Monday, 13 October 2008
Documentary Is On Youtube
Cinderella In A Small Castle, a documentary lasting about 35 minutes, is on youtube. It follows Stagefright Community Group putting on a production at a historic site, Dundonald Castle. I'm pleased with the film and hope people will enjoy it.
Sunday, 12 October 2008
Southland Tales And South Park Indy 4 Episode
This one will ramble incoherently.
I finally saw Southland Tales, the Richard Kelly follow-up to Donnie Darko. Despite a critical mauling, I found it to be pretty damn good. It's kinda like Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, in that it has a certain style and outlook that will either be addictive or alienating. It's completely tied to the outlook of one person so it is distinctive. Ina few years I think it'll be a big cult movie.
Southland Tales is a response to the patriot act in America, an absurdest, sprawling tale through LA, on the eve of the 2008 election. It has crazy actors, right-wing nuts, Marxist extremists, porn stars, a big brother computer watching all, the war in Iraq that creating drafting, and a strange new energy source that replaces oil. It's also a mystery, about what happened to an actor who mysteriously disappeared for a few days in the desert. There's a lot in it and I won't say much more about the plot. It's a film its best to see without knowing much about. It's got this weird atmosphere, an obsession with doubles, duality, lies. Sometimes its a bit literal in the script but the atmosphere makes it work. It does have a relaxed view of its own parallel world, never over-sells it.
The film seems influenced by other's work but not in an annoying way. There's some obvious ties to DePalma and Body Double (with actors who don't know what they are, porn stars, artifice and reality obsessions tied to pop culture that alienates people, as well as a musical number half-way through the film), Alex Cox with Repo Man (with the end section) and Death And The Compass (a stylised film investigating a fascist regime, with outsiders tied to the corrupt, alienating system, a mystery tied to lead character) to John Carpenter with In The Mouth Of Madness (a book that tells the future, so that the lead character keeps finding his future and clues from it before it happens), to both They Live and Escape From LA (both satirical views of LA, They Live attacking the establishment from the down and outs and Escape From LA with the end of America coming while the lead character wanders through an absurdest, self-absorbed hell-hole) While I spotted influences like this through the film they never took over and felt forced. The film felt tied to its director's obsessions.
Southland Tales stars The Rock (who's interestingly weird throughout, with lots of nervous tics), Sean William Scott (who's surprisingly good, very focused as a depressed character) and Sarah Michelle Geller (as an idiot porn star, again far better than I would have expected from previous work). It has a lot of other character actors, including Wood Harris from The Wire and Amy Poehler from Saturday Night Live (as a pair of entertainer/Marxists).
To South Park. I'm not sure who has seen the already notorious episode, where essentially George Lucas and Steven Spielberg rape Indiana Jones (to suggest how some movie-goers felt like watching the new film). We had a Deliverance and The Accused parodies. We have George Lucas tonguing Indy's nipples. Spielberg as the hick in deliverance who does the squeal like a pig deed. A stormtrooper is buggered. It's really childish but also very funny.
Now I wasn't too bothered by Indy 4. A lot of people were. I also liked two of the Star Wars prequels. I honestly thought it was about on par with last Crusade, had more imagination than last crusade but a weaker script and dialogue. I don't think it deserves the hatred it getting in places, is being attacked because of how good the first two films were. Compared to films like Tropic Thunder or The Incredible Hulk, it looks pretty damn good. I actually liked the Mayans and the aliens, liked the nuclear town. I very much like the fifties setting, with the red menace, alien obsessions (even though its was inter-dimensional beings), which felt very George Lucas. Liked the killer ants and psychic villain. Didn't like the ease in which Indy escaped from situations, especially at the beginning, or that the film took forever to get going. But it was fine.
Especially when compared to sequels to other great films.
Dirty Harry. Four sequels. All Awful. Unwatchable trash every one.
Die Hard 2 and Die Hard 4.0. Awful bastardisations of the first film and its characters. Die Hard 2 is especially terrible, is barely watchable. Only With A Vengeance is any good, and that falls away near the end.
Alien Resurrection and the 2 Alien Vrs Predator films. Aren't these films a disgrace on such a great original.
Terminator 3. Terrible. Just ignores the characters and set-up from the first two films and spits in the eye of the audience for much of the running time.
Lethal Weapon 3 & 4. No plots. Just people jabbering loudly and shooting a lot. Nothing makes much sense. Horribly sentimental and borderline fascist with the utter glorification of the cops.
Halloween Sequels. Nothing else needs to be said.
There are many more but I don't want to get into that. It would get depressing. These are the ones that come to mind fast.
End of rambling blog.
I finally saw Southland Tales, the Richard Kelly follow-up to Donnie Darko. Despite a critical mauling, I found it to be pretty damn good. It's kinda like Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, in that it has a certain style and outlook that will either be addictive or alienating. It's completely tied to the outlook of one person so it is distinctive. Ina few years I think it'll be a big cult movie.
Southland Tales is a response to the patriot act in America, an absurdest, sprawling tale through LA, on the eve of the 2008 election. It has crazy actors, right-wing nuts, Marxist extremists, porn stars, a big brother computer watching all, the war in Iraq that creating drafting, and a strange new energy source that replaces oil. It's also a mystery, about what happened to an actor who mysteriously disappeared for a few days in the desert. There's a lot in it and I won't say much more about the plot. It's a film its best to see without knowing much about. It's got this weird atmosphere, an obsession with doubles, duality, lies. Sometimes its a bit literal in the script but the atmosphere makes it work. It does have a relaxed view of its own parallel world, never over-sells it.
The film seems influenced by other's work but not in an annoying way. There's some obvious ties to DePalma and Body Double (with actors who don't know what they are, porn stars, artifice and reality obsessions tied to pop culture that alienates people, as well as a musical number half-way through the film), Alex Cox with Repo Man (with the end section) and Death And The Compass (a stylised film investigating a fascist regime, with outsiders tied to the corrupt, alienating system, a mystery tied to lead character) to John Carpenter with In The Mouth Of Madness (a book that tells the future, so that the lead character keeps finding his future and clues from it before it happens), to both They Live and Escape From LA (both satirical views of LA, They Live attacking the establishment from the down and outs and Escape From LA with the end of America coming while the lead character wanders through an absurdest, self-absorbed hell-hole) While I spotted influences like this through the film they never took over and felt forced. The film felt tied to its director's obsessions.
Southland Tales stars The Rock (who's interestingly weird throughout, with lots of nervous tics), Sean William Scott (who's surprisingly good, very focused as a depressed character) and Sarah Michelle Geller (as an idiot porn star, again far better than I would have expected from previous work). It has a lot of other character actors, including Wood Harris from The Wire and Amy Poehler from Saturday Night Live (as a pair of entertainer/Marxists).
To South Park. I'm not sure who has seen the already notorious episode, where essentially George Lucas and Steven Spielberg rape Indiana Jones (to suggest how some movie-goers felt like watching the new film). We had a Deliverance and The Accused parodies. We have George Lucas tonguing Indy's nipples. Spielberg as the hick in deliverance who does the squeal like a pig deed. A stormtrooper is buggered. It's really childish but also very funny.
Now I wasn't too bothered by Indy 4. A lot of people were. I also liked two of the Star Wars prequels. I honestly thought it was about on par with last Crusade, had more imagination than last crusade but a weaker script and dialogue. I don't think it deserves the hatred it getting in places, is being attacked because of how good the first two films were. Compared to films like Tropic Thunder or The Incredible Hulk, it looks pretty damn good. I actually liked the Mayans and the aliens, liked the nuclear town. I very much like the fifties setting, with the red menace, alien obsessions (even though its was inter-dimensional beings), which felt very George Lucas. Liked the killer ants and psychic villain. Didn't like the ease in which Indy escaped from situations, especially at the beginning, or that the film took forever to get going. But it was fine.
Especially when compared to sequels to other great films.
Dirty Harry. Four sequels. All Awful. Unwatchable trash every one.
Die Hard 2 and Die Hard 4.0. Awful bastardisations of the first film and its characters. Die Hard 2 is especially terrible, is barely watchable. Only With A Vengeance is any good, and that falls away near the end.
Alien Resurrection and the 2 Alien Vrs Predator films. Aren't these films a disgrace on such a great original.
Terminator 3. Terrible. Just ignores the characters and set-up from the first two films and spits in the eye of the audience for much of the running time.
Lethal Weapon 3 & 4. No plots. Just people jabbering loudly and shooting a lot. Nothing makes much sense. Horribly sentimental and borderline fascist with the utter glorification of the cops.
Halloween Sequels. Nothing else needs to be said.
There are many more but I don't want to get into that. It would get depressing. These are the ones that come to mind fast.
End of rambling blog.
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
Cinderella In A Small Castle
That is the title for my new documentary, which is based on a community theatre group performing at the castle in 2005. I've had the footage for some time and am now editing it. It should last about 35 minutes.
Watching Your Own Film
So I ended up to braving up to watching my film again after months away (I never watched in in order as I couldn't sit through the first third again). I found it to be a lot better than I expected, as you expect to be wincing a lot and that really didn't happen. Was very happy with it generally. There areas where I think I made mistakes but it does represent a lot of what I wanted to do, seen more clearly now as I have a bit of a distance. I saw a few things to change (essentially there were two sound cues that I thought get rid of or tone down) and the end credits sound to change to make the resolution more ambiguous. But generally the framing and the way things were set-up worked the way I wanted. It was good to see scenes play where I don't remember every moment so there was some spontaneity where you think, that's what I had in mind.
I ended up watching the first third last. It was the nightmarish bit of editing and while I like most of it, it was where I saw a few edits that I sweated over that I think of as the weakest bit of the film. A general rule I found, the less edits in a scene the more I liked it. It was only really one or two areas where I wound change if I had something that would fit. And I don't have something to fit so can't change them obviously. I might be over-reacting to something I just hate tonight. To be honest I find that what I see as the weaker moments are placed close to strong moments so that kind of covers a few sins. It does make me think that less editing and careful camera work is better. The things I disliked would have worked if I had got a better, calm visual. Generally I feel pretty good and upbeat about the film, which is a nice feeling, especially after all the work put into it.
Have been editing a documentary on a play at Dundonald castle. What was supposed to be 20 minutes is now thirty minutes with another five minutes to be loaded up into computer. My plan made by viewing footage worked well as a spine and rest was improvised with material available. Its a bit more conventional than other stuff but is fun to do.
I ended up watching the first third last. It was the nightmarish bit of editing and while I like most of it, it was where I saw a few edits that I sweated over that I think of as the weakest bit of the film. A general rule I found, the less edits in a scene the more I liked it. It was only really one or two areas where I wound change if I had something that would fit. And I don't have something to fit so can't change them obviously. I might be over-reacting to something I just hate tonight. To be honest I find that what I see as the weaker moments are placed close to strong moments so that kind of covers a few sins. It does make me think that less editing and careful camera work is better. The things I disliked would have worked if I had got a better, calm visual. Generally I feel pretty good and upbeat about the film, which is a nice feeling, especially after all the work put into it.
Have been editing a documentary on a play at Dundonald castle. What was supposed to be 20 minutes is now thirty minutes with another five minutes to be loaded up into computer. My plan made by viewing footage worked well as a spine and rest was improvised with material available. Its a bit more conventional than other stuff but is fun to do.
Thursday, 2 October 2008
The Wire and Homicide
Still thinking about The Wire.
One of the interesting cross-overs to Homicide, which Wire creator David Simon started working on late in season 4, are certain character beats that Simon seemed to find interest in and re-arranged to suit his own purposes. It's not a lazy retread, is simply seeming to use elements of character and situation that seemed to have a pulse that could be re-arranged for other purposes. If you know Homicide, some characters in The Wire are descendants of a kind.
From late season 4 until end of season 6 episode "Fallen Angels", Homicide had an expansive drug war act, it tied to the actions and frustrations by some of its detectives fighting for arrests in the Baltimore drug war. It was a dynamic that was the spine of many late Homicide episodes, while David Simon was working on the show (although the show-runner was Tom Fontana, and that plot was unlikely fully a Simon creation) Although this plot-line went on a little too long in season 6, it had many great episodes and moments, including the dubious shooting down of drug kingpin Luther Mahoney (the actor who played Mahoney, in a humorous touch by David Simon, plays the ME, cutting up all the bodies dropped throughout five seasons of the Wire). The dubious shooting of Mahoney was Simon's idea.
The central pairing of The Wire, McNulty and Bunk, do seem to have ties to the Kellerman and Lewis partnership of Homicide (these were the two in the middle of the Homicide drug war). You have a white cop who's intelligent, divorced, good at the job but capable of staggering bad judgement and paranoia (McNulty stages a fake serial killer to get more money for an investigation, also alienates his bosses and friends at every turn out of selfishness and need to feel that he is pure and intelligent while they are fools, while Kellerman makes the bad shooting of Mahoney, almost kills himself due to wounded pride, gets a corrupt judge killed by his actions, as well as his police office shot up). McNulty and Kellerman are Irish-American, cause major damage in a Baltimore drug war that obsess them, yet it is something they know they can't really affect, as that world and its problems have causes that are far beyond what they do in their job. They are always telling people how proud they are to be cops, to be on the hunt of some kind. They are loud about passions and hatreds. Yet they over-react, cause damage to themselves, colleagues, the police department and end up off the force without even getting their pension. With both there seems to be personal demons that are being exorcised through the drug war, is some sort of psychological addiction. Their partners, Bunk and Lewis, are African-American career police with goatees, who know the limit of the job, look on appalled at what their white colleagues manage to do. But they are still affected, eventually haunted by their world, drawn in personally by their partner's recklessness. To be honest, one of the elements I found to be a tad predictable about The Wire is suspecting McNulty's fate, due to how he was working in a lot of ways in relation to Kellerman. (I'm wondering if both were based on a real life cop)
It's quite interesting how much repeats yet in other ways how it eventually develops. The Wire cop McNulty, in what seems to be a darker show, more expansive show, that takes on press, politics, schools, the docks, escapes with an easier fate. He is thrown off the force but has a family to fall back on, seems at peace with not being a policeman, still has ties to his old cop community, even though they don't work together any more. Kellerman was a character who loses his friends, is hated by most of the police for what occurred in the drug war, never really had a family that was worthwhile, is obviously a haunted near-alcoholic.
Two excellent idiot-obsessive cop characters from Baltimore.
One of the interesting cross-overs to Homicide, which Wire creator David Simon started working on late in season 4, are certain character beats that Simon seemed to find interest in and re-arranged to suit his own purposes. It's not a lazy retread, is simply seeming to use elements of character and situation that seemed to have a pulse that could be re-arranged for other purposes. If you know Homicide, some characters in The Wire are descendants of a kind.
From late season 4 until end of season 6 episode "Fallen Angels", Homicide had an expansive drug war act, it tied to the actions and frustrations by some of its detectives fighting for arrests in the Baltimore drug war. It was a dynamic that was the spine of many late Homicide episodes, while David Simon was working on the show (although the show-runner was Tom Fontana, and that plot was unlikely fully a Simon creation) Although this plot-line went on a little too long in season 6, it had many great episodes and moments, including the dubious shooting down of drug kingpin Luther Mahoney (the actor who played Mahoney, in a humorous touch by David Simon, plays the ME, cutting up all the bodies dropped throughout five seasons of the Wire). The dubious shooting of Mahoney was Simon's idea.
The central pairing of The Wire, McNulty and Bunk, do seem to have ties to the Kellerman and Lewis partnership of Homicide (these were the two in the middle of the Homicide drug war). You have a white cop who's intelligent, divorced, good at the job but capable of staggering bad judgement and paranoia (McNulty stages a fake serial killer to get more money for an investigation, also alienates his bosses and friends at every turn out of selfishness and need to feel that he is pure and intelligent while they are fools, while Kellerman makes the bad shooting of Mahoney, almost kills himself due to wounded pride, gets a corrupt judge killed by his actions, as well as his police office shot up). McNulty and Kellerman are Irish-American, cause major damage in a Baltimore drug war that obsess them, yet it is something they know they can't really affect, as that world and its problems have causes that are far beyond what they do in their job. They are always telling people how proud they are to be cops, to be on the hunt of some kind. They are loud about passions and hatreds. Yet they over-react, cause damage to themselves, colleagues, the police department and end up off the force without even getting their pension. With both there seems to be personal demons that are being exorcised through the drug war, is some sort of psychological addiction. Their partners, Bunk and Lewis, are African-American career police with goatees, who know the limit of the job, look on appalled at what their white colleagues manage to do. But they are still affected, eventually haunted by their world, drawn in personally by their partner's recklessness. To be honest, one of the elements I found to be a tad predictable about The Wire is suspecting McNulty's fate, due to how he was working in a lot of ways in relation to Kellerman. (I'm wondering if both were based on a real life cop)
It's quite interesting how much repeats yet in other ways how it eventually develops. The Wire cop McNulty, in what seems to be a darker show, more expansive show, that takes on press, politics, schools, the docks, escapes with an easier fate. He is thrown off the force but has a family to fall back on, seems at peace with not being a policeman, still has ties to his old cop community, even though they don't work together any more. Kellerman was a character who loses his friends, is hated by most of the police for what occurred in the drug war, never really had a family that was worthwhile, is obviously a haunted near-alcoholic.
Two excellent idiot-obsessive cop characters from Baltimore.
Monday, 29 September 2008
Direct to DVD Movies
It's a strange area. I don't see many of them because most look pretty awful. I actually think I've only seen about six or seven (and some Highlander sequels on TV, where you mean to watch five minutes and laugh at it then see the entire thing for reasons that make no sense)
I do see a lot of films on DVD first but these were release in the cinema and were old films or hard to find foreign films. Or films I just missed due to laziness or bad distribution.
So I do end up seeing a few way later after initial release (with one exception). Thing is, even though none of them rank up as great films, some do have nice moments and pass as B-movie entertainments, easier to watch and enjoy than over-produced, character-less dreck such as the Mummy films, Exorcist: The Beginning or Ghost Rider.
So I'll admit to what I've seen and what I thought. Only one of them made me want to wish the director die a horrible death.
So let's get to that one first.
It was one of the two Crow direct to DVD films. The Crow Salvation (will Terminator Salvation be better or worse?) This one has Fred Ward and Kirsten Dunst in supporting parts (as villain and heroine), is partially set in a strip bar and manages to be unwatchable. Now I'm fairly forgiving of the Crow films. None are terrific but the first one had style and another one I saw Wicked Prayer had nice character moments. But this one has a truly awful, whiny lead as the crow that you wish would stop looking soulful and do something that's not a fifteen year old goth reaction, as well as wish he was less stupid at every possible moment (or develop acting skills). There are no scenes where the dialogue is not atrocious and make you want to be physically sick. Every shot is Gothic to a horrendous degree. Its a film that you actually develop insane hatred of the director with every passing moment, in way that reminds me of my first viewing of Battlefield Earth. And yet the next Crow film, Wicked Prayer, has far less money and does a lot more with the material, being forced by lack of funds to cut down the action and goth stuff and have a non-action type lead who can act, react to grief and have dialogue scenes (Edward Furlong), have villains with an actual agenda, an interesting back-drop (Indian reservation going under) and some ambiguity in relationships. It falters with the action and some atmosphere due to lack of funds but is a very good example of a solid b-movie type film. Its the kind of film direct to DVD should be. Use the lack of funds to hire proper actors. Essentially, Wicked Prayer is a lot more fun than Die Hard 4.0
Another film I saw, My Name is Modesty, was produced by Tarantino and is a lot of fun. It was directed by Scott Speigel, who directed another film on my list. Its based on the Modesty Blaise novels and despite a weak lead actress is a lot of pulpy fun. Its a film that actually has a story, the growth of a young girl to be the heroine Modesty Blaise, through eastern European wars, as well as having a central thriller plot-line and a solid heroine-villain interaction. Like Wicked Prayer it doesn't over-spend what it doesn't have, sticks to character, does a solid turn that puts a few blockbusters to shame in character level (I'm calling out The Incredible Hulk and its awful script on this one.)
From Dusk Til Dawn 2 and 3.- Another fun Scott Speigel film. Again no budgets but fun movies. Number 3 has the advantage in originality that its set in the old west and has vampires and lots of frauds and sexual repression but number 2 has a more fun set of central characters and sticks them in an explosive situation before the vampires show up. Part 2 has Robert Patrick, another solid under-used actor, doing a nice job and not slumming despite being in a vampire sequel. Part 3 is less distinctive in cast, but Michael Parks is fun. Trust me. Its way better than Terminator 3.
Starship Troopers 2 and 3- These are sequels to a film I love and come out fine. Part 2 has mood, clean direction by effects guru Phil Tippet, is self-contained, is a fun b-movie that has an interesting biological subtext in regard to fascism. Number 3, directed by Ed Nueminer, who wrote all the films, is trickier. It has the weakest direction of the three, shots not flowing into one another, has some very bad acting that's vague and not funny like the first film, as well as clunky pacing. But it does have a lot of ideas, some sci-fi scenes that have real pulp beauty, and an interesting and ambiguous take on religion. It's a difficult one to judge as I like a lot of it but the weak points are very difficult to ignore. Still worth a look and more interesting than Hollow Man.
As I leave with my dignity and any respect for anyone reading this in shambles, let's make one thing clear as I finish. I may have seen the above films but I'm not watching Lost Boys 2. I really have to have liked the original a lot to give a direct to DVD a chance. I'm also not going to watch Transformers 2. I have some self-respect. Honest.
I do see a lot of films on DVD first but these were release in the cinema and were old films or hard to find foreign films. Or films I just missed due to laziness or bad distribution.
So I do end up seeing a few way later after initial release (with one exception). Thing is, even though none of them rank up as great films, some do have nice moments and pass as B-movie entertainments, easier to watch and enjoy than over-produced, character-less dreck such as the Mummy films, Exorcist: The Beginning or Ghost Rider.
So I'll admit to what I've seen and what I thought. Only one of them made me want to wish the director die a horrible death.
So let's get to that one first.
It was one of the two Crow direct to DVD films. The Crow Salvation (will Terminator Salvation be better or worse?) This one has Fred Ward and Kirsten Dunst in supporting parts (as villain and heroine), is partially set in a strip bar and manages to be unwatchable. Now I'm fairly forgiving of the Crow films. None are terrific but the first one had style and another one I saw Wicked Prayer had nice character moments. But this one has a truly awful, whiny lead as the crow that you wish would stop looking soulful and do something that's not a fifteen year old goth reaction, as well as wish he was less stupid at every possible moment (or develop acting skills). There are no scenes where the dialogue is not atrocious and make you want to be physically sick. Every shot is Gothic to a horrendous degree. Its a film that you actually develop insane hatred of the director with every passing moment, in way that reminds me of my first viewing of Battlefield Earth. And yet the next Crow film, Wicked Prayer, has far less money and does a lot more with the material, being forced by lack of funds to cut down the action and goth stuff and have a non-action type lead who can act, react to grief and have dialogue scenes (Edward Furlong), have villains with an actual agenda, an interesting back-drop (Indian reservation going under) and some ambiguity in relationships. It falters with the action and some atmosphere due to lack of funds but is a very good example of a solid b-movie type film. Its the kind of film direct to DVD should be. Use the lack of funds to hire proper actors. Essentially, Wicked Prayer is a lot more fun than Die Hard 4.0
Another film I saw, My Name is Modesty, was produced by Tarantino and is a lot of fun. It was directed by Scott Speigel, who directed another film on my list. Its based on the Modesty Blaise novels and despite a weak lead actress is a lot of pulpy fun. Its a film that actually has a story, the growth of a young girl to be the heroine Modesty Blaise, through eastern European wars, as well as having a central thriller plot-line and a solid heroine-villain interaction. Like Wicked Prayer it doesn't over-spend what it doesn't have, sticks to character, does a solid turn that puts a few blockbusters to shame in character level (I'm calling out The Incredible Hulk and its awful script on this one.)
From Dusk Til Dawn 2 and 3.- Another fun Scott Speigel film. Again no budgets but fun movies. Number 3 has the advantage in originality that its set in the old west and has vampires and lots of frauds and sexual repression but number 2 has a more fun set of central characters and sticks them in an explosive situation before the vampires show up. Part 2 has Robert Patrick, another solid under-used actor, doing a nice job and not slumming despite being in a vampire sequel. Part 3 is less distinctive in cast, but Michael Parks is fun. Trust me. Its way better than Terminator 3.
Starship Troopers 2 and 3- These are sequels to a film I love and come out fine. Part 2 has mood, clean direction by effects guru Phil Tippet, is self-contained, is a fun b-movie that has an interesting biological subtext in regard to fascism. Number 3, directed by Ed Nueminer, who wrote all the films, is trickier. It has the weakest direction of the three, shots not flowing into one another, has some very bad acting that's vague and not funny like the first film, as well as clunky pacing. But it does have a lot of ideas, some sci-fi scenes that have real pulp beauty, and an interesting and ambiguous take on religion. It's a difficult one to judge as I like a lot of it but the weak points are very difficult to ignore. Still worth a look and more interesting than Hollow Man.
As I leave with my dignity and any respect for anyone reading this in shambles, let's make one thing clear as I finish. I may have seen the above films but I'm not watching Lost Boys 2. I really have to have liked the original a lot to give a direct to DVD a chance. I'm also not going to watch Transformers 2. I have some self-respect. Honest.
Sunday, 28 September 2008
The Wire Season 5
It was amazing.
I'll be writing on it in the next few days as I think about it, which I'm doing at the moment, but essentially, it's stunning. It's a real subtle epic coming to a close, with some humane, tragic and cynical endings interacting, creating something that's very dramatic, realistic and very moving.
I'll be writing on it in the next few days as I think about it, which I'm doing at the moment, but essentially, it's stunning. It's a real subtle epic coming to a close, with some humane, tragic and cynical endings interacting, creating something that's very dramatic, realistic and very moving.
Novels
So I have written four novels, have sent out two of them to publishers. Got nowhere with the first two but some replies were pretty good, saying its well crafted but not for us. The third was put away after completion as I was working on the film so I never had much time to post it around. Am about to send third and fourth novels around. So the first two I'm going to self-publish through Lulu, as I like them and want a copy of them bound for myself, see if anyone else will like them.
First novel is called Siege. Its central narrative is about a young drug dealer who sets up an operation in Sheffield, is unseen, laundering money, blackmailing police and banks, targeting people he dislikes to addict to product. He is a dysfunctional sociopath, has deep-seated hatred of everyday people while seemingly being a citizen. Most of the novel takes place in the final days of his operation, as his people break down into paranoid civil war that goes to violence at an instant rate, situation being centralised in a tower block, many decisions made being insane. The failing situation is studied through the eyes of most of the paranoid characters causing the destruction. The central character's girlfriend, a manipulator, is also tied into the problems, causes a lot of problems.
The Study is my second novel. It, at the start, is about blackmail, a mother and daughter making the father of the family go mad and commit suicide through a blackmail scheme they concocted. Following the success of the scheme, the women are alone, work on their guilt, become paranoid, suspicious of one another, with reason, thinking on why for the forced suicide. The novel develops, focusing on their paranoia, communication with one another, and on outside threats. Its very much a character piece, propelled by the first, dark action, studying their reactions.
Corporate Wars was completed a few years ago, was the one I never sent as I was making a film. It is a thriller set in Japan, is a manhunt novel, a gun-runner and assassin loose in Japan, killing lots of important Japanese businessmen. Starts out with a typical genre idea, and has many foreign agents taking interest, but is about a failing economy, is set as Japan's economy continues to collapse, which it has been going on for years, with businessmen committing suicide due to debt, ex-ceo's. now homeless. The corporate wars of the title is in regards to the fighting of failing Japanese corporate interests, as well as outside predators, using the mess for their own gain.
The final novel, just completed, is titled The Latino Ghost. It is centred around a man and his life around the development of AI, how this new technology affects his decisions. The central character is a white man with light Latino past, who has ties to developing business interests in America, beginning to manipulate things to develop AI and the country the way he thinks it should be developed. The story shows how technology develops through time through-out the world, in ways that are useful for the future and in other, fascistic focuses. This novel has a time structure that is non-linear, everything developed to focus the decisions what this character makes, spans about fifteen years. There are thriller elements within the time-lines, in regards the some tough actions to develop the AI technology and its funding, and its development while established, as well as economic pressurisation of third world countries, but as with a lot of my writing, its interest is in character.
So that's my novels. First two will be available on Lulu soon hopefully, as I finish up the prep for them.
First novel is called Siege. Its central narrative is about a young drug dealer who sets up an operation in Sheffield, is unseen, laundering money, blackmailing police and banks, targeting people he dislikes to addict to product. He is a dysfunctional sociopath, has deep-seated hatred of everyday people while seemingly being a citizen. Most of the novel takes place in the final days of his operation, as his people break down into paranoid civil war that goes to violence at an instant rate, situation being centralised in a tower block, many decisions made being insane. The failing situation is studied through the eyes of most of the paranoid characters causing the destruction. The central character's girlfriend, a manipulator, is also tied into the problems, causes a lot of problems.
The Study is my second novel. It, at the start, is about blackmail, a mother and daughter making the father of the family go mad and commit suicide through a blackmail scheme they concocted. Following the success of the scheme, the women are alone, work on their guilt, become paranoid, suspicious of one another, with reason, thinking on why for the forced suicide. The novel develops, focusing on their paranoia, communication with one another, and on outside threats. Its very much a character piece, propelled by the first, dark action, studying their reactions.
Corporate Wars was completed a few years ago, was the one I never sent as I was making a film. It is a thriller set in Japan, is a manhunt novel, a gun-runner and assassin loose in Japan, killing lots of important Japanese businessmen. Starts out with a typical genre idea, and has many foreign agents taking interest, but is about a failing economy, is set as Japan's economy continues to collapse, which it has been going on for years, with businessmen committing suicide due to debt, ex-ceo's. now homeless. The corporate wars of the title is in regards to the fighting of failing Japanese corporate interests, as well as outside predators, using the mess for their own gain.
The final novel, just completed, is titled The Latino Ghost. It is centred around a man and his life around the development of AI, how this new technology affects his decisions. The central character is a white man with light Latino past, who has ties to developing business interests in America, beginning to manipulate things to develop AI and the country the way he thinks it should be developed. The story shows how technology develops through time through-out the world, in ways that are useful for the future and in other, fascistic focuses. This novel has a time structure that is non-linear, everything developed to focus the decisions what this character makes, spans about fifteen years. There are thriller elements within the time-lines, in regards the some tough actions to develop the AI technology and its funding, and its development while established, as well as economic pressurisation of third world countries, but as with a lot of my writing, its interest is in character.
So that's my novels. First two will be available on Lulu soon hopefully, as I finish up the prep for them.
Monday, 22 September 2008
Slamdance
So I've submitted to Slamdance and it costs a fortune. I bring this up as I'm submitting my film to a few festivals and they all cost a lot. Therefore I can end up only affording to submit the film to one festival a month. It's pretty horrible, especially as you pay a lot for the chance to get one of a few spots. So you want to send the film to many places while it's new but you can't afford to. There's already some film festivals that look promising to submit to but I'll have to wait until next year, due to cost.
So that's the fun life of a film-maker.
So that's the fun life of a film-maker.
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