You can’t perfect perfection.
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After some discussion above, I rewatched Teenage Crime Wave last night—or maybe I watched it for the first time, because wow … I have no recollection of that movie or episode. What a flick! That immediately goes to my “movies I’d watch unriffed” short list.
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Good deal! And bonus, you now have the context for the recurring riff “He wouldn’t touch you Terry, you’re dirt.”
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I like the story of Cave Dwellers. It appeals to my inner sword-and-sorcery fan.
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I’d keep an eye on that guy if I were you.
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Hmmmm…
- Tormented
- The Rebel Set
- Kitten With a Whip
Those are the ones that come to mind for me.
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I Accuse my Parents’ is one I enjoy for its own sake.
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Oh, it gotta be “Ilya Muromets”. What most of you would know as the Sword and the Dragon.
I won’t bore you with the history of Aleksandr Ptushko, but the original film is stunning!
Just as an example, here is a moment you have all seen and enjoyed with the Sweedish Moses of soul.
https://youtu.be/B-9oH_moNRY?t=934
And now the original.
https://youtu.be/uopfqauEz64?t=717
The whole movie feels entirely different with truly amazing cinematography.
Check it out, won’t you?
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I kind of hate Kitten With a Whip as a film, but I can’t deny it’s creamy.
So creamy…
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One I haven’t seen listed yet is the KTMA episode, Phase IV. Watch it for the cinematography of the ant sequences.
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All of the Ptushko films are gorgeous when you see a good print. The muddy prints that MST3K used really hides the beauty of the cinematography.
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I like to say Kitten With a Whip is a very stupid movie with some very good actors that carry it well.
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Untamed Youth, Kitten With a Whip… mostly trashy movies that involve melodrama and lying, I guess. Also, Danger Diabolik, which is a movie that is stupid but also stylish and fun.
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I got totally caught up in Kitten With A Whip. Hostage stories really draw me in.
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The turncoat thief (ex-pilot) and the Spooky Chick in Gamera vs. Barugon have some real chemistry. The villain is a genuine bully and sadist, beyond just being greedy. I’m always paying close attention when he finally meets his end. I always find myself getting caught up in the story and feeling for the victims of the monster’s attack. (Like the ship’s passengers, who try to be kind to the villain, not knowing he’s the one responsible for their pending doom.) Which is unusual for me in monster movies, where the goal often seems to be: let’s keep nearly every character faceless and distant so the mass destruction isn’t painful for the viewer.
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Exactly. This really is a hybrid film, with a solid half (or more) of it being this heist drama rather than a kaiju battle. You have to credit the filmmakers for not just falling into genre tropes and instead actually trying to tell a story around the monster conflict. That kind of thing is what made Shin Godzilla so compelling for me, too - putting a human perspective to the devastation.
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And apparently Barugon was the least successful Gamera film up to that point. It was the exact opposite of what the fans wanted to see. [sigh]
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I’m not surprised. Audiences the world over tend to skew towards “more of the same, please”.
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Does anyone know if there’s a cut scene which offers some logical explanation for why Jane would be hanging out with Terry in the first place*, much less willing to go to jail for her sake? They clearly never liked each other or had anything in common. I tried to mentally pen in a backstory where they’re half-sisters and have an abusive parent they’ve had to ally against for survival their whole lives. But canonically that doesn’t work. [sigh] It’s a major sticking point for me even though the riffers never comment on it themselves (or I don’t remember them doing so).
[*ETA - Yeah, yeah. I know Terry offered to hook Jane up with “a nice boy,” but why would Jane trust her on that? Is she really that desperate and/or that much of a fool? -sigh-]
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The Screaming Skull is a combination of Rebecca and Gaslight.
And the actress gives a very touching performance, IMO.
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