Horror fans will be mourning the passing of actor/writer/director Paul Naschy who succumbed to cancer at age 75.  He’s appeared in countless Euro-horror films, most famously as a wolfman, but has appeared as vampires and other creatures as well.

He may not have been the most respected of horror performers, but he certainly was one of the most persistent. Perhaps the Spanish know better than much of the rest of the world.

Mondo Macabro, the terrific distributor of the cine-strange just released a DVD version of what one reviewer called “one of the strangest films of the decade.” Born of Fire (1983) is director Jamil Dehlavi’s bizarre tale of a flautist (Peter Firth, who starred in Equus and this other bit of kiddie strangeness) whose weird melodic tunes and visions lead him on a trip to Turkey to find “The Master Musician” and a secret he probably wishes he hadn’t learned.  Suzan Crowley (The Draughtman’s Contract) plays his astronomer girlfriend who breaks the bad news to him. There’s more surrealistic visual wackiness you’ve probably seen in a while here folks, so you Jodorowsky fans might get a kick out of this. Those of you who can’t wait for the DVD to arrive can rent the VHS at Facets.

I’ve chosen the next feature I would like to include in a midnight movie lecture next year: Lady Terminator.  It’s one of the best examples of the crazy cinema from Indonesia during a golden age of exploitation cinema that country’s film producers gave the world from 1969-1992 or so.

When you watch the film, you’ll understand how it could have been made under Indonesia’s particular circumstances. Having practically no film industry during the first 16 years of independence (1949-1965), the floodgates burst wide open with the coup of General Suharto in 1965.

Suharto compelled film theater owners and distributors to produce one domestic film for every three films they imported.  Needless to say, if you wanted to invest the money on films with local stars instead of international superstars, you had to steal ideas –and plenty were stolen. However, this plagiarism didn’t happen without native influence as you’ll see in the trailer for Lady Terminator (aka Nasty Hunter). Her ascension is due to a curse from the  South Sea Queen.

The other two contenders for the lecture/screening were Mystics in Bali:

and finally, Virgins from Hell.  All of them pretty wild entertainment.

The digital revolution in movie-making and movie watching is quickly making VHS look rather ancient. However, I’ve always been one to suggest to others not to get rid of your VCR so quickly. I’m amazed at just how many people have, given that many titles have still not made the transition to DVD. Turner Classic Movies has an ongoing poll of the top 200 requested titles still not on DVD. Among those are four amazing classics: Greed (1925), Wings (1927), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) and The African Queen (1951). The list has some other interesting choices as well, although some on the list have never been released on either DVD or VHS.  Keep in mind, also, that this is a list of just 200 films. It’s probably just a fraction of what’s out there on tape.

I usually suggest to folks where I work (full disclosure: I work at Facets Multimedia) to make a list of films on VHS only (there’s a category of “rare” films on the rentals site). After making the list, if you feel you may have enough to justify having a VCR, try finding one inexpensively at a thrift store. Here in Chicago, The Brown Elephant usually does a pretty good job of sorting out some decent pieces, but definitely make sure you get a head cleaning tape or kit if you do decide to buy any used player. No telling when the last time those machines have been cleaned.  Also, unless you get one cheaply in a thrift store or don’t mind spending the money, I would caution against buying a VHS/DVD combo. In my experience working in another video/audio equipment store some years ago, I’ve found that combos tend to have a greater breakage rate than stand-alone decks. The intricate internal makeup will make the repair costlier as well.

Il Divo, director Paolo Sorrentino’s very good film about one of Italy’s most corrupt prime ministers has been released on DVD. If you decide to rent it, I would also recommend watching (as a sort of double feature) the even better documentary Excellent Cadavers, Marco Turco’s terrific look at the attempts of two Italian prosecutors who took on the Herculean task of trying to bring Sicilian mobsters to justice.  Watching the documentary will definitely fill in some of the gaps for those not schooled in modern Italian criminal history.

Il Divo Trailer

Excellent Cadavers Trailer

Controversy’s underway as the UK posters for the horrendous Vince Vaughn “comedy” Couples Retreat airbrushes the African-American couple out of the poster. Actually, the real problem is not that they left that couple out. It’s that they left the other three couples on or that they even produced a poster at all.  Faizon Love and Kali Hawk might be the lucky ones here as their disappearance might let them erase this celluloid disaster from their resumes. Let’s hope the British are not as dumb as Americans are in making this shark shit of a movie a hit.

I’m now up to 40 films viewed this year that could qualify for either the best or worst list. I’ll keep plugging away!

The MPAA proves, once again, they are the devil.  They are urging the FCC to undercut theaters and allow first-run movies to head directly to millions of homes across America, because the movie-going experience to many is too constrictive (I kid you not):

“Many of us love movies, but we just can’t make it to the theater as often as we’d like.  That is especially true for parents of young children, rural Americans who live far from the multiplex and people with disabilities that keep them close to home,”  MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman said.  “Having the added option to enjoy movies in a more timely fashion at home would be a liberating new choice.”

Wow, the philosophical, economic and political mire this schmuck just jumped into unintentionally makes my head spin. Over the past three and a half decades, incomes have fallen during a time when media consolidation was accelerating. Thus, both spouses have been forced to take up additional work as they’ve lost income. Chances are the pay is not enough to keep up, in part, since good jobs covered by unions were taken overseas. Media consolidation helps to close up theaters as does home video, so you have arthouses, grindhouses and drive-ins decimated. During this same time, you have urban sprawl sending movie theaters to the suburbs where they sit inside or beside malls generally accessible only to those driving. Disabled folks who can’t drive, tough shit. Not many people are interested in funding public transportation out there, because hey, I’m not poor. I live in the suburbs. Those city folks do drugs and have different skin. I’ve got an SUV and I want my God-given freedom for Chinese made crap that will wear out in a couple of years anyway, sending me back here again.

To get those first-runs of Bride Wars and Couples Retreat out to you asap (because we know you’re just shitting your drawers in anticipation of these spectaculars), Big Media is going to use the fantastic technology of SOC:

“SOC, or selectable output control technology, would allow televisions with digitally secure interfaces to receive first-run, high-definition content from a cable or satellite provider.  Using SOC protects content because it essentially disables non-secure, analog outputs to avoid illegal circumvention and distribution of copyrighted material.  These outputs would be disabled ONLY with respect to the proposed new content, and this technology would NOT have any impact whatsoever on the ability of existing devices to receive all of the content that they get today.  Consumers will continue to have access to everything they have today, including DVDs, Netflix, etc.”

So assuming you don’t try pirating this stuff (uh huh), you can’t record it and it comes to you from your cable provider. As one astute commenter wrote: “What is the difference between what this will do and a ’straight to DVD’ release?”

If you go to the article, reading some of the comments high-fiving this idea is a wonderment. I’m pretty selective in watching movies in a theater, but I’ve attended sold-out shows before. I can say honestly, I’ve not had an incident where I’ve had to contact a manager or ask anyone to shush in probably about 20 years. And those who know me, know I attend many movies a year or try to. The last time I was really annoyed by someone near me in the theater was during the action film The Replacement Killers. A couple brought their five-year-old son to watch and he, as I figured, became fidgety and agitated from boredom.

To those irritated by people texting and phone chatting during a movie, guess what? Either don’t go to the movies in Los Angeles (where this seems to be a given, I suppose) or don’t go to movies that look like shit stains in the previews.  Honest to God, do you think after watching the horrendous trailer for Couples Retreat that the movie would be anything other than a catastrophe? I’d be doing anything, ANYTHING, to keep my attention away from this movie. As of this writing, I’ve only seen the poster for Jim Carrey’s Christmas Carol and I’m already smelling the landfill.

I know a lot of people who absolutely love movies and a great deal of them I admire and respect. When these people give me an opinion about a movie, I may disagree, but I listen intently because I know he or she has the passion for it. Not one of these people have a huge “home theater” system. The closest I’ve been to a private one that could double as a true “theater” was the video projection system at the great North and Western split level pad once occupied by Darnell and Calvin in Chicago. Odd Obsession has a great monitor too. But really, no private home theater system could have the sound dynamics of a movie theater, or else they would most likely be breaking noise ordinances.  As much as I like movies, I probably would not like my neighbor cranking up a home theater to deafening levels every single day, especially if he signed up to get his movies via the SOC system.

I’m also wondering how much these privileged individuals are going to pay for these special screenings? If you’re one of those people cheering this on, don’t complain about any high prices for this luxury when you’re got to shit money to pay for it.

Finally, if you’re complaining about the lack of quality for your movies, you’ve got to tell your theater manager about it or else, go to an indie movie theater and support them, go to an indie video store in person (if you’re lucky enough to be in a big city) or online and get your movies mailed to you. Get your classics cheaply through a public library also.

You just won yourself a ticket to boycott city! What, you think gays and lesbians are going to vacation and travel to your state after you voted out equality for gay marriage? You think a great many straight friends and allies are going to do the same? Do you think this was probably the dumbest move you could have made during a recession and increase in unemployment?

Since many of you who voted to stop the queers or “keep God’s word,” or whatever the hell you might be thinking, statistically are older Americans, let’s see how Maine’s ability to provide services to you older folks are affected by the decrease in tax base from any future boycotts.

Have fun suffering financially.  Kalamazoo, MI and Washington State learned and are now officially more progressive than you. Wise up next time.