REVIEW: Filmworker [2018]

I want to work for that man. When studios gave Leon Vitali a hard time about requests made on behalf of Stanley Kubrick, the director would tell him to stand firm and be exacting. Vitali relays a story within Tony Zierra‘s documentary Filmworker of Kubrick faxing these places his demands with Leon’s signature so they would be forced to see him not as a lesser voice, but the voice. If you’ve ever heard tales about the late auteur’s working habits you know why this would be necessary. Anyone taking the…

Read More

NYAFF11 REVIEW: Machete Maidens Unleashed! [2010]

“Human life was cheap, film was cheap—it was a great place to make a picture” As the most telling quote of Machete Maidens Unleashed! exclaims, “The stories are 10 times better than the actual films”. The anecdotes and memories of those involved in the Filipino exploitation genre of cinema are an amazing account of a period never to be repeated. Screening at the New York Asian Film Festival, Mark Hartley’s documentary opens our eyes to what went on in order to make some of the infamous cult schlock from the…

Read More