Something Different

Something Different (O něčem jiném). Věra Chytilová, 1963.

😸

Edition screened: Included along with A Bagful of Fleas on Second Run DVD #106 Two Films by Věra Chytilová, released 2016. Czech language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 81 minutes.

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

A Sweet Sickness

A Sweet Sickness. Jon Martin, 1968.

😸

Edition screened: Included on the Something Weird DVD David F. Friedman Triple Feature, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 67 minutes.

Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film. 2.5/5❤

The David F. Friedman Triple Feature also includes A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine (1966) and The Brick Dollhouse (1967). 

Throat: A Cautionary Tale

Throat: A Cautionary Tale. Paul Thomas, 2009.

😸

Edition screened: Vivid DVD, released 2009. English language. Runtime approximately 123 minutes.

Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film. 5/5❤

Until the End of the World

Until the End of the World. (Bis ans Ende der Welt). Wim Wenders, 1991.

😸

Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #1007, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 287 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

RoboCop pinball machine around the 26:00 mark.

Where the Green Ants Dream

Where the Green Ants Dream (Wo die grünen Ameisen träumen). Werner Herzog, 1984.

😸

Edition screened: Included in Shout! Factory Blu-ray box set Herzog: The Collection, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 105 minutes.

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

Wrong Move

Wrong Move (Falsche Bewegung). Wim Wenders, 1975.

😸

Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #815, included in The Road Trilogy box set #813 released 2016. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 104 minutes.

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

13 Assassins

13 Assassins (Jûsan-nin no shikaku). Takashi Miike, 2010.

😿 😿

Edition screened: Artificial Eye Blu-ray, released 2013. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 126 minutes.

Summary: Moderate depictions of violence to animals, some CG.

Details:

1) Depiction of a large insect being eaten alive, 58:45-58:52.

2) A dead rabbit is produced from forest underbrush 59:31-59:42, after a depiction of it being hit with a thrown weapon.

3) As part of an elaborate battle scene, raging bulls are sent down a street with flaming packs tied to their backs, 1:18:53-1:19:19.

Adventures of Zatoichi

Adventures of Zatoichi (Zatōichi sekisho-yaburi). Kimiyoshi Yasuda, 1964.

😸

Edition screened: In Criterion Blu-ray box set #679 Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman, released 2013. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 86 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence toward animals.

The ninth film in the Zatoichi series.

The Altar of Lust/Angel on Fire

The Altar of Lust/Angel on Fire (Angel Number 9). Roberta Findlay, 1971-1974.

😸

Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome DVD #032 Peekarama: The Altar of Lust/Angel on Fire, released 2014. English language. Cumulative runtime approximately 155 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals in either feature.

• The Altar of Lust. Roberta Findlay, 1971, approximately 80 minutes. 2.5/5❤

• Angel on Fire (Angel Number 9). Roberta Findlay, 1974, approximately 75 minutes. 2/5❤

An American in Paris

An American in Paris. Vincente Minnelli, 1951.

😸

Edition screened: MGM/UA DVD, released 2000. English language. Runtime approximately 114 minutes.

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

Anatomy of a Psycho

Anatomy of a Psycho. Boris Petroff (as Brooks L. Peters), 1960.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Vinegar Syndrome “Drive-In Collection” DVD #005, released 2013, along with The Lonely Sex. English language. Runtime approximately 80 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Bad Girl

Bad Girl. Frank Borzage, 1931.

😸

Edition screened: Kino Lorber Blu-ray, released 2016. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.

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

Great shots of Coney Island at night.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Werner Herzog, 2010.

😿

Edition screened: First Look Blu-ray, released 2010. English language. Runtime approximately 121 minutes.

Summary: Armadillo killed on highway.

Details: A run-over armadillo lies on the road, barely moving, 37:14-37:25.

A Bagful of Fleas

A Bagful of Fleas (Pytel Blech). Věra Chytilová, 1962.

😿

Edition screened: Included along with Something Different on Second Run DVD #106 Two Films by Věra Chytilová, released 2016. Czech language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 43 minutes.

Summary: Childish shenanigans with dead mice.

Details: Two screaming giggly girls twirl a few dead mice around to terrorize the other screaming giggly girls, 31:52-32:52.

The Baker’s Wife

The Baker’s Wife (La femme du boulanger). Marcel Pagnol, 1938.

😸

Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #986, released 2019. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 134 minutes.

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

Ballad of the Little Soldier

Ballad of the Little Soldier (Ballade vom kleinen Soldaten). Werner Herzog, 1984.

😿 😿 😿

Edition screened: Included in Shout! Factory Blu-ray box set Herzog: The Collection, released 2014. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 46 minutes.

Summary: Mutilation of living tortoises. 

Details: Living tortoises are hacked into pieces with machetes as food prep, 4:04-4:16. There are no detail images but the squirming and mutilation are adequately clear. 

The Beloved

The Beloved (L’aimée). Arnaud Desplechin, 2007.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Criterion Blu-ray #492 A Christmas Tale, released 2009. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 70 minutes.

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

Best Friends

Best Friends. Noel Nosseck, 1975.

😸

Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #323, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 83 minutes.

Summary: There are two knuckle-headed animal encounters in the film. The first is a scene in which the two buddies, somewhat drunk, are shooting at a lizard with a pistol. They cannot hit it, and the assembled cuts indicate that there isn’t really a lizard target during filming. The second is a close call with a rattle snake. A man lobs a few small rocks at the snake from a distance and the snake just leaves. As such there were no actual depictions of harm to either of these animals, just accurate depictions of stupid straight white men.

Blazing Saddles

Blazing Saddles. Mel Brooks, 1974.

😿

Edition screened: Warner Blu-ray, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.

Summary: Endangerment of horses for comedic effect.

Details:

1) Like many westerns, there are numerous scenes of horses tripping and falling but no indication that they are seriously injured.

2) A man punches a horse in the jaw and the horse tumbles to the ground as a human would, 46:32-46:37.

Blood Games

Blood Games. Tanya Rosenberg, 1990.

😸

Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #320, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.

Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film.

The Brick Dollhouse

The Brick Dollhouse. David F. Friedman (as Tony Martinez), 1967.

😸

Edition screened: Included on the Something Weird DVD David F. Friedman Triple Feature, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 55 minutes.

Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film. 3/5❤

The David F. Friedman Triple Feature also includes A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine (1966) and A Sweet Sickness (1968). 

The Bunny Game

The Bunny Game. Adam Rehmeier, 2011.

😸

Edition screened: Autonomy Blu-ray, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 76 minutes.

Summary: No animals in the film, barring a breif image of ants crawling on what might be a decaying grasshopper.

Cabin Boy

Cabin Boy. Adam Resnick, 1994.

😿

Edition screened: Kino Lorber Blu-ray, released 2018. English language. Runtime approximately 80 minutes.

Summary: Scattered through the film are typical and very brief images of fish being cut up.

Caddyshack

Caddyshack. Harold Ramis, 1980.

😸

Edition screened: Warner Blu-ray, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 98 minutes.

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

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Werner Herzog, 2011.

😸

Edition screened: IFC Blu-ray, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.

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

The IFC release also included Herzog’s musical indulgence, Ode to the Dawn of Man.

Cold War

Cold War (Zimna wojna). Pawel Pawlikowski, 2018.

😸

Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #1005, released 2019. Polish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 88 minutes.

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

The Dallas Connection

The Dallas Connection. Christian Drew Sidaris, 1994.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Mill Creek 3-DVD set Girls, Guns and G-Strings: The Andy Sidaris Collection, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 94 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Day of the Warrior

Day of the Warrior. Andy Sidaris, 1996.

😿 

Edition screened: Included on Mill Creek 3-DVD set Girls, Guns and G-Strings: The Andy Sidaris Collection, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

Summary: Absurd mechanical owl shot.

Details: A mechanical owl is blasted to pieces at close range at 37:17. Although done with a straight face, this is such a ridiculous mechanical toy that I rewound the “film” to make sure there hadn’t been a setup about a fake owl to deter snakes, or maybe somebody said, “Hey, look at this owl I got 75%-0ff at Home Depot after Halloween.” 

This is a terrible movie even graded on the Andy Sidaris curve.

Deadline

Deadline. Mario Azzopardi, 1980.

😸

Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #311, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.

Summary: Maybe ten minutes in the film, a man kicks at a goat but doesn’t make contact or torment the animal. No big deal.

Deadly Manor

Deadly Manor. José Ramón Larraz, 1990.

😸

Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 86 minutes.

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

Disco Lady

Disco Lady. Bob Chinn, 1978.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #304, Hard Soap, Hard Soap/Disco Lady, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 59 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals. 2/5❤

I was pleasantly surprised that they shaved some things, I guess to keep this just under 60 minutes.

Do Or Die

Do Or Die. Andy Sidaris, 1991.

😿 😿

Edition screened: Included on Mill Creek 3-DVD set Girls, Guns and G-Strings: The Andy Sidaris Collection, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.

Summary: Depicted killing of a cat and a duck.

Details:

1) A nice brown kitty is given a piece of poisoned fish from the dining table and is shown dead on the floor seconds later, 44:18-44:24.

2) An idiot is supposed to be shooting at assassins on jet skis and manages to shoot a duck flying overhead, which plummets into the water, 1:12:46.

Dolly Dearest

Dolly Dearest. Maria Lease, 1991.

😸

Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray #315, released 0220. English language. Runtime approximately 94 minutes.

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

Early Hou Hsiao-Hsien: Three Films 1980-1983

Early Hou Hsiao-Hsien: Three Films 1980-1983.

😿😿😿

Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray set #188-190, released 2018. Mandarin language with English subtitles. Cumulative runtime of three feature films approximately 280 minutes.

Summary: Two of the three films, The Green Grass of Home and The Boys from Fengkuei, contain scenes of unnecessary animal cruelty, presented as humorous or portraying some genial slice of life. 

The Eureka! set contains the three feature films plus a video essay about each. Click on individual titles for details.

Cute Girl (1980)

The Green, Green Grass of Home (1982)

The Boys from Fengkuei (1983)

Edge of the Axe

Edge of the Axe. José Ramón Larraz (as Joseph Braunstein), 1988.

😿😿😿

Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2020. Original English or original Spanish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 91 minutes.

Summary: Murder of animals.

Details:

1) A tame pig is grabbed violently and we hear her squeal, 06:14.

2) The pig’s severed head is found on the woman’s bed, 7:50-7:54.

3) A small dog is found murdered, 51:14-51:16.

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. James Signorelli, 1988.

😿

Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2020. English language. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

Summary: Animals involved in conjuring.

Details:

1) Earthworms in a bowl are part of a recipe and have gloopy ingredients dumped on top of them, 57:46-57:56.

2) Depiction of a conjured snake bursting into flames, 1:05:18.

A 1973 Bally Circus, in the bowling alley at 18:12.

Enemy Gold

Enemy Gold. Christian Drew Sidaris, 1993.

😸

Edition screened: Included on Mill Creek 3-DVD set Girls, Guns and G-Strings: The Andy Sidaris Collection, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 92 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.

Epidemic [6]

Epidemic (Epidemic [6]). Lars von Trier, 1987.

😿

Edition screened: Home Vision DVD, released 2004. English and Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 106 minutes.

Summary: Dead rats.

Details: Seven dead rats on a tray, 20:55-21:00. Aside from the fact that the idea evens exists, there is nothing additionally gross or gratuitous about the presentation. 

A fabulous movie.

Eros

Eros. Wong Kar-Wai, Steven Soderbergh, and Michelangelo Antonioni, 2004.

😸

Edition screened: Warner DVD, released 2006. English, Cantonese, and Italian with English subtitles. Cumulative runtime approximately 99 minutes.

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

Eros is an anthology of three short films by Antonioni and two directors whom he influenced: 

The Hand (Wong Kar-Wai, approximately 43 minutes)

Equilibrium (Steven Soderbergh, approximately 28 minutes)

The Dangerous Thread of Things (Michelangelo Antonioni, approximately 29 minutes)

All of these films are enjoyable and good, although I am in a minority that does not delight in ridiculing late Antonioni. I thought The Dangerous Thread of Things was cool and sexy. 

Also included is Antonioni’s autobiographical encounter with a sculpture by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, Michelangelo Eye to Eye (2004, approximately 19 minutes).

Even Dwarfs Started Small

Even Dwarfs Started Small (Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen). Werner Herzog, 1970.

😿 😿 😿 😿

Edition screened: Included in Shout! Factory Blu-ray box set Herzog: The Collection, released 2014. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.

Summary: Relentless mistreatment and killing of animals.

Details:

1) A dead white hen lies in the dirt and is pecked at by another hen, 3:00-3:27. We later see a motorcycle run through the flock of chickens, probably the cause of this hen’s recent death.

2) A chicken dashes around with a dead mouse, 34:39-36:00.

3) The dead hen lying in the dirt, again, 39:35-39:40.

4) Mother and baby pigs tormented with a stick, 40:07-40:27.

5) It is announced that the pig has been killed. Cut to the mother pig lying on her side barely able to move at 44:25. We watch her die as the babies continue to try to suckle.

6) The baby pigs are tormented and handled roughly for comedic effect, 46:19-47:42.

7) Return to hen pecking the dead hen, this time the dead hen is much more mutilated and distorted, 1:03:15-1:03:30.

8) Two blind dwarfs discover the dead mother pig and explore her body, 1:04:45-1:05:34. Nothing additionally offensive here, just weird.

9) Another clip of the dead pig, 1:07:54-1:08:23.

10) A dead chicken is set on fire and carried on a stick, 1:19:04-1:19:09, as part of the general carnage that comprises the final 30 minutes of so of the film.

11) Two roosters are made to fight to the death. We see the entire event including the killing, 1:21:09-1:23:08. After this, cut immediately to . . .

12) A monkey we saw previously leaping around in a cage, now is tied to a wooden cross and carried at the front of a mock religious procession. The monkey is in great distress and trying to free himself, through 1:24:18.

13) Chickens are thrown aggressively and handled very roughly, obviously causing injury and pain, 1:24:37-1:27:03. Less than a 30 second break before . . .

14) A chicken is swung carelessly by her feet during other action, as though in preparation to be thrown, then finally hurled, 1:27:30-1:28:54.

15) The movie ends with a very long scene of a camel kneeling in the dirt, frequently starting either to stand or lie down completely, but never doing so. The particularly idiotic dwarf who is the star of the film stands and laughs stupidly at the camel throughout. Although there is no abuse depicted, the scene goes on for so long and the psychological distress is so immense that a real feeling of horror and dread is created, for, around, and about the poor camel. She seems to be next in line for abuse and murder.

Expectations/Confessions

Expectations/Confessions. Anthony Spinelli, 1977.

😸

Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome DVD #003 Peekarama: Expectations/Confessions, released 2013. English language. Cumulative runtime approximately 138 minutes.

Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals in either feature.

• Expectations. Anthony Spinelli as Arvid Beller,  1977, approximately 70 minutes.  4/5❤

• Confessions. Anthony Spinelli as Leonard Burke, 1977, approximately 68 minutes.  4/5❤