Archive for the ‘Film’ Category
Let us go back in the Wayback Machine, for exactly one week:
So, somewhat against my best judgement (that is, things can pall if they become too routine — but then one can always quit early and who else will know?) I accepted a dare to myself and “joined” NaPoWriMo, the write-a-poem-from-a-daily-prompt challenge for National Poetry Month, a.k.a. April. But the NaPo guys had to know better for April 8, at least for a broad swath of states from Texas to Maine, where there was to be a total solar eclipse.
Thus, for April 8, a prompting for poems of doomed love, of the breakup of couples, on a day when the sun and moon . . . well, of a union that did not last long. Did one sense a subject?
And so for today, as said a week later, the subject matter is stamp collecting or, rather, unusual stamps. Or, well let’s let the NaPo guys say it themselves: Take a look at @StampsBot, and become inspired by the wide, wonderful, and sometimes wacky world of postage stamps. For example, while it certainly makes sense that China would issue a stamp featuring a panda, it’s less clear to us why the Isle of Man should feel the need to honor 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY in stamp form. From Romanian mushrooms to Sudanese weavers to the Marshall Islands getting far too excited over personal computing, stamps are a quasi-lyrical, quasi-bizarre look into what different cultures (or at least their postal authorities) hold dear.
The Isle of Man? The Manx? Does one once more sense something obvious (hint: it’s not cats with no tails, though they can be included)? So:
THE ISLE OF MAN
(” it’s less clear to us why the Isle of Man should feel the need to honor 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY in stamp form” — NaPoWriMo prompt. 4-15-24)
The Isle of Man honors
2001, the Space Odyssey film,
but is that, then, so odd?
Is not the home of us all, the Earth,
an island of man;
and is not our collective journey
around the sun,
and with that star to who knows where,
an odyssey that would top any other
our minds can conceive?
Came the email Thursday morning: Attached is a pdf file containing the semi-proof of THE RABBIT HOLE VI. I call it a semi-proof because the pagination will probably change for both the e-book and the paperback. Also, I may still have to make some adjustments where one line of a story or bio runs over to be an entire page (a bit of a waste). Anyway, that’s my problem. What I need from you is the following: Well, pretty much the usual, corrections of any errors found (only two, it turned out, and one of them a citation), double check the spelling of my name (contents page, bio, as well byline on the story proper). . . .
And so, done Thursday evening, back it has gone a bit before supper.
The story: “Marcie and her Sisters” (cf. May 31), originally published in the movie-oriented anthology REEL DARK (BlackWyrm Publishing, 2015), and now being revived by The Writers’ Co-op for their sixth annual THE RABBIT HOLE anthology, under the theme “Destination: Journey.” In a simple sense [to quote the original call] the journey itself being the destination can be taken literally or as a metaphor for life. On the other hand, as a non-sequitur it can mean almost anything — think Kafka, Bierce, Serling, or Lovecraft — and we’re really looking forward to your interpretation, because falling into the Rabbit Hole is always a strange and different experience.
In this case, think of a tale with maybe a tiny nod to Woody Allen’s HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, but this time with zombies. Or are they really?
Or who are we to believe anything that Marcie might have to say?
Maybe we’ll all find out together in THE RABBIT HOLE, VOL. VI, currently slated (if all goes well) for a publishing date of late October — just in time for Halloween. With more to be here as it becomes known.
Of course, zombies don’t really exist,do they? Not even on Halloween? But just for fun, what if they did — why would they do the things they do in the movies (post-Romero/NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, that is, we’re not talking about zombies in Haitian folklore)? Like eat brains, for instance.
Well, that came up first (eating brains, that is) in RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, an “unofficial” John Russo sequel, whereas DAWN OF THE DEAD, et al., by Romero have them continue to eat folks in general, even picky about their meals to the point of turning from someone they’ve just taken a chunk out of to bite a new, marginally fresher victim. But I digress.
Or, well, brains-eating would be part of a Keto diet, being 60 percent fat and 40 percent protein, and devoid of carbs — but would also have its side effects as well. But to the main point, if you’re a reader of theashington Post, the answer to this and other questions can now be found in “Craving brains and hangry: Zombie behavior demystified by scientists,” by Bonnie Berkowitz and Shelly Tan. Or, to quote the text: The Washington Post asked experts in several fields to address some zombie mysteries based on what is known about human bodies and brains. They busted some tropes (aww!), left the door open on others (eek!) and made educated guesses about how and why zombies do what they do.
So now you can know too, by clicking here.
Then, still pre-Halloween, Dragons Roost Press has a kickstarter out for its Lovecraftian tongue-in-cheek anthology LOLCRAFT: A COMPENDIUM OF ELDRITCH HUMOR (see October 6, August 27, et al.), including my Cthulhuesque tale of “The Reading.” One that may come true in fact as, it being Halloween season and all that (cf., also, October 5), I have two more readings myself coming up this Sunday, for poetry, and the Sunday after on November 6 for prose.
So to check it out and/or for early ordering, plus chances for extra gifts as well, press here.
It came July 10, and even then late in a sense, as Editor Tom English explains: Hope you’re doing well. Here’s the contract for “The Country Doctor” for BLACK INFINITY: FIRST CONTACT. (You submitted the story way back in September 2021, but I got rather involved with the first issue of NIGHTMARE ABBEY.) Yes, the story of a New Mexico doctor and a strange patient, an accident victim, brought to him and his nurse by members of the military (see September 8 2021, et al.). And, oh yes, they are not to tell anyone about what happened or what they saw.
But truth will sometimes out.
In any event the story, originally published in BOOK OF DARK WISDOM in Summer 2005, had been accepted for the upcoming BLACK INFINITY: FIRST CONTACT issue and, notwithstanding other items intervening, the contract had finally been sent! Except — one more twist — my email decided this one was spam and hid it away, not to be discovered by me until yesterday afternoon, five days later. And then I had to go to the library to handle some details, but as of now it has been signed and sent back, and a new BLACK INFINITY is that much closer to being on its way.
Then one more unrelated item, but nonetheless missed and far too late returning — for which we go back to a pre-Covid early 2020. Yes, CatVideoFest is at last back, the annual compendium of short feline clips from all over the world (see February 2 2020; June 8 2019, et al.), with in this case ten percent of the show’s receipts to be donated to the Monroe County Humane Association. What more can one say? Some were funny, some action packed, some sad — a favorite judging by the applause, of cats in a city in Ukraine, some feral, some ex-pets, who’ve moved with people into a bomb shelter, determined to survive — others just cute — another international offering of cats “getting away with a lot” in Turkey, where cats are apparently much treasured. And all for a good cause, this year being shown in the downtown’s Buskirk Chumley Theater to a semi-packed (notwithstanding COVID, but some of us wearing our masks as well), and very appreciative house.
But also for me a reminder of the most important cat, the one at home, that I’d be returning to as promised about two hours later (that is to say, in time for supper): the Goth Cat Triana.
That is all five parts have been posted on Defenestrationism.Net, and can now be read from beginning to end as a single about 3300-word story. That is to say, in “normal” fashion, for those who’ve not been following it day by day.
The story: “Casket Suite” (cf. December 10, 2, November 24, 8) is one of seven finalists in a Flash Suite Contest, with “fan voting” (i.e., by you) open January 1 through 14, the result to be combined with the choices of four professional judges to determine a winner and runner up, to be announced January 17. And what is a Flash Suite? From the contest editors: A series of at least three flash fiction works that correlate, and build to something greater. Recurring characters, extended motifs, harmonious subject matters, and/or sustained narrative are such correlations — but we encourage innovation and new ideas.
Thus, “Casket Suite,” five mini-tales of Aimée and les filles à les caissettes, the “Casket Girls,” the vampiresses who’ve made New Orleans their home since their 1728 coming from France. The individual flash piece subtitles: “The Flavor of the Jest,” “A Surfeit of Poe.” “Reflections,” “Shades of Difference,” and “What’s In a Name?” All now are available in proper order for your reading pleasure, by pressing here — with details on voting among all the finalists, should that be your inclination, to be supplied as they become known. But for now just enjoy!
Then one final note: the picture, above, which has graced these several “Casket Suite” posts is of a French actress, Musidora, who starred in the 1915-16 movie serial Les Vampires. In the film the “Vampires” is only the name of a criminal gang, but, in that we writers imagine details about the characters we create, the portrait, in my mind, is one of Aimée.
The following is from the movie review “To ‘Mars,’ With Love” by Belinda Acosta, in THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE for March 12 2010 (so it’s what the Google search brought up): “I wanted this to be my take on romance, and because it was animated, there’s no reason it has to be set here [on Earth],” Marslett said. The film stars Mark Duplass, Zoe Simpson, and Austinite Paul Gordon (who also directed The Happy Poet, also premiering at South by Southwest) as three astronauts sent to the red planet under the vague auspices of NASA (a fuller explanation would reveal spoilers). Their mission is to verify if there are other life-forms on Mars and, more importantly, pick up where the failed Beagle 2 mission left off in 2003 (the British spacecraft was presumed lost when it landed on Mars and its transmissions ceased almost immediately). As the trio is launched into space, another computer robot from the European Space Agency is also en route to Mars. Tempers and egos are flying high as each camp — including the President of the United States (played with aplomb by Kinky Friedman) — stakes its reputation on a successful Mars mission, up to and including making contact with whatever might be living there.
The movie is simply titled MARS, and it’s animated, much of it a quasi-realistic rotoscoping of a sort but with other techniques too. Directed by Geoff Marslett, it was part of the fare from the see-it-on-your-own-computer service this weekend from the Monroe County Library and, while not as much fun as the CAT IN PARIS (see April 10), it was interesting, and a pretty good story. It seems there’s a space race now between the EU (with sometime Russian collaboration) and the US, and a lost European Mars lander which, unbeknownst by ESA or NASA may have been accidentally contaminated by a sneezy Comrade. But now it’s time for the first manned mission, “womaned” as well by a loan from Europe, and. . .
Citing the AUSTIN CHRONICLE once more: “The places you go change you,” Marslett said, talking about the impetus behind the film. But he’s not just talking about traveling to galaxies far, far away. His droll film is also looking at romance as a kind of exploration — the missteps, the unrecognized cues, the stolen moments, the second chances, and the stunning realizations — that all, somehow, and often against all odds, lead to a lasting and meaningful connection.
It’s an interesting and I thought different take, though a bit optimistic (the date for the mission is 2015, with a theme in part that, unlike the moon race, we may still do big things but no longer necessarily do them well), perhaps a curiosity mostly but, as implied above, still a pretty amusing story. To sum it up, a final review on Amazon by “Malcain” (who gave it four stars) in its entirety: The story is entertaining and leans heavily on satire. It is an enjoyable movie if you like a more low budget movie that is higher on character/plot (snicker) development and not on special effects. *Definitely* worth the time to watch, but totally expected it to be panned by the academy. . .
So it’s not really “at the movies” as such, but rather the movie came to me — all the way from Paris. That is . . . sort of.
It’s something the local library seems to have been doing for just the last weekend or two, but a neat idea. With COVID we still can’t go out to the theater, but the library has movies it can lend, so why not offer a catalog of selected films to email out Fridays in such a way that recipients, attachment-like, can select ones for single viewings on the old home computer? Sort of like Youtube.
And so this evening as I perused the choices, one caught my eye, a mildly shortish at about an hour and ten minutes, French cartoon titled (English version) A CAT IN PARIS. Or, choosing the French version with English subtitles, UNE VIE DE CHAT which, yes, like some of the subtitles too is not exactly a literal match but still gets the job done. And much of the film is unspoken anyway (though with some interesting jazzy musical backgrounds here and there) in that there’s, well, a cat burglar in it.
That is to say, Dino the cat leads a double life, by day the pet of a troubled girl whose mother is a policewoman whose husband, also an officer, had been killed by a notorious gangster; by night the companion of Nico, the aforementioned burglar with, as it happens, a heart of gold. Or at least, like the cat, with a way with kids. But the gangster, meanwhile, has a major crime planned and one of his gang members happens to be the maid/babysitter of the policewoman/mom.
The film is not recommended for very young children as the coming together of elements leads to a very scary kidnapping, not to mention aerial journeys across Parisian roofs, clinging to would-be rescuer Nico’s back. But that’s part of the charm — for portraits of characters the hand-drawn art is fairly simple and even perhaps crude, but the nighttime rooftop backgrounds are hypnotically lovely, with sometime glimpses of the Eiffel Tower and (Quasimodo, stand aside!) a climactic fight atop Notre Dame. And, oh yes, the “Colossus of Nairobi,” the object of the gang leader’s desire, Godzilla-like walking through the streets of Paris . . . or does it, exactly?
In short, a lot of fun, not to mention being an Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature. Or, swiping a quote from Rotten Tomatoes: A CAT IN PARIS depicts a stylish, imaginative world with a wonderful soundtrack and Hitchcockian overtones.
I’ll say it up front, I’ve seen only one of these movies myself, but then they’re not supposed to have been box-office blowouts. The list is titled “10 Horror Movies Directed by Women You Maybe Haven’t Seen,” originally published in late February last year on BLOODY-DISGUSTING[dot]COM.
To let author Meagan Navarro say it for herself: In terms of celebrations, February might be the shortest month of the year, but it’s also one of the busiest. Black History Month, numerous holidays like Valentine’s Day, notable festivities like Mardi Gras, and, in horror, a month-long spotlight of women in the horror industry.
As such, if you’re looking to pad out your watchlists with horror movies directed by women but are already well versed on the tried-and-true faves like NEAR DARK, AMERICAN PSYCHO, PET SEMATARY, and so on, here are ten lesser discussed films worth checking out.
And that said, I’ll just list them out right now, by title, for more on which one can press here (and I know I will, the descriptions of some seem worth looking into): BLOOD DINER, LURKERS, THE WRATH, IN MY SKIN, THE LURE, BLUE MY MIND, THE WIND, ORGAN, THE MAFU CAGE, MESSIAH OF EVIL. And the one of these I’ve seen myself? It’s the one in the middle, THE LURE, about a pair of mermaid vampiresses in 1980s Poland, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.” Yes, it’s not a nice story.
But otherwise, for my review on that one, see below, April 25 2017.
A lot of this year’s best horror has been coming out in unexpected places. With movie theaters either shuttered or showing a severely limited slate due to the pandemic, many of the year’s best horror pictures have been released on VOD or have gone straight to streaming services like Netflix, Shudder, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Fortunately, no matter how you watch your movies, there’s bound to be something on this list that will keep you sleeping with the lights on for at least a few nights. . .
So begins “15 Best Horror Movies of 2020,” by Orrin Grey on THE-LINE-UP[DOT]COM and, one usually waiting a year for prices to go down for the DVD, I’ll have to confess I haven’t seen any of these titles yet. I do have two immediately marked to check about, though, EXTRA ORDINARY (number 15 and a British ghostly quirky comedy, according to Grey, one I’d find welcome in a year where a bit of humor has seemed extra special) and, one I’d heard about and have been waiting for, COLOR OUT OF SPACE (number 13). This latter is one of three adapted from stories, the others being THE INVISIBLE MAN (3) and GRETEL & HANSEL (12). And another is from, at least, a kind of urban (and maybe not so urban either) legend LA LLORONA(9).
That leaves ten to go, including such themes as sea stories (UNDERWATER at number 1 and SEA FEVER, 7) and the occult (HOST, 4), one anthology movie (THE MORTUARY COLLECTION, 10), you get the idea, most from the US but with at least one Korean as well as the British one cited above. And a lot that can be streamed, as noted above, for enjoyment right now!
To find out which, as well as the remaining six on the list, one is invited to press here.
Some of these may be okay in general for children to watch too, but as Marian Phillips points out in “13 Spine-Chilling Animated Horror Movies,” via THE-LINE-UP[DOT]COM, even they have some scary portions or scenes, or share themes like abandonment that might at the least be unnerving to kids.
For an example, WATERSHIP DOWN or THE PLAGUE DOGS, about dogs and bunnies, but as stand-ins for aspects of human society that are more than horrific. But we’re speaking of Christmas, or dark days and nights when darker cartoons may add some cheer, so THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS is first on the list, followed by THE CORPSE BRIDE (with particularly beautiful animation in my opinion), as is THE LAST UNICORN (in general not so scary except in certain scenes — this is one I watched with my nieces as I recall, though by then they weren’t exactly children either). Others include some I haven’t seen, SEOUL STATION, for instance, and PARA NORMAN, while ending it up is a kind of favorite of mine, about Frankenstein perhaps when he was a boy and refused to accept the loss of a pet, FRANKENWEENIE.
That brings us to eight with five more to go, all of which can be checked out, with brief descriptions, by pressing here.
jamesdorrwriter 