On February 22, 2011, the Grindhouse Film Festival presented their answer to Black History Month with the blaxploitation classic “The Black Six.” This took place at New Beverly Cinema and the organizers of the festival, Eric Caidin and Brian J. Quinn, had this to say:

“As white guys, we find this an important part of black culture.”

Joining them was the director of “The Black Six,” Matt Cimber. He announced to the audience this was the first time he has seen the movie in 40 years and that he “suffered through it.” The film is best known for starring football players who were at their peak: Gene Washington, Mean Joe Greene (his name generated the biggest applause), Mercury Morris, Lem Barney, Willie Lanier, and Carl Eller. Cimber’s agent at the time told him he could put together a bunch of football players if Cimber could put together a movie. The only catch was there could be no drugs, no swearing, and no naked women.

Cimber said that all the guys were game and that he wrote a good script for them to work with. When he started as filmmaker, Cimber was encouraged by a friend to make “black films” because the thought was that most people didn’t understand black people. It was fun making “black pictures” for him because there was a lot of great talent in the black community, and many actors weren’t really getting hired.

“The Black Six” had actual members of Hell’s Angels in it, and they had to be paid at the end of each day in cash. But there was an even bigger problem: they didn’t like blacks. It turned out though that they were big NFL fans, and everyone ended up getting along great. The film crew had to work hard however to keep the Hell’s Angels quiet during takes. One of them ended up driving his motorcycle through a hotel!

This film had a budget of $90,000, but each of the six NFL players got $10,000 each. Cimber ended up being forced to cut corners wherever he could. The lady playing the farm owner was actually the one who owned the farm they filmed at, and that’s why she’s in the film. Triumph also gave the production some motorcycles to work with although the players said they looked like “little toys.”

The movie came out in 1974 long before the days of VHS, DVD, or any other kind of home entertainment. Back then if you didn’t get your movie into theaters, you didn’t get your money back and you were dead. When it opened on Broadway in New York, many other movies were opening at the same time, but Cimber proudly said that his was the only one with “a line around the block!”

Matt Cimber went from “The Black Six” to create a “varied” resume which was the result of him never focusing on just one idea or one thing. He also created and directed the successful TV series “GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling” which was a satire of the sport (Quentin Tarantino is said to be a big fan of it). While his work may not cry out for an Oscar, he has had a strong career that has lasted several decades and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Quentin Tarantino closed out his month of movie programming at New Beverly Cinema with “Kill Bill.” The movie was of course split into two volumes as it turned out to be much longer than anyone expected, but the print shown at the theater he saved from being turned into another Supercuts was the one shown at the Cannes Film Festival. This version puts the two volumes together for a movie that resembles the closest thing you may ever see to a cinematic novel.

Keep in mind, this version of “Kill Bill” has never before been seen in America. There’s a few scenes added to the whole Japanese anime sequence that explains the back story of O-Ren Ishii, and certain characters lose a few more limbs than we originally thought. That had me thinking of “Robocop” when Kurtwood Smith who played that movie’s chief villain Clarence, after blowing away Peter Weller’s hand with a shotgun, said out loud:

“Well give the man a hand!”

This version also has French subtitles for the benefit of the audience at Cannes, and it is a great way to learn a new language if you ask me!

The two volumes of “Kill Bill” came out in 2003 and 2004, so many of you already know the story. Uma Thurman’s character of The Bride (as she is known in Vol. 1) has been lying in a four year long coma after being viciously attacked by her comrades on the Deadly Vipers Assassination Squad. She awakens and seeks revenge on them for the damage they have done, and we know going into this that it is going to be one hell of a bloody revenge. When Uma says that she and her opponent have “unfinished business,” she ain’t kidding!

The influences on “Kill Bill” are easy to spot as the whole deal is a hodgepodge of Japanese Samurai stories, spaghetti westerns, and some blaxploitation thrown in for good measure. Before the movie began at the New Beverly, we were treated to a few trailers of films that Tarantino drew from for this fourth film of his. Among them were the Swedish exploitation film “They Call Her One Eye,” and “Coffy” where Pam Grier plays a black female vigilante.

Now many will say that this is just Quentin plagiarizing from other filmmakers, but that would be wrong. Look, everyone steals from others, but there is a difference between that and plagiarizing; the latter involves stealing another person’s work and claiming it as your own. But Tarantino is not guilty of that in the slightest. What he has done is taken elements from some of his favorite movies and made them all his own. It’s not just his dialogue that is so good, but how beautifully complex and realized he makes each and every single character seen here.

This may look like Tarantino’s Samurai version of “Death Wish,” but each character is drawn out to where we respect them even if we don’t always like them. Watching “Kill Bill” in this particular version made me see that even more than I did before. For example, in the climatic fight between The Bride and O-Ren Ishii, we come to see that these two have respect for each other even though they despise one another. O-Ren insults The Bride, but then she is wounded by her when she least expected to be, and she pauses to apologize for what she said earlier. Now how many other American movies have scenes like that? Usually it’s the good versus the bad, but each character gets an in depth back story that succeeds in blurring the line between the two.

Quentin wrote the part of The Bride with Uma Thurman in mind, and it’s hard to think of another actress who could have played it. Seriously, it takes a great actress to make you believe that an assassin like her could take out dozens upon dozens of warriors all by her lonesome. Uma imbues her character with determination, a strong sense of honor, and you have to admire her for all that she puts up with throughout “Kill Bill.” She gets shot in the head, taken advantage of, gets beaten up very badly, and even gets buried alive. Throughout the entire thing, she gives the role her all and never waivers for a second. Watching her here is exhilarating as it is emotionally draining as she draws us deeply into her plight, and we cheer her on throughout.

Then there’s the late great David Carradine who plays the main target of The Bride’s wrath, Bill. We don’t even see his face for the first half of this epically long adventure, but we don’t really need to. With his powerful voice, he creates an infinitely fearful antagonist whose existence inspires trembling even when he is not in the same room with you. When we do get to see him in the later half of “Kill Bill,” we are already quaking in fear at his presence. It’s a brilliant performance by David that should have snagged him an Oscar nomination, and it still feels criminal that he didn’t get one.

Lucy Liu was riding high on her work in “Ally McBeal” around the time she appeared in “Kill Bill.” Her performance as the deadly O-Ren Ishii is very memorable in that we get to see how her character followed a very tragic path that led her to become a top notch assassin. Lucy uses that intensely sexy vibe of hers to great effect here as she has one of the movie’s best speeches on why no one should ever question her mixed heritage. She is such a kick to watch whenever she is onscreen, and while The Bride’s revenge upon her is justified, we have to admit how cool O-Ren is under pressure.

When I first saw “Kill Bill,” I tried to remember the last time I saw Daryl Hannah in anything. Daryl made a memorable impression on us all in Ron Howard’s “Splash,” but she seemed to descend into the direct to video market after that. The last thing I remember seeing her in before Tarantino’s epic was in John Carpenter’s studio-interrupted “Memoirs Of An Invisible Man,” and that was released at least ten years before this one. But as the one-eyed Elle Driver, she creates one of the most infuriatingly contemptible villains the world of movies has ever seen. She makes us despise Elle fully, and her Snake Plissken act doesn’t fool anybody.

Michael Madsen is perfect as Bill’s brother Bud, the most laid back member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Bud knows what’s in store for him and everyone else, and he is as prepared for his fate as he is for The Bride to attack him swiftly. Seeing him ever so coolly consign Uma’s character to a horrifying death (think “The Vanishing”) shows that he isn’t as ruthless as he is wounded over what she did to his brother. Michael is one of those dependable character actors who always delivers the goods, and his work in “Kill Bill” is no exception.

There are many other great performances to be found throughout the whole “Kill Bill” experience. Michael Parks ends up giving two great performances; one as Earl McGraw, the same character he played in both “From Dusk Till Dawn” and “Grindhouse,” and the other as Esteban Vihaio, a retired pimp and one of Bill’s many father figures. Gordon Liu also does terrific double duty as Johnny Mo, the head general of the Crazy 88, and even more so as Pai Mei, the incredibly powerful and abusive martial arts master. Vivica A. Fox may have the briefest screen time of all the Deadly Assassination Squad members, but as Vernita Green, she makes her onscreen moments count for a hell of a lot. And let’s not forget Chiaki Kuriyama who plays the gleefully sadistic Gogo Yubari, O-Ren’s personal bodyguard.

I also have to bring up Quentin Tarantino’s musical selections as he is second only to Martin Scorsese in perfectly scoring his movies. Throughout the whole shebang, he uses many pieces of music by the great Ennio Morricone which brilliantly capture the sheer emotion Quentin is aiming for. Then there’s the use of individual songs which you will never ever listen to again without thinking of “Kill Bill:”

Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” lets you know that this is not going to be just some average action movie. It’s going to have characters that have far more dimensions than the average Jason Statham or Steven Seagal feature (doesn’t matter if we’re talking theatrical or straight to video). The lyrics make you see that it will be about character as much as it will be about action, and that each character will have a lot of depth.

Tomoyasu Hotei’s "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" made itself known just from the trailer to “Kill Bill,” and it has since been ripped off by many a commercial since (darn it). It’s a thrilling piece of music that illustrates just how powerful and fearful O-Ren Ishii and her band of followers are. Even if this movie was from someone other than Quentin Tarantino, I still would have jumped out to see it just from listening to the song in the trailer.

Santa Esmeralda’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” makes a perfect fit for the final battle between The Bride and O-Ren. It’s a lively song that keeps the adrenaline pumping even after Uma’s character has successfully eviscerated dozens upon dozens of opponents. Of course O-Ren is going to be her toughest opponent at this point, but heaven forbid they misunderstand one another even if they despise each other, you know?

And then you have Malcolm McLaren’s “About Her” which plays in the scene where Uma has a relaxing moment with the true love of her life. It’s a beautiful song that is perfect for falling asleep to, and I loved how successfully it sampled both The Zombies’ “She’s Not There” and Bessie Smith from the movie “St. Louis Blues.” It’s perhaps the last piece of music you would expect to hear as we get towards the final battle the movie’s title hints at, but it puts one in a rather sublime mood that few other songs can.

It should also be noted that “Kill Bill” has the closest thing to an original score that any of Quentin Tarantino’s movies have ever had. RZA adds some choice pieces of music throughout as does Robert Rodriguez’s band Chingon which wraps up the whole thing in rapturous detail.

In the end, it’s probably best that “Kill Bill” was split into two movies; one was a Samurai movie that forced you to look at Uma’s character as though she is nothing more than a killer, and the other resembles a western where we then look at her as a person who is justified in seeking her revenge. But as a whole, “Kill Bill” is a fully realized experience that enthralls you in a way most movies don’t these days. Like many of Quentin’s other films, it is a reminder of why it is so much fun to go to the movies. To have an experience that fully engages the audience to where we never look at our watch feels like a rarity these days as Hollywood keeps throwing stuff at us which they think we will like.

Thank you Quentin Tarantino for showing this particular version of “Kill Bill” at New Beverly Cinema. No other theatre in Los Angeles deserves to be this lucky!

* * * * out of * * * *

Tommy Lee Wallace dropped by the New Beverly Cinema on October 30^th, 2010 to talk about his directorial debut, “Halloween III: Season of the Witch.” This is the Michael Meyers-less sequel of the long running franchise, and it played as a double feature with “Trick ‘r Treat.” Those who are disappointed by the bare bones DVD of this movie (Tommy is campaigning for a special edition of it) were in for a treat as he gave us plenty of information about what went on behind the scenes.

When Tommy was brought up after the movie ended, his reaction to watching it so many years later was that it resembled “one of the strangest and most bizarre movies he had ever seen.” You’d almost think that he had forgotten that he had directed it let alone be credited for its screenplay.

The original plan for “Halloween III” was to work with an original screenplay by Nigel Kneale, best known for his work on the “Quatermass” series. What Nigel ended up writing was as Tommy put it “brilliant and deeply, darkly grim,” and that it was more of a cerebral, intellectual horror movie than your typical slasher fare. But it turned out that everyone thought that the overall story needed more work, and Tommy said that he and John wanted to make it more commercial and scary for audiences. As a result, Nigel took his name off of the movie feeling that the filmmakers would simply “butcher” what he came up with. Many of the gory killings featured in the movie were added after Nigel left.

Tommy did go on to say that he really liked Nigel’s script, and that he hopes to put it online in its entirety for all to see someday.

While making the movie, Tommy described himself and the crew as being “under the gun” as it was a low budget affair like all other horror movies. Understanding how to do wok on the cheap, Tommy said that all the “el cheapo” special effects taught him a lot about simplicity which turned out to be a great virtue. John Carpenter has had a great career because of this simplicity he said.

As for John Carpenter’s participation, Tommy said that Carpenter gave him “full autonomy” on the project as he always expected to have it on all his movies. Originally, Joe Dante (director of “Gremlins” and “Innerspace”) was set to helm “Halloween III” but later turned it down when something else came up. Having worked on many of Carpenter’s previous movies behind the scenes, Tommy was originally offered the gig of directing “Halloween II,” but he turned it down as he saw no way to top the original. But upon being offered “Halloween III,” John and Debra Hill told him that neither wanted to do a sequel as John hated “Halloween II.” With that in mind, Tommy jumped at the chance to direct it, and this would serve as his feature film directorial debut.

The only barrier Tommy had to deal with before he could accept the job was getting the blessing of Dino De Laurentis. Previously, Tommy wrote the script for a movie Dino produced called “Amityville: Possession,” and he said that the one rule he told everyone to remember is that “you do not fuck with Dino.” In response to Tommy’s request, Dino begged him not do the film, but Tommy said he was determined to get his blessing because he would have directed the movie otherwise. Clearly, we know that he got it.

With “Halloween III: Season of the Witch,” John Carpenter and Debra Hill wanted to turn the franchise into an anthology of movies about the season of Halloween. Looking back, the original was really not about Halloween at all (the original title was “The Babysitter Murders”). But when it came to releasing this particular “Halloween” movie, Tommy said Universal Pictures did not do enough to prepare audiences for it. Audiences sadly did not want something new; they wanted Michael Meyers back and breathing heavy while slashing over stimulated teenagers.

One of the biggest influences on “Halloween III” turned out to be the original version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” directed by Don Siegel. Like that one, this sequel was meant to be a “pod movie” and could not be mistaken as something nice. Tommy even wanted to shoot it in Sierra Madre where that classic was filmed, but it didn’t look good enough. The production team had driven all over Northern California looking for the perfect small town to film in, and it took them forever to find it. Tommy said they were never as lucky as they were with John Carpenter’s “The Fog.” Also, the town’s name, Santa Mira, is the same as the one in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

The big difference between “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “Halloween III” was in the way it ended. Don Siegel wanted his film to close on a highway with Kevin McCarthy screaming frantically:

“THEY’RE ALREADY HERE! YOU’RE NEXT! YOU’RE NEXT!

Instead, that movie ended the same way it began, in a police station. All this did was indicate to the audience that every little thing was going to be alright. Tommy Lee Wallace said the ending of “Halloween III” was dedicated to Don Siegel for what he tried to pull off, and it leaves the fate of the world up in the air, making it far scarier as you mind was forced to think about what actually happened. Universal Pictures however put pressure on John Carpenter to change it to something more upbeat. When John asked Tommy if he wanted to change the film’s ambiguous climax, Tommy refused to do so, and John defended his decision to the studio.

Tom Atkins name in the credits as well as his first appearance onscreen generated a huge applause from the audience at the New Beverly that evening. When it came to casting “Halloween III,” Tommy said that Tom Atkins was already a part of the John Carpenter company of actors, and that Atkins’ performance in “The Fog” was served as his audition for the role. Tommy went on to explain that in casting horror movies, they cane easily get ruined by “pretty boy casting,” and he felt that it didn’t need to be the case here. Atkins naturalistic performance is commendable considering that much of what he has to deal with is utterly ridiculous. You also have to give him credit for wasting no time in bedding the main female character played by Stacey Nelkin.

Another actor who got applause was the late Dan O'Herlihy who portrayed the movie’s chief villain, Conal Cochran. Tommy described Dan as being perfect for the part and said that he was always prepared. He went on to describe Dan as a man from the British Isle, Irish, and as someone who was never afraid of getting sentimental. Dan’s performance was a fiendish mix of a friendly persona which is a cover for his grisly nature. RIP Dan.

As for Stacey Nelkin, the first question from the audience was whether or not her character was a robot throughout the entire movie. Tommy said that he honestly didn’t know and figured that Cochran’s company was really good at making robots in the first place. Stacey was a very appealing presence in “Halloween III,” and perhaps Roget Ebert put it best in his one and a half star review of the movie:

“Too bad she plays her last scene without a head.”

Then there’s the movie’s commercial for the Silver Shamrock masks which features a song that is annoying as hell and impossible to get out of your head. Alan Howarth, who composed the score along with John Carpenter, was given credit for doing the jingle and putting it to the tune of “London Bridge” from “My Fair Lady,” but Tommy said that it was his idea more than anyone else’s. The rest of the score is excellent and very hard to find on CD.

As for the voice on that Halloween jingle, it is Tommy Lee Wallace’s. They were originally going to hire someone else to do it, but when they found that the guy they wanted cost $550, it was determined that they couldn’t afford him. Tommy got the job soon after, and he said he got into the mood by doing the smooth tone of a “stupid radio voice from the 50’s.”

One audience member asked Tommy if there were any product placements in “Halloween III,” and he said there were not. The moderator of the Q&A said this wasn’t really the kind of movie that would allow for that. It was also clarified that no one ever asked to move that can of Miller Lite beer closer to the camera.

“Halloween III: Season of the Witch” was designed to be a diatribe against consumerism, and it didn’t turn out to be a very elegant one at that. The movie cost $2.5 million to make, and it ended up grossing about $14 million at the box office. While it did make a tiny profit, the sequel was considered a major commercial and critical disappointment. Tommy said he fell into an abject depression for months as he felt he did a shitty job on the sequel and would be consigned to “movie hell.”

But after all these years, Tommy discovered that “Halloween III” had developed a cult following and an increased number of fans. It turns that a lot of people watch it every single year. He was stunned to hear that this was the case, and people continue to invite him to speak at annual horror conventions about his movie. Having been originally released back in 1982, we have had more than enough time to reflect on the kind of movie it was. While still not a great film by any stretch, it was entertaining to watch “Halloween III” with an audience. It made it all the easier to tolerate that Silver Shamrock song that annoyingly sticks in our heads long after the end credits have rolled.

Certainly, there are other “Halloween” sequels that are far worse (“The Curse of Michael Meyers” is the pits), and the moderator put it best when comparing the third movie to “Halloween: Resurrection”:

“Do you prefer this or Busta Rhymes?”

The first time I went to New Beverly Cinema was about 4 or 5 years ago when I was a student at the writing conservatory of Second City in Los Angeles. Some of the students in the program invited me to go with them to check out a double feature of “Evil Dead 2” and “Bubba Ho Tep,” both which starred the always entertaining Bruce Campbell. I had heard a little about this theater before, and I figured it was some sort of rundown theater with crappy sound and loaded with seats so uncomfortable that you were afraid a metal spring would pop out from underneath you. But knowing that this theater was in operation brought back memories of when I went to another just like it right near UC Berkeley and it too was a revival house showing movies from years past that many of us never got to see on the big screen. I went to that one as much as possible before it disappeared without any real explanation.

After witnessing the “groovy” Bruce Campbell double feature (and he gave a truly great performance as Elvis in “Bubba Ho Tep”), my interest in this theater began to grow and grow over time, and I consider it my favorite independent theater in all of the Los Angeles area. There were many others like it, but they have since disappeared as the market for videos and DVD’s continued to grow exponentially. The fact that this particular revival house is still standing despite its struggles is a testament to the film fanatics who come more and more to certain screenings as well as the big name movie stars and directors who can be seen here from time to time.

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Jason Reitman completed his guest programming at the New Beverly Cinema with a screening of Wes Anderson’s directorial debut, “Bottle Rocket.” This film also marked the screen the debuts of Luke and Owen Wilson, the latter who co-wrote the screenplay with Anderson. Before seeing this movie, Jason admitted that he was actually scared of becoming a filmmaker, especially since he was the son of a famous one (Ivan Reitman). He of course saw all the great movies of the 90’s like “Clerks,” “Slacker,” and he checked out all of Quentin Tarantino’s movies. But he said that none of those movies had the same effect on him as “Bottle Rocket” did. For Jason, this was the movie that made him want to direct films, and of discovering Wes Anderson he said:

“This is the voice that I am going to follow forever.”

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Looking back at some of the articles I have written regarding screenings at New Beverly Cinema, I kept saying or implying that you could never expect any double features showing over there to sell out. But now it looks like that’s becoming less and less the case. Ever since Quentin Tarantino bought the space where the theater is at and saved it from becoming just another corporate barber shop, more and more movie geeks have been making their way out to the last standing movie reparatory theater in Los Angeles, let alone in America. Jason Reitman did his movie program which featured “Shampoo,” “Boogie Nights,” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” among other movies, and it brought out huge crowds of people. Torgan and company ended up having to do something they almost never do; they had to turn people away!

Well, the line around the New Beverly once again snaked around the corner even further than ever before a few days ago as actor Peter Weller was scheduled to introduce a screening there of the 1984 cult classic he starred in, “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.” Every single seat in the theater was taken, and the screening got delayed because the line at concessions threatened to snake itself around the theater as well. Peter ended up not coming by himself as he also brought along two other players from Buckaroo’s crew; Billy Vera who played the bass guitarist for Banzai’s rock band the Blue Blaze Irregulars, and Gerald Peterson who played Rug Sucker.

The Q&A was moderated by Jeremy Smith, better known as Mr. Beaks from Ain’t It Cool News, and he proclaimed this to be “the nerdiest movie ever made.” Upon saying that, he got a huge applause from the audience.

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On Friday, February 19^th of 2010, Jason Reitman began his program of movies at the famed New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. The Oscar nominated director of “Juno” and “Up In The Air” follows in the footsteps of Stuart Gordon, Joe Dante, and Edgar Wright among other filmmakers and actors who have hosted screenings of movies they adore at one of the last standing independent movie theaters in California. This by the way is the same theater that “Inglourious Basterds” director Quentin Tarantino managed to save from buyers who wanted to turn it into a Supercuts. ALL HAIL TARANTINO!!!

The first double feature of Jason’s program was “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Election;” both which are great movies that deal with high school and teenagers, and also stars Matthew Broderick. Jason told the crowd at the New Beverly that he first came to this theater back when he was 15 to see some “owl creek” documentary (he didn’t remember the name of it). With his festival at this long standing theater, he stated that he wanted to do a unique program of films that have not been shown here before. One of his first choices was “Cloak & Dagger,” an 80’s movie with Henry Thomas (Elliott from “E.T.”) and Dabney Coleman (who was in every other 80’s movie). However, he found that it was already shown at the New Beverly a couple of weeks ago. So Jason said to hell with it and went about selecting movies he loves, and he made it clear that he could care less if we had seem them all dozens of times before.

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Jason Reitman, director of “Juno” and “Up In The Air,” started the first night of his movie program at the New Beverly Cinema with a double feature of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Election.” “Election” was released in 1999 and was directed by Alexander Payne who would later go on to direct “About Schmidt” and “Sideways.” Reitman stated that he considers this film to be the unofficial sequel to “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” as it answers the question; what ever happened to Ferris after high school? Reflecting on what Edward R. Rooney, Dean of Students (played to manic perfection by Jeffrey Jones) said in the film that Bueller’s life would be in a ruinous state in 20 years from now, that wasn’t far from the truth. Here we see Matthew Broderick still stuck in high school, this time as Civics teacher Jim McAllister. There is no escaping the hell that is high school this time for this Broderick character, and he is confronted with a go-getter named Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon, pitch perfect by the way) who is running for Student Body President.

Reitman started off talking about “Election” and of how Volkswagen was willing to pay a lot of money for Broderick to drive a VW Bug, but that director Payne was adamantly against it. This was proof Reitman said that this director was one who stuck to his guns and never strayed from his vision of the movie.

Whereas “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was John Hughes’ love letter to Chicago, “Election” was Alexander Payne’s love letter to Omaha. This city in Nebraska has been the setting for just about every movie Alexander Payne has made except for “Sideways.” Jason said that Payne has been a big influence on him as a director, and they have become friendly over the years. Payne told Jason that he loves to shoot in the Midwest of America because of “the wind.”

Before “Election” was started, Jason Reitman brought out a special guest to talk about the movie and the making of it: Chris Klein. Chris played the well meaning but hopelessly dim high school football star Paul Metzler. After “Election,” Chris went on to star in “American Pie,” and he later went against type in John McTiernan’s remake of “Rollerball.” That movie was never mentioned during the Q&A, and probably for a good reason.

“This may sound hokey, but this is what dreams are made of.”

That’s how Chris went about describing how he got cast in this film and ended up being plucked from obscurity. At the time, Chris was living in Omaha and going to high school when he was discovered. People in his hometown would never take him seriously when he said that his dream was to be a professional actor. You have to wonder what those same people must think of him today.

During pre-production for “Election,” Chris said that Payne was scouting out high schools and other locations in Omaha when his high school principal (who was essentially acting as his agent) brought Chris to the director’s attention. While Paul Metzler was a football star, Chris had become the star of the plays and musicals put on at his school. One day, his teacher was instructed to tell Chris to get some papers which he forgot to bring with him. As he was walking down the hallway, Alexander Payne passed by him as he headed in the opposite direction. The next day, Payne called Klein up and asked him to audition and do a cold reading for him. Chris said that he actually didn’t know what he was reading for, and that had he known he’s sure he would have blown the entire thing. All the same, he got cast in “Election,” and his career took off from there.

Chris said he had not seen any of Alexander Payne’s previous films, so the director gave him a copy of “Citizen Ruth” which he ended up watching with his mother. For those of you not familiar with this particular film, it starred Laura Dern as a glue-sniffing drug addict who ends up becoming pregnant, and she spends the movie deciding on whether or not to get an abortion. Keep in mind that Omaha, Nebraska is a very conservative area, so neither Chris nor his mother was adequately prepared for what they ended up seeing. His mother ended up saying:

“WHAT IS THIS MOVIE??!! IS THIS REALLY THE GUY YOU ARE ABOUT TO WORK WITH???!!”

With “Election,” it marked the first time that Chris had ever been on a film set, and he remarked that he never realized that they played music during a scene. That must have thrown him off at first. When he read the screenplay, he told Alexander that he didn’t know that it was supposed to be funny. Alexander responded by saying that this was exactly what he wanted. The direction he gave to Chris was that his character Paul Metzler was nervous and never comfortable in front of people. This ended working out perfectly.

For Jason Reitman, Chris’ experience making this film reminded him of various panels he has been on with actors from his own movies. Many said that they had no idea of what Jason was doing until the whole thing was over. Chris described what Jason pointed out as being very similar to his experience making “Election.” It never occurred to him fully what kind of film they had made until he went to the premiere and saw the movie with an audience. After that, he exclaimed:

“HEY! WE ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING FUNNY!”

Admittedly, having grown up in conservative Omaha for most of his life, Chris said there were several scenes in the movie that concerned him. But none concerned him more than the scene where Paul Metzler gets a blow job. Jason however pointed out that the blow job is a huge moment for his character in that it is the first one Paul has ever gotten. The expression on Paul’s face in that moment is so priceless. But this is the way Chris saw that whole scene:

“Believe me; I have gotten A LOT of blow jobs! The thing though is none of them were ever put up on the big screen before!”

Jason remarked that directing an actor (not an actress mind you) to do an orgasm in a film is “really hard.” This was a challenge that Reitman had faced when he was directing Michael Cera in “Juno” where he was very intimate with the title character. Reitman remarked that Michael is a wonderful guy and a great actor, but getting that expression on his face of the thing we want to experience multiple times throughout our lives proved impossible, so it ended up getting cut out of the movie.

All this talk about blow jobs from one movie to the next led Jason Reitman to remark:

“This has turned into an amazing Q&A!”

Once again, “Election” was Chris Klein’s first time on a movie set, so there were many lessons for him to learn quickly. Throughout it all, he spent just about every hour on location to where Director Payne told him:

“Don’t worry, you can go home. We’ll call you when we’re ready for you.”

One other thing that really altered his perception of moviemaking at the time was when the actress originally cast Paul’s sister, Tammy (Thora Birch), ended up being replaced. As Chris saw it, she was basically fired, and he became very fearful that he would be the next one to go. Alexander Payne may have been watching a young actor growing right before his eyes, but Chris described the whole process as him taking it all so seriously so that he wouldn’t get fired.

Chris Klein finished by saying that working on “Election” was really an amazing experience as well as a lucky one, and that watching professionals like Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon (both of whom he described as being “very generous” to him and others) made this one of the very best experiences he has ever had. To all this, Jason Reitman remarked:

“I’m so glad you two (Klein and Payne) ran into each other at your high school!”

Before the Q&A was concluded, Jason had said that over various films and movie festivals, he became friendly with Alexander Payne. Payne has been very complimentary on the work Reitman has done, and Jason said that this has meant so much to him. Now they text each other on a regular basis, so he had asked Payne if there was one shot in all of “Election” which best describes the whole movie for him. Jason read the entire text that he received from Payne to the audience:

“The entire movie rests on the one shot of the protagonist (Matthew Broderick’s Jim McAllister) washing his genitalia in the shower of that motel room.”

Reported by Ben Kenber

Phil Blankenship of Amoeba Records continues to bring his brand of fun to various showings at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. This past Friday (June 5th, 2009), he presented a triple feature for horror fans with “Friday the 13th Parts IV, V, & VI.” The fourth film is known as “The Final Chapter,” and seeing that title on the screen induced uncontrollable laughter in every member of the audience including myself. “A New Beginning” remains the most pathetic of all the sequels in the franchise, and rightfully so. “Jason Lives,” on the other hand, is one of the series’ best films thanks in large part to the great sense of humor the filmmakers brought to it. Everything after that turned out to be completely stupid and unintentionally hilarious with a few exceptions. Indeed, these three movies represented the franchise at its peak as well as its eventual downward slope. None of the “Friday the 13th” movies have ever been great, so to say that they went on a downward spiral seems somewhat redundant.

Interestingly enough, these three sequels are now known as the Tommy Jarvis trilogy in this endless franchise. We first meet young Tommy Jarvis in Part IV, played by a very young Corey Feldman. Tommy spends his time playing on his computer, or indulging in his real hobby of making masks. Part IV ends with Tommy butchering Jason Voorhees to death over and over again. In Part V, we see an older Tommy (now played by John Shepherd) having to deal with the psychological damage that his attack on Jason brought on his fragile psyche. In Part VI, Tommy (played in this one by Thom Matthews) ends up accidentally bringing Jason back to life and has to take him down once again. Does he? Stupid question.

Phil Blankenship ended up giving the crowd an additional treat by bringing the writer-director of “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives,” Tom McLoughlin, out to talk with the audience about the making of it. Before he started taking questions from the audience, Tom started off by saying how glad he was to be here at New Beverly Cinema as he got all of his film education here. Tom also said that he still had the most fun as a filmmaker shooting this movie, and that he has actually not seen a print of it since it was originally released back in 1986.

When he first got hired to direct Part VI, Tom admitted that the only “Friday the 13th” movie he had seen previously was Part I. As a result, the powers that be at Paramount forced him to watch the other four films that came after it. With “Jason Lives,” Tom said that he chose to completely ignore the events of Part V as that movie “really pissed me off.” The fans that made it out that night agreed with him and applauded him loudly at his mention of this.

In the movie, McLoughlin said that he had originally planned to introduce Jason’s father, Elias Voorhees, into the franchise to give the iconic slasher more of a back story. We all know about his crazy mother who was the killer in the first movie, but nothing really was ever said about Jason’s poppa. But Paramount Pictures was not all that hyped on this plot element because they weren’t sure what direction the franchise would end up taking, so they ended up saying no to it (this actually happened very early on). “Jason Lives” is about to be reissued soon on DVD, and it is going to have the film’s original ending with Jason’s father in the form of storyboards. This will be interesting to witness having now heard about this.

One of the fans asked Tom how he managed to get Alice Cooper to contribute some songs for this movie. As it turns out, Alice is actually a big fan of the “Friday the 13th” movies, so he was more than happy to participate, and he even allowed Tom to use any of his other songs for “Jason Lives.” Cooper gave the movie its end title song of “The Man Behind The Mask,” but Tom said that the original version of that song was much faster.

Phil Blakenship ended up asking Tom the inevitable question of how he dealt with the MPAA in regards to getting the movie its inevitable R rating. As it turns out, the MPAA wanted him to cut not scenes from the movie, but frames. Tom said that these frames did not have blood or gore in them, but the MPAA found them to be just too intense. Even back then, the MPAA was a hypocritical bunch. Heck, when weren’t they? With this movie, Tom made no secret that he wanted to make it into a “huge bloodbath.”

Thom Matthews ended up getting cast as Tommy Jarvis in “Jason Lives,” as McLoughlin wanted someone who would come across as more heroic. Plus, John Shepherd who played Tommy in “A New Beginning” didn’t want to do it because he, as McLoughlin put it, “got all religious.” Shepherd ended up becoming a born again Christian, and his church didn’t feel like a slasher movie would be the best thing for him to do at that point. Matthews does give the character a different look that is much stronger than how he was portrayed in the previous film. In comparison, Shepherd’s Jarvis was a wuss even if he could beat the crap out of those who made fun of them.

With this particular “Friday The 13th” sequel, Tom McLoughlin admitted that he tried to have a sense of humor about it. This becomes apparent almost immediately when you see that the opening title shot is a clever homage to the openings of the James Bond movies. Indeed, you come out of this sequel feeling like McLoughlin actually took the time to work on the script instead of just throwing it all together at the last minute. I especially liked some of the interplay with the kids (this is one of few movies in this franchise that actually had little kids in it) as they have to hide under the beds, leading one boy to ask another:

“So, what were you going to be when you grew up?”

Ron Palillo, who plays Allen Hawes in this movie, is best known for playing Arnold Horshack on “Welcome Back, Kotter.” This got Tom talking about how just about everyone in the city kept calling Ron “Horshack” wherever he went. Looking back, Tom said this made him realize how hard it is for actors to get past a character they played that was so popular. Not all actors can get past those roles which made them so famous to begin with.

Another fan in the audience asked Tom if he had any favorite on-set stories from the making of the movie. This got Tom to talk about a stunt man who came on to the set dressed like he was Evel Knievel, and of how he came up to him and said:

“I’m here to crash something, so what do you want me to do?”

The stunt this man was about to perform a dangerous stunt that required him to drive a big RV (is there any other kind?) over a ramp at 90 miles an hour. Tom recalled this as being the most scared he was on a film set, and he worried endlessly that he this guy would end up getting killed. That is an understandable fear. I mean, who wants to do a movie that ends up becoming known as the one so-and-so died on? No one wants to be remembered that way. Fortunately, the stunt ended up coming out perfectly with the RV crashing on its side the way it was supposed to, and the stuntman dressed like Evel Knievel pulled himself out of the wreckage saying:

“Did I do alright?”

It turns out that there were actually many different endings thought of for “Jason Lives,” but Tom said he had always intended for Jason Voorhees to end up back in Crystal Lake. Some of those endings included the possibility of introducing us to Jason’s father, Elias Voorhees, and he was at one point intended to bring Jason back to life with voodoo magic. In the end, McLoughlin decided to keep it simple and used the image of Jason’s good eye suddenly opening up wide to show the audience that (surprise, surprise, surprise!) implied that he will be back like the Terminator.

C.J. Graham plays Jason Voorhees in this installment of this endless series, and one audience member asked Tom how he got cast in the role. It turns out that there were actually two Jasons in this sequel. The first one was played by Dan Bradley, and he has since become known as the premier stunt coordinator for Hollywood movies, his best work so far has been for the Jason Bourne movies with Matt Damon. The powers that be at Paramount Pictures however, after watching some dailies from the shoot, decided that he should be replaced because they felt that he didn’t have the character’s build. Enter C.J. Graham who had just finished a stint as a United States Marine, and who had no previous acting experience. Tom said that he came onto the set answering all of his questions with “yes sir!” Today, C.J. is a casino manager at the Flamingo in Las Vegas.

When asked what his favorite death in “Jason Lives,” Tom replied that it was when Sheriff Michael Garris got folded in half. I remember this scene from when I watched it years ago on television (yes, when all the good bits were cut out), and I also remember feeling physically uncomfortable witnessing it. Imagining a spinal cord snapping like that is not a pleasant thought. With “Jason Lives,” Tom said he wanted Jason to kill in ways that were “superhuman.” The fact that Jason starts off the movie being struck by lightning makes it seem all the more logical that he would kill people this way. It certainly made for some memorably gruesome moments!

The last question from the audience that evening for Tom was if Paramount asked him to direct another installment of the series, and why that didn’t happen. Tom said that he was actually approached by Frank Mancuso to do the next sequel, and he asked Tom:

“How about Jason vs. Freddy?”

Tom replied to this by saying:

“How about Cheech & Chong vs. Jason?”

It turns out that Tom was later offered the chance to direct “Freddy vs. Jason.” However, Tom said that he didn’t like the script that was given to him. New Line Cinema, which at that point owned the rights to Jason Voorhees, invited him for a meeting to talk about it. In the end, that meeting lasted only ten minutes after which he walked out. Tom has not been involved with the series since then.

Since making “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives,” Tom McLoughlin has gone on to make movies like “Date With An Angel,” which featured an irresistibly sexy Emmanuelle Béart, to episodes of the “Friday the 13th” television series. Tom later directed one of several Stephen King made for TV movies with “Sometimes They Come Back.” Outside of his contribution to the “Friday the 13th” series, it looks like he has made a good and comfortable career as a director. Having him speak to the fans attending the New Beverly Cinema was a great treat for us all, and he really seemed to enjoy the time he spent with us. Special thanks go out to Phil Blakenship for putting this all together. This particular sequel still remains one of the very best of this series, and Tom’s appearance made sitting through “Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning” all the more bearable.