Film Forno

Here’s a British Film Show called Arena. David Lynch is the host and he discusses Surrealist Films and the influence they had on him. Bad quality tape but a great show.

Hear Kubrick talk about and put down his first film. Then watch it for yourself and make up your own mind.

I just happened to watch Killers From Space today on YouTube. This is a movie I loved as a kid, a scene from it, where Peter Graves is menaced by a giant Gila Monster was in the Chiller Theater credit sequence!

It had a lot going for it, the desert, atomic bomb tests aliens with big bulging eyes, giant insects and lizards, stock footage of jets scrambling, A bombs blasting, military stuff up the wazoo, all things I was into as a 10 year old.

by the way this is Warren Oates in an episode of The Outer Limits that looks influenced by Killers From Space!

Anyway I noticed some strange similarities to the latest season of Twin Peaks, which I think was groundbreaking! Amazing! Visionary! I loved it. OK first of all the Atomic Bomb plays a big role in both, in Killers From Space the aliens use the bomb to mutate insects and reptiles to giant size to destroy humanity, in Twin Peaks the A bomb mutates a weird insect lizard thing that winds up down some poor girls throat. In KFS the aliens have strange uniforms, the belts of which bear a resemblance to the iconic zigzag pattern of the Black Lodge

and when the head alien is getting a report from one of his minions, the minion speaks in reverse! I don’t know if it was a subconcious influence or what. Did David Lynch see this gem as a kid with a Dan’l Boone coonskin cap on? Could be! Here it is on Youtube decide for yourself!

Here is one of the all time great newspaper movies. With Bogey, Ethel Barrymore and Kim Hunter. Written and Directed by Richard Brooks, based on the demise of The New York Sun, a paper that folded in 1931. I think it’s very relevant these days with all the attacks on the press and newspapers shutting down. We need newspapers and reporters to keep letting us know about all the crimes and corruption that infects our cities and government. And now you can watch it on YouTube.

Here’s an interview with the amazing Peter Sellers. Star of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, he played Dr. Strangelove and several other parts in that film.
I know several people that worked on that film, Pablo Ferro, who did the incredible title sequence and Ray Lovejoy, he was the assistant editor on Strangelove. He was bumped up to editor on Kubrick’s next film, 2001, a Space Odyssey. He worked with Kubrick for many years.

Check out this all girl Muslim Heavy Metal Band! You can’t stop cross cultural idea exchange.

This is amazing footage of a maestro at work on his first film in color. I have seen this footage in color, I’ll try to find it again. The thing that gets me is when you watch the film, everything is so beautiful. The house, the lawn, the sangria, but when you watch this behind the scenes footage it all looks like it’s made of cardboard, ready to fall apart, it has none of the richness the camera gives it. This is the power of Cinema.

July 30 is Bava’s birthday so to celebrate here’s a link to a film

How did the great Michelangelo Antonioni get started one might ask? He was a painter and had written film criticism. After the war he got a chance to make some short documentaries. Already you can see his talent for capturing atmospheric images, the importance of the settings he places his characters in, see the artist finding his palette, his voice, his vision. Here for your viewing pleasure are two of his documentaries. Gente del Po, a film about the inhabitants of an area in Italy, centering on the Po river and N.U. about the street sweepers of Roma. Enjoy!

Here is a Hi Def copy of Bava’s amazing movie. He was able to accomplish so much with so little, the style and atmosphere are outstanding. Harken back to an innocent time when filmmaking was fun and there was an audience for cool movies like this. Bring back the Drive-In Theater!

Here’s a great interview with Mellville, Ventura and Meurisse as they made Le Deuxieme Souffle. I think Melville was difficult to work with, suing everyone including his own actors! You can pick up on the subtext in the actors interviews. From what I hear Ventura and Melville would not even speak to each other on Army Of Shadows. But he was a great filmmaker.