Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Mechanical Candle's LiveJournal:

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Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
10:14 pm	In WI. Don't want to be here. shutting down... (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
10:33 pm	Stress I am stressing for a variety of reasons. So here's something that sat unfinished on my desktop for the last month: As the computator has been returned unto me, and I now have some actual, potential audience out there that might browse through my thoughts… and, more importantly, as I’m trying to work through some stuff right now and need an excuse to drink heavily again, I’m gonna try to return to some sort of writing. Writing on lj is fairly easy so long as the subject matter is light and fluffy and requires little thought (and little risk in the subject selection). I do want to try and return to my many abortive (and thus far unseen) attempts at storytelling, but I’m gonna try, once more, to use lj as a random scattershot sounding board (or sound dampener, depending on the resulting chatter or lack therof) and mental exercise for my writing hand, so y’all get more of my crappy commentary on flicks, books, etc. I always say this, and it very rarely turns out to be true, but I’m really gonna try and keep these short this time. The writing dry spell I’ve been crawling through means an immense backlog of potential review subjects, and there’s a couple thoughts on each that I’d like to get outta my head. Any one of these may be subject to a more thoughtful and thorough review later. On the recommendation of just about everyone, I finally pulled my copy of ( The Descent ) the actual film is specifically about the relationship between the women. Like I said, awesome flick. I also got out to see the new ( Star Trek )…they’re turning Kirk into Anakin from “The Phantom Menace.” See what I mean about compression of avatars? At the other end of the scale, I was lent the trade of ( BATMAN: RIP )Interestingly, the new set of comics that’ve come out since his death covering the Bat-family (including his newly minted son by way of Talia al Ghul) are actually shaping up to be kinda interesting. There was a paragraph in here where I compare RIP to Identity Crisis, which I read for the first time this month, but that’s more than I care to gorge myself on tonight. The rest in brief: Up: already covered. Saw again this weekend with the parents for Father’s Day, and I have to say I stand by my previous assessments, though wish to re-emphasize that it is a fun movie. My mother (whose father I mentioned in my previous review) was pretty thoroughly messed up by it. Drag Me to Hell: Sam Rami’s return to the horror genre shows he’s a surprisingly grounded director. Instead of trying for some all-encompassing, audience stunning “greatest horror film ever made,” and, as a result, making complete crap and failing spectacularly, he instead aims for a nice middle-ground, partially self-aware spook story with some fun set pieces and good practical effects. Aiming into the late 80’s “Ghostbuster” range of targets, he got a solid, enjoyable hit on this one. The absence of a Bruce-Campbell-level personality at the core of the film was noticeable. There wasn’t an icon to grasp hold of (particularly after one scene that makes the audience loose all sympathy for her), and the ending was a little bit of an anti-climax in some respects (though hilariously macabre in others). (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
11:40 pm	"Don't let them in your mouth!" [Ed. "That's what SHE said!"] Taking a break from some other stuff to write this week's outing. Just so everyone's clear; last week at movie night I announce there would be a break of several weeks. I WAS WRONG. There will be a break of two weeks AFTER this week; I'd forgotten that the film project didn't start until Friday. So we are officially "on" for this week. By way of apology, I've got two generally good flicks lined up. This week we're going to express our appreciation for that smallest, most humble of God's creatures. The often overlooked, unassuming in appearance, key element of the universal food chain. Your friend and mine... the brain-eating alien mind slug. Note: the order on these two films is a little misleading. While both are pretty enjoyable, the second is honestly the more enjoyable of the two, if only for inside jokes and unabashed homages. However, we really can't reverse the order because this pairing also works on the "original/remake" setup. The Buttered Escargot: Night of the Creeps (uncensored cable release 1986, 95 minutes) Something of a minor "holy grail" among horror movie fans, this film has famously been out of print and nearly unobtainable for almost two decades. One of the few films headed by the lamentably short-careered Fred Dekker (others being "House" and "The Monster Squad"), this film somehow fell by the wayside (I seem to recall something about tangled rights, but they appear to have sorted them out just recently). Sporting some surprisingly good special effects, especially in the film's evidently moderate budget range, this mix of one part "Weird Science," one part Zombie seige, and one part "Killer Klowns" nicely encapsulates both the college comedy and schlocky horror genre of the mid eighties. Mix in a schitzophreniclly jumpy plotline and Tom Atkins staggering under the weight of cliche's in his dialouge, and you're cooking with gold! (Uh, or something...) The copy-of-a-copy we'll be watching was generously donated by Andy for my collection, and this is my opportunity to put it to good use. The Medicinal Leeches: Slither (2006, 95 minutes) So, three years ago, someone decided to give the audiences what they'd been asking for. Years and years of bitching from the rabid horror and dedicated film nerd community, all hollering that horror flicks were better in the 80's, got the message through to Hollywood that there might be a few bucks to wring out of those most genre-loyal and a-social of consumers. Universal studios got a relative unknown (the writer of the "Dawn of the Dead" remake) with one success under his belt to direct, aimed their remake-o-tron squarely at the mid-eighties, hitting a really obscure flick (see above), and then hired in the current poster boy of nerd devotion, the captain of the Firefly, Nathan Fillion, to pull in the fanatical. Then they told a partly self-aware tale with chills, horror, tension, humor, and gross-out, and loaded it up with more genre references than you can shake a stick at. (Frequent attendees are in luck! A lot of the films we've already watched previously!) And they released it into the theaters! ...and no one showed up. Thus ensuring Hollywood won't do that again, any time soon. Much like Grindhouse, Slither was rated as a rollicking good time by the genre press and hailed as a possible revitalizer of the genre, and the general audiences couldn't care less... preferring their seasonal "Saw" sequel instead. (OK, I'm a little bitter.) Essentially a traditional creature flick with a good deal more humor mixed in, the film is likely to remind one of "Critters" or similar ilk, but actually takes advantage of the premise in interesting ways to bring some really disturbing scenes of honest horror to the screen. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 15th, 2009
10:08 pm	"Try the priest." Gentlemen, put on your top hats and tails. Ladies, get out your best dresses and most sparkling jewlery. This week, we're taking it on the town... we're taking in some culture... we're off to the musical theater! The Two-Part Harmony: Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007, 116 minutes) The gore-splattered stage has a long and storied history... nearly as long as the theater itself. From the self-blinding in ancient Greece's Oedipus Rex to the absurd overkill of Shakespear's Titus Andronicus and the productions of Paris's famous Grand Guignol, audiences wanted to see that spurt of crimson on those oft-tread boards long before film began to steal theatergoers from their seats. Musical gore-fests, however... Based on what amounts to an unverified Urban Legend about a murderous duo in Ol' London town, this is a film adaptation of a Stephen Sondheim musical first produced in 1979 which starred Angela Landsbury (Murder, She Wrote) in the supporting role. This time around we have the ump-teen hundredth collaboration between the director Tim Burton and the actor Johnny Depp with Helena Bohnam Carter in Landsbury's old role. Burton provides his usual grimy, gothic visuals with crimson waterfalls and Depp adopts the role of gaunt revenge-bent psychotic with greater ease and panache than he did three years prior in the unfortunate "Secret Window," giving him a well-earned Oscar for the role. And several of the songs are even catchy! Only one distinctly silly dream sequence played entirely for laughs breaks the mood. The Sour Note: Repo: The Genetic Opera (2008, 97 minutes) Holy HELL. I seriously didn't think the film could be anywhere near as utterly redonkulus as the simple cast lineup for this film. I mean, Paul Sorvino + Paris Hilton? Anthony Stewart Head + Ogre from Skinny Puppy? Bill Mosely and SARAH BRIGHTMAN? A metalhead, a hated pop princess, hollywood royalty, cult grunge, a theatrical veteran, and an opera star? Put together by the producers of the "Saw" franchise? IN A SCI-FI HORROR ROCK OPERA? And yet, if anything, the resulting train wreck is even more absurd than the component parts would suggest. The plot? The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Moulin Rouge had a seedy one night stand (while The Fifth Element watched) resulting in an angsty emo teenager who wears a lot of leather and mascera. The whole thing is shot in blindingly high contrast and oversaturated color, and scored with so much awkwardly operatic goth-rock lyrics that it feels like a 90-minute Evanescence music video flavored to an unfortunate nausea with Avril Lavigne. Is this truly the camp Xanadu of the goth set? (Comment on this)
Monday, June 8th, 2009
11:32 pm	Up I need to get this off my chest before I succumb to popular opinion, and change my mind, (as I have been wont to do in the past). ( UP ) Alright everyone. Scorch away. (10 Comments |Comment on this)
10:04 pm	"Be sober; be vigilant because your adversary the Devil walketh about seeking whom he may devour." I was really at a loss again this week. We'd had a couple pretty quality weeks in a row, and I needed to squander that value in a hurry. Then it came to me as in a dream... "Up, Up, Down, Down, Left Right Left Right Select Start." That's right! It's time we're done with all this intellectualizing about this theme and that influence or historical perspective or cultural tweaks. Just settle yourself into the well-worn and cheeto-infused couch cushions and grab yourself a wireless controller. We'z playin' some VIDYA GAMES! The Med Pack: Resident Evil (2002, 101 minutes) Milla Jovovich was introduced to most of us first through her role as the alien lifted directly from a Heavy Metal magazine "Leelo" in "The Fifth Element." Four years later it was time to cash that fame in for the promotion of a video-game adaptation of the work that first gave us the category "survival horror." (Subsequently leading all gamers to distrust unbroken windows forever.) Based on the wildly popular "zombies + other, more giant monsters" game of the same name, this film took the basic setting of Raccoon City, added space marines, an amazingly lame corporate intrigue subplot, and Mila as a mysterious amnesiatic. Thus ensuring a high enough concentration of cliches to properly give homage to a Japanese horror video game. For all its hokey popcorn cheesery (and an amazingly awful final boss battle) this was actually a pretty enjoyable flick. The zombie attacks and the building auto-defenses were especially good, though they regularly resort to surprisingly effective "jump scares," leaving us with a poor-man's "Alien" film. The Exploding Barrel: DOOM (unrated extended edition, 2005, 113 minutes) (Oh, don't complain. You don't know how lucky you are. Alone in the Dark is sitting right here next to it.) You know, ever since "Southland Tales" I've found The Rock to be a much more entertaining actor. It really puts all of his work in a different light. Based on the classic sci-fi/horror/satanic/gorehound first-person shooter upon which just about everything that came after (except Marathon) was based, the flick attempted to replicate the pixellated extremes of daemon attacks in a weirdly-designed futuristic moonbase that occupied so many of my undergraduate years. Except, for some reason, the movie takes place on Mars. And the BFG really looks like the plasma rifle. And for some reason, they added a plot. A real adaptation of "Doom" would just be two hours of pixellated monster attack down dimly-lit corridoors after which the hero is killed by a real cheesball trap and the player knocks over his monitor in frustration, so I suppose the addition of a plot is reasonable. The movie was something of a spectacular flop, but will be forever remembered for a five-minute first-person action sequence intended to directly evoke the game, but really looking silly as hell. WARNING: I worry that these two might actually be too similar to be enjoyed back-to-back. Upon request/vote we could substitute Alone in the Dark instead. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
8:39 pm	"Have you ever wondered why the crime rate in Sandford is so low, yet the accident rate is so high?" My home computer situation continues to degenerate, having now lost network connectivity on all but a single computer that's chosen this moment (with the owner out of town) to begin having extremely flaky connectivity problems. Thus I've gotta go against principle and post this from work. Gonna try to keep it brief. The Cupp'a Hot Tea: Hot Fuzz (2007, 121 minutes) The crew responsible for Shawn of the Dead, easily one of the top zombie parodies of all time, turned their attentions in a different direction for thier next major international release. Admittedly, their focus was a bit off in this flick; being percieved by audiences as either a very slow-starting send-up of Hollywood action flicks or a weirdly action-packed parody of classic "creepy village" horror flicks like 'the Wicker Man." As a result, "Hot Fuzz" wasn't nearly the breakout hit of "Shawn," despite being downright hilarious in many of the same ways that Shawn was, and slipped quickly into the "cult favorite" category instead. While understandable, it's a pity this great film is showing every sign of being quickly forgotten, despite. The Pint of Warm Beer: The Cottage (2008, 92 minutes) NOT A BAD FILM. However, a very cheap film. With a small cast and limited sets, the film relies on somewhat slapstick-y dumb humor to drive forward the story of Andy Serkis's ill-concieved criminal enterprise as it spirals further and further out of control. Competently acted and punctuated with gratuitous gore segments, the story takes us wandering around the Isle of Man, plauging our characters with creepy country folk, dead cell phones, idiot accomplices, and one of the more venomous hostages to ever grace the small screen. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
7:19 am	"I like the dark. It's friendly. " Sorry, everyone. Site's blocked at work and internet at home has been on the fritz for a day or two... I'm in a bit of a muddle as to which movies to line up for this week, as I've a handful of potential movie pairings where I haven't seen the second half. Thus I'm gonna go out on a limb and go for an odd lineup of another classic/remake pairing, of the same type as the "House on Haunted Hill" night. The Sleek Persian: Cat People (1942, 73 minutes) Val Lewton, the pen name of Russian emigrant Vladimir Leventon, is best known for this unusual film, his first as the new producer of RKO's horror studio in the 1940s. Rather famously, David O. Selznick used to provide Lewton with context-less titles for the next film, and ask that they shoot a movie to match. One can only imagine what Selznick had in mind with this title; perhaps some variant of the contemporary Buck Rogers martian villains? Lewton instead told a strange tale of foreign mystique, obsession, and dementia with a social and unspoken sexual subtext decades ahead of its time. Further hampered by a remarkably small budget ($150,000), Lewton turned the resourcefulness of necessity into cinematic genius; rachet-ing up the atmospheric oppression and practically re-inventing the concept of implied menace; essentially the diametric opposite of today's mediocre CGI and action-heavy horror flicks. The Mangy Manx: Cat People (1982, 118 minutes) One can better appreciate Lewton's skill and restraint by comparison with this remake of his most famous film. With classic early 80's aplomb, Paul Schrader and Alan Ormsby set out to make explicit everything implied in the classic, and add a touch of leftover 70's psychedelica for flavor. The resulting film added some interesting concepts and manages to be the most Bowie-riffic film ever to not actually have David Bowie in it, but ends up being a rather pedestrian effort. Weak writing, muddled atmosphere, honest-to-god plot holes, and downright silly attempts at art-house scandalousness (all better accomplished a year later in the thematically similar "The Hunger") makes this film a forgettable curio where the original is a justified classic. Warning: Malcom McDowell. I like him as an actor, but I swear his career is rife with these near-misses and thematic misfires. (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009
11:11 am	Why not I don't expect many replies; I've been notoriously absent lately, even before my computer crapped out and languished under my father's abortive attempts to fix the damn thing. But I still need some encouragement to start writing again (and the children circulating around are distracting.) But still, why not: Ganked from EKW: The problem with LiveJournal...we all think we are so close, but really, we know nothing about each other. So, I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. (or just anything at all you wanted to know! :D) Ask away. Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, May 18th, 2009
10:37 pm	"Don't shoot yourself. Don't shoot each other. And especially... don't shoot me. " That's it, I officially give up. After waiting two years for someone in Hollywood to wake up and release these films sensibly, as a proper box-set or at least one long disc, I'm fed up with trying to manipulate them into receiving my money on my terms and I'm conceding to theirs. There's only one double feature I could be talking about here.... GRINDHOUSE. Ladies and gents, we had a special request this week for something particularly mind-melting. Something depraved. Something specifically designed to counteract the poisonous venom in one viewer of a vampire film that will only be referred to from here on out as "Crepuscular." (Look it up). While we had a couple of excellent suggestions (one especially I fully intend to screen on another occasion), it came to me in a flash... the double feature most diametrically opposed to "Crepuscular"... is that distillation, parody, satire, gore-slapstick and film-nerd soapbox of the most morally degenerate horror genre films the 70's could offer. That altar constructed in honor of the sleaziest, dirtiest, tumbledown theaters in New York's 42nd street. I'm actually too young to remember such archaic constructs as "the double feature," this being the only one I've legitimately experienced in the theaters, but if this film hadn't flopped horribly, it literally could have changed the course of movie making history and lead to an explosion of cheap, tawdry sleaze in the theaters again, instead of the overblown, self-important, monumentally expensive, trite crap we're getting now. (A moment of silence for lost potential.) And the movies are even in the right order. (And yes, I have a copy of the trailers.) The Basest of Tawdry Common Denominators: Planet Terror (1997, 105 minutes) "The Zombie One." Hilarious gory mayhem. Take one part military conspiracy, one part "Dawn of the Dead" remake, a healthy dose of Bruce Campbell's attitude in "Evil Dead," stir with Tom Savini and Screaming Mad George's best SFX work, cover the audience in Gallagher's splatter tarpaulin, heat until smoldering with Rosario Dawson, garnish liberally with dozens of cameos and deliver to the table with a straight face. Serve with a side dish of Quentin Tarantino being really, really irritating, (but that's OK, just slip it under the table to the dog). Our compliments to the chef, Robert Rodriguez. White Knuckled Chase to Oblivion: Death Proof (1997, 113 minutes) "The Car One." To Tarantino's credit, I see what he was trying to do here. And it's an interesting idea... a variation on the "slasher" concept in such a way that we get to explore all the great car-and-chase-based action movies from the 70's. A particularly brutal and violent idea. And it would have been at least passable. Except that it was written by Quentin Tarantino. And the man loves to write. dozens. of. meandering. talky. nerd-intensive. conversations. between. his. characters. to. show. how. clever. he. is. (pssst. pet peeve of mine) So what we get instead is a handful of astounding, shockingly brutal sequences broken up with over an hour of people in a bar bragging about what trashy car flicks they've seen. The fact the critics lauded this film and roundly denounced Planet Terror is utter insanity. On the other hand, this is Zoe Bell's first real starring role, and she more than makes up for it. WARNING FOR BOTH MOVIES: Seriously. This stuff is amazingly trashy and designed to shock. Be prepared for campy/trashy sleaze. You also probably won't want to eat during the first film. And, I've got the "extended and unrated" cuts of both films... so it may be even trashier than you remember. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, May 11th, 2009
8:01 pm	Guest Host of Movie Night! Hey everyone... Back from the excursion out to Alabama, and none the worse for wear. This week, as I've been out of town too long to properly preview something for this week, I've turned the selection over to Mike, who's gotten a hold of an enormous set of classic Hammer Horror flicks. If he likes, I'll let him do the summary this week, as each film is cemented solidly on my "I should have watched this by now" list, and I'd rather not spoil the movie for myself by looking up details about 'em. (I normally try to avoid any plot points in my summaries for the same reason, but I have to know the key plot points in order to avoid telling y'all about 'em.) Anyway, the basic details of the flicks: Don't Hurt 'em Hammer!: Quatermass and the Pit (1967, 97 minutes) Hammertime!: X- the Unknown (1956, 81 minutes) (Yes, those are terrible puns, but I can't come up with something better without seeing the flicks.) Considering how short each flick is, maybe we can take the opportunity to finish up Attack of the Super Monsters as well... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, May 4th, 2009
10:09 pm	"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; " Sorry for the late update, everyone. Only barely had enough time to preview the movies for this week, since I'd never seen either of 'em before. And, as we all know, one has to be cautious when dealing with the forces of darkness. Especially since we hadn't delved into the Satanic end of the spectrum since way back on Movie night #17 and the classic "The Exorcist." (And the not-so-classic "God Told Me To.") Thus I give you this week's theme of the forces of darkness triumphant! The Son of the Devil: The Omen (1976, 111 minutes) Hmm. 1976. Same year I was born. Just sayin'... A slow but surprisingly captivating performance by Gregory Peck in this Richard Donner-directed film introduced us to the concept of a more subtle, insidious approach of armageddon from within the halls of power and privilege than the usual fire, brimstone, and leotard-wearing Faustian devils. More importantly, little Harvey Stephens used this film to set the bar for "creepy little kid" and may have single-handedly accounted for a precipitous drop in the incidence of the name "Damien" on birth certificates the world 'round. While sparse incidents of gore are sprinkled throughout the film, the real horror of the work rests more within the quiet creeping dread of the parent's regard for their child, and perhaps the most justified case of post-partum depression ever. A legendarily troubled production has led to the belief that the film itself was somehow cursed... a superstition that persists to this day. The Cousin, Twice Removed, of the Devil's Old Roomate's Ex-Girlfriend: The Devil's Rain (1975, 86 minutes) ...this film must replicate what it feels like to go crazy. A completely insane collision between Salem's Lot, Suspiria, a Thanksgiving pagent, and an overly-indulgent Christian morality play (with a surprising amount of explosives packed in there), it somehow manages to disorient, melodramatize, and genuinely disturb the audience with strange flavors of psychadelia, all while being really amazingly bad. But that's nothing compared to the jaw-droppingly astonishing part. It stars Tom Skerritt, Ida Lupino, Ernest Borgnine, John Travolta, and WILLIAM SHATNER. Skerritt's barely in the film, as is Travolta (although this is actually his film debut), but Ernest Borgnine is dead center for the whole thing (including a moment that rivals "Delirium" for pure WTF?!?!) playing opposite William Shatner, who appears to have taken the job purely on the assurances that he would appear shirtless for 80% of it. And, as if there wasn't enough crazy packed in there already, they claim Anton LaVey as a special consultant on the film. (If you don't know, don't ask.) (Comment on this)
Monday, April 27th, 2009
10:29 pm	You bad girl... you have to follow the script! So, I'd every intention of dipping back into the realm of classic pair-ups with a screening of the original and the remake of "Cat People" until I pre-screened the re-make; keeping in mind the rather startling surprises in last week's offerings when I trusted to my 15-year old memory of "From Beyond." Let's just say that the cut-from-broadcast portions of the Cat People remake had a bit too much in common with the films from last week. I feel that material like that we should probably spread out a bit or I may drive everyone away... So, instead, we're going with another audience suggestion! This one comes courtesy of Casey, and finally gives in to my other obsession: anime! The Subtle Ukiyo-e's Brushstroke: Perfect Blue (1998, 81 minutes) The directorial debut of Satoshi Kon, who is perhaps the most celebrated rising star of anime in recent years, this work presented, and very nearly perfected, his terrifying, hallucinatory, dreamlike story progression which he later employed to great effect in less violent works like "Millennium Actress" and especially "Paprika." This compelling art-house like creation specifically recalls the careful construction of a Hitchcock thriller mixed with the sequential and subject confusion of "Memento," and presents careful contemplations on the absurdity of celebrity and "public persona," to say nothing of fan obsession. And yet it accomplishes all of this without neglecting the almost grindhouse obsession with graphic gore set-pieces for which Japanese horror has become so well known. Strangely, this film seems to be slipping from the popular memory of US anime fans; its graphic nature and aggressively adult subject matter, as well as blatant critique of the fan culture, alienate it from its most ready audience in the US, and its association with the bright colors and vapid idealism of popular anime culture alienate it from the arthouse crowd. The horror crowd largely don't realize that it exists. WARNING: There are two scenes of graphic sexual violence in the film which, while short, are disturbing enough to warrant a warning. Also, one of the nastiest deaths-by-icepick kills I've ever seen. The Bent Calligrapher's Pen: GoShogun: The Time Etranger (1985, 90 minutes) This one isn't bad, but it's very hard to explain. But that's kind of the point. GoShogun was a classic giant-robot anime series that ran in 1982 and revolved around the typical things that all Japanese Giant Robot shows typically do; aliens, explosions, and a group of spunky never-say-die individualistic teammates who set out to destroy the monster of the week. Weirdly, four years later they made this sequel, set 40 years after the conclusion of the series, and it has nothing to do with giant robots whatsoever. Displaced in time, confused in sequence, and loaded with surrealist imagery, the film famously confused the hell out of original audiences who arrived expecting another giant robot show. Perhaps Takeshi Shudo and Kunihiko Yuyama were working out some personal daemons that they couldn't express in their prior and subsequent works on Minky Momo and Pokemon. (Amusingly, the film is the only aspect of GoShogun that made it to the US in an official release.) Strangely, the film works quite well on its own terms. While initially slow and confusing to those unfamiliar with the original show, its conspiratorial and clausterphobic nature draws the audience into the film like few other works. Visually it displays an agressively 80's anime style and gives us one of the few legitimately strong female leads of the era. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 26th, 2009
3:44 pm	Going offline Hey everyone, Updated my computer last week and managed to bust my network connection. Till I get it fixed, I'm gonna be pretty incommunicado on lj. Just a head's up. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
11:35 pm	"Turns out, you don't need one! Totally over-rated." So... had a nasty bout of "shutting down" again as the weekend encroached. Fortunately a bachelor party for Andy and the consumption of vast quantities of alcohol + sidestream nicotine + attractive skin of the female persuasion headed it off pretty abruptly. Well, maybe not headed it off, but ( distracted from it )As is apropos to the secretive, fraternalistic-order-like nature of bachelor parties, I won't divulge any more of the details, except to say that Andy did his usual and showed us all up on the dance floor at Halo (whoop... ingredient number five; music) before we made it to Echo, and shortly after leaving there we all collapsed in various states of disarray about the hotel room. By some miracle I awoke in time to run off to Easter service without waking anyone. Easter service was something of an ordeal, but I slogged through via four cups of coffee beforehand and collapsing at 2:00 afterwards. Not a great deal more happening... got out to see Watchmen again with a friend on Friday. I think the flick still holds up quite well; we even had applause at Rorschach's line again despite only a dozen people in the theater. The only bad point is that "Silk Specter's" relative lack of acting ability really sticks out more the second time around. Hers is probably the most difficult role in the film, and she is plainly the worst actress. (TJ? You finished with my copy of the book? I think I want to read it again.) Now word comes down that Rorschach is cast as the new Freddy Kreuger in the Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Part of me wants to see him in the part... but the rest of me realizes that a remake is going to be populated with more completely interchangeable night-time teen drama stars and be largely unmemorable as a result. Besides, Freddy's attitude is essentially the opposite of Rorschach... lighthearted sadism rather than downbeat sociopathic stoicisim. This also has him going from being the avenger of kiddie-fiddlers to playing one... not sure how I think that transition will go. Hell, at least they probably aren't going to turn him into a pot farmer, like Jason Voorhees. Other flicks... I'm reaching the end of one of my "50 movie box sets" of DVDs, an accomplishment of which I am uncommonly proud and thus a completely hopeless case. I finished up a Corman flick "The Last Woman on Earth" (1960) the other night that I found much better than I'd expected. I don't think I've really grasped the core appeal of Roger Corman yet, but I think I got a glimpse of it in this flick. Corman is perhaps the most famously penny-pinching producer in the history of Hollywood. In a typical Corman flick the acting is rough (probably because they hadn't enough film for more than a couple takes) the sets are laughable and the props are terrible. But if you wanted to be on film, he's sure as hell the man to go to; he's the original master of throwing a thousand things at the wall in the hope that .1% would stick, he couldn't afford to put much of a budget into any of them. One of his other flicks, the original Little Shop of Horrors (no, the one the musical was based on) is laughably awful; essentially a series of running jokes all mashed together (there's the Russian/Jewish skinflint shop owner, the lotus-eater, the Jewish grandmother whose relatives were always dying, the sadist dentist, and of course Seymore, his mother, and Audry), the sets are threadbare (a flower shop interior consisting of three card-tables holding flowers and a cash register) and the monster is a nine-foot tall paper mache' construction. How cheap is the flick? The opening titles play over a clumsy pencil sketch of a city street complete with erase marks and Marquees where the titles don't really fit. Honestly, the only notable part is a creepily-good turn by Jack Nicholson (!?!) as a nebbish, tooth-sucking masochistic dental patient seeking out the most painful dentist in the city. Anyway, ( Last Woman on Earth ) I know it was merely a story mechanism for the film, but the fact of the event's actual occurrence lends it a chilling quality that's probably lost on most viewers. Always remember, Mother Nature is a bitch who is totally planning to kill you at the first opportunity through crafty and nefarious means. By its own standards, the film is a somewhat clumsy (several scenes seem to be missing entirely) but surprisingly poignant examination of the failings of the human spirit under extreme circumstances. Characters flawed enough to grant surprising depth, and clumsily directed enough to be granted a touch of authenticity, this dollar-store cheapie ends up much much better than it has any right to be, and may actually be granting me a bit of insight into the "cult of Corman." On the other hand, we have Dreamwork's latest offering; the 3-D animated feature ( Aliens vs. Monsters ), the film is not soulless, but it does perhaps possess some congenital heart defect. Pixar, even under the watchful eye of the mouse, created better realized characters of depth and sincerity without any dialogue the last time out, and managed to be more exciting and heartstring-tugging to boot despite similar burial beneath leaden social themes. From the moment I realized they were compiling 50's movie monsters into this flick, I really wanted to like this flick. And I do, but I seriously doubt this will ever be anyone's favorite CGI flick. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, April 13th, 2009
10:37 pm	Movie Night #52: Reruns Just a note; voting is still open for this week's re-run night. The Current leaders are circling around Evil Dead, Death Bed, Dark City, and Daemons, though I haven't done an official tally yet. (Comment on this)
Monday, April 6th, 2009
9:24 pm	"All we want to do is eat your brains..." To quote Rorschach; Hrm... I'd intended to dive back into regular (or at least weekly) postings here, but I find myself without much of interest to say. Work is... lending itself towards a pessimistic outlook on matters that I don't want to jinx by talking about directly (knocks furiously on wood), and I'm making a concious effort to stay away from opening the second bottle of Grey Goose lest I ramble on late into the night and arise the next morn incapable of productive work. (Although I don't seem too capable of productive work even when perfectly well rested. Meh.) So I'll just treat y'all to a couple brief (for me) book reviews, which will at least let me return one of the things I borrowed from the landlord upstairs. First up: Mickey Zucker Reichert's ( The Legend of Nightfall ) This thing was a downright CHORE to get through. At the end, when things actually started to happen, I grew a little interested, but it took months to slog through that first 375 pages of horrible writing. There is nothing unique or interesting about this story... it's simply the author's masturbatory Mary-Sue adventure of the greatest thief / assassin / rouge / fighter / detective / magician multi-class 20th level character. Fortunately, the other book I've read was much, much better. People have been telling me for at least a year that I needed to read ( World War Z ) In the end, the stories in this book are cleverly and powerfully told, with especial praise going to the book's overall structure for allowing a rapidly maturing author to present his work in the very best of light. Rarely misfiring, we can only hope the upcoming movie does the book justice. (They'd better keep the "collected interview" format... trying to tell a continuous story would completely miss the genius of the book.) (6 Comments |Comment on this)
8:11 pm	Movie night update Two quick notes, everyone. I've had a request that we flip the order of the movies this week. Unless anyone objects, we'll be seeing Jacob's Ladder first and Brazil second. Cast y'all's votes if you feel strongly one way or the other. Secondly, I've decided to designate movie night #52 as "reruns night." No one's managed to make it to every single movie night ('cept myself) so I thought I'd have a week where we've got a chance to screen those flicks that got missed the first time around, or replay especial favorites from the past. Anyone with a preference, send me a vote for two flicks from the list below. They don't have to be in the same pairings or anything, just anything y'all would like to see again. Be warned, though... if nothing's voted on, I've my own vote as well... :) 1) Texas Chainsaw Massacre & House of the Dead 2) An American Werewolf in London & Innocent Blood 3) The Evil Dead & Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things 4) Dagon & The Unnameable 5) Delirium aka Le Foto di Gioia 6) Event Horizon & Lifeforce 7) Carnival of Souls & Plan 9 From Outer Space 8) Creepshow & Creepshow III 9) Hellraiser & Death Bed: the Bed that Eats 10) Phantasm & Thirteen Ghosts 11) Ravenous & Cannibal! The Musical 12) Cube & Sphere 13) Invasion of the Body Snatchers & The Day of the Triffids 14) Shaun of the Dead & Zombi3 15) Manhunter & The Cell 16) Friday the 13th & Pieces 17) The Exorcist & God Told Me To 18) Pumpkinhead 19) Ginger Snaps & The Company of Wolves 20) The Terminator & Virus 21) The Hunger & American Vampire 22) Constantine & Hellboy 23) Lucio Fulci's Zombi aka Zombi 2 & El Pantano de los cuervos aka Swamp of the Ravens 24) Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn & Silent Rage 25) The Trial & Donnie Darko 26) Dawn of the Dead & Manos: The Hands of Fate 27) The Blob & The Stuff 28) Ju-On & Uzumaki 29) Feast & They 30) H.P.Lovecraft's Re-Animator & John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness 31) House on Haunted Hill & House on Haunted Hill 32) Dead Alive aka. Braindead & Black Sheep 33) Halloween & Night of the Living Dead 34) The Monster Squad & Monster House 35) Suspiria & Demons 36) A Boy and his Dog & Hardware 37) Big Trouble in Little China & The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (aka The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula) 38) Cabin Fever & Santa's Slay 39) Arsenic and Old Lace & The People Under the Stairs 40) Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit & The Corpse Bride 41) Southland Tales & Night Train To Terror 42) Hellbound: Hellraiser II & Lord of Illusions 43) The Thing & The Hidden 44) Let the Right One In & My Bloody Valentine 45) Friday the 13th Part 2 & Memorial Valley Massacre 46) Godzilla aka Gojira & THEM! 47) Dark City & They Live 48) Friday the 13th part 3-D & Sleepaway Camp 49) House & House of Wax 50) April Fool's Day & Cry Wolf (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 5th, 2009
10:06 pm	"He's got away from us, Jack." Sirs and ladies of the court, I submit that we have, in fact, reached the 99th and 100th film presented here on movie night! This is truly a crazy number of flicks and I will, as promised, pull out a special pair of films for the occasion. These two films comprise the double feature that first inspired me to run double feature events. Many years ago when I was attending Emory University I saw an advertizement for a "Experimental Existential Psychadelic Mind F**k Double Feature" (or words to that effect). Then followed a coincidence and my complete inability to keep track of the time, such that instead of just catching the second film (with which I was familiar), I ended up attending two hours early and caught them both. Be warned, the combination of these two films acts as a pretty strong psychotropic agent. Messed me up pretty bad for about a month. Seriously... I don't think a double feature of Eraserhead and Angel's Egg would mess you up as thoroughly. Thus I present to you the best (IMHO) of my collection. Neither is the sort of flick that can easily be confined to a single category... neither is exactly "horror," but there are certainly horrific things happening in them. Both fool the audience profoundly, and dig at deeper matters than are apparent on the surface. Their connection isn't the kitschy joke that I use to connect other movies on occasion (though I could easily have substituted "The Boys from Brazil" if I wanted to do that...) but a deeper thematic force. Thus: The Winged Victory: Brazil (1985, director's cut, 142 minutes) Let me state this plainly; without hyperbole or exaggeration of any kind on my part. I literally think that Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" is the best movie ever made. (Many friends consider this of particular help in understanding me...)Everything else I've ever seen has always paled in comparison. And yet, predictably, it was a casualty of the Hollywood system who felt it was too dark a film to be successful. There's a long and heartbreaking story of the "love conquers all" ending tacked on the film and the butchering it went through in some drafts, but be reassured, we're watching the proper version. Brilliant, scathing, hilarious, tragic, romantic, terrifying, legitimately kafkaesque, as well as visually beautiful in the same manner as a child's night terror, it's a perfectly functioning clock of a film, with Jonathan Pryce, De Niro, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin... the list goes on and on. Further contains the single greatest line ever spoken on film. (OK, that last sentence is a bit of a joke.) Anything more I could say to try and prepare you for the film would only lessen its impact, so I'll just say, if there's any film you want to try and be here for, this is the one. The Descending Staircase: Jacob's Ladder (1990, 116 minutes) A paranoid fever-dream of a film (literally, in several segments) one is granted only glancing impressions of the film's real meaning, and it becomes something of a puzzle if even the filmmakers had a solid meaning in mind. Practically the definition of an "unreliable narrator," the film coaxes the audience along an increasingly darkened corridor towards an irregulalry flickering light that only ever seems to be getting further away. Confusing, terrifying, and criminally underappreciated, this is a philosophical koan of a film, suffering only contemplation from an audience used to recieiving definitive meaning. That, and it's hella scary and gory in places. WARNING: Seriously, everyone. This double feature really did mess me up for about a week when I first saw it. Prepare yourselves. WARNING: Anyone looking close will realize that we are gonna be running pretty damn long this week, so I want to be starting on time if at all possible. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 4th, 2009
7:45 pm	Darius's meme list I call it Darius's because he was the last to add a significant portion to it. (I only added one... the second "Fritz the Cat" film.) I'm not sure exactly how I'm supposed to mark this one... the instructions seem to imply just those films you rented or had on tape as a kid, but a lot of them are really recent ("Bolt" hardly has a VHS release, right?), so I'm just marking the ones I've seen in any capacity. ( That's a lot of cartoons ) Total:149/175 Other than one person who had apparently seen absolutely all of these... I think this is the highest score I've seen out there. Hm. I actually remember all of these pretty well. Only "The Adventures of Mark Twain" is a little fuzzy... I may not have seen it all the way through. But seriously.... Ringing Bell? Why don't I just list my Brothers Quay collection on here, if you're going for pure fuck-upped-ness. Glad all the sequels mostly got left off, though. (Comment on this)