The Car in Motion: Racing Films, Part I

This week saw the release of two major Formula One racing films on Blu-ray – Grand Prix (Warner Home Video) and Le Mans (Paramount).

I reviewed Le Mans way back in 2003 for Told You So Productions, a site whose content (mostly mine) was absorbed into what became KQEK.com. The mandate for the now-defunct site was to keep reviews under 500 words, which is why some of the older reviews written between 2001-2005 tended to be much more compact and free of blather.

I’ll cover the Le Mans Blu-ray in greater detail shortly, but let’s start with Grand Prix [M] (1966), because it’s the film that I’d frankly avoided until now because I was concerned its fusion of Grand Hotel-type melodrama would make an otherwise striking racing film interminable.

MGM had repeated the Grand Hotel formula from its 1932 classic into a number of variations, including Weekend at the Waldorf (1945) as well as the sappy adaptation of Arthur Hailey’s novel Hotel (1967), and while some could argue the melodrama in Grand Prix isn’t unique, screenwriter Robert Alan Aurthur certainly evoked the formula, in which the lives of a handful of leading characters become intermingled with each other, as well as numerous secondary characters.

Arthur, though, used conflicts tailored to racers: their groupies, tired wives, not to mention leggy sports journalists who perhaps used their job to get into the jumpsuits of certain drivers.

James Garner, driving solo at 120 mph.

The character dramas in Grand Prix make up a third of the film’s content; the rest is docu-drama styled moments; and what may be the most beautiful widescreen in-your-face racing footage ever put on film.

Director John Frankenheimer really showed his knack for tackling a complex production by insisting problems be solved in order to put audiences in or alongside the driver’s seats of Formula One machines. The visuals, supervised by the great Saul Bass,  are extraordinary, and the sound of roaring engines gives a rush to car enthusiasts who like the sound, feel, and delight of moving fast in vehicles  they control all by themselves.

Released in single camera Cinerama (basically Super Panavision 70mm, exhibited in Cinerama using specially adapted prints for the curved screens). Grand Prix’s racing scenes are kinetic, elegant, and erotic because they were designed and executed by people who loved cars in a pre-CGI era.

At 176 mins., Grand Prix is arguably monstrous in length, but more than half of the running time involves some of the most amazing racing sequences committed to film.

Saul Bass' clean, simple title design begins with a Formula One roar.

I’ve reviewed the film in detail, and added a link to a rare interview with TVO's Elwy Yost and Saul bass regarding the making of the film. It's online, free for streaming, so check out the film review.

In the coming weeks I'll follow-up with Le Mans and several related racing films to show how different filmmakers at different periods in film history handled the car in motion.

What I do wish is that through the creation and release of these HD masters, the prints used for the Blu-rays are available for rental, because if you have the chance to catch Grand Prix on the big screen, as a car lover, it’s your duty to see it.

Anyone at the TIFF Bell Lightbox listening? The 70mm projection system needs some exercise…






Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com

Mondo in HD

"More than the greatest love the world has known," says Riz.

Contrary to what the BBC may have envisioned, Human Planet [M] (2011) owes a great deal to Paolo Cavara and Gualtiero Jacopetti’s Mondo Cane (1962), the debut of what’s been branded the mondo genre.

A literal translation of the Italian film means ‘a dog’s world’ but it’s not the title that defined the genre, but the format: a travelogue documentary not unlike the early Cinerama films where exotic locales and odd cultural quirks were captured in widescreen glory. The emphasis was on authenticity, or at least conveying a sense of being party to things striking, exotic… and odd.

What makes a mondo film are globe-trotting locations, jumping from one group of odd human behaviour to another within a city or country, and making sure there’s a balance of the visually beautiful, bizarre, the shocking, and the serene. Contrasts for the sake of provocation. Cults or primitive tribes, and western values rational put upside-down. Man behaving like a wild creature, or learning from the wild world to gain a slight upper hand.

Why live in a world of extremes? Why get food that way? Why earn a living when it’s going to kill you faster than cancer?

Physical and cultural isolation, perhaps, and no need to adopt aspects of western lifestyles because it’s unsuitable or impractical. Not every village has electricity, and maybe living in a tree house is more satisfying without mortgage, utility and property tax payments.

Warner Home Video released Human Planet on DVD and Blu-ray, and fans ought to be happy it’s the U.K. version rather than the Discovery Channel edit (which is ostensibly the same series, retrofitted with a new narration track and music score because middle America only likes the Brit accent when it's packaged inside Miramax Oscar bait).

Mastered at 1080i, the series looks grand, and Nitin Sawhney’s music is a welcome stylistic change from the more orchestral scores that have dominated prior series such as Planet Earth (2006) and Blue Planet (2001). There was nothing wrong with George Fenton’s music; we just needed a fresh sound for this atypical BBC production.

Because it’s mondo!

And yes, this blog – mondomark – espouses to the odd, eclectic elements native to the mondo genre as they flow from my brain (which is quite big). I just haven't written an Oscar nominatable song yet to make the transition complete.






Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com

The Corman Touch: Part II

"Contrary to one's immediate reaction, there are deep social mores beneath those Lycra-cradled buttocks."

When his first and only genuine effort to make social drama, a superb adaptation of Charles’ Beaumont’s novel The Intruder (1962), flopped and lost money, producer / director Roger Corman gave up on so-called message films, and stuck with bug-eyed monsters, Poe adaptation, and eventually became the premiere producer of B-movies.

Now in his eighties, Corman’s producing credits span more than 350 titles, which is frankly insane, yet he remains the same affable yet frugal producer beloved by former protégés like Joe Dante.

Whether it was the 1978 Piranha, the 1995 Piranha (aka Piranhas), or the recent Dinoshark (2009) and Sharktopus [M] (2010) productions, Corman served as mentor to the craft of ‘efficient’ filmmaking. None of the films qualify as art, yet their makers went from editors, production managers, and special effects whizzes to directors – something typical of the old studio system, but largely absent today except with producers who enjoy productive associations with major studios.

That Corman continues to make movies is a wonder simply because he’s weathered the demise of drive-in theatres, the death of major indie outfits like AIP and Avco Embassy, his own releasing firms New World and Concord, and the lack of theatrical releases.

Around the nineties, Corman settled into making exploitation fodder for cable TV, which allowed more gore and boobery, but mandated formulaic product. The disposable nature had to be offset by brand recognition, so Corman reached back into his back catalogue and remade A Bucket of Blood (1995), Piranha (1995), and The Wasp Woman (1995).

He also riffed on the 1958 Woolner production, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, making Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfolds (1995), and during the eighties he also remade Not of This Earth (1988) and Masque of the Red Death (1989).

His nineties remakes are more interesting because of the casting and virtual scene-for-scene retention of the original scripts. Piranha doesn’t need to exist, but has a minor curiosity value in seeing scenes from the ’78 Dante version replayed with slight tweaks, new faces, and the integration of effects footage from the original film.

Again, it has no reason to exist, but it made for an easy cable TV sale, filled the rental shelves, and if examined with critical eyes, shows the stylistic shifts within a 16 year period – namely faster editing, snappier dialogue, and a shorter running time for a 90 minute time slot.

Dinoshark [M], available in a swanky Blu-ray edition from Anchor Bay, is similarly brief, but unlike its unofficial sequel, Sharktopus, it takes itself too seriously and lacks the necessary fromage factor that was effectively maintained in Piranha [M] (1995). Corman’s millennium era product is sometimes amusing, but like all good B-level cheese, it requires a special blend of the right elements (Eric Roberts always helps), and luck.

I’ll have reviews of the BBC’s Human Planet (Warner Home Video) and a pair of Mimsy Farmer gialli up shortly.

This past weekend was devoted to Doors Open Toronto, and between film and soundtrack reviews I’ll interpolate a few posts and photo essays on some of Toronto’s more intriguing buildings I managed to visit, some tethered to related docs.






Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com

Ottawa, Part I: Tulips & Pretty Little Flowers

Two weeks ago I made my usual trip to Ottawa to visit family friends, eat German food, and relax for a few days before returning to the grind. There were three  places to hit while I was in the nation’s capital: the nation’s capital (duh) and its blankets of flowering tulips, and the Diefenbunker.

The Tulip Festival stems (sorry) from Holland’s annual gift to Canadians for sheltering Holland’s royal family during WWII, and for temporarily designating a small section of a hospital flooring as official Dutch territory so baby Princess Margriet could arrive as a genuine Netherlander and still qualify as a Alternate Head of State #3.

Some might find the idea of travelling to another city to see bright flowers a bit silly, but think about it: it’s one country saying Thank You with one of their greatest gifts that also perk everyone up when they stroll past blocks of multiple varieties of flowers. Yes, you can grow tulips in your backyard, but it’s also the context: swathes of flower beds literally glowing under that bright clean Ottawa sunlight.

I’ve described this scene many times to friends: when you drive to Ottawa and take the tail end of Highway 7 into the city border, you start ascending a large hill, and as it crests the Ottawa valley opens up, and there lies this city surrounded by lots of green, a massive expansive sky, and the Gatineau mountains in the background. It’s really quite striking, much in the way every city has a specific sweet spot where it looks grand.

If you’ve travelled to Centre Island and looked back at Toronto, that’s ours – one elegant cluster of tall buildings punctuated by the CN Tower and the Dome (er, the Rogerswhatevercentre). Pity the condos are taking over, but hey, that’s part of my city’s fine, far-sighted, intelligent planning plan of plans.

Ottawa’s use of space – for cars, people, cyclists and architecture – also feels rather European; big buildings aren’t placed where they don’t belong, clashing with existing architecture.  Perhaps the city has what Toronto doesn’t: enforceable laws against the destruction of heritage buildings, and a philosophy to re-use rather than save a façade as a kind of ‘There, we conserved the old building, now shut up and go away.’ (If developers in T.O. has their way, the downtown core would be a sea of banal, cheaply built condos with starter closets selling for ‘the low $200,000.’)

I’ve gathered some of the tulip pics in my Flickr gallery, which also includes a few shots from 2010 prior to Full Battery Failure, an annoying little syndrome that’s quite un-fun. Most of the 2011 pics are near the parliament buildings, and I’ve tossed in some images of the new Ottawa Convention Centre which is really quite feat of engineering & design.

In light of the curious who wander into the building for a peek, the management engaged a security man for double-duty as an informal tour guide, because levels 2 and up are reserved for already-booked events.

Every glass pane is uniquely thick and cut differently from all the others, and the overall curve in front gives a great view of the canal and government buildings. The left side also curves up in the form of a tulip, which is a nice touch. Our tour included the two main rooms on the second floor, one of which had just housed Rogers' 50th anniversary bash, and included a complete midway that had been carted up piece-by-piece. I took a few quick snapshots of the glass before we started to dash home and avoid something called ‘rush hour traffic.’ For some factoids on the new Convention Centre, feel free to browse the official website.

I’ve also got a related gallery featuring a few snapshots of flowers grown in the garden where I stayed. Don’t ask me what they are, because I think in colours and textures. Names mean nothing to me except ‘the pretty blue one from Austria’ or that greeny thing with the stamencular eucalyptonium kronkeitis eublakis.

Coming soon: pics of the Canadian War Museum, and a photo essay on the Diefenbunker.






Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com

Soundtrack Reviews + News

It’s the day after Victoria Day, which means most Canadians spent the long weekend (or part of it) BBQ’ing things, consuming cold beer, and at some point watching firecrackers illuminate the sky.

The same set of events (goosed with plenty of flag-waving) is done Canada Day July 1st, but Victoria Day – in honour of Queen Victoria (Becky to her best friends) – really marks the beginning of the summer-ish season.

So far, the weather’s been good, making up for the week-long rainfall that’s been an annoyance to gardeners and Torontonians hungry for something called 'dry sunlight.'

On Sunday, I ate a big dinner in Thornhill with friends, after which we watched imported U.S. fireworks go boom for half an hour. Couldn’t tell if the pyrotechnics were more robust than the Canuckle variety, but things did crack, bang and boom a lot, often in multiple patterns, colours, altitudes, with screeching effects.

The show concluded with a burning firehouse set piece. Apparently the activity of burning a small cardboard school house is now illegal here; it's been rebranded as something like ‘flaming old barn’ because bureaucrats believe the activity plants the evil pyro seed in kids.

When the American school house was lit, the kids excitedly flocked to the edges to watch it go poof. I assume the generic Canadian ‘flaming old barn’ would’ve elicited more of a ‘meh’ from the kids.

* * *

Tuesday marks the beginnning of a standard work week, so I've uploaded a trio of soundtrack reviews:

The Symphonic Celtic Album [M] is a Silva Screen's deliberately calming re-recording of familiar film themes with a Celtic bent, whereas La-La Land's latest limited CD offerings feature a pair of filmic newcomers - Kristopher Carter's score for the film version of Yesterday Was a Lie [M], and Abel Korzeniowski's Copernicus' Star [M].

* * *

In the realm of film music news, a recent discussion on Film Score Monthly's message board reveals their recent Star Trek / Ron Jones project boxed set is available as downloadable separate albums, via Amazon.com, eMusic, and iTunes.

Apparently the licensing of the FSM catalogue isn't going to go broader - the label generally goes for CD-only releases, and this exception may have been due to the overwhelming global fan base of anything Star Trek. It's also a good way for the label to expose itself (so to speak) to genre and franchise fans, and give Jones' profile a nice boost.

I still like the digital + CD models being used by the major soundtrack labels, but it would be nice if those fast-selling, limited CDs are usually earmarked by producers for future digital editions. Why let all that hard work (licensing, negotiating, mastering, etc.) be exclusive to just a 1000 fans?

Speaking of new limited editions,Varese just revealed their latest limited editions for the CD Club series, and they include Charles Bernstein's My Demon Lover (1000 copies); a 2-disc set of Bernard Herrmann's previously unreleased music from Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Volume 1 (2000 copies); and after various promos, abbreviated editions & compilations, best-of collections and bootlegs, Marco Beltrami's moore-or-less complete Scream score finally makes it to legit CD (2000 copies).

Varese's series also includes a CD+DVD offering, the 3rd edition of Filmucite's live concert series: Jerry Goldsmith 80th Birthday Tribute Concert.

Goldsmith came late to touring concert versions of his suites and themes, and for the overwhelming majority who never attended a concert of his music (Toronto was supposed to get one, and those plans fell through), this may be the next best thing.

More good stuff to follow.



Mark Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com