Happy Birthday Stanley…..
Thought I’d forgot did you? Well, no, given the fact that he was trending on twitter that wasn’t likely, 87 years young today. In my odd way I’ve unconsciously paid tribute with a double bill of movies I charged around London to see today, neither of them his but both were ground-breaking and grotesque in their own, special way – you’ll just have to wait and see what I’m talking about. There is a whole cottage industry of montages and tributes out there to utilise, this is perhaps one of the more poetic examples;
I realise I’ve been negligent recently in failing to pay tribute to the weasely memorable Aubrey Morris, so let’s all correct that here;
3rd Birthday – Halloween Horror Marathon
Three years old. That’s one home, four assignments, one computer and almost 1,500 films ago, how time flies eh? I was aware of my birthday which occurred amidst the LFF shenanigans but quite frankly I didn’t have the time to incorporate another mammoth blog post until the dust had settled and I had sorted out some work nonsense. The good news is I have completely smashed my cinema visit target for the year – it’s currently running in the mid 60’s – and I have around half a dozen more visits planned although pickings are now slim as we move toward the end of the year, don’t get me started on how barren 2010 looks, I’ll save my vitriol on that until the 2009 round up next month. So my secret project can finally be revealed – I’ve been writing reviews, mostly covering the LFF for these guys, a Canadian outfit that I 
approached a few months back. I’ve been thinking about expanding my horizons all year, to see if I could get my ill-informed scribblings published in another format so I was quite pleased to see the Sound On Sight editors jump at the chance after I got in touch following an episode of their podcast which asked for potential submissions. It’s not paid or anything but they will be arranging press credentials for future events – if I’m still with them that would mean a pass to all of next year’s LFF press screenings for example – and I’ve got some free DVD / Blu-ray screeners to review on the way so I can’t complain. Given that all I really have to do is amend the stuff I put together for the blog to remove all the first person references it’s a no brainer really, I’d be writing my reviews for personal satisfaction anyway so why not see what freebies I can spin out of it? I’ll admit it was also something of an ego-boost to see my words hosted elsewhere, if you’d told me that was feasible back in my tender teenage years of rushing down to the corner shop to pick up the latest copy of Empire then I probably would have passed out. If you’re so inclined then do visit the site and subscribe / rate the podcast on iTunes as all the traffic helps of course.
Anyway, back to the matter at hand, the horror . I’ll not waste time on any detailed plot synopsis for the most part, if you’re so inclined they’ll be buried in the links. I was planning to go and see the first film – Werewolf – at the cinema but the re-release was really quite limited to only one 10.00pm screening at a handful of cinemas on the 31st and quite frankly I was feeling a bit under the weather so I compromised by blowing £50 in HMV on Saturday to complement some existing films I had hanging around on the shelves, I really wanted the Blu-ray of Werewolf due to the great reviews of the two hour making of documentary Beware The Moon that is on the disk, I haven’t enjoyed a well researched, comprehensive account of a cult classics construction in a long time. In another moment of serendipity lets kick things off with this link, a list of Scorsese’s favourite horror movies, a link that leads nicely to my smugly acquiring a ticket to see Marty in person at an NFT event next month, an evening that will crown ten years of my living in London and attending this sort of event. That’s like, so totally awesome – see, already I have my North American vernacular down ya’ dig?
An American Werewolf In London – Talk about starting at the top eh? People claim that Shaun of the Dead gives Werewolf a run for its money as the greatest horror comedy ever made, these people are horrendous idiots who must be ignored at all costs. Sure Shaun is funny and entertaining, a good film which merits semi-regular repeat viewings, no problem – but it isn’t even in a fraction of a molecule of the remotest sense scary or horrifying. In Werewolf the initial attack on those desolate moors remains brutally shocking, almost unwatchable and the thoroughly unnerving fever dreams that David suffers instil an unsettling atmosphere, all of which is counterpoised by the grim humour of the slowly disintegrating corpse of best friend Jack, probably the films despicable masterstroke which provides most of the nervous laughter whilst tying the tale to the monster movie lore of history – the cursed lunar cycle which can only be cured by suicide or death. The transformation sequence, intentionally rendered in full daylight, remains unmatched:
….as does Jenny Agutter whose presence made quite an impact on everyone in my generation who furtively hired this from their local VHS emporium. The 1981 London locations – the tube, Piccadilly Circus, what looks to me like Belgravia and Mayfair – are interesting to see, not sure how a nurse could afford a telephone box let alone a flat in that area of the Capital even back in them olden times though. Stan was supposedly a big fan and when you consider the ironic use of the music against the horror, the pitch black comedy it isn’t difficult to see why. A seminal monster movie, I’ll See You Next Wedneday.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari – I’ve had this sitting on my shelf for about three years and although I have seen it before, when studying German Expressionism as one of the modules on my A Level course many years ago, I’ll admit is has been one of those ‘oh I must watch that one day’ choices that is ignored whilst reaching past it for something else which looks more fun. Something like The Hottie & The Nottie for example. OK, I jest, its only 52 minutes long first of all and although its 90 year pedigree can test the patience it is a remarkable looking film for its period and is one of the core texts of supernatural genre cinema. The somnambulist prowling the distorted mise-en-scene is a snapshot of almost every horror film made ever since with that use of make-up, lighting and set design setting the standard for a whole slew of immensely influential films that emerged out of UFA and then Universal studios after the hemorrhaging of talent across the Atlantic in the thirties. It’s an academic exercise to be sure with a clunky ‘it was all a dream’ style conclusion but I enjoyed it, you have to pay your respects to your elders now and again…..
Trick ‘r Treat – no, not that one, this one. I picked this up on a chance, it has been getting some terrific reviews amongst the genre community as a real return to the 1980’s heyday of horror cinema, specifically the anthology films such as Creepshow, Cats Eye, Tales From The Crypt series and of course Creepshow 2. Taking place over a bloody Halloween the film interweaves a host of gruesome tales including a chaste Anna Paquin travelling to a costume party with her promiscuous sisters (she is dressed as little red riding hood if you want a clue where that one’s going), an abandoned mine where a school bus mysteriously crashed 30 years ago to the day, supposedly killing all the mentally challenged kids on board and Dylan Baker playing against type as a school principal candy poisoning child killer, all the strands being stitched together by the eerie Sam, the pint sized mute spirit of All Hallows’ Eve who also seeks some terrible vengeance on the elderly Mr. Kreeg for some unspecified discourtesy. This was probably the best fun I had all night (child murder, ravenous kid zombies, slutty lycanthropes, I’m a man who is easily pleased) with a firm hand on the tiller that steers between the key points of knowing winks to the audience and quick scares, the way that the divergent tales intersect and morph with each other with certain key events in one strand playing out on the background of developments of another strand is quite skilfully presented. It’s good, nasty, gory fun with some neats twists on the tropes of the genre, highly recommended.
Drag Me To Hell – Unmistakably diminished on the smaller screen this is still terrific fun, if you overlook the somewhat suspect gypsy bashing. I don’t really have much to add to my previous review so I’ll just link to some scenes from The Incredibly Strange Film Show with Raimi that I unearthed recently, I have fond memories of staying up late to watch that back when it aired in 1988.
Halloween II – A shame to end on such a travesty but there we are, I am referring to the 1981 sequel to the original slasher classic, not this years supposedly execrable sequel to the remake, a film which is running high as the worst film of the year which considering its opponents sounds like quite an achievement. Picking up from exactly where the original finished Michael is back on a rampage with a twist – it seems that Laurie is his sister hence the Freudian themed carnage. What is most disappointing about this isn’t the lacklustre and frankly boring parade of kills, it’s the presence of both John Carpenter and Debra Hill as the writers in the credits, they must really have worked fast to get this roughly hewn piece of nonsense together. Donald Pleasance should win an award for his cringeworthy OTT performance which makes it worth watching. Almost.
Paranormal Activity will be the last horror review of the year, I’m already amused at the ‘most scary film ever’ and ‘most profitable movie ever’ marketing angles which have been trumpeted for some movie or other since the 1950’s with the inception of the B-Movie, William Castle would be proud. Still, I am intrigued about it, it looks like fun and it’s a shame it wasn’t out over here for Halloween, here’s one of the trailers:
2nd Birthday….
And so gentle reader I enter my terrible twos. Accordingly I intend to become more boisterous, opinionated, self-absorbed, mischievous and hysterical. What’s that, business as normal I hear you cry? If you’d like to get me a birthday present then I’ll always accept donations from the superb Criterion Collection, fascinating link on how they are upgrading to new technologies here.
May you live in interesting times – fuck that. Recent economics 101 here. Text heavy sure but I found it to be a brilliant synopsis of where we’ve arrived at including educated predictions of how the Jenga banking system could possibly come all crashing down – it was written in January so quite superbly prescient. As the immensely depressing fallout continues I’ve read and discarded many observations on the inevitable implosion, I cling hopelessly to the belief that such a shock may lead to a real and proper consideration of western values in light of the real challenges facing the planet. Exactly what progress could have been made on poverty and tackling climate change, investing in new technologies with (as I write this) £50 billion from the UK alone, $700 billion in the US, no doubt more to follow as the…look, its just too fucking much. It is a fucking disgrace. Words fail me. I don’t know about you, but I am continuing my training for the inevitable, although the upside is a possible new girlfriend. Clouds, silver lining etc…..
Riddle me this – what links ‘The Italian Job‘, ‘The Wicker Man‘, ‘Don’t Look Now‘, ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth‘, ‘The Deer Hunter‘ and a quietly admired early 80’s tech-noir Raymond Chandler picture? Go on, I’ll give you one guess? What, no idea? No idea at all? OK, I’ll put you out of your misery – it’s cult movie UK born supremo producer Michael Deeley of course, good lord do keep up. Last week I went to a NFT hosted book launch of Deely’s autobiography with the requisite on stage interview, interspersed with clips from his work and traditional Q&A follow up session. It pains me to report that this was far and away the most disappointing event I have attended at my beloved NFT as quite simply the whole evening failed abysmally to unearth any interesting insights into his career and work, mostly scuppered by the sheer ineptitude of the interviewer whose entire strategy seemed to revolve around the same line of interrogation – ‘what drew you to this project?’ That’s not a bad start but to repeat that for every stage without teasing out any tit-bits or revelatory moments was a real waste. Apart from the revelation that Steve McQueen hired Peter Yates to direct the Deeley produced ‘Bullitt‘ on the strength of the car chase in their early UK film ‘Robbery‘ there was nothing of any real value here, the old and well known tale of Kubrick submitting out-takes from ‘The Shining‘ for the final reels of the original cut of ‘Blade Runner‘ was trotted out as some amazing coup, must try harder. I don’t know about you but I’ve been using this question as a curve-ball in my interviews for years (one day those HR witches will understand my method) but now its tired.
Birthdays are always an apt moment for pensive reflection so I’ve nominated Ridley Scott as this months choice of director whose work I follow with interest. Along with Carpenter he’s one of the first filmmakers where I detected something of a particular style of approach and beautiful visualisation, even if they didn’t always result in a satisfying final product. I think it’s fair to say that Sir Ridley has had his ups and downs,after a stunning early trilogy he seemed to get sidetracked into poorly written mainstream rubbish that never made the best of his particular visual skills, recovering with ‘Gladiator‘ which put him back on the Hollywood A list.
I love the story of Russell Crowe discussing future offers on the set of ‘The Insider‘ with Michael Mann, uncertain whether he should take an offer of the role of a Roman Centurion in some complex historical production with a director whose pedigree had somewhat waned. Mann urged him to take the role, explaining that Scott was ‘in the top 2% of visual filmmakers at work’ and the rest as they say is history. Scott has been long attached to ‘Blade Runner’ sequels which I’m curiously ambivalent about, whether he or someone else makes them (must be mellowing in my old age), other projects like this seem far more intriguing and relevant.
So then, the best 500 movies of all time. I stopped reading ‘Empire’ a long time ago – bring back the sadly lamented ‘Neon‘ or morphed ‘Hotdog‘ for real fun cult/mainstream periodical perusal but such an obvious challenge to be offended and disgusted at the predictable results couldn’t be resisted. No late periodFellini? Philistines. Where’s Rivette? Sacrilege. Calm down, I’m joking of course as obviously it’s an English language centric list with the obvious pictures leading the pack, just as my favourites are and always will be. Gun at my head, family in gas chamber, every existing Kubrick film print suspended over a Volcano, what would Minty choose between the entire (a quick guess) of Tarkovskys 20+ hour work or ‘Escape From New York‘? One answer – ‘…I heard you was dead….’ What I do find fascinating as a film nerd are the choices of film makers I love, for instance Fincher has quite an interesting choice which was quite revealing, ‘Kane’ being the only prior 1970’s choice. I can’t find a link to his submission so you’ll have to buy the magazine to find out what I’m talking about but think ‘Chinatown’, ‘The Godfather’, ‘Days Of Heaven’, ‘Strangelove’, ‘All The Presidents Men’, that sort of thing. Nick Hornby must be sharpening his pencil as we speak.
That said, general discussion threads from this ‘Empire’ poll has lead me back to the Holy Grail of Film lists that I stumbled across some years ago. 500? Fucking amateurs. Any real film nerd must worship at the temple that is 1001 films you must see. Praise Allah, Jesus, Buddha, Thor, Odin, Thunderbird or any other fictitious deity you care to follow. As an antidote of sorts I have posted in the first comment of this post that omnipotent list which is real tough stuff – it covers the majority of my reasonably educated base of mainstream film (meaning narrative film, none of the Avant-garde experimental type stuff like the Warhol’s, Borzages etc.) and I think its superb. Yes, I pride myself on my twenty year plus movie obsession but there are many titles on there I have never even heard of which is a humbling experience, I stand in awe of such an encompassing and massively knowledgeable pantheon, purely by virtue of what it does cover by historical era and geographic scope. It flirts from Greece to Russia, Korea to Argentina, genre to genre, movement to movement. I love it when you stumble across things like this as it can lead a fan in previously unknown and unforeseen directions. As expected the DVD acquisition coverage ain’t great prior to 1930 but there are many titles in there from the 70’s to 90’s which are now on my research list. I have included the films in the first comment a separate entry to this post, purely as an memory aide for my absurd new cinematic endeavour. You can find the list below, should keep me occupied…
That’s enough movies for the moment. Lets finish off the ‘party’ with some music links which have been gracing my ipod during my commuting maneuvers over the past few weeks. I’ve pretty much got my podcast addiction under control with everything up to date (this was a recent find which is admittedly fratboy humor heavy but still fun to listen to, also recommended is this) so without further hesitation, over to the tube of you…..
Courtsey of Neil, my most learned friend when it comes to music. ‘The Monks’ are one of Mark E Smith’s favourite bands…
Shout out to the Bryski massive. Or something.
No comment.
Forgot to thank the Scally for turning me on to this guy, apologies but it took me a while to get round to listening to the disks. Good stuff.
The closest any individual release have got to the original Mode for me. Rubbish video but I’m happy to hear that the Basildon trio are playing down the road at the o2 next year, tickets are hopefully en-route….
Best track when I saw them in Hammersmith a few years ago and the best live quality version I could find…
Looking forward to the new album. It’s possible……
Polysics or Die!!!
Good. Better but unable to embed in the blog for some stupid reason….
Just to fuck with you…..
I’ll always treasure having friends who worked in one of my local vinyl dealers back in my teenage years, I got the album this terrific track was on for free, slipped in with whatever noisy nonsense I was spending my hard earned cash on. RIP Andy’s Records…..
OK, just one. Has to be said though, it’s typical that my favourite bands leader had to be such a short sighted twat to call his musical collective ‘The the’ and then compound that moment of genius to name one of his most desired and rare albums ‘Pornography Of Despair‘ – fucking excellent web results I get from punching that combination into Google or ebay. I won’t argue that it doesn’t lead to some intriguing avenues of exploration but that is, as they say, another story….
‘The Hollowmen’ Posh Club. 1989. Not pretty. Some of you know what I’m talking about.
Just for laughs, some old and rare ‘Cure’ brilliance. You’ve got to love YouTube….
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