Slavic Movie Reviews

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Family movie reviews for "Slavic" sorted by average review score:
Slaves of Hollywood
Released in DVD by Tapeworm (19 December, 2000)
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Directors: Michael Z. Wechsler and Terry Keefe (II)
Note to young filmmakers: No matter how awful your experience in Hollywood, no matter how surreal the insular town appears to you, please, know your film history and resist the urge to make yet another movie about the topic. Corrupt, callous exposes of Hollywood movers, shakers, and players have been done so many time over the years that it's become a tired subgenre not even worth parodying. This didn't stop first-time filmmakers Michael Wechsler and Terry Keefe, who based their debut, Slaves of Hollywood, on their personal experiences as assistants in Tinseltown. Assistants are entry-level positions in Hollywood, but as this film's five protagonists show us, essentially it's grunt work: they get coffee, sort mail, baby-sit executives' kids, and endure verbal abuse. Wechsler and Keefe try mixing satire with documentary realism (the plot revolves around a studio mogul's daughter's low- budget documentary about assistants and "how Hollywood changes people"), but we've seen this all before in films ranging from The Player to, specifically, Swimming with Sharks. Though it's billed as a black comedy, there's rarely much to make us laugh. The writing is so overwrought and the performances one-note and over-the-top that most of the gags bomb awkwardly. Satire needs to sting sharply to work, and unfortunately Slaves of Hollywood fails to be as ruthless as those it tries to mock. --Dave McCoy
Average review score:

WALL STREET of Hollywood Movies
This film is really funny. If you're thinking about working in Hollywood or want to know what it's like, this film is the WALL STREET of the Making-It-In-Hollywood genre. Better than SWIMMING WITH SHARKS and a lot funnier.

Hilarious!
This is one of the funniest Hollywood satires ever! Check out this indie gem and be ready for an evening of laughter and insight! Terry Keefe and Mike Wechsler are two names to watch.

Olga's House of Shame / Olga's Dance Hall Girls / White Slaves of Chinatown (Something Weird)
Released in DVD by Image Entertainment (15 April, 2003)
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Director: Joseph P. Mawra
Average review score:

''Olga'', back and better than ever!
This fabulous new release from the good folk at Something Weird Video presents three of the infamous "Olga" films, complete and uncut, with a few choice extras.

For maximum effect, you should watch the movies in chronological order, as follows...

WHITE SLAVES OF CHINATOWN - Meet Olga Petroff (Audrey Campbell). She is a hard-hearted woman with a penchant for torture and sin. Olga runs a prostitution ring, and also has shares in an opium sydicate. Watch as Olga 'disciplines' her girls in outlandish torture methods! Keep an eye out Gigi Darlene (BAD GIRLS GO TO HELL) who plays one of Olga's lovelies.

OLGA'S HOUSE OF SHAME - Olga relocates her business to an abandoned mill in upstate New York. Joining Olga is her corrupt brother Nick (W.B. Parker) and the lovely Elaine (Alice Davis, aka Alice Linville). When the beautiful Nadja (Ella Daphne) tries to destroy Olga's empire, there's hell to pay as Olga fights back with all her fury.

OLGA'S DANCE HALL GIRLS - Olga (now played by Lucy Eldredge) sets up 'housekeeping' in the suburbs, and recruits all the able-bodied housewives in the area for her new business, which is just a front for a weird satatnic cult, complete with Olga as the 'High Priestess'!. Featuring appearances by Larry Hunter, Hattie Felder and Moia Gifford.

The extra features include the short-subject "Audrey Campbell: Art Lover" which also features her husband, director Byron Mabe (THE HEAD MISTRESS). There's also the "Olga" exerpt from MONDO OSCENITA, trailers for the films featured on the disc and a tantalising exerpt from the 'lost' "Olga" film, MADAME OLGA'S MASSAGE PARLOR (which starred W.B. Parker and Alice Linville reprising their roles of Nick and Elaine!).

With Synapse set to release the missing "Olga" film (OLGA'S GIRLS) complete with a commentary by no less than Audrey Campbell herself later this year, fans will have to wait a while longer to complete their collection.

I also recommend the following Something Weird double-features: "Sinderella and the Golden Bra/Goldilocks and the Three Bares", "The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill/The Head Mistress", "Bad Girls Go to Hell/Another Day Another Man" and "The Violent Years/Girl Gang".

Slaves to the Underground
Released in DVD by Image Entertainment (05 August, 2003)
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Director: Kristine Peterson
Average review score:

I'll save you the trouble
Like in "Chasing Amy" the guy gets the girl. It was a twist that my partner and I were really not interested in. She then ends up leaving him to be alone anyway. The main character is manipulative and I quote "treats everyone she loves like s@#t". The music is cool and some scenes are very sexy...then there was the guy....

Slaves to the underground
I actually liked the movie alot, but oddly enough i did not like the main plot so much. There were alot of interesting characters, particularly the other members of the band, but the main characters left alot to be desired. The movie was fast paced and filmed well, with bits of humor about things completely unrelated to the actual movie plot, but I enjoyed those parts the most. especially the rant about cindy crawford being a tool. Unfortunately I found the main characters not very likeable. The leader of the band was pretty cool, but a little too hot tempered, while her girlfriend is a total manipulator who can't decide what she wants, so just leaves everyone unhappy. She leaves her girlfriend for her ex-boyfriend who is generally just an annoying character and causes unrest within the band. Then she breaks up with him again, but does not get back with her ex girlfriend. I did not enjoy that story plot at all. It sounds funny, but other than the main plot the movie was great.

This movie is about my life at its craziest-
in other words, it reminded me exactly how crazy my life is generally. (I saw it on the big screen in NYC.) Full of sex, music, zines, emotional baggage, neuroses and love tringles gone bad, I'd recommend it to any twenty-something out there who has problems with cultural and/or political norms (you know who you are). If you fit that bill, you too will likely think you're watching your life on screen. Both a critique of pop culture and, even more so, of those of us who do our best to avoid it, this movie pulls few (emotional) punches in portraying the lives of twenty-somethings "on the edge". Be prepared to laugh, to cry, to get angry, and to maybe fall in love with one (or more) of the characters, as these people will remind you of your life and of your friends, enemies, exes, and lovers (and any combination of the above you may have experienced)... but absolutely do not see it if you're not willing to laugh at yourself until it hurts. This movie closes with Ani Difranco's "Buildings and Bridges", and that song's the best summary of the plot that I could hope to offer- if you know the song, you'll know what I mean. (BTW- If you've never heard of Ani Difranco, this movie is probably not for you- unless you want to learn something about how us "subculture" freaks (& other deviants) live.)

Slaves of Hollywood
Released in DVD by M2k (09 September, 2003)
MPAA Rating:
Average review score:
No reviews found.
Slaves of the Realm
Released in DVD by Mti Home Video (04 November, 2003)
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Director: Lloyd A. Simandl
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Related Subjects: Language_and_Linguistics Belarusan Bulgarian Czech Macedonian Serbo-Croatian Slovak Slovenian Sorbian