There is something romantic about a film genre set in unexplored territory in a bygone period, places untouched by Western civilization, where right and wrong are settled by the spin of a gun barrel, a […]
Category: Columns
“READ MY LIPS – NOT X RATED!” 1995’S EVIL ED TACKLES CENSORSHIP, PUNK, AND POLITICS
PUMP UP THE COLUMN EXPLORES THE MANY INTERPRETATIONS OF PUNK AESTHETIC USED IN CINEMA Genre film – in particular, horror – and punk rock have enjoyed a long and comfortable kinship. For bands like The Misfits and The Cramps, […]
HAL NEEDHAM’S “BALLET WITH BMX BIKES” RESURFACING AT SXSW THIS YEAR
BARGAIN BINNED DIGS DEEP INTO THE RANDOM AND FASCINATING TITLES FOUND IN THE CLEARANCE AISLE Director Hal Needham knew stunts. He was a stuntman himself, having worked in innumerable Westerns during the ’60s begore turning […]
WHO DARES TO PROGRAM A PENILE IMPLANT DOUBLE FEATURE?
WEIRD BONERS IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE WEIRD WAYS FILMS AFFECT US SPIRITUALLY, INTELLECTUALLY, AND OF COURSE, PSYCHO-SEXUALLY Biopics are a strong contender for the worst sub-genre. They’re where bad filmmaking is not only allowed, […]
AMO KAJ ALIAJ DEMONOJ: THE CURSE OF INCUBUS ’66
Many English-speaking cinephiles will watch films from all over the world; only the most ethnocentric cinephile will sneer at foreign-language films, ignoring richly-told stories from around the world (subtitles are not your enemy!). But what […]
ROBERT WISE’S STAR TREK TREATMENT DESERVES MORE CREDIT THAN FANS GIVE IT
IN DEFENSE OF: STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE Fandom is a perplexing, frequently frustrating entity: it can be a supportive, passionate group of like-minded individuals who enjoy fictional characters on the page or on the […]
HOW A 1950 MOVIE HAD THE AUDACITY TO TELL HOLLYWOOD TO GO F**K ITSELF
PUMP UP THE COLUMN EXPLORES THE MANY INTERPRETATIONS OF PUNK AESTHETIC USED IN CINEMA The definition of punk varies: some see the Sex Pistols when they hear the word, while others consider them a boy […]
BRUTAL! VIOLENT! SAVAGE! DARIO ARGENTO WRITES A WESTERN
BARGAIN BINNED DIGS DEEP INTO THE RANDOM AND FASCINATING TITLES FOUND IN THE CLEARANCE AISLE When I first happened upon the Dallas-based retail chain, Half Price Books, the movie selection at the stores I would […]
ADAM WINGARD’S THE GUEST IS BDE IN CELLULOID FORM
WEIRD BONERS IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE WEIRD WAYS FILMS AFFECT US SPIRITUALLY, INTELLECTUALLY, AND OF COURSE, PSYCHO-SEXUALLY Set during Halloween, Adam Wingard’s 2014 film The Guest may be confusing. That’s not meant in a […]
TWO MOON JUNCTION HAS A LOT TO, UM, OFFER
WEIRD BONERS IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE WEIRD WAYS FILMS AFFECT US SPIRITUALLY, INTELLECTUALLY, AND OF COURSE, PSYCHO-SEXUALLY When it comes to weird boners, Two Moon Junction is in the hall of fame. It’s the type of […]
JOAN CRAWFORD’S GOT CLASS! A Psycho biddy double feature
BARGAIN BINNED DIGS DEEP INTO THE RANDOM AND FASCINATING TITLES FOUND IN THE CLEARANCE AISLE Do you remember when Mill Creek pretty much exclusively released terrible transfers of public domain movies in gigantic combo packs […]
THE STRANGLER IS EARLY TRUE CRIME EXPLOITATION AT ITS DAMNEDEST
MID-CENTURY MACABRE IS HERE TO REMIND US THAT HORROR EXISTED BEFORE 1980 Horror movies are a place where memorable character actors finally get to display their talent in a leading role. The first examples that […]
1987’s million dollar mystery IS A BIT MORE THAN JUST OLD TRASH
OUT OF THE ATTIC IS DEDICATED TO ALL THOSE FORGOTTEN FILMS LEFT TO COLLECT DUST IN OBSCURITY To jaded 2019 film viewers an unofficial remake of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World designed as […]
BLUE VELVET, and how david lynch made me a pervert
WEIRD BONERS IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE WEIRD WAYS FILMS AFFECT US SPIRITUALLY, INTELLECTUALLY, AND OF COURSE, PSYCHO-SEXUALLY Don’t blame me, blame David Lynch. In the late 1980s, my family and I lived in St. […]
WESTERNS, COPS, & PUNK: WHO KNEW?
PUMP UP THE COLUMN EXPLORES THE MANY INTERPRETATIONS OF PUNK AESTHETIC USED IN CINEMA Exactly how much correlation can we draw between punk rock and the Western Movie? On the surface, they do seem a […]