dbborroughs' Journal

7:36pm: Red Riding Trilogy on IFC pay per view
Apparently the third film is due to appear this week or next on pay per view. I mention this in case anyone was pondering not seeing the films on the service since the third film was not available.

6:53pm: Comedy of differing sorts
KRAPP'S LAST TAPE
This was the last film in the Beckett on Film box set I had to watch. The film stars John Hurt as Krapp, an old man who listens to a recording he made when he turned 39 in which he tells of how things are. Unfortunately how things are expressed on the tape is not how he remembers them so he begins to erase and re-record things the way they really happened. The performance of Hurt as Krapp is stunning. I completely understand why theatrical producers tried for years to get him to come to the United States and perform the play.Its truly amazing. My reservations concerning the film come from the source which has way too much clowning by Krapp involving bananas and a banana peel. Its a silliness that wrecks the rest of the film since it seems completely artificial, which is something that Beckett often is, and which for me is one of the reasons that its less than its reputation. Reservations aside this is a film that really is worth the time especially if one wants to see a great performance by a great actor.


I finally broke into the Three Stooges collections that have been coming out every couple of months. The plan is to release all of the Stooges shorts on DVD in order (previously they had only been released i odd compilations that only collected some of the shorts on DVDs that had 4 or 6 episodes. Considering the two DVD sets collect 22 or so shorts per set and there have been sets thats roughly 154 shorts for less than the price of 30 shorts the old way. I started in the most recent set which collects the early 1950's films because they have the two 3-D films.

SPOOKS
The Stooges play detectives hired by a rich man to find his missing daughter. They go to a run down (read haunted) house dressed as bakers (I don't know) and search the house. In the basement a mad doctor, his assistant and a gorilla are holding the young woman captive. Its a thread bare plot which purely an excuse for haunted house mayhem and for things to be thrust at the camera. As with all 3-D films some of the effects work better than others with things like Moe's fingers, his foot or a thrown pen not working well, while pies (They are bakers) and other objects fare better. For the most part this is the better of the two 3D shorts since there is at least some attempt at a plot. In all fairness this probably would have been better longer since the film never amounts to more than an excuse for mayhem. I've only seen this as a 3D film (I had this as an old 8MM high light reel) and I doubt this would work as anything other than a 3-D film. Worth a look for 3-D fans.

PARDON MY BACKFIRE
Second Stooges 3-D film really doesn't have a plot. During a dinner the Stooges fiances' father won't let them marry until they make their fortune. The boys work in a garage after the brief opening the film switches to that location. They go through car related mayhem before in the closing minutes a radio report comes in about wanted gangsters and a reward. Who should show up but the gangsters and their moll with car trouble. There is no plot only 3-D effects and to be quite honest as anything other than a 3-D show case the film is awful. Its just attempts at showing depth and things thrown at the audience. I'm not a huge fan of the Stooges but this is one of their worst films. Sure I would have loved this as part of a 3-D show but as a stand alone (and even as part of a 3-D show) its pretty poor. The effects are good, but there is nothing connecting them together.

8:28pm: Getting this out of the way early
THHHHHHT!
To Valentines day.

We'll leave it at that.

5:42pm: Giant Robot Fund Raiser
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43917

5:37pm: Happy Dance 2-Metropolis
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43920

apparently the restored Metropolis premieres Friday and it will stream on the internet

10:51pm: Deep Discount
Anyone else having any problems with the new Deep Discount website?

It won't hold any address I put in. I finally ordered the 8 dollar film noir DVD I've been trying to get from them for two weeks but I had to do an end run with Pay Pal to do it.

Between their problems- which appear to be legion- and trouble with DVD Planet in getting them to get a DVD right, I think I'm down to Amazon and DVD Empire---which are my primaries for stuff anyway.

10:28pm: Shock Festival DVD
I want to recommend the Shock Festival DVD. It ties in with the book of the same name by Stephen Romano. The book is a look at exploitation films. The DVDs are over 4 hours of trailers and TV commercials and other goodies with commentary for said trailers. And while I have yet to go through most the the material it appears that a good chunk of the trailers don't seem to be repeats from other collections (and trust me I have a good many). Then again I've seen the set for around 18 bucks so its worth it....especially since there are lots of Easter eggs...and a bonus CD of 321 radio commercials- yes 321 commercials. The reason I haven't watched the trailers is I'm having a blast just playing the commercials.

10:14pm: Now that its offical
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/16267/neil-gaiman-pens-doctor-who-episode

Does anyone know anything about the episode?

6:05pm: Not only do we get the RED SKULL but we'll also get THE INVADERS in Captain America
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43910

Namor!!!!!Oh Yea!

3:38pm: Red Riding Trilogy (well two of three films) (revised)
Channel Four in England turned the four books in David Peace's series into three films. The stories are look at the underbelly of Yorkshire during the period that the Yorkshire Ripper murders was going on. The films are set in a real place and connect to the killings. They were made by three different directors and the three films are made to be seen separately but at the same time come together to great a greater whole.

The films were shown at this past New York Film Festival. The films were also picked up by IFC for release. They are currently showing the films in theaters as a "road show" event with the three films being screened together (At the IFC center you are getting also a program and popcorn for the 25 dollar admission fee.) IFC is running the first two films In the Year of Our Lord 1974 and In the Year of Our Lord 1980 on their in Theaters pay per view service.

I've seen the first two films...

1974
The plot of the film concerns a newspaper reporter who begins to notice that there are a number of children turning up dead in ways that should connect their deaths. As he begins to dig deeper into the film he finds that corruption runs deep with in the police force and government. Anyone who questions what is going on meets with some form of nastiness for a variety of reasons, favoritism, cronyism, cover up and joy.The reasons are limitless so take your pick Its a bleak look at society and the sort of thing best described as Modern Film Noir (actually I should add the qualifier of good or great modern Noir since there are so many bad attempts). Its compulsively watchable and my attempt to watch a few minutes to see if it was worth going to see the film at the IFC center resulted in my watching the film all the way to the haunting ending.

As stand alone film its a masterpiece. Its a dark little tale thats a cynical as they come. The world black and the fact that good men (the police) refuse to do the right thing makes is darker (The main character is spurred on to continue his inquiry because of that statement). Its possibly one of the best films for this year, I'll have to think about it since how I feel about the film has been altered by seeing the second film. (Though certainly the film is perfectly fine on its own)

Until the next film you don't see how it really ties into the Yorkshire Ripper case though it does clearly show the problems with the Yorkshire police department as the killings were just starting (or at least starting t be recognized).

1980
A special investigator is called into take over the Yorkshire Ripper case because the public is screaming bloody murder. The investigator's name is Hunter and he begins by creating a small task force to go over what has been learned before and to investigate the new leads that he is turning up. Hunter almost instantly runs into trouble with the Yorkshire police who feel that he's going places he really shouldn't. He slowly begins to annoy a hornet's nest that threatens everyone, especially himself since the people he's ultimately chasing down will do anything not to have their crimes brought into the open.

A different film than the first one. Its often a police procedural that takes on Noirish trappings as Hunter begins and affair and he finds that there is much darkness in the "good" guys. He also learns first hand the price of not letting it all alone. Its a leisurely film that takes its time going on its merry way. For most of the film it seems completely unconnected to the first one except that several characters appear in both films. And then toward the very end things shift. What the film has been getting at suddenly becomes clear. The first and second film are connected solidly and I for one was left groaning that IFC were real shits for not putting the third film on any of the pay per view services (At this point if I'm going to pay 25 dollars to see the final film I'll pony up and extra 5 bucks and buy the whole trilogy from overseas).

As a stand alone film this is okay. It goes through events and has a conclusion that works with in context. If one didn't know that stuff went before and after I'm pretty sure that you could watch the film and like it, but I don't think it will blow your skirt up that much. At the same time, if you're viewing the film as part of a trilogy, where you've seen the first part, and you know that there is a third part, the film plays so much better. To be perfectly honest I was liking the film for most of its running time,and I was perfectly content to consider letting my Dad, who came late into the film, turn the station, that was until suddenly the film connects to the previous one and you suddenly see the larger picture. As a bigger picture the film is very much a better film, especially if you allow it to take you where its going on its own terms.

Now I have to figure out how to see the third film...

To recap:
1970 is a great film on its own terms. It sets the bar high for the trilogy.
1980 is a good stand alone film that gains a great deal of resonance if you see the first film. Its power is only really achieved by the fact that it is part of a bigger film.

Definitely worth seeing all at once. To be perfectly honest, while I was sitting in my living room, watching the film made me less tired than watching almost any two other connected films back to back. I mean I could have walked away from the screening I saw of 20th Century Boys 1 and 2 in between the two films.

10:28am: Happy Dance
I got my tickets for Peter Gabriel at Radio City Music Hall.

He's doing 4 performances in the US with an orchestra (no guitars no drums). Its to promote the new album of covers The piece at Pollstar said the first half of the show is the new album the second is old stuff.

A number of people in my office were excited that Gabriel was playing the US but became deflated when they found out what he was doing- they wanted to see a full on Gabriel show (most have not seen him). I would want to see him either way but I think the Orchestra is cool. I saw Elvis Costello with a Jazz orchestra a few years back and it was way cool.(I did not go to the night with a full on symphony orchestra, and I reget it because it was supposed to be even better) Anyway pretty much everyone I know kind of stopped wanting to see Gabriel when they saw it was an orchestra....fine made it easier to get tickets for me....well not really since I had to try and figure out how to get Fan Club tickets, which never happened and by the time I did I found those seats were sold out...and then I had to run down an AMEX for the pre-sale which I did.

Maybe tonight I'll get a good nights sleep since I was worried night before last about getting fan club tickets and last night about getting the AMEX tickets. Then again work is tomorrow and that always upsets the sleep pattern.

This is going to make for a killer week in May with Gabriel to start- Mark Knopfler a few days later and PaGAGini the night after that.

Don't mind me I'm going to happy dance for a bit.

8:53am: LEGION
Paul Bettany stars as the angel Michael who comes to earth to stand against the angelic border who has been sent to earth to wipe out mankind and stop the birth of a new messiah. A late night dash to the theater was rewarded with a rather run of the mill film. The plot and such is the sort of thing that has been done before any number of times before. Its not bad, its just the sort of thing that made me wonder what in the hell I was doing sitting in a theater at 1030 at night when I could be home asleep.We'll not get into the logic holes since the sense of deja vu was so over powering it took away any real suspense. The cast which includes Dennis Quaid and Charles Dutton is quite good and no doubt helped it get a theatrical release. You've seen this before so just wait for cable.

AMONG DEAD MEN
Weakly shot action film about a man who makes his money in illegal fights. After .he accidentally kills someone and is sent to jail his former boss conspires to get him back into the ring.The actors aren't bad, they all look mean and imposing. Their fights are pretty good, or would be if they weren't ruined by bad camera work which keeps the view in constant motion, often looking away from the action. The film is further weakened by some interludes of quiet contemplation and deep narration which look good but feel really out of place. Its a snoozer.

9:35pm: Bill Watterson speaks
http://www.cleveland.com/living/index.ssf/2010/02/bill_watterson_creator_of_belo.html

and read the linked article too

10:11am: A few more stacked up...
BLOOD CREEK- Joel Schumacher makes one of the best looking horror films in years. It concerns two brother trying to get revenge and stop a Nazi occult project in Americas heartland that started back in 1936. A good little horror film.

BELOW EARTHS SURFACE- German disaster movie about how a mining disaster years before threatens to destroy a stadium and a hospital because a combination of factors have weakened the ground between the mine and the surface. Okay tv movie sort of thing.

LOOK @ ME- Poorly acted film about a psycho who meets a girl who poses on the internet and then locks her up and torments her...

DREAD- Just misses story of three students who run a fear study, unfortunately someone involved or with access to the material is killing the people off.MAybe Clive Barker's story is better but for me this just missed despite good performances and striking visuals.

TRIANGLE-There and back again and round and round story about some people who go sailing, end up on an ocean liner after a storm and are hunted by someone crazed...only one of them feel they've been here before. This never really worked for me since it has too much of an off kilter feel from the start and I was convinced something was going on. It has moments but just moments.

PIG HUNT- Friends go into the woods and end up on a pig hunt running across rednecks, pot growers and weird people living in the woods. Oh yea and a monstrously huge pig. Horror satire with good performances, nice moments and way too much cleverness never quite pulls it all together. Intellectually I know its pretty good, emotionally I didn't really connect

9:26am: The Doctor Who Auction
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8500262.stm

10:40pm: Movies in a sentence or two- good bad and indifferent
BEYOND REMEDY- Poor German horror film about students going to a deserted hospital to deal with fears and anxiety. Its not only full of cliches but really poorly acted. AVOID

LOST CITY RAIDERS- After the world floods and the world is reduced to only 10% of its land mass a man who salvages the sunken cities and his sons are hired to find artifacts that might lead to the waters receding. Surprisingly good TV movie with James Brolin and Ben Cross. Sure its not high art but it gets the lived in look of the post flood world right, which is more than I can say about things like 2012. Pure popcorn for the brain

MUTANT-Addictive substance turns people into monsters and the makers of the drug hunt them. Poor B movie with Michael Ironside. Its seems like everyone is in a different film and all cut together.

POKER RUN-Two guys are forced to play sick games with some bikers who have kidnaped their wives. Throw back to the grind house and drive in of the 1970's. Good on its pure schlock level. Its mindless and not very good but fun in a flashback sort of way thanks to a truly NASTY edge.

RED-Rich kid and his friends kill Brian Cox's dog and things spiral out when they are protected by their dads. Okay drama is uneven in the performances, Tom Sizemore is clearly stoned out of his mind. Its a good film I thought was a straight horror film but is something else.

The ATTIC- Mary Lambert who directed Pet Semetary puts her career in a grave with a film thats poorly acted and poorly directed. Its a mess. A real mess and not worth your time.

VERTIGE (HIGH LANE) European horror film has some stunning photography and works for most of its running time. The story of a five friends who go to a closed climbing area and meet with a terrible fate mostly works thanks to the early scenes that show off the country and give a sense of mystery. The film falters in the last half hour or so when the mystery is revealed to be a mad man in the woods and the film drops into the cliche rut and never gets out- despite some great bits. a rental.

UPSTAIRS- Blind woman who needs money rents a room in her large house to psycho Luke Perry. You can take it from there. Okay, but why would anyone one pay to watch a story thats been done to death, dug up and beaten to death all over again.

TELL TALE- Man who gets a heart transplant begins to have visions and to suspect that the source for his heart may have been murdered. Good cast sells what amounts to a shaggy dog story. I really liked it but when I got to the end I was like "thats it?" Its good but it almost is better and thats its curse...

10:23pm: Enchanted Pig at the New Vic
Went to see an opera at the New Victory called the enchanted pig. It tells the story of a princess who is fated to marry a pig king from the north. Its an amalgum of fairy tales and the story itself is actually wquite good.

The music is absolutely atrocious and the fact its sung instead of performed takes an hour long story and drags it out to a painful two. It was horrible.

All I wanted was to scream "speak the lines don't sing them"

Its terrible - most opera parody is better than this.

10:07pm: 39 Steps (1959)
Kenneth More is Richard Hanny in what is essentially a bright and colorful version of the Hitchcock film. Its the second screen version (followed by the more faithful to source version from the late 1970's and a BBC TV version from a few years ago). Its the classic story of the wrong man on the run having to unravel the mystery that officials are too blind to see. Its a good little film on its own but suffers in comparison to the other versions. There are two problems with the film, first the bright daylight and colors work against the mood. the other problem is Kenneth Moore is too stalwart a hero to be anything other than a man of action. he carries himself with such aplomb that its hard to believe that he could ever not come out on top.. Other versions aside, its a good little film that is fine in its own terms. For me having recently seen the Hitchcock film a couple of times, not to mention the stage adaption I found myself all "stepped" out. Worth a look if you can manage to see it.

8:10pm: Random links
Why 3D Could be a devil in disguise
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/The-Trouble-With-3D-Why-Hollywood-s-Savior-Could-Be-Bad-For-Movies-16812.html

The more you surf the more you maybe depressed
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Internet-surfers-caught-in-a.6034994.jp

Great extended takes
http://www.geekweek.com/2010/01/20-greatest-extended-takes-in-movie-history.html

takumi shibano passes
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-01-17/sci-fi-author/anime-staffer-takumi-shibano-passes-away

The first segment of this ....
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2010/01/14

Jane Austen
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2010/01/15

On the Golden Globes
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/the-precurse-of-the-golde_b_423155.html

Flops
http://reporter.blogs.com/best_of_2000s/10-the-spirit-top-flops-of-the-decade.html

7:22pm: Last Airbender superbowl commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSqZtDc54xw

Maybe...probably no...it looks alternately great and like over produced fantasy

7:06pm: Two snarky comments
Watching Kill Bill at a friends house. he wanted to show off the Bluray sound and picture. Watching it I was struck by how uncreative a filmmaker Tarantino really is. Yes I know I've been over this before, lately with Inglorious Basterds, but at the same time even watching the blending of genres and references and all of that...all I could think was how much better Takashi Miike is. Miike often does a similar thing but he does it in such away that it really blends into a whole. You don't get the "oh gee" look every two minutes. I mean come on Miike has made 81 one movie in the same time Tarantino has made 13 (I've dropped a couple of the ones on IMDB because things like Sin City doesn't really count and they have 2 credits for Grindhouse and Death Proof). Tarantino is all show off. And yea it can be fun but the films become about Quentin and not the story, and at this point, I'd rather watch a Miike film.

-------

Up in the Air is one of the most cynical films of the last few years. The more I think about it the more bleak it becomes. I mean here's a film about changing yourself that ends with the person changing getting screwed over by life. And you wonder why so many of us never leave our comfort zones....

10:56pm: We are not friends but we are now no longer enemies- The Grey man in Robert Parkers Rough Weather

10:54pm: Trumptonshire
How are the three series that make up the Trumptonshire series the only one of which I can remember is Trumpton? It reminds me of things like Thomas the Tank Engine but from the late 1960's.
I was considering getting them for the baby when she comes...

8:23pm: Loveexposure - a semi-half time report
Shion Sono's massive four hour film about love and god and lord knows what else is out in the UK on DVD. Its spread across two DVD's and I've seen the first. As much as I want to dive into the second half right now I'm having to wait because of things like dinner have interrupted the smooth flow (The film breaks mid scene) of things.

As it stands now its an amazing film. Its funny and touching and any number of things. Its also a huge meal thats a great deal to digest. Its seems like some peoples feelings that its too much might be right on....then again I'm half way into it so I have no idea where it's going to end up.

I wonder why this hasn't hit US shore yet except at film festivals. This has "cult hit" written all over it (and I mean that in a good way). I know the four hour run time will limit it theatrically, but at the same time at least get this sucker out on DVD.

I'm curious what the end will bring---and I'm curious what any of you who see it will think.

6:12pm: James Cameron needs to calm the f#$% down
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-commentary/cameron-bitter-because-oscars-snubbed-animated-characters.html

James Cameron is unhappy that none of the "emotion" capture performances were nominated for an Oscar for acting.

Okay, assuming the film wasn't a cartoon (it is James, it is) I ask you were any of the performances from anywhere in the film worth an Oscar nomination?

I think not.

I think all of the performances were adequate but little else. They simply weren't that good.

More amazing is the sheer arrogance of Cameron and his people not only to think that they've done anything new, but the fact that they think that the sun of the mill material used to put together their film was extraordinary. While the film is worthy of technical awards the thought that the film will win for best picture or director or cinematography makes me ill.Its a good film but its not the be all and end all, especially when you watch the film flat, you realize just how unremarkable the film is.

Cameron needs to chill out.