Author: VHS Tracking

  • First Reformed (2018)

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    Paul Schrader has been in the direct-to-video weeds for a few movies with mixed results (I disliked The Canyons but quite enjoyed the gonzo-noir of Dog Eat Dog). Even though critics praised First Reformed (2018) as a return to form, there was no cinema release for West Australian audiences – Schrader was still direct-to-digital; it’s… Read.

  • Popeye (1980)

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    I have vague memories of seeing the live action movie of Popeye (1980) on Saturday afternoon TV when I was a kid. In recent memory, one of its Harry Nilsson penned songs sung by Shelly Duvall was used in PTA’s Punch-Drunk Love (“He needs me”). It was time to rewatch and more fully understand the… Read.

  • The Haunted Palace (1963)

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    In The Haunted Palace (1963), Vincent Price gets to play a sinister warlock burned to death by angry townsfolk in the opening scene – and 100 years later, a distant blood relative who moves to the town with his wife on account of inheriting the Warlock’s palace. Braving the cursed, suspicious townsfolk (check out the… Read.

  • Wolfen (1981)

    Wolfen (1981)

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    Ever since Michael Keaton referenced it as a joke in The Dream Team, I’ve been curious about Wolfen (1981). With Albert Finney’s passing, I tracked down a copy to finally watch. A busy year for movies about wolves (this is not strictly a werewolf movie) with The Howling and American Werewolf In London released in… Read.

  • Girlfriends (1978)

    Girlfriends (1978)

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    Girlfriends (1978) is a buried treasure of independent cinema whose influence was touted awhile back by Lena Dunham (who held a revival screening and hired director Claudia Weill to helm an episode of Girls). It also feels like the inspiration to filmmakers like Nicole Holofcener, Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, etc as it is about… Read.