Q
Psychotropic, mind melting, VHS Vision.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/list/the-agfa-mystery-mixtapes-ranked/
Probably the best one out of the numbered ‘Mystery mixtapes’ volume 5 seems to get the balance of variety pretty solid and it keeps things chugging on at a good pace. Put it this way, out of all the numbered ones. This would be the one I’d show to Intro people to the concept.
Not *quite* as solid as the latterday mixtapes, this one likely helped set the mold for later entries, and I really enjoyed it!
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/agfa-mystery-mixtape-5-haunted-lives/
Q
Psychotropic, mind melting, VHS Vision.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/list/the-agfa-mystery-mixtapes-ranked/
Q
Psychotropic, mind melting, VHS Vision.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/list/the-agfa-mystery-mixtapes-ranked/
Another day, another ‘AGFA Mystery Mixtape’ and this one’s kind of middle of the pack for me. The framing device is a condensed ‘key scene’ version of the TV movie ‘North Star’ which we dip in and out of in between a handful pf movie ‘behind the scenes’ some commercials and random TV moments.
I feel this is a step above the first 2 mixtapes as it has a lot more variety and a much more ‘self aware’ editing style, which I really enjoyed. But, I feel like it’s a bit of a step back after ‘mix tape 3’ in terms of diversity and edit speed.
It’s fine enough, good background fodder. But not quite the ‘high point’ of these mystery tapes.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/agfa-mystery-mixtape-4-follow-your-own-star/
Q
Psychotropic, mind melting, VHS Vision.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/list/the-agfa-mystery-mixtapes-ranked/
Definitely a step in the right direction over the previous 2 mystery mixtapes. Volume 3 seems less oriented around the ‘behind the scenes’ of horror movies, and more interested in horror movie as a culture.
With the main framing being exerpts from the Universal horror awards (hosted by Robert Englund) we see here a much faster paced mixtape that’s more in line with the more recent offerings and showcases a much larger variety of clips ranging from old commercials, to parodies from comedy shows to even some public access materials.
I really enjoyed this one, even with it being a bit more ‘Freddy’ oriented tha I’d have liked, it’s definitely a much more solid offering and one I could absolutely see myself revisiting in future.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/agfa-mystery-mixtape-3-sequelitis/
Volume 2 of the AGFA Mystery Mixtape series still isn’t quite where I think the series should be, but is definitely taking a step in the right direction.
Here? We have an extended interview with Tim Burton (around the time ‘Batman Returns’ was released) as the framing to once again showcase extended behind the scenes footage from movies like ‘Life Force’ and ‘The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Coming out of their shells tour’.
Once again my criticisms are more or less the same, while this is VERY Likely to be fascinating for horror/Sci fi fans or just people interested in BTS work. I found it a little sluggish and slow going. Not unenjoyable, but I think a bit more variety would have gone a LONG way.
I will say on that note, there are at least signs of this happening as volume 2 features a lot more retro commercials and random cutaway bits…its early days, but hopefully volume 3 will really begin to lean into that a bit more.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/agfa-mystery-mixtape-2-later-in-la/
The first ‘AGFA Mystery Mixtape’ was a bit of a bumpy start to a series I really rather enjoy. Before the fast paced editing and rampant mind melting psychotropic look into the world of strange TV and cinema, we had this.
What is this? Well. Its basically 58 minutes where the ‘USA Up all night Bmovie awards’ act as a framing to showcase some rare extended snatches of behind the scenes footage from the ‘Reanimator’ films, ‘Don’t open till christmas’ and fangoria video issues with footage from conventions in the late 80s and interviews with the likes of wes craven, tobe hooper and Stuart Gordon.
It’s fine enough, but when I think of the mixtapes, this isn’t really what I want out of them. Like, it’s cool seeing all this rare footage. But I much prefer the editing style and tone of the later editions.
A bit pedestrian, this is almost certain to appeal to horror fans, and BTS followers. But people who like the weirder more demented editions, may want to look elsewhere.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/agfa-mystery-mixtape-1/
Growing up, it felt like ‘Rocky 3’ and ‘Rocky 4’ were pretty much on constant rotation in my house, My dad was a huge fan of the series (we dont talk about Rocky 5 onwards…) But while 3 and 4 played endlessly, the first 2 films didnt get *quite* the same traction in our household as the latter two…Well, I hadnt watched ‘Rocky’ from start to finish since 2016, and the missus had NEVER seen ANY of the ‘Rocky’ movies, so it seemed like as good a time as ever to revisit them. And I honestly wasnt dissapointed in my life choices.
‘Rocky’ follows the sudden and unexpected rise of ‘Rocky Balboa’ a down on his luck ‘muscle’ for a loan shark who makes ends meet by boxing no league challengers with crazy names like ‘Spider Rico’ and ‘Boxcar Mike’. When the heavyweight world champion (and biggest America fan) Apollo Creed loses his headline fighter for a grand new years day heavyweight match, and there IS no suitable replacement from the leagues. Apollo hatches a crazy idea. A match that gives a non league fighter a chance at the top. lining up with the American ideology of it being ‘the land of the free’ and the place where anyone can do anything. After scouring the local listings, their finger lands on ‘The Italian Stallion’ (aka Rocky), and after an initial rejection. Rocky accepts setting the scene for an epic fight between a cocky and ‘in his prime’ heavyweight, to challenge a plucky, down on his luck ‘half bum’.
While this is the A-plot (technically) the REAL plot follows Rocky as he lives his day to day life in the slums of Philadelphia and the blossoming relationship he begins to have with a local Pet shop employee ‘Adrien’ who is ALSO related to Rockys best friend ‘Paulie’. and the ups and downs of living in a rundown American town at a time of hardship.
Right off the bat, one of the main things I HADNT noticed about this film on the last watch was just how blatently Autism and ADHD coded the whole film is. Both Rocky and Adrien are clear representations of different sides of the spectrum and their awkward, but ultimately sweet and genuine romance is probably the biggest indicator of that. Indeed, pretty much everyone in this film (to me at least) comes across as some flavour of autistic or ADHD coded. Whether its Rocky as a somewhat awkward, good hearted and at times almost childish lead, Adrien as a border non verbal, incredibly shy and physically awkward love lead, Apollo as a ‘million thoughts a minute’ ‘fake it till you make it’ over confident firecracker (ADHD blatently) or Paulie as a substance addicted ‘needs everything to be exactly as he needs it’ autistic who has meltdowns. Even Micky has some traits of it with bluntness and inappropriate social cues.
Realising this now, it makes a lot of sense WHY my dad (and me, and my partner) all REALLY loved this film growing up, its basically a love in for Neurodiverse people.
What I love most about ‘Rocky’, and the thing a lot of parodies of this franchise miss is that the boxing element, while a core element of the plot, is actually not really the point of this film. Its a drama about lost people trying to find their place in the world and most importantly, trying to find people who understand them and take them for their genuine self, not who people THINK they should be. Which I think is a wonderful variation on what could have been a fairly uncomplicated and uninteresting narrative.
Im going to be completely honest here, my criticisms for this movie are pretty minimal.
The script is probably the biggest gripe that I have, we have a clean cut 3 act structure here thats pretty nicely distributed, dialogue is arguably some of the most naturalistic and unserious dialogue I’ve heard in a VERY long time, but married up to that unseriousness is some ‘straight to the heart’ level genuiness on the part of Stallone, such as his 3rd act admission that he’s worried about losing, and worried about winning. and uncertain of what his future should or could be. these small moments where incredibly emotional concepts break through the discussions about turtle food and small talk on an ice skating rink hit the audience like a dagger and are probably the thing that makes me love this film so much.
The characters are all largely well rounded with complex and multi layered backstories that leave the audience feeling like they know this world intimately and the struggles all these characters have had up to this point.
My only criticism of this film is that the 2nd act is maybe just a *tiny* bit too long and slightly overpadded as a result. and that the ending is a little bit abrupt, and seems to almost undercut the intencity of the message of the film. I know that ‘Rocky 2’ goes some way to picking these missing threads up. But as a standalone film, i’d have left the theater with that ending feeling just a little bit dissatisfied honestly. These are however small gripes in the face of what is ultimately a rare thing in cinema these days, a personal and honest feeling script that actually has the budget and talent behind it to realise it in such a way that DOESNT feel like its cheap or trying to be something its not.
Direction and cine are pretty flawless, a STRIKING picture with clear creative vision that brings the slums of philly to life in border ‘smell-o-vision’ quality. I love the look of this film, I appreciate the rough around the edges, handheld nature of the cinematography, I feel like it pitch perfectly captures the spirit and period that was mid 70s philly. with a tremendous colour palette and scene structuring to boot. No notes on my end. I’d say its pretty flawless in what it wants to do, and does so pretty effortlessly.
That being said, another minor gripe I do have sits in the edit, which is that I dont feel like this movie is the most polished cut in the world. some sequences do feel a little ‘thrown together’ for lack of a better descriptive, and its a shame really because theres sunch brilliant footage captured, I feel like maybe just one more pass through would have really gotten it to the perfect sweet spot, maybe just a smidge more B-roll or some sequence reordering…I cant quite put my finger on it, but it just feels a little bit messy to me at times.
Performance wise, Sly is…interesting. Im going to level with you, I dont think he’s a particularly fantastic actor, and here I wouldnt even go as far as to say he’s good, especially when he’s surrounded by such unblemishable talent as Burgess Meredith, Burt Young and Talia Shire (who for the record ARE absolutely incredible in this film and bring a lifeblood to this production that I sincerely believe NO other cast could have)
But what Sly lacks in physical presence and acting ability (I always thought he’d make an excellent ‘Frankensteins monster’) He more than makes up for with genuiness and sincerity. I might not believe his perforamance here at all, but I can DAMN well believe he’s lived this life or an approximation of it. and that heart and believability trumps any kind of actual acting ability he may (or may not) have been able to bring to the table.
Throw in a superb soundtrack that perfectly suits the tone and pitch of this film and is edited near flawlessly into the picture. and I honestly have very little else to say about this that hasnt been said by people much better and much closer to this than me.
‘Rocky’ has earned its ‘Classic’ status for a good reason, its an underdog picture that, much like its lead character, came from nothing and went on to take on the big leagues, challenging audiences and ultimately (and rightfully) earning the recognition it rightfully deserved. I had a blast with Rocky, its a lot more amusing than I remembered it being all those years ago, and if you havent seen it in a while, or havent seen it at all, I definitely recommend checking, not just this one, but the entire series (up to part 4) out!
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