MANY EYED BEAST 1955

Youtubing when I came across a clip for the 1950s Roger Corman-produced, David Kramarski-directed epic The Beast With a Million Eyes. Loved it in my childhood. Last time I saw the beast would have been late 1975 or early 1976.

It is time to hunt down the colander. There are some genuinely unsettling moments...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94taCuipmhI

HAWAII FIVE-OH YEAH

Watched the new Hawaii FIVE-O last night... well, most of it anyway. Stylistically it is very different from its predecessor, which is to be expected; times do change. And I'm sure Honolulu is not the city it was back in the 1960s and 70s.

The producers were smart to keep composer Morton Stevens' wonderful and iconic theme music intact. What is bad is the imagery that goes with it. Too much cutting. Way too much. Do editors get paid by the cut? What is missing? The original's dolly-in on the airliner's turbofan inlet.

IT TOOK HOW LONG?

Star Toronto Star reporter Katie Daubs needs to be shown how to read a map; and how to be a journalist.

In today's Star newspaper is an article by the Star reporter on how it would take her 2 hours and 10 minutes to commute from the intersection of Finch and Islington to her office at 1 Yonge Street. The real problem is this: I have been a professional TTC user for 2 and a half decades, and I can tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there is no way that journey should take over 2 hours. Of course, there are going to be the off days, but as a general rule... no way.

To make a long explanation short, that route should, on average, be done in about 100 minutes.

Here is the breakdown -- not the route chosen by the Star reporter: Finch bus from Islington to Finch TTC station (one can also walk down and grab the #96 Wilson "Express" bus, which takes you to Downsview station on the Spadina/University line), 45-55 minutes; Finch station to Union station, 35-40 minutes; walk to "1 Yonge Street", 10 minutes.

Again, I've taken all those routes and during rush hour. I have no stock or investments in the Toronto Transit Commission -- I'm just being factual. One has to be careful with the media; it's all about sensationalism, sometimes.

Journalist Katie Daubs took the Machiavellian route. Maybe she should stop eating so many muffins. All that fat clogs the brain.
http://www.thestar.com/yourcitymycity/article/873805--moving-forward-ttc-commute-takes-2-hours-10-minutes?bn=1#comments

DEPRESSION IS REAL

I was reading an article just now and it reminded me of someone. We all have a friend or acquaintance who is in a slump -- it is noticeable when they are "not normally like that" but now there is an obvious difference. Some signs of what might be depression are: Constant anger and irritability, the inability to sleep, constant aches and pains, and so on.

Of course, some people live a lifetime battling clinical depression.

This is no laughing matter. We all feel gloomy from time to time; I do. Everybody does. If they say they don't, then they are lying. However, depression is something else.


Article...
http://www.besthealthmag.ca/embrace-life/mental-health/8-signs-you-might-be-suffering-from-depression

CYBORG 2087

I just finished doing dishes; actually, it was a matter of throwing out the BigMac and Large Fries cardboard containers.

Now that I got all that business out of the way, I can sit down and watch a movie I have not seen since high school -- we're talkin' 1980 or 81. Cyborg 2087 is still awaiting a nice -- as far as I know -- release on DVD.

It is now on Youtube, courtesy of someone with taste (so memory informs me).

Try the trailer first...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZaCH12KMTo




If that turned your crank, and you want to see the movie, here is 'part one' of Cyborg 2087...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qO5USD1Qfo&feature=related

Part One...

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT

One of my favourite artists of the last few decades is Jean-Michel Basquiat. He lived a too-brief life (1960-1988), but still managed to turn out a sizeable body of work.

I think what I like about Basquiat's art is that I connect with his style. Something resonates with me. There is a force of emotion in so much of what I see. Even a simple scribble is charged. Personality is everywhere. If you look closely, maybe you'll see a short life encoded as predetermined.

Basquiat died of a heroin overdose at the age of 27. He was just getting going.

It has been said that one cannot really write about a piece of music. You can talk about tempo or the shape of a melody, but that is about all you can do. I don't know how many times I've read "crystal clear vocals" or "achingly sweet melody". With graphic arts, it is perhaps even more difficult to describe a given piece. "There's a lot of colour"; "it makes me happy... or sad"; "I don't get it".

Subjectivity is the most powerful component in interpreting any art form. Reviewers forget this; they try to determine success or failure by using a pseudo-mathematical formula. It does not work.

A new documentary film, directed by Tamra Davis, is opening today in Toronto at the new TIFF Bell Lightbox. The filmmaker was a friend of Basquiat's, which should give Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child an extra dimension.


Globe and Mail article...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/the-rises-and-then-the-fall-of-jean-michel-basquiat/article1743980/

Globe and Mail review...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/movies/jean-michel-basquiat-the-radiant-child-good-doc-shame-about-the-title/article1745531/

TROLLING FOR BAD MOVIES

This Thursday evening, the cult horror flick Troll 2, is being shown in Canada, coast-to-coast.*

Generally when we refer to movies as 'worst ever' we are speaking of ones that you can actually, more or less, sit through. (Needless to say, some people are going to reject these from the first frame of picture.)

Plan 9 From Outer Space, Robot Monster, The Oscar (although I actually like this one)... and some Oscar-winning films (!) are but a few examples of the form.

There is a filmmaker here in Toronto who makes short films that are so bad -- so atrociously inept on every level imaginable -- that I sometimes yearn for the time he gets a feature made. If this were to ever happen, my guess would be this: "Goodbye Troll 2. You have been replaced!"


* The story...
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/article/870659--troll-2-behind-the-awfulness

FOUND STANLEY KUBRICK FILM

We know Stanley Kubrick as the maker of classic films such as Paths of Glory and 2001: A Space Odyssey, but even his fans are rusty on the director's earliest works. One such work, Fear and Desire, has been all but lost. It was Kubrick's first dramatic feature film. I cannot comment as to whether or not the film is any good, or even contains those special touches, as I have not seen the effort. Part of the reason for this is that the man himself -- so legend says -- bought up every copy he could of Fear and Desire and burned them.

In Kubrick's defence, the film was shot silent ("M.O.S") and then during post-production a lot of work and money was expended to produce an audio track. This is not the best way to make a film as the actors have to return, after it has been all shot, and speak into the microphone while putting a voice over their moving lips. Without a "guide track", which Kubrick did not record while the scenes were being shot, it is that much more difficult for the actors to match their mouth action. On top of all that, they want to inject some kind of performance so it does not sound as though they are just reading their lines.

All in all, it probably was not a smart move on Kubrick's part to make his movie in such a fashion... but he was still learning the ropes.

I would like to finally see Fear and Desire, which might now be possible with the find of a print in a Puerto Rican film lab...
http://inmovies.ca/home/rare_kubrick_film_unearthed/1bc34dad

LOOKING FOR A DALEK

Here are a couple of early Dalek designs as sketched by Raymond Cusick.

MAKE YOUR OWN DALEK

The Daleks are one of my favourite pieces of production design from any television series. Raymond Cusick was the designer since he was assigned to that story of Doctor Who by the BBC. (In the Beeb's drama department, a crewmember, such as Cusick, rotated between shows on a regular basis; one week they could be working on Z-Cars, and the next, plying their trade on something like Doctor Who.)

Back in the 1970s blue-prints and plans were published showing how to make your own Dalek.

In today's online edition of the Daily Telegraph is a story on Dalek-building...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/8034951/DIY-Dalek-blueprints-from-1970s-published-online.html