The past week has been a veritable
carousel of getting assorted article and film writing related
activities done and out there. In short, it's been ideal. The
biggest, by far, was getting to participate in the the
tuber-fantastic William Castle Blogathon, hosted by the fine ladies
at both GoreGirl's Dungeon and The Last Drive In. The assortment of
different writers and Castle related goodies has been any genre film
lover's dream. I would highly recommend checking out all of the
entries, especially if you are a fan of the man. Getting to craft
both a tribute, as well as delve into his pink-cheeked spy film, “13Frightened Girls!”, was a ton of fun. The man & legend that is
William Castle has left a thumbprint on the world of cinema that will
never be duplicated and this blogathon gives you plenty of examples
why.
More on the not so quiet on the film
front, my contribution to the “Underrated Dramas” feature on the
fine site, Rupert Pupkin Speaks, went live this week. It was a great
challenge, especially since the word “drama” has always made me a
little itchy. Everything I love usually does not fit cleanly into any
box, especially one as mainstream-respected as “drama.” But doing
this list made me think outside of my own box, which is always a
healthy thing. So I hope everyone enjoys it and immediately runs out
to check out all the titles listed.
Earlier in the week, I appeared on my
friend Frank Cotolo's podcast, “Cotolo Chronicles.” Last time
around we discussed the living dead and this time around we discussed
the living end of character actors. I didn't get to mention all of my
favorites and while I think we got hit with the dreaded brain lapse
that comes with the territory of live radio, as a whole it was fun.
Plus, I got to plug my holy trinity of character actors: Joe Spinell,
Rip Torn & Timothy Carey. Start building your altars now, if you
haven't already.
One actor I did not get to mention that
I desperately wanted to was Anthony James. He maybe a classic example
of “Hey! It's that guy.” but once you see his mug, you will never
forget him. Such an amazing face with the talent and presence to back
it up. The lanky frame, sharp cheek bones, black-as-a-ravens-wing
eyes and thin,wide smile—these are all just a few of the awesome
things about Anthony James. My favorite James appearances include his
turn as the lead villain in the Jay North-Angel Tompkins exploiter,
“The Teacher,” the creepy chauffeur in “Burnt Offerings” and,
of course, his fabulously sleazy agent in the music video for
Poison's “Fallen Angel.” My only beef with that is the girl
doesn't realize how good she's got it...nice clothes, great hair and
the presence of a real, albeit highly oily man. Some girls...pffft.
