ethsnafu Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 (edited) What a stellar post Mr. Laredo! Had me in mind of Johnny Mathis "....It's wonderful, wonderful..." Edited December 5, 2007 by ethsnafu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Heath328 Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 (edited) What a stellar post Mr. Laredo! Had me in mind of Johnny Mathis "....It's wonderful, wonderful..." Indeed! It was always little touches like that (Johnny Mathis' "wonderful, wonderful" in the X-Files' "Home," The Carpenters in the opening of "Beware the Dog") that showed a higher caliber of writing by the 1013 family. You can sit and watch episodes repeatedly and find new gems to appreciate each time. I don't know where they got the idea to play otherwise vacuous music over scenes of horror, but this theme was done to the best effect in "Millennium." I seem to remember the BeeGees being used in "The Thin White Line" (a definitive episode for me) and "Love Hurts" when Emma finds the Group's body-disposal headquarters at the conclusion of "Skull and Bones." Other TV shows now shamelessly steal this musical bit. Edited December 6, 2007 by Heath328 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KTL Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 I'm surprised, so many people don't like this episode. Thirteen Years Later is one of my favourite episodes for a variety of reasons. The whole episode is clearly a post-Scream era slasher flick parody - probably the most intelligent one I've ever seen. If you are a fan of slasher movies you notice a lot of interesting in-jokes in this episode. For example, when Marc Bianco cuts trough the door in Emma's hotel room, it's not only a reference to The Thexas Chain Saw Massacre - witch is mentioned a few minutes earlier (Hollis: "A new movie just came on. A man in a human skin mask wielding a chainsaw"), but also a reference to Evil Dead II! When Emma shoots Bianco's chainsaw, and he flees out of the room, he imitates Ash's movements (the hero in the Evil Dead movies). Or... Slasher movies often introduce characters just to kill them off. They just suddenly pop up on screen without any real introduction, say a few lines, and the next thing you know, someone finds them dead - just for the sake of body count. That character in Thirteen Years Later is Sarah Cryer. Slasher movies of the late 90's where self-referential - so was Thirteen Years Later (the 'frenchman' reference). They also were 'whodunnit' movies - and Thirteen Years Later captures that when the crew remembers Cryer and everyone is in the room. When Frank is having his "What do you think this is? A movie?" monolouge, we see the suspects one by one: Sir Douglas Latham, Marc Bianco, Ramona Tangent, Hugo Winston. Just like in slaher movies, every major character could turn out to be the killer. Frank says: "The killer is in this room, I know you're here, and I'm gonna bring you to justice." By the way, Sir Douglas Latham, the british actor who plays the Madman Maniac - Master Thespian, "the toast of the english stage" - is a figure like Vincent Price, or other britisch actors, who played in horror movies. Like Peter Cushing, or Christopher Lee, who is known as Dracula. In fact, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are good examples, because Sir Douglas Latham says in the episode: "Olivier never met the Dane, and I'll be damned before I talk to some pervert killer about how to play this bloody part." Both Lee and Cushing played in "Hamlet" from 1948, in witch Laurence Olivier was "Hamlet, the Dane". Also, Sir Douglas Latham seems to be the serious, established actor. In slasher movies they often cast serious actors to play a role - see Donald Pleasence in Halloween. That's the kind of character I think Latham is. But there are so many other things, details, that make Thirteen Years Late a great episode. It's not only a parody of slasher movies, but a satire of the whole movie business. Just look at the director Rowdy Beeman, who after every take says: "Magic!" - because he has no clue how to film a scene! And notice how every character is touching Frank Black against his will. Or Marc Bianco's annoying method acting - following Frank around. Also, Frank profiling horror movie villains - hilarious! Greetings from Hungary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunslinger Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Heath328 - a belated welcome to the board. Its refreshing to see new people light here and carry themselves so articulately..well done..I have been away for a while, but just had to comment on this particular episode. The obvious conclusion is that 13 Years Later is most certainly one of the more "lacking" episodes of the entire 3 seasons. With that being said, and after the dross has been burned away, it is, unfortunately, as you say, a mark of Gene Simmon's commercial genius in getting Kiss re-exposed to the public. Coming from a man who once said he could "outrun God" if there was a profit at the end, its blatently and shamelessly obvious that the entire episode was used for Kiss's benefit. Like yourself, there was a small amount of humor that i found to be enjoyable, Frank sitting with Emma watching those classic horror movies on the sofa, commenting almost arrogantly about the reasons behind the killer's urges.. In regards to "Psycho Circus", what was presented on the show was an abridged version, it was not the entire song...not that i am a Kiss fan, but thats another topic... 4th Horseman.. "Shout it......shout it.....shout it out loud!!!!!!" Sorry couldn't help myself 4th!!lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethsnafu Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 I'm surprised, so many people don't like this episode. Thirteen Years Later is one of my favourite episodes for a variety of reasons. Gosh are you psychic KTL, I watched this episode earlier feeling a need for some Halloween out-of-season fun. You'd make a fine addition to the Millennium Group, move over Frank and Lara...... I'm not sure that people 'don't like' it KTL it simply sits as one of a few episodes that generate a general miasma and this is largely due to the antecedent intellectual-comedy that Darin Morgan injected into the 1013 franchise. There was a certain anarchic subtlety to his work that was always respectful of the overall arc, he created abstract pockets within the narrative that allowed his Lewis-Carollesque universe to continue in spite of and not challenging to continuity. 'Thirteen Years Later' relies on the twist-in-the-tale mechanism that fails to supply or inform the casual viewer that a conceptual shift or alternate universe is responsible for what we are seeing. It is probably fair to say that planting a Millennium episode in the midst of Kiss, B-Movies and Frank and Hollis' 'sofa moments' without the supportive reassurance that the kitsch-banality was simply that was less the wise. The episode's coda serves as a sigh of relief for those who have toe-curled throughout rather than a triumphant finale to an alternative-universe narrative that signaled its paradigm-shift-gloriousness from the off. Frank's universe may have allowed for Jose Chung but it didn't allow for Kiss. Methinks.. Best wishes Eth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Robin Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I thought the episode was just fantastic! I loved it, and it was definately an episode for somebody who has a sense of humor to watch in able to get the jokes. I was shocked that more posters above didn't really like it, I knew it was going to be a hit here. The episode was hilarious for all the reasons you said KTL. I loved how the guy kept following Frank by driving the same car, wearing the same jacket, and trying to sound like him. This episode is a good attempt at "comedy" and definately one of my favorite episodes so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillQS Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 This wasn't one of my favorites. It had some funny moments mixed in, (especially Frank's declaration "I'll catch this killer even if it drives me insane... for the third time! and also Frank building profiles of all the slashers in the films Emma showed him.) I also really liked the reference all the way back to the Pilot, however the whole vibe just didn't work for me, especially the end. I could tell since we were not looking at the front of "Frank's" head that it was probably the actor who was playing him in the movie. Looking back, I didn't hate it. I just didn't love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Black's Babe Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 I enjoyed Frank and Emma's discussions about horror films more than the main plot. When RED HERRING(oops I mean Hugo) was killed, it was obvious who the culprit was. LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME! Nothing against KISS, but what was the point of them being there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest paranoid eyes Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 I heard so many really negative opinions about this episode that at first I skipped it and went straight to Skull and Bones. When I finally saw it, I was surprised how O.K. if not enjoyable it was. I found the humor to be a nice break from the seriousness of the season 3, especially since the previous episodes focused on such ridicules topics as conspirators, government agencies using physics etc. I like the “serious matters portrayed in a serious way” style of season 1”, S2 approach “ridicules topics (demon dogs, ancient cults, angels appearing everywhere) shown with irony” was not what I expected from this show but it produced some good episodes. But the first few episodes of the latest seasons had ridicules storylines for which I found it hard to care and which were forced on us as something deep and important. So a return to good old silly humor was a nice change. Taken out of the context of the whole show 13 years later ( before seeing it I thought that this is actually going to take place 13 years in the future and show an older Frank and Emma ), is an enjoyable episode. However when compared to the previous season, I have to ask, why was this even made? It tried to recapture the atmosphere of Halloween just like The Curse of Frank Black but it had no atmosphere, it tried to satirize pop culture’s approach to serial killer profiling just like Jose Chung’s Doomsday but it wasn’t as funny and, like The House of Pests, attempted to parody the idiotism and clichés of slasher films but it wasn’t as scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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