The Preshow Entertainment was Max Fleischer's "Superman" cartoons. If you know these, then you know what you missed. This is the guy who made GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. His animation is soft, lush and muted. He directed his cartoons as if they were live action. The Superman's are Comic-booknoir. We watched 3 or 4 of them. They're short on story, but too cool on style. If you've seen THE IRON GIANT, you'll get the idea. Max also did the early Popeye cartoons, and HOPPITY GOES TO TOWN. Another thing he did was spawn a son named Richard, who made some great movies like COMPULSION and FANTASTIC VOYAGE. Of course, I will always remember him for MANDINGO.
January's RMC selection was a movie called LAWN DOGS. I taped this movie because I thought my buddy Dean Cameron was in it.
I really enjoyed this film. I always like the theme of two outsiders with nothing in common that become close, despite the situation (see THE PROFESSIONAL). Here, we have a loner lawn guy who lives in a trailer in the woods, and a 10 year old girl, daughter of the rich. They create a bond, thanks to the girl's unending insistence. Now you know this spells doom, but what I wasn't ready for was the "impending" part. The movie gives you that uneasy feeling the whole way through, and that means it worked.
The 11 year old actress was pretty amazing (she was also the dead girl in THE SIXTH SENSE). Actually, the acting was pretty great all around.
By the time the credits ran, I kept thinking, "where the hell was Dean in that movie?". Turns out he wasn't. Another buddy, Marc Garland, was the A.D. I just had my wires crossed.
