Scream of the Butterfly (1965) -- I am used to Something Weird releasing a strange assortment of films, but this might be one of the strangest. First, I have no idea what the title has to do with the film. Second, why was blonde bombshell Nélida Lobato from Argentina in Las Vegas being directed in an English language film by her Argentinean husband? Finally, where on earth did they release a film with this much nudity in 1965?

As the film opens, Lobato is intentionally run over by a young lover and killed. Cut to the DAs office. The DA assigns the assistant DA to prosecute, but, for some reason, doesn't want the case to come to trial. He wants to plea bargain The assistant DA sees this case as a stepping stone to public office, and wants to try it. They invite the public defender in, and the rest of the film is flashbacks, as the three (and later a shrink) take turns explaining what really happened.

Lobato married a rich airplane company owner, but almost immediately begins an affair. At one point, she decides to do in her husband, fails, and goes to the young lover to break it off. Before the entire story is out, we end up with a homosexual theme, and a surprise ending. Lobato shows breasts and buns in a lengthy bath scene, and breasts in two sex scenes with her young lover, one in bed, and the other an obvious homage to the From Here to Eternity sex in the surf scene, which goes on forever.

IMDB barely mentions this film, and has no score and no reviews. The film is in B & W, and has pace and dialogue more like late 50's than 1965, but is well photographed, and Lobato is worth seeing. I don't even know what genre to place this in. It is dated, but held my interest, and the surprise ending surprised me, but was justifiable. I suppose this is a C. The second feature on this DVD Day of the Nightmare) isn't nearly as interesting, and has breast exposure from several unknowns, which I will not bother capping. The DVD, as usual, contains shorts, trailers, and exploitation art.

Movies:

Candy Stripe Nurses (1974)

By the time Roger Corman got to his fifth and final "Nurse" movie, he had made a major advancement in the genre. The DVD box summarizes this triumphant achievement.

"Along the way, I decided that focusing on three girls, instead of the earlier films' four, made for a better story."

EUREKA!

When future film historians point to the key advances in cinema, they will have to cite the following as the Big Seven:

• Muybridge demonstrates the first projected motion picture
• Edison debuts his Vitascope
• Sound added
• Color added
• Widescreen techniques perfected
• Deep focus perfected
• Corman perfects the nurse formula

Like just about every Roger Corman movie, or so it seems, Candy Stripe Nurses features the immortal Dick Miller in a small speaking role. Usually a sleazebag salesman, a lazy cop, or some other obnoxious guy, Miller had about four lines in this film, in the much sought-after role of "spectator" at a basketball game. He delivered highly nuanced lines like "you suck, Gallagher" with great relish, at least until Gallagher's girlfriend dumped popcorn on Miller's head.

• Candice Rialson (1, 2)

• Robin Mattson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

• Maria Rojo (1, 2)

• Kimberly Hyde

• Elana Casey

Other crap:

• Kentucky Dairy Queen accepts $200 bill with Dubya's picture on it
• Man with multiple personality disorder sues himself. Weekly World News, of course.
• all of this season's Weekend Updates, including summaries and actual full-length 10 minute videos, assuming you have broadband
• new Frankenstein movie to star Chris Walken and Marilyn Manson?
• I didn't make this up. It is not a satire site. It's The Dan Quayle Center - "America's only vice-presidential museum".
• George Miller, David Letterman's most frequent guest, dies at 61   Picture   Story
• "when given the opportunity for double trouble, ...  it's not all roses and candy when the job is done. Who can look another man in the eyes after they've had sack-on-sack contact?!.... Well not any more! The folks here at Slap-N-Sacks^TM have designed a product that is going to not only eliminate the embarrassment of sack-on-sack contact, but cut down on dieses and increase fashion and desirability... All at the same time"
• Which city is the best to live in? Check out the International Quality of Life survey. Baghdad placed 213th out of 215 surveyed. And I think it will probably go down quite a bit in the next month. Zurich placed first, Vienna and Vancouver tied for second. San Francisco placed highest of American cities, at 20th.
  • Actually, I lived in Vienna for almost two years, and didn't like it that much. Once you leave the old walled city, it's quite grey and industrial. (The drive from the city to the airport is one of the ugliest vistas on earth.) Of the places that I lived or worked for a long period, I liked Oslo, London, Santiago, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Sydney much better than Vienna, although Vienna is very impressive in certain ways. In fact, when I lived in Vienna, I spent as much time as possible in nearby Budapest, which I liked better, even though it was far less sophisticated. Of all the places where I stayed for a month or more, the only one where I really thought about re-settling was Perth, in Western Australia, although I was prepared to stay enthusiastically in Oslo or Copenhagen forever, if the opportunity had been right, because the Scandinavians are my kind of people, and I felt like I belonged there.
  • I agree with the survey's contention that Vancouver is a great place. Vancouver has the cleanliness and friendliness and natural beauty and outdoor life, but I think I'd rather be in Montreal, which is grittier, sleazier, and more hostile, but also much more interesting and fun. Depends on what you want out of life. Vancouver to raise a family, Montreal to raise hell.
  • Of the others in the Top Five, I've been in Zurich and Auckland only for a night at a time, so I can't comment on anything but the airports and a couple hotels.

What're the odds?

It's back to 1973 with the old time machine and a visit with Pam Grier in "Coffy". Pam plays Coffy a nurse by day and avenging angel by night. Sexy as always this lady gives us an assortment of cleavage, buns and bare breasts.

Not a great movie, but as long as a movie has Pam, it can't be all bad.

• Pam Grier (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

Dann adds...

Amazon soldiers must defend a city from an evil king with magic powers. Yeah, it's as lame and poorly acted as it sounds, but with Roger Corman as the associate producer, there's one other element you know you'll find: nudity.