Company K

I am not a big fan of War movies because its realness causes problems for me. I actually feel bad for the men who are forced to fight for their country whether they want out or not. I watch these movies and thank God that I am a woman and will not be drafted to fight for my country anytime soon. Company K had me finding myself grateful that I have ovaries!

You watch as the movie shifts around and gets you introduced to the different members of Company K. Some will leave you in awe at the dedication the have towards their country while others will make you sick with their lack of morals and disgusting dispositions- you know men who have no feelings that rape and kill women and children with out a second thought or a guilty pang of anything.

I ended up pretty much liking this one and recommended it to my grandfather who loves war movies. It’s nothing mental like Full metal Jacket but it shows how being at war can warp a mans mind and have them thinking crazy thoughts. For instance, I am thinking of the part where after killing the enemy one man tries on the dead mans ring and flips out about it.

The end was cool how one of the men comes back to the base to see where it all started for him. It was almost like he was trying to receive some sort of closure for it all. I watched as men resented other men who were sent home while they were forced to stay and fight the enemy. I guess I would resent someone too if I was stuck there day after day dodging bullets while he sits at home listening about the war on the his radio.

Dark Heart

Just when thought you had put the war and everything about it behind you someone has to always come along and fuck up the momentum. Dark heart is about a man named Taylor who comes back to his shitty home town to see his sister and take care of a few things. Taylor is out drinking with his buddy when suddenly this turns into his worst nightmare when Finn shows up with his goons to bring forth a hell of a night.

You see how money can be the root of all evil. Why do some people think that money can buy them happiness? It almost always turns out bad when those lush green bills are involved. At the bar he tells his friend about the hidden money when a few beers give him loose lips. His friend slips up and Taylor finds out that his sister Jess has cancer and isn’t doing to well.

Dark Heart was ok, but I thought it would be a better climb than it was. Deputy Stu was an innocent looking baby faced cop who was a crooked as they come. Looking at him you would just think he is just another country bumpkin law enforcer but he is mean, and likes to inflict pain and fear in people. He is a total case of don’t judge the book by it’s cover, because you will be in for quite the surprise.

Would I think that people would want to view this movie? Some will. It all depends on what floats your boat in the world of film and fantasy. Will things work out for the better? Will Taylor survive this night of hell that Finn has in store for him? Or Will Taylor cave under pressure and tell them where all those beautiful bills are? This film proves that money changes everything!

Tom Sullivan Interview by The Angry Princess

What’s your all time favorite horror movie?

Tom: I think it has to be Robert Wise’s The Haunting. It’s the Citizen Kane of horror films which is appropriate because Mr. Wise edited Citizen Kane as a start for his diverse and accomplished filmmaking career. To me the film does everything right. I recommend every filmmaker study it because it has no special effects or gore but creates terror and tension with pacing, sound, composition and clever characters. If you can’t come up with a film that doesn’t rely on special effects to work then something is missing. Psycho and The Birds are other examples of doing horror right. Don’t get me wrong, I love effects and other production values but imagine how much more impact those effects have with the audience prepped to be sent over the top by a clever director.

King Kong influenced you at the age of five and made you want to get involved in film. What was so special about Kong to you?

Tom: I saw it at such an early age when my family lived in Franklin, Michigan and had a huge valley in my backyard. It had a large dead tree similar to the one Kong places Fay Wray in to battle the T-Rex. I thought my valley was where they filmed King Kong. I didn’t know how big the world is at age 5. In short though I never want to leave Skull Island. I’d love to edit a film using my favorite parts of Kong 33′ and Kong 05 and any other dino film that could help extend my favorite film. It’s a masterpiece of what Hollywood does right. Creating something marvelous out of imagination and technical wizardry. 

What made you want to do special effects and prop making?

Tom: I taught myself a bunch of skills like sculpting, painting, drawing, writing, acting, photography, stop motion animation and other useful talents for the purpose of being an Uber Director. Sam Raimi only needed the special effects Tom but I was hoping to create my visions of a film before I would have hired anybody to actually build them. In my developing era, Spielberg and Lucas had to hire artists to go through the process to determine the visual look of the film and I wanted to have that done by myself. The illustrator aspect went a long way as a back up career as well.

Now you have been trying your luck at acting, how is that going?

Tom: I am having a blast acting and this year is really busy. Some of my first films are finally coming out on DVDs. Patrick Desmond’s The Absence of Light is out with lots of bonus features as well as the Director’s Cut of Splatter Movie by Amy Lynn Best and Mike Watt. Buddy Be Bop VS The Living Dead is in Post-Production as well as Dog in which I play a wandering homeless person who wanders into the wrong place. I’m going to be an evil mobster in Motor City Massacre by Ryan Meade and I have a great part in Patrick Desmond’s next film but that’s all hush hush at this point. I also will be filming The Thing in the Moonlight for Craig Mullins, a short Lovecraft story we are shooting in July.

Is there any actor out there that you are itching to work with?

Tom: I would love to work with Mary Woronov. I’ve been a fan since Eating Raoul.

Do you party or are you a more reserved type of person?

Tom: I am pretty reserved unfortunately. I’m not much of a drinker and talk about politics and religion which is a no no for parties. I can depress a room in 5 minutes.

What was the movie that you had the most fun working on?

Tom: Movies are hard to make. But Evil Dead was a creative dream come true. Sam gave me very little prep time so most of what you see in Evil Dead was created the night before we filmed it. Fortunately I’m a genius so it all worked out. Despite the sleepless nights and endless days I was cruising on adrenaline and having a blast. The stop motion finale was a collaborative success with Bart Pierce. We quickly got on the same page and had a strong hand in designing the finale. I am most proud of that work we did.

You have your own comic book series called “Tom Sullivan’s Books Of The Dead.” Did you ever dream as a boy while you were gazing upon comics that you would eventually do one yourself?

Tom: I always wanted to and I did some comic stuff back in the 1970s’ but Dead Dog Comics gave me a great opportunity. Tom Sullivan’s Books of the Dead: Devilhead should be out in graphic novel form in a few months. The art work is terrific and would make an exciting movie.

Since you are so creative yourself, you have to have an artist that tickles your fancy. Who is it?

Tom: Without a doubt Frank Frazetta is the man! I have a huge collection of his books, magazines, portfolios and every scrape of paper I could find with an image of his on it. I study his work constantly. He is beyond description in his talent. By all means do a web search for Frazetta if you are not familiar with his work. He sets the standard so high nobody reaches it. But like his work I want to make my stuff to go POW!

What are your thoughts on Ghosts and the after life? 

Tom: Good question, I am writing a script that has a good chance of being my first directorial film. I love Ghost Hunters and while I am generally a skeptic in such matters I enjoy the objective and hopefully scientific exploration of unusual phenomenon like UFOs, Bigfoot and Ghosts. I have started chatting with a Paranormal Investigator who is serving as my Ghost Consultant but I don’t have any experiences with ghosts myself. My story is stretching the qualities of ghosts a bit as mine are very dangerous and powerful. I want to produce a good story that will haunt you after you’ve seen the movie. I think it should be ready to film next year.

Thank you!

Chris Blake Sasser’s Indiana Jones Trivia Challenge

Take the Raiders of the Lost Ark Trivia Challenge. Email us with your answers at info@thisissomescene.com with your answers. The first winner with all the right answers will win their choice of something from SlackerPlanet.net. Good Luck. Please be patient as the Trivia Questions Image loads.

Flaming Lips Concert Review by Adam Young

A perennial cult favorite who celebrate a quarter century of continuous rocking-out this year, the Flaming Lips headlined Captain Morgan’s Jam on the River at Festival Pier last Saturday, playing to a sold-out crowd. Although the logistics of being the last of six acts performing forced some concessions in their stage show (sorry Philly, no flying saucer), I feel it’s fair to say that no one in the audience walked away disappointed. Ever-charismatic frontman Wayne Coyne kicked off the show by making a circuit of the audience in a giant, inflatable plastic sphere, followed by the band’s traditional opener, “Race for the Prize.” The air was thick with confetti and streamers as the band powered on through a set that included mostly selections from their recent release, “At War With the Mystics” (“Pompeii am Gotterdammerung” was a particular favorite of mine), a bit of political discussion followed by a somber rendition of “Taps,” and a nudity-inspiring cover of “The Song Remains the Same” by Led Zeppelin. A dozen Iron Men and as many pink Easter Bunnies danced onstage, and all the while a dizzying array of strobing lights provided just the right amount of science-fiction ambience.

Given their counter-culture tendencies, it may seem strange that the last two times the band has appeared in Philadelphia, they’ve done so under the aegis of a promotional event by a large liquor company (2006 saw them headlining the “SoCo Music Experience”), but few bands walk the line between iconic and iconoclast with the balletic ease of the Lips. While trying (unsuccessfully) to sleep through the night on a plastic chair in an Irish airport two years ago, I was pleasantly surprised to hear their “It Overtakes Me” featured prominently in what turned out to be a Beck’s commercial. Since then, their songs have been used in several other advertisements, notably the song “W.A.N.D.” in a Dell spot. They’re even turning “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” into a Broadway musical, to be scored by Mr. Coyne. Nevertheless, the Flaming Lips continue to write songs about nontraditional thinking, the power of ideas and individuality, and generally sticking it to the man. The irony seems apparent, but as a fan I find it difficult to feel its sting – mostly, I’m just glad that people who otherwise might never have the chance are hearing one of my favorite bands.

The show wrapped with 90s hit “She Don’t Use Jelly,” and encored with “Do You Realize??” to great fanfare and what I can describe only as a shared moment of sublime happiness. After several minutes of intense cheering, the crowd trickled out slowly, enjoying the afterglow as we strolled without haste down the riverfront. The night was capped by the pleasant post-show busking of a fellow named Greg, who goes by Audible Eye, performing some covers in a sort of one-man-band style that featured acoustic guitar and what looked like very difficult all-foot percussion. We hit a few bars and went to sleep happy, and I was still humming “Do You Realize” in the morning.

Sinner

There is nothing like a woman scorned, cross her and you will pay the consequences for being a heart breaker. Falling in love for some is easy, too easy- but then again some will never even experience love or have a significant other to share their hopes and dreams with. Last Doorway’s Sinner deals with showing you how a woman can only take so much before she snaps like a twig in a wind storm. Does she regret her decisions? Will she miss him now that he is gone?

Reyna Young is becoming a master at making these independent flicks and has a promising future ahead of her. She uploads all of her shorts onto her website www.lastdoorwayproductions.com so us film friends can go there whenever we want and experience Reyna’s creativity along with her online production called The Last Doorway Show. Women are breaking out into the film business like the plague- especially in the horror genre where they continue to offer us new ideas and views on some pretty cool storie lines and movies.

Sv Bell Interview by The Angry Princess

 

“Where did Rise Of The Ghosts actually take place?”

The initial plan was to shoot the film in an actual abandoned jail, but after having signed the contract with the Correctional Services of Canada to do so, the facility has been definitively shut down by another branch of the government, Health Canada, because some walls were falling down, and several aisles of the jail could potentially collapse due to years of lack of maintenance. No more filming there. So mere weeks before going on the set we re-wrote the story and adapt it so it would take place in some sort of reform school. We found an old theater that had an extensive basement and sub-level basement. The place was incredible, lots of rooms, corridors and obscure spots. We could almost get lost in that maze. I believe back in the days, that place was used for the carpenters to build the decors for the plays that were taking place upstairs.

“You won two awards for ROTG how did that feel?”

That’s very nice! That was the second year in a row a film of mine wins the Best Film of the Year at Wreck-Beach, and we also got an award for the incredible performance of our lead talent, Christine Ghawi.

“Speaking of ghosts, what are your thoughts on them?”

They’re all over the place, we just don’t listen to them enough. I happen to live in a true haunted house, several years ago. It was an amazing experience! Supernatural is around us, all the time. When I was young, I also saw a starship, and about six years ago, I saw three angels (well apparently those were angels). But I just won’t elaborate too much about all that, people will think I am a whacko.

“Melantha Blackthorne is incredibly sexy, what is she like in person?”

Well, incredibly sexy!

“What is your favorite horror movie?”

That’s a tough one. I love a lot of things, horror movie-wise. I am a huge fan of Event Horizon, I must have seen that film a hundred times, I just can’t get enough of that one. I also love I Bury The Living, I wish I would have made that film, it’s such a great piece! Then there are the films that I saw on TV when I was a kid, and that made me love the genre: Shock Waves, Phantasm, The Giant Spider Invasion, The Evil, Malpertuis, The Bermuda Triangle…..

“If you could be or do anything in this wide world, what would it be?”

I would re-do again all I’ve done so far. I wouldn’t change anything, even though it isn’t all perfect.

“Do you believe in aliens or that other life forms are out there in space?”

Of course I believe in aliens! There certainly is a life form out there, and we are also an alien life form to them.

“Where do you think you draw all of your creativity from? Do you have any influences in life or film?”

I don’t really know where it comes from. I just sketch on paper some ideas, draft some cool stuff I would like to see on screen, and eventually it takes shape and a life of its own. You have to be creative when you do no budget movies you know… There are countless situations where you get on the set, and find out you cannot do what you planned to, for whatever reason. Cast member wouldn’t shop up. Locations has changed since your last shooting day. Lighting equipment failure, you name it. In any circumstance, you need to find a way to make it work, and right away, not in two hours.

“You have two tickets in your hand, what show would be your choice to attend?”

I would kill to go see Lordi, definitely.

“If there is anything in this world that your can’t stand, what would it be?”

I don’t know, really. I must have a high level of tolerance! When I stumble across something I don’t like, I just go thru it, turn the page and move on without looking back.

http://www.myspace.com/svbell

 

Some Scene Memorial Day Special – War Films

This Is Some Scene celebrates Memorial Day by discussing the best war films as well as why Hollywood and the War on Iraq don’t mesh at this time and question why there are not more Revolutionary War films. Also Movie News, Attack of the B Movies and Film History. 

The Undoing

The Undoing had it’s moments, but mainly it was slow and boring for me. I thought the trailer had more oomph to it then the film itself. Sam comes back to town after being missing for awhile. No one knows why he left, but they will now that he is back with the goal of destroying all the people that had something to do with his good friend’s Jim’s death.

Jim’s death was because he was involved with a dirty cop selling drugs that she confiscates from her busted felons. Sam also left his girlfriend behind without a single word of where he was or where he was going to go for the past year. She did not like that so she became involved with someone new but she’ll alwayscarry that special place inside for Sam.

I think from the trailer I expected an action packed thriller but it was more or less like the pokey little puppy dragging along aimlessly. Well you can’t always get what you want and with the Undoing this is one of those cases. It just doesn’t have enough excitement for a movie dealing with bad cops and drugs. It flitted around a lot showing the same things over again.

Could this film be liked by you or your friends? Only time and viewing it will tell you the answer to that one. Will Sam exact his revenge on all those that have wronged him and Jim? Will Sam fall into the tempting world of drugs and become involved himself? Sometimes life’s choices are tempting, acts of fate, or just plain coincidence so you just take the good with the bad and try to move on!

A Simple Promise

It begins in a diner with Mary the hard headed cook telling Madison and Sean to quit goofing off and get back to work. Sean begs Madison to take over her table that seats a regular customer Marcus who isn’t a big tipper, he lives the starving artist dream. Madison spills water on his drawing and he loves it and they begin a relationship slowly confessing to each other all their hopes and dreams.

Marcus wants to be an artist while Madison wants to become a singer- a diva like Mariah Carrey or Celine Dion. They both promise to never stop one another from following it, plus to stick together. Soon marriage follows along with the normal ups and downs, fights and accusations. Then Madison comes home with a record deal while Marcus had a letter arrive from Paris.

Madison goes to a party one night and Marcus has to leave to run home for something- it was check on their daughter among other things. He never makes it back and Madison sulks silently wishing he was there. Will her and Marcus survive her fame and fortune? Or will Madison drive him away with her brand new attitude that only a diva could have!

A Simple Promise is 100% a chick flick! If you don’t want a roller coaster ride of different emotions you better run before your sucked up like coffee in bounty paper towels. Things went all over in here and you don’t know whether to expect a peaceful ending or will it fall into the movies that leave a bad taste in your mouth? Maybe it will prove that sometimes dreams can come true? 

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