My blog: Some thoughts on films

Here is my review for the pretty naff all round horror flick Deadtime for HorrorTalk.

Warning images in review are NSFW! Click on image below to read.

Hello there. Released in the UK this week is the new rom-com-baby-booming flick What To Expect When you’re Expecting. For anyone out there who thinks I only like Horror flicks you are mistaken. I love anything, soppy and romanic included.

I did not like this one though.

Please click on the link below to read and share my review for New Empress Magazine! Thank you.

Look no further. I got the chance to check out new gritty, Brit flick Piggie for HorrorTalk recently and was thoroughly impressed. Click on the link below to check out what it’s all about!

Oh crumbs, I haven’t kept up to date with the reviews I’ve done for HorrorTalk recently. I’ve spent the past month getting settled in my new digs y’see. So here are some reviews for you to get your peepers on. Click on the pics for links.

The Watermen (I could not steer you away from this MORE)

Sometimes They Come Back (Classic Stephen King)

Fear Eats The Seoul (Not as bad as the pun ridden title would suggest)

Like many geeks outside of the US (and possibly for some right next door to it) Comic Con is a distant dream, each year it rolls around and each year I have no ticket. This has been going on for longer than I’d like so when I saw  the trailer for a  documentary on Comic Con called Comic Con: Episode IV - A Fan’s Hope, I knew I’d have to see it. It opened here in Toronto this weekend and after a botched screening a few weeks ago of Cabin In The Woods, I’d acquired a complimentary ticket to see anything I wanted. It was a no brainer what I’d pick. 

From start to finish I was grinning like a god damn idiot at the screen. The documentary follows a set of people leading up to the covention and their time during it. These people include aspiring illustrators “The Geek” and “The Soldier” who attend Comic Con to get their art critiqued in hope of getting work, another follows “The Survivor”, Chuck Rozanski, a man who owns Mile High Comics who are feeling the effects of the recession, “The Designer” a woman who makes costumes from the game Mass Effect to re-enact at the convention, “The Collector” a man who goes specifically to buy packaged toys and “The Lovers” a young couple who met at the convention the previous year. This is all inter spliced with short interviews with living geek legends including Frank Miller, Eli Roth, Seth Green, Edgar Wright, Joss Whedon and Robert Kirkman to name just a few, each expressing their love and experiences at the convention. The documentary itself is directed by Morgan Spurlock and produced by Stan Lee, Harry Knowles and Joss Whedon. It’s just brimful of geekiness. 

If you’ve been to any of the Comic Conventions in San Diego I’m sure this documentary will bring back all sorts of memories, for people like me it’s an insight into a hidden world of treasures. It isn’t so much a documentary as a snap shot of what the festival is. There is a little bit of history on how it began but not too much, it follows these central characters who all have their own missions which really emphasises how the convention has grown from simply just being for comics. This highlights the change in current trends and the worries this brings for comic dealers, outlined in Chuck Rozanski’s portion of the film. The convention is so big now, it is not merely for those who love comics but for the film nerds, the gamer nerds, the design nerds, cosplay nerds…I could go on. It’s great that it reaches so many people now but to see the struggling comic world that inspired it is very sad to see on screen. One of the greatest accomplishments of this documentary is the heart warming stories it has managed to find for us, each one is incredibly interesting in its own way. 

I really, really enjoyed A Fan’s Hope and anyone who has any kind of obsession with comics, games, movies…or just anything would appreciate it. As the film drew to an end all I could think was, “No don’t end! I want to see more!” But I don’t think I will be satisfied until I’m actually there myself. So really, the only bad thing to come out of it is that, if you thought you wanted to go to Comic Con prior to watching this movie, prepare yourself for how you’ll feel after.

I may not be able to go this year…but next year…next year will be my year. 

5/5

Tonight I went to a screening of It is fine. Everything is Fine! a film directed by Crispin Glover. He tours with his films and does a performance of his books through a slideshow along with a Q&A after the session, so you really get your money’s worth for the night!

It is fine. Everything is Fine! is a sort of autobiographical account from Steven C Stewart, a 62 year old man with cerebal palsy. The film is about his life in his nursing home and his love/fetish of woman with long hair which turns sinister when they decide to cut it off. Steven is the star of the movie and sadly passed away a month after they finished filming. 

I became aware of Crispin’s own films and production company (Volcanic Eruptions) a while back through watching some (many) interviews with him. I’ve always loved how big stars do mainstream work to fund the independent features that they really want to do. In one interview Crispin explained he took on the role of Thin Man in Charlie’s Angels to fund the second film in a trilogy that he was making. This second feature was the one I saw tonight, It is Fine! After spending ten years trapped in a nursing home, belittled and ignored, Steven C Stewart wrote this script and Crispin promised he would make the film telling his story.

Before I went in I knew this was not going to be easy viewing and I wasn’t wrong. There are many occasions when you have to look away from the screen due to the explicit nature of what is happening, it is all real which makes it hard to keep your eyes on it. Or maybe I’m just too British. 

During the Q&A at the end of the film people asked a number of questions related to the film and Glover’s work, one woman (right next to me sadly) asked her question and she went on a little rant about how the film was misogynistic and had Steven not been disabled, would he have still portrayed the woman and sex in the same way. Now, I have no problem with people having an opposing opinion about art but it was the way in which she went about it that made me rather angry. See, Crispin is quite obviously a rather quiet, quick to listen slow to speak type of person and he has the tendancy to ramble on when answering the audiences questions (this is brilliant for any film fan, it’s great to hear the stream of consciouness of someone you admire like I do him…think Kevin Smith…that kind of thing) yet she interrupted him twice when he was answering and had an attitude like she was out to get him. It angered a few people in the audience who started to argue back with her. To have an opinion is fine, but don’t go about it in that manner because your argument will straight away be dismissed. I actually did have the same thoughts when watching the film, women were exposed and murdered and at times it was excessive, but the way in which the film finished proved there was a bigger picture and if all you took away was it was misogynistic then you missed what the film was really about. I don’t want to give anything away though, I know these films are hard to see as Glover only tours with them, but really this is a documentation (not a documentary) of what one man actually went through. Stephen was trapped in a home for ten years where no one listened to him, understood him or realised he had the same thoughts as anyone else. He was  restricted in so many different ways. This film captures that feeling. 

In terms of style, it gets a lot of influence from David Lynch and I loved the colours and set design. Art and music are definitely two major influences for Crispin and it worked well to create an off balance feel to the movie. I also was reminded of Pink Flamingos, mainly in that I found it hard to watch and everything felt very real. And like Flamingos, it’s not a film that I could say is good, nor would I particularly recommend, but I’m glad there are people like him making films like this. It’s challenging, interesting and evokes a lot of emotions. 

It’s easy to see why Crispin likes to tour with these movies, they are very hard to watch and get your head around. To see them out of context would ruin what he has tried to create so these screenings are like his way of guiding you through the process of what is happening and why it has happened. It is interesting and a great way of viewing cinema.

Everything iS Fine! is the film Crispin believes is his finest work, I was a little dismayed that he doesn’t count Rubin and Ed in the same way but hey, we’re all different.

The first installment of the trilogy What Is It? will be showing at the TIFF Lightbox tomorrow. I don’t have a ticket but I am tempted to head down if I’m not doing anything else. And if it’s not sold out.

Oh, actual bonus. When I got to the queue for the showing Buck 65 was right next to me. I did a little gasp looked him in the eye and then scuttled off like a loser to be near such a man. I wonder if he remembered me from that 5 second conversation we had in Manchester two years ago…

Who am I kidding? Of course he would.