DON'T GO TO SLEEP: the movie that will forever change the way you look at pizza cutters

On Friday April 15^th at approximately 2:30pm, a Brooklyn man stabbed the owner of a local pizzeria.The incident took place just outside my son’s kindergarten classroom. The weapon was a kitchen knife from the pizzeria. This juxtaposition of pizza, children and attempted murder immediately reminds me of a great film. No, not I LOVE YOU TO DEATH, but the made-for-TV movie DON’T GO TO SLEEP.

The film centers on a suburban family suffering from one tragic accident after another. The parents (played by Dennis Weaver and Valerie Harper) struggle to move on, after their favorite daughter, Jennifer, died in a fire.  The accident deeply effected 12-year-old Mary (In terms of the most basic child psychology: Mary is “Jan” to Jennifer’s “Marsha”) I don’t want to reveal too much here, but long story short: Mary is traumatized and she grieves in her own unique way; by methodically killing off members of her family (including cult favorite Ruth Gordon and the boy from POLTERGEIST.)

LONE DRIFTER: a look back. Also - help save UNDER St. Mark's

Kevin Maher is LONE DRIFTER

Recently I was profiled as a star of "new vaudeville" -- which is a very nice thing to say.  Most anyone who visits this site is probably more familiar with my "geek out" theme nights and writings on popular culture.  (Or you came here searching for images of Soleil Moon Frye.) 

But I started as a solo-comedy artist (aka an "alternative comedian") 

Today's entry will look back my 2001 solo show LONE DRIFTER.  (see below, there's video and photos.) 

But first, I need to talk about two New York City institutions that were essential to my development: 

Surf Reality and the UNDER St. Marks

Both spaces fulfilled New York's promise of the possibility of theater.  I'm not one to romanticized my past, but I saw and participated in some one-of-a-kind shows at those spaces. And I'd hate to think of what my youth would've been like without them.  

Today the UNDER St. Marks needs your help.  Learn more here.  

As for my show, I set out to do an anti-one-man show.  I wanted to skewer the cliches and present sketch comedy bits with the gravitas of legit theatre.  

Some of the pieces were grotesque pseudo-psycho monologues in the spirit of Jim Thompson novels. Many of the characters were decidedly not "likable" (probably not the best approach for a new comedian), I followed Joe Coleman's approach to painting -- he said every grotesque image is a self-portrait, he finds himself in each one. (see below) I tried to do the same with my comedy.

Kevin and Rusty talk about THE HAND (1981)

The latest offering from Rusty Ward and me, we talk about THE HAND.

MOVIEOKE - wish list

This Saturday Night I'm hosting MOVIEOKE at the 92y Tribeca.  You can check out details here.

Basically, MOVIEOKE is like Karaoke for movie-lovers.

Pick a scene or a monologue and play it on the big screen without audio.

You provide the voices (and sound-effects, if you're up for it.)

We'll have a small library of DVDs to choose from, each with captioning (just like karoke!)


This will be the third time I'm hosting.  I'll do some bits and trivia and some movieoke of my own.  But I also wanted to include this WISH LIST of scenes I'd love to see people do...

Kevin Geeks Out About Casting Disasters

This week there was some internet buzz (or mush-mouthed internet mumblings) about the 30th anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark, namely this video that shows the screen-test featuring Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones and Sean Young as Marion Ravenwood.  Almost as exciting as the way the 25th Anniversary of Back to the Future yielded this video of Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly.

Of course as long as there's been movies, there's been close calls with actors nearly taking on iconic film roles that we can't imagine someone else playing.  I call these "casting disasters" and covered it back at AMC.  Here's a few examples:

Is this what you want?

It has come to my attention that the majority of people arrive at my blog after googling the words SOLEIL + MOON + FRYE.

She's the actress who played the title tween on NBC's Punky Brewster  (the sitcom AND the animated series.)  Depending on your age, you might know her as one of the supporting characters from the syndicated series Sabrina the Teenage Witch, when Sabrina is in college and no longer a teenager.  I believe Soleil played her friend and/or roommate.

In an attempt to better serve my new audience (while at the same time annoying my regular readers) I am going to devote this site to MORE images, news, video clips, vlogs, fan fiction and poetry about SOLEIL MOON FRYE.  (And just to be on the safe side, I will occasionally mis-spell her name as to attract people who are wrongly searching for SOLEI Moon Frye.)

Here's the best clip I found find from TV's Punky Brewster.  (I'm only sorry I didn't include this nightmarish footage in the March show I co-curated about Dream Sequences.)

Kevin Geeks Out About: Douglas Coupland

For the most part this blog is a display-case for my little obsessions and observations.  This entry might not fit the usual profile, but it has to do with a writer I really like and will continue to read until one of us dies.

In Herman Raucher's novel Summer of '42 the main character's high school English teacher advises him to read the complete works of one author.  I have ended up doing that with novelist Douglas Coupland, who famously wrote Generation X.  He's a powerful writer and I've come to really love his books.  I was more moved than I should've been when a character in Microserfs referenced the way the roof of your mouth becomes raw when you eat too much Cap'n Crunch.  Coupland always combines an attention to pop-culture details with thoughtful ideas about the passage of time, our sense of identity, loneliness and depression.  He speaks to me.

One of my favorite passages appears in Coupland's third book, a collection of stories titled Life After God.  In "Things that Fly"the narrator struggles with a bad break-up and reflects upon the death of Superman and a profound sense of loneliness. I transcribed this next passage and put it into a hand-made greeting card that I gave to my girl-friend, after we broke up and then got back together.  So this passage has always stuck with me:

And then I got just plain lonely and just so fed up the badness in my life and in the world and I said to myself "Please, God, just make me a bird -- that's all I ever really wanted -- a white graceful bird free of shame and taint and fear and loneliness, and give me other white birds among which to fly and give me a sky so big that if I never wanted to land I would never have to." 

But instead, God gave me these words, and I speak them here. 

(Douglas Coupland, "Things that Fly", Life After God page 88, 1994)

Look at the Birds, up in the trees. ("we're not birds, we're a jug-band")

 

My wife took this photo of our kids (above.)  I was trying to place what it reminded me of.  

And then I remembered. 

Separated at Birth?

 

SAVE THE DATE - Thursday July 7th

and 

Kevin Geeks Out About Mazes & Monsters

In the latest installment of our web-series, Rusty Ward and I watched RONA JAFFE'S MAZES & MONSTERS.

*Not to be confused with AL JAFFEE'S MAZES & MONSTERS.  (which, I imagine, would have been titled "Mazes & Morons", filled with snappy answers to stupid questions.  "Are you going to jump off the Twin Towers and commit suicide?"  "No, I am Pardu, I can fly from this tower and join the great Hall.") 

Like a role-playing game, the movie has many levels to it -- that is, you can enjoy it any number of ways. I first saw this movie as an 8-year-old, and now I've watched it again as an adult. I enjoyed it each time I've seen it.

I don't want to give too much away here, since unlike other reviews we've done this video sums up our observations and doesn't require lengthy bonus material.




Related posts:


AMC's Sci Fi Department episode: Actors Who Needed the Money


AMC's Sci Fi Department episode: The Hungry Actor Pop Quiz

Happy Vincentennial

photo by Matthew Glasson

Happy 100th Birthday to a one-of-a-kind American: Vincent Price.

Check out this recap of KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT VINCENT PRICE.

Or enjoy these related Links:

Recipes Not Found in the Vincent Price Cookbook

Joss Whedon and Doctor Goldfoot

Vincent Price and the Chocolate Factor

a buncha great Vincent Price Photos

Vincent Price Impressions

An important message about unimportant things

A friend of mine recently wrote this compelling article about "bad" movies and ironic viewing. He also sent me a note saying that it wasn't directed towards me.

I was flattered to have him write to me (and note that I'm "one of the good guys") but I was disappointed to think that I've got this reputation.

Let me clear the air.  I love all kinds of movies, TV shows, comic books and works of literature.  For reasons too boring to get into, I am not a fan of the baggage that comes with high and/or low art.

And truth be told, I don't subscribe to the notion of a movie (or anything else) being "so bad it's good." A surprising admission from someone who contributes to 'zines like I LOVE BAD MOVIES and co-hosts a video series titled SO BAD IT'S GOOD. But it's true none-the-less. (Years ago I was the monologue writer for a youth-oriented talk show and I penned a diatribe against the phrase "so bad it's good."  I'll have to re-post it.)

When I was younger I watched Mystery Science Theater and I wore a lot of ironic T-shirts.  But more and more I find that works of art are like Reese's Peanut Butter cups. As the ad says, "there's no wrong way to enjoy them." At the risk of sounding like a raving post-modernist, I can't judge people for liking something one way or another. They can interpret it however they see fit. As someone who is sharing stuff that I like, I can only hope people will also like it.

When I screened clips at the KEVIN GEEKS OUT live events, some people liked a given film clip for nostalgia's sake. Other people genuinely enjoyed the content. Some might've called it a "guilty pleasure" , while others dug it ironically. (And I'm sure there were plenty of people in the audience who didn't like a given clip on any level.)

For me, when I present a selection from a film it's less about "isn't this so stupid that it's hilarious?!"

I prefer to take the approach "I found this fascinating. And maybe you'll find it fascinating, too..."

* * *

On more than one occasion, I've had awkward social encounters about T-shirts.  Once, I was talking to a co-worker about BLACK SABBATH, because she was wearing a Black Sabbath shirt.  But it quickly became apparent that she wasn't a fan, and didn't know their music.  I felt pretty stupid.

Another time I was in Prospect Park with my kids and I made friends with another parent.  While we were chatting, she noted that my BILLY JACK T-shirt was "hilarious."  Except that I wasn't wearing it ironically. I felt pretty stupid.

I'm done with feeling stupid about any of this stuff.

* * *

The phrase "so bad it's good" has become a brand and attitude.  I don't subscribe to it, but I collaborate with people who use that marketing device to reach a particular audience.

If something makes you happy and it's not hurting anybody, then it's okay with me.  But you don't have to dress up your enjoyment, framing it as as something ironic.

And I won't be ashamed for enjoying the things I like.

* * *

One of the best things about spending time with my sons, is that they're 3 and 6 -- and there's no filter about how to appreciate things. For example, my 3-year-old like Spider-man.  He likes the 1967 Spider-man cartoon.  He likes the 2008 Spider-man cartoon.  He likes the electric Spider-man toothbrush.  Each one is equally valued.  Each makes him happy.  And he doesn't experience any guilt or embarrassment about any of it.

Related posts:

I worked at VH1 for a year -- and besides being a place that was over-run with finger-quotes and ironic viewing, people would throw around all kinds of superlatives.  ("Best Mustache Ever!") The over-use of superlatives without any historical context inspired this video which I produced at AMC.

Kevin Geeks Out about EATEN ALIVE

The latest installment of Kevin Maher & Rusty Ward's web-series looks at EATEN ALIVE (1977)  a.k.a. Death Trap, a.k.a Horror Hotel, a.k.a. Starlight Slaughter, a.k.a. Legend of the Bayou, a.k.a. Brutes & Savages.

Director Tobe Hooper is probably best know for two films: THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1975) and POLTERGIEST  (1982).  But in the years between those two classics, he directed a handful of other films, including: VENOM (1981),  THE FUNHOUSE (1981) and the made-for-TV movie of SALEM'S LOT (1979). 

But the most stylistic and bizarre offering from that period has got to be EATEN ALIVE. The movie plays like a Carol Burnett Show parody of CHAINSAW, complete with hokey sets, colorful costumes and lots of wigs.  Storywise, the film's first act has a lot in common with PSYCHO, where a young girl escapes a Cathouse and seeks shelter in a run-down motel, where she is murdered. But instead of being hacked to pieces by a transvestite with Mommy issues, she's beaten by a long-haired war veteran and fed to a giant alligator (or maybe it's a crocodile.  This detail is never made clear.  Motel-owner Judd claims it's a crocodile from Africa, but he proves to be an unreliable narrator.) 

Previously I'd included EATEN ALIVE as part of the post-JAWS knock-offs that feature other aquatic monsters. (Like many of those titles, it had a trailer that compared it to JAWS.)  But watching the movie it seems to belong to a different sub-genre entirely: Fear of the South.  Certainly this genre (which was popular in the late 60's and 70's) includes TEXAS CHAINSAW, but it has roots in EASY RIDER and maybe even the Zapruder film.  On the surface, there's obvious differences, like Yankees do not know how to deal with a 'gator the way Floridians might.  But on a deeper level, I wonder if the real horror comes from Northern liberals who fear the Americans that elected Nixon. (This genre can be summed-up beautifully by an old National Lampoon comic book parody "Tales From the South", see below.)  

CHAINSAW has the advantage of a Texas filmmaker portraying the villains as monstrous Texans, EATEN ALIVE never really pinpoints a geography.  It's just "the South", it could be Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, we never know... 

Part of the reason CHAINSAW is so powerful is that it has the look of a documentary.  But with EATEN ALIVE, Hooper goes 180, embracing every form of artifice, with a broad location, corny wigs, and a hokey sound-stage swamp.  I don't know what exactly he's going for, but somehow it all works and makes for a good time. Adding to the madness, are the over-the-top performances from Neville Brand and William Finley. Plus horror fans will delight in seeing Robert Englund (in one of his first roles) as "Buck", a horny young man who is repeatedly seen trying to convince women to engage in anal sex. He's like the Trix Rabbit of Sodomy. 

Genre fans will also be delighted to see Marilyn Burns (Sally from T.C.M.) appearing as a morose housewife.  It's like seeing an old friend!  I wish she'd made more movies.  EATEN ALIVE is so star-studded that the film's poster actually puts a box around all six actors.  They're that impressive! 

I also like that the poster (see right) refers to Judd and the 'gator as friends. 

While researching the film, I came across this odd poster for the version titled LEGEND OF THE BAYOU.  Apparently, back in the day, you could build a movie's Ad-campaign around creepy teeth. (again, I credit JAWS.  It always comes back to JAWS.) 

Watch the trailer for EATEN ALIVE

Buy the DVD (single disc, widescreen)

Or purchase the Special Edition 2 DVD set (with featurettes on Tobe Hooper, Marilyn Bruns, and the real-life story of Joe Ball)

warning: Netflix is streaming EATEN ALIVE, but the movie is only 31 minutes long. This isn't a "reader's digest" cut-down, it's simply the first act of the film, and then it stops. Don't bother.

The Hulk and Me

One of my latest projects is co-hosting SO BAD IT'S GOOD, a movie review web-series created by Webby-award winning comedian Rusty Ward. In our first episode we reveiw the 1988 made-for-TV movie THE INCREDIBLE HULK RETURNS, this marks the first feature-length appearance by Thor. 

Now curiously, the 1988 movie takes places just 6 years after the Hulk TV series ended. (It's like attending your 6th high school reunion.)  Donald Blake mentions being Dr. Banner's student 10 years earlier at Harvard.  (That would've been 1978, when Banner was regularly transforming into the creature, and traveling the country as Bavid Bannister or David Ballinsgley, etc.) That's because the movie is supposed to take place just two years following Banner's initial exposure to gamma radiation that's turned him into the Hulk. 

Other observations and what-have-you:

In the movie, Banner has shacked up with a familiar looking woman -- it's the hot mom from Valley Girl,
one of pop culture's first MILFs.

The actor playing Thor is a bit stiff.  This could be an homage to the 1960's Thor cartoon. (for maximum wooden-ness, skip ahead to 5:15)

In 1988 NBC passed on doing a TV series of THOR, but they did make three more seasons of HUNTER.

During one sequence, Donald Blake takes Thor out on the town, because Thor is always thirsty.  (He totally has a drinking problem.)

When they walk by a marquee it announces that Dave Alvin will be playing at the bar.  Unfortunately, we never get to see him.

It seems a shame that we only get to see a short clip of Thor partying on the town.  Rusty and I agreed that it would be nice to bring Marvel Superheroes together in a non-superhero film, and see them in another genre entirely, like "The Incredible Hulk's Bachelor Party."

Related HULK material: 

The Hulk is a character I can't seem to escape.  The first KEVIN GEEKS OUT was all about the Incredible Hulk (we screened nearly every version of the animated Hulk (1966 - 1996), plus live-action footage and staged readings of HULKU (incredible hulk haiku)

At Comic Con I arm wrestled Lou Ferrigno for my web show.

During my sketch days I ended one routine by hitch-hiking (and we played the super-sad Hulk song "The Lonley Man" -- p.s. why would anyone want this as a ringtone?  To condition onself to cry at incomign phone calls.)

If you want a more upbeat tune, download this rockin' 45 of Nobody Loves the Hulk.

Even KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT SHARKS related back to the Hulk.  It always goes back to the Hulk.

And here's the time we mentioned the Hulk's "Terror in Times Square"...

Fan Festivals, Conventions, Paloozas and What Have You