Halloween Movie Week - The Mist

For the final day of the week I'm going to go for a real favourite and the first Stephen King adaptation of the week.

Day 5 - The Mist

Sorry Mr. Kubrick but Frank Darabont is the official master of Stephen King adaptations with The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist under his belt. It's because he gets what the Master of Horror is all about. Certain critics attack King for his style and over reliance on plot but when he gets it right King is all about character. The Shining, Shawshank and even Stand By Me aren't about external threats but about character interaction and how these people play off each other. In his best horror efforts the external conflicts represent the inner conflicts of the characters.

In The Mist all these strengths are played up. A group of people trapped in a supermarket by a mysterious threat soon turn on each other as the threat outside escalates. The great thing that Darabont really manages to convey is that the true evil and the real horror is the result of the actions of these people and not the bugs and octopuses and other Lovecraftesque nightmares rampaging outside.

It's a brilliant film crafted by a director at the top of his game. There are genuinely scary moments, real character drama and a thought provoking message. It also has an unrelentingly bleak ending. I think it fits with the piece but I've known others to disagree and become a little depressed because of it.

In other Frank Darabont news he is behind the TV adaptation of The Walking Dead. Premiering on FX on November 5th in the UK. If it's anything like the comic it'll be insanely brilliant.

Have a great weekend. If you're wondering how I'm celebrating Halloween I'll be watching Paranormal Activity 2 tonight, dressing as a zombie mime tomorrow and then watching An American Wereworlf in London on Sunday.

Peace,

Steve

Halloween Movie Week - Final Destination 2

It's day 4 of Halloween movie week and a mere 3 days until the big day itself. Hope you've got your costumes sorted. If you see any zombie mimes rampaging around on Saturday night come and say hi. I won't say hi back but I will wave.

Day 4 - Final Destination 2

Apart from the Saw films there aren't a massive number of recent horror films that have spawned a true legacy of cinematic sequels. A decent few have had a bit of life in the straight to DVD arena but these are easy to ignore. Final Destination is one of the few horror films in recent memory that can seriously lay claim to starting a real franchise and I'm going to be controversial here because I don't even think it was the best one.

I'm not going to disrespect Final Destination here. I think if anything you want to double bill these two. It's a genius concept - death relentlessly pursuing those who've managed to escape its clutches leading to a series of inventive and gruesome deaths. The plane crash of the original is genuinely quite disturbing although I'd say the sheer scale of the car crash in FD2 outdoes it. It also has one of my favourite deaths of the entire series when the girl is hit by the bus - classic sucker punch. The plot of the original is also a great deal clearer with 2 throwing in a few confusing twists to do with defying death (Though there is a decent attempt to link the films together seemingly abandoned in the following sequels). Yet, I'd say the second is by far the most entertaining of the two films on the strength of its death sequences alone. You can see the filmmakers are far more comfortable with the concept and each gory end is its own mini masterpiece. From the ladder through the eye to the fence dismembering to the flattening with the plane of glass this film has a pitch black sense of humour.

With the sheer glee in which the characters are picked off you have to decide who you're rooting for. It might be a little morbid but I think it's more fun to side with The Reaper.

FILM NERD FACT - The original film was written as a spec for the X-Files. Mulder & Scully vs Death - pretty awesome high concept!

The above pic is from the novelization of the film. Seriously. Who the fuck is going to buy that?

I had to hand back my keys today. I finished my contract as a Temporary Facilities Assistant and I am no longer a white van man or a deliverer of milk. Anyone who wants to give me a non sexual job please get in touch. Jobs involving use of a white van preferred.

Peace,

Steve

Halloween Movie Week - The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Just a short one today. A little short on time before The Apprentice.

Day 3 - The Exorcism of Emily Rose

This was a big box office hit in 2005 but I haven't actually encountered many people who've seen it. It falls  into the ghost story, possession, creepy child sub genre which isn't always my favourite. I think when it's done well then it can represent the absolute best of the horror genre (See: The Exorcist, The Omen, The Shining, The Ring) but much of the time films can be too in thrall to these classics. Whenever there's a hit there are far too many dreadful attempts to cash in by doing the same thing. For example, The Ring was fantastic but then I ended up sitting through Hide & Seek and White Noise. The Exorcism of Emily Rose deserves praise for its originality in telling an old story but in a fascinating new way.

It's your typical possession story but framed by a court case dealing with a priest accused of negligent homicide after performing an exorcism where the possessed girl dies. It's especially interesting in two ways. First of all it completely invites the audience into making their own decision. Through the use of different narrators it never completely falls down on who is absolutely right. Also via the use of these different narrators it provides a fascinating view not only of the religious context of the exorcism but also the American legal system and religion's place inside it. There are a few decent frights but it's more a character drama and an intellectual debate presented against the backdrop of classic horror tropes. Worth a look even if you're not into the horror genre.

Has anyone seen the trailer for Series 2 of Misfits? I missed the first series because I was away travelling but the trailer is so ingenious that it makes me want to watch. Very clever.

Local film 'Ghosts of Rome' are looking for people to film short vox pops to make-up part of their project. Check out their website here. I have to commend them for their choice of example film on the vox pop page. That guy is handsome and funny and me. Check it out.

Peace,

Steve

Halloween Movie Week - Jennifer's Body

It's day 2 of Halloween Horror Week. Today - Jennifer's Body

It's difficult to say why Jennifer's Body didn't catch on. It had big stars (Megan Fox & Amanda Seyfried), a fun premise (cheerleader possessed by a demon eats classmates) and a script by the Oscar winning writer of Juno. I guess the reason that I enjoy it is the same reason more people haven't seen it - it's a bizarre film. Treading the fine line between parody and tribute the film is like a throwback to eighties teen horror with buckets of gore and a wicked sense of humour - it's genius. I watched it in a large group of people who seemed to think it wasn't so great but to be honest I just don't think many of them got it. There's none of the jumpy scares of a slasher or a ghost flick it's just plain fun in the vein of The Evil Dead. There are a few great supporting turns but absolutely stand out is Adam Brody (Seth from the OC) as the lead singer of the band who sacrifice Fox's central character to Satan.

'Do you want to be awesome like that guy from Maroon 5?'

Also, there's plenty of Megan Fox and though I doubt she appeals to the ladies I think the dudes will enjoy how much skin they get to see.

Overall, it's a really great film and it deserves a bigger audience. Just make sure you go in looking for laughs rather than terrifying scares.

In other news it hasn't been a good day for animals. Paul The Octopus is on his way to the big sushi bar in the sky and our beloved pet the 'Titan of Toilet Drinking' Doobie the Cat passed away at what we guess was the age of 17. I'll do a little tribute to him next week. We're obviously sad but he hadn't been well and it was definitely for the best. I like to think he is annoying Jesus by constantly rubbing himself against his leg and demanding to be fed even though we just fed him.

Peace,

Steve

Halloween Movie Week - The Faculty

It's the week leading up to one of my favourite days of the year - Halloween! It does happen to fall on a Sunday this year but I think every Halloween should be a national holiday. Trick or Treating would be mandatory as well as dressing up, we could all eat Pumpkin Pie and drink Pumpkin soup and most importantly of all families could gather together and watch horror films. If you fat cats at city hall are reading this then take note. It has the potential to be as big as Christmas!

In the spirit of things I'm going to recommend a film each day that you might want to think about watching. I'm going to try and go kind of left field with this. I shouldn't need to tell you The Shining or Halloween are absolute classics. Instead I'll go with lesser known, forgotten, sequels or the criminally underrated.

Today - The Faculty.

I'll admit that I haven't seen this film for a while. It actually came out in 1998 - Christ that seems like a long time ago. I do hold a special fondness for it in my heart though because it was one of the first films I saw when I really started getting into the horror genre. I guess you could even question if it really is a horror or if it's more science fiction. I think one of its great strengths is in fusing the two genres so effortlessly harking back to an earlier era and fifties sci-fi like Invasion of the Bodysnatchers. It also does a pretty darn good at nailing the teen coming of age narrative with some great and genuinely funny dialogue. This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise given Kevin Williamson's (Dawson's Creek, Scream) involvement in scripting.

The film is smart, funny, self referential and at times genuinely inventive (the subversive snorting of the made-up drug as a way of ending paranoia rather than causing it!). There's also some very decent set pieces, the confrontation at the pool springing to mind. Again this shouldn't surprise too much as Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, From Dusk Till Dawn) directed the film.

If nothing else this film features Usher playing one of the smaller roles. If that isn't enough to convince you then I don't know what to say.

Peace,

Steve

Shy Ronnie FX

Rihanna & Shy Ronnie from Mathieu Carratier on Vimeo.

Back after a massive weekend of hardcore Lancaster korfing (It's not a sex thing. Click on the link if you don't know what I mean). It was weird being back after such a long time away. I think I had a little tear in my eye when I was sitting on the bus. Depressingly the majority of the current influx of freshers were 13 when I started my degree. Definitely starting to feel a bit old. I think I fooled them into thinking I was cool by constantly talking about the Tinie Tempahs and Flo-Rida. We were staying with the man, the myth, the legend - George Lincoln and he reminded me of the above video. I kind of think this is what Rihanna would be like in person. Happy Sunday everyone. Back next week with build up to Halloween and horror films!

Peace,

Steve

Fear of Vaginas

There's plenty of talk on the national scale about cuts and deficits. Sadly we here in Jersey are not immune to this kind of thing. One of the big talking points here is a massive reduction in subsidies to private schools. I'm not going to weigh in on the debate here in too serious a matter. Frankly Jersey politicians make British politicians look like upstanding citizens with common sense and vision. What I am going to respond to is an article in tonight's Jersey Evening Post. The good folks at our local paper have sought out a variety of opinions on the matter including asking a sixth form boy educated in public school for his views. As it turns out his views are moronic.

His main argument is that not only did he go to public school and turn out alright (You're a teenager mate. You haven't turned out anything yet.) but that because he went to a mixed sex school he is comfortable with the other sex. Of course if you go to an all male public school and speak to a girl you'll either cry, wee yourself, spunk in your pants or do a messy mixture of all three. He's just wrong and dangerously so. Is there really such a thing as a teenage boy (public or private school, same or mixed sex) who is truly comfortable with the other sex? I think from the Inbetweeners alone we can probably answer that as a big no. I'm twenty three and I've had a girlfriend for nearly three years and even I'm not completely comfortable with the other sex. I doubt any man ever reaches this point. I don't blame the kid writing the article for doing this but surely the editor could have coaxed something a little more interesting rather than boring cliches and undoubted inaccuracies.

The less mature response - If you want to know how guys from same sex schools relate to women then just ask your Mum.

Join us next time for hopefully less vitriolic attacks on teenagers and if you did make it to The Ritz in Brixton tonight please let me know what you think!

Peace,

Steve