I Was At BNAT 15, YUP!!! A Grand Movie Watching Advenure!

Woah, how time zips on by...this month is almost over, in fact this year!!! AHHHHH!! Crazy!

Anyways,...at the beginning of December I was in Austin, Texas with My Guy Dave. We had driven all the way from Los Angeles, California to Texas through rain and cold to attend BUTT-NUMB-A-THON 15, put on by HARRY KNOWLES of AICN. Yup, we got into BNAT once again and I couldn't have been a happier film watching fanatic!!!

Now if you don't know much about BNAT, it's a 24 hour movie marathon that Harry Knowles puts together to celebrate his birthday and celebrate movies, new and old! It's a super awesome time. This was my 8th BNAT! (THANKS THANKS THANKS HARRY!!!)

The day of BNAT arrived and it was a cold day in Austin! We couldn't wait to check in and get into the theater. Dave and I got row 1700 and we were happy to see many familiar faces along side us. I got to also make some new friends! We were close up to the screen and all getting settled.

The theater was buzzing and we were talkin' about what could possibly play. Harry puts out a FAKE LIST: BNAT Fake List with hints for what's to come, but guessing is never easy.

Soon some introductions began the show was about to start. Harry had a seat in the back row and a camera projected him on the screen to address the audience and it was the kick off to BNAT!

There were trailers: TRADING PLACES, THE LAWYER and STUNT ROCK

Our first feature of the night was WOLF OF WALL STREET, Martin Scorsese's latest feature starring Leonardo DiCaprio. WOLF is the story of Jordan Belfort; stockbroker, party animal, asshole. I call him that since my dad (who worked in the stockbroker biz all his working days) always told me stockbrokers were assholes. And it's that little thought that constantly ran through my mind as I watched Jordan's life flash on screen. This was quiet a movie and really kicked off BNAT right.

Watching Jordan's lavish lifestyle and learning how he swindled people out of money with no remorse was just WOW and WOAH! Leonardo was great in the role showing he can do physical comedy. It's a movie you can't look away from and are amazed by from beginning to end. Mr. Belfort is no hero, but his life sure made one helluva movie. Yup.

As the movie's credits rolled a small marching band made it's way down the aisles, they were The Patriot Brass, from Mr. Scorsese and they played Happy Birthday for Harry and everyone sang along.

Next up was to be the 1980's Australian flick HARLEQUIN a.k.a DARK FORCES. Harry said he'd only ever seen the trailer and shared that originally the casting was almost David Bowie and Orson Wells.

TRAILERS: THE FURY (for lovers of the shocking, suspenseful, terrifying...), the flick 3 RING CIRCUS featuring Jerry Lewis as JERICHO THE WONDER CLOWN.

HARLEQUIN, one of the old movies I had already seen on a big screen, thanks to my local New Beverly Cinema. Watching with a BNAT crowd though was like watching it for the first time. This modern telling of Rasputin starred Robert Powell (TOMMY'S dad!),  David Hemmings (Barbarella!!) and Broderick Crawford!!

Powell is Gregory Wolfe, clown, faith healer, wearer of black nail polish and oh so mysterious. Gregory cures the son of an upcoming politician played by Hemmings. There's political intrigue and magic as Powell struts around performing more than just a few parlor tricks. At one point we had a break from the film as the reel jumped from the projector. It seems the Harlequin's magic was just too strong.

It's really a fun film out of the Aussie "Ozplotation" era and should be seen with a crowd to appreciate its full effect. Many Bnatters had never seen it and it was thoroughly enjoyed. I'm inspired to wear black nail polish more often and to make Dave wear some too!

TRAILERS: THE LEPRECHAUN, UNDER THE RAINBOW and Ralph Bakshi's THE LORD OF THE RINGS

Can you guess what we saw next? It was THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG. We saw the first part of THE HOBBIT at BNAT last year and we're happy to see part two. I had a lot of fun with this adventure. It's more action, it's more elves, it's more chases, more battles, more dwarves and Bilbo wearing that ring! We didn't watch it in 3D and I was cool with that. That dragon Smaug was pretty freakin' awesome! He looked amazing, I was entertained from beginning to end and am ready to watch part 3. Yup.

At this point Harry said we were 15 minutes ahead of schedule, but this next film was 20 minutes longer than they expected so things were balancing out. It was time for one for Harry's bucket list movies, a 70mm print he hadn't seen in 70mm yet! (Now he's seen every 70mm film in 70 mm, I'm jelly!) This next film was absolutely one of my most favorites of the day!

THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY (1965) stars Charlton Heston as Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel under the guidance of Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II from director Caroll Reed. This is a beautiful and stunning movie. The recreation of the Sistine Chapel is phenomenal. It left me with tears in my eyes throughout most of the film, not from sadness but for the beauty that was upon the screen.

The whole beginning of the film shares Michelangelo art, from his sculptures and paintings and it's amazing. I just wish I could go see the Sistine Chapel with my own eyes, until that day comes, watching THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY on a big screen from the second row is close runner up. Ah, it was splendid and I'm teary eyed just thinking about it.

Now the next film was a secret flick, and we weren't to share the title as it was going to SLAMDANCE...but a few days after BNAT we got the ok that we could share, and sooooooooo....that movie was from Bill Plympton;  and called CHEATIN'. Bill's latest animated feature, a kickstarter project, and Bill was in attendance! He was to do a Q and A and even sketch some sketches for folks.

CHEATIN' is the tale of a couple in love, who think the other is cheating and things soon spiral out of control...I won't say much more. But if you're a fan of Bill Plymton you'll surely dig this movie. It's whirly, dreamy, whimsical, and hypnotizing. Bill talked about his kickstarted getting the movie together and how it's his most favorite to date. There were 40,000 drawings done for the film!

From animation we went on to live action of a cartoon, it was time for a film from the Drafthouse's own archive, one of my favorites; Robert Altman's POPEYE.

I was very excited, as were a few of my fellow Bnatters in the front row! Signing along was even encouraged by Harry, but I didn't hear much from the crowd.

Now, I absolutely love POPEYE, unconditionally. I watched it many times as a kid with my sister. Yes, you can say it's a bit of a mess of a movie, but it's really so great! I'm awed by the choreography of scenes, where so many characters walk around and over each other with random lines of dialogue delivered in the background, and then it manages to synch together.

Robin Williams is a great POPEYE and Shelly Duvall is spot on fantastic as Olive Oyl. It was a great print, but it wasn't a complete. POPEYE is almost a 2-hour movie, but the print we saw had more than a few songs cut out. BLUTO didn't get sing I'M MEAN, no SWEET PEA'S LULLABY, no KIDS, no SAILIN'....but it was still a fun trip to SWEETHAVEN.

That little Sweet Pea is the cutest movie baby and hearin' him say "POPEYE" just makes me smile!! "I ain't no physicist, but I knows what matters."

From here we were at the half way point, with 6 movies down and 6 more to go! Whew! Tim League came on down to address the crowd with Kristen Bell (also of the DRAFTHOUSE who helps so much with BNAT!) for the SHOT portion of the evening. It was time for SLAP SHOTS. We all got a little shot of vodka and had to slap our neighbor after the drink. So yea, I guess Dave and I can now say we've slapped each other.

Next up was martial arts flick from the American Genre Archive. A "Fake Bruce Lee" flick, one that Tim says is the second best Fake Bruce Lee flick starring Bruce Leung. A spoof of the martial arts kind where Bruce Lee is in the Underworld looking for a way out, and he crosses paths with the likes of POPEYE, DRACULA, 007, EMMANUEL, and many more. It's all about the fights, and has many WTF moments. One for "the millions who love Bruce Lee." Yup.

Doug Benson was in attendance and he shared a snack with all, some chocolate covered espresso beans were passed out. WOOT!

Harry's next pick was a Black and White film called THE LOVES OF EDGAR ALAN POE, following Poe's childhood and growing up to write and find love. This one was among my most faves! It was from 1942 featuring Linda Darnell as Virginia Clemm and John Shepperad as Poe. I had never even heard of this movie, so it was a nice surprise. Who doesn't love Edgar Alan Poe???

The next film was a surprise, and most unexpected. We were treated to Adam Green's latest feature, a sort of documentary on Monsters called DIGGING UP THE MARROW. Now it wasn't a finished film, he's still got effects and things to do, but it's coming in 2014!!

Adam was in attendance and asked that we try not to spoil what's in store when we share, so I really won't say much. But, this was a lot of fun and the crowd reaction was a good one too. Just know that I give it a big recommend and I can't wait to see it again once it's all complete 100%. Oh, and of course I can't forget to mention Alex Pardee who's also involved in the film. Alex and Adam are a good team and they were both at BNAT too to share their movie. Alex had brought prints of a drawing from the film and he handed 'em out to the crowd during the break. I managed to get one and Dave did too. So it was a nice bonus indeed! :D

Alex and Adam did have a Q and A after the film but to really share what was said is spoiler territory, yup, I just can't do that. Yup.

This year on Harry's application he had asked us our favorite Roger Corman film. So it's fitting that we got a Roger Corman film; THE HAUNTED PALACE. Though it's called an EDGAR ALLAN POE film, it's actually from an H.P. LOVECRAFT story, THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD.

It all takes place in the New England town of Arkham, where Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price), warlock, was burned at a stake. Joseph of course cursed the town and swore vengeance.

110 Years later Joseph's great great grandson, Charles Dexter Ward (Vincent Price) comes to the castle with his wife. Charles is then possessed by his great great grandfather and is pushed into using the Necronomicon to summon the Elder Gods and other creatures. Joseph also has some help from Lon Chaney Jr, as the strange caretaker Simon!

Talk about some legendary cinematic giants; Corman, Price and Chaney! This is a great film, a classic of Corman's. These films are meant for a big screen and I'd only ever seen it on VHS before. It was a good follow up to MARROW for sure.

And then we were down to the last two films and man, we were in for something most surprising. Yup. Tim League came on back down and shared that the next film from the Archive was a Hong Kong Category 3 film, and it was from the Category 3 sex, porn side of the spectrum. Yup. Tim wouldn't tell the title, but said that the next two trailers would give a clue to what we had in coming...

TRAILERS: BIG and the film for Adults Only; HAPPY DAYS (You'll never see this on television!)

THE FRUIT IS SWELLING blossomed on screen. Little girl Peach is 8 years old, she wants to be big, she wants to know and do what her older sister does with boys, she wants to grow up real fast. Oh Peach, you so silly! She has no idea what's coming, but us watching sure get to see it all.

Peach and her best friend run away to the Wishing Tree and wish to be big. The next morning Peach is 18 years old, body wise. She's young, bubbly and oh so naive. This movie, it's soooo cringe worthy, because PEACH is an 8-year-old-girl and there's no forgetting that she's 8 YEARS OLD!!!!!!!!

I didn't look back much to see how much of the crowd stuck it out, but everyone in my row was there and cringing and doing a bit of yelling at a few particular moments...the yelling was "She's 8 Years Old!"

There was a lot of sex scenes. PEACH ended up watching the sex and there were more than a few uncomfortable moment with skeezy guys,  gross sex, sex with food and it all was a not so hot mess. But, that was THE FRUIT IS SWELLING. I've already said too much. (My mom could read this, she'll get upset!)

So yeah, "That Happened." And then everyone wondered how FRUIT would be followed up as we had the last break of the morning.

Harry got another round of HAPPY BIRTHDAY singing, many thanks were given and cheers cheered to the Drafthouse folks! Then we were ready for one more movie!

It was time for THE WIND RISES, the latest and last Miyazaki film. I was very excited for this movie and glad that I had missed all the times it had recently played in Los Angeles. (We were to see the original Japanese version, the dubbed version is coming out in February!)

THE WIND RISES is a beautiful story based on the life of Jiro Horikoshi who designed the WWII Mitsubishi A5M. Jiro grows up dreaming of building planes and as he works on his designs, he gains more inspiration from the Italian plane designer Caproni who he meets in a cloudy dream.

Jiro also meets and romances Nahoko who further inspires his plane creations. It's a gorgeous, sweet, romantic and sad film and Miyazaki delivers wonderfully. It was a perfect end to our movie marathon!

It's always quite fascinating how somehow all of Harry's movie picks tend to weave and tie together one way or another. There was more than one POPEYE reference along with the screening of POPEYE. There were kissing cousins, and Cheatin', bumper cars, monsters and art. It's just shows that the magic of movies, deliver some universal truths, criss crossing the spectrum of entertainment, or something like that. (I'm delirious just thinking about it!) 

Well, I had a blast from beginning to end as it truly was a super Butt-Numb-A-Thon. Looking back at it just keeps me on the movie watching high. (Maybe that's why I take a while getting to writing it, to relive the memories and make them last and last and last!)

I can only hope for more movie adventures in the next year, but 2013 wouldn't have been as great, fantastic, amazing, awesome without BNAT 15 so THANKS again Harry! Yup Yup Yup!!

Cat's Underrated Horror Movie Picks! 5 More Underrated Movies!

I came up with a list of 5 Underrated Horror movies for the ever awesome Rupert Pumpkin Speaks blog by Bobfreelander a.k.a. Brian. I'm always honored to be able to contribute with a list and then I decided to add another 5 to my picks here on my blog. So enjoy!

Be super to check out my list featured on Rupert Pumpkin Speaks: 5 UNDERRATED HORROR MOVIES:

5 UNDERRATED MOVIES Not Fake Shemp related, I like them a lot too and I'd say they're all a bit underrated and deserving of more attention:

1. STRANGE BEHAVIOR (1981) - My favorite film discovery of 2012 at the New Beverly Horrorthon. Also known as DEAD KIDS, this movie became an instant favorite of mine thanks to one magical party scene, with a dance number to the song LIGHTNIN’ STRIKES. (WATCH IT HERE!!) Dan Shor, Billy The Kid of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, is a high school senior not ready to leave his small town. A doctor at the local college is experimenting on the high school kids and turning them into killers. There’s a big mystery going on, and luckily Dan gets some help from another favorite of mine; Dey Young, Kate Rambo of ROCK ‘N ROLL HIGH SCHOOL!

2. UNDEAD (2003) - The Australian film from the Spierg Brother, Peter and Michael. A quaint little town is hit with meteors that turn the residents into Zombies. Felicity Mason is René, the recent winner of the of the town’s beauty contest is stuck in the middle contending with zombies, and her fellow townfolk. Marion, the local town alien believer has all the guns, and possibly the only plan to stay alive. This was a true indie feature with the brothers doing all the effects on their old mac back in the day. It’s a horror comedy at it’s finest and René is a fine addition to the tough movie women who can survive when shit hits the fan.

3. EVOLVER (1995) - I watched this movie on Netflix because it had Ethan Embry and I was quite surprised at how much fun it was. Ethan is Kyle, he’s a pro Virtural Reality gamer and wins a robot of his own, the robot from the game. Now Kyle can play his game in real life, but the things is, the Evolver robot, who changes form after every level, doesn’t like to lose. People die the longer the game goes on. “He makes reality a virtual nightmare.”

4. GINGER SNAPS (2000) - Two sisters, Brigitte and Ginger, are obsessed with death. They revel in their outcast state together, thick as thieves. That is until the day that Ginger gets bit by a werewolf. Ginger then has a sexual awakening and an appetite for blood. Brigitte is doing all she can to save her sister and end the lycanthrope curse. This movie is one of my favorites as it’s about girls, from a girls perspective. It’s smart with the a real sister relationship and two girls coming of age. And there’s plenty of werewolf and gore action.

5. TEETH (2007) - I heard the director call this movie a superhero origin story and I think it’s a good description. It all starts with Dawn, played by Jess Weixler who has a vagina dentata, teeth in her vagina, which is more than a little frightening. (When I saw this movie in theaters a couple walked out and I’m sure it was the guy who made his girl leave.) Dawn, starts out as the wholesome girl, believing in abstinence but soons discovers teens have strong hormones to contend with and it’s not easy. Dawn is pushed into discovering her toothy power as she realizes some boys have bad motives. Ultimately Dawn uses her new powers to never be victimized again. Boys should be a lot nicer to girls, chomp chomp.

A Horrorthon, Watchin' Movies In 35mm

The 6th Annual New Beverly Horrorthon went down on Saturday October 19th at the New Beverly Cinema. Six horror movies, all in 35mm running from dusk til dawn, 12+hours of movies, trailers and fun, oh my!

It was my 6th New Bev Horrorthon and it was an absolute blast! Yup, I've been to every New Beverly Horrorthon, from beginning to end with eyes glued on the screen. I just love watching movies. This year the line up was solid and of the movies first presented I knew I'd have at least 3 new never seen before flicks added to my watched list!

My guy Dave and I lined up at 5pm. We were joined by Dave's niece Hailey (celebrating her 17th birthday!) and her cousin Andy. This was their first time at the New Beverly and their first time at a movie marathon!

This all night show brings out a lot of New Beverly regulars, and though many of us don't get to hang out throughout the year, we know we can catch up at the Horrorthon! My dad was in attendance too!

Me and My Dad!

So once the doors opened we filed in, found our favorite seats and got comfy cozy to last the whole night. It was a sold out show and the theater was packed!! Yup!

We've Been To Every Horrorthon!

Brian Quinn, programmer of the Bev's GRINDHOUSE FILM FESTIVAL came on down to get the show started with some "Thank You" shout outs; for the one who programmed before him and to those who helped him get prints and trailers. Brian was very excited for his lineup to get started!!

There's Brian!!!

Around 7:45pm the trailers started rolling; THE VAMPIRE'S COFFIN, ROBOT VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY (in Hypnoscope), GOLIATH & THE VAMPIRES, THE BLOOD DRINKERS, BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRES, THE BRIDES OF DRACULA, DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE, Frank Langella in DRACULA, BLACULA, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (Vampires, No Interview!)

VAMP (1986) was the first film of the night, and one film that my friend Eric and I had been asking for over the last few Horrothons. VAMP features two wanna be frat pledges AJ (Robert Rusler) and Keith (Chris Makepeace) who set off to the big city for a Stripper. What they find is a whole bunch of Vampires! It's a bro-mance, it's horror, it's comedy, but the most important thing about VAMP is that it features GRACE JONES as Katrina the feature attraction at a night club. She dances, gets her hands on some easy victims and doesn't have to say a word. After Katrina does her big dance the New Beverly audience all cheered along. 

After a quick break the show continued with trailers for; SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM, DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS, PSYCHO 2, FRIDAY THE 13th 2, EVIL DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN, THE EXORCIST 2: THE HERETIC, AMITYVILLE 2: THE POSSESSION, CREEPSHOW 2 (HORICK UNIVERSITY!!!), and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2.  

Universal's DRACULA'S DAUGHTER was next! This is one of my favorites of the Universal monster classics. Though there's no Lugosi, it's a great vampire story. Here we have Dracula's Daughter, the Countess Marya Zaleska who's hoping to escape from her curse now that Dracula has been destroyed by Van Helsing. The Countess is a seductive woman, pained by the evil life she leads and believes psychiatrist Jeffery Garth can offer her salvation. It was only the second movie of the night and I caught more than a few dozing folks. I though, had long waited for the chance to see this movie on a big screen and couldn't have been happier! It was a lot of fun, The Countess does deliver a "weird feeling" indeed! 

Next up we got a THREE STOOGES short called WHO DONE IT? The Stooges are detective and called into solve the mystery of a gang going after rich folks. There's a hot pursuit through a big house with lots of bumps and gags. The Bev audience laughed right along, yup!

DEATH SHIP began, the movie that delivers on the title, Death, and a Ship. It all starts out big with a cruise liner out in the ocean with a big party celebration going on. George Kennedy is the bitter Captain who just wants to be at sea and hates having to play with his guests. Next in command Richard Crenna can't wait to take over! But disaster strikes when an old big ship crashes into the liner! Only a handful of folks survive and somehow board the Ghost Boat. It was gross and weird and pretty sloppy. I learned you never eat old candy, there is no way to escape a bloody shower and beware of crazy captains like George Kennedy. This was a new movie for me, the first new movie of my night! 

It was raffle time after the third movie of the evening. Brian had lots of goodies to share and he set up the rest of the night, reminding us that the last two movies would play back to back. I sadly did not win anything at the raffle, but am happy to report that CLU GULAGER did! 

The mystery movie of the night was about to screen. Brian says it's usually just the last movie he booked, but promised it was a good one. And actually before I continue I will give props to Brian for doing his best to program films that hadn't been shown in quite some time, he really went the distance for his Horrorthon!

The next 17 minutes continued with trailers! A reel of films that were from 1988, celebrating their 25th anniversaries! NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4, CHILD'S PLAY, BETTLEJUICE, HELLRAISER 2 (a trailer featuring audience reactions, yup an audience from 1988!), FRIDAY THE 13th PART VII, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 2, ASSAULT OF THE KILLER BIMBOS, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS, and another NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4.

And with that, we got the mystery movie, Brian warned it was a bad print, the worst of the night, but it was a film he loved...And it was...Wes Craven's THE HILLS HAVE EYES! Another re-see for me and I had seen this before in 35mm! (heee!) I'm glad it was playing once again! In THE HILLS HAVE EYES, a family making their way to California get stuck on a road and become the prey of some mountain folk. No one in the family is safe, not even the dogs, Beast and Beauty. SPOILER WARNING: One of my favorite things about THE HILLS HAVE EYES is Beast and dog revenge! It's an intense movie, and still has tough moments to watch. I ducked away, you can all guess when and talked to my pals working at the concession stand. It was the only time I left the theater all night long. The crowd really dug HILLS and everyone was ready for more! I'm happy to say the crowd stayed pretty strong all night long.

The next two films I had never seen before and was pretty excited from the buzz I got from my fellow horrorthon pals. I was still awake and ready for whatever was going to come!

TRAILERS: SCREAMS OF A WINTER LAKE, THE BEAST OF THE YELLOW NIGHT, GALAXY OF TERROR (oy vey!), TERROR, LAST STOP ON THE NIGHT TRAIN ("Their future isn't going that far." - eeep!), and HORROR EXPRESS.

NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR is ridiculous! Yes, ridiculously awful! Ok well it starts amazingly with an 80's band ON A TRAIN, singing a song called EVERYBODY BUT YOU, and the catchy little tune..."Everybody's got something to, everybody but you!" plays throughout the film. NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR is an anthology where God and MR. SATAN are watching little vignettes to see who gets to visit Heaven or Hell. The story about this movie is a bunch of unfinished horror movies got pieced together for this terror train trip. Richard Moll is in a few of the stories. None of it really makes any sense. The only thing I can rave about is the musical number and of course someone on the internets went an put all the music segments together into one video! ENJOY! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUHsLZ5t5w8

And then last, but certainly not least came my favorite movie, my favorite of the night, THE FINAL TERROR. I'm surprised I had never seen it before! This film had an amazing cast! So many familiar faces, even a guy from THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY, John Friedrich! But the other big names (especially in my movie world), Adrian Zmed, Darryl Hannah, Joe Pantoliano, Lewis Smith (PERFECT TOMMY!), Mark Metcalf (he was a lover without any cares of Pledge Pins!) and Rachel Ward! The films a slasher flick in the forest where a few training Forest Rangers and some gal pals head on out to do some clean up. Of course things don't go as planned! These kids are slackers, they screw around and do whatever they can to piss off their bus driver Eggar (Joe Pantoliano). As a few are killed the survivors have to find a way out of the forest. It's an intense situation, I really dug it and would call it a gem among the slasher genre.

Once those credits to THE FINAL TERROR ended the 6th ANNUAL HORROTHON came to a close. We all gathered up our stuff and said goodbye to the New Beverly, already pumped to do it again next year. It was strange to exit the theater into a morning mist, usually it's always so sunny and bright! I can't thank Brian and the New Beverly enough for making my October awesome with movies, friends and more movies! Yup! Till Next Year!! YUP YUP YUP!!!

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!!!
See you next year! 

A Friday The 13th Marathon On A Friday The 13th!

Friday the 13th is always a special day. It's a day when people worry about bad luck and get extra superstitious. I don't find it a scary day though, I like when there's a Friday the 13th during any month. 

And of course there are those folks who are not worrying about superstitions who want to celebrate the day with horror movies and yup, that's what I did.

The American Cinematheque's Aero Theater in Santa Monica had a Friday The 13th Mini Marathon yesterday on Friday, September 13th!

My guy Dave and I arrived pretty early, I was the first girl in line! Per the usual there were more fellas in attendance, but more than a few horror girls were there too throughout the night! Horror tee's a plenty filled the theater, lots of Jason masks or Jason themed clothing. It turned out to be a sold out night!  

Now, the movies weren't going to be starting until 7:30pm but they had a bunch of pre-show stuff with trivia contests, a scream contest and a big money prize costume contest.

The doors opened at 5pm and the festivities ensued soon after. Everyone got CAMP CRYSTAL LAKE CAMP COUNSELOR buttons!! WOOT! (I love buttons!)

My guy Dave and I settled in our seats along with a few of our pals. Everyone was excited for the marathon to being. We are all a bit nutty for these horror flicks and were more than ready to sit through all four of them into the late night hours. It absolutely was a fun filled night. Yup.

The trivia contest was hosted by a few fellas from BLOODYDISGUSTING.COM; Evan Dickson and Jackson Stewart. They gave away food truck vouchers and new Friday The 13th Blu-Ray box sets.

The scream contest was pretty good, with a line up of 12 screamers shouting a lot! Some guy said; "I scream like a bitch." Then came the costume contest and it was pretty cool. A few true "red" horror fans gave it their all! I gave my cheers to Baghead Jason and his victim, that pair should have had first place, but they came in second. The all out JASON got the big $500 cash prize! I still wonder how the Jason victim guy watched all the movies with that knife in his face.  

Soon after 7:30pm the marathon began with trailers for MONKEY'S PAW, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and a promo for the American Cinematheque's upcoming October movie lineup. Then after a few more intros from Grant and Evan came FRIDAY THE 13th! The slasher movie that started off the bloody gorey series.

Young wannabe camp counselors come to Camp Crystal Lake to set things up before they open. Of course one by one they all get slashed and killed, even Kevin Bacon. The best part of the viewing was a few screams for viewers in the audience who were quite surprised by the big jump scare in the ending.

After the film FRIDAY THE 13TH actress Bobbi Moran was in attendance. Bobbi is Annie in the film, the bubbly counselor who's set to be the camp cook. Bobbie came out and was adorable and hyper as a hummingbird. She shared a few details about her casting session with Sean S. Cunningham. Being chased by him in the woods as he directed her to run left, right, and trip. She also talked about her throat slash moment and how Tom Savini had his scooter ready for as soon as the shot was done, one and only once, she was zipped away to wash the blood off. She was just so cute and it was great to hear how much fun she had on set!

After a break Evan returned with another guest for a Q&A intro. It was the writer of FREDDY VS. JASON, and sadly I missed his name. They talked about the series and what they loved about it and how part 2 was the start to expanding the universe.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART II hit the screen. The story of Jason Voorhees continues as baghead Jason gets on with slaying another batch of counselors. Once again there were a few screams at the end. It's nice to know there were people watching for the first time and getting all caught up by the slaying.

We were half way through the movies for the night! The next film was introduced by Evan and writer Todd Farmer, the guy who put Jason into Space! Todd was very excitable. He raved on about why the Jason series is so good and shared why each movie is special and unique. Oh and there was a guy in attendance with pieces of the barn that was featured in PART III. He walked them up the aisle and people touched the bits and pieces.

Then came time for the movie and it was the toughest viewing of the night with FRIDAY THE 13TH PART III. It was PART III in 3D, using the red/blue glasses. It was a digital projection, and the glasses never seemed to fit quite right. I know Dave and my pals with glasses were more annoyed.

But still, it was FRIDAY THE 13TH PART III, made in 3D, with 3D gags a plenty. We couldn't give up at any cost! This time Jason is picking off teens at a farmhouse not to far from the lake. No one is safe, and beware of things trying to poke your eyes out. Of course this is where Jason finally gets that famous Hockey Mask! What's not to love?

The night was wrapping up as FRIDAY THE 13TH PART: THE FINAL CHAPTER hit the screen. Jason is big and tough and makin' his way through the woods between the house of the Jarvis family and their new neighbors a bunch of teens lookin' to party, skinny dip, dance and get laid. Crispin Glover is givin' it his all to get with a girl. Corey Feldman is Tommy Jarvis, setting off the start of the Jarvis trilogy. It is a classic!

The crowd had cleared out some, but there were plenty of hardcore film watchers who stayed to the very end. And when it was all done everyone around would have been ready to watch more if they could. Horror fanatics will always want more! The entire night was a total blast. I couldn't have asked more a better Friday the 13th, yup, yup, yup! JASON ROCKS!

I LOVE L.A. STORY!!!

 This past Friday night, June 21, I saw L.A. STORY at the OSCARS OUTDOORS screening to kick off the first day of Summer! This was my first time at this outdoor venue and it instantly became a favorite! It was the absolutely best place to watch L.A. STORY and remind me that that L.A. is a special place to be and a great place to live. I was born and raised in SO CAL and it's long been my home. I can't imagine living elsewhere (except every time I visit Austin, Texas). ;)

L.A. STORY is one of my favorite movies since I first saw it on a big screen on February 16, 1991 with my family. Gosh, 1991, then I was 13 going on 14 and a movie nerd. It was a movie that I instantly fell for, laughed at and even teared up for. I remember watching it with my folks and hearing them laugh, and obviously getting more of the jokes than I did. I was already a fan of Steve Martin, my sister and I had watched THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS, old SNL episodes and loved ALL OF ME to name a few.

So, back to the outdoor screening! My guy Dave and I arrived at 6:30pm just before the gates open, we got the spiel of what was to come and then settled in on our blankets, set up our picnic and got ready for the show.

 

It was already a super cool night and it was only going to get better! Yup!  L.A. STORY was about to get rolling! A story about a weatherman in Los Angeles, finding true love! What could be better than that? 

Once the sun set after 8pm the evenings host took the stage and introduced a few guests! Things just got cooler! There was sound editor Mark Stoeckinger, editor Richard Harris, actors Marilu Henner, Victoria Tennant and director Mick Jackson.

OSCARS OUTDOORS HOST!

The director Mick Harris said how L.A. STORY was Steve Martin's passion and love for Los Angeles, which he wrote over seven years. Mick had originally passed on the project. He called the script "perfect and beautifully detailed". When Mick first came to L.A. he hated it and said Steve took him out for a drive to show him "there's something more there." Mick continued with memories of the scenes everyone talks about when the film comes up; they are the coffee ordering and earthquake at brunch and the freeway shoot out. In a deleted scene from the earthquake there was Los Angeles figure Angelyne with her "endowments" shaking. Mick called L.A. STORY Steve's loves story to Victoria and Los Angeles that's filled with an optimism of L.A. life that's not dated.                 

 

Victoria Tennant continued with more stories about Steve writing the movie calling it the best portrait of L.A. and it's everyday things, like the Freeway signs. At the time she and Steve were reading about Buddism and the Koan Riddles where the point is not the answer but how you get there which really influenced the Freeway sign message in the movie. Then Victoria shared a sad story about the Royal Command Performance in London that screened L.A. Story. She was sitting beside Princess Diana and said that when the line "...we don't always recognize the moment when love begins be we always know when it ends." came up Diana began to cry and she felt sorry for her. It was during the time of Princess Di's marriage troubles. (The crowd seemed to all sigh at the story.) 

Marilu Henner shared what a fantastic time she had, and being able to ad-lib and the whole "Point System" during the bunch scene on the set. That scene took 3 Days to shoot. Marilu remarked this was was her most favorite movie making experience. 

Richard, the editor, called himself a product of L.A. growing up in the neighborhood where we were watching the film and for him working on L.A. STORY was a thrill. 

Mark, the sound editor, commented that the soundtrack was as poetic as the movie and really supported L.A. making it all a memorable experience. 

Victoria later added that the film had 87 location shoots over 57 day and it was almost NOT filmed in Los Angeles.  The permit department did not want to issue 87 permits. One of the producers made a call to the permit office and said he would take out a full page add the very next day stating "L.A. STORY SHOOTS IN CHICAGO" and they got all the permits they needed right away. 

The host then shared a letter from Steve Martin and it was a most lovely note filled with the things that inspired him to write the film. From the day he drove on the 405 and saw Freeway sign thinking about it talking to him, as it was the "ethereal pulse of the city."

And with the intro completed the film began to roll. It was a beautiful print screened from a CHRISTIE PROJECTOR. The sound was great too! It as so much fun, at moments the palm trees that lined the street behind us were silhouetted on the screen only making the L.A. STORY screening even more Los Angeles. 

L.A. STORY! Such a good movie, yup yup yup.

The movie absolutely holds up so well after all these years, it was just as funny as the first time and I still get teary eyed at that ending. Oh how I do love Los Angeles!! The OSCARS OUTDOORS does a fantastic job at screening movies in this groovy little town! YUP!