Orange October Continues

Well it’s mid-October and the San Francisco Giants are still playing baseball. Honestly, I’m still having a hard team believing this, considering this was a team that I witnessed get swept by the Oakland A’s back in May, and were made to look absolutely foolish by the Padres for most of the season. But none of that matters now as Brian Sabean somehow managed to turn this rag-tag bunch of unwanted veterans and emerging youngsters into pennant contenders.

So now the big question is, how in the hell do the Giants beat the Phillies? For most people it doesn’t seem possible, but there’s plenty of reason to keep up hope. First of all, let’s look at how that supposedly impenetrable Phillies rotation did this year against the Giants.

Roy Halladay – 0-1, 6.43 ERA

Cole Hamels – 0-1, 7.36 ERA

Roy Oswalt – 1-3, 3.33 ERA

So really, there’s plenty of reason to doubt that Phillies pitching will absolutely dominate this Giants line-up like everyone expects them to. Of course in the last month or two, these three pitchers have been just about perfect, but then again, so have Lincecum, Cain, and Sanchez. So basically we can all expect to see one of the best pitched post-season series in history.

Now looking at the Phillies line-up, that’s were things get a little distressing. Yes, you’ve got you’re Utley’s and your Howard’s and to a lesser extent your Victorino’s. The Giant’s lineup on the other hand has Buster Posey, a glorious man-child sent down from the heavens with the sole purpose of rectifying this otherwise mediocre offense. Plus you’ve got those crafty veterans like Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell, and Juan Uribe who we can only hope will come up with those big hits when we need them most.

I’m also hanging on to the idea that Matt seems to remind us of with each coming postseason, and that’s the fact that this is only seven games, and anything can happen in seven games. So are the Giants as good a team as the Phillies? I’m gonna have to say no, not really. But that’s what’s made this team so much fun to root for all season long, they’re the lovable underdogs, and who am I to say that they can’t pull off one more miracle? So all I really have left to say is GO GIANTS!

Shocktober: Day 16

Jaws (1975)

Dir: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw
Dun nun, duh nuh, duh nuh… Gives me chills just thinking about it. I’ve never been sure whether or not you could really classify Jaws as a “Horror” movie. I’ve always thought of it as an action/adventure more like Jurassic Park, but I figure it’s scared enough people to earn a spot on this list, I mean it’s one of my favorite movies PERIOD.

The movie that made everyone afraid to go in the water is just as exciting as ever. I could weigh this down with a plot synopsis but who hasn’t seen this? What’s to explain really? “A Shark kills people, so some people got to kill the shark.” That’s basically it in it’s crudest form, but it’s so simple that there’s so much to build upon. The characters are all excellently crafted, compelling and humorous in their own ways. Richard Dreyfuss fills the kind of obnoxious scientist role, Robert Shaw is the rough-around-the-edges, monologue spewing mariner and Roy Scheider is the relatable, level headed, police chief, they’re all brilliant.

Dialogue comes to mind as another standout element. Little snippets like “That’s a real bad hat harry” or the infamous “Were gonna need a bigger boat.” Or how about the legendary USS Indianapolis story? Tell me you don’t get chills when Quint tells that chilling yarn. Peter Benchley (Also the author of the book) and Carl Gottlieb (Who would co-write The Jerk) penned one of my all time favorite scripts without a wasted breath.

Let’s see… Oh yes, how could I talk about Jaws without mentioning the music? Got to be up there with John Williams top three scores along with Star Wars and Indiana Jones hmm, though there’s also Superman? Damn he’s prolific! Sometimes I wonder what this movie would of been like without that theme. In a way the music basically is the shark as we seldom see it. I think most are aware that this movie was hell putting together, with basically everything going wrong that could go wrong.

I’m not positive but this has to be the biggest blockbuster out of all my Shocktober selections, after all it was the first blockbuster. Jaws is one of those rare films that changed the shape of cinema… You could even say it turned the tides? In that it changed how so many studios produced and marketed action/thrillers. This is one of those movies I could talk about forever, so I’m gonna stop now.

Conversations with Myself

Nelson Mandela

The darkest moments in humanities history often reveals the brightest of stars. The 20st century was full of these stars, whether war heroes like Dwight Eisenhower, equality activists like Martin Luther King Jr., or Neil Armstrong who showcased that we can put a man on the moon, these guys are what make America such a wonderful place to live in. But America is not the only breeding ground for humanities finest, during one of the darkest times of Africa’s history, Nelson Mandela, rose above and fought for a better, freer South Africa.

I first heard of Mandela when I was playing apples to apples in seventh grade. Not to the surprise of people that no me, I had no idea who he was, and did not pursue knowledge of him either. In tenth grade, my world history class spent about a week on the apartheid that occurred in South Africa, it was then that Mandela came up again; this time, the name was going to stay in my mind.

Mandela’s story is a remarkable one. He started as a member of a royal family in a small South African town, but then got involved with politics. Mandela focused on working toward the liberation of South Africa. The roots of this conflict lead back to the dutch coming to South Africa in 1650’s. After a couple hundred years, dutch farmers, born in South Africa became known as Boers or Afrikaners. They fought with the British in the 19th century who came to occupy South Africa (because of its strategic trade position at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa was highly desirable land). The Zulu’s or native South African people drew the shortest stick, and were further pushed back and enslaved by the Dutch and British. In the early 20th century the British and Afrikaner parties worked together divvying up territory and joint ruling, leaving the majority Zulu population behind. The first major articles of segregation legislation started to pass, and the apartheid era was beginning. It was up to Mandela to stop it.

In 1948, the Afrikaner-majority political group, that supported the apartheid and segregation, was elected to office. By now, South Africa was heavily segregated. Mandela, a member of the African National Congress, ANC, used his political office to protest against the segregative government. For his activities, Mandela was incarcerated and sent to prison in 1964. During this time, the government thought sending Mandela to jail would stop his growing public support, in fact, the opposite happened; Mandela used his time in prison to write detailed letters to the people, building more and more support. When Mandela walked free in 1990, he had huge support in the multi-racial movement. The following four years, Mandela struggled to fully unite the people, but in 1994, in the first free, multi-racial election, the ANC was elected as the political group, and Mandela President of South Africa. Mandela used his time in office to end the apartheid completely and unite South Africa.

That is, in brief, who Nelson Mandela is. I came across a news article of this new book about Mandela that included various writings from throughout his life, working more on his personal side. A Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela’s autobiography, was published a few years ago, but I never picked up a copy and read it. I thought that I should give this new one, Conversations with Myself a read.

I expected that this book would be written by Mandela, sort of like a second autobiography. Within reason, the book is an autobiography, and written by Mandela, but really it isn’t. A team of writers gathered hundreds of Mandela’s diary entries from all over the years, organized them by four themes, not chronologically, which I think makes the book more difficult to understand, and then published it. The actual entries are wonderful, Mandela is a gifted writer with a strong sense of voice and attitude in each writing. The problem though, half of the entries I have no idea what Mandela is talking about or what is going on at that time. The compilers could have added some more commentary between the entries to explain, but didn’t. One other thing worth mentioning, President Obama ‘wrote’ the foreward for the book. Of all the people out there, I don’t think Obama was the right choice. I respect it, but don’t like it. Just doesn’t feel right for this because the U.S. never really supported Mandela until very recently. It was actually our CIA that helped the Afrikaners arrest Mandela in 62′. Since the book requires a heavy understanding of Mandela’s life, and jumps around quite a bit, this book couldn’t get the perfect rating. If your familiar with the apartheid in South Africa, this book is probably perfect for you, if you, like me, just have general knowledge on the subject, I would spend the time and money on Mandela’s actual autobiography.

Shocktober: Day 15

Black Christmas (1974)

Dir: Bob Clark
Cast: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Marian Waldman, Andrea Martin
What better time for mayhem than during the jolliest time of the year? It’s no surprise that the emerging slasher genre would work it’s way through all the holidays, but wait a second… This film predates John Carpenter’s Halloween? “Are you telling me there was a holiday themed slasher flick made a whole four years before Halloween?” I guess in that respect Black Christmas was ahead of the curve, from the concept to even the techniques used in the film.

“A homicidal maniac attacks a sorority house during the Christmas Season.” Could you come up with a more basic premise for a slasher flick? Do we know why he does it? No, do we know who he is or do we find out? Nope, you don’t even see him and it’s this vague approach that makes it work so well. All of the killer’s scenes are from his P.O.V, so we don’t even know what he looks like and you gotta admire that kind of boldness in filmmaking. This movie strives to keep you in the dark, decreasing your comfort level with every scene and every kill. As we’ve all heard, “Sometimes the scariest thing is what you don’t see.”

Black Christmas doesn’t often get the recognition I think it deserves but it’s built up a strong cult following. The film even featured some future actors before they were famous including; Nick Mancuso, Margot Kidder and Andrea Martin. Though probably weirdest of all is the director Bob Clark went on to do A Christmas Story . Wow, the most beloved Christmas film and the darkest with the same man behind the camera, makes you think.

Shocktober: Day 14

It’s Alive (1974)

Dir: Larry Cohen
Cast: John P. Ryan, Sharon Farrell, William Wellman Jr, James Dixon, Daniel Hozman
It’s Alive is a movie about a mother who gives birth to a mutant baby who goes on a killing spree. That’s what the movie is actually about. What a stupid premise, must be a dud, right? Actually, it’s Kind of great. I’m not saying this monster-baby movie is a milestone, but it’s incredibly well executed for such a silly concept. Writer/Director Larry Cohen is a cult hero in Horror and Action and is well known in those circles for making e A-quality pictures out of B-Movie ideas. Therefore I felt his contributions were worth noting in this week’s review of It’s Alive.

Frank (John Ryan) and Lenore (Sharen Farrell) and their son Charley (Daniel Hozman) are the definitive portrait of a happy family and are readily awaiting kid #2. Except, this time Lenore has taken “Experimental Fertility Drugs.” Gotta watch out for those. What happens when she goes to the delivery room? The baby jumps out and kills everybody. From then on it becomes a heated pursuit of finding the murderous tot.

We only get glimpses of the baby here and there, but the design is good. Rick Baker (Star Wars, An American Werewolf in London) crafted the creature and it gets the scares. The trick is showing it just enough–not too much. Of course, the monster boy gets a little help from music by composer Bernard “F#@kin!” Herrmann. How Cohen sold Bernie on a movie like this I have no idea. I know the two were friends. In fact, the last thing Bernard Herrman did before he died was watch a rough cut of Cohen’s 1976 thriller God Told Me To (Herrman was going to score the film), ate dinner with Cohen, and then went to his hotel where he died from a heart attack in his sleep. A damn shame but as usual Herrman is at the top of his game for this one.

Story and music aside, what stands out to me is John P. Ryan’s performance as the monster’s grieving father. Ryan puts a lot of intensity into his performance. There’s one scene near the end where he actually finds the baby, scared and helpless and his pain as a conflicted father comes off as heartbreaking, who would’ve thunk it?

It’s Alive is not a great movie–and I’m sure it’s multiple sequels aren’t much to write home about–but it left a mark on the genre. Cohen has always had the ability to put his unique stamp on things and I always love watching him work.

P.S. I have to warn everyone that at the end of It’s Alive a detective reports another monster baby has been born in Seattle. So let’s be vigilant and be on the lookout for a 36-year-old homicidal mutant.

Shocktober: Day 13

Don’t Look Now (1973)

Dir: Nicolas Roeg
Cast: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland
Before he was a director Nicolas Roeg was a talented Cinematographer. His work included The Masque of the Red Death, Fahrenheit 451, portions of Doctor Zhivago and even some contributions to the visual look of Lawrence of Arabia as a second unit photographer. Then in the early 70s he became a director but you could still feel that same visual flare in his films and Don’t Look Now is a prime example.

Laura (Julie Christie) and John Baxter (Donald Sutherland) are a married couple who have recently lost their daughter. With their marriage on the rocks, the two decide to take a “working vacation” to Venice. Here John has been contracted to restore an old church while Laura befriends a pair of eccentric twin sisters who claim to have psychic powers! Laura becomes drawn in when one sister claims to have made contact without the couple’s daughter.

Meanwhile a series of grisly murders are taking place across the city. Why attention is drawn to this subplot is unclear, until the end and it’s a doozy. So John begins to catch glimpses of a childlike figure who resembles his daughter wandering the city, he follows it but is unsuccessful in ever catching it. From there on the film only descends into further madness as the character’s start to question their sanity, it’s a real trip to say the least.

Now Don’t Look Now isn’t the most exciting thriller. It can try your patience with some achingly slow moments but there’s other aspects to enjoy. Like I said it’s a beautifully photographed film, very picturesque locations and overall pleasing cinematography. Christie and Sutherland have an intense chemistry that’s almost unsettling, they share a surprisingly graphic love scene together.

Though there’s one big reason i still remember this movie and look back to it and that’s the end. It’s a twisty and disturbing finale of the finest caliber and it always freaks me out. Hell, I can’t go on without spilling the beans so here I go. (Spoiler Ahead!) So remember that child-like figure Donald Sutherland is chasing? Well it turns out it’s actually this creepy midget woman who just happens to be the murderer everyone’s looking for. So she stabs Sutherland with the only words he can say being “Wait… Wait…” Gives me chills just thinking about it.

Shocktober: Day 12

The Last House on the Left (1972)

Dir: Wes Craven
Cast: Sandra Peabody, Lucy Grantham, David Hess, Fred J. Lincoln Jeramie Rain
“The seventies already? What about the last 12 years?” Well let me explain. The sixties are tricky because most of the notable 60s horror flicks came out at the beginning of the decade, with the exceptions of films like Rosemary’s Baby in 1967 and Night of the Living Dead in 1968. The thing is I already reviewed most of the “big ones” on my old blog, so I’m skipping ahead to the seventies where there’s a whole slew of creepy classics, let us proceed.

So even in his debut film Wes Craven had to deal with a fair share of controversy. Though what did he really expect with a movie about a gang of murdering rapists? Originally intended to be a a graphic “Hardcore” film it was changed to more of a thriller/slasher flick, but it’s still a mighty disturbing film. Basically it’s about a pair of teenage girls that head to the city to see a rock concert. Looking to score some marijuana they accidentally hookup with a gang that just happens to be a group of psychotic convicts. So the convicts have their way with the girls, take them to the woods, and kill them without hesitation. This leads to the main girl’s distraught parents seeking vengeance on the murderers and vengeance they get.

Apart from it’s graphic content the film is also notable for it’s bizarre ever changing tones. Throughout the film were constantly hearing a hippy-like folk soundtrack that was written and partially sung by the film’s main villain (David Hess). There’s also a pair of bumbling cops who seem completely out of place, getting into wacky situations with campy clown music. I can’t think of any other film that’s so purposely unbalanced but it sure creates an unsettling mood.

My first reaction after seeing it was “What the hell was that?” And though I’m still not crazy about it, I can see why it’s an influential film in it’s drive to break barriers. Kind of trailblazer in the horror/docudrama genre along with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Wes Craven would of course go on to bigger and better things but this is was an intriguing debut that still has the ability to unnerve and disturb viewers.