corporeal damage. Hello. This is a warning. The self-destruct mechanism has been activated. Within moments, the test subject will be destroyed. Please vacate the premises to avoid corporeal damage. Hello. This is a warning. The self-destruct mechanism has been activated. Within moments, the test subject will be destroyed. Please vacate the premises to avoid corporeal damage. Hello. This is
The Original of Laura (Dying is Fun) a Novel in Fragments
Some have called it the literary event of 2009! Today, The Original of Laura is published! This is the novel Vladimir Nabokov was working on at the time of his death. According to him, the novel was completed in his head. He just needed to translate it to paper. Unfortunately, he died before completing his work and all that was left were Nabokov’s index cards, his favorite tool to corporealize his novels. Being a perfectionist, however, Nabokov ordered his son Dmitri and his wife Véra to burn the manuscript in the event of his death. Legend says the family was unable to return Laura to her ashes, and so she was locked away in some Swiss vault for more than twenty years, while the world waited for her to evolve beyond her pubescent years. Earlier this year, Dmitri Nabokov decided to release Laura from her limbic prison and to entrust her to the twisted mind of scholars, academics and other zombie-like creatures. Some have criticized it. Some have applauded it. Most remained indifferent. If you’re interested in having a look, you can find it here. If you’re not, feel free to proceed with your drunken dance of miserableness. If you’re somewhere in the middle, do both, which is probably the best and safest solution in these cases. As for me, I’ll definitely do both and I'll be secretly proud to have included Vladimir Nabokov and zombies together in the same text.
Paranormal Activity is an independent film originally from 2007. But it was only in 2009 that it became known for a larger audience. The buzz around this film is that it's being publicized as one of the scariest films of all time. One of the marketing strategies is that the audience leaves the theater earlier because they’re terrified. The trailer, basically, is built around how scary the audience gets while watching the film. Then, when you actually want to see the film, you realize that it’s not available anywhere. There is, however, a website that allows you to “demand” a national (US only) release. If one million demands are reached, the film gets a national release. And this is what happened. In a way, this is nothing but marketing. First, you are presented with what seems to be the scariest movie of all time. Then you are told it’s not available and you can’t see it. Even the trailer shows little footage of the actual film. The anticipation rises, you demand it, you want to see it, you pay for it. As simple as that. So, yes, as a horror film buff, I was dying to see it. And I did… and well, it's hardly the scariest of all time, or the best horror of all time. Part of it's good and part of it's bad.
First the good part. The entity that is supposed to haunt the characters is brilliantly developed. It’s never seen and that scares the shit out of people. That which is not seen is scarier than that which is seen. Then this entity is supposed to be a monster. We see some footprints, we hear some roaring, we know it bites. Put this together with the fact that we can’t see it and people start imagining the creature. Each viewer will basically create what they are most afraid of. Each one will imagine the most horrible and nasty little bastard ever. Finally, the film pays a slight homage to The Exorcist (this one indeed scary as shit) by bringing religion into the mix. The creature might be a demon, an entity that is capable of possession, and there’s some delicious footage of a Linda Blair-like possessed girl gnawing her arm off. And then, of course, we have the bad part.. Really, the problem with horror movies, or independent horror movies, is that too much emphasis is put on the horror and not on the characters. This couple is clearly one dimensional and static. I kind of understand Micah’s desire to protect his home and not wanting to ask for anyone’s help, but as the paranormal activity increases and the threat becomes real, the characters stay motionless. They don’t run out of the house, they don’t stay awake at night, they don’t do absolutely nothing. Who in their right mind would go to sleep the next night after they’ve been physically attacked by an invisible demon-monster? Seriously… their stupidity was too much. The film lacks what is usually called character development and tridimensional characters. It’s just the characters responding to one thing after the other and not really taking any action. They simply react and do not act. They're static and boring. They lack survival instinct and that’s unnatural. After a while, you know you’re looking at fake people, not real ones, and that’s destroys part of the horror. And this is a shame because if the characters had been better developed, the film would be awesome. Echoes of [Rec], I suppose... Great directing, great premise, horrible writing.
The director said in some interview that this was filmed in one week without a written script. I’m glad it was so, because otherwise that imaginary screenwriter would have to be shot… or haunted by some invisible demonic creature.
For some reason, I’ve been going back to some of the zombie classics. Maybe it’s because of the upcoming release of George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead or maybe it’s due to the revival of the genre in the latest years. In any case, I decided to post a small tribute to the father of Zombie films. So, some of the next posts will be dedicated to Romero’s Dead Series. I know there have been other occurrences of zombies in earlier films, namely White Zombie with Béla Lugosi, but Romero’s films take a different approach. This guy created a vision of a zombieverse and he stuck with it. There has been quite a number of interpretations and variations of zombies throughout the years, some good and some bad, but Romero’s is unique and has definitely claimed its place in horror film history.
Let the Right One In is a 2008 Swedish film directed by Tomas Alfredson and it is based on the book by John Ajvide Lindqvist. I haven’t read the book, although I definitely added it to my list of books to read. I know there are many differences and that the film focuses on an entirely different aspect of the book, but whatever was changed, it works. This is a great film that brings vampire fiction unto a different level while honoring its sources, which is something I can’t say about the latest fads in vampire film and literature - that’s right, S. Meyer and all you emo fucking kids, I’m talking about you! But seriously, the entire concept of this film is great. The way the director seems to focus on the love story between the characters and chooses to leave the horror and death more or less unseen is masterful. The kids’ performance is brilliant, especially the little girl who plays Eli. It’s interesting to notice the mirror between the characters. Oskar is blonde and very pale while Eli has black hair and a dark aura. One seems to be more innocent and the other more corrupt. In the end, though, we come to realize that they’re actually the same. They are both rejected and alone and seem to find comfort in each other. I also like the parallel that’s slightly hinted between Oskar and Håkan. And so many more things that are suggested in the film… One thing that bothers me about this, though, is how an American remake is already being planned. This really annoys me! Seriously, this film is really good! Why does it need to be remade only years after its release? It seems there can’t be any good foreign film without being usurped by the English language film industry. The least they could have done is wait a few years and then try to honor it with a remake. Anyway, enough of me crapping all sorts of useless opinions. Just watch the film and judge it by yourself.
Trailer
Let the Right One In (2008), directed by Tomas Alfredson
I knew some of these videos already, but I only recently came across the entire project. The concept of these Take-Away shows is to film a band or an artist in one single take while they play their music in a street, a bar, a beach or wherever they want. The sound is captured in the moment and it’s not edited. I have to say the final result from such a simple concept turns out to be something great. You’d expect a crappy sound or video quality, interruptions, mistakes, but in some cases, this is what actually makes the video so pure. Of course some of this greatness is due to the filmmaker’s talent. My favorite videos are usually the ones Vincent Moon directs. I love how he begins by focusing on details such as part of an instrument or a facial expression, and then carefully extends his shots to the surrounding environment. In most cases, you don’t know if anyone is actually listening or watching the show until the end, and by then it doesn’t really matter if people clap or show any interest. You did, and that’s what matters! It seems this concept transports you to where the music is being played and you feel like being part of it. Another thing I love about these videos is how the artists seem to be ordinary musicians playing in the streets just for fun. You drop that illusion that comes with fame or money or even with extensive editing. In these recordings these people are real and not just some image on MTV. Look at the Bloc Party video as an example. They were so scared to do this without practicing or without electronic support and the result turned out to be great. In their video, they weren’t just a rock band. They were musicians and artists.
I’ll post here two very distinct but beautiful videos. These are both directed by Vincent Moon.
