Best Of
Re: 31 Days Of Halloween - A Pipe And A Movie
Day Seventeen: The 1995 sci-fi thriller "Species" had a lot going for it upon it's initial release. It was a big budget, effects heavy thriller from a major studio (MGM). It boasted an 'A-List' cast headed by two Academy Award winning actors in Ben Kingsly and Forest Witaker, Emmy Award winner Marg Helgenberger, and award winning actors Michael Madson and Alfred Molina. The film featured a beautifully grotesque creature designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger, the creator of the iconic xenomorph in Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi/horror classic "ALIEN". And quite possible the hottest female alien in newcomer Natasha Henstridge as 'Sil' to grace Planet Earth since Mathilda May, the nude space vampire of Tobe Hooper's 1985 alien invasion flick "Lifeforce". Yet with all that going for it the movie ends up playing more like one of those 'B' sci-fi potboiler produced by Roger Corman for New World Pictures. It's not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. A passable popcorn movie with potential ... but fell well short of my - and the general audience expectations. Even so it spawned an additional three sequels. Each progressively worse than the other.
S.E.T.I. scientists receive a transmission from space providing them with not only the DNA structure of an alien race, but the details on how to splice both alien and human DNA together to create a human/alien hybrid. Without considering the ramifications of such an experiment - obviously never having studied ancient history or the story of the Trojan Horse - the scientist successfully create a beautiful but deadly female hybrid with an over-active libido and an obsessive compulsion to mate and propagate her species. As is the case in movies such as this the scientist learn too late of her plans to end humanity and replace us with her own species, so she escapes leaving a trail of broken bodies in her wake. The remainder of the film follows a group of scientists and mercenaries sent out to track her down before she can begin the mating process. And as I mentioned earlier, the movie spawned an additional three sequels. So it's safe to assume the team didn't complete their task. I'll give the movie 3 1/2 bowls out of 5. And for the cool looking creature and the equally sexy alien, I'll add another half point to make it an even 4 bowl rating.
The featured pipe is my H.S. Studio Pipe which has a certain H.R. Giger influence in the design. And the blend I'll be smoking is Captain Black Special Blend "Midnight Gold".
Re: 31 Days Of Halloween - A Pipe And A Movie
Day Sixteen: First let me be honest, I have a very low tolerance for silent films. They tend to be extremely stagey, slow moving, and generally boring. But for the audience of the 20s' these moving pictures were a new and altogether different experience, whereas today's audience has become spoiled by all the special effects eye-candy and the rumbling Dolby Digital Surround Sound that the modern cinema provides. But there are at least three silent films that hold my attention from beginning to end, and they are "The Lost World" (because I have a love of all things dinosaur and have an unhealthy fascination with stop motion animation), another classic Chaney film "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame", and today's feature film the 1925 "The "Phantom Of The Opera".
The movie stars the Man Of A Thousand Faces Lon Chaney in his most famous role, that of Erik, the phantom menace who haunts the Paris Opera-house. The film also stars Mary Philbin as Christine Daae, a young Ingenue in the Paris Opera Company and the object of the phantom's affections. Also prominently figured into the plot is Mary Fabian as Carlotta, whom the Phantom wants Christine to replace as the leading lady Marguerite in the Opera's current production of Faust. Additional male leading roles Norman Kerry and Arthur Edmund Carewe provide comic relief as two rivals for Christine's affection.
By now most know the tale of the love-stricken phantom so instead of rehashing the story I'll bore you with a few interesting facts about the film. It was based on a novel written by Gaston Leroux. The 1925 was in black and white but also included a sequence filmed in 2-strip Technicolor that must have really wowed the audience. The film was directed by Rupert Julian but three other people had a hand in directing the movie but are uncredited which includes Chaney himself, as well as Ernst Laemmie and Edward Sedgwick. The film was selected by the Library Of Congress in 1998 for preservation in the National Film Registry, calling it "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant." And depending upon which version of the movie you have the running times vary from 92 minutes to 107 minutes. As this is a silent film and for acquired tastes only I'll give it a 4 bowls out of 5. Chaney's effective make-up still holds-up well today - and that deserves a 5 bowl rating.
Once again I've included a poster I originally designed for Secret Cinema Saturday Night.
The feature pipe is my Kaywoodie White Briar Churchwarden. And as for tonight's blend I'm going with Sutliff Dulce de Leche.
Re: 31 Days Of Halloween - A Pipe And A Movie
Day Fifteen: David Fincher's 1992 "ALIEN 3" was both a critical and box office failure, as well as a major disappointment to the ardent fans of the ALIEN franchise. This much maligned films deserves many of the barbs tossed it's way considering two much beloved survivors of the previous film, Corporal Dwayne Hicks (Michael Biehn) and Rebecca 'Newt' Jordan (Carrie Henn) are unceremoniously killed off in their sleep chamber during the opening credits. And moments before the final credits Sigourney Weaver ends her life by free-falling into a blazing furnace of molten lead upon discovering the embryo of an ALIEN QUEEN is gestating inside her. To say this is a downbeat movie is an understatement. I left the theater depressed and totally exhausted vowing never to put myself through that ordeal again. Of course as a rabid fan of the franchise the moment it came out on DVD I bought a copy and watched it several additional times. And with each subsequent viewing I began to appreciate the dark nature of the film as well as Fincher's uncompromising vision. Let's just say - it grew on me.
Sigourney Weaver reprises her role as Ellen Ripley, finding herself the sole survivor of a crash landing on Fiorina 161, a barren penal colony planet comprised of the worse-of-the-worse Alfa male inmates, now living in a pseudo-religious sect led by inmate Dillon (Charles S Dutton). Andrews (Brian Glover) is a hard nosed by-the-book warden who somehow manages to keeps things under control with the aide of Dillon. And Clemens (Charles Dance) is the prison doctor with a dark past, and something of a love interest to Ellen Ripley. Lance Henriksen makes a cameo appearance as bits and pieces of the original Bishop from the previous film and a double-role as Bishop II a Company shill hoping to retrieve both Ripley and the ALIEN QUEEN embryo inside her for the weapons division of Wayland Industry. And of course somewhere in this story is one mean-ass ALIEN.
In 2003 the ALIEN QUADRILOGY Box Set was released which included all four theatrical films as well as Special Extended Director's Cuts of all four films. Needless to say the collection is in a place of honor on my shelf alongside several other versions of the ALIEN films.
The theatrical cut of "ALIEN 3" had a running time of 114 minutes while the Extended Special Edition boasts a 138 minute running time. (Recently a 2003 Special Assembly Cut' surfaced with a running time of 145). And believe it or not the additional minutes are quite beneficial in character development. And in contrast to conventional thinking, extending the movie enhanced the pacing and actually tightened the film into a more cohesive story. Unlike many extended versions, "ALIEN 3" isn't loaded with extreme scenes of graphic gore. The main change from the theatrical cut to the Extended Director's Cut concerns the birth of the ALIEN. In the theatrical cut the ALIEN's unfortunate host is a dog, while in the extended cut the ALIEN rips out of the body of an oxen. And there are a few additional frames of film featuring the newborn ALIEN scampering about. But other than that those extra minutes are dedicated to character development and letting scenes run their course without quick jump cuts and the helter-skelter editing that made the theatrical version so confusing. By slowing down the pacing and extending scenes the extended cut gave me a better appreciation of the film. Elevating it from the trash heap of movie sequels, where it once resided, to an exciting and compelling exercise in futility and self-sacrifice. And even though the flesh-colored design of the creature in "ALIEN 3" varied from the first two films - the over all concept is still the most unique design for an alien life-form in motion picture history. After a rocky start I now give "ALIEN 3" (the Extended Cut) a 4 our of 5 bowl rating.
The featured pipe is a Danish Frasorteret Freehand and in it I'll be smoking C&D Autumn Evening.
Re: 31 Days Of Halloween - A Pipe And A Movie
Day Thirteen: In 2001, inspired by the 50's B' sci-fi films from AIP (American International Pictures) Stan Winston developed a project for Cinemax TV by repackaging titles such as "Teenage Caveman", "Earth vs The Spider", "How To Make A Monster", "The Day The World Ended", and "The She Creature" under the moniker - "Stan Winston's Creature Features". But rather than remake the films he and his team would completely re-imagine the stories using nothing from the original film other than the title. The first in the series was "The She Creature" staring Rufus Sewell as an unscrupulous sideshow barker with a tent full of fraudulent costumed freaks, Carla Gugino his girlfriend and the sideshow's faux mermaid, and Rya Kihistedt a genuine mermaid they illegally procure from Aubrey Morris, an old sea captain who has kept the creature shackled and chained in a makeshift aquarium ever since it killed and ate his wife. When Sewell and Gugino first encounter the captive creature she is a stunning bare-breasted beauty half woman/half fish. Sewell tries unsuccessfully to acquire the mermaid from the captain who refuses his offer. So in the dead of night Sewell returns with several men from the Carny and hijack the prize - but not before accidentally killing the Captain who tries to stop them. Unfortunately as the men take to the sea to bring their exhibit to America the mermaid turns the table on the crew, exerting her influence over both Gugino and the Captain who is driven to change course and return the Mermaid Queen to her brood of hungry Sirens that lure sailors to their doom in the shallow reefs. By the films end the beautiful Kihistedt transforms into the a gruesome man-eating Queen Of The Lair. Stan Winston and his special effects team pull off an excellent transformation sequence, and another fantastic creature design. I give this a solid 4 bowls out of 5.
Today's featured pipe is my Burl King Thumb hole Pipe (also called a Bridge Pipe). And as the film takes place on the water I though Captain Black "Black Sea" would be the appropriate blend to smoke.
Re: 31 Days Of Halloween - A Pipe And A Movie
Day 10: Director Robert Rodriguez 2010 sci-fi action thriller "Predators" was the third Predator film in the franchise - fifth if you include the two "ALIEN vs Predator" films. And normally when a movie finds itself part of a multi-picture franchise the quality takes a downward spiral by the time you're on the third or fourth film in the series. Examples such as "Halloween", "ALIEN", "Species", "Saw", "Friday The 13th", "Nightmare On Elm Street" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" prove my point. Hollywood filmmakers rehash stale old storylines sucking the life out of beloved horror icons like maggots feeding on a bloated corpse. But "Predators" bucks the trend as it actually ups the ante of the 1987 "Predator". In that film Arnold Schwarzenegger and his commando unit are served up as sport for an intergalactic trophy hunter in the South American jungle. In the film "Predators", Earth no longer serves as the hunting ground for these alien big game hunters, as they stalk an even deadlier rogue's gallery of villainy and scoundrels. Our hapless human anti-heroes are literally dropped from the sky in free fall onto the surface of an alien planet where escape is impossible. The cast includes Adrian Brody (American mercenary), Danny Trejo (drug cartel enforcer), Alice Braga (Israel Defense sniper), Walter Goggins (San Quentin death row inmate), Topher Grace (psychopathic), Laurence Fishburne (US Army Sir Calvary soldier), Louis Ozawa Chanchien (Yakuza enforcer), Mahershalahashbaz Ali (African death squad soldier), and Oleg Takarov (Russian commando). And in order to survive on this hostile planet these 'human predators' are forced to ban together with a chained Predator prisoner to defeat a tribe of Super Predators looking to add the skulls from any species to their trophy case. For thrills, chills and testosterone driven macho action this film deserves a strong 4 1/2 bowls out of 5 rating.
As for today's feature pipe what could possibly look better in a Predator's trophy case than a Meerschaum Skull Pipe? No self respecting Predator would be caught smoking anything but a Meerschaum Skull Pipe. And as for tonight's blend I'll be smoking CAO "Moontrance". Should have smoked it last night for "The Wolf Man".
Re: 31 Days Of Halloween - A Pipe And A Movie
Day Eight: "Son Of Frankenstein" was the final film to feature Boris Karloff in the role of the Frankenstein Monster, and arguably the last great film in the series. The franchise declined with each successive film until the Frankenstein Monster was eventually relegated to little more than set decoration as his role diminished to lying on his back while strapped onto an operating table for the bulk of each film. His swan song was the Abbott & Costello horror comedy "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein", one of the comedy duos best film and a true horror comedy classic. Lon Chaney Jr. succeeded Karloff as the monster in the next film of the series "The Ghost Of Frankenstein" and did an admirable job, followed by Bela Lugosi who didn't fare quite as well in "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man". And for the final films in the Frankenstein franchise ("House Of Frankenstein", "House Of Dracula" and "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein") the role of the Frankenstein Monster went to character actor Glenn Strange, who until donning the Jack Pierce make-up as the monster was known mainly for his role in westerns.
"Son Of Frankenstein" opened in theaters on January 13, 1939, but for the majority of us living today we didn't discover the Universal Classic Monsters until the mid to late 50s' when the films were packaged up for syndication and sold to TV stations under the 'Shock Theater' banner. So by the time we saw "Son Of Frankenstein" for the first time, viewers had come to associate the lead actor with another famous literary character. Basil Rathbone was cast as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein - the son of Frankenstein, yet to most viewers Rathbone was best known as master sleuth Sherlock Holmes. The cast also included Bela Lugosi as the conniving broken-neck hunchback Igor, a cunning and somewhat sinister rogue who befriends the Frankenstein monster. Lugosi will always be remembered for his role as the stylish Transylvanian vampire, Count Dracula - but for my money Igor was his greatest performance. Also on hand was Universal regular character actor Lionell Atwill as the one-armed Inspector Krogh. Atwill would go on to appear in an additional four films in the Frankenstein franchise, playing a different character in each film: Doctor Bohmer in "Ghost Of Frankenstein", the mayor in "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man", "Inspector Arnz in "House Of Frankenstein" and Police Inspector Holtz in "House Of Dracula". "Son Of Frankenstein" is not a perfect film but still highly entertaining so I'll give it 4 1/2 bowls out of 5.
The feature pipe for the day is my Brebbia Calabash, an excellent smoking pipe with a nice deep bowl, allowing for a 30 to 45 minute smoke. And in it I'll be smoking Boswell Cupcake, an exceptional aromatic that should have the room smelling like a bakery.
Re: 31 Days Of Halloween - A Pipe And A Movie
Day Seven: "Come into my parlor", said the spider to the fly. Day seven is my tip of the hat to both the spider and "The Fly". The Spider being my No Name Pear Wood Pipe featuring a furry little tarantula carved into the side, and "The Fly" is represented by David Cronenberg's 1986 remake of a 1958 classic. It's no coincidence today's flick follows John Carpenter's "The Thing". Both films are excellent remakes of a 50s' sci-fi classic, both feature graphic stomach churning special effects (Chris Walas received the Oscar for Outstanding Special Effects), both films were an intelligent reimagining of the original, and both feature stand-out performances from a talented ensemble cast. Jeff Goldblum's tour de force performance as the eccentric scientist Seth Brundle was an Oscar worthy performance, deserving at the minimum, a nomination in the Best Actor category.
"The Fly" (both the original and remake) are loose adaptations of George Langlaan's short story which first appeared in the June 1957 issue of Playboy magazine. Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg's adaptation co-written with Charles Pouge, takes a much different approach to the unintentional consequence of bonding human DNA with that of a fly. Whereas in the original Andre Delambre, played by Al (David) Hedison, emerges from his telepod visibly altered with the oversized head and arm of a fly, as the housefly buzzed away with a miniature version of Delambre's head and arm attached to it's tiny body. Even as a child Cronenberg felt that concept was preposterous. Why should the head and arm change proportions to fit the size of the current host? It made no sense to him. So Cronenberg and Pogue broached the fantastic subject matter with the cold calculating eye of a theoretical scientist, applying our current knowledge of molecular science to the implausible notion of fusing the DNA of human and fly. The end result is a gradual mutation of the cells and an incremental transformation of man into insect. Goldblum initially exits the telepod seemingly unphased by the genetic bonding of fly and human, unlike his counterpart in the 1958 film whose transformation was immediate. Instead, throughout the course of the film Goldblum's grotesque transformation changes him from a cancerous decomposing human being to his final metamorphosis as a mutant insect.
Geena Davis delivers one of her best performances as science journalist Veronica Quaife, the eventual love interest and the chronologist of Brundle's experiments in teleportation. Rounding out the cast is John Getz's as Veronica's jilted x-lover and current magazine editor. He successfully balances sleaze and petty jealousy with a genuine caring for Davis' character to become something of a sympathetic villain and the unlikely White Knight who comes to the rescue. But not before succumbing to some horrific disfiguring injuries inflicted by the acid spewing Brundlefly. Once more I'm awarding this film a perfect 5 bowls out of 5. And highly recommend it as well as the sequel "The Fly II", both of which I'll be watching tonight while smoking my pear wood spider pipe and a bowl of "CAO BLACK".
Re: 31 Days Of Halloween - A Pipe And A Movie
Day Five: Before his death on June 15, 2008, Stan Winston was one of the most sought after special effects artists in the field. He was 'the' go-to guy when studios required a larger than life creature for a hot property. When nothing but the best in state-of-the-art effects were needed to pull off movie magic - Stan Winston was the man to see. When James Cameron needed a towering 16 foot ALIEN Queen as the centerpiece of his film ALIENS ... when Steven Spielberg needed fully articulate lifelike dinosaurs for his Jurassic Park series ... and when filming his big budget sci-fi action flick staring Arnold Schwarzenegger, director John McTiernan realized the title creature of his film "Predator" was laughable rubbish and needed someone to re-designed it from the bottom up before filming could continue - he along with Cameron, Spielberg and a host of other major Hollywood directors called on Stan Winston.
In 1988 Stan Winston was presented with his first opportunity to direct a feature film. After going through a series of title changes, it eventually settled on the somewhat misleading Halloween themed title, "Pumpkinhead". The film is based on a poem by Ed Justin, a portion of which can be heard early in the film by a group of young children teasing another ...
"Keep away from Pumpkinhead, unless you're tired of living. His enemies are mostly dead, He's mean and unforgiving"
A group of young college kids planning a week-end get-away at an old cabin make an impromptu stop at Ed Harley's country store, a rickety one room shack-like structure in the middle of nowhere. While several of the kids go into the store for supplies, two others wheel out their motor bikes for a little motor-cross racing. While in the store they meet Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) and his young son and dog Gypsy. Ed Harley is forced to make an unscheduled delivery, leaving his son to temporarily mind the store. In an unfortunate set of circumstances the boy is accidentally run down and killed by one of two racing college kids. This sets into motion a dark tale of vengeance and retribution as Ed Harley enlists the aid of an ancient Bayou witch to conjure up a demonic spirit of vengeance - "Pumpkinhead".
"Pumpkinhead" is oozing with atmosphere as Winston brings the lifestyle and legends of the backwoods mountain folk to life. The film has the feel and look of an adult version of a Grimm Fairy Tale. The beautiful sets are awash with fog and atmospheric lighting. The attention to detail and set decoration in the shack of the old witch is striking, with tattered bits of sorcery scattered about like a museum of the macabre. And Winston's team did an amazing job creating the title creature "Pumpkinhead". He is the essence of pure evil.
Saddly Stan Winston only directed one other feature film, the poorly received 1999 "A Gnome Named Gnorm". But with "Pumpkinhead" Winston gave us a Halloween classic and another perennial favorite. Once again I give today's movie a perfect score of 5 bowls out of 5.
The featured pipe is another in the Nording Signature series, this one the Nording Signature Rustic. And like the Nording Signature Black featured a few days ago ... it's a Christmas gift, so I won't be smoking it either... just photographing it. I'll find a suitable replace for tonight's blend which will be an old reliable standard, Captain Black Royal.
Re: 31 Days Of Halloween - A Pipe And A Movie
Day Four: After the financial success of "Dracula", "Frankenstein", and "Mummy" Universal Studios, like the ancient Alchemists of medieval folklore, had discovered the formula for turning celluloid terror into box office gold. So the next project on their agenda was an adaptation of H.G. Wells novel "The Invisible Man", adding another destined to be 'classic monster' to their growing stable of the macabre. Fresh from his last two films for Universal, "Frankenstein" and "The Old Dark House", the studio turned to James Whale to direct. Once again the eccentric director brought his unique style and sardonic wit to the project.
The 1933 film "The Invisible Man" made an international celebrity out of Claude Rains (as scientist Jack Griffin) even though the actor only appears briefly onscreen in the final moments of the film. His menacing voice and manic outbursts were more than enough to send shivers down the spine of viewers. Looking back on the film, though not a supernatural being like an undead vampire, werewolf, living mummy, or walking cadaver stitched together from assorted body parts, "The Invisible Man" was responsible for the highest body count in a single Universal Horror Film; more so than all the other monsters put together. His reign of terror included derailing a trainload of passengers with nearly 100 reported casualties. Of course with centuries under his belt I'm sure Dracula had far more victims through the ages. But in a film with a running time of 1 hour and 11 minutes "The Invisible Man" creates far more carnage then many viewers remember.
Also included in the cast were Gloria Stuart (who appeared many years later as Rose in James Cameron's film "Titanic") as Griffin's love interest Flora Cranley, William Harrigan as a Dr. Arthur Kemp a sniveling rival for Stuart's affection and all around weasel, and a pair of Universal regular character actors who always brightened up the screen with their presence - E.E. Clive as Constable Jaffers and the always entertaining Una O'Connor as the squawking barmaid/landlady.
The landmark special effects of John P Fulton still hold up well today as scientist Griffin unveils himself for the first time in a roomful of horrified spectators. Even though the modern viewer is hip to all the tricks of the trade and high definition TV makes those objects moving about on concealed wires clearly visible, the initial unmasking as he removes his goggles and artificial nose revealing empty sockets and a gaping hole where a nose should be are still quite unnerving. As is the entire sequence as he unwraps the bandages from his head and a seemingly decapitated suit of clothes dances about the room. The effects are just as effective as the digital Blue Screen technique employed today. Another perfect score - 5 bowls our of 5.
The featured pipe I'll be smoking tonight while watching "The Invisible Man" is my Chacom Manet Bent Brandy and in it the blend will be another Autumn favorite, Sutliff Pumpkin Spice.