Rupert Galvin (Philip Glenister, front) leads the fight against the forces of darkness in Demons. His team includes (L-R) Ruby (Holiday Grainger), Luke Rutherford (Christian Cooke) and Mina Harker (Zoe Trapper). Photo copyright of ITV

THE battle against the dark underworld of half-lives, monsters and inhumans lies deep beneath the streets of modern-day London in the U.S. premiere of Demons. This contemporary spin on the character of Van Helsing features Luke Rutherford (Christian Cooke) as an average teenager, but with the arrival of his dead father’s best friend Rupert Galvin (Philip Glenister, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes), Luke’s life is about to be flipped upside down. Galvin is a straight-talking, headstrong American who has come to tell Luke his secret destiny – he’s the real-life great-great grandson of Abraham Van Helsing, the vampire hunter in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Luke’s destined to inherit the family mantle as a warrior in the coldest of wars against the supernatural entities behind every myth and legend from vampires to werewolves and all things that go bump in the night. Demons premieres Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST on BBC America. 

Christian Cooke as our young hero, Luke Rutherford. Photo copyright of ITV

Just another day (or night) on the job for Luke and company. Photo copyright of ITV

Richard Wilson as Father Simeon. Photo copyright of ITV

As noted above, all photos copyright of ITV, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

The Courtyard before a performance of Twelfth Night. 'For the rain it raineth everyday'.

Outside in the town of Stratford it was raining every day.  Inside, the Courtyard Theatre, there is a promise of sunshine as the sun streams through the doors and windows across a dimmed stage and auditorium.  The play will commence in the dusky light of the moment when the day begins to turn to night and will oscillate through dark and light.   The  audience will be taken through moods of light and shade. 

When we enter the auditorium we are faced with  golden colours - reds, oranges and browns which are contrasted with the beautiful pastel yellow, peach and pink roses in  colours.  High above the worn wall, the blue sky has a splattering of clouds.  Two columns rise at the side of the stage, one broken and another an ionic column.  Slightly menacingly, there is a window high up is grilled as if we might be looking up at a prison window.  This is somewhere exotic, somewhere that is strating to crumble.  Possibly Turkey say some of the reviews.

Musicians come onto the stage for the pre-show and play enchanting music, and strangely, a wave breaks at the back of the stage and we know we are in Illyria.  Between the moments when we visit Orsino’s court for the first time and meet the shipwrecked Viola,  a dumb show is performed as Olivia, Maria, Malvolio and the priest, dressed in black, walk silently across the stage making us realise that death is a visitor in this play as well as the humour and the courtship games.

Greg Doran’s latest RSC production is a strong vibrant interpretation of the text.  Miltos Yerolemou is a marvellous Feste able to move between the two houses and making his living as a ‘corrupter of words’, and this is why he is so hurt, and so desperately pained by Malvolio’s ’barren rascal’ comment and so shocked clearly put down.  Yerolemou is able to perform one of the most engaging pre shows I’ve seen as the audience return from the interval.  In getting the whole house clapping he lifts the mood and we  move straight into the sparring between the Fool and Viola.   There is another wonderful moment when Feste is able to dim the house lights with a click of his fingers.  In this scene outside the church, we are reminded that both Feste and Viola are both not what they seem and are able to interact with the audience in this way, as if we are now implicated in their different disguises.

Richard McCabe was a totally inebriated Sir Toby Belch, and his only real sober moment is the realisation that the trick on Malvolio has gone too far.  I felt that I became more unsympathetic to him as the play developed, especially as the maliciousness of the character, as well as the comedy, came over in McCabe’s performance.  Sir Toby was very clear to show his dislike of Sir Andrew and this was evident from their entrance, as he pulled faces and gestured behind Sir Andrew’s back.  Even, Maria can’t be in his company at the end of the play.   James Fleet was very funny as Sir Andrew. He was both pompous and sad at the same time, and unaware of his own self mockery.  He is pompous because he happily joined in with the disruption and sad because he was being gulled by Sir Toby and we knew he would never marry Olivia.  The drinking scene is set in a laundry so the three men (Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Feste) manage to find many things to make a noise with.  The overhearing scene is also painfully funny and the box tree, like a balloon basket, is just wonderful.

The two leading women were just superb.  Nancy Carroll was an articulate intelligent Cesario.  She doesn’t overdo the masculinity, but the men who wait on Orsino are clearly jealous of her Cesario.  Alexandra Gilbreath played the comedy in Olivia’s role beautifully.  At one point Olivia was able to shriek at Sir Toby while at the same time turning back to woo Cesario, and we are now watching a woman no longer grieving for her brother, but now sexually aware and in love.  Pamela Nomvete as Maria was also really good managing to get such a lovely balance between the light and dark moments she is involved in.

Richard Wilson was just how I thought he would be as Malvolio. He was really dry and he was funny.  I felt that this was a Malvolio who made me feel ill at ease.  When he wore his  yellow stockings, I felt embarrassed and uncomfortable.   Not because Richard Wilson didn’t portray this well, but I felt that this was one of his strength of his performance that the moments of silence and his physical presence were directed in such a way that they had an impact.  In the Sir Topaz scene he comes up through the trap, beautifully and ironically mirroring the moment that he enters Olivia’s laundry to put an end to the drinking scene.  As he was humiliated  by Sir Toby and co,  I felt the taunting of Malvolio made me uncomfortable as it is supposed to do, but I think this was particularly relevent due to Wilson’s performance. 

As soon as Orsino and Olivia meet they are battling with one and another and at one point, Orsino grabs a knife and threatens to kill Olivia.  This is not a funny moment, but one that is intended to make us realise that these two have never met and that all Orsino’s love was really being in the love with the idea of being in love.  His anger in his meeting with Olivia is actually shocking and unnerving

As it started, the play closes asking us consider the light and dark moments at the end of the play.  Why can Orsino can fall in love so easily with Cesario and mistakes Sebastian for her at the end of the play? The fool is locked out of the house, mirroring the moment Autolycus is locked out of this year’s RSC The Winter’s Tale.  He sings about the rain and I am thinking whether it is still raining outside.  The ones who lose in this play walk across the play.  Air Andrew has packed his bags.  Sir Toby and Maria have fallen out and we feel their’s will be a loveless marriage. Malvolio, mirroring the dumb show at the start, walks slowly across the stage, but this time he is alone, and as he leaves he turns to look at Feste.  It’s a poignant moment and ends the play really well.

The lights dim and yes it is pouring with rain outside the theatre.

Reviews and Previews

Peter Kirwin’s blog on RSC’s Twelfth Night

Well this week I’ve been treated to 2 different episodes of Merlin. 1 was the short clip that was produced for Children in need and the other was the proper episode.

The CIN episode was rather funny. Merlin and Gaius eating microwave ready meals, Morgana using products on her hair to keep it glossy and Gwen using the hairdryer (whilst in typical hairdresser style asking where she was going on her holiday this year. apparently a valid question since she was completely missing from the proper episode!), Arthur was tucked into bed (shirtless of course – yay!) with a pudsy bear and Uther was using his iphone. Great taste in phones Uther We even got Gaius saying “I don’t believe it” at the end which was Richard Wilson’s old catchphrase from his Victor Meldrew days. Yay!

For everyone's enjoyment

Now for this week’s episode.
I wasn’t too certain what to expect from the episode today. I certainly wasn’t expecting as much Arthur in it as there was. Form the title I’d deduced that our guest of the week (Freya the druid) would turn out to be the lady of the lake from legend and that she’d probably end up dead by the end of the episode. All the talk of them running away together obviously wasn’t going to happen.
The episode was rather focused on Merlin, Freya, Arthur and Gaius this week. King Uther was barely in it (except to declare as usual that Magic is evil and that all bad things that happen in Camelot are down to magic), Gwen put in a brief appearance just as Merlin was stealing one of Morgana’s dresses which lead to a funny conversation about moths taking over the castle) but poor Morgana was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was on holiday somewhere nice?
Basic plot of the episode was that Merlin spots the druid girl in a cage being held by a bounty hunter and resues her. He then keeps her under the castle and steals food for her from Arthur. Merlin falls in love with Freya and they decide to run away together (although in all fairness he decides and she decides to run away from Merlin). Whilst all this is happening a beat (or something magical for Uther’s sake) is busy killing people in the lower town. Gaius puts 2 and 2 together to deduce that Freya is actually cursed and is killing people at night. Oops. Merlin then discovers she run away and sulks for a bit.
We then get warning bells and find Arthur and his band of men in red all chasing after poor Freya as she runs through the town to escape. Unfortantly it’s midnight and she turns into a giant winged cat and attacks them. Bit of a fight and our bounty hunter is killed. Freya the cat is then cornered by Arthur and his gang and he managed to stab her. It’s OK because Merlin has arrived and makes a statue almost fall on Arthur (has he forgotten who he’s meant to be looking after?) and Freya the cat escapes back to under the castle.
Merlin finds her bleeding to death (and without her clothes – how did she keep them every other time she changed and not this one?) and he sweetly stays with her as she dies. He carries her body to the lake (yes, same lake as always) and pops it into a boat that magically appears then floats her off into the lake where he magically sets fire to her body. Back in the castle Gaius is relieved to see Merlin is back and safe and then we see a sad Merlin cleaning Arthur’s boots. Even Arthur has noticed Merlin is sad but thinks it’s because he threw a bucket of water over him. Luckily a quick chat with Arthur and Merlin’s looking happier again. Phew!
The Merlin and Arthur scenes this week were cute. Merlin takes Arthur’s food for Freya and tells Arthur he’s feeding him less because he’s fat. He even magics away a chicken leg and 3 sausages when Arthur is sat in front of them. Dunno how he missed that one. Arthur defends Merlin when the bounty hunter is interrogating him about Freya which is kinda cute, especially when he notices his missing sausages!
The two best Merlin and Arthur scenes and when Merlin is running Arthur a bath and boils the water which poor Arthur then steps into and burns himself. To get revenge Arthur throws cold water over Merlin (Arthur in just a towel – yay!). The other good scene was when Arthur spots Merlin walking around the castle with a dress and tells him he doesn’t mind what he gets up to in his own time so long as he does a good days work. Very funny!
Next week reminds me of a previous episode. Poor Arthur is enchanted again and falls in love with a princess (now this series we’ve already had an enchanted Uther and last series we had enchanted Arthur…). Yet again poor Merlin will have to save the day. It looks quite good though.

Read my review of Gregory Doran’s new RSC production of Twelfth Night – starring Richard Wilson – over at Helium…

Having just moved Miching Malicho over here to Between the Acts, I have been a little bit more interested in what other Theatre/Culture blogs look like this week.  In reading through some blogs I came across  Cultural Tales of Two Cities.  I really like the way that the blog focuses on the two cities of Manchester and London, though there is a review of the RSC Twelfth Night there so clearly towns and cities between Manchester and London count.  There was a very interesting comment on the casting of Richard Wilson as Malvolio in the RSC’s Twelfth Night  on the blog this week.  The blog notes that this production was

A play of two halves really for the RSC’s latest Stratford offering. This production of ‘Twelfth Night’ was apparently delayed until Richard Wilson was available to play Malvolio. I am just not sure that someone who is so known for one character can credibly play another. At times it felt like the audience was waiting for him to announce ‘I don’t believe it’… (Cultural Tales of Two Cities accessed 8th November 2009)

 I always think that Peter Kirwin’s Bardathon is so informative, and  this week he was writing about the RSC’s Days of Significance and commenting on its relationship to Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.   I was interested to see that Blogging By Numbers was writing about Mother Courage and Their Children last week with a big But:

But – and this is one of those huge, clunking buts – I was never less than engaged. I loved the invention. I loved the humour. I loved the money I could see had been spent. I loved, loved Fiona Shaw as a Mother Courage that you were at once compelled and repulsed by. (Blogging By Number accessed 8th November 2009)

This still makes me feel I should have gone to see the whole thing after all after having the just the first half experience.

I’m writing about blogging at the moment, as well as blogging about blogging, which feels a little indulgent.  I am interested in the idea that Web 2.0 opens up the web for the audience to produce and to inform what is being written and produced.  The myriad of opinion out there is often engaging and interesting and we have the choice to read or not. 

As blogs appear and we all get a say, one blog that seems to have gone is Patricia 1957 Arts Diary.  I really enjoyed reading the posts on Patricia 1957 Arts Diary , but it looks like this has been deleted which is a shame.   My move from Miching Malicho to Between the Acts is about changing virtual personas.  However, the disappearance of  Patricia1957ArtsDiary shows that on the blogosphere we can have a voice and silence our own voices just as quickly. 

Inklet is concerned he will have nightmares after viewing Merlin, so instead of seeing it Saturday evenings, we snuggle in bed Sunday mornings with tea and biscuits and watch it in on i-player.

My teenage objects of desire keep turning up on the show, which makes for marvellous family entertainment as far as I’m concerned.

As a regular, we have Anthony Head as the idiot Uther Pendragon. Fool he may be, but the man is still yummy. I’ve always had a thing about his sexy mouth. Which is a shame, because it went to horrible places last week. Predictably, he ended up snogging Sarah Parish, but less predictably, she was in full stinky, green-breathed troll mode (her ‘beautiful damsel’ makeover had slipped thanks to Merlin’s meddling with her potion).

And what a great troll that woman made. The best proponent of method-acting farting I’ve ever seen. As is always the case in Merlin, all ended up well, tho’ Uther was a bit embarrassed when the enchantment that had been placed on him wore off and he realised what he’d been getting down and dirty with someone who chewed horse manure as a midnight snack. Not the kind of dirty he’d hoped for I imagine.

And to my pleasure, this week, on strode a delightfully butch and booted Charles Dance. Playing Aredian the Witchfinder, he has been invited by Uther to weasel out the source of the sorcery after, in a moment of boredom, Merlin had turned smoke from a fire into a rearing horse. Aredian is actually a nasty bit of work, a bounty hunter who uses trickery and torture to gain ‘confessions’.  He is but seconds away from having court physician, Gaius (Richard Wilson) burned at the stake before Merlin saves the day. Charles Dance spews a toad and then falls to his death out of a stained glass window.

This really is a show with its tongue in its cheek and an excellent twinkle in its eye.

Posted by Inkface

Richard Wilson architect’d this building with an oscillating façade in Liverpool city, England.  The building face actually rotates in 3 dimensions, resting on a giant rotator.  The facade acts like a big window, giving you glimpses of the interior throughout the day.  Tight.  Word to TodayAndTomorrow.

You better believe it, Richard Wilson is appearing onstage as Malvolio in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Twelfth Night. Wilson triumphs, despite being terrified at the age of 72 having never tackled Shakespeare before. Malvolio has attracted top actors like Patrick Stewart, Simon Russell Beale, and more recently Derek Jabobi; oddly for Wilson it is the tragedy of a duped Malvolio, who is left walking alone in the dark at the end onstage, that he is better at than the hilarity of the yellow stockinged one. There has never been a more sympathetic Malvolio.

As the opening lines representing excess, “if music be the food of love, play on” are spoken, director Gregory Doran takes us into an exotic world of violins, hookahs, fine mats, and silken cushions. The play tells the story of twins Viola and Sebastian who have been shipwrecked and lose each other, as Viola finds herself swept ashore and alone she disguises herself as a man and takes a job working for the Duke Orsino. What ensues is mourning, madness, and love triangles. 

Doran’s production is sensitive, perhaps from having been a twin himself, which makes moments like the twin’s eventual reunion incredibly touching. What the play gains in empathy it loses in comedy, and this is meant to be a Shakespearean Comedy. It does not have enough laughs or sex appeal like most Twelfth Nights, instead quick laughs come from having Sir Toby Belch break wind rather than from Shakespeare’s funny lines. 

It is refreshing to see an alternative Feste, this all-singing all-dancing Feste is playful making music from rubbish bin lids and spinning through clothing lines. He is Puck-like rather than elusive like Ben Kingsley’s famous portrayal in Trevor Nunn’s version that many Festes follow. Stand out performances come from Milton Yereolmeou’s Feste, Wilson’s perfectly cast Malvolio, and Alexandra Gilbreath’s Olivia. As Feste ends the play singing “we’ll strive to please you everyday” though, this production does just that, it pleases rather than impresses.

Runs till 21 November, and moves to the Duke of York’s Theatre from 19 December till 27 February 2010. 

To see or not to see: * * * 

Oh Nigel. Such an unsexy name for an adorable man. I fell in love with you after reading Toast. With perfect pitch, it captured so much about the memories and meaning of food and emotion, and what it means to be well fed (or not) when you’re a kid. You seem a lovely, modest individual and the warmth of your Northern accent is like the middle of the perfect chocolate fondant (and we all know how difficult it is to get that right, Pauseliveaction). You could almost be the love child of Alan Bennett and Richard Wilson.

I know you’re bound to be in a long term relationship with another lovely man, and I realise my genitalia are entirely wrongly formed for your preferences, but maybe the Slater household could benefit from having a pet Inkface to tend to? I’d not to be too much trouble, I  just need a little warm corner of your house to live in, a bowl of gorgeous home grown vegetable soup from time to time, a few bones from those perfectly formed sticky chicken thighs you were cooking on the telly the other day, and some crumbs from the meringue of your (naturally more egalitarian) version of Eton Mess. I’d wash up, honest.

Posted by Inkface

The Loved Ones (dir: Sean Byrne, 2009)

Los fines de semana durante el Festival de Sitges son muy intensos, sobre todo, por las noches, debido principalmente, a las maratones que se organizan. Para nuestra primera maratón conjunta teníamos un dilema, y es que la maratón Mondo Macabro nos tentaba. Por qué ¿? Muy fácil, proyectaban Mahakaal (The Monster) la versión Bollywood de Pesadilla en Elm Street… Uuuhmmmm! Nos tentaba mucho la idea de ver al Freddy Kruger hindú, pero finalmente, nos decidimos por un valor seguro, Midnight X-Treme, y no nos arrepentimos!

La maratón empezaba con The Loved Ones de la que no sabíamos nada, puesto que no hay ni siquiera tráiler, y por sorpresa nuestra, se convirtió en la mejor película de la noche, sin lugar a dudas. The Loved Ones (director y guión: Sean Byrne, 2009) es un film australiano que nos enseña que en un amor obsesivo no hay límites!

La peli empieza con un joven conductor y su padre yendo en coche, cuando de repente, en medio de la carretera aparece un ser ensangrentado y desorientado. Este inesperado elemento, les provocará un accidente, con la consecuente muerte del padre.
Pasado un tiempo, vemos el mismo joven, Brent (Xavier Samuel) todo demacrado y marginado, a lo Curt Kobain; hablando con un colega, Jaimie (Richard Wilson) sobre el baile de final de curso y chicas. Momento que descubrimos, la espectacular y buenorra de la película, Mia (Jess McNamee) cumpliendo con los estereotipos de gótica asocial y liberada. Mientras, Jaimie le pide a Mia paa ir al baile, aparece Lola (Robin McLeavy), una dulce y tierna fresita que le pide a Brent ir al baile con ella. Brent, un tanto sorprendido o asustado, no sé qué adjetivo describe mejor la situación, le dice a Lola que asistirá al baile con su novia, Holly. Evidentemente, Lola se lleva un chasco y una gran decepción…
Inmediatamente después vemos a Brent y a Holly (Victoria Thaine) echando un clavo en el coche, momento que Brent aprovecha para sobornar a Holly, con contarle el encontronazo con Lola. En el momento de éxtasis final, y estando todos los cristales empañados del coche, nuestra fogosa parejita, es sorprendida por nuestra despechada Lola, que les sorprenderá en pleno acto sexual.

Tras el polvo cochil, Holly se va a su casa, dejando a Brent en la suya. Allí, somos testimonios de lo mal que también lo está pasando la madre, tras la muerte de su marido, causando una discusión entre madre e hijo. Brent hecho una furia, se pira de casa, yéndose a escalar unas rocas, y así descargar toda su rabia e ira.
En la cima, aprovecha ese momento de calma y tranquilidad para encenderse un piti y escuchar un poco de música, y justo cuando su madre, le estaba llamando al móvil; quizás para avisarlo que regresara para prepararse para el baile, pam! Alguien golpea a Brent en la cabeza por detrás!

Después, la trama nos traslada en casa de Lola y vemos a su padre (John Brumpton) dándole un regalo, un vestido para asistir al baile. Lola no tiene ningún reparo en cambiarse delante del padre, pasándolo un poco mal, puesto que el hombre se ve que hace tiempo que no… La habitación y Lola en sí, son acojonantes, siendo la típica princesita, todo color de rosa!
Pero en vez de dirigir para el baile, vemos que la fiesta la tienen montada en casa! Es decir, su baile se localiza en su comedor. Descubrimos a Brent, vestido con smoking y atado a una silla; y a la Sra. Stone, bueno mejor dicho, lo que queda de ella, porque un agujero frontal, nos vislumbra, que le han practicado una trepanación craneal!
Todo el comedor está decorado de fiesta: globos, carteles, guirnaldas, etc! Padre e hija se aseguran que Brent no chille metiéndole una inyección de lejía en el cuello, y a partir de entonces, empieza el calvario del pobre Brent. La escena de la cena familiar, por así decirlo es patética, mostrando el vínculo obsesivo entre papi e hija (su princesa), y la pobre madre, que es un triste vegetal, una “viva” viviente!

La dulce y tierna Princesa - Lola Stone

Durante la cena, Brent está, está intentando liberarse de sus ataduras con una cuchilla-colgante, mientras que Lola le está metiendo el dedo en la boca (momento que el padre se levanta, todo preocupado porque su hija se está excitando demasiado). El pobre Brent arremete contra Lola y logra salir de la casa, pero padre e hija salen en su búsqueda. Lo acaban cogiendo de nuevo, ya que el desorientado Brent sólo es capaz de subirse a un árbol, mientras Lola le va metiendo pedradas (atención, al hostión que Brent se mete con el coche al caer del árbol!).

De vuelta a casa, el Sr. Stone se asegura que Brent no se marchará a ningún lado y lo clava en el suelo con dos cuchillos y un martillo (momento sádico a más no poder). Acto seguido veremos como Lola tiene unos orígenes, y le enseña a Brent, un álbum con unos dibujos, y fotografías de niños desaparecidos, todos ellos, con marcas en el pecho (escarificación), en forma de corazón y con las inciales, L S (Lola Stone). Por sorpresa de Brent descubre que el penúltimo chaval es el chico que les provocó el accidente de coche, y por doble sorpresa suya, él es el último que aparece en el álbum.
Evidentemente, él también será marcado por Lola, que cada vez lo hace mejor, y la parejita es declarada, rey y reina del baile. Por este motivo, Lola y Brent se ponen a bailar, pero como Brent no se puede mover mucho escogerá a su papi, viendo una vez más la relación ente ambos, una relación incestuosa y pecaminosa!
Como Lola admite finalmente, que el único príncipe azul que ella quiere es su papi, decide bajo la tutela y supervisión de su padre, acabar su curso de tortura y sadismo con Brent. Para ello, se prepara para realizarle una trepanación en el lóbulo frontal. Y qué mejor herramienta que una black&decker ¿? El primer intento les sale mal, pero el segundo el padre a petición de su princesita, le hace un agujero más grande, para meterle agua hirviendo por el cerebro al pobre Brent. Y de nuevo, el espíritu de supervivencia de nuestro joven arranca en furia berserker, auto-hiriendo al padre con la black&decker, mientras le ensancha el agujero, logrando quitarse las cuerdas y los cuchillos clavados de los pies. La tensión se desata cuando Brent y el padre se enzarzan en una lucha que acabará con la caída del padre en el sótano de la casa, ubicado justamente debajo del comedor, y del que aparecen una serie de criaturas o salvajes que viven en él (obviamente, son los niños que Lola ha ido secuestrando y torturando a lo largo de su niñez).
En una segunda pelea con Lola, Brent también acabará dentro del agujero, y aunque le meta un curripé a Lola, este juega con desventaja, por los maltratos recibidos. Lola se enfada y enfurece, causando que lo pague con su madre, que la pobrecilla muere ahogada con la almohada!

Paralelamente, el film nos muestra la asistencia de Jaimie y Mia al baile de final de curso, y al descubrimiento de la desaparición de Brent. Holly y la madre de Brent se encargan de avisar al padre de Mia que resulta ser policía, iniciando una búsqueda y que acabará encontrando el móvil de Brent, pero todo roto. Entretanto, Jaimie y Mia se lo pasan en grande bebiendo, fumando y finalmente, con sexo, el tan esperado momento por Jaimie.
Holly recordará que Lola Stone fue la chica que le dijo a Brent para ir juntos al baile, avisando al padre de Mia, mostrando algo que no sabíamos, el chico ensangrentado y vagabundo de la carretera era su hijo.
Cuando el poli llega a casa de los Stone, descubre que algo no va bien, y cuando entra en la casa, descubre a Brent en el agujero. Desafortunadamente, Lola golpea y mata al padre de Mia que también acabará cayendo. Lola llena de odio y rabia, le comunica a Brent que como él a matado a su padre, ella matará a su madre y como regalo, también se ocupará de Holly. A partir de ahí, asistiremos al desenlace de la película, que será capaz de mantener el nivel de violencia y sadismo hasta el último momento! Un Excelente! Sobre todo, las escenas finales.

La verdad es que The Loved Ones es genial, violenta, cruda, real, explícita, sádica, y que en todo momento, desató el júbilo de toda la sala. Constantemente fue aplaudida y alabada por todos nosotros, teniendo muy pocos fallos (quizás me sobre la historia de Jaimie y Mia, que no nos aporta nada), pero el resto, está excelentemente realizada.

Y ya sabéis chicos, a partir de ahora no os fiéis de las dulces y angelicales, princesas vestidas de tul y rosita, porque a veces, ocultan secretos… sádicos y crueles!

[Source: Janesa Hilliard, State Press Magazine] – When Andres Cano decided to attend the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism he knew he would be required to live on the Downtown Campus — a move he was excited about making.  “I didn’t fear living or being downtown because it’s such a lively atmosphere,” says Cano, a freshman from Tucson.  “Safety should not be a concern… I think a huge part is the amount of activity going on downtown because of sports and concerts.”

The shift in tone among the freshmen student body is one of anticipation rather than apprehension about what Downtown Phoenix has to offer.  The biggest obstacle the city faces in its second year of full-scale operation is promoting an urban atmosphere, not security concern, a feeling that resonates with both students and ASU Downtown Campus police.  The campus has many opportunities to advance the understanding of community – and safety by extension – as the student body increases, says Commander Richard Wilson of the ASU Police Department’s Downtown Bureau.

Non-profit leadership and management student Samuel Richard agrees.  Richard, a third-year student and downtown Phoenix native, says that downtown’s stigma of being a crime haven is the result of misguided perceptions that trace by to the 1980s.  “Downtown Phoenix is not a geography, it’s a lifestyle,” Richard says.  “Downtown is unpredictable, [the] opposite of a conformed, suburban lifestyle.  This is where it’s exciting.”

Still, Richard says getting the public to see this side of downtown is difficult. People may come downtown to watch a ballgame or check out First Friday, but they don’t stay down here or indulge in any of the businesses. Few people reside within the confines of downtown proper because of an unwariness of the area, due in large part to the homeless population.  [Note: Read the full article at Why downtown Phoenix ISN'T scary.]

I’ve had ravens on the brain of late. I’m pleased that my son has returned to watching Raven on CBBC, because there aren’t many children’s programmes where mothers can legitimately enjoy a man striding about dramatically in black leather spouting nonsense about ‘The Way of the Warrior’. Yes of course it’s overacting to an absurd degree, but somehow James Mackenzie manages to do it without looking like an arse. 

The second raven has come about via the welcome return of a new series of Merlin on BBC1 Saturday evenings. Both Harry Potter and Agatha Christie films feature a roll call of Great British Actors that frankly become intrusive and irritating. You can’t escape into a film where you’re star-spotting. But Merlin seems to feature some really good actors (Anthony Head as Uther Pendragon, Richard Wilson as Gaius and the voice of John Hurt as the Great Dragon) without making a fuss about it.

Mackenzie Crook was in episode one, playing a petty thief whose body gets taken over by the spirit of Cornelius Sigan. He is an evil sorcerer whose symbol is a raven. What it is about these birds?

I kept expecting Crook to take his eye out a la Pirates of the Caribbean, but other than that, he plays Evil incarnate blindingly well and facial hair rather suits him. I also like the fact that the main actors in Merlin (Colin Morgan as Merlin, Bradley James as Arthur, Angel Coulby as Guinevere) are young, unknown and rather cute.  But best of all, I like a Saturday evening programme that we all watch as a family, clutching cushions en masse to our faces during the scary bits.

Posted by Inkface

Poker Without Cards. A Consciousness Thriller.

I have made numerous attempts to write a review of Poker Without Cards and have come to the conclusion that it is a task much harder than I first anticipated. I will, however, make another attempt in the hope that this will do it justice as I feel that anyone who reads it will benefit greatly! But please don’t take my word for it!

A Joseph Matheny (Is he real?) has written the intro to Poker Without Cards and is of a different opinion to quote the final line of the introduction: “Since you have gotten this far I suppose you are going to read the transcript. Far be it from me to try and stop you.”

I failed to follow his advice and did read it. In fact, I have so far read it 4 times and always found it difficult to let go of it. Have I been infected?

The first time I read it I was somewhat bewildered and baffled at what this particular transcript was all about and yet I found it difficult not to carry on!

The format of Poker Without Cards is a transcript of the recording of a conversation beteween a Dr William Fink and a Howard Campbell, which takes place during 7 sessions in which Dr Fink is trying to understand what led his patient, Richard Wilson (Bucky) to be admitted to his mental hospital!

Well, that is the very basic of it and is really nothing more than the sceleton. It is the content of the conversation that takes you on what I can only describe as a “Mind Journey” and if you manage to read the whole book without giving in to the urge of googling certain stuff then you have done far better than me, who failed that part miserably. To take that a step further, I have compiled a reading list based on the stuff referenced in Poker Without Cards (Call me insane!)………..

Cartaz para a estréia francesa de "Al Capone"

“As pessoas não respeitam nada hoje em dia. Houve um tempo em que a virtude, a honra, a verdade e a lei eram colocadas em um pedestal. Nossos filhos eram educados para respeitar certas coisas” Al Capone para o Liberty em outubro de 1931.

O comentário acima não seria de modo algum estranho se saísse da boca de algum político ou jornalista conservador como Bill O’Reilly ou Sean Hannity, mas como provem de um dos ícones máximos do gangsterismo, é no mínimo irônico. E o midiático Al Capone foi a ironia em pessoa no seu tempo de vida. Ignorante e administrador visionário, fora-da-lei e defensor da honra, democrático e, ainda assim, pró-Mussolini. Mais que um homem, um personagem pronto para ser copiado.

E como foi copiado, desde “Scarface – The Shame of a Nation” (1932) por Howard Hawks até “Os Intocáveis”(1987) por Brian de Palma. Mas nem Paul Muni para os mais puristas – que de personagem o seu nem Capone da gema era, e sim Tony Camonte – nem Robert Niro para os meus contemporâneos, poderiam ser comparados com a célebre atuação de Rod Steiger em “Al Capone” (1959) de Richard Wilson.

Steiger fez justiça a chamada publicitária que lançou o filme naquele começo de outono: “His True Shocking Story…Filmed with Bullet Force!”. Pobre Fay Spain, com quem Steiger divide as cenas de maior intensidade emocional, é “apagada” com a brutalidade de uma semi-automática que dispara frases de duplo sentido e sorrisos vencedores. “Típico das raças latinas”, como diria o jornalista Cornelius Vanderbilt em sua famosa entrevista com o próprio César da Chicago de 1930.

Rod Steiger

Contudo, e apesar da romantização que se faz de uma figura tal como Al Capone, Steiger ressalta na sua interpretação que suas políticas de Wellfare – antes mesmo do New Deal de F.D.Roosevelt – como dar abrigo e sopa aos pobres, era apenas uma estratégia para fortalecê-lo perante os muitos inimigos e conquistar a simpatia da população bêbada de whisky contrabandeado do Canadá. Naquela época se podia dizer que nem o próprio presidente Hoover era mais popular que o homem da cicatriz.

Steiger é da categoria de um Marlon Brandon no poder de seu carisma e força no papel de Al Capone. Brutalizado pelo meio, engraçado e bonachão. Um gênio dos negócios que nasceu do lado errado dos trilhos, mas no momento certo.

It looks quite epic – not all of it is about the first episode. By all accounts this new season is quite good – the premier for episode 1 was this Friday, and it’s somewhat certain that Merlin will begin airing on BBC1 on the 19th of September.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

It’s been confirmed that:

- Someone magical and evil named Cedric will come and try to take Merlin’s place.
- Uther will get some action with a woman (actress Sarah Parish).
- The Love Dodecahedron begins to manifest. (IIRC: Morgana/Arthur, Gwen/Arthur, Gwen/Merlin, Gwen/Lancelot – Gwen gets around a lot, doesn’t she?)
- The dragon will be freed.
- Gwen will get kidnapped, both Arthur and Lancelot will try to rescue her, with expected results.
- Merlin becomes more powerful than before… yeah.
- Morgana continues ticking, in the manner of very beautiful time-bombs everywhere.

Christian Cooke as Luke Van Helsing

Geoff Shearer – CourierMail.com

YOU might not have heard the name, but rising UK actor Christian Cooke’s on-screen pedigree is impeccable.

In TV’s Demons he is the great-great-grandson of famed vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, while in cinemas next year he plays the son of English comedy royal Ricky Gervais.

The two widely different roles have one thing in common: they are making the brooding yet affable Cooke one serious name to watch.

When we chat to him it is the day after filming has wrapped on Cemetery Junction, Gervais’ new film set in the 1970s world of life insurance salesmen. He plays Freddie Taylor, son to Gervais’ character Len.

The film’s directors/writers Stephen Merchant and Gervais describe Cooke and fellow newcomer Tom Hughes as their “finds”.

“We wanted to do things like the films Rebel Without A Cause and Saturday Night Fever. Even though there were poverty and degradation, when you watched those movies you thought, ‘Wow! They’re cool’,” Gervais told The Sun in the UK.

He called Cooke Britain’s answer to John Travolta and Hughes the new James Dean.

Cooke, in return, is full of praise for Gervais and Merchant.

“They are just two very inspiring people because they know what they want; they’ve got a vision and they are very passionate about what they do,” he says from London during our phone link-up.

“Ricky’s great to work with. In my eyes, he’s a genius. So amazing at improvising and his acting is so natural, so instinctive, it just seems effortless.

Zoe Tapper as Mina Harker

“How he works is quite unique to himself. I don’t think I could ever be like that . . . he’s all about instinct, all about being naturalistic and just feeling his way through the words.

“Everything has to be very real to him. He has to say things that are real. He wrote the script but he wouldn’t be precious about the dialogue – he’d just say, ‘Okay that’s not coming out right, let’s change that or take that word out’. He’s just all about it being very natural.”

While it sounds like he’s learnt much from being on the Cemetery Junction set, Cooke believes the supernatural TV series Demons was his richest learning ground.

“It was really good for me; it was the first sort of lead role I’d played,” he says of the six-part series, which failed to be picked up for a second season.

“It was me on camera every day and nearly every scene. It was really intense.

“We shot for 74 days straight – intense and fun and I learnt loads, probably the most I’ve ever learnt on a job. It was very physical and energetic and we had some great actors in there as well.”

The co-stars included Philip Glenister (Life On Mars), Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Office) and Richard Wilson (One Foot In The Grave, Merlin).

“It’s great to work with people like that. They’ve been around for years,” Cooke says. “Richard was a massive theatre guy as well and it was great that the show attracted people like that. And there was Kevin McNally (Valkyrie, Pirates of the Caribbean) as well. I keep seeing him on stage in the West End. Hamlet recently, and Ivanov not so long ago.”

But Cooke is pretty much the star of Demons and steals most of the limelight in the first episode by walking around barechested. Cooke laughs richly then turns modest when we suggest – with apologies to Buffy fans – that he has won the label Buffed The Vampire Slayer.

“People seem to have picked up on that back in England as well,” he says.

“But it is just that first episode and, you know, I don’t know if it is a shame or a good thing that people pick up on that actually.

“If they don’t like the show they tend to use that (sexy side) against it; and if they do, then I guess that’s one of the things they like. So I don’t know.”

He laughs richly again.                                                                              

“It was in the script, what can I say!”

It did at least garner him some fan mail, but still not as much as what he received for his small, two-episode role on Doctor Who last year as Ross Jenkins.

“It’s kind of strange because in my eyes I was in it (Doctor Who) for so little time, but it just has such a wide fanbase,” he says.

“People love it and still go crazy for it and I still get fan mail.”

The mail is expected to flow again when Cemetery Junction hits UK cinemas in about April next year. Gervais and Merchant are also considering a spin-off TV series, but Cooke says it is unsure at this stage where that would fit in the timeline of the film’s story.

“None of us are contracted to do it,” he says of the Cemetery cast.

“They didn’t get it in the same contract, but the feeling is we all had such a great time working on it with Ricky and Stephen that we’d jump (at it). Definitely, if I’m around and available, I’d love to do it.”

But at the moment Cooke has a more pressing engagement . . . in central Africa.

Next month he will be cycling through Malawi on a charity ride in aid of the British Urological Foundation.

“I’m cycling about 60 miles a day for eight days,” he says. “My girlfriend’s dad runs the Prostate Centre on Wimpole St in London and he’s chairman of Prostate UK, which I think is the second largest prostate cancer charity in Britain.

“Every year they do events to raise money and so I just thought I’d get involved. It is a great cause and it would be a great opportunity to see Africa.”

The only problem is he’s not a cyclist.

“I don’t even own a bike,” he gasps. “Oh well, why not. I’ll get fit. It will be great.”

I really enjoyed seeing Richard Wilson’s public artwork in Liverpool. There is something extraordinary about seeing a Yates Wine Lodge, with a huge great hole cut out of the side, that magically manages to rotate in circle, before your very eyes. There is an element of the spectacle about this work and when I went the viewers were all gaping, awe inspired.

Oh look, Sevenses posted! (It’s been a busy/weird summer. Hope y’all didn’t miss me too much.)

ETA: GUISE I TOTALLY FORGOT TO MENTION: Merlin Season 2 airs on September 19th for those of you watching BBC, so get ready!

Excited isn’t really the word for it, I think. Gwen looks gorgeous in her upgraded wardrobe and Morgana is definitely going slowly evil. Merlin is still an adorkable dweeb (with his apparently indestructible backpack) and Arthur has gained some woobie gravitas.

Apparently Uther is to ‘fall in love’ with somebody this season. Let’s hope it’s not Morgana.

‘Merlin’ – Excalibur

A sword forged in Dragon’s breath and the cornerstone of Arthurian mythology

Delving deeper into the Arthurian lore, this week introduced the mystical sword Excalibur, which was created to defeat the Black Knight brought back from the dead by the dark sorceress Nimeuh.

Continue reading this article at:

LINK: http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/6584

“Merlin – The Beginning of the End”

No name is feared more in Arthurian legend than Mordred

It is said that to know a person’s name is to know them; and a person without a name cannot be known for their identity is a secret. When the druid boy finally spoke his name, we felt the dread of the foreshadowing it foretold … for there is no more feared name in all of Arthurian legend than Mordred.

Continue reading article at:

LINK: http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/6573

“Merlin – A Remedy To Cure All Ills”

Would we know the “face of evil” when we see it?  Or would we be seduced by the insidious whisperings of false faults, matched by seductive, soothing false promises?  This is the dilemma that Merlin grappled with in this past episode of “Merlin.”

Continue reading this article at:

LINK: http://nicegirlstv.com/2009/07/16/recap-merlin-a-remedy-to-cure-all-ills/