Heavy Metal Parking Lot, The Story of 1, Green for Danger, Samurai Spy, & A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a short 17 minute documentary that's about how much Judas Priest sucks. Seriously, they suck, and their fans in Landover, Maryland and who went to see them in 1986, are evil. A bunch of drunks, drug users, and underage girls wearing terrible fashions and not afraid to be proud of all of it. I sort of wish that these people would have done enough drinking and drug-using so that we didn't have them around anymore. People do stupid things as kids. Once you hit your 20s, though, your excuses start to sound as ridiculous as Judas Priest.

The Story of 1 is an hour long documentary about the number 1. It was strange. Terry Jones, from Monty Python, is the host, and there are some very stupid jokes, and silly things all throughout, but the thing is that it is interesting. Maybe I'm just a nerd (well, ok, I am), but I love that this important part of history has the documentary to explain it to people who have no interest in reading boring nonfiction.

Green for Danger is a British film about a murder at a hospital during a V-1 attack during WWII. Kept me guessing until the end, and I was convinced the murderer was someone other than who it was. I also was a big fan of Alastair Sim as Inspector Cockrill, who is just about perfect as the annoying, whimsical officer. It may be a slight film, but it has enough pleasures to make it worth watching for those who enjoy English films and mysteries. That's me.

Samurai Spy is the last of the four Rebel Samurai films from Criterion (Sword of the Beast, Samurai Rebellion, and Kill!). This is about as good as Sword of the Beast and Kill!, but not nearly as good as Samurai Rebellion. I wasn't entirely familiar with the history of Japan at the time, but I seem to be learning a bit. I just didn't like enough of the film. The soundtrack, occasional fight scenes, and cinematography are great, but the twisty plot doesn't always make sense.

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints got New York Groove by KISS stuck in my head. I will never forgive the film for that. But it also has Robert Downey Jr and Rosario Dawson, two of my favorite actors currently working. Add in Chazz Palminteri and Dianne Wiest and there's a lot of talent there. The story was interesting, but some of the decisions by Dito Montiel in scenes like the ride to Coney Island just got on my nerves and the film never quite was what I was hoping for.