FEST!!!

For those of you who don’t know me personally or are newcomers to the blog,
this will be the first time you’re hearing about the mysterious thing
called Fest.  For those who have heard of it, bear with me while I recap
some things. Approximately 28 years ago, a group of friends in Boston
got together on a cold winter day to watch some movies.  It wasn’t just
any get together though. Two members of the group, Mike Carvalho and
Lynn Mason were (and are) movie hounds. They love seeking out the old,
the strange, the foreign and sometimes the forgotten when it comes to
cinema and they curated a list of films to show that would stretch an
entire 24 hours.

I’m not sure of the size of the first crowd but I have heard at least five
people say they were there. By all accounts it was interesting, but didn’t
go exactly the way they wanted it to go. In fact, that would have been
the only time they held it if not for Lynn bugging the absolute shit out
of Mike two years later saying that they HAD to try it again.  This time
they made some rule changes. The starting time was moved to early evening
on Friday. They scheduled breaks a little better and figured out ideal
running times for the movies they showed.

That was the beginning of the yearly tradition that is the 24 Hour Film
Fest.  I’ve had the pleasure of attending nine of them and when I say
pleasure, that’s not me being sarcastic.  I absolutely love “Fest”.

Last weekend, I attended number Fest 27.  It was one of (if not the) best
I’ve attended.  This year’s line up included an early talkie, an Indian
horror/fantasy film, a Japanese zombie film/comedy that was one of the
most creative things I’ve ever seen and nine more that I would recommend
to almost anyone.  Since we tend to talk about movies on this blog a bit,
I thought I’d run down some of my favorites from this year’s lineup. You
could do a lot worse than to seek these out!

First up, the crowd favorite, was the Japanese produced One Cut For The
Dead.  This one is going to be a bit hard to find due to a screwup by
Amazon who illegally listed it as a streaming title for a short period
before pulling it down.  This brought up massive piracy issues and a true
authorized U.S. release is not currently in the works. However, you can
find a UK release and it’s well worth getting.  The premise is a director
is tasked with shooting a livestream zombie film in one take. I don’t
want to explain things further because half the fun of this film is seeing
exactly what they’ve done.  Let’s just say that the zombie parts are scary
and the comedy parts are laugh out loud funny.

Another favorite of mine was the 1930 production of Moby Dick starring
John Barrymore. Now, if you are an author or just a well read lover of the
classics, I feel you need to see this one.  The writers and director had
no intention of making a true adaptation of Moby Dick. Instead, they made
a love story where Captain Ahab is a loveable drunk who falls in love with
a woman in port and does his best to clean up and woo her.  Sure, there’s
a white whale (well, a black whale with a white patch on its back).
There’s also Ahab himself and Queequeg. Other than that though, there’s
not another reference from the source material that I could spot. It’s
well made for the time, but just hilarious to watch for the way they
butchered the novel. There isn't any YouTube link to this one. Sorry.

If you want to see a majestic, insanely cool fantasy story, then check
out Tumbaad.  This is streaming on Amazon Prime and tells the story of a
cursed treasure in the heart of a castle in India and the young boy who
figures out the secret of how to get it.  The film then follows him through
his life as he exploits the source of the treasure again and again with
semi-disastrous consequences. It’s got old witches, demons, adventure
and lots and lots of rain.  I highly, highly recommend this one.

Speaking of witches and demons and foreign films, you should definitely
check out Livid.  It’s a beautifully creepy French film that tells the
story of a young hospice nurse who is learning her new route. She finds
that a wealthy old woman on her deathbed is on her route, she and her
boyfriend decide to rip off the mansion.  Obviously, things don’t go as
planned. It’s a fantastic film and will be one of the first that I watch
a second time.

The last one that I want to recommend was one I didn’t expect to love as
much as I do.  It’s a comedy from the 1980’s called Nice Girls Don’t
Explode. It’s about a young girl who’s special fire starting powers seem
to come forward only when she’s excited.  This becomes a problem as she’s
hit puberty and wants to start dating. There are some great laugh out
loud moments throughout and it’s a shame this didn’t get a bigger
following at the time.  

The full lineup is below and to be honest, except for Rock and Roll
Nightmare which is fun to watch with a crowd just so you can make fun of
it, all of the rest I would recommend in a heartbeat.  

Rock and Roll Nightmare

One Cut for the Dead

Moby Dick

Tumbaad

Deadly Eyes

Dark House

Tourist Trap

Would You Rather?

The Evil Within

Livide

Race With The Devil

Nice Girls Don't Explode

Fest is truly one of the highlights to my year and it’s because everyone
who attends is just so damn fun to watch movies with.  Thanks again to
Mike and Lynn for putting this on every year and special thanks to Karen
Mike’s longsuffering wife) for allowing this insanity to go on.  She
leaves for the weekend each year, but is sure to call us midway through to
loudly call us all “idiots” via speaker phone.

Next week, we’ll get back to the Forgotten Gems columns on Thursdays and
you can look forward to some book updates coming soon.  I can promise you
now, 2019 is going to be a fun, fun year!

Exploring Japan Vol. 18 - Return to Iwakuni

For those of you reading this who are a little older, I have a question. Was there ever a place you lived that you feel helped form the person you became?  If so, was it someplace far from home and family?

If you said yes to both of those questions, then you’ll probably appreciate this post.  There is nowhere I’ve lived that changed me more as a human being than my three years spent in Iwakuni, Japan.  I made friends there I still keep in touch with to this day. I also learned a lot of valuable lessons and made a lot of mistakes.  It was a time that I will never forget but which the years have blurred to the point of romanticizing things a bit.

I’d always told my wife that if given the chance, I’d love to take her to Iwakuni just so she could see where I lived and what life is like there. That said, I never truly thought I’d ever get that chance, so imagine my surprise when we realized that we could make it happen. On our first trip to Japan as a family, we carved out five days for a jaunt via Shinkansen to the Hiroshima area.  

Iwakuni sits about 45 minutes away right up against the inland sea and while we were only in Iwakuni itself for a single day, it was enough. As a family, when we think back on that first trip, every single one of us ranks that day as one of the best we had.

In an earlier post, I mentioned visiting the tea region of Japan.  The day after that trip, we boarded the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. If you’ve never ridden on a bullet train, the best I can describe it is to say it’s like the world’s smoothest flight.  

First, they are ALWAYS on time. In fact, it’s to the minute most days, so don’t dare be late or you will be left. The seats are comfortable and roomy. There is a service that comes through offering beverages and meals.  You can get up and walk around whenever you feel like it and if you have Snapchat, you can take cool photos that use your location tracking on your phone to figure out how fast you’re going.

Yeah, that’s really freakin’ fast.  

The only bad thing is that the further south you go, the more tunnels there are on this route so instead of seeing more of the countryside, many times you only see cement walls or just blackness.  Still, it’s a pleasant ride overall and it’s easy to find yourself lulled to sleep.

Once in Hiroshima, we checked into our hotel and explored a bit.  I’ll go into that and our day trip to Miyajima in a separate post.  The third day there, we took the train down to Iwakuni. Now, when I lived there, it was courtesy of the U.S. Navy.  I was allowed to live off base with my friend Dave Adsit (a Marine) and we got a taste of what life was really like living in Japan.  I would have loved to have visited the base and then wandered outside the gates to find where I’d used to live, however we only had one day.  With time being such a factor, I wanted the girls to see my favorite place to visit in Iwakuni: Kintai Bridge and Iwakuni Castle.

Kintai bridge is a footbridge that crosses the Nishiki River.  It was originally built in 1673 and while parts of it have been washed away from time to time (the last one being 1950), it’s been rebuilt in its original fashion and is a true sight to behold.  

Five arches rise and fall across a line of stone bases. They lead you from a city street into a beautiful park (Kikkou Park) where you can spend an entire day exploring.

We crossed over and wandered through the area where the diving birds are kept.  These birds are used to catch fish and this area was known for this activity back in the days when the bridge was built.  

From there, we took the cable car up to Iwakuni Castle. What sits atop the mountain now is a recreation. The original castle fell centuries ago by an official order in 1615.  

The bridge used to lead to the main gate. The castle recreation houses a museum that shows off artifacts that have been uncovered in the area. You’ll find samurai swords, armor and even bits of the roof from the original castle.  If you go up to the top level, you’ll find telescopes and it was through one of these I was able to see the barracks I used to live in when I first moved to Iwakuni.

I was also able to see the television/radio station I used to work at while I lived there.

I need to give a special shout out to my wife for helping me manipulate the smartphone camera in the telescope lens in order to capture those pictures.

However, the real fun is in wandering the paths around the castle.  On the day we were there, it was windy and you could hear music in the thousands of leaves rustling around you.  

I took the girls to see the old well (which was one of my favorite places to see) and we wandered a little way down the paved mountain path.  It was here that I saw something I didn’t expect to find.

Years ago, I used to ride my bike to Kintai Bridge and then hike a steep path through the woods all the way up the mountain to the castle.  Every map I’d seen recently only showed a wide paved path that one could walk(or drive) up, but there was no sign of the trail I used to take.  

Yet here, right off that paved path, was an obvious trail. There was no sign marking it as the one down to the bottom, but I knew it was the same one.

I bid the girls goodbye and told them I’d meet them at the bottom.  They headed back to the cable car and I started down one of the steepest paths I’ve climbed in years.  However, I was completely alone. There wasn’t any sound around me but the wind in the trees and my own footsteps.  

Only once did I see any wildlife as a snake crossed the path in front of me. I was happy for that rather than catching one hanging from a branch like in this helpful sign tacked to a tree halfway down.

By the time I got to the bottom, I felt more peaceful than I’ve felt in ages.  

The last part of the path leveled out and led through this beautiful tunnel of green before opening up at the entrance to a Shinto Temple.  

I quickly paid my respects and then met the girls in the park. They’d discovered the wading pool and we all sat with our feet in the water and watched the local kids play around us.  

It was a magical day and one I’d love to repeat at some point.  For now, I’ll just feel lucky that I got the chance to do it again this time.

If you find yourself in the Hiroshima area, take a day to visit Iwakuni. Kikkou Park is a treasure and especially so during cherry blossom season.

Next week, we’ll talk a bit more about Hiroshima and how sometimes, my fifty-year-old memory is still sharp as a tack.

See you then!

Forgotten Horror Gems Vol. 6 - It's Alive! (1974)

I know what you're thinking.  

Cary, how could you have possibly missed seeing It's Alive!?  It's got one of the most iconic posters of the 1970's and was talked about on every schoolyard for months after its release!

Let me tell you a story of a young man obsessed with horror movies who was only allowed to see them when they came on TV.  I was only six when the movie came out but by the time I was 10, it was playing as part of the second half of a Drive-In Double Feature in Okeechobee, FL.  

That movie poster haunted my dreams and when my friends and their older siblings began telling me about how gruesome and horrible it was, I couldn't wait to see it.

Except, I kind of could.  You see, after I reached the age where I could have gone to see it on my own (or rented it), I'd heard from others that it kind of sucked.  I kept it in the back of my mind as something I should eventually check out, but didn't really pursue it.

Until now... and I have to say that once again my impression of the film differs wildly from the girls'.  

A quick synopsis:

A couple go to the hospital to have their baby.  Upon being born, it's discovered to be a horrible mutation that is already able to crawl, climb and kill.  The family is disgraced and local law enforcement has to track down the child and kill it to ensure public safety.  

Here's the girl's take:

The "Not So Old" Film Rubric:  It's Alive (1974)

1. Something comes alive:  +0.5
2. Legitimate Plot: +1
3. Clueless Female Character:  0
4. Decent Acting: +1
5. Dumb joke at the expense of the foreign or elderly:  0
6. The story progresses:  +0.5
7. Educational short:  -2
8. Expert in some ridiculous field:  0
9. Sexist joke/comment:  +1
10. Music is not repetitive:  -1
11. Emperor, princess or ancient god present:  0
12. Love story:  0
13. 70's hair (giant hair):  +1
14. Bike riding or picnicking:  0
15. Bell bottoms and/or platform shoes:  +1
16. "Trippy" used in dialogue or in the way the film is shot: +1
17. Overly dated:  +2

Total Score:  6

Some takeaways from the girls:

"The first half hour of this was very promising!" - Karen

"The 70's wallpaper and clothes were awesome." - Lilith

"I was very disappointed that there was no scientist explaining how all this happened though." - Karen

Karen also said that she absolutely hated the music but her hate was immediately replaced the following day because she and I watched another 70's flick with even worse music.  That'll be coming next week.

Personally, I like the idea of this one but the execution is beyond horrible.  Karen's right, the first 30 minutes are fun, all the way up to the birth scene.  After that, there are a ton of plot points either skipped over or mildly mentioned in passing.  The pacing starts to drag in the middle and the whole movie felt like it was a half-hour too long.  My biggest gripe though is that there's never a clear shot of the creature and this is a travesty.  Stills from the film show that Rick Baker's design is fantastic.  

See!  That's one scary looking baby!  I can only guess that the budget dictated that things be kept mysterious.  Anyway, I sort of, kind of, recommend this one because it is 100% pure exploitative schlock and that's always fun on some level.

Next week, we'll check out another classic from the 1970's (again, with terrible music).  This one involves hippies and rabies!

See you then!

The Official Soundrack to The Wash!

If you've read the title of this post and are a bit confused, I completely understand.  Normally, a soundtrack accompanies a film.  Allow me to explain.

Eric San Juan is a musician, author and all around great guy who I've known for a while. As an author, he's written books about Hitchcock and Kurosawa, broken down television series like Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead and has even published graphic novel collections.  

As a musician, he records under a number of names pending the project type.  Whether it's the chaotic guitar noisescapes of his M2 moniker, the more conventional XSweet or the laid back sounds of Tape Theory, Eric's music is never predictable and never boring.  His albums have accompanied me on dive boats, airplanes and even to other countries.

So imagine my surprise when he contacted me out of the blue to tell me that he'd recorded a soundtrack to my novel The Wash!  

I was floored!  Having an artist who you admire contact you and tell you that they were inspired by something you wrote is an amazing feeling.  Add to that, when he shared the early mixes of the tracks with me I found that I really liked them. They were mysterious and unsettling in the best of ways and I agreed that they would be perfect accompaniment to a film version of The Wash (at least as I see it in my head).

The album is now up for download and it's completely FREE!  Eric explains the process behind the album in his post here.  You can also find the link there to download it.  

For those of you who want more, I have a special deal for you.  Eric was kind enough to give me access to a bunch of outtakes and extra tracks from this session.  If you'd like them, then all you have to do is review The Wash on Amazon.  

LINK TO THE WASH ON AMAZON

Simply go to the link above and leave a review.  Send me an e-mail at w.cary.christopher@gmail.com along with a link to your review.  I'll reply to you with a link to the outtakes.

I really hope you enjoy Soundtracks for Horror Moves: Music Inspired by The Wash.  It's been playing on my iPod pretty regularly since he posted it.  I hope it gets its fingers way up under your skin and makes you anxious and so creeped out you can't sleep.  

As always, I have your best interests at heart.