Carnival of Souls, (1962) is one of those B movies everyone makes fun of, but can’t help watching. If you decide to watch this film, just imagine you are seeing an extended episode of the “The Twilight Zone.” I remember when I was a little girl seeing this movie, it haunted me for days. Although the movie was done on a shoestring, it is scary, and director,  Herk Harvey does a fine job with it.

The movie opens up with a group of young people drag racing, if you want to call going 15 miles per hour drag racing; I guess that was the protocol back in the day. Mary Henry (Candice Hilligoss) finds herself on this ominous day on the passenger seat of one of the cars. When the cars race across a bridge Mary and her friends end up crashing into the water below. The credits roll, and then we see Mary’s ghostly like figure rising from under the water. She is pale, wet, and appears cold, but alive.

Although poor Mary is alive her troubles have only just begun. Mary is a church organist, and is offered a job in Utah. She packs up her little things and moves. On her drive to Utah in her beat up car, in a lonely and dark country road, she begins to see a pale, ghastly man. When she arrives in Utah, the ghastly man appears everywhere she goes and torments her relentlessly. The ghastly man, turns out, has friends, these zombie-like creatures who also pursue Mary. They beckon her to come to the other side. They dance a waltz to eerie, dark music, in an abandoned carnival that Mary is summoned to. As they dance, they smile at each other as if celebrating the new member, Mary.

Mary seeks help from people, but all think she has lost her mind. She continues to have flashes in which everything around her goes completely silent. As if for moments, she breaks the barrier between life and death. When she enters the silent world, she appears like a spirit in limbo. She cries out to people in the street, but they don’t hear her. Mary realizes she is caught between two worlds and must escape death’s grip. But can she?

The movie has campy dialogue, but the camera work is incredible. Shots of the organ and ghouls are eerie. The organ playing through out the film was a little too much, but tells a morose, dark, and eerie story. Hillgross’ performance was good, not Oscar worthy, but good. She captured the spirit of a detached, cold, & isolated young woman caught between two worlds. The guy who plays her neighbor drove me crazy. A pervert no one would want next door. Although Hillgross was the only real actor in the movie, the fact that the other characters were not fully developed adds to this film. They are like people in a dream, much like the dream Mary is in. OK, it’s a B movie, but it is scary in terms of mood, & setting, and well worth the watch. I must warn you, you may just not get up from this dream.

I had the pleasure of talking to co-producer Michael Knowlan about the ambitious web series, “The Projectionist”.    The official website says it best: ” A spiritual successor to the great anthology series of the 1960′s, The Projectionist speaks to a whole new generation with a fresh take on the anthology structure.”  Knowlan shares thoughts on the development process, pitching the series, and how the interwebs could potentially influence the series.

Visit the facebook fan page and the official web site for more information.  You can also see “The Projectionist” demo film here

Lets just get this out of the way, 1973′s “Serpico” is the greatest cop drama ever made.  There, I said it.  It has nothing to do that with the fact that it is based on a true story, but more to do with its cohesion of all aspects of perfect film making.  A tight script wrought with tension, intrigue, betrayal, and redemption.  Grade A characters played by Grade A talent.  Last but not least, Sidney Lumet’s direction is unparalleled.  It is this strong combination that offers us one of the greatest cop dramas that has managed to influence some of today’s more memorable movies.

I would say Michael Mann’s Heat, Scorsese’s The Departed, and Mike Newel’s Donnie Brasco are probably the best examples of movies that employ similar styles and techniques found in Serpico some 25 to 30 years earlier.  This isn’t a bad thing, all of the aforementioned films are all great in their own way.  However, to say films like Serpico or Willam Friedken’s French Connection weren’t incredibly influential would be grounds to call you insane.  Oddly enough I chose two movies that also feature Al Pacino, who I feel put on arguably the greatest performance of his career in Serpico.

As far as Crime dramas go, Pacino is king.  This guy has been my hero for ages, but it wasn’t until I saw his powerful and emotional performance as undercover cop Frank Serpico, that I realized just how damn amazing he is.  There are scenes in this movie that moved me to the point that I felt Serpico’s frustration, anger, resentment, loss, and fear.   Pacino is one these really rare actors that completely immerses himself in his roles to the point of believability. You can only imagine what it’s like to be a guy like Frank Serpico, the man who essentially created undercover police work. Here is this cool bohemian crusader for justice who happens to stumble upon an enormous corruption ring, and will stop at nothing until justice has been served.  He is the most unlikely hero, which is what makes him so awesome.

Watching this movie, I can’t help but root for Serpico.  When everybody was on the take, Serpico stood up for what was right not many people do that.  Pacino played the character so well, creating this likable, enviable, and down to earth cool cat who was damn near impossible not to love.  You have to admire  a guy so determined to do the right thing that he will sacrafice entire relationships as long as justice is served.  This could be considered a huge character flaw, but for me I can see why he does what he does.  For Serpico it’s all about principle, and when people disregard these things he literally goes insane.

Pacino is a very emotional actor and is able to convey the heartbreak of destroying a relationship , the sweet release of beating the hell out of  a mafioso, and the pain of being alone.  I felt Lumet’s end game was to show us a character that could be both revered and pitied at the same time.  That’s what Serpico was, a bearded crusader.  The hero nobody considered and the man with the balls to do whatever it took.  So Al, wherever you are, I have your statue.  You are my hero.

You can follow Jon on Twitter!  twitter.com/sellinthedream

©Jon Ortiz 2010

328 Chancey Street Today

Jackie Gleason patterned the Kramden apartment after the one he lived in with his mom at 328 Chauncey street. The building, like in the series, Gleason said, “… was dull. The bulbs weren’t very bright. The surroundings were very bare.”  If you asked anyone who knew Jackie, about him, they’d all say the same, he was “hilarious and had a heart as big as a house.” He was known to be generous, giving, and helpful, but his greatest gift was laughter. And if you are a fan, you know exactly what I mean. His true self came out in the character of Ralph Kramden, and he even said that. Ralph, although big, loud, and imposing, had a soft spot. The soft spot totally overpowered anything negative about Ralph. And maybe that’s why Ralph’s character was Gleason’s most loved one. He said of the character, “The poor soul hasn’t got a hell of a lot of ability. But he keeps trying. He gets schemes to make he and Alice happy. He fails. When he fails he feels a great deal of affection toward her and she knows why he did it. And he apologizes all the time. He’s just an ordinary guy who is trying to make it and can’t do it.”

One of these days, Alice!

For a guy who made everyone laugh, he had a hard life, and offers valuable lessons we can learn from. Growing up in Brooklyn’s Bushwick area, I’m sure, was no paradise. He lost his older brother when he was 3, his father skipped town when he was nine, and he was raised by an overprotective mother. The loss of his father haunted him the rest of his days, and often he wondered if his dad was part of the audience which watched him. He once said: “I would always wonder whether the old man was somewhere out there in the audience, perhaps a few seats away. I guess I always kind of expected him to appear backstage suddenly, saying ‘Hi, I’m your old man.’ Then one day, I realized that wherever he was, it would be easy for him to contact me–if he really wanted to.” He adored his mom, but because she was afraid to lose him, she overly protected him. He wasn’t allowed to go out and play with the kids. He didn’t even start school until he turned 8. He once said, that he got the “poor soul” look from the days he’d pressed his face against the window watching the kids play outside.

"Do the Hucklebuck..."

Eventually his mom loosened up a bit and at the age of 12 Gleason landed a job racking up balls for a local pool hall. And we know how he used this experience in movies like, his Oscar nominated role in “The Hustler” (1961) & The Sting II (1982). I have you know that most actors will use stunt doubles for pool playing shots, but Gleason did not. So, how did he enter show business? In a 60 Minute interview he said, “I was in a grammar school graduation play and I got a laugh. That laugh was the greatest thing that happened to me. And if you can go out in front of an audience and do things that make them happy and make them laugh, there’s no greater thrill. The instant critique of laughter and when you achieve it—it’s wonderful.” What a guy, huh? At 19, his mom died, and Gleason had 32 cents to his name. He said, “I knew no fear. I was stupid, brash, arrogant and broke.” I think we can all say the same for ourselves when were 19! He took the subway to Times Square and the angels of fame kissed his brow.

Not all in Gleason’s life was “peachy cream.” We all know he had alcohol issues, but he denied ever drinking on the set. His appetite for food is said to have been due to childhood deprivation. He married three times, and by-the-way, his grandson is actor, and hottie, Jason Patic. His third time at marriage with Marilyn Taylor is said to have been his happiest. Marilyn and he married in 1972 and she was by his side when he died in 1987.

We can say that Gleason modeled a lot of his well known characters after himself. Reginald Van Gleason, big drinker and extravagant spender that Gleason was known to be and Ralph Kramden the hustler always trying to make the big time. But it’s all good because it seems to me, that Gleason fulfilled his mission on earth, he made us all laugh. Thank you Jackie, Ralph, and Reginald! “Baby you’re the greatest!”

By Jon Ortiz

Forgive me.  There will be no steamy Penthouse letter experience here, despite the horribly misleading title, this will bore you.  Remember the 1981 cult classic Clash of Titans ? The fantasy flick based on the myth of Perseus?  I mean, why wouldn’t you? You have a veritable who’s who of the greats of yesteryear, such magnificent thespians as Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Ursala Andress, and uh Harry Hamlin.  Not teeming with excitement?  Well perhaps the films tag line “You will feel the power. Live the adventure. Experience the fantastic.” is enough to compel you to cram another needless addition to your cluttered Netflix queue.  This, my dear friends, is essential viewing.

In the early 80′s it was all about the death of Disco, birth of Heavy Metal, and Korg keyboards.  The sex, drugs, rock and roll mantra reigned supreme, and the films of the era oozed just that. Scarface , Fast Times at Ridgemont High
, and Valley Girl spring to mind.  Suddenly I want to swear profusely, smoke copious amounts of pot, and be a part of an absurd coming of age story.  This is when films were starting to break out of their shell, and began to reflect the excessive culture the 80′s brought with it.  Sign me up.  Fantasy was an unfairly derided sub-genre at the time (Until Conan the Barbarian and Arnold flipped the script in 1982, the year my ass entered this wonderful world), seeing as most of them were not very marketable.  Not like now, when everyone is spitting out a fantasy flick a week, most of which are horrendously bad.  Can you blame them? We just gobble this shit up, you have emo vampires, teenage wizards, and the shameless raping of every animated series I held dear in my childhood .

What happens next?  Desmond Davis ripped the film world apart with Clash of The Titans is what happened.  Probably the biggest feature film of his career, Davis was a TV luminary , and totally old school. MGM took the gamble, and Davis changed my life.  He showed that fantasy could be just as gritty as Tony Montana and a mountain of cocaine.  Nudity? Check. Decapitations? Check. Flying horses? Check.  It wasn’t afraid to be bold and fantastical at the same time.  This movie terrified me as a child ,thanks to Ray Harryhausen’s exceptional stop motion visual effects, and mesmerized me as an adult.  It’s everything you want in a fantasy flick: Hero has to come to the rescue of a city, get the girl, lose the girl, rescue the girl, and slay the enormous leviathan.  Are you kidding me?  This is the stuff of legends.  Let’s not even get started on the cast here. Laurence Olivier plays Zeus, and that’s exactly how I imagined him, a man so dignified he needs a throne.  Ursula Andress, gorgeous as ever, plays Aphrodite as only she could.  I detest cliches, but they just don’t make them like this anymore.

Today it’s all over-stylized CG nonsense, terrible casting choices, and sloppy directing.  My God, what happened to the charm, passion, the pizazz, blood, sweat, and tears of good fantasy? There are few this side of Jim Cameron and Peter Jackson who can claim they have retained the best of old, and fused it with best of the new. If I sound jaded, it’s because I am.  It’s okay, I’ll go to sleep, wake up, and wonder ‘What was I talking about?’ Clash of Titans was the last of its kind, a relic of old never to be forgotten once we “Experienced the fantastic.”  There has to be a foundation, and I believe Desmond Davis built it.  Desmond if you’re reading this, I would like to share a drink with you, shake your hand, and simply say thank you for providing us with such a rare classic.  They just don’t make them like this any more.

I want to start with Peter Falk who is now 82 years old. I saw him recently in the O’Reilly Factor, still as he always was, funny, confident, and endearing. I love Peter Falk because he reminds me of the many times I have stayed up late with my husband watching classic TV’s Columbo on DVD. I’m a wannabe sleuth, so watching a crime show where the sleuth cracks the case in under an hour is fascinating! Columbo, the eccentric detective who pretends to be a dunderhead, but is actually a genius at detective work, and always 3 steps ahead of the criminal, is the character most of us remember him for. I will never forget the role he played in Murder, Inc ( 1960) his first movie, and first Oscar nomination.

Falk was born September 16, 1927 in my hometown, New York City, but raised in upstate Ossining. Acting came early for him. His first stage role was at the age of 12 in a production of “The Pirates of Penzance.” He graduated Ossining High School, president of his class and star athlete. He joined the Merchant Marine where he served as a cook. He then attended college and got a B.A. in political science, he then went on to get his Masters degree in public administration in 1953. He applied for a job with the CIA which he didn’t get. He went on to get a position as a management analyst with the Connecticut State Budget Bureau in Hartford. In his spare time he acted with Mark Twain Maskers in Hartford and studied at the White Barn Theater in Westport. It is at this time he gave acting some real thought and took the plunge. He left his job and moved to the Village in NYC and basically declared himself an actor!

Peter was lucky enough to land roles in play after play off Broadway for 3 years. He enjoyed success on the stage, but an agent told him not to expect to make it in movies. You see, Peter has a glass eye and it just wasn’t attractive for the movies. His right eye was removed by surgeons when he was three years old due to a tumor. But this didn’t stop Peter from trying to land a movie role, and boy did he. He landed his first role in “Murder Incorporated.” After this first movie he did another 117, and was nominated one more time for an Oscar, and got another 19 wins (Emmys, etc), & 18 nominations. His latest movie is “American Cowslip” (2009) where he plays a priest.

I love Peter Falk because although he was told he wouldn’t make it in films he proved them wrong. I love him because he didn’t let age stop him from using his gifts and passion. Sadly, Peter Falk has advanced stages of Alzheimer’s today. I get a feeling that if he could, he’d overcome that too. In a sense we’ve already lost this Golden Age star and I only wish Lieutenant Columbo could solve this one. I can just see him getting out of his beat up Puegeot with his dingy rain coat (could never figure out why he wore that in sunny California!), mussed up hair, cigar in hand, and walking as if drunk. He looks the disease right in the face with his wonky eye, and stupefied stare, slaps his forehead as if to let out all the confusion, and says, “Excuse ma’am…there’s just one more question…who let you in, and how can I get you out?” Thank you Peter Falk (Columbo) for the memories and for  keeping me grounded and rooted in old school values and principles!

Have you ever come across someone in your life who is just so full of bitterness that all they say or touch is miserable? And you wonder, what made someone like this? The Pawnbroker, (1964) tells a story of just such a person. Sol Nazerman played by a much talented, but most underrated, Rod Steiger, used to be a successful professor in Europe during WW II. Nazerman is a Jew in a world that didn’t want them. He has a beautiful wife, and two angelic children, and other relatives who live a quite life in Europe, until the Nazis came and literally tore the family apart. One of his children dies in transit to the concentration camp, his wife is raped in front of him and eventually killed. His other child is never heard from again.

Twenty years have passed and Sol is now a bitter pawnbroker in NYC, right in the thick of things. Poverty, pain, drugs, alcohol, prostitution, anguish, also live in the neighbor Sol works in. But to a bitter Sol, he sees nothing, he feels nothing.  Sol’s eager assistant, Jesus Ortiz (Jaime Sanchez) is looking for a way to get rich quick. Jesus is a Puerto Rican immigrant living with his mother in a rat and roach infested apartment in Harlem. He wants out. He had a few break-ins with the law, but wants the straight, but narrow road. He finds Sol hardened, and bitter, but feels Jews, as Sol is, know how to get rich and quick. After all, it comes easy for as he put it, “you people.” Jesus sees Sol not only as a teacher, but as a father, to only be pushed away by Sol whenever he tries to get close. Eventually Jesus gets tired of being pushed away, and it leads him to making horrible decisions. Both Sol and Jesus are trapped in there desires. Sol lives in the past preventing him from moving forward in life. Jesus wants to move ahead too fast which ultimately causes him to act impulsively.

Sol feels nothing for the poor souls who enter his shop with their prized and last possessions. Each soul that entered Sol’s shop were like dead men walking. Lifeless and hopeless. But Sol acts like he doesn’t care, he pretends to love money more than people, after all, this is what was expected of a Jew. As mean as he is with the poor creatures, he manages to garner our sympathy because in fact, it is he who is slave to a real genuinely greedy man, a low life gangster, Rodriguez (Brock Peters) whose violence and brutal ways paralleled those of the Nazis which still haunted Sol’s days and nights.

The director, Sidney Lumet was quite daring in this film. He manages to crush the day’s stereotypes of  Jews, Blacks and Latinos. For the first time in Hollywood history a movie depicted the underclasses in a realistic manner. Struggling Latinos and Blacks in Harlem just fighting each day to put food on the table. And in these neighborhoods it meant that these souls would sell their memories to Sol just to survive. To some, a radio, candle sticks, etc, may seem worthless, but to these people it was worth a fortune. But to Sol, their memories meant nothing compared to his. We relive Sol’s concentration camp past through a series of heartbreaking flashbacks.

I found the film to be moving, and realistic. The New York City scenes are the perfect backdrop to a story of a powerful city filled with powerless people, it brought back a lot memories for me. Looking at poverty and hopelessness 3 D can be heartbreaking, but enlightening. Steiger’s performance makes the movie. Steiger played the role of Sol so intensely you’ll forget he’s acting. He deserved the Oscar that year for sure, he lost to Lee Marvin, unjustly so. Lument was brave enough to make the world face a subject they much rather had forgotten. And made us realize that the real tragedy is what we make of our suffering.

When the film was first released in 1964, interracial marriage was considered a social problem. In fact, at the time it was quite daring for a film to talk about it in such an open and honest way. Julie, a white woman played by Barbara Berrie divorces her loser husband, Joe, played by Richard Mulligan. You see her husband, wants out. He feels tied down and even blames her for the “misfortune” in his life. She gives him a divorce so that he can live out his “dream” life. He leaves her and her little daughter and goes off to South America. For a while Julie received money from Joe, but that soon stopped and Julie returns to work.

At work Julie meets Frank. Frank is a quiet, insightful, and loving African American man, played poignantly by Bernie Hamilton. They fall in love and in spite of the social implications, they marry. Frank’s parents have a period of adjustment when Julie moves in, but later put their fears to rest, when Frank and Julie have a baby.  Frank becomes the dad to Julie’s daughter, Ellen Mary played lovingly by pretty Marti Maricka. Frank is the dad Ellen Mary didn’t have in her biological father. As far as I am concerned Joe was just a sperm donor, Frank was a father. Frank’s parents become Ellen Mary’s grandparents. She even calls them grandma and grandpa, and doesn’t even notice the difference in the color of their skin. Love has no color lines! All this sounds great, but you couldn’t help noticing how isolated they all lived in this beautiful farm, away from the cruel world. A world that wasn’t ready to accept that two people can love each other in spite of their color.

Joe penetrates the pseudo fortress like farm one day when he returns 4 years later to see his daughter.  When he meets the family, he is baffled and speechless. He decides his daughter belongs with him. He decides that his daughter will not grow up with a black family. It was unspeakable in his mind, and he was going to be sure he got his daughter back. Joe sues for custody…his argument? It is improper for a child to grow up in such environment! He figured she’d do better with him and his reckless life-style.

Frank tries to put up a fight in court. He knows he doesn’t stand a chance solely because he is black. He knows that his wife Julie will lose her daughter just because of him. Frank becomes desperate, and helpless. He can’t protect his family. The custody trial proved moot for Frank and Julie, the judge sides with Ellen Mary’s father. The judge’s decision was driven solely by the bigotry of the day.

Although we don’t deal with this type of prejudices today, the movie is realistic and quite progressive for the day. It revealed and dissected the race tensions in America much more realistically than “Guess…” Hamilton captured the helplessness and hopelessness of an African-American man in the 60′s in a way I’ve never seen. You “feel” his pain. Some say that the movie was much more sympathetic to Julie than Frank. I totally disagree. The movie did not minimize either side. I felt that both Julie and Frank’s anguish shine through and through. When you watch this film you will feel like you are being transported to a small town in 1964 and are a witness to the prejudices, bigotry, and pride of that time. It’s a gem and unforgettable. Look out for James Earl Jones’ dad, Robert Earl Jones as Frank’s dad.

Much to Lisa’s relief, Robert makes a business trip. Lisa is hoping he’ll land a job! But just to be separated from him is respite for her. Robert’s plane crashes and Robert is declared dead. Lisa’s relief lasts for just a while because much to her shock Robert escaped death and is actually alive. But he wants everyone to believe he is dead because he wants to collect on the insurance money. He shows up at Lisa’s and convinces her to help him get the money. He promises he will never see her again, but she must help him swindle the Insurance Company. Lisa agrees and her real troubles begin.

Sohia in this role is as she was in all her roles, beautiful, sexy, but she captured the fear of a woman stuck in a violent marriage much like Farrah Fawcett did in “Burning Bed.” Perkins as the insanely jealous husband is creepy and unsettling. He just seems too real. The supremely thrilling ending will blow you away.

This was my very first time seeing this film and I got to tell you it was jaw-dropping. It is a film that slowly builds up to an exploding last half hour; this brilliantly done by director Sam Peckinpah.

David, perfectly, and I mean perfectly, played by Dustin Hoffman is as mild-mannered as they come, American which has moved to England on a research grant along with his English wife Amy (Susan George). Their home is no castle, but sure gives you an impression it is with its beautiful fortress like stone walls, and medieval décor. Amy is silly and childish, and as newlyweds would have it, in need of constant attention from her husband. Attention he just can’t spare as a mathematician.

David tries very hard to fit in the town, but soon finds he is not welcomed and is ostracized. Amy knows the deal when it comes to small town living in England and lives by the code of the community, the code that intellectual David looks down on. Amy is portrayed as a subservient, dumb, lecherous woman, but at the same time a woman with a lot of common sense. David hires local men, one of which Amy knows very well named Charlie. Amy sensed danger when her cat is killed and left in her bedroom closet. David down plays it, and feels he can handle it without getting into any confrontations.

David believed in “talking,” “negotiating without preconditions” so to speak. Amy on the other hand, smelled danger and understood that civility would only take you but so far in life. But although she was much more aware of the danger than her husband was, she invites it in, as if to urge on a battle which at a subconscious level she knows must be fought.

Amy is raped by Charlie, but, this is what I find most disturbing in the film, Amy is not exactly an unwilling partner. Her feelings quickly change when one of Charlie’s cohorts takes his turn. This is a very, very disturbing scene.

All hell breaks loose in the last half hour of the movie. All codes are violated in every sense. A mob of men surround David’s home and are out for blood. Murder, mayhem, destruction, lunacy run about the fortress like home, like demons devouring all in its path. David is forced to use any tool in the house to defend his home and in a Rambo-esque fashion he kills all 5 men.

David learned that there are very real battles in this world; battles that will not end unless you use violence. “Talking” with those that would kill you and your family without batting an eyelash, will not work, period. Violence in many battles is the only option in order to have peace. It wasn’t so much that the intellectual David turned into a savage, but rather the intellectual used his wit and in the end smarts won over savagery.