My Cinematic Rant for the Films of 2011

We sent in a more verbose version of this rant to a film magazine. The film we are 'discussing' here "Bellflower" was quite a cult sensation. It was shown at the Shadowbox Cinema in Roanoke, Va., and at a/perture Cinema in Winston-Salem, NC, among other places. Originally, "Bellflower," which we gather was filmed in Wisconsin (don't quote us on that), made a splash at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

It also played somewhere in the Washington-DC metro area. We tried to find where by checking out a review of the film in "City Paper," but while we were unable to find out, the publication told us that the film only cost $17,000 to produce?! Of course, we could have found that out on the Internet Movie Database as well.

I thought "Bellflower" was a very interesting, hip film until the third act, and amazingly enough the reviewer for "City Paper" seemingly agreed with me. The film concerns a road trip as the apocalypse is looming.

I guess the best way to describe it is a "Mad Max/Easy Rider meets Left Behind" kind of film, except that "Bellflower" does not have an evangelical political agenda unlike the film series with born-again actor Kirk Cameron best-known for the '80s sitcom "Growing Pains," who is the exact same as I am!

And, we gather he has something like 14 children (that is a joke, but it is a ridicolous number that is slightly lower than that!).

Here is my revised rant:

"I must profess sincere admiration for film director Even Glodell and his film "Bellflower," even though I gave it a four out of ten on the IMDB. It is such a 'so bad it's good' film that I almost put it on my top 20 films of the year list.

Glodell made his own unique film in his own unique way. The fact that the screenplay's dreadful third act derails the film into a lurid mess shouldn't make each of us admire him profoundly.

He may well end up learning from his mistakes and end up out Tarantinoing QT himself!"

Happy Veteran's Day; I'm Hittin' the Road

Since today is Veteran's Day and I am hitting the road, we thought an image from the iconic 1969 American biker film "Easy Rider" (Peter Fonda is pictured here) was in order even though the film is not a war film and it politically expresses vehement opposition to the Vietnam War. But, hey the Democratic Party lost seats in Congress last week, so how much more damage can I do?!

In all seriousness, I want to take a minute to thank all veterans for their service.

And, if anyone residing anywhere near Southern Pines, NC, wants to celebrate Veteran's Day Weekend, I can't think of a better way than to see my good friend Bruce Piephoff, a Greensboro folk singer, perform down there at the Jefferson Inn on Sunday afternoon.

Remembering Dennis Hopper (1936-2010)

Today, we want to remember Dennis Hopper who died yesterday in Venice, Calif., with some tidbits from some of his most famous films. We will not include his most famous work which was "Easy Rider" (1969), a film which he also directed. But, I did learn that Hopper and his co-stars Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson actually smoked real marijuana in the film.

Here are some trivial notes for some of his other films, including "Apocalypse Now!" (1979), which is pictured above:


"Apocalypse Now!:"

-Steve McQueen was the first to turn down the part of Captain Willard which initially went to Harvey Keitel who was in turn fired from the set and replaced by Martin Sheen.

"Rumble Fish:"

-Matt Dillon, who played the title role, told the original story's author S.E. Hinton that "Rumble Fish" was his favorite novel. She reportedly responded by telling him that those who like the book were usually in a reformatory!

-Tom Cruise was offered Dillon's role, but he turned it down for "Risky Business."

-Director Francis Ford Coppolla said the movie is among the top five favorites that he's directed himself.

"Straight to Hell:"

-This film featured several musicians including Joe Strummer, Elvis Costello, Grace Jones and Courtney Love as well as film director Jim Jarmusch in addition to Hopper.

-At the end of the credits, a title comes up which says: "COMING SOON: BACK TO HELL," yet this quirky 1987 spaghetti western rip-off never had a sequel.

"True Romance:"

-The film uses the f-word some 225 times.

-Hopper said the only lines he improvised with Christopher Walken were 'egg plant' and 'cantaloupe.'

-Quentin Tarantino, who partially wrote the screenplay, never came on director Tony Scott's set during the filming.

Lastly, we leave you with this tweet from Slash from the rock band Guns N Roses concerning Hopper:

"You take the great ones for granted until they're gone. RIP Dennis Hopper."

Quote of the Week-Peter Fonda

This entry complements the Dennis Hopper quote on my other blog "The Daily Vampire:"

"Henry Fonda's son: That's how everybody identified me until 'Easy Rider' came along. Good old Captain America."


You know "Easy Rider" and "Mary Poppins" would make for a very interesting double-header.