stillwater1

Paranormal Activity

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:19:44 GMT

A review of the excellent, Paranormal Activity over at my blog, Tears All Over Town

Blog Updates

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:11:14 GMT

I've just posted a review of Pixar's seriously amazing new movie, Up.
Head over to my blog now I've dusted off the cobwebs. There's also a review of our recent visit to London for the theatre production of Breakfast at Tiffany's...
http://simonavery.blogspot.com/

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:07:12 GMT

A new post on some old movies over at my blogspot...
http://simonavery.blogspot.com/

Be Seeing You (Again)

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:54:47 GMT

I have to say I wasn't expecting too much of the new remake of Patrick McGoohan's seminal TV show, The Prisoner, but this nine minute preview of AMC's mini-series, starring Jim Cavaziel as Six and Ian McKellen as One looks pretty damn good. It was released over at San Diego comic con this weekend.
While foregoing some of the classic (yet admittedly very 60's) imagery, it seems to have managed to hit all the necessary beats and plot points of the show and retained the look of Rover as well. Definitely retaining some (if not all) of the original McGoohan themes and madness. It's coming in November, and look's like it's going to be well worth a look. As to how they'll end it, I've no idea. The original is deeply strange, and although I loved it, I dount they can get away with such left field thinking in these unadventurous days...

Collectormania Milton Keynes

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:13:31 GMT

It was Collectormania time down in Milton Keynes again this weekend, and me and Amanda took my folks and brother along again, as they enjoyed it last time. Although it has been moved from the MK shopping centre to the temporary (and very difficult to find) location of the MK Dons stadium, it doesn't seem to have hindered business. After braving the deluge of rain in the morning, it thankfully brightened up in the afternoon, and turned into a pretty good day.
The two guests we were after this time were Nathan Fillion and Phillip Glenister. Both were very friendly and we came away with a signed Serenity poster and a Life On Mars print to hang somewhere on my by now rather crowded walls. Leonard Nimoy was also there, but the queues were huge and his security seemingly on loan from the US president, so we didn't even catch a glimpse of the pointy-eared one.
We also caught up briefly with Ade, Rachael and Bri who'd also braved the elements. We popped over to the shopping centre in the afternoon to grab some lunch (and pick up some a couple of discounted Supernatural books from the Works - the official guide, one of the novels and the graphic novel, all for under a fiver) and were back for about five. Next stop: the London Comic and Movie Con to get another signature on the Serenity poster...
And some pics...

The Wedding

Tue, 26 May 2009 21:18:20 GMT

We had a splendid time at Wroxhall Abbey in Warwickshire on Sunday for the wedding of Mr Joesph Hegarty and Alison Baldock. The sun came out and stayed out, and we really had the most glorious setting for it. Wroxhall abbey is an incredible place - a beautiful building, church and some staggering pretty grounds that we took full advantage of. There was much drinking, eating and a little bit of dancing besides. Amanda, Ade and myself travelled up there for midday and met up with Big Al and his girlfriend Holly and a multitude of Joe and Alison's friends and family. It was great to see a good friend finally find 'the one' and look forward to a rosy future.
I took a few pictures, most of which are uploaded on my Flickr stream here
And some are

STENDEC

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:14:58 GMT

Thirty years of mystery (sort of) revealed for me tonight at Tears All Over Town

London and Wicked

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:37:58 GMT

A splendid day was had yesterday down in London as part of my birthday celebrations. Having found a carpark in Hillingdon station which is literally just as the M40 turns into the A40, it only took me just over an hour to get down there and cost a quid for the entire day. Another 50 minutes or so and we were in the centre and we took in a few shops around Covent Garden - the Tin Tin store (so very expensive), Forbidden Planet (filled to the gills with too much stuff), Fopp (where Amanda bought me The Day The Earth Stood Still as an easter present; the old 50's classic, not the Keanu one, god forbid), Orcs Nest (for the Arkham Horror game with birthday cash), VinMag (just because it's awesome and I always have to buy a print of some kind from there; this time a Carter The Great magician poster), and few more comic stores besides.
Then in the afternoon we headed over to Victoria to the Apollo theatre (which is an awesome bit of old time Art Deco inside and out) to see Wicked. Adapted from the novel by Gregory Maguire, it's a sort of parallel novel to the Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the witches of Oz, Elphaba (the future Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda (the Good Witch of the North), turning the story effectively on its head when Elphaba is revealed as the 'good guy' as it were.
I haven't seen a huge amount of musicals (although after seeing Cabaret last year at the Rep, I felt I'd seen one of the best right there), but I enjoyed the soundtrack to Wicked a lot. The songs, while conveying a lot of the story, are excellent tunes in and of themself, so by the time we sat down to the show yesterday, it had the effect of going to a gig and hearing the 'greatest hits'. Needless to say, Amanda (being a life-long fan of this sort of thing) was so excited she was virtually hyper-ventilating!
It's also one of the most visually stunning shows I've ever seen. There's clearly a lot of money been spent on effects, costumes, sets and visual trickery; every scene is an absolute feast for the eyes. It's also just a great story. It barrels along at a furious pace, it's funny, witty, emotionally engaging and has some brilliant perfomances. Three hours of brilliance. It was an awesome birthday treat, really. And afterwards, while passing the stage door, we lingered awhile with the crowds (as we didn't have to rush home) and got our programmes signed by Kerry Ellis, the lead actress, who's played Elphaba for the last three years here and on Broadway. Another signed programme to be framed and placed somewhere on the increasingly full walls in my flat...
Aftrewards we did a little more shopping then caught the train back to Hillingdon for nine, and we were back home a little before eleven, deeply knackered and loaded down with bags. Excellent day.

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:45:05 GMT

Being a huge fan of the TV show Angel, I was shocked to hear that Andy Hallett, who played Lorne (or The Host) died of heart failure last night at the age of 33. Although he'd spent his post-Angel years working on his music career, he'd been admitted to hopsital frequently for the heart condition. What a great shame.

There Are Monsters and Let The Right One In

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:13:55 GMT

A re-review of Let The Right One In after another viewing at The Electric and the short ten minute film shown beforehand, over at my blog, Tears All Over Town
Well worth it for the short movie by Jay Dahl, There Are Monsters. Fantastic little idea that had the whole audience leaping out of their seat. Watch it in the dark with the volume way up!

Saul Bass

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:50:50 GMT

A new post on one of the great cinema auteurs, Saul Bass.
Tears All Over Town

The Thing From Another World

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:54:56 GMT

A new review of Howard Hawks classic The Thing From Another World over at my blog
Tears All Over Town.

Saturday Morning Watchmen

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:07:10 GMT

This is excellent. Watchmen if it were a Saturday morning cartoon. Very funny. Just click on Watch This Movie!
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/485797

An New Tears All Over Town blog post...

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 02:54:06 GMT

A new post covering Hard Case Crime, Derek Raymond, Joel Lane and my own crime fiction. Plus some cool Hard Case artwork...

http://simonavery.blogspot.com/

Gran Torino

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:43:02 GMT

There have been a lot of reviews referencing Dirty Harry in Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood's supposed acting swan song. It's part of what attracted me to the film to be honest. I was brought up on a diet of Eastwood movies, my dad being a major fan. I've seen the Dirty Harry movies many, many times, and I've heard my dad yearn often for a final return to Harry Callahan before it's too late. Well, Gran Torino isn't that film. And although there are references to all those Eastwood hardasses that he's played before in Torino's Walt Kowalski, there's also a bittersweet twist to all that simmering violence that's one of the most suprising things about this movie.
Gran Torino takes it's title from the 1972 Ford automobile parked in Walt's garage, a symbol of an idealised past while Walt spends his days on the front porch, glowering at the immigrants who supposedly threaten his patch of suburban Detroit.
Thao (Bee Vang), the son of the Hmong family from next door tries to boost Walt's car as part of a gang initiation, but when Walt catches him, the boy is forced to work for him. Walt puts him to work doing up the eyesore of a house opposite, and gradually the old man and the boy begin to bond. The thaw continues when Thao's sister, Sue (Ahney Her) stands up to Walt's racial slurs and invites him round to sample her fatherless multi-generational family's food and beer.
If it sounds a little cliched and over-earnest, you're right; it is. Gran Torino's script by newcomer Nick Schenk, is clunky in places and you can hear the gears grinding (no pun intended) at times as the movie changes tone and mood. Only Eastwood's surefire direction keeps the movie on track at times.
Initially Walt is Dirty Harry in the suburbs, it's true; when the gangbangers invade on Walt's territory, Eastwood cocks his rifle, squints at them down the barrel and growls: "GET. OFF. MY. LAWN." Then when, the same gang attack Thao after his first day at a job that Walt has arranged for him, Walt heads over, waits them out and stands on the head of the last guy left until he gets the message.
But what makes Gran Torino more than the sum of it's parts is the ending that turns that myth of the cliched Eastwood hero on it's head. It's an audacious and bittersweet twist that more than makes up for the earlier lapses in the script.
It goes without saying that Eastwood is terrific. He takes the caricature of the obnoxious and bigotted curmudgeon Walt and infuses him with subtlety and a sly humour. Now, as much as any time in his prime, Eastwood is a magnetic prescence on the screen, one of the last Hollywood legends. He also elicits some excellent performances from the first timer Hmong cast; both Bee Vang and Ahney Her more than a match for the 78 year old veteran on his swan song.
Gran Tornio is no Unforgiven. Although both movies flirt with similar themes, Torino is a little generic, a little too simple and predictable. But its final act that flirts with the notion of the Eastwood hardman, cleaning up the neighbourhood for one last time, only to turn into something far more moving and redemptive is more than enough to be a fitting close to the man's acting career, and more than enough to recommend it.
Cross-posted from my blog, Tears All Over Town

Slumdog, Casablanca and Dollhouse

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 02:33:26 GMT

Over the last couple of days we've seen a couple of extraordinarily good movies and a pretty good bit of TV. Last night, after seeing Dev Patel appear on Jonathan Ross, we finally decided to give Slumdog Millionaire a go. I'd resisted it purely due to the massive press and award attention it's received, and also because I've never really got on with any of Danny Boyle's other movies. But Slumdog is wonderful. I'll probably blog about it in more detail over the weekend when I get the chance, but all I'll say here is that it more than deserves it's accolades. Although an admittedly contrived rags to riches story of an urchin from the slums of Mumbai who wins big on India's version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (which is more of a religion over there than it it here), it's also a very sweet-hearted love story, a dark rites of passage in a city in transition, and an absolutely sumptuous bit of film-making.
The central concept is wonderful: that of Jamal answering each question on his quest for the million being answered by a cascade of stories as he and his brother grow up, living (and surviving) from one moment to the next. It's a Capra-esque bit of cinema, beautifully shot and superby acted. Dev Patel more than deserves the attention that's been lavished on him. Upbeat, feelgood cinema. Highly recommeded.
We also went to see a Valentine's Day showing of Casablanca at the Electric Cinema today. I haven't been to the Electric for years, and it's recent art deco refurbishment has the place looking lovelier than ever. And Casablanca... well, what can you say? One of the greatest movies committed to celluloid. And it was lovely seeing it on a big screen with an appreciative audience. No idiots, no mobile phones. Just Bogie and Bergman and some celluloid stardust.
We also caught Joss Whedon's new show, Dollhouse, that aired last night in the US. And it was pretty good. It's had a little bit of a savaging from the critics and I fear that it'll go the way of Firefly before it finds it's feet. Which will be a shame as, despite it's similarities to a few other shows (Alias, Dark Angel), it certainly shows enough promise. And it's nice to see Whedon doing TV again, along with a lot of writers that made Buffy and Angel so dear to my heart. Time will tell, but I fear that thirteen episode boxset of a cancelled show before it found it's feet a'la Firefly.

The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:12:19 GMT

I have a new post up at my blog, Tears All Over Town, this time a review of Paul Malmont's splendid pulp homage to the creators of The Shadow and Doc Savage, The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril.

Harper Collins Authonomy site

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:08:48 GMT

Last week I heard a news story about a Birmingham writer who sold her novel to Harper Collins after previewing it on their Authonomy site. This obviously piqued my interest, so I decided to go have a look and find out if it might be helpful to me and my novel.
Basically you build a profile similar to the other networking sites, then upload at least ten thousand words of your book for other people to read, discuss and rate. Authonomy counts the number of recommendations each book receives, and uses it to rank the books on the site. It also spots which visitors consistently recommend the best books – and uses that info to rank the most influential trend spotters.
Once a month Collins pull out the top five books from the Editor’s Desk Chart, and passes them on to their Editorial Board. HC editors will read from the first 10,000 words of each manuscript, feed back their comments to the appropriate authors and, if the book's good enough push it up the ladder with a view to publishing.

After a bit of hesitancy (mainly due to a reluctance to having a chunk of my book available for anyone to read) I decided to bite the bullet and join up. It doesn't hinder your chances to submit the work to other publishers or agents, so it seems like a win-win situation.
So tonight I uploaded a photo, a profile, a pitch, a working cover for the book (cribbed from one of my Paris photo stash) and then the first eight chapters of my book, Secret Skin.
Here's my profile page and here's the page for the novel.
If anyone wants to join up, you can and should! You don't have to have a book to join; you can just sign up as a reader. That way you can back my book and push it up the charts.

The Geek Tour

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:02:52 GMT

An exceedingly geeky photographic tour of Avery Manor over at my blog...
http://simonavery.blogspot.com/

The Iron Giant

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:47:47 GMT

This beautiful animated film, made in 1999 by Brad Bird (who worked on The Simpsons, King of the Hill and then had huge hits with Pixar's The Incredibles and Ratatouille) more than deserves it's reputation as an overlooked gem; one of those movies that failed to find an audience upon release, but now has a huge cult following.

The Iron Giant, adapted from the late poet laureate Ted Hughes book, The Iron Man shares some themes with E.T. - a young boy meets a visitor from outer space who's stranded on Earth, and falls prey to paranoid government agents. But The Iron Giant is so much more than that. When lonely kid, Hogarth Hughes, who's raised by his single mother (Jennifer Aniston) meets the amnesiac iron man (Vin Diesel), he enlists the aid of hipster beatnik, Dean (Harry Connick Jr) to stop an obsessed Federal Agent from finding and destroying the Giant.

Taking place during the fifties at the height of the Cold War, The Iron Giant is an utterly charming and lovingly crafted parable. It draws on a stylised view of the past when America was preoccupied with nuclear holocaust and little green men (indeed there's an hilarious cartoon public service film, Duck and Cover where kids are advised to shelter from a nuclear attack by hiding under a table), and looks utterly unlike any other cartoon you've ever seen.

I'm not a huge fan of cartoon movies as a rule. I get easily restless during the parade of cute animals and song and dance numbers. But The Iron Giant has none of that. What it does have is some of the best voice acting I've ever heard on an animated movie, a loving 50's retro-futurism look to the characters and the huge clunking Giant, a lot of humour and a huge huge heart. This is the movie of a true auteur. Moving and unforgettable, The Iron Giant is one of the (if not the) best animated movies ever made. Wonderful.
(Cross-posted with http://simonavery.blogspot.com/)

Robin Hood at The Hippodrome

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:11:16 GMT

With a massive thanks to Ade who paid for my ticket, I had a fabulous time last night at the Robin Hood John Barrowman-fest panto at the Hippodrome. I joined Ade and his family and we had a fine old time, along with several hundred hyper kids and panting Barrowman lady (and lad) fans.
It was my very first panto (which no one could quite believe, so I must have lived a sheltered childhood) and it was a top quality one to start at. Although very silly and outrageously camp, it was incredibly funny and total entertainment from the moment Barrowman rose up from the stage amid a cloud of dry ice. Special mention must be made of Paul Zerdin who played Will Scarlet and whose ventriloquism act is a high point of the show.
It has ice skating, a deeply impressive Titan the Robot, and some very near the knuckle innuendo, as one might expect whenever Barrowman takes to the stage. It was fantastic fun. Cheers Ade!

Three Dames To Kill For part one: Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:40:59 GMT

It's a bit big for LJ, and it's a good excuse for you to go and check out my new blog. Go on, you know you want to!
http://simonavery.blogspot.com/

Ava Gardner in The Killers and Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany's follow shortly.

The Blog World

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:06:20 GMT

I've followed Chris into the Google Blog land, purely on a whim tonight. Although for the moment, the posts will be transpanted from here while I decide where to go with it. So far I've decided to make it a movie-review kind of blog, just to keep my hand in on some kind of writing, but I may intersperce it with some photos and descriptions of the pic (a'la Chris).
Anyway, nothing much new at the moment to people who already read this, but here's the link for you to bookmark, should the urge take you.

http://simonavery.blogspot.com/

Meme

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:30:02 GMT

001: What are your nick-names?
NO nicknames (that I know of!) apart from those syrupy ones that your loved one calls you.

002: Boxers or Briefs?
Boxers. I like a bit of air getting to the undercrackers.

003: What's new in your life right now?
NOthing really new. A bit of a renwed interest in old movies, but I have a new obsession nearly every week or so...

004: How many colours are you wearing right now?
Grey, black, blue

005: How do you style your hair?
Wash, gel forward, hope for the best.

006: What was the last book you read?
Love is Nothing - biography of Ava Gardner by Lee Server (absolutely extraordinarily good reading).

007: Favorite ice cream flavor?
Strawberry cheescake. Served in a shop near Montmartre. So I only enjoy that particular type every now and then. The Ben and Jerry's sort in Farmfoods doesn't feel the same...

008: What's the weather like now?
Fucking cold.

009: Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
Just the general family related stuff that brings me down on a regular basis. Other than that, just the regular degree of stupidity infesting society.

010: Where was the most memorable meal you ever had?
Not exactly exotic, but we had pasta and pizza on a warm moonlit evening beside Lake Garda that was lovely and just about the most picturesque place you could eat.

011: How long does it actually take to get ready in the morning?
Half hour, depending on the degree of lethargy afflicting me...

012: What websites do you visit daily?
LJ, Aintitcool, hotmail... probably more than that actually.

013: What classes are you taking right now? And, if not in school, what is your profession?
None. Sometimes I feel like a writer, somedays not so much.

014: Do you like to clean?
Not at all, but I will.

015: What the last song stuck in your head?
Defying Gravity - Wicked soundtrack

016: Hollywood/Celebrity crush?
Christina Aguilera or Jessica Alba, preferably both together.

017: What hobbies would you like to take up if money/time/ability were no obstacle?
Photography, travelling the world, pornstar...

018: What color do you look best in?
Black. Definitely black.

019: What states or other places do you wish to visit in 2009?
Venice, Rome, South of France...

020: What are you most looking forward in the next month?
Well, I was looking forward to Hamlet most of the month, but we've done that now, so not sure. Although there's some John Barrowman panto action on the cards for next week!

I don't have enough LJ buddies, so here's just two who can have a go at this...
mynosecomesoffwolfheart1

Be Seeing You...

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:35:47 GMT

After getting into The Prisoner in a big way last year, I was sad to hear about Patrick McGoohan's death earlier. Having finally getting the series in its beautifully restored form in the fortieth anniversary boxset, and absolutely adoring the show, I found the man and his work fascinating. Let's not forget that The Prisoner pretty much defined the sort of modern day episodic and 'difficult' TV fare such as Twin Peaks or Lost or The X-Files. McGoohan pre-dated all of those TV auteurs such as Lynch, Whedon and Carter by creating, writing, producing, starring and masterminding someting with startling vision.
But The Prisoner was more audacious than pretty much anything we have now; a challenging allegory about attempting to find freedom in a dystopia masquerading as a utopia. It was an envelope pushing piece of fiction that was far ahead of its time, and remains still, socially and politically prescient.
The final episode, Fallout, outraged audiences by refusing to give a pat conclusion to the series; instead McGoohan crafted a surreal, witty hour of TV that continued to ask questions. I loved it and McGoohan for his steadfastness. When asked about that final episode, he said:
"If I could do it again, I would. As long as people feel something, that's the great thing. It's when they are walking around not thinking and not feeling, that's tough. When you get a mob like that, you can turn them into the sort of gang that Hitler had."
Anyone who hasn't seen it... well, you should. I loved visiting Portmerion last year; it was a unique experience to walk around The Village itself, unchanged in forty years, surrounded by hundreds of other people who were there for the same reason. How many TV shows will have that kind of longevity and leave such a huge legacy in the culture?
It's very rare that any celebrity death has any impact upon me, but I'm actually quite sad. I was hoping that he might get that cameo in the imminent Prisoner remake, starring Jim Cavziel and Ian McKellen, but apparently he was already too sick to do so.
So RIP, Mr McGoohan, you sir were a visonary.
Be seeing you Number six...