After seven TV specials, it seemed inevitable that Charles Schulz’s Peanuts characters would make the leap to the big screen, and their theatrical debut came with Vince Guaraldi’s jazz themes plus new songs performed and co-written by Rod McKuen, an occasional film composer, songwriter, poet, and author…
Tasked with creating a sound that would match the new 12 Monkeys TV series, yet somehow harken back to the themes of the original 1995 film, Trevor Rabin and Paul Linford’s score uses pulses and chimes to infer physical and emotional states where there’s no firm historical rooting, no grasp of time or style or culture…
Joe Kraemer’s real auspicious debut came in the form of the oddball The Way of the Gun (2000), the directorial debut of The Usual Suspects (1995) writer Christopher McQuarrie. McQuarrie went back to screenwriting for a lengthy period and re-emerged as director of Jack Reacher (2012), this time opting for a decisive 70s suspense thriller where violence remained just under the hood instead of being overt and visually chaotic…
Carter Burwell’s never stopped working since making his debut with the Coen brothers’ Blood Simple (1984), and although he remains the writing-directing duo’s main music man, Burwell’s also handled a variety of genres in film and TV, but where he’s arguably at his best is crafting simple themes with minimal instrumentation for characters in delicate, absurd, or surreal circumstances…
When Intrada released their first LP and later CD editions of Jerry Goldsmith’s score, the film was already well-known as one of the last productions from Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, a great little indie company that specialized in a mix of B and occasional art house films, if not unconventional thrillers that would’ve been turned down by major studios…
Now Where Were We? Right. Let’s go back to LAST NIGHT (1998)
Don McKellar’s LAST NIGHT (1998) is the first review after a long pause in activities at KQEK.com
Gothic Steele: An Angel for Satan (1966)
Review of AN ANGEL FOR SATAN / UN ANGELO PER SATANA (1966), Barbara Steele’s last Italian Gothic, on Blu-ray from Severin Films
Spanish Giallo I: When a Cannibal is not a Cannibal, but When a Scream is Indeed a Scream
Severin Films showcases the work of Eloy de la Iglesia via two fine Spanish gialli entries: NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM (1973) + CANNIBAL MAN (1972)
ArtScopeTO 10: Interview with Abstract Painter Donna Wise
For my occasional podcast series ArtScope TO, Abstract Painter Donna Wise discusses her unique techniques, and working during the 2020-2021 pandemic.
Podcast: Jason Pichonsky on Restoring Julian Roffman’s THE BLOODY BROOD (1959) + PHOBIA (1980)
Alongside a podcast with CanCon film historian Jason Pichonsky are revised reviews of Julian Roffman’s THE BLOODY BROOD (1959) + John Huston’s PHOBIA (1980), both from KINO Lorber / Unobstructed View.
Podcast: ANNE WITH AN E composers Amin Bhatia & Ari Posner
Podcast interview with ANNE WITH AN E’s composing team Amin Bhatia and Ari Posner.
Assorted characters collide and interact in the lead-up to Earth’s demise at precisely midnight.
BR: Angel for Satan, An / Un angelo per Satana (1966)
Had Barbara Steele remained in Europe – especially Italy – during the early 1970s, she may well have appeared in giallo thrillers…
BR: Cannibal Man / La semana del asesino / Apartment on the 13th Floor, The (1972)
Cannibal Man has a palpable crime-drama feel – the events unfold after daily title cards – and one can sense Hitchcockian sensibilities…
BR: No One Heard the Scream / Nadie oyó gritar (1973)
After the grisly thriller Cannibal Man (1972), Spanish auteur Eloy de la Iglesia opted for a far less graphic thriller which is part giallo…
DVD: Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films, The (2014)
Produced and released around the same time as Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014), the approach by director Hilla Medalia is a more authorized chronicle…
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