Ball of Confusion

So, I'm an idiot. Every time -- without fail -- I got into Target and walk past the TV DVD section I think, "What is this show with Meat Loaf in it?" And, invariably, I realize that I'm looking at the third season of "24". Call me crazy -- I KNOW YOU ALREADY DO! (and paranoid) but I think that Keifer Sutherland looks a lot like Meat Loaf -- at least in that picture.

You want proof? Sorry, I can't offer much except this comparison... I give you Keif Loaf!

Candy Tangerine Man: Help Wanted

Looks like Subversive Cinema has secured the rights to CANDY TANGERINE MAN but can't find good prints to strike a master from:

Subsversive Cinema's Blog

Anyone have Matt Cimber's contact info? I know VCI had good luck getting a nice print of BLACK SHAMPOO from Greydon Clark, maybe Cimber's got a good 35mm copy of CTM laying around his basement.

The Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep

Thinking more lately about what other films need to be on DVD that aren't. I hate to be one of those pedantic assholes who makes lists and acts completely self-important but I'm going to put on my Rob Gordon hat and make a (working) list of the top ten films I think should be on DVD. Some may be out on video already -- some may not. And some may even be on DVD in other countries. I'm talking about Region 1 (or 0), NTSC domestic US releases.

1. Telefon (Don Siegel, 1977)
2. If... (Lindsay Anderson, 1968)
3. The Big Gundown (Sergio Sollima, 1966)
4. The Trap (Peter Watkins, 1975)
5. Killer Party (William Fruet, 1986)
6. (The Big) Crimewave (John Paizs, 1985)
7. Freebie & The Bean (Richard Rush, 1974)
8. The Crimson Kimono (Sam Fuller, 1959)
9. Candy Tangerine Man (Matt Cimber, 1975)
10. Rolling Thunder (John Flynn, 1977)

James Kolchalka Superstar - Hockey Monkey

Nice mix of various types of animation and live action and, yeah, it’s a totally kick-ass song.

Moving Right Along

I love travelling. Can you tell? Aside from my trip to Philadelphia, I've also go a spouse outing to Cancun in March. And, after that, it looks like my good friend Rich Osmond and I will be jetting up to Montreal in July for the Fantasia Fest. I've always wanted to go to this festival but never have. Likewise, I've never been to Montreal before. I hear it's like a totally different country up there...

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On a serious note, I was in a grocery store recently and found this horribly disturbing product name. If Michael Richards gets crucified for using the "N-Word," shouldn't Vlassic some shit for so brazenly employing the "M-Word"?!?

Can't we all just get along?

Nightfall

Good news. The Goodis folk are allowing me to register late for their shindig. Now it's off to the races trying to find a good package deal to Philly. Odd that I've never been to Philadelphia before but now I'll have been there twice within five months. Looks like my schedule's going to be pretty packed or else I'd be heading over to the Mutter Museum again. I just hope that I can get another delciious Philly Cheesesteak sammiches.

Again, looks like I'm going to miss hooking up with my "Philly boys" but there's always hope.

Return to Philadelphia

Wow. I can't believe it. I was looking online today to see if there's such a thing as a "David Goodis Archives" like those of John D. MacDonald or Charles Willeford -- both of whom were very friendly when I asked for help with my articles for past issues of Cashiers du Cinemart. Low and behold, Google turned up a "Goodiscon" happening in Philadelphia in early January 2007. Sure, I missed the entrance deadline by ten days but I'm hoping they'll forgive me on that and allow me to attend this event. It sounds right up my alley and the perfect way to wrap up my long overdue Goodis piece.

I'm hoping, too, to give them a copy of my subtitled copy of SECCION DES DISPARUS -- the rarest of the Goodis films. At the moment, I think I'm the only person with this and I hope they'll be able to appreciate it. :)

Wish me luck!

But Then Maturity Has Its Moments, Too.

I really thought I had gotten over things like this. I mean, I wasn't the one that came up with the "Grateful That He's Dead" t-shirt that was worn to the Garcia "wake" on the Diag at UofM (way to go, Chesney) so I didn't see me finding "Bo Knows Death" or "Bo Knows Dead" that funny. But I do.

"It Just Don't Make No Sense"

Pardon my gramatically incorrect headline. I just tend to revert to that line from Charles Willeford's Understudy for Love when I encounter baffling items such as my recent realization that so many of the works of Sam Fuller remain unreleased on DVD. Classic bad cinema like RUN OF THE ARROW and great noir like THE CRIMSON KIMONO are MIA while absolute trash gets DVD treatment. Hell, even some of Fuller's more glorious failures such as SHARK have a DVD release (thanks to star Burt Reynolds, I'm sure) but there are several classic Fullers that continue to haunt the "bootleg circuit" with nary a peep about a proper release.

Where are PARK ROW, CHINA GATE, VERBOTEN!, and MERRILL'S MARAUDERS? Where's the love and help from all of those talking heads who filled the air with their babble and praise in the awful documentary THE TYPEWRITER, THE RIFLE & THE MOVIE CAMERA? C'mon fellas. Put your money where your mouth is and get to work on releasing these gems for the world to see! Get to it, boppers!