Pam Grier on the set of JACKIE BROWN. Tarantino's moving Elmore Leonard adaptation is my favorite film of his and Pam Grier's performance is one of the greatest of the nineties. I've admired everything Tarantino has done but no other film of his comes close to JACKIE BROWN for me.

Hostel Part Two: The DVD

I will be posting another look at Eli Roth's HOSTEL 2 to go along with this one soon. I did want to say though that the few problems I had with the film on my first viewing have pretty much disappeared. The film, as it plays in its striking uncut form on disc, gets better and better with each viewing, and it has quickly become one of my favorite horror films of the decade.
The DVD contains some solid special features that are entertaining as well as informative. Italian horror fans will absolutely want to check the disc out for a brief but beguiling interview with Edwige Fenech (and some shots of an awe struck Roth directing her), as well as an interesting short talk with Ruggero Deodato.
Even better is the producer's commentary with Roth and Tarantino that plays like a love letter to the Italian horror genre in general. After watching the film again and viewing the extras, I must say that it is indeed Sergio Martino's masterful TORSO that seems to be the film that HOSTEL TWO is most indebted to. Readers here will know that Martino's underrated Giallo is among my favorite films, and frankly seeing this much love thrown at it was refreshing to say the least.

Here are two shots of Eli and Edwige from his MySpace page. Be on the lookout for a long review for this woefully underrated and unjustly maligned film here soon.

Christopher Walken: Seven Legendary Scenes

Since making his debut in the early seventies Christopher Walken has been one of the most versatile and iconic of all American actors. Adept in the heaviest of dramas, to the lightest of comedies, Walken is one of those actors that can do it all. To pay tribute to the man who has given us some of the most memorable performances of the past thirty years I have selected seven of my favorite scenes with Walken that show his extraordinary (and often undervalued) talents. There are many others, but I find these seven to be particularly memorable and great.

7. THE ADDICTION
Walken turns in one of his strangest, and most effective, performances here in Abel Ferrara's savage 1995 film THE ADDICTION. This scene, featuring Walken with Lili Taylor, is among the best of either of their careers, and it is the kind of moment that only Ferrara could have delivered.

6. ANNIE HALL
One of the funniest scenes in Woody Allen's vast filmography is this moment with Allen and Walken from 1977's ANNIE HALL. Watch Allen's terrified reaction to Walken's trademark deadpan delivery. Classic scene, and the payoff at the end is the stuff of legend.

5. TRUE ROMANCE
Walken goes head to head with fellow legend Dennis Hopper in this, one of the great moments from Tarantino's pen. The scene is also nicely directed by Tony Scott, and the two actors are clearly getting a kick sparring off each other.

4. THE DEER HUNTER
Walken would get a much deserved Academy Award for his heartbreaking performance in Michael Cimino's epic masterpiece. The Russian Roulette scene is the most talked about, but I think this scene outside of the hospital is the most crushing moment of the film.

3. PULP FICTION
I will never forget seeing this for the first time with a sold out audience back in 1994. The moment when Walken reveals where he kept that 'uncomfortable piece of metal' garnered some of the biggest laughs I have ever heard...and the scene still gives me chills because of how great Walken is in it.

2. THE DEAD ZONE
Cronenberg's masterful film gave Walken one of the finest roles of his career, and he delivered a devastating performance in it. There are many great scenes in THE DEAD ZONE, but this one is particularly haunting. Just watch the look on Walken's face as he sees Brook Adams walking towards him.

1. THE KING OF NEW YORK
The final shots of Ferrara's influential 1990 gangster epic remain some of my favorite ever filmed. Walken's performance as Frank White is electric, chilling, terrifying and finally moving. These final moments capturing White at the end are my favorite shots of Chris in any film. He is as good as in actor has ever been in these silent last shots...

There are many others, but frankly with over 100 films under his belt now it is hard to choose from all of them. Christopher Walken is one of our great actors and icons. I am looking forward to paying tribute to one of his key films later this weekend.

New Poll And A Kick Start To King Creole Week

Throughout this week I will be paying tribute to another one of my favorite films with a series of posts honoring some of its stars, its soundtrack and finally the film itself. Michael Curtiz's KING CREOLE (1958) is one of the definitive films of the fifties, and possibly the best film that Elvis Presley ever got to make. Originally written for James Dean, this Harold Robbins adaptation features incredibly evocative black and white photography, striking on location in New Orleans direction by CASABLANCA mastermind Curtiz, a killer soundtrack and Elvis Presley giving the best performance of his life. It also features one of the best roles of one of the great often forgotten stars of the period, Dolores Hart, as well as solid early supporting work from Walter Mattheau and Carolyn Jones.
The film career of Elvis Presley is often snickered at by critics and many film fans, but it should be remembered that this is a cinematic legacy that has influenced filmmakers ranging from Ranier Werner Fassbinder to Quentin Tarantino and actors from Christopher Walken to Asia Argento. There are a lot more vocal Elvis Presley film fans than most casual fans have a clue about, and I will be posting on some of them as well.
I have started a new poll focusing on some of Elvis best leading ladies that I hope everyone will participate in. I also hope everyone will enjoy the upcoming posts. Regular postings will continue throughout the week as well.

This Week, Santa's Got A Brand New Bag

This week marks the one year anniversary of Moon In The Gutter, and to celebrate I am going to be paying tribute to one of my favorite actors, genres and films.
Pam Grier is a legend, and since coming on to the scene in the early seventies she has been one of the most unforgettable icons in modern cinema. All throughout this week I will be looking at the ladies career and some of her best films. This will allow me to look at the Blaxploitation genre, one of my favorites, and it will culminate in my look at my favorite Quentin Tarantino film JACKIE BROWN (which celebrates its ten year anniversary this Christmas). I hope everyone enjoys my upcoming posts on Pam and what is to my eyes Tarantino's best film.

I will post a new poll focusing on Pam's career shortly. Thanks for all of those who participated in last week's Elmore Leonard poll, and I hope my OUT OF SIGHT posts proved to be of some interest. Here are the results from last week:

BEST ELMORE LEONARD ADAPTATIONS:

1. JACKIE BROWN: 31 Votes
2. OUT OF SIGHT: 24 Votes
3. MR. MAJESTYK: 15 Votes
4. GET SHORTY: 11 Votes
5. 52 PICKUP: 9 Votes
6. TOUCH: 8 Votes
7. STICK: 6 Votes
8. BIG BOUNCE(69) 5 Votes
9. BIG BOUNCE(05) 4 Votes
10. BE COOL: 3 Votes
11. KILLSHOT: 2 Votes
12. MOONSHINE WAR 2 Votes

Thanks again to all who voted...

Pam Grier On Location In Beautiful Louisville, Kentucky

One of Pam Grier's final film with American International Pictures, 1975's SHEBA BABY, is often regarded as the weakest. Directed by talented Kentucky native William Girdler on location in his hometown of Louisville, SHEBA BABY is quite a mixed bag of that never really comes together but it is one that I always enjoy revisiting for personal reasons.
Louisville is a great little city that I love and I must admit that it is exciting to see it featured so prominently in a film. Girdler's film is a virtual valentine to the town and the images of Pam Grier walking its streets are timeless and extremely evocative.
Hometown Kentucky hero William Girdler was born just after World War 2 in Jefferson County, Kentucky. He shot his first feature, 1972's ASYLUM OF SATAN, on location in Louisville and the city would be the backdrop for all of his films up through SHEBA BABY. These include THREE ON A MEATHOOK, THE ZEBRA KILLER (both 1973) and the near legendary EXORCIST rip off ABBY in 1974.
The PG rated SHEBA BABY was a real change of pace for Grier after hard hitting and explicit films like COFFY and FOXY BROWN. The family friendly SHEBA BABY mostly suffers from being a little too tame though, as it is hindered by the absence of the raw sexuality and excitement of Grier's earlier films.

Girdler's film concerns a Chicago detective (Grier) who returns to her hometown of Louisville after some local thugs beat up her father. The plot of SHEBA BABY is the least notable thing about it (reportedly Girdler and co-writer David Sheldon wrote it in one marathon overnight session) and Grier is surprisingly wooden in many of her scenes. This might have something to do with the rumor that her and Girdler didn't get along and the shoot was an unhappy one for her. Thankfully though Pam shines in the films many action sequences and her performance improves as the film progresses.

Shot in various spots in Louisville, including one memorable sequence at the Kentucky Fairgrounds, Girdler's flawed film is never dull and it is helped immeasurably by an exciting score by Monk Higgons with songs sung by Barbara Mason.
For Kentucky natives like myself, the film features many recognizable shots in and around Louisville. One of the most inventive and memorable is an early sequence in the film where we see Sheba's plane landing at Louisville's old airport and then her car drives away from the new one. It is a nice little tribute to the economy and wit that Girdler always injected his films with.
The supporting cast features both Austin Stoker and D'Urville Martin, and they are fairly solid, although many of the dialogue scenes have an outtake quality about them. One wishes that that budgetary limitations wouldn't have stopped some necessary re shoots that would have helped Girdler's film in a profound way.
SHEBA BABY never really gels together completely and William Girdler is said to have liked it the least of all of his films. Still for all its faults, it is finally a fairly effective little film thanks to the obvious love Girdler has for the locations he is shooting and the powerful score. Also extremely noteworthy are the films final two shots which foreshadow the very memorable closing of Quentin Tarantino's JACKIE BROWN (starring Grier) over twenty years later.
Girdler's picture would premiere in the Spring of 75 and would play the customary drive ins and grindhouse theaters across the country. It didn't have anywhere near the success of Grier's R-Rated work and it is mostly relegated to the lower trenches of the Blaxploitation genre by fans.
The film is currently available on a what seems to be misframed 1.85 MGM DVD (I think a 1.66 transfer would serve it much better) with a trailer as the only extra. The film is also a part of the Pam Grier FOX IN A BOX collection in the same transfer as the stand alone disc.
Pam Grier would have two more films released in 1975, BUCKTOWN and FRIDAY FOSTER. The three works would effectively end the most popular period of her now near forty year career. Girdler would complete four more films, GRIZZLY (1976), PROJECT: KILL (1976), DAY OF THE ANIMALS (1977) and THE MANITOU (1978) before being tragically killed in a helicopter accident just a few months after his 30th birthday. SHEBA BABY marked the last time that the missed director would shoot in his beloved hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. More information on his career can be found at this great official site

Life Rotates In 45 Revolutions Per Minute (Bobby Womack's Across 110th Street)

Any discussion of the Blaxploitation genre has to include the amazing music that accompanied the films. While a lot of the soundtracks and songs were just incredibly fun and inventive, a handful went way beyond that and allowed the composers to comment not only on their own lives but also at times the films themselves. Curtis Mayfield’s legendary SUPERFLY soundtrack is probably the most well known example, but I would like to nominate Bobby Womack’s searing socio-political statement ACROSS 110TH STREET as the finest.
Cleveland born Womack first came into prominence for his work with the great Sam Cooke in the early part of the sixties. He scored a hit with his Womack Brothers combo on the song IT’S ALL OVER NOW (later covered by The Rolling Stones) and by the end of the sixties he was recording a series of extraordinary solo albums that would produce two of the periods great masterpieces, 1971’s COMMUNICATION and 1972’s UNDERSTANDING.
It was his work on these two albums that brought him to the attention United Artists who were in the process of creating one of the most stirring films of the blaxploitation genre, Barry Shear’s art house action film ACROSS 110TH STREET.
Shear’s film, starring Anthony Quinn, Tony Franciosa, and Yaphet Kotto is one of the most searing works of the seventies. The film, a powerful indictment of the political climate that help create inner city ghettos, needed a soundtrack that could be commercially successful for the studio but also supply the necessary political firepower to match what was on the screen.
The films score was handed to J.J. Johnson and Womack was brought on board to pen and sing the film’s title track. Womack ended up delivering five songs for the film, and they took up half the original soundtrack album that accompanied it. It would be the devastating title track that would be the most notable though, and it remains one of the most important musical statements of the seventies.
Womack’s angry lament for a country covered in government created ghettos is absolutely chilling, and the punch it manages to pack in just over three minutes is frankly astonishing.

Beginning with a strange instrumental intro consisting of a keyboard synthesizer, bass, acoustic guitars and tambourine, Womack comes in with the heavy background orchestration with one of the most soulful wordless vocal intros ever recorded. The band behind him suddenly starts to swing as the first lyrics begin,
“I was the third brother of five doing whatever I had to do to survive,
I’m not saying what I did was alright, trying to break out of the ghetto was a day to day fight.”
Immediately Womack alerts us that this song is going to be an epic on par with Mayfield’s SUPERFLY material or Stevie Wonder’s INNERVISIONS. He continues with,
“Been down so long that getting up never crossed my mind, I knew there was a better way of life that I was just trying to find.”
Like Mayfield, Womack dealt in characters looking to escape, but who are constantly being held down by their seemingly unbeatable circumstances. The character at this point admits,
“You don’t know what you’ll do when your put under pressure, across 110th Street is a hell of a tester.”

After this bracing opening we get our first listen to the song’s masterful chorus, with its breathtakingly sweeping string section and Womack’s band kicking into double time with some of the funkiest grooves ever laid down on vinyl. It is Womack’s lyrics though that provides the real soul of the piece as he exclaims frantically,
“Across 110th Street, Pimps trying to catch a woman that’s weak.
Across 110th Street, Pushers won’t let the junkie go free.
Across 110th Street, Woman trying to catch a trick on the street.
Across 110th Street, You can find it all in the street.”
It’s a grouping of lines that would have been right at home in the works of Hubert Selby. Womack creates a scene filled with pushers and pimps, junkies and prostitutes…and they are all trapped in the hand of this invisible strong arm that refuses to relinquish its grip.
The chorus crashes into one of the most thrilling bridges I have ever heard before suddenly we are hearing the songs opening again, with Womack’s soulful voice reminding us without words that he is telling us a circular story without an end. It’s a thrilling moment and it sounds like the song is coming to a close just two minutes in when Womack suddenly cuts in with,
‘I got one more thing I’d like to talk to Y’all about right now.”
He pauses then delivers a strong warning to his characters and to anyone listening,
“Hey brother, there’s a better way out. Snorting that coke, shooting that dope man you’re copping out.
Take my advice, it’s either live or die. You’ve got to be strong if you want to survive.” It’s a surprising message for a genre known for supposedly romanticizing the gangster lifestyle, but it is the following lines that deliver the most shocking blow the poetic Womack had to offer.
“The family on the other side of town would catch hell without a ghetto around.
In every city you find the same thing going down, Harlem is the capital of every ghetto town.”
Bob Dylan had been one of Womack’s heroes and in this short couplet Womack equals the master’s greatest protest work from the sixties. He takes the rather subtle message of the film and bravely shoves it strongly in the face of everyone listening. It’s an eerie and quite audacious moment that fits an entire book of urban economics and social anthropology into two of the angriest sentences in all of modern music.

Lyrically the song ends there…where else can it go? The chorus repeats as the music becomes more and more charged before finally slowing down and crashing into the opening moments again…a move that suggests in no simple terms that the story Womack is weaving is never ending, it’s just a cycle that repeats over and over again.
ACROSS 110th STREET is one of the great songs from any genre you care to name. Anyone who suggests that popular music can’t be intelligent and brave should be locked into a room with it. It would make the film even more politically charged with two separate versions of it appearing on the album, and it became a top twenty hit in 1973.

The song’s journey didn’t end there though. Another one of Womack’s musical heroes, Elvis Presley, became obsessed with the film and song. It recalled his own IN THE GHETTO and he was known to recite the entire movie line for line many times to his friends throughout the seventies.

Quentin Tarantino was just ten years old when Womack’s track was climbing the tracks. He would hear the song as a teenager and he thankfully never got it out of head. He would use it to devastating effect in the opening and closing of JACKIE BROWN, which introduced an entire new generation to it. The song recently appeared again in Ridley Scott’s AMERICAN GANGSTER, a film focused on a character that seems taken directly out of Womack’s passionate lament.
Bobby Womack’s ACROSS 110TH STREET can be heard on a number of best of collections. It can also be heard on the soundtracks of the films mentioned above. It’s a brave and unforgettable piece of music that I highly recommend for anyone who doesn’t have it already in his or her collection.

Nastassja Kinski Rumored to Return for Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards

Just a couple of weeks after running into each other at a screening of James Toback's Exposed, it looks like Quentin Tarantino and Nastassja Kinski's paths might soon cross again. While Brad Pitt and Eli Roth are the only two major cast members to have officially signed on so far to Tarantino's long awaited war epic Inglorious Bastards, Kinski is in serious discussions with the writer and director to return to the screen to play Third Reich film star Bridget Von Hammersmark. This story is being reported at several spots on the Internet including here and here.
This role would mark Kinski's first appearance in front of the cameras since her cameo two years ago in David Lynch's Inland Empire and her first starring role in more that five years. Also in talks for what promises to be a mind-blowing production are Simon Pegg, Udo Kier and BJ Novak.
Thanks to Mr. Peel for this very hopeful and exciting news.

Operation Screenshot (Films of the 2000s): Sin City (A Film Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller)