Bomb Proof Cinema And Art Entertainment

Coming Soon: About Face

2011-12-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

The Sundance Film Festival announced their line-up this week and one in particular will be of interest to baby boomers and/or fashionistas everywhere. About Face is a documentary about fashion models of the seventies and eighties and their career highs and lows and the inevitable work tolls of aging. If you don't recognize the names -- Carmen Dell'Orefice (still stunning in her eighties), Cheryl Tiegs, Jerry Hall, Christie Brinkley, Dayle Haddon, Carol Alt, Isabella Rossellini and Kim Alexis -- you will no doubt recognize the faces. Many became actresses, married rock and sports stars, retired or as in the case of Dell'Orefice, lost all their money to Bernie Madoff. And several are still going strong today as the baby boomer generation has made it cool to be "of a certain age."

Sundance runs January 19th to the 29th and if aren't lucky enough to attend, About Face will be shown on HBO next summer!

Beverly Johnson and Cheryl Tiegs

Christie Brinkley gets a touch up on set

Photo Credits: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Big Girls Need Big Diamonds

2011-12-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

No one loved diamonds more than Elizabeth Taylor, famously quoting that "big girls need big diamonds." And no celebrity is more identified with diamonds and jewels than the legendary actress. While she may have had numerous husbands (seven), her love affair with jewelry may be the one that lasted the longest. From the 33.19 karat Krupp diamond bestowed to her by two time husband Richard Burton to a ruby and diamond Cartier necklace from Mike Todd, she amassed an incredible collection over her extraordinary lifetime and even developed a perfume called White Diamonds.

Just in time for Christmas comes the Collection of Elizabeth Taylor on the auction block at Christies. Collectors and well-heeled fans of the late star can purchase over 1000 items that include jewelry, couture and art starting on December 13th through the l6th. The collection is expected to fetch 30-50 million and it's all here -- Bulgari, Givenchy, Van Cleef & Arpels, Valentino and even Warhol.

And if the prices are too staggering for your budget, opt for the catalogue of memorabilia. A special boxed set accompanied by Taylor's signed out of print book "My Love Affair with Jewelry" is available for a mere 2500.00 (note - only 25 are available and proceeds go to her AIDS Foundation). You can see more of the collection at the Christies website.

Santa, if you are reading, I would love the Irene Sharaff yellow silk chiffon wedding dress worn on her first wedding day to Richard Burton in l964. It's a steal at 40,000-60,000. Just put in a bid on the low side and see what happens:)

Irene Sharaff wedding dress

Krupp diamond given to Taylor by her fifth husband.
It's said she wore the ring everyday and is valued at 2.5 to 3.5 million.

Bulgari sapphire and diamond necklace given to
Taylor by Richard Burton on her 40th birthday
Estimated price? 600,000-800,000

Nicknamed the Granny Necklace after Burton gave it to Taylor
when she became a grandmother, this gold, diamond and emerald piece
from Van Cleef & Arpels is a bargain at 120,000-180,000

Warhol's lithograph is expected to go for 30,000-50,000

Valentino red satin ball gown

Emanuel sateen white trenchcoat as worn by Liz below in 1954

Antique circular "opera passes" with the names of opera houses

Husband Mike Todd gave Taylor this tiara to wear to the Oscars
Estimate 60,000-80,000

Happy bidding!

And if you are in the Richmond, Virginia area next weekend, I will be speaking on the making of Cleopatra at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on Saturday, December 10th. The lecture will be followed by a screening of the film.

I will also be lecturing on Designs on Film at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC Thursday, December 8th followed by a book signing. And at some point, I will stick a wreath on the door and ink out a few Christmas cards:)

Photo Credits: Christie's

It's the final COUNTDOWN

2011-11-28T21:36:00.000-08:00

Do do do dooo

Do do do do dooo

Do do do dooo

Do do do do do do dooo

Et cetera.

The final countdown for what, you're asking? Why, for the RPG Kickstarter, of course! It is less than a week until it's all over (December 4). My, how time flies when you're something something.

But! It's still going strong, and the stronger it goes, the more RPG goodness I can make. As of this writing, there are still amazing incentive rewards to be had, like:

RPG page 41- original art- signed by moi and Felicia Day

The original art for the alternate cover to Pocket Hams and Troll Fats: RPG Collected, Volume 1 by the amazing Chrissie Zullo

A sketch of an RPG character by Fiona effing Staples (why, even I don't know who she's going to draw- ooh, mystery)

A page of original art from the forthcoming Dragon Age digital comic drawn by the mighty Chad Hardin (comic published by BioWare and Dark Horse)

The opportunity for you to be made into a super hero by actress/writer Brea Grant- she'll sketch ya and give you super powers and all sorts of cool stuff

RPG prints by me, Renae De Liz, and Meng Zhang

AND a super secret gonna-be-revealed soon reward that might have something to do with pocket ham. That's right.

So become a backer! Tell your friends and your "social" "networking" cyber comrades! It's good for your charisma AND your speechcraft, I swear.

The Iron Lady

2011-11-27T11:29:00.000-08:00

Meryl Streep is a true chameleon and continues to amaze with her dead-on portrayals of Julia Childs, Karen Blixen, Miranda Priestly (a.k.a. Anna Wintour), Karen Silkwood and Rachel Samstat (a.k.a. Nora Ephron).

A dead ringer as Thatcher

Next up for the much heralded greatest American actress living today is the role of former Prime Minister of England's Margaret Thatcher in The Weinstein Company's The Iron Lady. From her bouffant hair to power blue suits, Streep is already garnering early Oscar predictions for a seventeenth nod (she has only won twice). Early word is the film is not without its share of controversy (such as her battle with dementia) in the biopic of one of Great Britain's most famous and divisive residents of No. 10 Downing. It should be a great story of yet another strong woman who smashed the glass ceiling. Here here.

Streep with film husband Jim Broadbent

The real Margaret Thatcher with husband Denis

The film debuts December 30th and you can see the trailer here. You can also read about the life and career of Streep in my article for Celebrated Living.

Photo Credits: Alex Bailey for Pathe Productions/The Weinstein Company, Celebrated Living

Performing a Public Service:Cab Calloway in The Blues Brothers

2011-11-27T07:25:00.000-08:00

Whatever one may think of John Landis or Dan Aykroyd as either artists or people, they both deserve kudos for preserving a modern day performance of Minnie the Moocher by Cab Calloway on film in The Blues Brothers (1980). Aykroyd wrote him into the script and Landis gave him full attention for a lavishly filmed performance on stage. Watching the movie the other day on Netflix, and seeing John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd perform with Cab Calloway, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, John Lee Hooker* and Ray Charles, I wondered to myself, "Did they appreciate the talent amassed for this film that would never be together again?"

Of course they did. How could they not? I've never been a cult-follower of The Blues Brothers like many others (though I do like it) but I'm glad it exists. I'm glad it's out there and so many performers who weren't connected to film got a chance to be preserved on film forever after. Besides, where else can you find Charles Napier, Carrie Fisher, Twiggy, John Candy, Paul Reubens, Steve Lawrence and Henry Gibson all playing bit player back-up in the same place at the same time? If there were ever a film whose preservation of talent on celluloid surpasses the importance of the film itself, this might be the one.

*He doesn't actually perform with them but he's there just the same.

The Movie's Good, I Just Don't Like It

2011-11-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

"Greg said it's not about that so shut up, stupid!"

The laws of film criticism would seem to dictate that when a movie is good, demonstrably good, we should like it or, at least, appreciate it in all its glorious excellence. I'm not talking about those recent brouhahas and kerfuffles and, dare I say it, foofaraws that erupted after that guy wrote that piece about how he didn't like those movies that were supposed to be movies he liked but he found them boring and then a bunch of critics were all like, "I hate you!" and went running to their rooms and then some other guy wrote another piece where he even mentioned some friends of mine (in a very positive light, of course) and talked about how everyone needed to chill or whatever word the kids are using these days to denote "ignore your intellectual outrage and keep your mouth shut like a good little soldier."

So, yeah, anyway, it's not about that.

No, it's about a movie that seems well-done in every possible way but is still quite unlikeable. The writing is literate and tight, the plot works well, the acting is uniformly good, the direction clear and efficient, the musical score, editing, photography, sound, etc. are all top-drawer, as my non-existent prep school friends would say (their names are "Chip" and "Skip"). And yet, I simply don't like them. And I don't mean "it's not my cup of tea" (Chip and Skip again), I mean, "Damn! I really hate this movie!" See, that's kind of confusing because when a movie has everything going for it, it seems like somehow, someway, I should like it. But that's not the case nearly as often as it should be.

Back in 1996, everyone in the world of film criticism (well, it seemed that way but it was before aggregate shit sites like Rotten Tomatoes so what in the hell do I know) was lying on the floor recovering from spasms of nirvana after watching The English Patient. Seriously, I'd read a review and the critic would be all like, "English Patient? Touch me... there." So I saw it and found it to have fantastic acting, a really tight script, good clean direction and breathtaking cinematography. And, brother, did I hate that fucking thing! And I don't really know why because I've never taken the time to go back and watch it again which I probably should because it seems like I'm constantly hating or loving movies that I end up reversing my opinion on in weeks, days, sometimes hours. I do this because, as best I can tell, I've got some kind of mental problem but, you know what, that's for another post.

So, again, I can't claim The English Patient is bad. I think everyone involved should be proud of their accomplishments on it. It's not easy to make a movie, really it's not and something like The English Patient shows the kind of skill and talent that we should all be so lucky to possess. It takes time, patience and a butt-load of money and I'm not here to dismiss any of the movies discussed in this post, just say that, inexplicably, I don't like them while acknowledging they're all well-done.

"This movie is bullshit! Good popcorn, though."

What got me thinking about this again was my recent viewing of The Road. Is it well done? I'd say, exceptionally so. The post-apocalyptic landscape is, for one, so convincing, so dead, so grey, so lifeless that I'd swear the art director and set designer had somehow seen the coming end of the world and replicated it for the film (how they would have done this I'm still working out but I'm strongly leaning towards a time-helmet of some kind). The lead performances by Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smitt-McPhee are both excellent and the story has a lean, efficient quality to it. A no-frills kind of feeling that is perfectly fitting for such an enterprise. And yet, by the end, I couldn't help but think the entire viewing was a complete and utter waste of my time. I've felt that way ever since. Here's what I got from it: Nothing.

Maybe there's a slickness involved that I just don't connect with. It's possible. All the films that produce this kind of reaction in me feel perfectly done in some vague, technical way. In fact, a lot of Best Picture winners fall into this category for me as well as almost the entire career of Ron Howard. I see a Ron Howard movie and everything in them seems just right, you know? As in, no chances taken, no going outside the constraints of the familiar, no bold exploration of new ideas. They all have that prepackaged feel to them. A sort of "Paint by the Numbers" where all the colors are right and in the right place but it feels forced, stiff, dead.

By contrast, when I watch something like Stroszek, it feels like Werner Herzog was making it up as he went. And that feels great! It's like he said, "Okay, let's film you driving away. No! Wait! Drive the truck in circles first. Then get out. Then get back in. Set something on fire. No! Wait! Is there some kind of crazy theme park or arcade around here? What? What's that? Dancing chickens? Perfect! Let's go there and film that!"

It's the same when I watch early Scorsese. Mean Streets and Taxi Driver have a dirty, messy, sloppy feel to them, a feel I really like. The Aviator, on the other hand, is excellent on all levels but I just don't like it. It feels so clean, so polished, so... so not Scorsese. Same with The Departed. All of these films, from The English Patient to (oh, let's pick a Howard film) Frost/Nixon seem so very uninspired. They feel like the work of people who all know exactly what they're doing and they do it well but they don't let any part of themselves become a part of the equation. It's like the recording of Born Free by Andy Williams (Huh? What? Just bear with me, okay?). In the song, he sings every note exactly as written and it's a running joke for my wife and me to take note of the one part in the song where he doesn't, the very last verse where, instead of singing the word "free" he kind of speaks it, boldly. It's unintentionally funny because it's the one, single, solitary moment where he lets any kind of personality enter into his rendition. Rather than phrasing the words to fit his feelings, emotions and instincts, like a Billie Holliday or Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra, he does exactly what he's supposed to do. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

"Nothing I said applies to me. Now get off my lawn!"

So maybe that's it. Maybe when a film does exactly what it's supposed to do, it turns me off. Maybe that's why I'm a fan of so many scratchy, ugly, thrown-together movies from the seventies and so little a fan of so much from the eighties on. From the eighties on, thanks to technology in filming as well as post-production editing and special effects, even crappy, low-rent movies have a slick, polished look to them. But that can't be the whole story because as much as an Out of Africa, The Last Emperor, Shakespeare in Love, American Beauty or Chicago don't work for me, practically everything Hollywood did in the forties does and if anything ever fit the definition of "people who know exactly what they're doing and doing it well", it's Hollywood in the forties. I mean, those guys and gals put together movies like Tin Lizzies rolling off of Henry Ford's assembly line and, somehow, most of them do feel inspired to me. Maybe that's because they were inserting themselves into the films (oh shit, it's that theory - RUN! Save yourself before it takes over the whole discussion!). Or maybe there are too many people involved in the post-production now to keep any kind of individual directorial vision up there on the screen for anyone to even notice. Or maybe I'm just a grumpy old curmudgeon and this is the dumbest idea I've ever had for a post because, in the end, there can be no possible answer to the question, "How can a movie do everything right and feel so wrong?"

On the Set: The Great Gatsby

2011-11-20T13:24:00.000-08:00

I posted back in March on the Warner Brothers remake of The Great Gatsby that is currently filming in Sydney, Australia. Directed by Baz Luhrmann, the film stars Carey Mulligan as Daisy, Tobey Maguire as Nick and Leo DiCaprio in the title role of F. Scott Fitzgerald's popular novel. Here are a precious few shots from the set and you can already see the incredible period costumes designed by Catherine Martin (and wife of Luhrmann). DiCaprio makes a dashing Gatsby (as did Robert Redford in the seventies film version) and Mulligan is a perfect Daisy. This marks the Lurhmann and Martin team's second collaboration with DiCaprio as they filmed Romeo + Juliet in 1996.

Mulligan and DiCaprio

Leo Dicaprio and Tobey Maguire

Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan

Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson

Sydney becomes Long Island in the twenties

Martin is also the film's production designer. A two time Academy Award winner (Moulin Rouge) and Tony Award winner for the set design of Broadway's La Boehme, "CM" has her own line of rugs, paints and wallpapers. Many of the sparrow and vine designs are inspired by her native Australia as well as Asian designs and traditional lace. I interviewed CM on the set of the film Australia several years ago and she is a dynamo -- it's no easy feat doing double duty with costume and production design. The mother of two was also getting ready to launch the Catherine Martin line as a natural extension of her film work. The line is distributed in Australia with Designer Rugs and Porter's Paints. (You can read more of the article on my website under Articles/Four Seasons magazine).

Martin and Luhrmann

Feathers Area Rug for Designer Rugs

Martin's Paint Line with Porter's Original Paints in Australia

Sparrow Wallpaper

The film will be distributed in 3D and premieres Christmas day of 2012. Needless to say, I can't wait.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo Images: New York Magazine, Warner Brothers, Catherine Martin, The Daily Mail

Facebooking the Demise of the Wicked Witch (of the East)

2011-11-18T05:47:00.000-08:00

I imagine at this moment on Oz Twitter, #CelebratedTooSoon is trending wildly.

By the way, you just know when it comes time for the Mayor's re-election, his campaign's going to be all over the fact that both wicked witches died on his watch.

Coming soon... in 1978

2011-11-17T05:53:00.000-08:00

What I Learned Today

2011-11-16T19:06:00.000-08:00

Mary Carlisle is still alive. She was one of the WAMPAS baby stars and is the last remaining one. Reading up on the WAMPAS baby stars is the kind of thing I actually do so, if you're not as weird as I am and are unfamiliar with them, simply go here.

Anyway, she's 99 and will turn 100 on February 3, 2012. She was born almost 100 years ago but when she was born it had only been 86 years since Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died. So there were people alive when she was born who were alive when Jefferson and Adams were alive. On top of that, consider this: 86 years ago from this time, Joan Crawford was starting her Hollywood career in the silents and Charlie Chaplin was making The Gold Rush. Wrap your head around that for a little while.

And while you're at it, visit this picture gallery for dozens of great photos of Mary Carlisle.

Ralph Fiennes, The Interview

2011-11-15T19:48:00.000-08:00

He's been called a writer's actor, workaholic, heartthrob, sex symbol, thespian and complex. And that is just for starters.

Will the real Ralph Fiennes stand up? Read more about the charismatic British actor and his upcoming film Coriolanus (Weinstein Company) in my cover story for Celebrated Living. Charming and enormously talented, he had me at Quiz Show.

Fiennes in The Constant Gardener

As Charles Van Doren in Quiz Show

As Amon Goth in Schindler's List

Director and star of Coriolanus

With Jennifer Lopez in Maid In Manhattan

Photo Credits: Celebrated Living, Weinstein Company, Universal Pictures.

And on a personal note, RIP Vali (1995-2011). You are missed more than you know.

gggfarrgle

2011-11-15T14:45:00.000-08:00

YOU GUYS, what the heck? Why is Final Girl just sitting here like that one friend you have who insists on coming to every group event but never wants to do anything? You know the one. The one who stays behind when you all walk out to the end of the pier (or whatever it is you people do), or who decides to take a nap when you want to go out to eat, or who insists on a chain restaurant when she decides to come along. WHAT IS GOING ON?

Nothing is going on, that's what! I haven't watched a movie- horror or otherwise- since I watched The Ward. What's happening in the world of horror? I couldn't tell you, except something about a new Resident Evil movie? I think? Oh, and Argento's Dracula 3D, kind of, which I talked a bit about the last time I posted. The truth is, things have been very abnormal in The House That Dripped Final Girl (that sounds gross) since May or so, and I expect they will continue to be abnormal for the next month or so as I settle into a new abode. Sorry about that, but, you know. It's pretty weird for me, too. I feel like both Rumpy and the baby!

Dang it, now I want to watch Rumpelstiltskin.

Anyway, conditions aren't allowing me to watch a shit ton of movies and the such right now so I've been focusing on comics- my webcomic RPG in particular. If you and I are fake cyber friends (and if we're not, why aren't we?) then perhaps you know that I'm currently running a Kickstarter campaign to finance publication of a print edition of my comic and much, much more. It's going super well, but it runs until December 4th, so spread the word like You Can't Believe It's Not Butter! It's good karma, and also +5 charisma.

So that's that. I hope to get mah shiz together and be watching all the movies I have on the shelf just staring at me accusingly (Yes, I SEE YOU The Case of the Bloody Iris, and you too, all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies) in my off-hours from the comics-making. Life is weird, but life is good. I hope you can say the same. AWW.

Synthesized Accompaniment

2011-11-14T17:58:00.000-08:00

I watched The Long Good Friday again about a month ago for the first time in years. I had forgotten how much movie music from the late seventies and early eighties relied so heavily upon pop-oriented synthesizer sounds, regardless of whether they fit the mood of what was on the screen or not. Listening to the opening and closing themes of The Long Good Friday, it seemed downright odd to choose such music for a gangster film until I thought of other eighties movies, like To Live and Die in L.A. and Manhunter, that also have heavy-handed synthesizer pop loudly ushering in the closing credits, despite wrapping up tragic loss or disturbing violence just moments before.

The funny thing is, watching the closing scene (several times over, no less), all I could think was, "Thank God!" I mean, seriously, there comes a time when you're just thrilled that every goddamn score under the sun in the late seventies/early eighties didn't sound like another John Williams rip-off. The pop music may sound odd given what it's playing behind on the screen but it's such a signifier of its time and place, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Oh yeah, and this guy?

Damn! Honestly. Just, damn!

Silence is Golden: Spotlight on The Artist

2011-11-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

Like Scotch, silent films for many are an acquired taste. It's a genre from a bygone era where the success of the film depended upon a great film score and believable performances as body language, expression and the ability not to overact is crucial. And like an Avedon portrait, the settings and costumes often look better in black and white.

Enter The Weinstein Company's latest entry in the genre, The Artist.

The Artist is the story of silent movie star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and the advent of the "talkies" in 1927 that marks the proverbial death knell for his career. His life intertwines with the young ingenue Peppy Miller (Bernice Bejo and wife of the film's director Michael Havanavicus) who plays a dancer hell bent on stardom. The French romance film is a great story of the rise and decline of stardom in early Hollywood and won Dujardin the Best Actor Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. (Even the Jack Russell terrier Uggy won the Palm Dog Award for best canine performance!). Viewers will also recognize actors John Goodman, Malcolm McDowell, James Cromwell, and Penelope Ann Miller in supporting roles.

Bernice Bejo

Jean Dujardin

The actors at the Cannes Film Festival

Havanavicus studied silent films of the twenties and thought the genre would make a great movie, as they are tailor made for melodramas. He also wrote the screenplay in four months, researching archival photographs and drawing inspiration from the careers and films of actors Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo. Gloria Swanson and Joan Crawford. It's a gutsy gamble and from the glowing reviews so far, it looks like one that will pay off.

Costume designer Mark Bridges dressed the actors and up to 200 extras in vintage costumes, both real and copies. Milliners were called upon to re-block and dust off vintage hats that spent decades in hatboxes. Vintage buffs will note that the garments were found at an array of Hollywood costume shops such as the Motion Picture Costume Company, Western Costume Company and Palace Costume Company.

Penelope Ann Miller

Bejo with Malcolm McDowell as the butler

There are literally generations who have never seen a silent film and hope they give this one a chance. And look at it this way, at least you won't have to worry about missing a line of dialogue due to the inconsiderate jerks talking and chomping on popcorn behind you.

The film opens in the U.S. on November 20th and internationally through December (it is already in theaters in France).

Join me on Tuesday, November 15th when I am a guest on Interior Design Chat. I will be taking questions on what design in films and television (and anything else you would like to ask!) Click the link to their website for details.

Photo Credits: The Weinstein Company

Pola's Back and You're Gonna Be In Trouble

2011-11-12T15:37:00.000-08:00

80 years ago, in 1931, Pola Negri returned from Europe aboard the S.S. Paris to start her talking picture career in Hollywood after bad times in marriage and movies, with her most recent one, The Way of Lost Souls, her final silent film, not doing well at all. After coming to Hollywood to act in sound pictures, and leaving again, her career went all over the map, including a period working for Universum Film AG (UFA) in France, then under the control of Joseph Goebbels, until she fled to America after the Nazis invaded.

Her career in Hollywood during the forties didn't go very far and within a few years, she retired. Later, Billy Wilder would use her as the basis of the titular character Fedora in an old-fashioned mystery (Fedora, 1979) that I saw years ago and have been curious to see again for years but, sadly, it's unavailable. Is it any good? I have no idea. I last saw it in 1979 but I'd love to see it again.

You Can't Stop What's Coming

2011-11-10T07:30:00.000-08:00

Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Leslie Caron, Francis Ford Coppola, Maggie Smith, Joanne Woodward, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Jane Fonda, Glenda Jackson, Sophia Loren, Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Gene Hackman, Al Pacino. Know what they all have in common? They are all the names of actors and directors I grew up with as the big stars of the day and soon, sooner than you think, they're going to die. Sorry for that, maybe I should have cushioned the blow more.

The cinematic stars, in front of and behind the camera, that I grew up with will soon be dead and not freakishly so, like John Belushi, in which the death is a shocking and tragic loss. No, when they die, it won't be surprising. No one will say "they were too young to die." They will be in their seventies, eighties and nineties soon, very soon. Some already are. No one is very shocked when someone in their seventies, eighties or nineties dies.

In the last couple of years, I've already lost Peter Falk, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and a host of other actors that were the big stars of my youth. The thing is, when a star dies, I often have little to say, not because I didn't care for them but because I didn't feel personally connected to them. With Peter Falk, I did and it took me a few weeks to come up with a proper remembrance of him on this blog. Charles "Bud" Tingwell and Edward Woodward felt the same way. And I know others will feel more so.

Woody Allen, for instance. If you don't like him, now's not the time to tell me because I'm here to simply say he means a lot to me. So I'm not looking for a debate on merits or whether you agree on this movie or that, I'm saying his films, particularly ones like Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Hannah and Her Sisters, Broadway Danny Rose and Crimes and Misdemeanors are very powerful emotional experiences for me and when he goes it won't be the same as any other. It will be a seismic shock to my sensibilities.

Robert De Niro will feel the same. He's not quite seventy yet so I feel secure that he will be around a while longer but still, when he goes, a generous piece of my acting soul will go with him.

And I bring all of this up because I think, "Maybe I should start writing obituaries now, so I'm prepared when they go." Or maybe that's a dumb idea. Maybe I should just let it happen as it happens.

But, mainly, I think I bring it up because I realize I'm getting older. Aren't we all?

It's a twin thing

2011-11-08T11:54:00.000-08:00

There’s something about 1982’s TheThing (rating 4/5) that affects me now in ways that failed to grab me back when Ifirst encountered it as a teenager. It’s a cold, draughty and dragging film.It’s sludgy, unforgiving and a bit of an effort. It’s, well... brilliant,really. If you never thought a monster movie could feel in any way realistic,this one’ll leave you sprawled face-down in the ice. I’ve heard that wintercrews at Antarctic outposts watch it when all the home flights have left forcivilization. That’s pretty brave! We’re talking about a film where the onlycomic relief is the borderline hysteria brought on by its ever more extreme anddisgusting developments. Kurt Russell is incredible in it, delivering aperformance that’s 87% beard and cowboy hat, but which somehow holds the wholething together. Not that it’s in danger of falling apart: the idea’s neat, thescript solid, and John Carpenter’s direction note-perfect in its mixture ofchilly observation and steaming relish. You’ll probably have questionsafterwards, but that’s one of its strengths. It’s a film that encourages debate; that wants you to work at it and pick itapart. And then it wants you to puke.

The new The Thing(3/5) slavishly fills in the backstory of Carpenter’s original, attempting to explainhow each snowmobile came to be standing in which particular snow-coveredparking spot of that abandoned Norwegian base; how each individual icicleformed on each particular overhang; and many other thrilling enigmas barelyworth wasting another semicolon on. One thing it doesn’t explain is why the Thing itself – formerly an unutterablysquelchy dollop of melted face and hyperactive spaghetti – is now a smooth, shinydigital effect that never stands still long enough to let you get a decent lookat it. Neither does it explain why the Thing doesn’t just give all thatmutating a rest for, like, five minutes and pass itself off as a dog longenough to escape triumphantly into the wilderness like a more evil LittlestHobo... Hey, Miss Thing, I found myself thinking in a sassy voice, just rent Invasion of the Body Snatchers if youwant to see how a self-replicating pod-person really gets shit done!

All of which got me wondering why this Thing had to be called “The Thing” again, when even “The ThingAgain” would’ve been a better title. This is, after all, a proper prequel ratherthan a remake – a touch of mild novelty surely worth pointing out by way of amore imaginative title. I suggest The NewThing... Oh no, that’s wrong. Technically, it’s The Old Thing... although that makes it sound like the originalfilm again. How about Before the Thing?First Things First? The Thing-ummy? Baby Thing? That Thing You Do? (Hmm, maybe The Thing wasn’t such a bad title, after all...)

It’s not a bad film, either, being enjoyable in the mannerof a Resident Evil movie, andchallenging us to accept Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a leading 1980s palaeontologistin a way that’s so serenely audacious it’s actually entertaining in itself. Asa monster movie, it’ll likely be as much of a relic as The Relic in ten years’ time, having had as much deep impact on thesci-fi genre as, er Deep Impact. But,if the worst it does is drive you back into the squiggly arms of the original Thing, then that’s no bad thing. (Hmm...The Bad Thing? No... stop that now!)

Let’s turn our attention instead to Seconds Apart (2/5), a sort of telekinetic torture-porn slasher moviethat weds Carrie and Willard in ways that make less sensethan this sentence. The film features Edmund and Gary Entin as twins – bothevil, both psychic, and both able to command other people to kill themselvesagainst their will – and Orlando Jones as a detective who’s scarred bothphysically and mentally after leaving his wife to frazzle in a house fire. Saiddetective is investigating said twins following a spate of suspicious suicides,while said backstory allows flashbacks that pad out the running time.

Yes, Seconds Aparthas interesting ideas but fails to do anything very appealing with them. Itsidea of style could be described as “tones of decay and some stuff with asnowglobe” – which is probably a direct quote from the script. What it reallycould’ve done with is the colourful, black-humoured histrionics of a Tim Burtonrip-off like the aforementioned Willard(and I believe that may be the first time Willardhas ever been aforementioned) or May. Or an actual Tim Burton film like EdwardScissorhands. Or perhaps any film that takes its title from the name of itsmain character, with the possible exception of Rocky.

Ooh! And The Thing!

Chaplin, To-Day

2011-11-08T04:00:00.000-08:00

Looking at this photo from April 1936 reminds me of how slow the release process used to be. I've written about it before, as recently as last year, but this really brings it home. The movie playing, "to-day", is Chaplin's Modern Times. That film premiered in February in New York but now, in April, it's still playing (or just opening at this particular theatre, The Lyric) and the one of the other films playing, The Headline Woman, opened over a year earlier in March of 1935!

That tradition of holding over bigger movies and rotating older ones in and out at discounted prices, is what I grew up with. Sometimes I would wait months to see a movie instead of ponying up the new movie price at the first-run theatre. No, not because I knew it would be on cable or out on videotape, there was no such thing! Rather, I knew that after a few months it would be playing at later hours at the respectable theatre for half-price or all throughout the day at the second-run theatres in the area. Seeing a movie at the second-run theatre was kind of like waiting for it to come out on DVD is now. Only better because at the second-run theatre I went to with my brother, The Pinehaven, you could pretty much do anything: Drink, smoke, bring in food. No one cared. There was no concession stand. If I traveled back in time and went to it now I'd probably get nauseous but at the time it was a pretty sweet deal. Ah, the ~~good~~ bad old days.

Mank Was Born Today

2011-11-07T05:50:00.000-08:00

Herman J. Mankiewicz is 114. I mean, he's dead, sure, but that doesn't make him any less 114. People often ask, "What else did he write besides Citizen Kane?" Well, you can find out here but, really, does it matter? He co-wrote Citizen Kane. Isn't that enough?

Also born today were Leatrice Joy and Dean Jagger. I'm not as familiar with Leatrice's work (although I have seen DeMille's 1923 The Ten Commandments) but her name was "Leatrice Joy" so didn't she already win the lottery anyway with that name? And she lived to be 91.

Dean Jagger I mainly know from Twelve O'Clock High, Bad Day at Black Rock and X: The Unknown, which I watched again just last year. He had a simple, straight-forward demeanor and delivery. He wasn't flashy or showy and never a star but reliable to the end.

Carl Boehm Or Not Carl Boehm, That Is The Question

2011-11-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

I came across the black and white photo on the right during a search of a photo archive that listed it as, "Hamlet, unknown actor."* I'd swear that's Carl Boehm, or Karlheinz, as his peeps call him. I don't know if it is or isn't (I did a perfunctory search, as in "half-assed google search," and came up with nothing and, as seen below, it's probably, most definitely someone else) but no matter because, somehow, he seems a perfect fit for Hamlet. Or maybe he wouldn't be. Maybe I'm just reading too much of the weird Mark Lewis character he played in Peeping Tom into it. Or maybe the fact that his dad, renowned conductor Karl Bohm, sent him to Switzerland during World War II so he would never be associated with Nazis while dad stayed with ... um... the Nazis. But he didn't like them. Or did he? Who the hell knows? Hey, we got a great Peeping Tom performance out of it, right? Maybe I'm asking too much to believe the Nazi-sympathizer-dad thing could have played out for a great performance of Hamlet, too.

*In the comments, Vanwall Green thinks it might be Innotenki Smoktunovsky, renowned for playing Hamlet. Stills from the production would bear this out. I still think Boehm could have played a great Hamlet. As for Boehm and Smoktunosky, are they candidates for "Switched at Birth" or what?

A Designing Man

2011-11-05T22:41:00.001-07:00

Design inspiration comes from a variety of places and often one of the most overlooked venues is the stage (be it film or theatre). Many of the careers of production designers overlap the worlds of costume, design, and architecture and such was the case of Oliver Messel.

Considered one of the most celebrated designers of England, Messel began his career in l925 creating the backdrop for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Memorable set designs soon followed such as the ballet Sleeping Beauty and films Caesar and Cleopatra, The Thief of Bagdad and Suddenly Last Summer for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction.

Katharine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift in Suddenly Last Summer

Set sketches for Suddenly Last Summer

Liz Taylor in Suddenly Last Summer

Messel's sketch for Samson costumes

Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh in Caesar and Cleopatra

Following his stage work, the talented designer entered the worlds of interior design and architecture where some of his best work could be found on the islands of Mustique and Barbados for the fashionable seventies and eighties jet set. The hallmark of a Messel interior was pure whimsy mixed with the unlikely elements of baroque, rococo, Surrealism and classicism.

Fustic House in Barbados and one of Messel's favorite spots

Cockade House in Barbados was once a sugar plantation

A Messel designed bedroom for Cockade House

Written by his nephew and furniture designer Thomas, Oliver Messel: In the Theatre of Design (Rizzoli, October 2011) is a must for both design and film aficionados alike. Rizzoli sent me a copy of the book recently and it's one of my favorite design books of the season.

Oliver Messel influenced Dorchester Suite -
supposedly one of Liz Taylor's favorite hotels in London

Photo Credits: Rizzoli, Columbia Pictures, United Artists

A Designing Man

2011-11-05T22:41:00.000-07:00

Katharine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift in Suddenly Last Summer

Set sketches for Suddenly Last Summer

Liz Taylor in Suddenly Last Summer

Messel's sketch for Samson costumes

Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh in Caesar and Cleopatra

Fustic House in Barbados and one of Messel's favorite spots

Cockade House in Barbados was once a sugar plantation

A Messel designed bedroom for Cockade House

Oliver Messel influenced Dorchester Suite -
supposedly one of Liz Taylor's favorite hotels in London

Photo Credits: Rizzoli, Columbia Pictures, United Artists

awesome movie poster friday - the ARGENTO edition PART 2!

2011-11-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

That's right, this is the Argento Edition Part Two. Part One is hanging out here. Why more Argento? WELL. I find myself oddly intrigued by his forthcoming Dracula 3D. It just seems like it'll be a big clusterfuck, doesn't it? But I mean that in a decidedly boss way- it'll be a decadent clusterfuck in three whole dimensions! Like a cake made by an eight-year-old. Instead of simply having a cake and some frosting, it will have sprinkles, various syrups, gummy eyeballs, Hershey's kisses, and a Star Wars figure (Luke Skywalker in X-Wing pilot gear) on top. In other words, it'll be gross and horrible, but you can't look away and you can't help but admire the lack of restraint.

Now I can't wait for it!

Sometimes, You Have to Come BackThe Tree of Life (d. Malick, 2011)

2011-11-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

There have been many times in my movie-watching life that I have been displeased or unsatisfied with a movie only to make a complete 180 degree turn, sometimes in less than 24 hours. I have long since trained myself to never venture an opinion of a movie immediately after having watched it. Of course, that hasn't stopped me from doing just that, many times over. It's one of the reasons I hate the question, "So what did you think?" immediately upon finishing a movie. I hate it because I foolishly answer the question when I know I shouldn't.

Over the summer, as I was leaving lunch with Bill Ryan, he asked me if I had seen Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick. I hadn't, at the time. I also said, plainly, that I wasn't one of Malick's biggest fans. Certainly, I don't think he's bad, I just don't connect with his style of film making as much as others do. Bill said something to the effect of, "Maybe you shouldn't see it, then, because it's about as 'Malicky' as you can get."

Well, I did see it, not long after that. I didn't tell Bill, or anyone online for that matter. I discussed it with my wife, however (who did not see it). My discussion started minutes after I saw it, on the phone with her. My views were, to say the least, not positive. By the time we were both home and I could talk to her face to face about it, my feelings had changed a bit. The movie was lingering in my mind. I got a copy of it, streaming, from Amazon and watched it again. I watched key scenes with her. I showed her how this was done and that was done and how Malick told everything in short, clipped moments rather than full, formal scenes and how, when I thought back on the movie, that made it seem like I was looking back on the actual lives of people I'd known, not movie characters. I remarked how we remember our lives in snippets, not fully realized afternoon's worth of conversation. By the time I had finished talking to her about it, going over separate moments in the film with her and watching it again, I was of the mind that Tree of Life was one of the most extraordinary pieces of cinema I have ever seen.

I'm still of that mind.

This is a movie that is easy to resist. It's easy to push against it and call it out as a piece of self-important "art." It's easy because it doesn't present its story in any recognizable way and so the viewer can take that as an affront to their sensibilities and roll their eyes (even Altman's snippets felt more like whole scenes most of the time). People claim it's not linear but, really, for the most part, it is. Just because it moves around a bit in time, that is to say, it doesn't start right at the beginning but a little after and then goes back to start at the beginning, doesn't mean it's not linear. For the most part, the story of the boys and their mom and dad is told from their birth through their old age and/or death in a fairly straight line. There may be detours, where we find out "where we came from" but that doesn't alter the linear momentum of the main story at all. If anything, the movie simply stops telling that story, for a short while, here and there, before returning to it.

Nevertheless, for a lot of viewers, this one included the first time around, that can be tedious and, as a result, resistance becomes the defense mechanism of choice. So, yes, I understand when I read some reactions that call it "pretentious" and "arty" and "self-important." But sometimes, you have to come back to a movie, just as Sean Penn's character comes back to his family in his thoughts. What can be easily dismissed or resisted sometimes simply depends on how we have decided to view it. I decided to view it a certain way but, in my memory, the movie forced me to view it another. And it was that memory, reinforced by further viewing, that won the day.

For a more precise way to explain the film's storytelling technique, I quote Roderick Heath of Ferdy on Films: "[Malick is] less interested in dramatic explorations of character, though there are intimations of character, than in articulating the archetypal through the specific, an example of T.S. Eliot’s formulation of the poetic sensibility as one that senses how everything is connected." Tree of Life works only by watching the entire movie. That sounds obvious (what else are you going to do with a movie?) but what I mean is, there's no getting bored and thinking, "Oh, he's not telling me anything important here! I get it, the oldest son doesn't get along with dad!" and, then, as a result, kind of blanking out most of the movie. It must be watched with full attention and taken in because only then can the sense of it, the connection to it and the feeling of the characters become viable to the viewer.

It's been a long time since I saw a movie that doesn't necessarily require you to take an active part as much as it, more than anything else, wants you to! And that's an important distinction. Malick wants you, the viewer, to engage with him, with the characters, with their lives. He doesn't want you to just watch. You can, if you want, but you'll miss a hell of a lot. Once I started taking part in the movie, it won me over solid and, even now, weeks since I last took a look at it (but I will again soon, it looms so large in my mind) I think of it daily.

And for a person like me, the film itself is truly spiritual. I cannot get my head around the idea of people wanting to take all the grandeur of the universe, all of its beauty and mystery and mind-boggling, stunning complexity and reduce it all to "a supernatural being made it." That robs the universe and life itself of beauty and meaning, as far as I'm concerned. But for others, it doesn't. For others, that supernatural being is a way of personifying the mystery and while that may not work for me, I can understand it working for others. The beauty of Tree of Life is that there is no dogma, no argument for or against anything which is why, I think, so many people have described it in so many different ways. I've heard Christians claim it as a movie for them while I've heard agnostics and atheists say it's a movie that appreciates the beauty and mystery of nature. It works either way because it's not about a specific inroad to any one definition of spirituality but about the existence of humanity and nature and the universe itself and how it all flows in one direction, each step tied to the last.

It begins with a quote from the Book of Job in the Bible that reads, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?" What a beautiful way to start the movie because, essentially, as we watch the oldest son (Sean Penn) wander through the present as his memories lead us through the past, we realize just as he does that his adolescent judgments were, perhaps, misplaced. He was not there, as an adult, to understand what his parents were going through. To understand what work his father was doing, what humiliations he was enduring to keep them going. How difficult it must have been for his mother, buoyed by her faith and love of her children, to continue in a marriage that must have felt, at times, like living with a distant acquaintance. This movie is his way of going back and being there this time around. This time he can be there when the foundations are laid and understand the work that goes into it.

Understanding your parents through memory is something I can relate to deeply. So many things my parents did when I was young were judged harshly by me until I grew up and had children of my own. Suddenly, through memory, I could understand why things were done a certain way and how hard it must have been. That's what God is saying to Job in that opening quote. He's not saying, "Who do you think you are judging me?! You weren't there!" He's saying, "Think about it, reflect on it, so that you may understand it." The great physicist Richard Feynman, when talking about the light waves that weave throughout the universe and all that there is, remarked that these waves are right here, in the room, "but you've got to stop and think about it, about the complexity, to really get the pleasure." It's not enough to be present, it requires thought, contemplation, reflection. That's what God wants, that's what the father (Brad Pitt) wants too. He wants his sons to understand the hardship and learn from it, appreciate it and make it better.

The film's basic story is of one couple, the O'Briens, in the fifties, raising their three sons. Later, one of them dies and the film does not tell us how (Suicide, like Malick's brother in real life? Casualty of war in Vietnam? It doesn't say.) In the present, the oldest son, Jack (Penn), sees a tree being planted by the office building where he works and begins a long reunion, in his heart and mind, with his family that will take us through the movie. Along the way, Mallick briefly leaves the main story to answer the question of a character, "Where did we come from?" by showing us the evolution of life on earth in a truly extraordinary sequence that has already become one of my favorite sequences in any movie, anywhere. We return to the main story but continue to get mere snippets of dialogue, mere glimpses of life as the family moves forward and the boys rebel against their father and bond with their mother and then, over time, bond with their father through reflective understanding and tolerance.

All this is not to say the movie does not rely on cliches that were, at first, what made me so disappointed (although I very quickly got past them). It was the constant dramatic whispers of narration and the angelic music during the creation of life on Earth that seemed so obvious. There's no way around it, triumphant choirs of voices while showing the grandeur of space is as cliched as it gets and Malick adopts it full force. But my reticence, in the face of these cliches, was quickly overcome by the simple beauty of a story told through shared memory.

Tree of Life is, simply put, a grand achievement in film and that's not something I say often when writing about new movies. Initially, it put me off and I did everything I could to distance myself from it. But the memory of the O'Brien family, of the beginnings of life and of a universe forever indifferent to our petty designs, and yet filled with our own meaning, turned me around. As I felt it pull, I found I wanted to take part and I'm glad I did. Sometimes, as Jack learns, you have to come back.

The Art of the Steal

2011-11-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

Coming soon to a theater near you -- Friday, November 4th to be exact -- is the all-star comedy caper Tower Heist (Universal). Starring Ben Stiller, Matthew Broderick, Michael Pena, Casey Affleck, and Eddie Murphy (as seen above), the story is straight out of the today's headlines. Alan Alda plays billionaire Arthur Shaw who swindles his investors out of their retirement (shades of Bernie Madoff) and most regrettably for him, the people that work in his swanky Columbus Circle luxury condo (again, as seen above). Stiller and his co-workers hire petty thief Eddie Murphy to steal some of Shaw's prize possessions -- the crown jewel being Steve McQueen's red 1963 Ferrari. Hence the name Tower Heist.

Designed by production designer Kristi Zea and set decorator Diane Lederman (they paired on Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps most recently), the sets are some of the most interesting of the decade. You can read more about the designs in my article for Architectural Digest this month and also on the Entertainment Weekly website. Enjoy!

Photo Credits: Universal Pictures

In Which Fall Will Soon Give Way To The Cold, Dark, Depressing, Endless, Bleek, Hopeless Days of Winter

2011-10-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

Happy November, everybody!

SHOCKtober Day 31

2011-10-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

Here we are. The end of the month already! I'm fixin' to put on my costume (plague doctor...or, at least, a janky-ass plague doctor) and head out the door...but first, the all-important last couple of favorite characters! These are the only characters who got more than one vote...so y'all must really love 'em. I don't blame you.

Ash Williams (The Evil Dead)

I don't think anyone could have predicted that the last man standing in The Evil Dead would go on to become a favorite character. People loves some Ash! I wonder how many heads will explode when a casting decision is made should the Diablo Cody-penned E.D. remake come to pass.

Gill-Man (Creature from the Black Lagoon)

What is it about ol' Gilly? I can't quite say, but I know he's always been my favorite movie monster. There's something so cool about him...and believe me, I know cool! One time I saw Rick Springfield in concert.

Dracula's Digs

2011-10-31T05:40:00.000-07:00

Even Transylvania had some style...Happy Halloween!

Photo Credit: Universal

SHOCKtober Day 30

2011-10-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

Ah, drawing to a close! Day 30 means tomorrow is Day 31 which means tomorrow is Halloween. Man oh man. Time sure flies when you're something something, huh? I feel particularly Halloweenie this year, as I've already even carved a pumpkin, scared some children, watched at least one terrible Halloween sequel on AMC, and had more than my share of Pumpkin Spice coffee. It's glorious! Now on to your choices, so few of which remain...

Phyllis (Last House on the Left)

You know, I've never seen this and I kind of doubt that I ever will. I did see the remake, though.

MICROWAVE OVEN.

Tarman (Return of the Living Dead)

Ten kinds of awesome, at least.

Kaplan (Resident Evil)

Sayeth the chooser (which is probably more than anyone has ever said on a character from Resident Evil, which is also ten kinds of awesome at least):

"When the RE movie comes up, Martin Crewes' performance is often mentioned. It kind of encapsulates part of what sets the first movie apart from the other, sucky ones - he does fear well. The sequels dispense with fear in favor of displays of effortless badassery, but fear reminds us that this screwed-up scenario is happening to actual (well, you know) people
and makes the threat more real.

More specific to Crewes' character, though, is a variation on the NotLD Barbra problem. He does the things we hope we wouldn't in that situation: mentally freezes and forgets the elevator password, is unable to beat the computer safeguards before everyone gets diced, etc. And yet, despite this, he proves capable of great courage in more considered moments: he pushes himself down the laser corridor with all the corpses alone; he insists on staying behind for a bad death so as not to endanger the others. These are not, in the scheme of things, grand actions - walking
down a hallway, staying put - but they become big, tense set pieces just because they require such courage - and because the character has such fear to overcome.

Crewes' character gives the impression of a techie who wanted to make more of himself in the field, which makes his ultimate stepping-up (despite his last-act demise) that much more satisfying. He's a quieter sort than many modern zombie flicks have time for, a less-assured, less-glamorous hero character, and the actor's more messily human than one would expect in a
videogame adaptation - but he gives a display of fortitude that's more memorable for me than that of most any movie."

Out with the Dead

2011-10-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

And so October draws to a close. Between here and the Morlocks, I got a few good October posts out but not nearly as many as I would have liked. There's a reason for that, outside of the usual, pained and pointless excuses of "I got too busy!" Yes, that's true, that happens, often, but that's not really why.

The real reason why is because I'm sick and tired of discussing the same goddamn horror movies over and over and over again. In my last post at the Morlocks I even gave a kind of semi-apology for bringing up The Exorcist because, hell, I've brought that movie up 43 times in the last four years during October. Enough already!

And the lists! Oh, the lists, from all around the internet, from critics and professional sites (like Cracked) to freakin' Martin Scorsese, that are all intelligent and worthy, yes, but also happen to have the same movies on every goddamn list! Look, I love most of the horror movies on most of those lists but here's the thing: The folks that come here know those movies. We all know those movies. For the immediate future, do we really need to call up The Shining again, or Psycho, or Night of the Living Dead? Do I love each and every one of those? Yes! Absolutely. Do I fault a single writer out there for bringing them up? No! Never. Christ, I brought them all up, around the internet, this October. But I don't want to do it anymore. I really don't. I'm done with it. It's kind of like if you're a classic film blogger (how this blog started out) and you spend all your time writing about Citizen Kane or Casablanca or Singin' in the Rain. I mean, sure, those are great movies and they're going to make plenty of lists but, ahem, can we talk about something else? Something that hasn't been written about, discussed and digested 93,457 times?

When I started doing October at Cinema Styles back in 2007, it felt fresh, new, exciting. Now every goddamn newspaper and media organization that used to shun the internet and bloggers like little unwanted bastard children is out there bombarding us with bullshit October horror movie themes, slide-shows and lists, a lot of it coming from people who don't know fuck-all about horror. As a result, there's a numbing, pervasive, zombie-like sameness to the October film selections I see all over the internet and when I look at my own pathetic foray into horror this month, I see the same thing! Ugh.

So I want to go in different directions with this. I love Universal Horror and Hammer Horror and Amicus. I love Corman and Castle and Francis and damn, I'll watch any of their movies, any time. But for now and into the foreseeable future, I think they're covered on these here internets. Really, I do. Earlier in the month, I tried to go a different direction with it by posting on Ingmar Bergman at the Morlocks from the point of view of horror. But I didn't branch out beyond that single post. I wish I had. I wish I had ventured forth more courageously but, for various reasons, I didn't. The main reason is this: I simply haven't devoted enough time to watching different horror movies.

Peter Nellhaus, the prolific critic and blogger at his own place, Coffee, Coffee and More Coffee, is constantly recommending I watch Thai horror and I rarely take him up on it. Well, I'm going to. I have to. There are so many great horror films being made all over the world and I'm missing out by not exposing myself to them. Another great writer and friend, Richard Harland Smith, recommended I take in Eastern European productions to break out of the rut. That message, too, has been received and acted upon. And I take it seriously. The reason people like Peter and Richard and Tenebrous Kate and Kimberly Lindbergs and Arbogast have much greater horror creds than most other writers out there is precisely because they don't limit themselves, as I've done, to the same old, same old. Hell, each one of them has, at one time or another, written up a horror movie that I not only hadn't seen, I hadn't even heard of it!

Next October, I'm bringing out the dead. The familiar, comfortable horror movies I've leaned on year after year after year are getting tossed onto the funeral pyre of horror homogeny as I stagger out of the corner I've lazily painted myself into and wander down some of those dark alleys that have no sign posts, no lights and no sense of security at all. What they lack in security they make up for with the exhilarating chill of the unknown and that's something I'm desperate to discover again. For next October, I vow, here and now, to not write a single word about a single movie I have written about before. Old October is done. Bring out your dead.

SHOCKtober Day 29

2011-10-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

Jack Torrance (The Shining)

What? Jack and not Wendy? You people, I swear! Sigh, fine. Make your own choices. See if I care!

Brenda Bates (Urban Legend)

The chooser linked to this video, in which Brenda has clearly gone from zero to ca-RAY-zay, as the reason why:

awesome movie poster friday - the SHOCKTOBER 2011 edition!

2011-10-28T12:28:00.000-07:00

Each of these movies feature one of your favorite characters. WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

SHOCKtober Day 28

2011-10-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

Lynda (Halloween)

Totally.

Jerry Dandridge (Fright Night)

Sayeth the chooser:

"Elegant, brutal, funny, suave and fingernails that would make a Jersey house wife jealous. When I think vampire, I think of ole' Jerry."

bombproofcinema

2011-10-27T19:32:00.001-07:00

hello fellow friends from around the world, welcome.

SHOCKtober Day 27

2011-10-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

I can't believe SHOCKtober is winding down already! Geez. I still haven't picked my favorite character yet! Oh well. Today y'all've chosen a couple of lovely ladies...

Yes, "y'all've".

May Canady (May)

I don't know, you guys. May is one of those movies that makes me feel like the odd woman out- people love it and I thought it was "okay...okay...what's going on...aww no." Maybe I should give it another try? After all, it took me a long time to really warm up to Rosemary's Baby.

Helen Lyle (Candyman)

Yes yes, a thousand times yes! Helen is a terrific character (thanks in large part to Virginia Madsen) and you know, Candyman just does not get enough love. Not enough! Not enough. Let's change that starting...now. Sayeth the chooser:

"The film's one of my all-time fave horrors (for obvs reasons) and Virginia Madsen was awesome in it. It's pretty sad but I even said 'Helen' 5 times in a mirror (when I was a kid!) because after she becomes her own urban-myth-thing at the end, only Trevor is really going to ever say her name in a mirror 5 times; I felt kinda sorry that she'd end up being a neglected urban myth. I guess I'd had an awful lot of sugar that day.

So yeah, Helen - for the additional reason she didn't have to deal with Farewell to the Flesh. Gah what a bad film."

Cine-Files

2011-10-27T04:04:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday The Guardian's Film website published a review I wrote for their Cine-Files blog, a weekly look at cinemas across the world. My review was for the Amsterdam cinema Kriterion, a beautiful cinema in a city filled with gorgeous cinemas.

Kriterion is at the heart of the film industry in Amsterdam, and everyone I know in that city has worked there at some point or another.

You can read the article here.

SHOCKtober Day 26

2011-10-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Voorhees (Friday the 13th)

Aww. Ain't that a sweet picture? Poor Jason. Poor Mrs. Voorhees. If only those counselors hadn't been sexing it up and Jason didn't drown. Or if only Mrs. Voorhees could have afforded to send Jason to a daycare center. Or if only Mr. Voorhees hadn't been such a deadbeat dad. Things would have worked out so differently for the whole clan! But then if things had worked out differently, then Jason never would have (ever-so-slowly) made his way to Manhattan and punched off Julius's head, and truly that would be a shame.

The Bride (The Bride of Frankenstein)

Icon. Icon! And this delightful shot of the Bride taking a tea break comes from a terrific write-up on the film over at Moviediva:

Wednesday Comix: NIGHTMARE WORLD

2011-10-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how lax I've been in the pimping department. You see, there's a story in Nightmare World Voulem 3: Demon Days that's drawn by yours truly and I've neglected to tell you about it. What is wrong with me? Your Stacie Ponder shrine will be incomplete without it!

You DO have a Stacie Ponder shrine, don't you? I hope so. And I sincerely hope it looks like this:

So. You can add Nightmare World Volume 3 if you like, and not only will your shrine be at least 7% improved, you will also get 13 horror stories written by Dirk Manning and drawn by different artists! Wow, what a deal. I drew "Hungry Like the Wolf", a werewolf tale done stick figure style. In fact, I believe this volume marks the first time my stick art has officially appeared in print, so I'm pretty excited about that.

There, pimping complete. I now return you to your regularly-scheduled nonsense.

Final Girl's The Review

2011-10-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

When word of this so-called "John Carpenter's The Ward" began circulating, my ears were all like "We're perking up! A new John Carpenter movie? That takes place in a mental hospital? And Amber Heard is in it? Yes. Yes, we are definitely perking up." The Ward played a bunch of festivals and my brain was all like "Hey, yeah, still want to see that." Last night I finally made that dream come true, and now my ears and brain (and even, to some extent, my eyes) are all like "NO THE WARD, NOOOO. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD! WE WAITED FOR YOU AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY US?"

Honestly, my ears and brain and eyes have a point. The Ward, you see, is a fucking slog to sit through. A slog I say! And so this review will probably be a slog to sit through as well, but at least there's not the extra layer of disappointment that The Ward boasts. I mean, it's a John Carpenter movie! While I don't expect everything to be a classic on par with his best work, there's still a bit of expectation on the part of a horror fan when the director's name is slapped onto the title. Here at Final Girl, there are no expectations! Therefore, when a review is a slog or some such, it's only one layer of suckiness. One layer of suckiness: that's my gift to you.

Anyway, The Ward. Way back in the mythological time known as "1966", a young lass named Kristen (Heard) sets fire to a farmhouse and is carted away to...you know, the ward. The psychiatric ward, that is! I know, you thought maybe she'd be taken to Montgomery Ward for some dungaree shopping, but nope- it's off to the "nut" "house" for Kristen.

Things at the North Bend Psychiatric Hospital are about as you'd expect: nurses are mean, orderlies are mean, doctors seem nice but are likely secretly mean, there are only five patients, all five patients are hot young women, each patient is easily-labeled (the "sexy" one, the "childlike" one, etc), the patients get to wear makeup and regular clothes, and so on and so on.

Kristen ain't havin' none of this "locked up" shit, though. I don't see why! These mental patients are kooky. Oh, and if you put on a record, they totally know how to have a good time. Yes, it's the obligatory "we're not crazy, we're whimsical" dance scene!

They also take super steamy showers together, because as I have intimated, they are not only crazy, they're crazy hot! In the face! And also the side boob! But! before you start thinking this is some Designer Imposters Girl, Interrupted, we get to the reason why we're here, and why The Ward is purportedly a horror movie: a ghost shows up in the shower and puts the scare into Kristen. See, she's not there to borrow some soap on a rope, oh no- this crunchy-looking dead girl is there to get homicidal.

"Do you have any moisturizerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I can borrowwwwww?"

No one believes Kristen about the ghost, of course. Or do they? Well, the staff doesn't. Probably. But her fellow patients do. Probably. It's all so mysterious!

At this point in the proceedings, The Ward chugs along in what one hopes is a forward-motion but in actuality it feels like it's chugging in place. This happens a few times:

Kristen says "I'm getting out of here!"
Kristen tries said getting out, is caught, is drugged and/or restrained
Kristen says "Hey, there's a ghost here, and she's gross and mean." (I'm paraphrasing that) (unfortunately)
Everyone is like "Nuh uh."
The ghost shows up behind a patient, wraps her Crackin' Oat Hands around the patient's throat, and kills the patient with some form of asylum therapy (Electroshock, lobotomy, etc)
Kristen says "Where is patient so-and-so?"
Everyone is like "She left".

AND SO ON. There's some sort of larger puzzle to be solved, and questions to be answered- what dark secret do the patients all share? What dark secret does Kristen have? Does the doctor have a dark secret? WHy haven't I watched that copy of Dark Secret of Harvest Home that I bought? It has Bette Davis and Tracey Gold in it! And by the time the answers all arrive, you likely shrug and give a "Oh yeah, that. Okay." It's not fresh and it's nothing you haven't seen before (and better), but still, I felt the explanation redeemed the boring-ass preceding 80 minutes a bit. A bit! It was familiar, but I didn't mind. That happens. I mean, I've had pancakes more than once, and it's not as if I've said every time after the first "Oh yeah, pancakes. Whatever." They're good, so I don't mind them.

Sorry, I've been thinking about pancakes a lot lately.

But then. But then! The Ward can't leave well enough alone and simply end and go away. Nooo, it has to have one of those ridiculous last-second "This makes absolutely no sense but SHOCK ENDING CUT TO CREDITS!" endings. There haven't been many of those that have actually worked, in my opinion. You've got your Friday the 13th, where the ending makes no sense but it's startling enough to be effective. Then you've got your Pieces which is so nonsensical that it actually obliterates the space-time continuum enough that it loops around on itself and ultimately makes perfect sense. But you, The Ward...just don't. On you it's cheap. Gauche, even!

"No, seriously, I need some moisturizer."

What's good about The Ward? Hmm. The ghost looked kind of neat, I guess. Amber Heard gave it her best, which isn't half-bad. Or maybe I just think that because she's so pretty. Pretty people are better at everything!

But I tells ya- if this wasn't a "John Carpenter" movie, I probably wouldn't even review it. There's a chance I wouldn't have even watched it. But, like virtually every other horror fan out there, I was curious (and yes, excited) to see what he'd do after a decade away from the big screen. And what he did...doesn't feel like a "John Carpenter" film. Sure, his ability kept The Ward from being total crap, but that's about it. There's no tension, only cheap jump scares. It's a plodding slog of a bore to sit through. Both the signature Carpenter score and his use of Panavision are sorely, sorely missed. The Ward falls into that dreaded no-man's land of "I've seen worse, but I've seen way, way better." Oh well. At least I've now seen it. That's...something, right?

SHOCKtober Day 25

2011-10-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

Rosemary Woodhouse (Rosemary's Baby)

Fascinating* fact! Rosemary's Baby is one of only a couple of movies with so many of your favorite characters in it that it's featured more than once during SHOCKtober.

*okay, maybe not "fascinating", necessarily

Dead Dad (The Sentinel)

Sayeth the chooser:

"Thought about this for a while and I have to say it is most definitely the dead father from The Sentinel. It was a tough call because while he was really disturbing eating cake naked with two pretty grotesque women I have to go postmortem. One reason, his robotic motion scene before Alison cuts him up and this:"

SHOCKtober Day 24

2011-10-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

Bobbie Markowe (The Stepford Wives)

Helicopter Zombie (Dawn of the Dead)

Sayeth the chooser (Brent Schoonover, whom we have to thank for this "favorite character" idea!):

"I really am kicking myself for coming up with this idea and then totally blanking on who to choose. In the end it came down to Helicopter Zombie from Dawn of the Dead. Mainly cause of memories of having a horror movie marathon in my basement and losing my shit when I saw this scene. Good times."

Record Club #6: Miles Davis

2011-10-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

Miles Davis - Agharta (1976)

The latest Record Club discussion has now been posted. For this month's conversation, Jake Cole has selected Miles Davis' live album Agharta, from the climax of his fusion/experimental era. It's a great album and Jake has posted a wonderful and very informative piece about this music, its context and its qualities. Go read his post now and then join the discussion.

Designing Hollywood's Golden Age

2011-10-23T21:16:00.000-07:00

If you find yourself in San Francisco this weekend, I will be speaking at the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show on Designing Hollywood's Golden Age: Art Direction from the Twenties and Thirties. Sponsored by the Art Deco Society of California, I will cover some of the highlights of the period from Garbo's The Kiss and The Single Standard to the musicals of Fred, Ginger and Busby Berkeley and everything in between. Shown above is one of my favorite sets and photographs from Pleasure Crazed (1929).

The lecture will be on Saturday, October 29th at 11:00 a.m. followed by a book signing. For information and tickets, see the show's website here. There will also be a panel discussion and book signings with designers Thomas Jayne, Suzanne Lovell and David Kleinberg on The Curated Home which should also be of interest.

Garbo's The Kiss

Bette Davis in Ex-Lady

And if you are in the Dallas/Denton area, I will be speaking on Wednesday, October 26th at 6:30 p.m. at the University of North Texas on Designs on Film.

Hope to see you there! Lecturing is easy....it's the packing that is hard....

Photo Credits: MGM

SHOCKtober Day 23

2011-10-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

Megan (The House of the Devil)

Sayeth the chooser:

"I hardly remember what she did or said (something about pizza maybe?) but I do remember watching House of the Devil and saying out loud, many times, "Dude, Megan RULES!" and I only call my wife “dude” when I’m really excited."

Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)

A Pioneering Powerhouse

2011-10-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

She's been called brash and brilliant, cutthroat and charming and a pioneer and a trailblazer. Most notably, she paved the way for women in the entertainment industry at a time when it was dominated by men. The legendary agent Sue Mengers passed away last week at the age of 78.

The Mengers story could be the stuff of film and fiction (it's often said the role of Dyan Cannon in 1973's The Last of Sheila was inspired by the petite dynamo). Her family barely escaped the Nazis in Hamburg, Germany by fleeing to the United States where she learned English from the front row of a movie theater. She eventually set her sights on a career in show business, working as a secretary at the William Morris Agency. Dedication, networking, and a large amount of chutzpah landed her a spot as a junior agent and she eventually left for CMA (which became ICM years later) and represented some of the biggest stars in the stratosphere. Her roster at the time was beyond who's who -- Jack Nicholson, Gore Vidal, Candice Bergen, Peter Bogdanovich, Michael Caine, Barbra Streisand, Ali MacGraw, Ryan O'Neal, Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway just to name a few.

Mengers and Jack Nicholson

And the stories were the stuff of legend. She would hold court in her Bel Air French chateau style home (once owned by Zsa Zsa Gabor) and later her John Elgin Woolf designed residence in Beverly Hills (one of the true originators of Hollywood Regency Style) for A-list members of the worlds of film, theater, journalism and publishing that would go well into the night. She loved to smoke more than the occasional joint, excelled at playing matchmaker (it was said she fixed up Barry Diller and Diane Von Furstenberg), and was known for her acerbic tongue and wit.

Mengers once got the attention of actor Tom Ewell by dropping her business card in his soup (yes, he signed as a client), rented a mink coat to impress and pitch a producer at dinner and thought nothing of playing liar's poker to get her stars the best deal. She often compared herself to Eve Harrington in All About Eve while Time Magazine noted that she was a "cross between Mama Cass and Mack the Knife" with the "subtle approach of a Sherman tank." While she had her share of detractors, Mengers was the type of agent and friend you want to navigate the shark infested waters of Hollywood.

With Faye Dunaway and film producer Bob Evans

Mengers with Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal

Mengers with Fred Glaser and Barbra Streisand (dressed in Collette)
for the film On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Art imitates life: Dyan Cannon in The Last of Sheila

Mengers shattered the glass ceiling for women in entertainment (at a time when they were relegated to making coffee) and it's unlikely the industry will ever the see the likes of the blonde indomitable force with the trademark caftan and rose tinted glasses again. (I often wonder what she thought of Entourage's Ari Gold?) R.I.P. Sue Mengers.

Photo Credits: Life Magazine

SHOCKtober Day 22

2011-10-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

Jesse (Near Dark)

Norman Bates (Psycho)

SHOCKtober Day 21

2011-10-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

Paquita Maria Sanchez (Dead Alive, aka Brain Dead)

The Tall Man (Phantasm)

Sayeth the chooser:

"I like your Kruegers and Myers and Voorheeses as much as the next guy, but
it's The Tall Man who's the man. I mean if your name is Angus Scrimm you're
already cooler than almost the whole world.

Drivin' around in that cool hearse, killing priests, digging up bodies and
compacting them into those great li'l jawa guys, saying "Boooooy!" to boys,
I want to work for that man.

Just don't watch Phantasm III. In fact please stomp to death any copies you find
even if they don't belong to you."

The Conversations #28: Barry Lyndon

2011-10-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

The latest installment of The Conversations has now been posted at The House Next Door. For this latest discussion, Jason Bellamy and I have tackled Barry Lyndon, arguably the most overlooked film of Stanley Kubrick's mature career. We talk about the film's unforgettable visual style and its (purposefully) forgettable protagonist, as well as the themes of class, love and ambition that run through this great movie. As usual, we invite comments that expand upon our discussion, so please read the piece and add your own thoughts in the comment section.

Continue reading at The House Next Door

SHOCKtober Day 20

2011-10-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

Dr. Lucio Fulci (A Cat in the Brain)

Jigsaw / John Kramer (Saw)

Sayeth the chooser:

"He's the thinking man's (or woman's) slasher, devious and purposeful, teaching valuable life lessons whilest producing narley, gory Rube Goldberg-esque contraptions. Gotta love it!"

Bela, 129 Years Old and Still Undead

2011-10-20T05:15:00.000-07:00

I don't know what Bela's reacting to here, I just know by the fifth one he's looking pretty smooth and satisfied with his bad-ass self. Happy Birthday, Bela!

SHOCKtober Day 19

2011-10-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

Darryl Revok (Scanners)

RJ MacReady (The Thing)

Sayeth the chooser:

"Here's what he means to me: years ago, as a way to say "fuck you" to the Man, I registered for my Safeway card using a fake address and RJ MacReady as my name. (the Man cowered in fear, of course.) So now, more than a decade later, I still see 'THANK YOU RJ MACREADY' at the bottom of all my receipts and sometimes the checker says 'Thank you, Mr. MacReady.' That's living!"

Films I Love #55: The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch, 1940)

2011-10-19T03:30:00.000-07:00

Ernst Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner is a rich, moving love story, a very warm film despite its snowy Christmastime setting. Although the film is focused on the antagonism of the store manager Kralik (James Stewart) and new employee Klara (Margaret Sullivan) — and of course, their eventual and inevitable realization of love for one another — in many ways it's more about everything that happens around this slowly developing romance. The film is set in a small shop in Budapest, and the texture of this shop, the daily business of the workers who gather outside every day for friendly chit-chat, is the real matter of the film. The characters are well-defined but not quirky, with just hints of low-key exaggeration lending some humorous edge to the anxious, sputtering Pirovitch (Felix Bressart) and the smart-alecky errand boy Pepi (William Tracy), who really comes into his own with a chest-swelled swagger when he gets promoted to salesman. The film's humor is gentle and quiet, with not a hint of mean-spirited mockery except, perhaps, in its portrayal of Kralik's foppish rival Vadas (Joseph Schildkraut). The film continually belies the idea that humor must be edgy or aggressive in order to be genuinely funny, as Lubitsch earns smiles, chuckles and occasionally even full-throated guffaws from his careful development of these characters and their minor foibles.

What's especially striking about the film's humor is the vein of real, deep sadness that runs through the center of it. There's a sense of loneliness in both Kralik and Karla, who separately believe they've found love in the form of someone they've never even met face-to-face, someone they've only corresponded with through letters. There's more than a hint of desperation in both characters: they invest so much into their romance-by-pen, as though it represents the last chance they each have for happiness or romance. In the process, they don't realize that the object of their love is right in front of them every day, that their relationship consists of sparring angrily by day and writing loving, romantic letters to one another by night. As such, the film is about the ideal of love as contrasted against the more prosaic but also more tangible reality: it's telling that before Kralik can reveal himself to Karla, he must adjust her expectations downward by shattering the fantasy of the letters, preparing her not only for the revelation that he's her great love, but that her great love is only a flesh-and-blood man after all. Lubitsch also has a wonderful feel for the anxieties of money, for the pressures of the working class life and the fear of losing a job, and the film makes great use of the Christmas setting for its subtle commentary on consumerism and salesmanship. It's a beautiful, funny, emotionally complex masterpiece with so much heart, so much beauty, in every image and every line that, despite its modest, unassuming surface, it winds up being an almost overwhelming experience.

SHOCKtober Day 18

2011-10-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

Marta (Deep Red)

Hugo (Dead of Night)

Ventriloquist dummies aren't scary at all. Nope. Not at all.

The day we met Mark

2011-10-18T03:47:00.000-07:00

Last night, Robert Beames and I recorded a podcast with Mark Kermode, Britain's most popular film critic, who was at the cinema for his book tour. The show was sold out and we didn't have a lot of time, so we were ready for him to be stressed and not very amenable to talking on our little podcast.

We were wrong - he was not only amenable, but went on for longer than we expected, and answered our very non-sycophantic questions with wit and verve. I disagree with almost everything he says (and I told him so on the podcast) but compulsively listen in every week anyway. He does make talking about film, discussing it, and arguing about it, exciting, and although I wish he was paired up with a serious film critic instead of Simon Mayo, I do enjoy it.

His book, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE MULTIPLEX is a collection of his most famous thoughts (3D is bad, projectionists are good, multiplexes are bad, indies are good) and I was ready to dismiss it until one of the chapters where he argues for public funding for independent and arthouse cinemas. This is something close to my own heart and I have been arguing for it for years. So it was nice to be confounded by my own expectations.

You can listen on iTunes here: Splendor Cinema Podcast

SHOCKtober Day 17

2011-10-17T07:40:00.000-07:00

Dr. Decker (Nightbreed)

Eleanor Lance (The Haunting)

Oh, Eleanor.

SHOCKtober Day 16

2011-10-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

Ms. Pickman (In the Mouth of Madness)

Sayeth the chooser:

"First of all, you can't help but love Frances Bay, perfectly cast as she is, but although all her little touches are great wherever they are needed (such as the pan down to her husband handcuffed to her ankle) what really gets to me, my favorite horror movie moment of all time, is when Trent runs to his car, looks back and sees her/the monster standing in the glasshouse.

The build up has been great, with the picture in the hallway mutating and the nasty basement scene, but then all of that is dwarfed by Trent pausing in his steps. Seeing Ms.Pickman axing her husband to pieces in the shadow and then watching Trent getting hurled through a door by Styles, all that happens in a flash, no time to catch your breath, for either us nor Trent.

This is horror for me, horror isn't gunning away at the bad guys. Horror is realizing that something you depend on for your reality to function isn't what it used to be."

Beef (Phantom of the Paradise)

Marilyn Monroe Revisited

2011-10-15T12:21:00.000-07:00

Just when it appears everything has been written, photographed, recorded and dissected about all things Marilyn, we gain yet another perspective.

The latest in the entry is a very unique one -- My Week With Marilyn (Weinstein Company) tells the diary account of Colin Clark, a lowly 23 year old assistant who worked on her film "The Prince and the Showgirl" with Sir Laurence Olivier. Marilyn was married to Arthur Miller at the time and when he departed the set for Paris, she fled with Clark to the English countryside for a welcome respite from the spotlight.

Actress Michelle Williams channels the international megablond who captured the heart of a baseball player, an American President, a best selling novelist, and left indelible screen images in everything from The Seven Year Itch to the haunting Misfits. Oscar buzz has already begun and she certainly looks the part. The film also starts Judi Dench and Kenneth Branaugh.

Michelle Williams

Colin Clark's Book

Williams on set with Dougray Scott as Arthur Miller
above and below

Monroe with third husband Arthur Miller
on the set of The Misfits in 1960. It was her last film.

From her platinum blonde locks and her red lipstick to her form fitting dresses, no one can argue that Marilyn was an icon in the truest sense and ranks as one of the most influential women in history (style wise). In a case of imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, UK's Telegraph did a piece recently on celebrities who have taken a page from her style book and channeled their own inner (and in this case outer) Marilyn....

Lindsay Lohan

Gwen Stefani has long been a Monroe devotee

Scarlett Johansson for Dolce & Gabbana

Kelly Osborne goes from brunette to platinum blonde

James Franco at the Oscars

Paris Hilton tries the look on for size

Madonna spoof's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
for her Material Girls video

Christina Aguilera in 2005

The film debuts November 4th.

Photo Credits: Laurence Cendrowicz/Weinstein Company, The Telegraph

SHOCKtober Day 15

2011-10-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

Kolchak (Kolchak: The Night Stalker)

Captain Blake (The Fog)

Sayeth the chooser:

"He's just cool, right? He can swing a mean cutlass; he's got those big bright eyes that seem to bore into your soul (he gets me!); he's not greedy - six were marked, six were taken - he wasn't all 'Say, the night's still young and we've got all this extra fog floating around...let's keep a-killin'!'ALSO there were NO STUPID SEQUELS to water down (heh) his enigmatic aura."

SHOCKtober Day 14

2011-10-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

Michael Myers (Halloween 1-michaelmyers.com)

this may or may not be the Michael Myers from the movies

Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Scrooge, 1970)

SHOCKtober Day 13

2011-10-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

Final girls represent! Put on a stinky sweater and dream us all into a beautiful dream!

Ginny Field (Friday the 13th Part 2)

Kristen Parker (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors)

The Mechanics of Horror

2011-10-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

No, not really scary guys who fix cars for Dracula but the "hows" and "whys" of the horror world. And I also don't mean that persnickety shit where know-it-alls ruin everyone's fun by complaining about something being physically impossible in a supernatural story, like a vampire not reflecting in a mirror, which is, yes, impossible because the reason you can see the vampire is because lights reflects off of him and if your eyes can see that reflected light so can a mirror. But, you know, it's a vampire and the mirror reflects the soul and we all get that when watching Dracula.

I'm talking about the actual mechanics of how something works within the logic of the story itself. Let's take a look at three horror staples and ask a question of each in the hopes of understanding their inner workings a little better.

For starters, how does a vampire suck out the blood? Seriously. Usually, when we see the results of a vampire attack, it is as pictured above. A couple of bite marks and some drops of blood. But does that mean the vampire is sucking it out through his teeth? Because, if not, the neck should be a lot messier. If the vampire is biting into the neck, to get the blood flowing, and then sticking his mouth over the gushing to lap it down, there should be blood smears all over the neck or, at the very least, a big-ass hickey where the sucking took place. Personally, I think vampires have fangs that act as straws. Much like a snake has ducts that spew venom, the vampire has ducts, either within the teeth themselves or just above them, that suck the blood out neatly and cleanly. It would seem the wisest evolutionary move for an animal reliant upon such feeding to waste as little blood as possible.

Now let's consider the werewolf. The werewolf is a person who, with the full moon, suffers a full DNA reworking and becomes a hybrid wolf/human. The werewolf then goes out and starts attacking. Why? Animals attack for two reasons: hunger and fear. Take a lion. It attacks prey when it is hungry and intends to eat it. It attacks a human wandering into its territory when it feels threatened. It never attacks because it's bored and feels like attacking before taking a nap. So a werewolf is attacking for one of those two reasons. Now, when a person knows they are a werewolf, they will often go to great lengths to keep themselves from being set loose so as to stop their murdering rampage. They will lock themselves up or ask someone else to in order to prevent the unthinkable. But might not a better plan be to stuff yourself silly before the transformation?

Let's say you know you're going to transform at midnight. Okay, buy a large roast, cook it up with some potatoes, eat the whole thing and maybe have an entire pie for dessert. Eat until you can, literally, put not one more morsel in your mouth. When you transform you will be sated and, perhaps, even a little sleepy. Hey, that's another idea! The night before the full moon, don't go to sleep. Stay up all night and then, the next evening, after you've been awake for 36 hours, eat that enormous feast of food and guess what? When the transformation happens you'll do what any other wild animal does in the same circumstances (or, for that matter, my cat): You'll roll on your back, pass out and snore like a gas-powered chainsaw running on a ten-gallon tank. You're not hungry and you're not afraid. Threat diffused.

Okay, now over to zombies. I assume they can smell a living human just a predator can smell its prey. This is why I don't think the scene in Shaun of the Dead would work, again, within the logic of the genre itself, where Shaun and the rest pretend to be zombies to get past the real zombies. I mean, if that works then it means zombies are literally just going by visual cues in which case, surely they would go after each other by mistake every now and then.

But maybe that's wrong. In 28 Days Later, the zombies don't detect Jim (Cillian Murphy) in the church until he speaks. If it all went by smell it seems like they would have detected him earlier. But those zombies are more about rage anyway, not so much eating. And zombies have been approached by so many different angles now, without a real primary source to sort out the rules. We've got plenty of old zombie movies as well as the one that gave us the modern zombie, Night of the Living Dead, but there is no original source novel, written in the late nineteenth century, that serves as a guide for the development of all future zombie tales. It really is an open-source kind of sub-genre, which probably accounts for the haphazard inundation of zombie material these last several years.

There are many other horror staples that may have multiple "hows" and "whys" attached to each and it's an interesting way to think about each sub-genre more deeply, looking for answers that help us understand the nature of the beast just a little bit more. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go eat a massive meal and pass out in front of a movie. What's that? Werewolf? Nope, just a slob.

SHOCKtober Day 12

2011-10-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

Dr. Phibes (The Abominable Dr. Phibes)

Graboids (Tremors)

SHOCKtober Day 11

2011-10-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

The Stuff (The Stuff)

I love that someone's favorite character is a jar of...well, stuff. Horror movies rule!

Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th parts 1-1246895)

This guy must be pretty obscure or something because I've no idea who he is.

SHOCKtober Day 10

2011-10-10T00:20:00.000-07:00

Lefty Enright (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2)

Sayeth the chooser:

"Dennis Hopper effortlessly walks the line between tongue in cheek and genuinely badass in away I don't think anyone else has quiet managed. Watch!!! Him freak out then delight a Hardware Store Attendant. Marvel!!! As he kicks in a mural of Daniel Boone and releases a torrent of intensities!!! Clap With Glee!!! As he makes a room full of serial killers shit their pants with a rendition of the old hymn "Bringing In The Sheeves".

How much do I like Lefty Enright? I have unironically used his phrase "Lord, show me what I fear so I don't fear it no more." IN ACTUAL PRAYER. So there you go, from Dennis Hopper's lips to God's Ears, my choice for best Horror character."

Carrie White (Carrie)

There's never a time that Carrie White doesn't break my heart into a zillion pieces. And though things didn't quite work out for Carrie and Tommy at the prom (umm, understatement), at least they're together again in our SHOCKtober festivities!

SHOCKtober Day 9

2011-10-09T00:12:00.000-07:00

The Things (The Thing)

You guys, I saw a trailer for the remake of Carpenter's film. I...will...not get angry about remakes anymore! I will watch the original (err, the original remake, technically speaking, I guess) and that's that.

Ray Cameron (Night of the Creeps)

Umm. Yes.

Sayeth the chooser:

- reluctant hero
- great dialogue, including best movie tagline ever
- sympathetic backstory
- gets to do a scene with the legendary Dick Miller and ask him for a flamethrower
- oh yeah, and HE IS PLAYED BY TOM ATKINS!

SHOCKtober Day 8

2011-10-08T00:15:00.000-07:00

Bruno (Spider Baby)

Sayeth the chooser:

"My favorite horror movie character is Bruno, the loveable chauffeur from "Spider Baby." I love that he keeps a foot in the outside world but totally commits himself to the Merrye "children" and their insane worldview - he's careful to talk to the girls in a way that makes sense to them, and even when he's disciplining them he does it in terms they understand. But he never just gives up and caves to the insanity: he keeps order within the demented boundaries of the household (cannibals stay in the basement), and does his best to protect the outside world from the Merryes as much as he's protecting the Merryes. When he realizes it's time for drastic steps to be taken, he's willing to go down with the ship. ("It's gonna make a big flash and go bang!" "Oh boy!") And he does it with love. His tearful farewell speech to the girls, when he gathers them to his knee, just gets me every time. He loves his family and he loves his work. He's an example to us all! When I go bonkers, I want Bruno to take care of me. "

He is super huggable.

Herbert West (Re-Animator)

Doing science.

Herbert's appearance reminds me that I REALLY need to revisit all the Stuart Gordon Lovecraft flicks. Really.

R.I.P. Playboy Club

2011-10-07T19:53:00.000-07:00

One of the most stylish shows of the fall season fell victim to low numbers and a certain special interest group after three episodes this past week.

Sadly, many of you never got to see the incredible sets of NBC's The Playboy Club (replicated to a bunny's ear on location in Chicago) and the sixties modern apartment interiors designed by production designer Scott Murphy, art director Gary Baugh and set decorators Beauchamp Fontaine and Tricia Schneider. I was working with one of the shelter publications on a set design story (which will not come to pass) and happy to share this incredible work with you.

Murphy used to work for architects Frank Gehry and Richard Meier prior to his career as a production designer and it shows -- his work on The Sopranos earned him three Emmy nominations for art direction. The Playboy Club featured two story sets complete with cocktail lounges, dance floor, pool tables, restaurant and of course, the trademark bunny logo. I feel certain this show would have garnered him a fourth nomination.

While the sets certainly have the sixties vibe, many of these interiors work today. If you want to create your own retro interiors, look for the usual suspects -- designs by Eero Saarinen, Knoll and Herman Miller along with Tulip and Eames chairs -- real or knock off. And of course a place to mix the requisite cocktail.

Enjoy the time travel and R.I.P. Playboy Club.

Modified sunken living room was the epitome of chic
and no room at that time was complete without the requisite bar

Alternate view. Note the oversize table lamp
and ceiling fixture that gives a nod
to Achille Castiglioni's Arco Lamp

Shades of olive and creme for the walls and low-level tufted modular furniture

Chrome and glass for the dining room
with color block venetian dividers

Nothing says sixties like Avocado Green appliances

This kitchen design scheme works for today as well

Love the faux wood screen behind the bed and corner tufted box style upholstered chair

Speaking of the sixties (and for those of you who love Mad Men), be sure to catch my article in Array Magazine on the show's star Bryan Batt who played art director Salvatore Romano. Batt is a true Renaissance man - actor, author, shop owner and designer. His new book big easy Style: Creating Rooms You Love to Live In (Clarkson Potter) hits the bookstores this month. Below are a few of the enticing rooms featured in the book.

Photo Credits: NBC, Array, Clarkson Potter

SHOCKtober Day 7

2011-10-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

One could write a...a...blog post about how awesome today's favorite characters are!

Mind you, I said "could", not "is going to".

Laurie Strode (Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween H2O, I will not acknowledge Halloween: Resurrection except right there where I said I'm not going to acknowledge it)

"Alberto VO5 Hot Oil Treatment? No, I've never heard of it. Why do you ask?"

She's the Final Girl, isn't she? I mean, really.

Minnie Castevet (Rosemary's Baby)

I know it's a classic and all, but I was never into Rosemary's Baby like, at all (I KNOW) until a random viewing of it a summer or two ago. I get it now. I do. I get it.

Also, I don't know why I feel like telling you this, but when you enter "Minnie Cast" into Google image search, the predictive results are "Minnie Castevet" and "Minnie Cast Iron Multifuel Wood Log Burning Stove 6.5kw". So there you go.
`

SHOCKtober Day 6

2011-10-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

Chucky (Child's Play)

This is kind of my new favorite picture ever. Oh Chucky, you rascal!

Chris Higgins (Friday the 13th Part 3)

"But what's happening behind me doesn't even make any sennnnnsssssssse!"

Chris doesn't get nearly enough love when the topic of Final Girls comes up. Why do we always forget about this axe-wielder who wielded an axe into Jason's friggin' head? Give the girl some respect, all of us besides the person who chose Chris as a favorite! Really, she's the last decent Final Girl the Friday films had. *tear*

It's a Mystery to Me

2011-10-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about horror is how effortlessly it blends in with other genres, like science fiction, for instance. Take Christian Nyby's and Howard Hawks' 1951 The Thing from Another World. It's science fiction blended with horror though it leans towards sci-fi. John Carpenter's version from the same source story, The Thing, 1981, deals with the same basic structure but leans more towards horror than sci-fi. Frankenstein, The Invisible Man and Island of Lost Souls all blend sci-fi with horror as well. But there's one genre that is, at times, practically interchangeable with horror and it too often doesn't get it's due for its contribution to the genre: Mystery.

The horror mystery is one of the oldest forms of genre story telling there is. In fact, what is generally considered the first detective fiction, Edgar Allan Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue, is not only a mystery but a monster story as well. From the very beginning, the two were strongly connected, and as mysteries came into their own, with a murder almost always at their center, the macabre came to play a bigger role in their development.

But if there is one particular subset of horror that is almost exclusively mystery, it is the ghost story. At the heart of practically every ghost story is the mystery of who the ghost is and/or why they exist. The Uninvited from 1944 gives us perhaps the best possible combination of the two. Truly a great mystery and ghost story, the film seamlessly weaves together the twists and turns that surprise the viewer endlessly.

Another great mystery from the same period, and a great ghost story to boot, is Portrait of Jennie, with Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones. Again, like the best ghost mysteries, the story is about both the "how" and the "why", in this case, Jennie's existence and her visitations to Eben, a mystery that comes to a thundering finale unlike few other cinematic spectacles of the forties.

The fifties, sixties and seventies continued to give us great mysteries that also played as ghost stories, from The House on Haunted Hill and The Innocents to The Haunting and The Legend of Hell House (lots of "h"s in that last sentence). Even such an over-the-top kill-fest as The Omen had a slight mystery at its center as Roger Thorn (Gregory Peck) slowly unravels what really happened that night in the hospital when his wife gave birth.

By the eighties, the formula hadn't changed much. Films like Ghost Story, based on the Peter Staub novel, dealt with the appearance of a menacing and murderous spirit whose true purpose isn't dredged up until the final act. And the special effects spectacle Poltergeist had a mystery, if only a slight one, propelling it as well. We know that the little girl gets taken, and eventually returned, by the spirits in the house but the "why" is buried deep in the story and only unearthed at the end.**

Even a modern day horror film like The Ring, based on the Japanese horror film, Ringu, in turn based on a 1991 novel, is a good mystery as well. In fact, the mystery aspects are what drive the whole story and, in my opinion, the main reason to watch it, much more than the rather tepid and cliched horror aspects. Hell, I kind of wish there hadn't been the whole murder tape curse going on but, rather, just the little girl's mystery. Of course, no one bothers to call it a mystery. On Wikipedia, it's referred to as a "psychological horror film" despite the obvious prevalence of the mystery at its center.

A good whodunnit revolves around murder in the first place, so extending the story out, just a bit, to include the supernatural really isn't much of a stretch. As a result, good mysteries and good ghost stories have always walked cold dead hand in cold dead hand. I like both genres on their own so much it's no surprise that the mystery ghost story is probably my favorite subset of horror overall. It's a relationship that feels as natural as a noose around the neck of Annabelle Loren with an appeal that's hardly mysterious.

_______________________________________________________________

*pictured at the top of the post: The Greene Murder Case, an early Philo Vance mystery in which members of the Greene family are knocked off, one by one, by an unknown force in an old, dark mansion.

**all above puns intended.

SHOCKtober Day 5

2011-10-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

Grandpa (The Lost Boys)

Gramps is the only Lost Boys character to get a vote. That's so rad! In your face, Coreys and Kiefer! And you too, Jami Gertz!

Tommy Ross (Carrie)

I want to lie in a bed of his pillowy hair. Oh, and here's why the chooser chose this...choice.

Cinema BackStory: The Casting Call

2011-10-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

The date was December 10, 1938 and a massive two-year search was underway for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in the best selling novel turned film Gone with the Wind. The setting was Hollywood’s 40 Acres backlot where a party was taking place to watch the filming of the burning of Atlanta.

The burning of Atlanta on the 40 Acres lot

Everyone from studio bigwigs and celebrities to secretaries and firemen watched the sets from King Kong go up in flames while dining on spaghetti, baked potatoes and turkey-a-la-king. Partygoer and talent agent Myron Selznick (and brother of the film’s producer David O.) showed up late – and quite inebriated – for the evening’s festivities with his client, celebrated British actor Laurence Olivier.

Olivier and Leigh

On the arm of the very married Shakespearean actor was his lover, the dark haired green-eyed beauty Vivien Leigh who was also a Selznick client and dying to play the part of Scarlett. Ever the opportunist and dressed to kill in a mink coat and full stage makeup, David Selznick spots Leigh amid the burning embers as brother Myron remarks, “Hey genius, here’s your Scarlett O’Hara.” Two screen tests and three weeks later, Leigh beats out thirty-two actresses along with thousands of unknowns for the coveted role and the rest was cinematic history.

One of the main contenders was Paulette Goddard who possibly lost the part as Selznick wanted to avoid a scandal revolving around her questionable marital status with Charlie Chaplin. (The situation was ripe with irony as Leigh and Olivier -- both married to other people -- were living together at the time as well). Lana Turner, Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Bennett, Lucille Ball and Katherine Hepburn were also considered.

Paulette Goddard

David Selznick on the set of GWTW

Many of our favorite films could have taken a different turn due to casting choices. Both Candice Bergen and Robert Redford screen tested for the roles of Elaine Robinson and Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate and were turned down. Redford was told by director Mike Nichols that "he could never play a loser in a million years." The iconic "loser" role launched the career of Dustin Hoffman.

America's quintessential screen virgin Doris Day was considered for the predatory Mrs. Robinson who remarked, "I cannot see myself rolling around in the sheets with a young man half my age that I'd seduced." Fortunately Anne Bancroft could and received an Academy Award for her effort not to mention a great set of highlights.

The part of Thomas Crown was originally written for Sean Connery by screenwriter Alan Trustman who worried Steve McQueen would not effectively be able to deliver the dialogue. The part was later rewritten with "The King of Cool" in mind who said it was one of his all-time favorite roles.

Hugh Grant was said to be "kicking himself" over the Academy Award winning role in The King's Speech -- a career move that is certainly a head scratcher.

Hugh Grant

Academy Award winning actor Colin Firth

Jeff Bridges was up for the part of Oliver in Love Story (he was also up for Big, Officer and a Gentleman, Taxi Driver, Shawshank Redemption and Indiana Jones) which solidified Ryan O'Neal's place in film. (And speaking of Officer and A Gentleman, John Denver turned down the lead in Officer, imagine him alongside Debra Winger).

a very young Jeff Bridges

Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw. Fresh off of Peyton Place,
co-star Barbara Parkins auditioned for the role of Jenny

I love a good backstory and it's always interesting to think what might have been. Tupac turned down Bubba in Forrest Gump? Christopher Walken as Jesus Christ in The Temptation of Christ? (I can see Saturday Night Live now). And OJ as the lead in The Terminator? Producers feared the former NFL great turned felon would not be taken seriously as a killer -- and I promise I did not make that up:).

Photo Credits: Paramount, MGM, Weinstein Company, Embassy Pictures, MGM

SHOCKtober Day 4

2011-10-04T04:50:00.000-07:00

These two favorite characters couldn't be more different...or maybe I mean ALIKE.

(I mean different)

Pinhead (Hellraiser, Hellraiser in Space, Hellraiser in the Computer, Hellraiser in the Old Days, That Hellraiser with Kari Wuhrer, Some Other Hellraisers Probably)

Sayeth the chooser of Pinhead: "Pinhead. Specifically, Doug Bradley as Pinhead, because fuck that new guy. I don't even know his name, but seriously, fuck that guy. Also, if I can be even more specific, Doug Bradley as Pinhead in the original Hellraiser. The sequels are mostly awful."

Scotty Parker (Silent Scream)

If anybody every asks why someone would choose Scotty Parker, I would just silently point to this picture. SILENTLY and SCREAMINGLY, I mean.

"Death Shall Come and It will have Your Eyes" The Works of Mario Giacomelli

2011-10-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

In his youth, the films of Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini spoke to Mario Giacomelli and the subsequent photographs he took of the old and infirmed in nursing homes, priests at play in the snow and tattered cloth against stark landscapes speak to a sense of other-worldliness and isolation. If they remind me of Father Karras' visit to his mother in the nursing home or the imagery in Dreyer's Vampyr more than De Sica and Rossellini that is merely the result of an artist communicating across space and time in which the message sent is received not literally but interpretatively.

In order from the top:
1. Untitled from series Death Shall Come and It will have Your Eyes (1962)
2. Untitled from series Theatre of Snow (1954 - 1986)
3. Scanno (1957)
4. Pretini #72 (1962-1963)
5. Untitled from series Theatre of Snow (1954 - 1986)

Record Club #6: Miles Davis on October 24

2011-10-03T06:38:00.000-07:00

Miles Davis - Agharta (1976)

The sixth installment of the Inexhaustible Documents record club has now been announced. Jake Cole of Not Just Movies has chosen Miles Davis' live album Agharta, recorded in 1975 as one of the final statements of his infamous fusion era. Jake will be putting up a post discussing the album on Monday, October 24, so if you're interested in joining the conversation, just listen to the album before then and you can participate in what's sure to be another fun discussion.

If you'd like to promote the Record Club, you can display the banner below by pasting the code onto your own blog.

<a href="http://armchairc.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/sevenarts/music/recordclub6agharta.jpg"></a>

SHOCKtober Day 3

2011-10-03T04:37:00.000-07:00

Oh man, some choices here. Some real fuckery that gets in your head!

Zelda (Pet Sematary)

Did you know that it's a dude playing Zelda? It is. I always thought it was Amanda Plummer.

The Dwarf (Don't Look Now)

I love this movie. I love this OUT OF NOWHERE DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN WHAT IS THAT ending. I love Donald Sutherland's fro and stache. It's all so good.

Christopher Lee Tells Stories and Gives Advice!

2011-10-02T10:06:00.000-07:00

Three years ago, here on Cinema Styles, I put together some short videos of Christopher Lee from an old CD-Rom I bought in the nineties. It was a CD-Rom on ghosts called, yes, Ghosts. That one of the first things I ever bought for a computer, back in 1994, was a CD-Rom titled Ghosts and hosted by Christopher Lee should surprise no one. That I saved it even after it stopped working may be cause for slight surprise. Years later, in 2008, I pulled the video files from the now defunct CD-Rom and put together these two Public Service Announcements plus a full ghost story, The Silent Pool, narrated by Lee. Since I still like them and folks aren't likely to find them (who the hell surfs through nearly five years of archives on Cinema Styles?), I present them here again, in one post package. The video is poor quality because it was produced in 1994 for PC screens that had maximum screen settings of 640 x 480 and processors that had trouble presenting text, much less videos. But still, it's Christopher Lee! Enjoy.

SHOCKtober Day 2

2011-10-02T04:32:00.000-07:00

Today, we've got some decidedly non-human favorite characters. That's okay. We here at Final Girl do not discriminate.

Except against Paul Reiser, of course.

Xenomorphs (all those Alien films)

The Xenomorph is on the right and looks rather friendly, I think.

Gizmo (Gremlins)

"I coulda been a contendah."

SHOCKtober Day 1

2011-10-01T04:22:00.000-07:00

The votes are in! Your favorite characters have been named! Here's how it's gonna work, y'all. Hold on to your pants and brains, because it's pretty complicated: I'm going to...drum roll...publish a couple of characters each day! Nearly everyone got but one vote, so they're not in any ranked order. They just...are. Isn't that freeing?

This was a super tough assignment, I know. In fact, I still haven't chosen my favorite. But you have! So let's get this started with...

Heidi (The Initiation)

Sam (Trick 'r Treat)

Honestly, I can't believe that Heidi didn't get all the votes, but whatever, you guys.

In the Mood for Horror: Atmosphere over Fright

2011-09-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

I've watched so many horror films that haven't scared me I couldn't even give you an accurate count as to how many times it's happened. For the most part, horror movies never frighten me. Not to put too fine a point on it but, for Pete's sake, I'm a grown man so the jump scares and demonic hobgoblins just don't do shit for me, so don't get too disappointed if I've got a blank look on my face.

But here's the thing. This is how many times a movie not scaring me has affected whether I liked it or not: zero.

There are those who like horror because it scares them. Plenty of people, in fact. Others go for the gore and the jump scares. I wish them all the best and wouldn't even try to persuade them against it as changing the heart is a difficult thing to do if that's where the heart leads you. But for me, it's mood, all the way.

I like atmosphere. No, screw that, I love atmosphere! Atmosphere gets me through and that's why, for the most part, whether a movie is demonstrably scary or not doesn't matter a whole hell of a lot to me. If you've visited here long enough, and read through enough Octobers, you've seen my mentions and write-ups of City of the Dead (aka, Horror Hotel). And if you're groaning, thinking, "not again," don't worry, I'm not going to go back into it except to say that it's the "thick as mud" atmosphere that sells me every time. It's not just a favorite horror movie, it's a favorite movie, period.

Recently, I wrote a post on TCM about my semi-addiction to isolated locations in the movies. In it, I mention both The Wicker Man (1973, of course) and Don't Look Now as two personal favorites. Both of those movies have horrific, even supernatural elements to them and that makes it easier to provide a dense, foreboding atmosphere. It can be done with drama, but an isolated landscape in a drama, like Stroszek (also mentioned in the post), gives off a whole different feel than horror. In drama, the feeling is more of the despair of hopes and dreams. In horror, it's more about the dread of the unknown. And that dread is what pulls me in, every time.

It's why the Universal classics work so well for me, because of their command of atmosphere and mood. I don't watch Frankenstein or The Bride of Frankenstein because I want to be scared. I watch them for the mood they set, a sense of dread, of creepiness and foreboding. And all of the horror films I love, from Old Dark House and City of the Dead to The Shining and The Thing (horror/sci-fi), have a true command of atmosphere.

But great atmosphere need not be a product of big studio financing. As often as not, it's something that can be obtained on easy credit with no money down. Take a look at Carnival of Souls, The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity to find great cases of atmosphere done on the cheap.

So when I hear someone complain that a horror movie isn't scary, frankly, I get a little irritated. The horror genre's sole purpose is not to scare but to deal with horrifying elements, usually, but not always, in dramatic form. Something can horrify us but not necessarily scare us (Freaks, perhaps). The two are not synonymous. It can do both, one or the other or neither. The horror movie deals with that which is outside the realm of most people's normal experience. To get those kinds of stories right, the first thing a director has to do is establish mood. Only then can he hope to scare us. To paraphrase the old saw about real estate, in the realm of horror, the three most important things are atmosphere, atmosphere, and atmosphere. And when it's done right, it's like the air that you breathe.

Record Club #5: Manic Street Preachers

2011-09-29T04:29:00.000-07:00

Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible (1994)

The fifth discussion for the Record Club takes place today, and it is hosted by Jamie Uhler at the multi-author blog Wonders in the Dark. Jamie has picked the album The Holy Bible by the Manic Street Preachers, and he has written a fine introductory post as part of his long-running series "Getting People Over the Beatles." Now it's time to join the conversation in the comment section. I hope to see you there!