Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The Movie Club #6: Roadkill and Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

0:00 - 1:25 -- Intro/Roll Call
1:25 - 29:50 -- Roadkill
29:50 - 1:03:45 -- Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
1:03:45 - 1:08:30 -- Next Month/Outro




» Download MP3 (84 MB)


Roadkill (1989)
Directed by: Bruce McDonald
Starring: Valerie Buhagiar, Gerry Quigley, Larry Hudson, Bruce McDonald, Shaun Bowring, Don McKellar


» Other films mentioned:
Hard Core Logo
The Tracey Fragments
Clerks






Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
Directed by: Russ Meyer
Starring: Tura Satana, Haji, Lori Williams, Sue Bernard, Stuart Lancaster, Paul Trinka, Dennis Busch


» Roger Ebert's Review of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great episode. Would have loved to be a part of that because I love Meyer's films and have read allot on the guy.
For great DVD releases, you should get the UK releases from Arrow films. Great transfers and great extras, commentaries from Meyer and other stuff.

Swarez

Brad said...

I watched "Faster, Pussycat" on Turner Classic Movies this past summer and was also surprised at how non-lurid it seemed. Meyer's editing always fascinates me. He made really cheap movies but they move so quickly and were photographed so well that they are sort of their own niche genre. I really enjoyed your show. Keep up the good work.

Brad Johnson

Anonymous said...

His movies were always very fast paced and surprisingly well shot.
Check out Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens which really shines in photography, set design and it doesn't hurt that Kitten Natividad is naked most of the time.

And Up!...oh boy. Where else do you find a film that opens with Hitler being rammed in the ass with a huge dildo by a muscle man....and loving it.

Swarez

Eddie From Torrance said...

I was really suprised at how hard it is to find Faster Pussycat, i hear about it all the time yet i couldn't find it on netflix which carries Cannibal Holocaust and Funny Games so i was shocked it wasn't there.

Anonymous said...

Sorry I missed out on the "live" discussion but some thoughts:

I have a serious crush on Bruce McDonald which started after seeing this. Not only was the film gorgeous but I loved the fact that Ramona starts off as this sort of meek individual who steps up to the challenge. And she does so without losing who she is. So often women only succeed by changing something about themselves but Ramona grows without losing that initial risk taking streak - because let's face it - she has everything going against her: the boss doesn't really think she can do it, she can't drive, she's obviously never traveled much and to boot she's in search of a heavy metal band. If Hollywood had written this, Ramona's character would have been an 18 year old teenage boy. Kudos to McKellar and McDonald for keeping the character female.

As for "Faster Pussycat"...the reason I recommended this is mostly because I'd always heard about it but had no idea what it was about. I'm not a huge fan of "grindhouse"/b-movie type stuff unless it comes very highly recommended so I figured the only way I'd get to see this was if I was "forced" into it. I was as surprised and impressed with the film as you guys were. Yes, the women are physically gorgeous but they are nasty human beings and they're that way from the beginning. I think Kurt or Sean mentioned the fact that most female leads in roles at all like these seem to have some legitimate reason for being angry and looking for revenge but these chicks are just bad ass - no explanation needed. I haven't seen a lot of other films from the era or this genre so I can't compare but for me, this is really the first time I've seen this sort of female characterization in American film and I'm all for it. I would have preferred that the women be less flaky but I realize that the film would have lost much of its appeal without that and to boot, their physical appearance ties in nicely with what we've come to associate with the action movie bad asses like Schwarzenegger, JCVD or Stallone - these guys all have a specific physicality and these women seem to fit their own female version. And even though they're total badasses, I was totally cheering for the girls. I'll admit, it may have something to do with some unspoken sisterly support pact.

Great pairing of movies, both of which have exceptionally strong female characters. Rather unintentionally we again managed to bring together two movies with somewhat similar themes if very different vibes. Looks like next month is looking about the same. I'm really looking forward to it!

Great discussion guys!

Anonymous said...

Great podcast as usual.
Faster Pussycat is a great movie, the dinner scene was especially
intresting with the Texas Chainsaw link as Jack Hill's cult classic Spider Baby came out a year before Faster, Pussycat & had a similar Dinner scene which was a highlight of the movie, also had some similar themes in the both the movies too.

Kurt Halfyard said...

mmmm, Spider Baby, been meaning to check that cult item out for a while as well as FPK!K!. We'll get to the bottom of the origin of the 'freaky-dinner-sequence'!

Eddie From Torrance said...

Are listeners allowed to suggest movies for polls?

Anonymous said...

Go for it Drew. No guarantees it'll make the cut but one of us might use your suggestion as our pick!

Eddie From Torrance said...

Mulholland Dr., I've been dying to hear you guys talk about that movie! Either that or I Heart Huckabees.

Kurt Halfyard said...

Great choices, both of those films are ripe for discussion. I'm afraid that Mulholland Dr has been ta, even thought it is one of my favourites....

Eddie From Torrance said...

can you just tell me, what exactly is the ultimate film student ending?

Kurt Halfyard said...

A character shoots/drills or otherwise blasts his head off - Roll Credits.

Eddie From Torrance said...

wow