John Carpenter - He's my favourite Director by j6ngo1977

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John Carpenter - He's my favourite Director

POSTED BY: J6NGO1977
UPDATED: Tuesday, July 4, 2006 16:05
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Monday, May 29, 2006 3:38 AM

J6NGO1977

I started a thread not so long ago about Escpee from New York and since then I've been watching all my John Carpenter FIlms. Why I say he is my fave director is because I have watched almost all his films (there's a few from the 60s I aint seen coz i cant get hold of them) and I like all of them. Even Ghosts of Mars I didn't like but after the second watch I thought it was pretty cool. OK, I Lied, maybe Escape from LA is not too hot :) That is the only film I dislike by him).Even Elvis is a good film and Kurt Russel does a great job at being Elvis. They Live, Ghosts of Mars, rince of Darkness are all films I was not too sure about when I watched em but after the second watch I really liked them.

Unlike Steven SPielberg John Carpenter does not try to put all his schmultsey rubbish from his lost childhood upon us.

I count Steven Spielberg as one of the most prolific directors of the 20th century. I'll give him this he can churn out fantastic cinema like Duel, Schindlers List, Back to the Future, Jaws, Indiana, Private Ryan, Band of Brothers but then he throws schmultsey crap at us like AI, Hook and The Terminal. He always has to have a 'Nice ending' to his films. Where as John Carpenter obviously does not feel the need to tie up all the loose ends in his film. Even the likes of James Cameron has the same problem. That guy goes from an outsanding piece of Cinema in the name of 'Aliens' and then churns out rubbish like 'Titanic' (when I got that film I fast forwarded to the sinking .LOL).

So at the end of the day John Carpenter is my fave director because he is consistent. He never sells out to Hollywood and creates a 'nice end' because that's what the public demands. He also creates his own soundtracks which always tend to be classics (Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, Escape from NY). John reminds me of a UK director(I am not being rude to our American flock) because he creates that claustrophic feel so well like UK directors tend to do (for american readers check out 'Dog Soldiers' and 'The Descent' by Neil Marshall. No hollywood budget but shows how a good horror film is done).

FOr all you movie heads (I guess theres 1 or 2 of you .LOL) here's a list of films directed by John:

Psychopath (2006) (pre-production)

"Masters of Horror"
- John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns (2005) TV Episode
- Pro-Life (????) TV Episode
Ghosts of Mars (2001)
... aka John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (USA: complete title)

Vampires (1998)
... aka John Carpenter's Vampires (USA: complete title)
... aka Vampire$ (USA)
Escape from L.A. (1996)
... aka John Carpenter's Escape from L.A. (USA: complete title)
Village of the Damned (1995)
... aka John Carpenter's Village of the Damned (USA: complete title)
In the Mouth of Madness (1995)
... aka John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness (USA: complete title)
Body Bags (1993) (TV) (segments "Gas Station, The" and "Hair")
... aka John Carpenter Presents 'Body Bags'
... aka John Carpenter Presents 'Mind Games' (USA: cable TV title)
Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
... aka Aventures d'un homme invisible, Les (France)

They Live (1988)
... aka John Carpenter's They Live (USA: complete title)
... aka They Live! (USA: poster title)
Prince of Darkness (1987)
... aka John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness (USA: complete title)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
... aka John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China (USA: complete title)
Starman (1984)
... aka John Carpenter's Starman (USA: complete title)
Christine (1983)
... aka John Carpenter's Christine (USA: complete title)
The Thing (1982)
... aka John Carpenter's The Thing (USA: complete title)
Escape from New York (1981)
... aka John Carpenter's Escape from New York (USA: complete title)
The Fog (1980)
... aka John Carpenter's The Fog (USA: complete title)

Elvis (1979/I) (TV)
Someone's Watching Me! (1978) (TV)
... aka High Rise
Halloween (1978)
... aka John Carpenter's Halloween (USA: complete title)
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
... aka John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13
Dark Star (1974)

Sorceror from Outer Space (1969)
Warrior and the Demon (1969) (as Johnny Carpenter)
Gorgo Versus Godzilla (1969)
Gorgon, the Space Monster (1969)
Terror from Space (1963)
Revenge of the Colossal Beasts (1962)

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 9:05 AM

CHRISISALL

Escape From LA was lampooning genius. Not a seriousfest like NY, it's dark and sometimes over the top humour (Bruce as Surgeon General) is too easily dismissed.
And it had the best ending since Beneath The Planet Of The Apes!

to all those that dislike it!!!!

Sword of Damacles Chrisisall!

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 9:23 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Good call.

I love John Carpenter's work for many of the reasons you've mentioned. I think if you're going to have a favourite director then he is a good call. Like you say he has integrity when it comes to his material, and given he composes many of his own theme tunes he obviously puts all his heart into his projects. And I suppose that's about as much as you can ask of any creative person, that they believe in what they're doing.

Obviously when you've developed such strong work some of it will fall flat by comparison The Thing vs Invisible Man, as example, however he has a style and perhaps he more than anyone adopted some great horror techniques from Hitchcock and developed them brilliantly to work with his style of narrative and the ever 'knowing' audience.

There's something inherently enjoyable about watching a Carpenter film even his not so hot ones, it's always an event visually and thematically.

As a perseonal favourite I'd go with Starman for a beautifully told love story, Big Trouble in Little China for sheer entertainment and turning the hero figure on it's head and last but not least, The Thing for sheer unadulterated pure Horror at it's best and most brutal.

That said I rarely compare directors because in truth they all have their individuality, even if they don't intend it they end up needing each other to react against and highten the work. So Spielberg is very well meaning - but brilliant at telling a story, though some of those stories are hard to gel with they are told brilliantly, Cameron a master of action and visual set-up is perhaps a little too gung ho in his apporach but it's clearly his style and it works for his kind of stories, and Carpenter is a sheer genius at suspense horror and timing, aswell as a real flare for sound! Actually sound is very important for Carpenter it's maybe his special weapon - just watch things like Halloween and The Fog. Most of the time with any 'jolts' or 'jumps' it is actually sound that you are reacting too. He's a very clever man and a brilliant director.

The
Somnambulist

www.cirqus.com

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 10:51 AM

CHRISISALL

Somnambulist, I see you tactfully avoided commenting on my Escape From LA rant....just kidding with the finger, it's okay if not all hold it as high as I do.

UV's gonna be bad today Chrisisall

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006 1:13 PM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Somnambulist, I see you tactfully avoided commenting on my Escape From LA rant....just kidding with the finger, it's okay if not all hold it as high as I do.

UV's gonna be bad today Chrisisall

He,he no no I don't mind Escape from LA - it was good to see John and Kurt working together again, coz what, they hadn't done anything since Big Trouble... I think. So it was good, just hasn't the impact of New York for y'know the darker overtones of that one.

But definitely some choice moments in it. Peter Fonda in particular made me laugh :D

The
Somnambulist

www.cirqus.com

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Friday, June 2, 2006 1:58 PM

J6NGO1977

'Big Trouble in Little China'is great comedy, 'Halloween' and 'The Thing' are great horror, 'Escape from New York' is great Sci-Fi. All these films have that 'anti hollywood' feel. As mentioned earlier, Carpenter has a unique feel to his films. He draws you into a small claustraphobic space. He never has 'nice endings'. His endings always make me feel 'yeh that's what I would do' :)

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Saturday, July 1, 2006 4:59 PM

MONKEYTAIL

Vampires is freakin' great.

- Judge for yourself its believability, and then try to tell yourself, wherever you may be, it couldn't happen here. - Carl Kolchak

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Sunday, July 2, 2006 3:13 PM

EXODUS

I have only seen one John Carpenter movie that I remember clearly, which was Vampires. I really liked Vampires to the extent that I have a Vampires poster on my wall. It was one of those movies that was extremely underrated due to its mature content and gore. I am also downloading Dark Star as I heard it was a classic Science-Fiction movie (I am not a movie pirate, I just cannot find the DVD anywhere in stores). From what I have heard though, it sounds like John Carpenter is a very talented filmmaker.

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Tuesday, July 4, 2006 12:17 PM

J6NGO1977

I just bought 'The Fog - Special Edition' for a very low budget price.

Exodus I would recommend:

Halloween
The Thing
Escape from New York
Big Trouble in Little China

Watch those first to set you on your way :) Dark Star is a nice little cult sci-fi film with a Beachball :D

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Tuesday, July 4, 2006 4:05 PM

KANEMAN

The THING...the best movie...period

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