Hello, my friends!
Running out of 2017! Keeping it short this time around, both in terms of write-ups and intros, but happy to report that I got a ton of flicks in – the same number as I did for the October Challenge, as fate would have it. Thanks to the packed schedules that comprised the inaugural voyage of Cinepocalypse at the Music Box and the 15th annual Gobblerfest known as Turkey Day, as well as an impromptu Michael Haneke film festival (inspired by a short film I recently shot called So I Watch You from Afar, which was itself inspired by Haneke’s Cache), the numbers tallied up to a respectable monthly tally in a year that has seen precious few of them.
As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.
Enjoy!
HORROR:
Summer of Fear (1978) d. Craven, Wes (USA) (1st viewing)
Got the call from my good pal Ian Simmons over at Kicking the Seat that he had picked up the new Blu-ray of this neglected TV-movie from Freddy daddy Craven starring Linda Blair and how could I possibly say no? We ramble on at length for the KtS podcast, but the general consensus was “pretty darn good cheesy fun.” Available now from Doppleganger Releasing.
https://www.musicboxfilms.com/wes-craven-s-summer-of-fear-movies-160.php
http://www.kickseat.com/podcast/2017/11/24/ep277-permanent-vacation.html
Creepshow (1982) d. Romero, George A. USA (6th viewing)
With Arrow Video’s recent Blu-ray release of Creepshow 2 landing on my doorstep, I felt obliged to dig out my old bare-bones DVD copy for a little post-October comfort food with the femalien. Riffing off the classic EC horror comics, this remains one of the best anthologies out there in terms of overall quality of segments and general sense of cohesiveness. Amazing what happens when you have a single screenwriter (Stephen King), single make-up maestro (Tom Savini), a genuinely inspired director (Romero) all pulling in the same direction with an all-star cast (Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, E.G. Marshall, Leslie Nielsen, Tom Atkins, Viveca Lindfors) as well as some on the verge (Ted Danson, Ed Harris) happy to get messy for the camera.
Creepshow 2 (1987) d. Gornick, Michael USA (2nd viewing)
A fair-to-middling portmanteau in its own right, but when compared to the A-list roster for the 1982 original, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed by the so-so stories (“Old Chief Wood’nhead,” “The Raft,” and “The Hitchhiker,” as well as the lame animated wraparound of a young horror fan antagonized by bullies), uninspired performances (when late-career George Kennedy is your headliner, you’re in trouble), and “nice try but…” effects (by a then-fledgling KNB working without a budget) on display.
But the movie does have its fans (who happily shout “Thanks for the ride, lady!” at the drop of a hat), and for them, there are plenty of goodies to be found on Arrow’s high-def upgrade, including an audio commentary with Gornick (who cut his teeth as George Romero’s cinematographer), interviews with award-winning effects wizards Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger who share memories of their challenges on the shoot, and featurettes with actors Tom Savini, Tom Wright, Daniel Beer, and Romero (who contributed the screenplay).
https://mvdb2b.com/s/Creepshow2/AV079
CINEPOCALYPSE 2017:
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
Dead Shack (2017) d. Ricq, Peter (Canada) (1st viewing)
Suspiria (1977) d. Argento, Dario (Italy) (4th viewing)
Veronica (2017) d. Plaza, Paco (Spain) (1st viewing)
Housewife (2017) d. Evrenol, Can (Turkey) (1st viewing)
The Crescent (2017) d. Smith, Seth A. (Canada) (1st viewing)
Mohawk (2017) d. Geoghegan, Ted (USA) (1st viewing)
It Came from the Desert (2017) d. Makilaakso, Marko (Finland/UK/Canada) (1st viewing)
Bullet in the Head (1990) d. Woo, John (Hong Kong) (1st viewing)
Hard Times (1975) d. Hill, Walter (USA) (2nd viewing)
Animals (aka Tiere) (2017) d. Zglinski, Greg (Austria/Poland/Switzerland) (1st viewing)
Jailbreak (2017) d. Henderson, Jimmy (Cambodia) (1st viewing)
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) d. Wayans, Keenen Ivory (USA) (2nd viewing)
Beyond Skyline (2017) d. O'Donnell, Liam (Indonesia) (1st viewing)
Downrange (2017) d. Kitamura, Ryuhei (USA) (1st viewing)
TURKEY DAY 2017
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)
The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959) d. Berwick, Irvin USA (3rd viewing)
The Brides Wore Blood (1972) d. Favorite, Bob USA (1st viewing)
Frozen Scream (1975) d. Roach, Frank USA (2nd viewing)
The Capture of Bigfoot (1979) d. Rebane, Bill USA (2nd viewing)
Winterbeast (1992) d. Thies, Christopher USA (1st viewing)
Wolfman (1979) d. Keeter, Worth USA (2nd viewing)
The Strangeness (1985) d. Phillips, Melanie Ann USA (2nd viewing)
CIVILIAN:
Black Girl (1966) d. Sembene, Ousmane (Senegal/France) (1st viewing)
Disturbing and groundbreaking piece that examines a young woman’s move to Paris to work as a nanny for an affluent couple, only to discover that they expect her to work as an indentured servant and to serve as a status symbol for their liberal friends. A rich piece within its short running time, delivering a devastating final blow.
Locke (2013) d. Knight, Steven UK/USA (1st viewing)
The entire movie takes place in a car with Tom Hardy the only onscreen character, driving through the night and having phone conversations. Yes, it’s absolutely a stunt, but one that also manages to recall an effective radio drama by engaging viewers’ imaginations as we picture the events under discussion.
O.J.: Made in America (2016) d. Edleman, Ezra USA (1st viewing)
Oscar-winning documentary that contextualizes the racial climate of Los Angeles during the early 90s when “The Crime of the Century” blasted into our consciousness via every means possible (nightly news, tabloids, live courtroom coverage) while also drawing a vivid portrait of a phenomenal athlete and star who refused to identify as an African-American during his rise to fame but whose genetic background ultimately got him acquitted. The 7-hour running time flies by.
Roar (1981) d. Marshall, Noel USA (1st viewing)
Director Marshall (executive producer for The Exorcist) and wife Tippi Hedren (The Birds), in an effort to raise awareness for the plight of African lions and wildlife, decided to make a movie starring themselves as fictionalized versions of themselves and their family (including a young Melanie Griffith, Hedren’s daughter) interacting with the great cats in their natural habitat. The result? 80 of the tensest minutes you will ever spend watching a movie, because the animals are clearly not domesticated and the actors are clearly in danger throughout. “Holy shit” material from start to finish, and highly recommended not so much because it’s a great picture, but because there is no other picture out there like it.
Sometimes a Great Notion (1970) d. Newman, Paul USA (1st viewing)
Newman’s second directorial effort is a curious one – a tribe of union strike-breaking loggers (Newman, Henry Fonda, Richard Jaeckel, Michael Sarrazin, and Lee Remick) try to keep their family business afloat in spite of the fact that their doing so is bound to ruin the rest of the town who are desperately trying to negotiate for fair wages and benefits. There is no noble cause here, and the Stamper clan are comprised of pig-headed S.O.B.s and doormat wives – are we really supposed to root for them? There are a couple of dramatic moments that resonate (including a logger trapped under a fallen tree with the water slowly rising), but overall it’s a pretty unpleasant watch. Based on a novel by Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest).
UNHAPPY HANEKE, EVERYONE:
I won’t even pretend that I have the intellectual capacity to give the Austrian filmmaker his proper due. In fact, I made a point of watching his movies so that I could check out a few books from the library and enjoy other people’s interpretations of them. I was introduced to the original German-language Funny Games over 10 years ago courtesy of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and I have rarely felt as emotionally suckerpunched as when “the rewind moment” occurred. But I hadn’t made the effort to track down the rest of his output, and watching them over the Thanksgiving holidays seemed like just the kind of sick joke the director would appreciate.
I will still argue that the English language remake of FG (starring Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, and Michael Pitt) is disappointing in its shot-for-shot redundancy, a cinematic experiment that can’t register the same impact for anyone who has seen the original. Of the first-time views this time around, I would say Piano Teacher and Seventh Continent were my “favorites,” with Code Unknown and Cache scoring high the second time around.
The Seventh Continent (1989) d. Haneke, Michael Austria (1st viewing)
Funny Games (1997) d. Haneke, Michael Austria (3rd viewing)
Code Unknown (2000) d. Haneke, Michael Austria/France/Romania (2nd viewing)
The Piano Teacher (2001) d. Haneke, Michael Austria/France/Germany (1st viewing)
Time of the Wolf (2003) d. Haneke, Michael Austria/France/Germany (1st viewing)
Cache (2005) d. Haneke, Michael Austria/France/Germany (2nd viewing)
Funny Games (2007) d. Haneke, Michael Austria/France/Germany/USA (2nd viewing)
2017 Totals: 228 films, 162 first time views, 110 horror, 51 cinema
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