“The Local Stigmatic” (1990).

Here is your chance to see Al Pacino’s very rarely seen film, “The Local Stigmatic“. It’s particularly interesting as Pacino tries his hand at a…Cockney accent!
Yep.

From Wikipedia:
“The Local Stigmatic is a film directed by David Wheeler and produced by and starring Al Pacino. It was filmed and edited during the late 1980s. It had a showing at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in March 1990, but was never released theatrically. It was released on DVD as part of “The Al Pacino Box Set” in June 2007. The film is 56 minutes long. It follows the story of two British friends who spend their time walking about London discussing dog track racing. The Local Stigmatic is based on a stage play by Heathcote Williams.”

From Rotten Tomatoes:
“Two working-class Englishmen spend their free time arguing about greyhound-racing and Winston Churchill. They also read the papers, especially the gossip columns and Society pages. In a bar one day, they meet a film star who they’ve read about, and subject him to a savage, and apparently motiveless, beating.”

Enjoy!

Some Trivia For “The Local Stigmatic” Courtesy Of The IMDB:
* Al Pacino donated a copy to the Museum of Modern Art with the stipulation that it can only be shown with his permission. A small number of screenings have taken place since 1990. The film was not widely released until June 2007.

* Al Pacino and Paul Guilfoyle studied and examined the play for four years before they decided to make a film of it. When they finally decided to film it they spent four months rehearsing before it was finally shot. They approached the production of the film as if they were staging a play and wanted to avoid making it look too much like a film. Pacino deleted any shots looked too cinematic for his taste.

* Al Pacino, producer Michael Hadge and Joseph Maher co-starred in an Off-Broadway stage production of “The Local Stigmatic” in 1969.

* Filmed in 9 days.

* Legendary theatre producer and friend of Al Pacino, Joseph Papp was upset with Pacino for getting the film rights before he did. For many years, Papp had wanted to produce a film version of the play.

* Al Pacino began shooting exteriors for the film in 1984 while was in London doing a stage production of “American Buffalo”.

* Al Pacino strongly considered releasing the film after the success of Pulp Fiction because it is also about two nihilists.

* Director David F. Wheeler wanted Al Pacino to wear glasses throughout the film but Pacino did not want to. So they compromised by having Pacino’s character wear glasses only when he was reading.

* There are several different versions of the film since Al Pacino has continued to re-edit the film over the years.

You May Also Be Interested In…
* Max Koch: Cheetos With AL & BOBBY
* Max Koch: AL & Bobby Do The Laundry
* Max Koch: TONY SOPRANO Stages An INTERVENTION

Glasgow Orange Order Band: “I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper”.

Hiya pals!
I’m sorry for the poor quality of this video but I only decided to film this about three seconds after I got the great idea to blast Sarah Brightman’s “I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper” out my window at the Orange Walk on Duke Street yesterday…

You May Also Be Interested In…
* The Orange Disorder
* Glasgow Cathedral At Sunset From My Window
* The Victorian Statues In Glasgow’s George Square

“Back To The Future” I & II Comparison.

Cinematic trivia utterly fascinates me. It’s mostly what I use the internet for and this little nugget from “Back To The Future: Part II” always impressed me:

“Claudia Wells (Jennifer in “Back To The Future“) was unable to reprise her role as she had stopped acting because her mother had been diagnosed with cancer. Elisabeth Shue was then cast as Jennifer, and all the closing shots of “Back To The Future” were re-shot for the beginning of this film.”

“Back To The Future” and “Back To The Future: Part II” were shot roughly 4 years apart and Michael J. Fox visibly aged a little.

Folks, we didn’t have Youtube while I was growing up but I’m glad we do now because…

You May Also Be Interested In…
* “Back To The Future” Concept Art
* “The Godfather”: Robert DeNiro’s Audition Tape
* On The Set: The Movie Filming Locations Channel

The Soundtrack To My Life. 08/05/2012.

“Twisted Nerve” (OST). (1968).
Artist: Bernard Herrmann.
Why You Should Get It: You probably already know it from “Kill Bill“.
Recognise THIS?

“Kill Bill”. That’s where I first heard it but the full “Twisted Nerve” soundtrack is so much more than whistling. I’ve been going through Bernard Herrmann’s scores and soundtracks at a rate of one per week and I’ve yet to hear any of his music and not find myself in a complete atmospheric trance.

I’ve also yet to see “Twisted Nerve” but I’ll get around to it.
Here’s the trailer:

“Odelay” (2 Disc Deluxe Edition). (2008).
Artist: Beck.
Why You Should Get It: You probably have it right? Everybody has “Odelay”. Don’t they?

I don’t play this record often enough. I hadn’t listened to it for years but as soon as I put it on, that was me! I was off dancing on down the street like the honky I am.

You don’t need the 2 Disc Deluxe Edition. The second disc is full of long remixes and bland B-Sides. It’s filler with lovely cover artwork but the original album sounds better than you remember!

“Electric Dirt”. (2009).
Artist: Levon Helm.
Why You Should Get It: Helm’s reworking of The Grateful Dead’s tired sounding ‘Tennessee Jed’ into a swinging and swaying slide guitar Americana classic!

The late great Levon Helm kind of worked backwards. His music got better as he got older and “Electric Dirt” was his last studio album. You can hear the effort he put into every single song.

“The Lost Notebooks Of Hank Williams”. (2011).
Artist: Various Artists.
Why You Should Get It: Speaking of Levon Helm…he’s on this album which contains arrangements of Hank Williams’ incomplete, unreleased and unrecorded final songs.

This is a real treat for lovers of Hank Williams and his music. The lyrics to these songs were found in the car that Williams died in and were passed around over the years until they found their way into the hands of the SONY / ATV company who had the good sense to hand them over to Bob Dylan.

Setting Hank Williams’ lyrics to their own melodies, Bob Dylan completed one song and various other artists including Levon Helm, Jack White, Merle Haggard, Norah Jones and Sheryl Crow finished up other tracks and it’s really interesting to hear. There’s no honky tonking or yodelling but the words are Hank through and through.

…Which leads me to…

“Together Through Life”. (2009).
Artist: Bob Dylan.
Why You Should Get It…

“Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike”. (2005).
Artist: Gogol Bordello.
Why You Should Get It: Because it’s Ukrainian Gypsy Punk Music and frankly, it’s insane…

“New Boots And Panties!!” (1977).
Artist: Ian Dury.
Why You Should Get It: Because Ian Dury was a Clever Bastard…

“Sticky Fingers”. (1971).
Artist: The Rolling Stones.
Why You Should Get It: I’m not big on The Stones but even I can’t deny that this is a fucking peach of a record!

Due to many years of hearing pub bands cover it, I couldn’t listen to ‘Brown Sugar’ for a long time but I’ve since realised that loud, drunken heckling sorts this right out.

“The Band”. (1969).
Artist: The Band.
Why You Should Get It: Every single song on this album is perfect.
Every single one.
This entire album is completely perfect.
Listen to THIS, THIS and THIS and as an extra treat, here’s a documentary about the making of the album:

You May Also Be Interested In:
* Bob Dylan Changed My Life.
* Neil Young’s Sound.
* The Soundtrack To My Life. 15/04/2012.

“Everything Ages Fast”: Faux Vintage Tech Ads.

What if some of the most famous online services were launched in 1959?