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CHAIN REACTIONS

(DARK SKY FILMS/EXURBIA FILMS/EXHIBIT A PICTURES/LIGHT BULB FILM DISTRIBUTION (102 minutes; Unrated); 2025)

I’ve always had a fascination with “behind the scenes” stuff about films I like. I’m one of those guys who would pay more for a DVD release if it had interviews with the directors and stars and special “making of” features. In optimal cases, you get fresh insights on favorite movies and it will enhance future viewings. In that light, the full-length documentary CHAIN REACTIONS, about the cultural impact of the horror film THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, was absolutely revelatory to me. I’ve only seen the film twice in my life – once in the theater and once on an old VHS tape. This doc made me want to see it again as soon as possible, and I will have a million new things to “keep an eye out for” whenever that happens. The film, written and directed by Alexandre O’Philippe, does something I can’t recall seeing with any other similar doc; it’s divided into five chapters in which five artists/directors give detailed analysis of how TTCM personally affected them, and what its enduring cultural significance is. It’s kind of mind-blowing, honestly. “We are witnessing the young artist Tobe Hooper looking into the future of America,” says filmmaker Karyn Kusama, one of the chapter narrators. “Hooper is saying, ‘I’m not optimistic about America. But I believe beauty still has a place.’”

If you’re one of those who have an “ICK” reaction at the mere mention of the famed horror film about the chainsaw wielding Leatherface and his demented family, or simply can’t imagine how this grungy, low-budget ‘70s flick could POSSIBLY warrant “serious” cinematic discussion, well, this film may or may not be for you. But I found it to be absolutely riveting in every way, one of the most thorough analyses of a classic horror film ever conceived. You really DON’T have to be a hardcore fan of the movie to appreciate the commentary and insights contained in this doc.

CHAIN REACTIONS (PATTON OSWALT) (screenshot)

Rather unpredictably, the first chapter is a detailed account by comedian/comic actor Patton Oswalt, a no-holds-barred admirer of TTCM, who begins by telling us his first lasting movie memory was one of “terror” after seeing the original NOSFERATU in a theater. We see a clip from one of Oswalt’s stand-up routines in which he talks about the importance of a “good title” for a movie. He says that THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE was the “greatest movie title ever,” letting you know EXACTLY what you’re in for. Oswalt says that the film struck him, visually, as a series of “crime scene photographs,” and addresses how the dumbstruck early audiences were unable to avert their eyes from the carnage on screen. “There is poetry in you not blinking as you watch,” he relates. Oswalt has unabashed admiration for the ways compelling shots accumulate in Hooper’s film and his singular vision for the plot. “There was no negotiating with this family,” he says with regard to the murderous clan who prey on some unfortunate young hippies who wander onto their property by mistake. “The camera is simply observing what happens.” The incongruity of a famous comedian sharing his passion for one of the most disturbing horror films ever made was one of the first things that grabbed me about CHAIN REACTIONS.

CHAIN REACTIONS (TAKASHI MIIKE) (screenshot)

Next up we have the famed Japanese director, Takashi Miike, maker of over a hundred films including the legendary disturbers AUDITION and ICHI THE KILLER. He states with absolute sincerity that TTCM was the first film that made him want to be a director. He goes on at considerable length about the movie’s mesmerizing visuals, boundary-crushing norms and the willingness of director Hooper to explore his dark side. “Up until that point, movies had been somewhat SAFE,” said Miike. But things changed with the story of Leatherface and company. “I think of it as a role model,” the obviously reverent filmmaker says. If you saw TTCM back in the ‘70s, when it created something of an uproar, chances are you’ve tried to forget about ghastly scenes like the character of “Pam” being violently thrust onto a large metal meathook in Leatherface’s slaughterhouse, a wheelchair-bound young man being chainsawed to death (even when we DON’T see any actual blood, something astounding, really), and most notably the prolonged dinner table scene with a bound, repeatedly tormented Marilyn Burns, playing the first “final girl,” Sally Hardesty, in one of the most distinguished and unforgettably convincing SCREAMING roles ever put on film. It is seriously amazing even to this day; I wish I’d had the opportunity to interview her about the nightmarish role (Ms Burns sadly passed away in 2014 at the age of 65). These scenes are discussed often in CHAIN REACTIONS, along with way more detailed analysis of moments of real “beauty” in the film, and the opposing “family dynamics” of the cannibal clan, on the one hand, and the freedom-loving but overly curious and naive hippies on the other hand.

CHAIN REACTIONS (ALEXANDRA HELLER-NICHOLAS) (screenshot)

“I find it very hard to be objective about THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE,” says filmmaker Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, an Australian artist and the first of two women to be interviewed for this doc. “It’s a film that you FEEL before you think about it. It’s a very smart film.” Another unabashed admirer, Heller-Nicholas gives a nice summation of the Australian film scene in the ‘70s, talking about how PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK affected her powerfully. We see footage of that noted geographical feature and a few key scenes from Weir’s memorable film. AHN adds some pretty mind-blowing insights at this point, talking about how TTCM is a “home invasion film” from Leatherface’s point of view. “He’s stressed,” she emphasizes. “It’s a very Buster Keaton thing, the way he moves and is fussing over things.”

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (MARILYN BURNS) (screenshot)

Next up is the horror master himself, Stephen King, the biggest name to be included here. King states that he didn’t see TTCM when it first came out; for him, the experience came later, when he was a hard-working writer in the early ‘80s. Shots of Kubrick’s THE SHINING are shown; it came out in 1980, and though King was notoriously NOT very pleased with Stanley Kubrick’s cinematic version of his novel, he allows that he loved true horror and that this popular novel was one of the first times he really tried to explore it. And he LOVED what Tobe Hooper did to capture an unprecedented sense of absolute horror onscreen. “It looked fucking REAL,” King declares. He stated that it was an example of a film where “you can’t tell where fact ends and fiction begins.” In a true bit of high praise, he compared Hooper’s opus to the work of Cormac McCarthy in works such as BLOOD MERIDIAN and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. He also cited the experience of watching THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT while recovering from a serious injury, at the prompting of his son. That “found footage” classic had elements that truly unnerved King, as the whole of TTCM did. “Both films were made on low budgets with small casts,” he said. “You don’t see too much. It’s all violins.” King made a point of explaining how in horror films, especially, there is often interference from producers before a film comes out. That can water down the impact of a potentially impactful film. “Too many producers wanna give you notes!” he explained. “I HATE the goddamn notes. Tobe Hooper didn’t have to worry about that… He never thought about ‘taste’ and ‘conscience.’” On the matter of whether certain films in this realm can be accused of going too far, King said, “You’re SUPPOSED to go too far! TTCM puts us all in touch with our primal fears. You can’t ever get comfortable watching it. I admire this movie so much!”

CHAIN REACTIONS (KARYN KUSAMA) (screenshot)

By this point in the documentary, you’re somewhat overwhelmed by all the praise, all the flashbacks that are shown (including the memorable shot at the end of TTCM where Leatherface is waving his chainsaw around in unhinged despair as Sally escapes in a pickup truck half-crazed from her nightmare and laughing with relief, a scene the final narrator, Karyn Kusama, calls one of the many “indelible images” in the film. Kusama’s fascination with the movie is perhaps the most impactful of all. She calls the dinner scene with Sally “the scariest, saddest depiction of masculinity that might exist on film… it’s a broken masculinity.” The director repeatedly places TTCM in a broader context, and makes you think, even more than the previous commentators, that the cultural significance of the horror classic has to be acknowledged and appreciated. “I can’t look at Leatherface and feel that he’s simply a monster,” she says. “He’s a part of US.” It’s incredible to see sophisticated filmmakers expressing sympathy for a chainsaw-wielding maniac and his depraved family; Kusama was NOT the only one here to do so. But TTCM’s place in the horror pantheon and all that has occurred since its release in the mid ‘70s have altered the perception of many towards this film, and it now routinely makes the top of many lists of greatest horror films of all time. Kusama calls it “an enduring masterpiece” which states that “America is a madness.”

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (MARILYN BURNS) (screenshot)

I couldn’t have imagined when I began watching CHAIN REACTIONS that I would end up placing it in a context that includes the paralyzing division and violence that mark the era we’re all suffering through right now. But that’s the cumulative effect of all the commentary, analysis and deeply felt reactions we’ve just seen in this truly remarkable documentary. Without a doubt it makes you see TTCM in a new light, and how Tobe Hooper’s once controversial cinematic creation can now be seen as the singular, hugely influential piece of celluloid that it is, probably never to be matched again. Director O’Philippe has made a remarkable documentary, one overflowing with insights and the way that art resonates in far-reaching ways that one can never predict. I was stunned by this film, and I’ll be thinking of revelations from it for a long, long time.

DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Movies | Kevin Renick | |   1970s Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Alexandre O’Philippe CHAIN REACTIONS Digital On Demand Documentary DVD/Blu-Ray Horror Movies Karyn Kusama Leatherface Marilyn Burns Patton Oswalt Sally Hardesty Stephen King Takashi Miike THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Tobe Hooper Unrated

TALKING HEADS: TALKING HEADS 77

(RHINO RECORDS/SIRE RECORDS; 2024 box set reissue)

Not many New Wave bands of the ‘70s and ‘80s have the sterling reputation and dedicated fan base of Talking Heads. There are reasons for that. The quartet – lead singer and guitarist David Byrne, ace rhythm section Chris Frantz on drums and wife Tina Weymouth on bass, and multi-instrumentalist (often keyboard player) Jerry Harrison – had uncommonly good instincts, just the right amount of quirky unpredictability in their music, and the good fortune to do their most significant collaborations with other master artists (Brian Eno and filmmaker Jonathan Demme among them). I can’t think of another band from their era whose first five albums are all brilliant, fresh and still intoxicating to listen to, and sealed their reputation by making what is likely the greatest concert film of all time (STOP MAKING SENSE, which Demme directed), a giddily thrilling piece of work that was recently reissued to universal acclaim. Many bemoan the fact that the group called it quits in the late ‘80s due to Byrne’s restlessness and desire to go it alone, but this ensured that they would never become a watered-down or compromised musical entity, and that the reverence for their eight studio albums and two superb live albums would endure. T Heads fans are DEVOTED, and only some inter-band sniping here and there about perfectly understandable differences, caused some to scratch their heads in dismay.

TALKING HEADS (JERRY HARRISON, CHRIS FRANTZ, TINA WEYMOUTH, DAVID BYRNE) (photo copyright: MICK ROCK ESTATE)

While the Heads have been anthologized a few different times, a proper box set reissue of their first album TTALKING HEADS 77 is a welcome and wondrous release. The four-disc set comes with a handsome book that features essays by each member about the early days and the circumstances behind the recording of this album, with Tina Weymouth’s lengthy piece being particularly detailed and illuminating. The original album has been remastered beautifully… the innovative arrangements on stunning songs like “New Feeling,” “Tentative Decisions,” the utterly peerless “No Compassion” (one of my personal favorite songs of their early period) and the completely original “First Week, Last Week… Carefree” sparkle with clarity and musical pizzazz. You can marvel all over again at Weymouth’s distinctive bass, the disciplined arrangements and, of course, David Byrne’s undeniable attention-getting vocals and lyrics. The guy was and remains a stunningly original creative visionary. And yes, it’s fun to imagine those early CBGB’s attendees getting to hear “Psycho Killer” in its infancy, though it sounds fa-fa-fa-fa better here.

TALKING HEADS Live at CBGB’s, 3 March 1977 (JERRY HARRISON, CHRIS FRANTZ, DAVID BYRNE, TINA WEYMOUTH) (photo credit: EBET ROBERTS/GETTY IMAGES)

But speaking of the famed Bowery venue where the Heads and other legendary artists got their start, there’s an entire disc here that captures the group’s final appearance at the club. It sounds marvelous, actually… not tinny or inferior in any way. Byrne energetically shouts out the name of most of the songs in his inimitable manner (“The name of this song is ‘Don’t Worry About the Government!’”) and yells “Thank you!” to the excited crowd afterwards. You can definitely feel the vibe of the tiny but historic locale. And the highlights are many from this performance: I particularly dug such numbers as “Take Me to the River,” the rare “A Clean Break,” “Thank You For Sending Me an Angel,” “Pulled Up” and “Stay Hungry.” The band were totally ON IT here, probably very well-rehearsed knowing this was for a radio broadcast. A third disc in this set is a welcome collection of rarities and alternate takes, including “Sugar On My Tongue,” “Love (Goes To) Building On Fire” (their first single), “I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That” and two alternate takes of “Psycho Killer” among other cool cuts. And the obligatory but still great 5.1 surround mix for Blu-Ray rounds things out.

TALKING HEADS (DAVID BYRNE, JERRY HARRISON, CHRIS FRANTZ, TINA WEYMOUTH on THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON, 13 June 2024) (photo credit: ROSALIND O’CONNOR/NBC via GETTY IMAGES)

Everything from the bright red cover and strikingly minimal green typeface, to the essays and diverse photos in the book, to the still intoxicating musicality of this powerhouse band, is memorable and more than worth your attention. As much as I played this album when it first came out, I must say that diving into this reissue was revelatory all over again, thoroughly capturing the emergence of one of the greatest and most original quartets of all time. Rumor has it there may be a box like this to come for each of their classic albums. Talking Heads are one of the few entities that deserve that kind of comprehensive approach.

DO THE ARCHITECTURAL WATUSI DVD/Blu-Ray Music Reviews | Kevin Renick | |   Alternative Rock Bonus Material Box Set Brian Eno CBGB's Chris Frantz David Byrne Demo Recordings DVD/Blu-Ray Jerry Harrison Jonathan Demme Live Recording Music New Wave Music Punk Rock Reissue Rock and Roll Rock and Roll Hall of Fame STOP MAKING SENSE Talking Heads Tina Weymouth

BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY: NINE HUNDRED NIGHTS

(EAGLE VISION/EAGLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT/MULTIPRISES/PIONEER ENTERTAINMENT (59 minutes; Unrated); 2004) A REVIEW FROM THE VAULTS

Before I get into specifics, just let me say… this is an absolutely awesome package! The main section is a very informative, nostalgic 2001 hour-long film, documenting the rise and fall of one of the seminal bands of the San Francisco psychedelic era; the extras include four complete (and obviously digitally remastered) live performances, a rare audio track (pre-Janis?) of “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” interview outtakes from the surviving members of the band and others (which add a lot of history and insight that, while not necessary to the story, are nice to hear), and a bunch of other archival oddities (photos, concert posters, etc.). Ironically, the full band name on the case is “Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin,” an appellation that plays heavily into the history of the band. So, having (hopefully) piqued your interest, let’s get into those specifics.

BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY (Sam Andrew; Peter Albin; Janis Joplin; Dave Getz; James Gurley) (uncredited photo)

The documentary includes a lot of music, a lot of archival material (including interviews), and a lot of reflections on the late ’60s emergence of Sam Andrew, Peter Albin, James Gurley, David Getz and Janis Joplin. The new interviews untangle the myth from the history, making for an intriguing look at a band and a society continually on the brink of collapse. Additional interviewees include music historian and Patti Smith Group guitarist Lenny Kaye and psychedelic gadfly and post-Joplin Big Brother singer/producer Nick Gravenites (Nick also spent time in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Electric Flag, among others). Much is made of the Monterey Pop Festival and its backers, and their reasons for asking Big Brother to play. Everyone knows that the festival was basically a tool to package the San Francisco scene for mass consumption, via a documentary by filmmaker DA Pennebaker. What most people didn’t know (at least I didn’t) is that the musicians in Big Brother refused to be filmed; they’d agreed to perform non-gratis at the free show (as had all of the acts), but would not give the producers and backers the chance to earn a big payday at their expense. The powers that be went to Janis after the band’s performance and got the naive vocalist to sign a release by telling her that the band went over so well (that part, at least by all indications, wasn’t a lie) that they wanted them to do another set… this one for the camera. Janis, who may not have been as naive as everyone thought, may have been thinking ahead to her future… without Big Brother and the Holding Company. Contractually obligated by Joplin’s signature, the band performed the second set for the cameras, delivering a smoldering performance that actually set the band on the road to ultimate destruction. Digitally remastered clips from the film – “Ball and Chain” and the previously unreleased “Combination of the Two” – focus on Joplin, with the other four members pictured as nothing more than background dressing. Today, the band (and historians) cite the Monterey Pop Festival as the beginning of the end. But… I’ve already said too much! I don’t want to give the whole thing away, or you won’t want to go out and pick up the excellent NINE HUNDRED NIGHTS (the name refers to the nearly two-and-a-half years that the band’s most famous configuration was together).

BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY (Live at the Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, 1968: James Gurley, Sam Andrew, Dave Getz, Janis Joplin, Peter Albin) (photo credit/copyright: Elliot Landy/landyvision.com)

I will tell you about the extras that I alluded to earlier, however. The four complete songs featured are “Down On Me,” “The Coo Coo,” “Ball and Chain,” and “Piece of My Heart.” The latter two are from the Monterey film; the first two are black and white performances from, I believe, a German television show. Each shows the incendiary qualities of the group. One of the great misconceptions about this band – often cited over the last three decades as a reason for Janis’ departure – was that they couldn’t handle things musically and their ineptitude was holding Joplin back. This film, and especially these performances, debunk that long-held theory. True, the band may never have reached the heights it attained with Janis Joplin, but Getz, Albin, Gurley and Andrew were amazing musicians and had already carved a niche for themselves as one of the premiere groups in the San Francisco area. They were signed to Mainstream Records, a small but influential label, and were getting attention beyond the Bay Area. While no one can deny the talent and charisma of the Texas whirlwind named Janis Joplin, the boys weren’t exactly hacks. They were good! Most of the other extra stuff here just kinda reiterates what we learned in the film. Some of the background info from the interview outtakes adds to the story but, accessing them is sort of a pain: You can’t just play the entire sequence, as each question to each interviewee has to be played separately. That’s annoying, but a minor problem; not one that should keep you from picking up this package. The rest of the “bonus features” include a discography, photo gallery, biographical timelines and “Psychedelic Treats.” Even without the extras, this is a great addition to anyone’s DVD and music libraries.

DO THE ARCHITECTURAL WATUSI DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Music Reviews | Darren Tracy | |   Big Brother and the Holding Company Blues Rock Bonus Material Classic Rock DA Pennebaker Dave Getz DVD/Blu-Ray James Gurley Janis Joplin Lenny Kaye Monterey Pop Festival Music Documentary Nick Gravenites NINE HUNDRED NIGHTS Peter Albin Psychedelic Rock Rock and Roll Sam Andrew San Francisco

MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY

(YELLOWSTONE FILM RANCH/RENEGADE ENTERTAINMENT/RLJ ENTERTAINMENT (127 minutes; Unrated); 2022)

If you’ve spent any time here at all, you probably know that I’m a sucker for Westerns – movies (RUSTLERS’ RHAPSODY being my favorite), television series (HAVE GUN – WILL TRAVEL does it for me), comic books, novels and non-fiction. Anything at all that could be deemed a “Western” is pretty much okay in my book. So, when the chance to review a new flick called MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY hit my email, I jumped on it. I was not disappointed!

MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY (ISAIAH MUSTAFA, RICHARD DREYFUSS) (publicity still)

In the opening sequence, there are a few of the familiar “Western” tropes to set the mood and the scene for the rest of the film. There is, of course, the appearance of a stranger in town… a quiet, observant, somewhat moody stranger who quotes Shakespeare. As this stranger (played with brooding intensity by Isaiah Mustafa) approaches Yellowstone City, Montana, he is stopped dead in his tracks (well… his horse’s tracks) by an explosion. That explosion turns out to be a nightmare for the stranger: One Robert Dunnigan (Zach McGowan in a small but integral role, though he does appear more after his death than before) was blowing open a long-closed gold mine and, hitting the mother lode, begins making tracks to his shack in the woods. His ramshackle abode was merely a stopping off place so he could tell his wife, Emma (Scottie Thompson), that he found gold and he was heading to town.

MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY (ZACH MCGOWAN, AIMEE GARCIA, EMMA KENNEY, ISAIAH MUSTAFA) (publicity still)

In town, the preacher, Thaddeus Murphy (Thomas Jane), rings the bell for the Sunday morning call-to-worship. Sheriff James Ambrose (Gabriel Bryne), looking for his son (Nat Wolff), finds him in the saloon (which, apparently, is also the town hotel, brothel and bathhouse). With the help of one of the working women, Isabel (Aimee Garcia), Ambrose rousts Jimmy from a hand of poker and into the church. Shortly after, the stranger rides into town, eyed by every person not inside the house of worship. Looking for a room, he is directed to the saloon, where he recites Shakespeare with one of the saloon owners, Edgar (Richard Dreyfuss), who tells him to be careful because the townfolk don’t understand anything but plain and simple. Inside the church, Pastor Murphy is just beginning his sermon as Mister Dunnigan rides into town, guns blazing, yelling that he’s struck it rich. After buying almost the entire town a round and offering the men jobs at his mine, he heads upstairs for a roll with his favorite girl, Isabel. All the while, the stranger sits in a corner alone, taking everything in. When one of the men demands payment for a past gambling debt, it looks like Robert Dunnigan’s celebration may be short-lived and the stranger’s hand automatically goes to his holster. Cooler heads (and the sheriff’s gun pointed between the gambler’s eyes) prevail and the party continues. Headed home after a hard day’s drinking and carousing, someone takes a potshot at Dunnigan, shooting his horse out from under him; obviously in fear of losing his gold, Dunnigan keeps a rapid-fire string of questions, pleas and bargaining opportunities aimed at his attacker while unloading both of his pistols in the general direction of where the shots came from. Of course, all of this shouting makes it that much easier for his assailant to find him in the dark. Taking aim, the shooter hits poor Robert in the back but, just to make sure he’s done the job, he slits his throat for good measure. Now, once his body is found, the sheriff and his deputies are certain of the killer. I mean, there’s only one new man in town so… it must be him, right? And, of course, the stranger’s refusal to speak and the fact that he had money only added to Sheriff Ambrose’s belief that he had his man.

MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY (ANNA CAMP) (publicity still)

Amidst all of the death and brutality (and there is a LOT!), there are some truly sweet moments in MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY. These mostly involve Pastor Murphy’s wife, Alice (Anna Camp), a woman who takes the “ministering” aspect of Christianity to heart, holding Bible studies with the women of Yellowstone City (including the “working” women of the brothel, holding the meetings at their place of business), visiting the sick and, of course, the stranger in his cell. Another pure soul, Violet Running Horse (Tanaya Beatty), was orphaned when a band of white men burned her family’s village and killed everyone in it; Edgar and his partner, Mickey (John Ales), looking for a better life out west, found the child when they happened upon the carnage, nursed her back to health and raised her. Violet operates the livery stables and is the first person the (as yet nameless) stranger meets. After a short exchange regarding the talismans hanging from the man’s saddle and, naturally, the length of his stay in town, the care of his horse and belongings, as well as where he can get a drink and a room. As mentioned earlier, she points him in the direction of the hotel/saloon. All of this obviously takes place right after Dunnigan disrupts the quiet Sunday morning. The next night, Robert Dunnigan is dead and the stranger is arrested. Violet realizes that he could not have killed Dunnigan because his horse and saddle had not been touched since he left them in her care; unimpressed, Sheriff Ambrose thanks her for the information but tells her that there are other ways for a man to get out of town.

MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY (ISABELLA RUBY) (publicity still)

Aside from Edgar, the next person the stranger speaks to is Alice Murphy. The preacher’s wife, after having told her husband that he may be good at sermonizing but not at ministering, was there to minister to a soul in need. Alice asks the man his name. “Cicero,” is his reply. “Cicero? Like the philosopher?” Cicero explains that it is the name of a character in a play who delivers a speech that he dreams of reciting. He also tells Alice that, as a former slave, he has no family and no family name… he raised himself. The preacher’s wife is the moral compass in Yellowstone City, gently prodding her husband to do the right thing. The same morning that she tells him that she’s going to visit the prisoner, a gunshot rings out. It’s one of Isabel’s (yes… THAT Isabel) charges, an orphan girl named Josephine (or Josie, played by newcomer Isabella Ruby) shooting at cans in the cemetery. Thaddeus says, “It’s Josephine. You know, she could use a little ministering, too.” With a smile and a laugh, Alice tells him “What she could use is a father or… someone like that she could look up to.” Getting the point, the good parson heads out to the graveyard:

“You shouldn’t be shootin’ at graves.”

“Ain’t like I’m hittin’ it.”

“You’re tryin’ too hard… you’re waiting for the gunfire. It’s not about the violence.”

“It is violent. It’s a rifle.”

As the preacher tells her to relax and helps her adjust how she’s holding, aiming and firing the weapon, Josie asks, “What do you know about guns?” A question that will be answered later in the film. As she takes aim once more, she actually hits the headstone where she placed her target. “Ain’t there somewhere better around here we can shoot?”

“That man killed my father.”

“Go ahead then.” The next shot hits the can. “Let’s set ‘em up.” It’s one of the sweet moments that make MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY more than your typical Western or “who done it” murder mysteries. The young Miss Ruby has several career-making scenes and Josephine proves to be much more than the Bible quoting young lady we first meet. During the forty minute shootout that ends the story proper, she is wounded and does quite a bit of damage herself.

MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY (JOHN ALES, DANNY BOHNEN, GABRIEL BYRNE, LEW TEMPLE, NAT WOLFF) (publicity still)

Throughout the film, the body count continues to rise… and unfortunately, for the prisoner, the night of the second murder (more throat slitting), the deputy in charge of watching over him is otherwise occupied with one of the ladies from the saloon and, thus occupied, doesn’t hear someone come in and unlock the cell door, allowing the prisoner to “escape.” Of course, sensing that he was being railroaded and, more than likely, headed to the gallows, he took the opportunity to get out of Yellowstone.

MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY (THOMAS JANE) (publicity still)

Dunnigan continues to appear, first stinking up the church before his burial and later, after being disinterred by Murphy, as what could be considered the first case of forensic exploration ever performed; the preacher is now certain that Cicero could not have been Dunnigan’s murderer because the bullet he retrieved from the corpse was not fired from the kind of gun that the stranger uses. Things pick up considerably from that point leading to the already mentioned gunfight. As this is just as much a murder mystery as it is a straight Western, I don’t want to give too much away so… just let me say that MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY reminds me of one of my all-time favorite movies – Western or otherwise – 1968’s FIVE CARD STUD starring Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum and Roddy McDowell. I wholeheartedly recommend this dark, engaging film. A star-filled cast doesn’t hurt its chances of reaching a wider audience than most recent Westerns have enjoyed and a strong script by Eric Belgau and deft genre-wise direction by Richard Gray makes it one of the best films of the year.

DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Movies | Darren Tracy | |   Aimee Garcia Anna Camp DVD/Blu-Ray Eric Belgau Gabriel Byrne Isabella Ruby Isaiah Mustafa John Ales Montana Movies MURDER AT YELLOWSTONE CITY Murder Mytery Nat Wolff Richard Dreyfuss Richard Gray RLJ Entertainment Scottie Thompson Tanaya Beatty Thomas Jane Unrated Video-On-Demand Western Zach McGowan

FROST

(CLEOPATRA EENTERTAINMENT/SNOW LEOPARD ENTERTAINMENT/SANDALED KID PRODUCTIONS/JCB PICTURES/MULTIVERSE CINEMA (80 minutes; Unrated); 2022)

There are many reasons to watch a movie: we want to enjoy a riveting tale, we want to laugh, we want to be in suspense or get scared, or we want to enjoy our favorite stars strutting their stuff and portraying compelling character. I don’t know anyone who would knowingly choose to watch a movie about someone SUFFERING. But that is what you’ll be experiencing for the 80 minutes that comprise FROST, a nonetheless fascinating and challenging little flick from director Brandon Slagle. Let me just say upfront that actress Devanny Pinn, who plays a pregnant young woman named Abby in this movie, turns in one of the most insanely stressed-out performances ever filmed, and she deserves some sort of special award for her work here. Pinn is confined inside a crashed vehicle for nearly this entire movie, seriously injured and about to give birth, trapped on a mountainside with an approaching snowstorm. It’s a thankless, horrendous situation and no matter WHAT else a person might think about this movie, you have a major actress giving her all here. It’s cumulatively more and more jaw-dropping as the movie progresses. The simple plot is that Abby is visiting her partially estranged father Grant (Vernon Wells) somewhere out west, and over dinner we learn that he drinks too much for Abby’s taste, can be rude, and doesn’t do much of anything to impress her. And yet, he loves her, and they agree to go on a father-daughter fishing trip despite the forecast of a winter storm. Naturally, an inattentive moment causes Grant to veer off the road and crash into a tree, with one limb going straight through the windshield and into Abby’s chest. Jagged pieces of glass are everywhere, and the car is perched on the edge of a dropoff. Grant is able to squirm out of his seat, but if Abby tries to do the same, the car will plunge off the edge and kill her. And she can barely move or maneuver at all. So the plan is, Grant will seek help (the pair have walkie-talkies) and return to save Abby and her soon-to-be newborn. But she’ll have to tough it out in the ruined automobile, and try to stay warm as best she can before the weather worsens. A grim setup, for sure. What follows is one incident after another of Abby talking to herself, talking to her unborn, utilizing whatever still works on the car to her advantage, and trying to find something to eat, which in one revolting scene, includes sampling her dad’s nightcrawlers. Pinn is absolutely believable here, playing the role of a desperate, trapped woman hanging onto shreds of hope and constantly trying to reach her dad to get “progress reports.” She tries to treat one of her own injuries, not a pleasant scene to watch, and there is a remarkable scene involving a wolf who discovers her and has a motive that she must do everything she can to foil. It’s all very, very unsettling, and yes, it will test the patience of many viewers. You are seeing a woman suffer here. NOT being tortured or stalked like in standard horror movies. Just enduring a hopeless situation. And enduring And enduring. And enduring more…

FROST (DEVANNY PINN) (publicity still)

It’s worth mentioning this film in terms of “horror movies,” because it’s mostly a wilderness adventure movie overall. Not all that realistic at times (I doubt most women would’ve made it as long as Abby given these circumstances). However, in the last ten minutes of the film, it does indeed turn to horror. I’m not going to say how, as that would spoil the “fun” for those of you who plan to see this. But I was genuinely shocked by the concluding section, as I did NOT see these events coming and literally could not believe what the filmmaker decided to show us. There are undoubtedly some viewers who will tune this film out before the final outrage, and that’s to be expected. But I give this film credit for NOT following the formula of this kind of scenario, and for deciding to make this’un a meditation on pure desperation rather than a conventional “rescue” situation. Just be warned, it is GRIM on every level. What we’re allowed to see of the scenery is kind of beautiful, and occasionally (but not always) the music is effective. And you gotta give writers James Cullen Bressack and Robert Thompson (screenplay) credit for crafting a small, personal largely one-character film and making it brutally realistic down to minute details. But… this is a fairly trying viewing experience. I take away from it two main things: that Devanny Pinn is a supremely ambitious and brave actress, one to watch for sure. And that some filmmakers like to set up one set of expectations and then “stick it to you” in the end. That’s certainly what they do in FROST, and sick as it is, I kinda admire them for it.

DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Movies | Kevin Renick | |   Brandon Slagle Devanny Pinn Digital DVD/Blu-Ray Family Drama FROST Movies Thriller Vernon Wells

THAT DIRTY BLACK BAG, SEASON ONE

(PALOMAR MEDIAWAN/BRON STUDIOS/AMC+/RLJ ENTERTAINMENT (419 minutes; Unrated); 2022)

So, when the first episode of the AMC+ series THAT DIRTY BLACK BAG debuted, I watched it two or three times. Each time, I found myself more confused about what was going on. I mean, I understood the basic concept: Ruthless bounty hunter, unscrupulous and corrupt sheriff, random horse-thievery, even more random drug use… a lot of death and mayhem, all in a wild homage to Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. I think that one of my problems with the episode, brilliantly titled “A Head Weighs Less Than a Body”, is that two of the main characters – bounty hunter Red Bill (Douglas Booth) and the severely put-upon farmer, Steve (Christian Cooke) – look enough alike to these tired old eyes that I had a hard time following their separate stories. Now, with the entire first season available on DVD and Blu-Ray, I’ve been given the chance to revisit that first episode and, well… it still confused the heck out of me! But, one must soldier on and, I must say, the series as a whole did not disappoint.

THAT DIRTY BLACK BAG (DOMINIC COOPER, BENJAMIN STENDER, DANIEL CALTAGIRONE, IVAN SHAW) (photo credit: STEFANO C MONTESI/AMC+)

Right out of the gate, it was obvious that this was different kind of Western; Red Bill had hunted his bounty to a remote mission, where the hunted man had killed every person in the church, stealing not only the offering money, but the money and valuables of his victims. Bill meets him as he is leaving, his grisly work done. Bill throws a bag (yeah… that one, though it’s a lot cleaner at this point) at his prey’s feet and, when the outlaw draws on him, disables his gun hand. With the bounty lying at his feet dying, Bill pulls out an ax and decapitates the man and places the head – you guessed it – in the bag. From there, things get a bit more… confusing. With proof of the death of the outlaw, Bill goes in search of the sheriff of the bone-dry former boomtown of Greenvale, a place that hasn’t seen rain in five years. Water is scarce and, of course, there are a couple of ingenious entrepreneurs who charge premium prices for the little they have. The sheriff, McCoy (played with understated relish by Dominic Cooper), enjoys pouring water onto the floor (or the dirt street or wherever he happens to be) to make a point: “I am the law here and you are here only because I say you can be here.” He, naturally, refuses to pay the bounty on Bill’s capture so Bill, naturally, walks out of the saloon where he found McCoy and takes the sheriff’s horse. That’s certainly a lot to unpack and it’s all in the first 20 minutes of that first episode! Over the course of the first three episodes, we see lies, deceit, murder (in a particularly disturbing scene, McCoy shoots a slow-witted teen – who only wanted to please the lawman – in the back), kidnapping, backstabbing (both metaphorical and literal), an odd sidestep featuring a vengeful serial killer, a secret sect and, hey, just for kicks, let’s toss in some random cannibalism in episode 4.

THAT DIRTY BLACK BAG (ROSE WILLIAMS) (photo credit: STEFANO C MONTESI/AMC+)

A viewer’s review on IMDb says that things pick up and start to fall into place after Episode 4, which is called “Genesis” and, as the name would imply, is a prequel of sorts for everything that’s happening in the other episodes: How McCoy came to be the villain of the piece and what set Bill on the path to becoming Red Bill. Anything past the halfway point, I’m not gonna touch because I don’t want to give too much away. However, here’s my takeaway from the first three episodes: Just about everyone has a deep dark secret.

THAT DIRTY BLACK BAG (DOMINIC COOPER, NIV SULTAN) (photo credit: STEFANO C MONTESI/AMC+)

First, Steve, the pious and extremely unlucky farmer (who had his plow horses stolen at the beginning of Episode 1) has a couple of secrets that he’s keeping from almost everyone: First, he’s discovered gold on his land. Secondly, the only person he’s told is his mistress, Eve (played by Niv Sultan), who runs the local bordello and is one of two people who have access to whatever water that’s available… even his wife doesn’t know. Eve has a secret of her own and the only person that knows is, of course, our pious farmer friend. What’s the dreaded secret that she holds? Eve is bald which, apparently, is a big turn-on for Steve, not so much for the Sheriff. Speaking of, McCoy has some secrets, too. First, as we see in “Genesis,” he has had a fairly circumlocutious journey toward his position as Greenvale’s chief law enforcement officer. Second, he and his right hand man, Kurt (Ivan Shaw as the matter-of-fact, no-nonsense voice-of-reason to his boss’ hotheaded, brutally extravagant flights of fancy), had a wagon-load of money belonging to the Federal government drop into their hands quite by accident: The wagon’s guard thought that they were there to steal the money and was about to open fire on the pair before McCoy blasted him out of existence. Kurt, likewise, must have something that he knows about McCoy and is holding it over his head because every time the sheriff gets mad at him and threatens to kill him, he just laughs and walks away. Finally, Nathan (Benjamin Stender), another of McCoy’s minions has a couple of secrets, as well. Since his wife’s death, he has frequented Eve’s establishment, the Red Lantern, looking for love; he has found that love in Symone and has asked her to be his wife. The mistress is less than pleased at the prospect of losing one of her best workers and refuses to allow Symone to marry. The problem here is that Nathan promised his very young daughter that he was bringing her a new mommy. As Nathan confronts Symone about her decision not to become his wife, he lets slip that he has promised his Mary a new mother. Symone is mildly amused, telling her insistent beau that she was not mother material for which she receives a brutal beating (as all beatings tend to be here). When Eve sees his handiwork, she takes matters into her own hands, making sweet little Mary an orphan. And, of course, the whole time, Red Bill’s dirty black bag gets dirtier, blacker and now, with another head added to the collection, heavier.

THAT DIRTY BLACK BAG (DOUGLAS BOOTH, DOMINIC COOPER) (photo credit: STEFANO C MONTESI/AMC+)

So, without spilling any beans about the second half of the season (or how that second head ended up in Bill’s bag), just know that there is much more deceit, backstabbing, blood, guts and general mayhem to be had. As the previously mentioned IMDb reviewer said, things do become clearer after “Genesis,” with everything kind of tied up in a nice, big bow named Bronson (Guido Caprino). It’s gonna be fun seeing where the story goes after this season, as the series is currently mapped out to go three seasons of eight episodes each.

THAT DIRTY BLACK BAG (GUIDO CPRINO) (photo credit: STEFANO C MONTESI/AMC+)
DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Television | Darren Tracy | |   AMC+ Benjamin Stender CHristian Cooke Dominic Cooper Douglas Booth DVD/Blu-Ray Guido Caprino Gunplay Ivan Shaw Kidnapping Niv Sultan Prostitution Revenge Rose Williams Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western Streaming Series Streaming Video THAT DIRTY BROWN BAG Unrated Violence Western

THE BEATLES: GET BACK

(DISNEY PICTURES/APPLE CORPS LTD/WINGNUT FILMS (468 minutes; Rated PG-13); 2021)

You can’t really argue that GET BACK, the new three-part documentary directed by Peter Jackson about a pivotal month in the life of the Beatles during their last year together, isn’t THE cultural media event of Fall 2021. It’s been talked about for months, Paul McCartney himself did an NPR interview in which he discussed it, and it aroused the emotions of Beatle fans everywhere when the pandemic caused the project to morph from an intended theatrical film to a much longer documentary to be streamed exclusively on Disney+, the company’s streaming service, for three nights over the Thanksgiving holiday. Speculation in advance was intense, as one contingent of fans feared it would “whitewash” the long-discussed tensions of the Fab Four in their final days (which the previous LET IT BE documentary certainly left one with knowledge of), and another contingent waited for validation of long held beliefs: that Yoko broke up the Beatles, that Paul was a dictatorial tyrant in those last days, that George Harrison had simply had enough and stormed out in anger, and that the lads were simply incapable of working together creatively anymore after the many pressures of being the most successful and influential rock band in history.

THE BEATLES: GET BACK (John Lennon, Peter Jackson) (publicity still)

Well, then. New Zealand’s legendary director Jackson, never having been shy about tackling enormous, “impossible” projects (remember that LORD OF THE RINGS thing?) has a mega documentary for YOU! And guess what? You can put everything you thought you knew about the Beatles’ final days aside, and marvel at the intimate scope and cumulative effect of this roughly eight-hour saga and the many revelations it contains. First, some clarity: This is not really a film about the “final days” of the Fabs. What we have here is a cinema diary of just over three weeks from January 1969, when the band was working on a planned project that became LET IT BE, intended to be a film, album and concert that would capture their intention to “get back” to a more youthful, spontaneous atmosphere that’d harken back to… well, when they were more youthful and spontaneous. A look at the ACTUAL last days of the Beatles would focus on the ABBEY ROAD recording, the massive tensions created by Allen Klein being hired to manage their financial affairs (a pivotal decision supported by all but McCartney, who fought it tooth and nail and had to sue the other three to put an end to Klein’s shady practices), and John Lennon’s increasing desire to be with Yoko and do his own thing instead of being wrapped up in the monstrous machine that was THE BEATLES. You see all the seeds of this stuff in Jackson’s doc: Klein is introduced in the latter half of it, Yoko is seen at John’s side throughout most of the footage, and songs that later appeared on ABBEY ROAD are indeed rehearsed and talked about in many segments. But no, this is NOT an investigation of what broke up the Beatles. Jackson was given access to 60+ hours of unseen video and roughly 150 hours of unheard audio, and from this massive trove, he culled together a day-by-day record of what John, Paul, George and Ringo were doing during those fabled days first at Twickenham Studio (where they were under pressure to get stuff done before the movie THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN was to take over the place, starring Ringo and Peter Sellers), and later at #3 Saville Row, home to the Beatles’ own Apple Records label. The band had a reasonably interesting project in mind; you can’t fault their intentions, and all seemed eager to dive in and work after a fairly long break following the White Album. But things did NOT go smoothly, and we see quite clearly that they were in over their heads, unable to figure out WHERE to stage a live performance, WHICH songs to record and HOW to carry on efficiently without a “daddy figure” (as McCartney refers to Brian Epstein, who’d previously sheltered the boys to some extent from the worst tensions brought on by fame and industry pressures). Jackson had an absolutely daunting task here: All this footage has been buried in a vault for half a century, and the Beatles clearly had NO taste for delving into a pile o’ stuff that would, rumor had it, show them in their worst moments, unable to cooperate with each other long enough to simply record a new album and go on about the business of being the world’s biggest band.

THE BEATLES: GET BACK (Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison) (publicity still)

Except, that is not what happened. The story was WAY more complex than that, and not nearly so bleak. This amazing documentary allows us to travel back in time and be “flies on the wall” at the daily recording sessions, where the four lads discuss various songs and impulses, jam spontaneously, and gradually shape the compositions that would eventually become the songs most of us know like the back of our hands by now. Repeated segments showing the evolution of songs such as “Get Back,” “Don’t Let Me Down” and “Two of Us” are fascinating, and from a songwriting point of view, the insight into the process is invaluable. You may get sick of some of the repetition, but I’m pretty sure most committed Beatles fans won’t mind at all. To see how “Get Back” evolved from being a “protest song” about immigrants to a more aesthetically vague pop/rock tune that the boys agreed should be the next single, is captivating. And “Two of Us” has layers of resonance about the close relationship between Paul and John, both in the actual lyrics of the song (“You and I have memories/Longer than the road that stretches/Out ahead… “) and in the discussions we are privy to about the arrangement, in terms of whether it should be a simple acoustic song or something more sonically dense, with many scenes showing the two most famous songwriters working closely together to try to get it right. They ALL want to do that, and these things take TIME. Plain and simple. We see them getting impatient, making fun of themselves, and trying various things over and over. It could and does get tedious at times. The infamous exchange between Paul and George where the latter mutters that he’ll “play anything you want, or I won’t play at all if it will please you… ” that was a focal point in LET IT BE, occurs here with much greater context, that primarily being that Paul was trying to be the taskmaster and keep the group focused, not only on specific arrangements but on getting things DONE in a timely manner. With the full backdrop of the proceedings on display here, it’s pretty reasonable, and George’s impatience is understandable, not because McCartney was a jerk, but because “it’s all too much” at times. Plain and simple.

THE BEATLES: GET BACK (Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon) (publicity still)

George, of course, does walk out for a while; every essay about this documentary has talked about that. In 1969, Harrison was truly coming into his own as a songwriter, and there are two pivotal scenes that deal with this. A remarkable private conversation between Paul and John is captured on audio. John declares, “It’s like George said, he didn’t get enough satisfaction anymore because of the compromise he had to make to be together… it’s a festering wound that we’ve allowed to… and yesterday we allowed it to go even deeper, and we didn’t give him any bandages.” Paul is listening, clearly, and responds: “Yeah, we treat him a bit like that. See, because he knows what we’re on about. But I do think that he’s right. That’s why I think we’ve got the problem now, the four of us. You go one way, George one way, and me another… “

THE BEATLES: GET BACK (George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon) (photo credit LINDA MCCARTNEY/APPLE CORPS LTD)

The revelatory conversation continues with John openly stating he’s intimidated at times by Paul’s insistence on certain arrangements, and how he’s sometimes given up speaking out in favor of his own thing. He admits that “sometimes you’re right” to Paul, but that other times he has disagreed with the final results. In the context of all we know about the Beatles, this is just groundbreaking, to have this inside look at a tension-packed time. Meanwhile, we’re all aware of what was coming next for George Harrison. He was writing tons of new songs, including numbers like “All Things Must Pass,” “Isn’t It a Pity” and a little tune called “Something.” A much talked-about scene shows George struggling with the line to follow “Something in the way she moves/Attracts me like… ” Lennon comically suggests singing anything at all until a good fit is found. “Attracts me like a cauliflower,” he suggests, and a different scene shows George singing “attracts me like a pomegranate.” This is all pretty amusing, but when you step back for a moment and realize you’re seeing one of the greatest songs ever written in its infancy, a song that was obviously one of the highlights of the Beatles’ soon-to-be final studio album, ABBEY ROAD, you can’t help but be totally caught up in George’s place in music history right here. There’s a separate conversation between John and George where the latter tells John he’s written about “20 new songs” and that it would take ten more Beatle albums to get them all out there at the current rate of “two George songs per album.” George suggests he may just have to do a solo album, something which at first surprises John, and then seems to turn a light bulb on in his head. We all know what actually happened, and it’s simply another revelatory moment. So is seeing George being the pragmatic one through most of this documentary. While the others are brainstorming ludicrous ideas like doing a performance at an ancient historical site in Libya, or taking a selected group of fans on a large ship across the ocean to be the audience for whatever they’re gonna do, George wryly declares “We can’t even get Fender to send us a free amp.” This documentary will almost certainly increase your respect for George Harrison and his importance to the Beatles…

THE BEATLES: GET BACK (Billy Preston, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison, Yoko Ono) (photo courtesy: THE BEATLES)

Does the film show Paul McCartney as a raging egomaniac? No, because they ALL clearly were. Remember, they were already the most famous group in the world with endless expectations heaped upon them everywhere. We get to see various members reading their own press at the time, richly entertaining, including George reading a bit about him and John coming to physical blows, an event that did NOT actually happen. Paul is definitely shown paying the most attention to specific song arrangements, and the reality of trying to meet their deadlines, but he is about collaboration all the way. It’s amazing to see him and John working together closely; you really WANT them to figure everything out and keep making remarkable music. Songs that never became official Beatle songs are given bits of time, such as McCartney’s “Teddy Boy” and “Another Day” and Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth” and “Child of Nature,” which would in a couple of years morph into “Jealous Guy.” And wow, is there some fun seeing early versions of ABBEY ROAD tracks like “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” (showing Beatles road manager Mal Evans banging a device gleefully), “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,” and “Polythene Pam” enter the picture. Everything is a question mark in this film: WHAT songs will they record? WHAT songs will they play for whatever live concert they are going to do? How can they possibly deliver when they feel they only have maybe half a dozen songs with fully developed arrangements?

THE BEATLES: GET BACK (Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison) (photo courtesy DISNEY PICTURES)

But what is NOT yet truly a question: Are the Beatles going to break up? NO, that is not yet obvious. There are no “fights” in the conventional sense here; the lads are having a good time, they clown around, they crack jokes. It’s surprising in particular to see how good-humored Lennon is most of the time. He’s happy to have Yoko around (SHE, by the way, is almost continually a gentle presence, never intrusive, and even defended by Paul in a couple of scenes (“they just wanna be together, you know… “). With remarkable foresight, Paul declares in one scene, “Wouldn’t it be funny if in 50 years people say, ‘Oh, Yoko broke up the Beatles because she sat on an amplifier?'” So there’s plenty of myth smashing in GET BACK. When this footage was being shot by original LET IT BE director Michael Lindsay-Hogg (looking more youthful than you’d think and probably a bit in over his head), there were still several possible futures for the Beatles. That is crucial, because this film is NOT a breakup film. It’s about ambition, mega fame, the ups and downs of collaboration, artistic egos stretched to the limit, and problem solving on a grand scale. Watch the happy look on John Lennon’s face when keyboardist Billy Preston enters the scene and shows effortlessly that he can spruce up the arrangements on some of these new songs. “You’re IN the band!” Lennon tells him. Watch a fetching Linda Eastman and her energetic young daughter Heather, respectively, holding hands with Paul and taking photos (Linda and Paul were two months away from their fabled wedding at the time of this footage) and dancing around the studio gleefully, exuberant as a young girl could be. And watch, for the first time, the legendary “rooftop concert” in its entirety, the Beatles’ final live appearance, which of course was filmed on top of Savile Row, to the delight of some on the street below and the consternation of many others, including the British bobbies, who amusingly try to shut things down because of complaints. People on the street are interviewed and shown in effective cross cuts as the Beatles play, reflecting a reasonable cross section of opinions. This is music history, folks. But it’s told in a fresh, fascinating manner that changes what we thought we knew about the Beatles. And Peter Jackson wisely avoids any present-day interviews… he stated his desire to avoid that sort of thing. Nope, this is time capsule stuff, our unique opportunity to experience what the Beatles were going through in January of 1969.

THE BEATLES: GET BACK (Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison) (photo courtesy: APPLE CORPS LIMITED)

It’s amazing, honestly. What was to follow was the group throwing up their hands in despair at their inability to complete the planned album (in a still controversial move, the whole thing was handed over to Phil Spector, resulting in an album that almost no one would be completely happy with), a stunning decision to record a brand-new studio album that would give George Martin one more chance to fully produce the band, George Harrison a chance to show he’d finally equalled the others in songwriting prowess, and give McCartney a chance to spearhead perhaps the greatest medley ever featured on a rock album; a furious legal battle over Allen Klein and the failure of the other three Beatles to stop McCartney from releasing his debut solo album BEFORE the release of LET IT BE (the accompanying press at the time appeared to show McCartney “officially” announcing the end of the Beatles, even though that isn’t quite accurate), a disbelieving fan kingdom unwilling to believe it was “the end,” and of course, lots and lots of nasty comments and bad feelings. But that was what would FOLLOW the events in GET BACK. It is NOT what we see on screen, which is in fact an energetic, lively, mostly upbeat look at an intense collaborative period by four of the most famous musicians in history and their handlers, all trying to respond to the immense pressure of gargantuan fame. GET BACK really is a treat, if sometimes a patience-testing experience, that will be richly rewarding for dedicated Beatles fans. You won’t forget it if you watch it with focus and attention. There are scenes that are simply stunning in what they tell us, all these years later. And it’s invaluable as a detailed look at the creative process itself. Sure, it’s a pain to have to find a way to get Disney+ in order to watch this thing. But do it. Really. There has never been a documentary as insightful and surprising, in musical terms, as THE BEATLES: GET BACK. We owe Peter Jackson a debt of gratitude for pulling this off, and let’s be happy for Paul, Ringo and the wives of John and George, for seeing a critical record set straight at last.

UPDATE: Since this review was written, a DVD of the film was scheduled for release in February 2022. Apparently, a few copies managed to make it into the hands of some lucky fans, though once Amazon’s stock was depleted, the Disney Company pulled the package from its schedule and in April announced that the title has been delayed indefinitely due to “authoring challenges.” It now appears that the DVD and Blu-Ray editions will be released, at least in the UK, on July 26. The three-part docuseries is still streaming at Disney+.

DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Movies Music Reviews Streaming Video Television | Kevin Renick | |   Allan Klein Billy Preston Blues Rock Brian Epstein British Invasion Music Classic Rock Documentary George Harrison George Martin Glyn Johns John Lennon LET IT BE Linda McCartney Live Music Michael Lindsay-Hogg Movie Music Paul McCartney Peter Jackson Pop Music Psychedelic Rock Ringo Starr Rock and Roll Rooftop Concert Television Series The Beatles THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN Twickenham Studio Yoko Ono

WAITING FOR YOUR CALL: THE TIMOTHY WOODARD, JUNIOR INTERVIEW

TIMOTHY WOODWARD, JUNIOR (photo credit: EVAN DE NORMANDIE)

Timothy Woodward, Junior is an actor, a writer, a producer and a director. He has done at least one of those jobs, and in some cases, most of those jobs on a variety of TV shows and film projects, including STUDIO CITY, HICKOK, BEYOND THE LAW, AMERICAN VIOLENCE and THE FINAL WISH.

Woodward’s current project is THE CALL, a psychological horror movie set in 1987 and starring the wonderful duo of Lin Shaye (THE FINAL WISH and the INSIDIOUS franchise) and Tobin Bell (the SAW franchise) as a seclusive couple who, after being tormented by four teenage pranksters (played by Chester Rushing, Erin Sanders, Mike Manning and Sloane Morgan Siegel), suffer a horrible tragedy. Edward Cranston calls the four to tell them that his wife, Edith, has died and has named each of them in her will. There’s a catch, however. For them to collect the money, each of them must go to a room in the Cranston home and make a phone call… to Edith, who had a telephone buried with her. If the youths can stay on the line for one minute, they will get their inheritance. Along the way, each must face their biggest fears and regrets. The film is a dark and brooding character study that occasionally brings to mind the lurid Slasher flicks of the 1980s in vivid splashes of red.

THE CALL DVD box

After a brief run at drive-in theaters in October, THE CALL will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray on December 15 at the usual outlets. This brief phone interview with Timothy was conducted on October 2, the day of the film’s theatrical release.

THE MULE: So, we got ten minutes. Let’s jump right into it. Watched the movie last night. I liked it… a lot. I’ve gotta say, a lot of stuff made sense to me that didn’t make sense in the trailer. Primarily, the press release said that it was set in 1987 and I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out why such a bizarre… I mean, why pick 1987? And then… I mean, this is an homage to those classic Horror/Slasher movies from that time period.

TIMOTHY WOODWARD, JUNIOR: Yeah. For sure. And, you know, I turned four years old in 1987. That was the first year I watched my first ever Horror movie. So, that’s also why I picked that year. Could be the setting, ‘cause it was originally kind of generic ‘80s, so I picked ‘87. I just thought there was a lot of Horror that was coming out around that time. I kinda started setting out the sort of ‘80s Horror vibe.

THE MULE: Yeah, it worked really well, too.

TWJ: Thank you. I think we’re gonna release another trailer that’s gonna have more of an ‘80s vibe. We had two and we were going back and forth on which one we were gonna use. We didn’t want people, when they saw the trailer, to think that we were using the ‘80s almost as a crutch. So, we wanted to kinda catch people with the hook and then potentially release another one where we kinda focus on, you know, the more… as we get closer to the movie, the uniqueness instead of violence in the trailer.

THE CALL (Lin Shaye) (photo courtesy: CINEDIGM)

THE MULE: Sure, sure. The one thing I gotta ask you, man: Working with Lin and Tobin had to be just absolutely incredible. How did you snag them for this work? I know that Lin had… she’s got a production credit in there but, other than that, how did you end up choosing them for these roles and how was it to work with them?

TWJ: So, I got the script, actually, from Lin’s manager through Lin. They were already producers on it and they gave it to me to direct. I worked with Lin on THE FINAL WISH. Jeffrey Reddick (producer on both films) and I had a really good rapport and working relationship on that movie and they liked what I did. They came to me and said, “Hey, look, we’ve got this script and we’d like you to direct it, maybe come on board as producer. What do you think?” And I wanted to work with Miss Lin again… in a heartbeat so, I read it, liked the concept and we started punching up the characters and, I think a couple months later we were in production, ready to go.

THE CALL (Tobin Bell) (photo courtesy: CINEDIGM)

And, you know, the idea of Edward Cranston… we were trying to figure out… there’s this couple, revenge that has to happen, there’s… if you’ve seen the film, there’>s probably things that aren’t in the trailer, it’s not just a straight they break windows and a revenge thing by any means. So, you wanted someone who would feel suspect a little bit, did he have anything to with this. Someone, you know, who just fit and Tobin had come across in conversations between me, Gina (Rugolo, another producer on the film) and Lin and he just felt like a perfect fit from the start. I’m just so glad we went that direction because I think he did such a great job and Lin and him had such good chemistry immediately. Which, you usually don’t see people just walk on set, you know, never really met in person or worked together before in person and they’re iconic like that, in a certain genre, and then they just click and they disappear into their characters like they are just who they are, you know. They look like they fit, they feel like they fit and those scenes were so easy because their chemistry was so good. It was just point the camera and shoot.

THE MULE: Yeah. That’s amazing that you got into production so quickly. That almost never happens.

TWJ: Yeah, we were lucky that we were able to do it, to pull it off.

THE MULE: The… uh… I’m gonna put “teenagers” in quotes here, but they all really pretty much hit the spot with their characters and the horror aspect, their horror at what was going on… from originally, >you know, the whole prank thing… there’s a backstory there that’s just amazing.

TWJ: Thank you, man. Yeah, that’s something that I carved out… even while we were filming, I was coming up with different situations and ideas for that because the backstory in the original script wasn’t fleshed out much for each character, it wasn’t much more of a blueprint. The two weren’t originally brothers and we said, “Hey, let’s make them brothers.” I worked with Jeffrey Reddick and Patrick – Patrcik Stibbs, who wrote it and Jeffrey Reddick, who was a producer – and, I was like, “Let’s make these guys brothers and, then, kinda create a situation for all of them where it’s just a little bit more personal.” You know, the idea is, hopefully you think one way about a person, then you feel another way in another moment. And it makes you feel for them or you don’t. It’s just to make them feel more three dimensional, so they didn’t just feel like complete cardboard characters until you feel like, “Hey, I understand why this person may be this way.” I can understand what this person’s going through.

THE CALL (Chester Rushing, Erin Sanders, Mike Manning, Sloane Morgan Siegel) (photo courtesy: CINEDIGM)

THE MULE: Right. I was actually going to say that, without giving anything away, all four of those characters come with baggage that kinda makes sense for… the way they turned out. Let’s put it that way.

TWJ: Yeah. Definitely. Yeah, for sure. And, their story for why they’re doing what they’re doing, you know… again, can’t give away too much… but, you feel one way, you think one way and then, it’s something else and the trailer tells you something completely different. That’s kind of the idea, we want you going in not really knowing exactly what it is you’re going to see and exactly who to pull for and in what way and be just… entertaining, you know. A psychological war. Psychological war is important to me because I think that’s… the idea of living in your mind and repeating your worst nightmares and your dreams… I mean, your fears on loop and repeat, that’s pretty terrible thing to be, you know.

THE MULE: And, it does work on that level, as well, as far as psychological horror, psychological thriller, whatever you want to call it. And, not only is it an homage back to those very bloody ‘80s kind of Horror things, but even back further than that when the horror wasn’t actually shown on screen, it was just intimated. I mean, it works really well because there’s stuff going on in that… in the final third of that movie that really… it sets the standard for stuff to come, I think.

THE CALL (Brooklyn Anne Miller) (photo courtesy: CINEDIGM)

TWJ: Yeah. That was the idea and it’s just a little bit… people are like, “Well, you got Tobin from SAW and SAW was gory… ” and people kinda automatically assume from the trailer that it’s gonna be really just this… gory film and I’m going, “You may be surprised. It’s not going to be just like you think.” It’s very different… on purpose. It was done that way because I think your mind can imagine way worse than what I can show you. If I can show you a piece of it, your mind can go other places, you know. So, that’s the thing about it. Whether it’s JAWS and the shark, you know… if you see it all the time it becomes this way… But, we wanted to pull out spots in a few areas to make your mind go, “Oh, shit!” and just let you wonder what they’re going through. Even at the end of it, ya know.

Actor/Creator Features/Interviews DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Movies | Darren Tracy | |   Chester Rushing Creator Interviews DVD/Blu-Ray Erin Sanders Gina Rugolo Horror Jeffrey Reddick Lin Shaye Mike Manning Movies Patrick Stibbs Psychological Thriller Slasher Movie Sloane Morgan Siegel THE CALL THE FINAL WISH Timothy Woodward Junior Tobin Bell

UP ON THE GLASS

(GRAVITAS VENTURES/SAVE THEM WILD DOGS (96 minutes; Unrated); 2020)

Wow. I remember a review of the Viggo Mortensen film A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, in which the writer used the effective line “You won’t know what hit you” to summarize the dastardly plot. That’s how I felt at the conclusion of the genuinely compelling new film UP ON THE GLASS. I really don’t want to give away much here, because this film is worth experiencing on your own, without knowing key details beforehand. It manages to be suspenseful, visually appealing and non-formulaic throughout most of its 90-minute running time, and that is quite an achievement. So here’s what I can say. Jack DiMercurio (Chase Fein), the main star of this unique film, is a restless, introspective sort who is not given to explaining his emotions or thoughts very easily, and has an uncertain employment history. He’s agreed to spend some time at the lake house of his old friend Andy Shelton (Hunter Cross), who’s a bit too abrasive and honest, but is a successful businessman who seems to have good intentions. Andy’s wife Liz (Chelsea Kurtz) is only talked about for the first portion of the movie. We learn that Jack may have once been involved with her and gets moody when her name comes up. We also have to endure the obnoxiousness of a third friend, “Mose” (Steve Holm), who joins his old buddies for the weekend. At first you think this movie is going to be a character study of these three friends, starting to feel their ages, drinking too much, and questioning each other’s life choices. They’re in a beautiful setting along Lake Michigan, enjoying the shoreline and the imposing sand dunes Andy takes them to so they can lose themselves. “There’s space out there. Men need that,” Andy tells his pals. But though we’re shown some memorable scenery, and these guys overall seem to be basically likable, friction soon develops. Andy pushes Jack to share more than the latter is comfortable with. “I think you’re TOO smart,” he tells him matter of factly. “It trips you up. You overthink things.”

UP ON THE GLASS (Chase Fein, Hunter Cross, Steve Holm) (publicity still)

For this part of the film, I was admiring the believability and charisma of the characters, especially Jack, and the bright, striking cinematography by Mark Blaszak. I was intrigued. But then there is a sudden, rather implausible event that changes the entire nature of the film. Hopefully no one gives it away to you because, despite this didn’t-see-that-coming development, the film trades on a different kind of suspense and a couple of pretty rich themes from then on. Although we’ve been treated by this point to the appearance of a couple of lovely women from town, store employees Becca (Jessica Lynn Parsons) and Kate (Nikki Brown), their part in the story is mostly minimal. Not so when Liz shows up at last. Chelsea Kurtz does a fine job investing Liz with depth of character and conflicting emotions. She and Fein have clear chemistry and authentic-sounding conversations, and there is some seriously good acting going on here, as a sense of buried romantic potential must compete with a few other developing themes. You sort of WANT these two to get together. A dripping faucet in the kitchen, which Jack promises to fix at least twice, provides a metaphor for the passing of both time and opportunity, and these two terrific actors really do make you want to see what will happen in the next scene. The grim nature of reality, however, prepares you to expect bad stuff. Director and co-writer Kevin Del Principe shows plenty of command with his helming of this tale, and he has the patience to trust that most audiences will take the ride, slow though it may be at times. I think he has the makings of an exceptional filmmaker.

UP ON THE GLASS (Chelsea Kurtz) (publicity still)

I simply can’t say a word about the ending. I watched this film early in the morning, letting a couple of its big surprises wash through me, and I want to enjoy my feeling of sheer admiration, something I don’t feel near enough these days after I screen a film. You do NOT get a neat resolution of anything with UP ON THE GLASS. It does almost nothing that you want or expect it to do. It certainly gives you a couple of complex characters with shifting motivations. And it creates its own brand of intense suspense that for me was truer to what might happen in real life than a dozen bigger budget films. And I liked all six of the principal actors, with something pretty unforgettable being captured here by Chase Fein. He’s an actor to watch. Judging from a few less enthusiastic reviews on IMDB, not everyone was enamored with Del Principe’s directorial vision, however, and you certainly could be forgiven if you don’t like the main plot twist or the way you’re left hanging at the end. But I genuinely admired this film for how it avoided the obvious at most turns, and tried to hint at much bigger themes and character conflicts than what we usually get on screen. I won’t forget UP ON THE GLASS, that’s for sure, and I plan to follow the careers of virtually everyone who played a part in making it.

DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Movies | Kevin Renick | |   Chase Fein Chelsea Kurtz Drama DVD/Blu-Ray Hunter Cross Jessica Lynn Parsons Kevin Del Principe Mark Blaszak Movies Nikki Brown Psychological Thriller Steve Holm Unrated UP ON THE GLASS Video-On-Demand

KEN OSMOND: AN APPRECIATION

KEN OSMOND, 1995 (photo credit: CBS VIA GETTY IMAGES/photo copyright: CBS PHOTO ARCHIVE)

I wanted to share a few thoughts about actor Ken Osmond who played Eddie Haskell on the classic TV sitcom LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, as well as its revival, THE NEW LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, in the 1980s. Kenneth Charles Osmond passed away on May 18, 2020; he was 76 years old. LEAVE IT TO BEAVER ran for si seasons, from 1957 to 1963, and is still widely distributed in reruns. The Eddie Haskell role was originally to be a one shot deal, but the producers of the show really liked Osmond’s portrayal and kept the character in the series. Eddie appeared in 96 of the series’ 235 episodes. He was shrewd, under handed and, even if he wasn’t up to something, he always LOOKED like he was up to something that was borderline legal. Eddie was everything that his best friend, Wally Cleaver (Tony Dow) wasn’t; Wally made good grades, was an athlete, popular with girls and well liked by everybody. Eddie was none of those things and, maybe that was the secret of their friendship. I think at times that Wally secretly wanted to have a little more of the bad boy in him.

LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, circa 1958 (Hugh Beaumont, Barbara Billingsley, Ken Osmond, Tony Dow, Jerry Mathers) (publicity still)

Wally’s parents, June and Ward (Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont), always saw through Eddie’s saccharine politeness (“Gee Missus Cleaver, your hair looks real pretty today.”), but generally let things be; he was always welcome in their home and they never told Wally that he couldn’t hang out with Eddie. Another friend, the loutish twenty year old high school senior, Clarence “Lumpy” Rutherford (wonderfully played by Frank Bank), sometimes accompanied the pair, falling in with Eddie on whatever scheme he had in mind. Likewise, Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver (played with kind of a dumbfounded simplicity by Jerry Mathers), had his share of friends who led him into mischief: Larry Mondello (Robert “Rusty” Stevens), who appeared in 68 early episodes and later, there was Richard Rickover, Gilbert Bates and Whitey Whitney (Rich Corell, Stephen Talbot and Stanley Fafara) to lead the gullible Beaver into some fairly far-fetched misadventures. But, it was Ken Osmond’s Eddie Haskell who was the gold standard for the bad boy character, played with an unctuous charm and a certain indefinable refinement that you really couldn’t help but like. We all knew (or was) an Eddie Haskell in grade or high school, so both kids and adults could easily relate to him and to the show. A few years back, TV GUIDE named Eddie as one of the most iconic characters in television history. It’s been said that Eddie was the role model for Bart Simpson.

LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, circa 1958 (Tony Dow, Jerry Mathers, Ken Osmond) (publicity still)

When LEAVE IT TO BEAVER ended, Ken made guest appearances in other series in the mid-to-late ‘60s (THE MUNSTERS, PETTICOAT JUNCTION and LASSIE, to name a few) and a handful of TV movies, but, he was so typecast as Eddie Haskell, that his career never fully recovered; he ended up playing the character in …BEAVER reunion movies and series, as well as reprising the role in a couple of ‘90s series, PARKER LEWIS CAN’T LOSE and HI HONEY, I’M HOME. With a wife and a new baby on the way, Osmond became a Los Angeles motorcycle cop, serving from 1969 through 1988, when he was granted disability due to an injury suffered in the line of duty eight years earlier. He wrote a book in 2014 called EDDIE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AMERICA’S PREEMINENT BAD BOY, definitely a fun read. After 60 years, LEAVE IT TO BEAVER and Eddie Haskell’s slimy machinations are still fun to watch. I wanted to thank Ken Osmond for giving me a lot of laughs and a great character to remember him by. In a favorite episode, June says to Ward, “Of all the boys around, Wally would have to pick Eddie Haskell as his best friend.” Ward replies, “Oh, I don’t know dear, we need someone to blame Wally’s faults on.” And that pretty much sums it up for me!

All six seasons of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER are available on DVD and Blu-Ray, either individually or as a “Complete Series” box set.

Actor/Creator Features/Interviews DVD/Blu-Ray HEY, MA! WATCH THIS Streaming Video Television | Bill Winer | |   Actor Feature Barbara Billingsley Classic Television DVD/Blu-Ray Eddie Haskell Frank Bank Hugh Beaumont Jerry Mathers Ken Osmond LEAVE IT TO BEAVER Obituary Rich Corell Situation Comedy Stanley Fafara Stephen Talbot Streaming Video Television Series Tony Dow