Russ Meyer Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Villains We Love: Harry Sledge, 'Supervixens'
Filed under: Fandom », Trailers and Clips »
One of the most chilling bad guys I've ever seen on film is in a soft-core sex flick -- a Russ Meyer movie, even. If you think of Meyer only as the director who featured supremely large-chested women in his films, you probably haven't seen his 1975 film Supervixens. Sure, there are plenty of voluptuous females in the movie, and some comedy moments, but there's also Charles Napier, and his character is truly villainous.
Supervixens is about an ordinary guy, Clint, who's married to the title character, a bad-tempered tease who is brutally murdered by an even nastier cop, Harry Sledge (Napier). Clint -- who is honestly the least memorable part of the movie -- flees town to avoid Sledge, and ends up encountering all kinds of delightful women whose names begin with "Super," like Supersoul, SuperCherry, and SuperHaji. His soulmate, though, is the amazing SuperAngel, played by the same actress as SuperVixen, Shari Eubank. Just as Clint is ready to settle down to a happy ending with SuperAngel, Harry Sledge returns.
RIP: Reel Important People -- June 30, 2008
Filed under: Obits »
William Vince (1963-2008) - Producer - Oscar-nominated for producing Capote. He also produced Saved!, Just Friends, Ripley Under Ground, The Final Cut, The Snow Walker, The 4th Floor, Air Bud, Air Bud: Golden Receiver, Malicious and the upcoming films Push, The Stanford Prison Experiment and Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which stars Heath Ledger. He died of sarcoma June 21, in Vancouver. (CBC)
- John Barnes (1920-2008) - Film Historian - Co-founder of the Barnes Museum of Cinematography, which was in St. Ives, Cornwall, England (it closed in 1986) and author of multiple texts, including the five-volume "The Beginnings of Cinema in England, 1894-1901." He died June 1. (Guardian)
- Robert L. Bendick (c.1917-2008) - Director, Producer - Co-produced the Oscar-nominated documentary This is Cinerama and co-directed a follow-up, Cinerama Holiday. He died June 22. (Entertainment Insiders)
- Rodric Beckham (1914-2008) - Former U.S. Army-Air Corp. Staff Sergeant who spent much of World War II in a German POW camp. He appears in Billy Wilder's Stalag 17 along with other WWII POW survivors. He died June 21. (Entertainment Insiders)
- Howard Brandy (1929-2008) - Publicist, Producer - Handled PR for A Hard Days Night, Help! and Privilege and was a publicist for the Police Academy movies, The Karate Kid, Part III, Young Frankenstein, The Last Emperor, The Pope of Greenwich Village, The Last Seduction, Things Are Tough All Over, Runaway Train, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man and Gorky Park. He also handled the Academy Awards campaigns for All About My Mother, Sexy Beast and Sweet and Lowdown and produced the 1970s exploitation films Blood from the Mummy's Tomb and The Take. He was apparently the inspiration for the cartoon character Dudley Do-Right, who received his own movie starring Brendan Fraser in 1999. He died June 21 in Los Angeles. (Variety)
Faster, Pussycat! Tarantino and Spears Together At Last!
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Casting », RumorMonger », Remakes and Sequels »
I admit it: I have a pretty big soft spot for Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! It was the first movie I rented after moving out of rural land and discovering urban video stores that had all the old classics, hard-to-find flicks, and cult greats. It marked a new era in my movie-going life, but I think that even if this was some movie I hated, or never even heard of, I'd still throw up in my mouth a little over this piece of news. Liz Smith over at Variety says that Quentin Tarantino is itching to remake the 1966 cult classic. Normally, this would be fine. I usually enjoy, or even love, what he puts up on the big screen. But cult fans -- Tarantino seems to have lost his marbles.Smith goes on to say that he's got his first casting choices set -- Kim Kardashian (Sure, why not?), Eva Mendes (I can dig it...), and Britney Spears. Yes -- wacky, unstable, and driving 100 mph towards a sturdy, brick wall, Crazy Lady Spears. That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Hell, I'm even with Smith on ditching Spears and picking up La Lohan. Why? The latter might have her share of tabloid turmoil, but at least she's got some acting chops in there as well. A little craziness and some acting talent -- that's just what a Pussycat remake would need. Besides -- would he wants Spears on the set? Just imagine the tabloid fodder that would bring.
Yes! I must forget this news for a bit to maintain my sanity, so let's play a game: Should Britney get the gig, and bring her tabloid life to the film set, how would it play out? Muse below!
Scene Stealers: Charles Napier
Filed under: Scene Stealers »
Actor Charles Napier's grin is nearly as scary as the late James Coburn's was. In fact, Napier's characters genuinely frighten me at times. I am thinking particularly of his role as psychotic bad guy Harry Sledge in the 1975 Russ Meyer movie Supervixens. For once, one of the men in a Russ Meyer film actually steals scenes away from the overly endowed, bare-breasted women. You thought Willem Dafoe was scary in Wild at Heart? He's a pale imitation of Harry Sledge. Napier flashes that grin and you just know something horrible will happen. I don't understand why the other characters in Supervixens trust him even for one minute. Napier was in four Meyer films: Cherry, Harry & Raquel (in which he displays full frontal nudity, I'm told), Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, The Seven Minutes, and the aforementioned Supervixens. But you've surely seen Napier even if you're not a fan of Meyer's movies. He's played cops, judges and terrifying bad guys on a number of TV shows -- he even had one-episode roles both on the original Star Trek series and Deep Space Nine. Or perhaps you saw him as Marshall Murdock in Rambo: First Blood Part II. Napier's also had small roles in nearly all Jonathan Demme's films: A doomed guard in Silence of the Lambs, the judge in Philadelphia, and a hairdresser in Married to the Mob. And let's not forget he's the leader of the real Good Ole Boys band in The Blues Brothers. He's got a square jaw that rivals Bruce Campbell's.
It doesn't matter how old Charles Napier is or how harmless his character is supposed to be. When he grins in that lazy, slow-yet-homicidal way, all eyes turn his way and the scene is his. And a chill runs down your spine, while at the same time you feel slightly titillated. Did I say that last bit out loud? Well, watch him and judge for yourself.
News from Slackerwood: Bananas, Chickens, and Demons
Filed under: Classics », News From Slackerwood »
Along with special screenings and events, Austin has a number of independent and foreign films starting week-long runs in theaters this week. Jay and Mark Duplass' film The Puffy Chair, which played at SXSW 2005, opens today at Alamo Downtown and Arbor Great Hills, and Jay Duplass will attend Alamo screenings on Friday and Saturday night. The French thriller District B13 opens at Alamo South Lamar, Arbor, and The Dobie. Ride Around the World, a made-for-IMAX documentary about the international origins and culture of the cowboy, opens Saturday at the Texas State History Museum.
- The AFS@Dobie collaboration continues this week with three movies: Sophie Scholl: The Final Days and Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy are being held over for an extended run, and Clean starts this week. Clean stars Maggie Cheung and Nick Nolte in a drama about a musician who must fight her drug addiction in order to regain custody of her young son.
- BookPeople is donating 5 percent of sales Saturday to The Paramount Theatre. Plus, if you buy something at BookPeople, they'll give you two passes to a Summer Movie Classics film. One catch: You must bring an ad for this special to BookPeople -- tear one out of the Austin Chronicle or bring the Paramount's summer film calendar.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
_thumbnail.jpg)
