Date: Wednesday, May 14, 7:00pm
Beverage of Choice: Brooklyn Brewery
Quite simply, Russ Meyer is the man. He created a phenomenon and brought a bosomy fetish into the limelight. I picked up a few European DVD releases of his films recently on Ebay, and selected 2 for a fantastic "double" feature: Supervixens, and Mondo Topless. Starting with Vixens - this movie had everything and more. Meyer sets up every scene and angle to showcase the mammorys, even forgoing traditional framing and using shots that cut off the stars at the neck and focus right in on the "chesticles." Vixens was a 70's Meyer film and it showcased the era quite nicely - full denim ensembles, rockin, sax wailin' go-go music, bawdy, raucous humor and tons of flesh. From the sublime, to the trashy to the surreal, the non-stop pace of Vixens was intoxicating. Action, violence, sex, cussin and boobs. Huge, monsters that defy all logic, gravity and nature. That's one of the best things about the "Meyer girls" - they are ALL REAL. I have to say, my expectations were low, and carnal at best, but I was more than surprised at the talent Meyer showcases as a filmmaker. There's some real film making going on here. A unique eye for framing, an uncanny instinct for editing and over-the-top but decent acting.
The second feature, Mondo Topless, was obviously created to capitalize on the "Mondo" film craze in the 60's. Culturally, this is a pretty important film, showcasing a time in the 60's when strip clubs didn't really exist yet - just a few swingin' topless clubs on the west coast and in NYC. At best, after about 20 minutes of boobies swinging, this became quite boring, but with a barely 1-hour run time, it works out fine. Both films gave me the sense that they were engineered for a very specific 42nd street-era audience who were short on attention and needed a gimmick and a fast paced to get em in the theater and keep them there. Short run times allowed the grindhouse theaters to easily do double and triple bills and turn over the audiences to maximize profits. See the great book Sleazoid Express for everything you might want to know about 42nd street. Man, I wish I was in my 20s and lived in 1970's New York!
