Sunday, October 31, 2010

The Gentleman of Leisure's Top 5 Scary Songs to Avoid Before Bedtime

The Gentleman of Leisure
hides in the shadows of SHOCKtober
looking menacing, yet still well-dressed
and without a care in the world.

The Gentleman of Leisure has agreed to contribute, as he did last year, a Top 5 List with a SHOCKtober theme. The Gentleman resides in Europe, specifically Scotland, though he is from the Emerald Isle known as Ireland. THE FUTURIST! does not know what plans The Gentleman has in store for his European Halloween, but it will probably involve dressing in a dapper manner, wearing sunglasses and doing little else. THE FUTURIST! does not envision The Gentleman of Leisure actually trick or treating door to door. He would probably have the treats brought to him and politely thank the donor. What scares The Gentleman? Most likely the prospect of having an actual 9 to 5 job or doing manual labor ... but, below you will find 5 songs that The Gentleman finds too disturbing to listen to before your head hits the pillow at night.

THE GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE'S TOP 5 LIST
OF SCARY SONGS TO AVOID BEFORE BEDTIME

(intro by The Gentleman)

I'm sure there are thousands of terrifying records out there that would scare me to no end, but I generally don't seek them out. Scary is not something I look for in my music. However, there are still certain songs in my collection that I would think twice about playing before going to sleep. So, this is a list of scary songs within the realm of my musical tastes. Listening to this assemblage I can see some common features; drony feedback, scratching guitars, discordant vocals, and prominent synths. Nothing chilling, in fact all things I like. But, under the right conditions, these songs can be quite eerie. If in doubt, imagine listening to them in bed, in the dark, before dreaming. Better yet - give it a go!

1. IN CAMERA - DIE LAUGHING




2. GARY NUMAN - PRAY





3. THE BIRTHDAY PARTY - DEAD JOE




4. KURT COBAIN & WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS - THE PRIEST




5. KLAUS NOMI - KEYS OF LIFE



Thank you, Gentleman of Leisure ...
you may continue to sit back and enjoy life.

Candy Corn Cones

Halloween in Utter Despair, N.J.
is about to end for 2010 and the town
council put out an order to remove all
festive candy corn traffic cones.
They were to be gathered together and put
into storage for next SHOCKtober.

U.S. Postal Monsters

THE FUTURIST!
has this actual sheet
of commemorative postage stamps
honoring the Universal Monster films.
The scary thing is to think they were
only 32 cents at the time.

Good Midnight on Halloween To YOU!



WATCH THE HYPNO SWIRL
AND LISTEN TO THE VOICE ...

YES ...
YES ... YES ... YES ...

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Saturday Music to Neck By

When was THE FUTURIST! introduced to classical music? Why, it was when, as a very THE YOUNG THE FUTURIST! he first saw DRACULA (1931) on a Saturday Night horror movie show. The stirring haunting strains of Swan Lake begin as Tod Browning's directed production, starring Bela Lugosi, title cards flicker on the screen. DRACULA has no musical soundtrack ... supposedly, according to film historians, Universal did not have the money or technology to have a recorded musical soundtrack added to the vampire potboiler ... it was very early in the talkie stage of film history. Why the production team decided to have Tchaikovsky begin the film is a mystery ... why not another classical piece? The odd thing is, Universal uses the same strains of this ballet in the opening title sequence of THE MUMMY (1932) with Boris Karloff. The decision to use this music has forever made THE FUTURIST!'s ears perk up and think of Bela and Boris, instead of tutus and a pas a deux.

The following video below will show scenes from DRACULA and then NOSFERATU. Please remember that the Murneau silent classic has nothing to do with this piece of music. Nosferatu was another neck biter, but never appeared on THE YOUNG FUTURIST!'s favorite horror movie line-up until much much later in life.

Listen ... the children of the night ...
What music they make!



composed by Tchaikovsky
used in title sequence of
DRACULA (1931)

Friday, October 29, 2010

Scary Spelling

THE FUTURIST! snapped this picture today
at a school near Utter Despair, N.J.
This school's outside calendar menu board
visually emphasizes the great respect
Utter Despair and it's surrounding sad towns
have for the English language.
Shocking.
Absolootly shoking.

(click on image for full shock)


SHOCKtober Rising

THE FUTURIST! took a stroll through Lovecraft Hills
located at the outer reaches of Utter Despair, N.J.
After parking his automobile, THE FUTURIST!
proceeded across the public parking lot and
heard some odd deep rumbling noises emanating
from below his feet.

Earthquake?

He looked down and saw thin cracks in the macadam
of the lot beginning to ripple and branch out.

Hellish tentacled monster emerging from the ground?

THE FUTURIST! went back to his car and got
his digital camera and decided to record the evidence
of what he was witnessing for this distinguished blog.
After snapping the picture, THE FUTURIST!
scurried back to his car like a frightened rabbit.
(a name he was given when he was 7 years old by the
other children at Sylvia Plath Elementary School)
He then started his car and drove away like a Formula One racer.

The Amazing Frollo's Opening Act



The above Simian and Stripper Act was recreated for The Amazing Frollo's
Halloween Magic Show opening act last SHOCKtober. Ironically, The Amazing Frollo
disappeared from Utter Despair , N.J. this year. This would mean this was
the most successful disappearing act of his entire career. Congrats!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Scare You Next Wednesday!


HORROR HOTEL (1960)
aka The City of the Dead
dir: John Llewellyn Moxey

SHOCKtober Reading


THE FUTURIST! is more than half way done with this
interesting, informative and entertaining cultural
history of horror entertainment in American society.
The author, David J. Skal, has contributed many
DVD audio commentaries to classic Universal horror
films and is an expert on the subject of cinematic terror.
Mr. Skal illustrates how war, disease and the European
influences in literature, art and German expressionism
had their impacts on the beginnings of horror films
as an American entertainment.
He finely combs over each decade and the changing
tastes of horror on the screen, stage and even comic book
depictions of monsters and gruesome death in the 1950s.
The book is full of photographs, but not too many to stifle
the informational text in the book's 400 page length.
Your eye will absorb so much wonderful knowledge
of the macabre interest of the public via entertainment
mediums from The Grand Guignol of Paris in the late 1800s
to the SCREAM franchise of the 20th century.
THE FUTURIST! recommends this book heartily.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

SHOCKtober What's My Line? # 2



Oh, c'mon, now! How did they not guess Price's
voice after the 1st few syllables he uttered?

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Saturday Music by Young Frankenstein

One of THE FUTURIST!'s favorite comedies, let alone comic movie parodies, is Mel Brooks' YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN released in the year 1974 (in THE FUTURIST!'s opinion was one of the last great years of motion picture production). The film was directed by Brooks, but was the initial idea of star Gene Wilder. He shared co-writing credit with Brooks. It is this teaming that makes the picture the best in the Mel Brooks comedy film genre spoof series. The film does not "make fun" of the genre it parodies ... it loves its source material. Wilder and Brooks obviously loved those Universal horror pictures of the 30s and recreate them with meticulous detail ... even using actual sets and props from the original films. Wilder's love of old film genres and that over the top style of 30s thespian articulation is imitated to the nth degree in his portrayal of Dr. Frankenstein. He later directed and wrote other genre comedy homages of haunted house horror comedies, silent film stars, Hitchcock thrillers, Sherlock Holmes stories and such. Some were not successful, but they are evidence of his participatory comic spark in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. THE FUTURIST! believes it was the perfect patchwork of Brooks' humor tempered by Wilder's comic ideas that brought their own comical laboratory experiment to life. IT is a beautiful picture to watch, too. The black and white cinematography is luscious. THE FUTURIST!can watch it many many times and still laugh at moments he is anticipating. Few comedies can achieve this miraculous reaction. Wilder's manic acting is a favorite of all comic motion picture actors that THE FUTURIST! admires.

In many, if not all, of Wilder's film genre loving salutes, he incorporates a musical number in the plot. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN contains the wonderful moment depicted below as today's Saturday Music post. It is a brilliant smiling inducing way to comically introduce the creature of Frankenstein's creation to the scientific community. A double treat to parody two film genres into one performance.

Listen and Watch:


PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ
performed by Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle
written by Irving Berlin
from the film
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974)

Friday, October 22, 2010

Time Lapse Jack O'Lantern Metaphor

This time lapse rotting Jack O'Lantern
symbolizes THE FUTURIST!'s out look on Life.

SHOCKtober What's My Line?



THE FUTURIST! prefers the skinny sinister Peter Lorre.
He seems to have emulated Sydney Greenstreet in his later years.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Sunday, October 17, 2010

How THE FUTURIST! Spent His Summer Vacation



Ah, memories of the Summer impose upon the chilly winds of SHOCKtober. Why, you may ask? THE FUTURIST! saw this video clip from MODESTY BLAISE (1966) and was reminded of a horrifying sight he saw while enjoying a giant complimentary glass of vino at the NJ shore. Yes, THE FUTURIST! saw a mime strangled by a woman's thighs on the beach. Or did he? Was it an illusion caused by the sun? An actual pantomime act concocted for the tourist trade by crude street artistes? Did THE FUTURIST! imagine it due to too many giant glasses of wine while relaxing wearing his nautical captain's hat? Was it all a dream? It's hard to say ... maybe it was an actual murder. Quite a Hitchcockian moment for THE FUTURIST! ... as he recalls, after seeing this sight he ordered some more wine and a bowl of nuts.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Saturday Music for Team Burwell

Always trying to be on top of pop culture, THE FUTURIST! decided to watch TWILIGHT last SHOCKtober to see what all the hullabaloo was about. SHOCKtober is the month he mainly concentrates on watching films of a sinister or supernatural nature and a film about a girl falling in love with a boy vampire seemed appropriate. TWILIGHT proved to be both a mess and surprisingly interesting to THE FUTURIST!. It was purely a badly written piece of teenage drivel designed for young girls who swoon at the idea of eternal love that never gets to the point of sexual consummation. The main characters are madly in love with each other, but any hanky panky is fraught with danger ... it will start with necking and end with, well ... NECKING. The contained hilarious dialogue, insipid plot points, vampires playing baseball in a thunderstorm set to rock music and ridiculous manipulations of the bloodsucker rules and regulations forever recounted in books and old films altered to suit the idiot plot of the story. On the other hand, THE FUTURIST! found it to be a beautiful film to look at ... the cinematography, set design and costuming of the characters, in earth tones and grays and browns, was subtle but obviously well thought out. The acting on the part of Kristin Stewart and Robert Pattinson was strangely dull, yet the passion the characters felt for each other was palpable on the screen. When the film enters its third act of violence and impending peril to the main characters, THE FUTURIST! felt a twinge of excitement. The director, Catherine Hardwicke, made great choices and set a melancholy tone to the proceedings. That tone was further enhanced by Carter Burwell's score. Mr. Burwell is the usual composer of The Coen Brothers' films. He has a minimalistic style that is repetitive, but never boring.


This past Friday evening, THE FUTURIST! was invited to watch the sequel in the TWILIGHT saga entitled NEW MOON. It was absolutely terrible ... bad acting, an even more insane idiot plot, awful dialogue and it had the pace of a elderly person with a supermarket basket in front of you as you try to progress down a crowded frozen food aisle. It went from this brooding tale set in the cloudy misty reaches of Washington State to Italy and a secret society of evil vampires in medieval robes. Ms. Stewart's acting this time was so ridiculous ... laconic, mopey, hysterical fits in her sleep and just so full of nervous tics. When you look at this girl, you wonder why any male would be interested. She acts like she swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills and had to be slapped between scene takes to be revived. Robert Pattinson was obviously repeatedly hit on the head with a canoe oar before reading his lines. And what can one say about Taylor Lautner, the wolf boy, except that he was absolutely ... well, just use the first syllable of that adverb. That's all he was on the screen. The direction was totally different from the first film. Director Chris Weitz made no impression on THE FUTURIST!. This was a TV Movie with CGI effects; bad CGI effects ... really bad.

And this time the music by Alexandre Desplat was dull, but had the requisite cliche explosive moments and still a big YAWN. It had no character and created no mood.

Carter Burwell's music created a mood ... it enhanced the film. It was like a good cheese on a ham sandwich. It was a delight.

Listen:


I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE
composed by Carter Burwell
from the film
TWILIGHT (2008)

Friday, October 15, 2010

Less Than 10 Minute Matinee # 9

Welcome to this SHOCKtober edition of THE FUTURIST!'s
Less Than 10 Minute Matinee. He begins, as usual, with
a scintillating preview of an upcoming attraction.
Starring Jon Hall, seemingly phoning Sue Casey,
who smiles a lot when he hears about bikini girls getting
slaughtered. It looks like the cinematographer photographed
this movie from the inside of a filthy athletic sock.
But, who cares? ... those girls are a-shakin'!



SHOCKtober feature attractions are perfect for the guy and gal
who are out on a date on a Saturday night. THE FUTURIST! knows
that a good scare can make a young lady a bit unsettled and anxious.
This requires, of course, the steady hand of her male escort.
He is there to protect her in the dark theater and assure her that
there is nothing to be frightened about and to check that her
upper torso is completely protected.
HOWEVER ...
the management of the Less than 10 Minute Matinee wishes to
make this announcement ... just in case some young Lothario gets
a bit too "hands on".



And now today's feature attraction.
THE FUTURIST! presents a creepy tale of a disembodied hand
that is killing and killing and KILLING!
The re-animated digits of this murderous mitt may be
causing carnage in this town, but that doesn't mean
that there can't be time for a nice cold delicious glass of suds.
THE FUTURIST! hopes that the men from the undertakers, who come for
his dead body, are a little more sophisticated and search his home
for a nice bottle of wine before carting him off to a freezer.
WARNING: This is very alarming ... and a cautionary tale
of how the impulse to get loaded can result in a horrifying discovery.


THE CRAWLING HAND (1963)
dir: Herbert L. Strock

Horror Of Dracula The Final Battle



This video was DISABLED FOR EMBEDDING BY REQUEST, but you can
click on the link provided on the video and watch it.

This is the finale to THE HORROR OF DRACULA, a Hammer Films classic
version of the Bram Stoker novel. THE FUTURIST! loves this foot chase
in the castle as Van Helsing pursues Dracula. Listen to that great
Hammer Horror film music. THE FUTURIST! loves how it plays along with the action
and movements of the actors. One of the best Dracula portrayals was by
Christopher Lee ... or should THE FUTURIST! clarify that he was the scariest!

Eeeek!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Monster Toy Commercial



This toy promoting the film GHOSTBUSTERS looks very messy.
So much squirting of liquids. THE YOUNG FUTURIST! liked dry toys.
He enjoys his martinis dry, too, but that was much later in life.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Thomas Meek's Top 5 "Scary" Movies

Mr. Thomas Meek
providing a photo with what
he referred to as a ... "suave" look.
THE FUTURIST! thinks it reminds him
of what a worm sees before a house wren
devours it whole.

Last SHOCKtober, THE FUTURIST! featured a myriad of fantastically frightening lists of Top 5 scary films by guest contributors. This Scare Season, THE FUTURIST! wishes to continue the tradition in the same AND a different way.

This Top 5 List has been created by Thomas Meek of Great Britain. Thomas is a Scot by birth according to the data he supplied to THE FUTURIST!, but for some reason he migrated to the environs of Dickens, Trollope and Jack the Ripper. Thomas came to THE FUTURIST!'s attention through the auspices of David Quin (whose name has arisen in other posts on this blog, as well as on the Scotland police blotter.) Mr. Quin and Mr. Meek partnered on this past Summer's Free Ed Podcast which was an interview show of sorts featuring performers from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. THE FUTURIST! listened to all of the podcasts. They started off totally incomprehensible and got progressively more incomprehensible to the point that THE FUTURIST! hired a dialect coach from the Utter Despair Community College to sit with him during his listening sessions. The coach helped a bit, but mostly drank THE FUTURIST!'s gin and ate his olives. All honesty aside, the podcasts did get better and reached an apex of ego inflation for THE FUTURIST! due to his name being mentioned in the last broadcast. THE FUTURIST! felt the best times were when the boys talked to each other in their unrehearsed way and not when they spoke to their guests. That of course was not the point of the podcast, but who cares? Funny is funny. The best is the unexpected.

Thomas seems to be he more "put together" of the two. More well-scrubbed and is one of those type of individuals that does justice to an argyle sweater vest. THE FUTURIST! has no idea what Thomas does for a living, but he occasionally writes jokes like these:

I want to make a joke exactly 30 seconds from now,
but I'm worried it might be too soon.

Worried that my jokes are too inaccessible.
I mean, they're all about wheelchair users

Richard Gere earns a lot of money for a Buddhist.
It's an embarrassment of Rich's

I don't like to discuss my computer. It's personal.

New sitcom idea about a sentient typewriter. It writes itself.

This hotel receptionist is really into me.
She's totally checking me out.

Thomas has been kind enough to supply THE FUTURIST! with this lovely list. It contains profanity, but is very well written and is very involved. IT is not a conventional scary movie list, but you'll get the point. The work put into it is much appreciated.

Thomas, THE FUTURIST! loves you.

THOMAS MEEK'S TOP 5 LIST OF "SCARY" MOVIES
(there is a preface written by Mr. Meek)

I should preface this list with an admission – I don't really watch scary movies. Or watch scary TV shows (Twilight Zone and Eerie Indiana aside, but my reasons for watching them have nothing to do with terrors – more comedy and curiosity). I really just don't indulge in any activities that can be qualified as frightening in any true sense.

Not that I'm a wimp or a child (I have 23 unsatisfied years to my name), I just find it very hard to be entertained by something that's main purpose is to provide some cathartic glimpse into the fears that prick each person's soul, yet seem to have no relevance for me.

I don't fear zombies, I don't fear ghosts, I don't fear vampires; they don't exist. And I don't fear serial killers, psychopathic axe welders, nor being impregnated by the devil; these events are rare and isolated.

That said, there are films I do find terrifying. Though you're not likely to find these films in the horror section of any Global Video. The things that scare me on screen are the things that scare me in real life. And these five films provide a glimpse into what erects my nips.

1. HOME ALONE
This is the obvious place to start, and truly one of the most terrifying situations brought to life on screen. There is a boy. He is at home. He is at home, alone. Without parents or family or any responsible guardian of any sort (I don't count old, black and white gangster films). And this boy, who is both at home and alone, is being preyed upon by two ruthless, if incompetent, fully grown criminals. This is a horrifying position for anyone to be in, but for a child, who must be at most eight-years-old (the film may clarify this, I am unsure – I'm too scared to watch it again) it is unimaginable and grotesque. These men seem to just have material goods on their mind, but their pursuit is relentless and, for a fevered young mind such as mine, the violation of the childhood home – this womblike sanctuary of family and love – is more horrendous than any ghoul or goblin. And these men are criminals! Their morals are made clear to be lacking by the admittedly tight script, and who knows what more they could have violated. And one of them is fucking Joe Pesci! An actual mother tossing gangster who shoots people in the foot for no real reason. Home Alone is not a fun family comedy. It is a childhood nightmare of invasion, with the real potential of rape, pain and death glossed over with some pratfalls and tins of paint.

2. P.S., I LOVE YOU
I mainly choose this film from my (very) masculine perspective. In that, it unrealistically raises the expectations of what women can expect from men. To express genuine devotional love to a female companion whilst still alive is a tough ask for any man, but to do so whilst buried six feet underground with a brain full of tumour is, at best, bloody impossible. Yet, this is the actual, proper, genuine premise for this romantic horror. Nothing I do, no matter how real and personal it is, will ever match Gerard 'him?' Butler doing a stupid dance while taking off his underwear then getting all ill and moaning about it then leaving some stupid, sodding letter about life and possibilities and moving on in some shed in Ireland for Hilary 'her?' Swank to find and realise stuff as her big droopy, wet face gets even droopier and wet. The horror! I've bought lollipops for people who can't eat chocolate!!! Where's my prize? Where's my 2 hour shit film? Where's my blow job from a droopy-faced Oscar winning actress?!?! People with brain tumours and the ability to write sentimental balls are the luckiest people alive! Though not for much longer. Natch. The film also has Camera Obscura on the soundtrack. This is terrifying too in that such an amazing band would let such an obviously terrible film make use of its music.

3. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
This film has two of my most feared things of all time – sentient machines and giant babies. Thus its place on the list. I'd also rank this in my top five films of all time, as it also beautiful, graceful and poignant in a way only true masterworks of art are, but damn, that baby is giant! And with the big old eyes! And its foetal curve – you can see its hideous spine contracting into that terrifying, uncomfortable shape as the links form bumps through the skin, reminding of a thousand pictures of the holocaust and groups of starving Jews, skeletons protruding and eyes pleading. Horrible. The sentient machine part is also absurdly chilling, but in a genuine, purposeful way that other people have covered far better than I could. It is horrible though isn't it?

4. THE GRADUATE
Similarly to 2001, The Graduate would also be in my top five movies of all time. In fact, it'd be there sitting pretty at number one, urinating on all beneath it as Revolutionary Road and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Cyrstal Skull drown in piss at the very bottom. For it is immaculate, and heartbreaking. And absolutely terrifying beyond any other fear portrayed on celluloid. For it is the scare that makes this movie. And that scare is that there is no such thing as a happy ending. If you haven't seen this movie, stop doing everything and just watch it by any means. Usually just buying the DVD is okay, but you can get a time machine and travel back in time and watch it at the cinema if you must, or get Dustin Hoffman et al to recreate each individual scene for you in front of your ungrateful eyes. But he probably wouldn't do that. He has his limits. For those who have seen it though, those final 30 seconds are as spine-chilling and nerve-tingling as any knife in the throat or wail in the night. Hoffman has got the girl. But he has ruined the lives of two families. And he is not sure if he has made the right choice. Decisions are terrifying. Knowing one of your decisions has made someone else unhappy is terrifying. Knowing one of your decisions has made yourself unhappy, with no way to get out, is nail-biting, sofa-hiding stuff. We like to seek our happy ending, but when we make the decision that seems to make that happen and we're still unhappy, that is the stuff that keeps us awake at night. The Graduate is the closest a film has ever got to realising our deepest fear – being unhappy and not having a clue how to change that feeling.

5. EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED
I've not actually seen this film, but I've read about it and that was enough to give me the willies. This is a film about evolution. Denouncing evolution that is, with claims that belief in this 'theory' was, in part, to blame for the holocaust. Standard stuff from batshit insane right-wing middle-America? Well, yes. But the terrifying thing about Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is who made it. For the co-writer and star of this (probable) crapathon is Ben Stein, aka the teacher in Ferris Beuller's Day Off. You know, the one who goes 'Bueller? Bueller?' for ages and its hilarious. And he's also done voices in Animaniacs and Fairly Odd Parents and other great stuff. Yet he's a fucking mental! A man, so once beloved, who offers one of the best moments in a movie packed full of amazing moments, is responsible for such deranged toss. That's far more scary and distressing than any secluded log cabin.

Libra Birthday Salute



SHOCKtober postings will be interrupted briefly
by the monthly Harvey Sid Fisher Horoscope Song.
Well, actually when you think about it, Harvey Sid Fisher's
singing fits right into SHOCKtober. So scary, isn't it?
Harvey seems to be getting really desperate with his lyrics.
He is working in the scale symbolism of the LIBRA sign with some
references to a person born under the sign and dieting.

And it appears that his red headed dancer is BACK!
Harvey spends quite a bit of his performance staring at her
and smiling as she shimmies in her belly dancing outfit.
Harvey is in love again ... working in the line
"taking good care of my body" into the LIBRA song.
Oh, Harvey, you smiling insinuating rogue!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Saturday Music to Read Patricia Highsmith By

THE FUTURIST! had read all but one of the Tom Ripley novels written by Patricia Highsmith. He was quite anxious to see the filmed version of the very first in the series of books. Highsmith writes devious, deadly psychological thrillers about sociopaths who desire much ... and most of the time it is to absorb the very being of another ... morally effete empty men like her character in Hitchcock's filmed adaptation of her novel STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. There is a heavy undertone of homosexual longing that, not satisfied due to the hesitancy of latent feelings, erupts into murder. Ripley will use anyone he can to gain what he wants. A handsome conniving psychotic who goes through life playing a charade. The books were very good, but the film had a different quality that Highsmith never injected. The film Ripley was made sympathetic and portrayed as a sad man ... who could never love or allow love due to his crimes and his masquerades. THE FUTURIST! found the movie to convey a whole different mood than the novels. It wasn't something that bothered THE FUTURIST!. He tries to ALWAYS separate one medium from another ... different takes on an idea ... a book can never be THE movie or vice versa. This film, however, made THE FUTURIST! feel very melancholy and felt a semblance of understanding of some of the cinematic Ripley's feelings. THE FUTURIST! would never take an oar to a friend, of course. But, he might hit Philip Seymour Hoffman with an Italian marble bust.

Please enjoy this piece from the soundtrack composed by Gabriel Yared. THE FUTURIST! owns this soundtrack and loved the flow of the Ripley theme throughout the film. There is even a lovely Italian-styled version on the CD. This piece expresses the thoughts in Ripley's head and the increasing mounting jealousy, mania and insanity. IT is pure movie music that brings the film (and it's mood) to mind whenever it is heard.

Listen:


CRAZY TOM
composed by Gabriel Yared
from the motion picture
THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999)

Friday, October 8, 2010

When Movie Posters Were Worth Looking At

This is one of THE FUTURIST!'s
favorite movie posters.
It's wonderfully designed by
cartoonist Charles Addams.
(CLICK on image for full splendor and detail)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

THE FUTURIST! Asks ...

What could this very scary dream*,
that he had last night, possibly mean?



*dream visual provided by the
Seussonoras Cerebral Slumber Sensor
(patent pending)

Special SHOCKtober Model

Sunday, October 3, 2010

A Moment with Liquor: Basil Rathbone on Leisy's Beer



Basil Rathbone, star of SON OF FRANKENSTEIN and numerous
Sherlock Holmes' film adventures, seems to have hit bottom if this video
is any indication. Mr. Rathbone is sipping one beer after another in his
living room while making believe he is watching a cardboard television.
THE FUTURIST! has never heard of Leisy's Light Beer. Does it still exist?
Don't you love that fluted 1950s beer glass?
THE FUTURIST! asks you to listen at the 1:44 mark, when you
can hear the semi-sloshed Rathbone make a wincing noise as he reaches
for his last glass of Leisy's Light Beer.
THE FUTURIST! thinks that at this point in his career,
Rathbone would have imbibed elephant urine in order to stay afloat financially.
There is a sense of the smell of a rotting once famous snobbish
superiority in this video ...
that "lost Hollywood once on top of the heap" class finding solace in a glass.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Saturday Music to Experiment with in Terror

THE FUTURIST! has a soft spot in his hard heart for the films of director Blake Edwards. He can't explain why ... some are great ... some are okay ... some are awful, but he loves them all. (THE FUTURIST! recommends A SPLURCH IN THE KISSER: THE FILMS OF BLAKE EDWARDS by Sam Wasson - CLICK HERE!) Edwards has a great eye for slapstick and that could be the reason why THE FUTURIST! is such a fan. His eye for frame composition involving a pratfall or sight gag is flawless. Edwards was a fan of early silent comedy and it shows brilliantly in some of his films.

He made lots of comedies. But, he, also, made some dramas and thrillers. The music featured today is by his longtime collaborator Henry Mancini. It is from the thriller EXPERIMENT IN TERROR starring Lee Remick and Glenn Ford. THE FUTURIST! has never seen this film, but heard this theme at a friend's house. IT is fantastic. Perfect for SHOCKtober!

Listen:


Theme from EXPERIMENT IN TERROR
composed by Henry Mancini
from the film EXPERIMENT IN TERROR (1962)