Went to the Cinema in Gimhae on Saturday. Saw Avatar. It really is a lot like FernGully. But without Tim Curry. Which is a shame really. But apart from that it was really, really good. If you don’t mind ignoring the unoriginal story or the predictability of it all then it’s very enjoyable. Looks amazing and is pretty exciting too. Unfortunately the 3D showing was sold out but if you get the chance, go see it in 3D and let me know how it is. I quite like the idea of being punched in the eyes by a big blue alien.

Gimhae is about 15-20 minutes away by taxi, and at 8,000 won (about £4) it’s not expensive to get there. The bus would be even cheaper but the taxi was quicker. It’s a bigger city than Jangyu… I’ve written that a few times now. OK. Unless I say otherwise, when referring to another city or town, always assume that it’s bigger than Jangyu. Anyway, there’s a lot of foreigners in Gimhae apparently and there’s even an apartment complex which is almost fully foreign. I didn’t see it but imagine that it was similar to the Johannesburg prawn camp in District 9. Despite the abundant western population, you still get the lookers and the starers and the groups of 13 year old girls who will run giggling and screaming into the busy roads at the mere sight of a group of white devils. It’s not that bad really. I’m kind of used to it now. Every now and then I’ll get one which surprises me, such as the old man who bowed to me and then crossed himself, bowed, and crossed himself, over and over until I’d walked past him. A lot of the time the attention is friendly, like the two girls in an Indian restaurant who upon seeing a group of us came over and said “We are High School students. Can we have photo?” I wasn’t really sure why the first sentence was required. Some things I think are a bit wrong, like not being allowed into a club because “Korean only!” But you just shrug those things off and go drink somewhere else. Although I think it’s somewhat ironic that the place that doesn’t let in foreigners is called ‘Newcastle’. Hey ho. Mostly it’s just a sea of “hello!”’s from kids which I suppose is preferable to “give us ya wallet or we’ll knife ya blud.”

Back to Gimhae. After the movie we went to a Chinese place (run by Koreans) and had lamb. It was so very, very tasty. Also there was Chinese beer and spirits including one which was some horrific 60+% creation that you were supposed to “sip. Not in one. Sip it.” I saw someone who didn’t get the warning and I’m glad I chose to sip it. But it did prolong the experience. Also, an Australian guy made mulled wine which tasted like Christmas.

Oh yeah, Christmas. It doesn’t really feel like Christmas here. Aside from the tree in in the lobby at work, and the 12 (badly) covered Christmas tracks that play on a loop and just make me shut the office door, it’s not being mushed into my face like a festive pie as much as it usually is back home by TV, radio, newspapers, shops and everything else. Or maybe it’s just that I don’t understand what they’re saying. So it’s nice to have a toned down Christmas build-up. Although I am jealous of the snow in England. I’ve been told that it never snows here and it’s because the gods hate Jangyu. Unfair if you ask me.

Change of gear. I was sick the other day. Actually sick. I haven’t been sick in ages. I’d forgotten what it was like. It wasn’t even slightly enjoyable. Food poisoning or something I think. So I had an early night to try and beat off whatever it was (it worked by the way, I was more or less fine the next day, thanks for asking). My doorbell went off at around 2am and that’s strange because I think it’s only the second time someone’s used it since I’ve been here. Given the size of my apartment, a knock on the door is plenty sufficient. Well, I stumbled to the door half asleep and questioning whether I had actually heard the doorbell or whether it was a dream. Then I though that it might be like a horror film, and when I opened the door there would be no one there. So I’d close the door thinking nothing else of it and turn around, but the ghost would be right there staring at me and just start kicking me in the shins and the knees. Then I wondered why a ghost would have to use the doorbell at all. But it wasn’t a ghost, it was a guy in a motorbike helmet holding up a white plastic bag. I looked at him. He looked at me. I looked at him some more. Then I looked at the bag for a bit. He carried on looking at me and then he said “chicken?” So I said “chicken?” (as you would in the situation). Then he realised that he had pressed the wrong bell and that he wanted next door. He was a takeaway delivery driver.

Well in case I don’t get a chance to say it before Friday 즐거운 크리쓰마쓰 (that’s ‘joyful Christmas’) or 메리 크리쓰마쓰 (which is just ‘merry Christmas’ but written in Korean).

Build a snowman in my image!

This time Kevin does not get left behind . . . he gets on the wrong flight instead. Heading for a family Christmas in Florida, Kevin ends up in the opposite direction New York City. With his dad’s credit cards and money in tow, his first stop is the Plaza hotel!

But he soon bumps into Harry and Merv who escaped from prison after robbing houses the previous Christmas, until Kevin stopped them of course. So they just happen to bump into each other in NYC. Which is bound to make them want to get back at Kevin right? Totally and then we can see Kevin set up more traps etc to catch them again. An added bonus for this film is having Tim Curry in it as Mr Hector the Hotel Concierge, I just love him and he does not disappoint when he is in this film for comedy value.

I had not seen this film for quite a long time so could not really remember everything in it, but on watching it today I have to admit that the scenes with the Bird Lady were actually rather deep and emotional. Especially when he gives her one of the turtle doves, and tells her that they will always be friends as they each have a turtle-dove. They help each other out in times of need, and Kevin actually helps her out a lot. I found this so heartwarming and generally nice. Something I could not remember from watching this film years ago, it kinda hit a nerve. (See below for the dialogue from that scene).

Bird Lady: The man I loved fell out of love with me. That broke my heart. When the chance to be loved came along again, I ran away from it. I stopped trusting people.
Kevin McCallister: No offense, but that seems like sort of a dumb thing to do.
Bird Lady: I was afraid of getting my heart broken again. Sometimes you can trust a person, and then, when things are down, they forget about you.
Kevin McCallister: Maybe they’re just too busy. Maybe they don’t forget about you, but they forget to remember you. People don’t mean to forget. My grandfather says if my head wasn’t screwed on, I’d leave it on the school bus.
Bird Lady: I’m just afraid if I do trust someone, I’ll get my heart broken.
Kevin McCallister: I understand. I had a nice pair of Rollerblades. I was afraid to wreck them, so I kept them in a box. Do you know what happened? I outgrew them. I never wore them outside. Only in my room a few times.
Bird Lady: A person’s heart and feelings are very different than skates.
Kevin McCallister: They’re kind of the same thing. If you won’t use your heart, who cares if it gets broken? If you just keep it to yourself, maybe it’ll be like my Rollerblades. When you do decide to try it, it won’t be any good. You should take a chance. Got nothing to lose.
Bird Lady: Little truth in there somewhere.
Kevin McCallister: I think so. Your heart might still be broken, but it isn’t gone. If it was gone, you wouldn’t be so nice.
Bird Lady: Thank you. Do you know it’s been a couple of years since I’ve talked to anybody?
Kevin McCallister: That’s okay. You’re good at it. You’re not boring. You don’t mumble or spit. You should do it more often. Just wear an outfit with no pigeon poop on it.
Bird Lady: I have been working very hard at keeping people away. I always think I’ll have a lot of fun if I’m alone… but when I’m alone, it’s not fun.
Kevin McCallister: I don’t care how much people bug me, I’d rather be with someone than alone.

I guess this really hit a nerve and got to me because everyone knows what its like to wanting to be alone, but knowing that being alone is not very nice at all. I think it’s an important Christmas message of not wanting to really be alone, especially at this time of year. Also a lot of people have had their hearts broken at some point and trying to move on and let someone else in is a big task, watching this we would not want to end up being the bird lady !

Anyway that whole scene totally changed my viewing of this film, it is a lot of fun like “Home Alone” seeing the kid win against the adults is just brilliant. While also seeing different landmarks around NYC, which is always very nice to watch in a film. A kid alone in NYC with credit cards and money ?!?! How much trouble can he get in? Well booking a room in the Plaza and running up nearly a one thousand dollar room service bill for one. But also making friends with a toy shop owner and getting presents for the whole family on Christmas morning.

Definitely another good film to watch over the festive period.

Director – Frank Marshall

Cast – Laura Linney, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson, Tim Curry, Grant Heslov, Joe Don Baker, Lorene Noh, Mary Ellen Trainor, Bruce Campbell, Misty Rosas

Release Year – 1995

Reviewed by John of the Dead

I remember enjoying this film so much as a child given my love for movies involving killer animals. Based on the acclaimed novel “Congo” by author Michael Critchton, this flick gives us an interesting antagonist…an unknown breed of killer gorillas.

This film opens with an expedition into the heart of the African Congo in search of a rare diamond that will revolutionize the communications industry. When the expedition goes sour and the company loses communication with Charles Travis(Bruce Campbell), the company sends his former fiancé and current scientist Dr. Karen Ross(Laura Linney, who also appeared in The Mothman Prophesies and The Exorcism of Emily Rose) to find out what went on and get the diamond her megalomaniac CEO craves so much. She joins up with a gorilla researcher named Dr. Peter Elliot who is on his way to the congo himself to release his sign-language talking gorilla, Amy, into the wild. Joined by the eccentric explorer Herkermer Homolka and a few mercenaries they embark on their mission but soon encounter a furry foe that prefers humans over bananas. HAHA!

I really like the idea for this film and personally find horror/thriller films taking place in the jungle to be quite creepy. There are many places for the antagonist to hide itself and this film only gets better once the discover the diamond city of Zing, which just pretty much whispers the word “creepy” in your ear the second you see it. Director Frank Marshall(who also directed Arachnophobia) did an excellent job with this film’s atmosphere, sets, and the awesome look of the killer gorillas.

The use of characters in this film was enjoyable as a few of them add the usual comic relief while others gain your attention and respect right away such as the character of lead mercenary Captain Munro Kelly(Ernie Hudson, otherwise known as “Winston Zeddmore” of Ghostbusters fame). I especially enjoyed the use of Tim Curry as the eccentric explorer in the film. He seems to personify all of his roles pretty well, especially as “Pennywise” the clown in “It”. Hehe. Aside from looking so much like John Mayer, actor Dylan Walsh did a find job as Dr. Peter Elliot and Laura Linney surprisingly had the most one-liners in the film.

The use of the killer monkeys has to be my favorite aspect of the film, and unfortunately we don’t get much of that action until the last 30 minutes of the film. I really respect director Frank Marshall for opting to use live-action effects for the monkeys instead of the computer effects he was originally going to use given how great they looked in Jurassic Park(which came out two years earlier). The look of the gorillas was awesome as they had some weird looking stuff on and around their faces and they were completely grey. Not like “silverback” gorillas, but GREY gorillas. Pretty creepy looking to say the least.

My only knacks for this film are the usual of films at this time. The editing was a bit choppy and the dialogue could have used some improvement. It gets cheesy in a “Hollywood” way at times(the last 10 minutes of the film) but I can look past that.

Overall, this is a positive film that is sure to please those showing an interest in this sub-genre of killer animals. Those not interested in that sub-genre will probably not find this film as enjoyable.

Rating: 6/10

Reviewed by Alicia Glass

Director: Nick Willing

Age: 17+

Website: Alice

Review Rating: 9

 A hundred years or so after the original adventure through wonderland, a new kickass Alice finds her way to a signifigantly changed Wonderland to look for her boyfriend Jack.

 This is an incredibly fantastic piece of work from the Tin-Man folks! If you can envision the original Alice in Wonderland story as a somewhat dark and wicked adventure for children, then this new Alice is like that, but for adults!

 The changes are big: this new Alice has long black hair and looks a lot like American McGee’s Alice, plus she knows karate! The Red Queen, played by the ever-imposing Kathy Bates, is still lopping off heads, but she now runs the biggest pleasure Casino in Wonderland. The Casino is stuffed with humans culled from the real world, referred to as “oysters”, who are drained of their emotions as the House of Cards lets them win and win and win, and eventually the ultimate prize: death, at the hands of soul drainage. The Mad Hatter is a thief and middle man, trying to balance the Queen’s wrath and the Resistance that fights them. The Dodo, a soldier for the Resistance who’s gone a little mad with it, is acted by the ever wicked and scheming Tim Curry! The March Hare is actually this assassin guy who had the bad taste to get killed, and is reinvented as a cyborg killing machine with, you guessed it, a rabbits head from a mad scientist. And of course, leader of the Resistance itself is the never-forgettable Caterpillar, complete with his hookah! And, quite possibly my favorite part: the Queen’s Suits (as in troops) have suits (as in playing cards) on their suits (as in clothing)! I am liking to die of amused cackles!

It’s not for everyone, and you do really need to be an Alice in Wonderland fan in order to truly appreciate this fine piece of original tv. But for those of you that are, and I know there are lots, this is truly a Wonderland of adult entertainment!

När jag hörde att det skulle göras en miniserie på Lewis Carrolls klassiker Alice i Underlandet och att cluedo transvestiten Tim Curry skulle vara med som villain satte jag den glatt direkt på min ’ska se’ lista. Nu vet jag inte riktigt om jag ångrar att jag gjorde det.

Att göra en saga “modern” är aldrig riktigt lätt. Oftast handlar det om att fokusera sig på sagans huvudtema och sedan slänga bort allt det där typiskt magiska (från möss till pumpor) för att ersätta med någonting som funkar i dagens samhälle. Askungen är nog det första och lättaste exemplet som slår mitt huvud när jag tänker på sagor som överförts till nutid. Vem säger att man behöver en blåklädd mormor för att fixa hair & makeup?

Alice i Underlandet är betydligt svårare att modernisera. Antingen tycker jag att man går hela vägen ut och gör det hela frickin’ amazing med scenografin och kostym, rena rama acid-trippen/Tim Burton style, eller så gör man det riktigt riktigt Lars Norén modernt med svarta kläder och små ångestframkallande radhus. Alice (2009) har hamnat någonstans mitt emellan. Den är varken tillräcklig magisk för att bli trogen boken eller tillräckligt “modern” för att få en att sugas in i dramatiken. I första avsnittet störde jag mest på att alla majoriteten av skådespelarna var ungefär lika övertygande som Keanu Reeves är när han säger att han kan Kung Fu. Om det beror på det dåliga manuset vet jag inte… Andra avsnittet ryckte det upp sig en skala och man började fatta lite tycke för karaktärerna (Speciellt Vite Riddarens ‘The White’ Knight always triumphs”-anda) enda tills slutet, som för övrigt inte kunde vara mer förutsägbar. Oh, it was not a dream, because here you are – with me! Let’s kiss and be happy ever after! Vet inte varför, men Alice i Underlandet känns väldigt brittisk för mig av någon anledning (pga att Carroll är britt?). Kanske är det inte helt fel att då låta BBC ta över sådana här produktioner i framtiden.

Småkul kanske, men jag väntar till våren när Burtons version kommer. Man får hålla tummarna att den inte blir som Kalle och Chokladfabriken blev. Mer magi á la Edward Scissorhands eller Nightmare Before Christmas och mindre försöker-impa-med-3d-effekter, tack.

Did you check out part 1 of SyFy’s four-hour miniseries retelling of Alice in Wonderland last night?? Alice (starring Kathy Bates as the Queen of Hearts) has been updated from the archaic universe of Lewis Carroll’s time…and we like it. Check out the promo below….My tivo is already set to record

Never have 105 minutes felt like 3 hours!

The Navy will never be the same after Captain McHale (Tom Arnold) and his ragtag band of bumbling misfits are called upon to defend the base of San Ysidro Island from an evil terrorist bent on world domination.

Honestly, there is nothing I can really write for this. I didn’t like it.

The regular TV classic show was funny, where as this was just a plain and simple really bad attempt at trying to be very funny.The differences between the show and this are just so obivous that I just didn’t really care what happened at all in this film.

The acting is not very good. Tom Arnold just puts these lines out and they seem so forced like he was almost bribed into doing this film. Tim Curry, and the rest of the supporting cast just doesn’t seem at all in touch with their comedic sides.

Basically this one of the worst spin-offs of any TV show ever, and really will just leave you bored all the way through.

0/10=BADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Andrew-Lee Potts as Hatter in Alice. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel

When you are in a strange place it helps to make friends, and not many places are stranger than the setting for the new Syfy Channel miniseries Alice. Innocent people from our world are being taken and brought to a parallel universe known as Wonderland. Once there, their memories are forcibly erased and they become prisoners in a casino where people never lose. The resulting emotional “high” helps sustain Wonderland’s residents, most importantly its ruler, The Queen of Hearts, and her husband, The King of Hearts. 

When Alice Hamilton arrives there in search of her kidnapped fiance Jack, she turns to come of the locals for help, including a slightly shady character called Hatter. Having not long finished his third season battling dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures as Connor Temple in the hit British TV series Primeval, actor Andrew-Lee Potts was excited about the idea of a potential trip across the pond to work in Wonderland and play Hatter. 

“When I first got a call from my agent to go in and read for Alice I thought, ‘Oh, wicked! That sounds fantastic and right up my alley,” enthuses Potts. “Then I found out that it was for the character of the Hatter, and straightaway everything felt right for me, and even more so when I eventually received the script and discovered it was written using the type of humor that I often use in my work. 

“So I taped my audition with the British casting director and I just did my thing. [Director/writer] Nick Willing wasn’t there in the room; it was just me and the casting director. And sometimes with that type of situation, especially when you’re doing overseas casting, things can get lost in the translation – i.e. how you should be playing the part. 

Alice (Caterina Scorsone) and Hatter (Andrew-Lee Potts). Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel

“And it’s funny because I went into the audition and played the role as I thought it appeared to me, and was more sarcastically comedic as well as a bit eccentric. Hatter is a hero of sorts in the story, and the casting lady suggested, ‘Maybe you should try being a little more sexy?’ and I [jokingly] said to her, ‘What do you mean? Am I not being sexy?’ So I tried that, and later on when I met Nick, he told me, ‘Your first reading of the role was perfect, but then you did something really strange and went all serious.’ So although I’m glad I did it both ways so that he could see either interpretation, I’m really pleased that my initial take was what Nick was looking for and that I eventually got the job.” 

A week after Potts received word that he had been cast, he was on his way to Vancouver, British Columbia to start shooting Alice. “We actually had a few days rehearsal before filming began, and that was really interesting for me,” recalls the actor. “I haven’t done that many plays and things of that nature, so I’ve tended not to rehearse a lot of the parts I’ve played in the past. I like to keep my performance as fresh as possible because I never quite know what I’m going to do with the material. That’s something I began doing during Primeval, and as a result they [the producers] allowed me to be a lot freer with the dialogue and to try, I suppose, to get the humour and keep things really lively. 

“On my first day of work on Alice, I actually shot my final scene as Hatter, and then went on to do my first scene, which was something like seven or eight pages long. It was just me being the Hatter in his teashop, so I had to gt into the swing of things straightaway. I was a bit nervous, but at the same time really excited. I was playing the character the way I wanted to, and it was a relief to see that Nick looked happy when he came out from behind the monitor after the first few takes. 

“I suppose as an actor you always think, ‘I hope I’m doing the right thing and they’re not going to recast me.’ I remember we started out filming in this abandoned mental institution up in Kamloops. It was hot and the Hatter wears a leather jacket throughout the whole story. Being British, I’m not used to the heat,” he says with a chuckle, “but I survived and it was a lot of fun. Both Nick and I hit the ground running with the character and we carried on having a good time with it.” 

A brief moment of respite for Hatter. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel

In this telling of Alice, the Hatter is part of a resistence force led by Dodo (Tim Curry) and The White Knight (Matt Frewer), whose goal is to overthrow the Queen’s (Kathy Bates) tyrannical reign. While eager to take on his character’s re-imagined role, Potts also wanted to imbue his performance with some of The Mad Hatter’s original personality. 

“In the back of your mind you’ve got the original story where you know The Mad Hatter as being eccentric, crazy and all that kind of stuff,” explains the actor. “However, in Alice, we don’t have The Mad Hatter, we have the Mad March [Geoff Redknap], who was originally The [Mad] March Hare. So my character is supposed to be the sane one, but what I tried to do the first time you see the Hatter is go with a little bit of his eccentricity because I thought that might be enjoyable to the audience. 

“We tip our hat to every single character in Alice in Wonderland. With Hatter I wanted to keep an element of fun and spontaneity of the original. You never quite know what’s going on with him. Sometimes he goes really fast and other times he slows down and tries to take control. The first time Hatter meets Alice [Caterina Scorsone] it’s an assault of information on her, and from there he tries to take control. He’s a hustler and a very conniving one, and I wanted to play him slightly dangerous at the start as well. We have no idea what Hatter is capable of, and as the story unfolds, he does things that constantly surprise you. 

“At one point I had to do a hat trick, so I had to have a lesson and learn a bunch of tricks. That was cool, but, unfortunately, the hat I wore was really lightweight and the guy who came in to teach me the tricks was struggling because of that. They usually use a weighted hat, so I had to try to work around that. My character uses his hat as a bit of a distraction tool, especially in fight situations, which was quite fun and interesting. I’m quite handy with my fists in this, as opposed to Connor in Primeval, who couldn’t throw a punch to save his life, but Hatter is the complete opposite. 

The Hatter and Alice discover their budding friendship. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel

“The stunts were neat to do, too, and quite challenging as well because I did nearly everything myself. That included learning how to ride a horse, which I had never done before. I’d never even sat on a horse before. So I went to horse training, which was brilliant. I loved galloping as fast as I could on top of a ridge in the middle of nowhere and thinking, ‘I hope I can stop,’” he says with a laugh. 

Although Hatter’s relationship with Alice starts out as a purely selfish one, it becomes more of a friendship as the story unfolds. “In the beginning, he sees her as a money-making tool,” says Potts. “Alice is initially useful to the Hatter in very different ways to the ways that she’s useful to him at the end. I think my character finds her absolutely fascinating because she is very headstrong and sure of herself. Even though she’s been flung into this incredibly strange world of Wonderland, where the things she sees would instantly blow away most peoples’ minds, she manages to keep her feet on the ground and continue searching for what she’s come to Wonderland for. 

“Again, Hatter finds that attractive in a way, but I don’t think he understands exactly why. Like I said, he’s a player. He’s used to having many women in his life, but not really connecting with any of them. In a weird kind of way, his and Alice’s heads work in a very similar fashion. They’re equally matched intelligence-wise, which furthers his challenges with her, and they spend a great deal of their time arguing, which leads to some very amusing situations for us to play. Alice has a lot of trust issues and she finds it incredibly hard to trust anybody. At the start, I don’t think anyone would trust Hatter, and that’s something else I tried to explore with the character. I wanted to make the audience go, ‘He’s just plain mean,’ and that’s the fun with Hatter. You’re supposed to expect the unexpected with how I played him.” 

Potts relished the opportunity to work with Nick Willing in developing the many levels of the Hatter that viewers are introduced to. “One of the brilliant things about Nick is that, yes, he has his own ideas, but he doesn’t trap you inside them,” notes the actor. “He likes to throw everything up in the air and see where it lands. I always feel that that’s what makes a better show. Going back to Primeval, I think one of the reasons why my character worked so well is that the producers had the same way of working as Nick does. Connor was supposed to be your typical nerd who liked Star Wars and that sort of thing. He’s quite cliché in the original script, but then we did something completely different with him, which was to make him eccentric and more of an accidental hero as well. 

Hatter and Alice try to talk themselves out of a tight spot. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel

“So they were very open-minded in Alice with how I delivered a lot of the dialogue, and also with making it suit my voice as well, being that I have such a strong Northern accent. At first they wanted an English accent, but Nick said he really liked the Yorkshire in my voice, and also up in the north of England we always enjoy a cup of tea, so it’s kind of fitting that my character should run a teashop. I love that the first time we see the Hatter, he’s drinking a cup of tea. I’m so pleased with the way he’s been written. You don’t expect Hatter to be such a strong force in the story. I know it’s Alice’s journey, but she catapults him into his own journey as well within hers. 

“Hatter has been living in Wonderland for years, unhappy with his life as well as with the system and the way things were going. He had a lot of resentment built up towards the Resistence and the Queen’s side of things. So he’d kind of been living in a no-man’s land until Alice came into his life. She opens my character’s eyes and suddenly Hatter has something to fight for, a girl, and he doesn’t even realize it, which is lovely. Hatter is a little slow on the uptake with things like that,” he jokes. “He thinks he’s fighting for himself. Up to this point, Hatter has lived his life very selfishly. One of his lines is something like, ‘I’ve lived life playing both sides of the court and trying to keep everyone happy.’ But in this story he actually does good by himself and Alice, which is terrific.” 

While there is no sign of prehistoric wildlife in Alice, Potts feels that his work on Primeval was excellent preparation for this project. “Having done a big CGI [computer-generated image] show, I actually feel qualified for the first time in my life,” says the actor. “I thought, ‘This is easy. I’ve been doing this for the past three years. I can run away from these monsters.’ So that was a blast but in a different way because it’s less about monsters in Alice and more about the CGI world that we’re in. There are a lot of extended CGI sets, which was something I wasn’t used to, and far more green screen work, too. We didn’t do much green screen on Primeval. 

“So every day has been fascinating and I feel extremely fortunate to have been given this role. I felt ready for it as well, though, if that makes any sense, and I don’t know if I would have had the same confidence before Primeval. A lot of the stuff I’d previously done were one-off films and projects like that where you only have a short period of time with a character. With a TV series, though, when it progresses, you have the chance to explore all these different angles of your character. And during the four hours on Alice, Hatter shows every side of himself and way of behaving. So hopefully playing Connor on Primeval has helped me in portraying Hatter.” 

The first two hours of Alice airs Sunday, December 6th from 9:00-11:-00 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel and concludes Monday, December 7th @ 9:oo p.m. 

Steve Eramo 

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

The Fairmont State University Jazz Ensemble will present a concert tonight, Dec. 1,  8 p.m., in the Wallman Hall Theatre, with special guest vocalist Elizabeth Wotring-Nelson.  Admission is free and open to the public.

 Selections for the concert will include “Groove Merchant,” “Dancing in the Dark,” “Laura,” “Lot of Livin’ to Do,” “Pegasus,” “Christmas Time is Here,” “Early Morning” and “Pennsylvania 6-5000.”

 The ensemble is directed by Dr. Valarie Huffman. Playing saxophones are Amy Phillips, Trey Hefner, Jay Leeper, Ashton Cutright and Tim Curry. Playing trumpets are Chris Schoo, Amy Prenatt, Jess McIntyre and Jennifer Adams. Playing Trombones are Val Huffman and Dori Plutzner. Kim Henry will perform on piano, Zak Kniceley on guitar, Corey Kovach on bass, Jimmy Halpenny on drums, Dave Allen on drums and congas and Michael Robinson on drums, auxiliary percussion and vibes.

So, after a Thanksgiving week spent in suburban squalor, I am back at Carleton to act as the Cinema & Media Studies office assistant for three weeks. Mostly, this involves receiving mail, filing applications, and inventorying movies for 6 hours a day. [Note: Ashley suggests I wear "sensible, yet stylish heels and a pencil skirt" for my secretarial duties; if anyone wants to go back to 1959 and fetch those for me, I'd be more than willing to oblige.] Plus, I have to make my own food for once in my life. Eek! My computer was tragically damaged on the way down here so now the monitor’s pretty brutally fucked up, but I will blog on nonetheless in an attempt to remedy my absence.

So first of all: I had a number of fun cinematic experiences in the past week. Most of them involved me being cuddled up next to my DVD player watching great movies like The Wind (1928) or Brief Encounter (1945), but two actually required me to visit a theater and pay for a ticket. The first of these was the Coen Bros.’ latest film, A Serious Man, which I’m still trying to puzzle out. Are the filmmakers sadistic or sympathetic? Does their universe contain even the slightest glimmer of hope?

I won’t spoil anything since Ashley hasn’t seen the movie yet (and is pissed about it), but A Serious Man is basically about Larry Gopnick, a Jewish physics professor living with his family (a wife, son, and daughter, each dysfunctional in their own way) in late-’60s suburban Minnesota. At first everything seems superficially fine, but then everything pretty much starts going to hell, all at once. The Coens are no strangers to tormented Minnesotans – see William H. Macy as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo, fielding viciously bureaucratic phone calls just like Larry does throughout A Serious Man. The big differences here are the personal and religious elements.

While Fargo was based on a true story of violence and local color that never really happened, A Serious Man is steeped in a milieu that did happen, to the Coens themselves – i.e., growing up Jewish in St. Louis Park in the ’60s. (Worth noting that Joel and Ethan would’ve been about 13 and 10 respectively when the film takes place.) In this regard, I think you could view A Serious Man as akin to Woody Allen’s Radio Days or Spike Lee’s Crooklyn; the director’s fondly (or in this case, brutally) nostalgic return to childhood roots.

Then there’s the Jewishness, which stretches into every corner of the film, glazed over with a layer of Coen quirkiness, whether we’re talking about the prologue’s beautiful recreation of shtetl life or the kafkaesque visits to increasingly unhelpful rabbis who mark the film’s progress. Woody Allen’s protagonists just crack wise about perceived anti-Semitism; a Coens protagonist has a deeply disturbing yet oddly funny nightmare about it. (OK, maybe Allen does too, if you count the monks-with-crosses dream from Bananas…) Similarly, one of the best parts of the film is probably the story of the Goy’s Teeth, simply because it’s so weird, so very Jewish, and manages to sum up film’s major themes in a few short, bewildering minutes.

I don’t think enough time has passed yet for me to determine where this film stands in the Coens’ filmography, let alone in film altogether. But I do think it’s a great direction for them to go in – we’ve got the same dark oddball humor as The Big Lebowski, only toned down to match the film’s evocations of a real time and place in its colors and characters. For example, instead of a hair-trigger Vietnam vet, we get a slightly autistic brother with a sebaceous cyst. The one aspect that’s been ramped up is the torturous ambiguity of the ending: if you’ve seen Barton Fink or No Country for Old Men, you know what to expect, only count on more.

This film has been frequently described as the Coens’ retelling of the story of Job. I’d go one step further and apply it to the whole Old Testament. Larry Gopnick wanders around the desert, falls to his knees, asks, “Why me, lord? Why me?” What answer does he get? You’ll have to see the movie to find (and even then, good luck), but let me say that familiarity with the poetry of Stephen Crane couldn’t hurt. Also, special kudos to Fred Melamed, who plays Sy Ableman. At least in my eyes, he’ll probably be 2009’s Best Supporting Actor.

The other, possibly even more amazing, film-related experience of the weekend was seeing The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Minneapolis’s Uptown Theater on Saturday night. I love pondering the Rocky Horror phenomenon – why should this weird, gleefully perverted ’70s rock musical-cum-tribute to Poverty Row B movies be so wildly popular among nerdily obsessive audiences who treat it like the Second Coming of Halloween? Or did I just answer my own question? (Note: I am myself a member of said nerdily obsessive audience, as is Ashley.)

If you’re not familiar with the cult of Rocky Horror, you can familiarize yourself at rockyhorror.org; basically, fans will dress up as characters (Tim Curry’s Frank-N-Furter is understandably a favorite), reenact the movie while it plays on-screen (which the talented troupe Transvestite Soup did last Saturday), shout at the characters on-screen (e.g., calling Brad an asshole every time he introduces himself), and throw things! (Rice, toilet paper, playing cards…) That’s the gist of it.

Better yet? It’s lots of fun! Granted, many people do it with more than a little chemical alteration, but I’ve seen the play and movie sober, and enjoyed myself greatly. I think a lot of it has to do with the breaking down of barriers, the cutting loose of inhibitions encouraged by both the film and its surrounding cult. For example, “virgins” are required to make a twisted Pledge of Allegiance which concludes,

…and to the decadance for which it stands,
One movie, under Richard O’Brien,
With sensual daydreams and erotic nightmares for all!

These sentiments – in praise of decadents, tolerance, and freely exploring fantasies – are echoed in Transvestite Soup’s mission statement:

…to all other freaks, punks, Goths, Christians, pagans, gays, straights, misc., hippies, normals, whatever you are,
that here shall be a place where fun and humor rule supreme…

I think this is part of Rocky Horror’s beauty, and maybe why so many flock to it – that is, so many of the people who’d be going to a midnight movie anyway. I mean, wasn’t the original cult/midnight movie Freaks, a similarly bizarre movie all about rejecting normality while embracing deformity and weirdness in all their forms? At least until its (very perplexing) finale, this is what Rocky Horror proclaims, too, through the desire-driven character of Frank-N-Furter, who sings, “Give yourself over to absolute pleasure!” as he and the other cast members swim orgiastically, draped in soaking lingerie.

So this, at least to me, is a large part of the appeal: it’s freedom, it’s acceptance, it really is Halloween all over again. In his It’s a Bird – a semiautobiographical meditation on Superman in graphic novel form, much of which deals with Superman’s relationship to the Other – Steven Seagle tells about an unpopular kid who dresses as Superman for Halloween. All of a sudden, he’s popular for a day. So naturally he decides to dress as Superman the next day. He’s promptly picked on and told to change his clothes.

I think the connection to Rocky Horror should be pretty clear: that theater is a self-contained world where no one will ever tell you to change your clothes (unless they’re being “a bitch,” as Carleton’s production of  the stage musical put it). It’s also a world without homophobia, or transphobia, or heteronormative discrimination of any kind – because what’s cooler than being a sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transsylvania, at least while you’re watching Tim Curry sashay up and down that carpet? And what’s wrong with being at least a little – if not a lot – attracted to him, or the other fishnet-clad men (or women, or those who aren’t quite sure!) around you?

This is why I think Rocky Horror is more than just some goofy little ritual, and why so many people take it so seriously (which, at the same time, means taking it very lightly): it’s not just a case of another “so bad it’s good” movie you can get some laughs out of. It’s a campy, sequined, madness-drenched romp with a new motto advocating sexual exploration at every turn. And if you can get all that with a live, enthusiastic audience doing the Time Warp in the aisles – what more can you ask for? God bless Lili St. Cyr, and God bless Richard O’Brien.

SyFy is premiering a new version of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ called ‘Alice’ starring Kathy Bates and Tim Curry. The two night event airs Dec. 6th at 9/8C on the SyFy channel.

É, tava com um monte de screens aqui e queria dividir com alguém.

Depois de olhar essas belezuras quero que perceba o porquê que eu amo tanto assim essa obra. Não é apenas o visual Gótico que cria a mise-én-scene que ocasiona na atmosfera de rock que o filme propõe, mas esses planos são divinos!

I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey.

– The Criminologist

The cult classic musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been entrenched in American culture since it bombed at the box office in 1975. I always wanted to go to the midnight showings of this movie, but I didn’t want to feel like a noob going there. I am familiar with the music seeing that I have the soundtrack to the 2001 Broadway revival. I get a kick out of going back into a time warp to visit Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his cretins of the night.

Nostalgia floods back when the first thing you see is those flame red lips singing the opening number about this tale of an uptight couple; Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) getting stranded one fateful night in a rainstorm. The Criminologist (Charles Gray) that recalls the events of that night narrates the tale.

They arrive at the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry) with his band of misfits, abused manservant Riff-Raff (Richard O’Brien), maid Magenta (Patricia Quinn) and groupie Columbia (Little Nell). Brad wants to use the telephone to get the car fixed, but the Doctor has other plans for the twosome.

He wants them to witness the birth of his perfect companion, Rocky Horror (Peter Hinwood). As the night progress, the Transylvanians’ influence corrupts the good couple.

Everybody knows that the acting is not good bordering on soap opera melodrama. The music is spastic like the cast sucked helium before recording the soundtrack. Is it bad or is it so bad that it’s good?

Judgment: There is something enjoyable about this trainwreck of a movie.

Rating: ***1/2

Tim Curry, canta Rose Tint My World.

Tim Curry interpreta Sweet Transvestite (tierno travesti).

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1975 – Direção: Jim Sharman – Elenco:Tim Curry,Susan Sarandon,Richard O´Brien.

Meu musical preferido. Pronto. Acabou. O que vier a seguir só vai encher linguiça.

Abertura mais foda impossível. Tem as músicas mais toras impossíveis. Tem as atuações, mais perfeitas impossiveis. Tem coreografias mais bizarras impossíveis. Tudo é impossível!

O filme – logo após sua abertura cantada por uma boca e apenas uma boca -começa em uma casamento onde somos apresentados a nossos heróis. Ingênuos e simpáticos -de mais até – eles começam a cantar uma música tão assustadoramente contrária a cena que se passou que me faz babar até hoje mesmo revendo o Brad gritar: “Dammit,Janet,I love you…”

Dai você já sabe que não é apenas mais um musical. Tem um “Dammit’ bem no meio. Um palavrão e uma coreografia toda louca com um coral bizarro repetindo “Janet” em referência clara a American Gothic e que está caracterizado assim sei lá pra que mesmo. O mais engraçado é que o quadro americano reaparece, só que de uma forma verdadeira, logo após essa cena, quando os personagens já estão na casa.

A casa, sim, tem um “horror” no título. Então esperamos terror certo? Uma casa mal- assombrada e tudo mais, ne? Claro, a até uns dois minutos depois de terem ultrapassado a porta da casa bizarra e assustadora por fora nós acreditamos que ficaremos com medo em instantes e que algum fantasma aparecerá, afinal, o mordomo já apareceu. Só que do nada aparece uma governanta bizarra também e se junta ao mordomo corcunda e com voz grave e começam a cantar: “Let’s do the time warp again!”(vamos fazer a dobra do tempo de novo”). Surreal já sabemos que é. Mas o mais bacana é ver que tem toda uma mise-en-scéne por trás dessa e das demais cenas.

O filme segue com uma penca de números já eternos. Dos quais os que mais gosto são, os dois acima que já falei, Don’t Dream It – Be It, Rose Tint My World, Sweet Transvestite…Quer saber? Todos! Todos são geniais, das letras ao último movimento coreografado.

As atuações são parte da perfeição adquirida no filme. Susan Sarandon traz uma moça ingênua, mas que não esconde suas fraquezas e desejos sexuais, tudo de forma exagerada e cômica, o que acaba a transformando em uma musa pra mim, seus gestos exagerados e sua voz gemida só me fazem gamar mais. Barry Bostwick transforma seu Brad em tudo que ele foi feito pra ser: um americano normal e bocó. O idealizador do musical no teatro, Richard O´Brien, tem um dos melhores personagens aqui. Seus trejeitos e modo de falar são excepcionais. O destaque maior, e é claro que não daria pra não ser clichê falando nisso de novo, fica com Tim Curry, que faz um dos melhores personagens da história, eternizado justamente pela sua atuação. O travesti alienígena que dança e tem sua primeira aparição ao som de: Sweet Transvestite. Musica genial.

Vale citar também, que o filme possui o recorde de filme que ficou mais tempo em cartaz na história. Exibido em um cinema em Munique por 27 anos todas as semanas. Só que como milhares de filmes geniais, em sua estréia foi escrachado pelo público e crítica da época. O que depois desses 27 anos só o transformou em um dos mais cults já produzidos. Tem gente que se veste como os personagens e os imita durante a projeção do filme até hoje.

Se conseguir, ouça o Soundtrack o mais rápido possível, ainda mais sem ver o filme e se apaixone pela maior obra-prima do mundo cinema/musical já feita. Divertida, original, assustadora, nojenta, desafiadora… Meu musical preferido!

5/5