Plato Shrimp / Watching Movies Alone with crumbsroom

**Posted by Rock** 10/07/2022 11:48 am

Jinnistan wrote:
Guys, I have to admit. I didn't care for Strange Behavior.

I liked Michael Murphy but did not quite warm up to the rest.

**Posted by Jinnistan** 10/07/2022 11:53 am

Rock wrote:
I liked Michael Murphy but did not quite warm up to the rest.

I saw this back in 2015 during that October when I had no streaming services so I decided to take one of those online lists of "unseen horror films", look them up on youtube, and watch whatever was available. Strange Behavior was in the bottom portion of that viewing. Not bad, but dull, not particularly clever, and, despite the shots crumbs posted elsewhere, not very visually interesting. Would I feel differently if I watched a crisp 4K transfer? I dunno. I don't think it would fix what I thought was the film's strained camp.

**Posted by Rock** 10/07/2022 11:57 am

Jinnistan wrote:
Rock wrote:
I liked Michael Murphy but did not quite warm up to the rest.
I saw this back in 2015 during that October when I had no streaming services so I decided to take one of those online lists of "unseen horror films", look them up on youtube, and watch whatever was available. Strange Behavior was in the bottom portion of that viewing. Not bad, but dull, not particularly clever, and, despite the shots crumbs posted elsewhere, not very visually interesting. Would I feel differently if I watched a crisp 4K transfer? I dunno. I don't think it would fix what I thought was the film's strained camp.

I thought it was pretty nicely shot, so seeing it in a nice transfer might warm you up to it in that respect. I don't think it'll address your tonal issues, which I also had.

**Posted by crumbsroom** 10/08/2022 1:29 pm

Strange Behavior is wonderful from start to finish.

You've just got to have the proper eyes to see it. The kind that also understand the greatness of Primal Rage.

I also have just watched Knife+Heart, which isn't going to pass everyone's purity test as a horror, but it's giallo and Skeezy 80s DePalma influences are so thick I personally don't know what else to call it. Turned out to be a great blind watch. Might be the best thing I've seen so far on this dialed down Horrorcram I'm doing (Frankly I don't know how I've even managed the one movie a night as Ive been working so many midnight shifts recently)

**Posted by crumbsroom** 10/11/2022 12:26 am

3.5/5

**Posted by crumbsroom** 10/14/2022 11:58 am

I've watched Petey Wheatstraw and One Cut of the Dead recently. Both I was kind of medium on. Think I watched something else too. But I can't remember. Hopefully I'll be able to talk more about these feelings, but my brain is just not in movie discussion mode.
I also started something last night, a short thing I though I could finish after I got home at 1am from my death shift. But I didn't get more than 15 minutes in. Oh well, hopefully tonight. It looked good and I'd never even heard of it before, which is always nice.

**Posted by Rampop II** 10/14/2022 10:51 pm

crumbsroom wrote:
He's even admitted as much saying he's an 'empath' (fuck I hate that term)

I hate this term, too. Are the rest of us just sociopaths?

Petey Wheatstraw is about as good as it gets when it comes to Rudy Ray Moore flicks, in my opinion, and I think "medium" is the rating it pretty much deserves. I like it, but I ain't gonna lie about it being anything great. Obviously not something to be taken seriously, even by comedy's standards.

Drurgs help. It's a fun one for getting blitzed.

It does please me how the massacre at the church is reminiscent of Eisenstein's famed "Odessa Steps sequence."

.

Last edited by Rampop II (10/14/2022 11:08 pm)

**Posted by Jinnistan** 10/15/2022 12:07 am

I think the watermelon birth may heve been a bit much.

**Posted by Rock** 10/15/2022 12:50 am

Medium for Petey Wheatstraw?!? Sounds like you people can't appreciate a universally relatable story of a man who gets magic powers from the devil so he can get revenge on the morbidly obese rival standup comedians who had all his friends and family killed by the mob but then tries to weasel out of the deal to marry the devil's daughter even though the devil was nice enough to set up an orgy for him. Unbelievable. These are the fundamentals of human nature.

**Posted by crumbsroom** 10/15/2022 1:10 am

Rampop II wrote:
crumbsroom wrote:
He's even admitted as much saying he's an 'empath' (fuck I hate that term)
I hate this term, too. Are the rest of us just sociopaths?

Petey Wheatstraw is about as good as it gets when it comes to Rudy Ray Moore flicks, in my opinion, and I think "medium" is the rating it pretty much deserves. I like it, but I ain't gonna lie about it being anything great. Obviously not something to be taken seriously, even by comedy's standards.

Drurgs help. It's a fun one for getting blitzed.

It does please me how the massacre at the church is reminiscent of Eisenstein's famed "Odessa Steps sequence."

.

I straight up love both Dolemite, Human Tornado and Disco Godfather.
Now there is obviously no question that these are pretty terribly made movies, buoyed by one of the most unbelievably untalented narcissists that has ever wandered into low budget film....but holy fuck I enjoy the three of those. Like, every second of them.

Petey Wheatstraw should have been a slam dunk with me as well. Just reading Rock summarize the plot and I'm like, yup, that sounds like a real crumbsroom winner to me. But I just wasn't feeling it. And don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it....but it wasn't the transcendent kind of joy I was looking for.

Now, let it also be known that my love of Rudy Ray Moore had the unfortunate side effect of me ending up buying an overpriced vinyl copy of his second album and.....that wasn't worth nearly a nickel.,,I might just have well have fucked a goddamned pickle....

**Posted by Rampop II** 10/15/2022 1:17 am

LOL
When you put it that way, you may have a point there, Rock.

Most memorable scene for me is Petey dancing in the street making it rain cash to the tune of "Ghetto St. U.S.A."
That and the badass live funk horn section.

I've always wondered about that watermelon scene, JJ. It seems in such horrifically poor taste by our upbringing, and yet with Petey Wheatstraw being a Blaxploitation film made by Black filmmakers for Black audiences in the late 70s (I like the capital B; sue me), I've wondered if maybe there was some "inside joke" way of seeing it that I just wasn't supposed to understand.

**Posted by crumbsroom** 10/15/2022 1:23 am

And for those who think Rudy Ray Moore was a little too esoteric for their tastes, there is at least always the Wildman Steve movie.

I would have posted the whole film, but this fragment is all I could find on YouTube....and even though I don't even know what this fragment is, I have little doubt it lives up to being a nuanced and delicate portrayal of something beautiful and profound.

**Posted by crumbsroom** 10/15/2022 1:33 am

Ugh, one of those tragic examples where a film thinks it needs to tell us a story, even though the story is not particularly good, and while it's wasting all that time getting us to follow along with the plot points, it pulls us away from the moments where it nails atmosphere and a sense of dread and so much more than following a couple of dopes around as they unravel an completely unsparkling mystery.

Fucking stories.

3/5

**Posted by Rampop II** 10/15/2022 1:33 am

crumbsroom wrote:
Petey Wheatstraw should have been a slam dunk with me as well. Just reading Rock summarize the plot and I'm like, yup, that sounds like a real crumbsroom winner to me. But I just wasn't feeling it. And don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it....but it wasn't the transcendent kind of joy I was looking for.

Aw, damn. Sorry to hear it was a mediocre ride. Not enough drurgs, maybe?
The devil jogging in tube socks, the giant–assed woman dancing in her lawn chair, the kid crying after having his hair combed, and while I know I shouldn't be looking for slick production in any 1970s independent cinema, I do appreciate the improvement in sound and picture quality in comparison to his earlier films.

**Posted by crumbsroom** 10/15/2022 1:37 am

**Posted by crumbsroom** 10/15/2022 1:41 am

Rampop II wrote:
do appreciate the improvement in sound and picture quality in comparison to his earlier films.

Sadly, this was probably what kept me at arms length more than anything. I like my films to be born already decomposed and broken. The Human Tornado might be the shittiest looking movie of all time, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'll definitely revisit it at some point. Being about 40% sober was definitely doing it no good. Maybe when I completely submit to narcotic oblivion again, I'll be right on board the Wheatstraw train.

#toottoot

Also, that comb abuse scene was all kinds of discomfort. That kid was legit crying and friendly old Rudy just kept combing and combing and picking and picking. Like a true auteur, he wouldn't stop until he got his perfect shot. And a child crumpled into tears on the side of the road

**Posted by Rampop II** 10/15/2022 1:43 am

crumbsroom wrote:
And for those who think Rudy Ray Moore was a little too esoteric for their tastes, there is at least always the Wildman Steve movie.

I would have posted the whole film, but this fragment is all I could find on YouTube....and even though I don't even know what this fragment is, I have little doubt it lives up to being a nuanced and delicate portrayal of something beautiful and profound.

AKA Super Soul Brother? I think it's on Prime so I'll have to check it out.

Right now I'm watching Saloum; not that a 2021 horror film about mercenaries in Senegal has anything to do with a conversation about 1970s American Blaxploitation flicks, but I gotta finish that one, first.

**Posted by Rampop II** 10/15/2022 1:49 am

crumbsroom wrote:
Also, that comb abuse scene was all kinds of discomfort. That kid was legit crying and friendly old Rudy just kept combing and combing and picking and picking. Like a true auteur, he wouldn't stop until he got his perfect shot. And a child crumpled into tears on the side of the road

I know I ought to be ashamed of myself for laughing at that scene. I'm not in the habit of laughing at suffering 2 year–olds. I'd like to think Rudy gave the kid a hug and some ice cream afterwards.

Or some watermelon... d'ohhhhh!!! I'm going to Hell!!!

It's this goddamn wildfire smoke, clouding my senses.

**Posted by crumbsroom** 10/15/2022 1:49 am

Rampop II wrote:
crumbsroom wrote:
And for those who think Rudy Ray Moore was a little too esoteric for their tastes, there is at least always the Wildman Steve movie.

I would have posted the whole film, but this fragment is all I could find on YouTube....and even though I don't even know what this fragment is, I have little doubt it lives up to being a nuanced and delicate portrayal of something beautiful and profound.

AKA Super Soul Brother? I think it's on Prime so I'll have to check it out.

Right now I'm watching Saloum; not that a 2021 horror film about mercenaries in Senegal has anything to do with a conversation about 1970s American Blaxploitation flicks, but I gotta finish that one, first.

The Six-Thousand Dollar N*gger

**Posted by Rampop II** 10/15/2022 1:55 am

IMDB is confusing me. TheIMDB entry for Six Thousand Dollar N*gger seems to imply it has the alternate title Supersoul Brother. Could be a case of an alternate title, or a mismatch on IMDB. It also says the original title was supposed to be Black Superman.