Winter Viewing + GUILTY... Of Being WHITE!! Film Series

With Winter actually being... Winter, as witness to the recent snow and bone-chilling cold, it stands to reason that a lot of time is being spent in a prone position, with covers pulled up and cats at either end warming extremities.

Writing goes very slowly for me - at least in writing something that isn't an article or a review - I'm scheduled to finally have that article on Kansas filmmakers seeing print sometime later this year - I haven't pushed to really finish it yet, since everytime I think it's finished, more time and more news pops up. Taking another whack at a feature-length script is quite something else -- what was a quick n' dirty idea turned into something that I'm actually having some fun with... and that more than likely will never end up in front of a camera lens, at least in this initial version.


Have been passing the time by watching the old THRILLER series with Boris Karloff - which is scheduled to make its debut on legitimate DVD later this year in a tricked-out-with-extras complete run release. That doesn't mean that I should just instantly throw out my 'gift' set, which landed in my lap last year, which were taken from broadcasts on the Scream Channel.

Vintage tv like this probably has a hard time finding an audience now - most of the market for it would be the over 40 crowd, people who have heard of the show, but were born after its run; and the over 60 crowd, people who actually saw the show during broadcast. It's not quickly paced and it's in black and white, and it mainly features people who are nearly dead now - not great reasons for the under 30 set to sit down and watch it...

It's not as well known as TWILIGHT ZONE; THRILLER started out as an anthology mystery show, adapting pulp novels of the time, and it gradually drifted into straight horror... I've only delved into the first 10 episodes so far, and only one sort of had a whiff of the supernatural - an episode featuring Rip Torn, who has nefarious relatives attempting to scare him out of an inheritance.

Part of the fun of watching shows like this, is seeing established stars in the beginning of their careers, like Leslie Nielson, Cloris Leachman, Mary Tyler Moore; and actors in their waning years, like Mary Astor and Charles McGraw. Plus, it's a window into a whole other world and culture, almost -- one that I'll be doling out over the next couple of months.




A quicker fix is CASINO ROYALE, the notorious James Bond parody of the 60's -- which is almost being pushed from memory, due to the more faithful 2006 rendition/franchise reboot with Daniel Craig. The 60's version is a mess - a glorious mess, in my opinion, but it's usually remembered as an artifact of what NOT to do in making a movie (although a successful one - it was one of the highest grossing films for 1967). It was previously released on disc a few years ago, with some decent extras, but the 40th Anniversary disc actually delves a little deeper into the film and its making, featuring a commentary by a couple of Bond scholars (which is pretty good - it was a lot more substantial than I thought it would be), and a 5 part featurette on the history of the film, and how things got out of control...

I've always wanted to run a film series for February, since it's "Black History Month", taking on the more 'in your face' films -- "GUILTY... Of Being WHITE!!"


Exhibit #1 - MANDINGO

this notorious, button-pushing film, that has had some critical rethinking over the last few years, thanks to bloggers like Dennis Cozzalio (Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule) and Greg Bunche, whose MANDINGO PROJECT posting will suffice as an introduction, to those who dare take the plunge and rent this baby. He goes into detail regarding the novel, and in the changes from novel to screen, and does the same for its follow-up, DRUM, another 'Exhibit', but one that's very hard to find as of late.

Book of the month for the "GUILTY... Of Being WHITE!!" series is the recently published MONDO MANDINGO, which goes into obsessive detail into Kyle Onstott's series and what they wrought.

A LOST Thought...

Obviously, I've invested a lot of time in this show to stick it out to the bitter end... but I wonder -

Has it ever occurred to anyone since midway through the first season, that instead of scattering around like roaches every time something happens, if anyone on the show actually took like, 2 minutes to actually LISTEN to someone else, or ask questions, or even THINK about what they're doing, a lot of the drama would be avoided, or cut back considerably?

I'm sure there's a lesson there...

Those Kids... (in Lawrence, KS)




The ThroughAGlass guys, Jeremy and Chris, have been pretty busy over the past couple of years... their feature musical, AIR, has been screening around the country and the world; but when would it finally be able to get into the public's sweaty hands?

April 6, 2010 - Cinema Epoch (the same people who released fellow Lawrence filmmaker Patrick Rea's THE EMPTY ACRE) are bringing AIR to the public at large... and you'll also want to keep your eye open about where to get the soundtrack album, too.

Since I mentioned Patrick, I also need to mention that more news and stills about NAILBITER have surfaced on the Dread Central and Bloody Disgusting horror websites... the news is indeed good, and I can say that I look forward to meeting fellow crew and cast again sometime this spring...

Craig Ferguson Puts It All In Perspective For You


FUCK the Jay/Conan Late Night Wars... a pox on both their houses.

Craig Ferguson has been the one person to make Late Night somewhat exciting again... you never know exactly what's going to happen, and the man knows when to call bullshit when he sees it.

Here are two clips, from Thursday night's show - encompassing the late night wars, Haiti and Rush Limbaugh. You won't see this sort of commentary on any other show!

Great Minds Think Alike...



Below is a video essay from BBC film critic/scholar Mark Kermode about ANTICHRIST, and making the case for its precursor, POSSESSION.






Interesting. Who ELSE, mind you months ago, might have made similar surmations?


I'm so proud... *sniff*

Goodbye 2009 - "Run Bitch, Run"

Of course I was going to do an end of year posting... after being busy w/other things the past couple of weeks, too busy to comment upon.

Rather than bitch about how the past year went down -- EVERY year seems to have its share of good and bad, though some years are definitely better than others - the thing to do is hope that the coming year is better, and put some thought into what I need to do to make it better.

But isn't that what we ALL say - then reality and sloth sets in, and we head down the same paths?

Expect a bit more posting and content here in the coming year... and a bit more focused effort in some endevours, which will hopefully pay off in some fashion.

2010, in addition to being 'the year we make contact' - will start out much like the title of this upcoming film:

Run! Bitch Run! Trailer from Robert Hayes on Vimeo.

Consider us all duly warned.

Ken Russell's DANCE OF THE SEVEN VEILS -- unveiled at last!

Times are mighty good, if you're a film fan. Sure, mainstream stuff in theaters is mainly bullshit, and you don't see most fringe and/or arthouse films unless you're lucky enough to have an arthouse theater or two in your area... but most of that is easily surmountable if you happen to have a computer in your home, a broadband connection, and the will to try new things.

There are things one never even dreamed of ever seeing being exposed to the light of day, for those bold enough to take initiative.

This week, someone uploaded Ken Russell's missing film to YouTube, which counts as one of the unknown historical events of cinema, for those that notice such things. Notable because the film has been suppressed by the Richard Strauss family since its broadcast on British television in the late 60's - it was intended to be included in the KEN RUSSELL AT THE BBC box set, but was pulled, not unexpectedly, at the last moment. It's an important part of Russell's history, the missing link between his early work for the BBC, and his later, in your face imagery of THE MUSIC LOVERS, THE DEVILS, and LIZSTOMANIA. The Strauss family took some issue, and effectively barred the film from any public screening until at least 2020.

Until now.

Some brave soul uploaded the program to YouTube - the print was not in the best of shape (which brings concerns that someone should look into the BBC's archives), but it's watchable - at least until someone brings it to somebody's attention and it gets pulled.

So, get it while it lasts... and witness your little bit of cinema history.