Recently, my teen and tween have been interested in horror films. My teen and I watched Kubrick's "The Shining" and Takashi Miike's "One Missed Call" on cable TV. I first saw "The Shining" when I was thirteen years old (the same age as my daughter) and it made me think of the films that frightened me as a child.
It's fun to reflect on the dumb things that scared me as a kid and acknowledge the fears I still haven't outgrown. For Halloween, here's a list of the 5 movies that freaked me out as a kid:
1. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1953) by Don Siegel
2. The Birds (1963) by Alfred Hitchcock
3. Night of the Hunter (1955) by Charles Laughton
4. The Shining (1980) by Stanley Kubrick
5. Disney's Bambi (1942)
Movie Monday: Vincent by Tim Burton
Vincent (1982)
Written, designed and directed by Tim Burton
In honor of Tim Burton's retrospective at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, here is the short film Vincent. "Vincent" is Burton's charming homage to Vincent Price, narrated by Vincent Price himself. This short demonstrates Burton's early genius and anticipates the brilliant feature films yet to come. "Vincent" blew me away when I saw it in the theater because it is a children's poem told with a visual style that evokes "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." I love that Burton respects children and understands precocious kids can handle morbid topics like death, torture and Edgar Allan Poe. "Vincent" is worth revisiting every Halloween season.
Tim Burton retrospective at Resnick Pavilion LACMA through Halloween.
LACMA will extend museum hours during closing weekend.
Movie Monday: King of New York
I read Scott Macaulay's recent post on Filmmaker Magazine blog about the chilly reception director Abel Ferrara received for "King of New York" at the 1990 New York Film Festival. "King of New York" staring Christopher Walken and Laurence Fishburne has always been one of my favorite gangster films.
Drug kingpin Frank White (Walken) newly released from prison tries to make up for lost time with guns blazing. White's transition into society includes executing rival drug dealers and dodging vigilante cops with their own sense of due process. As with most Abel Ferrara films, there is plenty of gratuitous sex and violence to go around, but "King of New York" is sexy, stylish and more compelling than Ferrara's cult film Bad Lieutenant. Walken is the star, but there are amazing supporting performances by actors Laurence Fishburne, David Caruso, Giancarlo Esposito, Victor Argo, Wesley Snipes and Steve Buscemi.
King of New York (1990) is available on DVD, Blu-Ray, Amazon VOD, and iTunes
Movie Monday: Inside Job
In honor of the Occupy Wall Street protests, today's Movie Monday pick is Charles Ferguson's Academy Award winning documentary Inside Job. "Inside Job" deconstructs the 2008 financial meltdown and interviews politicians, economists and executives and asks: How did we get here? Ferguson does an excellent job following the funny money without insulting the viewer's intelligence and delves into the complex topic of subprime lending without tedium. "Inside Job" is one of the best technically made documentaries I have seen with austere cinematography and seamless film editing. "Inside Job" feels more like a mystery or horror film when you consider your own personal stock losses.
Inside Job is available on DVD, Blu-Ray, Amazon VOD and iTunes
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