Micah's November 2005 DVD Pics

1. The Dark (1979)
2. Office Space: Special Edition with Flair! (1999)
3. Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Volume 8
4. Lady Snowblood Collection (1973/74)
5. Great Smokey Roadblock (1977)
6. Emergency Squad (1974)
7. For Your Height Only (1979) / Challenge Of The Tiger (1985) 
8. The Last Round (1976)
9. The Pinky Violence Collection
10. Have a Good Funeral... Sartana Will Pay (1970)
11. Murderball (2005)

Sorry I'm late guys... I'm sure you've all been asking yourselves "When the heck is Micah going to get his picks up?" Answer: Now.

---

The Dark (1979)
Release Date: 11/1

This was director John 'Bud' Cardos' follow up to his 1977 'Shatner vs Arachnids' classic Kingdom of the Spiders. Its got William Devane (who played Secretary of Defense James Heller in the most recent season of 24) and Cathy Lee Crosby as a cop and reporter, respectively, who try to track down an alien who kills by ripping off the heads of his victims and can shoot frickin' laser beams from his eyes. Unfortunately it sounds cooler than it actually it. At least you get to see Casey Casem as a genius police coroner. Trivia: Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) began shooting this film before arguments with producers lead to his being replaced by Cardos.

Back to top

Office Space: Special Edition with Flair! (1999)
Release Date: 11/1

You already know about this movie, so I'll just tell you that the special edition contains an Office Space retrospective with Mike Judge and 4 Deleted scenes (Peter Lies to Lumbergh, Happy Hour and Chotchkies, Peter Goes off on Nina, & Tom's Mixed Heritage Called into Question). Sounds good enough to warrant a purchase from me (although it would have been cooler if, as I thought I saw on first glance, one of the deleted scenes was titled Peter Goes Off On a Ninja. That would have been sweet.)

Back to top

MST3K Volume 8
Release Date: 11/8

Another four episodes handpicked from the series' seemingly infinite archives. This time Joel (or Mike) and the bots are checking out Phantom Planet, Hobgoblins, Monster A-Go-Go, and The Dead Talk Back. Of these, I've only seen Phantom Planet, so I'm definately excited about checking it out.

Back to top

Lady Snowblood Collection (1973/74)
Release Date: 11/8

A two-movie set with Lady Snowblood and Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance. Both movies are brilliant, and surprisingly different from each other. Lady Snowblood is a straight up and down revenge flick that inspired large portions of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, while Love Song of Vengeance is, oddly enough, a political-intrigue film. Meiko Kaji is literally one of the most beautiful women I've ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on, and watching her kick ass is a pleasure. If you've never seen these movies, treat yourself and check them out.

Back to top

Great Smokey Roadblock (1977)
Release Date: 11/8

A funny, and somewhat tragic movie about an aging trucker (Henry Fonda) who wants to make one last run before he dies. Along the way he picks up a straight and narrow preacher and a truckful of prostitutes. The climax of the film features a bunch of fellow truckers putting aside their differences to help Fonda finish his run. It's surprisingly touching and effective. Be on the lookout for Robert 'Freddy Krueger' Englund in a small role, and personal favorite Dub Taylor in a movie-stealing performance.

Back to top

Emergency Squad (1974)
Release Date: 11/8

From prolific Italian cinematographer Stelvio Massi (Have a Good Funeral, My Friend... Sartana Will Pay; Sartana's Coming... Get Your Coffins Ready; Heads You Die... Tails I Kill You; and What Are Those Strange Drops of Blood Doing On Jennifer's Body?) comes this story of a cop turned one-man-death-squad (think Italian Dirty Harry) Tomas Milian who will go to any length to take out the crime boss who killed his wife. Milian is appropriately intense, and Massi displays a real talent for shooting exciting car chases. If you're looking for a good 'bloody rampage' film, this might be the one for you.

Back to top

For Your Height Only (1979)/Challenge Of The Tiger (1985)
Release Date: 11/15

Weng Weng is a 3 foot nothing actor. In the late 70's he made a James Bond parody called For Your Height Only, portraying the shin-kicking, lady-bemusing spy, Secret Agent 00. The movie's tag line?: Bigger than Goldfinger's Finger, Bigger Than Thunderball's... I actually caught this film a few months ago when it was at the Alamo Drafthouse, and had a blast. Beware, Weng takes off his shirt and tries to woo a full-sized chick in this movie in a scene that almost made me (and half the theater) puke. I don't know anything about Challenge of the Tiger, other than that its a Brucesploitation film starring Bruce Le.

Back to top

The Last Round (1976)
Release Date: 11/15

This is the second Stelvio Massi film coming out this month, and its a good one also. The retelling of Yojimbo/A Fistful of Dollars finds nomadic wanderer Marco Russo (Carlos Monzón) offering his services to two rival gangs in an attempt to get revenge for his mother's murder (he carries her picture around a tiny music box throughout the film). Congrats to distributor NoShame for putting out these two great, but largely unknown Italian crime movies.

Back to top

The Pinky Violence Collection
Release Date: 11/15

This four-movie set features a quadrilogy of great, but akwardly titled, 1970's Japanese Female Crime Lord Exploitation: Criminal Woman: Killing Melody; Terrifying Girls' High School: Lynch Law Classroom; Girl Boss Guerilla; and Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless To Confess. In addition to the deadly Japanese female bikers, gangsters, and students on display, the set comes with a 26 page booklet (Toei's Bad Girl Cinema) and an audio CD of actress Reiko Ike. I've seen the latter two of these films, and they are great... I'll have to post a review of all four once I finish off this set.

Back to top

Have a Good Funeral... Sartana Will Pay (1970)
Release Date: 11/22

Gianni (Johnny) Garko plays the titular character in this sequel to If You Meet Sartana...Pray For Your Death. Garko does what Garko does best- gundown the bastards who need gunning down. If you're familiar with the Django movies you'll like this series. One of the all-time great spaghetti western characters, plus there's a dash of kung fu thrown in. Too cool!

Back to top

Murderball (2005)
Release Date: 11/29

This was one of my favorite films from this year's SXSW. You've probably heard the basics by now, but if not, its a documentary about the American wheelchair rugby team's attempt to win the gold in the Paralympics and, in the process defeat the evil Canadian team headed by turncoat ex-American player Joe Soares. Every member of the team is a quadriplegic, and the film is as much about their struggle to win as it is about their struggle to lead 'normal' lives. Definately not a 'come pity us' film, directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro portray these men as they really are, warts and all. (For instance, the PC crowd in Austin got noticeably uncomfortable when members of the team began to mock Special Olympic participants: "We're here to compete and win gold medals... not to get a pat on the head.")

Back to top

That's a pretty good sweep for November... I'm constantly amazed each month at the great older films being released by distributors like NoShame and Blue Underground. It's a good time to be a movie fan. See you (on time) in December!

- Micah

Want to share an opinion about this movie or review? To the forums!