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Critics Club 48: Carpenter

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    #16
    People will often stomach the truth when presented as entertainment.

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      #17
      I always wondered what truths were hidden from the guys he sees through his gigs.

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        #18

        (https://jnkboy.deviantart.com/)

        I also re-watched They Live this weekend, but with the DVD with commentary track on where Roddy Piper and John Carpenter enthuse over each other and the film.
        Highlights of the commentary can be found here:
        Starting after his 1974 post-graduate film, Dark Star, John Carpenter had an unprecedented streak of highly entertaining to flat-out classic films ‐ Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, The Fog, Escape From New York, The Thing, Christine, Starman, Big Trouble In Little China, Prince of Darkness, They Live and (after a studio misstep involving Chevy Chase) […]


        The story is based on a novella by Ray Nelso, which you can read here:

        It's not very long and is good fun.

        Before They Live, the story was made into a comic called "Nada", which is where Piper's character got his name from (meaning "Nothing" in Spanish). You can read the comic here:




        The "Chew Bubblegum" line came from a notebook of lines that Piper thought up for wrestling matches. Carpenter read the notebook and that one jumped out at him, so it was scripted, but all Piper's work.

        Three things that work really well for me in this is Piper - he's a great everyman down on his luck, the premise and the slow boil to get there. Some films would have a massive shootout or opening sequence, but we get Piper traipsing around looking for work, to the plodding restrains of Carpenter and Alan Howarth's Bluesy score.

        Although the film is an excellent genre film that has stood the test of time, it's disappointing that its themes of the the rich controlling the poor still seem prevalent all these decades later.


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          #19
          Just booked tickets to go see the brand new 4k restoration of Escape From New York next week. Cant wait to see it on the big screen

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