Please Help Fund IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT

My friend Miranda's mom is running an Indie GoGo campaign to finance her neo-noir horror film IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT. The work, inspired by the likes of Dario Argento and Roman Polanski, looks very valuable and I would appreciate if everyone could possibly help out by sharing this link and, or, pledging. Thanks so much!

Dog Will Hunt: Tobe Hooper's THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2

There is something downright heroic about Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Almost three decades after its initial release, Hooper’s daring follow-up to one of the most iconic American Independent films ever made can now be viewed as one of the bravest, most unconventional and most confrontational works of the eighties. A wildly subversive blood-soaked black comedy that lays to waste the conservative landscape of the Reagan fueled era, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is a fully loaded work fueled by the visions of a combative and iconoclastic filmmaker, with something to prove, and an undervalued writer looking to chop away at what had become of the American dream. Tobe Hooper should have been riding high by the mid-eighties. After all he had just achieved the biggest commercial and critical success of his career just a few years earlier with 1982’s Poltergeist but that success had been undercut by widespread rumors that it was more producer Steven Spielberg’s work than Hoopers. Struggling to regain his footing Hooper delivered two high-profile failures, that have since become fan favorites, Lifeforce (1985) and Invaders from Mars (1986) before he finally decided it was time to revisit the legendary film that had put him on the map in the first place. The key to understanding The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 in relation to its more acclaimed predecessor is to look at the very different times in which they were made. Even though just over a decade separated Hooper’s films the cinematic and social landscape had changed dramatically between 1974 and 1986. The audiences that had flocked to the first Chainsaw were still reeling from Watergate, Vietnam and the crushing realization that the sixties were indeed over. In contrast by the mid-eighties it was commerce and consumption that was on most Americans minds and film audiences were no longer interested in supporting the paranoid fueled individualistic works of the seventies. For a nonconformist like Tobe Hooper, this must have been a most bitter pill to swallow. The man who had received worldwide acclaim just a couple of years before the premiere of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, for his award winning screenplay for Wim Wenders’ mesmerizing art-house classic Paris, Texas (1984) might have seemed an odd-choice for Hooper’s misunderstood sequel, but renegade L.M. Kit Carson was the absolute perfect pick. Like Hooper, Carson hailed from Texas and, like Hooper, he had come of age in the liberal freewheeling era of the seventies. The two were actually a match made in heaven (or hell, depending on your point of view). Art-house meets the Grindhouse…and, as driven by Carson’s words and Hooper’s direction, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 would indeed turn out to the kind of oddball avant-garde exploitation film that few creative minds could even hope to concoct. Of course they had to go through hell to get their peculiar vision on the screen; battling every step of the way with a company who pulled the financial rug out from their feet before the cameras had even rolled. The entire behind the scenes struggles and turmoil are documented on Arrow’s astonishing new limited edition box-set dedicated to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Like many of cinema’s great films, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is a compromised work but Hooper and his tireless crew worked through the compromises and delivered just the kind of searing and unhinged picture they promised.
The majority of sequels we see today crowding our local corporate owned megaplexes are essentially just remakes or retreads of the films that they are following. It has kind of become the norm to accept this and it is that attitude that still makes The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 feel so downright revolutionary. Audiences expecting the chilling coldness of the first film will be shocked by the anarchic humor on display in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. It is an extremely funny film, thanks mostly to Jones multi-layered script and the demonic performances of both Dennis Hopper and especially Bill Moseley. Far from being just a ferociously funny and gory freak show though, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 also works as a frenetic fright film, even though it wisely never attempts to reach the terrifying highs of its predecessor. If there is a clear thematic connection between the first Chainsaw and the second it can be found in Hooper’s decision to once again find a strong leading lady to guide the final act. Just as Marilyn Burns’ petrifying turn in the original helped give that extraordinary film the heart and soul it has the vastly underrated Caroline Williams, as the feisty D.J. Stretch, does the same for Hooper’s unexpected sequel. Williams is terrific in the film and gives a visceral, and at times oddly moving, performance that is the equal of Burns more well-known work.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was slapped with an X rating when it his theaters in 1986 due to its violent content and generally chaotic nature. Cannon films had no idea what to do with it and both critical and fan reaction was wildly mixed. The film would quickly become a fan favorite once it hit video and by the time MGM released their own special edition DVD a decade or so ago it had become a bona-fide cult classic to many, although it has never garnered the same amount of acclaim and attention that the first film has. Arrow’s new collection is tremendous and it ports over all of the excellent material from MGM’s disc. There is new content as well including an excellent retrospective documentary featuring “Still Feelin’ the Buzz” and, best of all, a bonus disc entitled The Early Films of Tobe Hooper, which features 2 incredibly rare late sixties works from the man (The Heisters and Eggshells) with an additional commentary and a fascinating interview. It is a truly terrific collection dedicated to a very valuable film and filmmaker. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 will never be granted the classic status of its more famous parent and, perhaps, that is fitting since the film was a bit like the unruly child few wanted. Hooper’s ferocious follow-up film had the misfortune (or perhaps fortune) to land in the cinematic dustbin that was American film in 1986 and many just won’t be able to separate it from a period when most of the renegade filmmakers of the seventies had either called it quits or sold out completely. Tobe Hooper would never again attempt to make something as wildly ambitious or challenging as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 but, ultimately, he didn’t have to because he had already given American cinema not one but two of its most defining films. Jeremy Richey, 2014

ART DECADES (An Update)

Progress on Issue 1 of Art Decades is continuing and I am very happy to report that we are right on schedule.  Thanks to our successful Indiegogo campaign we have been able to get all the software and equipment we needed for this new venture and, again, we are so grateful to everyone that helped us out. 
I have already received a number of pieces for Issue 1 from our contributors and they are just as compelling and fascinating as I knew they would be.  We have also conducted several interviews for Issues 1 and 2 and have more scheduled. 
On our creative end we are getting ready to take on two more photo shoots this weekend for Issue 1 and we are very excited about them.  I am blessed to be surrounded by such creative and dedicated artists. 
Because we already have the cover stories for Issues 2 and 3 lined up there have been mumblings around our non-existent office that we might get Issue 1 out earlier than November but that is just a rumor as of right now.  Officially our release date is still November (and not any later) but we will see what happens...
Thanks to everyone that has liked and followed our pages, ordered our products and has just been all kinds of awesome in general.  We really, really appreciate it. 

WENG'S CHOP 5 is Out Now!

The new massive issue of WENG'S CHOP, that I am happy to be a part of, is now available at Createspace and Amazon. 

Last Chance to Help Our Indiegogo campaign!

So, this is it! Less than twenty hours left in our Indiegogo campaign and we still have a number of great rewards available. Thank you all for the amazing response! We are all so grateful and blown away!

Our ART DECADES Store is now open for business

18.00 (SHIPPING INCLUDED) Please Specify Size Sizes

Mens Signature Soft Small Mens Signature Soft Medium Mens Signature Soft Large Mens Signature Soft X-Large Womens Signature Soft Small Womens Signature Soft Medium Womens Signature Soft Large Womens Signature Soft X-Large

MISTRESS DREAD: 
PHOTOGRAPHER:  WHITLEY BRANDENBURG
MODEL AND STYLIST:  RHIANNON LAKE MILLS
A very soft and extremely durable tee featuring superior print quality on 4.5-ounce, 100% ringspun cotton.

ART DECADES Updates

So it has been an incredibly busy last couple of weeks! For those who haven't been following the progress of Issue 1 of our upcoming print publication ART DECADES at our website, Facebook or Twitter pages here is a quick rundown. Our Indiegogo campaign is almost two weeks in and we have been thrilled with the response. We are at almost 75% of our goal and all the support has been so appreciated! Fingers crossed we can make our goal before March 28th when the campaign ends.



We did our first photo shoot for Issue 1 and it was such an incredible and beautiful experience. I know you all are going to be blown away by the work that our photographer, Whitley Brandenburg, and make-up artist and model, Rhiannon Lake Mills, did. Here is a short behind the scenes video of the shoot.

ART DECADES Issue 1: "Mistress Dread" (Behind the Scenes) from ART DECADES on Vimeo.

I also had the pleasure of conducting a Skype interview with our first cover star Celia Rowlson-Hall for the feature I am writing for Issue 1. Also, last week we had the great thrill of conducting our first in-person interview with one of our favorite bands CHAPPO! We spent about an hour chatting with these amazing guys and then caught their incredible show with Royal Teeth and Parade of Lights. Here is another behind the scenes video for you to enjoy.

ART DECADES (Issue 1) Behind the Scenes with CHAPPO from ART DECADES on Vimeo.

Even though we are still in the early stages this has already been the most emotional and exciting experience of my creative life. I am so grateful for my team of Kelley, Lake and Whitley and am blown away by all the contributors we have lined up. The idea of sharing all their work this November brings me great, great joy.

Please Help Our Dream Come True: Support ART DECADES at Indiegogo

Our IndieGogo campaign for our upcoming publication Art Decades is now up and running.  Any and all help via contributions and/or spreading the word is so greatly appreciated!  Thank you so, so much!

Help Support ART DECADES from ART DECADES on Vimeo.

The Collapse of an 8mm Amateur: Krzysztof Kieslowski's CAMERA BUFF (1979)

More than a decade before he mesmerized audiences with masterful works like The Decalogue (1988), The Double Life of Veronique (1991) and the Three Colors Trilogy (1993-1994), Polish born filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski had mainly worked in the field of documentary shorts. While some of these shorts had been fictional works, it as a documentary filmmaker that Kieslowski had initially made his name, throughout his first full decade, as a director in the seventies.  
Camera Buff (also known as Amateur) was not Kieslowski’s first feature-length narrative film (he had previously shot both The Scar and The Calm in 1976) but it was his first truly accomplished fictional work. Like his later more well-known works, including Blue (1993) and Red (1994), Camera Buff shows Kieslowski as a supremely gifted artist and storyteller and it remains a sometimes dazzling, if mostly subdued, opening chapter to one of the most important film careers of the modern era.
 Relatively successful middle-class factory worker Filip Mosz and his wife have recently welcomed a newborn baby into their lives. Filip buys an 8mm film camera with the hopes of capturing his new child in the early stages of its life. What he thought would be an innocent hobby turns serious when his boss asks Filip to begin using the camera to film his company’s board meetings. Soon Filip has a film crew at his disposal and his once happy life is altered as he becomes more and more obsessed with the idea of capturing what is real, even if it means putting his marriage and career in jeopardy.
Camera Buff is a significant film in not only Kieslowski’s career but also Polish film in general, as it manages to be not only a truly transcendent personal work but also a pointed political one, as it carefully criticizes the cloud of censorship that had hung over Kieslowski’s generation. Kieslowski shows the process for a young filmmaker to be a difficult one, as personal visions were often subjected unfairly to an outside authoritative hand.
Camera Buff is, at its core, an extremely serious film but it contains the particular kind of wit and warmth that seems specific to certain Kieslowski works, like the often-undervalued White (1993). Few directors have ever come close to matching Kieslowski’s ability to get inside the spirit of a soul in transition and Filip, like Kieslowski’s greatest characters, is very much a man in crisis but by the film’s final frames, in which he bravely turns the camera on himself, he has had a very valuable and necessary spiritual breakthrough.
While it lacks the refinement of Kieslowski’s later films, Camera Buff is a beautifully composed work that shows the influential filmmaker stepping away from the grittiness of his early documentary style and into a more polished cinematic technique.

 Camera Buff is ultimately about a man’s growth as a filmmaker and one can easily draw a parallel to Kieslowski’s own strides at the time. Camera Buff might be a transitional piece in Kieslowski’s career, but it is an undeniably important one. Camera Buff wouldn’t completely solidify Kieslowski as one of the great filmmakers of his generation but it served as fair enough warning that, even at this early stage, he had qualities that few of his peers could match. While nowhere near as perfect as his triumphant run of final films, Camera Buff is a wonderfully rendered and moving work that acts as not only a meditation on the human condition but also cinema itself.

 -Jeremy Richey, a rejected Directory of World Cinema piece from a few years back revised in 2014-