Confessions of a grumpy drunken Scottish girl

Where to find me...

2011-01-30T13:15:00.003Z

I don't really have the time these days to update this blog as often as I'd like, but you can find stuff that I write here http://www.brutalashell.com/ and also here http://www.eatsleeplivefilm.com/ even if you have no interest in what I write about I'd still recommend checking both those sites out, because they are awesome (not that I am biased).

You can also follow me on twitter @goregoregirl

or email me goregoregirl[at]hotmail.co.uk if you so wish.

My Top Ten Films of 2010

2010-12-09T12:07:00.002Z

1. Red, White & Blue*
2. Monsters
3. The Killer Inside Me
4. Winter’s Bone
5. The Illusionist
6. Inception
7. Samson & Delilah
8. Four Lions
9. A Prophet
10. The Disappearance of Alice Creed

Honourable mention: The Kids Are All Right, The Loved Ones*, Greenberg, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Dogtooth, A Single Man, We Are What We Are, Dream Home.

*I know these weren't released in UK cinemas in 2010, but I saw them in 2010 so I'm counting them.

Film4 FrightFest 2010 - Part 2

2010-09-02T11:19:00.010+01:00

Saturday began early with The Pack a fun if disjointed French horror film. It started off well getting progressively more ridiculous as it went on, overall I enjoyed it well enough, it was short too which I was glad about because I'd entered into the cannot-stop-fidgeting phase of the festival which always hits me by day 4, much to the chagrin of those around me I'm sure. Still there are much worse cinema habits to have, such as the guy I saw tucking into an entire bucket of KFC - I'm just glad he was nowhere near me or there would have been trouble. Next up was Andy Nyman's Quiz from Hell which was good fun and I was quite pleased with myself at how many I got correct, but really I was never going to beat the FrightFest crowd at a horror quiz... I was also glad to see the return of the Short Film Showcase, which had been missing from the line-up last year. Almost all of the 12 films screened showed real talent, my favourites included the strange and disturbing To My Mother and Father by Can Evrenol, the hilariously gory Papa Wrestling by Fernando Alle, a Welshman attacked by a Breville toastie maker in Rise of the Appliances by Rob Sprackling, Scottish dancing Zombies in Choreomania by Louis Paxton and Switch by Melanie Light was also very good. We Are What We Are was an intriguing and exceptionally well shot Mexican slow burner that centred around a family struggling to cope after the death of their patriarch and provider, the fact that they also happen to be cannibals is sidelined in favour of giving a strong character study of each remaining family member and how they spiral out of control and deteriorate mentally. I read mixed reviews of this and people complained it was too boring and for the first half I was undecided whether I liked it or not but it succeeded in bringing me around by the end, and I'm eager for a second viewing. Again this was a highlight for me, although it's certainly divisive and not to everyones tastes. Damned By Dawn on the other hand had to be one of the worst films I saw all weekend, I'm not even sure what happened as I stopped paying attention an hour in. Really dreadful special effects and an nonsensical plot that completely lost me. If anything it just made me even more disappointed that Kaboom had been dropped from the line-up. Next up was supposed to be A Serbian Film which was pulled at the last minute due to Westminster Council stepping in and refusing to let it be screened without a BBFC certification. Which it was never going to get uncut. I'd seen A Serbian Film beforehand, as I'd always had a sneaking suspicion something like this would happen, but I was slightly disappointed as I'd been looking forward to seeing it with an audience to witness their reactions. I'll say this though, it wasn't nearly as shocking as I'd been expecting it to be, maybe because I'd read about it and had fully prepared myself for the worst it then didn't have the same effect as if I'd been watching it blind. I can understand why the BBFC refused to pass it uncut - sexual violence, and particularly sexual violence involving young children was never going to go down well (if you'll pardon the pun). I wish I could remember where I'd read this... but after the screening at The Tribeca Film Festival I'd read an article describing the filmmakers as having come from privileged, affluent backgrounds which makes the argument that it's some kind of statement about the atrocities they'd supposedly suffered at the hands of the Serbian Government not sit right with me, also the "message" is about as subtle as being repeatedly hit in the face with a brick whilst someone screams "Serbia is fucked!" in your ear. I'm sure perhaps a documentary would have been more effective in getting the message out there. All they've really accomplished is pissing off any potential mainstream audience and giving the genre fans something to get all hot and bothered about. Anyway, the replacement film was Buried which I thought was okay, I really wasn't expecting much as the entire movie is literally just Ryan Reynolds in a box for 95 minutes. Taking this into consideration it was quite an accomplishment and it certainly wasn't boring, even if the the whole Iraqsploitation vibe doesn't do much for me. My mum on the other hand hated it and said she almost walked out she thought it was that bad. Next up was another Australian horror, The Loved Ones which I'd heard good things about but wasn't really expecting much from, however it turned out to be the big surprise for me this year and I absolutely loved it. It was good fun, and the central performances were great particularly Robin McLeavy as Lola. It's great to see a female protagonist in a horror film that's not a victim, hellbent on revenge or simply following the lead of a man but is instead a complete and utter psychopath in her own right (which is where the Misery comaprisons come from). It was perhaps the best straight up horror film of the festival for me and I had Kasey Chambers "Not Pretty Enough" stuck in my head for days afterwards. It's out on DVD in the UK on 4th October and I'd strongly recommend checking it out.

Monday was the last day and I was both sad and relieved, sad it was all coming to an end for another year but relieved because I wasn't sure my body could handle much more caffeine. First up was Jake West's documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape it was short, concise and informative although I did have the feeling that I'd seen it all before somewhere else before, particularly in Fear, Panic & Censorship which was on Channel 4 a while back. It was certainly entertaining, even if I didn't learn anything that I didn't already know. Next was The Dead and I don't know if maybe I'm just bored of zombies at the moment but this didn't do much for me, it certainly looked amazing and it made the most of the African setting but overall I found it to be dull, saccharine and the acting wasn't particularly good either. Korean revenge film Bedevilled was next, and knowing precisely nothing about the film going in I was actually pleasantly surprised and I liked it a lot. At it's core it is a similar narrative to I Spit on Your Grave, abused woman snaps and wreaks revenge, but it's really far better in almost every way. First time director Jang Cheol-so is one to keep an eye on. Finally the film I'd been most looking forward to, Red, White & Blue from British director Simon Rumley. Set in Austin, Texas it tells the story of 3 unhappy individuals and how their lives intertwine with ultimately devastating consequences. This really blew me away, it was an absolutely fantastic low key thriller, like if Larry Clark was more competent and less of a dirty old man. Amanda Fuller gives a very brave performance as Erica and Noah Taylor (who I absolutely love) was fantastic as the damaged sociopath Nate. Really the less you know about this the better and I really hope it gets a cinema release because it deserves to be seen. The closing film of the festival was The Last Exorcism a mock documentary about an evangelical preacher and exorcist who continues his trade even after losing faith. I liked this for about the first 30 minutes then it just got silly, and the ending was a complete and utter cop out in my opinion. Also, it really wasn't very scary at all and those hand-held camera movies always make me a little motion sick. A slightly disappointing end to an otherwise interesting weekend.

HATCHET II **
PRIMAL **
TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE *****
ISLE OF DOGS **
F ****
RED HILL ***1/2
CHERRY TREE LANE *
THE TORTURED 1*
I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE **
MONSTERS ****1/2
THE PACK ***
WE ARE WHAT WE ARE ****
DAMNED BY DAWN *
BURIED ***
THE LOVED ONES ****
VIDEO NASTIES: MORAL PANIC,CENSORSHIP AND VIDEOTAPE ***
THE DEAD ***
BEDEVILLED ****
RED WHITE & BLUE *****
THE LAST EXORCISM ***

A SERBIAN FILM **1/2

Film4 FrightFest 2010 - Part 1

2010-08-31T20:23:00.017+01:00

So, that's it for another year. I sat through 21 features, 12 shorts and a host of trailers and previews. Even though I'd decided to stay a few nights at the Travelodge in Covent Garden instead of night busing it all the way back to Peckham in the middle of the night I'm still absolutely exhausted, the best way to describe it is that it's a lot like jet lag. Up to 14 hours a day spent in a dark cinema sends your perception of time and what day it is out of whack and I'm sure consuming enough caffeine, alcohol and sugar to give an elephant a case of the shakes didn't help either...

Overall it was a mixed bag this year, a few great films and more than a few stinkers, but I've found that's always the way with FrightFest. My first full weekend was back in 2003, and boy, things have changed a lot since then. It's now spread over 5 days in the massive 1,300 seat Empire 1 screen in Leicester Sq. This is both a benefit and a determent I feel - bigger and better screen but more people (and there are one or two I've come to recognise over the years as people to avoid at all costs).

Unfortunately, it's near impossible to spot anyone in a crowd when you're only 5'1 and everyone else towers over you, or simply walks straight into you as they assume you're a gap in the crowd... so there were a lot of folks from Twitter I wished I'd gotten the chance to say hello to, or at least chatted to more than just in passing. There's also my crippling shyness to take into account, the pinnacle of which saw me about 3 feet away from Gareth Edwards, director of Monsters, in The Phoenix unable to say how much I enjoyed the film. My networking and social interaction skills could, needless to say, do with improving.

I spent most of the weekend with my mum, a few of my friends were a little taken aback when I said she was coming with me, but really she's the only person I know who'd be willing to go with me and actually enjoy FrightFest. After all she was who introduced me to film and to horror in particular as a child. She hadn't been since 2004, but thoroughly enjoyed it this year and plans on going again. We were also lucky to have decent seats. Last year I was in row D and really struggled with subtitled films in particular, this year I was in J and it was a vast improvement, despite the guy next to me being a little odd and having an unnaturally loud laugh. Luckily he only showed up for a handful of films so I mostly had an empty seat next to me.

Thursday ended up being a bit of a wash out for me, literally... my phone died, I got rained on, my umbrella broke, I'd been up since 6am, my cupcakes didn't like being in my bag all day, I had wet feet all the way through both films and was in a thoroughly bad mood. The two films I saw on Thursday didn't do much to cheer me up either. I saw Hatchet back in 2006 when it was at FrightFest and wasn't overly impressed, I was always confused as to why people liked it so I didn't have high hopes for Hatchet II. I understand the genre and that it's supposed to be funny and have clunky dialogue and silly death scenes, but really to me it's just boring and it looked liked they'd knocked it out in about a week for a quick cash in. I really like Adam Green, he seems like a really nice guy, and he showed real talent with Frozen, but this really just wasn't for me. Primal didn't fare much better, a piss poor ozploitation film where the only things shocking were the acting and awful special effects. It was your usual 5 kids go camping in the woods and get knocked off one by one, this time by some kind of sucky slug demon thing in a cave that infected them and turned the victims into toothy ninjas who wanted to eat people, or at least that's as much as I could figure out about it. Absolute nonsense it was. I guess I can see why two such films were chosen as the crowd tends to be well lubricated and over-excited on the Thursday night and nobody really wants a film you'd need to think about too much, but still, the barrel was well and truly scraped this year. I missed Dead Cert in favour of putting dry shoes on and from what I heard I'm glad I did.

I decided to pass on Eggshells on Friday morning, I just wasn't in the mood for something like that, although I may have to check it out on DVD soon. I'd seen The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on the big screen back in 1998 (I was 16 at the time, so I guess they weren't really checking IDs at cinemas much back then...) when it was finally released in the UK uncut. At the time I remembered not being particularly impressed and wondering what all the fuss was about, but seeing it again 12 years later I completely disagree with my 16 year old self and I think it has hardly aged a day. The cinematography and sound particularly stand out and the opening sequence still gives me the creeps. The Q&A with Tobe Hooper was also interesting despite the fact that he didn't much seem like he wanted to be there. Next up was Isle of Dogs which I really, really wanted so badly to like, but, I just couldn't. It was dreadful. It's so rare you see a female director at FrightFest and it was a real shame her film was one of the biggest stinkers this year. It had the production values of a dodgy ITV drama with poor continuity, stilted dialogue and a relentless noisy score. A real shame. I was supposed to see F at Bloodlines in Leicester all the way back in March but had passed it up due to not having been impressed with Johannes Roberts previous efforts, however I decided to give it a go this time and boy was I surprised. It's an extremely competent thriller with some great acting, particularly from David Schofield in a rare leading role. "Hoodie Horror" seems to have become a uniquely British addition to the horror canon since Eden Lake a few years ago and F has got to be the best example of this subgenre to date. I'm not sure if I was just relieved to finally see a film I liked (that wasn't something I'd seen before) but this really stood out for me as being one of the best films shown this year, definitely one too look out for. Red Hill was also far better than I was expecting it to be, a not entirely original but entertaining Aussie neo-western about a big city police officer relocating to a small town and having to deal with an escaped murderer hell bent on revenge... I had kind of figured out what was going on halfway through but I still enjoyed this. There should be more movies were Aborigines kill stupid white Australians. I missed Alien vs. Ninja, it's not just my thing and I probably would have fallen asleep anyway.

Saturday started out fairly abysmally for me, I didn't like Cherry Tree Lane at all, it was extremely derivative and played up to every white middle-class Daily Mail reader's worst nightmare. Right down to the two central black characters, one who could barely read and the other a rapist with a crack addict mother. I loved London to Brighton but I'm starting to wonder if perhaps Paul Andrew Williams is a bit of a one hit wonder after The Cottage and now this. Things got even worst with The Tortured, which was torture in itself to watch, a truly awful film which seemed like one giant montage sequence that had some of the most god awful dialogue and acting I've ever seen. The "twist" at the end was also absolutely fucking ridiculous. There were plot holes as big as entire continents in this film... one to avoid at all costs. I'd heard bad things about 13hrs and I just didn't think I could sit through another awful film, so I passed on that to have an extended lunch before the I Spit On Your Grave remake. I had a real dilemma with this film. I don't have the time or energy to do a full write up at the moment, as I have a lot to say, but I do plan on doing a blog specifically about this film (and the original) at a later date, so keep an eye out. There were certainly some creative death scenes but overall I think the content of this film in this context was poor taste, do we really need an anal rape scene in a film clearly aimed and marketed towards the popcorn munching Saw/Platinum Dunes audience? I'm not so sure. I also thought the portrayal of the "retard" was fairly offensive, not to mention it also portrays every male character as a sadistic, remorseless rapist. Nice. So after a day of mediocre and downright awful films, boy was I glad for Monsters. What an achievement... hats off to the director who reportedly made it for around £15,000 and did all the special effects on his laptop. Without spoiling too much, it's a little bit like Lost in Translation meets some giant alien octopuses. The acting was great, and I think given that the script was largely improvised the director made a wise choice in hiring a real life couple to play the two leads. Shooting on location with local people in the smaller roles really helps give this film a sense of genuine realness and believability even though it's a story concerning giant aliens that have taken over most of Mexico. Don't get me wrong, it's not flawless, but when you consider the budget, shooting locations and time constraints it's an extremely impressive debut film from Gareth Edwards, who is undoubtedly one to watch out for in the future. I missed Dream Home in favour of consuming far too much alcohol, but judging from some reactions I'm regretting doing so. I'll definitly be giving it a watch when it comes out on DVD.

Part 2 to follow shortly.

FAIL

2010-07-26T12:03:00.003+01:00

Well, I completely failed at doing anything I set out to do after I had the tonsillectomy. I didn't expect to be quite as sick as I was and therefore completely neglected my blog writing/movie watching/book reading.

It's been 3 weeks since my operation and I'm finally starting to feel somewhat normal although my sense of taste is completely shot.

Film4 FrightFest 2010 Line-up

2010-07-02T14:40:00.003+01:00

Main Empire screen
Thursday 26th August

6.30 - HATCHET II
9.15 - PRIMAL
11.15 - DEAD CERT

Main Empire screen
Friday 27th August

10.15 - EGGSHELLS
1.00 - TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE
3.15 - TOTAL ICON TOBE HOOPER
5.30 - ISLE OF DOGS
7.45 - F
9.15 - RED HILL
11.30 ALIEN VS. NINJA

Discovery Screen
Friday 27th August

10.45 - BURNING BRIGHT
12.45 - THE CLINIC
3.00 - FINALE
5.00 - WOUND
7.15 - OUTCAST
9.45 - HIGANJIMA: ESCAPE
FROM VAMPIRE ISLAND

Main Empire screen
Saturday 28th August

11.00 - CHERRY TREE LANE
1.15 - THE TORTURED
3.15 - 13 HOURS
6.30 - I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE
9.00 - MONSTERS
11.30 - DREAM HOME

Discovery Screen
Saturday 28th August

11.00 - CHRISTOPHER ROTH
1.15 - FAN BOYS
3.30 AFTER.LIFE
6.35 - FINALE
9.00 - BURNING BRIGHT

Main Empire screen
Sunday 29th August

11.00 - THE PACK
1.00 - ANDY NYMAN'S QUIZ FROM HELL
+ FILM4 FRIGHTFEST INTERNATIONAL
SHORT FILM SHOWCASE
4.00 - WE ARE WHAT WE ARE
6.30 - KABOOM
9.00 - A SERBIAN FILM
11.30 - THE LOVED ONES

Discovery Screen
Sunday 29th August

11.00 - HIGANJIMA: ESCAPE
FROM VAMPIRE ISLAND
1.30 - OUTCAST
4.05 - WOUND
6.35 - AMER
9.05 - THE CLINIC

Main Empire screen
Monday 30th August

11.15 - VIDEO NASTIES: MORAL PANIC,
CENSORSHIP AND VIDEOTAPE
1.15 - THE DEAD
3.30 - BEDEVILLED
6.30 - RED WHITE & BLUE
9.00 - THE LAST EXORCISM

Discovery Screen
Monday 30th August

11.00 - AMER
1.30 - AFTER.LIFE
3.35 - FAN BOYS
6.35 - CHRISTOPHER ROTH

I'm super excited about A Serbian Film, Red White & Blue, Kaboom, The Loved Ones and Monsters. Also curious about Primal, Red Hill, We Are What We Are and The Dead. Overall a pretty good line-up although I have to say Dead Cert and the I Spit On Your Grave remake look missable...

Photograph

2010-06-30T16:15:00.004+01:00

I just came across this picture, and wow...

While I'm on the subject of Isabella Rossellini click here.

My impending confinement

2010-06-30T08:31:00.006+01:00

The first time I had my tonsils removed was in 1989, but those persistent pesky fuckers grew the fuck back so I'm having Tonsillectomy Round 2 in 5 days time. Apparently it would be very bad for me to get some kind of infection right after surgery, so I'm not supposed to leave my house for 2 weeks after I get out of hospital... 2 weeks! In a bid to stop myself sitting on the sofa watching awful daytime TV for the entire time I figured I should set some goals to ensure I actually do something productive:

1. Finish blogging about my favourite horror movies.

2. Write AT LEAST 1000 words of my book each day.

3. Watch one film a day that I have never seen before but have been meaning to watch for ages.

4. Reorganise my books. They are a mess and piled up all over my flat.

5. Get back into the habit of regularly updating my blog. Not that anybody reads it*.

*Most of the hits on my blog seem to come from people google imaging the Dustin Diamond porno movie, which I once mentioned...

9. Don't Look Now (1973)

2010-06-29T09:03:00.018+01:00

"This one who's blind. She's the one that can see."

I first saw Don't Look Now in my A-Level Film Studies class when I was about 17 and I'm fairly sure we watched Performance at around about the same time, which I also love. Don't Look Now is a rare gem in that it properly unnerved me the first time I saw it, I think a lot of this is down to Roeg's unique skill as a director and the wonderful performances from Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie who are completely believable in their roles are grieving parents.

Don't Look Now is based on a short story by Daphne Du Maurier about a couple, Laura and John Baxter, on a working vacation in Italy shortly after the accidental death of their young daughter. While John works restoring an ancient church Laura befriends two elderly sisters, one of whom is blind and claims to be psychic. John also suffers premonitions of a sort, although you're never sure how much is real and how much is a figment of his distraught mind. This is also set against the stunning backdrop of Venice which is being plagued by a serious of grisly murders.

There is of course the infamous sex scene, which led to much speculation as to whether or not Sutherland and Christie actually had sex on camera. The scene itself was explicit for its day and unusual in it's tenderness and frank portrayal of marital sex. It's interesting that so much focus in film is put on illicit encounters and young lovers, often forgetting the intimacy and passion between long term partners who we often forget, are still capable of loving each other and enjoying their sex life, further highlighted by the scene being intercut with the innocuous business of getting ready to go out afterward.

The film is very much preoccupied with the fear of love and death, primarily the fear of losing someone you that love. It's extremely effective and each scene is perfectly tense and creates a gradual build up of unease culminating in a surreal and shocking ending that is not easy to forget. It's truly a masterpiece of British cinema as a whole, not just within the horror genre.

Weird Night

2010-06-25T14:29:00.005+01:00

As I was working on what I was going to write about Don't Look Now it got me thinking about Nic Roeg which led me to The Man Who Fell to Earth... I remember an evening on BBC 2 late '94 when I would have been 12 years old called Weird Night where they showed a series of unusual TV programmes and movies. It's mentioned here on the BFI website, but I swear on my life that The Man Who Fell to Earth was also shown (can anyone confirm this?). Needless to say it really had a profound effect on me, it was one of those instances that properly changed my understanding and appreciation of film and probably life in general. My mum said to me I should stay up and watch it as I was a huge fan of Bowie and she said I'd probably like Martin a lot too, so that's exactly what I did. Seeing Romero's Martin, David Lynch's short The Grandmother and The Man Who Fell to Earth is a lot of cult weirdness right there to absorb at the grand old age of 12. I remember sitting on the sofa struggling to stay awake at 2am but so utterly enthralled that I couldn't stop watching.

There are a few stand out events from my childhood that I think really had an impact on who and what I am as a person today... going to see a stage production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show on my 8th birthday, watching my first 18-rated video (The Howling 3), going to my first show (The Cure), and Weird Night which introduced me to 3 of my favourite filmmakers all in the space of a few hours.

100 Years of Horror

2010-06-16T09:37:00.004+01:00

I obviously haven't been paying enough attention, as it's June, but apparently 2010 marks the 100 year anniversary of the horror film, and more specifically it was on 16th March 1910 when J. Searle Dawley's Frankenstein was first shown. To mark this momentous occasion I will endeavour to write a blog on each of my top ten favourites of the genre. Note that there is a big difference between "favourite" and "best", I'm simply going with my own personal preferences.

After much deliberation, actually more like 10 minutes, here is my list:

1. An American Werewolf in London
2. The Thing
3. Let the Right One In
4. The Wicker Man
5. Braindead
6. Evil Dead 2
7. Martin
8. Near Dark
9. Don't Look Now
10. Ginger Snaps

I'll try and do one a week, but I am quite lazy so that's not a promise.

Clip joint: Cats

2010-06-09T16:53:00.001+01:00

Here's something that I wrote for The Guardian.

Clip joint: Cats

Some of the wording has been changed around quite a bit, but it's my first paid article so I'm quite pleased!

Sad News...

2010-05-31T15:01:00.002+01:00

...although not entirely unexpected.

Guillermo Del Toro quits as director of The Hobbit.

I would love to see Peter Jackson do it instead, but that ain't gonna happen so my money is on Neill Blomkamp.

The Killer Inside Me

2010-05-26T09:08:00.012+01:00

Since it first screened at Sundance earlier this year there has been a lot of controversy surrounding Michael Winterbottom's film adaptation of Jim Thompson's 1952 pulp fiction novel The Killer Inside Me due to it's graphic depiction of violence against women. It is also central to a lot of what has been written and discussed about the film, something which I think is overshadowing the fact that it's a very competent and well acted neo-noir from a director who effortlessly flits from genre to genre (was I the only person who liked Code 46?), churning out at least one film a year and yet remaining shockingly underrated.

The Killer Inside Me is a faithful adaptation of Thompson's novel, about a deputy sheriff in small town Texas called John Ford (Casey Affleck) who underneath his mild mannered facade is a cunning and depraved sociopath. The story is told entirely from his perspective, so it's not often clear what's going on until later as we only know what Ford knows and even he isn't a particularly reliable narrator. He is tasked with checking up on local prostitute Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba) who he quickly enters into a sadomasochistic sexual relationship with despite already being with local girl next door Amy Stanton (Kate Hudson).

Joyce awakens what Lou calls his "sickness", something that through a series of double crosses and blackmail attempts leads him to commit murder, first in an act of revenge and later in an attempt to cover his own steps. But as the bodies mount up there's only so far his confidence and lies can get him.

Casey Affleck is excellent as Lou Ford, after impressive turns in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Rober Ford and Gone Baby Gone he is fast becoming one of the best young actors around today. I've never seen Jessica Alba in anything I've liked before and I don't think Kate Hudson has made a decent film since Almost Famous, but both girls give brave performances here.

There are elements of both Blue Velvet and American Psycho; the feeling that if you scratch beneath the surface of small town America, behind the white picket fences and uniformly mowed lawns there's always something dark and sinister lurking. Ford is also as unreliable as Patrick Batemen and you're never sure how much is real and how much is his perception of what's going on giving the film a constant air of ambiguity, which I think worked well and without there could probably be a more solid argument against the violence and sexual acts depicted.

Overall I found the film to be rewarding, both as a fan of the book and as cinema goer. The violence, I think, is justified. As I mentioned before the film is told entirely from Lou's perspective and he's a misogynistic murdering sociopath - so really, it's not going to be very nice. If you don't think you can watch a film about a murderer (and the clue's in the title) then don't go and see it, simple. For me vapid romcoms, such as the recent Jennifer Lopez vehicle The Back-Up Plan are far more offensive, misguided and misogynistic than anything in The Killer Inside Me.

There was a Q & A with Winterbottom after the screening I attended and he was berated by a couple of audience members on soap boxes who completely missed the point of the film and felt the need to express as much in an ineloquent manner. I thought Winterbottom explained himself well and there is nothing on the screen that isn't in the book. The violence ensures that Ford is never a sympathetic character and to be honest I think that if he'd glossed over the violence he'd probably get just as much grief for making it titillating. We're all so used to seeing stylised Hollywood violence on our screens that we forget how horrible it is. If someone is beaten to death, it's not going to be over with quickly or neatly and The Killer Inside Me shows violence for what it truly is - a deplorable act. Although I have to say, and maybe I'm just desensitised, I didn't think it was nearly as bad as everyone is making it out to be. But I guess a little media hype and controversy can only help the film gain notoriety and a wider audience.

The Killer Inside Me is released on 8th June 2010.

Women in Horror Month

2010-02-12T13:44:00.004Z

I just discovered this website.

As someone who has been championing the women in horror cause for many years I was very excited to come across this initiative to celebrate women as writers, directors, aficionados etc. of horror not just as busty scream queens in movies solely aimed at men who never leave their bedrooms. There are tonnes of talented, smart female horror fans out there that deserve to be taken seriously as an audience and as filmmakers in their own right. We need to stand up and claim it for ourselves to dispel the myth that horror is just for men.

I'm a girl, I like make-up and clothes and kittens but I also like horror and I take it very seriously (I wrote my dissertation on body horror at university), I like sci-fi, dystopian, post-apocalyptic stuff too, I play videogames and go to film festivals and conventions, and not just because my boyfriend goes but because I want to. I find it disheartening that so few women take an interest in genre film and that the only women who get any attention for their work are the nubile scantily glad young actresses who have all the fan boys slavering at the bit.

In fact there needs to be more women in film full stop, not just in horror, I have my fingers and toes crossed that Kathryn Bigelow takes home the best director oscar, and not just because she'd be the first woman to do so but because she deserves it.

Come on ladies, lets show them how it's done!

BAFTAs

2010-01-21T08:44:00.003Z

This years nominations are as follows:

BEST FILM
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire
Up In The Air

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
An Education
Fish Tank
In The Loop
Moon
Nowhere Boy

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
LUCY BAILEY, ANDREW THOMPSON, ELIZABETH MORGAN HEMLOCK, DAVID PEARSON Directors, Producers – Mugabe and the White African
ERAN CREEVY Writer/Director – Shifty
STUART HAZELDINE Writer/Director – Exam
DUNCAN JONES Director – Moon
SAM TAYLOR-WOOD Director – Nowhere Boy

DIRECTOR
James Cameron - Avatar
Neill Blomkamp - District 9
Lone Scherfig - An Education
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Jon Lucas, Scott Moore - The Hangover
Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter - Up

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell - District 9
Nick Hornby - An Education
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche - In The Loop
Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - Up In The Air

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Broken Embraces
Coco Before Chanel
Let The Right One In
A Prophet
The White Ribbon

ANIMATED FILM
Coraline
Fantastic Mr Fox
Up

LEADING ACTOR
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Andy Serkis - Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

LEADING ACTRESS
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Audrey Tautou - Coco Before Chanel

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alec Baldwin - It’s Complicated
Christian McKay - Me and Orson Welles
Alfred Molina - An Education
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Anne-Marie Duff - Nowhere Boy
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Kristin Scott-Thomas - Nowhere Boy

MUSIC
Avatar - James Horner
Crazy Heart - T-Bone Burnett, Stephen Bruton
Fantastic Mr Fox - Alexandre Desplat
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll - Chaz Jankel
Up - Michael Giacchino

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar - Mauro Fiore
District 9 - Trent Opaloch
The Hurt Locker - Barry Ackroyd
Inglourious Basterds - Robert Richardson
The Road - Javier Aguirresarobe

EDITING
Avatar - Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron
District 9 - Julian Clarke
The Hurt Locker - Bob Murawski, Chris Innis
Inglourious Basterds - Sally Menke
Up In The Air - Dana E. Glauberman

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Avatar
District 9
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Inglourious Basterds

COSTUME DESIGN
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
An Education
A Single Man
The Young Victoria

SOUND
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Up

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar
District 9
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek

MAKE UP & HAIR
Coco Before Chanel
An Education
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

SHORT ANIMATION
The Gruffalo
The Happy Duckling
Mother of Many

SHORT FILM
14
I Do Air
Jade
Mixtape
Off Season

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
Jesse Eisenberg
Nicholas Hoult
Carey Mulligan
Tahar RahimKristen Stewart

Bold - Who I would like to win Italic - Who I think will win

The Best TV of the Decade

2009-12-27T09:24:00.008Z

1. Red Riding
2. Six Feet Under
3. The Thick of It
4. Battlestar Galactica
5. Planet Earth
6. Misfits
7. Sopranos
8. Being Human
9. Mad Men
10. Flight of the Conchords
11. Freaks and Geeks
12. True Blood
13. Skins
14. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
15. Carnivale
16. Lost
17. Fringe
18. Veronica Mars
19. The Simpsons
20. State of Play
21. The Street
22. Boy A
23. Nathan Barley
24. Gavin and Stacey
25. Mighty Boosh
26. Brasseye Special - "Paedogeddon"
27. Black Books
28. Gilmore Girls
29. Shameless
30. Bloody Sunday

(I haven't seen all of Deadwood or The Wire, so couldn't count them)

My Top 100 Films of the Decade

2009-12-21T11:37:00.002Z

Okay, so here is my list of the top 100 films of the decade (in my humble opinion), some are there because they are great films and others because I simply enjoyed them. I had originally done a top 50, with blurbs about each film, but I accidentally deleted most of them then the stupid blog autosaved and I couldn't be bothered to write it all out again so you're just getting a list, sorry...

1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003, Peter Jackson)*

2. Dead Man's Shoes (2004, Shane Meadows)

3. Let the Right One In (2008, Tomas Alfredson)

4. The Proposition (2005, John Hillcoat)

5. Control (2007, Anton Corbijn)

6. Hunger (2008, Steve McQueen)

7. Mulholland Drive (2001, David Lynch)

8. Fish Tank (2009 Andrea Arnold)

9. Pan's Labyrinth (2006, Guillermo del Toro)

10. The Road (2009, John Hillcoat)**

11. The Mist (2007, Frank Darabont)

12. 28 Days Later (2002, Danny Boyle)

13. Amelie (2001, Jean-Pierre Jeunet)

14. Brokeback Mountain (2005, Ang Lee)

15. Shaun of the Dead (2004, Edgar Wright)

16. Up (2009, Pete Docter and Bob Peterson)

17. District 9 (2009, Neill Blomkamp)

18. My Summer of Love (2004, Pawel Pawlikowski)

19. In Bruges (2008, Martin McDonagh)

20. Moon (2009, Duncan Jones)

21. There Will Be Blood (2007, Paul Thomas Anderson)

22. The Hurt Locker (2008, Kathryn Bigelow)

23. No Country for Old Men (2007, Joel and Ethan Coen)

24. Oldboy (2003, Chan-wook Park)

25. Spirited Away (2001, Hayao Miyazaki)

26. Grizzly Man (2005, Werner Herzog)

27. Donnie Darko (2001, Richard Kelly)

28. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007, Tim Burton)

29. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007, Cristian Mungiu)

30. Atonement (2007, Joe Wright)

31. Y Tu Mamá También (2001, Alfonso Cuarón)

32. A History of Violence (2005, David Cronenberg)

33. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007, Andrew Dominik)

34. Brick (2005, Rian Johnson)

35. Amores Perros (2000, Alejandro González Iñárritu)

36. City of God (2002, Fernando Meirelles)

37. Little Miss Sunshine (2006, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris)

38. Children of Men (2006, Alfonso Cuarón)

39. WALL·E (2008,Andrew Stanton)

40. Battle Royale (2000, Kinji Fukasaku)

41. The Dark Knight (2008, Chirstopher Nolan)

42. The Hangover (2009, Todd Phillips)

43. American Psycho (2000, Mary Harron)

44. Être et Avoir (2002, Nicolas Philibert)

45. Ginger Snaps (2000, John Fawcett)

46. Head-On (2004, Fatih Akin)

47. The Devil's Rejects (2005, Rob Zombie

48. The Piano Teacher (2001, Michael Haneke)

49. Mysterious Skin (2004, Gregg Araki)

50. In the Loop (2009, Armando Iannucci)

51. Zombieland (2009, Ruben Fleischer)

52. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004, Michael Moore)

53. Secretary (2002, Steven Shainberg)

54. The Escapist (2008, Rupert Wyatt)

55. Bourne Trilogy (2002, Doug Liman 2004, 2007, Paul Greengrass)*

56. The Last King of Scotland (2006, Kevin Macdonald)

57. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003, Gore Verbinski)

58. The Descent (2005, Neil Marshall)

59. This is England (2006, Shane Meadows)

60. 24 Hour Party People (2002, Michael Winterbottom)

61. Requiem for a Dream (2000, Darren Aronofsky)

62. Into the Wild (2007, Sean Penn)

63. Capturing the Friedmans (2003, Andrew Jarecki)

64. Lost in Translation (2003, Sofia Coppola)

65. Motorcycle Diaries (2004, Walter Salles)

66. London to Brighton (2006, Paul Andrew Williams)

67. Red Road (2006, Andrea Arnold)

68. Ghost World (2001, Terry Zwigoff)

69. In America (2002, Jim Sheridan)

70. Gangster No. 1 (2000, Paul McGuigan)

71. In the Cut (2003, Jane Campion)

72. Taxi to the Darkside (2007, Alex Gibney)

73. Where the Wild Things Are (2009, Spike Jonze)

74. Memento (2000, Christopher Nolan)

75. Hidden (2005, Michael Haneke)

76. Before Sunset (2004, Richard Linklater)

77. Waltz With Bashir (2008, Ari Folman)

78. Inside (2007, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury)

79. Stranger Than Fiction (2006, Marc Forster)

80. An Inconvenient Truth (2006, Davis Guggenheim)

81. Bad Education (2004, Pedro Almodóvar)

82. Monsters, Inc. (2001, Pete Docter and David Silverman)

83. Switchblade Romance (2003, Alexandre Aja)

84. L.I.E. (2001, Michael Cuesta)

85. Sicko (2007, Michael Moore)

86. Milk (2008, Gus Van Sant)

87. Irreversible (2002, Gaspar Noé)

88. Chopper (2000, Andrew Dominik)

89. Far from Heaven (2002, Todd Haynes)

90. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009, Niels Arden Oplev)**

91. Gran Torino (2008, Clint Eastwood)

92. Sexy Beast (2000, Jonathan Glazer)

93. Code 46 (2003, Michael Winterbottom)

94. Revolutionary Road (2008, Sam Mendes)

95. Teeth (2007, Mitchell Lichtenstein)

96. Bubba Ho-tep (2002, Don Coscarelli)

97. The Woodsman (2004, Nicole Kassell)

98. The House of the Devil (2009, Ti West)

99. Psycho Beach Party (2000, Robert Lee King)

100. Carriers (2009, Àlex Pastor and David Pastor)

* I'm counting trilogies as one, if you don't like it - screw you!
** I know these aren't technically released in the UK until next year, but I saw them in 2009 so I'm still counting them.

The best year was 2007 with 14 entries and the worst was 2003 with 8 entries.

Procrastination and Women's Toilet Politics

2009-12-11T11:37:00.004Z

I am still midway through my top 50 films of the decade list, I've only managed 22 out of the 50 blurbs, but I'm getting there. Slowly. I will have it finished by next week... then I can start on my other lists.

Another matter which has pretty much always subconsciously been a factor in my life but that I haven't really given too much thought until recently is bathroom politics. This is something that I don't think really affects men to the same extent, the primary worry being whether or not the guy next to you is staring at your penis. But for women, public urination (or god forbid, a number two) is like a mine field of embarrassments and potential faux pas.

It's especially bad in the work place, where you have to pee in the company of those you actually know, but who aren't really your friends. At my work there are 2 toilets. This proves particularly troublesome as it's only ever going to be you or the other person who is responsible, you worry about peeing too loudly, you worry about peeing too quietly, you worry about inadvertently passing wind within ear shot of another human being, but worst of all is "The Dead Lock". Imagine the setting... 2 otherwise perfectly reasonable and normal women in adjoining cubicles, they both desperately need to pee but fear the other hearing them so they sit there in silence, wishing the other one would simply just get on with it... the silence drags on and on until both become completely incapable of peeing at all. Then there's the fear of leaving, what if they leave at the same time as you and realise who it was they were in pee dead lock with? Usually it's customary for one person to give in and leave so the other can then pee anonymously in private. Even if you both manage to pee at the same time there's always the awkward moments afterwards when you have to wash your hands next to each other and politely say hello both painfully aware that the other has just heard you pee, or when you've almost finished just as someone else comes into the toilet so you have to rush as quickly as possible to leave before they do. Worst of all the the person who just doesn't care, the person who pisses like a race horse, farts like a man, then appears from the cubicle as if nothing has happened, gives you a cheery hello whilst reaching over you to get to the soap and then attempts to engage you in meaningless conversation about hand towels. The horror!

Gah... like I said, it's a mine field out there! So next time you're paranoid that some dude is staring at your cock, just be grateful you're not a woman.

Best of the Decade

2009-11-09T11:50:00.003Z

Wow... so, those last 10 years sure flew by quickly, huh?

As a result I shall be jumping on the blogging/media bandwagon and creating various lists of my favourite films, TV shows, books, games and music of the decade.

I'm not going to set a particular length, mainly because I could easily name 50 great movies from the past decade and maybe only 1 or 2 albums (I'm bad with music post 1997...)

So I guess I better put my thinking cap on...

My top picks for Halloween viewing.

2009-10-26T10:04:00.006Z

Halloween is this coming Saturday, and as I love talking about my favourite horror films I thought I'd suggest my top 5 for your viewing displeasure. These are not necessarily my top 5 of all time, just what I would suggest watching this year...

1) Let the Right One In - I absolutely LOVE this film. It was not only my number one film last year, but it could easily go into my top ten of all time. Just when you think nothing new can be done with a genre, something always comes along to prove you wrong and in this current climate of vampire-o-rama Let the Right One In is a breath of chilly fresh air. Be warned American viewers, if you're watching it on DVD make sure you pick up a copy with the theatrical subtitles. I'd also recommend reading the book too, it works well as a companion piece to the film, both great in their own ways, yet quite different. You can read my review of the film here.

2) Return of the Living Dead - This film is such great fun and it's one of my favourite zombie films. It is a rare example (much like An American Werewolf in London and Shaun of the Dead) of a horror comedy that actually works, combining black humour with lashings of gore and nudity. Also Tarman has to be one of the best zombie monsters to have ever graced our screens... BRAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIINS!

3) Trick 'r Treat - One of the best Halloween themed movies I've seen in ages. It has a great cast, including the always wonderful Brian Cox, and the episodic tales make for quick, easy viewing. It really is a travesty that this film sat on the self at Warner Bros. for so long, so I'd thoroughly recommend this now that it's finally available on DVD. It's not a great film by any means, but it's exactly what you need at Halloween when you're with a group of friends and want some spooky, fun entertainment.

4) Night of the Demons - Another Halloween themed film, but a classic this time... and really, how often do you get to see Linnea Quigley shove a lipstick into her boob? It's worth watching just for that scene. Oh, and for the awesome use of Bauhaus on the soundtrack.

5) My So-Called Life "Halloween" (S01E09) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Halloween" (S02E06) - Two of my favourite episodes from two of my favourite shows. My So-Called Life, which was tragically cancelled after just one season, goes all paranormal in this episode where Angela is haunted by visions of a student who died on Halloween 1963. It's tough to pick a favourite Buffy Halloween episode but this one definitely comes top for me. In the episode each character turns into their costume, Buffy becomes an 18th-centry noble woman prone to fainting , Willow a ghost and Xander a soldier. It's an interesting juxtaposition of the characters, by having Buffy being the weakest of the gang for the first time it gives Willow and Xander a chance to take charge. Even if you're not a fan (but, why wouldn't you be?) of either show, these are stand alone episodes that can be enjoyed apart from the rest of the series.

My review of The Road

2009-10-21T12:24:00.002+01:00

The Road, a Pulitzer prize winning novel by Cormac McCarthy is one of my favourite books. When I read that it was going to be made into a film I was worried, I honestly didn’t think it could be done. Written in McCarthy’s unique style of prose, this bleak dystopian novel centres on only two characters, a father and son, whose names are not given and the events that turned the world into lifeless ash are never explained. Of course, this is because it doesn’t really matter; the story is about the relationship between the man and his boy, it’s a love story written by McCarthy for his own young son. But would this work as a film? Would they turn it into a travesty like I Am Legend? Then, like some kind of wish fulfilment miracle, it was announced that John Hillcoat would direct. Being a huge fan of The Proposition, this gave me hope. Then to top things off Viggo Mortensen was cast and Nick Cave and Warren Ellis signed on to compose the soundtrack. It was like all of my dreams had some true.

So, I waited, and I waited. I even went to New York last November as that was when its US release date had been pencilled in. But nothing happened. It wasn’t finished. Rough cuts tested poorly to audiences (clearly made of imbeciles), and it was pushed back for an entire year. In Hollywood this is never a good sign, it means someone somewhere with a lot of money and influence wasn’t happy with the film. So for the last year I have been incredibly worried about what the final film would be like, this wasn’t helped by the trailer that came out a few months ago that did indeed make it look like The Day After Tomorrow or something in that vein. I had almost completely given up hope at this point, assuming Weinstein had had his wicked way and was insisting it be re-edited into a box office money maker instead of a faithful adaptation.

Then it premiered at The Venice Film Festival to fairly positive reviews, with minor quibbles about the use of voiceover and an overly dramatic soundtrack. What particularly caught my attention though was that whether they liked the film or not the unanimous view of the critics was that it was entirely faithful to the book. It seemed that the main reason behind the delay was to ensure the film be released during Oscar season. I breathed my sign of relief and began an impatient wait until 8th January 2010 (the official UK release date), so you can only imagine my joy when it was announced as part of The London Film Festival. Luckily I managed to get tickets, and on Saturday afternoon at the Vue West End I felt like a 5 year old on Christmas morning. One with lots of presents.

Initially the most striking thing about the film is the landscape and the remarkable cinematography by Javier Aguirresarobe. Filmed in real locations around North America, in Pittsburgh, Katrina ravaged New Orleans (which still exists today), Mount St. Helens and the grey beaches of the Oregon coast. The current state of the world combined with subtle and effective CGI work makes this haunting vision of the future all too believable. Much like Children of Men, the easily recognisable and relatable setting makes it extremely effective.

Everything is grey and dead after an unnamed disaster that has wiped out the vast majority of the human race. Animals and plant life are almost entirely gone, resulting in a population of starving and desperate people, many of whom have resorted to, and subsequently come to relish in cannibalism.

The man and boy are played perfectly by Viggo Mortensen and Australian newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee, a father and son who appear to be the last glimmer of humanity left in the world. They are heading south to the coast, in the hope that the ocean will be the one thing left that is not grey and dead. In one scene the man say to the boy, “You think I’m from another world, don’t you?” to which the boy agrees, and he is. He is from the old world and dwells on past memories saturated in bright colours and sunshine; he is unforgiving and assumes the worst of anyone they come across. The boy is his only reason to keep living, and he will stop at nothing to protect him, even if it means blowing the kid’s brains out. He is paralleled by the boy, who knows nothing else but their life in the present, whose innate goodness provides hope for the future. The boy begs his father to help a man who not moments before attempted to steal all of their food and belongings, never giving up on the idea that they are the “good guys” and that they must “carry the fire”.

Almost every line of dialogue comes directly off the page, and the events unfold much as they do in the book, so for those who haven’t read it I will try not to spoil the film, although I will urge you to read it. If you don’t like the book then there will be little for you in the film. Nothing really happens, not in the sense of a traditional narrative, it’s simply a sequence of events and there is little explanation or development. It is unrelentingly bleak, and there are some truly horrific and heartbreaking scenes and even though I knew what was going to happen, there were moments when I was so tense I could barely move. It’s a film that you experience and endure and can appreciate but it would be difficult to enjoy. We’re faced with our own, very likely future and it is shocking.

I’ve never had a particular problem with voiceovers, as I know some do, and I thought it was necessary in The Road to convey certain important elements of the story and worked as well as it could have done. There were also grumblings about the soundtrack, similar to what people said about The Proposition, that it was grating and pointed too heavily to the emotions being elicited from the audience. It’s true that Nick Cave and Warren Ellis do have a recognisable sound, and it certainly doesn’t flow unnoticeably with the film. But I liked the soundtrack to The Proposition a lot, and again with The Road I think it works and to me it fit the mood of the film perfectly.

My only slight problem is that there is one element that has clearly been cut from the film, given away by some of the character names listed on its IMDb page, “Baby Eater” is not present in the film. One of the most powerful images that struck me whilst reading the book was the idea that the gangs kept women like cows, impregnating them over and over to use the offspring as food. A truly gruesome thought, but important to show the limits to which people will go to keep themselves alive. Perhaps they felt it was just one step too far in the direction of out and out horror, especially as the cellar scene remains intact. Fingers crossed for deleted scenes on the DVD.

John Hillcoat said that when he met Cormac McCarthy he told him not to worry about making the film, that literature and film are two different mediums and work independently of each other. This is true in many cases, and I’m sure it took the pressure off to know he had McCarthy’s approval, but it is really hard to separate the two in this instance as they are intrinsically one and the same. If I had imagined the film in my head after reading the book, this is exactly what I would have come up with. This is why I’m having trouble approaching them as two completely separate things and why I have been drawing so many comparisons between the two. To make a dreadful analogy, the book and film of The Road are like two sides of the same coin, in contrast to I Am Legend which is in an entirely different currency to the book.

Be warned though, the poster and trailer are both misleading as 99% of the screen time comprises of the man and boy, the supporting actors appear for a minute or two at the most, despite the bold lettering on the poster and the prominent appearance of Charlize Theron in the trailer.

It’s hard for me to write an impartial review of this film, as it could easily have been specifically tailor made to my tastes entirely. It will however be divisive I feel, many finding the subject matter simply too challenging and the imagery too stark. What will be unanimous though is the opinion that Viggo Mortensen’s performance is outstanding and he undoubtedly deserves an Oscar nod. I want the film to be successful, it is clearly a labour of love for all those involved, but I can’t see it appealing to a mainstream audience. But for those who have been waiting to see it as long as I have, you can breathe a sign of relief. It will not disappoint.

Sam Rockwell for Best Actor

2009-10-20T09:45:00.002+01:00

Duncan Jones has launched an online campaign to get Sam Rockwell nominated for Best Actor at the 2010 Academy Awards for his role in Moon (which if you haven't seen, I urge you to do so).

You can help by trending #samrockwelloscar on Twitter.

You can add a twibbon to you Twitter profil picture here.

There is also a petition that you can sign here.

Spread the word.

Better Late Than Never

2009-10-20T09:20:00.005+01:00

Okay so here are my picks from FrightFest '09, I know I'm almost 2 months late but most of these films still haven't been released so I figured I can still get away with it...

1) The Horseman - A brutal Australian revenge thriller. This was my favourite film of the festival. Out on DVD March 2010.

2) Millennium (or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) - I didn't have high hopes for this, and it's not technically a horror film but I was totally blown away. I hadn't read the book so can't coment on how they compare, but I abslutely loved this film. Still no UK release date for this.

3) Dread - I read this Clive Barker short story about 15 years ago, and out of all the stories in The Books of BLood this (and Pig Blood Blues) was one that really stuck with me. There are a few changes made to the film version, but I think they worked for the better and it still retains it's core bleakness and brutality. No UK release date as of yet for this either.

Honerable mentions (ie worth sticking on your lovefilm/netflix): Heartless, House of the Devil, Coffin Rock, Trick r Treat, Pontypool, I Sell the Dead.

Twitter reminder

2009-10-20T09:14:00.001+01:00

I do however seem to find an inordinate amount of time to spend on Twitter.

Follow me @goregoregirl

Oops...

2009-10-20T09:06:00.003+01:00

This has been the longest amount of time between posts since I first started my blog.

I've been so bad at updating recently, I also haven't been contributing to the Raindance newsletter either for a multitude of reasons...

- I've been trying extra hard to find a new job.

- I spent the last 6 weeks working on my entry for The Horror of Writing competition (winner to be announced on Halloween).

- I was on holiday in Greece.

- I've been sick off and on for months.

- I'm lazy.

I FINALLY saw The Road last weekend at The London Film Festival. I've been waiting so long for this film to come out, it was like Christmas morning when I saw down in the Vue Leicester Square on Saturday afternoon. I will be posting my review soon. Honest.

My Humblest Apologies

2009-08-25T15:27:00.006+01:00

Okay so I haven't updated in a million years. I'm sorry. I've been distracted, busy, lazy, unmotivated and many other things of late.

I endeavour to rectify this situation immediately and will be reporting on The Film 4 FrightFest this bank holiday weekend. So keep an eye out for updates starting Thursday evening.

Since the last time I posted a blog I've seen some very good films, particularly The Hurt Locker and Moon, both of which I heartily recommend. I've been to Edinburgh for the festival and to see my friend Jim Smallman (he's at the GRV studios til 30th August if you want to go, he's very funny). I have become obsessed with True Blood and am loving season 2, especially the absolutely gorgeous Alexander Skarsgård - TEAM ERIC!

*sigh*

Let Me In

2009-07-15T10:40:00.003+01:00

I've found the best tactic for dealing with this is to put my fingers in my ears, close my eyes and shout "la la la this isn't happening!"

Le Donk and Scorz-ayz-ee

2009-06-25T10:45:00.002+01:00

Shane Meadows new rockumentary premiered at The Edinburgh Film Festival this week and has had mostly favourable reviews, quite an achievement considering it took them only 5 days to film it and they only spent £320 on the after party! As a long time fan of Meadows and Considine I am really looking forward to seeing this.

More info here.

Antichrist the video game?

2009-06-18T12:49:00.001+01:00

WTF!!!!

A Challenge

2009-06-18T10:38:00.003+01:00

So, I have decided to try and write a Mills & Boon novel, I am not a fan of romance novels, but seriously how hard can it be? They churn hundreds of those things out every year and you don't need an agent to get published by them.

This is merely an exercise to see if it's possible... I'll try and remember to blog about my experience and how successful I am (or not).

I also need a good pen name, any suggestions?

Vanikoro

2009-06-05T11:28:00.002+01:00

Ooh! This sounds very interesting... Xavier Gens (Frontiers) is making a period Cannibal movie starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Viggo Mortensen. Shooting begins in 2010, here's the blurb:

"The French explorer La Perouse, was wrecked on Vanikoro in 1788. The ship Boussole was destroyed on a reef along with most of the crew. The second ship Astrolabe was also wrecked, but survivors salvaged enough to build a small ship and sailed away. Two survivors remained on the island into the early 1800's".

RIP David Carradine

2009-06-04T15:54:00.002+01:00

David Carradine was found dead in his hotel room in Bangkok, he was 72.

More here.

According to IMDb he was in 222 Films/TV shows - very impressive! Death Race 2000 being my favourite.

Oh dear.

2009-06-04T09:35:00.000+01:00

I've been neglecting my blog again.

Pop-culture relic quotes

2009-05-22T10:02:00.002+01:00

I love the AV CLub's AVQ&A - this weeks questions is, what bit of pop-cultural ephemera still sticks in your own personal quote machine that few people get?

Personally I do this all the time, quote movies or TV shows I think everyone knows then they stare at me like I'm a crazy person.

When I drink coffee I am always compelled to spew forth Twin Peaks quotes such as "Damn fine coffee! And hot!" and "There was a fish in the percolator." I also just like talking in the same voice as Gordon Cole, "COOPER, YOU REMIND ME TODAY OF A SMALL MEXICAN CHIHUAHUA!"

As anyone who knows me knows Harold and Maude is my favourite film, and often quotes pop into my head, my favourites being "No. No, I would not say benefit" and "Do you... enjoy... knives?"

I'm also partial to a particular misquote from Macbeth,"lead on, Macduff" is a good one whenever someone is taking you somewhere. It should of course be "lay on, Macduff".

The weirdest one, as in weird that people don't know where it comes from is Withnail and I - it's so easy to fit "my thumbs have gone weird", "GET IN THE BACK OF THE VAN!", "I feel like a pig shat in my head" and "I demand to have some booze!" into everyday conversation and I'm always flabberghasted when people don't know what I'm quoting... I mean come on, it's a classic!

The Lost Boys ("You wait 'till mom finds out, buddy!") , Stand By Me ("Suck my fat one, you cheap dime store hood") and Labyrinth ("It's very rude to stare!") are other favourites of mine, mostly just because I've seen them so many times that I know the dialogue backwards.

I may talk normally to my friend and family, but in my head there is a constant stream of film and TV quotes and I have to stop myself saying them out loud, especially in inappropriate situations.

update

2009-05-20T11:22:00.004+01:00

Well, I haven't done very well at keep up with my blogs about me attempting looking on the bright side, I've managed one about London and started one about pets only to decide that it was too personal and full of factual inaccuracies (I guess we all remember things the way we want to). So I've been trying to think of some other things and am currently drawing a blank. Perhaps this is because I've been in a right fucking miserable mood for the last few weeks and it could also be to do with me being quite exceptionally lazy and prone to procrastination.

Recommended purchase fail

2009-05-19T10:47:00.001+01:00

New favourite movie

2009-05-18T12:07:00.002+01:00

The latest high-concept pic from Snakes On A Plane director David Ellis, Humpty Dumpty is about the murderous offspring of a female alien who is raped by two rednecks in the Deep South.

Even better news, it's in 3D!

Not sure what all this has got to do with eggs though...

We Need To Talk About Kevin

2009-05-18T11:59:00.002+01:00

Rumours of this novel being adapted into a film have been floating around for a while, and I've always been dubious as to how good a film it could make as it's a strange and quite difficult book that could, under the pressure of hollywood, become a cliche ridden movie. But now that Tilda Swinton has signed on to star and Lynn Ramsey to direct it could prove to be quite interesting after all...

More here.

A trailer for The Road... FINALLY!!!

2009-05-15T10:12:00.002+01:00

Click here.

I'm so excited I might actually explode.

Yet another remake...

2009-05-15T08:49:00.001+01:00

Fright Night has always been one of my favourite bad 80s vampire movies, and now apprently Dreamworks is planning a remake... rubbish.

David Peace's poem comissioned by Jarvis Cocker

2009-05-14T12:56:00.001+01:00

From The Guardian:

Jarvis says: "Last year, there was much debate as to whether or not Margaret Thatcher's death would warrant a state funeral or not. I asked the writer David Peace to compose a poem on the subject. Peace wrote it in the style of WH Auden's Funeral Blues." Here it is, published for the first time ...

A Prediction for the Year 2009

Jekyll & Hyde

2009-05-14T10:40:00.002+01:00

I'm still slightly baffled by Nicolas Winding Refn casting Keanu Reeves in the role of Jekyll & Hyde, but this is even more surreal... apparently Abel Ferrara is also planning a film of Jekyll & Hyde, starring in the lead role 50 Cent and Forest Whitaker!

This made me really mad

2009-05-14T08:43:00.002+01:00

US health lobby: reform could make us as bad as the NHS

Yes, the NHS has it's problems but at least it's there. If you really want to fork out for private healthcare then that's also available, it's not like you have to use the NHS.

I suggest watching Sicko instead.

Awaydays

2009-05-13T11:35:00.006+01:00

I had only heard of this film in passing, but after reading this article in The Guardian about how they secured the rights to the soundtrack on such a meagre budget, I was sold. After all I've always had a penchant for grim northern tales of disaffected youth.

You can see the trailer here.

It's released in the UK on 22nd May.

Little Ashes

2009-05-07T09:02:00.003+01:00

Well, I saw Little Ashes last September at the Raindance Film Festival, and I really wasn't very keen on it at all. At the time I received a lot of stick from disgruntled fans of Pattinson, but as the film finally gets its limited release on Friday 8th May I'd like to point you in the direction of Rotten Tomatoes where the film currently stands at 20% (as of 7th May).

I told you it was bad...

**UPDATE** It's down to 13% now... I particularly like the review from the A.V. Club.

I am very excited about...

2009-05-06T09:46:00.002+01:00

Alexandre Aja's Prianha 3D

and Final Destination 4 (also in 3D)

Yes, I am a sucker for a marketing ploy. Bring back William Castle style gimmicks I say!

My first tentative attempt to look on the bright side...

2009-04-30T10:38:00.011+01:00

I know what you must be thinking, surely looking on the bright side goes against the whole grumpy thing. But I thought for once I'd give it a go to see if it makes me feel any better, seen as how generally I'm quite prone to wallowing on my own misery and just generally feeling sorry for myself a lot. Not just myself either, I read a lot of depressing news articles and tend to despair about the state of well, just about everything else in the world. I am also good at making other people feel really miserable, not the best way to make friends. Although sometimes I'm not sure I want any friends, being social requires a lot of energy and usually money too. It's a conundrum, it really is.

Anyway, on with looking on the bright side... I recently read an article about how to gain self confidence and to feel better about yourself and happier in general. One of the things they mentioned was to make a list of all the good things in your life, achievements, and the such. Then to look at the list when you're feeling down to remind yourself of (supposedly) how great your life is. So I've been thinking this over and, yes it's been very difficult and I may slip back into moaning here at any moment, but here goes... oh and this may end up having to be an ongoing thing as I am likely to get bored of writing and/or need more time to think of other "good" things in my life.

1. London

I really do feel very fortunate to be living in London. It's one of the biggest and most multi-cultural cities in the world and even though it's RIDICULOUSLY expensive to live here I really think it's no worse than say New York or Tokyo or any other of the major cities. For the extra living costs you get the benefit of having 2 of the largest hub airports in the world, I can pretty much get anywhere quickly and (relatively speaking) cheaply, not to mention the Eurostar which means I could go from the centre of London to the centre of Paris in less than 2 hours for around £50 (around $75).

The arts. Any exhibition you want to see, any play or musical, any band, any film no matter how obscure or art house - will undoubtedly be in London at some point. Not just that, but say I do want to go and see a film, I won't have to visit a large multiplex cinema that smells faintly of piss and is overrun with unruly teens (although if I wanted that I could go to the Vue in Shepherd's Bush), instead I could go to The Ritzy in Brixton where I could also enjoy a nice cold beer during the movie and have a wonderful home made pizza in the cafe afterwards, or I could go to The Prince Charles in Leicester Square, a cheap divey repertoire cinema where you either have to sit at the front or the back because there's a strange dip in the middle, and where they'll give you wine in pint glasses because they've run out of clean alternatives. On top of all this we have the BFI, great annual festivals such as The London Film Festival, The Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Frightfest, Raindance, not to mention literally 100s of others (for example, currently The Gypsy Film Festival is on at The Ritzy). London has so many museums and art galleries... The Tate Modern/Britain, The National Gallery, The Science Museum, The Natural History Museum, The V&A (to name just a few) and all free to get into. Even on the outskirts of the city you have wonderful places like The Horniman Museum in Forest Hill (again, free) which even has it's own mini aquarium.

Just a quick glance at Time Out shows me I could go and see Taj Mahal at Ronnie Scott's, or The Doves at Brixton Academy, Chas & Dave at The 100 Club or even Pink at the O2 and that there's such as place as the Dulwich Ukulele Club! I could go to late night magic shows at Madame Jojo's or cabaret shows like La Clique, free Burlesque shows at Cellar Door, Jimmy Carr doing stand-up... and that's all just tomorrow night.

There is the shopping, everything from Bond Street to Spitalfields to Camden Market, and of course Topshop.

The food. Restaurants serving everything from raw food to wagyu beef. There is Borough Market, Brick Lane, The Japan Centre etc... not to mention that The Fat Duck is only an hour away. You'll pretty much never run out of places to eat - or drink for that matter. You've got a Sam Smith's pub on every corner, where a pint of organic vegan friendly (and very drinkable)lager comes in at around £2, or you could have expertly made classic cocktails at The Hawksmoor or champagne at Amuse Bouche... and these are just a few off the top of my head.

Even though I truly hate my job, and a little piece of me dies every morning when my alarm goes off at 6am, there aren't many places in the world like Foyles. That's for sure.

On my lunch break the other day I saw Mike Leigh walking down the street.

I've also sold a DVD to/met out and about somewhere:
Pamela Anderson
Dita Von Teese
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Brian May
Stella McCartney
Cher
Jarvis Cocker
Damon Albarn
Chris Cunningham
Pedro Almodovar
Guillermo Del Toro
Gael Garcia Bernal
Alfred Molina
Christopher Lee
Michael Caine
Gwen Stefani
Slash
Natalie Portman
Joan Collins
and a host of other z-list celebs that I care not to mention and maybe some more cool ones I've forgotten.

I've also seen someone smoking crack on the tube, and someone having a wank in public (more than once, although thankfully it wasn't the same person).

Although it's over priced, the public transport is great. Just on my bus ride to and from work I see The London Eye, The Houses of Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral, The Old Vic, Waterloo Bridge, The NFT & BFI, the gherkin, Trafalgar Square, The Hayward Gallery, The Royal Festival Hall... oh and Elephant & Castle...

There are seriously so many crazy people in London. Makes for good people watching and regular discomfort.

For a large industrialised city there is still so much greenery and loads of lovely parks.

30 mins on the train and you're in Brighton, by the sea.

I see and learn something new every day.

I almost never bump into people I know, and my business stays my business because nobody gives a fuck. I love the fact I've lived here 8 years and still have my privacy and anonymity. But, at the same time I've made some of my closest friends whilst living here.

Ok, so I know you could say most of this about New York... but that's in America - where you have to pay for healthcare and where you'd be lucky to get any paid holiday days off work or sick leave and where they have all kinds of lax regulations on what kinds of hormones and antibiotics are in their meat, and they're all fat. I could go on. Really, I do quite like America, but I don't think I could live there unless I was rich.

Of course there are downsides to London (Boris Johnson, house prices, pollution, etc) - but I'm trying desperately to focus on the positives!

Now I am bored of writing. I shall recommence at a later date.

New Donkey Kong high score

2009-04-30T09:02:00.002+01:00

I'm so glad that Steve Wiebe is back in the lead again... Billy Mitchell is such an ass.

Oh and do watch King of Kong if you haven't seen it, it's really very good.

More here

Drop Dead Fred remake?!

2009-04-28T09:45:00.000+01:00

...apparently starring Russell Brand. I kid you not.

Cannes '09 line-up

2009-04-23T12:15:00.000+01:00

Competition

Pedro Almodocar - Broken Embraces

Andrea Arnold - Fish Tank

Jacques - Un Prophete

Marco Bellocchio – Vicente

Jane Campion - Bright Star

Xavier Giannoli – A L'Origine

Isabel Coixet – Nap of the Sounds of Tokyo

Michael Haneke -The White Ribbon

Ang Lee – Taking Woodstock

Ken Loach – Look for Eric

Lou Ye - Spring Fever

Brillante Mendoza – Kinaray

Gasper Noe – Enter The Void

Park Chan-wook – Thirst

Alain Resanist – Les Herbes Foilles

Eilai Suleiname – The Time That Remain

Quentin Tarantino - Inglorious Basterds

Johnnie To – Vengeance

Tsai Ming-liang – Face

Lars Von Trier – Antichrist

Un Certain Regard

Bong Joon Ho - Mother

Alain Cavalier - Irene

Lee Daniels - Precious

Denis Dercourt- Demaine Des L'Aube

Heitor Dehalia - Adrift

Bahman Ghobadi -Nobody Knows About The Person Cats

Ciro Guerra - The Wind Journeys

Mia Hansen-Love - Le Pere De Mes Enfants

Hanno Hofer, Razvan Marculescu, Cristian Mungiu and Constantin Propescu, Ioanna Uricaru - Tales From The Golden Age

Nickplay Khomeriki - Tale In The Darkness

Yorgos Lanthimos -Dogtooth

Pavel Lounguine - Tzar

Raya Martin - Indepencia

Corneliu Porumboiu - Police, Adjective

Pen-Ek Ratanaruang - Nymph

Joao Pedro Rodrigues - To Die Like A Man

Haim Tabakman - Eyes Wide Open

Warwick Thornton - Sampson & Deliah

Jean Van De Velde - The Silent Army

Closing Film

Jan Kounen – Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky

Out of Competition

Robert Guediguiam - L'Armee Du Crime

Alessandro Amenabar – Agora

Terry Gilliam - The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus

Special Screenings

Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar - A Town Called Panic

Sam Raimi - Drag Me To Hell

Marina De Van – Ne Te Retourne Pas

The final straw?

2009-04-23T10:55:00.002+01:00

We all know that there are currelty a lot of ridiculous remakes currently in production (Red Sonja, Near Dark, The Warriors, Short Circut, The Thing to name but a few), but this recent revelation really takes the biscuit...

Straw Dogs! Starring James Marsden!!?

ARGH!

Eclipse director announced

2009-04-23T09:44:00.002+01:00

David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) has been announced by Summit as the director of Eclipse, the third film in the Twilight franchise.

Evan Rachel Wood cast in True Blood

2009-04-23T09:16:00.002+01:00

Apparently Evan Rachel Wood has been cast as vampire queen Sophie-Anne in the HBO series True Blood.

I am not a fan of hers, at all. Also, I'm fairly sure in the books she doesn't turn up until much later in the series so it makes me wonder where they're going with season 2...

Some good news though... True Blood has already been renewed for a third season. Yay!

Patrick Farrell's Pulitzer prize-winning photographs

2009-04-22T08:58:00.002+01:00

These photos taken after a hurricane in Haiti are both devastating and breathtaking.

Neil Marshall's Centurion

2009-04-21T10:30:00.000+01:00

Although Doomsday was pants, I'm kinda liking the sound of Centurion and I'm hoping it will be a return to form for Marshall. Generally speaking, I like the idea of lots of Scottish people killing lots of other people.

Lovely Bones

2009-04-20T15:33:00.003+01:00

I feel like I've been waiting FOREVER for The Lovely Bones to come out - and there is still a wait to go as it isn't released in the UK until January 2010, but anyway dribs and drabs are slowly appearing online and so far I'm fairly pleased with what I've read. Especially this, as I was worried about the whole depiction of heaven thing, and I think making it ambigous is probably the best way of doing it. Over at Empire they also have a world exclusive on one of the first images released.

Hmm... the jury is still out... but although I have no faith in the religious sense I still have faith in Peter Jackson...

I'm back!

2009-04-20T08:54:00.002+01:00

The first day back at work after a holiday is probably what hell feels like.

Oh, and now Twitter is blocked in my office too :(

Dammit!

Let the Right One In

2009-04-06T09:24:00.004+01:00

Let the Right One In finally gets it UK release this Friday 10th April... I know it's already on region 1 DVD and you can easily download a torrent, but please please go and see it at the cinema. It's well worth a watch on the big screen and we need to prove that films like this are deserving of a cinematic release. It is really is one of the best films I've seen in a long time.

New Freddy Krueger announced...

2009-04-06T09:20:00.002+01:00

...and it's Jackie Earle Hayley who recently starred as Rorschach in Watchmen. Good casting, but I'm most definitely convinced this is a bad idea.

Wolverine leak

2009-04-02T11:19:00.004+01:00

As I'm sure you know by now, there has been a leak of an unfinished version of the new Wolverine movie... I found this article explaining how this could have happened quite interesting. I also agree that I'm quick shocked it doesn't happen more often - although I'm sure it has to do with employees not wanting it traced back to them, which is why I think the Wolverine leak is more likely to have come from a disgruntled employee who maybe lost their job or had a run in with Fox.

Anyway, I've seen it, and no wonder Fox is pissed it got leaked - IT SUCKS! I bet they were planning on even holding it back from preview/press screenings because this is definitely as bad as X-Men 3. Let's hope it's a lot more unfinished than rumours (99%) suggest...

Meat fail

2009-03-27T10:57:00.002Z

Let the Wrong One In?

2009-03-25T12:09:00.005Z

Hmm, apparently the subtitles on the region 1 DVD differ from the theatrical release.

More here.

Damn... and I was planning on picking up a copy when I went to the states. I have no idea why they'd even do that, it's so stupid.

**UPDATE**
It's fixed.

My last post

2009-03-21T08:38:00.002Z

Gah... I need to read things before I publish them. My spelling and grammar is clearly that of a 6-year old. All fixed now.

Hmm...

2009-03-20T14:09:00.007Z

I really have been rather slack with updating the 'ol blog recently. I must endeavor to change this.

My excuses for being slack:
- I have had actual work to do when at work for the last few weeks. This is most irksome.
- I have been working on my Raindance newsletter articles, which takes precedence over my blog.
- I have become obsessed with Twitter.
- I have spent an embarrassing amount of my free time playing Fallout 3 and Resident Evil 5.
- I am a lazy cunt.

Some slightly more useful information...

I have been reading quite a lot recently and would thoroughly recommend David Peace's Red Riding quartet and Ingenious Pain by Andrew Miller.

Although it split critics down the middle, I quite enjoyed Bronson. It wasn't quite what I expected and I'm filing it under "guilty pleasure". Imagine if David Lynch had directed A Clockwork Orange and that's close to what you get with this film. Good soundtrack too.

I would also recommend Ozploitation, an amusing documentary about Australian B-movies of the '70s and '80s.

Oh and I know I've been going on about it for ages and ages, but do please go and see Let the Right One In when it finally gets a UK release on 10th April. Trust me, even if you hate vampires, Swedish people and children - it's impossible not to be impressed. BEST FILM I'VE SEEN IN YEARS. If you can't face going to the cinema it's already out on region 1 DVD, so you can get it off playusa.com

Better Late Than Never

2009-03-20T09:04:00.003Z

Have to agree with this article.

One of my all time favourite films. I love Harry Dean Stanton.

Where the Wild Things Are poster

2009-03-18T10:31:00.004Z

Am getting excited for this. Was always a fave of mine as a child, and I'm sure Spike Jonze has done it justice.

The Time Traveler's Wife

2009-03-17T08:42:00.001Z

Some reviews are trickling through now...

click here.

Makes it all sound a bit too chick flick/lit for my liking. Being a fan of the book I always felt it was more sci-fi than romance. I'm still looking forward to the film though.

What's your damage Heather?

2009-03-13T14:20:00.003Z

Heathers: The Musical starring Kristin Bell as Veronica is due to hit Broadway in 2010.

"This is Ohio. If you don't have a brewski in your hand you might as well be wearing a dress".

Bad news for Harry Potter fans...

2009-03-13T14:17:00.001Z

Initial reactions from test screenings of Half-Blood Prince? Not Good.

Getting worried about The Road

2009-03-12T10:18:00.002Z

It was the number one movie I was most excited about last year... WHERE IS IT!?!! Bloody Weinstein's pushed forward The Reader to get all their Oscars for 2009 and now it looks like The Road has been pushed back to Q4 of 2009 so they can get their Oscars for 2010. Dammit. I want to see it now. I might expode if I have to wait another year...

*sigh*

Contractor

2009-03-12T10:04:00.003Z

I really enjoyed Switchblade Romance and quite liked The Hills Have Eyes remake, so am pleased to hear Aleandre Aja is still getting work after the awful Mirrors... and both Piranha 3D and The Contractor sound pretty good.

More here.

Drag Me to Hell trailer now online

2009-03-12T09:30:00.002Z

Clicky here.

The Princess and the Frog

2009-03-11T11:14:00.002Z

I dunno about you, but I'm pretty excited about Disney's return to 2D animation. Set in New Orleans during the Jazz age, this isn't The Princess and the Frog we are familiar with, but it sounds pretty good to me.

More here.

Oooooohhh! Public Enemies trailer now online

2009-03-05T15:18:00.004Z

I am VERY excited about Public Enemies. But let's face it, I'm just excited about Johnny Depp in general.

Watch the trailer HERE.

p.s. add me on Twitter @goregoregirl

Hoxford

2009-03-05T11:32:00.005Z

This sounds interesting:

Chris Columbus' 1492 Entertainment has picked up the film rights to IDW Publishing's horror graphic novel "Welcome to Hoxford."

Ben Templesmith, who co-penned the vampire comic series "30 Days of Night," which Sony made into a film in 2007, created "Hoxford," about a psychiatrist who must team with a deeply disturbed patient in order to escape werewolves who run an institution for the criminally insane. Plans are for Columbus to produce the adaptation along with 1492 partners Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe.

More here.

Apologies

2009-03-05T10:01:00.003Z

Apologies for the lack of blogging.

Have been sick :-(

Blogging will commence imminiently.

Meanwhile - WATCH RED RIDING TONIGHT, 9PM CHANNEL 4.

I heart Mike Leigh

2009-02-25T08:45:00.002Z

Just thought I'd share this article.

Mike Leigh is such a lovely guy, I've seen him do a Q&A before and he was really funny. I also seem to see him pottering around soho on a regular basis - I think maybe he has an office near my work or something.

Raindance link

2009-02-24T12:01:00.001Z

Click HERE to read last week's article.

Remember to sign up to their weekly Ezine...

Michael Caine is Harry Brown

2009-02-24T09:40:00.004Z

From Empire:

"As attentive readers will have noticed, Michael Caine signed up for Harry Brown back in September and we've got pics of Caine on location in a suitably dank part of London, looking focused as the titular antihero.

Billed as an urban Western, the film sees Caine play the titular Harry Brown, an ex-Marine (which explains the pea coat) and widower forced to journey through a seedy world of drugs and guns to take revenge for the brutal death of his best friend at the hands of a gang of thugs.

To our ears it sounds like it's pitched somewhere between Get Carter and Gran Turino - Brown is an ex-Marine so we'd expect his line in vengeance to be fairly no-nonsense, although whether he channels Jack Carter's ice-blooded amorality remains to be seen".

This made me laugh because it's currently filming just up the road from where I live! In fact, I went past them shooting a scene last night when I was on the bus home.

John Sayles to help Anthony Kiedis

2009-02-24T09:25:00.002Z

Urgh, I like John Sayles, but this sounds dreadful. Kiedis' autobiography was awful and it made me hate him. He's a self-righteous, smug, pseudo intellectual shit weasel.

Eclipse for 2010

2009-02-22T18:37:00.002Z

Not only is New Moon scheduled for a Nov 2009 release but now Eclipse has been scheduled for a June 2010 release...

Guess they want to churn them out as fast as possible to capitalize on the popularity of Twilight.

This is why you're fat

2009-02-20T09:42:00.000Z

I feel sick.

EW's 25 Greatest Active Directors

2009-02-19T09:52:00.002Z

You can see the list HERE.

Judd Apatow? John Favreau?

But no Lynch?!

Rubbish.

How fucking random is this?!

2009-02-19T08:52:00.003Z

Former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, Hanson's Taylor Hanson and Fountains Of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger have formed a new band, Tinted Windows.

Apparently their debut will be at SXSW.

More HERE.

Pride & Predator?!

2009-02-17T09:34:00.002Z

Elton John's film company Rocket Pictures is set to produce a sci-fi version of Pride & Prejudice called Pride & Predator ...

This must be some kind of joke, surely?

Paddy Considine and Shane Meadows reunite...

2009-02-13T11:08:00.005Z

...for Le Donk, a faux documentary shot over the course of 5 days. It's based on a character that originally appeared in a short film the pair made together ages ago.

There is some more info here.

I have to say that I'm quite looking forward to this, I'm a huge fan of both Meadows and Considine.

(and yes, I know that's a pic from Dead Man's Shoes, but it's semi relevant to this post and it's from my favourite scene in the film...)

A Nightmare On Elm Street remake yawn

2009-02-12T09:07:00.003Z

Platinum Dunes (Michael Bay's horror remake factory) has signed up Samuel Bayer to helm the forthcoming remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street. This is Bayer's first feature after making a name for himself directing music videos for the likes of David Bowie and The Smashing Pumpkins...

sigh... I can hardly contain my excitement...

My review of Benjamin Button

2009-02-11T10:38:00.001Z

David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en, Zodiac) takes and unexpected turn with this adaptation of the F.Scott Fitzgerald short story about a man who ages backwards in this long (almost 3 hours) but ultimately rewarding film which was for many years believed by Hollywood to be unfilmable.

Upon its release in the states it received mixed reviews (currently 72% on Rotten tomatoes), with many critics declaring it too cold and over long. It has also been compared to Forrest Gump, and they share the same screenwriter, but I always found Gump too saccharine and I think it’s a lazy comparison to make. Both films span a man’s entire life from birth to death and focus on his love for his childhood (or um, old age?) sweetheart, but that’s where the similarities end. To me Button is more fantastical with its roots firmly in fairytale, it reminded me more of Amelie in the way it is set in the real world, but now as we know it, every shot seemingly filmed through rose tinted glasses.

Brad Pitt stars in the title role as Benjamin, and although I’ve never been a fan, with The Assassination of Jesse James and now this I’m beginning to be able to see though the media circus of him life and actually appreciate him more as an actor. With the extraordinary make-up and CGI effects he is entirely believable as Benjamin aged 80 and Benjamin aged 18. The same can be said for Cate Blanchett who plays the love of his life, Daisy. She is impossibly beautiful as a 23 year old ballet dancer and unrecognisable as the dying old woman she becomes. This will undoubtedly grant the film an Oscar for visual effects, if nothing else.

Fincher uses little of his source material bar the central ageing premise, instead setting the film in New Orleans and spanning almost a decade; from just after the First World War right up to hurricane Katrina. There are many stand out moments, particularly the segment set in Russia where Benjamin falls for uptight aristocrat brilliantly played by Tilda Swinton and the montage leading up to Daisy’s accident.

Although I enjoyed The Curious Case of Benjamin Button a lot, it’s flawed by its ambition and its running time. The often surreal nature of the story will ultimately alienate it from mainstream audiences whilst its big name cast and sentimentality may put off the art house crowd. Still, I’m sure it will manage to win fans as well as Oscar nominations without quite being the tour de force it ought to have been.

Just because...

2009-02-09T13:59:00.001Z

...Sawyer is hot, and I've recently got back into Lost after two seasons of thinking it was fairly meh.

BAFTAs

2009-02-09T09:24:00.002Z

The full list of winners:

BEST FILM
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
MILK
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
HUNGER
IN BRUGES
MAMMA MIA!
MAN ON WIRE
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

LEADING ACTOR
FRANK LANGELLA Frost/Nixon
DEV PATEL Slumdog Millionaire
SEAN PENN Milk
BRAD PITT The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
MICKEY ROURKE The Wrestler

LEADING ACTRESS
ANGELINA JOLIE Changeling
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS I’ve Loved You So Long
MERYL STREEP Doubt
KATE WINSLET The Reader
KATE WINSLET Revolutionary Road

SUPPORTING ACTOR
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. Tropic Thunder
BRENDAN GLEESON In Bruges
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN Doubt
HEATH LEDGER The Dark Knight
BRAD PITT Burn After Reading

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS Doubt
PENÉLOPE CRUZ Vicky Cristina Barcelona
FREIDA PINTO Slumdog Millionaire
TILDA SWINTON Burn After Reading
MARISA TOMEI The Wrestler

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for their First Feature Film
SIMON CHINN Producer – Man On Wire
JUDY CRAYMER Producer – Mamma Mia!
GARTH JENNINGS Writer – Son of Rambow
STEVE McQUEEN Director/Writer – Hunger
SOLON PAPADOPOULOS / ROY BOULTER Producers – Of Time And The City

DIRECTOR
CHANGELING Clint Eastwood
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON David Fincher
FROST/NIXON Ron Howard
THE READER Stephen Daldry
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Danny Boyle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BURN AFTER READING Joel Coen / Ethan Coen
CHANGELING J. Michael Straczynski
I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG Philippe Claudel
IN BRUGES Martin McDonagh
MILK Dustin Lance Black

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Eric Roth
FROST/NIXON Peter Morgan
THE READER David Hare
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD Justin Haythe
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Simon Beaufoy

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX
GOMORRAH
I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG
PERSEPOLIS
WALTZ WITH BASHIR

ANIMATED FILM
PERSEPOLIS
WALL•E
WALTZ WITH BASHIR

MUSIC
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Alexandre Desplat THE DARK KNIGHT Hans Zimmer / James Newton Howard
MAMMA MIA! Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvaeus
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE A. R. Rahman
WALL•E Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

EDITING
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
FROST/NIXON
IN BRUGES
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

PRODUCTION DESIGN
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

COSTUME DESIGN
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE DUCHESS
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

SOUND
CHANGELING
THE DARK KNIGHT
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
SLUMDOG MILLIONARE
WALL•E

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
IRON MAN
QUANTUM OF SOLACE

MAKE UP & HAIR
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE DUCHESS
FROST/NIXON
MILK

SHORT ANIMATION
CODSWALLOP
VARMINTS
WALLACE AND GROMIT: A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH

SHORT FILM
KINGSLAND #1 THE DREAMER
LOVE YOU MORE
RALPH
SEPTEMBER
VOYAGES D’AFFAIRES (THE BUSINESS TRIP)

ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD
MICHAEL CERA
NOEL CLARKE
MICHAEL FASSBENDER
REBECCA HALL
TOBY KEBBELL

Well, no big surprises there. I was glad to see Man On Wire win best British film, was also glad to see Steve McQueen pick up the Carl Foreman award, disappointed Toby Kebbell didn't win the rising star award, and most of all am sick of hearing about Slumdog Millionaire.

Jude Law as a woman...

2009-02-06T09:40:00.003Z

Jude Law has landed the role of a cross-dressing supermodel in a new movie directed by Sally Potter.

The actor will star as a transvestite in Rage, a murder mystery set in New York's fashion world. The movie also stars Eddie Izzard, Judi Dench and Steve Buscemi.

Twitter

2009-02-04T16:25:00.001Z

I'm on Twitter now, you can find me here...

http://twitter.com/goregoregirl

Something Just Clicked

2009-02-04T14:27:00.001Z

Annie Leibovitz photographs 10 partnerships that helped generate more than four dozen Oscar nominations this season.

Some really great pictures here.

Jamie Bell cast as Tintin

2009-01-27T11:10:00.001Z

Daniel Craig also joins cast of the 3-D motion-capture film of Hergé's comic strip, which already includes Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Andy Serkis. More info HERE.

Dave telling it like it is...

2009-01-27T09:31:00.001Z

"They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in east Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator."

More about the great man HERE.

Worst film title... maybe ever.

2009-01-23T15:40:00.001Z

Feast your eyes on this beauty:

DaZe: Vol. Too (sic) - NonSeNse

Yup. That is the title.

This is the plot synopsis on IMDb - "A post modern avant guard dramedy musical non-musical told nonlinearly". Sounds absolutely dreadful.

Oscar nominations

2009-01-22T14:14:00.003Z

Here are 2009's Oscar nominations. I've put my predictions in bold and who I want to win in italics.

Best picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best supporting actress
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Best actress
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Kate Winslet, The Reader
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Meryl Streep, Doubt

Best supporting actor
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey xJr, Tropic Thunder
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt

Best actor
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best original screenplay
Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
WALL-E

Best adapted screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best foreign-language film
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

Best animation
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

Art Direction
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Cinematography
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Documentary Feature
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

Editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

Mad Men to return for a third season.

2009-01-20T09:54:00.002Z

Apparently they have finally come to an agreement.

Yay! I can't wait. Life just isn't the same without Don Draper.

Ok, I'm off to a Wetherspoon's...

2009-01-20T09:23:00.000Z

99p pint draws drinkers to Wetherspoon