Tough Guy Cinema: Russellmania II

A couple of years ago I visited Austin for the first time to attend a special screening of Lionheart and Only the Strong with writer and director Sheldon Lettich. Local Alamo Drafthouse programmer and editor Greg is a huge action movie fan, putting on marathons for the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone and Nicolas Cage (who attended the recent 4th edition). Russellmania was a celebration of the Saint of Being Charmed Kurt Russell and we attended the sequel a couple of weeks ago as a long weekend getaway. Luckily the lady is a huge Kurt Russell fan and spent some time in Austin growing up so everything just lined up. Five mystery films, a themed menu and a few surprises seemed like the perfect way to spend a Sunday.

Starting at 11:30 AM, the Ritz on Sixth was already packed and there were plenty of Jack Burton tee shirts and tanks in the crowd. The 200 person theater sold out in a day and each patron was greeted with a special menu for the day along with buttons with Russell's visage from The Thing, Tombstone, Used Cars and so many more. Random and hilarious clips from Russell's vast filmography, from roles as a child actor in Disney flicks to providing voice over for DMV spoofs played along with trailers before each film. Greg welcomed the crowd and shared that Kurt Russell would not be attending but he was able to talk to the man and send him the line up. Russell and long time partner Goldie Hawn had both just finished whirlwind PR tours for Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 and Snatched, and it was time for a trip to unwind.

Big Trouble In Little China, I was a little disappointed this kicked things off as it played in the first Russellmania and of course we saw it at Beyond Fest with Russell in attendance last fall. But it doesn't take you long to fall back into the film as it's one of my favorite movies of all time and one of Russell's best roles/performances. Greg debated showing it again but when he proposed it to Russell, the response was "if you have Freebird, play Freebird", fair enough.

Overboard, this was a title I thought would play since Russell and Hawn had films this summer and received side by side stars on the Walk of Fame. It's still a fun flick with questionable morals but nothing you can't come back from. Plus you begin to notice Russell's beautiful hair and penchant for tank tops. It was a nice treat for the lady because she grew up watching the flick with her family.

Backdraft, this was one I didn't quite expect but should have since it was Russell's first big budget headlining film. Ron Howard does an excellent job crafting a solid drama with intense action sequences with real fire in the pre-CGI 90's. Sure it's a bit 90's cheese with William Baldwin and Iron Eagle's Jason Gedrick as part of the random montage that shows the danger of fire fighting along with the mundane day to day. Robert De Niro does his De Niro thing aka repeats himself to glorious effect. Awesome supporting cast here too with Scott Glenn, J.T. Walsh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca DeMornay and Donald Sutherland. The lady was not a fan of William Baldwin though. Short hair this time out but tank top? Check.

Tango & Cash, this was the wildcard title but I thought it should play because Stallone and Russell were both in Guardians 2. I could tell it was T&C from the opening Warner Brothers logo and gave out a big holler to express my excitement. Just the most random (delivery guy leaving with pizza? Russell's Gabriel Cash is really upset a bad guy shot his shirt that cost nine bucks), patriotic (don't let a limey jerk off cut your head off, let an American!), homoerotic (multiple men ask each other if marriage jokes are proposals, Cash dresses as a woman to escape police, he and Tango get to prison and immediately shower together) but fucking awesome 80's flick you could ask for. Between Backdraft and Tango, I realized that Russell is one of cinema's greatest screamers. He just goes into "scream mode" and you totally believe it and it makes you laugh. See Swing Shift "you want it pal, come get it!", Tombstone "Hell's coming with me you hear?!", Dark Blue "because they built it with bullets!", Death Proof "you really gotta be sitting in my seat!", etc. for more examples.

The Thing wound things down but I was pretty tired as I'd been fighting a cold for a couple of weeks and while John Carpenter's film classic, it's a movie I've seen on the big screen more than once. Greg and the staff made for a great day as there's full service food and booze you can order any time. We went for Jameson and Ginger Beers, a burger, a Tombstone themed pizza, popcorn and a cookie trio a la mode. There's still so many more films for a Russellmania 3 but sounds like Keanu Reeves might be the next star to get an Alamo marathon.

Beyond Fest 2016: Big Trouble In Little China w/ Kurt Russell & James Gunn

The first film to sell out at Beyond Fest this year was a repertory screening of 1986's John Carpenter classic Big Trouble In Little China. I was honored to provide the write up on the BF website for one of my favorite films as one of my favorite actors, Kurt Russell, would be appearing for a post film conversation with Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn. Big Trouble sold out in less than a day and of course my most anticipated evening of the festival. I had no idea Russell would be attending the film and as a Russell film naming contest took place to introduce the night, I ran to the bathroom and saw the man standing in a hallway seemingly by himself. Caught by surprise I locked eyes with the film icon, inexplicably pointed at him and fist pumped as he smiled and waved. This would be the third time seeing Russell live and I'd actual met the guy briefly a while back and he was just as cool and funny as you'd want him to be.

Big Trouble In Little China holds up now better than ever, it's irreverent sense of humor mixed with mysticism soaked action, big sets, crazy costumes, whip fast banter and perfect cast is a one of a kind crowd pleaser. Russell and Gunn sat and watched the film and came down after where Russell was only too happy to view the film after such a long time with an audience who appreciated it. He looked back with nothing but fond memories, recalling that everyday on set was something cool to see, something cool to do and cool people to be around. The leading man gave director John Carpenter total credit for the esteem Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble, et al are held in and shared that neither he nor Dwayne Johnson brought up the proposed remake The Rock is looking to produce and star in while the two worked together on Furious 8. Russell saw Jack Burton as a mix of himself, Jack Nicholson, John Wayne and the kind of guy you didn't ask for his opinion but shared it anyway. Russell shared several stories of being a young actor and how Fox executives didn't know what to do with the film, fools! Russell also dropped gems like "ifs, and's and Peter Pan's" aknd the classic "that guy knows what fucking time it is".

Snow Screen: The Hateful Eight, The Big Short & The Revenant

What's some holiday weekends without some movies?! After the nearly botched press screening of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight I attended, it was time for round two at The Arclight in Hollywood in the Cinerama Dome...oh wait, Disney put the kibosh on that as their reported terms were 4 weeks in the biggest house for any theater that wished to exhibit juggernaut Star Wars: The Force Awakens. While that really sucks because 8 was made for the Dome to be projected in 70mm, let's be honest, The Arclight and any other theater is going to make a lot more money from Star Wars and the following 20 sequels and spin offs than they would from Hateful. And Disney is all about making their billions. But we still got 70mm and some killer programs with centerfolds. I was hoping for Kurt Russell and his magnificent mustache but we all ended up with Tim Roth. Like a western take on John Carpenter's arctic set The Thing, Hateful follows a group of colorful and less than savory criminal, sheriff, bounty hunter, former soldier and cowboy types. A terrific cast includes Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, a scene stealing Walton Goggins, Roth, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Madsen and quick appearances by Channing Tatum and Zoe Bell. If you like Tarantino, i.e. revenge, lots of cursing, derogatory terms for black people and women, violence, blood and humor, you'll like The Hateful Eight.

Next up it was The Big Short for pre-New Years Eve at the Cinemark in Playa Vista for a star studded telling of the housing meltdown and financial crisis of 2008. Filled with facts, weird hairdos, celebrity cameos and Wall Street lingo, Short is enjoyable and educational while also frustrating and sad as greedy bankers made it happen, weren't punished, got bailed out by your tax dollars and are back to business as usual. I wish Anonymous would target those guys and open things up a bit...Christian Bale dons his American accent as the genius loaner who saw the crash coming then we get Ryan Gosling and Steve Carrell as hedge fund managers who buck the trend and bet against the current to reap billions. Producer Brad Pitt shows up in a small role as a mentor to some young guns while continuing his transformation into Robert Reford. Usually funny guy Adam McKay blends the yuks with facts to break it down for us non-Wall Street types and does well for his first non-Will Ferrell starring directorial effort. Gosling gets a near Pain and Gain moment of greatness when he shouts "I'm jacked to the tits!". For action fans, American Dragons, Street Fighter and Arrow's Byron Mann shows up as a cocky gazillionaire who tells Carrell how it is.

On Saturday it was Alejandro Gonzaelez Inarritu's mountain man revenge tale The Revenant over at The Landmark in a weird theater with couches instead of stadium seating. It seemed like a nice change of pace and a relaxed atmosphere for the nearly 3 hour movie and trailers but by the mid point my neck was sore, I couldn't lay down and no arm rest in the middle meant passing our gallon sized Coke Zero back and forth. An incredibly beautiful as well as brutal film, The Revenant is to be commended for what the cast and crew went through to produce the film. Shooting took nearly a year in snow, ice and freezing rivers and I wondered if anyone got sick or injured. While vistas of nature and scenes of escape and violence were shiver inducing and blood curdling, the actual story of the film played out like a big mash up of Jeremiah Johnson, Gladiator, Dances With Wolves, Man VS Wild, The Punisher and Rambo that made me want to eat the meat of wolves, fish, horse, buffalo, elk, etc. While Leonardo DiCaprio no doubt went through living hell to make the film, I don't think that warrants "acting" merits or awards since you have no speeches or brooding to show off the verbal or physical transformation. Just lots of struggling and pain.

24 Hours: Planet Terror

On a fateful Friday night and Saturday in May of 2013, I went to four movies in just over twenty-four hours and managed to squeeze in a workout too boot. As fate would have it, I've embarked on a similar quest of cinematic, muscular pumping, junk food eating, booze swilling adventure as today I randomly woke up at 3:47 AM feeling fresh and terrific. Perusing Facebook I noticed that Friday night was The New Beverly's From Dusk Til Dawn marathon screening all three films plus Grindhouse: Planet Terror in 35mm from owner Quentin Tarantino's personal collection. I figured I had nothing else to do, hopped in the car, braved no traffic, passed Danny Trejo's under construction taco joint and arrived in West Hollywood just before 5:00 AM. From Dusk Til Dawn 3: Hangman's Daughter was barely a third of the way in so I plopped down to check out two-thirds of a flick I've never seen. To refresh, Dusk was a collaboration between F/X wizard Robert Kurtzman and writer/directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. Released in 1996, the film is notable for being half a heist movie and half a vampire horror masterpiece. It was also George Clooney's first starring role after breaking out on hit TV show, ER. Suffice to say, the moody, funny, sexy and gory thriller has long been one of my favorite films and provided me with one of my life mottos: "I may be a bastard but I'm not a fucking bastard."

Part 3 takes us back to the beginning as the pre-Titty Twister serves as an outpost in wild west style Mexico 100 years ago. We witness the origin of Santanico Pandemonium (played by Salma Hayek in Dusk and Ara Celi here), future vampire queen of the joint. I missed both direct to video sequels back in 1999 but was impressed at how good it looked on the big screen. With an estimated $5 million dollar budget, the costumes, sets, gore and mayhem all still hold up between a few cheap looking F/X shots. A few familiar faces pop up like Michael Parks, Rebecca Gayheart, Danny Trejo and Orlando Jones while Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero's KNB EFX Group takes care of severed limbs, fake blood, beheading vampires and slashed throats galore. I'll have to go back and check out both sequels now and relive the glorious Direct to Video 90's. Right after the credits, Planet Terror started up with fake trailer turned real movie, complete with sequel, Machete starring recurring theme of the night, Danny Trejo! Then it was time for the main event. I saw Grindhouse in it's entirety in 2007 and absolutely adored Robert Rodriguez's John Carpenter style zombie flick Planet Terror while utterly despising Tarantino's talky Death Proof (it's grown on me, great car chases, Kurt Russell for life). A costly flop at the box office that allegedly rattled Tarantino's confidence, I've rarely seen it screened around Los Angeles. It recently played at Hollywood Forever during Cinespia but I loathe the crowded and crappy experience that is their outdoor events.

Opening on a dark and scary night in an unnamed town, we meet various military, science and shady business types (played by Bruce Willis and Naveen Andrews among others) as they discuss "the shit" before tanks of green, toxic gas get exploded and sent into the air. From here, anyone who comes into contact with the green shit mist starts to decompose and violently attack the uninfected. We meet a motley crew of townsfolk from the local strip club, police department, soon to be award winning BBQ joint and hospital that includes Freddy Rodriguez, Marley Shelton, Josh Brolin, Rose McGowan, Jeff Fahey, Tom Savini and mother fucking MICHAEL BIEHN. Yes, folks, the main reason I went to see a movie at 5:30 in the morning on a Saturday was to see The Biehn up on the big screen. Rodriguez gives him a terrific entrance as Sheriff Hague with a moving hero shot showing the badass leader and his ample crew. From there it's pus filled, bone breaking, shovel smashing, finger biting, car exploding, machine gun leg, dick melting, helicopter chopping, pocket bike racing mayhem at it's finest with a terrific synth score inspired by Carpenter work from the 80's. The film still plays great with it's awesome cast, gross out f/x and throwback movie vibe that comes with fake scratches, poor color timing and missing reels.

Watching the film and knowing it was made more or less in Robert Rodriguez's backyard in Austin, Texas was inspiring as it was disappointing. As the film was an experiment and a pretty solid value, $50 million for two films featuring loads of movie stars and could have been the return of something really cool in Hollywood, a night out at the movies with something for hopefully every genre fan. Instead of being a modern throwback to star studded affairs like The Great Escape how Ocean's 11 was, Grindhouse sadly did not find it's audience. Everyone involved does a terrific job, it looks fantastic and you get all kinds of bang for your buck. Plus it was arguably Biehn's last meaty role in a decent sized movie. Here's hoping Aliens II remedies that in the next couple of years. Two more movies on deck for the day, pass the coffee and doughnuts!

View In Peace: Rowdy Roddy Piper

I had just come out of a hours long training session Friday when I saw the posts on Facebook about Roddy Piper. I honestly couldn't believe it. He was only 61. But the sad history of wrestlers has seen many pass before retirement age due to heart complications most likely brought on by drug use and lifestyle. While guys like The Ultimate Warrior and Bret Hart were my favorite wrestlers growing up, Piper was one of my favorite personalities. He transcended the sport that made him so famous, appearing in cult hit They Live and several other solid action flicks. Piper's death made me instantly sad as he seemed like the kind of guy who had been through a lot and wore his heart on his sleeve. When I first subscribed to Netflix a few years ago and found myself alone for a long weekend, I devoured hours upon hours of WWF/WWE documentaries, one of the first being Piper's. In remembrance we sat down for a viewing of They Live to see him in his prime.

Rowdy Roddy was born Roderick George Toombs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and grew up in Manitoba. A runaway from junior high age, Toombs traveled the country working odd jobs in gyms and for professional wrestlers. Being of Scottish heritage, Piper even played the bagpipes while becoming a Golden Gloves boxing champion and amateur wrestler. Toombs made his professional wrestling debut at age 15 against Larry Henning, being billed as Roddy the Piper. The business would take him to the states working in California, Kansas and Texas where he began crafting his Rowdy persona by insulting local communities and managing villains. By the 80's, Piper was a fan favorite and feuding with the likes of Sgt. Slaughter, Ric Flair and Greg Valentine. In 1984, Piper joined the World Wrestling Federation as a heel and given his own interview segment, Piper's Pit, where he would sometimes insult then attack guests like Jimmy Snuka who got a coconut to the jaw and crashed into the flimsy set. A feud with Hulk Hogan involving singer Cyndi Lauper, Captain Lou Albano and Mr. T. was shown on MTV. 1987's record breaking Wrestlemania III sold out over 93,000 seats, one of them being wrestling fan and Halloween and Escape From New York writer/director John Carpenter. Carpenter was doing low budget movies at Universal and thought Piper would be an excellent lead due to his weathered look and expertise on the mic. WWF owner Vince McMahon was having none of it, thinking that the company was based around himself and superstar Hulk Hogan. McMahon tried to offer Piper a lead in a WWF produced film but the wrestler passed, knowing that a director of Carpenter's skill would not be involved. This lead to McMahon and Hogan holing up in a hotel room for a week and coming up with the not great 1989 flick, No Holds Barred.

While Barred would actually end up grossing more than They Live, it's hardly remembered in the same regard twenty some years later. Piper plays Nada, a drifter from Denver who finds construction work in Los Angeles. While staying at a local shelter, he uncovers the truth that aliens have taken over society and placed subliminal messages on TV, printed money, magazines, etc. Armed with special sunglasses that let him see the messages and the faces of aliens hiding under human masks, Nada teams up with Frank (Keith David) as they battle the 1% alien threat. It's great stuff with some terrific dialog that was half written and half improvised along with shotgun flavored action and a ridiculously awesome alley fight that goes on for 6 minutes. Piper is pitch perfect as the drifter who can't believe what's happening and delivers a broad performance where he can be sad and mad in the same 90 minutes. The $4 million dollar movie would gross $13 million upon release and become a cult classic, prompting special edition DVD's and repertory screenings around the world. Subsequent acting roles in genre fare like Hell Comes to Frogtown and a slew of direct to video films with Billy Blanks would never rival They Live but showed Piper had some real acting chops. 1997's The Bad Pack showed his goofy sense of humor in the low budget Magnificent Seven update opposite Robert Davi and Ralf Moeller while he surprisingly delivered the best performance in 2007's street fighting flick Honor as spiritually wounded policeman and father figure LT Tyrell against Russell Wong.

Piper's outspoken personality and fractured upbringing created an adult who would give you the shirt off his back if asked but resented authority and did not take orders well. This lead to his in and out relationship with McMahon and WWF as Piper spoke out against the company several times and subsequently fired. I recall one interview where Piper claimed he wouldn't make it to retirement age to claim his pension. Sadly, he was right. Rowdy Roddy Piper was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and is survived by his wife and four children. Mixed Martial Artist Rhonda Rousey received Piper's blessing to use the Rowdy nickname and dedicated her Saturday night title defense to his honor.

What the Flick?! Big Trouble In Little China Remake

1986's cult classic Big Trouble In Little China is one of my favorite movies. I saw the oddball tale of blowhard trucker Jack Burton who gets caught up in a kidnapping, in between rival Chinatown gangs and ancient mysticism complete with sorcery on cable channel TBS one night as a youth and have loved it ever since. Rumors of a sequel have long persisted with a TV show once bandied about. The closest we've come is an ongoing comic book series from BOOM! Studios. Although the film has lived on through cable, VHS and DVD, it was still a flop upon release. Costing a sturdy $25 million bucks plus marketing, the film only brought in $11 million at the box office. On their entertaining commentary, director John Carpenter and star Kurt Russell talk about the film's legacy with the actor wondering if the film has finally made it into the black after all these years. Carpenter answered that by simply asking, "where are my checks?" so by Hollywood accounting, the film has not made money.

News of a sequel hit the internet like a bolt of lightening Monday night with news that Thor and X-Men: First Class scribes Ashely Miller and Zack Stentz pitched an update to rights holder Fox and closed a deal to script. The bigger news? Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was in talks to star as Burton and produce as the original is one of his favorite films.  Miller is a convention staple, appearing on numerous panels on genre flicks and writing so his heart is obviously in the right place. Johnson is coming off his first solo headlining hit, San Andreas, after years of reinvigorating franchises while being unable to launch his own. At first glance, he seems like a terrible choice. His over the top persona and invincible physicality would negate the original character who was always in over his head, talking a big game then getting kicked across the room and not being able to hold his own in a fight. Sidekick Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) and crusty cool old guy Egg Shen are the real heroes of Big Trouble as they're the ones who fill us in on what's going down in Chinatown and Chi punches, kicks, flips, flies and sword fights his way through goons while Burton knocks himself out or gets trapped under a fallen villain and misses the battle.

Beyond that, is Hollywood really going to bankroll a film where the cast is 90% Asian? If you'll recall, the original has Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall and Kate Burton but every other significant role is filled by the likes of James Hong, Dun, Victor Wong, James Lew, Donald Li, on and on. This is the studio that gave us a totally white version of Orange County on TV and the showrunner removed minority characters from scripts. AKA a Six Demon Bag of slightly racist and melodramatic lame. They also botched the original release by A) not getting the movie and B) having no idea how to market it. Head of studio commented that Jack Burton wasn't too good of a hero, completely missing the point. Johnson is a funny guy, maybe he sees this as a chance to go back to doing some comedy that isn't kiddie friendly like The Tooth Fairy or The Gameplan. If he diffuses his physical presence by constantly being beat up by mystically strong baddies, having no idea what's going on, talking a big game but ending up with lipstick on his face, etc, it could totally work. But if he plans on just bulldozing his way through tossing funny one liners and not knowing he's supposed to be the sidekick, we're in Biiiig Trouble. And not the Tim Allen ensemble cast kind.

Call Me Snake: Sideshow Sixth Scale Figure

Oh man just got a knock on the door and opened up my Sideshow Collectibles Sixth Scale figure of mother fucking Escape From New York's Snake Plissken.  Brought to life by Kurt Russell in John Carpenter's 1981 classic futuristic action thriller, Snake and Escape set the tone for the "cool asshole who doesn't give a fuck" anti-hero and action flicks for a generation.  A less well received sequel was produced in 1996 with comic books carrying on the Plissken name as a video game and anime stalled out in the mid 2000's after the death of producer Debra Sand.  A remake has been in the works for years with Fox picking up the rights just last week with plans for a new trilogy.

Sideshow Collectibles is a specialty manufacturer of movie and comic book figures designed for the high end market.  I pre-ordered the Snake figure last spring and more or less forgot about it until recently when notices about shipping started going out.  This is my first purchase from Sideshow and probably my last.  That's not to say it's not a quality product, I just don't know what else to do with things like this besides add them to my shelf of awesome swag and figures.  The box(es) are beautiful with an excellent painted mural of Snake kicking back being the most striking.  Inside were layers of toy goodness with trays holding multiple sets of hands and oh so many accessories.  You literally get everything Snake has in the movie from the leather jacket, silenced Uzi, revolver, tracker, wrist timer, cigarette, throwing stars, walkie talkie and extra ammo magazines.  A stand is included to hold Snake up at the crotch.  Even though the product images show him standing on his own power, the figure's boots are too stiff for that in real life.

Messing with the figure took me back to playing with Barbie dolls at my babysitter's house in 1st grade.  So many joints in the arms and shoulders but his real cloth pants are too tight to move his legs much.  Surprisingly Snake bends at the waist for easy sitting.  Hands come off quick and easy so you can hold a cigarette, a gun, point at something or just have a balled fist. The detail is immense, from veins and finger nails to the revolver having a movable chamber with 6 easy to lose bullets and a Velcro fly on his camouflage pants.

D'You Know What I Mean 2015: Weathers, Carpenter & Jane Weekly Round Up

We're mid way through the first month of 2015, how's it going?  I'm feverishly working on the next Dammaged Goods Presents event, children of the 80's and 90's will be super excited.  While hanging around the interwebs between e-mails and phone calls I came across:

I set this up! Victory!

Happy Birthday Carl Weathers!  The likeable former professional football player known for his roles in Rocky I-IV, Predator, Action Jackson, Happy Gilmore, Toy Story of Terror and Arrested Development celebrated the big 6-7 this past 14th.  That puts him right under co-stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.  With an acting career dating back to 1975, Weathers' film and television output has slowed in recent years as he focuses on screen writing and lending his famous face to charities; playing in celebrity poker tournaments, raising awareness for cancer, bringing water to west Africa, campaigning for film tax incentives across the country as well as being a finalist in the newly formed Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame for his portrayal of Apollo Creed in the Rocky films.  Speaking of Creed, a new film featuring the grand son of the legendary character has just begun production with rising star Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone starring in the 7th film of the series.  Even though Apollo died in 1985's Rocky IV, it would be great to have Weathers reprise the role in some kind of voice over or flashback to pay respect to all the work he put into making the character so memorable.

Only two days later, another titan of cinema celebrated his 67th birthday, writer/director/composer John Carpenter!  The man behind such B-movie genre classics as Escape From New York, They Live, The Thing and Big Trouble From Little China has also slowed down in the filmmaking world but has kept busy through writing comic books, releasing a new album of "lost themes" and playing video games.  With four of his films already remade, it was just announced this week that Fox has acquired the rights to reboot Escape From New York and Carpenter will act as a consultant.  Multiple parties have held the rights in recent years from New Line Cinema, Joel Silver and most recently Studio Canal.  Rumors of a prequel starring Gerard Butler to begin a new trilogy never materialized.  Let's see if Fox can put together something special that can replicate the experience of the films while moving it in a new direction.

Last but certainly not least, the trailer for SyFy's 10 part "future noir" series The Expanse dropped during this week's Television Critics Association's press tour.  Based on a series of novels, The Expanse is set 200 years in the future and follows a detective (Thomas Jane) as he crosses the solar system searching for a missing woman and uncovers a conspiracy in the process.  Being touted as SyFy's most ambitious project to date, cast and crew began production in Toronto in November occupying most of the stages at Toronto's Pinewood Studios.  The trailer shows off sleek production design, zero gravity sex and The Jane looking very slim, trim and stylish in a fedora and some kind of half shaved, half long hair cut.

Jane participated in a Redditt Ask Me Anything session yesterday to hype his new film with Bruce Willis, Vice, that hits theaters and VOD this weekend.  Nothing too crazy which is kind of disappointing as Jane is the king of WeirdCool.  Jane mentions never watching his films after they're completed, sneaking out of premieres, fans wanting to wrestle him, has never seen Game of Thrones, his love for making baseball picture 61*, almost drowning on Deep Blue Sea,  taking name Jane from Indian religion Jain while shooting a Bollywood feature at 16, how the studio would have given The Mist a bigger budget if they'd change the ending, not being very good in comedy The Sweetest Thing, shooting Vice in Mobile, Alabama being great, Bruce Willis being the guy you see on screen, his favorite horror film is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and that Lawrence Kasdan likes his actors to be on set whether or not they're working.

(Pre) Ask Me a Question: Beyond Fest 2014

Oh shit, the full schedule for Beyond Fest finally dropped this week.  After months of rumors, wish lists, false starts and triumphs, Christian Parkes and his genre movie loving crew will begin their two week assault on Los Angeles filmgoers on Thursday, 9.25 with Horns, the Daniel Radcliffe starring murder mystery.  After last year's premiere/takeover of The American Cinematheque's Egyptian and Aero Theatres that included cult progressive rock band Goblin playing Los Angeles for the first time in their decades spanning career and guests like Richard Donner and Clive Barker, Beyond Fest is going all out to avoid the sophomore slump.  No less than 30 films and shorts are slated to screen and partnerships with Fantastic Fest, Shock Til You Drop, The ElRey Network, Backstory, Bloody Disgusting, Death Waltz Records and Meltdown Comics show that the Fest is not one to be trifled with or missed.

So far titles include first looks at the creepy looking Jake Gylenhall thriller Nightcrawler, V/H/S Viral and the Los Angeles premiere of Hollywood Satanic cult flick Starry Eyes.  On the repertory front, you've got The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Fight Club, Monster Squad and a 4K restoration of Halloween!  Guests so far include the likes of Bourne Legacy writer turned director Dan Gilroy, John Carpenter, Jamie Lee Curtis, DC Comics honcho Jim Lee and many, many more.  See you there!

Paneled Goods: Big Trouble In Little China

By now I'm sure you're aware that John Carpenter and Kurt Russell's 4th cinematic collaboration Big Trouble In Little China from 1986 is one of my favorite movies.  Of all time.  A flop upon release, the film has built up an epic cult following and this year alone has seen multiple screenings around Los Angeles, a UK special edition Blu-Ray, tee shirts and comic books.  At San Diego Comic Con, I picked up the first 2 issues of BOOM!'s new series as well as a their SDCC exclusive which I thought was a 90's style issue # 0 but it was just the first issue with a different cover...

Picking up directly after the events of the film, Big Trouble In Little China is the continuing adventures of Jack Burton and the Pork Chop Express.  Written by The Goon's Eric Powell with an assist from director John Carpenter and pencils by Brian Churilla, BTILC is an amusing read but not quite enough to get me back into monthly reading.  # 1 starts right after the end of the movie which saw big mouthed, not very swashbuckling Jack Burton drive off into the dark, rainy night with a mysterious monstrous creature on the back of his truck after defeating the thousands year old wizard Lo Pan with help from Chinatown residents Wang Chi, an ass kicking, high flying, truck driving restaurant owner and Egg Shen, a tour bus driver and sorcerer.  In The Hell of the Midnight Road & The Ghosts of Storms has Jack becoming the creatures ipso facto guardian since he killed former master Lo Pan with a knife to the forehead.  Dubbing him Pete, Jack returns to Chinatown in time for Wang's wedding in a bid to try and get rid of the creature.  Unfortunately, the vengeful, high kicking Wing Kong burst in and then Qiang Wu , a warrior disciple of Lo Pan shows up.  Wang attempts to do what he does best, which is kick ass with flying kicks, but gets snatched in mid air by Qiang Wu.  Qiang is ready to kill Wang unless Jack travels the Black Road in the Hell of the Seven Faced Widow to retrieve the jars that contain the spirits of the three storms, Thunder, Rain and Lightening.

Of course, never afraid of a challenge and full of John Wayne style bravado, Jack accepts and hits the road along with Egg Shen.  With Six Demon Bag in hand, Egg leads Jack to the Midnight Lands via a door opened from a brick wall via chalk outline, adding to the mystical quality of the book.  Along the way, we learn more about Jack's past and run ins with unusual lovers and adversaries like a vampire ex-wife and a father in law who heads a cult to resurrect a Babylonian demi-god.  There's lots of banter throughout with plenty of Jack talking to himself and classic lines "Like I always say" or "When some wild eyed..." so the tone and spirit of the film is well at hand.  Adding some pretty funny and out there backstories also gives the comic a nice zaniness similar to the film that stopped to explained nothing.  Artist Churilla gives Burton a nice Kurt Russell-esque quality complete with strong chin, pseudo mullet and the tank top/jeans/tall leather boots outfit with pencils and gives Victor Wong's Egg Shen the appropriate goofy, wise and weird appearance.  Eric Powell seems to have a pretty solid grasp on the world and tone of the story but not a ton happens in the second issue.  While Carpenter is a big name, the original film script was written by W.D. Ricther then Gary Goldman so I wonder if they were consulted.

I thought it was a little weird that Jack wouldn't be at Wang's wedding but there's a line thrown in about Jack being on the run from the cops which harkens back to the opening of the film when an attorney asks if Egg knows his whereabouts.  Then at the wedding there's no sign of Gracie Law, Uncle Chu, Eddie, Margo or anything of the Cheng Sings.  Where's James Lew?!  While a fun read, colorful and a nice continuation of the movie, at $4 bucks a pop I don't foresee myself keeping up regularly.  Hopefully a couple of cons from now I can pick up a nice collected edition.

Until then, keep on shaking the pillars of Heaven.

San Diego Comic-Con 2014: SaturDAZE Part I w/ Ernie Reyes, Jr

Saturday in San Diego started at 5:00AM as I was volunteering for the 3rd year in a row at 6:00AM.  My first year included packaging the welcome kits con goers receive upon entry, you know, those big WB branded bags and the commemorative book/event guides?  Last year I got put on the Hasbro line duty where I helped masses of toy buying fans queue up to pick up convention exclusives and met my first Brony.  This year I was hoping for the same thing and got Autograph Line where I'd either be waiting in line for someone physically unable or directing traffic.  Luckily I got to direct traffic and helped organize die hards who had lined up as early as the night before to get signatures from the casts and crews of The Hobbit, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, The Flash, Arrow and Constantine among the 9 options.  A set number of pretty nifty hologram wristbands were doled out for each title with The Hobbit reaching capacity first followed by Arrow.  I experienced my first Con induced heartache of the day as I witnessed a young fan who had been in line for hours before 6:00AM have the wind taken out of her sails and walk off, totally not interested in the other 8 signings.  Overall it was a fun shift talking to the security crew, Con staff and attendees in line.  Being so early, it's not hot yet, people are too tired to be grumpy and I was standing right by the beautiful marina and water front.  From there I observed the huge Hall H line that wrapped around the marina's concrete sidewalk into the island park.  I couldn't help but think a breakfast cart/truck would do gangbusters as there were around 3,000 folks in line.

Walking back to this year's Comic-Con'do was a little tricky at 9:30AM as everyone is trying to get in.  The sidewalk was packed with attendees trying to get in along with those annoying Bible thumpers taking up valuable space.  I witnessed a young girl having a panic attack and being helped by a local police officer but I wonder if that was a ploy to get out of the crowd...come on, it's Comic-Con, massive hordes of people is just part of the deal.  The only panel I was really gunning for on Saturday was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 30th Anniversary a shellebration of 3 decades of comics, cartoons, toys, movies, video games, merchandise and heroes in a half shell.  Unfortunately I over napped and arrived at the line 30 minutes before the panel to find a huge crowd already waiting.  However, I spotted mother fucking Ernie Reyes, Jr., the martial artist/actor who played Donatello's fight double in TMNT then graduated to lead role Keno the pizza boy in Secret of the Ooze before headlining Surf Ninjas!  Some other guys in line and I went over and got in quick greetings and photos as Reyes, Jr. was uber cool and rocking the red and white pizza delivery jacket costume from the movie!  Oh and he looks younger than I do even though he's 10 years older.  Jerk.  It was a nice consolation prize as I did not get into the panel but hey, I've seen lot of Ninja Turtle stuff through the years and gotten to meet Kevin Eastman and now Keno himself.

With time to spare before my next panel, I popped into The Art of Fear where horror authors riffed on how they scare audiences and approach the craft of writing.  For what I thought would be a nice filler panel, it was actually quite informative and entertaining.  The panel talked about drawing inspiration from real life events such as the Salem witch trials, new strains of virus, trends in mental health and more.  While some of the self induced horror smacked of BS to me (it's dark, oh no!), it was fascinating to hear about how at one time or another, things we find totally fantastic and false (witches, vampires) were real fears to large segments of the population.  It will be interesting to see what people 100 years from now laugh at us for being afraid of.  The authors also discussed their writing methods and how they got their starts.  One uses Excel spreadsheets to keep track of her characters, sub-plots and twists while another explained how he self published to Amazon and after 10 days his title became a hit and big time publishers came looking with a 4 book deal.  All in a pleasant surprise and sadly more engrossing than the panel I was actually waiting for...

Which was Big Trouble in Little China: Shaking the Pillars of the Comics Industry, a look at BOOM! Studios new title based on the 1986 John Carpenter cult classic film starring Kurt Russell, Dennis Dun, James Hong and Victor Wong.  I picked up the first 2 issues of the series at the show earlier in the week and found # 1 funny and an interesting take on the movie that didn't quite make sense story wise but went along with it.  I don't know what it is but this is the 2nd panel on Big Trouble I've seen that didn't include anyone involved in the actual film that came off very lackluster.  Remember when I saw it with the creators of Robot Chicken and a film school guy who wears scarves with graphic tees and it sucked?  This wasn't quite as bad but wasn't one for the Con books either.  Writer Eric Powell didn't have much to say beyond he thought he could do a good Jack Burton and that John Carpenter is down to earth and not a typical Hollywood douche.  Editor Ian Brill chimed in talking about the genesis of the project and how much everyone loves Carpenter while moderator Chris Sims told us he made his new lady friend watch Big Trouble on one of their first dates.  I wondered if the creators went through any old drafts of the screenplay by W.D. Richter and Gary Goldman for inspiration but there were a lot of questions about nothing in particular asked.  I did however sit next to a nice guy dressed as Jack Burton himself and behind a woman who attended on behalf of her super fan husband who could not be there.

Summer Cinema: The Purge: Anarchy

Are you much of a horror film fan?  I'm not.  Everybody always seems so dumb and going places they shouldn't be or the horror is a big cop out because it's just people scaring themselves in the dark.  So I was aware of The Purge's existence, it's one of those low budget horror movies from factory Blum House that starred Ethan Hawke and Lena Headley in a home invasion horror story set in a future where all crime is legal for 12 hours to help keep society balanced.  The scenario sounded contrite to me and these $3 million cheapies with former low watt movie stars just seemed like filler that turned a profit without actually being entertaining.  I knew a sequel was being produced and was intrigued by the casting of the up and coming Frank Grillo, an actor that's caught my attention since his small role in Mel Gibson's Edge of Darkness then full on in Warrior and The Grey as an MMA coach and roughneck oil worker asshole.  Quick bits in End of Watch and Zero Dark Thirty seemed to signify he was getting seen by the right people then a role as a villain in this years smash Captain America: The Winter Soldier seemed to possibly foretell a future of playing henchmen.

With no interest in seeing The Purge: Anarchy, I caught a blurb review about someone likening it to a John Carpenter infused action movie from the 80's.  That immediately piqued my interest because if there's one thing Hollywood needs, it's more lost John Carpenter movies.  I'm not talking remakes of Halloween, The Fog or Assault On Precinct 13 (which wasn't bad), I'm talking about Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror which plays like a lost Carpenter flick with it's mix of action, horror, humor and gruesome f/x set to a killer synth score.  That said, The Purge: Anarchy is totally a riff on Assault On Precinct 13 and They Live mixed with Van Damme's Hard Target or basically a surprisingly satisfying action movie disguised as a horror flick in the marketing materials.  Incidentally, writer/director James DeMonaco wrote the 2005 remake of Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13.  Set in a future where new government has installed the annual Purge, a 12 hour window where all crime like murder, looting and rape are legal.  It's a little far fetched a concept to get around at first as our story centers on some peeps who get stuck outside after it starts.  If you knew this was coming, wouldn't you just take a day off and fortify your house?  But once you get past that, there's unrelated characters coming together, a rebellion questioning the underlying intentions of the Purge, rich VS poor societal lines and a possible military style government conspiracy at play, all themes very familiar to Carpenter fans.

We meet our core characters a couple hours before The Purge starts: there's hard working waitress and her daughter Eva and Cali (Carmen Ejogo and Zoe Soul) then struggling couple Shane and Liz (Zac Gilford from The Last Stand and Kiele Sanchez), then you have heavily armed and despondent looking Frank Grillo driving around in his souped up crime mobile.  I'm not even sure if they say his name in the flick but I think it's Sergeant Leo.  The 3 unrelated parties all run into each other and stick together to survive while uncovering much more at play than just thugs going on a spree.  While watching the film, I couldn't help but think that Grillo would make a pitch perfect The Punisher on the new Daredevil series on Netflix or anywhere.   He's spot on here as a man on the revenge trail, armed to the teeth, muscular yet lithe with dark features and a commanding presence that gives a sense of both safety and fright.  Make no mistake, Anarchy is an action flick with only a handful of scares, one of them that made me jump in my seat.  It's mostly gunplay with a few bursts of foot chases and fisticuffs.  I thought it was kind of a missed opportunity that we see Grillo's character driving around the city in his souped up, Mad Max style battle car but there's no chase scene that destroys it.  Guess they only had the one.  It's an interesting change of pace since part one was a home invasion flick, this one is action oriented so the next could be a disaster movie with an earthquake occurring during the ritual to change things up or take on the form of any genre.

After opening up #2 this weekend with nearly $30 million in box office receipts on a $9 million dollar budget, we can be sure to see more Purge flicks in the near future.  Especially after Universal and producer Jason Blum just signed a 10-year first look deal.  Now somebody make a flick as wild, zany, quotable and downright wonderful as Big Trouble In Little China or The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.

Ask me a Question: Big Trouble In Little China

The Arclight has been hosting a plethora of throwback repertory programming of late with focus on 80's classics, 90's action movies and The Modern School of Film which sees actors, writers, musicians and the like selecting a favorite film and discussing after.  Last night it was Big Trouble In Little China with the creators of Robot Chicken.  The John Carpenter and Kurt Russell classic finds Russell as Jack Burton, a blowhard truck driver with an inflated sense of self who teams up with buddy Wang Chi (Dennis Dun), a truck driver/restaurant owner in San Francisco Chinatown when thugs kidnap his fiance with green eyes to be the sacrificial lamb of thousands year old sorcerer of no flesh Lo Pan (James Hong).  Basically, if you've ever heard of Big Trouble you fall into one of three camps:  You love it, you don't get it or you've never seen it.  Me?  I fucking love this movie.  From the opening sequence with Tremors and 3 Ninjas' Victor Wong showing off his magic powers to the awesome synth score by Carpenter and Alan Howarth to Russell's mulleted John Wayne style hero who is actually a sidekick to the three henchman known as Storms that rock huge straw hats, twirl swords and ride lightening to the quick bantering between characters courtesy of Gary Goldman, David Z. Weinstein and W.D. Richter...it's all wonderfully zany, funny, quotable and plain classic.

This is my third time seeing it on the big screen and it looked great.  The comedy, pace, Kung-Fu fight scenes and what the heck weirdness made this a fast 100 minutes of action, laughs and characterization that doesn't stop to explain.  It's a ride that you're either on or off.  The audience was full of fans wearing related tee shirts, tanks and jackets who clapped and cheered at all the appropriate moments.  Post credits, a panel of writers and directors from Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, who created Robot Chicken, participated in one of the weirdest post movie Q&A's I've ever seen.  The founder of Modern School of Film introduced the film and gave us a taste of his personality and style that to me, was way too serious and highfalutin for the movie and guests he'd assembled for the night.  It's an interesting concept, to invite filmmakers, artists, etc to speak about their favorite films but in execution it falls a bit flat because they had nothing to do with the preceding.  Reciting trivia and professing your love for a movie is all well and good but it just sounds better coming from someone who was there and part of it.  The panelists seemed like nice guys but the entire conversation seemed kind of pointless and mainly unrelated to the film.  Basically, I felt like all of the fun of Big Trouble In Little China was suddenly sucked out of the theater and audience.

Until next time, keep shaking the pillars of heaven.  No horseshit.

Born Ready: Kurt Russell

Not only was this past Monday St. Patrick's Day, it was also the birthday of one titan of cinema and life: Kurt Russell.  While Russell didn't inspire me the way Jean-Claude Van Damme or Arnold did as a kid, his films and attitude were definitely a big part of my formative movie watching years.  Always a perfect mix of funny and physical with a rough around the edges charm, Russell just effortlessly comes off as a cool guy.  After hearing stories about him and then seeing him in person last year, I can definitely say I still believe it to be true.  A few weeks ago I opined that America doesn't have many leading men of the durable and capable variety and I would argue that Russell was one of our last.

Coming off a string of television work and Disney features, Russell transitioned to Hollywood leading man the help of directors like Robert Zemeckis, John Carpenter, Mike Nichols, Garry Marshall, Ron Howard and Roland Emmerich while playing a multitude of iconic characters like Snake Plissken, R.J. MacReady, Jack Burton, Gabriel Cash, Captain Ron and Wyatt Earp.

Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

Used Cars - Probably Russell's funniest and most dialog heavy role of all time where he plays salesman Rudy Russo, a small time hustler/charmer trying to raise enough money to join the Senate and skim all the graft he knows is waiting.  Socially irresponsible with some great practical car stunts.

Escape From New York - The B-Movie classic that helped launch his career and a character that has lived on through a sequel, comic books, toys and more.  The ultimate wise ass anti-hero before there were wise ass anti-heroes.

The Thing - Drinks whiskey, plays computer chess, flies a helicopter, wears a huge sombrero and blows shit up.  What more could you ask for from an arctic set, alien thriller with Cold War paranoia?

Big Trouble In Little China - Arguably my favorite Russell flick since the time I saw it late night on TBS then bought the VHS at Saturday Matinee in the mall.  Russell's turn as blowhard trucker Jack Burton is hilarious and shows his gameness for not giving the audience what they expect as he's actually the sidekick but doesn't know it.

Tango & Cash - A beautiful love story between two hard working men just trying to make it in life.

Captain Ron - Good times.  Again shows his willingness not to be pigeonholed as he seemingly plays a buffoon in this broad family comedy who isn't actually an idiot.

Tombstone - The master class example.  Russell plays legendary lawman Wyatt Earp in this popcorn western action classic that nearly fell apart but was saved and came out a winner unlike the bloated attempt by "serious" actor and Oscar winner Kevin Costner.

Executive Decision - Showcases Russell's ability to play heroic but not cartoonish as an intelligence analyst thrown into a combat/hostage scenario after leader Steven Seagal plunges to his death aboard a Stealth Bomber 1/3 of the way into the movie.

Breakdown - Russell plays regular here, very regular as a guy moving cross country with his wife and becomes the target of a kidnapping scheme run by truckers out in the middle of nowhere.  Very freaky and became my mind's worst case scenario when thinking of pulling up stakes and driving cross country to California.

Soldier - Is it a good film?  That's debatable.  Is Russell awesome in it?  Yes.  As a silent career soldier facing his younger replacement, Russell is built like a tank in this science fiction action flick set on a near deserted trash planet in the same universe as Blade Runner.

Mr. Russell had taken a hiatus from filmmaking as he and life partner Goldie Hawn have been busy running a winery and producing their own label.  He's slowly coming back as Canadian heist flick The Art of the Steal has rolled out this year and a part in the latest Fast and Furious chapter is in the works.  Russell had already turned down an offer from friend Stallone to appear in The Expendables, citing he wasn't interested in ensemble acting or looking back.  While it would be nice to see him in one of the 90's reunions, you gotta respect the fact he doesn't need the work and is still setting out to do his own thing.

Ask Me a Question: Escape From New York (part III)

Welcome back to Ask Me a Question (pokes finger into your chest), my look at special screenings for anniversaries, Q&A's and the like.  Tonight's feature is John Carpenter's 1981 futuristic action classic, Escape From New York (applause), presented by The Arclight Cinema's How It's Made series.  Other titles in the series include 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street and 1999's Fight Club.  On this Monday night, Director of Photography Dean Cundey (Back to the Future) and Larry Franco (Batman Begins) were scheduled to participate in a session following showings of Escape and 1982's The Thing.  Unfortunately, Mr. Cundey didn't make it due to a scheduling conflict.

If you've never seen Escape From New York but are still here, again, I applaud you.  This would actually be my third time seeing it on the big screen in as many years.  Los Angeles continues to spoil me as the first time was a double feature with it's awesomely bad sequel, 1996's Escape From L.A. with John Carpenter speaking in between.  The second was just this past summer as part of the Cape Town festival where Kurt Russell made a rare public appearance, confirming his spot as one of the coolest guys on the planet.

What has always made the movie great, still resonates; the story, atmosphere, cast, music and pace all create the perfect B-Movie masterpiece.  Kurt Russell's portrayal of former war hero turned bank robber turned President rescuer Snake Plissken is a cinematic landmark.  He's tough but not macho, quick on the draw and with the verbal barbs.  In a world where young, good looking Thundercats with no presence play superheroes, it's nice to see the classics still hold up yet sad to know we'll never have another crop of convincing big screen heroes a la Russell, Arnold, Van Damme, Bronson or Stallone.

After the movie, first assistant director and producer on Escape, Larry Franco, was introduced by a really nervous young man who delivered some of the worst moderating I have ever seen.  And I've been to a lot of these things.  This is where fandom backfires, just because you like something doesn't mean you should be the mouthpiece for it.  In this case, the moderator had no real plan of attack and there was no synergy or flow to the conversation, just a lot of Um's and awkward pauses.

But Franco is a pro, having worked in the film business since the 1970's as an assistant director, "working his ass off" to the point people trusted him to get a movie made and hired as a producer.  Since his first Producing credit on Escape, Franco has worked with Carpenter 7 times on classics like Big Trouble In Little China and They Live, with Joe Johnston on The Rocketeer, Jumanji and Jurassic Park III then Tim Burton on Batman Returns, Mars Attacks and Sleepy Hollow and now with Roland Emmerich on 2012 and White House Down among dozens more.  Even with the less than stellar moderating, he was funny and informative through the 30 minute session.


- Was a young assistant director who had just come off Apocalypse Now when then brother in law Russell told him about a TV movie he was doing called Elvis.  Franco shrugged off the tip, stating he didn't work in TV.  Russell's father came on to the movie and Kurt was insistent on making it a family affair and that's how Franco met John Carpenter.
- Making a movie is like going to camp, with crazy, like minded people who will always go beyond the call of duty.  They're all that one person who would fight back if a bank was being robbed.
- AVCO really wanted Tommy Lee Jones for the role but Carpenter went to the mat for Russell.
- St. Louis had never had a big movie film there so the locals bent over backwards to accommodate them.  Were given free reign on 4-5 blocks of fire damaged buildings and used trash from the dump to dress it.  The bridge in the final chase was an abandoned one outside the city.
- Played each of the 12 parts in The Thing for pick up shots as a hand, a foot, a shoulder, etc.
- Loved making The Thing as everything was real and employed crazy techniques like building upside down sets, running film through camera in reverse, etc.
- Can't remember reception of Escape but remembers The Thing was a huge disappointment.  Cost in the neighborhood of $24 million or maybe $15.  Escape's budget was $7.1 million.
- In those days, prepped a movie for 10 weeks, shot for 10 and had 20 weeks of post production for a total of 60 weeks then would take a few months off. 
- On Batman Begins, was in England for 19 months.
- Used real helicopters in Escape but today would be digital, build one, have built one thousand.
- Dean Cundey was a one man band, had a truck and lights and could do everything himself.  Had a
great working relationship with Carpenter and knew what he was trying to accomplish.

Looking back on it after a night of sleep, it was an enjoyable session but really a missed opportunity.  Mr. Franco has worked on some of the greatest genre films in history and has a career spanning 30 some years, working with some of cinema's most successful directors.  Hopefully he does something like this again and really gets a chance to open up.

Making Of:

That's My Motto

"You know what's really cool?  Being cool with yourself."

It's the simplest yet most difficult thing to do isn't it?  But when you know who you are and know what you like, people around you pick up on it and in this case, send you stuff because it reminded them of you.  Today I am the fortunate recipient of a Limited Edition, Complete Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Big Trouble In Little China by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth.

Big Trouble is one of those movies people either:  Love, Have Never Seen or Don't Get.  I, fortunately, got it and love every minute of it.  In what  would be the 4th of their 5 collaborations, star Kurt Russell and director Carpenter give us their most fun and kinetic collaboration.  It's a buddy/action/adventure movie filled with kung-fu fighting, Chinese mysticism, sorcery, monsters, quotable lines, James

Hong, Victor Wong, Chinese food, the Asian Eric Bischoff, mullets, tall leather boots (for men), plaid suits, Al Leong, knife throwing, expanding henchman, Raiden's father (Get over here!) and big rig drifting.

Carpenter produced some of the most iconic and atmospheric music of the 1980's.  Halloween, Assault From Precinct 13, Starman, Escape From New York, BTILC and so many others have some of the coolest and catchiest themes in cinema.  The two disk set boasts 20 tracks with another 2 as       bonus and an insert booklet with filled with facts, history and quotes from Carpenter himself.  It's Asian tinged synth with some rockin' guitars for  back bone.  The title track features Mr. John Carpenter himself on vocals.

Ask Me a Question: Escape From New York

Entertainment Weekly's Cape Town Film Festival picks up steam with it's Friday night main event screening of 1981's Escape From New York.  The American Cinematheque showcases writer/director/musician John Carpenter's work regularly but this night was special.  Why?  Because Snake Plissken himself, the man behind Jack Burton, the dude who brought Wyatt Earp to life and took a shower with Sylvester Stallone as Gabriel Cash, yes friends, KURT RUSSELL was doing a rare appearance afterwards to speak about the film.

The courtyard was bumping as the music was playing and EWites were taking photos of the crowd and handing out free magazines.  I'm not sure if this was all a mea culpa for changing up the night's schedule and putting TNT series Falling Skies first (a smart if annoying move by the sponsor).  Falling Skies also provided free drinks and popcorn for the night so you can't complain too much.

I had heard of Falling Skies but don't watch television unless it's called Home Improvement, Two and a Half Men Classic or involves cooking in a non-competition setting.

Season Three is about to hit your TV screen and we were treated to a taste of the premiere.  It played like a jumble of Starship Troopers, Independence Day, War of the Worlds and some other sci-fi stuff you've seen before.  Not in a bad way either, it's just difficult to jump into a show three years in and seeing a chop shop version of an episode.  Familiar faces like Noah Wyle, Will Patton, Moon Bloodgod, Terry O' Quinn and Doug Jones (in alien prosthetic of course) showed up throughout.

Cast and crew showed up to speak about the show:

- Executive Producer Steven Spielberg is heavily involved in the pre-production of the show.
- Noah Wyle has been working for Spielberg for twenty years and describes their relationship as a kid trying to impress his father.
- Moon Bloodgod was pregnant during shooting and giving birth on screen is nothing like real life.

There were some bits about Season Three spoken about but this place ain't about the spoilers!

Some custom made Escape From New York tee-shirts were put up for Twitter auction and some band played a crappy song about Snake Plissken.

And.  Then.  It.  Was.  Time.

Rialto had produced a new DCP print (Digital version of a 35mm print) just for this night and it was time to Flux-Capacitate our way to 1997 via 1981 for Escape From New York.  

This movie kicks ass.  You've seen it, right?  If you haven't, do it.  Basically, in the future New York becomes a maximum security island prison where the President has crash landed.  It's up to former soldier turned thief Snake Plissken to get the Commander In Chief out alive.  Crazy gangs, sewer dwellers, a woman of the night, a psychotic warlord, his giant wrestler henchman, jugular vein bombs, fifty flights of stairs and a booby trapped bridge stand in his way.  Big whoops right?

It's badass, iconic, funny and sad all at the same time.  Carpenter always knows how to set up a slow burn pace that leads up to an all out finish.  The characters, this cast, is awesome.  Kurt Russell (Tombstone (Michael Biehn and Bill Paxton alert!)), Lee Van Cleef (millions of westerns), Ernest Borgnine (The Wild Bunch), Isaac Hayes (Shaft!  You damn right), Adrienne Barbeau (cleavage!), Harry Dean Stanton (Alien), Tom Atkins (Lethal Weapon) and Donald Pleasance (The Great Escape (Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson!)) all make their characters stand out memorable.  It was a little sad to see the opening credits and four names after Russell's have all passed.  Circle of life I suppose.

Post flick, it was time.  Time to see the man.  Mr. Russell came out to a standing ovation, shook a few mittens, handed out a couple of high fives and waved to the cheering crowd with sincere eyes.

To preface, Kurt Russell was great because he was real.  Funny, gregarious, complimentary, sincere and sensitive.  He cracked himself up a few times telling stories and mentioned a few things I won't repeat because they're personal to the subject.  Mr. Russell was rocking a mane of long gray hair and a mustache/beard combo that made him reminiscent of Kenny Rogers.

- Never talks about his movies so this event and the one at AFI prior are pretty special.
- John Carpenter is like an older brother who was always trying to do his best.
- The pair could sit and watch a basketball game, share a six pack of beer and say less than ten words to each other.
- Scripts like Escape From New York just got him, as did Tombstone and so did future project, Bone Tomahawk (why he was rocking the long hair and facial cover).
- Studio wanted Charles Bronson but JC fought for him.
- Snake's costume was put together from multiple sources, skin tight arctic camouflage pants instead of typical baggy green ones, motorcycle boots, the eye patch was his idea.
- Spoke about being a young actor and athlete and knowing one day he'd have to pick one path.  Getting injured playing baseball sealed his fate to become an actor.
- Got injured around 22-23 and really into acting around 25-26.
- Goldie Hawn told him making Ladyhawke with Richard Donner would be a mistake.  Shooting in Europe would add months to the schedule.  He arrived and crews were on strike.  Once he saw himself in the costume, i.e. tights, he knew he was wrong for the role and begged Donner to let him go.  Said he knew Donner wanted Rutger Hauer and he could get him (Russell had no ties to Hauer) and somehow it worked out.
- Snake Plissken would win in a fight against R.J. Mac Ready and Jack Burton.
- FOX didn't know what to do with Big Trouble In Little China.  At a screening, a studio head didn't realize Kurt and JC were in the crowd and openly dissed the movie and his character.
- Was told by a reporter that his career looked like it had been driven by a drunk to which he was flattered as he and agent Rick Nicita had planned it that way to secure interesting roles.
- On the EFNY remake, reiterated that Snake should be played by an American and that baseball bats were used during the death match for a reason.  Not a hockey stick, not a curling stick, but an all American bat!
- Doesn't really matter who they get to play Snake, more important selection will be John Carpenter's replacement because it's JC's world.
- Has affinity for Escape From LA and says people don't realize difference between the Big Apple and the Big Orange.
- Floated around idea of Escape From Earth so Snake could finally be left alone.
- Highest regards for producer Debra Hill, she was a trail blazer for women in film and is deeply missed (Hill died of cancer in the early 2000's).

Moderator Geoff Boucher tried to wind down the session but Russell was uber cool and told the audience to shout out questions and he'd answer them quick.  He finally said goodnight and walked out to another standing ovation.  The evening was everything you wished it would be and more.  A truly great night at the movies.