For the shoddy sequel to last year's B2BB film series and conference, we dove deeper into the dumpster of the disreputable and the overlooked, securing some genre-twisting trophies for your pleasure. There are kung fu commandos mixing it up with cannibalistic monks and vengeful courtesans, and somnambulistic creatures compelled by devilish hexes and libidinous software. Then, too, we have a hallmark of hillbilly hedonism where no one plays the banjo, but everyone fiddles. From the ridiculous to the supine, B2BB2 casts a resounding verdict, that the best pleasures are always guilty.
Steve Seid
UC Berkeley Conference, May 10 and 11: Two full days of scholarly presentations on a sweeping array of trash-obsessed cinemas. For information about panel locations and times, please contact Tamao Nakahara at (510) 541-1895, or go to www.trashcinema.com.
Introducing programs at PFA:
Mikita Brottman, professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art, writes on such topics as horror, cannibalism, and snuff films. Her most recent book is Car Crash Culture.
Patrick Macias is a Bay Area writer who specializes in Asian trash cinema. His latest book is TokyoScope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion.
Amy Abugo Ongiri, professor at the University of California at Riverside, is currently researching the Black Arts movement of the sixties and seventies.
Tamao Nakahara, director of the B2BB2 conference, is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Italian Studies. She is also a noted authority on the two-piece.