Latest Comments
Online Members
Newest Members
Trash addict,advocate,and apologist
"Words like 'conviction' can turn into a sentence."
Midnight Movies, Please Come Home!
Submitted by Tor on Thu, 09/04/2008 - 01:02.
Of all the bygone phenomena of my youth I think none is more deeply mourned than the midnight movie.
I'm not just talking about the practice of theaters staying open late to show more daring movies, but the collapse of support, both consumer and investor for filmmakers who don't kowtow to test audiences and market data. Some of the slack has been taken up by digital auteurs but the golden era of odd films finding their way to niche audiences in broad presentation is past... or is it?
Stills from Marilyn Manson's project Phantasmagoria look promising but even more so, is his involvement, along with Nick Nolte ,Asia Argento and David Lynch, in the upcoming Alejandro Jodorowsky project 'King Shot' http://twitchfilm.net/archives/006746.html. Okay it's cautious optimism, as this has been in the works for years, but with Lynch's Absurda Films signing on to represent "King Shot' at Cannes, the necessary artillery may be in place to get this done.
- Tor's blog
- Login or register to post comments
- Email this page
Jigga-what?
Nick Nolte, Asia Argento, David Lynch and Jodorowsky (and, er, Marilyn Manson, I guess)!?! That sounds so awesome it's bound to be terrible (or maybe it's the other way around).
If you click through to the link they describe it as a "metaphysical spaghetti gangster film". I have no idea what that means, but I must see it. There's also storyboard art of a man-sized pistol sitting in a golf cart being pulled by two ostriches wearing crowns. My pants just got a little shorter.
Take the spaghetti western
Take the spaghetti western themes out of El Topo and make it more like High Crime or Contraband and you have King Shot. Just make sure that all the ideas of transformation and trials of faith for enlightenment are left in.
I also wonder what happened to the idea of midnight movies. I tried to create an actual revival of theatrical showings in my locale but it collapsed. Nobody understood why they should pay a few bucks at a theater to watch a movie that they could see for free at home. The entire concept was lost on most theater owners, too. I just couldn't convince them that people would come out for it.
I'm still wondering what contributed to the death of midnight movies anyway. You'd think that with the cost of equipment so low these days, filmmakers would be coming out of the woodwork with extreme fringe flicks but it rarely happens.
I tend to think that it has
I tend to think that it has a lot to do with the influences that are out there for filmmakers. I mean Jodorowsky came along at a time when Fellini was still vital and the Hollywood system was awaiting the revival it saw thanks in part to Lucas, Coppola, et al.
There was a theater near me that did bring midnight movies back for a time about 2 years ago. They tried to do it with the same format as it had in the 70's and 80's. I think had they given it a big promotion and maybe thrown some money at it initially it would have taken off. I went once and saw 'Hedwig', which was packed, and then three months later it was defunct. So, I think programming was and issue too.
Yeah...
I've been in a few places where they've tried to run a midnight movie series which I would always get excited about until I saw the line-up. Instead of the crazy, obscure, low-budget stuff that I consider a proper midnight movie, it's usually mainstream cult stuff (if that makes sense). Something like "Rocky Horror Picture Show" or "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". I mean, I like "Fear and Loathing" but I've seen it a few times, everybody I know has seen it, lots of them own it on DVD and and I'm sure it's on HBO fairly regularly. I'm not old enough to have experienced midnight movies in all their glory but I think a big part of the experience is not really knowing what to expect.