I’m sitting here, well past midnight. I have a cat sitting on my lap purring (loudly), demanding love. I had been out of town for the past week or so. So, whenever I return my cats are in the major love mode. Though I have my house sitter watching over them and the place, they are not me or my lady. They know the difference.
 
I had actually made my way through a few films this evening. I had to finish up, The Big Easy, that I started a few days back. Very 1980s. I remember first seeing it in the theatre when it was originally released. Then, onto, The Bride, just released on HBO MAX. Sorry… Just not very good. Hard to watch. Finally, so I thought, the new release on Prime, Jack Ryan: Ghost War. It was what could be expected.
 
Post all that, I flipped over to YouTube to watch some music videos before hitting the hay. Nothing grabbed my mind. But then, I had an idea, Armageddon Blvd. I had not seen it in a long-long time. When was the last time you watched, Armageddon Blvd.?
 
Watching it, the scenes DGJ and I shot, the edits I cut, the soundtrack I created, the performances, it still holds up. It’s a pretty good Zen Film. Overlooked, I believe.
 
Watching it, it was kind of funny/interesting to think back to how it was created. I wrote a piece on it a few years back, Armageddon Boulevard: Just Some of the What’s What. Part of my Stories of the Production pieces. But, while watching it, and thinking about what I wrote, I realized that the essay does not really tell the whole story of how that film finally came together. There are so many inside stories yet untold. Someday, maybe… When someone asks me the right questions... Or, I choose to watch it and detail its creation, scene-by-scene, then maybe the true/whole story will be told.  If not, then its truth will be lost to the hands of time. Lost, like the inspiration(s) and the truth(s) of so many other artistic creations.
 
I know on the YouTube release of the film I had to cut a few scenes out of it. Scenes that are in the full-release version of the film. Scenes like when Julie (Strain) was shaving her private parts. YouTube was just on me about that kind of stuff for a while. But, it/they are on/in the VHS, DVD and Theatrical Releases of the film. And yes, it was released theatrically, at least for a moment in a few far off and distant Asian and European countries.
 
Anyway, good film, I think. At least for those of us who lived it. Many of which are no longer with us. Sad that they are gone!  
 
So, this is just an invitation. Watch the film. See what you think. Read the piece I wrote on the production. Check out the page devoted to the film on my website. It’s an interesting piece in the history of Zen Filmmaking.
 
Question: When was the last time you watched, Armageddon Blvd.?