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DVD Pick of the week: DAMNATION ALLEY (Shout! Factory)

This sci-fi adventure yarn, boasting a great title, was to be Twentieth Century Fox’s big Christmas release for 1976, but production delays bumped it to summer ’77, where it was promptly usurped by its own studio’s Star Wars.

Following a nuclear holocaust, the Earth is now a desolate, godforsaken wasteland plagued by giant scorpions, killer cockroaches and cheesy rear-projection special effects. A small group of survivors attempts to reach the safe haven of Albany, NY, traveling in a super-charged, futuristic, all-terrain vehicle known as the “Landmaster” (kind of a Winnebago/ Humvee on steroids).

Despite a script by noted scribes Alan Sharp (Night Moves) and Lukas Heller (The Dirty Dozen), this hardly does justice to Roger Zelazny’s novel (the author hated the film) — but there’s no denying it moves. It may be silly but it’s rarely boring, and as always Jerry Goldsmith provides a worthy score… even if the film isn’t quite so worthy.

Among the ensemble cast, Jan-Michael Vincent and George Peppard supply the machismo, Dominique Sanda the glamour, Jackie Earle Haley the teen appeal and Paul Winfield some class, although (alas) he exits the proceedings far too soon. On an audio commentary, producer Paul Maslansky notes that this is one story that ought to be remade. No argument here. Rated PG.

ALSO Available

BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS (Shout! Factory): A 30th anniversary special edition ($19.93 retail DVD, $26.97 retail Blu-ray) of executive producer Roger Corman’s 1980 answer to Star Wars, an inter-stellar variation on Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven, as penned by John Sayles. The cast includes Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon, Darlanne Fluegel, Morgan Woodward, Sybil Danning, Jeff Corey, Julia Duffy and Sam Jaffe, with a score by future Oscar winner James Horner and art direction by future Oscar winner James Cameron. Rated PG.

CROSS (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment): A miscast Brian Austin Green toplines writer/ producer/director Patrick Durham’s smirky big-screen comic book as a team of heroes in Los Angeles attempts to foil a plot to destroy the world. A few bright moments but too smug and frenetic to really work. A wasted cast includes Tom Sizemore, Michael Clarke Duncan, Lori Heuring, Vinnie Jones, Jake Busey, C. Thomas Howell, Robert Carradine, Samantha Mumba, William Zakba and the inescapable Danny Trejo. Rated R.

news « the beige channel

November

-Jon Nelson, of Some Assembly Required , has just released a fantastic compilation CD of 50 tracks, each of which use at least 50% recycled audio (sounds found in the broadcast media).  Each track is 50 seconds, hence the title of the collection 50/50, available to order here .  I’m happy to say, my track is #30, “Lifetime Pop Head,” which mashes up samples from Kylie’s, “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head,” along with “Once in a Lifetime,” by Talking Heads, and the complete audio of an EZPop popcorn TV commercial from some time in the 1950′s.  I think my piece rocks, but the whole comp is hilarious, very creative, and well worth your attention.

october

-I’m fully immersed in my new project, Evening In Paris.  Being me, things aren’t quite what they seem.  The title refers not to the locale, but to the scent created in the 1930′s, which remained popular through the 1950′s.  I thought this would be a long term project, but I am already working on 10 tracks simultaneously, trying to put them into a cohesive collection.  It’s all about beauty, nostalgia, memory, mood, and the 1950′s;  the usual stuff.  Most of the tracks are titled after vintage perfumes.  I’m attempting to capture that overwhelming flood of associations one experiences when catching the aroma of a scent not detected in decades.  It’s very Proustian.  None of this may be evident at all in the listening experience, but that’s the background behind the inspiration.

Here’s an example, Tweed #4  (the name of a cologne created for Cary Grant):

january

-This year’s new project is tentatively being called Caramel Snow.  It’s a Pop/Rock project that will function as a break and temporary diversion from my soundart/phonography work.

I’ve never been a songwriter in the conventional sense of the term, but I’m finally in the mood to give it a whirl.  Usable lyrics have always evaded me, so I’ve decided to set Spam email to music.  Spam email is by now a cultural universal that anyone online can relate to.  Plus it’s so well written.  Musically, I’m going to pay homage to, emulate, and parody, my favorite British shoegaze bands of the late 80′s early 90′s, such as Cocteau Twins, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, and Slowdive, as well as the contemporary Swedish variety of the genre, like The Radio Dept., and The Bridal Shop. I’m ambitiously aiming for a set of 6 songs.  If it all turns out well, I will probably move on, and set Remembrance of Things Past to Power Pop.  (I’m half serious.

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