JOHN CARPENTER [Q&A]: One Certified Sci-Fi-Thrilling.. Rock Star.

Let’s just get it out of the way…

John Carpenter, you are the f&%@ing man!

Last Friday, I had the honor and pleasure of attending the LA Times Hero Complex Film Festival, where I, not only participated in a tasty double-screening of They Live and (the original) Halloween; but, got to check out a Q&A with one of the funniest men in showbusiness, director John Carpenter.

After seeing him in person at Hollywood’s Chinese 6, there’s no doubt the man is a certifiable sci-fi filmmaking Rock Star.

It has been years since I have seen Carpenter‘s sci-fi classic starring — yes — WWE/F Hall of Famer, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. It may have even been after a night of Monday night wrestling, very much after, on the USA network. Of course, watching They Live as a punk adolescent is an entirely different experience than watching it now as a.. well.. punk adult. Either era, a good part of me couldn’t stop thinking how Mr. Carpenter really stuck it to “the man.”

And, by “the man,” I mean the 1980s. You know, generally-speaking.

Here’s what good ol’ Carps had to say about the flick and its era:

“I graduated high school in the 1960s, we the Vietnam War… We had the drugs, sex, and rock n’ roll… Great time to be alive, and by the end of the 70s, there was a backlash against everything in the 60s, and that’s what the 80s were. Ronald Regan became president — Reaganomics came in — and he rekindled the Cold War, and started attacking union… So, a lot of the ideals that I grew up with were under assault; and something called a ‘yuppie’ came into existence and they just wanted money… By the late 80s, I had none and I decided I had to make a statement [with They Live], a stupid analogy [perhaps]… The 80s had never died; it’s still with us…”

Carpenter added to the analogies, “aliens should be evil. They’re here to kick our asses!”

Much like the flick our own Rev. Moody caught the next day at the same festival, this director had a similar outlook to The Mist‘s Frank Darabont: “A dark ending is fun — audiences hate them!” And, for these daring directors, making audiences mad is all par for course, of course.

Carpenter was asked about the famous fight scene between Piper and Keith David, which still holds up today as one the greatest movie fight scenes of all time. He mentioned that the legendary wrestler and Raw Justice actor (ha ha) rehearsed that scene for a month and a half, using pads, so when it was time to shoot they could make real contact — as if they were really hitting each other. Our host and moderator for the night, the LA Times‘ Gina McIntyre, even asked John if there was ever “any conversation on the lines of ‘maybe you don’t need the fight to go on that long?’”

JC’s response: “No.”

Cue tremendous audience laughter and applause.

As the Q&A went on, Carpenter was asked about his favorite memory with Kurt Russell, the actor who he has worked with the most. “We were in British Columbia shooting The Thing (which Moody also saw last week, goshdarnit), and the actors were out on a Saturday night [getting] drunk. I had a visitor in my room, and Kurt knew about it. So, he decided to organize the actors to bring poor Keith David, who was passed out, up to my door and drop him. They just had the greatest laugh.”

Carpenter rolled on saying, “The next day, we were shooting and (Keith David) was so hungover. I just stared at him. And I was so happy. That was my favorite moment — everyone [having] a good time!”

I was curious about what was Carpenter’s experience working with Donald Pleasence, who played the Pres in Escape from New York and, of course, Dr. Loomis in Halloween. Pleasence told John during Escape’s initial shooting, “I don’t know why I’m here, and I don’t understand this movie.” With that, Donald aimed to get Carpenter to write an essay as to why the director wanted him to play the president.

“He just wanted to feel special,” barked Carp.

Carpenter mentioned that he never did that for another actor, while going on to reference his most fond memory of Pleasence on set: when Michael Myers falls out the window, and Loomis goes to the railing and looks down only to see no one there, “[Pleasence] tells me, I could play it ‘oh my god’ or ‘I knew it would happen’.

We shot both, but which one do you think we used?”

Then, leave it to a Rock Star to be more curious about the Golden State Warriors/San Antonio Spurs NBA playoff game than the matter at hand: “Can any of you check and see on your phones who won? Oh, what were we talking about?”

Genius.

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