Johnny Moronic Capturing

31/08/2016

Update for 31 August...

Something quick today as there wasn't much to cap from the movie.

Rose Byrne in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

56009kb 56sec 1920x800 (cheerleader's uniform, sex scene)

Chloe Grace Moretz and Kiersey Clemons in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

Raw HD caps of Chloe and Kiersey from Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising are available here.

35410kb 35sec 1920x800 (both in bikinis also various other girls in bikinis)

90528kb 1min 32sec 1920x800 (both show plenty of cleavage in nice dresses, lengthy)

Girls in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

3839kb 3sec 1920x800 (girls in wet see-through tops to breasts)

Tags: Rose Byrne, Chloe Grace Moretz, Kiersey Clemons

24/08/2016

Update for 24 August...

Quick one today.

Louder Than Bombs is a drama where a family is still coming to terms with the death of their wife/mother (Isabelle Huppert) four years later when an article about her life's work as a war photographer and her death is about to be published. Her school teacher husband Gene (Gabriel Byrne) has moved on with fellow teacher Hannah (Amy Ryan), but he hasn't told his youngest son Conrad (Devin Druid) and that's not the only thing he hasn't told him. Conrad is a moody, withdrawn teenage boy trying to fit in and has a crush on a cheerleader clearly out of his league. His older brother Jonah (Jesse Eisenberg) has just become a father and while at the hospital he runs into a former girlfriend Erin (Rachel Brosnahan) whose mother has just died. Jonah decided to come home to help with the exhibition of his mother's photos, but in reality he's struggling with coming to terms with being a father and is avoiding it. Over a week or so, Gene attempts to connect with his sons as they remember their mother, but it's a lot harder than he expected. OK movie about a family coming to terms with the loss of their mother/wife and how it happened, but I thought that by the end, it didn't really reveal much or have anything major happen. It all seems so anti-climatic with barely anything gained or learned. Kinda pointless.

Rachel Brosnahan in Louder Than Bombs

Raw HD caps of Rachel from Louder Than Bombs are available here.

55567kb 56sec 1920x1040 (breasts, 'nude' under covers)

Isabelle Huppert in Louder Than Bombs

34102kb 34sec 1920x1040 (sex scene)

Tags: Rachel Brosnahan, Isabelle Huppert

22/08/2016

Update for 22 August...

Too Late is a noir drama in 5 parts with each part taking place in real time and in a single take. Dorothy (Crystal Reed) is desperate to call private investigator Sampson (John Hawkes) but is out of credit on her phone. Two small time drug dealers (Dash Mihok and Rider Strong) just happen to be walking by and lend her their phone. Dorothy calls Sampson and he comes to talk to her, but in the time it takes for Sampson to get to Dorothy, she is murdered by a man (Brett Jacobsen) posing as a park ranger. At the house of strip club owner Gordy Lyons (Robert Forster), he is talking to his friend Roger (Jeff Fahey), while Gordy's wife Janet (Vail Bloom) is having a nervous breakdown, which is about to get worse when Sampson arrives at the door claiming to use the phone after having a car accident. Years ago at a strip club, surly stripper Jill (Dichen Lachman) attempts to get Sampson to buy a lap dance, but Sampson is more interested in Dorothy, who Jill intensely dislikes. Back in the present, Sampson finds Jill running a drive-in theatre and outdoor boxing ring and they 'reminisce' about old time before Sampson apprehends Dorothy's murderer. Eleanor Mahler (Joanna Cassidy) contacts Sampson as she is looking for her missing granddaughter with her aloof mother Mary (Natalie Zea) as Eleanor found Sampson's name in her granddaughter's belongings. But, he has a surprise for Mary, while a surprise is waiting for him. Too Late runs with it's one take gimmick which both works very well and meanders a little too much in the space of each 20 minute take and you'll need a whole heap of patience to go with it. But, a week after watching, I'm still fascinated by Too Late, even if it's not wholly successful. John Hawkes is excellent as the private investigator dragged kicking and screaming into something he does not want to be involved in, but is neck deep in it. There's also surprisingly good support from Dichen Lachman as the seen-it-all girl (reprising her character from the short film Too Late is based on) and her conversations with Hawkes are well conceived. A definite oddball take on the noir genre that owes a lot to Tarantino (I mean a lot), one that will divide audiences, but I gotta say I loved it no end.

Vail Bloom in Too Late

Raw HD caps of Vail from Too Late are available here.

184662kb 3min 44sec 1920x800 (full frontal and rear nudity, extremely lengthy)

Crystal Reed in Too Late

Raw HD caps of Crystal from Too Late are available here.

195169kb 3min 56sec 1920x800 (bikini top and skirt, extremely lengthy)

Natalie Zea in Too Late

75619kb 1min 45sec 1920x800 (bra, panties, shorts, lengthy)

Tags: Vail Bloom, Crystal Reed, Natalie Zea, Dichen Lachman

19/08/2016

Update for 19 August...

Seclusion is a horror movie where a group of friends have joined Grant and Sarah (Matthew Wise and Clea Alsip) who are getting married and making a weekend of it at a secluded cabin that is run by a crusty old caretaker Walter (Ralph Cashen). The wedding goes well, even with Dani (Nicole Pacent) clearly disappointed Grant is getting married. The invited celebrant is after his share of women and fixates on flirty Trish (Alyson McKenzie Wells), the girlfriend of Carter (Duane Nakia Cooper), which Carter takes umbrage to and beats him up. The celebrant walks it off in the surrounding woods and is killed. The celebration between friends continues with only a minor queries about the missing celebrant, but later that night, Trish is brutally killed and her body is taken away to make it look like she wandered off too. Now the friends are worried and go off looking for the missing duo with Walter and one by one, the group are killed off. So, who is the killer? No really, who is the killer because I'm completely baffled and the twist in the end is um... I dunno. I think there's more than one killer but it's not really clear cut who and that final twist doesn't help at all. Apart from that, Seclusion is a fairly uninteresting and uneventful horror movie, but it does have some great nudity from Alyson McKenzie Wells, but sadly not Clea Alsip, so there's at least that.

Clea Alsip in Seclusion

Raw HD caps of Clea from Seclusion are available here.

51015kb 1min 22sec 1920x1032 (plenty of cleavage in nightie, sex scene)

19062kb 30sec 1920x1032 (plenty of cleavage in nice dress with bikini top peeking out)

38415kb 1min 03sec 1920x1032 (bikini)

6416kb 7sec 1920x1032 (wet, see-through top to bra, very nippy)

Alyson McKenzie Wells in Seclusion

Raw HD caps of Alyson from Seclusion are available here.

4105kb 5sec 1920x1032 (plenty of cleavage in singlet top with hint of side-boob, allusion to being ejaculated on)

13451kb 16sec 1920x1032 (bikini)

74749kb 2min 52sec 1920x1032 (breasts, bra and panties, sex scene, very lengthy)

58591kb 1min 55sec 1920x1032 (breasts, in shower, violent scene, lengthy)

Nicole Pacent in Seclusion

42265kb 1min 05sec 1920x1032 (bikini top and shorts)

8043kb 32sec 1920x1032 (sports bra, shorts)

Tags: Clea Alsip, Alyson McKenzie Wells, Nicole Pacent

17/08/2016

Update for 17 August...

Amateur Night is a comedy about Guy (Jason Biggs) who is unemployed architect and he is about to have a baby with his wife Anne (Jenny Mollen) and with both of them out of work, they desperately need money. Anne finds a driving job on Craigslist for Guy and he goes along thinking it's a pizza delivery job, but it turns out to be a driver for a prostitute Nikki (Janet Montgomery). Guy accepts the job, but is extremely reluctant and at the first stop, he mistakes a bondage session for violence against Nikki and accidentally knocks out the client (Steven Weber). Next up, Guy picks up two more strippers/prostitutes, Fallon and Jaxi (Ashley Tisdale and Bria L. Murphy) to join Nikki for a bachelor party where they'll have a big pay day. But, between reluctance to do the job and his wife having contractions, Guy is going to have a helluva night. Amateur Night is an incredibly minor movie, barely a comedy with mainly obvious jokes and even for a movie about prostitutes is unsurprisingly coy. Pretty forgettable stuff.

Janet Montgomery in Amateur Night

Raw HD caps of Janet from Amateur Night are available here.

30378kb 1min 03sec 1920x800 (bra and G-string, tied-up and gagged)

54419kb 2min 08sec 1920x800 (bra and G-string, lengthy)

76977kb 1min 58sec 1920x800 (one piece bathing suit, nip-slips although with pasties on nipples, lengthy)

41934kb 1min 10sec 1920x800 (breasts with pasties on nipples in see-through top, G-string)

16225kb 36sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in gown with bra underneath)

Ashley Tisdale in Amateur Night

Raw HD caps of Ashley from Amateur Night are available here.

56180kb 1min 07sec 1920x800 (see-through bikini top to breasts with pasties on nipples, panties)

48221kb 1min 27sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in nice dress, various upskirts, allusion to squirting)

Ashley Tisdale and Bria L. Murphy in Amateur Night

15694kb 29sec 1920x800 (Ashley in midriff revealing top and panties, Bria in bra)

Bria L. Murphy in Amateur Night

Raw HD caps of Bria from Amateur Night are available here.

87099kb 2min 31sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in bra top, shorts/panties, very lengthy)

46207kb 1min 41sec 1920x800 (breasts with pasties on nipples, G-string, lengthy)

84872kb 1min 47sec 1920x800 (breasts with pasties, see-through bra top to breasts with pasties on nipples, panties, lengthy)

Jenny Mollen in Amateur Night

7544kb 41sec 1920x800 ('nude' in bath)

Tags: Janet Montgomery, Ashley Tisdale, Bria L. Murphy, Jenny Mollen

12/08/2016

Update for 12 August...

A couple more Spanish movies I had lying around, so I might as well finish them off. Cómo Sobrevivir a una Despedida looks like a female Hangover/Bridesmaids type movie, hell some of the jokes seem lifted from those movies. Embarazados is about a late 30s couple trying to have a baby, but it is not going to plan. Quite a few of the cast were also in Kiki, el Amor se Hace, including the two leads (one of the leads was the director).

Natalia de Molina in Cómo Sobrevivir a una Despedida

Raw HD caps of Natalia from Cómo Sobrevivir a una Despedida are available here.

152620kb 2min 41sec 1920x800 (bikini, very lengthy)

25924kb 31sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in T-shirt, panties, down blouse)

27132kb 28sec 1920x800 (bikini)

26318kb 36sec 1920x800 (undone bra with hint of breasts)

55675kb 1min 13sec 1920x800 (long shirt, panties)

3732kb 3sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in see-through top to bra, shorts)

Úrsula Corberó in Cómo Sobrevivir a una Despedida

Raw HD caps of Úrsula from Cómo Sobrevivir a una Despedida are available here.

17735kb 21sec 1920x800 (bra peeking out, sex scene)

74780kb 1min 18sec 1920x800 (bikini)

11761kb 12sec 1920x800 (side-boob, bikini bottoms)

30918kb 38sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage, bikini bottoms)

10367kb 12sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in see-through dress, panties)

María Hervás in Cómo Sobrevivir a una Despedida

Raw HD caps of María from Cómo Sobrevivir a una Despedida are available here.

580kb 1sec 1920x800 (bikini)

118290kb 2min 05sec 1920x800 (one piece bathing suit, nippy, lengthy)

43374kb 45sec 1920x800 (long shirt with one piece bathing suit)

25130kb 26sec 1920x800 (bra and panties)

Celia de Molina in Cómo Sobrevivir a una Despedida

Raw HD caps of Celia from Cómo Sobrevivir a una Despedida are available here.

7421kb 7sec 1920x800 (bra)

86517kb 1min 31sec 1920x800 (one piece bathing suit, lengthy)

3330kb 3sec 1920x800 (tassles on breasts)

12322kb 13sec 1920x800 (bikini top)

Alexandra Jiménez in Embarazados

44603kb 46sec 1920x804 (one piece bathing suit)

8133kb 16sec 1920x804 ('nude' in bath)

11139kb 11sec 1920x804 (bra, one piece bathing suit, nippy)

12224kb 39sec 1920x804 (bra and panties, 'nude' under covers)

Elisa Mouliaá in Embarazados

60802kb 1min 22sec 1920x804 (brief breasts/side-boob, bra and short skirt, sex scene)

Ainhoa Aierbe etc. in Embarazados

25314kb 44sec 1920x804 (various women including Ainhoa breastfeeding)

38848kb 57sec 1920x804 (breast, breastfeeding and squirting milk)

Tags: Natalia de Molina, Úrsula Corberó, María Hervás, Celia de Molina, Alexandra Jiménez, Elisa Mouliaá, Ainhoa Aierbe

10/08/2016

Update for 10 August...

Another Spanish movie today, this time the new Pedro Almodovar movie Julieta. Sadly, I haven't been able to get English subtitles, so I haven't properly watched it. Anyway, I can still cap it...

Adriana Ugarte in Julieta

Raw HD caps of Adriana from Julieta are available here.

30582kb 39sec 1920x1036 (bra, short skirt, sex scene in window reflection)

43231kb 42sec 1920x1036 (breasts)

32370kb 32sec 1920x1036 (brief breasts, bum, sex scene)

28386kb 38sec 1920x1036 (brief breasts, in bath, in towel)

Emma Suárez in Julieta

5088kb 6sec 1920x1036 (bra)

Tags: Adriana Ugarte, Emma Suárez

08/08/2016

Update for 8 August...

Haven't done a Spanish movie in a while, how 'bout a remake of an Australian movie (say what)?

Kiki, el Amor se Hace, a remake of 2014's The Little Death, a ensemble comedy about sexual fetishes. Álex (Álex García) attempts to fulfil Natalia's (Natalia de Molina) fantasies, but she developed new fantasy while been held at knife-point and it kind of turned her on. She wants Álex to rape her and he is taken aback by this, but is willing to give it a go, although it is proving harder than he thought it would be. Paco and Ana (Paco León and Ana Katz) are going through a rough patch in their marriage and their friend Belén (Belén Cuesta) tells them to go to a sex club to spice things up. Both are out of their depth, but something unexpectedly happens between Ana and Belén. It also turns out that Paco is interested in Belén and maybe their marriage can be saved after all. Antonio and Candela (Luis Callejo and Candela Peña) are desperately trying for a baby and nothing is working. Candela is told that the chances of procreation can improve if she is turned on, but their sex life is pedestrian. Then Antonio's father dies and he begins to cry, which turns Candela on immensely and now she must find ways to get Antonio to cry and he attempts become more and more elaborate and possibly damaging to the relationship. Plastic surgeon José Luis (Luis Bermejo) is having no sex at all, not helped by his wife Paloma (Mari Paz Sayago) recovering from an accident and being incapacitated and he is also constantly tired, not a good thing for surgery. José Luis takes attempts to take an herbal sleeping remedy, but Paloma drinks it before he can and she falls instantly asleep and this turns José Luis on immensely as Paloma cannot be her miserable self. Their maid Maite (Maite Sandoval) sees what's going on and José Luis keeps her quiet but Maite has her own plans. Finally, Sandra (Alexandra Jiménez), a deaf woman with a weird sexual fetish, takes a call at her job as a deaf translator for phone calls from Rubén (David Mora), who would like to call a phone sex line, much to her horror, but the call ends in an unexpected way. Pretty much the same as the original with some small tweaks, the best change being that every story isn't interconnected like the original, although that's a personal issue I have with ensemble drama. And like the original, an OK movie with a few laughs and some actual nudity which the original didn't have. I do find it strange that an Australian movie was remade and with that, only 2 years to the month it was released.

Natalia de Molina in Kiki, el Amor se Hace

Raw HD caps of Natalia from Kiki, el Amor se Hace are available here.

61492kb 2min 25sec 1920x800 (breasts, bra and panties, sex scene, lengthy)

Candela Peña in Kiki, el Amor se Hace

Raw HD caps of Candela from Kiki, el Amor se Hace are available here.

51166kb 1min 14sec 1920x800 (almost shows bush, plenty of cleavage in singlet top with bra peeking out)

27828kb 46sec 1920x800 (strategic 'nudity', bra, panties pulled down, various sex scenes)

29803kb 50sec 1920x800 (masturbating)

Ana Katz in Kiki, el Amor se Hace

Raw HD caps of Ana from Kiki, el Amor se Hace are available here.

12190kb 21sec 1920x800 (bra, shorts)

Ana Katz and Belén Cuesta in Kiki, el Amor se Hace

97620kb 1min 56sec 1920x800 (Ana shows plenty of cleavage in slip, Belén in bra and shorts, girl-girl kiss)

16084kb 31sec 1920x800 (Ana in bra, Belén shows a hint of side-boob/bare back, panties, girl-girl kiss)

Belén Cuesta in Kiki, el Amor se Hace

Raw HD caps of Belén from Kiki, el Amor se Hace are available here.

60904kb 1min 07sec 1920x800 (breasts, bikini bottoms)

51399kb 1min 03sec 1920x800 (bra)

Mari Paz Sayago in Kiki, el Amor se Hace

25910kb 1min 1920x800 (bra and panties, plenty of cleavage in nightie, upskirt)

Yaël Belicha in Kiki, el Amor se Hace

20434kb 24sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in open shirt, allusion to masturbating)

Tags: Natalia de Molina, Ana Katz, Candela Peña, Belén Cuesta, Mari Paz Sayago, Yaël Belicha

05/08/2016

Update for 5 August...

Last Sunday I said that I start capping recent movies that I hadn't gotten around to capping or just discovered/remembered and today's update continues that theme. The Spectacular Now is a pretty decent teen drama about a highly extroverted boy (Miles Teller) who has a drinking problem who befriends then falls in love with a girl (Shailene Woodley) who he barely noticed at school after she finds him passed out on her front lawn. In Secret is a costume melodrama about a young woman (Elizabeth Olsen) who is forced into marriage with her ailing cousin (Tom Felton) by her guardian aunt (Jessica Lange) when they move to Paris, but when in Paris, she has an affair with her cousin's friend (Oscar Isaac) who then hatch a plan to kill the cousin and then get married, but by the time that happens, the love is gone. I don't mind a melodrama, but it's usually on a movie by movie basis and I didn't really like In Secret.

Shailene Woodley in The Spectacular Now

Raw HD caps of Shailene from The Spectacular are available here.

83038kb 3min 15sec 1920x800 (breasts but mostly top of breasts/side-boob, bra and panties, sex scene, extremely lengthy)

4947kb 6sec 1920x800 (upskirt)

Brie Larson in The Spectacular Now

Raw HD caps of Brie from The Spectacular are available here.

6591kb 6sec 1920x800 (side-boob/bare back, sex scene)

13669kb 21sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in see-through tops to bra)

63390kb 1min 02sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in midriff revealing top with bikini top underneath, shorts)

46803kb 46sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in nice dress)

Elizabeth Olsen in In Secret

Raw HD caps of Elizabeth from In Secret are available here.

12493kb 20sec 1920x800 (allusion to masturbating)

11236kb 32sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in see-through underclothes to breasts, nippy)

25905kb 1min 03sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in nice dress, allusion to getting fingered)

96698kb 2min 54sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in underclothes, sex scene, very lengthy)

11284kb 38sec 1920x800 (sex scene)

23808kb 1min 02sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in underclothes, nippy)

14422kb 26sec 1920x800 (brief breasts, sex scene)

13588kb 30sec 1920x800 (plenty of cleavage in wet, see-through clothes)

Jessica Lange in In Secret

25557kb 1min 09sec 1920x800 (hair over breasts, 'nude' in bath, in towel)

Tags: Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Elizabeth Olsen, Jessica Lange

03/08/2016

Australian VHS Classics for 3 August...

A couple more from the VHS vault, this time a couple of mid 80s Queensland made movies.

Bootleg is a 1985 detective thriller after left-wing terrorists have set off a bomb in Brisbane (haha, how paranoid was everyone in the 80s. Who the fuck would want to bomb Brisbane..?) and redneck cop Lawker (Ray Meagher, yep, Alf from Home and Away) is charged with finding out who was responsible and he sets his sights on anti-nuclear protester Dr. T.C. Brown (John Gregg). Meanwhile, a Sydney private investigator Joe Hart (John Flaus) gets a job looking for girl in Brisbane and inadvertently gets mixed up in the terror investigation plus there are 3 young people who are looking to grab him, but he slyly keeps away from them by spending time with a prostitute (Carmen Duncan). He finds the girl, who's shacked up with a music producer who is producing a bootleg recording that seems to be much sought after. That ain't the end of his troubles as she's mixed up with the terrorists who have a dastardly plan or something completely insane. Baffling, intertwining thriller that has so many sub-plots going on it's hard to make sense of the whole plot. I'm not sure it even makes sense and the whole plot involving Lawker barely even has a place in the movie, going missing for half an hour at least twice as another sub-plot gets added. The plot meanders off into some other direction so often, I doubt it even makes much sense and the movie stops dead when he starts seeing the prostitute, who the detective bafflingly believes is the love of his life. I have to say that I love Ray Meagher as the racist redneck cop cliché who's all bravado, but as I've already said, there's not enough of him. I wish I knew what was going on or for that matter, cared.

Frenchman's Farm is a 1986 mystery with time-travel elements where law student Linda (Tracey Tainsh, who's also in Bootleg. Penny Jones is also in both), who is travelling back to Brisbane from her mother's farm on the hottest day of the year. When she passes a property named Frenchman's Farm, her car begins to play up and she gets off the road to get help at the Farm. While looking for someone, she finds a newspaper that says that the date is 1944 and then stumbles on two men argue and witness one man swing a pick into the head of the other man and Linda quickly runs away before she is caught by the man. She then sees a car from 40s before everything becomes normal again. Linda immediately contacts her boyfriend Barry (David Reyne), fellow law student and musician (sadly not playing in The Chantoozies) and he is skeptical of her story, but goes along with it. Linda does more research and finds out that the murder took place on the date on the newspaper and that the victim's brother had been framed for it as Linda had seen a man named John Hatcher (Phil Brock) commit the murder. Her investigation triggers interest from the police, particular Bill Dolan (John Meillon). Linda convinces Barry of her story and they travel back to the Farm and find it's drunken owner Harry (Ray Barrett). Linda and Barry go to town to find out more info from the local police and from the local reverend (Norman Kaye), who is most helpful, suggesting that the farm was actually owned by a French man in the 1800s who changed his name to John Hatcher. They also find out that the farmhouse had been rebuilt in the different area and that in the now buried cellar, there might be something valuable. Linda and Barry convince Harry to let them dig down to the cellar and when they do, they find a box full of old French money and Napoleonic war memorabilia which between the three of them decide to share the spoils from. But Hatcher is having none of that... Surprisingly pedestrian movie, like a teenage mystery as they unravel the clues to the murder and centuries long mystery, but still a very intriguing movie that probably deserves more love. There's a decent cast of supporting players, Tainsh is also quite good (sadly didn't do a lot more after this) and David Reyne, well, he looks good I s'pose. The mystery is relatively easy to follow although there's a lot of exposition throughout the movie, probably way more than there should be, but it isn't that big of an issue. Frenchman's Farm is a pretty decent little movie, all-in-all.

As always with VHS releases, the quality is down although both of these movies are while the picture is pretty decent, sadly the sound on the Bootleg rip is terrible with lots of noise which coupled with a meandering plot made it a very hard watch. Doubt it will get a DVD/Bluray release, seems like it's a lost movie with the writer/director's resume completely bare in regards to anything after this movie. I think Frenchman's Farm got a DVD release overseas, but commenters on IMDB say it wasn't much chop. There's a small chance it will see the light of day again, although I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Carmen Duncan in Bootleg

32796kb 1min 44sec 768x576 ('nude' under covers, plenty of cleavage in nice dress, lengthy)

Shelley Friend in Bootleg

8218kb 25sec 768x576 (brief breasts, 'nude' in bath)

Penny Jones in Bootleg

3952kb 13sec 768x576 (plenty of cleavage in pulled down dress)

Tracey Tainsh in Frenchman's Farm

34836kb 1min 53sec 768x576 (very brief breasts, bum, side-boob, 'nude' under water, lengthy)

34768kb 1min 53sec 768x576 ('nude' under covers, lengthy)

Tags: Carmen Duncan, Shelley Friend, Penny Jones, Tracey Tainsh

01/08/2016

Australian VHS Classics for 1 August...

Here we go again with a couple of mid 80s Australia dramas off tape.

Death Of A Soldier is a 1986 drama set in Melbourne in 1942 where American troops were stationed during the war. The dead, naked body of a woman is found and local detectives Adams and Martin (Bill Hunter and Maurie Fields) think that it could be an American soldier and alert the army where Major Patrick Dannenberg (James Coburn) takes an interest although his superior Major Fricks (Max Fairchild) isn't convinced. Meanwhile, hulking American soldier Private Leonski (Reb Brown), who is harrassing women around town, kills his second victim, a policeman's wife and all hell breaks loose between Australian and American troops, including a massacre which is hushed up by Dannenberg. Now the local police and American army attempt to stop the tension by finding the murderer, but after another victim gets away from Leonski, she fails to recognise him when the troops are lined up. Leonski finds another woman, who he chokes to death, but this time his friend is convinced that Leonski is the killer and dobs him in. Leonski admits to the murders and when questioned, says that he did it to capture the woman's singing voices and then proceeds to sing in a feminine voice. Leonski is clearly insane but is rule competent to stand trial as a quick trial is pushed by the American army to get a conviction so that Leonski can be hung and apparently appease everyone. But, Dannenberg is convinced Leonski should get a fair trial and be tried as not sane, but time is running out and no one agrees with him. Based on true events, Death Of A Soldier is a pretty solid movie, but one that is also very odd possibly due to oddball director Philippe Mora (Howling 2 and 3, Mad Dog Morgan). The murder scenes are very strange and the train massacre is truly bizarre scene (and very shocking if actually true). Then there's Leonski, whom is one strange character and Reb Brown is very intriguing as the psychotic killer especially during the scene where he singing like a little girl and the final shot in the movie is every bit as strange as the final shot in Mad Dog Morgan. But, the film is intriguing and James Coburn is very good here and so are Bill Hunter and strangely vaudeville comedian Maurie Fields in a serious role (although he gets to do some singing and piano work). A pretty decent movie that seems to have been sadly forgotten.

One Night Stand (one of the laziest titles ever) is a 1984 Sydney set pre-apocalyptic drama set just as a nuclear war has broken out between America and Eastern Europe/Russia. Best friends Sharon and Eva (Cassandra Delaney and Saskia Post) are picked up by Santa Claus attired friends Brendan (Jay Hackett) and Tony (David Pledger) and they go on a double date to a Midnight Oil concert, which doesn't end well. Meanwhile, American naval officer Sam (Tyler Coppin) goes AWOL, missing his lover and just sick of the whole navy thing. The next night while leaving her job as an usherette at the Opera House for the night, Sharon awakens Sam, who is hiding out in the Opera House. Sharon and Eva are going out, but begin talking to Sam. They spy Brendan singing and dancing as he works as a cleaner at the Opera House and they all start talking. Then they get word that a nuclear bomb has been dropped North of Sydney and they are stuck in the Opera House trying to figure out what to do next and pass time by dancing, dressing up and playing strip poker with fragments of news coming through of the world been blown apart. Will they survive the night? Now, One Night Stand is a movie very much of it's time with nuclear war paranoia at it's peak, punctuated with a Midnight Oil concert, who were in the thick of this paranoia. And this movie absolutely ramps up the paranoia at one stage suggesting 6 nuclear bombs had been dropped in Australia alone (Wow!). Most of the movie is just the four passing the time, not exactly exciting or all that illuminating on the characters, but isn't boring. The final act of the movie is very haunting and well and truly the best part of the movie, but it's hard to take this movie seriously when none of the nuclear war paranoia came to fruition and the movie shows an incredibly extreme and unbelievable example of this.

As always with VHS releases, the quality is down although both of these movies are actually pretty decent quality. I was hoping that One Night Stand would be on DVD as planned by Umbrella 2+ years ago as a part of the John Duigan director collection, but that hasn't happened and doesn't look like happening soon. I was hoping to get a lighter version of the Cassandra Delaney nude scene, although there's no guarantee of that on a DVD release. And knowing my luck, an One Night Stand DVD will be released sometime soon.

Mary Charleston in Death Of A Soldier

7168kb 23sec 768x576 (dress ripped open to reveal breasts)