Tuesday, June 10 2008
Old Time Religion
In the span of 90 amazing minutes, The Green Pastures performs a feat untold in most religious cinema: it actually explains and illustrates faith.
Thursday, April 3 2008
Five from Beyond the Fringe
In the following five examples of fringe films, we have movies so amazing, originality so outstanding, that the entire cinematic situation offered defies comprehension.
Wednesday, January 30 2008
Film’s Last Taboo
Social hype has given your basic brats a media Teflon coating. Has the time finally come to make them pay?
Thursday, September 27 2007
When They Were Fab
The phenomenal success of the British Invasion led to a stampede of record labels trying to promote bands that could cash in on Beatlemania. Pop Gear shows over 15 bands, attempting to lip synch their way to stardom. The result is surprisingly touching and loaded with kitschy, camp fun.
Friday, July 27 2007
A ‘Head’ of Its Time
In Head, a frighteningly original, career-defying work, The Monkees depict how they were forever trapped in a suffocating, inescapable situation.
Tuesday, June 5 2007
Billy Jack, the Original Blockbuster
Through the era-defining "Billy Jack" character, director Tom Laughlin pushed the outlandish, over-the-top event movie into the motion picture mainstream.
Friday, March 30 2007
Almost Auteurs: Elaine May
Elaine May's untapped filmmaking promise remains as recognizable as her realized films, ranging from the acclaimed The Heartbreak Kid to the disastrous Ishtar. She is missed as a filmmaking force.
Wednesday, January 24 2007
Calling William Castle!
What we need today is a man who is willing to subject himself to ridicule, disrespect, and misrepresentation, all in the name of motion picture propaganda – someone like William Castle.
Monday, November 27 2006
Dreck the Halls
For every cinematic stocking full of shiny bright goodies, there are large filmic lumps of dirty old coal.
Wednesday, October 4 2006
Skunk Ape Confidential
From his humble roots as a woodland myth to his starring roles in several '70s monster movies, Bigfoot remains the Me Decades most misunderstood manbeast -- and most unlikely cultural icon.
Wednesday, August 2 2006
Hit the Road, Bonejack!
Seaver is a true product of the post-modern media. Glued to the tube like most of the '80s underage denizens, he lived on a steady latchkey diet of Full House, Thundercats and Charles in Charge.
Tuesday, June 6 2006
Big Girl Blues
In the realm of enormous breasts, she had no equal. But there is more to this grindhouse icon's enduring qualities than oversized boobs... or is there?
Wednesday, April 5 2006
The Grindhouse’s Greatest Hits
It's time to slap another nickel in the naughty jukebox as this month's look at outsider cinema celebrates the music that made the exploitation genre a decidedly different kind of 'aural' experience.
Monday, February 20 2006
Findlay vs. Jason
So, you think a sinister "shape" and his hockey-masked compatriot are the founding fiends of the slice and dice film? Actually, according to our resident outsider cinephile, the true origins of the slasher film can be found inside the grit and grime of the grindhouse.
Wednesday, January 11 2006
Trailer Fabulous
Call them examples of alcoholism as the avant-garde, or experimentalism accented with several cans of Spam, but actor/filmmaker Giuseppe Andrews is onto something with his masterful trailer park epics.
Tuesday, November 29 2005
The Neo Neo-Realist
If you believe that Italians offered the best examples of neo-realism in cinema, think again. You haven't seen the mind-numbing dullness of true reality until you've witnessed the work of Coleman Francis.
Friday, October 28 2005
Mudlark Movies: Lucky Stiff
Turning the spotlight on those unfortunate films that have somehow fallen through the cracks in the entertainment system, Gibron champions the mudlark movie -- cinematic orphans that truly deserve a second chance.
Friday, September 30 2005
Rudy Can’t Fail
Listen up, suckas. Dolemite is back on the scene...and to hear Gibron tell it, all them rat soap eating, born insecure jack-jawed wannabes better step aside.
Monday, August 22 2005
The Science Behind the So-B.I.G.
Wonder what makes a bad movie bad? Gibron offers six easy lessons in those fabulous disasters known as the So-B.I.G. films.
Thursday, July 28 2005
The Undead Underground
Although Hollywood might have rotted the zombie film through insipid cliché, there's plenty of 'fresh meat' available from these straight-to-video auteurs.
