Review: Taken

Taken (2009)
starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Xander Berkeley, Leland Orcer, Jon Gries
dir. Pierre Morel


Producer/writer/director/craft service maestro Luc Besson has developed a formula for creating genre movies and he pretty much nails it every time. He has developed franchises like The Transporter and Taxi (in France, not America). As well as tight little hits like District B-13, Danny The Dog (aka Unleashed) and now Taken. Besson's secret is to strip away all of the bullshit and just deliver a film that has quick strokes of character, a plot that is easy to understand and eye popping action that delivers stand up and cheer justice. This time Besson re-teams with District B-13 director Pierre Morel who delivers a harsh, vengeance filled movie that makes Liam Neeson look like the badass of all badasses.

The plot is simple. Neeson plays Bryan Mills an ex-CIA operative who has retired to try and build a relationship with his estranged daughter. Neeson is overly protective and overly cautious. He has skills and knows how to use them to his benefit. All of this is good since his daughter is kidnapped while vacationing in Paris and Mills realizes there is a limited amount of time before she becomes just another statistic. The clock is ticking, so he shoots, stabs, electrocutes, breaks, busts and blows up every thing he comes in contact with to get her back. You're in and out of this movie in ninety minutes and you enjoy every second of it.

I would like to say, this type of film making isn't easy. Morel crafts visual images that build tension and fast pacing, without taking away from the moments Neeson needs to display who Mills is and how his mind works. His direction and framing is so good that even knowing Neeson is probably not the most limber actor on the planet, he looks like he could fuck up an army with a toothpick and Wet-Nap.

The film is a balancing act of action and character. It's an act that works because it's a movie about blacks and whites, there is no need for gray areas. This could become a direct to video Steven Segal piece of junk, but Besson and Morel know to keep it simple, tight and bring in solid talent who can deliver the goods.

My only complaint is that there is too much talent on display. Mill's former CIA buddies include character actors Jon Gries and Leland Orser who are given very little to do. I was expecting them to show up in the third act to pull off some Dirty Dozen style rescue mission, but they simply disappear after a couple scenes in the beginning. Is this a set up for a franchise like most of Besson's actioners seem to be? Who knows, I just wish there was more of Orcer and Gries.

But in the end it isn't about grand storytelling. It isn't about Neeson's character trying to get his ex-wife to understand him. It isn't about him finding out about himself. It isn't about putting his life back together and becoming a sensitive guy. It's about a dad fucking up a bunch of Parisians to save his daughter, end of story.

We live in a time where films have twists and convoluted plots and characters who have to resolve their entire life by the time closing credits role. Taken is as streamlined as Neeson's character. It's a bullet moving from point A to point B with no distractions. This is something that a lot of action films could take a note from.

8.5 out of 10

Review: The Reader

The Reader (2009)
starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross,
Bruno Ganz
dir. Stephen Daldry

This seems like an odd statement to make, but rarely do I walk away with the idea the feeling that a slow film felt rushed. It's as if the filmmakers knew how they wanted the movie to work and instead of finessing and massaging until the storyline found the proper times to shift gears, it just grinds the clutch and shifts to fit within a predetermined structure. This is not saying that The Reader is a bad movie. Quite the contrary. I was pleasantly surprised at the interest I took in the characters and the emotional dilemmas facing them. This surprise didn't kick in until close to the halfway point of the film and left near the final scenes, but it was still a surprise.

The first third is a very standard awkward love story as a young Michael Berg (Kross) becomes infatuated, then physically involved with, an older woman (Winslet) who likes being read to. She is illiterate and even though it isn't stated until later in the film, the visual cues smash you over the head like a piano crashing down on the Coyote in a Road Runner cartoon. The affair is cut short, which is a shame since I was quite enjoying watching Winslet walking around naked.

The film then shifts to Berg in law school after the war where he gets to go along with classmates to witness the trial of a few SS guards accused of murder. Guess who is one of the accused guards? Yep, our lovely Ms. Winslet. This is where the film gets really interesting for a few minutes. Questions about responsibility are brought up and asked by Michael's law professor played by Bruno Ganz. When it comes to being an employee of the nazis, what is your role and what are you responsible for in a government that continually commits atrocity after atrocity? This could have been the entire film itself and would make a really interesting and involving watch, but this isn't a movie about that, so it's brushed quickly and quietly under the love story carpet. Kate is screwed over by her fellow SS gals and sentenced to life in prison.

We then shift into a grownup Michael, well played by Fiennes, dealing with his emotions for a woman who he feels betrayed by in several ways and has never truly gotten over. This is steamrolled through with a montage, a promise, a death and a confession. Role closing credits with a sad score. Again, I'm trouncing on it a bit, but it felt like a movie that could have been really special and ended up being typical Oscar fodder.

Winslet has been nominated for a best actress Oscar and she may have nailed this one. Her character is complex and honestly naive. It's fascinating to watch her wrestle with her feelings and the results of her actions. It's great to watch her work. No matter how undesirable the character may be, she finds the humanity and never lays it on too thick.

In the end though, it's a choppy film filled with some very strong visuals and excellent performances. The ideas and all of the ingredients to make a fully satisfying meal are there , it just feels like it wasn't mixed properly and needed a little more care and attention before being served.

6.75 out of 10

Everyone Is A Critic: WJE45551

One of the things I love about Netflix are the member reviews. When I find someone who interests me I add them to my followers list and keep an eye open for any new reviews.

Here are some from my favorite bible banging, God fearing film critic, WJE45551

Gran Torino
"7 blasphemes (G-damn) in this movie. 71 F-bombs. Way to go Clint. Another AA coming your way I'm sure. Enjoy." Rating: 1 star

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
"Definitely not for your 13 year old. Way too much sex, nudity, profanity (3 blasphemes "G-damn). Thanks for more trash UnHolywood." Rating: 1 star

Witless Protection
"This was a pretty good movie (i.e. made me laugh out loud occasionally), but does not live up to Larry's Health Inspector movie, which was much funnier." Rating: 3 stars

The Wrestler
"17, count them 17 blasphemes (G-damn) in this movie. 53 F-bombs. Enjoy." Rating: 1 star

And of course...

Fireproof
"Extremely well done. Very funny scenes. You'll laugh way more than you do at cheesy 'date' movies. Very uplifting. You'll go away smiling rather than regretting what you just watched. This is truly a movie for our time. With so many marriages failing and so many trapped in the addiction of pornography, not to mention so many being lost, this is a story that everyone can benefit from. More movies like this please!" Rating: 5 stars

The Eclectic Choice: Jackpot

Jackpot (2001)
dir. Michael Polish
written by Mark and Michael Polish


This is the second film by Mark and Michael Polish, twin brothers who delivered one of the more underrated debuts of the 90's, Twin Falls Idaho (1999). In Jackpot, the brothers deliver another off the wall film about a guy who wants to be a singing sensation and sets out by conquering the karaoke world.

John Gries gives one of his best performances as Sunny Holiday, the aspiring singer who is on a nine month road trip wit his manager played by Garrett Morris. The twosome travel from seedy bar to seedy bar waiting for Sunny's big break as he croons his way through karaoke competitions and sell carpet stain remover to make extra cash. Gries gives Sunny a heartbreaking optimism that sets the tone and allows every surrealistic situation to come alive with an almost dreamlike quality. It is a tone that comes crashing down to reality when Daryl Hannah, as Sunny's wife, forces Sunny to look at his life and make some heavy decisions.

This is a film that spells quirk with a capital Q and reinforces a vision of two filmmakers who are unique and continually overlooked. With other films like Northfork (2003), The Astronaut Farmer (2006) and the upcoming Manure (2009), Mark and Michael Polish are real modern day representatives of independent cinema who seem to continually get lost behind the more commercialized Napoleon Dynamites and Junos in this world.

Review: The Friends Of Eddie Coyle

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
starring: Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan, Alex Rocco, Steven Keats
dir. Peter Yates


This is a film that has not yet to see the light of day on DVD and it's a real shame. I've seen it scheduled to play on AMC a few times, but I wanted to wait and see it uncut and on the big screen. I'm glad I did. This is a movie that is cold and ruthless and one of Robert Mitchum's best performances, hands down. The film feels completely original and is like nothing I've ever seen. Yes, it's a character piece, but it's really more of a lifestyle piece. A look into the world of small time hoods and all of the deceit and betrayal that goes along with it. It's a forefather to Donnie Brasco (1997) but without the formal plot line. There is no justice, no comeuppance, no good versus bad, there is only the lifestyle. Just so you're clear headed when you sit down to watch it, the title is irony in its purest form.

The basic gist is Eddie Coyle (Mitchum), was busted running booze and is getting ready to do a stint in jail. As the film progresses we become involved in Coyle's world and meet his "friends". They vary from the back stabbing bartender Dillon, a home run performance from Peter Boyle, to the the leader of a small time group of bank robbers played by Alex Rocco. Coyle is a middle man for getting guns for Rocco and is willing to turn on his source to get out of serving time. So Coyle is about as loyal as everyone else around him. This is not a world where there is honor among thieves. It's every man for himself and cops against all.

Mitchum as Coyle is broken and burnt out and just plain fed up with the whole lifestyle. He doesn't want to go to jail, he's got two teenage kids and a chubby Irish wife who loves him. It's a small life, but it's his to lose and he doesn't want it gone. Watching Mitchum trying to work the angles and find a way to freedom is exasperating. Every step he makes forward, we see others make moves to set him two steps back. By the time the end credits roll you almost feel a sense of relief that Eddie doesn't have to deal with this shit anymore.

Peter Boyle played an assortment of scumbags in the 70's and his portrayal of Dillon is another spot on performance. He double crosses and kills with a certain shrug of the shoulders. He's a guy who is nothing but ugly, but his surface veneer never betrays his inner workings. Boyle plays Dillon as a person, never winking at the audience to show he knows he's a bad guy. There is always something going on behind those eyes, and it's never good.

Growing up, I knew director Peter Yates as the guy who made Krull (1983) and The Deep (1977). Later I'd learn he made grittier fare like Bullitt (1968) and The Hot Rock (1972), but this is his masterpiece. Simple in execution, gritty and bare, but he never misses out on those small character moments that create a realistic world of small time hoods. This is a great piece of 70's cinema and just a great piece all around.

10 out of 10

(NOTE: there is a rumor that Criterion will be releasing a DVD this year. If so, yay!)

From Me: The Sundance Chronicles Pt. 3

Not much in the way of chronicles, I must admit.

There were a few highlights considering I was stuck inside a single building for seven days straight.

First here is a picture with me and a stand up comedian/actor/writer who is also one of the best film geeks I've ever run across. A great cinematic mind with a clear and concise point of view when it comes to discussing movies. He was a treat to interview and a really good guy.

I'm not much of a smiler to begin with, but I look even more dour because I'm trying to hide the excitement of talking to a like minded being. Also (I'm being vain here), what is with those awful fat lines on my neck? Man, I need to work on that.

Here are also a couple of the interviews that I cut together. They each have their charms. These and more interviews can be seen on the Hollywood Life website.

From Me: The Sundance Chronicles Pt. 2

So I've been working sixteen hour days, though I'm on hour seventeen right now. I haven't had a chance to walk around or take pictures and I've realized that the odds of me seeing a movie are nil.

I have met a few people and been extremely shy around Alfonso Cuaron who I have nothing but admiration for. During the day everyone is friendly for the most part, but in the evenings there are an extreme amount of douchebag partiers around this place.

I actually work in a building that hosts parties, so as I am writing this a bunch of unattractive women in dresses way too short for the weather outside and guys with fauxhawks, dance up a storm and clog up toilets on the floors below me. The parties started at nine and will be going until four in the morning.

What very little there is to tell shall be coming soon.

From Me: The Sundance Chronicles Pt. 1

Today I leave for the Sundance Film Festival. I have been hired to edit some interviews of folks there for some TV channel or website. I'm not sure which, I just do what I'm hired to do.

I leave today because it appears my employers are driving and I'm riding in the backseat. I'm not exactly thrilled about the idea of spending 10 plus hours in a car, but hey it's an adventure.

Since I'll be working constantly, I won't be seeing any movies, I think, but I'm hoping there will be stories to tell and pictures to publish. Perhaps I will spend my evenings whooping it up with the people behind the scenes which could lead to juicy gossip. So stay tuned for my adventures at the cinematic tundra known to all as Sundance.

R.I.P. Ray Dennis Steckler

Ray Dennis Steckler (1938-2009)

I ran across this today, six days late. I hadn't read about it on any of my regular movie sites, so it seems to have slipped through the cracks.

Instead of eulogizing him in a brief paragraph, here is a nice little article about him. There is also a great piece about him in Re/Search #10: Incredibly Strange Films.

I've seen a few of his movies and they have their charm and a level of energy that proved he liked what he was doing. He was a man who knew what he wanted to make and made them. Exploitation was his game and he played it well.

I feel he also holds the record for best title ever: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed Up Zombies (1963). Yes, that is the actual title.

The Eclectic Choice: Lessons Of Darkness

Lessons Of Darkness (1992)

dir. Werner Herzog

Werner Herzog is as good of a documentarian as he is a narrative filmmakers. Both contain a visual magic. Herzog style works to find beauty in ugliness and the ugliness behind beauty.

Lessons Of Darkness is an hourlong documentary that looks at the fires in the oil fields of Iraq after the Gulf War in 1991. What we see are amazing images and mile after mile of oil lakes and burning spouts across a landscape that seems almost alien.

Accompanied by classical music we are pushed and pulled at the beauty and horror of the situation. The camera flies over the oil soaked terrain and settles near gushing flames that erupt into the air billowing dark clouds of smoke. Watching teams move in and stop a fire is one of the highlights. When the explosives go off we get an astonishing image of the ground rising and the fire snuff out like a match being extinguished.

There is a piece of narration at the end where we see firefighters re-ignite a well and Herzog questions if these men they need the fires versus the technical reason for them starting the fire. It's a bit hokey, but does reiterate the otherworldliness.

Well worth the purchase and will be a film that looks insane on a big screen tv when/if they decide to put out a Blu-ray version.

Profile: Oh, Rita

I've always been fascinated with Rita Hayworth. An amazingly beautiful woman who had a low self esteem. It's one of those things that baffles me. It always fascinates me when beautiful people are self conscious. I think it's a thing that makes most average folks like me scratch their head. Plus, she was married at one point in time to Orson Welles and then Prince Aly Kahn. That's just nuts!

So, I was watching Affair in Trinidad (1952) earlier and was still blown away at her incredible beauty. The film itself is mediocre. It is called a rehash of Gilda (1946), but I also see quite a bit of Hitchcock's Notorious (1946) running through its veins.

Too much yacking. I just wanted to run some photos of this beautiful woman.





















She used to say, "Men fell in love with Gilda, but they wake up with me." It's funny, sad and shows that there was a very complex woman all in one small statement. She does not fail to continue to impress.

24 Frames: Nazi Chic

It appears that the Nazi is the flavor of the month. Not that it is box office gold, but there seems to be a trend towards utilizing the superior race in recent months. It seems our goose stepping haters are becoming even more overexposed than zombies, which is tough to do.

First the Obvious:

Valkyrie: A flick that hosts a bevy of der Führer's boys traipsing around secretly to try and kill the boss. Tom Cruise stretches himself by wearing an eye-patch.

The Reader: Ralph Fiennes discovers that when he was a fifteen year old boy sleeping with Kate Winslet, that she was actually a Nazi. Personally, I don't care if Kate Winslet is a top Al Qaeda agent. If I get the chance, I'm sleeping with her.

Defiance: Jews strike back in this true story about three Jewish brothers who build tree forts in the forest and protect the tribe from Nazis and Russians. This is a pretty unremarkable film with lots of talent.

Lesser Known:

Good: Viggo Mortensen twiddles his thumbs and may have to betray a Jewish friend when he is cajoled into joining the party. Viggo actually looks pretty good in the uniform. Gulp!

Adam Resurrected: Jeff Goldblum gives a tour de force performance as he degrades himself to survive the concentration camps by becoming Commandant Willem Dafoe's pet. Dafoe could actually pull off the toothbrush mustache had he chosen to.

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas: Two boys on opposite sides befriend each other and party members say they had no idea what the camps were for. David Thewlis plays Nazi daddy.

WTF!

The Spirit: For no reason what-so-ever, there is a scene with Sam Jackson dressed like a nazi. We unfortunately do not get a line of dialog declaring, " I have had it with these mutha fuckin' Jews on this mutha fuckin' plane." Then again he might, anyone who saw the film can tell me. If anyone saw the film.


The future is holding even more Nazi's for us. Quentin Tarantino will be shooting at them with his Inglorious Basterds and there is a Nazi Zombie called Dead Snow coming from Norway. A movie I couldn't care less about... Unless Kate Winslet is cast in it.

The Eclectic Choice: Island Of Death

Island Of Death (1975)
dir. Nico Mastorakis

I'm not recommending this movie, so watcher beware. That being said, this is an exploitation movie that is out of its mind. This is one of those movies that makes you wonder, "What the hell were they thinking when they wrote it? What the hell were they thinking when they shot it? What the hell is this?"

A husband and wife go to a small Greek island. They are religious wackos and kill start knocking of people that they deem impure. They also take photos while committing these crimes because they get off on it. The movie contains bestiality, golden showers, incest, racial slurs, and all sorts of hate crimes. Oh and all of the things I just listed are committed by out married couple. The acting is horrendous and the film lasts about half an hour too long, but it's not valueless. There is some nice compositions and some fun moments if you are into exploitation movies. If not then stay away.

I wouldn't buy it, but I would be curious to have a conversation with the person who does.

Review: Frost/Nixon

Frost/Nixon (2008)
starring: Michael Sheen, Frank Langella, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Patrick McFayden, Rebecca Hall
dir. Ron Howard


Full disclosure: I am not a big fan of the films of Ron Howard. I feel like his movies are milquetoast and even though he specializes in classical Hollywood storytelling, they still lack any real energy and come off very flat. I do think he is a genuinely good person and the fact that I don't like him as a director bothers me a little. That is the truth. End disclosure.

Frost/Nixon is a decent little movie. It is not due to anything Howard does for the film, as a matter of fact I think he's a detriment to it. The movie is basically held together by the two lead actors who give solid performances. Part of this is due to the fact they've been playing them for so long. Frank Langella as Richard Nixon and Michael Sheen as David Frost orginated the roles in Peter Morgan's play of the same name and it shows. The ease in which they inhabit these characters in palpable. Langella especially as he portrays Nixon as a human bein and not the characture that we've come to recognize as Nixon. I would say it's the best portrayl of Nixon yet, But I still stand behind Philip Baker Hall's Nixon in Secret Honor (1984) as the best. I don't think it's any coincidence that both of these Nixons originated on stage.

Not having seen the play, I can't say how important the secondary roles are. In the movie they become throwaways that use good actors to little effect. Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell and Patrick McFayden are the guys who help prep Frost for the bout and there isn't much for them to do other than look disappointed or victorious as the interviews are being taped. At least they are given lines. Other than Kevin Bacon who plays Nixon's confidant, all of the actors playing Nixon's team basically sit on a couch and make a variety of facial expressions during the interviews.

A point is brought up late in the film about how television is a real game changer when it comes to seeing what someone is thinking. A brief closeup at the right time can tell you more than any well tuned speech or verbose diatribe. It would have been nice if they could have shown rather then tell this. If it's a movie about tv, then find a way to visually make these points rather than have a disembodied voice tell us. It's kind of a let down considering how much time Howard spent in television and how that knowledge could have been used to really tell us something about the power of television.

In the end it's the lead performances that make the film. I really don't even feel comfortable using the word 'film' since it is so obviously a play trying to break out of it's constraints and become something much bigger. There are reasons why some stories work better on a stage and some work better on a screen. This is a story that could have really been something on the screen, but in the end makes me wish I'd had an opportunity to see this on the stage.

6.7 out of 10

Review: Waltz With Bashir

Waltz With Bashir (2008)
starring: Animated
dir. Ari Foleman

This is a really good movie that is just a pinch away from being a great movie. The pinch needed was a little bit of context. I'm not young, but I'm not a dinosaur either. I was 10 years old when the war in Lebanon was taking place. I was more interested in playing Star Wars, very few discussions about war atrocities on the playground unless you were a massacred jawa. So it took some time for me to understand the situation that was being presented to me in Waltz With Bashir. This was about more than a war is hell scenario. This was a story about guilt so deep that it decides to hide and suppress the memories that go along with it.

The film ceters around filmmaker Ari Foleman and his time spent in the Israeli Army during the war in Lebanon. He has forgotten all of his memories about the war, more specifically the Sabra and Shatila massacre, except for a single image which may or may not be a real memory. He follows that image and visits old friends who were in the war to solve this mystery of what happened there. It's the human story that kept me engaged and I was curious as to what the truth behind the memory loss would be. Oh and the whole thing is delivered as an animated story.

The animation works, for the most part. I thought the visual execution of war scenes and emotional space that the characters inhabit were engrossing and made the most of the decision to use animation. It was the smaller scenes of characters sitting across from each other talking that gave me pause. I'd notice movements that brought me out of it. Heads nodding or wrists bobbing like I was watching paper dolls and not human beings. A bit of an issue when these scenes are the key in building a struggle taking place inside our protagonist.

In the end it is a very satisfying film that brings up an interesting point of view about how we as individuals deal with guilt through memory. For a while I had pondered that trying to piece the history together might have something to do with the fractured memory of the narrator. Then I decided that it was about personal memories and not historical, so I tossed it out the window. In Foleman's native Israel, these are events that are part of their history, so the set up is well known. For a person totally lacking in the knowledge of this history, I needed a little set up. It is totally a fault of mine and nt the films, but unlike my recent viewing of Gomorra (2008), this time lack of knowledge did interfere with my viewing.

7.5 out of 10

(it would have been 8.5 if I wasn't such a dolt with world history)

Review: Revolutionary Road

Revolutionary Road (2008)
starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon, David Harbour, Kathryn Hahn
dir. Sam Mendes


I once had really high hopes for Sam Mendes. American Beauty (1999) has been maligned over recent years and I don't think it is entirely fair. It has problems, but it is also a bristling narrative that has ideas and themes about the roles we are suppose to play in society and how playing those roles can be extremely destructive to the human soul. With the help of Alan Ball's script, it took those ideas and made them quirky and bizarre and overall an emotionally charged experience.

Since then, Mendes seems to have spun down. His narratives have become extremely straightforward and the themes seem to ride along the surface and slap us across the face. Maybe it's the theater director in him, you have to make sure the people in the cheap seats know what's going on.

Revolutionary Road is another example of what happens if you can't live life the way you want to. It's set in the repressed fifties and plays out like a Douglas Sirk film missing all of the subtext. It's a solid drama, but doesn't really carry any emotional punch due to its lack of subtlety. Yes, we get it, DiCaprio is stifled by his lifestyle but can't move past it. Yes, Winslet is an incredibly liberated woman who knows that happiness doesn't depend on the house looking perfect or the roast being prepared properly. Oh, in case we don't get it, they send in Michael Shannon as a "crazy" guy to reiterate.

Shannon is quite good , by the way, for what he's given, as is most of the supporting cast. Winslet shows she's still a class act actress, if there has ever been any doubt. I have problems with DiCaprio at times. He's an odd duck to me because sometimes I feel like he totally inhabits the character and sometimes he plays it like , "This is how an actor acts!" I don't feel that way just about this film, but large portions of his work. I think he should stay away from period pieces in general, it's where he seems weakest, but that's just me.

Part of me wonders if I would have appreciated this film better if the TV show Mad Men didn't exist. It covers a lot of the same themes but keeps them realistic and under the surface instead of blurting it with melodramatic gusto. It gets under the skin instead of molesting you like Revolutionary Road tends to. Did I mind it? No. Will I watch it again? No, but it's a pretty dry season and for some of the energy that is Kate Winslet, it's worth checking out a matinee. Just be prepared for feeling down the rest of the day.

6.8 out of 10

On The Boulevard: Samuel Z. Arkoff

You know those stereotypes of cigar chomping movie moguls? Well, that's Sam Arkoff.

Arkoff was originally a lawyer and a shark at that. He decided to get into the movie biz and teamed up with James H. Nicholson and a very young gent by the name of Roger Corman. For those who don't know who Roger Corman is, he's the guy who helped turn b-grade movies into an empire and through that launched some of the greatest talent working in movies today. Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, John Sayles, Ron Howard are just a few of the heavy hitters. But this story is about Arkoff.

Arkoff and Corman formed what would become American International Pictures (AIP) and off to the races they went. They'd start off with some very successful adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe's works then move into helping define the beach party film and motorcycle gang extravaganza. Arkoff was one of the kings of exploitation and produced over 125 movies in his life, 18 with Corman. The company would fold in the early eighties, but Arkoff has helped leave a mark in low budget cinematic history.

Arkoff believed his success was due to what he humbly coined, "The Arkoff Formula". It defined what makes a sucessful low budget movie.

Here's the recipe:

1. Action (exciting, entertaining drama)
2. Revolution (novel or controversial themes and ideas)
3. Killing (a modicum of violence)
4. Oratory (notable dialogue and speeches)
5. Fantasy (acted-out fantasies common to the audience)
6. Fornication (sex appeal, for young adults)

With that kind of mind, how could you not have a star?