Wandisa Guida, Roberto Risso, Ombreta Colli and Gordon Scott in GLADIATORS OF ROME
This film is part of my Worst list. I don't hate it I just wish it was better.
Hail!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Cinematic confusion
British poster for THE MINOTAUR...WARLORD OF CRETE? Huh?
Fabulous title, wrong film.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Photo of the Day
Barbara Bouchet makes love to an invisible man in 1001 NIGHTS OF PLEASURE (1972)
I got a copy of this film (with a fuzzy image) and it looks interesting. Directed by Antonio Margheriti, a veteran of PEPLUM cinema. This Arabian adventure looks really great even if it's a soft-core film, with nudity and all. I'll try to get a better copy. Another rare find.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Photo of the Day
Contender for the worst PEPLUM ever. What's Elliot doing in this? Oy!
Greek God of the Month: APOLLO (week 2)
APOLLO'S LYRE
Blessed with many talents, Apollo was, among other things, the god of music. He mastered all instruments of Antiquity, including the kithara, but he's associated with the Lyre. As everything in Greek mythology there's a story behind this: a young Hermes stole some of Apollo's cattle in Thessaly and hid them in a cave. Using the cow's intestines and the shell of a turtle, young Hermes created the first lyre. Apollo complained to Hermes' mother, Maia, about her son stealing some of his grazing cattle. Hermes denied it but Zeus was witnessed to the theft and sided with Apollo. When Hermes played the lyre Apollo fell in love with it and allowed to exchange the stolen cattle for the new instrument. They agreed and Apollo became master of the lyre. In typical Greek fashion, the story is a combo of intriguing, cute, corny and somewhat gruesome (cow's intestines?).
In another famous story over Apollo's lyre, Pan boasted that his music rivalled Apollo's. A challenge was decided, witnessed by the mountain god Tmolus and Midas, a follower of Pan. Pan played his pipes and Apollo played his lyre. Tmolus said Apollo was the better musician but Midas sided with Pan. Angry by Midas' choice, Apollo changed Midas' ears into those of a donkey in order to distort his sense of hearing. Not very wise for Apollo but colorful nonetheless.
Apollo handed that first lyre created by Hermes to Orpheus, who, btw, is not Apollo's son, as some might believe. Orpheus wasn't a god but his musicianship was god-like thanks to Apollo's lyre. It is said that Orpheus could charm anyone, even gods, with it.
In HERCULES UNCHAINED, Iole is given a lyre from Orpheus (not pictured) and sings Evening Star. I don't believe this is Apollo's first lyre. In the film, the dubbing erroneously calls it a lute, which looks more like a little guitar.
Even today, as seen in the image below from Madonna's half time show this past Sunday during the Super Bowl, the imagery of Apollo's lyre lives on.
Blessed with many talents, Apollo was, among other things, the god of music. He mastered all instruments of Antiquity, including the kithara, but he's associated with the Lyre. As everything in Greek mythology there's a story behind this: a young Hermes stole some of Apollo's cattle in Thessaly and hid them in a cave. Using the cow's intestines and the shell of a turtle, young Hermes created the first lyre. Apollo complained to Hermes' mother, Maia, about her son stealing some of his grazing cattle. Hermes denied it but Zeus was witnessed to the theft and sided with Apollo. When Hermes played the lyre Apollo fell in love with it and allowed to exchange the stolen cattle for the new instrument. They agreed and Apollo became master of the lyre. In typical Greek fashion, the story is a combo of intriguing, cute, corny and somewhat gruesome (cow's intestines?).
In another famous story over Apollo's lyre, Pan boasted that his music rivalled Apollo's. A challenge was decided, witnessed by the mountain god Tmolus and Midas, a follower of Pan. Pan played his pipes and Apollo played his lyre. Tmolus said Apollo was the better musician but Midas sided with Pan. Angry by Midas' choice, Apollo changed Midas' ears into those of a donkey in order to distort his sense of hearing. Not very wise for Apollo but colorful nonetheless.
Apollo handed that first lyre created by Hermes to Orpheus, who, btw, is not Apollo's son, as some might believe. Orpheus wasn't a god but his musicianship was god-like thanks to Apollo's lyre. It is said that Orpheus could charm anyone, even gods, with it.
In HERCULES UNCHAINED, Iole is given a lyre from Orpheus (not pictured) and sings Evening Star. I don't believe this is Apollo's first lyre. In the film, the dubbing erroneously calls it a lute, which looks more like a little guitar.
Even today, as seen in the image below from Madonna's half time show this past Sunday during the Super Bowl, the imagery of Apollo's lyre lives on.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Photo of the Day
Pam Grier and Margaret Markov step out of a golden cage they were carried in from THE ARENA
As exploitive as this 1970s film is this is a true PEP film because many from the supporting cast have worked in Sword & Sandal films from the Golden era, including Rosalba Neri and Pietro Torissi. The story is not very deep but it's fun.
The Queen of Babylon resurfaces...
The last person I expected to post on this blog is Madonna and of course there was this thing called the Super Bowl yesterday and Madonna was to perform (lip-sync) during the half-time show. No one expected this though which is, even if I'm not a fan of hers, terribly fun in a OTT way. Her entrance was a mixture of Roman, Egyptian, the look of IMMORTALS and in the end creating a Babylonian feel. Madonna looked like the Queen of Babylon. Tongue in cheek for sure.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Photo of the Day
Lou Ferrigno in a publicity shot for SEVEN MAGNIFICENT GLADIATORS
Except for the boots, this is a great shot of Lou. If I find a better image quality I'll post it again.
Except for the boots, this is a great shot of Lou. If I find a better image quality I'll post it again.
Pricey PEP - the video edition
A few weeks ago I sorta critiqued the fact that most books on the Sword & Sandal genre are quite expensive. Well, this is sorta the Sword & Sorcery video edition. Many Sword & Sorcery films of the 1980s are still hard to get and at these prices they'll remain so. The price they're asking is more than the budget for the films. Ok, not really but still it's way too expensive.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Photo of the Day
Rik Battaglia confronts Fabrizio Mioni (Jason from HERCULES) in ROLAND THE MIGHTY
Directed by Pietro Francisci. So it's good!
I uploaded the entire film here
STEVE REEVES A PICTORIAL TRIBUTE
Facebook friend Ron Campbell created this photo tribute to Steve Reeves. Lotsa photos and info.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Photo of the Day
A scene from YOUNG APHRODITES (1963)
In my neverending quest to find every PEP film out there, I came across this film. It's a controversial Greek film that's almost all but forgotten today. It parallels stories of Eros set in 200 B.C. and it shows the sexual awakening of a girl and a young boy. I got a hold of a great looking print with English subs. I haven't seen it yet, just parts of it and it's looks great. Decidedly different than the usual stuff but has an authentic feel to it.
HERCULES Action Figure
Based on the Marvel comics
Fututre PEPLUM Star: Joe Manganiello
I don't watch TRUE BLOOD so I don't know who Joe Manganiello is but I've seen his photos on them interwebs and when I saw one of said photos I briefly thought: Hey Hercules.
Funny enough, I've seen 4 different blogs (one example here) which mentioned how much they'd love to see him as HERCULES (comic version or new version, I dunno). The one thing that's important in casting Hercules is that the actor has to look great with a beard and Joe's beard sure does look authentic there. No one will ever top Steve Reeves as Hercules but if done properly Joe would be pretty cool as the son of Zeus. Even if he never plays Hercules, he'd still look at home in any PEPLUM flick.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Photo of the Day
Mexican star Jorge Rivero plays Mace in CONQUEST, a Sword & Sorcery film directed by Lucio Fulci
One of the worst shot films I've ever seen, surprising considering Lucio's films are always well shot.
PEPLUM Inspired fashion
Diane Lane looks like someone straight out of a PEP film
Is Angelina auditioning for a role in a PEPLUM film?
Did Tilda Swinton star in the original CLASH OF THE TITANS?
A sexier version of Tilda's dress
PEPLUM stars in BARABBAS
The great thing about BARABBAS is the number of PEPLUM stars that make a brief appearance, mostly during the gladiator scenes. Their cameos are shot in a frustrating way, usually quick or distant so it's difficult to get a great view of them. Paul Muller, Charles Fawcett, Spartaco Nale and Sharon Tate are in it as well but I couldn't find them as this film has a cast of thousand.
Burt Nelson, also in REVOLT OF THE SLAVES
Though not credited at IMDb this is Roger Browne
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Photo of the Day
The centerpiece of BARABBAS: a big thingamajig in the middle of the Arena di Verona.
To this day I still don't know what that's supposed to be.
As a PEPLUM fan I'm usually lenient on every film of said genre. Generally speaking, except for few definite titles I love all of them but I'm a realist and of course I have my preferred ones and my least preferred ones. It's only normal no matter how much I love the genre. And BARABBAS falls into the least preferred ones, for many reasons, including that odd structure that defies description and looks like it's made of papier-mâché. Logistically speaking they wouldn't have been able to built something like that in the arena during the period. Had it been built differently or with different stuff I wouldn't have paid attention to it but as it is, eh, no way. They tried to made it look old and in the process making it look more fake. It just stands out for all the wrong reasons.
The good thing about BARABBAS is the numerous appearance of PEPLUM actors which I'll list tomorrow.
Greek God of the Month: APOLLO
This being the first day of a new month, February, let's start by shining the spotlight on a Greek God, Apollo!
Apollo is one of the most important Gods from Mount Olympus. Complex and all emcompassing Apollo is the god of music, poetry, plague, oracles, sun, medicine, light and knowledge. Apollo is so well known that his name is used everywhere, including for rockets used for Lunar space exploration and yet in popular culture, Apollo is almost invisible. It's a bit frustrating. I always wondered why no one has ever made a film based on him. It's probably because he's too complex, which I'll try to look into in future posts. There's no shortage of paintings and statues though.
Apollo is also one of the few Greek deities who's Roman name is identical.
"Apollo Revealing his Divinity to the Shepherdess" by Francois Boucher
He's often seen holding a lyre, which he gave to Orpheus. Other symbols associated with Apollo: laurel wreath, python, raven, bow and arrows. He's also seen ridding a chariot.
The fountain of Apollo at the Palace of Versailles
Fake PEP: HERCULES AGAINST THE MONSTER
Fake PEPLUM flick within another PEP film: HERCULES AGAINST THE MONSTER is not a real PEPLUM but you can see the poster in HERCULES IN NEW YORK when a young woman (Debra Loomis) brings Hercules (Ahnuld) to see the film which prompts Herc to complain that the Hercules on the poster doesn't resemble him so he shows off his physique. Cute film, even if Ahnuld is terrible in it. Funny enough they added Godzilla as the monster. Oh my...Hercules against Godzilla? LOL!!!!
