bloody terror

Monday, December 7, 2009

A HARRY HALLOWEEN

It's been a long time coming (i.e. in posting), but this year I spent my favourite holiday (Halloween) with my favourite band (Blondie) in the place where I was born (Halifax, Nova Scotia).

This was the third time I'd seen Blondie. The first time was at the CNE in Toronto in 1982. Duran Duran opened. The show was taped for HBO and it is finally available on DVD as Blondie Live in Toronto.

The second time was in the summer of 2008 in Orillia, Ontario in support of the 25th anniversary of Parallel Lines (my favourite album of all time). I was amazed at how fresh the band sounded as they tore through Hanging On the Telephone, Picture This, Sunday Girl, et al. It was an amazing concert.

This year's show was just as terrific, and very, very intimate. Debbie Harry wore a version of the dress that her Barbie doll wears (Mattel is releasing a Debbie Harry Barbie doll this month), and at the beginning of this Halloween show she sported a black eye masque. She was funny, sexy, off centre, and I was reminded of just how diverse her voice really can sound... little girl sexy, jazzy, full throttle punk, radio friendly, bluesy, funky...

I love Blondie. Their music has always been a distraction from the crap of life and a guide to new things undiscovered... punk, rap, art, the underground, things just on the horizon. Sometimes the mix of styles and moods on a Blondie album is like listening to the greatest LP that K-Tel never got around to releasing. Great hooks, impressionist lyrics, all delivered by the most beautiful front woman in the business. To my way of thinking, they still haven't been given the due they deserve for opening doors and delivering the goods. God bless Blondie.

Here's some clips from the 31/10/09 show that someone captured most likely on their cell phone:

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

THE LOST ART OF THE HORROR MOVIE POSTER (US EDITION)

A recent discussion at Stacie Ponder's essential Final Girl blog about the poster for the remake of "The House on Sorority Row"..

...called simply "Sorority Row" (kinda like Kentucky Fried Chicken used to be just that and now it's KFC)...

...lead me to consider the mostly lost art of the movie poster in general, and the lost art of the horror movie poster in specific. What follows are North American release posters only (too many amazing European ones to consider) that don't necessarily represent my favorite horror flicks, though some of them are, they're just genre posters that I love.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Inglourious Basterds

Q: Why is it that when a new Quentin Tarantino move is released, all the movie-lovin’ blogs and website write incessantly about him/it?

A: Because he/it is worth writing about.

Like the release of a new Coen Brothers movie, a new Tarantino flick is a cause for movie fans – real film lovers who also care about pre-Spielberg, pre-Lucas cinema – to celebrate. Tarantino is clearly obsessed by movies, and that spills out onto the screen whenever his movies do too. I love that he’s not a movie snob (at least, if he is, it’s in the best possible way); his obsession seems to spread across the cine-spectrum. He’s a guy who realizes that the line between arthouse and grindhouse is practically nonexistent. He’s as much Godard as he is Girdler.

To my senses, the key to Tarantino is to realize that all Tarantino movies are about… movies. And none more so than his latest – Inglourious Basterds. In this case, where the film demonstrates, quite literally, the power of film during its climax. This underlying theme may be why I love his movies so damn much.

Starting with Jackie Brown, my personal experience with Tarantino flicks have been unusual. Previously, I’d seen and loved Reservoir Dogs, but seeing Pulp Fiction felt like my movie world had been rocked. Walking out of the theatre after seeing it for the first time, I felt like I had just witnessed an utterly new combination of elements put together in an exciting and unique way. The anticipation for Jackie Brown then, was extremely high. When JB rolled around to theatres, it was not at all what I’d anticipated, and I was somewhat let down by it. Then I saw it again and really got into it. Really got into it. It’s now one of my favourite flicks. The same happened with Kill Bill Vol. 1. And Kill Bill Vol. 2. By the time Grindhouse came around, I realized that I was going to have to see any Tarantino film at least twice in the theatre; once to go through that highly anticipated rush, and a second time to get a grip on the movie and experience it a different way. And by the time of Grindhouse, I was predisposed to love everything that Tarantino did. So, following my predisposition, I loved Grindhouse, a movie experience that can only properly be experienced, I think, in its original double bill, missing reel, in theatre (or at drive-in) format. It’s a blast.

And now comes Inglourious Basterds, a movie that I loved at first sight, and a movie that I will return to again soon. Why discuss plot and ruin the experience for those who haven’t seen it yet? It’s a World War II flick/Spaghetti Western fairy tale that’s about the movies. To paraphrase the tag line for Showgirls: “Leave your expectations at the door.” A new Tarantino flick has arrived, and it’s a reason for writing.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Tokyo Transit Dreams

Laura O'Brien and I have collaborated on our first Flash animation. Jeez, what a pain in the ass! Not because of Laura (she is an excellent collaborator), but because our brains weren't built to function the way Flash asks them to. With tips from Beth Scott (whose brain DOES function the way Flash asks it to), however, we were able to get all 52 seconds of mostly repeated motion up on Youtube. The result is "Tokyo Transit Dreams", a simple animation with a simple concept... Do reserved people get wild in their dreams? Mentally blink and you'll miss it.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Oh Hal Hartley! Oh Godard!

Back in April, I posted about this scene I love from Hal Hartley's 'Simple Men":

http://bloody-terror.blogspot.com/2009/04/it-aint-bloody-but-i-love-it.html.

Now I feel like a dope. In the midst of a Godard frenzy, I recently watched "Bande à part" and discovered this freaking fantastic scene (note: the subtitles are iffy in their translation here) that was clearly Hartley's inspiration:

Vive la Godard!

Monday, July 6, 2009

'Cuz I Love It! (Song & Vid)

Saturday, June 13, 2009

FAVOURITE COMEDIES

A recent conversation with my friend Rob over at The Annekenstein Monster coupled with watching the special features on the Young Frankenstein DVD (in black & white... no offence) set me to thinking about my favourite comedies. It's interesting to me that all but one of them are American. And Rob, I challenge you to post your own list on your blog.

Any way, for better or worse, here's my list, including guilty pleasures and only straight ahead comedies (no Evil Dead 2 or The 4th Man), no cut off number and in alphabetical order:

AFTER HOURS (1985) Dir: Martin Scorsese