ǝoɔsoᴚ ǝʇɐN
@nateroscoe
Writer. Procrastinator. No wire hangers, ever. Published: Umbrella Ent, Fangoria, 88 Films 💼 authory.com/NateRoscoe ✍️ TrashToTarkovsky.com
Between Dick Harris’ frigid scowl, the sedate disquietude of Ted Moore’s lensing, and a score so sorrowful it deserves its own funeral cortège, Michael Anderson’s ‘Orca’ feels less a riff on ‘Jaws’ than a briny counterpart to the metaphysical strangeness of Bergman or Rollin. Released #OTD, 1977.
Twenty-seven years ago, ‘The Blair Witch Project’ (1999) completely overhauled the way we approach, consume, and engage with the medium of film. That nothing else since has managed to outvie its anarchic vision, rough-hewn feel or chasmic cultural footprint, is testament to the pic’s enduring power.
Isabelle Adjani gets the bulk of the praise for ‘Possession’ (1981) but Sam Neill matches her beat for fucking beat, his sweatily deranged corkscrew into psychosis—a perf at once volatile and vulnerable, frenzied and forlorn—the capstone of a richly eclectic career. RIP, legend.
Aspire as it may to be a prickly morality piece on journalistic rectitude & society’s thirst for bloodshed, this sweat-beaded serial killer caper soars when leaning into its potboil thrills, the deft—often daft—stylistic flounce working in sync w/ game Russell to ensure things stay goofily gripping.
Melding ethereal fantasy-horror with forlorn Gothic romance, Curtis Harrington’s woozily ambient ‘Night Tide’ conjures an oblique, visually exquisite seaside noir, its folkloric framework the ruse to style a poetic treatise on the perils of loneliness and infatuation. Released on this day, 1961.
“I saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience, so that when the film [began], viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it.” Be it his trendsetting title sequences or inimitable one-sheets, nobody set the mood for a motion picture like Saul Bass (8 May 1920–25 April 1996).
Knowing Me, Knowing You: ‘Persona’ (1966) / ‘Muriel’s Wedding’ (1994) #SideBySide
Like ‘Suspiria’ shifted to the craggy shorelines of Calif., this cryptic remnant of 70s midnight moviedom wakens an intoxicating fever dream fuelled by mouthwatering mise-en-scène, echoes of Lovecraft, and rich waves of illusory ambience. All hail the great ‘Messiah of Evil’. Rlsd #OTD 23 April 1975
Rough Ride: ‘The Bad and the Beautiful’ (1952) / ‘Death Becomes Her’ (1992) #SideBySide
Happy Birthday to the alluringly gifted Ellen Barkin, seen here as Joyce in Todd Solondz’s superb ‘Palindromes’ (2004). This moment—wherein she browbeats her teen child into getting a termination—always hits hard, her soft, sinisterly nurturing approach eliciting equal measures of fear and empathy.
It’s rare that a movie star gets to unshackle from good taste and go so left-field it could soil their repute forever, but Kathleen Turner did precisely that in ‘Serial Mom’ (1994, John Waters), grabbing every last gizmo from her wheelhouse and hurling it vigorously at the wall. Rlsd #OTD April 13.
Side by Side: ‘Inferno’ (1980, Dario Argento) / ‘The Great Muppet Caper’ (1981, Jim Henson)
First time seeing ‘Crawlspace’ (1986) tonight. Another dollop of surreal, atmospheric genre pudding from the unsung David Schmoeller. (This Thai one-sheet *almost* slaps as hard as that banging Donaggio score…)
Streep’s on record as pretty much despising her performance in ‘Night’ but there’s this magical five-minute portion towards the end of the pic where things come to a complete standstill, the camera honing in on her face as she extrudes the most vulnerable, electrifying monologue of her whole career.
It’s sassy, it’s silly, it’s scary—and that’s just Gale’s fringe! My personal favourite ‘Scream’, pt.3 stands out from the splat by virtue of its weird ambience, boisterous set pieces, left-field cameos, and droll, ‘Scooby-Doo’-ish skewering of the Hollywood studio system. Released #OTD Feb 4, 2000.
With viscid tongue lodged firmly in reptilian cheek, ‘The Relic’ takes a bite at the mid-budget monster flick blueprint, its droll comportment, shadow-swathed setting, and game perfs the backbone of a charmingly boisterous, scientifically preposterous beast. Released on this day, January 10, 1997.
Happy ‘Clue’ Day to all who celebrate… In a film stuffed with sparkling turns, Brennan’s Mrs. Peacock twinkles just that little bit brighter.
#NW. Found a listing on eBay for this old Blockbuster screener. Would love to know what the “Put the Pieces Together” Contest entailed! Fun fact: Pic’s costar, Joanne Whalley, went to my high school, & my mum knew her grandmother. Had quite the Hollywood run in the 80s/90s. Jo, that is. Not grandma.
An icy excursion through eclectic genre terrain, ‘Dead of Winter’ (1987) marries the elaborate mien of a spoofish Agatha Christie with the forlorn spirit of a psychological chamber piece, its diligent weirdness enriched by the ruminative piano score and a furiously fun, snowballs-to-the-wall finale.
