Grindhouse too hardcore?

Cinematical are reporting that Grindhouse might be having a little trouble with the MPAA. As a result, Tarantino and Rodriguez will need to cut some of the more extreme moments of the film to get the R rating that they’d like.

Wait a second - they want an R rating? This is Grindhouse we’re talking about: a film conceived to be a celebration of everything that’s sleazy, gory, and politically incorrect about horror films. Why should they care if it gets an NC-17 rating? The film won’t play in as many cinemas, but surely that the point of making something like Grindhouse?

It strikes me that there’s something wrong with setting out to create an extreme and dirty homage to a genre of film that would only ever play in unpleasant, back-street cinemas, and then complaining that your film will only ever been seen in establishments that exist outside of the mainstream. What did they expect?

The more I hear about splitting the film into two separate releases for anyone outside of the US, and trimming out the more interesting aspect of extreme cinema, the more I think I’ll be waiting for the DVD on this one.

Ghost Rider

I’m not going to give this a full review; many have been there before, so there’s very little I could add, in all honesty.

But: I will say I quite enjoyed it. There will almost certainly be two comments left on this post in the next few days calling me some sort of freak for enjoying such a terrible movie, but I did and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

It’s a fairly goofy character - we’re talking about a dude with a flaming skull for a head - but I thought it looked pretty good on screen, and made for some enjoyable set-pieces. Nothing earth shattering, nothing so oh-my-gawd cool that I’ll be rushing out to buy the DVD, but I can think of far worse ways to spend my time.

So - I liked it. There’ll be two peeps along at some point who’ll say they hated it, and I’m sure they’ll come up with some witty analogy that explains that they’d rather have their eyes sellotaped shut than sit through Ghost Rider again.

Weird Weather

I spotted something odd on the way home tonight.

Around half-way down the M69, heading towards Leicester, just off to my left, I spotted a dark circle in the sky. A perfect circle, no breaks or gaps, just…floating. As I got closer, I noticed it had a downward cone trail below it, and I started to think it was some sort of twister! Didn’t we have one in Brum not so long ago?

As I pootled merrily towards home, getting closer and closer to this thing, I started to think it was, genuinely, a hurricane of some sort. I’ve never seen anything like it before - this big black disc floating ominously above the motorway. And that’s where it was heading: right across the lane I was heading down.

So what happens next? Do I get sucked up, and thrown into one of the numerous green fields that sit beside the motorway? Do I get abducted by aliens, disguised as they are - never understimate how fiendish those aliens can be - as a freak cloud formation?

No. None of the above. I drive through it; under it to be precise, and continue on my way. I wondered whether I should hit the hard shoulder and take a photo, but the sorry excuse for a camera on my phone would’ve made it look like a blackout in a chocolate factory. Whatever that looks like.

I’m not sure that I have any weather experts/fans reading - can you even get fans of weather? - but if there are, or they happen to stumble across this, I’d like to hear from them.

Signs of Life

I’m back. I think.

I have a few plates spinning now. I’m technology editor for the mighty Blogcritics; I’ve started my own technology blog called Techsplosive - there’s not a great deal there yet, but it’s coming, trust me; and I’m collaborating with Ashleigh on a gadget blog over at Ian Dixon’s The Digital Lifestyle.

The theory here, is that if I write more often, I’ll write more often. I’ve been stuck in something of an epic rut - the need to post massive, carefully constructed reviews/essays/explorations makes writing anything a bit of a chore. Incidentally, look for a post on that topic very soon.

If I can train myself not to post such epic stuff, my post rate should pick up, and things should come alive again.

Where does Techsplosive leave Food? Things’ll get a bit more personal around here, and there’ll be less tech talk. My reviews - Doctor Who’s back soon, the John Ford marathon will yield a long list of write-ups, and I have many exciting gigs ahead - will stay here. My rants about the latest crap horror remake will stay here. And hopefully a few more personal posts will creep in.

If I don’t have time to write a marathon review of something, I’ll post a short one. Write more, write more. I’m also looking at ways of posting from my mobile phone…maybe email.

If you want tech, point your browser/rss reader at Techsplosive. And Blogcritics. And The Digital Lifestyle.

It’s good to be back. Sorry it’s taken so long.

How Will Ford’s Westerns Change My Perspective?

It struck me last night, as I finished watching She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, that I might never be able to look at a western in the same way as I did before.

My current journey through the world of Johns Wayne and Ford has been a bit of a revelation. I’m going to mention the various discoveries I’ve made in future posts, but prior to Ribbon I hadn’t considered the impact of these films on the westerns I’ve already seen. What effect will The Wild Bunch have now? What about something like Unforgiven? Dances With Wolves?

After immersing myself in Ford’s directorial style and experiencing his often sentimental themes, what impact will Peckinpah’s style have on me?

I’ve got quite a way to go before I’m at a point where I’ll break off from Ford - I have The Searchers and Wings of Eaglesto go in the Ford/Wayne boxed set; a further Wayne set containing (amongst other things) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; a Henry Fonda set containing My Darling Clementine, and The Grapes of Wrath; and various individual films like The Quiet Man, and Rio Grande - but once that’s done I’m going to work my way through the Peckinpah boxed set, and I’ll probably pick up Major Dundee too.