I have committed many offenses against human decency, but an enthusiastically positive review of Manos? I may have finally crossed the line.
MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE
It’s a fitting name for the movie, because my fate seems intrinsically intertwined with Manos. If any movie was my long lost evil twin brother, it would be Manos. I know that one day, billions of years from now, as the earth boils and dies, Manos and I are fated to stand atop a craggy cliff as a tumultuous sea of lava crashes below us and volcanoes spew fire and dinosaurs into the sky. There we stand, face to face, battered, bloody, aware of the fact that we are both doomed, yet never the less unable to extract ourselves from the eternal combat into which we have been and always shall be locked. I have seen the road lain before me, and I know that it leads to Manos: The Hands of Fate just as surely as its road leads to me. My ties to Manos are sundry, and even I did not realize most of them existed until I started peeling back the layers of the onion, each one confronting me with a revelation more unspeakable than the last, until one day I found myself actually standing on the very grounds that served as the location for the film, at which time I fell to my knees, cried out to the heavens, and went stark raving mad.
#1 by Cabal on February 12, 2009 - 2:54 pm
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You haven’t crossed the line, Keith. In regard to Manos, that’s impossible, for to have a ‘line’ infers that somewhere there is a sane point of reference upon which to draw. Manos’ line is an unspeakable Moebius strip, which can be approached, perhaps apprehended, but can ultimately be neither crossed nor escaped…
#2 by lyzard on February 12, 2009 - 3:58 pm
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Oh, Keith, I just fell in love with you all over again. And I want to re-watch Manos. After which, I will undoubtedly fall out of love with you all over again.
#3 by KeithA on February 12, 2009 - 4:19 pm
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Lyz my love, such are the pitfalls on the lonely road I have chosen to travel.
#4 by lyzard on February 12, 2009 - 5:10 pm
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You know, there are few things I’d enjoy more than an off-the-beaten track journey to the world’s most obscure National Parks (a flint quarry!? – I am so there!); my tragedy has always been that I never had anyone to do that kind of stuff with. (“Hey, let’s go stay at this resort!! It’s got NIGHTCLUBS!!”) Of course, I probably would have ended up tied to a pillar and wearing granny-pants, but I guess these are the choices we make…
#5 by supersonic on February 12, 2009 - 5:54 pm
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Petty Booka! I saw them live once, in Marin County. I bought a CD and gave it to my brother. (And copied it, since it was opened in order to be autographed.)
#6 by KeithA on February 12, 2009 - 6:03 pm
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Lyz — Mark your calendar. Depending on the sudden revitalization of this flagging economy, the goal for 2010 is a road trip in Oz. You have been notified. I guarantee no Wolf Creek-like shenanigans. On the other hand, I will probably insist on wearing my “Wez outfit” the entire time.
#7 by lyzard on February 12, 2009 - 6:32 pm
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You mean…2010 is the year we make contact!!??
I, on the other hand, will refrain from making any promises whatsoever…
#8 by The Fishin' Mortician on February 12, 2009 - 7:16 pm
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Like a doomed June-bug drawn toward the enthralling blue glow of a bug-zapper, where it repeatedly keeps banging away at the screen, ignoring the stench of the crispered carcasses who came before it, until mindlessly forcing its way through the protective mesh to an almost certain grisly fate, I never could explain properly why I keep seeking out these types of films, where logic has been so thoroughly devoured, digested and shat out, and which genuinely give me a case of the drizzles, appealed to me — until now. Thanks.
You also stirred up some fond memories of a similar trip to nowhere I had in Nevada where our party took the wrong road, an old jeep trail, off of Highway 6, while trying to find The Lunar Crater. Came to a unmarked fork in the dirt trail/sand trap. One trail surely led to the Crater, the other, I was most certain, into Papa Jupiter’s camp. Luckily, we picked the right one.
#9 by Tom Meade on February 12, 2009 - 7:58 pm
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For some reason I really want to read Keith’s screenplay.
I haven’t seen this yet, but I do have a coffin-shaped Coffin Joe box set from the library that’s waiting to be watched. I have a feeling this is go lead to my stumbling half-crazed and sleep-deprived around downtown Geelong, trying to climb lamp posts again.
#10 by El Santo on February 12, 2009 - 11:17 pm
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Alright, Keith– you’ve got my e-mail address. That means you know where to send directions to those Manos shooting locations. I’m planning an Epic Road Trip for this August or thereabouts, and that’s exactly the sort of stopover destination I have in mind.
#11 by Baron Scarpia on February 13, 2009 - 6:36 am
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Lyz –
”Hey, let’s go stay at this resort!! It’s got NIGHTCLUBS!!”
I feel your pain.