Comments on: Eyes pop, skin explodes, everybody dead

Eyes pop, skin explodes, everybody dead

Artw — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:21:49 -0800

Alex Cox, director of Repo Man and Sid and Nancy, and one-time presenter of Moviedrome, which was a cult movie education for an entire generation of British people, has posted a ton of free stuff on his site: 10000 ways to die (pdf) - his book on Spaghetti Westerns, the Moviedrome guide parts 1 and 2 (pdf), a video defence of Walker (quicktime), and much much more.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:27:16 -0800

Cox has a site for an unreleased western, Searchers 2.0, and his site has other stuffs as well.

By: Artw

Artw — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:43:00 -0800

I'm probably just feeling abit homesick and nostalgic right now, and I am nursing a BEER, but the kinds of movies on Moviedrome basically created my artistic sensibility and informed my sense of waht could be good about film. By the end of of a Moviedrome movie I'd often be enthused with the possibilities of story and film and want to go out and make something of my own. So in the modest amount of creative works that I've completed I probably owe a huge debt to Alex Cox.

By: not_that_epiphanius

not_that_epiphanius — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:57:04 -0800

Thanks for this, Artw. I don't know why Walker needs a defence, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:58:15 -0800

My favorite Alex Cox story: Toronto Film Fest. Seeing Highway Patrolman. There's a shot/scene in it where a guy is standing in front of a desk looking at the man behind the desk and the desk dissolves into a giant skull and then back again. No other effects that I can recall in the movie. It's just... baffling. Q&A comes up and someone puts up their hand and asks, "What was with the skull?" Cox takes two steps forward to the microphone and says, "That was the grinning visage of death," and takes two steps back and points to the next raised hand.

By: Pope Guilty

Pope Guilty — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:59:22 -0800

You know, I was just thinking of a plate of shrimp a couple of hours ago.

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:51:10 -0800

Repo Man's got all night, every night.

By: jtron

jtron — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:55:01 -0800

Artw: for me it was catching Repo Man on cable sometime around... 1984? So somewhere around my fourth or fifth grade. It ruined my life for the better - I specifically remember sitting there with my mouth agape as I learned that movie characters didn't all act like people in movies, and that there were bands that sang about things like TV and modern art, and that sometimes people looked tough because they were afraid. THANK YOU ALEX COX~! and then a dozen years later Straight to Hell came into my life right when it needed to but that's another story

By: jtron

jtron — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:55:21 -0800

LET'S GO DO SOME CRIMES

By: 5_13_23_42_69_666

5_13_23_42_69_666 — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:58:29 -0800

Let's go get sushi, and not pay!

By: Crane Shot

Crane Shot — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 01:47:23 -0800

Ever feel as if your mind had started to erode?

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 01:56:26 -0800

John Wayne was a fag!

By: squasha

squasha — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 02:39:14 -0800

There goes my weekend. Thank you Artw (and mwhybark, too).

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 02:48:20 -0800

I am the snowflake which landed on the poised pebble which fell to the leaning rock which tilted the field of scree which cascaded down the granite face onto the bed of stones which rolled into your internet.

By: Aznable

Aznable — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 03:17:40 -0800

That was intense.

By: Mr. Bad Example

Mr. Bad Example — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 03:31:42 -0800

Repo Man posts are always intense.

By: Pope Guilty

Pope Guilty — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 03:46:43 -0800

I don't know a single Metafilter user who doesn't take speed.

By: GenjiandProust

GenjiandProust — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 04:25:33 -0800

And I am having friends over for a _Straight to Hell_ viewing tomorrow! What timing! "Hey, let's make the wiener kid sing his song!"

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 04:34:03 -0800

Always liked reading Cox's articles when they turned up in the Guardian And there's this great piece slagging off screenwriting software

By: dirtdirt

dirtdirt — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 04:38:04 -0800

Put it on a plate, dear. You'll enjoy it more.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 05:07:34 -0800

I keep waiting for Straight to Hell to find it's cult audience, and I keep coming to the conclusion that I may be it.

By: Multicellular Exothermic

Multicellular Exothermic — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 06:16:12 -0800

The more you drive, the less intelligent you are.

By: escabeche

escabeche — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 06:32:33 -0800

MetaFilter: MelonFarmer.

By: clvrmnky

clvrmnky — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 06:55:27 -0800

So talented! He also is one of the founding core Linux coders, right?

By: arcticseal

arcticseal — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:02:55 -0800

I had an old tape of American Werewolf in London that I taped off Moviedrome. I loved Alex Cos's introduction to it, set it up perfectly for me.

By: longsleeves

longsleeves — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:14:19 -0800

Since time is short, and you might lie, I'm going to have to torture you. But I want you to know, it isn't personal.

By: Sticherbeast

Sticherbeast — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:21:27 -0800

Walker is an excellent movie, despite all the hatred for it. Great soundtrack by Joe Strummer. It also has an awesome Paul Mavrides poster which read something like "BEFORE RAMBO...BEFORE OLIVER NORTH...THERE WAS...WALKER."

By: biscotti

biscotti — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:37:59 -0800

I adore "Straight to Hell", I know most of it by heart even though I haven't seen it in a few years since I only have a VHS copy and no hooked-up VCR currently. Just about the only Courtney Love role I thoroughly enjoy. Plus JOE FREAKIN' STRUMMER! And Dennis Hopper AND Grace Jones AND Jim Jarmusch AND Elvis Costello (not to mention the Pogues, of course)! "What's the matter with this car?" "NORWOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!" "Well, if it ain't old Bruno, and Angel Eyes Muck-Ma-Hawn" And the "synchronize watches" bit is golden. Dammit...Artw I ~~have~~ had stuff to do today.

By: Stan Carey

Stan Carey — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:38:08 -0800

Thought I was one of the only people on the planet to unreservedly love Straight To Hell. Kudos to MetaFilter for spreading the love.

By: JoanArkham

JoanArkham — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:55:27 -0800

Somehow it became our St. Patrick's Day tradition to watch "Straight to Hell." Although the much talked-about theme party has never actually come together.

By: porn in the woods

porn in the woods — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 08:56:52 -0800

It's a crisp, refreshing feeling. Crystal clear and light.

By: philip-random

philip-random — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:14:08 -0800

Walker is an excellent movie, despite all the hatred for it. I'd rate it very high in my list of movies-that-make-me-despair-because-nobody-gets-how-fucking-great-they-are-even-people-I-usually-respect. Cox, his career riding as high as it ever got (on the relative successes of Repo Man and Sid + Nancy), goes beautifully mad in Central America and creates a mind-bending masterpiece of Magic Realism. And yes, those TIME magazines (in 1855), and that scene roughly half-way through where there's suddenly a modern automobile zooming past, that's what seals the deal, that's what makes it f***ing brilliant. You're supposed to be confused. You're supposed to be feeling about as mad and WRONG and out of place as William Walker was (and "manifest destiny" driven America). And the book's good too.

By: Multicellular Exothermic

Multicellular Exothermic — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:19:39 -0800

'Sid and Nancy' is one of my all-time favourite movies. I can't remember which critic called it "a mature treatment of a group of willfully immature people", but I have to agree with him. Every time I watch it, I see something new in it. "Whatsa matter, Sidney? You on spe-e-e-e-ed or somethin'?

By: Sticherbeast

Sticherbeast — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:30:49 -0800

And the [Walker] book's good too. GAH! I remember as a kid looking up that book at my library. It was always listed as being in the stacks. But: it had been stolen or lost. So it just kept showing up in the computer searches, taunting me, teasing me.

By: Nabubrush

Nabubrush — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:42:18 -0800

Siiiiiiiiiiid! What about the farewell drugs??

By: Artw

Artw — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:53:31 -0800

Never trust a junkie.

By: Pope Guilty

Pope Guilty — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 10:11:24 -0800

Obligatory note that Johnny Rotten claims that Sid and Nancy is very nearly complete fantasy.

By: Artw

Artw — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 10:14:23 -0800

Here's the real story!

By: history is a weapon

history is a weapon — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 10:56:07 -0800

Alex Cox also has a book about his work that is a pretty fascinating read. I think it's called X Films, and he just goes through what he was thinking and doing as he made all of them. It's definitely worth picking up, even for just the Joe Strummer bits.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 11:58:39 -0800

BitterOldPunk: "I am the snowflake which landed on the poised pebble which fell to the leaning rock which tilted the field of scree which cascaded down the granite face onto the bed of stones which rolled into your internet." This is 100% true, this post grew out of a BOP tweet.

By: chavenet

chavenet — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 14:49:57 -0800

Thanks a lot for this, Artw -- there's tons of good stuff here. There used to be a midnight showing of Repo Man every Friday, backed with Buckaroo Banzai, and I would see it with my friends as often as possible. Loved that movie, loved Sid & Nancy, loved Straight to Hell. Has anyone here seen Repo Chick? Or Revenger's Tragedy?

By: Artw

Artw — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 15:48:00 -0800

The Revengers Tragedy is horribly bad, and contains Chumbawumba. Avoid.

By: jtron

jtron — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 16:04:14 -0800

There used to be a midnight showing of Repo Man every Friday, backed with Buckaroo Banzai, and I would see it with my friends as often as possible. I would be interested in attending meetings of this church.

By: philip-random

philip-random — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 16:17:13 -0800

There used to be a midnight showing of Repo Man every Friday, backed with Buckaroo Banzai add Brazil and Blue Velvet to this and that's pretty much every 1980s movie anyone needs to see. and Blade Runner, of course. (still stuck in the "B"s)

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:20:03 -0800

Obligatory note that Johnny Rotten claims that Sid and Nancy is very nearly complete fantasy. Print the legend.

By: Pope Guilty

Pope Guilty — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:21:11 -0800

add Brazil and Blue Velvet to this and that's pretty much every 1980s movie anyone needs to see. and Blade Runner, of course. You forgot ~~Poland~~ They Live!

By: Artw

Artw — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:27:29 -0800

Cut to extended fight scene in an alleyway - "watch the damn movie!".

By: 5_13_23_42_69_666

5_13_23_42_69_666 — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 00:45:32 -0800

so I almost saw the stooges tonight (does hearing them count? the crowd was huge) and this thread is making me really nostalgic. also, I totally agree with this: The more you drive, the less intelligent you are.

By: Stan Carey

Stan Carey — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 03:51:02 -0800

I liked Revenger's Tragedy very much, despite the presence of Chumbawumba (and Christopher Eccelston). Death and the Compass, on the other hand, was a mess. An interesting experiment in some ways, but a failed one, at least for me.

By: njohnson23

njohnson23 — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 08:11:57 -0800

I saw Walker in a theater in San Jose, Costa Rica in 1987. As this film was about the US's involvement in Central America in the 19th century and was shown when the US was again involved in Central America, the audience had a quite different reaction to the film than, say, a bunch of art film types here in the US. Quite an uncomfortable experience being one of the few Americans in the theater.

By: jrb223

jrb223 — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:05:11 -0800

Alright, so I discovered Walker about a year and a half ago, and then this post set me to forcing those in proximity to me to watch it. I'm in the middle of my third viewing of the film right now. I think it's become my favorite movie of this period in my life. It is most certainly its own defense.