Sean Gregory Smith gives EC his ‘Mixed Message’
October 30th, 2009 by Scott Marks
You never know where your next film is going to come from.
I met Sean Gregory Smith in the KPBS green room while waiting to tape this month’s Film Club. He seemed like a nice enough guy and we exchanged some amusing small talk before I was ushered into the studio.
The next day I received an email that began with, “I really dug your friendly personality.” Either he doesn’t get out much or he’s waiting to be fitted for a strait-jacket.
The letter went on to say, “I personally had weaseled my way into a studio tour in an attempt to make some connections over at KPBS for I’m currently looking for my next professional gig. I was the Morning Show Producer over KPRi 102.1FM here in San Diego for the past 5 years and then most recently my wife and I this past year had the opportunity to go do some volunteer work over in Thailand. We are now back in SD getting settled and all that jazz.”
Thailand? I barely make it past Lemon Grove, but something about his style appealed to me.
There was a postscript. When it comes to budding filmmakers there is always a postscript:
“As a film critic I would never waste your time and send you the following link however thought you might dig this little short film just because of the San Diego connection. It’s a little film that a buddy (director Jeffrey Durkin) and I put together this past year titled ‘Mixed Message.’ Dig! Until we meet again.”
I have said it before and I’ll probably say it again: I need to see another short film like I need a head in my hole, but I watched. To my surprise, he had me laughing and the film does a terrific job of capturing a certain sector of San Diego society. It’s beautifully put together and contains enough angst, profanity and contempt for humanity that I felt compelled to share it with you.
Thanks for wasting my time, Sean. It was a pleasure. Let’s do lunch, babe.
Click here for more info.
Tags: jeffrey durkin, mixed message, san diego movie, sean diego filmmaker, sean gregory smith, sean smith, short film, VideoFiled Under Uncategorized
Martin Scorsese: 11 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time
October 29th, 2009 by Scott Marks
The Daily Beast asked Martin Scorsese to select the 11 scariest films of all time. The biggest surprise is Peter Medak’s “The Changeling.” Haven’t seen it since it opened, but don’t remember much beyond a few hilarious grunts and grimaces from George C. Scott.
The only one I have yet to see is “The Entity.” It played in Chicago and I avoided it because the scariest part of the poster was “Directed by Sidney J. Furie.” At the time I only knew of him from such monumental stinkers as “Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York,” “Gable and Lombard,” and “The Boys in Company C.” After last year’s viewing of “The Appaloosa” (and Marty’s personal dispensation) I’d be more than happy to give it a look.
Only two of His selections (”The Exorcist” & “Psycho”) made it to my list. Never really connected with “The Haunting” or “The Innocents,” and “The Shining” has more black comedic chuckles that jolts. “Night of the Demon” is a masterpiece, but I can’t say that it scared me.
Read Marty’s list here.
It takes a lot to scare me so I only came up with 9. Sure, I could have talked about how the transformation sequence in “The Nutty Professor” traumatized me when I was a kid, but that’s not exactly a film that comes to mind when discussing horror movies. My selections are based on my initial responses to the movies, not how I react to them today. As Marty noted, contemporary audiences, hammered by constant scenes of graphic gore, might view “Psycho” as something tame, but when it first came out audiences were terrified.
You can listen to my thoughts on Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” and Robert Harmon’s “The Hitcher” here.
“Repulsion” / Roman Polanski (1965)
Say what you will about the man’s personal conduct, he sure knew how to terrify audiences. Before motherly Rosemary became trapped by Satan in a New York brownstone, a sexually repressed Catherine Deneuve was assailed by nightmares and rabbits in a London flat. First saw it on the second half of a midnight double feature at the Playboy Theatre. It didn’t hit the screen until around 2 am and it unnerved me so that I didn’t fall asleep until the next night. A truly terrifying psychological horror film that still finds me flinching every time those arms emerge from the wall and hook Catherine Deneuve.
“The Exorcist” / William Friedkin (1973)
I have grown to hate this movie, but when I saw it opening weekend at The Gateway I almost peed my pants. We stood on line in the freezing cold for 90 minutes waiting to get in to. Back in the day films didn’t open on 4,000 screens across America and The Gateway was the only Chicago theater it played on its initial release. The hardest part for me to watch is the needle piercing Linda Blair’s throat. At one point, my friend became so startled that his bucket of popcorn went flying four rows in front of us.
“The Seventh Victim” / Mark Robson (1943)
I first saw a pristine 16mm Kodak print in my friend Rick’s basement. This atmospheric tale of devil worshiping in the Big Apple continues to creep the hell out of me. Most horror films from this period are dated enough that the fright has been drained out of them. Not “The Seventh Victim.” The ending still packs a wallop: “I run to death and death meets me as fast, and all my pleasures are like yesterday” followed by the sounds of a chair falling and a noose tightening around the victim’s neck.
Continue reading Martin Scorsese: 11 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time
Tags: Alfred Hitchcock, carrie, eyes without a face, george romero, halloween movies, horror films, Martin Scorsese, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, psycho, repulsion, rosemary's baby, scariest horror films of all time, scary movies, The Exorcist, THE HITCHER, the seventh victimFiled Under Rants
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