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| CLUB
NEWS
1.MARCH MEETING – EVENING OF WINNERS 2.NEWS OF OUR APRIL MEETING: THE BASICS 3.MOVE OVER, KEN BURNS 4.I VOTE FOR THE 1977 KING KONG 5.WELCOME TO THE CLUB JOHN WEBER! 6.SPY MUSEUM FIELD TRIP RESCHEDULED 7.SUCCESSFUL EASTER EGG HUNT! 8.DUES NEWS TV NEWS
EVENT
NEWS
LITERARY
NEWS
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MOVIE
NEWS
30.KING KONG’S GREAT COMEBACK 31.TRAVELING ON TO NEW LINE 32.CAMPBELL SCREAMS BRAIN 33.NEW INDY VILLIANS ARE PROMISED 34.HALL ENDORSES PAYCHECK 35.HEINLEIN’S MOON 36.ANOTHER SUPERMAN POSSIBLE BITES THE DUST 37.BERRY TO CAT AROUND IN CATWOMAN ROLE 38.GLOVER LIKE WILLARD’S RATS 39.MORE RAT FUN 40.GOD PLAYS IT STRAIGHT 41.EPISODE III SETS GOING UP NOW INTERNET
NEWS
TECHNOLOGY
NEWS
FAREWELLS
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| 9. THE FUTURE IS NOW
Matt Groening hearkens back to his days a rock music critic, his day job before creating THE SIMPSONS, in describing another one of his creations. "I feel about FUTURAMA the way Paul McCartney must feel about Wings," Groening says with a characteristic laugh. "It's tough to compare anything to THE SIMPSONS but I'm incredibly proud of 'FUTURAMA.' In many ways, "FUTURAMA" was a more difficult program to create than THE SIMPSONS. Groening and some of the other artists involved in the series discussed the challenges recently. Although everyone recognized the importance of preserving what Groening calls "my basic chinless, bulgy-eyed, overbite, doodle style," they also knew that they needed to give "FUTURAMA" a graphic identity that would distinguish it from "THE SIMPSONS." Bill Morrison notes, "Unlike any other animated series, 'THE SIMPSONS' has had hundreds of characters. How do you design new characters that don't look like ones that have already been done in Matt's style? 'It was a real challenge to keep it fresh and different, so people wouldn't look at a character and say, 'That's just a rehash of Mr. Burns.' " They solved the problem by pushing the character designs in strange directions: Leela, the heroine, became a Cyclops. "I was a big fan of Emma Peel, the Diana Rigg character on 'The Avengers,' " says Groening. "I wanted to draw a strong, beautiful female character who could [fight] and still be sexy. But I couldn't let it alone; so I gave her one eye." Looking back over the series, Groening cites a few favorite moments: "We had Al Gore on the show twice, that was a thrill, and Stephen Hawking. But I think our finest moment was reuniting the entire cast of the original 'Star Trek': William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and all the other actors, who played themselves. We basically made a new 'Star Trek' episode." Top that, Paul McCartney. 10. SAILORS BOARD THE ENTERPRISE Three sailors from the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise CVN 65 will appear as crew members on the starship Enterprise NX-01 in an upcoming episode of the UPN series. The "Sailors of the Year" were selected by an internal Navy committee: Petty Officer Kathy J. Grant (Senior Sailor of the Year), Petty Officer James D. Frey (Junior Sailor of the Year) and Corpsman Thomas P. Hunt (BlueJacket of the Year. The cast and crew of Enterprise invited the sailors to make guest appearances on the show. Their scenes will appear in the upcoming episode "First Flight," directed by LeVar Burton. The episode airs May 14. It was the second year in a row that "Sailors of the Year" from the real Enterprise have been invited to be on the fictional Enterprise. Last year's honorees made appearances in the episode "Desert Crossing." 11.RESISTANCE IS USELSESS - EVEN FOR BEAGLES In upcoming episode of UPN's ENTERPRISE will feature the Borg in a sequel to events depicted in the feature film STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT. The episode, "Regeneration," starts with the discovery in the arctic of debris from the Borg sphere destroyed by the Enterprise E at the beginning of First Contact in 2063. The episode features a guest appearance by Bonita Friedericy, the real-life wife of Enterprise regular John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox). Friedericy plays one of the researchers investigating the debris. "Regeneration" is tentatively slated for May 7. Enterprise airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Personal opinion – it sounds like it should be Regurgitation, too much of the same old rehash. 12.SUPERHEROS APPLY HERE The WB has ordered six episodes of WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO? - a tongue-in-cheek fantasy contest show from reality guru Bruce Nash and comic pioneer Stan Lee, for the 2003-'04 season. In the series, real people with homegrown ideas for original superheroes will face off in character before a panel of celebrity judges who have played onscreen superheroes. Semifinalists will undergo a "superhero makeover," with a professional artistic gloss overseen by Spider-Man creator Lee, and will compete in various stunts and challenges that mimic comic books. The winner will then be eligible to have his or her idea developed and expanded by Lee's team, possibly for a comic-book spinoff. The producers will conduct and film open auditions around the country in coming weeks. Men in tights! Should be exciting time 13.FILLION FLIES OVER TO BUFFY Firefly star Nathan Fillion is joining the cast of UPN's BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER for a key role in the series' final five episodes. Fillion will play Caleb, a former man of God who's turned to the dark side and now follows the First, the trade paper reported. Buffy creator Joss Whedon also created the short-lived SF series Firefly for Fox. "Nathan Fillion has a leading man's looks, but he's actually horribly evil, so he makes Caleb the epic foil for Buffy that he needs to be," Whedon told the trade paper. "Caleb calls himself a preacher, but his habit of murdering girls and his alliance with the darkest evil known to man makes him exactly the sort of guy whose ass Buffy needs to kick." 14. BUFFY WON’T HAVE SPIN OFF IN THE FALL There will be NO BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER spinoff series, (did everyone catch that? N.O.) at least not next fall, according to the cast and crew of the UPN. "Somewhere down the line," Anthony Stewart Head (Giles) "I reckon there will be a Buffy spinoff. There's no rush on my part, and I know the fans will wait." As for the upcoming BUFFY series finale in May, it will deal with Angel (David Boreanaz) and Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), as well as Spike. "I'm in the process of writing the script now," said creator Joss Whedon. "The show is about life, and the final statement on life is death. On this show, it's not even that. You want to pay homage to the fact that [Angel's] a big part of [Buffy's] heart, no matter what, without saying anything definite on what will happen for them in the future. 15.AND…THE FINAL BUFFY EPISODES SLATED UPN will wrap up BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER with five new episodes, starting April 15, featuring the return of former series regulars David Boreanaz (Angel) and Eliza Dushku (Faith) and guest star Nathan Fillion (Firefly). Subsequent episodes will air April 29, May 6 and May 13, with the series finale on May 20. This five-episode story arc will pit Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) against her most insidious and evil opponent ever, Caleb (Fillion), a depraved operative of the First. A final battle to the death will decide whether good or evil will prevail on Earth. 16.FOX BELIEVES IN AN AFTERLIFE Fox has ordered the pilot presentation THE AFTERLIFE, a digitally animated project about a family that dies in a freak photography accident and winds up in purgatory, which looks a lot like suburban Los Angeles. Barry Bostwick (Spin City) has been tapped to lend the voice for father Stan, while Kerri Kenney (The Ellen Show) will voice the neurotic family matriarch, Flo. Threshold Entertainment's Larry Kasanoff will executive produce the project for his Threshold Digital Research Labs, which is also behind the upcoming full-length computer-animated feature film FOODFIGHT. 17.HERE COMES THE MINI-THING. OH MINI-THING, YOU ARE MINI ME. Shagadelic Baby! A Mini Thing! The Sci-Fi Channel announced a long list of projects in development for broadcast in the 2004-2005 season (see our other stories for details on these new shows.) Among the most exciting new shows announced was a new mini-series that will "re-envision" THE THING. "It's everywhere. It's anything. And it can't be stopped. SCI FI re-envisions the terrifying suspense classic, THE THING, which follows a team of American scientists who discover a bloodthirsty alien life form in the frozen expanse of Antarctica. Swift, stealthy and cunning, this shape-shifting monster assumes the appearance of its victims with the aims of earning the scientists' trust -- and decimating the group from the inside. Who can be trusted, and who is a threat? The miniseries, written by Gary L. Goldman will be distributed by USACE." THE THING takes John Carpenter's 1982 feature film and its predecessor, 1951's THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, which is based in turn on John W. Campbell Jr.'s classic SF short story "Who Goes There? “. A broadcast date has not been given for the project, nor has casting begun on the show. 18.ALMOST A WEEK, 6 DAYS DUE ON SCI FI Second in their mini series announcements is a wonder - for 2004 a six-night event called 6 DAYS ‘TIL SUNDAY. It unfolds over six consecutive nights and tells the story of J.T. Neumeyer, who stumbles upon a mysterious briefcase foretelling his own gruesome murder in six days. David Kirschner (Frailty, Earth: Final Conflict and The Flintstones) executive produces 6 DAYS, which is being produced by Lions Gate Films (USA's The Dead Zone). 19.AND NOW FOR SOMETHING REALLY AMAZING. . .MORE STARGATE! There is now enough STARGATE for everyone. The Sci-Fi Channel announced that it had officially given the greenlight for the long-rumored spinoff series from STARGATE SG-1, STARGATE: ATLANTIS. Rumors of ATLANTIS have been floating around Stargate fansites and conventions for over a year, but until today they had never been confirmed by the network. The show is centered around the discovery of the ruins of the lost civilization of Atlantis, which is then discovered to actually be the same civilization that created the Stargate system. "The implications of this discovery lead the team to a distant universe, where they find a primitive human civilization threatened by a sinister new enemy STARGATE SG-1 is entering its seventh season and it remains unknown if the spinoff will include any of the first show's characters or creative personnel. 20.A SCI FI MENU – WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLLS The Sci-Fi Channel has released a list of what new programming it intends to broadcast in the 2004-2005 year. Here is a taste of the eight new ongoing series that were announced: DEAD LAWYERS: Produced by DreamWorks Television, this one-hour series' concept is about -- you guessed it! -- lawyers that return from beyond the grave to "defend everyone they screwed when they were alive -- and it's all pro bono!" (Really, I swear I'm not making this up.). Dear God Why?....... The show's central character is a deceased defendant named Jimmy Quinn, who, after being run over by a bus, joins a dead lawyer firm in the netherworld. The story was developed by Christopher Murphey and Andy Lieberman and the script was written by Murphey. THE DIVIDE: A late night DJ, his dead twin sister, and the local coroner team up to fight crime. High concept enough for you? Produced by Lions Gate, executive produced by Stan Brooks and written by Frank Military and Dean White. “To fight crime” what a novel idea. LEGION: A young man who sells his soul to the devil to save his daughter's life and then roams the country to fight evil, able to recognize those who are possessed. Produced by Kudos Film & Television, Ltd., Whoop, Inc. and Tom Leonardis, written by Tony Jordan and executive produced by Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Garrett and Jane Featherstone. PAINKILLER JANE: Based on the Event Comics series, this is a 2-hour backdoor pilot. Jane Browning was a young marine officer who is exposed to a biochemical weapon that changes her genetically, endowing her with incredible self-healing powers. The pilot script was written by John Harrison (writer/director of FRANK HERBERT'S DUNE mini-series) and Don Opper. Harrison will also direct the show. CLIVE BARKER'S THE EVIL ONE: It sounds like this will be more of an anthology series where every week a new chapter in the battle between good and evil will be told . . and not every week the good guy wins. The show will be produced by Seraphim, Inc. (Barker's production company) and exec produced Barker as well. TOTAL ECLIPSE: As described by Sci-Fi: "Jeremy Cross arrives at his new teaching and research position at Greylock, a beautiful and prestigious college, only to discover that the school is a nexus of the otherworldly, arcane, and supernatural. As if tenure wasn't hard enough to get, the faculty's IQ goes up every year, intelligent wolves roam the forests, and the research covers time travel, extrasensory perception, and anything else on the edge of science. Distributed by USACE. Executive produced and written by Steve Aspis." SUTURE GIRL: Another 2-hour backdoor pilot, this time based on a character from the pages of Todd McFarlane's SPAWN comic book series. A female advertising executive is murdered by a serial killer and then resurrected by gypsies and given supernatural powers to combat evil. The pilot is written by Alan McElroy (writer of the SPAWN movie). McFarelane, Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds and Tracey E. Edmonda will produce. STARGATE: ATLANTIS: Perhaps the biggest potential series is this long-rumored spinoff to STARGATE SG-1. There will also be six reality-based specials including a SURVIVOR-like show called LIFE ON MARS where 12 contestants try to survive inside a simulation of a Martian base. The channel also announced that their new four-hour BATTLESTAR GALACTICA mini-series (which also serves as a possible pilot) will be broadcast in December 2003. 21.GET READY, SET, ACTION!!! There is a new list of the upcoming action-oriented original movies that are set to premiere in 2003-'04 on the Sci-Fi channel. The films will air during the Channel's Saturday action-movie slot. Since introducing Saturday action movies in 2002, the Channel has averaged a household rating of 1.4 for the original films. SCI FI is currently slated to air 22 originals in 2003 and will premiere approximately two per month. A list of the some of the upcoming films follows - •DRAGON STORM - Maxwell Caulfield, John Rhys-Davies and Angel Borris star in this film, about alien dragons who arrive on medieval Earth in a meteor and threaten humankind, forcing two enemy kingdoms to join forces and fight off the alien dragon threat. The film recently completed production in Sofia, Bulgaria, from UFO Films. •IDAHO CREATURE INCIDENT - John Savage and Michelle Goh star in a movie about a government experiment using an alien creature as a weapon. When the trial fails, the creature is locked inside a government facility and must be destroyed before it can escape. The film recently completed production in Sofia, Bulgaria, with Nu Image. •GHOST MONKEY - A freelance photographer and an American investigator join forces to stop a man-eating monkeylike creature that goes on a killing spree throughout the streets of India. Filming begins in the spring with Promark Entertainment. •SNAKEHEAD TERROR - In a small town in Maryland, a school of freakishly large man-eating snakehead fish overrun a lake and take to the land. It's up to the local sheriff to reel in the creatures before they can go on a massive feeding frenzy. Filming begins in Vancouver, B.C., in the spring with Cinetel. Sounds like someone must have put some new fish in the lake to upset the eco system… •PHANTOM FORCE - A spinoff of the INTERCEPTOR FORCE movies, this film follows a force of elite government soldiers assigned to protect the human race from supernatural threats. Filming begins in Bulgaria in May with UFO Films. •INTERCEPTOR FORCE III - In the not-too-distant future, a team of specially trained government soldiers protects Earth from hostile alien encounters. Produced by UFO Films. •GARGOYLE - The evil wizard Calabos wants to take over the world with an army of living gargoyles, and only Marcus, a magician who possesses an enchanted ring, can stop him. Produced by Chesler Perlmutter. Don’t get too excited by these announcements. SFC announced the EARTHSEA project over two years ago and it still has not went before the cameras. |
| 22. THINGS TO COME
June 13-15 BUFFYCON will be held at the Holiday Inn in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. It is a fan-run convention for BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, Angel, and all the associated comics and novels. Guests include Robin Sachs (Ethan Rayne) and Laura Ann Gilman. Pre-registered memberships are $30 prior to 4/28. Contact information is: BUFFYCON/P.O. Box 1935/New York, NY 10159-1935 or 617-776-3243 (Fax) or email info@buffycon.org. |
| 23.ROWLING WINS GROTTER SUIT
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling won her court battle on April 3 to block the Dutch publication of a Russian novel about a girl wizard called Tanya Grotter after arguing it copied one of her best-sellers. Rowling got an injunction from an Amsterdam court to stop publication of the first Western edition of The Magic Double Bass by Dmitry Yemets, which her lawyer said copied Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States. Yemets, who has sold more than 500,000 books in Russia, had argued that his book was a parody of the Potter novels and that he trusted his readers to be able to tell the difference between Potter and Grotter. But the court rejected this argument, saying that the Russian book was an unauthorized adaptation of Philosopher's Stone and that its publication in the Netherlands would infringe Rowling's copyright, the news service reported. Grotter publisher Byblos said it planned to fight the decision by taking the matter further in the Dutch courts in a bid to publish the Russian book in the Netherlands. 24.HALES ADAPTING GARGOYLE
25.CHILDRENS STORIES FROM THE GREAT BIRD OF THE GALAXY
26.HORROR – AND WE MEAN THAT LITERARILY
27.THE 2003 NEBULA AWARDS CEREMONY
28.FROM COMIC TO MOVIE TO BOOK
29.RECENT TITLES: MEDIA RELATED
April 2003
April 2003
May 2003
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| 30.KING KONG’S GREAT COMEBACK
LORD OF THE RINGS film director Peter Jackson is switching his focus from hobbits to giant apes after signing up to remake the classic monkey movie KING KONG. The New Zealander responsible for the Rings films - the last volume of which is to be released late this year - has finally been contracted to make the new picture for Universal Studios after nearly a decade of trying. "No film has captivated my imagination more than King Kong," Jackson said. "I'm making movies today because I saw this film when I was nine years old. It has been my sustained dream to reinterpret this classic story for a new age”. Jackson - who had set out to make King Kong in the 1990s until the release date was delayed, forcing him to turn his attentions to the Rings trilogy. He is now planning for a 2005 release date. He will start monkeying around with the new movie - which, like Rings, will also be filmed in New Zealand - when he completes the last picture in the extraodinary hobbit trilogy, LOR: THE RETURN OF THE KING. KING KONG was first made by Hollywood in 1933 when Faye Wray starred as the compassionate victim of the giant ape's attentions. His vision for the tragic tale of the misunderstood creature, with its poignant character development and technological wonder, will make KING KONG compulsory viewing for any real movie lover. It is bound to be a sellout to this crowd – LOR and Apes! What great mix! 31.TRAVELING ON TO NEW LINE
32.CAMPBELL SCREAMS BRAIN
33.NEW INDY VILLIANS ARE PROMISED
34.HALL ENDORSES PAYCHECK
35.HEINLEIN’S MOON
36.ANOTHER SUPERMAN POSSIBLE BITES THE DUST
37.BERRY TO CAT AROUND IN CATWOMAN ROLE
38.GLOVER LIKE WILLARD’S RATS
39.MORE RAT FUN
40.GOD PLAYS IT STRAIGHT
41.EPISODE III SETS GOING UP NOW
ICS FOR APRIL – MOVIES TO SEE ICS FOR APRIL – MOVIES TO SEE ICS FOR APRIL Anger Management - Release Date: April 11th, 2003 (wide)
X-MEN 2 - Release Date: May 2nd, 2003 MPAA Rating: PG-13
Matrix reloaded - Release Date: May 15th, 2003
The Hulk - Release Date: June 20th, 2003
Terminator 3 rise of the Machines - Release Date: July 2nd, 2003
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| 43.DVD WEBSITE HIGH-KICKS ONLINE
Hong Kong Legends, is a great website in the UK for fans of martial arts films. Recently the site has undergone a makeover and it's looking good. You can find remastered Hong Kong and Asian cinema classics at bargain prices. This nice-looking website is definitely worth a look, with more than 60 films available on both DVD and video featuring stars such as Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Jet Li. One nice touch is that you can watch trailers for some of the films before buying. The website is well-organized, simple to get around and heaven for kung-fu lovers. For the moment the website offers only Chinese movies but is planning to extend its wares to Japanese, Korean and Thai films. Just keep in mind that since this is a UK site, the prices will not be in US Dollars AND more importantly, the media will not be in NTSC format. 44.MOVIE BUFFS STOP AND VISIT THIS SITE
45.COULD MEDIA CHANNEL BE FOR YOU!
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| 46.NEVER NEED TO GET UP AND CHANGE THE DISC AGAIN
Earlier this week at their 2003 Consumer Open House event, Sony Electronics announced plans for two new Multichannel SACD/DVD Video players. One of which is slated for release later this year. With models such as a 400 disc SACD/DVD changer and dual compatible recorder offering multi-disc management features, it is providing a convenient, elegant way for consumers to further benefit from the advantages of DVD home entertainment. No prices were available yet. But the 300 disc changer is available from Sony for a mere $399.00 And yet another Sony news item…
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| 49.STAN BRAKHAGE, AN ICS ORIGINAL
One of Imaginative Cinema’s true experimental and innovative avant-garde filmmakers, Stan Brakhage has died in Victoria, Canada at the age of 70. Since the early 1950’s Brakhage has made nearly 400 films running from 9 seconds to as long as four hours. He employed and sometimes devised techniques as varied as super-imposition, scratching images directly on film emulsion, optical distortion, stream-of consciousness imaging and as in MOTHLIGHT (1963) even pasting insect parts onto celluloid and running them through an optical printer to get film images. He has achieved the status, in the world of cinema, of ground breaking pioneer and poet. His most famous film DOG STAR MAN (1964), a unique vision of the cosmos in which Brakhage experimented in the use of color, distorted imagery and alteration of the film stock itself, became one of the first 10 films listed in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. He has been credited with influencing filmmakers in fields as varied as commercials, foreign cinema, Hollywood and certainly experimental film. Brakhage has also contributed to film as a teacher at the University of Boulder and the Art Institute of Chicago and as the author of such books as Metaphors of Vision, A Motion Picture Giving and Taking Book, The Seen, and The Brakhage Scrapbook. “A film critic who takes no account of Stan Brakhage”, wrote J. Hoberman in The Village Voice in1987, “has as much claim to serious attention as a historian who never heard of the Civil War.” Criterion will release a two-disc DVD in early May containing 26 films by Mr. Brakhage. 50.I am Spartacus! Howard Fast, novelist and occasional SF/fantasy writer, died March 12, 2003 at the age of 88. He is best known for Spartacus, Freedom Road, Citizen Tom Paine and the Lavette family saga that began with The Immigrants. However his first sale at the age of 17 was a short story, Wrath of the Purple, which was published in the October 1932 issue of Amazing Stories. He later sold several stories to Fantasy & Science Fiction beginning in the '50s, including the popular novella The First Men and short story The Large Ant. His genre stories were collected in The Edge of Tomorrow, The General Zapped an Angel and A Touch of Infinity. The novel Spartacus became the basis for the Academy Award winning 1960 movie. 51.BUCHHOLZ, A GUNSLINGER LEGACY Horst Buchholz, who started his career as Germany’s answer to James Dean, died March 3, 2003 of pneumonia in Berlin. He is best known to American audiences for two roles in the early 60’s, that of the young gunslinger in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and the communist hunk who marries James Cagney’s daughter in Billy Wilder’s ONE, TWO, THREE. Some other films to his credit are MARCO THE MAGNIFICENT, JOHNNY BANCO, DEAD OF NIGHT, SAHARA, TOUCH AND DIE and Roberto Benigni’s LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL. On T.V. he was seen in THE AMAZING CAPTAIN NEMO, and such series as LOGAN’S RUN and CHARLIE’S ANGELS. Buchholz was 69 years old. 52.FRIEBERGER REMEMBERED
53.MANTLEY, FROM BOOKS TO MOVIES
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by John Ward When Betsy, our esteemed editor, approached me about writing a column for the ICS Files, I waffled (as I have been known to do on occasion). As much as I enjoy writing, I didn’t want to commit if I couldn’t deliver. Then Betts offered carte blanche, and the prospect of ranting and raving about all things cinematic finally won me over. Naturally, I jumped in without looking to see if there was any water in the well. Days, a week, two weeks went by and I couldn’t think of a blessed thing. My nightmare was coming true; I couldn’t deliver one puny little column. I started questioning myself (not a good sign); why was I doing this again? Which started me thinking about movies. That was, after all, what
I really wanted to talk about: why I loved movies.
Like the time I saw JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS at the age of 5: my earliest clearly defined memory of watching an entire movie in the theater. The creatures fascinated me. I didn’t have a clue about Ray Harryhausen, but I already knew about Hercules and Jason and the figures of Greek mythology, which Harryhausen brought thrillingly to life. Like the time my buddies and I went to see BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. We were all about 11 or 12, hanging out together, laughing and joking. We liked westerns. Then came the scene where Robert Redford surprised Katharine Ross in her bedroom, and everything got deathly quiet. Not a single popcorn kernel was crunched. It was the first time I saw adult content in a movie. Like all the times I went to double feature Saturday matinees at my great-grandfather’s movie theater, the only one in a small town of 4,000 people. There were always cartoons, previews, two monster movies or sci-fi movies (or, even better, one of each) and occasionally, a chapter from an old-time serial. That’s where I first fell in love with ‘50s sci-fi, Hammer horror, John Wayne westerns, Disney… Like the time I fooled my grandfather, a Presbyterian minister, into taking me to see THE FRENCH CONNECTION, my first R-rated movie. As Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider spewed one colorful curse word after another, I cringed, waiting for my grandpa to spout fire and brimstone from some pulpit of the mind. (Presbyterians are known for spouting fire and brimstone.) Instead, he complimented me on my choice of movies for our afternoon’s excursion (the other option was BAMBI, I think) and waxed philosophical about the New York City skyline. Like the time I went with my mother to see THE GODFATHER. As a rule, I didn’t go to movies with my parents – either of them. But I wanted to see THE GODFATHER, and this was my only shot. Everything was fine, until Michael Corleone’s wedding night; then my mother actually tried to put her hand over my eyes. The horse’s head in the bed, the assassination in the restaurant, James Caan’s death, assorted stabbings and shootings, and my mother didn’t flinch until Pacino’s bride dropped her top. Like the time a few months later when I tried to push my luck with my mother and dragged her to see DELIVERANCE. Once again, she didn’t flinch. But I sure got an idea of what an R-rated movie was all about. Like the time I saw THE STING in a packed movie house at Christmas time, and I walked out of the theater feeling great about the world and brushing a finger past my nose at complete strangers. Like the time I saw Lon Chaney in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. It was in a huge art deco theater as part of the town’s annual Arts Festival; there was even a beautiful rainbow-lit Wurlitzer organ. I think the second movie was something about Mary Pickford hiding some orphans in the swamp, but I only had eyes for Chaney. Like the time I saw the original ALIEN at the cavernous Stanley Theatre in downtown Pittsburgh. The place seated close to 2,000 people; it was also used for rock concerts. The screen was huge and curved, and when that alien burst from John Hurt’s chest and practically right into my face, I screamed. It was my last visit to one of the old monolithic movie houses before they were all torn down. Like the time my friends and I caught a late night showing of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSSACRE in the college dining hall. About three quarters of the way through, when tension was running high, our resident assistant stood up in the back and did a spot-on impersonation of a chainsaw motor revving up. Cleared the place out. Like the first time I took my future wife Terri to a movie; it was a pitiful little trifle of a comedy called COUSINS, with Ted Danson and Isabella Rossalini. But I was sitting next to my future wife. (It could have been worse; when I was in high school, my idea of a good first-date movie was THE OMEN.) Like the time in the spring of 1989 when Terri and I reeled off an incredible string of dates at the Senator: GONE WITH THE WIND, LAWERENCE OF ARABIA, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO and INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE. Like the time my wife and I went to Ocean City for our first anniversary; it was a blustery March weekend, we were on the boardwalk in our winter coats, and Terri was six months pregnant. So, with nothing better to do, we went to see BASIC INSTINCT. That movie put a whole new perspective on our relationship. Like the time my cousin and I saw SUPERMAN II in a theater in Piccadilly Circus, months before it was due to open in the States. Like the time we saw THE DEER HUNTER in a huge double-balconied theater in Edinburgh, Scotland; Springsteen was set to play there the following week. It was the first time I had ever seen vendors walking the aisles of a movie theater. I think I had an ice cream bar. Like the time we saw SLAP SHOT in a theater in Zurich, Switzerland. It was in English, with three sets of subtitles: German, French, and Italian. Everyone in the theater laughed three seconds after we did. Like the time Terri and I saw THE ROLLING STONES AT THE MAX at the Maryland Science Center IMAX Theater. She had gotten me the tickets for Christmas. It was the first time I had ever seen earplugs sold in a movie theater lobby. Like the time we took our son to his first movie; it was POCAHONTAS, and he had just turned 3. He lasted about 40 minutes, or about as long as it took him to finish his popcorn. (My mother tells me the first movie I ever saw was TOBY TYLER. She says I was a year-and-a-half old.) Like the time we took our son to see TOY STORY. This time he stayed after his popcorn was finished; it was his first “official” movie all the way through. And we were all entranced. Like all the times I’ve seen IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE; when Harry Bailey toasts his big brother George at the end and calls him the richest man in town, a tear rolls down my cheek and it’s as if I’m seeing the movie for the first time. Like the times I’ve taken my son to see the LORD OF THE RINGS, the HARRY POTTER movies, the STAR WARS pictures and SPIDERMAN then talked about all of them afterwards with happy grins on our faces. Watching his face reflect the light and magic of the movie screen is one of the nicest feelings in the world for me. Like the time in 1999 that I discovered a club full of folks who liked the movies I liked, and then some. That first film I saw was THE GIANT CLAW; and despite that, I felt like I really belonged. And I kept coming back. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I love movies. |
| APRIL CALENDAR
FRI – SUN: 11-13 - SON OF FANEX CONVENTION SUN 20: EASTER SAT 26: ICS MEETING 5:30PM ICSFILES STAFF MEETING 4:30PM SAT 26: WEDDING FOR ICS MEMBER - DONNA SENTZ |
