Nordling here.
I've only missed two BNATs - the very first one in 1999, and in 2009 when the economy hit a lot of us like a ton of bricks. During that time I’ve seen BNAT grow from a movie party to a major geek event. We’ve premiered THE LORD OF THE RINGS films, we were one of the first audiences to see 300 – hell, we saw THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST before the frigging Pope did. Every year has its own personality and themes, and through it all I’ve felt very privileged to be a part of its audience. It’s been a joy to attend, watching classics old and new, seeing strange oddities at the middle of the night, exploring cinema. Sure, it was always nice to see big films early, but that was and has never been the point of BNAT, and people thinking it was are exactly the kind of people we don’t want attending.
For sheer quality of film, BNAT 17 was one of the finest film years yet. Bonafide classics side by side with rare, uncharted films – this was movie geek bliss. This year consisted of 11 films – 3 premieres and 8 vintage – and we kicked it off in grand style with GUNGA DIN.
I’ve never seen GUNGA DIN before. Honestly, I’m glad I waited, because seeing it with this audience on the big screen was an experience I’ll never forget. GUNGA DIN is one of those epics they just don’t make anymore – full of humor, colossal battle scenes, and actors that are so iconic that our movie stars are but pale glimmers in comparison. The camaraderie of Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is infectious and a joy to watch onscreen, and the nobility of Sam Jaffe’s Gunga Din brought applause and cheers. GUNGA DIN, along with SEVEN SAMURAI and STAGECOACH, is part of the DNA of every action film ever made. You can chart the villainy of Eduardo Ciannelli’s Guru all the way to Emperor Palpatine, Khan, and Hans Gruber. This was my favorite vintage film of BNAT, because of course it is. It’s bloody GUNGA DIN.
I’ve seen Walter Hill’s SOUTHERN COMFORT on the big screen before – at an Austin Weird Wednesday, as a matter of fact, so it was almost certainly the same 35mm print – and I loved it just as much this time. Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe make a great duo, and watching these Louisiana National Guardsmen get outsmarted and outmaneuvered by backwoods Cajuns is always satisfying. SOUTHERN COMFORT must have been the most miserable shoot of all time. I can imagine what the end of shooting days were like – wet, cold, and dirty. Walter Hill is a great director, but I imagine he probably wasn’t the most pleasant of bosses during this one. It was probably at least ten times as difficult to make as it looked. SOUTHERN COMFORT would make a hell of a double feature with THE REVENANT, and it practically was at this BNAT, as you will see.
One of my favorite aspects of BNAT is watching older films through the prism of our present, like 1942’s SYNCOPATION, which has to have the fastest transition of slavery to freedom in film history. Directed by William Dieterle, SYNCOPATION is about, basically, how whites appropriated jazz from New Orleans black performers and turned it into swing music of the 1930s and 1940s. It’s unapologetic about it, too, even while acknowledging its source. It’s also wildly entertaining, which would seem odd in historical context, but the music is incredible, featuring performances from Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa. This is one of those films I probably never would have seen if not for BNAT. The audience at BNAT treats films like this with the respect they deserve – we’re looking at SYNCOPATION with the eyes of the future, understanding that the mentality and ideas of the past are not our own, yet appreciating the art for what it was. Dieterle, who also directed BNAT alum THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, is a great director who perhaps doesn’t get the respect of his peers like Michael Curtiz or Victor Fleming, but is just as influential. SYNCOPATION was a genuine treat, and I’m going to have to track down the soundtrack.
I was vaguely aware of the story of EDDIE THE EAGLE, Britain’s first ski jumper in over 60 years, but was unaware that a film starring Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman was even in the works. Turns out Dexter Fletcher has directed a genuine crowdpleaser here, because EDDIE THE EAGLE is a terrific movie about how one terrible athlete became an Olympic hero. We’ve all seen movies like this before; the unsung hero triumphing over adversity has been a staple of cinema since the beginning. But EDDIE THE EAGLE is so full of whimsy, charm, and humor that it overcomes those clichés to become truly effective and winning. It helps that Taron Egerton is so terrific as Eddie Edwards, and that Hugh Jackman turns in one of the coolest performances of his career as Edwards’ reluctant, drunken coach Bronson Peary. There’s a wonderful DIRTY DANCING kind of moment between Egerton and Jackman that had the BNAT audience swooning (guys included). I’ll happily see EDDIE THE EAGLE again when it opens in April. Taron Egerton won over this audience last year with KINGSMAN, and he was kind enough to come for this film and watch it with us. You could hear his laughter mixed in with ours as we experienced the film, and that BNAT memory will go logged in as a favorite.
Our next film was a very obscure stop-motion animation film called THE TALE OF THE FOX, aka THE STORY OF THE FOX, from 1930. One of the very first animated feature-length films ever made, Harry’s inquiries into this film actually helped bring about a restoration of sorts. THE STORY OF THE FOX was once used as, no joke, a propaganda movie for children in Hitler’s Germany. Only 65 minutes long, I know that Wes Anderson and Roald Dahl had to have seen this film at some point, because it’s such an obvious influence on THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX, both in visuals and in plot. The king of the animals, King Lion, is exacerbated by the antics of Renard the Fox, that he hatches a plot to catch him. Of course, as devious plots go, his scheme goes awry, and Renard outwits his enemies. It’s a very charming film, with some very striking sequences, and it’s a shock to see how little stop-motion has changed since 1930. It’s a meticulous process, and the care and love is evident in every frame. I hope the restoration goes well and that everyone gets to see this genuine piece of film history very soon.
THE STORY OF THE FOX was followed by another stop-animation classic – this one this year’s brilliant masterpiece ANOMALISA. I saw and reviewed ANOMALISA at Fantastic Fest, and there isn’t much more to add, except that I found the movie much funnier this time around, and that seeing it twice definitely has its rewards. The first time, as a viewer, I was so caught up in the method (even though ANOMALISA’s themes and ideas struck very close to home). This time, I paid closer attention to Charlie Kaufman’s script, and the frankly incredible work of the voice actors, from David Thewlis, to Jennifer Jason Leigh, to the incomparable work of Tom Noonan. ANOMALISA is a film that is even better the second time, and while I know INSIDE OUT has a strong bench (and it’s still a very wonderful film), I hope ANOMALISA gets the awards this year. It’s a stunningly adult film, full of strong passion and power, and you should definitely see it this holiday season.
After ANOMALISA, BNAT took a small break from the moviewatching to do something that’s never happened at BNAT before – but it was all the more awesome. Harry, who is an ordained minister (thank you Internet!), performed the first wedding ever to take place at BNAT, between my good friends George Hickman and Lola Hensel. Complete with confetti gun and Elijah Wood, as the greatest Ringbearer in history, you couldn’t ask for a more wonderful wedding ceremony. That’s when Harry brought out the flying silver sphere drones to announce the next film – a full-on 4K digital restoration of PHANTASM, spearheaded by J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot.
Plainly, this was a restoration done with love. It looks incredible – it’s so well done that you can literally see the paint on the headstones of Morningside Cemetery and Mausoleum, the glistening of the Tall Man’s Silver Spheres, and the stark cinematography of Don Coscarelli’s classic horror masterpiece. Abrams loved PHANTASM so much he named one of THE FORCE AWAKENS’ characters after it (the silvery Captain Phasma) and that love is apparent in every frame. And the sound! You will never be more terrified of Angus Scrimm’s “BOY!” then now. This has to get a theatrical re-release – don’t settle for the Blu-Ray. Any fan of these films must see it. This is given all the attention and grace as any restored classic like THE RED SHOES or GONE WITH THE WIND. The work Bad Robot did here is tremendous, and they will always be in my heart now for what they have done. PHANTASM is even better than before, especially if you first experienced it first on VHS. I’ve seen PHANTASM several times, but not like this. This is one of those BNAT memories that I’ll store away and bring out in bad times. I cannot wait to see this again with an appreciative audience and I absolutely want to screen this in Houston as soon as I can. We were also treated to a sneak peek of PHANTASM: RAVAGER, and that one looks incredibly fun and in the spirit of the original. But nothing compares to PHANTASM, and once you people see it on the big screen again next year, you’ll be ducking around corners, avoiding the flying silver spheres soon enough.
THE ANGRY RED PLANET, our next entry, is a 1954 science fiction film that tries to take the subject matter more seriously than many other films of the time. It fails, but not through lack of trying. There’s a pretty nifty-looking giant Martian spider in it, though. I love the costumes and the ersatz technology of it, too. Visually, it’s actually not bad for its time. But coupled with lines like “The hell with radiation! Let’s go!” and, “I know you think I acted like a hysterical female back at the ship, but I can assure you I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” it can’t help but come across as silly. I had fun with this one, but BNAT fatigue was also starting to set in.
The next film that played BNAT was a Tim League recommendation called NINJABUSTERS, which felt very much in the same vein as MIAMI CONNECTION. It was bad movie fun, but it became evident to me that my mental exhaustion started to hit at this time, and I nodded off more than I would have liked. I prefer MIAMI CONNECTION to a film like NINJABUSTERS; MIAMI CONNECTION has such a heart to it that the inept filmmaking becomes a part of its charm. You never root against it. In contrast, NINJABUSTERS doesn’t have the earnest spirit of MIAMI CONNECTION, and perhaps that’s why I didn’t respond to it on that level. And, again, sleepiness was taking over, so I didn’t give this one the attention it deserved.
My attention kicked right back into high gear, though, when LOGAN’S RUN came on. One of my favorite sci-fi films of all time, I hadn’t seen this one on this big screen in 39 years, not since I was six years old. LOGAN’S RUN holds up. It really is one of the great science fiction films of the 1970s, with incredible set design, a ton of great ideas, and winning performances. I’d love to see a restoration to this given as much love as Bad Robot gave PHANTASM. I love Michael York and Jenny Agutter, but Richard Jordan’s work, to me, is my favorite. Francis 7 is a Sandman who suddenly has the rug pulled out from under him, and as he pursues Logan and Jessica Outside, I found myself almost sympathizing with him. I love Peter Ustinov’s Old Man, and I couldn’t help but imagine that after the credits rolled, Ustinov got so incredibly laid by all those young men and women in the Domed City. This was a real treat for me to see on the big screen again, in 35mm. I remember watching it on CBS when they would split it up over two nights – I even remember the ill-fated TV series. But LOGAN’S RUN still endures.
I had already seen THE REVENANT at a press screening, so I chose that moment in BNAT to start the long drive home. But I will say this about THE REVENANT – I like it a hell of a lot more than I did Alejandro Inarritu’s last film, BIRDMAN. To me, THE REVENANT is a pulp story elevated by Inarritu’s direction, the terfific performances of Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom HHArdy, Domhnall Gleeson, and Will Poulter, and the absolutely stunning cinematography of Emmanuel Lubezki, who shoots the primodial forest like he’s an alien visiting from another planet. THE REVENANT wants to say more than it does – like BIRDMAN, it is far too much in love of its own voice – but when it’s stripped down to the essentials, THE REVENANT works as an adventure movie and a revenge story. The lauded bear attack is every bit as terrifying as reported, and it’s an incredible sequence. I like Inarritu as a director when he has a simple story to tell, and I admit to not being the biggest fan of his work. I love AMORES PERROS but the rest of his films seem too full of themselves and “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” as he quoted in BIRDMAN. That was such an on-the-nose criticism of that movie that my words could never suffice, but THE REVENANT isn’t BIRDMAN. I’d love for Inarritu to tell more of these kinds of stories, and if Inarritu wants to tackle a more traditionally-set Western I’d be there with bells on. THE REVENANT is a terrific movie, and a fine film to end BNAT on.
This was a great year, full of quality movies, and I think I’ll take the memory of seeing PHANTASM restored to glory on the big screen with me to my grave. Thanks go out to, of course, Harry Knowles, my brother from another mother, Jay Knowles, Patricia Knowles, Dannie Knowles and Jay Giovanni Ramirez-Knowles, and to Tim League and Kristen Bell, Rob Liefeld, and to my seat mates Mark and Candice Roma and Kevin Sullivan and Anna Harrod, George Arthur Hickman and Lola Cutter Hensel (congratulations! May your child be a geek child!) and for Elijah Wood for being the coolest cat ever, to Windy and Christopher Bowlsby, Tony Salvaggio, Heidi Zarse, to Derek Mahr, Jeremy and Amy Stomberg, Jessica Cargill and her husband Benedict Cumber- er, Christopher Robert Cargill, Eric Vespe, Tony Vespe, Steven Prokopy, Vincent Kim-Zahedi, Scott Swan, Brian and Angela Behm, Devin Faraci, Meredith Borders, Dominic Dobrzensky, Simeon Peebler, Luke Mullen, Mike Saulters, Josh and Emily Alder, Taron Egerton, David Jaffe (thanks for the Blus and your enthusiasm!), everyone in the BNAT Facebook group, anyone else I forgot, ART on 5th for their STAR WARS exhibit, Holly Blain who is so missed, and finally my lovely wife Tami who makes this all possible. See you next year!
Nordling, out!
