Midnight Movie of the Week #195 - The Shining

One of the biggest challenges I face as a guy who writes these kind of things is coming up with something new to say about movies that have been dissected for ages by smarter and wiser folks than I. I get excited when I have the chance to share my love for an obscure and/or less-respected film, because it's easier for me to develop a personal connection with that movie and I feel like I'm accomplishing something when I start to talk about that movie. But, when I start talking about a movie I love that everyone else loves I can sometimes get intimidated. Some movies are so widely loved that it really does feel like there's nothing left to discuss about them.

One such movie is The Shining, which I've wanted to add to the Midnight Movie of the Week pile for ages yet have always been afraid to write about. And when I sat down with the newly released documentary Room 237 this week, I became completely aware of something I'd always assumed to be true - The Shining has been devoured by more intellectuals than any other horror movie ever made.

The good thing is that Room 237 gave me something of a cheat sheet for thinking about The Shining, though the effect it had on me is not the effect that was intended by many of the contributors to that film. For those who are not familiar with the documentary, Room 237 is explained in subtitle as "Being an inquiry into THE SHINING in 9 parts" and is in actuality filmmaker Rodney Ascher's mash-up of theories about Stanley Kubrick's horror film. That sounds like a boring idea for a movie - until you realize just how entertaining some of the crazy theories about The Shining that are floating around out there are.

Ascher took a very simple approach to making his film - he went out and found a few well-spoken, intelligent people who had spent too much time analyzing The Shining, and then he let them share their opinions and theories. The results are as wildly entertaining as Kubrick's film itself, because these commentators turn The Shining into everything from a metaphor for the destruction of native American races (which seems slightly plausible) to an admission that Kubrick helped fake the moon landing (which seems bat-stuff crazy). The ideas expressed within Room 237 can seem very ridiculous, which is exactly why the film becomes so engrossing, even when it seems that the "proof" behind most of the theories is "Kubrick was really smart and there's no way he didn't mean something with every detail."  (I don't buy in to that mindset, but I like that people have it.)

While the ideas of the people in Room 237 seem like poppycock, the fact that people actually spent the time thinking about them and have convinced themselves to believe in them is terrifically exciting. As a film nerd I've always believed there's a great value in being able to come up with your own ideas about the movie you're watching, and that any movie that will inspire you to reconsider its reality is a movie worth talking about. And that matters, even if you're wrong about the movie. As a writer, I admit to often pitching my own perceptions of a movie and making assumptions about a film's meaning - that's essentially what film commentary is - and I love the idea that these people are out there obsessing this strongly over a film like The Shining.

Room 237 does not explain The Shining. I want that to be clear and - judging by the disclaimer at the beginning of the film and twice on the DVD packaging - Ascher wants that to be clear too. But Room 237 does perfectly explain why The Shining is such a memorable film. Kubrick turned Stephen King's novel into a nightmare, and the result is the kind of lucid dream that someone might have after they read the novel. It isn't true to the page and it doesn't always make sense and - just like a great nightmare - it leaves itself open to interpretation.

I've seen The Shining dozens of times, and I'm still not sure what my interpretation of the film is. Maybe Jack Torrance was just a crazy guy and the final shot was Kubrick's way of messing with the audience. Maybe it was just a parable about being stuck in purgatory and how parents drag their children to Hell with them. Maybe it's just an excuse to axe Scatman Crothers in the gut. I don't know. But, like the people in Room 237, I love thinking about it. I love talking about it. And now, thanks to Room 237, I'm excited to watch it one more time and to re-live that impossible nightmare known as The Shining.

Midnight Movie of the Week #194 - The Warriors

Any list of the coolest movies ever made is invalid if it does not mention The Warriors. There are few times when I will say that a movie is unquestionably worthy of praise, that the movie's brilliance is an actual fact, but The Warriors is simply cool. There can be no question, from the pulsating montage that opens the film to the final shot that hangs out behind the end credits, that Walter Hill and company made a gangland epic that is without equal.

The trick to understanding just how cool The Warriors, however, is realizing that it's more than just a gang movie. A short sighted viewer with strict morals might look at the film as an excuse to show gang violence and a glorification of the lifestyle. It's hard to argue against that to an extent - the fact is that everyone in the movie is a member of a criminal organization (unless they're a cop) - but it's more important to look at the film's reality instead of our reality. In the film's world, where the late night hours in New York City seem to belong only to the gangs, the only thing that matters is survival. And in that reality, it's easy to start seeing that The Warriors has its heart in a much less sinister place.

If you're unfamiliar with The Warriors - and I'm incredibly sorry if you are - the basic set-up is very simple. All of the "major league" gangs in New York City have agreed to send nine delegates to a meeting in the city where Cyrus, president of the top gang in the city, has something to say. It's supposed to be a peaceful discussion, with Cyrus giving one of the all-time most iconic speeches on film, except that one ornery gang decides they don't like it and shoots Cyrus dead. The ensuing scuffles sees the title gang, a rather vanilla outfit in red leather vests from Coney Island, accused of the murder and having their "warlord" slain, leaving the eight remaining members to try and get home while every gang in the city is ordered to hunt them down by Cyrus' disciples.

If this idea was pitched today, it's hard to see it being made as a film and not a video game. The set up is almost perfect for that medium; starting with a short intro and a crisis that puts the heroes in peril and then allowing waves of opponents of varying skill and difficulty to challenge them on their way to their goal. It makes perfect sense that The Warriors was adapted for consoles by video game giant Rockstar Games in 2005 (it's actually one of the better film-to-video-game adaptations out there), and looking at the film after seeing that game makes it almost impossible for me to not look at the film as a video game movie that was made in advance.

With such a simple premise, it's everything else in the film that Hill manages to make so cool. That really begins with Cyrus, the idealistic Jesus figure whose "Can you dig it?" exclamation has become a pop culture mainstay. The actor who plays Cyrus, Roger Hill, is just one of the relatively unknown actors in the film (there are a few recognizable faces, but the biggest star of the film is probably Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? hostess Lynne Thigpen as the mostly unseen disc-jokey who advances the plot a few times), but his one-scene performance perfectly makes us accept the film's conflict. Other performances vary in quality - lead Michael Beck seems to spend most of his time standing very still and looking concerned-but-chill, while seedy David Patrick Kelly is perfectly unhinged as the unhinged little gangster who is responsible for The Warriors' plight - but everyone seems to be adequate for their part in the film.

By traditional standards The Warriors probably doesn't measure up to most filmmaking standards, and it's easy to see why critics in its time primarily wrote it off as a failure. But the intangibles that make The Warriors such a memorable and enjoyable film have maintained for nearly 35 years, and now we're at the point where the film is certainly one of the most loved cult films out there. Forget the plot, forget the gang affiliation, forget that the lead is there because of his abs - just sit back and experience The Warriors. You'll be glad you did.

Predator - The Musical!

I'm not usually one to just post videos, but in honor of a) my most popular and controversial post ever, b) a former Midnight Movie of the Week, and c) one of my very favorite movies ever, I just had to share this amazing Youtube hit.  BEHOLD!

I know what I'm singing in the shower for the rest of eternity.

The Halloween Weekend 2010 Horror Movie Recap (Part Two)

Read Part One HERE!

(Note from The Mike: While reading part one over, I realized that I often spent time blaming things on "the ladies".  This isn't intended to be a sexist gesture, as I find that most "ladies" are amazing and awesome and should be revered.  It must be noted that a) these ladies are great people who I am wicked fond of (including my (O)PP co-host The H-Bomb (who is also my arch nemesis)), and b) they're also the kind of ladies that are old friends and hadn't seen each other in a while...and thus they couldn't shut their yappers.  So, know that I am not opposed to ladies, I am opposed to movie-watching yappers.)

Now on to Part Two!

Sunday, October 31st
HALLOWEEN

OK, so I survived two nights of light crowds.  Now it's game time.  After I made it through a wicked cool Packers win (like I said, can't give up my football, as awesome as horror is), it was on to an 8-hour "Scary Movie-Athon" that my friends set up.  Of course, I was in charge of movies.  (And nachos, which are my specialty.  YUM.)

(Before we begin, mini-rant time!  I hate, hate, HATE the term "scary movies".  They're horror movies.  And when someone tells me "Bring something scary!", how the heck am I supposed to know what to bring?  I don't know their fears, and what's scary to me might not be scary to the next person.  Case in point - Prince of Darkness, which I covered in Part One.  I am honestly scared by that movie, despite its silliness, because I get scared at the idea of an evil force entering our world.  Yet those who don't care to think about that won't find it scary.  Some are scared of other things that don't scare me at all.  It's all about their personal perspective!

Next time someone asks me for scary movies, I'm sitting them down for a counseling session until they tell me their deepest fears.  That oughta teach 'em.)

Movie #1 - We started the day off with The Strangers.  I threw this into the mix at the beginning of the weekend because it was kind of recent, and because I knew it was the kind of movie that a normal crowd would at least find creepy.  I'm still not totally sold on the flick - I think the ending goes way too torture porn, and now that I've seen Inside it seems trite - but it's a fun diversion with some great imagery.  (Speaking of Inside, I totally decided that my close friends and I are going to have a foreign horror night soon.  They can't stop me, I'm a force of nature.  It will happen.)

With the crowd up to 8 at this point (5 dudes, 3 dudettes), there was a lot of discussion going around the room.  Myself and a friend got a little too chatty at one point, when I remembered that this was the summer where this film and the July release of The Incredible Hulk made it very clear that Liv Tyler had "had some work done" to make her not look like her dad anymore.  (Now THAT, might be sexist.  And a bit rude.)

Most of the crowd had a lot of trouble with Scott Speedman, too, as we spent a large amount of time discussing his similarities to Scott Caan.  In fact, when the final credits rolled, one of the ladies exclaimed in surprise when she found out it actually was Scott Speedman.  As a light (yet dark) starter for the day, people had fun with it...mostly because the images of the titular Strangers were creeping them out, I think.

Movie #2 - After a quick food break because the nachos were done (and delicious), we sat through the process of my friends trying to hook up their XBox so we could watch Paranormal Activity on Netflix Instant Watch.

I did not want Paranormal Activity involved in the day.  This was not part of my plan.  Still, I intended on bringing a copy of the film because they requested it (I mean, I do like the film, I'm just a little sick of hearing about it), but I totally forgot it in favor of my crock pot when I was leaving home.  (I get a little mush-brained when I'm excited about my Packers winning.)

I feel like I've said everything I have to say about this movie already.  But I was surprised that our crowd (now up to 10 people...big Iowan party!) a) had not seen it, and b) primarily had a lot of fun with it.  There was a lot of commentary about Micah's douchebaggery, as there should be, but there were still a lot of exclamations of discomfort during the film, even if we did watch it during daylight (to protect us from evil, naturally).  So I guess giving up control worked in this situation, because there were surprisingly few complaints about this flick.

Movie #3 - Darkness had crossed the land before we got movie number 3 queued up, and this time I was taking control of the situation.  This was the moment I'd been waiting for, the hidden agenda among my selections for the weekend was now coming to pass.  I was not taking no for an answer; I was putting in the next DVD no matter what people said.

The film? Suspiria.

Yes, this was the moment where I stopped being a "This is something they might like!" guy and became a "Y'all are watching this and y'all are gonna like it!" guy.  I knew days, maybe even weeks in advance that this was the best chance I'd ever have to introduce them to Argento.  And in my heart, I knew that they NEEDED to be introduced to Argento.  Of course, before starting, I had to offer disclaimers about the blood being made of paint and about the dialogue being heavily dubbed due to language barriers.  I also told them that this was "kind of a big deal" and that Argento has been called "The Italian Hitchcock".  No pressure there, Mikey boy.

The look of the film, with its vibrant colors and wicked Goblin score, won over the crowd for the most part, but they lost the plot pretty easily and were back in "let's determine why the characters' actions are illogical" mode.  When I told them "It's going to get weird here" right before the final scenes, they of course responded with "Compared to what it's already been?"  Nice comeback, you cheeky monkeys!

So yeah, I don't think anyone's gonna rush out and buy their own copy of Suspiria, sadly.  But I know - deep down inside I know - that someday soon one of them will say something to the effect of "Hey, what was that one movie called that one time?  The one with the bright colors at the ballet school?"  And when I remind them it was Suspiria, they'll say something along the lines of "That flick was so cool!"

I believe it, because I have to hold on to the hope that everyone will love Argento someday.

(Also, the crowd decided to cast Harry Potter starlet Emma Watson as the lead in a potential remake of Suspiria.  Sad thing is, I kinda see it.)

Movie #4 - About half the crowd cleared out by the time we were prepping for the fourth movie of the day.  Among the leftover horrors I'd brought, there weren't many heavyweights left, so we threw in Pumpkinhead to end the evening.

This was the first time I'd seen the film in widescreen, having recently updated from the old P&S DVD, and I was very impressed by the presentation.  This is a film that had terrified me on VHS when I was 9 years old (I think it may have been the first R-rated film I was shown), and I still get a little creeped by the monster.

Of course, the big story of the viewing among the crowd was that a) one of the young backwoods girls was in some TV show with Claire Danes, and b) another of the wee lasses was Mayim Bialik of Blossom fame.  That's right, Blossom herself.  WHOA.

(On a random film criticism note, it always makes me laugh when we randomly see Lance Henriksen's Ed Harley using a flamethrower to start a fire in the film's opening scene.  One of the great "Gee, you gotta wonder if that's gonna come into play later on...." moments in film history.)

So, the film happened quickly, I enjoyed it, everyone else was pretty much dead, and the night ended with one of my favorite on-screen demons ever.  All 13 people who watched horror films at some point over the weekend lived to see another day.

Closing Thoughts:
When I started Part One yesterday, I noted that I sometimes dread this experience.  I'm not sure why, as I'm thankful as can be to have been blessed with friends who're at least willing to try these films out.  I could have gotten booted from the place the minute I suggested a 33 year old Italian film or a film about a vat of liquid Satan, but I didn't.  And even though the approach these people have to films doesn't match my vigor, I can't say they don't show an interest.

Still the difficulty remains when trying to determine what horrors fans of "normal" cinema will find effective.  I can't say I was very surprised by the results, and I kinda wish I had taken a couple of shots with less known flicks (I can't think of any good examples, except something like Triangle which I'd already shown some of them).  Good thing is, I know I'll keep trying to figure it out.  Halloween's more than one weekend out of the year in The Mike's land.

The Halloween Weekend 2010 Horror Movie Recap (Part One)

I'll be honest and up front with you all as I start this off: As much as I love Halloween, I kind of dread the actual holiday, particularly when it falls on a weekend.  It's not the stupid people out on the streets (not to mention that I live in a college town and it was also Homecoming this weekend) that I dread, it's not the choosing of a costume (didn't even get into my crate of masks this year, sadly) that gives me fear.  It's having to pick movies for all those friends and acquaintances who want to see "scary" movies that drives me batty.

In my time as an awesome horror fan who's wicked cool, I've come to accept the fact that a lot of people - like, at least 96.3% of people - don't mesh well with horror cinema.  Some just are too wussy to watch anything that might scare them, some can't suspend disbelief at all, and some just don't seem willing to care about horror films.  Yet, when Halloween comes around, they suddenly want to be scared.  My friends, who are also awesome and wicked cool, try harder to be part of the other 3.7% than most sane people would.  And I still have trouble pleasing their urge for scares.

Does that deter me from trying?  No, because I'm way too much of a control freak to let Halloween off that easy.  So now, I'm gonna go all Randy Meeks and tell y'all how the weekend of viewing went.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29th
Movie #1 - After I escaped my workplace, I settled in at home with some time to kill and some writing to get done.  Since I was writing about Halloween for the Locus Focus thang over at Shredded Cheddar (CHEAP PLUG!), I popped in the blu-ray of said film.  I actually ended up watching it, then starting back at the point where the film enters Haddonfield and watching it again.  It's my favorite horror, so of course I love it.  I will add the blu-ray kind of cheapens the film to me, as have the last few DVD editions.  The colors just aren't right, and the soundtrack is too clean.  I'll be happy to stick with my original Anchor Bay DVD next time I want to watch it.

Movie #2 - After I finished up some writing and some real-world work stuff, it was off to start the weekend of horror (and football, I can't very well give that up on a fall weekend) with some friends.  It was a small crowd to start, a total of four viewers, and I was presented a pre-ordered late birthday gift from my friends: a blu-ray copy of Psycho.  The friends who had bought it for me have acquired my love for Hitchcock over the years, so it was quickly put in the player and enjoyed by all.  My weekend was two-for-two....but it was almost too easy.

(By the way, the blu-ray is pretty good.  The picture is fantastically crisp, and the sound is really impressive.  Didn't have a chance to get into the features, but it looks like a great package.)

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30th

After a morning of tailgating and an afternoon ISU victory (GO STATE!), we were back for a couple more flicks.  The crowd was up to six viewers now, with a former roommate who was used to sharing horrors with me joining the crowd, and I had my bag of goodies that I chose for the weekend ready to go.  While they were debating which flick we should pick (for the life of me, I can NOT figure out what my old roommate has against Creepshow - he clearly must be evil), I may have jumped the gun a bit and made the decision for them.

Movie #3 - Thus, I popped in my copy of John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness and let 'er rip.  I made sure to use the term "vat of liquid Satan" about 36 times in the minute before I hit play, because I wanted to make sure they understood that this movie takes place on a slightly different plane of existence than they're used to.  For the most part, they missed that message.

Now, I love the heck out of Prince of Darkness.  I think it's dark and creepy, and I dig the crazy religious horror it offers.  As a horror fan, it doesn't bother me when a green satanic liquid squirts at a radiologist with glasses and she happens to have her mouth open.  That's just what NEEDS to happen at that moment in the movie, and I'm good with that.  To them (particularly the lady folks in the room), that was a bit ridiculous.  As were the swarms of bugs, the mirror imagery, and the dreams.  Ahhhhh, the dreams.  My favorite part of the movie.  I don't think they cared for the dreams.

There were a few "ewww"s and "ahhhh"s, and I was a little surprised by how well they reacted to the epic scene involving Alice Cooper and a half-bike, but in general I'm afraid I'd have to put this in the loss column.  They just weren't in my head on this one.  That's OK though, I still loved it.

(The ladies also seemed offended by the fact that the African American character, once doomed, sings 'Amazing Grace'.  Racism or creepiness?  I say creepiness.  That dude rules.)

Movie #4 - After the ladies deemed that flick ridiculous, they decided that the next movie needed to be something "scary".  This is one of my biggest pet peeves in flick watching, but I let it roll this time (more on that in Part Two).  I talked them into trying what might be my favorite haunted house film, The Legend of Hell House.  Buzzword to coaching them up for this flick? "Weird sexual stuff".  They, of course, asked if this was a porno.  (I'm not sure why my friends assume I'm going to bring over a porno some day.  Seriously, the closest I ever came to bringing a porno was the time I showed them Straw Dogs.  And I honestly had forgotten about the rape scene.)

Of course, the ladies that were so ridiculousized by the previous movie fell asleep soon after this one started.  The rest of us had a lot of fun trying to figure it out, and I had one of those "Whoa, I really love this movie more than I remember" experiences.  It's such a rich film with all kinds of odd stuff, and unpredictable too.  The ending is much maligned, but I liked it more this time.  It didn't go over poorly with the couple of friends that made it through it, either.  I call it a win, but only because the ladies stopped their yabbering.  (Also, Gayle Hunnicutt is amazing in this movie.  Just had to say it.)

In fact, that's probably my second biggest pet peeve about watching these flicks with people.  When you invite people over to watch movies, and want to experience something from the movies...you should probably commit to not talking about random events throughout the entire movie.  We had to rewind a couple of times early in this flick, because of talking over the exposition; and I had to do Cliff's Notes of Prince of Darkness at many moments.  Next year, I'm only taking silent horror movies.  That'll teach 'em.

Read Part Two HERE!