To a New World of Gods and Monsters...

Faithful Readers,

It's with great excitement that I welcome you to the season of Halloween movies at The Blue Starlite! A plethora of frights and delights awaits you within this month of spooky cinema, not the least of them being The Bride of Frankenstein (Wednesday, 10/1) and Frankenstein (Saturday, 10/4).

I watched both of these movies as a kid - pretty often, too - and they made a huge impression on me. Now, as an adult and an English teacher, I get to introduce these movies to a whole new crop of teenagers every year when we finish reading the novel. What amazes me is that my media savvy students are always pretty enthralled with these fundamentally simple, black-and-white films from the 1930s.

I think there are some compelling reasons for this. Even though the films stray far from their source material, some credit is still due to Mary Shelley - the subject matter is fiercely fascinating and terrifying, and that all comes from the novel.

But the movies are very much their own thing, and they deserve their own conversation. They are moody and surreal, taking cues from German Expressionism, and they feel like silent movies, making each and every sound seem strange and jarring.

But, more importantly, they both have this guy:

Boris Karloff's performance as The Creature (because Frankenstein is the doctor, people!) is one of the most amazing things I've seen on film. He is both sympathetic and scary, and he manages to elicit both emotions without ever speaking any real dialogue. It's an acutely physical performance, as Karloff is large and lumbering, but wanders through the world with an almost childlike vulnerability. As a kid, I worried about him, and I find that my students do, too - always rooting for him to escape those angry villagers. It's a masterful depiction of a being that, while monstrous, is truly not a monster.

I do have to say, though, that I think The Bride of Frankenstein is the superior film. With the same director and cast, it takes the storytelling to a whole new level. Plus, as is the case with the novel, The Creature's request that Frankenstein creates a mate for him is really the central conflict, and seeing that on film is satisfying. Especially because The Bride is so interesting on screen - she's strangely pretty, but clearly undead, and her profile is iconic:

I actually dressed as The Bride for the last Halloween that I trick-or-treated. It was an awesome costume. My mom and I planned and worked on it for weeks ahead of  time, and when I put it on, I felt like Elsa Lanchester herself. I was so proud. And I spent the night going from house to house, constantly disappointed because people kept asking who I was supposed to be. I was devastated. But, near the end of the night, I happened upon a little house where a young married couple was giving out candy. He was dressed as Buster Keaton, and she was Charlie Chaplin. They instantly knew who I was, and they made an incredible fuss. I also knew who they were - which surprised them, as no one else had - and we shared this awesome moment. We were in on something cool that a lot of other people weren't, and it connected us.

Great movies do that. They connect us.

So, grab your friends, your kids, your significant others, and anyone else you love, and connect them to this awesome world of classic movies at The Blue Starlite!

What could make a fun Wednesday ?!

One of my favorite plot-drivers in a movie is the  notion of  "what could

go wrong?”

This rhetorical question is usually pondered with hilarious precision in '80s road-trip comedies, whether it occurs during cross-country travel ("Planes, Trains & Automobiles") or in one night in a city ("Adventures in Babysitting.")

                                                                                                                                             

Of course,  the something  that DOES go wrong is most entertaining when it veers

without looking into unapologetic ridiculousness.

Another quintessential movie of this  type  is" License to Drive." It's protagonist even directly asks this to the audience.

The madcap antics of this '80s classic is enough to keep me watching, especially the chase sequence involving a Sinatra-loving, car-stealing drunk. 

Its also nostalgically rad, showcasing the  ying yang dynamics of BFFs Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, aka the Coreys. and features of one the best '80s pop anthems. 

Now, get out of this blog  and into Blue Starlite ,tonight, for a  screening of  "License to Drive" (1988), along  with "Cars"(2006).

Hitchcock Blondes Have More Fun

Dear Readers,

As you may or may not already know, a night of previously scheduled Hitchcock viewing at The Blue was rained out, and so we've all been given another glorious chance to watch Rear Window and The Birds as intended - under the gorgeous Austin night sky and through the windshield of a car.

Alfred Hitchcock is maybe the most famous - and infamous - of film directors, and I know some criticism of him is deserved: he certainly treated various people very badly and had an over-inflated sense of his own importance (if you're interested in the real scoop on this, I highly recommend Donald Spoto's work, especially this book, which focuses on his relationships with his leading ladies).

But I think all of this salacious gossip has, especially lately, overshadowed something about Hitch that makes me an avid, lifelong fan: Alfred Hitchcock created the screen's most exciting women. In an era when women were often relegated to being sidekicks and window dressing, the heroines of Hitchcock's films were truly the stars - dominating story lines, chewing up the scenery, and leaving captive audiences breathless.

These women get to do everything on my bucket list, plus a million things I'm way too chicken to attempt, and they get to look beautiful while doing it.

For example, Lisa Carol Fremont, the beautiful blonde brought to life by Grace Kelly in Rear Window. She is probably the most well-known of the Hitchcock Blondes, and with good reason. Over the course of one movie, she gets to:

• eat a lobster dinner from 21 (that she has delivered, no less!)
• be part of the screen's steamiest kiss (with James Stewart)
• scale the wall of an apartment building
• hear an aspiring young composer's masterpiece as it's being written
• wear a different designer dress every day (but only because it's expected of her)
• investigate a dog's death
• expertly warm brandy in a snifter
• spy on the world's most interesting neighbors from a courtyard apartment window
• break into a suspected murderer's apartment
• steal jewelry
• get arrested
• carry an insanely small, yet practical, overnight bag
• prove the importance and value of "female intuition"

Not bad for two hours, right?

Not to be bested, there's also Melanie Daniels, the leading lady in The Birds, played by Tippi Hedren. (Full disclosure: my car - a green VW Beetle - is named Tippi). Her list is no less impressive:

• pretend to be a saleslady in a bird shop
• be gossiped about in newspapers and tabloids
• have witty banter with Rod Taylor
• wear the exact same green suit for days on end and still look fabulous
• drive far too fast along the California coast
• sneak into another character's house to play a prank
• save an entire schoolhouse of children from vicious birds
• be accused of witchcraft
• smack someone right across the face
• have a complete nervous breakdown
• win over Rod Taylor (and his mother)
• have a wealthy father and a tragic backstory
• prove she's made of far tougher stuff than anyone had imagined

Again, not too shabby for a quick trip out to Bodega Bay.

Tell me, Film Fans, did I get everything, or have I forgotten something? Comment and let me know. Better yet, head on out to The Blue Starlite on September 28th (grab your tickets here) and take good notes - I'll be waiting to hear back from you.

I Heart Alfred

Join us for Hitchcock week, September 10 - 12 at the Blue Starlite!

The films of Alfred Hitchcock were my first exposure to truly great film.

Sure, I grew up with the likes of Beauty and the Beast, Jurassic Park and other modern classics, which are great in their own right, and I watched long-time favorites like The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music every time they aired on TV starting at a very young age, but it was Hitchcock who turned me from a kid who really liked movies to a budding young film enthusiast.

For a while when I was in high school, the AMC network played a different Hitchcock film (or several) every Sunday evening.  And so it became a tradition - homework, family time, Hitchcock.

Prior to that I was a little scared of Hitchcock films, thinking they were all horror films (which, in the mind of a 14-year-old, meant they were slasher flicks).   So I was wonderfully surprised when they were more suspenseful than scary, meaning more of this…

than this…

I marveled at Hitchcock’s masterful storytelling as well as the remarkable clarity of the film quality, as viewed on a pre-HD television.  His work was so striking that I started to recognize it when flipping through channels; even if I didn’t know it was a Hitchcock film, I still knew it was a Hitchcock film.  Recognizing an artist’s work based on its style was an entirely new experience for me. Not only that but I was excited to watch a movie without commercial interruptions (we weren't an HBO or a Disney Channel household).

I seem to recall my Hitchcock phase being relatively short-lived.  Some months later I tuned in one Sunday night to find a non-Hitchcock film playing (this was long before Sunday Night Mad Men), but during that time I took in The Birds, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 and the 1934 versions), Vertigo, Rear Window, Rope, and most of Psycho, among others.

Most of these films I haven't seen since those high school-aged viewings, so it's with great excitement - and a little nostalgia - that I invite you to join us for screenings of Rear Window, Psycho, and The Birds in various double feature combinations this Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at the Blue Starlite.  You can get your tickets here.

In closing, I leave you with Alfred Hitchcock riding a magic carpet, while rocking a pretty great scarf.  Because why not?

Darkmanfilmgeek out of the darkness

Hi All,

Thanks again for stopping by and checking out what I have to say this week. Sorry I missed everybody last week, sometimes life gets in the way, I will try to do better in the future. Blue Starlight is doing an excellent job and providing great programming for all of your film needs.

I thought I would mention quickly that Revenge of the Nerds is probably one of my favorite 80's comedies and the effects of this film is still felt today. Today it is actually fashionable to be nerd and the 2 main leads Robert Caradine and Curtis Armstrong host the new reality competition show King of the Nerds and does pretty well for TBS. Of course this movie launched the career of Anthony Edwards who would end up in Top Gun and the long running tv show ER. Check out a comedy he did shortly after Nerds called, How I Got Into College. It cool to see this movie now that you have gone through trying to get into college and has a brief appearance by Armstrong as well and from the maker of Better Off Dead.  Final note on Nerds, Fox tried to get a remake going a couple of years ago and even had posters and whole marketing strategy during spring break. But the daily reels going back to the studio were so bad that the studio pulled the plug on the remake and just as well. This is another 80's film that does not need to be remade, but if the studio hated the footage that badly you know it has to be bad.

Ok now on to one of my favorite subjects Raiders of the Lost Arc and the Indiana Jones films in general. Raiders is one of my favorite films of all time and for good reason. This film has action, romance, adventure and horror. I feel this is the film that I realized I wanted to go into the exhibition industry and is truly one of the films that I will watch at any time it is on, even with commercials. Spielberg was a fan of the 1940 and 50's cliffhanger serials that would be played at local movie houses before a film. It was not uncommon to see the latest chapter for Flash Gordon or Dick Tracy before you saw the feature of the day and Raiders definitely captures that spirit but all in a 2 hour time frame so you dont have to wait from week to week. Spielberg was coming off a failure of the film 1941, but I really like it, was looking to capture the magic he had again with Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Spielberg along with George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan came up with the script for what they thought would be the ultimate action adventure film. Kasdan would go on to make movies like The Big Chill and one of my favorite westerns Silverado. The shoot was intense with many locations across the globe and Paramount was unsure if this was going to payoff for them. Also their main star, Harrison Ford, was not the household name it is now. Problems on the set added to the studios nervousness of the film. I remember seeing a making of special on TV where during the well of souls sequence some the snakes used actually were not afraid of fire and created problems during filming and of course the plexiglass which we all see in the sequence as well but I think it adds to the charm of the movie. Also there was a train sequence in the original shooting script that was supposed to happen after the caravan sequence when the arc is taken out of the desert, but due to time constraints and budget it just could not become a reality to the movie. The wrath of God sequence is still a beautiful sequence in its brutality. The part of the film I think is what started me wanting to watch horror films and got me interested in make up special effects, which seems to be a dying art form now thanks to cg.

Not only is this a great movie and doesnt get old over time, its one of the best part of my childhood and life. I remember seeing this movie first with my father at the Showcase Cinemas in Pittsburgh, Pa.  I was on a visit because my parents were seperated and it was the first thing I wanted to do on the visit and my father wanted an excuse to go see it again. I remember him thinking I might be scared a bit by it but I prepared myself by reading a copy of Newsweek at the time that had a huge story on the special effects and stunts so I knew what I was getting into. When the wrath of God sequence started my dad asked me if I was going to be ok and put his hand on my knee, besides I was only 11 when this film came out but I remember as horrifying as the scene was I couldnt look away either. The good thing about having divorced parents in the 80's was I got to normally see movies twice, once with mom and the second time with dad or vica versa depending on who got to me first.  Second time I saw this film was with my mother at a drive in and the feature that it was playing with was The Road Warrior, talk about a night of action and adventure. It still is one of the best times I had with my mom before she passed away. I got my love of movie and music from her and I hopefully get to pass that on to my son.

Now onto Temple of Doom. It was now 1984, three years since Raiders and there was no action adventure movie that even came close to Raiders. The main hype to Doom was the graphic scenes of violence that were portrayed in the movie or at least that is what I heard on the news. This was released memorial day weekend that year and I think this started the trend of the big movies coming out for the holiday and the unofficial start of summer. So I was determined to go see it, not to mention it was the sequel to my favorite movie. I got off school early that friday and went with a couple of my friends and hopped a bus into the wilds of downtown Pittsburgh to go to the Fulton Twin, which at the time was the grindhouse theater in Pittsburgh and it did not have a great reputation. So we felt we were cool going to what may have been considered a little dangerous for 1984, and 3 teenage boys in Pittsburgh. We waited on line and got in but the theater was packed and of course the other screen at the time was some God awful horror film that we thought about sneaking into after Doom.  Doom also started the crusade by the MPAA for a stronger rating something in between R and PG and this is how the PG13 rating came about, although it would not be until Red Dawn that a film would actually get this rating.  With scenes of human sacrifice and crocodiles eating people my friends and I wondered how the horror film on the other screen could be worse than what we were watching.

No doubt this series has had an impact on pop culture and launced the career of Harrison Ford. This series is often imitated like King Solomons Mines, but never duplicated. I could go on and on about this but I know you have better things to do with your time. As an added bonus, I will be at the drive in Saturday night to introduce the movie. I hope to see everyone there and look forward to talking to everyone.

Peace, Love and movies,
Andy 

Finish it! Watch it again!

Prepare to Fight! again, and join us for a screening of  "Mortal Kombat" (1995), along  with
"Super Mario Bros."(1993) this Friday at Blue Starlite.

For  fanboys,  a film adaptation of a video game can be more strenuous to power  through than  a difficult level of the  game itself.  This includes myself and my  initial,  snobbish  thought that "they are going to ruin it."

It's easy  for such a film to  jump short  right off  the  digital cliff and  into the never-ending realm of fandom ridicule.

Why no,  "Double Dragon" movie,  I  totally don't mean  mean you.

A based-on -the-video-game is  pretty much a  loosely-based-on film because there is a narrow amount of material to go off of. Even with the inclusions of the digital hero's unique  outfit, signature noises of action and distinct  battle locations,  a based-on-the-video-game movie can  be made with too much creative license  that  it leads  to an unforgivable  contrived storyline.

Yet, "Mortal Kombat " the movie didn't  ask us  to play ignorant to the beloved game; it amplified it.

The story was as simple as that of the  game, keeping the battle of good vs. evil entertaining and spirited.  The movie made plenty of room to pay  homage to its source material.  It came with  surrealistically translated sets, shot with video-game POV finesse. It had a  pulsing  90s techno-elite soundtrack, including that infectious re-working of the theme song. 
The casting came with a  go-for-cheeky bunch: Christopher Lambert. who served up Raiden  with a hefty helping of hammy  and cheesy panache; Kano, who was serious and Japanese-American in the game, but wonderfully sleazy and Australian in the film;  Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, with her tough and sassy Sonya; the overconfident, animatronics -wonder Goro. 

The movie may have lacked excessively bloody violence in which the  game was infamous for and  ultimately slapped with a Mature rating during the early days of  the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

Fatality?!  Not so much.

"Mortal Kombat"  the movie is self aware that it came from a video game about  an over-the-top  blood-fest brawl , and it's self aware of being pure camp.