its been a while...

king cobra

I haven't written in a while and have been feeling kind of guilty about it. I was going to write something with substance, but that's no way to ease back into things... Its 11:30 on a Thursday night and I'm watching "King Cobra" on the Sci Fi channel. It might be a masterpiece... This movie has produced some of the greatest one liners i have ever heard in the first 20 minutes alone. Maybe Pat Morita's finest performance. I'll write about something better tomorrow...

"it looks like yah got some sort of alternate universe in there or something"

My first experiences with horror flicks was usually at the homes of friends. I wasn't allowed to watch R rated movies until i was in my teens, but i had a couple of friends in my adolescent years whose parents didn't give a shit, and really why should they... Anyway, one of the first i saw was the Shining. For some reason my parents let me watch this when i was in the single digits. I think i was told to close my eyes during the bathroom scene though. When i was a kid the movie absolutely terrified me. Movies like Nightmare on Elm St. and Friday the 13th were off limits, i think it was the gore my parents really had a problem with. These were the flicks i ended up seeing at friends houses, usually when sleeping over. I had one friend in particular whose parents always let us rent R rated movies. We usually went straight to the Horror section scanning the back of boxes looking for the goriest stills we could find. We ended up seeing a ton of crap, but we also ended up seeing a lot of good stuff too. Anyway, its Halloween. Below are some horror movies worth checking out, especially if you've never seen them before. Not your usual fare... but definitely worth a gander...

House 2: Second Story

This sequel has nothing to do with the original and is one of my favorite 80's comedies of all time. It has an array of stupid special effects, but where this movie really shines is with its cast. Especially John Ratzenberger as Bill the electrician. Gramps is an awesome character as well. The plot revolves around a crystal skull with magical powers that open up doors to different dimensions. Sounds awesome right? Thats because it is.


Sleepaway Camp

This movie is hilarious, stupid, weird and incredibly creepy all at the same time. There are some classic lines in this one that you wont forget and some real short shorts. This 80's classic was filmed in upstate New York and is a good old fashioned "who done it" horror movie. The best part about this weirdo movie is the twist ending... its probably one of the greatest endings of all time.


The Thing

This makes a lot of top 10 horror movie lists but surprisingly goes unseen by most. This movie does an incredible job with special effects for an early 80's flick and is just plain good. Kurt Russel stars as a helicopter pilot working at a research facility in the antarctic. When a shape shifting alien makes it into the facility all hell breaks loose as the staff starts to turn on each other in a paranoid panic. Maybe John Carpenters best, definitely Wilford Brimley's.


The Tenant

This is actually my favorite Polanski movie and in my opinion much better than Rosemary's Baby. the film is set in Paris where Polanski stars as a sheepish file clerk who moves into the apartment of a recently deceased woman. The main character slowly starts to lose his mind as he convinces himself the neighbors are out to get him and may have been behind the death of the former tenant. without giving to much away the movie ends in an all out breakdown that truly defines the term "personality crisis".


The Gate

This movie is choc-full of bad eighties special effects and stars Stephen Dorff at the ripe age of 14. Its about a middle school kid and his friend who open a gate to hell in their backyard when they play a metal record backwards. Do i have to say more? Despite the corny trailer this movie is actually pretty scary and Louis Tripp should have won an Oscar for best supporting actor. Definitely a stellar flick.


My Bloody Valentine

This classic film for which the popular early 90's shoegazers named themselves is a camp classic. Set in a mining town in Canada a local legend comes true when a group of locals defy the killers orders. Totally creepy, totally corny and completely low budget. Definitely a classic. Valentines day will never be the same again...

woo hoo! king salmon

Last night a friend (who owns an obnoxious gray cat) mentioned that Kelly Reichardt has a new film on the way. Her 2006 film "Old Joy" was my favorite of the year and in my opinion a perfect example of the change that friendships undergo as people drift in separate directions. A shining example of the cultural seperations we feel in our society and the way we struggle to remain attached. Like Old Joy, "Wendy and Lucy" features some screen time by singer songwriter Will Oldham (one of my personal favorites) and the cinematography has already been compared to the photographs of Stephen Shore. The film stars Michelle Williams as an Indiana girl on her way up to Alaska in an attempt to make a little money. A "true to our economic state" scenario. On the way her thin pocket book starts to make things difficult as her car breaks down, and her only friend (a dog named Lucy) is lost. If this film is anything like Ms. Reichardt's previous, i think were in for a delightful treat. Trailers below...

Wendy & Lucy


Old Joy

i dont know if this is a star or what

Flipping through channels last night i came across an interview with Errol Morris about his latest film, Standard Operating Procedures. I have to be honest, although the film looked interesting, it also looked completely depressing. In fact, most of his recent films have taken on a very serious tone, i.e. The Fog Of War, Mr. Death. I mean, come on, where has all the laughter gone? Documentaries have always intrigued me. Being able to peak into the lives of others is a fragile line to walk. The director is always risking interference, if not through persuasion, then through offering his subjects a platform to "perform". In my opinion Errol Morris has nearly perfected the craft. The only other film makers that seem to come close are Albert and David Maysles. Roger Ebert has even compared Errol Morris to Hitchcock or Fellini. His first real taste of success came to fruition in 1988 with A Thin Blue Line. Although the videotapes were not allowed in court it was popularly accepted as the driving force behind getting its subject, Randall Adams, out of prison. Although these aforementioned films may be very fine and dandy, these are not the pictures that have truly affected me. It is Errol's early work that i truly love. His first two films, Gates of Heaven and Vernon Florida. Both of these films are incredible in their own right. Gates of Heaven focuses on two pet cemeteries, one that is in the process of failing and one that is going strong. Vernon, Florida focuses on the small southern town and its colorful characters. Both of these flims seem like mocumentaries at points, but they are undeniably real. If you have yet to witness these two gems, i beg you, look no further. These films contain some the finest moments in reality ever caught on tape. The universe is large, and its life forms unique and plentiful.

Gates of Heaven



Vernon Florida

when things come undone

alameda gran torino

I'm not too sure of the reason why, but ive always been a little obsessed with the 70's. Maybe its because i missed the decade by being born one year too late. Maybe its because of the incredible films that the decade produced. Maybe it has something to do with a new post-hippie America. A nation confused about how to infuse its used up sub-cultures with its new mainstream. Or maybe its just Harry Dean Stanton. In any case, Robert Bechtle's paintings always took me back to the 70's i imagined, but could never really grasp. A lot of Bechtle's paintings contain cars. By no means am i into cars, but i have to be honest, aesthetically, cars of this period appeal to me most, i dont know why. His paintings also contain a lot of families and homes, just normal American life. Considered one of the first photo realists working mostly from every day photographs his paintings appear oddly mundane, although intricately detailed. Time has done him well. I'm not sure if photo realist paintings of cars and suburban California neighborhoods fabricated today, will be of such interest to the generation birthed in 2010, but to me there is something special about these paintings. To me these paintings contain a country hitting the downslope of their arc for the first time, too diluted to see the road ahead. Happy families with their homes and their cars. They are like static Norman Rockwell paintings. A testament of a time lost and a world changed, beautifully preserved for all to see.

Robert Bechtle Images