Tag Archives: Abel Ferrara

Basket Case + The Funeral

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Alice Thirteen
Basket Case + The Funeral

Films about brotherhood from notorious 42nd street directors. What is (or was) 42nd street? The revival theater. Audience consent and the church of unacceptable behavior. A young man carrying a big basket that contains his extremely deformed Siamese-twin brother seeks vengeance on the doctors who separated them against their will. New York City, the 1930s. A powerful crime family is caught in a lethal crossfire between union organizers and brutal corporate bosses. Against this turbulent backdrop, the family’s three street-hardened brothers and the women they love are about to be plunged into a deadly confrontation with their enemies, with each other, and with their own dark heritage of violence, madness and murder. Continue reading →

Bad Lieutenant + The Limey

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Alice Thirteen
Bad Lieutenant + The Limey

Bad men doing bad…for justice, or something. Revising the Double Feature format. What should change for next year? There is a force, and that force’s name is Harvey Keitel. Ms 45 herself, Zoe Lund. Abel Ferrara’s filmmaking secret: drugs! How does one make a film on drugs? Who secretly directed Bad Lieutenant. The Limey’s disjointed editing style. Soviet montage theory. Russian editing! Terence Stamp meets Peter Fonda. Barry Newman and the great roadsploitation. Steven Sodobergh teaches us Russian. Sodobergh’s recut of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Just who is this guy? Continue reading →

The Driver + Ms. 45

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Alice Thirteen
The Driver + Ms. 45

Two exploitation landmarks with quiet protagonists. Unintentional Double Feature themes. The Man Who Killed God. The Driver and colors. Obligatory Drive conversation. Bruce Dern strikes back. The Driver, The Player, and The Detective. What tips you off? Authority, and those who resist it. A criminal adherence to the law. Us or them! The Briefcase of Failure. A fearless chase. Walter Hill and The Warriors. Heroes of franchises past. The man and the silence. Ms. 45 and Abel Ferrara. Those dirty New York films. Punk fucking rock. Thana also strikes back. Miss forty-five as the strong silent type. How to get the entire audience off the boat. Phil doesn’t need to come back. Men, everywhere. Arguments about whether rape is better or worse than death are frivolous. When is the line drawn? Ok, right away, but when is the cinematic line drawn? Continue reading →