The only Blu-ray extra is audio commentary by AVMANIAC.COM's Edwin Samuelson, Fangoria magazine's Michael Gingold and Temple of Schlock's Chris Poggiali. As for the best trailer in the collection? That's open for debate, but I'm partial to the hilarious mock-newscast employed for the double feature I Dismember Mama/ The Blood Splattered Bride. The disc offers some familiar names: For instance, world-class filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini is represented by the controversial Salò, or The 100 Days of Sodom (a film available on the prestigious Criterion label), while Sylvester Stallone's notorious pre- Rocky softcore porn flick The Italian Stallion (aka The Party at Kitty and Stud's) also shows up. Butcher M.D.), martial arts excursions ( Super Man Chu, the must-be-seen-to-be-believed The Crippled Master), and biker flicks ( Devil's Angels, Werewolves on Wheels). 45), T&A romps ( The Pom Pom Girls, The Teasers Go to Paris), sci-fi tales ( Starcrash, They Came from Beyond Space), gore flicks ( Women and Bloody Terror/ Night of Bloody Horror, Dr. Black Samson, The Guy from Harlem) following blocks include revenge yarns ( Rolling Thunder, Ms. The collection begins with several blaxploitation titles (e.g.
The result is 3 hours and 45 minutes of nonstop disreputability, and as with the DVDs, the order of the trailers is genre-based.
Now Synapse has elected to bring the series to Blu-ray, importing the majority of the trailers from Volumes 1 and 2 of the DVD series and adding a few new ones. To that end, Synapse Films' 42nd Street Forever DVD series has been a godsend: Since 2005, the outfit has released a half-dozen volumes showcasing hundreds of coming-attraction reels for the sorts of exploitation features (mostly from the 1970s) that served as the bread and butter for low-rent theaters and drive-ins. But I'm a sucker for vintage trailers, especially ones for grindhouse titles that I'm probably never going to make the time to see. I'm not a fan of trailers for upcoming releases since they always reveal more than I would like. It's an OK piece, though it doesn't compare to such stage gems as "I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You," "Rainbow Tour" and the signature ballad "Don't Cry for Me Argentina."īlu-ray extras include a making-of featurette the music video for Madonna's "You Must Love Me" and the teaser trailer.Ī scene from the softcore spoof Flesh Gordon, one of the films showcased in 42nd Street Forever (Photo: Mammoth Films & Synapse Films)Ĥ2ND STREET FOREVER (2012).
Nominated for five Academy Awards (including one for Khondji), this won Best Original Song for "You Must Love Me," the only tune written specifically for the movie - or, in more blunt terms, written specifically to try to nab an Oscar. The film admittedly drags toward the end (as does the otherwise excellent Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber score), but that's not enough to mar the exhilaration felt by watching this bold production. Still, the movie is swiped outright by Antonio Banderas, who's riveting as the omniscient, ambiguous narrator Che.
Since Madonna has to rely on her powerful vocal chords rather than her limited emoting, she proves to be just fine as Evita also effective is Jonathan Pryce as Juan Perón (no stranger to musicals, Pryce's stage credits include My Fair Lady, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and his Tony-winning role in Miss Saigon). A gorgeous production (special kudos to cinematographer Darius Khondji), Evita will appeal to those able to get past their own feelings toward the Peróns and appreciate the sly manner in which the piece addresses the cult of personality and how it often feeds the spiritual needs of the less fortunate. Based on the Broadway smash whose on-again, off-again journey to the screen went through numerous players (including Oliver Stone as director and, most tantalizingly, Meryl Streep as star), Parker's version finds Madonna cast as Eva Duarte, the controversial Argentinian who rose from humble beginnings to become the wife of dictator Juan Perón - and, for many, the true leader of the nation - before dying of cancer at the age of 33. At a time when songs showcased in movies were being shot as MTV music videos, leave it to director Alan Parker ( The Commitments, Fame) to offer a full-blooded musical with epic elegance on its mind. Antonio Banderas and Madonna in Evita (Photo: Disney)ĮVITA (1996).