Carpets and Rugs Movie Reviews

A lively, bouncy, kaleidoscopic view on the topless dance girls of the late 60's.

The most memorable short scene, is that of a ridiculously proportioned girl, Darlene Grey, doing a topless boogie in the desert. Otherwise petite, she almost falls over on several occasions, because of the weight of her swinging breasts!
Unlikely to be forgotten in a hurry.

All hail the hedonistic dance of the leather belt.

Topless go-go girls abound in this wonderfully skewed, ultra-hip documentary from the one-and-only Russ Meyer. Great girls and great music.

Four of the strongest episodes of The Monkees series are on display on this two-disc set covering much of the show's evolution.

Here Come The Monkees - the debut episode filmed in November 1965, the episode telegraphs that this series will not be like anything on TV to that point in its brilliant prologue as Paul Mazursky conducts man on the street interviews and elicits from a doctor a vow to break up any outburst of violence - which goes out the window when Davy appears, being beaten senseless by Micky, Mike, and Peter.

The episode then proceeds into its main plot - The Monkees are hired for the sweet-sixteen party of Vanessa Russell, a gig that nearly gets the boys canned when Vanessa and Davy's dating ruins her history studies. A corporate board meeting ensues and the boys work out a plan. When Vanessa aces her makeup exam as a result, her teacher tries to persuade Vanessa's father to relent, but initially he won't, until shamed into doing so by his distraught daughter.

Following the madcap events of the episode - highlighted by both versions of "I Wanna Be Free" and the party rocker "Let's Dance On" - the episode closes with the October 1965 screen tests of Davy and Mike being interviewed by off-camera Bob Rafelson - scren tests that reveal Davy's love affair with horses and being a jockey, and also Mike's love of music and his anxiety to get this series.

The Picture Frame - The most overtly slapstick episode of the series, The Monkees are tricked into robbing a bank by a phony movie director. Bank cameras film the incident - which Micky, Mike, and Davy think is just rushes from the movie - and interrogation by the sergeant who manages to out-Friday Joe Friday ensues, highlighted by the boys' comedic turns - such as wehn they agree to spill the beans, and use the empty cans as phones, and when Mike catches the overdue book thrown at them.

Trial then ensues, and Micky, Mike, and Davy make a shambles of the results, complete with bribery of the judge, hilarious cross-examination by Micky, hotdogs, and Mike's Wile E. Coyote gag on the prosecutor. All the while Peter is snooping around the studio and finds the evidence that will clear the others - but he must outrun the real crooks amid the snarling strains of "Pleasant Valley Sunday." When Peter succeeds in getting the boys acquitted, they celebrate with the video of Micky's London mod scene anthem "Randy Scouse Git."

Alias Micky Dolenz - Members of the gang of Baby Face Morales mistake Micky for their jailed boss, and two attempts on Micky's life - the second, a drive-by machine-gunning, leads to the show's funniest speed-up photography shot - force him to impersonate the jailed malfeant and infiltrate the gang. A bar brawl establishes Micky's bona fides with the gang, but the worst ensues when the gang force Micky into helping them spring the loot they've hidden, and Mike and Peter must go along as "specialists" - until the real Baby Face Morales escapes and appears.

Hillbilly Honeymoon aka Double Barreled Shoutgun Wedding - The first episode to feature Micky's second-season afro hairdo, it finds the boys caught in the middle of a feud between two hillbilly families, which snares Davy when the sweet young thing of one of the families seduces him and he is kidnapped - leading the show's funniest wordplay: the girl's father snarls, "All right, say it! 'Will you marry me?'" Davy replies, "Will you marry me?" and Mike deadpans about how millions of chicks (Dixie and otherwise) are madly in love with Davy.

I always loved watching there shows when I was growing up. And I still do. My two nieces love watching it too. And I know my children will too someday. There show was the first rock and roll show ever shown that played rock music. They were the first mtv. That's Classic......

If you grew up when I did (during the 1960s), and you're into Monkees (like I was and still am), and you're into DVD (like I am), then I think you'll like this DVD. It doesn't feature the best four episodes of the TV series (in my judgement), but the episodes are an excellent representation of the series. I think that Rhino Records and Video should be congratulated for their contribution to "Monkee madness." I hope they market all the Monkees TV episodes on DVD--soon!

I have been obsessed with this movie since I was about seven years old. I saw it on the afternoon movie while visiting my Grandparents one summer in Clovis, NM. Since that day, the hideous vision of the leprous Countess DeSade lurking around in the dungeon has never left me.
I adore this movie in all its cheapness. I love watching it and I don't care what anyone says.
The scene where the Countess DeSade in her rotting dress and veil steps out from the dark corner and says, "I am the Countess!", will haunt me forever.
It is oddly one of the defining moments of my childhood, or at least something I remember better than almost anything else.
I am STUNNED that this has been given a DVD release, but I am completely overjoyed!!

There is no secret about it, Dungeons of Harrow is an absolute double turkey if there ever was one. It's incredibly stupid, poorly filmed, badly constructed. The budget... it just wasn't there during the filming. The writer-director also duplicates as as the make-up artist. And then... there comes the film's main asset: it's actors! After being heavily sedated by the... what was the word... director..? in order to give the film a proper European "dreamlike" quality, the miserable bunch gives their best to film something that is supposed to be very much like Corman's House of Usher, released a few years earlier, but misses by a few lightyears. Nevertheless, this is a movie not to be missed: it's hilariously funny, regardless whether you are into this kind of stuff or not. The way the actors struggle through their highly literary dialogue ("This is a much too dark a secret to be revealed on as black a night as this") is absolutely engrossing. "The count" gives one of the most ridiculous performances of the sixties, plus there is the quite inexplicable, soft middle aged "devil" or something who only appears in the beginning of the film, wallows in narcissistic drama for a minute or so, and then leaves, giving the Count ample reason to question his sanity ("Yes, it must have been the wine, yes, yes!" being his conclusion). The way the Count makes his big entrance in a Superman fashion, ponting and shouting "So!!!" - not once, but twice! - left me in deepest awe. I wish the copy could have been a little better - this kind of trash looks nice when it's a bit worn out, but this looks almost too bad. Nevertheless, a wonderful experience to be enjoyed in a good sophisticated company of depraved individuals.

Pat Boyette, former comicbook artist for Charlton comics made this wonderful piece of cimematic horror. A man and his ship's captain find themselves stranded on an island inhabited by Count DeSade, an insane man if there ever was one. He spends most of the movie torturing the ships captain and making everyone else's life miserable as well.
It's hard to believe it, but this film is about as creepy as they come. I first saw it in the early 80's and I am very glad it has been brought to DVD by Alpha. Check it out!!!

The first scene is so stupid, I almost turned it off, but I stuck around to see Forsythe. Today's action heroes have to wipe out whole armies of bad guys without getting a scratch, and destroy lots of property. This movie is no exception. Forsythe is a hit-man with a heart of gold, unable to kill his target because she has a child. You have to believe that all this mayhem is caused by a 10-year-old photograph and that even though the woman's child has been kidnapped, she spends the night in bed with the hit-man. I had to watch this movie twice to appreciate it, but Forsythe makes a likeable unlikely hero.

DIRECT HIT effectively returns audiences to one of Hollywood's
best genres: the cat and mouse game. The movie reminds us that
flesh and blood adversaries, who display both motives and emotions, are more interesting to watch than the flanks of computer generated combatants populating big studio action flicks. "Hit" is a worthy diversion from all that blockbuster noise. Ensemble work by an excellent cast also makes a notable
difference and gives this film its compelling quality. William

Forsythe is John Hatch, a hit man with one last assignment from
the Agency before his retirement. He falls for his target, a
woman questionably charged with bribing a senator, and becomes
her protector. Hatch's boss (George Segal) dispatches another
agent, played by Richard Norton, to clean up the mess. In a smartly acted bar room scene, Norton admonishes Forsythe, "You
turned your target into people. Can't do that." Fans do not
need a reminder that Norton ranks among the best actors in action dramas and thrillers. Even so, Norton's finely nuanced performance in "Direct Hit" delivers another example of the remarkable skill and energy he consistently brings to the screen with every role.

Eve is a veeery realistic-looking android babe with some nifty military hardware including a hot bod, and a nuclear bomb. What a woman! But when things go awry in her testing phase during a bank robbery, Eve winds up lost in the big city. Now, the rescue team, which includes the real (human) Eve and Gregory Hines, must find and disarm her before she goes "kerblooey." Of course Eve is programmed to protect herself at all costs, and virtually any-sized problem she is presented is met with her own brand of "Six Million Dollar Man"-esque ultra-violence, resulting in the destruction part of the film's title.

Great movie. Very underrated. The scene with the policemen in their yellow rain slickers gives me a big woodie!

Originally entitled "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", this movie is a typical British second grade thriller. Its tagline says all: "Murder, Vice, Corruption -- All good English values". Well, if you're looking for a movie that delves into the complexity of London's drug cartel and aristocratic world, you may be disappointed. But any fan of Liz Hurley can't afford to miss this one, because she wouldn't pose nude again, not even in "Dangerous Grounds". The cinematography deserved a star too.

Some of the best lighting I have ever seen on face of that hunk C. Tommy. John Peters is a genius!

One of Russ Meyer's earlier works, "Mudhoney" is an uneven but ultimately satisfying greek tragedy disguised as hayseed soap opera. The direction is uneven, as is the tone, although the latter seems to be by design. You will be laughing one minute, then shuddering the next as over the top backwoods hijinx suddenly gives way to unexpected acts of humiliation and violence. Those who stick with it will be rewarded by an intense, dramatic ending that drips with irony. Not as cohesive or polished as "Lorna", but a worthy companion peice.

The picture quality of the DVD edition is very good (b/w, full screen). Also features animated menu and a few trailers for other RM films.

The second installment in Russ Meyer's series in Rural Dramas is one of his best: a well-shot, entertaining explitation piece which seems to get better with each viewing. An ex-prisoner find work (and sex) at a farm owned by Stewart Lancaster (who we all remember from FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!) and his niece played by Antoinette Cristiani who is married to alchaholic sleazebag, Hal Hopper (LORNA). Even Russ Meyer himself has a very small part as someone in the crowd during Hal Hopper's execution at the end. Keep a lookout for this underated Russ Meyer flick because it's quite rare. Anyone reading this review from Australia can find this video at FASTER, PUSSYCAT! in NSW or at POLYESTER in VIC.

Never before has a film been so alive,so emotional,so perfect. One of Meyer's best,filled with great acting,creative characters and personal style. To me,his film is Faulkner in the cinematic form.

South Pacific, the movie, is a fascinating sociological snapshop of 1950's white America's racism and ignorance of other cultures. The absurdities (such as interchanging cliches and visual cues from Africa, Vietnam, Aleut, etc. culture in the depiction of Tongan and South Pacific life) would be hilarious, if it were not so pathetic that most Americans then and now in the 21st C probably still don't know the differences. The ignorance goes beyond that of non-white culture. The casting of an actor with a thick Italian accent -who in different garb would fit well on the Sopranos set - for a Frenchman is nearly as absurd as casting a lithe French / Vietnamese actress dressed in a white silk mandarin collared top, as a Tongan - a people not known for their svelteness or their east asian attire. Meanwhile, Liat's nearl naked male cohorts are elsewhere shown doing the wild native thing - only they look racially and tribally as if they came right out of Africa.

The subtle or not so subtle (depending if one is colored or white ) message is that Tongan (in casting actually depicted as "oriental" or any non black colored women) when young are exotic, submissive sex objects who will not need more than a half minute to jump into the arms of and bed of a white guy from the Philadelphia main line and Princeton. Their moms, even in Tonga, know a good catch, and Bloody M. makes no secret that hitching her daughter to this white guy is a way to move up in this world. ( While the inter-racial thing may have been a daring foray into forbidden sexual love in the 50s, this movie may have marked the beginning of what is now the ubiquitous white rice king phenomenon that started on elite college campuses in the early seventies.)

Enough about race. Now gender. That a sophisticated European would be interested in Mitzi Gaynor's character is beyond credibility. The vapidity and sickening perkiness, not to mention extreme racism - even for an American - would in reality have been a total turn-off to the European. Plus, Mitzi is pretty darn chunky and dorky looking. With regard to the other romance in the move, yes one can easily see the sexual attraction between Cable and Liat. But how can Cable mistake that lust for love??? Someday Liat would look like Bloody Mary. Then what? Happy talk?

Altogether, this is a very entertaining movie.

I don't care if you like it or if you don't like, just watch it and love it!

With the world a little shaky now, it's a real pleasure to be able to put on a DVD and take a trip down memory lane to 1958 when South Pacific was released in movie theaters. The Rogers and Hammerstein score sets the tone for this musical adaptation of the Broadway show that was based on Tales of the South Pacific" by James Mitchener.

The story is set on an island in the South Pacific during WW2. The Japanese are entrenched in a nearby island and are bombing American forces that go near, but life is sweet for the G.I.s at the naval base. Mitzi Gaynor, cast as a nurse, is beginning a romance with an older distinguished French planter played by Rossano Brazzi. John Kerr is a young lieutenant who comes to the island to convince the planter to risk his life to spy for the Americans. And Juanita hall is the older native woman who pushes her daughter, the lovely France Nuyen, at John Kerr. The music is excellent and the words of the songs really do move the story along.

The theme however, is more than a love story. It deals with racism and the tragedy of war too. And these themes are what held it all together for me. It's a great human statement surrounded by wonderful familiar melodies that I'm still humming this morning. I loved it. And I didn't even care that, with the exception of Rossano Brazzi and Ray Walston, whose role as a sailor who always has a scheme and adds some really funny comic relief to this tale of love and war, the acting in general was mediocre. Everyone else gave rather stilted performances, and Mitzi Gaynor might be pretty, but she can't quite show a wide range of emotion. Also, the songs were all dubbed and obviously so. But that was the way Hollywood did things in those days. It's also interesting to note what the standard for beauty was in 1958. With the exception of the dancers, it was youth alone and not workouts in the gym that shaped the actors' bodies. Narrow waists were in style for the women, but hips were allowed to flare naturally.

I loved South Pacific in spite of its few faults. It was great entertainment even though it didn't make me forget the prospect of war. If you've never seen this film, don't miss it. And if you've seen it before, it's certainly worth a revisit. Highly recommended.

BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS isn't just a cheesy movie: it is the Limburger of cheesy movies--a devastatingly awful flick of such horrific proportions that it completely defies every possible expectation. For the first ten minutes I sat before the screen, slack-jawed in disbelief. Then I began to laugh. And laugh and laugh and laugh until I thought I might rupture something!

The story? It pretty much defies description, but in general it concerns a three-girl band and their boy-toy manager who move to Los Angeles and promptly go to pot. There are drugs, sex, some really bad rock 'n' roll, and before the credits roll we're even treated to a take-off (yes, I said take-off) on the notorious Sharon Tate murder and some of the most ridiculous moralizing in celluloid history.

As leader of the band, Dolly Read looks and acts like Barbie's friend Skipper after one course of hormone treatments too many. (At times I wondered if she was Ethel Merman's long lost daughter or a maybe just a really wacked-out Grace Slick in a red-wig disguise.) Granted, Read only has about three expressions, but she plays them really big, so you can't help noticing. Band side-kicks Cynthia Myers and Marcia McBroome have a few more expressions than Read, but they aren't nearly so powerfully emphatic about it, which is probably just as well.

The script is by Roger Ebert, of all people, and it tends to show that those who can do and those who can't criticize. Even so, Ebert gets off some pretty memorable licks in terms of one-liners. ("You're a groovy boy. I'd like to strap you on sometime" and "This is my happening and it freaks me out!" are probably the two most famous.) As for director Russ Meyer...

It's actually difficult to tell from this film if Russ Meyer is just a really bad director or a really bad director with a sense of style. My bet is on the latter: his directorial talents make me think of what might happen if Robert Altman dropped acid, and he's very consistent about it. The camera shots are jumpy and always seem to be a couple of frames short of what you expect; the over-the-top dialogue is played even more so; and in a weird sort of way the film has an aesthetic spin that can only be described as 1970s pop-trash on a collision course with Theatre of the Absurd. Whatever the case, it seems pretty clear that everything on screen is intentional, if not perhaps done with any great sense of deliberation.

Now, this is NOT going to appeal to every viewer. You have to have a really warped sense of humor to get the joke--and you're never really sure if the joke is intentional or accidental. But if you're looking for something incredibly bizarre... Oooo-weeeeeeee, baby!

--GFT (Amazon.com Reviewer)--

As mentioned practically every genre in film is expressed in this movie. Drama, comedy, love story, mystery, slasher-horror, psychological mind bender, and soft porn (straight, gay, bi, lesbian). In other words the greatest and cheesiest soap opera ever made. The plot? Well if its important it deals with a girl band, who become The Carrie Nations, moving to L.A. to try to 'make it' following them as they get stepped on and abused along the way. The usual story of the manipulation of people, especially women, in Hollywood or the World in general by those who have already 'made it' or think they have materially but not spiritually. The narrator sums it up at the end. 'There can be no beginning or ending that does not in some way touch another. For our actions affect the lives and destinies of the many.' This is just one example of the self-righteous cheesy, but truthful, moralizing in the film. There are outrageous parties and bizarre incidents which convey ideologies of the time, psychedelic imagery, chromatic sets, early mtv style editing, soap operatic clichés, drug-use, a sword wielding psudeo-Shakesperian spouting crazy, a bartending Nazi, a Liston/Tyson type boxer and a bloodbath. It's not the plot but how it unfolds that makes this a true original and unique film.

I agree with others below. This is a postmodern classic. A panoptic view of the world formation of new subjectivity in reality that occurred in the '60's, of hybrid selves blurring mores and forming beyond the binary dualisms of a hegemonic and phallocratic culture. However, like the real Carrie Nation the film has a message of temperance and how the enjoyments in finding oneself through over indulgence in anything can lead to evil. The irony in the name of the group is interesting. Carrie Nation was pretty much a formidable self-empowered woman who carried an ax. Something none of these exploited women are. Don't take all this too seriously. Spread this cheese on a cracker and enjoy. Just one question where's the DVD with Ebert and Meyer's commentary?

This is a film with a unique visual vocabulary, and an incredible eye for detail. Its a wonderful montage of glossy surfaces - a tribute to the Pop Art of the late sixties and the culture that gave birth to the psychedelic era. Meyer captures the 60's zeitgeist, and feeds it back to the audience with consummate skill.

Meyer's genius lies in his sense of irony, and his ability to blend the boundary between medium and message - the narrative is articulated through the marketing idioms of the late 60.'s, this reaches a high point when sexual ecstasy is spliced with images of a Bentley automobile. It certainly add's a new dimension to the auto-erotic.

Eventually Meyer leads us into his High Castle, a transdimensional wonderland where German high camp and the psychedelic aesthetic fuse into a greater synthesis! Here we witness the birth of the new man, beyond good and evil. Can conventional reality/morality contain his Promethean fire?

Watch and learn...

As a comedy it would be dramatically bad but as a drama it is laughable. Ridiculous plot, bad acting, the works!

but they don't get significantly worse. Yes, De Palma's films are striking visually. Yes, his Hitchcock (whom I love!) homages are witty and give reason to watch his films more than once. Yes, De Palma is entertaining and full of style at all times.
That being said, time, maturity, and repeat viewings of de Palma's movies show the seams of his work more obviously. "Body Double" is a prime example; it is a film that has lost a star or two in my estimation of it over the years. It is high on style, and quite poetic at moments despite the sleazy elements on hand. All in all, however, it appears more superficial and simplistic on repeat viewings. Craig Wasson gives a terrible performance, while Melanie Griffith gives a thoroughly believable comic one. The Donnagio score is evocative of Bernard Herrmann, which is never a bad thing. The voyeuristic theme is both witty and sordid at once. Ultimately, the film is a mixed bag that de Palma fans will enjoy deconstructing.

A movie is an indulgence in voyeurism, so a movie about voyeurism is no stretch! Actually it is very effective, as it pulls the viewer into the movie connecting with the voyeur and compels the viewer to feel as though they are part of the movie!

The tension is built up very effectively throughout the film, especially during one particular scene that I won't give away. Let me just say it will have you on the edge of your seat, clenching whatever you can, completely engrossed in the action.

If this movie is a homage to Hitchcock, I think he'd be honored!