Archive for October 2009
Halloween Horror Film Festival
The Schleicher Spin now proudly presents:
A Guide to a Great Halloween Horror Film Festival
Step One: Set the mood with the classics.
...and we go walking...after midnight...out in the moonlight...
- Vampyr (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1932) — Though religious persecution was a dominant theme in Dreyer’s canon, this moody piece of work was his one attempt at pure horror. This plays like a filmed night-terror and contains so many dreamy, spooky, and downright bizarre images that you’re left with but one choice: surrender to the Dane’s macabre vision. The corpse’s-eye-view of a funeral procession is a special delight that has yet to be matched in nearly 80 years of cinema.
- Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932) — While it’s easy for some to dismiss this as a literal circus sideshow, Browning’s still controversial masterpiece is a haunting portrayal of the horrors of Group Think. When our anti-heroine receives her final comeuppance in the scene with the deformed and unfortunate beings crawling through the mud in the rain under railroad cars wielding knives and revenge, it makes for one of the most chilling climaxes in film history.
- Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931) — Boris Karloff’s lumbering monster has become memorialized and overused to the point of mockery, but there’s still something both horrific and sympathetic about his portrayal. The infamous “drowning scene” still packs a wallop…especially with the emotional follow-up of the father carrying the little girl’s body through the village streets. After all these years…this film is still ALIVE! IT’S ALIIIIIIIIVE!
Step Two: Settle in with a glass of wine or a cup of tea, get cozy and watch a classic ghost story.
- The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961) — Deborah Kerr’s performance and Freddie Francis’ cinematography make this a near perfect adaptation of Henry James’ potboiler “The Turn of the Screw”.
- If you care to watch something more modern, the recent spins on the same psychological horror, 2001’s The Others (anchored by Nicole Kidman) or 2007’s The Orphanage (anchored by Belen Rueda) would also fit the bill quite nicely.
Step Three: Break out the popcorn and have a hell-of-a-time with these creepy ”fun-scary” hits.
- Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978) — Really? Did you think this wouldn’t be on the list? For the love of all that is holy, please make sure you watch the Carpenter original and not Rob Zombie’s ridiculous Hillybilly-deluxe retread.
- Fright Night (Tom Holland, 1985) — This Rear Window-inspired tongue-in-cheek vampire romp is one of my all time favorites from childhood. Comes complete with a kick-ass totally ’80’s theme song and awesomely grotty make-up effects.
- Drag Me To Hell (Sam Raimi, 2009) — Gypsy curses, nasty demons, mortgage re-financing, cheesy effects, a smoking-hot Alison Lohman and a talking goat made this the most fun I have had at the movies in years. Raimi pulls out all the stops and all the eyeballs and drains all the embalming fluid along the way. Enjoy.
Step Four: Get artsy.
...another beautiful day at the beach.
- Nosferatu (Werner Herzog, 1979) — Okay, so F. W. Murnau’s 1922 original is iconic and undoubtedly one of the most celebrated classics of silent film and German Expressionism. But Herzog’s brilliant update compliments, enhances and celebrates the original while creating its own ghastly imagery. This is that rare case where the remake might be better than the source. Klaus Kinski and Isabelle Adjani are like tortured images from gothic paintings and etchings come to life to become undead. More of a meditation on vampire iconography in film and the mythology that haunts our minds, from the skull-and-bones opening credits to the Wagner-themed journey to the Count’s castle to the dire closing shot of the sand blowing over the beach, this is the most artistic horror film ever made.
Finally: Watch the greatest horror film ever made.
What film combines the iconic imagery, the psychological horror, the ghosts, the classic performances, the genuine scares and the artistry?
- The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980) — Kubrick’s eerily symbolic and painstakingly detailed re-working of Stephen King’s hack-novel is a masterstroke of filmmaking hubris. Here’s that rare instance where the film adaptation is better…way better…than the book. In fact, I would argue it exists in a whole different universe. The music…the maze…the pacing…the blood…the elevators…and those hallways are the stuff of nightmares. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. And anyone who puts together a Halloween Horror Film Festival without The Shining should be axed.
Danny, won't you come play with us...forever?
Written by David H. Schleicher
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Check out the great thread on Kubrick’s masterpiece, The Shining, over at Wonders in the Dark.
For a comparison of The Innocents with its source material, “The Turn of the Screw”, read my previous article, Turning the Screws.
Here’s my original review of The Orphanage.
And check out my raving about Drag Me to Hell.
So what’s your favorite horror film? What movie scared you the most? What would you include in your own Halloween Horror Film Festival? Speak your mind in the comment box.
Autumn in Cooperstown
As not only the birthplace of baseball but also the birthplace of the American novel, Cooperstown, New York (named for the family that spawned America’s first great novelist, James Fenimore Cooper) is an endless source of inspiration. After last year’s visit in early Spring, I decided I wanted to attempt making a yearly pilgrimage to the place of Glimmerglass and Doubleday, leaves and lakes, ballplayers and writers, Coopers and Mohicans. Mid-Autumn is an intoxicating sight to behold in Cooperstown and around Lake Otsego. It’s the time of year when the “off season” is just beginning, part-time locals are enjoying a less crowded hamlet before retiring to warmer climates, year-round natives are still enjoying the nicer weather, the last shot of selective tourists leisurely ascends into town for fall foliage or in honor of the baseball playoff season, the few remaining sailboats glide over Glimmerglass, and the wildlife still roams freely but sleepily as they settle in for their upcoming long winter’s nap. Hibernation, ice and loneliness await as the leaves slowly dance down from the treetops and cover the sidewalks as a kindly colorful omen to the white snow that will blanket the area all too soon.
Naturally, one can’t help but snap as many pictures as possible. It took close to 200 snapshots, and here’s a sample:
Written and photographed by David H. Schleicher
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Points of interest if you plan to visit Cooperstown, NY:
The National Baseball Hall of Fame
The Fenimore Art Museum – currently showcasing an astounding exhibit called “America’s Rome: Artists in the Eternal City, 1800-1900″ and houses a collection of black-and-white Walker Evans photography that is a Shangri-La for those interested in Great Depression-era photographs.
Hyde Hall – about 9 miles outside of Cooperstown at the top of Lake Otsego. This is near impossible to find without a GPS, though well worth the effort for the highly personalized tours given by the most friendly and knowledgeable staff.
Otesaga Resort – a great photo op with killer views of the lake.
The Tunnicliff Inn – the oldest inn in town, just a block from the Hall of Fame, a perfect place to stay.
Nicoletta’s Italian Cafe – a shockingly good place for dinner right on Main Street.
Bear Pond Winery – five dollar tastings and damn good wine.
Cooperstown Brewery – two dollar tastings and damn good beer. Actually located in Milford, the friendly owner doesn’t skimp on the samples and will wax bitterly about the new tax laws or any other topic if you engage him.
The Coen Brothers Didn’t Do Anything
I wish my confirmation had been as fun as this kid's bar mitzvah!
We’re Very Serious Men
They had made it quite clear, hadn’t they, these Coen Brothers, that they didn’t much care about their audience’s expectations. Hell, spare for Marge Gunderson in Fargo, they had never much cared for their characters either. While they looked down on their subjects, they often looked right through those who watched…those faithful who tolerated the abominations that were Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers only left to be confounded by the philosophical nonsense wrapped in the ultra-slick throwback genre packaging of No Country for Old Men. Sure, we laughed at the hatchet job that was their star-studded Burn After Reading…but where had that magic gone? Where were those brothers who had brought us Miller’s Crossing and Barton Fink and Fargo? Had they really sold themselves out to those who had embraced The Big Lebowski as their magnum opus? Oh, why had you forsaken us, Coen Brothers? Where had you gone? What did we do to deserve this? We didn’t do anything!
Where were the Coen Brothers?
In 1960’s Minnesota. Their boyhood home. Where it all began.
Stripped down to the bare bones, A Serious Man is a very serious apology…or is it an explanation…or is it a parable…or is it none and all of those things?
Mild-mannered physics professor Larry Gopnik (a shockingly sympathetic Michael Stuhlbarg) can’t seem to catch a break. His wife (Sari Lennick) is leaving him for the all too calm and sooth-talking Sy Alberman (who played by Fred Melamed ranks as a Coen Brothers’ character for the ages). His daughter (Jessica McManus) cares only about her hair and her friends. His son (Aaron Wolff) is too busy smoking pot and listening to Jefferson Airplane to care much about his upcoming bar mitzvah. His brother (Richard Kind) suffers from all sorts of physical and psychological ailments and can’t seem to get off Larry’s couch except to commit crimes against morality. And these are just his family problems. Poor Larry can’t even get an appointment with the senior rabbi to discuss his ever-expanding crisis situation. While seeking advice from those unfit to give it, Larry adopts as his mantra, “But I didn’t do anything.”
Peppered with their usual black humor and a very stinging jab at their Jewish roots, the Coen Brothers paint a vision of human misery that transcends the typical Hollywood view of suburban dystopia. The film opens with a bizarre ”old wives’ tale” about a woman who mistakes a man for an evil ghost. Through the rest of the film other “parables” are weaved in and out the narrative to shine light on Larry’s existential quagmire suffocated by a very real-life shit-storm. The film, fittingly and organically (unlike the contrived closing scene of No Country for Old Men) ends abruptly in media res with a closing shot that sums up the Coen Brothers’ view of life. It really sticks in your throat.
Why do these bad things keep happening to Larry? Why does anything happen to anybody? What is the meaning of all this? Why have the Coen Brothers made so many bad films over the years? Do they hate us?
No, you see, they don’t. If they did, if they didn’t care, they wouldn’t share this very special film with us. With A Serious Man, the Coen Brothers seem to be confessing to their faithful. “This is who we are. This is where we came from. Is it any wonder why we are the way we are? This is why we make movies like we do. This is why we treat you like this. We can’t help it. We didn’t do anything. And if by some small miracle you see something profound in the nothingness…”
I imagine A Serious Man could be for Jews what last winter’s Doubt was for Catholics. It’s a test of our faith…our faith in movies. Just as Quentin Tarantino reclaimed his position as our cinematic dictator earlier this year with Inglourious Basterds, the Coen Brothers have now reasserted themselves into our collective psyche as our cinematic rabbis with A Serious Man. They’ve always been here making movies for the faifhtful and the faithless, and what you take from each of their films depends on your perspective. Their movies are what you make of them.
Eh, I guess they thought that they should tell us this, or maybe they shouldn’t have. Was it really important?
Wasn’t it Marge Gunderson who taught us there are more important things in life………than all of this?
Whatever this is.
Written by David H. Schleicher
Revisiting The Sweet Hereafter – The Best Film of the 1990’s
Why do I get that sinking feeling when thinking about great films from the 1990's?
There is no such thing as a simple list.
The 1990’s proved to be as ponderous as it was wondrous when looking back on its contributions to cinema. It was the decade where I came of age as a film buff, but many of its films that seemed at the time to speak so strongly to my generation just haven’t held up that well to scrutiny as years have passed. It was a decade that saw one of the most original filmmakers of the 1980’s, David Lynch, do his most astounding work on television with Twin Peaks. In film, the Coen Brothers hit their stride while a contemplative Canuck (Atom Egoyan) and an insane Dane (Lars Von Trier) reached career pinnacles. Meanwhile, emerging from the British Isles were the classically refined works of Anthony Minghella and Sam Mendes. But it was in the Coen Brothers’ America where many saw a mini-Renaissance. Unlike the 1970’s, which produced a plethora of auteurs (Scorsese, Spielberg, De Palma, Coppola, Lucas) who were birthed in formal film schools, the 1990’s saw the emergence of a new generation of auteurs (Tarantino, PT Anderson, Fincher, Spike Jonze) who developed their styles first by working in music videos or by being products of their own self-guided fan-boy obsessed film clubs after dropping out of film school.
I wrestled with my desire to put a film from the decade’s infancy, Lars Von Trier’s trippy post-WWII German train-based thriller, Europa, at the top of my list. Yet every time I watch that film, it grows more tiring to examine. It’s almost too audacious, self-conscious…avant-garde, yet I can’t deny a love for its style and themes. Released in 1990, it was a harbinger of the type of cinema that would dominate the end of the decade, most notably in 1999; a year claimed by many from my generation to be one of cinema’s greatest. 1999 was a dizzyingly invigorating year to be a 20 year-old film buff. It seemed every niche market was being conquered by young up-and-coming auteurs, mainstream films were more daring and imaginative than usual, and every so-called great film from that year was speaking directly to me — to my generation. But films like Fight Club, Being John Malkovich and American Beauty, while worthy of making the list, aren’t the type that hold up very well over time. They are at once dated and defined by their audacity and generational context. And fittingly, it’s the even odder (Ravenous) or unfairly little seen films (The End of the Affair) from ‘99 that I find myself wishing to return to over and over again. Back in ‘99, I was sure a film from that year would top my list of Best Films of the 1990’s, but alas my love affair with ‘99 died quickly, and it was the films from 1996 and 1997 that soon emerged as the most memorable.
As I racked my brain trying to compile my list, one film from this decade kept creeping in…slowly, quietly, like a melancholy dream or a welcome ghost…and thoughts of it drape over me like a warm blanket.
That film that still haunts me more than any other from the decade is Atom Egoyan’s 1997 adaptation of Russell Bank’s novel, The Sweet Hereafter. With its “Pied Piper” motif, elliptically intertwining plotlines and astutely revealing study of grief, Egoyan, who had hinted at something masterful earlier in the decade with Exotica, reached a rarified artistic zenith, and though not for lack of ambition or trying — witness Ararat or the more recent Adoration — hasn’t approached these heights scaled since.
In 1997 Egoyan’s masterpiece made its way through the art-house circuit on waves of rapturous fanfare and was most notable for being the film that finished second to LA Confidential in almost every ballot for the end-of-the-year critics’ awards. I also still vividly recall an article that appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer when The Sweet Hereafter came to the Ritz Theaters in December of ‘97. The film critic compared Egoyan’s low-budget indie film with James Cameron’s Titanic (which at the time was the most expensive film ever made) on the basis of an opinion that the two films represented the differences in how Canadians and Americans viewed death. While Titanic was smothering multiplexes and making everyone swoon with its bombastic and epic view of death in cold waters, The Sweet Hereafter was taking a more restrained approach to tragedy and large vehicles sinking in the ice. A crass luxury ocean-liner with two star-crossed lovers versus a school bus full of children…both sank, but only one transcended the popular notion of cinema as entertainment.
“With enough rage and helplessness…your love turns into something else.”
“Let me direct your rage.”
Unlike many other buzzed about films from the decade, The Sweet Hereafter grows richer and more rewarding with each viewing. Here are some things that one becomes more in tune with each visit:
- the delicately fractured structure of Egoyan’s layered screenplay
- the subtle cinematography of Paul Sarossy
- the heartbreak in Mychael Danna’s lute-laden score
- the stinging dialogue from Russell Banks channeled perfectly through Ian Holm and Bruce Greenwood
- the hardened and reckless fragility of Sarah Polley’s performance
In 2003, not long after I first began posting my amateur movie reviews on the IMDB, I posted a review of The Sweet Hereafter, some six years after first experiencing it, that was brief and to the point. I chose at the time to title the review simply, “The Best Film of the 1990’s”. I was as sure then as I am now of that declaration. The Sweet Hereafter is a film that is best left to speak for itself. The less said about it, much like death itself, the better. After watching it, you too will understand when I say…
“We’re all citizens of a different town now.”
Written by David H. Schleicher
The Pied Piper is calling.
Lightly edited for the “readability” factor…here is my original review from February of 2003 in all its glorious brevity:
The Best Film of the 1990’s
Author: David H. Schleicher
Brutally honest, haunting, cold, austere and elliptical in the unfolding of plot and story, Atom Egoyan’s restrained but powerful look at a small Canadian town ripped apart by tragedy and now invaded by a troubled lawyer (played expertly by Ian Holm) looking to make a killing off their grief is one of the most artistic portraits of the sorrow of everyday people ever conceived. The scene where Bruce Greenwood’s character witnesses the school bus carrying his two children and all the hopes and dreams of a small town skid nonchalantly off an icy road and onto a frozen body of water that can’t possibly hold the vehicle’s weight is among the most chilling, heart-wrenching and gut-dropping scenes ever put on film. The revelations unearthed during the lawyer’s investigation are both quietly disturbing and all too true to life. The intertwining tales of the townsfolk and the ultimately heartbroken lawyer are exquisitely handled by Egoyan and leave the viewer feeling the same loss as the characters. Tragedy befalls us all. Luckily, every once in awhile, so does great art.
Originally posted on the Internet Movie Database.
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And now, David H. Schleicher presents his Top 25 Films of the 1990’s, followed by a chronological list of honorable mentions:
- The Sweet Hereafter (1997, Atom Egoyan)
- Europa/Zentropa (1990, Lars Von Trier)
- Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese)
- Fargo (1996, The Coen Brothers)
- Secrets and Lies (1996, Mike Leigh)
- Breaking the Waves (1996, Lars Von Trier)
- The English Patient (1996, Anthony Minghella)
- Short Cuts (1993, Robert Altman)
- Kundun (1997, Martin Scorsese)
- Schindler’s List (1993, Steven Spielberg)
- Braveheart (1995, Mel Gibson)
- Boogie Nights (1997, Paul Thomas Anderson)
- The Thief (1997, Pavel Chukhraj)
- King of the Hill (1993, Steven Soderbergh)
- Toto the Hero (1991, Jaco Van Dormael)
- American Beauty (1999, Sam Mendes)
- Miller’s Crossing (1990, The Coen Brothers)
- The Truman Show (1998, Peter Weir)
- Twelve Monkeys (1995, Terry Gilliam)
- Being John Malkovich (1999, Spike Jonze)
- Ravenous (1999, Antonia Bird)
- Eve’s Bayou (1997, Kasi Lemmons)
- Magnolia (1999, Paul Thomas Anderson)
- The End of the Affair (1999, Neil Jordan)
- Exotica (1994, Atom Egoyan)
Honorable Mentions from the 1990’s:
- Wild at Heart (1990, David Lynch)
- Barton Fink (1991, The Coen Brothers)
- The Last of the Mohicans (1992, Michael Mann)
- Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992, David Lynch)
- Groundhog Day (1993, Harold Ramis)
- The Piano (1993, Jane Campion)
- Heavenly Creatures (1994, Peter Jackson)
- Casino (1995, Martin Scorsese)
- The City of Lost Children (1995, Caro & Jeunet)
- Heat (1995, Michael Mann)
- LA Confidential (1997, Curtis Hanson)
- Lost Highway (1997, David Lynch)
- Saving Private Ryan (1998, Steven Spielberg)
- Fight Club (1999, David Fincher)
- The Limey (1999, Steven Soderbergh)
- Office Space (1999, Mike Judge)
- The Straight Story (1999, David Lynch)
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To view a full archive of my favorite films by decade, click on My Favorite Films – also on the sidebar.
Or go 80’s style and click on Revisiting Paris, Texas – The Best Film of the 1980’s.
Also be sure to check out the polling for Best Films of the 1990’s soon to be going on at Wonders in the Dark pending the results of their 1980’s polling.
