Book author Tom Lisanti was kind enough to answer some questions for me over at Cinedelica about his new book Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood, which I reviewed here over the weekend.
The interview is well worth reading if you’re a fan of sixties-era film starlets and Tom talks a lot about his upcoming book projects such as the Gail Gerber memoir Strange Love: Terry Southern, Hollywood, and Me.
Tom also offers up some great tips for winter viewing that will take the chill off and help you beat the winter weather blues.
I hope Cinebeats’ readers will stop by Cinedelica and check out the interview!
Over at Cinedelica we’re starting a new feature today called “10 Questions” and my first interviewee is film critic and author Tim Lucas.
I’ve been reading Tim’s film criticism since first coming across it in magazines like Fangoria and Gorezone in the ’80s when I was a teenager. There are few critics that have inspired and influenced my own writing more then Tim, so I was really happy to get the opportunity to ask him a few questions about his new book Mario Bava - All the Colors of the Dark. Tim’s enthusiastic support of Bava’s films over the years has definitely colored my own view of them, as well as my love for Italian genre films in general.
Some of the information in our brief exchange might be familiar to regular readers of his Bava Book Blog and anyone who owns the book, but if you’re curious about Mario Bava - All the Colors of the Dark and the films of Mario Bava in general, you might find my brief Q & A with Tim Lucas an interesting read.
I neglected to mention that I reviewed Amando de Ossorio’s The Night of the Sorcerers (a.k.a. La Noche de los brujos, 1973) last month for Cinedelica. Out of the five or six Amando de Ossorio films I’ve seen The Night of the Sorcerers is my least favorite, but it’s still mildly entertaining and it might be worth a look if you’ve enjoyed the director’s other movies.
Oddly enough, one of the recent Horror Roundtable questions of the week was “What’s your favourite creepy tale for around the campfire?” and I answered that it was the Velvet Ribbon story, otherwise known as the Green Ribbon story. It also goes by various other names and seems based on an original story by Washington Irving. The tale involves a lovely woman who constantly wears a ribbon around her neck and once it’s removed by some curious male protagonist, her head falls off. I was really surprised to find out that Amando de Ossorio seems to have referenced that old campfire tale when he wrote the script for The Night of the Sorcerers. I haven’t come across any other reviews of the film that seemed to make the connection, but I found it fascinating so I included a mention of it in my own review of the movie.
Images from Koji Wakamatsu’s Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969)
I recently reviewed Koji Wakamatsu’s impressive Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969) for Cinedelica. If you’re interested in Japanese avant-garde cinema and pink films, I highly recommend giving Koji Wakamatsu’s films a look.
I’ve also recently been helping M. S. over at his French language Japanese film site Wild Grounds with his English translation of an interesting French interview with director Koji Wakamatsu which is now available to read at his website. The interview was originally published in the French cinema magazine Sex Star System in 1976 and now English audiences have the opportunity to enjoy the interview for the first time. Information about Koji Wakamatsu is hard to find so I’m very thankful that M. S. made the time to translate this informative interview.
Coincidently Midnight Eye recently published an interview with the writer and filmmaker Masao Adachi who is one of Koji Wakamatsu’s most important collaborators and it’s also well worth reading.
It’s wonderful to see Koji Wakamatsu and Masao Adachi’s complex, controversial and experimental work getting some much needed attention lately!
Clip from Wakamatsu and Adachi’s Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969) below:
A semi-nude and tattooed Sean Connery in A Fine Madness (1966)
August Movie Review Roundup . . .
Last month my computer suffered a major meltdown and had to be replaced which really slowed down my writing. I was only able to complete one review for Cinedelica last month and that was for Irvin Kershner’s dark comedy A Fine Madness (1966) which stars a rather young and super cute Sean Connery. I had mixed reactions to the film, but if you’re curious about Kershner’s early work or just want to see Connery in his prime, A Fine Madness is well worth a look.
Adam Ross who runs the terrific DVD Panche blog was nice enough to ask me to be interviewed for his ongoing “Friday Screen Test” and I happily agreed. If you’d like to find out a little more about me you can find my answers to Adam’s questions at his blog.
Before my computer suffered a meltdown I was able to send the guys who run the great If Charlie Parker was a Gunslinger, there’d be a whole lot of dead copycats blog a bunch of images that had been languishing on my computer for their “Contributer Week” which I believe is still going strong. If you’re interested in checking out my contributions as well as all other great submissions stop by the blog and give them a look.
Another month has come and gone and that means it’s time for another edition of what I now offically call my Movie Review Roundup which collects links to all the films I reviewed for Cinedelica last month.
First on the list is director Shohei Imamura’s smart and disturbing Japanese crime film Vengeance Is Mine (1979) which was recently released on DVD by Criterion. I also reviewed the entertaining biker film Satan’s Sadists (1969) and the impressive British thriller The Third Secret (1964). Last on the list is The Nightcomers (1971) which features great performances from Marlon Brando and one of my favorite British ‘Scream Queens,’ Stephanie Beacham.
As usual, you’ll find a lot more film reviews as well as book reviews, news about upcoming DVDs and film festivals, plus lots more at Cinedelica so please stop by and check out all the latest updates.
I’ve also recently started organizing Still Galleries at Flickr for some of the movies I watch and review. If you’d like to see more images from The Third Secret and Satan’s Sadists you can find them below:
- The Third Secret Still Gallery
- Satan’s Sadists Still Gallery
If you haven’t visited Cinedelica for awhile I recommend stopping by the site and giving it a look. Besides movie and DVD reviews you’ll also find news and info about new films, cool t-shirt designs, books and CDs from Europe, the UK and the US.
I’ve been reviewing lots of DVDs over at Cinedelica recently. If you’re looking for some new films to watch I highly recommend giving Cinedelica a look. You’ll find reviews there for lots of cult films and movies that are not covered much by other sources.
I’ve recently reviewed the entertaining British slasher film The Comeback (1977) and the fun musical horror comedy The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966). I also reviewed the the sexy British horror thriller Virgin Witch (1971) and the Donald Sutherland & Elliott Gould spy spoof S*P*Y*S (1974).
Besides my own reviews, you can find lots of other information there about DVD releases, film festivals and other news that cult film fans should find interesting.
Please stop by Cinedelica and check out all the new reviews!
I don’t know if I’ll get around to writing about all the Lucio Fulci films that have recently been released and re-released on DVD anytime soon, but I recently wrote about Fulci’s Perversion Story (Una sull’altra, 1969) for Cinedelica which was released by Severin Films late last month.
Perversion Story is a great thriller, but I personally wouldn’t refer to it as a giallo even though it’s been called that by lots of reviewers. It seems like that term is getting tossed around really casually lately by critics and DVD companies trying to sell movies. Every Italian thriller made in the 60s & 70s that’s been released on DVD in the past few years seems to be given the “giallo” label.
But enough of my complaining… Perversion Story is easily one of Fulci’s best films and if you enjoy stylish & erotic Italian thrillers please stop by Cinedelica and give my review a look. The movie stars the lovely Marisa Mell who happens to be one of my favorite actresses and it also has a fantastic score by composer Riz Ortolani. Severin’s Perversion Story is easily one of the best DVD releases of the year so far.
Espionage in Tangier (1965) & Cool, It Carol! (1970)
Just wanted to remind any readers who might visit this blog that I’m also a regular contributor to Cinedelica, which is a great international site with lots of information about cult films.
At Cinedelica you can also find lots of news and information about new and old cinema, book reviews, festival updates and great Cult Clips from many unusual and entertaining films.
I’ve recently become a regular contributor to a great new cinema site called Cinedelica. If you like cult films as well as interesting news and information about movies from around the world, please stop by and give this terrific new site a look!
Cinedelica is an international site and a lot of it’s focus is on what’s happening in the U.K. and Europe, but I’ll be contributing news and information about cinema from an American perspective.
I’ll be posting news, information & reviews at Cinedelica at least 5 days a week so please check back there frequently for updates. Of course I’ll also continue to update Cinebeats and I hope to share some thoughts about film composer Ennio Morricone before the week is over in honor of the upcoming Lifetime Achievement Oscar he’ll be receiving at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 25th.
Book author Tom Lisanti was kind enough to answer some questions for me over at Cinedelica about his new book Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood, which I reviewed here over the weekend. 
I don’t know if I’ll get around to writing about all the Lucio Fulci films that have recently been released and re-released on DVD anytime soon, but I recently wrote about Fulci’s 
