birth. movies. death. june 2015 issue 24

BIRTH.MOVIES.DEATH. / JUNE 2015

MAMIE VAN DOREN INBORN RECKLESS (1959)

NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD

NOT RATED44

NOT RATED NOT RATED

THOUSANDS OF RARE FILMS, TV MOVIES & SERIES DIRECT FROM THE STUDIOS VAULT2015 Turner Entertainment Co. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved

WARNERARCHIVE.COM

DVD, BLU-RAY & STREAMING

Letter From The Editor

CONTENTSA Little Sadness Could Make INSIDE OUT The Next Pixar Masterpiece

THE BURBS: Dantes Suburban Inferno

COBRA: A New Kind Of Cop

FELT Gives Rape Culture What It Deserves

Fulcis THE BEYOND: Stop Making Sense

drafthouse.com birthmoviesdeath.com drafthousefilms.com fantasticfest.com mondotees.com

THE CONNECTION: French Cool, French Crime

#1 WITH A BULLET Essential Crime Thrillers

Editor-in-ChiefDevin Faraci Managing EditorMeredith Borders Associate PublisherHenri Mazza Art DirectorJoseph A. Ziemba Graphic DesignersZach Short, Stephen Sosa, Kelsey Spencer Copy EditorGeorge Bragdon Contributing WritersJeremy Smith, Greg MacLennan, Devin Faraci, Brian W. Collins, Bill Norris, James Wallace, John Gross, Joseph A. Ziemba, Christian Parkes, Jon Stobezki, Tim League Advertising and SponsorshipsCorey Wilson | [email protected] Public Relations InquiriesBrandy Fons | [email protected] All content 2015 Alamo Drafthouse | drafthouse.com | birthmoviesdeath.com

Promotional images and artwork are reproduced in this magazine in the spirit of publicity and as historical illustrations to the text. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the respective filmmakers, actors, and studios.

Your Guide To Drinking: The Mojito

Paleo Pictures: Dinosaurs on Film

Summer Beer Jam: The French {Hop} Connection

Video Vortex: Climbing BACK FROM HELL With Filmmaker Matt Jaissle

The Last Word With THE CONNECTION Director Cdric Jimenez

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DEVIN FARACIBadass Digest Editor-in-Chief

Read more at birthmoviesdeath.com

@devincf

07SUMMER LOVIN FROM THE EDITOR

I try to discuss the theme of any given issue in this space, but Ive been staring at our June contents for a while and I cant really find a theme. Which maybe IS the theme

-- this is an issue that celebrates some really exciting diversity in the kind of movies we love.

This month our content focuses on the enormous movies -- the best crime cinema of all time in honor of Drafthouse Films' THE CONNECTION, a look at great cinematic dinosaurs for JURASSIC WORLD, a visit to the Pixar campus for INSIDE OUT -- and the underrated movies -- Joe Dantes THE BURBS

-- and cult classics -- THE BEYOND and BACK FROM HELL -- and even the small arthouse discovery FELT. This is an issue that runs the gamut of the kind of cinematic experiences you can have at an Alamo Drafthouse, and I couldnt be more proud of it.

Thats a pretty good theme, right? I dont need a clever headline for this one or a quippy sign-off -- the breadth of our movie love is more than enough. 6


DEVIN FARACIBirth.Movies.Death Editor-in-Chief


@devincf

A Little Sadness Could Make INSIDE OUT The Next Pixar Masterpiece

Joy! Thats the emotion you want, the one that were always told is the most important. Being happy and positive and cheerful are the exalted states of being; all others are problems, and have to be solved.

In INSIDE OUT, the new Pixar film from possibly-actual-genius Pete Docter, Joy is the emotion that steers the ship inside young Rileys mind. Joy was the first emotion to show up in Headquarters when Riley was born, and shes the one who lords it over the other emotions -- Fear, Anger, Disgust and, most of all, Sadness. Sadness, who appeared in Headquarters second. Sadness, who cant keep her hands off Rileys memories, permanently altering happy ones into blue-tinged melancholic recollections.

When Rileys family uproots her from her happy Minnesota home and drag her to the drab, overwhelming San Francisco, things really go crazy. Rileys already at that age when her emotions start getting out of hand, but the chaos in her life - and the way her parents arent dealing with the changes that well either -- takes it all to the next level. And that emboldens Sadness, who feels compelled to play with Rileys Core Memories, the foundation stone pieces that power her Islands of Personality, the masses that make her who she is. Theres Family Island, Hockey Island, Truth Island, Friends Island and Goofball Island, all adding up to the personality of one 11 year old girl. What happens when you screw with those Core Memories?

Joy doesnt want to find out, and so -- just as she has since the beginning, when Sadness was making newborn Riley cry and Joy was trying to make her laugh -- Joy tries to suppress Sadness, and in the process accidentally gets both of them shunted out of

Headquarters, deep into the labyrinth of Rileys Long Term Memory. Together they must make their way back to Headquarters while the remaining emotions do their best to guide the girl through harrowing days at a new school and exhausting nights with her frazzled parents.

Its easy to assume that INSIDE OUT is about how important Joy is to Riley, but theres a clue early on that things might be different -- we see inside the Headquarters of her mom and dad, and Sadness and Anger are running the shows there respectively. As the movie goes on -- press saw about an hour of it at the Pixar Studio last week -- it becomes clear that Pete Docter doesnt want to conquer Sadness. He wants to embrace it.

"We all want happiness in our life, Docter said in an interview after the screening. I mean, there are so many books on like how to be happy and what you need for happiness, and you want that for your kid too! You want your kid to be happy. We literally tell our kids don't be sad, and yet there is a real value to all the other emotions that are part of the richness of life. It's not until you really recognize that you really have the ability to connect with the world in a deeper way.

We even tried pairing Joy up with Fear, like [asking] what were the right kind of key emotions you go through in junior high, said producer Jonas Rivera. We kept coming back to Sadness. It felt a little more truthful.

Joy is a pixie, made of zillions of little particles of light, always bouncing around and voiced with the infectious enthusiasm of Amy Poehler. Sadness, meanwhile, is short and dumpy and blue, stuffed in a sweater and hiding behind oversized glasses. Phyllis Smith of THE OFFICE voices her perfectly.

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Their push and pull, especially as they explore the recesses of Rileys mind in an attempt to get back to Headquarters, informs everything thats happening.

Imagine if the rich emotional complexity of the first ten minutes of UP -- the happiness and the tragedy, the love and the sorrow -- were stretched out for an entire film. Thats how the hour of INSIDE OUT we saw (they stopped the film just as it got to the third act) felt. This doesnt feel like old, pre-sequelitis Pixar -- this feels like a new, even smarter and braver Pixar. The level of emotional maturity on display was extraordinary, and as Sadness and Joy try to find their way home their actions have real consequences

-- Rileys Islands of Personality begin falling away. In

some ways INSIDE OUT has the biggest stakes of any movie of the year, even though most of it takes place inside the head of a girl, because whats happening in there will determine the woman she grows up to become.

For Docter, that woman is someone who has a healthy relationship with Sadness.

In America you read about people medicating to avoid sadness. They don't want to experience sadness... and yet it's such a vital part of being human. 6

INSIDE OUT is in theaters June 19. Check drafthouse.com for listings.


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THE 'BURBS: Dante's Suburban Inferno

Almost every picturesque small-town neighborhood is blighted by that one unkempt dwelling that threatens property values and scares the hell out of little children. Its typically a weather-beaten structure partially masked by overgrown shrubs in which families of rodents plot to befoul the fine lawns and porches of responsible homeowners. The owners? They run the gamut from

eccentric shut-ins to disgraced former pillars of the community to, well, people who just dont place a high priority on appearances. In most cases, theyre nothing to fear, but when dusk falls over the otherwise idyllic lane, the shadows cast by the out-of-place abode invite all manner of terrified speculation. Surely, theres evil lurking behind that shredded screen-door.

@mrbeaks

JEREMY SMITHAint It Cool News West Coast editor



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These middle-class fears run wild in Joe Dantes THE BURBS, a backlot-bound satire that effortlessly combines genuine horror with broad physical comedy. Released in February of 1989, the film got a box office boost from Tom Hanks, whod just received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor (as the manchild hero of BIG). Hanks was spot-on casting as Ray Peterson, a suburban everyman whose curiosity about his weird Eastern European neighbors, the Klopeks, spurs an escalating series of calamities that peaks with the partial destruction of his once-peaceful block. After an ominous opening scene that finds Ray sneaking out of his house in the middle of the night to investigate some noisy goings-on in the Klopeks' basement (his attempt to cross the property line is discouraged by cartoonishly violent gust of wind), Dante and screenwriter Dana Olsen skillfully introduce the audience to the residents of Mayfield Place (a cookie-cutter cul-de-sac nestled somewhere in the cozy environs of Hinkley Hills). Ray is the sane center of this microcosm, a financially comfortable husband who has thus far been a devoted husband to his wife, Carol (Carrie Fisher), and a loving father to his relatively normal son Dave (Cory Danziger). Rays just awakened to the first day of a week-long vacation, and its here he makes the disastrous decision to kibosh a retreat to the familys lake house. Carol believes he needs time away from their home, but Ray would simply like to hang around, be lazy, listen to the ball game and drink a couple hundred beers. Basically, Ray wants to enjoy the nice house in the nice neighborhood hes earned via hard work at his unspecified job.

This means spending an inordinate amount of time surrounded by his goofball neighbors. Theres Mark Rumsfield (Bruce Dern), a retired Army Lieutenant whos waging a bitter personal war with widower Walter Seznick (Gale Gordon), and, specifically, Walters lawn-fertilizing poodle Queenie. Then theres Ricky Butler (Corey Feldman), a friendly young man who greets the morning by blaring heavy metal for the blocks listening enjoyment. Worst of all, theres Art Weingartner (Rick Ducommun), a freeloading snoop who thinks nothing of inviting himself over to the Petersons for breakfast and raiding their refrigerator. Though Ray initially plans to placate Carol by fixing things around the house, Art steadily fuels his leeriness of the Klopeks. Their last house burned to the ground! No one saw them move in! They bury stuff in their backyard under the cover of night! Faster than you can say Jeff Jeffries, Art has Ray convinced that the Klopeks are up to no good, and most likely -- citing a book on Demonology authored by none other than CURSE OF THE DEMON's Julian Karswell -- Satanists.

The reference to Jacques Tourneurs 1957 supernatural classic is vintage Dante; his films are always dotted with nods to his favorite pop cultural things, which encourages the viewer to not only go Easter Egg hunting (Hey, theres a box of Gremlins cereal!), but to also consider the composition of each shot. Given that THE BURBS

remains confined to Mayfield Place (aka Universal Studios Colonial Street), Dante possesses absolute Hitchcockian control of the films visual. Its easily the most elegantly designed movie of his career, featuring confidently orchestrated crane shots and meticulously choreographed takes that consistently serve a narrative/thematic purpose. One of Dantes finest flourishes is the entrance of Hans Klopek (Courtney Gains), the youngest of the bizarre brood whose shoddy workman clothes are grimly offset by a blood-red beard that makes him look like a freshly-fed wildcat. Hans has merely stepped out of the Klopeks' dilapidated house to retrieve the mail, but Dante stages the moment as a Sergio Leone-style showdown; all of the neighbors get a dramatic, horrified close-up (with subsequent pull-out for added dramatic effect) before Dante cuts to a ninety-degree pan around the back of Hanss head. In less than a minute, Dante has cleanly conveyed the neighbors primal fear and the Klopeks' sense of persecution; by the time Jerry Goldsmith is quoting Ennio Morricones Man With a Harmonica as Ray and Art approach the Klopeks' front door, the lowest of low stakes are granted a ludicrously operatic significance.

Thats the pure cinematic pitch of Dantes film, and the director has a blast ramping up the neighbors xenophobia while tacitly justifying it. Hans is harmless enough, but the elder Uncle Reuben (Brother Theodore) is a baleful man with an exquisite distaste for Ray. Dante gets tremendous comedic mileage out of Theodores unflinching glare, particularly in a scene where Ray, in an attempt to be a good houseguest, disgustedly munches on a sardine-topped pretzel. All this is before he meets the Klopeks' patriarch, Werner (Henry Gibson), whose kindly demeanor is hilariously undercut by the gloved, bloody hand he extends to Ray (he later explains its red paint).

Dante does such an ace job keeping the viewer off-balance as to the Klopeks' true nature that its initially disappointing when he finally reveals them to be actual murderers. But Dante doesnt let the suburbanites completely off the hook. Though Ray has realized that the best thing for him is a trip to the lake, Art sounds off to a local news crew with a vigilante-esque fervor that presages the paranoid isolation of todays Tea Party movement. As established in that moment with Hans on the porch, Dante isnt explicitly taking sides; hes simply presenting the whole fiasco as an intractable American dilemma. But Dante does have a perspective, and he presents it in the films final shot. As Mayfield Place has gone to fiery hell, Ricky has hung back with his friends and watched the proceedings as live entertainment. As the ambulances and police cars drive away, Ricky turns to the camera, breaks the fourth wall and exclaims, God, I love this street! Dantes no scold. He accepts that this is who we are, and, rather than lament our foibles, hed prefer to laugh at them. Its a strangely hopeful surrender. 6

THE BURBS screens at the Alamo Drafthouse this month. Check drafthouse.com for listings.


COBRA: A New Kind Of Cop

GREG MACLENNANAlamo Drafthouse Cinema Video Editor and Film Programmer


@alamogreg


Society is breeding a new kind of criminal. It's also breeding a new kind of cop.

Only three people have ever been nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay in the same year. One is Orson Welles. Another is Charlie Chaplin. And the third? Sylvester fucking Stallone.

This is where the ridicule stops and Stallone starts.

If you've ever had the pleasure of witnessing Marion Cobretti -- that name is probably the reason why he decided to go with the nickname "Cobra" despite being an homage to John Wayne's first name -- in all his glory, then you've bared witness to the absolute marvel of what an '80s action movie is boiled down to its absolute essence. Almost every non-idiot loves sweetened and condensed milk, but if you take that same milk, boil it down and render it to its absolute base, do you know what you get? You get the most delicious caramel the world has ever tasted. COBRA is that mother-fucking caramel. Gone are any true levels of investigation. Gone are any unnecessary dialogue scenes or psychological complexities. What remains is only one thing: violent punishment cascading into your face at a blistering speed of 24 frames-per-second for 87 beautiful minutes of action set pieces, homicidal maniacs and radical montages.

But COBRA wasn't always COBRA. COBRA was originally Axel Elly, a fast-talking jokester from Detroit, who found his way to Beverly Hills to investigate the murder of a friend. Sound familiar? What eventually became COBRA started out as a Stallone rewrite for BEVERLY HILLS COP. Not believing himself to be much of a yuckster, Stallone decided to rewrite the script to match what he does best, and, in doing so, got himself kicked off the project by writing a significantly grittier movie with ridiculously more expensive action scenes. Thankfully, he was allowed to take what he had done and translate it into a movie of his own design. Well, his and Paula Gosling, the author of (A Running Duck), which Stallone's screenplay bared just enough resemblance to warrant Gosling getting a writing credit.

Originally receiving an X rating from the wonderful people at the MPAA for extreme gore and violence, the film needed to be recut from its original runtime of 130 minutes to garner at least an R rating. When TOP GUN became a smash hit with COBRA's release only one week away, everyone started to worry about the film's future and pared it down even further. Stallone removed much of the plot and scenes involving characters other than his own and brought the film in at a lean 87 minutes in an attempt to make it short enough to add an extra screening a day. Critics hated it, the Razzies nominated it and moviegoers embraced it

to the top of the box office as it garnered $160 million dollars worldwide against a $25-million-dollar budget.

Echoes of that longer cut live in whispers on the internet to keep hopes and dreams alive for a restored cut to make its way to our eyes one day. While that may please diehard fans of COBRA, I believe the best possible version of the movie still lives on the 35mm film of which it was originally printed: The movie that Stallone arguably ghost directed for George P. Cosmatos (this and FIRST BLOOD PART II); the movie that pays infinite homage to DIRTY HARRY while simultaneously breaking the mold to become the quintessential '80s action movie; the movie that has a health conscious hero cutting a piece of pizza with a pair of scissors and chewing a match to keep himself from smoking; the movie with a character so bold he drives a car with a license plate that reads

"AWSOM 50."

We might enjoy more gruesome violence from some scenes, and we would -- maybe -- even appreciate some development of the two-dimensional supporting characters. But, we should always appreciate the white-knuckled thrill-ride of a no-nonsense cop out to protect a police witness from a mysterious cult of homicidal axe-wielding psychopaths. COBRA isn't a perfect movie, but it's an essential movie. It's a movie worthy of your scholarly studies, as it relates to a titan of celluloid's history, as much as it's a movie for you to shut your mind off and just bask in the opulence of absolute excess. Sylvester Stallone is a gift from our cinematic lords and he is worthy of your praises. He's created icons for the ages, one-liners we will never forget and he will never give up on us, even after so many have given up on him. If movies had a disease, Stallone would be the cure. 6

COBRA screens at the Alamo Drafthouse this month. Check drafthouse.com for listings.

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FELT Gives Rape Culture What It Deserves

It is possible that FELT is the first film in a new offshoot of the rape/revenge genre -- rape culture/revenge. It is certain that FELT is a beautiful film from one of the most exciting new directors working today, anchored by an astonishing performance by an artist without any previous acting experience.

Director Jason Banker has a unique way of making movies. In both FELT and his debut TOAD ROAD, Becker follows real people around with his camera, getting into their lives and then creating a story within that. The result is something so completely naturalistic its not clear where reality ends and fiction begins. In the case of FELT Amy Everson, an artist, plays Amy, an artist, who has been suffering PTSD following an unexplained -- but certainly sexual -- trauma. Amy creates art that takes her out of her identity, fashioning masks and muscle suits and giant penises she wears, seemingly to reclaim the power taken from her by her unnamed attacker.

As the film opens Amys friends are trying to get her back into the world, and we follow her, almost vignette style, as she tries to interact with men, and we see how each man is, in his own way, a total fucking creep or asshole. When she meets Kenny, played by always-working indie movie mainstay Kentucky Audler, it seems like shes finally found the right guy, but then again this is a movie that played at Fantastic Fest

FELT could be described as a slow burn, but that would be ignoring the films true center, which is Everson herself. Shes in just about every single frame of the movie, and if she didnt work -- if she was as irritatingly quirky as an artist who makes felt penises might be -- the film would collapse. But Everson is an astonishing presence, a woman who embodies the idea that were stronger in the places where we are broken. Everson is equal parts charming and dark, intense and silly, and the way she fiercely shares her fragility makes her a completely engaging protagonist. Everything about Everson, from her toy-strewn room to her voice, makes you love her.

Which makes her mental decay all the more unsettling. For much of its running time FELT could be just another twentysomething mumblecore relationship movie, but as the third act comes into focus Banker begins tightening the grip of suspense. We know something bad is going to happen, and that ugliness is constantly on the horizon. Banker infuses scenes with a quiet dread that becomes a thrumming fear by the end.

If I have one complaint about FELT its that I would have liked to see the ending go even bigger, and nastier. Still, its a minor complaint because FELT isnt really about the act of violence at the end of the film, its about all the small, almost invisible acts of violence visited upon women every single day of their lives. 6

FELT arrives in theaters this month. Check drafthouse.com for listings.

@devincf


DEVIN FARACIBirth.Movies.Death Editor-in-Chief


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Fulci's THE BEYOND: Stop Making Sense

In one of the many bonus features on Grindhouses extensive 3-disc Blu-ray set of Lucio Fulcis THE BEYOND, we learn the fun history of the films origins. Fabrizio De Angelis, the films producer, went to a film market with a thin outline, a poster, and... well, thats about it. But due to the then popularity of Italian horror flicks and zombie/supernatural fare, he quickly sold it anyway, at which point he hurriedly called screenwriter

Dardano Sacchetti and told him to get a full script ready to go. With such an odd (but not uncommon) genesis, its not really a surprise that the film doesnt make a whole lot of sense even by Fulci standards, and its randomness was exacerbated by a demand from the German distributors for more zombie action (which is why the finale has David Warbeck gunning down zombies who have appeared out of nowhere).

BRIAN W. COLLINSBirth.Movies.Death Contributor


@brianwcollins


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But in many ways, the films dream-like logic is part of what has made it an enduring classic. For years, Fulcis ZOMBIE and (to a lesser extent) CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD were the go-to titles for budding horror fans in the US, but once Grindhouse restored the film in 1998 (seven minutes of gore/violence were cut from the original US release, making the thing even harder to follow) BEYOND took prominence, and is now regarded as his masterpiece by many. Its billed as the second part of the Death Trilogy that began with CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (aka GATES OF HELL) and ended with HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, but one doesnt need to see them all or in any order -- like Carpenters Apocalypse trilogy, they arent connected by characters or narrative. Catriona MacColl also appears in all three, true -- but as different characters, so if anything its a disservice to think of them as part of a group -- itll just leave you more confused.

Perhaps the films unique form of logic can be attributed to the fact that it spends more time on plot than traditional zombie movie action, and what it offers isnt as over-the-top as you might expect. Nothing in THE BEYOND is as disgusting as, say, the puking scene in CITY, as Fulci opts to lull you with suspense-driven setpieces that are quickly punctuated with, for lack of a better word, routine kills. He indulges in his usual assault on eyeballs (twice!), but anyone who has seen his earlier horror films will be numb to his ocular terrorism by now. There arent even all that many zombies until the end either; we know who they all are (a plumber, a maid, etc) and the keep their attacks brief and often solo -- its not until the scene where a character and her dog are surrounded by them that we feel like were in typical zombie movie territory. This keeps the emphasis on genuine terror and unsettling atmosphere, rather than risk turning folks off from the movie due to the excessive violence (or making them numb to the sight of it).

Even the films goofs end up adding to its strange, occasionally hypnotic feel. The plot centers around a doorway to Hell located in a basement of a hotel in Louisiana... a state where there ARE no basements due to the sea level. Im sure it was just an oversight, but it kind of fits -- like the doorway itself, its

something that you wouldnt expect to find in the area, inadvertently adding to the dream-logic that permeates everything that happens once that door is opened. Plus, if they were sticking to geographic accuracy, we would be robbed of the scene where MacColl takes the plumber down to the flooded basement and, from the stairs, immediately asks How long will it take to fix? even though he hasnt even seen the source of the problem yet. The (terrific) soundtrack from frequent Fulci collaborator Fabio Frizzi even offers its own head-scratchers: there are three tracks named Voci Dal Nulla (translation: Voices From Nowhere) that have different runtimes and rhythms.

On the aforementioned Blu set, someone (his daughter, if memory serves) comments that its cruel that Fulci died right around the time that the internet was blowing up, because he rarely got to see how loved he was in other countries. Not only did it rob him of some vindication after being so often ravaged by critics (Ebert, on THE BEYONDs later success as a midnight film: Its not late enough), and I think hed probably have fun reading peoples messageboard theories about his puzzling narratives, but along with the advent of the internet came DVDs and then Blu-rays, which denied US of his participation on all of them. Itll take you several hours to go through all of the supplemental material on Grindhouses Blu-ray, but Fulci himself was obviously not around to join his cohorts -- an audio interview from the '80s (which is hilarious) and a video of a panel where he is joined by Warbeck (who died not long after Fulci) are all he gets to say on what will likely be the definitive release of his magnum opus.

The film will be showing at select Drafthouse locations this month in all of its uncut glory. Whether youve seen it a million times or youve yet to dive into its flooded Louisiana basements, you owe it to yourself to check it out. For you newbies theres no better way to see a film for the first time than at an Alamo (please let them have themed food/drinks!), and for you die-hard fans... maybe this time itll all make sense! 6

THE BEYOND plays at the Alamo Drafthouse this month. Check drafthouse.com for listings.


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Humphrey Bogart first defined the iconography of crime-noir cool: fedora, trench coat and a constantly lit cigarette. The French quickly took note, absorbed everything and made American cool their own. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Yves Montand and a slew of others were, at first, donning trench coats and cribbing American crime film language. The French auteurs, however, quickly developed their own artful style and rhythm and, I dare say, surpassed the craft of American crime films with classics such as LE SAMOURA, RIFIFI, LE CERCLE ROUGE and many, many more.

What ensued was a sixty-plus year free-flowing cultural exchange program. 70s American crime directors Martin Scorsese and William Friedkin were deeply influenced by the French crime aesthetic of the 50s and 60s. Scorsese and Friedkin, in turn, went on to influence todays generation of French directors such as Jacques Audiard (A PROPHET) and now Cdric Jimenez (THE CONNECTION).

Jimenez clearly has his influences in both French and American crime films, but with THE CONNECTION he has made a very personal and unique film. Jimenez grew up in Marseilles and has strong family connections to the real life case depicted in the film. Everyone growing up in Marseilles at the time knew the epic duel between magistrate Pierre Michel (Jean Dujardin) and Tany Zampa (Gilles Lellouche). Jimenezs father even owned a Marseilles club at the time when Zampas gang was controlling the liquor, drugs and prostitution of every nightlife establishment in the town.

Although there are parallels between Friedkins FRENCH CONNECTION and THE CONNECTION, it is in no way a retelling or even the French B-side of the same record. The true events depicted in THE FRENCH

CONNECTION took place in the mid 1960s, and the heroin from Marseille to New York continued to flow freely through the same pipeline until fifteen years later when Pierre Michel decided to singlehandedly dismantle the machine in the late 1970s. That is the era of THE CONNECTION, replete with cocaine parties, disco, silk shirts and flowing sideburns. The detailed design of THE CONNECTION is note-perfect, as is the 35mm cinematography.

Jean Dujardin (Academy Award-winning Best Actor from THE ARTIST) and seasoned character actor Gilles Lellouche are both dazzling as they face off against each other in what amounts to a classical Greek tragedy. Although from very different worlds, both men are a similar mix of good and bad. They are both loyal family men, handsome, whip-smart and driven to succeed. And they both desperately want to destroy each other.

In the States, Jean Dujardin is best known for his comedic turns (LUCKY LUKE, the hysterical OSS spy films and even THE ARTIST). In THE CONNECTION, he is given latitude to leave comedy behind and unleash his full acting prowess as the unstoppable police magistrate Pierre Michel. Ill go ahead and say that his performance in THE CONNECTION far exceeds that of his character George Valentin from THE ARTIST.

THE CONNECTION has it all: an incredible true crime story, a natural coda to one of the most revered crime films of all time (THE FRENCH CONNECTION), great writing, powerful performances and a healthy dose of that intangible but very real French cool. THE CONNECTION is Cedric Jimenezs debut feature, but I have a strong feeling we will be seeing much more of him in the years to come. 6

THE CONNECTION: French Cool, French Crime

@timalamo

TIM LEAGUEAlamo Drafthouse/Drafthouse Films Founder/CEO


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BIRTH.MOVIES.DEATH. / JANUARY 2015

#1 WITH A BULLET Essential Crime Thrillers

Set in the 1930s, CHINATOWN is director Roman Polanskis ode to crime cinema, painting a Californian orange-and-sepia-toned hue over the typical high-contrast black and white shadows of the genre. Jack Nicholson stars as sleazy private eye Jake J.J. Gittes, who eschews literary PI tropes by eagerly doing divorce work. Gittes opportunism lands him in the thick of a conspiracy -- inspired by the real California Water Wars -- involving the missing husband of Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) and her despotic but cheerful father, land developer Noah Cross (the legendary John Huston). It also features Polanskis most memorable acting turn pre-Brett Ratners RUSH HOUR 3.

CHINATOWN remains the quintessential neo-noir to this day, due in no small part to Robert Townes exemplary, Oscar-winning screenplay and its marriage of classical pulp themes and the cynicism and depravity for which 70s cinema is so well known. The proof is writ large in the films finale. Whereas proto-noir staple CASABLANCA featured studio-scrubbed optimism and dialog that promised the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Gittes final walk-off is set to the offscreen cries of a young woman accompanied by a morally ambivalent -- even nihilistic -- platitude: Forget it, Jake its Chinatown. (Jon Stobezki)

Other films on this list are cool, suave looks at the world of crime. GOODFELLAS, based on the true story of mobster Henry Hill, comes from the other direction. Martin Scorsese's immortal masterpiece is a look at crime as a working class activity, focusing on guys who can never become made men but who still dream of making a big score. It's a world of soldiers and crooks, not dapper dons or crusading cops. It's a world of rats and backstabbers, where Robert DeNiro's Jimmy the Gent knocks off his hold-up crew partially out of paranoia, but mostly out of greed. Crime doesn't pay in GOODFELLAS -- you either end up on a meat hook or in tract housing, eating egg noodles and ketchup. Which fate is worse? (Devin Faraci)--Frank's the best safecracker in town, he's got a tight team and he gets away clean. But you can't be the best in town and not draw some attention. Frank gets an

offer he can't refuse and accepts a series of high risk scores for big-time gangsters in an attempt to accelerate his dream to reality. Frank's about to learn the real cost of his American Dream.

THIEF is one of those movies that is so cool you want to live inside of it. If you're completely unfamiliar I'd say it's DRIVE straight out of 1981... but infinitely better. Michael Mann writes and directs this incredibly photographed heist film to the hypnotically perfect sounds of Tangerine Dream. He creates the kind of mean and abrupt violence that rocks you back in your seat and leaves you legitimately shocked at what you just saw. The cast is a who's who of celebrities and the story is simple and elegant: A man wants to make enough money to get away clean, but when he works in the dirtiest business things can get complicated. (Greg MacLennan)--Career criminal Neil McCauley (De Niro) and his regular crew (including VAL KILMER!) are in for one last big score before McCauley calls it quits. He's lived his life by a code of don't get involved in a relationship you can't walk away from in 30 seconds, and he's gotten very rich living this way. Detective Vincent Hanna (Al "WHOAH!" Pacino) is an L.A.P.D officer who has dedicated himself to nabbing McCauley and has seen his personal life crumble among trying to balance his devotion to his job and his loved ones. What follows is a cat and mouse game of some of the finest action set pieces ever put to screen and an all-star blowout of theatrical fireworks with one of the greatest casts at the top of their game.

Michael Mann is a master of action and suspense, and HEAT is his grand opus. Directors have all tried to replicate the chaotic poetry of HEAT, and while some have gotten close, none stand up to the original. Even real-life criminals have taken inspiration from HEAT with armored car robberies in South Africa, Norway, Denmark and Colombia. This movie oozes cool with some to spare. Poignant, gripping and awesome, HEAT will leave you with a tear-streaked face and a pulse twice as high as when you walked into the theater. (Greg MacLennan)--Brian De Palma, Oliver Stone... Al Pacino: it doesnt get much tougher than that.

@bmoviesd

BIRTH.MOVIES.DEATH.STAFF



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The tale of a determined Cuban immigrant taking over a drug cartel in 1980s Miami while succumbing to greed was originally given an X rating three times over when first submitted to the ratings board. It wasnt until Brian De Palma got professional narcotics officers involved to claim this film was a realistic depiction of the drug underworld and should be widely seen that the ratings board relented and gave the film an R. De Palma then distributed his preferred directors cut with an unapproved R rating.

Relentlessly violent and spectacularly over-the-top, SCARFACE walks the thin white line between celebratory excess and deep moral drama. (Greg MacLennan)--Winner of five 1972 Academy Awards including Best Director (William Friedkin), Best Actor (Gene Hackman) and Best Picture, THE FRENCH CONNECTION is a masterwork of American crime cinema, telling the true-ish story of the most notorious drug-smuggling rings in history and one cop intent on bringing it down. Despite his obsessive, and generally unscrupulous, traits, Hackmans Popeye Doyle remains an iconic character, no doubt in part due to his fabulous Porkpie hat and bizarre, apparently trademark question: Have you ever picked your feet in Poughkeepsie?

While THE FRENCH CONNECTION maintains a fairly traditional good guy/bad guy narrative, it ventures into some startlingly dark places -- such as when, brandishing epithets, Popeye targets a Harlem bar looking for informants in a callous display of casual racism -- faithfully depicting the eras reality of New York Citys mean streets (Scorseses film of that title would arrive three years later). But Popeyes most thrillingly off-the-rails moment of infamy comes in the form of a reckless, white-knuckle (and, according to film legend, reputedly quasi-legal/semi-improvised) high-speed chase sequence culminating with our hero gunning a man down from behind -- demonstrating the kind of grit we grudgingly admire from lawmen willing to do whatever it took back then. The kind of grit that we fear from the lawmen of today. (Jon Stobezki)--There is no greater solitude than that of the samurai unless it is that of the tiger in the jungle... Perhaps Bushido (BOOK OF THE SAMURAI)

And so begins Jean-Pierre Melvilles LE SAMOURA.

Within the first few frames the French auteur definitively asserts an alternate universe in which contract killer Jef Costello (Alain Delon) is doomed before uttering a single word. Costello (a nod to crime boss Frank Costello) lies in silence as Melvilles lens deliberately gazes over a barren studio apartment furnished exclusively by necessity and banished of color. The only accouterment afforded our cooler-than-fuck protagonist is the ripe metaphor of a bird in a cage.

What follows is a story of murder, guns, love, smoking, guns and redemption. But what were really experiencing is a methodical dissemination of the male id, of which there is no one better suited to this iconic role than Delon himself. Like Lee Marvins Walker in POINT BLANK and, well, everyone in THE WILD BUNCH, Costello is a man who is out of place and out of time, yet there is no other context in which he could exist.

The stark minimalism and wa-fer thin plot dont hinder Melvilles vision (or Delons passion for the project: he agreed to star when learning Costello is a man of very, very few words); on the contrary, they liberate it. Unhindered by the weight attached to narrative complexity, Melville is free to soak in the precision and minutia that is all but lost in todays cinema. The result is an existential dream of a film that deliberately transcends the confines of the genre it exploits and challenges us to meditate our relationship to self: are we the tiger in the jungle or the bird in the cage? (Christian Parkes)--Upon release in 1992, John Woos HARD BOILED obliterated the aesthetic and violent majesty of the crime thriller genre.

As was the case in Hong Kong, Woo was prolifically tearing off a succession of genre-elevating titles (most notably THE KILLER, A BETTER TOMORROW) but it was with HARD BOILED that he really let rip. Complete with his biggest budget and the knowledge that this was his last film before making like Fievel and heading West, Woo set out to pay a sincere homage to the police that had long been portrayed as corrupt in his cinema.

The result is a flamboyant exercise in excess that never loosens its grip or slips out of control; this is the Liberace Vegas residency of the genre. It is also a film that expertly challenges the role of masculinity in action cinema. Turning to his go-to, Chow Yun-Fat, and mega actor / pop star, Tony Leung, to embody all that is good, he places them in a context much bigger than good vs. bad, instead opting for a relationship that is imbued with meaning (beyond honor and loyalty) that blurs gender stereotypes. Couple the protagonists subtext with epic set pieces that are exquisitely orchestrated dances (punctuated with violence) and the key image of a militarized Yun Fat clutching a shotgun in one hand and cradling a baby in his other, and you have a crime thriller as revelatory as anything in the space.

Such was the impact of HARD BOILEDs balletic action that its influence can be directly lineated to the best of the genre, notably Manns HEAT and Evans THE RAID(s), but Woo crafted a film that cherished something neither of those titans possess: heart. In many ways HARD BOILED marked an end to the Heroic Bloodshed sub-genre Woos films served to typify. But goddamn if it isnt best break-up love letter ever written. (Christian Parkes) 6

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Your Guide To Drinking: The MojitoBILL NORRISAlamo Drafthouse Beverage Director

@wnorris3



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Around mid-June every year, the mercury in Austin thermometers starts to climb into triple digits on a consistent basis, walking outside becomes a Sisyphean effort and whiskey drinks start to feel impossibly heavy. Even short, sharp sours like the daiquiri become a bit too intoxicating for slow, lazy sipping on back porches or inside air conditioned refuges. Longer drinks become a necessity, and, when made properly, the mojito is among the best on offer.

Over the last fifteen years, it seems that every bar that can order in some rum, a lime and a bunch of mint thinks they can make a proper mojito, even if the bartender might sullenly roll her eyes at you when you order one. A good mojito does take a bit effort, but its not the long and difficult procedure that some bartenders want you to believe, and it doesnt take anything special to make well.

One Theory of Origin: Sir Francis Drake, Pirates & FirewaterThough the mojito appears to be the bastard love child of the mint julep and the daiquiri, its more likely a forerunner of both.

In the latter half of the 1500s, Sir Francis Drake was running around the Caribbean, plundering, pillaging and generally wreaking havoc on the Spanish colonies on behalf of the English Crown. One nations pirate is anothers hero. The Spanish, who rightly feared Drake and his crew, dubbed Sir Francis El Draque and didnt manage to rid themselves of him until he croaked due to dysentery after failing to take San Juan in 1596. Amongst Drakes crew was a pirate who went by Richard Drake (history does not record if they were related), who is said to have first mixed up some aguardiente de cana, a sort of primitive proto-rum, or sugar cane firewater, with limes, mint and sugar while Sir Francis was anchored near Cuba. It was either celebratory drink or used for medicinal purposes to revive a sick crew before attempting an attack on Havana. Richard dubbed the drink El Draque in honor of his boss, and it became the preferred tipple of crew and boss alike.

Points in favor of this theory: Its logical -- Drake often based operations in Cuba; aguardiente de cana was easy to obtain; pirates have a well-known affinity for rum; sugar and limes were plentiful; and Yerba Buena, a species of spearmint, grew wild on the island. Indeed, the Yerba Buena, literally the good herb, lends a lot of credence to this theory, as it was widely used at the time as a medicine for just about anything, including stomach upset.

Better still, the mojito is also widely known in coastal regions of Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia, other places Drake was known to have visited during his tour of the Caribbean.

Further support: during a later cholera epidemic in Havana, one Ramon De Paula noted, "Every day at 11, I consume a little Draque and I am doing very well, so clearly the Draque existed as a medicinal beverage in addition to it being a damn fine intoxicant.

The Proper Use of the Muddler, The Nature of Fresh Herbs, The Perils of ChlorophyllYou belly up to the bar and order, A Mojito, please. Your bartender grabs a mixing glass and a pinch of wilted mint leaves, drops them into the glass, grabs a stick of wood covered in peeling varnish and sets to work mashing and grinding your mint into a shredded pulp seasoned with wood stain. Nothing could be more wrong.

Herbs like mint contain all their pleasing aromatics and flavors in tiny nodules on the surface of the leaf, and, to a lesser extent, the stem. Take a bunch of fresh mint, and raise it to your nose. Smell it. Now, slap that mint gently between the palms of your hands and raise it to your nose again. The gentle bruising of the nodules releases a massive burst of aromatics. This is what your muddling is meant to do when creating a mojito.

Better still, take a fresh mint leaf and put it in your mouth. Press the leaf against the roof of your mouth as hard as you can with your tongue and revel in the pure minty flavor. Now chew the mint. The mint flavor is still present, but it is undercut by a vegetal, metallic bitterness that comes from the chlorophyll stored inside the leaves. Mint gets its deep green hue from the presence of a large quantity of chlorophyll in the leaves, and chlorophyll molecules contain, among other things, copper: not a particularly pleasant flavor.

When muddling any herb into a cocktail, be aware that shredding or overly crushing the herb will always add that chlorophyll to the finished product. Its easy to avoid that mistake, and the first step is the tool. The most common muddlers in use today are simply the wrong tool, either too slender to achieve the proper technique or, worse, finished with grooves or teeth that shred herbs to bits. Get a heavy wide muddler without teeth and without varnish. Unvarnished wood is good, and the preference of most craft bartenders. Heavy rubber or even plastic will work. Just find something that feels good in your hand, is wide enough to almost fill the bottom of your glass, and let the tool do the work.

All you need to do is lightly press the herbs with the business end of the muddler against the bottom of the glass. Dont crush, dont shred. Just press. Softly.

A Very Brief Note on LinguisticsMojito, as its root, uses mojo, the Spanish word for

spell, and thus a mojito is a little spell. Sometime in the mid 1860s, as rum replaced aguardiente in the drink, it lost the Draque moniker and came to be called the mojito. Given the way shamanism and medicine are historically connected, the little spell lends further legitimacy to the 1500 era claims of a medicinal beverage.

The Lime ConundrumCubans, at least those still in Cuba, insist that a proper mojito is made simply, with fresh mint, cane sugar, lime juice, rum, and soda or mineral water. Others, including Rachel Maddow, maintain that lime quarters should be muddled into the drink with the mint and sugar. Both are quite good. Muddling the limes, if theyre used in the right quantity, releases the same quantity of juice as called for in the classic recipe and the oils from the limes skin and bitter pith can help to balance the sweetness of the mojito. But muddling the fruit also has its perils; the pressure needed to properly crush the limes can cause the mint to become too pulverized.

Its also harder work. If you like muddled limes, by all means, go for it. But when its 104 degrees when the clock strikes cocktail hour, it seems like a lot of unnecessary effort.

Yo, Ho, Ho And A Bottle of ReduxMuch like the daiquiri, the mojito works best with rum with a bit of Hogo or rum funk. In Cuba, the standard is the Havana Club 3 year old, and if youre up for traveling abroad and risking US Customs, its not a bad choice at all. Brugal White Label is a good, inexpensive choice. The Flor De Cana 4 Year Old is worthy of a look. The Banks Five Island is a revelation. Sadly, the modern Bacardi is so stripped of any flavor during distillation and filtering, that its only a last resort.

Generally, long-aged and darker rums dont work well here, as theyre so sweet and flavorful that they overwhelm the mint and lime, and they make a murky, brown drink to boot.

Things That Have No Place in A Mojito That Ive Seen in MojitosMojito in A Bag, Mojito Mixes, Mint Syrup, 7-Up, Sprite, Lemons, Lemon Juice, Splenda, Sweet and Low, Roses Lime Juice, Sour Mix, vodka, peppermint extract, Diet Sprite, confectioners sugar, strawberries, mangos, anything pureed, anything from a bottle other than rum and some kind of bubbly water.

A Few More Words About MintMint begins to degrade the moment its removed from the ground. Theres not much to be done about this, unless youre plucking the mint directly from a back yard garden. To properly store mint, leave it on the stem, and wrap the lower portion of the stem in damp, not soaking paper towel. Store in an open zip lock bag in the fridge and use it as soon as possible.

There are also many varieties of mint available. The most common supermarket mint is peppermint, but varieties of spearmint are more intense and will create a more fragrant drink. Use what you have handy, but mint is incredibly easy to grow and the fresher the better.

A Brief Note on ExecutionThe Mojito is one of those drinks that started simple and has become needlessly complex. It also breaks several bartending rules. A proper mojito is stirred, not shaken, despite the presence of fruit juice. It properly uses sugar in lieu of the more easily integrated simple syrup. They are better with a straw, something that adults should usually avoid.

Its important to remember that the mojito is a hot weather sipper; its not a drink that requires quite all the pomp and circumstance that has come to surround it. It should be easy and gentle.

A RecipeTHE MOJITO2 oz. Good Quality White Rum like Brugal or Banks Five Island

1-2 tsp. sugar, superfine being best, and adjusted to taste

-1 oz. Fresh Lime Juice, adjusted to taste

8-15 mint leaves, depending on size

1 mint top for garnish

Club Soda or Sparkling Mineral Water Squeeze lime juice into a smallish Collins Glass (about 10 oz.), and add sugar and mint leaves. Lightly muddle the mint, releasing the aromatics without crushing or shredding the leaves and mixing the lime juice and sugar. Stir gently. Add rum and fill glass 2/3 full with cracked, but not crushed ice. Stir again and top with sparkling mineral water or club soda. Lightly smack the mint top and use it to garnish the glass, serve with a straw.

Enjoy. 6

This months Cinema Cocktails title is RIFIFI. Check drafthouse.com for listings.

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THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969)

THE LAND BEFORE T IME (1988)

CARNOSAUR (1993)

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Paleo Pictures: Dinosaurs on Film

SUPER MARIO BROS. (1993 )

K ING KONG (1933)


JAMES WALLACECreative Manager Alamo Drafthouse DFW

@jameswallace

Text by:

Illustration by:

KELSEY SPENCERAlamo Drafthouse Cinema Graphic Designer


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KING KONG (1933) It may be a movie about a giant gorilla but that giant gorilla has to have something else giant to fight, besides the Empire State Building, of course. What formidable foe to face off with the King of the apes than the King of the dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex?! Unfortunately the T-Rex was no match for Kong's jaw-breaking, skull-crushing fatality move. Long before JURASSIC PARK, the dinosaurs in 1933's KING KONG captured the attention of moviegoers.

It was stop motion special effects pioneer Willis O'Brien that not only brought "The Eighth Wonder of the World" to life but Skull Island's various dinosaurs including the Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus and many winged, flying dinos. His then-groundbreaking FX had come a long way since Winsor McCay's GERTIE THE DINOSAUR - which, in 1914, was the earliest animated film to feature a dinosaur.

Fun Fact: O'Brien also provided stop motion dinosaurs for 1925's THE LOST WORLD and made a series of prehistoric-themed shorts commissioned by Thomas Edison.

THE VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969)Cowboys versus dinosaurs... need I say more?! With special effects by Ray Harryhausen (the last dinosaur film to be animated by the FX master), the western fantasy tells the tall tale of a heroic stuntman in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and his former lover, a beautiful cowgirl and rodeo rider, who discover a 'Forbidden Valley' in the Mexico desert, claimed by gypsies to be cursed. And cursed it is... WITH DINO-SAURS! In a tale as old as time, man tries to tame beast by capturing and featuring the Gwangi (aka an Allosaurus, the Tyrannosaurus' older yet smaller but just as monstrous brother) in the traveling circus. You know the rest... dinosaur escapes, runs amok, lots of clowns get eaten, etc.

Fun Fact: If that plot did not seem oddly familiar to you, the film was originally planned as a follow-up to KING KONG after its success -- an idea coincidentally conceived and written by aforementioned dino man of his day, Mr. Willis O'Brien. Instead of a gigantic gorilla found on Skull Island by explorers, this time it was to be a gigantic dinosaur found in the Grand Canyon by cowboys. The project went into pre-production at RKO in 1941 under the title GWANGI. That version was scrapped when studio heads changed and later ended up at Warner Bros where it became THE VALLEY OF GWANGI, which was released seven years after

O'Brien's death. 1956's THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN was also based on O'Brien's story (under the pseudonym El Toro Estrella) and ended up beating THE VALLEY OF GWANGI to the punch for the first "Weird West" movie to show both cowboys and dinosaurs together on screen.

THE LAND BEFORE TIME (1988)Five years before he would welcome us to Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg produced, along with George Lucas, a prehistoric animated feature directed by animation auteur Don Bluth (THE SECRET OF NIMH, AN AMERICAN TAIL). It's not only the most depressing movie about dinosaurs ever made -- seriously, Littlefoot's mom being killed by the murderous Sharptooth was too much to handle as a kid, on top of a dino drought and a bitchy Triceratops. But it's also undeniably the one that has hatched the most sequels -- 13 straight-to-video spinoffs with the latest releasing this year!

Fun Fact: 19 scenes were cut from the film because they were deemed too frightening for children and were believed could even cause psychological damage to young viewers, giving it a runtime of only 69 minutes. I told you... f 'ing depressing. But hey, remember those cool LAND BEFORE TIME dinosaur hand puppets you got with your pizza from Pizza Hut when the movie came out?!

CARNOSAUR (1993)Released less than a month before JURASSIC PARK, the Roger Corman produced CARNOSAUR (very loosely based on the novel of the same name by John Bronson) is one of the most notable "mockbusters" ever made (See Also: TRANSFORMERS/TRANSMORPHERS). The film is the poor man's JP, with shoddy FX, a far smaller budget, and lot more gore. But hey, let's see Spielberg pull off a movie that involves a major plot point involving impregnating chickens with dino DNA!

Fun Fact: Diane Ladd stars in CARNOSAUR. Ladd is the mother of Laura Dern, who of course starred as Dr. Ellie "Dino Poop" Sattler in JURASSIC PARK.

SUPER MARIO BROS. (1993)It's nice to relegate your thoughts to the fun loving, adorable Yoshi when you think about dinosaurs in the Super Marioverse. But alas, 1993's SUPER MARIO BROS. movie does exist and full of dinosaurs it is. If you may recall, it takes place in the parallel universe city of Dinohattan (the film's version of the Mushroom Kingdom) which is populated by a human hybrid race that evolved from dinosaurs after that pesky meteorite crashed into the Earth

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65 million years ago. This is where Mario, Luigi and Daisy find themselves after digging for dinosaur bones in tubes under the Brooklyn Bridge, encountering shrunken head Goombas, Yoshi the Raptor, Toad the Singer/Songwriter and all your other favorite bastardized Mario characters. But perhaps the oddest dino-morphed element in the story is Bowser. Rather than the the spiked-shelled turtle-like creature he is in the games, King Koopa (played effortlessly by the late, great Dennis Hopper in his self-professed worst role ever) is a tyrannical, lizard-tongued Sex Pistol humanoid descendant of a T-Rex, which he transforms into during the film's epic and climatic battle between himself, Mario and Luigi. I'm not sure if it was screenwriter Ed Solomon (BILL & TED, MEN IN BLACK) or husband/wife directing duo Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel (MAX HEADROOM) or the studio that were obsessed with this idea of making everything into dinosaurs (like CARNOSAUR it was released in May just weeks before JURASSIC PARK), but all I know is the SUPER MARIO BROS. movie is

like the bad bootleg action figure your dad would bring you back after a business trip to Japan. So much so that despite it being the first movie based on a video game ever, Nintendo has not optioned any of their properties to be adapted for the big screen in the 20+ years since. Talk about going extinct!

Fun Fact: The film's soundtrack features a cover of the Was (Not Was) one hit wonder "Walk The Dinosaur" by George Clinton joined by The Goombas as his backing band (they appear to be good at playing the harmonica but their naturally short T-Rex arms make them horrible drummers). That song has appeared in a number of other family friendly dinosaur-themed movies including THE FLINSTONES, THEODORE REX, ICE AGE amongst others -- odd considering it devolves into chanting "Everybody kill the dinosaur!" Unfortunately, it has yet to be used in a JURASSIC PARK film. 6

JURASSIC WORLD arrives June 12. Check drafthouse.com for listings.

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Summer Beer Jam: The French {Hop} Connection

In February of 2015, the Alamo sent me and a crack team from sunny Austin to the wintry hills of Fort Collins, Colorado, in what was to be the theater's first brewing collaboration. The Alamo Drafthouse and Odell Brewing teamed up to bring people a beer inspired by the upcoming Drafthouse Films release THE CONNECTION.

Odell Brewing Co. has been at the forefront of the craft beer boom since they were founded in 1989. It is true that Odell has a spotless reputation in the world of beer. They are heralded not only for their product but also for their focus on philanthropy and award-winning sustainability. However, behind the curtain of a respected, community-oriented brewery, the Alamo uncovered a disturbing secret, a lunacy that can only be explained as a symptom of thin mountain air: Odell confessed to preferring the breakfast burrito to its indisputably superior counterpart, the breakfast taco. And so, our mission became two-pronged: to create a beer that harmoniously married cinematic themes and hops but perhaps, more importantly, to teach Coloradans that there is a better way to put eggs in a tortilla.

THE CONNECTION delves into the heroin trade in France during the 70s (and stars the main dude from THE ARTIST -- that wasnt a dog -- Jean Dujardin). The film pays homage to the scorched pavement, polyester suit gangster movies of yore. Dujardin has traded in his Clark Gable 'stache for a pair of LONG GOODBYE-esque sideburns. The viewer gets thirsty just looking at the hot concrete of Marseille and those heavy over-sized lapels.

After more than a few drinking brainstorming sessions, we schemed with Odell to make synergetic liquid magic. Teams from the Alamo and Odell came up with a creative way to pay respect to the movie by making a farmhouse saison using the French hop varietals Aramis and Triskell. The brewmasters at Odell crafted a recipe heavily incorporating these two aromatic hops in the daylong, 100 barrel boiling process.

They then dry hopped the ale even more at the very end of the process for an extra burst of grassy, pepper goodness. The lucky few from the Alamo got to dump in

over 170lbs of these citrusy buds harvested from overseas. The floral characters of the plant combined to create a truly unique, rustic and bright farmhouse ale. We dubbed it: THE FRENCH {HOP} CONNECTION.

Hopheads pledging allegiance to any nation would have popped their tops getting to smell those fragrant hops. Whether you're a Francophone or a native English speaker, massaging the hops between your fingers and wafting in the lupulin glands transcends language. The tightly packed green morsels of JUSTRIGHT bitter flavor are the stuff of peace treaties.

The crew at Odell made us feel right at home. Once we signed a series of safety waivers, they were more than willing to let us explore the brewery -- trusting of us not to trip over a web of transfer hoses or to fall into brew tanks. We were a couple of Laverne and Shirleys on the bottling line.

In the end we cranked out about 200 kegs worth of fruity and earthy ale. With only the slightest hint of bitterness, the collaboration clocks in at an admirable 7.3% ABV. The French hops resulted in an interesting and spicy pint that will perfectly accompany any movie this summer but, you know especially THE CONNECTION.

As a novice homebrewer, having the opportunity to make a big-boy-beer on a professional production scale was a real treat. I realized on our way back to Texas that a green dust from the leafy hops was sprinkled in the lining of my jeans, an aromatic souvenir of a great experience. For some reason, airport security took some convincing that the only herb making its way across Colorado state lines was of the hops variety.

The team-up was a supreme success with a delicious end game for Alamo attendees to enjoy in the coming months. My single regret is that, while try as I might, the Odell gang vehemently stands by their bogus burrito preferences. Bless their hearts... More tacos and beer for us Texans! 6

THE CONNECTION arrives in theaters May 15. Check drafthouse.com for listings.

JOHN GROSSAlamo Drafthouse Director of Creative Production & Bonafide Beer Enthusiast


@PartyEnds


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WEDNESDAY, JULY 15CHILLER PREMIERE


Video Vortex: Climbing BACK FROM HELL With Filmmaker Matt Jaissle

Lucio Fulci's teenage cousin did not remake EVIL DEAD for the price of an Orange Julius in rural Michigan. But if that happened, it would have felt something like BACK FROM HELL.

Father Aaron is having a bad week because his fellow priests are being murdered by Satanists. Aarons childhood friend, Jack, is the number one suspect. Aaron says, This cant be! Weve known each other for years, before I found God and he found Hollywood! After witnessing psychedelic flashbacks, one ripped-out tongue, and some strikingly tight Z. Cavaricci slacks with the loafers shoes to match, Aaron finds ex-Hollywood star Jack. Aaron and Jack agree that they must combine forces to battle Satan, who is the true killer. What follows are several planet-shaking adventures that culminate in several planet-crushing showdowns with Satanist ninjas, thrift store demonoids, and many, many heads being banged into objects. Then Father Aaron finds a chainsaw.

Filmmaker Matt Jaissle explains how the D.I.Y thunderbolt known as BACK FROM HELL came to life.

Q: Let's start at the end. Specifically, the end credits. One of them reads, "BRAZILIAN WEAPONS CONSULTANT," which is obviously the toughest credit of all time. Where did that come from?

A: You know how hard it is to find one of those guys?! Brad Hundley was the father of my FX guy, Matt Hundley. I think we borrowed his chainsaw and axe, and some other things. I asked Matt what credit he thought his dad should get and that's what he came up with. Sounded good to me!

Q: What was your background prior to making BACK FROM HELL?

A: Prior to BACK FROM HELL, I was making Super 8 films, probably since the age of ten or so. My Super 8 work was getting more and more extravagant and a feature length film seemed like the logical progression. I'd also worked on a horror movie made in the area called THE CARRIER. That's where I met a lot of people that I would end up working with on later productions, including my films, and a movie called MOSQUITO, which I worked on as art director.

Q: Were you aware of other regional horror movies that were shot on 16mm and released straight-to-video in the early 1990s (HAUNTEDWEEN, DOCTOR STRAIN THE BODY SNATCHER, DEAD MEAT)? If so, did these types of movies inspire your decision to make this movie? If not, what did inspire you?

A: Absolutely. I was a huge fan of ultra low-budget horror films of the time. Most of these were 16mm productions, as video wasn't up to the task quite yet. THE DRILLER KILLER, BASKET CASE, MARTIN, THE EVIL DEAD, just to name a few. I really loved the look and feel of 16mm. It had a very cartoonish-yet-gritty feel about it. Plus it was within my tiny budget range.

Q: So what was the total budget?

A: I started shooting BACK FROM HELL in 1988 with about $5,000, which went almost entirely to film stock and equipment rentals. Over the next few years, whenever I could beg, borrow, or steal additional money, I'd do more work on it. I think the final cost was probably around $12,000, which might make it the cheapest movie ever produced entirely on film as far as I know.

@JosephAZiemba

JOSEPH A. ZIEMBAAlamo Drafthouse Art Director and Programmer



Q: By the early 1990s, shot-on-video horror was blowing up on video store shelves. But from a filmmaking standpoint, shooting and editing on 16mm was much more challenging. What led you to that decision, and what kinds of obstacles did you face with the format?

A: Well, I was actually naive enough to think that BACK FROM HELL was going to play theaters. At least, that was my approach to making the film. All post production was done on film for that movie. I could have struck an optical print, had anybody wanted one. Also, my experience as a filmmaker wasn't with video, it was with Super 8. Super 8 was a tiny gauge, but the mechanics of it weren't any different than 16mm or 35mm. The main problems were in the fact that I had never even seen a 16mm camera prior to the first day of shooting. We picked up the equipment that morning, and I had two hours to figure out how to load a magazine. My FX guy, Matt Hundley, who was maybe seventeen at the time, had two hours to figure out how to use a reel-to-reel Nagra tape deck. He had to record sound also. I think the first roll of film went to the lab in a shoe box because it came off of the spindle, but other than that, we managed to figure it all out.

Q: Was the movie shot exclusively in Ann Arbor, or were there other locations?

A: Other than a few establishing shots at the beginning of the film, it was shot entirely in Milan, which is the tiny town I grew up in. It's just down the freeway from Ann Arbor.

Q: The recurring theme music in the movie sounds like it was influenced by Fabio Frizzi's late 1970s work. How did the soundtrack come about?

A: The main title theme was inspired by his soundtrackfor ZOMBIE. Some of the other tracks in the film are different. I think I recorded five separate music tracks for the film. For the dream sequence, we ran the main title theme backwards with backward voices saying "Steal money from your grandmother and buy more copies of BACK FROM HELL" and things of that nature. We were punks.

Q: BACK FROM HELL was released on VHS by a small label called HV Films. Their catalog contained everything from non-epic Indonesian war movies (DESERT TERRORIST) to "urban" shot-on-video trash-action (CONTACT BLOW). How did you end up working with them? And how was that experience?

A: I actually signed with a distributor called Peacock Films back in 1992 or '93 when I finally finished

the film. They immediately made a bunch of foreign sales on the picture. The HV Films release came out a few years later, followed by the Brentwood DVD box sets. I'm assuming it's all legit, but you can't really tell in this business. I never got a penny from any of them, by the way.

Q: How did you meet up with Peacock Films? Had you talked with other distributors before them?

A: I used to just go to the video store and look at distributor names on the back of similar films. I saw Peacock Films' name in association with some really cheesy looking movies and figured they might be a good candidate. Troma also wanted the movie at one point. They offered me a buy-out for $5,000. In hindsight, I should have taken that deal. It would have been $5,000 more than I ever got out of Peacock.

Q: What happened after the release of the movie? Did BACK FROM HELL lead directly into LEGION OF THE NIGHT (1995), and then THE NECRO FILES (1997)?

A: Yes, I actually got involved with a guy named Todd Tjersland following the completion of BACK FROM HELL. He was running a successful bootleg company at the time called Threat Theatre International, and had some money at his disposal. He ended up largely financing LEGION OF THE NIGHT and THE NECRO FILES. He wanted to go legit. He almost did.

Q: Twenty-years have passed since BACK FROM HELL was released. What comes to mind when you think of the movie today?

A: Mixed feelings. I was obviously too young and inexperienced to really pull the film off the way I wanted to at the time. I really only see the mistakes when I watch it now, although I am proud of a few things in there. I suppose it turned out better than it probably should have for a movie shot on film in about a week by a group of teenagers with no money. 6

BACK FROM HELL screens as part of Video Vortex in June at the Alamo Drafthouse. Check drafthouse.com for listings.


Q: What is the first movie you saw that made youunderstand that movies can be art?

A: APOCALYPSE NOW

Q: What is your guilty pleasure movie?

A: LES SOUS-DOUS PASSENT LE BAC, a French comedy.

Q: What movie do you want to make before you die?

A: My next one!

Q: What was your most magical cinema experience?

A: INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OFDOOM. I went to the theater with my grandmother; I was 8 years old. It was magic. I didn't want to go home after the movie and my grandma had to stay to see it a second time.

Q: What is the movie you believe everyone should see?

A: ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA.

Q: Only one of your movies can continue to existafter you're gone -- which one is it?

A: I don't know yet! Can I answer this question justbefore I die?

Q: If you weren't born to direct, what else would yoube doing?

A: No idea!!

Q: Why do you make movies?

A: Because I love life. Making movies is my way toexpress my passion for life and for people. For me, cinema is all about life and passion. And this passion keeps me alive every single day. 6

THE CONNECTION arrives in theaters May 15. Check drafthouse.com for listings.

The Last Word With THE CONNECTION Director Cdric Jimenez


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birth. movies. death. june 2015 issue 24

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