STAYING IN REVIEWS DVDs and podcasts to enjoy from the comfort of your sofa
STAYING IN
DVD ABCS OF DEATH Monster Pictures, released Mon 3 Jun ●●●●●
‘It’s a horror film anthology made up of 26 chapters, each directed by a separate director. Each segment is represented by a letter of the alphabet; the letter of the alphabet stands for a word which is relevant to that segment and that death.’ Lee Hardcastle, one of two dozen (plus two for luck) directors, explains the rationale behind the ambitious ABCs of Death. ‘Nobody asked for the letter Q.’ ‘But Q is actually one of the funniest ones,’ adds fellow ABCs director Jake West (Doghouse). ‘We did have complete creative freedom, they just left us to our own devices. We also only had a very small budget of $5000.’ The result is a very strange, constantly entertaining film. In many ways it’s a collage of modern indie horror offering a snapshot of the current scene. Ti West (House of the Devil), Ben Wheatley (Kill List) and Marcel Sarmiento (Deadgirl) rub shoulders with directors from around the world including Japan’s Noboru Iguchi (Machine Girl), Spain’s Nacho Viglondo (Timecrimes) and France’s Xavier Gens (Frontier(s)).
This approach has brought some startling results out of the myriad directors. The sheer variety keeps ABCs fresh and intriguing, if you hate one story don’t worry there’s another one along in four minutes. The relentless pace and low budget required lateral thinking and maximum impact for a short sharp shock. ‘A short film is a bit like a joke because you need a punchline – you’ve got to hit the audience at the end,’ explains West.
West’s ‘S is for Speed’ is an accelerating rush of amphetamine fuelled adrenaline while Hardcastle’s ‘T is for Toilet’ is a uproariously funny claymation gore-fest. ‘They had a competition that was open to the public and they released the letter ‘T’. The guidelines were really straightforward: under four minutes, start and finish on a red frame,’ explains Hardcastle of how he got involved with the project. ‘The only guide that you had in the competition description was that they were looking for, in capital letters, the words ‘HOLY SHIT’. You can interpret that in any way you want, but to me that was about doing something that blew their mind.’ (Henry Northmore)
DVD NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH (Signature) ●●●●●
PODCAST RESIDENT ADVISOR (residentadvisor.net/podcast.aspx) ●●●●● DVD NEIL YOUNG JOURNEYS (Sony Pictures) ●●●●●
It’s amazing how many films with big name casts slink out direct to DVD. Take Nothing But the Truth featuring Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Angela Bassett, David Schwimmer and Alan Alda. To be fair NBT was a victim of circumstance rather than some dross they’ve tried to sneak under the radar, Yari Film Group filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and the film has been floating about in limbo ever since. As the best online-only dance magazine in the world, there are many reasons to visit Resident Advisor. They do international club listings, ticket sales, features on new and established artists, short documentaries, a forum and an aggregated news feed from other clubbing-related blogs and sites. Yet their weekly podcast series is a defining attraction for dancers, DJs and enthusiasts across the globe.
Kate Beckinsale plays a reporter caught up in red Split into two distinct categories, the regular RA
tape for not revealing her source after she publicly outs a CIA operative. She sticks to her principles and ends up doing jail time. They very specifically state that it’s not based on a true story but it’s very obviously ‘inspired by’ New York Times journalist Judith Miller who was jailed for contempt of court in similar circumstances in 2005. It’s a perfectly serviceable political thriller meets courtroom/prison drama even if it does have the slight air of a superior TV movie at times. While it won’t change the world it certainly deserves to be seen, especially as this is probably Beckinsale’s strongest dramatic performance in several years. (Henry Northmore)
Podcast is a mix compilation from a wildly different but utterly essential new DJ roster , which has been running for 362 editions at time of writing. Guests over the last year have included Hessle Audio’s Pearson Sound, the off-the-wall Haxan Cloak (how many times have Sunn O))) appeared in these mixes?), Michael Mayer, Joy Orbison and Glasgow’s own Auntie Flo. Running alongside this is Resident Advisor Exchange (146 editions), a series of interviews, aimed at those interested in the business side of things, with label bosses, DJs, tech creators and so on. You need to be signed up to download, and note that the mix editions are only available for a month before being archived. (David Pollock)
‘This is a town in North Ontario,’ are the first interview words uttered by Neil Young in this Jonathan Demme- directed documentary, and it’s probable that he’s consciously referencing the lyric of his own song ‘Helpless’. In the opening few minutes of the film there’s a degree of intimacy we may not be familiar with from the taciturn, Kurt Cobain-inspiring star of country rock as he drives around his home town of Omemee pointing out the river where he fished for turtles as a child and the school they named after his father. Young’s amiable, guard-down chatter as he drives
that 1956 Ford Crown Victoria all the way from Omemee to Massey Hall in Toronto establishes a sense of heart and soul, mainly in the sense that they lend new context to the career-spanning set of songs from his 2011 Le Noise tour which are blended in amongst them. Performed by just Young in a dramatic solo setting on acoustic or electric guitar, they include classics like ‘Ohio’, ‘Hey Hey My My’ and ‘I Still Believe in You’ and a couple of suitably delicate new songs, all lent a certain renewed sense of intimacy by Demme’s tight-framed shooting style. (David Pollock)
16 May–13 Jun 2013 THE LIST 35