Having A Ball

The Valley of the Balls
Michael Shinafelt

Yesterday I trekked to The Bloc DTLA (Downtown Los Angeles for the uninitiated) to see Being The Ricardos at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

Upon my arrival there was copious amounts of Christmas decor, naturally.

Thus I took this selfie of yours truly among the valley of the balls. Yeah, I know I could use a shave bigly!

Little did I know yesterday would turn out to be the perfect day to be at the movies. About three quarters of the way through Being The Ricardos the film stops, the lights go up and the alarm goes off. The patrons in my theater and others filed out into the hallway.

One of the employees was there telling everyone not to leave it was a false alarm and everything would be up and running in five minutes. They then announced it over the PA system.

I was relieved because I would have been annoyed had I not been able to see the rest of the movie. And just like that in five minutes the Ricardos were back! 

As the story of Lucy & Desi came to a close, the waiter brought around everyone's check (you can order food and drink at the Alamo Drafthouse in case you did not know) - I had Chips & Queso along with a Margarita on the rocks. 

Accompanying the bill for our five minute faux paus earlier was a free pass to see another movie anytime at the theatre. 

"Yes" it was the perfect day to go to the movies. What's that you say? Oh "yes" I did enjoy Being The Ricardos...The End

Being The Ricardos on the WWW -

https://www.amazonstudiosguilds.com/titles/being-the-ricardos/  

At The Drive-In

I remember Drive-Ins... From sleeping in the concession stand to working entirely for free, the quirky film fanatics at the struggling Mahoning Drive-in face uncertainty when Hollywood announces it will switch to digital projection for all new movies. Unable to purchase an expensive digital projector, the Mahoning gang pin their hopes of survival on showing only vintage 35mm film prints on their original 1949 projectors. Relive their underdog story to save film, the Mahoning Drive-in, and drive-in theaters everywhere.  "Technology moves so fast today, faster than ever before. As technology distracts us from one another and segments us further into smaller audiences, it was just magical to see a bunch of people gather together in rural Pennsylvania to watch film flicker through a projector from 1948," Alexander Monelli, director. "That's ultimately what this documentary is about." At The Drive-in won "Best Local Feature" at the 26th annual Philadelphia Film Festival. It has also screened at multiple Alamo Drafthouses and at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood as an official selection of Dances With Films. Bonus Materials Over 17 Minutes of Deleted Scenes Three Separate Feature Length Commentary Tracks (two with cast and one with director) 30-minute Q&A from Alamo Drafthouse Screening Trailer

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/170783179  Pre-order: https://mvdshop.com/products/at-the-drive-in-dvd  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AtTheDrivein/

"Godmonster Of Indian Flats"

Look Mommy, It's A Godmonster!

American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) and Something Weird to release a new 4K transfer of GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS on Blu-ray July 10th

The most berserk and deranged creature feature in history!

"I want what the filmmakers were having" - Michael Shinafelt

Alamo Drafthouse's American Genre Film Archive, the largest non-profit genre film archive in the world, and Something Weird are excited to announce an July 10, 2018 release date for the GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS Blu-ray. After a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015, AGFA purchased a 4K film scanner to create new digital transfers of titles from the Something Weird library. GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS is the fourth release of dozens in this partnership, following THE ZODIAC KILLER, BAT PUSSY, and Ed Wood's THE VIOLENT YEARS.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the petting zoo, you meet . . . GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS! Written and directed by infamous outsider artist Fredric C. Hobbs (ALABAMA'S GHOST), this is the story of an eight-foot-tall toxic sheep monster that blows up gas stations, smashes crooked politicians, and terrorizes stoners! From the surreal "wild west" locations to the outrageous monster effects, GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS is easily the most berserk, out-of-control, and inexplicably deranged creature feature in the history of forever. This includes the scene where the Godmonster crashes a children's picnic.

"Get the straight jackets ready," said AGFA advisory board member Frank Henenlotter. "GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS is one of the weirdest, wackiest, oddballest monster movies ever made!"

Special features include:

• New 4K preservation from the only surviving 35mm theatrical print!
• Rampaging monster trailers from the AGFA vaults!
• Berserker shorts from the Something Weird vaults!
• Bonus movie: LEGEND OF BIGFOOT (1975), a new 2K preservation from an original 35mm theatrical print!
• Reversible cover art with illustration by Shana Cleveland!

Pre-order GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS here

Watch AGFA's original theatrical trailer here

For developments on AGFA's upcoming releases follow:

Instagram:       https://www.instagram.com/agfa/

Twitter:            https://twitter.com/filmarchive

Facebook:       https://www.facebook.com/americangenrefilmarchive/

Website:          http://americangenrefilm.com/

Got Ed Wood?

Alamo Drafthouse's American Genre Film Archive and Something Weird

announce brand new 4k transfer of Ed Wood's THE VIOLENT YEARS 

Coming to Blu-ray on November 21st

Enjoy The Violence!!!

Alamo Drafthouse's American Genre Film Archive, the largest non-profit genre film archive in the world, and Something Weird are excited to announce an November 21st release of THE VIOLENT YEARS on Blu-ray. After a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015, AGFA purchased a 4K film scanner to create new digital transfers of titles from the Something Weird library. THE VIOLENT YEARS is the third release of dozens in this partnership, following THE ZODIAC KILLER and BAT PUSSY.

Written by legendary Hollywood outsider Edward D. Wood, Jr. (PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, GLEN OR GLENDA), THE VIOLENT YEARS is the story of Paula Parkins (Jean Moorehead), a good-girl-gone-bad who leads her degenerate teenage hellcats down a path of gas station hijackings, pajama party orgies, and cold-blooded murder! From Wood's patently deranged dialogue to the scene where the gang performs a "man attack," THE VIOLENT YEARS is an essential exposé on crime, gender politics, and sweater-stealing. Remember, "This is a story of violence!"

"Ed Wood's influence is woven into our DNA," said AGFA director Joe Ziemba. "We're honored to help the world reassess his importance as a ground-breaking queer filmmaker through our release of THE VIOLENT YEARS with Something Weird. Wherever he is, we hope Ed is smiling."

Special features include:

- New 4K scan from the original camera negative!

- Commentary track with filmmaker Frank Henenlotter (BASKET CASE, FRANKENHOOKER) and Ed Wood biographer Rudolph Grey!

- Gutter-noir trailers from the Something Weird vault!

- Memorabilia scrapbook!

- Bonus movie: ANATOMY OF A PSYCHO (1961), a new 2K scan from an original theatrical print

- Reversible cover art

  

Order THE VIOLENT YEARS here.

Watch AGFA's original theatrical trailer here.  

Kids In The Hall

Iconic
l-r
Kevin McDonald & Dave Foley

Remember "Kids In The Hall?" - that will date you. 

Dallas VideoFest (http://videofest.org) announced today that it will honor both Kids in the Hall co-founders Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald with the coveted Ernie Kovacs Award on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Alamo Drafthouse (100 S. Central Expressway at Beltline - Richardson). Tickets can be purchased here: https://prekindle.com/event/59225-kovacs-award-richardson.

 

Both Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald will be in attendance to receive the Ernie Kovacs award and will be on hand for a panel discussion, a Q&A with fans and a rare screening of the iconic Kids in the Hall film BRAIN CANDY (1996). Foley and McDonald are being recognized for careers that span more than 30 years, including acting, producing and writing on television, film and stage and especially for their breakout roles playing a multitude of characters in The Kids in the Hall television series which ran from 1988-1995. 

 

“One of the things that impressed me deeply about Ernie Kovacs was that television was a brand new medium in the fifties and he was subverting its conventions even as those conventions were being formed,” said Dave Foley of Kids in the Hall. “Ernie was way ahead of his time.”

 

”Ernie Kovacs has been one of my idols since I was a child so to receive an award in his name from the Dallas VideoFest is a true honor,” said Kevin McDonald of Kids in the Hall. “Kovacs was doing ’70s anti-comedy in the ’50s and his sense of absurdism would have been at home in a Monty Python’s Flying Circus episode. When Dave Foley and I are in Dallas on October 14, I will pretend  he is here with us - celebrating his career - because that's what this is - a celebration of Ernie Kovacs. And he deserves a lot of them."

 

“Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald of The Kids in the Hall are being recognized by the Dallas VideoFest for their efforts as comedy pioneers in the same vein as Ernie Kovacs,” said Bart Weiss, director of Dallas VideoFest. “Looking back at the comedy of The Kids and their other work afterward, you can see that, they, like Kovacs, saw what video and television could be and took us to that new place.”

 

The Ernie Kovacs Award recognizes the career and talents of some of television’s greatest visionaries. Kovacs’ work in the 1950s and early 1960s summed up the spirit of innovation and the development of the language of television as art. The Dallas Video Festival and the Video Association of Dallas announced the first Ernie Kovacs Award at the 1997 festival. Comedian Joel Hodgson of Mystery Science 3000 was the first recipient and subsequent honorees have included Terry Gilliam of Monty Python; Robert Smigel, writer/performer of Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O’Brien; Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens; Martin Mull; Mike Judge; George Schlatter, creator of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In; Harry Shearer, Spinal Tap and The Simpsons; and Michael Nesmith. Actress Edie Adams (www.edieadams.com), Kovacs’ wife, came to Dallas to host the awards program annually until her death in 2008. Today, Edie’s son Joshua Mills runs Ediad Productions, the video and audio archive of both Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams. 

 

 

 

Event Listing: 

Dallas VideoFest presents the Ernie Kovacs Award to Kids in the Hall co-creators Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 14 7:30 p.m., at the Alamo Drafthouse (100 S. Central Expressway at Beltline - Richardson). Tickets: 

https://prekindle.com/event/59225-kovacs-award-richardson

  

#DVF30KovacsAwardToKITH

  

Admission to events:

 

$25 - the Ernie Kovacs Awards presentation at 7:30 p.m.

 

$10 - BRAIN CANDY (1996) with intro by Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald at 10 p.m.

 

$30 - Kovacs Awards presentation and BRAIN CANDY at 7:30 p.m.

 

$50 - includes all events: Reception hosted by Canadian Consulate, Ernie Kovacs Awards presentation and BRAIN CANDY at 6:30 p.m.