Posts By James Leon
All over the globe, mental illnesses in various degrees affect millions of peoples. Although it is no laughing matter, many great comedy films have been released about the subject matter. More often than not, some contain elements of drama or tragedy to make a statement in an effort to make an awareness point. For some, humor can provide healing values,… Read more »
It’s Halloween, and unless your plans involve going to parties in costume, carving jack-o-lanterns, handing out candy, or playing tricks, the celebration also requires horror film marathons. Why not add some cackles of comedy to your bloodcurdling screams? The following list consists of horror comedies from the last four decades. Some are classics, some from the turn of the century… Read more »
Founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Hers in 1974, Troma Entertainment is an American production and distribution company known for low budget films also known as Z-movies, a much lower grade of the B-movie genre. Their content has an abundance of exploitation themes, such as nudity, violence, gore, anarchistic humor and social commentary. Their slogan is “Movies of the Future”… Read more »
As early as the 1930s, Hollywood made women in prison films as melodramas with minimal action and means to portray the pathway to a righteous life with titles such as “Ladies They Talk About” and “Hold Your Man”. By the 1950s, with the influence of pulp novels, many features like “Caged”, “So Young, So Bad” and “Women’s Prison”, would take… Read more »
“Catch, catch a horror taxi, I fell in love with my video nasty” – The Damned from “Nasty”, 1982 In the early 1980s, the United Kingdom’s National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association (NVALA), a family values and media-watch organization, went on a censorship campaign to ban and prosecute films for graphic violence and sexual content. In 1983, they devise a list… Read more »
If it wasn’t for the “B Movie” phenomena, many A-List actors might have not gained much attention from high caliber directors and producers. These particular films usually have a low budget, but possess a certain amount of originality because of various short comings, like plot plausibility, poor acting and cheap effects. Regardless, some develop cult followings that were once reserved… Read more »
From 1970 until the present year (2016), majority of films that aren’t documentaries are released in color. As time goes on, many movie-goers are less inclined to see features that are shot in black and white, dismissing them as “boring” or “old fashioned”. Regardless, many filmmakers still rely on this method for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it can be… Read more »
Since the advent of sound in motion pictures by the 1920s, musicians had found another outlet for creative expression and the abilities of gaining more exposure. Up until the 1950s, most of the music heard and performed was classical, opera, big band jazz and “pop” vocalists. With the infusion of Rock and Roll, “soundtracks” with the songs of popular performers… Read more »
“The true beauty of music is that it connects people. It carries a message, and we, the musicians, are the messengers.” –Roy Ayers (jazz vibraphone player) The follow list contains an eclectic mix of music documentaries that capture each of the performers and bands in all their pure, raw energies and celebrate unsung legacies. They expose many to underlying elements… Read more »
“The ugly fallout from the American Dream has been coming down on us at a pretty consistent rate since Sitting Bull’s time — and the only real difference now, with Election Day ’72 only a few weeks away, is that we seem to be on the verge of ratifying the fallout and forgetting the Dream itself.” –Hunter S. Thompson, 1973… Read more »
It’s hard to mention the genre Romantic-Comedy, let alone the NewSpeak term “Rom-Com”, and not gain a shudder or scream from most of the male species. Sugarcoated images of Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock flood the mind with contrived plots, unrealistic scenarios and all too many storybook happy endings. Sure, they make some people feel good, warm and… Read more »
The Foreign Film Market for most Americans is sometimes difficult to predict. Very few features that don’t rely on car chases, explosions, gratuitous violence or unnecessary sex and CGI effects will hardly go over well. Plus, having to read subtitles or deal with poorly dubbed English may cause most of them to find something less challenging and instantly gratifying. It… Read more »
Many of films are usually based from the literary works of other authors. However, even when presented with wonderful source material, more often than not the powers that be will make drastic changes for the sake gaining a bigger audience at the box office. This leaves the purists of the original work to shake their heads, fists and protest: The… Read more »
The Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, once said that if a filmmaker is ever in a slump as to what will be the next hit movie, they should look for a hit play. If only the Hollywood of 21st felt that way. Studio writers would have to develop compelling characters and storylines that were raw and real. In theatre, if… Read more »
Where do all the lost films usually go to be discovered? In the heyday of the home cinema (VHS, Beta or Laserdisc), circa mid-1980s, independently owned stores would stock titles that Blockbuster and other chains wouldn’t. Some would wind up on various television channels late at night or eventually go straight go to DVD, before Youtube and other online services…. Read more »
