Almost simultaneously released alongside Richard Linklater’s equally high concept animated film “A Scanner Darkly,” Volckman’s “Renaissance” is a little bit of George Orwell and Phillip K. Dick with the same neo-noir atmosphere of Frank Miller with a Dystopian twist, and it composes itself as an equally high concept animated science fiction installment that focuses on a society that’s not too much in the distant future from ours. The world is ruled by vanity and the search for eternal youth, and this is all spearheaded by an ominous corporation called Avalon that markets on society’s youth obsession and rules over all of society. Ads pop up from thin air, follow pedestrians, and always seem much more omnipresent than they should.
Tag Archives: Drama
Friday the 13th: Mother's Day (2007)
I’ve seen plenty of fan films in my time. Comic book fan films, Star Wars fan films, and yes even fan films from other movies. Usually they’re made by utterly ambitious fan boys, with a sleek production quality, and yet only really range a running time of 10-45 minutes, with the work done before the bag gets old. “Friday the 13th: Mother’s Day” is probably one of the most ambitious fan films I’ve ever seen—the jury is still out. Not only does it pay homage to my favorite horror franchise of the genre, but it’s based on a teen novel, and runs for about ninety minutes. Suffice it to say, I was shocked when I took a glimpse at the running time for this movie. Ninety minutes? Were they kidding us? No, they were not.
Yo-Yo Girl Cop (Sukeban Deka: Kôdo nêmu = Asamiya Saki) (2006)
I’ll plead ignorance in claiming that I don’t know if “Yo Yo Girl Cop” was either an anime or manga (the latter, actually), because after reading the description of the back of the movie case, this apparently is a revamping of a prior mythos where the former Yo Yo Girl Cop’s daughter is now taking the role of crime fighter. It’s a movie filled with girl cops who fight crime not with guns, clubs, or sticks, but with metal yo yo’s that smack the crap out of assailants; I mean how could I not have risked buying it without viewing it?
Wanda, the Wicked Warden (1977)
Gone is David Edmonds, gone is the original storyline, and in remains the shameless exploitation. Also, there’s Dyanne Thorne. How could you possibly dislike her? You can’t. Ilsa, who yet again hasn’t aged a day, nor does she resemble corpse, is now a brunette warden for a cruel prison. Hey, I don’t ask questions, I just go where the boobies are. This prison is being touted as a clinic, yet it is being operated as a concentration camp treating “disorders” such as lesbianism, nymphomania or prostitution.
Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976)
Ilsa is back. How and why? Who the hell knows, but she is, and she is now working for sheiks in the desert, and taking great pleasure in doing so. And she also hasn’t aged a bit since World War II. The delicious Dyanne Thorne also returns to the role she perfect in the former “She-Wolf of the SS,” and the dubious reclaiming of the character is entertaining. Ilsa now works for Arab sheiks overseeing their affairs in weapons and also, there’s the torture. What would an Ilsa movie be without the torture? One of the most ridiculous aspects of this sequel is that Ilsa is here, hasn’t aged a bit, and is untouched. This isn’t a different actress in a questionable sequel, and Ilsa is here in all her glory. Why is this so irritating?
Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975)
Based on the actual Nazi Ilse Koch, “Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS,” takes the actual person Ilse Koch who tortured prisoners and collected skin from the prisoners who had tattoos, and turns it into a rather shameless exploitation film. Let’s be honest, this is mostly just pornography with a plot, and yet I was lost in its story. The actual Ilse Koch was a lowlife dog, a monster fit to be hanged and pelted with rocks. She was an inhuman jellyfish who took great pleasure in tormenting the poor prisoners, while this film is really just porn. And, I’m not begrudging it for that. This is a capsule of its time. Period.
Bad Reputation (2005)
Jim Hemphill’s immaculately directed “Bad Reputation” is half “Carrie” and half “I Spit on Your Grave,” it’s a teen thriller that I can finally get behind, and one that never swims in the kiddy pool. This is a hardcore revenge film, and I enjoyed it from the very beginning. It’s also one of the few rape revenge flicks that have come around in years, with an utterly compelling series of events that leads to unthinkable carnage, after an utterly disturbing rape sequence renders a young insecure girl a merciless monster. Hemphill definitely has his ducks in a row with a film that really brings the best of the revenge genre to the screen, without ever watering the atmosphere down to appeal to a younger audience.