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0課の女 赤い手錠 [Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa / Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs] (Yukio Noda, 1974)
Sep
12
National Police Woman Day
Rei (Miki Sugimoto) wielding the red chain of her handcuffs. DP: Yoshio Nakajima.
Rei (Miki Sugimoto) is a member of Division Zero, a top secret division of #Tokyo's police department. Hired to investigate a high-profile #kidnapping, she infiltrates the gang and kills them off with her signature blood-red handcuffs.
0課の女 赤い手錠 is the first of no less than 9 instalments. Based on Tōru Shinohara's #manga 0課の女 [Zero-ka no Onna] who may be better known for his さそり [Sasori / Scorpion], which in its turn was adapted into the popular Female Prisoner Scorpion series of WiP films.
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Ostia [A Violent Life] (Sergio Citti, 1970)
Sep
11
supper
A group of vulgar looking people eating outdoors at a very long table in front of an old crumbing wall at a very long table. The scene is a re-enactment of Da Vinci's Il Cenacolo / Last Supper. DP: Mario Mancini.
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Warum läuft Herr R. Amok [Why Does Herr R. Run Amok] (Michael Fengler, 1970)
Sep
11
National Boss Employee Exchange Day
Der Chef (Franz Maron) berates Herr R. (Kurt Raab). DP: Dietrich Lohmann.
“No, no, geh' nicht vorbei, als wär' nichts gescheh'n,
Es ist zu spät, um zu lügen,
Komm und verzeih, ich werd' mit dir geh'n,
Wohin dein Weg auch führt,
Und die Welt, sie wird schön.”
– Christian Anders, Geh nicht vorbei (1969)
So why does Herr R run amok?
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Ostia [A Violent Life] (Sergio Citti, 1970)
Sep
10
National Pet Memorial Day
Bandiera and Rabbino and their beloved Rosina, thoughtfully covered with a woollen blanket. DP: Mario Mancini.
Bandiera and Rabbino, two young bumpkins, find that Rosina, their beloved ewe, has been butchered by their father. Years later, the two share their lives with a beautiful blonde who they found believing to be dead.
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کلوزآپ ، نمای نزدیک [Klūzāp, nemā-ye nazdīk / Close-Up] (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990)
Sep
8
Pardon Day
Hossain Sabzian riding passenger on a motorcycle holding a large potted rose-red dahlia. DP: Ali Reza Zarrindast.
کلوزآپ ، نمای نزدیک is visual narrative illustrating a crime. A cinephile, Hossain Sabzian, pretends to be filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf and slowly extorts a family into believing to star in the director's next film.
“Prison is good for the good and bad for the wicked. It teaches the good a lesson but only makes the wicked worse.”
– Hossain Sabzian
An article about the case intrigued director #Kiarostami so much that he decided to film the court case against Sabzian, and ask the accused, Makhmalbaf, and the Ahankhah family to reenact some of the events.
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To Catch a Thief (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955)
Sep
8
leg or breast
Francie (Grace Kelly) and John Robie (Cary Grant) taking a (lunch) break on the Grand Corniche coast road. DP: Robert Burks.
– You want a leg or a breast?
– You make the choice.
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M [M – Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder] (Fritz Lang, 1931)
Sep
5
Jury Rights Day
Schränker (Gustaf Gründgens) and his kangaroo court. Under his clenched fist a photograph of one of the murdered girls. DP: Fritz Arno Wagner.
“Just you wait, it won't be long,
The man in black will soon be here,
With his cleaver's blade so true,
He'll make mincemeat out of you!”
– children singing
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Homicidal (William Castle, 1961)
Sep
2
Ice cream (melting)
Emily (Joan Marshall), a stately blonde, looking down on a sulky little kid holding his slowly melting ice cream. DP: Burnett Guffey.
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The Hypnotic Eye (George Blair, 1960)
Aug
29
National Lemon Juice Day
Suave hypnotist Desmond (Jacques Bergerac) and his lovely assistant Justine (Allison Hayes) using the magic of vitamin C to demonstrate to you, the viewer, how hypnotism works. DP: Archie R. Dalzell.
The Hypnotic Eye utilises what's called the movie gimmick. This one doesn't deploy anything hugely spectacular, no Percepto! seat vibrators (The Tingler (1959)) or Witchcraft (1964) witch deflectors or even a trained nurse on standby. There's a balloon. No spoilers here
“And now I am going to demonstrate to you the power of your own mind.”
– Desmond
There are also multiple moments where hypnotist Desmond (handsome future-Revlon-exec Jacques Bergerac) directly addresses you, the (wo)man in the audience. Because you too may laugh at that folly, that gimmick, that parlour trick. But who says it isn't real? Who says you really never went to see a hypnotism show…?
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Dial 1119 [The Violent Hour] (Gerald Mayer, 1950)
Aug
28
Sherry Flips
“And now for the benefit of the folks who tuned in late, I should like to say that this is the most traumatic spectacle I have ever had the GOOD fortune to witness.”
– TV announcer