****Purchase advance ticket here****
January 30, 2018
February's Mystery Movie: First Clue
Clue #1: The first clue to this month's movie is that it's one of Colette's favorite action-exploitation films.
Tape Freaks Presents: February's Mystery Movie at the Trylon Cinema, Wednesday, February 7th @ 7:00pm, only $5!
January 28, 2018
Colette's Birthday: The Pitfalls of Watching Movies While Female
While choosing a movie for this month I only had three criteria I wanted the film to meet: pass the Bechdel test, don't rape the women in the film, and ideally feature a Woman of Color. That doesn't seem like shooting for the moon, but it turns out it might be. It never seems like I'm ignoring epic amounts of bullshit to enjoy the movies I watch, but it's starting to seem like I'm ignoring more bullshit than I could have possibly imagined.
We burned through stacks of movies over last few months that seemed promising as picks, classics we loved or films that have been recommended by friends or the internet: and that epic quest resulted in maybe two films we could screen at some point. We thought about screening Coffy, because I LOVE Pam Grier, but there's quite a bit of misogyny in that film that barely gets addressed by the end. (Also, most of the badass women in Coffy have their clothes ripped off at some point, and I don't think it actually passes the Bechdel test.) We watched countless movies from our "to watch" pile that heavily featured lady characters, and most of those movies also featured scenes where said awesome lady characters were raped. For a second I even abandoned the idea of playing something that met any of my criteria in favor of screening a movie that I love love love that features mostly men, but then that exact movie got booked at the Trylon. (To be screened on my actual birthday even.) I was ready to give up and just play Rouge One, but you know what? Thinking back on my viewings of it, I'm not even sure that Rouge One passes the Bechdel test.
And that got me really thinking: if a movie I love as much as Rouge One could have me questioning in retrospect if it even passes the most laughably low-bar of tests for judging if a movie treats it's lady characters well, what am I missing in everything else? So here's my birthday wish to you: when watching films, watch with people who aren't you in mind. If you're white: watch for how People of Color are portrayed (if there are any at all). If you're a dude: watch for how many women there are (and how much you know about those characters aside from what directly relates to the men in the movie). If you're straight: watch for how the LGBTQA people are portrayed. If you're cis gender: watch for how Trangender people are treated (or more likely are joked about). Ask yourself "if they were consistently portraying people like me that way, how would I feel?" Check in about how those portrayals fit into our society at large, and read perspectives written from different people about how they're being represented in media. And listen, I'm not telling you to outright hate everything that treats people who aren't white cis men poorly. (I mean seriously, if we did that, how on earth would we enjoy much of anything at this point?) However, enjoying things that are problematic while discussing the problems they contain makes us grow as an audience and a society, and that's what I'm ultimately looking for in my time on Earth: positive growth.
So back to my pick for this month: Tim finally realized there's an obvious pick I had not considered for even one second before, and it's exactly what we're playing this month. It's newer than any movie we've ever played before (as was the case with my birthday pick last year), it's one that I truly love, it actually meets all my criteria, and exceeds them in ways that I would love to talk about at length with anyone after the screening. This month I went from being frustrated to the point of wanting to give up all together, to being more excited for a screening than I've been in almost exactly a year, happy birthday to me!
We burned through stacks of movies over last few months that seemed promising as picks, classics we loved or films that have been recommended by friends or the internet: and that epic quest resulted in maybe two films we could screen at some point. We thought about screening Coffy, because I LOVE Pam Grier, but there's quite a bit of misogyny in that film that barely gets addressed by the end. (Also, most of the badass women in Coffy have their clothes ripped off at some point, and I don't think it actually passes the Bechdel test.) We watched countless movies from our "to watch" pile that heavily featured lady characters, and most of those movies also featured scenes where said awesome lady characters were raped. For a second I even abandoned the idea of playing something that met any of my criteria in favor of screening a movie that I love love love that features mostly men, but then that exact movie got booked at the Trylon. (To be screened on my actual birthday even.) I was ready to give up and just play Rouge One, but you know what? Thinking back on my viewings of it, I'm not even sure that Rouge One passes the Bechdel test.
And that got me really thinking: if a movie I love as much as Rouge One could have me questioning in retrospect if it even passes the most laughably low-bar of tests for judging if a movie treats it's lady characters well, what am I missing in everything else? So here's my birthday wish to you: when watching films, watch with people who aren't you in mind. If you're white: watch for how People of Color are portrayed (if there are any at all). If you're a dude: watch for how many women there are (and how much you know about those characters aside from what directly relates to the men in the movie). If you're straight: watch for how the LGBTQA people are portrayed. If you're cis gender: watch for how Trangender people are treated (or more likely are joked about). Ask yourself "if they were consistently portraying people like me that way, how would I feel?" Check in about how those portrayals fit into our society at large, and read perspectives written from different people about how they're being represented in media. And listen, I'm not telling you to outright hate everything that treats people who aren't white cis men poorly. (I mean seriously, if we did that, how on earth would we enjoy much of anything at this point?) However, enjoying things that are problematic while discussing the problems they contain makes us grow as an audience and a society, and that's what I'm ultimately looking for in my time on Earth: positive growth.
So back to my pick for this month: Tim finally realized there's an obvious pick I had not considered for even one second before, and it's exactly what we're playing this month. It's newer than any movie we've ever played before (as was the case with my birthday pick last year), it's one that I truly love, it actually meets all my criteria, and exceeds them in ways that I would love to talk about at length with anyone after the screening. This month I went from being frustrated to the point of wanting to give up all together, to being more excited for a screening than I've been in almost exactly a year, happy birthday to me!
January 3, 2018
January's Mystery Movie: Third Clue
Clue #3: The director of this month's movie previously directed a film with a very similar title. Due to the confusion that caused, the video box for this month's movie included a disclaimer to clarify that the movie was NOT a sequel to the similarly titled film.
Tape Freaks Presents: January's Mystery Movie at the Trylon Cinema, Wednesday, January 3rd @ 7:00pm, only $5!
Tape Freaks Presents: January's Mystery Movie at the Trylon Cinema, Wednesday, January 3rd @ 7:00pm, only $5!
****Purchase advance ticket here****
January 2, 2018
Haunted Houses: House 1, 2, 3, 4
Not to be confused with the epically strange Japanese movie the Trylon plays every Halloween, this is an obscure horror franchise who's only major through line is the title. (Though, this series was produced by Sean S. Cunningham who produced the Friday the 13th franchise, and features music by Harry Manfredini who scored the same series... if you count that sort of thing as coherence.) If you've not watched any of the House movies, you're missing out on a strange pocket of haunting movies that get weirder the further you get into the series.
House (1985): Troubled writer, Roger Cobb, has just inherited a house from his aunt and is moving in with the hope it will help him focus on writing his new book. But, this man is not just a tortured man writing a memoir outlining the haunting memories he brought back with him from Vietnam; he's also processing the loss of his child from a failed marriage! All that stuff is about to take a back seat though, because the house has begun to reveal that it's far more than just a house... Directed by Steve Miner (who also directed Friday the 13th II & III, Lake Placid, and Halloween H20), stars William Katt (who was the titular Greatest American Hero) and features George Went (Norm from Cheers), this weird-but-fun film does a surprisingly good job of balancing scares, comedy and heartfelt character moments. It also features some great monster effects, is Kane Hodder's (Jason Voorhees (parts VII-X) first credited Stunt Coordinator effort, and is one of Fred Dekker's (writer/director Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps) earliest writing credits.
House 2 (1987): Jesse (Arye Gross) and his friend Charlie (Johnathan Stark) uncover a murder mystery that has connections to Jesses his parents, great-grandfather, and an ancient Aztec crystal skull. This sequel was directed by the writer of the original's screenplay, and as you may have guessed, has almost nothing to do with the previous flick, including it taking place in a different house. This one is also a lot more goofy and leans harder into wacky comedy than it does horror movie. But, even though this installment is as big a mess as it sounds like it is, it's still enjoyable mostly due to Chris Wallas and his effects crew (Gremlins, The Fly) who bring some really bizarre and fun creature effects by way of skeleton cowboys, pterodactyls, and a caterpillar-puppy.
House 3 (aka The Horror Show (1989)): After a long murder spree, crazed serial killer (Brion James) has finally been caught and sentenced to death by electric chair. Unfortunately, sending a murderous amount of electricity through his body only gives his newly forming ghost super powers! He puts these powers to immediate use by tormenting the detective who took him down (Lance Henricksen) and killing everyone close to him. Now, if you're familiar with this series you may have just exclaimed "there were more than two of these movies?!!", or perhaps you came across House 4 and thought "what the hell happened to part three?". Those are both common reactions (to the few that fit the criteria of knowing about these movies at all) due to the fact that Sean S. Cunningham pre-sold this movie to European distributors under the name House 3 but, once they started actually making the movie, he realized this flick wasn't going to fit into the the franchise so for releases everywhere else they called it The Horror Show. This installment takes yet another departure from the previous flicks as far as tone, this time omitting the comedy completely and leaning hard into dark to the point of mean spirited. But, the two lead actors give some pretty great performances and there are more wild and enjoyable effects and gore by a young KNB effects team.
House 4 (1992): Roger Cobb is (finally) back! And he's killed in a car accident right away! He's also married to Kelly Cobb (Terri Treas) and they have a 12 year old daughter, but there's no mention of his wife from the first movie, or that he had a son that disappeared, or that they are "returning" to a house that's totally different from the house in the first film... but seems like it's supposed to be the house from the first film... Still, the last in this weird series is the first to have anything to do with any of the others and that's at least something! This installment was straight to video and sadly was the last in the series, but it is another fun/weird notch in the belt of director Kevin Tenney (Night of the Demons, Witchboard).
House (1985): Troubled writer, Roger Cobb, has just inherited a house from his aunt and is moving in with the hope it will help him focus on writing his new book. But, this man is not just a tortured man writing a memoir outlining the haunting memories he brought back with him from Vietnam; he's also processing the loss of his child from a failed marriage! All that stuff is about to take a back seat though, because the house has begun to reveal that it's far more than just a house... Directed by Steve Miner (who also directed Friday the 13th II & III, Lake Placid, and Halloween H20), stars William Katt (who was the titular Greatest American Hero) and features George Went (Norm from Cheers), this weird-but-fun film does a surprisingly good job of balancing scares, comedy and heartfelt character moments. It also features some great monster effects, is Kane Hodder's (Jason Voorhees (parts VII-X) first credited Stunt Coordinator effort, and is one of Fred Dekker's (writer/director Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps) earliest writing credits.
House 2 (1987): Jesse (Arye Gross) and his friend Charlie (Johnathan Stark) uncover a murder mystery that has connections to Jesses his parents, great-grandfather, and an ancient Aztec crystal skull. This sequel was directed by the writer of the original's screenplay, and as you may have guessed, has almost nothing to do with the previous flick, including it taking place in a different house. This one is also a lot more goofy and leans harder into wacky comedy than it does horror movie. But, even though this installment is as big a mess as it sounds like it is, it's still enjoyable mostly due to Chris Wallas and his effects crew (Gremlins, The Fly) who bring some really bizarre and fun creature effects by way of skeleton cowboys, pterodactyls, and a caterpillar-puppy. 
House 4 (1992): Roger Cobb is (finally) back! And he's killed in a car accident right away! He's also married to Kelly Cobb (Terri Treas) and they have a 12 year old daughter, but there's no mention of his wife from the first movie, or that he had a son that disappeared, or that they are "returning" to a house that's totally different from the house in the first film... but seems like it's supposed to be the house from the first film... Still, the last in this weird series is the first to have anything to do with any of the others and that's at least something! This installment was straight to video and sadly was the last in the series, but it is another fun/weird notch in the belt of director Kevin Tenney (Night of the Demons, Witchboard).
January 1, 2018
January's Mystery Movie: Second Clue
Clue #2: This months movie features a top notch scream queen.
Tape Freaks Presents: January's Mystery Movie at the Trylon Cinema, Wednesday, January 3rd @ 7:00pm, only $5!
Tape Freaks Presents: January's Mystery Movie at the Trylon Cinema, Wednesday, January 3rd @ 7:00pm, only $5!
****Purchase advance ticket here****
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