Well, it's not really BNAT without the Stunt Rock trailer, and this year things got started off right as Tim League, in full wizard regalia, mounted the Alamo stage as the final frames of the trailer spooled and with his mighty staff caused red flares to fly and confetti to explode all over the audience. The staff was shattered, though, which perhaps was an omen of evil things to come... but not quite yet.
The first film, The Great McGinty (Preston Sturges, 1940), is a just a solid classy film. A man starts as a hobo and ends up riding a wave of corruption right into the governor's mansion. Then he gets a conscience, and it all goes to hell. Brian Donlevy is the perfect lunk as McGinty. Plus, that guy must have had some of the widest shoulders in all of Hollywood. Dude was like a brick wall in a suit.
Next up was Charlie Wilson's War (Mike Nichols, 2007), the first new movie of the night. Within the first ten minutes you see Tom Hank's bare ass, but don't worry fellas, there is an unexpectedly high amount of lovingly framed female behinds throughout the film to which you can look forward. Oh yeah, there is a story too -- and it is pretty damn good. Following The Great McGinty's theme of political corruption, Charlie Wilson's War is a fascinating(and rather scary) history lesson about how it only takes a few people(whether their intentions were well-meaning or not) to fuck up an entire country, and yet as a viewer you don't feel like you are being forced to listen to a speech (which considering Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay is a pretty neat trick). Hanks does absolute wonders as the title character, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is just damn brilliant here (but isn't he always?)
Pickup on South Street (Samuel Fuller, 1953) was next on the bill, and it is one tough noir-flavored goodie. You got Richard Widmark as a tough-ass pick-pocket who lifts the wrong wallet from the wrong woman on the wrong subway train(isn't that always the way?) Before he knows it he is up to his armpits in police investigations, FBI agents and communist traitors. And then you have Thelma Ritter giving her all in the tough-as-nails, yet ultimately heart-breaking, role of Moe the professional stoolie. Wonderful.
We got to see a couple upcoming movie previews/presentations next, starting with some exclusive footage from the next Chronicles of Narnia film, Prince Caspian. Honestly it's not really a film I'm dying to see, but I did get a kick out of seeing some of the unfinished effects shots (it's like taking apart a VCR to see how it works. Not that I've ever done anything like that myself, at least not that you can prove). Right after we were shown a rather tense and compelling clip from the new Rambo movie that made me extra bummed that we weren't going to get to see the whole thing yet. But a taste is better than nothing... I think.
The next movie was an epic re-telling of Genghis Khan's youth and rise to power called Mongol (Sergei Bodrov, 2007). Who knew the Mongolian warlord was such a pudgy-faced cutie when he was a kid? We get to see the softer, gentler side of Genghis Khan here, including the powerful relationship between him and his bride Borte (who is one kick-ass woman). But there are also some blood-spattered battle scenes too for anyone not down with passion-filled glances and tender love on llama skin rugs.
The Wall-E sneak peeks were next, and as if I wasn't excited enough about this film already, the clips Pixar sent made me completely crazy-nuts in anticipation. God, I want to see this film right now. I want to see this film ten times in a row right now.
This next film felt like a personal gift to me, because The Abominable Dr. Phibes (Robert Fuest, 1971) is one of my absolute favorite films. Ever. To be able to see that candy-colored mayhem on the big screen made me indescribably happy. I don't know what else to say. It was pure bliss.
And you couldn't have chose a better film to lead right into Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton, 2007). Both Phibes and Todd share the same dry humor, and the same stylized bloodletting that is more poetry than horror. Look, if the equation of Burton+Depp+bright red spurts of arterial blood splashing in time to a lush musical score doesn't make your heart beat faster, then I just can't help you.
Oh yes, and thank you Alamo theater for the mini meat pie that appeared before me during this film. Holy crap.
Lonely Are the Brave (David Miller, 1962) is a sad(but in that good way) movie about the “old west” mythos rubbing up against the hard edge of a rapidly modernizing world, a world of fences and roads instead of unbroken plains. Kirk Douglas gives a heart-breaking performance as a man who will not, or maybe just cannot, change to fit in with this new future, and the inevitable chain of events that follows. I'm not ashamed to admit I was tearing up at the end.
Okay, so this is the deal with The Poughkeepsie Tapes (John Erick Dowdle, 2007) – it sucked all the goodwill and positive energy out of the theater, and I'm not sure we ever truly got it all back. I made it through about 20 minutes of it before I sought refuge in the lobby for the rest of the running time. Bottom line, I wasn't having fun anymore. I really wish there hadn't been a “travel mix-up”, or whatever the hell really happened that prevented the filmmakers from taking part in the scheduled after-movie Q&A, because I really wanted to understand what the point of all that was. I still do.
I was happy to see the Fanboys clips that came afterward, though I was disappointed we once again wouldn't be seeing it in its entirety. I still maintain that there is not a better audience on the face of the planet for this film.
Now don't get me wrong, Teen Lust (James Hong, 1979) does suck. It has no discernible plot, no competent actors, and not even enough actual T&A to work as anything but the softest of soft-core porn. However, for about a half hour of this film I couldn't stop laughing. I think it had something to do with severe lack of sleep and an overdose of Diet Coke.
A presentation of a re-mastered, high-definition copy of the Star Trek episode City on the Edge of Forever was next in line, and even though it is one of my favorite episodes of all time and looked gorgeous on the screen, I have to admit to dozing a bit since I has seen it several times before.
For about a minute the short film that followed, Feels So Good, was pretty funny, with its graphic scenes of an actual urethroplasty procedure overlaid with the mellow sounds of Chuck Mangione music, but I really don't think it needed to continue for another 10 or 15 minutes. I got the joke already. But of course my attention span was getting pretty short at this point...
...which was unfortunate, because the gonzo exploitation flick Farewell Uncle Tom/Addio zio Tom (Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi, 1971) was about to be inflicted upon the audience. Oh god. Who is the intended audience for this? Well at least I can say I've seen it now, that's something I guess.
Thank god for Trick'R Treat (Michael Dougherty, 2008)! First off, the director stayed for the whole BNAT, so kudos to you sir. But let me tell you, this is just a wonderfully creepy little film, and if that button-eyed little bastard Sam (I don't think he is named in the movie, but that is the name with which the director referred to him) doesn't become a Halloween icon, I will be sad. If you like your horror all EC comics/Tales for the Darkside/Creepshow dark, with nasty people getting nasty surprises and a sprinkling of gallows humor – then this is for you, my friend.
Thanks for the fun, Harry!
--Meghan Murphy
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