Film Geek Primer: Episode #5

Film Geek Primer:
Episode #5
Russ Meyer






This week, the geeks discuss the winner of their first viewer poll, director Russ Meyer.

24 Frames: Never To Be Seen

There are a ton of movies out there that just never get made. Some of them are stuff of legend; some are just passing glimpses of what’s going on in Hollywood’s head. In today’s internet age, rumors and speculation run rampant. Anytime an executive farts, some site picks it up and tells us it’s going to be next summers big budget blockbuster starring Shia LaBeouf.

But there have been those that have been passed down over the years and become part of the film geek mythos. These are movies that have been made but will never (or rarely) be seen, and those that stepped into the rainbow somewhere along the script stage. Now I’m not talking about small potato movies either, I’m talking about the big stuff.

The biggest happens to also deal with the smallest, or more on point the shortest. Napoleon: written, but never directed by Stanley Kubrick. This was to be a giant movie. Kubrick being the perfectionist that he was researched every book and wrote what geekdom has considered the greatest epic never made. The film was ready to roll in Romania with five thousand extras it would have been a massive undertaking. He was rolling off of the success of 2001, so anything seemed possible.

Then came Waterloo. It starred Rod Steiger as Napoleon and to be honest, I have no idea if it is any good or not, I’ve never seen it. But it bombed at the box office and that sent a message to the financing folks behind Kubrick’s film that Napoleon had no chance for profit. So they pulled out and the film never happened. This was a supposed hit for Kubrick who had a fascination with the military leader for years and had developed and constructed the script with an incredible passion.

Another cinematic master who was never able to get his vision up on the screen was Alfred Hitchcock, but unlike Kubrick it would be for very different reasons.

Kaleidoscope was rejected by Universal because of Hitchcock’s radical visual ideas as well as the content. This was in the mid-sixties and he was hailed a master again after releasing Psycho and The Birds. His idea for Kaleidoscope was to shoot it in a verite style thanks to the success of the French New Wave and he wanted to try some very experimental stylistic choices. He has even shot about an hour of experimental footage to show what he was going to go for.

Well, that caused some nervousness at the studio, but it was the script that really flipped their wigs. It was to be told from the point of view of an attractive young man who is a serial killer, gay, oh and a rapist. The script also included nudity. For evident reasons the studio said nope. Years of reworking and moving back to England, Hitchcock was able to release a version that we know today as Frenzy. There is a geek myth that the experimental footage that was shot is occasionally screened to audiences. I can neither confirm nor deny.

Now I’m going to wrap it up by mentioning a film that has been made, completed and has never seen the light of day. Rumor is that it’s for the best.

The Day The Clown Cried was a passion projects for Jerry Lewis. Shot in 1972, the central storyline is about a circus clown (Lewis) who becomes a political prisoner in Nazi Germany and eventually starts clowning for the Jewish children to lead them to the gas chambers at Auschwitz. Sounds like a hoot, right?

Lewis refuses to discuss the film to this day and it has gained the reputation of being tasteless and insulting. Harry Shearer attended a private screening in 1979 and reported that is was one of the most "misplaced" films he’d ever seen. "For everything it was attempting to do, it did just the opposite." Ouch.

Hearing about films like these makes me wonder what the cinematic landscape would be like today if they had made it into theaters. Would Kubrick have made A Clockwork Orange or Barry Lyndon if Napoleon had been green lit? Would Hitchcock be looked at with a different eye today if he’d completed Kaleidoscope? Would Jerry Lewis have any remaining self-respect? We’ll never really know, but it’s fun to think about.

Film Geek Primer: Episode #4

Film Geek Primer:
Episode #4
Movie Quotes





This week our geeks explore famous and infamous quotes from movies and how they relate to the film geek world

The Eclectic Choice: The Ninth Gate

The Ninth Gate (2000)
dir. Roman Polanski


Before Johnny Depp reclaimed his superstar status by playing Keith Richards and Roman Polanski reminded the world that he is a directorial god with The Pianist, they collaborated together on a little film called The Ninth Gate. This is one of those movies that gets better the more you watch it. With it’s roots deep in film noir and gothic horror, it is a superbly executed thriller with a keen sense of macabre humor and Frank Langella turning in a performance that is creepy and hysterical all at the same time.

Depp plays Dean Corso a sleazy rare book dealer who is hired by Langella’s Boris Balkan to authenticate a copy of “The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows.” There are two other copies in existence, so Depp travels Europe to check them out. He basically becomes the Phillip Marlow of the book world as he runs across murder, a witch’s coven and the secret to raising the devil him/herself.

Filled with a perfectionist’s eye for filmmaking and a twisted humor, Polianski delivers a little gem that has been under seen and extremely underrated. The DVD includes a commentary by Polanski, an isolated music score and a making of featurette plus other tidbits. Well worth the purchase because you’ll watch it several times, appreciating it more and more with every viewing.

The Eclectic Choice: The Yakuza

The Yakuza (1975)
dir. Sidney Pollack


When Sidney Pollack recently passed away, there was a lot of talk about his acting and producing career. Everyone loved to point out how he directed the classic Three Days of The Condor, the comedy masterpiece Tootsie and the Oscar winning Out of Africa. For good measure, I’m tossing in They Shoot Horses…Don’t They, because if you haven’t seen it, you should. But the Pollack film I decided to go and revisit is one that gets very little attention, The Yakuza. After seeing it again, I have to say that it is a well constructed, acted and executed movie that needs more word of mouth.

Paul Schrader, his brother Leonard and Robert Towne wrote the screenplay. That is a powerhouse of writers no matter how you look at it. Add that to the acting talents of Robert Mitchum, Brian Keith, Richard Jordan and Ken Takakura, it seems that you’ve got dynamite on your hands. And that was where I used to be confused. I originally found the film slow, not the action packed intense dialog gangster movie that I’d hoped for. I wanted jalapeño dip and I was served a curry. Silly me.

Brooding, methodical and a primer on the yakuza genre itself, this is an impressive work with violence that you feel, because Pollack and company set it in reality and not some bloody ballet of kinetic energy film world. It’s because of the realism that you feel the pain, all of the pain. Not just the bullets and steel, but the characters who suffered due to traditional values and moral codes. It’s a story of brotherhood and betrayal, both known and unknown. Well worth a look and an impressive collection to any library.

I did find the score to be a little melodramatic and overstated, but a minor quibble in a well rounded beautifully executed film.

24 Frames: 4 Non-Comic Movies

I’ve been starting article after article and not being able to finish any of them. So what do I do? I can sit around and wait until some great idea (or mediocre idea that I think is great) hits me, or I can just push through it and give you something. So I’m giving you something.



A Couple weeks ago Tremendo gave you three great comic book movies that weren’t based off of comic books. I had a flash of a few more and was going to save it for the release of The Dark Knight, but instead I’ll drop some sizzle into you life now and hope that something a little more mind blowingly fun comes to my mind next week. So here are three more non-comic book (but could be) movies to move to the top of the queue.

BUCKAROO BANZAI: ACROSS THE EIGHTH DIMENSION
(1984)

If ever a film screamed for a franchise this one was it. Brilliant scientist, rock star and crime fighter Buckaroo Banzai take on a group of bad guys called Lectroids from Planet 10 located in the eighth dimension. Joined by his band and fellow scientists the Hong Kong Kavaliers, they devise a plan to defeat the Lectroids and save the planet from destruction. The whole plot is a lot more complicates and wackier than that, but this thing is a cult gem through and through. With wild characters, situations and insane plot points, Buckaroo and his gang could easily have stepped right of the comic page. It is easy to visualize further adventures against numerous super villains and supernatural phenomenon alike. There have even been a couple attempts to make further adventures as both a television show, which was never made; as well as a small comic run that missed the mark. No one has ever been able to find that magic elixir that would bring Buckaroo to the mainstream and bring him the legions of fans he richly deserves, but the film we have is a wholly original and classic piece of cult fiction.


MR. FREEDOM
(1969)

Eclipse has recently released a collection of a filmmaker named William Klein and among them is a super hero movie. This film uses the super hero to bash everything that is wrong with America. It has a really low budget, but unique visual style and an overt message about how Americans are all pretty much big, rude and crude know-it-all's who understand what’s best for the world at large. Mr. Freedom runs around in a big red whit and blue costume, but his alter ego struts around in a cowboy hat spitting on all the foreigners around him. Of course this is all in the name of freedom. It can get a little convoluted at times and so in your face with it’s spot on humorous message that you feel like you’ve been hit over the head with our own jingoistic bat. But I like it because it actually seems to have a bit of a timely message. Plus however heavy handed the message may be at least there is a message and that sting you feel is the knowledge that he got it a little bit right.


CITY OF LOST CHILDREN
(1995)

A movie that has it all! A circus strong man is in search of his kidnapped brother. A brave young heroine who is the best thing since Alice stepped into the looking glass. A mad scientist needs to steal dreams to stay alive. Cyclops soldiers, Siamese twins, clones, a sentient brain in a vat! French film making team Jeunet and Caro blew people away with their debut film Delicatessen, then they threw in everything but the kitchen sink for this follow up. An entire world is created with fleshed out characters in every mildew-encrusted shadow. Ron Perlman gives a great sympathetic performance as the not so bright strong man who enlists the aid of Miette a whip smart orphan/thief to help locate the kidnapped child. With production design and a visual flair that could fill several movies, this would be the last film the Jeunet and Caro team would make together. But we have two great movies to enjoy from them; brimming with originality from whatever direction you approach it.

BONUS: I thought of another one while writing this.


DARK CITY
(1998)

Alex Proyas followed up his very comic book based movie The Crow with this impressive piece if science fiction that delves into memory, reality and what it means to be a human being. Released then quickly disappeared in theaters, Dark City uses the classic noir trope of an amnesiac and possible serial killer trying to figure out who he is. The real twist being he and everyone else are just rats in a maze as an alien life form changes the physical dynamics of the city and the people. A brilliant combination of mystery and philosophy this film covers a lot of the same ground as The Matrix without ever getting heavy handed. It was Roger Ebert’s favorite film of 1998 and draws some very interesting parallels with the classic Fritz Lang silent film Metropolis.


Hey, Metropolis is another great one, but I’ve already gone on too long. Check out any of these. One of them will surely strike your fancy.

Film Geek Primer: Episode #3

Film Geek Primer:
Episode #3
Conan The Barbarian




What happens when geeks disagree over the merits of the 1982 sword and sorcery film Conan The Barbarian? Watch and find out.