Blog Archives

Hookers, Vice Squads, and Prettykills: the Sensationalized vs. the Gritty

Hookers, Vice Squads, and Prettykills: the Sensationalized vs. the Gritty

October 30, 2017 | By

A quartet of films with differing tales of prostitutes & vice squads: Janice Cole & Holly Dale’s Hookers on Davie (1984), Gary Sherman’s uber-nasty Vice Squad (1982), Penelope Spheeris’s Hollywood Vice Squad (1986), and George Kaczender’s Prettykill / Tomorrow’s Killer (1987).

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DVD: Hookers on Davie / Working on Davie Street (1984)

DVD: Hookers on Davie / Working on Davie Street (1984)

October 30, 2017 | By

During the early 1980s, Janice Cole and Holly Dale directed a pivotal documentary on prostitution in Canada, with their gritty 16mm camera trained on Vancouver’s Davie Street, branded in the film’s prologue as “the prostitution capitol of Canada”…

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Film: Prettykill / Tomorrow’s Killer (1987)

Film: Prettykill / Tomorrow’s Killer (1987)

October 30, 2017 | By

After the launch of Pay TV stations in the U.S. and soon after Canada, the 1980s became cluttered with direct to video and straight to cable films, most being highly disposable productions designed to fill a time slot and video rental rack than stand out among the crowd…

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Comrade Detective’s Joe Kraemer and the Art of the Satire

Comrade Detective’s Joe Kraemer and the Art of the Satire

September 27, 2017 | By

In my latest podcast, composer Joe Kraemer discusses the fine art of scoring satire for the Amazon exclusive series Comrade Detective: Season 1 + King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen, and more!

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DVD: Funny Farm, The (1983)

DVD: Funny Farm, The (1983)

August 19, 2017 | By

Not to be confused in any way with the 1988 Chevy Chase film, this CanCon production predated the Tom Hanks drama Punchline (also 1988) in examining the world of standup comedy, albeit through the lenses of goofy glasses. The cast of comedians is perhaps a key reason the film managed to sneak its way to DVD via Code Red, treating it with affection…

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