Cat's Blog

My favorite Angel, Pygar, A.K.A.
John Phillip Law has passed away.

It is sad news indeed and I'm sending out the Rest in Peace thoughts and prayers. I'm so glad that I've seen Barbarella and Danger: Diabolik on the big screen which are great flicks with Mr. Law.

Sitting here at work people came in saying WALL*E is down in the courtyard, so off I went to investigate! Sure enough there was a WALL*E posing for pictures and moving and talking and it was the cutest, coolest thing EVER! I want a WALL*E of my own! Check out this pic my co-worker took! Why I didn't run down with my polaroid I don't know...think i was too excited...

Monday night at the The Silent Movie Theatre it was Nicky Katt's Mug Melter Monday! Actor Nicky Katt was celebrating his birthday by putting together a line up of cool flicks for a movie marathon and thanks to AICN I was reminded of the event making sure I wouldn't miss out!

Here is the description from the Silent Movie Theatre site: Nicky Katt’s been in over 40 movies, and counting. He’s also a movie maniac. Here at the Cinefamily, we’re movie maniacs. So this Monday, we’re sending out an all-points bulletin — calling all movie maniacs! — we’re getting together to watch movies, all night long. And not just any movies, we got some flicks that's melt your ugly mug off, they're so nuclear. The back patio will be open, and we’ll have our grill fired up (BYOHD: Bring Your Own Hot Dogs),so join us as while we kick back a few beers, eat some meat and watch movies one after another after another after another. We’ll be showing a mixture of 35mm and 16mm prints, bootleg videos and whatever else we feel like throwing on the screen. Some teaser's? How about a beautiful 35mm print of BABY, THE RAIN MUST FALL? Or the melted mug of Mickey Rourke in the underrated Walter Hill thriller JOHNNY HANDSOME? That's just a taste. If you came out for Nicky’s “Trailer Park Tuesday,” you know it’s good shit.

There truly was some amazing stuff shown, I'm still on a high and blown away but the visual treats that graced my peepers. (Here I am in a delirious state running on just barely three hours of sleep, go me!)

Anyways, last night I lined up before 5:30pm, first in line to make sure I got a sofa seat, and just before 7pm we were all let in. Got the sofa I wanted and strolled out to the patio to just hang out and get ready for some cinematic good times. Richard Pryor stand up was put on on the theatre screen and once some food was chomped down I took my seat to enjoy the comedy. Everyone was laughing and having fun. And the laughs continued through a Merrie Melodies cartoon that came next.

Then the first flick Baby, The Rain Must Fall played. It was a gorgeous print and a sad sweet movie with Steve McQueen who plays Henry Thomas. Henry wants to make it as a singer songwriter but as his foster mother tries to make him stop and his wife and daughter come back to town he's getting all mixed up on which way to go. It's a slow paced movie but I really dug it, Henry was a man doomed for tragedy and watching him struggle through was heartbreaking.

Next came The Boxer's Omen which was described as "Eye Terrorism" and having survived it that's quite accurate. This Shaw Brothers film is CRAZY, Insane, Gross and Bizarre and at many points I was left pondering WTF? WTF? Buddhist monks versus evil wizards with bats, spiders, monsters, regurgitation, and more regurgitation, I was completely amazed, appalled and intently watching alright. Watch the clip below and enjoy some of the unusualness for yourself:



The biggest surprise of the night followed, the super secret movie that Nicky really wanted to see and I think it was a fabulous pick. I hadn't seen the movie since I was a kid when my parents took my sister and I to Eagle Rock to see it during the last re-release and never did I think I'd get to see it again especially in a theatre. All I'll say is that it was mighty Satisfactch'll and I found my laughing place!

Another Merrie Melodies, Wackkity Rabbit, followed as Nicky told us that Mel Blanc was his favorite actor.

By now it was pretty late but the show was far from over, Johnny Handsome hit the big screen. Directed by Walter Hill starring Mickey Rourke, Morgan Freeman, Lance Henriksen, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovern and Forest Whitaker it's a great flick. Never had I seen it on all but better late then never!

Now at 4am in the morning there was one more thing to be shown, a short film called THE END which was a strange surreal film about people in in the world looking for meaning and running from death or dying, it was unusual and some facts were shouted out during the film but I was a bit spaced out at this point and didn't really hear. But I didn't miss a moment of what was on screen as my eyes glued open by the cinematic rush. It was a fitting way to wrap up the wee early hours of the morning.

And so that is the gist of my experience at the Mug Melter event which was Awesome, Amazing and an absolute blast! Happy Birthday to Nicky Katt! I'm so glad I was able to join in the celebration. This night now ranks amongst one of my most favorite movies experiences ever! yup! I'm ready to come back for more!

SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT was the midnight movie at the New Beverly Cinema last night. (I was sportin' an "I LOVE THE BANDIT" tee I had made earlier in the week!) I really was excited to finally see it on the big screen!! The evening was one of the most fun midnights indeed!

As soon as the film started up and the song "East Bound And Down" came on everyone was singing along, the vibe in the theatre was supercharged. Smokey is a hilarious movie that still holds up with lots and lots and lots of laughs. HILARIOUS!!

A cool extra bit before the film was the commercial with Burt Reynolds tellin' everyone to turn off lights and conserve energy. It was classic, too bad no one listened much back then...I better go turn out some lights and maybe turn in early for a change...nah...

So, yesterday I didn't just see one awesome movie, in fact, before I went to the New Bev I was at the Egyptian Theatre watching the awesome film MIDNIGHT MADNESS! There was an actual scavenger hunt that was going on before the film started too, though I didn't participate. It really was cool what they put it together, and before the movie the scavenger hunt winners were announced. The co-director of Midnight Madness, David Wechter, was out there playing along too. Wechter even talked a bit about the film, working with Eddie Deezen, teaching Candy and Sunshine how to roller skate and teaching the nerds how to ride mopeds. He was a young guy working with Disney and Midnight Madness was the second film to get PG rating after The Black Hole.

I have to admit my sister and I were crazy Midnight Madness fans, especially growing up here around L.A., we LOVED seeing all those places like the Observatory and the Bonaventure Hotel. Ah good memories on top of one crazy and wild night!

I'm resting up today and find that I have a lot of little things I want to blog about, now that I finally got my 35mm film developed here's a few pictures from my IRON MAN night at the Arclight...

I've been meaning to write about some more of the newer movies I've seen on the big screen, but I've been lazy and let that slip by... (I'm so easily distracted.)

Here's just a quick flash of what I have seen in between all my other revival movie going times.

The Arclight and AFI had a special screening of SON OF RAMBOW with director Q&A a while back. I had heard a lot about SON OF RAMBOW from the gang at AICN and was pretty anxious to see it. It was a charming and sweet movie. The two boys, Will Proudfoot and Lee Carter, form an unlikely friendship and are bonded by their love of the film FIRST BLOOD. Together they make their own film titled SON OF RAMBOW. The movie making bits and animation sequences were my favorite parts. The boys are good little actors and Jessica Stevenson was great as Will's mom.

Back when it first came out I did see Saving Sarah Marshall which I dug it a lot more than I had expected too.

Then there was THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM which I thought was hella awesome! Jet Li and Jackie Chan together and fighting, what's not to love?

Then I finally finally saw Juno last month on the big screen in Pasadena at the Academy. So glad I caught it in a theatre and now I'm a fan on the Juno bandwagon, better late then never. It's a cool and clever flick.

And that's that...

I just can't get enough of midnight movie adventures, and I'm saving up my energy today for one later tonight...

Last night I went to the Nuart to see GRINDHOUSE. I saw it twice in the theaters the first time and well just couldn't resist seeing it again.

The Nuart even added in some extra trailers in between and before like Planet of the Apes, Escape From L.A., Ken Russell's The Devils, Judge Dredd and a Britney Spears Pepsi Commercial.

It was a LONG night but a lot of fun too. Deathproof is still my favorite over Planet Terror, yup.

Next up is SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, counting down the hours till midnight baby, and before that I'm going to see Midnight Madness at the Egyptian! Ah Good times.

"So many movies to see before I sleep!"

Went to a midnight show of SPEED RACER last night at the Sherman Oaks Arclight. (It's a pretty cool place, my first time there since it's become the Arclight, I'll go back...)

But anyways, SPEED RACER! I had a good time, it's a fun flick pure and simple. Racing, action and crazy sugar coated colors fill the screen.

Emile Hirsch was great at Speed, Christina Ricci as Trixie just slipped right in to this live action anime world and I was a sucker for Racer X, Matthew Fox did good.

I know the reviews haven't been sparkling but I say the movie shines and delivers on the entertainment end. It was exciting to watch those races with the crazy Car Fu moves and one of my favorite scenes has to be the ninja fights.

SPEED RACER is a movie to see on the big screen, no doubt about it.

I had seen bits and pieces of SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE from time to time thanks to TV and I've always wanted to see it from beginning to end and with barely seconds to spare I made it to the New Beverly to see Slaughterhouse-Five on the big screen. WHEW!!

Billy Pilgrim has found himself unstuck in time sporadically jumping from different moments in his life from his days in the war surviving the firebombing of Dresden, to life afterwards as an optometrist raising a family, to a future on another planet called Tralfamadore where he cozies up with his favorite actress. All this is based on the Kurt Vonnegut novel of the same name.

Long have I been a Vonnegut fan but I have yet to read this book, now that I've seen the movie I know I will sooner rather than later.

Slaughterhouse-Five is a great thought provoking story. I love the time travel take so much! It was directed by George Roy Hill who also directed another favorite movie of mine, A Little Romance.

I really did love seeing Slaughterhouse-Five! Yup.

Yesterday May 5th was the New Beverly Cinema's 30th anniversary! Before the show got started Julia came on down and got the crowd to sing Happy Birthday to the New Bev and that was cool. So glad I could be there to help celebrate and say thanks to the Best Revival Theatre there is!

The double feature was SOYLENT GREEN and WESTWORLD.



I had never seen all of Soylent Green before and it was fun to watch old Charlton Heston on the big screen. It's still a cool flick. I'm excited that today, being a Tuesday means it's Soylent Green Day!

Westworld was good too, especially Yul Brynner as he's a badass robotic gunslinger, I wouldn't want him chasing me.

To keep celebrating the New Bevs 30th their current line up this May is recreating the original show calendar from their first month so be sure to check it out right HERE. Go out and catch some double features. I'm going back real soon!!

Happy Birthday New Beverly! Here's to many many many more awesome movie adventures to come! You know I'll be there!


P.S. Clu Gulager sighting #14