tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33312598503330691812024-03-13T07:15:24.436-07:00Cinema Rising A Blog That Fell To Earth by Mike De LucaMike Delucahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15809795382279438228noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331259850333069181.post-5699967420218203802020-06-19T12:33:00.000-07:002020-06-27T10:38:41.472-07:00THE KILLER (1989) directed by John Woo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="https://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ln64wuCcGr1qax7yao1_640.png" src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ln64wuCcGr1qax7yao1_640.png" /></div>
<br />
"The Killer" - John Woo's seminal entry into Hong Kong's heroic bloodshed genre - an expansion on the operatic gunplay in 1986's "A Better Tomorrow" - changed the face of action as we know it. The doves, the two Beretta 9mm fired at the same time, the endless bullets erupting through displays of religious iconography as bodies jerk back and pirouette through the air - this was for many their introduction to the tropes of John Woo's unique cinematic vision. Western audiences had seen excessive violence before - the climactic battle in Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" would serve as key influence on Woo - but it was the slo-motion ballet, the sheer choreography of the action, coupled with the intensity of the emotion that international audiences had never seen before.<br />
<br />
And in the center of this ballet - its Gene Kelly, its Fred Astaire - was the Chow Yun Fat. If "A Better Tomorrow" made him a star - "The Killer" made him a legend. Slicked back hair - Alain Delon sunglasses - creme white suit - the aforementioned two Barettas - the grace of <span class="st">Baryshnikov - the intensity of Brando - Chow Yun Fat as Ah Johg brought the goods. </span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st"><img alt="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CvUaOcNVYAAPCm5.jpg" height="350" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CvUaOcNVYAAPCm5.jpg" width="640" /></span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">The story was unabashed melodrama - a rewrite of Douglas Sirk's "Magnificent Obsession" an assassin (Chow) accidentally blinds a singer Jennie (Sally Yeh) and plans to pull one last job to restore her eyesight. He is pursued by Detective Li (Danny Lee), who senses the goodness within Jong - as cop and criminal share the same old-fashioned notions of honor. The feeling between the three leads is the engine which makes you fear for their safety as Jong and Li mow down waves of mutual enemies leading up the climactic church shootout - an action event with enough Catholic imagery and blood-betting that no doubt made Martin Scorese blush upon first perusal. </span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
While Woo and Chow Yun Fat would later bring their collaboration to the perhaps the finest hour 1992's "Hard Boiled" - it was "The Killer" that broke the mold and made film history.<br />
<br />
<img alt="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DW7vUGnVwAAOfM5.jpg" class="overflowingVertical" height="344" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DW7vUGnVwAAOfM5.jpg" width="640" /> <br />
<br />
<img alt="https://d2ycltig8jwwee.cloudfront.net/features/1085/fullwidth.7339e79c.jpg" height="392" src="https://d2ycltig8jwwee.cloudfront.net/features/1085/fullwidth.7339e79c.jpg" width="640" /><br />
<br />
<img alt="https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/images/methode/2018/06/15/478dbada-6ad7-11e8-8f2e-7970b9e180c8_image_hires_125330.jpg?itok=-Jlj52fK&v=1529038412" class="shrinkToFit" height="426" src="https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/images/methode/2018/06/15/478dbada-6ad7-11e8-8f2e-7970b9e180c8_image_hires_125330.jpg?itok=-Jlj52fK&v=1529038412" width="640" /> <br />
<br />
<img alt="https://media.timeout.com/images/101714839/image.jpg" class="shrinkToFit" height="425" src="https://media.timeout.com/images/101714839/image.jpg" width="640" /><br />
<br />
<img alt="https://filmfork-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/content/thekiller6.jpg" class="shrinkToFit" height="345" src="https://filmfork-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/content/thekiller6.jpg" width="640" /><br />
<br />
<img alt="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CqZLYxNUIAAYpYn.jpg" class="shrinkToFit" height="345" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CqZLYxNUIAAYpYn.jpg" width="640" /> <br />
<br />
<img alt="https://easternheroes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/WP_20161009_12_02_44_Pro.jpg" height="390" src="https://easternheroes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/WP_20161009_12_02_44_Pro.jpg" width="640" />Mike Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173787018760732036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331259850333069181.post-58394254826155907652020-04-15T11:02:00.000-07:002020-04-22T08:37:03.114-07:00Dracula (1979) - directed by John Badham<br />
<img border="0" src="http://www.dvdbeaver.com/105/dracula_1979_blu-ray_/title_dracula%20-%201979_blu-ray.jpg" height="272" width="640" /><br />
<br />
Jonathan Harker is a drip. Kate Nelligan's Lucy Seward(whose character has been effectively swapped with that of Mina from the novel) thinks she can do better than the tedious little men in her seaside town - all of whom seem content to go around mansplaining. Her father is Dr Seward (a glorious Donald Pleasance - the anti-Loomis) who lords over one of those Edwardian asylums where treatment impact appears spotty at best. As we bathe in John Badham's (Saturday Night Fever) smooth, assured gothic canvas - in his desaturated revised version - as grey as the grave and as pallid as, well, a vampire. <br />
<br />
So Lucy's life is dull - enter Count Dracula (Frank Langella). Langella, hot off his acclaimed 1977 stage performance as the Count, leans into Dracula as lover - capable of both loneliness and passion. He is, despite being a blood-drinking killer, at times, more sympathetic than those pursuing him. And in the vivacious Lucy - he finds a willfull match - a partner of spirit. To Lucy he is an escape - you get the sense when it comes to her his hypnosis is largely unneeded. <br />
<br />
<img border="0" src="http://www.dvdbeaver.com/105/dracula_1979_blu-ray_/850___uni_05_dracula_1979_blu-ray___blu-ray_.jpg" height="274" width="640" /><br />
<br />
<br />
Their relationship culminates in a hot splash of colour - an impressionistic love scene gorgeous and seemingly designed to make Ken Russell jealous. Gilbert Taylor's (Star Wars, Dr Strangelove, A Hard Day's Night) composition makes it one more example of the film's breathtaking romantic vision.<br />
<br />
<img alt="http://www.dvdbeaver.com/105/dracula_1979_blu-ray_/large/large__uni_08_dracula_1979_blu-ray__blu-ray_.jpg" class="shrinkToFit" src="http://www.dvdbeaver.com/105/dracula_1979_blu-ray_/large/large__uni_08_dracula_1979_blu-ray__blu-ray_.jpg" height="360" width="640" /><br />
<br />
Towering and sweeping throughout, John Williams' lush, and at times, playful, score gives the proceedings an added heft that makes them appear even more larger than life. <br />
<br />
W.D. Richter(Buckaroo Banzai, Big Trouble in Little China) effectively condenses and adapts both Bram Stoker's classic and the 1924 stage adaptation by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston. His script's smartest and most concise move is begin with the wreck of the Demeter, the ship carrying Dracula to England, where the entire rest of the film is set. By eliminating Transylvania and setting everything in the seaside town of Whitby (a location that inspired Stoker in real-life), Richter effectively puts all the major players closer together, which, in turn, turns up the heat, leading to a stunning conclusion.<br />
<br />
Add Sir Laurence Olivier's performance as a grave and determined Professor Van Helsing, John Badham's "Dracula" is a visual feast that cannot be missed.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/qSLfRSvgt9crgOk1r9mEafetRtRGwWo08CuG8n5MaeMZHzQseicZfV6O_6VLS1kp2QD3pwKF_xlQCzFwqju9SXJ40JGFQ7YwjvzL_Oq3SDO_tADe_ajbKVDfgM9fRvZDhw-OJetUybyK_BIZshfFuGuGw80b4VY" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--GMDjVUe4P4/WYv0MtMzdEI/AAAAAAAASa4/XxyoCvYwH40I4TSAsL3Q3mwejI47ziY8QCLcBGAs/s1600/Dracula-1979.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--GMDjVUe4P4/WYv0MtMzdEI/AAAAAAAASa4/XxyoCvYwH40I4TSAsL3Q3mwejI47ziY8QCLcBGAs/s1600/Dracula-1979.jpg" border="0" height="359" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--GMDjVUe4P4/WYv0MtMzdEI/AAAAAAAASa4/XxyoCvYwH40I4TSAsL3Q3mwejI47ziY8QCLcBGAs/s640/Dracula-1979.jpg" width="640" /></a><img border="0" src="http://www.dvdbeaver.com/105/dracula_1979_blu-ray_/850___uni_07_dracula_1979_blu-ray___blu-ray_.jpg" height="274" width="640" /><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<img alt="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CitsjxX99SE/WYz3absBzPI/AAAAAAAAScg/qW6-b2a07PwJK0uHT3wv5zepIwQCLDtcgCLcBGAs/s1600/Dracula-197908-26-51.jpg" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CitsjxX99SE/WYz3absBzPI/AAAAAAAAScg/qW6-b2a07PwJK0uHT3wv5zepIwQCLDtcgCLcBGAs/s640/Dracula-197908-26-51.jpg" width="640" /> <br />
<br />
<img alt="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DcstJtlKJh4/WYqnpsGtn6I/AAAAAAAASaQ/NxD7ilICjEE0PfMZtdYcly3PEavu8gQbACLcBGAs/s1600/Dracula1979720pBluRayx264AC3DD2.0MICJD015395.png" height="272" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DcstJtlKJh4/WYqnpsGtn6I/AAAAAAAASaQ/NxD7ilICjEE0PfMZtdYcly3PEavu8gQbACLcBGAs/s640/Dracula1979720pBluRayx264AC3DD2.0MICJD015395.png" width="640" /> <br />
<br />
<img alt="Dracula (1979 film) movie scenes" class="wikiBioImage" height="360" id="Dracula-1979-film-images-a32a2836-f7d6-48d0-b737-ef760852964.jpg" src="https://alchetron.com/cdn/Dracula-1979-film-images-a32a2836-f7d6-48d0-b737-ef760852964.jpg" width="640" /><br />
<br />
<br />
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dvdbeaver.com%2F105%2Fdracula_1979_blu-ray_%2F850___uni_07_dracula_1979_blu-ray___blu-ray_.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/qSLfRSvgt9crgOk1r9mEafetRtRGwWo08CuG8n5MaeMZHzQseicZfV6O_6VLS1kp2QD3pwKF_xlQCzFwqju9SXJ40JGFQ7YwjvzL_Oq3SDO_tADe_ajbKVDfgM9fRvZDhw-OJetUybyK_BIZshfFuGuGw80b4VY" -->Mike Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173787018760732036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331259850333069181.post-91851131065031221002020-04-02T10:35:00.003-07:002020-04-02T10:36:17.900-07:00"Color Out of Space"<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<img alt="https://cdn.flickeringmyth.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/color-out-of-space-poster-600x889.jpg" class="overflowingVertical" src="https://cdn.flickeringmyth.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/color-out-of-space-poster-600x889.jpg" /><br />
<br />
Watch as swirling dreamscapes of color bath the edge of a forest in their pale unearthly glow. A force has arrived - something unspeakable, something horrific, something from the darkest depths of space that perhaps should have stayed there. My friends, sometimes the Mountains of Madness are just outside your front door. And Tommy Chong is there with you, high as a kite, and he's making more sense than you are. After a quarter of a decade, director Richard Stanley has returned to bring H.P. Lovecraft's seminal science fiction/horror story "The Color Out of Space" to life, in all its mindbending glory.<br />
<br />
<img alt="https://images.amcnetworks.com/ifccenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/coloroutofspace1280x720.jpg" class="shrinkToFit" height="360" src="https://images.amcnetworks.com/ifccenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/coloroutofspace1280x720.jpg" width="640" /> <br />
<br />
After Nathan Gardner (Nicolas Cage) takes his family to a farm near the remote town of Arkham after his wife Theresa's (Joely Richardson) masectomy, a meteorite strikes. This celestial object gives rise to a change in their behavior. A dramatic one, which is saying a lot, as the Cage character starts out obsessed with raising alpacas - yes, alpacas. (Seriously, if one were to create a drinking game and take a drink everytime a character mentions the word "alpacas" with increasingly-frantic intonation, one would be soused in the first 20 minutes.)<br />
<br />
<img alt="https://hd-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/color-out-of-space-still8-1280px.jpg" height="267" src="https://hd-report.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/color-out-of-space-still8-1280px.jpg" width="640" /> <br />
<br />
<br />
Cinematographer Steve Annis' lens captures vivid images of flora and fauna as they blossom in unnatural ways. Colin Stetson's score creates an omnious and unsettling drone. And special mention should go to Madeleine Arthur as Lavinia Gardner the daughter who will practice Wiccan rituals so desperate is her desire to heal her mother. Arthur seems born to play a character with one foot in the mystical. Lavinia's rapport with her brother Benny (Brendan Meyer) has a frank, "E.T." feel, and young son Jack (Justin Hilliard) feels like a kid in the Elliot mold. And Elliot Knight as Ward Phillips fully embodies the quintessential Lovecraftian narrator who is destined to observe. And what sights Richard Stanley has to show him!<br />
<br />
If you are a fan of Stanley's prior work ("Hardware", "Dust Devil") or John Carpenter's oeuvre, "Color Out of Space" will rock your world and somewhere beyond.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<img alt="https://media.finnkino.fi/1012/Event_12834/gallery/ColorOutOfSpace_800e.jpg" height="480" src="https://media.finnkino.fi/1012/Event_12834/gallery/ColorOutOfSpace_800e.jpg" width="640" /> <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Mike Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173787018760732036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331259850333069181.post-63783966232377646052020-03-14T07:51:00.000-07:002020-03-17T09:44:12.810-07:00H.R. GIGER - A Retrospective<span style="color: white;">Leathery alien passages shaped like orifices and reproductive organs. Haunting, sexual nightmares, where the gothic merges with biology, where pleasure meets pain. Eyeless insectoid creatures with human characteristics. I recall the late "Alien" writer Dan O' Bannon saying that Giger used to consume opium to quell the visions that disturbed his slumber. Six years after his passing, his biomechanical images remain, to haunt our dreams.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iJbsJLR1lGQ/U3ItiICvc5I/AAAAAAAAAHw/bfw947iUKyQ/s1600/1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="433" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iJbsJLR1lGQ/U3ItiICvc5I/AAAAAAAAAHw/bfw947iUKyQ/s1600/1a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aqoelCdGjBY/U3Irn1dMfVI/AAAAAAAAAGM/EG48f4ceJzE/s1600/Necronomicon-2-HR-Giger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="409" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aqoelCdGjBY/U3Irn1dMfVI/AAAAAAAAAGM/EG48f4ceJzE/s1600/Necronomicon-2-HR-Giger.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z_FH7cuUPqc/U3Irr18SgxI/AAAAAAAAAGg/096tPexyJa8/s1600/hr_giger_eggsilo_I.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z_FH7cuUPqc/U3Irr18SgxI/AAAAAAAAAGg/096tPexyJa8/s1600/hr_giger_eggsilo_I.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nTjPejxruFU/U3Isgmd_wAI/AAAAAAAAAHc/MYPQBzy3l5U/s1600/hrgigerspacejockey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nTjPejxruFU/U3Isgmd_wAI/AAAAAAAAAHc/MYPQBzy3l5U/s1600/hrgigerspacejockey.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LASEzG-K20I/U3IskifHyxI/AAAAAAAAAHo/m_3n-15_6B4/s1600/20211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LASEzG-K20I/U3IskifHyxI/AAAAAAAAAHo/m_3n-15_6B4/s1600/20211.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-at7kNG3v46Y/U3IrtgFYSGI/AAAAAAAAAG4/DhmS5yq8KaU/s1600/hr_giger_wreck_III.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-at7kNG3v46Y/U3IrtgFYSGI/AAAAAAAAAG4/DhmS5yq8KaU/s1600/hr_giger_wreck_III.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-99Sr97e5ZyU/U3IrulUfuyI/AAAAAAAAAHI/KpopxDrddTM/s1600/teaser_ka_giger_top_1204131138_id_548944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-99Sr97e5ZyU/U3IrulUfuyI/AAAAAAAAAHI/KpopxDrddTM/s1600/teaser_ka_giger_top_1204131138_id_548944.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cX5YTNtHEqI/U3IrlxkJkGI/AAAAAAAAAFg/pvEKMeLI7Iw/s1600/DUNE-VI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cX5YTNtHEqI/U3IrlxkJkGI/AAAAAAAAAFg/pvEKMeLI7Iw/s1600/DUNE-VI.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-usbgItDMJRc/U3IroRkvF6I/AAAAAAAAAGA/22E-GpPCKmM/s1600/gallery-hr-giger-artists-art-meridian-1344590662_org.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-usbgItDMJRc/U3IroRkvF6I/AAAAAAAAAGA/22E-GpPCKmM/s1600/gallery-hr-giger-artists-art-meridian-1344590662_org.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UK2s4BU_47Q/U3Irm3HygxI/AAAAAAAAAGI/moFLRzP64EY/s1600/Giger-necronom-iv121310_L_zpsacb31734.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UK2s4BU_47Q/U3Irm3HygxI/AAAAAAAAAGI/moFLRzP64EY/s1600/Giger-necronom-iv121310_L_zpsacb31734.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xXl-4u1eU6k/U3IvZkA__-I/AAAAAAAAAH8/4XDt-RNROmk/s1600/giger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xXl-4u1eU6k/U3IvZkA__-I/AAAAAAAAAH8/4XDt-RNROmk/s1600/giger.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uVd2zxX_M78/U3IrmUog2qI/AAAAAAAAAFw/2A6FhwMLcnc/s1600/Giger-The_Tourist_VIII_Two_agnatic_aliens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uVd2zxX_M78/U3IrmUog2qI/AAAAAAAAAFw/2A6FhwMLcnc/s1600/Giger-The_Tourist_VIII_Two_agnatic_aliens.jpg" width="458" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WPqkg3QpMms/U3IveZWpV_I/AAAAAAAAAII/BSyrkJwkf3E/s1600/Alien-HR-Giger1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WPqkg3QpMms/U3IveZWpV_I/AAAAAAAAAII/BSyrkJwkf3E/s1600/Alien-HR-Giger1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E2gBixDkttI/U3IshOoSksI/AAAAAAAAAHg/J1nvb2b71n8/s1600/tumblr_kpio92JuBs1qzexpio1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E2gBixDkttI/U3IshOoSksI/AAAAAAAAAHg/J1nvb2b71n8/s1600/tumblr_kpio92JuBs1qzexpio1_500.jpg" width="533" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Mike Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173787018760732036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331259850333069181.post-42540539024284242382020-03-02T23:38:00.000-08:002020-03-17T09:46:05.130-07:00"Its Five Year Mission: To Explore Strange New Worlds..."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kwuizmaMz0c/U092o7woSjI/AAAAAAAAAEg/qp-szYVm6_A/s1600/00-Enterprise-model.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="463" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kwuizmaMz0c/U092o7woSjI/AAAAAAAAAEg/qp-szYVm6_A/s1600/00-Enterprise-model.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Mike Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173787018760732036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331259850333069181.post-13796433931507404542020-01-25T18:31:00.000-08:002020-03-17T09:45:34.716-07:00"Under The Skin" - Best of the Decade<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IIHbQ_-0HNk/Uzi6VTZKmkI/AAAAAAAAADU/GVjm8JfMWLo/s1600/fullwidth.3ba3bc04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IIHbQ_-0HNk/Uzi6VTZKmkI/AAAAAAAAADU/GVjm8JfMWLo/s1600/fullwidth.3ba3bc04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Jonathan Glazer's "Under The Skin" is an unsettling, one of a kind experience. Through the eyes of an extraterrestrial woman (?) we see North Scotland as series of stark empty benches, crowded shopping malls, and forests full of decay and rot. Glazer and his cinematographer capture grimy grey and brown flats, coupled with lush unearthly reds and the blackest of black voids, in which young men are lured to their demise by this being from beyond. With black hair, red lipstick-coated lips, her blue eyes conveying a blank apathy, which turns to wonder, then fear, Scarlett Johansson gives a truly alien performance. Not since David Bowie in "The Man Who Fell to Earth", has a performer captured the way someone not of this earth would perceive our world for the first time.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eye9pUC9prs/Uzi6Q_zu6JI/AAAAAAAAADQ/O5p5VZsGp9Q/s1600/under-the-skin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eye9pUC9prs/Uzi6Q_zu6JI/AAAAAAAAADQ/O5p5VZsGp9Q/s1600/under-the-skin.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-93JdGQUwVZQ/Uzi6fM1ilFI/AAAAAAAAADw/N0L-GGNsgkY/s1600/Scarlett-Johansson-Under--011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-93JdGQUwVZQ/Uzi6fM1ilFI/AAAAAAAAADw/N0L-GGNsgkY/s1600/Scarlett-Johansson-Under--011.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Glazer's palate definitely sports a few a Kubrick <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbLRzabppus">space trip</a> reference points. Not surprising, as the late director's influence on Glazer dates back to his music video for Blur's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrbxWOMpwfs&feature=kp">The Universal</a>, which places the band in a cross between heaven and the Korova Milk Bar from "A Clockwork Orange".<br />
<br />
One sequence in particular, reminds one of fellow music video director Chris Cunningham's infamous 2000 erotic installation <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af6pXiBYNYA">Flex</a>.<br />
<br />
But, despite any influences, Glazer makes this hypnotic trip all his own.<br />
<br />
Of special note, is the all-consuming musical score by Mica Levi, the sound design by Johnnie Burn, and the music supervision by Pete Raeburn.<br />
<br />
The full effect of their combined efforts is an aural symphony of raw sound which plays like a transmission from alien angels mixed with the barrage of Lou Reed's 1975 feedback opus <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYtzNl48F60">Metal Machine Music</a>.<br />
<br />
Topping the "winter at the Dakota" spell of "Birth" and the bloody comic mayhem of "Sexy Beast", "Under the Skin" is Jonathan Glazer's masterpiece.<br />
<br />
Discovering Michel Faber's 2000 novel was the best thing that ever happened to him. And dare I add, to us, as well.<br />
<br />Mike Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173787018760732036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331259850333069181.post-28368054008367186662019-12-19T20:43:00.000-08:002020-03-17T09:47:00.950-07:00Great Performances: Peter O'Toole in "My Favorite Year"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D0poo9BgV28/UrJv4MRp4NI/AAAAAAAAACA/E4t8AhkfaKM/s1600/o-MY-FAVORITE-YEAR-570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D0poo9BgV28/UrJv4MRp4NI/AAAAAAAAACA/E4t8AhkfaKM/s1600/o-MY-FAVORITE-YEAR-570.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="character">Benjy Stone</span>: Alan Swann, afraid? The Defender of the Crown? Captain from Tortuga? The Last Knight of the Round Table? </span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="character">Alan Swann</span>: Those are movies, damn you! Look at me! I'm flesh and blood, life-size, no larger! I'm not that silly God-damned hero! I never was! </span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="character">Benjy Stone</span>: To <i>me</i> you were! Whoever you were in those movies, those silly goddamn heroes meant a lot to <i>me</i>! What does it matter if it was an illusion? It worked! So don't tell me this is you life-size. I can't use you life-size. I need Alan Swanns as big as I can get them! And let me tell you something: you couldn't have convinced me the way you did unless somewhere in you <i>had</i> that courage! Nobody's that good an actor! You <i>are</i> that silly goddamn hero!</b> </span><br />
<br />
The above exchange is from 1982's "My Favorite Year", which garnered Peter O' Toole a 1983 Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In it, Benjy Stone(Mark-Linn Baker), a nebbish comedy writer (inspired by Woody Allen and Mel Brooks) confronts his idol, the dashing, swashbuckling Errol Flynn-type movie star Alan Swann, over the fact that the man he has spent his life admiring is, in fact, a fearful drunk. Swann is afraid to do a live Sid Caeser-inspired type of comedy program, and is retreating to his liquid companion. Swann is also afraid of life in general, of rejection by the daughter he abandoned, and of his stardom, which had dwarfed his very existence.<br />
<br />
Like many of his performances, as Swann, O'Toole was able to capture heartbreak, a joie de vivre, and sense of style, while channeling a carnival of emotions (often at the same time) across his beaming, radiant face.<br />
<br />
One of the best performances, in one of my favorite films.Mike Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173787018760732036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331259850333069181.post-39091251351235144302019-11-26T23:23:00.000-08:002020-03-17T09:47:20.805-07:00To Boldly Go: Gene Roddenberry<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null"></a><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null"><img class="mainImage" src="https://www.fanboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/gene-roddenberry.jpeg" style="background-color: white; height: 394px; width: 618px;" /></a><br />
<span style="color: white;">"I believe in humanity. We are an incredible species. We're still just a child creature, we're still being nasty to each other. And all children go through those phases. We're growing up, we're moving into adolescence now. When we grow up - man, we're going to be something!"</span>Mike Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173787018760732036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331259850333069181.post-56295917813147816132019-10-10T23:05:00.000-07:002020-03-17T09:47:41.947-07:00"I did nothing...except get caught with my britches down!" <br />
<img alt="Image result for khan star trek" class="n3VNCb" data-noaft="1" src="https://i0.wp.com/nerdvanamedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/khan.jpg?fit=1600%2C900&ssl=1" style="height: 329.063px; margin: 0px; width: 585px;" /><br />
"He tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him! I'll chase him 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round perdition's flames before I give him up!"<br />
<br />
- Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban)Mike Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173787018760732036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331259850333069181.post-81388527393927057112019-09-03T22:24:00.000-07:002020-03-17T09:48:02.490-07:00Submitted For Your Approval<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y28qLgZuU6c/UgXN1ZBzDgI/AAAAAAAAABA/BdnLSL82vc0/s1600/rod_serling%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y28qLgZuU6c/UgXN1ZBzDgI/AAAAAAAAABA/BdnLSL82vc0/s1600/rod_serling%5B1%5D.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">"Every writer is a frustrated actor who recites his lines in the hidden auditorium of his skull."</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"> - Rod Serling</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Mike Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173787018760732036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331259850333069181.post-18000536123586211072019-08-09T22:33:00.000-07:002020-03-17T09:48:22.941-07:00The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few...or the One<html> <body> <span></span></body></html>
<img alt="Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Movie Poster" border="0" class="img-responsive" src="https://www.impawards.com/1982/posters/star_trek_ii_the_wrath_of_khan.jpg" title="Click to View Extra Large Poster Image for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" /><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;">"I have been...and always shall be...your friend...Live long...and prosper."</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: white;">1982's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" was the first film I saw that dealt explicitly with human mortality. It taught me about courage, self-sacrifice, friendship, and honor. </span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: white;">The screenplay, credited to "Time After Time" director Nicholas Meyer and Jack B. Sowards (most of which was re-written by the former) tells the story of a Captain James T. Kirk, who, having been promoted, feels worn out, useless, dead inside, acutely aware of his mortality.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: white;">Ironically, it is through a confrontation with his past (an old enemy, a former lover, a son he never met) and the death of his best friend that he feels a new appreciation for his life and his destiny, being a starship captain.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: white;">At the end of the film, Kirk reflects on Spock's death, and stares out at that Genesis planet, and says, quoting the Dickens novel that his friend gave him for his birthday, " It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before. A far better resting place that I go to than I have ever known."</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: white;">"Is that a poem?" asks Dr. Carol Marcus, the mother of Kirk's son.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: white;">To which Kirk replies, "No. Something Spock was trying to tell me. On my birthday."</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: white;">And the rest, as they say, is history.</span>Mike Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173787018760732036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3331259850333069181.post-69270984188099282772019-07-07T21:24:00.000-07:002020-03-17T09:49:11.479-07:00Serling's Challenge<br />
<span style="color: white;">A few words on</span><span style="color: white;"> on a person whose work I admire: Rod Serling.</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="color: white;">"I think the destiny of all men is not to sit in
the rubble of their own making but to reach out for an ultimate perfection which
is to be had. At the moment, it is a dream. But as of the moment we clasp hands
with our neighbor, we build the first span to bridge the gap between the young
and the old. At this hour, it’s a wish. But we have it within our power to make
it a reality. If you want to prove that God is not dead, first prove that man is
alive."</span><br />
<span style="color: white;">– Rod Serling, Moorpark College,
1968</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white;">He was the showrunner, creator, and executive
producer of “The Twilight Zone”. Out of 156 episodes, he wrote 92 scripts
himself, over 5 seasons. He was an acclaimed writer of teleplays that addressed
the horrors of war, racism, human suffering. He was a humanist, a visionary, an
American original. He was a hero of WW2 who made it through the Pacific theater and
who was plagued by nightmares for the rest of his life. He was a military boxer
whose nose was broken in both his first and last matches. He was also a cynic who saw
our society’s potential for pettiness and self-destruction. Who can forget his
1959 script of Lyn Venable’s “Time Enough At Last”? A self-absorbed bank teller
(Burgess Meredith, a favorite of Serling’s) refuses to acknowledge his lousy
marriage and the problems of the world. Instead, he hides in the bank vault
reading books, and lamenting the lack of time to do so. While he is in the
vault, one day, the looming Cold War specter of the H-bomb is unleashed and the
rest of the world gets nuked. He exits the vault in an apocalyptic wasteland,
and is saved from the brink of despair, when he finds the remains of a library.
He sits down to read…and his glasses fall from his face, smashing against the
craggy earth. Serling is not saying one can spend too much time reading – he is
suggesting that one cannot ignore the problems of the world entirely – they
might just come and blow up in our face. It is worth noting that it was Serling
who came up with iconic ending to “Planet of the Apes”, with Lady Liberty’s husk
overwhelming a sandy beach in the middle of nowhere.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white;">Serling’s – at times dark – view of humanity
extends to the cruelty we inflict on each other for superficial reasons, like
physical appearance. Serling’s script for “The Eye of the Beholder”, where a
beautiful woman is an outcast in a society grotesques, makes the suggestion
that the real ugliness is our penchant for callousness, cruelty, indifference,
or worse. “Worse”, being our capacity for self-destruction and hate.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="color: white;">"All the Dachaus must remain standing. The
Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzes – all of them. They must
remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men
decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard. Into it they shoveled all of their
reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all their
conscience."</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white;">The above line is from Serling’s script for
“Deaths-Head Revisited”, about a former SS Captain who returns to a
concentration camp to reminisce, only to be driven mad by the ghosts of those he
murdered. “The Twilight Zone”, while occasionally cruel, could often work for
the forces of good. This was certainly true in Serling’s “A Quality of Mercy”, a
WW2 episode about a green Captain (Dean Stockwell), who, during the final days
of the Pacific Theater, orders his men to make a suicidal raid on a cave full of
wounded and sick Japanese soldiers. Through the power of “The Twilight Zone”,
the Captain finds himself part of a Japanese platoon, which is ordered to kill
wounded American soldiers in a cave. In the end, things revert to normal, and
the raid is called off, on account of the A-bomb being dropped. For Serling, a
man who saw the Japanese kill many friends in combat, to say, “Hey, those guys
on the other side are the same sorry sons of bitches” is a testament to his
character not just as a writer, but as a human being.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white;">But, in the end, it is not darkness that lurks
at the heart of Serling’s work on “The Twilight Zone”. No, it is a genuine love
of humanity, a poignant understanding of the wants that make us human: the
desire to be beautiful, the desire to be young again, the desire to be loved,
the desire to return to a simpler time.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white;">In Serling’s “Walking Distance”, a traveling ad
executive (Gig Young) stops at the small town he was raised in, only to find it
exactly as it was. All those who were dead are alive. Scared at first, he finds
himself in awe of the things he once loved (soda fountain, carousel). He even
runs into his own self as a young boy and even his father, who, after seeing his
identification and strange money, comes to believe the exec is who he says he
is. Dad advises him to look forward and not back because happiness might be
found in the places he has yet to look. There is a gentle sweetness in Serling’s
depiction of small town life and the fantasy of returning the memory of an
idyllic place called home.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white;">Years before he was chasing Michael Myers,
Donald Pleasance was in the Serling-penned episode “The Changing of the Guard”.
In it, he portrays a depressed teacher who is forced into retirement and feels
like he hasn’t made an impact with his lessons. He returns to the school,
planning to kill himself on Christmas Eve. But the ghosts of his former students
intervene and tell him how he made them better people. Finding purpose in his
life, he reads on a statue’s plith the motto of Antioch College, Rod Serling’s
alma mater: “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for
humanity.”</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white;">In the end, that is Rod Serling’s legacy and his
challenge to us as human beings: that unless we challenge ourselves to help make
this world a better place (perhaps even by a simple act of kindness), then we
have learned nothing from this vast mystery we call life. Serling learned this
lesson, as did we, in a place beyond imagination, a place where we can see
ourselves at our best and worst…</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white;">….a place called “The Twilight Zone”.</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;"></span><br />Mike Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173787018760732036noreply@blogger.com0