General

Vintage mugshots…

There’s a certain nostalgic fascination -at least to me- in seeing things like this, mugshots from the 1930’s and early 1940’s:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/vintage-mugshots_n_4044666.html

The very first presented image was especially fascinating:

2013-10-04-Lot59A.jpg

This young lady was 17 years old when the mugshot was taken in 1942, meaning that if she’s still alive today, she would be 88 or so years old.

Which makes one wonder:  What was her life like?  Did she continue to engage in these petty crimes (she was arrested, as noted in the mugshot description, for Shoplifting) or was this one of those silly teenage activities she did only this one time and learned her lesson?  Conversely, was this just one example of her criminal activities and spent the rest of her life in and out of correction facilities?  Could she have “moved up” to more serious crimes?

I’d like to think the rest of her life was far more pleasant than that particular moment in October of 1942…

Movies, TV

6 Famous Television Gags…

…we’ll never see again:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-famous-television-gags-well-never-see-again/

Pretty funny stuff…and very truthful.  Time marches on and what was once acceptable or maybe even possible can become obsolete or very politically incorrect.

I recall watching the DVD of John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 a few years back and listening to the director’s commentary.  When we reached this sequence presented in the first minute twenty seconds (which, in the clip below, features another person’s take on the chilling music originally created by Mr. Carpenter):

…Mr. Carpenter noted that the sniper scenes could not be used today as they were a little too strong for the current moral/movie standards.  I suspect this has changed as I recall a similar sniper type sequence in the recently released Tom Cruise film Jack Reacher.

Hmmm…having listened to the “remade” music above, I had to listen to the original from the movie:

This is perhaps my second favorite John Carpenter music theme, coming damn close to the one found on Escape From New York:

Pardon the thread drift within my own blog! 😉

Movies

Gravity (2013) a (right on time!) review

2 Comments

One of the most anticipated films, post-summer, has to be the Alfonso Cuaron directed, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney starring Gravity.  My own interest was high following seeing a few of the released clips from the film, depicting a mind-boggling amount of space destruction.

By the time the film was released a couple of days ago, the reviews were incredibly good.  As of today, Gravity is scoring a remarkably high 98% positive among critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a slightly lower -yet still quite impressive- 90% positive among audiences.  Yet I’ve noticed rumblings in various sites from people who felt the movie was a let down, a beautiful visual spectacle that featured a decidedly less impressive story.  Are they being contrarians…or do they have a point?

To begin, Gravity’s effects are among the very best I’ve ever seen in film.  The movie is, if nothing else, a visual spectacle and if you’re going to see it, please go see it in the largest available movie theater screen possible (I caught it on IMAX 3-D, but unfortunately not at the biggest IMAX theater screen around these parts…for whatever reason, that particular theater chose not to air the film).

The movie’s opening sequence, approximately thirteen or so uninterrupted/uncut minutes showing us Earth, then the shuttle and its astronauts -and our introduction to Ms. Bullock’s Ryan Stone and Mr. Clooney’s Matt Kowalski- achieves what it sets out to do: Give us a sense of the wonder of being in outer space.  This one long sequence concludes with one of the two biggest effects showpieces of the film: High speed debris hitting the shuttle and sending Stone flying away, helpless and lost in the cosmos.

Stone is soon rescued by Kowalski and the film follows the two as they try to make their way back to some kind of safety.

I’ll stop there because I don’t want to get too spoilery.  However, I will say this:  Not all those who criticized the film’s story were simply being contrarian.  The fact is that in the end Gravity features a very simple story which some people far more clever than me noted was little more than “Open Water in space”.

Does that make the film bad?  Not really.

However, the simplicity of the story eventually made me realize the movie is -let’s face it- all about those wonderous effects.  Yes, there are some very tense sequences and both Ms. Bullock and Mr. Clooney acquit themselves very well in the film (Ms. Bullock in particular took on a dramatic role the likes of which I’ve never seen her do before, and she’s quite terrific).  Yet there isn’t all that much there there and that fact was bound to impact my overall feelings for the film.

That is not to say Gravity is a high-tech visual “bust”.  It is an exciting and interesting -if mildly limited- film that nonetheless is very worthy of your time…even if one could have hoped for perhaps a little more meat on those terrific visual bones.  On a scale of one to five stars, with five stars being a bonafide classic, I would easily give Gravity 4 stars.

Therefore, with some mild reservations, I highly recommend catching it.

General

Giant Asian Hornets Killing People in China…

The stuff of nightmares!

I first read about his at The Huffington Post here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/01/giant-asian-hornets-killing-people-china_n_4023249.html

But what really drew my attention to the article was this photograph of the Giant Asian Hornets’ queens:

 As I said before…the stuff of nightmares…Reminds me of something I saw many a moon ago…

Music

11 Famous rock songs…

…you didn’t know were sued for plagiarism:

http://www.fuse.tv/2013/07/famous-songs-sued-plagiarism

Arrogant me, figuring I would know most of the songs listed beforehand, yet was completely shocked and surprised by the very first one, Gordon Jenkins’ Crescent City Blues being so thoroughly…uh…swiped by, of all people, Johnny Cash for his Fulsom Prison Blues!

The rest of the list is quite interesting and features many original artists whose songs -at least to my ears- sound very similar to the more famous songs later sued (Avril Levigne’s Girlfriend is so clearly inspired by The Rubinoo’s –who?!– I Want to be Your Boyfriend)…along with a few other examples that -again, to my ears- bear only a passing resemblance to the much more famous song the authors claimed ripped theirs off.

Loved the bit about the suit against John Fogerty, late of Credence Clearwater Revival, being sued for plagiarizing…himself!  Very funny, yet I have to admit I always thought Old Man Down the Road was a CCR song…it certainly did sound alot like Run Through the Jungle.  Then again, and at the risk of repeating myself: both songs were created by the same man!

By list’s end, I knew only three of the songs featured and was surprised and fascinated by the rest, though they clearly missed a few famous songs that had their artists sued for plagiarism.

Most obvious, at least to me, is the exclusion of George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord versus He’s So Fine. Mr. Harrison’s song was the very first I ever heard of when I was a child being sued for plagiarism, and in that case I tended to agree.  It did sound an awful lot like He’s So Fine.

Since it wasn’t on the list above, I’ve embedded a neat (and short) video comparing the two songs:

Movies

World War Z (2013) a (mildly) belated review

On the surface and just before it was released, World War Z (I’ll refer to it as WWZ from here on) looked like a disaster in the making.

First, you had a modern zombie film that, completely against the grain, choose to go PG-13.  A very daring choice, considering that ever since the original 1968 Night of the Living Dead ushered in the modern movie zombie, showing ample amounts of gore appeared to be one of the stronger elements present in all these films.

Next, there were reports WWZ went way over budget and strong rumors emerged that the studio was unhappy with the final product.  This produced a secondary rumor, that director Marc Foster and star/producer Brad Pitt had a falling out.  Eventually, we learned a whole new ending was belatedly made for the feature.  Finally, when WWZ approached its formal release, the early commercials showed us zombie attacks that looked way too obviously CGI…and somewhat silly to boot.

So when the film finally was released last summer, there was little wonder many figured we were looking at a potential mega-bomb.

Such proved not to be the case.

Indeed, World War Z became one of the bigger box office successes of the typically busy summer movie season, and while I remained skeptical, I was happy to give the film a try.

Would I fall in with all the others who enjoyed it?

In a word: Yes.

Granted, it remains strange to watch a zombie film that features almost no blood and absolutely no guts at all.  In lieu of this, WWZ tries -and for the most part succeeds- in instead being a large global adventure with several tense action setpieces.  The set up is simple and not all that different from all the other hundreds of zombie films out there:  A zombie plague has hit the world and live humans are becoming an endangered species.  These zombies, unlike those in almost all the other zombie films, are much, much quicker than any seen before.  Worse, these speed demons act like ravenous ants and are as a group single minded in their pursuit of living flesh.

Finally, infection is quick as well.  If you are bitten, you have roughly ten seconds before becoming a zombie yourself.  Therefore cities and countries fall very quickly and it is up to Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) a one time “hot zone” investigator for the UN, to figure out how to stop -or at least slow- the zombie invasion.

We first meet Lane and his wife and two daughters as they make their way into New York City.  They wind up experiencing first hand the zombie plague and barely make it out of the city with their lives.  It is during this first attack that we are presented with a first hand/first person look at Lane’s powers of observation when he realizes how long it takes before a person becomes infected.  We will come back to his observations again, and this proves to be a very clever bit as it allows us to effectively enter Lane’s mind and see the world as he does.

There’s little need to get into the specifics of the plot.  Suffice it to say that Lane travels around the world seeking the key to solve the zombie dilemma.  Each visit presents Lane with allies and dangers and each is, in my opinion, handled well.  WWZ, in the end, is a film that gets going quickly and never stops yet manages to stir sympathy for Lane’s plight and his fear for not only his family’s survival, but that of humanity itself.

Yes, one can quibble and say the film goes overboard in showing Lane’s near supernatural ability to survive  The criticism is valid…Lane does manage to survive some pretty long –very long- odds in his quest.  Yet in Brad Pitt we have a hero worth rooting for, a quiet, intelligent family man whose mission is one everyone can sympathize with and hope for his ultimate success.

World War Z may not be your typical zombie film but there is plenty there to enjoy…even if you aren’t a big fan of CGI zombie hordes.  Recommended.

General

Some grim lists…

…for those in the United States (like me) about to suffer the shutdown blues:

First, a list of 36 last words spoken by people condemned to be executed:

http://www.ranker.com/list/last-words-spoken-by-criminals-before-execution/notable-quotables

The 1st and 12th ones are pretty bad puns…the 19th one verges on the poetic.

Next up in our grim trifecta, the last words spoken by famous people:

http://www.ranker.com/list/dying-words-last-words-spoken-by-famous-people-at-death/notable-quotables

My favorite is the eminently quotable Oscar Wilde’s last words: “Either the wallpaper goes or I do.”  Even in the face of death, he delivers a great line!

The best unexpected last words spoken has to go to #56, to Union General John Sedgewick: “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist…”

Finally, a list of 14 people in ancient times…and the very strange ways they died:

http://www.ranker.com/list/unusual-deaths-prehistoric-people-who-died-in-strange-ways/notable-famous-deaths

Check out in particular the way both Heraclitus and Milo of Croton went out…brrr.

Movies

The Fog (1980) a (incredibly) belated review

Before you ask: No, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen the original 1980 John Carpenter directed film (The Fog would be remade, to much derision, in 2005…I haven’t seen that version as of yet).  However, in watching the new Shout Factory Blu Ray release, it might as well be the first time I’ve ever seen the film.

The sound and images are that good.

The first (and I believe only) time I ever saw The Fog was in the early 1980’s and probably via VHS tape.  Back then the idea of “letterboxing” images was years away and, therefore, I saw a cut down view of the film.  I also recall the image quality was pretty dreadful.  In fact, if you check out the extras on the Shout Factory release and click on the old promo made for the film (Tales From the Mist), in the opening minute you’ll basically see the type of image I saw way back when.  Needless to say, count me among those who was delighted with the new, most excellent presentation.

As far as the movie itself, I recall liking -but not loving– The Fog.  Now, with this pristine presentation and the proper widescreen view, would I enjoy the film more?  Or has time dulled whatever horror edge the film once had?

Happily, the answer is a resounding “no”.

I’m a fan of many of John Carpenter’s films.  I absolutely love Assault on Precinct 13.  I also love Escape From New York, The Thing, and Big Trouble In Little China.  While slasher films aren’t generally my cup of tea, I also enjoyed Halloween.

It was after the incredible success of the original Halloween that Mr. Carpenter was asked to follow it up with another horror film.  He wound up making The Fog but, unlike Halloween, theatrical success was mild, if not outright disappointing.  Nonetheless, there are those who feel The Fog is a far better overall accomplishment than Halloween.

Is it?  I suppose it depends on what you look for in horror.  While Halloween falls in the “slasher” category of horror, The Fog belongs in the more cerebral wing.  It is a slow burn film with almost no “gory” elements.  In some ways, it reminded me in tone to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining or The Haunting.

In The Fog you have an old fashioned (even for its original release date!) ghost story set in a sleepy Californian fishing town of San Antonio Bay.  The town is on the verge of celebrating its one hundredth anniversary.  On the day before the event, strange things start to occur, and Father Malone (Hal Holbrook) discovers a hidden journal in his church walls, one written by his distant relative and one of six founders of San Antonio Bay.

The journal reveals the town’s six founding members made an agreement with a band of unfortunates suffering from leprosy to allow them a share of their land to live in.  The agreement, however, was a trick.  The six founders didn’t want the lepers…they wanted to steal their leader’s money.

During a heavy fog, the lepers approached the town in their ship.  The six townspeople lured them into rocks with a phony guiding light and the ship sank with all aboard.  Afterwards, the six conspirators picked up the gold and that was that…

…Until one hundred years later when the fog returns and, with it, the spirits of the dead.

Including the role of Father Malone, The Fog features five main characters.  Adrienne Barbeau is Stevie Wayne, owner and disc jockey of the town’s local radio station.  Jamie Lee Curtis is Elizabeth Solley, a free spirited hitchhiker who happens to come into town at the wrong time.  Her real life mother, Janet Leigh, is Kathy Williams, the town’s mayor.  Finally, you have Tom Atkins as Nick Castle, a local who picks Elizabeth up (in all senses of the word).

If the film stumbles in any way, it is the sudden -and a little hard to swallow- attraction between the very young Jamie Lee Curtis and the far older Tom Atkins’ character.  Even in the wild world of movie fantasy, that couple never really looked right, at least IMHO.

Still, this is only one small element and in no way torpedoes the rest of the film.  What makes The Fog work is the sustained eerie atmosphere (no pun intended) John Carpenter and company build around the coming, and eventual arrival, of the evil fog and its ghostly -and revenge seeking!- inhabitants.

In conclusion, The Fog is a great film and certainly one worth revisiting.

Movies

12 Movies that are just as good as the books they are based on…

…at least according to The Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/26/movie-book_n_3989541.html

Whenever a discussion is offered regarding movies that are as good as (or better) than the books they are based on, there always two that always appear:  The Godfather and Jaws.

I suspect this is the case because while both books were very popular, there are few who consider them “classics” in the literary sense…while both films are clearly considered classics in their medium (and there are those who feel The Godfather is the single best film ever made!).

Moving beyond those two, I’m among those who feels that The Shining is a far, far better film versus the novel.  That’s not to say that I feel the novel is “bad”, it certainly isn’t…but to me the film managed to hit this creepy little switch in your brain that almost no other horror films have been able to do.  The Shining is an immersive work, one that guides you into its terror from the opening frame and keeps you there, admiring its beauty while knowing there is a jet black heart beating below its surface.

Think I’ll give it another look real soon! 😉

The Blog of E. R. Torre