Pointed Sticks, Suburbia, and a Repo Man follow-up - ARGH!! fans take heed!

Okay, so - I have enjoyed plenty of ARGH!!'s art over the years, but the Paris, Texas/ Harry Dean Stanton setup at the VIFF Centre is a work of genius. It is up throughout the run of Paris, Texas and Repo Man. It is one of a few works of art by ARGH!! that are on display, also including "Bud Bunny" ("Repo Rabbit"), some of which, if I understand correctly, you can bid on, or win, or something.

I was posting about this whole thing on Facebook and typo'd Harry Dean as Harry Dead, for obvious reasons. Harry Dead Stanton! I kinda love it. There is a chair set up next to Harry Dead for selfie purposes. 

Paris, Texas and Repo Man look great on the big screen. Devan's presentation was extremely enlightening and interesting, but it's done. Learned a lot, things to look for. I tend to take things like cinematography for granted, to be honest; I've never really "done" it, so I don't necessarily notice clever lighting setups. It was cool to see just how low-budget and edge-of-your-seat daring his setup for Kings of the Road was, though. 

Paris, Texas has never entirely worked for me as story, to be honest - Harry Dean is so childlike for the first half of the film that I don't really connect with him as a character undergoing an experience - but as a document of the American landscape it's gorgeous, and it was fun being reminded that Claire Denis was the A/D (thanks to David House for pointing that out) and learning that Sally Norvell, who plays Nurse Bibs, was also in a band with Kid Congo Powers!). 

As for Repo Man, I always wonder if I will notice things in a film that I had not, previously, when I see it on the screen. Indeed, I did: a bumper sticker on the wall of the Repo office that read, "I club my wife," but with a playing card club symbol instead of the word; another bumper sticker that read "I don't love LA," with a heart with a line through it, when Dick Rude and Jennifer Balgobin are talking about getting married; and best of all, none other than the director, Alex Cox, as one of employees at the gas station where Zander almost opens the Malibu trunk (because "do you want me to check the trunk" is a frequent question asked by gas station attendants). Maybe I realized that was him before, and just forgot? But I am pretty sure I also glimpsed him in the driver's seat of the Malibu in one of the driving scenes, as well (if I recall from X Films, Fox Harris couldn't drive), and even found myself wondering if he played a corpse in the movie, being loaded out onto a truck by guys in Hazmat suits.   

Oh, they had Repo Man buttons in a jar of buttons-by-donation in the theatre lobby. They also had buttons of a severed ear (Blue Velvet) and other moments from movies in the series. 

Pretty great day at the movies. All further screenings of Repo Man are in the smaller studio theatre, so good luck with that, but note you 80's punks, you can catch Suburbia on Monday in the main hall (my interview with the director about that film is here).

Photo by Dale Wiese!

A final note for Pointed Sticks fans, the band posted on Facebook about their new album, Beautiful Future, yesterday: 

Just to set the record straight. We had 300 copies of our new record printed in Czechia to sell on our European tour. As with every small act, merchandise sales defray tour costs. We had some sent to Canada for our own personal use, and what we didn't need, we gave to Dale to sell in his store. That would be the 9 copies referenced below. The balance are in Germany, waiting for us to arrive. 

Hopefully at some point, we find a label willing to produce and distribute the record on a wider scale, but that has not happened yet. Until then, this record will only be available at the live shows in Europe. Not ideal, but c'est la vie.

Of those nine copies, the one pictured above is now in my collection, purchased on the way to the movies; one was being bought by someone else who follows the band on Facebook (he left behind the Phil Smith album, after asking about Corsage: wtf?!), and Dale may have designs on one himself. That means, as of this morning, there are MAYBE six copies of the record, which may be the only copies we will ever see. (Film fans take note: they have a song on it about Billy Wilder!). Dale's shop is on Union - if you are busing from the Main Street Skytrain, get off at Georgia, walk back a block, and turn left. He also had the Infamous Scientists EP! 

Note that Dale doesn't always stick to the hours Google lists, so it's a good idea to phone ahead, to make sure he's in the shop. He will be there today!