Long-Lost Final Film by Ed Wood Rediscovered
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Considered the worst film maker of all time, Ed Wood won a cult following after his death and now fans can see his long-lost last film "Necromania," a work some say shows he was so bad that he was brilliant.
But it's not for the faint-hearted. The 1971 movie is a porn film documenting the sexual enlightenment of a young couple at the hands of a coven of witches.
The much maligned creator of enduring cult classics such as "Bride of the Monster," Wood was himself the subject of Tim Burton's 1994 biopic, the lead role played by Johnny Depp.
That film shows the making of Wood's most famous film -- "Plan 9 From Outer Space" from 1956 -- in which actors screw up their lines and "special effects" include pie tins for flying saucers.
"Necromania" -- the last film Wood directed -- was filmed over two or three days with a budget of no more than $7,000 and the only copies went missing soon after it was made. The movie tells the story of Danny and Shirley, a young couple who visit the mysterious Madame Heles for help with their flagging sex life. The lessons they are taught involve skulls, spells and sex in a coffin.
Rudolph Grey, author of a biography of the director, and a fellow Ed Wood enthusiast, movie distributor Alexander Kogan, unearthed "Necromania" in a warehouse in Los Angeles after more than 15 years of detective work.
A year ago they contacted the editors of a pornography Web site called Fleshbot, which this week will start selling the DVD by mail order for $19.99.
"I knew of its existence since about 1982 and it intrigued me because it was supposedly one of the last feature movies that Ed Wood did, so naturally I wanted to see it," said Grey.
At one point Grey and Kogan were frustrated to be told the only person who might know the film's whereabouts was in jail -- as a result of a porn bust in Florida.
They waited until he got out and resumed the search, striking gold in 2001.
PURE GENIUS?
"This is something more than just porn," said Fredrik Carlstrom, executive producer of the DVD featuring two versions of the film, one soft core, the other more explicit.
"This is an old film. It's in the '70s, they're hairy, they don't look the way we are used to now," Carlstrom said.
"It has a story, it has ambition ... It's like all his films, like anything that's so bad it becomes good. Or maybe it's pure genius. That's the appeal of Ed Wood."
Struggling to find backers for more mainstream work, Wood turned to smut in the 1960s, making a string of films and "loops" -- short porn flicks shown in coin-operated booths -- up until his death in 1978.
Grey, author of the biography "Nightmare of Ecstasy," said those who dismiss him as naive and talentless are plain wrong.
"These movies seem to exist in another plain of existence where nobody pays any attention to them whatsoever, and that must have been frustrating to Ed Wood," Grey said.
He says "Necromania" displays Wood's wit and style and he points to a scene where the main character Danny is struggling to untangle a pair of red pajama bottoms to put them on.
"The guy's fumbling for about 15 seconds and he's starting to laugh -- the actor, he can't get the pajama bottoms on and he's laughing," Grey says. "He could have cut that out but Ed Wood left that in intentionally. He was having some fun."
Red Sox Win First World Series Since 1918
ST. LOUIS - The Boston Red Sox — yes, the Boston Red Sox! — are World Series champions at long, long last. No more curse and no doubt about it. Ridiculed and reviled through decades of defeat, the Red Sox didn't just beat the St. Louis Cardinals, owners of the best record in baseball, they swept them for their first crown since 1918.
Johnny Damon homered on the fourth pitch of the game, Derek Lowe made it stand up and the Red Sox won 3-0 Wednesday night. Edgar Renteria grounded out for the final out, wrapping up a Series in which the Red Sox never trailed.
Chants of "Let's go, Red Sox!" bounced all around Busch Stadium, with Boston fans as revved-up as they were relieved. Only 10 nights earlier, the Red Sox were just three outs from getting swept by the New York Yankees in the AL championship series before becoming the first team in baseball postseason history to overcome a 3-0 deficit.
It was Boston's sixth championship, but the first after 86 years of frustration and futility, after two world wars, the Great Depression, men on the moon, and the rise and fall of the Soviet Union.
After all that, on a night when the moon went dark in a total eclipse, the Red Sox made it look easy.
Gone was the heartbreak of four Game 7 losses since their last title, a drought — some insist it was a curse — that really began after they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920.
"We wanted to do it so bad for the city of Boston. To win a World Series with this on our chests — it hasn't been done since 1918," Kevin Millar of the Red Sox said. "So rip up those '1918' posters right now."
Damon's leadoff homer off starter Jason Marquis and Trot Nixon's two-out, two-run double on a 3-0 pitch were all that Lowe needed. Having won the first-round clincher against Anaheim in relief and then winning Game 7 at Yankee Stadium, Lowe blanked the Cards on a mere three hits for seven innings.
Relievers Bronson Arroyo and Alan Embree worked the eighth and Keith Foulke finished it off for his first save.
The Red Sox get to raise the World Series banner next April 11 in the home opener at Fenway Park, with the Yankees in town forced to watch.
Boston became the third straight wild-card team to win it, relying on the guts of Curt Schilling and guile of Pedro Martinez. And they took it in the same year they traded away popular shortstop Nomar Garciaparra.
Led by Series MVP Manny Ramirez, Boston got key contributions from almost everyone. Backup outfielder Dave Roberts did not play in the Series, yet it was his stolen base in the ninth inning of Game 4 in the ALCS that began the comeback against Mariano Rivera.
And while second baseman Mark Bellhorn was born in Boston, no one else on the roster came from anywhere near Beantown. And the only homegrown players on the team are Trot Nixon and rookie Kevin Youkilis.
No matter, this win might make all of them as much a part of New England lore as Plymouth Rock and Paul Revere.
Or, as Red Sox owner John Henry said close to gametime: "People tell me this is the biggest thing since the Revolutionary War."
The Boston win also left no doubt which city is now the most jinxed in baseball. It's Chicago — the Cubs last won it all in 1908, the White Sox in 1917.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals team that led the majors with 105 wins never showed up. The timely hitting, solid pitching and sharp baserunning that served them so well all season completely broke down.
Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds, the meat of the order, combined for just one RBI. Rolen got it on a sacrifice fly, and it was little consolation as he went 0-for-15.
Ramirez, put on waivers in the offseason and nearly traded to Texas for Alex Rodriguez, was 7-for-17 (.412) with a homer and four RBIs. The left fielder's biggest contribution came in Game 3, when he bounced back from a couple of errors to throw out a runner at the plate.
Lowe was loose from the start. While the Cardinals took batting practice, he sat alone in the Boston dugout, his hat backward and singing the little ditty, "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands."
Lowe was equally relaxed on the mound. He gave up a leadoff single to Tony Womack, then retired 13 straight batters until Renteria doubled in the fifth. Renteria made it to third on a wild pitch, but Lowe fanned John Mabry — who unsuccessfully argued that he tipped strike three — and got Yadier Molina on a routine grounder.
At that point, the Cardinals were going quietly. About the only noise they made came when Molina, a 21-year-old rookie catcher whose two brothers catch for Anaheim, began yapping at Ramirez when the Boston star came to the plate in the fourth.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona quickly rushed out of the dugout to keep things calm.
Best known before this year for being Michael Jordan's manager in the minors, Francona made plenty of wicked smart moves. Oakland's bench coach in 2003, he took over after Grady Little was fired last fall. Baltimore and the White Sox also interviewed the man who managed Philadelphia to losing seasons from 1997-2000.
And while many Boston fans hollered for him to bench the slumping Damon in the ALCS, Francona stuck with him. Damon hit a grand slam and two-run homer in Game 7.
Facing Marquis, Damon yanked a shot over the right-center field wall and before he could circle the bases, the chants of "Let's go, Red Sox!" began echoing from the upper deck.
Damon became the second Boston player to hit a leadoff homer in the Series. The other? Patsy Dougherty, who did it in 1903 for the Americans — renamed the Red Sox five years later.
A single by Ramirez and double by David Ortiz got the Red Sox ramped up again in the third. Pujols threw out Ramirez at the plate, trying to score on a grounder to first base, and a walk loaded the bases with two outs.
Nixon took three straight balls and Francona gambled, giving his good fastball hitter the green light. That's what Nixon got, and he drilled it off the right-center wall for a 3-0 lead.
Notes:@ Ramirez tied Derek Jeter and Hank Bauer for the longest postseason hitting streak at 17 games. ... Damon hit the 17th leadoff homer in Series history. Jeter (2000) was the last to do it. ... This was Jim Burton's 55th birthday. A rookie in 1975 for Boston, he gave up Joe Morgan's go-ahead single in the ninth inning of Game 7 against Cincinnati. Burton pitched only one more game in the majors. ... The Red Sox led for 34 of the 36 innings. ... Larry Walker put down his first sacrifice since 1991. He bunted in the first inning, but Lowe threw him out. ... Boston teams continued to bedevil St. Louis clubs. The New England Patriots beat the Rams in the 2002 Super Bowl, the Bruins swept the Blues for the 1970 Stanley Cup and the Celtics won their first NBA title by defeating the Hawks in 1957.
The Reviews Are In: Movie Critics Noticed
LOS ANGELES - Let's review movie reviews. Millions read them. Actors covet nice ones. Studios scour them for positive nuggets to cram into advertising blurbs.
But how much influence do reviews really have on a movie's fate?
Virtually none on big action flicks and lowbrow comedies, which can pack in huge crowds despite rotten reviews. Family audiences and horror and sci-fi fans can turn out to see practically anything in their genre, no matter what reviews say.
Critics of critics say professional reviewers have snooty tastes, applying the same criteria to an Eddie Murphy comedy or Vin Diesel bust-'em-up as they would to a Kurosawa or Fellini film.
The Web has given movie buffs a broad forum to carp about traditional reviewers and post their own opinions, which often reflect more populist tastes than those of professional critics.
"You do wonder what kind of limited power we have," said USA Today movie reviewer Claudia Puig. "But we do it because it's a great job. I can't tell you how many people tell me, `You've got the best job in the world.' When you love something, you're so excited to be able to tell people, and when you hate something, you love to be able to tell people, `Don't see that.'"
It's in their passion for film — and their ability to scout out little gems — that professional critics hold sway.
This time of year, the awards prospects and commercial fortunes of many small films rest with reviewers, whose praise can help them gain a toehold among the holiday box-office behemoths.
Mike Leigh's abortion drama "Vera Drake," Alexander Payne's road-trip tale "Sideways" and David O. Russell's ensemble comedy "I (Heart) Huckabees" debuted strongly in limited release on the strength of good advance notice from critics.
Unlike the gradual rollouts of old Hollywood, when reviews helped spread the word on new movies, summer popcorn flicks and other big releases now roar into as many theaters as possible, backed by colossal marketing campaigns to grab moviegoers over opening weekend.
"Movie reviews don't mean jack to summer blockbusters. It's pointless to even review it," said Will Smith, who has scored July hits with such critically drubbed flicks as "Independence Day," "Wild Wild West," "Men in Black II" and "Bad Boys II."
Smith struck again this fall with his animated hit "Shark Tale." Trashed by critics, "Shark Tale" filled a void for family fare at theaters, with parents and kids rushing to see it.
Reviews were mixed on Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," with many top critics loathing it. But no critic on Earth was going to keep avid Christians out of theaters, along with a more general audience intrigued by the religious firestorm the movie caused. "The Passion" took in $370.3 million, No. 3 on this year's domestic box-office chart.
This year's list of top hits is crowded with movies poorly received by critics, among them "The Day After Tomorrow," "Van Helsing," "Troy" and "The Village."
A survey of 2,000 people by three business school researchers found that television ads and recommendations from others were the biggest influences on movie-going habits, each factor cited by about 70 percent of respondents. Professional reviews ran a distant third at 33 percent, while online ratings on such sites as Yahoo and the Internet Movie Database influenced 28 percent.
Sites like Rottentomatoes.com, which compiles reviews from professional critics but also Internet newcomers, have become more valuable to many consumers than the opinions of individual critics, said Chris Dellarocas, one of the researchers who conducted the survey as part of a study on how online reviews can predict a movie's box-office performance.
"I think there's a shift away from trusting the experts and more toward trusting the opinions of many," said Dellarocas, an associate professor of information technology at the University of Maryland.
If today's audiences are looking more for strength-in-numbers consensus than the voice of individual critics, the Internet still has advantages for reviewers.
Many astute critics have cropped up online who otherwise would not have had a forum. Newspaper critics who once had mainly local followings have found national exposure on the Web.
And sites such as Rottentomatoes.com or rival Metacritic.com provide cyber hangouts for film fans interested to read what critics in general have to say.
"It's the whole idea of united we stand, divided we fall," said Paul Lee, marketing manager for Rottentomatoes.com. "The Internet allows critics to come together and have collectively a bigger voice."
For their biggest releases, studios stage advertising blitzes and debut movies in as many as 4,000 theaters — two-thirds of the total number of cinemas — essentially buying huge opening-weekend grosses.
"Any film that can spend tens of millions of dollars on advertising can effectively obliterate any critical comment," said Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan.
The year's two top-grossing films received almost universally favorable reviews. Yet "Shrek 2" owes its $436.5 million haul and "Spider-Man 2" its $372.6 million take to the fact they were sequels to enormously popular movies and hit theaters preceded by ubiquitous hype and promotion.
Commercial and critical sensibilities often run counter. Critics tend to savor high-minded drama and artistic production, while the average male viewer might rate a movie for its explosion and babe factor.
"You can't take a movie which is designed to be an action-adventure film and have it critically reviewed by somebody who's interested in independent, intense, dark, in-depth character portrayals like `Taxi Driver,'" said Nicolas Cage, whose adventure film "National Treasure" opens just before Thanksgiving.
Audiences may grumble that critics are snobs, but Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said reviewers have to stay true to their tastes and let people know about worthy independent features, foreign films and documentaries lurking in the shadows of the latest blockbuster.
"You don't need a critic to tell you about `Titanic,'" Ebert said. "You really need a critic to tell you about good movies you might miss or might not have heard of otherwise. You don't need a critic to tell you the box office is right."
The one sure value of movie reviews is that they are part of the fun of show business. Reviews get people talking about movies, and sometimes, lead them to a cinematic jewel they never would have found on their own.
"Unless film is your life, you're going to be overwhelmed by the choices," said the Los Angeles Times' Turan, whose new book — "Never Coming to a Theater Near You: A Celebration of a Certain Kind of Movie" — is a collection of his reviews of cherished smaller movies. "You need a guide, and I think people are grateful to be guided to something they like, because otherwise, it's a crapshoot."