tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53036882024-03-13T13:45:13.431-07:00Nightmare Town ~ ruminations on the dark fantasticNightmare Town is the last stop before the long dark takes over, the city where logic is usurped by the infernal that lurks within us all. The inhabitants who walk these lonely streets hold no pretense of good taste or propriety. Nor do the inhabitants wander here out of fashion's sake. They have no choice but to dwell here.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.comBlogger128125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-16598813898576187182008-03-28T14:06:00.000-07:002008-03-28T14:16:52.873-07:00New Blog: DetoursAlthough I will leave this blog up for the time being, I can be reached at my brand new spankin' blog:<br /><br /><a href="http://derekhill.wordpress.com/">http://derekhill.wordpress.com/</a><br /><br />It's like getting a new haircut or getting new sneakers! And if you like football (soccer), me and the <span style="font-weight: bold;">apm</span> gang can still be read over at:<br /><br /><a href="http://aprettymove.blogspot.com/">http://aprettymove.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />Salut!<br /><br />DDerekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1145851152752685332006-04-23T20:44:00.000-07:002006-04-23T20:59:12.753-07:00New BlogIt was bound to happen. Along with my partner in crime, <a href="http://lyndaerucker.blogspot.com/">Lynda</a>, and my dear friend Lisa, the three of us have eagerly--and perhaps foolishly--entered the world of blogging about one of our favorite pastimes . . . soccer. If any one out there is interested in reading our thoughts, ruminations, and just plain irreverent comments about the beautiful game, then head on over to:<br /><a href="http://aprettymove.blogspot.com/"><br />http://aprettymove.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />Nightmare Town is certainly not going away--in fact I plan on getting back to it within the next few days or so--but I simply found that I needed some kind of outlet for all of the time I spend thinking and dreaming about life on the pitch.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1141441287085491632006-03-03T18:39:00.000-08:002006-03-03T19:01:27.096-08:00Goodbye Wellspring<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/HR7GoodbyeDragonInn.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/400/HR7GoodbyeDragonInn.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>And speaking of Harvey Weinstein and his brother, the infernal duo have bought up New York's cherished Wellspring Media, theatrical distributors for Tsai Ming-liang's enigmatic and luminous <a href="http://www.wellspring.com/movies/movie.html?movie_id=47"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Goodbye, Dragon Inn</span></a>, among other art house films that would probably not have seen any theatrical distribution if not for the floundering company.<br /><br />Bastards.<br /><br />Read more about it <a href="http://villagevoice.com/film/0609,kaufman,72356,20.html">here</a>.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1141436541362332772006-03-03T17:42:00.000-08:002006-03-03T18:05:37.806-08:00Lost in America<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/empty-and-light.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/400/empty-and-light.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Here’s an interesting article about the dearth of wide theatrical distribution for foreign films here in the States and how our tastes have changed in contrast to the heyday of the 1960s thru the 1970s, when films from overseas didn’t just play in arthouse theaters or on college campuses. And it wasn’t just the foreign film behemoths—like <a href="http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/bergman.html">Bergman</a>, <a href="http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/kurosawa.html">Kurosawa</a>, <a href="http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/03/truffaut.html">Truffaut</a>, <a href="http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/fellini.html">Fellini</a>, and <a href="http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/05/bunuel.html">Bunuel</a> among others—which were being shown. Foreign genre fare, e.g. <a href="http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue06/infocus/spaghetti.htm">Spaghetti Westerns</a>, <a href="http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue05/infocus.htm">Italian gothic horror</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_and_sandal">sword & sandal</a> epics, Japanese <a href="http://www.digitalmonsterisland.com/"><em>kaiju eiga</em></a>, and <a href="http://www.stomptokyo.com/scott/infra-man/shaw_faq.html">Hong Kong martial arts</a> pictures were routinely flooding the market place—albeit in dubbed form—playing <a href="http://www.grindhousefilmfest.com/bios.htm">grindhouses</a> and <a href="http://www.driveintheater.com/index.htm">drive-in theaters</a> all over. And they were also playing on television, which is how I first discovered them.<br /><br />Yeah, times have changed and foreign films aren’t getting the theatrical distribution they once did. But there aren’t as many theaters around nowadays either. When I first read this article I got all indignant and sentimental. But it occurred to me that DVD has really helped in exposing individuals to the wild world of foreign films arguably more than ever before, especially if you own a <a href="http://www.hkflix.com/hardware/">multi-region player</a>. Granted, most people simply don’t give a shit about quality domestic films let alone foreign ones, though occasionally the masses do seem to get out into the theaters to watch a subtitled picture, hence the successes of <strong>Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon</strong>, <strong>Hero</strong>, and <strong>Kung Fu Hustle</strong>, all of which played wide and thankfully weren’t dubbed. And in regards to the Academy’s foreign film nominations this year . . . don’t get me started. Yeah, where was <strong>Cache</strong>, <strong>2046 </strong>(probably my favorite film of the year), and Johnnie To’s <strong>Election</strong>? <br /><br />The funniest and strangest part of the article, though, is reading Harvey Weinstein talk about how much he loves foreign films, blah, blah, blah. This is the man, remember, who bought up then shelved or edited a host of films when he ran Miramax. And it looks like his addiction to snipping down other people’s products hasn’t stopped, if his acquisition (though the Weinstein Co. has subsequently dropped the film) and cutting down of Chen Kaige’s <strong>The Promise </strong>from 122 minutes to 102 minutes is any indication. Luckily, if you’d rather watch the original version before the truncated version (courtesy of Warner Independent Pictures) plays theaters in May, you can simply watch the <a href="http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.536843/qx/details.htm">DVD</a>.<br /><br />Without further ado, here’s the Newsweek article:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11432913/site/newsweek/"> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11432913/site/newsweek/</a>Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1141021175840140462006-02-26T22:05:00.000-08:002006-02-28T16:52:45.860-08:00Octavia Butler 1947-2006Science-fiction writer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_Butler">Octavia Butler</a> died Friday. She was only 58 years old. Like everyone else, I'm floored by the news. She was an amazing and gifted writer who managed to balance complex themes with engaging characters who were forced to navigate through sometimes dark and troubling circumstances. But <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_Butler">Butler</a>'s work was always grounded in humanity and hope despite her sometimes pessimistic outlook.<br /><br />Tragic news indeed. We've lost one of the greats.<br /><br />For more info, check out the following links:<br /><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002831388_butlerobit27m.html"><br />http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002831388_butlerobit27m.html</a><br /><a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/books/260959_butlerobit26ww.html"><br />http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/books/260959_butlerobit26ww.html</a><br /><br /><a href="http://darkush.blogspot.com/2006/02/octavia-butler-died-saturday.html">http://darkush.blogspot.com/2006/02/octavia-butler-died-saturday.html</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.sfwa.org/news/2006/obutler.htm">http://www.sfwa.org/news/2006/obutler.htm</a><br /><br /><a href="http://lyndaerucker.blogspot.com/">http://lyndaerucker.blogspot.com/</a>Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1140065743506238652006-02-15T20:55:00.000-08:002006-02-16T01:24:01.013-08:00Big Atonement: Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/lady.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/400/lady.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The 29th Portland International Film Festival is in full-swing, and though I haven’t actually ventured out to see any of the films on the big screen yet (that $9 ticket price is just too rich for my wallet at the moment), I did manage to track down an import DVD of <a href="http://www.timeout.com/film/news/916.html">Park Chan-wook</a>’s latest film, <strong>Sympathy for Lady Vengeance </strong>(or <strong>Lady Vengeance </strong>as it has sadly been rechristened here in the States), the third film in Park’s loose “Vengeance Trilogy” and the follow-up to 2003’s magnificent and unforgettable hardboiled thriller <strong>Oldboy</strong>. For those of you who have seen <strong>Oldboy </strong>(and if you haven’t and still call yourself a film lover, you better hand in your resignation) or <strong>Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance </strong>from 2002, you know what cinematic brilliance Park is capable of. The Korean director is a sly and ruthless provocateur who manages to balance a brazen visual sense with compelling melodramatic (sometimes) storylines and tortured guilt-plagued characters. And, oh yes, then there’s the violence. There’s no getting around the fact that Park’s trilogy of vengeance-fuelled films are frequently savage and shocking in their willingness to plunge us into the crimson-induced obsessions of his protagonists. But his films are also exhilarating, ironic, surreal (who can forget the ant seated on the subway in <strong>Oldboy</strong>?), and humorous.<br /><br /><a href="http://lyndaerucker.blogspot.com/">Lynda</a> and I saw <strong>Oldboy </strong>at last year’s PIFF and were stunned by the film. I quickly sought out <strong>Mr. Vengeance</strong>, <strong>Joint Security Area</strong>, and his contribution to the Asian horror anthology film <strong>Three… Extremes</strong>, entitled <strong>Cut</strong>, and easily became a committed fan of his work. Here was a director to be reckoned with, though I was a bit perplexed as to where he would venture creatively next, especially when I heard that he was going to follow-up <strong>Oldboy </strong>with another revenge storyline. Shouldn’t he take a break from all that mayhem, I thought, before completing the trilogy? Maybe venture out and make an outright comedy or return to the political thriller mode that he no doubt can pull off, like in <strong>J.S.A. </strong>And even if he did make the final film in the trilogy at this point in his career, there was no way that Park was going to be able to match the creative peak of <strong>Oldboy</strong>. Right?<br /><br />Wrong. I’m not going to say much about the plot of <strong>Lady Vengeance </strong>because knowing little or nothing about the film is the only way to go into it, the only way to fully experience the seductive power of its intent and to ride the emotional tidal waves that overpower during the film’s second half. Technically, the entire film is an unmitigated tour de force—elegantly composed yet willing to circumvent viewer’s expectations by changing the dramatic beats of the traditional i.e. basic revenge storyline whenever we grow too comfortable or acclimated to what is transpiring on screen. No doubt, Park loves to jazz about. But if there was nothing substantial to anchor the excess of style, I would have little patience with him and I don’t think that <strong>Lady Vengeance </strong>would be able to weather the repeatability factor (I watched it twice in 24 hours). Actress Lee Yeong-ae gives one of the finest performances of the year as the stunningly attractive Lee Geum-ja, the titular Lady V. who is bent on some serious payback once she’s released from prison after 13 years, and the fabulous Choi Min-sik (Oh Dae-su from <strong>Oldboy</strong>) as Mr. Baek easily grounds the film when Park’s visual flourishes are in full flight (which is most of the time). But there’s genuine emotion amidst all of the sensational mayhem, and Park’s solemn resolution after so much brutality is what last longest in my mind.<br /><strong><br />Lady Vengeance </strong>is harrowing stuff and much of its content is intentionally inflammatory and shocking. And though it’s difficult to defend the film without giving away some of its more startling moments, there is a method to it all and ultimately a responsible and moral exploration of how violence corrupts the soul. It’s also fiendishly entertaining and the best damn feel-bad film around.<br /><br />(<strong>Sympathy for</strong>) <strong>Lady Vengeance </strong>plays at the PIFF on <a href="https://www.ticketturtle.com/index.php?actions=24&p=2">2/17/06</a> and <a href="https://www.ticketturtle.com/index.php?actions=24&p=2">2/18/06</a>. It’s also available on import DVD <a href="http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.536313/qx/details.htm">here</a>.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1138259468291698812006-01-25T23:11:00.000-08:002006-01-25T23:38:55.433-08:00Nice Guy Eddie R.I.P.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/ReservoirChris.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/400/ReservoirChris.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Actor Chris Penn, the younger brother of fellow thespian Sean and musician Michael, was found dead yesterday due to unknown causes. Like his famous brother, Chris began working in films early and co-starred in Francis Coppola's <strong>Rumble Fish</strong>, <strong>All the Right Moves </strong>(along with Tom Cruise), <strong>Footloose</strong>, Clint Eastwood's <strong>Pale Rider</strong>, and Robert Altman's <strong>Short Cuts</strong>, among many others. Some of my favorite Chris Penn roles were from <strong>The Wild Life </strong>(scripted by Cameron Crowe as a follow-up to <strong>Fast Times at Ridgemont High</strong>), <strong>Made in USA </strong>(a rarely seen "road trip" film with Lori Singer and Adrian Pasdar), <strong>At Close Range </strong>(an excellent crime film by James Foley and starring Sean Penn and Christopher Walken), <strong>True Romance</strong>, and of course, <strong>Reservoir Dogs</strong>, in which Penn played the foul-mouthed and very loyal Nice Guy Eddie.<br /><br />He'll be missed. You can read more about the criminally overlooked character actor <a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article341030.ece">here</a>.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1138067810652793002006-01-23T17:56:00.000-08:002006-01-23T17:56:15.206-08:00Then Why'd You Hire Him in the First Place?The notorious and ubiquitous Japanese director <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takashi_Miike">Takashi Miike</a>’s entry for the Showtime anthology series, <a href="http://www.mastersofhorror.net/">Masters of Horror</a>, has been yanked from the schedule and will instead be released on DVD uncut. The prolific <a href="http://www.midnighteye.com/interviews/takashi_miike.shtml">filmmaker</a>, who has a penchant for disturbing, bizarre, and outright violent subject matter (<strong>Audition</strong>, <strong>MPD Psycho</strong>, <strong>Visitor Q</strong>, <strong>Ichi the Killer</strong>, among loads of others)—though his latest feature-film is a kid’s movie based on the splendid <strong>Yokai Monsters </strong>fantasy-horror series from the 1960s—has been given the boot because . . . his entry was disturbing, bizarre, and violent. Go figure. Creator and executive producer Mick Garris (he’s also the director of the execrable <strong>Sleepwalkers</strong>, and the television mini-series <strong>The Stand </strong>and <strong>The Shining</strong>) was quoted in The New York Times as saying Miike’s film for Showtime, entitled <strong>Imprint</strong>, was “definitely the most disturbing film” he’d ever seen. Well, I should hope so. I’m not the biggest Miike admirer around (though I . . . eh, loved <strong>Audition </strong>and I enjoyed his entry for the <strong><a href="http://www.threeextremes.com/">Three Extremes</a> </strong>anthology film) but the man definitely knows how to craft grueling, transgressive horror films. What did the folks over at Showtime think they were going to get? <br /><br />You can read more about the whole ordeal <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/arts/television/19horr.html">here</a>.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1137570136372804842006-01-17T23:42:00.000-08:002006-01-18T11:05:23.670-08:00I Don't Know My Way Home: Straw Dogs (1971)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/Straw%20Dogs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/320/Straw%20Dogs.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>In the wake of the recently released Sam Peckinpah DVD <a href="http://www.dvdplanet.com/product_listing.asp?productid=64231&format=DVD">boxed set</a>, I’ve been prepping myself by watching some of his earlier released discs before I plunge headfirst into the goldmine. That’s not to say that some of Peckinpah’s masterpieces haven’t already been unleashed upon the public. Far from it. The infamous director arguably has a stable full of classic films in his short if uneven oeuvre, including this staggeringly brutal meditation on violence starring Dustin Hoffman. <strong>Straw Dogs</strong>, based on a novel by Gordon Williams entitled <strong><em>The Siege of Trencher’s Farm</em></strong>, was notorious when it originally hit theater screens in 1971 (the same year that Eastwood appeared as the titular <strong>Dirty Harry </strong>and Kubrick’s <strong>A Clockwork Orange </strong>pillaged patrons with its dystopian SF parable) and its unbridled power and relentless capacity to provoke and outrage viewers hasn’t abated one bit. I’ve seen it a few times before and its lucid yet bewildering treatise on the violence that swims within even the most “civilized” of individuals still continues to fascinate as well as sicken and horrify me. Although Peckinpah had previously dealt with the theme of man’s predilection toward committing carnage, and the almost ritualistic need to do so, most notably in his sure-fire masterpiece <strong>The Wild Bunch </strong>(newly re-released with the boxed set), <strong>Straw Dogs </strong>is probably the most brilliant and methodical examination of what motivates a person to kill that the director ever created. The film’s main question is simple: What will it take for a “civilized” person to destroy another person? But it’s the can of worms that ensues that is even more troubling. In killing someone, what do you surrender within yourself? And is violence the natural state of man? The answers to those conundrums are not proffered in the course of the film’s running time, though if they had been, I’m not so sure we would be too pleased. It’s potent stuff, to say the least, but also greatly entertaining.<br /><br />Set in the west coast of England, in a quant if dismal little village in Cornwall, American mathematician David Sumner (Hoffman) and his wife Amy (Susan George), who is originally from the village, move into her late father’s ancestral stone cottage with dreams of starting a new life away from the crime and pollution of the States. Of course, this being a Peckinpah film, David’s and Amy’s attempt at domestic bliss is shattered by a horrendous incident and David is forced into finally making a stand against his provokers, as well as coming to grips with the darkness within. The screenplay by David Zelag Goodman and Peckinpah deftly thwarts our expectations at every turn by constantly twisting or changing the plot points leading to the inevitable. The road to perdition may be unavoidable for David, but there’s no clear journey there and the catalysts that we were so positive would ensnare him or push him over the brink wind up being meaningless in the big picture.<br /><br />Peckinpah’s films (at least the important ones) are like cinematic Rorschach blots, never quite revealing the same thing to everyone. To some, the director is a macho provocateur wallowing in misogynistic representations of women and celebrating the most vile, ugly, and brutish characteristics in men. To others, he’s the last great American director in the tradition of Hawks and Ford before the film school brats (e.g. Coppola, De Palma, Lucas, Scorsese, and Spielberg) usurped the throne of 1970s Hollywood, a maverick larger-than-life personality who challenged the celluloid dream factory and lost. I guess I’m somewhere in the middle of the two camps. There’s no doubt in my mind that Peckinpah’s best films (<strong>Ride the High Country</strong>, <strong>Major Dundee, The Wild Bunch</strong>, <strong>Straw Dogs</strong>, <strong>Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid</strong>, <strong>Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia</strong>) are the work of a mature and gifted artist, though many of them (<strong>Straw Dogs</strong>, <strong>Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia </strong>most notably) also betray a profound misanthropy that borders on the morbid and nihilistic. The characters in the latter two films both transform into their new roles as men of violence so thoroughly that it borders on the psychopathic, though Warren Oates’ Bennie, from <strong>Bring Me the Head</strong>, at least hasn’t forsaken redemption altogether. He at least still covets the <em>idea </em>of redemption, even though his instincts know better. When David Sumner crosses over in <strong>Straw Dogs</strong>, there’s not even the slightest glimmer of reason left in him. He fully accepts his new role as killer angel, and as the protector of his bloodied homestead without a trace of self-knowledge or insight. He’s pure animal instinct at that point, and the transformation/rampage against the attackers is horrifyingly funny because of his lack of self-control. There’s also nothing more disturbing than witnessing someone lost within the thickets of his own personal moral oblivion.<br /><br />Every time I return to the film, I’m reminded just how coherent and troubling its “message” is. I’m also stunned by how thorough Peckinpah’s lust to hurt us truly is. Obviously, he wants to shock us with the overt build-up of tension and the orgasmic violence that eventually overcomes us. But he more importantly wants to incite a riot of thought inside us, as well. Forget David Sumner. What would <em>you </em>do in the same situation? And would you like it?<br /><br /><strong>Straw Dogs </strong>has been released onto <a href="http://www.dvdplanet.com/product_listing.asp?productid=46873&format=DVD">DVD</a> a few times here in the States, though never better than in the 2-disc <a href="http://www.criterionco.com/asp/">Criterion Collection</a> edition (which is now sadly out of print). The print is superb—the best I’ve ever seen it—and the wealth of extras (including two excellent essays, a feature-length documentary on Peckinpah, and some candid interviews with actress Susan George and producer Daniel Melnick) really help to clarify some of the film’s trickier and more unsettling motivations. Though really, I’m not sure any justification or explanation can tame this dark beast of a film, even thirty-some-years on.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1136517584771264062006-01-05T18:53:00.000-08:002006-01-05T19:19:44.780-08:00A Fistful of Sushi or: Confessions of a Fellow Asian Film FreakJonathan Ross is a British radio/television host and confirmed lover of the strange, wild, weird, and bizarre as it relates to film. Back in the late-1980s he hosted a pretty good Cult Film 101 documentary called <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Incredibly Strange Film Show</span> which aired on A & E (I think) here in the U.S. Well, Ross is hosting a new show entitled <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jonathan Ross's Asian Invasion</span> next week on BBC4. Unfortunately, I don't live in Britain and I only get BBC America on the ol' digital cable, which I'd wager wont be airing this anytime soon if at all. I love Asian film in all its various and complex permutations, so I got a kick out of this article from the Guardian Unlimited, giving us all a little taste of what Mr Ross will offer up:<br /><a href="http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,1680108,00.html"><br />http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,1680108,00.html</a>Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1136416013748748102006-01-04T15:06:00.000-08:002006-01-04T15:14:31.150-08:00Not My Blood: War of the Worlds (2005)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/WaroftheWorlds.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/400/WaroftheWorlds.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />(<strong>Contains Spoilers</strong>)<br /><br />In many ways this is the first real post-911 American science fiction film. The horror genre already has <strong>21 Days Later </strong>by Danny Boyle (an Englishman) and George Romero’s fourth installment in his “Living Dead” series, <strong>Land of the Dead</strong>, but Steven Spielberg is the first American director to truly capture the neurosis, dread, and fear of contemporary life in the wake of a cataclysmic event. Spielberg and screenwriters John Friedman and David Koepp echo the events of September 11th with calculated expertise, first igniting our fascination as the strange storms come roiling into view above Jersey, then funneling our horrible interest into outright fear as the first Martian machine uproots from its concrete prison beneath Cruise’s feet and unleashes destruction. Those scenes of mob mayhem are executed skillfully and seem tainted with <em>deja vu</em>. The Calamity of Hurricane Katrina, though obviously unintended due to the fact that it happened long after the film’s production, also came to mind several times as Cruise and family joined the ranks of the refugees. But many of the scenes involving the human exodus fleeing from the towering metal machines fluidly stalking our cities and countryside reminded me of WW2 film footage or snapshots—trees on fire, streets littered with debris and rubble, people disoriented with the soot of death heavy in the air. I kept thinking of Warsaw in flames and of the long dark night cast over Europe as the Third Reich’s own infernal machines pulverized the earth and its soldiers harvested the “other” for slaughter. During the scenes where the refugees attempt to flee on the ferry, images of the Jews were also ever-present in my mind. The film reminded me that much of human history could be viewed as a series of exoduses, escapes, and flights from one calamity to the next. <br /><br />Spielberg’s take on H. G. Wells’ classic (and brilliant) novel is unarguably flawed, but there are so many fascinating and perverse images and themes here that it is impossible to dismiss. Upon my second viewing (I originally saw it in the theater), the film’s strengths (its visual design, apocalyptic atmosphere, Spielberg’s willingness to disturb) and weaknesses (questionable performances, heavy-handed desire to turn the End of the World into some sort of therapy session for Cruise and his family) become more apparent to me. The most cringe-inducing weakness is no doubt the film’s hackneyed and saccharine ending. Yet, the conclusion—with Cruise and family reunited to begin a brand new day—is an appropriate (albeit clumsy) dénouement of the film’s coherent and focused themes of maintaining the unity of the family at all costs and the belief in the restoration of the social order; a belief <em>in </em>the social order. Bad though it may be, I found the finale far more palatable than the misguided endings to Spielberg’s <strong>Artificial Intelligence: A.I. </strong>(a film I like very much despite several flaws) and <strong>Minority Report </strong>(a film I enjoyed up until the last twenty-minutes or so). Perhaps I simply found <strong>War of the Worlds</strong>’ Dr. Phil influenced finale to be a bit more agreeable considering it only lasted a minute or so, instead of the dreadful, overlong endings I suffered through for both <strong>A.I. </strong>and <strong>Minority Report</strong>.<br /><br />Although I’ve disliked many of his films and have problems with even the ones I do enjoy outside of <strong>Jaws </strong>and <strong>Close Encounters of the Third Kind </strong>(arguably his best films), I find Spielberg more and more interesting as time goes by. There’s no doubt that he’s in touch with humanity’s shadow and the dreadful things we’ll do when faced with adversity. He’s fascinated with our darker nature. But I never get the sense that he’s in touch with his <em>own </em>shadow self. For all his cinematic wizardry and his sure-footedness in obtaining some great performances from his actors, his films (I’m talking about the “serious” ones like <strong>Schindler’s List </strong>and <strong>Saving Private Ryan</strong>) remain antiseptic and simplistic beneath their <em>blitzkrieg </em>exteriors and relish in documenting unimaginable bloodshed with the utmost “realism” and technical accomplishments. I’ve heard that Spielberg’s latest, <strong>Munich</strong>, does plunge us into a character’s heart of darkness effectively, so perhaps I’ll have to rethink all of this once I’ve seen it (hopefully next week).<br /><br />Until then, I’ll stick with Spielberg’s “entertainments.” A few critics routinely dismissed <strong>War of the Worlds</strong>’ middle section with Cruise and Dakota Fanning (who plays his daughter) hunkering down in the cellar with former ambulance driver Tim Robbins, while the blood harvest rages up top, as a ponderous, murky, and meandering interlude. It dragged down the pace of the popcorn blockbuster too much. I couldn’t disagree more. I found it, upon second viewing, to be the black heart of the film. Cruise’s murder of Robbins as a way to restore order to his fractured family is disturbing, depraved, and fascinating by its implications. It’s a moment of genius when Fanning’s character slowly comprehends what her father has done; that what’s been unleashed down in that dank cellar may be worse than the machines themselves. It may not equal anything in Michael Haneke’s stark apocalyptic film, <a href="http://www.palmpictures.com/videos/timeofthewolf.html"><strong>Time of the Wolf</strong></a>, but it’s rare that an American blockbuster nowadays would even hint at the lengths many would go to keep up appearances.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1136335167039730372006-01-03T16:39:00.000-08:002006-01-03T17:01:07.733-08:00Ennio Morricone: Crime and Dissonance<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/Morricone.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/200/Morricone.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Well, the Christmas season is over and I’ve been laying low, trying to maintain my sanity after mingling with some of my more crazy relatives, and just generally keeping it together. One of the ways I maintain equilibrium is through music. This year, Bad Santa was extremely gracious by delivering into my quivering hands the new two-disc <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennio_Morricone">Ennio Morricone</a> CD collection, <a href="http://www.moviegrooves.com/shop/crimedissonancemorricone.htm"><strong>Crime and Dissonance</strong></a>. Yeah, I know, do we really need another Morricone collection? He’s a prolific composer to say the least, and the numerous compilations, remixes, and original soundtracks themselves document whatever style the maestro was mastering at the time. Well, after listening to the first couple of tracks off of disc one, there’s no doubt in my mind that this is one of the finest, most thematically consistent compilations of Morricone’s late-1960s, early-1970s period. It’s a strong addition to any Morricone aficionado’s collection. This is bold, experimental, psychedelic, sexy, scary, and sometimes transcendent music, charting Morricone’s work outside of the Spaghetti Western work he’s rightfully renowned for. Compiled by <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/fcm/ND05/morricone.htm">Alan Bishop</a> and with liner notes from avant-garde composer <a href="http://www.omnology.com/zorn01.html">John Zorn</a> (who recorded his own tribute to Morricone with his brilliant CD <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004W3KY/qid=1136335005/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-8831379-6952121?v=glance&s=music"><strong>The Big Gundown</strong></a>), the tracks tend to favor the glimmering darkness that Morricone was exploring at the time; though plenty of the tracks are not dark by any means, strangeness and exoticism are ever-present. It’s a relatively perfect mix-tape of aural shades and shifting sonic textures, failing to be the holy grail of Morricone compilations simply because such a collection would have to be twice as long to attain such an honor. I think I’ll always favor the epic, playful, emotional majesty Morricone attained in his work for Sergio Leone’s westerns, but for my ears this is nevertheless pure acid-drenched bliss.<br /><br /><strong>Crime and Dissonance </strong>is available on CD from the fantastic <a href="http://www.ipecac.com/main.php">Ipecac Recordings</a> label, which puts out loads of other strange sounds from strange people. Check ‘em out.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1134715352555577592005-12-15T22:23:00.000-08:002005-12-15T23:07:12.430-08:00A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering GeniusThis is just about the funniest damn thing I've seen in awhile, as well as the most clever. It's the winning entry in a contest open to film editors' assistants held by the New York chapter of the Association of Independent Creative Editors. The objective was to take a real film, in this case Stanley Kubrick's classic <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Shining</span>, and make a new trailer for it but in a completely different genre. The result of Mr. Ryang's endeavor is simply brilliant:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ps260.com/molly/SHINING%20FINAL.mov">http://www.ps260.com/molly/SHINING%20FINAL.mov</a><br /><br />You can read more about this story <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/30/movies/30shin.html?ex=1134882000&en=770484ab58b5306a&amp;amp;amp;ei=5070&ex=1128744000&en=fd2592b413260d3d&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=login">here</a> and <a href="http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/culturevulture/archives/2005/11/25/when_trailers_go_bad.html">here</a>. And yes, I realize that this story has been floating around for awhile, but then . . . so have I.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1134555210059726762005-12-14T02:13:00.000-08:002005-12-14T02:32:06.703-08:00Like Love, Only More So: The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/B0009ETD1O.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/200/B0009ETD1O.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>And man, what a vice. Sultry euro-starlet <a href="http://www.cultsirens.com/fenech/fenech.htm">Edwige Fenech</a> (<strong>All the Colors of the Dark</strong>, <strong>The Case of the Bloody Iris</strong>, <strong>Your Vice Is a Closed Room and Only I Have the Key</strong>) stars as a businessman’s wife who accompanies her boring husband to Vienna so that he can conduct his dreary financial affairs with other boring businessmen. So what’s a luscious, vivacious sexpot to do? Why, conduct an affair of her own, of course. Unfortunately, Mrs. Wardh has a suppressed hunger for violent sex—hence the title--and the volatile men who can give it to her. And one of her ex-paramours still carries a flame for her. Too bad he may also be a psychopathic killer. This stylish, ruthless, and seductively enticing psychological thriller is pure entertainment for fans of the Italian <em>giallo </em>genre. Director Sergio Martino (<strong>All the Colors of the Dark</strong>, <strong>Violent Professionals</strong>, <strong>Torso</strong>) keeps the pace moving, the murders plentiful, and the convoluted plot twists and red herrings overflowing in psychedelic splendor. The film also stars George Hilton (who made several films with Fenech) as a sleazy lothario bent on troubling Fenech’s waters. In other words, it’s a certified classic of the genre.<br /><br />More <a href="http://www.supremacy.it/celebritiesmagazine/E/Edwige%20Fenech/edvige_Fenech.jpg">Fenech</a> and <em>gialli </em>to come . . . . <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.noshamefilms.com/catalogue/dvd_01.asp?pdno=9">The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh</a> </span>is available on DVD from <a href="http://www.noshamefilms.com/index.asp">NoShame Films</a>.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1134211413516747462005-12-10T02:43:00.000-08:002006-01-04T01:43:45.090-08:00A Humble ConfessionI told myself I wasn’t going to do it. I told myself I was never going to give George Lucas another damned dollar and that he had ruined the <strong>Star Wars </strong>franchise after the abysmal, craptacular entries <strong>The Phantom Menace </strong>and <strong>Attack of the Clones</strong>. Hell, I didn’t even like <strong>Return of the Jedi </strong>when it originally came out and it was only years later that I sort of came to terms with its childish entertainment value. But I have to humbly admit that I was wrong about <strong>Revenge of the Sith</strong>.<br /><br />It was awesome. <br /><br />A couple of nights ago I finally sat my ass down to watch it on DVD. Strangely, I was looking forward to suffering through it. Perhaps I simply wanted to get it out of the way and feel superior to it, brag to my friends that I had witnessed yet another shitty film by Lucas and that I had been right all along—he was a hack and a fraud. Well, he may not be the best director around and he’s certainly not a good writer (but we’ve all known that for decades, right?), but damn if he didn’t pull out all the stops with this presumably final and certainly important film in the series. I won’t bore you with reviewing it—most of you have already seen it and have chosen sides—but I just want to publicly confess to those friends who were urging me to see it and who insisted that it was <em>not </em>a waste of time. You were right. And for the first time since <strong>Return of the Jedi</strong>, Lucas actually made a <strong>Star Wars </strong>film that felt like a real goddamn <strong>Star Wars </strong>film. Who knew he still had it in him?<br /><br />Then again, perhaps it was the bottle of wine that helped me through it.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1134198032076775722005-12-09T22:40:00.000-08:002005-12-09T23:05:12.233-08:00Robert Sheckley 1928-2005<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/sheckley.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/320/sheckley.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />American science fiction writer <a href="http://www.sheckley.com/">Robert Sheckley</a> died this morning in Poughkeepsie, New York. He was 77 years of age. <a href="http://www.locusmag.com/2003/Issue09/Sheckley.html">Sheckley</a> began his long career back in the 1950s writing for a host of pulp magazines, and later in the 1960s mostly for Galaxy Science Fiction magazine. His work was notable for its humor, wit, and intelligence. Sheckley lived for many years here in Portland and came into the bookstore a couple of times, but I never had the guts to talk with him. My loss.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1134037294380406552005-12-08T02:10:00.000-08:002005-12-08T18:00:26.396-08:00Sarah Silverman<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/heeb_800x600.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/320/heeb_800x600.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />We don't always get a lot of laughs around Nightmare Town. But when we <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> laugh . . . we like it black. Man, Silverman creeps me out with her straight-faced comic delivery. But in a good way. <a href="http://www.jesusismagicthemovie.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jesus is Magic</span></a> is opening in town on Friday at <a href="http://www.cinema21.com/">Cinema 21</a> and I'll be sure to check it out. Who says irony is dead?Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1133848183927812072005-12-05T21:49:00.000-08:002005-12-06T00:40:06.936-08:00The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film by Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/Midnight%20Eye.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/200/Midnight%20Eye.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Tom Mes’ and Jasper Sharp’s splendid book, <strong>The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film</strong>, is a much needed and worthwhile contribution to the ever-growing list of review guides and in-depth studies pertaining to contemporary Asian films. Mes and Sharp are longtime aficionados of Asian films, especially Japanese productions, and are co-editors of the highly informative and useful web site <a href="http://www.midnighteye.com/index.php">MidnightEye.com</a>, which focuses on the good, the bad, and the ugly of contemporary Japanese cinema.<br /><br />But if you’re worried that the book is simply a hardcopy version of the web site’s <em>free </em>content, you can rest assure that the online version of Midnight Eye is only a springboard for what’s contained in the book version. As stated in the book’s introduction, the authors’ intentions were to write a book centering on the leading Japanese filmmakers of the day, explore their signature work more closely, and try to put into historical context films that have been largely ignored by the West. An ambitious task to say the least, but it succeeds on nearly every level. The only real complaint is that plenty of the films discussed are simply not available outside of Japan, and if you are able to acquire a non-English subtitled Japanese DVD or videotape from a retailer located there or Europe, it’s going to cost you, my friend—big time. But that’s hardly the authors’ fault, especially considering that with the advent of more and more people owning all-region DVD players and the proliferation of online web sites catering to the rich tastes of worldly cineastes, the benefits of a specialized guide such as this clearly outweigh the frustrating drawbacks.<br /><br />The book profiles many of the international film festival heavyweights of Japanese film, such as Seijun Suzuki (<strong>Kanto Wanderer</strong><em>, </em><strong>Tokyo Drifter</strong><em>, </em><strong>Branded to Kill</strong>), Kinji Fukasaku (<strong>Black Lizard</strong>, <strong>Battles Without Honor and Humanity</strong>, <strong>Battle Royale</strong>), Shohei Imamura (<strong>Eijanaika</strong>, <strong>The Eel</strong>), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (<strong>Cure</strong>, <strong>Charisma</strong>, <strong>Bright Future</strong>), Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli fame (<strong>Grave of the Fireflies </strong>and <strong>Porco Rosso </strong>respectively), Shinya Tsukamoto (<strong>Tetsuo: The Iron Man</strong>, <strong>Tokyo Fist</strong>), Takeshi Kitano (<strong>Violent Cop</strong>, <strong>Sonatine</strong>, <strong>Hana-Bi</strong>), Takashi Miike (<strong>Bird People in China</strong>, <strong>Audition</strong>, <strong>Ichi the Killer</strong>), Hirokazu Kore-eda (<strong>After Life</strong>), Shinji Aoyama (<strong>Eureka</strong>), and Hideo Nakata (<strong>Ringu</strong>, <strong>Dark Water</strong>). But more importantly, Mes and Sharp devote considerable space to lesser-known (at least in the West) though no less interesting figures like Sogo Ishii (<strong>Crazy Thunder Road</strong>, <strong>August in the Water</strong>), Masato Harada (<strong>Kamikaze Taxi</strong>, <strong>Bounce KoGals</strong>), Kaizo Hayashi (<strong>To Sleep So As to Dream</strong>, <strong>The Most Terrible Time in My Life</strong>), Ryosuke Hashiguchi (<strong>Hush!</strong>), and Sabu (<strong>Dangan Runner</strong>, <strong>The Blessing Bell</strong>), among others.<br /><br />The final third of the book is devoted to single films, whether from internationally known directors or not, which have made an impact on the film scene or are just too good or unusual to pass up. Critically-lauded and popular art house hits such as <strong>Tampopo</strong>, <strong>The Mystery of Rampo</strong>, <strong>Gohatto</strong><em>, </em>and <strong>Shall We Dance? </strong>are featured, as well as more outré fare such as the transgressive <strong>Organ</strong>, the anime thriller <strong>Perfect Blue</strong>, the <em>kaiju eiga </em>standby <strong>Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris</strong>, the surreal horror film <strong>Uzumaki</strong>, and the all-CGI powered <strong>Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within</strong>. Even in such a specialized book such as this, there’s bound to be something for everyone.<br /><br />A bibliography of “recommended reading” and a much needed index of titles and personalities are also included. Unfortunately, a no-interest, no-limit credit card is <em>not</em>.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1133593242778678912005-12-02T21:55:00.000-08:002005-12-06T16:30:40.480-08:00A Cry of Desperate Men: Grey Knight--The Director's Cut (1993)This Civil War/horror film has had a long, troubled history worthy of a small chapbook or something, and was originally released as <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Killing Box</span> (as well as <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ghost Brigade</span>), though that version is <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> director George Hickenlooper's. Known informally as the "Producer's Cut," <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Killing Box</span> was edited by ten minutes, downplaying much of the simmering homoeroticism between Adrian Pasdar's character and that of Corbin Bernsen's, as well as containing a different music score and a drastically different opening sequence. Hickenlooper, who also directed the fabulous documentary <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse</span>, about the tribulations surrounding the making of Francis Ford Coppola's psychedelic war masterpiece, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Apocalypse Now</span> (my favorite film, by the way), here reimagines Coppola's Vietnam War odyssey to the scorched earth of the American South, complete with surreal Orphean interludes and arthouse existentialism. Focusing on a small group of Union soldiers, led by Captain John Harling (Pasdar), as they meander through the blood-soaked countryside in search of a band of Confederate renegades (so they believe) who've committed acts of extreme prejudice against Yankee soldiers, the film combines gritty combat realism with supernatural horror and adds a little cosmic myth into the mix just for good measure. The results aren't always smooth--due mainly to Hickenlooper's sometimes plodding and amateurish directing--but this flawed yet ambitious film frequently delivers on originality and boldness thanks to Matt Greenberg's screenplay. The performances by Pasdar, who seems to be channeling Martin Sheen (who has a cameo in the film at the beginning) as Captain Willard from <span style="font-weight: bold;">Apocalypse Now</span>, and Bernsen (who has a little Richard Harris from Peckinpah's <span style="font-weight: bold;">Major Dundee</span> going for him) are good, as are Ray Wise (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Twin Peaks</span>) as a demented Colonel Kilgore-like Union officer, Billy Bob Thornton as a Confederate soldier, and Cynda Williams (<span style="font-weight: bold;">One False Move</span>, which also starred Thornton) as a mute slave who ends up offering Col. Nehemiah Strayn (Bernsen) a little taste of immortality. Not brilliant by any means, this modest film should nevertheless reward the more adventurous horror film aficionados out there.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1133489822928817632005-12-01T18:00:00.000-08:002005-12-06T16:31:17.756-08:00Subscribe to NT and Feel the Darkness!You can now receive blog entries from this site directly into your email inbox or via an RSS feed. Click on the FeedBurner link beneath my profile or simply enter your email address in the appropriate spot. No, not <span style="font-style: italic;">there</span>. <span style="font-style: italic;">There</span>. I'm pointing right at it. Excellent. And I promise not to inundate you with loads--<span style="font-style: italic;">loads</span>--of posts.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1133316430464309042005-11-29T17:51:00.000-08:002005-12-06T16:32:45.046-08:00Graham JoyceBritish writer <a href="http://www.grahamjoyce.net/">Joyce</a> has been crafting some of the strangest and worthwhile novels since the early-1990s. Why haven't you heard of him? Perhaps because the publishing industry in this country doesn't know what the fuck Joyce actually writes. Is it fantasy? Yeah, sometimes, but not the kind that you think. Does he write horror? Well, not really, though there are horrific or supernatural elements at times. Anyway, you get the picture. Exponents of the fantastic or anyone who simply loves a good, well-written novel that is actually trying to do something original should not hesitate to read Joyce.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sff.net/people/lyndaerucker/">Lynda Rucker</a> reviews his latest novel, <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Limits of Enchantment</span>, over at the Strange Horizons web site. Check it out at:<br /><a href="http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2005/11/the_limit.shtml"><br />http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2005/11/the_limit.shtml</a>Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1132994190080125262005-11-25T23:05:00.000-08:002005-12-06T16:33:57.253-08:00George Best 1946-2005<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>I’m not British. I don’t support <a href="http://www.manutd.com/home/default.sps?programme">Manchester United</a>. And I wasn’t even born when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Best">Best</a> started to dazzle the world with his grace, style, determination, bravery, and mad skills on the pitch. But I do love soccer, and with that love comes the dream--the wish--that I could have witnessed one of the all-time greats perform. Even Pele stated that he thought Best was the greatest player he’d ever seen. Of course, Best agreed. Was he <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/4309502.stm">the greatest</a>? I don’t know. He never won a World Cup title and his career was one wild rollercoaster ride once he departed Man U in 1973. And then there was his life off the pitch. When Spinal Tap keyboardist Viv Savage (David Kaff) proclaimed in the film, <span style="font-weight: bold;">This is Spinal Tap</span>, that his motto for living was to "Have a good time. . .all the time," he could have easily been parroting soccer legend George Best's motto as well. Best had a love of drink, women, fast cars, and burning out with flash style like the rockers that he was frequently compared to. One Portuguese journalist even proclaimed him "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fifth_Beatle">The Fifth Beatle</a>.” Well . . . Best and everyone else it seems. Best also knew how to get the most mileage out of a quote. Here are a few of my favorites:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">"I used to go missing a lot...Miss Canada, Miss United Kingdom, Miss World."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">“He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that he's all right.”</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">-- (his assessment of Manchester United's David Beckham)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">“I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.”</span><br /><br />“<span style="font-weight: bold;">I've stopped drinking, but only while I'm asleep.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">"In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life."</span><br /><br />Here are a few more links about the man and his fabulous career:<br /><br /><a href="http://football.guardian.co.uk/obituary/0,16836,1650898,00.html">http://football.guardian.co.uk/obituary/0,16836,1650898,00.html</a><br /><br /><a href="http://football.guardian.co.uk/gallery/0,8555,1647552,00.html">http://football.guardian.co.uk/gallery/0,8555,1647552,00.html</a><br /><br /><a href="http://football.guardian.co.uk/obituary/0,16836,1651234,00.html">http://football.guardian.co.uk/obituary/0,16836,1651234,00.html<br /></a><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4466944.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4466944.stm</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/26/sports/soccer/26best.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/26/sports/soccer/26best.html<br /></a><br /><a href="http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/fo/rodney/best.html">http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/fo/rodney/best.html</a>Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1132827215497909262005-11-24T02:01:00.000-08:002005-12-06T16:35:32.443-08:00We’re Going to Eat You<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/cannibal.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/320/cannibal.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>When the relatives just won’t leave or if the turkey just doesn’t do the trick, why don’t you simply slip out of the house and take in a cannibal film? That’s if you live in Eugene, Oregon, of course. This Thanksgiving weekend the wonderful <a href="http://www.bijou-cinemas.com/">Bijou</a> theater is going to show three classics of the genre: Ruggero Deodato’s brutal and unforgettable masterpiece, <a href="http://www.cannibalholocaust.net/">Cannibal Holocaust</a>, Antonio Margheriti’s <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080379/">Cannibal Apocalypse</a>, and Wes Craven’s classic piece of revenge mayhem, <a href="http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/01/19/hills.html">The Hills Have Eyes</a>. All of them are worthy of attention if you have the stomach for this particular kind of gut-munching horror, though don’t blame me if your life passes before your eyes while watching <span style="font-weight: bold;">Holocaust</span>. Margheriti’s and Craven’s productions are intense and great fun in their ways. But Deodato’s contribution to the genre is. . .well, just keep telling yourself it’s only a movie. . .a movie. . .a movie. . .a movie. . . .Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1132548666128650042005-11-20T20:29:00.000-08:002005-12-06T16:36:46.846-08:00My God’s Bigger: Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/toho-fctw-pic1big.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/400/toho-fctw-pic1big.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Growing up as a die-hard <a href="http://www.monsterkid.com/">monster kid</a>, I obsessively watched any creature-feature that came on television. King Kong, Frankenstein’s Monster, big, small, whatever. If it had a monster in it, I was there. And my favorite kinds of monsters were the ones that came from the mighty <a href="http://www.cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp?aff_id=0&obj_id=23688&this_cat=Movies">Toho Studios</a> in Japan. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla">Godzilla</a>, of course, was my favorite, though <a href="http://kaiju.boomcoach.com/gallery/rodan.html">Rodan</a> was a close runner-up even though he lacked personality. <a href="http://kaiju.boomcoach.com/gallery/ghidora.html">Monster Zero</a> was also high on my list, as was the gentle <a href="http://kaiju.boomcoach.com/gallery/mothra.html">Mothra</a>. Luckily, it seemed that there was always some kind of <span style="font-style: italic;">kaiju eiga</span> (monster movie) on every Saturday or Sunday afternoon, so I managed to see plenty of ‘em. But for some reason—probably due to the fact that it simply never played on KATU, the channel that aired most of these wonderfully surreal fantasies—I never got a chance to see <span style="font-weight: bold;">Frankenstein Conquers the World</span> (its American release title). Now, thankfully, my prospects have changed due to DVD. Though still unavailable in the U.S., <span style="font-weight: bold;">Frankenstein vs. Baragon</span> is easily obtainable in its native country of Japan, and because the worldwide web has made it a lot more accessible for cineastes of all stripes—as long as they have a <a href="http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/hardwarereviews/malata-856.htm">multi-region DVD player</a>—to get pretty much anything their obsessive little hearts desire.<br /><br />Directed by the legendary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishiro_Honda">Ishiro Honda</a>, with special effects from the equally impressive and important <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuburaya_Eizi">Eiji Tsuburaya</a>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Frankenstein vs. Baragon</span> is one of the landmark <span style="font-style: italic;">kaiju eiga</span> battle royales from the 1960s. After the Nazis deliver via submarine Frankenstein’s heart (<span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> the infamous doctor’s beating muscle but the monster’s) to Hiroshima, Japan, so that doctors can implement their own twisted experiments upon it, the American forces drop the atom bomb and the rest, as they say, is history. Flash forward fifteen years, and a group of doctors—inexplicably led by Dr James Bowen, played to inert perfection by the troubled Nick Adams—discover a strange, feral teenager wandering the streets of Hiroshima, who survives by preying on stray dogs and eating God knows what else. Bowen and his fellow doctors, played by <span style="font-style: italic;">kaiju eiga</span> regulars Tadao Takashima and Kumi Mizuno, attempt to nurse the boy back to health and gently civilize him. But the teenager, experiencing a growth spurt to end them all, starts to metamorphose into a giant and eventually becomes a danger to everyone around him. Dr Kawaji (Takashima) wants to kill Frankenstein and perform experiments upon his body, but Dr Togami (Mizuno) demands that to exterminate him would be against their medical ethics. She’s got a point, but how in the Hell do they expect to tame a 30 foot tall teenager with hormones rampaging violently through him like a fourteen-year old attention-starved boy at a nude rodeo? Of course, this ethical dilemma is not why we enjoy the best of the Toho monster mashes. We want destruction. Big, bad, city in flames trouble in mind is what we desire. And the weirder the better. It takes almost an hour or so for the mayhem to really get going here, but when it does . . . oh, man, you can practically taste the hate. <a href="http://kaiju.boomcoach.com/gallery/baragon.html">Baragon</a> (a dinosaur-like creature with a spike sticking out of its forehead), who was never a Toho or a fan favorite, is ultimately no match for our square-headed friend. But their showdown in the Japanese countryside is nothing short of awesome. And the finale, with our two adversaries surrounded by a raging forest fire, is one the best endings Honda and Tsuburaya ever devised, as well as one of the most apocalyptic. The Japanese DVD also contains the legendary, and seldom seen, “alternate” ending which has Frankenstein battling it out with a cosmically huge devil fish (really an octopus) that would have given H.P. Lovecraft nightmares for eternity. Or, he’d simply laugh. Probably the latter, I guess. Anyway . . . the showdown is fantastic, and after reading about it for years, it certainly lived up to my expectations.<br /><br />Honda and company followed up this mini-classic with the even better <span style="font-weight: bold;">War of the Gargantuas</span> the next year, staring yet another slumming, sleep-walking American actor (Russ Tamblyn) to play off of the lovely Ms. Mizuno and the rubber-suit mayhem. And if that doesn’t get your pulse racing, I seriously doubt you’re among the living.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303688.post-1132196216491095992005-11-16T18:38:00.000-08:002005-12-06T16:37:34.643-08:00Stray Dolls: Azumi 2: Death or Love (2005)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/1600/azumi2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2955/173/200/azumi2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>This disappointing follow-up to the thoroughly entertaining and violent <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.chambara.com/">chambara</a> (Japanese slang for historical swordplay films; a sub-genre of the <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.midnighteye.com/features/samurai_cinema_101.shtml">jidai-geki</a> or historical film genre) <span style="font-weight: bold;">Azumi</span> (2003), is not without its charms or excitement, but there’s something lacking here. <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v393/LydMystc/mini-aya_ueto_409.jpg">Aya Ueta</a> returns as the <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.uta.edu/english/tidwell/JapaneseFashion/JapaneseFashion--Cute.htm">kawaii</a> (cute) assassin Azumi who, with her loyal compatriot Nagara (Yuma Ishigaki) still by her side after the monumental bloodshed finale of the last film, are hired by another lord to take out the evil warlord Masayuki Sanada (Mikijiro Hira), who wants to wage war across Tokugawa Japan and destroy anyone foolhardy enough to stand in his way. Director Shusuke Kaneko (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe and its sequels</span>; <span style="font-weight: bold;">Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack</span>) replaces Ryhuhei Kitamura (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Versus</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Godzilla: Final Wars</span>) from the first outing, and the difference couldn’t be more obvious. Kitamura’s swift, stylish epic (especially in the 142 minute Japanese cut and not the shorter international version) beautifully mixed action and emotion, character-development and manga-inspired melodrama to make for one hell of a Saturday afternoon matinee bonanza. Kaneko’s take on the material, unfortunately, never really finds its footing and when the action sequences do kick in—which isn’t too long of a wait—they’re frequently un-involving and ponderously staged.<br /><br />There <span style="font-style: italic;">are</span> some surprises and treats here, though, including the casting of fan-boy favorite <a href="http://chiaki-kuriyama.zanlius.com/">Chiaki Kuriyama</a> (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Battle Royale</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kill Bill: Vol. 1</span>) as an assassin who joins up with Azumi and her new rag-tag killer misfits. And though she pretty much steals every scene she’s in, even Kuriyama has trouble fighting her way out of screenwriter Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s clunky dialogue and clichéd plot.<br /><br />I realize it sounds as if I really disliked <span style="font-weight: bold;">Azumi 2: Death or Love</span>, which couldn’t be farther from the truth (I'll take a mediocre <span style="font-weight: bold;">Azumi</span> over none at all). It’s just that the first film was so good, so enjoyable, that perhaps my expectations were a little too high. Oh, well. Considering that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Death or Love</span> ends with a wide-open window for another installment, I’m sure I’ll get another chance to see my <span style="font-weight: bold;">Azumi</span> dreams turn into another serving of bad <a href="http://www.theblackmoon.com/Jfood/ftsuke.html#salt"><span style="font-style: italic;">shio-zuke</span></a>.Derekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16234427658517264504noreply@blogger.com0