but there IS good news

Got these dispatches in about folks who are carrying the torch and offering big screen excitement for those who realize that watching a film on your cell phone is, quite frankly, PATHETIC! Here are some events in London (Ontario!), Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Austin and Mission... any other events? 35mm ONLY!

- London (Ontario) -

www.myspace.com/vagrancyfilms

- Philadelphia -

Exhumed Films Presents STREET TRASH
a Very Special Night With Writer/Director/Producer Roy Frumkes!
Saturday, March 24 - $12 - Showtime 7:30pm

STREET TRASH [Directed by Jim Muro/1987/Color/102 minutes/35mm] STREET TRASH stands as one of the most outrageous gore-comedies of the 1980s. The rotgut booze Tenafly Viper can cause much more than a hangover...drink some and you'll melt within seconds! Join a cast of screwballs and revel in the grue and gore in this subversive little gem of a cult classic. Writer/producer Roy Frumkes will be on hand to introduce the movie (projected from his rare, personal 35mm print) and take your questions. As well, he'll be presenting the never-before-seen documentary about the making of George A. Romero's LAND OF THE DEAD, DREAM OF THE DEAD (2005/Color/25 minutes/CDr). Hardcore horrorfiles will flip their lids over some footage of a certain mythical uncompleted horror anthology Mr. Frumkes plans to bring with him to screen for Exhumed Films fans only! Autographs will be signed in the lobby.

- Portland -

www.grindhousefilmfest.com

www.myspace.com/grindhousefilmfestival

Grindhouse Double Feature, Saturday March 24th!
Snake in the Eagle's Shadow 7:00 pm, The Beyond 9:00 pm

Only at the Hollywood Theatre, The Grindhouse Film Festival presents a Grindhouse Double Feature! With incredibly rare 35mm prints of Yuen Woo Ping’s kung fu masterpiece Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Lucio Fulci’s gut ripping gore fest The Beyond! There will also be a multitude of rare 35mm Grindhouse trailers before each movie! Plus, exciting giveaways!

This is a true double feature, two movies for the price of one: $6.00

- San Francisco -

www.myspace.com/dead_channels

- Austin -

www.myspace.com/weirdwednesday

EROTIC ADVENTURES OF SUPERKNIGHT
MAR 28, MIDNIGHT, FREE

KILL OR BE KILLED
APRIL 4 MIDNIGHT, FREE, DIR. IVAN HALL, 1980, 35MM, 90 MIN, PG

MARTA
APRIL 11 MIDNIGHT, FREE, DIR. JOSE ANTONIO NIEVES, 1971, 35MM, 96 MIN, R

CRUISIN' HIGH
APRIL 18 MIDNIGHT, FREE, DIR. JOHN BUSHELMAN, 1976, 35MM, 102 MIN, R

DELIVER US FROM EVIL
APRIL 25 MIDNIGHT, FREE, DIR. HORACE JACKSON, 1977, 35MM, 96 MIN, PG

BLACK COBRA
MAY 2 MIDNIGHT, FREE, DIR. JOE D'AMATO, 1976, 35MM, 90 MIN, R

COP KILLERS
MAY 9 MIDNIGHT, FREE, DIR. WALTER CICHY, 1973, 35MM, 93 MIN, R

DAYDREAM
MAY 16 MIDNIGHT, FREE, DIR. TETSUJI TAKECHI, 1964, 35MM, 92 MIN, R

HELLCATS
MAY 23 MIDNIGHT, FREE, DIR. ROBERT SLATZER, 1967, 35MM, 90 MIN, R

CHESTY ANDERSON USN
MAY 23 MIDNIGHT, FREE, DIR. ED FORSYTH, 1976, 16MM, 88 MIN, R
starring sexploitation regulars Uschi Digard, Dyanne Thorne and Shari Eubanks

www.myspace.com/terrorthursdays

THE RISE AND FALL OF IDI AMIN
MAR 29, MIDNIGHT, FREE, Director: Sharad Patel, R, 91 min

HELL NIGHT
APR 5 MIDNIGHT, FREE, dir. Tom DeSimone, 1981, 35mm, 101 min, R

WHAT WAITS BELOW
APR 12 MIDNIGHT, FREE, dir. Don Sharp, 1983, 35mm, 88 min, PG

DARK AUGUST
APR 19 MIDNIGHT, FREE, dir. Martin Goldman, 1976, 35mm, 87 min, R

TERRORVISION
APR 26 MIDNIGHT, FREE, dir. Ted Nicolaou, 1986, 35mm, 83 min, R

INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS
MAY 3 MIDNIGHT, FREE, dir. Denis Sanders, 1973, 35mm, 85 min, R

THE STEPFATHER
MAY 10 MIDNIGHT, FREE, dir. Joseph Ruben, 1987, 35mm, 89 min, R

CREATURE FROM BLACK LAKE
MAY 17 MIDNIGHT, FREE, dir. Joy N. Houck Jr., 1976, 35mm, 95 min, PG

NIGHT OF THE COMET
MAY 24 MIDNIGHT, FREE, dir. Thom Eberhardt, 1984, 35mm, 95 min, PG-13

BLOOD BATH
MAY 31 MIDNIGHT, FREE, dir. Joel M. Reed, 1976, 35mm, 86 min, PG

...are you still reading this garbage? Okay, well it's not a Terror Thursday, but this is coming up too and if you've ever bothered to consider yourself a person who's enjoyed a single horror film, you're obligated to attend, without question:

ROLLING ROADSHOW: BLOOD FEAST & 2000 MANIACS
with godfather of gore Herschell Gordon Lewis live in person!!!
Sat. May 26 - sundown - check our site for location
dir. Herschell Gordon Lewis, 35mm, R

- Mission, Kansas -

www.myspace.com/thescreenlandfreakshow

Grand Slam Auto: Kinski City

An Italian heist picture with Klaus Kinski, Janet Leigh and Edward G Robinson with a score by Ennio Morricone and the Tijuana Brass? How could I have slept on this one?

across the pond...

Bookmarked the site DerelictLondon.com a number of months ago and thought the link was dead, but happy to have found it again. Cronicling run down and abandoned pubs (South of the River and North of the River), shops, houses, waterways, and other urban sites, it of course touches on cinemas whose patrons are now rats and hobos...

The Hackney Empire, The Archway Theatre, The Safari Cinema, The State Leytonstone, The Coronet Cinema and others. May you rest in peace...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Actually, I was lucky enough to see this Canadian film about an Irish immigrant from 1964 at the Gorge Cinema in Elora, Ontario some time back. Like, eight years ago or more. There were a couple of people present who were involved with the CBC or early Canadian film and such there to introduce it and talk about F.R 'Budge' Crawley, the producer, who was their good friend. It wasn't overly informative and I think they weren't really used to giving that type of thing but it was a pure joy to see the movie and its scenes of wintry Montreal (and Ottawa, if memory serves me) on the screen in glorious black and white. I love 60s/70s Canadian films and the acting in this one is also terrific, if you're given the chance. The older gentleman friend of Crawley fell asleep during the screening, head back and all.

skipping school to visit a "Sweetheart"

Damn! I love this photo! Michael's intial post has been getting me dizzy with second hand nostalgia. Wish I could hop into a time machine and just lose myself on a street lined with grand cinemas and marquees that tease, promising thrills and chills!

But wait... as I dig through more info on the cinema in this pic, the "Anco", I just discovered that it is the cinema in the pic that I have used for the header image on this very own blog! Check it!

And, as it turns out, both pics were taken by Matt Weber. Visit his website www.urbanphotos.com and maybe even purchase one of his books.

For more history on "Sweetheart's Anco" like the following, visit the cinema's entry at CinemaTreasures.org

The Sleazoid Express book describes a frightening account of watching movies at the Anco, including "bodily fluids" on the floor! I remember a "UA Premiere" showcase engagement at the Anco for the double bill of "Guns of the Magnificent Seven" and "Death Rides a Horse", in 1969. The Anco was actually listed in ad for this booking in the NY Times.

Here is a pic of the Anco before it has to pay the rent with cinema sleaze...

For more old 42nd marquee pics, visit the 42nd Street Memories album over at Photobucket.

didn't Joe R. Lansdale write a story about this place?

They fall hard in Texas... From the works of Michael Putnam

i don't think so...

Here in merry old Toronto, there has been an ad campaign by Bell Mobility, one of the local phone/internet providers boasting how you can watch SPIDERMAN 2 and PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN on your cell phone. WHAT? On a two inch screen? A widescreen film? You have to be kidding. Sorry, but that just screams LOSER. Then I see this ad over on a blog by a fellow Canuck, The Legion of Decency.
SLAP! Yeah, I will trade in a sticky floor with the boob with bad BO crammed up against me lookin' over my shoulder on the TTC (Toronto Transit Commison). Now TV on cell, okay, I can see that. Heck, right now I am watching Battlestar Galactica on a shrunk down window on my computer as I write this, but a widescreen film chock full of detail? I remember when I saw GLADIATOR in the cinema and noticed an aerial shot of the colosseum with a flock of doves taking flight and realized that if I saw that on TV screen it would look like a swarm of dust mites... Think about the criticisms you see on the net trashing films using works like "suck" or "blows" in their reviews. Did they see it on a two inch screen? Probably. Anyways, rather than rant and fume and get all worked up, skip over to The Legion of Decency for the full skinny on this service and some thoughts on the practical ways of using these little "devil boxes".

The Ad says "starting from $5.99" and, given Bell Mobility's various "frame enhancements", the actual video image on their top of the line Samsung a920 is 1"x1.25".

Unless they Letterbox it.

Excuse me?

Yes. Some of Bell Mobility's offerings are letterboxed, reducing the size of their screen to 1.25"x.5".

Marqueed

I was watching Cassavetes' Shadows from 1959 last weekend and, as is usual, I was very excited by any street scene that showed the stretch of bright marquees from the Times Square/42nd St bevy of cinemas. It's like I have a minor (major) fetish for seeing what's playing and such on any screen in any town and a learned appreciation for the advertising displays out front. 'Shot on location' is always a winner for me and I think that's why I was so enamoured with a movie like American Graffiti (Wexler!) when I was younger or maybe it's a Canadian's over-familiarity with the documentary aesthetic or something that makes it captivating. It's hard to define but I am especially thrilled by these types of things and they thankfully crop up all the time in the lesser budgeted movies of both high artistic and lowly questionable merit. My luck! Anyway, I'll let you in on any I find.


While Lelia is checking the display for some Bardot film on a routine double feature, across the street patrons should no doubt be delighted to see the 'Naked' double bill from 1957.











As an aside, I'll offer that these poster examples are among the many 'disappeared' sizes that no longer grace and overwhelm us and our lobbies. The three sheet poster was a mighty sight to behold at 41 x 81 inches (104cm x 205cm) and it's sadly missed (along with her other paper brothers and sisters of yesterday with their different sizes and styles) in today's mostly uninspired backlit one sheet displays.



And then after that creep freaks her out by getting all grabby and stuff, she zips around the corner and safely off under this other stunner of a canopy!

it happened in 1934... then it happened again... and again... and again

From the creators of LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK and THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN...

Listen to the original radio ad HERE!

Going to have to send someone up on the ladder to change the damn marquee! Why wasn't this done last night?

meanwhile, in Beijing...

More scouring of the world wide web has turned up these pics of an old cinema in Beijing.

Visitors gather at the entrance of Daguanlou, a century-old movie house in Beijing Dec. 23, 2005. The cinema, located in central Beijing business district, has witnessed the development of Chinese film industry, and is listed in the Shanghai Guinness Book of World Records Friday for its pioneering film screening business.

todays letter is "I" for Italy and India

Isn't the jukebox in our lobby pretty? We are so pleased with this little work horse, an Atari Jupiter Rubis II made in France. We are slowly filling it, although with only the George Romero song and the Emanuelle 2 soundtrack, it has been a little repetitive, although you should see the little dance the snack bar girlies do when "L'Arrivee d'Emmanuelle" comes on...

Once again, visiting the cold and chilly Manchester Morgue (which by the way is the 142nd most popular site on the internet with the word 'Morgue' in the name), we find a good LP find, Morricone's soundtrack to John Carpenter's THE THING! And Check out this cool Italian poster for the film! Icky!


So that is our post from Italy. Next up, India! This is truly a blog with a mission:

"A box of some 150 Bollywood soundtracks on vinyl; classics, duds, and those with one or two good songs on them. The plan: Make MP3s and upload them all here, on a semi-regular basis."

Zip over to Music from the Third Floor, for a wide array of classic Bollywood soundtracks with lots of RD Burman! Screw John Williams, RD is the man! The Morricone of India! And the site is bursting with vocals by Asha Bhosle! Plus there is a Flickr gallery of all the covers!

wednesday saucy tunage...

More music for the jukebox we got in the lobby. Don't worry about the quarters, just give the machine a loving nudge and it will start pumping out the tunes. Download the Frances Lai soundtrack to EMMANUELLE 2 over at The Manchester Morgue. There are also some other goodies like the soundtracks to THE TIN DRUM, SPACED (the TV series by SHAUN OF THE DEAD director Edgar Wright) and even some Bruno Nicolai.

More Ricone

Here's the trailer to one of the 400 films Ennio Morricone knocked out a score for - Lucio Fulci's Lizard In A Woman's Skin.

Props to the trailer department for deploying the Mary Tyler Moore font so chillingly.

its the end of the world, I want to live inside a shopping mall...

Found this song back in October and it continues to ring around in my head. Been meaning to share it for some time, so now, I proudly present the first 45 in the Popcorn and Sticky Floors juke box... "George Romero" by The Sprites

George Romero is a tribute to the director of one of our favorite movies "Dawn of the Dead". Its also about the secret longing to live in such a world which, yes, is supposed to be scary, but really might not be so bad after all.

Some local T-Dot trivia - George Romero seems to have abandoned Pittsburgh and now lives in Toronto where he shot LAND OF THE DEAD and the upcoming DIARY OF THE DEAD.

Also in the roll call of the song:

Dario Argento
(crossing my fingers for THE THIRD MOTHER...)

Tom Savini
knitted Tom by cakeyvoice - check out her knitwork tributes to:
DAWN OF THE KNITTED DEAD
THE DARKEST DAY OF HORROR THE WORLD HAS EVER KNIT
SHAUN OF THE KNITTED DEAD

Stuart Gordon
(pic by Beth Gwinn - check out her other photos of horror film/lit icons)

Sam Raimi

Diesel Sniffing

Zip over to WFMU's Beware of the Blog for funny man Kliph Nesteroff's quick overview of the trucking genre. Kliph does a great zine called Generation Exploitation , a blog and companion podcast. Plus he is a fellow Canuck and even did time behind the popcorn counter at the late lamented Paradise Cinema at Bloor and Dovercourt here in the T-Dot.

Hurtful things.

I just wanted to show this one poster in comparison to the one posted earlier from a far inferior place so that we can see the criminal aspects of censorship. I don't even know if that's a poster we saw before! It might be a video box or some other impostor type thing that lesser sites and/or blogs are known to dabble in. But, and I say this proudly, we hear at Popcorn and Sticky Floors serve up only the best in movie advertising procured after many scouring hours. Sweat for you.

Here is the real poster and I think any discerning set of buldging eyes will see the difference and judge this correct version as tops.






P.S. I am not sulking nor gloating.

the paper cuts from these posters really sting...

Found over at Lost in Negative Space. Look under "poster art" for more...

Welcome to the EC, Bitch!

(source)

Ahh, youth.

The Eaton Centre Cineplex was the first mega-multiplex theatre in the world. There were 18 screens when it opened in 1979, expanding to 21 a few years later. When the place first opened it was more of an art-house theatre, classy, subtitled movies for the most part, with a running selection of retrospective fare. When I was a kid I went to see Casablanca, The Public Enemy, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre...in the summers they would have two-for-one James Bond double bills, shown in chronological pairs every week. But in the early eighties, they dropped the rep programming, moved the artsy shit over to the Carlton and turned the place into your classic eighties mall multiplex. New movies and big hits held over indefinitely.

It was a very depressing place to see a movie. The theatres originally had rear-screen projection, so they would bounce the movie off a mirror behind the screen. To me the picture always looked distorted when screened this way. Most of the screening rooms were claustrophobic, more like an interrogation room out of '1984' than a movie theatre. 50 seats, bad sound and mysterious stains on the screen. And the place was a bit of a maze.

Eventually I realized the unappealing conditions in the theatre were conducive to enjoying incredibly bad movies - I would go down there with friends on $2.50 Tuesday without having consulted the listings first. We would look up at the marquee, determine the worst film playing that night, and buy tickets. We saw Justine Bateman's Satisfaction using this method - it was showing on two screens and one show was sold out; for our showing we had the place to ourselves, in one of the theatres in the basement. It was like a private viewing.

I saw many hysterical James Woods films there, like The Boost and Cop. Carl Weathers in Action Jackson. Every Golan-Globus film playing at the Eaton Centre was a must see, like Invasion USA with Chuck Norris, Lifeforce or Street Smart. It was there I was introduced to the genius of Steven Seagal.

Towards the last days of the Eaton Centre Cineplex I guess they couldn't get away with charging first-run prices anymore so they changed the place into a bargain-priced theatre where month-old movies would go to die. Tickets were at one point $1.50 any time, which transformed the place into a trouble magnet for downtown hustlers, weirdos and cheapskates whose predecessors used to be able to hang out as long as they wanted in Yonge Street grindhouses like the Rio (4 Big Hits!) or the Coronet. ($1.50 is the cheapest hotel rate in town. And there are movies in your room. Too bad check-out time was at midnight - the Rio gave you till 5 AM.)

Anyway when I realized it was funner and cheaper to go to the Eaton Centre to watch Supernova, Double Jeopardy or Deep Blue Sea than it was to rent the DVD (plus you're surrounded by sociopaths!) I started going there more often, though it was getting bleaker and bleaker to be there. I was convinced Cineplex would keep running the place until the last lightbulb burned out, which must have happened in 2001. The last movie I saw in there was Coyote Ugly. The theatre, perhaps rightly, smelled of urine that afternoon.

Does anyone know how the multiplex rear-screen projection system at the Eaton Centre operated? It must have been insane.

keep on repeating, its only an anti-piracy ad, its only...

found at boingboing.

and if you are in the LA area...

Love to skip this sub zero Toronto weather and hop on over to the QT hosted Grindhouse retro at the Beverly Cinema. Found details about it over at Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule. Just looked at the line-up and I think I am going to pout until May 1st...

march 9, 10
The Van (1977)
Fri: 7:30; Sat: 7:30 only
Pick-up Summer (1980)
Fri: 9:20; Sat: 3:50 & 9:20
Summer Camp (1979)
Fri: 11:15; Sat: 5:50 & 11:15
march 11, 12, 13
Rolling Thunder (1977)
Sun: 3:45 & 7:30; Mon/Tue: 7:30
The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1977)
Sun: 5:40 & 9:25; Mon/Tue: 9:25
march 14, 15
Chinese Hercules (1973)
7:30
Black Dragon (1974)
9:20
march 16, 17
Sex with a Smile (1976)
Fri: 7:30; Sat: 7:30 only
Sex on the Run (1977)
Fri: 9:30; Sat: 3:20 & 9:30
The Oldest Profession (1967)
Fri: 11:30; Sat: 5:20 & 11:30
march 18, 19, 20
Brotherhood of Death (1976)
Sun: 3:55 & 7:30; Mon/Tue: 7:30
Johnny Tough (1974)
Sun: 5:45 & 9:20; Mon/Tue: 9:20
march 21, 22
Autopsy (1975)
7:30
Eyeball (1975)
9:20
march 23, 24
Coonskin (1975)
Fri: 7:30; Sat: 7:30 only
Shame of the Jungle (1975)
Fri: 9:30; Sat: 4:25 & 9:30
Tunnel Vision (1976)
Fri: 11:10; Sat: 6:05 & 11:10
march 25, 26, 27
Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971)
Sun: 3:25 & 7:30; Mon/Tue: 7:30
Revenge of the Cheerleaders (1976)
Sun: 5:15 & 9:20; Mon/Tue: 9:20
march 28, 29
Fearless Fighters (1971)
7:30
Supermanchu (1973)
9:15
march 30, 31
The Blood Spattered Bride (1972)
Fri: 7:30; Sat: 7:30 only
Asylum of Blood (1971)
Fri: 9:10; Sat: 3:50 & 9:10
Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary (1975)
Fri: 10:55; Sat: 5:40 & 10:55
april 1, 2, 3
The Lady in Red (1979)
Sun: 3:50 & 7:30; Mon/Tue: 7:30
Bare Knuckles (1977)
Sun: 5:40 & 9:20; Mon/Tue: 9:20
april 4
The Female Bunch (1969)
7:30
Wonder Women (1973)
9:15
april 5
Sneak Preview (2007)
show time TBA
april 6, 7
White Line Fever (1975)
Fri: 7:30; Sat: 3:50 & 7:30
Return to Macon County (1975)
Fri: 9:20; Sat: 5:40 & 9:20
april 8, 9, 10
The Girl from Starship Venus (1975)
Sun: 4:10 & 7:30; Mon/Tue: 7:30
The Legend of the Wolf Woman (1976)
Sun: 5:50 & 9:10; Mon/Tue: 9:10
april 11, 12
Slithis (1978)
7:30
Screams of a Winter Night (1979)
9:15
april 13, 14
Hot Summer in Barefoot County (1974)
Fri: 7:30; Sat: 3:50 & 7:30
Redneck Miller (1977)
Fri: 9:20; Sat: 5:40 & 9:20
april 15, 16, 17
The Muthers (1976)
Sun: 3:50 & 7:30; Mon/Tue: 7:30
Fight for Your Life (1977)
Sun: 5:50 & 9:30; Mon/Tue: 9:30
april 18, 19
Dragon's Vengeance (1972)
7:30
Kung Fu: The Punch of Death (1973)
9:30
april 20, 21
The Swinging Barmaids (1975)
Fri: 7:30; Sat: 7:30 only
The Swingin' Pussycats (1969)
Fri: 9:15; Sat: 4:20 & 9:15
The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974)
Fri: 10:45; Sat: 5:50 & 10:45
april 22, 23, 24
Grave of the Vampire (1974)
Sun: 4:00 & 7:30; Mon/Tue: 7:30
Jailbait Babysitter (1977)
Sun: 5:55 & 9:25; Mon/Tue: 9:25
april 25, 26
Return of the Tiger (1979)
7:30
Stoner (1974)
9:10
april 27, 28
Death Rage (1976)
Fri: 7:30; Sat: 3:55 & 7:30
Cry of the Prostitute (1974)
Fri: 9:25; Sat: 5:50 & 9:25
april 29, 30
The Real Bruce Lee (1973)
Sun: 3:55 & 7:30; Mon: 7:30
Lee Lives Within
Sun: 5:45 & 9:20; Mon: 9:20
may 1
The Real Bruce Lee (1973)
7:30
Lee Lives Within
9:20

nazi-sploitation mash-up...

Found over at The Groovy Age of Horror who found it somewhere else and so on and so on...

'76 goodness.

The IMDb page describes its plot as...

'A herpetologist investigating a series of fatal rattlesnake attacks discovers that the creatures have been infected by a mysterious nerve gas disposed of in the desert by the military.'

I only hope somebody who does local screenings has access to a copy because I got the poster as a gift from my Japanese paper collecting pal but I just got around to looking it up now and who doesn't like a good 70s piece on animals gone amok against mankind? Looks like a genuine winner.


Rattlers!

cinema sandwich

From the blog of James Moran, the writer of the fantabulous SEVERANCE, who is also here at Fantasporto.