Q-500 Experiment: I have one that can SEE!

Week in Review
Back in January, I was filling up my queue for the Experiment, I picked actors and directors I liked, and picked from what was available. There were also a lot of films that I had heard of, some, like Fellini’s 8 1/2, I even pretended to have seen at one point in my life. There are a few films I have watched over and over: The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Rounders, among others. Why do I watch these films repeatedly when there are so many I haven’t seen? Part of this project was to explore films I should like but don’t know about. Three of these came up this week, directed by Brian DePalma.

Even if you haven’t seen his most notable film, no doubt you’ve heard some Scarface reference or have seen a Tony Montana (Al Pacino’s character) shirt that is so popular nowdays, even if you haven’t seen the movie. Although not his best film by far, millions have seen Mission: Impossible. Many also saw The Untouchables. There were two fine Sean Penn roles in Casualties of War and Carlito’s Way. And if you haven’t seen Carrie, I’d be surprised if you hadn’t seen one of the many films that stole from it.

But still, there’s more from this director that you should check out that I bet you’ve missed.

Phantom of the Paradise
Why this isn’t as well known as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, I’ll never understand. It’s a glam rock retelling of Phantom of the Opera. Paul Williams is the evil Satanish baddie, and yes, he’s totally evil.

Obsession
If you like Hitchcock’s Vertigo, you’ll enjoy DePalma’s homage to the film, written by Paul Schrader. John Lithgow steals the show in an early role of his as the cunning and ruthless antagonist.

Sisters
Margot Kidder stars in this film that’s the third creepiest twin movie ever, after David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers and Mary Kate and Ashley’s New York Minute.

The Fury
Another film in the vein of Carrie. Shy, isolated teenagers in the ’70s were prone to having psychic powers, sometimes dangerous and powerful abilities. Kirk Douglas and John Cassavetes square off in a fight for control of the Telekenetic Teens.

Pick of the Week: They Live!
There were a lot of good films to pick from this week. I thoroughly enjoyed the director’s cut of Donnie Darko. McCabe and Mrs. Miller was without flaw. Ron Howard was never more fun than in Eat My Dust! But the pick of the week is the one I watched late night on Sunday, John Carpenter’s They Live.

I saw They Live at a drive in theater. We filled up Don Bailey’s van with freaks and then filled up our brains with LSD. I don’t know why we thought cramming as many people as possible in the van on All You Can Fit In Your Car — $10 Tuesdays and then dosing everyone was a good idea. More so, I don’t know why we picked Child’s Play.

I kept getting distracted by the other screen, which was showing They Live. But I had the audio from Child’s Play. Don had a tricked out stereo system, and we could hear Chuckie running under the seats. Some jerk thought that the van was floating down a river and freaked out and wouldn’t let anyone get out.

The movie made a lot more sense with this viewing. It’s my pick for several reasons: it’s an awesome sci-fi action film (think The Twilight Zone with gratuitous fighting and gunplay), it has social commentary, and you may otherwise pass it off as a hacky ’80s sci-fi flick if I don’t highly recommend it to you. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, of WWE (née WWF) fame plays the lead as a down-on-his-luck guy who puts on a pair of strange sunglasses and for the first time, sees the world how it REALLY is.

THE PACE
13. Count ’em, slacker! 191 DVDs through May 28. 309 left in the next 217 days. For a weekly average of 9.96 … under 10 once more!

I was able to get to more DVDs this week as I still had two left from the week before on Monday, a day that I’m often without DVDs at all. Two Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Which all got replaced by the weekend. I still have one left for Monday as well. However, with the Memorial Day leaving us without mail, I probably won’t get DVDs on Tuesday. I may have to wait till Wednesday. I’m not sure what I’ll get yet.