Micro budget films often have a great charm. They’re under lit, gritty and really ambitious at times. They’re made for and with love, and it often shows. But then there are those in this genre that are overly ambitious to a fault, and the whole package ends up suffering a great deal. You can’t make a great film without a great script, I don’t care how much money you have, or don’t have.
Read MoreWhere to begin with Horns? The new movie has quite the pedigree: It’s directed by Alexandre Aja (of The Hills Have Eyes remake fame), based on a novel by Joe Hill (the famed author and son of horror titan Stephen King), and stars Daniel Radcliffe (the Harry Potter dude) in a performance removed from his acting legacy.
Read MoreGorgon Video is one of the essential 80s producers of what’s dubbed “horror cheapies,” films that probably didn’t have much of an onset budget beyond craft services and cocaine. Described as a company “focusing on the sub-genre of extreme horror and dark documentaries,” they’re best known for their classic VHS clamshell cases and the Faces of Death series, an utterly delightful video taboo among teenagers of every decade since its release.
Read MoreAh, the 90s. A time of democracy, rock ‘n roll, hip hop, American wealth, and the carefree days of the early internet. We see those days now, looking back through rose-tinted lenses, as the last decade of true innocence. Death and destruction only existed on the 11 o’clock news. Our sitcoms and cartoons satiated us and kept us safe from the hideous dangers of the larger world.
But if we took off those rose-tinted glasses we’d probably see that our world wasn’t quite as pristine as we remembered. In a way, that’s exactly what artist Paul Ribera has done with his latest works, a series of beloved 1990s cartoon characters depicted as down-and-out drug addicts. With this, he’s sufficiently tuned many people’s childhoods, but has also given us a dose of reality some may not have experienced.
Read MoreImagine you’re sending some personal emails between busy Monday meetings, casually describing to the recipient your recent and brutal knife murder of both a dog and a man. The ads generated in the subsequent email chain would likely be relevant to knife sharpening, or maybe animal care. However, if you use a racial slur, Google would serve you no ads at all.
This is what happened to Patrick Bateman, the infamous killer from Brett Easton Ellis’s much loved and hated anti-consumerist, 80s bloodbath, American Psycho. Well, it’s what would’ve happened had he been real and in 2014. Oh, and sending emails regarding his depravity.
Read MoreI always try to give the warning: I only listen to about half of what people say only about half of the time. It’s not my fault, though, and I have no ill intentions whatsoever. It’s just the way it is. I’m made this way. I’ve tried to remedy it, I’ve tried to be a more careful listener, but this is who I am.
You understand, right?
The upside of my condition is that I’m seemingly free from having to process the minutia of many things, mostly conversations, and I can focus on the important elements of the situation: the happiness, the anger, the frustration, the hand gestures and vocal intonations, the jubilation, the sadness, or the crusted booger on the upper lip. Whatever feeling is being expressed, and the vulgar humanity associated with it, I’m there. I’m present. I understand. It’s when I have to remember key narrative components like the names of the parties involved, the times of day, the color of the hair, or, especially, follow some sort of timeline, that’s where I falter.
Read More“I created myself. I have taught myself so much.” – Maya Angelou
World renowned author, poet, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou has died at the age of 86. She’s reportedly battled health problems in the past few months, and recently canceled a scheduled an event appearance to be held in her honor.
Read MoreHeathers is the holy grail of teen-angst comedies. It’s dark, funny, endlessly quotable, and more on point than any other film of its kind (sorry Mean Girls). Filmed at the rise, and possible height, of Winona Ryder and Christian Slater’s Hollywood moments, director Michael Lehmann couldn’t have chosen two more perfect people for his stars. Collectively, they delivered a movie unlike anything created before or since. Writer Daniel Waters gave lines for days, ones that live on twenty-one years after the film’s release. He created a perfect, mirrored world where good intentions go to hell and motives are ambiguous at best, devious at worst. Needless to say, Heathers is an untouchable cinematic icon.
Like all beloved cult films, there’s always someone out there who wants to remake the story with their own hands. Sometimes these notions come in the form of a musical. Inspired, retooled, these films make their way to Broadway, both on and off, and incorporate songs and dances that sometimes add to the beloved experience – Young Frankenstein, Hairspray, and Evil Dead comes to mind. Other times, like with Re-Animator or Grey Gardens, the experience is fun, but ultimately unnecessary. Heathers :The Musical falls somewhere in between.
Read More2013 was a great year for film. While it wasn’t an endless barrage of awesome, there were some that outshone the rest in big ways.
The Ink and Code’s Top Films of 2013
(This list is later than most, but I refuse to apologize)
Read MoreWhat’s in a throwing game? Or rather, more specifically, what’s in a dart game? The player launches sharp sticks at a cork-board in an attempt to hit the bullseye for points. Winner takes glory. Sometimes, the game is played drunkenly. Often times, I would say. But what makes darts fun? Unique? Weird?
A good friend and collaborator here at The Ink and Code just might have some answers for you, valued reader.
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