THE ICS FILES
The Official Newsletter of The Imaginative Cinema Society
“The love of many, the work of a few”
May
'06************************************************************************************#88
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CLUB NEWS
Read ALL The Club News
FAREWELLS
ICS makes the Newspaper!
THE LAST WARD
Read all about it.
TV NEWS
ICS CALENDER OF EVENTS
MOVIE NEWS
_______________________________________
DANA’S DELVINGS
Editor-Betsy Childs
Staff Writers- Regina Vallerani,
Andrew Kent, Mike Laird,
John Ward, Joe Plempel,
Dava Sentz, Jim Childs
_____________________________
MUST SEE MOVIES
ICSClubnewsClubnews All About Us ClubnewsClubnewsICS
YOU JUST CAN'T KEEP THOSE
FRANKENSTEIN FANS DOWN
The theme for the April meeting
was Hammer Studios Frankenstein
films. Instead of presenting a history of
Hammer Studios, or an ode to Peter
Cushing, Skip Phillips took us on a
journey through his childhood. Standing
in front of the group with a mad scientist
electro-globe, he spoke of Ghost Host
Theater, Famous Monsters magazine,
and his passion for ICS-worthy films,
especially Hammer films. We learned
that he was transfixed by the ‘holding
the artery with teeth’ still from
FRANKENSTEIN AND THE
MONSTER FROM HELL, that he
audio-taped the films from television
before the days of VHS (not as
uncommon as some of you out there
may think), and that he truly fits into this
club of rabid film fans.
After viewing trailers of all seven of the
Hammer Frankenstein flicks, the film du
jour was FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE
DESTROYED, starring who else but
Peter Cushing as the evil Dr. Victor
Frankenstein. Once again, Cushing
plays the amoral scientist - who is doing
brain transplants this go around. And it
naturally follows that his main transplant
subject is not the picture of sound mental
health. When will Dr. Frankenstein ever
learn? All in all, it was a fun offering
from the Hammer Studios crew.
Excellent job on the presentation
AND the movie choices, Skip! We’re
glad to have you in our club.
SPELUNKER SURPRISE
The late night feature for April was
the British film, THE DESCENT. Six
female adventurers decide to explore an
uncharted Appalachian cave. If caveins, darkness, broken limbs and betrayals
weren’t enough, they also have to evade
hungry, humanoid predators. While it
got mixed reviews from the crowd, the
DVD’s owner, Regina Vallerani, who’s
only slightly claustrophobic, still thinks
it is a terrific film. Plus, those of you
who saw it at the meeting can astound
your friends and relatives – since the
film is pending a summer US release.
You saw it first at the ICS!
ICS ON THE WEB
As part of our ongoing efforts to
advertise the Imaginative Cinema
Society to the world at large, we have
started a page on a website called
www.MeetUp.com. This site can be
browsed by city and specific interest for
like minded people on a wide variety of
topics, so it is a natural place for us to
promote the ICS. One of the best and
most helpful things the current
membership of the Imaginative Cinema
Society can do is to create user profiles
on our Meet Up page. This is free for
you and will help show prospective
members what we are all about. You
don't have to use your full or real name,
or put up a picture of yourself, but some
of us have. Just by creating a profile,
you are helping promote the club. You
may also jump on the message board
there, and start chatting about movies
with your fellow club members. So if
you are not already signed up, please
take a moment and go to
http://movies.meetup.com/296/ and click
on Register in the upper right hand
corner to sign up. If you have any
questions, please contact our Meet Up
coordinator, Regina, at
ICSMeetUp@hotmail.com. The ICS
thanks you!
SYMPATHY FOR MR. KENT
Andrew Kent underwent knee
surgery to repair torn cartilage on May
4th. The surgery went well, but our
treasurer is stuck at home, with nothing
to do but pop percosets and watch
movies all day. He said he’d appreciate
any movie ‘donations’ – as long as they
are anamorphic, widescreen and still in
the shrink wrap … but I’m sure he’d
settle for some friendly get well soon
wishes from his friends at the ICS. His
email address is
UndeadHillbilly@gmail.com and his
mailing address is:
5025 Green Mountain Circle Apt 6
Columbia, MD 21044
MID-ATLANTIC NOSTALGIA
CONVENTION 2006
Need a convention fix? The ICS
will be participating in The Mid-Atlantic
Nostalgia Convention in Aberdeen on
September 14-17. Guests will include
David Hedison from VOYAGE TO THE
BOTTOM of the Sea and Marta Kristen
from LOST IN SPACE. The convention
is geared to fans of Old-Time TV and
Radio and Antique Cars.
ICS will have 2 tables in the
dealer’s room (so we will need donated
movie goods – see below for details –
and volunteers once the dates get closer).
This convention will be sponsored by
one of our ICS files subscribers, Martin
Grams. More details on the con can be
found online at
WWW.MIDATLANTICNOSTALGIAC
ONVENTION.COM.
MOVIE GOODS NEEDED
Are you really sick of this article
since it’s been planted in the ICS files
almost unchanged since January? Me,
too. But June is just around the corner!
So get with the spring cleaning already!
We need your VHS, DVDs, figures,
books, costumes, lunch boxes, grilled
cheese sandwiches with Frodo’s face on
it, anything you can spare for our auction
and our convention! (We’re a movie
club, so movie related items only,
please!)
 JUNE – The Minimum Bid Kid
teams up with Jim Childs for an
auction action extravaganza!!
 SEPTEMBER – Mid Atlantic
Nostalgia Con Dealer’s Table
(VHS/DVD only).
The board will be accepting
donations for these events beginning at
our next meeting, so if you have
anything to donate, please bring it in.
Joe Plempel (Thanks Joe!!) will be
storing them.
NEWS OF OUR NEXT MEETING
(*ALWAYS* THE LAST
SATURDAY)
Our next meeting starts early due
to the cookout. It will be held on
Saturday May 27th at 3:30 P.M. at the
church hall behind the Perry Hall
Presbyterian Church located at 8848
BelAir Road. Take Baltimore Beltway
exit 32 north on Belair Road. Turn left
onto Joppa Road. Immediately past the
torn-down miniature golf course turn left
into the parking lot. If you miss it there
are ample turn-around opportunities. If
you get stuck call 443-570-6455. That's
Dave Willard’s cell phone. He'll talk you
in.
MAY PRESENTATION – BIG AS I
WANNA BE
King Kong, Godzilla, Chevrolet
Suburbans, Brobdingnagians - what do
they have in common? Why, they’re
big, of course – and Jim Childs is just
the man to show us what big really
means. His May presentation will,
ironically, be short.
"Godzilla
Final
Wars",
the latest
in the
series,
which
will
surely be
the best
of the
stories,
started its never seen before.
MAY - LATE NIGHT LIVE
Being that May is an odd month,
we will not have a second feature – after
the business meeting, we will have the
socialization hour (or hours for those of
us who stick around until 3 AM). But,
we will also vote on what late night
feature to show at the June meeting. So
look for that gem in your collection that
you think the whole club may enjoy and
be prepared to talk it up!
LOOK AHEAD - 2006 SCHEDULE
June 24 (*) ICS Auction &
“Celebrity” pick movies
July 29 The films of Val Lewton
presented by John Clayton
August 26 (*) Is it ICS-Worthy? Part 2
presented by Barry Murphy
September 30 Werewolf films
presented by Betsy Childs
October 28 (*) Greg Mank Returns -Lionel Atwill and Murder at the Zoo
Halloween Potluck Dinner and Movie
all-Nighter
November 25 Jackie Chan Part 2
presented by Andrew Kent
December 30 (*) Yankee Swap
Revenge Movies presented by Regina
Vallerani
(*) denotes Late Night Feature
MEMORIAL WEEKEND PICNIC
Our May meeting will have something new – a pre-meeting cookout beginning at
3:30. We are looking for a fun old fashioned cook out. With plenty of Hamburgs, Hot
Dogs and lots of fun, fun, fun!!! We are encouraging you to invite friends or relatives
that may be in the mood for all American food!
Check out the sign out sheet that is below. If you’d like to bring something not listed, feel
free to do so!
BURGERS Steve V.
Andrew (veggie burgers)
Jeanne
HOT DOGSBetsy & Jim
Charlie
ROLLSDave
Robert
SALADSPotato- Joe P.
Cole Slaw- Jeanne
Green leafy- Michael & Lisa
CHIPSNorman J.
SODASkip
Tom & Jason P.
John W.
DESSERTRegina
Norman P.
Rick Arnold
CONDIMENTSKetchup, mustard,
relish, onions – Charlie
Cheese- Sam
Pickles-Dava
GRILLJim C.
This article was published in the North East Booster of Baltimore.
THEY WALK AMONG US!
05/11/06
By Dave Sturm
Tucked behind Perry Hall Presbyterian Church is a modest brick building with a hanging
placard that reads "Fellowship Hall."
Some tulips and a pine tree throw shadows beside the door as dusk falls.
Inside, it's dark. All seems quiet.
Then, a bone-chilling shriek splits the air. Then another. And another.
Actor Peter Cushing has plunged a scalpel into the beautiful Veronica Carlson.
"This is the wickedest baron ever," says Skip Phillips of Glen Burnie.
Those sitting beside him chewing popcorn and drinking Dr. Pepper murmur in
agreement.
Phillips has brought the movie "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" to screen to some 60
fellow members of the Imaginative Cinema Society, a group of aficionados of all things
grotesque, loathsome and diabolical on the screen.
Club initials are ICS. Members pronounce that "iks."
They've been meeting together here on the last Saturday of the month since 1999.
Joe Plempel, of Mt. Washington, a retired phone company employee, has been with the
club from its beginnings, when a previous club called the Horror and Fantasy Film
Society, which met in Hunt Valley, disbanded.
Some members wanted to start anew.
Birth of the 'Boos!'
"We decided to form our own club," he said.
It's not just a bunch of hobnobbing fans. It's a bona fide club that collects dues, holds
cookouts, maintains a DVD library, puts out a newsletter, has a Web site and staffs a
booth at conventions.
Once in a while, the club rents the entire balcony of the Senator Theatre in Baltimore, if
something interesting is playing.
And it's not some bedsheet-on-the-wall deal in the Fellowship Hall. The film is projected
onto a real screen the size of a parking space.
And the movies they watch are not merely screened. They are "presented."
Take "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed." To the uninitiated, it sounds like some
grindhouse knockoff.
Not at all. The presenter, Phillips, a fellow in a buzz cut and a Doors T-shirt, takes the
stage to deliver a half- hour of commentary about this 1969 film, which many regard as
among the finest work of Britain's Hammer Studios and perhaps the best of the seven
Frankenstein movies the studio turned out.
Reinventing the mad doctor
Phillips explained that by the 1960s, Frankenstein was a joke. Some version of the old
Universal Studios monster - square head, bolts in the neck - was brought out to ham it up
with Abbott and Costello and the like. Yuk yuk.
The Hammer films, particularly when starring Peter Cushing as the baron and directed by
Terence Fisher, made it terrifying all over again by making the mad doctor's surgical
creation merely a victim, almost a secondary character.
It is the ruthless and insane surgeon - Cushing's Dr. Frankenstein - who delivers the
chills.
"The monster is the baron," Phillips said.
In a sense, Cushing's scalpel-wielder is an early version of Hannibal Lecter.
After many grisly doings - a decapitated head in a bucket, a brain transplant, assorted
murders and a bizarre scene in which the spout of a broken water main propels a corpse
out of a flower bed - the movie ends in a fight to the death inside a blazing mansion.
A blood red "The End" in gothic script slams onto the screen as the music wails.
'Robocop' meets '24'
Applause breaks out as the lights come up in the knotty-pine- paneled hall.
After a brief business report, it's time for chat.
The round-robin discussion hits a variety of topics.
Has anyone else noticed that the TV series "24" now contains three cast members from
the movie "Robocop"?
Was it really a good idea to film a new "Doctor Who"?
Has anyone heard the Internet buzz over the upcoming movie "Snakes on a Plane"?
Someone has just seen "United 93" in a theater.
"Disturbing. Not for everyone," he said.
Someone else has seen "Hostel" on DVD.
"It's a two-part movie. The first part is a nudie movie and the second part is a slasher
movie."
The society has never had a marquee- name celebrity at a meeting to make a presentation,
but it has had local filmmakers and people who write about film, including Gregory
William Mank, author of books including "Hollywood's Maddest Doctors," and Tom
Weaver, author of books including "Earth Vs. the Sci Fi Filmmakers."
The term "imaginative" in their club name covers a lot of territory. The March meeting
theme was "Children in Jeopardy," and the group watched "The Innocents," a 1961 movie
based on the Henry James ghost story "Turn of the Screw."
They even watch the occasional film noir.
"I think the only thing you're not going to find here is a musical or a western," said Dave
Henderson of Perry Hall.
Club dues are $25 a year, or $40 for a couple. Anyone can come once for free.
All ages are welcome. But club policy for R-rated movies is the same as theaters - minors
must be accompanied by an adult.
The club puts out free soda and popcorn, but people often bring their own food. A few at
the April 29 Frankenstein viewing came laden with Chinese carryout.
Meetings begin at 5:30 in the fellowship hall of the church, which is at 8848 Belair Road,
just south of Joppa Road. The club has no affiliation with the church.
“ICS up Here ^ and everything else down here _”
- Joe Plempel
tvnews tvnewstvnews TheGlassTeat tvnewstvnewstvnews
DEAD BACK FOR SUMMERTIME
The supernatural series The Dead Zone
returns on June 18 at 10 p.m. ET/PT
with a fifth season that will feature such
guest stars as Sean Patrick Flanery,
Martin Donovan, Kristen Dalton, Dedee
Pfeiffer and Ben Cotton.
WHO’S CYBERMEN LIGHTEN UP
Doctor Who producer Russell T.
Davies said that writer Tom MacRae's
original story for the upcoming
Cybermen episodes was much darker
than the version that will debut on
Britain's BBC1 on May 13. In the twoart story "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The
Age of Steel," the Doctor (David
Tennant), Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and
Mickey (Noel Clarke) find themselves
trapped on an alternate Earth where a
mad scientist is trying to transform the
human race into bio-mechanical
creatures.
The original version featured a number
of different elements, including a series
of "Body Shops" in which wealthy
citizens could order "upgrades" for
various body parts. That process leads to
the ultimate upgrade, in which the brains
of unwitting victims are placed within an
indestructible steel shell, creating the
Cybermen.
"Part of my problem with it was I
didn't believe it," Davies sai. "We were
trying to create a world where there were
Body Shops on every corner where
people got a new arm, and I didn't
believe that, and I've never believed it. I
think you have to be practical and honest
about these things, and I always used to
have trouble with Steve Austin's bionic
arm, because it's no good just having a
robot arm; it's what it's attached to, so it
could just be ripped off. So it wasn't the
gore and the darkness about it. I just
didn't believe it. What is the point of
going for a new arm? It simply doesn't
work."
The alternate-world versions of several
key characters were also originally quite
different from their counterparts. "I think
it was one of those great lessons about
the freedom of SF, as well as its greatest
dangers, because when you're creating a
parallel world, you suddenly get excited
by saying everyone can wear
eyepatches," Davies said. "Actually, I
think the key to a parallel world is
making it very similar to the modern
world, so Pete and Jackie and Mickey,
even in the parallel world, are very
similar to their real-world counterparts."
Davies added: "The danger is to make
the characters too silly and different.
There's something very grotesque and
almost pantomime-ish and too inbred
about doing that, so a very faithful
viewer may enjoy seeing the complete
opposite of Mickey, whereas the casual
viewer is not interested in that. They just
want a good story, and a good story is
more about meeting yourself. What's the
point of meeting a character that's so
different?. So it took us a long time to
get the temperature right of the series, to
tell what sort of parallel world story
you're going to tell. So that's why the
process of rewriting the story took a long
time." The Cybermen episodes will air
on British television May 13 and 20.
The first season of the new Doctor
Who airs in the United States Fridays at
9 p.m. ET/PT on SCI FI Channel.
PRISONER REMAKE WITH WHO?
BBC News reported that the cult 1960s
TV series The Prisoner will be remade
into a six-part series for the U.K.'s Sky
One network, with former Doctor Who
star Christopher Eccleston linked to the
title role originally played by Patrick
McGoohan.
Sky One director of programs Richard
Woolfe told BBC News that the remake
would be a "thrilling reinvention" of the
drama, about an ex-secret agent trapped
in an isolated village. The original series
ran for 17 episodes on ITV in 1967.
The new series will be made by
Granada from a script by Bill Gallagher,
writer of the award-winning British
series Clocking Off.
STAR WARS TV - A WAYS OFF
Rick McCallum, George Lucas'
longtime Star Wars producing partner,
said that future projects are a ways off,
including a live-action TV show that is
at least a year and a half away. "Star
Wars the TV series, probably not for a
couple of years," McCallum on May 2.
"George is starting to start the basic
concept of it. ... We're interviewing
writers. We're seeing a lot of people. But
I'd say it's not going to be happening for
another at least 18 months."
McCallum also denied rumors that the
new series would focus on members of
the Skywalker family, but repeated that
the show will take place in the
timeframe between Episode III and IV.
"All-new characters," he added. "That
missing 20-year period when Luke is
growing up. ... Think bounty hunter.
That's all I can tell you. There's nobody
else that you'll know [in it]. At the
moment. You know, it's still [in] really,
really early stages. He hasn't really sat
down to think about which direction
[he's going]."
McCallum added that 3-D theatrical
versions of the Star Wars movies are
still planned. "We're working on that,"
he said. "It's just a question of how many
theaters will be out there. Hopefully, by
the end of this year there will be about
1,500 [3-D] theaters. We need about two
or three thousand before it makes it, you
know, viable for any of us to go out in 3D. But that looks like it will happen
sometime in the year 2007, so hopefully
we'll be happy about that."
Lucas is also planning a new run of
Clone Wars-themed animated shorts.
"There's an animated series being done
right now, so that probably also won't be
ready for another year," McCallum said.
"But, yeah, that's looking really good."
GRAMMER LIVES LARGE IN
MEDIUM
Kelsey Grammer, who will play the
Angel of Death in next week's episode of
NBC's Medium, said he decided to do
the guest-starring role in part at the
urging of an NBC executive. Grammer
is an executive producer of the
supernatural series, which stars Patricia
Arquette as a psychic who helps solve
crimes.
Grammer said that he was talking with
NBC entertainment president Kevin
Reilly a couple of months ago when the
topic of how Grammer might further
help out the show came up. "Of course
that was the code for 'Do a guest shot on
it,'" Grammer said with a laugh. “Glenn
Gordon Caron came up with this kind of
intriguing idea, and I thought, 'Well,
why not step in front of the camera for a
little while on this?'"
Grammer appears in the May 8
episode, "Death Takes a Policy," playing
a man who claims to be Death and who
appears in the dreams of the show's
central character, Allison Dubois
(Arquette). "I'm playing two characters,
really," Grammer said. "And the Angel
of Death is kind of channeling himself
through this one character at one point.
That's probably as much of the actual
body of the story [as] I can tell you, but
the beauty of it is you keep him
charming, quiet, well-mannered, civil, I
think, with sort of a wry sense of humor.
I think that begins to be a little bit more
perilous, because you know he carries a
really big stick."
The guest appearance marks
Grammer's return to NBC, which aired
his hit sitcom Frasier for 11 years. Since
then, Grammer has worked behind the
scenes at Medium, now in its second
season, but joked that he's "woefully
inactive, frankly." He added that he does
keep tabs on the show and involves
himself as necessary.
CALLIS: NEW GALACTICA
‘REMORELESS’
James Callis, who plays the nefarious
Baltar in SCI FI Channel's original series
Battlestar Galactica, said that the
upcoming third season will build on the
events of last season's shocking finale.
"In the upcoming episodes, the simplest
way to explain what happens is that the
wheat is separated from the chaff,"
Callis said in an interview at this month's
Saturn Awards in Universal City, Calif.
"I'm not actually sure at this moment
which I belong to, which bothers me,
whether I'm the wheat or the chaff. All I
know is that we are necessarily
separated."
At the end of the second season, the
last surviving humans found themselves
trying to eke out an existence on the
rugged planet of New Caprica, when the
Cylons invaded and occupied them.
Callis agreed that the new season has
drawn comparisons to France under the
Nazi occupation of World War II. "And
the first few scripts of this particular
season are phenomenal," he said. "And
far darker and more gritty and more
worrying than anything that you have
seen before. I really am not just saying
that. I remember just reading it going,
'My God almighty, this is remorseless
and relentless.' And as such should be
very gripping television. Even though
it's very ... I think the word is dystopic."
Galactica returns with new episodes in
October.
SG-1's ANDERSON – OLD TIMES
Brad Wright—executive producer of
SCI FI Channel's original series Stargate
SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis—said that it's
been like old times having Richard Dean
Anderson back on set for several guest
appearances on both shows, reprising his
role as Gen. Jack O'Neill.
Anderson's first appearance will be in
"200," SG-1's 200th episode, which will
air Aug. 18 as part of the series'
upcoming 10th season. "It's been a lot of
fun to see him again," Wright said. "He's
doing two episodes of SG-1 and three
episodes of Atlantis."
Anderson left the Stargate fold after
season eight of SG-1 in order to spend
more time with his young daughter. But
both he and the show's producers left the
door open for return engagements. And
return he will.
Wright said that SG-1 could not toast
its 200th episode without its original
leading man. "He was so much the face
of SG-1 for so many years," Wright said.
"We did go on without him and made
some fine television, but for the 200th
episode there was just no way we could
even consider doing it without bringing
him back. And, of course, when we
called him to ask him to do that, he said,
'Just one?' So it was nice to know that he
wanted to come back. And it's actually
kind of a testament to the environment
we have here. People miss it when
they're gone. It's just a fun place to work,
and it's a fun show to work on. That's
why everybody still works their butt off
and why we're still on the air, I guess,
because it shows on the screen."
SG-1's 200th episode is a send-up that
picks up the story of the show's 100th
episode, "Wormhole X-Treme!" and
brings back guest star Willie Garson as
abductee-turned-Hollywood producer
Martin Lloyd. The episode "is based on
a great idea executive producer Robert
C. Cooper had, and we've all written bits
and put them all together, and Robert
went through it, and then I went through
it," Wright said. "It's essentially a
'Wormhole X-Treme!' revisited, in a
sense, because Marty comes back, but
this time he needs our help to work on
the Wormhole X-Treme! feature [film].
Because even though the series was
canceled after three episodes, it did well
on DVD. A little nod to Serenity, I
suppose. And the Air Force loves it,
because they love the notion of a
television series out there that is
ostensibly ... the real events in SG-1, in
Stargate Command. So, plausible
deniability. ... So it's a series of, I guess
you could call them, vignettes or flashes.
... 'Wormhole X-treme!' was pushing it.
This is pushing it twice as far. But, you
know, it's the 200th episode."
Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis,
which comes back for a third season,
will both return with new episodes
beginning on July 14.
SCI FI ANNOUNCES CAPRICA
SCI FI Channel announced the
development of Caprica, a spinoff
prequel of its hit Battlestar Galactica, in
presentations to advertisers in New York
on April 26. Caprica would come from
Galactica executive producers Ronald
D. Moore and David Eick, writer Remi
Aubuchon (24) and NBC Universal
Television Studio.
Caprica would take place more than
half a century before the events that play
out in Battlestar Galactica. The people
of the Twelve Colonies are at peace and
living in a society not unlike our own,
but where high technology has changed
the lives of virtually everyone for the
better.
But a startling breakthrough in robotics
is about to occur, one that will bring to
life the age-old dream of marrying
artificial intelligence with a mechanical
body to create the first living robot: a
Cylon. Following the lives of two
families, the Graystones and the Adamas
(the family of William Adama, who will
one day become the commander of the
Battlestar Galactica), Caprica will
weave together corporate intrigue,
techno-action and sexual politics into
television's first science fiction family
saga, the channel announced.
movie news movie news Silver Screen movie news movie news
JANE, MALKOVICH JOIN
MUTANT
John Malkovich (BEING JOHN
MALKOVICH) will portray a 23rdcentury corporate overlord opposite
Thomas Jane (THE PUNISHER) in
Simon Hunter's sci-fi action thriller THE
MUTANT CHRONICLES.
Malkovich's character, Constantine,
heads a United Nations-style council of
four corporation-run countries that have
pillaged Earth's natural resources. When
a marauding army of "NecroMutants"
wages a battle against humans for the
little that remains, Constantine is
tempted to destroy the planet and
evacuate some of its people rather than
allow it to be overtaken, all with the
corporations' best interests in mind.
Jane plays Maj. Mitch Hunter, a
Marine who leads the humans in their
fight and becomes Constantine's
antagonist. The story is based on the
popular role-playing board game. Both
Jane and Malkovich were attracted to the
project based on a seven-minute trailer
Simon Hunter put together, along with
Philip Eisner's screenplay. The film is
scheduled to begin shooting in early
summer in London and on the Isle of
Man.
MYRICK DIRECTING HARNOIS'
SOLSTICE
Writer/director Dan Myrick will get
behind the camera for the first time since
co-directing THE BLAIR WITCH
PROJECT when production starts in
New Orleans on SOLSTICE, which stars
POINT PLEASANT's Elisabeth
Harnois.
SOLSTICE centers on a young
woman who gathers with her friends at a
lake house for the summer solstice after
the suicide of her twin sister. Myrick
wrote the screenplay for the movie,
which also stars Shawn Ashmore (XMEN) and Tyler Hoechlin (ROAD TO
PERDITION).
SOLSTICE was scheduled to begin
production last year, but that was
delayed after Hurricane Katrina struck
the Gulf Coast.
ENGLUND DIRECTS KILLER PAD
Robert Englund, best known as
Freddie Krueger in the NIGHTMARE
ON ELM STREET franchise, will direct
KILLER PAD, a supernatural horrorcomedy. The movie is slated to begin
shooting late next month in Los Angeles.
Dan Stoller wrote the movie, which stars
Shane McRae, Eric Jungman and Daniel
Franzese, and rapper-indie music mogul
Master P will do the soundtrack.
The story revolves around three
friends who use money from an
insurance claim to move out of their
parents' homes and into a Hollywood
Hills house that they refuse to believe
has a dark history.
SEGAL TO DIRECT SHAZAM!
Peter Segal (50 FIRST DATES) has
come aboard to direct SHAZAM!, a
movie adaptation of DC Comics' series
featuring Captain Marvel, for New Line
Cinema. The comic series focused on
young Billy Batson, who becomes the
superhero known as Captain Marvel
when he utters the magic word
"Shazam!" The name is an acronym for
six gods and heroes of the ancient world
as well as their attributes: the wisdom of
Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the
stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the
courage of Achilles and the speed of
Mercury. Writers on the long-gestating
project include William Goldman and
Bryan Goluboff.
SPAWN DIRECTOR GETS WICKED
Mark Dippé, director of the SPAWN
movie and FRANKENFISH, will direct a
live-action film based on the Japanese
manga WICKED CITY. Dippé and
Johnny Hartmann are scripting the
movie, which will be budgeted at $50-60
million. The storyline concerns a secret
organization that battles creatures from
another dimension that have invaded
Earth.
The comics, created by Hideyuki
Kikuchi, were previously adapted into an
anime film in 1987 by Yoshiaki Kawajiri
(VAMPIRE HUNTER D: BLOODLUST)
called WICKED CITY a.k.a.
SUPERNATURAL BEAST CITY. In
1992, Hong Kong’s Peter Mak directed a
live-action WICKED CITY movie,
scripted by veteran HK filmmaker Tsui
Hark (director of the ONCE UPON A
TIME IN CHINA trilogy, starring Jet Li)
and Roy Szeto (THE PHANTOM
LOVER), starring Jacky Cheung, Roy
Cheung, Leon Lai and Tatsuya Nakadai.
Germany’s Stallion Film is producing
the new English-language WICKED
CITY, which will roll in early 2007.
CAST SADDLE UP WATER HORSE
Emily Watson (CORPSE BRIDE),
Ben Chaplin (LOST SOULS) and Alex
Etel (MILLIONS) will star in the fantasy
film THE WATER HORSE, to be
directed by Jay Russell (TUCK
EVERLASTING). The movie is based on
the Dick King Smith novel of the same
name. Shooting starts in early May in
Scotland and New Zealand.
THE WATER HORSE tells the story
of a lonely boy in Scotland (Etel) who
finds a mysterious egg on the shore of a
lake. When the egg hatches, what
emerges is a "water horse," a mythical
sea monster of Scottish legend.
Special effects will be done by Weta
Digital and Weta Workshop, most
recently responsible for KING KONG
and THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:
THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE
WARDROBE.
JUMPER TRIO CAST
Thomas Sturridge, Teresa Palmer and
Jamie Bell (KING KONG) are set to star
in New Regency's upcoming sci-fi
adventure JUMPER, based on Steven
Gould's 1992 novel.
Planned as a trilogy, JUMPER will be
directed by Doug Liman (THE BOURNE
IDENTITY.) Jim Uhls (FIGHT CLUB) is
rewriting the screenplay, originally
adapted by David Goyer (BATMAN
BEGINS). Filming will begin this spring
in Montreal.
The book follows a 17-year-old boy
(Sturridge) who discovers he has the
ability to teleport. He first uses his
special power to escape his abusive
father, and then puts his ability to use
robbing banks before becoming
entangled with terrorists and law
enforcement.
JACKSON JOINS 1408
Samuel L. Jackson has been added to
the cast of 1408, a big-screen adaptation
of a short story by Stephen King. The
Dimension Films production, also
starring John Cusack, is set to begin
shooting in the summer.
Based on a work from King's shortstory collection Everything's Eventual,
the film centers on a debunker of
paranormal occurrences who encounters
real terror when he checks into the
notorious room 1408 at the Dolphin
Hotel. Mikael Hafstrom (DERAILED)
will direct. Matt Greenberg (REIGN OF
FIRE) wrote the first draft of the
screenplay, which has been rewritten by
Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
(AGENT CODY BANKS.)
VILLAIN AND VICTIM RETURN
FOR SAW III
Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith will
be back from the previous films for SAW
III, playing the evil Jigsaw, a.k.a. John
Kramer, and his early victim Amanda
respectively. The sequel will shoot in
Toronto from May 1-June 12 for
Lionsgate release October 27. Darren
Lynn Bousman is returning from SAW II
to direct from a script he wrote in
tandem with franchise creators Leigh
Whannell and James Wan.
WB GETS HEART SHAPED BOX
Warner Brothers has bought the
screen rights to HEART SHAPED BOX,
a yet-to-be-published thriller novel
written by Joe Hill, the son of horrorfiction master Stephen King. The studio
is expected to announce a writer soon.
The story revolves around a singer
obsessed with the occult who buys a
ghost on eBay in the form of a man's
burial suit. He's ultimately forced to
confront both the ghost and the demons
of his own past.
Hill is an award-winning short-story
writer who previously published the
anthology 20th Century Ghosts. Heart
Shaped Box is his first novel. William
Morrow/HarperCollins are set to publish
it next year.
STAR TREK SET FOR '08 REVIVAL
More than three years after the last
STAR TREK movie crashed at the box
office, the venerable sci-fi franchise is
being revived by the director of the
upcoming MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III.
The as-yet-untitled STAR TREK feature,
the 11th since 1979, is aiming for a fall
2008 release through Paramount
Pictures, the Viacom Inc. unit looking to
restore its box-office luster under new
management.
The project will be directed by J.J.
Abrams, whose Tom Cruise vehicle
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III will be
released by Paramount on May 5.
Abrams, famed for producing the TV
shows ALIAS and LOST, will also help
write and produce. The action will center
on the early days of STAR TREK
characters James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock,
including their first meeting at Starfleet
Academy and first outer-space mission.
STAR TREK is Hollywood's most
durable performer after James Bond,
spawning 10 features that have grossed
more than $1 billion and 726 TV
episodes from six series. Though the
10th film, STAR TREK: NEMESIS,
bombed at the box office on its
December 2002 release, earning just $43
million in North America. Last year,
Viacom-owned broadcast network UPN
pulled the plug on the low-rated series
STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE following
a four-season run.
FRASER SET FOR JOURNEY 3-D
Brendan Fraser will star in JOURNEY
3-D, an update of Jules Verne's Journey
to the Center of the Earth, from Walden
Media and New Line. Fraser will portray
a geologist who, with his teenage son,
discovers a message hidden in an ancient
artifact, leading them into a previously
unseen world.
Visual-effects supervisor Eric Brevig,
who won a Special Achievement
Academy Award for TOTAL RECALL,
will make his feature directorial debut.
D.V. DeVincentis (HIGH FIDELITY)
has written the script. Fraser is also set
to executive-produce the film, along
with visual-effects veteran Charlotte
Huggins.
JOURNEY 3-D will be shot in live
action, with the otherworldly landscapes
and creatures supplied by highdefinition, photo-real 3-D technology.
The project is the third collaboration
between Walden and New Line.
LEGENDARY FINDS PARADISE
LOST
Legendary Pictures is developing a
live-action film version of PARADISE
LOST, John Milton's epic poem, with
Scott Derrickson (THE EXORCISM OF
EMILY ROSE) attached to direct.
Paradise Lost, published in 1667, tells
the story of Lucifer's failed rebellion in
heaven and subsequent role in Adam and
Eve's fall from grace.
Phil DiBlasi and Byron Willinger
adapted PARADISE LOST for the screen.
Stuart Hazeldine will develop the project
with Derrickson and take on additional
writing duties. Derrickson studied
theology as a college undergrad.
VALETTE TAKES A CALL
French filmmaker Eric Valette
(MALÉFIQUE) is set to direct the
English-language remake of the
Japanese supernatural horror hit
CHAKUSHIN ARI (ONE MISSED
CALL). The story revolves around a
college student whose friends begin
receiving cell phone messages from the
future, in which they hear themselves
being murdered. When she receives her
own death message, the coed has three
days to change her fate.
The screenplay was adapted from the
original Japanese film by Andrew
Klavan (A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM).
In Japan, the film has spawned a
lucrative franchise, with a third
installment now in production.
SMITH IS LEGEND
Will Smith will star in I AM
LEGEND, the long-gestating Warner
Brothers adaptation of Richard
Matheson's classic novel, to be directed
by CONSTANTINE director Francis
Lawrence. Smith will shoot I AM
LEGEND after he completes TONIGHT,
HE COMES at Sony. Akiva Goldsman
rewrote an original script by Mark
Protosevich (THE CELL). An early 2007
start date is planned for the movie,
which will be shot in New York.
The film moves the story from Los
Angeles to a post-apocalyptic New York
and will center on the last healthy man
following the release of a virus that
decimates the population. To survive, he
must battle mutants that wreak havoc
during the night.
I AM LEGEND came closest to
getting made back in 1997 with Ridley
Scott directing Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Warner applied the brakes because the
budget hovered around $108 million, a
figure considered high at the time.
Michael Bay and Smith then aligned to
have a go at the film in 2002, but the
pairing didn't advance.
Matheson's book was the basis of
previous movie adaptations, including
the Vincent Price movie THE LAST
MAN ON EARTH and the Charlton
Heston vehicle THE OMEGA MAN.
DAVA’S DELVINGS - The Hills have Eyes
Winter is long over, but summer hasn't quite arrived. In the film world, this is what I
like to call "the spring slum."
Most of Hollywood's big money maker's hit just before Christmas or just after
Memorial Day, leaving the months between open to a cinematic dry spell. During this
time, it is a wonder how movie theaters stay in business. Still, willing patrons swarm the
theater in the blind hope that the images on the big screen will be worth their hard earned
bucks. The Hills Have Eyes is one of the many films currently falling victim to the spring
slum and, unfortunately, it was money foolishly spent.
Having grown up under the influence of Count Dracula, Frankenstein, and other
assorted monsters, I took the morbid and disgusting reviews to be a sign of good faith.
Yet, unfortunately, these "Hills" glistened with the familiar ghosts of slasher movie's
past. I mean this quite literally, as it was a remake of a 1977 film by Wes Craven.
Looking back on it, I should've recognized the obvious signs. In spite of his continued
efforts to be frightening, Wes Craven has never, to my knowledge, succeeded in making
a truly scary film. Instead, he ends up borrowing a few too many ideas from his
predecessors making his movies into an amusing, yet overall, horrible cliche. This was
certainly no exception. Because the movie's events have been covered, at noisome, 100
times over by the cinematic world, I feel it spoils nothing to reveal the plot.
The Hills Have Eyes focuses in on The Carters, a typical American family driving
through the desert on their way to California. But, when the tire of their RV blows out
unexpectedly, The Carters find themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere and the
prospective heads of the household decide to go for help. Though at first optimistic about
their fate, the family soon realizes that they aren't the only ones inhabiting the desert.
Something or someone is lurking behind the hills, watching their every move, waiting to
strike.
Directed by Alexandre Aji, the 2006 version does succeed in providing lots of what
Wes Craven is famous for, blood. Full of all the gruesome detail a horror fan can ask for,
The Hills Have Eyes is definitely not for the squeamish. I would like to take this
opportunity to clear up what has become a very popular, but wrong assumption. Blood
and guts does not make for a scary movie. In fact, if anything, the opposite is true. Some
of the most frightening movies I've ever seen have little, if any, graphic violence. A film
like this tends to be more effective if the violence is implied or psychological, rather than
laid out in an obvious display of grossness. This is something Craven has yet to learn.. It
tried to convey a story of mayhem and fright, but ended presenting random images of
gore so over the top that it was actually comedic.
Though the cast features an array of array new faces from young Hollywood, including
Emily de Raven of the hit TV series, Lost, the person most responsible for this comical
affair was Aaron Sanford, who played a son in-law turned hero named Doug. After the
savage kidnapping of his baby daughter, Sanford becomes a man on a mission, choosing
to go after the mysterious dangers in the desert hills with virtually no means of protection
and no visible game plan.
Though this may seem like reasonable action in light of the desperate circumstances,
what makes this so ridiculous is the fact that Doug, in spite of what the film may have
you believe, is a man. He is just an average person, and yet he is able to endure all the
torture and bloodshed of a fictional giant. Perhaps that is the strength of a father's love.
I've heard that, in cases of extreme stress, people are capable of extraordinary things. But,
there is only so much of that you can see in a movie before you just want to reach into the
big screen and say "Give me a break!" That's what I felt like doing the whole time.
Ultimately, you're not likely to see much better during the Spring Slum. But, overall, it
definitely isn't worth the time and money.
IMAGINATIVE CINEMA COMING SOON
MUST SEE MOVIES FOR YOU!
MAY 19th
The Da Vinci Code
Cast: Tom Hanks (Dr. Robert Langdon), Audrey Tautou, Jean Reno, Ian McKellen
Premise: When American religious symbology expert Dr. Robert Langdon is summoned
to the Louvre by the French, led by Captain Fezu Bache (Reno), he soon discovered that
he is the #1 suspect for the murder of a historian Langdon had been scheduled to meet
with. Assisted by Sophie (Tautou), Langdon is challenged in a reace across Europe. Can
Langdon and Sophie decipher the nature of a secret dating back to Leonardo Da Vinci
(and even earlier)?
MAY 26th X-Men – The Last Stand
Cast: Hugh Jackman (Logan, AKA Wolverine), Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles
Xavier), Sir Ian McKellen (Erik Lensherr, AKA Magneto), Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry,
Famke Janssen, James Marsden , Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos , Kelsey
Grammer
Premise: Previously presumed deceased, telepathic mutant Jean Grey returns more
powerful than ever, now called the Dark Phoenix, potentially posing the greatest mutant
threat to mankind. The timing couldn't be worse, however, as paranoid humans are racing
to develop a "cure" to mutations that could rob all of the X-Men. The X-Men are
challenged to both prevent such a cure from being spread, and controlling the growing
menace that Magneto's forces, one of which happens to be Phoenix.
June 6th (or should I say, 6-6-06) The Omen
Cast: Julia Stiles (Katherine Thorn), Liev Schreiber (Robert Thorn), Seamus DaveyFitzpatrick (Damien), Mia Farrow , David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite
Premise: An American diplomat and his wife adopt a child, but then they begin to
suspect little Damien is the Antichrist. Remember this movie from 1976?
June 30th
SUPERMAN Returns!!
Cast: Brandon Routh (Clark Kent/Superman), Kate Bosworth (Lois Lane), Kevin Spacey
(Lex Luthor), Frank Langella, James Marsden, Sam Huntington
Premise: Look, up in the sky!! This will be a continuation of the storyline established in
the first two Christopher Reeve 'Superman' movies. At the outset, Superman returns from
a 6-year mysterious absence, where he will have to face not only Lex Luthor but the
public perception that Metropolis was better off without him (Superman).
farewellsfarewellsfarewells Good bye farewellsfarewellsfarewells
Stanislaw Lem, the Polish science
fiction writer whose novel SOLARIS
was made into a movie twice, has died.
SOLARIS was turned into motion
pictures in 1972 and, most recently 2002
starring George Clooney. Lem was one
of the world’s most famous SF writers,
with stories published in over 40
languages and nearly 30 million copies.
After Jules Verne, his work is probably
the most well known science fiction
translated into English. Other of his
works include THE INVINCIBLE, THE
STAR DIARIES, THE
FUTUROLOGICAL CONGRESS,
MEMOIRS OF A SPACE TRAVELER
and HOSPITAL OF THE
TRANSFIGURATION.
He was 84.
Frankie Thomas, a popular stage and
screen juvenile actor in the 1930s who
gained widespread fame on TV as the
star of TOM CORBETT, SPACE
CADET, has died.
In 1950, he was cast in the role of Tom
Corbett, a Space Academy cadet in
training to become a member of the elite
Solar Guard, 400 years in the future. In
landing the title role in the children's
adventure show, Thomas beat out a
number of young actors, including Jack
Lemmon.
His screen career began in 1934 with
WEDENSDAY’S CHILD and other films
included A DOG OF FLANDERS, BOYS
TOWN, four NANCY DREW mysteries
(as Nancy’s boyfriend Ted Nickerson)
and THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR.
He also starred in the serial TIM
TYLER’S LUCK. He was 85.
Polly Burson, a renowned rodeo trick
rider who became a pioneer Hollywood
stuntwoman in an era when few women
were in that business, has died. She was
86.
She launched her career as a stuntwoman
in 1945 when she was 25, doubling for
actress Mary Moore in the Republic
Pictures sci-fi serial THE PURPLE
MONSTER STRIKES. Over the decades,
the slim and athletic horsewoman was
the stunt double for prominent actresses
in films and television, including Lucille
Ball, Betty Hutton, Jean Peters,
Sophia Loren, Shelley Winters, Ruth
Roman, Barbara Stanwyck, Yvonne
De Carlo, Anne Baxter and Doris Day.
She did stunts in films such as THE
GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, THE
TEN COMMANDMENTS, VERTIGO,
SOME LIKE IT HOT, SPARTACUS,
HOW THE WEST WAS WON,
McCLINTOCK, EL DORADO and
TRUE GRIT. She also doubled Linda
Stirling in THE CRIMSON GHOST and
Julie Adams in THE CREATURE
FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. She was
in her early 70s when she made her final
film appearance, in the 1992 Dustin
Hoffman movie HERO.
THE LAST WARD
By John Ward
This month’s column comes with a warning: it’s loaded with spoilers.
I’m not kidding, folks. SPOILERS! SPOILERS, dangit!
Because what I want to talk about ain’t pretty: I want to talk about death scenes.
And death scenes, as a rule, are naturally made spoilers if you discuss them. So consider
yourself warned; go back and re-read Dava’s review or something.
(Pregnant pause.)
Still here? Good. So let’s talk.
I got the idea for this topic the other night when I was channel surfing and came
across the climactic scenes of THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, the perfect “surf
blockers.” It was the moment when Boromir, played very capably by Sean Bean,
sacrifices himself in an attempt to save the hobbits. He lives long enough to watch
Aragorn make sushi out of his assassin, and then dies tearfully in Aragorn’s arms. But
only after making an impassioned confession that he believes in Aragorn and would have
followed him anywhere. (The line about “My brother…my captain…my king.”) I had to
admit: even after seeing this scene umpteen times in the past five years, it still held my
attention.
But it got me thinking about death scenes. I started making my usual list, which I
almost always do before writing one of these things, and I soon realized that the scenes
were breaking down into categories. There are the spectacular death scenes, which
everyone remembers. (Think James Caan in THE GODFATHER.) There are the
shamelessly sentimental death scenes, which usually turn me off. (Think Ali MacGraw
in LOVE STORY.) You won’t find many of those in this column. There are the sudden,
quiet-but-not-sentimental death scenes. (Think Marlon Brando in THE GODFATHER, or
Al Pacino far down the road in THE GODFATHER PART III.) And then there are the
sneaky, underhanded death-scenes-that-aren’t-technically-death-scenes. I’ll save those
for later.
Many of the scenes I discuss in this column would show up on nearly anyone’s
all-time list of favorite movie scenes. There’s something about an onscreen death that is
memorable in its finality. The death often comes at the climax of the picture, after much
blood and tears have been shed, and the audience is ready for a cathartic moment. Death
provides it. You might not like it – you might even yell at the screen – but it’s there, all
the same.
Take BONNIE AND CLYDE, for instance. Everyone knows how this movie will
end – Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were real people, after all – but Warren Beatty
and Faye Dunaway project enough likeability as a “fun couple” that the violent bloodbath
of their death is still a shock. They even sense it before it happens, and manage one last
wistful loving look before being blasted into oblivion by a hail of bullets.
BONNIE AND CLYDE is the perfect example of the spectacular death scene.
One or two bullets are never enough in these scenes; good heavens, no. You’ve gotta
unload in these scenes, folks. We’re talking serious military action. Sometimes it’s
because the director wants to highlight a key moment in the film, like Coppola did when
he gunned down James Caan in THE GODFATHER. It was a brutal scene; the bullets
made Caan’s body dance like a marionette on strings.
But, more often than not, the spectacular death scene is saved for the climax, like
BONNIE AND CLYDE. I could think of two other films that trumped BONNIE AND
CLYDE’s final ambush, and both would have to rank among the most spectacular death
scenes ever filmed. First, there’s Al Pacino’s swan song in Brian De Palma’s
SCARFACE. A Bolivian hit squad breaks into drug lord Pacino’s Miami mansion to
assassinate him, but Pacino’s character, Tony Montana, is so coked to the gills that he
doesn’t even feel the bullets hitting him. It’s all part of De Palma’s theme of excess; just
about everything in this movie is over the top.
SCARFACE has its moments, but my all-time favorite spectacular death scene
would have to be the closing moments of Sam Peckinpah’s THE WILD BUNCH. Four
outlaws – William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oates, and Ben Johnson – walk into
a compound containing hundreds of Mexican soldiers in order to retrieve the kidnapped
and brutalized fifth member of their group. They know the odds against survival are
beyond counting; they also know the brotherhood code they live by leaves them with no
other choice.
Their friend is killed in front of them, and they immediately react by blowing
away the killer: the general leading all the soldiers. Then Peckinpah freezes the action as
they all draw their guns, looking around for their next opponents. There is an agonizing
moment as the viewer wonders: Will they make it out? Then someone twitches the wrong
way, and the next several minutes of the film do nothing less than rewrite the book on
westerns and movie violence. It is an exhausting, brutal, one-of-a-kind montage of
mayhem belonging on a pedestal level with the Odessa Steps sequence from
BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN. When Robert Ryan walks in to survey the carnage at the
end, his sad, regretful face says it all.
Just about every star in Hollywood has had at least one death scene; even Tom
Hanks had one in ROAD TO PERDITION, although considering his character, the death
scene was all but inevitable. When I was a kid, I thought John Wayne was impervious to
bullets. I had never seen SANDS OF IWO JIMA, so I had nothing to dispute my theory.
That lasted until the final days of Wayne’s career, when two excellent westerns
showcased Wayne in two completely different death scenes – one corny and schmaltzy,
the other appropriately quiet. In the former, from THE COWBOYS, Wayne dies while
protecting his charges, a group of boys on a cattle drive. Wayne is shot in the back by
Bruce Dern, a scene so shockingly violent Dern complained for years that it typecast him
as a bad guy. But that’s not the schmaltzy part. After Dern’s gang leaves, Wayne hangs
on long enough to tell the boys how proud he is of each of them. Despite the obviousness
of the scene, director Mark Rydell refuses Wayne an on-camera death; the camera cuts to
Wayne’s grave as the kids ride off for revenge.
Wayne gets a much more fitting send-off in his final film, THE SHOOTIST.
Playing a gunfighter ravaged by cancer, Wayne decides to go out in a blaze of glory,
settling his business with three other gunmen in an arranged meeting. Wayne is mortally
wounded, but not before killing the gunmen; and just before he dies, Wayne watches a
young Ron Howard throw down his gun, refusing to follow in his footsteps.
Wayne’s death in THE COWBOYS is an example of the sentimental, perfectly
maudlin death scene I mentioned earlier – the kind epitomized by LOVE STORY. But
LOVE STORY is not a genre fave, and I would not care to soil this newsletter’s sterling
reputation by mentioning its name a fourth time. Instead, I’ll call to mind such
wonderfully grating examples of “death schmaltz” as Shelley Winters’ last gasp in THE
POSEIDON ADVENTURE, Sean Connery’s prolonged expiration in THE
UNTOUCHABLES, Bernard Hill’s stately final moment in THE RETURN OF THE
KING, Tyne Daly’s forgettable “Get him!” to Clint Eastwood in THE ENFORCER, and
even Arnold Schwarzenegger’s final “thumbs up” in TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT
DAY. Something in that mess must have touched a nerve, because those moments
resulted in a couple of Oscar nominations and even one award.
A number of death scenes over the years have just skirted the edge of
sentimentality without falling into the abyss. Brando’s death in THE GODFATHER
comes to mind here. After a life full of violence and pain, killing and blood, Brando
collapses in his tomato garden while playing with his grandson. Francis Ford Coppola
treats this in a very casual, matter-of-fact way; no one is around to see it happen, and
Brando gets no final speech. There’s even a slightly grotesque-yet-funny moment when
the grandson playfully sprays Brando with insecticide before running away.
Val Kilmer has a similar death in TOMBSTONE. As Doc Holliday, Kilmer
spends most of the film looking like he’s at death’s door, pasty complexion and all. But
in a sanitarium bed at the close of the film, Kilmer insists that his best friend Wyatt Earp
(as played by Kurt Russell) leave before he dies. It’s a quiet, reflective moment.
The same goes for David Carradine at the close of the aptly titled KILL BILL:
VOLUME 2. A vengeful Uma Thurman slices and dices her way through countless bad
guys and across two different films to face Carradine, her former lover/mentor.
Considering how much blood has been shed to this point, it’s almost anticlimactic to
watch Thurman simply reach forward and hit Carradine in the chest with a fingertip
martial arts move. Carradine realizes what has happened; he rises with great dignity,
buttons his jacket, and starts to walk away before silently collapsing in a heap.
Finally, let’s talk about those death-scenes-that-aren’t-really-death-scenes. Take
the final moments of BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, for instance. Paul
Newman and Robert Redford, playing the title characters, are wounded and holed up in a
cantina, unaware that what seems like the entire Bolivian army (probably the
grandfathers of the guys who gunned down SCARFACE) is waiting for them to come out.
Which they do, guns blazing, as the camera freezes them in one of the most famous final
shots ever; the picture turns to sepia, and the soundtrack fades away under the sound of
the Bolivian army firing salvo after salvo. You never see Butch and Sundance take the
bullets, but the ending has a tone of finality. It’s as if they were meant to fade into
legend.
Speaking of “stealth deaths,” consider the poor case of Fred MacMurray. In the
classic film noir DOUBLE INDEMNITY, MacMurray plays an insurance man hooked
into a murder scam by Barbara Stanwyck, one of the greatest femme fatales ever. The
movie is actually told in flashback by MacMurray, slowly dying from a gunshot. His
cagey boss, played against type by Edward G. Robinson, finds him at the finish, just as
he’s wrapping up the story. MacMurray manages to make it to the door before
collapsing, and the film ends with Robinson lighting a final cigarette for MacMurray.
Once again, you just know things are final.
Probably the greatest and most influential off-camera death scene occurs midway
through the Disney classic BAMBI – yeah, you know what moment I’m talking about.
Bambi’s mother senses unseen danger, and hurries her son into hiding before attempting
to draw the danger away; it isn’t until we hear the sound of the gunshot that we realize
what the danger was. Bambi stumbles forward and runs into the King of the Forest, a
magnificent buck who quietly tells the fawn, “Your mother can’t help you any more.”
Try to find someone who didn’t get shook by that scene when they were kids.
There are many more death scenes that come to mind -- some of them bloody,
some of them shocking, some of them downright grotesque, many of them sad. I don’t
count, or even try to think about, the literally thousands of on-camera deaths in all of the
splatter movies that have popped up over the past several decades. Almost to the last
death, they were all designed to shock, to repulse, to goose the audience in lieu of a truly
frightening plot moment. For this column, I tried to focus on the death scenes that were
instrumental to the story – the ones that truly made an impact. I’ll close with my list of
all-time favorite death scenes. They’re a mix of the styles and tones described before,
and I’m sure you’ll remember them.
JOHN’S ALL-TIME FAVORITE DEATH SCENES (In chronological
order)
BEN-HUR (1959) Stephen Boyd, broken and bloody after the chariot race, dies
unrepentant on the table.
PSYCHO (1960) The shower scene. Every time I see it, I watch carefully as the drain
dissolves into the eye of Janet Leigh; the camera pulls away, and I always wonder how
she keeps from blinking. It’s a long shot, and I’m almost certain I can see rivulets of
water trickling down her face, which means it’s not frozen. Amazing.
THE WILD BUNCH (1969) The final gunfight. Walter Hill paid homage to it years
later in EXTREME PREJUDICE.
THE GODFATHER (1972) Brando in the garden. Watch out for that bug spray, kid!
THE EXORCIST (1973) After two hours of cursing, screaming, sobbing, crashing, and
more cursing – all at the highest decibel levels – Jason Miller’s heroic Father Karras dies
quietly at the bottom of the “Hitchcock Steps.” When a fellow priest offers him the last
rites, all Karras can do is feebly squeeze his friend’s fingers.
THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974) The body count in this one is pretty high, like
most disaster movies of the ‘70s. But I always react angrily at Jennifer Jones’ farewell;
one moment she’s there, the next she’s falling to her death, but not before thrusting the
child she’s holding into a nearby fireman’s arms. Sudden and shocking.
JAWS (1975) Steven Spielberg made at least three big changes to the novel: he cut the
whole affair between the oceanographer and the sheriff’s wife, he let the oceanographer
live, and he made the fisherman Quint’s demise much more interesting. In the book, he
carelessly gets his foot tangled in some lines and is pulled under by the shark. In the
film, he’s lunch.
SCARFACE (1983) From “Say hello to my little friend!” to the final, pitiful “I’m Tony
Montana!!” At the end, the viewer is exhausted.
DEEP BLUE SEA (1999) There is a death in this film that is so sudden, so unexpected,
so jarring, you nearly wet yourself. Just ask Samuel L. Jackson.
GLADIATOR (2000) One of the very few overtly sentimental death scenes that I truly
appreciate. Russell Crowe is reunited with his murdered wife and son, but not before
receiving a hero’s exit from the colosseum.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001)
Boromir’s last stand, which director Peter Jackson wisely moved from the beginning of
Tolkien’s The Two Towers to the climax of THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING.
Sentimental, to be sure, but damn, it works!
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST (2004) Actually, the only example on the list in
which the entire film qualifies as a death scene.
If anyone else out there has a favorite “death moment” from the movies, try
posting on the forum, or on the club’s new Meet up Page, or just chat me up at the next
club meeting. I’d like to hear some of your choices!
See you next month!
ICS CALENDER OF EVENTS
MAY 19th
The Da Vinci Code
MAY 26th X-Men – The Last Stand
MAY 27th
ICS 1st annual Memorial day Picnic & meeting
Starting at 3:30pm and going on into the night. Hamburgers, Chips, Salads,
even desserts! Don’t miss this or the meeting that follows!
JUNE 6th (or should I say, 6-6-06) The Omen
JUNE 30th
SUPERMAN Returns!!
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!
AMERICA REMEMBERS OUR VETERANS TODAY!