http://screeningroom.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/30/cult-horror-classics-get-remastered-plus-5-favorites/

Tired of getting short-changed by DVD extras? So is cult film authority Xavier Mendik.

Features where everyone just grins into the camera and talks about how great the production was are superficial, he says. Moreover, they “don’t do fans justice.” What extra features do you want to see? Tell us in the comments below

Mendik, the director of Cine-Excess, an international conference and festival on cult film, is doing something about it by partnering up with distributor Nouveaux Pictures to re-master cult horror movies.

Besides giving fans a chance to see cult classics for the first time on DVD, the label – whose slogan is “Taking Trash Seriously” – sets itself apart with extra features created by academics, he says.

The label has already re-released 1980s favorite “Amsterdamned” and in January 2010 comes a remastering of “Suspiria,” Dario Argento’s stomach-turning horror set in a ballet academy.

The restoration on the Blu-Ray and DVD release of “Suspiria” will include four new documentaries that examine everything from gender controversy in the film to its style and politics in Italy in the 1970s.

“It will be the ultimate DVD,” says Mendik, who says the label is responding to what fans want.

Cult devotees have more to look forward to.

Cine-Excess has been given rights to a catalog of 300 movies owned by B-movie producer director Roger Corman and is planning to release 15 films in the next 12 months with Nouveaux Pictures, says Mendik.

The label is aimed at both the everyday cult fan as well as the growing educational market that has emerged around cult, says Mendik, who teaches cult film and TV at Brunel University in the UK.

With all this in mind, we asked Mendik to list his top five horror cult movies of all time. His picks and comments are below:

1. “Suspiria” (Dario Argento, 1977): “Being in the position to re-release this film is phenomenal.”
2. “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (Tobe Hooper, 1974): “It remains a profoundly shocking film.”
3. “Deranged” (Jeff Gillen and Alan Ormsby, 1974): “For its gore and gross out factor – a look at depravity with a wonderful, near hysterical performance by the central lead.”
4. “Venus in Furs” (Jesus Franco, 1969): “A psychedelic dream scene horror with a freestyle jazz structure.”
5. “Cabin Fever” (Eli Roth, 2002): “A new talent in the horror field to keep an eye on.”

Thank you CNN!

Coisas que aleatórias para se pensar enquanto o computador de bordo desativa o sistema de criogenia e você  nota que não faz a barba há pelo menos uns vinte anos.

1) Encaremos os fatos: a década está acabando. Quando o vocalista da banda que supostamente iria salvar o rock quando você tinha 15 anos solta uma entrevista bunda dessas, é hora de repensar suas prioridades: continuo com o Marlboro vermelho ou assumo logo que fresquei e passo pro light?

2) E como tudo que é ruim demora a morrer, o Weezer insiste em lançar discos. E eu insisto em não ouvi-los para não macular a memória daquela que um dia foi minha banda favorita. Banda essa, aliás, que nos velhos tempos jamais colocaria um cachorro com as trochas digitalmente removidas na capa de um disco.

3) Deixando as reclamações de lado, siga esse caminho e baixe altos filmes massa: www.setimoprojetor.blogspot.com. Quem é piolho das quebradas “alternatchivas” da cidade, já conhece o endereço pelas recomendações do pessoal do Lado[R] no segundo número do mini-zine E[rr]ado, que eles soltaram durante o Goiamum Audiovisual, há uns dois meses. Como minha internet é uma bosta, sou obrigado a me valer de recursos duvidosos, como aproveitar a internet do trabalho em pleno horário de expediente para poder me refestelar com o acervo  do blog. É tudo separado por diretores. Entre outros, vamos ter Cronenberg, Lynch, Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Godard, Mojica e outros.  É xuxu beleza.

4) Aos suicidas recomenda-se não olhar para baixo. Mas antes de qualquer atitude drástica, atentem: o Yo La Tengo está em cima do telhado, na Pitchfork TV descendo o braço em quatro músicas do não-menos-que-sensa Popular Songs. Se você estiver com pressa de pular, vá logo em “Here to Fall” e “Nothing to Hide”, que abrem e fecham o set, respectivamente.

5) Resumo pós-Festival DoSol 2009. Discos comprados: zero. Cervejas entornadas: 12 ou mais. Shows vistos de corpo presente: 2, 25.  O Inimigo tarda mas não falha. Hugo Morais viu e ouviu tudo e conta como foi essa onda, a quem interessar possa.

6) Não quero parecer repetitivo, mas… a caixinha do Raymond Chandler? Alguém? Adams? Adamovsky? Bueller…? Bueller…?

7) Sem mais, só leia.

Parabéns, galado: Neil Young, completando 64 primaveiras é uma boa desculpa para tomar umas gelas. Ou, no caso de liseu sério, ouvir um dos 1.345678 discos do homem no aconchego da sua caverna. Qualquer um vale, até o que ele gravou com o Pearl Jam ou o tal (nefasto, nefasto…) de música eletrônica lá do início dos anos 80. Sério. Mas sempre tendo em mente que o canal era nesses tempos aqui (espere até ele achar a gaita certa):

…you keep me searching for a heart of gold/ and i’m getting old…

9) |m|

Still from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"; image courtesy of theanimationblog.com

I recently put together a post on Fantasia for Dark Room, a blog my friend Caitlin runs. As Caitlin is quite the feminist horror film scholar, her blog focuses mainly on movies and some television programs that are either scary, darkly comedic, or both. Appropriately, I wrote about how the movie in question scared me as a kid as part of an ongoing series on childhood cinematic traumas.  

It should be noted that I’m a bit of a ‘fraidy cat when it comes to horror movies. Thus, Caitlin is responsible for opening my eyes to the feminist possibilities of watching and interpreting horror. If you’re a feminist music geek who’s a bit skittish about the genre, I highly recommend reading her pieces on Dario Argento’s Opera and horror-informed music videos. I also value her assessments of TV shows like True Blood and movies like An American Crime, Palindromes, Heavenly Creatures, and Jennifer’s Body, among many others. 

And if you’re a feminist music geek who loves horror, you should already be reading Dark Room.   

Suspiria, filme de terror com direção do italiano Dario Argento, tem uma estética incrível …

e alguns posters… muita cor, sangue e un pò paura! (uhhhhh!)

* imagens: IMDB/Reprodução
+ http://www.darkdreams.org/

Senhoras e senhores, lhes apresento Riccardo Scamarcio.  Hoje eu assisti “Meu irmão é filho único”, um filme italiano MUITO BOM, bem no estilo que eu gosto mesmo. “Descobri” este ator e fiquei encantada: primeiro porque é um excelente ator e segundo… well… é só dar uma olhadinha na foto ao lado e entenderá o porquê.

Ele é bem conhecido na Itália –  ainda sou novata quando o assunto é cinema italiano, então não me trucidem - só conheço os “Argento” por causa da Mariana – essa criatura fez com que eu me apaixonasse pelo trabalho da Asia Argento e  a partir daí, comecei a assistir a alguns (2) filmes do Dario Argento.

Regia: Álex de la Iglesia

Interpreti: Carmen Maura, Eduardo Antuña, María Asquerino, Jesús Bonilla, Marta Fernández Muro, Paca Gabaldón, Ane Gabarain, Sancho Gracia, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Kiti Manver.

Paese: Spagna (2000)

Pluripremiato dalle giurie di diversi Festival spagnoli soprattutto grazie, ma non solo, alla bravura indiscussa di Carmen Maura, la pellicola dello Álex de la Iglesia è un thriller realizzato in chiave grottesca e considerato da molti una vera e propria commedia. Uscito nelle sale nel 2000 La Comunidad è stato sottotitolato “Intrigo all’ultimo piano” e ricorda sotto molti aspetti L’inquilino del terzo piano di Roman Polanski, ma vi si trovano riferimenti anche di altri stili di regia nonché influenze di thriller e gialli non necessariamente spagnoli. La storia della Comunità di de la Iglesia ha inizio con il ritrovamento del cadavere, in avanzato stato di decomposizione, di un anziano signore che abitava l’appartamento dell’ultimo piano di uno stabile cittadino. Al piano inferiore si stabilisce Julia (Carmen Maura), un’avvenente quarantenne che lavora per un’agenzia immobiliare e che, nel tentativo di vendere il lussuoso appartamento, scopre casualmente un’infiltrazione al soffitto. Dopo l’intervento dei vigili del fuoco e la rimozione del cadavere, si sparge tra gli inquilini del palazzo una strana agitazione che diverrà una vera guerra nei confronti della nuova arrivata, specialmente dopo che Julia avrà scoperto lo strano tesoro del vecchio deceduto.

La comunità di Álex de la Iglesia è costituita da singoli elementi, tutti quanti più meno ben caratterizzati, che si rivelano mossi da profondo egoismo e che fingono di perseguire il bene collettivo. Lo scopo finale di ognuno di essi è di godere del tesoro ambito per anni in perfetta solitudine e, pensando di sfruttare l’ingenuità del prossimo, approfittano dell’invidia di tutti gli inquilini del palazzo. Coesi contro l’ultima arrivata, gli inquilini si mostrano dapprima accoglienti e calorosi per poi divenire astiosi come i vicini di casa di uno sfortunato Trelkovski qualsiasi. Il regista coglie bene le ambiguità dei condomini e ne amplifica le loro inquietanti esistenze attraverso i pettegolezzi, i volti truccati, le tacite invidie, fino ad arrivare a un incidente/omidicio di uno di loro (breve omaggio a Dario Argento). I dubbi di Julia – e dello spettatore – divengono certezze e la donna comprende di essere in pericolo. La protagonista è un personaggio pragmatico e coraggioso e, forse a prima vista, anche senza scrupoli ma si renderà presto conto di quanto sia realmente diversa dal resto della comunità. Attraverso piccoli inserti comici (passando per le divertenti citazioni di Star Wars e del mondo del fumetto di cui l’autore è un fan) traspare un cinismo disumano simile al delizioso Shallow Grave di Danny Boyle con musiche vivaci alternate a zone di inquietudine. La colonna sonora è stata composta da Roque Baños, celebre per la somiglianza con Bernard Herrmann, compositore, questi, delle musiche dei film hitchcockiani. E l’influenza del “maestro del brivido” è senz’altro la più significativa ed è presente più o meno ovunque nella pellicola: dall’impianto della storia al modo di girare alcune scene, dai titoli introduttivi alla scelta di una protagonista bionda e filiforme.  

Il set personalmente mi ha ricordato Rec, un horror spagnolo recentissimo e girato nell’interno di un palazzo molto simile a quello della Comunidad: poca luce, incuria delle scale, porte in legno scuro e dal gusto estetico anticato. Per una questione temporale è più probabile che i registi di Rec si siano rifatti (forse) a Álex de la Iglesia. L’intro del film mi è parsa davvero efficace e rappresenta una bella metafora che racchiude l’intero significato del racconto: un gatto si ciba incurante delle carni in putrefazione del proprio padrone. Non è forse una sublime evocazione del cinismo?  La Comunidad, oltre che un omaggio al giallo di Hitchcock e al suo modo autoriale di fare Cinema (prendendosi così poco sul serio…), è un’interessante dissertazione sulle psicosi collettive che investono i gruppi di persone. Nulla di geniale certamente ma nemmeno da buttare per chi vuole godersi una discreta serata cinematografica rispolverando i cardini di uno dei padri del Cinema moderno.

chiarOscura

On Halloween, I went to the New Beverly Cinema to check out a demonic triple-feature of three awesome horror flicks from the 80’s, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS, DEMONS and DEMONS 2!

In the spirit of the holiday, I went as a Wizard, who specializes in Black Magic. When I arrived in line, I was relieved to find a couple of the other New Bev regulars had dressed up as well. My friend CAT was there as Wonder Woman and acting legend, CLU (RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, FEAST I, II, III) GULAGER was dressed as a Zombie-Cowboy.

A Wizard, Wonder Woman and a Zombie-Cowboy. The new Justice League, perhaps?

The evening started with an introduction from director, KEVIN (WITCHTRAP) TENNEY before his film, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS. He seemed a little nervous about the quality of the print and the fact that the movie hadn’t played in front of an audience in over 20 years. He shouldn’t have been, because everything held up great!

First there were a few trailers: MADMAN (PLAY THIS, PLEASE!), JOHN CARPENTER’S HALLOWEEN, and CREEPERS (A.K.A. PHENOMENON)

Then our feature presentation…

NIGHT OF THE DEMONS (1988) is about a group of wild teenagers who throw a party in a creepy, abandoned mansion on Halloween night. They decide to hold a seance for kicks, which unfortunately wakes up a sleeping demon, who takes possession of the party’s host, Angela. One by one, the kids are attacked and turned into vicious demons, ala EVIL DEAD.

Angela is pretty fucked up! Even for a goth chick!

LINNEA QUIGLEY is about to do what she does best.

While not winning any originality awards, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS is a fun, little horror-comedy from the golden age. It wins a lot of points by taking place on Halloween and making effective use of the holiday’s atmosphere. More points go to a pretty decent cast of actors that includes B-movie Queen, LINNEA QUIGLEY. She has one particularly memorable scene involving her often exposed breasts and a lipstick. Good gross-out gore and some nicely staged scares, combined with a wicked sense of humor, made this film a very enjoyable experience to watch with the New Bev crowd.

Afterwards there was a Q and A with KEVIN TENNEY and several members of the cast that included, HAL HAVINS (who played STOOGE, the fat obnoxious guy who wears a pig snout and tells everyone to “eat a bowl of fuck!”), PHILIP TANZINI (Max), JILL TERASHITA (Frannie-the hot Asian girl that gets nude!), ALVIN ALEXIS (Rodger-the black guy who lives!), and JAMES QUINN (he did all the Demon voices and is the star of WITCHTRAP). They all shared stories about how much fun they had making this low budget film. HAL HAVINS stole his famous line from the great JOHN BELUSHI. JILL TERASHITA insisted on re-shooting her nude scene because she thought her acting was terrible and told TENNEY, “I’m already naked in the movie. I don’t want to be naked and suck too.”. Actor ALVIN ALEXIS flew in from N.Y. for the screening and is very proud that he is one of the few African americans that actually survives in a horror movie.

Director, KEVIN TENNEY.

HAL HAVINS, JILL TERASHITA, PHILIP TANZINI, ALVIN ALEXIS, KEVIN TENNEY and JAMES QUINN.

There was a short break and then actress GERETTA GERETTA came out and introduced DEMONS. She talked about how great it was to work with LAMBERTO BAVA and how they filmed most of the interiors in Rome and exteriors in Berlin. The movie was made by Americans, Italians and Germans, so everyone was speaking different languages all the time, including the actors. She also reminisced about living in Italy and working with legendary horror filmmaker, LUCIO FULCI.

Trailers for upcoming attractions at the New Bev: NEAR DARK, DEATH WISH III and JOHN CARPENTER’S THEY LIVE. Then…

DEMONS (1985) is one of my all time favorite Italian horror films. It was directed by LAMBERTO BAVA (MARIO’S son) and produced and co-written by the master of Italian horror himself, DARIO ARGENTO. It centers around a group of strangers that are all randomly invited to the screening of a horror film at a brand new theatre called the METROPOL. Once the film begins, audience members start turning into violent demons and begin attacking other guests. A team of survivors (led by a pimp) band together to fight the demons off and escape the cinema, so they may warn the outside world (if it’s not too late).

GERETTA GERETTA is going all demon on everybody!

HOLY SHIT! DEMONS!!!

DEMONS is one of the most fun horror movies to watch in a movie theatre, because it actually takes place in a movie theatre. I originally saw this movie on VHS and then later as a midnight movie at the MUSIC BOX THEATRE in Chicago, way back in the day. This is the third time I’ve seen it at the New Bev and it’s a treat to experience it with that crowd. You gotta love any horror film that has the hero chopping demons up with a samurai sword, while riding a motorcycle. This movie is filled with throat ripping, eye gouging, puss squirting good times and has a wonderful shock ending that happens while the credits are rolling!

Next were trailers for FRIGHT NIGHT II, HOUSE II: THE SECOND STORY and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 (PLAY THIS ONE TOO, PLEASE!)

Then our final feature of the evening…

DEMONS 2 (1986) takes place in a luxury apartment building and once again the demons start pouring out of the woodwork, this time because of a horror movie playing on everyone’s television. It’s up to a new band of survivors to make a stand against the demonic hoard!

A demon is coming out of the T.V.! Time to switch to dish.

DEMONS 2 is a very fun follow-up to the original. Setting it in a huge apartment building definitely makes this feel like a bigger film and it’s got a lot more demons on hand than the last one. It also brings back actor BOBBY RHODES, who played Tony the pimp in DEMONS. In DEMONS 2 he plays Hank the gym instructor and he leads a group of tank top and short shorts wearing, muscle heads against the savage demon attack. Also, a very young ASIA ARGENTO is featured and terrorized for the first time by one of her father’s creations.

I couldn’t think of a better way to spend Halloween, than at the New Bev watching horror movies! A great night and thankfully, not one audience member turned into a demon. Trick or treat!

Soooo yeah, I really fell off there on the daily movie posting :X Right when it was Halloween and most important, too. SORRY! I got way too busy working on my costume and hanging out with EJ (the bf). Priorities are important.

As a penance, I’ll just talk briefly about a couple more horror favorites of mine (didn’t quite make it to 7, but oh well). I know it’s not Halloween anymore, but you should check these out anyway. Or, keep them in mind for next year, if you only watch horror movies around Halloween (like a lamer) haha.

Dead Alive (aka Brain Dead)– Peter Jackson, 1992

Definitely my favorite zombie movie. This one isn’t scary so much as hilarious and awesomely, crazily gory (often in a hilarious way). In fact, it’s rated R for “an abundance of outrageous gore”. Apparently 300 liters of fake blood were used in the infamous ‘lawnmower’ scene! Come on, you’re intrigued now.

The story begins with a Sumatran rat monkey bite at the zoo and honestly only gets better and better from there. The two main actors are also sooo appealing (I don’t mean like hawt, I mean adorable and really fun to watch – seriously).

To top it all off, it was directed by Peter Jackson. Yes, the Lord of the Rings guy.

Suspiria – Dario Argento, 1977

The two best things about Suspiria, the cinematography and the score, are in themselves enough to warrant labelling this one as a ‘must-see’. It’s a nightmarish fairytale set in a top European ballet school, where mysterious and sinister goings-on seem to be afoot – all captured in the most saturated colors, dramatic framings, and creepily insidious yet delicately beautiful soundtrack.

Interestingly, Argento composed the score with the band Goblin prior to any filming, and then played it during the filming, to really get the feel of it in the look of the movie (and also to creep out the actors!).

Holyfuckingshit!

Suspiria (1977, Dario Argento) – Ah, that opening turtleneck-donned skeleton gets me each time, and I love the pulsating organ font that spells out the title. This is just a great horror trailer all around, it doesn’t rely heavily on shock content but uses the great Vincent Price-like voiceover to only hint at whatever the hell Suspiria is, never revealing too much. And that ending line, genius!

Possession (1981, Andrzej Zulawski) – What I love about this trailer is how it cuts back and forth between Isabelle Adjani’s fits of violence and the scenes in the film hinting at horrific and strange occurrences without revealing anything. I guess I just enjoy horror trailers that try to capture a certain eerie mood rather than convey the story. And take a gander at Sam Neill, so young – and the freeze-frame at the trailer’s end of him colored white and with red eyes is used to magnificent effect.

Eyes Without a Face (1960. Georges Franju) – This trailer has a great soundtrack first of all, I don’t know how much the music captures the ethereal and dream-like quality of the film but it definitely catches my attention – unless I’m mistaken and the music was in the film which I don’t think it was, anyway… Another trailer that eschews displaying specific plot points to capture the film’s tone by displaying Franju’s luscious framing and using a rather ambiguous voiceover – whose voice is it? is he watching these characters or is he omniscient? – and displays the film in a way that casts uncertainty on what is actually going on. A good trailer makes the film into a sort of puzzle, where we see bits of the film but they are presented in a way that is either misleading or too abstract to put into a certain context, and this trailer does both beautifully.

And finally…

The Wicker Man (1973, Robin Hardy) – Oh, the original film, what a weird, disorienting one this was, and the trailer is just the same. Starting with what seems like a Peter Rabbit costume party mixed with Love generation horny wild-childs and guitar, what can one really make of this film? The elusive shots of the sun, the weird townsfolk and their strange fetishizing of masks,  Edward Woodward’s freaked-out detective. What we are presented with is both hilarious in its absurdity and appalling in its sheer delight in its weirdness.  With the trailer displaying faster and faster edits building up to its climactic reveal of the mysterious Wicker Man. What a nightmare.

Now the next step is to watch the films! (Or re-watch them if you’ve already seen them.)

I have to ask this, since it’s been burning in my brain for the past… several minutes. Is constantly casting your primary villains as women sexist, empowering, or just plain moe?

Going back to the previous post on this topic, another common thread between Umineko and Dario Argento’s Sisters Trilogy is the fact that the villains are almost unanimously female. There are a few token males amongst the antagonists. Umineko has Ronove, who was a duke in Hell before being bound to Beatrice, and there are a few male henchmen in the Trilogy movies, but these are largely supporting roles. In both story lines, it is the women who are pulling the strings both behind the scenes and out in the open.

I can understand someone looking at this as somewhat sexist. We’re talking about fiction created by males and targeting two audiences that are largely male: horror movies and late night anime. It makes sense for a male to portray women who wield immense power as alien, domineering, and malevolent. Some would say that men would feel threatened by a woman who had such power over his fate, and that he wouldn’t feel as threatened if the person in question shared his gender. Yeah, it makes sense, but I don’t think tha applies in this situation.

Going with the assumption that these stories follow dream logic, I think we should err in the opposite direction.

Like we said before dreams follow their own brand of logic. With that said, it makes perfect sense for one’s inner terrors to manifest in an attractive manner. One’s sins and fears need not take on a gruesome, ghoulish appearance. With all of one’s inner thoughts mingling to form a dream, it should be expected for one’s pleasures to mix with one’s pains, blending into a subconscious masochistic cocktail.

This is why Umineko has a host of cute girls taking on the names of the demons associated with the seven deadly sins. If your subconscious is going to conjure images of temptation, it may as well make the fall all the more pleasant. One’s guilt is not the only emotion at play, so that guilt will congeal with sexual desires and aesthetic preferences. Naturally, not everyone is going to find the particular images conjured in Umineko to be attractive, but it’s easy to imagine the minds behind this hellish fever dream finding them attractive. especially since they conform to many harem and moe girl tropes. If an anime fan were to writhe in a nightmarish torpor, he would dream of school girls in short skirts named after the everything that’s wrong with life.

The final movie in the Sisters Trilogy, Mother of Tears, hits upon the same lustful aesthetics. Instead of a harem of doe-eyed high school girls, the movie conjures a coven of witches who seem to be a combination of high-class call girl and the Bratz toy line. All glitzy and glamorous and glittery and oh so modern. Mother of Tears touches upon a completely different fetish, but it is an equally valid and understandable fetish. These are the girls one would see at a trendy club, basking in their hedonism and refusing to talk to the average male clubber. They’re another subconscious ideal that raises its head in the midst of one’s torturous dreams.

Essentially, if a man must fall into the pits of hell, he’d prefer to fall in the arms of a murderously beautiful woman. And said man’s dreams will grant him that wish. It may see misogynist to some, but in some perverse way it could be seen as a pinnacle of adoration.

Then again, such idol worship brings about the same issues as the opposite extreme, but that’s the danger of being in a hopeless scenario such as Umineko. Try as you might, there’s a prescribed, preordained outcome, and there’s little you can do to keep that outcome from transpiring.

And that’s, essentially, what this series and these movies are about: Your actions are largely meaningless, even when you believe yourself to be within your own mind. We’re all slaves to chance.

Or it could be about how awesome it is to have cute, evil girls in short skirts. Either way.

Un meurtrier masqué s’avance dans la pénombre. Gros plan sur sa main gantée de noir et sur son arme qui brille dans la nuit… Horreur !!! L’assassin se rue sur sa victime et la poignarde avec sauvagerie ! Les cinéphiles avertis auront reconnu le “giallo”, film de genre italien des années 70’s popularisé par Dario Argento. Leur succès, les “giallo” le doivent autant à leurs scènes de meurtres particulièrement sanglantes qu’à leur musique au carrefour du polar, du film d’horreur et du film érotique. Une musique qui a ses irréductibles comme The Unknown Project à Perpignan. A quelques jours d’Halloween, et avant la sortie de leur premier album “Original Soundtrack”, le groupe masqué a pris possession de nos âmes…

Reportage : François, Maël

http://www.myspace.com/theunknownproject66
http://www.myspace.com/baloard

Determinismo o no, fue estar hablando de ella y a continuación encontrársela paseando por el Retiro como cualquier ciudadana...

Una de las primeras travesuras del Duende adolescente era rebautizar a la gente con el nombre que, según él, pedía su cara. A algunas cosas y personas les cuadra más una palabra o un nombre que otro, e incluso que el que les impusieron. El acomodador del cine Colón tenía cara de llamarse Trifón, la pipera del Teatro Beatriz, Alfonsa, y un portero de balonmano de su cole –bastante mayor que él, por cierto- pedía el nombre de Arrosio. Y con Arrosio quedó en su registro particular aunque luego se apellidase Seseña.

El colegio quedaba ya muy atrás, y nunca más supo el Duende de este último hasta que un día de 1973 se metió en el cine y vio un entretenido thriller de Darío Argento titulado Cuatro moscas sobre un terciopelo gris. En esta película italiana aparecía un detective llamado precisamente Arrosio. En la misma butaca del cine, y antes de que, desgraciadamente, lo liquidara el asesino, el Duende se preguntaba: ¿y qué habrá sido de mi Arrosio del cole que nunca más he vuelto a ver? De momento, estaba vivo. Y nada más salir del cine, confundido entre el gentío de la calle Fuencarral, el Duende lo vio paseando tan campante. Allí acudía a su cita con el destino o con la casualidad el amigo Seseña, alias Arrosio. No sabe el Duende cómo le llamarían a este fenómeno los parapsicólogos. Premonición, determinismo, vaya usted a saber. Pero el fenómeno existe, vaya si existe.

El viernes en la COPE, Curro Meloso recitaba una Oda en defensa de Elena Salgado. Curro Meloso, como casi todas las caricaturas duenderas, es un poeta fracasado, Cordobés antiguo de traje negro a rayas, sombrero y patillones, quiso escribir el Romancero Gitano y el Poema del Cante Jondo antes de descubrir que, para su desgracia, se le había adelantado Federico García Lorca. A partir de entonces probó toda suerte de musas,  y concurrió de su mano a numerosos concursos, certámenes de poesía y juegos florales sin que una sola flor o un miserable accesit reconociera sus méritos. Harto ya de ninguneos, y consciente de que todos los poemas que había deseado escribir estaban mejor escritos por otros, se inspiró en lo único que podía ser original: la defensa de los políticos. Así es como cada viernes Curro Meloso elige un político en la picota y le dedica una oda, y así fue cómo la semana de pasión de la Vicepresidenta Económica se alivió con la oda que le dedicó Meloso.

El mismo viernes volvió a salir el nombre de la Vicepresidenta en un almuerzo entre amigos, algunos de los cuales la conocían. Se habló de su papelón, de su competencia/incompetencia, de la imagen que proyecta y de su carácter. Casi todos los comensales coincidían en que es de ese tipo de personas valiosas que, quizás por su timidez,  confunden simpatía con vulgaridad. El propio Duende aportó sus impresiones, que venían de sus tiempos en la cadena SER. Allí aparecía cualquier alto cargo del gobierno del PSOE para ser entrevistado, y  al verte sentado en la misma mesa que Iñaki Gabilondo te imaginaba de los suyos. La hoy Vicepresidenta fue sin embargo siempre comedida en su cordialidad. Correcta, pero fría y distante, como si su imagen de ejecutiva solvente le impidiera sonreir y demostrar su sentido del humor. Elena Salgado, tan lejos en el album de sus recuerdos, y tan presente estos días en la vida de todos los españoles.

Los caprichos del destino. Al día siguiente, sábado luminoso, el Duende se dio de bruces con ella mientras corría por el Retiro.  Ya es difícil para cualquiera identificar a los conocidos muy superficialmente cuando te los encuentras fuera del lugar donde los has visto siempre. No digamos nada si se trata de una personalidad pública que los cuenta por millares y que no se caracteriza precisamente por su efusividad. Sin embargo, en honor a la verdad, el Duende debe confesar que Elena Salgado en atuendo deportivo se acercó a él, se detuvo, le plantó dos besos y le preguntó qué tal estaba antes de continuar su saludable paseo por el precioso parque madrileño.

Al Duende, naturalmente, le temblaban las piernas. No es que la rubia le impresionara tanto como su admirada Naomi Watts, ni que temiera que la Vicepresidenta hubiera escuchado en la radio la sospechosa oda que le tributó Curro Meloso. Es que simplemente constataba que hay que tener ojo con las premoniciones, porque a veces las carga el diablo.

Skilled photographer, videographer, performer and friend, Peter Diablow is an important part of Domina Productions and if you’ve seen the photography for our first 5 digital releases, you’ll understand why. I’ve asked Peter some questions, and he’s answered them, so here they are:

Ayden: How did you first get into photographing in the fetish scene?

Peter Diablow: When I started as a digital photographer about 7 years ago, I was in college in America and I mainly shot gothic girls. Through the goth scene in Boston (US) and the Manray club, I was introduced to fetish as they had fetish nights every once in awhile. Whilst in Boston in 2003, I got a chance to shoot Dita von Teese, but it wasn’t until I moved to New York in 2005 that I really started to shoot fetish girls and attend fetish parties. I was a house photographer there at the infamous Pandora’s Box, the biggest dungeon in NYC for about a year. When I returned to Amsterdam in 2007, after 5 years in the US, my reputation had preceded me and I was able to infiltrate the Dutch scene.

What impression did you get of the burlesque/fetish icon, Dita von Teese?

We just hit off. She’s a wonderfull person to work with, very professional and I don’t think she can ever look bad in pictures.

You are a resident at most of the fetish parties in Amsterdam, which do you favor and why?

Every party has it’s charm. Right now, it’s Boudoir Bizarre. They have the best audience in my opinion, as well as top acts which also take part in the annual B.I.T.C.H. festival. I also like the CLINIC party since they put the most effort into making their parties perfect for both the performers and the crowd…a great party to get properly introduced to the fetish crowd.

As a Domina Productions photographer you are helping to educate the electronic scene with the fetish aesthetic…do you think it is a worthwhile effort?

The aesthetic is the most important thing. The fetish scene is usually limited to commerical and hard house for half of its crowd and industrial goth music for the other. I don’t see why someone who likes other types of electronic music can’t enjoy their music at a fetish party. The stereotype sound currently associated with fetish parties results in people becoming submissive to the trend.  If they won’t go fetish, we can bring fetish to them.

For other photographers out there that want to be part of the Domina Productions crew, what advice do you have regarding taking fetish photography?

I think everyone should just let their own vision reign. In the fetish world, being unique really counts… but tits/ass shots work well too as long as it has class and style.

Which photographers do you respect the most and why?

I prefer film and music directors such as Dario Argento, Shinya Tsukamoto and Floria Sigismondi (who is also a photographer). Film lighting is so much more vivid then photography lighting. There are of course some photographers that I admire. Natasha Epperson and Blueblood.net inspired me towards digital photography as well as the early work of Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf which I find to be truely amazing.

You’ve put together the now infamous Blood Squad. Who are its members and what are some of the highlights of your performances so far?

The Bloodsquad was put together by Dutch fetish model Amarantha La Blanche and myself in 2007. Along with my girlfriend Mari Kitten and Manyu, we crashed parties and painted them red with fake blood. We loved being the crazy bloodspitting weirdo’s. We referred to ourselves as being “snood”, which became the squad’s motto “Snood to the Dood”, roughly translated: “Vile ’till the death”. In late 2008, we decided to put our talent to good use. The girls are great dancers and have a sick fetish for blood and gore so we combined the elements of horror and fetish and began doing our own shows. Since then we have performed at the top fetish parties in Holland (along with our special guest member Miss Suzn), as well as collaborative performances with international industrial bands and walkaround acts for commercial companies such as CCP/White Wolf Computer Games. You can check out our website at www.official-bloodsquad.com

What are your near future upcoming events/plans/projects?

I have a lot up my sleave. I’m constantly creating photographs (of horrific & fetish nature), setting up exhibits for 2010 and performing as an actor on stage with the bloodsquad. I also shoot videos for projection at big fetish/kinky parties such as Wasteland and Crazyland. I’d like to do more film work  and make some short films, as well as movies for internet TV. I’m currently sponsored by a fetish party in Germany called Odi Et Amo, and I also produce music under my alias Joran van der Snood.

Final note for readers?

Ignorance and arrogance kill more cats than curiosity ever will.

Model credits in corresponding order: Xarah Von Den Vielenregen, MoniQue, Déna Massque, Mari Kitten & Miss Mirjana, Dita Von Teese.

To see more of Peter Diablow’s work you can visit his site at: www.darkmindedangels.com

]]> http://mechaguignol.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/onee-sama-of-tears-part-one/ Sun, 25 Oct 2009 05:30:13 +0000 Landon http://mechaguignol.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/onee-sama-of-tears-part-one/

Yeah, Umineko still doesn’t make sense. We went over this before. Beatrice and Battler meet-cute by means of murder re-enactments. A bit like having When Harry Met Sally take place in the latest Saw sequel in that it totally clashes with the nonsense going on in said murders.

When you get down to it, though, these nonsensical scenarios make perfect sense when you apply a healthy dose of dream logic to the situation

There’s a fine line between “dream logic” and “that shit don’t make no sense.” In all honesty, it’s probably up to individual interpretation. I can look at a story or a movie as being dream-like in its narrative, and someone else can look at it as a random series of events that make no narrative sense. I look at “dream logic” as a manner of storytelling that doesn’t follow any sort of conventional timing or geography, yet within its own confines he sequence of events “make sense” the way such events would make sense while dreaming.

A perfect example is the movie from which the above scene comes: Suspiria. If you watch this scene play out, it doesn’t really make much sense. One second the woman is screaming at her window, her assailant reaching out from the middle of the sky. When the camera cuts back to her, she’s on what seems to be a roof running along a chain link fence. When we cut back to her ultimate demise, she seems to be inside an attic in which there’s a completely unnecessary stained glass window. In addition, we have other inexplicable scenes. How does her roommate know that she’s being attacked so quickly. The only audible noise was the breaking glass and a scream. It took a leap of logic for her to assume that her friend was being attacked. Also, the manner by which the woman is murdered makes no real sense. Not only is she stabbed repeatedly, she’s stabbed directly in the heart. By all accounts she should be dead, but she’s still struggling. And despite being in complete control of this woman’s fate, the murderer insists on pushing the woman through the stained glass window and wrapping a noose around her neck. It is said hanging that ultimately kills the victim and not the repeated stab wounds or puncturing of the heart.

This sequence of events is as thoroughly implausible as the wire-fu in The Matrix or hot goddesses fawning over Keiichi in Ah! My Goddess. Yet the movie is shot in such a way that it expects us to take this at face value, much in the same way that our minds accept the disjointed events of our dreams. There’s no sense of irony or parody. All that’s left is to either laugh it off as inept filmmaking, or look at it from a different perspective. That’s what I think viewers need to do when watching Umineko, especially those of us unfamiliar with the game upon which it’s based.

Umineko only makes sense when viewed as an exercise in dream logic. How else are you going to make heads or tails out of a story where the still-living head of an annoying brat is served to its mother after said mother and child were implied to have been torn to shreds by a herd of goat-headed butlers?

One of the common themes I’ve found in stories where dream logic is prevalent is a sense of absurdity and hopelessness. What makes the events so horrific are the same reasons why many people find Lovecraft’s works frightening: there’s no sense to the events transpiring and there’s nothing we mere mortals can do about it. The murders in Suspiria, along with the murders in Umineko, fall along these lines. Most of the victims don’t deserve to die. They’re innocent of any crimes that would warrant a death sentence. Despite this innocence, these individuals are thrust into situations that are hellish in nature and completely inescapable. They may struggle valiantly to the end, but that end is inevitable, gruesome, and often times morbidly amusing. Being crushed to death after being killed and resurrected is torturous enough, but to have said crushing take the form of a massive strawberry cake terrifyingly absurd and funny.

Or it could just be stupid. Again, this stuff depends on the angle from which you’re looking.

More about this stuff later. For now, here’s some more absurd death scenes, this one from the sequel to Suspiria: Inferno.

Chi è davvero Asia Argento? Oggetto del desiderio, personaggio borderline, figlia d’arte, musa, madre, attrice, regista. Cattiva, lunatica. O dolce? È un difetto tipico di noi giornalisti quello di definire, incasellare. Quindi questa volta non commetteremo l’errore. Anche perché, lo dice lei, “dentro di noi ci sono cento personaggi”. In cerca d’autore probabilmente. E gli autori hanno dimostrato di apprezzare molto tutti i personaggi che vivono dentro Asia. Lo ha ricordato proprio Mario Sesti introducendo Asia Argento ieri a un affollato incontro con il pubblico al Festival di Roma: Sofia Coppola, Abel Ferrara, Cristina Comencini, Nanni Moretti, Gus Van Sant, e ovviamente il padre Dario Argento sono alcuni dei grandi autori che l’hanno voluta nei suoi film. Olivier Assayas l’ha definita la più grande attrice con cui abbia lavorato. È anche regista, e qui a Roma ha presentato un suo corto che fa parte del progetto Onedreamrush, in cui 42 registi in 42 secondi sviluppano il tema del sogno. Il suo corto, S/He, mostra un gruppo di transessuali che festeggiano in allegria, ed è girato con una pellicola sgranata, colori accesi e un suono disturbante a fare da sottofondo.

Si definisce timida, Asia, e probabilmente lo è. Lunghi capelli neri con boccoli, pantaloni e camicetta nera molto sobri, Asia Argento ci è sembrata soprattutto simpatica, di una simpatia coinvolgente. Una di quelle persone con cui sarebbe divertente andare a bere una birra. Che sia timida lo si capisce dalla sua riposta alla prima domanda. Che cos’ha di speciale per affascinare tanti autori? “Non mi piaccio un granché, e non so cosa piaccia di me a tutti questi autori che mi scelgono” risponde. “Quando troverò la risposta alla domanda probabilmente la mia carriera sarà alla fine”. La risposta potrebbe essere in quel suo lato selvaggio. “Mi piace ‘selvaggio’” risponde ridendo Asia Argento. “È molto meglio che ‘bad girl’ o ‘dark lady’. È qualcosa che mi riporta alla giovinezza sfrenata: è stato un periodo selvaggio in cui ho imparato il cinema facendo il cinema. Durante l’adolescenza, mi sono cercata facendo i film, e non sempre è stato un percorso facile”.

L’incontro con l’attrice romana diventa così proprio un percorso lungo la sua carriera, a partire dagli inizi. “Il primo incontro importante della mia carriera è stato quello con Cristina Comencini, con cui ho girato il mio primo film (Zoo, ndr): avevo undici anni” ricorda Asia. “Mi ha insegnato a dimenticare la sceneggiatura, e a lavorare in gruppo”. “Poi a sedici anni con Michele Placido (Le amiche del cuore, ndr) ho capito che questo poteva essere il mio lavoro” continua. “A sedici anni, con Le amiche del cuore, andai per la prima volta a Cannes. Mi ricordo che andai a comprarmi un vestito a Via del Corso, un vestitino tipo principessa, una schifezza di nylon”. “Nella vita mi sono divertita a recitare in ruoli strani, malati, al limite, personaggi che non ero io. Abbiamo centinaia di personaggi dentro di noi, sta al regista tirarli fuori”. Non era cattiva, Asia. Era che la disegnavano così. Anzi, si disegnava così. “A venti anni non volevo interpretare la brava ragazza borghese” ci svela. “Sono timida, esco poco di casa, e quando esco lo faccio per fare i film.  E quindi voglio fare qualcosa di divertente. Ho scelto questi ruoli ‘selvaggi’, ‘borderline’, perché mi divertivano”. Tra gli autori dei suoi inizi c’è stato anche Nanni Moretti, che l’ha diretta in Palombella Rossa. “Moretti mi faceva ripetere le scene ottanta volte, e le faceva ripetere anche a se stesso” ricorda divertita. “Cercava la perfezione, che non è possibile. Ma è giusto per un attore avvicinarsi ai desideri del regista”.

Lo sa bene, Asia, perché è regista anche lei: uno sbocco naturale per chi è figlia e nipote d’arte, e ha sempre respirato cinema, divertendosi. “Nel cinema ci sono nata, mio nonno distribuiva film in Brasile, mia mamma e mia sorella sono attrici, e poi c’è papà Dario” racconta. “Da piccola guardavo tutti i film, ero ossessionata: mi piacevano i film di mio padre, e gli horror in genere, perché erano proibiti. Li guardavo nei Betamax, quel formato in cui i film non stavano tutti, e si fermavano prima della fine”. Ma non è stato tanto scontato per lei lavorare con il padre. Anzi, è stata una sorpresa. “Ero sul set di Placido, e sognavo di fare un film con mio padre” ci svela Asia. “Fino a quel momento mi aveva solo fatto doppiare il mostro di Phenomena… Venne sul set, e disse: lei farà il mio prossimo film, lo sto scrivendo per lei”. “Trauma è stato un trauma” racconta tra il divertito e l’imbarazzato. “Era la prima volta che dovevo spogliarmi, ed era proprio davanti a papà…”

“Quando dicevo che volevo fare l’attrice, mi dicevano che avrei dovuto fare la regista, perché gli attori erano persone tremende. Così ho cercato di fare l’attrice senza essere tremenda” svela. E così l’esordio alla regia, con Scarlett Diva, è stato un passaggio naturale. “A un certo punto mi è venuta in mente una storia, ho sentito che dovevo farla.

Avevo ventitre anni, ed era diventata una questione di vita o di morte. Scarlett Diva è un film imperfetto, ma credo che la sua forza siano gli errori. Non riesco a guardarlo perché è come leggere un diario dell’adolescenza. È stato il primo film girato in digitale in Italia. Dentro c’era una rabbia che si liberava. E c’era anche dell’umorismo, che non è stato capito”. Non è facile recitare e dirigere. “Bisogna essere come le mosche, guardarsi in giro a 360 gradi, vedere cosa fa l’elettricista, il direttore della fotografia. Bisogna farsi aiutare da tutti, senza farsi sovrastare. Francois Truffaut diceva che il regista è uno che deve saper dare delle risposte. E le devi dare in fretta”. “Il regista è uno scrittore, se firma le sue sceneggiature, è musicista. Il regista è prigioniero delle proprie ossessioni, è un ossessivo-compulsivo”, confessa Asia.

Una regista come lei, coraggiosa, anticonformista, sarebbe un toccasana per il cinema italiano, che pecca proprio di coraggio e imprevedibilità. Ma quello di Asia Argento con il cinema italiano è un rapporto che sembra essersi interrotto, dopo la prima parte della sua carriera. “In Italia mi sento più a casa” si confida. “I miei mostri sacri sono gli ‘ini”: Rossellini, Fellini, Pasolini. In Italia il set è più caloroso, umano, familiare, c’è la sarta che ti fa l’amatriciana. In Francia il cinema è più snob. In America è una vera industria. Poi c’è chi, come Gus Van Sant, lavora in maniera artigianale: una volta sul set voleva fare una carrellata lunghissima, ma non gli bastavano i binari. Così ci siamo messi a spostarli noi, man mano che il carrello si muoveva. Nei film americani in genere non puoi aiutare un elettricista, rischi che ti accusino di fargli perdere il lavoro”. Ma l’America la diverte comunque. “Girare in America è divertentissimo, è come stare al Luna Park: vestiti, macchine, morti, armi, uzi, spari. Hanno di tutto.” Ma non sarà che per il cinema italiano è un personaggio troppo ingombrante? “Non lo so. Forse non mi chiamano perché pensano che io viva ancora all’estero. O perché non ci sono i ruoli adatti. C’è una persona con cui vorrei lavorare: è Francesca D’Aloja: spero che Il sogno cattivo parta presto, e lo farò io. Non è un caso che lavorerò con una donna: facciamo gruppo. Come dicono in Freaks: l’accettiamo, una di noi!”

A proposito di cinema americano, Asia ricorda con piacere l’esperienza con Sofia Coppola per Marie Antoinette. “Sofia Coppola è il potere gentile” racconta con affetto. “Non ha bisogno di comandare, ma ha sempre in mano il set. È una che lascia andare, così ho improvvisato, e lei non ha tagliato molte cose che ero sicura avrebbe tagliato. Neanche il rutto, che è stato un gioco, e invece è rimasto in scena”. A proposito di donne, la Argento si toglie anche un sassolino dalle scarpe. “Perché per lo stesso mestiere un uomo viene pagato più di una donna? E perché su cento registi c’è solo una donna e gli altri sono uomini? In Italia volevo lavorare con delle donne, soprattutto nel reparto tecnico, ma non le trovavo. Ci sono delle brave montatrici, ma è perché stanno là, non hanno un ruolo di potere”. Ma proprio Asia Argento tornerà presto dietro la macchina da presa per firmare il suo terzo film. “Girerò Fucile da caccia, tratto dal romanzo del giapponese Inoue Yasushi. Senza disturbare Rashomon, è una storia  raccontata in tre modi diversi: ci sono tre lettere. È una storia attualissima, un triangolo amoroso”. A proposito di storie, ce n’è una che ronza nella testa di Asia Argento da quando aveva sedici anni. “Due fratelli vanno in guerra, esplode una bomba, e porta via a tutti e due la faccia” racconta sorridendo. “La moglie di uno dei due li porta entrambi a casa per capire chi è il marito. Un giorno la girerò, e sarà il mio Elephant Man”.

È una donna che sogna, Asia Argento. Il suo sogno ricorrente era quello di nuotare nell’aria. È una donna che crea sogni, perché il cinema in fondo è questo. Ma qual è il suo sogno di attrice? Sogna un ruolo in particolare? “Non ho mai sognato Lady Macbeth, né la Pulzella d’Orleans” confessa candida. “Mi fanno un po’ ridere le cose che dicono gli attori per nobilitarsi. Io cerco di tenere a bada l’egocentrismo di noi attori. Non dico mai: questo lo potrei fare meglio. Dico: ammazza che brava sta attrice! Come quando vedo Bette Davis. Ecco, forse quello di Che fine ha fatto Baby Jane è un ruolo che farei. Un bel ruolo selvaggio”. 

Siggi Eggertson’s Growing Pile of Work:

Shit’s Sig Widdit….

via

Came across Dario Argento’s work while doing some research…definitely interested in seeing some of these, my man is killin‘ it…

site dedicated to Argeto’s work here.

France Gall – Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son

I don’t speak French but I’m assuming this isn’t about poopoo son..

peaaaace….

Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977)

Hello all.

A few weeks ago, I requested that a few close friends give me a short list of “must-sees” (in terms of horror) and Suspiria was the only film that was showed up on all of the lists. I have some exposure to Argento, having seen Inferno and Deep Red in a classroom setting. This film was nothing short of brilliant. If you haven’t seen the film, then I urge you to give it a chance prior to reading this post but if you have, then please continue reading.

The most obvious and one of the most astonishing features of the film is its score. A little bit shocking at first and even becomes overbearing at times. Sure it keeps your attention, but more importantly, it calls attention to the fact that it is a horror film. So in ways, the score is self-reflexive. Even if you don’t look at it this way it is still extremely creepy and fitting for the film. Sound is important in other ways as well; at times dialogue is drowned out by background noises.

I would also like to emphasize the brilliant structure of the film’s plot. The film is bookended with gruesome murders/deaths. Within the first ten minutes, we witness a brutal and shocking murder of a beautiful woman. Now that Argento has the audience’s attention and heart-rate up, he calms everything down for a good twenty-five minutes or so. Even after this point, when people begin to disappear and there are more murders, they are far less graphic and I would say even less exciting. That is, until the end of the film, in which the audience gets yet another brutal murder sequence.

For readers of this site, what film of Argento’s should I check out next? The three I have seen have been absolutely fantastic and would like to keep working through his filmography. Thank you for reading!