I’ve been to Harry’s annual bacchanal, the ever-legendary Butt-Numb-A-Thon, five times now, but maybe the coolest thing about the event is that you never know quite what to expect. The first year I went, Harry programmed 8 new movies, including showstoppers CABIN IN THE WOODS (which perhaps played better there than anywhere else in the country) and THE GREY, and only 3 vintages. The following year, he went reverse, with seven classic films, three newbies, and one whatever the hell FATEFUL FINDINGS was. Last year, North Korean flags dropped from the wings and a mixture of Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, souvenir cups, and a blast of confetti surrounded a showing of THE INTERVIEW mere days before Sony pulled the film from its release schedule. And this year, though I spent countless moments from last December through this past Saturday wondering and pontificating what treasures Harry had in store for us, I still managed to be taken off guard and blown away both by the choices he made in his curation, the gifts bestowed on us by various filmmakers/studios, and some truly special treats that made this BNAT one for the books.
I’ve already read a bunch of folks touting the list of films as one of the best in BNAT history, so let’s go through them title by title:
TRAILERS:
STUNT ROCK: Expected, but by no means arbitrary. It really is a phenomenal trailer, better than the movie could possibly ever be, and every time I hear those lightning crashes go off in the Alamo, I beam at the thought that it’s time for Butt-Numb-A-Thon in all its splendor. I notice new stunts every time I watch this trailer, and it’s in shockingly good shape for having survived this many BNATs as well as over 35 years of aging.
AFRICA: TEXAS STYLE: A jaunty-looking adventure flick with James Garner as a cattle-roper who ends up rescuing animals in the titular continent. Fun trailer, wouldn’t dare waste my time with the actual film.
INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM: The teaser for this, with only a map, narration, and Ford going, “Trust me,” into camera, is legendary, and like the best teasers, gets the imagination and excitement going better than any full trailer ever could. And, for reasons that would soon be clear, the perfect introduction to GUNGA DIN.
GUNGA DIN (1939), dir. George Stevens.
Harry purposefully cockteased us by making the first film on his annual fake list STAR WARS: EPISODE 1 - THE PHANTOM MENACE, but he explained himself by saying that Lucas had clearly taken themes and tonal elements from the classic film for the SW trilogy. There are definitely elements of STAR WARS in the banter between the three leads, Cary Grant, Doug Fairbanks, Jr., and Victor McLaglen, in the men-on-a-mission framing, and, of course, that “Gungan” was clearly derived from the title, but the more obvious connection is with the aforementioned TEMPLE OF DOOM. 1. The villains are Thuggee cultists, dead set on slaying British Imperalists and natives alike in their quest to conquer India. 2. They worship the goddess Kali, often chanting something that begins with something that sounds an awful lot like “Kali Mar…” 3. Fun with elephants. and 4. A scene where a rickety rope bridge is cut, dropping a dozen-plus Thuggees to their deaths (cue applause).
Based on a poem by Rudyard Kipling, this classic action-adventure could easily be dismissed as pro-Imperialist, borderline racist claptrap, with white people painted up like Indians, droves of villainous, murderous foreigners, and a condescending tribute to the title character for taking up the customs of the invading British Army. Nonetheless, I found it a rip-roaring scorcher of an action flick, filled with a whole bunch of beats that remain exciting nearly 80 years later (watching the hero ignite dynamite by shooting it while it’s in the other dude’s hand is a guaranteed cheer-inducer) and a great, bro-y dynamic between the three leads. There’s the age-old subplot about Fairbanks’ character about to leave the service to marry his beloved (REBECCA’s Joan Fontaine), and McLaglen’s attempts to keep him as part of their power trio (there’s comic mileage derived by Grant and McLaglen ’s prank on Fairbanks’ replacement, an upright stick-in-the-mud). There are narrative touches I really liked, like Grant’s greed being a crucial plot element and putting the leads in a situation that seems genuinely hopeless and forcing them to deal with their impending demise, and I’ll admit that I was initially onboard with Gunga Din’s dedication to being a Good British Soldier (though it ultimately left something of a bad taste in my mouth).
This film immediately preceded World War II, which was ostensibly the end of the British Empire as it had existed for hundreds of years prior, and it’s a remarkable, rapturously entertaining time capsule that era when having a bunch of white people stomping around with superior technology in a foreign land that didn’t necessarily want them didn’t seem like such a bad thing. A true classic.
TRAILERS:
SHOOT: A group of men who hunt recreationally decide to become vigilantes. Cliff Robertson leads the crew, which includes Ernest Borgnine as the conscientious holdout and Henry Silva. Looks cool. Would see it.
REDNECK COUNTY: All I remember is that is looked condescending and lame.
SWAMP THING: I’d never seen this trailer, which shies away from the title character and sells the film as something of a horror film. Ray Wise is nowhere to be found, but Adrienne Barbeau’s bathing scene certainly isn’t. Crazy to think that the only other DC movies from this era were the SUPERMANs. Certainly nothing like SWAMP THING. To paraphrase Marty McFly, Swamp Thing still looks fake.
SOUTHERN COMFORT (1981), dir. Walter Hill.
I love Hill’s swampy take on DELIVERANCE, and viewing it in 35mm with a crowd certainly made me appreciate it more. It’s not 10 minutes into the movie when a certain character actor takes one to the dome, inciting a loud “WHOA!” from my neighbor. Hill does a wonderful job of straddling the line between making you hate these guys, who are mostly prejudiced, backwards, and selfish, and feeling for them as they’re picked off one by one by both the environment and their cajun attackers. A scene where Powers Boothe holds a knife to a crazed Fred Ward’s throat got the crowd righteously cheering, and you could feel the tension pulsing during the last stretch in the cajun village. I forgot Nauls from THE THING was in this one, and that he was actually one of the more likable characters. Brion James is phenomenal as a farmer who gets caught up with the central National Guard squad, and I adore where his story ends up. That kind of moral ambiguity isn’t found much in mainstream cinema these days.
My companion could not believe that this was the same guy who directed BULLET TO THE HEAD, which played three years ago. “That’s not the same director,” were her exact words, and though I am a defender of that Sylvester-Stallone-meets-Han-from-F&F-and-axe-fights-Khal-Drogo actioner, there is no question that Hill’s run from HARD TIMES to JOHNNY HANDSOME had considerably more flavor than his more recent output. This movie has style and subtext dripping all over it, with wonderful dialogue, excellent, coherent action, and more than a few magnificently bold choices that make it yet another crucial entry in Hill’s filmography.
Man, Boothe is fucking badass in this movie. I love when he tells Keith Carradine that he’s gonna do whatever it takes to survive, never once using the word we. Keith’s response, “Save me a seat, will ya?”, is pitch-perfect, and way more 48 HRS. than the camaraderie between THE WARRIORS.
TRAILERS:
A double feature of LADY SINGS THE BLUES and MAHOGANY: Haven’t seen either of these Diana Ross-fronted musicals, and there’s not really evidence that her acting talent was up to snuff, but damn those pipes sound good. Quick applause when Billy Dee Williams showed up on the screen.
RAGTIME: Always heard this Milos Forman jam, the last film of an impossibly old-looking James Cagney and his first in 20 years, was more realistic-feeling than your average Hollywood musical, and the trailer certainly made it seem as such. Corny tagline: “Bad time…good time…RAGTIME.”
ROLLER BOOGIE: Disco-skate flick with a young, but already hot Linda Blair. Fun trailer, but doubt I’ll ever bother to watch the film.
SYNCOPATION (1942), dir. William Dieterle.
Now, I liked this film. I did. It has a big scope, supporting Harry’s claim that it resembled AMERICAN POP in its story of the history and development of jazz. A 20-something Jackie Cooper plays the lead, a musician from the wrong side of the tracks who marries a rich girl and struggles to make a living without compromising his musical integrity. There’s a killer soundtrack, and showstopping appearances/performances by Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, and several others.
But, for godssake Sal, how come you ain’t got no brothers on the wall? The film quite literally opens with a summary of the slave trade, explaining both how scores of Africans arrived on our shores and the genesis of their music, but then the film shoves them aside for a whole bunch of white folk. There’s exactly two major black characters in this film; the female lead’s maid and her son, a trumpeter who eventually strikes it big. Even though the central female meets the maid’s son at a young age, there’s never even a remote chance that he will end up as her love interest, and the film forgets about him by about the halfway point. Cooper’s character dreams of playing jazz with white bands for white audiences, and the film ends up celebrating how mainstream white musicians, who co-opted a form that THE FILM ITSELF HAS ADMITTED was created by black people, made more money and became more famous than any African-American players or singers by diluting the potency of the original sound. I’ve been accused of being a Social Justice Warrior in the past, and I honestly hate that my reaction to this film was so hindered by my own personal disgust at how black music was continually stolen by white people until roughly around the Civil Rights movement, but I couldn’t help it. Fun and well-made enough to keep from being unlikable or boring, but to quote NEXT FRIDAY, I can’t get jiggy with this shit.
TRAILERS:
SKI BUM: Mistakingly remembered this as a z-movie ski comedy, but apparently was something more serious in tone. Completely forgotten.
WILD, WILD WINTER: A 60’s ski-themed take on the beach movie craze that seemingly only served to promote a bunch of bands who I never heard of. I love the description of one of the numbers as a “future hit song.” You can’t call it a hit if it isn’t one already. You’re not gonna get someone to like the song better or buy the 45 just by calling it a potential hit. Seeing the fake frost on the windows of the snow cabin sets gave me a kick.
HOT DOG: THE MOVIE: Sexist jokes, David Naughton, and a goofy, “Va-Va-Voom!” highlight of “Playboy’s Playmate of the Year, Shannon Tweed” and her various topless scenes. Honestly thought/hoped this was for SKI SCHOOL when I saw the ski stunts.
EDDIE THE EAGLE (2016), dir. Dexter Fletcher.
I honestly had no idea this movie existed, but with a cast headed up by KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE’s Taron Egerton and featuring Hugh Jackman with a special appearance by Christopher Walken, I won’t be surprised if it lands American distribution.
This formulaic, uplifting sports biopic seemed like a weird pick for BNAT, but the presence of comic-book-movie heroes Egerton and Jackman matched with its effectively positive tone made it a fun watch. Egerton, as British ski-jumper Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, is the absolute highlight of the movie, featuring a goofy underbite and a dorky pair of glasses that immediately set his character a world apart from the charming, tough Eggsy.
But make no mistake, this follows the sports-underdog playbook, note for note, including COOL RUNNINGS (which it has the audacity to reference late in the film). Everyone tells Eddie he can never be an athlete. His dad is a working-class beer-drinker who constantly tells him that being an athlete is a waste of time, and not a viable profession. His mentor (Jackman) is an alcoholic former ski-jump champ, who, of course, must be coaxed into begrudgingly relaying his lessons to Eddie even though he’s got nothing in his life except drinking and plowing snow. The Olympic Board, headed up by BLACK ADDER’s Tim McInnerny, constantly shoots down Eddie’s attempts at making the national squad, telling him straight-up that he doesn’t fit the normal look or background of the athletes they typically send over there. And, of course, he’ll go from steadfast, “anything you can do I can do better” determination to self-doubt and back again until he inevitably wins the day and cements his own legend.
Still, Fletcher’s skill behind the camera, a terrific score that feels lifted straight from an ‘80s sports film, and a handful of excellent moments end up building to a fairly enjoyable film. There’s a palpable sense of danger to the sport of ski-jumping, which I certainly wasn’t familiar with, and the “fear is the mindkiller” arc Eddie undergoes is perfectly cinematic and makes him easy to root for.
Egerton’s performance is the thing though. Between this and LEGEND, I’m starting to think my initial dismissal of Egerton as something of a bland, one-note performer was completely unfounded (a notion that was confirmed when he made a spirited post-film appearance, during which he responded to a fan’s admission of her crush for him as perfectly as any movie star I’ve ever seen). Matthew Vaughn produced this film, and I can plainly see why he’s so taken with the kid; this is a real performance, one that serves as the beating heart of the film, and announces the guy as someone worth watching closely as he matures into an adult performer.
Oh, and he said they’re shooting KINGSMAN 2 in about six months, and that it’s both bigger and badder than the original, so there’s that.
TRAILERS:
THE FABULOUS WORLD OF JULES VERNE: A hodgepodge of Verne’s lesser known works from the ‘50s, featuring some excellent-looking stop-motion. I’d be down to check this one out at some point.
THE 7 FACES OF DR. LAO: A weird-looking comedy with Tony Randall as the title character, a Chinese magician who changes his appearance to six other characters, including Medusa(?!). Glad to know this exists, will almost certainly never watch.
THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD: Ray Harryhausen magic. I still very much plan on seeing this series.
TALE OF THE FOX (1930), dirs. Ladislas and Irene Starevich.
Harry mentioned that this was the first stop-motion animated film of all time, one that had been re-released in a number of different versions and languages throughout the years. Sure enough, the one we saw was a French dub that featured both dialogue and extensive narration, which, as H mentioned after, was released in 1942 during the Nazi occupation of France.
This doesn’t quite feel like any other stop-motion film I’ve ever seen, ostensibly directly stemming from the fact that no one had ever set a template before it. The movements are lightning-fast and more lively, the emphasis on slapstick is straight out of the Disney/Looney Tunes era, and there’s a number of techniques (like a mid-shot crash zoom which made me gasp) that I’ve never seen attempted since.
The film is basically a series of vignettes about the central fox outwitting the rest of the creatures in the animal kingdom as they attempt to capture him for his various crimes. The fox feels a little like Wile E. Coyote in that he has an endless bag of tricks, including pulley systems and meticulously-designed traps, and a, you know, wily attitude. The film was fairly short and not that satisfying on a narrative level, but the technical showmanship and excellent, timeless humor won me over. A very rare film, but worth checking out. A must-see for fans of animation.
TRAILERS:
PINOCCHIO’S BIRTHDAY PARTY: A trailer that flummoxed me less this year than when Harry first showed it at BNAT 16. This is clearly a rushed, low-budget compilation of a wraparound segment featuring live-action and a Pinocchio puppet and several, possibly made-for-TV stop-motion shorts based on classic fairy tales. It’s always great to get a sense of what children’s entertainment was like in decades past, and this is certainly a world removed from the pop-song-saturated, kinetic, poop-joke-heavy trailers for kids films we see nowadays.
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH: Whomever USA Films tasked with editing this trailer deserves a fat pat on the back. Not only does it successfully convey the bizarro plot of this first Charlie Kaufman/Spike Jonze collab, but it does so with style, humor, and a showcase of the various talents involved. I had no idea Octavia Spencer was in this movie. For the first time in 15 years, I want to see this again.
ANOMALISA (2015), dirs. Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson.
My second time seeing the film (read my review from AFI Fest here), and wow, what a fascinating difference the change in venue made. At that Hollywood and Highland theater a month ago, the film played as a comedy, with the awkwardness of the central character’s interactions, the brazenness of the stop-motion, and the loser-y hopelessness of the title character inciting consistent laughter throughout. Not here, man. The audience was largely quiet as the frustrated, middle-aged Michael Stone seduces and romances Lisa, who speaks with the only unique voice in his life (Tom Noonan’s omnipresent, plain dialogue was even funnier the second time around). It didn’t feel like the story of a pathetic, whiny old fart laying his best game on a poor, unsuspecting young Ohio native out of desperation and loneliness, but rather the fortuitous meeting between a cynical mind and an impressionable innocent who brightens up his worldview, if only for a moment.
Even stuff like Stone’s cock and balls and the pitch-perfect sex scene wasn’t getting laughs out of the audience, which I suppose is a testament to how immersive and shockingly realistic the animation is. I still got chills when Stone’s face starts twitching as he looks in the mirror. What a powerful existential horror, realizing your expressions are trapped by the limited range of your facial movements, which we alternate through in repetition throughout our entire lives.
Man, I love Jennifer Jason Leigh’s voice in this. I’m so used to her taking on accents, like in MRS. PARKER AND HER VICIOUS CIRCLE, HUDSUCKER PROXY, and now in HATEFUL EIGHT, that it’s weird to hear her as as normal and average of a character as possible. Her rendition of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” remains the heart of the narrative, and scored one of the bigger laughs of the film. David Thewlis also deserves a lot more credit than he’s gonna get for this; it’s a real performance, filled with nuance and pain, that rivals any portrayal of 50-ish suburban angst as I’ve ever seen.
This was the halfway point, and something went down that I’ll likely never forget: Harry married a couple in front of everyone.
The two had apparently met at a prior BNAT, and I’m sure it wasn’t hard for Harry to accept their request to cement their nuptials at his birthday party. The thing that wasn’t planned, and which made it impossibly cool, was who served as the ringbearer. When Harry asked if anyone in the crowd wanted to fill the position, you heard the same thing being murmured all throughout the theater: “Elijah,” “Elijah,” “Elijah.” Sure enough, Elijah Wood was in the crowd, and when Harry asked, “Does Elijah want to do it??” the former Frodo Baggins obliged, and got on a knee as the couple proclaimed their love for one another as per Head Geek’s instructions. It was a beautiful thing to witness, and didn’t seem tacky for a second; when H decreed them man and wife, and John Williams’ final fanfare from A NEW HOPE blasted from the speakers as confetti rained from the ceiling, the audience was on their feet, hooting and hollering in rapture.
What happened immediately after, however, I could not have been prepared for (though H almost let the cat out of the bag when he hinted as some drone-related activity earlier in the night): several drones carrying replicas of the killer silver balls from PHANTASM flying throughout the throughout the theater. Even better, they inevitably almost hit several people, making them about as dangerous and life-threatening as the actual killer balls from the film. It was as perfect of an intro for the next film, and the guests that accompanied it, as one could possibly ever hope for.
TRAILERS:
NIGHTWING: A great, moody teaser with a camera flying through some canyons at magic hour while the narrator hints at some sort of creature that haunts the area. No indication that the film is any good, but the teaser is quite an effective piece of advertising.
THE BEAST WITHIN: Tom Holland apparently wrote the script for this creature feature, and the trailer’s narrator promises some of the best transformation sequences around. Whether it’s got anything on AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON or THE HOWLING is for those who’ve seen the movie to answer.
SIMON: KING OF THE WITCHES: Don’t remember a thing about this one, other than it was pretty weird.
PHANTASM (1979), dir. Don Coscarelli.
I’d seen three of the seven films H had played by this point, and I cared not a hitch. I fucking love PHANTASM, and it’s been maybe a decade since I’d last seen the film. It is absolutely my kind of horror film: psychedelic, meticulously crafted, and featuring characters who wouldn’t even think to run away screaming from any of the horrific sights they see. A bunch of us cheered when Tommy, locked in his room while his brother, Jody, went after The Tall Man on his own, jerry-rigged a mini-bomb out of a shotgun shell, a thumbtack and a hammer, and when Jody pops into the frame and shotguns one of those balls in mid-air as it hurls towards his brother’s face. I got chills every time the melodic synths of Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave’s theme song started playing, and damn if those cross-cuts between the seductress and Angus Scrimm didn’t give me the heebie-jeebs. And that scene of Reggie and Jody playing guitar on the porch is a thing of beauty, the kind of thing horror films rarely take the time to do these days, but which makes you far more emotionally invested in their character’s fates than you would be without it.
I haven’t watched this since I first saw the sequels, and it’s great to see Reggie and Tommy looking so young, so unprepared for The Tall Man and his army, yet already so inherently heroic and capable. There’s that killer bit when Reggie disappears for a bit, only to pop up and say, “Yeah, I found the missing girls, and let them out through the basement window before you guys even showed up. Moving on.” And, of course, Jody’s absurdly perfect reaction when Tommy shows him the wriggling finger in the box: “Okay, I believe you.” I love these characters, and that they don’t ever even consider backing down from a head-on fight with The Tall Man.
I never knew that Coscarelli also shot and edited the film. Realizing that after being reminded of how wonderfully precise all the cinematography and cutting is makes me love the film, and Coscarelli’s dreamy, elegant style, even more.
Coscarelli and lead actor Michael Baldwin intro-ed the film, which was followed by a preview for PHANTASM V: RAVAGER. Once again emphasizing the notion of alternate realities and concurrent timelines, we see old-man Reggie saying something along the lines of, “I don’t need faith, I need a goddamn four-barreled shotgun!” and the death via flying ball of a character played by Daniel Roebuck. It’s great to once again see Baldwin and Reggie, who alternates between how he looks now and a heavily made-up young Reggie with the hair from the first film. Funny, though, how the newfangled CGI balls look phony as hell in comparison to the ’79 ones. Maybe they erased some wires during the restoration, or are simply not finished on V’s VFX. Either way, super excited for V, and I hope this new restoration of the original (by Bad Robot, of all people; allegedly J.J.’s a superfan) gets decent distribution.
We saw a taped happy birthday by former BNATTer Jordan Vogt-Roberts, straight from the mountainous set of SKULL ISLAND, which he swore we weren’t allowed to see anything of. Quickly, he passes the camera over to his lead, Tom Hiddleston, wearing a stubble and a holster that makes me think his character has a decided Indiana Jones vibe. Hiddleston wished H happy birthday, and maintained that he couldn’t show us anything while spinning the camera and showing off the set he stood on, a clearing featuring, appropriately enough, giant creature skulls. Hiddleston’s obviously a geek favorite, and KING KONG is, of course, Harry’s favorite film, so this video was a pretty special treat that got me more revved than ever for SKULL ISLAND.
We also watched a sizzle reel for a film about Gene Roddenberry’s attempts to get STAR TREK off the ground (no pun intended), directed by, coincidentally, the last guy I saw do something marriage-related in a public geek setting, James Darling, whom you can see proposing to his wife at the Kevin Smith panel at SDCC in COMIC-CON EPISODE IV: A FAN’S HOPE. The reel extensively utilized clips from CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND and behind-the-scenes TREK footage to convey the story of Roddenberry, and his struggle to get the lofty “WAGON TRAIN in the stars” project going at NBC in the mid-60s. It seems like the kind of period, thoroughly geeky project that TREK fans would eat up, particularly if they cast Roddenberry and mistress and future wife Majel Barrett well. I also had no idea that Nichelle Nichols was also Roddenberry’s mistress at one point, one of the many factoids I’m sure would be news to us if the project comes into fruition. Darling is trying to get financing, and I hope it comes together, because it seems like something that’d be impossible to resist as a fanboy.
TRAILERS:
ARGOMAN, THE FANTASTIC SUPERMAN: This trailer looked like a ridiculous foreign superhero movie, but it got cut off partway through and we jumped right into the feature.
THE ANGRY RED PLANET (1954), dir. Ib Melchior.
This cheesefest directed by the screenwriter of the similar ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS was straight out of the ‘50s sci-fi playbook, with hilariously outdated tech, sexual dynamics, and scientific notions of what Mars is like. The crew is right out of AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON, particularly the Brooklyn-y Jacobs; way too calm and jokey, alternating between awkward interplay and facts that reek of truthiness rather than reality.
Surprisingly, I was able to engage with the film despite the INTERSTELLAR levels of corn. There’s a flashback structure that was just well-implemented enough to keep me interested in the plot, a couple of striking creature designs, and an anti-colonial conclusion that felt like something from TREK: TOS. Melchior used a bizarre double exposure technique for the Mars footage (apparently by accident) that makes it look unlike any other presentation of the red planet I’ve ever seen; there are pools of radioactive looking light on many surfaces, and the vistas look foreign enough to suggest a completely different atmosphere and environment. I was totally ready to write this off as naptime, but I dug it; it’s not INVADERS FROM MARS or anything, but a worthy drive-in throwback that should please sci-fi nerds with nostalgic tastes.
We were treated to another happy birthday video, this one from the set of DOCTOR STRANGE where Scott Derrickson, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Massawyrm a.k.a. C. Robert Cargill wished Harry their best. It wasn’t public knowledge that Cargill was working on STRANGE at the time, nor that he had worked extensively enough for Cumberbatch to work out a pitch-perfect impression of him that throughly cracked the audience up. Always love this stuff.
TRAILERS:
AMERICAN NINJA: Cannon. Dudikoff. Over-the-top action. I’ve never actually seen this one, and it certainly doesn’t look up to par with the Sho Kosugi NINJA trilogy, but it looks far more fun than I would’ve expected. Maybe I’ll give it a look-see someday.
SURF NINJAS: I loved this fucking movie as a kid, and the weird tonal overlaps that I always attributed it with aren’t really present in this trailer; in true early-‘90s Touchstone fashion, they play up the goofy bits, and how relatable the two young leads are (man, was Ernie Reyes Jr. really THAT young?). I love the narrator referencing Reyes as “TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE II’s Ernie Reyes Jr.” and “Wild Thing Tone Loc”, and that Rob Schnieder, whose character is mentioned as one of the core trio, doesn’t even get named (maybe he opted out after seeing the final product). Watching this made me want to revisit the flick, and all those moments I remember so fondly as a kid. “This isn’t Shinobi…what a cool game!”
A LIFE OF NINJA: Don’t remember much. B-level action if memory serves.
NINJA BUSTERS (1984), dir. Paul Kyriazi.
This is on the SAMURAI COP level of enjoyably bad action movies, though nowhere near as entertaining. There’s one Chinese lead and one American guy (Sid Campbell, who wrote the movie), and there’s a lot of silly references early on to the Chinese guy being one of Bruce Lee’s former students and the American actually being one of his teachers from his days in Oakland; complete bullshit, of course. The plot has them train to be martial artists before pissing off a gang of ninjas, who gun for them and their dojo. There’s not a lot of convincing action in the film, but a ton of laugh lines and campy moments that make it an entertaining curiosity. It’s charming, if not entirely winning. I must admit, I did allow myself to drift off into sleepland for maybe half of the second act, so I can’t speak to the coherence of the film, but on a moment-to-moment basis, I found it enjoyable and likable. There’s a great opening credit sequence, some hilarious gags, and a sincerity that always elevates stuff like this. Still, I don’t know if I can wholly recommend it, or if I’ll ever see it again.
We were treated to another Cargill impression by Cumberbatch, this time depicting his audition for DOCTOR STRANGE, which he keeps fucking up and trying again. Hilarious.
TRAILERS:
BRAZIL: Man, Universal didn’t know what the fuck they had with this film. This trailer did nothing for me when I saw it as a kid, and it does nothing for me now that BRAZIL is one of my favorite sci-fi films of all time. They emphasize the wrong things, imply a whimsical tone that’s a world apart from the dystopia of the film, and highlight De Niro and Palin’s supporting turns over Pryce’s protagonist.
SOYLENT GREEN: Strong trailer built around the catchphrase, “WHAT IS THE SECRET BEHIND SOYLENT GREEN?” (which, inevitably, one BNATTer saw fit to answer, “It’s people!!!”). Forgot Joseph Cotten played the exec whose death kicks the whole story off. They reveal the fate of Edward G. Robinson’s character, which pisses me off but damn if that scene doesn’t kill me in the actual film. What a wonderful final performance.
PHASE IV: I still haven’t gotten around to watching this, but I’ve been meaning to for some time. Kept my eyes shut for the only time during this particular BNAT.
LOGAN’S RUN (1976), dir. Michael Anderson.
I’d seen this at the Cineramadome here in L.A. within the past year or two, so very little came as a surprise. I remember liking Richard Jordan’s performance a lot, and this time, I appreciated his arc even more as he goes from blissed out cog-in-the-machine to psychopathic, ignorant zealot. My goodness gracious, Jenny Agutter in this film. I usually don’t perv out too hard over skimpy sci-fi duds, but man, when Michael York twists a knob in his house and out comes a near-nude Agutter with her bottom half all out there, I got really pissed off that I was born after the AIDS epidemic. In general, there’s a lot of free love and drug use that makes the film a delightful time capsule.
So what if the models of the city are very obviously models, and that Roscoe Lee Brown’s Box is phony-baloney to the point where you can see Brown’s black skin under his silver mask? This is an awesome, original sci-fi film, featuring both great, provocative ideas and a strong, effective sense of sentiment. Those guns with the green muzzle flashes are badass, and did I mention Jenny Agutter’s costumes?
A few of us clapped for Jerry Goldsmith’s credit during the titles. Adore the score, particularly the atonal electronic bits at the opening and closing. Ustinov is so alive and adorable as the Old Man who has long forgotten his name, and I was quite touched at his insistence on “Seeing all the young people.” I even liked Farrah Fawcett’s performance this time around, and felt a little tinge of something when she bites it in an explosion.
Harry said something fascinating before the film, which was that it had the biggest presence at the sci-fi conventions he attended immediately preceding STAR WARS. Can you imagine a Comic-Con where everyone is dressed as a Sandman or *gulp* Jessica 6? Oh, and if any toymakers are reading, H really wants a Box action figure, which I can’t believe doesn’t exist already. Get on that.
TRAILERS:
THE BEST OF WALT DISNEY’S TRUE LIFE ADVENTURES: A compilation of a bunch of TRUE LIFE ADVENTURE specials made for TV. A surprising precursor to their recent stuff like EARTH, OCEANS, CHIMPANZEE, and BEARS. Will never seek out, but glad to know it exists.
STARBIRD AND SWEET WILLIAM: A movie with a Native-American lead! Sure, he’s played by a young, immediately post-COWBOYS A Martinez, but still, I love the idea of the lead of a family film being a Native-American. Gives you hope for the world. Don’t know about the movie though…
THE NIGHT OF THE GRIZZLY: Don’t remember a thing, other than that Clint Walker was the lead. Brain fried at this point.
THE REVENANT (2015), dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.
I purposefully avoided all trailers and summaries for this movie, and knew nothing other than that it starred Leo and Tom Hardy, and that it somehow involved killer bears. I have to say, I was somewhat disappointed upon figuring out that the film is basically a simple revenge film, albeit one that’s gorgeously shot and impeccably executed. There’s a scene where circumstances lead one character to do something horrible to Leo’s, and at that moment, there’s no question about what the rest of the movie is going to be. And aside from one excellent moment involving Domnhall Gleeson (an increasingly impressive talent) and Will Poulter, I didn’t really find myself surprised by the narrative at all.
But let’s talk about what’s incredible about the film. The cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki, which apparently used not one artificial light, requiring an incredibly precise shooting schedule. The action, which is rough-and-tumble and incredibly brutal, creating an atmosphere where anyone can die at any moment. The presentation of Native-American relations in that time period, when being scalped was a very possible way of going out (one character has survived one, and has the scars to prove it) and their home court advantage looms over every waking moment.
And Hardy. My god, I’m falling in love with this guy. He’s the most conflicted character in the film, as well as its sole source of levity. He gives a monologue about a squirrel which is the single weirdest moment in the film, and also easily my favorite. I never wrote his character off as a thug, even during his most questionable actions; he seems like a guy who has shoved his soul aside to increase his chances of survival in this miserable, hellish world, and who has long ago shed his notions of both righteousness and sanity out of necessity. He’s a great counterpart for Leo, but I found his character the more compelling and fascinating of the two. He’s got the madness in those eyes, man, and I fucking love it.
I have always thought that the optimal BNAT manages to balance the new films with the old as evenly as possible (ideally 6-5 or 5-6), but Harry admitted that he had a couple of last-minute dropouts this year, so I can’t fault him for that. Plus, he managed to make sure that every film (including one of the aforementioned last minute additions) was, at the very least, an interesting crowd-pleaser that we likely wouldn’t see on the big screen anywhere else, and that was a joy to watch with the fine BNAT crowd. I was riding on air when that couple got married to the STAR WARS music with PHANTASM flying balls flying through the crowd, leading right into PHANTASM and a first look at PHANTASM V, and giggled with glee after the first set-piece in GUNGA DIN, knowing that the movie was winning me over hardcore. The special appearances by Taron Egerton and Coscarelli/Baldwin were super-awesome and memorable, and the poster by Rob Liefeld might be my favorite I’ve gotten yet (along with a T-shirt that you’d have to see to believe).
I’ve been to a few movie marathons here in L.A., and a number of film festivals, and nothing’s ever come close to that weird, spacey, blissful vibe of Harry’s yearly birthday bash. I am not exaggerating when I say that it is the event I look forward to most all year, and not lying when I say that it never manages to disappoint.
So what if he didn’t show STAR WARS? Like we’re not all seeing it this weekend anyway.
