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Dave B

Listed below are comments made by Dave B between Wednesday, 28th October 2009 and Friday, 4th December 2009.

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Paranormal Activity 11:44am on 04 Dec 2009 For starters it’s all about how you see the movie. For example I've seen the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre twice and it only scared me once. The first time I saw it was on my own at around two in the morning and that was a terrifying experience. The second time was with someone else, early in the evening and therefore not nearly as scary.

Also apart from that film the only other films which shocked and terrified me are Eraserhead (more upsetting than scary though) and Blue Velvet, which for some people wouldn't be scary at all so it's all subjective.

I also think it has a lot to do with hype and popular culture. Maybe you were over hyped about the film and therefore it failed to live up to your expectations. I found the same with The Exorcist because most of the scenes are so iconic that they stand out as famous set pieces, and as a consequence isn’t scary anymore. The scariest moment of The Exorcist is the scene in the attic and nothing happens. In fact I found the third Exorcist movie to be a lot more terrifying as the hospital corridor scene; old people crawling on the ceiling and Brad Douriff's creepy performance give more genuine shock and thrills than anything in the first movie. I know you're going to completely disagree but I don't care.

There is another argument to be made that horror films don't have to be scary to be great movies. I still think The Exorcist is a great movie despite not being scared by it. Also look at the early works of David Cronenberg; Shivers, Rabid, The Brood, Videodrome, The Fly and The Dead Zone. All horror movies I suppose but none of them are really scary. There seems to be more fascination with the horror rather than an aversion to it and maybe because of this they are some of the best films in the genre.

One last point; In fact one of the scariest moments in cinema is not from a horror movie at all but from Trainspotting and I think everyone knows what scene I'm talking about.
Me and Me and Orson Welles 5:43pm on 30 Nov 2009 Feel good film of the year would have to be Le Donk and Scor-zay-zee. It's a very funny and moving film starring Paddy Considine and his performance is one of the best of the year. When he finally gets Scor-zay-zee on stage just before the 'Artical Monkeys' and the audience loves it you can't help but have a massive grin on your face. I don't think it was given a very wide release but it's definately worth checking out on DVD.

I have to echo what joe broady said about Synecdoche New York, it certainly wasn't funny but it wasn't meant to be. I'm sure I've seen another poster saying it was 'Hilarious' when it clearly wasn't meant to be. Wish I could remember what it was now.
The Serious Coens 4:56pm on 30 Nov 2009 While the Coen's have always made films with a distinctive style there is only one filmmaker working in Hollywood today who has had a consistency of vision throughout all of their films, not once pandering to big stars, big budgets or compromising their work in any way: and that is David Cronenberg.

I haven't seen M Butterfly or Fast Company (apparently two of the less impressive Cronenberg features) but out of all the others there isn’t one which didn't feel completely his own and not even slightly compromised for mass appeal. Even The Fly and A History of Violence, two of his more financially successful films, are perhaps some of his most difficult and complex pieces of work, with a depth and vision that most films lack. They may appeal to a larger audience but they certainly don’t feel like they should.

Also Dead Ringers, which is arguably his most emotional and heart-breaking film and one which made by a lesser director would have been a typical Oscar baiting film, is probably his hardest film is grasp and ends up being just as uncompromising as the rest of his work. The dream sequence is particular is very hard to stomach.

Unlike the Coens, who seem to the independent darlings of Hollywood, Cronenberg is the real outsider in the industry and it’s a place I hope he stays.
5 live review: New Moon 6:49pm on 25 Nov 2009 P.S. although it's interesting to note that David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) is directing the next one so maybe that will be more interesting.
5 live review: New Moon 6:46pm on 25 Nov 2009 I haven't seen the films or read the books but they don't sounds very original. Girl falls in love with vampire, vampire falls in love with girl, vampire leaves girl for her own good, girl falls in love with werewolf and werewolf a metaphor for teenage sexuality. Hasn't all this been done a million times before? In fact every single one of those aspects has been in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I want to see these films to form a proper opinion but is this franchise actually adding anything new to the genre?
Screening Room: Disaster! 3:05pm on 16 Nov 2009 I feel I have to stick up for Independence Day. It's a great film with characters you actually care about, Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith and Bill Pullman are all very likeable, great spectacle that has some weight and a good sense of humour. The film doesn't really take itself that seriously, which is why its gets away with scene's such as the Presidents speech, which is a brilliant piece of tongue-in-cheek screenwriting.
Twilight of the blogs 7:39pm on 08 Nov 2009 It was in an issue of Empire where they asked a number of directors whether they would be embracing the 3D format that Sam Mendes gave the best response, "I have, it's called the theatre." I think that sums it up for me.

Back on topic: Glad to hear you've watched at least one episode of Buffy, Dr. Kermode. However you need to see the first three seasons to see why Twilight is very outdated.
The future of cinema: This Is It 11:01am on 06 Nov 2009 It's cinema coming full circle in a way. When it was first invented people used to go to the cinema to watch the news among over things. However this was before the invention of television so why they're showing sporting events on the big screen I don't know.
The ten-second vampire movie 5:03pm on 28 Oct 2009 The Good Doctor's review of Twilight made it sound exactly like the first three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as that was all about the danger of being attracted to a dark, supernatural force and how sex ends up being a destructive element that has to be avoided. Now this theme ran its course after three seasons and Angel left for his own show.

However the idea of sex as a destructive force was still apparent in the show, not least in an episode where a derelict house is breaking apart around Buffy and the vampire Spike having sex. Subtle it ain’t but its powerful stuff.

It seems that this show said everything there was to say about sex and vampires, both for teenagers and adults. That to me is why the genre is getting stale and why films like Let the Right One In was a refreshing change of pace. The Strain was a massive disappointment though.
The second second time around 10:54am on 28 Oct 2009 I'm becoming a bit obsessed with David Lynch's work at the moment and I watched Eraserhead and re-watched Dune recently. Obviously both films provide completely different experience's but while Eraserhead is obviously the better film I don't think I could ever bring myself to watch it again. For starters I barely made it through the first viewing as the constant crying of the deformed baby is so upsetting that I had to try really hard not to switch the film off. I made it through in the end but its seriously tough work.

However I love hearing people’s theories about the meaning of the film and as Lynch has said that no one has gotten close to his interpretation I was wondering what people’s thoughts on the film were about on here.

Dune on the other hand I hated the first time I saw it, the constant inner monologues, the bad special effects and the nonsensical plotting added up to a rotten film. However I found myself really enjoying it on a second viewing for some reason. All the flaws are still apparent but knowing what to expect you can appreciate some great visuals (and some pretty terrible one’s as well), a good cast, and some interesting ideas about natural fuels and their worth, religion and the proper use of power. While all of this gets kind of lost in the bad editing of the film it’s still fun to watch and to speculate what the filmmakers were trying to achieve.

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