HBO, Comedy, and...Troma Time!

If you like really bad movies with lots of trashy titles (or is that lots of trashy movies with really bad titles?), then this new batch of Amazon Prime arrivals is for you. I can't claim to be a big follower of Le Cinema du Lloyd Kaufman (a.k.a. Troma Entertainment), but I'll always appreciate his influential role in the vanishing art of low-budget exploitation cinema. How much less rich would the world be without movies like Demented Death Farm Massacre, Maniac Nurses Find Ecstasy, Blood Sisters of Lesbian Sin, and Croaked: Frog Monster from Hell?

Each of us must make peace with this question for ourselves, but if you're looking for a little something to cleanse the palate between big-budget summer gloss, then you won't do worse (or is that better?) than settling into the La-Z-Boy with a brewskie and/or barf bag and queuing up one or more of the below titles. Given the number of imported titles, along with the lack of such (cough) classics (cough) as Tromeo & Juliet, Class of Nuke 'em High, and Toxic Avenger, my guess is that many, if not all, of these were distributed by Troma as opposed to actually being produced by them. Which means they could be much better—or far, far worse—than even the usual Kaufman fare.

There are too many for me to link to each one individually, but if you click here you should find all 37 47 listed at Amazon, ready for you to pick and choose. Think of it as The Cinephile's Russian Roulette. Oh, and be sure to check out All the Love You Cannes, for a look at the maestro himself attempting to sell some of his more...toxic...wares on the French Riviera. (* = titles added 6/25)

Alien Blood (1999)
All the Love You Cannes (2002)
Angel Negro (2000)
Back Road Diner (1999)
Bacon Head (2001)
Bad Mouth (2011)
Banana Motherf*ck*r (2011)
The Battle of Love's Return (1971)
Bikini Swamp Girl Massacre (2014)
Blood Sisters of Lesbian Sin (1997)
Bloodspit (2008)
Combat Shock (1986)
Combat Shock: Director's Cut (1986)
Coons! Night of the Bandits of the Night (2008)
Croaked: Frog Monster from Hell (1981)
Curse of the Cannibal Confederates (1982)
Cybernator (1991)
Deadly Daphne's Revenge (1987)
Decampitated (1988)
Def by Temptation (1990)
Demented Death Farm Massacre (1971)
Doomsday County (2010)
Dr. Hackenstein (1989)
Dragon Fury (1995)
Father's Day (2011)
The First Turn On! (1983)*
Ghosts of the Heartland (2007)
Go to Hell (1999)
Hemo (2011)
Hitchhike (2013)
Invasion of the Space Preachers (1990)
Jefftowne (1998)
L.A. Maniac (2011)*
Lipstick (2015)
Maniac Nurses Find Ecstasy (1990)
Nightmare Weekend (1986)
Open 24/7 (2010)
Rockabilly Vampire (1996)
Space Zombie Bingo (1993)
Stuff Stephanie in the Incinerator (1990)*
Teen Ape vs. The Nazi Monster Holocaust (2013)*
Time Barbarians (1990)*
Toxic Crusaders: The Movie (1997)*
Video Vixens (1975)*
Viewer Discretion Advised (1998)*
Where Evil Lives (1991)*
Witchcraft 5: Dance with the Devil (1993)*

More HBO, More Comedy

Perhaps trying to make up for the loss of its Comedy Central shows earlier this month, Prime has imported a handful of comedy from HBO's standup glory days, in the form of the HBO Comedy Half-Hour. These 30-minute standup showcases from the mid-'90s feature Ray Romano, Margaret Cho, Bobcat Goldthwait, Eddie Griffin, Carlos Mencia, and Wendy Liebman. Not bad, but I'll still take Inside Amy Schumer and Broad City.

The real gold is 2013's Louis C.K.: Oh My God, representing a more contemporary comic take, and a brilliant one at that. This easily ranks as some of Louis' best, most provocative material. His "Of course, but maybe..." routine is one for the ages.

Meanwhile, Prime's trove of HBO films continues to expand, with titles both interesting and obscure filling out the back catalog:

Capturing Mary (2009)
Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2010)
The Gathering Storm (2002)
The Pentagon Wars (1998)
When Trumpets Fade (1998)

As usual with HBO movies not starring Al Pacino or Julianne Moore, I haven't heard of any of these—but hey, there's Albert Finney, Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith, Cary Elwes, and Kelsey Grammer, so how bad could they be? And I'll definitely take a look at the BBC import Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel, which stars a pre-Hollywood Chris O'Dowd (The IT Crowd) and features one of my favorite pet subjects.

Other PRIME ONLY Stuff

Are they still not Devo?

And then there are a number of miscellaneous additions, ranging from promising foreign comedies (Please, Please Me!) to obscure indies (The Smokers) to musical curiosities (Devo - Hardcore Devo Live! and TV's First Music Videos: The Snader Telescriptions).

Devo - Hardcore Devo Live! (2015)
Fear of Fanny (2006)
Full Count (2006)
Our City Dreams (2008)
Page Eight (2011)
Please, Please Me! (2009)
The Smokers (2000)
TV's First Music Videos: The Snader Telescriptions (2002)

Also of note are a few new PBS titles that straggled in in the wake of the recent contract negotiations that resulted in a slew of endangered shows returning to the Prime fold. Among the newbies:

Breathless: Season 1 (2014)
The Mind of a Chef: Season 3 (2014)
Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler (2014)
Vicious: Season 1 (2014)
The Worricker Trilogy: Season 1 (2011)

One Amazon Original and One Puzzling Return

And finally, season 1 of the Amazon original series, Catastrophe (2015)—created by Sharon Horgan (of the very funny Pulling) and Rob Delaney—premiered on the 19th, while the quirkily enjoyable (but terribly titled) Lucky Number Slevin (2006) returned after a puzzlingly brief 11-day absence. If you're into twisty, noirish thrillers with the feel (if not quite the heft) of The Usual Suspects, then this one's worth a look, despite starring (ugh) Josh Hartnett—who actually holds his own with some of the big boys, who include Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley.