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Condoms are for Quitters: XANADU (1980) and the Death of the Naked Rock Musical
 The rock musical has seemingly vanished from the landscape, not counting fringe events like REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA or DR. HORRIBLE or 'jukebox' fare like ROCK OF AGES and MAMA MIA. I do not count...
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Natasha Henstridge versus the Coordinated Cockblock Quintet: SPECIES (1995)
SPECIES (1995) gets a bad rap. Hey, the bad rap is just because it's got huge flaws and an overly sexy plot. Say what you want about the script and directing the whole thing movies very fast and well....
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Bella's Big Bounce - TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN - PART II (2012)
To those of us who recognize her special gifts, who know how to appreciate the beauty of reticence, part two of BREAKING DAWN proves a hilarious, moveable feast where we get to see a new, ass-kicking...
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The Period Piece Period
These days they're all but absent, aside from the work of auteurs who can do whatever they want, like Tarantino, PT Anderson, HBO, and Spielberg, but 40 years ago there was an abundance of movies set...
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CinemArchetype 23: The Wild Child
So often kids in movies are insufferably nice, or else no-neck monsters with no real awakened soul power, just dumb glazed-eyed obnoxiousness. The fact is, until they are socialized, most children are...
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CinemArchetype #24: The Fisher King
"It's not a question of where he grips it!" - Knight discussing coconut-importation via swallows- Monty Python and the Holy GrailThe cinema has done wrounght or rongt for the Fisher King - wrong and...
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Death, Italian Style: SCARFACE, SUSPIRIA
"Masculinity must fight off effeminacy day by day.Woman and nature stand ever ready to reduce the male to boy and infant."-Camille Paglia"Son? I wish I had one! He's a bum!"--Mama Mantana (Scarface)...
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Cruel Intentionlessness: THE CANYONS (2013)
Among the sex-drenched sights and retro-slick sounds of the The Canyons are, Lohan's voluptuous, bruised body aside, interiors and exteriors of closed, water-damaged cinemas and a stroll through a...
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The Tick-Tock Initiation: PHANTASM (1978)
Tick-Tockality: (pronounced tick-tock-AL-itee): The sense of dread created in a horror film through use of slowing down real time, originally created by John Ford and Howard Hawks and used first in...
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Cinq au sept vs. the Censors: LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON, CHLOE, LOLITA, BABY DOLL
Censorship has been a constant bane of our great country, but the need to outwit dogmatic Christian 'morality' has inspired great writers and directors to new heights of sneaky double entendre. One of...
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The Slashological Strata of Fate: HALLOWEEN to THE TERMINATOR (1978-1984)
The early 80s --being the decade of the slasher craze --was for many impressionable, alienated teens like myself, a time of great personal fear, paranoia, isolation, and in our frightened half-sleepy...
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Language of the Living Dead: PONTYPOOL (2008)
In PONTYPOOL Â the world ends not with a bang but with the words "in Pontypool the world ends not with a bang but with the words 'in Pontypool the world ends' in a ever-tightening stutter-stop loop that...
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Raiders of the Found Stash: From Flint's Treasure to the Crystal Skull!
Age makes even your fondest films subject to bitter pill analysis and changing, some might say hardening, crusting over, perceptions. One thing I've learned, you can link anything to anything...
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1994: The year Fiorentino and Tarantino saved us from Vampire Morality
Now more than ever, we're remembering the pre-CGI sci fi horror golden age, and it turns out to be the 1980s. We had it so bad that two semi-big budget films came out about vampire teens, with almost...
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Thurs. the Looking Glass: NIGHT OF THE COMET, LIQUID SKY + Mary Woronov
INTRO:Thurs. the Looking Glass: a new series covering 1980s science fiction and horror films which may have crept through the myriad mirror mazes of time and eluded deserving viewers. Many are being...
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Thurs. the Looking Glass: THE KEEP (1983), DARK ANGEL (1990) and Planet Arous
THE KEEP1983 - ***Director Michael Mann's so busy with capturing the way backlit German soldiers cast weird light and shadow as they Chariots of Fire their way through the fog, their white infantry...
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Zombie Apes, West is True: LORDS OF SALEM (2012), HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (2008) +...
"Only bad witches are ugly." - GlendaMuch as I love WIZARD OF OZ there's something messed up about Glenda's shallowness. Look at these bangin' old broads (above) bringing tea and cookies, and hell yeah...
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ROOM 237 Ripped Danny's Dopey Decal off, Baby.
from top: "Autobiographical Nexusplation" (Erich collage), ROOM 237, THE SHINING.ROOM 237 is a lightning crack to the head; all is illuminated, and terrifying: first because paranoid psychosis is very...
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Thurs. the Looking Glass: ELIMINATORS (1986), THE TIME GUARDIAN (1987), Long...
1986 - ***"There's no gold, this is some kind of science fiction thing, isn't it?"Â This question asked by ELIMINATOR's Handiana Jonesolo river guide, explains in a snap the magic of crappy 80s sci fi...
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Make up Your Mind Control: 33.3 Ways to Read EYES WIDE SHUT
 "In regards to the title of this film, Eyes Wide Shut is said to be a code phrase used by members of high society that translates roughly into --- you have not seen any of my misdeeds, because your...
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