Movies I Watched Instead of Writing: Part 6

Overnight [2003]: Awesome, awesome testament to one man's megalomania and subsequent crushing of all his dreams. This guy, Troy Duffy, got handed $1 million and a bar to write and direct "Boondock Saints", which he did chiefly as a vehicle for his wankstastic band "The Brood"; then proceeded to act like such an ass to everyone around him that Harvey Weinstein allegedly had him blacklisted. Should be an excellent cautionary tale, except that apparently he's back to make the sequel (!) (not covered in the documentary). Would make a great double bill with "Dig !" except that the audience would probably die of stress.

Night of the Living Dead [1968]: Yeah, okay, fine. This really is the first time I'd ever seen the original. Pretty much what I expected: awesome suspense makes up for meager budget and a genre is invented. Would like to see a non-restored print just to get that "seedy" feeling though...

Nomi Song [2004]: Sadly the DVD we were watching could not make nice with our DVD player and as a result we only got about half way through. Interesting portrait of a true pioneer. Offers some nice background on life in The Village in the '70's, kinda makes me wish I'd managed to move somewhere cool right out of college and fallen in with some fledgling scene. A lot of the interviews are left kinda long and the result is a little dryer than I expected. However, now seems like the perfect time to re-evaluate Nomi in the wake of the current avant-guard pop resurgence.

Yet More Rambling

Brand new Enter the Den of Sin now up on Film Threat.

God & Nerds: Friends Again (a.k.a. Joss Whedon is My Master Now*)

I've been meaning to post about this for some time now, but I've been too busy catching up on writing and trying to get a new job (**cross fingers**), not to mention tinkering with this site.

Long story short: "I saw Serenity! I saw Serenity!" How did I manage that, you may ask, since the movie doesn't actually come out until September? Well, my ignorant little friend, apparently there's been a series of super secret screenings happening across North America (and Europe now too). Don't worry, if it wasn't for BJ I wouldn't have known either. But, with the combined efforts of several people at work, and no help from MovieTickets.com (who were supposed to be selling tickets online at 11 am, but weren't), we managed to get tickets to the June 23 show in Vancouver.

I won't do a full review since it's still a work in progress, but let's just say I'm very happy. The crowd was mostly hardcore "Firefly" fans (a.k.a. "Browncoats") and sci-fi types, all very nice and just as excited. I was a little disappointed at the lack of actual brown coats (I counted maybe 5), but there were a number of homemade t-shirts, some with quotes, several with the "Blue Sun" logo and a number of Jayne tuques. BJ got really excited since he knows my sister knits. Guess I'm buying her some orange wool.

If you give two craps, you've probably already read all sorts of preview tidbits in various talkbacks, so there isn't really much more I can add. "Serenity" is what sci-fi should be. It gives you that tingly feeling you got the first time you saw "Star Wars" (New Hope, obviously). It's funny and sad and exciting and scary. When it finishes, you miss the characters. Not just the ones who die (oh come on, you must have heard that people die, this is not a spoiler), everyone. Like they're your friends or something.

As for whether it has an audience outside of "Firefly" fans, it's a little hard to say. So much of the appeal of the film hinges on the characters, and watching the show makes you love them so much more. But, that said I think just the pace and the fearlessness of what Joss was attempting as far as sci-fi storytelling is refreshing enough to endear itself to anyone who cares about filmmaking that is good, fun, and manages to still be challenging on some level.

After the screening Jewel Stait did a quick Q&A since she's a Vancouver girl, and I was really impressed by how funny and personable she was (not to mention pretty, gosh she's skinny). Even after that guy invited her to "Scott-con"...

So there, I've done my job. Get excited. Tell your friends. I'll save you a spot in line...

*If you don't get the reference.

Okay, I Think It's Fixed...

Programming is fun, especially when you don't know how. I found the basic CSS for the 3 columns here. Tweaking it for Blogger took a lot more work than I'd counted on. I think I've finally ironed out the kinks, so this should display properly for Mac & PC users.

I also changed my comments hosting, if you noticed. Any old comments have been lost, but since I haven't really posted that much in a while it's not like people were commenting that much. On the plus side, now you can preview them & it supports those little universal icon thingies. I might tweak with the link colours a bit, and I'd like to add one of those nifty Flickr things... Any other suggestions?

Wheee! CSS is Fun!

Okay, let me know what you think of the new look (and if you can actually read everything).
Your input is appreciated.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

New Column Finally Up

Read all about it here.

God Hates Nerds A Little Less

I saw Batman! I saw Batman! I saw Batman!

Review on Film Threat pending...

God Hates Nerds Continued

Ratner on Ratner from MTV.com. And yes, he refers to himself in the third person.

This movie is going to RULE!

Movies I Watched Instead of Writing: Part 5

Layer Cake [2004] - Quick, clever, smart. Somewhat Chandler-esq in it's plot twists and comprehensibility (is that a word?) Daniel Craig is like a beautiful English cross between Steve McQueen and Callum Keith Rennie (heavier on the Steve). Colm Meaney, Michael Gambon & George Harris also rock. Great ending.

Seed of Chucky [2004] - Way better than I expected. No longer even pretending to be a horror movie, this is a surprisingly clever Hollywood satire and damn funny to boot. Billy Boyd wins my ever dying love & respect for voicing Glen/Glenda (!) Lots of "homages" (digs?) on De Palma & others. Some bad puns. But John Waters is in it!!!

Kingdom of Heaven [2005] - Went in with lowered expectations. Saw them met well enough. Orlando Bloom manages to prove that he's more than a pretty face, but I felt strangely detached through much of the film. Beautiful cinematography, but after the first 20 minutes (which I loved) the rest of it was too "Gladiator Redux" for me. And they killed off Kevin McKidd.

Dillinger (first 45 min.) - Wish I could have stayed up for this one. Directed by John Milius ("Conan the Barbarian"), it's obviously a "Bonnie & Clyde" cash in movie but in a lot of respects I think I prefer it. Also, Warren Oates rules.

Enter the Den of Sin #24

Just posted on Film Threat.

God Hates Nerds

It's official. The golden age of comic book movies is over. My hopes are still high for Batman Begins, but after that, there is only PAIN!

If anyone actually spots the Fauxteur in town, please send him my regards, or a swift kick in the pants.

While I'm at It

D.o.S. Schedule for July is also available.

Den of Sin June Schedule

Available here.

Enter the Den of Sin: Holiday Edition, Now Available

Thanks to everybody who made it to last night's screening. It is a rare event indeed when even BJ has to apologize.

In case you were wondering what had happened to my Film Threat column, I am back with a recap of the Xmassacre (if you're ready to relive it). More to follow...