Monday, July 8, 2013

MOVIE ADS: DOROTHY STRATTEN



I still remember hearing about Dorothy Stratten's murder on television. It was big news in southern California.

GALAXINA is Dorothy's most famous flick.

I've always had mixed feelings about this film.

GALAXINA is supposed to be a SCI-FI COMEDY. They got the SCI-FI part correct. Unfortunately, the comedy element is almost nonexistent.


Dorothy Stratten ( 1960 – 1980 ) in GALAXINA

I don't hate this movie, but I don't love it either... and that's the problem.

I feel bad, for having those feelings, because a lot of effort was put into this film.

I like the cast of GALAXINA. Plus, it's a good looking film. I think it was extremely creative to combine SCI-FI, cowboys, bikers, and alleged comedy together.

I also love the special effects, and Dorothy Stratten looks absolutely gorgeous.



FYI: Dorothy doesn't have any lines until the last third of the movie. Plus, she has NO nude scenes.

A legit VHS tape was released by UNIVERSAL. I think a few other companies may have released it also, but I'm not sure.

I don't know if it was ever released on LASERdisc, VIDEOdisc, or BETA.

Solo DVDs were released by RHINO, and also by BCI ECLIPSE.

It was also released on HD-DVD, but I do not remember by which company.



MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT released GALAXINA on BLU-RAY ( as part of a double feature ), and as part of a twelve movie pack called BIG SCREEN BOMBSHELLS. It's also available in one of their fifty movie packs ( SCI-FI INVASION ).

You can also watch it via VOD ( AMAZON ).



QUOTES from a Dorothy Stratten documentary.....

NARRATOR: "On December 30th 1988, forty-nine year old Peter Bogdanovich married twenty year old Louise Stratten at a Vancouver hotel. Her mother, Nelly Hoogstraten, heard the news only after the fact. She said: "Now I've lost two daughters".....

FYI: I do NOT know the name of the documentary. I saw it on YOUTUBE, and there were NO credits.

After watching this documentary, I don't see much of a difference between Peter Bogdanovich, Hugh Hefner, and Paul Snider ( aside from the obvious ).

Bogdanovich and Hefner seem so unbelievably narcissistic and selfish.

In my opinion, this documentary fails. It contains some ASS-KISSing moments ( primarily aimed at Bogdanovich's posterior ). At times, they actually try to portray him as some sort of victim.

I found the behavior of Mr. Bogdanovich, Mr. Hefner, and even Dorothy's sister, to be repulsive and nauseating....



Two movies were made about Dorothy Stratten.

A theatrical release - called STAR 80 - starring Mariel Hemingway and Eric Roberts.

STAR 80 was released on region one DVD by WARNER BROS ( out-of-print ).

There was also a made-for-television movie called DEATH OF A CENTERFOLD: THE DOROTHY STRATTEN STORY ( starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Bruce Weitz ).

DEATH OF A CENTERFOLD: THE DOROTHY STRATTEN STORY, was released as a MOD-DVD by WARNER BROS.



THEY ALL LAUGHED was her last movie. It was directed by Peter Bogdanovich.


Dorothy Stratten and John Ritter ( 1948 – 2003 ) in THEY ALL LAUGHED

I've seen THEY ALL LAUGHED, and I thought it was crap.

It was released on VHS and region one DVD, which is unfortunate for all of us.



AUTUMN BORN is supposed to be Dorothy Stratten's first movie.

It's a micro-budget exploitation flick, and like Ms. Stratten, it originates from Canada.

I have NO idea if this movie was ever released theatrically in it's native Canada, or anywhere else.

I don't know if AUTUMN BORN ever had a legit release on VHS. I used to own a bootleg tape. Unfortunately, it was extremely low quality, so it got tossed in the trash a long time ago.

You may be able to find a grey-market DVD at conventions.



Far too many folks in HollyWEIRD, continue to hire folks based on physical appearance, instead of acting ability.

You'll probably read comments by some of Ms. Stattens's obsessed stalkerish fans, praising her as a "gifted actress".

She was NOT a "gifted actress". In regards to acting skills, she was mediocre at best.

I hope that does NOT sound cruel, because that's NOT the way I meant it. It's just a reality-check.

No one will ever know what she was capable of.....

1 comment:

  1. Another thing wrong with GALAXINA is the film's length: 97 minutes I believe. I've always heard from industry people that a comedy film should NEVER be longer than about 85 minutes, tops. Any longer, and the "comedy" will sink like a dinosaur turd. A recent example can be found in most of the so-called "comedy" films of a guy named Christopher Mihm. Most of his dreadful and dull sci-fi "comedies" have run over 90 minutes with some over 100 minutes! Notice that only with his last couple of films has he wised up and cut them shorter than 80 minutes, which is almost right for no-budget no-talent films made in nowheresville. Lesson #1 for newbie filmmakers: don't fall in love with your footage! He (and his ego) learned the hard way.

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