Don't Be Cruel(la)

That's So Punk!
Emma Stone

So one of the buzz's of the week was an image of Emma Stone as Cruella De Vil from the upcoming Disney origin story "Cruella" from the classic "101 Dalmatians."

Of course the Twitter-verse went into overdrive Tweeting like an angry bird frenzy about Stone's look in the upcoming dog tail.

"Uh is tim Burton directing this," asked Andy Signore on Twitter, referencing her "Edward Scissorhands" look.

"EMMA STONE COMO CRUELLA DE VIL... DISNEY STOP THIS,"

"She doesn't really fit the right class for her decade in this outfit. She looks more like a middle class thug in New Orleans than Upper Crust London,"

"More like this," said another person, comparing Stone's look to Frank N. Furter from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

The new look was revealed during Disney's D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.

Stone made a video appearance during the expo, revealing that the film will be set in London's punk rock era of the 1970s.

Phew that explains it all. Although I took to the look right off the bat myself...I guess I'm not a hardcore stickler when it comes to historically accurate details in a film about a mad woman who wants a coat made of Dalmatians.

Mic Drop!

Cruella on IMDb -
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3228774/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_3

Film Buff Friday: Alice, Sweet Alice

About that time Brooke Shields got offed in a horror movie...

A young Brooke Shields meets an untimely end in this religious-themed proto slasher par excellence from director Alfred Sole. On the day of her first communion, young Karen (Brooke Shields) is savagely murdered by an unknown assailant in a yellow rain mac and creepy translucent mask. But the nightmare is far from over - as the knife-wielding maniac strikes again and again, Karen's bereaved parents are forced to confront the possibility that Karen's wayward sister Alice might be the one behind the mask. Bearing influences from the likes of Hitchcock, the then-booming Italian giallo film and more specifically, Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now, Alice, Sweet Alice is an absolutely essential - if often overlooked - entry in the canon of 1970s American horror.

Bonus Materials

• Brand new 2K restoration of the theatrical version from the original camera negative
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original uncompressed mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary with Richard Harland Smith
• Archival audio commentary with co-writer/director Alfred Sole and editor Edward Salier
• First Communion: Alfred Sole Remembers Alice, Sweet Alice - director Alfred Sole looks back on his 1976 classic
• In the Name of the Father - brand new interview with actor Niles McMaster
• Sweet Memories: Dante Tomaselli on Alice, Sweet Alice - filmmaker Dante Tomaselli, cousin of Alfred Sole, discusses his longtime connection to the film
• Lost Childhood: The Locations of Alice, Sweet Alice - a tour of the original Alice Sweet Alice shooting locations hosted by author Michael Gingold
• Alternate Holy Terror Television Cut
• Deleted scene
• Alternate Opening Titles
• Trailer and TV Spot
• Original screenplay
• Image gallery

Sales Points

• 80% Approval Rating on Rotten Tomatoes
• Classic horror inspired by Nicolas Roeg's 'Don't Look Now' and the films of Alfred Hitchcock.
• First motion picture role for Brooke Shields who went on to superstardom with 'Pretty Baby', 'The Blue Lagoon' and 'Endless Love'.

Press Quotes

A superior modern Gothic thriller

     —US Magazine

Order Here - https://mvdb2b.com/b2b/s/AV213 

If You Don't Know Me

Teddy Pendergrass - If You Don't Know Me  coming to Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD on August 23rd New feature-length documentary details his extraordinary triumph over adversity

"A comprehensive and engrossing documentary that adds dimension  to the life of the late singing star." - Philadelphia Inquirer "Considerably superior to Bohemian Rhapsody." - Philadelphia Weekly "Lichtenstein's terrific documentary reveals the so-incredible-it's-amazing-it's-not-a-Hollywood-movie story of 'the black Elvis'. - Metro "Lichtenstein does a brilliant job of explaining what a vital figure Pendergrass was  for US black culture in the 1970s...The archive footage she presents is captivating and  beautifully emphasizes the utterly irresistible pull of the man." - Record Collector  If You Don't Know Me is the powerful and moving story of R&B star Teddy Pendergrass (Theodore DeReese Pendergrass), who was on the brink of global super-stardom when tragedy struck. A compelling tale with surprising twists and turns, the film is an intimate portrait of one of the greatest singers of his generation. It also tells how Teddy fought for the rights of African-American artists in a 1970s music industry prejudiced against black performers and reveals how, aged just 31, Pendergrass overcame terrible tragedy to get back on stage against all the odds.   The film's triumphant world premiere at the Philadelphia Film Festival (Teddy's home city), resulted in an Audience Award and a nomination for the Pinkenson Award. The film also had successful screenings at DOC NYC, Minneapolis Sound Unseen Film Festival and San Francisco Black Film Festival. Earlier this year, If You Don't Know Me was shown to sold-out cinemas in the UK, on Sky Arts and also aired on Showtime in the US.   Director and BAFTA award-winner, Olivia Lichtenstein conceived, researched and directed the film, which reveals Teddy's meteoric rise from his tough childhood in Philadelphia to become the lead singer of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. His was the voice of worldwide hits, "Don't Leave Me This Way" and "If You Don't Know Me by Now."   Olivia recalls: "I grew up listening to soul music and I'd just started listening to Teddy again when I saw a documentary about Shep Gordon, the legendary artist manager who worked with everyone from Blondie to Alice Cooper - and Teddy. It included a little bit about him working with Teddy Pendergrass and it made me realize that I didn't know what had happened to him. I had a really strong sense that I had to make a film to tell his story."   Olivia contacted Shep Gordon, who agreed to join the project as an executive producer, along with Michael and Katherina Saunders. A short trailer was enough to sell the idea to BBC Films, who stepped in to co-finance the production with Wasted Talent. The 106-minute documentary features revealing interviews with his family, including Teddy's ex-wife Karen, mother Ida - now 101-years-old, as well as friends and industry legends, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The film also boasts rarely seen archive footage and a super soulful soundtrack.    Lichtenstein added: "This is an extraordinary, human story that feels almost Shakespearian - it's much more than just a music biopic, it's an intimate portrait both of Teddy and of the extraordinary times in which he lived. We really get to know him because we hear from so many people who were close to him. It almost feels as if he comes back to life to let the world hear him sing again."   Producer Ian Flooks of Wasted Talent said: "We were committed to this film and extraordinary story from the start, especially given our roots and unique experience in the music industry before expanding into film, theater and digital media, so it was the perfect fit for us." Producer Piers Tempest of Tempo Productions adds: "Teddy's story is an important and ultimately inspiring one and we are delighted to help shine a light on the man and his music".

Film Buff Friday: Teen Movie Hell

Go Teen, Or Go Home!!!

Born in the drive-in theater backseats of the 1970s, the demonic visions of Teen Movie Hell  fueled the VCR, cable TV, and shopping mall multiplex booms of the 1980s before collapsing in the 1990s in a pixelated pile of cable dissipation and Internet indulgences. Between George Lucas's American Graffiti in 1973 and Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused twenty years later, lust-driven laugh riots on the order of Animal House, Porky's, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Revenge of the Nerds boomed at the box office and conquered pop culture by celebrating adolescent misbehavior run amok.

Puberty-powered comedy classics including Meatballs, Caddyshack, Valley Girl, and The Last American Virgin fused hormonal overloads with anti-authority abandon and below-the-belt slapstick to create a genre that also unleashed the anarchic, sex-mad likes of The Swinging Cheerleaders, H.O.T.S., Hardbodies, Private School, Joysticks, Spring Break, and Zapped! as well as the mainstream variations Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Pretty in Pink.

In more than 350 reviews, all-seeing author Mike "McBeardo" McPadden (Heavy Metal Movies) passes righteous judgment over the entire genre, one boobs-and-boner opus at a time. The book also features contributions by Eddie Deezen (Grease, Midnight Madness, Zapped!), Kat Ellinger (Diabolique), Wendy McClure (The Wilder Life), Katie Rife (The Onion AV Club), Samm Deighan (Diabolique), and Kier-La Janisse (House of Psychotic Women), plus guest reviews by Lisa Carver (Rollerderby), Heather Drain (Video Watchdog), Christina Ward (Feral House), Rachel McPadden, and Liz Mason (Quimby's).

Tap the keg, tailor your toga, and belly flop hard into the exploitation inferno of bikinis beaches, locker rooms, summer camps, study halls, wayward teachers, cool camp counselors, wet-T-shirts, custom vans, sexy ESP, shower peepholes, and other overlooked penal code violations!

For more photos and info, and to pre-order, go  

HERE

Saturday Sinema: Horror Express

All Aboard!!!

Horror royalty and Hammer alumni Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee reunite for this tale of mad monks, primitive humanoids and bloodthirsty zombies set aboard a train bound for Moscow - all aboard the Horror Express! Renowned anthropologist Saxton (Lee) boards the Trans-Siberian Express with a crate containing the frozen remains of a primitive humanoid which, he believes, may prove to be the missing link in human evolution. But all hell breaks loose when the creature thaws out, turning out to be not quite as dead as once thought! Directed by Spanish filmmaker Eugenio Martin, Horror Express remains one for the most thrilling (and, quite literally!) chilling horror efforts of the early 1970s.

Bonus Materials

• Brand new 2K restoration from original film elements
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original Uncompressed mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary with Stephen Jones and Kim Newman
• Introduction to the film by film journalist and Horror Express super-fan Chris Alexander
• Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express - an interview with director Eugenio Martin
• Notes from the Blacklist - Horror Express producer Bernard Gordon on working in Hollywood during the McCarthy Era
• Telly and Me - an interview with composer John Cacavas
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Fully-illustrated collector's booklet with new writing by Adam Scovell

Order Here: https://mvdb2b.com/b2b/s/AV179

Flower Power!

In Bloom
Lady Gaga 

"Flower Power was a slogan used during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and non-violence ideology"

Lady Gaga has been keeping a low profile as of late. Trust me, I follow her on Instagram and she has only resurfaced recently and for a blip, only to disappear again.

That means our Lady of Gaga is werking, not twerking. However she was snapped recently on the streets of NYC carrying a vase full of flowers on prominent display.

Hmmmmmmmm...is there a cryptic meaning to these in your face blossoms, such as peace out? Or perhaps they signal a new, not a bad, romance...or...

Whatever the case, this pic is giving good vibes only, which is something we all need.

Holla!

Gaga on the "Gram" -
https://www.instagram.com/ladygaga/?hl=en  

Now More Than Ever

File This Under: Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmm...

Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago is the unbelievable true story of the rock band Chicago. 

Spanning 50 years, from 1967 to the present day, it highlights a band that has sold over 100 million records and has never taken a year off of touring, still playing well over 100 shows a year. 

Detailed are several stories behind their hits and a look at the way they dealt with both ups and downs on their way to becoming the highest-selling band of the 1970s and the second highest selling American band of all time.

Featuring interviews from band members both past and present, as well as those behind-the-scenes, the film shows Chicago as no one has ever seen them before.

As seen and promoted on CNN's January 1, 2017 broadcast

Pre-order at MVDshop.com or on Amazon 

Charlie Chaplin, Chinatown, All That Jazz...Read More!

Hey all you film buffs out there, you know who you are. Look what I have for you..read more! 

Dr. Wes D. Gehring, prolific film scholar and Distinguished Professor of Film Studies at Ball State University, has published 36 books, all of them focused on American film comedy, be it romantic comedy, screwball comedy, dark comedy, populist comedy, parody, or personality comedy. Most recently, his focus has been dark comedy, resulting in his late 2014 study,Chaplin's War Trilogy: An Evolving Lens in Three Dark Comedies, 1918-1947, now followed in 2016 with Genre-Busting Dark Comedies of the 1970s: Twelve American Films.  

Chaplin's War Trilogy, selected by the Huffington Post as one of the "Best Film Books of 2014," traces dark comedy elements throughout Chaplin's oeuvre, but with special focus on three war-related films: SHOULDER ARMS (1918), THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940), and MONSIEUR VERDOUX (1947). It was Pablo Picasso's "Guernica," through which the painter expressed his shock and outrage over what was happening in the Spanish Civil War, that inspired Gehring to examine Chaplin's work from a similar perspective. What he found was that, the master filmmaker had used dark comedy in three different ways over the years. That is, with SHOULDER ARMS, Chaplin had used it to help the US, Great Britain, and their allies win World War I; with THE GREAT DICTATOR, he used it to try and stop World War II; and with MONSIEUR VERDOUX, he used it to condemn, by implication, business interests which provoked international wars in order to profit from them. Choice (the go-to reference for library purchasing in the US) wrote that, "This tribute to Chaplin is both a brilliant analysis and a cultural history...Gehring remains supreme in film comedy scholarship."

A key theme in Chaplin's War Trilogy (one of many books Gehring has written about that director's life and career) was how contemporary audiences and critics alike were put off by THE GREAT DICTATOR and MONSIEUR VERDOUX, unable to find humor in the death and destruction of World War II, or in the charming menace of a serial killer, much less to see through the dark comedy haze into what Chaplin was actually saying. As the author points out, it was not until the 1960s, with the success of films like Stanley Kubrick's DR. STRANGELOVE, that both reviewers and filmgoers finally caught up with what Chaplin had been doing in the 1940s and rediscovered his previously under-appreciated dark comic masterpieces of that decade. Gehring also came to understand how the national tumult of the 1960s (e.g., urban riots, political assassinations, and especially the Vietnam War) led American movie directors to make dark comedy a pivotal, and often commercially successful, film genre of the 1970s. 

After lecturing on the subject of his latest Chaplin book at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 2014, Gehring decided to turn that larger insight into a new book titled Genre-Busting Dark Comedies of the 1970s, in which he would focus on twelve dark comedies released over the course of still another turbulent decade. The twelve films in question are Robert Altman's MASH (1970), Mike Nichols' CATCH 22 (1970), Arthur Penn's LITTLE BIG MAN (1970), Hal Ashby's HAROLD AND MAUDE (1971), Bob Fosse's CABARET (1972), George Roy Hill's SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE (1972), Roman Polanski's CHINATOWN (1974), Woody Allen's LOVE AND DEATH (1975), Milos Foreman's ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975), Woody Allen's ANNIE HALL (1977), Hal Ashby's BEING THERE (1979), and Bob Fosse's ALL THAT JAZZ (1979). 

Gehring opens the Epilogue for Dark Comedies of the 1970s as follows: "From the comic to the sublime, cinema has always had dark comedies. But the genre finally came into its own during the 1960s. Besides new dark comedies like Stanley Kubrick's DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964) and the reissuing of previously underappreciated ones like Charlie Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940) and MONSIEUR VERDOUX (1947) the genre was finally receiving the recognition which it deserved. Yet most of these examples smacked audiences right between the eyes with their mood, such as Chaplin's use of Hitler for humor. The full ambiguous blossoming of the genre would occur during the 1970s, fueled in part by many of the factors delineated in the prologue, including TV's gutting of old school Hollywood, a betrayed trust in feel-good Capraesque people by modern McCarthy populism, New American Cinema cannibalizing the French New Wave, and the promise of Kennedy's New Frontier quickly collapsing...into the violent discord and distrust leading to Watergate." 

Taking what he learned from the pioneering dark comedies of the 1940s and 1960s, Gehring now examines these twelve darkly comic and deeply thought-provoking films of the 1970s, a period in which American filmmakers rebelled and matured precisely in sync with members of America's Baby Boom generation, the perfect audience for some of the greatest - and darkest - comedies ever made. 

Because dark comedies were so abundant in the '70s, Gehring went out of his way to pick several films not normally thought of as being of that genre (illustrated below).

Dr. Wes D. Gehring's Chaplin's War Trilogy: An Evolving Lens in Three Dark Comedies, 1918-1947 and Genre-Busting Dark Comedies of the 1970s: Twelve American Films are both now available from McFarland & Company, Inc. 

North America, Get Ready To Be "Knifed"

DATES ADDED TO SHONEN KNIFE’S “OVERDRIVE” NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2014

Yo! Gwen Stefani - these ain't no Harajuku Girls...! Osaka’s legendary women of rock, Shonen Knife announce a return to North America for more dates to support their latest Good Charamel Records release “Overdrive”, a tip of the hat to 70s hard rock delivered in true Shonen Knife spirit. The band will be performing dates throughout the months of September and October including stops at The Music is Art Festival in Buffalo, NY and an appearance at the Anime Weekend Atlanta convention. Check out Shonen Knife’s instant classic, “Overdrive” and more amazing rock music direct from the shores of Japan at www.GoodCharamel.com. Shonen Knife “Overdrive” North American Tour 2014 9/11 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts: Black Box 9/12 Brooklyn, NY The Wick 9/13 Buffalo, NY Music is Art Festival (Delaware Park) 9/14 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom 9/16 St. Paul, MN The Turf Club 9/17 Iowa City, IA The Mill 9/18 Chicago, IL The Bottom Lounge 9/19 Detroit, MI The Magic Stick 9/20 Toronto, ON The Silver Dollar 9/22 Cambridge, MA The Middle East 9/24 Baltimore, MD The Ottobar 9/25 Durham, NC The Pinhook 9/27 Atlanta, GA 529 9/28 Atlanta, GA Anime Weekend Atlanta 9/30 Baton Rouge, LA Mud and Water 10/01 Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s 10/02 Dallas, TX Club DADA 10/03 Austin, TX Red 7 10/06 Tucson, AZ The Flycatcher 10/07 San Diego, CA The Casbah 10/08 Los Angeles, CA Bootleg Theater 10/10 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill 10/11 Portland, OR Dante’s 10/12 Seattle, WA The Tractor Tavern 10/14 Boise, ID Neutrolux 10/15 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge 10/16 Denver, CO Oriental Theater 10/17 Kansas City, KS Record Bar 10/18 St.Louis, MO The Firebird 10/20 Pittsburgh, PA 3st Street Pub 10/21 Asbury Park, NJ The Saint

For Immediate Release: Ike & Tina - On The Road: 1971-72

If you are like me you love classic rock! You also know that despite their tumultuous personal relationship, Ike & Tina Turner were a kick ass music making machine!! I can't tell you all how excited I am for the release of this on November 20th 2012....!

By combining soul music with an explosive stage show, complete with the high energy dance choreography of Tina Turner and the Ikettes, and an ingredient sorely missed in today's soul - gritty rock n' roll - Ike & Tina Turner gained a reputation as one of the great live acts of all-time. In the early 70's, legendary rock photographer Bob Gruen and his wife Nadya toured with Ike & Tina, filming them performing, on the road, and behind the scenes. Now for the first time ever this footage is available to the public... This is a look inside a hardworking band as well as an iconic couple

With portable video recorders not as prominent during that era as they are nowadays, no one has seen scenes like this. But with the release of Ike & Tina: On The Road: 1971-72, fans are finally treated to a must-see behind-the-scenes view of the band, at the peak of their powers. Similar to an earlier DVD set, The New York Dolls: All Dolled Up, the Gruens toured with Ike & Tina and documented everything in black and white (and some color as well). Now, 40 years later, fans get to experience what it was like to be with one of the most popular touring/recording bands of this time period.

In addition to simply awesome renditions of several Ike & Tina classics, we also get a glimpse of the group at work in the recording studio, Tina and the Ikettes practicing their dance routines (and primping their wigs!), and goofing around on airplanes and in airports. We even get to see inside Ike & Tina's house and the couple's funky retro '70s home décor, as Tina cooks dinner for her kids.

A lot has been written about Ike and Tina's relationship over the years (mostly in the negative light). But for many years, they were able to coexist together in the public eye, and in the process, created some of the most exciting and gripping soul/rock music ever recorded. Now with Ike & Tina: On The Road: 1971-72, we have a more than worthy visual accompaniment to their classic sounds. 

"The film Whats Love Got To Do With It? shows why Ike and Tina Turner broke up," says Gruen. "Ike & Tina: On The Road: 1971-72 shows why Ike and Tina were together for twenty years before that."

Pre-order: http://www.seeofsound.com/p.php?s=MVD5276D  

Track Listing

River Deep, Mountain High 

Pick Me Up (Take Me Where Your Home Is) 

Oh Devil 

Gulf Coast Blues 

Shake A Tail Feather 

There Was A Time 

Heard It Through the Grapevine 

Respect 

A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knockin' Every Day) 

Under The Weather 

I've Been Loving You Too Long 

Walking the Dog 

You've Got to Get That Feeling 

Try a Little Tenderness 

Proud Mary 

I Smell Trouble 

Shine 

Instrumental Theme Song 

I Want to Take You Higher