Sep 25, 2017

Animal Farm

The cartoon that backfired mankind.
Speaking of great films based upon even greater books, IT has officially become the number 1 horror film of all time, outdoing The Exorcist, and such news sort of inspired me to continue searching for great films based upon novels. Today's entry has it all: Propaganda, CIA budget, British animation and what I think may be the very first full length cartoon meant to be watched by adult audiences for political purposes. Anyway, this film we're talking about is none other than Animal Farm, a 1954 animated movie directed by Joey Batchelor & John Halas. The whole film production budget was, believe it or not, in charge of the CIA, since those were the days of the Cold War. 

The original Animal Farm was a 1945 anti Stalin allegorical novella written by George Orwell. According to Orwell himself, the book reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Orwell, a democratic socialist, was a critic of Joseph Stalin and hostile to Moscow-directed Stalinism, an attitude that was critically shaped by his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. The Soviet Union, he believed, had become a brutal dictatorship, built upon a cult of personality and enforced by a reign of terror. In a letter to Yvonne Davet, Orwell described Animal Farm as a satirical tale against Stalin ("un conte satirique contre Staline"), and in his essay "Why I Write" (1946), wrote that Animal Farm was the first book in which he tried, with full consciousness of what he was doing, "to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole". The original title was Animal Farm: A Fairy Story; U.S. publishers dropped the subtitle when it was published in 1946, and only one of the translations during Orwell's lifetime kept it. Other titular variations include subtitles like "A Satire" and "A Contemporary Satire". Orwell suggested the title Union des républiques socialistes animales for the French translation, which abbreviates to URSA, the Latin word for "bear", a symbol of Russia. It also played on the French name of the Soviet Union, Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques.

Mr. Jones, the mean drunk farmer.
Come at me bro'!
Eric Arthur Blair, who wrote under the pseudonym George Orwell (1903-1950), was undoubtedly one of literature's most insightful social and political commentators, and his unique brand of satire is most evident in his two famous novels, "Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)" and the above mentioned satire. In the guise of a deliberately-straightforward children's fable, Orwell wrote a sharp and knowing satire of totalitarianism, particularly Stalinism, and the final result is obviously unsuitable for children. Stylistically, animation was clearly the most suitable medium for a cinema retelling of the story, but how does one tackle such mature and complex issues using a technique that is generally dismissed as children's fare? Animal Farm has all the answers.

Manor Farm, despite the onset of spring, is struggling; it's drunken owner, Mr. Jones, has left the farm unproductive and its livestock ill-treated. One night, the venerable elderly pig Old Major calls a meeting in the barn, and he stresses the importance of revolution if they are to survive and prosper. Old Major dies shortly thereafter, but his ideals remain, and the farm animals band together to hound the drunken Mr. Jones from his farm once and for all. The most intelligent animals are, of course, the pigs, and a brave and idealistic pig named Snowball takes charge of the situation, decreeing that, in their new democratic society, all animals shall be considered equal. However, the dark and greedy Napoleon has secretly trained his own army of attack dogs, and he eventually unleashes them on Snowball, who is presumably mauled to death in the surrounding scrub. Napoleon steps forward as leader and dictator, and the other animals come to realize that their situation is now far worse than it had ever been.

Only through revolution can animals survive.
a Savior that deals in absolutes.
Animal Farm was the first widely-released feature-length animated film produced in the United Kingdom, and elements of Disney, like the humorous little duckling, are quite noticeable, while still maintaining the generally-dark tone of the material. As an adaptation of Orwell's original novel, the film is largely very loyal. Having first read "Animal Farm" some years ago, and having my wife read it last week, my recollection of narrative details is broad thanks to her fresh recent read, and so we decided to look for the 1954 animated film.  

The film, animation wise, looks fantastic. if you're a fan of non CGI cartoons like the classics conceived by Disney, Warner Bros., Hanna-Barbera, and many others, then this film animation style will undeniably make you remember them. Watching it without reading the book beforehand won't spoil the fan for you, and I'm sure it may surprise you even more that such an old animated film is actually propaganda paid by the CIA, and also a very accurate adaptation of a book that despite its age (72 years!), remains as relevant as ever in the current state of our disappointing society. 

Pigs are smarter.
Pigs rule?
Still today, 63 years after its theatrical debut, Animal Farm is one of the darkest animated films you could ever watch. The background music written by Matyas Seiber gives you chills every time something bad and/or awfully unfair is about to happen to the poor animals from Manor Farm. 

The film's running time is only 70 minute long, and I gotta say, the producers did a fantastic job comprising the original 112 pages the book has into such brief running time. In addition, the whole film is narrated by Gordon Heath (sometimes making you feel it's an audio book, instead of a movie) and all the voices are provided by Maurice Denham. Also, the animation department, knows their business well, and are capable of bringing to life the features that Orwell assigned to his animals in the original novel. For instance, Boxer the horse, looks like a complete stud, a strong animal capable of achieving tremendous hard work. While, his counterpart, Benjamin the donkey, looks innocent, weaker and determined to help his best friend. Napoleon looks like the disgusting piece of shit pig he is meant to be, and so does his cocksucker spokesman Squealer. 

Benjamin & Boxer.
What the fuck did I just read?!
Now, the replay value this film has is the fact the not even Orwell thought about his story becoming larger than life, as it doesn't necessarily represent a frozen moment from the past in human history. Neither the film, nor the book address the pigs or humans as "commies", "dictators", "right wing fuckers" or anything whatsoever. And there is where the magnificence of the original book and film lie: The never ending battle between the oppressed and the oppressors. The childish dream of a savior that will bring peace and democracy to everyone just because. The utopia of a leader, who's only interest is the welfare of his people.  The hope of a world of politicians with no agendas. 

Yeah, right!

Overall, a magnificent film that does the unthinkable: stay as loyal as possible to the original source material, and despite a couple of modifications, that were clearly made for purposes of keeping the viewer interested from start to finish (namely, those who read the book). Also, the far more hopeful finale, anticipates what happened in Europe with communism even decades before! Besides, this film is history in the making. An actual cold war propaganda cartoon!

Here's the movie trailer:


Sep 8, 2017

It

We'll all float!
"I wasn't prepared for how good it really was" These words uttered by none other than Stephen King himself, where reason enough to persuade me into watching this remake (I have a strong policy against remakes in case you didn't notice) It is everything I wasn't expecting, a masterpiece, a horror movie the likes we haven't seen in more than 20 years, and I'm not exaggerating, I mean every word of it.  In addition, thinking a remake could outdo the original made for TV 1990 cult film everyone talked about for ages, was unforeseen and unexpected by every single film connoisseur from this world.

The brand new It movie (actually the first big screen adaptation of the film) is one incredible horror film, everybody involved should get a congratulatory pat on the back, definitely a huge upgrade from the '90s miniseries. This is by a long shot the best Stephen king adaptation to date. Even better than Brian De Palma's Carrie

The losers club. A triumph in casting!
You want your boat Georgie boy?
Directed by Andy Muschietti, based on Stephen King's timeless novel of the same name, IT is set around the mysterious disappearance of children in the small town of Derry (Maine), when a group of young kids will have to come face their biggest fears and square off against an eternal evil clown named Pennywise who comes around every 27 years to repeat his reign of terror.

It's no secret and it's not really a spoiler the fact that this story will be divided into two installments (just like the huge original book does), with the first focusing on the children and then chapter two showing their grown up selves once again battling Pennywise. So with this first chapter, I think the timing of its arrival couldn't be more perfect especially with hugely popular series, "Stranger Things" & "The Goldbergs" both based upon '80s childhood nostalgia. "IT" offers you that same vein and you're going to love that aspect about "IT." There's definitely a Stand By Me vibe to it as well, and the whole thing does feel episodic, at one point while screening it I didn't want it to end, it felt like I was binge-watching, it was so cool. Kudos to all the young actors featured in this film, they really hold their own and each of their characters' distinct personalities stand out, just like the original actors that portrayed the same characters 27 years ago. Their backstories and their process of slowly but surely coming together as some sort of a team is both honest and engaging. 

Together they will win.
Divided they will fall.
Now, considering the "IT" book is 1,138 pages long, I think the screenwriters of this new film did well in condensing the story to just the right amount of time that contains just the right mix of kids camaraderie and the horror fest that is Pennywise. And if you've watched the '90s miniseries, you'd recall how much that version held back plus the low quality practical effects that they had at the time. Well, I'm happy to tell you that this new "IT" doesn't hold back, this is Pennywise unleashed, it's practically proud of being R-rated, which is great because it allows for the scary parts to be really really scary and not second-guessing or pandering. However, if nostalgia is a thing for you, director Muschetti really knows how to connect the story to the 80's creating a setting that feels realistic and not a biased fantasy from someone that wasn't there. So, despite being a 2017 release, this new version easily connects with fans of the old film and 80's adventure films starred by kid wonders.

And if you have never liked clowns before, you're going to hate clowns even more because Bill Skarsgard's performance as the new Pennywise will haunt your dreams for the next few weeks after you've watched this movie. What I appreciate about Skarsgard is that he doesn't try too hard to emulate or imitate or channel Tim Curry (the original Pennywise in the 1990 TV movie), Skarsgard does his own take of creepy. And because Pennywise is pretty much invincible to a certain extent, you'll see him pop up in the most unlikeliest of places meaning when you least expect him, that's when he'll scare you to your core so brace yourselves for surprises around every corner. Another reason why the timing of this movie's arrival could not be more perfect is because today's visual effects compliment Pennywise's limitless abilities and so director Andy Muschietti and his crew have the creative freedom to not only realize some of the scare points in the book but they managed to also go beyond that. "IT" goes for massive, it goes for bold, it goes for bloody, not a single boring minute, it goes for the "Goonies" fan in all of us. You will laugh, you will scream, you will have nightmares, hands down one of the best horror movies ever made. 

The cast of incredibly young talented actors.
These kids are naturals.
Now, on the side of behind the scenes trivia (just to avoid spoilers from spoiling an excellent film) Let's take a look at the following IT facts:
 
-27 is a number that often becomes associated with this story. This movie is set to be released 27 years after the original television release. In the book, it is mentioned that "It" returns to Derry approximately every 27 years. Jonathan Brandis, who played young Bill in the original film, died at 27 years old. This movie released one month after Bill Skarsgard (Pennywise) 27th birthday. 

-About 6 months before the film was released, Stephen King (the author of the original novel) was shown a screening. Afterwards, he said that the film exceeded his expectations and that the producers had done "a wonderful job". 

-Andrés Muschietti kept Bill Skarsgård separate from the child actors up until they had to shoot scenes together. On the day of their first scenes together, the production staff warned the kids about how scary Skarsgård could be while in character. The kids brushed this off, claiming that they knew he was just an actor in a costume and that they were professionals and would be fine. However, when the time came for Skarsgård to be Pennywise for the scene, the kids were genuinely terrified. 

Do you want a balloon?
You will fear me!
-Contrary to the novel, in which the children's journey with Pennywise begins in 1958, the movie will begin to follow the loser club from around 1989 (four years after the final encounter between the loser club and Pennywise in the novel) and supposedly with the second clash in the mid-2010s. 

-The town of Derry is portrayed by Port Hope in Canada which as of April 2017 is the location of Turtle John's restaurant- the Turtle features heavily within the novel IT and The Dark Tower series. Across the way from Turtle John's is Beamish House and 12 beams link and hold together The Dark Tower and the Stephen King universe. 

-The trailer for this film enraged real-life professional clowns, who stated that the Pennywise character will encourage people to think of clowns as scary and murderous (though the filmmakers and actors have said, clearly, that Pennywise is not a clown at all, but a representation of IT's pure evil, who takes on the form out of a mix of sadism and childishness). Rallies to defend the good name in general of clowns in the U.S. are planned for next month. 

The bravest of the bunch.
Here we are now IT, entertain us!
Overall, IT is a fantastic true to the book new version of a character and story that since September 1986, has kept millions of readers across the globe praising the work of Stephen King as a cult horror author sensation. This is the ultimate horror movie you'll watch in 2017, and I'm absolutely sure this film is a strong candidate in everyone's top 5 2017 films. IT truly feels as quality film making, an excellent horror film made for opinionated people that can read. Possibly the best horror film ever made in more than 15 years. The Conjuring & Annabelle are worthless stinky pieces of shit for ignorant audiences, the likes of Fast & Furious retarded fans. If you're a connoisseur, which I'm sure you are, look no more, here's the revelation of the year: IT!

Here's the movie trailer:


Sep 6, 2017

Girl from Starship Venus

Aliens from the future will study human sexuality.
Following our sleazy past entries we continue exploring the Sci-Fi meets sexploitation trend with Girl from Starship Venus, AKA The Sexplorer.

A long time exponent of cheap sexploitation and horror cinema, Derek Ford (The Wife Swappers, Groupie Girl, Diversions) directs German actress/model Monika Ringwald in an intergalactic travel to discover Earth pleasures. Aliens from Venus land their spaceship slap bang in the middle of Soho in 1975's UK, but their arrival comes with more of a whimper than a bang,as their spaceship is nothing more than a minute silver sphere, or something since the copy we've got to review looked like a VHS rip of the worst quality. Anyway, One of the aliens materializes in the form of a nude German-accented girl (Monika) while another Venusian stays on board the silver sphere/spaceship and continually yaks to her. Here's where we get to the funniest pun intended joke in the film, Our nude lead is asked to check on her new body and see if there is a thing called "mustache" which she eventually finds in her bush! hilarious! 

The VHS tape.
An alternate poster with the Sexplorer title.
When two airhead masseuses find her wandering around their massage parlor starkers they think she's the shell-shocked victim of a clothes snatcher and send her on her way in a pea-green masseuse's uniform and a fiver in her pocket. Monika goes on to scare a man by entering a urinal and eyeing his 'large probe' while her attempts at directing traffic in a high street are met with the –seemingly genuine- amusement of onlookers.

Eventually she is offered a place to stay by Allan an honest, understanding kind of a guy,who spends his nights walking the streets after being ditched by his girlfriend. Scenes between them are like a flashback to the Ford scripted oldie Saturday Night Out in which a sailor has an affair with a bohemian girl and finds it difficult to cope with her eccentricities. Things really go pear shaped however when Monika's friend in the silver sphere equips her with a 'full range of sensory organs' which has the unintended effect of causing her to roll around naked allot. A turn of events that gets the voice of the sphere into a huff,whining 'decease forthwith…it's dirty...I absolutely forbid it' like an irate film-censor.

Hey ladies!
They say Aliens give intergalactic proportions head!
While on the surface it looks like a single-joke movie (alien is mistaken for sexy foreign girl and inspires reprobate reactions like 'you Scandinavians don't beat about the bush, do you') The Sexplorer is actually one of Derek Ford's better sex comedies with his self-penned script showing an uncharacteristic amount of inventiveness and wit . Alongside farcical misunderstandings and more nudity than you can shake a 'large probe' at,the film's funniest and freakiest moment finds Monika being offered a drink in a strip-club which has the side-effect of turning her green from head to toe (complete with spray painted Afro-wig). As one character remarks-'she's bloody green as a traffic light'. Ford also shows where his heart lay by throwing in lots of location work-night-time shots of Soho and Piccadilly Circus and scenes taking place in grimy men's toilets and nicotine stained launderettes make The Sexplorer a great 1970's London film. The most enduring aspect of The Sexplorer though,remains its theme song which the late Don Lang belts out on the soundtrack several times. Lang-born Gordon Langhorn-was a trumpeter by trade who played on the Beatles White Album and even had a whiff of top ten success in the late fifties. Here Yorkshire's answer to Bill Haley serenades The Sexplorer with 'she's the girl from Star Ship Venus,she's arrived from outer space,and she's landed on our planet just to watch the human race. She's got turned onto permissiveness now keeps up with the pace,she's the interstellar traveler of love'.

Balloons & boobs!


This was Monika Ringwald's only lead role,though for a limited actress (to put it mildly) Monika's career brought her some diverse work. She was a model for naturist publication Health and Efficiency,appeared on The Benny Hill Show and can be seen dressed up as a 'Spiv's floozy ' on the back cover of The Kinks' 1974 concept album Preservation Act 2. Monika was also a cover girl for Witchcraft magazine 'the monthly chronicle of horror,Satanism and the occult' which juxtaposed articles on the inquisition and witch-hunting with pictorials of nude models and man wearing goats heads! Given these brushes with the occult,you might wonder if she sold her soul to appear in a Derek Ford film. While good looking, Ringwald has a sometimes hard to understand German accent and seems to have been blessed with only two facial expressions-boredom and confusion. All of which makes it tempting to view The Sexplorer as an in-joke parody of her career. The story of a lifeless,slightly 'distant' girl lost in a foreign land and surrounded by peculiar Englishmen seems as much Monika's story as it is the Sexplorer's. That may sound a tad cruel,but with autobiographical touches like having her real-life agent Alan Selwyn play a man who takes one look at her then leeringly promises 'if you've got what I think you've got under there,you'll make a very good career out of it'-its sometimes hard to interpret the film any other way.

Ultimately appearing in The Sexplorer never made Monika Ringwald a star and in 1978 she retired from showbiz to marry a car dealer. Considering the fate that befell Heather Deeley-Derek's other 'star' of 1975-Monika's is a happy ending. For their troubles Monika and Derek have even managed to accumulate one famous fan in the form of Reservoir Dogs Director Quentin Tarantino-who encountered the film aged 14 under its US incarnation The Girl from Star Ship Venus. Suitably impressed Tarantino has gone on to screen The Sexplorer at several 1990's film festivals,reviving it as a midnight movie in Austin Texas in 1996. As is the case with most of Ford's seventies output The Sexplorer also exists in a longer, hardcore version (with additional pornographic footage shot by Derek behind closed-doors in Beeleigh and Maldon) in which Miss Ringwald presumably got to research 'emotional involvement'-as its referred to in the film-in much greater depth. 

This feels so good Mr. human.
Help myself!
From the USA version poster (The Girl from Starship Venus) the film promises a lot of science fiction driven memorable scenes which, like with every exploitation film, couldn't be farther from the truth. Posters are a well known publicity stunt, and while the main character is an Alien that comes from Venus, we never really get to see any of the stuff sci-fi has us used to, save for the scene where she tries a drink that turns her entire body green and gives her an afro (?)

Overall, neither a terrible nor an excellent flick in the softcore genre of sci-fi sexploitation. The film was apparently released on DVD some years ago but I'm not quite sure of that being an official release.

Here's the main song of the film because there's no trailer: