The Documentary “Last Days Here” focuses on Bobby Liebling, the Lead Singer (Frontman) of the virtually unknown 70′s Heavy Metal band Pentagram. Many people at the time considered them a kind of “street” Black Sabbath, but due to a self-destructive drug addiction, multiple band break-ups and record deals gone awry, the band fell into obscurity and Heavy Metal limbo. Years later, Bobby, now in his 50′s, completely ravaged by years of drug use and abuse, we find him living in the care of his Mother and Father, in a dirty and dingy basement of their home. Pentagram’s music is eventually discovered by Heavy Metal underground music collectors and with the help of huge fan-turned-manager, Sean “Pellet” Pelletier, Bobby tries to find away to overcome his dug addiction in order for him to record a new album and perform on stage again, in the hopes to claim some of the recognition that he believes that should have been more back in the day.

Full blown drug addiction is not a pretty sight, not a pretty sight indeed. Bobby has been using drugs for some 44 years. He has been addicted to heroin for 39 years and simultaneously addicted to crack for for the past 22 years as well. All he has ever known is sex, drugs, and rock and roll. It is extremely hard to watch him banter away on the couch, looking deathly gaunt with uncontrollable tics and twitches and exclaiming, ” I’m not supposed to be alive.” Believing that he has some type of parasitic infection, he obsessively picks at the skin on his arms and hands until they are raw and bleeding. It is truly a disturbing sight to witness and one has to wonder if his friend Pellet and Manager has any chance at all in helping to sober up so he can record another album and tour.

There are other factors, besides the drugs that lead the band down the path of near misses and not into Rock & Roll fame and fortune, and the film deals with early Pentagram stories as many of the Ex-Bandmates fill in the dirt and details. Last Days Here is a film that should appeal to more than just a Rock & Roll audience, and is filled with many ups and downs as Leibling struggles with kicking his 44 year old habit cold turkey. To give away anymore details would spoil the story, so I will say no more. It is an engrossing portrait of a man fighting for his life as he tries to find some kind of redemption through hope, love and recognition. Hard to watch sometimes, but definitely worth checking out.

Dick Hollywood Has Spoken!

“Last Days Here” opens 3/23 at the Cinefamily with an opening night party at 8:00pm. Pentagram frontman Bobby Leibling will introduce the film and there will be a Q&A with Bobby, Co-Director Don Argott and Producer Sheena M. Joyce afterwards. There will also be a Q&A on Saturday with Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce.

Click on the link below for more information regarding the film’s opening night and Q&As at Cinefamily.

Cinefamily “Last Days Here” Information

Holy percussion Batman! These renegade rhythmic anarchists performing their “musical apocalypse” on an unexpecting Swedish city makes for quite a fun and uniquely odd little flick indeed. They make music and create full blown symphonic sounscapes by utlizing various and normally non-melodious objects, machines, and combine them everyday sounds and noise, in which they then sync in time with the help of a metronome. Magnus and Sanna roll there eyes and look down on boring traditional symphonies and orchestrations. While performing a live piece of music from inside their speeding van, they get into an accident and now must evade the law.

The police call in the bomb squad when they hear a ticking sound coming from the wreckage. Coming from a family of famous and child prodigy musicians, Officer Amadeus Warnebring recognizes the all to familar sound of a metronome and difuses the situation by pulling it out of the van. The tone deaf Amadeaus actually hates music, but is singled out by his superiors and assighned to the task of apprehending the fugitives. He is reluctantly determined to bring the two musical terrorists in to custoday. He postuates that the duo are musical extremists determined to sonically wreak havok upon the unsuspecting city. After having a close call with police , Magnus decides to pull out his Opus entitled “Music for One City and Six Drummers”, and they begin to recruit four more drummers to pull off and perform his pièce de résistance. As the motley crew of professional drummers are recruited, rehearsed and begin to play Magnus’ symphony, it becomes quite clear to Amadeus and the Police that his suspicion was correct.

Magnus’s musical attact is broken up into four movements involving the use of hospital rooms, banks, construction machinery and eletrical poles. With each act of musical terrorism, the gang of drummers become more and more infamous in the city and on the nightly news, as Amadeus becomes more and more obsessed with stopping them along with the incessant noise in his head. It’s a gleefully absurdist flick with genuine warmth and frivolity. In a time in which Hollywood only has to offer filmgoers Sequels, Prequels, Remakes and Reboots, “Sound of Noise” shows us that originality is always better than any rehashed or recycled ideas and stories. It is one hell of a fresh, unique and funny movie that I highly reccomend to anyone who loves good Cinema.

So Says Dick Hollywood!

Also if you live in the Los Angeles are, please check out “Sound of Noise” at the Cinefamily Theater: STARTING FRIDAY THE 9TH : ONE-WEEK RUN OPENING NIGHT PARTY FEAT. LIVE DRUM BATTLE BY MELVINS DRUMMERS!)FRIDAY MARCH 9TH – THURSDAY, MARCH 15TH

SCREENING SCHEDULE (Tickets – $12/Free for members. Opening Night Party screening – $14/Free for Members. Showtimes subject to change.)
——————–
Friday, March 9th: 10:00pm (Opening Night Party feat. Q&A with filmmakers, and live drum battle by Melvins drummers!)
Saturday, March 10th: 9:50pm
Sunday, March 11th: 3:45pm, 10:15pm
Monday, March 12th: 7:45pm, 10:15pm
Tuesday, March 13th: 7:45pm, 10:15pm
Wednesday, March 14th: 4:45pm, 10:00pm
Thursday, March 15th: 7:45pm, 10:15pm

Check Out The Trailer!

Just in the nick of time and right before Valentine’s Day. Here is my Top 13 (because 10 just ain’t enough) Unconventional Love Stories. I command thee to seek them out and watch them! So Says Dick Hollywood. Films are in Alpha Order because, well just because… And I left off Harold and Maude on purpose, because most likely everybody has either seen it or heard about it already, but I do think that it is one of the all time best unconventional love stories.

Angel Baby (1995)

Love this Australian Flick Directed by Michael Rhymer, about two schizophrenics who meet in group therapy, fall in love and decide to have a baby.

Carrington (1995)

The story of the relationship between Painter Dora Carrington and Author Lytton Strachey and their strong connection for each other. A platonic relationship, due to Strachey’s sexual orientation, but emotionally they loved each other deeply.

Crazy Love (2007)

Bizarre Documentary that explores the troubled relationship between Burt Pugach and Linda Riss. The title of this Flick is not kiddin’ and it is Pretty Fuckin’ Crazy!

Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

Ben is planning on drinking himself to death in Las Vegas and gets caught up romantically with Sera a prostitute, in John O’Brien and Mike Figgis’ tragedy.

Lunatics: A Love Story (1991)

Hank is crazy and I mean Bat Shit Crazy. Nancy is in trouble and I mean Big Trouble. When there two worlds collide sparks begin to fly. If only they could get through all of Hank’s tin foil.

Niagara Niagara (1997)

From IMDB: “An outsider and a young woman plagued by Tourette’s syndrome meet and together journey to Canada.”

Remains of the Day (1993)

Unrequited love has never been captured better than in Remains of the Day. What an amazing restrained and subtle performance from Anthony Hopkins. My favorite Merchant/Ivory Production.

Secretary (2002)

I see nothing wrong with a little domination and submission in the work place. Nothing wrong at all…

Sid and Nancy (1986)

The scene with the garbage falling on them while they are kissing says it all. Love Love Love It!

Tie Me Up Tie Me Down (1990)

Kidnapping an Actress and tying her to the bed until she falls in love with you seems absurd. Quite absurd indeed…

Waking the Dead (2000)

From IMDB: “A congressional candidate questions his sanity after seeing the love of his life, presumed dead, suddenly emerge.” This is an underrated little gem of a film with great turns by Billy Crudup and Jennifer Connelly. Seek it out!

Wings of Desire (1988)

An Angel gives up is wings and decides to become human when he falls for a Circus Performer and wants to experience life. One of Wim Wenders best!

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)

Boy kills himself when his girl breaks up with him and goes to some strange purgatory reserved for suicides. Girl offs herself 3 months later and has been spotted in the very same purgatory. Boy searches for his “True Love” in the afterlife…

“The Innkeepers” is Writer/Director/Editor Ti West’s follow up to his Indie Horror hit “The House of the Devil”. A “Haunted Hotel type story set in the final few days before the Yankee Pedlar Inn cloes their doors for good. Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) are the last two remaining employees in the place are trying to get proof that the Inn is truly one of New England’s “most haunted hotels”.

Mr. West likes his films to burn slow and burn slowly this film does. Much of the film relies on the charms of Claire as she goes about her mundane job with a cute and awkward goofiness. Luke dreams of making money from his website on the haunted Yankee Peddler and wants to get some ghostly EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) recordings to add validity to the site. So the two take to wandering around and recording in separate shifts as the other one gets some shut eye in one of the hotel rooms. Along the way, they have run-ins with the last few remaining guests including an Ex TV Star and now New Age Guru (Top Gun’s Kelly McGilis).

Ti West has fun playing with his audience and deconstructing the traditional jump scare, utilizing it in self-referential way. The real scares come from the tension he builds utilizing a great sound editing and some arm hair raising creepiness. All in all, “The Innkeepers” is not a great film, but it sure is on hell of a fun one, eliciting more scary and chilling moments then all of the lame Paranormal Activity “Found Footage Flicks” combined!

The Innkeepers gets Dick Hollywood’s Seal of Approval

“The InnKeepers” is currently on VOD and opens Friday Feb 3rd for a limited theatrical run in select cites.

With Director Ben Wheatley’s second Flick, he brings us a Genre mash-up of British Mike Leigh type improvised drama, some British Crime, and a smidgen of Horror. Jay(Neil Maskell) and Gal (Michael Smiley) are a couple of hired hit men whose last job was eight months ago in Kiev, which seems to have ended badly and messed Jay up in the head pretty badly. They both need to do another job to make some money and to pay the bills, especially Jay, since he also supports his wife, Shel (MyAnna Buring) and daughter. Gal and his latest girlfriend come over to dinner one night, so he can propose a new job to Jay. By the end of the visit Jay agrees take on the three hit contract with Gal. Get in, do the hits and get’er done, so he can go back to his normal family life with Shel who is aware of his profession.

The meeting with the Client almost goes badly as he grabs a hold of Jay’s hand and slices his palm open. He then proceeds to cut his own hand and the two of them let the would drip onto a paper contract. The deal is literally sealed in blood. Might have been the time to back out of this “what the fuck?” meeting and commitment to a client they both have never met. The banter between Gal and Jay is quite funny and realistic and a good majority of the flick was improvised by the three main leads. As the hits begin, Gal gets increasing more violent and brutal, and wants to back out of the job. He realizes that he is losing it and has a bad feeling about finishing the job.

The Kill List, to me, felt like more of a mood piece. A hallucinatory cryptic mind fuck that never allows you to know which way is up, as the situations they get into are not what they seem. It’s an unsettling and deliberately slow-paced flick that builds to a too quick of an ending that does not really add up. Even though the clues are there, it still feels rushed and messy. I had been hearing really good things about this flick, maybe too many really good things, as well as a little too much of the plot. I prepared to and really wanted to love  it but I ended up only liking it, due to the fact that my expectations were maybe a little to high. What I am really saying of course, is that my expectations were too fuckin’ high and I should try not listen to and read all of the hype that some flicks garner! And just because I didn’t love it, doth not make it a bad flick per se. As I already told ya, I liked it.

So Says Dick Hollywood!

Kill List is currently on VOD and opens Friday Feb 3rd for a limited theatrical run in select cites.