Memorable Movie-going Moments

An old writer told me about seeing EASY RIDER in 1968 or '69 at the Grandin Theater in Roanoke, Virginia. As the movie ended, with Hopper's and Fonda's characters lying dead, a hippie stood up in the front of the theater and said, "YOU SEE THAT! YOU killed those boys!" A redneck in the back of the theater hollered back: "You shut the hell up, boy, or we gonna kill you next!"

Whatever happened to that kind of audience participation? The kind that didn't involve cellphones?

Reason #10,450 that I love Virgil Finlay

Pulp artist Virgil Finlay toiled in near-obscurity for decades, producing masterpieces like this for around $10 a throw: 

http://www.tanianault.ca/thescratchboard/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/virgil_finlay_conquest_moon.jpg

Meanwhile, Damian Hurst gets $80 billion for some trashy-looking skull adorned with diamonds. That's injustice on a cosmic scale. 

7 Faces of Dr. Lao coloring contest

http://mostlypaperdolls.blogspot.com/2011/02/7-faces-of-dr-lao.html

What's in Room 101...

The words that all professional writers dread to hear most of all from amateur writers: "I've got this INCREDIBLE idea for a [novel/script] and it'll make us both MILLIONAIRES!!!!!"

The Mystery of Tipping

If we are all expected to unfailingly tip waiters, why aren't they expected to fork over at least five or six bucks if they give us shitty service?

The Mystery of "Greased Lightnin'"

Has there ever been a fouler song that reached more young, impressionable minds than "Greased Lightning" from GREASE? It's wonderful and I mean that without a trace of irony. "It ain't no shit, we'll be gettin' lotsa tit" must have won the hearts and minds of moms, aunts, and grandmas worldwide who were conned into seeing GREASE back in '78. If that wasn't enough "You are supreme, the chicks'll cream," or "I ain't braggin', it's a real pussy wagon!" I know that I'm not the first to point all of this out, but it's still kind of astounding.

In elementary school, I watched as two (female) classmates perform a softened version of "Greased Lightning" in a schoolwide talent show. I once heard "Greased Lightning" played during a fireworks show-- the lyrics had been significantly censored-- "You are supreme... You are supreme"-- not "The chicks'll cream." Better still, in recent network screenings, various words were transposed and Travolta sang "Ain't no floor, I'll be gettin' lotsa door with Greased Lightnin'!" Yet they didn't feel compelled to cut out the "pussy wagon" line.

Amazing.

Go, Greased Lightnin'!

Finley the Magnificent

Here's a photo that I took of William Finley after dinner a few years ago in New York. His expression says it all-- that's Finley's disposition, all the way. He was a dear man.

R.I.P. William Finley

I just received the deeply saddening news that actor William Finley-- the Phantom of the Paradise himself-- died yesterday following surgery. Finley was a ridiculously talented character actor who excelled at playing the weirdest of the weird--  which he LOVED doing (He told me that he hated playing normal characters, especially lawyers). His long-standing association with Brian De Palma produced some extraordinary performances: as Woton, the Vincent Price-ian anti-hero of WOTON'S WAKE, Winslow Leach/The Phantom in PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE, Dr. Breton in SISTERS, and the disfigured madman in THE BLACK DAHLIA. Bill was also exceptionally good in EATEN ALIVE ("Why don't you just put a cigarette out in my EYE?!?"), THE FUNHOUSE, and every other damn thing he was in. He was a dear man and I enjoyed interviewing him and dining with him immensely. He should have been the  modern Peter Lorre... Amazing actor, and a wonderful man.