The Films:
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
The "Best Of" 2006

I've been going through various 2006 "best of" lists and found that a few of my favorites have been neglected...

If you haven't yet than check out these 2006 albums:
Fugu - As Found (Myspace page)
Fugu (a one-man band) were introduced to me by Shy Nobleman and I've been awaiting a new release by them for a while, their second album delivers the good.

Muck and the Mires - 1-2-3-4 (Myspace page) (Live Video)
Saw these guys opening for The Woggles in NY, they were explosive - Great energy, great look, how can you resist a band that opens their set with a song titled "With a little twist"? This is one of the best Garage releases of 2006.

Speaking of The Woggles - Be sure to look for their new album in 2007 on Wicked Cool Records. It's a great one - Some tracks are available on their Myspace page.

Another exciting 2007 release is the new album by Mary Weiss of the Shangri-La's.



My favorite film is one that I saw at SXSW (and is elegantly dismissed from any list) - THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE (shot in 2005, released in 2006). Here is what I wrote in my FIR recap of the festival:

"Mary Harron’s THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE is the story of the most famous pin-up girl in history who vanished from the public eye after finding religion. Gretchen Moll stars as Page, a bizarre casting choice that so perfectly pays off it is hard to imagine anyone but her in the role. Harron, working with cinematographer Mott Hupfel, created the classiest of films. Predominantly black & white - the visuals are so perfectly shot and lit to imitate a vintage film, it may as well have been excerpted from one (in an interview for The American Cinematographer, Hupfel cites Sam Fuller’s PICK-UP ON SOUTH STREET as a main influence). The color footage… well… Bunny Yeager should be proud to see film images that resemble her photography with such love and dedication. Not only is Mary Harron among the founders of PUNK magazine, and the first person to interview the Sex Pistols in America, she is also a great director – a visionary."

(Two other from the festival that deserve more attention than they got were TALES OF RAT FINK and TV JUNKIE).

And a special mention goes to Blue-Underground, my favorite DVD distribution company - the criterion of Exploitation films. With releases this year of films like The Big Racket, Street Law, The Heroin Busters, 99 Woman, Daughters of Darkness and more, all getting excellent transfers and a slew of special features.

And head over to Bookgasm's excellent 2006 round up of pulp fiction books.

- Oren.

Labels: , ,

posted by Oren @ 8:04 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Russ Meyer Documentary

A British television documentary from a couple of years ago about Russ Meyer was just uploaded to YouTube in 6 parts (linked first via Coop at Positive Ape Index).

Given that Meyer is my favorite director, this was a very exciting find and is a pretty good documentary that I highly suggest fans and non-fans alike watch. It is also the only of its kind about Meyer (for further stories pick up 'Big Bosoms and Square Jaws'. The first part's below:



Part 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Labels: ,

posted by Oren @ 5:05 PM 0 comments

Recent Screenings:

Heavy Soul
 *Oct TBA - Film Pop, Montreal
*July 13 - The Jerusalem International Film Festival
*June 30 - Billyburg Short film Festival, Brooklyn
*July 13 - The Long Island Film Expo
*June 8 - The Brooklyn International Film Festival
*May 27 - Artfest, Harrisburg PA

Recent Press for 'Heavy Soul'
 Shock Cinema Review
Film Threat Review
Film Guru.Net Review
MicrocinemaScene Review
Pulp Movies Review
Film Fanaadict Review
EMVG Review
Cinema-Crazed Review
The Roundtable - Radio Interview
The Austin Chronicle
Greencine Daily Blog
 Pollystaffle.com Review
Austin Daze Review
Hybrid Magazine Review
Rogue Cinema Review
Monsters At Play Review

Heavy Soul on IMDB

Published Writings:
The Jayne Mansfield Collection Review
'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls' Review
SXSW Film Festival Coverage
The Israeli Film Festival Coverage
'King Kong' Film Review
Hebrew Ha'ir - Elvis Tribute
Hebrew Ha'ir - "Death Proof" Review
Hebrew Ha'ir - Italian Exploitation
Hebrew Shox Coloumn #1
 Hebrew Shox Coloumn #2
 Hebrew Shox Coloumn #3
 Hebrew Shox Coloumn #4
 Hebrew Shox Coloumn #5
Recent Posts:
 A Violent Professional
"Heavy Soul" is now Online
"Before Elvis, there was Nothing"
Exploitation a Go-Go
Film Fanaddict Reviews HEAVY SOUL
New Review for "Heavy Soul"
Viva, Goldstein and Elephant Parade
Oscar Predictions at Polly Staffle
Tales from the Breadline
The "Best Of" 2006

Blog Archives:
 June 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
March 2008