Extolling "Death Proof"

Yesterday, I spoke of my affection for the 50's classic "Executive Suite". Maybe that is only a classic to me, but I'm not about to bend to the feelings of others on this point. There are many films that are like that to me, and many are far more contemporary than that film. Another film which I feel that I must be relatively alone on is Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof". I don't want to have it to myself. I wish everyone loved it, but it is evidently his least loved film.

It was the first film of his that I can think of where he opted to split the film into two self-sufficient stories, and I have not liked it when he has done that since, but in this instance it worked. It was a surprise, being the first time, and I feel the story also warranted it. Perhaps I'm telling something someone reading may not be aware of yet, but the first half of the film concerns a group of women who stumble upon a murderous former stunt driver. The conclusion of that half dispenses with them.

And As

There's something that you see in the opening credits of television shows, or at least it used to be something you saw. I never could understand it really, and still don't entirely. You would be watching a show, and they would list the actors in the order of their prominence. The last name is what would be peculiar. Someone who was not a big name would often be listed last with both their name and that of their character. I never understood that.

I guess that it must be some kind of standard contractual thing. It occurs to me that it was typically an actor who had been around a while. It must be that it's some kind of perk that costs nothing to provide but which means a lot to the performers. I suppose that they must not be able to extend it to everyone, but I don't know why that is either. Maybe the layout of the credits suffers, but as it is the other actors must get jealous or something.

Color

Something that is rather curious to me is the art of colorizing movies, if it can be so called. I recall the story that is told of Orson Welles, who when near death was said to ask only that his films be protected from the intentions of Ted Turner. Turner would have had Welles' movies rendered into color, but it was not to be. This is perhaps as it should be, and yet one cannot help but wonder what might have been if such classics as 'Citizen Kane' and 'The Magnificent Ambersons' were colorized.

There's little subtlety in colorizing a film after the fact. This is something that maybe can't be said about doing the same thing with 3-D. A movie may be the worse off for having been made into 3-D as an afterthought as opposed to having been conceived as such from the start, but it does not wind up being built up into utterly cartoonish dimensions as a result. This is often the case with colorizing, or with any early form of color film prints.

Actoring

Yesterday I finally got to a long-awaited acting gig. It was a modest endeavor, and rather because of the financial footing of the thing than because of the talent level concerned. I felt fortunate to be involved with as many fine performers and other creative types as I was on the occasion, for it is not always the case. I'm not yet some kind of accomplished professional whose keen eye for such projects is rightly admired, but I can say that I was more interested than average in this one.

The script, vigorously protected as it was, was a good one. I certainly do not deny my selfish streak, and the character assigned to me looked to be a fun one. I got the idea that, although I was called on to wear a suit, I was not selected merely because I was known to own one. It was perhaps presumed that I did as it was that the others did, but I trust that I made the cut against other suit-owning actors because of other merits.

The Rep I've Kept

Every once in a while, someone says something which sheds light on the reputation that I possess. I'm always grateful for this, because no amount of deliberately wheedling, begging and interrogating can extract any such information from even my best friends. They seem to think it's weird that I'd want to know what I'm like from their point of view, or at least they don't know how to answer when they are thinking about it. In any case, there was a couple of weeks ago a nugget that I came upon in casual conversation, and it was very suggestive of what my areas of expertise are in the eyes of my peers.

A particular movie came up: 'Cannonball Run'. I mentioned at hearing the name that I hadn't seen it. This is less unusual than it might have been if we were talking in 1985. In the year 2011, a relatively slender segment of the population has seen that film, featuring though it does the once highly esteemed Burt Reynolds and a host of likewise erstwhile stars. Even so, utterance of the fact that I personally had not seen it met with great surprise. This was very revealing, and I was reminded that I apparently have a much broader range of film viewing under my belt than most people I know. I say this not because I conclusively know it, but only by such evidence as I have just related.

A Star Is Boring

I recently had a fairly singular experience- one which most people don't have, but which enough people do have and go without tangible reward for that my head has not swelled any. I allude obliquely to, of course, to the screening at a highly-reputable short film festival of a piece I acted in. I've been in a ever-lengthening list of sketch comedy videos aimed at the internet, but this was really the first time my face wound up in something else. It was a most interesting and gratifying experience, and I felt I could not now let it go without comment.

We shot the movie some months ago, so there was considerable emotional distance. In fact, just a few hours before the screening was to commence, I was not planning on attending. The reason for that does not really seem adequate now. It felt as if my contributions to the film were not so great that my presence would seem to people like a foregone conclusion. Getting to West Hollywood, the location of the screening, from North Hollywood is surprisingly difficult. Additionally, the improv class to which I have become so attached was saying goodbye to the beloved building it had been in for what felt like so long. To miss that seemed like not watching Johnny Carson's last night on the Tonight Show.

The Film Lover's Diet

I have for a long time consumed media to a prodigious degree. It began with books, and that continues, but my intake matured with the addition of movies. For years, I made due with a movie or two once in a while when the family made a trip to the video store. I still have memories of visiting the one at the mall near our house of the time. I would bound in with bare feet, taking in the confines with wonderment. At that time, the stores carried VHS and Betamax. Once a houseguest mixed them up, and we were left wanting for an evening. A video store in the neighborhood we moved to later became something of a second home, only to close in advance of those which fell victim to one of the current sources of my fix. Netflix I believe I have spoke of either in passing or at length. Either way, it needs no further discussion.

What I'm so fond of these days is something which I've had tastes of all too fleetingly in the past: the beloved and precious public library. In my youth, it carried only books, periodicals and cassette tapes. CDs came in after a fashion. Somewhere around that time, VHS tapes also entered into common circulation. I did partake of them when the opportunity would arise from time to time, but was regretful that it should do so most seldom. That changed in concert with my transition from a fairly nascent charter school to one which was so early in gestation that it had no home. In between meeting in a conference room at one parent's office park and acquiring a permanent home in a humble strip mall, we met in a series of library meeting rooms.

Thrill Of Recidivism

After a period of pursuing other recreational endeavors, I got back to watching movies from the ever growing pile which has accumulated during that time. With a burgeoning real life in the works, there seems to be less and less time for my movie and tv watching, my reading and so forth. Reviews have proved unpopular with my most vocal readers, but suffice it to say that 'Bright Star' and 'Julie and Julia' were each fairly enjoyable.

A Trip To The Shore

Something rather interesting came up for me yesterday. Someone from the movie I was just working on invited me to come crash a film sales market event over in Santa Monica. He further asked me to wear one of the more elaborate costumes from the movie (for a character I had not played), so the real risk was, therefore, mine. The nature of the costume was such that my vision and freedom of movement were both severely impaired, making a getaway nearly impossible.

So I went down to my friend's home so that we could all head to the event together. All the time, I heard the clack-clack-clack of a rollercoaster reaching the high point before dropping down and picking up speed. I was apprehensive, to say the least. Ultimately, my fears never came to pass, as the event was all but over and our group determined that going through with it would be not worth the effort, let alone the risk.

Two Kurt Russells

I wouldn't say that my father is a simple man, but he is a man of few obvious interests. That makes him difficult to buy gifts for. His relative dearth of expressed interests applies to films as much as to anything else. Two of the only films I know he likes are the Kurt Russell comedies Overboard and Captain Ron.

The former tells the story of a carpenter (Russell). He's a scheming, drinking sleazy kind of lout. He is hired to do some work on board a yacht by socialite Joanna Stayton (Goldie Hawn). An accident occurs on board, and Stayton is thrown overboard. Due to the trauma, she experiences amnesia. The carpenter convinces her that they are married, and hilarity ensues.

The latter film uses Russell's comedic skills similarly. He plays the titular character, who is hired to sail a yach inherited by straitlaced yuppie Martin Harvey (Martin Short). Captain Ron is a gritty, hardbitten type. In spite of his self-confidence and worldliness, he is quite incompetent, and leads Harvey's family through a series of comical misadventures.

Movies at the Library

I have just written about film screenings at the library. I imagine they pull a dvd from the shelves for that purpose. The libraries here tend to have a fairly good selection of DVDs as well as VHS tapes. I haven't seen any blu-rays as of yet, but such does not concern this late-adopter. I find the availability of free DVDs there gratifying, particularly as I have recently cut back on my netflix plan. I am generally able to go to the library and find enough discs from my queue to adequately supplement my Netflix rentals.

They let you check out three dvds at a time, and you can keep them a couple of days. Currently, I have The Incredible Hulk, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, and Journey to the Center of the Earth. From Netflix, it's the classic Wages of Fear.

The Weekend

The next few days are jammed with activities, by my standards. Tomorrow and Sunday the Wold Baseball Classic semi-finals are being held. The final is Monday. Saturday night, just after that day's semi-final, I'm supposed to go to a screening of a past film I worked on. I want to very much, assuming I can manage it. Monday and Tuesday, I'm working on a shoot for a friend and neighbor here in my building. I hope that I can make it to the Final that evening, but have to prioritize my career even over a game that only happens one every few years and is being held in one's town.

Now that I look at what I've typed, it seems like a neater, less busy period of time than I'd imagined. I guess that's the result of converting thoughts into writing.

A Tribute To One Of The Greats

At a relatively early early age, I began taking an interest in certain things that isolated me from many of the other people my age. My interest in movies wasn't particularly unusual, but many of my tastes in film might be considered so. My appreciation of Vincent Price would be an example.
Probably the first time I saw him, though, was in Edward Scissorhands. I can't say that he made a serious impression on me at the time, but he would.

When other young people were watching the things that young people watch, I was watching Price act in Roger Corman's adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe poems and stories. From there it was his later stuff, such as Theater of Blood. And although he's really only known for his work in horror, I've also enjoyed him in other works such as "Laura". So he's definitely one of my favorite actors.

Jane Austen Mash-Ups

As happens so often, two people got the same great idea. Elton John will be making a movie combining Jane Austen with hostile aliens getting thrown into an English costume drama.

Likewise, a book is being published offering the same idea, only with zombies rather than aliens. Evidently film studios are anxious for the chance to adapt it into a film.

The idea common to both of them is worthy of a post in itself, but I'm always fascinated by the phenomenon of virtually identical movies ramping up and getting released at about the same time. It seems to happen so often.

Reefer Madness

As I listen for the 22nd time to the soundtrack, I feel that I must pay tribute to a very enjoyable film. Many of us at some point got turned on to the classic anti-pot propaganda film "Reefer Madness". For some time now there has been a stage musical version, which just four years ago was made into a movie. This thing is fantastic.

It's got some fine actors, including Ana Gasteyer, Alan Cumming, Stephen Weber, Kristin Bell and Neve Campbell (whose brother Christian plays the lead). It's got great, very catchy songs, good production value, and a resonant message. Check it out.