Hey folks, Harry here.... and Capone has massive amounts of reviews on a good many films. So I shant get between you and the good reading that you have ahead of you... And don't hate Capone too much when you read what all he did last weekend. Sure, you might have been at Comic-Con -- but tell me, which body part would you give to see the original EVIL DEAD cast reenact live on stage the original EVIL DEAD from the original script? Tell me you wouldn't need rubber pants and a spray hose for clean up. I'm so jealous right now, and to think... he's getting married this weekend.... I guess sometimes, really are the best days of one's life...
CAPONE’S LONG LOST (FLASHBACK) WEEKEND featuring reviews of BUBBA HO-TEP, SPY KIDS 2, HAPPY TIMES, FULL FRONTAL, BLUE CRUSH, EVERLASTING TUCK, I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART, JIGSAW, and an EVIL DEAD cast reunion.
Hey, Harry. Capone in Chicago here. It’s taken me a couple of days to recover but I’ve just been through one of the longest, most exhausting, most entertaining, and most fulfilling long weekends of my life. This four days of pure bliss was, in large part, thanks to the lovely people who put on the Chicago area’s latest and greatest Sci-fi/Horror Film Festivals, Flashback Weekend. I previewed this event a few weeks back, but I had no idea until just a couple of days before the festival began how much fun it would be and how much time I would be allowed to spend with some of the event’s special guests. And when I wasn’t hob-nobbing with the likes of Herschell Gordon Lewis and Bruce Campbell, I was checking out a mixture of the new and the old in horror and sci-fi films. And I even managed to sneak in a couple new movies in between.
FRIDAY - BLOOD FEAST 2, SLEEPAWAY CAMP, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST
I arrived at the Chicago Marriott at O’Hare, and within five minutes of entering the building, the ringleader of the beautiful freak show that was Flashback Weekend, Mike (can’t remember his last name), ushers me in to meet my very first film director hero, Herschell Gordon Lewis. Holy crap, I got to meet the original Wizard of Gore himself, who was sitting at a table with nobody around him. Granted Day 1 of this event was a little slow, and things picked up substantially Saturday and Sunday, but I took full advantage of the opportunity to talk to Lewis, who might be the single nicest filmmaker I’ve ever met. I think I may have stunning him with my far-too intimate knowledge of his films, including BLOOD FEAST 2, which was screened at this event and I had seen at the last Butt-Numb-a-thon. I was soon whisked away to the EVIL DEAD museum, where special effects wiz Tom Sullivan was present signing and talking. Tom was kind enough to actually draw a skull and spinal column in my EVIL DEAD Book of the Dead DVD. I also met “The Ladies of Evil Dead.” You know, the three women from the first film. I guess they have started traveling to these kind of shows as an act. More on that later. Within an hour of first pulling into the Marriott parking lot, I’d met H.G. Lewis, Sullivan, the Ladies, one of the big wigs at Anchor Bay Entertainment (who had all kinds of detail on upcoming DVD releases), the star and director of SLEEPAWAY CAMP, Richard Kiel (“Jaws” from the James Bond films), Ben Chapman (the original dude in the CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON suit), some dude who was in a couple Ed Wood movies, and a bevy a bikini-clad “actresses” promoting whatever straight-to-video project they had undressed for. My head was spinning.
Soon after this night of 100 stars, I raced over to the beautiful Pickwick Theatre in nearby Park Ridge, where I saw SLEEPAWAY CAMP for the first time (I’m embarrassed to say). I must now make a point to buy this horribly entertaining piece of crap. I’m not sure how I made it this long without seeing it. The next film on the agenda is a local production called JIGSAW, a better-than-average film about a group of college art students whose final project is to each take one piece of a mannequin, do something arty with it, and bring the pieces together for reassemblage and ceremonial burning. I guess the mannequin (named Jigsaw) doesn’t take to well to being burned, so he comes back to life and butchers most everyone. The script is too talky, the acting is probably the best thing about the film, and the effects are non-existent, but since pretty much everyone who had been involved in the JIGSAW production was in the house, the crowd’s enthusiasm was infectious. I could see Jigsaw inspire an audience affection the way that SCREAM killer or the Gordon’s Fisherman from I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER does, but he’s no Freddy, Jason, or Michael Myers, to be sure.
On the Flashback Weekend’s official program, I was actually listed as one of the three Masters of Ceremony, and now it was my turn to do my sworn duty. The final film of the evening was the legendary director’s cut of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, which I had also never seen but was still in charge of introducing. Some films have an unearned reputation that proceeds it for miles. This film has earned every banning it has received over the years. This was a nicely remastered 35mm print, and I was whole-heartedly sickened by this film. A few people left the theatre angry. I heard one guy say, “All they’re doing is killing animals.” And more than anything else, the animal killings is what got to me. If you’ve ever seen the scene in this movie of the giant tortoise being butchered, you know what I mean. It’s very tough to watch.
SATURDAY -- SPY KIDS 2 -- FULL FRONTAL -- BUBBA HO-TEP & The Cast Reenactment of EVIL DEAD!!!
I didn’t get home until almost 2 am that night/morning, and I had already arranged to attend a 10 am SPY KIDS 2 screening downtown on Saturday. (Obviously this screening had nothing to do with Flashback Weekend.) As much as I know I’m outnumbered on this, I wasn’t a big fan of the original SPY KIDS. Episode 2 is a whole other kettle of fish. I really liked this film. I even grew to love the movie once Steve Buscemi hit the screen with his amazing stable of Harryhausen-esque creatures. I’ve always been a huge Robert Rodriguez fan, and this is the kind of kids movie he should be making, the kind with a teeny-tiny mean streak that seems completely at home here. Feeling slightly re-energized, I went to see FULL FRONTAL and nearly fell back asleep. What a dud.
After FULL FRONTAL, I picked up a couple of friends and headed back to the Festival for what was probably the highlight of the event: an evening with Bruce Campbell, which started for me at a press reception (for whatever reason, I qualified to get into this) with Herschell and Bruce, where I chatted with Herschell some more and finally got Bruce to sign my copy of his autobiography, now out in paperback (Bruce made me say that). Bruce was, as always, extremely fan friendly and seemed especially excited that someone from Ain’t It Cool was there.
First up at the Pickwick was Bruce in full smarm mode with the audience, and us loving it. People asked him such ludicrous questions as “Will there be a MANIAC COP 3?” or “Will they make the movie within a movie from THE MAJESTIC into its own movie?” or “Did you take acting lessons from William Shatner?” and Bruce hurling the cruelty right back at it. It was a blast. What he did take very seriously was the next film on the agenda, BUBBA HO-TEP, with Bruce finally taking his place again as a lead actor. I loved this film. I’m sure you’ve all seen the write-ups on this site, but let me say it again, “This movie is wonderful!” Bruce as an elderly Elvis Presley with cancer on his dick and Ossie Davis as a darker John F. Kennedy against an ancient mummy. Who knew that a film where the two heroes and the villain could barely walk would be so exciting? A part of me doesn’t even want this film to be released conventionally; it will get lost. Which is not to say that I don’t want everyone and their grandmother to see it. It needs to be seen and loved. Travel hundreds of miles if you hear this movie is playing anywhere remotely close to where you live.
After that, Bruce returned to the stage with the Ladies of Evil Dead for a almost complete reenactment of EVIL DEAD. With Tom Sullivan doing sound effects and an audience member playing Scottie, this reminded me of some radio plays I’d seen done years ago. Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite that good, but boy was it a scream. I nearly pissed myself when “Ash” and “Linda” are having their big romantic scene together and Bruce whipped out a full-sized magnifying glass on a chain for her to wear. Since they were reading from the original script, they even acted out scenes that weren’t in the final film, which was screened immediately after.
SUNDAY -- HAPPY TIMES and EVIL DEAD!!!
Again, I had to get up much too early for an early morning screening of Zhang Yimou’s new film HAPPY TIMES (again, not part of the Festival), a stunning work that redefines bittersweet and completes his trilogy of films about the economic struggles of the Chinese people (after NOT ONE LESS and THE LONG ROAD). Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington hosted the advanced screening and talked about how he had recently spent something like eight hours interviewing Clint Eastwood. I said, “Screw you, dude. I spent 10 minutes talking to Bruce Campbell last night.” HAPPY TIMES also marks the last Zhang film before HERO (due in December), which promises to be the next major Asian action film with Jet Lit, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, Donnie Yen, and Zhang Ziyi. I also managed to see the amazing Wilco documentary I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART. Maybe because Wilco is from Chicago, we care more about the trials they went through to get their most recent album released, but I can’t imagine anyone not being pulled into this movie. Wilco resisted efforts by their record label to change their music, and won out in the end. It’s an inspiring and all-too rare story, and I hope you’re able to catch this film if it gets released near you.
Back to the Flashback Weekend one final time. My own personal high point of the weekend was the chance I got to introduce Bruce Campbell, Tom Sullivan, and the screening of EVIL DEAD 2, one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. Bruce was even kind enough to let me share the stage with him to ask the final question of his pre-movie Q&A session. For me, this screening marked the end of the Flashback Weekend. Great work was done by all who ran this sometimes out-of-control ride, and I pray they are able to pull off another one next year.
MONDAY - BLUE CRUSH & TUCK EVERLASTING
But the craziness didn’t quite end there. On Monday, I was spontaneously pulling into two screening (one in the afternoon, one in the evening). If you could picture yourself staring at the most fit, tan and beautiful women riding surf boards today for nearly two hours, BLUE CRUSH is for you.
The story is stupid and predictable, the acting is so-so, and the surfing footage will blow your mind. I was never bored. There are just too many shots of bikini girls for me to lose interest. Call me shallow, call me crazy, but BLUE CRUSH made me smile a lot. Soon after that, the proverbial ice water was poured down my pants as I watched TUCK EVERLASTING, the well-intentioned but kind of boring tale of a family living in the woods during the early part of the 1900s. Based on the famous novel by Natalie Babbitt, the film follows Winnie Foster (Alexis Bledel), the daughter of rich parents (Amy Irving and Victor Garber), who longs to break free of her petticoats and be like a normal teenager. In the woods she meets a strange family (Scott Bairsow and Jonathan Jackson play the sons; Sissy Spacek and William Hurt are the parents) living a fairly simple and secret life. For those of you who don’t know what the family’s big secret is, I won’t ruin it for you, but it’s a good one. Ben Kingsley is also on hand (thank goodness) as a man who knows their secret and is pursuing the family to rob them of their special “knowledge.” This PG-rated film was a little too precious for my taste, but having the caliber of acting here made it a pill more easily swallowed.
I still have screenings of XXX and S1M0NE to see before I go off this weekend to get married (if you can believe it), so I don’t anticipate too much cat-napping in my immediate future, but I wouldn’t trade the opportunities I had over this past weekend for anything. Now all I need to be able to shake the nightmares I’ve been having featuring a headless, twitchy tortoise, and I should be set.
Capone
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