Cult Classic Trailer: Q: The Winged Serpent

There can never be enough love in this world for an underrated filmmaker like Larry Cohen, so excuse me while I briefly plug this release of his 1982 monster flick Q the Winged Serpent. Modern viewers may recognise his name on the screenwriting credits of films like Phone Booth and Cellular, but a few decades earlier, when Cohen was in his prime, he was cranking out one terrific B-movie after another: everything from gritty blaxploitationers (Black Caesar, Hell Up in Harlem) to horror gems (It's Alive, God Told Me To) to offbeat thrillers (Perfect Strangers, Special Effects).

The low budgets of his films didn't always meet his ambitions, but this rarely mattered when he could pull off genre pics with the sort of scrappy charm, economy and personality that's sorely missing from contemporary filmmaking. A fan favourite, Q, with its herky-jerky Harryhausen-style creature effects, is a perfect example of Cohen's work. Hats off again to Vendetta Films for putting it out on DVD and Blu-ray! Check out the trailer below  (taken from an old Roadshow VHS tape):

Martin Scorsese: Genre-Hopper

I've never really thought of Martin Scorsese as a genre-hopper before, even though it's pretty clear he's had a fairly varied career, working in different genres. Here's a neat infographic from Fast Company that visually summarises his body of work by genre and gives credence to the notion that he's often attempted other things beyond the crime/gangster movies that he's more well-known for:

Also be sure to check out the full interview with Scorsese - it's an excellent read which goes into his relationship with Hollywood and how he's manage to stay afloat in the "system" after all these years.  His new 3D kids film Hugo, out here on Jan 12, is currently garnering really good press, probably some of his best in recent years.