End of Line

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.


-K.

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Let's Do the Time Warp Never

The Tivoli finally posted their midnight show schedule on the Landmark website and the selection this year is okay, I guess, a couple movies I've never seen I would like to see, a couple I've never seen in a theater, and one real head-scratcher. I've underlined the ones I would definitely like to see.

Joe Dante's original Gremlins • July 17 & 18
St. Louis premiere! Deadgirl • July 24 & 25
The Director's Cut! Donnie Darko • July 31 & Aug 1
Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters • Aug 7 & 8
Robert De Niro & Jodie Foster in
Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver • Aug 14 & 15
Experience U2's Vertigo Tour in 3D!
3D glasses provided! U2 3D (What the fuck?) • Aug 21 & 22
David Bowie & Jennifer Connelly in Labyrinth • Aug 28 & 29
Michael J. Fox goes Back to the Future • Sep 4 & 5
Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction • Sep 11 & 12
High Times...Hard Bodies...Soft Rock:
Wet Hot American Summer • Sep 18 & 19
Firefly on the big screen! Serenity • Sep 25 & 26
John Carpenter's They Live • Oct 2 & 3
Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness • Oct 9 & 10
Bruce Willis & Brad Pitt in
Terry Gilliams' 12 Monkeys • Oct 16 & 17
3D glasses provided! My Bloody Valentine 3D • Oct 23 & 24

I kind of want to hang out outside the Tivoli just to see if anybody shows up to see a U2 concert in a movie theater in 3D.

-K.

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Taste Supreme

I spend a lot of my time here trying to shift my mental focus on things other than my job, mostly to keep murderous rage at bay. Recently I've been occupying that space with thoughts about what the upcoming Tivoli midnight schedule will be like, and what I would show if it were up to me. Just single films here, even though my ideas for Back to Back to Back to the Future and Evil Dead Complete (All three films can easily be cut together to form one seamless feature) are totally awesome. This also gives me a chance to mention a few semi-obscure to totally obscure films I've been meaning to talk about in a form that requires the least amount of elaboration:

Blade Runner - This needs no explanation, this should simply be an annual event. I would not mind seeing the original theatrical version again just for contrast, but Final Cut is pretty goddamn awesome.
The Hudsucker Proxy - One of the least well-known and underappreciated Coen Brothers movies, their loving homage to the screwball comedies of the 30's and 40's is just as good as any of their other films. Co-written by Sam Raimi.
L.A. Confidential - I cannot stress it enough, one of the best films of all time.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension - It has been a very long time since I have seen this, so I don't know how well it would hold up, but it is perfect midnight film material.
The Frighteners - Peter Jackson's first American film, just before Lord of the Rings, is bizarre, funny and just a goddamn hoot.
Silver Streak - I really enjoy movies set on a train for some reason, and while this Gene Wilder/Richard Pryor thriller-comedy takes some time to get going, and the latter of the pair doesn't even show up until an hour into the film, it's a very enjoyable watch.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - After the abysmal first theatrical outing, the crew of the Enterpise get down to business in this gripping, engrossing adventure of... Oh forget it, KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!
Heavy Metal - Really I just want to see some animated boobs on a big screen, but without the tentacles.
Hard Boiled - It's been too long since I've seen Chow Yun-Fat dive through windows with two pistols blazing.
Outland - Another movie I have not seen in a long time, but this is all you need to know: Outland is a remake of High Noon with Sean Connery. In space.
Wizards - I don't know how well this one holds up either, I only remember it being very violent. Really that's what I want out of an animated midnight movie.
Twice Upon a Time - Two unlikely heroes get mixed up in a battle of dreams and nightmares in this uniquely stylized, highly imaginative and funny animated film. It is a goddamn crime that virtually no one has even heard of this film, especially considering one of the producers was George Lucas. I'm not even sure if prints of this still exist, it's not available on DVD and copies of the VHS version are very rare. Someone managed to put together a "restoration cut," which mostly features more profane dialogue from the film's antagonist, which, surprisingly, I don't think works as well as the more family-friendly version, and threw it on YouTube.

I'm a goddamn nerd.

-K.

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Max Payne Not Okay, Says Internet

Ouch.

I have not yet seen the film, but all indicators seem to point to it being a complete mess. The worst part about a failure like this is that it serves only to embolden Roger Ebert's and his fellow critics' dismissive attitude towards the medium as a valid art form. You'll see plenty of review blurbs that simply say "It's a video game movie, so you know it's not good." The problem isn't video game movies, it's the people making them and the people choosing which properties to give the film treatment in the first place. I could have told you, even at a young age when there were rumors of it starring Schwarzenegger, that Doom was not going to be a good movie. Fighting games are almost completely devoid of story to begin with, but the more popular franchises (Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and even Dead or Alive) get live-action counterparts. I understand what drives these decisions; the games are well-known, big sellers, not necessarily if it has a compelling story. This is why the Halo movie has not been snuffed out yet and there's a Gears of War film on the way.
All I can do is sit back and dream about what it would be like if a studio like Pixar were to make a Grim Fandango movie.

-K.

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