Homicidal

This year's Halloween posts are all for movies seen at the Landmark Loews Jersey Theater this past weekend, the 26th-27th. I was planning to go with a different theme this year, but when I saw that the Loews was showing six movies in two days, I knew I had to take advantage of this somehow. I saw three of the six films, and between now and Thursday we'll get to all three, if a certain hurricane doesn't stop us...

Homicidal
10.26.12

I think I might be slightly more interested in horror movies these days if they weren't all so damn grim and serious. Fans seem to eat it up - how many Saw movies did they make? -  I find it all off-putting. Say what you will about The Blair Witch Project, but there was a movie that knew how to sell itself, how to make it stand out from the pack. The selling of the "history" of the Blair Witch and the question of whether or not the "found footage" was real made me want to see it, and while I wouldn't recommend such tactics for every horror movie, at the least I'd want to know that this film had a sense of playfulness, or mystery, to it. That's still no guarantee that I'd see it, but it'd get my attention.

William Castle was a director who knew the value of such things. A former assistant to Orson Welles, Castle's directorial career spanned four decades, from the 40s to the 70s, but it wasn't until the latter half that he started coming up with wild promotional gimmicks for his films. How wild? How about glow-in-the-dark skeletons, nurses in the lobbies, or buzzers in seats to encourage screaming? In a time when, it must be said, film was competing with the new medium of television, he really went all out.

Friday night, the Loews showed Castle's film Homicidal as the first half of a twin bill, and they did a good job of recreating Castle's accoutrements. At the door they issued certificates entitling the bearer to a refund if the film is too scary for them. Within the film itself, there's a pause just before the climax, in which anyone too scared can leave and redeem their certificate, but it comes with a price: the bearer must sit out the remainder of the film in a specially constructed "cowards' corner," no doubt to be subjected to public shame and ridicule. The Loews had the booth set up in the lobby, but only one person took advantage of it, and I think it's safe to say that he was a ringer.

The Loews' version of the "coward's certificate" looked very similar to this.

Not that the movie was all that scary to begin with. It's a twist on Psycho, though I can't say how exactly without giving away spoilers. Castle himself appears at the film's outset to introduce it. Though this was a pretty cheesy movie overall (in a likable way, though), I was honestly surprised by the ending, which I did not see coming - and I was not the only one. I actually expected Homicidal to be a little more over the top in terms of scary stuff, but it wasn't, not really.

What the "fright break" looked like on screen.

All weekend, the Loews set up a "haunted house" on the second floor of the theater, across from the staircases. All it was, was plastic skulls and fake cobwebs in a darkened corridor with a couple of dudes in fright masks and robes popping outta nowhere to yell at people. Some women were screaming with fright, and delight too, I suppose. Lame, but it's not like one can expect something elaborate on a shoestring budget. The best "haunted house" I ever saw was this huge one in New Paltz which I saw with Bibi and Eric one year. It's a local tradition, done for many years, and it's set up in a park. When we went, the line to get in was huge, and it was absolutely worth the wait.

Gone fishin'

This is an especially busy and hectic week for me, so I'm afraid I'm gonna have to take a brief siesta until next week. In the meantime, take a look at this post from the Lady Eve on a movie that played on TCM yesterday called The Letter. It's the earlier version of a Bette Davis classic and apparently it's a real rarity, so much so that it's generated quite a bit of discussion among the classic blog community. I watched it; thought it was alright, but I don't have too much more to say about it, especially since I've never seen the Davis version. Still, I think it's worth your attention.

Be here next Monday for Halloween week!

Books: Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures

MILD SPOILERS

As I got deeper into Emma Straub's debut novel Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures, it occurred to me - and I had pointed this out on Twitter at the time - that this isn't so much a story of the rise and fall of a classic Hollywood actress so much as it is a story about a career woman, trying to balance work with her personal life. The glamor of the Golden Age of Hollywood is certainly felt within the story, but one should not go into it expecting a paean to the silver screen - which is not necessarily a bad thing.

The closest comparison between Laura and a real Golden Age actress would probably be Jennifer Jones: Oscar-winning actress with an alliterative stage name, married to a studio mogul who carefully molded her image and career, born to parents who operated a theatrical troupe, and who had a prior marriage to a fellow actor. Most of the actors, directors and studios in the book are fictitious, and there's very little in the way of interaction with real ones beyond passing references. (There is one character who appears to be a stand-in for Lucille Ball.)

The heart of the story concerns Laura's emotional life. She becomes a movie star, but her success is tinted with feelings of guilt and regret because of the premature death of one of her older sisters, who wanted to be a star much more than Laura did. Indeed, she's never far away from Laura's thoughts throughout the book. Then there's her conservative mother, who disapproves of Laura's career. There's a lot involving Laura raising her children while trying to sustain her film career, as well as trying to adjust to the changing times in cinema.

Emma Straub

Straub's style is blessedly straightforward and doesn't rely on any off-putting literary gimmicks. There are some story elements that don't go as far as I would've liked; for instance, the conflict with her mother. Some don't get addressed at all; Laura becomes a pill-popper, and I kept expecting something to come of that, but her addiction doesn't carry much in the way of consequences. 

Still, Laura is a sympathetic character, and her story manages to veer from the familiar path of A Star is Born in deeper, more introspective ways. For example, while she doesn't suffer an identity crisis, a clear distinction is made between the woman she starts out as and the woman she becomes as a result of her name change. It's a consistent theme throughout the book, and it speaks to the changes she goes through in becoming a movie star.

Like I said, Laura Lamont should not be read in expectation of an homage to all the things we love and admire about classic Hollywood, but rather a tale of the inner life of a woman in pursuit of success and what that success does to her.

[Full disclosure: I bought this book for myself; it's not a review copy.]

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Related:

Books: Barbara Stanwyck - The Miracle Woman

Five books I read after seeing the movie

Roaming the blogosphere in this session

I'm beginning to think somebody or something is keeping me from seeing Middle of Nowhere in a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere. I went to see it on Thursday at the AMC Empire 25 in Times Square which is, so far, the only theater in all of New York playing it, and maybe twenty minutes into the film the theater experiences a power surge and the film stops dead. (It happened on several other screens, too.) 

This after I had just begun to settle into the movie after the usual number of late arrivals, plus the irritating sounds of a door opening and closing (though not from the late arrivals, I think). I tried to wait for the theater staff to fix the problem, but I couldn't. As I mentioned when I first saw it at Urbanworld, this is a quiet, introspective film that demands a great deal of focus, and my anxiety level was already elevated somewhat before the power outage. It didn't help that there was no one in the projection booth to complain directly to. 

I got my refund and high-tailed it out of there, though not before hearing from an usher that the power was restored and the movies were resuming. I didn't care at that point, though; I was too damn frustrated to bother going back, so I'll have to try again next week. I can't remember the last time I had this many problems trying to comfortably see a movie. Technically, I have seen it, from start to finish, but not under the best of circumstances. This is really killing me!

Moving right along, however...

Silent Volume is a blog devoted to silent films. Here's a post from last month about a recent silent from Spain that's quite different from The Artist.

Brandie did a post for the Paramount Centennial Blogathon about the animation maestros at Fleischer Studios. (Always did love their Superman shorts.)

Page does her best Robin Leach impression in a huge picture-filled post taking us through the old mansion of silent film legend Harold Lloyd.

In the wake of Argo, here's a piece about how the Iran hostage survivors reacted to the film.

You've probably heard that Oscar-winning DP Wally Pfister dissed The Avengers for its cinematography. Here's a take on what he said.

Speaking of which... 2015: Justice League versus Avengers.

Argo

Argo
seen @ Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas, Jamaica, Queens, NY
10.16.12

Ben Affleck always struck me as a likable actor. I remember him, of course, from his Kevin Smith movies, in particular, Chasing Amy. I related strongly to his character in that film, so perhaps it's no surprise that I would take an interest in Affleck's movies following that one. The fact that he was a comics fan certainly helped. I was certainly glad to see him and Matt Damon win the Original Screenplay Oscar for Good Will Hunting, even though I personally thought Boogie Nights was the better screenplay that year.

After that highlight, though, his career went on a different path. It seems like he became the glamor boy of lots of trashy, big-budget flicks, chief among them, of course, being Armageddon, and while I didn't necessarily begrudge him all that much for making these movies, I think it was when he was with Jennifer Lopez and was in all the gossip rags that he became tiresome for me - and a lot of other people, I imagine.

So seeing him reinvent himself as a director - a quality one, to boot - is quite exciting. Gone Baby Gone and The Town were both enjoyable and thrilling on their own, but with Argo, it's like Affleck elevated his game to the next level. It's based on a true story, and so we know that the good guys will win in the end, but that makes it no less awesome to watch.

What I find most inspiring about Affleck as a director is the kind of movies he makes. You may recall that earlier this year, Warners allegedly wanted him to direct their proposed Justice League movie. There's no doubt in my mind that he could make it good: it would be an ensemble, like all of his films; it would take advantage of exotic locations, like Argo; there would be big action sequences, like in The Town, and it's comics, which he is certainly no stranger to. (Speaking of which, did you know about Jack Kirby's connection to Argo?) Could he have elevated the material, the way Christopher Nolan did with the Batman movies? I wouldn't rule it out, though, let's be honest: few filmmakers are in Nolan's class.

As it turned out, however, Justice League wasn't on Affleck's slate, and after seeing Argo, I'm even more grateful for that. In an industry becoming more and more dominated by fanboy fantasy that caters more and more towards undiscriminating foreign audiences, Affleck dares to not only make intelligent, truly adult movies, but he makes them for mass audiences, the way Hollywood used to do, not all that long ago. 

I admire him for that. I admire the fact that he has (so far) resisted the urge to make a movie like Justice League - because, let's face it, the fanboys will see that no matter who's directing it. Affleck's going down the path less traveled, and in Hollywood, that takes guts. On top of all that, he chooses to still shoot on film instead of digital.

As for Argo itself... well, my memories of the Iran hostage crisis are vague. I do remember Walter Cronkite counting the days the hostages were in captivity, and though I didn't fully understand the situation (I was a kid!), I knew it wasn't good. I've learned more about Iran since then, of course; movies like Persepolis and A Separation have helped loads on that score. Argo shows footage of the anti-Iranian sentiment that went through America during the crisis. Some of it was really disturbing, and sadly, awfully familiar to the anti-Iraqi sentiment that we went through in the weeks and months following September 11.

Like I said, we know that this rescue mission will succeed because it's part of history, but watching it unfold in this movie, it genuinely feels like an edge-of-your-seat experience. Affleck has said in interviews that one of the toughest things about making Argo was finding the right balance between the rescue mission stuff and the more comedic Hollywood stuff, and I believe he did find the balance. I expected the Hollywood elements to come across like a version of The Player, but it's not that broad.

The fake "Argo" movie definitely sounds like the kind of thing that would've come out in the wake of Star Wars, like Logan's Run or Flash Gordon, only without the literary pedigree. I can even imagine discovering it on cable TV or on VHS as a teenager, only to be embarrassed I ever liked it years later. That's never anything I'd say about the real Argo, though. I hope Affleck continues to make many more movies in this vein.

The Oranges

The Oranges
seen @ AMC Loews 19th Street East, New York NY
10.13.12

The Oranges is the first movie I've ever gone to see during its theatrical run for a single scene. Actually, it was more like a shot than a scene, and it turned out to be several shots, but the point is that I didn't go for the movie itself. In fact, this was the rare occasion in which I knew absolutely nothing about the movie, neither plot nor director nor stars. So why did I go, you ask?

It was because of Vija. As I've mentioned before, she's a fine artist of considerable skill. She tends to lean towards the realistic in her paintings, but every so often, she'll experiment with a more impressionistic approach. Recently (before she started on her famous women portrait series), she went through a phase of stylized, slightly abstract paintings of animals. She did one of a crane, or perhaps a heron. Her pal Parsla had it at her place, and as it turns out, she knew a production designer who was working on this new indie film being shot in New Jersey...

Well, one thing led to another, as they say. He saw Vija's painting one day and liked it enough to include it in the movie in question, The Oranges. She had already seen it prior to last Saturday, but this time, she invited me and she even bought my ticket. How cool is that? 

Alas, the painting is not part of any crucial scenes. It can be plainly seen in the background in the bedroom of Hugh Laurie's daughter in several scenes throughout the first half of the film. (I checked all throughout Google Images and couldn't find a shot of it, so you'll have to take my word for it.)

Laurie plays this middle-aged husband and father who falls in love with his best friend's (college-age) daughter, wreaking all sorts of havoc in the process. It's a trifle of a movie, but it reminded me more than a little bit of many of the 90s indie movies I'd watch when I worked video retail - no big surprise, since it included three of my favorite 90s indie movie actors: Oliver Platt, Allison Janney and Catherine Keener. The Oranges eschewed any opening credits, so seeing them as they first appeared was a pleasant surprise, since I wasn't even sure if this film would have anyone I know in it.

Back in the mid-to-late 90s, I kept up with movies through Entertainment Weekly and Premiere, primarily. I didn't need subscriptions; I'd just go into the magazine section of Barnes & Noble and read them there, although I did buy Premiere. Being a monthly, they had longer, more in-depth articles. 

Anyway, this was how I learned who was who in the indie field, and I'd go to the Angelika downtown or the Lincoln Plaza uptown to see their movies. Whatever I missed theatrically, I'd see when they hit the video store, and I was quite fortunate to have worked in stores that made concerted efforts to acquire the indies as well as the Hollywood stuff.

The Oranges would've fit in well with the indie movies from this era, when the Weinsteins were still at Miramax, the field of indie distributors was wider and deeper, and there was no such thing as Netflix or online streaming. It's a light comedy with dramatic moments - nothing that'll set the world on fire, like Pulp Fiction or The English Patient, but pleasant enough for what it is, and if nothing else, another opportunity to see great character actors do what they do best. 

Andi was supposed to come with Vija and me as well, but couldn't make it on time, but she did rendezvous with us afterward, to our surprise. This was the first time I had seen her in awhile; she had spent much of the past year continuing to globe-trot. Over dumplings and soup, the three of us caught up on old times and talked movies. We debated the merits and meaning of The Master for quite awhile.

Searching for Sugar Man

Searching for Sugar Man
seen @ Kew Gardens Cinemas, Kew Gardens, Queens, NY
10.11.12

My sister Lynne is a singer. She plays in an R&B cover band with her husband, who plays drums, and they play around the city. Having seen them live on a number of occasions, I can attest that they're mighty awesome, and I'm not just saying that because I'm her brother and I get in for free. She's not young, which, to be honest, is probably an impediment in terms of getting discovered and becoming big, but I suspect that even if that never happens, it would be okay for her. 

She needed a creative outlet for a long time; she had trained in music when she was much younger (she went to the Fame school!) but had moved away from it for awhile. I distinctly remember her talking to me about how she needed to get back to her craft because the stress of her job was getting to her. Performing in the band has been a tremendous lift for her, and I suspect that has meant as much to her as any potential fame and fortune, if not more.

The delightful documentary Searching for Sugar Man is about a musician who discovered success in another country after striking out here, and though he could live like a king there, he chooses to live humbly here instead. Early 70s folk singer Rodriguez made two albums that didn't sell at all, and then he sort of disappeared. Why didn't they sell, though, especially when they sound as good as this?

No one knew what happened to him after those two albums; in fact, many people firmly believed he was dead! Certainly his music never hit anywhere in America. But what actually happened, and how he and his music were re-discovered, is a story that, if it were a Hollywood movie, would never be believed. I was gonna go into more detail about it, but I honestly think it's better if you discover the story on your own through this movie.

Rodriguez' sound is basically Dylan, if Dylan could sing - and that extends to his songwriting as well. Given that his albums came out during a time when folk music was at the peak of its popularity, it's hard to believe he never caught on. His music is well-featured in Sugar Man, accompanied with beautiful panoramic shots of Detroit and Cape Town, South Africa, as well as a few brief animated sequences. The look of this film is quite unique and lively.

John recommended Sugar Man to me, excitedly e-mailing me about it and saying that I gotta see it, and in a way, this is appropriate too. John's always been two steps ahead of me in terms of knowing what's cool in music; indeed, it may not be much of a stretch to say that he helped shape my musical tastes, so if anyone would've steered me towards a film like this, it would be him.

Seek this movie out if you can. I promise you; you'll not see another one like it all year.