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Found this while cleaning out old emails:
Hollywood's weirdest movie star is also America's weirdest vaudevillian. =
By Darius James
CRISPIN GLOVER, ENEMY OF SNAILS
Crispin Glover is lounging in the frosty, red-lit interior of the Good =
Luck Bar, near Sunset and Hollywood in Los Angeles. The place has the =
relaxed, boho feel of a downtown Manhattan dive, with only a minimum of =
movie-industry hustle. Glover sits in a corner, empty-handed. He doesn't =
drink to any great extent or do drugs. When one of his companions orders =
a nonalcoholic ****rley Temple for him-an ironic gesture (Temple figures =
in Glover's new film project)- and the waitress offers him the brimming =
pear-shaped glass on a lacquered tray, he waves it away. "I really used =
to like them when I was a kid," he says. "But, no. Thank you, though." =
His smile is sheepish and apologetic. Maybe it's the sugar. His diet =
largely consists of soybean by-products, somewhere in the Macro-Vegan =
zone. Tofu. Tempeh. Seitan. Miso. How clean and sober can he be? A few =
moments later a distinctively psychedelic guitar solo plays over the =
Good Luck sound system. "This sounds pretty good," he says, grinning. =
"Who is it?" It's Jimi Hendrix.
You reach Crispin Glover's three-story, Spanish-style villa through a =
short, dark stone tunnel. The surrounding wall is covered in abundant, =
blazing red bougainvillea blossoms; inside there is a circular =
cobblestoned driveway occupied by a beige Mercedes and a 1962 Studebaker =
convertible. His villa, where he's lived alone for the past five years, =
isn't anything like the penthouse he previously occupied, a place =
Arsenio Hall once described as "Dracula's bachelor pad." His current =
home looks like a medieval monastery decorated with the expressionistic =
sets from The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari --high, vaulted ceilings; a grand =
sweep of stairs with a wrought-iron banister; sparse antique =
furni****ngs; paintings and art objects; oddly shaped doorways with =
narrow corridors leading into a catacomb of rooms. "It was built in the =
'20s," he says. "It belonged to Tom Mix, the silent-era c owboy star."=20
Glover is in the final editing stages of What Is It?, the first film in =
a projected trilogy he's been writing and directing over the last three =
years. He is offering a sneak peek at an early cut. There's been =
precious lit tle re****ted about this project, other than that it is =
going to be really weird. The cast is allegedly made up of actors with =
Down syndrome, and the actress Fairuza Balk is also said to be involved. =
It all sounds appealin gly strange in that very Crispin Glover-ish kind =
of way.
The 34-year-old actor and cult fave is most famous for his roles in Back =
to the Future, River's Edge, and Wild at Heart. But he also has a =
separate creative existence as a true and active proponent of the D.I.Y. =
ethos, as the author of four limited-edition, collage-style art books =
and two spastic garage CDs, which he wrote and sang the lyrics for. His =
song "Auto-Manipulator" begins: "Women are sweet and girls are honey / =
But beat your mea t and save your money."
He even sells his own works via a Web site, Volcanic Eruptions =
(members.aol.com/vlcncrptns/ VolcanicEruptions.html). "My career has =
been a mixture of having to make money and doing things I feel okay =
about," he says. "If I didn't think about the contents of the scripts so =
much, if I just went and did a lot of things, I would make a lot more =
money. If I could just get a lobotomy, I'd be better off. I have actor =
friends who work for money a nd say other things come from that. =
Ultimately, I find it ugly."=20
Glover has done some test screenings of the film in various parts of the =
country as part of his live, one-man performance act, Crispin Hellion =
Glover's Big Slide Show. ("Hellion" is the middle name he was given at =
birth by his father, a film actor named Bruce Herbert Glover.) He didn't =
elaborate on the live show or the film because he fears that too much =
media exposure might finish off an act he hopes to sustain in =
comfortable demi-anony mity for years to come. That, he says, is why he =
will not perform it in New York City or Los Angeles. "Many vaudevillians =
were able to go for years doing the same act over and over," he says, =
"just playing small cities ar ound the country. But once they did New =
York or L.A., because of the press they then had to come up with a new =
act or their careers were over."=20
There are descriptions of the entire show on the various unofficial Web =
sites devoted to Glover. A performance in Ybor City, Florida, was called =
"a night of sinister cinema and wordplay" involving visual projections =
and r eadings from Glover's books, after which audience members were =
"rewarded," we are told cryptically, "by some intimate one-on-one time =
with Crispin." What Is It? begins with a prologue. Glover dry-whispers, =
"Let me tell yo u a story. Before you meet me, we will start with the =
lotus of the story. The navel, so to speak. All that is forthcoming =
emanates from this one person, whom we shall call the Young Man." A =
snail swirls across green leaf spears, trailing its secretions. The =
Young Man, who indeed has Down syndrome, picks up the snail and examines =
it with a mixture of awe and incomprehension. In the following scenes, =
which flow like a fever dream, the Young Man retrieves a pipe from its =
hiding place. There is a sequence of shots involving a wrinkled old =
woman and the Young Man smoking the pipe. In between puffs, the old =
woman sucks on a plastic tube. Mexican ****o music bla res on the =
soundtrack with much cooing and squealing. Then, in what might be =
construed as a hallucination, there is a visit to an Aztec temple, where =
another character, also with Down syndrome, holds a bright red rose swa =
rming with ladybugs. A snail is sliced in half with a razor blade.=20
Many snails foam to death in showers of salt. Eventually, we return to =
the Young Man in his room, professing his love to a snail, whom he =
betrays by reducing it to pulp and shell shards. Guilt and remorse set =
in. As the Y oung Man attempts Frankensteinian reconstruction on the =
univalve with a tube of airplane glue, the snail's mate slithers over =
the windowsill and, in Fairuza Balk's voice, asks, "Where's my friend?" =
"I don't know," the You ng Man replies. Fairuza Snail spots the puddle =
that was once her friend and wails mournfully. The Young Man flees the =
house. The screen fades to black. A red question mark appears. And, =
finally, we are given the film's t itle.=20
What Is It? is an outre, bewildering, unnerving, surreal, blackly comic =
film. It is brilliant in its sensitivity and humanity and infantile in =
its excess. For some, the surface narrative will seem confusing, but =
only beca use the film represents the interior life of its author. It's =
not a movie with speeding car chases and explosions (though it has its =
share of large ****d breasts). It reflects how Crispin Glover processes =
his thoughts and feelings and how he reinterprets that information. What =
Is It?, like Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special Edition, =
invites you inside a musical UFO, the space****p that is Crispin Glover's =
brain.=20
"It's the point of view of a neurotic mind-set," he says. "My mind-set. =
It's not meant to represent the mind-set of a Down syndrome person." He =
insists his film follows the narrative structure detailed by mythologist =
Jose ph Campbell in The Hero With a Thousand Faces. "The Hero's =
Journey," he says, "is the most basic story form. All stories and myths =
are, on some level, a Hero's Journey. It is almost impossible to relay =
any kind of story w ithout utilizing some pattern from the structure of =
a Hero's Journey. One could simply say, 'He went across the street.' And =
this would be the hero leaving his normal world to set out upon his =
quest. "It can come forth," he continues, "from the psyche in many =
different patterns, still work within a greater pattern, and still be =
good structure, as long as it is reflective of an inner psychic truth. I =
can feel good story structure when I'm acting because there is a =
psychological truth revealed when something is properly structured."=20
Glover's view may be less than truly trailblazing, if only because the =
"hero's quest" story structure is a particularly Hollywood idea. In =
every story conference with studio development people, they're going to =
talk struc ture, and it's going to be Syd Field's three-act puzzlebox, =
or the principles of Robert McKee, or Christopher Vogler's rereading of =
Joseph Campbell for the movies. And What Is It? is about as far from =
Hollywood as a film can get. It's closer to Werner Herzog's Even Dwarves =
Started Small, the films of the Kuchar Brothers, or the work of New =
York's underground genius Nick Zedd, than it is to sharing a box of =
chocolates with Forrest Gump. Wh at Is It? is an act of poetic terror =
that operates on the same associative level one experiences while =
dreaming.=20
The issues raised by the film's confrontational imagery pose an =
interesting problem. Given our society's current polite vocabulary, how =
does one discuss this work in an insightful and nonreactionary fa****on? =
How does one deal with the Minstrel, a white actor in blackface who =
aspires to be other than who he is and injects himself with snail =
enzymes? Or the ****, golden-locked ****rley Temple look-alike standing =
before a Nazi flag, masturbating with the handle of a riding crop? Or =
the ****d man with cerebral palsy lying in a giant sea shell and being =
masturbated by a monkey-masked woman, while Johnny Rebel croons "Niggers =
Never Die, They Only Smell That Way"? The dialog between artist and =
audience about problems such as these, and their potential resolution, =
is really what the function of myth is all about. This film may, in =
fact, conform to the hero's quest story structure, but it does so in a =
genuine way, one that inspires independent thought, as opposed to simple =
connect-the-dots storytelling designed to sell popcorn. All reasons why =
What Is It? won't be coming soon to a multiplex near you or anybody =
else. Instead, like early D.I.Y. "All-Colored Cast" filmmaker Oscar =
Micheaux, who traveled the country in the '20s and '30s booking =
moviehouses in which to screen his cinematic productions for =
African-Americans, Crispin Glover is taking his film on the road this =
winter, booking it into theaters across the country, where he'll =
personally tear your ticket stub at the door. =20
--=20
Thanks!
Scott Huffines
---
Atomic TV - Baltimore Public Access - www.atomicteevee.com
Would you buy furniture from a store called "Unpainted Huffines"?
------=_NextPart_000_000F_01C32867.F2719B60
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Found this while cleaning out old=20
emails:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><FONT size=3D2>
<P>Hollywood's weirdest movie star is also America's weirdest =
vaudevillian. </P>
<P>By Darius James</P>
<P>CRISPIN GLOVER, ENEMY OF SNAILS</P>
<P>Crispin Glover is lounging in the frosty, red-lit interior of the =
Good Luck=20
Bar, near Sunset and Hollywood in Los Angeles. The place has the =
relaxed, boho=20
feel of a downtown Manhattan dive, with only a minimum of movie-industry =
hustle.=20
Glover sits in a corner, empty-handed. He doesn't drink to any great =
extent or=20
do drugs. When one of his companions orders a nonalcoholic ****rley =
Temple for=20
him-an ironic gesture (Temple figures in Glover's new film project)- and =
the=20
waitress offers him the brimming pear-shaped glass on a lacquered tray, =
he waves=20
it away. "I really used to like them when I was a kid," he says. "But, =
no. Thank=20
you, though." His smile is sheepish and apologetic. Maybe it's the =
sugar. His=20
diet largely consists of soybean by-products, somewhere in the =
Macro-Vegan zone.=20
Tofu. Tempeh. Seitan. Miso. How clean and sober can he be? A few moments =
later a=20
distinctively psychedelic guitar solo plays over the Good Luck sound =
system.=20
"This sounds pretty good," he says, grinning. "Who is it?" It's Jimi=20
Hendrix.</P>
<P>You reach Crispin Glover's three-story, Spanish-style villa through a =
short,=20
dark stone tunnel. The surrounding wall is covered in abundant, blazing =
red=20
bougainvillea blossoms; inside there is a circular cobblestoned driveway =
occupied by a beige Mercedes and a 1962 Studebaker convertible. His =
villa, where=20
he's lived alone for the past five years, isn't anything like the =
penthouse he=20
previously occupied, a place Arsenio Hall once described as "Dracula's =
bachelor=20
pad." His current home looks like a medieval monastery decorated with =
the=20
expressionistic sets from The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari --high, vaulted =
ceilings; a=20
grand sweep of stairs with a wrought-iron banister; sparse antique =
furni****ngs;=20
paintings and art objects; oddly shaped doorways with narrow corridors =
leading=20
into a catacomb of rooms. "It was built in the '20s," he says. "It =
belonged to=20
Tom Mix, the silent-era c owboy star." </P>
<P>Glover is in the final editing stages of What Is It?, the first film =
in a=20
projected trilogy he's been writing and directing over the last three =
years. He=20
is offering a sneak peek at an early cut. There's been precious lit tle =
re****ted=20
about this project, other than that it is going to be really weird. The =
cast is=20
allegedly made up of actors with Down syndrome, and the actress Fairuza =
Balk is=20
also said to be involved. It all sounds appealin gly strange in that =
very=20
Crispin Glover-ish kind of way.</P>
<P>The 34-year-old actor and cult fave is most famous for his roles in =
Back to=20
the Future, River's Edge, and Wild at Heart. But he also has a separate =
creative=20
existence as a true and active proponent of the D.I.Y. ethos, as the =
author of=20
four limited-edition, collage-style art books and two spastic garage =
CDs, which=20
he wrote and sang the lyrics for. His song "Auto-Manipulator" begins: =
"Women are=20
sweet and girls are honey / But beat your mea t and save your =
money."</P>
<P>He even sells his own works via a Web site, Volcanic Eruptions=20
(members.aol.com/vlcncrptns/ VolcanicEruptions.html). "My career has =
been a=20
mixture of having to make money and doing things I feel okay about," he =
says.=20
"If I didn't think about the contents of the scripts so much, if I just =
went and=20
did a lot of things, I would make a lot more money. If I could just get =
a=20
lobotomy, I'd be better off. I have actor friends who work for money a =
nd say=20
other things come from that. Ultimately, I find it ugly." </P>
<P>Glover has done some test screenings of the film in various parts of =
the=20
country as part of his live, one-man performance act, Crispin =
Hellion=20
Glover's Big Slide Show. ("Hellion" is the middle name he was given at =
birth by=20
his father, a film actor named Bruce Herbert Glover.) He didn't =
elaborate on the=20
live show or the film because he fears that too much media exposure =
might finish=20
off an act he hopes to sustain in comfortable demi-anony mity for years =
to come.=20
That, he says, is why he will not perform it in New York City or Los =
Angeles.=20
"Many vaudevillians were able to go for years doing the same act over =
and over,"=20
he says, "just playing small cities ar ound the country. But once they =
did New=20
York or L.A., because of the press they then had to come up with a new =
act or=20
their careers were over." </P>
<P>There are descriptions of the entire show on the various unofficial =
Web sites=20
devoted to Glover. A performance in Ybor City, Florida, was called "a =
night of=20
sinister cinema and wordplay" involving visual projections and r eadings =
from=20
Glover's books, after which audience members were "rewarded," we are =
told=20
cryptically, "by some intimate one-on-one time with Crispin." What Is =
It? begins=20
with a prologue. Glover dry-whispers, "Let me tell yo u a story. Before =
you meet=20
me, we will start with the lotus of the story. The navel, so to speak. =
All that=20
is forthcoming emanates from this one person, whom we shall call the =
Young Man."=20
A snail swirls across green leaf spears, trailing its secretions. The =
Young Man,=20
who indeed has Down syndrome, picks up the snail and examines it with a =
mixture=20
of awe and incomprehension. In the following scenes, which flow like a =
fever=20
dream, the Young Man retrieves a pipe from its hiding place. There is a =
sequence=20
of shots involving a wrinkled old woman and the Young Man smoking the =
pipe. In=20
between puffs, the old woman sucks on a plastic tube. Mexican ****o =
music bla=20
res on the soundtrack with much cooing and squealing. Then, in what =
might be=20
construed as a hallucination, there is a visit to an Aztec temple, where =
another=20
character, also with Down syndrome, holds a bright red rose swa rming =
with=20
ladybugs. A snail is sliced in half with a razor blade. </P>
<P>Many snails foam to death in showers of salt. Eventually, we return =
to the=20
Young Man in his room, professing his love to a snail, whom he betrays =
by=20
reducing it to pulp and shell shards. Guilt and remorse set in. As the Y =
oung=20
Man attempts Frankensteinian reconstruction on the univalve with a tube =
of=20
airplane glue, the snail's mate slithers over the windowsill and, in =
Fairuza=20
Balk's voice, asks, "Where's my friend?" "I don't know," the You ng Man =
replies.=20
Fairuza Snail spots the puddle that was once her friend and wails=20
mournfully. The Young Man flees the house. The screen fades to =
black. A=20
red question mark appears. And, finally, we are given the film's t itle. =
</P>
<P>What Is It? is an outre, bewildering, unnerving, surreal, blackly =
comic film.=20
It is brilliant in its sensitivity and humanity and infantile in its =
excess. For=20
some, the surface narrative will seem confusing, but only beca use the =
film=20
represents the interior life of its author. It's not a movie with =
speeding car=20
chases and explosions (though it has its share of large ****d breasts). =
It=20
reflects how Crispin Glover processes his thoughts and feelings and how =
he=20
reinterprets that information. What Is It?, like Close Encounters of the =
Third=20
Kind: The Special Edition, invites you inside a musical UFO, the =
space****p that=20
is Crispin Glover's brain. </P>
<P>"It's the point of view of a neurotic mind-set," he says. "My =
mind-set. It's=20
not meant to represent the mind-set of a Down syndrome person." He =
insists his=20
film follows the narrative structure detailed by mythologist Jose ph =
Campbell in=20
The Hero With a Thousand Faces. "The Hero's Journey," he says, "is the =
most=20
basic story form. All stories and myths are, on some level, a Hero's =
Journey. It=20
is almost impossible to relay any kind of story w ithout utilizing some =
pattern=20
from the structure of a Hero's Journey. One could simply say, 'He went =
across=20
the street.' And this would be the hero leaving his normal world to set =
out upon=20
his quest. "It can come forth," he continues, "from the psyche in many =
different=20
patterns, still work within a greater pattern, and still be good =
structure, as=20
long as it is reflective of an inner psychic truth. I can feel good =
story=20
structure when I'm acting because there is a psychological truth =
revealed when=20
something is properly structured." </P>
<P>Glover's view may be less than truly trailblazing, if only because =
the=20
"hero's quest" story structure is a particularly Hollywood idea. In =
every story=20
conference with studio development people, they're going to talk struc =
ture, and=20
it's going to be Syd Field's three-act puzzlebox, or the principles of =
Robert=20
McKee, or Christopher Vogler's rereading of Joseph Campbell for the =
movies. And=20
What Is It? is about as far from Hollywood as a film can get. It's =
closer to=20
Werner Herzog's Even Dwarves Started Small, the films of the Kuchar =
Brothers, or=20
the work of New York's underground genius Nick Zedd, than it is to =
sharing a box=20
of chocolates with Forrest Gump. Wh at Is It? is an act of poetic terror =
that=20
operates on the same associative level one experiences while dreaming. =
</P>
<P>The issues raised by the film's confrontational imagery pose an =
interesting=20
problem. Given our society's current polite vocabulary, how does one =
discuss=20
this work in an insightful and nonreactionary fa****on? How does one deal =
with=20
the Minstrel, a white actor in blackface who aspires to be other than =
who he is=20
and injects himself with snail enzymes? Or the ****, golden-locked =
****rley=20
Temple look-alike standing before a Nazi flag, masturbating with the =
handle of a=20
riding crop? Or the ****d man with cerebral palsy lying in a giant sea =
shell and=20
being masturbated by a monkey-masked woman, while Johnny Rebel croons =
"Niggers=20
Never Die, They Only Smell That Way"? The dialog between artist and =
audience=20
about problems such as these, and their potential resolution, is really =
what the=20
function of myth is all about. This film may, in fact, conform to the =
hero's=20
quest story structure, but it does so in a genuine way, one that =
inspires=20
independent thought, as opposed to simple connect-the-dots storytelling =
designed=20
to sell popcorn. All reasons why What Is It? won't be coming soon to a =
multiplex=20
near you or anybody else. Instead, like early D.I.Y. "All-Colored Cast"=20
filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, who traveled the country in the '20s and '30s =
booking=20
moviehouses in which to screen his cinematic productions for =
African-Americans,=20
Crispin Glover is taking his film on the road this winter, booking it =
into=20
theaters across the country, where he'll personally tear your ticket =
stub at the=20
door. <BR></P></FONT></FONT></DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>
<DIV><BR>-- <BR>Thanks!<BR>Scott Huffines</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>---</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Atomic TV - Baltimore Public Access - <A=20
href=3D"http://www.atomicteevee.com">www.atomicteevee.com</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Would you buy furniture from a store called "Unpainted=20
Huffines"?<BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
------=_NextPart_000_000F_01C32867.F2719B60--
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