Very sad. She’ll always be forever in my heart as Luanne:

It’s some kind of evolutionary leap in filmmaking, if not storytelling, and clearly, the years James Cameron has spent on his underwater explorations gave him a more holistic, immersive vision. The first shot of the movie gave me a jolt of cognitive dissonance, as I tried to fathom the depth and scope of the breathtaking 3-D images. This world doesn’t look green-screened in around actors, as Cameron knows how to give weight to the integration of WETA’s astounding CG with Stan Winston’s crack design team. The scale is apropos epic and mythic and I accept AVATAR as pure techno-eco-fable, a distillation of every science fiction/fantasy book cover of the past 80 years.

My favorite Leonard Cohen song. I think of an endless night in Berkeley way back when…

This saddens me. Legendary screenwriter Dan O’Bannon, who gave birth to ALIEN among other genre classics (DARK STAR; HEAVY METAL; BLUE THUNDER; RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD; TOTAL RECALL), has passed onto the cosmic realm (or possibly even the Phoenix Asteroids…). I’ll have more to say about O’Bannon later, but this upstart storyteller and raconteur was a possible genius and true visionary. We are in his gratitude.

Here’s his finest moment in John Carpenter’s 1974 debut, DARK STAR, a genuine sci-fi satire with a clever script, unique effects, a beach ball alien and O’ Bannon stealing the movie as Pinback:

To celebrate The Chairman’s birthday week, here’s one of his classics from his excellent 1965 TV special, “A Man And His Music.” And away we gooooo….

This is the trailer that sold me on seeing DIE HARD. I remember the day well for some reason, maybe because it was the Friday first showing of John Carpenter’s THEY LIVE (1988), or maybe because of the goodwill I have for the film now. Hard to believe, but when Bruce Willis was given a five million dollar payday for DIE HARD, there was a lot of media indignation, especially since he’d only starred in BLIND DATE (1987) and Blake Edward’s little-seen SUNSET at that point so was considered unproven as a movie star commodity like other popular TV actors — this was also the year of THE PRESIDIO with Sean Connery…and Mark Harmon. I liked Willis on MOONLIGHTING, and he seemed like an amiable New York sort of guy, so I had no pre-considerations about him one way or another.

But. The poster for DIE HARD didn’t exactly grab me with it’s generic 80’s exploding building paste job. I assumed it would be a routine action film, a genre that was winding down by decades end after over-exposure by Stallone, Seagal, Norris, and even Arnie’s films needed a new direction (so he did TWINS). What I liked about this trailer is that they’re clearly pointing out that John McClane is trying to NOT be a hero, nor your standard 80’s Rambo or Commando mass killer. So this ad made me sit up in my seat and think, hey, this thing might be different. Plus I can tell you exactly when I decided to viddy DIE HARD: at 1:30. Actually, the pulsing music track used here (but not in the film) really sold me on the movie’s energy and potential — for Double Jeopardy, does anybody know who composed this theme?

My expectations were rewarded on opening day in a sparse theater, but I loved DIE HARD and immediately knew it was going into the pantheon of great American action films. Not only because of the exciting cat and mouse battles, but because the screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven De Souza was so damn smart, giving every single character a beat or moment for themselves. We’re even invited to revel with Alan Rickman and his gang o’ merry thieves when they finally unlock the Nakatomi vault. Rickman was robbed of a Best Supporting Actor nod, but given a full-blown career and established the cliche of witty, erudite Euro-trash villains. John McTiernan’s stylish direction (and Jan De Bont’s slick camerawork) is a major asset too, and he captures a unique widescreen action scope here as he did in PREDATOR (1987) and THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990).

Of course, Willis became an official Movie Star with this film, which I dragged people to see in the summer of ‘88. Interestingly, DIE HARD didn’t open with a bang, it was a genuine word of mouth “sleeper hit.” Even Billy Wilder liked it (the thought of Mr. Wilder watching McClane leap off an exploding building makes me smile). Three weeks later, I saw it again with a packed, rousing, appreciative audience. So now the film is on my list of favored holiday classics next to A CHRISTMAS STORY, ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE and BLACK CHRISTMAS. And I still get a tiny charge whenever I pass by the Fox building — which will always be Nakatomi Plaza to me. Fuckin’ California.

Stanislaw Szukalski is one of my favorite 20th century artists, a genius who was a Polish national hero until the Nazis destroyed his work and nation. He fled to America, ignored and blacklisted in his adopted homeland due to his own idiosyncratic outspoken ideas and politics. He railed against Picasso and Frank Lloyd Wright (who asked Szuklaski to help him design the Imperial Tokyo Hotel) and counted Chicago legends like Ben Hecht as one of his defenders. Szukalski was re-discovered by 60’s and 70’s underground artists like R. Crumb and Robert Williams since his dramatic fantastic style reflected the expanded sub-cultural mindset of the era. Szukalski was finally honored with his first American retrospective in 2000 at the Laguna Art Museum, with support from George and Leonardo Di Caprio, who grew up with the master. Behold, The Protong!

Reading the hyperbolic petulant rantings of Kossacks is always a little dispiriting. Obama hasn’t delivered their magic flying unicorn so they’re ready to hand the country back to the GOP. Boo yah, America! Instead of passing a flawed bill as a start to rework, these political naifs are doing the bidding of idiots like Markos Moulitas. Many proto-Republicans in waiting.

One of my favorite Dean Martin songs has new relevance after the city elects its first gay mayor.