Salo:120 days in Sodom: A movie of Uncommon Horror

Face shot of Pier Paolo Passollini

Shots of two fascist Nazis sitting on girls courtesy of Pier Paolo Passolinni's "Salo: 120 Days of Sodom".

I recommend this film with caution. CAution that I will be a freak for liking this movie, and caution for people that don't know what their getting into. Everyone has the controversy of this movie and it's unattainable print. It was released by criterion, but they lost the rights to it quick. AS for other countries it's banned and only cut version are avaible in France. The lasy film by a man who was crazy as his movies, before he was murdered(some say it was young prostitue boy and others say it was by the mafia). The murderer's reason was unknown and Passolini died a horrible death. Some believe he was murdered because of this movie. I can't back the guy up, but he left an amazing resume of films that were hit and miss or controversial. How i got a print of this was a miracle and a lot of money. i really wanted to see this, becuase lately I've been on a Passolini kick. The man was more than a film director, he was a columnist, poet, novelist, critic, gay icon, pedophile, acticist and much more. Lars Von Trier praises him as influence, especially in Von Trier's "Idiots". He said that the last shot of group sex was influenced by "Salo". Von Trier himself went on a Passolini phase nad read all his works. not trying to follow Von Trier's footsteps, but this where i learned about Passolini. Enought about Von Trier, more about Passolini. A man that his career whith italian neo-realist depicting life of italian hillbilles. Even though he departs himself from the neo-realist of the 50's with Fellini, Rosselini, De Sica. I was watching Martin Scorsese's long documentary about his influence from italian cinema and the neo-realist group. He mentioned everyone from Rosi to Visconti and friend of mine brought the fact up that he did not mentioned Passolini. I believe he's apart of that group, others tend to convey him as just mere exploitation and not much more. People believe that he's nothing compared to the sophistication of the neo-realist films and that's why heis movies are not apart of that group. I for one disagree, and find his to be ambitious. After doing a ton of movies depicting the life of gangsters, pimps and prostitutes, Passolini wanted to adapt literature. His films were apart of a Literary series that he was going sought after until "SAlo". ADapted from a short storie from Marquis De Sade that had no ending so Passolini had to imprvised when adapting. The effect was a movie that gives an experience one will soon not forget. The film is basically a study on fascism and is about a group of bourgouise FAscist that take young kids, 9 boys and 9 girls, and take them to a secluded mansion where they must be subdued into any sexual act. THe movie takes off in three stage, the first on which is called "Antechamber of Hell" and shows the young boys and girls getting round up and taken to the mansion. Passolini spares no character development and gives no motive to the high officials. Nor any cliche characters that you look at and just suspect who will get out and survive. None of that comes true, later in the feature you'll discover their fate is horrible. The second is 'Circle of obseesions", where sodomy and rape is favored. They state in the first chapter of how the boys and girls will act out these sexual fantasies. A headmistress will be in a room with the kids and high officials, telling tales of drawn out fantasies and the kids must act on it or their punished. And you don't want to know what their punishment will be. The second chapter is "Circle of Shit", which eating feces is favored, thus Passolini will make you watch a wide shot a girl eating a turd. The scene is shot with tensity and not for schlock, in my opinion. The third chapter is called "Circle of Blood", where drinking blood is favored, their is a scene in here where they dress a boy in a wedding gown and have a wedding. The last, and thank god its the final chapter, is not really a chapter but the last scene which shows the fate of the young boys and girls and it is wrong!!!!!!! You wonder why sit through all this, I tell you it is an adventure for filmgoers. Not saying that it's art to be showing this, but to have courage to do it, theres something. The way I display this movie where it can't be like an exploitation movie like "Last House on the Left", where the tagling is "It's only a movie! It's only a movie!", it's because "Salo" can't advertise in that fashion and it shoudln't. I'm not saying it's a movie that is above "Last House", but has some element like it, but takes it a step further. the one thing i discovered while watching "Salo" was that Passolini was trying to invoke some sort of humor. Just a little bit, not a whole lot. After all this trauma and masochism he ends the movie with a operatic score while the kids are taking there punishment. Then he cuts it while it gets to serious, and goes to two young soldiers switching the operatic score with slow dance music. The two young boys start practicing there waltz on each other and the movie just fades out and the title "FIN" come up. I was just, what the hell. I doubt he was trying to invoke humor in that scene, but his intentions are unknown. While watching you wonder why the kids don't devise a plan to escape or fight back at. I waould of, well actually I don't know, hold up i would fight back at least and die rather than getting raped. I think thats how Passolini was exploring fascism, these kids conformed to every sick idea these aristocrats offered, not even on fight or anything. Just hoping that they lay mercy. That's just me getting angry, and that's probably what Passolini was trying point out. the other aspect I realized while watching it is that this felt like it actually happened. It felt like this could happen and that it actually did happen, probably some time or aonther a bunch of aristocrats did this and no one knew. Passolini was a great director, poet, and a bunch of other crazy things. Someone please dare themselves to watch this movie and talk to me about it, becasue i can't anyone of my friends to watch. Even though I shouldn't make any of my friends to watch it. i want someone to talk to about this. And if you have too man people in your house and you want them to go away just pop this in. Trust me, it will work. This is Aliye Nyoka saying "Good Night, and Good Luck"

Opening Night of Grindhouse Film Festival in Portland, Oregon

I just went to the Grindhouse Film Festival opening with my littl cousin Adib at the Hollywood Theatre and it was crackin'. I respect the Hollywood Theatre and go periodically because all I have to do is take the 75 bus from North Portland and it drops me right off in front. It is a nice theatre and close to a revival house as much as possible. Mostle movies that play in Cinema21 take there run Northwest they basically come to the Hollywood Theatre. Enough with my love affection for the theare let's get the festival and reviews of certain movies I've been looking for on ebay and finally get to see a beautiful print of.
My cousin and I Adib went to go "Zombi" or Zombi 2" and i always knew that the only way to watch "Zombi" was to see it on the big screen. It's impact on a TV screen does not work the same way the big screen offers. I've been Lucio Fulci fan for years and find his films and Italian gore charming. My cousin Adib was exposed to this film before and loved it even more on the big screen. The kid loves zombies. The print had a few cuts and scratches but manageable and kept the grindhouse feeling behind it. Besides, to show grindhouse films in a grindhouse theatre the Hollywood certainly offers that ora. As for Lucio Fulci's masterpiece it still holds up and continues the venue of Fulci being "the poet of the living dead". His zombies are just beautiful, disgusting but beautiful. They are scary, but really just steal the show. The rest of the movie is just an after thought. The human characters you get with and want them to survive, but when you think their gonna win over the zombies and kill them in cool ways...............it never happens. The zombies steal the show and always win and you'll begin rooting for the zombies instead of the characters. The movie is much more than three shots, it deals with atmosphere. Violence, nudity, enterainment.............its all there. The three shots consist of a zombie vs a shark under water( awesome scene), Olga Karlatos getting a wooden shard in her eye(shown uncut), and a zombies tearing the flesh from the neck of Arnette Gay(executed beautifully). Those are the true high marks of the movie, and it still finds a audience till this day. In its day it was considered an atrocity relied patrons to bring barf bags to the movie for there own uses. The obscene violence would cause the audience to throw up, and still makes me queasy. In the end Fulci is a "Poet of the Living Dead".
I missed "Coffy" but will plan to see tomorrow, instead i saw a movie that i have been wanting o see since I was in middle school. A movie I have been trying to get on a dubbed bootleg since high school and so forth, and now it is presented in widescreen, subtitled at the Hollywood Theatre. The movie is JIMMY WANG YU'S CHINESE BOXER. This movie rules, first and foremost jimmy WAng Yu is a huge influence on me growing up watching bootleg copies of "Master of the Flying Guillotine". The man is often credited as a chinese Clint EAstwood, to me he is the Chinese Charles Bronson. This man rocks and is highly underrated. I will being posting up excerpts comemorating the man later in this site. The guy is a true independent, he directs, star, writes, produce his own films. How i heard of teh Chinese Boxre was growing as a middle shooler and watching 'Reur of teh Chinese Boxer", and loving that so much that I wondered what happened with the "CHinese Boxer". I looked and it was really out of print and hard to get. I read all about in my research of Jimmy WAng Yu, and read that it was the first hand to hand combat martial art movie ever to hit the screen. Pus i heard all these burly rumors about a awesome fight scene where he fights 50 people, he was the first martial artist to ever be introduced to the U.S. Many have not heard of him, but in China he's famous. He was influential as Bruce Lee , more as an actor and director. I was so hyped that the hHollywood got a print of this. I asked one of the co-ordinators about how he got the print, and a company called called Celestial have the rights to all the Shaw Brothers movie, the only problem is that its wrong region coding for America. He told me that the company gave them a sample print, and their talks and doing it right now of rematering the film on special edition DVD. I was stoked. Enough, get the film. The movies was everything I hoped it would. WAng Yu kicked some ass, macked on some girls, and I read a long time ago from Taranitno saying the spaghetti westerns was eminent in kung fu films and I never saw that until now. Wang Yu is and has always been influence by samurai films and spaghetti films. The jump cuts in the fight scenes were well put together, not enough to distract the movie. As for the plot, it was pure simple vengeance. The beauty of spaghetti westerns are analyzed in the form of kung fu melodrama. The thing about WAng Yu and his films is it's not just kung fu, but he uses other matiral arts and other type of Asian actors to perpetuate the story. He uses indians, japanese, thai. The man has a open mind. And of course the kung fu was spectacular. Need I say more, I definitely love this film and you should check it out tomorrow, because thats the last time its playing. See it in the theatres while you can its worth it!!!! I'm Aliye Nyoka saying see you later masturbater! I'll be back with more Grindhouse films.

Review for "Where the Truth Lies"

Atom Egoyan is hit and miss, but when hes on it, he is definitely on it. I, personally, think he can do no wrong and I love all his films. I feel that everything he does leaves a mark on the audience. Other people tend to regard his films as slow and pretentious. If you look at "The Sweet Hereafter", as as slow it may be, theirs still no denying it is perfect cinema. His movies have a remarkle way of leaving you speechless. "Where the Truth Lies" is no excpetion, the style let alone is rivaled to BRain De Palma. Its like a Atom Egoyan film directed by Brian De Palma. Even he out De Palma'd De Palma. I don't think De Palma films just erotically entertaining and overwrought in style, there's still a lot of substance in his eary work form late 70's to 80's and early 90's. Its like Egoyan extends that view and makes it far more entertaining, sexier and intriguing. With that notion, it goes the same with "Where the Truth Lies". The story of a Martin and Lewis comic duo played by Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth who are in tales sex, lies and intrigue. Sounds like a tagline to a soft-core porn, but for some reason Egoyan seems to be working in that ground and extending into well crafted piece entertaing fare. Egoyan takes on many themes in his films, but this by far his entertaining. The comic duo do telethons to raise money for kids with handicaps, and Kevin BAcon really carries that Jerry Lewis persona, same with Egoyan capturing that era. But what lies underneath their personas lies a past which a sexy young bellhop was murdered under Bacon and Firth's character care. ALsion Lohman plays a woman reporter out to find out out what happened on that very night. She will also be ina web of deceit and all multi-layered fabrications. All I can say that the result was due with lobsters. Kinky! Alison Lohman does a terrible job, but shes cute. As shallow that may be, she still carries the interest of the film. She also has a lesbian scene that is shot so awesome, that it made stood up and clap in the theatres. The whole feels like an Martin and Lewis one hour special with the interior of a Brian De Palma film and the feel of a Raymond Chandler thriller. That's all movie jumbo, its a very entertaining film that will amke you watch more than once(for the sex scenes) but really for the story and style! Check it out!