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Midnight Media Cafe - "Shatterday" - RIP Wes Craven
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So Wes Craven died today. Most people know him for his work in horror films, but I was never into those. I'll always remember him for his work with the 80's version of The Twilight Zone. Just like the original, it was a hit-and-miss affair, but when it was good, it kicked serious ass. Craven directed several episodes, some of the best in the series, including this one.
Shatterday
Herein you can see the very first segment of that series, a dramatization of Harlan Ellison's short story Shatterday starring an almost unknown Bruce Willis. This was a lot of people's first glimpse of the man, including me. It's miles away from his usual wiseacre persona, certainly from David Addison, the smartass detective he'd play for several seasons on Moonlighting, and the blueprint for so many of his performances after. Here he's uptight, paranoid, and spiralling slowly into madness. An interesting performance handled in an interesting way by Craven. I especially like the focus on keeping the main character in a tight visual box, emphasizing the concept of being shut in and cut off.
RIP, for a talented artist.
So Wes Craven died today. Most people know him for his work in horror films, but I was never into those. I'll always remember him for his work with the 80's version of The Twilight Zone. Just like the original, it was a hit-and-miss affair, but when it was good, it kicked serious ass. Craven directed several episodes, some of the best in the series, including this one.
Shatterday
Herein you can see the very first segment of that series, a dramatization of Harlan Ellison's short story Shatterday starring an almost unknown Bruce Willis. This was a lot of people's first glimpse of the man, including me. It's miles away from his usual wiseacre persona, certainly from David Addison, the smartass detective he'd play for several seasons on Moonlighting, and the blueprint for so many of his performances after. Here he's uptight, paranoid, and spiralling slowly into madness. An interesting performance handled in an interesting way by Craven. I especially like the focus on keeping the main character in a tight visual box, emphasizing the concept of being shut in and cut off.
RIP, for a talented artist.
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