Discussion - Crowdfunding 2015 - part 1

A new year, a new set of interesting projects to support.  Thankfully all the ones I backed last year wound up making it (except the Godsfall RPG- although looking again, it looks like it made it the second time around and I missed it).

This year, I'm starting off with a few solid-looking ones.

1.  The Book of Giants by Flesk Publications - all the projects I've funded by them so far have turned out amazingly well (not to mention all the collections I've bought from their store) - and the one book I already have by Petar Meseldžija is excellent.

2.  Portal to Hell - a short film based on Rowdy Roddy Piper fighting Cthulhu (sounds like fun).  I imagine it might be similar to Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, which was pretty fun on it's own too

3.  Iron Sky 2 - the first one was a lot of fun - really did a good job establishing the crowdfunding basis even outside kickstarter.  Not to mention that the Finnish team behind it is getting pretty good at getting bang out of their buck - ever since "Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning" - a classy parody riffing Star Trek vs Babylon 5.

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On a separate note - I think my goal this year for this site is one review a week...and to make it easier, I'm going to see about themed months so I don't bounce around too much.  Not that the themes will necessarily meet normal genre expectations necessarily, but I figure it'll be good practice and hopefully you'll enjoy it too.

Blu-Ray Review - Nightbreed: Directors Cut

This is a review of the just-released Blu-Ray of Nightbreed: The Directors Cut.  While this is not exactly the same as the fan-edited Cabal cut that has circulated in the last few years, it is the Director's original vision - as stated in the introduction to the disc by director Clive Barker and the restorer Mark Miller.

Frankly...a bit of backstory doesn't hurt - although you'll certainly hear more about this if you check out the film.  Much like Gilliam's original cut of Brazil - the studio decided they didn't like the overall tone of the film and hacked it to pieces for release.  If you've watched the theatrical cut - the only one previously available on DVD or VHS - you may have noticed some weird tonal shifts and plot holes - not to mention how different the story felt compared to the original novella it was based on - "Cabal."

Blu-Ray Review - Sorcerer

Holy Crap!  Talk about your nailbiters.  William Friedkin's "Sorcerer" is one of the best cliffhangers (literally) that I've seen in a long time. 

An American remake of Henri Clouzot's excellent "Wages of Fear" - Friedkin pulled out all the stops putting together something that most definitely is not a horror flick or a cop flick - even if it has elements of both included.

Die Farbe - For Free

Well....not a proper review.  I'll get to that soon....if I have time to get any of my recently viewed flicks reviewed....

But the makers of Die Farbe are offering it up on youtube for free viewing from now through Sunday!

Highly recommended - this is a really classy piece of Lovecraft caught on film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RhwyPrUWx8

Check this film out - then support The Dreamlands on Indiegogo!

Discussion - Crowdfunding Lovecraft

Just wanted to push a little project I'm more than happy to support:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-dreamlands/x/6734996

"The Dreamlands" is the next project by a European indie team that already produced a very tight adaptation of Lovecraft's "The Color Out of Space" in the form of "Die Farbe".

I'll put together a review of that Blu-Ray in the future, but for the moment, let me say that these guys are top notch and really have the cojones to put together a solid flick!

Blu-Ray Review - Space Pirate Captain Harlock

Despite seeing owning a series and a couple of movies about the character, I still find myself feeling a little bit like a novice when it comes to a seemingly archetypal anime character like Space Pirate Captain Harlock.  I think I had seen the character in bits and pieces over the years (certainly recognized him visually), but my first real viewing was maybe an episode of the Nibelung series during anime clue in college, before picking up "The Endless Odyssey" series on DVD about 7 years later.  Since then I've also seen him in "Arcadia of my Youth" and the Galaxy Express movies - although sadly, not the original tv series yet (hope to change that soon). 

Blu-Ray Review - Repo Man

Almost the eponymous punk movie of the early 80s, Alex Cox's look at non-conformity and life in Southern California is a real piece of work.  Rented it from netflix a couple years ago (regretted not blind-buying Anchor Bay's OOP collectors edition tin when it first came out a few years back), and the new Blu-Ray special edition from the Criterion Collection is a gorgeous release.

Blu-Ray Review - Retreat, Hell!

Continuing it's cultural presence as "The Forgotten War", the Korean conflict remains under-covered in most western media.  Honestly, even with my military service there and my minor in Asian Studies (including Korean Politics) - I've got a stack of references still on my must-read list on the subject.  One reason I was really interested when I saw the excellent reviews posted for this Blu-Ray of a movie made during the war.

Frankly, although it largely plays out as a Marine recruiting film, this is a tight little number that does a really good job covering some of the first major marine actions involved in the war.  Starting from the very beginning, we find the USMC is barely able to muster a full division of men at the start of hostilities even after calling up all the reserves, embassy security forces and embarked detachments - a bare 6 years following the end of WWII.

E-Book Review - The Collected Works of William Hope Hodgson

A brief review of the Kindle E-book.

Surprisingly even when I was digging down into Lovecraft in college and Robert E. Howard starting in 2004 or so....I never heard of William Hope Hodgson.

DVD Review - Welcome to Irabu's Office (Complete Series)

Well, this anime series is very different from almost every other series I've watched before.

The eleven episode series is a very unique sort of proposition.  The psychiatrist Irabu Ichiro analyzes a variety of patients over the course of the series as they are drawn to his office.  These range from a man with a permanent erection to a yakuza underboss afraid of sharp objects and an investigative reporter with OCD.  One of the catches to the show though is that the entire show takes place over a 9 or 10 day period in December - and each episode covers roughly the same period of time...so starting from the first episode you also see some of the different characters crossing paths with one another - unaware of some of the issues being addressed or their interconnectedness.  There's no overarching plot or conflict, just a series of characters addressing their issues - although the final episode does close things out a little more clearly.

Blu-Ray Review - Moonrise Kingdom

My first *full*/complete viewing of Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom since I first had the opportunity to catch it in the theater in Portland when my ship was there for the Rose Festival in 2012.

Anderson is rightfully recognized as an auteur and his style in this film is instantly recognizable if you've had the chance to watch any of his previous films.  He also revisits very familiar themes - particularly familial issues and relationships - failed ones, new ones, renewing old ones.  While clearly hitting some potentially very painful edges - for the characters - or the viewers - he's able to bring his characters to address them appropriately (for the most part) - and without the use of too much deus ex machina (also for the most part).

Sam the orphan Khaki Scout goes AWOL from his troop to run away with Suzy, the lonely, misunderstood daughter of two bickering lawyers (Frances McDormand and Bill Murray).  Enlisted in the search to find the two of them are the mismatched remainder of Sam's troop, his scout leader (Edward Norton), the local police officer (Bruce Willis) and Social Services (Tilda Swinton) - right as a massive storm is about to break out - as narrated by Bob Balaban.

Blu-Ray Review - Kamikaze Girls

First saw Kamikaze Girls when it came out on HK DVD almost ten years ago.  Really enjoyed it then and still do.

A beautifully filmed comedy about complete opposites meeting and clashing....repeatedly.  A lolita fan-girl (Kyoko Fukada) and a "yanki" biker girl (Anna Tsuchiya) stuck in the middle of nowhere (Shimotsuma, Ibaraki)...but somehow it works.

Blu-Ray Review - Streets of Fire

Just re-watched Streets of Fire last night.  I saw it a couple times back in college when I worked in a computer store (one of the other guys would leave it playing on the display monitor), but I didn't really catch onto it myself till a few years later.  It's the sort of thing you really need to be watching and listening to a the same time.

Local girl made good Ellen Aim (Diane Lane) from the group Ellen Aim and the Attackers is kidnapped by a biker gang led by Raven (Willem Dafoe) while giving a performance at a club in The Richmond district of the city.  One of the girls at the show sends a telegram to her brother Tom Cody (Michael Pare) who used to be Ellen's old boyfriend - asking him for help.  He turns up and accepts an offer from Ellen's manager/boyfriend Billy Fish (Rick Moranis) to rescue her - with a little help from ex-soldier McCoy (Amy Madigan).

Starting Out

Well...been meaning to do this for a while.  Set up another site for media reviews - books, movies, music, etc - whatever catches my eye.

Nothing fancy, nothing super detailed.  I watch a lot of stuff, read a lot (less lately, but meaning to catch up), listen to a lot...and I need the writing practice.  So, for what it's worth, these'll probably just be smaller, capsule type reviews.  Maybe set up some recommendation links and other things along the way....we'll see how often I put something up here.

For starters - this link hosts *most* of my movie collection.  See something you're interested in hearing about - maybe not much about it up on imdb.com - post a note and I'll see what I can put together for you.

Alternatively - this link hosts quite a few of my books - although most of them are currently in storage in the mainland - should have access to them later this year - but certainly up for a discussion about any of them (haven't necessarily read all of them all the way through at the moment) - and it's also missing a few titles.

Thanks.