May 2012
21 posts
The Children (2008) Have a Holly Jolly... →
Eden Lake (2008) A White Knuckle Ride →
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Appetizing... →
Battle Royale (2000): The Original Hunger Games →
Cameras in Your Home, Could You?
My daughter and I were talking about the reality television show The Family. I have never seen the program…Nor do I want to. If you look it up on IMDb, it states that this is the program that started the reality TV invasion. Well, IMDb didn’t say it was an invasion, that word was mine. I actively despise reality TV. And to think that the first iteration of this ‘reality’...
I'm Doing this Right Now...Not
I am writing a book! Well…I’m trying to write a book. It should be really easy, but… The problem is with me, amazing how much that sounds like the classic break-up line, “No really! It’s not you, it’s me.” I love writing; always have. But I’m suffering from the ‘David Niven’ syndrome. David Niven (1910 - 1983) was a wonderful actor. He...
YouTube. You've got how many...
I know I’ve written about YouTube before, but I have to admit it does fascinate me. I will also admit I’m a little bit addicted to it. I have two channels. One that I started actively using about a year ago, and a new one that I share with my daughter. I don’t do anything special, I just ramble on about films I like, on the old channel; my daughter and I both ramble on about...
Mum and Dad: Keeping Horror in the Family
Shot with an estimated budget of just £100,000 ($157,000) this film sets the goal posts for “shoe string budget” films. First time director Steven Sheil also wrote the film, putting him in the illustrious company of peers like Shane Meadows (Dead Man’s Shoes and This is England) and James Watkins (Eden Lake). This small elite group of British film makers have made brilliant...
Long Weekend: Horror in the Outback
Directed by Colin Eggleston (b:1941 - d:2002) Long Weekend is a piece of low budget genius. This was only the second feature film helmed by Eggleston and despite the fact that the film bombed in Australia, it went on to win five awards. Part of the reason the film did so badly was probably down to the public placing it in the category of “Ozploitation.”
John Hargreaves and Briony...
darkstorm-rex asked: Hello Mike => I'm a recent follower of your youtube videos and blogs so I had two questions. Firstly is it ok to comment on these posts? i noticed noone else had after I did and wondered if you were not meant to? (I'm new to this social networking thing my overseas friends only jsut got me to make a facebook thingy) and secondly is it ok to link to your video reviews from my youtube...
Pin (1988) Overlooked and Unloved
With no less than eighty-six horror films released in 1988, it is no wonder that Pin got lost in the shuffle. This quiet psychological horror film had to compete with the likes of Phantasm II, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Maniac Cop, and a slew of “Slasher” films, sequels and the re-make of The Blob.
Sandor Stern directed and wrote the screenplay for Pin. Adapted from a novel by...
Happiness - A State of Mind or Pocketbook?
The weather turned today. Instead of dark, dank days full of clouds and cold winds blowing it actually felt like a summers day for a change. Taking advantage of the sunshine, my daughter and I did garden maintenance. Cutting the grass and trimming the hedges always puts me in a brilliant mood. Well, it does if the weather is nice. I am definitely a “fair weather” gardener. So today...
The Haunted House
Summers when I was a kid were fantastic. The greatest thing about summer was the obligatory three months away from school. The second greatest thing was that because it was three whole months, summer seemed to last forever. I split my time away from school between working for my Dad and meeting with my friends. I also got to see a lot more of my two female cousins.
My cousins and I had a...
Alfred Hitchcock and ???
When I was about eleven or twelve years old I had another series of books that I adored even more than the Brains Benton Mysteries. Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. Published by Random House, I was immediately gripped by the adventures of sturdy smart Jupiter, athletic Pete and everyman Bob. I also loved that fact that their nemesis was a kid the same age as them, with the...
Motivation or lack thereof...
Sitting here in front of my laptop waiting to be motivated. I have been up for about two hours after having slept for well over ten hours. Pain pills have been ingested, two coffees with milk and sugar imbibed, three cigarettes inhaled, exhaled and extinguished. All that activity and I am still not in the mood to do anything of consequence.
I know I need a shower. My stubbly face needs shaving...
Arahan - Kung Fu Comedy
ARAHAN directed and written by Seung-wan Ryoo (he also wrote and directed No Blood No Tears and Crying Fist among others) is a fantastic romp through modern South Korea. Seung-beom Ryu plays bumbling cop Sang-hwan, he is a sincere but inept character at the beginning of the film. While chasing a thief, he gets hit by a “palm-blast” directed by a young lady who is trying...
Junior Scientist
In my last blog I mentioned the fact that I was a huge Brains Benton fan. Brains was a rich kid who was incredibly smart. His parents pretty much left him to his own devices. This included having a laboratory that would be the envy of any mad scientist. Brains with his best friend (a juvenile version of Dr Watson to his youthful Sherlock Holmes) would solve mysteries in his local neighbourhood....
Arcadia, Ca
Years ago when I was a whole world younger and (I thought anyway) a lot smarter about what I was meant to do with my life, my first wife and I moved to Arcadia in southern California. We moved there because I wanted to be a professional actor. The way we chose Arcadia was unique. We got out a map of southern California and closing our eyes we stuck our index fingers on the map. The area...
Show and Tell
We moved to Fayetteville when I was fifteen. I started that fall at Fayetteville High School. I desperately wanted to take Drama, but there were no spaces left. The closest the school advisor could get was Public Speaking. It would have to do. On the first day of class I became devoted to the teacher.
He was a mountain of a man. He must have been at least six and a half feet tall. He had a...
Vinnie's Bomb
My friend Vinnie had called me at home. He wanted me to see a dead buzzard he had shot from his bedroom window. This was a favourite pastime for Vinnie. Even though his parent’s house was in the city limits, he thought nothing of taking off his window screen and shooting at the “varments” that wandered into the back yard. Amazingly, no one ever complained about his shooting....
The NHS...American style?
I have just returned from my latest appointment at the hospital. After weeks of waiting for confirmation of a MRI, I finally got to see a lady who set the wheels properly in motion. As much as I (and just about everyone come to think of it) like to complain about the NHS, they do a great job considering their inherent shortfalls. I have had a love/hate relationship with the NHS since I...
