I’ve never really delved into the mad world of the Polonia Brothers before and I think it’s about time I gave their work a gander. The twin brothers gained fame and notoriety all the way back in 1996 when Blockbuster bought the distribution rights to their film Feeders and it became one of the video chain’s most rented indie title that year. Now, before I go on, I have to admit that I’ve tried to watch Feeders several times but I could never really get into it. It just felt really slow and meandering. Perhaps I wasn’t in the right mood. I don’t know. I will watch it one day, I promise. For now, I’m going to review one of their earlier movies SPLATTER FARM.
The Bootleg Files: Follies
BOOTLEG FILES 861: “Follies” (fan film recreation of the legendary 1971 Broadway musical).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: An unauthorized presentation of inconsistent quality.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.
When the Stephen Sondheim musical “Follies” opened on Broadway in April 1971, the show’s co-director Harold Prince was sowing the seeds of a potential film version featuring some of Hollywood’s greatest stars. John Springer, who handled the publicity for the Broadway show, would later claim that a minor miracle was achieved when Bette Davis and Joan Crawford agreed to be in the film – albeit without being in the same scene; Springer also insisted Gloria Swanson, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton expressed interest in being part of the cast.
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Sorceress of Suburbia (2011)
Director Fred Olen Ray has had one of the weirdest movie careers I’ve ever seen from any director. It’s not many filmmakers that can ride the tides of various trends creating softcore porn for basic cable, erotic thriller, cheapy horror movies, and then goofy Hallmark Channel Christmas movies in one career. Fred Olen Ray gets shit done, I guess, and “Sorceress of Suburbia” is one of his many forays in to the porn sub-genre.
Ernest & Célestine: A Trip to Gibberitia (Ernest et Célestine: Le voyage en Charabie) (2022) [Blu-Ray]
Now Available from Shout! Factory and GKIDS.
I’ll be the first to admit that I had no idea what “Ernest & Célestine” was or that it had its own series, as well as a feature film. The good thing about “Ernest & Célestine: A Trip to Gibberitia” is that you don’t really have to go back and see the previous material to understand what’s happening. Basically, it’s all so beautifully animated like a moving storybook and is the tale of the love between a big bear and a small female mouse. Named Ernest & Célestine, there is a story of friendship but there’s also an unspoken true love that’s very punctuated in the final scene of the film.
McBain (1991) [Blu-Ray]
Now Available from Synapse Films.
Not enough people discuss the glut of post-Vietnam movies made in the 1980’s and “McBain” is one of the many. There were either the acclaimed prestige pictures like “Deer Hunter” or the more exploitative and cheesy films like “Rambo.” Glickhaus’ “McBain” falls in to the latter category where it watches a lot like a post-Vietnam big film version of “The A Team” or “The Wild Bunch” to where Christopher Walken leads a ragtag bunch of men to avenge their best friend.
Bittertooth (2023)
Bittertooth is available exclusively on Mometu.
A true crime podcasting due with wildly different backgrounds get involved in solving a local serial killer case. As they disagree on the approach, things take a turn for the bloodier.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Hare Do (1949)
Hare Do (1949)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy
Music by Carl W. Stalling
In my head canon, since Bugs, the Coyote and Road Runner are in the same universe, and they all shop from ACME. Their prices depend on whether their devices will work, so while Coyote is buying junk, Elmer Fudd ends up buying high priced machinery to hunt for potential prey. Hence the machine that he’s seen carrying in the opening of the short which can best be explained as some kind of radar for prey that also includes a screen for them. The machine does work, but Bugs ends up catching on way too early for Elmer’s liking. I know, I know, Elmer points to it as “Awmy Surpwuss!” but who’s to say ACME doesn’t have that kind of department for hunters and predators?