#VSS
COLIN – $70 Zombie movie is the talk of Cannes Film Festival
by Lee Bailes | May 25, 2009 | Film
The New Zombie Feature Film at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival is Making Big Waves; The Film is Called Colin
Quickly becoming recognized as the "$70 zombie movie" the new zombie movie is being viewed at the 62nd Festival De Cannes, and is being talked about by nearly everyone in the industry and the buzz that is surrounding the film is making its way back to production companies. The film was made on a shoestring budget by British Director Marc Price, and isn't just being noted for being watchable; now it looks like Colin could be purchased before it even leaves the 2009 Cannes Film Festival! This excellent article has more of the story.
Check out the official website and the trailer.
The funny thing is that I put the Cannes screener together. Yes in my brief stint working for a company that did the screeners for various TV and film companies who were attending Cannes – I took an initially low res version of this and converted it, to add it to the database for 20 british companies all being represented by PACT UK Indies. If you like shaky cam cinema verite style horror, it looks pretty good.
Anyway, the film looks OK, and I am stoked that a Brit has again proved how one can achieve amazing results without having to resort to a mega budget etc. But I am a cynic and I do not believe that this film cost $70 to make – at all. I am sure it was made very cheaply, but I think the more realistic story is less interesting for the press and much more like a couple of grand, judging by the FX etc. But even then it is still amazing.
Don't Panic! – It's Towel Day!
by Lee Bailes | May 25, 2009 | Uncategorised
Yes folks it is Towel Day. The day when all Douglas Adams fans don a towel in celebration of his life's work.
The original quote that referenced the greatness of towels is found in Chapter 3 of Adams' work The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough."
Personally I will be using mine to carry out bizarre grip related chin up exercises. But you are all free to do with yours as you will. Enjoy!
THE LOVERS – out soon!
The new Parker novel, THE LOVERS, will be published on June 2nd in the US, and on July 9th in the UK. The book has already received a starred review from Publishers Weekly in the US and concerns Parker's search for the truth about his father's death. I love the Parker books and have always believed that there was more to this backstory than meets the eye and can't wait to finally read about it!
From Publishers Weekly:
"Bestseller [John] Connolly once again expertly melds a hard-boiled plot with the supernatural in his eighth Charlie Parker crime novel (after THE REAPERS). While previous books in the series explored the trauma at the heart of Parker's backstory, the murder of the PI's wife and daughter, this one examines an equally devastating family trauma– the suicide of his New York City policeman father, Will, after Will gunned down two unarmed teenagers decades earlier. As Parker, who was 15 at the time, seeks the truth about his ancestry, [SPOILER DELETED]. When he learns a pair [SPOILER DELETED] have him at the top of their hit list, he decides to return to New York City after a stint tending bar in Maine. The underlying grim sadness and Connolly's unwillingness to pull his punches will appeal to noir fans, while his effective use of understatement and evocative prose makes his alternate universe plausible."
Check out the prologue
THE ROAD – Trailer
I really can't wait to see this film! THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN) is a brilliant and heart rending read. Don't be fooled by the action film style trailer.
The Spirit – a dream of a film…
by Lee Bailes | May 9, 2009 | Film
I am so gutted! I just saw THE SPIRIT – a film I had wanted to see for ages, yet I am completely perplexed by how disappointing the whole experience was!
The problem with the SIN CITY look is that in the hard work that goes into the process of creating this fantasy CG world, which automatically distances you from reality, you often lose track of what makes a good film great – the audience being able to grasp the thematic premise of the film and feeling like they are in the moment with you.
Right from scene 1 you lost me Frank. I didn't understand the world you had created, nor did I understand the part that I was to play as audience member. Did you want me to laugh with your choices or at them? Did you want me to feel any kind of emotion? if so, you failed. I didn't care at all. If so, why create a dream like world of smoke and swirling snow and fill it full of alienating voiceover and cliche homages to tired 40s detective films and mash it up with modern technology and pop culture references? Why make every line uttered a zinger of a ham fisted piss take of all that is great about dialogue?
I love your gift for composition. (more…)
Watch the MR CLEAN Teaser
Watch MEIPR – Doux
Why – DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE?
Video clips – from the screening and Tony Rovira
Shoot Diary: LOVELY TO MEET YOU
MEIPR – Europa
Spanish premiere #2 of DFTB and more…
MEIPR – Sommersonne – EgalitÈ
An update – what's g'wan?
New MEIPR video – Schlangenbisse
DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE update
Lee Bailes on Why – DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE?
darwinreina on Why – DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE?
darwinreina on Shoot Diary: LOVELY TO MEET YOU
Karl on Why – DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE?
Lee on Why – DON'T FORGET TO BREATHE?
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