Elizabeth, I just wanna congratulate you again on "Notepainting". From the heartfelt music to the inspired cover art, you put out an album that deserves to be on a shelf in a record store. It reminds me of the days when an album was a complete artistic package, and you'd go into your favorite record shop and spot an album cover that drew your attention, and even if the artist or band was new to you, you'd give their record a try. In those days, everything wasn't categorized; you didn't have to be "metal" or "hip-hop" or "pop country" or "techno". You just had to be creative and put your heart and soul into your music, and the result was that music lovers were always hearing something new and different from artist to artist. So if you went into your favorite record store, you might come home with a rock album by a band you were already a fan of, or an album of beautiful piano instrumentals by a brand new solo artist. In those days, the two records could sit side by side on the wall racks. So that's the spirit in which I see "Notepainting", an album coming from a place of creativity and artistic freedom. It has given me great listening pleasure for three years now, and I should also mention that the arrangement of the songs, the running order, works to make it unfold like a musical story. So thanks, Elizabeth! If you decide to record another album, you know I'll be looking forward to it. :):)
Well, I wish I could say the same for some of these movies, i.e. that they were made in the spirit of creativity and artistic freedom, but that hasn't consistently been the case, lol. Some, like "The Alligator People" and "The Indestructible Man", have fit that description (and others have been in-between), but then there's flicks like "The Incredible Petrified World".......yikes! I'm petrified just thinking about it. Tonight, however, I watched a movie called "The Beast of Yucca Flats"(1961) that was an interesting combination of the two. On the one hand, it had next to no story (as usual of late), and the minimal plot that does exist was more or less preposterous, even by low-budget sci-fi standards. By that criteria, it was an awful movie, and indeed, some critics have called it worse than "Plan 9" and one of the worst films ever made. But then there is another school of thought, expressed by several fan reviews and even a critic or two, that the film has an unusual meditative quality, one that is almost soothing or reflective.
I happen to agree with these opinions, and I was noticing the same effect as I watched, even before I read the viewer comments. The tranquilizing aspect, it is agreed, comes about from the film's narration, which appears at intervals throughout the 53 minute running time. It is spoken by "Yucca"s writer/director Coleman Francis, who was not able to include dialogue in his movie. One explanation claimed the soundtrack was destroyed in post-production, another that Coleman didn't have the money to record dubbing, but whatever the reason, there is almost no talking by any of the characters. Instead, there is a surprisingly good score, upping the "dramatics" considerably, and then there is Coleman's narration, which is sparse, intermittent yet persistent, and delivered in clipped, serious half-sentences that amount to proclamations. The famous 1950s wrestler Tor Johnson (an Ed Wood perennial) plays the brilliant Russian physicist Joseph Javorsky. Introducing him, narrator Coleman might utter something like : "Joseph Javorsky, Soviet hero..........a space program......a flag on the Moon. How did it get there"? This is spoken over footage of Javorsky arriving at the Nevada Test Site, where he is to meet with American military brass (he is defecting). Then maybe 30 seconds passes and the narrator intones : "Joseph Javorsky.........from hero to hunted........the desert heat........a nuclear explosion........from hero to hunted to Beast........man's inhumanity to man".
This last segment is narrated over a scene in which Javorsky is chased into the desert by KGB agents. As they fire at him, a test bomb is detonated. Javorsky is transformed into a bloodthirsty beast while the mushroom cloud rises.
So you get the idea about the narration. One viewer called it "haiku-like".
Later in the film, after Javorsky has strangled two motorists, the cops are hunting for him. Our narrator picks up the story from here : "Jim and Joe............protectors of the wasteland........Jim and Joe........climb a rock, stop a killer.............Touch a button, things happen - a scientist becomes a Beast".
And on and on it goes. As the hunt continues, a family happens to drive down the highway. They stop at a lonely gas station and we hear "small boys........feeding soda to thirsty pigs". Okay fine. That's what they're doing. The pigs live out in back of the gas station. But we can see the boys giving them soda, so why the need to tell us same? I mean, lol! The narration veers from abstract to obvious, but it's the rhythm of it that is so hypnotic and Zen-like. Some of the facial expressions on the actors, the two policemen in particular, seem out of a poorly made art movie, like the cliche angled poses that are mocked from Bergman's films. I know I'm giving Coleman too much credit, haha, but as terrible as this flick is, he has included an interesting combination of techniques, including the anguished close-ups, and some better-than average photography (for this kind of movie, anyway). Also good are the remote desert locations (Santa Clarita, actually), the old gas station and a small town, possibly Saugus or Newhall. When you take these positives and add the continual voice over, you have a movie that is both Horrifically Bad yet compellingly watchable. Some fans mentioned dozens of repeat viewings. For myself, I would love to just have a CD of the soundtrack, the music and the voiceover, although it must be added that the visual - of the peaceful desert locale being stalked by the murderous Beast - does increase the incongruity and therefore the overall soothing effect. :)
For these reasons, and for it's unique stature as A Godawful Movie with Therapeutic Properties, I am gonna give "The Beast of Yucca Flats" Two Solid Thumbs Up and recommend you see it at least once, no matter your stance on sub-amateur cinema. Pay no attention to the story or you'll be bored stiff. Prepare instead to enter a trance-like state, and see if "Yucca Flats" doesn't take you there. /////
That is all for this Sunday evening. I shall now go for my second walk of the day, across the familiar CSUN campus. Later tonight we'll get together at the Usual Time, and I hope to see you then.
Stay well, stay strong.
Tons and tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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