Thursday, May 17, 2012

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970)


A trio of female rockers called The Carrie Nations come to Los Angeles with dreams of stardom, what they find is absolute cinematic insanity.

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Nobody makes movies like Russ Meyer. Ridicule his subject matter all you want, the man had a vision. There is no way to mistake his work for someone else's and vice-versa. His world-view was uniquely his. Sure that world-view included women with inhumanly large breasts, but so what? So did Fellini's! If  photographing some giant cans was all it took to make it in the film world, half the San Fernando Valley would have three-picture deals at Fox. And I don't care if you do Pilates, eroticism alone can only hold an audience's interest for a so long. So what is it that sets Russ apart from the rest? Well of course there's the precise framing and the perfectly paced editing, but more than anything, there's the sense of fun. It overwhelms the entire picture. Fun is the thing that keeps viewers coming back again and again and again, even through the dark/moralistic conclusion. It's HIS happening and it freaks US out!

1 comment:

  1. Great post...thanks for the reminder to blog about the everyday things that people want to read. As a real estate agent, I too struggle with what to blog about. Thanks!

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