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BEYONDFEST 2016: Kurt Russell’s Big Trouble In Little China Retrospective

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Though John Carpenter is best remembered for his horror movies, from Halloween to The Thing and beyond, perhaps one of his most seminal works is the genre bending action comedy that is Big Trouble In Little China. Starring Carpenter regular Kurt Russell as the loudmouthed and out of his element truck driver, Jack Burton. In its initial release back in 1986, the film was sadly a critical box office bomb, failing to gross back its budget. It was such a loss that Carpenter moved away from mainstream films and returned to independent cinema. Yet, the film of a modern cowboy caught in a magical martial arts plot has since become a major cult classic thanks to its home video release and following fanbase.

Last night, the fine folks at Beyondfest put together an epic retrospective on Big Trouble In Little China. Complete with a high quality DCP print screening directly from FOX, followed by an incredible QnA with star, Kurt Russell moderated by director/writer James Gunn. Who have since worked together, Gunn having cast Russell in the soon to be released, highly anticipated Marvel sequel, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2.
btilc2

It was worth the price of admission alone for seeing Big Trouble with such an enthusiastic crowd. Huge laughs during iconic scenes like Jack shooting into the air and getting knocked on the head by the ensuing rubble, and the elevator scenes. A thunderous applause broke out during the final confrontation with Lo Pan and as the credits rolled!

During the QnA, Gunn started things up asking Russell about how the movie ended up back in 1986. He responded that they showed the movie to the studio head at the time, but he “didn’t like it.” Both agreeing that the movie was simply ahead of its time, Russell adding that there was no use racking over “Ifs, ands, and Peter Pans.”


There was much focus on Kurt and his specific work with Carpenter. Discussing their first meeting on the TV Movie ELVIS, and going on to play such iconic characters as Snake Plissken, R.J. MacReady and Jack Burton. The actor attributing the credit to John, citing the absolute circus a director has to juggle in making a major motion picture. Gunn agreeing, and saying that “Working with Kurt is like wrestling a playful bear for 5 months.” Kurt also discussing the DNA of Jack having elements of John Wayne, Jack Nicholson, and himself. A “Guy who thinks he’s the lead character.” He also cited an incident when he was shooting a movie in Ireland, and seeing a minor car accident with an unnamed actor. His co-worker telling him “Hey Kurt, I think its a volkswagon and a station wagon.” Stating “That’s Jack Burton, out of his element.”

There were also a few anecdotes thrown about concerning those other iconic John Carpenter character roles. Discussing The Thing, he talked about none other than MacReady’s equally iconic sombrero. Thinking the hat to be ridiculous on its own, but especially for the film, but eventually warming up to it as a part of the character.

In Escape From New York, he mentioned getting down Snake’s character after meeting co-star Lee Van Cleef and thinking back to the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns starring Clint Eastwood. Developing a “Clint” like voice and sharing it with an enthusiastic Carpenter who even responded by saying “This f*cking character’s gonna be great!”

He also spoke very fondly about working with the cast and crew of Big Trouble In Little China. In particular, Dennis Dunn, who played Wang Chi. And how while filming, they treated it with Wang being the true leading man of the story. Being a competent fighter on a quest to save the love of his life, having more the traits of a hero than Jack.

The potential Big Trouble In Little China remake was also brought up. Kurt mentioning working with said remake’s possible ‘Jack Burton’, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson while on Fast 8. Speaking highly of The Rock, and noting that there’s nothing too precious to remake, citing his involvement in John Carpenter’s The Thing, itself a remake of Hawk’s The Thing From Another World. Gunn agreeing, bringing up his work on the Dawn Of The Dead remake. But saying that the key to a good remake being a reason to remake something.

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The session opening up to questions from the audience, ending on one devoted fan who travelled all the way from Australia to see the event! Asking if Kurt had ever gotten any good advice. Kurt responded that he never really got advice. His dad was an actor. He was a child actor so he started very young. But something he read really struck him, a word of advice from Spencer Tracy: “Don’t get caught acting.” He’s Jack Burton in the moment. Leading to an uproarious applause.

Proof that people’ll be thinking fondly of Jack Burton and his adventures for years to come.

Photos courtesy of Annette DiGiovanni
Videos courtesy of Marc Gottlieb

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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