The King Of Marvin Gardens (1972)

The post Easy Rider era of 1970s American cinema was a mythologised time when major studios produced depressing dramas about losers (though mainly white male losers). Fitting right into that sub-genre is The King Of Marvin Gardens (1972), which was director Bob Rafelson reuniting with Jack Nicholson after the success of Five Easy Pieces; I’d […]

The Brood (1979)

After hearing Edgar Wright talk on a podcast about how disturbing the school teacher scene was in David Cronenberg’s The Brood (1979), I was compelled to finally watch it, which you can too if you have access to SBS OnDemand (along with another Cronenberg classic, Scanners). Fuelled by Cronenberg’s own divorce at the time, this […]

One Sings, The Other Doesn’t (1977)

When Agnès Varda passed away, shamefully I’d not seen any of her films. Seeking to correct such an oversight, I sought out One Sings, The Other Doesn’t (1977; L’une chante, l’autre pas), a narrative that follows the friendship between two women, which comes to symbolise feminist movements of the 60s and 70s. As teenagers, Pauline […]

Female Trouble (1974)

John Waters’ next film after Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble (1974), still has the capacity to shock with its gleeful celebration of bad taste, or at least redefining what counts for taste at that time. Divine is a magnetic force of nature as Dawn Davenport, who goes through an episodic narrative journey, from sneaking in hoagie […]

Revolver (1973)

Continuing a quest to actually watch the movie of an Ennio Morricone soundtrack that I really like listening to, Revolver (1973; aka Blood In The Streets) is an example of the Eurocrime/Poliziotteschi genre as well as an Italian-German-French co-production. The main musical theme – a mournful, orchestral folk-pop number – was used by Tarantino in […]