eu sou o REI da mentira e não me importo em assumir, minto na cara dura, sem medo ou rancor, eu olho bem na sua cara, no seu olho e “VOILÁ”, vc sai acreditando em algo ficticio e eu rindo da minha cara de pau, mas compreendo que é  dificil não acreditar na minha ladainha quando estou inspirado, é tiro certo. começei mentido a idade, já passava dos trinta e falava que tinha vinte, depois foi sobre “PROJETOS PROFISSIONAIS”…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, essa fase era a melhor, falava de peças, de propostas, de diretores que queriam trabalhar comigo, tudo farsa, tudo invenção, mas quer saber, nem ai pra isso, quem perguntou foi vc, não? a ultima do meu extenso repertório é sobre meu filho, filho? é o seguinte, eu tenho um certo fetiche em lojas de brinquedo e sempre tenho vergonha de entrar, imagina um cara de 40 anos encantado com o bonequinho do WALL-E, – tem a EVA tambem?  não tenho coragem…por isso inventei um filho para facilitar minha vida, funciona assim, eu entro na loja e antes da vendedora falar oi eu solto: — tenho um filho de 6 anos que adora bonecos, a vendedora confiante: — algum tipo especifico? ai começa…falo tudo sobe meu guri, do gosto peculiar, a cor preferida (preto e vermelho), o que mais gosta de comer  e por ai vai, teve um dia que até da minha ex mulher eu falei para a pobre Kimberly:– ele quer 2 mil de pensão, pode? HAHAHAHAHAH

Meu filhote com amiguinhos de escola, não é a CARA do pai?

PS- será que vou para o inferno? prefiro o hot hot, ok? HAHAHAHAHA

Rich loves them. I HATE them. And everyone says “Why!!??!!” and people who know me think that I will love them, what with my love for heavy metal and the likes. Naturally the two do go together. But I can’t stand them and here’s why:

1. I DON’T LIKE TO BE SCARED. The number one hatred of scary films for me is the tension. The ominous music, the camera being in the wrong place so you can’t see behind someone, the dark. I don’t like it, and as soon as these thing start happening in films, I hid, cover my ears or both.
2. THEY GIVE ME NIGHTMARES. The best time to watch a scary film is in the dark at night. WHY!! This is when the scary things in the film could become reality. I end up walking around my house looking for them like a retard. Or I have nightmares about them.
3. The rubbish ones are all the same. Yes, this has been done to death in the “Scream” films but it is true. There is usually always a tense moment where the character in shot is suspicious,  gets tapped on the shoulder and it turns out to be their friend. Also, there is always the bit where they walk through doors, keep their eyes on the handle and effectively enter the room backwards. DUHHHH! And finally they generally contain stupid, semi-ugly actresses. Fact.

I am sure there are other reasons. But the number one for me is I don’t like to be scared. I don’t like it when balloons pop. I don’t like sudden loud noises. I don’t like it when I walk around a corner and there is someone there.

Poor Rich, he loves horror films but I have yet to watch one with him. I can honestly say I have only enjoyed one horror film – the Omen! I loved that film, it was creepy and eerie. But I wouldn’t watch it again because I don’t like the bit where Mrs Thorn is in hospital after being pushed off the balcony by Damien and she is trying to take her top off with broken arms and that evil nurse lady pushes her out the window. Or when Gregory Peck shaves Damien’s head to reveal the 666. Or when the go to the graveyard. Or, thinking about it, any of it.

On Monday night, the Grudge (2004 US version) was on TV. We had the sound muted and I was still scared. Creepy little demon children!!! We had to turn that off.

“Urban Legends” was on Channel 5 last week too. That was truly shit and included many of the things in point 3 (see above). What is the point of these films?

I don’t want to watch any of the “Saw” films because I have no desire to see people sawing their legs off or having to find a key in someone’s body so their jaw clamp doesn’t bust their head open (Rich has told me this, I haven’t seen it). Why would anyone want to see that. Sadists!

I can’t think of anything more to write at the moment because I am scared.

Me he permitido el lujo de seleccionar los más populares y representativos compositores cinematográficos de todos los tiempos. Desde los más antiguos hasta los más actuales, todos tienen una gran importancia, pero quizá los diferentes premios obtenidos o la asimilación de las diferentes melodías en las mentes de los espectadores, marquen diferencias entre ellos. En general, todos y cada uno de los compositores han hecho posible que a través de una melodía, una película sea para siempre única y espectacular en nuestra memoria.

MIKLOS ROZSAEste húngaro nacido en 1907 hizo de su vida una melodía. El estallido de La II Guerra Mundial en Europa fue la culpable de que Rozsa se instalara en Hollywood de por vida. Sus primeras composiciones para la compañía de Alexander Korda fueron “El ladrón de Bagdad” (1940) y el “Libro de la Selva” (1942), ambas nominadas por la Academia. Tras ser expulsado de la Paramount por introducir ciertas asperezas de ritmo y armonía que causaron consternación en ciertos sectores de Hollywood, la Metro-Goldwyn Mayer se interesó en su trabajo. Para esta productora escribió grandes epopeyas históricas como “Quo Vadis” (1951), “Ivanhoe” (1952), “Julio César” (1953), “Ben-Hur” (1959), “Rey de reyes” (1961) o “El Cid” (1961). Fue nominado al Premio Óscar en 17 ocasiones, obteniéndolo en 3 ocasiones por “Recuerda” (1945), “Doble vida” (1947) y “Ben-Hur” (1959).
Tras su muerte en el año 2004 Miklos Rozsa descansa bajo las colinas de Hollywood, pero su legado musical ha ido trascendiendo más y más con el paso de los años. Nuevas generaciones de amantes de la música pueden hoy día descubrir las creaciones de aquel gran maestro del lirismo que se destacó, sobre todo, por la elegancia y sofisticación de sus melodías.

ENNIO MORRICONE
Su larga carrera artística incluye una amplia gama de géneros de composición, trabajando como orquestador y director de orquesta en el campo de la grabación, y luego como compositor para teatro, cine y radio.
La carrera como compositor de música de película comenzó en 1961 con la película “Il Federale”, dirigida por Luciano Salce, pero se hizo famoso en todo el mundo con los westerns de Sergio Leone: “A Fistful Of Dollars” (1964), “Por unos dólares más” (1965), “El bueno, El Feo y El Malo” (1966), “Once Upon A Time In The West” (1968) y “A Fistful Of Dynamite” (1971).
Desde 1960, Morricone ha marcado más de 400 películas de las cuales las más famosas son: “La batalla de Argel”, “Sacco y Vanzetti”, “Cinema Paradiso”, “La Leyenda de 1900”, “Malena”, “Los intocables”, “Érase una vez en América”, “La Misión” y “U-Turn”.
En su larga carrera, Ennio Morricone ha recibido el León de Oro y en 2006 el Oscar de Honor en reconocimiento a su magnifica y multifacética contribución al arte de la música en el cine. Pero también ha obtenido: 8 Nastri d’argento, 5 Bafta, 5 nominaciones al Oscar, 7 David di Donatello, 3 Globos de Oro, 1 Premio Grammy y 1 European Film Award.

BERNARD HERRMANN
En 1911 nació en EE.UU un genio creativo, un musicólogo indiscutible, que a pesar de su muerte en 1975 recibió nominaciones póstumas de mano de la Academia en 1976 por “Taxi Driver” y “Obsesión”.
Tan complejo como cualquier personaje de las películas ningún compositor ha contribuido más a las películas que Bernard Herrmann, que en más de cuarenta Films ha enriquecido el trabajo de directores como Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, François Truffaut, y Martin Scorsese. Desde su primera película “All that Money Can Buy”, galardonada con un Oscar, hasta su pasado con “Taxi Driver”, Herrmann fue un maestro en la evocación de los matices psicológicos y la tensión dramática a través de la música, a menudo utilizando inaudita combinaciones de instrumentos para adaptarse a las necesidades dramáticas de una película.
Sus partituras se encuentran entre las más distinguidas que se han escrito en la historia de la música cinematográfica, que van desde lo fantástico (“Fahrenheit 451″, “El Día de la Tierra se detuvo”) A la romántica (“Ciudadano Kane”, “Obsesión”, “El fantasma y la señora Muir”) A la terrible (“Psycho”). Además dirigió la orquesta de la CBS en varias ocasiones promocionando melodías de jóvenes músicos.

ALEX NORTH
Alex North nació en Chester, Pennsylvania, el 10 de diciembre de 1910 y el 8 de septiembre de 1991 murió conocido como un gran innovador musical. Compositor polifacético, escribió para televisión, cine, teatro, orquesta, incluso para documentales de guerra.
La versión de la película de Tennessee Williams “Un tranvía llamado deseo” (1951) marcó por primera vez en la historia la integración plena de una melodía de jazz en un film. Es probablemente el compositor más complejo y más original de la historia, el cual revoluciono todo el panorama musical. Tuvo la oportunidad de demostrarlo en sus películas mas destacadas como “Espartaco” (1960) o “Cleopatra” (1963), o con la creación de canciones entrañables como “Unchained melody” bastante recordada y utilizada como fue en la película “Ghost”.
A pesar de crear más de 50 películas, de las cuales 15 fueron nominadas por la Academia, Alex North nunca recibió ningún premio en activo. No fue hasta 1985 cuando recibió su primera estatuilla a modo de Premio Honorífico, en reconocimiento de su arte brillante en la creación de música memorable para una serie de imágenes en movimiento distinguido.

JERRY GOLDSMITHCuando la vida del legendario compositor de radio, televisión y cine, Jerry Goldsmith, se “apagó”, en 2004 dejó un vacío enorme en el mundo de la música de la película, pero su legado de más de 50 años de música nos ha dejado un huequito en nuestros corazones.
Gracias a las enseñanzas de Miklos Rozsa y Alfred Newman su vida ha sido un ir y venir entre la pequeña y gran pantalla. Ejemplo de ello es citar que ha sido nominado nueve veces en los Globos de Oro y dieciocho veces por la Academia de los Oscars, pero sólo en 1976 con la música original de “The Omen” ha obtenido la codiciada estatuilla. También obtuvo cinco nominaciones a los Grammy, y las diecisiete nominaciones por los Saturn Awards, en los cuales ganó uno por Star Trek: The Motion Picture en 1980. Su contratación en la 20th Century-Fox le sirvieron para hacer producciones cómo “Freud”, “Un retazo de azul”, “The Sand Pebbles”, “El Planeta de los Simios”, “Patton”, “Papillon”, “Chinatown”, “El viento y el león”, “Logan’s Run”, “Islands in the Stream”, “Capricornio Uno”, “Alien”, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”, “Gremlims”, “Under Fire”, “Poltergeist”, “L.A. Confidential”, “Basic Instinct”, “Mulán” y “La Momia”.
Bajo la tutela de la CBS o de la Revue Studios consiguió 4 premios Emmy con producciones musicales para la televisión cómo “Star Trek: Voyager”, “QB VIII” (1974), “Babe” (1975), “Masada” (1981).

JOHN WILLIAMS
En la ciudad de Nueva York, un 8 de febrero de 1932 nació una estrella condenada al éxito. Aunque en la actualidad es uno de los compositores cinematográficos mas prestigiosos, su carrera profesional comenzó en series televisivas como “La Isla de Gilligan” o “Perdidos en el Espacio” para la Fox. Pero el salto a la gran pantalla, tras varias nominaciones, le proporciono su primera estatuilla en 1971 en la 44ª edición de los Oscars por la adaptación original de “El violinista en el Tejado”.
No es un error decir que gran parte de su música ha traspasado la pantalla para asentarse en la cultura popular en el cine de los últimos 35 años y es que cinco premios de la Academia, 17 Grammys, tres Globos de Oro, dos Emmys y cinco Premios BAFTA de la Academia Británica de Cine y Artes de la Televisión confirman su talento. Grandioso compositor y director de orquesta, John Williams es el motivo de que muchos teman meterse en el mar tras ver “Tiburón” (mejor banda sonora original en la 48ª Edición de los premios Oscars en 1975) o de hacernos llorar amargamente viendo “La lista de Schindler” (mejor banda sonora original en la 66ª Edición de los Oscars en 1993 y un Grammy). Es el responsable de la inolvidable y casi perfecta partitura para el más famoso extraterrestre del séptimo arte “E.T” (mejor banda sonora original en la 55ª Edición de los Oscars en 1982), o sin ir más lejos de la composición más paradigmática de la profesión, alzada por el American Film Institute como la mejor en la historia del cine: “La Guerra de las Galaxias” (mejor banda sonora original en la 50ª Edición de los Oscars en 1977).
Hay que destacar que Williams ha hecho recurrente el uso del leitmotiv identificando a personajes tales como Superman, Indiana Jones o a Darth Vader con la “Marcha Imperial”. Pero también son destacables composiciones para películas como “Jurassic Park”, “Solo en casa” o “Salvar al Soldado Ryan” que siempre tendrán un hueco en nuestros corazones.

HANS ZIMMER
Hoy día es considerado uno de los compositores más sobresalientes e innovadores de Hollywood, apodado por gran parte de la crítica como “el omnipresente Zimmer” por sus numerosas apariciones, ya sea como compositor principal o como colaborador con uno de sus múltiples discípulos.
Este compositor alemán nacido en el 57, es el padre de la integración de la música electrónica con arreglos orquestales tradicionales en el género cinematográfico.
El punto de inflexión en la carrera de Zimmer llego cuando en 1988 “Rain Man” ganó el Oscar a la Mejor Película del Año y Zimmer ganó su primera nominación al Oscar como Mejor Banda Sonora Original. Pero sin duda la obra maestra del compositor fue la banda sonora de “El Rey León” en 1994, ya que ha vendido alrededor de 15 millones de copias hasta la fecha, un Oscar por Mejor Música Original, un Globo de Oro, un premio American Music Award, un Tony y dos premios Grammy. En total, el trabajo de Zimmer ha sido nominado a 7 Globos de Oro, 7 Grammys y siete premios Oscar por “Rain Man”, “Gladiator”, “El Rey León”, “As Good As It Gets”, “La mujer del Predicador”, “La Delgada Línea Roja”,” El Príncipe de Egipto” y “El Último Samurai”.
Entre otras composiciones también nos ha emocionado con “Pearl Harbor”, asustado con “The Ring”, divertido con “Piratas del Caribe y “Madagascar” o ensimismado con “Matchstick Men”, “Hannibal”, “Black Hawk Down” o “Thelma y Louise”, estas cuatro dirigidas por Ridley Scott.

JAMES HORNER
Este californiano de cincuenta y seis años es actualmente uno de los compositores más populares de la música clásica.
Su primer proyecto de gran dimensión fue la música para Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982), que daría lugar a numerosas ofertas cinematográficas y las oportunidades de trabajar con artistas de clase mundial tales como la Orquesta Sinfónica de Londres, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Oliver Stone, Y Ron Howard.
La sinfonía, es de lo que se nutre su estilo, al igual que Jerry Goldsmith y John Williams, pero también se atreve con el sintetizador, siendo un gran virtuoso en este estilo e integrándolo perfectamente en la gran orquesta.
Obviamente ha sido nominado al Óscar en el apartado a la mejor Banda Sonora en 7 ocasiones, como también lo fue en los Grammy o en los Globos de Oro, con películas como “Aliens: el regreso” (1986), “Campo de sueños” (1989), “Braveheart” (1995), “Apolo 13″ (1995), “Titanic” (1997), “Una mente maravillosa” (2001), “Casa de arena y niebla” (2003), consiguiéndolo doblemente con “Titanic” tanto en el apartado a la mejor música como a la mejor canción. “La leyenda del zorro”, “Gloria” o “El nombre de la rosa” fueron también grandes composiciones de Horner.

Its getting good and cold, even in London, and I think that I might have to break out my log tweed coat, after its had a dry clean, to provide some much needed snug warmth. If I do start wearing it I have to bear in mind that its a nightmare to lug about on the tube – if you wear it you lose 3 pounds in sweat each journey (might not be such a bad move seeing as I’m overweight but…) or I carry it which is not easy cus its heavy, bulky and things fall out the pockets. Of course, if I get a seat then all’s good but I can’t bet heavily on this rank outsider.

The office is very cold as well, it is double glazed but there’s no heating and the building is fairly old and drafty. And seeing as all I do all day is sit and type there’s not much blood circulation help there – more trips to the kitchen for tea will sort this out – always a good idea. Wonder how cold it will get in a few months time. brrr….

Just finished a great lunch of pasty, chicken something and lettuce sandwhich and a Sainsbury’s little pot of gooseberry fool – the best pudding you can buy for 35p, absolutley stunning – better with some kind of choclate to dunk in it – where’s my twirl bar?… aha.

Off to watch the Departeded later, can’t imagine it’ll be anywhere near as good as Goodfellas or Casino but expect that it’ll be much more enjoyable than Gangs of New York, which I liked but didn’t love.

Saw a few Halloween films last few days;

Halloween – ace, jumpy, smart and kept imagining that Donald Pleasence was about to speak to camera and say; “and thats why you shouldn’t have sex”.
The Omen – daddy of the genre turns out to be not much cop all in all – satan goes to the zoo is fun but not as good as End Of Days
Rosemary Baby – now we’re talking – very creepy – very good – playing on the fears of women everywhere in a really nasty way and yet it manages to be a really good guessing game right up until the last few minutes – well, unless you know the plot – I thought that it would be left ambigous and felt a wee bit cheated but still, I really enjoyed it.

Comments:
pietscully
the twirl bar…wasn’t sure people still ate them. i remember when i was a kid, went to ireland, before twirls were available in the uk they had them there, and my aunt worked at the cadbury’s factory in coolock. well. you can imagine, to a 12 year old it was like being given the secret key to the pyramids or something. i miss cadbury’s.

thisisalloneword
American chocolate’s not up to much then?
Do they do bars?

I suggest trying to get a cadbury’s hamper sent across in time for thanksgiving – maybe with a tub of bovril and some sausages thrown in. I say this but I have no idea what food Americans have and what they dont…

pietscully
they do, but they call them chocolate pubs

thisisalloneword
took me a few seconds to register, ho ho, its a slow day and my brain is tired…

Faith films have had a long history on the big screen. It has had its share of The Good , The Bad and the despicable. The golden age of cinema had a foray of Bible inspired movies, one of the most historical being 1956’s “Ten Commandments” by Cecil B Demile , it was a mammoth production that became a VHS favorite ,with 3 Oscar wins and 7 nominations. Other films such as Quo Vadis(1952) had preceded it with similar success and, Ben Hur(1959) set records with an impressive 11 Oscar wins, things seem to be on a roll for faith films . As the years went by things took a turn in a slightly different direction . The 70’s and 80’s diverted from telling Biblical stories and history and went for darker themes. These movies delved into spiritual arenas mostly surrounding the devil and the end of the world, Polanski in 1968 released the award-winning spine chilling “Rosemary’s Baby” , and other’s followed The Exorcist (1973) , The Entity(1981) and others.most notably the series of “Omen” movies. Inspired by the Bible’s last book of Revelations ,if explored the prophecy of the devil coming as a human, known as the Anti Christ, The recent “Anti Christ(2009)” was another film that took advantage of this trend, with its explicit sex scenes, it’s clear those were not aimed at the evangelicals but whether any of these could classified as faith films,or just horror variations of Bible themes is something else for determination.

Things seemed to go down hill in the late 80’s , gone were the Biblical stories and themes. The table was flipped and It seemed to be open season on Christianity. Some movies had outright blasphemous themes like “The Last Temptation of Christ(1988)” by Goodfellas Director , Martin Scorcese, caused an outrage in the faith community, and years later Kevin “Clerks” Smith managed not an equal, but similar outrage with his 1999 comedy “Dogma”, which had his trademark lewd humor approach , this time to tenets of the Catholic and the Christian faith as a whole.2004’s “Saved”, starring Macaulay Culkin(Home Alone) , was a two fingers up to the Christian community, a Mean Girls/Heathers with the Christians playing the antagonists.

The later part of the 20th century varies from the earlier seeing many films that address issues of Christian themes end up being more of a thorn in the flesh than a blessing.  A lot of movies over the years which have been embraced by the Christian community, though they were not Christian in theme, some of the allusion people read into, and supposed allegories examples being “The Shawshank Redemption”, and The Matrix. In the last 6 years ,things seem to turning around for the better. Between Mel Gibson’s ,“The Passion of the Christ” , TD Jakes’s “Woman Thou Arth Loosed” , the Sherwood Pictures releases (Facing the Giants,Fireproof) and the torrent of Tyler Perry movies,faith films are coming back to the mainstream with well toned physique. No longer are they straight to video and low-budget but they made well and are doing very well in the box office. With the evangelicals and the neutral crowds patronizing these releases, things are gaining momentum. What specifies as a Faith Film still varies, but as long as people are being impacted ,ticket sales show that it really hasn’t mattered.

FAITH FILMS AT THE CORONET, LAST SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH LOG ON TO www.rapturefilmclub.com

Reality

Rather than ruminate on how long it’s been since I last posted on this forum (17 days – I’ve been spending my “writing block” on translation projects, my dissertation and a filmography for a book), I will elaborate on a few of the major events that have marked the last two weeks.

Our film AOP, a mockumentary about a secret West German fetish, debuted at the HFF “Konrad Wolf” as part of the end of orientation festivities on Friday October 23rd.  It went over lukewarm compared with the other “Knaller” made by the other nine groups (at least 3 of which took place in a bathroom), but director Maurice M. Mohn swore to me that the film “wasn’t unsuccessful” at the party afterwards.  Speaking of THAT party:  it was held after 11:00 p.m. at a sketchy, illegal club in Kreuzkölln with no fire exits, no windows, a sketchy fridge full of bottled beer and nothing but techno beats (the latter being a plus against the other factors).  I sort of plowed my way through the packed bathroom line to reach the exit around 2:30 after quaffing a few cheap beers and yelling my way through several conversations in the smoky darkness.  An experience, to be sure.

I went to a wonderful Fulbright brunch on Sunday October 25^th held by the generous Luisa Greenfield and Ming Tsao in Kreuzberg, where I met Jacob Comenetz, a former Fulbrighter now working at the Bundespresseagentur (more on him to come) and got a pile of great book recommendations from Ming about writing about the electronic music aesthetic (you want that list? Send a comment my way!).  Later that day, I picked up Kat at the Berlin Tegel airport, who successfully got her very heavy baggage out of the terminal without a cart (or my help, since that’s how European airports work) and we ate out at Tuk-Tuk, the Indonesian restaurant down the street from us.

Having Kat around has been great for many reasons.  Here are a few:

* Cessation of married-man-long-distance loneliness;

* More satisfying sleep;

* The apartment is now warmer;

* Increased intake of generally nutritious food that tastes good;

* New impulse to plan social events and outings, and I can show her all the old stuff I’ve gotten to know;

* Celebrating birthdays and holidays is much more meaningful again!

In the first week (Oct. 26 – Nov. 1st), I purposefully overscheduled us with many social events, including coffee with Kira and Beverly and dinner with the same, carving pumpkins with Katie Weeks and Hilary Bown, Luisa’s film screening on Friday night, and a Fulbright alumni Halloween party at Joe’s Bar in Prenzlauer Berg on Saturday night with Jacob.  I did so to make Kat feel at home and connected here, which also conversely made me feel more at home and connected here as well.  Speaking of Luisa’s screening, we had a great turn-out for the two shorter, more experimental films (Light and Bridegroom… see below) but, since we started over an hour late, over half the audience missed the wonderful mess that was John Ford’s Seven Women (1966).  We hope that everybody returns for our continuing Ford/Straub pairings, as well as other assorted film gems we manage to procure.  As for the Halloween party, Kat and I went as a vampire-zombie duo who hated each other through our expressions on our T-shirts:  “Vampires Bite” and “Zombies Need Brains.”  Ha ha.

This last week has presented us with opportunities to walk around and shop (such as in Kreuzberg’s famous Bergmannstrasse), watch movies together (many reviewed below) and get our visas (by waking up at 3 a.m. and surmounting the evil LABO).  All in all a good time, and I anticipate more to come.

Professionally speaking, I’ve had some ups and downs the last two weeks.  Ups:  I spent four hours with Herr Dieter Kosslick, director of the Berlinale, and two hours with Dr. Gottfried Langenstein, director of ARTE; I’ve found hundreds of newspaper articles with revealing insights on the reception of the Indianerfilme in East Germany; I’ve met up with Reinhild Steingröver of the University of Rochester and established contact with several other scholars working on parallel topics to my dissertation.  Downs: I lost my first month’s worth of book/film notes due to a faulty data back-up attempt, so I’ve got another 10 hours of work to do in reconstructing it.  This is the way it goes.

And one final note:  if you’re ever on Akazienstrasse in Schöneberg, DO NOT eat at the South Indian restaurant called Chennai Dosai, not only because their food is not particularly good, but because they played the opening track from the Hrithik Roshan sci-fi Bollywood film Koi Mil Gya (2003) on a loop THE ENTIRE TIME WE SAT THERE.  It was a unique form of tourist torture, though I’m sure they weren’t expecting a customer who knew the film.

Fantasy

Posse (dir. Mario van Peebles, USA 1993)

Woody Strode, Big Daddy Kane, and many other prominent African-Americans star in this somewhat violent, misogynist and cliché Western.  Its primary contradiction lies in its seeming original mission – to re-insert African-Americans into a Western film tradition absolutely dominated by actors coded as “white” -  and its aesthetic outcome – a cheap Leone treasure/revenge plot with a lot of melodramatic cheese and macho strutting from Van Peebles.  The fact that I couldn’t really read the blocky explanatory text at the end didn’t really detract from the palpably saccharine coating that Van Peebles put on this piece of macho-masculine self-glorification.

The Treasure of Silver Lake (dir. Harald Reinl, FRG/France/Yugoslavia 1963)

The film that started the whole Euro-Western trend, and a completely necessary entry in the cinema books next to adventure films such as Errol Flynn’s Captain Blood (1935)or Lucas’ and Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).  The superhuman duo of Winnetou (Pierre Brice) and Old Shatterhand (Lex Barker) stumble upon an injustice committed (the murder of Götz George’s German immigrant father) and a treasure to discover.  Let’s just say that, on a superficial level, the film absolutely delivers:  colorful landscapes, bold action sequences, and plot twists that still convince the 8 year-old inside of you.  You only think about the crazy exoticism of the whole charade afterwards…

The Sons of Great Bear (dir. Josef Mach, GDR 1966)

The East German response to Reinl and Wendlandt’s Winnetou films, The Sons of Great Bear is the most “historically accurate” of all the DEFA Indianerfilme and also one of the most visually compelling.  That being said, Mach had little idea how to direct an action sequence, so the ending fight scene is confusing and frustrating to say the least, not to mention more-or-less tacked on to Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich’s original source material.  The press reviews made sure to note how much actor Gojko Mitic’s physique looked like the “real-life” Shoshone, though their basis on which to judge that comes from other Westerns’ portrayal of Native Americans.  Hmmm….

Little Big Man (dir. Arthur Penn, USA 1970)

Thomas Berger’s picaresque about the only white survivor of Little Bighorn, a man brought up by the Cheyenne (a.k.a. the human beings) named Jack, is expertly executed by Penn, if awkwardly assembled as a whole.  General Custer’s portrayal in the film is nothing short of brilliant – an arrogant prick more than a proper villain – and the Cheyenne are given a lot of positive screen-time.  Of course, Dustin Hoffman’s Jack dominates the majority of the film, with mixed results.

Battleship Potemkin (dir. Sergei Eisenstein, Russia 1925)

Restored 35mm print containing all the original scenes?  Check.
Live accompaniment by an adept pianist?  Check.
Kat’s first time seeing a leftist modernist classic?  Check.
I really can’t say anything more, other than that the Kino Arsenal has a special place in my heart.

Trick ‘r Treat (dir. Michael Dougherty, USA 2008)

A kind of Four Rooms treatment of Halloween, Trick ‘r Treat is a very smooth movie with regard to horror clichés, playing on one’s expectations, and the usual twists and turns one expects of even the slasher genre nowadays.  One should watch this with one’s tongue firmly in cheek, even through all the horrifying bits.  I say no more.

The Omen (dir. Richard Donner, UK/USA 1976)

Um… Gregory Peck’s character is kind of dumb?  This is at least what the film suggests, after one is led through a constant barrage of corroborating evidence that demonstrates his son is the antichrist, and he still doesn’t seem to get it.  Oh well:  there are many other films with evil children that work with the formula that The Omen put forth, so I suppose it’s influential.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (dir. Stephen Norrington, USA 2003)

This was the second time I’ve seen the film, and the second time I’ve seen it in Berlin (the last time was with Mary Brandel in 2003 – and I hated it then too.)  Alan Moore’s excellent graphic novel was to be transformed into a grand piece of pulp, and instead turned into a nightmarish gobbledy-gook of lame special FX (including the atrocious Venice sequence), too many characters running around (including “Tom Sawyer,” their worst revision), and sequel-baiting (the *ahem* “ending”).  Stuart Townsend is about the only redeeming feature of this feature, and that’s because he’s so damn charming in any case.

V for Vendetta (dir. James McTeigue, UK/Germany 2006)

Another slightly second-rate “good” film from the Wachowski Brothers, V for Vendetta continuously bills itself as a smart action thriller which raises bits of moral ambiguity for the postmodern cinema-goer, but is ultimately far too utopian about the power of the masses to stomach.  Alan Moore wasn’t nearly as idealistic as this, and far more critical of the respective places within society that Evie, V and the masses inhabit.  You can tell through the exquisite detail of the sets that the Babelsberg people worked on this one, though.

Genau Gleich (dir. Burkhart Wunderlich, Germany 2009)

A film that I’m currently subtitling for Burkhart about an incestuous relationship between German-Polish twins and an old woman on a bench waiting for Elvis.  An absolutely brilliant concluding shot is likely to give this one high marks at the Berlinale if, indeed, we manage to get the film into competition.

Light (dir. Marie Menken, USA 1964)

Dizzying Christmas lights, spinning motion, elliptical editing.  The lost American avant-garde.  Shall we see it again?

The Bridegroom, the Comedienne and the Pimp (dir. Jean-Marie Straub, Daniele Huillet, FRG 1968)

I must’ve seen this film something like eight or nine times since I’ve come to UMass.  Nevertheless, the mixture of prostitutes against an industrial backdrop, Ferdinand Bruckner’s “The Pains of Youth” by Fassbinder’s antitheater group, and the intense chase/marriage sequence at the end never fail to incite thoughts of alternatives to mainstream cinema and new spatial configurations of narrative.

Seven Women (dir. John Ford, USA 1966)

Ford’s last film is an outright laugh riot starring Anne Bancroft as a self-confident doctor who winds up in a doomed community of American missionaries in Mongolia.  Oh wait – this wasn’t supposed to be funny?  Then perhaps there’s too much Sirkian irony in this overstuffed, full-color studio epic, which is probably why the film was buried after its creation:  Ford’s film is trapped between gender and a hard place.   Oh yeah, and there’s actually eight women, but one of them happens to be Chinese…

Coraline (dir. Henry Selick, USA 2009)

Coraline is a well-executed animated feature in glorious 3D that was screened at the HFF as part of our overall 3D research project.  Many of the fantastic landscapes, both interiors and exteriors, are enhanced by the 3D effects, but these effects don’t overwhelm the adaptation from the original text.  What does overwhelm the adaptation is the inclusion of a male character who has to save Coraline’s butt in the end, classifying it as yet another film with a strong female character who needs a man to both tame and save her.  Why can’t Hollywood ever be done with its male heroes?

G-Force (dir. Hoyt Yeatman, USA 2009)

Most 3D films rely on re-vamped spatial relations that make tighter spaces seem even tighter and wide open spaces seem glorious.  So what better means of exploring tight spaces and big vistas than making a supremely small cast, through whose eyes we must view the world?  Such is the visual premise of G-Force, which has guinea pig commandos saving the world from a silly plot in a classic Jerry Bruckheimer fashion.  Nevertheless, the effects are convincing and most of the side-plots are not particularly annoying.  I would say:  Mr. Yeatman’s background in visual FX for advertising and trailers paid off in a big way for the film, though its effects scenes are so pronounced as to make all of the dialog sequences seem drawn-out and dull.  Definitely a movie that attempts to satiate a hyper-active age group.  Critics who don’t fully “get” 3D films and who are thoroughly in Pixar’s camp are liable to hate it,  but I can root for it from the sidelines.

“Una de las películas más escalofriantes de todos los tiempos”, no es una cita del director pero eso está por verse Spielberg.

Paranormal Activity es la historia de una chica que está siendo asediada por un ente desconocido. Su novio, motivado por una curiosidad morbosa, instala una cámara de video y grabadoras de audio en el dormitorio para averiguar qué ocurre mientras duermen. Las imágenes y sonidos registrados le advierten a la pareja que el panorama es peor de lo que imaginaban.

Este film es producto de un miedo muy personal que el propio realizador Oren Peli ha tenido desde chico. Para interpretar sus temores más profundos en la gran pantalla, Peli preparó y remodeló su casa tanto como fuera necesario, para rodar ahí este filme, que él mismo escribió, dirigió y produjo. Sin estudios formales de cine y con un escaso presupuesto, Oren Peli decidió realizar Paranormal Activity con una cámara de video casera, para darle realismo y además poder prescindir de camarógrafos y técnicos. Como consecuencia, un poco accidentada, la película es verosímil y transparentemente cruda.

A este punto es obvio los paralelismos que Paranormal Activity guarda con The Blair witch Project: la intención documental, el manejo de cámara en mano y su ingenua y conservadora campaña de promoción por internet -en las hoy indispensables redes sociales- ha sido fundamental para garantizarle el éxito en taquilla, a un grado tal que las solicitudes para hacer que la cinta se exhibiera en determinados puntos de los Estados Unidos eran recibidas a través de Internet.

Las buenas críticas llegaron de inmediato y superaron con creces a las expectativas generadas. Tanto que cuando le fue mostrado el film a Steven Spielberg este quedó tan impactado que hasta sugirió el final de la versión que está actualmente en la salas de cine. Sobre el asunto de los finales hablaré más adelante.

No obstante, Paramount y Dreamwork, para no correr riesgos innecesarios, idearon una estrategia de distribución en función de la demanda y a medida que más gente fue pidiendo en la Web de los estudios que quería ver la película en su ciudad la compañía fue ampliando la red de salas donde se proyecta. Vale destacar que la película requirió de modestos 15 mil dólares para su realización y hasta ahora ha hecho más de 82 millones de billeticos verdes en la taquilla, ¿nada mal eh? El olor a secuela es inextinguible.

Acitivity no es una cinta en la que veremos litros de sangre. Tampoco hay grandes efectos especiales, robots peleones parlanchines, ni modelos promiscuos bebedores de sangre. Es simple miedo a lo que no se ve, es el terror profundo que nos infringe lo inminente, cuando es imperceptible. Obviamente no está a la talla de películas magistrales como The Shinning, The Omen o Rosemary’s Baby, pero es una propuesta que contrasta con algunas tendencias actuales, donde las torturas explicitas, los aterrorizados chicos lindos de 90210 que compiten por ver quien tiene la muerte más escandalosa, el asesino desquiciado con aspecto estrafalario sin razón de ser, entre otros, tienden a caricaturizar al mal, antes que hacerlo más fidedigno.

Ahora bien, vamos con el asunto controversial de los finales. Si no han visto la película les sugiero que detengan la lectura en este mismo momento, mayor spoilers ahead.

Final 1 – Theatrical version. Este es el final ideado por Steven Spielberg. Esta especialmente diseñado para hacer brincar al público a nivel de paro cardíaco.

Una vez que se escuchan los gritos de la pareja en la planta baja, inmediatamente viene un breve silencio, tras el cual se escuchan fuertes pasos en la escalera y posteriormente Micah es lanzado contra la cámara casi derribándola, después aparece Katie evidentemente poseída y se le echa encima a la cámara con cara demoníaca. La cinta termina argumentado que el cuerpo de Micah fue encontrado posteriormente por la policía pero que de Katie no se sabe nada, desapareció.

Este final es más “lógico” y convencional, es lo que esperas en un tipo de película como está, sabes que va a terminar muy mal y que te van a tratar de matar de un susto, pues bien, eso es básicamente lo que se trató de hacer aquí, se podría decir que es un final más comercial y típico del género y por supuesto un final abierto.

Final 2 – Original Ending. Este es el supuesto final original mostrado en la versión previa del film a ser estrenada en las salas de cine.

Se escuchan gritos de la pareja y después fuertes pasos, Katie regresa a la habitación con un cuchillo ensangrentado en mano y en estado catatónico, con lo que dan a entender que Katie asesinó a Micah, probablemente cortándole la cabeza, recordemos que al principio de la película Micah se burla en la cámara con el cuchillo en medio de la cocina fingiendo que le cortaría la cabeza al fantasma.

Katie permanece en estado catatónico desde el 8 de Octubre al 11 de Octubre, lapso en el cual aparece su amiga, que por los ruidos escuchados cuando entra a la casa pareciera ser asesinada por el demonio. Katie recién reacciona de su estado hipnótico cuando llegan dos policías quienes al constatar que hay dos muertos en la sala y suben para conseguirla con un cuchillo ensangrentado, no dudan en darle el tiro de gracia cuando la chica confundida se les acerca preguntado por su novio.

Este final pareciera un poco más perturbador pero quizás un poco inestable, ya que uno se pregunta porque muere la amiga que los va a visitar y no los policías que llegan posteriormente. Se podrían argumentar varias cosas en su defensa, no hay duda de ello, el problema a mi entender es que se extiende demasiado el clímax del impacto final, cosa que trata de corregir Spielberg en su versión.

Final 3 – Alternative Ending. No hay un vídeo de este final puesto que sólo se expuso brevemente en algún festival y nadie lo grabó. Se espera salga en el DVD con los demás finales.

Pero si quieres saber como termina, es muy parecido al final de 2007, nada más que luego de matar a Micah, cuando Katie entra a la habitación con el cuchillo ella se corta el cuello y se suicida frente a la cámara estando aún poseída. Nada más. Sin policías ni amiga.

Este sería el final que realmente tiene mayor impacto y mejor va con el film a mi parecer. Concuerda más con la naturaleza traumática expuesta en la cinta, el contacto con algo incontenible e impredecible que invita a la desesperación. Este final es el que nos da la violencia que tanto temíamos cuando empezamos a ver la película. El motivo por cual no fue usado es obvio para mí, falsa moral, a la distribuidora seguramente le pareció demasiado fuerte considerando la naturaleza “realista” del film y prefirieron asustar al público con una acción sobrenatural para así justificar la violencia transmitida al espectador.

Sea cual sea el final que más les guste, tengan por seguro que veremos un remake Hollywoodense con mayor presupuesto pronto, sino, al menos la secuela no tardará en llegar y lamentablemente será tan o más infame que Blair Witch Proyect 2.

Recuerden chiquillos detractores, el terror escudado en el “sugerir antes que mostrar” es mucho más poderoso que la imagen impuesta.

Miley, your kiss tastes like an ashtray! Yech!

Okay, as if things weren’t strange enough with this guy Lil’ Damian talking smack about the Jonas Bros., now he says Miley Ray Cyrus’ kissing sucks! According to Lil’ Damian, he had a passionate dream about Miley, and in his dream, he couldn’t kiss her without puking, because he said her potty mouth tasted like an ashtray.

Let’s send a message to Lil’ Damian by writing to his blog, www.universalartists.wordpress.com. We know the owners, Joe Stern-McGovern & Shaka of Shaka Productions. They’re both pretty cool guys, so we’re wondering how they came to hire Lil’ Damian as a professional rapper.

Please check out their site and give them a piece of your mind! We need to stand up for Miley right now! Might makes right, so feel free to voice your opinions to anyone who will listen. “Universal Artists, International is cool, but get rid of Lil’ Damian”.

Lil' Damian: "Show self respect & brush your teeth"

Coach Earl Hayseed for Gossip!

GRADE:  C+

Orphan is one of the movies I didn’t get to see in theaters like I had hoped, so with Halloween over the weekend I made it a point to pick up this newly released DVD.

Directed by spanish directer, Jaume Collet-Serra–whose 2005 film House of Wax we would surely like to forget–this movie had some good scares but ultimately fell victim to typical Hollywood horror cliches.  Over and over again.

When Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Sarsgaard) lose their third child before birth because of Kate’s alcoholism, they decide to try adoption as a way to fill a hole in their lives (despite already having two good kids).  After visiting an orphanage, they discover Esther(Isabelle Fuhrman), a polite Russian girl who is a skillful painter and bubbly spirit.  She is the perfect child and so Kate and John bring her home to meet the family. 

What weakens this movie is the constant shock cliches used by Serra.  The old let’s show you part of the bathroom mirror so when Kate closes the rest of it something shocking will be there to surprise us.  And just like The Good Son, which starred Macaulay Culkin as the bad seed trying to kill his cousins, this movie has many of the same kinds of thrills.  From what will Esther do at the play ground to what will Esther do down by the frozen lake to what will Esther do at the tree house.  All senerios perfectly contrived to make this movie flow with shocks and thrills.

What ultimately makes this movie interesting is its twist ending.  Unlike so many twists in horror and thriller films, this twist actually makes some sense and hits you raw, which makes its impact even greater.  We all know some new information is going to come out about Esther by the end, but what actually is revealed, followed by its exciting ending, makes this movie a solid entertainment. 

Overall, this movie delivers its scares and exciting twist, but what ultimately drags this movie down is the predictable senerios and its over used horror cliches.  Serra tries to recreate both The Good Son and the Omen in this movie and fails to bring his own flair of originality to a script that has an original ending. 

Out of some of the horror movies out on DVD right now, I probably wouldn’t make this my first choice for rental, but I will say that for the not so hardcore horror fan this movie will certainly entertain you enough.

Happy Halloween

Hey there!

What’s up? hehe OMG this is my favorite holiday ever! HALLOWEEN!! I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I get so excited whenever Halloween comes every year. Is it because I’m a horror movie fanatic? is it because I love seeing blood drips on the fresh flesh of human beings.. is it because it’s the day of the dead and weary souls?? hehe! It’s simply because Halloween is a holiday where we remembers those loved ones who just passed away and also because this day is the day of those movie killers that we love. They should have our respect because they are the ones who brings Halloween back to life and death hehe..

When Halloween comes.. those movie monsters will always be remembered! Namely considering that it’s Halloween.. Michael Myers is the first in the list. Followed by Jayson Vorhees, Freddy Krueger, Charles Lee Ray (Chucky), Pinhead, Leatherface, It, Ghostface, Candyman, Hollowman, Poltergeist, The Omen, and the latest.. Esther Klammer (The Orphan).. that’s all I remember I guess.. hehe.. the rest of the movie monsters sucks big time! like Sadako.. haha.. I think this special day should be given to them as a respect by having a good’ol classic movie marathon! and I’m starting with Halloween! Oh by the way, I wasn’t able to watch the latest franchise of the sequel to Halloween by Rob Zombie because I got stucked up at Glorietta for my voter’s id registration.. (Ugh! it was really frustrating) This special day made my spirit up and make my pain go away! lols! I guess i was the only one in my family who signifies the importance of Halloween especially in the movie genre, and the only one in my college class who loves Halloween and scary movies so bad.. lols! I guess I was born to be a killer.. and this is the early symptoms hehe just kidding! It’s because my Daddy let me watch Child’s Play when I was 5 yrs old. That mistake made me so crazy about horror films.. and one day.. I’ll be a writer and director and I will make a hell of a movie that can scare for all time!I don’t know why some people don’t like horror stuffs.. maybe they can’t face the fact that there are some things in this world that are meant to scare them. They just can’t take a little scream because they are so coward! hehe just kidding! don’t get offended if you’re one of those scardy cats who face away when the movie starts..

In other news.. Candice Michelle is expected to give her big news this upcoming Nov.1. Evryone is expecting that it is wrestling related because everyone wants to see her again in a wrestling attire… in TNA! hehe.. I’m one of them.. *sometimes I get my hopes up*..

Hmm .. so it’s been a very exciting night because we all got the spooks out of each other.. Till next time … It’s movie marathon time! lols!

BTW, who wants to come with me tomorrow at Sm Manila to watch Halloween 2??? and it’s not my treat! amp! hehe.. Pls come with me.. I’m not scared.. I just want someone to talk to whenever I wanted to praise the film..

Goodnyt for those who don’t know that it’s Halloween.. and hello for those people like me who got KILLER written all over their face! hehe..

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

>MJ<

Halloween is here. Time to rent some scary-ass movies to keep you up all night. Here are a few of the scarier ones. For some reason, demonic kids seem to be a recurring theme in these movies. Maybe that’s why I haven’t had kids yet.

Something VERY exciting is happening!

Pinewood Studios is opening it’s doors to public movie screenings this weekend.

In true Halloween style, the event kicks off with The Omen (4pm) and The Shining (8pm).  Other films to follow include Slumdog Millionaire, V For Vendetta and Harry Potter – check the link above for exact dates and timings.

A standard ticket is £35 for 1 car, or you could push the boat out and go for the VIP ticket at £55, which includes premium parking and service.  Split that between 4 of you and it works out fairly reasonably!

For tickets click here

See you there – toot toot!

Christopher Lee

By Grace Wong for CNN

London, England (CNN) — Although his name is synonymous with horror, Christopher Lee says he doesn’t have much desire to see pictures that fall under that genre these days.

The 87-year-old, who helped Britain’s legendary Hammer studios breathe new life into the horror genre in the 1950s, says he rarely watches horror films.

“I find it quite nauseating what they do,” Lee told CNN. “The blood is all over the screen like an avalanche — the mutilation — dreadful things, and I just don’t enjoy that.”

The veteran actor, who played Count Dracula and Frankenstein in a series of Hammer movies from the 1950s until the 1970s, says it’s “obscene” how much is displayed in horror films today.

“What you don’t see is far more frightening than what you do see,” said Lee, who considers Roman Polanski’s 1968 supernatural thriller “Rosemary’s Baby” the scariest film he’s ever seen.

That may explain his attraction to upcoming psychological chiller “The Resident,” his first Hammer film in more than 30 years.

Starring Hilary Swank and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the movie is about a young doctor whose landlord develops a creepy obsession with her.

Lee was a perfect fit for the film, which takes on a nightmarish quality in a nod to the noir style of Alfred Hitchcock, director Antti Jokinen says.

“He has that presence that a movie like this needs because a single look can be the scary atmosphere that you need,” Jokinen told CNN.

“The Resident,” due out in the spring, is the first theatrical feature under the banner of the re-launched Hammer Films. It is being revived by new investors who bought the company two years ago.

Lee says his reunion with Hammer is ironic in a way. He didn’t leave the studio on the best of terms — “I’m not going to go into it, but take it from me, they ruined it,” he says of his last Hammer film, bizarre 1976 cult classic “To the Devil a Daughter.”

Some remarkable films did come out of that era: He describes black-and-white “Scream of Fear” (1961) as “brilliant,” and fondly recalls working with the close-knit Hammer team, which was like a family.

“Occasionally they’d change the cameraman or something but otherwise the whole crew was the same all the time, and I knew all of them extremely well,” he said.

But the white-haired actor doesn’t wax nostalgic. “Not every Hammer film was perfect,” he said.

In 1966’s “Prince of Darkness,” he ended up playing the character of Dracula silent because the lines “were not good and I couldn’t do anything with them.”

Lee played a central role in the rise of Hammer, starring in 1958’s “Dracula,” which helped both him and the studio gain international recognition.

The film was instrumental in launching a golden era for the production house, whose films, with their gothic qualities and use of vibrant colors, helped reinvigorate the horror genre.

But the movies began to seem outdated as movies like “The Exorcist” and “The Omen” came on the scene, and Hammer produced its last film in 1976.

Lee — or to be precise, Sir Christopher Lee, after Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in June — has come a long way since his first Dracula film, a six-week job that he says paid £750.

Although he’s often associated with Hammer films, Lee is quick to point out that he hasn’t really taken many horror roles.

Aside from the Dracula movies, “The Curse of Frankenstein” (1957) and “The Mummy” (1959), “I haven’t done lots of horror,” the prolific actor told CNN.

Of course, that hasn’t kept him from achieving cult status among horror fans.

Included in his legion of fans is “The Resident” co-star Morgan, who says he “hit the ceiling with excitement” when he found out Lee was joining the cast.

Morgan told CNN: “He’s got this kind of dignity to him that’s just great.

“I work with so many actors that don’t have respect for what we do, or respect for the history of what we do and not only does he respect it, but he is a part of the history of this craft.”

Over the decades Lee has starred in hundreds of movies. He has a predilection for playing baddies, including Bond villain Scaramanga in “The Man with the Golden Gun” (1974).

“I haven’t spent my entire career playing the guy in the bad hat, although I have to say that the bad guy is frequently much more interesting than the good guy,” Lee said.

His more recent film credits include the menacing Saruman in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and fallen Jedi knight Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequels.

But he considers 1973’s “The Wicker Man” “the best picture I’ve ever done.” The role was written for him and remains his favorite.

“They didn’t have to look for me to play the part; they wrote the part for me,” which doesn’t happen very often, he said.

Lee has kept a busy work schedule. In addition to “The Resident,” he stars alongside Colin Farrell in the soon-to-be-released “Triage,” is involved in a film from the director of “The Wicker Man” and lends his voice to animated film “Monstermania!”

Lee, who doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, despite approaching the age of 90, is pragmatic about his extraordinary career.

“Well,” he said. “What else would I do?”

Read MORE about Christopher Lee HERE

La Huérfana (dir: Jaume Collet-Serra, 2009)

Como buena amante del cine de terror y en especial de las películas que mezclan inocencia y maldad, ya sea a través de muñecos diabólicos o de niños poseídos, el otro día estuve viendo la recién estrenada “The Orphan” (“La Huérfana“).

Esther by Isabelle Fuhrman

Debo decir que en general el film me sorprendió gratamente…a pesar de que la temática (padres traumatizados por la pérdida de un hijo que adoptan niño/a perverso/a) está ya muy trillada y ha habido mejores películas que tratan el tema (como la archiconocida “The Omen” – “La Profecía“- o la quizá menos conocida y más antigüilla pero igualmente genial “The Bad Seed” de Mervyn LeRoy) teniendo en cuenta el panorama cinematográfico actual del género de miedo/terror/suspense, es de lo mejor que he visto ultimamente, aunque cabe aclarar que más que un film de terror es un thriller ya que el argumento se centra en las pesquisas de la madre (Vera Farmiga) para descubrir el pasado del monstruito al que da cobijo.

La actuación de Isabelle Fuhrman, que interpreta a la huérfana, es en mi opinión magistral, lo mejor de la película. El personaje en sí también está bien desarrollado y en un principio incluso causa simpatía

(la niña diferente o incomprendida que es rechazada por el resto) pero a medida que avanza la película vamos descubriendo que tras la apariencia de niña madura, culta, agradable y delicada de la huerfanita se esconde algo más… en ese sentido el film está bastante bien conseguido, creando una atmósfera extraña y tensa que hace que nos enganchemos a la película y queramos verla hasta el final.

The Orphan

Hay escenas muy buenas, como la del parque de juegos en el que a través de la música y los planos el director es capaz de introducir una atmósfera sumamente angustiosa en un lugar de diversión infantil.

Quizá lo que menos me gustó es la estereotipación de ciertos personajes, como el de la madre amante, atribulada y preocupada por sus hijos y el del padre pasota (que finalmente termina siendo “castigado” por los guionistas, como en toda película de terror que se precie).

23ª Participación para el concurso de la mano de DarkMoon! Gracias y Suerte!!!

by Andrea Burke

This was actually a hard list to make because the horror genre is sub-divided into many smaller genres. You have your slashers, your suspense, your vamps, goblins, werewolfs, ghouls, Your classic ghost stories, the horror films with a comedic edge, and for me, I have the ones I grew up watching that are inevitably cloaked with nostalgia, like Arachnaphobia or It (I’m objective enough to see they’re both horrible in their own special ways, but still…).

But the top 10 were chosen for being well-rounded: a good story, good characters, and of course, a few good scares.

Top 10 Horror movies for Halloween Week

1. Psycho- I posted the original theatrical trailer starring Hitchcock himself which is a little long, but I love Hitch.

2. The Orphanage- (not to be confused with the lame-looking “The Orphan” that recently came out) You may not have heard of this Spanish film, but it is the absolute best “horror” movie from the last decade. Its produced by Guillermo del Toro, the man behind Pan’s Labyrinth

3. Halloween (NOT the Remake, The Original with Jamie Lee Curtis)

4. The Omen

5. Rear Window

6. Wait Until Dark

7. Nightmare on Elm Street- Just recently saw this one, and it would be higher on the list if the main girl would have been more likable.

8. The 6th Sense- The movie that introduced us to M. Night, still his best movie to date.

9. The Others

10. The Lost Boys – Okay, this is a little Vampire number from the 80s and it represents its decade well. 24’s Keiffer Sutherland plays one of the vamps.

Why these 3 Horror “Classics” didn’t make the list:

1. The most obvious omission: The Exorcist. I’ve seen it. And more than scared, I was grossed out. I get it- the devil is inside this young girl making her do repulsive things, but instead of being afraid of the devil’s power, which is what I assume we’re supposed to be afraid of, I just wondered what kind of sicko would want to film this real live girl acting out the part of a devil-possessed girl.

2. Rosemary’s Baby. In high school, I made a big group of friends watch this after it got named #2 on some Horror movie list. It turned out to be overrated and boring even though some of the dream scenes were disturbing.

3. Night of the Living Dead. Here’s one I haven’t seen, something new to watch this week because its on Netflix Instant View!

Hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween!

Comme j’adore le mois d’Octobre, l’Halloween et les films d’horreur, j’ai décidé de faire le premier Horreur-o-thon des Bipolaires! En effet, j’écouterai un film de peur par jour jusqu’au 31, alors revenez lire mes critiques quotidiennes…si vous en avez le courage! MOUAHAHAHAAA!

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Je serai bref car je veux aller faire dodo.  La vague de films d’horreur/thriller à connotations religieuses des années 70 était vraiment une mine d’or pour le genre.  The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby et The Omen sont tous excellents et déstabilisants, mettant en scène des enfants et/ou des mères.  Dans The Omen, la terreur est provoquée surtout par le fait qu’un enfant est supposément le fils du Diable.  En effet, un être censé être protégé doit maintenant être tué…par son père.  Le dilemme est mis en lumière tout au long du film, autant par le personnage principal (Gregory Peck) que par le spectateur lui-même, qui hésite à vouloir la mort du bambin (mot copyright TVA).  Finalement, même si vous n’êtes pas des fanatiques religieux (en fait, SURTOUT si vous n’êtes pas des fanatiques religieux!), vous aimerez l’atmosphère lugubre et fataliste de The Omen de Richard Donner.

Note finale: 8.5/10

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Meilleure citation: “Have no fear, little one… I am here to protect thee.” (La nounou de l’enfer!)

Meilleure mort: Keith le photographe perd la tête! HAHAHA! Quel jeu de mot exquis!

Y’as-tu des tits?!:  Non.

Saviez-vous que…:  Il y aurait une malédiction après le film? Voici in extrait de IMDB:

Having changed its title from “The Antichrist” to “The Birthmark,” the film seemed to fall victim to a sinister curse. Star Gregory Peck and screenwriter David Seltzer took separate planes to the UK…yet BOTH planes were struck by lightning. While producer Harvey Bernhard was in Rome, lightning just missed him. Rottweilers hired for the film attacked their trainers. A hotel at which director Richard Donner was staying got bombed by the IRA; he was also struck by a car. After Peck canceled another flight, to Israel, the plane he would have chartered crashed…killing all on board. On day one of the shoot, several principal members of the crew survived a head-on car crash. The jinx appeared to persist well into post-production… when special effects artist John Richardson was injured and his girlfriend beheaded in an accident on the set of A Bridge Too Far (1977).

Comme j’adore le mois d’Octobre, l’Halloween et les films d’horreur, j’ai décidé de faire le premier Horreur-o-thon des Bipolaires! En effet, j’écouterai un film de peur par jour jusqu’au 31, alors revenez lire mes critiques quotidiennes…si vous en avez le courage! MOUAHAHAHAAA!

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Ce soir, j’allais regarder The Omen, mais les vigilants employés du Blockbuster de Kirkland m’ont donné le remake. En allant l’échanger tantôt, il n’y avait plus de copies de l’original.  Alors, j’ai sélectionné Psycho III de ma collection personnelle. Je vous entend déjà me dire “pourquoi t’écoute la DEUXIEME suite du classique de Hitchcock?!”.  Eh bien, parce que j’ai tellement vu l’original souvent que je le connais par coeur et que j’ai réécouté Psycho II récemment.  Par ailleurs, les suites du film du maître du suspense sont bien meilleures qu’elles en ont l’air.

Malgré le fait que Psycho II soit meilleur, le troisième volet est assez réussi, réalisé par Norman Bate en personne, Anthony Perkins.  Le tueur en série retombe encore une fois dans la folie, à cause de sa mère squelettique. Par contre, une ex-nonne suicidaire (oui oui) arrive dans sa vie, lui rappelant Marion Crane, son coup de foudre qu’il avait trucidé sous la douche.

Le personnage de Norman Bates vit des expériences intriguantes dans ce volet, tentant enfin d’avoir une relation amoureuse sans qu’elle ne se termine en bain de sang.  Perkins a maintenant Norman Bates tatoué dans l’esprit et atteint encore une fois toutes les notes justes, en se permettant de beurrer plus épais à quelques reprises. De plus, sa réalisation est plutôt impressionnante, usant d’éclairages psychédéliques et d’effets de caméra insolite pour donner un aspect surréel au film.

Réalisé en 1986, au sommet des slashers, les redondantes scènes de meurtres semblent davantage tirés des Friday the 13th, mais ce sont les conséquences pour le personnage de Norman qui sont plus intéressantes à voir, lui qui est toujours à un cheveu de perruque de vieille dame de se faire prendre.  Bref, bien que la série Psycho aille en se dégradant (un quatrième film/prequel pour la télé a aussi été fait, mais ça ne vaut pas la peine d’en parler), Psycho III est tout de même divertissant et propose une fin satisfaisante pour Norman Bates et sa mère.

Note finale: 7.5/10

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Meilleure citation:

Nonne: -”I must’ve made an awful mess of your bathroom.”

Norman: “Oh, I’ve seen it much worse.”

Meilleure mort: La rousse dans la cabine téléphonique (hommage à la douche?).

Y’as-tu des tits!?: Oh ouais. La rousse ci-dessus a les globes du plaisir visibles pendant un bon 10 minutes.

Saviez-vous que…: Antony Perkins voulait tourner le film en noir et blanc, mais Universal a dit “uhmm…non”.

Up next was The Omen (1976). I had planned on watching Ghostbusters II, but my little sister wanted to watch a horror movie with me, and had no interest in that one. She wanted to watch “a classic,” so I thought The Omen fit the bill. I include some clips below, sorry about the hardcoded Polish subtitles. Originally I had wanted to save it for an “evil kid” theme day, but there are enough movies with evil children in them that I’ll still be able to have a full lineup even without The Omen.

Watching it this time, I’m actually glad I didn’t save it, because I had never noticed before how relatively low Damien was on the evil kid scale. Yes, he is Satan’s spawn, but throughout the film he doesn’t really do anything particularly evil except accidentally. So he freaks out when his parents try to take him to a church! I think that there are many people who feel that way about church. In fact, most of the things that are supposed to demonstrate his evil nature are awful things that happen around him and that will probably scar him for life:

1. At his birthday, his beloved nanny hangs himself in his honor. Not only did someone close to him die, but it totally ruined his birthday. One minute Damien is chilling on a sweet carousel in his backyard, the next minute, everyone is screaming and crying, and his birthday party is canceled. You would think that Satan would send his own son a better birthday present than a dead friend and a ruined party, like maybe bags of gold or a pony.
   

   Hooray for birthdays!

   

   Anti-hooray for dead nannies.

2. Lee Remick takes him to a zoo with a drive-through safari section, and their car is attacked by a gang of violent baboons. They are slightly different from Rafiki in The Lion King in case you were wondering, as Rafiki is a shaman who helps animals fulfill their destinies, and the baboons in The Omen are terrifying, bloodthirsty beasts who want to rip Lee Remick and Damien to shreds. Perhaps that is the reason that mandrills like Rafiki are no longer classified as baboons. You don’t have to watch the whole clip, the relevant part is at the beginning.
3. After his nanny dies, a clearly evil replacement nanny moves into the room adjacent his. If a scary woman had come into my room and said “Have no fear, I am here to protect thee,” I would have developed a permanent phobia of nannies.
4. He is having fun riding his tricycle around the house, and then his nanny/personal apostate of Satan opens the door so he accidentally rides right into his mom and she falls over the banister and into the foyer below, which puts her in the hospital. I don’t  need to explain why this is bad.

Basically, it is not very fun to be the Anti-Christ, although it does make for a great movie; the nanny scene and the baboon scene are two of the best horror scenes of all time.

I would much rather hang out with Damien than the little girl from The Bad Seed, who would probably murder me for my shoes or something.

If you’ve never seen this movie (doubtful), here is a short summary:  Gregory Peck is an American diplomat living in Rome, where his wife, Lee Remick, gives birth to a son.  An evil priest kills the child, tells Gregory Peck that he died of natural causes, and somehow convinces him that instead of letting his wife know, he should take a random replacement baby and raise him as his own. Peck becomes Ambassador to Great Britain, and they live in an enormous house there. Sinister things happen involving Damien, an evil nanny comes to live with them, a crazy priest tells Gregory Peck that Damien is the Anti-Christ and he needs to kill him, Gregory Peck and a photographer travel to Israel to meet an archaeologist who gives them some holy Anti-Christ-killing knives, Lee Remick gets pushed out of a window, the evil nanny tries to kill Gregory Peck but he kills her instead, and then the police shoot him right before he can kill Damien. It was all in vain.

In general, the characters of the Ambassador and his wife are intelligent people who make good choices and react to things in appropriate ways, unlike many characters in horror movies (even ones that I love).  However, they make one bizarre and inexplicable mistake. If this woman showed up at your house with vague answers about being sent by a nanny agency, would you let her immediately move in and be with your child alone?

"Hello, I am here to eat your SOUL"

Probably not. You would probably not let her in your house at all. Furthermore, she is a terrible nanny who is constantly overstepping her bounds with them, and they don’t fire her. I guess Gregory Peck learns from his mistake, because she tries to kill him later in the film

Another avoidable problem in The Omen is that Gregory Peck probably would have accepted the fact that Damien was the Anti-Christ a lot sooner if Father Brennan had tried for one moment not to sound like a crazy person. I don’t know how he expected the Ambassador to take him seriously when in his first meeting with him he insists upon being totally cryptic and saying things like “TASTE THE FLESH OF CHRIST” without providing any satisfactory explanation. When he finally gets around to saying what he needs to say, he says it in such a bizarre way that it is a little hard to take him seriously. If you are trying to convince someone that his child is Satan’s spawn and needs to die, it’s generally best to try to present the facts in a logical manner, rather than shout about passages from Revelations and old men named Bugenhagen. This would have been a more practical way to go about the meeting:

"Oh hey, hi, thank you for meeting with me. I am a priest from Rome. As you know, your son was born five years ago on June 6th, at 6AM. You were told that your son was still-born, but actually there was an evil priest who brutally murdered him and substituted him with Satan's spawn. I know that may seem hard to believe, but if you reflect upon recent events and things that your wife has told you, I think you might agree that something is up with Damien. Also, here is a passage from the Bible that makes sense in context if you let me explain it to you calmly over coffee."

"Wow, that is interesting, now that you mention it, that is completely plausible. Thanks, I will investigate this further and with haste."

Apparently the reason for his bizarre behavior is that he was actually dying of cancer and on huge amount of morphine. Personally, I think that if he were really serious about preventing the rise of the Anti-Christ he would have gone easy on the morphine on the day when he had to talk to Gregory Peck. Maybe if that had happened, Gregory Peck would have killed Damien in time to prevent the rise of the Anti-Christ. It wouldn’t have made a very good movie, though.

A couple of years ago the remake of The Omen came out. It wasn’t terrible, but it is not necessarily something you should see, as it is essentially a carbon copy of the original but with Julia Stiles as Lee Remick and Liev Shrieber as Gregory Peck.

Anne rating: 8/10 for the movie itself, 4/10 for the inability of characters to communicate with each other in an effective manner.

Orphan (2009)
★★★ / ★★★★

I was pleasantly surprised how effective this psychological thriller was. With a running time of two hours, it was able to build up the tension it needed to truly scare the audience when the evil child began to unravel what she was capable of. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, “Orphan” was about a mother who is still mourning for the loss of her baby (Vera Farmiga), a father who wants to help the family move on from a tragic loss (Peter Sarsgaard), and their decision to adopt a precocious girl named Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) to join their family. Little did they know that Esther has a plethora of secrets of her own and it would take a great deal of effort and energy (and a whole lot of convincing) to unravel just one of them. It is really difficult for me to say any more about this film without giving away the final twist. But let me just say that this movie did not cheat (i.e. result into supernatural explanation or fancy camera work) to achieve that twist so I was impressed. This picture definitely reminded me of “The Good Son” and “The Omen,” just because a child was a villain in both. However, I think this film was on a different level of excitement because, unlike “The Good Son,” the villain’s methods are much more graphic yet insidious, and unlike “The Omen,” it is actually grounded in realism and that made the picture more haunting. I also liked the fact that the other two kids in the family (Jimmy Bennett and Aryana Engineer) had important roles that drove the movie forward. If I were to nitpick, the only thing I thought the movie could have worked on was the history regarding Esther. By the end of the film, I felt like there were a lot more that the audiences did not find out about her and what made her the way she is. Other than Farmiga as the mother who no one believes in and labels as paranoid (which brought “Rosemary’s Baby” to mind), Fuhrman is a stand out. I want to see her in more movies and her range of acting because she made me believe that a child was capable of doing all those horrible things. Even though “child-killer” movies have been done before, I enjoyed this flick because I could not help but imagine that if I was in the mother’s situation, I would do absolutely anything to keep that evil child away from me and my family.

Everyone’s inner man is loving this. (Yes, even women have inner men, hence the word women)

Today, I would like to talk about ‘Law Abiding Citizen,’ which is set to be released October 16th 2009. Why? Because it looks like Die Hard 4.0, Phone Booth, Miami Vice and Shoot ‘Em Up all rolled into one, that’s why.  Frankly, it’s going to be the most actiony (I just invented a word!) action film in quite a long time. The best thing about its release is that… Everyone loves a good action film and everyone else loves a good action film with Gerald Butler in it (I know you’re nodding).

But don’t just think it’s all guns and explosions and corrupted legal systems, because whilst it is all of that, there’s more. Butler (who ultimately gained my respect after his performances in Phantom Of The Opera and 300) displays what can only be described as award-worthy acting as an emotionally destroyed husband, father and all around family man. An emotionally demanding part, right? Emotion which I believe he incorporated from earlier movies of his such as P.S I love you, more recently The Ugly Truth and even more recently,Gamer (all very good films may I add)

Now unless you are incapable of reader the poster to the left, you would have also noticed Jamie Foxx (Collateral, Ray, The Kingdom) is also one of the films main protagonists, who plays ‘a heroic yet corrupt D.A.‘ Other noticable appearances include; Sir Michael Gambon (Harry Potter, Layer Cake, The Omen), Viola Davis (Solaris, Disturbia, State Of Play), Bruce McGill (Ali, Matchstick Men, Collateral) and Leslie Bibb (Iron Man, the upcoming Trick’R'treat (Which I will be doing an article on), and Iron man 2). So I think I’ve yapped on enough, now I leave you with the impressive trailer . Enjoy.