SUMMER FLING

Looking for a good summer fling? Boy, it's time to re-visit Elio Petri's fantastic The 10th Victim (1965) with Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni. Spy Vibe made the posters/stills gallery feature on the new Blu-ray edition from Blue Underground- now only $17.49 at Amazon (and in our secure Amazon Store). Yes, the ending falls into the common mid-60s trap of madcap farce, but everything before that is pure Pop Art heaven. Where else can you see space-age fashion ala Courreges, assassins, gadgets, futuristic Mod architecture and set design, and Op Art? Just imagine a Steranko cover set to groovy Italian soundtrack music. The image below is from a scene that really benefits from the hi-def treatment- Enjoy!

Scroll down for new editions of our series, For Your Shelf Only, where guests share stories about collecting and show us some of their treasures. More about Spy Vibe creator Agent J at Jason Whiton.

10TH VICTIM CONTEST ENDS SOON

Enter to win a Blu-ray edition of the Elio Petri cult classic, The 10th Victim (1965), starring Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress. Contest ends October 4th! Details here.


From the New York Times review (9/30/11): "Petri won the foreign-language Oscar for his far superior 1970 film, “Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion,” but it’s “The 10th Victim” that lingers in the public imagination and has now been reissued by Blue Underground in an excellent Blu-ray transferred from the original negative. The playful production design, by Michelangelo Antonioni’s regular collaborator Piero Poletto, probably accounts for much of the movie’s continued appeal. His Rome of the future has been assembled out of the architecture of the Fascist past (Bernardo Bertolucci would return to some of the same locations for his 1970 period drama “The Conformist”) and festooned with the fetish objects of the Op-Pop 60s: inflatable furniture, Trim-line telephones."

10TH VICTIM SHOTS

The Blu-ray website posted a review today of the new release of The 10th Victim (1965). A mostly-positive response with the added bonus of some of their fantastic screen-shots. Here are Ursula, Marcello, and Elsa in three memorable scenes from the film. I always loved the shot of Marcello's apartment decorated with pop art and a display rack of classic Phantom and other comic books- a great pad! How would you decorate your fantasy lair? What would be on your display rack?


Don't forget to enter to win a Blu-ray edition of the Elio Petri cult classic, The 10th Victim (1965), starring Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress. Contest ends October 4th. Details here.

10TH VICTIM CONTEST

Spy Vibe release party! I was fortunate to contribute to the new Blu-ray edition of one of my all-time fave films, Elio Petri's The 10th Victim (1965), starring Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress. The Blu-ray from Blue Underground will be released tomorrow, and I have four copies to give away to Spy Vibe readers! I have to say, this edition looks very cool. After seeing the menu ported over the last couple of DVD editions, it is refreshing to see the film get a whole new package. The new menu is a celebration of the film's Masoch Club, the famous scene where Andress dispatches her prey with her gun-bra silver bikini. The folks at Blue Underground picked lots of great scenes to run during menu selection. There are many special features, including my collection of stills and posters. The inside of the case sports a French lobby card that really highlights the film's costume design. I think you all will enjoy it! I'm very happy to see the film preserved with style.

OK, the contest: Send an e-mail to jason[at]spyvibe.com with "10th Victim" in the subject line and include your address. I will pick 4 winners in a random drawing on October 4th. And for my recent poster contest winners, thank you for your patience. I've finally finished my move to the new pad and can ship your posters at last.

Thank you, Spy Vibers, and good luck!

10TH VICTIM BLU-RAY DETAILED!

Spy Vibe is excited to contribute to the upcoming Blu-ray edition of Elio Petri's cult classic, The 10th Victim (1965). The film, based on the 1953 short story Seventh Victim by sci-fi author Robert Sheckley, features Mod fashion, design, architecture, Op Art, Pop Art, cars by Jaguar and Citroen, Marcello Mastroianni, Ursula Andress, and a cool soundtrack by Piero Piccioni! Blue Underground will be sending copies of the Blu-ray in August, so keep Spy Vibe on your radar for a chance to win the movie for free! Blue Underground has finalized the disc details below.

Note that some of the following ad copy is from original '60s press releases, which didn't quite get the plot facts right (In the story, Marcello is not on his 10th hunt). Culturally, both Sheckley and Petri are celebrated for their commentary on violence and entertainment in society. Although The 10th Victim offers us a stylish fantasy from 1965, the film also mines Italy's gladiatorial history and predicts the future of "reality" entertainment of the contemporary world. From Blue Underground:

"The Original sexy '60's cult classic is back! It is the 21^st Century, and society’s lust for violence is satisfied by “The Big Hunt,” an international game of legalized murder. But when the sport’s two top assassins (Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress) are pitted against each other, they find that love is the most dangerous game of all. As the world watches, the hunt is on. Who will become THE 10th VICTIM?

THE 10th VICTIM is the international cult classic whose wild action and sexy style has influenced a generation of movies, from THE RUNNING MAN to the AUSTIN POWERS series. Now this outrageous satire has been newly remastered from the original negative and is presented here in groovy High Definition!"

Extras: Marcello: A Sweet Life (98 min doc), US & Italian Trailers, movie still & poster gallery, Marcello Mastroianni still gallery.