GRIND-FU INTERWEBS
Monday, October 10, 2016
COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN BLOGPOST#10: HELLO OUT THERE IN RADIO LAND!
I forget just how many years it has been since we first started playing a daily Judson Fountain radio "drammer" through the month of October. Maybe three years? In that short amount of time, it has become a beloved holiday tradition on Shuffle Function, and we get people asking us when it will start up again. Well, we're doing it RIGHT NOW. We just aired Judson's classic "The Garbage Can From Thailand" this morning, and we'll keep playing one a day, Monday through Friday, through October.
We first became acquainted with the work of Judson Fountain about 15 years ago. I'm not entirely sure what the source was for our first Judson Fountain radio "drammer" (Judson's announcer Sandor Weisberger calls the dramas "drammers"), but my gut tells me it was probably on something like the 365 Days Project, where a new weird MP3 was posted every day, but I may be wrong. All I know is that Shuffle Function was instantly smitten with what we heard.
The first drammer we heard was The Garbage Can From Thailand. Shelley and I were on a trip to the cities for something or other, and we had a mix CD with Garbage Can on it. We must have played it 100 times that day, and each time we laughed to the point of tears. It's such a wonderfully weird story, and the performances are classic Fountain all the way. It's also a Judson Fountain radio drammer that gets regularly requested, which makes us incredibly proud.
Judson Fountain put out records of radio dramas in the late 60s and early 70s. Most of the material has been compiled on two fantastic compilations from Innova Recordings, but there are eight of his radio dramas that have not been issued in any form. These records are exceptionally rare, so it's not like you can just hop online and pick a copy up. They never turn up on Ebay or Discogs. There aren't even MP3s or YouTube videos floating around.
If you want to see what these records look like, visit judsonfountain.com. You'll see the complete discography there, plus the cover art and labels. These were extremely DIY, with mimeographed cover sheets masking taped to a record jacket. Judson dressed up in character for the covers, too, so you can see him as Wicked Witch, The Old Hag, Pops Serriano, and Old Man Beni. One of the covers is even autographed by Judson!
Again, these records are exceptionally rare. There's a famous story about one collector not finding them in the record bin, but UNDER the bin! I've never even seen a value placed on them, but to fans of Judson they're priceless. BTW, feel free to send us your copies if you aren't doing anything with them. We'll give them a lot of love.
A few years ago Shuffle Function decided to do a tribute to Judson by recreating The Garbage Can From Thailand. Shelley played the Old Man, and I played Sandor and Johnny. It was a lot of fun, and we've been getting a lot of requests for it lately. So here is our version of The Garbage Can From Thailand, written especially for radio by Judson Fountain.
Now, turn out all the lights, and be completely in the dark!
Tim
P.S.: JUDSON FOUNTAIN IS MISSING. Nobody has seen or heard from him in over two decades. Do you know where he is? Drop us an e-mail at shufflefunction@hotmail.com. One would think that Judson would have discovered the internet and googled his name by now, and he'd see that he has lots of fans out there. WE NEED YOUR RADIO DRAMMERS, JUDSON!
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Sunday, September 22, 2013
"...IN 70MM!"
In
just a few words, my heart races, my eyes dilate, colors become more
vivid and I frantically search for the nearest box of kleenex! Such
is the pavlovian response of a film addict. Phrases such as: ’70mm’,
‘Cinerama’, ‘anamorphic’, ‘6-track stereo’,
‘Cinemascope’, ‘Panavision’, ‘’Super Panavision’,
‘’Todd-AO’, ‘Vstavision’, ‘Technirama’ and
don't forget about
‘frame rate!!!’
and of course the much whispered about but still dubious
‘Sensurround!’
(actually, the Studios did try this sound process once to disastrous
results:
The
preceding film process phrases are the, ahem, erotic film equivalents
to porn cinema as we know it (obviously, foreign art-house erotica,
with a well written script, impeccable lighting and hopefully a
soundtrack by Serge Gainsbourg.
What? What kind of ‘film’ did you think I was referring to??!)
What? What kind of ‘film’ did you think I was referring to??!)
ANYWAY,
bigger, more expansive, totally immersive is where a film addicts
craving begins but, alas, it’s never enough. Is it? (usually this
where the shaking and tremors start also.) Like any addiction, you
want more (see: ‘Bigger,
Louder- The Man Who Never Saw Enough’,
Peel, 1985) and this is the part of story where disappointment,
despair and despondency ensues a the thought of what once existed in
our own state of Minnesota. I am referring to a theater that is no
longer with us: ‘The
Cooper Theater.’
The
Cooper was located in St. Louis Park, MN. Here is a brief history of
the theater:
Fortunately,
it still existed when I lived in Minneapolis. I treated every
occasion that I attended like a pilgrimage (except the occasion when
my girlfriend at the time won tickets to the Midwest Premiere of
‘Dragnet’ (1987). I have never got that visual violation out of
my head. Although, I still want to wake-up one day, wearing goat
leggings, with no recollection of the previous evening. It will make
sense if you watch 'Dragnet'….no, wait!) Even by the time I was
able to enjoy the theater, it was neglected and in serious need of
repair. Whatever the story in how it came to this ‘state’, I
don’t know (Megaplex boxes anyone?!) Still, even in it’s last
decade, it was the most impressive and what I imagined a movie
‘palace’ was and what it should be like. The design was
impressive inside and out.
It
was specifically built to screen Cinerama movies (one of only 3 in
the country at the time.) The decor was pure 60’s era modernism
(see: swanky.) Alot of the ‘amenities’ that were originally built
were either gone or no longer usable by the mid 80's. At one time it
had it’s own private lounge, a mezzanine level (for the ‘beautiful
people’), a bar!, a television room? and for the kids (and parents)
a soundproof nursery. This was in the early 60’s and it still cost
$1million dollars to build. Just for a minute think about this
amazing building; the entire complex was built because of one
screen…ONE screen! Incredible. A bygone era indeed….sigh. The
Cooper hosted the local premiere of the movie ‘Airport’ (1970)
and at the time, the property around the theater had not been filled
by urban sprawl, so they actually had an area where you could fly,
land and park your private small airplane next to the theater!
The
original couches, chairs still were present in the immense lobby in
the 80's (where you could smoke your clove cigarettes; like a real
pretentious film snob) but the refreshment bar had been winnowed down
to just a fraction of what it once was (they eventually
split/expanded the theater into three theaters. It was the beginning
of the end.) The original, main screen was 35 feet high and 105 feet
wide.
The screen was curved to accommodate Cinerama and mainstream film presentations. Whereas IMAX is one big monstrosity ‘box’ , The Cooper in contrast, when showing the biggest’ 70mm movie presentations on it's curved screen, made you feel much more immersed in the film, as if you were an actual on set 'participant' to the action on screen. It was by a far a more satisfying film experience. Towards the end of it’s run, someone had the foresight to start running re-issued, re-mastered 70mm films. I still look back on that time and marvel at how fortunate I was to be able to see movies such as: ‘Ben Hur’ (1959), ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962), ( I know opinions vary on David Lean’s film but seeing it in a venue such as this reminds you of what a ‘big’ event a film like this could be. You are really ‘drawn into’ the environment and it showcased the vision of the filmmaker. note: this was the completely frame by frame refurbished version with 'lost scenes' that at one time were presumed lost forever.) ‘Ice Station Zebra’ (1968), ‘Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’ (1963) and one of THE best movie experiences for me up until that time, ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) Nothing more needs to be said about that!
The screen was curved to accommodate Cinerama and mainstream film presentations. Whereas IMAX is one big monstrosity ‘box’ , The Cooper in contrast, when showing the biggest’ 70mm movie presentations on it's curved screen, made you feel much more immersed in the film, as if you were an actual on set 'participant' to the action on screen. It was by a far a more satisfying film experience. Towards the end of it’s run, someone had the foresight to start running re-issued, re-mastered 70mm films. I still look back on that time and marvel at how fortunate I was to be able to see movies such as: ‘Ben Hur’ (1959), ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962), ( I know opinions vary on David Lean’s film but seeing it in a venue such as this reminds you of what a ‘big’ event a film like this could be. You are really ‘drawn into’ the environment and it showcased the vision of the filmmaker. note: this was the completely frame by frame refurbished version with 'lost scenes' that at one time were presumed lost forever.) ‘Ice Station Zebra’ (1968), ‘Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’ (1963) and one of THE best movie experiences for me up until that time, ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) Nothing more needs to be said about that!
Then
it was gone.
That
is what is so disappointing. It was as close to a perfect venue to
watch a film or how a film presentation was meant to be. Sublime does
not begin to describe the experience. What the Cooper represented was
the focus on viewing experience, the film as a real art event instead
of how much $$$ can we squeeze out of the customer nowadays. (see:
‘Wretched
Masses’,
Brown, 1964.) A
theater like this had the power to ‘transform’ your opinion of
certain films; even films that you may have dismissed initially.
If
you still are a bit skeptical, listen to my good friend Douglas
Trumball on 70mm:
s
Here
is an excellent and simple article on the basics of 70mm:
This
site was partially updated recently because of articles like this
imploring people to see the recent P.T. Anderson film ‘The
Master’
(2012) in the 70mm presentation:
The
following video is in Dutch but it is worthwhile to watch and you
will have no problem following along (I included the English
translation below the video also.)
Owner of the cinema:
Am I on now? Welcome to the cinema in Aalborg and in the moment we´re showing P. T. Anderson´s [sic] film "The Master". Not only do we show it, we also showing it in the original 70mm version. And we´re extremely proud and happy about that. We can now only hope that the audience will come and see it in the real 70mm format.
Girl
with yellow shirt:
I´m going to see "The Master" because it seems like a really interesting story. I don´t know what it´s about from viewing the trailers. And also because it´ll be show in 70mm and it will only do that here and at another place in Copenhagen and the screen should be perfect, because it´s a curved screen. And the director had a vision with this format, that it had a significance, so I´m really excited to see what effect it will have on the story and the whole experience.
I´m going to see "The Master" because it seems like a really interesting story. I don´t know what it´s about from viewing the trailers. And also because it´ll be show in 70mm and it will only do that here and at another place in Copenhagen and the screen should be perfect, because it´s a curved screen. And the director had a vision with this format, that it had a significance, so I´m really excited to see what effect it will have on the story and the whole experience.
Woman
in cinema:
It´s truly a great visual story. I think...it´s a flat image but the image is sculptural. the opening scene itself, with the helmet. it looks like silver but it´s completely sculptural, as if you dragged into the image. I think that´s amazing. also the sand sculpture. it should be hard to see it, you know it´s a woman but even the nipples are completely in detail. I think it´s the image quality that makes it so amazing.
It´s truly a great visual story. I think...it´s a flat image but the image is sculptural. the opening scene itself, with the helmet. it looks like silver but it´s completely sculptural, as if you dragged into the image. I think that´s amazing. also the sand sculpture. it should be hard to see it, you know it´s a woman but even the nipples are completely in detail. I think it´s the image quality that makes it so amazing.
Man
in cinema:
It´s an amazing film, an amazing story. there is some footage of water and I´m completely certain that it´s only on 70mm you can capture the waves like that, made by the ship. then there´s some CUs of the faces and it´s really amazing. also because of the great performances. They are all great. It´s not a movie where you think "Ah, there was that actor who was embarrassing". They are all great. So, it´s all pretty perfect.
It´s an amazing film, an amazing story. there is some footage of water and I´m completely certain that it´s only on 70mm you can capture the waves like that, made by the ship. then there´s some CUs of the faces and it´s really amazing. also because of the great performances. They are all great. It´s not a movie where you think "Ah, there was that actor who was embarrassing". They are all great. So, it´s all pretty perfect.
Fortunately,
there are still outstanding theaters around the country where you can
have the same experiences (and get rid of the ‘jonesing’!) Here
is an updated listing of US States that have had or still have
theaters that show 70mm presentations:
Here
is another link to current 70mm films being shown around the country
(this is also the best site for anything, everything 70mm you would
ever need or want to know):
If
you have the chance to go to one of these theaters, you will not be
disappointed. I can think of alot of worse reasons to take a road
trip but this is not one of them (well, a road trip for any reason is
good enough) but here you have '70' reasons!
Like
I mentioned before, there is something physically and emotionally
‘exciting’ when hearing the terms that are associated with the
above films. If film terms can be viewed as ‘erotic’ in nature,
the Cooper was the porn palace. It was that good.
~Scooter
Polanski
Sunday, August 11, 2013
DAVID F. FRIEDMAN ACTUALLY REGRETTED MAKING A FILM??!
A
friend once told me that “everyone
needs at least one ‘Women in Prison’ (WIP) movie in their
collection.”
Did I also mention this friend is very wise?! For me the
revolution (which i think starts right before the zombie apocalypze) begins when I am absolutely forced to choose ‘Ilsa,
She Wolf of the SS.’
(Ok,
ok, maybe it’s maybe half WIP film and half Nazisploitation genre,
a niche that started with ‘Love
Camp 7’
but
it’s close enough and I really don’t want to spend anymore blog
space on Nazis! It is a prison camp, with prisoners that conquer the warden,
and they do escape, so close enough! Plus, there is plenty of blog
space later for a proper 'examination' of more Women in Prison
films…mmmmmm…..so many!)
Of
course, after the ‘somber’ opening title card (it couldn’t be
disingenuous? could it?!) We immediately go to a sex scene (well,
this is a prisoner of war camp after all, so what were you expecting?)
“Once
a prisoner has slept with me, he’ll never sleep with another woman
again!” - Wow,
how many times I have heard that?! Coitus leads to castration in
this camp. Of course, this graphic scene leads into what this genre
is all about: A sick mix of torture, soft-porn, violence and a lot of
naked women. This was apparently a quite successful financial mix in the
decade of the 70’s. For 1974 this was a truly sick film. Of course
now, it is considered a truly sick cult
film! (quite a significant distinction!) There is not much of a story
except the torture (ahem, medical experiments) in various ways of the
naked female prisoners. Ilsa employs devices such as a Nazi approved
torture dildo, exploding diaphragms, boiling a prisoner alive (these
are “important
experiments for the fatherland.”),
whippings (with topless guards of course!)and various surgical
techniques. Of course, being on the cutting edge of medicine, Ilsa
likes to use maggots to ‘cleanse the wounds.’
One
of the most inspired set pieces involves a naked girl standing on a
block of ice and a noose, slowly played out in the midst of a
sumptuous dinner attended by the fuhrer’s finest. Of course after
dinner, our visiting General has Ilsa pee on him. Reason #57 why you
should see this movie. (but again, these are Nazi’s and it is a
serious prisoner of war camp movie. I am sure scenes like this will
guarantee that 'atrocities', as mentioned in the beginning of the
movie, will never occur again!)
Another
aspect that this film exploits endlessly, are the compelling colors
of the Nazi regime in every scene (either with large banners or well
designed uniforms!)
but
also with the photos of Hitler, Himmler, etc. in the background of every
scene. (or maybe they had to keep reminding us that these are Nazi’s!
Really bad people! Which is a good thing because I would hate to be
in a theater and halfway through, someone sitting in front of me
would whisper to her friend and say: “which
ones are the Nazi’s?” I
really need to know who the bad guys are! ---(this actually happened
during a movie to my good friend Shelley.)
The only
message that anyone should be taking away from this film is simple:
Nazi's are bad, naked women are good! Even better if they are topless
wielding a cat o' nine tails!
Ilsa’s
downfall begins and ends with the one prisoner she decides not to
castrate. Since he is the only one that can ’satisfy’ her, she
keeps him around. Bad move, as Ilsa should have kept with the castration
policy. He uses this time to organize the rest of the prisoners for
an uprising and escape. After an underwhelming gun battle with about
5 nazi guards, (although I do have to mention one scene: a female
prisoner sneaks up on a Nazi guard and slits his throat. He falls to
the ground and the camera lingers on his ‘pulsing’ jugular with a
really realistic bleeding out--listening to the commentary on the
Anchor Bay DVD, this effect was done by Joe
Blasco who
did some great make-up effect work for this movie and went on to open
some very successful makeup studios around the country. He also did
the make-up for ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ & ‘The Lawrence
Welk show!”) The SS arrive in two vehicles (that probably blew half
the production budget) and proceed to destroy and burn the camp
down...yes, sadly, the EXACT set where ‘Hogan’s
Heroes’
had been filmed.
“Funny,
I don’t remember this episode of Hogan’s Hero’s?”
In
less than a decade David F. Friedman (with Herschell Gordon Lewis in the 60’s)
produced ‘Blood
Feast’,
which by his admission was purposely camp, and the brutal
‘Ilsa’ series. Watching them back to back it’s shocking to see
how the ‘tone’ of the gore presented had changed. This movie was
shot in 9 days. Obviously, just like ‘Blood Feast’, this film was
just made to make a quick buck. Also like that film, the question is why have they
endured when so many were shocked, appalled, sickened, and after being dismissed
by critics because of the content?
Without the presence of Dyanne Thorne, this film series never would have
spanned three (two official) more films in this series. It would have
been forgotten and included with all the rest of the forgettable
Nazisploitation films. The
legacy of this film, for me (whether you appreciate it or loathe it)
is Ms.Thorne’s powerful portrayal of Ilsa. I can’t picture
another actress that fit a role so perfectly. She influenced, I
think, alot of WIP films that might have never been made without this
film. I mean, can you imagine NOT being able to see these movies?!
It
really created the 'new' template of what to expect from a WIP movie:
sadistic warden, cruel guards, various abuses, whippings, lots of
naked women (preferably lesbian)/catfights (even better, if the
catfight is in the shower)
Basically
they created everything you look for and require in this sort of genre film and
this is the reason they are such a guilty pleasure. Beyond that, Danning's character was the archetype of what a strong, ruthless prison warden
could and should be. In fact, here Sybil Danning pulls it off
perfectly!
I
would be remiss not to mention one of the actors in this film, George
'Buck' Flowers.
He has shown up in a lot of my favorites over the years: most John
Carpenter films, a lot of Something Weird Movies- just a very likable
character actor that (as always) never gets enough credit for the
'texture' that they bring to a production.
Once
you have seen this character actor you will probably be able to
recall him being in some movie you have seen. Also,
keep your eyes open for a brief appearance by Ushi
Digart!
When
you have recovered from the onslaught of the Uber-Frau-Aufseher
aus der Hölle,
be sure to check out the Ilsa
movies
that followed:
'Ilsa,
Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks'-all
you need to know about this film is that includes more castrations,
exploding penis-machines and lesbian wrestling!
The
third (but unofficial Ilsa) movie is 'Ilsa,
the Wicked Warden.'
This is not an 'Ilsa' movie. Directed by Jess Franco, it was one of
four WIP movies he made, and it was only given an Ilsa title because
of the the popularity of the Ilsa series. It was also called 'Greta
the Mad Butcher'
or 'Ilsa,
Absolute Power'.
Regardless, it does feature Dyanne Thorne plus everything you come to
expect: nudity, violence, lesbians, acid injections, and snuff movies.
Curiously this movie was released and packaged together by Anchor Bay
with the first two including commentary and similar artwork.
The
final Ilsa chapter is 'Ilsa,
Tigress of Siberia'.
AKA 'The
Tigress' This
time she is in charge of a Siberian Gulag but flees to Montreal to
run a brothel. Unfortunately there is not an official US release of
this film. You can find a VHS copy every now and then but this is
usually the 'cut' version which does not include the awesome arm
wrestling/chainsaw scene…. wait….
There
actually was advertised in 'Variety'
another
Ilsa movie in pre-production 'Ilsa
meets Bruce Lee in the Bermuda Triangle'---oh
man, what could have been!
This
is a good time to answer the above question of why films like this
have endured. I don't know but I am glad that I saw it when I did and
that I had friends that were looking for the same strange, weird movies as
I was. I don't think anyone sets out to make a 'cult' movie. For
whatever reason, be it timing, circumstance, serendipity, whatever, a movie
like this stands above the dreck that preceded and followed
it because it captures something that repels yet attracts and speaks to
'something' that is 'different'. Just slightly askew enough
that it falls into a 'weirdness aka cool zone'. In other words, just
what I have been looking for! It would definitely be on a list of
'name dropping films'. The simple answer? Awesome!
If
you are a fan of exploitation and grindhouse type films. This movie
cannot be more highly recommended.
~Scooter
Polanksi
THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED: ACTUAL FOOTAGE!
Ages ago I wrote a long blog post about the legendary unreleased film The Day The Clown Cried.
Jerry Lewis starred and directed in this film, which will never see the light of day for many reasons. One, they just ran out of money, and two, it's stunningly WRONG. The Day The Clown Cried is about a clown that entertains jewish children as they are led to the trains heading to Auschwitz.
Yeah.
Only a handful of people have ever seen the existing film, one of whom was Harry Shearer. Shearer basically confirmed every film geek's wildest dreams when he said:
"With most of these kinds of things, you find that the anticipation, or
the concept, is better than the thing itself. But seeing this film was
really awe-inspiring, in that you are rarely in the presence of a
perfect object. This was a perfect object. This movie is so drastically
wrong, its pathos and its comedy are so wildly misplaced, that you could
not, in your fantasy of what it might be like, improve on what it
really is. 'Oh My God!' – that's all you can say."
Lewis owns all the right to the movie, and he will never release it. For years he would get enraged if people would even bring it up, refusing to discuss the topic. Recently, however, he was asked about it at a press conference, and he actually commented. "No one will ever see it because I'm embarassed by the poor work. It was bad." was his reply.
So here we sit, 40 odd years later, still having never seen the film. Today on Aint It Cool News, however, they have posted a youtube clip that has honest to god actual footage from the film, including behind the scenes clips (and as a bonus, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin visiting the set). This may be as close as we ever get to the film, so take it all in, kids. Maybe some day we'll get to revel in the wrongness that is The Day The Clown Cried.
Shyboy
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