Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. There are maybe a handful of directors that have ever existed that have had a run like John Carpenter did. From Assault on Precinct 13 through to They Live he pumped out winner after winner, spanning all sorts of genres. Hitchcock had a similar great run. Maybe Preston Sturgess. But even Spielberg had 1941 (a movie I love, but part of the reason I love it is because it's so big and over the top that it runs way off the rails). Carpenter's weakest theatrical movie from 1976-1988 is, arguably, Christine and that movie's still pretty damn good.
The Thing is Carpenter's directorial masterpiece, Halloween is probably his most iconic movie, but Big Trouble In Little China is the director at his zenith as a creative storyteller. There is nothing at all like this movie and it subverts tropes in multiple genres at the same time. You got westerns, sci-fi flicks, kung fu movies, slapstick comedy and high fantasy on display and instead of being a gangly mashup the movie becomes something wholly unique.
I found today's pic from Carpenter's twitter account a while back and now I'm passing it on to you. It's from Big Trouble In Little China and has the double whammy of showing Carpenter in full-on director mode while the great Al Leong, one of my favorite character actors who came to prominence in the '80s, is kicking some ass.
Enjoy!
Tomorrow's pic, a glimpse into an iconic apartment, will drive you wild.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
Follow Me On Twitter
