tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71561750227097092372024-02-15T09:39:00.205-05:00Celluloid MoonChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.comBlogger286125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-38461088975620427952011-09-23T10:19:00.001-04:002011-09-23T16:36:35.046-04:00All My Blogs Come Home to Roost*<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Upon review I kinda buried the lead. Moving to a new blog: <a href="http://wwwbelownirvana.com/">Stranded Below Nirvana</a>. Thanks. Keep reading.)</span></i></div>
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Sometimes you take a break without even knowing you needed it.<br />
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The last few months were spent enjoying the things I've been writing about for years, on this blog and others, without the feeling that I was under some sort of self-imposed deadline to get it down, to cogitate and consolidate my thoughts on a movie, a novel, or music into some semblance of structure for publication. <br />
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It was nice.<br />
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I've always suffered from the problem of wanting to write about too many things, and thinking I needed to compartmentalize those thoughts into different blogs. One one blog became two, two became three, and combined with writing gigs for other web zines and it got to the point where I wasn't enjoying what I was seeing, or hearing, and the act of putting words down lost its passion. Here at Celluloid Moon it became particularly hard, since it's been this blog more than many others where I've come to find and share thoughts with dozens of good and decent people who love movies with the same verve and enthusiasm I do, and better yet, can write like a bunch of muthafuckers on fire about the French New Wave, Italian <i>giallo</i>, the New Hollywood of the 70s and the tent-pole spectacles of today with a fierce intelligence and spark that rallied me to be a better writer, and moreover, a better <i>viewer</i>, of films.<br />
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It was that better viewer that sat down over the summer delighting in equal measure things like CAPTAIN AMERICA and MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, the astonishing Blu-rays of Lucas's STAR WARS and Cocteau's ORPHEUS, and perhaps my favorite memory, the feeling of my son sitting in my lap as we watched our first movie in the theater together, the fantastic WINNIE THE POOH. But this feeling of delight didn't end with films, the experience of reading books - any books - again without worrying about when the review was due or if it fit with the audience's tastes at the web zine I was writing for was exhilarating. And music? Music sounded better than it had in <i>years: </i>it felt like everything old was new again, and everything new was hitting just the right spots to make it my favorite album for however long I was listening to it until the <i>next</i> most amazing thing ever blasted from my speakers.<br />
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And in the middle of it all, the itch started to come back. Not all at once, but was a simple prickling near my ankles grew, became more agitated, until I started looking at all the places I had been writing, and decided to just start fresh, with a place I could ramble about anything I wanted to, whether it was the new batch of DVDs and Blu-rays sitting forlornly in my binders, the waiting books on my nightstand, both physical and virtual, and the literally dozens of albums from every genre imaginable straining to jump up and be heard.<br />
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So starting officially and approximately October 1st (though there is five years of content nestled and waiting), I'll be writing pretty regularly about everything under the sun over at my new home, <a href="http://www.belownirvana.com/">Stranded Below Nirvana</a>. Those who know me will say, "hey, that looks like your old site Geek Monkey." And they'd be right. I didn't want to waste the site, and I really enjoy the extras that come with a <b>Squarespace</b> account, so a fresh coat of paint later and there you are.<br />
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If you were kind enough to link to Celluloid Moon, I hope you'll make the switch and point over to <a href="http://www.belownirvana.com/">Stranded Below Nirvana</a>. I still plan to talk (probably a lot) about the movies I see and love, but also about a lot more. For those I link to here, fear not: Stranded Below Nirvana has a links page where you'll all be linked to once again.<br />
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Thanks for reading. See you all soon. I'm sure there's <i>something</i> we can talk about.<br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">* Title bastardized from the excellent short story by <b>Harlan Ellison</b>, "All the Birds Come Home to Roost"</span></i>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-92176830495248511582011-03-06T14:53:00.003-05:002011-03-06T17:22:26.835-05:00Winter's Bone (2010)<div><div class="journal-entry-text"><div class="body" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="http://www.geekmonkeyonline.com/storage/winter's%20bone%20title.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1299433009795" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(188, 187, 187); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(188, 187, 187); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(188, 187, 187); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(188, 187, 187); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px;" /></div>Despite the great performances, the first thing I thought about WINTER'S BONE after the credits rolled was just how economical it was. A shade under 100 minutes, the film wastes very little time driving you into the heart of the story - 17-year old Ree Dolly (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Lawrence">Jennifer Lawrence</a>) has to find her father, a crank cooker named Jessup awaiting trial who put the family house and land up for his bond. Knowing he'll never show up for court, and having to raise her younger brother and sister alone (her mother spends most of the film in a trance-like state), holding on to the the house and land is the only thing keeping Ree and her family from disintergrating.<br />
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Everything you need to know about Ree, her family, and the various players who will fade in and out of the story come from this search, and it's a beautiful piece of storytelling from writer/director <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debra_Granik">Debra Granik</a> and her writing partner and producer Anne Rosellini. Set in the Ozark region of Missouri, WINTER'S BONE takes a very simple premise (daughter searches for lost father) and imbues it with a haunting, otherworldly atmosphere by grounding everything in a reality that few mainstream moviegoers are familiar with. The poverty and familial culture represented in the film feels almost classical at times - Jessup Dolly, the missing father; the mysterious Thump Milton, who runs the crooked kingdom of drugs that the town turns a blind eye to; and of course the vengeful, outcast Teardrop, Jessup's brother and Ree's eventual partner in the search for Jessup, who may not even be alive.<br />
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<div style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="http://www.geekmonkeyonline.com/storage/john%20hawkes.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1299438677996" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(188, 187, 187); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(188, 187, 187); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(188, 187, 187); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(188, 187, 187); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px;" /></div>I know it was a foregone conclusion that<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/27/christian-bale-oscars-2011-best-supporting-actor_n_828922.html"> Christian Bale was going to get the Oscar for best Supporting Actor</a>, but <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hawkes_(actor)">John Hawkes</a> as Teardrop turns in an amazing, subtle and brooding performance, alternating between physically terrifying and introspective, holding every scene he's in with a haunting stare that is captivating to watch. It's as much as transformative performance as Bale's especially when compared to the first film I saw him in, ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW, where he played a lovesick nebbishy shoe salesman whose arm catches fire. Here he has a presence similar to Dennis Hopper, and the climactic scene where the town sherrif pulls Teardrop over is incredible: one of the best fight sequences of the year (<a href="http://podcast.ifc.com/audiopodcasts/12202010podcast209.mp3">Alison Willmore brought this up in her 2010 wrap-up on the IFC News Podcast</a>) without a single punch.<br />
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It feels like Jennifer Lawrence sprung out of nowhere to give life to Ree Dolly, a young girl forced to grow up much faster than anyone should have to, raising her siblings and caring for her mother all while to trying to keep food on the table and the influences around her from infecting herself and her family. Her voice is worn with experience, tired and tough, with no room for negotiation or excuses. In a film where every face is lined with a million stories, it's impossible to turn away from hers, and Lawrence manages to be carry the plot of WINTER'S BONE without having to rely on anything other than her determinedness, her drive to find her father and save her family.<br />
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Filmed with a striking grace, with a tight screenplay anchored by two excellent Oscar-nominated performances, WINTER'S BONE may have been the big surprise at the awards ceremony this year (it scraped up four nominations including Best Picture), but to anyone who saw the film it should have come as no surprise at all. Great movie, and definitely one of the best of 2010.</div><div class="body" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em;"><div style="color: #1e1e1e; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="http://www.geekmonkeyonline.com/storage/winters-bone_02.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1299440634637" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(188, 187, 187); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(188, 187, 187); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(188, 187, 187); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(188, 187, 187); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a6a6a6; font-size: 11px;"><span class="share-item"></span></span></div></div></div></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-16323942547980440712010-12-22T10:15:00.000-05:002010-12-22T10:15:44.724-05:00Time Flies Right By<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjskJy1itUB1OoSrI8aUWVtlR3Aswpm_kSzmdnWcoh7Q3uQHpLMYrupXP9SRF_ZhMMNA63HV1b6iShmn_90mAAXaBApbIobPp4hZ8p-NnU0Lni6VMr4kvDAMoaWZVPCEMD-wcXZOiE14DJo/s1600/its_a_wonderful_life_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjskJy1itUB1OoSrI8aUWVtlR3Aswpm_kSzmdnWcoh7Q3uQHpLMYrupXP9SRF_ZhMMNA63HV1b6iShmn_90mAAXaBApbIobPp4hZ8p-NnU0Lni6VMr4kvDAMoaWZVPCEMD-wcXZOiE14DJo/s400/its_a_wonderful_life_02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Wow. has it really been <i>that long</i> since I posted that METROPOLIS review? I blame the holiday season, which seems to just suck the time right out of you. <br />
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Lots of interesting films watched, including BLACK SWAN, VALHALLA RISING, the stunning Criterion Blu-ray editions of CRONOS and selections from AMERICA LOST AND FOUND: THE BBS STORY, which gets my prize for best DVD release of the year, and in a few short hours I'm off to see TRUE GRIT, where I'll probably be thinking as much about my father as I will about the film itself.<br />
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But before all that I'm wrapping up my contribution to <a href="http://spielbergblogathon.blogspot.com/">The Spielberg Blogathon</a>, jointly hosted by <a href="http://iceboxmovies.blogspot.com/">Icebox Movies</a> and <a href="http://medflyquarantine.blogspot.com/">Medfly Quarantine</a>. The post should be up by tomorrow, and takes a look at the intersections Spielberg's films have had in my life. It's a bit more personal than simply reviewing or analyzing the man's work, and because of that it's taken a bit more time. <br />
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After that it'll be back to regular programming here at Celluloid Moon, including reviews of some of the above-mentioned films, all of which I enjoyed to one degree or another. Until then, go watch something with someone you love, huh?Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-25246371808862605602010-11-29T21:44:00.001-05:002010-11-29T21:45:18.684-05:00Metropolis Restored (1927, 2010)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-olOy7GmG9ta4DHVZDLM0iVk0NrpRjlpkYhkIrWnck6yxyOyhJYjN_1NBtXmv923Zqm2YSleRNlRRYtxlX-sv_Xbl4S0yyjTw8jdWhMY4tZ46WGuZ29DTLVnhfFHNxeLT2gRihHshVo5/s1600/metropolis+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-olOy7GmG9ta4DHVZDLM0iVk0NrpRjlpkYhkIrWnck6yxyOyhJYjN_1NBtXmv923Zqm2YSleRNlRRYtxlX-sv_Xbl4S0yyjTw8jdWhMY4tZ46WGuZ29DTLVnhfFHNxeLT2gRihHshVo5/s400/metropolis+title.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I suspect many of us knew METROPOLIS before we ever had a chance to actually see it. I know my first exposure to it as a complete (or as close as it was considered to be then) film came some time in the early 90s, with the color tinted, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_Moroder">Giorgio Moroder</a> version, edited and scored by the electronic music pioneer. But the images - those stark, expressionistic cityscapes rising to the heavens, the iconic "Other" Maria sitting under an inverted pentagram as rings of electricity pulsed around her and, perhaps for me, the brand most burned upon the brain: a solitary man fighting to maneuver two rods attached like the hands of some nightmarish clock (with only ten hours to squeeze in an extra work day I'd learn years later), vainly aligning them to flickering bulbs that never stay for more than an instant -these images that have been etched in my movie memory far longer than I have any right to claim to them. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqdmtAc5_wGjEVRat-vmYT4OnIAspoUcYLeX0DGPh8TQnkS02S4Fli_Tlm_kT8YswyRGjDmuxlxi9IwqQGkyzf9ael1dPOZKSQRysdL28vesoHg_GGMsGdgvkfWmNQj0u4qu-8xoAVdbAg/s1600/clock+worker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqdmtAc5_wGjEVRat-vmYT4OnIAspoUcYLeX0DGPh8TQnkS02S4Fli_Tlm_kT8YswyRGjDmuxlxi9IwqQGkyzf9ael1dPOZKSQRysdL28vesoHg_GGMsGdgvkfWmNQj0u4qu-8xoAVdbAg/s400/clock+worker.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Watching the new "complete" version of METROPOLIS on Blu-ray, featuring over 30 minutes of additional footage recently unearthed in a vault in Buenos Aries, and boasting a gorgeous 5.1 recording of the original score brings those images vibrantly back to life, feeling as new and striking as the memories I hold of them. The difference being that those singular visual memories are now tied together in a coherent structure, acting as signposts on a road where the story, long held to be a shortcoming of the film, comes to the forefront. Running just under two and a half hours, it's surprising that METROPOLIS actually feels shorter, as the additional footage brings a depth to the story that engages the viewer as much as the overall design and effects did in the past.<br />
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The Epigram that starts METROPOLIS reads: <i>"THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN BRAIN AND HANDS MUST BE THE HEART!"</i> and this message, seemingly so on the nose for 21st Century viewers, echoes the tone the rest of the film will take. The colossal city of Metropolis is actually two cities: the sprawling, dreamlike upper city where the white collar executives (the Brain) run everything, building gargantuan gardens and stadiums for the delight of their young, brash sons, and the underground city of the the workers (the Hands), who sweat and starve and toil to keep everything running for those privileged who live above. The city is run by Joh Fredsersen, who has no time for anything other the running of the city, much to the dismay of his son Freder (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Fr%C3%B6hlich">Gustav Fröhlich</a>), who after meeting the saintly Maria who intrudes with a mass of children into the Eternal Gardens to introduce Freder to the plight of his "brothers" below decides to head into the Underground to see for himself how the city lives and breathes. He finds that Maria is the one thing holding the workers in check from rioting, and his heart goes out to both the workers and the beautiful woman who hopes for a brighter future. Throwing a wrench into the works is Joh Fredersen, who likes things the way they are, and he enlists the assistance of the evil Dr. Rotwang, who uses his newly created Machine Man to take the form of Maria, and incite the workers to revolt, thereby allowing Fredersen the leeway he needs to put the workers down once and for all.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitx5Pc-nLPYfGThhktoJxXL0PdUyyQAoRU7AgOy3tAb2b3WBbhGU5c5uhjqsfuIGt3U0itVJHJdDBDDGnR8XbzGnpGrRMZHrhkjZzLvxYEhqzuEZayY0TzP3SM9AXf2PngYCIp3anzSnFH/s1600/other+maria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitx5Pc-nLPYfGThhktoJxXL0PdUyyQAoRU7AgOy3tAb2b3WBbhGU5c5uhjqsfuIGt3U0itVJHJdDBDDGnR8XbzGnpGrRMZHrhkjZzLvxYEhqzuEZayY0TzP3SM9AXf2PngYCIp3anzSnFH/s400/other+maria.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Although the earlier cuts of METROPOLIS were more than enough to show the visual genius of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Lang">Fritz Lang</a>, the restored, complete version takes his directing prowess to another level entirely. Entire subplots are revealed, showing a deft hand at parallel storytelling and artful cross-cutting between events. We see the fate of Worker 11811, the poor man at the clock machine who Freder replaces. He takes Freder's place, only to fall prey to the vices Freder himself is escaping. We see the mysterious Thin Man (most assuredly <i>not </i>Nick Charles), hired by Joh Fredersen to find out where his son is and to expose what's going on with the workers. The climactic flooding of the underground Worker City is much more substantial, and as Lang cuts from one set of action to another we that METROPOLIS is not only the progenitor of much of our now classic science fiction imagery, but it also works as a phenomenal action film, ratcheting up tension as fine as anything that would come a quarter of a century later from more modern masters like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock">Alfred Hitchcock</a> (who was reportedly a visitor to the set, according to the excellent documentary that is included with the DVD/Blu-ray).<br />
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I mentioned earlier how much better the restored film plays as a whole, even though it's substantially longer than it was before. This comes at a small cost to some viewers: due to the conditions of the newly found footage (a 16mm reduction taken from an original 35mm print) the new section are very rough - no amount of digital re mastering can take away the lines of age and missing section of the frame due to size. Small price to pay, however, to see a true film masterpiece as close to its original format as we can get - there's so much in METROPOLIS that stands out throughout the language of cinema - the excellent documentary included on the disc opens with the direct influence the film's architecture had on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_runner">Ridley Scott's BLADE RUNNER</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_ebert">Roger Ebert</a>, in his <a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100602/REVIEWS08/100609989/1023">Great Movies essay on the film</a>, remarks on influences as far reaching as DARK CITY, BATMAN, and even DR. STRANGELOVE. And after watching the stunning Blu-ray transfers of the BACK TO THE FUTURE films, I can't help but see some of mad Dr. Rotwang in good ol' Doc Brown.<br />
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In its truncated form, METROPOLIS was a grand achievement in filmmaking. Seeing the crisp, clear images now, being able to grasp the story as a whole, and reveling in the sheer joy of the technical effects on display, what was a towering work is made even more colossal, even more grand and enormous. And even better, the storytelling on display is as fresh, as engaging, as it must have been to people experiencing its like for the first time, over 80 years ago.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHXtMER9_Y2vNwicc4s2sIPuCkF7P7aLkM6sPax0G_l2ywNGGYPsgeM-TateBOprSIAsHY_Hqq0RYfuR8V_72a5N3MdfunLj_fdjovcO8UzgXjOFmy380ZHzatkQvj_sAdu0JESzfDRm0/s1600/metropolis+end.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHXtMER9_Y2vNwicc4s2sIPuCkF7P7aLkM6sPax0G_l2ywNGGYPsgeM-TateBOprSIAsHY_Hqq0RYfuR8V_72a5N3MdfunLj_fdjovcO8UzgXjOFmy380ZHzatkQvj_sAdu0JESzfDRm0/s400/metropolis+end.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">* The complete restored METROPOLIS is available in HD on Netflix Instant Streaming service.</span></i>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-87678525876532437062010-11-24T10:16:00.000-05:002010-11-24T10:16:39.214-05:00In Lieu of Reviews (returning shortly), My Movie Thought of the Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSzkaBO1K4e7JUQwk3Yxg928a6PiR72B6vQE82nEdlNvQW2tcJbrvMw6dW-nYymcxO14RaoiMCLFIBi7ld8P0cI0RtHoqJ5vty8KQrnFSevKK0qoAaR4DuhrCcWnNOaxPFHrCbWKFYGnV6/s1600/chest-burster_98865.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSzkaBO1K4e7JUQwk3Yxg928a6PiR72B6vQE82nEdlNvQW2tcJbrvMw6dW-nYymcxO14RaoiMCLFIBi7ld8P0cI0RtHoqJ5vty8KQrnFSevKK0qoAaR4DuhrCcWnNOaxPFHrCbWKFYGnV6/s400/chest-burster_98865.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Having spent an evening watching the in-depth documentaries <i>The Beast Within</i> and <i>Superior Firepower</i> on the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Alien-Anthology-Blu-ray-Sigourney-Weaver/dp/B001AQO3QA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290611452&sr=8-1">ALIEN ANTHOLOGY Blu-ray set</a>, I've come away even more impressed with Ridley Scott and ALIEN, and even less impressed with James Cameron and ALIENS.<br />
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Happy Thanksgiving.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-26308188673070485752010-11-06T10:39:00.001-04:002010-11-10T09:48:39.587-05:00Welcome to My Surreal Nightmare: House (1977) in Images<i>Being a (belated) Film #12 in Hail Horror 5.</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoqQqdXtgQOQ38I0XtRYcbGIVmM5gm9OAx5FtGUOZaqL0EQBBYyFGmJtyv9TKEBykwHwWAXGFETKMd_FVZDQvEz3QLC0hMUQP2rq8M5QkIX3s631yQNUcee1yE32aAXl1kNaFUqdskKnn/s1600/house+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoqQqdXtgQOQ38I0XtRYcbGIVmM5gm9OAx5FtGUOZaqL0EQBBYyFGmJtyv9TKEBykwHwWAXGFETKMd_FVZDQvEz3QLC0hMUQP2rq8M5QkIX3s631yQNUcee1yE32aAXl1kNaFUqdskKnn/s400/house+title.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I actually watched HOUSE, the 1977 Japanese freak-fest by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuhiko_Obayashi">Nobuhiko Obayashi</a> before either HABIT or SOMBRE, picking it up the day it was released in a typically gorgeous <a href="http://www.criterion.com/films/27523-house">Criterion edition</a>. The back of the DVD describes the film, a truly inventive visual <i>tour de force</i> by Obayashi (who after a series of similar in aesthetic short films got his start in crazy commercials<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8bqVL0VXrE"> like the infamous MANDOM spots with Charles Bronson</a>) as "An episode of Scooby-Doo as directed by Mario Bava" and that's not too far off the mark. Seven quirky school girls travel into the country to stay with lead girl Gorgeous's aunt, who has been alone in her house with just her cat ever for years. Turns out Auntie is more than just an eccentric spinster, and the trip turns into a surreal nightmare complete with man-eating pianos, flying decapitated heads, musical numbers, animation, some terrific matte painting and martial arts. <br />
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The best comparison I can make is to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Dead_II">Sam Raimi's EVIL DEAD 2</a>, a "horror" film that was so exuberant and fun you were smiling more than you were screaming. So rather than go into more detail, here are a few shots to whet your appetite:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNoKJHU7lV5rtNOWXdzADt_O8mCMg3m3zXJEGO1aD4GCoA54B0i2ed8NDu_zMfF8ob2UZMbVhPHS93zIgrG-rwS9F1Vb0IzkwBo35Y4i0SxzsfgJ9OUGXFJ-D0G78OlFIM6RyqPtZqIbYU/s1600/house+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNoKJHU7lV5rtNOWXdzADt_O8mCMg3m3zXJEGO1aD4GCoA54B0i2ed8NDu_zMfF8ob2UZMbVhPHS93zIgrG-rwS9F1Vb0IzkwBo35Y4i0SxzsfgJ9OUGXFJ-D0G78OlFIM6RyqPtZqIbYU/s400/house+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQv0k1SuMtja51_p4cyuUs7Xs4Pj3ns8oAiTjhm7BOUUOwzqklhpLHrE-zUd6ibLrPlWk_nWRVd1dF0Qr_BOj19S-5H6GC2FEGT-4Ef-d-5PgZ2ZYIx8_7noD1EiPpCldEc7k2RIrTF2x/s1600/house+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQv0k1SuMtja51_p4cyuUs7Xs4Pj3ns8oAiTjhm7BOUUOwzqklhpLHrE-zUd6ibLrPlWk_nWRVd1dF0Qr_BOj19S-5H6GC2FEGT-4Ef-d-5PgZ2ZYIx8_7noD1EiPpCldEc7k2RIrTF2x/s400/house+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYvITmkjPaMgXCE_BdHUyVTr5pmFkrHm72HxsxdLgm4l1eaDG3-irlCqbNiTqrbz2kpeSZ5g6pJj2hg9LNczzirknpmgUpndbg1R22AYrTSNeKdfhu-CyY-wmS6Kp4-uQ-cFqgLiSVIEk/s1600/house+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYvITmkjPaMgXCE_BdHUyVTr5pmFkrHm72HxsxdLgm4l1eaDG3-irlCqbNiTqrbz2kpeSZ5g6pJj2hg9LNczzirknpmgUpndbg1R22AYrTSNeKdfhu-CyY-wmS6Kp4-uQ-cFqgLiSVIEk/s400/house+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-j44Fas3rAjVMeoADtMmN0j8nvuWyEY8gJdeiqyhnZKkdeuGQoc0aha1AV6J6jNn3HMJuwgddfYnImJot08jgQw0WQomUDpQDOs47qlbn9EXpF9c-aLnRPH_jsAn2vsAEZL333HeNg_KM/s1600/house+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-j44Fas3rAjVMeoADtMmN0j8nvuWyEY8gJdeiqyhnZKkdeuGQoc0aha1AV6J6jNn3HMJuwgddfYnImJot08jgQw0WQomUDpQDOs47qlbn9EXpF9c-aLnRPH_jsAn2vsAEZL333HeNg_KM/s400/house+7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiETBZp2y16YQ9Jfw7s8Syr849nTIxhgs4jt76evxqqbe709PI9EyNCzTL9QIXoGTfFc56eYPhvmmSt_sA1_Qo9SJQdPRmRT3hp8zMMoJ4stFs3BZQhxs8V60kcRTJzlXZLTpaanJpvmobN/s1600/house+8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiETBZp2y16YQ9Jfw7s8Syr849nTIxhgs4jt76evxqqbe709PI9EyNCzTL9QIXoGTfFc56eYPhvmmSt_sA1_Qo9SJQdPRmRT3hp8zMMoJ4stFs3BZQhxs8V60kcRTJzlXZLTpaanJpvmobN/s400/house+8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOvLxz3kmSlVqRga2Y7Rk_8wmzAZcTDKKK5y-VcKXZCnJUeU1x0GsYmS07c5VsAofVQSahAm6hH8-l4XdfJWT99XPlTXYl111oPWLBRd2CqSlE5xaPps__3qkGjdYxNx9tiCoSWqW1jVPj/s1600/house+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOvLxz3kmSlVqRga2Y7Rk_8wmzAZcTDKKK5y-VcKXZCnJUeU1x0GsYmS07c5VsAofVQSahAm6hH8-l4XdfJWT99XPlTXYl111oPWLBRd2CqSlE5xaPps__3qkGjdYxNx9tiCoSWqW1jVPj/s400/house+9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqHjG0GFZILKMSzROV91VgT6n9dAGD1IGkSEZbRd01_0KZhcMW5ESHxJe_EJsyP8z_E613Ctu0LyRLsPv7i23YnVGXfNkJIA5eLr2n1TuIzZvZux3wy-LeAQqKUdcD9tygbV-I-iLDy1N/s1600/house+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqqHjG0GFZILKMSzROV91VgT6n9dAGD1IGkSEZbRd01_0KZhcMW5ESHxJe_EJsyP8z_E613Ctu0LyRLsPv7i23YnVGXfNkJIA5eLr2n1TuIzZvZux3wy-LeAQqKUdcD9tygbV-I-iLDy1N/s400/house+10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGG2-p_JS5H_2rTrXZ2Ia31T5ptDShkB_qnFQ5wyuJnA402r8YiNhASFM2U1qbHpgD9pl9e0BzBmytb6RGsP4daVwk_pNgtxXrrquuxzViFXd0du4SpJkykCBUU7u-3pVvAVPzqdojxenW/s1600/house+11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGG2-p_JS5H_2rTrXZ2Ia31T5ptDShkB_qnFQ5wyuJnA402r8YiNhASFM2U1qbHpgD9pl9e0BzBmytb6RGsP4daVwk_pNgtxXrrquuxzViFXd0du4SpJkykCBUU7u-3pVvAVPzqdojxenW/s400/house+11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAhLIIBXRvHNFxx84IsimpW0HX9v7yqFznQoC4p09n5UlVoIb8W_Xn1mSGNrsfPaHRZ4kaYTgN_T-FomnhS84gaOYzz4GYLNYM-kQ0QXYOmTN26fkoRxOykz7oBZs4Ng78M8onrPUrDxg/s1600/house+12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAhLIIBXRvHNFxx84IsimpW0HX9v7yqFznQoC4p09n5UlVoIb8W_Xn1mSGNrsfPaHRZ4kaYTgN_T-FomnhS84gaOYzz4GYLNYM-kQ0QXYOmTN26fkoRxOykz7oBZs4Ng78M8onrPUrDxg/s400/house+12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJ3uGvmk0wTEGOF5C83g39w9r9SM8Gkxz6beHgBA9LPzvEyCVqv-9MZ9OJaiOXqQFNTmbF_zoUkAGMfTtGIY3iw8L9BlhpFM-YoaX0i_qsCfAFuWMuP-Ug5rhvrITOczvc8BIDUjqLLCl/s1600/house+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJ3uGvmk0wTEGOF5C83g39w9r9SM8Gkxz6beHgBA9LPzvEyCVqv-9MZ9OJaiOXqQFNTmbF_zoUkAGMfTtGIY3iw8L9BlhpFM-YoaX0i_qsCfAFuWMuP-Ug5rhvrITOczvc8BIDUjqLLCl/s400/house+13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Seriously deranged and delightful, if you haven't caught up to HOUSE yet, do yourself a favor and check it out, if only to see a man transform into a bunch of bananas.</div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-71680660920023092332010-10-31T14:28:00.003-04:002010-11-06T09:41:54.142-04:00Sombre (1998)<i>Being Film #11 in Hail Horror 5. Thanks to </i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/03785044726830882625" style="font-style: italic;">Leaves</a> <i>for the recommendation.</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSqW8Mq0emFRZJeu-VtY40VtYPo-tvuHoEMLnF_KoZuqL8DO8SBmxqPoX_Pzn_-cgoGrr3zAXc4KrSPRfobbmFz9UNpE1bqKmPszQlQd5lBebWG79w_raKO9fSJ8TeWxRCh2EAGWD1cr8/s1600/sombre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSqW8Mq0emFRZJeu-VtY40VtYPo-tvuHoEMLnF_KoZuqL8DO8SBmxqPoX_Pzn_-cgoGrr3zAXc4KrSPRfobbmFz9UNpE1bqKmPszQlQd5lBebWG79w_raKO9fSJ8TeWxRCh2EAGWD1cr8/s400/sombre.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i>Extra Note: One week later this movie still sits like a bad meal in my gut, proof (perhaps) that there's more to the film than my experience and consequent write-up get across. Leaves came back with a lengthy comment that goes into detail why he thinks the film works, and it's a great counterpoint,<a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2010/10/sombre-1998.html?showComment=1289048477333#c2745708241798334257"> so I link to it here</a> and heartily recommend checking it out.</i><br />
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SOMBRE, the debut film by experimental artist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Grandrieux">Philippe Grandrieux</a>, eschews straight narrative, opting instead to provoke visceral reactions in the viewer. It succeeds in its goal. Everything is dark and oppressive, even in daylight. Images are either ramped up or slowed down to such a degree that even the most innocent activity - children being delighted by a puppet show - turns into a Lynchian nightmare. The story centers on Jean, a serial killer who preys on prostitutes until a chance encounter with two women in a broken down car on the highway provides a new diversion and a chance to consummate the act whose failure seems to drive jean to his murderous acts. There is the barest hint of fable in this, but its glow is dampened by enough abuse and violence to take any artistic message SOMBRE has and leave it by the film's end abandoned on the side of the road.<br />
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Or at least that's my impression. I knew after about 15 minutes I was going to hate this movie, although part of that reaction could conceivably be Grandrieux's whole point. Unlike the stylized (though equally brutal) acts of violence perpetrated by Mario Bava or Dario Argento, there's a depravity and bluntness to Jean's sadistic acts that leaves you sick in the stomach. This feeling is only enhanced with numerous dead scenes of driving on highways, evil looking children, and sickly pale yellow light when there's any to be found.<br />
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So, yeah...not a movie I even remotely enjoyed or recommend. However I'm open to the chance that I'm just not the target audience for this kind of thing (my tastes running more classic Universal, Hammer, and <i>giallo</i>) so in the interest of fairness there's <a href="http://www.d-kaz.com/reviews/review.php?id=389">an in-depth review of the film</a> available at <b>d+kaz</b> which really picks the film apart. I can definitely see all its points, but it doesn't do anything to improve the experience I had with SOMBRE.<br />
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That's it. One more quick review done in pictures, and then a final 13th review for one of the most anticipated horror television series in a long time...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5D-1yZxAAWfPWE-aOvYhaLgA7SIPUn_8TZ_Kr7dHHNPFVT-0QZHJRhq8N1o-bNnEZAHJOj7bk3n5Z_GI_FV3HNUtVq3DQFYNFgJ6GRAQ8if6CmCNaa-U8SjaiJ97OaoRRdYHhh8YcdlBW/s1600/sombre+end.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5D-1yZxAAWfPWE-aOvYhaLgA7SIPUn_8TZ_Kr7dHHNPFVT-0QZHJRhq8N1o-bNnEZAHJOj7bk3n5Z_GI_FV3HNUtVq3DQFYNFgJ6GRAQ8if6CmCNaa-U8SjaiJ97OaoRRdYHhh8YcdlBW/s400/sombre+end.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-88911394437237305812010-10-28T08:03:00.007-04:002010-10-31T13:58:57.618-04:00Habit (1995)<i>Being Film #10 in Hail Horror 5. Thanks to J.D. at <a href="http://rheaven.blogspot.com/">Radiator Heaven</a> for the recommendation. </i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5x7OitXjOFeQyJerR3CzWiASUrD6u1mHeM8N-mcGSmMD03uoREdTCvYNrwJwmfQsTTTCNp36mA65ccGC6UpSLDMp-GF5-AdltjXHiAbRkid97VCWczcWaFlS5idbflaJalkS1marBvs_/s1600/habit+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5x7OitXjOFeQyJerR3CzWiASUrD6u1mHeM8N-mcGSmMD03uoREdTCvYNrwJwmfQsTTTCNp36mA65ccGC6UpSLDMp-GF5-AdltjXHiAbRkid97VCWczcWaFlS5idbflaJalkS1marBvs_/s400/habit+title.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>You ever keep hearing about someone, a director or a writer, someone that people keep telling you to check out, and you want to, only somehow it never seems to happen? And then when you finally do you can't understand what took you so long to do it?<br />
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Well, for me that's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0275244/">Larry Fessenden</a>, and HABIT, his 1995 re-working of an independent video he shot back in 1982 is kind of an indie revelation. Fessenden wrote, directed, edited, and stars in HABIT as Sam, a lost soul in New York City - a witty, nice enough guy who unfortunately is so far down in the drink his entire life is a crumpled heap. All of this is communicated in a few short sequences as Sam arrives at his friend's Halloween party, "costumed" as a vagabond Cyrano de Bergerac. It's there that he meets Anna, a mysterious beautiful woman with who he shares an immediate attraction. She seems to come and go, leaving him after a party in the street but suddenly behind him a few days later at a street fair. Their first night together leaves Sam in a daze the next morning in a park, his lip bloody...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkzSKwi8uZrkD4Nvl4-hjYk4irKLrRcKqLjpIQOMvya7TKXbHVhjPkqRaWNtTTGyKnoA10qJWO5DeEqLJZZ1PJnSf6ENEjKikv-O4xb1M-Ky17T_Wo0IrdIq_Uy9B8mDI1yRWHHnC1Ap2Z/s1600/habit+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkzSKwi8uZrkD4Nvl4-hjYk4irKLrRcKqLjpIQOMvya7TKXbHVhjPkqRaWNtTTGyKnoA10qJWO5DeEqLJZZ1PJnSf6ENEjKikv-O4xb1M-Ky17T_Wo0IrdIq_Uy9B8mDI1yRWHHnC1Ap2Z/s400/habit+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>So is Anna a vampire or not? The incredible thing about HABIT is that it doesn't matter very much. There's certainly enough in the film to suggest it - Anna and Sam's love making in the park end with her sucking on his lip as he begins to go numb. Later he has visions of being chased by something in the air; he has a craving for rare meat, and the sight of a dead roach on the floor of the bar he manages almost puts him in a trance. Anna for her part doesn't make it easy. Played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0810874/">Meredith Snaider</a> (who played the same role in the 1982 version, as did Fessenden) with a cool understatement, Anna's only real power she uses over Sam is that she listens, and seems to care about him in a way he desperately needs. She's sensual and passionate, but her draw is not the typical vampire allure (she may be the only vampire in the history of cinema to buy her victim a barbecue), and it's one of the many things that stand out in the film.<br />
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But the real star of HABIT is Fessenden, who besides giving a remarkable performance as Sam but displays a very keen eye as a writer/director. The dialog and performances all around are very naturalistic and have an improvisatory feel. The cinematography is superb for such a low-budget feature: filmed on location in New York gives everything an authenticity lacking in other, larger budget pictures. There a dozens of little things that bring Sam's existence to life: from his enormous set of keys shown locking his door in the beginning of the film to shots of sinks filled to the brim with dirty dishes and change on tables. As Sam falls more under the spell of Anna, Fessenden begins slowly unraveling the world he so completely put together in the first hour of the movie. Clocks spin backwards, voices begin to echo. He doesn't know if he's hung over, sick, or just overly sensitive to light. Do we take him at his word? Or are these just more effects of his drinking? Fessenden keeps it ambiguous up to the end, and even then you can argue equally for both viewpoints.<br />
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So. A vampire movie that may or may not be about vampires at all, but is about those things we associate with vampires because we don't want to think about it in any kind of realistic fashion. And that's insatiable need, hunger...base desires more comfortably expressed creatures of the night. Fessenden knows this, and has crafted a genuine gem of a film.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fcpKQ91Cd5-lVDHJWfYZZZein_hWJCZ_EJg-9Hr2tB3fwlARAGQIAUwJXeVvVuBRyj-xMCKlMr31sI0pw9O8UjX2uTTqUJ8O4XXvlyE99iSj08BuLxUpA_YnlKWrDueUvQeSUkPXwH24/s1600/habit+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fcpKQ91Cd5-lVDHJWfYZZZein_hWJCZ_EJg-9Hr2tB3fwlARAGQIAUwJXeVvVuBRyj-xMCKlMr31sI0pw9O8UjX2uTTqUJ8O4XXvlyE99iSj08BuLxUpA_YnlKWrDueUvQeSUkPXwH24/s400/habit+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-19619881259703507952010-10-26T08:54:00.001-04:002010-10-28T10:02:09.769-04:00Survival of the Dead (2009)<i>Being Film #9 in Hail Horror 5. Thanks to Sean at <a href="http://fukaduk.blogspot.com/">Spectacular Views</a> for the recommendation.</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbgLgG3uC8bmFm_lKWuzpmJCCUI7QPFLmgmPGkrzTnpIv5d55DOkBPi9Z-MeLhor_B6bEydUfkakqu9U3KWuCgwWxBq3ohiOzkcn5De7Os0QDgP4jukhR_qTdgpB1QVVU3LBVauseZi7b/s1600/survival+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbgLgG3uC8bmFm_lKWuzpmJCCUI7QPFLmgmPGkrzTnpIv5d55DOkBPi9Z-MeLhor_B6bEydUfkakqu9U3KWuCgwWxBq3ohiOzkcn5De7Os0QDgP4jukhR_qTdgpB1QVVU3LBVauseZi7b/s400/survival+title.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Is there a horror fan left on the planet that isn't at least familiar with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_A._Romero">George A. Romero's</a> DEAD films? Both NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD influenced entire schools of horror, and established the rules by which hundreds of zombie films adhere to. Romero's game - both in his zombie movies and in his other films like MARTIN, KNIGHTRIDERS and THE CRAZIES - is to address larger societal themes under the guise of horror, more often than not showing the real horror to be the "normal" folks trapped in whatever scenario Romero devises for them.<br />
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SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD, Romero's sixth investigation into the world of the living dead, brings us back to the beginning of the outbreak, and is a sequel of sorts to 2007's awkward DIARY OF THE DEAD, a point of view movie about a group of college film students who are there at the onset of the reawakening of the dead. Deciding to use the event as fodder for a film they're creating, one sequence has them coming up against a group of soldiers turned thieves, out to save themselves and find someplace safe. SURVIVAL is the story of those soldiers, where they go, and what they find.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>What they find is Plum Island, seemingly a perfect to wait out a zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately, this particular island has a good old fashioned Irish blood feud between the Muldoons and the O'Flynns. In the beginning of the film we learn that Old Man O'Flynn was kicked off the island because it was his belief that the family and friends coming back to life on the island couldn't be saved, and that a shot to the head was an act of mercy. Shamus Muldoon and his clan think otherwise, believing that if they can get the zombies to eat something other than human flesh, there's a chance they can be saved. O'Flynn's daughter Janet is in agreement, so exile it is until he meets up with the soldiers and comes back to settle the score.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJLjel-dzUGSEs0ezCyZJ-UqmXe7qJZ7YML4Bj1uXMcTF36f2XyBz_UmTpvsLDBuPjtFaeecPHFnutam9PLPcCNBIe8VavdLrBTp7Xgq7EG9yAj1MJyrtKrbPyofM7yGz5vxd9iTG23m45/s1600/survival+soldiers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJLjel-dzUGSEs0ezCyZJ-UqmXe7qJZ7YML4Bj1uXMcTF36f2XyBz_UmTpvsLDBuPjtFaeecPHFnutam9PLPcCNBIe8VavdLrBTp7Xgq7EG9yAj1MJyrtKrbPyofM7yGz5vxd9iTG23m45/s400/survival+soldiers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Romero is right in his element here, and where DIARY was often stilted and a little ham-fisted due to the way it was shot, SURVIVAL works much better (<i>despite some narration that just falls flat - has no one learned from BLADE RUNNER?</i>). Both Muldoon and O'Flynn no longer whether or not their point is correct: all they want is for the other to admit that they were wrong, something neither is willing to do until it's too late. Romero's still got some fun gags up his sleeve, and his flesh-eating ghouls get exploded by a fire extinguisher, combusted from the inside by a flare, and in one case hung from a rope, a poor cowboy on the other end fighting to stay away from the snapping jaws. Taking a cue from LAND the zombies still have some semblance of their past lives, and we're treated to some great visuals like one poor zombie mailman chained to a mailbox, slowly shambling back and forth the length of the chain as he delivers the same mail again and again. The effects are mixed - there are some horrible CGI effects, particularly in the beginning of the film, but there's also some decent shots, and enough practical gore to give everything an even keel.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNQ0hkmF45pfjhuTxgHuvz7VWDQDSP9tir3wiNFtqq9o12m8CUQ0XxRcYsgBN7hwEwil2W5LWWsEPhT2fi2BX10LkJmfdmD9WSth15C3qi8Vbbb9B4ezsem3xuwtClxsuh6v3zn9k6yRgc/s1600/survival+middle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNQ0hkmF45pfjhuTxgHuvz7VWDQDSP9tir3wiNFtqq9o12m8CUQ0XxRcYsgBN7hwEwil2W5LWWsEPhT2fi2BX10LkJmfdmD9WSth15C3qi8Vbbb9B4ezsem3xuwtClxsuh6v3zn9k6yRgc/s400/survival+middle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>There's not a real scares to be had, though, so if you're looking for something truly frightening you'd probably have to go back to 1968's original film. I'd argue though that Romero hasn't been interested in scares for quite some time; he's more intent on having a good time and throwing scenarios and situations into a world of his own making, one that reflects in its own goopy and gory way our own. The biggest surprise I came away with was how much fun SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD actually is, and that it looks like Romero's still got a couple tales left up his sleeve to tell in this world.<br />
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A world with just <i>slightly </i>more zombies than our own.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQVBCLCGLZKFr8hKAHb1KT25GWbWeWuw3-ZNSDsHDnm_v3EFBc1qdhQU8utf1kiQkQ6p0qBUWKl6uJkzs5NAnPjUyefe2krKLEzLYdyLU47WbbptQ2rpyt-BARE5-N5Q52p85vJy_tVyDN/s1600/survival+end.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQVBCLCGLZKFr8hKAHb1KT25GWbWeWuw3-ZNSDsHDnm_v3EFBc1qdhQU8utf1kiQkQ6p0qBUWKl6uJkzs5NAnPjUyefe2krKLEzLYdyLU47WbbptQ2rpyt-BARE5-N5Q52p85vJy_tVyDN/s400/survival+end.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-80984025865144165252010-10-25T11:51:00.004-04:002010-10-26T08:54:45.959-04:00Don't Look Now (1973)<i>Being Film #8 in Hail Horror 5. Thanks to Tony Dayoub of <a href="http://www.cinemaviewfinder.com/">Cinema Viewfinder</a> and Captain Blake of <a href="http://theoctoberpeople.blogspot.com/">The October People</a> for the recommendation</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDv8T7ICR2w8DEPwYYnwMsSccYCBfAJYkssDssmVYGvtgfDCySb1-DU3QY3t7VPa7cvr7UyYHlKcmpjXuM928QVX5Im07QXGqkr8abofuiRCJvRo5da8YFV4lecP9Nu9EUeG_PCN89ZVA/s1600/don't+look+now+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDv8T7ICR2w8DEPwYYnwMsSccYCBfAJYkssDssmVYGvtgfDCySb1-DU3QY3t7VPa7cvr7UyYHlKcmpjXuM928QVX5Im07QXGqkr8abofuiRCJvRo5da8YFV4lecP9Nu9EUeG_PCN89ZVA/s400/don't+look+now+title.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div>Cut away the non-linear structure, the running visual cues and kinetic editing, and DON'T LOOK NOW would probably still be a good, if fairly predictable movie. But fortunately for us we don't have to do that, and the fact is that <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001676/">Nicolas Roeg</a> in only his second feature as a director has crafted a masterpiece of mood and tone, and DON'T LOOK NOW stands as an achievement of the presentation of pure dread, and a stunning example of how a director can directly engage the audience in his vision.</div></div><div><br />
<a name='more'></a></div><div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Sutherland">Donald Sutherland</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Christie">Julie Christie</a> star as John and Laura Baxter, a couple who in the opening of the film tragically lose their young daughter in a drowning accident. The sequence, cutting back and forth between the Baxters calmly working in their cottage and their young daughter Christine playing outside near a lake is a superb lesson in film making. Christine's bright red raincoat is shot reflecting in the water as she runs outside, and the image of water, as well as the color red serve as markers throughout the film. In fact, the actual shot is doubled later in the film to wonderful effect. Actions in the house are mirrored outside, and in some instances are perfectly edited to be a continuous motion between the two, such as a ball tossed in the air cutting to John tossing a pack of cigarettes to Laura. A quick shot of Laura covering her mouth, instantly cutting to Christine doing the same. A dropped ball echoes a glass dropping, cutting John's thumb (which echoes his young son's cut finger outside) causing blood to smear across a slide of a church window, specifically on the image of a red hooded person sitting in a pew. The blood slowly moves across the slide, and it's then that John gets a sense that something's not right outside.<br />
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</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfmBAj3L4uKLpcBou7l8pJOwMKDO8v6PaEatwJGGM-FNkTemzqIlR4aJ5jee5ZHZX-wj6SLcLB5gWTMIRyF0cf-fuIPoD4q6C_gFeSP8ilHZj8zlKad9RI_JqSjLmNCdnYFs5CMoHUs7U/s1600/dont-look.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfmBAj3L4uKLpcBou7l8pJOwMKDO8v6PaEatwJGGM-FNkTemzqIlR4aJ5jee5ZHZX-wj6SLcLB5gWTMIRyF0cf-fuIPoD4q6C_gFeSP8ilHZj8zlKad9RI_JqSjLmNCdnYFs5CMoHUs7U/s400/dont-look.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div>I could go on and on just analyzing the opening of this film. It sets up everything we can expect from Roeg throughout the rest of the film. An indeterminate amount of time later the setting shifts to Venice, which captures the crumbling state of affairs between John and Laura. I've never seen Venice look more depressed and decayed on film. John is restoring an old church, trying to escape from the death of his daughter in his work. In a restaurant they come across two older women, sisters, one of whom is psychic and tells Laura that she can see young Christine sitting right next to them, happy but trying to tell them them something. Laura collapses, and awakens later finally at ease with events, ready to believe the best and resume their lives. John, however, is strictly rational, refusing to buy into anything other the solid reality of the walls and windows he fights so hard to bring back from their own state of decay.<br />
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When Laura learns that Chrstine's message is actually a warning to leave Venice before it's too late, and that the message is for John, who whether he wishes to believe it or not is capable of some psychic insight himself, DON'T LOOK NOW moves with a dreadful pace to its horrible and inevitable end. But the manner in which it does so is so remarkable, and so visible to the audience that Roeg elevates the story to classic status. He's ably assisted by Sutherland and Christie, who turn in one of the most believable portraits of marriage I've seen on film. So much has been said of the pivotal love-making scene, cutting between the unbridled intimacy of the act itself and the distant dressing afterward, but beyond that what makes John and Laura's relationship so believable is in the little things: the constant interruptions in each other's conversations that never escalate into arguments but rather feel like this is how they've always talked. The small touches and brushes into one another on the bed before the lovemaking, in the restaurant, and the jogging steps John takes as he runs to touch Laura's hand one last time before her boat leaves. In a film surrounded by so many odd supporting characters (the sisters, the supremely odd police chief) John and Laura are utterly grounded in reality, and it makes the fantastic events that occur all the more tragic.<br />
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The last thought I wanted to get out about DON'T LOOK NOW is how deliberate Roeg's direction is. Typically in a horror movie the directions a film takes align up with the perspective of the main character. You the audience learn something because the main character is learning something. Roeg does the exact opposite in DON'T LOOK NOW - he uses dissolves, flash-backs, genius editing and color to explicitly alert you - not John - to what's going on in the film. In one particular set-piece John is matching a newly cut tile to see how it matches against the original tiles for a mosaic high on a church wall. He stands on a rickety scaffold, and the camera constantly cuts back and forth from sets of eyes: on the mosaic, on pictures aligning a sheet of glass, and all of this cuts back to the cataract eyes of the psychic sister who heard the warnings to leave Venice before it was too late. Roeg doesn't rub your nose in it; rather, he very purposefully presents his cues and guides you through to the climax of the film. It's an incredibly assured job (not surprising considering some of his past work with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lean">David Lean</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Corman">Roger Corman</a>), and indicative of the visual themes he would continue to pursue in films like THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH and BAD TIMING.</div><div><br />
DON'T LOOK NOW is a modern horror classic, not because it's particularly horrific or frightening (although in its dreadful way it is both of these things), but because of its maturity, a film firmly grounded in genre that isn't afraid to be art as well.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3f8wiUunKlXH1eK-Tbss7KcCbTDUg-xzOoXOHR9-4wIOk51mrIZT9UNKvGPJL6zShQTe_aUuyaQOkJ2tfEyskrhRD7Z83F48wcdvPSRpT5Gb7rz0jfBGvrmtMLMBXlL8-KShsmeDrWLOx/s1600/vlcsnap-193615.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3f8wiUunKlXH1eK-Tbss7KcCbTDUg-xzOoXOHR9-4wIOk51mrIZT9UNKvGPJL6zShQTe_aUuyaQOkJ2tfEyskrhRD7Z83F48wcdvPSRpT5Gb7rz0jfBGvrmtMLMBXlL8-KShsmeDrWLOx/s400/vlcsnap-193615.png" width="400" /></a></div></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-17961076498645750132010-10-22T20:23:00.003-04:002010-10-24T21:23:36.087-04:00Splice (2010)<i>Being Film #7 in Hail Horror 5</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACTwIBrA6NcT7wIUGXaqWpOo5pkC0R3dNww0EuMk1w15r4aZRrPgTeJrkELntZZNwqPF9HXQ49vMv8WODQgE3nRrUjmmtLRad1J6zRt2MYy-OERomB12KhG9avWvv-V9Z3pAgNQ9fSq2H/s1600/splice+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACTwIBrA6NcT7wIUGXaqWpOo5pkC0R3dNww0EuMk1w15r4aZRrPgTeJrkELntZZNwqPF9HXQ49vMv8WODQgE3nRrUjmmtLRad1J6zRt2MYy-OERomB12KhG9avWvv-V9Z3pAgNQ9fSq2H/s400/splice+title.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>There comes a point about three quarters of the way through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincenzo_Natali">Vincenzo Natali's</a> SPLICE, his 21st century cross-bred homage to the Frankenstein story that significantly changes the stakes of what you've seen up to this point. And you're going to make a split-second decision in your head as to whether you can accept that this is actually happening and carry on, or if you think a line's been crossed and you turn it off. There's a small chance that you might think, "What's the big deal? That's not so bad," and just keep watching, never giving it a second thought.<br />
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If you're one of those folks (or even if you're not), <a href="http://outlawvern.com/2010/10/06/splice/">I urge you to read the always-awesome Vern and his review of the film</a>, which goes into a lot of spoiler details addressing this moment. Then think again about what you just watched, and either marvel or cringe at what Natali and company got away with in a mainstream summer release. <br />
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SPLICE is the story of Clive and Elsa, an aptly named pair of punk rock hipster genetic scientists played by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrien_Brody">Adrien Brody</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Polley">Sarah Polley</a>. I want to stress this description because the beginning of the film is fairly distracting and just a bit silly: Brody attends meetings dressed in slick checkered suits and ironic t-shirts. Polley wears knee high combat boots and both work in lab coats covered in faux military patches. I don't know what Natali's trying to get across with this, except to say, <i>"Hey, look at us! We're young and cool and brilliant and utterly incapable of knowing our limits!"</i> Actually, that's probably exactly what he was trying to get across based on what happens to them, but it seems so out of place at first, and then basically gets lost in the shuffle as the movie goes on. Clive and Elsa have just successfully spliced together the genes of different animals and come up with Fred and Ginger, two phallic worm creatures whose proteins can be the basis for a number of medical vaccines and potential cures. Great job, and for them the logical next step is to mix a little human DNA into the mix.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzu7JnW7zIfTQFMD0nQjtPXeel0YqJlT0x2_-fL0F4vEUcZzcRBk6FmYFTZdnwn_1r7Mvmc0SDOAl5yJt_LOvJVQGT9QsMf63FKEbMv71iZ_skCaTbOAX50Oz2IRScTDoW6HkRqo5NZ-Vc/s1600/splice-movie+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzu7JnW7zIfTQFMD0nQjtPXeel0YqJlT0x2_-fL0F4vEUcZzcRBk6FmYFTZdnwn_1r7Mvmc0SDOAl5yJt_LOvJVQGT9QsMf63FKEbMv71iZ_skCaTbOAX50Oz2IRScTDoW6HkRqo5NZ-Vc/s400/splice-movie+2.png" width="400" /></a></div>From here on in we're treading some familiar territory, as what happens is a twisted version of the Frankenstein myth, although instead of a lumbering, shunned gargantuan, we're treated to Dren, a delicate female with the legs of a bird and a tail with a nasty stinger. What SPLICE does exceptionally well with this conceit is to have Clive and Elsa, whose relationship is on edge due to the whole child issue, come face to face with their problems in the form of the newly created life. Yes, it's an experiment that was never supposed to come to term, but now that it's here, what are their responsibilities? Where does the experiment end and being a parent begin? Natali does a great job in the second act asking these questions and giving Brody and POlley enough room to really address these questions both as scientists and as new parents, as Dren ages in short order from a tadpole-looking "thing" straight out of David Lynch's mind and into an exotic, beautiful young woman.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Lest you think this is another case of MONSTERS, where the promise of horror is nowhere to be found, rest assured: one thing Natali knows how to do is wring some genuine horror and suspense from a scene. Early on in the film Clive and Elsa are summoned to the lab in the middle of the night: the experiment has come to term and is ready to be born out of a synthetic "womb". It's a terrifically intense sequence, no one being sure exactly what's going to come out of the rapidly expanding bag. Another, later sequence goes even further as Elsa and Clive, thinking they're about to kill the experiment before anyone finds out, soon discovers it's missing, having evolved into something entirely different. The eventual unveling of Fred and Ginger and the effects of that is both horrific and utterly hilarious, not least because the scene has Brody and Polley dressed like rock stars addressing a science community of tuxedo-clad aristocracy.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlGRlc7aMPqOxGL9kNkyQ2-Qdcbd3GCwJUGLr-EAIG7w0Sb6I_oDG2qzmp0a8forrmt83XMyfjjVOu7McuLlDq4sxNa2DEsmNcZuHf7qt7LbXaT2K4T5aEB8KHvicptBHTWZFGf0rzO78R/s1600/splice-movie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlGRlc7aMPqOxGL9kNkyQ2-Qdcbd3GCwJUGLr-EAIG7w0Sb6I_oDG2qzmp0a8forrmt83XMyfjjVOu7McuLlDq4sxNa2DEsmNcZuHf7qt7LbXaT2K4T5aEB8KHvicptBHTWZFGf0rzO78R/s400/splice-movie.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The effects for Dren in all stages of her life are remarkable for such a small picture, and go a long way to making SPLICE a worthwhile experience - it's refreshing to see see something so alien, so different than what we've come to expect from a film of this type. In her adult form Dren is played by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphine_Chan%C3%A9ac">Delphine Chanéac</a> in an eerie, cat-like performance. As she gets older and begins to express the questions and desires of any normal young person, the film gets better and better until the aforementioned pivotal moment in the picutre, where something you suspect might happen does indeed happen, with a gusto and relish that's horrifying...<br />
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...and then the film backs down. As much as I enjoyed SPLICE for it's originality and willingness to address some interesting issues, instead of taking those questions further after, the film devolves into a "let's kill the monster" climax. It's a little unsettling to see how quickly the unnamed sequence is glossed over to make way for a generic chase in the woods and the now I see it coming from a mile away ending. It's almost like Natali was stopped from exploring the themes he was interested as soon as the film was picked up for major distribution. What happens in its place isn't necessarily bad, just a bit too traditional for what could have been a truly creepy and substantial movie. SPLICE is still a movie I would recommend for any horror fan looking for something different, and at the very least to provoke discussion as to what Natali was shooting for, how we feel about it, and what's left to do in a modern horror film.<br />
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Oh, that's right...<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_centipede">THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE</a>. We've come so far...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnc6qi5HjCrqyD2NogPvVgyA8CXMuF1hHOPVoH4GvjhIIui7pCJ8Ck9WSWY76vBDuYbvrLXtxdrq4uKkU7gTOt-Xz7n1epUTv9wl4irz5JfQQfdpVbC5AhdOEfk_-eljUf2YCTrr4QVTs/s1600/splice-movie-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnc6qi5HjCrqyD2NogPvVgyA8CXMuF1hHOPVoH4GvjhIIui7pCJ8Ck9WSWY76vBDuYbvrLXtxdrq4uKkU7gTOt-Xz7n1epUTv9wl4irz5JfQQfdpVbC5AhdOEfk_-eljUf2YCTrr4QVTs/s400/splice-movie-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-3710620633836106282010-10-20T11:09:00.003-04:002010-10-22T15:57:27.287-04:00The Stendhal Syndrome (1996)<i> Being Film #6 in Hail Horror 5</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd07wZbJClUuyYAsv8iVsYhR6MGXWOk7w0SLfvfsomAOakmrs_7Xzr9WQ4feuh46W6DuGkZDN_8yOSWqKE-AqGWkXR5VLGTTjy6uULwUcnKDwpKocmwI8Ej3592moqiRZtUMe1zQspoe6J/s1600/stendhal+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd07wZbJClUuyYAsv8iVsYhR6MGXWOk7w0SLfvfsomAOakmrs_7Xzr9WQ4feuh46W6DuGkZDN_8yOSWqKE-AqGWkXR5VLGTTjy6uULwUcnKDwpKocmwI8Ej3592moqiRZtUMe1zQspoe6J/s400/stendhal+title.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Before writing this I went back and read the previous reviews I've written on Dario Argento films (for those curious, <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/tenebre-1982.html">TENEBRE</a>, <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/09/phenomena-1985.html">PHENOMENA</a>, and <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/04/four-flies-on-grey-velvet-1971.html">FOUR FILES ON GREY VELVET</a>), and the same theme crops up again and again: even when things don't make a lick of sense, Argento is such a visually striking director it becomes easy to fall into his films and enjoy the ride. So far I've been lucky in my selection of his work: besides the above, I've luxuriated in the saturated colors of SUSPIRIA and marveled at the ingenuity on display in works as early as THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE and the Godfather of <i>giallo</i> films, DEEP RED. But that was the trick; Argento has a large enough discography you can bounce around and find classic after classic and take a while before you bump into a clunker like THE MOTHER OF TEARS. The general rule seems to be, stick to the early stuff - anything in the last twenty years and you're in danger of some serious crummery. <br />
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But I had heard a lot of good things about THE STENDHAL SYNDROME, the first Italian film to use CGI, and it certainly didn't hurt that Argento cast his lovely daughter <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Argento">Asia </a>as the lead, and since it was available in HD on Netflix Instant Streaming I curled up in bed Saturday morning and checked it out.<br />
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Boasting another great score by Ennio Morricione, THE STENDHAL SYNDROME stylistically feels right at home alongside his other great <i>giallo </i>films of the 70s and early 80s. Asia Argento is Anna Manni, a policewoman from Rome recently arrived in Florence to compare notes with the local law about a vicious rapist who has lately started murdering his victims with a shot through the head. She receives a call from a stranger stating the killer is indeed in Florence, and will be at the world famous Uffizi Gallery. Anna goes on her own to see if he's there, but becomes entranced by the sheer volume of art on display, and falls prey to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_Syndrome">Stendhal Syndrome</a>, a real-life affliction where the person becomes faint and can even hallucinate at the sight of beautiful or large amounts of art. In Anna's case, she falls into a painting of an ocean where an enormous fish promptly swims up and begins to make out with her.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYq9sK4NXpEom0W8S0Hhh-OS3jc-XGOKC3HQbThrPjVBKFWIDMExekBPmjrwswJjo6Uxpmdt7Zkn22h2eQZ9WIp_C6nYrsUp3euO7cTwsveXEl0-npwE63Cv0JUDY0n6ROenQIvSIjFVF0/s1600/fish+kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYq9sK4NXpEom0W8S0Hhh-OS3jc-XGOKC3HQbThrPjVBKFWIDMExekBPmjrwswJjo6Uxpmdt7Zkn22h2eQZ9WIp_C6nYrsUp3euO7cTwsveXEl0-npwE63Cv0JUDY0n6ROenQIvSIjFVF0/s400/fish+kiss.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Yeah, so right away <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2010/10/gothic-1986.html">we're kind of back in Ken Russell territory</a>, but the scene, surreal as it is, serves as the template for Anna's condition, and is used as an indicator for her sanity throughout the film. Anna, now slightly amnesiac, is helped up by Alfredo, a young man who witnesses the event and helps her with her belongings. She returns to her hotel room, still dazed by what happened and is confronted by another painting which opens up as a doorway, allowing her to travel back in time to the scene of the crime that brought her to Florence. While the remarked-upon CGI is a little shoddy in certain places (there's an odd scene of Anna swallowing some pills that we watch travel through her system), when it comes to the paintings coming to life and transporting her it's surprisingly effective. After walking through the doorway and reliving the events that prompt her police chief to send her to Florence, Anna walks back to her room and regains her memory. It sounds crazy, but these sequences find Argento perfectly in his element, using his signature dream logic to give everything a spaced-out feeling.<br />
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But as soon as she returns to reality things take a startling turn as Alfredo appears in her room, now revealed as (surprise) the killer and has been tracking her ever since she left Rome. I'm used to violence in film, and in particular to violence in Argento films, where everything takes on a surreal, fetishistic tone. THE STENDHAL SYNDROME, though, pushes the envelop for what I'm comfortable with: Alfredo, unmasked so early, brutally rapes Anna, cutting her lips with a razor blade he keeps in his month, and punching her to keep her screaming all the while. It's extremely unsettling, and Argento is unforgiving in the way he shoots it, using intense close-ups of Alfredo playing with the razor in his mouth, the drops of blood that stain the sheets, and the terrified, sweat-soaked face of Anna. Mercifully she's knocked unconscious, only to have the brutality kicked up another notch when she wakes up in a car next to another woman getting raped and then shot by Alfredo, who gazes at Anna through a hole in the dead woman's face:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DJZ0zQiXnM7MaK45ye8DiIeBYNvh-cb-aykR5WwxWypGrgMuAZ6KzLJybYWv4VDYtnoP3SPh9lc_qeBC2ynnvHNnssrZJZCfvJ39c2nHs2VFNnV9y_ONIehsfj7pexD4uQaIP7LEoqob/s1600/stendhal+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DJZ0zQiXnM7MaK45ye8DiIeBYNvh-cb-aykR5WwxWypGrgMuAZ6KzLJybYWv4VDYtnoP3SPh9lc_qeBC2ynnvHNnssrZJZCfvJ39c2nHs2VFNnV9y_ONIehsfj7pexD4uQaIP7LEoqob/s400/stendhal+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anna escapes, but the experience leaves lasting effects: she can't stop thinking about what happened, can't stand the thought of being so defenseless, and how that is tied into her gender. She cuts her hair severely short, begins dressing in slacks and jackets, won't let her boyfriend touch her (in another brutal scene she winds up frantically assaulting him), takes up boxing with her brother. I think the other real surprise besides the viciousness of her rape is the the amount of realistic psychological damage Argento injects into the story. In the past with films like FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET and to a lesser extent DEEP RED and TENEBRE the mental instability (for lack of a better term) of the victims or the killers seemed tacked on, used for shock effect without really diving into the grit and realism those conditions would have on the person. Here it feels much more tangible, and that realism adds to the tragedy we feel as Anna's sanity slowly starts to crumble. It should be noted that Asia Argento is fantastic as Anna, convincing us in every scene of the pain and torment she's in, whether it's having a tortuous dinner with her family or being trapped in the clutches of Alfredo...<br />
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..which happens <i>again</i>, halfway through the film in an extended scene that's even worse than what came before. However this time the tables are turned and Anna not only manages to escape, but to inflict some serious revenge on Alfredo (there's a truly twisted moment involving bed springs) before kicking him to his death over a cliff. The only trouble is, when the police arrive they can't find the body...<br />
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This would be the ending for most films, but we're only an hour into THE STENDHAL SYNDROME, which now takes a left turn as Anna physically transforms again, donning a platinum blonde wig and falling in love with Marie, an exchange student from France who works at the local museum. Argento always manages to make the most of his sets and locations, achieving a wonderful sense of skewered balance by accentuating different aspects of the scene. The museum where Marie works is a perfect example, the workers dwarfed by the gargantuan sculptures that lay haphazardly (but oh so carefully arranged) around the room:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvEUI3LqtOJYC1KKhCQjmCZRh4_8e2Op-70_Y0Oie9RJ99tKtFvk6mPj_GlFm6NaHnmtDL-IdM-ChKhjslJmCM04jAI-0NFqC3bvs32EZ4tEGjyLz32hnRHPtGBX__R2tskLS4bPdRmWl7/s1600/stendhal+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvEUI3LqtOJYC1KKhCQjmCZRh4_8e2Op-70_Y0Oie9RJ99tKtFvk6mPj_GlFm6NaHnmtDL-IdM-ChKhjslJmCM04jAI-0NFqC3bvs32EZ4tEGjyLz32hnRHPtGBX__R2tskLS4bPdRmWl7/s400/stendhal+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Let's see: large, white stone heads and arms, all detached from bodies in a museum? What do you think the chances are those statues will be covered with blood soon?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsA3El9Yw_KXb_syeQJRB2b5x3vZrgL0XFGfnKOFTEIbvEZSvJLOWB9QKFjUShtC8EpuWw8UdqlID3c0hzrohrvuhFbRHlcJR5hVKg3ltHA8DZU0tfc8ZSq4rodKmfsD8btjm_RgZf6FRU/s1600/stendhal+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsA3El9Yw_KXb_syeQJRB2b5x3vZrgL0XFGfnKOFTEIbvEZSvJLOWB9QKFjUShtC8EpuWw8UdqlID3c0hzrohrvuhFbRHlcJR5hVKg3ltHA8DZU0tfc8ZSq4rodKmfsD8btjm_RgZf6FRU/s400/stendhal+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>If you said, "pretty good" give yourself a pat on the back.<br />
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The ending of THE STENDHAL SYNDROME leads you in one direction and then takes a left turn that, while not all that surprising, is still surprisingly effective and ends on a more somber note that I would have thought. It was said that originally Asia Argento was going to reprise her role in a sequel of sorts but scheduling issues changed that plan (the film was cast with another lead and turned into the not-so-well received THE CARD PLAYER in 2004). Based on what happens in THE STENDHAL SYNDROME, that would have been an interesting film indeed. But at least we have this, a surprisingly good, mature film from coming so much later in a career that seemed to have peaked 15 years before. Let's hope there's more to be had from such a singular voice in horror cinema.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-52910022902656528832010-10-19T21:33:00.004-04:002010-10-22T15:57:51.892-04:00Meme: 15 Directors<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-bahlGPLnmyjKwgHs-VDEk6hcc40b29bPpkKB8vcdYx9FGJTVUAoZVR6jlIsp8KrHadPrHQy2CrvakZqQrQEswI-JsNSgI9drUWI5dgTp4uZYW1gR9AcTYGVNKN2mo1DADwUVLD9EZ-E5/s1600/booooooom_kubrick_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-bahlGPLnmyjKwgHs-VDEk6hcc40b29bPpkKB8vcdYx9FGJTVUAoZVR6jlIsp8KrHadPrHQy2CrvakZqQrQEswI-JsNSgI9drUWI5dgTp4uZYW1gR9AcTYGVNKN2mo1DADwUVLD9EZ-E5/s400/booooooom_kubrick_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Ah, the Internet Meme. If it weren't for the proliferation of these dastardly virtual viruses we'd probably all be a lot more productive but not nearly as entertained. I caught this particular bug from J.D. over at <a href="http://rheaven.blogspot.com/2010/10/15-directors-meme.html">Radiator Heaven</a>, who apparently was infected after seeing the kickoff over at <a href="http://detailedcriticisms.blogspot.com/2010/10/15-directors-meme.html">Films From the Supermassive Black Hole</a> and the <i>most righteous</i> posting over at <a href="http://thedancingimage.blogspot.com/2010/10/directors-chair.html">The Dancing Image</a>.<br />
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The easy part is coming up with the list. From J.D.'s post:<br />
<blockquote><i>List off the first 15 directors that come to your head that have shaped the way you look at movies. You know, the ones that will always stick with you. Don't take too long to think about it.</i></blockquote>After about a minute or so I had about 20 directors. This list is simply the first 15 I scribbled down, with the bonus 16th cleverly concealed in the image above (try and figure it out!).<br />
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The harder part was deciding how to visually present the list. I'd love to take some time and care with this and use video clips <a href="http://thedancingimage.blogspot.com/2010/10/directors-chair.html">like MovieMan0283 did</a> (<i>seriously, his entry is a crash-course in film and should be checked out</i>), but for now I'll follow J.D.'s steps and use simple images of the people themselves:<br />
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<b>Michael Curtiz</b><br />
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<b>Howard Hawks</b><br />
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<b>Akira Kurosawa</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BLbaeHzJyB_vQ86qxylgsqHeTSkGCG_8xlCwFGx71y3bSntijOQ86jY1iJ-Y2KzIvR49GtTIJ5A6rjrwj4slGbQUVHjy3tsKpycNn3Z96EK0iFxRlmmPF-9euK__Qxa1LSv5AH08fVZl/s1600/akira+kurosawa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BLbaeHzJyB_vQ86qxylgsqHeTSkGCG_8xlCwFGx71y3bSntijOQ86jY1iJ-Y2KzIvR49GtTIJ5A6rjrwj4slGbQUVHjy3tsKpycNn3Z96EK0iFxRlmmPF-9euK__Qxa1LSv5AH08fVZl/s400/akira+kurosawa.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<b>Woody Allen</b><br />
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<b>Alfred Hitchcock</b><br />
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<b>The Coen Brothers</b><br />
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<b>Guillermo del Toro</b><br />
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<b>Orson Welles</b><br />
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<b>Martin Scorsese</b><br />
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<b>Jean-Pierre Melville</b><br />
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<b>Jean-Luc Godard</b><br />
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<b>Francis Ford Coppola</b><br />
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<b>David Lynch</b><br />
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<b>Terry Gilliam</b><br />
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<b>Ingmar Bergman</b><br />
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There are, of course, others that should be on this list - Spielberg was right below Kubrick, Tarantino was below him, and John Huston just slipped my mind until I started looking for pictures. But these are the one that came to my head first, and they're in no particular order with the exception of Michael Curtiz, who doesn't get enough credit as a director, and has the distinction of directing the #1 and #2 films on my list of all-time favorites.<br />
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Over the next few months I'll come back and revisit each of these directors and shed a little light on why their films have affected the way I look at not only cinema but the world. In the meantime, enjoy the pics (I tried to keep to a certain style) and let me know who would be on your list.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-59084202878519253082010-10-16T22:39:00.001-04:002010-10-16T22:40:58.921-04:00My Two Cents on The Social Network (2010)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnk8_MSuZy7HH2cQWUARBFL9U0oawuzN7kr43akCqFgvGFHj6N1Lyl8Lp-9o7-siEPmwTHhJrh4io0LEBN-OM9C9tOQOrSXGvdkSasAeeVjCf7KAa5MgoSqrGnIpd_Ti3PGipsGGnN9UJF/s1600/the_social_network10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnk8_MSuZy7HH2cQWUARBFL9U0oawuzN7kr43akCqFgvGFHj6N1Lyl8Lp-9o7-siEPmwTHhJrh4io0LEBN-OM9C9tOQOrSXGvdkSasAeeVjCf7KAa5MgoSqrGnIpd_Ti3PGipsGGnN9UJF/s400/the_social_network10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>It's a good movie. A <i>really </i>good movie, entertaining as hell and filled with great acting, spectacular direction and a score that is so perfectly attuned to the action on the screen it's almost eerie.<br />
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That being said, it's not my favorite film of the year, and I cringe a little whenever I see the words "masterpiece" or "game-changer" tossed about. Like any movie (or every movie), there are choices I don't agree with, things that are clunky or don't work, but none of that should take away from what is a excellent look at the lengths people will go to to try and connect, to fit in within a larger circle, and the things they may lose along the way.<br />
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There are many excellent reviews out there in the film blog community: I went into a lot more detail regarding what I did and didn't like <a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7569705696893575981&postID=7967148904127776265&page=1&token=1287282174379_AIe9_BFew0wiZ-LtZmNDRJiG7PyVIe3Vtczll1O1upU-O2fYfL9JfEDsNeC2WFD8O0mXGAIT1B3waXooD-COYjYD17imYUX6Xs2lPxlxgPxV6rPiqNVDAjgHEBeMxZOZHh8lh4OZqZdLeTBQi8LdIIIdI05vyizo1SQhwKZFtdNYTpxRLBU8pHN6ZKbJg558EtkrDrlBy1hy7EEllr5Q5q3vktIrlHOfHypnamfEkAZPbu1NybGAhNDGSjX5E4oFf7WZgXxLLCqpwGwOwY7xV3gNOsTx9tNj9-Klxe_vTZwt8Ir6nclM_gu0s2GK1s3LiaEG9kxTcuEHBOYlWKFcWB8WW1OqoxZsjAnPJ-qFOajHAB0ecw-CSUk0VfO5D6doxhgqEZr752RUxUVzvmzxW_xmfTZFbI6FpJcM2-XAT7ujxnWK1jauxkiCF7SwPFC9RaVgLhTjqJo8j1A4Auv09_3R9pRm4ybPgWfe2OT9hMPZ9d0kOYNje4erpemup7XtFQcXBhyI-W1wOtRcyBQlxLXOdahgpaFZnvRQs16rzKyEiI4z4y_E1JkLgBHhPnmSkTA_I9vQLZV9B2SRIE5iZi4i4rihdlL5KNZtbImwF7PQrLG_7UNJMbWs96PMwzChmSfpKnriJEhn4oOg7y4OV7vlhm7D9UCoCX-IcIIwgD6p1llgm_53GriHtLdRJ-0SMGeTMR8jiZKCuM_z-pSEU5iwbfiWc28iixBzuYHKblpB4dr6w00zuEiJMY6pGyjGk43pJWLtTkE3-HWCj8LOMMdc2N7XaNn9LYL8sW3Tp9GsUS_HczQzSIO0V1ay37Qsi7hKi2ocizSqJVBzDJ513r9t-_MA8lvr_wf53R5GfPdKuTRnhqK5WEU">in the comments</a> on <a href="http://medflyquarantine.blogspot.com/2010/10/kids-today-social-network.html">Ryan Kelly's excellent post on Medfly Quarantine</a>. I also referenced <a href="http://www.cinemaviewfinder.com/2010/09/nyff10-opening-night-movie-review.html">Tony Dayoub's review from Cinema Viewfinder</a>, equally outstanding. Clicking on the comments from both sites will lead to many more great opinions on THE SOCIAL NETWORK, some positive, some negative, but all informed, intelligent, and well worth your time whether you agree with the findings or not.Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-90321782262189527842010-10-15T14:06:00.004-04:002010-10-18T21:16:11.668-04:00Gothic (1986)<i>Being Film #5 in Hail Horror 5. Thanks to Tony Dayoub of <a href="http://www.cinemaviewfinder.com/">Cinema Viewfinder</a> for the recommendation.</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxMkb8U4r7D8P946jurXdfyhZ-KdLtLu_7dm8l37ItP6_b2EbMazH3joOmGhaCsPa6YeImZJqK9EPwOoTp7igLrcHhB-hfB7hqPwJf2-L2CR-DlmXptxuj6ozGdWpW8M66bnTAC-TUkkf/s1600/gothic-mgmuk06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxMkb8U4r7D8P946jurXdfyhZ-KdLtLu_7dm8l37ItP6_b2EbMazH3joOmGhaCsPa6YeImZJqK9EPwOoTp7igLrcHhB-hfB7hqPwJf2-L2CR-DlmXptxuj6ozGdWpW8M66bnTAC-TUkkf/s400/gothic-mgmuk06.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: right;"><blockquote><i>"Russell provides you with your money's worth. Why he would have wanted to make this film is another matter. This is the kind of movie that <a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Roger%20Corman&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20101231">Roger Corman</a> was making for American-International back in the early 1960s, when AIP was plundering the shelves of out-of-copyright horror tales, looking for cheap story ideas."</i><br />
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<i>-Roger Ebert, in his review of Russell's LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM (1988) </i></blockquote></div>A similar thought ran through my head as I sat and "experienced" the hallucinatory nightmare that is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Russell">Ken Russell's</a> GOTHIC, a film loosely based one of the most famous events in horror history - the night poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, Dr. John William Polidori, and Mary Shelley spent at Lord Byron's estate, and the challenge to create a work of horror that ultimately led to the creation of Polidori's <i>Vampyre </i>and, more famously, Mary Shelley's <i>Frankenstein</i>. That thought was that this would have been perfect fodder for Corman and AIP, or even Hammer Films back in the early 60s. The pairing of this type of story, told with the visual flair and camp that is a signature of Russell's work, must have seemed to be a perfect match to the film's producers.<br />
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I wish I was as taken with the pairing. Russell wanted to portray Byron and his guests as he felt they would truly be at the time, not the refined, cultured gentleman typical of a Corman or Hammer production, but as hedonistic satyrs, consuming life with a savagery that was more in keeping with history and perhaps his own interests. So GOTHIC plays out like a campy nightmare: plenty of vibrant colors and religious iconography, twisted sexual imagery both real and imagined, and acting that veers from lethargic to histrionic in a nanosecond. Upon their arrival at the Villa Diodati, Byron (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Byrne">Gabriel Byrne</a>) and Polidori (an outlandishly foppish <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Spall">Timothy Spall</a>) serve their guests laudanum, and later on instead of challenging each other to write a horror story, he proposes they conjure their own horror through mysticism and <i>séance</i>. The results, largely viewed through the eyes of Mary Shelley (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natasha_Richardson">Natasha Richardson</a> in one of her first roles), is a series of events as each person comes into contact with their innermost terrors, including snakes, leeches, suit of armor with enormous spiked codpieces, and - lest we forget - a belly-dancing robot whose nipples turn into a pair of eyes.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrx4TUx0Xv76zjBpcIXAln_tVOVdLXixIl_FZqsefQDvxSSOrusBK8XlBICr4WKWLXILOQJj6qJgutQnP8VPENv0FJbGfT_EMWcHJxoodI6rltgTbU9HFm0QhvmCDKB-7Y04VUz57Bv6rl/s1600/gothic3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrx4TUx0Xv76zjBpcIXAln_tVOVdLXixIl_FZqsefQDvxSSOrusBK8XlBICr4WKWLXILOQJj6qJgutQnP8VPENv0FJbGfT_EMWcHJxoodI6rltgTbU9HFm0QhvmCDKB-7Y04VUz57Bv6rl/s400/gothic3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
It's all presented in your face and with barely a pause, so watching GOTHIC for me was more of a challenge to my stamina than my sensibilities. Without a coherent plot to fall back on GOTHIC is really nothing more than a series of loosely-connected vignettes that ultimately go nowhere. The acting is all around pretty terrible - Gabriel Byrne and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Sands">Julian Sands</a> as Percy Shelley in particular both spend much of the time either crying or storming around speaking in melodramatic sound bytes (one scene even has Shelley naked on the roof during a thunderstorm proclaiming, rather obviously, that lightning is the key to life or something, with Mary looking on) I can't help but like Timothy Spall, and he has a few good moments: in the beginning he's framed in silhouette, commenting in a very dandified voice upon the arrival of the guests to what appears to be a stuffed parrot. Later on he nicks himself on the crucifix above his bed, and then later removes it to impale his hand again and again upon the nail. Richardson's beauty goes a long way to elevate her in a largely thankless, reactive role; most of the juicy female parts (ew, poor choice of words there) belong to <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CDAQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Fname%2Fnm0194267%2F&rct=j&q=myriam%20cyr&ei=jZm4TLypEo-lngeQ9aTyAw&usg=AFQjCNHIWDFDNmyJa4vroZ1FDRyKVrfHgA&sig2=eQnBfS2L7At5cSOGmc2DXQ&cad=rja">Myriam Cyr </a>as Claire, who winds up with a dead rat in her mouth at one point in the film.<br />
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I think if you're a fan of Russell's visual style you can forgive the poor script and simply relish in the singular madness he depicts on screen. Having only seen a few of his films (TOMMY, ALTERED STATES, LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM), I was initially taken with the pace and style but about halfway through just became disinterested. GOTHIC doesn't really touch on the points that made this momentous meeting so important, and feels instead like an opportunity for Russell to put to screen many of the mad things he had dancing in his head at the time. Not even remotely frightening, and boasting an out-of-place and forgettable score by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Dolby">Thomas Dolby</a>, I was left thinking about the film's poster, and how hard it must have been to market this thing when it came out. To be honest I can't even remember what the ending was all about - I know it goes to the present, and there's a disturbing image of a baby floating in the water, but I couldn't tell you what it was supposed to mean.<br />
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Oh, well. Maybe I'm not supposed to know. At any rate, while I wouldn't recommend the film (especially in its current incarnation, a muddy, washed-out VHS transfer), I can certainly see the appeal, and maybe if I had some more of his films under my belt, there would be more to discuss. But based on GOTHIC, I don't think I'll be checking them out any time soon.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbNIN9O_huwbQPPBpD3-I2iyiYIvpEdXCPXp0OsDlh-CxN07dxUBslG3xnl8KEp4SWZy6K71l2wtQjo2Ud2DvHsqeNtPPhDRPMuBf66L2b0NdHS3z6pOFCbashjfw9S-9LJw7ouvcembV/s1600/Gothic+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbNIN9O_huwbQPPBpD3-I2iyiYIvpEdXCPXp0OsDlh-CxN07dxUBslG3xnl8KEp4SWZy6K71l2wtQjo2Ud2DvHsqeNtPPhDRPMuBf66L2b0NdHS3z6pOFCbashjfw9S-9LJw7ouvcembV/s400/Gothic+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-89686645819395784842010-10-13T13:29:00.002-04:002010-10-15T14:06:50.551-04:00Monsters (2010)<i>Being Film #4 in Hail Horror 5</i><br />
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Turns out the surprise was on me. Not because MONSTERS, the micro-budget (reportedly made for $15,000) debut from British visual effects artist <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2284484/">Gareth Edwards</a> is a bad movie - it most definitely isn't - but it also definitely isn't a horror movie. You wouldn't necessarily gather that from the trailers, however, which try to push the "dangerous thing hunting down the young couple" aspect a bit more than I think serves the film. Despite all that, though, MONSTERS is a incredible example of what one can do with limited funds but boundless amounts of passion.<br />
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After discovering evidence of extra-terrestrial life, a small satellite carrying samples crashes through the Earth's atmosphere, landing in Mexico where over the course of six years becomes a walled-off Infected Zone, where the organisms have grown into towering behemoths capable of ripping apart buildings and laying massive amounts of destruction in their wake. The Mexican and American governments are doing all they can to contain the menace, but all too often that involves air strikes and chemical weapons that potentially do more harm to the human populace than the aliens ever would.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1sygoWDOpLjiPyqIE9-u4QajY9m9akW3gmYsyd1fVbz2vB5jejnyZ3Vf4fj-ktZ53s7AzINXI7XTysPtxO-wyGAZ-02JPHxNpfFp_AJYvkfIQGc6WwewNDI842x5CGdRhlAkdc4wbGYP/s1600/monsters2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1sygoWDOpLjiPyqIE9-u4QajY9m9akW3gmYsyd1fVbz2vB5jejnyZ3Vf4fj-ktZ53s7AzINXI7XTysPtxO-wyGAZ-02JPHxNpfFp_AJYvkfIQGc6WwewNDI842x5CGdRhlAkdc4wbGYP/s400/monsters2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Thrust into this carefully constructed world is Andrew Kaulder, a photo journalist staying in Mexico in the hopes of getting that front-page shot that will catapult him into the big leagues. After one of the aliens decimates a small town he's ordered by the magazine he works for to escort Samantha Wynden, the boss's daughter who was injured in the battle, to safety. If this sounds a bit like a clichéd set-up, where the reluctant hero has to escort the damsel in distress across a dangerous land, well, it is. But Edwards smartly stays away from the usual Hollywood action beats this type of story would follow for the most part, instead putting the focus on MONSTERS' biggest strength: the realization of a world coping with a genuine alien threat.<br />
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The film is beautifully shot, and Edwards' expertise in visual effects makes the world Andrew and Sam have to traverse look as real, as tangible, as anything budgeted upwards of $50 million dollars or having the word "Rings" in the title (You can check out <a href="http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/06/03/how-gareth-edwards-shot-monsters-on-an-incredibly-low-budget/">a short, relatively spoiler-free video here</a> showing how Edwards achieved some of the effects). Some criticism has been levied at the acting and the dialog, which was largely improvised, but overall I think Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able has some genuine chemistry, and sell the believability of the story pretty well. Most of their story is the travel through the Infected Zone to America, the people they meet along the way, and their struggle with their own personal issues, inflated as they grow to care for one another.<br />
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In fact, the "monsters" of the film's title are for the most part relegated to the background: there are two sequences when the threat is more direct, but for the most part they serve as the backdrop for Andrew and Sam to address their situation, both in the jungle and in their lives. However, when they are finally front and center, the effects are impressive, giving a strong sense of size and staying suitably alien: this isn't man-in-suit, bi-pedal aliens, these are truly other-worldly beings severely out of place on our planet. The climax of the film allows us our first real glimpse of these creatures, and as Andrew and Sam find out, there's much more to these beings then anyone first realized.<br />
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Sporting a deliberate, tourist-y pace to allow the viewer to become fully immersed in the world, MONSTERS is a bold take on a classic science fiction premise, and a promising debut from Gareth Edwards. There have been a lot of comparisons to films like DISTRICT 9, but I think MONSTERS benefits from never diverting from the type of story it wants to tell, and for using the most of its visual flare to tell what is at its heart a very simple story of two lost people trying to find their way out of the wilderness.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMDtiedohzIgZzSpT9dVKXuBGtRadrogwrEFtCxMXKoEnnrmysleIzfcAjezmjAsY93i3krxWXCd2O_qVLCrkSH4-80JVYwv-ufktFfpQzMGBeoQwHzygOgJrAbID885kgPWGfUOOllFI/s1600/monster1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMDtiedohzIgZzSpT9dVKXuBGtRadrogwrEFtCxMXKoEnnrmysleIzfcAjezmjAsY93i3krxWXCd2O_qVLCrkSH4-80JVYwv-ufktFfpQzMGBeoQwHzygOgJrAbID885kgPWGfUOOllFI/s400/monster1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-42621722856836452782010-10-09T07:29:00.002-04:002010-10-16T22:41:39.307-04:00War Within the Mind: Two Looks at the Climax of Village of the Damned<i>Being a Hail Horror Interlude, and the second of two contributions to <a href="http://rheaven.blogspot.com/2010/08/coming-soon-john-carpenter-week-at.html">Radiator Heaven's John Carpenter Blogathon</a>.</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_BmuUcmLs6zie99NWx_z3G1cZWWdYy70RwQNzdwQrKs31STWUIQ2_FsVt9LZZy2VRPswngwSe241OfwkdTGRQBrfDHQ0hIOO5Z30f4xgp5kdxoKaUtgBp5IwmDFoKiLhl2E22I8iTscye/s1600/Village+of+Damned.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_BmuUcmLs6zie99NWx_z3G1cZWWdYy70RwQNzdwQrKs31STWUIQ2_FsVt9LZZy2VRPswngwSe241OfwkdTGRQBrfDHQ0hIOO5Z30f4xgp5kdxoKaUtgBp5IwmDFoKiLhl2E22I8iTscye/s400/Village+of+Damned.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Wolf Rilla's 1960 adaptation of John Wyndham's <i>The Midwitch Cuckoos</i> known around filmdom as the wonderful VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED remains one of my favorite SF/Horror movies, a film I can easily slide into any time of the year. Boasting a clever "what if?" premise and a gaggle of eerie children, its climax is a classic of suspense: one man's will to shield his thoughts from the evil around him, and the slow disintegration of that will beautifully interpreted as a crumbling wall.<br />
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I'd be lying if I said John Carpenter's 1995 remake fared as well. In an effort to update the threat to appeal to the audience of the time, I think it loses some of the original's grace and simplicity. That being said, Carpenter can still wring out a tense sequence with the best of them and also knows that, like Howard Hawks, if something worked the first time, best not to mess with it.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The images below can speak for themselves:<br />
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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiDhRn4BMuKl_o0tEOdRIrbSiKt_YzOdnM1uMHIwxdh7yZTGlmf1u1UNrmWcvja3WH-E7XIXARxDopTP4yU7wIut4TXbGYyvBJpXXYx4JU_wvpg8vUWWkMVXH-8BK6PxcTvaFymLO1GhT/s1600/new+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiDhRn4BMuKl_o0tEOdRIrbSiKt_YzOdnM1uMHIwxdh7yZTGlmf1u1UNrmWcvja3WH-E7XIXARxDopTP4yU7wIut4TXbGYyvBJpXXYx4JU_wvpg8vUWWkMVXH-8BK6PxcTvaFymLO1GhT/s400/new+13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-13533113502163254552010-10-07T20:23:00.003-04:002010-10-12T10:22:29.322-04:00Prince of Darkness (1987)<i>Being Film #3 in Hail Horror 5, and also one of two contributions I'll be making to <a href="http://rheaven.blogspot.com/2010/08/coming-soon-john-carpenter-week-at.html">Radiator Heaven's John Carpenter Blogathon</a>. Thanks to J.D. for inviting me to participate.</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORh6fCqcI2fsrTpUA0erNWuIklcseMp_FtBM0cg_3-amHeqkb0KWbdZiBNYf-7o_y7juKwHOslknJcT2-0LX_bASQj4lNlEtrEWA4Sm3dYsatMlyKWwu2nsHKmW4Wog_uCIzvCphEfMmi/s1600/prince+of+darkness+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORh6fCqcI2fsrTpUA0erNWuIklcseMp_FtBM0cg_3-amHeqkb0KWbdZiBNYf-7o_y7juKwHOslknJcT2-0LX_bASQj4lNlEtrEWA4Sm3dYsatMlyKWwu2nsHKmW4Wog_uCIzvCphEfMmi/s400/prince+of+darkness+title.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i>"What is it?</i></div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i>"A secret that can no longer be kept."</i></div></div><br />
Like many people, I was slightly disappointed the first time I watched <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carpenter">John Carpenter's</a> PRINCE OF DARKNESS when it was first released to VHS <i>(man, am I old).</i> This was not a horror film for a 14 year old kid who grew up on larger than life monsters both on the screen and in his own head. Watching now over 20 years later I'd love to smack that 14 year old in the head, but although PRINCE OF DARKNESS hits a sweet spot for me now, I can kind of understand why I was disappointed that first time - it's a really slow build: the terror, like SESSION 9, comes from a growing sense of unease and random unexplained instances rather than ferocious, dripping monsters with tentacles and acid blood (in 1986 I was forever changed when at 13 I saw my first rated R film in the theater - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_%28film%29">ALIENS</a>) and when you do get to the climax, instead of the titular Prince of Darkness in all his glory you get part of his hand - and even that lasts a fraction of a second.<br />
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So sorry, 14 year old me...you were probably never going to like PRINCE OF DARKNESS. 37 year old me, though? Loves it and (finally) recognizes it for what it is - one of Carpenter's boldest, far reaching ideas that manages to connect on a number of different levels, and does it on a fraction of the budget his previous film (the awesome for completely different reasons <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Trouble_in_Little_China">BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA</a>) had.<br />
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In the 10 minutes the credits run, you get the entire setup: an old priest dies, his hand falling away from an ornate box laying on his chest. Later, another priest (Carpenter stalwart <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Pleasence">Donald Pleasence</a>) finds out this was the last of the Brotherhood of Sleep, an ancient clerical order whose job it was to guard an unspeakable secret in the basement of an abandoned old church, an unspeakable something that's starting to wake up. The priest turns to Howard Birack (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Wong">Victor Wong</a>), a professor of theoretical physics, asking for his help with the object. Professor Birack assembles a team comprised of his students and fellow scientists to come to the church and study the phenomenon.<br />
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PRINCE OF DARKNESS deals heavily with the nature of God and the conflict between science and religion, pretty heady stuff for a mainstream horror film. As the team begins their investigation, images and motiffs play out across the screen: insects frenzy, a growing number of homeless people shamble like some psychotic congregation outside the church, and crosses loom everywhere: inside the church, leaning against a wall with a pigeon nailed to it, and my favorite shot - a class Carpenter framing as the priest views the run-down church for the first time, the camera slowly rising to capture the cross between the bars of a fence, perhaps symbolizing the forces imprisoned within:<br />
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Genre can make it easy to forget a filmmaker's stylistic influences, but it's hard not to note the classical nature of Carpenter's storytelling, and the strong influence of Howard Hawks and John Ford, especially in the camaraderie of the group and the running jokes ("the one with the glasses", <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0241748/">Dennis Dun's</a> constant quipping with the other Asian scientist), in the long takes and subtle editing, and the close-ups of significant objects. But another, more contemporary influence that shouldn't be discounted is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Argento">Dario Argento</a>, and his imprint can also be found in PRINCE OF DARKNESS, especially in the brutal death of one of the scientists, stabbed to death by a bag lady wielding one deadly half of a pruning shear. Carpenter films a perfect Argento moment: the shear perfectly lit against the backdrop of a brick wall, gliding in the hand of the woman as if she was being pulled along on a dolly (which I suspect she was):<br />
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At this point it's obvious the homeless people are there to keep the scientists from leaving, so that whatever it is inside that swirling mass of green liquid will have what it needs to do...to do...<br />
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To do what? Slowly Carpenter gives us the complete story: the swirling mass of green liquid is a form of anti-matter, a sentient life form capable of manipulating its environment. Birack explains to the priest that maybe his faith is correct: there is a higher entity, governing over all the matter in the universe. But since each particle has its opposite, there is an equal power governing the anti-matter: the Anti-God. The team finds more to dread: an old Bible dating back hundreds of years has been written over again and again, and hides differential equations. One woman bumps her arm, and begins developing a bizarre mark. Everyone begins having the same dream, one that gets longer each time they have it: a distorted television video of the front of the church, an enshrouded figure appearing in its doorway as a voice intones over static that this is a message from the future, that they must stop what is happening before it's too late: a paving of the way to bring the Anti-God to our world.<br />
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Although PRINCE OF DARKNESS has its fair share of gore - the aforementioned murder by pruning shear, one poor guy impaled on a bicycle by Alice Cooper of all people - most of the horror from PRINCE OF DARKNESS comes from the small pieces of insanity and dread, all accompanied once again by a killer Carpenter score. The possessed scientists infect each other by essentially vomiting the green liquid into their mouths. Most of these possessed are there to kill the others and make sure that the "chosen one" is left to evolve into the one who will bring the Anti-God into our world, but one man, seemingly fighting the change, stands there in front of the group, sweating and smiling and singing "Amazing Grace" as he runs a broken piece of wood against his throat. It's that moment that PRINCE OF DARKNESS really becomes bat-shit insane, and it's one of the creepiest scenes I've seen in a horror film in a long time.<br />
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If you can get past some of the admittedly dated dialog are okay with a film that takes its time to tell an intriguing story that's more than your average run of the mill slasher or monster flick, PRINCE OF DARKNESS holds up incredibly well. Great effects, a solid and unique premise, and a sense of dread and apocalypse that's hard to laugh away, upon revisiting it's turned into one of my favorites from the man. If you haven't seen it in a while, or have but was disappointed, I urge you to give it a second look - this one has the legs to go the distance.<br />
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<u><i>Random Notes</i></u><br />
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<ul><li><i>Something I was mad at a a kid I love now - the lack of appearance (other than the hand, above) of the Devil. Watching now, I can't help but think how much is implied by how little you actually see - very reminiscent of </i><a href="http://cdn.screenjunkies.com/www/sites/default/files/images/2010b/legend2.jpg"><i>Tim Curry's Satan from LEGEND</i></a><i>.</i></li>
<li><i>Dennis Dun, who nearly stole the show (nearly) from Kurt Russell in BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA is hilarious here. Hi-la-ri-ous.</i></li>
<li><i>Too bad PRINCE OF DARKNESS isn't out in Blu-ray. But, there is a great John Carpenter deal out there at Best Buy: </i><a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/John+Carpenter:+Master+of+Fear+%5B2+Discs%5D+-+DVD/9464849.p?id=2011768&skuId=9464849&st=john%20carpenter"><i>a 4-pack of his movies for $14.99</i></a><i>. You get THE THING (which if you're a fan you should already have on Blu-ray), PRINCE OF DARKNESS, THEY LIVE, and VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. All in widescreen, too. Awesome deal.</i></li>
</ul>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-47091165176161493492010-10-03T23:26:00.008-04:002010-10-07T20:29:54.283-04:00Session 9 (2001)<i>Being Film #2 in Hail Horror 5</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Wh2uonZdkMsDcAI4Xr4eEJmqnAvD__UgPZ0QRjfOkVJvYxMY2-FMN3xfqbWRIIbbcd91F5EkX2LldhR1TLy5B-m7_Q61nJEEpzJ6dkvoRyP5VYtchMM9G5T2w8IhDDsnww6212IKdu_2/s1600/session+9+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Wh2uonZdkMsDcAI4Xr4eEJmqnAvD__UgPZ0QRjfOkVJvYxMY2-FMN3xfqbWRIIbbcd91F5EkX2LldhR1TLy5B-m7_Q61nJEEpzJ6dkvoRyP5VYtchMM9G5T2w8IhDDsnww6212IKdu_2/s400/session+9+title.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
SESSION 9 is an odd, unsettling transitional film from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Anderson_%28film_director%29">Brad Anderson</a>, who had a small independent hit with the romantic NEXT STOP WONDERLAND in 1998. Falling between the quirky romantic comedy of 2001's HAPPY ACCIDENTS and the paranoid thriller of 2004's THE MACHINIST, SESSION 9 is Anderson's move into darker territory, a haunted house story where the "house" in question is an abandoned mental institution and the focus is on the madness that infests a small team of asbestos workers attempting to clean out the building.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjHDrGuDUuS5uAh_5eSVEM2dYICHh5hLDqkUz6SDo3AUhBtn2wrv0Xx_BmsGyh6mj_P1gfqTkjeQvbJ20Q9W7fFJf9FZ5nkygBmZtWpDUFVtL-Ofrc7A3BtIs6aCAaUgBY2hHTLAl_F3b/s1600/session+9+1st+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjHDrGuDUuS5uAh_5eSVEM2dYICHh5hLDqkUz6SDo3AUhBtn2wrv0Xx_BmsGyh6mj_P1gfqTkjeQvbJ20Q9W7fFJf9FZ5nkygBmZtWpDUFVtL-Ofrc7A3BtIs6aCAaUgBY2hHTLAl_F3b/s320/session+9+1st+pic.jpg" width="320" /></a>Anderson hit the mother lode when it came to his location: the real-life <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danvers_State_Hospital">Danvers Mental Hospital</a>, which couldn't look any more ominous if you had a team of production designers working on it. The tale is fairly standard: exhausted and struggling to make ends meet after the birth of his daughter, Gordon, vividly portrayed by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0611932/">Peter Mullan</a>, undercuts the competition to get his small asbestos removal company the bid to clean up the old hospital with the promise of a nice bonus if he can do it in a week. Once there, he and his team start to crack under the strain of working in such as menacing environment. Of course it doesn't help that his second in command Phil (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000325/">David Caruso</a>, pre-<i>CSI Miami </i>overacting) wants to kill co-worker Hank (Josh Lucas) for stealing his girlfriend, his nephew Jeff is terrified of the dark and new to the job, and Mike (co-screenwriter <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0315342/">Stephen Gevedon</a>) , who could've been a lawyer if only..., is more concerned with the old session tapes he found in the basement about Patient #444, Mary Hobbes, admitted for a mysterious event that brought about three distinct personalities. As each day goes by the tension and paranoia grow between everyone until suddenly hank goes missing. What happened? Did he strike it rich and leave for Miami, as Phil claims? Did Phil murder him? And finally, what does any of this have to do with Mary Hobbes, and what exactly in on Session #9?<br />
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Using a variety of unnerving electronic squeals and whistles, and shooting in a very naturalistic style, Anderson manages to wring a lot of dread out of SESSION 9 without resorting to gratuitous violence: a boiling pot of of water framed in an open doorway is repeated becoming more ominous every time. Peter's increasing nervousness and desperation to take care of the job and his family slowly winds up the audience, and when the weird shit <i>really</i> starts to happen, Anderson continues ratcheting up the tension, cutting together more random noises with scenes that blend together almost subliminally until all (we think) is revealed in a twist ending that doesn't feel so much like a shock that just a further twist of the knife and certainty that life is just a little more horrible than we thought it was.<br />
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Despite this, and despite the generally good acting from the small cast, I left SESSION 9 feeling slightly underwhelmed. Some of this has to do with the "supernatural" elements of the film, that although appropriately creepy, take away from the real madness that's taking over from the stress and environment these people are working in. Anderson purposefully chooses to leave things ambiguous - not just the ending, but small items throughout the movie and while it adds to the unease it also leaves you feeling a little less fulfilled when the movie ends. Everything's in the right place, nothing feels like a hack job and Anderson shows that he knows what he's doing, as he would prove a few years with THE MACHINIST, a film I think takes a lot of the same themes and ideas as SESSION 9 but hold together better. So maybe chalk this up to a matter of personal preference and check it out for yourself - you might be surprised.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFmpHVVQvqIOa7dA-6j3Istikv1aPLSR7mLat7TusiuCQX-Wg8Pm2JRNzLtjQsWZTcUy1H6PA9IVmKD6g-6eVTYw-XGo69bzcji3m_kb12M2x6lLBejByOrBFGtDujseUTXgh3DXe2tjU/s1600/session+9+end+shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFmpHVVQvqIOa7dA-6j3Istikv1aPLSR7mLat7TusiuCQX-Wg8Pm2JRNzLtjQsWZTcUy1H6PA9IVmKD6g-6eVTYw-XGo69bzcji3m_kb12M2x6lLBejByOrBFGtDujseUTXgh3DXe2tjU/s400/session+9+end+shot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-14214722300970475602010-10-01T23:15:00.098-04:002010-10-04T09:51:09.118-04:00Horror of Dracula (1958)<i>Being Film #1 in Hail Horror 5</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bdgtmShDLkQW1YguI4PDVvNnyOK7uRWkhVzAxQNeYOy3Lup7wrC8z_1fV1AKsxKF5bXPyGESE2V2LrYG1ia3cswQApJ15ZRSSCqYTbs71vg7AP1D7m2sOuEMHfWUaED94R_LJSo4ETSF/s1600/horror+of+dracula+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bdgtmShDLkQW1YguI4PDVvNnyOK7uRWkhVzAxQNeYOy3Lup7wrC8z_1fV1AKsxKF5bXPyGESE2V2LrYG1ia3cswQApJ15ZRSSCqYTbs71vg7AP1D7m2sOuEMHfWUaED94R_LJSo4ETSF/s400/horror+of+dracula+title.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Happy October, folks.<br />
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With the release of LET ME IN, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer_Film_Productions">Hammer Films</a>, that wonderfully blood-saturated UK production company looks to be getting its foot back into the world of horror. To celebrate Hammer's reintroduction into the spotlight, I decided to kick off the fifth year of<b> Hail Horror</b> with Hammer's version of the Bram Stoker classic, DRACULA, or HORROR OF DRACULA as it was known upon its release in the United States. Filmed with lush, vibrant urgency by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Fisher">Terence Fisher</a>, who was responsible for many of Hammer's best films such as <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/curse-of-werewolf-1961_3568.html">THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF</a>, THE MUMMY, and THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, (the latter two films solidifying, along with DRACULA, the powerhouse pairing of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee">Christopher Lee</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Cushing">Peter Cushing</a>), HORROR OF DRACULA offers all of the earmarks that typify a "Hammer" film, and provides a few pleasant surprises for those familiar with the source material.<br />
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The surprises start right away: first with the voice over narration of Jonathan Harker, echoing the epistolary nature of Stoker's novel. A red leather diary opens as Harker's voice begins the story, and then dissolves to a shot of a carriage travelling through the woods. I don't know why but this, the first of many beautiful outdoor shots, served to ground the film in a weird sort of reality even as the rest of the film's sets evoked a twisted reflection of the Technicolor melodramas of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Sirk">Douglas Sirk</a> blended with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masque_of_the_Red_Death_%28film%29">Roger Corman's lurid Poe adaptations</a> and, even further back, the black and white Universal films that set the standard for classic horror. Take for example the lair of Dracula, and its resemblance in its columns and arches to Doctor Frankenstein's quarters in THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSHEkQgacbjZXSfdZ8MDK5akhXF-MQCMyTsHPHPCly6Eh3cC6ozNI6AshH7sME8IcFYwOgAQ4euVhukm3GHd0UA-hyGkzxOo0bwUmNqiSI1FVNHBmufLGCRjq3QdsT-XTuxqZ3-goDKrKU/s1600/horror+of+dracula+scene+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSHEkQgacbjZXSfdZ8MDK5akhXF-MQCMyTsHPHPCly6Eh3cC6ozNI6AshH7sME8IcFYwOgAQ4euVhukm3GHd0UA-hyGkzxOo0bwUmNqiSI1FVNHBmufLGCRjq3QdsT-XTuxqZ3-goDKrKU/s400/horror+of+dracula+scene+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tM1iEZ0fYciLXdYRdqX_lHl6RdT_1S8rLBca6G_-S4Ywdar5Eplyx-tPmn6wliMr4TokARNXHI7fMm27oTifD8dFCzh1r665af2DE9hgZCET6I26EogMUn1q0TDh0YRhK4ME-DY3Aqvu/s1600/bride+of+frankenstein+room+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tM1iEZ0fYciLXdYRdqX_lHl6RdT_1S8rLBca6G_-S4Ywdar5Eplyx-tPmn6wliMr4TokARNXHI7fMm27oTifD8dFCzh1r665af2DE9hgZCET6I26EogMUn1q0TDh0YRhK4ME-DY3Aqvu/s400/bride+of+frankenstein+room+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Harker arrives to this seemingly empty stone palace, employed by the Count as a librarian. When the camera first turns to Christopher Lee in the iconic black suit and cape, it's a powerful moment - our not only our first glimpse of the Vampire in the film, but also Lee's first performance of the legendary creature of the night. Immediately a few things are evident: Lee's physicality, his imposing height and ease with his body as he comes down the stairs the strength as he takes Harker's bag and practically glides up the stairs. Lee's voice, perhaps his most recognizable feature now, is no less imposing in its youth, and the grace with which he speaks to Harker and comments on his luck in finding such a learned person to act as his librarian, as well as the concealed lust upon remarking on a picture of Harker's fiancée Lucy (one of many differences from the source material) is pitch perfect. It's his voice that's his real disguise - in fact once we see the Count for what he truly is, I don't think we ever (sadly) hear Lee's voice again in the movie - just one of many interesting moves HORROR OF DRACULA employs throughout the film.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We soon learn that Harker, far from being the naive milquetoast of other films is completely aware of the Count's true nature: he took the job to get close enough to kill Dracula. Unfortunately things don't go as planned and after being attacked by one of Dracula's brides Harker is bitten and left to die, but not before killing Dracula's female companion and hiding away his diary to be found by his partner in crime, Doctor Van Helsing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNLCV5NEdhct107m1vTJNISJsxxm-LXaEin4YPbBuwqNiy3WYOmkxJeI-2rzEIfNk_A9Jvjy6_tMJpJ99H5Yn3fEGu5PXdYq3l02pr_QIc0x9zocI7j3GsMy7J88yMbWCPaiHrxd97hzAy/s1600/horror+of+dracula+cushing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNLCV5NEdhct107m1vTJNISJsxxm-LXaEin4YPbBuwqNiy3WYOmkxJeI-2rzEIfNk_A9Jvjy6_tMJpJ99H5Yn3fEGu5PXdYq3l02pr_QIc0x9zocI7j3GsMy7J88yMbWCPaiHrxd97hzAy/s400/horror+of+dracula+cushing.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As great as Lee's performance is in the film, Peter Cushing gets top billing and earns it as the intrepid doctor/man of action and, like Lee, imbues the doctor with a lot more physicality than is typical for the role. With his sharp features and piercing voice Cushing always made for an uncommon protagonist, at once more modern and sinister than what was considered a leading man in his day, and it's funny how his charisma works in tandem with Lee's in this and the other pictures they did together, Doctor Helsing (the movies makes his first name out to be Van) informs Arthur and Mina Holmwood that Harker is dead. Lucy, Arthur's sister, can't be told as she been sick with some sort of anemia and they fear the shock might cause her further harm. Anemia? The pace picks up as the good doctor realizes that the Vampire is already here and he might be too late in saving poor Lucy from a fate worse than death.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Having read the book and the bare bones of the story laid out so many times on film and television the constant switch-ups and surprises really work to HORROR OF DRACULA's advantage. Van Helsing and Arthur Holmwood race to stop Dracula before more can die, and what could have been a tedious chamber drama turns into something much more visceral as the two combat the growing threat of the Undead. From the moment Dracula discovers Harker's fight with the female vampire, Lee's performance is like a snarling animal: more than just the lack of any more dialog, his actions and strength bring to mind a hungry wolf more than a fluttering bat. More surprises await, and the climax involves a pretty great (if slightly predictable now) twist and a great final fight between Van Helsing and Dracula that flies in the face of what we would expect for a film made in 1958.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think the films Hammer produced in the late 50s and 60s are too easily overlooked as dated and quaint when compared to today's jump scares and casts of 20-something actors. Combining a rich visual palette, stirring music and acting that's the very measure of English restraint even as it threatens and occasionally does break free from its prison. HORROR OF DRACULA might not be the most faithful adaptation of Stoker's novel even put to the screen, but its novelty and outstanding performances from its two leads make it one of the best.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLlZSwqqLZhBKwctT2Gw0O4WiwyVuCCsEsJztZ4pS3UREIR9f3Tcw3xczbBIp8Et8m-2G6Tzc7oLyjf4UA67UEAV1TD4IiWf515Ko8d6LOlpbHYwN8EjatIH4tHy9NfuIuk-CULZB2Okz4/s1600/horror+of+dracula+end.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLlZSwqqLZhBKwctT2Gw0O4WiwyVuCCsEsJztZ4pS3UREIR9f3Tcw3xczbBIp8Et8m-2G6Tzc7oLyjf4UA67UEAV1TD4IiWf515Ko8d6LOlpbHYwN8EjatIH4tHy9NfuIuk-CULZB2Okz4/s400/horror+of+dracula+end.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-86627979538463198392010-10-01T15:49:00.005-04:002010-10-01T15:54:27.154-04:00Truer Words<div style="text-align: right;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF79aO5nO9XDtuaUG2Th2RJc98FCj37VJjdgGjRTKp5_7m-39Trb51IS-1J7_kvb6hkgvoiSao5ri0z3yfF5IPtEy79BwssuRqZxn7QUqZGvsrBYvg91k1Ww1DRYA5vlfgf-ksFO-R_BGC/s1600/1-King-Kong-1933.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF79aO5nO9XDtuaUG2Th2RJc98FCj37VJjdgGjRTKp5_7m-39Trb51IS-1J7_kvb6hkgvoiSao5ri0z3yfF5IPtEy79BwssuRqZxn7QUqZGvsrBYvg91k1Ww1DRYA5vlfgf-ksFO-R_BGC/s400/1-King-Kong-1933.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><i></i><br />
<i>"I think of a good film as like a favorite record album that I might listen to time and again. In a sense, a movie is a </i><i>place for me. I go there. Just as I return time and again to London, I return to "Fitzcarraldo," "Dark City," "Late Spring," and Bergman's trilogy "Through a Glass Darkly," "The Silence," and "Winter Light.""</i><br />
<i> </i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i> - Roger Ebert, from his introduction to </i>The Great Movies III<br />
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And <i>that</i>, written much more eloquently than I ever could have, perfectly captures the sense of excitement, expectation and nostalgia that fills me up every time I sit down in the dark of a theater or a living room and make my compact to believe, to be transported for the duration of what it is I'm watching.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Read the entire introduction over at Roger Ebert's blog <a href="http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/09/start_out_with_the_first_one.html">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-24935847986432117002010-09-29T11:19:00.005-04:002010-10-01T15:53:54.448-04:00Machete (2010)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUCao8jBx5P4PqwQ2YMr7S2M2oernhH0RAH9FE2a4vNfBS9uUhmKT-TPlnBTPfacSQj0h0RS0GnJ4auYctpxAr-mGLT7mRP22IcOmZcNcE-SXIDuk2kRtNMuGIusqZ3WWWWh11MRYTZCO-/s1600/machete-movie-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUCao8jBx5P4PqwQ2YMr7S2M2oernhH0RAH9FE2a4vNfBS9uUhmKT-TPlnBTPfacSQj0h0RS0GnJ4auYctpxAr-mGLT7mRP22IcOmZcNcE-SXIDuk2kRtNMuGIusqZ3WWWWh11MRYTZCO-/s400/machete-movie-poster.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
My life-long question of "what would a movie based on a fake trailer made for another movie look like" has finally been answered.<br />
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Now to think about whether I actually needed the question answered.<br />
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MACHETE takes the faux trailer constructed by Robert Rodriguez for 2007's GRINDHOUSE and attempts to wrap the gritty, larger-than-life sequences into an action-packed story that would fit right in as a third feature with PLANET TERROR and DEATH PROOF. Co-directed by Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis, Rodriguez's editor on the original GRINDHOUSE, MACHETE stars Danny Trejo as Machete, ex-Federale turned day laborer turned assassin for hire turned freedom fighter turned mythological figure. I could make an off-color and cliché joke about Mexicans and the number of jobs they have*, but MACHETE does that for us, making some deft points about our current attitudes toward immigration and citizenship without falling out of the rigid framework of a 70s exploitation flick. When you strip away the sex and violence that sold both the trailer and the film, it's these small pieces - a group of minor henchmen commenting on the hypocrisy of allowing immigrants into our homes but not into our country, two dishwashers in a restaurant sharing a light, comic moment over errors in each others native language, the tongue-in-cheek rallying speech at the Home Depot <i>(although you could argue whether this scene is played intentionally bad or is merely the result of Jessica's Alba's acting chops - I prefer to think it's intentional)</i> - that stay with me as the strongest pieces of MACHETE, and serve to elevate the film over its more humble origins.<br />
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But that's not what we're come to the theater to see, and Rodriguez knows it. We're here to see Danny Trejo, possibly the most interesting looking man in movies today, kill a large number of people with a machete, and that's what we get. Jeff Fahey plays senatorial aide Booth, who hires Machete after watching him in a back alley fight to assassinate Senator McLaughlin, a racist good ol' boy whose zero tolerance policies, Booth says, are wrecking not only the lives of immigrants but the Texas economy. Of course it's really a set-up, designed to make the senator an almost-martyr, thus guaranteeing him the election and the sway to put his anti-immigration laws into effect. They only made one mistake:<br />
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They should have made sure he was dead.<br />
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Since they didn't, the rest of MACHETE is filled with Trejo wielding a variety of weapons, including a machete the size of a man's leg, and basically killing everyone he can - when he's not getting shot, stabbed, or jumping off of buildings. Or having sex - with Booth's wife and daughter in a scene taken straight from the trailer; with She, the leader of the Network (<i>played by Michele Rodriguez, looking hotter than she ever has and making up for everything she did in Lost</i>), and almost with Jessica Alba, except that Machete's too much of a good guy for that, except he's really not since we literally just saw him screw two girls at once 15 minutes ago. The violence is over the top if a little too reliant on CGI, and everyone in the film dive into their roles with a good old fashioned relish - Stephen Seagal has never been more ridiculous, and looks like he's having more fun in a film than he has in years. Jeff Fahey probably comes off best, and really should be getting more and more work after this and all his scene stealing in <i>Lost</i>, but the treat and the shame of MACHETE is in Danny Trejo's performance. Having to carry an entire film on his shoulders is a heavy load, and I'm hesitant to say Trejo's not up to the task, because most of what he has to do is stitch together scenes in order to get to the money shots from the faux trailer.<br />
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And that's my biggest qualm with MACHETE as a full-length movie: it's entertaining in spots, and does what it sets out to do, which is to give you the movie that was promised in the trailer, but feels constrained by having to hit each of those points. When the film stretches out a bit as mentioned above, and gives us those glimpses into to the bigger issues the film wants to address, it makes for a more exciting and fun film. And while I enjoyed MACHETE, if I really want to get my kicks from schlock 70s cinema, I'd probably go back and watch PIRAHNA 3D a second time.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgKI9E-cywm9bchUU_OarDGpQwx6Lnb88-MyCYXuoIAK-mEEPp8QkfcNlTfFWpqXHXBLKmvFgVRujFTDsMLUPgnfvxwzYwImXuo-TrYDGp6guKsnlAXtTn10j2FCv6dE0t4-LIgpUPLUA/s1600/machete_group1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgKI9E-cywm9bchUU_OarDGpQwx6Lnb88-MyCYXuoIAK-mEEPp8QkfcNlTfFWpqXHXBLKmvFgVRujFTDsMLUPgnfvxwzYwImXuo-TrYDGp6guKsnlAXtTn10j2FCv6dE0t4-LIgpUPLUA/s400/machete_group1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>* I really struggled over whether or not to leave that joke in - my decision to keep it in was based on my belief (perhaps misguided) that it was keeping in the spirit of the best parts of the film for me - those brief scenes that address our perceptions of immigrants and their place in our country. I sincerely apologize to any who might read it and be offended - offense was certainly not my intent.</i></span>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-13795100212892721652010-09-20T16:15:00.000-04:002010-09-20T16:15:05.215-04:00Hail Horror 5: Recommendations, Please!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbx_Kes_BTallShSo7NZ9-YBn0NHqe8vw8kKh46DGY0HIVWWKWfR7EN3J2KyZzqKJBcfjw5COeNvoAE6Du7aSohsPCu5dHbvAVq082br58wtETBKrexPWSKblMHy2WUMpw5TJ66S_Kr-u1/s1600/TCSM+DISC+1-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbx_Kes_BTallShSo7NZ9-YBn0NHqe8vw8kKh46DGY0HIVWWKWfR7EN3J2KyZzqKJBcfjw5COeNvoAE6Du7aSohsPCu5dHbvAVq082br58wtETBKrexPWSKblMHy2WUMpw5TJ66S_Kr-u1/s400/TCSM+DISC+1-11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Sure, I could do this all on my own, rifling through my DVD collection, moving items up and down in my Netflix queue, checking out the shelves at my local Best Buy...basically loading up on horror films I've been interested in checking out for whatever reason.<br />
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But where's the fun in that? I know I'll eventually get around to those films in due time. No, what's really great about doing the Hail Horror thing every year are the great recommendations I get from you all out there in Virtual Land, turning me on to things I wouldn't have given a second glance to. Without your recommendations I would never have seen the twisted wonder that is Donald Pleasance's performance in RAW MEAT (thanks to <a href="http://sergioleoneifr.blogspot.com/">Dennis Cozzalio and SLIFR</a>), or the phenomenal Hammer classic CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (<a href="http://www.cinemaviewfinder.com/">thanks to Tony Dayoub and Cinema Viewfinder</a>) and even the mediocrity that was HATCHET (thanks to <a href="http://fukaduk.blogspot.com/">Sean over at Spectacular Views</a>).<br />
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I already have a couple recommendations in, plus a few special entries to celebrate <a href="http://rheaven.blogspot.com/2010/08/coming-soon-john-carpenter-week-at.html">Radiator Heaven's John Carpenter Week</a>, but all the same, <i><b>if there's anything out there you think I should check out, let me know in the comments section.</b></i> As always: <br />
<ol><li>It can't be a movie I've already reviewed.</li>
<li>It has to be readily accessible - either at the local theater, store, rental house, or <a href="http://www.netflix.com/trs">Netflix</a>. I'm not adverse to spending a few bucks to see, rent, or purchase a film, but I'm not going to shell out $49.99 for an obscure Asian bootleg with no subtitles.</li>
</ol>For those curious, here's where we left off after the first <s>two</s> <strike>three</strike> four years:<br />
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<a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/tenebre-1982.html">TENEBRE</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/mr-frost-1990.html">MR. FROST</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/grace-2009.html">GRACE</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/phantasm-ii-1988.html">PHANTASM II</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/martyrs-2008.html">MARTYRS</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/friday-13th-part-2-1981.html">FRIDAY THE 13TH PART II</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/dead-snow-2009.html">DEAD SNOW</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/bay-of-blood-1971.html">BAY OF BLOOD</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/deadgirl-2008.html">DEADGIRL</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/raw-meat-1972_09.html">RAW MEAT</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/trick-r-treat-2008.html">TRICK 'R' TREAT</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/curse-of-werewolf-1961_3568.html">THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF</a> /<a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2008/07/bank-job-2008.html">THE SHINING</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/1-from-past-mary-shelleys-frankenstein.html">MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN</a> / <a href="http://draft.blogger.com/%20Bram%20Stoker%27s%20Dracula%20%281992%29%20%20Being%20Film%20#10%20in%20Hail%20Horror%202008%20%20This%20is%20a%20review%20from%20the%20drunken%20heart%20of%20a%20geek,%20written%20just%20after%20the%20Witching%20Hour%20with%20loud%20music%20playing%20in%20his%20headphones.%20%20And%20as%20such%20it%20should%20perhaps%20be%20taken%20with%20a%20grain%20of%20salt.%20%20I%20originally%20saw%20BRAM%20STOKER%27S%20DRACULA%20in%20the%20theater%20with%20a%20number%20of%20college%20friends,%20including%20my%20girlfriend%20at%20the%20time.%20%20The%20experience%20was%20significant%20because%20our%20impatience%20with%20what%20Francis%20Ford%20Coppola%20was%20trying%20to%20accomplish%20with%20the%20movie%20led%20us%20to%20revile%20and%20actively%20disparage%20it%20at%20the%20time,%20and%20also,%20on%20a%20more%20personal%20note,%20led%20to%20what%20my%20now%20wife%20refers%20to%20as,%20%22the%20worst%20date%20you%20ever%20took%20me%20on.%22%20%20Luckily%20that%20date%20turned%20into%20many%20more%20%28and,%20ultimately,%20marriage%29,%20and%20luckily%20I%20grew%20up%20a%20little%20%28okay%20-%20a%20lot%29%20and%20took%20the%20time%20to%20watch%20and%20learn%20a%20lot%20more%20about%20film%20than%20I%20knew%20before,%20which%20helped%20immensely%20when%20I%20revisted%20the%20film%20via%20the%20recently%20re-issued%20DVD,%20which%20has%20been%20remastered%20and%20contains%20audio%20commentary%20by%20Coppola.%20%20Seeing%20again%20with%20older,%20more%20experienced%20eyes,%20I%27m%20now%20able%20to%20see%20DRACULA%20for%20the%20wonderful,%20beautiful%20mess%20that%20it%20is.%20%20Understand,%20it%27s%20not%20perfect%20by%20a%20long%20shot.%20%20The%20script%20is%20bloated%20and%20some%20of%20the%20performances,%20particularly%20Winona%20Ryder%20and%20Keanu%20Reeves,%20just%20don%27t%20work%20for%20the%20grand,%20theatrical%20style%20Coppola%27s%20going%20for,%20which%20is%20a%20shame%20because%20if%20anything%20can%20be%20said%20for%20the%20film%20it%27s%20that%20Coppola%20directs%20the%20Unholy%20Hell%20out%20of%20it,%20working%20in%20homages%20to%20dozens%20of%20films%20and%20directors,%20including%20F.W.%20Maurnau%20and%20his%20immortal%20NOSFERATU%20%28reviewed%20here%29,%20Jean%20Cocteau%20and%20his%20telling%20of%20BEAUTY%20AND%20THE%20BEAST,%20Stanley%20Kubrick%27s%20THE%20SHINING%20and%20even%20SNOW%20WHITE%20AND%20THE%20SEVEN%20DWARVES.%20%20In%20addition,%20he%20automatically%20gets%20bonus%20points%20for%20including%20one%20of%20my%20favorite%20performers,%20Tom%20Waits,%20as%20the%20insect-obsessed%20Renfield:%20%20I%20won%27t%20bother%20to%20re-cap%20the%20plot%20of%20either%20the%20film%20or%20the%20famous%20novel%20it%27s%20based%20on%20-%20there%20are%20liberties%20to%20be%20sure,%20but%20the%20story%20is%20essentially%20the%20same%20as%20every%20adaptation%20has%20used%20over%20the%20years.%20%20The%20big%20difference%20in%20this%20version%20is%20the%20love%20story%20used%20as%20both%20a%20new%20lens%20to%20view%20the%20legend%20of%20the%20vampire%20as%20well%20as%20a%20framing%20device%20for%20the%20film.%20%20Much%20of%20Gary%20Oldman%27s%20excellent%20portrayal%20of%20the%20Count%20is%20based%20on%20his%20eternal%20love%20for%20his%20dead%20wife,%20who%20killed%20herself%20after%20wrongly%20hearing%20of%20his%20death%20at%20war.%20%20When%20he%20sees%20what%20he%20believes%20to%20be%20her%20reincarnation%20in%20Ryder%27s%20Mina%20Murray,%20the%20horror%20and%20melodrama%20are%20all%20colored%20by%20his%20longing%20to%20be%20reunited%20with%20his%20lost%20love.%20%20Oldman%20is%20gleefully%20devious%20as%20the%20title%20character,%20giving%20a%20very%20broad%20performance%20meant%20to%20distance%20itself%20from%20previous%20incarnations%20of%20Dracula,%20particularly%20Bela%20Lugosi%27s%20immortal%20version.%20%20Using%20various%20guises%20%28bat,%20wolf,%20rats,%20mist%29%20Oldman%20runs%20through%20the%20entire%20gamut%20of%20vampire%20lore.%20%20But%20my%20favorite%20is%20still%20his%20aged,%20slightly%20effeminate%20Count%20of%20Transylvania,%20though%20the%20credit%20is%20as%20much%20costume%20designer%20Eiko%20Ishioka%27s%20as%20it%20is%20Oldman%27s.%20%20But%20the%20real%20star%20of%20the%20film%20is%20Coppola,%20and%20this%20is%20really%20the%20last%20film%20%28excepting%20the%20recent%20YOUTH%20WITHOUT%20YOUTH%29%20where%20he%20pulls%20out%20all%20the%20stops%20and%20slams%20his%20vision%20onto%20the%20piece.%20%20Partnering%20with%20his%20son%20Roman%20Coppola%20%28a%20gifted%20filmmaker%20in%20his%20own%20right;%20see%20CQ%29,%20who%20handles%20second%20unit%20directing%20as%20well%20as%20the%20amazing%20effects,%20everything%20is%20shot%20with%20an%20eye%20to%20the%20past,%20even%20as%20the%20future%20constantly%20makes%20its%20presence%20felt.%20%20Almost%20all%20of%20the%20effects%20are%20done%20in%20camera:%20matte%20paintings,%20double%20exposures,%20pixellated%20cameras%20-%20Coppola%20makes%20DRACULA%20sing%20with%20the%20love%20and%20attention%20of%20hundreds%20of%20films%20that%20came%20before%20it.%20%20Everything%20is%20filmed%20on%20sound%20stages,%20the%20acting%20%28especially%20Oldman%20and%20Anthony%20Hopkins%20as%20a%20mad,%20devilish%20Van%20Helsing%29%20is%20purposefully%20broad,%20as%20if%20it%27s%20being%20projected%20from%20the%20stage.%20%20The%20visuals%20are%20sumptuously%20Gothic%20%28if%20that%20makes%20sense%29,%20and%20the%20gore%20and%20violence,%20when%20it%20comes,%20is%20shocking.%20%20BRAM%20STOKER%27S%20DRACULA%20is%20a%20film%20where%20you%27re%20rewarded%20with%20multiple%20viewings.%20%20If%20at%20all%20possible%20ditch%20the%20old%20discount%20DVD%20or%20VHS%20and%20seek%20out%20the%20newly%20remastered%202-disc%20set.%20%20You%20get%20an%20amazing%20commentary%20by%20Coppola,%20where%20he%20details%20many%20aspects%20of%20the%20film%20from%20pre-production%20to%20the%20fights%20with%20the%20studio,%20as%20well%20as%20four%20new%20documentaries%20detailing%20every%20aspect%20of%20the%20film%27s%20visuals%20and%20performance%20stylings.%20%20There%20are%20few%20filmmakers%20who%20can%20really%20carry%20a%20commentary:%20Scorsese%20comes%20to%20mind,%20but%20Coppola%27s%20frank%20assessment%20of%20the%20production%20is%20a%20wonderful%20companion%20piece%20to%20this%20movie,%20a%20luscious%20platter%20of%20love%20and%20blood.%20%20by%20AuthorChris%20%7C%20Comment2%20Comments%20%7C%20Email%20ArticleEmail%20Article%20Reader%20Comments%20%282%29%20">BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/09/chud-1984.html">C.H.U.D.</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/09/hatchet-2007.html">HATCHET </a>/ <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/09/re-cycle-2006.html">RE-CYCLE</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/09/dance-of-dead-2008.html">DANCE OF THE DEAD</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/09/signal-2007.html">THE SIGNAL</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/09/kairo-2001.html"> KAIRO </a>/ <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/09/phenomena-1985.html"> PHENOMENA </a>/ <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/09/2-in-our-gearing-up-for-hail-horror-4.html">THE HOWLING</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/09/test_18.html">NOSFERATU (1922)</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/02/phantasm-1977.html">PHANTASM</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2008/06/happening-2008.html">THE HAPPENING</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2008/07/rec-2007.html">[REC]</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2008/06/woods-2005.html">THE WOODS</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2008/06/diary-of-dead-2008.html">DIARY OF THE DEAD</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2008/07/monster-squad-1987.html">THE MONSTER SQUAD</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/10/spooky-review-11-from-beyond-1986.html">FROM BEYOND</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/10/spooky-review-10-revisiting-planet.html">RE-VISTING PLANET TERROR</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/10/spooky-review-9-texas-chainsaw-massacre.html">THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/10/spooky-review-8-mad-love-1935.html">MAD LOVE</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/10/spooky-review-7-28-weeks-later-2007.html">28 WEEKS LATER</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/10/spooky-review-6-sublime-2007.html">SUBLIME</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/10/spooky-review-4-revisiting-death-proof.html">RE-VISTING DEATH PROOF</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/10/spooky-review-5-night-of-living-dead.html">NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1990)</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/10/spooky-review-2-dead-silence-2006.html">DEAD SILENCE</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/10/07-spooky-review-3-severance-2006.html">SEVERANCE</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/10/spooky-review-1-resident-evil-3.html">RESIDENT EVIL 3: EXTINCTION</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/03/double-shot-of-cronenberg-scanners-1981.html">SCANNERS</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/01/descent-2006.html">THE DESCENT</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2007/07/grindhouse-2007.html">GRINDHOUSE</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/11/evil-dead-1982.html">THE EVIL DEAD</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/broken-lizard-club-dread-2004.html">BROKEN LIZARD'S CLUB DREAD</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/mask-of-fu-manchu-1932.html">THE MASK OF FU MANCHU</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/ringu-1998.html">RINGU</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/feast-2005.html">FEAST</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/halloween-1978.html">HALLOWEEN (1978)</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/hellraiser-1987.html">HELLRAISER</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/nightmare-on-elm-street-1984.html">A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/dead-and-breakfast-2004.html">DEAD AND BREAKFAST</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/friday-13th-1980.html">FRIDAY THE 13TH</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/hills-have-eyes-2005.html">THE HILLS HAVE EYES (2005)</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/day-of-dead-1985.html">DAY OF THE DEAD</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/cat-people-1942.html">CAT PEOPLE (1942)</a> / <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2006/10/house-of-wax-2005.html">HOUSE OF WAX</a>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-74072141638402720782010-09-14T10:07:00.001-04:002010-09-16T10:59:42.817-04:00Looking Back While Looking Forward to...Hail Horror 5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5g0BaDC9zPGk_zbH_9iYsPWbV23mW7rSqSgFSAIgMuoXaxfVB1IbnecZow50gbXIUxbUBroCfuSOsheY4RQTLf4txxqjbPMmAUxDOEi_5oCpnakgHCHa_orWryE2QspkM3aSmuDI0bigy/s1600/profondo-rosso1-560x266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5g0BaDC9zPGk_zbH_9iYsPWbV23mW7rSqSgFSAIgMuoXaxfVB1IbnecZow50gbXIUxbUBroCfuSOsheY4RQTLf4txxqjbPMmAUxDOEi_5oCpnakgHCHa_orWryE2QspkM3aSmuDI0bigy/s400/profondo-rosso1-560x266.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
In a few short weeks the sky will once again fold in upon itself. The air will bite, the leaves will color and die, and the sun will lose a little more of its breath each day to the moon, perpetually bloated and full in anticipation of what is now, after four years without fail, an Autumn blood ritual.<br />
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Yup, it's HAIL HORROR: YEAR 5. For the fifth time in as many years I will be devoting the month of October to visiting and, in some cases, revisiting, that most visceral of film genres, horror. In what has become Hail Horror tradition I'll fail to review even half of what I see or even plan to see, but the joy is in the planning, so in the end it all shakes out. <br />
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This year feels more that a little bittersweet. Last year a few days before I was set to officially begin reviewing I received the call that my father had suffered three heart attacks in the span of about 12 hours. My relationship with my father was and is the foundation for my tastes in movies, and colors everything I see. <a href="http://celluloidmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/strange-comforts.html">When I wrote about it last year</a> I mentioned how, strangely, it was horror that comforted me during the times we waited for phone calls that could deliver anything at any moment:<br />
<blockquote><i>...That was Monday. Now it's Wednesday, and things are the same. He flat-lined yesterday, and was resuscitated. Today they're going in to see what's going on. And I've had a little time to come to grips with what's going on, and the weird thing I found myself going to the stack of horror movies sitting on top of the television cabinet...</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>...Maybe the real draw of horror is that at times we're compelled to wipe away the pain and terror in our lives, and one way to do that is to expose ourselves to something even more gruesome and terrifying. Maybe it's a chance to escape, to see someone handle the unknown and unexplainable so that we can better cope with our own hurdles....</i></blockquote><div>This October will mark six months since my father died, and I honestly don't know how that realization will affect what films I ultimately watch or how I ultimately approach writing about those films. A few days ago<a href="http://mikesyoutalkingtome.blogspot.com/2010/09/why-i-am-most-important-part-of-my.html"> I read a post from Mike Lippet over at You Talking to Me?</a> about the extent to which we insert ourselves into what we write, and I realize that <i>everything </i>I write about contains in some form or another the totality of my existence. Each choice of phrase springs forth from the combination of what I've seen, read, and experiences during my 38 years on this Earth. My perception of what I watched and wrote last year could not help but be informed by the events around my father, just as this year will be done on the shadow of his absence from my life. This morning I have to take my three-year old son to an eye specialist, and the results of that will surely add as much to my perception of the films as will my frustrations at work, the intimate moments with my wife and family, and even the music playing at I gather and express my thoughts on this blog (currently <i>The Very Best of Curtis Mayfield</i>). </div><div><br />
</div><div>All of which goes a long way to say that my favorite month of the year is fast upon us, and we're never so much alive as in the moments when our screams are about to be ripped from our throats. Rather than go over the guidelines and archives like I tend to do every year, I'll save that for another post. I'd rather let this one stand on its own.</div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7156175022709709237.post-20972885566214570922010-09-11T02:21:00.002-04:002010-09-29T11:33:03.351-04:00Quick Hit: Shine a Light (2008)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJHmjGaDVTvmpUO6GfEsz0yaxpsWzEP2yTeqo_XsgLEOhTDUhrlw4AdywolnGJjds9Gn8TPW9qyOzKfDt9x_5gzH5Xhey6Tf7Sdos6aBc9Yor2u6E-Ji2hU1igQfVCDk9E1gtEDrwMqAB/s1600/shine+a+light.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJHmjGaDVTvmpUO6GfEsz0yaxpsWzEP2yTeqo_XsgLEOhTDUhrlw4AdywolnGJjds9Gn8TPW9qyOzKfDt9x_5gzH5Xhey6Tf7Sdos6aBc9Yor2u6E-Ji2hU1igQfVCDk9E1gtEDrwMqAB/s400/shine+a+light.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
It was never my intention to watch SHINE A LIGHT, Martin Scorsese's 2008 document of The Rolling Stones' show at the Beacon Theater in NYC. But life, or more specifically Netflix Instant Streaming, has a way of throwing a wrench into the works, and so after adding <a href="http://www.standingintheshadowsofmotown.com/">STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN</a> to my queue I saw this recommended, saw it was available for streaming, clicked the Play button and wound up laying in bed watching the whole thing.<br />
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The film opens in grainy black & white as Scorsese frantically scrambles to get everything set up despite being confronted at every turn by Mick Jagger, who doesn't like the idea of cameras getting in the way of his moves and the crowd's view of the show. Scorsese is told that Jagger can't stand under the intense glare of the lights for more than 18 seconds without potentially "burning up", and by the tone of the guy telling him this I think this was supposed to be taken literally. Worst of all, the set list hasn't been decided, and in a great moment an exasperated Scorsese explains he just needs to know the first song so he knows where the cameras should be for the opening shot.<br />
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In true cinematic style he gets the set list just as the band takes the stage, the camera moves and the film jumps to brilliant color as the opening riff to "Jumpin' Jack Flash" rumbles like a freight train through the affluent audience. I make this last point because this was supposedly a benefit gig, with President Clinton both in attendance and opening the show, and the crowd seems pleased but with that polite restraint of people who just don't get out and sweat enough at a rock show. This is no way a reflection of Jagger and Company's performance - if anything, I was impressed by how much fun they still seem to be having playing on stage every night. Mixed among the obvious hits were a number of obscure songs and amazing guest appearances, most notably <a href="http://www.buddyguy.net/">Buddy Guy</a> who sings and solos along to "Champagne and Reefer," a down and dirty blues that features Jagger on harmonica and Guy giving the camera a hilarious killer stare that went on for so long I was cracking up long before he smiled and ripped into his guitar with a glee reserved for legends who've put their time in and know it. <br />
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Scorsese has a long and intimate history with live music, and instinctively knows where to put the camera so that you a part of the group rather the crowd. Everything slinks and slides like the signature licks the band's been churning out for over 45 years, and SHINE A LIGHT proves to be a joyful document of a band still bringing it home long after their peers have settled down for the evening.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA4Ao3T3WEMDX0RyXAugo0WzS_T0Tsvnbco7QJENLnkKqg3luw6J0RppxfvoGbaO-EEUmM7N77FRIaAr93RaNXvwliu8fLYY3WywV-tYg3cmh2JcfXxLEj62paTRU1KX9Rtv8MmazZJ2FM/s1600/buddy+guy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA4Ao3T3WEMDX0RyXAugo0WzS_T0Tsvnbco7QJENLnkKqg3luw6J0RppxfvoGbaO-EEUmM7N77FRIaAr93RaNXvwliu8fLYY3WywV-tYg3cmh2JcfXxLEj62paTRU1KX9Rtv8MmazZJ2FM/s400/buddy+guy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.com1