Suburban Tales III

Preamble

Belated wishes for a Happy New Year, as we’re finally rid of 2011 and it’s now a fresh year! I did fulfill a few small resolutions this past weekend, and aim to scratch a few more the list, and among them will be a handful of short films that I’ve been working on.

One’s in the script stage with a few test shots done, another is simple, & just requires a kind of visual simplicity to meet a looming deadline. I’m also taking the plunge in upgrading my ancient gear with a new machine, so everything can be done under one roof.

The manual for the fancy-schmancy i7 chip says it's possible to fry an egg with an optional eYolk peripheral, but  I felt was unnecessary for my practical purposes, and some users in the Adobe forum have found slight conflicts when the butter filter heats up and increases the temperature of the CPU, knocking down any overclocking benefits.

I don't make these things up. They just exist.

Why is this all relevant? Because I’m reorganizing the way the updates are going to be done at the site, and may opt for 2-3 major review uploads per month so I can balance the two varieties of work - scribbling, and filming.

The other reason: by saying in print I’m working on some short films, you’ll be expecting updates, perhaps clips, and I’ll be obligated to meet your interest with meaty material instead of just talk.

More than 5 years ago I had planned on getting a Mac, and had started shooting footage for ‘an arty farty mixed media’ short that remains frozen in time because the Mac funds went to more vital things, the camera died, and the writing drifted from scripts to film reviews as the site needed more content.

None of the site's content will diminish because I spent Xmas watching & reviewing a lot of eclectic material, but part of my 2012 resolutions (yes, plural) is to make a series of shorts, a short doc, and work on towards a feature.

The 2005 project may well be resuscitated – part of the footage was shot on an obsolete format for which finding a working camera to transfer the material is tough – but that’s after I get these scripted concepts from paper to 1080p.

In any event, call this a Statement of Intention, where I’ll have a short done within the next 30-odd days. It would be the best birthday present to myself after a long dry spell.

Moving on.

Look! A movie poster that relies on original art in place of fat actor noggins!

Reviews

The latest installment of Suburban Tales (Part 2 dealt with Poltergeist, and Part 1 with Durham County, Season 2.) is up, and features Tod Holland’s classic 1985 shocker Fright Night [M] (1985) which came and sold out on Blu-ray from indie label Twilight Time, plus two retro-suburban shockers: Joe Cornish’s brisk & awesome hairy alien monster tease Attack the Block [M] (Sony), and J.J. Abrams’ ode to Steven Spielberg, Super 8 [M] (Paramount).

Rue Morgue’s January / February double issue is out now, and you can read my review of Twilight Time’s Mysterious Island (1961) Blu-ray edition in the bigger, longer, shinier Cinemarquee section.

Coming soon: soundtrack reviews, more horror, and reviews of two long unavailable films by Jan Kadar: Adrift (1969), and Lies My Father Told Me (1976), the latter just released in a special edition from Ergo Media.

Plus: a profile of Twilight Time. The company's first year anniversary is approaching, and there's much to discuss and opine about whether home video is dead, dying, or moving into a niche market that still has some years of life in spite of what paid doomsayers keep saying.






Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com ( Main Site / Mobile Site )