enjoyprog

I was in Amsterdam a few months ago. I was walking the streets and noticed the police searching young men as they entered a particular street. I asked a cop what was going on. He told me that it was football night. Excited, I continued down the street onto Rembrandtplein (Rembrandt Plaza) and found myself in the middle of about 150 enthusiastic football supporters. They were chanting, drinking lots of beer and having a great time, just like in the movie. I asked one guy what team I should be supporting so I won't get my ass kicked. He got in my face and yelled "Ajax" (which he pronounced "Iyax" due to his thick Dutch accent)! They were all jumping up and down and giving me the finger as I snapped pictures of the wild mob.

A couple of supporters approached me and asked, "where are you from?" (with a very think Dutch accent). I told them that I was from Texas.

"Texas - f*cking Texas?" he replied, "f*cking excellent! Later, I was told by a few guys to "shoot at your own risk." I told him that I was returning to my room to put my camera up. He then added, "come back." I had a few beers with the crowd and had one hell of a time. I don't know if these guys beat the hell out of opposing supporters like the British football supporters do or like the GSE in the movie, but all the pubs in Amsterdam Centrum closed early that night out of fear of a riot.

All in all, I really liked these guys because as I told the supporters that I met, "you guys seem like the only real men who will fight if your backs were against the wall. I admire that." AJAX - FOREVER!!!

Being a huge horror film fan, I've noticed something different about today's horror films, compared to today's. Do you remember anything about the actors in today's horror movies? Probably not. Do you remember anything about old horror films? Yes, very much so! Yesterday's horror films, especially films from Hammer Studios, are filled with memorable actors with faces that you can't forget! Peter Cushing's skeletal facial features, Lilli Palmer's cheekbones, Christopher Lee's hairline and those well-delivered lines in those fantastic British accents! I imagine these actors were classically trained; taking these parts to pay the bills while waiting to be summoned by the Old Vic Theater.

One of my favorite shows was one that featured "Uncle Tome Make-Overs." The show featured a very concerned African-America father whose son was betraying his "people" because he chose to wear Dockers and Izod shirts instead of a dashiki and other African related clothing. An exchange between the the host, Dick Deitrich, and the father goes as follows: Dick: "Sir, how has your son's disregard for his African heritage manifested itself in his everyday life?" Father: "The other day, my son and I went to see a monster movie and he didn't scream or yell at the characters in the movie one time!" Another funny show was "Homeless People Make-Overs" featuring homeless people getting new hairstyles and trendy clothes. Dick would introduce the homeless man pushing a shopping cart onto the stage of the show. The man's hair and clothes would be matted with dirt, as well as sporting a very long and dirty beard. They'd whisk the guy away and later bring a completely different guy onto the stage looking very GQ and ready to walk down a fashion show runway.

Really clever stuff.

Mimsy Farmer is my favorite actress of that genre. I understand the French love her so much, she moved to France and did a whole bunch of movies during the seventies. Her Kramer VS. Kramer performance was "Riot On Sunset Strip." Such a realistic portrayal of someone on acid. So real, they should show the film to today's high school kids so that they won't be tempted to do drug themselves!

If Tarantino really wanted to do a grindhouse tribute, he should have dug up Mimsy Farmer. I'm sure she'd love for Tarantino to revive her career like he did Travolta!

She still turns up from time to time on TV shows.

Thats the one line that I remember most from the movie. Andy is taking "what was it like questions" from the neighborhood kids and one too many questiions are asked. Andy freaks and puts the hurt on a dog. I saw this at the Greenway in Houston when I was 14 and it scared the hell out of me. At that time, the film was titled "Dead Of Night" (which I like better than "Death Dream") and the film score had one of those eerie Moog sounds running through it - creepy stuff!. Though it scared the hell out of me as a young teen, I'm curious if the film will still frighten me as an adult, so I'll be picking up a copy soon. I give this 8 stars based on how it effected me at that young age.

How did Jaws hold the tension and suspense? Because Spielberg held off showing the shark until halfway through the film (partly because the damn thing wouldn't work). The opening scene with the girl being dragged all over the water and slamming her into a buoy was scary as hell because you couldn't see the shark. I'm 44 and I remember it to this day! All you saw was the girl being ripped to shreds! IMO, that was the scariest scene in the movie! Tell me, when you went swimming in the ocean, didn't it bother you that you couldn't see what was swimming around your feet, just like the girl couldn't?

The same goes for JP. If Spielberg were smart, he would have held off showing the dinosaurs until the T-Rex attack. Can you imagine how scary and cool that would have been if you hadn't seen the creatures, and almost halfway through the movie, you're sitting there in the dark theater, you hear the approaching booming footsteps of the T-Rex and then ROAR, there it is! The first dinosaur that you see is the one that will rip you to pieces, instead of the cute, "oooh, look at the dinosaur" scene that was in the first 15 minutes of the movie?

What you see is much scarier than what you don't see. And the trick that your mind can play on you is sometimes petrifying!

I'm from Sugarland and there is something that really bugged me about the movie. I realize locations are chosen for budget, schedule and story purposes, but jumping around geographically to locations that have nothing to do with the area is really distracting. The closest hills near the Jester Prison Unit are 100 miles west on I-10. Sugarland is nowhere near Mexico (it is on the southwest adjacent side of Houston), so when I'm watching a scene that supposedly takes place in Sugarland, and then the next minute, they're on the Texas-Mexico border, it just about ruins the movie for me. I know I'm being too picky but it seems to be a small thing to ask of a movie maker.

I find it very interesting, if not hilarious, that many people are rushing to judgment on the lesbian issue. Saying that the two characters are lesbians is like saying Batman is "queer cinema" (the Village Voice's term, not mine), simply because Bruce Wayne is single, rich, neat, well-groomed, drives a nice car, has an extensive wardrobe and hangs around beautiful women.

And if they are lesbians, I doubt that it went beyond deep friendship, since the story takes place in depression era Alabama in a very small town. Back then, you didn't even utter the word "lesbian," much less act on it.

If you want to see two lesbians, you will.

Sadsentinelwings , I enjoyed your review. Anyone reading your review who are not consumers of metal, will learn that this topic could easily be discussed and debated on any of those Sunday morning political round-table television shows.

That being said, I'm surprised you didn't identify prog metal as a non-metal sub genre. Personally, I love prog metal, especially many of the bands that have emerged from Europe. I hear metal fans (mostly American fans) all the time lament that prog metal isn't true metal. A dark metal fan or power metal fan would claim that prog metal really can't be considered as metal, due to each band member's perspective, motivation, fashion sense and musically elitist attitude; similar to the way that the 70's punks viewed Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Pink Floyd. Personally, I really don't care if its metal or not. Still an interesting discussion.

I would have love to see the prog scene explored. Certainly Mike Portnoy or Daniel Gildenlow would have much more to contribute to the discussion than Rob Zombie or Dee Snyder ever could. Besides, all the footage of the concert audience got old. Some of it could have been trimmed and replaced with a discussion of prog metal and how it differs in both positive and negative ways.

Though I do agree with you on every criticism, I agree that it is one of the best documentaries I've seen. Certainly far better than any of those metal documentaries on VH1, which are truly horrible.