"Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" Star Haji -- RIP

Canadian actress Haji
(Image: cbc.ca)

In 1965, movie directors still had the ability to both shock and amuse their audiences. This knack seemed connected to the Ed Wood school of directing; any glimpse into Luis Bunuel's more outrageous montages was purely coincidental. Russ Meyer's circa mid-1960s films fit this profile to a T.

His movies were testaments to comic bad taste and soft core porn. One of his best known features was Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Haji, the actress who played a leading role in the movie, recently passed away; an obit was published in today's online editions of the BBC. However, a much more fun obit, and one more in tune with Meyer's world, appeared in The National Enquirer. The tabloid's piece includes video trailers that capture Haji's screen presence and Meyer's sense of ribald humor. They're great guilty pleasures to watch.

Criterion Out-of-Print Notice (Buñuel fans take note)

The Criterion Collection sent out a notice to its Facebook followers, informing them that certain catalog items would become "out-of-print" effective June 30th. Among them are a number of Buñuel films from his "French" period (for lack of a better categorization), such as Diary of a Chambermaid.

1972

– Image courtesy mptvimages.com

Directors Group, Nov. 1972. George Cukor Hosts a party for Luis Bunuel. Back Row from left: Robert Mulligan, William Wyler, George Cukor, Robert Wise, Jean-Claude Carriere, and Serge Silverman. Front Row from left: Billy Wilder, George Stevens, Luis Bunuel, Alfred Hitchcock, and Rouben Mamoulin.