| Half-Ass-A-Thon (07.24.07 - 07.25.07, 5 movies) |
| Date Viewed | Movie | Director | Notes |
| 06.24.07 | Wonder Bar | Lloyd Bacon | Harry Knowles' last-minute goodbye to the original Alamo in the form of a semi-BNAT. The evening started with Tim saying there would be either four or five films depending on how many people stayed. I'm not gonna talk about Harry's intros, I don't remember all the trailers, the movies proved an interesting mix, but the main joy of the night for me came from hanging out at the theater for one last almost-all-nighter with almost all of the friends I've made by going there. The Alamo poster was gone, the neon signage gone, Mondo Tees gone, dishes were stacked up in the corner; the Alamo was slowly disappearing. Tonight was one last shot to see the place at 4AM and walk out into a completely empty downtown Austin. It's a unique feeling, sitting through more than three movies in a row, and not something I greatly enjoy. The first movie was Wonder Bar, a run-of-the-mill 30s musical starring Jolson as a nightclub owner/performer. There's the usual gang of light comic relief as you sit there and wait for the Busby Berkeley music numbers to start. The first is in the BB DVD pack but strangely enough the second isn't. Although this wasn't a bad movie (I probably would've been a lot more into it had it played earlier in the day like noon or even 4pm rather than 7), the highlight is clearly the last musical number which depicts a kind of "black heaven" with Jolson in black-face meeting St. Peter at the pearly gates and singing songs about how pork chops grow on trees and Uncle Tom's a hero and stuff. It's really amazing in its racism and not in a designed-to-shock way like the 70s race riot films felt but in a 30s-form-of-entertainment way that makes it seem even worse. Funny, I don't know why that wasn't included on the DVD. There's even dancing watermelon slices at one point. So I have to thank Harry for showing this because I know I'm probably never getting a chance to see it in a theater ever again. Unfortunately, his squeeky wheelchair wheels betrayed him whenever he left the theater so I was constantly aware of when he slipped out to the lobby to skip all the slow parts that we were all trudging through. |
| 06.24.07 | Stardust | Matthew Vaughn | Next up was the one new film playing. Matt Vaughn appeared in a video intro with a Transformers poster behind him and no one clapped or did anything until he pointed at it and said "unfortunately, you won't be seeing this movie. You'll be watching Stardust instead" and one dude gasped so loud it was like my favorite memory of the entire night. It was like he just found out it was Christmas Eve and he got to ride along with Santa and keep all the other kids' toys he liked. Meanwhile, I was pretty eh. The trailer did nothing for me and for whatever reason Iwasn't interested. So Again, I have to thank Harry because I wouldn't have been in any hurry to see this movie but it surprised me with some dark humor and wry observations that ended up making me like it (for what it was). I do think it was missing a scene where they go to the boudoir and you see the starlight pulsing with increasing intensity until it peaks and slowly fades, but I guess the MPAA would have a problem with that. Tim also made a hilarious little half-ass mistake by playing the wrong film's trailers in front of it so right before the film started we got to see an 80s Clint Eastwood talking about crack cocaine and how it's not worth the thrill of even trying it. "So take this as a frentid reminder... don't even try it. the thrill can kill." So part of me thought Stardust might be a drug in the movie that makes you feel special... but it's not. |
| 06.24.07 | Topkapi | Jules Dassin | Next Harry introduced this movie and the only reason he gave for programming it was liking fat actors. Personally, a little more set-up could've helped me tremendously with this film. Had I known upfront that it was a Jules Dassin movie for instance, I would've found the interplay between the traditional caper genre with gaudy Italian broad comedy more interesting instead of thinking it was just a weird Greek or Italian knock-off of Rififi. Maybe it's my problem for not knowing Dassin directed? Since the only person to clap when Harry asked who'd seen it was one dude who yelled "Zero Mostel rules!" I kinda think I wasn't alone in needing some more information. (FYI, clapping guy, Zero Mostel is not in this movie. The two fat guys Harry vaguely mentioned as "doing their best work" are Peter Ustinov and Akim Tamiroff). So the crowd was kind of sluggish for this one. The long silent sequences where they pull off the heist made the thumping music from next door all the more evident (I could even hear the lyrics to Magic Carpet Ride). Between the music and the lack of crowd response and Harry's squeeky wheels taking him out of the theater for half hours at a time, the film was pretty tough to stay engaged with. Ultimately I think I liked it though. The main Italian (or whatever nationality) woman was pretty rough and the thought of her being a nymphomaniac was more disturbing than erotic, and I never really got into Tamiroff's schtick, but I loved Ustinov's performance and am a sucker for heist flicks anyway. Again I have to thank Harry for showing this because I'd never track it down on my own but I appreciate having seen it. |
| 06.25.07 | Impulse | William Grefe | For the fourth (and originally last) movie of the night, Harry relinquished control to the Alamo who used the spot to justify paying the rental fee to show this film again. Personally, I would've paid $25 to see this film alone so it single-handedly made the night a success for me. Lars got up on stage and started talking about "our greatest living actor today": William Shatner. He described this film as incredibly erotic if you're into Shatner. Originally titled "Want a Ride, Little Girl?" the film we're all about to watch is none other than IMPULSE. Although I can't say I've seen all of Shatner's ouvre, I can say that what exploitation stuff I've seen him do is amazing. Kingdom of the Spiders, Big Bad Mama, and his tour de force phenomena in this movie are all great. Besides that, they showed a trailer for White Commanche which looked incredible and Sleazoid Express had nothing but good things to say about him in Roger Corman's The Intruder (AKA I Hate Your Guts) (a film I'm dying to see) so... Shatner's Shatner for a reason. I think my first note when I watched this a while ago gushed enough about this movie. It was an absolute joy to see at the Alamo... It got the best crowd reactions by far and the scene where he runs into the lady with the balloons is just so crazy... love it! although this time the scene that really stood out for me was when he was in his car trying to convince the little girl who'd just seen him kill a man (named Karate Pete) by hanging him and treating him like a punching bag then chasing him through a car wash and running him over two or three times that he deserved to die because he could break her little neck like that if he wanted so she should get in the car because he's really a nice guy. After she says no (can't imagine why!) and tells him that she's not afraid of him anymore, SHanter unleashed a three-act play in like 30 seconds. First it's a fist out the window with anger, then it's a pointed finger in the air with menace, and finally it's a glimpse of frightened little boy as he puts his car in gear and drives off. After that scene I looked over at Micah who was already saying "man, he's SO good." |
| 06.25.07 | Seven Blows of the Dragon | Chang Cheh | The fifth film that Harry really wanted to play was his 16mm print of 7 Blows of the Dragon that QT gave him some time after he played it at QT 1 (as the latter part of a double feature with Duel of the Iron Fist). It's notable for the "chk-chk-chaw" sound effect used throughout the film that seemed to catch on with QT intros and whatnot. By this time it was about 3:30am and those that stayed had minute-by-minute increasing fatigue reminding them that they had to work in... 4 hours. Personally, I didn't get much out of this. I never really knew what was going on or who was allied with whom or why someone was being rescued or why some people were mad at others. It's was pretty much a jumble of people running and talking and fighting on the screen for an hour and a half. On one level, it's kind of a fun state of mind to be in, sitting slumped in your chair glassy-eyed watching images flash in front of your face, but on the other it's always better when you can... you know, have an idea of what the movie's about. Eventually it ended and so did the night. We left at around 5AM. I wonder how late people will stay on Wednesday. It's really getting down to the end. Wah. |
