Film writing by Sean Michael Erickson
Following the success of Easy Rider, Peter Fonda tried his hand at directing with two wildly different films. Both feature a score by the influential musician Bruce Langhorne, and one is a minor masterpiece that attempts to rewrite the rules of the western genre.
Read MoreLinks to coverage of the 2023 Berlinale Film Festival.
Read MoreOver at the internet oasis that is Aquarium Drunkard, I write about the early days of Bill L. Norton. In 1972, Norton would see the release of his first two movies. One was Cisco Pike, a movie he wrote (with a punch-up by Robert Towne) and directed, and which marks the debut staring role for the legendary Kris Kristofferson. The other was Gargoyles, a CBS TV-movie that is perhaps most notable for marking the introduction of legendary makeup effects artist Stan Winston. One movie is a whole lot better than the other, but together they show just how tough Hollywood can be to newcomers.
Read MoreWhat happens when a 50s Beat Generation photographer and a 60s counterculture novelist make an 80s movie about commerce and artistic integrity with a bunch of 70s musicians? The ambling yet profound Candy Mountain is what happens. You can read some thoughts on this elusive film over at Aquarium Drunkard.
Read MoreIn 1969, James Frawley made the jump from being an Emmy-winning director of the joyous Monkees TV-show to thoroughly bumming people out with his debut film The Christian Licorice Store. That movie, staring Baeu Bridges as a tennis player going through an existential crisis, barely earned a formal release. But it did lead to 1973’s Kid Blue, a thoughtful, ramblin’ western featuring an acting trifecta for the ages: Dennis Hopper, Warren Oates and Peter Boyle. Find some thoughts on these two offbeat movies over at Aquarium Drunkard.
Read MoreAgainst all odds, the 72nd Berlinale International Film Festival not only took place during a period of peak COVID case count, it seems like a pretty successful example of how such in-person events can operate under such conditions. After an odd two-part mix of online and outdoors in 2021, everything went back indoors, even thought the atmosphere around the Berlinale Palast in Potsdammer Platz felt more subdued than previous years. There were more schnelltest centers and COVID security checkpoints than food trucks and festivities. But we were there, in the theaters, taking part in the communal festive experience of cinema once more. Here are the 26 movies I was able to set eyes on…
Read More1968, Los Angeles. It’s a time and place that was recently brought back to life in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It was also the year the French filmmaking couple Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy both shot films in Los Angeles. Demy’s Model Shop has been cited as inspiration for Tarantino’s film. But it in a way, I find Varda’s Lions Love to be the more interesting look at the city in this crucial year. Certainly, as a counter-culture counterpoint to Tarantino’s film, it offers a lot to consider. I wrote about it over at Aquarium Drunkard.
Read MoreJust in time for the holidays, a brilliant 30-year-old home movie that proves there is no minimum age requirement to producing feats of cinematic wonderment. Head over to Aquarium Drunkard and have a look at my love letter to the post-apocalyptic mini epic that is 1989’s Doctor Death.
Read MoreI put down some words and thoughts on Roland Klick’s DEADLOCK for Aquarium Drunkard’s Videodrome feature.
Read MoreAn article on Alex Cox’s STRAIGHT TO HELL, written for Aquarium Drunkard’s Videodrome column.
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