[ indistinct chatter ]

In the last episode, I drove down Main Street, Modesto for a look at what George Lucas was doing in 1971, namely, putting together 'American Graffiti' and listening to Francis Ford Coppola's over-extended dream of a filmmaking commune located in San Francisco. But what was Steven Spielberg doing then? He was a 24-year-old college dropout who'd signed a 7-year contract to direct television episodes for Sid Sheinberg at Universal for $275 a week.  Cycling through 'Night Gallery' and 'Marcus Welby, MD' and other series, Spielberg was next handed what he called the single best script he'd yet seen: the premiere episode of the first season of 'Columbo'. Written by another tyro, Stephen Bochco, and executive produced by Columbo creators Link & Levinson, the script let Spielberg shoot TV like a feature...albeit on a budget of $135,000 with only ten shoot days.  This is the story of that episode, and what it tells us about Spielberg's soon-to-launch feature-directing career.

"It's because of the fact that (Star Wars and American Graffiti are) fresh and they're different and they're experimental that I think people like to watch them. Now the whole industry sort of moves in that direction and they become the standard, but people forget that at the time those movies were made, especially American Graffiti, it was a very avant-garde movie."
-George Lucas
Revisiting American Graffiti with full appreciation for the ways in which this film is absolutely an avant-garde masterpiece of the New Hollywood era.  It's technical innovations are seamless, allowing the humor and character journeys to progress with a kind of magical stealth. When we peek under the hood, it's all the more amazing how truly groundbreaking this film was. And worthwhile to consider how ironic it is that Star Wars would soon come to define George Lucas much in the way that the John Milner character was defined by the expectations of others in American Graffiti.
Jeff Burger's  spot-on 1973 review of American Graffiti.
AFI Catalog on the film.
Mackenzie Phillips on making the film as 12-year-old.

For a special Halloween treat (or trick...) I decided to put my Sequel Hatred to the test. Having never seen Halloween III let alone Halloween II, I noticed that the 3rd film does NOT feature Michael Meyers or have anything whatsoever to do with the first film.  Sounds right up my alley!  This is what I have wished for when doing sequels on the pod many times.  So...how did I feel after watching the film? You'll find out in real time bc I recorded myself watching the film, so you'll get to hear from whence I started to where I ended up. Any guesses??
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Once more into the breach!
Daring myself to test my theory that 99.9% of sequels not named The Godfather, Part II suck...I watched F13 2. 
Was my theory proven correct?  It doesn't take more than a one-eyed baghead Jason to know that this Jason was onto something.
Thankfully, 'Crystal Lake' dares to take the IP in new directions, albeit with an excess of fan service overly familiar to anyone who's seen even one F13 film. 
 
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Would you believe I've never actually seen Friday The 13th before?  I surprised even myself with this realization.  Since the Peacock prequel series Crystal Lake has become the highest-rated F13 spinoff in the franchise's history, and is omnipresent on social media in a blanket marketing campaign rivaling Crystal Lake in size and depth...I decided to wade in tentatively.  
What emerged was a nuanced appreciation for the film's deft stitching-together of the horror and film tropes that inspired it, and a confused awareness that Pamela Vorhees, and not Jason, is the real star of the film. 
I enjoyed this film more than I thought I would, even as it causes me to question everything I thought I knew about myself.  Send help!
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