AUTOMATONS
is coming to Chicago, Illinois:
The
Facets Cinémathèque
1517 W. Fullerton Ave.
Fridays, Jan. 19 & 26 at 11 pm
Saturdays, Jan. 20 & 27 at 9 & 11 pm
Saturday,
Feb. 3 at 11 pm
"...the
movie’s loving attention to light and shade transcends
its hermetic setting and meager budget. At times the buzzing
static and fizzy backlighting recall the glistening surrealism
of the filmmaker Guy Maddin... enormously endearing"
-- Jeannette Catsoulis, NEW
YORK TIMES
"Automatons is what happens when Eraserhead and Tetsuo
the Iron Man bong themselves into oblivion and collaborate on
a minimalist avant-garde sci-fi cheapie shot in a toolshed...
Robot radness achieved! Budgets are for bitches."
-- Nathan Lee, VILLAGE
VOICE
"It's
not a film of compromise but of sheer determination, refusing
to be defined by its budget and liberated by a decision to overcome
its bank account with sheer imagination."
-- S. James Snyder, NEW
YORK SUN
"Ed Wood, the notorious director of Plan 9 From Outer
Space and Glen or Glenda, has risen from the dead and returned
to filmmaking as James Felix McKenney... And I mean that as
a compliment."
-- V.A. Musetto, NEW
YORK POST
AUTOMATONS NYC Screenings & Events Schedule:
| Two
Boots Pioneer Theater
155 East 3rd Street, NYC
Between
Aves A & B (closer to A)
New
shows added!
December 13 - 29, 9:00 pm
(no shows on the 25th & 27th)
& special early show:
Dec
31, 5:00 pm
And even more in 2007:
January
5 at 10:40 pm
&
January 19 at 11:00 pm
buy
tix
Guests
and Special Nights:
all showings are at 9:00 pm. |
|
| Wed,
Dec 13, 9pm |
Opening
Night with robots, crew
and cast, including horror icon Angus
Scrimm! Buy
your tickets early!
|
| Thurs,
Dec 14, 9pm |
Another
rare East Coast appearance by Angus
Scrimm, along with director James
Felix McKenney. Buy
your tickets early!
|
| Fri,
Dec 15, 9pm |
Introduction
with Angus
Scrimm (his last night with us) and director James
Felix McKenney. Buy
your tickets early! Angus will be unavailable
for post-show Q&A, as
he will be in the Sirus radio studios for his interview
on Fangoria
Radio at 10:30! Tune in!
|
| Sat.
Dec 16, 9pm |
Hosted
by director James
Felix McKenney and actor Don
Wood, who plays both robot and human in the film!
Free AUTOMATONS
refrigerator magnets to all attendees!
|
| Sun,
Dec 17, 9pm |
Hosted
by Executive Producer Larry
Fessenden.
Free AUTOMATONS Movie Posters!
|
| Mon,
Dec 18, 9pm |
Free
AUTOMATONS refrigerator
magnets to all ticket buyers! Ask for yours at the
ticket counter.
|
| Tue,
Dec 19, 9pm |
All
attendees get a very limited edition AUTOMATONS
Squeeze Toy! Ask for it at the ticket counter!
|
| Wed,
Dec 20, 9pm |
Free
AUTOMATONS refrigerator
magnets!
Night hosted by stars Christine
Spencer, Brenda
Cooney & Don
Wood.
|
| Thur,
Dec 21, 9pm |
Hosted
by Jack-of-all trades, Don
Wood (co-set & prop designer & builder, set
carpenter AND he plays both The Helper Robot and The Enemy
Captain in the film!) and Cinematographer David
W. Hale.
Free AUTOMATONS
refrigerator magnets!
|
| Fri,
Dec 22, 9pm |
Free
AUTOMATONS refrigerator
magnets!
|
| Sat,
Dec 23, 9pm |
Free
AUTOMATONS refrigerator
magnets!
|
| Sun,
Dec 24, 9pm |
Happy
Holidays! Come see the movie and get your gifts! Free
AUTOMATONS refrigerator
magnets, movie Posters and Squeeze
Toys! While supplies last!
|
| Mon,
Dec 25 |
Christmas
Day. No showing of AUTOMATONS.
|
| Tue,
Dec 26, 9pm |
Holiday
leftovers! Free AUTOMATONS
refrigerator magnets, movie Posters and Squeeze
Toys! While supplies last!
|
| Wed,
Dec 27 |
No
showing of AUTOMATONS.
|
| Thur,
Dec 28, 9pm |
Extra
day just added!
|
| Fri,
Dec 29, 9pm |
Extra
day just added!
|
| Sat,
Dec 31, 5pm |
Just
added! Screening at 5:00 pm!
|
| Fri,
Jan
5, 10:40pm
|
Just
added! Screening at 10:40
pm!
|
| Fri,
Jan 19, 11pm |
Just
added! Screening at 11:00 pm!
|
We are all
strongly advised to buy tickets in advance, particularly for
the nights when Angus will be there. You can do so at the address
below:
http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer/automatons.htm
More details
to come throughout the film's run!
"a
chiaroscuro love child of Eraserhead and Team America: World
Police ... Automatons fuses surging political critiques to experimental
sci-fi in a gritty, grainy 8mm black-and-white that plants viewers
squarely in its heroine's nightmare."
-- S.T. VanAirsdale, THE REELER
"It’s
sci-fi existentialism at its rawest—a kind of WAITING
FOR ROBOT, if Samuel Beckett’s tale had involved warring
machinery... the best Super-8 home movie made by a 12-year-old
boy in the body of an adult that I’ve seen in a very long
time."
-- Scooter McCrae, FANGORIA
"The
beautiful indie sci-fi film AUTOMATONS is a troubling vision
of things to come. Enough to make you think, worry and pray."
-- Louis Fowler, ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHRONICLE
"AUTOMATONS does what all good
sci fi stories should."
-- Adam Barnick, ENTERTAINMENT INSIDERS
"The robot action is often much
more riveting than similar scenes in movies with many times
the budget and technical sophistication."
-- Jay Seaver, UGO.COM
"AUTOMATONS
is a smart, thought-provoking tale equipped with the moody ambiance
and intellectual integrity of a classic episode of THE OUTER
LIMITS. That's high praise indeed."
-- Steven Puchalski, SHOCK CINEMA
deathtotheautomatons.com
Monday,
November 27: Four Stars!!!!
Thanks
Jack!
|
"Automatons
is a wonderfully made, socially conscious low budget
film and I cannot recommend it enough."
That's
what Horror Pimp Brian Harris said in his review
of Automatons
(2006) at JoeHorror.com.
He
also said this:
"...this is one of the
“must see” films you always hear about but
never take the time to actually check out. Folks, check
it out. Automatons is politically charged; a provocative
and compelling Sci-Fi Thriller."
Read the whole review here!
|
Friday, November 17: MonsterPants Pride
Here's
a photo sent to me of Monsterpants consigliere RK wearing
the Halloween mask he made all on his own, with absolutely
no prompting from me. I am honored. (Note the zombie-brown
pullover too)
|
|
Thursday,
November 9: Turkey, Robots and Santa
There's
a lot going on around here for the rest of the year, so I'm
jamming November and December together, as it all flies by so
quickly. I'm moving into a new house, so that's going to be
taking up a lot of my time. Then, of course, there's the Automatons
(2006) New York theatrical
run, which is going to be full of special surprises.
Running
from December 13-26 at Two
Boots Pioneer Theater (no show on X-mas day!), we'll be
doing something extra special each night the show is running,
including appearances from the cast & crew, free giveaway
treats and visits from some of the film's robotic stars. I'll
post a schedule here as we move closer to show time. Horror
icon Angus
Scrimm will be appearing at the first three nights of the
run, so buy
your tickets now and come meet the Tall Man!
It
being the holiday season, I have decided to present you with
an extra special treat -- six movie recommendations instead
of the usual five. This is mainly because one of them is a film
I already recommended back in April
2005. Truth is, spring time was the wrong time to talk about
Blood
Freak (1972), as it is one of the very (very) few
Christian turkey-monster movies out there and is really required
viewing for the Thanksgiving season. The incredible DVD
release from Something
Weird Video is loaded with extras including the short subjects
"Turkeys in the Wild" and "A Day of Thanksgiving".
I
haven't seen many films from Macedonia, but I doubt that Goodbye,
20th Century (1998) is a typical example of that
country's cinema. This is a bizarre three-act film, showing
the before and after of the fall of civilization. The first
act is sort of a post-apocalyptic El
T opo (1970) meets Batman:
Dead End (2003), if you can imagine that.
The
second act is only a few minutes long and in the form of some
mock found footage from the early 20th century. The final part
of the film is even more Bizarre than the first, taking place
on New Year's Eve 1999. A gun-toting man in a Santa Clause suit
returns home to his apartment to find a group of lunatics holding
a funeral there. Then things get ugly...
What
do Christmas, Nazis and Grizzly
Adams have in common? Well, other than the obvious, they
are all primary elements in Elves
(1990).
Convicted cokehead Dan
Haggerty stars as a chain-smoking department store Santa
who has to save a teenaged girl from the clutches of an evil
little elf, brought to life by aged Nazis. The movie has everything
one would want from a Christmas feature: drug abuse, foulmouthed
children, animal cruelty, incest and of course, murder...
Whoever
Slew Auntie Roo? (1971) finds a crazed Shelly
Winters luring orphans into her home to celebrate Christmas
with her. Little do they know, she's looking for a replacement
for her dead little daughter. There are more than just toys
hidden up in her attic playroom.
The
definitive Santa slasher, Christmas
Evil (1980), previously available on DVD from Troma,
is being released this month in a beautifully restored version
from Synapse
Films. The real bonus on this extras-packed disc is an all-new
audio commentary from the film's biggest fan, John
Waters!
Speaking
of Mr. Waters, no holiday would be complete without a visit
with the family. The Davenport family from Female
Trouble (1974), of course. Gather your parents and
siblings around and watch Dawn shove her mother through the
Christmas tree as she screams, "You're not my parents!
I hate you, I hate this house, and I hate Christmas! "
Ah
yes, reminds me of the holidays of my youth...
