Crispin Glover Produces a Strange Movie. I Don't Believe That!

Okay, not perhaps one of my favorites, but I saw this last night and I had to share. This is the second part of a trilogy by Crispin Hellion Glover (his "What Is It?" being the first in the series), though there is no need to have seen the first movie to enjoy this one. As with the better movies in the realm of the surreal and avant garde (think "Un Chien Andalou" and "Eraserhead"), this effort has a lot going for it, but is definitely not for everyone. Couldn't see my parents and much of the WWII generation running to the theaters for this (which is the case with much of the work of Luis Bunuel and David Lynch, so this is not necessarily a bad thing).

The story revolves around the latter days of the movie's author, Steven C. Stewart, a man born with cerebral palsy, who was stuck in a nursing home for many years beginning in his early 20s, because there was no one to care for him otherwise.
As Mr. Glover spoke with the audience -- thoroughly -- after the movie, he mentioned that Mr. Stewart was 62 at the time the movie was shot. Hence, Mr. Stewart's very autobiographical story is a long-held fantasy of his, wherein he is a wheelchair-bound nursing home patient, whose palsy-affected speech is quite hard to understand, and his love of women (more precisely, his love of good-looking women with long hair) goes almost entirely unfulfilled. That is until he meets a middle-aged woman (a mom with three children) who befriends him, as she is taken with his humor and charm.

After a few "dates," and after meeting the divorced-mom's kids -- two preteen boys and a teenage daughter -- Steven decides that she's the one. He soon asks her to marry him and the "fun" ensues.

Lots here: bendable straws, an ex-husband in a jumpsuit, nymphets, art-porn, lotsa deep-red carpeting, perceived-office-lesbianism, pent-up palsy-driven anger, wayward misguided police, David-Cronenberg-"Crash"-like women in thigh-high leg braces, and hairbrushes galore -- all this in a circa-1970s detective mystery movie-of-the-week.

The movie is on tour worldwide with Mr. Glover, who pre-movie performs about an hour-long reading from his books, including an "odd" slide show, which is most-interesting to say the least. Post-movie there is a lengthy Q&A that will satisfy the most-hardcore Crispin fans. After that he'll answer even more of your questions as he autographs your copy of one of his books, which you can buy at the venue.

Can't wait for Part III: It Is Mine.

Kenn's Favorite Albums - Captain Beyond

Well, first off, if you've never heard this, GO GET IT NOW -- REALLY, NOW! This is one of the greatest albums in the rock world of ALL time. Simply put, this album kicks ass, is musically brilliant, has some of the best dynamics ever, and -- if you are a rock dude or dudess -- will become one of your faves.
This "album" has remained virtually unknown since it came out in the early 70s. If you recall, albums had sides then, and the second side of this was a set of several songs that were strung together into an on-going masterpiece. That was a problem for airplay. Even the tunes on the first side were a bit much for radio of the times, though I did hear a few tracks on the lesser known stations back then. CB got most of their play with the title track from their second album, Sufficiently Breathless. And, great as that tune is, it gives the listener a rather false identity of the band's full-frontal assault heard here.
Lee Dorman (bass), Rhino Reinhardt (ax), Bobby Caldwell (skins), and Rod Evans (vocals, cow bell) are the culprits. Look them all up or see the myriad reviews here for factoids and band associations. I will mention that Rod Evans is getting the most airplay ever on TV these days with the "Hush" Jaguar ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q-xxNp-XK4
Check out this video from a few weeks BEFORE the album's release (1972!) -- not much CB video out there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Nbe91Utno&feature=related
Also check out their official myspace site here: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=39518349

Kenn's Favorite Authors: Howard Phillips Lovecraft

Hey and yo and wassup . . .

I am hoping that you know of this gentleman from Providence, Rhode Island -- and, more importantly, that you've read some of his work. If you don't and you haven't, you will and will want to after you're finished reading this. This Anglo-semi-nerd-reclusive-somewhat-racist-British-wanna-be is my favorite author. Brains at work here. Let's get to it.

Powered by WebRing.

Kenn's Favorite Movies: A Clockwork Orange

Hey and yo and wassup . . .

Here's a movie that I saw when I was 15 years old (I'm 47 now), and, frankly, it changed the way I viewed all other great movies afterward. If you're into movies, then you know Stanley Kubrick (if you think you're into movies and you don't know Stanley Kubrick -- you don't know movies -- back to school). My fave Stan movie is A Clockwork Orange, and many of Stan's movies are my faves, but this is probably my overall FAVORITE movie OF ALL TIME. What a amazing work. Let's get to it.

Kenn's Favorite Authors: Clive Barker

Hey and yo and wassup . . .

Britain gave birth to some of my faves in music, movies, and, of course, the written word. With this fellow from the U.K., I will say that the height of "horror" fiction over the last 25 years was reached -- and that's only part of it -- check out his artwork and his movies, too, if you, like me, like the good stuff. Here we will get into his writing mostly, as he is without doubt one of my favorite authors. Let's get to it.

For me, as with many fans, it all began in the mid-80s with The Books of Blood. Each of the first three volumes were "Oh-My-God" great. I was blown away. To this day some of the best short-story fiction -- horror or otherwise -- can be found in these bloody books. The next three collections, were more Books of Blood, yet released in hardcover here in the U.S. as The Inhuman Condition and In the Flesh. Again, these blew me away, though I guess I started getting used to it. The guy was so good, you expected to be blown away and were not disappointed.

Then we had Clive's first novel, and it was quite worth the wait. The Damnation Game is a worthy read for all of you who'd like to sink your teeth into something longer.