The Kill Fest Finale

So we meet one last time, for one last dip into the waters of murder and mayhem. For those who didn't see yesterday's post, this movie is more than a montage, it's a short film containing a montage. The movie is 2:45 in length and the montage is a little over a minute. There's a lot of clips in that minute, and, as always, timed to the music, so best to let it load all the way first before playing it. I'd like to start making the movies around here more than just montages, although I'll still make ones that are just montages, but I'm getting restless and want to do more. But that's neither here nor there for our purposes today. I hope you enjoy the movie - AND FOR THOSE AT WORK BE WARNED - There's a loud scream at the 1:07 mark when the title of the piece is finally introduced (and I'm not telling you what the title is, you'll just have to wait and see it). The rest is music. Also, the second half is pretty bloody, but given the deliberate progression of the editing and the subject matter, that couldn't really be avoided. And that's that. Enjoy.

Available on YouTube on Cinema Styles You Tube page here, where you can watch it in high quality (recommended).

Intermission

Well we're at the halfway point before Winter Holiday is upon us. So let's take a break here at the drive-in.

First things first. Get some coffee to keep yourself awake. Kimberly and Ken enjoy fries in the backseat.

And how about some hot chocolate for the kids. Rare early footage of famous actress Sheila O'Malley taking a swig of cocoa at the end.

A young Dennis enjoys a sandwich while the actor playing his father desperately oversells the role. Warning: This commercial is insanely stupid.

And of course there's yours truly desperate for a snow cone.

And for god's sake folks, if you tear off a speaker, please return it (Bill, I'm looking in your direction).

Now don't forget to come back. In fact, visit us often.

A Driving Force

Human beings have a talent for combining things: Clocks and radios, washers and dryers, Brittany Spears and mental illness. Sometimes by accident. I can't tell you how many times I used to walk down the street with an open container of peanut butter only to run into someone with a big slab of chocolate. But every time it happened we both thought, "Hey, these are two great tastes that taste great together!" And so in the history of cinema it wasn't long before someone thought to themselves, "Boy people sure are lazy. There's got to be some way I can show them a movie without them even having to step foot out of their car. I've got it!" That eureka moment came to Richard Hollingshead of Camden, New Jersey. On June 6, 1933 he opened the Camden Automobile Theatre with a showing of Wife Beware starring Adolph Menjou. According to Patrick Robertson's Movie Facts and Feats (1988, Guiness Publishing, p 190) the screen measured 40 ft by 30 ft and the 10 acre site held 400 cars. And there were no car speakers. Nope, the sound came from massive ultra-loud screen speakers. It was another five years before there were even ten in the country and here they are in the order they appeared, courtesy of the Drive-In Theater website, whose history section also elaborates on the information given above. Enjoy.

1. Drive-In Theatre: Camden, New Jersey. June 6, 1933

2. Shankweiler's Auto Park: Orefield, Pennsylvania. April 15, 1934

3. Drive-In Short Reel Theater: Galveston, Texas. July 5, 1934

4. Pico: Los Angeles, California. September 9, 1934

5. Weymouth Drive-In Theatre: Weymouth, Massachusetts. May 6 1936

6. Starlight Auto Theatre: Akron, Ohio. Summer, 1937

7. Lynn Open Air Theater: Lynn, Massachusetts. July, 1937

8. Providence: Providence, Rhode Island. July 21, 1937

9. Miami Drive-In: Miami, Florida. February 25, 1938

10. Detroit Drive-In: Detroit, Michigan. June 2, 1938