By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.

Boy, oh boy, how long has it been since we last connected? A while, I know

One of the things that has been keeping me busy as of late has been a spate of genuinely interesting opportunities to talk to people I would have never otherwise been able to chat up for a bit. From TIMECRIMES (o LOS CRONOCRIMENS for the Spanish language readers out there) director/writer Nacho Vigalondo, ELTON JOHN: TANTRUMS AND TIARAS director David Furnish (his partner), the directorial team behind SPECIAL along with Michael Rapaport, asshole extraordinaire Denis Leary about his new book Why We Suck, director Danny Boyle about SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (easily the best film I’ve seen all year) and then capped it off with a chat with director Darren Aronofsky about THE WRESTLER (a movie that earns every moment, every emotion). Now, with regard to Darren, there was a little matter of a lunch that brought out a wide array of inconsequential information, as it relates to THE WRESTLER, but when I get to that piece in a couple of weeks I’ll explain how, between mouthfuls of salami and spinach and artichoke dip, I heard a little bit about his feelings on the handling of THE FOUNTAIN DVD and an array of tidbits I would never of thought to as during our interview. (The lunch was wicked good…)

Now, it is that time of year when mens thoughts turn to turkey and, as I have been doing every single year (or close to it), I hope each one of you dust off your copy of PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES to watch during Thanksgiving. I have had it up to here about people talking of their greatest Christmas films (we all know if it ain’t A CHRISTMAS STORY you ain’t shit) but you ask someone to rattle off their favorite Thanksgiving movie all of a sudden their lips don’t flap as quickly.

One of the more delightful additions to the John Hughes canon there isn’t a whole lot you can say negatively against PLANES, TRAINS.

Regarding one of the the truly remarkable things about this film I would have to point to John Candy’s performance as the reason why this is a perennial classic. His comedy is thankfully not family friendly, he is actually allowed to be a guy you don’t laugh at but laugh with as he takes Steve Martin’s sanity down to nothing. And Steve Martin deserves the kind of credit that he no longer gets from me or a lot of people who could say he’s traded every ounce of comedic goodwill and invested it in Disney/PINK PANTHER pabulum. It’s one of those films that no matter where you catch it as its playing on television you can watch it midstream and love it. Do yourself and family a favor, watch this one on Thursday and know that you’re seeing is the demise of not only one man but of the other man’s edge.

Another option available to you if that tryptophan hasn’t finished you off is to turn into IFC FREE (VOD) at midnight on Thursday for your chance to see a hilarious and introspective look at goth culture in GOTH CRUISE. The premise makes you think this is completely made up and/or a set up but this film takes you on the 4th Annual Goth Cruise where 150 British and American Goths sail around the Caribbean for five days. During this cruise they have a masquerade ball, a charity art auction and oodles of other activities that you or I would want to participate in should we find ourselves a Royal Caribbean looking to sip a Mai Tai or a pina colada.

The film is a hoot. Flat out this will be the most intriguing thing you will watch all week if for no other reason than it gives you a good appreciation for the sub-culture that has for a long time been relegated to the confines of people who wear blood red crushed velvet and do nothing but listen to Siouxsie Sioux. Turns out, a lot of these people enjoy goth culture and indulge themselves in it when they can and not necessarily on a full-time basis.

What’s even more interesting is that, as you watch this film unravel, you notice that there is a line of demarcation between those who are American goths and those who are British goths. Both groups have 90% of the things they hold dear in common but they diverge where they come down on how they express their goth-ness. Americans, loud and outspoken as we are with our emotions, don’t think that way when it comes to expressing it on film. In a recent article she wrote for the Huffington Post director Jeanie Finlay talked about the differences a little more with regard to the cultural divide between what one fears of being perceived as and what one does without regard to the opinions of others when it comes to their goth indulgences.

One of the reasons why I asked to look further into this sub-culture and got a screener of this film was that every year when I go to Comic-Con I see people who are willing to let their freak flag fly and it fills me with an inexorable amount of happiness to see these individuals in GOTH CRUISE do the same with the kind of aplomb I see every summer.

To some degree a lot will be made to look at these cruisers as somehow funny looking or bizarre but to me this film was yet another entry into a film series that show people who ensconce themselves in dress up and camaraderie with other like-minded individuals is a liberating to some degree. It’s heartening to know these people are out there, human beings who want to spend their time with other human beings, making the world a little darker, and crushed velvety, place. You will not be disappointed.

And, speaking of being devoid of disappointment, have any of you heard about the released WRESTLER trailer? If you haven’t already checked it out I would recommend you view this thing and really pay attention to what is going on in this thing.

It kills me, genuinely, that I can’t talk at all about this film for many weeks but thankfully I didn’t see this trailer before seeing it. There is something about not knowing a crumb about a movie before going in and it was a delight to witness this film without any preconceptions.

The reason why I would urge you to see this trailer is that it is simply succinct and leaves you not knowing exactly what is going on. The music, the mood, the glimpses of what Mickey is getting a dump truck worth of praise for, it’s all there.

Now, while I can’t say a word I can say that one of the more fascinating effects this movie will hopefully have is that it doesn’t really hit you right away. It lingers for a bit and you slowly come to feel the one question that I posed to Darren: Where did The Ram end and Mickey Rourke begin? It’s just too good.

And now, what would your Thanksgiving be like without some Ray Schillaci action? This week’s entry into his Worth Revisiting series has him catching up with Montana Wildhack. Not sure who that is? Confused? Read on and be ignorant no more..

Montana Wildhack and Other Wonderful Oddities

In 1972, my parents asked me what I would like to see on my 16th birthday. Growing up as the kid with unusual taste in cinema, I found an art house film that was playing in a limited engagement in Westwood (a once “hot spot” in L.A. to hang out in the 70’s). Critics praised the little film. The story sounded originally wild; a man becomes unstuck in time, bouncing from his involvement in WWII to his ridiculously “Leave it to Beaver” life to being abducted by aliens for observance and procreation with a softcore porn star, Montana Wildhack!

If that was not enough to spark my interest – the young starlet playing the softcore porn queen was none other than Valerie Perrine, who was naked nearly throughout her screen time. My teenage hormones were kicking into overdrive. There was no way I was going to wait another year before I caught it at a revival theater and I had no shame duping my unsuspecting parents into taking me.

What neither of us realized is that “Slaughterhouse-Five” was a brilliant piece of work that just had the added attraction of two of the best breasts ever to grace the screen. Valerie Perrine would go on to be the first actress to bare her beauties on national TV with the debut of Bruce Jay Friedman’s “Steambath” starring Bill Bixby (Hulk fame) and Kenneth Mars (the crazed Nazi playwright in Brook’s The Producers). She then went on to co-star with Dustin Hoffman in “Lenny” not only baring her breasts but also committing to a very racy (at the time) lesbian scene. Ms Perrine went on to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for that amazing and touching performance. There was always a sweet earthiness that followed her performances that captivated the audience. But later she ended up in a few turkeys and eventually played a third banana (as opposed to second banana) comic relief in the Christopher Reeve “Superman” movies. One cannot help but wonder what happened to such a talent. The same could be said for everyone else who was associated with Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five”.

Director, George Roy Hill would go on to direct “The Sting,” but eventually peter out after that. The supporting cast didn’t even have a chance to really break out, remaining in thankless supporting roles that would never do them the justice of the talent they once displayed in Vonnegut’s, near-impossible-to-translate-to-film, tale. Yes, I can go on about the picture perfect cinematography, the haunting score, insightful dialogue and so much more – including an unnerving and unforgettable performance by Ron Leibman as Paul Lazzaro, the chip-on-his-shoulder narcissistic lunatic who maintains a list of everyone that has ever wronged him and vows lethal vindication while following our lead character, Billy Pilgrim, from WWII, the concentrations camps to the last breath Billy takes on Earth.

There are so many gem moments in this movie and yet one would think that it sounds like a jumbled mess when jumping back and forth in time. But George Roy Hill is in perfect form making sense of it all while capturing the lunacy of an out-of-whacked Norman Rockwell existence and matching it with the horrors of Nazi Germany. The juxtaposition is amazing. Billy Pilgrim’s journey is touching, funny, frightening and thought provoking all at once.

Billy, Michael Sacks in a remarkably sensitive portrayal, begins as an old man relaying his life to us. His children see him as a frail, confused man and just want the best for their father. Billy is at first accepting of his plight of never knowing where he may end up or not remembering with only an occasional hint of what’s to come. He bounces through time like a ping-pong ball across a table never landing in he same exact spot and sometimes spinning wildly out of control throwing us off, but always engaging us. We travel with him to the 30’s, all the way to the 60’s and onto the planet Tralfamadore in no particular order. One moment Billy could be asking for a kiss from Ms Wildhack with her pendulum-like breasts swinging in his face, the next he’s suddenly in a snow covered field hiding from the Nazi’s with his partner freaking out over Billy’s behavior (asking for a kiss). Billy’s experiences during WWII are just as captivating as his relationship with his overbearing and over weight wife who insistently promises Billy she has a new reason to lose the weight every time he’s made her happy. It’s priceless. The only down sides to the film as a whole are the makeup and special effects which were limited to not only the film’s budget, but also to the era as well. This can easily be overlooked – like that terrible suitcase in the “Dead Zone” that represented the final button to be pushed the event of a nuclear war. Everything else in “Dead Zone” was picture perfect – so one could forgive it and we do the same with Slaughterhouse-Five.

Universal released a bare-bones DVD version of this fantastic film and one can only hope that somebody in the company get some smarts and give us a little more on a Blu-Ray edition. This is a must for sci-fi fans and required viewing by anybody that has a love for good strong, creative filmmaking/storytelling. For a true eclectic experience rent or buy this forgotten gem.

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