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Cult Movies (book)
''Cult Movies'' is a 1981 book by Danny Peary, consisting of a series of essays regarding what Peary described as the 100 most representative examples of the cult film phenomenon. The films are presented in alphabetical order, with each chapter featuring a story synopsis for the covered title, Peary's response to the film, production and release details, and a brief selection of contemporary critical reviews. Criteria In the book's foreword, Peary notes that out of the thousands of movies that have been made, "only an extremely small number have elicited a fiery passion in moviegoers that exists long after their initial releases." Cult movies are defined by Peary as "special films which for one reason or another have been taken to heart by segments of the movie audience, cherished, protected, and most of all, enthusiastically championed." He explains that "the typical Hollywood product" never attains cult status since all viewers perceive these average films in more or less the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danny Peary
Dannis Peary (born August 8, 1949) is an American film critic and sports writer. He has written and edited many books on cinema and sports-related topics. Peary is most famous for his book ''Cult Movies'' (1980), which spawned two sequels, '' Cult Movies 2'' (1983) and '' Cult Movies 3'' (1988) and are all credited for providing more public interest in the cult movie phenomenon. He is the brother of film critic, columnist, actor, and documentary filmmaker Gerald Peary. Early life and education Peary was born in Philippi, West Virginia to Laura Chaitan and Joseph Y. Peary, a professor. During his childhood, he moved to South Carolina, and then New Jersey. In 1971, he earned a B.A. in history from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He also worked as a film critic for the ''Daily Cardinal'' student newspaper. In 1975, he earned an M.A. in cinema, with honors, at the University of Southern California. While attending USC, he worked as the fine arts and sports editor for ''L.A. P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls
''Beyond the Valley of the Dolls'' is a 1970 American satirical musical melodrama film starring Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom, Phyllis Davis, John LaZar, Michael Blodgett, and David Gurian. The film was directed by Russ Meyer and screenwritten by Roger Ebert from a story by Ebert and Meyer. Originally intended as a sequel to the 1967 film '' Valley of the Dolls''—"dolls" being a slang term for depressant pills or "downers"—''Beyond the Valley of the Dolls'' was instead revised as a parody of the commercially successful but critically reviled original. ''Beyond'' met a similar fate; it was initially panned by critics but became a box office success. The film later developed a cult following in subsequent decades, and earned some critical reappraisal for its satirical and metafictional elements. Plot Three young women—Kelly MacNamara, Casey Anderson, and Petronella "Pet" Danforth—perform in a rock band, the Kelly Affair, managed by Harris Allsworth, Kelly's boy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
El Topo
''El Topo'' (, "The Mole") is a 1970 Mexican acid Western art film written, scored, directed by and starring Alejandro Jodorowsky. Characterized by its bizarre characters and occurrences, use of maimed and dwarf performers, and heavy doses of Judeo-Christian symbolism and Eastern philosophy, the film is about "El Topo"—a violent, black-clad gunfighter played by Jodorowsky himself—and his quest for enlightenment. Plot "El Topo" is traveling through a desert on horseback with his naked young son, Hijo. After they come across a town whose people, horses and livestock have been slaughtered, "El Topo" hunts down and kills the perpetrators and their leader, a fat balding Colonel. "El Topo" leaves his son to the monks of the settlement's mission and rides off with a woman whom the Colonel had kept as a slave. After turning bitter water sweet by stirring it with a branch, "El Topo" names the woman Marah. In need of food and water, "El Topo" spaces Marah's feet apart and digs up egg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duck Soup (1933 Film)
''Duck Soup'' is a 1933 American pre-Code musical black comedy film written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, with additional dialogue by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin, directed by Leo McCarey. Released theatrically by Paramount Pictures on November 17, 1933, it starred the Marx Brothers ( Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo in his final Marx Brothers’ movie) and also featured Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Raquel Torres and Edgar Kennedy. It was the last of five Marx Brothers movies released by Paramount Pictures. Groucho plays the newly installed president of the mythical country of Freedonia. Zeppo is his secretary, while Harpo and Chico are Sylvanian spies. Relations between Groucho and the Sylvanian ambassador deteriorate during the film, and they go to war at the conclusion. Compared to the Marx Brothers' previous films, ''Duck Soup'' was a box office disappointment, though not entirely a "flop" as is sometimes reported. The film opened to mixed reviews, although this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detour (1945 Film)
''Detour'' is a 1945 American film noir directed by Edgar G. Ulmer starring Tom Neal and Ann Savage. The screenplay was adapted by Martin Goldsmith and Martin Mooney (uncredited) from Goldsmith's 1939 novel of the same title, and released by the Producers Releasing Corporation, one of the so-called Poverty Row film studios in mid-20th-century Hollywood. In 1992, ''Detour'' was selected for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film, which today is in the public domain and freely available for viewing at various online sources, was restored by the Academy Film Archive in 2018. In April that year, the 4K restoration premiered in Los Angeles at the TCM Festival. A Blu-Ray and DVD was released in March 2019 from the Criterion Collection. Plot Al Roberts, an unemployed piano player, is hitchhiking. After getting a ride, he arrives at a roadside diner in Reno, Nevada. Another cust ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deep End (film)
''Deep End'' is a 1970 romantic drama film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski and starring Jane Asher and John Moulder Brown. Set in London, the film focuses on the relationship between two young colleagues at a suburban bath house and swimming pool. In 2009, Bavaria Media, a subsidiary of Bavaria Film, which co-produced the film in 1970 through its subsidiary Maran Film, began a digital restoration as part of the film's 40th anniversary, in co-operation with the British Film Institute. The restored film was re-released in UK cinemas on 6 May 2011 and was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on 18 July 2011 in BFI's BFI Flipside series. In March 2012, it was first shown on TV by Film4. Plot Mike (John Moulder Brown), a 15-year-old drop-out, finds a job in a public bath. There he is trained by his colleague Susan (Jane Asher), a woman 10 years his senior. Susan is a tease who plays with Mike's and other men's feelings, acting sometimes warm and affectionate and other times cold and dist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dance, Girl, Dance
''Dance, Girl, Dance'' is a 1940 American comedy-drama film directed by Dorothy Arzner and starring Maureen O'Hara, Louis Hayward, Lucille Ball, and Ralph Bellamy. The film follows two dancers who strive to preserve their own integrity while fighting for their place in the spotlight and for the affections of a wealthy young suitor. In the decades following its release, the film was subject of critical reassessment and began to garner a reputation as a feminist film. In 2007, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", describing it as Arzner's "most intriguing film" and a "meditation on the disparity between art and commerce. ''Dance, Girl, Dance'' was edited by Robert Wise, whose next film as editor was '' Citizen Kane'' and who later won Oscars as director of ''West Side Story'' and ''The Sound of Music''. Plot While dancing at the Palais Royale i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witchfinder General (film)
''Witchfinder General'' (titled onscreen as ''Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General'') is a 1968 British period horror film directed by Michael Reeves and starring Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Hilary Dwyer, Robert Russell and Rupert Davies. The screenplay by Reeves and Tom Baker was based on Ronald Bassett's novel of the same name. The film is a heavily-fictionalised account of the murderous witch-hunting exploits of Matthew Hopkins (Price), a lawyer who falsely claimed to have been appointed as a " Witch Finder Generall" by Parliament during the English Civil War to root out sorcery and witchcraft. The plot follows Roundhead soldier Richard Marshall (Ogilvy), who relentlessly pursues Hopkins and his assistant John Stearne (Russell) after they prey on his fiancée Sara (Dwyer) and execute her priestly uncle John Lowes (Davies). Made on a low budget of under £100,000, the film was produced by Tigon British Film Productions. In the United States, where it was distributed by Ameri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Citizen Kane
''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently cited as the greatest film ever made. The ''Sight & Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * For 50 consecutive years, it stood at number 1 in the British Film Institute's ''Sight & Sound'' decennial poll of critics, and it topped the American Film Institute's 100 Years ... 100 Movies list in 1998, as well as its 2007 update. The film was nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories and it won for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Mankiewicz and Welles. ''Citizen Kane'' is praised for Gregg Toland's cinematography, Robert Wise's editing, Bernard Herrmann's music, and its narrative structure, all of which have been considered innovative and precedent-setting. The quasi-biographi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casablanca (film)
''Casablanca'' is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, and starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid. Filmed and set during World War II, it focuses on an American expatriate (Bogart) who must choose between his love for a woman (Bergman) or helping her husband (Henreid), a Czech resistance leader, escape from the Vichy-controlled city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Germans. The screenplay is based on '' Everybody Comes to Rick's'', an unproduced stage play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. The supporting cast features Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Dooley Wilson. Warner Bros. story editor Irene Diamond convinced producer Hal B. Wallis to purchase the film rights to the play in January 1942. Brothers Julius and Philip G. Epstein were initially assigned to write the script. However, despite studio resistance, they left to work on Frank Capra's ''Why We Fight'' series early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caged Heat
''Caged Heat'', also known as ''Renegade Girls'', is a 1974 women in prison film. It was written and directed by Jonathan Demme (in his directorial debut) for New World Pictures, headed by Roger Corman. The film stars Juanita Brown, Roberta Collins, Erica Gavin, Ella Reid, Rainbeaux Smith, and Barbara Steele. John Cale wrote and performed its soundtrack music, which features the guitar playing of Mike Bloomfield. Two later films, ''Caged Heat II: Stripped of Freedom'' (1994) and ''Caged Heat 3000'' (1995), made use of the ''Caged Heat'' name and the women-in-prison situation, but are unrelated to the original film. Plot Jacqueline Wilson (Erica Gavin) is convicted for illegal drug offenses and sentenced to a women's prison. She and several fellow convicts fight the repressive policies of the prison warden (Barbara Steele). Cast * Erica Gavin as Jacqueline Wilson * Juanita Brown as Maggie * Roberta Collins as Belle Tyson * Ella Reid as Pandora * Cheryl Smith as Lavelle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burn!
''Burn!'' (original title: ''Queimada'') is a 1969 historical war drama film directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. Set in the mid-19th century, the film stars Marlon Brando as a British ''agent provocateur'' sent to overthrow a Portuguese colony in the Caribbean by manipulating a slave revolt to serve the interests of the sugar trade, and the complications that arise from the formation of a subsequent puppet state. The fictional plot is partly based on the activities of American filibuster William Walker, after whom the main character is named, and his 1855 invasion of Nicaragua. Screenwriters Franco Solinas and Giorgio Arlorio also drew on the experiences of intelligence agent Edward Lansdale, who served the United States government in the Philippines and Indochina in the 1950s through the 60s, and the Cuban Revolution. The film is an Italian and French co-production by Alberto Grimaldi, distributed internationally by United Artists. It features a musical score composed by Ennio Morri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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