movies – Killer Kitsch Designs

b-movie, bmovies, classics, comedy, horror, killer b cinema, movies, sci-fi

KILLER B CINEMA PRESENTS: SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS AND SILENT NIGHT BLOODY NIGHT

November 20, 2017November 20, 2017 Lizzie Violet

Killer B Cinema presents Silent Night, Bloody Night and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians! Two killer B-movies to start the festive season off right and for the low, low price of $5. That’s right FIVE DOLLARS! And there will be trivia with prizes!

This month we will also be having a Krampus Raffle! Everyone who attends our movie night will get a raffle ticket for a prize pack AND for each tacky Xmas themed item you are wearing (ugly Xmas sweater, tinsel or garland accessories, over the top poinsettia hair flowers… you get it), you get an extra raffle ticket for the draw!

Doors (back performance space) open at 8 pm and the movies begin at 8:30 pm.

Link to Invite: https://www.facebook.com/events/529603940721676/

Silent Night, Bloody Night
Running Time: 85 minutes

Silent Night, Bloody Night (also released as Night of the Dark Full Moon and Death House[1]) is a 1972 American horror film directed by Theodore Gershuny and co-produced by Lloyd Kaufman. The film stars Patrick O’Neal and cult actress Mary Woronov in leading roles, with John Carradine in a supporting performance. The plot follows a series of murders that occur in a small town on Christmas Eve after a man inherits a family estate which was once an insane asylum.

Santa Claus Conquers The Martians
Running Time: 81 minutes

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is a 1964 American science fiction comedy film directed by Nicholas Webster, written by Paul L. Jacobson based on a story by Glenville Mareth, stars John Call as Santa Claus, and features an eight-year-old Pia Zadora as one of the Martian children. The film also marks the first documented appearance of Mrs. Claus in a motion picture (Doris Rich plays the role), coming three weeks before the television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which also featured the character.

Each month join Lizzie Violet & Zoltan Du Lac for a double bill of B-moves from the 1940s to 1970s!

Thank you to the Imperial Pub and their staff! They make our monthly event extra amazing!

We hope to see you at The Imperial!

killer-b-cinema-poster__dec-2-2017

1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, classics, independent, movies, pre-code, rep theatre, silent films, silent movies, Uncategorized, vintage

Why Rep Theatres Are Important To The Vintage Culture and Community

October 16, 2017October 16, 2017 Lizzie Violet

I am a huge, HUGE classic movie nerd. Especially Silent Movies, Pre-code movies and 1950s Sci-fi. As a child, many Saturday mornings were filled with watching these movies and I have many fond memories of Saturday Night at the Movies with Elwy Yost. I grew up loving black and white classic cinema. Living in Toronto I am beyond fortunate that there are rep theatres that still show these movies on the regular or have themed movie afternoons/evenings. My fella and I have become regulars at the 4 pm Sunday show at the Carlton. $6 gets you a movie, popcorn, and a drink. Each month is themed. We are also a stone throw from The Revue and are found there often, especially during the Toronto Silent Film Festival. Why do I think these types of theatres are important, let me tell you.

History. The history of the theatre and the history that comes along with the movies that are shown. Sadly, with the condo boom, many of Toronto’s beloved architecture, including old movie houses are being torn down. I don’t want to make this piece about that, I do want to raise how important it is to keep some of old Toronto still alive and intact. This includes our original movie theatres. There is so much incredible history in these buildings. Imagine the movies that were shown in these beautiful structures. Everything from The Silents of the early 1900s to the gritty movies of the 1970s. The people that would have walked across the thresholds. Buildings that allowed you to take refuge from the heat, the cold, the depression, the war or the general world outside. A place where you could escape to another world via celluloid. I often dream of being a child, jaw open while being mesmerized by a Silent Film, a sassy teen being inspired by the Flappers gracing the screen or a twenty-something being tantalized by a Pre-code bit of raunch. Witnessing a time in history and film-making when the creators cared about the story and the presentation.

An escape. The world we live in is a harsh place to be in. It’s equally complicated by the all too convenient ability to pull out your phone to see or read the news, check social media, watch hours of youtube or stream whatever content you want and almost never be left to use your imagination if even for a short period of time. It’s why I write in complete silence. Going to a movie theatre, where you have to put your phone away is a wonderful feeling. To spend one to two hours being swept into another world, another time. To see films about a period of history, shot during that actual time. The music, clothes, sets — the story. Is it wrong that I still have crushes on Jimmy Stewart or Clara Bow?

Most importantly, supporting independent businesses. Most of these theatres are independently owned. I would much rather support independent or family-owned businesses. I don’t only go to rep theatres to see the classics, I would much rather see the latest blockbuster in them. Yes, it means waiting a few extra weeks to see it, but if it means the money is going to a small business, I will wait.

Please, check out your local rep theatre. The more we frequent them, the longer they stay alive.

MOVIE THEATRES :

Bloor Hot Docs Cinema (The Annex) – 506 Bloor Street West, Toronto 416-637-3123 — http://www.hotdocscinema.ca/

Carlton Cinema – 20 Carlton Street at Yonge, Toronto, 416 – 494-9371 — https://imaginecinemas.com/cinema/carlton-cinema/

Fox Theatre – 2236 Queen Street East, Toronto, 416-691-7330 — www.foxtheatre.ca

Humber Cinemas – 2442 Bloor Street West — http://www.humbercinemas.com/

Kingsway – 3030 Bloor Street West — http://kingswaymovies.ca/

Regent Theatre – 551 Mount Pleasant Road — http://regenttoronto.com/

Revue Cinema – 400 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada M6R 2M9 — http://revuecinema.ca/

Royal Cinema – 608 College Street, Toronto, 416-466-4400 — www.theroyal.to

1920s, classics, movies, silent cinema, silent films, silent movies, Uncategorized

Silent Cinema

October 16, 2017October 16, 2017 Lizzie Violet

As a child, I would spend hours watching silent movies. I was also that same child who not only wanted to be a flapper but insisted that her mother dress her like one. Fritzi Kramer runs a site called Movies Silently. You will always find incredibly informative posts about Silent Cinema from all over the world and because of Movies Silently, I have discovered silent movies I had never seen. I’m so thankful that so many silents have been preserved.

The queen of Egypt loves her Romans and so she falls for Mark Antony… What? You mean you know this one? Well, anyway, we’re looking over one of the very first feature-length Cleos with Helen Gardner in the title role. Home Media Availability: Released on DVD. Taking command A quick note before getting started. This…

via Cleopatra (1912) A Silent Film Review — Movies Silently

1930-1934, 1930s, classics, movies, old hollywood, pre-code

If you love Pre-code movies

October 16, 2017 Lizzie Violet

If you are like my fellow redhead (and Redhead Revue partner Heather Babcock) and I, both of which are obsessed with Pre-code movies, you should be subscribing to pre-code.com. Their website is filled with so much pre-code amazing information and movie lists that you will be beyond delighted and inspired to watch the movies. I learn new something new every post I read.

Wilber Bert Wheeler Tarzana Raquel Torres Alexander Robert Woolsey Released by Columbia | Directed by Edward F. Cline Run time: 61 minutes Proof That It’s a Pre-Code Film “Hey! Come back here, you jackass!” “Oh see those Afri-cans.” “Virgin trees? Huh! They look pretty wild to me.” locusts eat the clothes off the duo, leaving…

via So This Is Africa (1933) Review, with Wheeler & Woolsey and Raquel Torres — Pre-Code.Com

1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, bowling, drive-in theatre, movies, music, tiki, vintage, vintage date night

The Perfect Saturday Night Vintage Date Night

August 18, 2017August 18, 2017 Lizzie Violet

Raise your hand if you’ve watched a movie from the 1930s, 40s or 50s and thought to yourself, gee, that would be a swell date night idea. Their dates always look like a lot of fun. I’m raising both hands right now. Fess up so did quite a few of those reading this.

online-dating-header2 I love everything about date night of that period. The chivalry, the way that everyone took the time to dress up in their finest and made a real effort to impress their lady or fella. Doors were opened, chairs pulled out, hands held, people took the time to enjoy their meal, the movie, the date, nothing was rushed… I could go on. There is a beautiful romance about these times and I want to recreate them.

There are many ways to make your date night a vintage date night. You’ve already dressed in your vintage glad rags, so why not go out on the town and jolly it up vintage style. It could be dinner and a movie, dinner and then drinks at a Speakeasy, I mean Tiki bar, a night of bowling or a romantic picnic in a park. There are many ways to turn your date into a dreamy vintage night out.

Living in Toronto, we are fortunate to have a plethora of vintage or vintage style diners, bowling alleys, dance events and drive-ins. If you are having a vintage style picnic or romantic dinner at home, don’t forget the music. There are many options for music as well as ways to play it. If you don’t have a stereo that plays vinyl, you can also stream vintage music online and with the right gadget, you could possibly even have it play through that vintage radio you have sitting on your mantle or beautiful corner table. I suggest Radio Vintage for this. http://www.radiovintage.net/

If your vintage date night is a movie night and your city has a Rep Theatre, check out their selection of classic movies. Get some popcorn and a soda pop and you are ready to snuggle up to your fella or flame. My personal favourite date night movie is The Creature From the Black Lagoon. I think it’s adorable when my fella jumps and squeezes my hand tight during the scary parts. What’s your favourite vintage date night classic movie? If a drive-in theatre is more your thing, pack a cooler with your favourite drinks and snacks or go to the concession stand when those wonderful kitschy retro ads play between movies.

If you are in the mood for a picnic, pack up that wicker picnic basket and fill it with a gingham tablecloth, a lovely packed meal and if your city allows it, maybe a nice bottle of wine. Bring along your portable radio so you can place some classic, swinging jazz.
roman-holiday

If you live in Toronto and as I mentioned above, there is a grand selection of places you could go for your date. I have listed options for bowling alleys, drive-ins, rep theatres, speakeasies aka tiki bars or vintage diners below.

BOWLING:

All-Star Bowl – 2791 Eglinton Ave E Toronto, 416-261-5011

Bathurst Bowlerama – 2788 Bathurst St, Toronto 416-782-1841

Bowlerama – 5837 Yonge St North York, 416-222-4657

Brimley Bowl – 26441/2 Eglinton E Toronto, 416-261-4216, 2644 Eglinton Ave E, Scarborough

Brunzwick Zone – 2561 Stanfield Rd, Mississauga, 905-270-8634

Classic Bowl – 3055 Dundas St W, Mississauga, 905-607-2695

Danforth Bowl – 1554 Danforth Ave (downstairs) Toronto, On – 416.463.3000

Kennedy Bowl – White Shield Plaza, 2300 Lawrence Ave E, Scarborough, 416-759-6181

Lucky Strike Lanes – 1 Bass Pro Mills Drive, Vaughan Mills, 1-905-760-9931 (up-scale Mod)

Newtonbrook Bowlerama – 5837 Yonge St North York, 416-222-4657

North Park Bowl – 1359 Lawrence Ave W, North York, 416-240-9373

Parkway Bowl – Parkway Mall, 67 Ellesmere Rd, Scarborough, 416-447-1761

Playtime Bowl – 33 Samor Rd Toronto, 416-787-4533

Rexdale Bowlerama – 115 Rexdale Blvd, Etobicoke 416-743-8388

Shamrock Bowl – (1950s style, rentable space) 280 Coxwell Ave, Toronto 416-406-2695, info@shamrockbowl.ca

The Ballroom – 145 John St Toronto, 416-597-2695

Thorncliffe Bowlerama – East York Town Centre, 45 Overlea Blvd Toronto, 416-421-2211

West Bowlerama – 5429 Dundas St W, Etobicoke, 416-239-3536

Rep Movie Theatres :

Bloor Hot Docs Cinema (The Annex) – 506 Bloor St W, Toronto 416-637-3123

Carlton Cinema – 20 Carlton Street at Yonge, Toronto, 416 – 494-9371

Fox Theatre – 2236 Queen St E, Toronto, 416-691-7330 http://www.foxtheatre.ca

Revue Cinema – 400 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada M6R 2M9

Royal Cinema – 608 College Street, Toronto, 416-466-4400 http://www.theroyal.to

Restaurants

Vintage Toronto Diners — https://www.facebook.com/Vintage-Toronto-Diners-1384779678460763/?fref=ts
Aunties & Uncles — 74 Lippincott Street
The Ace — 231A Roncesvalles Avenue

Apache Burger — 5236 Dundas Street West

Bloor Jane Restaurant — 2434 Bloor Street West

Bus Terminal Diner — 1606 Danforth Avenue

Cardinal Rule — 5 Roncesvalles Avenue

MARS FOOD — 432 College Street

Skyline Restaurant — 1426 Queen Street West

The Lakeview Restaurant — 1132 Dundas Street West

The Senator Restaurant — 249 Victoria Street

Tikibars

Bill Hicks Bar – 946 Queen Street East

Bovine Sex Club – 542 Queen Street West

Miss Thing – 1279 Queen Street West

Shameful Tiki Room — 1378 Queen Street West

The Shore Leave -1175 Danforth Avenue

Drive-In Theatres (In or near Toronto):

5 Drive in Theatre — http://www.premiertheatres.ca/5drivein/theaterinfo

Stardust Drive-In http://www.thestarlite.ca/stardustfilms.php

The Docks — http://www.thedocks.com/movies/

1920s, 1930s, classics, joan crawford, movies, old hollywood, silent films, silent movies, vintage

Silent Movies Are Good For the Soul

April 20, 2017 Lizzie Violet

Ever since I can recall, I’ve wanted to be a Flapper and even to the point, as a young child I would often ask my mother to dress me like one. In my early days of high school, I would mix styles of punk, Edwardian and Flapper. A look that made a fourteen-year-old stick out in the hallways, clashing with her fellow, small town, plaid wearing classmates. I would be seen wandering the halls with books on ghosts and a notebook to write in. When I was home, I would either be in my room writing, doing art, or sewing or watching classic movies, especially silents. No one understood why I would want to do this, no one really got me. Why would a teenager, be so intrigued by silent movies or prefer reading the 1927 Eaton’s Spring and Summer catalogue replica she inherited from her grandfather? Shouldn’t she be out running amok in the streets or listening to that rock and/or roll music?

At some point in grade ten, my love of German Expressionist film started. Unfortunately, being in a small town, my only options for silent movies was TVO or rentals. At that time I didn’t have a huge selection and unlike here in Toronto, our public library didn’t have a huge selection of rentals. I was able to get my hands on Metropolis and Nosferatu from our local rental place. I watched both of these movies so many times, I could have shadowcast them. When I moved away from that small town and to Toronto, my world opened up. Not only did I have access to places like the Toronto Reference Library and Blockbuster, but there were groups and organizations that also loved silent movies. Pre-Facebook (yes there was a time before Facebook) I was able to find meet-ups via the classifieds in Now Magazine or posters, found on the telephone poles along Queen street.

My fourteen-year-old self would be beside herself today if she had those options. Social media has helped bring together large groups of silent film aficionados and like-minded, dames and fellas. Every April in Toronto, there is a Silent Film Festival. Sadly, I’m not able to see all of the movies at the festival (if only there was more time), but my dream is to one day get a pass and see every — single — one. This year we were able to see some ‘found’ movies and serials such as Sherlock Holmes, a Buster Keaton short and the 2nd reel from an epic pie fight brought to you by Laurel and Hardy called ‘The Battle of the Century’. It truly was the greatest pie fight in history. I have included a YouTube video below of a shorter version of the video. If you can, you should see the restored longer version. Side note: at 3:22 mark, I still drool over how stunning the outfit, worn by the woman who lands fanny first on a pie. I’m so glad her dress missed the pie!

I have an ever growing collection of silent movies on DVD. I fantasize often about owning a projector and film on reels, but due to the condition of most original silent films, this may remain a fantasy and a whole other blog post. Fortunately for me, a streaming service called FilmOn has a silent film and classic movie channel. I have discovered films I’ve never seen and also get to re-watch and fall in love again with, old favourites. I will never grow weary of watching the Barrymores, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Clara Bow, Mary Pickford, Errol Flynn, Valentino or Joan Crawford. Joan Crawford you say? Absolutely. She got her start, on the big screen, in the silents. There is something so delightful in watching her in Our Dancing Daughters.

As I continue to watch silents, I am finding new favourites. Recenty I watched ‘The Married Virgin (1918) – Rudolph Valentino‘. As soon as Valentino walks into a scene, you can see why women swooned over him. As I watch Valentino and other stars like Clara Bow, Jean Harlow and Joan Crawford, I often wonder what it would have been like to have been alive in the 1920s and 1930s. It would have been incredible to see these movies, for the first time, in the cinemas of those eras. We are fortunate for festivals such of The Toronto Silent Film festival, but if I could hop into a time-machine, I would set the dial to that era.

What are your favourite silent films?

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