Avenger X was based off the fumetti neri (black comics, a term for a more violent and criminal driven form of comics ) Mister X, which is about a gentleman thief. The character design may be a bit different than the comic, however, with a black color scheme missing the white and red from the printed version of X’s costume.
George Lamarro may look like a normal pharmaceutical CEO, but he’s really pushing hard drugs. His secretary tries to blackmail him for some of the profits — and a wedding ring — so he has her killed and sets up the master criminal known as Mister X (Pier Paolo Capponi, Seven Blood Stained Orchids, The Cat O’Nine Tails).
The real Mister X is a master of golf, disguise and death. Trust me, he isn’t having a pretender take his name.
The first of three Fantomas movies, this was an attempt to bring the French character into the world of James Bond. In this story, a journalist named Fandor and Commissioner Paul Juve try to bring in the noted supervillain Fantomas, who is always one step ahead of them.
Fantomas is the man of a thousand masks, able to be anyone and even use his makeup as a weapon. He’s upset that Fandor is writing about him, so he commits a crime looking like the writer. He does the same thing to Juve. And even with all the tools at their disposal, these two — joined by Juve’s girlfriend Helene Gurn — still can’t stop his crimewave.
Obviously, Kriminal, Satanik and Diabolik were all inspired by Fantomas, as was the supergroup that former Faith No More singer Mike Patton formed. If you’re into movie soundtracks — or awesome loudness — you should check them out.
“The alternative/independent rock scene that exploded in the late ’80s/early ’90s was a period we hold dear to our hearts. The music created during that stretch still has great influence today, as the descendants of Nirvana, The Pixies, Sonic Youth, The Replacements, Radiohead and their compatriots are everywhere on rock radio.”
I’ve couldn’t have said it better myself, ye press bard for Loaded Barrel Studios.
April 5th marked the 26th anniversary of the death of Kurt Cobain and he’s still as much alive in our hearts today as he was in the MTV 120 Minutes days of our lives on The Cutting Edge. I am forever grateful for the opportunity afforded me to be on the air as a DJ during the ‘90s alt-rock explosion. If you’ve read my “Exploring: 50 Gen-X Grunge Films of the Alt-Rock ‘90s” and “Exploring: Radio Stations on Film” featurettes, along with my nostalgic waxing over the era-films A Matter of Degrees, duBeat-e-o, S.F.W., and Trees Lounge, you know of my melancholy and infinite sadness at the grunge-era’s passing. It is a time—like the Beatlemania-British Invasion, the late ‘60s San Francisco-seeded progressive rock era, and the ‘80s hair metal nation teased in Los Angeles (chronicled in the frames of Incident at Channel Q)—that can never be duplicated; only remembered, as the refrains of “Freak Scene,” “The Second I Wake,” and “Teenage Riot” from Dinosaur Jr., the Screaming Trees, and Sonic Youth poke digital reminders on our vinyl-reminiscing eardrums via our iPods.
The vinyl-pumping heart within the kindred spirits of writer-star Jeff Auer and director Jared Barel has created a film for us: we the drowning survivors of Seattle’s grungy backwaters. They know these musicians as well as I know these flannel troubadours: the once local, college-campus band rescued from indie label-dom, catapulted to mainstream acceptance on a national label (e.g., the Offspring, Rust, Shudder to Think, the Toadies, etc.), only to land with a marketing thud as a one hit wonder (Collective Soul, Marcy’s Playground, Possum Dixon, Semisonic, 7 Mary 3, Tonic, Tripping Daisy, and Vertical Horizon) as rap music became, as Gene Simmons pointed out, the new de rigueur “heavy metal” of 21st century. As if J. Mascis, Mark Lanegan, and Thurston Moore would receive an Elvis-embrace by more than 1% of America’s 300 million-plus consumers. . . .
Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe’s rock ‘n’ roll love letter to his days as a ‘70s rock journalist, is reflected upon in the press kit for The Incoherents. And while Auer-Barel’s mellifluous billet-doux to ‘90s alt-rock certainly lives up to Martin Scorcese’s critique as a “needle drop” film, the analog VHS centers of my brain loaded in a copy of the lesser-known 1998 British rock flick, Still Crazy. While Almost Famous was the tale of the on-the-top-of-the-world Stillwater (aka Humble Pie) falling apart, the Brian Gibson directed (of the punk-rock version of Almost Famous: 1980’s Breaking Glass) Still Crazy chronicled the reformation of the once-great Strange Fruit (aka The Animals) for a second shag n’ bite of Eve and that damned apple.
“Welcome to the music business,” cackles Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos, the three weaving witches of the looms of fate.
And the threadbare soul of Bruce Flansburgh (Jeff Auer), a 40-something New York paralegal, is desperate enough to give the Moirai one more spool of thread. If the Pixies and Soundgarden can tempt those Greek bitches, then why not The Incoherents?
Tracking down his fellow stagnated grunge stallions, Bruce quickly opens old wounds with Jimmy (Alex Emanuel), the band’s guitarist and co-songwriter, who served as the Keith Richards to Bruce’s Mick Jagger, aka the Joe Perry to his Steven Tyler. But the glimmer’s long since gone and the toxic resentments of the “Simmer Twins” still simmers bitter. And the reunion deepens the already festering wounds of his stalemated-homemaker wife Liz (Kate Arrington) who wants more than Bruce’s paralegal job can give. Will The Incoherents rule the charts once again in the young man’s game of rock ‘n’ roll?
What sells the film—like the soundtracks of Still Crazy and the Gina Gershon-starring Prey for Rock & Roll (2003)—is the ’90s college-rock retro original music that breathes life into the faux-proceedings. Actors Alex Emanuel and Jeff Auer—both accomplished musicians in their own right—wrote and perform the band’s songs; their backing band features ‘90s alt-rockers Sean Eden from Luna and drummer Kevin March of Guided by Voices. A great song—or songs—can sell a film: the ’60s retro-romp That Thing You Do! and 1999’s likeminded The Suburbans (a low-budget tale about a Knack-cum-The Romantics-esque reformed one hit wonder) come to mind. And The Incoherents brings the tunes to the turntable.
The marquee names on this indie-gem are the instantly recognizable Annette O’Toole (stealing the show as the salty-mouth rehearsal studio owner Mrs. Graham) from her too many-to-mention films and TV series. Fans of Showtime’s Billions and CBS-TV’s The Good Wife will recognize Kate Arrington, while others will remember Amy Carlson (as a dream-stealing industry mover n’ shaker) as Mark Wahlberg’s wife on CBS-TV’s Blue Bloods. And you’ve seen leading man Jeff Auer in his guest-starring roles on TV’s The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, and Luke Cage. Adding a realistic-retro vibe to the plight of The Incoherents are the acting cameos by (an insult hurling) guitarist Richard Barone of The Bongos and Lou Reed, along with Chris Barron—who’s all too familiar with cruel realties of the alt-rock ‘90s rollercoaster ride with his band, The Spin Doctors (aka the ’90s alt-rock inversion of the ’80s Men at Work).
Director Jared Barel has six shorts under his belt—one was the 2013 short-film version of The Incoherents. Coming off a successful festival run, the feature-length version won “Best Feature” and “Best Home Grown Feature” at the 2019 New York Coney Island Film Festival and New Jersey’s Garden State Film Festival, while Barel walked away with double awards for “Best Director” and “Best Feature Film” at the Studio City Film Festival. It also garnered nominations for “Best Feature Comedy” and “Feature Film” at the Queens World Film Festival, along with multiple nods at the SoHo International Film Festival. So that tells you The Incoherents is worth hitting the big red streaming button.
That tells you I really dig this film. Deeply.
The Incoherents is high on my rock ‘n’ roll VHS charts alongside American Satan, Bandwagon, Breaking Glass, Prey for Rock & Roll, Rock Star, and Still Crazy as a gold record-standard for accuracy in the lives of the men and women who suffer for their art. And the ones who lugged their equipment: like me.
The caveat is that one must consider this reviewer’s radio and roadie background: you may want to take my raves as an incoherent grain of salt—as I can’t not rave about a film that namedrops the Archers of Loaf, Generation X, Guided by Voices, Pavement, and Sebodah (especially Archers of Loaf?! Sebodah?! What the hell, Auer?). The Incoherents is a case of “you had to be there” to appreciate Jared Barel’s retro-vinyl craftsmanship. This isn’t a pretty n’ pat, major studio Jamie Foxx or Joaquin Phoenix music-bio crafted to entertain the mainstream masses via an actor’s Oscar-hopeful mimicry. This film is, first and foremost, about the music. It’s a film for guys like me: the ones who perpetually swim against the aqua firma and mount the musical and film driftwoods of salvation in those drowning, mainstream waters.
And, with that, I’m pulling out the forgotten cardboard tchotchke that is the Screaming Trees’ Invisible Lantern, and following with vinyl chasers from the Buck Pets, the Divine Horsemen, the Doughboys, and Mary My Hope . . . and remembering when my life was a bit more incoherent. And freakin’ beautiful.
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The Incoherents is available on iTunes and all VOD platforms on April 28. You can learn more at the film’s official website and Facebook.
Disclaimer: This movie was sent to us by its PR company and, as you know, that has no bearing on our review. But, as you can tell by this review, we would have bought it anyway.
About the Author: You can read the music and film reviews of R.D Francis on Medium and learn more about his work on Facebook.He also writes forB&S About Movies.
I’m excited to welcome JC Greening back to the site. If you’d like to learn more about him and his many projects, here’s how to look him up on the web.
Someone Call Chicken Little, the Sky has Indeed Fallen!
The name’s Greening. James Greening. And I like my spy films masterful, not mediocre.
Open my dossier, and you will see why. I grew up in the 1980’s, which was a great decade for Horror and Coming-of-Age films, but not for spy action thrillers. It was the true age of mediocre for James Bond. Moore was finishing up his career with the extremely cheesy entries of Octopussy (1983) and A View to Kill (1985), and then we entered the under-appreciated, but still boring Bond films of Timothy Dalton. Things weren’t looking great upon the dawning of the 90’s either, as Pierce Brosnan took over the helm of Agent 007 in 1995’s Goldeneye (great soundtrack and video game but left much to be desired in the actual film).
Regardless, I still fell in love with James Bond for some reason. It might have been the fact that my mother made me watch Sean Connery’s older Bond films or that I was training to be a real life spy for the American government (that fell through for several reasons and don’t get me started!), but I was and still am the guy that will watch every Bond marathon on television that I happen to stumble across.
And there’s plenty of reasons to watch hours of Bond on end: beautiful women, exotic locations, cool gadgets, interesting villains, and outrageous stunts…to just name a few. Bond films were always merely a form of popcorn entertainment in my world, but every fan of film needs those kinds of movies in their lives.
Soon though, my world would be completely upended when Skyfall (2012) was released. I had sensed that a masterful, meaningful Bond film was coming, with the close-but-not-quite entry of Casino Royale(2006). Daniel Craig appearing as the new Bond, who had charisma but also a very serious killer side to him (not to also mention he was the first Blonde Bond, which I truly appreciated being blonde myself), along with high-caliber writing and directing, brought this Bond film to a new level of film-making.
However, once I saw the follow-up Quantum of Solace (2008), I lost all hope of a Bond film being a truly great film.
But hope was fully restored with the third entry of Craig’s Bond series, Skyfall (2012). And though clocking in as one of the longest Bond films in history, every minute was absolutely beautiful and kept my utmost attention (unlike even some of the other better Bond films, which inevitably have those 20 minutes or so in the beginning of the third act that seem to just drag on and on…), which is why I rank Skyfall as the best Bond film ever committed to celluloid (well, not actually celluloid, as it was the first Bond to be completely filmed in digital format).
Skyfall finds our hero spy hunting down a stolen disk of MI6 agents that eventually ends up in the wrong hands of one of the best Bond villains ever – Raoul Silva (played by the amazing Javier Bardem). Mr. Silva then starts killing agents and eventually reveals a master plot to kill the incorrigible M (masterfully acted by Dame Judi Dench). M and Bond head for the hills of Scotland to escape the technological wizardry of Silva, which leads to a classic 80’s montage of setting up deadly booby traps for Silva and his henchmen. A time-tested showdown ensues, and Bond is pushed to his limits to save everyone, including himself. All do not make it out alive, but I will leave the details as a mystery just in case the two people in the world who haven’t seen the film accidentally read this review.
So, Skyfall has all the makings of a classic Hollywood action film and holds true to Bond’s provenance –perfect fodder for popcorn and a couple hours of eye entertainment. But viewers beware – the intelligence of the script, the gorgeous cinematography, the character interactions, and the relationship building in this film make it not only mere entertainment, but a powerful, masterful film!
Instead of Bond building a shallow relationship with a gorgeous woman half his age, this film examines the strong, but strained relationship between M and 007. Instead of Bond using self-driving cars and self-exploding pens, Bond resorts to traditional methods of warfare and his old reliable classic, Silver Birch Aston Martin DB5. Instead of exotic beaches, the film ends in Glencoe, Scotland at the failing Bond manor. Instead of glorifying the spy world, this film examines the current global climate where technology is overtaking traditional espionage and if Bond truly has a place in today’s government voyeurism (and even perhaps in the film world itself).
We are granted a deeper glance into the real world of politics, as well as a killer view of Bond’s family and background. Hinting that Bond’s family were Recusant Catholics (perhaps an attempt at connecting the fictional Bond family with the real Recusants named Bond from Dorset) with the family motto of“Not even the world is enough” (hmm…heard that before, I believe), this James Bond attaches ancestry to his life and ends up destroying that part of himself, replacing it with the much closer and powerful relationships he has with M, the new Q, and Moneypenny. Bond is suddenly not this suave spy in control of all things, but rather much more human and caught questioning his past loyalties and actions.
Thus, the film is self-reflective, meaningful, and holds gut-punching dialogue, which is unlike any other Bond film I have ever laid eyes on, before or since. This is it, film-fan folks…after fifty years and 22 films before it, Skyfall marks the time when Bond finally both entertained and amazed. Skyfall is not only a great Bond film; it is a great film…period. Praise the film gods – I wondered if this film would ever be delivered!
And, it will probably never happen again. As No Time To Die (2020) appears to be a continuation of Spectre (2015) and an examination of his trust in women he loves, I believe Bond has forgotten everything that happened in Skyfall and has moved on to popcorn problems and soda pop scenarios. But that is okay. Craig gave me Skyfall, and for that, I will always remain true to the Bond series until I Die Another Day.
You can rent Skyfall on about every platform and can probably even find it for free on television.
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Harry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is living two lives. To his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) and his daughter (Eliza Dushku), he’s a boring computer salesman. But that’s all a cover for his real job, as an agent of the elite Omega Sector. He’s Bond but perhaps even better, as the opening of the film shows him easily seduce Juno Skinner (Tia Carrere), steal important files and escape a society party by killing everyone in his way.
But what happens when his wife meets someone who could be a spy (Bill Paxton) and starts having an affair?
This is a movie that I’d not watched for some reason and I loved it. Particularly, I enjoyed Charlton Heston as Director Spencer Trilby and Tom Arnold as Tasker’s handler Albert Gibson. The spy action movies quickly, the action is big and bold, yet the love between Curtis and Arnold feels real.
Of course, this movie could never be made today, the way that it goes after Arabic people as terrorists. 1994 feels centuries ago in so many ways.
After September 11, 2001, Cameron decided to not do a sequel. He would say, “Terrorism is no longer something to take as lightly as we did in the first one. I just can’t see it happening given the current world climate.” Curtis would also say, “Terrorists aren’t funny anymore. They never were, but, it was distant enough from our psyche that we could make it funny. It’ll never be funny again. I just think that that is over, that kind of humor is over.”
That said, there remains a rumor that McG will be creating a series adaption for Disney+. For what it’s worth, this movie was based on the French film La Totale!, which didn’t get a sequel either.
It seems like every ten years or so, there’s a rush of comic book movies. Lately, those films have been closer to the source material. Then there’s Constantine, a movie that most movie fans may not realize was a comic and also a film that fans of the original comic will instantly not want to see because of how different it is. I always wonder, why even spend the money to license the story if you’re just going to make your own movie?
Based on DC Comics’ Hellblazer, with plot elements taken from the “Dangerous Habits” and “Original Sins” stories, this movie is all about John Constantine, a magician who can see demons and angels. The character originated in the comic Swamp Thing and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bisette and John Totleben. Yes, this is another Moore creation that was made into a movie that he probably despises.
I have a weakness for Keanu Reeves showing up in supernatural films, as he always seems bemused by the action that surrounds him.
In Hellblazer, he’s helping Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz), an LAPD detective investigating the suicide of her twin sister. This, of course, brings him to Hell and into the orbit of Tilda Swinton as the Archangel Gabriel, who wants to unleash demons on Earth and Peter Stormare as Lucifer.
This movie is packed with some recognizable actors, like Shia LaBeouf as Constantine’s student Chas Kramer, Djimon Hounsou as nightclub owner Papa Midnite and Bush singer Gavin Rossdale as a demon named Balthazar.
The Spear of Destiny used in this movie is more than just the same occult object mentioned in Hellboy. It’s the same physical prop, too. That said — the Spear — which was used to stab Jesus’ side — has great significance to the DC Universe, as it was how Hitler was able to keep the superpowered heroes of Earth-2 from attacking his country, as Superman should have been able to stop the war with a few punches.
The demon Ellie, who was Constantine’s lover, was shot for the movie but is cut out. She was played by Michelle Monaghan.
Director Francis Lawrence would go on to make I Am Legend, three of The Hunger Games films and RedSparrow.
Roel Bos, using the stage name Glenn Saxson, appeared in this movie and its sequel, as well as a few spaghetti westerns in his career before becoming a producer.
This is based on the fumetti neri Kriminal, which has a hero of sorts that has no issue murdering people and then sleeping with women before killing them to keep his identity a secret. Director Umberto Lenzi wanted to make a comic film, with the goals of making Satanik or Danger: Diabolik, but ended up making this.
Kriminal is much less ruthless in this film, which is more a fun spy film. Andrea Bosic (the optician from Fulci’s Manhattan Baby) is Inspector Milton, who follows our antihero around. Horror actress — and spy film too — par excellence Helga Line shows up too. I’ve mentioned her in so many Eurospy reviews, but you can also find her in Horror Express, Nightmare Castle and The Vampires Night Orgy.
The best part of this movie are the animated open and close titles, which lend a really interesting look.
Lenzi, Saxson and Line would return a year later for Il marchio di Kriminal, a sequel that becomes more of a travelogue spy adventure, as many late 60’s films become.
Instead of diamond robberies as in the first film, the sequel finds Kriminal looking for missing paintings, with the map hidden inside four statues of Buddha.
I’m fascinated by this era of Italian comic book movies, so I loved these perhaps a bit more than the ordinary film watcher. You should check them out for yourself.
Taken from the comic book bt Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar, Kingsmen is all about what it takes to go from a commoner to one of the men on her majesty’s secret service. If anything, this is one of the rare comic book movies that improves upon its source material.
Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Layer Cake, Kick-Ass) does a great job with this film, making a better Bond film than Bond films.
Ever since a tragic mission in 1997, Harry Hart (Colin Firth) has felt like he owed the family of Lee Unwin — who died to save his life — something. He gave the family a number of they ever need him and seventeen years later, Eggsy — Lee’s son — calls him. As played by Taron Egerton, he becomes the true hero that the Kingsmen — a secret organization of spies devoted to protecting the United Kingdom — has been looking for.
He must also deal with Richmond Valentine (Samuel Jackson), a rich genius using free wireless to cut down the Earth’s population. He’s backed up by Gazelle (Sofia Boutella, Atomic Blonde), a killer with prosthetic legs.
Plus, Mark Strong is great as the handler Merlin and Michael Caine can be in as many spy movies as he’d like.
I love that the idea of this movie is pretty much how Terence Young turned Sean Connery into James Bond. Millar said, “Young realized he had to turn Connery, this rough Edinburgh guy, into a gentleman, and before they started shooting the movie, he took him to his tailor, to his favorite restaurants, and basically taught him how to eat, talk, and dress like a gentleman spy.”
This movie made me so pleased because someone remembers how to make a Eurospy movie with style while not being overly referential to what came before.
Imagine: A Filipino James Bond and Batman hybrid starring their King of Comedy. It’s 100% true — starring Dolphy, who from 1965-1966 made several James Bond spoofs including Dolpinger, Genghis Bond: Agent 1-2-3, Dr. Yes, Operation Butterball, Dressed to Kill, Dolpinger Meets Pantarorong, Dolpinger: Agent sa lagim and even a Man from U.N.C.L.E. parody, Napoleon Doble and the Sexy Six.
Boy Alano is his Ruben as they battle CLAW in the face of nuclear armageddon. Of course, Batman and James Bond don’t get along, despite being played by the same actor.
There’s also Alyas Batman at Robin, a ripoff of Batman made around the same time that was remade in 1989 but earned the ire of Warner Brothers, sitting for two years until lawsuits could be settled. Bob Soler, who played Batman in the 1965 version also played a fake version of Lee Falk’s The Phantom, Captain Philippines and the Shazam/Superman/Captain America hybrid Captain Barbell.
There’s also the 1965 film Batman Fights Dracula and the 70’s brought us Fight Batman FIght! where Batman literally goes to hell to kick Satan’s ass.
You can get this movie right here, download it from the Internet Archive or watch it on YouTube:
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