Once

Once, is the kind of independent film that could only be an independent film – a film about musicians with no ‘hit’ songs on the soundtrack. A character study, with no A-list stars (or any stars for that matter).

It’s a touching, film about a man with talent but no direction, and a woman who sets him off in the right direction. It is a love story without the love; romantic with out the romance – the man, known only as ‘guy’ in the story, and the woman, known only as ‘girl’ are involved only insofar as the music goes. They aren’t a couple.

With all the music actually written by the two leads, there is a genuineness to the story. It is a simple story, simply told, and than Heavens there are still some films like this.

Charles Bronson

Charles Bronson; we all know him, we love him. As popular in Europe and Asia as he was in the U.S., he was the one Hollywood tough guy actor that the whole world accepted. Trouble is, you've already seen 'Once Upon a Time in the West' & 'The Great Escape'. Where do you go from there? Well, I want to call your attention to two of Charles Bronson's lesser known films. They aren't high art by any stretch of the imagination, but they're worth seeking out if you dig movies where Charles Bronson does what he does best - speak in a gravely voice and kick butt.



First, check out 'The Mechanic' (also known as 'Killer of Killers'). No, it's not about an automotive specialist who's pushed too the brink. A mechanic is the mob code word for a hit man. And that's what Charles Bronson plays here. But it's a ruthless business, and as he gets older he sees the benefit of taking on a younger partner, in this case the son of a man he bumped off, played by Jan-Michael Vincent (remember him?). But as things heat up, it becomes clear that sooner or later one of them is going to have to go. This film is from the early 70s (1972), so the pacing may be a little slow for the X-Box generation, and while it's no 'Godfather' or 'French Connection', it certainly holds it's own when compared to the lower budget crime films of the day. Catch this original before it's butchered in a remake later this year.



The year before 'First Blood' would launch Stallone's second most popular series (after the 'Rocky' films), Charles Bronson starred in 'Death Hunt' that was either an incredible coincidence, or a movie that was directly ripped off by the makers of that first Rambo film. Instead of a Vietnam vet, here we have Charles Bronson as a Canadian fur trapper, and instead of a Sheriff, we have Lee Marvin and Carl Weathers as Mounties that are sworn to bring him in. The backdrop here is the incredibly scenic Canadian Rockies rather than the Pacific Northwest wilderness of 'First Blood', but otherwise the plot is essentially the same. One man pits his wilderness survival skills against overwhelming numbers.

I'm not saying that either of these films is the cream of the crop when it comes to Bronson's career, but I'm assuming you've already seen 'The Magnificent Seven' and the entire 'Death Wish' series more times than you can count. Why not kick back with a beer and check out some of the other films old 'Il Bruto' made?

The Spirit - is it as bad as the reviews? Well, yes... and no.

First, let's get this out of the way: I'm a comic book fan. But, I was never a fan of 'The Spirit', because despite what you might have heard, The Spirit is NOT a comic book movie.

Despite how it was marketed, The Spirit is not Batman, and is in fact, fairly faithful to it's roots. You see, Will Eisner's The Spirit comes straight out of the Sunday funnies, and as such has more in common with comic strips like 'Popeye' and 'Dick Tracy' than comic books.

So, not surprisingly, the closest big screen comparisons to The Spirit is Robert Altman's Popeye, and Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy - namely, live action cartoons.

Now, viewed as the live action equivalent of the Road Runner, The Spirit doesn't look so bad - certainly not as bad as most of the critic reviews it got. Yes, it's long on style and short on substance, but in some ways is longer on substance than the other two Frank Miller productions to hit the big screen (the overrated The 300 and Sin City). And, yes, it's another movie of actors acting in front of green screens and not particularly strongly directed - but plotwise, it holds up better than some of the other ventures of that ilk (Casshern, Sky Captain and the World of Tommorow, etc.).

But like Popeye and Dick Tracy, it's also of about the same quality of those movies - an interesting diversion, full of eye candy, but not a movie you'd want to see over and over again. Chances are if you like those two films you'll like this one, and if you hated them (like most critics), you'll hate this too.

But, the rapid fire film noir dialog, cartoony look, and the deadpan gags can make it worth a viewing, provided you're in the right frame of mind.

The Gits

When I was still in high school, a bunch of friends and I piled into a car for a short road trip from Cincinnati, OH to Antioch College in nearby Yellow Springs, OH. There I saw a band that blew me away. That band was called ‘The Gits’.

It’s hard for people to understand today just how vibrant the music scene was between the mid 80s to the early 90s. A lot of music today sounds so stale by comparison. Those of us in Generation X have to be the first generation to not only rock harder than our parents but ALSO rock harder than our kids. And even at a time when so many good bands were coming out, The Gits stood out.

When Gits lead singer Mia Zapata was found brutally raped and murdered on a desolate Seattle street in 1993 it didn’t just end that band, it ended an entire music scene.

The first half of the movie is a rockumentary and a pretty damn good one too. It instantly transported me back to the days of drunken parties with bands playing in basements and backyards that was the era of DIY music making. Chronicling a band from it’s inception to it’s zenith. Even though most of the best band footage is culled from the grunge expose 'Hype!', it's great seeing it again 15 years later.

And right when you hit the meteoric midpoint of the film, the revelation of Mia’s murder (even when you know it’s coming) hits you like a sucker punch to the gut. The second half of the film unravels like a true crime murder mystery. Will Mia’s killer ever be found?

But the film has an outlook that was very in keeping with Zapata’s life and music – never afraid to look at the dark side of things without getting overly depressing or morose. It celebrates the exuberance and wonder of the artists and that special time now two decades behind us that seems like it was only yesterday.

Still Dirty After All These Years

Dirty Harry

I was a little unsure of what I would think of Dirty Harry upon rewatching it. I mean it has been nearly 40 years since this hit the big screen and society has changed so much since then.

But I have to say in a day and age when police procedurals run on TV ad-nauseum, Inspector 71, Harry Callahan, SF Homicide division, holds up pretty well. The films are not nearly as over-the-top as I remember them, and are in fact quite believable, almost understated compared to today's cop movies.

That's not to say that Dirty Harry isn't also a window onto it's time. This first film has Harry going after 'Scorpio' a serial killer who writer John Milius no doubt based on the Zodiac Killer and the Tower Sniper (two then-recent killers who were in the media).

Overall Dirty Harry is an excellent, fast-moving, action piece with a strong protagonist. One of the best of its kind.

Magnum Force

For my money, Magnum Force is the best Dirty Harry film ever made. While the original Dirty Harry had a very direct plot, Magnum Force has a much more complex plot about a secret hit force within the SF Police Department that Harry has to uncover (while confronting his own views on the appropriate use of force). It's a little reminiscent of David Goodis' novel Night Squad.

Maybe it's the distinct lack of Dirty Harry one liners in this film that has made it the least well known of the series. If so, that's a shame, because it deserves to be remembered whenever cop films are discussed.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

Quick, what movie invented the slasher genre, with all the beats that later became clichés – right down to having the killer strike on a holiday? Halloween, right? Everybody knows that. Well… not quite. While John Carpenter’s film definitely took Psycho to the next level, it was Black Christmas that came first – by about 4 years!



Viewing Black Christmas today, one might be tempted to conclude that it really adds nothing to the genre – until one realizes that it is the genre. Some of the most memorable thing – including the infamous telephone harassment – started here. The sorority house as a setting – that started here too. Some might be tempted to say, wait, ‘didn’t Ted Bundy kill a bunch of girls in a sorority house one winter in real life?’, and the answer is yes, that’s true – but that didn’t happen until 1978 – four years after this film came out.

The cast all does a fine job, especially John Saxon as the sober police lieutenant, and Margot Kidder, though almost old enough to be the mother of some of her co-stars, manages a convincing enough performance as the sorority’s requisite bad girl.

What’s to say about The Exorcist (the version you’ve never seen), except that you have seen it – or at the very least, like Black Christmas, through cultural osmosis you’ve practically seen the whole film end-to-end, even if you’ve never sat down and watched it.



Released the day after Christmas the year before Black Christmas, the evil antagonist of The Exorcist shares a lot in common, vocally anyway, to the villain of that piece, even though here it’s a demon (possibly the Devil himself) and in the former it’s (presumably) and entirely terrestrial villain.

However, unlike Black Christmas whose ending still packs a decent punch, The Exorcist’s ending seems a bit pat nowadays. Still, the version you’ve never seen restores the hitherto missing ‘spider-walk’ scene, and that alone makes it worth checking out (again).

Socioeconomic Culture Clashes

Socioeconomic Culture Clashes: Tattoo, A Love Story and Lollilove



Tattoo, A Love Story is an independent romantic comedy about an upper middle class school teacher who is engaged to a doctor, but develops a crush on the burly tattooed biker that one of her kids brings to Show-and-Tell one day.

While it is technically well crafted, it’s a little to 'precious' for it's own good; not to mention dated, given that just about everyone has a tattoo nowadays.

With a title like that, you'd expect some edginess - especially in an indie film - but everything about this film is as tightly controlled as the type A personality of the lead character - from all-too-perfect lighting to it’s locked down tripod shots. In fact, the only bit that isn't overly prettified is the When Harry Met Sally/Jerry Maguire technique of punctuating the story with first person interviews where people talk about their tattoos.

The end result is something like a sitcom version of good-girl-meets-bad-boy, rather than the real thing, making it feel like the least independent-independent film we’ve seen in awhile.



Lollilove, on the other hand is a bit edgier. You know this from the get-go because it’s a Troma release. But it’s not your typical Troma film – no hacked off limbs, gross-out humor and the like here. Instead we get a mockumentary about an upper middle class couple (not unlike the one in Tattoo, A Love Story in many respects), who decide to form a charity – Lollilove – which seeks to solve the homeless problem one lollipop at a time.

The deadpan black humor of the piece is excellent, and the performances of the leads is outstanding - particularly Jenna Fisher who also directed this film before going on to stardom in another mockumentary - the U.S. version of 'The Office' TV series.

There’s also a lot of great bit players including Lloyd Kauffman (of course), and Judy Greer.

You can see Lollilove for free here: http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi977967385/