Category Archives: Saturday Matinee

Saturday Matinee: Skidoo

Posted on by
Reply

SkidooGroucho

Skidoo: the LSD-fuelled Alcatraz movie with Groucho, Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, Lurch, and everyone else

By Cory Doctorow

Source: BoingBoing

On our family holiday this summer, we had the great good fortune to be shown around Alcatraz Island by Ranger Craig Glassner — among other things, the Ranger responsible for the excellent documentary about the Occupation by Indians of All Tribes that is screened in the visitor center there. Craig let slip that his favorite Alcatraz movie is Skidoo, the 1968 Otto Preminger wacky stoner comedy with Groucho Marx, Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, Burgess Meredith, Ted “Lurch” Cassidy, and just about every character actor you’ve ever enjoyed.

It’s an LSD-fuelled romp about a retired hit-man (Jackie Gleason) who voluntarily sends himself to Alcatraz to kill his best friend, who has betrayed the mob-boss of all bosses (played by Groucho Marx, who appears to either be stoned or simply method acting in many of his scenes). Meanwhile, the mobster’s daughter has fallen in with a wandering tribe of hippies who get taken in by her mother, Carol Channing, and end up involved in a jail-break that coincides with a mass dosing of Owsley’s finest LSD for everyone on the prison island.

It’s got trippy dance numbers, silly comedy, hippies, and, well, everything. It’s out on DVD after a long purgatory on the trashheap of history. I just watched it. It is something. It is something else.

Saturday Matinee: Memorial Triple Feature

Posted on by
1

Today happens to be the day of two pivotal events in American history: the WACO massacre (1993) and the Oklahoma City bombing (1995). In both cases there’s much evidence pointing towards state terrorism and cover-up. Two of the best documentaries which build convincing cases in support of this are “WACO: Rules of Engagement” and “A Noble Lie: Oklahoma City 1995”, both presented here in their entirety.

Lastly, I have recently and belatedly heard the news that whistleblower, investigative journalist and author of “Crossing the Rubicon” Michael C. Ruppert is dead. He reportedly killed himself last Sunday shortly after his final broadcast. Given the nature of Ruppert’s research it would be natural to suspect foul play, but the story is supported by the following statement from a close friend:

Sunday night following Mike’s Lifeboat Hour radio show, he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This was not a “fake” suicide. It was very well planned by Mike who gave us few clues but elaborate instructions for how to proceed without him. His wishes were to be cremated, and as of this moment, there are no plans for a memorial service. However, I will be taking his show this coming Sunday night, April 20, and the entire show will be an In Memoriam show for Mike with opportunities for listeners to call in. It was my privilege to have known Mike for 14 years, to have worked with him, to have been mentored by him, and to have supported him in some of his darkest hours, including the more recent ones. I am posting this announcement with the blessing of his partner Jesse Re and his landlord, Jack Martin. Thank you Mike for all of the truth you courageously exposed and for the legacy of truth-telling you left us. Goodbye my friend. Your memory will live in hour hearts forever. I have no more details to share than I am posting here. We should have much more information by Sunday night.

Carolyn Baker

Many including myself discovered Ruppert’s work through his early independent 9/11 research on his From the Wilderness website. A few years ago his work on Peak Oil was brought to a larger audience through the critically acclaimed documentery “Collapse” (2009). Rest in peace, Mike Ruppert.

Saturday Matinee: The Hidden

Posted on by
Reply

Hidden_2

In the fine tradition of Robocop and They Live, “The Hidden” (1987) is a sci-fi thriller with a layer of social commentary skewering excesses of late 80s American culture. The plot revolves around the pursuit of a psychopathic body-snatching alien with a predilection for things that happen to be Hollywood action movie tropes (ie. sex, drugs, rock and roll, fast cars, guns, money, etc). Whether intended by the filmmakers or not, the shapeshifting alien is a perfect metaphor for the corporate Id free from the moral and ethical constraints of the Superego; an embodiment of pure unbridled greed. Whatever it wants it takes through brute force with no regard for the interests of others or even the bodies it inhabits, a strategy which gets it dangerously close to the highest levels of political power. Various actors depicting hosts for the villain effectively convey their possession by the same entity while Kyle MacLachlan stars as a more benevolent alien posing as a detective with a performance reminiscent of his role as Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks. Michael Nouri plays a skeptical cop who goes through the traditional buddy cop story story arc (though it’s made more intriguing by the fact that he’s partnered with an alien).

Saturday Matinee: The Fourth World War

Posted on by
Reply

the_fourth_world_war

From Big Noise Films:

From the front-lines of conflicts in Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Palestine, Korea, and the North; from Seattle to Genova, and the War on Terror in New York, Afghanistan, and Iraq, The Fourth World War is the story of men and women around the world who resist being annihilated in this war.While our airwaves are crowded with talk of a new world war, narrated by generals and filmed from the noses of bombs, the human story of this global conflict remains untold. The Fourth World War brings together the images and voices of the war on the ground. It is a story of a war without end and of those who resist.The product of over two years of filming on the inside of movements on five continents, The Fourth World War is a film that would have been unimaginable at any other moment in history. Directed by the makers of This Is What Democracy Looks Like and Zapatista, produced through a global network of independent media and activist groups, it is a truly global film from our global movement.

For English speakers, portions of the film may need translation, activated by clicking on the “CC” button on bottom right corner of the video (on some mobile device browsers the function can be found on the upper right corner).

Saturday Matinee: Meet the Feebles

Posted on by
Reply

feelbesmeet1

Long before director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings blockbusters and even before the moderate success of his cult horror film “Dead Alive”, he created a gleefully twisted take on the Muppets, “Meet the Feebles” (1989). A brief synopsis from IMDB:

Heidi, the star of the “Meet The Feebles Variety Hour” discovers her lover Bletch, The Walrus, is cheating on her, and with all the world waiting for the show the assorted co-stars must contend with their own problems. These include drug addiction, extortion, robbery, disease, Drug dealing, and even murder. While this is happening the love between two of the stars is threatened by the devious Trevor the Rat, who wishes to exploit the young starlet for use in his porno movie business.

Saturday Matinee: Nothing Lasts Forever

Posted on by
Reply

MMnothing00

“Nothing Lasts Forever” (1984) is the only feature length film directed by Tom Schiller (who was an early writer and director for Saturday Night Live), but it’s a remarkable one. The film takes place in a dystopian world in which the Port Authority controls New York and determines the career paths of citizens based on mandatory tests. After failing an art test, aspiring artist Adam (Zach Galligan) is forced to work as a Holland Tunnel inspector under authoritarian boss Buck (Dan Aykroyd). After getting a brief taste of the art world through an artist he has an affair with, he befriends a homeless man who gives him an opportunity to fulfill his destiny on the moon.

Nothing Lasts Forever could be characterized as a lower budget and more hopeful precursor to “Brazil”. Besides Aykroyd, the film features appearances by comedians such as Bill Murray, Imogene Coca, and legendary stand-up comic (and mentor of Lenny Bruce) Mort Sahl. Due to copyright clearance problems with a number of archive clips used in the film, it has never had an official DVD release.

Saturday Matinee: Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods

Posted on by
Reply

Notes from GrantMorrisonMovie.com:

Grant Morrison is one of the most popular writers in comics, and one of the most controversial. He is the Rock Star of Comics, a philosopher and chaos magician, who has used his comics to change both himself and his audience. He is a man living on the border between FICTION and REALITY, and this is his STORY.

The film was produced in close collaboration with Morrison and features extensive interviews with him, as well as never before seen photos and documents spanning his childhood to the present day.

Complimenting Morrison’s own words are interviews with his closest collaborators and friends, including Frank Quitely, Douglas Rushkoff, Cameron Stewart, Phil Jimenez, Mark Waid, Geoff Johns, Jill Thompson and many more. The film makes extensive use of found and abstract footage to make the documentary feel like a Morrison comic.

Saturday Matinee: Music Double Feature

Posted on by
Reply

scratchgallery-main-1

“Scratch” (2001) is a well-researched documentary directed by Doug Pray about the origins and culture of the hip-hop DJ scene from the 70s to around 2000. It features performances and interviews with legendary turntablists such as DJs Q-bert, Shadow, Premier, Rob Swift, Krush, Cut Chemist, NuMark and Mix Master Mike, as well as early pioneers such as Afrika Bambaataa and GrandWizard Theodore .

The producer of the soundtrack to Scratch was Bill Laswell, who was also a co-writer and producer of Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit”, one of the first hit singles to feature record scratching as an instrument. Though not as well known as he should be, Laswell continues to be among the most groundbreaking, versatile and prolific living musician/producers. His music draws inspiration from funk, hip-hop, rock, post-punk, jazz, world music, hardcore metal, electronica, ambient, dark ambient, film soundtracks and experimental genres. Artists he has produced or performed with include Afrika Bambaataa, Johnny Rotten, Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger, the Ramones, Yoko Ono, Motörhead, Swans, Whitney Houston, William S. Burroughs, Paul Bowles, Robert Quine, Fred Frith, John Zorn, Brian Eno, David Byrne, Fela Kuti, Ginger Baker, Henry Threadgill, Sonny Sharrock, Sting, Nine Inch Nails, Ozzy Osbourne, Tori Amos, Peter Gabriel, Laurie Anderson, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Medeski Martin & Wood, DJ Krush, the Orb, Mike Patton, Tetsu Inoue, Pete Namlook, and the Master Musicians of Jajouka. In 2006 he and a number of his favorite collaborators including Buckethead, Pharoah Sanders, Foday Musa Suso, Bootsy Collins, Toshinori Kondo, Hamid Drake, Zakir Hussein, Ustad Sultan Khan, DJ Disk, Karsh Kale, and Nils Petter Molvaer among others appeared on the PBS program Soundstage. They performed live sets from some of the various projects Laswell has been a central force behind over the years such as Praxis, Material, and Tabla Beat Science.