A look at art direction, performance, and sci-fi sensuousness in the 1980 version of Flash Gordon directed by Mike Hodges.
Audio Commentary: Wild Style (Charlie Ahearn, 1983)
A look at “Stoop Rap” as performed by Double Trouble in the seminal hip-hop movie Wild Style.
Audio Commentary: They Live (John Carpenter, 1988)
A look at scenes from John Carpenter’s satirical alien-invasion movie They Live, released four days before the 1988 presidential elections and relevant to this day.
Halloween Horror Montage
Every year, I see those Chuck Workman clip compilations on the Oscars broadcast and I think, “Gee, that looks like a fun job.” Also every year, I wish I had started thinking about Halloween early enough to do something special for my Web site. Here’s the result of those twin impulses: a short montage of clips culled from my collection of horror movies from 1960 and later, cued up and intertwined in a sequence dictated by my memories of watching them over the decades — and some ascertainment of their meanings in relation to one another — and set to a fairly arbitrary choice of music. Accordingly, and as HBO and/or the MPAA might note, it contains graphic violence, brief nudity, strong language, strong sexual content, and some disturbing images. It also may contain sidelong SPOILERS for a number of terrific horror movies (they’re listed at the bottom of this entry), so proceed at your own risk.
Audio Commentary: The Blues Brothers
A look at the shopping-mall car chase from The Blues Brothers, including some of the recent history of the Dixie Square Shopping Mall.
Audio Commentary: Persona (Bergman, 1966)
A look at a crucial “dream sequence” from Ingmar Bergman’s Persona, drawing on ideas in the book Mindscreen by Bruce Kawin.
Audio Commentary: Prospero’s Books (Greenaway, 1991)
A look at the opening credits sequence of Prospero’s Books, including some of the paintings that inspired director Peter Greenaway’s visuals.
Audio Commentary: Drunken Master 2 (Lau, 1994)
A look at a fight sequence from Drunken Master 2, including a brief comparison of the original Hong Kong audio and the dubbed, re-scored, and re-foleyed U.S. release version.