Fritz The Cat

Fritz the Cat (1972)


Runtime: 78 minutes


Directed by: Ralph Bakshi


Starring: This is an animated film


From: Fritz Productions


My apologies for this being a few hours late. S*** happens.


A messageboard conversation inspired me to watch this, a movie I saw at least once in my college days but haven't seen since then. Back at the time me and some pals were amused by the movie and how when it was first released it had an X rating (not deserved, especially not by today's standards) and you have anthropomorphic characters doing a lot of crazy things-including getting nude, having sex, and doing drugs-which makes me think now that furries must LOVE this movie, which is based on a famous R. Crumb comic strip of the time but the bizarre Crumb hated the film for whatever reasons.


I'll actually borrow the plot description from its Wikipedia page: “Fritz is an anthropomorphic cat living in 1960's New York City who explores the ideas of hedonism and sociopolitical consciousness. The film is a satire focusing on American college life in the era, race relations, the free love movement, and left and right-wing politics”.


I am amused that this is still the most successful independent animated film of all time. People must have been real interestd in seeing an “adult cartoon” way before the days of adult anime. As for the movie, boy is it uneven; it's a series of vignettes loosely tied together as Fritz experiences a series of adventures. He has to deal with crows (black people) and pigs (cops, of course), among other things. He gets horny after smoking a lot of weed, and he has to deal with everything from starting a race riot to dealing with a strung out Nazi bunny biker in the desert. Really.


The interesting thing about the movie is that the lead character is often shown to be a buffoon; he has leftist ways and he's definitely idealistic, but not realistic and his beliefs are frequently shown to be wrong and foolish. You shouldn't be a “guilty white person” who feels bad for how African-Americans were treated and say that for revenge they should start a race riot, for example.


Overall, like I said it's uneven but I did enjoy both its satire and all the vulgarity, from characters pissing, to all the nudity and sex, them getting high on drugs... good times! I did also enjoy the unique animation style and how it wasn't all the same and instead there was a variety. The musical score was also pretty groovy and funky, and nice usage of songs by Bo Diddley and Billie Holiday. So yes I am glad I saw it again after all of this time. By the way, I have seen the sequel, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat; it's not as good and Bakshi wasn't even involved.



I'll be back Tuesday night.

I Done Goofed

I realized after I made my last post that tonight there would be a live UFC event on free TV (there's a pay per view Saturday and another free event a week from today); I did not feel too good yesterday so I did not watch any film then. I did other things instead. I will be back on Friday night and unless something major happens I should have something watched and reviewed.

I was surprised to hear today that starting on Friday, some places are bundling together Star Trek Into Darkness and World War Z, two films with little in common besides the studio that released those films. I just might be going to that; I don't know yet.

The Glimmer Man

The Glimmer Man (1996)


Runtime: 91 minutes


Directed by: John Gray


Starring: Steven Seagal, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Bob Gunton, Brian Cox


From: Warner Brothers


Here is a random movie I watched on Encore HD late last night; in fact it's been on the Encore channels quite a bit as of late. I figured I should see it as I've never given it a viewing before; this is with knowing that a lot of people say it's no good. This is an oddity as this is not the standard Steven Seagal film where mostly on his own he kicks a lot of ass. Not only does he get paired up with a wisecracking partner (Wayans) but the elements of a Seven-style thriller are present.


To copy and paste from the IMDb: “Jack Cole is a soft spoken, mystical, new age New York cop with a checkered past. He is transferred to Los Angeles to help Los Angeles cop Jim Campbell solve a series of brutal murders in which the victims are crucified. The murders that have happened since Jack arrived in Los Angeles just don't sit right with him. When the killer, known as the "Family Man", kills Ellen DunLeavy, who happens to be Jack's ex wife and the mother of his two kids, and Ellen's husband Andrew DunLeavy, it becomes personal - especially when Jack's prints are found on Ellen's body. Jack meets with his military mentor Smith, not knowing that Smith is in cahoots with local crime boss Frank Deverell.”


The problem with this movie is that much of the comedy falls flat as it isn't that funny and the Seven-style elements... I prefer watching Seven or another movie that actually does it well. By the end it becomes a typical action movie anyhow. At least the action in this movie ended up being entertaining (even if preposterous at times), Seagal was fine at fighting (although those scenes are shot too closely; maybe a double was used already due to Seagal's age and portliness) and there are some cool explosion and villain deaths. So, this wasn't a total waste of time; the movie just isn't that good and is really a product of its mid-90's time. At least they did make fun of his wacky Eastern-inspired dress.



Also, a product known as POWDERED DEER PENIS was mentioned. It was said to be an old Chinese thing and it resulted in dumb jokes but I still chuckle at the general idea. I'll be back Wednesday night.

The Cop In Blue Jeans

The Cop in Blue Jeans (Squadra Antiscippo) (1976)


Runtime: 91 minutes


Directed by: Bruno Corbucci


Starring: Tomas Milian, Guido Mannari, Maria Rosario Omaggio, Jack Palance


From: Cinemaster


It's been too long since I've seen a poliziotteschi film, so I decided to go with this one. It happens to be on Amazon Instant for free, but it's full-screen and dubbed. I found a widescreen and subtitled version elsewhere, but that doesn't have the last few minutes... I mainly watched the subtitled version; I know that the dubbed version has the same general idea in terms of dialogue but oddly enough has cleaned up a lot of the sleaziness of the dialogue.


The general plot, as stated by me: A dirty diplomat (Palance, who isn't in the movie as much as you'd think, but that is OK) has some dirty money stolen by some thieves. The diplomat's thugs are on the warpath to get the money back and it's the cops who have to try and stop everyone. The hero of the movie is Nico Giraldo (Milian), who usually dresses like a hobo and is a loose cannon.


This is yet another great example of the genre. Truth be told I enjoy all the movies in the genre I have seen, but still... this is one of those movies where I will list things in bullet point.


* The film starts off with the theft of the luggage of Asian tourists. How did the thieves do this? Why, a chubby man moon the tourists and this provided the distraction! A minute later, a dog steals a wallet.


* The apartment of Nico has many posters up. This includes one of the band UFO and two of Serpico. He even has a white mouse pet named Serpico


* You see a fruit stand fight.


* Nico-on his dirtbike-bursts through a wooden door as if he was The Kool-Aid Man


* There's an obviously gay man who is named Nancy


* Nico gives someone a swirly; really


There's so much more; I won't spoil it all. Just know that besides there being plenty of humorous moments and funny one-liners, there's the usual hallmarks of the genre... meaning fistfights, foot chases, chases involving cars and dirtbikes, and yeah, sleaze, which involves very pretty Italian girls. There are examples of all of that here.



I'll be back Sunday night.

As Today Was...

"Treat Blair Like Crap And Disrespect Him For No Reason Day" I really don't feel like watching any sort of movie tonight as I do not feel good at all. I'll be back Friday night and barring anything catastrophic I will be watching something and write about it before midnight strikes. As I won't be doing anything on Friday, the day should be better in general and I'll find something interesting to watch; I have some films in the slot for me to write in the next week or two.

A Pair of Links

Today is not a day I feel like watching a movie, so instead I'll mention a pair of links.

Someone I follow online mentioned how Amazon Prime is offering a free month. I decided to sign up and for the next few weeks I will watch some of the free offerings they have there. A lot of it you have to pay some cash to rent each movie but sometimes you'll find something for free and I'll partake in those. The link is here.

Second, for the Charles Band fans out there, there's Full Moon Streaming. It offers the newer titles they do but also the classic ones from the Empire Pictures days, such as Trancers, Subspecies, Puppet Master, Demonic Toys, and the like. I doubt I'll be doing that, although one of these years I should watch some of those films.

I'll be back tomorrow night, and at least the current plan is for me to do a review.

I Rewatched A Pair Of Movies Recently

The last few days have been me relaxing. I did not want to do anything too exciting, aside from a trip to Walmart today. So, I decided to rewatch a pair of movies I've reviewed before. Of course I sometimes do that but I rarely talk about it here.

Recently I saw again Lucas; the review for that is here. Watching it again this year, I wonder if the title character has Asperger's or not. It doesn't change the movie whether or not you see it that way; it's just an idea. Between his preoccupation with insects, his bluntness even to his crush and his lack of social skills... it's possible.

Last night I rewatched Action Jackson. You can read that review here. My opinion on it hasn't changed. I decided to watch it on Encore HD as the print there looks fine while the DVD picture quality is pretty much the same as the VHS version; the DVD is fullscreen, even.

I'll be back on Wednesday. I hope to review a movie by then.