The Quintessential John Carpenter : 1978 -1988 Ten Years and the eight films that made the Legend!

John  Carpenter had a golden period for his films,  a magical period, where the films made within this period continues to define the best of John Carpenter’s career and legacy.

But I guess that is the way with most filmmakers, with their work viewed in retrospect. We begin to discern or impose patterns and periods. Peaks and valleys that are potentially arbitrary. For Carpenter you can make the argument that from 1978 to 1988, than ten year period is where his legend and best work was made. From HALLOWEEN in 1978 to THEY LIVE in 1988. I think he has eight justifiable gems, great films, in that ten year period.

Namely — HALLOWEEN, THE FOG, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, THE THING, CHRISTINE, STARMAN, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, THEY LIVE. I omit PRINCE OF DARKNESS, for me an ambitious  idea that is not executed well, but otherwise a fertile and formative period for Carpenter.

And yes I know there are outliers, interesting films outside this period, such as DARK STAR and ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and 1994’s IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, but for the most part these are isolated spurts, rather than part of a sustained run of creativity.

So spend time today, thinking on—- the quintessential John Carpenter!

I don’t like slasher films, a term that did not exist before John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN, but sprung up in the wake of HALLOWEEN’s cultural impact, as imitators raced into the void, to be the next HALLOWEEN. I don’t like slasher flicks, or any of the imitators that have risen up, but that first HALLOWEEN film is such an exercise in pure style, both in visuals and in score, 50 years later, the film is still deeply influential. You do not get an IT LIVES or THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL without Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN.

After THE THING, this is my favorite Carpenter film. A simple, elegantly told ghost story. And it made every male of a certain age a fan of Adrienne Barbeau. 🙂 .

My favorite John Carpenter film, and one of my favorite films period. And also the poster child of remakes that surpass the original.

Those are my top 3, after that my list proceeds as follows goes THEY LIVE, STARMAN, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, and finally CHRISTINE.

Thanks for  looking, and feel free to like, subscribe, or comment on your favorite Carpenter film.

Till next time be well, and keep checking out the historic SpaceX flight, on the SpaceX Youtube feed.

Alan Moore UNEARTHING CD, LP, Spoken Word Review Pt 2 of 2

UNEARTHING The Review!

Now getting past the packaging and into the audio itself, it consists of 2 cds that comprise the audio book/audio odyssey proper and one CD filled with instrumental tracks (pretty catchy, a trance, hypno vibe, definitely of the school of sound created by the Dynamite Brothers. It works better as stand-alone ep, than as an accompaniment to Moore’s lyrics. More on this in a bit).

Ostensibly a biography on Steve Moore, supposedly a friend of Alan Moore for 40 years who taught him to write, am I the only one who has figured out Steven Moore is just a pseudonym for Alan Moore? What Stephen King would refer to as his Dark Half, his Richard Bachman, and UNEARTHING is him putting to rest, finally, this old friend of the id.

What’s that you say? “Steve Moore is a real person, has a page on the Internet and everything”. Well then he has to be real, hasn’t he?

UNEARTHING is Moore at what Poitier would call “The Summing up place” in his life, and it’s him putting his house in order. Using a pseudo biography to speak on larger themes of loneliness, loss, creation, mortality and magic. It takes a few listens to make out his journey, and when Moore deals most clearly with battles of the id the work is compelling.

However, unlike his collaboration with Bauhaus front man David J, here the music works against Moore’s monologue rather than with it. Quiet when it should be loud, and loud when it should be quiet.

So we’re left primarily with Moore’s voice to carry us through. And while Moore has an astounding voice, the subject matter is not as engaging.

It’s an interesting listen but ultimately one that tends to wear out its welcome relatively quickly.

So while I love the audacity of the packing, the actual content fails to live up to it. For those interested in seeing Moore’s
“A+” game when it comes to spoken word, try the brilliant MOON AND SERPENT, followed relatively closely by the almost as brilliant SNAKES AND LADDERS. I would also recommend BIRTH CAUL, HIGHBURY WORKING, and ANGEL PASSAGE, all before I would recommend UNEARTHING.

But for Alan Moore Completionists like myself, it will look pretty on your shelf. B+ for the packaging, B- for the content, earns it an average grade of B.

Alan Moore UNEARTHING CD, LP, Spoken Word Review Pt 1 of 2

UNEARTHING is Alan Moore’s 6th Spoken Word Album (not counting those he just lends his voice to, but only those that are him in mass), Aural Odyssey, and is easily his most lavishly packaged.

Arriving on one’s doorstep in a box big enough to bludgeon the unsuspecting, UNEARTHING is an elaborate slipcase that includes a more elaborate jacket, beautifully adorned with photographs by Mitch Jenkins of Alan Moore and company. The jacket includes a poster, a transcript of the lyrics, a photograph, 3 lps, and 3 cds.

Feel free to gasp, I did upon receiving it.

It is just an amazing tome, and hearkens back to old world concepts of form as part and parcel of function, and the packaging as part of the experience. An idea that is being lost, or buried, in today’s download, digitization, miniaturization age. But a download can’t grasp the child-like joy of receiving a package like this and the experience of leafing through its lavish contents. Nothing like having that CD or LP staring up at you, and that anticipation of voices from the ether, that you are about to discover.

Moore’s UNEARTHING in packaging alone dazzles and ingratiates and seduces and tells a story, and is art in and of itself. Like LPs of old,

And I am of that not yet extinct clan, who appreciates the journey, who appreciates a thing as a work of art onto itself, and as the first, inaudible part, of the process of embracing the world the artist is crafting.

To be continued