The Return of J.M. Dobies, Austin Classic Movies Examiner

I have revived my film column in an attempt to earn some extra loot. Since I get about a penny per page view, please visit early and often, and share these links via the social media. Thank you.

Weird Wednesday at Alamo Drafthouse: 'The Hellcats' (1968)

'Dirty O'Neil' a/k/a 'The Love Life of a Cop' (1974)

Diane McBain is completely insane in 'The Mini-Skirt Mob' (1968)

 

Dig this: 'The Todd Killings' (1971)

'Texas Chainsaw' Man: My Interview with Tobe Hooper

'Texas Chainsaw' man: Director Tobe Hooper on Leatherface, 'Lifeforce,' and more

Austin native Tobe Hooper is best known for writing and directing one of the most influential horror movies ever made, 1974's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." In conjunction with the release of "Texas Chainsaw 3D," the latest entry in the controversial franchise, Hooper sat down with the Austin Classic Movies Examiner to discuss the new film, his career, and his beginnings as a filmmaker in the late '60s.

"I was in Austin, making a lot of TV commercials, PSAs, documentaries. We had a little company called Film House, about five of us. We could even do post-production, although we had to get the 16-millimeter film developed in Dallas or over at channel seven. We did Farrah Fawcett's first professional work...We made a film called 'Eggshells' [a restored version screened at the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival], a true hippie film, from the sandals up! It was about the beginning and end of a subculture."

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was banned in several countries upon its release. England banned the film for 23 years. The visceral terror evoked by the movie comes not from explicit gore and violence, but from Hooper's use of POV, the power of suggestion, and his creation of an all-encompassing atmosphere of dread. In the wake of the Newtown school massacre, film violence has once again become a hot-button issue. Hooper is not sold on the connection between screen violence and the violence endemic in American society: "I don't know how to respond. It's all a part of the same thing. The dark side of human nature...I don't think a horror movie is going to inspire a copycat, certainly not one running around with a chainsaw..."

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More, More, More J.M. Dobies, Austin Classic Movies Examiner

Stripper in love: 'A Cold Wind in August' (1961)

Teenage rebellion: 'Riot on Sunset Strip' (1967)

Bury my heart in Scottsdale: 'The Ransom' (1977)

 

Bad trip: 'Angel, Angel, Down We Go' a/k/a 'Cult of the Damned' (1969)

Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' at Violet Crown

Hit man Pitt: 'Killing Them Softly' (2012)

'Try and Get Me!' a/k/a 'The Sound of Fury' (1950)

Swampsquatch: 'The Legend of Boggy Creek' (1972)

In Sickness or in Hell: 'The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave' (1971)

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J.M. Dobies, Austin Classic Movies Examiner Facebook Page

Still Yet More from JM Dobies, Austin Classic Movies Examiner

The recent site redesign at Examiner.com has been playing havoc with links to both old and new articles (and my page views, dammit). Things seem to have settled down, so you should be able to click on the links below to read these recent pieces Austin Classic Movies column:

Weird Wednesday: Village of the Giants (1965)

Master Pancake Theater Takes on 'The Breakfast Club' at the Alamo

Joe Bob Briggs Pays a Call on the Alamo Drafthouse

Weird Wednesday: Freebie and the Bean (1974)

Director William Grefé on 'Mako: The Jaws of Death' (1976)

Jack Nicholson Is a Far-Out Stud in 'The Wild Ride' (1960)

The Pistols' Last Stand: The Great Rock & Roll Swindle (1980)

The King in Vegas: Elvis - That's the Way It Is (1970)

Elvis, Dude: Tickle Me (1965)

Elvis Rocks Spring Break: Girl Happy (1965)

Elvis Presley's Greatest Movies

Audrey in Paris: Funny Face (1957)

Exile on Madison Avenue: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)

Bob Fosse's 'Lenny' (1974) and 'All That Jazz' (1979) at the Paramount

The Greatest Horror Movies of the 30s, 40s, and '50s

Weird Wednesday presents 'Hollywood High' (1976)

'American Grindhouse' at the Alamo

Double Noir: Where Danger Lives (1950)/Tension (1949)

Beach Bomb: The Fat Spy (1966)

Subscribe to the Austin Classic Movies Examiner HERE.

Subscribe to the British Music Examiner HERE.

Dennis Hopper 1936-2010

One of my heroes has died.

Hollywood Rebel: Dennis Hopper 1936-2010

Yet More from JM Dobies, Austin Classic Movies Examiner

Hudson Rocks 'Weird Wednesday': Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971)

Teenage Rampage: The Runaways (2010)

A History of Exploitation: American Grindhouse (2010)

SXSW Film Fest: Jonathan Furmanski, Tom Bowker Talk 'The Weird World of Blowfly'

Major Scoop: QT Fest is Coming Back to Austin

SXSW Film Fest: Director Elijah Drenner on 'American Grindhouse'

The Bowery Boys Are Back!

The Greatest Biker Movies Ever Made

Cassavetes on Wheels: Devil's Angels (1967)

Made in Texas: Roadie (1980)

Like, Crazy, Man: The Wild Party (1956)

Hollywood Hell: The Big Knife (1955)

James Bond's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1: The Sean Connery Era

Dennis Hopper's Greatest Hits

Crash-o-Rama: Jack Hill's Pit Stop (1969)

Subscribe to the Austin Classic Movies Examiner HERE.

Still More from JM Dobies, Austin Classic Movies Examiner

Cannibalism, Savagery, and Unconditional Love: Jack Hill's Spider Baby (1968)

'Look, Ma, No Arms!': Tod Browning's The Unknown (1927)

This Week's Classic Movie Screenings in Austin (Feb. 26-March 4)

Spy vs. Spy: Casino Royale (1967) and Casino Royale (2006)

Martin Scorcese's Greatest Hits

It's 'Weird Wednesday' at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz

Turner Classic Movies' '31 Days of Oscar' for February 23-March 3

Devil in disguise: Angel Face (1952)

Sexy Beast: The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)

Oliver Reed's Greatest Hits

The Wolf Man (1941) vs. The Wolfman (2010)

Seaside Seducers: The System a/k/a The Girl-Getters (1964)

Love and Life and Death: Harold and Maude (1971)

Second City Sci-fi: The Monitors (1969)

Even More from JM Dobies, Austin Classic Movies Examiner

Clint Eastwood's Greatest Westerns

Doom Noir: Blast of Silence (1961)

Turner Classic Movies' '31 Days of Oscar' for February 8-15

'Terror Tuesdays' at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1966) and Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979)

Subscribe to my Classic Movies column HERE.

I promise to come up with a new blog post soon...

More from JM Dobies, Austin Classic Movies Examiner

Ann-Margret's Greatest Hits

Decadenza Italiano: Antonioni's L'Avventura (1960)

Hassle at the Castle: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)

Blaxploitation classics at the Alamo: J.D.'s Revenge (1976) and Black Caesar (1973)

Amadeus (Director's Cut)

Double Feature Midnight Movies at the Spider House February 2010

"Garbo Laughs!": Ninotchka (1939)

Jack Nicholson's Greatest Hits

To Put Out or Not to Put Out: The Young Lovers (1964)

Magnum Fascist: Dirty Harry

Angry Young Bastard: Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

Tuesday Weld's Greatest Hits

Teenage Pygmalion: Lord Love a Duck

Racing for Nowhere: Monte Hellman's Two Lane Blacktop

The Best of BLOG! 2009

As promised, I published a lot more regularly here on the BLOG! in 2009, while still managing to pump out work-for-hire as the Dallas Celebrity Headlines Examiner. Sure, more than half of all posts were related to either The Mal Thursday Show or Florida Rocks Again!, and while I didn't quite manage five posts a week (more like 2.5), I still kept things up to date.

Here are some of the best posts of '09 (in other words, the ones that weren't playlists):

Two for the Revolutionary Road

Top Ten Car Movies

Harold and Maude

Texas BBQ with Spärhusen

Hail, No!

512 Brewing Company IPA: My New Favorite Ale

Attack of the Giant Leeches

Jeff Conolly Interview, Pt. 1

Jeff Conolly Interview, Pt. 2

Hoppy Birthday, Uncle Billy's!

Garage Hangover

Massholes

S. Darko

"The Oliver Reed Film Festival" Blog

Keith Moon Was Here

The Lonesome Death of the Blizzard

Jesse Garon (1994-2009)

The Year the Expos Almost Won the Pennant!

While My Turntable Gently Weeps

Au Revoir, Yogi

The Biggest Sucker in the World

Of Birthdays, Bootlegs, and Alice

My Promo Video for The Oliver Reed Film Festival

Here's a little promotional video I made for The Oliver Reed Film Festival blog, with musical accompaniment by British punk band Menace. It's also on You Tube, but this is the director's cut.

Cheers!

"The Oliver Reed Film Festival" Blog

The Oliver Reed Film Festival at OllieFilms.blogspot.com

As anyone familiar with me or the BLOG! can easily tell, I'm a big fan of the late British film actor Oliver Reed, who is a cult hero in the UK, but relatively obscure in the states. My wife is mystified by my fascination with the "creepy" Reed, is "creeped out" by his films, and thinks I'm "gay" for "some dead actor."

But then, one must consider the fact that she doesn't drink.

In the ten years since his death in a Maltese pub, Reed's legend has grown, making him an icon of the ladmags, due largely to his alcohol-fueled misbehavior on British chat shows in the twilight of his career. Whether he was busking "Wild One" or snogging lesbian feminist Kate Millet and telling her, "I've had more fights in pubs than you've had hot dinners," the self-proclaimed "Mr. England" was always good for a laugh.

So I dig Ollie on two levels: first and foremost, for the films, and secondly as a negative role model. If I'm having a pint or two, I find myself channeling my inner Oliver Reed, but not to the point of getting into head-butting contests or anything like that.

Over the years, I've written a number of pieces about Ollie's movies, so now all of my essays, old and new, are being collected in The Oliver Reed Film Film Festival at OllieFilms.blogspot.com, a new blog that focuses on the filmography, the actor more than the drinker. Well, actually, in Oliver's case, the two are more or less inseparable.

If you dig the essays and want to see the films, please visit The Oliver Reed Store for DVDs of Ollie's Greatest Hits.

For your listening pleasure, check out The Mal Thursday Show #6, a tribute to The Girl-Getters (a/k/a The System), with cool sound clips and the rockin' sounds of various British and American beat groups.

David Carradine (1936-2009)

David Carradine died in an apparent suicide yesterday. I am a fan of his work, particularly his '70s heyday, when he made Bound for Glory, The Long Riders, and Death Race 2000, and starred as Kwai Chang Cain in the TV series "Kung Fu." Having read a couple of his memoirs, Endless Highway and The Kill Bill Diary, I kind of feel like I knew the guy.

I have a particular fondness for his film Americana, a labor of love based on Henry Morton Robinson's novel The Perfect Round, filmed in 1973 and finally completed in 1982. Carradine directed and played the lead, opposite Barbara Hershey, his wife at the time. I later reviewed it for Viewpoints.com, and you can read that review HERE.

In his writings, Carradine came off as a proud man, a seeker, an optimist, and a bit of a horndog. Not the kind of a dude who'd hang himself in a Bangkok hotel room.

He's the only one who knows and he isn't talking.

Paramount Theatre's Summer 2009 Film Classics

Paramount Theatre's Summer 2009 Film Classics series kicks off this weekend with Casablanca and From Here to Eternity, and continues all summer long with a nice program featuring new prints, restored foreign classics, 70mm spectaculars, and more. Programs generally include a killer double feature and a classic Warner Brothers cartoon.

Other highlights include Buster Keaton's The General with musical acccompaniment by Guy Forsyth (May 28), a tribute to Paul Newman (July 5-12), and "Saluting the '70s" (July 14-22).

For more information, go to austintheatre.org.