Quarantine Cinema 6: The Dystopian Future
You might be feeling we've already arrived at a dystopian present, but take heart! Things could be worse - much worse - as the films of Quarantine Cinema 6 prove. We start with the original dystian biker films of the 1970s and 80s: Mad Max, Tron, The Bronx Warriors, and Akira, all magnificent. We follow up with a contemporary film from our own friend Eric Ristau, which is so present-day it hurts - 'The Last Motorcycle on Earth.' It's just come out, and oh dear the timing...
1. Mad Max (1979)
"You don't wanna make Max mad!"
George Miller's boisterous take on a dystopian future, inspired half by the injuries he witnessed as an emergency room doctor, and half by the effect of the '73 Oil Crisis on Australians. 'Mad Max', (Mel Gibson before his nutso transformation into an anti-Semitic ultra-Catholic) is a brutal highway patrolman cruising the outback, in a world full of particularly harsh criminal gangs. A motorcycle gang in particular comes in for Max's attention, and the sadistic tension between Max and his charismatic nemesis is a kinetic masterpiece, inspired, believe it or not, by the silent film antics of Buster Keaton! It helps to keep a sense of humor, well, in all things. Watch the trailer on The Vintagent here.
Watch 'Mad Max' on YouTube for $3.99.
2. TRON (1982)
The Electronic Gladiator
Ten years after his debut performance in 'The Last Picture Show', the Dude himself (Jeff Bridges) plays a computer/video game hacker and arcade owner, who is digitized and trapped inside a computer game by the evil Master Control. The gorgeous early '80s vision of the neon-dark world of computers is made so much better by the first iteration of the Light Cycle, the original electro-future motorcycle used in a gladiatorial combat game. Will Bridges' character Flynn outwit Master Control's computer program? Man fighting the Machine is an old trope, going all the way back to masterworks like Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' and Jean-Luc Godard's 'Alphaville', but 'Tron' is the first to incorporate the specific appearance of computer games, and is a real classic. Watch the trailer on The Vintagent here.
Watch 'Tron' for $2.99 on Youtube here.
3. 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982)
"City authorities declare the wasteland of the South Bronx a high-risk area."
It's the future - 1990! Let's face it, only a small stretch of imagination was required for this one in 1982, when NYC was bankrupt, and the Bronx was burning and half destroyed. The borough was a ready-made set for a Mad Max-style anarcho-brutalist dystopian film, with The Riders a dominant gang led by a dead ringer for a metal band singer. The Riders are constantly challenged by cops, clowns, and roller skating hockey players who kill. The film hired a few Hells Angels as riders, and the bikes include a fab selection of late '70s machines...but the sorriest examples. It's a scream! Watch the trailer on The Vintagent here.
Watch 'The Bronx Warriors' FREE on Cine Meccanica here.
4. Akira (1988)
"The end of the world was only the beginning."
OMG, it's 2019! We had such high expectations for The Future, but sadly, only disease has stepped up to the plate to fulfill our dark dreams of the nasty world we think we deserve. After all, nobody's making Utopian films: ask your therapist for confirmation. Set in 2019 (last year!), Akira is set in a world of flying cars, and tells the story of Shōtarō Kaneda, a leader of a biker gang whose childhood friend, Tetsuo Shima, acquires incredible telekinetic abilities after a motorcycle accident. Tokyo was destroyed in WW3, and Tetsuo's abilities threaten an entire military complex, setting off chaos and rebellion in Neo-Tokyo. In the best tradition of anime films, Akira is a classic, and worth adding to your list of faves. Watch the trailer on The Vintagent here.
5. The Last Motorcycle On Earth: Episode 1 (2020)
"Could motorcycles be outlawed?"
In a world of Self-Driving cars, motorcycles are outlawed: that premise seems so likely I'm already getting chills. In the very near future, gasoline is $20 per gallon, and self-driving cars are taking over. Silicon Valley and the United States Government have collaborated to push society toward a fully-autonomous transportation system. Motorcycles and riders are an easy first target in the drive to ban human-operated vehicles. Impossible, you say? Not so fast. Watch the trailer on The Vintagent here.
Watch 'The Last Motorcycle on Earth' for $1.99 on Amazon here.
Bonus Films: Sooooo many sequels - dig in!
Watch Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982) $3.99 on YouTube.
Watch Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) $2.99 on YouTube.
Watch Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) $3.99 on YouTube.
Watch TRON: Legacy (2010) $2.99 on YouTube.
Quarantine Cinema: Part 5
1: The Great Escape
"Steve could have done it himself."
So said Bob Hoy, a stuntman friend of Ekins: “He did the lead-up to it and rode the bike wherever he was running in that escape, but Bud did the jump. It was a tough jump. You only can do that kind of thing once; you either make it or you don’t make it.” It was a start of a great friendship: Steve McQueen was a bike nut, and a regular visitor to Bud Ekins' LA shop (remember when motorcycle shops were someplace to hang out?). When Steve was hired for 'The Great Escape', he asked Bud to join him in Germany as a stunt rider: Ekins remained in Germany more than four months working on the film. Towards the end of production, McQueen and Ekins came up with the now-famous jump scene where prisoner of war McQueen escapes by motorcycle and attempts an impossible jump over a barbed-wire fence. Ekins acted as stunt double for McQueen, as the risk of injury was high and the studio refused to allow their star to endanger himself. Ekins thus performed what is perhaps the most famous movie motorcycle stunt ever. That launched Ekins' career as a stunt man, and he continued doing stunt work until he was in his mid-60s, an incredible career of 30 years. Read more about the amazing Bud Ekins on the AMA Hall of Fame.
Watch 'The Great Escape' for $2.99 on YouTube.
2: Bullitt
"Bullshit."
In the 1968 crime drama “Bullitt,” Bud Ekins again did stunt work for McQueen when his character, detective Frank Bullitt in his green Mustang, catches up with murderous bad guys driving a black Dodge Charger, and a high-speed chase all over the hills of San Francisco (and Brisbane) ensues. Bud Ekins drove, did motorcycle stunts, and helped lay out the car stunts in the film: “One of the great things Bud did in the picture, he laid a motorcycle down on the blacktop during the chase. It was a hell of a shot. Anything mechanical -- cars, motorcycles -- Bud was a perfectionist doing stunts. He could blueprint an accident and make it look real.” For more info, read up on Cinemeccanica here.
Watch 'Bullitt' for $3.99 on YouTube here.
3: On Any Sunday
"Don't forget to catch the ride!"
OK, Bud Ekins did not appear in this film, but one could pose the question: would it have even happened without him? Bud taught Steve McQueen the tricks of desert racing, and while Mert Lawill and Malcolm Smith are the putative starts of the film (Steve isn't even credited in the this trailer!), it was McQueen's presence that ramped up the sex appeal and boosted the film into new territory. 'On Any Sunday' was an ad for California, for motocross, for flat track, and for motorcycling in general, and the masses followed, making the 1970s the most exciting period for motorcycling in the USA, with the largest rise in ridership that was never to be repeated. Read more about 'On Any Sunday' here.
Watch 'On Any Sunday for $2.99 on Youtube here.
4: The Cincinnati Kid
"I don't need marked cards to beat you, pal."
No motorcycles, but plenty of tension: Steve Mcqueen plays a Depression-era card shark in New Orleans, whose ambition is the beat The Man (Edmund G. Robinson), in a swirl of hot women (Anne-Margret!), shady dudes, second line brass bands, cockfights, gambling dens, and a chase scene where Ekins doubles for McQueen. Adapted from Richard Jessup's hard boiled novel, it's a classic bit of period Americana.
Watch 'The Cincinnati Kid' for $2.99 on Youtube.
5: Beach Blanket Bingo
After 'The Great Escape', it wasn't another macho war film that beckoned for Bud Ekins, it was a slapstick surf comedy that launched his professional Hollywood stunt riding carrier. The motorcycle gang 'The Ratz' are always lurking on the edges of the fun in the sun, and Bud did the riding and stunts for the gang. Yes, it's silly, but we can use some of that too.
The Vintagent Premier: BE
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/bethemovie/411077380
The Vintagent Premier: A new film shown here for the first time!
BE (2020)
Run Time: 1:09:00
NO BULLSHIT PROD presents BE
A film By: Brice Renoux.
FILM MAKERS
Brice Renoux is 50 years old, from Palavas les Flots - a popular seaside resort in the South Of France, along the Mediterranean coast. He's worked 20 years as creative in several famous advertising agencies in Paris.
Brice is the Founder and Creative Director of Voix Publique (Advertising Agency) and of No Bullshit Production (Films) located at Montpellier in the South of France.
He was born in the Rock and Roll and Psychobilly culture, and is a guitarist and author. He's been riding motorcycles for 14 years.
SUMMARY
This film is a malicious punk’s testimonial. Brice decided, one day in 2017, without being asked, to gather 'the best of the best' at the Wheels&Waves festival, hunting images and to offer them as a slightly crazy, blurry project.
Six days in Biarritz were spent in a huge house facing the ocean, with all the necessary gear. Brice used total improvisation, putting himself in the heart of a event, without a VIP pass or an appointment, to capture all the soul of a phenomenon: Ride Culture.
Without sponsors or patrons, Brice Renoux maintained full independence to provide a curious and inexperienced point of view. At the right distance, with kindness and without falling into cliché, he offers with BE a unique document of this universe of passion. With original music composed and performed live at a screening of BE in the recording studio by Son Of a Gun.
A must see on the big screen.
WATCH THE FILM FOR FREE UNTIL MAY 1ST
Just enter the promo code : befree
RELATED MEDIA
The Vintagent Selects: LOV(ED)
https://vimeo.com/249737487
The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
LOV(ED) (2018)
Run Time: 27:00
A Film By: Paolo Asuncion
Sound: Frank Pascual
FILM MAKERS
Vargas Films is Paolo Asuncion (director, editor) and Rattler Productions is Luis Baptista, Frank Pascual, and Erik Pascual (producers). They have been making moto-centric films and documentaries for almost 10 years. It started with their fascination with motorcycles and the motorcycle culture and the desire to capture the events around them as sort of a video diary – something to watch and look back at when they got older. In many ways, this is still the case as evidenced by their web series – The Handsome Asians Motorcycle Club – where they feature builds, rides, and individuals in the motorcycle community and their stories about life on two wheels.
On a more personal note, there is one reason that Paolo likes to present these films in public. At the beginning of the films, the audience sees a quick montage of a certain person that fades and becomes a logo that says “Vargas Films.” Paolo’s dad was an actor in the Philippines, and his screen name was “Vic Vargas.” Paolo grew up on movie sets but he never really caught the film bug until after his dad passed away. Getting their films screened in theaters is Paolo’s way of putting his dad’s image and his name up on a big screen again. It’s an homage and a thank you, and a way of making Vic Vargas live forever.
SUMMARY
In some cultures, one truly dies only when one is forgotten. If that's true, then Ed Cavanaugh has achieved immortality.
RELATED MEDIA
In These difficult times, the filmmakers would like to suggest making a donation to the SF Marin Foodbank. Stay Safe.
Quarantine Cinema: Part 4
The Independents
This week's films are all made (or restored) by small teams of very independent film enthusiasts who are crazy about motorcycles. These are the cutting edge of moto-culture in the 21st Century, exploring their unique place in the contemporary world, and common love for two wheels. These are not grand narratives with Hollywood trappings, but were made or restored as passion projects, and gifts to their motorcycling family.
All of the proceeds of these sales go directly to the filmmakers - except those who have made them available for the duration of the Pandemic! Many thanks!
1. Greasy Hands Preachers (2014)
“The bikes I produce should be a part of me. This is why I must improve my inner self, to make my bikes better.” - Shinya Kimura
Clement Beauvais & Arthur de Kersauson's alt-custom documentary film explores the passion for craft among motorcycle enthusiasts who have found their way to a happy life. Shot in 16mm in California, Utah, Indonesia, Spain, Scotland and France, the team spent time with mechanics and custom shop founders, trying to understand the difference between manual work and intellectual work. The film includes interviews with Shinya Kimura, Deus X Machina, Roland Sands, El Solitario, and Blitz Motorcycles, who discuss the unique satisfactions of doing something tangible, including a unique sense of time, the relation between the form and the function, the joy of riding in a beautiful landscape and the community and friendship that motorcycle creates. Watch 'Greasy Hands Preachers' FREE during The Pandemic.
2. I Fidanzeati Della Morte (Engaged To Death)
"I've had enough of slowing down during races - slowing down and letting others win!"
3. Fast & Left
"As soon as they got a motor on a set of bicycle wheels, racing was on!"
4. Dirtbag
“Can you build a chopper in under a month for under a thousand dollars?
5. Dirtbag II: The Return Of The Rattler
Come for the bikes, stay for the outrageous musical sequence!
Quarantine Cinema: Part 3
From Europe With Love
Filmmakers from 'other than America' have always had a different take on two wheels. They simply didn't experience the same vilification of motorcyclists as boogeymen as in the USA post-WW2. Many words have been written on why bikers (and teenagers) became the bete noir of American society during the Cold War: suffice it to say our cultural fascination with outlaw culture led to the 'threat' of biker gangs being blown all out of proportion to their numbers. How could a few hundred 1% club bikers threaten the capitalist behemoth in its heyday?
European filmmakers were thus free to focus on sex, adventure, and crazy dreams on two wheels, which is what most people want from bikes, right? Here are a few classics to keep you entertained for this week's Quarantine Cinema:
1. Girl On A Motorcycle (1968)
2. The Leather Boys (1964)
"Follow me, and wait and see!"
Watch 'The Leather Boys' free on YouTube!
3. La Strada (1954)
“Here he is – Zampano!”
Rent 'La Strada' for £3.49 on iTunes UK.
4. Eat The Peach (1986)
"Nothing was going to stop them: it was time to Eat the Peach"
'Eat the Peach' is a 1986 British-Irish comedy film, directed by Peter Ormrod. The title is derived from the T.S.Eliot poem ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’. The story takes place in an Irish village a few miles from the border with Northern Ireland. When the local Japanese-owned computer factory closes, the principal employer is a mob-rum smuggling operation. One day out-of-work Vinnie (Stephen Brennan), and his brother-in-law Arthur (Eamon Morissey), watch the 1964 Elvis Presley film Roustabout, in the village bar. Seeing a cyclist in the film ride a Wall of Death, Vinnie is inspired to make his own: he draws up plans and clears a patch of land near his house.
Watch 'Eat the Peach' free on YouTube!
The Vintagent Selects: The Greasy Hands Preachers
https://vimeo.com/404587233
The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
THE GREASY HANDS PREACHERS (2015)
Run Time: 1:27:00
Producer: Arthur de Kersauson
A Film By: Clement Beauvais & Arthur de kersauson
Writer: Clément Beauvais, Arthur de Kersauson
Key Cast: Shinya Kimura, Deus X Machina, Roland Sands, El Solitario, Blitz Motorcycles
FILM MAKERS
WATCH THE FILM FOR FREE DURING THE LOCKDOWN
We wanted to make the film available for free and share it with you during the lockdown. We hope it will inspire and entertain you while waiting for better days.
Stay home., Stay safe and stay home.
Arthur and Clement
SUMMARY
"The bikes I produce should be a part of me. This is why I must improve my inner self, to make my bikes better." - Shinya Kimura
This documentary film explores the revival of manual work through the passion of motorcycle enthusiasts who have found their way to a happy life. Shot in 16mm in California, Utah, Indonesia, Spain, Scotland and France, we have spent time with mechanics and custom shop founders trying to understand the difference between manual work and intellectual work. The unique satisfaction that result from doing something tangible, the sense of time, the relation between the form and the function, the joy of riding in a beautiful landscape and the community and friendship that motorcycle creates.
RELATED MEDIA
The Vintagent Classics: Mini-Skirt Mob
https://youtu.be/443rpBCrluo
The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us.
MINI-SKIRT MOB (1968)
Run Time: 1:22:00
Director: Maury Dexter
Writer: James Gordon White
Key Cast: Jeremy Slate, Diane McBain, Sherry Jackson, Harry Dean Stanton |
FILM MAKERS
Driven by jealousy, the jilted leader of a female motorcycle gang instigates a sadistic reign of terror against her ex-lover and his new bride.
SUMMARY
Shayne, the leader of a Honda-riding biker gang known as the Mini-Skirt Mob, has been jilted by her lover, cowboy star Jeff Logan who has married straight-laced Connie. Shayne enlists the rest of her gang to help her break up the newlyweds and get Jeff back - even if that means killing him in the process. Her revenge escalates until her sister Edie is killed by a Molotov cocktail and Shayne finds herself hanging by one hand over a deadly chasm. Should Connie let go before Jeff returns with the police?
RELATED MEDIA
Quarantine Cinema: Part 2
The Vintagent Classics: Rebel Rousers
https://youtu.be/Z9Dbvtc_-JE
The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us.
REBEL ROUSERS (1970)
Run Time: 1:18:00
Director: Martin B. Cohen
Writer: Martin B. Cohen, Michael Kars, Abe Polsky
Key Cast: Cameron Mitchell, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, Jack Nicholson, Harry Dean Stanton
FILM MAKERS
Shot in 1967, but shelved and not released until 1970 after Jack’s career took off with easy Rider.
SUMMARY
In a small, U.S. costal town, with many Spanish speakers, a motorcycle gang arrives on vacation. Also in town to try to reconnect with his pregnant girlfriend, Karen, is businessman Paul Collier. Paul and a leader of the bikers, J.J., knew each other years before, so when the gang comes upon the couple and, led by the menacing Bunny, beats up Paul and begins to sexually assault Karen. J.J. tries to intervene: he suggests they hold cycle-riding contests, with the winner claiming Karen (he promises, sotto voce, to set her free if he wins). After the contests commence, Paul crawls away to look for help. He meets with a shrug from a cowardly Sheriff's Deputy; where can he turn?
RELATED MEDIA
Quarantine Cinema: Part 2
Quarantine Cinema: Part 2
The Deluge of ‘60s Biker Flicks: Roger Corman Perfects the Biker Flick
“There’s nowhere to go” – Heavenly Blues, ‘The Wild Angels’ (1966)
From Paul d'Orléans' seminal 2015 book 'The Chopper: the Real Story': While Russ Myer, that worshipper of the mighty mammary, gave us ‘Motor Psycho’ (1965) featuring maniacal mods on mopeds as a follow up to ‘Faster Pussy Cat! Kill! Kill!’, there wasn’t a formula for a feature-length chopper film until Roger Corman solidified the Biker Flick in 1966 with ‘The Wild Angels’. Corman observed the emergence of the ‘outlaw biker’ as the new front-page threat to civil society, and the ‘problem’ being featured in LIFE magazine, countless newspapers, and Hunter S. Thompson’s book ‘Hell’s Angels’ (1967).
This Week's Quarantine Cinema Picks:
1. The Wild Angels (1966)
“The most terrifying film of your time!”
'The Wild Angels' trailer:
Watch the full film for $3.99 on Vudu.
2. Devil's Angels (1967)
"Get out of their way…if you can!"
The 'Devil's Angels' trailer:
Watch the full movie free on Cine Meccanica youtube:
Or, you can pay $5.99 on Amazon.
3. Rebel Rousers (1970)
“Their creed: "If it feels good, do it!"
Rebel Rousers is not the greatest film ever made [well, none of these films are! - ed]. It’s raunchy and silly and features a cast of gringos playing Mexicans sporting accents verging on offensive, but the thing that saves this film and makes it worth a look is the cast. Cameron Mitchell, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, Jack Nicholson, plus Harry Dean Stanton playing a gang member whose wacky getup screams used car salesman on acid. Read more on Cinemeccanica.
The 'Rebel Rousers' trailer:
Watch the full film for $3.99 on YouTube.
4. Mini-Skirt Mob (1968)
“They ride hard...no matter what they’re mounted on!”
The 'Mini-Skirt Mob' trailer:
Watch the full film for $3.99 on Amazon.
The Vintagent Classics: On Any Sunday
https://vimeo.com/411147199
The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us.
ON ANY SUNDAY (1971)
Run Time: 1:30:00
Producer: Bruce Brown Films
Director: Bruce Brown
Key Cast: Mert Lawwill, Malcolm Smith, Steve McQueen
FILM MAKERS
Some men hunt the great white shark. Some men join roller derbies, while others go to the moon. Some men like to knit. Some are freefall parachutists. Some spend their lives searching for the perfect woman or the perfect movie or the perfect wave. With the possible exception of knitting, all of these endeavors involve an element of risk, either physical or psychological, to such an extent that the attainment of the end becomes less important than the excitation provided by the pursuit itself.Five years ago Bruce Brown recorded one, round-the-world search for the perfect wave in "The Endless Summer," which was a very beautiful movie to look at (especially from the relative safety of a cloudy smoking section) and—I've now come to think—much less simple-minded than it originally sounded. - The New York Times (1971)
SUMMARY
On the basis of his new film, "On Any Sunday," a feature-length documentary about motorcycles and the men who ride them in apparent pleasurable competition, Brown stands in way of becoming the unofficial poet of the sports world. He not only records and shares with us the often extraordinary physical sensations experienced by the cyclists, but he also manages to suggest, in the absolutely flat language of the nonverbal participants, that the joy of the sport may also be the mask that hides a curse.Like clean-cut, monosyllabic Flying Dutchmen, Mert Lawwill and Malcolm Smith, the professional cyclists whose exploits Brown follows through the film, lead lives of enchanted circularity: the winning of one event is not as much a goal as the preface to still another competition, and another after that. The monetary rewards are never great and, often enough, the prizes are simply trophies. At the end of one race in which death might not have been too far removed, Brown, as his own narrator, is likely to say with his unerring knack for the anticlimactic comment: "There stands Malcolm with a big grin."Malcolm himself is likely to say: "That was really neat:"It is not as silly as it sounds because the shape of the lives recorded by Brown are almost necessarily anticlimactic; that is, until someone gets hurt or (off-screen) killed.The movie itself is anything but anticlimactic. By putting his cameras on the cycles, Brown achieves audience-participation effects with speed that amount to marvelous delirium. The camera work is fancy, but it's a fanciness for a specific purpose, and "On Any Sunday" is the first film I can remember in months in which I thoroughly enjoyed the slow-motion, the zooms, the helicopter shots, the superimpositions and all those other techniques that are the tired rhetoric of the narrative cinema.There is, I suspect, no other way by which to communicate the sense of the intoxication that is the real goal of the cyclists, and that can only be realized through the intensification of all the perceptions.Brown records just about every kind of cycling competition there is, going from southern California to Spain and back again, catching drivers who insist on racing with broken legs, broken noses, and, in one instance, with a back broken six weeks before in an especially hazardous competition. "What kind of men are these?" Brown asks, and the answer comes not from what anyone says, but from the crazy, sensational motion of the film, which is, I feel, in its own way, a remarkable adventure, as simple and as unique to film as the picturization of movement."On Any Sunday" which opened yesterday at the Murray Hill, was, I understand, financed by Steve McQueen, who also shows up in the film from time to time as the very creditable cyclist he is.
The Cast ON ANY SUNDAY, a documentary directed, written, produced and narrated by Bruce Brown; photographed by Bob Bagley, Don Shoemaker, Bruce Brown, Allan Seymour, Gordon Brettelle, Bob Collins, Dan Wright, Richard Carrillo, Nelson Tyler, Mark Zavad, James Odom and Mark Brelsford; released by Cinema 5. At the Murray Hill Theater, 34th Street, east of Lexington Avenue. Running time: 90 minutes. (The Motion Picture Association of America's Production Code and Rating Administration classifies this film: "G — All ages admitted, general audiences.") With: Mert Lawwill, Malcolm Smith, Steve McQueen and others. - The New York Times (1971)
RELATED MEDIA
Quarantine Cinema: Part 1
The Vintagent Selects: The Space Between
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMv0ETbbYdk
The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
The Space Between (2019)
Run Time: 56:03:00
Producer: Religion of Sports & Dirty Robber Productions
Director: Mark Rinehart
Key Cast: James Hiller, Dominic Herbertson
FILM MAKERS
From executive producers Tom Brady, Michael Strahan and Gotham Chopra, the streaming launch of Religion of Sports shows you an inside look at one of the most dangerous motorcycle races in the world, the Isle of Man TT.
SUMMARY
Every year, thousands put their lives on the line to compete in the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, in the hopes of earning the top spot. They reflect on what draws them to this race and why, despite the many deaths that have occurred at the hands of the race, why they continue to enter the race. This is Religion of Sports: It is the moment of truth. It is revelation. Believe.
RELATED MEDIA
The Vintagent Classics: La Strada
https://vimeo.com/397837270
The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us.
La Strada (The Road) (1954)
Run Time: 1:48:00
Director: Federico Fellini
Writer: Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano
Key Cast: Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart
FILM MAKERS
Fellini called La Strada "a complete catalogue of my entire mythological world, a dangerous representation of my identity that was undertaken with no precedent whatsoever." As a result, the film demanded more time and effort than any of his other works, before or since. The development process was long and tortuous; there were various problems during production, including insecure financial backing, problematic casting, and numerous delays. Finally, just before the production completed shooting, Fellini suffered a nervous breakdown that required medical treatment so he could complete principal photography. Initial critical reaction was harsh, and the film's screening at the Venice Film Festival was the occasion of a bitter controversy that escalated into a public brawl between Fellini's supporters and detractors.
La Strada is now considered one of the most influential films ever made.
SUMMARY
There has never been a face quite like that of Giulietta Masina. Her husband, the legendary Federico Fellini, directs her as Gelsomina in La strada, the film that launched them both to international stardom. Gelsomina is sold by her mother into the employ of Zampanò (Anthony Quinn), a brutal strongman in a traveling circus. When Zampanò encounters an old rival in highwire artist the Fool (Richard Basehart), his fury is provoked to its breaking point. With La strada, Fellini left behind the familiar signposts of Italian neorealism for a poetic fable of love and cruelty, evoking brilliant performances and winning the hearts of audiences and critics worldwide. - Criterion
A note for Vintagent readers: Zampano & Gelsomina travel the Italian countryside in a Vardo built out of a 1945 Sertum 500 Motocarro.
RELATED MEDIA
Watch the film for free in Italian on Youtube
Buy the DVD collector edition: Criterion Collection
The Vintagent Selects: Marty Dickerson 1926-2020
https://vimeo.com/394639969
The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
Marty Dickerson: 1926-2020 (2020)
Run Time: 3:56
Producers: Gerry Jenkinson and James Salter
Director: David Lancaster
Camera: Steve Read
Soundtrack: SquirkyMusic
Key Cast: Marty Dickerson and Philip Vincent-Day
FILM MAKERS
SpeedisExpensive is the story Philip Vincent - a man who sacrificed nearly everything to build the world’s most famous motorcycle. Filmed in Europe, the UK, Australia and America it features interviews with Vincent racers, plus friends, family and colleagues of both Philip Vincent and Phil Irving. The crew were lucky to film three interviews with Marty: at Bonneville, at El Mirage – shown here – and just last month at Jay Leno’s garage. SpeedisExpensive is due for release this year.
SUMMARY
"Son, Speed is expensive."
Marty Dickerson left us on February 19. From his trips to the Southern States in the late 1940s burning off all-comers on a newly-minted Vincent HRD, to his record setting at Bonneville, he was an ambassador for Vincents all his life - and a great friend to Vincent owners across the globe.
An inductee to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, his best official speed on a Vincent was 177mph; unofficially it was over 190mph. In 2008 - at the age of 80 - he returned to the Salt on a borrowed Vincent and set a Vintage gas class record of 150.3013mph. In this short tribute Marty is re-united with his famous Blue Bike and talks about his dealings with Philip Vincent to grandson Philip Vincent-Day. RIP fast gentleman.
RELATED MEDIA
The Vintagent Classics: Orphée
https://vimeo.com/396433662
The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us.
Orphée (Orpheus) (1950)
Run Time: 1:35:00
Director: Jean Cocteau
Writer: Jean Cocteau
Key Cast: Jean Marais, François Périer, María Casares
FILM MAKERS
In 1949 Jean Cocteau adapted the Greek myth of Orpheus to the cinema, in a contemporary setting of post-war Europe. His use of motorcycles in this dark, evocative tale set the pattern of associating Death with Motorcycles in film forever after, and established the Dark Rider phenomenon in the popular imagination. In short, Cocteau was the first to associate motorcycles with menace in the arts: previously, they had merely been interesting kinetic props, but Cocteau, already famous as a Surrealist poet and playwright/set designer before WW2 in France, was first to see something very different and dark on two wheels.
SUMMARY
In Cocteau’s film version of the myth, Orpheus is a poet whose fame is great, but who lacks respect from the new, young, existentialist/beatnik poets who hang out at the Café des Poétes. While visiting the café, Orpheus is disrespected by the very drunk but very hot new poet Cegeste, who is shortly killed by a dark pair of motorcyclists roaring past. A rich woman in a Rolls Royce (the Princess), who escorted Cegeste to the cafe, orders Orpheus to help carry the body of the young poet in her car. She reveals to Orpheus that she is Death, and the lethal motorcyclists are her henchmen. Orpheus and Death fall in love, and Death sends Cegeste’s poetry through the radio in her Rolls to Orpheus, who becomes obsessed with this poetry and with Death herself, and ignores his beautiful wife Eurydice.
- Paul d'Orleans
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Read more on The Vintagent: Death By Cocteau
The Vintagent Classics: Devil's Angels
https://youtu.be/qfU2ZErrJfs
The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us.
DEVIL'S ANGELS (1967)
Run Time: 1:24:00
Director: Daniel Haller
Writer: Charles B. Griffith
Key Cast: John Cassavetes, Beverly Adams, Mimsy Farmer |
FILM MAKERS
“Riot is their reason for living. Lust is the law they live by”
Daniel Haller was born in Glendale, California, and received his art training at the renowned Chouinard Institute. By chance, he happened to meet New World Pictures head Roger Corman in the mid-1950s when Corman was still an unknown, independent producer-director-jack-of-all-trades. Corman persuaded Haller to become an art director, a relationship that continued through some 30 Corman films.
SUMMARY
“They’re adult delinquents…They steal things…They smell bad Charlie!
An exiled band of Hell's Angels strike a bargain with the Sheriff of a local town, let them stay and the town is safe. But a local girl strays into their lair and sparks off a full scale Angel war.
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Quarantine Cinema: Part 2
The Vintagent Selects: Riding The Wall Of Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ZtnIi7W0g
The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
RIDING THE WALL OF DEATH (2016)
Run Time: 2:36
A Film By: Great Big Story
Cast: Kerri Cameron, Fox Family Wall Of Death
FILM MAKERS
Great Big Story is a video network dedicated to the untold, overlooked & flat-out amazing. Humans are capable of incredible things & we're here to tell their stories. When a rocket lands in your backyard, you get in.
SUMMARY
Kerri Cameron is a motorcycle stuntwoman from the United Kingdom who rides on Luke Fox's original "Wall of Death." What is the Wall of Death? It’s a nearly vertical, circle-shaped track that most riders would consider insane. Before she was a Wall of Death rider, Cameron rode horses for a living. Today, she performs dangerous stunts with grace and keeps an adrenalin-pumping tradition alive.
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