Friday, December 26, 2008
jeezus christ
Alright, I've been meaning to put up a review of the Criterion DVD release of White Dog since I watched it last week. It's so great. On that day of seeing this movie after so many years of looking (without having to pay "some guy" for a questionable dub) I finished a book about the making of Videodrome, by Tim Lucas. They were made right around the same time, and I couldn't help but draw some connections between them. It's so rare that you see one movie, let alone two thatdeal with ideas (!) in such an openly metaphoric way, and these films do just that. Videodrome dealing with the merging of media with our lives (physiologicly, pychologicly and physically) and White Dog taking on the subject of indoctrinated racism. And it's the open air vibe that really makes this stuff work in movie form. There is something so great about seeing aquishy faced Kristy McNichol talking with dog trainers Burl Ives and Paul Winfield about the evil nature of racism and how it can be taught to an innocent dog. Oh, and Burl Ives plays a lovable coot who hates racists! So that's highly reccomended, but yes, I'm having trouble finding that inner write-drive. So soon, I'll be posting some older writings here. Hopefully that will get me on track.
Monday, December 15, 2008
The Unseen (1981) Movie Review
Code Red Dvd (a company I fully endorse) released a souped up dbl disc of this horror a couple months ago and I just picked it up on payday. I'm glad I did.
Appropriately I went through 2/3's of my life having not seen or heard of The Unseen.The Unseen quickly jumped to my "must see" list back in the late 90s, when I spied the review in The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film and envisioned the grandeur of Stephen Furst of a killer-feral-retarded-baby-man. I was a big fat fan of Stephen as Flounder in Animal House (natch), but moreso his work as rich asshole Harold in Midnight Madness (an all time fave), so I was just dying to see him killing some people, wreaking havoc, being a k-f-r-b-m, etc. After many roadtrips to all the mom n pop video stores near my parents' house (now all gone) I found the ultrarare vhs and got ready for the shocking, ridiculous and over the top horror movie my 20 year old brain had conjured.
I was vaguely disappointed. Although Sidney Lassick's performance stayed embedded in my brain, I was rather bummed that the titular "unseen" remains so unseen through the whole first hour of the movie. I was also let down by the lack of shocking violence I was so reliant on back in those days.
You can probably tell where I'm going with this: seeing this flick beyond it's rarity and potential for over-the-topness, The Unseen becomes something more satisfying. It's a measured and creepy "creepy house" movie that's reliant more on it's performances and what is actually "unseen." It's no classic, but it's a nice change of pace, and both Sidney Lassick and Stephen Furst really give a memorable couple of intense performances. It's also nice that in 1981 we don't get teenage axe-fodder, but 3 young professional ladies, even if they are also not really fleshed out, though I liked the dynamic of main chick Barbara Bach and her would be football hero boyfriend.
The story is simplicity itself. 3 young women go to a town to cover a news story, go to a creepy hotel/museum outside of town, meet the weird family and are stalked and murdered. Not much more to say here.
I really think that the new tranfer from Code Red is what brings Stephen Furst's work to the fore, cuz I remember barely being able to see those final scenes on the old VHS. I'm sure you know what iI'm talking about if you ever watched low budget films on VHS that have scenes in basements or in the woods at night. I haven't watched any of the extras yet (save for the interview with SF), so I can't tell you about any of those yet, but there's a bunch of stuff, and if you have any other Code Red releases, you can guess that they are gonna be thorough.
So, if you are a fan of early 80s horror cinema and don't need necessarily tons of gore, I'd highly recommend this little slab.
Appropriately I went through 2/3's of my life having not seen or heard of The Unseen.The Unseen quickly jumped to my "must see" list back in the late 90s, when I spied the review in The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film and envisioned the grandeur of Stephen Furst of a killer-feral-retarded-baby-man. I was a big fat fan of Stephen as Flounder in Animal House (natch), but moreso his work as rich asshole Harold in Midnight Madness (an all time fave), so I was just dying to see him killing some people, wreaking havoc, being a k-f-r-b-m, etc. After many roadtrips to all the mom n pop video stores near my parents' house (now all gone) I found the ultrarare vhs and got ready for the shocking, ridiculous and over the top horror movie my 20 year old brain had conjured.
I was vaguely disappointed. Although Sidney Lassick's performance stayed embedded in my brain, I was rather bummed that the titular "unseen" remains so unseen through the whole first hour of the movie. I was also let down by the lack of shocking violence I was so reliant on back in those days.
You can probably tell where I'm going with this: seeing this flick beyond it's rarity and potential for over-the-topness, The Unseen becomes something more satisfying. It's a measured and creepy "creepy house" movie that's reliant more on it's performances and what is actually "unseen." It's no classic, but it's a nice change of pace, and both Sidney Lassick and Stephen Furst really give a memorable couple of intense performances. It's also nice that in 1981 we don't get teenage axe-fodder, but 3 young professional ladies, even if they are also not really fleshed out, though I liked the dynamic of main chick Barbara Bach and her would be football hero boyfriend.
The story is simplicity itself. 3 young women go to a town to cover a news story, go to a creepy hotel/museum outside of town, meet the weird family and are stalked and murdered. Not much more to say here.
I really think that the new tranfer from Code Red is what brings Stephen Furst's work to the fore, cuz I remember barely being able to see those final scenes on the old VHS. I'm sure you know what iI'm talking about if you ever watched low budget films on VHS that have scenes in basements or in the woods at night. I haven't watched any of the extras yet (save for the interview with SF), so I can't tell you about any of those yet, but there's a bunch of stuff, and if you have any other Code Red releases, you can guess that they are gonna be thorough.
So, if you are a fan of early 80s horror cinema and don't need necessarily tons of gore, I'd highly recommend this little slab.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Blogs mean never having to say you're sorry...
...but I do feel some self-annoyance that I haven't been keeping up so much (in depth stylee) with this here thingamajigger. Of course I've been too busy with other shit, but more of a blockade to posting is nagging sense of "nothing to say" that weighs down of me sometimes. In fact, this feeling is the main reason that it took me so long to start Trashcanland. I certainly have large stretches when you can't get me to shut up about a thousand different things, but lately I've just been absorbing, absorbing, absorbing. Now I'm trying to get over the blog-block.
My pal Mike G does some great reviews of trash movies over at http://fermentedfilm.blogspot.com, and a recent review of Don't Panic brought some thoughts to the fore that have been simmering in me for a while. Mike is relatively favorable in his look at this Mexican horror film from the Crypt of Terror box set, but he doesn't mention the two scenes that made it such a favorite for me this year. Firstly, there's a montage of the two teen stars on a date together: They eat ice cream and hang out and get balloons. Later the boy who is the subject of all the horror gets frustrated and quarterassedly tears up his room. Now, I'm not suggesting that Mike didn't also love that stuff, but it brings to mind the fact that over the last couple of years I've become much more interested in the stuff surrounding the horror in horror movies. In the past I had to see all the Italian and Japanese gore films "with that infamous scene where....," but now what I really seek out is scenes of dancing, fake bands, shopping/date/whatever montages. I mean, I've always liked this in T&A movies, but it's crossed over into my most intense filmic interest.
I'm pretty sure that one of the reasons for this is that me and my buddy George started DJing some 80s nights which I made video projections for. The videos consisted mostly of vintage commercials, music videos and lots of these kind of scenes from obscure movies. Hunting for me of these made it so it was worth sitting through some terrible bore, just to add another slumberparty sequence to my collage tapes. Now my mind is always seeking, compiling shit in my mind. And we haven't done one of these nights in months, so what the hell am I doing?
I'm also looking out for good fashion. Just watched Jess Franco's Bloody Moon a couple of weeks ago and loved it. But when I'm thinking about it now, I get more images of that one chick's sweatshirt/miniskirt with Grace Jones on it, or the gal in the full jungle ensemble. Hey, there's also a great beheading and some exquisitely bad dialogue, but give me some hot chicks in ridiculous clothes and I'm all set.
Just seeking out that perfect world I guess.
My pal Mike G does some great reviews of trash movies over at http://fermentedfilm.blogspot.com, and a recent review of Don't Panic brought some thoughts to the fore that have been simmering in me for a while. Mike is relatively favorable in his look at this Mexican horror film from the Crypt of Terror box set, but he doesn't mention the two scenes that made it such a favorite for me this year. Firstly, there's a montage of the two teen stars on a date together: They eat ice cream and hang out and get balloons. Later the boy who is the subject of all the horror gets frustrated and quarterassedly tears up his room. Now, I'm not suggesting that Mike didn't also love that stuff, but it brings to mind the fact that over the last couple of years I've become much more interested in the stuff surrounding the horror in horror movies. In the past I had to see all the Italian and Japanese gore films "with that infamous scene where....," but now what I really seek out is scenes of dancing, fake bands, shopping/date/whatever montages. I mean, I've always liked this in T&A movies, but it's crossed over into my most intense filmic interest.
I'm pretty sure that one of the reasons for this is that me and my buddy George started DJing some 80s nights which I made video projections for. The videos consisted mostly of vintage commercials, music videos and lots of these kind of scenes from obscure movies. Hunting for me of these made it so it was worth sitting through some terrible bore, just to add another slumberparty sequence to my collage tapes. Now my mind is always seeking, compiling shit in my mind. And we haven't done one of these nights in months, so what the hell am I doing?
I'm also looking out for good fashion. Just watched Jess Franco's Bloody Moon a couple of weeks ago and loved it. But when I'm thinking about it now, I get more images of that one chick's sweatshirt/miniskirt with Grace Jones on it, or the gal in the full jungle ensemble. Hey, there's also a great beheading and some exquisitely bad dialogue, but give me some hot chicks in ridiculous clothes and I'm all set.
Just seeking out that perfect world I guess.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Watching Cable @ my Parents house movie reviews
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
I love to watch John C. Reily on screen. One of my favorite modern actors. Some of the jokes are pretty funny, particularly anything with nudity or the Beatles. Though a lot of this is merely "pleasant." If JCR wasn't in every scene, it would be approaching "waste of time."
Hard Candy
Anti-pedophile movie where the underage vengemaster acts "clever." Imagine "clever" as the most overeager, fakemature theater geek from your high school...so yeah, kinda grating. But then torture and mind games kick in. Sort of uncomfortable how the 14 year old (played by a 17 year old) is shot in a lush, big doe eyed, sexualized way. Also weird how she looks a lot like an old flame. And yeah, actually old: late 20's. Regardless, I can appreciate most movies that put audiences through the ringer, and "deal frankly with controvertial issues."
Watched two movies with the word "hard" in the title.
Why am I writing this?
Why am I watching "Saved by the Bell: the College Years' at 7:30 AM?
I love to watch John C. Reily on screen. One of my favorite modern actors. Some of the jokes are pretty funny, particularly anything with nudity or the Beatles. Though a lot of this is merely "pleasant." If JCR wasn't in every scene, it would be approaching "waste of time."
Hard Candy
Anti-pedophile movie where the underage vengemaster acts "clever." Imagine "clever" as the most overeager, fakemature theater geek from your high school...so yeah, kinda grating. But then torture and mind games kick in. Sort of uncomfortable how the 14 year old (played by a 17 year old) is shot in a lush, big doe eyed, sexualized way. Also weird how she looks a lot like an old flame. And yeah, actually old: late 20's. Regardless, I can appreciate most movies that put audiences through the ringer, and "deal frankly with controvertial issues."
Watched two movies with the word "hard" in the title.
Why am I writing this?
Why am I watching "Saved by the Bell: the College Years' at 7:30 AM?
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Fangsgiving
Anyhow, I went on the youtube to try and find that Stop and Shop commercial that used to play every year 'round this time where the li'l boy comes upon his families thanksgiving dinner and reads a poem about what he is thankful for. His family looks on in heartwarmthed adoration and Stop and Shop wishes us a happy holiday. I couldn't find it, but I always think about it this time of year and how it inspired me one year. I was probably 8 or 9, around the same age as the commercial kid is supposed to be, saw the commercial for the umpteenth time, decided that I was gonna say my own poem (I was gonna wing it) and hope for similar love from my elders. Got up my courage, tried to quiet the holiday chatter...unsuccessfully. My dad: "Dan! Sit down and be quiet and just eat." And I did, red in the face. I knew then that they all loved me a lot, quietly. My family had always been quiet, till little Lizzy developped that sass mouth. I guess I'm still quiet, less so now that I'll have a couple of beers with the family.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Can it really be true!?
Big movie news for giallo/Argento fans!
According to www.dvddrive-in.com Four Flies on Grey Velvet is coming out on DVD on Febuary 24th!!!!! That's the ultra-elusive, never released on US video giallo immediately following Cat O' Nine Tails...it's also not one of those grey market releases that has ubiqitous either, I've actually never seen it cuz I've been holding out for a complete print with a good transfer. Anyone who saw the American version of Deep Red knows why I would choose to wait. Dario's films lose A LOT when the mise en scene is compromised at all, and they are illogical enough already that if anything is cut out at all then the plot is rendered totally useless.
Man, I'll tell ya, it's only things like this release that I'm willing to buy new out of store as opposed to waiting around for it to turn up used. Yee haw! Nerd-based economy!
According to www.dvddrive-in.com Four Flies on Grey Velvet is coming out on DVD on Febuary 24th!!!!! That's the ultra-elusive, never released on US video giallo immediately following Cat O' Nine Tails...it's also not one of those grey market releases that has ubiqitous either, I've actually never seen it cuz I've been holding out for a complete print with a good transfer. Anyone who saw the American version of Deep Red knows why I would choose to wait. Dario's films lose A LOT when the mise en scene is compromised at all, and they are illogical enough already that if anything is cut out at all then the plot is rendered totally useless.
Man, I'll tell ya, it's only things like this release that I'm willing to buy new out of store as opposed to waiting around for it to turn up used. Yee haw! Nerd-based economy!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
I can make up any excuse to celebrate!
Hey y'all,
work has been crazy and life has been crazy, so I'm a little brainfried.
So in lieu of a void, here's a little quick mention of an important birthday.
Tommorow marks the ten year anniversary of the release (in Japan) of what I consider to be the greatest videogame of all time...The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time.
I don't know what to say about the game, except that everytime I think about my time with it, it gives me the warm feeling of love. If you know me, it's saying a lot that I would toprank a game from the era when videogaming turned to shit, but this game, Mario 64 and Starfox 64 shined through the darkness. And yes, I know that I'm Nintendo biased, but I think it's smart to be loyal to a company that creates the greatest things ever...nawmean?
Quick Recap:
Metroid
Zelda
Mario
Donkey Kong
Kid Icarus
Probably not planning on getting/playing a Gamecube or Wii anytime soon though.
work has been crazy and life has been crazy, so I'm a little brainfried.
So in lieu of a void, here's a little quick mention of an important birthday.
Tommorow marks the ten year anniversary of the release (in Japan) of what I consider to be the greatest videogame of all time...The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time.
I don't know what to say about the game, except that everytime I think about my time with it, it gives me the warm feeling of love. If you know me, it's saying a lot that I would toprank a game from the era when videogaming turned to shit, but this game, Mario 64 and Starfox 64 shined through the darkness. And yes, I know that I'm Nintendo biased, but I think it's smart to be loyal to a company that creates the greatest things ever...nawmean?
Quick Recap:
Metroid
Zelda
Mario
Donkey Kong
Kid Icarus
Probably not planning on getting/playing a Gamecube or Wii anytime soon though.
Friday, November 14, 2008
more drugs, 'diculous
Long Version of "Suzie"
Short Version of "Ballerina"
I don't remember this one, but man, it is insane
I find it interesting that these are the only things on youtube where I actually enjoy reading the comments....seems I'm not the only one who these "got to," so it ain't all "LOL."
Short Version of "Ballerina"
I don't remember this one, but man, it is insane
I find it interesting that these are the only things on youtube where I actually enjoy reading the comments....seems I'm not the only one who these "got to," so it ain't all "LOL."
Old Music Zine Depression
Just scored 3 Issues of Forced Exposure (late 80's era) from Mystery train at a good price and I've been wholesale swallowing (mostly) good-bile style in big foamy shots for a few days now. I can even feel it's wordy influence weaving through me right now, and hey, why resist? Just stop me if I use the word pud or dizz. Anyhow, mostly psyched on the Big Black tour diary and anything Albini related, cuz, damn man, that's one of the men who I've always liked best. So along with that Big Black high comes the general goodnessvibes of saving some totems of underground journalism from oblivion. These "zines" of yore (made of paper, rotting, tearing) are getting harder and harder to find and the good ones were hard to find when they were hot off the presses (in the 90s at least, when I was buying these things). Forced Exposure and Bananafish especially were pretty annoying in the "artistic" review policy, but made up for with some of the best interviews with some of the best men and women in any realm EVER. And even searching on ebay for anything but the last couple of issues(and I'd much rather read an interview with the Birthday Party than Chris Knox, guys) is likely to yield little. So, you just keep on looking and building a library right? right. That's what I do. And yeah, it was good to walk by the newstand recently and see a new issue of Chunklet. That's a good one. The rest that still exist seem to fall into the overly glossy slicky who gives a fucky category.
Oh, so here's the depression session: even at it's most disagreeable to me, I've been able to respect the thoughts and reccomendations of Mr. Coley (Byron, one of the main guys on the page). He's obviously a duder who knows his shit thoroughly, and though I've never met the other editor Jimmy, he also seems to slide in that ilk. Despite THIS, these issues are a cascade of hundreds of reviews of bands and records that have come and gone, and even with positive props, I'm sure they've slipped out of the memory of the most encyclopedic of record hoarders. In addition we have adverts layed on top of this. So since FE really scrapes hard at giving the reader a heave of the far reaches of the underground, we the modern reader gets a window into the nondreams of hundreds of alsoran nomatter bands. Depressing. How many band members who at the time were getting good highs of promise and dressing in black jeans are now dead, stupid or boring? or sad?
I've gotten a very similar vibe when buying rekkids at college radio sales. I bring home some LPs by bands that were "names" back in the day, and they are pretty good, but it feels kind of like a slice of pizza in outerspace. Nice Strong Arm and Breaking Circus and Riflesport albums are like slices of pizza in space. They have all the right ingredients and are good by any human standard but when they are floating in blackness, what do they have to offer us? And if you go to the WOZQ record fair in 2002 and buy them back from outer space, they are just "okay" slices of pizza.
OH THE FUTILITY!
Oh, so here's the depression session: even at it's most disagreeable to me, I've been able to respect the thoughts and reccomendations of Mr. Coley (Byron, one of the main guys on the page). He's obviously a duder who knows his shit thoroughly, and though I've never met the other editor Jimmy, he also seems to slide in that ilk. Despite THIS, these issues are a cascade of hundreds of reviews of bands and records that have come and gone, and even with positive props, I'm sure they've slipped out of the memory of the most encyclopedic of record hoarders. In addition we have adverts layed on top of this. So since FE really scrapes hard at giving the reader a heave of the far reaches of the underground, we the modern reader gets a window into the nondreams of hundreds of alsoran nomatter bands. Depressing. How many band members who at the time were getting good highs of promise and dressing in black jeans are now dead, stupid or boring? or sad?
I've gotten a very similar vibe when buying rekkids at college radio sales. I bring home some LPs by bands that were "names" back in the day, and they are pretty good, but it feels kind of like a slice of pizza in outerspace. Nice Strong Arm and Breaking Circus and Riflesport albums are like slices of pizza in space. They have all the right ingredients and are good by any human standard but when they are floating in blackness, what do they have to offer us? And if you go to the WOZQ record fair in 2002 and buy them back from outer space, they are just "okay" slices of pizza.
OH THE FUTILITY!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Spare Parts review 2
as I was saying....
This is where things a take a little turn for the unusual in horror movie land. Most notably there isn't that much of a conflict in getting Bill, the truck driver to believe the story of the ambulance kidnapping and kooky-innkeeper corroboration. Usually, this is the whole damn crux of the protagonist and potential savior dynamic, but here it just takes an appearance of the ambulance driver, with an excuse that does not check out, but still makes sense. Bill (played by Wolf Roth, what a name) and his trucker pals box in the ambulance, kill one of them in self defense (sort of) and throw the other in the freezer-trailer in order to get him to "talk." For you man-bush fanatics, you get some unwelcome German pubes on display when they strip the ambulance driver before throwing him in the cold. Okay, so they found out the scoop; forced organ donations, go to the "clinic" or whatever and stumble upon the "evil doctor" in charge. Before that, they stay in a motel room and develop friendship built on trust, as Bill protectively puts his arm around Monika on the bed. It's quiet moments like here in the motel room that give it a depth that you wouldn't expect to see.
Here's another nice oddity; the evil doctor seems like a normal and nice person, y'know without the evil beneath. I kinda liked that until it turned out that the nice antagonist is only stealing people cuz of blackmail....boring. Then there is a bad car chase scene, the second death of the movie (neither is horrific) and then the end. Luckily, the viewer is engaged enough with Monika and Bill to feel some suspense and investment in what's happening, even if those events fall into the TV movie kinda realm.
Okay, Monika (appealingly played by Judda Speidel) and Bill are good characters to see, The visuals of the southwest motel strips are nice to see, along with some nice sunny/hazy photography, and it's kinda offbeat.......
but really not that much to recommend it.
OH shit, wait...the 70s shmaltz theme song being performed by the kidnappee's band in the beginning: "How much does someone cost?" is hysterically bad, and I love it and I'm into the Tangerine Dreamy score...okay, that's it.
This is where things a take a little turn for the unusual in horror movie land. Most notably there isn't that much of a conflict in getting Bill, the truck driver to believe the story of the ambulance kidnapping and kooky-innkeeper corroboration. Usually, this is the whole damn crux of the protagonist and potential savior dynamic, but here it just takes an appearance of the ambulance driver, with an excuse that does not check out, but still makes sense. Bill (played by Wolf Roth, what a name) and his trucker pals box in the ambulance, kill one of them in self defense (sort of) and throw the other in the freezer-trailer in order to get him to "talk." For you man-bush fanatics, you get some unwelcome German pubes on display when they strip the ambulance driver before throwing him in the cold. Okay, so they found out the scoop; forced organ donations, go to the "clinic" or whatever and stumble upon the "evil doctor" in charge. Before that, they stay in a motel room and develop friendship built on trust, as Bill protectively puts his arm around Monika on the bed. It's quiet moments like here in the motel room that give it a depth that you wouldn't expect to see.
Here's another nice oddity; the evil doctor seems like a normal and nice person, y'know without the evil beneath. I kinda liked that until it turned out that the nice antagonist is only stealing people cuz of blackmail....boring. Then there is a bad car chase scene, the second death of the movie (neither is horrific) and then the end. Luckily, the viewer is engaged enough with Monika and Bill to feel some suspense and investment in what's happening, even if those events fall into the TV movie kinda realm.
Okay, Monika (appealingly played by Judda Speidel) and Bill are good characters to see, The visuals of the southwest motel strips are nice to see, along with some nice sunny/hazy photography, and it's kinda offbeat.......
but really not that much to recommend it.
OH shit, wait...the 70s shmaltz theme song being performed by the kidnappee's band in the beginning: "How much does someone cost?" is hysterically bad, and I love it and I'm into the Tangerine Dreamy score...okay, that's it.
HOLY JEZUM CHRIST!!!!!!
before i get into this, let me show you this:
Okay, if you know me well at all, you know that I obsess over public service announcements. Mostly antidrug PSA's, but generally any spot that is trying to scare you out of doing something. I have been this way as long as I can remember. Growing up, basically two things scared me commercials/trailers for horror movies (until I actually saw my first horror movie in 4th grade, realizing how ridiculous they usually were) and public service announcements. The thing that probably makes me kind of mentally ill, is that old public service announcements STILL scare me. I think that goes with how there is such a synthesis of intent and skill, mixed with anonymous mystery. A horror movie isn't usually concerned with being a good movie, just with getting people into the theater, therefore enough scary stuff is required to put into a 1/2/3 minute trailer. Even when horror movies are a labor of love and meant to be solidly effective, it is rare that the feeling of dread/fear/whatever can be sustained for much of the running time. That's when we end up with lot's of boring padding or ridiculous shit like aerobic sequences (which often are my favorite parts) that undermines the good stuff. You can sense the cash register sound as you get duped into seeing some dumbass movie, and that also takes away from the immersion of scariness. I mean, I love movies like New Years Evil, but I'd be sorta pissed if I paid full price to see it back in '80.
PSA's are different in that they don't need to deal with all the filler and seemingly aren't doing it for the money....in other words, they were out to scare the shit out of you, had the skill to do it, plus nobody knew who was doing it in the first place! With the exception of celebrity appearances (i.e. the notorious Pee Wee Herman anti-crack PSA), the actors are unrecognizable, there are no credits for director/writer/etc and we only have vague organizations to give them any identifying marks. As I grew older I learned more about the Partnership for a Drug Free America, the Ad Council and others, making things a little less foggy, but as a kid, these felt like scare-attacks from nowhere. There you are watching the Wonder Years at age 12 and the fucking Ballerina commercial comes on...you aren't supposed to be scared of this kind of thing at this age, but jesus, that ballerina fucks with you. And you suspect your friends feel the same way, and we all talk about it in the cafeteria the next day.
I'll tell ya, the ballerina was IT for me. I actually had nightmares about it, and I hated it. I don't even know why it scared me except that it's so fucking creepy, and I would experiment with different viewing techniques. As soon as I heard the swell of the orchestra tuning and that twirling figure I would try closing my eyes, counting her spins, looking at the onlookers in the background, probably causing the thing to enter into my consciousness like little else. After it stopped airing (which it did a lot) I felt like I had to find it again to gain some power over the way it haunted me. The need became greater as I got older, helped along by my increased interest in collecting old video footage of just about anything, cartoons, horror movies and tv shows especially. Would I find a tape with the ballerina on it?
As I got less obsessed about it over the years, i have looked back at how weird it all was, especially with talking with Josh C. and Erik H. and others in Marblehead Middle School, talking about this stuff more than we probably should have. A major part of our social process was coming up with lies about various untrue bullshit, trying to convince the others to believe. I think it was Josh who told us that he saw another in the series that 'ballerina' belonged to (the 'track star' and the elusive 'millionare' were the others), which was "the nurse" and it featured a lady banging on some dead guy screaming. We half believed him. Erik (I think) said there was one with a boxer getting knocked out...we let on. I can't believe Josh was fucking right.
Finding the 'ballerina' on youtube was fucking anticlimactic. Watching anything on youtube is nonoptimal for various reasons, but I couldn't resist, especially after it took so long for it to show up there. Even worse: recently I was looking though a backlog of old tapes i hadn't looked at and there was the old gal spinning around in all her glory.
Okay, if you know me well at all, you know that I obsess over public service announcements. Mostly antidrug PSA's, but generally any spot that is trying to scare you out of doing something. I have been this way as long as I can remember. Growing up, basically two things scared me commercials/trailers for horror movies (until I actually saw my first horror movie in 4th grade, realizing how ridiculous they usually were) and public service announcements. The thing that probably makes me kind of mentally ill, is that old public service announcements STILL scare me. I think that goes with how there is such a synthesis of intent and skill, mixed with anonymous mystery. A horror movie isn't usually concerned with being a good movie, just with getting people into the theater, therefore enough scary stuff is required to put into a 1/2/3 minute trailer. Even when horror movies are a labor of love and meant to be solidly effective, it is rare that the feeling of dread/fear/whatever can be sustained for much of the running time. That's when we end up with lot's of boring padding or ridiculous shit like aerobic sequences (which often are my favorite parts) that undermines the good stuff. You can sense the cash register sound as you get duped into seeing some dumbass movie, and that also takes away from the immersion of scariness. I mean, I love movies like New Years Evil, but I'd be sorta pissed if I paid full price to see it back in '80.
PSA's are different in that they don't need to deal with all the filler and seemingly aren't doing it for the money....in other words, they were out to scare the shit out of you, had the skill to do it, plus nobody knew who was doing it in the first place! With the exception of celebrity appearances (i.e. the notorious Pee Wee Herman anti-crack PSA), the actors are unrecognizable, there are no credits for director/writer/etc and we only have vague organizations to give them any identifying marks. As I grew older I learned more about the Partnership for a Drug Free America, the Ad Council and others, making things a little less foggy, but as a kid, these felt like scare-attacks from nowhere. There you are watching the Wonder Years at age 12 and the fucking Ballerina commercial comes on...you aren't supposed to be scared of this kind of thing at this age, but jesus, that ballerina fucks with you. And you suspect your friends feel the same way, and we all talk about it in the cafeteria the next day.
I'll tell ya, the ballerina was IT for me. I actually had nightmares about it, and I hated it. I don't even know why it scared me except that it's so fucking creepy, and I would experiment with different viewing techniques. As soon as I heard the swell of the orchestra tuning and that twirling figure I would try closing my eyes, counting her spins, looking at the onlookers in the background, probably causing the thing to enter into my consciousness like little else. After it stopped airing (which it did a lot) I felt like I had to find it again to gain some power over the way it haunted me. The need became greater as I got older, helped along by my increased interest in collecting old video footage of just about anything, cartoons, horror movies and tv shows especially. Would I find a tape with the ballerina on it?
As I got less obsessed about it over the years, i have looked back at how weird it all was, especially with talking with Josh C. and Erik H. and others in Marblehead Middle School, talking about this stuff more than we probably should have. A major part of our social process was coming up with lies about various untrue bullshit, trying to convince the others to believe. I think it was Josh who told us that he saw another in the series that 'ballerina' belonged to (the 'track star' and the elusive 'millionare' were the others), which was "the nurse" and it featured a lady banging on some dead guy screaming. We half believed him. Erik (I think) said there was one with a boxer getting knocked out...we let on. I can't believe Josh was fucking right.
Finding the 'ballerina' on youtube was fucking anticlimactic. Watching anything on youtube is nonoptimal for various reasons, but I couldn't resist, especially after it took so long for it to show up there. Even worse: recently I was looking though a backlog of old tapes i hadn't looked at and there was the old gal spinning around in all her glory.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Movie Review: Spare Parts
I work nights, and generally try to watch movies after I get home around 2 or 3 am, which means I often fall asleep around the 20 minute mark. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and finish them, but usually I have to start all over some other night. It drives me crazy, but I still buy movies, and they stack up on the coffee table waiting for me to wade through them all. I bought Mill Creek's Drive-in 50 Movie Pack about a week ago and was trying to find some time to watch ONE of them along with some other recent aquisitions, and I finally got around to screening Spare Parts last night. This is one of the few VHS covers I remember gawking at during childhood that I haven't gone out of my way to see. It's (predictably, if you are at all familiar with low budget vhs horror releases of the 80s) a totally ridiculous image and really got my imagination running as to the terrible things that happen in the movie within....
Of course, as these things go in these kind of smalltime video releases, the image is totally unrepresentative of the film within. That's not to say that it's not an interesting movie, it's just features no chopping up of any bodies at all. And I'm kinda surprised at the ability of this West German TV movie to sustain some suspense, some okay characterization and an oddball feel that keeps you interested. Yeah, I fell asleep, but I finished it in the morning.
The story concerns a newlywed couple of grad students, Monika the blonde german exchange student, and Mike is uhh, the guy, who check into a cheap motel in new mexico during their honeymoon. This joint is run by a kooky (i know I shouldn't use that term) older woman who offers them fresh coffee and sandwiches. The couple engage in a not unpleasant sex scene (Monika is easy on the eyes), then venture out into the brush to check out the sunset. An ambulance rushes in and kidnaps Mike, and open fire with magnum on the fleeing Monika. When seeking help it becomes apparent that the Kooky motel-keeper is in with the guynappers, so M flags down a kindly truck driver and off they go.
to be continued, dude.
Of course, as these things go in these kind of smalltime video releases, the image is totally unrepresentative of the film within. That's not to say that it's not an interesting movie, it's just features no chopping up of any bodies at all. And I'm kinda surprised at the ability of this West German TV movie to sustain some suspense, some okay characterization and an oddball feel that keeps you interested. Yeah, I fell asleep, but I finished it in the morning.
The story concerns a newlywed couple of grad students, Monika the blonde german exchange student, and Mike is uhh, the guy, who check into a cheap motel in new mexico during their honeymoon. This joint is run by a kooky (i know I shouldn't use that term) older woman who offers them fresh coffee and sandwiches. The couple engage in a not unpleasant sex scene (Monika is easy on the eyes), then venture out into the brush to check out the sunset. An ambulance rushes in and kidnaps Mike, and open fire with magnum on the fleeing Monika. When seeking help it becomes apparent that the Kooky motel-keeper is in with the guynappers, so M flags down a kindly truck driver and off they go.
to be continued, dude.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Megaman 9 Review
released 9/22 fer wii, ps3, xbox. by capcom
It's quite rare that I get to enjoy something brand new that is well intentioned, exhilarating and (as far as I can sense) fucking flawless. And here I am to tell you that just such an object of beauty has blessed us: Capcom's return to the tried and true Megaman 9!
This next-gen multiplatform cause celibre' is a return to 8-bit styled graphics, music and gameplay...more specifically the exact style of the Nes Megaman classics that rank among the greatest games of all time. Playing this beast (I've been playing the PS3 version) presents an alternate reality where advances in programming on existing hardware is the goal of the industry. These are 8-bit style graphics, but they look as great as 8bit can, and the level and character designs are top notch. What if the NES was never abandoned and was still supported along side newer machines? Megaman 9 is that reality, I mean, as far as this man can tell. And I'm in awe because the look and more importantly, the FEEL of the game is perfect. There's even the option to apply flicker to the hectic parts....thank god that's only an option.
The game follows the format of the NES megaman games with strict adherence, with one exception which I'll get to in a minute. It's also a real throwback to the insanely difficult games of the NES era; I've been playing it on and off since it's release date and I just beat the damn thing last night. I have to say that, one of the elements of the game that brings the difficulty down to human levels is the aforementioned departure for a Megaman game. That is that you can access a "store" from the stage select screen and buy (with screws) a host of pretty nifty gadgets. A couple of items in the store, namely the hair style book and the costume are rather mysterious and I'm still unclear of their use. It's pretty cool and all, but I feel like I'm cheating when buying E tanks in bulk, even if I've "earned" it. It was my refusal to buy any of the items that hindered my progress in the game greatly and I had to eventually give in.
There are also an optional set of additional challenges that one can try and accomplish, giving the game some major post-conquer appeal. From what I understand this is more of a modern game feature, but I'm into it. Some of the challenges are pretty easy, but some (like beating the game without getting hit once) are clearly only for those who can only exceed at videogaming and nothing else. It's quite satisfying to be playing and have a display box show a completed challenge after performing some sick shit.
I could go on and on about totally rad enemies and weapons (for the first time in my life I LOVE HORNETS!) and levels etc, but it's all so good, the better thing to do is just encourage all to play it.
Oh, and the story sequences are really charming and most of the characters are back and and and....it's all so HAPPPY TO MEEEEEE!
Although it has been the talk of the gaming community, I have Seth to thank for getting me up to speed and buying the damn thing, cuz I'm so out of touch with all this modern crap. And pray to jezus, this inspires a flood of like-minded and well done continuations of the classics, or at least some kind of resurgence of the golden era. I'll be first in line with my money in hand...oh wait, you download these games?
It's quite rare that I get to enjoy something brand new that is well intentioned, exhilarating and (as far as I can sense) fucking flawless. And here I am to tell you that just such an object of beauty has blessed us: Capcom's return to the tried and true Megaman 9!
This next-gen multiplatform cause celibre' is a return to 8-bit styled graphics, music and gameplay...more specifically the exact style of the Nes Megaman classics that rank among the greatest games of all time. Playing this beast (I've been playing the PS3 version) presents an alternate reality where advances in programming on existing hardware is the goal of the industry. These are 8-bit style graphics, but they look as great as 8bit can, and the level and character designs are top notch. What if the NES was never abandoned and was still supported along side newer machines? Megaman 9 is that reality, I mean, as far as this man can tell. And I'm in awe because the look and more importantly, the FEEL of the game is perfect. There's even the option to apply flicker to the hectic parts....thank god that's only an option.
The game follows the format of the NES megaman games with strict adherence, with one exception which I'll get to in a minute. It's also a real throwback to the insanely difficult games of the NES era; I've been playing it on and off since it's release date and I just beat the damn thing last night. I have to say that, one of the elements of the game that brings the difficulty down to human levels is the aforementioned departure for a Megaman game. That is that you can access a "store" from the stage select screen and buy (with screws) a host of pretty nifty gadgets. A couple of items in the store, namely the hair style book and the costume are rather mysterious and I'm still unclear of their use. It's pretty cool and all, but I feel like I'm cheating when buying E tanks in bulk, even if I've "earned" it. It was my refusal to buy any of the items that hindered my progress in the game greatly and I had to eventually give in.
There are also an optional set of additional challenges that one can try and accomplish, giving the game some major post-conquer appeal. From what I understand this is more of a modern game feature, but I'm into it. Some of the challenges are pretty easy, but some (like beating the game without getting hit once) are clearly only for those who can only exceed at videogaming and nothing else. It's quite satisfying to be playing and have a display box show a completed challenge after performing some sick shit.
I could go on and on about totally rad enemies and weapons (for the first time in my life I LOVE HORNETS!) and levels etc, but it's all so good, the better thing to do is just encourage all to play it.
Oh, and the story sequences are really charming and most of the characters are back and and and....it's all so HAPPPY TO MEEEEEE!
Although it has been the talk of the gaming community, I have Seth to thank for getting me up to speed and buying the damn thing, cuz I'm so out of touch with all this modern crap. And pray to jezus, this inspires a flood of like-minded and well done continuations of the classics, or at least some kind of resurgence of the golden era. I'll be first in line with my money in hand...oh wait, you download these games?
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
election day, 1988
i had a 5th grade crush on a young republican in my class named May. There were a lot of young republicans in my life growing up, considering my upbringing in the half(?)-rich yachting town of Marblehead. I remember choosing to be on the Bush side in a class team-debate. I remember saying "we need more friends in other countries" and repeating that a couple of times. I had no idea what I was talking about. I remember not staying awake for the final result and my Dad walking through my room in the wee hours (my dad's closet was in my room, weirdly designed house) and me stirring and asking him who won. My Dad grumbled the answer and I replied "good." I was a weird kid. The following summer me and my parents were walking in the "old town" section of M'head, and I saw May sitting at a stoop. She asked me what 6th grade homeroom i had. I answered: "Do I know you?" She scoffed at me. I wasn't good with girls back then. My parents got really mad at me. I wonder who she is voting for this time?
Friday, October 31, 2008
Brown Leaf Vertigo, where skeletal life is known
Today it is halloween. Been tending to the trick or treaters that have come up our way. Only real stand out costume was a gypsy girl who gave out fortunes, including one "You will have a cat with five paws for a pet." And if you know Tasha Meow, you know that she has multipaw action. So the gypsy was on the ball.
I think I've finally figured out why I don't go in for halloween that much in my adult life...perhaps it used to be the old Dead Kennedys vibe of "why do you need a holiday to dress up and have fun and be weird," but now I feel distanced from it cuz it takes things that are close to my heart and waters it all down...a lot. Y'know, spookiness, horror, monsters all get turned into cutesy costumes and stickers and greeting cards. This time of year, for me, should be about taking those things and concentrating them into their purest and most powerful form. That's why around halloween I try to revisit all my favorite horror movies, because they are the ones that are actually terrifying. And they have all the more power with the windswept leaves and crisp air chilling our bones.
Another revisitation that is important to me round halloweentime is the recorded works of Samhain. You probably know that Samhain is Glenn's band that happened after the misfits and before Danzig. And of course, early Danzig is basically a direct continuation of Samhain, with Rick Rubin suggesting the change of name and "refining" of their sound. I have been in love with the pre-Danzig4 recorded works of Glenn from the moment I first heard the Misfits' "All hell breaks Loose" at the age of 13, but the Samhain era is my favorite. Every album is stirring to my tortured-goth-punk soul and the 3rd album, November Coming Fire is fucking absolutely perfect. It's my favorite Glenn related record ever, and it is the true embodiment of what I want halloween to be.
Here's some clips to put me in the mood:
I think I've finally figured out why I don't go in for halloween that much in my adult life...perhaps it used to be the old Dead Kennedys vibe of "why do you need a holiday to dress up and have fun and be weird," but now I feel distanced from it cuz it takes things that are close to my heart and waters it all down...a lot. Y'know, spookiness, horror, monsters all get turned into cutesy costumes and stickers and greeting cards. This time of year, for me, should be about taking those things and concentrating them into their purest and most powerful form. That's why around halloween I try to revisit all my favorite horror movies, because they are the ones that are actually terrifying. And they have all the more power with the windswept leaves and crisp air chilling our bones.
Another revisitation that is important to me round halloweentime is the recorded works of Samhain. You probably know that Samhain is Glenn's band that happened after the misfits and before Danzig. And of course, early Danzig is basically a direct continuation of Samhain, with Rick Rubin suggesting the change of name and "refining" of their sound. I have been in love with the pre-Danzig4 recorded works of Glenn from the moment I first heard the Misfits' "All hell breaks Loose" at the age of 13, but the Samhain era is my favorite. Every album is stirring to my tortured-goth-punk soul and the 3rd album, November Coming Fire is fucking absolutely perfect. It's my favorite Glenn related record ever, and it is the true embodiment of what I want halloween to be.
Here's some clips to put me in the mood:
Thursday, October 30, 2008
the next big thing
I'm feeling pretty sure that the next thing that is gonna hit the youth culture of today is the sweet sounds of sophisticated 80's groove. Kids is gonna drop this electro shit and get with some stepping and whet keyboards real soon. I'm quite happy about it, cuz i love the stuff, and I have a lot of the records already, so I won't have to worry about inflated rekkid prices (except in chicago, where the stuff never went away). But yeah, groove on some of these morsels and meet me at the basement next tuesday (I D.J. there, with a healthy dose of this sort of sparkling magic).
Start Here
This is the first entry. Let's see if I actually keep up with this. For my own wellbeing I kinda have to. Right now, I have nothing, so I will just say that I was down to 2 pairs of socks without holes or elasticity problems. I only wear stripy socks and they are hard to get cheap, but I get them occasionally in bulk from sock dealers on ebay. Now I have 24 pairs, and intend to cerimoniously trash all them holey socks when I get home from work tonight. This is a big deal cuz I rarely throw anything away. Normally I would save them for an art project. I am not going to do that, though an art show at hbml (www.fujichia.com) in January that i need to start thinking about. I'm really trying to capitalize my "I's." It's tough.
Here's a video of me(as Anthro Rex) performing in the basement on fair st.
Here's a video of me(as Anthro Rex) performing in the basement on fair st.
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