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| Joe Vitus |
 Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:52 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| Personally, I don't find it creepy at all until the chase sequence. Up to that point, Browning's aim has been to make us feel the freaks are just like us, and we are totally on their side (he also gives them double entendres no regular actor could get away with at the time, but which makes the freaks seem even more like us, more contemporary, than the average movie character). Then he suddenly makes them the Other, a savage dangerous group hunting the Normal (which we consider ourselves). It's a surprisingly successful shift. |
_________________
You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 8:03 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4011
Location: not far away
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Some dialogue from Freaks:
*****
PHROSO:
All right! All right! But one thing. Don't go around filling your hide with a lot of booze, celebrating, 'cause fun what's got that way never done no one no good.
VENUS:
I got you. Say, you're a pretty good kid.
PHROSO:
You're darn right I am. You should have caught me before my operation.
*****
Any guesses as to what that means? David J. Skal, who wrote a bio of Tod Browning, thinks it refers to a horrible car accident Browning had in 1915, when he ran into a train going full tilt. He was drunk, and one of his passengers, Elmer Booth, died; his head, according to a newspaper account, was grossly damaged. "The impresses in his skull... were as regular and even as the design of a waffle off the grill." Another passenger, George Seigmann, was very badly injured, as was Browning, who nearly died. Skal posits that Browning's injuries may have resulted in impotence.
"You should have caught me before my operation." |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:01 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4011
Location: not far away
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Any other commentary on Freaks? As our leader says, "Bring it on."
Over the weekend, I thought we might wander over to the sexploitation side of the street. Got any favorites? Of course, soft-core sexploitation still haunts late-night cable and DVD-shop shelves, providing stroke-fodder for the lonely. I think that the arrival of hard-core porno 35 years ago ended the "golden age" of sexploitation, with its sex kittens and voluptuous bazooms. For awhile, tho, Russ Meyer and David F. Friedman and Doris Wishman and hundreds of others packed grind-houses with their cheerful smut.
Let's revisit those halcyon days, shall we? |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:07 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
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Sounds like its time to watch a Russ Meyer movie!
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| Marc |
| Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:10 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:14 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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The web site calls it the "worse movie on the planet." I, for one, would like to watch real quality sexploitation, not crap. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:16 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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Quote: real quality sexploitation
oxyfuckingmoron. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:18 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| Dorothy Wishman is the high priestess of sexploitation. She invented the fucking genre. Way ahead of Meyer. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:20 am |
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Marc wrote: Quote: real quality sexploitation
oxyfuckingmoron.
I DON'T THINK SO.
NOT AT ALL! |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:21 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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Marc wrote: Dorothy Wishman is the high priestess of sexploitation. She invented the fucking genre. Way ahead of Meyer.
But is this masterpiece of sexploitation generally available for our forumites? |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:23 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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Quote: But is this masterpiece of sexploitation generally available for our forumites?
LET ME DIE A WOMAN will be released next Tuesday on DVD. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:26 am |
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I would LOVE to see the 1974 FLESH GORDON again which according to the imdb.com is out on DVD.
I remember enjoying this film when it was originally released. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:29 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| 1974 FLESH GORDON is available at MONDO VIDEO. |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:50 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4011
Location: not far away
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When you watch Let Me Die A Woman, please ignore the pre-op photos of me. I've been living as a man for so long now that it's uncomfortable to see the "old" me, even though I looked so sassy in a pink miniskirt.
How about some generalized talk about sexploitation for a few days while people try to get hold of a Russ Meyer-- any Russ Meyer-- for a discussion of his bold genius next week?
What do I hear?*
Even I find Wishman's stuff hard to watch-- so amateurish, harshly lit, insipidly acted. But if you wanna talk exploitation, she's right at the top of the pantheon....
*"That's metaphysically absurd, man! How can I know what you hear??" --from Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers by The Firesign Theatre |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:18 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4011
Location: not far away
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| Hmmm.... Weekend moribundity. |
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