ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW - Review By Greg Klymkiw - Original low-budget Horror-Fantasy Cult Film a real trip.

There are things that happen in WALT DISNEY WORLD
that you don't want to know about, but you MUST!

At WALT DISNEY WORLD,
eating Emu Masquerading as Turkey
offers unexpected opportunities.

Escape From Tomorrow (2013) ****
Dir. Randy Moore
Starring: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Jack Dalton,
Alison Lees-Taylor, Stass Klassen,
Danielle Safady, Annet Mahendru

Review By Greg Klymkiw

Much as I am wont to complain about contemporary movies, I still tend to see a fair number of good and even great pictures. A more rare event is discovering work that's unlike anything I've ever seen, or at the very least is imbued with such originality that I can safely remove my Mr. Grumpy Hat in homage to a picture that restores my faith in cinema.

Randy Moore's debut feature Escape From Tomorrow did just that. Made for well under a million smackers, this is a movie that shocked, awed, tantalized, disturbed and delighted me to no end.

I recently caught up with it on DVD, this being about a year and a half after its world premiere at Sundance. Knowing only about the movie's festival pedigree and that it had something to do with Walt Disney I was afforded my preferred semi-virginal mode of seeing movies. This is just the sort of unfurling that joyously allowed me a most revelatory experience of discovery.

As an extraordinarily creepy and absurdly funny head trip, shot secretly on location at both Disney Parks, it did indeed hold its own with any number of my favourite cult films like El Topo, Pink Flamingos, Eraserhead, Liquid Sky, Mixed Blood, Pi, Primer, God Bless America and American Mary. Indeed the picture certainly works on a purely experiential level. One can just sit back and let it all happen, with or without hallucinogenic stimulants.

On a deeper level, this avant-garde nightmare vision of a trip to Walt Disney World gone seriously wrong is a fascinating and disquieting exploration of the new America, providing a slice of the external and internal life of a consumerism-happy upper middle class family on the brink of crisis and ultimately, plunging free-fall into the chasm of loss and deep despair.

On yet another level altogether, the movie delivers a wrenching portrait of Jim White (Roy Abramsohn) a late-thirty-early-forty-something corporate executive's spiritual death during the last day of a vacation in the famed resort with his wife (Elena Schuber) and kids (Jack Dalton, Alison Lees-Taylor) after getting the unexpected news that he's been fired. Needless to say, this is a shocker and he keeps the news to himself as he and his dependents sally forth into the maw of the wonderful world of Disney.

We already know something is amiss as the family boards the above-ground rail transport from their resort hotel to the park when Jim notices a pair of gorgeous frolicking teenage girls from Paris (Danielle Safady, Annet Mahendru). His gaze is clearly inappropriate and he still has enough of his marbles to try and keep his attraction to the Gallic missies all to his lonesome.

Once at the park, though, the jabbering nubile lassies appear to be everywhere.

After Jim and his family enjoy a few activities together, it's decided to split up for awhile in order to make the most of this final day of the Disney experience. Mother and Daughter go off on their own while Father and Son are left to their own devices - namely, a ludicrously long wait at the Buzz Lightyear ride. Time halts as they move an inch or two towards the seemingly unreachable ride and during this hour, the ladies go on ride after ride while Father and Son eventually get to the head of the line only to be told that Buzz Lightyear is being shut down for the day due to maintenance issues.

Eventually Mom and Dad hook up to switch their spawn for more fun. Though, Jim's experience with his son has proven to be mostly frustrating, it was indeed dappled with more than a few mild forays into surrealism. Now that he's with his daughter, though, his point of view becomes more skewed than ever. The movie begins spiralling into sheer insanity as he encounters a weird, horny single mother (Alison Lees-Taylor) who begins her seduction by noting that the turkey leg he's gobbling is actually an emu leg. Later on, Jim may or may not have had sex with the woman while his daughter and Horny Mama's child sleep in another room. He also discovers that a prostitution ring exists on the premises involving Disney Princess Hostesses servicing Japanese businessmen. Most terrifyingly, Jim's hallucinations result in losing sight of his daughter.

The day seems to never end and if any of this sounds vaguely perverse, you ain't, in the immortal words of BTO, seen nothin' yet. You see, you, along with our protagonist will have not yet met with the mysterious Scientist de la Disney (Stass Klassen) who performs rather unpleasant experiments upon Jim within the Epcot Centre, nor will you experience the horrendous, yet equally magical transformation of the Horny Mama into the wicked witch sharing a poison apple with Daddy dearest's little girl and certainly, amongst an infinitesimal array of surreal twists and turns within a Floridian Disney park merging seamlessly with the Californian park you'll you'll have not been barraged with the truly terrifying rides aplenty, especially the malevolent (YES! MALEVOLENT!) "It's a Small World" ride merging with positively demonic transmogrifications of all that is seemingly good and lest we forget, those damned pesky Tinkerbell-like teenage sexpots from Gay Par-ee.

And then, under a night sky emblazoned by the most staggering display of fireworks, there will be the literally gut-wrenching effects of a feline flu raging throughout Disney's wonderful world, though more likely in Jim's Disney-fied diseased mind, driving Dad to the Holy Disney shrine to privacy, the all-devouring Throne of Uncle Walt, a Holy Disney Porcelain Receptacle waiting for all manner of vile, putrid expulsions of faecal poison and viscous globs needing to be expunged with undue levels of pain and hardship.

And, of course, there are those goddamned hairballs.

Indeed, I defy you to recall a motion picture in recent memory of such swirling audacity and wading neck-deep amidst the outright horror of a world crushed under the weight of that benevolent moustachioed gentleman who grew up on a farm in Marceline, Missouri which sprouted the mind and imagination which eventually captured the fancy and drained the pocketbooks of the whole world, the one, the only, Walter Elias Disney.

Escape from Tomorrow is not unlike gazing directly into the ghastly monochromatic truths revealed by the atrociously repellent, yet interminably revelatory mirror, mirror. You know, the mirror, mirror on the wall.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Escape from Tomorrow is a FilmsWeLike release and available on Blu-Ray and DVD via Amazon and at all fine video retailers. Feel free to purchase the film directly from the links below and thus contribute to the ongoing maintenance of The Film Corner.

THE QATSI TRILOGY (KOYAANISQATSI, POWAQQATSI, NAQOYQATSI) - BLU-RAY REVIEW By Greg Klymkiw - The Criterion Collection Keeps On Outdoing Themselves With Every New Blu-Ray Release. Just apply for another line of credit. What the hell, eh? There's only a major financial crisis on and during the Great Depression, everyone sought solace in the movies. Why not now? So sit back, fire up a doobie and relax.

The Qatsi Trilogy (Criterion Collection Blu-Ray Box Set)
dir. Godfrey Reggio (2013 - BRD Release) *****
Koyaanisqatsi (1982) dir. Godfrey Reggio ****
Powaqqatsi (1988) dir. Godfrey Reggio ***
Naqoyqatsi (2002) dir. Godfrey Reggio **

Review By Greg Klymkiw

Turn out the lights. Close the curtains. Mute your phones. Relieve yourself of all waste matter. Sit. Fire up a mega-doobie. Sit.

Do not move for 274 minutes except to change discs, fire up more doobies, address munchie/thirst-concerns and/or (if you must) relieve yourself of any additional waste matter that builds up. Given the themes of the films in question, you must engage in all the aforementioned activities in a completely off-grid environment (including waste relief in a compost toilet).

Everybody loves a good "head" film. Since the 1960s, eager youthful audiences always sought out movies that could be appreciated under the influence of marijuana and/or hash. LSD was not always recommended, but some braved this type of motion picture experience with mega-doses of acid anyway. Different strokes. IT'S. ALL. COOL. BY. ME. MAN. Some of the bigger "head" films (intended as such or not) include 2001: A Space Odyssey, El Topo, Holy Mountain, Liquid Sky, Eraserhead and the grandaddy laugh riot head film (about "heads") of them all, Louis Gasnier's masterpiece Reefer Madness.

In spite of the considerable virtues of the aforementioned, Director Godfrey Reggio delivered the ultimate cinematic "head" experience of all time - stoner celluloid of the highest order - and not just one movie, but an entire trilogy of cinemalis cannabisus sexualis.

Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi might well be the best mind bending movie trips for drug addicts ever made. I'm not certain is Mr. Reggio would agree with my assessment, but what I'm especially certain about is that there isn't a single spell-check program in the known universe that's going to give even a smidgen of help with these titles. (If spell-check in Hopi exists, please illuminate me.)

What you're going to get from these movies is absolutely no plot, though in their own psychedelic mind-fuck-eye-candy fashion, they tell a story - the story of man and his relationship to the natural world, or in other words, a beautiful world that man is fucking up with his increasing reliance upon technology which, in turn, creates waste that destroys all that is natural.

Each film is comprised of seemingly unrelated images, but they are all indeed connected, gorgeously shot and accompanied by music written by Philip Glass, everyone's musical go-to boy for hypnotic, repetitive, New Age-styled beats. The third in the trilogy even has cello solos by the incomparable Yo Yo Ma. Get 'yer dancin' clogs on.

Reggio's first stab at this avant-garde exploration of man and nature is without question the best of the lot. Koyaanisqatsi is the clearest of all three in terms of stunningly reflecting the translation of the title, which is: "Life Out of Balance". Seeing one gorgeous piece of natural beauty after another in an America mediated through optical manipulations, stop motion effects, experimental use of stock, lighting and filters, then accompanied by haunting images of technology wreaking environmental havoc, this is a work that is as profoundly important as it is a perfectly fashioned bauble of big sledge hammer activist cinema.

Every element of the picture works like clockwork and yields powerful, imaginative images that are expertly captured by cinematographer Ron Fricke (who would go on to direct his own similarly-styled head films, Baraka and the recent Samsara). Though Reggio's touch is decidedly lacking in any subtlety, the message is an important one and profoundly clear. Even more astounding is that the movie was initially released theatrically by a major studio, generated fabulous box office and continued to amass grosses in repertory, non-theatrical markets and eventually home video. The Philip Glass score here is also first-rate - perfectly in balance with the themes and images and a sure addition to the overall experience for those many who choose to partake in the film under the influence of hallucinogens of their choice.

Powaqqatsi feels like more of the same, even though we're clearly into new territory. The rendering of images that follow adhere to the English translation of the title from Hopi into English as "Life in Transformation". Here, Reggio leaves America behind and shoots in a variety of third world countries. The focus is upon mostly images of man engaged in work - hard, physical labour against the backdrop of the natural world. Cinematographer Ron Fricke abandoned his post and moved on to directing Baraka and though the movie has more aural Clarence Carter-like "strokin'" from Philip Glass, the movie is not without merit, but loses a fair bit of the punch Reggio's first outing had.

Naqoyqatsi definitely has its fans, but I'm not really one of them. The title translated from Hopi to English means "Life as War" and here, Reggio dabbles in the idea of a complete lack of personal communication in a digital age, coupled with violence mediated through even more impersonal technological means. All of this is presented within the super-obvious context of The Tower of Babel. We get Philip Glass, Yo Yo Ma cello strokin' and tons o' digital imagery, but the movie sadly feels dated compared to the "old-fashioned" Koyaanisqatsi which successfully managed to remain vital and ahead of its time in spite of the fact that it's over 30 years old.

All in all, this is a truly worthwhile purchase - especially on Blu-Ray. Criterion provides Reggio-approved HD transfers, first-rate sound and a treasure trove of extra features that enhance the viewing experience of all three films.

And, I should also clarify that the trilogy, while a stoner experience of the first order, can be equally appreciated by those who remain straight. Much of it is mind-blowingly mind-fucking without mind-altering substances.

The Qatsi Trilogy is available on Blu-Ray and DVD from the Criterion Collection.

BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW Cool Canadian Cult Picture on Blu-Ray from Mongrel Media - Reviewed By Greg Klymkiw

WOW! Need a cool movie? Here it is!!!  Need a fix of a truly creepy science fiction cult item? Got a few fat  doobies to suck back? Good. This rip-snorting Canuckian head film from Panos Cosmatos was criminally neglected upon its theatrical release, but now, thanks to Mongrel Media, you can BLOW YOUR FUCKING MIND on Blu-Ray since movie theatres don't let you toke up in them anymore anyway.

Beyond The Black Rainbow (2012) ***1/2

dir. Panos Cosmatos

Starring: Michael Rogers, Eva Allan, Scott Hylands, Rondelle Reynoldson, Marilyn Norry

Review By Greg Klymkiw

"Cornelius Agrippa! My dear Victor, do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash." If, instead of this remark, my father had taken the pains to explain to me that the principles of Agrippa had been entirely exploded, and that a modern system of science had been introduced, which possessed much greater powers than the ancient, because the powers of the latter were chimerical, while those of the former were real and practical; under such circumstances, I should certainly have thrown Agrippa aside, and have contented my imagination, warmed as it was, by returning with greater ardour to my former studies. It is even possible that the train of my ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin." -- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

In 1983 the world's foremost scientists tirelessly collaborated with naturopathic healers, forging new and exciting psychiatric pathways. These iconoclasts of mind expansion, secured under a massive glass dome within a secluded arboretum just outside Vancouver, aimed their sights upon, in a word: "happiness".

A short corporate film that opens Beyond The Black Rainbow, was commissioned during this era by the Arboria Institute. Like any good piece of hucksterism, it teases and pleases with the goals and discoveries of its sponsor.

Between images of bucolic splendour, positive on-screen intonations from the corporation's chief scientist and select glimpses of behind-the-scenes activities, a series of tantalizing taglines flash by and include such come-hither gems as:

"A state of mind, a way of being."

"A practical application of an abstract idea."

"Born in a dream to create reality."

"A different way to think. A new way to live. A perfect way to believe."

"A new, better, happier YOU!"

Alas, for young Dr. Barry Nyle (Michael Rogers), a steadfast belief in his mentor Dr. Mercurio Arboria (Scott Hylands) is not unlike that of young Victor Frankenstein's belief in the dangerous alchemical theories of Cornelius Agrippa.

Playing God is not without intermittent highs, but like crack cocaine, the heights of ecstasy lead to dangerous lows. Such dabblings often lead to the loss of all that is dear. Barry learns the hard way when he implements his soul-damning dabbling upon his beautiful daughter Elena (Eva Allan).

Beyond The Black Rainbow features one of the most thrilling debuts in years. Panos Cosmatos, who both wrote and directed this supremely enjoyable first-feature (including the brilliant aforementioned film within the film), is the son of the late and grossly underrated director of Massacre in Rome (a heartbreaking tragedy of WWII with Richard Burton and Marcello Mastroianni), Tombstone (featuring one of the best Doc Hollidays in moviedom, played by Val Kilmer) and Cobra (with Sylvester Stallone's best line of dialogue ever - "Crime is the disease. I'm the cure.").

Though perhaps unfair to the younger Cosmatos, one can't help but think a chip or two of flair and proficiency off the old block managed to find its way into his DNA. That said, the elder Cosmatos, a slam-bang commercially-minded director with considerable panache would never have made a movie as utterly insane as his son has. (Though, in its own perverse fashion, Rambo: First Blood II, occasionally verges on Ecstasy-infused Buñuelian surrealism.)

There's no two ways about it: Beyond The Black Rainbow is a 70s/80s-style "head" film that has "cult" emblazoned upon its celluloid forehead. In fact when I ran a repertory cinema during the same time period the movie harkens back to, it's EXACTLY the sort of picture I'd have been thrilled to get behind and try to generate a cult-friendly theatrical exhibition atmosphere to shoot it up into the midnight movie stratosphere of such "wacky-tobacky" hits as Eraserhead, Pink Flamingos and El Topo. (Sadly, in these days of theatrical, there are fewer venues for a picture like this to succeed and it will likely find its most appreciative audience in the home entertainment arena.)

Gorgeously shot by Norm Li, vigorously edited by Nicholas T. Shepard and blessed with a cool score/soundscape as well as an imaginative production design, the movie is replete with a delicious combination of creepy psychiatric experimentation sequences, dollops of shockingly grotesque bloodletting and several dreamscape montages that are pretty trippy all by their lonesome. If truth be told, the movie can work quite nicely without added stimulants, but far be it from me to deter anyone from enjoying the movie with a massive ingestion of some fine west coast weed.

The pace of the film is slow, but seldom sluggish. Its creepy-crawly tempo alternates between ominous and repellent, yet it's almost always compelling. That said, the movie really does feel about 10-15 minutes too long. Cosmatos and his team have an abundance of cool shit in the movie and I can only imagine how hard it must have been to let any of it go.

From a plot standpoint, things are relatively slender save for the vaguely Frankenstein-ian elements, but one slightly confusing shred of story that could have used some pruning involves Rosemary (Marilyn Norry) an odd-duck second (I think) wife to Barry (or perhaps she's his first and only wife and the gorgeous woman who resembles his daughter in the dream/flashbacks is a result of the Arborian mind control methods gone wrong). However, pruning this character would have resulted in losing an absolutely hilarious (and creepy) deadpan exchange between the clearly disconnected husband and wife.

Besides, confusion is okay. It's a bloody head film with cult appeal, for Christ's sake. If someone is into the picture, they might, if they're even so inclined, figure it out on repeated viewings.

So, what else could have been cut?

There's one elongated trip sequence - mostly in black and white - that probably could have been sliced and diced, but then the movie would be bereft of one of the most insanely overlong trip sequences in recent memory.

Damn! Even I don't want to lose anything.

The movie also has a few elements that resemble, uh, ideas. Thankfully, they're not too offensively obvious and/or obtuse and/or "film-school-ish". In fact, they're frankly, way less ludicrous than Ridley Scott's half-baked philosophical meanderings in Prometheus and one of them is actually kind of cool. Given the early 80s setting, we're blessed with some brief nods to the Panamanian military leader Noriega and Rompin' Ronnie Reagan. This ties in with the 80s Cold War insanity quite nicely. It's also a cool nod to the work of Cosmatos's Dad during this period.

Most engagingly, these touches of Reagan-era nuttiness play perfectly with the whole survivalist mentality prevalent back then (and creeping back even now). At one point, Barry refuses to let Elena see her father. "The world is in chaos and we live in times of great uncertainty and danger," Barry warns in a ruthlessly icy monotone.

Speaking of monotones, I loved all the straight-up performances in the film. Nothing is played for cheesy tongue-in-cheek effect and even the magnificent Scott Hylands, in the role of the Cornelius Agrippa-like founder-mentor, could have easily torn the scenery to shreds, but instead offers up something quite chilling and understated. And I loved Rondelle Reynoldson as a perfectly foul nurse. Conjuring up bad memories of Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Cosmatos also gives the character a well-earned and deliciously disgusting demise.

For me, I got way more bang for my buck out of this modestly budgeted SF whacko-fest than Sir Ridley's plodding mess. I suspect, I might not be alone in this, but like most cult items, it might take some shelf life for the devotion it deserves to discover it.

So settle back, folks.

Fire up a fat doobie and enjoy!

"Beyond The Black Rainbow" is available on Blu-Ray and DVD via Mongrel Media. Shot on FILM an stunningly manipulated in post, the movie is really a treat on Blu-Ray. I haven't seen the DVD, but I suspect it looks fine also. This, however, is a movie that DEMANDS a healthy bevy of special features. It would have been great to see the corporate films on their own (and possibly in expanded versions if they existed). Storyboards and/or a gallery of original design drawings would have been amazing. A featurette or two on the music, soundscape and special effects would have been more than welcome. I'd have really enjoyed interviews with some of the cast. I normally hate that kind of thing, but given the trippy nature of the film, hearing what the on-camera talent might have had to say would have rocked bigtime. Hmm, and how about a featurette with Panos Cosmatos talking about having a Dad (George Pan Cosmatos) who made some extremely cool movies? Hearing Cosmatos reminiscing about Life With Father and discussing the movies his Dad made would have been a wet-dream for movie geeks. And finally, where, oh where, is a commentary track from Cosmatos? Hearing him talk about the movie as it unspooled would have been terrific. Sadly, none of these things exist. All that's included is ONE special effect outtake and a (very good) trailer. That's it? Okay, maybe a movie like this just can't work theatrically in a contemporary context (that, alas, is everyone's loss), but this had all the potential to be one of the most rocking home entertainment releases of the year. As it stands, the movie is cool enough and its high-def look is so first rate, that cult movie fans are still urged to pick this up. Hell, I've seen it on Wal-Mart movie racks. So get thee to a Wal-Mart or order it online from Amazon.