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| 070108 ‘From Spiders to Switchblades’, the Jack Hill documentary that neverwas. |
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. . . . . .There is an excellent short documentary on the Dark Sky Films DVD release of the early Jack Hill film ‘Spider Baby’. The documentary is about the making of the film and aptly called ‘The Hatching of Spider Baby’. For me, the short documentary is bitter sweet because it is supposedly all that remains of the full length documentary ‘From Spiders to Switchblades The Jack Hill Story’. I’m not sure why the documentary was folded into ‘The Hatching of Spider Baby’ but I suspect that the reasons were economic in nature. It is a shame because while the feature is a good one, it focuses primarily on ‘Spider Baby’ and not the rest of Hill’s career. For those who don’t know, Jack Hill is a filmmaker who rose through the ranks of low budget cinema in the sixties and seventies. He worked for Roger Corman around the same time as Francis Ford Coppola. Unlike Coppola, Hill was never able to escape low budget cinema and after the seventies he dropped
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| out of filmmaking. Hill’s body of work beyond ‘Spider Baby’ includes ‘Coffy’, ‘The Big Birdcage’, ‘Foxy Brown’ ‘Switchblade Sisters’, and ‘Pit Stop’. My personal fav’ is probably ‘Coffy’ but many of Hill’s films are great entertainment. I hope that some day ‘From Spiders to Switchblades’ will be resurrected and there will be a full length documentary about Hill. All that |
| remains outside of ‘The Hatching of Spider Baby’ is a trailer. As a substitute, there is a book about Hill coming out called ‘Jack Hill: The Exploitation and Blaxploitation Master’. (You can preorder the book by clicking the link to the right, as well a order a few of Hill's DVDs.) I have high hopes that the book will take the place of a full length movie until one gets made. (I believe the book will be released this year, on or around November 30.) I found out about the book on Hill's Myspace page. He periodically |
Jack Hill book:. . . . . . Spider Baby:. . . . . . . . .. . . Coffy:. . . . . .. . . . . . Switchblade Sisters:
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posts on a blog there and in addition to the book Hill talked about his first film project in many years. Actually the project is four films that will be remakes of Corman films Hill co-directed in the sixties. It is also worth noting that a remake of ‘Spider Baby’ is listed on IMDB. Here’s hoping that even if Hill isn’t involved in the remake it will act as a bit of a springboard to help the man return to the film world. Lastly, Hill has made a few posts for ‘Trailers from Hell’ a website focusing on a variety of trailers from cinemas past. Hill’s Myspace page can be found HERE (which is where I found the above-and-to-the-left photo of Hill on the set of 'Switchblade Sisters'.) His IMDb entry is HERE. The ‘Trailers From Hell’ site broken down by commentator is located HERE. All that remains of ‘From Spiders to Switchblades’ is a trailer that I have posted HERE. (Right click, save link as to download the trailer.) I hope that this 'From Spiders to Switchblades The Jack Hill Story' gets ressurected some day but in the mean time you can see the trailer and hope for what it could have been.
The biggest disappointment for me about the documentary not coming to fruition is the thought that it could have brought much deserved attention to Hill and his work. He remains a largely unrecognized King of low budget cinema.
-Nate |
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| 062708 Rob Zombie hatches a ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’. |
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. . . . . .Rob Zombie has announced that his next film project will be titled ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’. He has gone into zero detail about the film but he did release some concept artwork. As of this posting, IMDB still has not caught on as there is no listing for the film which is scheduled for release in 2009. The artwork brings to mind my favorite of Zombie’s films: ‘The Devil’s Rejects’. Not that I really minded his ‘Halloween’ remake or even ‘House of 1000 Corpses’, I just really dug ‘The Devil’s Rejects’. It is a grisly film to be sure but often a very entertaining one that manages to emote earlier flics (such as ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘Straw Dogs’) and yet not simply remake them. Here’s hoping that ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’ will be something of a follow up to ‘The Devil’s Rejects’ and Sid Haig and Bill Moseley will be reprising starring roles. Before that comes out an animated film that Zombie wrote and produced called ‘The Haunted World of El Superbeasto’ is supposed to get released sometime this year. There does not seem to be a firm release date for the film and I’m not sure if it is going to end up debuting on DVD. I don’t really know what the film is about other than that it follows a luchador living in “the mythic world of Monsterland”... Take from that what you will. Actaully, I had thought that the film was supposed to be released awhile ago but now it seems to sort of be in limbo. The forum on the site is loaded with spam and looks all but abandoned. Zombie’s blog (where he posted about ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’) can be found on Myspce HERE and the official website for ‘The Haunted World of El Superbeasto’ can be found HERE. Alex Horley, the artist who created the poster to left, has a website with a lot more of his work that can be seen HERE. -Nate |
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| 062308 George Carlin passes. |
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. . . . . .George Carlin has passed away. He was arguably one of the great living comedians. I saw one of his more recent performances on HBO and was surprised how bitter and how funny the man still was. My first introduction to Carlin was actually in the movie ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’. It would be several years later before I realized that Rufus from ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure' and the crazy stand up Carlin were one and the same. Carlin was the first host of ‘Saturday Night Live’ and was supposedly high on cocaine throughout the whole show. A lot of Carlin’s material holds up well and the changes he went through during his career are fascinating to see. He performed high as a kite and stone sober. He started out doing “safe” material and switched to edgier material that actually got him arrested (pictured left.) He was a true talent and a rebel. R.I.P. For a better article about the man and the passing go HERE. -Nate |
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| 061808 ‘L.A. Confidential’ finally gets a special edition release. |
| . . . . . .Many sites are reporting about the release but I saw it first on one of the best DVD sites around: DVDTimes. The film will be re-released on September 23rd. Outside of ‘Blade Runner’, ‘L.A. Confidential’ was supposedly one of the most requested special editions. The film will come out on a 2 disc DVD and Blu-Ray release with the following extras: |
* L.A. Confidential [2000 TV Pilot]
* Commentary by Andrew Sarris
* Music Only Track
* Trailers and TV Spots
* Showest
* Nite Owl Action
* Hollywood
* Off the Record |
* Theatrical Trailer
* Soundtrack Promo
* Whatever You Desire: Making L.A. Confidential
* Sunlight and Shadow: The Visual Style of L.A. Confidential
* A True Ensemble: The Cast of L.A. Confidential
* L.A. Confidential: From Book to Screen
* The L.A. of L.A. Confidential Hollywood Center Motel
* Formosa Café |
* Sid Hudgen's Office
* Victory Motel
* Bidwell's Office
* Nick's Liquor
* Lynn Bracken's House
* Frolic's Room
* Pierce Patchett's House
* Movie Premiere Pot Bust |
* Mrs. Leffert's House
* Nite Owl Café
* Navarette's Hole-up
* Fitch House
* City Hall |
Here’s hoping the extras are worthwhile but I will say that it is a promising sign that the TV pilot will be included. (It’s a real shame the show was never picked up.) As of this posting there is no artwork available. For the DVDTimes post about the DVD go HERE and the Blu-ray go HERE.
-Nate |
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| 061708 Special FX master Stan Winston passes away. |
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. . . . . .Some of my favorite movies as a kid were shaped by the skills of Stan Winston. ‘The Terminator’, ‘Predator’, and ‘Aliens’ are the three films that came to mind first. In particular ‘The Terminator’ and ‘Aliens’ (both directed by James Cameron) were watched more times than I should admit. I can remember drawing Terminators as a teenager and much of the time I was replicating Winston's work from movie stills. When ‘Terminator 2’ came out his physical effects blended in with then state of the art CGI, to make the menacing Terminators even more real than in the previous film. I was 11 when ‘Terminator 2’ came out and Stan Winston’s work was part of what kept me glued to the screen when my father took me to see the film. I have a distinct memory of not eating all my candy during the movie for the first time at the theater because I was wrapped up in the film. Winston’s physical effects hold up quite well and his craft lead him to run a studio. He is still listed as having been involved on the upcoming ‘Terminator 4’ amongst other projects and had worked on ‘Iron Man’. For a more in depth article about the man go HERE. -Nate |
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| 061608 A review of the movie 'Sex and the City'. |
. . . . . .Hey, nothing like starting the week off with a little ‘Sex and the City’. I’m sorry to say that sounds better than it is. Yes, it is true, I saw ‘Sex and the City’ this weekend. For the reason why and the review go HERE.
-Nate |
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| 061308 Friday the 13th review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. |
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. . . . . .So 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' is out and Harrison Ford has still got it! Too bad the movie doesn't. I'm not exactly sure what happened and maybe the problem is all with me. Somewhere along the line everything just got too goddamned goofy. After seeing 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' the girlfriend and I were both filled with an overwhelming urge to watch 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'.
. . . . . .Since 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' has raked in tons of cash maybe there will be a 5th entry in the series and it will be less goofy. I’m not exactly holding my breath. Maybe next time the film will just forgo Jones and follow Mutt on the adventure. "Mutt and the Goofy Box Office Robbery" has a certain ring to it, don't you think? Ok so maybe not. In the mean time check out my review of 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' HERE.
-Nate |
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| 060908 ‘Dark City’ returns on July 29th. |
Original DVD: Director's Cut DVD: Director's Cut Blu Ray:
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. . . . . .A favorite film of mine is getting a new release on DVD and Blu Ray. With the upcoming release, it seems as though the previous DVD is now going out of print. I’m hoping that the theatrical cut will eventually get a Blu Ray release but for the time being the director’s cut will be the only one available. This new release has been a long time in the making, so long in fact, that film critic Roger Ebert recorded a commentary track for the director’s cut a couple of years ago. I’m not sure what delayed the release but in that time Ebert lost the ability to speak, making this his last commentary track. When ‘Dark City’ came out in 1998 I liked it so much I went back to see it again and again, dragging anyone I could to see the film. Ebert was one of the movies few champions and he recorded a commentary |
| track for the original DVD release. Since then the film has built up a bit of cult following that probably helped convince the powers that be to go back and release a new cut of the film. I’ll be curious to see how the directors cut differs from the theatrical and can’t wait for the new feature laden release. -Nate |
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| 053108 Sydney Pollack R.I.P. |
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. . . . . .I may have been lax in my updates but I could not let the month close out without at least mentioning the sad passing of actor/ filmmaker Sydney Pollack on May 26th at the age of 73. I seem to remember reading that he had dropped out of a directing project last year and had hoped his health was not declining. Sadly, cancer was taking its toll and despite acting in several movies recently, his last work behind the camera would be the 2005 documentary ‘Sketches of Frank Gehry’. He directed a few of my favorite films including ‘Three Days of the Condor’ and the underrated and often overlooked ‘The Yakuza’. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote a memorial piece about Pollack HERE. -Nate |
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| 050908 Vincent Cassel stars in two part crime drama: 'Death Instinct' and 'Public Enemy #1'. |
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. . . . . .The great Vincent Cassel is starring in back to back crime dramas about French criminal Jacques Mesrine. ‘Death Instinct’ is the first part and is due out this year with the second part ‘Public Enemy #1’ coming the following year. Of course, those are the French release dates, so there is no telling when the films will be released here in the ‘States. I should also note that Gerard Depardieu and Samuel Le Bihan (of ‘Brotherhood of the Wolf’ fame) are listed as having roles in one or both of the films. The films are directed by Jean-François Richet. The only film of his that I have seen was the remake of ‘Assault on Precinct 13’ which, while arguably not a great film, still had some really entertaining sequences in it. There have been some stills from film shoots posted on the web showing Cassel in action as well as a teaser trailer. Sadly, the teaser just shows Mesrine walking out of a prison cell while a narrator (in French) talks over the footage. The teaser can be seen on Youtube HERE. While finding the teaser I came across a montage of some images of the real Mesrine that someone posted. While the montage is nothing special, the images do make Mesrine look like he was quite larger than life. Fair warning that there are images of a dead body but if you still want to see what the real Mesrine looked like you can see the montage on Youtube HERE. -Nate |
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| 050808 Computer issues and a move cause some delays. |
| . . . . . . Now everything is finally falling into place and hopefully regular updates will resume as planned. Fist, I need to start on a down note. This one is for my friend Jon B. who rightfully gave me a hard time about not at least mentioning the passing of Ollie Johnston last month. For those who are not aware, Johnston was the last surviving member of Disney’s “Nine Old Men”, a group of animators that came to symbolize a founding group of artists that helped Walt Disney make some of the seminal works that created the Disney empire of today. There are far more knowledgeable commentators who wrote about his sad passing but I was particularly fond of filmmaker/ artist Brad Birds thoughts on the man at Cartoon Brew HERE.-Nate |
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