BIRTH. MOVIES. DEATH. August 2015 Issue 26

BIRTH.MOVIES.DEATH. / JUNE 2015

WOLFEN (1981) NOW AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY

They can tear the scream from your throat.

3442

NOT RATED

THOUSANDS OF FILMS, TV MOVIES & SERIES DIRECT FROM THE STUDIOS VAULT2015 Turner Entertainment Co. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved

WARNERARCHIVE.COM

DVD, BLU-RAY & STREAMING

Letter From The Editor

CONTENTS

Storyboarding MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON And The Celebration Of Hip-Hop In Film

Pretender To The Flame: The Robot Who Joined The Fantastic Four

THE LOOK OF SILENCE Is A Masterpiece

QUIET NO MORE: Director Joshua Oppenheimer On THE LOOK OF SILENCE

drafthouse.com birthmoviesdeath.com drafthousefilms.com fantasticfest.com mondotees.com

Essential Documentaries From Executive Producers Errol Morris and Werner Herzog

An Archangel With an Automatic Weapon: Bill Lustigs MANIAC COP 2

Editor-in-ChiefDevin Faraci Managing EditorMeredith Borders Associate PublisherHenri Mazza Art DirectorJoseph A. Ziemba Graphic DesignersZach Short, Stephen Sosa, Kelsey Spencer Copy EditorGeorge Bragdon Contributing WritersMark Lambert Bristol, Jacob Q. Knight, Bill Norris, VyceVictus, Devin Faraci, Tim League, Haleigh Foutch, Jon Stobezki, Meredith Borders, Joseph A. Ziemba Advertising and SponsorshipsCorey Wilson | [email protected] Public Relations InquiriesBrandy Fons | [email protected] All content 2015 Alamo Drafthouse | drafthouse.com | birthmoviesdeath.comPromotional images and artwork are reproduced in this magazine in the spirit of publicity and as historical illustrations to the text. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the respective filmmakers, actors, and studios.

Your Guide To Drinking: The French 75

BMD Q&A: Kevin Bacon On COP CAR

Drafthouse Recommends: COP CAR

Video Vortex: Actor George Stover Revisits His BLOOD MASSACRE

The Last Word With FANTASTIC FOUR Director Josh Trank

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEVIN FARACIBadass Digest Editor-in-Chief

Read more at birthmoviesdeath.com

@devincf

Letter From The Editor

That face on the cover isnt Ice Cube -- its Ice Cubes son, OShea Jackson, playing Ice Cube in STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, the story of N.W.As rise to fame back in the 80s and 90s. Its also a sign that Im officially old, as I never imagined I would live to see the group best known for their track

F*** tha Police getting a big budget, slick biopic.

But man, am I glad its happening. Hip hop has been a major part of American culture for 40 years now, and it deserves a spot at the prestige biopic table. The movies have long embraced hip hop -- sometimes well, sometimes with hilariously out of touch results -- and this issue we take a look at the history of hip hop at the cinema.

Also a part of the American culture for about 40 years now: Kevin Bacon! Its actually been just shy of 40 years since he made his big screen debut in ANIMAL HOUSE, and hes still one of our favorite movie presences. This month were throwing a lot of support behind his raucous indie movie, COP CAR, and we even managed to score an interview with the man himself. Now we are one degree from Kevin Bacon!

Stretching back a bit farther than 40 years is the First Family of Marvel Comics, The Fantastic Four. This month theyre getting another crack at a movie adaptation, and its one that has drawn some controversy over the color-blind casting of Michael B. Jordan as The Human Torch. But how many of the complainers remember the time the Human Torch was replaced by a robot? We dig deep into the forgotten history of FF cartoons.

And theres much more, including a peek at the storyboards for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION and even an article championing MANIAC COP 2! It may be hot outside this August, but its really cool in here. 6


2015 SPOETZL BREW

ERY, SHINER, TX 77984


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Storyboarding MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION

"Every sequence in ROGUE NATION had its own unique complications. In every case, their execution relied heavily on Mark Bristol's artwork. His understanding

of what I see in my head borders on an invasion of privacy." Christopher McQuarrie, Director

MARK LAMBERT BRISTOLStoryboard Artist


@markbristol1


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Writer-director Chris McQuarrie and I have been friends for twenty years. I have storyboarded many of his projects over the years. He invited me to help him visualize MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION and it became the highlight of my career. I spent fourteen months on the film and traveled to London, Vienna and Morocco. A true life adventure!

76-02This scene was heavily choreographed by the amazing stunt team and Tom Cruise. I sketched the shots based on their reference video and rehearsals that I attended. We worked on the Vienna Opera action for four to five months. I even traveled to Vienna twice.

102-01 Here you can see the aspect ratio has changed to 2:35:1. By this point I walked through each shot with director Chris McQuarrie in Vienna, so I had a tremendous amount of reference photos to sample from. As you can see the storyboard and the final shot in the film are nearly exact. That is always a thrill.

105_01 - 102-02We worked on Ilsa and Ethan's extraction from the Opera House for a long time. I was literally drawing the revisions here in Austin while they were shooting in Vienna. Fan photos of Tom Cruise on the roof of the opera house helped me with the details.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

183_03I traveled with the crew to Morocco where we spent a week planning all the amazing chase sequences. Simon Pegg was screaming for real as Tom Cruise tore down those narrow streets. Intense!

108-01Huge stunts of an SUV exploding in the streets of Vienna require intricate planning. Storyboards are a major communication tool for the crew.

Early Concept workThis is one of the first drawings I did for the film back in December 2013. Chris McQuarrie had me sketching and pitching all sorts of action scenes as he and the team were designing and writing the film.

Christopher McQuarrie, Mark Bristol, (editor) Eddie Hamilton and (script supervisor) Lisa Vick.

MIV_A400Chris and I explored many different versions of this sequence until we arrived at the final one you will see on screen.

MIV_V05This shot is from a sequence ultimately not used in the film. An early version of Benji's arrival to Vienna. I just like the drawings.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

400 Compare2One of many storyboards depicting Tom Cruise's absolutely remarkable stunt. Yes, he really did hang onto the side of that massive plane. Amazing.

A400 iconic shotI was in a meeting with Tom Cruise and all the department heads to discuss this amazing stunt. Tom kept saying he wanted his feet to fly off the plane. I did a quick sketch and handed it to him. He showed it to the crew and said, "Yeah, like this!" This storyboard represents the final frame.

MIV - 0017Chris really liked this shot. He knows exactly what he wants and is able to perfectly articulate his vision. Within that structure I would sometimes deliver additional shots for him to consider. Thankfully he was often thrilled with the contribution. 6

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION arrives July 31. See drafthouse.com for listings.


STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON And The Celebration Of Hip-Hop In Film

VYCEVICTUSBirth.Movies.Death. Contributor


@vycevictus


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Hip-hop music has long since proven to be an incredibly effective medium for providing a voice to the voiceless. The daily struggles of African-Americans, which society at large had been oblivious to and ignorant of, was injected into the mainstream consciousness via the widespread proliferation of hip-hop. These messages have been part of the music since its earliest days in songs like The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. It continued with the explosively groundbreaking impact of Gangsta Rap and groups like N.W.A. in the 90s, and lives on with contemporary artists like Kendrick Lamar, whose street authenticity and pop crossover appeal reflect modern sensibilities. Film has also been intrinsic to hip-hop, as movies about the culture spread the message concurrently with the music. From the earliest films like 1982's WILD STYLE, to the smash hit BOYZ N' THE HOOD, to dramas like 8 MILE, the movies reflect various aspects of the struggles expressed in rap lyrics.

Having said all that this piece isn't actually about the significance of serious messages in hip-hop music and movies. Instead, I feel that it's important to emphasize the other aspect of hip-hop that is just as crucial: hip-hop is also about celebration. Though social commentary was part of its earliest forms, we must never forget that hip-hop was originally born as party music. I believe that the expression of jubilation is just as vital and critical to our culture as the expression of sorrow and anger. Music is part of how we coped with the great evils of slavery, and hip-hop was born in the despair of a city on the brink of annihilation from violence and poverty in the late 1970s, instilling a sense of hope in the face of hopelessness.

Growing up in Brooklyn and Queens during the 80s and 90s, I had my share of hard times, but I was equally blessed with many good times despite the hardships. The music I listened to and the movies I watched reflected both of those aspects. On one hand, the anger and sadness in those songs and films let me know that I was not alone in my struggles. However, the joy and wonder in other films let me know that I was more than just some disadvantaged statistic; they affirmed that I am a Human Being, a person with a soul and hopes and aspirations. And if people who looked like me and talked like me and came from where I came from were able to manifest expressions of that joy and make their dreams a reality, then I knew that I could too.

And so, rather than smack you with a boring laundry list of Important Black Hip-Hop Movies that you can find in any other stodgy film publication run by white people, I'd like to share with you some hip-hop

movies that promote the celebration of black culture and life in general. Most everyone is familiar with the modern classic comedy FRIDAY, so this list contains some weirder and lesser known favorites of mine that I hope others will discover and enjoy.

HOUSE PARTY is the better-known Kid n' Play movie that is historically important for showing that, although it may occur in different places and through different methods, the teenage quest to party and get the girl is universal. Even so, I like CLASS ACT better. Though it uses familiar black settings and language, the mistaken identity plot about a straight-laced nerd trading places with a hard core juvenile delinquent has a collective appeal, and the movie's freewheeling sense of slapstick comedy tickles my funny bone in just the right spot. In the end, each character grows by learning the importance of both aspects -- the street smarts and the book smarts -- in their lives, and I've really taken that to heart.

You might have seen the Def Jam rap group The Fat Boys in the seminal hip-hop movie KRUSH GROOVE, but I've always been a fan of their comedy/headlining vehicle DISORDERLIES. They star as a trio of bumbling hospital orderlies hired to take care of a billionaire, while his no-good nephew seeks to facilitate his demise and claim his inheritance. DISORDERLIES is basically a black Three Stooges movie with beat-boxing thrown in, and I love it so.

METEOR MAN stars the venerable director/producer Robert Townsend as Jefferson Reed, a mild-mannered school teacher whose D.C. neighborhood is plagued by the deadly gang known as the Golden Lords. One night while being chased by the gang, Reed is hit by a meteor from outer space that imbues him with super powers, and he soon takes up a costumed identity to clean up the streets. To this day, METEOR MAN has the most personally resonant climax and thematic through-line of any superhero movie I've ever seen; more than any of the recent Marvel entries and more than anything in Nolan's trilogy, and it even puts a unique twist on the iconic superpowered street battle seen in SUPERMAN II. It's a universal morality tale of good vs. evil, but through the lens of hip-hop culture that speaks distinctly to the black community.

GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI stars Forest Whitaker as the Mafia hitman of the title who lives and fights by the Samurai code. Though not a jubilant comedy like the other entries listed here, it is still in the spirit of hip-hop celebration through film. Though I wasn't truly aware of it at the time, GHOST DOG was the first art movie I had


TABLE OF CONTENTS

ever seen, which was likely true for a great number of black people upon its release. Jim Jarmusch applied his esoteric style to a gritty crime drama, and breathed life into it with the magnificent hip-hop score/soundtrack by the renowned producer RZA of the legendary rap group The Wu-Tang Clan. It is a film like no other and an indelible part of hip-hop culture and history.

WHO'S THE MAN stars Ed Lover and Doctor Dr (no, not that one), who were morning radio DJs for the world-famous NYC hip-hop station HOT97 during the 90s. Here playing a pair of bumbling barbers, Lover and Dr reluctantly join the police force at the behest of their well-meaning boss, but when a local slum lord is implicated in a murder that rocks the community, they throw themselves into the case. WHO'S THE MAN is a super silly comedy that may be too stupid for some, but it has a lot of

heart, which is big in my book. Though maybe not as poignantly relevant to the scourge of police brutality facing black people today, it does have a surprisingly decent commentary on gentrification and the class divide. Not to mention it might have the highest number of rapper cameos in a movie to date.

Although grim and gritty street crime dramas account for many of the most prevalent hip-hop films, it's important to recognize the wide variety of stories being told in the genre, stories that mainstream audiences wouldn't think even existed. As significant as those serious songs and movies have been in relaying the truth of our struggle, it is just as imperative that we have stories that relay the truth of our joy and humanity for all the world to see. 6

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON is in theaters August 14. Check drafthouse.com for listings.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


When Michael B. Jordan was announced as Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, in the new FANTASTIC FOUR movie, a certain segment of the fanbase became agitated. You see, in the comics Johnny Storm is a blonde white guy and Jordan is not. A black man taking the role of a white superhero? Purists were aghast.

As is usually the case, the purists had little ground on which to stand. Even taking into consideration the fact that the Human Torch wasnt always Johnny Storm (or even human. The original Human Torch was an android back in World War II. Comics!), theres nothing about the character that is informed by his whiteness. He isnt the king of an African nation like The Black Panther and he wasnt a social worker in Harlem like The Falcon. Johnny Storm was created as white because white was the default color for comic book characters back in the early 1960s.

Real Fantastic Four historians know that a skin tone change is nothing when it comes to adaptations of the comic book. In the 1978 cartoon series Johnny Storm was completely and totally erased, and replaced by a robot named H.E.R.B.I.E! Yes, with the periods and everything -- H.E.R.B.I.E was an acronym that stood for Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-Type, Integrated Electronics.

If you were a comic fan who watched the cartoon show you knew immediately why the Torch had been sidelined: network executives were afraid that kids would watch the show and light themselves on fire in imitation of their favorite hero! This became a rampant urban legend, one that was fed by the events of FANTASTIC FOUR #285 in 1985. In that comic we meet Tommy Hanson, a

goofy little fat kid who loves superheroes. Hes endlessly teased and picked on at school, and he has no friends. He seems to be a latchkey kid, coming home to an empty apartment. Tommy wants to be just like his favorite hero, the Human Torch, so he douses himself with fuel and sets himself ablaze.

It doesnt go well. Tommy is covered in burns and dies in the hospital, but before he goes, Johnny Storm comes to visit and hears the kids last words: I only did it to be like you! After Tommys mom slaps the Torch in the face he finds himself unable to even flame on, and he takes a cab back to Fantastic Four HQ. But he soon learns that, while Tommys death is tragic, the Torchs heroism was the only thing that gave the lonely kid any happiness at all. Tommy Hanson didnt die because of the Human Torch he lived through him!

The reality was a little less exciting than all that. It turns out that when the Fantastic Four cartoon was being put together Marvel had been licensing off their character rights willy-nilly. They had made a deal with Universal that included The Hulk (from which came the famous INCREDIBLE HULK TV show), Captain America and Doctor Strange. Also sold: The Human Torch, separated from the Fantastic Four. So when NBC wanted to make a cartoon with the FF they just couldnt use Johnny Storm.

Stan Lee, ever full of ideas, jumped in. He created H.E.R.B.I.E to replace the Torch, and he had artist Dave Cockrum -- famous for his work with the X-Men -- design him. But Cockrum had to quit the job, becuase he just hated the crummy character too much! It was Jack Kirby, co-creator of the Fantastic Four, to the rescue, and H.E.R.B.I.E was born.

Pretender To The Flame: The Robot Who Joined The Fantastic Four

@devincf


DEVIN FARACIBirth.Movies.Death Editor-in-Chief

TABLE OF CONTENTS


TABLE OF CONTENTS

H.E.R.B.I.E eventually made his way into the Marvel comics as well, and he wouldnt be the last replacement member of the Fantastic Four. Over time Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Wolverine, Black Panther, Ant-Man and even a woman in a robotic Thing suit would all join the team. Some characters, like She-Hulk and Medusa of the Inhumans, would be involved for so long they almost feel like regular members.

H.E.R.B.I.E wasnt the only Fantastic Four cartoon slip-up, by the way. From 1979 to 1980 ABC aired a cartoon called FRED AND BARNEY MEET THE THING. Despite the title the characters from THE FLINTSTONES never actually met The Thing, but even if they did they wouldnt have recognized him. This weird comedy show featured a meek teen named Benjy Grimm who had two magic rings. When he touched them

together and said the truly uninspired phrase Thing ring, do your thing! he would be pelted with orange rocks and become the familiar everlovin Thing -- with a voice that sounded like Jimmy Durante.

That version of The Thing is notable because of how it truly betrays the character as created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Comic fans understand something -- a superheros costume and look and even powers can change over time, but the core aspects of their personality must remain the same. Johnny Storm is the younger brother of Sue Storm, hes a hot-head and hes into cars, racing and excitement -- whatever his skin color, as long as he retains those traits hell always be the real Human Torch. 6

FANTASTIC FOUR hits theaters August 7. Check Drafthouse.com for listings.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE LOOK OF SILENCE Is A Masterpiece

Being an independent distributor is a tough business. In an industry dominated by JURASSIC WORLD news and the anticipation of the next STAR WARS installments, it is hard to make enough noise about documentaries and foreign language films to be heard. The reason we do it at Drafthouse Films, however, is movies like THE LOOK OF SILENCE, auteurs like Joshua Oppenheimer. Finding and sharing groundbreaking films and directors with as many people as possible is the reason I wake up in the morning, and frankly is the reason the overall Drafthouse brand exists. We had the extreme honor to work with Joshua Oppenheimer to release his first film, THE ACT OF KILLING. I first saw it at the Toronto Film Festival and was absolutely thunderstruck. I was at once shaking with anger about the story told, conflicted about the unflinching insight into human nature and absolutely elated by the visionary, revolutionary filmmaking talent on display. I couldnt sleep, I couldnt think about anything else and the rest of the festival was immediately rendered insignificant. There was only one film we wanted to distribute. I wasnt alone in my awe. Twin titans of the documentary world, Errol Morris and Werner Herzog, both saw a rough cut of the film and immediately signed on as executive producers and mentors to Joshua as he finished the film. They are also onboard for THE LOOK OF SILENCE. Flash forward to January 2014 in the thick of the Oscar campaign for THE ACT OF KILLING. Joshua nonchalantly dropped into conversation that not only had he shot his next film, but he would soon be ready to show us the final cut. THE ACT OF KILLING was nine years in the making, and I had already prepared myself to wait another decade for the next Oppenheimer masterpiece. THE LOOK OF SILENCE was the film that Joshua initially set out to make when he first went to Indonesia, a film from the perspective of the victims of the genocide. But as THE ACT OF KILLING showed us, those who perpetrated the crimes are still in power, and the victims and families of the victims are largely unwilling to speak about it. While interviewing the killers featured in THE ACT OF KILLING, however, Joshua finally encountered

the mild-mannered Adi, the quiet yet immeasurably brave hero of THE LOOK OF SILENCE. After completing THE ACT OF KILLING but before its world premiere, Joshua covertly returned to Adis village for just a few weeks to shoot THE LOOK OF SILENCE. He knew that once THE ACT OF KILLING debuted, he would never be able to return to Indonesia. You may ask yourself, I loved THE ACT OF KILLING, but do I really need to see another film about the Indonesia genocide? The simple answer is yes, you unquestionably do. THE LOOK OF SILENCE is better than the revolutionary THE ACT OF KILLING and firmly cements Joshua Oppenheimer as one of the greatest documentarians of all time.

You dont have to take my word for it: THE NEW YORK TIMES, BBC and NPR have all already hailed it as a masterpiece. I adore THE ACT OF KILLING. If you asked me back in 2014 whether I thought it possible for another documentary to affect me as much, I would have gone all-in against the notion. Although the genocide is again at the core of THE LOOK OF SILENCE, the two films could not be more different. You certainly dont have to have seen THE ACT OF KILLING to appreciate THE LOOK OF SILENCE. They both stand alone, but also work together as wonderful companion films. THE LOOK OF SILENCE follows Adi, a small-town optometrist as he travels door to door fitting his neighbors and fellow villagers with eyeglasses. These particular neighbors, however, were all complicit in some way in the brutal murder of his brother back in 1965. During these sessions, Adi unflinchingly and directly questions them about their role in his brothers death. He is seeking closure and a simple apology for his family who has been living in silence amongst the killers for 50 years. THE ACT OF KILLING was over-the-top with surreal imagery, staged violence and even musical numbers. The emotional punch was strong and you left the cinema dazed

@timalamo

TIM LEAGUEAlamo Drafthouse and Drafthouse Films Founder and CEO



TABLE OF CONTENTS

and a bit punch-drunk. Like Adi himself, THE LOOK OF SILENCE is quite the opposite: steady, measured, perfectly composed and quiet. Magically, there is every bit as much emotional wallop, if not more, delivered from THE LOOK OF SILENCE. After the US premiere of the film at Telluride, I watched a young couple lingering in the exit corridor. They were locked in an embrace, swaying and comforting each other for minutes on end. They had just seen something that shook them, that changed them forever. When we released THE ACT OF KILLING in Indonesia, we had to do it covertly -- we put it on YouTube for free and made it available via BitTorrent. Secret community screenings were held all across the country, but officially the movie was all but banned and was discredited by the Indonesian government. Now just two years later, THE LOOK OF SILENCE has already been seen by millions of Indonesians. Thousands of official screenings have taken place all over the country. The movie even had billboards and bus shelter ads! The Indonesian media is openly discussing both the film and the genocide for the first time.

This dark Indonesian underbelly is being acknowledged and there are visible chinks in the armor of the anti-communist propaganda machine. If you love movies, if you crave once-in-a-lifetime experiences, if you want to be moved and changed forever, if you want to see one of the most important documentaries ever made, I implore you to not just see THE LOOK OF SILENCE, but bring your friends and have an awesome conversation afterwards. I guarantee* you will be glad you did. 6 To watch the trailer and to find out more about the educational outreach of THE LOOK OF SILENCE and what you can do to End the Silence, please visit our website TheLookofSilence.com. *Note: Tim League will personally mail you a complete refund of your ticket, a crisp $2 bill and a coupon for an order of cheese sticks to anyone who watches and does not love THE LOOK OF SILENCE.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

In 2013, Joshua Oppenheimer's extraordinary documentary THE ACT OF KILLING crashed onto the film scene, garnering an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary and more than 72 awards internationally. But it also did something much more important. The film lifted the veil of a victor's history of Indonesia's 1965 genocide -- a military coup, which led to more than a million government-sanctioned murders in less than a year, and forged a desperate injustice upheld to this day by the military dictatorship's regime of fear.

Oppenheimer achieved this by inviting the most vicious perpetrators of the 1965 genocide to reenact their crimes on film in whatever fashion they liked. In the process, he exposed the horrific bravado of men who were never forced to account for their actions, and opened an unprecedented line of communication for the Indonesian media and public to openly discuss and investigate the genocide and government corruption without fear. Following THE ACT OF KILLING's Oscar nomination, the Indonesian

president's spokesman acknowledged the 1965 genocide as a crime against humanity -- a stunning moment of about-face for a government that consistently celebrated the killings as honorable and glorious acts for half a century.

With his follow up documentary, THE LOOK OF SILENCE, Oppenheimer returned to Indonesia to reapproach the issue, this time from the point of view of the victims, who spent the last fifty years in terrified silence. In a much more intimate story, Oppenheimer filmed his friend Adi Rukun -- born after the killings, and thus, unafraid to speak out and demand answers

-- as he confronted the men who murdered his brother in the genocide, intent that the killers would abandon their rhetoric of heroism and glory, and apologize for their attrocities.

Oppenheimer describes the films as companion pieces, each telling one half of a greater story, "If one says, THE LOOK OF SILENCE is a companion piece to THE ACT OF KILLING, it feels secondary. I would say in some

QUIET NO MORE: Director Joshua Oppenheimer On THE LOOK OF SILENCEHALEIGH FOUTCHAssociate Editor at Collider

@haleighfoutch



ways, THE ACT OF KILLING is the companion piece to THE LOOK OF SILENCE. The two films complete one another and I hope form a single work, whose whole is greater than the sum of the parts."

He first knew the subject demanded two documentaries when he filmed a scene that features heavily throughout THE LOOK OF SILENCE -- two former death squad leaders, Amir Hasan and Inong, meet for the first time and laughingly recall their memories of the massacre on North Sumatra's Snake River, where they helped the army kill more than 10,000 people in one spot. Oppenheimer recalled, "I think what really disturbed me was the way they were reading from a shared script. They had never met one another before; they were from neighboring villages, different death squads. Yet, they were talking about this as though they had performed the killings together. I realized, therefore, that the boasting was systemic. It was a symptom of impunity and I had to let go of whatever hope I might have still held that the perpetrators are crazy or monsters. I felt if there's insanity here, it's collective. If there's monstrosity here, it's political."

"That was the day where I first had the feeling that I'd wandered into Germany forty years after the Holocaust, only to find the Nazis still in power, if the rest of the world had celebrated the Holocaust while it took place," said Oppenheimer. "What if this kind of impunity is the story of our times?"

Oppenheimer's documentaries are so effective and devastating because neither is really about the past, merely chronicling heinous acts long removed by time, but about how that past is alive and well in the present. "Neither film is about what happened in 1965. Both are about impunity today," said Oppenheimer. "THE ACT OF KILLING deals with the lies, the fantasies, the stories, even the persona, that the perpetrators cling to and inhabit so they can live with themselves and the terrible consequences of those lies."

"In the second film, I wanted to take the viewer and immerse the viewer in the haunted silences that punctuate the director's cut of THE ACT OF KILLING and make you feel what would it be like to have to live as a survivor in this regime, in this silence, in this fear, surrounded by the still powerful perpetrators, the men who killed your loved ones."

So how did Adi's family come to be the heart of THE LOOK OF SILENCE? Adi was Oppenheimer's friend and confidant throughout THE ACT OF KILLING's seven-year production period, watching and responding to all the horrific footage throughout the entire process. When Oppenheimer returned to Indonesia in 2012 to make the second film, he knew that Adi would be his main collaborator, but he did not yet know he would become the main character.

That idea came from Adi himself, who was changed by the footage Oppenheimer showed him and felt a need to confront the men responsible for the violations that shattered his family. However, Oppenheimer was initially reluctant. "I said, 'Absolutely not. It's too dangerous.' There's never been a documentary film or a nonfiction film where survivors confront perpetrators while the perpetrators are still in power."

But a small piece of footage Adi filmed himself eventually changed Oppenheimer's mind. The clip, which provides the final moments of THE LOOK OF SILENCE, showed Adi's ancient father Rukun on the first day that senility fully overtook his mind, leaving Rukun unable to remember his family and his home, trapped with a sense of fear that he could no longer explain or cope with. "I realized in that moment that this would have to be a film about memory and oblivion. Not just a film about impunity, and powerful perpetrators, and frightened survivors. This has to be about memory, because for Adi's father -- this whole film should be made in memoriam for Adi's father, for whom it's too late. Whatever comes as a result of the film, nothing will make whole the lives broken by fear. In a terrible way, until there is change, the genocide continues because fear and trauma continue to wreck lives," said Oppenheimer.

Inspired by the devastating footage of Rukun, and hit with the realization that no progress could ever fully repair what had been broken, Oppenheimer decided he wanted to

"honor all that's destroyed by fifty years of silence, not just what was destroyed by the genocide, but what's destroyed by the silence, and which can never be redeemed, no matter what justice there is in the future."

In THE LOOK OF SILENCE we see that justice beginning to unfold. Some measure of healing has begun. We see it in the dignity and courage of Adi himself, and we see it in a haunting, touching moment that falls late in the film, when the daughter of a former death squad leader learns the true extent of her fathers' atrocities for the first time, and rather than running from the truth as her father and his cohorts have done for decades, she admits to her horror. Oppenheimer recalled, "She becomes very quiet. She goes very still. She goes into herself and she does something remarkable that should be much more common than it is. She listens to her own conscience and she apologizes. That is remarkable." He continued, "I think it's a crucial seed because it's showing Indonesians that of the 300,000 Indonesians that we estimate have seen the film so far -- and that number will jump into the millions and tens of millions once we put the film online -- that has shown Indonesians that even from perpetrators' families, even if you're from a perpetrator's family, somehow truth and reconciliation would be good for everybody." 6

Drafthouse Films releases THE LOOK OF SILENCE this month. Check out TheLookofSilence.com for listings, and read the full interview at BirthMoviesDeath.com.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Weekly emails.Fun rewards and surprises.FREE membership.FREE movies.

JOIN THE RANKS AT THE BOX OFFICE OR AT: DRAFTHOUSE.COM/VICTORY


TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE THIN BLUE LINE (1988)The documentary genre owes Morris a debt for THE THIN BLUE LINE. The film shined a light on the case of a man wrongfully accused, and sentenced to death, for the death of a police officer. As a direct result of the film, the sentence was overturned. A benchmark for the social responsibility and effectiveness of cinema, and the de facto parent of works such as SERIAL and THE JINX.

MR. DEATH: THE RISE AND FALL OF FRED A. LEUCHTER, JR. (1999)Leuchter is an affable enough subject, for an engineer who develops humane devices for capital punishment. In a jaw-dropping twist, Morris observes as the humble Leuchter damns himself with the same qualities that initially make him so endearing: his simple, easy-going forthrightness, passion for his trade and guileless willingness to talk.

GATES OF HEAVEN (1978)Morris' first film established his enigmatic sense of observation and storytelling. In documenting the goings-on surrounding pet cemeteries, he offers a haunting and elegiac examination of the human soul. One of Roger Ebert's top films of all time, wholly unique and unforgettable, and -- bonus -- the film that infamously made Werner Herzog eat his shoe.

FAST, CHEAP AND OUT OF CONTROL (1997)In one of the strangest, most superficially irreverent documentaries ever made, Morris interviews four subjects with outrageously disparate backgrounds and occupations, juxtaposing them against each other and intercutting them with stock footage. What could a lion tamer and a robotic engineer possibly have in common? An examination of what drives humanity, FC&OOC seems to leave vastly differing effects on every person who sees it.

GRIZZLY MAN (2005)In the same year that Morgan Freeman became the world's pre-eminent narrator in MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, Herzog also stunned as an enchantingly wry narrator in his own nature doc about obsessive bear maniac Timothy Treadwell. Treadwell spent years observing bears, living with them and "gaining their trust" with a likely, and indeed inevitable, outcome. Equal parts enlightening nature film and gut-wrenching creature horror, GRIZZLY MAN is unmissable.

THE CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS (2010)Herzog's first 3D film is a documentary about primitive, 2D cave paintings found in Chauvet Cave in France, some as much as 32,000 years old. The cameras document not just the image of the artwork, but the curvature and texture of the cavern walls, the stalagmites in the distance, the mist rising from the cave's moisture hitting the powerful expedition lights. An astonishing glimpse into humanity's far distant past, and possible glimpse into its far flung future. Albino crocodiles and all.

MY BEST FIEND (1999)Actor Klaus Kinski worked with Herzog on several of cinema's unassailable masterpieces. In his memoirs, he took to eloquently expressing his appreciation for the director: "Huge red ants should piss into his lying eyes and gobble up his balls and his guts!" MY BEST FIEND tells the story of the enigmatic collaborators'... contentious relationship from Herzog's perspective and spotlights one of history's most brilliant and troubled artists. 6

Errol Morris and Werner Herzog produced Joshua Oppenheimers THE LOOK OF SILENCE, brought to you by Drafthouse Films. Check TheLookofSilence.com for listings.

Essential Documentaries From Executive Producers Errol Morris and Werner Herzog

@jstobez

JON STOBEZKIBrand Manager of Drafthouse Films


TABLE OF CONTENTS


TABLE OF CONTENTS

An Archangel With An Automatic Weapon: Bill Lustigs MANIAC COP 2 JACOB KNIGHTVulcan Video / Cinapse News / Birth.Movies.Death. Contributor


@jacobqknight

MANIAC COP is one of the all-time great horror films.

Together, director Bill Lustig (MANIAC, VIGILANTE) and screenwriter Larry Cohen (THE STUFF, Q: THE WINGED SERPENT) created a subversive slice of genre cinema that collected a citys fear of law enforcement (in the wake of atrocities committed against African-American NYC civilians like Clifford Glover, Michael Stewart and Eleanor Bumpurs) and turned the racial element of these hate crimes on its head. MANIAC COP is the seedy chronicle of once good patrolman, Matt Cordell (cherubic-chinned Robert ZDar, may he rest in peace), taking revenge on the blue (and white) society that left him for dead, all while cementing himself as a

murder icon to be placed alongside the likes of Jason Voorhees. Only in Lustig and Cohens slasher, we root for this monster, and not just because of the sick thrill component body count pictures usually play up. Instead, our allegiance to this psycho lawman is gained due to his punishing of an institution we once put our trust in, but now fear. All cops are bastards, and Matt Cordell is a disfigured avenging angel, laying waste to their badges of silence.

MANIAC COP 2 isnt terribly concerned with replicating the social commentary of its predecessor. Like the very best sequels, it takes elements of what worked in the original and then cranks them to eleven, slightly switching gears in terms of general genre. The


TABLE OF CONTENTS

movies relentless violence is reminiscent of ALIENS when compared to the firsts meager set pieces. An urban gothic, EC Comics tone is still accounted for, but then also mashed up with a white-knuckle nightmare. The action director living inside of Bill Lustig (who poked his head out during production on the underappreciated HIT LIST) has possessed the filmmaker completely, allowing him to unleash magnificent chaotic mayhem upon NYC. Its glorious; an anti-human juggernaut of a motion picture, in which our NYPD archangel wields a machine gun instead of a flaming sword.

Opening with a FRIDAY THE 13th style previously on intro (recapping the firsts climactic pier showdown with Bruce Campbells frame-job dupe), MANIAC COP 2 finds Lustig more interested in integrating ingredients of Hong Kong cinema (look for a scene that directly lifts the handcuffed to a moving vehicle gag from Jackie Chans POLICE STORY) than providing any semblance of intelligible storyline. Cohens script is essentially just a loose blueprint, providing connective tissue between Lustigs dangerous-looking (and sometimes illegally staged) set pieces. Eventual FAST AND THE FURIOUS stunt coordinator Spiro Razatos crashes vehicles into one another and shoots stuntmen into space with reckless abandon. However, Lustigs mean-spirited view of the citys scummy peacekeepers remains, as the movie peaks with a police station massacre that may best Schwarzeneggers iconic TERMINATOR bloodletting. Cordell lumbers through glass doors like a demonic, shell-dispensing take on Frankensteins monster, his blasts resulting in the craziest wire work this side of a balletic wuxia battle.

Lustig continues his adoration of craggy character actors (see: Spinell in MANIAC and Robert Forster in VIGILANTE), as he casts DIE HARD alum Robert Davi as Tom Atkins (unceremonious) replacement on the Cordell case, Detective Sean McKinney. Davi looks like hes one roll of RKO black and white film stock away from stepping out of a classic film noir -- a trench coat-donning, cigarette-puffing man of action. With him the entire way is Claudia Christian (THE HIDDEN), a tough police psychiatrist unafraid to face down a relentless strangler. Its the perfect pairing to replace Jack Forrest (Campbell) and Theresa Mallory (Laurene Landon), as Cohen injects these civil servant avengers with just enough hard ass braggadocio.

Lustig and Cohens horror cinephilia is most present during the jokey, tonally juddering second act, during which Matt Cordell takes on a sidekick in local serial killer, Turkell (Leo Rossi), who has been choking his way through New Yorks stripper population. During the numerous interviews given regarding the MANIAC COP series, both the director and screenwriter have name-dropped Universal Horror as a key inspiration behind the sequels. Where the third film (which Lustig brusquely

quit after delivering less than an hour of usable footage) is their BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, MANIAC COP 2 is the franchises SON. Rossi plays the perverted murderer like Bela Lugosis Ygor, setting himself and his destructive golem on a wrecking crew path to release Sing Sings Death Row inmates. ZDar and Rossi are having a ball in these moments, while cinematographer James Lemmo (MS. 45, FEAR CITY) captures it all with an eye of cartoonish mise-en-scne. Its a rejection of realism that feels organic and earned; a natural expansion upon the firsts already heightened pulp horror sensibility.

What probably accounts for the movies utter breathlessness is the fact that Lustig cut the picture in only three months utilizing a team of editors, just so he could have a print ready for the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Thats right -- Bill Lustig wanted MANIAC COP 2 to premiere alongside Jean-Luc Godards NOUVELLE VAUGE, Akira Kurosawas DREAMS and David Lynchs WILD AT HEART. Sadly, the film wasnt accepted into the prestigious fest, and the choppy, rushed construction is felt, especially in the films final reels. Where the first movie was allowed to pump the brakes from time to time in order to establish more thoroughly realized characters, MANIAC COP 2 doesnt give a shit with whom the audience emotionally identifies. Yet this complete disregard for life is also what makes the movie sadistically special. The satire may have been eschewed, but anger and anti-authoritarianism are still the main fuel driving MANIAC COP 2. This is a 42nd Street Hellscape, where our hero hates you to your very core. Duck and cover, creep; Matt Cordells coming to clean house. 6

MANIAC COP 2 is presented by Chiller and Mondo at the Alamo Drafthouse this month. Check drafthouse.com for listings.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Battlefield stories are filled with the unlikely, the apocryphal. They are colored by uncertainty built around a base of moral ambiguity, centered on loyalty fueled by proximity to the macabre, punctuated by bouts of courage in dots of pure hell and held against acres of boredom supported by fear. As Tim OBrien writes in his brilliant THE THINGS THEY CARRIED, In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical.

When cocktails meet war, then, the combination of the very real fog of war and the consumption of alcohol begets confusion and seeds doubt about ingredients, methods and serving style. The French 75, a cocktail with (in name at least) origins in the battlefields of World War I, that over the last ten years or so has become widely available in any bar of reasonable quality, is a prime example. It is a drink that is rarely made the same way, sometimes even in the same bar, by any two bartenders. Fortunately, in most of its permutations, the French 75 is, at worst, a refreshing tipple that packs a punch, and at best a sublime cocktail, suitable for both lightning bug bedecked back porch BBQs and fine dining rooms gilded with crystal and silver flatware.

The CanonThe Canon de 75 Modle 1897, colloquially known as the French 75 or the Soixante-Quinze, was the main artillery weapon used by the French -- and some

American -- forces during World War I. It employed a hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism that kept the guns base and wheels perfectly still while it was fired, unlike earlier artillery weapons which had to be recalibrated and aimed after each shot. This innovation allowed a skilled crew to deliver between fifteen and thirty rounds a minute on target, without re-aiming the weapon, at a distance of up to five miles away.

Originally, it was used as devastatingly effective antipersonnel weapon, raining destruction on advancing enemy troops across the battlefield. In the Battle of the Marne and at Verdun, the French 75 was seen as the weapon that tipped those battles to the French forces. At Verdun in particular, 1,000 Soixante-Quinze batteries were in constant operation, firing in excess of 16 million 75 mm shells on German forces.

As trench warfare set in, the French 75, which lacked the explosive capacity to penetrate fortified bunkers and deep trench work, was used more to obliterate enemy barbed wire fortifications before troops went over the top, and later to deliver chemical weapons shells, particularly mustard gas and phosgene.

In short, if it was on your side, it was the kind of weapon that would be lionized in legend, and if the opposition was manning it, it was a thing to be feared. Greatly.

Your Guide To Drinking: The French 75

Here is the substantially more memorable of the two different drinks named after the French 75-mm field gun, model of 1897 (and companion shell).This bit of heavy artillery was the mainstay weapon of World War I, and its recoil system made for soft, smooth operation.It was really the first technical weaponry advance of the twentieth century, and its use continued into World War IIThe parallels between the field gun and the sparkling cocktail named for it should be obvioussmooth, yet packs a wallop.

Ted Haigh,VINTAGE SPIRITS AND FORGOTTEN COCKTAILS, DELUXE EDITION

BILL NORRISAlamo Drafthouse Beverage Director

@wnorris3



TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Cocktail CanonThere are three main creation stories concerning the French 75, all of them most likely false. Often, the drink is credited to Raoul Lufbery, a fighter pilot born to an American father and French mother who flew sorties under both flags during World War I. Lufbery was dashing, and aviation had captured the world's imagination at the time, and the story goes that Lufbery felt that Champagne lacked the kick to truly get a pilot of his caliber flying, so he punched it up with a stick of something stronger, and found that it packed the punch of the famed artillery weapon (which had, by the end of the first World War, also been adapted into an anti-aircraft weapon). This version also holds that French officers knocked Lufbreys cocktail back before heading off to battle. Points in favor of this story: its romantic. Point against: In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical.

The second common theory is that the drink came to be at Harrys New York Bar in Paris from the hands of Harry MacElhone. MacElhone, it is said, wanted to offer something to his celebrity fighter pilot guests just back from the front that packed the punch of the weapons they were using in battle. Points in favor of this theory: Harrys New York Bar was a favorite watering hole of the American Field Service Ambulance Corps, and the drink rather quickly thereafter appears in America. Point against: In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical.

The third common creation myth is that Arnuad Cazenave, original owner of the still operating Arnuads, created the drink in New Orleans. Points in favor of this theory: Arnuads has long been a temple of the French 75 and Cazenave arrived in New Orleans at about the same time that the drink came

to be known in America. Points against: The Arnuads version is decidedly different than the canonical French 75, and the whole thing smacks of the same sort of cocktail hucksterism that allows certain New Orleans based types to claim the Sazerac as the original cocktail.

We can be fairly certain that the drink first appeared in print, however, in a 1927 edition credited to one Judge Jr., called HERE'S HOW! Judge Jr. was the pen name of Norman Anthony, editor of JUDGE, the preeminent humor magazine of the time (and the place where Harold Ross got his fingers ink stained prior to THE NEW YORKER). HERES HOW! is filled with dodgy recipes that reflect the ingredients available during prohibition, but in the case of the French 75 (and several other cocktails), Harry Craddock lifted the recipe for his SAVOY COCKTAIL BOOK in 1930, where Craddock notes that the cocktail, Hits with remarkable precision. He is right.

In both the Judge Jr. and Craddock versions, the French 75 is a gin based drink, fixed up with lemon, sugar and champagne, and served in a tall glass over ice. But from there things get a shade complicated. David Embrys FINE ART OF MIXING DRINKS, from 1948, insists that the French 75 does not use gin at all, but rather should be mixed with Cognac. This is the way the drink is prepared at Arnauds French 75 Bar in New Orleans, and the rationale is that no self-respecting French officer or fighter pilot would have mixed fine French Champagne with coarse English gin. Points in favor of this theory: It has some logic behind it, and the Cognac version has a certain heft that is quite nice. Points against: the probable true story.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

What the French 75 Really IsMix gin, lemon and sugar and you have a sour. Lengthen that sour with soda water and you have a Collins. Substitute Champagne for the soda water and you get a French 75. Even Judge Jr. grabbed hold of this basic theory in introducing the French 75, writing:

This drink is really what won the War for the Allies: 2 jiggers Gin; 1 part lemon juice; a spoonful of powdered sugar; cracked ice. Fill up the rest of a tall glass with champagne! (If you use club soda instead of champagne, you have a Tom Collins.)

But there is more. Way back in 1867, a certain Charles Dickens visited Boston, taking up residence at the Parker House and serving his guests Tom Gin and Champagne cups. A champagne cup is simply a mixture of the good bubbly wine with citrus and sugar. Toss in the gin and, voila, you have what we know as a French 75. Moreover, a mixture of gin, citrus and Champagne was reportedly a favorite of Queen Victorias son -- the general idea has been around for a while.

It is most probable that the drink known today as a French 75 was consumed for quite a long while before it was given a catchy moniker and took flight. At some point between the time of Dickens and the height of World War I, a barman, and it very well could have been MacElhone, started pouring a very old drink, but called it something else, and a mixological star was born. Sometimes it really is about the name. Because even the Cognac version, called then a Kings Peg, was widely consumed in the more Eastern parts of the British Empire by colonial types getting their drink on.

A Note on Ingredients: The Bubbly StuffOften a bar will pour French 75s using the relatively cheap plonk that is their house sparkling wine pour. These days, that pour is often Prosecco or Cava, and while they make a serviceable drink, they are made from different grapes than Champagne, and in the case of Prosecco, from a different method of getting the stuff bubbly. The use of real Champagne, particularly a nice Blanc de Blanc with toasty brioche notes and stone fruit flavors, makes an enormous difference.

That said, unless you are the kind of person who lights her cigarettes with hundred dollar bills, a nice bottle of Champagne is not usually the sort of thing you open to knock off a few cocktails after work on a Friday. You could reach for a nice Cremant de Bourgogne, produced with at least 30% of the same Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes as Champagne or something like Gruet Brut, a traditional method sparkler made with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

grapes in New Mexico that is one of the worlds great wine values.

You may not be able to afford Champagne for cocktail use, but choose a sparkler that will get you close and your French 75 will be tastier than if you simply reach for the $7.99 sparkler on special at your local liquor mart. At the end of the day, you want something dry, with pinprick bubbles to carry the drink, particularly if you are mixing it traditionally over ice, and a nice depth of flavor to mingle with the citrus and gin.

A Note on ServiceOrder a French 75 at three different, but very good bars, and you are likely to be served the drink in three different vessels. At Bar Number One, your French 75 arrives in a tall glass over ice. In Bar Number Two, it comes in a Champagne Flute and in Bar Number Three; they serve it to you in a cocktail glass or coupe.

This is a place where great minds differ. The PDT COCKTAIL BOOK calls for the drink to be served sans ice in a coupe, Ted Haigh calls for it to be served sans ice in a Collins, Zombie or, as a last resort, in a Champagne Flute. The SAVOY COCKTAIL BOOK of course says to serve the thing over cracked ice in a Collins glass.

At the end of the day, this is really a decision you should make based on the quality of your ice. If you have large, cold, dry cubes that will melt slowly and not quickly shut down the bubbling of your sparkling wine, then the drink should be served tall, over ice. If your ice is wet and soft, the kind that melts quickly, the rapid additional dilution will make for a limp cocktail indeed, so choose accordingly.

A Very Quick Note on ProportionsLike everything else to do with this cocktail, various sources use different quantities of gin, lemon and sugar before we even get to the Champagne component. Two ounces of gin is the general standard, and recipes that knock this proportion down to a lower number should be viewed with some skepticism as this drink is supposed to pack a wallop. That said, dialing back the gin can make for a more forgiving drink if you are consuming more than a couple or have a busy morning ahead.

The lemon and sugar are another matter, with there being a lot more agreement on the general sugar level than the general sour level. Earlier recipes often call for a mere dash of lemon juice to offset a teaspoon or so of sugar. This reflects an earlier generations preference for sweeter drinks, and perhaps the need to mask inferior gin with more sweetness. In general, consider the preferred proportions for your sour and go from there.

Some Recipes

French 75, Traditional2 oz. London Dry Gin (or Cognac if you must)1 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice1 tsp. superfine sugar or oz. simple syrupChampagne, well chilled

Fill a Collins glass 2/3 full of cracked ice cubes.

Combine your lemon juice and sweetener in a cocktail shaker. If using sugar, stir to dissolve. Add the gin and ice and shake until cold. Strain into your ice filled Collins glass and top up with the Champagne. Serve without garnish.

French 75,The PDT Cocktail Book1 oz. Tanqueray Gin oz. Lemon Juice oz. Simple SyrupMoet Imperial Champagne, well chilled

Combine gin, lemon juice and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Top with 1 oz Moet Imperial and garnish with a lemon twist.

French 75,Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, Deluxe Edition

2 oz gin1 oz lemon juice2 tsp. sugar or 1 tsp. simple syrupChampagne, well chilled

Combine lemon juice and sweetener in a cocktail shaker. If using sugar, stir to dissolve. Add the gin and ice and shake until cold. Strain into a tall glass without ice and top with champagne, stirring gently to combine. Garnish with a long, thin lemon spiral and a cocktail cherry (ed. Note: No on the cherry.)

Brian Dressel, the general manager of Midnight Cowboy, offers this variation, using an aged style of Old Tom Gin, Amaretto for the sweetener, and a mixture of white balsamic vinegar and lemon for the sour component. The finished drink is reminiscent of the dry, almost sour apple ciders produced in Spain.

The Orchard '771 oz. Ransom Old Tom Gin1 oz. Amaretto oz. fresh lemon juice oz. white balsamic vinegarPinch of sea salt Of an apple cut into slices (Gala Apples work well)Dry sparkling wine, well chilled

Muddle the Apple, vinegar, salt and lemon juice in a shaker tin. Add the spirits and ice. Shake vigorously for about 30 seconds. Fine strain into a chilled champagne flute and top with sparkling wine. Garnish with three additional thin apple slices, in a fan pattern.

Enjoy. 6


TABLE OF CONTENTS

In Jon Watts crime film bildungsroman COP CAR, star Kevin Bacon gives a terse, dark cowboy performance as dirty Sheriff Kretzer, who misplaces his cruiser, laden with secrets in the trunk, and must track it down after two young boys (James Freedson-Jackson and Hays Wellford) stumble upon it and take it for a joy ride.

I was lucky to chat with Bacon about the film, and about the, at the time, very recent announcement that COP CAR director Watts next project would be taking on a certain web-slinger.

Q: This week, Jon Watts was announced as the next director for Spider-Man. What do you think makes him right for the gig, after working with him on COP CAR?

A: I have to say that, as exciting as that story is, it really didnt surprise me too much. Because, I just think that hes got a great eye, and a great sense of storytelling, both with the way that he writes and conceives story, and the way that he works with the actors and the places he puts the camera, and how he chooses to move it.

I look at his ability, after having done so little work, and Im just kind of like, wow. Im frankly jealous of how good he is. I dont know what the whole inner workings were amongst Marvel, in terms of their decision-making process, but it was not a shock to me.

Q: What is it about COP CAR that you think is connecting with audiences?

A: Well, I think that the story is a simple one, but at the same time, he lets the audience be part of figuring out what the hecks going on. And rather than have the characters or filmmakers say, well, this is this and this is this, were sort of pulled in. You know, who are these kids? Where did they come from? Where are they? Whose car is this? Whats going on? Whats in the trunk? Whats the story with this sheriff? Whats his history? And its really like, as an audience, youre pulled into it by the fact that youre not told everything. And that is a really smart way, I think, to build tension.

And really what you need in a thriller -- and thats what I think of this movie as, a thriller -- you need tension. You need tension that gets a little bit of release, you let a touch of air out of the balloon and maybe just blow it right back up. And thats what drives it all the way to the end of the film.

And I think that on the flip side of that, its got so much heart, that its almost hard to really categorize it as a genre film. You know, Im going to a horror festival, and its funny because when you look at the film, its about things like boyhood and loss of innocence, and the hard realities of the world pulling you out of your utopian, childlike existence. Theres a lot of heart in there that I think is also kind of unusual for what could be considered genre. I

BMD Q&A: Kevin Bacon On COP CAR

@xymarla

MEREDITH BORDERSBadass Digest Managing Editor


TABLE OF CONTENTS

mean, people talk about it kind of like a B-movie. Im not sure I quite understand that. Im a big fan of what sometimes are considered to be B-movies, so I really dont take it as an insult, but Im not sure I quite understand that thinking.

Q: Were there any specific movies that you watched as a reference point in anticipation of making COP CAR, or that Jon had the kids watch?

A: I dont watch movies as reference points to play characters. I think about who this guy is and who Im going to make him. To watch another performance, or even to watch something thats in the same world, doesnt have anything to do with what my particular job is. If I was directing a film, and thats all I was doing, sure, Id look at the great chase scenes, but as an actor, I really dont think its helpful. I think you really just need to focus on your character and figure out who he is.

But Jon said, very openly, that the Coen Brothers and early Spielberg were influences, and I guess maybe Stephen King, things like that. But I really think thats more of his role.

Q: What was it about your role as Sheriff Kretzer that you found interesting or compelling?

A: Putting the pieces together that werent there on the page and hoping that, even without putting them on the page, that we would still see a well-rounded character. Because this is one of those parts where

youre really reading between the lines, right? Hes not a character that expresses himself in an honest, confessional way. You know, there are those characters that do that: Honey, I feel lost in my life right now and I need to find something to give me purpose, a speech like that. This guy, when he opens his mouth, hes usually bullshitting, right? Or hes threatening or manipulating, and he doesnt say all that much.

So to make him an interesting, well-rounded character was really the challenge, and it was just a function of trusting Jon, that Jon was going to be able to tell that story, as I like to say, between the lines, and that we were on the same page with some of the choices that I was going to make about some of the backstory kind of stuff.

Q: Its this great coming-of-age story. Did you have a moment in your childhood that you look back on and say thats when I came of age. Thats when I grew up. Or is that the kind of thing that only happens in cinema?

A: Im still waiting. [laughs]

No, I really believe that coming of age is something that -- well, lets talk about specifically when a boy becomes a man, which I believe is germane to this movie. I dont think it necessarily applies in the same way for women. I think its a different process for women.

Its true that movies are often about that, but I do think that it can happen in a lot of different points

TABLE OF CONTENTS

in life. And it also isnt necessarily always just a one-shot; its kind of a process. So yeah, I have a moment in my teens that things sort of felt that way. But [laughs] probably better not to go into that specifically.

Q: How was it dealing with [the boys in the film] James and Hays?

A: James and Hays were fantastic. The first great job that Jon did was finding those two kids. You know, having worked with children and having directed children, Ive done a lot of work with kids, probably more kids than animals.

And the problem is that, if youre a child actor, chances are, even if youve shown an interest in it, your parents have probably supported this, and unless youve never done anything and youre just discovered, youre already off on a career. And a lot of what that careers going to be about is commercials and modeling sessions. Because youre out there to get a gig, right? And those are two things that are kind of counter-points to being a good actor. So the challenge is to find kids who havent been tainted by that kind of work, and are actually able to get into a scene and look people in the eyes and convey something emotionally, other than I love this cereal.

And it took a lot of time, and he saw a ton of kids, and then he waited until the last minute to decide who was going to play who. So they came out to Colorado Springs, and we started to work with them, and then they made the decision about which kid was

which. And when you look at the movie, you cant really imagine them swapping roles. It was so perfect, everything about them, the look, everything.

And they were great. I loved working with them.

Q: Are there any roles of yours that you would love to revisit, or future characters that youd jump at a chance to play?

A: The only character of mine that Ive been interested in revisiting is the character from TREMORS. And its too bad because Ive put the idea out there, and sort of offered myself up there, and it doesnt seem to be anything that either Universal or the filmmakers are really interested in pursuing.

And the reason is that, for me, at the time, the movie is kind of a silly genre thing, underground worms -- I mean, thats kind of the definition of a B-movie, in a way. But I just looked at it recently, and thats not something that I do, go back and look at my old films, but because I was thinking about it, I did. And its a really good film! Its funny and its scary and its cool, and its all done with non-CGI.

But I look at that guy, and I think, well, Im interested to see who he would be in twenty years. Id like to see what happened to him. His whole thing is that he wanted to get out. He was stuck, and he was going to leave this town. So did that happen, or did it not happen? And where is he if he did get out? 6

COP CAR arrives in theaters August 7. Check drafthouse.com for listings.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Drafthouse Recommends: COP CAR

Boys will be boys, as they say. Only they dont usually say that in the context of two ten-year-olds stealing a police vehicle belonging to a crooked cop who wants to track them down before they discover the body in the trunk. That right there is all you need to know about the goings on of Jon Watts modern Western-thriller COP CAR. Its a fun, hilarious, gripping and audacious road trip across the badlands, told through the eyes of two kids who ran away from home, as they now find themselves running away from a drugged-up Kevin Bacon and his sinister mustache. Its also one of the most interesting morality plays Ive seen all year.

The films story hinges mostly on action and detail. What little dialogue it does have belongs mostly to its young leads. Travis (James Freedson-Jackson) is the more adventurous of the two, the kid whos not afraid to get into mischief, or get his friends into trouble. Harrison (Hays Wellford), on the other hand, is the cautious learner. He rations their supply of Slim Jims, storing them in his overly large jacket, as Travis and his popped collar and spiked hair lead him further into the wilderness as the film begins. Finally away from their families, the two boys are able to swear openly, though Travis has to convince Harrison that its okay, and they even grab sticks and disturb snake-holes during their walk. Theyre kids who know right from wrong, but go ahead and do the wrong thing anyway, knowing full well they could get caught. Theyre also the center of their own universe, a universe in which their crime (running away from home) is something the cops might arrest them for -- which is why theyre so startled when they find a cop car out in the middle of nowhere. It fascinates them, and as a symbol of heroism as they understand it, they cant help but see themselves as the people driving it.

Their world is black and white. Theyve been raised on a retributive system, both at home and while learning about the law, and theyre slowly discovering the rush of partaking in whats wrong as long as the possibility of getting caught is at bay. To them, even touching a cop car is a transgression so out of line that they think they can get in trouble for it, but they do it anyway. The lack of an authority figure in sight, and thus the lack of any potential consequence, leads to the escalation of their activities. Touching a cop car. Throwing stones at a cop car. Sitting in a cop car and pretending to be heroes!

Stealing a cop car.

What they dont know, however, whats revealed to the audience after theyve sped off, is why the car was there to begin with. Kevin Bacons Sheriff Kretzer had parked it out in the middle of nowhere because thats where he had come to bury a pair of bodies. After dragging the first one away to a familiar spot, he comes back to finish the job, only to discover that his car has disappeared without a trace. And thats where the fun begins.

The rest of the story involves the two boys having to make increasingly complicated decisions depending on the situation theyre in. As it turns out, the body in the trunk isnt quite so dead (merely bound), and they have to wrestle with which of the two men in the situation, the cop or the criminal, is the good guy and which one is the bad. At one point, Harrison manages to get a hold of a gun, and while the man in the trunk uses the two boys as bait after threatening their families, the boys take turns pointing the gun at him from the back seat as he


@sidizenkane

SIDDHANT ADLAKHABirth.Movies.Death. Contributor


TABLE OF CONTENTS

waits outside. Do they have what it takes to kill a man, even if its for self-preservation? And in doing so, are they now aiding another man they believe to be dangerous and out to get them?

The nature of consequence, as the two boys see it, goes very quickly from something general and universally understood (punishment) to something far more personal and subjective (the guilt of taking a life) and the abstract becomes tangible, as the questions theyre asking become less about whether or not they should do something wrong and more about whether labels such as right and wrong are applicable at all. While the boys only real crime is having a bit of fun with a car, theyre thrust into a situation where their innocence translates to ignorance, as they stare down the barrels of guns belonging to two different mad men. Their simplistic view of the world and the people that inhabit it keeps getting them into further trouble, and the first person we see die on screen is a woman trying to do the ostensibly noble thing herself by reporting them to the police, but the films view on morality isnt as cynical as it might seem.

Ultimately, their collective survival hinges on one of them working to save the other, not to give too much away, and after having been put through the kind of whirlwind that no ten-year-old should have to experience, the decisions therein rely once again on a binary understanding of right and wrong. But, as if being chased by a murderous cop werent unnerving enough, theyre now hesitant to make the kind of decisions that wouldve once come easy to them. Because of everything theyve seen, they no longer know for sure whether trusting the police, the people they once thought of as good, is the best course of action. But they do. In the end, even after having learnt the stark reality of a world thats more complicated than the black and white were taught, and having learnt it the hard way, the boys come out of it alive and somewhat heroic, something they wouldnt have been able to do if they didnt believe in doing whats right in the first place. What the cop car turned out to be ended up paling in comparison to what it once represented for two little boys. 6

COP CAR is the Drafthouse Recommends title for August. Check drafthouse.com for listings.


Video Vortex: Actor George Stover Revisits His BLOOD MASSACRE

There's more to Baltimore than John Waters, heroin, and crabs.

Don Dohler is Baltimore's hidden treasure. His movies aren't as well known as DESPERATE LIVING or PINK FLAMINGOS, but they're just as important. For decades, the late filmmaker/fanzine publisher expanded the possibilities of homemade horror through his creativity, sincerity and determination. Movies like THE ALIEN FACTOR and NIGHTBEAST inspired a generation of underground filmmakers to pick up a camera and create their own stop-motion monsteroid epics.

And then BLOOD MASSACRE happened.

BLOOD MASSACRE is Don Dohler's preeminent triumph, a miracle of D.I.Y. inventiveness that was inspired by the gritty aesthetic of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. This movie looks like an expired Polaroid. It feels like a student film that was made by John Carpenter after an H.G. Lewis binge. It features a video store bloodbath, deranged synth-pop and enough shocking twists 'n' turns to fill four movies. BLOOD MASSACRE is a nightmarish limbo where anything can happen, and often does, all in the name of guts-chomping fun.

Actor/Producer George Stover was an integral part of Don Dohlers production team. An impossibly prolific actor who still works regularly today, Stover gave a career-defining performance in BLOOD MASSACRE as a lunatic killer named Rizzo. Mr. Stover -- also know as one of the nicest people on the planet -- was kind enough to chat with us about working with Don Dohler, the complicated production history of BLOOD MASSACRE, and driving home after a long day of work while soaked in blood.

Q: For the first decade of your career, you flip-flopped between appearing in movies for John Waters and Don Dohler. At the time, both were working with similar budget and resource constraints. How did working with John Waters compare with Don Dohler?

A: Working with John and Don were similar experiences in many ways. Both directors were professional, courteous, respectful, resourceful, and knew exactly what they wanted to capture on film. The main difference was in the subject matter. John only made comedies, while Don only made sci-fi and horror. Also, Don shot mostly on weekends when people with other jobs were available. John usually shot on sequential days.

Q: Dohlers movies typically focused on light-hearted monster invasions. BLOOD MASSACRE had a darker mood that was more in line with THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE than THE ALIEN FACTOR. What brought about the shift?

A: Don began his feature-film career making a science-fiction movie, THE ALIEN FACTOR. Then he did a horror movie called FIEND, followed by two science-fiction movies, NIGHTBEAST and THE GALAXY INVADER. He did not like including nudity, extreme violence, and gore. But he reluctantly acknowledged that audiences enjoyed seeing this type of thing so he included a nude scene and a very gory scene in NIGHTBEAST. But if Don had been able to have his way, he would not have had those kind of scenes in his films. Don got some financing for BLOOD MASSACRE and Im

@JosephAZiemba

JOSEPH A. ZIEMBAAlamo Drafthouse Art Director and Programmer



sure his backer wanted lots of gore and violence. Don was able to adapt and deliver the goods when he had to, even though his personal preferences were elsewhere.

Q: You play a bloodthirsty wildman named Rizzo in BLOOD MASSACRE. This was a departure from the lovable nice guys you typically played in Don Dohler's movies. Was the role intended for you from the beginning, and did you prepare in a different way than usual?

A: The version of BLOOD MASSACRE that everyone is familiar with was shot on 16mm film. Before that, however, there was an uncompleted video version shot on 3/4 videotape. In that version, I played one of the gang members. A financial backer saw the videotape and was so impressed with it that he wanted to scrap the video version and start all over again with a version shot on motion picture film. The actor who played the leader of the gang was not available for the filmed version, so I was promoted to a larger role in his absence. It was great fun playing Rizzo, a character quite different than the meek types of characters I was used to portraying in the past. There wasnt much time for preparation so I just winged it, and did the best I could in playing a psycho.

Q: You have some pretty intense scenes in this movie -- the perverted sex, your bloody death, and the wielding of a homemade buzz saw weapon! Given the tone of the movie, how was the atmosphere on the set?

A: The atmosphere was surprisingly light, and a lot of fun. I think everyone involved had a nice time. The characters were kind of far out compared

to people we encountered in real life, so I think everyone enjoyed playing characters who engaged in extreme types of behavior.

Q: Sounds like BLOOD MASSACRE had a challenging production history. Can you shed some light on what led to the eventual straight-to-video release in 1991 from 3 Star Releasing?

A: Well, after the 16mm film version was shot, Don got word that he had to deliver the film to the financier sooner than expected. As a result Don never got to fine tune the editing, and the result was not up to his expectations. To make a long story short, the financier got out of the film business and the movie was in limbo for about four years before it was finally released on videotape, but only in a version made from the work print because the original negative was damaged.

Q: Any particularly fun memories from working on BLOOD MASSACRE?

A: One memory that I have from that movie was not fun, but it was certainly memorable because of how uncomfortable it was. That scene of me hanging upside down at the end of the movie was very uncomfortable, and my comfort level wasnt helped by being covered with so much fake blood. Also, we shot all night until dawn the next day. I was exhausted after we were done. There was no place to wash up and get the blood off of me, so I just drove home all bloodied up. Im glad I wasnt stopped by a policeman, because I would have had some explaining to do! 6

BLOOD MASSACRE plays at the Alamo Drafthouse this month. Check drafthouse.com for listings.


Q: What is your earliest movie memory?

A: My earliest memory in life is movies. Simply. In a more literal way though, I have two memories. One is EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and the other is THE COURT JESTER starring Danny Kaye. I cant remember which came first, and I think I was three.

Q: What was the movie that made you understand that movies can be art?

A: Well, thats a bit of a story in itself. My parents are both Los Angeles natives, and starting before I was born, my Dad would record everything that ever played on the Z Channel (which, for those who dont know their L.A. movie history, was a pre-HBO, local movie channel, now long

gone, that basically played everything that the Criterion Collection has in its catalogue today, but way more). Due to my Dads passionate movie fandom, we had a cabinet at home filled with probably over a hundred diligently labeled VHS cassettes, and each one contained between 3-4 movies (good old long-play). On the labels, my Dad had written each movie title, followed in parentheses by the year of the release and the last name of the director. So growing up, I had two main sources for home entertainment: Blockbuster Video and the movie cabinet. I frequented both, understanding that there were major, major differences between them. The movies from Blockbuster were easier to watch and understand. They were fun. And the movies in the cabinet were, usually, challenging and harder

The Last Word With FANTASTIC FOUR Director Josh TrankDEVIN FARACIBadass Digest Editor in Chief


@devincf


to understand what they were about. They also didnt have cases with pictures and synopses to help pique my interest. Blockbuster did. And back then, there was no Wikipedia or IMDB to consult with for problems like that. So generally I had no idea what to expect from the cabinet, unless my Dad was around to ask.

But regardless, the movies from the cabinet were ultimately more appealing, because they were free. And they were ours. That was a big, big deal. Obviously this was decades before Netflix. When I was really young, I would spend all of my free time scanning the tapes and just picking out whatever title sounded the most like something from Blockbuster. If I saw names like Fellini or De Sica or Truffaut or Kobayashi, I would avoid those altogether because they sounded like they were probably really hard. But by the time I was thirteen, my curiosity about those oft skipped titles and names hit a boiling point and I just started watching them all. And I never turned back after that. Those movies filled me with a kind of happiness and raw stimulation no movie from Blockbuster could ever match. Even though many of those movies didnt make immediate sense to me at that age, the voices behind them did, and I constantly re-watched them all, over and over, throughout my coming of age, until I understood what every movie in that cabinet was about. Those movies became the biggest part of my life and defined my feelings about the greater world before I was old enough to experience it on my own. Only art can have that kind of profound and permanent effect on someone. So to answer the question: There was never a single movie that made me understand that movies can be art. It was a cabinet full of movies. And the line was defined by that old, undebatable difference between this (Blockbuster) and that (the cabinet).

Today though, I believe all movies are art. Movies from Blockbuster and from the cabinet. I dont differentiate the way I used to. I matured in my understanding of movies as a deeper and not so black-and-white form of expression. I stand behind the idea that the most interesting kind of art isnt about the visible intent, its about the invisible intent. And as a filmmaker myself, now, I can say confidently that thats something all filmmakers are connected to. Its an invisible art community.

Q: What is your guilty pleasure movie?

A: COMMANDO (Lester, 1985).

Q: What movie do you want to make before you die?

A: I have a list of ten. Ive scratched off two, and Im about to scratch off a third: it takes place a hundred years ago.

Q: What was your most magical cinema experience?

A: The one that comes the most immediately to mind: the match cut in 2001 from the bone to the space station.

Q: What is the movie you believe everyone should see?

A: Everybody should see every movie they can. Especially any movie that sounds like it might be boring. In my experience, reversal of expectation in a movie can be equal to or more powerful than a religious experience. You just need to be patient, and give everything a try. Stop basing your choices on reviews and synopses before choosing what to watch, because a movie (especially a good one) will have a more special impact on you if you just watch for the first time before consulting with the world for approval. Watch and then read what other people think. Its always more fun and enriching that way. If your experience of movie-watching only comes through pre-determined universal consensus, youll never have a personal relationship with movies. Ever. Just watch a movie, and if you like something about it, watch another movie by that director, or by that cinematographer, or by that writer, producer, composer, editor, and youll discover things not just about movies, but about yourself and the world. It can be an incredible journey that belongs uniquely to you.

And I believe everyone should see COMMANDO.

Q: If you weren't born to direct, what else would you be doing?

A: Waiting to be born again.

Q: Why do you make movies?

A: I think, honestly, I make movies because its the closest thing to me that feels like religion. You have a vision, its personal, pure and from your heart, and you let that vision lead you through every step into the unknown. The vision is your captain, all of your faith and trust is tied immutably to its ship, and whatever happens along the way defines you, forever. 6

FANTASTIC FOUR arrives in theaters August 7. Check Drafthouse.com for listings.

BIRTH. MOVIES. DEATH. August 2015 Issue 26

Documents

kevin bacon

cop cardrafthouse

history of hip hop

embraced hip hop

cop carvideo vortex

bill lustigs maniac

movie ad

american culture