Movies

The only truly original film I've seen this year, The Woman Chaser takes its cue from its psycho-pulp origins and steeps itself in a brilliantly mordant mise-en-scene. Each shot bursts with ideas and mood, and Patrick Warburton is wonderful. The film is hilarious, and far enough off-center to truly appeal to those who get it. Those who like it will love it, and those who dislike it should probably look a little closer. Somehow simultaneously endearing, shocking and gritty, it's an insider's view of insanity, with all its delightfully f***ed-up characters painted affectionately by the director and his actors. Insightful and funny on the dregs of human behavior and in many ways a multi-layered riff on the nature of movies themselves - this is the one American film I would recommend over any other this year.

Just saw 35 films at Sundance and hands down, this film stands out while most of the others are just a blur. Patrick Warburton plays "The Director" (the author's original title for the story)and he plays it to deadpan perfection. Shot in color and then transferred to a high contrast black and white title stock, paints this film in a lush visual treat. Plot and dialog holds true to the original 60's pulp and creates a harsh charm that is both parody and innovative filmmaking. Looking forward to seeing this one again as soon as it is released.

I first heard of Charles Willeford when Miami Blues came out. I read that book & found it fantastic. I thought the movie of Miami Blues was a minor masterpiece. I began to work backwards in Willeford's novels & got to this one which I found, like much of his earliest work, very bizarre. A used car salesman who dances a ballet with his mother. This film has captured that quality perfectly, treating it with utmost respect & love & lots of very well-tempered humor. Every detail of this film works perfectly, the acting, lighting, music, quality of sound, even, or especially, the perfect pitch of B-movie voices. Less lethal than Jim Thompson, less schematic than James M. Cain, more resourceful than David Goodis, Charles Willeford now has had two well-deserved minor film masterpieces made of his work.