Permanent Midnight (1998) – David Veloz.

Motormouth Hollywood scriptwriter Jeff Stahl's (Ben Stiller) reality bites deeper than he can cope with as his work, and frosty relationship with vapid studio exec partner Sandra are royally fubar'd by a rapacious dope habit. With a well-written text, and credible performances, this laudably unsentimental grunge-era Drugstore Cowboy drama is imbedded with a blackly funny, Bret Easton Ellis-inflected wit. Blandly beautiful, perfectly vacant Elizabeth Hurley is perfect casting as a status-hungry Hollywood animal, greazy electric loon David Greene is deliciously degenerated as Jeff's perma-tweaked drug connection, and Stiller is almost unrecognizable as the twitchy, doom-seeking scribe Stahl. This deliriously descending Hollyweird drug memoir proved unusually compelling, but I do have to deduct points for the blithely suggestive, entirely fallacious Zalman King artwork?? Like, what the proverbial F were they thinking????? I would have enjoyed seeing more of Garafalo, in the chastest possible sense, and sassy Maria Bello provided the wholly undeserved, witheringly lovely love interest for the increasingly beleaguered Stahl.

 

 

 

'Caged Men: Tales from Chicago's SRO Hotels' (2017) – Aaron Shipp.

Intimate, humane, moving, palpably claustrophobic, and notably dignified documentary about the hard fought lives of those disparate individuals who live and work in these run down, yet extremely purposeful single room occupancy hotels. Inevitably, Aaron Shipp's stark, earnest and insightful Caged Men: Tales from Chicago's SRO Hotels proved to be a profoundly melancholy, socially conscious work of engrossing non-fiction filmmaking. The demonstrative gap between those that have, and those that have not is frankly addressed in this fine, balanced, highly commendable documentary. The sad reality that so many of these wholly necessary establishments have been sold and gentrified is somewhat damning of the ruling echelon, whose only core values are that of accruing more money, without a thought of the cost to humanity.

 

 

 

'The Black Dragon's Revenge' (1975) – Tommy Loo Chung.

“Chinese make-up? No, baby, it's the real shit!!!”

Shocked by Bruce Lee's sudden, inexplicable death, rival underworld gangs seek to find out the truth, but they must contend with bullet-paced bruisers, the Black Dragon (Ron Van Clief) and his patherlike partner Charlie Pantera (Charles Bonet). Exploding with all the devastating impact of a depth charge, The Black Dragon's Revenge is higher echelon, brain bombingly ballistic Brucesploitation with dynamic dark destroyer Ron Van Clief!!!!!!

Should you have an overtly porous winkle, suffer from languid liver lag, or endure evil bouts of bum blockage, take your meds before watching The Black Dragon's Revenge as the maniacal rush of endorphins unleashed will dangerously coddle your cerebellum, pulping your brain stem into sinister slag shapes!!!! The Black Dragon's Revenge ably proves my belief that 70s Hong Kong must have been the most dangerous place on earth, as everywhere you turn one can be murderously waylaid by vicious gangs of crazy-mentalist, knife-wielding Kung Fu Killers!!!

“Eating and mating are man's nature!” Aye!!! preferably at the same time, sensei!!!!

 

 

 'The Prodigal Boxer' (1972) - Yang-Ming Tsai.

Yang-Ming Tsai's The Prodigal Boxer is one of the earliest iterations mythologising the legendary Chinese pugilist Fong Sai Yuk. This generously bulging man satchel of thunderously exciting, exhilaratingly choreographed chop socky is bursting at the very seams with magnetic Martial arts madness!!!! Highly prized among the vintage Kung Fu cognoscenti, the compelling story, fine cast, high voltaged, blisteringly bellicose fight craft and a rousing climax shall, perhaps, make a fan of you too!!! Typhoon Thunder kicker Yasuaki Kurata is on bone-breakingly brutalist form, and I enjoyed Fei Meng's powerhouse performance as the savage, single-mindedly revenging son. Prodigal Boxer is a bona fide combat classic, excitingly replete with audacious firecracker Foley, and some truly triumphant, ribcage wrecking, body rupturing bloody battles!!!! 

 

 

'Mall City : A Safari to study Mall culture'. (1983) – Hugh Kinniburgh.

This playful, scrappy, palpably joyous S.O.V documentary vividly captures bustling 80s Mall culture at the height of its enormous popularity. A colourful snapshot of consumerist 80s America, with ace period fashions; mullet'd dudes and their Farrah Fawcett coiffed gals, plus a plenitude of candid, sparky exchanges. I had a real blast watching these lively, surprisingly open and chatty 80s kids excitedly congregate at their then social Mecca, The Shopping Mall.

While the gaudy appeal of a shopping mall/center has always eluded me, I still found this consistently fun documentary to be an enormously appealing viewing experience. Comparisons to 'Heavy Metal Parking Lot' are entirely justified, but these teens are, as one might imagine, a considerably less raucous lot! It is lovely to witness such a sizable congregation of giddy youth noisily interacting with their peers, rather than staring sullenly into an inert telephone.

“Maybe the end of the future!!!!!”

 

 Hobo (1992) - John T. Davis.

Hugely compelling documentary about grizzled philosophising Hobo Beargrease and his no less charismatic, rail-riding companions. Hobo remains one of the great works of American cinema, while the director clearly has an eye for a spectacular vista or three, it never feels intrusive, or gratuitously staged. Beargease is such an engaging narrator, a wise, even tempered, peace-loving, fearlessly freight-hopping fellow. A cliché, perhaps, but much of John T. Davis's 'Hobo' feels akin to a Dylan, Tom Paxton, or Woody Guthrie song come to vividly locomotive life. Hobo's many accolades are well deserved, since it remains such a memorably immersive experience. I experience very little in the way of nostalgia watching older documentaries, as the dates may change, people remain the same, and, sadly, the divide between rich and poor is no less conspicuous.