A feature-length documentary focusing on the acclaimed work and eclectic career of maverick filmmaker Larry Cohen, writer-director of "Black Caesar," "It's Alive," "God Told Me To," "Q," "The Stuff," and many more.
Steve Mitchell Daniel McKeon Matt Verboys Cliff Stephenson James Frederick Davis David C. Fein Sean Hughes Catrine McGregor Olga Alexandra McQueen Mary Skrenes Taylor L. White Karl Zundel
Canada
Fantasia Film Festival
USA
Fantastic Fest
USA
USA
Canada
USA
Larry Cohen is the ultimate guerrilla filmmaker. Driving a cab on to and down a pedestrian filled sidewalk in New York City sans permits or safety measures is quite reckless but Cohen got away with a career full of these stunts. So the stories of stealing shots and scenes are both fascinating and inspiring while being incredibly cringe-inducing. I couldn't help but think of tragedies such as Sarah Jones's death on the set of Midnight Rider and the deaths of Vic Morrow and two child actors, Renee Shinn Chen and Myca Dinh Le on the set of The Twilight Zone. (Btw, Landis was interviewed for this doc).
I love Cohen and love that his films exist (even if I'm not…
Pretty unpolished, overlong, and remedial, but it doesn't really matter because Cohen is such a natural raconteur and pretty clearly also a sweet man, and there are clips from most of his best work.
I've seen some Larry Cohen films over the years. This documentary wraps up his whole career in a neat little bow. Most of it is interesting. Perhaps it's a bit too long and spends a little too much time at the end on movies he just wrote (not directed). Overall, recommended, but it was sad to see such a low turnout at the theater (about 5 people in a theater that seated hundreds).
This is the 271st ticket I've bought using Movie Pass.
Note: double feature with Q
Vegan alerts:
-Dead rat in pool
-Milk spilled
-Yogurt that eats people
Film #10 of 30 of Scavenger Hunt #49
It's a pretty standard documentary, but that's not a problem if the movie is about Larry Cohen and how he got his movies made and then Fred Williamson shows up to say "that's not how it happened" while smoking a cigar. Pretty freakin' fantastic and I could listen to Cohen talk for hours.
R.I.P. Larry Cohen
I don't know what blaxploitation means. Every movie is exploitation. So what? So what if a few black actors got a job for a change? Why was that bad? Why is it harmful?
- Larry Cohen
I decided to finish off the year with a tribute to the King! Because of the ISOD Challenge, I was introduced to Larry Cohen and became such an instant fan I then proceed to 100% his filmography. I even bought a cute little toy replica of The Stuff as a little Christmas treat.
I found out about this documentary after reading and listening to interviews of Larry Cohen. While he says the documentary didn't go as much into his younger life as they could,…
I've been trying (and failing) to get myself to watch a Cohen flick for the past few days, and I've come to accept that I'm probably just not going to be able to for a while. I still feel the need to write something, though. Losing Larry hurts, it really hurts in a way other industry losses haven't. I was lucky enough to meet him once, I shook his hand and told him how much his work meant to me. I wish I was able to tell him everything, how The Stuff taught me to take B-pictures as seriously as they deserve, how God Told Me To showed me how a good procedural can make even the craziest turns totally…
Nothing really new in the documentary format, it is a sequential history of Cohen's work, but the stories and Cohen himself are well worth the watch.
Your standard talking head/clip collection cinema doc that's elevated by the fact that Cohen (and his filmography) is just so goddamn fascinating. He's like the raspy, wise Jewish uncle you never had; a lo-fi bizarro world version of an auteurist Super Dave Osbourne.
Fred Williamson says Larry Cohen's full name every time he refers to him. (ex. "If Larry Cohen says that, that's because Larry Cohen wants you to think it was his idea. Larry Cohen never did that.")
The greatest daredevil Hollywood has ever seen.
-Michael Moriarty
Production wise it's put together like any other talking head doc. Various interviews about the subject matter interspersed with movie clips. Thing is though the subject matter is Larry Cohen and the film clips are from some of the greatest cult films in history.
You get to spend some time with Cohen, get great anecdotes from a multitude of people from collaborators, contemporaries, ex wives and everything in between. It's not put together in any creative way but it still creates special moments like having Martin Scorsese talk about how great a film Q: The Winged Serpent is.
'Nuff Said
Strong reminder of the size of Eric Roberts' mullet in The Ambulance (big enough to make Michelle wince in disgust), so now I wanna rewatch The Ambulance.
