DJANGO AND DJANGO (2021) ***

I can see why some folks may be a little disappointed by this lightweight but entertaining documentary.  Based on the title, and the fact that it stars Quentin Tarantino, you might expect it to be an exploration on the seminal Spaghetti Western Django, and how Sergio Corbucci’s film not only inspired Tarantino’s Django Unchained, but the legions of Django rip-offs that popped up in the years in between.  Mostly though, it’s just Tarantino sitting in a movie theater and talking about Corbucci’s westerns.  (You have to wait until the movie’s almost over until you get a brief scene from Django Unchained.)  That’s fine, if you’re a fan of Tarantino and/or Corbucci (which I am).  

Django and Django is essentially a quick and breezy primer on Corbucci’s work.  Tarantino makes for more than a capable guide thanks to his encyclopedic knowledge of the Italian film industry.  Along the way, we also hear from Ruggero Deodato (who served as Corbucci’s second unit director) and Django himself, Franco Nero, although they aren’t really in it a whole lot.  I don’t know if COVID forced the filmmakers to really pare down their interview subjects, but it would’ve been nice to hear from some other talking heads.  

Then again, it might’ve worked even better had it just been Tarantino by himself introducing clips and giving background and/or history on the films.  I mean the first ten minutes are basically him recounting a deleted scene from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood about Rick Dalton meeting Corbucci.  Since Tarantino is a gifted storyteller, it's a lot of fun (especially if you’re a OUATIH fan like me).  I know he plans on retiring from directing soon, and if he eventually does, I wouldn’t mind seeing him starring in more docs like this one, shining a light on unsung exploitation filmmakers.  If Django and Django is any indication, I would say it’s a recipe for success, even if the final product feels more like a glorified DVD special feature than an honest to goodness documentary.  

BENEDETTA (2021) ***

It’s been a while since someone made an old-fashioned, down-and-dirty nunsploitation movie.  Leave it to a guy like Paul Verhoeven to bring the genre into the 21st century.  Twenty minutes in, and he’s already showing us nuns showering, shitting, and farting.  It’s moments like these when you know you’re in the hands of a master.  

Ever since she was a little girl, Benedetta (Virgine Efira) wanted to serve God.  Her parents send her off to a convent and she eventually grows up to become a sexy nun.  Benedetta takes pity on a battered woman named Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia) and begs the abbess (Charlotte Rampling) to take her in.  Bartolomea and Benedetta slowly form a romantic bond, but not before Benedetta starts having sexy dreams about Jesus.  These visions grow more and more intense, finally resulting in Benedetta receiving the stigmata.  She is immediately promoted to abbess, and she uses her power to take Bartolomea into her chambers as her lover.  Miffed, the former abbess sets out to see Benedetta tried as a heretic.  

As great as the idea of the guy who made Basic Instinct directing a horny nun movie is, I have to say that Benedetta isn’t nearly as naughty or blasphemous as you might think it is.  While some of her Jesus dreams are pretty wild, they are more humorous than dirty, and even the scenes of lusty nuns feel like they are holding back a little.  That didn’t stop people from being up in arms about the film.  If Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” music video taught us anything, it’s that any time a filmmaker tries to compare and contrast religious ecstasy with carnal ecstasy, they are inviting a ruckus.  

Verhoeven dips his toe into various exploitation subgenres along the way.  There are moments that harken back to the post-Exorcist possession craze as well as the old Mark of the Devil-style witch trial scenes.  He doesn’t go headlong into excess like the Verhoeven of old though, which some might find a tad disappointing.  I’m not saying the movie necessarily had to be lurid in order to be good, but it does at times seem restrained.  Maybe the older Verhoeven isn’t the raconteur he used to be.  That said, this is still a solid nunsploitation flick.  They don’t crank these things out like they used to, so whenever one comes along, you’ve got to take what you can get.

AKA:  Blessed Virgin.

NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021) **

Bradley Cooper stars as a man running from his shady past in the pre-WWII American heartland.  He hitches his star to a traveling carnival where he quickly works his way up the ranks from roustabout to sideshow barker.  He falls in love with Rooney Mara, who does an electrocution show, and figures out a way to make it even more sensational.  Cooper also steals an act from an aging mentalist (David Strathairn) and he and Mara leave the carny life behind to do a high-end psychic act for the dinner theater crowd.  

Up to this point, Guillermo del Toro’s noir-infused sideshow drama has worked in fits and starts.  It’s when the plot takes a 180 and Cooper hooks up with a crazed shrink (Cate Blanchett) to bilk a millionaire (Richard Jenkins) that it all comes tumbling down.  Although Blanchett really sinks her teeth into the villainous femme fatale role, Cooper seems sorely miscast throughout.  You never quite buy him as the shady carny, nor as the debonair mystic.  Maybe that was intentional as he lives his life going from one sham to another.  Since so much of the movie hinges on characters being taken in by Cooper’s charm and appeal, it just doesn’t work if the audience doesn’t buy what he’s selling.

Even in a noir thriller, there should be some sort of thrill for the audience to see the plot in motion.  Even if the filmmakers fail to pull the rug out from under us, we should at least enjoy seeing the rug being pulled out from under the characters.  Here, there’s no such thrill.  It all just kind of lumbers to its obvious, predictable conclusion.  I guess you could call it inevitable.  If film noir has taught us anything, it’s that you can only run so long before your shady past catches up with you.  However, Cooper's eventual comeuppance falls a little flat.  It’s almost as if del Toro was letting him off the hook easy.  I mean we just spent two-and-a-half hours watching this guy get over on just about everybody.  We should at least see the knife twisted once he gets what’s coming to him.  

The cinematography and production design are lush enough to keep your attention during the plot’s more interminable moments.  You can also savor seeing del Toro regular Ron Perlman popping up as a grizzled carny, and Willem Dafoe puts in a memorable turn as the sleazy carnival owner.  While it’s all nice to look at, without a strong central performance, it lacks the engine to really make for a crackling thriller.  

In fact, I’m kind of dumbfounded how it got nominated for all these awards.  I guess the Academy is still infatuated with del Toro after The Shape of Water.  Whereas that movie had the unmistakable fingerprints of a master at work, this one seems like it was more of a product of obligation rather than inspiration.    

THE BATMAN (2022) *** ½

Non-comic book movie fans are probably asking themselves why we need yet another big-screen iteration of the Caped Crusader.  If you notice, no one ever asks why we need another Shakespeare adaptation.  I’m not saying Bob Kane is better than the Bard, but like the great Shakespearian characters, Batman is steeped in tragedy, violence, and theatrics.  As with Shakespeare’s greatest works, Batman is a tale worth telling again and again, especially if you can find a new and interesting way to adapt and interpret it.  

Matt (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) Reeves’ film is a sort of a throwback to the thrillers of ‘90s (which makes me feel really old to say), especially the ones directed by David Fincher.  There are moments here that echo both Seven and The Game, and the new Riddler, while not exactly plucked out of Fincher’s Zodiac, was obviously inspired by the real-life Zodiac Killer in many ways.  Some sequences feel like they came out of a Saw movie as the Riddler’s traps have a very Jigsaw-like feel to them.  Reeves is able to cherry-pick these inspirations and graft them into a tapestry that, although familiar, feel fresh when applied to the Batman mythos.  (The prominent use of Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” adds to the overall ‘90s vibe.)

Sure, we have seen some of these elements in other films.  What we haven’t seen is this kind of Batman.  We saw how Batman trained like a Ninja, made his suit, and got all his gadgets in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.  Robert Pattinson’s Batman is interesting in that he is in his second year of vigilante justice.  While he excels at some things (namely beating the crap out of street-level thugs), he needs a lot of work in other areas.  In some scenes, when he busts out a gadget, you get the sense he is field testing it for the first time.  When he narrowly escapes capture and/or death, he has a look about him that says, “Thank God, that worked” rather than, “It’s just another day at the office”.

In fact, you could probably watch this immediately after Batman Begins (or Batman ’89 for that matter) and it would feel like a true sequel to either branch of the franchise.  

I think this might be the best and most satisfying character arc Batman has ever had in a motion picture.  In the beginning of the film, he uses fear as his primary tool.  (“They think I’m in the shadows.  They’re wrong.  I AM the shadows!”)  Eventually, he learns that fear and vengeance are not enough to save the city.  I won’t spoil his, “A-ha!” moment when he discovers the third ingredient needed to become a true hero, but I will say it’s one of the best moments in any of the Batman movies.  

I also loved that the only one who really trusts what Batman is doing is Detective Gordon.  The Bat Signal is brand new.  Whenever there’s a murder, Batman is called to investigate the crime scene, much to the chagrin of the other cops.  The way they look at him in disgust as he pores over the evidence is great.  Also great:  The crime scene photographer who knows what Batman is capable of, so he follows two steps behind him to take pictures of whatever Batman thought important at the time.  The cops distrust him so much that when Batman makes one slip-up, they immediately declare open season on him.  His escape from the police station is one of the greatest action beats in all the Batmans.  

Another all-timer moment:  His introduction.  The “THUD… THUD… THUD…” of his boots in the shadows gave off real Robocop vibes and his beatdown of a street punk was some of the most brutal shit we’ve seen Batman ever do.  Whatever reservations I had about Robert Pattinson in the Batsuit immediately disappeared.  This dude IS Batman and I hope he’s the Batman for a very long time.  

And, in a novel twist that further helps separate The Batman from the other screen versions of the character, he’s Batman for like 80% of the running time.  While he’s close-but-not-quite-there to being the Batman we all know and love, he hasn’t a clue on how to be Bruce Wayne, and I kind of loved that.  When he does show his face in public, he’s looked at as almost a twentysomething emo Howard Hughes, which is probably the last guy you’d expect to be the Batman.  

Another cool thing:  The villains arrive pretty much fully formed.  Like the character of Batman, there are no origin stories to the bad guys.  This might be the most villain-heavy film out of all the Batman flicks (if you count the cameo at the end) and each actor puts their own stamp on the role.  Colin Farrell is unrecognizable as The Penguin.  He chews the scenery with gusto and is as much fun to watch here as he was playing Bullseye in Daredevil.  Zoe Kravitz also puts her own unique stamp on Catwoman.  From her slinky catlike Kung Fu moves, to the way she nonchalantly drinks milk, she is one of the best Catwomen of all time (but we already knew that when she played the role in The LEGO Batman Movie).  

As for the main villain, Paul Dano is not your father’s Riddler.  There is nothing remotely Jim Carrey or Frank Gorshin about this guy.  He’s a real sicko who thinks he’s “changing” things.  In fact, Batman is so misunderstood by Gotham City at large in the film that Riddler actually thinks Batman is going to be the only one who understands him, much to Batman’s horror.  

Oh, and not only does this flick contain what has to be the best Batmobile since the original car from the ‘60s TV show, it also has the best superhero theme (courtesy of Michael Giacchino) theme since Danny Elfman’s music for the Michael Keaton Batman movies.

Now, much has been made about the film’s three-hour running time.  I’m afraid I have to chime in with the chorus and say, yes, it is too long.  I can’t fault Reeves.  He got the keys to the kingdom and didn’t want to relinquish them until he filled the movie to the brim with everything one could pack into a Batman flick.  The third act is where the bulk of the problem lie.  There’s probably one too many subplots (Catwoman’s daddy issues), an action sequence that feels like a leftover from the Nolan era (flooding Gotham), and a sequence where the Riddler’s henchmen are revealed to be nothing more than triggered incel gunmen.  Did we really need an active shooter sequence in a Batman movie?  Especially when you consider the same kind of real-life nut already opened fire in a theater showing The Dark Knight all those years ago?  It seemed like a case of poor judgement rather than poor taste to me, but it did allow Batman to do yet another epic beatdown, so there’s that.  At least it culminates in a truly memorable moment where Batman saves the day.  This moment alone was probably worth all the little hiccups along the way.  

Who knows with these things?  These little third act issues might go away on repeated viewings.  (My problems with the third act of The Dark Knight still stand every time I watch it, so it could go either way.)  I already can’t wait to watch it again, so there’s that.  I don’t think they’ve made a bad Batman movie yet (yes, I like Batman and Robin), and this one is one of the best.  

RANKING THE BATMEN:

1. The LEGO Batman Movie

2. Batman

3. Batman Begins

4. Batman v. Superman:  Dawn of Justice

5. The Dark Knight

6. The Batman

7. Batman Returns

8. The Dark Knight Rises

9. Justice League

10. Batman and Robin

11. Batman Forever

12. Batman:  The 1943 Serial

13. Batman:  The 1949 Serial

14. Zack Snyder’s Justice League

15. Suicide Squad

16. Batman:  The Movie

17. Batman:  Mask of the Phantasm

SINISTER CINEMA CLASSIC HORROR TRAILERS VOLUME 6 (199?) ***

Although it is a solid horror trailer compilation, Sinister Cinema Classic Horror Trailers Volume 6 feels like a little bit of a letdown after the awesome Volume 5.  A lot of that has to do with the abundance of déjà vu as many trailers from other volumes in the series pop up yet again (A Bucket of Blood, Circus of Horrors, and The Devil’s Hand, just to name a few).  Even though many of the trailers are overly familiar, the more obscure ones don’t have the same jaw-dropping spark as the others found throughout the series.  That said, it still makes for breezy, undemanding fun for horror trailer fans like me.  

This installment in the series begins with trailers for Door-to-Door Maniac (starring Johnny Cash and Ron Howard), The Tower of London (starring Vincent Price), The Curse of the Living Corpse (which has a “Fright Release” gimmick), and Horror Castle (which spells Christopher Lee’s name wrong).  Highlights include Hillbillys in a Haunted House (boasting an appearance by the “new” singing star, Merle Haggard), Munster, Go Home (introduced by Herman Munster himself), Night of the Bloody Horror (which refuses to show any scenes from the movie), and Audrey Rose (which basically just shows the cover of the novel it's based on).  There’s also the usual smattering of spook show ads and drive-in snipes, although many of them have already appeared in other volumes throughout the series.

Things end with a long run of William Castle trailers.  While many of these have popped up elsewhere, the ones that he personally introduces are always fun to watch (especially the one for Homicidal where he interviews theater patrons after they’ve just seen the shocking ending).  As a bonus, the final trailers are merely snippets promoting the various gimmicks Castle used in his films like “The Ghost Viewer” (13 Ghosts), “Ermergo” (House on Haunted Hill), and a life insurance policy from Lloyd’s of London (Macabre). 

Sure, there are some overly familiar trailers here.  Then again, I’m only saying that because I watched the entire Sinister Cinema Classic Horror Trailer collection over the course of two weeks.  If you happen to pop this in without seeing the others in the series (or if you don’t watch nearly as many trailer compilations as I do), you’re sure to enjoy it.  

Here's the complete listing of trailers:  Door-to-Door Maniac (AKA:  Five Minutes to Live), The Tower of London, The Curse of the Living Corpse, Horror Castle, Billy the Kid vs. Dracula, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter, The She Beast, Rasputin, the Mad Monk, Hillbillys in a Haunted House, Munster, Go Home, Horror House, The Wizard of Gore, Tales from the Crypt, The Thing with Two Heads, The Asphyx, Madhouse, The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe, Arnold, Screams of a Winter Night, Beyond the Door, Shock Waves, Audrey Rose, The House Where Death Lives, The Evil, Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror, The She-Creature, I Bury the Living, A Bucket of Blood, Horrors of the Black Museum, How to Make a Monster, The Headless Ghost, Circus of Horrors, The Hypnotic Eye, The Little Shop of Horrors, Beast from Haunted Cave, The Devil’s Hand, The Devil’s Partner, The Screaming Skull, From Hell It Came, Blood of Dracula, Giant from the Unknown, The Return of Dracula, The Monster of Piedras Blancas, Curse of the Undead, Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow, Mr. Sardonicus, Homicidal, Zotz!, The Tingler, 13 Frightened Girls, 13 Ghosts, Strait-Jacket, House on Haunted Hill, 13 Ghosts, House on Haunted Hill, and Macabre.  

SINISTER CINEMA CLASSIC HORROR TRAILERS VOLUME 5 (199?) *** ½

It’s rare that the fifth installment of a franchise is the best, but Sinister Cinema Classic Horror Trailers Volume 5 is that rare beast.  It far surpasses its predecessors when it comes to cool, creepy, and cult trailers.  I think the secret to this one’s success is the fact that after four volumes, the previous entries had already pretty much exhausted a wealth of famous and/or familiar trailers.  That leaves us with a lot of obscure titles, lesser-quality low budget flicks, and trailers that almost never turn up on these compilations.  

Highlights include trailers for Roger Vadim’s Blood and Roses (which uses the stock music from the old Universal horror flicks), the WTF Mexican kids’ movie Little Red Riding Hood and the Monsters, the alliterative ad for The Devil’s Wedding Night (“Diabolic demons delirious with desire!”), Allan Sherman introducing the trailer for My Son, the Vampire, and a young Linnea Quigley being terrorized by the Psycho from Texas.  There’s also plenty of oddball shit along the way, like The Gorilla Gang (narrated by “Edgar Wallace”), The Spirit is Willing (a ghost comedy starring Sid Caesar and produced by William Castle), and Monstroid, (which the narrator keeps referring to as “Monster”).  Even though some films from other collections appear again, they almost always use different trailers (like The Island of Dr. Moreau) and/or alternate titles (like Welcome to Arrow Beach), which is great for completists.   

Some of the most memorable previews revolve around gimmicks.  The trailer for The Mask on hosted by an expert on masks (who has “the most comprehensive collection in the world”) hawking the “Miracle Movie Mask”.  (It’s just a fancy 3-D viewer.)  In Monsters Crash the Pajama Party, people in costumes “jump out of the screen and into the audience”.  And Wicked Wicked uses “Duovision”, which is just split screen.

The intermission ads, concession stand commercials, and drive-in snipes are even more awesome this time around.  Some of the best are the commercial for Eskimo Pies, an ad for a “Movie Discount Card” for teenagers to use at drive-ins, a concession stand promo featuring Dixieland Jazz musicians, and a great ‘70s Coke intermission ad called “Looking for a Good Time”.  My favorite though is an intermission interstitial for Sprite that copies the starfield special effects from 2001.  Like that flick, Sinister Cinema Classic Horror Trailers Volume 5 is out of this world!

The full line-up is as follows:  Pharaoh’s Curse, The Thing That Couldn’t Die, The Bat, Blood and Roses, Circus of Horrors, Castle of Blood, The Curse of the Living Corpse, The Murder Clinic, Little Red Riding Hood and the Monsters, A Taste of Blood, The Death Curse of Tartu, a double feature of It! and The Frozen Dead, Twisted Nerve, Venus in Furs, Crescendo, Night of Dark Shadows, Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things, The Devil’s Wedding Night, Cat O’Nine Tails, From Beyond the Grave, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Welcome to Arrow Beach, House of Whipcord, The Gorilla Gang, Kiss of the Tarantula, a double feature of Cauldron of Blood and Crucible of Horror, The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters, The Man Who Could Cheat Death, The Awful Dr. Orloff, The Horrible Dr. Hichcock, My Son, the Vampire, The Mask, Black Sabbath, The Horror of Blackwood Castle, Monsters Crash the Pajama Party, Lady in a Cage, Hysteria, the “Orgy of the Living Dead” triple feature of Revenge of the Living Dead, Curse of the Living Dead, and Fangs of the Living Dead, Mark of the Witch, Simon, King of the Witches, Raw Meat, Blood Orgy of the She-Devils, Wicked Wicked, The Spirit is Willing, The Savage is Loose, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, Psycho from Texas, Horror Hotel (AKA:  Eaten Alive), Monstroid, and Bluebeard.  

SINISTER CINEMA CLASSIC HORROR TRAILERS VOLUME 4 (199?) ***

Sinister Cinema trailer collection numero four-o kicks off with previews for such ‘50s shockers as Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (a film that seems to be under the impression that Dr. Jekyll was a vampire?!?) and A Bucket of Blood, before setting its sights on Mexican horrors like Face of the Screaming Werewolf and Black Pit of Dr. M.  We also get trailers featuring Barbara Steele (The Ghost and Nightmare Castle), rare and/or cheap looking movies (The Devil’s Bedroom, Alabama’s Ghost, and Curse of the Voodoo), trailers for films that have appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Bloodlust!, Tormented, and Ring of Terror), and at least one horror flick starring an extremely unlikely leading man (Pat Boone in The Horror of It All).  The collection eventually concludes with a trio of trailers for “respectable” ‘70s horrors like The Stepford Wives, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and The Amityville Horror.  

All in all, Volume 4 is another typically entertaining trailer compilation from Sinister Cinema.  It features a good mix of black and white (Night Tide, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, and Dead Eyes of London) and color (The Gruesome Twosome, Creature with the Blue Hand, and Night of the Blood Monster) films.  Since I’ve been watching so many compilations lately, there were more than a few trailers that I have seen in other collections.  Despite that, there are just enough distinct trailers here to make it recommended.  For example, Alfred Hitchcock pops up in so many compilations in the trailers for The Birds and Psycho, two of the most famous trailers of all time.  Because of that, it was nice seeing him introducing the trailer for the lesser-appreciated Family Plot in this collection.  

As per usual, this volume is supplemented with lots of great old-timey commercials (for Dr. Pepper), coming attraction interstitials, and concession stand ads.  (My favorite was the one for candy bars that proclaims they are “Delicious and Nutritious!”)  I also found a couple of bonkers looking movies to add to my watchlist like Crash! and Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary (which has the great tagline, “It will turn your blood to ICE… for the Devil’s cocktail!”).  If it can introduce me to WTF movies I’ve never heard of, then that means Sinister Cinema Classic Horror Trailers Volume 4 has done its job.   

The full line-up includes:  Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, A Bucket of Blood, Face of the Screaming Werewolf, Black Pit of Dr. M, Night Tide, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Dead Eyes of London, The Ghost, The Devil’s Bedroom, The Horror of It All, The Black Cat, Nightmare Castle, Something Weird, Targets, The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman, Alabama’s Ghost, Night of a Thousand Cats, The Flesh and Blood Show, Crash!, The House on Skull Mountain, Family Plot, The Worm Eaters, The Medusa Touch, Silent Scream, Bloodlust!, The Devil’s Hand, The Dead One, Tormented, The Shadow of the Cat, Dr. Cadman’s Secret (AKA:  The Black Sleep), Ring of Terror, The Mad Executioners, The Black Torment, Curse of the Voodoo, A Study in Terror, The Vulture, She Was a Hippy Vampire (AKA:  The Wild World of Batwoman), The Gruesome Twosome, Creature with the Blue Hand, Night of the Blood Monster (AKA:  The Bloody Judge), Disciples of Death, Mark of the Devil Part 2, Don’t Open the Window, Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary, The Stepford Wives, Shadow of the Hawk, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and The Amityville Horror.