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Vale's Reviews

FILMS WE SAW IN AUGUST:

Jesus' Son: director Allison McLean has made a beautifully stylized modern-day "love" parable whose only questionable note involves the casting of Dennis Hopper--much as we respect him, I would have preferred an unknown playing his role, as the instant he appeared onscreen I was reminded I was watching a "movie." The film contains many marvelous touches, involving a drive-in movie theater, personal reminiscences, the "recycling" of house wiring--possibly the film's most shocking scene, and the birth of baby rabbits--too many to recount. Was delighted by the casting of Holly Hunter--possibly my favorite living actress; remember her in CRASH?--as a ferociously physical inmate whom the lead, __ dances with and then some ... Charles Willeford's The Woman Chaser, faithfully directed by Rob Devon, shows some gorgeous black-and-white retro-imagined Los Angeles locations; the biggest thrill for me was seeing grandmother-age women in sexual situations--how often do you see that? Also, I'm a sucker for movies-within-a-movie ... Ray Dennis Steckler's Blood Shack, The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monsters, and Rat Pfink a Boo Boo are simply classics; on a large screen the montage and cinematic mastery is reminiscent of the best 20th-century European filmmaking. Why is it that American comedy isn't taken seriously as art? Ray put in a personal appearance along with theater-director Herb Robbins, who directed The Worm Eaters, an under-appreciated classic. Neither Ray nor Herb have lose their edginess and their hatred of the Hollywood Factory System, where all human interactions are lies ... Werner Herzog's Little Dieter--amazing portrait of a WWII/Vietnam War survivor convinced me that Herzog truly deserves the title of "auteur." If anything will convince you to stockpile food, water, guns and ammo, this film will! ... Fool's Fire, a short film featuring dwarves and puppets, told a timeless tale of the potential consequences of taking insult too far.

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