Who’s Minding the Store: 17 July, 2007

By
/ 16 July 2007

Hey! How’s it going? Long time, no see. Everything okay? Good. Glad to hear it. Sorry we’ve been away for the last couple of weeks, but when the digital domain can’t be bothered to provide the home video enthusiast anything other than recycled rejects and mindless merchandising, there’s no reason to help in their senseless shill. Indeed, had SE&L decided to struggle on with regular updates of any and all DVD releases, we’d be championing crappy independent horror, oddball double feature combinations, and more than one bottom of the barrel Z-list title. So we sat back and waited – waited for a Tuesday when things weren’t unbridled bilge. And so, here we are again. Granted, there’s still some god awful gunk here (just say no to more mutant mayhem – Wes Craven), but for the most part, 17 July provides a few forgotten gems, including our choice for product du jour:

Ace in the Hole: The Criterion Collection

Billy Wilder often said that he never cared about genre or style. He just made movies of the kind he himself would like to see. This 1951 attack on the Fourth Estate, starring Kirk Douglas as a reporter who turns the story of a man trapped in a mine collapse into the original ‘media circus’, is a perfect example of this creative mantra. Mixing elements of comedy, drama, noir and the thriller, we soon realize that nothing much has changed in the press over the last fifty years. Publicity breeds corruption, the possibility of the spotlight (and the profits that can be generated from same) taking priority over morals, precedence, and life itself. The film alone would warrant an easy DVD decision, but thanks to those practicing preservationists over at Criterion, we get a much better window into what Wilder was aiming for (via a clever commentary and a series of interviews), as well as why the film remains as effective now as it was a half century ago. Apparently, art is timeless. The proof is right here for all to see.

Other Titles of Interest

Factory Girl

The story of Andy Warhol’s Factory – a literal bohemian oasis amid ‘60s Manhattan’s cosmopolitan cool – is, apparently, an elusive entertainment ideal. Several semi-successful films have been made about the various infamous personalities linked to the effete artist, this take on the tragic Edie Sedgwich being one of them. Surrounded by controversy both during and after production, the results are uneven but intriguing, even if just from a fictional historical perspective.

The Hills Have Eyes 2

Wes Craven needs to have his horror credentials revoked – and we mean NOW! As he continues to whore out his legacy for the almighty dollar (he’s currently directing a remake of his own Shocker), he’s forgotten how to be relevant in the realm of fear. Responsible for the script of this terrible re-quel, the former fright king believes that mutant rapists and bungling army dullards equal stellar scare stuff. In truth, it’s one of the worst movies of 2007.

Okie Noodling

It’s a unique practice, and some say, a culturally significant tradition. In the lakes and rivers of Oklahoma, a distinctive brand of backwoods sportsman practices the time honored art of “noodling” – catching giant catfish with their bare hands. While many do it for food, others merely enjoy the danger and thrill of the kill. A long time cult favorite, DVD will hopefully open up this documentary – and its bizarre practices – to a larger mainstream audience.

Raymond Bernard – Eclipse Series 4

In what seems to be a neverending line of important French filmmakers, this more or less forgotten auteur remains incredibly significant. Helping to formulate the country’s cinema as it emerged from silents into the sound age, this Criterion Collection subdivision release offers two of his most significant works – an anti war epic (Wooden Crosses) and the adaptation of a literary classic (Les Miserables). Unfairly overlooked by scholars, here’s hoping the set jumpstarts his renaissance. div>

Yo Yo Girl Cop

She’s a kid. She’s a cop. And she uses a common playground toy as her weapon of choice. A revamp of a classic Japanese franchise from the ‘80s, this update boasts a more serious subtext (our heroine must stop student terrorists bent on bringing Japan to the point of anarchy) and amazing action sequences. And where else but in a film like this would you find a credit for a ‘Yo Yo Director’?

And Now for Something Completely Different

The Happy Hooker Trilogy

For those too young to remember it, the release of Xavier Hollander’s autobiography The Happy Hooker: My Own Story in 1971 was a sensationalized scandal. As a madam and former call girl, the Dutch East Indies born beauty lifted the veil on sex for sale, and argued that pleasure for pay could be safe, erotic and positive. Naturally, the post-free love era wasn’t ready to be pushed that far, and the backlash made her an instant pariah – and highly sought after personality. Soon, her tell-all tome was being made into a film (Lynn Redgrave essayed the role of ecstatic whore), but the tone was tweaked away from significance and more toward kitsch. By the time the two sequels came along – The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (with Joey Heatherton in the lead) and The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood (with Martine Beswick) – the series was nothing but pure camp. Finally available on DVD, these tame artifacts of a bygone era remind us that the subject of human horniness has come a long way in the last three decades – for better and for worse.