“Why don’t you ever smile?” a character asks Talia Shire toward the end of the psychological thriller “Windows.” Hmm, let me think. Her marriage has just ended, she is sexually assaulted in the second scene of the movie, she can’t… Read More ›
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The Ballad of Orin (1977)
“The Ballad of Orin” is a very pretty, very tranquil, very boring film. Because the setting is Japan, there’s automatic, built-in prettiness on account of the lush, gorgeous cherry blossoms everywhere you look, and cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa, who also shot… Read More ›
Penitentiary (1979)
The boxing in “Penitentiary” is awkward, sloppy and raw, which is fitting because so is the filmmaking. Set in the brutal, rough-and-tumble milieu of a prison where almost everyone beats on everyone else, “Penitentiary” has all the elements of a… Read More ›
Passion Fever (1969)
If you happen upon “Passion Fever” and can’t quite put your finger on why it seems so off, there is actually a logical explanation for that. Ostensibly, it’s about Yorgos, a Greek pretty boy who declares early on that “the… Read More ›
Change of Habit (1969)
In “Change of Habit,” Mary Tyler Moore is tasked with an impossible choice: Does she choose God or one of the most popular recording artists on the planet? OK, so maybe Elvis Presley doesn’t play himself in “Change of Habit,”… Read More ›
Vixen! (1968)
Vixen, the title character of Russ Meyer’s kinky, X-rated comedy, has the heart of a lion, the body of a Greek goddess and the mouth of a sailor. As played by 21-year-old, full-figured fox Erica Gavin, Vixen lives in the Canadian bush… Read More ›
Diamond Stud (1970)
An unworthy biopic about a subject nobody will care to get to know anyway, “Diamond Stud” feels like the slapped-together remnants of a much longer movie that potentially had a structure and point of view. Neither of those things are… Read More ›
