You Dance with the Lady with the Hole in her Stocking

This blog post first appeared, in a slightly different form, in the e-newsletter I WAS BIGFOOT'S SHEMP which you can subscribe to in the sidebar of this blog.

I just got back from Italy sounds more glamorous than I just got back from chaperoning my wife's college class trip to Italy but I suppose both are true.  I don't think anything has influenced my writing more over the last few years than my six trips to Italy, jaunts to the Piazza della Repubblica for giallo and fumetti and the contemporary art shows at the Palazzo Strozzi and late-night cable screenings of The Forgotten Pistolero and Miami Supercops and Crime at the Chinese Restaurant, in Italian of course but feeling their pace and rhythms.  There is a heavy influence in my debut feature The Girl in the Crawlspace--the title character is Jill McBain, after Claudia Cardinale in Once Upon A Time in the West--but I think Italy is threaded through all of my work.

 

 

Speaking of which, now it can be told; the secret project I referred to as The Horrible Asp is actually Aliens vs Sharks, coming out this fall on DVD.  This is the first of three movies I wrote back to back over six weeks for director Mark Polonia to shoot as a package.  Aliens vs Sharks came with a pretty detailed outline--I suspect as this is the most effects-heavy of the projects, and certain beats needed to be hit--but it has plenty of my own touches.  With a movie called Aliens vs Sharks you pretty much know where you are going with the plot but I hope everyone enjoys the ride.

It is also out that the movie I code-named Sequence Six is actually called Amityville Island.  Although I code-named the first one from an REM song I happened to be listening to at that moment, I code-named this one from Fulci's Zombi 2 soundtrack.

Several years ago I wrote a movie called Doctor Zombie for Mark Polonia that ended up not being made, but was built as an homage to Zombi 2 and the Blind Dead movies.  Since I wrote Amityville Island incredibly, incredibly fast I was able to life some chunks from that unused script.  It helped that Doctor Zombie took place on an island.  It didn't help that Amityville isn't on an actual island, but if that's what holds you back from watching this movie I can't help you any further.

It has zombies, possessed people, women in prison, weird experiments, and some other stuff I probably forgot because I wrote it at a fever pitch, but it's crazy.  Trailers for both will be posted here when the interwebs have them.

More news soon, thanks for sticking with me.

China 9, Liberty 37

This  post originally appeared in a slightly different form in my newsletter I Was Bigfoot's Shemp, which you can subscribe to here.

In a single week I sold my house, closed on another, moved, and then jetted off to Italy.  One day, those seven days will seem funny.
As usual, I made my annual pilgrimage to the grave of fellow A/V nerd Guglielmo Marconi, and stocked up on fumetti.

But five trips to Italy later I finally fulfilled my dream of visiting Cinecitta, the legendary Italian film studio.

I had always wanted to go, but it is more than a dozen stops from Roma Termini, the central train station, so I have never been able to find the time.  Even though it is a giant studio space, there isn't a ton available to the public, but I still found it interesting.

As you might suspect, Fellini gets a lot of space here.  Apparently he used to crash out and sleep at the studio a lot back in the day.

In the museum, there is a lot of time spent on Italian Neorealism, one of my favorite genres even before I visited Italy, but also a fair chunk on Spaghetti Westerns and Sword and Sandal movies (or Peplum as they are called there).  I thought there might be a section on Poliziotesschi films (Italian cop movies) but I guess that genre hasn't reached critical nostalgia mass yet.

Since this is Italy, they also have an area dedicated to Italian starlets of the 60s and 70s like Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale, and the like.  There was a section about Cinecitta during World War II, and the destruction that led to Neorealism. 

I thought one of the more unusual displays was a room full of drawers that were objects that inspired various directors that have worked there.  The photo above was for Martin Scorsese's, and includes a pair of glasses he apparently left lying around.  Tarantino was the only other American director represented, but the great Sergio Leone left some junk there, as well as Roberto Benigni and Lina Wertmuller.

A pretty cool day, and I'm glad I went there.

Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man

Fourth time to Italy, for those that missed me, and as you can see it can still use a little picking up, a Starbucks and a SuperTarget or two.  I have always called Italy the Land of the Shrug--maybe this, maybe that, maybe now, maybe later--but for some reason this trip I heard a lot of cries of "Silenzio!"  Even more so than I hear in America.  Perhaps it is all the talk about ISIS wanting to pester them but, frankly, I would leave these people TF alone.  Hard to hate on people that have my dream life--drinking wine, eating pizza, taking naps, reading comics, but then turning into badasses when needed (re:  Franco Nero, Anthony Steffen, Gianni Garko, Giuliano Gemma, Maurizio Merli, George Hilton, George Eastman, Terrence Hill, Bud Spencer, Tomas Milan, et al).

Vittorio De Sica 4 Lyfe

Every time I go to Italy, I see something different.  I'm walking along one day and see this plaque in the sidewalk.  It commemorates the site of the shooting of one of the greatest films of Italian cinema and in fact world cinema, and one of my faves as well, The Bicycle Thief.  The start of Italian Neorealism and part of my fertile imagination.

The Girl Who Knew Too Much

I saw several film/TV crews while I was in Italy this time (sweet irony as back in Ohio, a spaghetti western I wrote, Calamity Jane's Revenge, was underway).  One I couldn't tell what they were doing, one seemed to be some sort of period piece, and one was some sort of comedic crowd scene.  Not to call my brothers out but it looked like there was some guerrilla filmmaking stuff going on, which naturally my trained b-movie I was drawn to.  And how it warmed my heart to turn on the TV went I hit the hotel and see a Terrence Hill and Bud Spencer movie on; almost as good as that time I caught For A Few Dollars More late at night, with Clint and Lee Van Cleef speaking Italian.

I Turn the Switch and Check the Number

Speaking of my people, I had my annual pilgrimage to the grave of Guglielmo Marconi, the father of radio. He is in the Basilica di Santa Croce alongside dudes like Galileo, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli, who all have gigantic statues here while my brother had to make due with a lot less. But this is a significant upgrade over when I was here two years ago when his plaque looked like something you'd see in a pet cemetery.

The Return of Ringo

Every time I visit Italy I think of this place, my favorite to visit; it's the large fumetti and giallo market at the Piazza della Repubblica. I always enjoy strolling through here and finding unusual things.

Kill Baby Kill

Nothing much, just an eerie, crypt-lined passage leading to a pay toilet.  Ciao, everyone!  You can see all my past adventures in Italy here.

For A Few Euros More

Back in Italy for the third time, and this thing hasn't chopped my hand off yet.

Fistful of Fanta

Snack truck in the Borghese Gardens, Rome.  Orange drink goes down easier when endorsed by the Pope.

Viva Django

You can drink from any public fountain without fear.  The brain, oxtail, and rabbit is good too.

Death Rides A Horse

My favorite street art that I saw this year.  My all-time fave is either the Godzilla with the Pope hat or the monkey Jim Morrison. 

One Damned Day at Dawn

My favorite fumetti stand, in the Piazza della Repubblica.  As a teenager, I dreamed of a world where you could have pizza for lunch and dinner, buy comic books off the street, and watch spaghetti westerns all night.  As an adult, I found it.

From Italy, with Gelato

Welcome back to Italy, the land of the shrug--maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe open, maybe closed, maybe electricity, maybe not, maybe the bus is running, if not go and have a nice plate of pasta and a glass of vino.  As you can see, they haven't cleaned up a lot since I was here last year.  This statue, in the Boboli Gardens, looks like something left over from Planet of the Apes.

The Good, the Bad, and the Nerdy

I spent a lot more time this year looking for fumetti on the streets of Rome and Florence; here is a very respectable stack of Tex comics, an inexplicably popular series that has run for more than 50 years about a Texas Ranger in the American Old West.  I bought several because they were easier to understand than some; even I know Tex shouldn't camp in Il Canyon Della Morte when there are mummies around.

You Say You Want A Revolution

I remained fascinated by the posters plastered around Rome.  This was my favorite last year, and this was my fave from this year; a poster for a Communist rally (who knew there were still Communists?) featuring a foxy young comrade yelling through a megaphone at, I think, Lou Dobbs.

From the Land of Sky-Blue Water

Rome has a reputation for healthful waters, and they pipe it out to you everywhere, as ubiquitous as a fresh plate of pasta (I recommend the carbonara, anywhere).  The fact that a fellow traveler observed a dog lapping from said fountain didn't diminish its sweet goodness.

I Wasn't That Uneasy

Polite Engrish in Rome.

There Goes Tokyo

Graffiti is plentiful in Rome, and this was my favorite of the year; though I wish I had my camera with me when I saw the Jim Morrison with the monkey face.

Open City

Weird street art, offered without comment.