Jun 28 2012
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Film

The Summer of ’82: Blade Runner

Fante’s Inferno is revisiting the Summer of ’82, considered to be the greatest movie summer for fantasy and sci-fi fans.

Blade Runner

Release date: 6/25/82

Original theatrical trailer here.

Directed by Ridley Scott; Screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples (based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick)

Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Brion James, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson

When I’m asked to name my favorite movie of all time, my first response is “There are too many favorites to narrow down to just one. ”  But when pressed to just try to narrow it down to one film, I would have to go with Blade Runner.

I wasn’t able to see Blade Runner in the theater when it was released 30 years ago this week.  I first caught it on cable TV a couple of years later.  At that time it didn’t have the profound effect it would have on me as I got older, but I absolutely enjoyed it.  When I revisited Blade Runner in my twenties I was struck not only by how the film still held up for me, but also by the fact that I enjoyed it much more with each subsequent viewing.  I was beginning to develop an obsession with it.

In the Spring of 1998 I was taking a certificate program in filmmaking at NYU (one of the most enjoyable moments in my life).  Over twelve weeks of intensive shooting and editing, I struck up friendships with two of my classmates.  One of them, cinematographer Mike P., was (and still is) a huge fan of Blade Runner.   Our conversations reintroduced me to the film.  I bought and watched a VHS copy of the 20th anniversary director’s cut (letterboxed of course!) and my obsession began.

For awhile I was on the fence regarding which version I liked better: the director’s cut or the original theatrical version with the happy ending and Decker’s voice overs.  The director’s cut is definitely a tighter edit, and Harrison Ford’s voice overs in the theatrical version are a distraction now.  Maybe it’s nostalgia, or maybe it’s the fact that I want the film to keep going after the elevator doors close in the director’s cut, but now that I have both versions on DVD I tend to lean more towards the theatrical version.  When the Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan screened Blade Runner: The Final Cut on 2007, I was hoping it would have included the original theatrical ending.  I grumbled walking out of the theater when it didn’t…

In 1998 American Cinematographer had ranked Blade Runner in the top ten most beautifully shot films of all time.  The write up included a frame of Sean Young smoking a cigarette and an excerpt from the original article in American Cinematographer from 1982.  I ended up buying a copy of that 1982 issue on eBay.  I grossly overpaid, but I needed to read about Jordan Cronenweth’s cinematography.  Then I bought a copy of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner which I highly recommend for both fans of Blade Runner and film in general.

What surprised me the most when I revisited Blade Runner were the negative reviews when the film was released.  The story was compelling, the effects were amazing, and each actor brought his or her character to life.  As I got older, in spite of the ruthlessness of the replicants played by Rutger Hauer, Brion James, and Daryl Hannah, I was able to empathize with their plight.  They just wanted to live longer.

There’s no question regarding whether or not Blade Runner holds up 30 years later.  It’s on a different level from the other movies released during the summer of 1982.  This one falls into the category of timeless.  I give it five out of six replicants.

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Jun 23 2012
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Film

The Summer of ’82: Conan the Barbarian

Fante’s Inferno is revisiting the summer of 1982, considered to be the greatest movie summer for fantasy and sci-fi fans.

Conan the Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian
Copyright 1982 – Universal Pictures

Release date: 5/14/82

Directed by John Milius; Screenplay by John Milius and Oliver Stone (Based on the works of Robert E. Howard)

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger (Conan), James Earl Jones (Thulsa Doom), Sandahl Bergman (Valeria)

Famous quote:  When asked “What is best in life?”  Conan responds: “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women.”

The film begins with a blacksmith forging a sword…

I always loved that opening sequence.  The art of creating the weapon got me hooked on the story at age 10, and watching it this week at age 40 reminded me why.  At that point in my young life I was feeding myself a steady diet of fantasy books, Dungeons & Dragons, and Frank Frazetta’s artwork.

This isn’t a review, per se.  One thing I can’t bring myself to do with this film, or most others I enjoyed in my youth, is look at them with the jaded snarkiness that most other people would approach the film with in 2012.  I won’t judge the film by the primitive effects by today’s standards, the acting ability of Arnold at that point in his career, or whether or not I outgrew the film/genre as I got older.  For me, it comes down to these points:

1. Does watching it now remind me of why I enjoyed it back then?
2. Does the story still hold up for me?
3. Does the film reinforce what I like about the genre?

And so, how did it hold up for me when I watched it 30 years later?  Much better than I thought.  Although the special effects (or lack of special effects) would come across as dated by today’s standards, I actually enjoyed it more for that reason.  I prefer the old school approach on 35mm over today’s CGI overload.  If done today, the number of Thulsa Doom’s attackers in the opening raid of Conan’s village might ave been multiplied by 100 and the “real” actors might have been filmed against a green screen.  While I appreciate the progress that has been made with CGI (I’m not a luddite), and a filmmaker’s desire to create a landscape with these tools, regardless of how well it’s done it’s still a distraction to me as a viewer (although one CGI film that I thoroughly enjoyed was Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow).  I will always have an appreciation for the lost art of the matte painting.

If there was anything I would criticize about Conan the Barbarian, it would be the slow pace of the film.  Clocking in at 2 hours and 7 minutes, a half an hour could have been cut just by picking up the pace in many of the scenes.

One thing I didn’t realize was how little dialogue Arnold had throughout the film, unless you count the 87 times he said AAAGHaaghAAAGHaaAGH!!!! when tortured or beaten.

Seeing the final shot of an older, wiser, King Conan on his throne at the end of the film and reading the final lines on the screen reminded me of how I couldn’t wait for the sequel back then.  Two years later my childhood friend Kevin and I saw Conan the Destroyer in the theater.  Even at age 12, the fantasy/D&D fan in me didn’t take the story as seriously as Conan the Barbarian.

This film was like an old Dungeons & Dragons campaign on celluloid.  Two swords up.

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Jun 16 2012
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Film

The Summer of ’82

With the anniversary upon us, I’ve been seeing quite a few articles proclaiming the summer of ’82 as one of the best summers for movies ever.  This Yahoo slideshow sums it up pretty well.  My first thought regarding the summer of 1982 is usually, “Holy crap, has it been 30 years?”  The second is: “Holy crap, that was a great summer for movies!”

I turned 10 that summer, and in addition to going to the local movie theater, most of that summer was spent reading Marvel comics, playing video games (on the Atari 2600 and at our local arcade) and playing Dungeons & Dragons a couple of times a week.  In short, it was heaven.

I’ll admit, scanning through these 15 films, there are a few that don’t really resonate with me in 2012 (The World According to Garp, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Night Shift), but most of the rest are still favorites of mine and it boggles my mind that they were released over the course of a few months.  Several fall into the category of “when I flip through the channels and it’s on, I watch it to the end.”

My favorites from the list:

Conan the Barbarian (5/14/82)
The Road Warrior (5/21/82)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (6/4/82)
Poltergeist (6/4/82)
E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (6/11/82)
Blade Runner (6/25/82)
The Thing (6/25/82)
The Secret of NIMH (7/2/82)
TRON (7/9/82)
Pink Floyd: The Wall (8/6/82)

One film that surprisingly isn’t on this list is Clint Eastwood’s Firefox (6/18/82).

I’d like to revisit each of these films in blog posts corresponding to the week they were released, but as you can see I’m a bit behind schedule with the first six, but the 30th anniversary of the release of Blade Runner (one of my favorite movies of all time) is coming up, so I’d better get cracking on that one.

On a side note, thank you to everyone that has been reading and following my blog.  The latest stats show visitors from 26 countries.  Please feel free to comment, as well as follow me on Twitter (@Fabrizio_Fante).  Emails are also welcome at fabfante (at) gmail (dot) com.

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Jun 05 2012
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Art, Comics

The Captain America Project #7: Joe Madureira

The Captain America Project: 20 artists, 20 drawings of Captain America on one page.

This week: Joe Madureira (Uncanny X-Men)

Joe Madureira was another artist I approached at the 2010 Wizard World NY show.  I had approached him early in the afternoon that Saturday, but he advised he wasn’t drawing sketches.  Normally I wouldn’t ask a second time, but as the day went on, more than a few of the attending artists that worked on my page would say, “You HAVE to get Joe Mad for this page.”

Later in the day I noticed he was drawing a pencil sketch for an attendee.  Figuring it couldn’t hurt to ask, I asked if he had opened up a sketch list.  He hadn’t, but when he saw my Captain America jam page in progress, he agreed!

In my last post, I mentioned that Alex Maleev had accidentally spilled a drop of ink on one of the empty panels.  Joe looked at it and said, “I can cover this up in my sketch if you want.”  Of course, I said yes.

You can’t tell from this picture, but the ink stain is actually hidden in Cap’s shield.

Captain America by Joe Madureira

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May 27 2012
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Film

Movies for Memorial Day

With Memorial Day coming up on Monday 5/28, I would like to thank the all active members and veterans of the armed forces for their service and sacrifice.

One of my favorite movie genres has always been the combat film.  Not so much for the action sequences, but for the characters.  Growing up in the 70’s, there was always a WWII or Korean War film playing on Saturday afternoons.  Some of my favorites:

Sahara, Battlefront, Von Ryan’s Express, The Great Escape, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Steel Helmet, The Green Berets, and Sergeant York

Some notable films to watch on TV this Memorial Day weekend:

Turner Classic Movies:

The Steel Helmet (Sunday 5/27 at 4:45 PM)
Sergeant York  (Sunday 5/27 at 8:00 PM)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (Sunday 5/27 at 10:30 PM)

The Green Berets (Monday 5/28 at 9:15 PM)
The Great Escape (Monday 5/28 at 11:00 PM)

Spike TV will run a marathon of all ten episodes of Band of Brothers on Monday 5/28 from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM.

Of all of the war films I’ve seen, Sam Fuller’s The Big Red One (1980) is my favorite of the bunch.

Written and directed by the legendary Sam Fuller, this film was a based on his personal experiences as a GI in World War II.  The main character Private Zab (played in the film by Robert Carradine) is based on Fuller.  The film follows The Sergeant (played by Lee Marvin) and four members of his squad called The Four Horsemen (played by Carradine, Kelly Ward, Bobby DiCicco, and Mark Hamill) through Africa and Europe from 1943-1945.  But this film only scratches the surface of Sam Fuller’s experiences during the war.  I highly recommend Fuller’s autobiography A Third Face for more about this part of his life.

I had the opportunity to interview Mark Hamill at the 2011 New York Comic Con.  He was there to promote a comic book project he was involved with, but I couldn’t help asking him about his experience working with both Sam Fuller and Lee Marvin on The Big Red One:

Hamill:  Oh my God, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.  I learned more about World War II from them than I ever learned in history books.  Because they were both veterans.  With all due respect to Steven Spielberg, it’s second hand from him.  With Sam you’d go “This is crazy, why would I do this?”  And he would say “Well I’ll tell ya it wasn’t you, it was a guy by the name of Colowitz, and he was handsome like you…”  And he would tell you what really happened!  It was just probably the most profound experience of my career.  I can’t think of a director I like better than Sam.  And Lee Marvin was not only a brilliant actor but an amazing storyteller and a hilarious person.  Boy was he funny.  And I could make him laugh, which he loved.  He loved to laugh.  He was not an attention hog, he loved to hear stories from you.  Yeah, he was fantastic.

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May 21 2012
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Art, Comics

The Captain America Project #6: Alex Maleev

The Captain America Project: 20 artists, 20 drawings of Captain America on one page.

This week: Alex Maleev

I commissioned Alex Maleev (Daredevil, Spider-Woman) for this Captain America sketch at Wizard World NY in 2010.  As he drew this, he accidentally got a drop of black India ink on the panel below it.  Fortunately the panel was blank and the ink drop didn’t affect a sketch, but it was very noticeable.  The good news is, the next artist was able to incorporate it in his sketch.  More on that next week!

Drawing by Alex Maleev
Captain America copyright Marvel Comics

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May 12 2012
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Comics, Film

Avengers Fans Assembled! Bring on the Comic Book Movies!

I’m blown away by the $207 million U.S. box office gross for The Avengers last weekend.  Sadly, I wasn’t able to be a part of the opening weekend but I’ll definitely check it out next week.

Some non-comic book fans may lament the number of comic themed films that will be coming out in the next few years (Avengers 2 without a doubt, Captain America 2, Thor 2, Wolverine 2, Man of Steel, etc.) but I can’t get enough of them.  My prime comic book reading years were the late 70’s to the mid 80’s, and with the exception of the Superman films it was slim pickin’s for comic book heroes on the big screen during that time.  I remember back around 1981 my brother mentioned an X-Men movie was in the works.  I have no proof of the accuracy of that statement, but it got my 9 year old mind racing to the possibilities of who would play Professor X, Cyclops, Phoenix, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Angel and Sprite.  And for years I waited…and waited…until 2000 when X-Men was released in theaters.  My brother drove down from Boston and we watched it in our hometown theater just like we did Superman: The Movie over 20 years earlier.

With The Avengers performing way above expectations, my mind is racing again to the possibility of even more comic book films.

Upcoming comic related films I’m looking forward to:

The Dark Knight Rises – Very high hopes for this one.  And I’ll have a surprise post the week of its release.

The Amazing Spider-Man – I was puzzled when they originally announced this reboot.  I didn’t think I would want to see another origin story, but the new trailer reminded me of what I didn’t like in the first Spider-Man movie, particularly Mary Jane’s role as Peter’s love interest instead of Gwen Stacy.

Man of Steel –  I’m not sure what to expect with this.  Superman Returns was a disappointment, mostly because it needlessly re-hashed plot points from Richard Donner’s Superman.  One of the main criticisms I’ve heard from fellow fans is that it’s time for Superman to fight a super villain like Doomsday.  I agree.

Dredd – After the 1995 debacle, I didn’t think Judge Dredd would ever get another shot at a feature film.  Dredd will be released in the U.S. this September with Karl Urban (Star Trek, The Bourne Supremacy) in the title role.

Here’s my wish list of comic book films.

In development:

Fantastic Four #242
Copyright Marvel Comics

Fantastic Four – I wasn’t impressed by the first two Fantastic Four films.  The super team that ushered in the Marvel Age of comics didn’t get the respect it deserved.  There’s a reboot in development (Fantastic Four Reborn) at Fox.  Fingers crossed.

Daredevil #230
Copyright Marvel Comics

Daredevil – I’m looking forward to this reboot based on the Born Again arc by Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli.  But the storyline I always hoped to see on film would be from the Frank Miller/Klaus Janson run.  Unfortunately the first movie took away the possibility of a Bullseye/Elektra story.

Holding out hope:

Doctor Strange #56
Copyright Marvel Comics

Doctor Strange – I remember watching the made for TV version of Doctor Strange in the late 70s.  I don’t remember too much of it, except the terrible plot, acting, costumes, and special effects.

Justice League of America #165
Copyright DC Comics

Justice League – George Miller (Mad Max, Happy Feet) was attached to direct this several years back.  Hopefully Warner Brothers will give their super team the big screen treatment.

Wonder Woman #253
Copyright DC Comics

Wonder Woman – One of the Golden Age characters that I would like to see set in the 1940’s.  Superheroes fighting in World War II is kind of a recurring theme on my wish list…

Black Panther
Copyright Marvel Comics

Black Panther – I’d love to see a Black Panther feature film set in both Africa and New York City.  He’s a very underrated character in the Marvel Universe.  At the very least he should make an appearance in an Avengers or Fantastic Four movie.

Luke Cage, Hero For Hire #1
Copyright Marvel Comics

Luke Cage – Nothing like Luke Cage, Hero For Hire, opening up a can of whoop ass.  If this film ever gets made, please set it in the 70s.

Giant Size Invaders #1
Copyright Marvel Comics

The Invaders – Captain America, The Sub-Mariner and The Human Torch fighting the Nazis in World War II.  Need I say more?

Awhile back I had asked a comic artist what he thought of the large number of comic book related movies that had been released over the last five years.  His response:  “We rule the world now!”

I couldn’t agree more!

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May 04 2012
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Art, Comics

From My Collection: Finding a Don Heck Original

A few years back I attended one of Mike Carbonaro’s comic shows at the Hotel Pennsylvania in Manhattan.  I bought a couple of pages of original art by Don Perlin and Frank Springer, but my favorite haul that day was a page of unpublished artwork.

As I flipped through the vendor’s portfolio I saw what looked like a jam page but I couldn’t figure out the theme or the characters.  None of them were superheros.  Most were drawn in blue pencil, and a few were inked.

The vendor explained to me that it wasn’t a jam page, but a warmup page by legendary Silver Age artist Don Heck.

Don worked through the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Ages of comic books.  When I think of Don Heck’s art, The Avengers is the first comic book that I associate him with.  Unfortunately his name is not mentioned enough among the great artists of the Silver Age, making him in my opinion one of the more under appreciated artists of that era.

Once the vendor said Don Heck’s name, I recognized his style in the inked head sketches.  But what surprised me the most were the non-inked sketches.

You’ll see from the scans below that a couple of these resemble Hollywood style portraits more  than comic book art.

I look at this one head sketch and I see Ava Gardner.

These are drawn on DC Comics paper with “Wonder Woman 307” written on the top left corner of the page.  That issue has a cover date of September 1983, which would have made Don 54 years old when he drew these.

Drawings like this remind me that he was an artist before he was a comic book artist.  And an amazing one at that.

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Apr 26 2012
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The Captain America Project #5: Rob Liefeld

The Captain America Project: 20 comic artists, 20 drawings of Captain America on one page.

This week: Rob Liefeld (X-Force, Youngblood, New Mutants)

Rob Liefeld made an appearance at Wizard World New York back in October 2010.  When the artists and fans at the show saw my Captain America page in progress, more than a few said, “You HAVE to get Liefeld to draw a Captain America for you.”  He was absolutely on my list.  I go there early that Saturday morning and and was one of the first three people on line when the doors opened at 10 AM.  It was worth the wait.

Normally I would watch the artists as they drew their version of Cap on my page, but Rob needed some time before he could work on it and asked me to leave it with him until he worked on it.  Over the next hour or two I walked by his table to see if he was working on it.  During that time I saw him work on a Wolverine and a couple of Deadpool commissions.  He got to mine about halfway through the day and it was definitely worth the wait!

Drawing by Rob Liefeld.
Captain America copyright Marvel Comics.

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Apr 24 2012
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The Captain America Project #4: Rich Buckler

The Captain America Project: 20 comic artists, 20 drawings of Captain America on one page.

Sorry I’m behind schedule!  So this week there will be two Captain America Project updates.

This week: Rich Buckler (Fantastic Four, co-creator of Deathlok)

I got to meet Rich toward  the end of the first day of Wizard World New York in October 2010.  He’s one of my favorite Marvel Bronze Age artists, and I was lucky to get this sketch before the show ended.  Yep, four Captain America sketches in one day.  I’d call that a pretty good haul!

Drawing by Rich Buckler.
Captain America copyright Marvel Comics.

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