Happy Halloween! I hope that you know what you will be for Halloween. I don’t know what to be for Halloween. Maybe by the time this goes to press, I’ll have an idea. But as of now I’m pretty much stuck. I would like it to be film-related, obvs. I would like it to be semi-obscure, obvs. I would like it to be… a third quality with a hyphen in it, most obvs. Perhaps super-choute. In the past, I’ve worn costumes based on movies. I was Batman in ’89; I was Royal Tenenbaum in ’02. But what now? Someone from “I Heart Huckabees?” They all just wear expensive suits, though. Prada suits, as Robert pointed out. I could be the Mark Wahlberg character. I would need oversized fireman boots and a bicycle. I don’t think I can pull that off. Raquel suggested I be a character from a film noir, clothed entirely in B&W, my face painted in shades of grey (think low-key lighting), but I don’t want to have shit all over my face for a day.
At senior cocktails, I was a bourgeois pig, but I can’t really repeat that costume. And, anyway, it was a costume that only works when you hear the name. How many “Cereal Killers” and “Caesar Salads” have you met on Halloween? Shit. Whatever. I’ll figure something out. Maybe I’ll wear my costume from last year. It is the costume that keeps on giving.
No! It has to be something super-obscure! The film snob in me would just die if I didn’t. And I’m a senior, which means this is the last time in the history of the world that I will get to dress up for Halloween. The last time! Once I become a real adult in the world of reality, I must lose all ties to youth (except occasional Mac & Cheese pig-outs.) Wait… why am I telling you this?
It’s got to be obscure. I need a costume that only 25 percent of people who see me understand. No! 15 percent… at most! So how do we find that nugget of a costume? I think it’s time to dig deep into the secret special place where I hide my innermost desires. Let’s look at my Facebook profile. I’m talking about the “Favorite Movies” section. I’ll have you know, fellow snobs, that my favorite movies far exceed the allotted space for favorite movies, so they extend to my “Favorite Quotes” section. And, you know…my favorite quotes are from movies anyway, so… Maybe somewhere in here is the answer to my Halloween costume conundrum. I now present the facebook version (there’s a friendster one, and a myspace one as well) of my favorite movies… ahem: films (only peons call pictures movies):
“The Tenant,” “Madchen in Uniform,” “Performance,” “Border Incident,” “Straw Dogs, ”Pandora’s box,“ ”Le Samourai,“ ”Once Upon a Time in the West,“ ”The Apartment,“ ”Minnie & Moskowitz,“ ”Flirting with Disaster,“ ”Suspiria,“ ”Playtime,“ ”Closely Watched Trains,“ ”Ladies and Gentlemen… the Fabulous Stains, “Down by Law,” “Rio Bravo,” “Detour,” “Nashville,” “Mauvais Sang,” “Olympia,” “Cabin Fever,” “Demonlover,” “Cowards Bend the Knee,” “The Five Obstructions,” “Time of the Wolf,” “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp,” “Peeping Tom,” “Black Narcissus,” “Bunny Lake is Missing,” “Irreversible,” “Dr. Mabuse: der Spieler,” “Audition,” “Haute Tension,” “The Saddest Music in the World,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”…[editor’s note: Max has way too many favorite movies, we had to cut some for space purposes.]
OK! It worked! I found my costume! Maybe somewhere in there you did too! On with the show!
This weekend in the Cinema is Tarantino’s “Kill Bill: Vol. 2.” So this movie is pretty amazing, people. It’s a real change of pace from the first volume, but in a lovely way. Where the first one is the kung-fu movie (raise your hands if you like Sonny Chiba), this is the spaghetti western (raise your hand if you like Sergio Leone), complete with tons of old Ennio Morricone western music. This movie features some of the most memorable stuff I’ve seen on screen in the recent past: ancient fighting master Pai Mei, the blonde on blonde (pardon the Bob Dylan reference) sword fight in a tiny mobile home, the scene that takes place underground (not to ruin it for those of you who have yet to see the movie), and the triumphant comebacks of both David Carradine and Michael Madsen (who here proves to us that he is more than just another character actor). And, if you thought that the first volume lacked the trademark Tarantino pop-culture monologues that you love so much, well then this one’s for you.
“Kill Bill Vol. 2,” in the CFA Cinema at 7:30 and 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday. $4.
Simultaneously and for free in the Science Center:
TWO CLASSIC UNIVERSAL HORROR MOVIES! Celebrate Halloween the old school way. Don’t go see “The Grudge,” cuz word on the street is it’s super shitastic! Go see these two brilliant chillers from James Whale that stand the test of time. On Friday, Claude Rains is “The Invisible Man,” and on Saturday, Boris Karloff meets his mate in, “The Bride of Frankenstein.” These movies are irresistibly fun. If you like new horror movies and have not seen any old ones, then I will cry.
NEXT WEEK IS ELECTION WEEK: Wednesday in the Cinema at 8pm, we kick things off with Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the movie. ”Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here. This is the war room.“
AND TONIGHT IN THE CENTER FOR FILM STUDIES:
At 7:30 p.m., a screening of ”Pine Barrens,“ an episode from the third season of ”THE SOPRANOS,“ followed by a roundtable discussion with Phil Abraham ’82 (director of photography, ”THE SOPRANOS“), Miguel Arteta ’89 (director ”SIX FEET UNDER,“ ”THE GOOD GIRL“), Philip Casnoff (actor, OZ), Diane Kolyer (producer, ”HAPPY TO BE NAPPY AND OTHER STORIES OF ME“), Bruce Eric Kaplan ’86 (executive producer, ”SIX FEET UNDER“), Bruce McKenna ’84 (writer, ”BAND OF BROTHERS“), and Joe Pantoliano (actor, ”THE SOPRANOS,“”THE MATRIX,“ ”MEMENTO“).
Leave a Reply