Another sad passing. This time it is Keith Emerson. A maestro and master of the keyboard instrument if ever one existed. His bands included The Nice, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, 3, and The Keith Emerson Band. Emerson fully integrated the newly emerging performance synthesizer into his already stellar piano and Hammond organ on stage arsenal. A true virtuoso and legendary performer, Emerson’s style and compositions will continue to influence far into the future. Seek out other clips on you tube and marvel.
All posts by Andrew Swartz
FATAL ATTRACTION – 1987
Always a favorite Valentine’s Day view, “Fatal Attraction” documents a married man’s fling while the wife’s away that turns out to be the biggest mistake of his life. Rather than obediently disappearing after their wild weekend, Michael Douglas’ love interest, Glenn Close, chooses instead to hang around and try to become a more permanent fixture in his life. Of course, this was not a part of the plan in Douglas’ mind. Close is very single minded in her pursuit and will not think of hearing “no” as a response in her quest top become Douglas’ primary love interest. There is the matter of his present wife standing in the way. Therein lays the dramatic conflict…Get ready for plenty of psychotic outbursts and general pandemonium! Douglas is hilarious when trying to mumble and lie is way out of his current predicament. Very entertaining flick!
THE THAW – 2009
Your skin will crawl. You’ll feel things scampering over you….But, worst of all, these things will be nesting inside of you. That is the unfortunate aftermath that goes down after a wooly mammoth fossil is unearthed and an ages old parasite is exposed to the light of day once more and unleashed on a unsuspecting group of scientists in “The Thaw”. The parasite seeks new hosts and exhibits a very nasty habit of multiplying at an alarming rate. The group soon becomes infected and becomes the latest host for the hoards of creepy crawlies. Very unpleasant portrayal of hosts with festering wounds, vomit launching and crippled humanity. There is little hope of rescue as this would expose the rest of the world’s population to this scourge. Ugh! Val Kilmer briefly appears.
ASHES TO ASHES – BOWIE – 1980
Fantastic, other worldly, freaky music video, “Ashes to Ashes”, from the late, great, departed, David Bowie. If you haven’t explored his music yet, do so now. What a magnificent, innovative talent! He literally owned the 1970’s and continued in to the early 1980’s. Bowie explored many personas and musical styles and penned some of the great classics of rock music. I count this song as one of his strongest. A bleak, melancholy reexamination of character Major Tom, the lonely, depressed astronaut stuck in his “tin can” in outer space wanting nothing more than to return to Earth, who was originally imagined in the tune, “Space Oddity”. I think it is safe to say that Bowie’s music and contributions to popular culture were triumphant. A truly, unique individual.
LEMMY KILMISTER LIVES ON!!!
We have lost another Great One. We now live in a world now without Lemmy Kilmister and that void will never be filled. Lemmy was a well known, larger than life personality. He played a very distorted, loud, bass guitar with his rock and roll band, Motorhead. He was also a key figure for many years in the space rock outfit, Hawkwind. In the distant past, Lemmy was renowned for his large drug intake. It probably is amazing that he lasted this long! He was outspoken, crude, hilarious. Lemmy was a true believer in the spirit and power of rock and roll. He made a great career in rock music. His unique guttural growl singing voice and his bass guitar sonic barrage were one of a kind and will be missed. Have a good rest, Sir.
People Who Do Noise (2008) Full Concert Movie Documentary
Very sweet documentary covering people who shape sound in any manner or way they see fit. Call these noise practitioners, the new Punks. Some of those shown performing describe what they do as a new form of punk rock, a DIY mindset of artist creation, made with whatever musical instrument, effect pedal, electronic device or mechanical apparatus is at hand. Whatever label you put on these sounds, the end result is a collection of unique individuals who are producing, performing, and espousing noise. It is all very liberating and refreshing. Granted the documentary is seven years old by this date but the sonic attacks presented here remain vibrant and vital to these loud music abused ears.
TALES FROM THE CRYPT – 1972 – SCARY SANTA!
I think I mentioned Tales From The Crypt in an earlier post. I stress this segment from the anthology film from the ’70’s because it features a diabolical madman on the loose who dons a Santa Claus suit to get into the spirit of the Christmas season during which the segment transpires. Seedy Santa leers and creeps outside the residence of an equally seedy sexpot played by Joan Collins. You can question whether there was type casting involved. I have. Anyway, an enjoyable if edgy representation of the jolly fat guy who in this case gets his jollies from stalking less than innocent, soon to be victims. Simply crazy!
EXISTS – 2014 – TRAILER
I started watching this from about the half way point and got hooked. This is your basic kids stranded in a lonely cabin with no way to get past or rid of the nasty, howling bigfoot creature which wants to avenge itself on them. Fairly effective “found footage” approach is used throughout. One of the humans in peril is video recording the whole adventure. The scene with the guy on the mountain bike and the GoPro trying to find a cell phone signal and, then, trying to outpace a hotly pursuing sasquatch is pretty nerve wracking. Exists brings to mind a similar tale from the ’70’s, “The Creature from Black Lake”. Don’t mess with Mother Nature’s babies may be the lesson here.
THE SHINING – 1980 – TRAILER
Stanley Kubrick’s visually stunning interpretation of Stephen King’s novel. I guess the two follow different plot trajectories. I never sat through the entire King tome. A cursed family moves into a rambling hotel to act as its caretakers during the winter. Seems the Overlook Hotel has some dark secrets of its own that start to manifest during the family’s stay. Expect a LOT of unsettling, frightening moments. The movie takes on the tone of a nightmare. Events, circumstances keep building up and piling on the dread factor. Famous Nicholson over the top performance. Amazing use of Stedicam during filming to move things along nicely.
FIRST BLOOD – 1982 – TRAILER
My favorite Stallone actioner, “First Blood” was the first and best screen appearance of Vietnam Green Beret John J. Rambo. Rambo strays in to the wrong town when its hard ass sheriff takes an immediate dislike to him and throws him in jail. Rambo’s treatment in incarceration brings on flashbacks of his torture at the hands of the enemy in a prisoner of war camp in Vietnam. All Hell breaks loose as Rambo busts out of jail and goes on the lam into the wilds of the Pacific Northwest. The sheriff then takes his personal vendetta against Rambo to extremes and enlists an army of law enforcement to bring the fugitive from Justice in. Great action sequences, some well staged chases, amazing, forested locales and some solid performances from the dependable thespians Dennehy and Richard Crenna. I remember seeing this at a drive in and not knowing what the heck was going on as the forest settings proved too dark to translate well to a drive in movie screen. LOL. At least we were well stocked with booze!
THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD – 1958 – TRAILER
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad has to be stop motion animator, Ray Harryhausen’s, crowning achievement. Sinbad sets out on a fantastic odyssey to retrieve the ingredients to concoct a potion to release his love from a spell which has reduced her to the size of a doll. Many pitfalls and danger are met along the way, of course. The cyclops has become one of the icons of fantasy creatures unleashed on the masses, at least in my world. A sweeping, sprawling cinematic treat, this flick is packed with monsters, mystery, and action. Great creature models and the best stop motion animated work ever done by anybody, in any age!
THE MEPHISTO WALTZ – 1971
Juicy, supernatural soap opera featuring the fabulous Jaqueline Bisset as the wife of an aspiring concert pianist who has her world turned upside down by a gaggle of satanic cult members. Plenty of post Flower Power saturated colors, soft focus lenses and semi risqué goings on. Very enjoyable time waster that plays like the cinematic equivalent of a melodramatic romantic novel. Featuring a cast of great character actors including Willian Windom, Bradford Dillman, Curt Jurgens, Alan Alda and Barbara Parkins.
SATAN’S TRIANGLE – 1975
The 1970’s were rife with speculation about what mysterious force could be behind all the missing and vanished boats, ships and planes which entered the region known as The Bermuda Triangle and then were never seen again. There are many books and television shows which have delved into this haunted spot. Are there natural forces to blame for the swallowing up of all these vessels or is it something supernatural? This scary TV picture thought that The Devil was at work in the area. Doug McClure and Kim Novak get stuck in the middle of all this mess and try to find a way to elude the evil. Good luck, mates!
THE MISSOURI BREAKS – 1976
Certainly an interesting pairing of acting talent in this oater. Jack Nicholson plays a horse thief, who, along with his fellow gang, are systematically picked off by an eccentric, manic bounty hunter, Marlon Brando, hired by a cattle rancher whose stock has been stolen by the thieving bunch. This film is kind of a combination of genres: western and slasher. This was slasher before it existed! Halloween was still a couple years out. Members of Jack’s gang, including the great talents Harry Dean Stanton, John Ryan, Frederic Forrest, and Randy Quaid, are killed one after the other in some new graphic fashion. Yes. This film is heavy on the violence. Although he is an insufferable ass in this part, Brando is a freaking joy to behold in his weirdness. Very entertaining, enjoyable film.