"It's a crazy situation, but all we need are cigarettes & alcohol"

So, I decided to take a step away from just writing film reviews and posting old poetry of mine and go for something a bit more personal today. I guess the best starting point for this rant is to look at who I am, so let me introduce myself: I'm Steve, I'm 20 years old, studying Film Production Technology at Staffordshire University.

The culture that surrounds me, being a Uni student is best summed up as excessive drinking and cheap lays. I guess the Manics summed up that culture best with their original lines to A Design For Life:

"We don't talk about love, we only want to get fucked"

After being around this since high school, I'm fed up with how society just accepts this as being modern day culture. When Friday night arrives, you go out and drink the poison of your choice, to build up confidence to try and attract the opposite sex, for a cheap lay. I am of course generalizing excessively here, there's still a lot of people that have no interest in buying into the whole "the only way to have fun is to get pissed" attitude, but I think I should get to the point of my ramble.

Societies priorities and ignorance to some levels are what irritate me the most. The hypocrisy that comes out of some peoples mouths is unbelievable at the best of times. I'm always amazed by people that still think that the legality of something determines whether it's safe or not. I'm not going to try and advocate the use of drugs but if I was to choose a drug to legalize it certainly wouldn't be alcohol! Why? Think how many people die at the hands of alcohol (drink driving, domestic violence) now tell me how many people die from Cannabis abuse. Do the maths.

I guess this whole ramble was started by discussions with people from all sorts of backgrounds that quite happily say yeah I drink but smoking weed is wrong. Why? Cause it's illegal. *sigh* I'm not going to judge anyone for their choices, as I'd be a hypocrite having bought into both sides of my argument at some point in my life. My personal view from my own experiences are that the world would be a better, smarter society if people decided not to poison their bodies full stop.

 

posted by Steve @ 5:12 AM |

Creep

So I thought it was about time that I ventured over to Stafford’s local Choices, they've got a pretty good selection, great world cinema section, but I decided to go for a new British horror and a Japanese fairytale film which I may write about another time.

Title: Creep (2004)
Director: Christopher Smith
Starring: Franka Potente, Vas Blackwood


Premise:
Stuck in London and unable to find a taxi, Kate (Franka Potente) heads for the London underground to catch the last train home. Choosing to take an empty carriage, away from the noisy teens she falls asleep and wakes to find everyone gone.

Momentarily panicked until she sees another train arriving on the opposite platform, she boards unnerved that she's the only passenger. Halfway through the tunnel the train jumps to a violent halt as the lights shut down and the train is plunged into darkness.

With the train now static, Kate finds herself pursued by a mysterious, violent being while locked inside the depths of the London underground, Kate attempts to escape, falling into a game of a cat and mouse with her predator.



Review:
Generally these kinds of horror films don't appeal to me, they always seem to get sucked into the cliches, laid down by the late 70's early 80's horror films (Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Friday the 13th being the most obvious ones). However, I went to see, what has become known as Creeps sister film, The Descent and fell in love with the style of suspense, used by the director to invoke fear in his audience, so upon recommendation, I gave this film try.

With the central setting to this film being the London underground you wouldn't think that it would appear a particularly creepy place, that is, until you think about what it actually is: a labyrinth of long dark tunnels running adjacent to the sewers, add to the mix an attractive, feisty heroine and what better setting could you for a horror film!

The lead character, Kate doesn't scream appeal from the films start. Self-absorbed and arrogant the audience feel little to nothing for her. However when you see her confronted with her first threat, a work colleague with a crush, seeing his chance to take advantage, you see her true character come out from behind her quick mouth, portraying her from this sharp young lady to a scared little girl. From this point on the emotions that the character goes through become entwined with those that the director wants the audience to feel, using a lot of first person shots to his advantage.

The film does have one major let down, the creature was totally revealed within the first few minutes, then disguised again within the lighting and nifty camera angles until 45 minutes into the film. It's fair to put it down to inexperience of the director, as this was his first feature film, however it detracted a lot from the potential fear factor that the director tried so hard to create. The creatures design although simple was effective, the tinting of the camera aiding in not only the atmosphere but giving the creature a creepy edge (hence the films name).

The amount of gore in this film was relatively light and quick, until a certain scene in an operating room that was one of the most disturbing I'd seen and won't detail as it needs to be seen to be believed. However, for the budget the film makers must have been on, there were some fantastic atmospheric shots and great locations. Another positive for this film was that it didn't get boring or pretentiously try to dig into the characters past or explain how the monster came to be, everything was taken at face value putting you in the same situation as each of the characters there.

All I can say is if horror is your genre then watch this film and you won't be let down, although I wouldn't go and buy a take away to watch with this one, in fact don't eat for a good 2 days before watching this, unless you want it too come straight back up when the surgery scene arrives. If you've seen this one and are looking for others similar to it, give Mimic, Dog Soldiers or The Descent a try.

7.5/10

 

posted by Steve @ 11:37 PM |0 comments

Revolver

So I thought I'd put this site to good use and write some (hopefully helpful) reviews of recent films I've seen in the Cinema, so last nights trip can be the starting point.


Title: Revolver (2005)
Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Jason Statham, Ray Liotta



Premise:
Jake Green (Jason Statham) is a young gambler, lacking common sense but with an audacious personality. Having spent 7 years in a solitary confinement prison, he used the time to develop his gambling technique, making two mysterious friends in the process.

Rarely aloud to play in casino's due to his intuitive skill for winning, he challenges his ex-employer (the local crime boss and casino owner of the area; Macha [Ray Liotta]) to a game of chance, winning a substantial amount of money while taking every opportunity to insult him in the process.

Enraged by his lack of respect towards him, Macha puts a hit on Jakes head via the notorious but troubled hitman Sorter (Mark Strong) taking him on a journey through the world of the underground crime scene. Accompanied along the way by two con artists, Zach and Avi, Jakes' world slowly unfolds into a schizophrenic fantasy.



Review:
Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch) has certainly taken a new direction with his latest release, Revolver. Clearly influenced by the likes of Tarantino and David Finchers' Fight Club the direction of this film seemed to be a little abrupt and confusing for the on looking audience. Still, upholding the stylish direction that was found in his previous two films, he seems to have taken the level of storytelling up a few notches, leaving the audience baffled to say the least, when the ending finally arrives.

The main let down I found from watching this film, was the way Ritchie plagiarised a lot of styles seen in Tarantino's films, (Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction being the two most obvious). I'd always considered Ritchie to be a more talented director to Tarantino, but with the way he shamelessly scattered short animation sequences around the mid-section of his film, clearly mimicking those seen in Kill Bill, I have to question his motives.

On a positive note the Character direction was fantastic throughout, bringing out the best in his actors, especially Ray Liottas character Macha, the extremist crime boss and confused hitman Sorter, played brilliantly by Mark Strong. Ritchie invokes strong feeling towards almost everyone of his characters even if the technique of using the first person narrative is a little tacky in places, the acting is still solid throughout.

The plot is a confusing one to say the least, even though Guy Ritchie claimed that this was a simple film (obviously I'm far from the same intellect level as Ritchie). The film leaves the audience asking two questions, the first being who is Gold, a character referred to throughout the film but never seen. The second question; were Avi and Zach the two inmates that lived either side of Jake while he was in solitary confinement? The underlying implication towards schizophrenia doesn't help the answering of these questions.

From the way Ritchie has been talking about this film in interviews, he clearly wanted it to be understood, as opposed to the Donnie Darko style of filmmaking, where the director wants you to second guess him throughout, making up your own meaning to answer the questions you're left with. Looks like I'll be waiting for the directors commentary for now though.

Overall the best way to describe this film is unique. I'll be watching it again when the DVD is released purely out of curiosity to hear Guy Ritchies explanation of the film. Even if his style has been slightly quashed by his homage's to Tarantino and Finchers' work, the excellent character development is still there and the concept will certainly spark off questions after the film.

7/10

 

posted by Steve @ 12:41 PM |3 comments

"Two Ghosts"

So I have a snazzy new looking blog, thanks to a certain lovely lady. Life's good at the moment, I've got the internet and phoneline set up in my house, a pile of DVD's to watch, scripts, songs & poetry to write and a Resident Evil game to play.

Well to fill out the post as I haven't got much to write about I'm gonna post a poem I wrote that I'm hoping to turn into a short film compiling visual imagery over the narration of the poem, never tried anything like this before so I have no idea whether or not it will work.

TWO GHOSTS

Two Ghosts play in the summer breeze
Flowing gently through their dusty field.
Walking hand in hand in the dry air,
They danced through the starlight,
Each a mellow flicker in the night.
No expressions lay upon their face
Just a sullen, unchanging gaze
But with the other there, such joy is conveyed,
As, in their dusty field the two Ghosts play.

Two Ghosts lay alone through the autumn months

surrounded by the graveyards of fallen leaves.

But with no feelings to feel, no time to pass

They lie together across a tree bed

Each resting against the others head.

Both trapped amongst the everlasting,

In an unending void for eternity.

They shine more signs of life than many living have shown,

Silently comforting the other, the two Ghosts lay alone.

Two Ghosts weep on winters ashes,

Drifting into a cold, grey valley.

Watching the cloudy flakes paint the ground,

As the white butterflies flutter from the sky,

Each ghost holds the other as they quietly cry.

Now both Ghosts walk the desolate valley,

searching for the meaning of their being.

They're the empty souls left in an everlasting sleep,

With tiny crystals in each eye, the two Ghosts weep.

Two Ghosts kiss in the warm spring air,

Perpetually imitating grace and love.

Yet Passionless they cling to old memories,

Mimicing desires of a previous life,

Each craving love no matter how enticed.

With no words that the other can hear,

Distorted actions will speak for both.

With fallen dreams of living the life they so dearly miss,

They'll rise beneath a sunset where the two Ghosts kiss.

 

posted by Steve @ 3:18 AM |2 comments

Who am I?

So I found some stupid "get to know yourself" quiz (guessing it was written by one of our lovely yank friends), but it was the best I could find and thought it'd be a good way to start a blog.


* Name: Stephen Peter Cranston
* Nickname: Steve (So simple and dull I should be able to do better than that but no)
*Status: With a lovely young lady from Leeds named Rosie.
* Birthday: 8th July
* Location: Currently Stafford, originally Devon
* Hair colour: Black
* Eye colour: Brown
* Height: 5'11" last time I checked
* Shoe Size: 9 or 10 haven't been bowling for a while so I've forgotten.
* Brothers/Sisters: 3 amusing younger brothers
* Children?: Not yet...
* Who lives with you: 4 Uni friends, Josh, Max, Stu and Liam and some of the worlds biggest Wolf Spiders
* When is ur bedtime?: Generally before the sun comes up again.
* Nationality: English
* Job: Currently a student seeking work
* Night or Morning person?: Night
* Contacts/glasses?: Nope still got 20/20 vision
* Obscure and useless fact about yourself: I can juggle 3 smallish objects.
* I am: an architect, they call me a butcher (ok no more Manics references)
* I want to: do far to many things, travel to far and distant lands, write and sell a script/drawing/film, raise my future children to take over the world (a la stewie from Family Guy style), the list goes on.


------------------HAVE YOU EVER------------------
* Been in a car accident: Yep nothing major and nothing with me driving yet.
*Had an imaginary friend: I wished I had the imagination to have an imaginery friend if that counts.
* Cried during a Movie: Terminator 2 gets me everytime *wipes tear from eye*
* Ever thought an animated character was 'hot'?: Jessica Rabbit.
* Been on stage: Unfortunately, don't enjoy it much, possibly due to a lack of talent.
* Cut your hair: A mild trim when I was younger possibly.
* Been sarcastic: God no.


------------------FAVORITES------------------
* Colour: Red and black together I like a lot (boring I know)
* Day/Night: Night
* Summer/Winter: Winter (final Manics reference "We love the Winter, it brings us closer together" - Masses Against The Classes)
* Cartoon: Family Guy and American Dad at the moment
* Food: Indian or Chinese
* Advertisement: Don't do it for me personally
* Movie: Jurassic Park (I know I should be able to do better than that being a film student but I love the film to bits!)
* Ice Cream: Mango
* Subject: History of Film
* Music/fave band: Manics
* Drink: Volvic touch of fruit
* Person to talk to online: My lovely girlfriend from Leeds, Rosie (sound like I'm introducing her to a huge audience there)
* Author: J.K. Rowling
* Place on Earth: Canada (Vancouver & Ottawa being the favourites to date)
* Leisure activity: Playing guitar, making films
* Sport: Tennis, football, badminton, swimming, windsurfing, kayaking
*Play: only seen a couple, I liked "A midsummers night dream" alot


------------------RIGHT NOW------------------
* Wearing: Corduroy jacket and flares with a white shirt
* Hair is: looking a bit messy
* I'm feeling: like I should be doing something better with my time
* Eating: well it'll be the keyboard soon
* Drinking: Lilt
* Thinking about: Rosie (soppy I know)
* Listening to: a couple of French people natter away
* Talking to: a computer currently.
* Watching: my words appear on the screen.


---------------DO YOU BELIEVE IN------------------
* Yourself: Most of the time.
* Your friends: Depends how stupid the thing is their doing that they want me to believe in... ok I'll just say yes and stop rambling.
* Santa Claus: Well if I hadn't had it ruined for me when I entered secondary school then I could have put yes... who says ignorance isn't bliss.
* Tooth Fairy: Until I caught her and put her in a class jar where she works making Ice sculptures for me.
*True Love: Without a doubt.
* Destiny/Fate: Nope *wonders how many people have quoted the Matrix to answer that queston.*
* UFO's: I'm a doubter it's sad to say.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

and it's done... my life summed up in a quiz most likely devised by a 12 year old american girl that writes an agony aunt column in her schools paper. I feel liberated.

 

posted by Steve @ 8:04 PM |2 comments

Test post

Does Steve's new blog work? Well if this goes through then yes it does...

 

posted by Steve @ 9:36 AM |0 comments