ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE KALAMAZOO: A REVIEW

Last night was my first visit to the newly opened Alamo Drafthouse here in Kalamazoo. I was there to watch the 1979 film The Visitor. The movie is such a wild, weird flick that defies description so I don;t know if I want to try that here. I'm reviewing the theater, not the movie. The Drafthouse used to be The Rave. I went once when it was opened. Overpriced and the same as other theatres nearby that had their own parking lots. There was no good reason to go.
Now, a theatre that shows things like The Visitor or MS. 45. There's a reason to go.
With that said, lets run down the bad before the good. That way we get a pleasant finish to the entire experience.
THE BAD.
They serve food and drink in the theater. That's not bad, but I really wanted coffee. I looked at the menu. No coffee. I asked and they said yes they had it. But it wasn't on the menu and I am not a fan of not knowing what something costs when I order it. The served it in this tiny French press that gave about two, small cups of coffee. Later, when I finally got a refill, they charged me for the second thing of coffee. No where in the galaxy should that cost ten bucks. It was good coffee, but no free refills on coffee. Really?
They said if you need anything just write it down and put it on this little rack device in front of the table in front of you. Yeah, when my daughter ran out of soda and I coffee it seemed to take a long time to get refills and that became a distraction in my enjoyment of the movie.
My solution to the problem in the future will be to just go and watch the movie. That leads to all the good.
THE GOOD.
The seats have huge gaps between them. No person directly in front of you and no one directly in back of you. They have a no talking no cell phone policy that is like paradise. The seats have headrests on them so it is probably the most comfortable viewing experience that I have ever had. The half hour of clips before the movie were fun to watch and I had a great time overall.
So, in the end, would I go again?
Yes.
The Drafthouse is famed for doing interesting things with film and I am a huge fan of a lot of movies so, I can see myself going to see more things there.
I just won;t be ordering anything there.
I think I like to keep my dinner/lunch separate from my movie watching.
The popcorn was delicious, however.   
And they do validate your parking, which is nice.

DIVINE EXPLOITATION: THE BOOK!

It is here.

Order it here; https://www.createspace.com/4445657

That is all.

Thanks for reading.

Note: This cover was done by the amazing Ron Merchant. Through the magnificence of the magical interwebs he has found me. He is doing new art for me and I could not be happier. Hurray!

CINEMA WASTELAND OCTOBER 2013 REPORT PART 3: A GHASTLEE GHOUL'S SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES

Nothing can prepare you for the two hour block of insanity that is this event. I never miss it and here is a lengthy video of this year's event. I ran out of battery before it was open. Sorry.

CINEMA WASTELAND OCTOBER 2013 REPORT PART 2: BILL ZEBUB

Tradition at Cinema Wasteland is that there is a new Bill Zebub movie. This time, with INDIE DIRECTOR, Bill has delivered his best comedy to date. Here's the introduction he gave:




You can get your copy at www.billzebub.com

Review to follow.

CINEMA WASTELAND OCTOBER 2013 REPORT PART 1: DONNA WILKES

This was the first year any of our children attended the show with us. They had a fantastic time and good fun was had by all.
Before anything else I would like to show this video of the lovely, Donna Wilkes who is inn one of my favorite slasher flicks, BLOOD SONG. She signed my Big Box VHS of the movie and I got my picture taken with her. The panel was awesome even if the person running it got some things terribly wrong. I did get in the last question so, that was cool.
Enjoy the interview.

MONOCHROMIA (2013)

In a world a little like ours a whole lot like someone elses', a chemical weapon is released. It is not supposed to do much, but in the end the entire world becomes color blind. Nothing is the same. 

Years later, a scientist (James Porter) is on the verge of a cure, but others covet his secret for one reason; greed. If they control who can and cannot see in color then they have ultimate power. The companies that used to produce color dyes for paint, fabric and many other things will come back and bring prosperity to the world again.

A mad billionaire sends his cronies to do his dirty work and the scientist ends up dead. Really dead. His cousin (Cherry Lynn Zinger) has to discover who did it and retrieve the secret of returning color to the world at large.

Being the considered expert on all films Legge, I was really looking forward to his new film. The basic concept felt a little darker and more satiric than the others. What? Don't believe I'm the expert? I did write a book on the man you know.

UNABASHED PLUG!!!!!!  

Here is the book I wrote. You can buy your very own copy of it here. Monochromia is not reviewed in it. That will be in the second edition.

So, how is the latest from the demented mind of Michael Legge? This reminds me a lot of Cutthroats, one of his earlier films. Where that one skewered the office worker environment Monochromia deals with things on a more world wide level. What would it be like if color was gone? Sure, we all like some old school movies and TV, but if your world was like that? It would be horrible.

Legge does double duty as the billionaire madman bent on controlling the world and his own flunky. Lorna Nogeira is, Alvin, the flunky's moll, Nadine. They are probably the heart of the film as while they do dastardly things, they do love each other in their own demented way. Being a huge Cherry Lynn Zinger fan I was ecstatic to see her back in a major role in a Legge film. She always makes me smile and this time was no exception.

The film works on the surface as a quirky comedy that takes place in a dimension slightly to the left of our own, much like Legge's political satire, Democrazy, but beneath the surface you get that feeling of dread. That whole everything is really just black and white, plain and simple. No gray areas. People are good or bad, evil or innocent nothing in between.

The things we expect from a Legge film are present. Scenes in a restaurant primarily, but this one felt more, I don;t know, intimate. The whole film dealing with a world wide crisis, felt more like it was what was happening on a street level. It made the crisis more personal and more real.

MONOCHROMIA shows us the importance of what we take for granted and makes us laugh in the process.

Now go buy this thing here. 

THE MEATEATER (1979)

So, we recently got a ROKU box when we cancelled cable. One of the channels is called Drive-In Classics. It has a variety of categories and one of them was Grindhouse. That's where I found this little gem. A word of warning; Drive In Classics is a sponsored channel. That means while it is free to watch there are a block of four or five commercials every ten minutes regardless of what is happening in the movie. Luckily I remember the days of late night broadcast television so I have had the proper training for this. Others might not fare as well.
So, there is this family that decides to buy a movie theater in a small town. The dad is sick of being a shoe salesman on the road all the time so they pack up and go to the new town with the theatre.
One small problem. A disfigured maniac is holed up in the place and he likes fresh meat. Real fresh meat. And if that wasn't enough, their teen age daughter looks a lot like his woman. Seems she's not with us anymore.
MEATEATER is a quirky little flick. Most of the people in it went on to...well, nothing. The guy who plays the dad was in  Gas Pump Girls. Most of them did nothing else. The kid (Gary Dean) who played the youngster at least went on to be in an episode of Fawlty Towers and three episodes of Doctor Who as three different characters.
Probably the most famous of the cast would be Joe Marmo who, as the detective on the scene, had the coolest name as Lt. Wombat. He played Nacho 'El Gordo' in Scarface.
The intense amount of commercials did break up the tepid flow of the film and it does drag. There also seems to be a lot of conversation about meat. The mom serves up a hot dog and gives a mini commercial about how healthy they are for you. They sing the Oscar Meyer song and mention Jimmy Dean sausage.
I did like that they were showing nature documentaries and they juxtaposed shots of animals eating with people gorging themselves in the theater.
In the end, this is just a weird little flick with a couple of nice effects, no nudity and some of the worst acting you will ever witness.
Another win!

Here's a scene. Weird thing? Someone dubbed it into another language?!?