Bruce Campbell and Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

On Monday, October 8, 2002, actor Bruce Campbell exhibited his then-new film, Bubba Ho-Tep, at the River Oaks Theatre in Houston, Texas. Prior to the film, he spoke and conducted a brief question and answer session for the crowd. This is a summary of that event.

In the film, a bizarre horror flick, Campbell plays an elderly Elvis Presley who must fight an ancient Egyptian mummy to save his nursing home. Campbell talked a bit about the film and remarked that the Houston screening might very well be just the second or third time the film had been seen by theatre audiences. He would later say that it was a true independent film, as no Fortune 500 company had bankrolled it, nor was a major distributor handling it. Disdainfully, he remarked that it wasn't the type of film in which you would see Tom Cruise holding a Taco Bell product. He envisioned Paramount Pictures executives kicking around the idea of making a film about an elderly Elvis with prostate cancer battling Egyptian mummies with Ossie Davis as a character who thinks he's JFK. Campbell recalled that Davis' voice was so formal and proper that it was infinitely amusing for him to hear Davis remark upon Egyptian creatures who can only suck the soul from a human being through a particular orifice. Indeed.

Campbell then read from the then new paperback edition of his book, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor. In so doing, he read an excerpt about a bizarre experience on a New York radio station appearance. Apparently, he had been booked his appearance on the show without knowing that the other guest would be a porn star/performance artist. Madness apparently ensued as the young woman ("Montana Gunn") disrobed before him; the aftermath of the experience is detailed fully in the book.

Campbell then took questions from the audience, and tattooed arms immediately began to rise in the theatre. The usual questions were asked - "Will he be in Spider-Man 2?" [Answer: Perhaps. Campbell noted that director Sam Raimi had already proclaimed that Campbell would return for the sequel. Campbell joked that he suspects he'll simply have a minor role in which he will get run over by a bus, although when the film was released in 2004, Campbell played an usher who denied Peter Parker admittance to Mary Jane Watson's play.] "What about Evil Dead IV? Now that Raimi is a darling of Hollywood?" This was the question of the hour, but Campbell appeared baffled for a moment and then did not provide anything helpful in his answer. (Seven years later, still no Evil Dead IV, but that is probably for the best for many, many reasons.).

Obviously caring more about sounding clever than asking a substantive question, one fan asked which director could best handle the "Montana Gunn" scene when the inevitable film rights to his book were sold and production of a film version began in earnest. Campbell quipped that only Scorcese could master the tension required of that sequence. Someone then asked what his next project would be, and his reply was a bit of a surprise, at least to me: not another film, but another book. He explained that it would be a light-hearted look at - of all things - relationships. The title, of course, reveals that he won't abandon his particular brand of humor: Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way (which would be released three yeas later, in May of 2005). In response to one question, Campbell revealed that he does not play with the Evil Dead action figures. ("Though I do play with my boom stick."). He had no meaningful stories to tell about his ill-fated, early 1990s TV series "The Adventurs of Brisco County, Jr." ("We laughed and laughed when it was canceled. Was that what you had in mind?"). When asked about what he enjoys reading and watching, he raved about Roman Polanski's 1976 flick, The Tenant, which he described as a tense thriller which needed no expensive digital effects. He also said that since he works in "fantasy land" all day, he likes to read travel and non-fiction books, rather than immerse himself in even more genre fiction.

When asked about working with Jim Carrey in The Majestic, he said that he never met Carrey when working on that film. Apparently, Campbell's scenes had to be filmed first, so that they could be incorporated into scenes to be shot later. (Having not seen that film, even to this day, I didn't really get that.) However, he said that he ultimately did meet Carrey after production wrapped, and the real trick was making his way through the throngs of nervous Carrey handlers. ("He was a very nice man."). Someone asked about his short-lived TV series from 2000, "Jack of All Trades." ("So you're the one that watched it."). An ill-informed fan asked what he thought when he first read the script for Evil Dead. ("Well, I had already read it, as I helped raise the money to make it, so . . . .") What did he think of working on the 1996 film, Menno's Mind? ("Did you just want to pick some obscure movie to ask about?").

Someone asked Campbell if he had ever considered running for public office. He smirked and replied that he did inhale, so that might make matters difficult. (Not these days, not even then, when we had a president who had allegedly used cocaine.). However, he said he might consider it if the political climate changed dramatically enough so as to be forgiving of such an alleged indiscretion. (It certainly has.). He then laughed and remarked that on that day he would return to Houston to run for Mayor with the help of a few friends from Enron. We're still waiting.

Evangeline Lilly as Lois Lane? (2004)

As ABC's "Lost" progresses through its final season (with a new episode tonight), one mystery that may never be solved: What ever happened to the idea of that show's star, Evangeline Lilly, as Lois Lane in the rebooted Superman franchise? There was a time when the Internet was abuzz with casting rumors as Bryan Singer's Superman Returns entered pre-production. (According to this 2004 report, she was among the four finalists for the part, despite the fact that "Lost" had only been on the air a month at the time of that report.). Although the part ultimately went to Kate Bosworth, Lilly would have been a more interesting choice based on her six seasons as the enterprising and independent minded Kate Austen in ABC's most mysterious series. Although Singer purportedly wanted an unknown to play the part, perhaps Lilly was too unknown at that time? Or perhaps the ultimate reason for the casting decision is lost to the ages. Whatever the case, in the five and a half years since "Lost" premiered, Lilly has not made the transition to films. In fact, since 2004, she's only appeared in three films, the most recent being last year's critically acclaimed the The Hurt Locker. Interestingly enough, Lilly actually has a bit of a Superman pedigree; prior to "Lost," she appeared thrice on TV's "Smallville," although you can ascertain the size of her roles from the names of her characters: In 2002, she played "Wade's Girlfriend" and was uncredited, in 2003, she played "Girl in Cinema" and was uncredited, and in 2004 - just eight months before "Lost" would premiere - she played "School Girl," a character without even a name. Alas. Lilly has exhibited an ability to play spunky and independent female characters, which would certainly have been an asset to playing the fabled Lois Lane.

Other Sound Virus Acts

Back in October 2007, this blog chronicled the rise and fall of Houston's Sound Virus record label and its 1992 attempt at a Houston grunge compilation, Infected: The Twelve from Texas. Subsequent investigation uncovered the flier above, hawking additional releases from the label:

"Psycho Derelict Cowpunk" - Beefmasters
"Burly Pig Rock in Your Face" - Spunk
"Songs to Whitewash Your Brain" - Bleachbath
"Rocks Harder Than Your Kidney Stones" - Dixie Waste
"Ain't It Fun" - Humungus with Cheetah Chrome

The advertisement also heralds the imminent arrival of new recordings by Brutal Juice, Baboon, and Taste of Garlic. Incidentally, if you're interested, dear readers, Amazon.com, of all places, has several used copies of the Infected compilation available for purchase here. Who knew?

Brian Setzer - The Ultimate Collection?

You know, Brian Setzer's actually not so bad, perhaps deserving of an Ultimate Collection if you include his earlier work with the Stray Cats and his later solo songs from the 1990s swing revival. But this Ultimate Collection is "Recorded Live," meaning that the songs arguably worth including on this disc are not the original studio recordings but live versions, presumably recorded years after the fact. (The double disc set includes two shows, one from Japan and one from Montreal). Oh, well.

Alias: The First Season (2001)

Back in 2001, the first season of J.J. Abrams' "Alias," starred Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, a CIA agent working undercover as an operative for the mysterious (and evil) intelligence agency SD-6. The twist: most of the employees and agents of SD-6 believe they are actually working for the CIA and accomplishing good around the world. Only Bristow and her father (Victor Garber), who also works as an operative for SD-6, know the truth. But what is striking is about this season is what a terrible spy the Bristow character is. Although praised as being a first rate double agent of espionage, she is, in fact, an awful, awful international woman of mystery. Really, really bad.

Here's why:

1. Henchman are always sneaking up on her and capturing her. Whether she is stealing the core of a nuclear device, rummaging through a suspect's hotel room, or even disabling the fail-safe mechanism of the SD-6 headquarters, she is very often caught by surprise by the henchmen of her evil and nefarious enemies. She is very fortunate that these henchmen have the foresight not to shoot her on sight but rather escort her at gunpoint to another location so that she has the time and opportunity to clobber them. Shouldn't she be doing more to ensure that she is not caught by surprise? Isn't she extraordinarily fortunate that they have not shot her on sight before she has the opportunity to react?

2. She prefers kickboxing to firearms. In her line of work, wouldn't a firearm with a silencer serve her better than her mad kickboxing skills? I mean, she disarms her opponents via kickboxing, and then continues to kick them until that opponent is unconscious. What's the point of that in the world of international espionage?

3. She refuses to kill the bad guys. After clobbering the henchmen, she leaves them not for dead, but for unconscious. This means, that at some later determined point, these henchmen will awaken, identify her, and possibly, fight her again. Of course, for the convenience of the series, the defeated henchmen do not return or rise from their slumber. However, this seems particularly sloppy for the world of intrigue which Ms. Bristow inhabits. Indeed, in the first several episodes, much ado is made of her rivalry with Anna Espinosa (Gina Torres), an agent of a competing European spy agency. Espinosa has made a career of making matters difficult for both Bristow and SD-6. After an encounter with Espinosa in a church, Bristow leaves her handcuffed to a piece of furniture rather than killing her on the spot. This makes matters far worse in later episodes.

4. She is careless. In one episode, during an operation in Las Vegas, she turns the corner to discover that her partner, Marcus R. Dixon (Carl Lumbly) is being detained by security officers of the casino which they have entered under false pretenses. Before rushing over to assist him in the melee that is soon to ensue, she yells, "Dixon" across the hallway. That's his real name. Not his undercover identity, but his true and correct surname. What is she doing yelling it across a casino hallway in the presence of casino security? This seems a particularly troubling breach of protocol, especially considering the name of the series. In another careless move, Bristow does absolutely nothing to change her living arrangements after being offered sarcastic condolences from Espinosa (who is apparently aware that Bristow's fiancee was killed). If that's the case, then Espinosa very likely knows the real name of Bristow's fiancee, which would give her easy access to locating Bristow in Los Angeles. (Heck, you don't have to be an international spy to login to theknot.com and perform a search of soon-to-be married couples.). Thus, Espinosa could very easily find out Bristow's real name, her Los Angeles address, and other vital personal information which would endanger Bristow, her roommate, and other individuals.

We permit our television series to make silly mistakes to heighten tension. But this is the series by the guy who would ultimately co-create the far, far better "Lost" in 2004 and who would direct the first film of the official reboot of the Star Trek franchise in 2009. Alas.

The Week That Was (1/30 - 2/5)

Below, you'll find some links from The Week That Was:

1. Progressive Ruin tells the tale of Parade Hater Horace, surely the best comic book villain of all time (though I am surprised that he was not later taken out by Scourge). Who would win in a fight between Horace and Darkseid? (1/31)

2. I don't think this text was sent by Clark Kent or his alter ego. At least, I hope not. (1/31).

3. Television critic Alan Sepinwall observes that this week marked the seventeenth anniversary of the debut of the superb NBC television series, "Homicide: Life on the Street." On January 31, 1993, the pilot episode aired following that year's Super Bowl, and it would become one of the finest cop shows of the 1990s. I can remember that in those halcyon days, my Friday night out could not begin until I had consumed a glass of bourbon and watched this show, which aired at 9:00 p.m. Unfortunately, the show also persevered too long; as the years went by, its quality slipped. But if you've not seen the first few seasons of this series, you'd best add it to your Netflix queue immediately. (1/31).

4. Steanso, over at the aptly named The Adventures of Steanso blog, offers his thoughts on the first episode of the final season of "Lost." (2/4).

5. The Action Figure of the Day blog profiles the Hoth Ice Planet Adventure Set, a toy that I completely forgot that I once owned. I also had the very similar Land of the Jawas Action Playset, but I was too young to appreciate how the toy company tricked me (and/or my parents) into buying both of them, despite the fact that they are essentially the same set. (2/2).

Happy Birthday, Jennifer Jason Leigh

It just doesn't seem to make sense that the young Jennifer Jason Leigh, pictured above in 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High, turns 48 years old today. How can that be? It seems like just yesterday she played the creepy and sadistic roommate of Bridget Fonda in 1992's Single White Female. Or the love interest of a Baldwin in 1991's Backdraft. (That was a Baldwin, right?)

Law and Order: The Violence of Summer (February 5, 1991)

Nineteen years ago today, on February 5, 1991, actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and Gil Bellows appeared as hooligans on "The Violence of Summer," the fourteenth episode of the first season of NBC's "Law and Order." Samuel L. Jackson, of all people, played their defense attorney.

Two years ago, this site exhaustively reviewed and analyzed that episode. Check it out.

The Ring (2002)

Once upon blue moon, back in 2002, I saw the sneak preview of The Ring at the theatres. As neo-horror flicks seeking to capitalize on the success of The Blair Witch Project and The Sixth Sense went, it wasn't bad. Since then, the film has spawned a forgettable sequel, and looking back, the original film is mostly forgettable itself, save for the presence of Naomi Watts, who has done far better (2003's 21 Grams) and far, far worse (2005's wretched remake of King Kong).

Either my expectations were so low that it was easy to meet or exceed them, or the film, at least on the first viewing, was remotely clever. Returning from Mulholland Dr., Watts falls victim to a videotape that - gasp - kills you. Immediately after a character views the short film, she receives a phone call alerting them that she will die seven days later. A somewhat promising premise. The videotape itself is as one character describes it: all too student film with its adequate though uninspiring attempts at surrealism or expressionism or both. The images are bizarre and initially seem unconnected: dead horses in the sea, a strange woman peering into a mirror, a plateful of severed fingers, an eerie ladder, et cetera. Watts spends most of the film attempting to trace the origins of the mysterious videotape -- which killed her teenage cousin and now threatens to do the same to herself, her son, and his estranged father. (Like all other films of this genre, the young son is not only wise and mature beyond his years, but also clairvoyant -- just like the far more convincing Hayley Joel Osment was a decade ago in The Sixth Sense.)

The plot meanders unevenly in parts, but it occasionally startles. We are led across the dreary landscapes of Washington State, a grey and perpetually rainy locale which suits the film. But of course, for any such film to be shocking, the ending must be of the twist variety. Rather than arriving at the film's climax, the "twist" comes after all of the loose ends are addressed, leaving the viewer to wonder if it was an afterthought. But such endings are mandatory these days.

This must have been new territory for director Gore Verbinski, perpetrator of such flicks as Mouse Hunt, The Mexician, and the fun Pirates of the Caribbean and its unnecessary sequels. His stewardship of The Ring is not entirely unoriginal, which may not necessarily be faint praise in an era of interminably predictable suspense "thrillers." He did, of course, have some interesting source material; Verbinski joins the ranks of other Hollywood pseudo-auteurs who mine foreign cinema for ideas: the film was based upon the 1998 Japanese film Ringu.

Peter Jackson's Bad Taste (1987)

Having recently watched again some of the more well known flicks directed by Peter Jackson, I decided to watch his first release, Bad Taste, from 1987. Basically, Bad Taste is a zombie flick, although the "zombies" are actually aliens who, at the risk of great discomfort, transformed themselves into human form. Much is owed to George Romero and his Living Dead trilogy. Viewing Jackson's incredibly low budget film, as well as the making-of documentary which accompanies it on the DVD, really illustrates how far Jackson has come as a director. For Bad Taste, Jackson constructed his own Steadicam at the cost of $15, and he baked the masks of the creatures in his parents' kitchen. Compare that to the $300 million the studios gave him to create the three installments of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy. The documentary is inspiring to the would-be filmmaker, as Jackson's ingenuity (and his utter skill at stretching a dollar to the maximum degree possible) is showcased to a great degree. If he could do so much in the way of crude special effects with so little money, what could an aspiring director do with equally meager funds for a film which did not require special effects at all? (The documentary also has clips of Jackson's earliest home movies, including some footage from a film called "World War Two," which Jackson made as a pre-teenager. Sorry, I can't bring myself to say "tween.").


My first introduction to Jackson's oeuvre was in college when one of the members of the crew at the student television station screened a double feature of Jackson's films. In so doing, he exhibited the violent gross-out puppet extravaganza, 1989's Meet the Feebles, and the equally disturbing 1991 film, Dead Alive. Soon thereafter, I saw the excellent Heavenly Creatures from 1994 (which was my first introduction to the lovely Kate Winslet), and after that, I trekked to see The Frighteners (which featured the one, the only, team-up between Jackson and Michael J. Fox) after work on the first day of its release in 1996. I think I was the only one present in the theatre for that showing. When I heard that he was going to direct the Tolkien trilogy, I was skeptical -- indeed, I was almost certain that it would fail, as fantasy has never really been a successful genre at the box office. I wondered what would happened to the second two installments if the first chapter tanked. Would they release them? Would the studio funding for post-production dry up? Who knew? But, obviously, failure was not meant to be for the trilogy.

And to think, it all began in 1987, with the release of the, well, bad, "Bad Taste."

See here for the Ultimate Bad Taste Fan Site (and here for the original version of that site).

Namaste! Lost Begins Anon.

The first episode of the final season of "Lost" begins only minutes from now. Namaste!

Off Duty XVI

Tonight is the season premiere of the sixth and final season of TV's "Lost." Sure, I could try to reconcile taking a vacation day from blogging about pop culture's past to watch a television show from its present. But I won't do that here. Know only that a show with mysterious flashbacks and time travel will always prevail over the toil that is nostalgia blogging. See you tomorrow. Maybe. (While you anxiously await the premiere, check out this family portrait of Ben Linus and his father, Roger, over at the Secret Fun Blog and this December 2009 account of anticipation or Lost's final season by The Nerdy Girl.). And, hey, I already blogged twice today!

See my predictions for the opening episode here, posted last week.

Flashback (1990)

Twenty years ago today, on February 2, 1990, the film Flashback was released. It's a mostly forgettable road movie in which conservative, by the book FBI agent John Buckner (Kiefer Sutherland) must escort aging New Left radical Huey Walker (Dennis Hopper) to trial for allegedly disconnecting Vice President Spiro Agnew's railcar back in the 1960s. Think of it as lowbrow version of Midnight Run meets a severely watered down Easy Rider. Eleven years later, both Sutherland and Hopper would appear together in the first season of TV's "24."

The film's promotional materials made use of two quotations made by Hopper's character (one of which was particularly self referential, though no on said "meta" back then):

• "It takes more than going down to your local video store and renting Easy Rider to become a rebel."
  
  
• "Once we get out of the '80s, the '90s are going to make the '60s look like the '50s."

You see, it's supposed to be clever because Hopper is playing a '60s radical who references a 60's counterculture film in which Dennis Hopper himself appeared. Get it? You see? Oh, well.

The original theatrical trailer for the film is as follows:

Groundhog Day

"When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter." - the formerly cynical Phil Connors (Bill Murray), in the 1993 film, Groundhog Day. Happy Groundhog Day, dear readers. There are always shadows.

Resquiat in pacem: Heather O'Rourke (1975 - 1988)

Heather O'Rourke
(December 27, 1975 – February 1, 1988)

Heather O'Rourke, the child actress best known for her role as Carol Anne Freeling in the Poltergeist films, died 22 years ago today. Although I was not overly familiar with that series, I do remember reading about her death in the news back in 1988, chiefly because I was not very much older than her at the time of her passing. Her delivery of a single line from the first Poltergeist film, "They're here," became a staple of popular culture in 1982. Steven Spielberg co-wrote and co-produced the first installment, which spawned two sequels in 1986 and 1988. O'Rourke's death at such a young age, coupled with some other unfortunate and macabre coincidences, gave rise to an urban legend of the Poltergeist curse. Rest in peace.

(A sad aside: Zelda Rubinstein, who played the psychic Tangina Barrons in all three Poltergeist films, died last week at age 76). The trailer for the original Poltergeist film is below:

Radiohead on Top of the Pops (February 1, 1996)

Fourteen years ago today, on February 1, 1996, Radiohead appeared on the British television show, "Top of the Pops," and performed "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" from their then new album, The Bends. (The video of this performance can be found above.). It was with that album, their second, that the band established that they would not remain a one hit wonder (something that even their most fierce partisans suspected they might become in 1993 when "Creep" was their hit single.). Not only does The Bends contain the radio friendly "High N' Dry," and the introspective "My Iron Lung," it also features "Fake Plastic Trees," a nearly flawless rock song, which starts softly but gradually builds until it a powerful and emotive power ballad, if that term applies. But "Street Spirit (Fade Out)," with its haunting opening, is what they played 14 years ago today.

Happy Birthday, Exene Cervenka.

Today, Exene Cervenka, one of the lead singers of the fabled LA punk band X, turns 54. Perhaps best known for its 1980 LP, Los Angeles, X also played some recognizable covers in the mid-1980s, including one of Jerry Lee Lewis' "Breathless" (which appeared in the American remake of the French film of the same name) and The Troggs' "Wild Thing," their version of which appeared in the 1989 film, Major League. (If you're wholly unfamiliar with all things punk, you might know Cervenka as the former wife of Viggo Mortensen.).

X still tours, as does Cervenka, who has a bit of a solo career. Sadly, last year, she announced that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. But she's still doing shows.

Morphine - The Night (2000)

Ten years ago today, on February 1, 2000, the band Morphine released what would be its last official studio album, The Night. The band's lead singer and sax player, Mark Sandman, had passed away the previous July, just after the band completed the recording this album. It's a dark and sad album, one that should be played during dark moments of melancholy and accompanied by the consumption of brown liquor (or something stronger, if you prefer). The Sandman surname is appropriate, as the music occasionally directed him to serve as somnambulist. Somber and melancholy as it may be, the album holds up well a decade later. The strength and power of the music, coupled with the sometimes strong, sometimes weak vocals of Sandman, make for a truly classic record. It is a shame that it was the band's last effort.

In the years since, there have been a number of live and compilation albums, and in the wake of Sandman's death, the band attempted to soldier on in various incarnations, first as the Orchestra Morphine, and then as the Twinemen. But it was not, and could not be the same.