Flavours of the Month: February 2014...

LOOKS:

Top Gear Series 21

Lost Season 3 - the second tour through Lost continues. Season 3 is arguably stronger than the second season with a tighter narrative and a more compelling cast of additional characters. The scope of the island expanded, the mysteries grew deeper (while also giving more meat to chew on), and one of my favourite characters became a regular - Desmond.

The Money Pit (DVD) - one of those flicks I used to watch constantly as a kid (I was obsessed with all the house falling apart hijinks), but now I'm able to appreciate the wider story and certain jokes that flew over my head all those years ago.


Click "READ MORE" below for more looks, sounds, vibes & flavours...

Jungle Warriors (Ernst R. von Theumer, 1984) DVD Review

Find more exploitation DVD reviews here.

“I find ways to amuse myself.” In the steamy South American jungle a group of models have arrived for a photo shoot, just as a major drug deal is about to go down. Cesar Santiago (Paul L. Smith, Crimewave) is a major producer of cocaine and all-round ruthless drug lord, while Vito Mastranga (John Vernon, Dirty Harry) is an American crime boss who's got the money and connections to shift Santiago's powder. There's a mountain of money to be made, but will their respective arrogance turn the whole deal sour?

Click “READ MORE” below to continue the review and see more screenshots…

Red Heat (Robert Collector, 1985) DVD Review

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“Explore the naked passions in this hot-house of hell!” Just two years after the exploitation excesses of Chained Heat, Linda Blair returned to jail for Red Heat, swapping sunny Los Angeles and hot babes for the bleak hopelessness of East German cold war communism.

Click “READ MORE” below to continue the review and see more screenshots…

"The Racket" (2014)

"The Racket", is an independent documentary short film on which I worked as editor, sound designer, and script consultant.

About the film:
Written to mark the centenary of the First World War, exposes the immense profits made during the war -- a war that claimed 20 million lives yet created 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires, in America alone. Adapted from the speeches and writings of Major General Smedley Butler, the most decorated soldier in US history, The Racket combines Butler's intense respect for the ordinary soldier with critical dissent against the growing corporatism he believed to be corrupting the ideals he'd willingly die to protect.

Watch the trailer:

Pentuple Bill Mini Musings: Mayhem and More...

Machete Kills:
What's it about?
Ex-Federale and all-round blade-wielding arse-kicker Machete is recruited by the President of the United States to take down a revolutionary gone mad, and a billionaire arms dealer (and everyone else in-between), before global war erupts.
Who would I recognise in it?
Danny Trejo, Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, Amber Heard, Vanessa Hudgens, Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Jessica Alba, Antonio Bandera, Cuba Gooding Jr, Lady Gaga, Walton Goggins, Tom Savini, and more.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Director Robert Rodriguez has his fingers in multiple pies, but this time he's hands-off when it comes to the script (beyond a "story by" credit, anyway), and it really shows. The script lacks discipline and efficiency - exploitation movies don't need to make strict sense, but they do need to get where they're going fast, and Machete Kills seems rather intent on expanding beyond it's limits. The first 40 minutes feel slap-dash - multiple characters doing the job of one, excessive stunt-casting meaning numerous side characters are given little screen time, and the like - but after that, the movie does find a greater sense of focus again.

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Crazy Cheese Edition: The Walking Dead 4x11 Memes...

Find more Walking Dead memes here.

Click each image for FULL SIZE.

We're three episodes deep into season 4B and things are starting to pull together once more ... time for some new memes.

Click to Enlarge: Michonne - extremely funny to toddlers...

Click "READ MORE" below for three more 4x11 memes...

Chained Heat (Paul Nicolas, 1983) DVD Review

Find more exploitation DVD reviews here.

“Where hot desire melts cold prison steel!” The 'women in prison' genre enjoyed it's heyday during the 1970s and 1980s, shifting from Nazi camps, sweaty foreign locales, and South East Asian revolutions, to down-town Los Angeles, criminal conspiracies, and the abused inmates rioting against an inherently abusive system. Regardless of the framing – be it the concrete jungle or the actual jungle – copious nudity, savage gal-on-gal fights, torture, domination, humiliation, drugs, guns, and lead-fuelled vengeance (or any combination thereof) was the order of the day. Naturally, with such an influx of 'WIP' films, the quality varied immensely, but some of the greatest entries included Jack Hill's iconic double-whammy of The Big Doll House (1971) and The Big Bird Cage (1972), as well as Paul Nicolas' (real-name Lutz Schaarwachter) 1983 festival of flesh & action Chained Heat.

Click “READ MORE” below to continue the review and see more screenshots…

Wake Up and Smell the Crazy Edition: The Walking Dead 4x10 Memes...

Find more Walking Dead memes here.

Click each image for FULL SIZE.

Two episodes deep into the back-half of season four now, and it's been a sucky time in the woods for the survivors this week - shake off Lizzie's sheer creepiness with a six pack of memes...

Click to Enlarge: You should see her dream journal...

Click "READ MORE" below for the rest of this episode's memes ***SPOILERS AHEAD***...

Sleaze Fiend Magazine Issue #1 Review...

"Sleaze Fiend" is a new and independently produced magazine aimed at fans of the grottier corners of cinema, produced by Exploitation Cinema Planet (who also put out the Exploited Cinema podcast).

I'm one of the contributing writers to this project - of which there will hopefully be many more issues (I believe the aim is to publish quarterly) - so let's dive into the issue and see what devious delights are waiting for us.

Click "READ MORE" below to join us and plumb the depths...

Lone Wolf Carl Edition: The Walking Dead 4x09 Memes...

Fnid more Walking Dead memes here.

Well the mid-season break flew by and now we're back at it for the back-half of season four, so that can only mean it's meme time again.

Click each image for FULL SIZE.

Click to Enlarge: Cheeky bugger...

Click "READ MORE" below for three more memes for episode 4x09...