This Is America Part 2 (1980)

For the uninitiated, the "mondo film" is a faux documentary of strange and unusual footage shot around the world. Often times the footage itself is authentic, but the narration is made up to explain what's happening on screen. Just as often, entire scenes are staged for the sake of the shot. Grotesque and shocking scenes alternate with lighthearted or sexually graphic scenes to provide juxtaposition. While a film full of heavy stuff is difficult for most audiences to sit through, a heaping dose of female nudity makes it a lot easier to endure. Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi's "Mondo Cane" (1962) is arguably the most famous mondo film ever made. It was a huge success and spawned scores of imitators who cashed in on the trend shooting even harsher, more brutal footage. The films made by Alfredo and Angelo Castiglioni took the genre as far as it could go, digging deep into primitive man's most bizarre practices and repulsing most of their audiences in the process. There's a reason most of their films are unavailable here in the states, and the ones that are available are heavily censored. Soon, the camera's lens turned on America's seedy underbelly. Whatever we lacked in the grotesque, we made up for in depravity, absurdity and violence. This first movie in this series, 1977's "This is America", is among the greatest mondo films ever made. It was shockingly dark and violent with just the right amount of absurdity mixed in. It's sequel, "This is America Part 2" (1980), doesn't even come close to touching it.

If you're looking for skin, there's plenty of it to be found here. We're treated to a topless car wash, nude female wrestling, topless foxy boxing, strip clubs, swinger clubs, orgies and an erotic bakery with close up shots of middle aged women chomping on the heads of foot long chocolate penis-shaped cakes. There's even footage of Jello Biafra's mayoral candidacy paired with Dead Kennedy's playing his "campaign song" "California Uber Alles". The dark, more serious scenes are few and far between on this installment. There's an obviously staged execution by electric chair, footage of the mole people who live under New York's streets living off of roasted rats and a brief expose about the living conditions of fast food chickens. None of the really "heavy" stuff hits until the final 30 minutes, but at that point we've been beaten about the head with so many exposed breasts that the darker footage seems completely out of place. In order for these sort of films to be effective, the ratio of absurd and shocking should be closer to 60/40. In the case of this movie, it's an easy 90/10.

I was expecting a lot more from this. Still well worth watching and leaps and bounds above other films in this genre, but nowhere near as good as the first movie. I'll go into the 3rd with lowered expectations.

3/5

Young Frankenstein (1974)

I've seen this many, many times, going back into my childhood. Mel Brooks was big in our house and we watched his movies often. We lived outside of the city limits, so cable TV wasn't an option for us. Once our parents divorced, my dad moved in town and would record movies and send them home with us on weekends. We were supposed to watch the movies and bring them back next week so he could record more for us. Tapes with Mel Brooks films never got returned, though. We watched them all the time, running them into the ground. It wouldn't surprise me if one of my brothers was still holding onto a couple of those tapes today.

Here's what I took away from it this time: Gene Wilder is brilliant. He's usually pretty good in everything, but he's best when he goes manic and there's a lot of "manic" in this movie. The intensity in his voice and expression on his face in those scenes always elicit a smile from me. Gene is a great actor, period. I'll be sad when he eventually dies. Marty Feldman steals the scene every time he's on screen. I get the feeling he drifted from the script more often than he stuck to it. Mugging for the camera and breaking the fourth wall usually ruins things for me, but somehow it works when he does it. Normal Fell's Stanley Roper is the only other instance I can think of in which mugging doesn't bother me. Peter Boyle has the funniest scenes in the movie, even without dialogue. The scene with the blind man (with an almost unrecognizable Gene Hackman) is one of my favorites because of Boyle's great performance. Lastly, I've found that my childhood crush on Teri Garr has carried over into adulthood.

This was my first time viewing it on Blu-Ray. I'm still not sold on this whole Blu-Ray business. Most of the time I can't see a difference in picture from DVD. I suppose a black and white movie from 1974 made to look like it was shot in the 30s isn't the best film to deliver the full Blu-Ray experience, though. The picture was sharp and the audio was fine, but it's been a while since I've watched my DVD copy to make a comparison. From memory, it looked about the same. Other than director commentary, there are no special features, but that could be because this is part of a larger set and not a solo disc. 

I realize this is another one of those cop out reviews where I don't talk about the plot at all, but I assume everyone has seen it at this point. It's basically "Frankenstein" with a little bit of "King Kong" thrown in the mix. This is among Mel Brooks' best films, but credit must be given to Wilder who wrote most of the script, as I understand it. Solid stuff all around with plenty of laughs to be had. As funny and as sexy as a PG rated movie can be.

4/5

To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)

Thanks, but no thanks...

Two drag queens tie for first place in the local drag contest and win a trip to California for the national event. Vida (Patrick Swayze) takes pity on another contestant, Chi-Chi (John Leguizamo), and convinces Noxeema (Wesley Snipes) to take him under their wing, trade in their airfare for a beaten up Cadillac and drive to their destination instead. Their car breaks down in middle-of-nowhere Nebraska and sets the stage for this "fish out of water" comedy.

It wasn't very good. I don't think it was supposed to be "good", though. It fails as a comedy in every way with the exception of casting Wesley Snipes as a drag queen. The guy is the personification of masculinity, so his lines are funny. The message of "Drag queens are people, too" is ever present and the town's enthusiastic acceptance is unbelievable. Some heavy issues are dealt with as well, but never in a way that would make you forget this is supposed to be a comedy. It wasn't funny, though, and those in need of this movie's message are it's least likely audience. 

2/5

The Graduate (1967)

I've only seen this once before, decades ago. I liked it okay, but it didn't make an impression on me. Maybe it's because I watched this right after being bored to tears by "Blue Money", but I thoroughly enjoyed it this time.

Dennis Hoffman stars as Ben, a nervous 20 year old fresh out of college. He feels tremendous pressure to make something of his life, but lacks motivation to do anything. At a party thrown by his parents to celebrate his graduation, Mrs. Robinson (the wife of his father's partner at the law firm) makes strong sexual advances towards him letting him know she is available to him if he wanted her. A short while later he accepts her offer and they have a summer fling, ending when he falls in love with her daughter, Elaine.

Hoffman is excellent in this. He plays the role of an awkward, bored and angry 20 year old perfectly. His situation is both funny and sad, and both come across in his performance. His affair with Mrs. Robinson, born out of low self esteem, drives home how unhappy he is. He spends months drifting, doing nothing  (literally, on a raft in a pool), sneaking out in the evenings to sleep with someone twice his age who has no feelings for him at all. These rendezvous' are all he has to look forward to and he experiences them without joy. Only when he finds what he really wants is he truly happy, and then it's out of his reach. Fucking brilliant... Fucking sad.

The acting is great, pacing spot-on and the ending perfect. Aside from a small complaint with the soundtrack, this was wholly enjoyable. I like Simon & Garfunkel as much as the next guy, but they ran "Scarborough Fair" into the fucking ground with this film. A few less occurrences of this song and it would have gotten a perfect rating from me.

4.5/5

Blue Money (1972)

Not worth the paper it's printed on.

I bought this clunker in a set with 11 other movies at Kmart for $5.00. My expectations were low and in no way did this exceed them. This movie sucks. 

The year is 1972 and Jim directs pornographic films. The government is cracking down on the industry and busts are happening all around him. His wife wants him to get out before it's his turn, but he's 2/3 into building his fucking boat and needs to work until it's finished so they can retire and spend their days island hopping. Basically, its the same story line as "Superfly",except with porn. One last big score, then get out before it's too late. Unlike "Superfly", the acting sucks and there's no action to speak of.

Alain Patrick (who also wrote and directed this piece of shit) gives an absolutely wooden performance in the lead role and his French Canadian accent is excruciating to listen to throughout. He sounds like a smug version of Fabio. This could have been an interesting look behind the scenes of the adult film industry, but it's not. No grit, nothing of interest, just Jim and his producer being fucked over by the distributors. There's a moderate amount of nudity, but unless you find a topless woman holding her baby or paid actresses in simulated sex scenes going through the motions exciting, there's nothing erotic going on here. It's the perfect set up for sleaze, but ends up another failed opportunity. The film seems okay on a technical level and the soundtrack is varied and decent, I guess, but that's really not enough to recommend this to someone else. If you have the chance to see this for free, don't. 

1.5/5