Masters Of Horror starts Friday on Bravo!

I've just realised that the Masters Of Horror series begins this week on Bravo at 11pm on Friday night. They're opening with Don Coscarelli's episode Incident On And Off A Mountain Road. If any of my friends are reading this (hi Troy, hi Gary - I'm thinking of you chaps here) and are able to record it for me then I'd be very grateful seeing as I'm going to be home with my folks and they've only four channels to choose from... thanks!

For more details check out Bravo or the official website here.

And you can read my review of Dario Argento's episode Jenifer here.

Movie Haiku - Match Point

www.iconmovies.co.uk/matchpoint


Dir: Woody Allen


Cast: Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Brian Cox


All change for Woody

being lucky important

in tense love affair


soulmining rating: ****

It's Lemon o'clock

Yes Stephen, it really works!

Clerks II - Open for business later this year!

Kevin Smith is one of my filmmaking idols and his debut feature Clerks is one of my all-time favourite films...

In August we finally get the chance to watch the further antics of Dante and Randall when the sequel is released in cinemas. And as of tonight, the teaser trailer for Clerks II is now available to view online!

Check it out at www.clerks2.com

And remember - just because they serve you doesn't mean they like you.

The free bar at our belated staff Christmas party proved to be a big success...

Bev & Cotton
Darren
Vic & Steve
John & Me
Dom














(Photos by Debbie Clare)

By the power of lemons!

Stephen turned up in Brighton unannounced yesterday so I ended up with a surprise Christmas present! Now, Stephen was the guy behind last year's Amazing Hair Growing Cat Soap so he'd already set himself a high standard to live up to... this year he's gone for the Lemon Clock. That's a clock powered by lemons.

Will the Lemon Clock actually work? Watch this space.

Making plans for Hong Kong

We had our belated staff Christmas party last night so I'm too tired to think straight or be creative today...

So, in a month's I'm going to be in Hong Kong which I'm quite excited about as I've never been there before. I've just booked a room at the Stanford Hillview hotel (left) in the Tsimshatsui area of Kowloon so I'm hoping that's going to be a good base for my five day stay.

If anyone has any good advice regarding things to do or places to visit while I'm there then please let me know!

EMB Top Ten Films of 2005

Arriving a few days after my own Best films of 2005 list comes the results of the Eat My Brains crew, polled from the whole team of contributors (including myself) involved in the website. I've supplied a few of the film summaries for the poll and you can view our selections here.

Oh, and just a reminder - don't forget to check out My Name Is Earl starring the wonderful Jason Lee over on C4 at 10pm this evening.

The Prodigy remake Intacto

Last night I was flicking around some of the music channels when I happened upon the latest video for Voodoo People (Pendulum Mix) by The Prodigy.

Seems like director Ron Scalpello has been watching Spanish thriller Intacto as the video plays homage to the film's most iconic scene of a group of people running blindfolded through a forest...

You can see the video for yourself by clicking here.

Love Is Stronger Than Death

Katherine Horton RIP.

I make no apologies for this more sombre post this morning. I'm not keeping any kind of diary this year, so therefore from now on my blog may well include some more personal entries in addition to the usual film and music stuff.

I was shocked to read about the murder of 21 year old student Katherine Horton on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand, this week. She was staying at New Huts on Lamai beach - the exact same place that my friends have stayed the last two times that they've been on the island.

It made me remember the backpacker Kirsty Jones who was murdered in Chiang Mai in 2000, at a guest house adjacent to the bookshop where my friend John lives and works.

It made me remember the terrorist bombing at the Sari Club in Bali which killed 202 innocent people - a club that I used to drink at regualrly when I was staying at Kuta beach.

And it made me remember the police shooting of John Mark Scott last year in the sleepy Northumbrian village of Stocksfield where my parents live.

So what's the point I'm trying to make here? There are so many atrocities and killings happening around the globe, yet most of the time they pass us by unnoticed unless they happen to someone we know or a place that we know intimately well. These events serve to remind me of our fragile existence in this world - and how precious life is.

Invisible Waves to open BKKIFF

Pen-Ek Ratanaruang & Christopher Doyle on set
(photo from www.twitchfilm.net)

BKKIFF have confirmed their first film screening by announcing that Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's Invisible Waves will open the festival on 17th February.

"The psycho-thriller, Invisible Waves stars Tadanobu Asano (Zatöichi, Ichi The Killer), as a hard-working chef living in Macau who inadvertently kills his girlfriend and is then consumed with guilt. To escape both his turmoil and possible arrest, he travels to Thailand only to discover that the troubles of his former life follow him. On the journey he befriends an attractive young woman (played by Gang Hy Jung who also starred in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and Oldboy), but he soon discovers that his supposed friends are not to be trusted and he is in serious danger. Not only does he have to battle his feelings of guilt, but also the more immediate threat to his life."

I'm a big fan of Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's previous films Last Life In The Universe and Monrak Transistor, and what with Christopher Doyle on board as cinematographer plus its intriguing cast, Invisible Waves sounds like it's going to be a must-see movie for me! The only drawback - my Press pass doesn't cover any gala screenings, so it looks like I'm going to have to do some serious blagging to get to see this one...

January Live

There's so little happening in January that I even forgot I was supposed to post this at the start of the month! I've just checked all the listings I can lay my hands on and these are the select few shows that have grabbed my attention:

04/01 - Daniel Kitson begins his new UK tour with two nights at the Komedia. I'll be there on Thursday!

21/01 - Another Komedia show, this time an evening of Words and Music with Skye, former vocalist with Morcheeba.

26/01 - It's a welcome return to Brighton for local lovelies The Pipettes who are headlining at the Concorde.

And that's about it. Aside from the female singer / songwriters which I've already mentioned recently, what else is there to look forward to this year? Well, it's early days, but the Concorde is getting off the mark with some potential good nights out, with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Wonderstuff, Graham Coxon and The Dresden Dolls all booked in for the coming months.

New Year Resolutions

I made a few resolutions last year (see my Reflections on 2005 post) but am finding it hard to think of any specific things I want to achieve this year, aside from perhaps the general healthier eating / being more self-confident kind of thing.

So maybe I'll just make the one resolution this year - to post something on this blog every day.

Hey, it's never going to beat 2003's 'Take my photograph at 3pm' idea, but at least it's something to aim for.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I've had a very drunken evening at home and welcomed in 2006 across the road, glass of wine in hand, watching the fireworks explode over the pier and talking to random strangers.

I hope all your dreams come true in 2006.

2005 Movie Haiku Index

So as the year draws to a close I thought I'd publish a handy index of all the films that I've seen at the cinema this year - yes, all 113 of them - alongside my star rating for each. Click on the film title to read the haiku... and review, where applicable.

• 2001 Maniacs (****)
• 2046 (*****)
• The Amityville Horror (***)
• Antibodies (****)
• Arahan (***)
• Assault On Precinct 13 (***)
• The Aviator (***)
• Batman Begins (****)
• Be Cool (**)
• A Bittersweet Life (***)
• The Bodyguard (***)
• Boo! (**)
• Boogeyman (***)
• Born To Fight (****)
• The Brothers Grimm (*)
• The Cave (***)
• Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (***)
• The Chorus (****)
• The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (***)
• Closer (*****)
• A Cock And Bull Story (***)
• The Collingswood Story (***)
• The Constant Gardener (****)
• Constantine (***)
• Corpse Bride (***)
• Crash (****)
• Criminal (**)
• Cursed (*)
• Dark Water (**)
• Day Of The Dead (****)
• Day Of The Dead 2: Contagium (*)
• Dead Meat (**)
• The Descent (*****)
• The Devil's Rejects (****)
• District 13 (****)
• Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist (***)
• Domino (****)
• Doom (**)
• The Dukes Of Hazzard (*)
• Elektra (*)
• Elizabethtown (****)
• Evil Aliens (**)
• The Exorcism Of Emily Rose (****)
• Fantastic Four (***)
• Flightplan (**)
• The 40 Year Old Virgin (****)
• Four Brothers (**)
• From Beyond The Grave (***)
• Goal! (****)
• Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (****)
• The Hidden Blade (***)
• Hide And Seek (*)
• A History Of Violence (****)
• Hitch (***)
• The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (****)
• Hostage (***)
• House Of Flying Daggers (****)
• House Of Wax (***)
• Howl's Moving Castle (****)
• In Good Company (****)
• The Interpreter (**)
• Into The Blue (****)
• The Island (****)
• The Jacket (***)
• Jenifer (***)
• King Kong (****)
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (*****)
• Land Of The Dead (***)
• The Leader, His Driver, & The Driver's Wife (****)
• The League Of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (****)
• The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (*****)
• Lord Of War (**)
• Los Debutantes (***)
• Lower City (***)
• The Machinist (****)
• Marebito (****)
• Maria Full Of Grace (****)
• Meet The Fockers (***)
• Million Dollar Baby (****)
• Millions (***)
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith (**)
• National Treasure (***)
• The Neighbor No. Thirteen (*)
• Nightwatch (****)
• Oceans Twelve (**)
• P (****)
• The Proposition (****)
• R-Point (**)
• Red Eye (***)
• Revolver (*)
• The Ring Two (**)
• The Roost (***)
• Sahara (***)
• Saw II (***)
• The Sea Inside (**)
• Serenity (****)
• Shallow Ground (***)
• Sideways (****)
• Sin City (*****)
• The Skeleton Key (***)
• Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge Of The Sith (****)
• Stealth (*)
• Team America: World Police (***)
• Transporter 2 (****)
• Unleashed (***)
• A Very Long Engagement (****)
• Wallace & Gromit In The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (***)
• War Of The Worlds (***)
• Wedding Crashers (****)
• White Noise (**)
• Wild Country (***)
• Wolf Creek (*****)
• xXx2: The Next Level (*)

I actually saw 116 films in total at the cinema - I ended up seeing The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, The Devil's Rejects and Born To Fight all twice - so beating last year's total by nine.

Only seven films attained the coveted five star rating, although in hindsight The Devil's Rejects should have been given the maximum rating, but I missed the last fifteen minutes of it on my first viewing. Looking back, I stand by all my star ratings except perhaps for The Aviator, Be Cool and Fantastic Four who appear to have benefited from some overly generous reviews and in retrospect ought to lose a star each. And I only walked out of two films this year - The Sea Inside and Day Of The Dead 2: Contagium.

2005 Review - Films of the Year

Okay, so my final list is going to cover my favourite - and least favourite - films from the past twelve months... And I've had a lot of films to choose from this year!

(2004 Winner - Oldboy)

Best films of 2005:

1. DiG!
2. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
3. The Devil's Rejects
4. The Descent
5. Wolf Creek
6. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
7. Sin City
8. 2046
9. Into The Blue
10. Closer

Oddly enough, DiG! was the one film that I didn't actually see at the cinema, as I'd already imported the US DVD by the time it got released in the UK.

Worst films of 2005:

1. Revolver
2. Stealth
3. xXx2:The Next Level
4. The Dukes Of Hazzard
5. Cursed

Tomorrow: I'm going to publish a handy index of all the films that I've seen at the cinema this year.

Immi & Nerina announce Brighton dates!

Wahey! Two of my favourite female singer / songwriters - who both made it into yesterday's Albums of the Year list - have just announced Brighton shows for 2006!

Imogen Heap will be playing at the Komedia on Wednesday 5th April.

Full tour details on www.imogenheap.com

Meanwhile Nerina Pallot will be playing in town the following month when she appears at St George's Church, Kemptown on Saturday 27th May.

Full tour details on www.nerinapallot.com

What with Juliana Hatfield playing her first live UK show in ten years at London's Bush Hall on Wednesday 8th March, it's looking like 2006 could be another bumper year for great live music!

2005 Review - Albums of the Year

Right, following on from yesterday's Songs of the Year, here's my list of favourite albums from the past twelve months.

(2004 Winner - Nouvelle Vague - Nouvelle Vague)

Best albums of 2005:

1. The Duke Spirit - Cuts Across The Land
2. Coldplay - X & Y
3. Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself
4. The Dandy Warhols - Odditorium Or Warlords Of Mars
5. Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
6. Joy Zipper - The Heartlight Set
7. Louis XIV - The Best Little Secrets Are Kept
8. Nerina Pallot - Fires
9. Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor
10. Goldfrapp - Supernature

Tomorrow: Films of the Year

Warming Up with Richard Herring

"But surely Jesus got the best view, getting the hilarity of both the drinking cat and the fat defecating man."

This is the funniest story I've read all Christmas... you can enjoy the full post here!

2005 Review - Songs of the Year

Moving on from yesterday's Gigs of the Year, here's my list of favourite songs from the past twelve months. In my opinion only two of these artists managed to release consistently good albums this year, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out who they are!

(2004 Winner - U2 - Vertigo)

Best songs of 2005:

1. Gorillaz - Dare
2. Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
3. Ladytron - Sugar
4. The Bravery - An Honest Mistake
5. Mylo - In Your Arms
6. Imogen Heap - Hide And Seek
7. Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch
8. The Subways - Oh Yeah
9. Gemma Hayes - Happy Sad
10. Madonna - Hung Up

Tomorrow: Albums of the Year