PARIS IS BURNING (1990)

"...you're black and you're male and you're gay.  You're gonna have a hard fuckin' time.  If you're gonna do this, you're gonna have to be stronger than you ever imagined."

Filmed in New York City in the latter part of the 1980's, PARIS IS BURNING gives a small, but fascinating look into the NYC "ball culture".  Balls are (from what the film told me) a mix of dance, posing, performance, modeling, etc. where participants (mainly African-American and Latin American members of the LGBTQ community) get up in front the audience and strut their stuff like a motherfucker!!!  I mean work that shit!  It's dope.  I wish I knew how to move like that.  It'd be awesome!  Strutting around, pointing at the cat, voguing all up in her smug face.  "Mmmm-hummmm!!!  What are you gonna do about it?!"

Anyway, PARIS IS BURNING focuses solely on one certain group location in NYC.  We're shown the events of a ball, explained the different categories, terminology and introduced to some of the main players who all have bad ass names like Pepper LaBeija, Danni Xtravaganza, Octavia St. Laurent and Willi Ninja.  There's so much going on, you really can't even take it all in in just one viewing.  I had to watch it twice and it was great both times.

One of the sadder things I noticed (besides the racism, homophobia, cruel parents and murder) was how a lot of the people being interviewed wanted to be somebody else.  Like a person they saw on television (Dynasty, which ran from 1981 until 1989, is mentioned a few times) or somebody that is wealthy.  It was sad.  I wish more people, not just the people in this film, but people in general, could be happier with being themselves.  Realize that it doesn't take money or material possessions to give you value.  You, yes, you reading this, if you possess virtues like honesty, empathy, integrity, civility, modesty...then you have value.  Fuck sports cars, fuck big TV's, fuck boats, fuck motorcycles, fuck a powerful job...honesty, compassion, acceptance.  That is where it is at.   

Try to leave the world a better place than how you found it. And, if you find somebody to love (and they love you back), love them every single day like it is your last, because one day it will be.

Wow.  I got way off subject.  Long story, short: PARIS IS BURNING is a great documentary.  Quick pace, uplifting story, delightful people, unique subject matter, GHOSTBUSTERS on TV.  The entire thing was like a really cool time capsule.  Highly recommended.

If you need me, I'll be in my room sad voguing to $uicideBoy$.

PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1959)

"We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives."

An elderly man, still mourning the recent passing of his late wife, is killed in a car accident.  Mourners leaving his funeral find the mutilated corpses of two graveyard workers.  The police are called and soon even more bodies start to pile up.  At the same time, two commercial airplane pilots report seeing an unidentified flying object, but the government covers it up.  These two events might not seem related, but they are!  You see, advanced extraterrestrials have been watching Earth for a very long time.  As we became more and more advanced.  Inventing the atom bomb, then the hydrogen bomb, but now...humans are on the verge of inventing the Solaranite bomb which will explode sunlight itself and, of course, the Universe!  The aliens have tried multiple times (I'm guessing 8?) to contact us, but The Man always covers it up, so they've moved on to Plan 9: zombies!

The most surprising thing that first time viewers will discover about PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE is it's not that bad of a film!  It's honestly just low budget and rough around the edges.  The story itself is entertaining and funny, the pace is good and the acting...well, the acting is pretty stiff, but it's still enjoyable.  The lieutenant's pistol handling skills alone are worth the price of admission!   Yeah, the sets look cheap, but the stuff like the microphone shadows and edges of props being visible is because the film was shot for the 1.85:1 aspect ratio, but all of the home video releases (as of 4/2020) have been in 1.33:1.  So, the viewer ends up seeing things that were not meant to be seen.

As it is though, I still love P9FOS.  It's such a weird movie and it's 100% Ed Wood.  Nobody else in the Universe could have made PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE.  That should at least stand for something.  Ed only made a handful of good films, but goddamn, are they unique and charming.  And I think that is the best way to describe PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE: charming.

Required viewing for fans of "bad movies".  

Not part of the review, but I would absolutely love to see a 100% serious retelling of Ed's original Plan 9 story idea.  I'm talking serious like ARRIVAL or something like that.  I honestly think, in the correct hands, this story could be straight up awesome!!!