Around the World: Ms. 45 (1981; dir. Abel Ferrara); Trauma, Gender Violence, and Revenge Fantasies
(Trigger warning: this review involves discussion of sexual assault, trauma, and gender violence.) Two years after the release of his gritty and noisy murder-fest, The Driller Killer (1979), Abel Ferrara returned to the director’s helm with Ms. 45 (1981), a revenge “fantasy” film. Though Ms. 45 still demonstrates some of that rawness present in Ferrara’s first feature film production, it is by far a smoother film, making excellent use of its mostly unknown and untested cast, especially Zoë Lund, the protagonist from which the title, Ms. 45, gets its name. Of Ferrara’s early films, Ms. 45 is certainly the most compelling, if not because it is a tighter, thematically expedient production, then because of its somewhat brutal (and uncompromising) exposure of the sexist underbelly of NYC — a common theme, it seems, in Ferrara’s work.
Episode 2. The Wages of Fear (1953): Playing Genre, Masculinity, and the Post-War World
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/TotallyPretentiousEpisode002TheWagesOfFear/TotallyPretentiousEpisode002–TheWagesOfFear.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSPlaying Genre, Masculinity, and the Post-War World! In our second episode, we open by discussing what we’ve been watching, how films “stand the test of time,” and the supposed problem with the Hollywood blockbuster. Plus, there’s a little bonus conversation about the state of horror films since 2000. The main event involves Henri-Georges Clouzot’s suspense thriller, The Wages of Fear (1953). We cover some of its history, the underlying politics, the film’s play on genre and suspense, and much more. Enjoy!
Review: Nightcrawler; or, The Chill of Capital (2014; dir. Dan Gilroy)
To say that reviewing Nightcrawler (2014; dir. Dan Gilroy) is a difficult task would be an understatement. Nightcrawler haunts the viewer like something out of Poltergeist (1982; dir. Tobe Hooper). It’s the kind of experience that I find impossible to forget, not simply because of its focus on Los Angeles’ late-night chaos but also because its examination of that life is in so many ways uncompromising and disturbingly logical. Talking about such a film without blathering on endlessly becomes a difficult task indeed, which may explain why this review is so focused on a single element: Bloom. Nightcrawler follows Louis Bloom, an eccentric small-time thief who literally steals his way into the “nightcrawler” business in Los Angeles after witnessing a “nightcrawler” taping a car accident (Bill Paxton). Determined to “make it,” he begins selling to a low-rated local news station and sets out to dominate the market at any cost.
