Where the Buffalo Roam (1980)

I've read quite a bit of the good doctor Hunter S. Thompson's work, so this has been on the list to see for a while. It is a patchy collection of adventures taken from his writings and hewn together as a borderline watchable, series of drug-drenched debacles. Either way, it's still a cultural curiosity; the stories of Thompson starring a young Bill Murray and Peter Boyle, featuring a soundtrack containing Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Jimmy Hendrix. Of course I wanted to see it.

The acting of the two leads is great. Murray's portrayal plays more human than Johnny Depp's in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) while retaining Thompson's fiendish character. Boyle stands out as Lazlo, the wild eyed attorney and civil libertarian who's antics even strike terror into his accomplice. Unless you're familiar with Thompson's batty gonzo tales though, you'll struggle to make much sense of it all. The script and directing are a disjointed mess, so it's the occasional moment of inspired mayhem that maintains curiosity. Thompson was involved in the project but was apparently pretty pissed with the end result. He and Murray got on like crazy old knuckleheads though. Can you imagine that? Now that would have been entertaining.

2/5

Snowtown (2011)

The horrific murders of eleven people between 1992 and 1999 in South Australia was a morbidly fascinating story for myself and many others. Now we have the film, directed by Justin Kurzel, of Australia's worst serial killer, John Bunting. He callously and methodically tortured and slaughtered those he found repugnant; pedophiles, addicts, gays, the disabled. A charismatic monster, he charmed and bullied the vulnerable around him to accompany his carnage.  

Daniel Henshall is astonishing as Bunting, I'm certain we'll be seeing more of this guy. His recreation of Bunting's ability to seduce and control explains much. The family Bunting attaches himself to is ripe for exploitation, the kids already victims to a seemingly unending assortment of assaults. Lucas Pittaway plays Jamie, who Bunting takes under his wing and drags into his maniacal world. He is portrayed as a susceptible, shell of a human; unable to stand his ground when things have gone beyond any semblance of sanity.

The desaturated grade of the film successfully draws the color and hope out of these people's lives and the soundtrack, somewhat appropriately, brought Deliverance (1972) to mind at times. The sights of the struggling Adelaide suburb the film's events are located in are depressing alone. There are many appalling, graphic scenes to experience; explosive acts of violence carried out on man and animal. I could take those on the chin but it was the acts of sexual abuse that rattled me and the habitual violation of care that has uncomfortably lingered. I guess many people will not be interested in sitting through this sort of confronting ride but it's certainly worthwhile. Great to see some exciting Aussie cinema again.  

4/5 

Patrick (1978)

After a near fatal accident, Patrick lies in a hospital bed and is believed to be a vegetable by the medical staff. He sure looks like one...

There are only a few minutes at the opening of the film to gauge Patrick's level of sanity prior to when he wound up in hospital. Clearly he wasn't well, and now, in the mysterious world of the coma, he is able to perform telekinesis...and spit. Pat would have been a stalker for sure back in his lucid days but now he can only creep on his nurse by attempting to drown her boyfriends or have the typewriter sexually harass her. Susan Penhaligon is very nice as Nurse Kathy, you can't blame Patrick for having a crack. The other acting highlight is Robert Helpmann as Doctor Roget; the camp, egotistical old twat who rules the depressing quack house with vigour when not eating frogs. 

Aussie schlock films like this have a unique quality that, despite their shitness, keep you hooked. All involved seem to have enjoyed themselves and there is even some all too rare, quality erection humor. As far as providing any chills, it hardly registers. The budget they had to work with did not appear to cater for special effects other than chairs being hurled about. "Patrick! Stop throwing chairs with your brain!". Really, you wouldn't want to have it any other way, truth be told. The mix of intentional black humour, 1970's Australian naivety and frequently stretched acting results in an amusing blend.  

Richard Franklin also directed Psycho II (1983) which I recall seeing when I was but a mere fledgling. Obviously he suitably impressed within the genre stakes with Patrick and 1981's Road Games to be given the keys to sully Hitchcock's masterpiece. Actually, all I remember is that lanky character Anthony Perkins making me nervous. 
Director Mark Hartley covered Patrick in his documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008) which also reveals Tarantino's fetish for it. Plenty of weird and wonderful flicks are discussed, including the freaking excellent Razorback (1984). More feral pig films please! The doco is very entertaining and worth seeing for an overview of the period.

Fans of this fare will no doubt revel in the many ridiculous scenarios the film dishes up. It's a generic piece of work but has at least a few points of interest making it worthy of your abundance of spare time. 
Seriously, he eats frogs.

2.5/5

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) The Shining (1980)

A Jack Nicholson double post! Excited? Brilliant! I hadn't seen either of these films for many years so seeing them both with relatively fresh eyes was sweet.

Cuckoo's Nest raked in all the big Oscars in 1975; best picture, director, actor, actress and screenplay. It's not hard to see why. A super performance from Nicholson as the charismatic instigator McMurty is only one of many. Of course Louise Fletcher is perfect as the reviled Nurse Ratched, the bane of McMurty's incarceration. Brad Douriff, Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd are just a few of the fascinating inmates who reside under Ratched's iron fist. I also really enjoyed seeing Scatman Crothers (by god what a fantastic name) as the poor night watchmen who gets caught up in McMurty's shenanigans. Really, he should have known better but who could resist eh?

Party time! Think about it Scatman!

Czech director Milos Forman went on to direct a couple of other films about souls who rub against the grain of society. The People vs Larry Flint (1996) and Man on the Moon (1999) are the interesting biopics of Larry Flint and Andy Kaufman respectively. Two guys who knew how to rattle cages, just like McMurty. Forman's earlier work in the Czech Republic is held in pretty high esteem and features more overt comedy. The Firemens Ball (1967) sounds like a ribald lark as a party for the retiring chief becomes an alcohol fueled disaster. Apparently life in the old communist east was a ripe target for Forman, as shots are taken throughout the film. Sounds pretty good huh? I'm onto it.

Needless to say One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is a gem. Forman has adapted Ken Kesey's novel into a funny, thought provoking and heart-breaking film. A true classic.

4.5/5 

Shit yeah. The Shining. Jack Nicholson. Stanley Kubrick. Scatman Crothers. Shit yeah.

Geeze, Nicholson sure did some good work back in the day, and there's still so many top shelf performances I haven't covered in this bloggy. Of course he slays it again here with a typical charismatic and frenetic descent into madness. Scatman's interaction with the kid is fun yet creepy and Shelley Duvall is just right as the warm yet quite useless ma and wife. 
Kubrick's vision of Stephen King's novel is technically stunning and is steeped with the sinister intelligence that you watch Kubrick films for. King wrote the original screenplay for Kubrick who rejected it, the final script Kubrick used takes quite a departure from the book. King went on to write his own made-for-television mini-series version which obviously met its critics but King fans seem to be happy. Despite there being some fabulous adaptions of his work, most people have their own horror stories of seeing a Stephen King story on the screen, so please excuse me if I don't rush out to see this. 

Come play with us Danny...forever!

The Shining has an abundance of truly unforgettable scenes that sear themselves onto your crusty brain. The beautiful aerial shots of the mountains of Montana and Colorado to the waves of blood pouring from the elevator were masterfully captured by John Alcott B.S.C.. He was also cinematographer on Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971) and  Barry Lyndon (1975) for which he rightly won an Oscar. The man knew his stuff. 
Apart from the awesome performances there is an emptiness to the characters and the story, though that does little to detract from the overall impression of the film, it perhaps stops it from being an utter masterpiece. I suppose when you combine the talents involved in this film with months of isolation in a hotel that echoes the lives of slaughtered children that results in a bloody rampage you just can't go wrong.
4/5

This is a pretty amusing re-imagining of the film. I can only pray to an imaginary deity that someone saw the film on the basis of it.