It all started innocent enough.
Last year I picked up a copy of Chopping Mall from a small used record store in Montreal. Later that week, while watching the movie, I noticed a poster for Barbarian Queen on the wall during the diner scene. During the summer I had pointed out a poster for that movie to Doug, who eventually bought it and mounted it over his bed. I had also found a VHS tape of that same movie for Nagy not long before that. There’s a scene in Chopping Mall where some of the “teens” are watching a movie on TV. The movie is Attack of the Crab Monsters. That same week the lead actress of that film, Pamela Duncan, had passed away. As the weeks wore on, the connections between Chopping Mall and my life continued to appear, to the point where I was convinced that this b-movie about murderous mall security robots was the cosmic centre of all being. This was, of course, a naive supposition.
The truth is that all things actually lead to Roger Corman.
When I expanded my perspective to accomodate all of Roger Corman’s work, I found myself overwhelmed by the insidious hold he has on our world. Connections I hadn’t previously possessed the insight to explore became apparent. Like hearing a word for the very first time then hearing it again and again in the days that follow, this discovery has altered my entire worldview. Now I can’t escape him, no matter how much tinfoil I use.
Consider yourselves enlightened. This is Roger Corman’s world. We just live in it.
Damn, does Cronenberg ever give good intereviews. This is a terrific overview of his career, including all the dirt on Canadian independent cinema, The National Film Board of Canada and exploding heads. All very patriotic.
“People can get confused. They can think that they’re supposed to be solemn, because it’s a Cronenberg movie, and they think that’s a serious thing. But I’ve never made a movie that’s not funny. They’re all funny.
Maybe The Brood isn’t very funny. I was in a really bad mood when I made it. It’s about the only one that doesn’t have genuine laughs in it.
David Cronenberg, laff riot.
In other Cronenberg news, it looks like the filmmaker is moving even further away from the horror genre in his next batch of projects, though if anyone could take a comedy about Hollywood excess and introduce parasitic phaluses (phalli?) to the story, it would be him.
“Have you gone to http://www.redcars.it? My script is now a book, a beautiful coffee table book for fans of Formula One or of my work or whatever. It’s expensive, but it’s really beautiful and the printing is exquisite. I would be happy if some producer said, `Yes, I want to make this movie,’ but so far, no one has. So unless that happens, it’s not going to be a movie. At least it’s a book.”
Unfortunately, there is no mention of his dream project; a musical comedy about Canadian politics.
I first heard about Hard Candy over half a year ago when the guy who runs the Lion’s Gate Horror blog wrote about how he had to walk out of a screening of the movie at Sundance. From what I could gather at the time, Hard Candy is a brutal little indie film featuring only two people for most of it’s length; a man and a young girl meeting for the first time in real life after conversing over the internet. Once they arrive at the man’s house, the facade drops and the roles of predator and prey reverse. Every two or three months since I first read about Hard Candy I’ve been checking for any further information on it, and came up with very little each time.
It’s finally going into limited release on April 14th, which unfortunately doesn’t bode well for me. The official site, along with the trailer, can be found here.
High In The Mountains from Sasquatch: The Legend of Bigfoot
In the forbidden valleys of the Bigfoot.
Tracking and studying Mankind’s greatest mystery.
High in the mountains,
There lives a legend,
That people have seen,
High in the mountains.
Strong as a river,
Proud as the eagle,
That flies in the sky,
High in the mountains.
Go through the valley,
That makes the high mountain his home,
There in God’s country,
He just wants to be left alone.
Wild as the wind,
He travels in places,
Where men dare not go,
High in the mountains…
Thank you to our friends at Filmjunk for bringing this to our attention. Life is worth living once again.
The SNAKES ON A PLANE Teaser Trailer!
Quite a few years back at the big Toronto comic convention, Hayz and I met Warwick Davis. As much as I wanted to ask him about the Leprechaun series, I was afraid that he wouldn’t be interested in discussing what many considered to be a role beneath his stature as Ewok. So, Hayz got his Willow jigsaw puzzle signed and just as we were about to walk away he stopped, turned, and asked Warwick Davis if there was another Leprechaun movie on the horizon.
Davis leapt up onto his seat and began waving his hands excitedly. He told us how the next instalment was going to be “Pulp Fiction meets Leprechaun” and how Ice-T was going to star in it as a pimp. He became so loud and enthused over his participation in the Leprechaun series that the entire autograph section stopped in their tracks to hear what he had to say. We hung on every word.
Hayz and I walked out of that convention with a newfound hope for the future of entertainment. Thank you, Mr. Davis. You are a rainbow.
The Collected Leprechaun 4 Quotes from Leper-Con 2000
“Leprechaun 4 is going to make all this torture worth it.” – Billy
“I get excited that Warwick gets excited.” – Steve
“I feel like I’m watching TVO.” – Doug
“Look at Steve over there. He’s speechless.” – Kevin
“Shamrock shake.” – Gary
“He’s got a purse of holding.” – Mike
“They’re just finding different ways to undress the women.” – Billy
“Shut up! It’s for the plot!” – Steve
Next: An encounter with Warwick Davis.
