FIVE DEADLY VENOMS (1978, HONG KONG), THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (1978, HONG KONG)

Five Deadly Venoms

When I watched Kung Fu Theater on the late night telly during the 80's, I admit it was more for camp then anything else. The voice dubbing was poor and the one man fighting off an army of attackers by himself seemed pretty ridiculous. It took me a long to appreciate that some of these movies were actually pretty good, especially if you could watch one with subtitles. Obviously, Quentin Tarantino appreciated them. The film Five Deadly Venoms really serves as a blueprint for Tarantino's Kill Bill. The plot of this film features a dying martial arts master who sends out a novice pupil to subdue five of his former pupils (Centipede, Snake, Cobra, Lizard and Toad) who may be using their distinctive individual powers for no good. The novice has to lay back and bide his time until he discovers which of the pupils to trust, which need to be defeated and how to use his skills to defeat the enemy.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin features a young student named Liu Yude who witnesses an attack on his village by the army of General Ten Tai and vows to learn Kung Fu and have his revenge. (Liu Yude is played by Gordon Liu, who later played Pai Mei in Tarantino's Kill Bill 2.) Liu Yude goes through a rigorous 36-step training process at the local temple. He proves to be a most worthy student and returns to his village to subdue the evil General and in the process develops a new chamber to train the common people to defend themselves. The film certainly reminded me of the 70's TV classic Kung Fu, which starred David Carradine, who of course played Bill in Kill Bill.

Asian action films are probably our most popular DVD checkout for Foreign Language Films at the library. I have a customer that keeps insisting I watch the IP Man trilogy. I may check that out next, and am open to other suggestions in this category.

 Gordon Liu as Pai Mei
in Kill Bill

A pre-Kill Bill David Carradine

as Caine in Kung Fu

STRAW DOGS (1971), THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE (1970), JUNIOR BONNER (1972)

I have to agree with the statement made by some critics* that the films of Sam Peckinpah get better over repeated viewings.

Dustin Hoffman comforts? his wife Susan George

in Straw Dogs

Straw Dogs is a film about a couple who are living in a remote English country home and end up in  a situation that leads the husband to a violent confrontation with locals by the film's end. But this is no good guy gets his revenge piece against the bad guys. Every character in this film is flawed in some way and no line, movement or action seems trivial or wasted in Peckinpah's film. The performances are all solid (Susan George as the wife is a standout). It has some controversial scenes for sure (The rape scene is certainly one), but no drama in the film feels gratuitous or unearned to me. It's really a stunning piece of work and may be Sam's best film.

You missed a spot: Jason Robards bathes Stella Stevens

in The Ballad of Cable Hogue

After watching Straw Dogs, The Ballad of Cable Hogue was a bit of a letdown...at first, anyway. The story of a man left for dead in the old west that survives to become a desert entrepreneur had some comedic scenes that seemed a little trivial and Here Comes the Bridish, but this film did start to grow on me. Once again, a second viewing really helped with this one. It was also one of Sam's favorite of his own films.

Male bonding: Robert Preston and Steve McQueen

in Junior Bonner

Junior Bonner seems in line with many of the character studies in American film released around this time (Early 70's). Junior is a 40ish rodeo rider who wants to ride that rascally demon bull named Sunshine. Junior (Steve McQueen) is doing it for personal pride, but he's also doing it for a little scratch, too. Junior's relationship with his roustabout father (The always engaging Robert Preston), his long suffering mother (Ida Lupino), and entrepreneurial brother (Joe Don Baker) are at the heart of the film. We also see glimpses of rodeo life and maybe more importantly, the post rodeo bonding rituals at the neighborhood bar. It's certainly a nice addition to Peckinpah cannon.

*All the films I saw were enhanced with contributions from Peckinpah scholars Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, David Weddle or Stephen Prince. They are indeed the masters of Peckinpah scholarship.

Now where is that DVD copy of The Killer Elite with the commentary track?

THE HOLLYWOOD LIBRARIAN (2007), PARTY GIRL (1995), THE PUBLIC (2019)

The Hollywood Librarian

I was at the American Library Association annual conference in 2007 when I met a feisty and energetic librarian named Ann Seidl. Ann was in the process of putting together a documentary about libraries called The Hollywood Librarian: A Look at Librarians Through Film. She showed some clips and her enthusiasm for her film and librarianship in general was infectious. The film can be viewed today through the library streaming service Kanopy. It features interviews with librarians talking about their profession, readership, running a library and dealing with shrinking budgets. It intersperses these interviews with dozens of clips featuring libraries on films-So you'll see Donna Reed closing the library in the alternate universe part of  It's a Wonderful Life, Parker Posey learning about the Dewey Decimal System in Party Girl, and Katherine Hepburn answering reference questions in Desk Set. Hepburn's sister was Peg Hepburn Perry, a real life librarian and was also interviewed for the film.

Party Girl

"Don't you know the Dewey Decimal System?" Ann Seidl used this quote from the movie Party Girl during her speech in 2007 to the delight of several librarians familiar with the film. (I wasn't at the time). In fact, I just now got around to seeing this film about a mid-90's party girl named Mary who earns some extra money by becoming a clerk at the library. 

She gets the job through her Godmother and Mary doesn't take the whole thing too seriously at first, but eventually she finds that books are her true calling! How could I not love a closing scene where the main character declares she wants nothing more than a career in library science? If there is another film that has this as a dramatic declaration in the denoument, I am not aware of it. Party Girl is a slight but fun film and I always find Parker Posey and references to Melvil Dewey most charming.

The Public

Many of us in the library world have been waiting for Emilio Estevez's film about the homeless and public libraries the way most of the move-going public was awaiting the last Avengers movie. Luckily, The Public was playing in one theater in town for one week and was able to catch it. We at the public library (at least at the Mobile Public Library, and most downtown libraries) do have the issue of dealing with the homelessness. and their needs. How the library deals with these citizens is the topic that is the centerpiece in this film. Librarian and author Ryan Dowd (The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness: An Empathy Driven Approach to Solving Problems, Preventing Conflict and Serving Everyone) actually traveled around with Estevez to promote the movie.

The Public has Estevez playing a librarian that leads a sit-in in the Cincinnati Public Library with many homeless men who have run out of places of shelter on a below zero degrees night. The librarian has to deal with the media circus that ensues, as well as the political ramifications unfolding around him. The film is insightful and humanizes many of the characters here in terms I can very much relate too. The resolution of the crisis is also a doozy.

And don't forget to visit your local public library.

 Librarian Peg Hepburn Perry's sister

playing a librarian in Desk Set

WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR (2018), THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS (2018), RBG (2018), FREE SOLO (2018), OF FATHERS AND SONS (2018)

Usually when the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list is updated, there is an inclusion of one documentary from the previous year. Here are five possibilities for inclusion on the list.

Won't You Be My Neighbor (The popular film) This documentary on legendary children's television performer Fred Roger's may have been the most watched documentary of the year. It is nostalgic, informative and at times quite inspirational. It surprisingly did not get an Oscar nomination.

Won't You Be My Neighbor

Three Identical Strangers (The film with unexpected twists)
The story of three identical twins that happen to discover each other's existence when they were of college age is a fascinating story in the beginning. The film then diverts in to totally unexpected territory when the boys find out why they were separated in the first place. It also did not get an Oscar nomination to the surprise of many.

Three Identical Strangers

RBG (The solid biography of a noted person)
With the first two films on the list not nominated for Best Picture, some sources I saw thought this documentary about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg might win Best Documentary. It didn't, but RBG is still a very worthwhile story of a very admirable and inspirational person.

RBG

Free Solo (The Best Documentary winner) This is the story of Alex Honnold, who is a free soloist, someone that climbs dangerous mountains without the benefit of ropes, harnesses or nets. Alex's final mountain to climb (literally) is the mighty El Capitan. When he is doing the climb, it is an extremely stressful journey for the viewer (At least this one) as well as for Alex.

 Free Solo

Of Fathers and Sons (The Weight)
William Goldman once said that movies were chosen for the Cannes Film Festival that had a certain weight or importance. A movie like Of Father and Sons, where a journalist stays for an extended period with a Syrian family led by a jihadist father who removes mines definitely fits this description. In fact, the father has his leg blown off during the time of the film. The 1001 list also likes film with weight and it is possible that this will be the one added to the list.

Of Fathers and Sons

I think all these films are worthy viewing. My guess is the 1001 book will add Of Fathers and Sons or Free Solo, but then again they may choose something different or may not add a documentary at all!