Noir Watch: The Sniper (1952)

Watched:  11/06/2018
Format:  Noir Alley on TCM on DVR
Viewing:  Second
Decade:  1950's

My recollection of the first time I watched The Sniper (1952) was that it was a much, much better picture than I was assuming I was about to watch, and that helped me overcome the fact that while I'd watched the movie to see Marie Windsor, her screentime isn't as much as any of us would like in your average Marie Windsor picture.

Kudos to TCM host Eddie Muller for (a) not shying away from showing the movie, and (b) a nuanced discussion about film violence and how we think about it in regards to real-world violence that will, no doubt, go right past a lot of the hot-take approach to film discussion that crawls past all of us on social media as "film twitter" rushes to fill in their rubrics for "good/ bad". 

NASA Watch: First Man (2018)

Watched:  11/04/2018
Format:  Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's

Halloween (Night) Watch: Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Watched:  10/31/2018
Format:  TCM (live, for once)
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1960's

Again, still pretty tired.  A Roger Corman produced Poe-derived horror film starring Vincent Price.  It's been a long time since I read the story of Masque of the Red Death, but this movie... doesn't really do that.  Kinda weird that the one, 30 second scene in Phantom of the Opera captures the spirit better than a whole film with that name.

Apparently this is a mix of Poe stories I haven't read, so... maybe I need to get back into reading some Poe.

Still, visually striking and with some complexity to the exploration of morality in an inscrutable world, it's not half bad.  Not 100% my thing, but I'd watch it again for how good Price is here in a non-camp role and how much I was digging the script.

DISNEY HISTORY PODCAST: EPCOT - Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow! NathanC and Ryan talk about the park! Yesterday, today and tomorrow!

Walt Disney had a vision for an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, a city he'd build from scratch with businesses, living spaces, arts, science, universities, etc... And we got an amusement park. NathanC and Ryan delve into the history of EPCOT from concept to execution to today to tomorrow! Are we nostalgic for the future?
 

Music
Here Come the Warm Jets - Brian Eno
Innoventions - Future World - EPCOT park soundtrack
The Universe of Energy - EPCOT park soundtrack
Promise - Leaving EPCOT song - EPCOT park soundtrack
On Some Faraway Beach - Brian Eno


Disney History with NathanC

Halloween (Night) Watch: Cat People (1942)

Watched:  10/31/2018
Format:  TCM/ DVR
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1940's

Well, I finally watched Cat People (1942).

I wish I had not been so tired when I put it on, but I figured "now or never" as I was winding down my Halloween night, post trick or treaters and family heading home.

Halloween 2018

Well, it was a whirlwind of a Halloween evening.  I knocked off work a tad early to get into my costume - and because my parents, Jamie's dad, Jason, Amy and Raylan were all headed over for tricks or treats.

This year, Scout went as Captain America, because she does not like bullies at all.

Jamie went conceptual and went as Santa Jaws, and my mom sported her "Keep Austin Batty" blouse.

Halloween Watch: Monster Squad (1987)

Watched:  10/31/2018
Format:  Amazon Prime Streaming
Viewing:  6th or 10th
Decade:  1980's

I've written about Monster Squad (1987) before, so I won't cover it again this time around.  But after covering horror movies since about July in order to have PodCasts ready to go and then watching a lot of stuff once we hit October - the mix of classic monsters, scares, jokes, the 1980's and coming of age digging monsters all in one place seemed like a good way to put a button on my Halloween movie watch.

Now get out there and enjoy some perfect Stan Winston make-up and terrific monster performances by catching this movie if you haven't already.

Oh, and apparently this exists:

Halloween Watch: Scream (1996)

Watched:  10/30/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  third or fourth
Decade:  Oh, so 90's

Ah, the 1990's.  A time when we were all intensely media saturated thanks to home video, cable and plenty of multiplexes, but had a minimum of internet.  At the time, we were all very concerned with whether things were postmodern and metatextual, and, really, Scream (1996) may be the ideal example of what we were all on about.  Can you tell a story by deconstructing the very genre you're working within?

"Why, yes!  You can!" said Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson.

Halloween Watch: Elvira Mistress of the Dark (1988)

Watched:  10/29/2018
Format:  DVD
Viewing:  Unknown.  10th?
Decade:  so, so 1980's, and, yet, timeless


I still think this movie is hilarious.  I dunno - my sense of humor has always run sort of toward the "Bugs Bunny"/ Marx Bros. school of comedy, and so a movie about a wise-cracking horror movie host as fish-out-of-water in small-town uptight Massachusetts is more or less my sweet spot.  I like me some double-entendre, visual gags and Edie McClurg.

Halloween Watch: Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Watched:  10/28/2018
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  Unknown - but, a lot
Decade:  1930's