DVD Review: Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXIX

I’m always happy when a new DVD box set of Mystery Science Theater 3000 is released. This show is guaranteed to make me laugh and put me in a good mood. Volume XXIX contains four episodes that were never before released on DVD – two with Joel Hodgson and two with Mike Nelson. There is lots of bonus material as well, including the original version of one of the films that the guys are subjected to.

Disc One: Untamed Youth

This is a very early Joel Hodgson episode, from when Josh Weinstein was doing the voice of Tom Servo, and when Joel gave a very brief explanation of the show at the beginning. In this episode, the gang is forced to watch a teen exploitation movie from the 1950s, one starring the sexy Mamie Van Doren.

When the film opens, a man is running across an empty field, leading Joel to comment, “It looks like he’s playing football against Claude Rains University” (a reference to his famous role in The Invisible Man). Two sexy young women are arrested for hitchhiking. The judge tells them, “You are vagrants, without visible means of support,” to which Crow quips, “Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” The two girls are sentenced to be cotton pickers, and they do a song in their room to cheer themselves up. Though they only have one guitar, and the girl is only plucking one string, we hear a whole band, leading Crow to observe, “That guitar makes amazing sounds.” And when one character says, “You’ve got plenty of hands working for you,” Crow says, “Two per person.”

The gang does a funny bit about Greg Brady during one of the breaks. “Then in 1974, Greg was faced with the biggest shock of his life – his family was canceled.”

Disc One Bonus Features

This disc includes an introduction by Joel Hodgson, as well a bit where Joel talks about his one-man show, Riffing Myself. There is also an interview with Mamie Van Doren, in which she talks about the beginning of her career, telling some interesting anecdotes. And of course she talks about Untamed Youth. The DVD also includes the film’s trailer.

Disc Two: Hercules And The Captive Women

This is a Joel episode from 1992. The invention exchange in this episode is actually really funny – the lawn mower with the baby seat. Then, after begging for the opportunity, Gypsy gets to watch the film with the gang. She doesn’t quite understand how things are done, and tells the characters on the screen to stop fighting. After a short time, Gypsy realizes the movie is terrible and leaves.  The others, of course, have to remain and suffer. As always, they ease their suffering (and ours) with plenty of funny comments.

When a voice over says, “History tells us of the war,” the gang jokes, “And now I’m going to too.” When Hercules lies down for a nap on the boat, they joke, “Wake me up when you get to the plot point.” When the film cuts to a different shot of the boat, Tom Servo says, “Meanwhile, in the very same scene.” And then: “Maybe if they pulled up the anchor, the plot would move a little.” Later Tom Servo says, “I tell you, this would really be exciting if I knew what was going on.” There’s a midget in the film they watch, who at one point is running alongside a mountain. Joel says, “Wow, these mountains really make you feel small."

And there are plenty of pop culture references, including references to Grease 2, The Birds, Get Smart, Star Trek, The Banana Splits, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Star Wars, Network, Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, The Rolling Stones, The Police, CSN, R.E.M. and “In The Year 2525.”

Disc Two Bonus Features

The second disc includes an introduction by Joel Hodgson, in which he talks about Gypsy’s involvement at the beginning of the movie. There is also a featurette titled “MST3K Artist In Residence: Steve Vance,” with Dave Long (animator of the MST3K DVD menus) talking with Steve Vance, who creates the MST3K posters and DVD covers for the box sets.  The DVD also includes a photo gallery of the individual DVD box covers.

Disc Three: The Thing That Couldn’t Die

This is a Mike Nelson episode from 1997, when the series felt some bizarre need to add an ongoing plot to the non-movie segments. But during one of the breaks, there is a really funny bit about Crow’s documentary on the civil war. And all the stuff with the movie is excellent. At the beginning, when three people show up on horses, one says: “Well, one thing has changed. Jessica was only thirteen when I went away to college.” Mike quips, “Now she’s twenty-nine. I kind of had a bit of a hard time.” Jessica is using a divining rod, looking for water. Crow suggests, “Why don’t you try down by the creek, honey?” At one point when Jessica is using her divining rod, Crow asks, “Wouldn’t it be funny if she found Divine?”

One incredibly dumb ranch hand picks up a rifle, and the other takes it from him, saying, “You don’t know how to shoot a gun, you’ll hurt yourself.” The dumb guy says, “I wasn’t going to shoot it.” The gang adds, “I was going to clean it at you.” Later, when the two are struggling over a knife, Tom Servo says, “Suddenly the knife went off.”

This episode has references to Let’s Scare Jessica To Death, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Westside Story, Neil Diamond, Warren Zevon, Wang Chung, Allen Ginsberg, Van Gogh, Measure For Measure and Macbeth.

Disc Three Bonus Features

This disc includes The Movie That Couldn’t Die, a short piece telling the story of the film’s production, with film historian Tom Weaver. It also includes the trailer.

Disc Four: The Pumaman

This is a Mike Nelson episode from 1998. The Pumaman is a strange and awful science fiction superhero film, clearly a Superman rip-off. At the beginning when a voice from the heavens says “I speak to all humanity,” Mike adds, “Can you hear me in the back?” When a blonde stares awkwardly through a large magnifying glass, Crow jokes, “There’s something wrong with this mirror.” Regarding the gold mask, the blonde then says, “This is proof of an outer space presence in our history.” Tom Servo jokes, “She said that about waffles.”

When Pumaman is flying, the gang jokes, “He has the power to rear-project major cities.” Mike says, “I hate to be picky, but pumas aren’t really known for flying.” Then he adds later, “Are pumas also known for their whining?” When Pumaman looks up and says, “Thank you,” Mike adds, “Guy who lives on the second floor.” The gang also constantly pokes fun of Donald Pleasence’s odd pronunciation of “puma,” as well as the terrible score’s similarity to “The Hustle.”

This episode has references to This Is Spinal Tap, The Poseidon Adventure, Goldfinger, Macbeth, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Beach Boys, Eddie Rabbitt, Van Halen and The Greatest American Hero (with Crow singing, "Believe it or not, this movie's still on/It should have ended two hours ago").

Disc Four Bonus Features

The bonus features to this disc include the regular version of The Pumaman. I watched that version before watching the MST3K rip on it, just in order to give the film a fair shot. I didn’t think I’d be able to take it at all seriously after watching Mike and the robots tear it to shreds. Well, it turns out I couldn’t take it seriously anyway. It is one of the worst films ever made. But I love that it’s included on this disc, and I hope in future MST3K releases, more original versions will be included. The version here is full-screen.

This disc also includes a nice long interview with Walter G. Alton, Jr., who stars as Pumaman. Interestingly, he was a lawyer who started acting after playing football in the park with some actors. And of course he talks about The Pumaman. Shockingly, he didn't like the original costume. Can you imagine a costume worse than the one he wears in the film? He also talks about Donald Pleasence, and also gives his reaction to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version.

Much Ado About Nanites features interviews with Kevin Murphy, Patrick Brantseg, Mary Jo Pehl and Beez McKeever about the nanite characters.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXIX is scheduled to be released on March 25, 2014 through Shout! Factory.

DVD Review: The Passenger

The Passenger is strange, dark and often quietly haunting portrayal of Nick, a bisexual man with certain urges toward murder, who enters the lives of two friends, Phillip and Lilli.

It opens with Nick (Niklas Peters) stroking another man’s face and asking, “Have you fallen in love with me?” The man, still sleepy, indicates no. Nick says, “You are lying.” The next shot has Nick washing blood from his hands. Then on a train, in voice over, Nick tells us that his urge to kill is somehow the fault of the stars and the planet Pluto. (Wait, hasn’t Pluto lost its planet status?) The voice over is on the silly side, but that might be in part due to a less-than-stellar translation for the subtitles (at one point “actress” is written as “actoress”). But not to worry, as there isn’t much voice over in this film. In the opening credit sequence, we see hints of other victims, including a woman whom we see for only a moment from behind.

Nick responds to an ad from Phillip (Urs Stamplfi), who is looking for a roommate. Phillip asks Nick a few questions, and Nick’s answers should alarm him. He says he’s studying, then when Phillip points out that classes have already begun, he adds that he’s searching for an apartment for his father. Plus, at this moment, Nick has a weird look about him, something certainly less than friendly. But Phillip quickly gives him the room, then tells a friend on the phone that he has “a good feeling” about his new roommate.

Meanwhile Nick is out in the city, being followed by a man. We at first don’t know who this man is, or why he’s following him. Does he recognize Nick from the past? Did he know one of Nick’s victims? The scene has a nice intensity, and is done without any dialogue, and with some short cuts that work to disorient us long enough that we lose track of where Nick is, just as this man does. And suddenly they are face to face, and it’s clear this stranger simply finds Nick attractive and poses no threat. Something is decided, without words. Although you get the feeling that what has been decided is a bit different for each man. Soon that man is going down on Nick.

Phillip introduces Nick to his friend Lilli (Lynn Femme). When Nick learns that Lilli is studying to become an actor, he asks if that means he shouldn’t believe what she’s saying. Lilli tells him that good actors don’t pretend, but rather “show how people really are behind all their facades and masks.” It’s a really nice, serious, quiet moment between them, and it’s in that moment that you can tell Nick is becoming interested in her. In that opening voice over, Nick had told us that he wants to learn to control his lust, and we get the feeling that maybe he thinks Lilli might be able to help.

Phillip is a photographer who only photographs men. He claims to be straight, citing a distant girlfriend that we never meet. Nick seems to be interested in him. That other man that had followed him calls Nick, and Nick glances at the caller ID and chooses not to answer. It’s interesting that Nick gave him his number at all. But by not answering, it implies that Nick’s interest has moved to Phillip.

It’s sort of unsettling, the way Nick goes through his day. For a while we don’t know what he wants. He asks Phillip for the address of the studio where Lilli studies acting, saying he wants to surprise her. And soon they’re naked together. Interestingly, we go from a shot of Nick shirtless with Lilli to a shot of him shirtless with Phillip, posing for a photo. Nick asks again why he only photographs men, and Phillip tells him, “I know them better…When it comes to women, I only see what I want to see.” It’s a really nice exchange.

There are some really well composed shots in this film. One that stands out for me is of Phillip, Nick and Lilli resting on a patch of grass between two roads in the early morning. The composition is perfect, with the roads forming an angle in the distance, while the three bodies form angles as well, with Nick in the center and Phillip and Lilli on either side, resting their heads on Nick’s belly. There is no dialogue here – just a brief shot.

I love the quiet feel of this film. However, there are important elements that are introduced but not truly examined, promises which are left unfulfilled. Like, he said he wanted to get his lust under control, but we don’t really see him attempting to do that. It seems he tries to hold off on harming Phillip and Lilli by killing a couple of other people. But then he tells us, in voice over, “The stronger my feelings are getting for them, the closer comes their hour of death.” But we’ve seen him kill two people he wasn’t at all close to, so it doesn’t quite make sense.

There is also some silly horseplay in the gym locker room with some aerosol spray cans that feels forced, unnatural. It’s one of the few moments that I didn’t believe or care for in the film. But apart from that, this is a film that does work to get under your skin. And it’s unusual in the way it portrays its three main characters, which I completely appreciate.

The DVD includes the film’s trailer.

The Passenger was directed by Tor Iben, who also directed Cibrail. This film is presented in German with English subtitles, and was released on DVD on February 11, 2014 through TLA Releasing.

DVD Review: Marc Maron: “Thinky Pain”

Marc Maron’s new special, Thinky Pain, was recorded at an intimate venue, which works perfectly with the personal nature of his material and the conversational tone of his delivery. The special begins with a bit of backstage footage, with Marc talking with a friend. And then it’s time for him to go out on stage. There is no big hoopla when he goes out; the move seems casual, from backstage banter to onstage banter, which is wonderful.

I love Marc Maron’s delivery. Near the beginning he says he didn’t prepare for the special, and maybe that’s true, at least to a certain extent, because the whole performance gives you the feel of being involved in a cool, very funny conversation in which you never actually get to speak yourself.  Although then toward the end he does actually ask the audience a question, like seeking advice, and folks do respond.

The anecdotes are quite personal, and he talks to the audience at times as if they’re old friends, or at least acquaintances – and before long you feel that you do know him. He takes the audience through his process of writing, including necessarily illegible penmanship, then trying to decode it later (something I can personally relate to). He also tells a story from his childhood, regarding a life-changing incident on the baseball field. By the way, from that anecdote comes the special’s title.

About drug use, he has this to say: “There is something to be said about doing a lot of drugs at some point in your life. I personally don’t have a lot of respect for people that don’t have the courage to lose complete control of their life for a few years.” And then he takes on the voice of someone who has just come out of that period: “I’d like to think I did some good writing but there’s no real evidence of it. Random pieces of paper.” That leads directly to an incident involving Chinese food.

I absolutely love all of his material on music, and in particular the stuff on Captain Beefheart. I also appreciate the tangents, such as off-hand remarks about his girlfriend that are completely fucking hilarious: “Because I don’t really know if someone loves me if I can’t make them cry.”

Like most comedians, he uses his relationships for material. He urges folks to try Viagra at least once, saying, “When you’re fucking on Viagra, there is like a moment where you look down at your cock and you think, ‘It doesn’t even need me.’” And about dating younger women he says, “I actually thought about having business cards printed up that just said, ‘Marc Maron: A Phase You’re Going Through.’” When talking about his current relationship, the material doesn’t feel like a routine at all, but rather him opening up, which is interesting, and different from the standard stand-up fare. He says, About his current relationship: “I don’t think I could get rid of this one if I had to. She’s fucking terrifying.” And this line totally cracked me up: “She should appreciate just how much I’m not making her cry right now.”

At 94 minutes, this performance is longer than most stand-up specials. There is a little bit of backstage footage at end. The DVD contains no special features.

Thinky Pain was released on January 21, 2014 through New Wave Dynamics.

DVD Review: Noah’s Ark

Noah’s Ark is an animated film telling the story of a god who decides to destroy everyone in the world, except for one old man and his family. That man is tasked with single-handedly building a giant boat and also with saving two of each animal, so that the world can begin again when the rain has subsided. The film follows Noah as well as the animals involved in this twisted punishment of God’s.

Right off the bat, this is an odd one. It opens on a jungle scene, with a snake laughing at a peacock when it’s hit by a pineapple. Several other animals become involved in a weird sort of pseudo-brawl, until suddenly they’re all caught in a large net, along with a jungle man. And then, shockingly, we cut to a market place where all of those animals have been killed and their carcasses are on display for sale. Jungle man is seen in a cage, sold into slavery. Wow. Not your typical children’s film opening.

It gets weirder from there. A large man and a small boy remark on the scene. The man says: “Look at what they’ve done with the world. A storehouse of evil and greed. We had better deal with this at its very root.” The boy says, “You’re not talking about-” The man confirms: “Yes, the final judgment day. It’s time each one pays a debt for what they have done.” Yes, it turns out the man is God, and I guess the whiny boy is Jesus.

Meanwhile Noah is getting out of debt, and going straight back into it, and his family is tired of struggling. Noah says as long as they stick together, they’ll be fine. Oddly, in his home, everyone is arguing, and they all have different accents.

While Noah’s wife is talking to him, he wanders off into the woods because he sees a light. (Apparently, that’s how he remains so calm – he completely ignores his wife.) A voice from above tells him to think of the light as his own personal spotlight. The voice then tells him, “It’s me, God.” Then he tells Noah he plans to flood the Earth, and gives him instructions to build an ark and put his family on it, plus two of every animal. You know the story. What you don’t know is that after Noah has left, God asks the little boy (who apparently isn’t Jesus, but rather some sort of angel employee of God’s that God refers to only as “Angel” rather than by name) how his voice sounded. Yes, God is a little vain.

At dinner, Noah builds an ark out of his mashed potatoes, acting like Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. As for his task of gathering two of every animal, he completely passes that off on some doves, leaving it up to them to accomplish it or not. The doves don’t bother. Instead they go to a bar and get drunk. I’m serious. The movie is so weird. One dove, of course, thinks the story of the flood might be true, and so delivers the messages.

And so the animals gather for a big meeting in the jungle to discuss the situation. We even have a scene of a lion packing for the trip (“I need something classy, just in case there’s a gala…And something to read, of course.”) A unicorn, a dragon and what I’m guessing is a sasquatch show up at the meeting (just one of each), to speak against the whole ark idea, saying it’s a trap by man to hunt them down. Of course, this bit reminds me of the Shel Silverstein song, “The Unicorn.”

Having the animals talk in this film (as they do in most animated films) raises some issues that perhaps the filmmakers didn’t intend. If the animals are intelligent enough to speak and conduct meetings, then they’re intelligent enough to be aware of the situation. And so weren’t some animals heartbroken that the rest of their families were left behind? And weren’t the animals angry at a god who could be so bloody cruel and heartless? And arbitrary too, for after all, what had these animals done to displease this twisted human deity? And if they're this intelligent, why not just build a big boat of their own?

Another question is, If God is so keen on destroying the world, why save anyone or anything? Why not just start from scratch and create all new species? The answer is that God is lazy. He leaves all the work to one old man, and to his angel employee. In fact, God barely pays attention to the results of his flood, checking in only occasionally with the angel to see how things are going. God is more interested in writing a book, but he also has the angel work on that. Basically, God naps and practices his golf swing. When Noah’s family’s prayers disturb his nap, he calls for the little boy to deal with them.

By the way, Noah’s family is made up of idiots. Could this film be a subtle jab at our entire world? It implies that we are all descendants of morons. Morons who will soon, by necessity, begin inbreeding. And speaking of breeding, the male orangutan is clearly meant to be gay, which raises an issue about how that particular species continued.

Anyway, this film has some amazing scenes. Before the animals get on the boat, they discuss the whole food issue. What will the carnivores eat? That leads to hilarious lines like, “The animals would like to know if they’re allowed to feast on each other during the trip.” There is a tiger who wishes to become king of the animals, taking the place of Xiro the lion. The tiger has an incredibly twisted fantasy, which this film is kind enough to show us. It’s one of the most freaky scenes of this completely insane movie, and I won’t spoil it by describing it here. Also, at one point a female panther (who oddly has no male mate) does a cage dance.

Even when the film is over, it continues to be delightfully weird. During the closing credits, Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” plays. But it’s a completely different version, with lyrics about the flood.  Here is a taste: “I want to take away your pain/In a new world that’s free from rain/I want to live.” And this: “I won’t let anybody say what I can eat to stay alive/My appetite is growing/And my teeth are very sharp/I will survive.”

The DVD contains no special features.

Noah’s Ark was directed by Juan Pablo Buscarini, and was apparently originally released in Argentina in 2007 under the title El Arca. It is scheduled to be released on DVD on March 11, 2014 through Shout! Factory.

DVD Review: Diana

I knew basically nothing about Princess Diana going into this film, but was excited to see Diana because of its director – Oliver Hirschbiegel made Downfall, one of the best films I’ve seen – and its star. I’ve been a fan of Naomi Watts’ work since Mulholland Dr. Diana focuses on the last two years of Princess Diana’s life, particularly her relationship with Hasnat Khan, a Pakistani heart surgeon.

The film begins on August 31, 1997, the day that Diana died. The camera work in the opening sequence in her hotel room is great, particularly the moment when she turns as if forgetting something, and the camera pulls back, retreating. Once she and her entourage get into the elevator, the film takes us back to two years earlier. For those of us who know little about Diana, a title card tells us, “Diana, Princess of Wales, has been formally separated from her husband Prince Charles for nearly three years.”

We immediately see the insanity of her very public life, with people crowding around her, snapping photos, and then the contrasting silence and stillness once she reaches the safety of her car. She then speaks to herself in her mirror at home about her marriage, testing how the words sound before giving an interview. She soon is seated for that interview, joking that it’s too late to back out now. Interestingly, the film doesn’t show us any of the actual interview at that moment. (Later we’ll see her deliver the very lines that she rehearsed in the mirror.)

She meets Dr. Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews), who gives her a tour of the hospital after she expresses an interest, even a fascination with hospitals. She invites him over to dinner, and Sonia (played by the wonderful, and here underused Juliet Stevenson) gets healthful food for Diana to serve him. But though he is a heart surgeon, Hasnat prefers fast food hamburgers and cigarettes. And so she has hamburgers delivered (we’ve seen scenes like this in many other films). We then have a scene of them watching sports on television, Hasnat acting like a typical man and Diana acting like a typical woman. I suppose it’s meant to be interesting in the very fact that it’s not interesting, that Diana can be just as ordinary as anyone else, but scenes like this fall rather flat. After he mentions that he likes jazz, we get a scene of Sonia dumping out a bag of jazz CDs on Diana’s floor and giving her a brief lesson on the subject. Scenes like that give the movie the feel of a teen romance.

Hasnat seems a bit arrogant, in the way he delivers certain lines, such as “I follow no one” and “I don’t have any bad habits” (when she mentions his smoking). Because Hasnat is very private person he tells her he can’t date her, that his job as a surgeon requires him to be focused. So she shows up at his door in a brown wig, and he doesn’t recognize her, which is ridiculous.

The most interesting scenes are the ones that deal more with her in the political realm. When Patrick Jephson (Diana’s private secretary) resigns after the interview airs, she tells him “You’ve been a rock.” Patrick asks, “What will you do?” She responds, “Get a new rock.” It’s simple, direct, honest and believable. And we do get some scenes regarding her humanitarian efforts, particularly dealing with the landmines (there is a great moment when photographers realize the danger and become interested as Diana crosses a recently cleaned mine field).

But mostly the film focuses on the relationship, which one or the other of them ends like four times in the film, and always for the same reason. The film never really builds to anything, and seems to have no real goal or point. And for what is essentially attempting to be a tragic love story, it never engaged me emotionally. The fault seems to be with the screenplay, as the performances are good.

By the way, even though the movie begins and ends with the day that Diana died, it avoids all specifics regarding Diana’s death. The movie assumes you know that already.

Special Features

The DVD includes several interviews with cast and crew members, totaling approximately forty-six minutes. Naomi Watts talks about what drew her to the project and about the role. She also mentions that Downfall is a masterpiece. The DVD also contains a little booklet with photos focusing on the fashion.

Diana was directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, who in addition to directing the incredible Downfall also directed The Invasion, an excellent recent version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. Diana was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 11, 2014.

DVD Review: The Last Elvis

The Last Elvis is an excellent and completely engaging film about Carlos Gutierrez, an Elvis Presley impersonator whose daily existence is one of lonesome routine, and who comes to life truly only when he is on stage as Elvis.

The opening shot is fantastic. The camera climbs an empty staircase as we hear “Also Sprach Zarathrusta.” The music gets louder as we reach the top of the stairs and enter a club, revealing people seated at tables. The camera continues to move to the wings where Carlos Gutierrez (John McInerny), dressed as Elvis, waits for his cue. It then follows him as he steps out and onto the stage and goes right into “See See Rider,” the way Elvis began his concerts in the 1970s. All in one shot. Then backstage he’s handed fifty dollars, which is supposed to cover the entire band. Carlos says nothing, but just the look on his face is heart-wrenching. And these are just the opening moments of the film.

His daily job is at a loud plant, working on appliances. He is divorced, and his ex-wife, Alejandra (but whom he calls Priscilla), takes care of their young daughter, who of course is named Lisa Marie. When Carlos is with his daughter, he tells her that he has an important gig coming up, and asks if she’d like to come to the rehearsals. The music is all that means anything to him, and so in trying to connect to his daughter, it’s all he can think to talk about. Sadly, she doesn’t answer. Later when he visits his ex-wife, she tells him that Lisa was chosen for the school choir. Carlos responds seriously, “The music world is difficult.”

He wears Elvis sunglasses whenever he drives. And wherever he is, he’s caught up in the music. That’s where he lives, where he flourishes. People on the street recognize that about him, and call him Elvis, not Carlos. A woman asks him why he does it, and he tells her that God gave him Elvis’ voice, so he just had to accept it.

It’s interesting, for he moves in a world of people pretending to be other people. In one scene there are posters for concerts by Queen and Beatles cover bands. In another scene, men are getting made up as KISS. He and the others really identify themselves as those they play. Carlos at one point says, “I invented rock and roll,” not “He invented rock and roll.” He seems to become more and more immersed in the role, until a car accident forces him to become a father again.

The scenes with his daughter are some of the best scenes in the film. He teaches her to play pool and takes her to his gigs. And he’s honest with her – when she asks if her mother will die, he answers, “I don’t know.” One of my favorite scenes features him singing and playing acoustic guitar for her as she sits up in bed. After the song, Lisa says enough, that she needs to go to sleep, but Carlos goes right into another song. It’s sweet. And what is also moving about it is that it is the daughter who learns to become involved in her father’s world rather than the other way around.

John McInerny’s performance is incredible. He has a great voice, but also just the way he moves and carries himself is expressive. This is a movie that’s going to stay with me for a long time.

The DVD contains no special features.

The Last Elvis was directed by Armando Bo, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on February 25, 2014 through First Run Features.

DVD Review: Chastity Bites

I’ve long been fascinated by the Elizabeth Bathory story. Elizabeth Bathory was a Hungarian countess who lived at the same time as William Shakespeare. Depending on which report you believe, she killed between two hundred and eight hundred young girls. She believed that bathing in virgins’ blood would keep her young. When it failed to work, she started going after blue blood, and that’s when she got into trouble. There have been several films about Bathory, including Countess Dracula (1971), Daughters Of Darkness (1971) and the more recent Julie Delpy film The Countess (2009). The newest Bathory film, Chastity Bites, has a wonderful new approach to the character.

Chastity Bites takes place in a twisted fictitious suburb somewhere in southwestern United States.  It stars Allison Scagliotti as Leah and Francia Raisa as Katharine, two high school students who are somewhat outside the social norm and are teased by the four most popular girls in the school. Leah’s main interests are feminism and journalism, and near the beginning of the film Katharine tells her, “Maybe your article exposing the seedy underbelly of the prom committee wasn’t the smartest choice for a social standing at this school.” That’s a great example of the type of humor this film has. Leah, by hiding in a bathroom stall, overhears the four girls talking of their plan to lose their virginity together, and decides it will make an excellent story. Yes, that does seem a bit beneath Leah, who first comes across as someone interested in legitimate journalism. But it does establish, for those who know the Bathory story, that the girls are, for now, prime candidates for death.

The film opens with a young couple making out in a convertible. The girl, Nicole, says they’re not ready to go all the way. The boy, George, says he’s ready. But Nicole gets all religious on him, saying that sex without marriage “may lead the fornicators to be punished by having retarded bastard babies or burning in the eternal fires of damnation.” George, of course, looks like he is ready to call an end to this relationship. But he’s saved the trouble by someone who shows up to slit that virgin’s throat. And that’s the opening sequence. It’s wonderful in that it takes the horror cliché of the couple out having sex and turns it on its head. After all, it’s usually sex which leads teenagers to being slaughtered in slasher films. Here it’s the girl’s very lack of sex that causes her demise.

The adults in this town are just as nutty as the teenagers. At a PTA meeting, Jillian Thorne (Laura Niemi) announces that the things they hold dear “are under constant attack from socialists and the liberal homosexual agenda.” The solution? “I have proposed an overhauled abstinence education program for our young people in the high school.” Jillian says she has found the perfect person to lead this program. And so enters Liz Batho (Louise Griffiths), who has worked tirelessly for the abstinence cause. Again, it does help if the viewer is already aware of the Bathory story. I think for some people this film might be a lot funnier the second time around.

Liz Batho recruits high school girls for her local chapter of Virginity Action Group, and the four popular girls sign up as chastity-leaders-in-training (and yes, the film does explain why they join). Leah is upset because this might signal the end of her proposed newspaper story. She becomes more concerned when her only real friend, Katharine, joins.

The cast is pretty strong. Louise Griffiths is wonderful as the confident Liz Batho, and Allison Scagliotti is excellent as Leah. I also enjoyed Eddy Rioseco’s performance as Paul, the one guy in school who might make a good partner for Leah. In fact, some of my favorite moments in the film are those between Leah and Paul. The film is full of creepy characters, like the large guy who works for Batho, and Prudence the cat lady. (The scene with Prudence at home with her cats is great.)

There are some weak elements. Like, somehow in this dull suburb, Liz Batho managed to find and rent a creepy castle-looking home. And when the film does present the information on Bathory, it does so by having Leah look her up online – I really don’t like scenes of people typing on computers. (By the way, in that scene, the film adds its own angle to the Bathory story by introducing specific witchcraft-related requirements.) And there is a moment where suddenly Katharine is tied up, and it’s unclear just why (it feels like a scene might have been deleted before that).

But those are relatively minor points. What I really appreciate about this film is its sense of humor. There are some truly funny lines, like when Leah says to Paul, “And if bad shit’s going down, you should probably call 9-1-1 because I’m sure they’ve got my number on some list of people to let die.” But it’s in the film’s overall perspective where most of the humor lies. It’s not perfect, but I kind of love this movie. It is totally enjoyable. It has a clear point of view. It has something to say, and says it with comedy and blood.

Special Features

The DVD includes a behind-the-scenes feature, which is approximately thirteen minutes. It includes interviews with director John V. Knowles, writer/producer Lotti Pharriss Knowles, and cast members Allison Scagliotti, Louise Griffiths, Francia Raisa, Eddy Rioseco and Stuart Gordon. The DVD also includes the film’s trailer.

Chastity Bites was directed by John V. Knowles, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on February 11, 2014 through Grand Entertainment Group.

DVD Review: The Oyler House: Richard Neutra’s Desert Retreat

The Oyler House: Richard Neutra’s Desert Retreat is a documentary celebrating an artistic work of architecture and the two men responsible for its existence. For it seems that the original owner is just as responsible for the house as is the architect who designed it.

The film features interviews with the original owner, Richard F. Oyler, who did some of the actual work on the house. There are also interviews with Kelly Lynch (who currently owns the house with her husband, Mitch Glazer), Crosby Doe (the Oyler House real estate agent), and Richard Neutra’s sons – Dion and Raymond.

The film opens with the interviewer asking Richard F. Oyler why he wanted Richard Neutra in particular to design his house. Oyler responds, “I could be in the living room or wherever, and I’m outdoors too.” And we immediately see what he means. It’s incredible the way the house gives you a feeling of being outside while being inside.  Richard F. Oyler speaks with passion, even amazement, about the location and the house. So does Kelly Lynch, who tells us, “I love this house like a person.”

Even apart from the Oyler House, Richard F. Oyler seems like an interesting person. He talks a bit about his background, including the fact that he joined the navy before the U.S. became involved in World War II, and was actually at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. After the war, a man came to ask him for help in selling some land in Long Pine that he had bought. When Oyler went to look at it, he fell in love with one parcel of land, and bought it himself. It was a librarian who turned him on to the architect Richard Neutra.

Oyler comes across as charming and affable. About contacting Neutra, he says: “I wrote him and told him who I was: nobody. And what I did, and what my budget would be, and where my property would be.” Neutra came to look at the property, and Oyler says: “I think that’s the only reason he accepted me as a client. I think he fell in love with the property.”

Interestingly, after the house was built, Neutra and his wife continued to visit Oyler and his family at that house. It became a yearly visit, and they also exchanged letters. That certainly seems an unusual relationship.

Richard Neutra’s sons, Dion and Raymond, provide interesting background information on their father. Dion, who is an architect himself, says he has no memory of his father ever turning anyone down. And Raymond says his father liked building for people of modest means.

In addition to excellent footage of the house and the land surrounding it (which is beautiful), the film provides still photos of some of Neutra’s other work, including the Health House. And one of the most interesting points for me is one that Raymond Neutra makes. He talks about how in movies, it’s the bad guy or the deviant guy who lives in one of the modern houses. And the film shows us still photos of some examples, including the Lovell Health House (which was seen in L.A. Confidential) and John Lautner’s Chemosphere (which was the villain’s house in Body Double).

I do wish that Oyler had talked about why he moved out, and why the house isn’t in his family’s possession anymore. The house clearly means a lot to Oyler even now. So what led him to sell it? And when did he? And how many owners have there been? That, to me, is the one important element lacking in the story, and I wish the filmmaker had thought to ask Oyler about it.

By the way, the pool is amazing, as is the story behind it. And I love that Kelly Lynch talks about being a caretaker for the house, not its owner.

Special Features

The DVD includes a special tour of the house conducted by both Richard F. Oyler and Kelly Lynch. Oyler shares memories, and tells stories behind some of the marks on the house. Kelly Lynch talks about James Taylor visiting the house and loving the property.

There are also three short deleted scenes (totaling approximately five minutes). In one of these scenes, both Oyler and Lynch talk about how a lot of films were made in Long Pine. In another, Oyler talks about the story of his brother at Iwo Jima.

The Oyler House: Richard Neutra’s Desert Retreat was directed by Mike Dorsey, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on February 25, 2014 through First Run Features.

DVD Review: People Of A Feather

People Of A Feather is a documentary about the people and animals of the Arctic region, particularly about how changing sea ice is affecting the eider ducks and in turn those people who live in the region. I’ve never seen a documentary quite like this one. It has a sort of relaxed tone through much of it, which works to pull you in. It builds by mood and images, immersing us in the area and the culture before giving us too much information through narration.

The film does have just a bit of narration at the beginning: “Traditionally, we move with the seasons, following the animals… Our islands lay undiscovered by the modern world until 1913, when explorer Robert Flaherty arrived.” Flaherty began his documentary film career in the region, but his footage was lost. The narrator tells us: “Our story was never seen…Now we have created new footage of our past based on our memories and oral history, because by seeing how we have changed we can better adapt to the future.” It’s an interesting set-up. And we see two people in coats made of feathers travel by canoe to one of the islands and go looking for eggs, then build a fire and cook the eggs. This is done without any narration or dialogue.

Then by contrast we see how people go about the same tasks in present day - traveling by motorboat, gathering the eggs and down. The dialogue of the scene is what the camera picks up of their conversations as they go about their work. “Eider down in seaweed is the best kind to pick.”

Later we learn that “the eiders move with the sea ice, looking for good feeding areas among the open water habitats.” But after thousands of ducks died one winter, a study began on “how changing sea ice was affecting the ability of eider ducks to get through the winter.” The changes have been brought on, at least in part, by the building of several dams and reservoirs, and by the dumping of fresh water at the wrong time of year.

There are some gorgeous shots in the film. The sunset footage near the beginning is beautiful. And there is plenty of great nature footage of the eiders and other birds. Again, most of this footage is without any narration, just some nice instrumental music. There are excellent underwater shots of ducks diving to the bottom for food, and then rising again to the surface. There is also impressive footage of thousands of eiders taking flight. For me, the film’s most affecting footage is that of the ducks.

There is some footage that is difficult to watch. Early on there is a scene of men hunting the ducks and then cooking their meat. And I could really do without the footage of the seal being killed and gutted. A warning: that scene goes on for a while and doesn’t pull back. There is also some footage of how folks in the area live, and some of it feels a bit pointless, particularly the bit where some young guys in the area pretend they’re in a music video.

But overall, it's a truly interesting and unusual documentary.

Special Features

The DVD contains some bonus footage. There are five separate scenes, totaling approximately twenty-one minutes. All of them are narrated. One scene gives more background information on the area and other animals of the area, with some great nature shots. Another details a bit of the history of the area, including information on Flaherty and some early photographs. The most interesting scene for me is that on the eiders. It provides more information on the birds, showing us the differences in the looks of the adult male, the adult female and the young. There is some great footage, as well as aerial still photos, showing their large numbers.

There are three other scenes, under the heading “Behind The Scenes.” These deal with the recreation scenes of the film, and total approximately fourteen minutes. They are not narrated. The first shows the community building the two igloos which are used in the film. The second shows people making the eider skin parkas worn in those sections of the film. (This one is a bit difficult to watch.) The third is on the making of the seal skin kayak.

There is also a music video of a song titled “SKQ” by a band called Arctic Records. It’s not a good song.

People Of A Feather was directed by Joel Heath, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on February 25, 2014 through First Run Features.