| Desert Island Movies |
|
ILV Desert Island Movies...In which we ask all manner of local & national celebrities & know-it-alls to list which FIVE FILMS they'd need to survive on a deserted island. Here are the complete lists from the old ILV website, compiled for your reading pleasure...
Writer/Troublemaker
Austin music writer & rabble-rouser Michael Corcoran began penning a confrontational music column in the Austin Chronicle in the early 80s & was voted "The Worst Thing to Happen to Austin Music," a mantle he wore with some measure of pride. His rock reportage & criticism in SPIN magazine during the mid- to late-80s was some of the finest rock writing to come out of that rather blase decade & his work has repeatedly been reprinted in Da Capo Press' venerable Best Music Writing anthologies, next to Nick Tosches, Greil Marcus, Richard Meltzer, Chuck Klosterman & Lenny Kaye. His often cranky opinions can now be unfairly excoriated in the Austin American-Statesman & on their website Austin360.com.
A family is senselessly slaughtered and you can’t wait to see vengeance take Dick and Perry, a couple of worthless ex-cons trying to impress each other. By the end of the film, however, you come to see that the title refers as much to the state of Kansas as the Clutter family killers. In this retro-doc with acting (and Ray Brown’s sinister bass) Brooks films most scenes, including the murders, in the exact places where they occurred.
Manhattan is way overrated and Annie Hall isn’t as funny the second and third time. This is Woody’s sad and funny masterpiece.
I luv documentaries and could’ve just
as easily cited “The Times of Harvey Milk” and “The Thin Blue Line.”
This chronicle of “The Rumble in the Jungle” features not only a great
Ali/ Foreman fight, which ends in a huge upset, but an undercard of
race in America, played out in Africa.
“It was a stitch-up.” The smartest,
funniest comedy ever on TV is wrapped up two years later by this
tag-on, which is the opposite of a letdown.
Ricky’s mallaprops and Julian’s surgically-attached rum and coke are priceless, and Bubbles grows surprising dimensions, but this hilarious Canadian series stumbles into dumb genius territory when trailer park supervisor Leahy starts hitting the bottle so hard he makes Foster Brooks look like Joe Six-Pack. Imagine if John Waters, a native of Baltimore, Nova Scotia, set out to make the ultimate doper comedy.
Claudia Hollern
Set Dresser/Costume Designer
Austinite Claudia Hollern is a costumer for the critically-lauded, Austin-based TV series Friday Night Lights which is currently running its third season exclusively on DirecTV & will premiere on NBC in February. Her other credits include BBC's Wire in the Blood, MTV's Human Giants & the recent Tim McCanlies (Secondhand Lions, Smallville, Iron Giant) film, The 2 Bobs. In addition, Claudia can occasionally be spotted dancing around in assorted strange outfits to Ethel Merman's disco album at Vulcan Video.
Allow me to preface; pontificate, really
Solely on my part, this list is quite
arbitrary and probably would not be the same list I would produce
tomorrow, but hey, since it's still today, in no particular order here
you go:
It's just such an interesting take on being a bourgey wifey.
This movie blew my mind the first time I
saw it. It's such an out there plot mixed with that perfect Altman
background-noise-amplified-thing.
Woody Allen, Peters Sellers and O’Toole,
Ursula Andress, Romy Schneider, and Capucine, with Burt Bacharach
songs. Come on, it's so silly, campy, pre-turmoil sixties I have to
love it.
It was my first venture into Italian
Horror. The production value is so amazing, and then it also turns out
to be such a gory movie. OMG. And I love the way Argento makes the
actors almost tertiary after production values and plot. So often in
movies, the over-the-top actors rob the movie of both. However, Argento
makes them more like elaborate props, even dubbing their voices if he
decides to.
Such a perfectly, beautifully shot, charming movie, with farting as a huge plotline, Brilliant, right?
Days of Heaven
Dazed and Confused
Mark Tidrick Editor, True Crime Magazine Obsessive Clevelander
Most days Mark Tidrick spends trying desperately to make modern Cleveland appreciate its legendary proto-punk heritage, the days when the members of Pere Ubu, The Cramps, Mirrors, The Dead Boys, Electric Eels & Rocket From the Tombs hunched through that city's industrial rust belt hellscape looking for some scraps of transcendence. He's a writer, a musician, a record & film know-it-all & the very prototype of a Cleveland plain-dealer. As if that weren't cool enough, his two kids are named Dashiell & Lillian. Sheesh. 1. City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
Boris Karloff, Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey
and Charlie Chaplin...When I think of them I go back to a time filled
with grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade bread, Halloween sound
effects records and hours spent in front of a TV that spewed glorious
old films at the oddest of late hours. I always felt so sorry for
Chaplin’s character in City Lights. He sacrifices everything
for a blind woman who thinks he is someone else. It is the ending of it
that makes everything better. Maybe one of the most simple, the most
beautiful endings of any film ever made.
When Frank Capra looked upon the great
unwashed he saw a mass of individuals capable of grandness. I wonder
what he would think about the quaking lot of individuals who are now
wandering the streets of Cleveland, Ohio. Maybe if he was alive today
he would be helming darker films? Then again, this film IS dark. It is
filled with moments of despair, poverty, greed and a suicide attempt. I
put it on every year and have a good cry. I cry not only over the
touching ending, but I cry for all the mistakes I made in the past. I
think I have somehow avoided years on a therapist’s couch thanks to the
power of this film.
Thanks to the popularity of L.A. Confidential,
the studios opened up their vaults (in the late 90s) and brought the
darkness out. I was finally able to get my hands on films I had only
read about. This was one of those films. The seething violence of Dan
Duryea, the lost look in Burt Lancaster’s eyes, the terrible beauty of
Yvonne De Carlo, the gas masks, the cold gun shots veiled in smoke and
an ending as grim as something made in the 70s. This film haunted my
cranium for years.
I saw this film four times in the
theatre. I was turned on to 45 Grave, The Flesh Eaters, the solo work
of Roky Erickson and a killer non-LP Cramps number via the film's great
soundtrack. Horror and Comedy (both drenched in blood) never looked
better. James Karen’s (not to mention Clu Gulager’s) performance made
me want to start a fan club for him. Of course, there is Linnea
Quigley...Her nude dance in the cemetery certainly pushed all the
buttons on my sixteen year old brain. Twenty odd years later and my
buttons are still being pushed by this one.
I can’t get enough of Peter Lorre. There are only a few other film (see M, Mad Love and the Mr. Moto films) where he is given as much of chance to work some real dark magic acting-wise. His performance is the backbone of this potent little drama that deftly straddles the line between film noir and horror. Lorre plays a hopeful immigrant all hopped-up on the promise of making it in America. Things do not go well for him after his face is disfigured in a fire. He slowly drifts into a life of crime becoming quite the successful crime lord. He wears a lifeless mask to hide his scarred face. The mask symbolizes a lot of things about America then and now. Is not the face of crime unknowable? Maybe we should start trying to see the faces behind the “masks” and try to understand what led them to crime...ho hum. Director Robert Florey was at his cynical best when he trafficked in horror, crime and melodrama. Check out his work!
CLARK WALKER Texan Walker served as a cameraman on Richard Linklater's Slacker, Dazed & Confused & Before Sunrise, as well as C. M. Talkington's Love and a .45 & Kim Henkel's The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He also wrote & produced the Richard Linklater film The Newton Boys & directed & wrote the suburban skateboard opus, Levelland. The list starts off easy enough to compile: The General (Buster Keaton, 1927) One has to figure that the natives would like this one, too. Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks, 1939) The prototypical Howard Hawks movie, with God's Jean Arthur, the greatest female a guy could ever wish was in love with him. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (Sam Peckinpah, 1973) Rudy Wurlitzer's existential road trip film combines elements of all of Peckinpah's great works - the futile violence of WILD BUNCH, the Mexican despair of BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA, even the rodeo hijinks of JUNIOR BONNER, in glimpses, so perhaps it might suffice for a virtual compendium of the director's work.
Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973) Malick's film took years to edit. Maybe being on an island would give me time to fully digest it in a manner best suited to the slow beatuty of the montage, and Sissy's voiceover. Now, there is only one slot left, and complete panic sets in. To include one means to exclude a dozen others.... so I pick this one, which I am commissioning as we speak. maybe Werner Herzog can direct it....
GERARD COSLOY Displaced Yankee Cosloy ran Homestead Records in the 1980s, releasing seminal albums by Big Black, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Live Skull, Swans & Naked Raygun. He co-owns Matador Records (Pavement, Helium, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) with Chris Lombardi & currently lives in Austin, Texas where he runs the experimental label Parallelism & 12XU Records. He also writes a really entertaining sports blog called Can't Stop the Bleeding (www.cantstopthebleeding.com). 5) The Boost (Harold Becker, 1988) - This film taught me everything I know about romance. 4) Tuff Turf (Fritz Kiersch, 1985) - What kind of high school has the Jim Carroll Band performing "People Who Died" at the prom? A VERY TUFF SCHOOL. 3) Heat (Michael Mann, 1995) - They're barely on the screen at the same time, but it's pretty rare to find two American cinematic titans in the same motion picture, let alone one this multi-layered and brooding. But enough about Rollins and Tom Sizemore, you get to see DeNiro, Pacino and Val Kilmer all phone it in to varying degrees, too. 2) Tapeheads (Bill Fishman, 1988) - hit or miss (the Jello / Nuge cameos aren't so hot) but Don Cornelius' turn as shady label head Mo Fuzz is far more illuminating than Steve Coogan's Tony Wilson impersonation. 1) (box set) Bring It On (2000), Bring It On Again (2004), Bring It On: All Or Nothing (2006), Bring It On: In It To Win It (2007) - You said Desert Island, right? Even if I'm not just being practical, it's not like there's anyone else around to impress.
LARS NILSEN
Alamo Drafthouse Weird Wednesday Guru Lars Nilsen is a longtime programmer at the Original Alamo Drafthouse Theaters. He has been a cabdriver, short-order cook, prizefighter and bullfighter. "You Need A Door That Locks To Play This Game" is his first novel.
Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)
Greatest concentration of gags ever in a feature. I'll want to laugh a
lot - and I have a theory that as I get more and more isolated on my
island I'll be able to laugh heartily even (hey - especially!) at the
rudimentary gags in this movie. Speaking of music, there are a lot of music films I could choose. Monterey Pop crossed my mind. But this wins out because it captures my beloved New Orleans in the musical crosstalk of Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint and Tuts Washington. These magicians transfigure the blues of everyday sadness and disappointments into the most joyous music ever made.
SCOTT STEVENS
Proprieter/Curator Smut Putt Heaven
Along with the Cathedral of Junk, Smut Putt Heaven Holiness Church of Wonders & Signs Following (509 Gate Tree Lane, in South Austin) is one of our city's most fascinating roadside oddities, visited by pilgrims from all over the world with an eye for the weird. It's assembled & run by a true Austin eccentric, Scott Stevens. Stevens is an ordained minister, artist, yardist, story teller & raconteur. He paints, collects bottle caps, and loves cats.
Smut Putt Heaven is described by Texas.net as "a giant cactus garden with plenty of the bizarre stuck on its
spines, or just in the ground. Perhaps the oddest bit is this giant
papershell pecan tree laden with baby dolls and CDs instead of leaves." That doesn't nearly do it justice.
Here's my Desert Island Movie list. I hope they have San Pedro cactus there so I can drink tea with my movies!
A
mindblowing surrealist cartoon of a horror movie. Bill Moseley as Otis
and Sid Haig as Captain Spaulding rule. A great soundtrack too! This
one drove my stepdaughter nuts!
My introduction to Pee-wee Herman's crazy world. I especially enjoy the
MR. TRASH
Anonymous Pundit of the Cinematic Underworld
Forbidden Zone (Dir: Richard Elfman, 1980)
SWEET BASIL MCJAGGER
Keyboard Player The Derailers Sweet Basil McJagger hails from Nebraska, where he's a bit of a musical legend, but for many years now he's added his unique blend of rural sincerity, psychotic mirth & unabashed talent to Austin-based honky-tonkers The Derailers. If you've ever longed to see Hank Hill rip up a roadhouse by channeling Augie Meyers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich & Floyd Kramer without breaking a sweat, Sweet Basil's your man. He also seems to be quite fond of the year 1987...
A top-five desert island movie list?
This movie makes me laugh every time. And it seems
like I see new things in it every time. I've seen it like a zillion
times, and I'm still not sure I can follow the plot. This would be one
of my island picks, even if it were only the "Just Dropped In (To See
What Condition my Condition Was In)" scene. I would want the entire 4-disc DVD set of this though, not just the movie itself. The extras are well worth it. There is a lot of Johnnie Johnson footage throughout. He is, of course, the greatest piano player that ever lived. Seeing the movie in 1987 was the first time I'd ever seen Johnson.
I laugh, I cry, I think. What a wonderful work. Back when I had a flattop I watched this movie all the time. I'm still just terrified of R. Lee Ermey.
Since I first saw this thing in 9th grade it has been my all-time favorite movie. EVERYONE is in it too - B.B. King, Arsenio Hall, Howard Hessman, Steve Gutenberg, Ed Begley Jr., that guy from "30 Something", Sheckie Green, Charlie Callas, Slappy White, Rip Taylor...EVERYONE is in this film. Even Steve "The Colonel" Cropper has a cameo - see if you can find him!
JENNY PARROTT
Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist Shotgun Party As the lovely frontispiece of feisty Austin up & comers Shotgun Party, Parrott's red-hot warble falls somewhere between Anita Carter & Wanda Jackson & her songwriting twixt Tom Waits & Iris Dement -- all sold to the audience with medicine-show fervor & snake-handler ecstasy. Shotgun Party is hitting the road a lot more often now & the press is pretty agog over their new self-titled CD, so catch them while you can at their weekly Tent Revival/Happy Hour, Wednesdays at The Continental Club...
Fried Green Tomatoes (Jon Avnet, 1991)
I watched this movie so many times before someone in my
college "Sex Gender & Society" class pointed out that it was a
lesbian romance! My gay-dar is so broken. Love Mary Louise Parker. Love
her. Nice Americana-type score by Thomas Newman.
Holy Shit! This movie was always playing on mute
during my Italian American style holiday celebrations when I was a kid.
Topped off with old blue eyes on the stereo, Manhattans and gin
martinis. I only recently actually watched it and was blown away by the
actual content. Super awesome music! And MACHINES and.... well I don't really remember this one as well as I should. But I remember really diggin on it hard. (Ed. Note: At press-time I wasn't able to ask Ms Parrott about the music part of this, but I assume she's speaking of the 1984 Giorgio Moroder version...)
Moonstruck (Norman Jewison, 1987)
Cher is the
bomb! A surprisingly awesome performance by Nicholas Cage. (Makes me
want to rent Rumble Fish) The line "Do you think you're the only person
who ever cried a tear?" still runs through my head. Also extra fun for
Italian Americans. My good friend and his loving wife watch this movie
EVERY Valentine's Day! Just the first of many memorable nights watching B movies with my old pal Silas. This one features a scene with the lesbian vampire infecting another woman by biting her COOCH during oral sex! HAW HAW! Tons of fun!
JOHN WESLEY COLEMAN Solo Artist/Singer & Guitarist
The Golden Boys From the ramshackle folk of his solo projects to the raw-boned outsider music history lesson that is Austin's lauded Golden Boys, Coleman seems to thrive in a state of total exhaustion. Endless touring, recording and -- well, let's face it -- drinking, have turned Coleman into a great wrecked Austin sage & there's never a question that, while performing, he's pouring out his last available ounce of bodily fluid. Unless he's playing possum, which is entirely possible.
What makes a man hustle and groove the back alleys of yesterday's soul? Well in these flics you might just find out! Also in the TXCM movies I had my first french kiss with my tennis player girlfriend Tabatha. She loves the chainsaw and we shared pizza. They don't make actors like these anymore either!
1.Straight Time (Ulu Grosbard, 1978)
4. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
JAD FAIR
Jad Fair is the singer & guitarist for the greatest rock outsiders ever, Half Japanese & he's spent over 30 years steering the music back to the mysterious caves from whence it came. He's also recorded a wealth of solo albums & collaborated brilliantly with kindred enigmas Daniel Johnston (1989's truly ghostly It's Spooky), Eugene Chadbourne, Richard Hell, Thurston Moore, Moe Tucker, Yo La Tengo & John Zorn. As a personal aside, Jad Fair is also a co-composer of three of my favorite songs of all time, "Roman Candles" (from 1988's Charmed Life), "Red Sun" (from 2001's Hello) & "Some Things Last a Long Time" (an extra on the 1993 re-issue of The Band That Would Be King & chillingly performed on Daniel Johnston's 1990). Jad Fair currently lives & performs in Austin.
Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)
Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek are in fine form as mass murdering mixed up kids looking for adventure, at any cost. Steve
Erle and Bruce Springsteen have both written songs based on the 1950s
Starkweather-Fugate murders this film is adapted from. The
music soundtrack for this film is great. It fits it perfectly.
King Of Comedy (Martin Scorsese, 1982)
Martin Scorsese is my favorite film maker and this is one of his best. Robert De Niro is hilarious in the role of aspiring talk show host Rupert Pupkin. Jerry Lewis plays it straight this time and puts in a solid performance. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980) Robert De Niro is great in the role of boxer Jake LaMotta. The transformation he goes through from the start of the film to the end amazing. Joe Pesci plays the role of Jake's brother. Two enthusiastic thumbs up. This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984)
I'd
be hard pressed to think of a funnier film. I've seen it several times
and still laugh whenever I see it. What strikes me funny is that so
much of what happens in the film comes close to things I've seen bands
do.
It's A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) This is Frank Capra's masterpiece. I'm a huge fan of James Stewart. I wanted to have one of his film in my top 5 list. You've probably seen this a hundred times. Why not make it one hundred and one?
ZACK CARLSON
Self-loathing caucasian Zack Carlson has spent his entire life trying to forget the fact that he was conceived at a Renaissance Fair. He spent his youth in the war-torn streets of Los Angeles before retiring at age 20 to the Pacific Northwest. He then moved to Austin to work as lowbrow horror film curator (among other duties) for the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX. The food's way better in Texas anyway. He's currently pursuing a career as a failed screenwriter and unpublished author of several works, including the five-years-in-the-making '80s trash video guide "DESTROY ALL MOVIES!!!"(Zack's Self-Assessment)
5) Tourist Trap (David Schmoeller, 1979)
This is - without a doubt - the most criminally neglected horror film on the shelves, all the more tragic because it's readily available in all formats. The VHS was in print continuously, and the DVD lurks in two-dollar bins across our great nation. For whatever reason, it's just a simple matter of no one giving this innovative cinematic powerbeast the goddamn time of day. Rectangle-jawed screen ham Chuck "The Rifleman" Connors plays mysterious Mr. Slausen, a dubious yokel who leads a life of quiet isolation in the woods, tending to his old-timey museum of singing mannequins. When a carload of teens (including Tanya Roberts) trespass on his self-made nightmare world, 75 minutes of unhinged insanity breaks loose, filling the screen with so many unexplained phenomena that it's as if the script was written under the blankets by a paranoid 10-year-old with a 105 degree fever. Connors is flat-out perfect in his role, a performance which honestly makes me wonder why he isn't placed in the Misshapen Lowbrow God pantheon alongside Jack Palance and Henry Silva. Essential! 4) Rolling Thunder (John Flynn,1977) Rolling Thunder is lauded as the Paul Schrader-penned masterpiece of hypermasculine hook-handed vigilante vengeance, but there's a hell of a lot more to it than that. Yeah, the script (co-written by extremely talented man-in-the-shadows Heywood Gould) is an H-bomb of unrelenting fury, but Flynn's direction and the performances from EVERYONE on screen fall into place so perfectly that the film almost hurts to watch. This may be partly due to the fact that every character has been absolutely railroaded and demolished by their own lives...but instead of sinking into the self-loathing depression that characterizes so much '70s cinema, they're all baring their teeth in a mad dog hunger for what little they can tear back from the world that's mortally wronged them. William Devane is untouchable at the helm as war-tortured amputee Major Charles Rane, alternating between nigh-catatonic repose and heat-seeking bloodlust. The ending makes the climax of Taxi Driver look like an episode of Family Feud, and features the best line ever delivered in an action film, courtesy of a young and impossibly handsome Tommy Lee Jones. Vicious, desperate and 100% hopeless, Rolling Thunder is a beautifully man-soaked love letter/hatefuck to our beloved Texas. 
3) The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (George Pal, 1964)
Real life film wizard George Pal created actual movie magic; the kind that doesn't exist anymore because computers came along and neutered the dreams of all future generations. At his apex, Pal was responsible for the most mind-expanding family-friendly features Hollywood ever produced, from the excellent Time Machine to The War of the Worlds. But for my meager money, this arguably racist fantasy dartboard is his ultimate triumph. The normally unbearable Tony Randall plays eight (!) roles, most notably a 7321-year-old Chinese man who brings his Circus of Wonders to the dusty, dead Western town of Abalone. The locals are skeptical at first, but after encountering the many delights on display, including Medusa, Greek deity Pan and The Abominable Snowman (all played by Randall, natch), their world slips into a nigh-psychedelic haze of real life gods and monsters. Barbara Eden co-stars, and established herself as my first agonizing crush when I was only seven. 
2) Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (Tim Burton, 1985)
The late Phil Hartman only wrote one movie, and as far as I'm concerned, it turned out to be the best comedy ever made. I really don't need to say anything here, unless you haven't seen this film, in which case I do need to say that I'm on my way over to mercilessly beat your fun-free ass. 1) [The original] Suburbia (Penelope Spheeris, 1984) Eric Bogosian/Parker Posey fans: leave the room. We're not talking about that Suburbia, no no no. After completing her early LA punk scene chronicle The Decline of Western Civilization, Spheeris decided to dramatize the lives of some of the film's subjects in an effort to better convey their story. She scoured record stores and hardcore shows to assemble a cast of actual homeless punk outcasts and brought the project to New World Pictures. Some theorize that studio honcho Roger Corman saw a glimmer of the old biker movie "misfit appeal" in this new phase of the counterculture and gave her the thumbs up. The result was a likely disappointment from an exploitationeer's standpoint, but is really an unexpectedly sincere (and severe) exploration of a bygone age where gutterpunks and fashion warriors paid a steep price for their individuality. Like the more highly regarded Repo Man, this movie is destined to be quoted by mohawked trashers for eternity, but for all the best reasons. The acting is stunted, the plot is almost nonexistent and the tone careens from low comedy to heart-wrenching catastrophe, but it stands forever as my favorite movie of all time.
BEN WHITE
Ben White has been working for ILV for
six years, two of that as manager of the Guadalupe store. When he's not
peddling videos to the shaggy denizens of the campus strip, Ben draws
the kick-ass comic series Snakepit, available from microcosmpublishing.com.
1. Cast Away (Robert Zemeckis, 2000)
That part where Tom Hanks realizes his wife got remarried, it makes me tear up a little every time I watch it. 2. Hell in the Pacific (John Boorman, 1968)
I Love that this got remade into the sci-fi classic Enemy Mine.
3. Lord of the Flies (Harry Hook, 1990)
So much better than the 1963 version, the story was updated to modern times. "I wonder if Alf is on tv right now?" 4. Swiss Family Robinson (1960, D: Ken Annakin) Honestly, I don't really remember if I've actually seen this movie or not, but I definitely remember the ride at Disney World being awesome! 5. Lost, Season One Box Set (Created by JJ Abrams, 2004)
I know it's kinda cheating to pick a TV show, but we'll have a dvd player on this
desert island, right? Say, that reminds me, where do we get the electricity for this dvd player? You know what, instead of 5 DVDs, I think I'll just bring a CB radio, so we can call for help.
ANGELA DOETSCH, I LUV VIDEO FIRST ROUND BINGO WINNER
Her Likes:
"Anything horror, especially anything cheezy (the cheezier the
better), tattoos, Asian hopping vampires.. I am addicted (Okay, obsessed
might be the better word) to taking pictures with my digital
camera...seriously I will take pictures of anything. I like working on
those crazy 48hr film contests when I get the chance (if you ever saw
the "Milkshake" video from the Alamo Drafthouse's 48hr Beats Per Minute
contest (1st year) that was me and mine (I was the milkmaid, and yes
that was a bathtub full of real milk *shudders*). Movies are my passion
and I love to frequent horror conventions to party with stars and fans
alike (boy do I have some stories!!!). I am a vegetarian (but I tried
"land oysters" this year just to say I ate balls). I love to wear crazy
socks (the crazier the better!). I would love to visit Japan some day, I
like to play video games, and my liquid intake usually consists of Topo
Chico, NERD energy drink, DRANK, and Lone Star."
Her Dislikes:
"Although I am a horror fan, I HATE the site of real blood,
especially my own, seriously I get faint... but I can wear buckets o'
the fake stuff all day long!"
Furthermore:
"If I were to be any crayon color it would have to be cerulean."
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE everything about this film…the wirework, the martial arts, the forbidden love between ghost and man, the demons, the music, the characters, and most of all the bad English translations. This film started my love and passion (OK…and sometimes obsession) with cheesy Asian cinema. This film has it all from drama, to comedy, to horror, to action. As Swordsman Yen would say “Mighty-Mighty-Ho!” watch this film.
2. Big Trouble in Little China (John Carpenter, 1986)
One of my all-time favorite films as a youngster and as an adult, Big Trouble in Little China has stood the test of time for me. Two of the overwhelming factors that make this one of my personal favorites would have to be 1) John Carpenter and 2) Kurt Russell. This film is a near perfect blend of comedy, action, kung fu, horror, and Chinese mysticism. This film is non-stop start to finish filled with gun-toting, sword-wielding opposing Chinese factions, the mystical three storms in those absurd hats, and an all too clever script. It is just plain fun to watch, and I find myself quoting Kurt Russell’s no-nonsense character Jack “It’s all in the reflexes” Burton throughout the entirety of the film. This one holds up to hours upon hours of repeat side-splitting laughter and sheer enjoyment.
3. Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977)
Plain and simple, ARGENTO is god. The direction and cinematography in this film is utterly gorgeous. Argento has a talent for making people die in the most disturbing yet beautiful ways. Sure some say his filmmaking is overrated and sometimes that may be true, but Suspiria definitely falls into my idea of a classic horror film. The story, and the acting are strong. Plus, you just can’t go wrong with the amazing score performed by GOBLIN. You wouldn’t even have to always watch this film. You could just sit back, close your eyes and listen. This film is just plain beautiful.
4. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (Tobe Hooper, 1986) OK…I have surpassed the classic choice of A Texas Chain Saw Massacre and, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the original, but I just love the sequel so much more. This film is one of my all time favorite dark comedy horror films ever. I love how this film makes you so uncomfortable at times that you don’t know whether you should laugh or not. The #1 strongpoint of this film is the character development; from the completely psychotic plate-headed 'Nam-vet and loyal bro to Leatherface, Choptop, to the equally insane but more subdued cook Drayton “the Saw is Family” Sawyer, to the spittin’, dancin’, singin’ completely loveable L.G., you just fall in love with ALL these characters. Also accompanied by a TOTALLY awesome soundtrack that includes tracks from The Cramps to Oingo Boingo. This film stays close to my heart.
5. Versus (Ryuhei Kitamura, 2000)
This film has Style, Style, Style and more Style. In fact it is just plain AWESOME. Helmed by Ryuhei Kitamura (I also recommend another venture of his - Azumi) and starring Tak Sakaguchi, this film pushes the bounds of reality fueled with over-the-top action, gore effects by Susumu Nakatani that I think would make Peter Jackson smile, gun-wielding sword-toting Yakuza, zombies, and Yakuza-Zombies. Need I say more? The action sequences blow you away with everything from swordplay, to gunfights, to the more classic martial arts. This film is a classic tale of good vs. evil and lets face it…just plain fun.
ALLISON ANDERS
Anders began her filmmaking career as a Production Assistant
on Wim Wenders’
As befits her
FIVE NOT SO EASY PIECES:
MAX DROPOUT
Whip-smart Max Dropout, named, I presume, after his great grandfather
Phineas Dropout, has, for years, been the first line of defense against squares & frat
boys at This is a strange list, because I actually have films on here that do not appear in my top ten of all-time. If I were stuck on a desert island, I think I’d have to select films that have survived repeated viewings without much wear on their entertainment value. Several of these films continue to reward me by giving up new details I hadn’t noticed from previous viewings. Here are my top five in no particular order:
HARVEY SMITH
Question: Why are we so obsessed with deserted islands? Answer:
I love this movie because it evokes some of the same
I love the nihilistic ethos of this film. And I
There's something about small, dying towns
It's probably a cliché for someone of my generation
I'll admit that I don't normally like movies made
before the 1970s. People like Scorsese, Cimino and Coppola brought so much grittiness and depth to film that it's hard for me to go backward. Casablanca is one of the exceptions. I love fiction that focuses on a specific point in time, when a mixture of events and pressures up the ante for all the standard elements of human life. The love story still chokes me up. I love Kubrick, and The Shining might have made the list except that if I had to watch it over and over on an island, the nights would be unpleasantly unnerving and I'd probably end up hanging myself from a coconut tree with a rope woven from my hair. And—for the mood, cinematography and sex—I might have included Eyes Wide Shut if, you know, anyone actually got properly laid in the movie.
JERRY TEEL
Musician/Voodoo Crankshaft for Boss Hog/Honeymoon Killers/The Chrome Cranks/Knoxville Girls/Jerry Teel & The Big City Stompers...
Jerry Teel has splattered more dixie-fried guitar & bass hoodoo across more outsider underground recordings than almost anyone. He stands in a rarefied league with James Luther Dickinson, Alex Chilton, Tav Falco, Jon Spencer, The Cramps, Ross Johnson, Kid Congo Powers, The Gun Club & Don Howland. If it's raw, unreconstructed & primal as fuck, Jerry Teel has probably had a hand in it. Dig.
If I had known that this was more than a 3-hour tour, I would have smuggled a couple more DVDs in my lifejacket, but if I only have 5...
1. The Night of the Iguana (John Huston, 1964)
With Tennessee Williams as the writer & John Huston as the director, of course this is brilliant as well as beautiful. This film asks all the basic questions of existence and is an excellent choice for a desert island -- very tropical with palm trees and all. It's like lying in a hammock, reading a good book & drinking a rum coco.
2. Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger, 1969)
As
a kid growing up in a small town in the South, this is one that made me
want to move to New York. It's also one that could make me happy to be
warm on a desert island. Loneliness is the theme - easy to relate...
Another film that starts in a small town in the South and stays there. Loneliness is the main theme. Hank Williams is on the radio, just like when I was growin' up - very reflective. I met Clu Gulager once. It was a thrill.
This one also made me
want to move to NYC, live in the Dakota & worship Satan. I saw Ruth
Gordon on the street once, 5th Avenue & 59th Street. Another thrill
of my life.
Sex, drugs, gangsters & rock'n'roll in 60s London, with Mick Jagger & Anita Pallenberg. Great soundtrack. Enough to make me want to send up the smoke signals for a record player & a copy of Exile on Main Street.
JOHNNY ZIEGLER
Guitarist, Vocalist & Songwriter Brimstone Howl
Brimstone Howl are the ragged, manger-raised
progeny of The Gun Club, The Oblivians & bluesmen on murderous
benders from time immemorial. Every bone-rattling Nebraska country
road, coon dog yelp & boozy midnight hunch towards home is engraved
into their sound like black ice on a serpent's tongue. After a deluge
of great press, the Howl are currently touring Europe, where NME called
them "Beatles-headed psych-nerds with a taste for razor sharp
snake-rock," (pretty hard to know where to place the hyphens in that
sentence...) & MAGNET magazine called their new CD, Guts of Steel
(Alive Records), an "unholy hot-wiring of The Sonics, The Damned &
The Blues Explosion." Oh, and Ziegler's also one helluva writer...
1. The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)
Not much of an explanation needed here. Mostly
subtle hints at the worst kind of danger and then unassailable waves of
black horror. And I do mean the worst kind of danger, so it’s good that
it would be handled somewhat delicately, (delicately enough), before
the green vomit and congress of the crucifix occurs. The flash of the
face on stove, the display of total Catholic stoicism in the face of
the enemy of mankind… But maybe it wouldn’t be that fun to watch alone
over and over again on a desert island. The next would, I think.
Paul Verhoeven's hilarious vision of a future where Detroit (a
halo of wealth surrounding a flush hole of poverty) topples on the
verge of economic breakdown, necessitating a new set of police SOP's.
He even goes so far as to say that the mayor, ridiculously, might be
implicated in all of the brutish miscarriages of public trust. The only
thing separating this movie from reality is robots, faces melting from
toxic waste burns, and stop-action sequences of robot police
malfunctioning. Probably, if not already, prophetic in a
sad-but-not-remarkable way. But that’s not why I’d take it to the
island. I like the dialogue.
Written by Roger Ebert and directed by Russ Meyer. It's a
cautionary tale, they say, but mostly a funny diatribe against
false-prophet party favorers like Z-man. And it also has a lot of great
songs written for the band, which are maybe the most sincere elements
of the film. Really, the music is beautiful and doesn’t laugh at itself
at all, unless with tears streaming down its face at the same time.
This film maybe shouldn't occupy any list of top 5 movies on a desert
island, and would be mostly worthless after 2 or 3 viewings.
For sure, this movie would have received much
higher acclaim had it not been for the director’s unfortunate tiff with
police. I think this movie is paced perfectly, with a near perfect
balance of action. And nothing, not the subtitles or the heavy-handed
foreshadowing and symbolism, can really take away from the total
effect. Spear-chucking, head rolling, face eating, rape, murder,
celebratory human sacrifice. It’s bizarre enough that I think you can
forgive the obvious lesson to be learned from the small armada of
conquistadors’ boats pulling to shore in the final scenes.
Another comedy here. This is a list about movies and presumably their directors, but it'd be hard not to trace some of the great discomfort I felt watching this movie to the same felt at watching Rosemary's Baby, partially to the credit of the author of both novels, Ira Levin. (It comes from the word first). In this one about Hitler cloning, the young American Hitler clone is about as ready for the shoes that his cloner has prepared for him as Dolores Haze is to fulfill Humbert Humbert's vision of love. Basically, manipulative American brats who just aren't ready for any adult’s plan for transcendental love or biblical evil, in spite of their predilection at a young age for sex and violence, depending on which we’re talking about. Of course that’s not all it’s about. The British Hitler has his faults as well.
JOHN RATLIFF
Austin Improv Comedian - The Smoking Arm/Ratliff & Jackson Keyboard Player - The Diamond Smugglers Freelance Writer - Esquire, SPIN, Blender
In addition to an Oscar-nominated script by Scott Frank and a righteous David Holmes soundtrack, I make the following claims for OoS: 1. Best film version of an Elmore Leonard novel. (Okay, maybe a tie with Jackie Brown.) 2. Best hybrid of chick movie (extremely hot couple star-crossed by their respective careers of U.S. Marshal and fugitive bank robber) and guy movie (bank robbery; jailbreak; jewel heist; violent attacks with pistol, shiv, collapsible police baton, fireman's hatchet, flower planter, and large reference book). 3. Best supporting cast: Don Cheadle, Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn, Albert Brooks, Dennis Farina, Isaiah Washington, Catherine Keener, and Luis Guzman, plus a few uncredited cameos I won't ruin for you. And J-Lo brings it, for reals. 4. Best stoner in American film history: Steve Zahn. I would say this standing on Sean Penn's coffee table in a Hawaiian shirt. The Princess Bride by William Goldman I know this is supposed to be a list of movies, but I feel like this is a good place to say something that needs to be said: if you love the movie The Princess Bride, you REALLY NEED TO READ THE BOOK. I'm not knocking the movie, I'm just saying, the book completely blows it out of the water. You get back story for the Turk and Inigo and the Prince, plus it's a book within a book where William Goldman makes himself a character, except that you think he's not . . . it's fantastic. I used to read this book aloud to my girlfriends and then I found out that Bill Hicks used to do the same thing to his girlfriends and if Bill Hicks and me combined are not enough reason to make you want to read this book then I don't know what. Also, just read more books in general. Thank you.
|
||||
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
