Max Raab Movies

Despite the title and subject matter -- men wearing dresses and a truckload of makeup -- this is not another entry into the increasingly crowded drag oeuvre. Instead, it is Philadelphian Max L. Raab's loving documentary about the Mummer's Day Parade, a tradition as unique to Philadelphia as the cheese steak. Weaving together archival footage, numerous interviews, and personal insight, Raab's documentary looks at both the parade and those responsible for it: ordinary, working-class people who devote themselves year-round to organizing the parade. Raab speaks with marchers, their family members, musicians, and organizers, all of whom have interesting tales to tell about the Mummer tradition and the loving ordeal of putting on one of the year's most fabulous parties. First screened publicly at the 2001 Hamptons International Film Festival, Strut! won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature; it later enjoyed a similarly enthusiastic welcome in Raab's hometown at the 2002 Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

In this bizarre biker movie, set in 1919, a wandering group of bikers encounter two weird sisters from Nebraska. The siblings are hereditary witches, taught by their father. One of them uses her powers to kill many of the gang members. She spares the one she is attracted to. He begins staying on her farm while her sister and another biker take off to California. On video, it is also known as The Shrieking. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Stanley Kubrick dissects the nature of violence in this darkly ironic, near-future satire, adapted from Anthony Burgess's novel, complete with "Nadsat" slang. Classical music-loving proto-punk Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and his "Droogs" spend their nights getting high at the Korova Milkbar before embarking on "a little of the old ultraviolence," such as terrorizing a writer, Mr. Alexander (Patrick Magee), and gang raping his wife (who later dies as a result). After Alex is jailed for bludgeoning the Cat Lady (Miriam Karlin) to death with one of her phallic sculptures, Alex submits to the Ludovico behavior modification technique to earn his freedom; he's conditioned to abhor violence through watching gory movies, and even his adored Beethoven is turned against him. Returned to the world defenseless, Alex becomes the victim of his prior victims, with Mr. Alexander using Beethoven's Ninth to inflict the greatest pain of all. When society sees what the state has done to Alex, however, the politically expedient move is made. Casting a coldly pessimistic view on the then-future of the late '70s-early '80s, Kubrick and production designer John Barry created a world of high-tech cultural decay, mixing old details like bowler hats with bizarrely alienating "new" environments like the Milkbar. Alex's violence is horrific, yet it is an aesthetically calculated fact of his existence; his charisma makes the icily clinical Ludovico treatment seem more negatively abusive than positively therapeutic. Alex may be a sadist, but the state's autocratic control is another violent act, rather than a solution. Released in late 1971 (within weeks of Sam Peckinpah's brutally violent Straw Dogs), the film sparked considerable controversy in the U.S. with its X-rated violence; after copycat crimes in England, Kubrick withdrew the film from British distribution until after his death. Opinion was divided on the meaning of Kubrick's detached view of this shocking future, but, whether the discord drew the curious or Kubrick's scathing diagnosis spoke to the chaotic cultural moment, A Clockwork Orange became a hit. On the heels of New York Film Critics Circle awards as Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, Kubrick received Oscar nominations in all three categories. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Stacy Keach stars in this picture as Jake Horner, a college professor beset with a wide variety of emotional problems. He seeks out help in therapy, conducted by unorthodox psychologist Dr. D (James Earl Jones). The bizarre treatment leads Horner into the arms of Rennie Morgan (Dorothy Tristan), the wife of a fellow teacher; their affair ugly has disastrous consequences for all concerned. End of the Road was adapted from a novella by John Barth. The film was originally rated X by the MPAA in 1970, but then re-rated R (sans edits) for its 2012 DVD premiere. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A violent group of desperate fugitives take over a small Nebraska town, only to meet with an unexpected fate at the hands of two vengeful witches in a supernatural tale of might versus magic. World War I has thundered to a close, and a nefarious group of wandering bikers has chosen to make their home in a remote Nebraska town. At first convinced that they can overtake the town by intimidating the citizens into bending to their every whim, the malevolent bikers soon find that their brawn is no match for the wicked powers of two sisters who have made a devilish pact with a higher power. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi