Emily M. Hagins, Abel Ferrara x 2, Vincent Price and Charles Bronson = Wicked Good Weekend

(throw back a shot every time I say ‘fuck’ or a variant thereof)

FRIDAY:

I done been wanting to see Pathogen since I heard about. I think the first I read of it was Harry Knowles’ article about Emily Hagins getting a grant from the great nation of Texas. I went geeky over the idea of a 13-year-old girl making a zombie movie – as I think anyone who doesn’t suck should. And then she made it and there were screenings and the eventual dvd release but the world seemed to conspire to fuck me outta seeing it.

Well Thursday night I happened across Ms. Hagins on Facebook and asked her if she knew of the dvd being available for rent anywhere in town since I knew she had sold out on her website. She told me Vulcan South – So Friday I saddled my truck and headed to the other side of Town Lake (all respect to Lady Bird, but having Hank Hill’s dog named after you is more than enough, Greedy Ass). So, I went down there and nabbed it. the store’s cool. Ain’t been in a Vulcan before. They had a picture of The Duke on the wall but it coulda been a lot bigger. He’s The Duke, Motherfuckers.

So, I had Pathogen – but I wanted more. Hadn’t been to I Luv Video in a while so I headed there. i walked in and the lovely Alex who works there looked absolutley beautiful – I been in love with her since I first walked off in that bitch. I strolled around that fuckin store forever, had 2 full phone conversations with my brother and rented 3 movies.

Went home ad plugged Pathogen in. Fuck…. That young gal can make a damn movie, y’all. When I was her age I couldn’t even finish a story for a 24 page comic book. She threw down a feature length with great genre moments, well written characters and dialog better than half the shit coming out of Hollywood (not the greatest compliment, I know). i expect to be begging her for a job some day in the near future.

Then I went downtown with my roommate Nate-dawg and got pretty drunk, drank with Leslie Cochrane, ran into some highschool friends and…. did I mention ‘got really drunk’?

Then we came home and watched Pathogen – Nate was naked – I’m not sure why. It was funny, and not the first time this week.

SATURDAY:

Today I had an Abel Ferrara double feature without even realizing it. The first of the I Luv Video flicks was King of New York. Ferrara is a filmmaker I had no experience with before today. After this movie I wasn’t sure I’d want to have anymore. There were moments of true genius but overall it was pretty sloppy – and not in a good way. Walken was God, though. Every time I got to watch him was a gift. But this movie had the worst gunfights I’ve ever seen in my life. And I’m a gunfight guy. I’m not the biggest Larry Fishburn fan in the world but he was fun to watch in this – and watching him kill Wesley Snipes was a pretty cool scene.

The second part of the double bill was Bad Lieutenant. I fucking LOVED the balls off of this flick. Harvey Keitel rules my fucking world – and I can’t believe the fuckin shape that sumbitch was in. This review just got crazy shoted because I’ma go drink at Fado and watch Blaggards. But this time I’ll be more careful parking so Al Qaeda don’t be fuck up no more historical landmarks when they trying to kill me. Already got the Governor’s Mansion on my soul, don’t need no more.

I’m posting this on Saturday night but I’m gonna update it tomorrow after I watch Master of the World, and adaptation of a Jules Verne book starring Vincent Price AND Charles Bronson!!!!! Is there anything cooler than that!?! No. The answer is No

SUNDAY:

Was waisted.

MONDAY:

i FINALLY watched Master of the World. It was lacking in a lot of areas, but it delivered on Bronson and Price. Both were tough motherfuckers with opposing agendas and I couldn’t have hoped for anything more really. Price is a Nemo-esque character who functions somewhat like a more active predecessor to Klaatu – if the Earth don’t stop killing itself, he will kill the Earth with his well-armed airship and loyal crew.

Bronson is an agent of the U.S. government who finds himself in a position to stop Price’s Robard and his men. You could definitely tell that Price was loving every ounce of his character.

Hell, how could he not? Look at that facial hair:

Who wouldn’t love that part!?

So, I’ve had me some good movie time. Yay for me.

And Weird Wednesday is gonna have “Rolling Thunder” this week!

Stan Winston

Adam should be writing this. That’s all there is to it. My brother has preached the gospel of Stan Winston for longer than I can remember. When I wanted to make movies in order to best Spielberg and Lucas and Cameron, Adam was driven to the dream by one man. The man who rendered animated our finest dreams and made our nightmares beautiful. He built the T-100, sculpted the ultimate interplanetary trophy hunter, machined Tony Stark’s armor, brought dinosaurs into my living room, and revolutionized creature effects before I could cuss:

and again as recent as 1999:

Winston was a hero among heroes who never failed to bring class and humor to the table while showing the world a creative spark the likes of which we have hardly ever seen. His talents brought into being a neo-cryptozoological world that is recognizable around the Earth. A teenager in Taiwan may or may not know what a Golden Retriever looks like, but show the same kid a picture of the Predator and he’ll give you a short list of the creature’s weapons, tell you what color his blood is and clue you in as to his personal favorite kills perpetrated by said creature.

The man gifted us with textures that simply were not possible before him.

I look forward to a long conversation with Adam concerning Stan Winston’s passing. I know how his heart dropped when he heard the news. He’s his John Lennon. I loved the man for what he gave me and the world is a lesser place to be without him. When I first read of his passing moments before beginning this post I started mourning him as a loved one without even realizing it. When friends and close relatives have died, one of my strongest reactions was to hurt because I would never again be able to do a certain thing that we had done together – or something they or I had promised the other. And as much as I know the fourth installments of Terminator and Jurassic Park are going to be horrible and thus (yeah, I just said ‘thus’) enrage me without end – I absolutely knew that Stan Winston would craft for me visual spectacles which would make my brain explode with the purest of geeky joy. He had promised me that… then cancer took him from me.

He was only 62. I wasn’t done with him yet. My heart’s a little emptier now. He deserves something far more poetic than what I’ve got here or even what I’ve read other places.

Stan, we loved you as a friend because you were in it for all the right reasons. Thank you for showing us magic again.