FAMOUS NATHAN -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 9/18/15

Heartfelt and finely-crafted, the documentary FAMOUS NATHAN (2014) is a glowing tribute to filmmaker Lloyd Handwerker's celebrated grandfather Nathan, the hot dog maven of Brooklyn's Coney Island.  It's a story of dedication, a work ethic the like of which is long past, the will to succeed, and, most importantly, family values. 

Lloyd has combed his way through mounds of ancient home movies and audiotaped interviews in order to give voice and image to long-deceased grandfather Nathan, who tells of leaving Poland, where he toiled as a youngster to help feed his family, and coming to America to work his way from menial jobs to owning one of the most wildly successful restaurants in the history of fast food.

We learn of Nathan's Famous (the name given to his renowned eatery) from its humble beginnings in 1916 to its preeminence with Coney Island visitors who purchased, at its peak, tens of thousands of hot dogs a day.  Nathan's employees churned them out at record speed and took pride in performing at their peak at all times for a boss to whom they were intensely loyal.  Both they and Nathan's friends and competitors gladly attest at length, sometimes emotionally, to what a wonderful guy he was.

Relatives and family also speak highly of him but in more measured terms.  There were the usual squabbles with his sons, Murray and Sol (Lloyd's father), who felt they could never measure up to Nathan's high standards while often waiting in vain for words of praise.  (Sol remarks that if Nathan wasn't criticizing him for something, that was as close as he came to actual praise.) 

Unrest between the brothers themselves over how to run the business once Nathan was urged to take an unwanted retirement (he said he preferred to die on the job over a life of leisure) and subsequent unwise decisions that lead to the company's eventual downfall help give the narrative the same depth and drive of a fictional family saga. 

All the while Lloyd's artful use of montage--many of his faded film clips of a New York that no longer exists are priceless--gives us a sense of the bustling joy that was a day at Nathan's Famous while also humanizing the man whose name sits atop the sign. 

There's a warm humorous element to several of the interview segments with family friends (I loved watching some of the aging Jewish couples lovingly kvetching at each other as they argue over long-ago details) and Lloyd's likable dad Sol himself.  Sol's visit with now-senile brother Murray in an old folks' home is touching, especially the following exchange:

MURRAY: How old are you?
SOL: Eighty-five.
MURRAY: Eighty-five? (Shakes his head) How old am I?
SOL: You're eighty-nine.
MURRAY: Eighty-nine? (Laughs in disbelief)

Finally, FAMOUS NATHAN takes us through the final stages of the Handwerker empire which, no longer in Nathan's hands, takes on increasingly unsuccessful spin-off ventures and franchise operations until the family is forced to sell out to a corporation.  And thus, the once-bustling hot dog palace joins a crumbling Coney Island itself in a slow descent into oblivion.  Lloyd Handwerker manages to make us feel as melancholy about this as he obviously does. 

The DVD from Film Movement is in 1.78:1 widescreen with Dolby 5.1 surround sound.  There are no subtitles but closed captions are available.  Extras include a director's commentary, bonus and deleted footage, and trailers for this and other Film Movement releases.

I've always enjoyed a good, nostalgic documentary about fast food and novel tourist attractions in America (the History Channel's "American Eats" and "Highway Hangouts" are two of my favorites), and FAMOUS NATHAN pays off richly in that regard.  Better yet, though, is its wonderfully engaging portrait of an admirable man who dared to dream and then, against staggering odds, made that dream come true.

FAMOUS NATHAN -- DVD Review by Porfle

ALL THE COLORS OF GIALLO -- Blu-ray/DVD/CD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 1/31/19

 

A primer, a history, and a celebration of giallo all rolled into one 3-disc set, Severin Films' ALL THE COLORS OF GIALLO pretty much covers all the bases for new fans wanting to learn more and old ones who just want to revel in it all.

As the publicity states, "‘Giallo’ is Italian for ‘yellow’, the color of the lurid pulp novels that inspired one of the most intense, extreme and influential genres in movie history."

The genesis of all this is the krimi, or German crime novel, which contains elements (shadowy settings, shocking murders, mysterious phantom killers, police procedurals) that would later be adopted by Italian filmmakers but jacked up to new levels of violence and lavish indulgences in cinematic style for its own sake.

Disc One (Blu-ray) starts off with a feature-length documentary by Federico Caddeo entitled "All the Colors of Giallo", an exhaustive history of the genre that takes us from the beginnings of the German krimi books and films, and in particular the works of Edgar Wallace, all the way through the evolution of the giallo thrillers by such directors as Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, and Dario Argento.

Several of giallo's main figures are interviewed including Fulci and Argento themselves, along with familiar screen talents such as Barbara Bouchet and Susan Scott.

"The Giallo Frames" offers even more on the subject, giving us an in-depth interview with John Martin, editor of "The Giallo Pages." 

But best of all (for me, anyway) is a full four-hour collection of giallo trailers that run the gamut of the entire genre and are accompanied by a commentary track from Kat Ellinger, author of "All the Colors of Sergio Martino."

Kat showed her depth of knowledge on the subject during her commentary for Martino's film "All the Colors of the Dark", but here she is a veritable gold mine of information and unbridled enthusiasm on each and every trailer that we see, keeping a running commentary that never fails to entertain.  Thus, the trailer collection becomes a four-hour documentary unto itself, and perhaps the highlight of the entire collection.

Disc two (DVD) delves deeper into the subject of the krimi, with the informative documentaries  "The Case Of The Krimi" and "The Case Of The Krimi: Interview With Film Historian Marcus Stiglegger."

Then we get yet another hour-and-a-half of trailers, this time mostly in beautiful, atmospheric black-and-white (with very nice picture quality as well) before turning to color for the later ones.

Klaus Kinski fans will be pleased to find that he appears in practically all of these krimi trailers, which are a lively bunch of clips providing much entertainment and amusement.

Disc three is a CD entitled "The Strange Sounds of the Bloodstained Films", containing twenty giallo soundtrack selections from such composers as Ennio Morricone, Riz Ortolani, Bruno Nicolai, Stelvio Cipriani, and others.  It's great stuff, whether you have it on in the background or don your headphones for an intensive listening session.

Experienced giallo fans will enjoy reliving old favorites with this collection of documentaries, interviews, and trailers, and those just getting into such lively, lurid, and lavishly cinematic fare may find their curiosity stoked into an insatiable desire.


Buy it from Severin Films

Special Features:
DISC 1 – Blu-ray
All the Colors of Giallo: A New Feature Length Documentary By Federico Caddeo
The Giallo Frames: Interview With John Martin, Editor Of The Giallo Pages
Audio Commentary with Kat Ellinger, Author of All The Colors Of Sergio Martino

DISC 2 – DVD: The Case of the Krimi
Kriminal!: Trailer Compilation
The Case Of The Krimi: Interview With Film Historian Marcus Stiglegger

DISC 3 – CD
The Strange Sounds Of The Bloodstained Films: Compiled By Alfonso Carillo of Rendezvous! From The Archives Of Beat Records. Remastered By Claudio Fuiano.

ALL THE COLORS OF GIALLO -- Blu-ray/DVD/CD Review by Porfle

All The Toni Basil Scenes In "Village Of The Giants" (1965)(video)

 

Toni Basil is a famed singer, dancer, and choreographer.

EASY RIDER (1969) was probably her most high-profile film role.

And most people probably know her from her classic "Mickey" music video.

But for many of us, the first time we ever saw her...

...was as a red-haired go-go dancer in VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS (1965).


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

 

All The Toni Basil Scenes In "Village Of The Giants" (1965)(video)

WRESTLEMANIAC -- Movie Review by Porfle

(NOTE: This review originally appeared online in 2006 at Bumscorner.com.)

Movies in which a cast of young people gets whittled down "Ten-Little-Indians" style by an unstoppable killer are a dime a dozen these days, and the only things which distinguish any of them from the pack are a good story, competent (at least) execution, and a unique antagonist.  WRESTLEMANIAC (2006) gives us a passably good story which is very well executed by writer-director Jesse Baget and a talented cast. 

As for the antagonist--he's a psychotic Mexican wrestler named El Mascarado who was created by evil scientists (using the bodies of three other Mexican wrestlers) and then abandoned in an isolated ghost town after he went uncontrollably, kill-crazy nuts.  Okay, that's pretty unique.

Adam Huss plays Alphonse, a brash, cocky dude with a pimp goatee and a cowboy hat who's hauling three girls and a couple of other guys down to Mexico in a van to shoot a porn video.  Jeremy Radin is Steve, his pudgy cameraman, and Zack Bennett plays Jimbo, a typical stoner-type who's there mainly because it's his van.  The girls include a couple of blondes--the vivacious Debbie (Margaret Scarborough) and the wasted Daisy (Catherine Wreford)--and a sultry brunette babe named Dallas, played by WWE Raw Diva Leyla Milani (recently seen in THE BOYS AND GIRLS GUIDE TO GETTING DOWN), who should be receiving my marriage proposal in the mail any day now.

On the way to wherever it is they're going, they stop at a gas station that looks like it hasn't seen a drop of gas since 1957 and meet a weird old geezer (familiar character actor Irwin Keyes) who warns them not to stop in the haunted ghost town called La Sangre De Dios.  Whatever you do, he stresses repeatedly, do not stop in the haunted ghost town of La Sangre De Dios.  So what do they do?  They make a beeline for La Sangre De Dios.  Why?  Because, as Alphonse confidently informs everyone, a haunted ghost town would make the perfect location for a porn video.

No sooner do they get there, however, than strange things start happening and members of their group begin to disappear.  They do, of course, find time to start work on their video, which gives us a chance to see a scantily-clad Dallas and Debbie making out on the bar of the saloon.  For those of you who are keeping score at home, Debbie gets topless.  Unfortunately, so does Alphonse.  Daisy, meanwhile, wanders off somewhere to throw up and is never seen again.  Jimbo goes looking for her, and is never seen again.  As darkness begins to fall on the spooky old town, it gradually dawns on the others that something may be amiss.

When the hulking, terrifying Mexican wrestler El Mascarado appears and starts coming after them, they realize that something is definitely amiss.  This is when the fun really starts.  Director Jesse Baget does a good job of keeping the old stalk-and-kill formula interesting, with lots of action and some genuinely suspenseful sequences.  There's also a generous amount of gore, mainly because El Mascarado studiously observes the number one rule of Mexican wrestling: when you defeat an opponent, you rip his mask off.  Our protagonists, of course, don't wear masks, so El Mascarado simply rips their faces off instead.   Yowch!  That's gotta hurt!

I'm not into wrestling myself, but I like to see this sort of horror flick done well, and in this case it's done very well.  If you're into both wrestling and horror, you should really get a kick out of this, especially since El Mascarado is played by none other than Mexican wrestling superstar Rey Misterioso.  He makes a pretty intimidating monster, and when the overweight, out-of-shape Steve squares off with him to try and rip his mask off (which, theoretically, will force him to "retire" and leave them alone), you just know it ain't gonna turn out good.  Forget about the ol' Lone Ranger--Jim Croce should've been a lot more worried about this guy.

Did I mention that every time Dallas or Debbie run away from the killer, the camera zooms in for a closeup of their rear ends?  I didn't notice this myself, of course (ahem) but I believe it's mentioned in the commentary track by Baget, Huss, and director of photography Tabbert Fiiller.  This is just one of the spoofy elements that let you know WRESTLEMANIAC isn't meant to be taken seriously--but, with that in mind, it's still a full-blooded, action-packed horror movie that throws most of the current stalker flicks right out of the ring.

WRESTLEMANIAC -- Movie Review by Porfle

END GAME -- Movie Review by Porfle

(NOTE: This review originally appeared online at Bumscorner.com in 2006.)

1993's IN THE LINE OF FIRE gave us Clint Eastwood as a Secret Service agent on the trail of a wacko assassin whose goal was to kill the President. END GAME (2006) opens with the assassination of the President and then shows us how Secret Service agent Alex Thomas (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) discovers a dark conspiracy behind the "lone assassin" and puts his life on the line to find out who's behind it.

Both Eastwood's Frank Horrigan and Gooding's Thomas suffer from guilt related to a President's death; Horrigan, because he wasn't quick enough to take the bullet meant for JFK, and Thomas, because the assassin's bullet struck the President only because it changed direction after passing through his outstretched hand.

As Thomas takes some time off from the job to languish in his lakeside home and see how fast he can drain several bottles of hooch, investigative reporter Kate Crawford (Angie Harmon, GLASS HOUSE: THE GOOD MOTHER) starts digging into the killer's past.

She uncovers a link between him and a secretive government agency that may have been involved in the assassination, and is alarmed to find that everyone she is receiving information from is being systematically murdered by some bad guys in a black van.

When she goes to Agent Thomas' house for further help, the black van shows up there as well, and things get rather explosive. Thomas begins to buy Kate's conspiracy theories after he himself becomes a target, and together they work their way toward the truth as things get darker and more dangerous at every turn.

END GAME isn't quite a top-of-the-line Hollywood blockbuster but it's definitely worth watching. The production values are very good and the story kept me interested from start to finish.

There are plenty of great action scenes, too, especially when Thomas and a ten-man strike force invade a factory where the black-van guys are holed up and get into a furious shoot-out with them, which leads to a cool car chase in which the main bad guy (Peter Greene, who played "Zed" in PULP FICTION) attempts to discourage Thomas from pursuing him by machine-gunning oncoming vehicles off the road. At first Thomas is too determined to let even this slow him down, but the next vehicle headed toward them is a loaded school bus...

Everyone behind the camera does fine work here, and the cast is highly capable. Cuba Gooding has a talent for creating sympathetic characters without overplaying, which he demonstrates here with his deft performance. Former "Baywatch Nights" regular Angie Harmon is particularly good as well -- her intrepid reporter is likably tenacious and funny, and she and Gooding make a great team.

Old fave James Woods is excellent, as usual, but doesn't get nearly as much screen time as I hoped after seeing him on the DVD cover, though he makes the time he does have count. Familiar television veteran Jack Scalia gives us a likable President (for a little while, anyway), and his First Lady is well played by Anne Archer, who was the wife of Harrison Ford in two of the "Jack Ryan" movies.

The homeless man who first supplies Kate Crawford with information before being bumped off will be recognized by "Dark Shadows" fans -- he's David Selby, who played the werewolf Quentin Collins on that classic series. And the vicious killer who tries to terminate Agent Thomas's investigation, as I mentioned before, is played by none other than "Zed" from PULP FICTION, Peter Greene. ("Zed's dead, baby...Zed's dead.")

Not coming off quite as well, however, is Burt Reynolds as a retired Army general who still likes to keep his irons in the political fire. Burt's heart doesn't really seem to be in his performance here, and his alarmingly advanced state of cosmetic surgery (looking at his tightly-stretched face may give you a tension headache after awhile) distracts from what ultimately ends up being a pretty irrelevant character anyway.

After suffering through [a particularly bad movie] last night, I needed to watch a real movie to help me drag myself out of the depths of cinematic despair, and END GAME was just the ticket. It's not in the same league as IN THE LINE OF FIRE or one of the Jack Ryan movies, but I was certainly very well entertained for an hour and a half, and that's good enough for me.

END GAME -- Movie Review by Porfle