Honest and hard-working Jess Tyler (Stacy Keach) arrives home one blistering afternoon to find a pouty sexpot (Pia Zadora) sitting on the front porch of his modest desert shack. “Something you want?” he asks.

“How can I tell, till I know what you got?”

And we’re off and running on the sexed-up ride that is Butterfly (1983) the neo-noir melodrama based on the James M. Cain novel. Read the complete review

Cinema Du Dramatique, review, site updates

Elizabeth Taylor… what more can really be said? Here are a few clips from our favorite La Liz extravaganzas, Butterfield 8 (1960), The V.I.P.s (1963) and The Sandpiper (1965).

Bad Girls, Birthday, Cinema Du Dramatique, camp, trailer

Part South of the border travelogue and part overheated melodrama, Of Love and Desire (1963) is a sherbet colored confection that will leave any bad movie aficionado salivating like a kid in a candy store. Read Article

Cinema Du Dramatique

Any film that takes place behind the walls of a psychiatric hospital is usually a prime candidate for Cool Cinema Trash status. Movies like Shock Corridor and The Caretakers (both from 1963) as well as the Patty Duke loony bin sequence from Valley of the Dolls (1968) are always good for a laugh. But none can quite compare to The Cobweb (1955) a cuckoo classic in which the doctors and patients go bananas over a set of library drapes. Yes, you read correctly… a set of drapes. Read Article

Cinema Du Dramatique

When the sci-fi epic Battlefield Earth (2000) premiered, John Travolta’s wife went on her own publicity blitz to try and create positive buzz. While it was impossible for her to assert that the film was anything but god-awful, she still suggested that it could be viewed as a success. For years Travolta had dreamed of bringing the L. Ron Hubbard novel to the big screen. Using his box-office clout, Travolta was finally able to get the picture made and share his passion with the rest of the world. It’s too bad his passion turned out to be a film that would’ve even embarrassed Ed Wood. In the same vein, there are some who believe that the film version of The Fountainhead (1949) is successful simply because it brings Ayn Rand’s extreme philosophies to a wider audience. Read Article

Cinema Du Dramatique

Movies that prominently feature fashion as part of their plots are prime candidates for Cool Cinema Trash status. The Diana Ross melodrama Mahogany (1975) is a perfect example. It’s the rags to riches tale of a girl who works her way out of the ghetto and into the international spotlight as a famous fashion model and designer. Read Article

Cinema Du Dramatique

With a Hollywood resume that consisted mainly of westerns and action pictures, writer/producer/director Delmer Daves made quite a career departure in the early sixties when he crafted a series of soapy melodramas for Warner Brothers, all of which featured pretty boy heartthrob Troy Donahue. Susan Slade (1961) is a glossy cautionary tale (of sorts) about the dangers of pre-marital sex and the societal stigma of unwed mothers. Read Article

Cinema Du Dramatique