Trafic

Trafic. Jacques Tati, 1971.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #439, included in Criterion’s 7-Blu-ray set The Complete Jacques Tati (#729), released 2014. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Trainspotting

Trainspotting. Danny Boyle, 1996.

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Edition screened: Lionsgate MiraMax Blu-ray, released 2011. Scots English. Runtime approximately 94 minutes.

Summary: Non-lethal shooting of a dog.

Details: A bulldog is sighted through the scope of an air rifle at 13:30 and shot in the rump at 13:40. The dog is depicted as riled to anger rather than injured.

Transformers

Transformers. Michael Bay, 2007.

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Edition screened: Paramount Blu-ray, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 143 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Transporter 2

Transporter 2. Louis Leterrier, 2005.

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Edition screened: 20th Century Fox Blu-ray, released 2006. English language. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Transsiberian

Transsiberian. Brad Anderson, 2008.

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Edition screened: First Look DVD, released 2008. English language. Runtime approximately 111 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Trashy Lady

Trashy Lady. Steve Scott, 1985.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #144, released 2016. English language. Runtime approximately 85 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals. 4/5❤

Trashy Lady is superior to most films of this sort in most ways. The Vinegar Syndrome release also includes Steve Scott’s early film Coming West (1971, approximately 53 minutes), which is watchable and somewhat charming for its era.

Treibjagd in der Südsee

Treibjagd in der Südsee (Fishing Hunt in the South Sea). Werner Buhre, 1940.

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Edition screened: Included on Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #61, Tabu, released 2013. Silent with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 12 minutes.

Summary: Hunting fish with spears.

Details: Men spear fish with long tridents, 0:10:40 through conclusion of the film.

Most of the film shows the fascinating, albeit staged, initial stages of a fish hunt in which women and children beat the water to drive fish in a particular direction, and then use nets to keep them from returning. This cohesive sequence is a mostly-unused block of film made for Murnau’s Tabu, and appears in greatly shortened form at the beginning of that feature title.

The Trip to Italy

The Trip to Italy. Michael Winterbottom, 2014.

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Edition screened: IFC DVD, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 115 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

What a disappointment after the entertaining first film The Trip (2011). As with the second Austin Powers film, I was unsure to what degree recycling the exact same material was intended to be a hilarious part of the overall hilarity. The Trip was a well-written and funny film that also appealed to the “Oh, the scenery” crowd (say it like an old lady). Trip to Italy leaves that old lady sitting all alone. In Italy. Being provoked by that worthless kid playing the worthless character of Steve Coogan’s worthless son.

The Trip

The Trip. Michael Winterbottom, 2011.

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Edition screened: IFC DVD, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 112 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Tristana

Tristana. Luis Buñuel, 1970.

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Edition screened: Cohen Blu-ray, released 2013. Spanish language with English subtitles and original French and English dubs. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals. 

Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder. Ben Stiller, 2008.

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Edition screened: DreamWorks Blu-ray, released 2008. English language. Runtime approximately 120 minutes.

Summary: Depicted killing of a panda for comedic effect.

Details: Ben Stiller thinks he is being attacked by a blood-thirsty jungle beast, 58:05, and counter-attacks with a knife. After much stabbing and thrashing he sees that he has killed a harmless panda, 58:33. We later see Stiller wearing part of the panda carcass as psycho warfare costuming.

Harvey Keitel commented on the amount of bad language while we were watching this.

Tropical Malady

Tropical Malady (Sud Pralad). Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004.

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Edition screened: Second Run DVD #34, released 2008. Thai language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 114 minutes.

Summary: Animals die in naturalistic contexts.

Details:

1) A domestic dog is found on the road, 20:25-20:54. He is taken to a veterinary hospital and is ok. No depiction of blood or injury.

2) A partially eaten cow carcass is found, 1:26:40-1:27:45.

3) A fish is caught by hand and killed, 1:31:12-1:31:14, then cooked and eaten.

The Second Run DVD also contains the short film Thirdworld (1997).

Le Trou

Le Trou (The Hole/The Night Watch). Jacques Becker, 1960.

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Edition screened: Criterion DVD #129, released 2001. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 131 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

Most prison break films are common and interchangeable, but not Le Trou. The veil of cordial behavior between inmates and the false calm wrapped over the reality of prison life elicits far more tension that the usual ho-hum tough guy posturing.

Real time segments of pounding through concrete with makeshift tools are mesmerizing, and the non-professional actors perform fabulously.

Trouble in Paradise

Trouble in Paradise. Ernst Lubitsch, 1932.

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Edition screened: Criterion DVD #170, released 2003. English language. Runtime approximately 83 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Twin Peaks (Television Series)

Twin Peaks (Television series). David Lynch, 1990-1992.

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Edition screened: Included in Paramount 10-Blu-ray box set Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery, released 2014. English language. Runtime of Season 1 approximately 336 minutes; Runtime of Season 2 approximately 1081 minutes.

Summary: Killing of a pet myna bird. 

Details:

1) We hear gunshot and follow the cast into the room containing the caged myna bird. Blood and feathers are splattered across the table and in the cage, 31:12-31:40 of Episode 6, Season 1.

2) Substantial taxidermy throughout the show, but no particular glorification of the killings or displays.

Given: Even people who like flounder feel that the last half of Season 2 flounders miserably.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. David Lynch, 1992.

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Edition screened: Included in Paramount 10-Blu-ray box set Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 135 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Twister

Twister. Jan De Bont, 1996.

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Edition screened: Warner Blu-ray, released 2008. English language. Runtime approximately 113 minutes.

Summary: Animals endangered in tornadoes. 

Cows are carried far above a highway by high winds 42:20-42:36. This is played for a cheap laugh, but we don’t see the cows land in a gruesome heap because that might not be as hysterically funny.

There are other scenes of horses and dogs being endangered along with people, but we don’t see these animals killed or hurt.

Two for the Road

Two for the Road. Stanley Donen, 1967.

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Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #107, released 2015. English language. Runtime approximately 111 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

If you think It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World could be made even better by the inclusion of a poignant love interest, I would recommend Two for the Road. I strongly disliked this movie for numerous reasons including Albert Finney’s monotonously caustic and inappropriate delivery and the heavy-handed use of automobiles to organize flashbacks. 

Audrey Hepburn is a whole thing, isn’t she? I loved watching her as a child and I find it hard to believe that any reasonably normal child wouldn’t. But it’s a bit like childhood adoration of Scooby-Doo. At some point you either do or do not step back, and that potential stepping back might lead to a substantial change in assessment, or in the absence of such an assessment, to a life happily spent as a barrel-shaped old person waddling along in a Scooby-Doo sweatshirt.

Two Lovers

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Two Lovers. James Gray, 2008.

Edition screened: Magnolia DVD, released 2009. English language. Runtime approximately 110 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Two Thousand Maniacs!

Two Thousand Maniacs! Herschell Gordon Lewis, 1964.

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Edition screened: Blu-ray disc included in Arrow box set The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast, released 2016. English language. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.

Summary: Implication of a strangled cat.

Details: At 3:38 (during the opening credits) a boy puts a noose around the neck of a black cat. The cat is out of frame as we hear a howl, then see the empty noose through 4:00.

This Blu-ray in the set also includes Lewis’s Moonshine Mountain, a must see.

Waiting for Guffman

Waiting for Guffman. Christopher Guest, 1996.

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Edition screened: Warner DVD, released 2001. English language. Runtime approximately 84 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Storefront Theatre Collection Volume 1: All Night at the PO-NO

Storefront Theatre Collection Volume 1: All Night at the PO-NO. Various directors, 1970-1973.

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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome 3-DVD box set #116, released 2016. English language. Collective runtime approximately 742 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals in any of the films.

This collection includes 12 ‘one-day wonder’ features plus two shorts, all shot around Los Angeles in the early 70s. Complete viewing simulates a night (12 hours) at one of LA’s storefront theaters, the PO-NO:

“Girl Acrobatics” (director unknown, approx. 5 minutes).

An embarrassingly poor novelty film of homemade quality and no interest other than to document its own existence. 0/5❤

Homer, the Late Comer (Ian De Praved, approx. 57 minutes).

A vaguely entertaining comedy about the fantasies of a 50-year-old film editor who still lives with his mother. 1/5❤

Erotic Point of View (Peter Small, approx. 60 minutes).

The beginning of the film introduces our main female character who is so — atypical seems an accurate word — that I needed to stop and review to make sure I was understanding correctly. Diverse scenes are presented in unusual contexts, including an uncomfortable scene that successfully conveys abuse through non-consent. A unique and somewhat fascinating film. 3/5❤

Porno Mondo (Federico Schwartz, approx. 60 minutes).

A pseudo-documentary about the adult film industry, much better than expected. Good acting, well written, sexy, and re-watchable. 4/5❤

Sex Before Marriage (director unknown, approx. 61 minutes). 

The detours and delays of a young man trying to get to his wedding. Each scene contains two sentences of plot dialogue repeated 40 times. The male lead tries his best to make the film work, considering the script written on a gum wrapper and a very unattractive cast. 1/5❤

“Orgy in the Woods” (director unknown, approx. 18 minutes)

A poor amateur work. 0/5❤

The Playboys (Swinging Playboys) (Jimmy DeKnight, approx. 54 minutes)

Entertaining in an old-fashioned way, with a silly sit-com plot of one man trying to keep three girls occupied in three different rooms. This slightly naughty version of a story you’ve seen many times before begs the question, What would Greg Brady Do? 2/5❤

Suckula (Anthony Spinelli [as Jack Armstrong], approx. 58 minutes)

I enjoyed this very much despite the so-so comedic newscaster who anchors the sequences. The acting is well above average, informed comedy by the Dracula character is entertaining rather than annoying, and some sequences are very sexy. The vignettes have stylistic variety and are accompanied by well-selected enjoyable music of the period rather than library sludge. Spinelli knows something about fine film. The presentation is smart and some scenes show influences of Robert Downey Sr. and Kenneth Anger. 5/5❤

The Big Snatch (Mark Hunter, approx. 60 minutes)

The beginning is surprisingly violent and includes a tutorial on shooting heroin. [They don’t make ’em like that anymore . . .] The middle is plodding and uninteresting, but the last two scenes are excellent and compensate for a lot. The hurried wrap-up returns to atypical violence, stupid and over quickly. 4/5❤

The Erotic Adventures of Hercules (Rik Tazíner, approx. 58 minutes)

Really ugly visual quality throughout. The endless first scene after the titles is truly repulsive, with long facial close-ups of a grotesque man eating like a pig, over-dubbed with loud grunts. Barbaric over-grunting, milquetoast narration, and dumb music compete in a jumbled mess throughout, making the audio as ugly as the video. 1/5❤

Shot on Location (Donn Greer [John Donne], approx. 61 minutes)

The intro and first scene are promising, but the script becomes overly devoted to an uninteresting plot. Too many cast members are distractingly unattractive. 2/5❤

The Touch (director unknown, approx. 62 minutes)

Same as Shot on Location: Excessive talk about a barely comprehensible plot and indiscriminate use of the Ugly Stick. These two films blur into a jumble of disinterest. 2/5❤

Carnal Go-Round (director unknown, approx. 63 minutes)

Valuable as a document of ambitious homemade film. The female lead is rehearsed and understands the story. The other characters seem to have been offered $20 each in the bread aisle of the A&P two minutes before shooting began at the director’s house a block away. A truly unique moment in film history decides upon a Coyote & Road Runner bedspread that happens to be on set as the film’s symbolic and artistic nucleus. 2/5❤

All-American Hustler (Huck Walker, approx. 65 minutes)

This is the other truly well-made film in the set. While Suckula might play best to an audience that knows a little about subcultural film, All-American Hustler passes as a main stream early 70s drama that just happens to have explicit content. Attention was paid to wardrobe and costuming, and characters have realistic relationships and motivations. The audio, muffled and difficult to understand a few places, is the only technical attribute that falls significantly short of 2nd-tier production from a real studio. 5/5❤

Ugetsu monogatari

Ugetsu monogatari. Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953.

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Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #36 in box set Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films 1951-1956, released 2013. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Umberto D.

Umberto D. Vittorio De Sica, 1952.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #201, released 2012. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.

Summary: Rough handling of dogs

Details: A scene at the city pound, 53:00-56:00, shows dogs being handled roughly but no harm is depicted. The scene also includes a crate of dogs being pushed into the gassing chamber.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les parapluies de Cherbourg). Jacques Demy, 1964.

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Edition screened: StudioCanal 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray, released 2014. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Studiocanal Blu-ray includes many interviews and special features, including Agnès Varda’s feature length documentary The World of Jacques Demy (1964).

Una sull’altra

Una sull’altra (Perversion Story/One on Top of the Other). Lucio Fulci, 1969.

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Edition screened: Severin DVD, released 2007. Original English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.

This Severin DVD does a good job of reconciling the various releases and edits of Una sull’altra, … made by an Italian director in San Francisco with actors speaking English for the most part despite some title cards and logos in French and German. This cut seems to be the French export version of the film with original English dialogue, and including some additional erotic footage not included in the 8-minutes-longer English export version. Una sull’altra is a stylish and surprisingly interesting thriller by one of the great giallo directors before he plunged into the visual gore that became definitive of the genre.

Uncle (Jireš)

Uncle (Strejda). Jaromil Jireš, 1959.

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Edition screened: Included on Criterion Blu-ray Valerie and Her Week of Wonders #761, released 2015. Czech language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 6 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Loong Boonmee raleuk chat). Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010.

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Edition screened: Strand Blu-Ray, released 2011. Thai language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 113 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Strand Blu-ray also includes Weerasethakul’s short film A Letter to Uncle Boonmee (2009).

Under the Skin

Under the Skin. Jonathan Glazer, 2014.

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Edition screened: Lionsgate Blu-ray, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 108 minutes.

Summary: Implied accidental drowning of a dog.

We see a family with a dog at the beach. We later see the dog struggling against the tide, and the woman swimming out to rescue him. Both the woman and the dog are gone.

Similar to the conclusion of Kieślowski’s Red, the dog is one victim in a larger tragedy. The canine actor portrays no bodily harm, but if the question is reduced to “Does the plot involve the dog’s death?”, the answer is Yes, and through negligence.

Unearthly Stranger

Unearthly Stranger. John Krish, 1964.

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Edition screened: Network Blu-rat, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 80 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Unfaithful Wife

The Unfaithful Wife (La Femme infidèle). Claude Chabrol, 1969.

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Edition screened: Pathfinder DVD, released 2003. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 94 minutes.

Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.

The Uninvited

The Uninvited. Lewis Allen, 1944.

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Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #677, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Bonus Points … A special point is made to show that the dog and cat introduced at the beginning of the film are happy and safe at the end.