AMERICA LOST AND FOUND: THE BBS STORY Blu Ray Review Part 1

If I had to choose a favourite era of American Film it would have to be the late sixties through the seventies. It was of course, a time of transition for movies and America as a whole. Confused and out of touch film executives found themselves with no choice but to put their faith in a new generation of artists if they hoped to remain viable. This gave birth to new contemporary cinema inspired by the great auteurs of Europe to be both personally and politically radical. For a brief time, the director was king and the mandate was to create great art, not just great box-office (although that was and always will be a factor).

Amongst this new found talent were producer Bert Schneider and producer/director Bob Rafelson who joined with the more experienced Steve Blauner in 1968 to form BBS productions. Rafelson and Schneider had scored with "The Monkees" TV show and it was this success that provided the momentum for them to form their own company. Over the next few years BBS would produce only seven films and the folks at Criterion have been ambitious enough to collect them all into one remarkable box-set. The films range from iconic classics to dated curiosities but all are worth at least a viewing.

The title of this post is a bit misleading. The set, which I purchased on Blu Ray, includes many worthwhile extras and I will be mentioning a few of them but overall this will be a discussion of the films, not the discs.

So without further rambling, The BBS Story.

HEAD   (1968)

In what must have seemed a no-brainer the first film Rafelson/Schneider produced was a vehicle for The Monkees that Rafelson would direct as his first feature film. Rafelson wrote the script with an actor friend of his who'd been kicking around Hollywood for a while with little success named Jack Nicholson. For those who might not know, The Monkees were an ersatz pop band created for a TV show intended to cash in on The Beatles and their success in such film as "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help". The members were Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz, all likable young men and the show was surprisingly fun and creative and quite popular. The studio bosses must have been very happy at the prospect of a fun, frothy romp aimed at the lucrative youth market, particularly teenage girls. How shocked they must have been!

What they received was a genuinely subversive piece of free form psychedelia in which the members of The Monkees mocked themselves and their prefabricated celebrity in a series of stream of consciousness sketches. These included movie parody, commercial satire and fourth wall breaking non-sequiters tied together with some surprisingly strong music. Bizarre cameos include, Annette Funicello, Sonny Liston, wild man character actor Timothy Carey, blink-and-you'll-miss-them shots of Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper and Hollywood veteran Victor Mature as a kind of tanned, greasy haired god figure.

Needless to say, the film baffled studio execs and alienated it's intended audience. It exists today as a cult film and a genuine relic of it's era. So is it still worth watching? I would give it a qualified yes. As I stated before, it is an act of subversion and a much more radical piece of film than ever could have been expected of a Monkees vehicle. The members of the band equate themselves well, gleefully torpedoing their squeaky clean carefully marketed images and the songs, while dated, are quite listenable, written by the likes of Carole King and Harry Nilsson. The problem is it's not funny. This sort of loose collection of satirical and absurdist scenes would succeed wonderfully for artists as diverse as Luis Bunuel and the members of Monty Python but here it falls flat. The overall tone of "Head" is bitter and pretentious with no real joy or anarchic revelry.

An interesting cultural artifact with several reasons to recommend it "Head" is too inconsistent to be called a success. However, it did establish Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider as fearless young talent with a taste for pushing the boundaries of American film both thematically and aesthetically. Their next film would change everything.

EASY RIDER  (1969)

Well you've all heard of "Easy Rider". It's one of the most important and influential films ever made. It's success led the way for a new cinema in America, a radical and politically committed cinema that spoke to a generation that old Hollywood could not and would not even try to understand. It mainstreamed methods and techniques inspired by the European art cinema of the day. It was a brave, original work of art that challenged and blew away all pre-conceieved notions of what a hit film had to be.
Why then, have I never been able to completely embrace it?

First things first. "Easy Rider" starred and was conceived by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. They wrote the screenplay with some assistance from the great Terry Southern (who provided the title) and Hopper directed. It told the story of Wyatt (also known as Captain America) and Billy, a couple of bikers who, after making a big drug score, take a  road trip across the southwestern united states on their tricked out motorcycles. Along the way they have positive encounters with simple working people, hippies, artists and various other counterculture figures along with experiencing violent hatred and prejudice from small town bigots and rednecks.

The film was originally intended as a project for Roger Corman's AIP, where both actors had already scored some success with biker or drug films intended for the drive-in circuit. When Corman passed (one of the few times his commercial instincts failed him) it was snatched up by BBC who would produce with Columbia Pictures distributing. It was produced for a budget of around 400 thousand dollars and grossed in it's first run almost 20 million.

There is much to admire about "Easy Rider". The cinematography by Laszlo Kovacs is stunning. Virtuoso camera operation (often from a moving vehicle) combined with flawless composition gives the film a suitably iconic look and feel. The soundtrack is full of great songs by the likes of Steppenwolf, The Byrds, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan all utilized for maximum effect. It's perhaps the first mainstream film to directly portray the American counterculture of the time and at least try to understand where it was coming from. The acting is mostly hit and miss (more about that later) but it does contain at least one great star making performance from Jack Nicholson as small town lawyer George Hanson, who joins our heroes on the road. This is the birth of the Nicholson we all know and should love, sly, funny, charismatic, eccentric and perceptive. I think I'm right in saying that he's the character that most who watch the film can most successfully identify with. I know when I watch "Easy Rider" he's aways the part of the film I enjoy the most.
Getting back to my earlier question though, why don't I like this film all that much?

Here's the thing, I think I've stated pretty clearly what's good about the film and why it's important. None of this however, changes the fact that this is a haphazardly conceived film that dates very badly. The screenplay, such as it is, was largely improvised by the actors while stoned and it sounds like it, being often tedious and nonsensical, especially when they're trying to be profound. Neither main character is particularly interesting, Fonda says almost nothing while Hopper chatters continually somehow managing to say even less. The fact that the bikers are unashamedly portrayed as drug dealers is kind of brave on one level but plays into conservative stereotypes that link the counterculture inextricably with drug culture. The few female characters are vapid and readily available for casual sex confirming yet another negative stereotype, the "easy" hippie chick. The film makes a big deal about Fonda's character throwing away his watch symbolising their freedom even from time itself, but the Hopper character is constantly harping on the fact that they only have a few days to get to New Orleans fro Mardi Gars. Once they get to Mardi Gras we have to endure an unwatchable "acid trip" scene that's dull, pretentious and laughable at the same time. Lastly and most importantly, other than a disdain for the crudest forms of prejudice, this film has, despite it's reputation, zero political content. That needn't be a problem but this film was clearly meant to be a political statement of some kind. Beyond, "rednecks suck and hippies are incompetent" I have no idea what that could be.

Okay, perhaps I'm being too harsh. The fact is, the runaway success of "Easy Rider" was instrumental in ushering in this period of cinema I love so much. For that, at least, I will always be grateful and appreciative of Fonda, Hopper and BBS's achievement.

Next: BBS has it's first masterpiece, plus two minorpieces.

THOR, MUTHUF*CKA!

The book shown above was published in 1976 when I was _ years old and was my favourite comic book for a long time. I'm sure I must have read and reread it until the cover fell off and well afterwards. It was one of a series of huge over-sized re-print volumes marvel released at the time (I had an F.F. one as well) so the splash pages were way bigger than my head, all the better to enjoy the genius of Jack Kirby. If you've never experienced the work of the King in his prime you're really missing out. The bold graphics pop with detail and pulse with an energy unmatched before and rarely equalled after. I'm talking about pages like this:

or this:

See what I mean?
Anyway, the point I'm taking the long way to get around to is this. If I thought for a moment that Kenneth Branagh's "Thor" film was going to come anywhere near the epic epicness (that's a word if I say it is) of these comic book pages, I would have been much more excited these past few months.
Well, now I've seen the film, 3D and all,  and I'm happy to say that it may not quite be Kirby but it manages to come a lot closer than I would have thought.

The early scenes of "Thor" will be the real test to separate the long term from the casual fan. To his credit Branagh, his designers and his special effects team have actually managed to create a world combining sparkling  mythical grandeur with the over the top pop-kitsch sensibility of a golden age marvel comic.You will either find this all incredibly silly or kind of thrilling. I chose to channel my younger self who so loved that above mentioned comic book and be thrilled by the silliness of it all. If you're able to do the same, you should enjoy "Thor".

The film's story is pretty rudimentary and suffers from what I call "origin-itus". It's mostly set up with not as much pay off as I would have liked. However, it does echo Stan Lee's original concept. Thor the Asgardian god of thunder is sent to earth (or "Midgard") to learn humility and inadvertently becomes a super-hero. Along the way he falls for a human woman (Natalie Portman) encounters S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and has to deal with the treachery of his brother Loki. Despite being plot and exposition heavy it moves at a good pace and certainly delivers on a summer blockbuster level.

The cast is very good. Chris Hemsworth is a terrific hero, as good at fish out of water comedy as heroics, Anthony Hopkins is a fine Odin, although he's not exactly tested by the role and Tom Hiddleston is very strong as Loki, arguably the most interesting character in the film, a villain with complex motives for his actions. On the human side Stellan Skarsgaard, Kat Dennings and Natalie Portman are all good in, again, non-demanding roles. I know a lot of this sounds like faint praise but they are all very likable. If the film gets a sequel, it would be nice to see the characters developed further.

So I admit that "Thor" is not a home run like the first "Iron Man" or the second "Spider-Man" film but it should please fans of the character (like me) and entertain summer audiences. I wasn't blown away, but I did smile throughout, and that'll do.

Oh, one more thing. DO NOT SEE "THOR" IN 3D!! It's a conversion so it frequently looks flat and (ironically) two-dimensional. Also, some of the best action sequences take place in a dimly lit environment, which would have been okay except that they are made even more dim by those damn glasses. I cannot emphasize this enough. Do not support bad 3D!

Thanks.

Kill your own f*cking television! Vol. 1

I admit it, I watch too much television. As a society we watch too much television. Television has, in many ways, had a pernicious influence on the way we live, what we believe and even how we think. That being said, do you realize how much really great work is being produced for TV these days? We're in a golden age of storytelling the like of which has not been seen since the early days of live broadcasting.

Of course you wouldn't guess it looking at the antiquated rating system currently dominated by mediocre sitcoms, boring police procedurals and so-called "reality" shows. It's this crap (combined with the shallow circus tactics of 24 hour cable news) that still makes it easy for lazy cultural commentators to smugly dismiss television as a vapid wasteland for non-thinkers. Well, if you think that, you're not paying attention, and haven't been for some time.

The cable boom has produced, since the late nineties up to the present, a meteoric rise in the quality of scripted programming that has even had an effect on the networks, forcing them to at least occasionally, take a chance on something risky. HBO would be the primary leader with shows like "Six Feet Under", "Deadwood", the magnificent "The Wire" and of course "The Sopranos", each one innovative, challenging and original in it's own way and in the case of "The Sopranos" a genuine cultural phenomenon. Of course, other cable networks took the hint with shows like "The Shield" (FX) or"Battlestar Galactica" (Sci-Fi) and even the networks produced some quality innovative programming like "Arrested Development" (Fox) or (whatever you think of it) "Lost" (ABC).

The good news is, the trend continues, and what I want to do with this series of posts is celebrate what I think are some of the best shows currently in production. Some of them are already very popular and don't really need any help from me, but I'd like to talk about them anyway. Originally,  I was going to write one big mega-post covering all my favourites but instead, I'm only going to take them on one at a time, the better to focus my energies. Hopefully this will be a regular feature of this blog. Anyway, the first show I want to discuss is:

TREME

Complex, angry, heartbreaking and beautiful there is nothing else like "Treme" anywhere on tv or, sadly, in the movies. Producer David Simon had a hard act to follow with "The Wire" and along with co-creator Eric Overmeyer I think he's come up with a more than worthy successor. Like "The Wire" this is a multi-character and storyline drama that attempts to paint a portrait of an entire city. On "The Wire" it was Baltimore on "Treme" it is post-Katrina New Orleans, a city and a culture almost eradicated by a combination of natural disaster, governmental incompetence and national indifference.

Although, similar in structure to "The Wire", "Treme" lacks the central crime procedural element, focusing instead on the character's relationships to the city itself and their efforts to rebuild their lives. To portray this, the producers have assembled one of the best casts in the history of the medium. There's Khandi Alexander as bar owner Ladonna, torn between the city she loves and her new family in Baton Rouge, "Wire" veteran and New Orleans native Wendell Pierce as her ex-husband Antione a talented but at best semi-employed musician,  Oscar winner Melissa Leo as Toni, a lawyer at odds with New Orleans authority, John Goodman as her husband Creighton a college professor raging against government indifference, Kim Dickens as Jeannette, a struggling chef, Steve Zahn as Davis, her sometimes boyfriend, a part-time musician/ex DJ equal parts charming and deeply irritating, Michiel Huisman and Luicia Micarelli as street musicians Sonny and Annie (the least interesting characters on the show I'm afraid), Rob Brown as Delmond, a successful jazz trumpeter drawn back to his hometown despite his best efforts and another "Wire" vet Clarke Peters as his father "Big Chief" Albert Lambreaux the leader of a tribe of Mardi Gras Indians determined to maintain that tradition at all costs.

If any character is the symbolic heart of the series it's Albert Lambreaux, a proud, severe and stubborn man struggling to preserve the culture that defines him. Mardi Gras Indians, if you don't know, are groups (tribes) of African Americans (until recently entirely men) who dress up and parade in elaborate costumes inspired by, and in tribute to, the historical connection between Native Americans and escaped slaves. Actually as you can see from this picture of Clarke Peters in full costume, elaborate is an understatement.

The reason this seemingly strange tradition is so vitally important to this man is never articulated verbally but is apparent nonetheless in the palpable sense of history and community he and his tribe possess. It is precisely this sense of history and particularly community that defines this series as a whole. Whereas "The Wire" was primarily concerned with crime and politics, "Treme" is all about the culture.

There is more than enough sadness and pain to go around in "Treme", and it is often heartbreaking, but never depressing because alongside all the suffering is an equal amount of pride, defiance and pure unadulterated joy. No TV show known to me is as alive as "Treme" as it dives into all the aspects of New Orleans culture that make it unlike any other city in the U.S., or the world for that matter. It's all there, the food, the crumbling but still beautiful architecture, the racial diversity, the breathtaking Mardi Gras Indians and most especially the music. Traditional and modern Jazz, Cajun  & Creole, Country, Blues, Brass Band and a uniquely New Orleans form of Hip Hop known as Bounce all are all thrillingly presented (and mostly recorded live) and make "Treme" the most spectacularly musical show on TV. This alone is enough for a highest recommendation.

I will say, if you decide to give "Treme" a try be prepared to give it at least three episodes. This is a show more concerned with character and setting than plot. The story is there but it emerges gradually, like a novel or a classic Robert Altman film. If you have the patience for it, this is the most rewarding series currently being produced for American television, and that's saying a lot.

Well I hope that inspires somebody out there to give "Treme" a look.
I think the next show in this series of posts will either be FX's "Louie" or the new "Doctor Who". Until then, kill your own fucking television!
I need mine to watch "Treme".

Mom

I lost my Mother very suddenly. I was awoken early on a Sunday morning (sick as a dog with stomach flu) with news of her heart attack and by the time I went to sleep that night she was gone. I wasn't able to say"good bye" or "I love you" or to tell her any of the things I wanted to that day. It didn't seem real and it still doesn't.

When my 14 year old cat died I could cry freely and then move on, that was just a pet. In the days following my Mother's passing, I shed tears but fewer than I would have thought. There was too much to do, too many other people to deal with and besides I never wanted to move on. I still don't.

I'm not talking about some morbid denial of the facts, I'm talking about something positive and sustaining. My Mother remains a real presence in my life and will until the day I die. My life and how I live it are expressions of my upbringing. How could they not be? I'm trying to avoid platitudes here, but I am the man I am today because I grew up never doubting for a moment that I was loved.

It's easy, and entirely appropriate, to say "I Love You" on Mother's Day and I certainly would if I could. In retrospect, however, the thing I wish I'd said more often is "Thank You".  To any of you out there who still have the opportunity to say this, do so today.
For that matter, say it as often as you can.

Thank you Mom.

STUFF THAT DOESN'T SUCK VOL. 2

The wait is over, the oft delayed, never requested second volume of  STUFF THAT DOESN'T SUCK is here! Anyway, here's some good stuff I''ve been digging lately.

JONATHAN COULTON

As a rule, I can give or take comedy singer/songwriters, so despite endorsements from the likes of Neil Gaiman and John Hodgman, it took me a while to get around to sampling geek troubadour Jonathan Coulton. I watched a (poorly animated) youtube video of his semi-autobiographical song "Code Monkey" and thought it was pretty good but wasn't blown away. However, as days went by I frequently found myself humming the tune and decided he deserved a closer look. A month later I have 20 of his songs on my ipod. That's more than The Rolling Stones.
For those unfamiliar, Coulton is a former computer programmer who left his job to concentrate on his music and has become a genuine Internet sensation. The subject matter of his songs leans towards the geeky, lots of sci-fi and other pop-culture subjects, so I admit I'm inclined to find him interesting, but that's not to suggest that he's a novelty, or even a niche, performer. His lyrics are always insanely clever, but also insightful and, as often as not, emotionally poignant. The melodies are simple, elegant and hard to resist. If he has any precedents, I would say he leans more towards They Might Be Giants or early Bare Naked Ladies rather than someone like Weird Al, for example.
Some of his best tunes include, the afore mentioned "Code Monkey",ostensibly about a disgruntled programmer but really a profound statement of loneliness and dissatisfaction, "Skullcrusher Mountain", a moving story of unrequited love from the POV of a super villain, "Mandelbrot Set", a rocker about fractal geometry, "Shop Vac" a scathing indictment of the suburbs with a catchy Beatle-esque chorus, and "Ikea" about....well you can guess, and perhaps my favourite "Re: Your Brains" sung by a zombie but really more about the syntax of business speech than brain eating. I also recommend, "The Future Soon", "I Crush Everything", "That Spells DNA" and "Chiron Beta Prime".
Funny, astute, eloquent and crazy smart, this man is no novelty artist.

WTF with MARC MARON

I could, and probably will sometime, devote an entire post to my addiction to comedy podcasts. For know, however, I think I'll stick to my current favourite, "What the Fuck" hosted by Marc Maron. Mercurial, cerebral, occasionally aggressive and admittedly self-absorbed Marc Maron is a veteran stand-up comic with a lot of friends and acquaintances in the industry, and therefore a seemingly endless supply of fascinating interview subjects. However, Maron's "complicated" personality and his need to dig deep into what makes himself and his friends tick, prevents WTF from becoming a dull, self-congratulatory exercise in mutual admiration. The interviews are, of course, frequently hilarious but also a bit confrontational, often confessional and always (ALWAYS) interesting.
Some of the best include, a two part conversation with Louis C.K. which is as much about healing the rift in their friendship as it is about Louis' career, a drop dead funny, but slightly contentious chat with Patton Oswalt, illuminating interviews with the likes of Sarah Silverman, Dave Attell, Maria Bamford and Joe Rogan and a really good recent show featuring Conan O'Brian at his sharpest and most outspoken.
I'd particularly like to single out three interviews with comics who, I confess I do not like or respect, but still proved to be compelling interview subjects. In a two part interview with notorious joke stealer Carlos Mencia, we're introduced to a man who is clearly a bully and a blowhard but also deeply insecure and filled with self-loathing. Maron's conversation with legendary 80's hack Gallagher, which ends with an abrupt walk out, exposed just what a shallow bitter failure he (Gallagher) is as both a comic and a human being. Finally his interview with Dane Cook (Dane Cook!) was surprisingly engaging and articulate and left me still not a fan of his comedy but with a new found respect for his professionalism and work ethic.
So, if you're at all interested in the art, business and craft of comedy this is a must listen, but even if you aren't particularly, this is still a series of unique and penetrating interviews with interesting people. As for me, I always have at least two episodes on my iPod.

MOTHER LONDON

This book has been something of a holy grail for me the last few years. I'm a longtime admirer of Michael Moorcock's fantasy/sci-fi work, in particular, the brooding Elric stories and the trippy adventures of Jerry Cornelius, but I'd always been curious to read "Mother London". A complex "literary" novel championed by the likes of Peter Ackroyd, Iain Sinclair and Alan Moore, this book is often cited as Moorcock's masterpiece and, frustratingly, has been out of print in North America for years.Well, browsing in a second hand book store last month, I was delighted to come across the trade paperback edition pictured above, in excellent readable condition. Happy to report the book was not a disappointment, of anything it surpassed expectation.
"Mother London" is an intricate and eloquent portrait of the city of London from the Blitz through the 1980's, told from the point of view of three main characters, coma survivor Mary Gasalee, writer David Mummery and magisterial dance hall performer Josef Kiss. All three are wonderful complex people whose unique abilities and points of view provide the richest possible canvas for Moorcock's profoundly  humanistic vision of a great city and her people.
I will say however, this is not really a novel for readers who demand a strong sustained narrative. This is more a series of character driven vignettes with a complex shifting time line. Certainly, the narrative is there but it is a simple and elegant one that only emerges gradually. I wouldn't call this book a difficult read, not a showcase for affected or ornate language certainly, but it does require patience due to it's lack of a conventional plot. If you have this patience you'll find "Mother London" a rewarding and moving experience.
I think this is one of the great unsung and under appreciated English novels of the last half century.

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN (and why it matters)

Just recently I was decrying what I called the blandness of current Canadian culture which, it seems to me, is primarily driven by gentility and political correctness ("Trailer Park Boys" not withstanding). In particular,  I was observing that it had been a long time since I'd seen a Canadian film with any balls that wasn't directed by David Cronenberg. For the record, I'm a huge fan of Guy Maddin as well, but his films are so unique and singular they seem to exist in an artistic universe entirely of his own making. What I'm really talking about is genre cinema, the more violent and edgy, the better. Well, I guess somebody heard me because here comes Jason Eisener's "Hobo With a Shotgun" to blow away the usual gutless complacency with a shot of pure exploitation.

The film originated as a contest winning mock trailer, shown with Canadian screenings of the Tarantino/Rodriguez double bill pastiche "Grindhouse". As one of the few who bothered to see "Grindhouse" on it's first release, I was lucky enough to catch the "Hobo..." trailer and it's well worth a look. I think I would have enjoyed it anyway but I was especially tickled to note that this contest winning trailer was shot in my hometown of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Not what you expect when you come to see the newest Tarantino offering. When I heard it was being developed as a feature, I was at best marginally interested, even after Rutger Hauer (of whom I am a huge fan) had been cast in the lead. Seemed kind of cool, but nothing to get too excited about.

Well, wrong was me. "Hobo with a Shotgun" is tasteless,  blood-soaked, indefensibly ugly in every sense of the word and the most entertaining film I've seen so far on 2011. There seems little point in dwelling on the plot. Nameless hobo enters corrupt city run by an insane criminal called "The Drake" and his loathsome sons, sees enough, snaps and  picks up a shotgun. The mayhem escalates quickly until a bizarre, and seemingly unstoppable pair of mercenary killers called "The Plague" are called in to take the hobo down. (I was particularly taken with "The Plague" as they could have stepped right out of a Mad Max film. I mean, that's just cool.)

So what we have here is an ultra-violent, revenge driven cartoon with equal parts 70's vigilante movie and 80's gore show. Think "Taxi Driver" meets "The Toxic Avenger" and you'd be on the right track. The visual style is consistently interesting and exciting, textured and grimy but bathed in saturated colour recalling Dario Argento's seminal Italian horror classic "Suspiria". I grew up in the cities where this movie was shot and I barely recognized them (except for a few obvious landmarks) so complete was the horrific little world they created. It's too early to say what kind of career director Jason Eisener will have but I can tell you, he's a talented young man who, whatever the pulpiness of his subject matter, already shows a sophisticated grasp of film technique. The violence and action is shot and edited with greater clarity than most of today's big budget Hollywood films. That sounds like hyperbole, but I assure you, it is not.

The cast is a solid collection of good local actors (including a cameo by Rob Wells of "Trailer Park Boys"), but needless to say, Rutger Hauer looms large over the proceedings. I've been a fan of his since "Nighthawks" (81), and "Blade Runner" is one of my favourite films so I'm always glad to see him and it's great to see back him in a lead role. The hobo isn't much of a character on paper but Hauer invests him with all the grizzled intensity at his command. Even dirty and ragged he remains a riveting screen presence. I never dreamed that the man who played Roy Batty and The Hitcher would ever be kicking ass and wasting scumbags on the streets of my home town. Gotta love the movies.

So, as you can see, I'm enthusiastic about the movie, really the last time I enjoyed a purely Canadian genre film this much was "Ginger Snaps" (2000). Admittedly "Hobo With a Shotgun" is not for everybody but, for someone like myself who has a love for all kinds of movies, including a deep affection for exploitation cinema, it's a great time. More than that though, this movie, despite it's extremity, is a step in the right direction for Canadian movies. I come down pretty hard on our film industry sometimes, but that doesn't mean there aren't Canadian films and filmmakers I love. Of course there are. What I can't stand is how anemic our film industry and culture is overall. Too much of our national film production depends on government funding, and, more often than not, that leads to safe, officially approved subject matter.  This was not always the case. There is a history of tax credits being used for edgy subjects, most famously David Croneberg's feature debut "Shivers" (aka 'The Parasite Murders'). This nasty little horror gem, about the residents of an ultra-modern apartment block being driven to sexual madness by a venereal parasite, caused a lot of controversy when released, but it kick-started the career of the artist I consider our greatest filmmaker. We need some more of this and maybe "Hobo With a Shotgun" will lead the way. Frankly, I doubt it, but one can hope.

B MOVIES & BRITCOMS

Hello there, sorry for my long absence. It's been a bit of a stressful month for reasons which I am ABSOLUTELY NOT going to go into here. Still not certain what this blog is, but it sure as hell isn't a forum for me to bitch and whine about my silly first world, middle-class white guy problems. So don't ask, 'kay? (Well for those of you who actually know me I will say it has nothing to do with my marriage, which as far as I know couldn't be better. My wife is awesome.)

Aaaaaanyway, long story short, I've been distracted and restless and completely unable to finish any blog posts I started. I have three saved drafts that range from almost finished to barely a third done but I'm putting them aside to talk about what I've been watching the last 3 weeks plus.  For the record I don't really care for the idea of "comfort" or "therapy" films but I do find in times of stress that I do tend to gravitate towards certain subject matter. You can probably guess where I'm going from the title of this post.

B MOVIES

I do not use the term"b-movie" as a pejorative, it's simply a short hand term for certain kinds of films, usually horror or sci-fi, which were made quickly and with a relatively low budget. Not only do I not look down on this kind of cinema, I find it to be absolutely vital, generally filled with more guts and imagination than your more traditional "classic" cinema. I like vintage low budget horror like Hammer or Roger Corman, the grimier 70's "grindhouse" style as well as such oddities as Japanese giant monster films, spaghetti westerns, Italian "giallo" thrillers, all sorts of stuff.  For whatever reason, I've found most of my movie viewing over the last few weeks has fit broadly into the category of "b-movie" or even "exploitation", so I guess these are, for me at least, "comfort" viewing.
Wonder what that says about me?

So here are some movies I've been watching:

X: THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES

Directed by Roger Corman in 1963, this is an outlandish but surprisingly smart and thoughtful science fiction drama. Ray Milland is a scientist obsessed with improving human eyesight to a point "beyond the visible spectrum" allowing, amongst other things, doctors to give instant diagnosis with out having to perform exploratory operations. Sounds simple enough, I know, so he decides, of course, to experiment on himself. Surprisingly, it all goes terribly wrong.
So, on one level, I suppose, we have the fairly predictable story of a brilliant but disturbed mind who goes too far in the name of science. What's interesting is the way it goes wrong. It becomes apparent that Milland has begun to see too much, implying that his field of vision has penetrated to the very edge of reality itself! Can madness and tragedy be far behind?
Pretty cool stuff for a low budget quickie. Milland's performance is never less than dignified and believable, the script is surprisingly downbeat and serious despite the outrageous premise,and Corman's direction is clean and efficient. Not a great piece of cinema but still worthy of respect and consideration.

A BUCKET OF BLOOD

Another classic (of sorts) from Roger Corman, this time from 1959. A micro-budget black comedy about Walter Paisly a not-too-bright busboy who yearns for acceptance and respect from the beatniks and artists who frequent the cafe where he works. Finally he achieves this with a series of macabre sculptures, and that's all you're getting out of me. A witty script (especially the atrocious beat "poetry") a likeable performance from Dick Miller as Walter and a very brief running time (66 mins.) all help make this an entertaining, if odd, little gem. I wouldn't recommend  going out of your way to find this (unless, like me, you're a Corman admirer) but if you were to come across it on tv, by all means, give it a look.

RAW MEAT (DEATH LINE)

A very strange and interesting British horror film from 1973 which beats "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" by a whole year in it's portrayal of degenerate inbred cannibalism. (A great achievement, I know.) Anyway, seems there's a family of the afore mentioned cannibals that have lived for generations in the London underground and have just now begun to make themselves known. The cop investigating is Donald Pleasance who manages to give a terrific, quirky performance that seems to come out of a completely different, and much wittier film. Also notable is Hugh Armstrong as "The Man" the primary cannibal character. Despite being covered in filth and sores he somehow he manges to convey the humanity of the character, and he does it with only one repeated line, "Mind the door!". Somehow this manges to be kind of moving and, I'm not gonna lie, pretty funny.
Too slack in it's pacing to be a horror classic, but not without interest.

VAMPIRE CIRCUS

A relatively late entry (1972) in the Hammer Studios horror canon and a rather good one. Yes, there is a circus, and there are vampires, also a mute strongman played by David (Darth Vader) Prowse, the requisite creepy dwarf (all circus horror films need at least one) and a surprising amount of gore and nudity. Like all Hammer films it's surprisingly classy and literate one moment, pulpy and over the top in the next. The premise, however, of a town's gradual seduction by a weird circus is consistently interesting and not unlike the great Ray Bradbury story "Something Wicked This Way Comes". I think anybody reading this will know whether this is something that will interest them or not.

IT'S ALIVE

I remember the TV commercial for this, scaring the life out of me when I was 6 years old. Don't know what it was, something about the little claw hand dangling from the wicker baby basket just struck me as intensely creepy. So, here I am many years later and I finally decided to give it a view. First off, it's not particularly scary, although there are a few suspenseful moments. It is however, smarter than you'd expect and takes the central ethical conundrum (what do you do with a dangerous monster that is also, an "innocent" baby?) seriously, while scoring social commentary points about unsafe pharmaceutical practices. I've seen other films by Larry Cohen and they all manage to sneak a surprising amount of satire and political content into even the trashiest material. Kind of an underrated genre filmmaker, I think.

GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE

So, Gamera is this giant flying turtle that shoots fireballs out of it's mouth and he's here to defend us all (but especially Japan) from a giant prehistoric birdlike creature called Gyaos that eats people and shoots some kind of beam, also from it's mouth.  They fight and it's awesome! No...really.

Seriously though, this daikaiju (giant monster) film from 1995 is actually very entertaining, well paced and with good production values.

I've always had a fondness for these films, and this is a particularly good one.

SANTA SANGRE

Okay, this one doesn't really belong with the others. Although it certainly has elements of a horror and exploitation, this is a film by Alejandro Jodorowsky the auteur of El Topo and The Holy Mountain and like those others, it was conceived and intended to be art with a capital "A". Now, I've always been of two minds regarding Jodorowsky's films. I find them fascinating and weirdly compelling but, also, egregiously pretentious and visually repellent. Happily, I can report that with "Santa Sangre" I've finally found a Jodorowsky movie that I can fully embrace. By sticking to a more linear (for him) plot and playing up the genre aspects of the story he's finally given us compelling characters and something like narrative momentum. Ostensibly, this a serial killer thriller with a convoluted back story that I wouldn't dream of spoiling, but on this narrative thread he hangs images as inventive and unforgettable as any ever put on the screen by the likes of David Lynch or Fedrico Fellini.
A bold and unique piece of cinema highly recommended to anyone who enjoys the unusual and the outrageous.

BRITCOMS

So that's it for movies, but I've found over the last month, that I've been indulging another interest of mine, as well. I'm not one of those snobs  who boldly announces that British humour is automatically superior to American. That's simply not true, but it is true that the British are masters of all sorts of comedy and have produced some of the funniest people the world has ever seen. The nineties and the "noughts" proved to be no exception and there was a real flowering of comedy talent in the U.K. and Ireland, most of which has made it's way over her, but not all.
When I wasn't watching strange movies over the last month I was usually watching some kind of comedy from across the pond, mostly on DVD, but some online. I'm going to stick to discussing only what I watched during this period, so unfortunately, although they may be mentioned, there will be no real discussion of "The Office", "The League of Gentlemen" or "Black Books" and of course, I've already written about "The Mighty Boosh" so no need to repeat myself there. So, Britcoms I have been watching include....

SPACED

"The Mighty Boosh" is more imaginative, "Black Books" is (arguably) funnier and "The Office" cuts a lot deeper, but no TV comedy from either side of the Atlantic, elicits the kind of affection I have for "Spaced". Written and created by Jessica Stevenson (now "Hynes") and Simon Pegg as a reaction to glossy American sitcoms about twenty-somethings nobody could possibly identify with (*cough* Friends*cough*), "Spaced' told the story of Tim Bisley and Daisy Steiner, a couple of likeable, even potentially talented, slackers and their small circle of friends. Beginning with the, admittedly lame, sitcom premise of two friends pretending to be a couple to get a cheap London flat, "Spaced" over the course of only 14 episodes created an entire comic universe filled with a geek's dream of film and pop culture references that never seems forced or precious.
The supporting cast of characters is a delight. There's Nick Frost as Mike obsessed with guns and violence but also, kind hearted and childlike, Mark Heap as Brian, the tortured artist who lives in the basement, Katie Carmichael's self-absorbed fashionista, Twist and the brilliant Julia Deacon as Marsha the drunken landlady with hidden depths. With the exception of Twist (who's well played but underdeveloped) all are granted their full measure of humanity by the actors and writers.
However, no matter how great the supporting cast, what really elevates Hynes and Pegg's concept is the bold, cinematic direction of Edgar Wright. TV is a writer's medium and rarely does a director get to assert himself the way Wright does here, with his whip pans, dutch angles and restless camera. His visual style is as much a part of the shows language as the scripts.
However, none of this really explains why I feel such an affinity for this show and it's characters. Basically, I'm kind of a nerd, always have been, and it has been gratifying to see what was once arcane geek culture become so culturally excepted over the last decade or so (actually, I think it's gone too far, but that's a debate for another time). "Spaced" released in Britain in 1999 was at the forefront of this zeitgeist and remains one of it's touchstones. Following the lead of TV shows like "The Simpson's" and movies like "Clerks" it was unabashedly referential and assumed a complex understanding of popular culture in it's intended audience. For instance, nothing, no show or movie has ever milked "Star Wars" for better comic material, so everybody should just stop trying (especially "Family Guy", just please fucking stop!)
So the pop culture angle is one aspect, the other is more subjective. It's just so lovable! Seriously, these characters are all so charming and guileless that it's impossible not to like them. They can be cranky, lazy and difficult, but they never approach mean-spirited. This seems like a little thing but it's getting more and more rare in comedy. Their aspirations (and really this show is all about aspirations) in many ways echo my own at that age and I can't help but identify intensely with what they're going through no matter how silly or unlikely. I'm always sad at the end of the 14th episode but also happy that the show never wore out it's welcome

One last thing (Jesus, I can't stop writing about this show), it's awesome that Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright have continued to do good work together, but I do wish that they could find a project that would include Jessica Hynes. Her sightly more grounded perspective (call it "female" if you must) would be a welcome addition to their always fun but slightly boyish body of work.

LOOK AROUND YOU

Put simply, a series of very convincing but hilariously bizarre mock science films. What could have been merely a clever conceit is turned to comedy gold by the utter perfection of the execution. From the film stock to the supercilious narrator to the slightly shoddy looking laboratory sets and equipment, this is a never less than perfect recreation if the kind of educational film strips we used to be subjected to back in the 1970s (yes I'm that old). Created, written and performed (with others) by Peter Serafinowicz and Robert Popper, "Look Around You" should appeal to anyone who enjoys parody (subtle and otherwise) and can appreciate the outstanding craftsmanship. Definitely not for anyone looking for easy gags.

THE IT CROWD

The most conventional of all the shows listed here but funny is funny. The brainchild of Graham Linehan the co-creator of "Father Ted" and "Black Books" and like those other shows it embraces the multi camera, live studio audience, laugh track style of sitcom, which although somewhat unfashionable, has never gone away. Not my favourite style as a rule, but Linehan's shows really know how to use it.  The cast is small, a three person IT department for a large corporation run by a lunatic and, later, by his idiot son. The characters are not especially deep, but all the players are funny and flesh them out well.  Katherine Parkinson is Jen, the head of the department who is of course, completely computer illiterate and has ambitions to be elsewhere, Chris O'Dowd is Roy, a grumpy Irish slacker constantly frustrated with women and Richard Ayoade is Moss, the hard core tech nerd and, by far, the best character on the show. Ayoade, with his distinct delivery and body language manges to make what is essentially a cliche character into something memorable and unique.Chris Morris played the boss (hilariously) in the first series then left halfway through the second to be replaced by Matt Berry as his son Douglas. Both are funny, but I would argue Berry's character adds more to the show (Morris was, maybe just a bit  TOO crazy).
Much of the humor is based around what you would expect, technology, nerdiness, etc but at it's best the show is unfettered absurdity. If I had to recommend just two episodes one would be "The Work Outing" in which the three find themselves at the gayest gay musical ever conceived, and the second would be "Are We Not Men?" in which Moss and Roy bluff themselves into the company of some dangerous football fans. Both these episodes illustrate why "The IT Crowd" is more interesting than similar American series. Linehan is unafraid to go to for huge comic effects that American audiences would find to weird or silly. Whatever it's aesthetic limitations, this is a laugh out loud funny show.

GARTH MARENGHI'S DARKPLACE

A very silly, but quite sophisticated pastiche of a cheesy 80's supernatural action show. So niche it's a wonder it ever got made, even if it only lasted one series of 6 episodes. The Garth Marenghi of the title is a horror fiction witer/actor played by Matthew Holness who "created' the show we're watching and also introdcuces it, in character. Richard Ayoade , Matt Berry (later of both "The IT Crowd" and "The Mighty Boosh") and Alice Lowe round out the cast playing characters on the show within the show and the actors playing them in talking head interviews spread throughout the episodes.
Confused yet? Okay Lets see if I can explain. Popular horror author Garth Marenghi (Matthew Holness) created "Darkplace" a supernatural drama back in the eighties. The show was not a success, but has gained a cult reputation over the years and Marenghi hosts rebroadcasts of the show interspersed with interviews from himself and other cast members. On "Darkplace" Marenghi played Dr. Rick Dagless MD, a two fisted surgeon and overall man's man who fought supernatural menaces with the help of Dr. Lucien Sanchez (Matt Berry), Dean Lerner (Richard Ayoade) and Liz Asher (Alice Lowe).
The show within a show is pure 80's with a cheesy synth score, bad special effects and big hair on the ladies. The "dialogue" and "acting" are of course painfully bad in a perfectly convincing way. If you haven't guessed already, this is not a show for someone who cannot process irony, but if you can it's not only hilarious but will surely, like 'Look Around You", elicit great admiration for the incredible craftsmanship.

So, okay, that's what I've been up to, at least as far as viewing is concerned and I'll be posting again soon.  I have a movie review I'm going to put up either tonight or tomorrow morning.
Good to be back.