Short Movie Reviews

Jungle de Ikou!

This is a bit of a moe/pervy anime three episode OVA. It is not full on hentai, but is definitely breast and camel toe centered. The story is of a young girl (that's a problem) who is given magical powers from the spirit of the Earth, Ahem, to transform into the ridiculously busty Mai, the spirit of flowers. Other characters begin to gain spirit-based posessions/transformations. It is not a bad story, if a bit disjointed. I like that it was only three episodes, so it had to get down to the business of storytelling, but I get the feeling this was a manga and a lot of story got left out. This is on Netflix DVD only.

Verdict: I have seen worse.

Chloe

If you want some Amanda Seyfried hotness, then this is the film for you. It isn't great, but has a great cast. Seyfried is a prostitute named Cloe who meets Julianne Moore. Moore thinks her husband, Liam Neeson, is cheating on her and hires Chloe to attempt to seduce him. Things get quirky fast, and pretty soon everyone in the cast knows Chloe inside and out, IYKWIM. When they try breaking it off with her, Chloe becomes a bit of a bunny-boiler. This one streams on Netflix.

Verdict: Worth a watch for the Moore/Seyfried scissor session. Not the best thriller, but not bad.

Butterfly

Based (loosely perhaps) on James M. Cain's The Butterfly, this film was apparently financed by Zadora's millionaire husband. As is often the case with Cain stories, this one takes a bit to get rolling, but anytime things seem to be getting too slow they tend to show Pia's tits off. There was a lot of hatred for this film when it came out, a lot of it undeserved.

Verdict: If you like the noir on the trashy side, this is an interesting take on the genre.

WIP Wednesday: Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory (Paolo Heusch, 1961)

Following last week's entry, yet another genre-mashing entry. Again, we have a werewolf, but this time it is in a reform school for troubled teens. Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory (aka Ghoul in a Girl's Dormitory) is an Austro-Italian import starring Polish beauty Barbara Lass.

As a WIP film, this just covers the basic elements as it relates to the Reform School sub-genre. The school in question is for troubled girls, some of which were likely prostitutes, but at least two were up for attempted murder. Barbara Lass' "Priscilla" is the good girl, but the other roles are ill defined. The age of the "inmates" is hard to determine. The actresses are certainly in their twenties, but at least one is described as just getting her first period (in a round-about way). The werewolf angle is somewhat of the worst type. It is a tad more Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde than a true werewolf story, which might account for the "Ghoul" alternate title. More than anything, the film is a giallo. A shadowy killer bumping off your, attractive women while creepy music plays. There is a rather Scooby-Doo-like investigation of the murders, which eventually leads to the least likely candidate.

In all, it is a fun movie, though the dubbing is rather poor and the dialogue a bit sad at times. It is shot well, and an interesting movie to just stare at.

IMDb / Archive.org*

---

* Please note: I cannot verify that the files on Archive.org are safe. Make sure you have a computer condom just in case.

Fan-Boy Icon #38

Husband of Jayne Mansfield, father of Mariska Hargitay, champion speed-skater, Mr. Universe 1955, Hercules actor, and WWII resistance fighter; Mickey Hargitay had a rather interesting life. A Hungarian immigrant turned bodybuilder, Hargitay found himself in a Mae West review. This led him to meeting Jayne Mansfield. Their marriage, according to Something Weird Video's liner notes for The Bloody Pit of Horror, so angered Mae West that she set out to ruin both of their careers. Whether Jayne's decline was due to personal problems or West's involvement is debateable, but West certainly had a viscious side which Raquel Welch discusses about their working on Myra Breckinridge. It is (I'll say) rumoured that Mae West was in fact a man, which was (I'll say) allegedly reported by John Wayne. It is entirely possible, and might be the reason West had such issues with up-and-coming starlets like Mansfield and Welch; however that might also be attributed to her advancing age and lack of limelight as the sex symbol of her era.

Two films I really like Hargitay in are The Bloody Pit of Horror (which goes by many titles), and Lady Frankenstein. In The Bloody Pit of Horror, Hargitay plays "The Crimson Executioner"— a man distraught by the world's degenration and perversion. How does he handle fixing things? By tying naked girls up and torturing them. Seems perfectly logical. In Lady Frankenstein we get to see some better acting and more clothing for Mickey. As The Crimson Executioner he is always running around shirtless, but as Captain Harris he gets to play the good guy gone bad, if you will. He is the local law, but is a bit of a dirtbag. I am pretty sure he is dubbed, as is likely everyone, but it is a more serious, less naked-chest-centric portrayal. Later in life he would appear with his daughter on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and really does a fine job. Sometimes it is not skill as much as availibilty of roles that define an actor.



Mickey and Jayne



Mickey, Jayne and Mariska



"Just hangin' out on some rocks, yo."



Just in case you did not know...

Podcasts I Listen To

This Week with Larry Miller

One of my favorite comedians, Larry Miller is one of those odd, successful, clean comics, who are really funny. Sure he talks about drinking and how young boys can clog a toilet, but it is all acceptable content. His podcast is part of Adam Carolla's podcast network.

Subscribe

Nerdist

Chris Hardwick of Singled Out and Web Soup fame hosts the Nerdist podcast, which is very funny, and nerd-o-centric.

Subscribe

Nerd Girl of Note #106: WiaWP Edition

Just a quick nod to some of the women from Werewolf in a Women's Prison, which we discussed on Wednesday.

Victoria de Mare as "Sarah"

Called "Hollywood's Hottest Scream Queen," de Mare has appeared in 54 films, including Dancing at the Blue Iguana, Dinocroc, Love Hollywood Style, Contagion, Killjoy 3, and Spark Riders. She has also put out music, most recently "World's on Fire."

• Twitter (unconfirmed)
• Website
  

---

Jackeline Olivier as "Mistress Rita"

Brazilian born Olivier began acting at a young age and has done theater, film an television wrk. She appeared in an episode of Judging Amy, and film credits include Day of the Dead 2: Contagium, Hotel Erotica Cabo, Blood Scarab, and the forthcoming The Lady and the Taxi Driver. She also did voice work for the video game SOCOM II.

• Twitter (unknown)
  
• Website
  

---

Yurizan Beltrán as "Kelly"

L.A. girl Yurizan Beltrán is a nude model and actress who has started doing hardcore porn. The IMDb lists WiaWP as her first film credit. She has appeared in Lowrider, Score, Penthouse, and likely numerous other magazines. There are a few NSFW pics at the awesome Scandy Factory blog.

• Twitter (very likely hers, after I mentioned it to Lorelei Mission)
  
• Website
  

---

Eva Derrek as "Rachel"

A German born gymnast and flight attendant who fell in love with Los Angeles and hoped to be an actress. Works as a fitness model and is a martial arts enthusiast. The IMDB currently has 22 acting credits including; Hercules in Hollywood, Evil's City, Death to the Supermodels, and most recently Within: Terror Resides...

• Twitter (unknown)
  
• Website
  

Podcasting in Nerdliness: Episode 4 "Patriotic Werewolf Drag Race"

Two items on the agenda, that turn into three or more; patriotism and werewolves. Shout out to drag star and San Francisco Bay Times columnist Pollo del Mar who did an article on the episode of Ru Paul's Drag Race that gets mentioned, and a quick shout to The Vicar of VHS as well on the werewolf side of the thing.

By he way, I stumble a bit in the podcast. Pollo Del Mar's article was an interview with the highly sexy Carmen Carerra.





Subscribe at Feedburner

---

Subscription Help:

BlackBerry Podcast Subscriber: Open the podcast application. Access main menu. Select Add Podcast Channel. Enter the following URL:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/PodcastingInNerdliness

iTunes: See the information here to add the subscription via iTunes.

WIP Wednesday: Werewolf in a Women's Prison (Jeff Leroy, 2006)

I am not a huge fan of heavy handed genre-mashing. Sure, Star Wars is a western, but it does not scream western. Werewolf in a Women's Prison is one of those rare instances where the genres are boldly mixed, without apology, and it works. Thanks to the awesome Mickey Glitter for pointing this one out to me.

On the one hand, it is a perfectly well-done WIP film. Because of the strict formula it takes a lot of effort to get that wrong. On the other, it is a really good werewolf movie. Victoria de Mare stars as Sarah Ragdale, who while camping in a fictitious Central American country with her boyfriend is attacked by a werewolf. The boyfriend is killed, but Sarah is able to kill the creature, but not before being bitten. When she is found, she is blamed for her boyfriend's death and put into a prison for the criminally insane.

The usual WIP antics ensue; she is "inspected" by the head matron, "Mistress Rita" (Jackeline Olivier), meets/is befriended by the hardened veteran, "Rachel" (Eva Derrek), and runs afoul of the HBIC and her crew, nominally led by "Kelly" (Yurizan Beltrán). Things change a bit when she is confronted by the mean girls and her newfound werewolf powers begin to show themselves. After the confrontation, Sarah and Rachel are sent to a modification of an old classic; The Toaster. They are chained up in the desert, and forced to survive in an incredibly unrealistic fashion.

Eventually, it become clear to Sarah that she is a werewolf, an the real werewolf movie starts. She is not innately evil, and knows she is cursed. Her boyfriend begins making appearances, a la the friend inAn American Werewolf in London, urging her to end her life to end the curse. Self-preservation is a strong urge, though, and it is never so simple. The warden and Mistress Rita discover Sarah's problem and plan to exploit it, much to their eventual chagrin.

Overall, this is a really fun movie, and while low budget, it does the best it can. The werewolf costume is a tad cheesy, as are some of the (thankfully few) CGI effects. The acting varies widely, but those with better skill ten to get the bulk of the lines. Like most WIP films, this one is a boobie and brutality fest, with added gore from the werewolf aspect. Frankly, if you like either genre, you should enjoy this one a great deal.


"The number you dialed is not in service at this time."

"Hah! You been punk'd, bitch!"

A modern aspect; the internet prisoner porn angle.

A bit of a Klute moment.

Mistress Rita loves the ladies.

"You're next, fresh meat."

The Yard is always the same.

Sarah and Rachel in The Toaster.

"I'm freaking out!"

"That's better."

'Werewolves never look by the toilet."

"There are no shower scenes. How will I get this blood off?"

"Don't kille me, baby."

"You have been a bad warden."

Podcasts I Listen To

El Diabolik's World of Psychotronic Soundtracks: Tenebrous Kate hepped me to this one. It is a fairly new podcast, with just seven episodes thus far, but is nicely done. The play music from those awesome, weird movies of that beloved bygone era. Their intention is to play only songs they have on vinyl, and they discuss the films, musicians, and actors associated. It is a lot of fun and well worth checking out. You can subscribe by iTunes, or (after some digging I found) via RSS:

http://eldiabolik.jellycast.com/podcast/feed/3

Movies About Girls: This one can be rather long, but is a lot of fun, and AiN follower Gore Gore Girl is a contributor. It is very much like a morning radio show sans music. Well, mostly. They play some songs as breaks, and make fun of some songs. They have a fun blog too, which is where the link provided will take you. You can subscribe via iTunes. I cannot find an RSS feed for the podcast, so if any of the MAG folks are reading this, I am on a BlackBerry and would love to subscribe, but I say no to iTunes... Got a feed link for the podcast?

SModcast: I am on the fence with this one. Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier talk about stuff for 90 minutes or so. A lot of it is Kevin Smith talk, but other stuff comes up. I have not heard enough to really decide what I think of it. If you are a Smith/Mosier fan you'll likely enjoy it, though you also likely subscribe already.

Nerd Girl of Note #105

What do you get when Rosalba Neri, Edwige Fenech and Lynda Carter get together to make a baby? I'd like to say you'd have Anitra Ford, but really I was just thinking about those three rolling around together... Sigh. Anyway, Anitra Ford has got quite the Nerd Girl resumé. She was one of the original "Barker's Beauties" from The Price is Right (along with Diane Parkinson), did a ton of television work, was in the Burt Reynolds movie The Longest Yard (1974), and two exploitation flicks, Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973), and Messiah of Evil (1973), and finally was in WIP classic The Big Bird Cage (1972).

Ford has the semi-rare, typically overlooked quality of being sexy, a b-movie starlet, and a decent actor. While it is not the best film, she goes a long way towards making Invasion of the Bee Girls fun.

Thanks to Kindertrauma for this awesome find. Anitra as "Reagan" in a spoof of The Exorcist, called The Eggs-O-Cist! For you youngins, The Price is Right used to do "Flaky Flicks" where they would spoof a film during the Showcase Showdown. This one is oddly creepy, and you can kind of feel that the audience is not into it. I think it is awesome.

Podcasting in Nerdliness: Episode 3

This we talk about work, math, management, and my hopefully future job. Plus, one of my favorite song in one of my favorite versions. BTW, I upped my levels a bit as I thought the recording volume was a bit low.



Subscribe at Feedburner

---

Subscription Help:

BlackBerry Podcast Subscriber: Open the podcast application. Access main menu. Select Add Podcast Channel. Enter the following URL:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/PodcastingInNerdliness

iTunes: See the information here to add the subscription via iTunes.

Futuristic Super Women!

I recently watched two films back-to-back, completely by accident, that dealt with the same thing: futuristic super women bent on world domination.

---

Invasion of the Bee Girls (Dennis Sanders, 1973) came first. Well, in the order I watched them. Now, I am all for a race of super women taking over the world, but this method is a little too hardcore for me. A loopy scientist, Dr. Susan Harris (Anitra Ford) has figured out a process to combine women with bees, and is in search of a queen. The queen bee must be fertile, so there are numerous sexcapades that end in murder. Oddly, none of the bee girls make bee babies, so they keep making new bee girls and performing the sex-you-to-death ritual.

For a bad movie this one is surprisingly good. Hammer vixen Veronica Vetri stars as Julie, a researcher that is all nerd. Vetri does a great job with it. She's got some Steve Urkel going on at times and is quite funny. While for the most part they try to play this one straight, it definitely gets its tongue in its cheek here and there. It streams on Netflix and is worth a watch when you don't know what else to watch.

You might also want to check out the review at the Movies About Girls blog.

Next came The Girl from Rio (Jess Franco, 1969), aka Rio 70, The Seven Secrets of Sumuru, Future Women, or Mothers of America. Probably numerous other titles exist. This is another Jess Franco/Harry Alan Towers film of Sax Rohmer material.

This is another high-point in Franco's career. Like Venus in Furs it has all the Franco elements at their very best. There are some truly artistic shots, and great landscape use. This is very much a comic strip movie, likely in the tradition of Danger Diabolik (I apologize for having never seen that one). These are not so much super heroes and villains as they are extremely talented people. The film is full of comic strip angles, and quirky imagery. One group of bad guys runs around in a fleet of odd-looking hearses. At times it has a The Avengers feel. That's Steed and Peel, not the comic book ones.

Sumuru (Shirley Eaton) is bent on world domination by women, and is building her infrastructure. The problem is I am not sure I ever understood what her plan was. The story is nicely complicated. It seems trite at times, then you realize there was a bit of a twist. Sure, it is likely still trite, but it is at least better than you initially thought. Maria Rohm is awesome, and I did not even recognize her at first.

This one is easy to get if you want to buy it. The Blue Underground edition is nicely restored and as usual contains an interview with Franco, as well as Towers and Eaton.

---

So, I am likely ready for enslavement (I am already a contractor), though being pointlessly bonked to death is, while high on my list of ways to die, not high on my list of things to hope for. Aw, what the hell? Bring it on, Futuristic Super Women. Do your worst!

WIP Wednesday: The Match Factory Girl (Aki Kaurismäki, 1990)

Okey, this is not your typical WIP film, as there is no "prison" but it does carry off the typical themes quite nicely. If one really wants to make a statement about the WIP genre it might be that it describes the abuse of women who do not fit the typical role society expects of them. Like the convent, prison is the place for unwanted females. In many ways The Match Factory Girl follows this in a semi-Marxist manner.

For a long while this has been one of my favorite films. Iris (Kati Outinen) is a factory worker saddled with two parents who are either retired or disabled in some way. She does all the cooking and cleaning at home, and all of her pay goes to her parents. In the factory she does typical, repetitive factory work. She goes to dances, but is rather plain and shy, until one pay day she finds a dress in a store window. She buys it, and is soundly beaten by her parents for wasting money. None the less, she wears it to the next dance and attracts the attention of local Lothario, Aarne (Vesa Vierikko). He loves her and leaves her. Men, eh? When Iris discovers she is pregnant things take a definite turn. Lives will be changed, in a matter of speaking.

Apparently, this has recently been released on DVD in a triple feature of Kaurismäki films. This film is, in my opinion, a work of beauty. If I remember correctly, no one speaks until around twenty minutes in. It is moody, dark and funny. One of the best features is that while you feel empathy for Iris, it is not in the typical fashion. You likely would not approach her either. She isn't some hidden gem that just needs a hair-style change; she really is plain and timid.

Unfortunately, this is not on Netflix yet, though they have it in the "we don't know when/if we'll get it" section. It really is an awesome film, and well worth seeking out. Come pay day I'll be ordering it. :-)

Tech Tuesday: Podcasting

I think part of the reason I got interested in doing a podcast is that there is so much undocumented, or at least not easily documented, about doing one. From the recording, to presentation, to publication, it can be quite puzzling; and I love a tech puzzle. So, this week we'll look at what software and websites I use to get my voice to the people.

First, of course, you need a way to record your podcast. I use Audacity, an open source (read "free") recorder that runs on the three major operating systems. You will likely need one add on, the LAME converter. Audacity will not allow you to process MP3 files without LAME. Get it here (also open source).

Audacity allows for multiple tracks and general effects. It is not terribly intuitive, unfortunately, but that might have to do with my inexperience with audio recording. With a bit of Google-ing and practice I was able to get things going pretty easily. Audacity allows to to save projects, so you can modify individual tracks later. After things sound the way you want, export the file as an MP3 or WAV. Note that I typically decrease the bitrate to make the file smaller. It decreases sound quality, but not noticably. We are just talking about voice.

Now that you have your sound file, you might want to make it a bit cooler. I found a great tool for adding my podcast's album art to the file. There is a cool little program called ID3 Album Art Fixer, here, which will embed album art into MP3 files. It is also free, and created bu blogger Dan Preston. I created my album art as a JPG file, and then went through the simple steps. Just put your artwork and MP3 files into a folder, and run the program against that folder. Note, it will modify all MP3 files in that folder, so isolate your podcast files. You can also use this to fix MP3 files that do not have artwork associated with them.

Last, you will need somewhere to store your podcasts. I have webspace that I use. There are options which I have not looked into hosting sites much, but see sites like PodBean (which purports to be free), but there is an article on publishing here that seems quite informative. Once you have webspace, you may need to generate an XML/RSS feed. I use Feedburner to generate subscription (part of the Google/Blogger family), and a site called PodcastBlaster to start my XML document.

I am still fighting through a few things, but if you are interested I hope this helps you get started.

Mental Masochists, Enjoy!

I came across this by accident, and am enthralled. It is purported to be a Japanese IQ test given to executives. The point is not the story, or why characters behave as they do. The point is getting them accross. I have tried it several times with different modes of success, but there is a basic plan you have to follow. Here are the rules:

• Only 2 people on the raft at a time.
  
• The Father cannot stay with any of the daughters, without their Mother's presence.
• The Mother cannot stay with any of the sons, without their Father's presence.
• The thief (striped shirt) cannot stay with any family member, if the Policeman is not there.
• Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft.

Get ready to feel stupid for a while, but with some thought you should catch on. Supposedly only 10% of people can figure it out, though I imagine that is exagerated.

BTW: Click the circle to start. Click the people to put them on the raft. Click the post on the opposite side to move the raft.

Fan-Boy Icon #37

When I first considered talking about producer Harry Alan Towers it was because I knew him from some of Jess Franco's string of awesome and not-so-awesome movies from the '60s and '70s, many of which included horror giant Christopher Lee, then I saw the film Cry the Beloved Country with Richard Harris and James Earl Jones, and who was the producer? Why, it was Harry Alan Towers. Seemed interesting enough to take a look, right? I had no idea.

Not only was Towers a prolific exploitation producer, and producer of more socially redeeming films, in 1960 he was implicated as the leader of a spy ring that put prostitutes together with UN members. He purportedly worked for the Soviet Union, and was partnered with actor Peter Lawford. I do not know where the truth lay, but once Towers was charged and made bail he fled the United States. It is perhaps notable that this began Towers' strong run of exploitation, producing 39 films, most of which were exploitative. He continued producing films until 2005, with an IMDb producer listing of 103 films. He died four years later in 2009 in Toronto.

Podcasts I Listen To

Just a quick shout out for some podcasts I like. If you are into that sort of thing, these are well worth your time. The links I have included will take you to the site describing how to subscribe.

---

The Moth: Awesome podcast of stories by comedians and authors, as well as general people with a talent. Not too time consuming, episodes tend to run fifteen to twenty minutes and come out weekly. The most recent episode has a story from modern-noir author Walter Mosley (Devil in a Blue Dress). The stories range from funny to heart-wrenching, and are always interesting.

This American Life: An Public Radio classic, the podcast makes the current episode available, and they stay up for the week. You can listen to past episodes on the site. For my money, this is the best show Public Radio puts on and is always worth listening to.

WTF?: Marc Maron's comedy podcast features interviews with comedians and comedy writers, some very well know, some you may not have heard of. The show is funny and insightful, and often informative. The episode with seminal Yippie Paul Kresner was very informative about the '50s and '60s counter-culture movement, and he talks about dropping acid with Groucho Marx. How often do you hear about something like that?

Selected Duets for Flute Podcast: This is an odd one, to be sure, but I think an awesome idea. Flautist David Summer goes through the book Selected Duets for Flute Volume 1 (H.Voxman, ed.) and plays both parts. A student who has the book can listen along and see how the music sounds, provided they have the book. I know it is not for everyone, but I think this is a fantastic idea.

Coverville: This is an always interesting podcast. Each episode has a theme and looks at popular songs or artists and cover versions of the music. You'll hear a lot of bands that you may not have heard of, and typically covers that are not so well known. Brian Ibbott hosts, and has done over 750 episodes. It is a highly professional podcast and interesting even when you don't find the theme thrilling.