Happy Veteran’s Day From Max Fischer

Ennio Morricone – 100 Di Questi Giorni

Although I was devastated to learn that the Italian soundtrack maestro had to cancel last month’s appearance at the Hollywood Bowl (what would have been his first), the man has given us plenty to savor without his physical presence. What a cinematic music legacy. He’s in my Pantheon of film composers, next to John Barry, Bernard Hermann, Akira Ifukube, John Williams, Nino Rota, Jerry Goldsmith and Phillip Glass.

In honor of his 81st birthday, what better way to celebrate his eclectic output than this archetypal groovy Morricone theme to Mario Bava’s DANGER: DIABOLIK (1967), one of the great comic-book pop-art movies of the decade, starring my pal, John Phillip Law. I was once talking to John about the film and told him in awe, “You’re one of the few people on the planet who Ennio Morricone wrote a theme song for.” John just laughed in his booming Diabolik voice…Salud Maestro!

Raquel!

I can honestly say without hyperbole that I have seen the face of a Goddess in the form of Raquel Welch, whose 1970 TV special, RAQUEL! must be considered the pinnacle of the musical variety oeuvre. Yes, yes, we all knew about her dynamic thespic graces and feral full-bodiness, but did you know she could sing and dance too? Leave it to the multi-faceted Welch to interpret “California Dreaming” with thoughtful new lyrics (“I looked into a church and set my mind at ease.”) and an unthought of space-age performance dance a’ go-go in NASA-realistic Bob Mackie outfits.

The literal peak of the special must be Raquel! as a sacrificial Goddess leading a troupe of costumed Zodiac figures in an epic rendition of “Aquarius” set on the steps of an actual Aztec pyramid in Teotihuacan. You’ll wonder who or what was sacrificed to produce this spectacular pop desecration. I can almost see the virgin blood spilling down the stone ruins as Raquel! guides us through the astrological spirit world as only someone of her mystic power could. The Aztec dance number threatens to achieve almost 30 seconds of artful subtly as the camera pulls back from the pyramid lined with colorful zodiac characters, flying away from Raquel!’s distant Goddess frame overlooking the sacred temple until the entire ancient landscape spreads out in windy silence. Aquarius.

And if that’s not enough to alter the history of song interpretation, how about Raquel! schlussing like George Lazenby’s stunt double through blankets of powdery Aspen snow as she sings Helen Reddy’s “Peaceful”? She then launches her own brand of fabulous vocal earnestness on “The Sounds Of Silence” and “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.” That’s not all folks. You’ll know you have approached the lip of Valhalla once John Wayne saunters out to to teach Raquel! how to properly shoot and kill using stock footage before we cut to our dynamic duo visiting a Mexican orphanage, dispensing their own brand of Amurrican charity, Movie Star style. All these brave children live in her heart now.

Oh and did I mention Tom Jones? Perhaps I shouldn’t because only he manages to douse Raquel!’s talent bonfire — she doesn’t need HIM.

This is not all fun and wonder though. As Raquel! savors her version of “Everybody’s Talkin’” we get a rarified glimpse into her fish-bowl existence of press and flesh huggers as she dispenses the fruits of her wisdom tree, even dissing Hugh Hefner with a pithy, succinct, “I don’t agree with his philosophy, but the paper it’s printed on is very good.” This is a wonderful introspective glance at her mad-cap, pell-mell, jet-set, famous-person life-style. And she eschews the phrase “sex-symbol” since to her mind, that’s what they call a bosomy star who doesn’t fit into easily quantifiable categories. Did the Duke and those orphans know that the same year Raquel! was delivering her cosmic message to the masses, she would also play the title role of the X-rated, MYRA BRECKENRIDGE, featuring a scene with her in a Miss America bikini as she woops it up anally raping a male actor with a strap-on dildo? Perhaps it best they didn’t know; the turbulent 1970 universe could only handle so much cultural schizophrenia.

Speaking of climaxes, RAQUEL! winds up to her special’s penultimate number as she sings and shimmies with Bob Hope in a Western duet massacre of “Rocky Racoon” replete with Welch as Mae West and Hope as…Bob Hope. Did television audiences know that Mae West herself was also in MYRA BRECKENRIDGE? The synchronicity is astounding. But not as glorious as the close-ups of Hope’s comedic grace in full bloom — all he has to do is mug and swallow with iconic nose in profile and the laugh machine responds like opening night at The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast. The Beatles must have been awed by this teaming of two celebrity giants warbling “Rocky Racoon” and I sense the subtle genius of Bruce Villanch behind these bits of comedy revue gold.

But what the Goddess giveth, she taketh awayth. And as Raquel! and Hope strolled off together into the back-lot sunset, I wanted to follow them — nay, HER, this complex multi-media babe on all her global spanning adventures through time and space. And I won’t be sated until every man, woman and child on planet Earth has witnessed this 1970 Lost Ark of the Pop Covenant…O’ Raquel!

Favorite Scene Theatre: A Mighty Wind (2003)

It’s obvious, I know. But I need a quick laugh. So do you. And this clip is an easy lay. I’m pleased that Christopher Guest found a niche spot for the unflappable arrogant ignorance of Fred Willard in their string of docu-comedy classics. I was a fan of Willard’s since the brilliant tv talk show parody from 1977, FERNWOOD 2 NIGHT, where he played Martin Mull’s clueless co-host, Jerry Hubbard (who you can watch in action here). Willard had a fantasy career resurgence after his scene-stealing role as Buck Laughlin, the jock sportscaster from BEST IN SHOW (2000) and though he is brilliant there (“How much do you think I can bench-press?”), I think this is the funniest scene of Fred Willard’s film career.

Bravo Mr. President

So Obama passed a Health Care bill within his first ten months, something no politician has been able to do in Washington ever — with total Republican opposition. Reveals much about their inner nature. Is the bill perfect? Hell no! The Stupak amendment blocking funds from abortion is in place, but eventually the GOP dinosaurs will die off and that will be amended. If I hear one more whine of “He’s not doing anything!” I’m checking myself into the hospital…

Forgotten Posters: Thumb Tripping (1972)

Here’s a stunning poster for THUMB TRIPPING, 1972’s forgotten proto-EASY RIDER starring Michael Burns and Meg Foster as free spirits who decide to take every ride offered to them on the road, with serio-comic results. Bruce Dern plays the driver whose car you shouldn’t get into and though he’s only in the film for minutes, he graces the exploitive version of the ad campaign. Here’s the original, free-wheelin’ poster design. Where have you gone, Joe Levine?

Saturday Song: Pet Shop Boys & Ennio Morricone

Another reason I love The Pet Shop Boys. Name me another pop band who in 1987 had the vision to collaborate with soundtrack maestro Ennio Morricone. In honor of the nation’s present madness and Morricone’s recent cancellation of his first Hollywood Bowl concert, here’s my favorite PSB track ever from their disc, “Actually,” the epic and haunting “It Couldn’t Happen Here.” But apparently it can…

Running Scared

“Get your hands off my Health Care!”

Never mind if you don’t have any. You’d just end up on a death panel anyway. Sarah Palin’s even more insane spiritual cousin, Michelle Bachmann, she of “We will slit our wrists in a blood covenant” to stop Health Care (what a GOP master plan for the nation!), is proudly calling out for “freedom loving Americans” i.e., wacko tea-baggers, to line up on the Capital steps to further marginalize themselves from the national debate. Good.

Backstory

Sometimes you come across a talkbacker on Ain’t It Cool News who shines a light:

I Miss This Decade Already: It will no doubt be remembered as a decade of boundless imagination. The period of time when we finally sought to unravel such puzzling cinematic mysteries as: Why does James Bond like to have sex with different women? Why does The Joker wear clown makeup? What’s the deal with Spock and Uhura? Who REALLY killed Uncle Ben- can we trust the events of the first film? But what if, after two failures, Skynet sent back an even MORE ADVANCED Terminator?! Did Lex Luthor ever get out of prison and, if so, was he still interested in real estate? We know how he turned out, but what was Boba like at age 10? Did the events of Weapon X really unfold as depicted in X-Men 2, or was that film simply jerking us around? What happened when Rocky entered his fifties- did he just stop boxing?

Birthday Boy: Simon Le Bon

Because I shamefully missed posting my annual birthday greeting to Messer. Le Bon of Duran Duran during Secret Oktober the 28th, here’s a good shot at redemption thanks to the electoral action across the nation today. What better way to celebrate American Democracy than a Euro-Trash Pop Song? Here’s the still grooving 1985 track, “Election Day,” from “So Red The Rose” by Duran spin-off band, Arcadia, featuring Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor.

One of the truly great unheralded 80’s records, with dark, sexy, epic, atmospheric mediations on rhythm and decadence. Even Sting backs-up Le Bon on “The Promise” and Diablo Cody wisely grabbed her name from the LP’s best song and anthem, “El Diablo.” So without ado, let the voting begin…

Happy Birthday Mr. President

Has it been a year since America woke up and rejected the backwards ignorance of the GOP and its McCain/Palin ticket? Where did all the love go? Obama has been in office less than a year and no ponies or unicorns have been delivered to everybody’s doorstep. While the ADD fairweather pundits like Kos and Huffington (both former Republicans one should not forget) bray to get site hits, have Americans forgotten what happened to this nation for eight years under the most disastrous presidency in modern times? And Obama is supposed to fix two wars, a recession, climate change, swine flu and health care in ten months?

This staggering lack of insight dooms the Left, who are too eager to eat their own. Is Obama too safe? Sometimes. And after Bush/Cheney strutting dick swings that led to disaster, it’s time for some thoughtful action. And we’re getting it. I think Obama is a great man trying to be a great president. He’s just one dude and nobody with a foot on reality should expect our corporate owned system to vanish. But if the nation lets the whining and dangerous GOP back into power, we’re fucked. To remind folks of the sea change that’s taken place over the past year, here’s Eugene Robinson with the news:

Obama’s months in office have been so action-packed that it’s easy to forget some of the historic steps he has taken: nominating Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court. Going to Egypt and speaking directly to the Muslim world about cooperation rather than conflict. Embracing multilateralism as the template for U.S. foreign policy in the new century. Accepting the scientific consensus on climate change. Investing in “green” jobs and education reform as key engines of economic development.

And then there’s health-care reform. I’ve been impatient with Obama’s strategy of letting Congress take the lead on writing legislation, but he’s brought us to the brink of truly meaningful reform much faster than anyone could have imagined a year ago. We still have some fighting to do over two words — “public” and “option” — but it looks like the principle that everyone is entitled to health insurance, a Democratic Party goal for at least six decades, is about to become law.

Quite a record for 287 days: All that, and a Nobel Peace Prize, too.

“Jack Burton. Me!”

As any self-respecting cine-geek knows, John Carpenter’s 1986 BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA remains his most purely entertaining film, a visionary melding of 70’s martial arts films and 80’s spfx spectacle with an iconic, audacious tongue in cheek Kurt Russell performance. For a more detailed examination of this cult classic here’s a snippet from my Retro-View on the film:

Of course, only Kurt Russell could have pulled off Jack Burton, a bigmouth trucker coming to the reluctant aid of his friend Wang Chi after his fiancee is kidnapped by mystical demons. Russell is never afraid to appear weak or stupid as Burton, a courageous thespic choice even though we know the guy can kick-ass.  Speaking in a John Wayne tone, Burton isn’t as tough as he wishes, but he’s also fearless; his slow evolution from braggart to bravado is one of the pleasures of the film. However, the film’s actual hero is his partner, played with the perfect mix of idealism and wisdom by Dennis Dun. His character embodies a civic cultural pride but he can trade smart-assisms with Jack and string him along to help. Plus he knows kung-fu. Dun’s speech to Russell about the secret history of Chinese magic is a nifty evocative moment. They make a terrific team and I particularly dig their look of mutual shock as the Three Storms arrive on lightning bolts in the alley. In fact, Russell has a panopoly of convincing “what the fuck” reactions to the Chinatown chaos.

Well pardner, the New Beverly is presenting everybody’s favorite loudmouth reluctant hero and his colorful cast of kung-fu characters this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday on a fantastic 80’s Carpenter double-bill with THEY LIVE (1988), his subversive sci-fi satire on aliens colonizing us through consumerism. I’m assuming the prints will be up to the New Bev’s usual high standards amid their plush new seats and it will be a cinematic treat to watch two of John Carpenter’s best films with an ass-kicking crowd. OBEY.

Meanwhile…

Only today’s GOP could trash the first time the President paid a visit to honor the fallen.

Nightmares And Dreamscapes

And so Shocktober comes to a chilly end. We’ll keep the spirit alive in various posts but to officially wrap this October edition of Technicolor Dreams, here’s Vincent Price and Alice Cooper in diabolic duel from “Welcome To My Nightmare,” their 1975 surreal, unforgettable TV special, to gently shake us up from our dark seasonal slumber…