September 08, 2003
It Came From Memphis
SUNDAY OCTOBER 26TH, 2003. Doors 7.30pm
The second in our two evenings of films of, in, about, by and surrounding the cultural phenomena that is MEMPHIS, kinoKULTURE presents to you :
IT CAME FROM MEMPHIS
An evening of film from John Michael McCarthy, curated by Paul Duane
Featuring specially recorded video introduction by director John Michael McCarthy!
PLUS PLUS PLUS
Elv*s meets the B*atles
Superstarlet AD
AND the pilot for It Came from Memphis directed by Paul Duane and Robert Gordon.
Superstarlet A.D. is a feature length romp packed with the sex and violence of a soap-bath opera. It picks up early in the post-apocalyptic next millenia in the lost city of Femphis, where the world has returned to the order of nature. All men have de-evolved into deadly Neanderthals, whereas womankind has gained a chromosome - all women are physically beautiful, but wear only vintage undergarments (other clothes not having withstood the disaster). All gay men are dead and there are no gay cavemen so it will take millions of years for the clothing industry to evolve.
The women have no desire to construct geometric shapes, prefering to make the best of what has been left for them. Gifted with style and intuition, but cursed with a gossip & hatred for other hair colors, women have banded into beauty cults!
Armed with machine guns, dumb platinum blond PHAYRAYS, ruthless brunet SATANAS and ill-tempered redheaded TEMPESTS battle each other among the ruins of Femphis, over a dissipating supply of lipstick and ammo. All try to stay out of the reach of the deadly skulking cavemen.
Except for one Beauty Cult who had to be different: SUPERSTARLET A.D.:
A multi-haircolored force of three enlightened starlets who love all haircolor. Brunet leader Naomi loves her naive blond girlfriend Rachel but their beloved rehead Sarah was killed by another redhead member, Jezebel. Killing another woman being the worst crime, Jezebel is exiled forever from Superstarlet A.D. and the beauty cult finds itself without a redhead.
As direct descendants of 1950's burlesque stars, the Superstarlets wear their grand- mothers film reels mounted on their backs like halo's. The story concerns Naomi's quest in life: to find and watch her ancestral film. Naomi and Rachel search ancient movie theatres bearing only the title "Funny Pages" to guide them. Most theatres house only cavemen and intrigue.
Jezebel becomes the 13th leader to rule The Tempests, worshippers of rusted sewing machines. Living in a Berlin-esque night- club, The Tempests accept blond victims whom the Satanas have captured and traded for lipstick. The victims are sacrificed for their blood, which is used to enrich the redness of their hair color.
"First there was Nature, then animals, and then Woman! Woman gave birth to Man and he follows us to this very day. She survives because she is closer to Nature. She looks natural in animal skin; painted, clawed, and heeled. Since time began Man has evolved but WOMAN has always looked the same! So why be equal when you are born SUPERIOR? Blood Ritual gives us power! RED the first color to be named! Any woman can be a Tempest who dies her hair in the blood of a blond or a brunet.
Blood is what the Tempests worship now!
TO HELL WITH RUSTY MACHINES!"
The balance is disrupted when the hotheaded Tempests take a Satana hostage and convert her, via the brutal conditioning of Jezebel's personal domantrix/lover Cathy X. This infuriates Verona, leader of The Satanas who swears revenge, even if it means joining forces with the blondes.
Constantly searching for her Grandmothers film, Naomi discovers a new redhead. Her name is Valentine. She was a starlet who fell asleep in her hotrod and awoke in the apocalyptic present day. Valentine even lives in a vintage clothing store and invites Naomi and Rachel to stay with her. Soon she becomes the next member of Superstarlet A.D.
"My name is Valentine, or so my story goes. I was conceived in a drive-in and it took a Man. We are all conceived by Man I suppose. But it takes a woman to deliver the goods. But who can remember and what does it matter? Is it that much of me that is evil? That part of me made by Man. Well I intend to rub-it-out. I wanted a brute, not a neanderthal. So I kill a Man (if I'm lucky enough to find one). ... then I am aroused. And when I am aroused I am better.
So I have to wonder out loud... I want to kill a Man and love a Woman. Maybe one will lead to the other. After all, woman turns to woman when man turns to ape."
The lost film "Funny Pages" is found by UltraMame, leader of the PhayRays. Now the Phayrays are in control of Naomi's quest, bribing her to give up Rachel (because blondes are almost extinct.) This pushes Naomi to the brink of everything she holds dear as she struggles to control the murderous urges that before she thought only belonged to Man.
Fleeing from a thousand gothic mansions of her imagination, Naomi murders UltraMame which seems to solve everything, but only for a moment. This act of selfishness forever changes the lives of those who kiss and tell and kill for Superstarlet A.D.!
"What kind of society destroys its church? Later I wrote what a cool place the Lamar Theatre must of been. Through lawsuits, riots, and hard-ons, Lamar Theatre uber alles. The church cannot compete with the sin cinema, where children suffer ratbite screaming to a monster movie. Closed for good when the heard the end was coming. They had already seen the end of every movie."