Deborah Kerr Watchlist

It has been 10 years since we have lost the effervescent Deborah Kerr but luckily she left us with a lifetime of movie watching.

While the two of us watched whatever we could get our hands on, our goal is to always watch three of the same films together in order to create a deeper discussion. Check out our complete LETTERBOXD for everything that we watched as well as our pick for the Must-See Deborah Kerr movie.

BLACK NARCISSUS

1947

An early predecessor to the Nunsploitation films prominent throughout the 1970s, BLACK NARCISSUS may not be the most conventional of exploitation films featuring nuns but it works as long as Sister Ruth is involved.

A group of nuns seek a remote Himalayan village to set up a school and hospital for the indigenous people. They set up this new covenant in a palace previously utilized as a Harem and is now owned by the wealthy "Young General". It is apparent over time that the two opposing societies struggle to hold control over this land. The nuns attempt to create a cultured place of teaching, healing, and worship but the tide soon changes. In order to stay at the palace, Sister Clodagh allows the Young General entry to the women and children only teaching environment. From here on out, the struggle is lost and the nunnery soon spirals into chaos.

There are the struggle and cultural misunderstandings (both on and off the screen) is the base of this film but it all comes down to Deborah Kerr's overwhelmed Sister Clodagh facing off against Kathleen Byron's unhinged Sister Ruth. Both are equally fantastic and completely make the movie even if there was nothing else there... but there is so much more.

Powell and Pressburger (The Archers) team up with cinematographer Jack Cardiff to create a vivid spectrum of colors to create an almost dreamlike atmosphere. Alongside the beautiful cinematography, they harnessed the full limits of technicolor by creating in-camera glass matte paintings to maintain color control.

Color is used even more to signify the sisters and their surroundings. This covenant conveniently wears all white habits. Throughout Sister Clodagh's decent into madness the pure white innocence of her habit becomes dirty and tarnished the more she loses control of her nunnery. When it's time for Sister Ruth to let her freak flag fly, her face becomes pale, her lips terrifyingly red, her black hair exposed, her eyes and clothing as dark as her soul. The Archer's create an amazingly tense climax between Clodagh and Ruth at the edge of the belltower. It is a complete movie through and through and one that cannot be missed.

And just when you think you've seen it all, there's Mr. Dean and his tiny pony.

THE INNOCENTS

1961

On the surface level, it plays out like just another Hammer Horror film; Although it was not under the Hammer productions nor did the director, Jack Clayton, want it to be confused with the style. The finished product is much more acutely polished with a more cerebral style of fear. The kind of horror movie that creates a narrative through its story equally with its visuals.

Deborah Kerr (amazing as always) plays the demure Miss Giddens as she takes over the paternal responsibilities of two young children Miles and Flora. Before long, whispering voices and shadowy figures torment Miss Giddens. But the balance and deception that Clayton expertly crafts, creates a genuinely haunting atmosphere of distrust and sanity.

The first thing that popped into my head within the first 15 minutes of the movie was... "I think Guillermo Del Torro would love this". Not just within the obvious case of CRIMSON PEAK but within other work like PAN'S LABYRINTH and DEVIL'S BACKBONE. With a little bit of research wouldntcha know, THE INNOCENTS was one of GDT's main influences for CRIMSON PEAK. THE INNOCENTS screams of passion, style, and mystery and leaves you hanging with a sense of unease, a dose of astonishment and a final WTF head scratching moment.

THE GYPSY MOTHS

1969

THE GYPSY MOTHS

1969

It felt more like one of those True-Life documentaries that Disney used to produce back in the 50s. Almost like Frankenheimer wanted to get in on that new skydiving craze all the kids are talking about. There's a lot of buildup to a trio of guys jumping out of a plane and the piece de resistance being the "cape jump" which by today's standards is extremely tame. The ending has a nice and unexpected twist, however, leaves us with about a 20-minute ending of predictability. Maybe the only thing that made it particularly unexpected is just how bland the rest of the story was. Kerr is elegant as ever. Hackman is a firecracker of energy. Lancaster sleepwalks himself right into his very last scene.

It's surprising that this was one of Frankenheimer's very favorite movies. Different strokes I guess.

The two of us watched 8 Deborah Kerr films. Check out the entire list on LETTERBOXD.

(Aaron Prescott)

R.I.P. 4: Remembering Deborah Kerr

Here we are with our first Commemorative Episode! Sure we focus on the here and now but so many great artists have come and gone and we want to give them their due too. It has been 10 years since we have lost the effervescent Deborah Kerr but luckily she left us with a lifetime of movie watching. We take a look at her 40+ years in cinema and focus in on three movies throughout her career with BLACK NARCISSUS, THE INNOCENTS, THE GYPSY MOTHS and more. 

Download links available at:

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Harry Dean Stanton Watchlist

Over 6 decades and nearly 200 feature films and Aaron and David could only muster up enough time to watch and/or re-watch 11 films featuring the late, great, Harry Dean Stanton. 

While the two of us watched whatever we could get our hands on, our goal is to always watch three (however for HDS, we went for four) of the same films together in order to create a deeper discussion. Check out our complete LETTERBOXD for everything that we watched as well as our pick for the Must-See Harry Dean Stanton movie.

DEATH WATCH

1980

A movie profoundly ahead of its time. The late 70s was a breading ground for a wealth of extremely pessimistic views of the future with totalitarian governments, environmental disasters, and dystopian wastelands. This fear of the future was the perfect platform for iconic films like SOYLENT GREEN, SILENT RUNNING, and LOGAN'S RUN. When 1980 rolled around we also found the world beginning the plunge into an all information, all the time with the introduction of CNN and the 24 hour news cycle.

In a future where dying of illness and disease is rare, Vincent Ferriman (HDS) has created a show that exploits our morbid obsession with decay and destruction. He remarks " Look how shy we've become about death. It's the new pornography." DEATH WATCH is a lo-fi thriller of impending death, moral decency, and television ratings. Ferriman is the suave, slimy, cutthroat television producer while Harvey Keitel plays Roddy, his secret cameraman. In the only real instance of "science fiction", Roddy's eyes have been surgically replaced with cameras to infiltrate the life of the ill-fated subject. Whatever he sees, so does the audience of DEATH WATCH. 

It's an all around great performance piece as Keitel gets to turn in another fantastic layered character alongside his subject, the doomed Romy Schneider. HDS presents the villainous television producer capitalizing on the public's voyeuristic thirst. Is he the true villain for creating the material or are we to blame for consuming it. In a real world that has prolonged 14 seasons of KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS the answer is unclear. Either way, DEATH WATCH provides all the great moral complications that come along with great science fiction.

REPO MAN

1984

REPO MAN is a movie of the moment. If you make this movie about any other time it will not feel as genuine. As kitschy as it may be, the 1980's fueled the stark contrast between the rich and the poor, the right and the left, the haves and the have nots. This is punk rock's cinematic magnum opus. It's the movie anthem that doesn't conform to your societal norms or to Hollywood's interpretation of the punk movement. Many "punk" movies have been made before. But REPO MAN is different in that it's a movie about punks, made by a punk, that's for punks. But under the tenderly punkish care of Alex Cox, the movie becomes something more than just a parody of itself.

In true punk anarchy, our antagonizing protagonist, Otto, refuses to accept the 'everyday onslaught of the capitalist consumerism of 1980s Reaganomics'. It's such a cliche statement, but instead of uttering those words Cox litters the screen with the impersonal, faceless marketing, dead behind the eyes parents, and reckless government goons. Unbeknownst to Otto, he can't escape the vice grip of the United States marketing machine.

For a movie that is so overtly "punk" you'd expect it to just be littered with the sounds of Black Flag, Bad Religion, Minor Threat and others. The music embraces a sort of Link Wray style of rambling guitar riffs and steady drums driving the rest of the story along. Its that waning guitar crossed with a sort of rockabilly, beach rock, proto punk vibe that gives the movie an almost fairy tale quality to the seedy side of the LA underground.

It's such a great movie that holds a mirror up to the social and the anti social. It's a movie about the disassociated youth, a detached society, and a radiated alien car. It's the kind of movie where one can talk about a plate. Or shrimp. Or a plate of shrimp and still sound impressively deep. There's no real explanation. It's just the cosmic unconsciousness telling us how good this movie is.

PRETTY IN PINK

1986

It's really just another story of star crossed lovers from the opposite side of the tracks. However, there is one thing that feels slightly different from every other entry in the John Hughes Cinematic Universe. That main difference comes from the relationship shared between Andie (Molly Ringwald) and her father, Jack (Harry Dean Stanton). We are treated to an incredibly realistic relationship between a young lady who is forced to act as a parental figure to her own depressed, lonely and broken father.

In most Brat Pack flicks we get a paternal relationship that is either non-existent or entirely eccentric and played for laughs (i.e. Non-existent = BREAKFAST CLUB, SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL. Entirely eccentric = WEIRD SCIENCE, BETTER OF DEAD... I know not official Hughes but it might as well be). This relationship utilizes the raw, every man nature of HDS to convey a personal and flawed interaction between the father and daughter. They are both sharing the loss but are forced to deal with it in different ways. This grounded relationship reveals a youthful, blossoming connection between Andie, Blane, and Duckie juxtaposed with a prophetic look into the reality that many relationships, including Jacks, eventually become. A much more grown up, however loosely structured story of young love in the 80s.

TWISTER

1989

Calling this movie TWISTER is like calling BATMAN (89), DINNER DATE WITH VICKI VALE. Yeah, I guess it does take place but I don't see what that has to do with the story.

I know this is going to be a shocker but Crispin Glover is just as insane as ever and he's kind of the best thing in this film. It's more or less an aimless ROYAL TENENBAUM-esque family of rich, eccentric weirdos just getting along with life and not getting along with each other.

It really feels like the filmmakers told Crispin to improvise everything and told HDS to react accordingly. That part kind of works. I just wish there was more of that interaction. This is really just a movie that shows solid actors elevating a lackluster script.

The two of us watched 7 other HDS films. Check out the entire list on LETTERBOXD.

(Aaron Prescott)

Tobe Hooper Watchlist

A true Master of Horror that can easily sit beside the likes of John Carpenter and Wes Craven. Aaron and David watched 10 of his films over the course of two weeks. We watched a seminal work of art, a lesser seen horror and one of his, and the world's weirdest science fiction horrors to grace the screen.

While the two of us watched whatever we could get our hands on, our goal is to always watch three of the same films together in order to create a deeper discussion. Check out our complete LETTERBOXD for everything that we watched as well as our pick for the Must-See Tobe Hooper flick.

These are the films we saw.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

1974

It starts off as something of an ASMR worst nightmare. The heightened, unnerving sounds of shuffling earth, creaking wood, and flashing bulbs envelop the dark screen before we even know what to expect. Coupled with the ominous text that shrouds the film in its own curated mythology provide more context for a fictionalized film than most horror movies care to offer. Although it garnered much of its influence from serial murderer Ed Gein, it harnessed its own "true story" reputation with an almost documentarian like approach to film making.

What the movie turns out to be is a hot, sweaty, southern nightmare. In any true Texas purgatory, there are wandering drunks, slaughter house talk, homemade barbecue and those hitchhikers that you know just shouldn't be picked up.

Our film follows Sally and Franklin as they take a gaggle of their friends on a quest through their old family homestead. One by one we find our tragic teens fall prey to the lumbering figure in an adjacent mystery house. Hooper's voyeuristic camera creeps behind our victims as they move closer and closer to the demise. But it's not until that sliding metal door slams shut that you get a sense of real terror and dread that are soon to follow. It's a sick and twisted and perverse crash course of revitalizing the horror genre. Hooper takes the freak flag of THE HILLS HAVE EYES and waves it proudly atop the traditional haunted house and states; A new sub genre is born.

Hooper leaves us with that one iconic final shot of a blood soaked Sally Hardesty screaming the back of a pickup truck. A singular shot that captures fear, elation, and psychosis all at once. It also captured a very important moment in the history of the horror genre; The First Final Girl.

THE FUNHOUSE

1981

There's a little too much lead-up to mild horrors and not enough story to provoke anything all that engaging. And as for a movie titled, FUNHOUSE, I was hoping for a real pre-SAW level of agonizing, teenage, carnie-folk terror. There's really just a mutant in a mask. A decent mask, but a mask can only get you so far especially when you accompany it with a primal, ear-piercing, not so frightening shriek. It's a decent setup to what could have been much more. Although, Kevin Conroy is a real standout as he takes on all three circus barkers.

LIFEFORCE

1985

It's a movie of pure insanity unlike any Hooper film before or after it. A Cannon logo. A rousing adventurous Henry Mancini score. Amazing John Dykstra effects. Steve Railsback giving it everything he's got. A bloody Jean-Luc Picard. And overly ambitious beyond belief.

In the Halley's comet craze of mid 1980's, LIFEFORCE, alongside NIGHT OF THE COMET, jumped on all of the amazing science fiction goodness that can come from a once in a century comet sighting. Where NIGHT OF THE COMET showed us the dehydrated, mass homicidal effects on Earth, LIFEFORCE started in outer space with a naked woman, returned to Earth with an energy sucking alien and turned the world into a part vampire, part zombie WWIII apocalypse... thing.

It's insanely bonkers and does not follow any sort of rhyme, reason or story structure. But that's kind of the charm behind it. This feels like Hooper stepping out of his comfort zone and really striving to see just what the big deep pockets of Golan-Globus could offer. It's a bit messy and convoluted and crazy but that just kind of makes it all the more interesting.

The two of us watched 6 other Hooper films as well as his 10 min directorial debut short. Check out the entire list on LETTERBOXD.

(Aaron Prescott)

R.I.P. 3: Remembering Harry Dean Stanton

The character actor to end all character actors. David and Aaron tackle all 199 Harry Dean Stanton movies in one podcast. As the boys take a look at over 6 decades of work they focus on 4 films in particular; DEATH WATCH, REPO MAN, PRETTY IN PINK, and TWISTER.

Download links available at:

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Sam Shepard Watchlist

From DAYS OF HEAVEN to COLD IN JULY, Aaron and David checked out six Shepard movies to discuss his contribution to cinema.

While the two of us watched whatever we could get our hands on, our goal is to always watch three of the same films together in order to create a deeper discussion. Check out our complete LETTERBOXD for everything that we watched as well as our pick for the Must-See Sam Shepard movie. 

We first watched Shepard's feature film debut in Terrence Mallick's DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978). This is the movie in which Mallick and cinematographer Nestor Almendros practically invent the "magic hour shot". That brief moment right before the sun sets over the horizon. The soft, soothing colors create a beautiful, romantic and almost dreamlike state that fully embrace Mallick's poetic storytelling. DAYS OF HEAVEN is the story of young, handsome Richard Gere attempting to swindle young, handsome Sam Shepard out of his entire fortune. Brooke Adams is the linchpin in this long con by courting him all the way to his deathbed... or does she? It's narrator is the young, naive Linda who's point of view seems distanced and unaware of everything that is going on. It's a deep south fairy tale set across the background of a still youthful America. 

Next on our list was the Sam Shepard penned PARIS, TEXAS (1984). This Palme d'Or winner was a perfect marriage between Shepard's words and Wim Wender's continuing work with cinematographer Robby Müller. Shepard didn't feel he was right for the role but instead coerced Harry Dean Stanton to take the lead. The simplified storytelling structure enabled one of Hollywood's most prolific character actors the leading role of a lifetime. Stanton's Travis emotes broken and damaged better than any living actor. While Nastassja Kinski's Jane presents a stark contrast as she evenly balances strength and frailty at any given moment. It's a journey that takes Travis on a quest of being lost, becoming found, and finding redemption. 

Our final film is one of Shepard's more recent films in Jim Mickle's COLD IN JULY (2014). An unassuming revenge thriller that soon twists and turns into a much more intricate story. Mickle presents us with a southern noir, airport novela steeped in deceit, deception, and sex. What it has in story is only enhanced by a near perfect trifecta from Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, and Don Johnson. It's an expertly paced thriller that creates an excitement to look out for any future work coming from Mickle.

Check us out on LETTERBOXD for our complete Watchlist.

R.I.P 2: Remembering Tobe Hooper

David and Aaron take a peak behind the curtain of the dearly departed figures of Hollywood. We don't want to dwell on the loss of these cinematic heroes, we want to embrace the artwork they left behind.

One of the true Masters of Horror has moved on and David and Aaron are breaking down the wild run of Tobe Hooper's career. From his iconic beginnings with THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE to thrill ride of THE FUNHOUSE to his Golan-Globus partnership with LIFEFORCE and more!

Download links availabe at:

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R.I.P. 1: Remembering Sam Shepard

Here it is! The inaugural episode of REST.IN.PICTURES David and Aaron take a peak behind the curtain of the dearly departed figures of Hollywood. They don't want to dwell on the loss of these cinematic heroes, they want to embrace the artwork they left behind.

Here we begin with a look at the illustrious career of writer, actor, director, poet, musician, raconteur, Sam Shepard. Spanning the silver screen from his acting debut in Terrence Malick's DAYS OF HEAVEN, to Wim Wenders' PARIS, TEXAS, to Jim Mickle's COLD IN JULY. 

Download links available here: 

iTunes | Stitcher | PodBean