Celluloid #121

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Flesh for Frankenstein (1973) Morrissey - Totally campy Warhol/Morrissey film where a mad scientists is trying to create a male and a female zombie that will procreate. He selects a human man that he believes to be a quite a ladies' man (when in fact this individual is thinking about becoming a monk). This guy's best friend is the real casanova, but the scientist's wife finds her own personal use for him. Really bloody and hilarious. 3.5/5 [decent]

I Am Curious: Yellow (1967) Sjoman - Starts off with pseudo-documentary stylings, where Lena interviews Swedish citizens about political issues of the day. Lena is also the director's lover/muse, but he loses interest as her sexual experimentation regarding free love becomes more overt. There are some really campy hippy scenes that I hope are meant to be at least a little ironic, considering Lena is often portrayed in a light typical to early 20-somethings where they want a cause to champion. I like that Lena is a little chubby and seems to flaunt her flesh while simultaneously feeling a little self-conscious. 3.5/5 [decent]

Soylent Green (1973) Fleischer - This movie is just one of those great 1970s sci-fi films, where the future being portrayed is essentially right now, but their version is so of its time with the colors and costuming and so delightfully 70s. In the future, there is no more food so citizens eat processed colorful blocks of nutrition that are carefully rationed. These are called "Soylent Red", "Soylent Yellow", etc. Soylent Green is by far the favorite. An investigator uncovers the secret behind Soylent Green and pays dearly for his knowledge. 3.5/5 [decent]

Twilight (2008) Hardwicke/Twilight: New Moon (2009) Weitz/ Twilight: Eclipse (2010) Slade - Okay, so here's the point where I lose basically all credibility for having good taste in film....I have to say that I have enjoyed watching these movies in rapid succession. This is not a huge surprise to me given my predilection for teenage drama, like to keep up on cultural phenomena, and the fact that I enjoy other shows and movies dealing with monsters. Overall the acting is noticeably bad, everyone mumbles, the music is strange, and I can't really feel that great about the ridiculous portrayal of romance setting an unreasonable example to impressionable adolescents. I don't even understand why this vampire and this werewolf are that into Bella - she's boring and stubborn and really not a very good friend. However, during the third film I found myself gasping and yelling "NO!!" at the television...obviously I have been sucked in. My roommate and I even end up talking about how minus the supernatural elements, this is actually a really accurate portrayal of high school. I would say that the first film is the best, the second really not very good, and the third definitely better than the second. I would not recommend this to anyone...I feel like you know who you are if this would appeal to you. That being said, I am pretty thrilled to watch the next installment in November (vampire baby ripping Bella's stomach open!!)...and Team Edward (even if he is a liar and kinda a creep...) ??/5 [N/A]