Revival Circuit

[w/o horse]

Saturday was the live commentary of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Tobe Hooper 1974 w/Tobe Hooper and Mick Garris in person.  Hooper and Garris are amazing people, I mean it.  I'm going to have to stop being impressed by how articulate, insightful, and friendly some filmmakers are as it seems entirely possible.  Hooper is a really great person, was my impression, I asked an audience question (my first!) and it was this:  "Sometimes I hear about, say Romero or Carpenter, having one of their films remade and they say in the press, 'Why didn't they ask me to do it?'  Did that happen to you?  Were you offered, did they bother to offer you the TCM remake?" and Hooper replied that he had talked to Van Sant (because of the shot-for-shot Psycho remake) about if he should do it or not but decided he couldn't do it because he's a different person now and couldn't make that film again.  He would like to make another TCM though.  Next he's doing a script written by Garris called Death or Death + something.  I also learned:  Hooper helped develop The Thing remake, and Hooper at one point was going to direct Return of the Living Dead.

Monday night was Pieces, Juan Piquer Simón 1982 and Torso, Sergio Martino 1973.  The first two films shown in the Eli Roth film festival (that he's titled The Greats of Roth.....).  Very good films.  Pieces is maybe to horror films like Riki-Oh is to martial arts films:  over the top, (un?)purposely funny, and full of genre gags.  Many hand clapping moments.  Torso is a good example of a good giallo film, even if I thought all the best stuff was in the first twenty minutes.

[w/o horse]

Last night was really special.  Since and including A Boy and His Dog at the Nuart last week I've had really positive, enjoyable, and invigorating experiences meeting filmmakers and attending screenings, and last night was the perfect culmination.  Hopefully it's not even the culmination, but if it was it was perfect.  It was a screening of Mother's Day, Charles Kaufman 1980, Creepshow, George A. Romero 1982, and a special screening of Fellini's segment from 1968's Spirits of the Dead, Toby Dammit.  The second part in Eli Roth's programming at the New Beverly.  Eli Roth is a really impressive person.  Not only did he put a lot of planning into his screenings, by bringing along memorabilia from his movies (last night I held the axe from Hostel II - for shits and giggles), inviting filmmakers (Charles Kaufman in attendance last night), creating an atmosphere (Q&A, lots of information on the films (impressive amounts of knowledge on very minor films and amazing insights into the achievements of these films more than makes up for calling Fellini boring), inviting his parents, being incredibly enthusiastic and open and supportive), and picking unusual films for his festival, but it was also my birthday, a couple of my friends were there, and the energy from previous screenings and personal revelations came together to make last night really great.

The films were okay.  I think Roth exaggerates the significance of Toby Dammit, Creepshow pales in comparison to Tales from the Crypt, I really only like two segments, and Mother's Day drags by the third act, so it wasn't even the films, it was much more the audience loving the films, hearing Roth and Kaufman speak, kind of celebrating New Beverly cinema and appreciating what's going on outside of the cineplex.  Last night the theater was like a graduation hall and Roth was giving Kaufman a chance to express his gratitude for us recognizing his efforts and rewards.  Kaufman is now a successful baker, owning something like nine bakeries around San Diego, and he has a terrible stuttering problem that nearly made me burst into tears (I too have public speaking fears), but I'll be goddamned if Roth didn't present Kaufman like Notable Filmmaker of the Millennium and if the audience didn't receive the film like One of the Best Ten in the Genre.

It was more than infectious.  It was inspiring.

[w/o horse]

The best part about seeing Cannibal Holocaust, Ruggero Deodato 1980, at the New Beverly was noticing Lamberto Bava's name as assistant director.  It's a fucked up movie with truly violent images that genuinely shocked me.  I just personally feel that are certain things cinema shouldn't show, among that list is a girl getting raped with a large rock, and there were several other things this movie did I could have done without.  Not because of like an attack of my sense of morals, but like how The Grave of the Fireflies couldn't have been a live-action because no one wants to watch two kids starve to death.  I don't want to see these things.  In that regard I must admit it's very effective and a good horror film.

[JG]

How was the audience? I saw it at a midnight showing in the fall, and everybody was laughing and having a good time. A group of dudes sitting in front of my friends and I were super serious about the movie. they had cannibal holocaust shirts on an everything. I noticed early on that they were getting agitated every time somebody laughed, so I made a point of not making any noise during the movie. they seemed like intense dudes. my friend did not notice however, and about halfway through the movie one of the dudes turned around and yelled at him (and pretty much the whole audience), "WHAT THE FUCK IS SO FUNNY?"

everybody went silent for like 10 seconds until another ridiculous thing happened and you heard some dude in the back say "well that was pretty funny." it was pretty tense for the rest of the movie, maybe cos the movie got progressively more shocking, but mostly because there was a group of guys in the room totally buying into the drama of people eating each other.

[w/o horse]

The theater I saw it at consistently has a very comfortable, informal atmosphere and isn't really a good place for the kind of uptight film watcher you're talking about.  And it's a horror movie with a body count so who the hell doesn't expect screen talking.  There were a couple people scattered about who kept mimicking the bloop-bloop noise of the soundtrack towards the beginning, I thought that was pretty annoying, but they stopped doing it when the movie became more intense.

[w/o horse]

Caught a midnight screening of The House That Screamed, Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's 1969 boarding school horror thriller last night at the Nuart.  Went to this one despite its stupid title (its Spanish title of La Residencia is much better) because I recently Netflixed Who Can Kill a Child? (the translation of the perfectly fine original Spanish title ¿Quién puede matar a un niño?, which is much better than the US title Island of the Damned - which it was probably only titled because of movies like Village of the Damned and These Are the Damned (my current avatar)), and that movie was awesome.  That's more title talk than review.  Let me say that Narciso Ibáñez Serrador is amazing and if anyone here explored him they would likely say the same.  He simply makes beautiful movies that value character equal to craftmanship.  His make you suffer along with the characters, draw you into the experience and bring you to the point of identifying.  They're real movies, and they're beautiful, patient, genuine and terrifying.

Mac have you seen Who Can Kill a Child?  I think you'd really like the movie.

Tonight at the New Beverly is a midnight showing of Streets of Fire, a 1984 Walter Hill film I don't know anything about and could go either way.  Its tagline is "Tonight is what it means to be young." and its plot outline is "A mercenary goes after his ex-girlfriend, a singer who has been kidnapped by a gang."  That sounds like the ingredients for good kitsch fun.  Tuesday at the New Beverly is the Nicholas St. John written Abel Ferrara film Ms. 45, from 1981, and Nicholas St. John + Abel Ferrara means expectations in my book.  That's playing with Alley Cat.

The big, big news for me is the Mario Bava retrospective going on at the Egyptian this month.

Thursday, March 13  7:30 PM BLACK SUNDAY & BLACK SABBATH
Friday, March 14  7:30 PM FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON & BLOOD AND BLACK LACE
Saturday, March 15 7:30 PM LISA AND THE DEVIL & BARON BLOOD
Sunday, March 16 7:30 PM KIDNAPPED & SHOCK
Thursday, March 20 7:30 PM DANGER: DIABOLIK & PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES
Friday, March 21 7:30 PM A BAY OF BLOOD & FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT
Saturday, March 22 7:30 PM THE WHIP AND THE BODY & KILL, BABY, KILL
Sunday, March 23 7:30 PM THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH & HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON & CALTIKI THE IMMORTAL MONSTER

I'll be at as many of those as I can fit into my work schedule.

[JG]

boy, tonight i saw minnie and moskowitz on the big screen and it was just great.

[w/o horse]

boy, tonight i saw minnie and moskowitz on the big screen and it was just great.

You can tell me more.  Like the theater and what the crowd was like and if the big screen changed the movie for you or what.  If you want(ed) to.

This month it's noir month at the Egytpian.  Might stop in for some, including tonight's Cornered/To the Ends of the Earth double feature.  Probably for Stranger on the Third Floor/The Face Behind the Mask/The Grand Inquisitor and Cry of the Hunted/Lure of the Swamp as well.

I'm pretty excited that Joe Dante is programming for the New Bev this month:

April 8
Blood Diner (1987)
Scream Bloody Murder (1973)

April 9, 10
Mondo cane (1962)
Zulu (1964)

April 11, 12
Hollywood Boulevard (1976)
Truck Turner (1974)

April 13, 14, 15
The Sadist (1963)
The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (1977)

April 16, 17
The Secret Invasion (1964)
The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)

April 18, 19
Wrong is Right (1982)
Mystery movie

April 20, 21
Blood on Satan's Claw (1971)
Horror Express (1973)

April 22
The Movie Orgy (1968)

[w/o horse]

So I sat behind Quentin Tarantino at the midnight screening of Gremlins 2 Saturday night.  I had both been wanting this to happen and knowing it would happen.  I was at the front of the line to see this movie but all my friends had bailed, at like 11:40 QT shows up and I call them with the news.  They all ended up making it.

Truck Turner was really, really good also.

But the huge news in this post is Roger Corman's scheduled appearance on Thursday.  The Secret Invasion and The Tomb of Ligeia are playing.

[hedwig]

So I sat behind Quentin Tarantino

did you throw popcorn at his head?

The Tomb of Ligeia

maybe you'll sit behind martin scorsese for that one.

[w/o horse]

So I sat behind Quentin Tarantino

did you throw popcorn at his head?

You would have gotten along with the girl who sat behind me.  You see QT is kind of a tall guy with kind of a big head, so sitting behind him I had to sit up straight for a full screen view.  This irritated the girl behind me who, just before Gremlins 2 came on, tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if I could please slouch a little.  I told her I've got people in front of me too and she goes "Yeah, that fucking Tarantino and his big head" pretty loud.  That was awkward.

The chick again this year has gone off to Fangoria's horror convention:
http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=6386

I think tonight I'm going to catch the midnight screening of Teeth and tomorrow night the midnight screening of The Howling.  It's Halloween in Los Angeles once more.

[w/o horse]

UA's 90th anniversary circuit came to the Nuart.  I've seen The Great Escape and Annie Hall so far.  Annie Hall was fantastic in the theater and I almost didn't go because I was like thinking "Woody Allen big screen small screen what's the difference" but I would now recommend to the Nuart (I'm going to write a letter I think) replacing the midnight screenings of Rocky Horror with Annie Hall.  I had about that much fun.  A lot fun.  The movie is much more funny and much quicker than I remembered it being and I think that a combination of Allen's recent work and so much television viewing of his older movies has forced me into forgetting how cinematic he once was.

The Great Escape I, unfortunately, don't have anything nice to say about.

Tonight I might see the Dr. No and Thomas Crown Affair double bill but I might blow it off to watch Yasuzo Masumura's Giants & Toys which I watched thirty minutes of a couple days ago and can't wait to start over and finish.

[w/o horse]

Tati's Playtime last night at the Egyptian, 70mm.  What can you say about a film in a format that is always talked about as one of the perfect examples of a film in the format?  Except maybe people shouldn't talk about it so much because it kind of dulls the experience when it actually comes.  People don't want to know if I liked Playtime, they want to know how much I liked Playtime.  It does deserve its reputation though of course, the film is amazing and all things said about it are true.

[samsong]

i was going to go to that.  they bring it back at least once a year.  one of the best movie-going experiences of my life, seeing a 70 mm print of playtime.
also wanted to go see the "super rare!" 70 mm print of apocalypse now tonight but the laker game is on, and i don't feel like driving.

[72teeth]

I saw Pulp Fiction on tuesday... man i forgot how great that movie is.