WERNER HERZOG EATS HIS SHOE (1980)

The story around the campfire goes that established filmmaker Werner Herzog remarked (in a supportive way) to a young Errol Morris that if he (Errol) ever finished a film, that he (Werner) would eat his own shoe.  This film is about Werner fulfilling that promise and eating his shoe at the premiere of Errol's film GATES OF HEAVEN.

And...that's about it.  No fancy bells or whistles.  Just Werner cooking his shoes while talking to the camera and then eating them in front of an audience at a movie theater.  It's never revealed just how much of the nasty looking shoes he ate or the state of his asshole they next day, but he definitely did eat some of them and it looked gross as fuck.  At only 20 minutes long, WERNER HERZOG EATS HIS SHOE is an easy watch and a treat for Herzog fans.  (The cute shot of Werner pointing at his bare feet made me smile.)  Although, I do wish that they had gone into more detail about the event itself.  It's all very vague.  Hell, Morris doesn't even appear in the film at all!  Was he even there?

WHEHS is also notable for being the first collaboration (if that is the correct term) between Les Blank and Werner Herzog.  They would next work together on the truly fascinating BURDEN OF DREAMS were Blanks documents Herzog during the making of his psychotic FITZCARRALDO.

There's also a rumor (that I'm about to start in 3 seconds) that Werner originally told Errol that if he ever finished his film that "...he'd jack off a dog in the town square", but they settled for him eating his shoes instead.

[Insert WERNER HERZOG EATS HIS HUMAN CENTIPEDE joke here.]

Jokes aside, WERNER HERZOG EATS HIS SHOE is a fun watch. Check it out.

VIDEODROME (1983)

James Woods is the president of a small television station in Toronto.  He's always looking for something fresh and exciting to feature on his station.  The 24-hour marathons of MAC AND ME just ain't bringing in the ratings anymore, so he starts exploring around using a modded satellite dish that can pick up crap from all over the world.  His latest discovery is a show called "Videodrome" which isn't really a show, but just random people being tortured in an orange room.  Woods become obsessed with Videodrome.  Things go downhill from there...especially when he grows a Betamax player in his stomach.

VIDEODROME is a weird movie.  I remember enjoying it back in the 1980's, but watching it now for this review, it's dated as fook and tame.  A single episode of "Rick and Morty" is way more bizarre.  It's still an interesting ride from a historical perspective.

Opening act that starts out legitimately creepy, dated special effects that still look cool, good acting, medium pace, jumbled up story that doesn't go anywhere, disappointing ending.  VIDEODROME is worth watching, but it's nothing to get excited about.  I would love to see a fucked up remake.  That'd be awesome!