Friday Song: The George Baker Selection

In honor of the upcoming release of INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, I thought I’d be a bit obvious and throw in the title song from Tarantino’s landmark, RESERVOIR DOGS. The first time I became aware of the film was hearing about the script gaining fans in Hollywood. I was living in Long Beach, working at Broadway Video (video store clerks 4 eva!), and on my Friday night shift, right after again popping in XANADU to torture my co-workers (I also told anybody who would listen at the time that a Broadway musical version would make bank), I grabbed my ritualistic LA Weekly and there on the cover was QT’s mug. We had a fresh copy of RESERVOIR DOGS on video, and I watched it with curious anticipation to see if the film matched the hype. Of course. I was sold on the intro diner scene and the brief opening title with George Baker’s catchy, thumping “Little Green Bag” that propels you into the 70′s pop noir of Tarantino’s Los Angeles crime world. And now, little man, I give you the original 1969 promo-film for “Little Green Bag.”

COPS!

No racism here, folks. Move along. Or else:

“He is a suspect and always will be a suspect. His first priority of concern should be to get off the phone and comply with police, for if I was the officer he verbally assaulted like a banana-eating jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC deserving of his belligerent non-compliance.”

- Boston Officer Justin Barret, now an ex-officer

Terminator 4: Ghost Town

More scorched earth policy from another disastrous Republican that too many Democrats helped instill. Time for another Total Recall sequel…

“Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”

Sign O’ The Times:

For four decades, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has fed film aficionados a steady diet of movie classics — retrospectives that included works from Roman Polanski, Cary Grant, Ernst Lubitsch and, in a current series, James Mason. But the museum’s weekend film program was losing both money and its audience, and LACMA said Tuesday that it was pulling the plug on its cinematic centerpiece.

“This is a company town and of all the museums in the country to not show film, this is the last one [that shouldn't],” said veteran producer Lawrence Turman (“The Graduate,” “American History X”) who also serves as director of the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC. “If I were on the board I’d say ‘Let’s go to every studio and see if they will pitch in.’ “

Dynamite!

I still have all of mine.

Favorite TV Scene Theater: Spaced (1999)

Although I was well aware of this British series that launched Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg into SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004), I’d never got around to viddying it until recently. And better late than never, because SPACED is brilliant, quite brilliant. The humor flips from reality to surreality in a way that most shows can only copy without the theme or feeling or cleverness of Pegg, Wright and co-star and co-creator Jessica Hynes. The cultural tone of the series is slacker geek chic late 90′s Euro-style, which just adds to my affection for the show. And it knows how to get its Geek Chic On.

Wright shows a lot of mad directorial skillz while Pegg is as perfect a comedic TV lead as one could want. Jessica Hynes is charming incarnate (love her Tekken argument win) and their masculin/feminin contrast is nicely played along with the de rigeur set of wacky friends and neighbors (including wild man Nick Frost). There’s even a fantastic soundtrack. Announced to be remade without the consent of the show’s creators, SPACED is a show that Americans couldn’t or shouldn’t duplicate, as there’s a subtlty that can’t be transposed, such as the truthful, casual references to drugs. Here’s my favorite bit from the series (among many), one that captures the 90′s house-rave cultural aspect to the era, but with a satirical, hilarious eye — yes, you have to click on youtube to watch:

Friday Song: Philip Glass

One reason to love Los Angeles is the fact that I can go a mile up the street to the iconic Hollywood Bowl and for 10 dollars, see 1982′s KOYAANISQATSI (“Life out of balance”) with the famous score performed live by the Philip Glass Ensemble and the LA Philharmonic. Glass is undoubtedly my favorite modern composer, and whenever somebody bags on me for liking him, I glibly reply that I just love the notes he repeats over and over. He’s worked in all fields of sound, from co-writing with Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, to interpreting David Bowie and Brian Eno’s work, to operas with Allen Ginsberg and Robert Wilson. His soundtrack for MISHIMA is also a masterpiece.

I saw Glass way back in 1995 when he toured his amazing version of Cocteau’s LA BELLE ET LA BETE, and it was great to see him at the Hollywood Bowl, especially since it was the first time he’s ever performed there. And though I’ve watched Godfrey Reggio’s amazing KOYAANISQTASI about 15 times, seeing it with live voice and orchestra under the spotlight cut night sky was a transcendant revelation. We gave Philip Glass and the musicians a deserved standing ovation and after the concert, I felt that my life had been briefly put back into balance. Here’s Glass playing “Knee Play 4,” a gorgeous solo piece from “Einstein On The Beach” that he included in the show last night.

“Celeste” by Donovan

My favorite song by Mister Leitch, the last, haunting tune on his 1966 classic “Sunshine Superman.” When I met Donovan at the Mods & Rockers Film Festival, I blanked on the title (!) and couldn’t tell him how much this song meant to me. He was cool anyway.

Happy Day

Yusuf Islam’s birthday. Or “Cat Stevens” as known to his fans.

Forgotten Films: The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)

Further proof of Bruce Lee’s legacy was this most unusual studio team-up between goth horror meisters Hammer and martial arts maestros Shaw Brothers at the height of the 70′s “chop socky” craze. Hammer Studios was struggling to keep au courant, hence the updating of Dracula to post-swinging London in DRACULA AD: 1972 and THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA. Christopher Lee didn’t like these retro-fittings and after his contract, he retired from the Dracula biz. Hammer even went to the back pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland asking readers to send in a subject checklist — “What do YOU want Hammer to do next?” I wonder how many kids wrote in, Make A Kung Fu Vampire Movie.

So they did anyway. Thank your lucky movie stars because the result, THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES is perfect Saturday night fun, a rare Hammer film with terrific action scenes and startling horror scares. The film veers from Peter Cushing as Van Helsing trying to convince scholars that vampires and Dracula exist, then cutting to outrageous kung fu battles between Chinese villagers and undead warriors. It’s BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA meets TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD. Somehow this crazed buffet works for me and has more style than most Hammer films of the period. It’s E.C. Comics colorful, and Roy Ward Baker’s direction is more lively here than most of his work. Lau-kar Leung and the Shaw Brothers crack team of fight choreographers are responsible for the kinetic, bloody duels that include dismembered swordplay and smoking chest punctures. The main set design, a circular blood-letting cauldron for the semi-nude female victims, is pure pop horror pulp and provides a fitting backdrop for the climax. The zombie minions rising from graves is also effective along with the Golden Vampires and their individual costumes. And James Wilcox’s wide-screen cinematography is positively Bava-esque in palette and compositions. Plus, the vampires melt.

Co-starring Shaw Bros. regular, David Chiang, who speaks in phoentic English and the only Chinese heard is when a minion asks Dracula to revive the Seven Golden Vampires; it’s cool that the Prince of Vampires needs no translation. Peter Cushing is always a joy, and for his last Van Helsing role, he turns in a particularly energetic performance, battling kung-fu vampires with the best of them. He even has a nice chemistry with Chiang and Swedish beauty, Julie Ege.

THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES has suffered over the years from an undeserved bad rep, as it was Hammer’s last Dracula film and released in America in a severely-truncated version called THE 7 BROTHERS MEET DRACULA (with the great tag,”Black Belt Against Black Magic!”). The film is representative of the extreme direction Hammer went to carve out a 1970′s horror niche, which they never did. Anchor Bay released a dual version of both films in glorious wide-screen and it’s an interesting drive-in comparison test. I wish this film wasn’t the scapegoat as it’s easily one of the most entertaining films made by Hammer Studios, and historically, led to the birth of the Hong Kong horror genre with films like MR. VAMPIRE. I’ve always thought this was ripe for remake and last week, a company announced a new version. And what a perfect double-bill this would make with Hammer’s other cool 1974 genre mash-up, CAPTAIN KRONOS: VAMPIRE HUNTER…

“It is like a finger pointing away to the moon…”

And there’s the other sad anniversary. July 20, 1973. Bruce Lee. Walk On.

Fly Me To The Moon

I watched the moon landing as a wee child. I remember the all-day and night excitement. I had the GI Joe Astronaut.

Millionaire’s Holiday

The single best band from the lounge-core movement of the 90′s remains Combustible Edison. I first heard their perfect 1960′s horror movie theme, “Carnival Of Souls” on KCRW in 1992 and I was hooked. I found a cassette copy of their debut on Sub-Pop Records, “I, Swinger” and driving in my 1964 Cadillac Sedan De Ville was never the same. I wrote my only fan mail to the band, in the style of a sybartic swinger and they responded with a kind note saying mine was their favorite letter, sending along some boss CE stickers and coasters. I was never one of those proto- zoot-suit SWINGERS in hipster hats and shiny shoes, I’ve just always loved lounge music and grew up in the LP shadow of Herb Alpert, Nino Rota, Martin Denny, Francis Lai and Tiki backyard parties with Japanese plastic lanterns.

Combustible Edison soon proved their cultural cache when they did the brilliant soundtrack for the underrated FOUR ROOMS (1995). I was fortunate to see them jazz up Bimbo’s in San Francisco, where the opening act was a film the band had made. CE released only three studio discs, and then quietly disbanded after 1998′s lush, lovely and haunting, “The Impossible World.” I am sad as they were the only band worthy of creating pitch-perfect and unique hybrid lounge/soundtrack tunes, but we still have their music. Cruising down Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach at dusk as their signature song, “Millionaire’s Holiday,” wafted past the Caddy fins made me luxuriate in my Southern California beach paradise, if only for a few minutes.  Be a swinger if you dare.

What Is A Videocorder?

And that’s the way it was.

Few anchors held his respect or power.

Here’s JFK telling Walter Cronkite that it would be a mistake to pull out of Vietnam:

Five years later, here’s Walter Cronkite telling America, “Good night, Vietnam.”