edited by Jonathan Doyle

Mafioso (The Criterion Collection, 3.18.2008) Nino Badalamenti is a supervisor in a car manufacturing plant who hasn't taken a vacation in over two years. On his way out the door to visit his beloved childhood hometown of Sicily -- with his blonde wife and daughters -- Nino is handed a package by his boss and asked to deliver it to a powerful and influential Sicilian gangster named Don Vincenzo. Once in Sicily, Nino has a hoot seeing friends and family, but his wife has trouble fitting in and is unfairly dismissed as a snob by Nino's family. Even more worrisome, Nino finds himself entangled in an intricate web of secret mafioso dealings and is eventually sent on an unexpectedly... elaborate errand. (continued)

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July 2

Hancock

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The Whackness

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Diminished Capacity

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson

Holding Trevor

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We are Together

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Full Battle Rattle

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A Man Named Pearl

August

Eight Miles High

Garden Party

Harold

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Meet Dave

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

The Stone Angel

July 18

A Very British Gangster

Before I Forget

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Boy A

Minor Chicken Triumph

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The Troma guys are claiming that weekend ticket sales for Poultrygeist, Night of The Chicken Dead tallied $12,000 for a single-screen showing at Manhattan's Village East Theater. This is the highest per-screen haul of any film playing anywhere this weekend, they say. A press release says that Poultrygeist was called "a masterpiece!" by an Ain’t It Cool poster, and that CHUD's Jason Pollock has called it "the best film Troma's ever produced, without a doubt.”

I'm mentioning this because the Troma people have never made anything I've wanted to see -- ever -- and in part because I wrote a treatment and half of a script in the mid '80s called Killer Chickens. The word "half" in the last sentence is one reason why I'm a columnist and not a screenwriter.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 11, 2008 at 11:06 AM

comment #1

D.Z. says ...

Man, I thought that thing was on dvd already! Oh, and Tromeo and Juliet, Cannibal the Musical, and Killer Condom are worth checking out.

Posted by D.Z. at May 11, 2008 12:14 PM

comment #2

Hickenlooper says ...

Actually Tromeo and Juliet isn't half bad. It was written by my high school buddy Jim Gunn, a very talented guy. Check out Slither. Very clever. The Troma guys went to Yale. I remember them coming to campus when I was a Junior. They screened "Stuck On You." There was nearly a riot orchestrated by the radical Lesbian on campus group called CHAPS (Chicks Against Pricks). Ah, those were the days...

Posted by Hickenlooper at May 11, 2008 01:35 PM

comment #3

MovieBob says ...

Jeff,
Troma's actual output is prolly not your cup of tea, but you should really skim some of founder Lloyd Kauffman's quotes and books - his take on world and especially American cinema is right up your alley in a few cases.

Posted by MovieBob at May 11, 2008 03:12 PM

comment #4

Edward says ...

Slither is very good.

Posted by Edward at May 11, 2008 07:20 PM

comment #5

Edward Havens says ...

Maybe you've never wanted to see any Troma movies, Wells, but you should. The Toxic Avenger, Cannibal the Musical and Tromeo and Juliet at the absolute minimum. But then, I worked at Troma for two years and wrote and recorded some V.O. dialogue for Tales from the Crapper, appeared in a number of Troma DVD introductions and shared dozens of taxi rides with Lloyd, so I am heavily biased.

Posted by Edward Havens at May 12, 2008 11:14 PM