| Author | Message | ||
     Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
...for the first time ever. It's well worth the visit - lots of ivy-covered stones, and many famous graves and markers, including the big obvious one, but also Douglas Adams and Max Wall. Oh, and the artist Patrick Caulfield who, when asked what he'd like on his tombstone, said "well 'Dead', of course". So they did:-  | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 93.162.116.100 |
Heh. What a tombstone... | ||
| Coral (Coral) Username: Coral Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 91.108.123.35 |
Ace! Did you take any more pics, Mick? | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
Unfortunately not, Coral - I didn't take my camera (damn and blast!) so trawled the 'net for that pic, but it did look exactly like that, leaves and all! No flowers though... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
I really want to see that cemetery. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
I met up with Mark Samuels in Highgate a couple of years ago, with the intention of him giving me a guided tour of the cemetery. We stayed in the pub and got drunk instead with Mark's wife and Quentin S. Crisp. It was great.  | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
THE Quentin Crisp? Hey - you see The Omen remake last night? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
Stayed up and watched it with the lads. It wasn't too bad, but had none of the eeriness of the old one. It had a touch of mtv here and there and flat music, and a swooshy-whooshy once or twice, but the acting was OK (and yet Pete Postlethwaite showed us how god an actor Patrick Troughton was) and it did donwplay a death or two to good effect (the hospital scene was lower-key but oddly more horrible). Inconsequential, but not bad. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
'God'? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
But as Mark said to me, what was Four doing putting a horror double bill on now when Halloween was TOTALLY overlooked? | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.223.58 |
Damn right! I went out with a girl this year who was in the same (very small) college class as the director of THE OMEN remake. He also remade FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX. It's like he's chosen projects that'll ensure he's disliked, poor chap. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
You know, I had the feeling he could do ok with something original. That's sad. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
"Inconsequential, but not bad." I'd probably mostly agree with that. I watched this a while ago (God, I love Devil movies - pun intended). The original is just so creepy and ominous, but this remake felt much too lightweight and the leads seemed too young - like late teens (a main plus point of the original is the middle-aged cast). The remake also offered nothing new whatsoever. Another utterly pointless remake of a great film. I actually watch the original about once every couple of years, and it still gets me every time. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.98.9.4 |
Hmmm... I agree, the most pointless remake since Psycho. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.167.124.223 |
It was pointless, that remake. Now they're doing the Birds. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 160.6.1.47 |
It's completely pointy. The original was kitsch nonsense (whenever the music comes on, just think remember the lyrics are Handbag! Minibus! and you can't take it seriously.) A good version could be made. Forget about theatrical killings, just concentrate on the Devil incarnate, wandering the streets, playing Tetris on his phone, walking into a mosque with muddy boots, climbing the minbar, then saying everything, painting word pictures of the worlds he's seen and the end of ours. What a subject. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
I was fascinated watching it, seing the differences. I actually preferred the remake death in the hospital. Jeez - that bubble of air! I think to see variations on a thing is deeply educational, and I now welcome remakes with open arms. Yes - Mike Leighs The Omen. Proto - I like the old one, too! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
You know what scared my autistic son (Bill) in this remake? The line 'And this blade will end his spiritual life'. Really stuck in his mind. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.215.211 |
Jese, that is a metaphysical line, isn't it? You know, I haven't seen the originals since I was a kid. I remember them being very raw and grim, almost like '70s documentaries. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
I've just found that Mike Hodges was down to direct Omen II but got the boot when the film he was delivering wasn't the one the studio wanted. He directed two or three scenes, and you can spot them; they feel different. One scene was set in the food processing plant - the photography seems newer for some reason, like it's cut in from a different film. Oh, it's odd what sticks in Bills head, and kids heads generally. BTW I'm going to polish an old story of mine, one that was so-so, and give it a demonic, Satanic slant. It'll fit like a dream. Thanks, Proto! | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.154 |
You're welcome, for whatever I did. I like Hodges, seems like a nice fellow who chose not to compromise in Hollywood and paid for it with his career. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
You made me think of The Omen differently. Yes, I like Hodges. His cold Creek Manor was awful in the end but had some genuinely good bits early on. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 147.252.230.154 |
The TV version? The problem with that is that there's no conflict, no real story. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
Were you thinking of Cold Comfort farm? This was a movie with Dennis Quaid. Like I said, it had some very good scenes but then a daft bit with a house full of snakes and some plinky plonky music that was just plain bananas. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
It's Mike Figgis, not Mike Hodges, but certainly a fall from grace. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
That's him! I always confuse those two. They really should both be called Mike...  Also both really have had ups and downs, and weirdly similiar ones... | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.236.179 |
Much confusion! Yeah, I was thinking of "there's no butter in hell!". Mike Figgis interviews David Lynch very well on the Region 2 INLAND EMPIRE. Too many Davids, too: Lynch, Cronenberg, Fincher. I love this phrase: "some plinky plonky music that was just plain bananas." | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
It was though! Just like in Raging Bull. Or should have been. I hate that nothing sort of story, with people being quirky all over the place. I used to DESPISE that thing with the guy who kept saying 'Perfickt' all the time. John Boy or whatever. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
Brace yourselves - I've just nearly wet myself, and you might. What's hilarious is it stops to catch it's breath, then goes plinky plonk all over again! And that last bit - that's one determined mofo. http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=cold+creek+manor+snakes&emb=0&aq=f# | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.21.168 |
'Every body calm down!'  | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 160.6.1.47 |
That's hilarious! So bad. A snake just isn't very threatening on screen, is it? Darling Buds of May. Ugh. That's very '90s. Some other '90s things: Bill Pullman Pop tarts Sandra Bullock serial killers Kevin Smith nihilism | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
Was DBoM as 'recent' as the 'nineties? They somehow feel 'eighties (he said, having only ever seen half of one episode). | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 160.6.1.47 |
Yes (he said having seen none of it). It was so popular in Britain there was a board game version. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 160.6.1.47 |
Doesn't this just make you want to kill yourself? http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/79601?size=large | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.13.91 |
DBoHotYoungMissZetaJones!  | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.141.80 |
Rude man! | ||
| Jamie Rosen (Jamie) Username: Jamie Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 192.26.212.72 |
Don't hate on Bill Pullman, man. I'll cut you. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 83.98.9.4 |
Serial killers are nineties? We've had none this decade then? That's good news. | ||
| Simon_b (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.165.182 |
Re the Cold Creek Manor clip- dear God! Pure gold. Someone really paid money to have this film made?! But, like the plinky-plonky music, it's so awful it's actually rather good. |