Fonda. Oates. Scratch.

This movie rules. A road trip goes horribly wrong for Warren Oates. Plus, Peter Fonda wears the coolest shades ever! (Okay, so I had a pair just like them. Fonda makes them work.) Race With the Devil may conjure memories of Spielberg’s Duel, but it’s much more dangerous.

Let them call it exploitation.

I call it the good, old-fashioned, double feature.

If Dario Argento directed 200 Motels, you’d have Hausu.

If Martin Scorsese didn’t direct Cape Fear, you’d have…

And don’t forget the comedy short at the beginning!

Silencio!

Film Threat interviews Jeff Mashino, the Indiana Jones of silent movie fans. He tracks down rare silent films, and has them restored and released.

Is there a market in today’s DVD world for silent movies? And what have been the challenges and strategies you’ve faced in getting the word out on your titles?
Absolutely! It is the lesson of “The Long Tail,” the theory popularized by Wired Magazine’s Chris Anderson, that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of “hits” (mainstream studio-produced DVDs and mass retail distribution) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of “specialty market” niches in the tail, driven in part by the Internet, which has allowed the costs of distribution to become cheaper and has provided a means by which more people can become educated about film history. I’ve tried to use this (and low overhead) to my advantage with Flicker Alley – since I am not entrenched in the traditional “bricks and mortar” retail store route, I rely on online promotion and sales.

The better mousetrap will be the one that keeps people interested in buying movies at all. We don’t make too many classics these days. The Departed and Pulp Fiction come to mind, but little else. There will be dozens more movies like Spider-Man and TransFormers, but they’ll be disposable as always.

The archivists of tomorrow will be sending off plenty of emails, looking for those lost, “great” YouTube videos. Let’s hope something truly great comes along between now and then, so we can say we lived through it. (Hint: It won’t come from Hollywood.)

Because there’s a little metal in all of us.

The TransFormers, as scored by Manowar! Notice how the visuals match the lyrics. This is a tightly-edited fan flick. Bravo!

The Manchurian Candidate

Portions of this review originally appeared in INsite magazine, April, 2005.

The shadow cast by Richard Condon’s fantasy/satire, The Manchurian Candidate, and by John Frankenheimer’s subsequent film, has remained in place for nearly fifty years.  The movie’s 1962 release, its removal from theaters, and its disappearance from public view until 1988 have contributed to its cult following, and to the popularization of conspiracy theory in general.

            No Hollywood studio would touch The Manchurian Candidate when Frankenheimer first shopped the novel around.  It was misinterpreted as anti-communist, and Hollywood didn’t want to rock the boat at a time when President John F. Kennedy was about to begin talks with the Soviet Union.  Frank Sinatra was enamored with the book, however, and when he signed on to the project, it immediately became a hot commodity.  When Sinatra told his friend Kennedy about the picture, the president – an avid reader – smiled and asked, “Who’s going to play the mother?”  The possibility of a movie having an effect on foreign policy was quickly forgotten.

            Frankenheimer was already a veteran of film and television at the time.  As friend, fan, and fellow director William Friedkin has pointed out, Frankenheimer practically invented the way live television was shot, and did it better than anyone else.  His technical innovations and deep understanding of Condon’s novel would play an important role in the film’s style.  The movie’s satirical treatment of ideology would make it an indispensable piece of cinema history.

Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) returns to the United States from Korea, where he and his squad were brainwashed by communists.  Major Bennett Marco (Sinatra) and others in the squad have recurring nightmares of the brainwashing.  While war hero Shaw is used by his domineering mother (Angela Lansbury) to get Senator John Iselin (James Gregory) a vice-presidential nomination, Marco uncovers what’s really going on.  To say any more would ruin the ending.  You don’t want to find out that Norman’s really dressing up as his mother, do you?  Or that Vader is really Luke’s father?  Or that Pee-Wee gets his bike back?  Okay.

The movie features an assassination subplot, and was taken out of circulation for many years after Kennedy’s murder.  It was hardly forgotten, though.  The idea of a “Manchurian candidate,” someone who is brainwashed into becoming a killer, has become part of the American lexicon, used by conspiracy theorists from the think tank to the arm chair.  As such, it has doubtless inspired everything from Steve Jackson Games’ Illuminati material, to The X-Files, to Star Trek.  (The climax of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is a nod to the climax of this film.)  Since its resurfacing, it has become recognized as an American classic.

There’s more to it, of course: of all the movies in the American Film Institute’s Top 100, this one makes the best use of satire.  It’s a rare quality in any film, let alone a Hollywood production from the 1960’s.  This is that beautiful treat of a movie, the kind that requires repeat viewings.  Only after you see it three or four times do the knowing giggles come.

Whether you want to be a better cinephile or a better American, this movie is essential viewing.

The Marx Brothers Collection and Silver Screen Collection

Portions of this review originally appeared in INsite magazine, March 2005.

            Comedy historians believe that Marx Brothers fans come in two sects.  Those who prefer the classic first five movies, featuring Groucho, Harpo, Chico and straight man Zeppo, want the brothers and only the brothers.  There shall be no kissing, and certainly no dancing.

            We’re the fundamentalists of Marx Brothers fans.  We bathe in the glory of The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, and Duck Soup.  We know every routine, or are currently devoting a few hours every day to the task.  We’re East Coast Marx Brothers fans.

            The West Coast fans can talk the rest of us into watching A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, and the other films the brothers (sans Zeppo) made when they moved to MGM.  That’s because these movies are good, too.  They’re just not as good as the older ones.

            The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection features the first five movies and next to nothing in the way of extras.  The bonus disc has a few interviews, but they only total about twenty-five minutes altogether.  Universal could have taken a little more time with this one.  (They also censored some politically-incorrect Asian accents in the W. C. Fields box set, which won’t endear the company to classic comedy completists.)  I would have preferred a Criterion-style treatment, with lots of archival stuff, perhaps some notes, maybe a few words from comedians inspired by the Brothers.

Then there is The Marx Brothers Collection (pay attention now; it’s not that confusing), from Warner Brothers.  On the Night at the Opera and Day at the Races discs, there are commentaries (Leonard Maltin speaks – or rather reads out loud – on Night) and a few retrospective documentaries.  The above-mentioned inspirees include Dom DeLuise and regular Curb Your Enthusiasm director Robert B. Weide.  The set also includes Room Service/At the Circus and Go West/The Big Store on two flipper discs (don’t lend them out; they’ll get scratched), and A Night in Casablanca.

Get these two box sets, and you will have almost all of the brothers’ cinematic output.  (Love Happy, their final picture, is owned by Fox.)  The Universal set is indispensable, and must be owned by any comedy fan.  The movies in the Warner set aren’t as good, but you can buy Night and Day separately, and avoid owning the entire box.  This is good for casual fans, those physically unable to carry two box sets at once, or people with less space.