Cinematic Distractions

[dulcedemon]

It feels wrong to be up here doing entertainment given the state of the world and my country in particular. I said the same thing in 2025. The vibes are even harsher now. Entertainment banter, frivolity, joy, sensual pleasure won't make the death cult of billionaire kiddy diddlers who fancy themselves the "master race" go away. I began writing this as soon as I finished the previous list only to shelve it several times. I'm feeling Joel Grey in Cabaret (1972), but the venue is Salon Kitty (1976). Democracy is not falling or about to fall. It has fallen. All it took was a couple good shoves.
And then...
My spouse made a viewing suggestion from the animation classics section of our DVD collection, and I changed my mind. It doesn't feel right, but I'm doing it anyway. I mean we bomb countries based on feelings now. We can have humor and a bit of salacious playfulness as a treat while we await the gallows.
"And then..."

Devo (2024):
This brought me joy. I kind of missed Devo their first time around. The band formed before I was born. I was in kindergarten when "Whip It" became a hit. This documentary answered everything I ever wanted to know about Devo but was too young to ask at the time. I remember the French fry-donut controversy when "That's Good" came out. It was awkwardly explained to me by a classmate before I saw the video for myself. During an MTV interview, when the band was asked about the "Reagan haircuts", I saw that as it was originally broadcast.
There was that period of time when their videos were pulled from MTV, but I would still see them on Night Flight, which was a weekend, late night, music variety, program that aired on the USA network until sometime in the 1990s. It came on at 11:30 PM and went until 4 AM. I was precocious, poorly supervised, and had a television in my bedroom. Night Flight showed the videos that MTV had neither the guts nor financial incentive to play, so all the Devo. I have a soft spot for "Through Being Cool" and their cover of "Working In The Coal Mine" because those songs were used in Heavy Metal (1981). While not my favorite Devo songs, they are the first that come to mind.
There is so much good information here, not only about the band but also the national and world events that inspired them. It's accessible and interesting for fans and non-fans alike. I appreciate how well organized and entertaining it is. The best and worst thing about it is its earwormy nature. The most powerful earworm isn't even a Devo song. It's the damn Burger King Have It Your Way... (1974) - Pachelbel's Canon jingle!

Hold the pickle,
hold the lettuce,
special orders don't upset us...

I tried to cure myself of it with multiple viewings, but it only worsened the situation. It certainly speaks to the insidiousness of advertising, the catchiness of cleverly composed tunes, and other, subconsciously ingrained, media fuckery. Have we reached peak devolution? Does the United States turning fully and openly fascist count? Devo tried to warn us. Their warning had all the subtlety of a train horn, yet it went unheeded.

Paranoia Agent (2004):
I love Satoshi Kon, and I miss him dearly. He had such keen insight when it came to the nature of dreams and dreaming. The world is fortunate that he created so much before dying too young. What he lacked in time he made up for with intensity. His skill and devotion yielded an enduring body of work. We can only wonder what might have been.
This is what my spouse suggested after the holidays. We have the whole series on DVD. Though it was made over twenty years ago, it still speaks to the present. The detail and craftsmanship poured into it by those who worked on it is extraordinary. Complex characterizations and nuanced expressions are very difficult to get right, but are crucial for a high quality result. Paranoia Agent is a refuge in the age of slop.
Chief Detective Ikari and Officer Maniwa investigate a series of assaults committed by a baseball bat-wielding, rollerblading assailant dubbed "Lil' Slugger" by the media. It's a neo-noir with elements of fantasy; mass hysteria, conspiracy theory, repressed memories, hallucinations, double lives, delusional copycats, and other dark corners of the human psyche stuff. The opening theme, Dream Island Obsessional Park by Susumu Hirasawa, really sets the tone (just look up the lyrics). As does this inspirational, run-on sentence from Chief Detective Ikari:
"I don't know what this world's come to, but we're still living in it, and even if this the wrong world, somewhere there must be something right, and as long as we can believe in that, we can go on with our lives.
You got that?"
I wrote a haiku for each episode instead of my typical commentary. When I began these lists many years ago on LiveJournal, each movie was a short paragraph at the most. Sometimes it was just a few lines of disjointed prose or a haiku. The original intent of these lists was not to write reviews. I was simply posting a list of the movies I had watched in a given time period.
At first it was weekly. Weekly is easy when the focus is on brevity. For that interval to happen now with these longer pieces, it would take money, and not a small amount. I could do it monthly for a small amount. On the free plan, it's whenever. Still, I really enjoyed writing these haiku. Resorting to old tricks was the only way I could get this one done, but it felt good.

Enter Lil' Slugger:
The delicate type -
backed into a corner
a toad eats ice cream.

The Golden Shoes:
Bully number one
he never learned to lose
only gold will do.

Double Lips:
They are night and day
lust reaps what repression sows
two flowers - one bud.

A Man's Path:
Macho delusions
Daddy! --Call me daddy!
hard-headed bastard.

The Holy Warrior:
Funny RPGs
hope rolls a cigarette
ruby meets sapphire.

Fear of a Direct Hit
The high water mark
daughter lost grandmother found
family secrets.

MHz:
CQ... CQ...
he is one person, yet he's not
[radio tuning]

Happy Family Planning:
Internet meetup
three suicidal puppies
baby's first train ride.

ETC:
Gossipers' dozens
in the womb a bat boy grows
three hens and a chick.

Mellow Maromi:
Anime debut
one monkey don't stop no show
play ball, lil' slugger.

No Entry:
Burlap sack burglar
retreat into Ozu world
size him up and down.

Radar Man:
Dance with the bunny
Romance shopping strip hero
dogboy or boydog.

The Final Episode:
Doggies disappear
it's just like after the war
new arithmetic.

And Then:
Hold the pickle,
hold the lettuce,
special orders don't upset us.

Satan's Cheerleaders (1977):
The pep rally never ends for the cheerleaders of Benedict High. Patti, Chris, Debbie, and Sharon are the kind of girls that need their names emblazoned on their uniforms. That's okay because they have bright futures ahead of them as burlesque performers, judging from the risqué one-liners that comprise the bulk of their dialogue. It's one sexual innuendo laced zinger after another as they prance around and strike come hither poses in the manner of Mae West. It's fine; all the kids at Benedict High are in their twenties.
The ladies and their cheerleading coach, Ms. Johnson (Jacqulin Cole), are on their way to the big game against rival school Baker, when their car breaks down on a desolate stretch of highway. Seeking help at the nearest sheriff's office leads to a supernatural predicament of a matrimonial nature. It's a lot of cheerleaders running away from horny but dorky devil cultists in a semi-wooded area somewhere in Southern California. Note the cultist dressed as a friar, that's Sydney Chaplin (son of Charlie).
Satan's Cheerleaders was frequently on television during my childhood. I have lost count of how many times I've seen it. I know it's a weird thing to have as part of one's youthful nostalgia, but Lily Munster is in it. Satan, witchcraft, sexually aroused door knockers, and yes, Yvonne De Carlo, but the most pleasant surprise is John Carradine as a bum. His role is small, only a few brief scenes along the highway, but he makes the most of it.
John Ireland (Sheriff Bub), and Jack Kruschen (Billy) are two more cast members who were nearing the end of their careers. The rest are unknown or barely known actors. None of whom went on to major stardom. Kerry Sherman ("Patti... Patti Sexton"), and Lane Caudell (Stevie) were the only two who enjoyed lasting success, mainly in soap operas. Caudell also had a bit of a music career. I'm not sure what their status was at the time of filming, but director Greydon Clark and Jacqulin Cole were husband and wife.
The soundtrack consists of two fluffy pop tunes sung by a band called Sonoma, which I'm not sure actually existed other than in association with this movie. The music was composed by Gerald Lee. "Who You Gonna Love Tonight" really encapsulates that 1970s AM Gold sound.
I have this cult classic treasure complete with all the naughty bits that were edited out for 1980's television on DVD. There is not much in the way of extras. Two movie trailers: Satan's Cheerleaders, and Ruby (1977 - Piper Laurie).

Dark Star (1974):
Our Thanksgiving dinner turkey was, Dark Star, an absolute gem of a B-movie set in outer space. Among the lowest of low budgets, it's basically a student film produced through the collaborative efforts of John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon, while they were attending USC. It took a couple years of reshooting and polishing before it was premiered at a film festival in Los Angeles, which was followed by a very limited release to fifty theaters. It disappeared for a few years until Carpenter and O'Bannon made names for themselves through other films. O'Bannon is best known for writing Alien (1979). He also had a hand in one of my favorite movies of all time, Heavy Metal (1981).
Even though the plot is essentially a crisis aboard a spaceship, the crew is awfully laid-back about it. They have a tendency to wax philosophical, which does and doesn't come in handy. They are noticeably nonchalant in regard to the various malfunctions and catastrophes that have befallen their ship over its twenty years of blowing up planets for a space colony construction project. Some members of the cast and crew may or may not have been tripping on LSD during the production of this film, which may or may not have contributed to the overall mood.
The advent of AI slop has increased my appreciation for good stagecraft, practical effects, models, and props. Even when it's amateurish, I'd rather a poorly disguised inflatable beachball monster than a generated slop chimera. I love the cheesy "Benson, Arizona" theme tune, especially the part that goes: Hold the pickle. Hold the lettuce. Special orders don't upset us. The toilet paper problem is funny to me because the first time I saw this was back in 2020 when people were freaking out and hoarding toilet paper.

An Autumn Afternoon (Sanma no Aji - 1962):
It's another round of the three little matchmakers from director Yasujirō Ozu. The last time I encountered these fellows was in Late Autumn (1960). The characters were different, but they served the same purpose.
In An Autumn Afternoon, the trio consists of Ozu regulars, Chishû Ryû, Nobuo Nakamura, and Ryûji Kita. The two films are quite similar. I suppose that applies to all of the seasonal titles that I've seen so far. It usually involves a widowed parent living with their adult child, often a daughter in her twenties. There is concern that she will age out of marriageability. Marriage prospects are arranged. The daughter is reluctant or resistant. It resolves in self-sacrifice on the part of the parent or the daughter in a way that upholds tradition and preserves familial accord.
Beginning as I did with A Story of Floating Weeds (1934) followed by Good Morning (1959), I was not prepared for the patriarchal serenity of the seasonal films. It's like if Hallmark made movies for Japanese men. Lots of dry, polite, emotionally repressed exchanges, gentlemen's luncheons, friendly chats at the bar, in other words, don't watch when sleepy.
I kept dozing off until the scene at Tory's bar, when the bartender puts on a marching song as the men recall their time in the military. One of the men is quite drunk. He gets up and marches in place and salutes his comrade still sitting at the bar. He then muses about what the "blue-eyeds" (quoted from subtitles) in the USA would be dancing to if Japan had won the war. The men laugh, then they get all quiet. Their smiles wane. Their sense of loss is palpable. Kyôko Kishida, the actress who plays the bartender, would star in Woman in the Dunes two years later. Her final role was in Wool 100% (2006). She died that same year.
Yasujirō Ozu died in 1963. An Autumn Afternoon was his last film. There are moments worth waiting for if you can stay awake. Some might be put off by the paternalism and antiquated notions about women (not married by age 29 = doomed to be leftovers, etc.). I put up with it because I really like the cast. A number of them have worked with each other on multiple films. The practiced ease of their interactions elevates the performance.

Ojitos de Huevo: Season 02 (Nothing to See Here - 2024):
Season two has me worried that there won't be a season three. If there is, I doubt there will be a fourth. Sitcom history is strewn with shows that were cancelled not long after the introduction of a new character to the core cast. Those familiar with The Brady Bunch will recognize this as the Cousin Oliver Effect.
Hooray! Azul (Paola Fernandez) is pregnant. Oh shit! Azul is pregnant. Alexis and Charly (Kike Vázquez) are hired by an ad agency headed by manipulative and shady Bea (Ana de la Reguera). Not surprisingly, a lot of time is spent on the topics of pregnancy and disabled parenting, and the prospect of raising a disabled child. Another major point is the ethics of contributing labor and staking reputation to earn much needed income from what amounts to inspiration porn.
I hope the show makes it at least one more season because what I really want is more side character development. Sleazy nightclub manager Chocho (Alfonso Borbolla) really blossoms in this second run. I want more JLo (Cristo Fernández), even if no one else does. I want Charly to hook-up with someone for more than one night. He has had all of two dates, both were in the first season, and the one guy stole his crutches!

Teorema (1968):
Not sure why I thought a second viewing would impart greater understanding. A lack of understanding wasn't the problem. I stand by my original estimation of it. As I recall, I dismissed it as a waste of time that tries too hard to be artsy and mystical, when all it boils down to is "Everyone wants to fuck Terrence Stamp".
The patriarch of a posh bourgeoisie household hands his factory over to his workers and takes a permanent leave of absence. The story is about what lead up to that point, and the aftermath. It's a picturesque reflection on classism, religious/spiritual concepts, and sexual repression. There are clear references to religious iconography.
It's a standout for its cinematography if nothing else. Each and every shot is beautifully framed. That, and Laura Betti as Emilia are why I came back to it. It reminds me of Last Year at Marienbad (1961) in that it regards itself with utmost seriousness, strives to be high art, yet for all its aspirations and conceptual depth, still manages to be laughable due to the tawdry nature of its plot. Essentially, an entire suburban family, and their housekeeper, thirst after a houseguest until they unravel. It's as I said at the start, everyone wants to fuck Terrence Stamp.

Sorcerer (1977):
Supernatural in that it defies the laws of physics and probability at every turn. It quickly exceeded my tolerance for implausibility. I fell for the lore surrounding this remake of The Wages of Fear (1953), which I haven't seen. Both films are based on a novel by Georges Arnaud, which I haven't read.
Sorcerer has a small but dedicated contingent of fans, who periodically pop up where movies are being discussed on social media to attest that it would have been the box office blockbuster of 1977, if it hadn't been for the release of Star Wars. I have arrived at the conclusion that they are trolls. So is director William Friedkin, who by almost every account but his own was a raging monster of ego. Cast and crew went through hell, risking injury, illness, and gangrene to make this movie. Filming took place in several far-flung locations around the globe but chiefly the Dominican Republic.
Porvenir is hardly the kind of place you travel to for enjoyment, unless what you enjoy is oil. Foreign energy companies certainly do. They also enjoy the impoverished, easy to exploit workers. Apart from toiling in the oil field, subsistence farming is the main means of survival for the Porvenir locals. The village is too small to supply all the workers the oil company needs. A good number are recruited from abroad. Often they are unsavory types, shady characters, looking to escape checkered pasts, so arrives our crew of delivery truck drivers tasked with hauling cases of dynamite through the jungle:
Jackie Scanlon (Roy Scheider) - A small-time gangster from New Jersey who botched a church bingo hall robbery so badly that he had to flee the country
Victor Manzon (Bruno Cremer) - A white-collar fraudster from France who bailed on his wife and his country rather than face prison
Nilo (Francisco Rabal) - A former(?) hitman whose motivations are unknown. Nilo is sharp and calculating, but he is not a young man anymore, and he dresses like a tourist at a beachside resort.
Kassem (Amidou) - Regrettably, he is but a stereotype of a Palestinian man, always quietly seething, good with explosives, and accustomed to the prospect of being blown up at any moment.
The roads are rough and narrow where they exist. The trucks are salvaged junk heaps. The dynamite is sweatier than the men are. I liked the A-Team style, truck assembly montage, but unlike the characters from that old show, I don't believe these guys are anywhere near as capable. It would have been believable if they had blown up at the first rut in the road before they had even left the village. At that point, I checked the running time and sighed.
The cantina scenes were fun. They used locals for the supporting cast and extras. The woman (Rosario Almontes) who dances with Roy Scheider is wonderful. Much of the action takes place deep in the jungle, except for the final leg of the journey, which is set in the barren, erosion-sculpted, almost alien landscape of Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, New Mexico.
In some ways, Dark Star is a better adaptation of The Wages of Fear. Sorcerer is a four-way Appointment in Samarra. Audiences with their hearts set on watching men with more hubris than sense sweat it out in the jungle should consider Fitzcarraldo (1982).

Altered States (1980):
Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) is a psychopathologist and university professor who gets high on his own supply in a sensory deprivation tank in what begins as a series of experiments seeking insight into the origins of schizophrenia. His research loses focus after he introduces various psychedelic drugs into the process. His deepening obsession with the transformative visions he experiences adversely affects his health, family life, and professional standing.
Eddie truly is an insufferable creature. I somehow overlooked that aspect thirty years ago. I was young enough to take it for granted. Most men are insufferable creatures when you're twenty. That's why I carried pepper spray. In short, this didn't age well for me.
Time has deepened my appreciation of the supporting cast, Bob Balaban (Arthur Rosenberg), and Charles Haid (Mason Parrish) are excellent. When it comes to trip movies, I prefer wear your love like heaven, ride the infinity rainbow, interstellar journey (communing with interdimensional beings optional), psychedelic extravaganzas. What Altered States offers is a feral, prehistoric throwback, lurid, carnal, floating in the primordial soup, "Go ape, young man.", primal scream therapy on ketamine, primitivism trip. It's not my scene.

The World (Shijie - 2004):
A recent rewatch, this was supposed to be on the next movie list, but I wanted to get the stink of it off me. I didn't forget that I had already seen The World. I could recall numerous scenes and details, but drew a blank when it came to the ending. When I saw it listed on Criterion's streaming service, I decided to jog my memory. Apparently, my mind blocked it out in a trauma response. I didn't forget it at all. I just didn't want to remember.
The World is a bleak letdown that rewards you with a sucker punch. Supposedly based on a true story actress Tao Zhao had told the director about a job she once had at a theme park, it shows the day-to-day grind of a group of park employees, most of whom are migrants or guest workers. There is dating among coworkers. Not that they have much choice, all of them either live in dorms or seedy tenements in and around the park. The dorms are actually under the park within a system of tunnels like a rat warren with utilities and dressing rooms.
Conditions are cramped and often damp. How damp? One of the dancers sleeps in a raincoat. A migrant worker can't just up and quit; either their employer or the go-between who arranged their work contract retains their passport. It's not exactly human trafficking but it rhymes, except for one Russian dancer for whom it is exactly that.
Even with all the pretty trappings, costumes, choreography, animated segues, and 'new wonders of the world' amusement park backdrop, the story is a big downer in a glitzy wrapper that ends abruptly. It succeeds in drawing attention to the plight of migrant workers and showing the various ways in which they are exploited. It points to a number of more broadly defined social and economic issues, but it's not an enjoyable time (2hrs 23min), and there is no satisfaction to be derived from the ending.