John Travolta sings!
Actually, I guess that’s not a surprise. He did co-star in Grease and all that. Still, it’s kind of interesting to see Travolta doing the sensitive singing teen idol routine. Why is he dressed like Prince Valiant? It was the 70s, I guess.
Enjoy!
Today’s music video of the day is the latest from the Black Crowes. Enjoy it and spare a thought for those of us at the North Texas branch of Through the Shattered Lens because we are about to get hit by snow and 8 degree weather.
The last time we had weather this bad, we had rolling black-outs and were actually off-line for a few days. So, if you don’t see me or Erin or Jeff around for a while, don’t worry. We’re just waiting for the sun to come out!
Enjoy!
From David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, here is one of the most haunting moments ever captured on film.
RIP, Rebekah Del Rio and David Lynch.
Thought Gang was a musical collaboration between two much-missed artists, David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti. This video was directed by Lynch and it starred none other than Angelo Badalamenti himself!
Enjoy!
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Mondays, I will be reviewing Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The entire show can be purchased on Prime!
This week, the British are coming!
Episode 5.11 “Miami Squeeze”
(Dir by Michelle Manning, originally aired on February 17th, 1989)
There’s a new drug lord in Miami. He’s a British dandy named Sebastian Ross (Robert Joy) and it’s impossible to take him seriously as a legitimate threat. The show continually tells us how dangerous Sebastian is. When the son (Daniel Villarreal) of anti-drug Congresswoman Madeleine Woods (Rita Moreno) attempts to double-cross Sebastian, Sebastian blackmails the Congresswoman and also tries to make Castillo look like a dirty cop. Castillo ends up getting shot, all as a result of Sebastian’s schemes.
And yet, despite all of that, it’s impossible to take Sebastian seriously. He’s just a ridiculous character, a drug dealer who dresses like an Edwardian gentleman and who carries a can and who speaks with a remarkably bad British accent. (Robert Joy is himself Canadian. I should mention that Joy is also a very good character actor. He’s just miscast here.) As a character, Sebastian threw off the entire episode. When you include Rita Moreno acting up a storm, this episode almost felt like a self-parody.
Joey Hardin (Justin Lazard), the undercover cop from Line of Fire, returned in this episode. Sonny recruited him to go undercover in order to infiltrate Sebastian’s organization. Considering that Joey was a returning character and that there was a lengthy scene of Sonny asking if Joey felt confident enough to put his life on the line, it was kind of surprising that Joey didn’t really do much in this episode. One got the feeling that perhaps this was meant to be a backdoor pilot for a show featuring Joey as an undercover cop who could pass for a teenager. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. Who wouldn’t want to keep a franchise going? But Joey ultimately felt like a red herring and a bit of a distraction.
This episode was a misfire.
Janis Joplin would have been 83 years old today. Here she is, singing about cars.
Today is Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday! You would think that there would be a hundred music videos based on the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. Well, you would be wrong. While Poe’s work has inspired countless musicians (and there have been several songs based on his work), there aren’t many “official” music videos of those songs.
However, there is a band that was not only influenced by Poe but which proudly displays that influence. Edgar Allan Poets is a Los Angeles band that lists its two greatest influences as being Poe and Hitchcock. This video is for their song Old Black Clown.
Enjoy!
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the greatest of all DJs, Tiesto!
Enjoy!
I was a bit shocked to realize that I hadn’t reviewed Escape from New York for this site. Leonard’s reviewed it. Jeff’s reviewed it. I’ve reviewed quite a few Italian films that were inspired by Escape from New York. Last year, I devoted an entire day to how much I love Kurt Russell. I’ve shared John Carpenter’s theme music, more than once. I’ve reacted to Mamdani’s election by telling my friends that it’s time to escape from New York. I’ve lost track of the number of times that I’ve told Leonard that it is “Time to leave the Bronx,” even though he doesn’t live in the Bronx. (What do I know? I live in Texas.) But I’ve never actually reviewed Escape From New York.
I love Escape from New York but I have to say that the film itself can’t live up the brilliant poster art. The first time I watched Escape from New York, I was really disappointed that the Statue of Liberty’s head never appeared in the middle of a street in Manhattan. If the film were made today, one imagines that the filmmakers would be able to do all sorts of things with the Statue of Liberty. But Escape from New York was made in 1981, in the days before rampant CGI. Escape from New York was made at a time when directors had to be somewhat clever and that definitely works to the film’s advantage. The lack of big time special effects meant that Carpenter had to emphasize character and atmosphere. Escape From New York might not feature the Statue of Liberty’s head but it does feature an amazing cast and a host of unforgettable characters. When you manage to get Kurt Russell, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau, Lee Van Cleef, and Isaac Hayes all in the same film, there’s no way it isn’t going to be memorable.
We all know the plot. Kurt Russell plays career criminal Snake Plissken. (Everyone thought Snake was dead.) When the President (Donald Pleasence) finds himself trapped on the prison island of Manhattan, Snake is the man who is sent to rescue him. The fate of the world depends on rescuing the President. If the President isn’t rescued, it could lead to nuclear war. Snake doesn’t really care about the fate of the world. He does care about the fate of himself, however. He’s been injected with a poison that will kill him unless he receives the antidote in 24 hours.
(The doctor who gives Snake the poison is named Dr. Cronenberg. Meanwhile, Frank Doubleday appears as a thug named Romero. Lee Van Cleef’s police commissioner is named Hauk, as in Howard Hawks. Tom Atkins plays Captain Rehme, as in producer Bob Rehme. The film may be about the collapse and possible end of the world but John Carpenter’s having fun. And, of course, so are we.)
The President has been captured by the Duke of New York (Isaac Hayes). It doesn’t take Snake long to track down the Duke. But rescuing the President and making it back to safety turns out to be far more difficult and violent than anyone was anticipating. Snake gets some help, from characters like Cabbie (Ernest Borgnine), Brain (Harry Dean Stanton), and Maggie (Adrienne Barbeau). Of course, that help is largely due to everyone’s self-interest. The recurring theme is that no one really cares that much about whether or not the President or even Snake lives or dies. Maggie loves Brain but, otherwise, there’s not much individual loyalty to be found in this film. Instead, everyone just cares about getting the Hell out of New York. In the end, even the President turns out to be a bit of a jerk.
(I do have to say that I absolutely love Donald Pleasence’s performance in Escape from New York. The “You’re the Duke! You’re the Duke! A Number One!” scene? That was Pleasence at his most brilliant.)
It’s a wonderfully acted and directed film, one that is often darkly humorous. (While Kurt Russell delivers his lines with a endearing self-awareness, Carpenter has a lot of fun imagining the type of criminal society that would emerge on an isolated Manhattan.) It’s also a film that understands the power of New York City. Depending on who you ask, New York either represents the worst or the best of America. That’s true today and, watching Escape from New York, it’s easy to guess that was probably true in 1981 as well. There’s a power to the “New York” name and it’s why this film wouldn’t have worked if it had been called Escape From Houston or Escape From Spokane. (One reason why Escape From LA failed was because the cartoonishness of Los Angeles couldn’t compete with the grit of New York.) We all know the saying — “New York, New York: If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.” This film reminds us that it’s also true that if you can escape from there, you can escape from anywhere. Escape from New York brilliantly captures the way that most of the rest of country view New York but, by limiting the action to Manhattan, it also presents a story that can be enjoyed by people in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. I imagine the film is especially popular on Staten Island.
Escape From New York is a brilliant work of the pulp imagination. It’s a film that will probably outlive the city.
Legend has it that, when John Carpenter originally offered the role of Dr. Sam Loomis to Donald Pleasence, Pleasence was reluctant to accept it. To Pleasence, Halloween sounded like it would just be another forgettable horror film.
However, when Donald mentioned to his daughter, actress Angela Pleasence, that he had been offered a role in a film by a young director named John Carpenter, Angela immediately told him to accept. She assured him that it would turn out to be a great film. When Donald asked her why she was so sure about this, Angela replied that she had seen Assault on Precinct 13 at the Cannes Film Festival.
1976’s Assault on Precinct 13 was John Carpenter’s second feature film. (The first was Dark Star, which started out as a student film and, even after being extended to feature length, still ended up feeling very much like a student film.) The film takes place in Los Angeles, at an isolated police precinct house that is scheduled to be abandonedd. When the father (Martin Lawson) of a girl (Kim Richards) who was murdered earlier in the day seeks refuge at the precinct, a Che Guevara-influenced street gang launches a relentless late night attack on the building. (Frank Doubleday, who later played Romero in Escape From New York, appears as a member of the gang.) Lt. Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker) is forced to work with criminal Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston) to defeat the gang.
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976, dir by John Carpenter. DP: Douglas Knapp)
John Carpenter later said that Assault of Precinct 13 was his attempt to make a Howard Hawks-style western and, despite taking place in the modern era, it is very much a western. Ethan Bishop is the strong and moral lawman who refuses to allow the untamed land around him to change who he is and what he believes. Napoleon Wilson is the outlaw who finds redemption. In most westerns, the attackers would represent the last gasp of the lawless frontier fighting against encroaching civilization. In the case of Assault on Precinct 13, the opposite is true. The attackers represent the collapse of society and the people in the precinct find themselves fighting not only for their lives but also the ideals of modern civilization. With their relentless drive to attack, the members of the street gang resemble the zombies from George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. They’re so nihilistic and destructive that even a hardened criminal like Napoleon Wilson knows that they have to be stopped. The film’s ultimate message seems to be that, even if Bishop and Wilson and Leigh (Laurie Zimmer) survive the night, the assault on Precinct 13 will never truly end. In a way, we’re all trapped in that abandoned precinct house.
Wow, that sounds pretty grim! And really, it is a grim film. This, after all, is the film in which little Kim Richards is graphically shot in the chest while trying to buy ice cream. (From the start, Carpenter understood the importance of shocking the audience.) That said, there are unexpected moments of dark humor to be found in the film. (Even Kim Richards’s indignation over being given the wrong flavor ice cream is rather humorous, up until she asks for a replacement and gets shot as a result.) Both Bishop and Wilson make for compelling heroes. As Angela Pleasence realized when she saw the movie at Cannes, John Carpenter was and is a natural-born storyteller. Assault on Precinct 13 is a film that wastes no time in getting started and is relentless in both its suspense and its action.
Assault on Precinct 13 has been overshadowed by Carpenter’s subsequent successes but it’s still one of Carpenter’s best films. Without Assault on Precinct 13, we would never have gotten Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis. That alone is reason enough to celebrate the film.
Through the Shattered Lens 