Author: Rob

Writer. Film-maker. Cartoonist. Cook. Lover.

Out Of The Woods: X&HT Saw The Cabin In The Woods

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck then you have a fair idea of what you have in your pond. But, as any horror fan knows, appearances can be deceptive. And when it comes to the latest from Joss Whedon, who knows a thing or two about messing with your expectations, it’s best to keep your eyes and mind open. Because The Cabin In The Woods may look an awful lot like a horror film, but it’s no duck.

Oh, baby, are there ever spoilers after the jump. Spoilers the like of which you have never seen. Unless you’ve seen the film. In which case, on you go.

Continue reading Out Of The Woods: X&HT Saw The Cabin In The Woods

Short Film News

A couple of updates for you on current film projects. Finally, finally, a working drive with the full cut for Out Of Hours has landed in my grading suite. That’s the job for this afternoon, although to be frank there’s not a great deal to be done. Simon and Andy have done an astonishing job with their brace of GH2s and their secret blend of antique fast lenses and hidden menu-fu. In fact, the film already looks good enough that Clive has sent out screening copies to the Cannes judging panel before I’ve had a chance to get my mitts on it. From what I’ve seen, this could be a bit special.

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Speaking of Simon and indeed a certain French film festival, if you’d like to see the film that Cannes refused to show and you’re in North London on Wednesday night, your luck’s in. Without Subtitles is screening as part of the Feast On Film event, at the Moors Bar in Crouch End. With a strong lineup that includes contributions from Out Of Hours alumni Xav Rodruguez and Keith Eyles, it should be a great night. Simon will be there to answer questions, and hey, I believe I’ll be around as well. Things kick off at 8, doors at 7.

 

Always Take The Weather

Like all true Englishmen, I am delighted with the turn for the surreal that the weather has taken. As the safest of every true Englishman’s Default Conversational Openers/Small Talk Gambits (which include The Football, Immigrants, and Bins), the weather has been a tried and tested way to engage in conversation with people in bus queues or dull dinner parties. When it flips between record-breaking heat wave and snow, you know you can depend on all kinds of fascinating opinion.

Me, I just love the skies you get in the mornings when the weather’s all over the shop. Blue skies get dull after a while, and no-one likes the flat grey of a rainy day. The train into work is treating me to some stunning sunrises at the moment, and I’m particularly enamoured of the cloudscapes over Leicester Square as I emerge blinking from Piccadilly Circus tube. Take this beauty that I snagged last week. Enough just to give me a moment of pause before I start my day.

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Five Favourite Bunnies For Easter

Happy Easter Rabbit Day! As I hope the Readership is aware, I have something of a thing for the humble Lagomorpha Lapodirae that I find tricky to either explain or justify. I just like ’em, OK?

As today is the day when the little critters are most in the mimetic spotlight, I thought I’d run down a short list of my personal faves. Please feel free to chip in if you think I’ve missed any.

Continue reading Five Favourite Bunnies For Easter

Food In Montpellier

It would hardly be the most mind-boggling revelation to say that the French love their food. It’s intertwined in the culture, part of the national psyche. The French get food at a pure, primal level. In the UK we’ve come along in leaps and bounds in our understanding and appreciation of good food in the past twenty years. I’d argue that English cheese has the better of la fromage francaise, and there’s no such thing as a decent French pork pie. But food and eating are an intrinsic part of French daily life, and our weekend in Montpellier gave us quite a few different examples of that fact.

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Without Subtitles, with added controversy

There’s an interesting twist to the tale of Simon Aitken’s latest short, Without Subtitles. It’s been summarily rejected for the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival.

This is, to put it mildly, something of a surprise. The SFC is famous for accepting a much wider range of films than you’d think, and it’s unusual for the committee to reject a film unless it’s overtly racist, pornographic or, in the words of the guidelines, has “no cinematic artistic value.” Yet Without Subtitles, which I personally think is one of Simon’s strongest works, was bounced back to him within 24 hours of submission – surprising for a festival that believe in letting film-makers sweat before letting them know if they’ve made the cut.

Simon and his writer and lead actor Ben Green pronounce themselves flummoxed by the decision. As do I. Simon has put a temporary link up to Without Subtitles, which I’ve embedded below. Any comments on why you believe the Short Film Corner should so quickly reject the film are welcome. Is it anti-French, or mysogynistic? As Simon points out in the comments, it’s based on a true story. Or is there another reason why Without Subtitles cannot be shown at the Cannes Film Festival?

(If the temp link is down let me know and I’ll endeavour to get you a new one.)

UPDATE: there’s a fan page on Facebook. Of course there is.