Awesome Herzog Shirt Spotted at Exhumed

Spent last weekend parked in a seat at the Exhumed Marathon IV where we watched everything from THE HOWLING and William Castle's BUG! to the mind-blowing BOARDING HOUSE and Fulci's HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (full wrap-up to come). Alas, no Kinski (again) but I did see this awesome Herzog shirt while we were finding our spot in line. You can order it – and other great tees – from MondoTees.

A Couple Klaus Shout-Outs on a Saturday Morning

Gotta love the internet. While looking for some info on what BAD MOON star Michael Pare is up to these days (working with Uwe Boll, apparently!) I stumbled across a few Klaus Kinski shout-outs. One was something I'd been meaning to mention for a few weeks and the other is just one of those silly "Top 10" lists but I never pass up the opportunity to give Klaus some props.

First up, 70s starlet Vonetta McGee passed away in early July at the age of 65. Though best known for her roles in such 70s fare as BLACULA, HAMMER, THE EIGER SANCTION and SHAFT IN AFRICA, Eurotrash and Spaghetti Western fans will always remember her as Pauline in Sergio Corbucci's amazing THE GREAT SILENCE starring Kinski as a vicious bounty hunter. The flick is a Top 10 Eurotrasher in my book, features one of Klaus' all-time best performances, and would likely top my list of Favorite Spaghetti Westerns.

Do yourself a favor. If you've never seen the film get your hands on it.

Next up, the site We Are Movie Geeks posted one of their Top 10 lists and Kinski gets a small, but deserving, plug in their list of Top 10 Evil Henchmen. The character of vampire flunky Renfield makes the list and the writer gives a shout out to Klaus for his remarkable interpretation of the character in Jess Franco's EL CONDE DRACULA. Though the flick didn't quite hold up for me when I caught it on DVD a couple years ago, Kinski's wordless, impassioned performance is well worth checking out.

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BURDEN OF DREAMS on Netflix Instant View

I don't know if anybody reading this has purchased one yet, but I'm a big fan of the Roku, the little black box that lets you stream Netflix's Instant View titles right to your TV. I picked one up this fall and though I'm still tinkering with the signal strength from my Apple AirPort Extreme it's a great way to catch up on things when my daughter takes her increasingly infrequent afternoon naps.

If you watch Netflix Instant View titles on your computer, Roku or other device capable of streaming titles to your TV, I highly recommend subscribing to the Netflix Watch Instantly blog which feeds titles that are available through the service. It's easier than working your way through NetFlix's recommendations and will surely lead to much queue-filling.

For my fellow Kinski fans, be sure to check out Les Blank's documentary BURDEN OF DREAMS if you don't already have the Criterion DVD. It's currently available via Instant View and presents a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the making of Werner Herzog's FITZCARRALDO. Here's their capsule write-up on the flick...

This feature-length documentary from filmmaker Les Blank paints a riveting portrait of megalomaniacal German director Werner Herzog as he worked against almost insurmountable odds in the Amazon jungle to craft his epic movie Fitzcarraldo. Besides capturing the seemingly hexed production's myriad adversities, Blank's camera exposes Herzog as a man obsessed with his art and pressed to the brink of insanity to see his cinematic vision fulfilled.

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Kinski Sighting: Zine Edition

As some of you might know I used to publish a food and drink zine called The Hungover Gourmet. I say "used to" because the latest issue of the zine also happens to be the last issue of the zine.

There were many reasons for pulling the plug on the publication – time, money, turnaround, ennui – but the biggest reason was that I really didn't have the passion for plugging away at a print publication anymore. And I'd promised myself that when the passion wasn't there it was time to get out.

So, for the first time in almost 25 years I'm not publishing a zine. Oh sure, I've got three blogs and two websites, but no empty Quark layout on my computer staring back at me, no bulging folders of clips, article ideas, notes, found stuff and artwork just itching to make its way into print. And, like I said, no passion to make it happen.

Luckily, that passion is still out there for other publishers. I don't follow the zine scene as closely as I used to, back when zines like SLIMETIME, HI-TECH TERROR, VIDEOOZE, WET PAINT and GORE GAZETTE were showing up in my mailbox on a regular basis, hipping me to the most outer limits of the trash universe. These days, it seems like a lot of the genre mags are almost pro-zines, with their color covers, glossy paper and handsome layouts.

Which makes it especially nice when a good old photocopied horror film zine like RIGOR MORTIS lands in my hands. This is the second installment of the Baltimore-based zombie-centric publication and it's a nice expansion on the all-zombie-focused first issue. Yes, the 60-page digest is still heavy on living dead content (including a nice comparison of the two versions of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD as well as an exploration of zombie comedies or zom-coms that sadly fails to include the great NIGHT OF THE CREEPS) but there's also a look at Carpenter's THE FOG, paranormal reality shows and more.

Even our main man Klaus Kinski gets a nice nod, with a five page article on Kinski's performance in Herzog's NOSFERATU and how it compares to other portrayals of the vampire mainstay. Unfortunately, there's no exploration of the trash-tastic NOSFERATU IN VENICE.

While my passion for producing zines may have waned, I'm happy to report that my passion for consuming them – like a zombie chomping down on some brains – is still as strong as ever. Here's hoping Dread Sockett, DeadVida and Co. keep the RIGOR MORTIS fires burning.

Kinski Name Checked on HBO's BORED TO DEATH

Thanks to the so-so reviews I haven't checked out HBO's BORED TO DEATH yet. Sure, I like the stars (Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis, Ted Danson) and the pacing and comic structure sounds very Wes Anderson-esque but it has never quite made it onto my watch list.

But based on the e-mail I received this morning from good pal and Exploitation Retrospect co-founder Lou Goncey, maybe it should...

Do you have HBO? There's a show on there called Bored To Death starring Jason Schwartzman. It's an OK show, not great, but I still watch it. Last night's episode had Ted Danson (a regular) sitting with a male escort (don't ask). He's talking with the escort about how his therapist told him to experiment with the same sex in order to get in touch with his femine side (It's that kinda show). The escort all of the sudden says forget the labels man, you should read Klaus Kinski's autobiography. Ted Danson replies, "you mean Werner Herzog's muse?". It came out of left field, and I thought you should know about it.

Thanks Gonster! Along with Ethan Hawke's character Jesse reading All I Need is Love (which Lou famously reviewed before it was pulled from the shelves back in our print zine days) on a train at the beginning of Richard Linklater's BEFORE SUNRISE and Anthony Bourdain dropping Klaus' name during a recent episode of NO RESERVATIONS, this ranks as one of the oddest, most unexpected Klaus mentions in recent time!

Who Knew? Bill Hader Loves Klaus Kinski!

One of my favorite listens each week is The BS Report podcast with Bill Simmons on ESPN.com. I know what you're thinking, "Sports? Really?". Well, if my obsessions were strictly limited to Klaus Kinski, trash cinema and food I wouldn't be very well-rounded, would I?

And Simmons is hardly your typical sports talking head. Just a couple years younger than yours truly, Simmons doesn't work the sports beat or have the kind of unfettered access to players an coaches that broadcasters like to rub in our faces during games. Instead, Simmons is just as likely to interview an actor or comedian (like this week's great Patton Oswalt episode) as he is a fellow ESPN member, sports GM or athlete.

But you could have knocked me over with a feather during this week's interview with Saturday Night Live star and popular comic actor Bill Hader. While talking about their dinner the night before recording the podcast Simmons and Hader had the following exchange:

SIMMONS: "I didn't realize till dinner last night what a gigantic Klaus Kinski fan you are."
HADER: "Oh yeah, Klaus Kinski is amazing. MY BEST FIEND... I can watch that movie any time. It's like the ultimate..."

After that the conversation moves towards Hader's love for the autobiography of Roman Polanski and his Polanski impression, probably because Simmons doesn't know enough about Kinski to keep the conversation rolling.

But, so what? Between this and Anthony Bourdain's recent Kinski namecheck on an episode of No Reservations (which prompted one commentator on Bourdain's blog to write "My sides are still aching from laughing after the Klaus Kinski reference. Watching the monkeys I was thinking exactly that!") can we be entering a mainstream embrace of the German Olivier?

Kinski's Nosferatu Named to EW's Top 20 Vampires List

Imagine my surprise when I pulled the new Entertainment Weekly out of the mailbox this afternoon and flipped to their list of The 20 Greatest Vampires of All Time... and found the one and only Klaus Kinski coming in at a respectable #11 on the list! Not only that but Klaus gets a nice write-up that pats him on the back without some sort of snide remark about his on-set behavior or scandalous autobio.

According to the pop-watchers at EW K2's performance as Stoker's bloodthirsty count ranks below such icons as Christopher Lee's Hammer portrayals, Bela Lugosi, Gary Oldman and characters from something called TWILIGHT and TRUE BLOOD but ahead of Keifer Sutherland in LOST BOYS, Wesley Snipes' portrayal of Blade, and Caleb & Mae from red hot director Kathryn Bigelow's NEAR DARK.

Not bad company for ol' Klaus and maybe it'll turn some people on to what the mag calls "the most human rendering of Stoker's creation". Click the scan below to read the complete write-up...

Klaus on Twitter

I never really got into MySpace but I have to admit that I am fascinated by both Twitter and, to a lesser extent, Facebook. Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with people and I kinda love the way that disparate parts of my life – like Eurotrash-loving pals and my decidedly non-Eurotrash-loving siblings – will collide in ways that I never anticipated.

But Twitter really fascinates me because of the short, almost stream-of-consciousness bursts that its 140 character limit all but imposes. I also enjoy being able to search tweets and see how topics I love are trending. Like Klaus Kinski, for instance. Just click this link to see how Klaus is being talked about (seems like several people have been watching MY BEST FIEND lately) including what current TV show one poster would cast him on.

Perhaps my favorite comment, though, is this one from a user named Syder:

Feeling an acute sensation of celebrity twitter melancholy. How much richer would life have been if Klaus Kinski and twitter had co-existed?

On Display

Currently on display in our living room... great Turkish COBRA VERDE poster with a fantastic painting of Klaus on it.

Klausday Present – Original NOSFERATU Radio Spot

I picked this up a few months back on eBay and have been waiting for the right time to share it. Since today is Klaus Kinski's 82nd birthday it seemed like the perfect time.

This is an original 30-second radio spot for Herzog's NOSFERATU. I purchased a lot of 20th Century Fox radio promo records simply because this record was included. The spot comes on a 7", 33-1/3 RPM vinyl record with the label as shown at right. The yellow manila envelope is simply stamped NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE, PHONOGRAPH RECORDS, FRAGILE, DO NOT DROP.

The spot couldn't be more generic, with its long "heartbeat" intro and woman's voice simply stating the title and rating. No mention is made of the enigmatic star.

NOSFERATU Radio Spot (wav) | NOSFERATU Radio Spot (mp3)

Will There Be FITZCARRALDO 2060?

I'm no fan of April Fool's Day gags. It's hard enough to know what to believe on the internet without having to have your bullshit filter strapped on for an entire day, making you suspicious of every single thing you read.

Like this tidbit from SlashFilm (who did give me a chuckle yesterday with their "news" on the SUPERMAN VS. SPIDER-MAN big-screen project)... though there's absolutely no actual reports on this outside the SlashFilm post, it's just crazy enough to be true.

The good, and potentially great, news? This is just crazy, let me catch my breath. One of the best actors working today, Daniel Day-Lewis, is in talks to follow-up his Oscar-winning role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood with yet another award-caliber epic. So, what’s the sort of off-putting (but not necessarily bad) news? If it pans out, Day-Lewis’s next film will belong to Hollywood’s current remake pantheon, though this one sounds more like a bold and careful “re-envisioning.”

Director Peter Weir (Master and Commander, The Last Wave) and Warner Bros. are fast-tracking an $80 million remake of Fitzcarraldo, Werner Herzog’s classic and quite deranged 1982 film about an ambitious man who strikes out, against all rationality, to construct an opera house deep in the Peruvian jungle. Day-Lewis will star as the aforementioned man, a role originally made famous by the German nut Klaus Kinski.

Though I'm no huge fan of the original flick, I must admit I'm somewhat intrigued by the idea of a futuristic Fitzcarraldo hauling space steamboats.

Herzog Interview at The Onion AV Club... Sadly No Kinski

Frequent Kinski director Werner Herzog gives a brief interview to the Onion AV Club. Sadly, no talk about my man Klaus Kinski.