Thursday, October 13, 2016

MEN IN BLACK II - AUDIO COMMENTARY

I don’t really know what it says about me that the first thing I did after an exhausting cross-country move was to get a bit intoxicated and watch Men in Black 2. There was a bit of natural selection involved; I was looking for something low-effort and the DVD was near the top of the box. How unsuspecting I was when I turned on the director’s commentary in a fit of boredom. Sometimes life-changing events just sneak up on you like that. 




Barry Sonnenfeld’s commentary is basically The Room of audio commentaries. It’s the best-worst and I’m in love with it.


Typically, a good commentary skips over mundane details in favor of funny anecdotes about celebrities or stories of creative battles with studio execs. That’s not Sonnenfeld’s jam. Instead, he dutifully notes which city each scene was shot in (“…and we’re back in Pasadena!”), which elements were added digitally, and which animation companies created each digital element (ILM did about 20% of Frank the Pug’s mouth). This should be mind numbing, but his obliviousness to how boring he’s being somehow makes it more entertaining. He really thinks he’s being interesting. There’s also an earnest charm in his Jewish New York accent that gives his delivery just the right amount of heart to avoid monotony. There are some great moments when he points out an obvious CGI element (there wasn’t really an 800-pound worm in the subway; that actor doesn’t really have 8 arms) as if we might have actually believed they were real. I honestly can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or if someone told him that only 6 year-olds listen to audio commentaries.


In addition to sharing a litany of production details, Sonnenfeld adds some odd non sequiturs, explains why jokes are funny, and makes a series of unfortunate comments about Laura Flynn Boyle. “I like the way Laura walks across here, it’s really kinda trampy.” There’s also a run where he points out which men have strong jaws and which one looks like Frank the Pug. The thing that gets me the most is that I can’t tell if he says this stuff for the audience’s benefit or his own amusement.


Whenever he mentions a crew member or actor, he always throws in a little anecdote about them, but each time there’s something slightly off about it. He introduces production designer Bo Welch and then humble brags about buying him (and his wife...and their daughters) dinner at an expensive restaurant the previous night. He mentions that he’s worked with sound designer Skip Livesay on all of his films, notes that Livesay has also worked with the Coen brothers, and then concludes with, “…and he mumbles.” A street intersection mentioned in dialog is revealed to be the intersection that screenwriter Barry Fanaro lives at and “You should go visit him.” There’s so much good material here, I’m gonna need some bullet-pointed highlights:


  • “Those are Laura’s real breasts.”
  • Sonnenfeld describing beatboxing; he had no idea.
  • Shooting digital scenes sucks because, “The color blue all day makes you insane and angry.”
  • That time Sonnenfeld thought he had a heart attack, but it was just stress.
  • “Every time you can make a testicle joke, you know you’ve got a hit movie.”
  • “She’s realizing there’s a problem between the picture of what she wants to look like and what she turned herself into. And it’s all about Laura’s stomach.”
  • “Look out, Will” — used when Will Smith’s character doesn’t notice something or is about to be kissed.
  • The story of how they reshot a scene because Rosario Dawson didn’t look cute enough the first time.
  • The story of how one of the bit-part actors went to elementary school with Sonnenfeld and they both liked the same girl. It’s a real heart breaker.
  • Will Smith is afraid of water.
  • etc...


I can barely believe I’m saying this, but for your next viewing party, I highly recommend you get somewhat intoxicated and turn on the Men in Black 2 commentary. You’ll thank me.

- Guest Writer, Ryan Nichols - Writer extraordinaire. You can reach him at ryannicholsthewriter@gmail.com

Sunday, February 21, 2016

ALL-STAR VIDEO comes to the Trylon

So, obviously we've been pretty quiet lately.  What with kids, new jobs, moving, new dogs, etc., Matt and I have been separated a bit from this little thing we love.  But, there is good news coming.

The Trylon microcinema has offered us a late night spot to follow Trash Film Debauchery on the third Wednesday of every month.  We've taken a few friends (Pat Vehling, Malcolm Mohr and Andrew Madetzke have been putting an enormous amount of work on this) helping to program and promote the series. If we can continue to have a loyal following we'll gain ourselves a permanent spot in the late-night spot after TFD. 

I also want to say that bigger stuff is down the pipeline (though I won't announce that here and now.)  

If you've been following us at all and know the types of films we love, I don't think you'll be surprised that we're starting with a concise history of shot-on-video favorites.

I also want to add that a ticket to this series gets you the ability to become a member of the new and improved All-Star Video Library.  The new library titles will be available March 16.

Here are the details:



Coming soon to The Trylon microcinema
All-Star Video celebrates the mad world of shot-on-video movies! In the heyday of the video store, amateur filmmakers brought their crazy stories to your VHS player using home-video cameras, tiny budgets, and boundless enthusiasm. We’ve combed through hundreds of titles to bring you some of the wildest works ever committed to magnetic tape. Want to know what we’re showing? You’ll need to show up to find out! Third Wednesdays following TFD at the Trylon.
BUY TICKETSEMAIL REMINDER 

ALL-STAR VIDEO

ALL-STAR VIDEO MARCH

The Trylon microcinema

Wed Mar 16 9:00 
What might be the first shot-on-video slasher film comes complete with VHS slow-motion effects. This one has a possessed weapon, a mashed-potato food fight, and a killer soundtrack. Will this be the most enjoyable film you see this year? Yes. Yes it will. $5 
BUY TICKETSEMAIL REMINDER 

ALL-STAR VIDEO

ALL-STAR VIDEO APRIL

The Trylon microcinema

Wed Apr 20 8:45 
This ambitious, off-the-wall amateur film is as original, and stupid, as they come. Floating men in underwear, a goggled goofball burying random body parts, and a couple of poolside chainsaw attacks await you. $5 
BUY TICKETSEMAIL REMINDER 

ALL-STAR VIDEO

ALL-STAR VIDEO MAY

The Trylon microcinema

Wed May 18 9:00 
If you think Troll 2 and The Room are as bad as bad gets, you’re going find yourself in way over your head tonight. Filled to the brim with hilarious padding, this one reuses footage from old films (again!) and includes multiple scenes involving typing at a desktop calculator. Is this the worst film ever made? See it and decide for yourself. $5


Tickets on sale here: http://trylon.org/series/142/

Thanks for being on this crazy journey with us. Hope to see you March 16.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

AN INTRODUCTION TO EL SANTO




Perhaps there is something about the Santo films that truly captures what I love about genre films and pro-wrestling.  Or, maybe its that the Mexican filmmakers who worked on the series know how to perfectly combine the wrestling picture, super hero film and horror / westerns.

The luchador is an image that does not translate well to American sensibilities.  We consider men in masks to be goofy.  Watching Santo drive his convertible, ride a horse or look over documents in his mask and a full business suit is just simply hilarious.  However, in Mexico, the luchador is a serious character.  The mask is sacred.  The things he represent are good and just.  El Santo is the most famous of these characters.  Don't think of him as Hulk Hogan (before the recent events turned him into scumbag #1).  He is more akin to Batman.

El Santo (The Saint) is the character charismatically played by Rudolfo Guzman Huerta for nearly five decades.  He was reportedly a decent baseball player and then dedicated Jiu-Jitsu student.  He premiered as El Hombre Rojo (The Red Man) in Mexico City in 1935.  In 1942 he became known as El Santo.


In 1952 Santo appeared in Sensacional de Luchas issue no. 425.  The comic book would run continusouly for another 35 years.

Where Santo truly became interesting, however, was in cinema.  In 1958, he appeared in El Cerebro del Mal aka Santo contra Cerebro del Mal.  (The Evil Brain).  The movie is super strange.  It plays like a straight western for nearly an hour.  A girl has been kidnapped by an evil town boss and a lawman must seek out and save his sister.  Like I said, this plays for nearly an hour.  But, at one point, there is a desperate struggle at the edge of a cliff.  Multiple henchman have the lawman cornered.  Then, riding furiously on a horse, donning both mask and cape, Santo comes riding to the rescue.  The scene plays back and forth, lawman fighting, then Santo riding, lawman fighting, etc...  Finally, Santo arrives.  He clotheslines, suplexes and double-axe-handle-smashes his way through the henchmen.  He then proceeds to toss them from the cliff!  Its amazing. These dudes just want to fight and Santo proceeds to murder all of them.

Santo would go on to appear in more than 52 lucha films.  The basic formula would remain the same.  People are in trouble.  They call on Santo.  He wrestles some guy in the ring and then comes and dominates.  I haven't seen all of them as a huge majority of these films have yet to be released in the States with English subtitles, but the basic underlying beauty of these films is their unabashed love of the unexpected.  In Santo contra las Mujeras Vampiros (Santo vs the Vampire Women) Santo pushes a handful of vampire women into their coffins and then proceeds to burn them all alive.

I find something almost courageous about the pacing of low budget pictures from this time period.  Slow doesn't really define.  It's almost more like tedious.  But, for me, that's part of the enjoyment.  The build up is all the more enjoyable when Santo calls on his Santo video phone from his silver convertible.

And now we come to SANTO Y BLUE DEMON CONTRA LOS MONSTRUOS (1970).  I picked this film to play at the cemetery because it is a different kind of special.  By 1970, the people making Santo films had perfected the look and feel.  They had made 22 of them already.  They needed to spice it up.  What if he were to fight all the monsters?!  The evil Dr. Halder combines the forces of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Cyclops, Mummy, etc, to take over the world.  They also brainwash the lovable Blue Demon to be their minion.  The pacing here is quick.  The wrestling match scene is well commentated.  The fight scenes are over the top, and there are a ton of them.  In reality, this is a B picture that would've played well in American drive-ins had it been dubbed into English.

I can't imagine this film won't make you fall in love the world of Santo.  It worked for me.

-J. Moret

Sunday, August 16, 2015

THE FAN (AKA DER FAN / TRANCE)



This time John and Matt discuss THE FAN.
No. . . not that one. . . not the Wesley Snipes movie. . .
Anyway. Check it out.


Check out this episode!

Sunday, July 19, 2015

LADY TERMINATOR



John and Matt discuss the Indonesian masterpiece and Terminator ripoff, Lady Terminator.

This may be the most serious review of this movie ever made. . . and it's really not that serious.

Check out this episode!