Status: Single
Country: UK
Signup Date: 1/22/2008
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Monday, August 31, 2009
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Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
I returned to Leicester Square, Monday afternoon, all refreshed from my day off. I had tried to get a day pass for today, but unfortunately they had sold out. They also sold out of tickets for the screenings of ‘Heartless’ and ‘The Descent 2’. Though I found at the Box Office that they sell returns just before the film starts, so there was still a chance I could see these films. I bought my ticket for ‘Case 39’ and then meet Clive outside in Leicester Square.
Clive wasn’t looking too bad for someone who for the last 4 days had been getting up early and watching back-to-back horror films. I asked him how the films were yesterday. He told me that he missed ‘The Human Centipede’, which I was told by Rosie that it was a mad film, but he got to see ‘Pontypool’. ‘Pontypool’ is the film that Clive really wanted to see at the festival this year and he said it was great. Everything he hoped it would be. (They also produced a radio drama of the film as well and you can hear it right now at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/2009/06/090617_pontypool_audio.shtml) After that it was time for the film and we both took our seats in the main screen.
‘Case 39’ is about a social worker who is overworked with 38 cases on her plate, when the boss drops case 39 (geddit) on her plate. She turns up at the house of a little girl whose parents are a bit strange and hostile to their guest. The social worker gets a phone call from the little girl, one night, saying that her parents are going to kill her. The social worker, with cop friend, break down the door and stop said attempt on girl’s life. The girl is then adopted by the social worker and then people around her start dying.
‘Case 39’ for me was the worse film at the festival this year. I don’t know if the guys picked this one or they were forced to show this load of tripe by the studio. Renee Zwelleger was terrible in it. Her emotional range didn’t change much. Mark Kermode describes her as ‘a hamster looking into the sun’, and you know what, he’s right. There a shot where the camera was looking down at her and she was looking up and she looked liked a hamster. She has no idea what is going on until it way too late. Stupidly late. Even when every other character has twigged, she still doesn’t see it. I guess that’s way she survives to the end. Personally, she should of been the first person killed off.
Ian McShane was funny as the cop friend, though I don’t think it was suppose to be intentionally funny. After breaking down the door, thwarting the parents attempt on the girl’s life and dislocating the father’s jaw for good measure, he says a line that makes the whole audience laugh. (For the life of me I can’t remember what he says)
The actress who plays the little girl was good, especially when she has a conversation with a therapist about what scares you. Though apart from a few moments like that, the rest of her role is really wasted. They try to hide the fact it’s her, but early on you gather it’s the little rascal who is to blame for all the bad things going on and not the demented parents. Also it would of been more interesting if the child wasn’t possessed by a demon.
I discovered that this film, like ‘Trick R’ Treat’, was put on the shelf for 2 years by the studio. But unlike ‘Trick R’ Treat’, where they got it soooo wrong, the studio of ‘Case 39’ got it soooo right. It’s an awful, play by numbers film and should of gathered dust on the shelf.
Sitting two rows down from me was Brendan and his friend (sorry I forgotten his name). They must of got into the film late, as I didn’t see them until the film had started. But I caught up with them at our usual meeting spot of the pick n’ mix. Clive joined us and then we moved outside, as the foyer was starting to fill up. Everybody had to leave the screen, as Kim Sturgess’s band was setting up to play on stage before the next film. And there were all the people who had turned up to see ‘Heartless’, so there wasn’t much room in there.
We stood outside for a while and chatted. Then Clive decided to go and get something to eat. Brendan’s friend decided to go. So that left Brendan and me to go and try and get tickets for the next performance.
There was a small queue of people waiting at the Box Office. We duly stood at the back of the queue and waited. One of the staff came up to us and asked us if we wanted tickets for the next showing. (I guess the queue was for something else) Brendan said yes, and the staff member said “there you go - the last ticket.” Gutted. I wanted two tickets. One for myself and one for Benjamin, who was on his way from work and wanted to see the last two films of the festival. Brendan said sorry to me and bought his ticket and went in to see the film. I had to wait outside for Benjamin and tell him the bad news.
Benjamin turned up 20 minutes later. I told him the bad news, but there was still a chance to get tickets for last film, ‘The Descent 2’. We had a couple of hours to kill, so Ben suggested we go into the Empire Casino, as he wanted to play few hands of Texas Hold’em. I had never been inside, so I said “why not!”.
We went inside. I had to drop my bag off at the cloakroom and then we went inside. I enjoy the odd hand of poker, but as I didn’t have much money on me, I couldn’t afford the £20 buy in. Instead I waited at the bar, while Benjamin played. While I waited I ordered a coke and then when I got some money out to pay for it, I got told by the bartender that it was free. Cool.
I didn’t have to wait long for Benjamin. He was knocked out with a flush. So we went off and got some dinner at the London Kitchen. You get good food there for cheap. We ate and chatted a while. Then we went back to the Empire Cinema. ‘Heartless’ hadn’t finished yet, so we went for a drink and waited half an hour.
When we returned to the cinema, there was a whole lot of people on the outside. Film was finished. So we went to the box office and see if they had any returns yet. Nothing. The cashier told us that they had tickets for the last performance for everybody who wanted them. Obviously she doesn’t remember me then. I was the guy who didn’t get a ticket. I clearly wanted one. Two actually. But clearly she didn’t even notice me. Anyway, we decided to wait.
We were there for 5 minutes, when a gentleman turned up and returned 2 tickets for ‘The Descent 2’. And he didn’t want a refund. So I went over and asked if we could buy those tickets, and the cashier said “have them for free.” Booyah! We then entered into the foyer to find Brendan and Clive.
Can you guess where we met them? That’s correct. At the pick n’ mix. We told them about how we got tickets for free. Brendan had already bought his ticket online, so he didn’t need to worry about trying for another return ticket. The foyer was filling up again with people so we headed back outside. While we were there, Benjamin got his photo taken with one of the actresses from ‘The Descent 2’. Then he got them to sign his copy of the FrightFest programme. (Which I’ve got) We quickly said hello to Axelle and then it was soon time to go in and take our seats.
‘The Descent 2’ follows on straight away from the end of the first one. Sara Carter is found wandering the woods, after escaping the cave system. She is taken to a hospital and is questioned by the local sheriff about the whereabouts of the other girls. Turns out that one of the girls is the daughter of an American senator. So with a group rescue workers and the sheriff, Sara re-enters the cave system and faces the night crawlers again.
‘The Descent 2’ goes along at such a pace, that it feels like a shorter film. This time it ditches the claustrophobia and heads straight into the monster bit. In some ways it feels more like a remake than a sequel. Where ‘Aliens’ pushed the franchise in a different direction than ‘Alien’, ‘The Descent 2’ just retraces the steps of ‘The Descent’. It’s still an enjoyable film and has some fine moments in it, but it’s just more of the same.
Two things bothered me. One was the sheriff. As the night crawlers hunt by sound, you would think the loud American sheriff would be the first one to go, but alas he makes it three thirds of the way through the film. Which to me was a bit odd. Don’t get me wrong, he died a fine death, but surely the night crawlers would of been all over him in seconds.
Two was the ending. The ending just didn’t feel right. It felt like it was put there as an afterthought or just to make the ending bleak. It certainly opens it up for another sequel. But I didn’t like it. I usually like bleak endings, but this one just didn’t feel right. Though if they do a third one, send in the marines. That would be good.
Apart from those few gripes, I really enjoyed the film. Not as good as the original, but it’s not bad either.
Once the film finished, Benjamin and me didn’t hang around for the Q&A and headed straight over to the Phoenix bar. When we got there, it was already packed with people from FrightFest. I got calls from Brendan and Clive, asking me where were we and told them we had found a booth around the back of the Phoenix bar. They both told me they were on their way. We were lucky to get that booth, because people started to spill over into area.
Axelle joined us for a bit. She took a photo of Benjamin and me, and we chatted for a bit about what we had been up to since we wrapped on the Prologue shoot of Blood + Roses. Axelle let me know that she might not be able to make the cast and crew screening, as she might be in L.A. Let’s hope she isn’t. After that she went off to talk to other people. Brendan and Clive soon joined us after that.
For the rest of the night we ended chatting to Victoria Hopkins and Kate Soulsby from ‘Zombie Women From Satan’, that was shown this morning. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see it as my bed was more tempting. This was the film that Marysia Kay was in. Victoria and Kate were telling me how well it went, how they got a lot of people coming up to them and telling how much they enjoy the film. I also got the chance to introduce Benjamin and Brendan to Rosie, who told me she is really looking forward to seeing my film in 2 weeks time.
I also bumped into Jaeson Finn in there. Jaeson is a friend of Shauna, who was the runner on the film, while we were shooting in Cornwall. We had been looking out for each other for the entire festival, but we kept missing each other. So it was great to meet him in the bar. We chatted about films we had worked on. Jaeson is also coming along to the screening of Blood + Roses, so he was telling me how much he was looking forward to that.
We stayed there to about 3 in the morning, before we. There was an attempt to move on to another bar, but unfortunately they wouldn’t let us in as we were deemed too drunk to enter. A small group of myself, Brendan, Benjamin, Victoria, and Kate headed to a night club, but it was a small room above a restaurant, so I didn’t fancy it. Neither did Brendan and Benjamin. So we said our goodbyes to the ladies and headed home. Well, I headed to Benjamin’s place and crashed there.
So that’s another FrightFest over and done with. There was a great selection of films this year and it was good to meet up with my friends there, and make new ones. I am sooo looking forward to next year’s one. I am going to get the full pass and I am also going to book a hotel room, so I don’t have to do all that travelling on night buses. So until next year I leave these parting words - “Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors. Beware the moon.”
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Saturday, August 29, 2009
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Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
(You can read Rob’s version of events at http://excusesandhalftruths.com/2009/08/31/frightfest-peaks-troughs-and-a-mission/)
The plan today was for Clive and me to meet Rob at ‘The Moon Under Water’ pub on Leicester Square at 11am. This is Rob’s first time attending FrightFest, because usually he is attending The Reading Festival. Though this year he couldn’t get a ticket, so he decided to try out FrightFest for a change. Naturally, both me and Clive got to the pub before 11. I wanted to order a big breakfast before today’s activities started. Clive order breakfast too, and as we were tucking into our food, Rob turned up. He already eaten, so he decided to have a pint instead.
As soon as we were all finished, we headed over to the Empire Leicester Square. Rob went to get his ticket and got fitted with a wristband. All the day pass holders have one these wristbands tie around your wrist. You can’t get them off without breaking them. So no handed them over to friends who you are trying to sneak into the cinema. Also, each day is a different colour. Today’s colour is blue. Thursday’s colour was red and Friday’s was purple. It is easier to show your wrist, then having to dig out a ticket every time you want to come in.
We then showed Rob over to our meeting spot, which is the pick n’ mix counter, and showed him the gift shop they have there. Then it was time for the first film, ‘Smash Cut’. Clive wasn’t going to this one, as he was going to ‘The Horror of Writing’ in the discovery screen. It was a brief introduction to the art of writing scripts for horror films. Not Clive doesn’t need a introduction, but he felt it was a good way to network with people. Rob and I said our ‘see you laters’ to Clive and entered the main screen.
‘Smash Cut’ is about a film director, Abel Whitman, who makes the worse kind of schlock. His work is panned by critics and moviegoers alike. After one dismal showing of his work, he comes up with the idea to use real body parts as props in his film. The new realism in his films, starts to give the director acclaim, but also with more and more people going missing, he starts to be noticed by a detective, who is on the trail of one of the missing people.
‘Smash Cut’ is a lovingly made tribute to the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis, who appears at the beginning of the film to warn the audience that they are about to see is most unusual. Have to say that I haven’t seen any of his films, but I enjoyed this none-the-less. It’s a film that doesn’t take itself that seriously. Though the gore in it was spot, even though the kills themselves very more comic, than scary. (Though the girl sitting next to me kept squirming in her seat and looking away every time their was a kill)
The film was certainly inventive, what with the story, the kills (I especially like the clapper board with teeth) and the camerawork. There is this lovely one shot that cranes up from the outside of an cinema, goes through a window into the projection booth and then follows a can of film to the projector. There were no cuts, nothing. Great shot. My favourite part of the film is when Abel talks to his scriptwriter about ‘how would a killer get a detective of his back’. The scriptwriter thinks it for a script and tells him that the killer would kill somebody and make it look like suicide. In the suicide note it should say that he killed everybody. Which Abel Whitmore does. After he has done the deed, he calls up the scriptwriter again, just to confirm that it’s not a movie cliché and would it really be totally believable. Great stuff.
Again this was film I didn’t think was going to be good, but it turned out to be great. And this is thanks to the main stars in it - David Hess and Sasha Grey. David Hess was totally believable as the demented director. So much so that later in the Phoenix bar, people were avoiding him. Now I had heard of Sasha Grey, from the new Steven Soderbergh film, ‘The Girlfriend Experience’, but wondered how on earth did she get that part, as a) she is a porn star and b) she doesn’t get clothes off in that film or in this one. The reason, I found out from watching this film, is that she is a very good actress. She has that certain something that keeps your eyes glued on her all the time she is on screen. I will go and see ‘The Girlfriend Experience’ when it comes out over here and hope that she does more work in film. (BTW - she still does porn)
I met Clive and Rob by the pick n’ mix, and we were keeping a look out for Afo, who was here to see the next film. Clive was a bit annoyed, as he had missed the screenwriting workshop. At the last minute, they had changed the time from 12pm to 11am. There was no mention of this on the website or in the programme. Clive had words with Ian Rattray about it, but it was news for Ian. Because the event was organised by somebody else, he didn’t know about the change of time. Poor show for the organisers, especially when you had to email them to attend, the least they could do was email people about the change. Clive didn’t get a print out of the notes from the workshop, so at least he got something. Afo soon joined us and then it was time to go back in to watch ‘Hierro’.
‘Hierro’ is about a mother who loses her son on a ferry going to the island, Hierro. There is a massive search for the boy, but there is no trace of him. The mother continues her search for the boy, but she is met with a lot of resistance, especially from the police detective in charge of the investigation. And her son is the first to go missing on this island. Could there be a bigger conspiracy on this island or is it all in her mind?
‘Hierro’ is a beautiful film to look at. It is well framed, the lighting is great, the main actress always looks great (even in the midst of her despair), but it was boring. It has drawn a lot of comparisons with ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ and ‘The Orphanage’, what will all three coming from Spain, but at the least those two films have compelling stories, that make you feel for the protagonist. This you don’t. As they film goes on, you feel a great gap between you and the main character open up, as the film progresses. This shouldn’t be the case, but it is, and by the end you don’t care. The other thing I noticed is that caravans in ‘Hierro’ are a bit like the Tardis. Small on the outside, but huge on the inside. Shame about this film, as I was looking forward to seeing it.
We came out the film and met up at the pick n’ mix again. We were actually taking photos of ourselves, while we were waiting for Clive. When Clive turned up, we discovered that we only had 5 minutes before the next film started and it’s 150 minutes long! We said goodbye to Afo (he was there for the one film) and went back to our seats. Later on we checked the schedule later and discovered that today’s one was ram packed, with short breaks between each film. The longest break was between ‘Giallo’ and ‘Trick R’ Treat’. We would have to have dinner then.
So the next film was ‘Millenium: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’. It’s about a journalist, who is hired to solve a missing persons case that is 30 years old. A young girl from a wealthy family disappeared on a island on a day when all routes into the island was shut down. The journalist is aided by a hacker, who gives him the real breakthroughs in the case. Together they discover a terrible secret about the family and the island.
This film was the being presented by Total Film, and my friend Rosie Fletcher went up to introduce the film. In her speech she said that the film was a horror film, but it was the best film they had seen in a long time. High expectations to live up to... which it did. I loved this film. I thought it was the best film of the whole festival. There right. It’s not a horror film, but it does have some horrific moments in it, which they don’t shy away from.
The film is really two stories. One is about the journalist who is trying to solve a missing persons case. The other story is about the hacker or titular girl with the dragon tattoo. The hacker is a great character. She is a complicated person, who we discovered killed someone when she was a child, has to deal with a scum bag of a parole officer and she also helps the journalist from a far at first. See the two stories are told side by side, until they meet and the hacker decides to help the journalist with his case. Then the case really kicks into high gear, and they start to discover facts about one of the members of the missing girl’s family.
As I said I really loved this film, and I hear that they are have already made two more films in this series. (The film is based on a series of best selling books I haven’t heard of) Though when they are going to be released, I don’t know. Soon I hope. I also hope that this film gets shown in this country, before the Americans remake it.
So after ‘Millenium: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’, there was enough time for us to stretch our legs and then we headed back in for the next one. In the last film, I had quickly pop out to the concession stand and bought some pick n’ mix to tie me over until dinner. I have to say I’m not a big fan of the pick n’ mix at the Empire. It was too sickly. This is what I miss about Woolworths is their pick n’ mix. It was great. I will have to make do with Candy Kings and the other companies that supply sweets. Though my stomach was starting to grumble, as the pick n’ mix is no real substitute for food. One more film and then we will have dinner.
The next film was ‘Giallo’ and it’s about a serial killer, called ‘Yellow’, who abducts beautiful woman off the streets of Milan and disfigures them before he kills them. He then dumps them at different spots around town. Hot on his trail is the sister of the latest abductee and an american detective. They have to find the killer before he kills again.
This film is by Diarro Argento, the master of Italian horror. I have never seen any of his films, until tonight, and I have to say I can’t see what all the fuss is about. The film was laugh out loud bad. The killer, who is yellow and was played by Adrien Brody (uncredited, for good reason), was not the least bit frightening. The detective, played again by Adrian Brody, has the silliest lines. The sister, who is played by Emmanuelle Seigner, was so wooden it was unbelievable. Actually, I did notice that Adrien was playing both characters and I was hoping that the two of them would be the same person. It would of been far more interesting if the cop had been unknowingly hunting himself. Alas, it turns out to be not the case and seems to be done for vanity purposes.
Now I have heard that Dario has distanced himself from this film by saving that when it came to the editing, the film was taken out of his hands, and the leading lady was always on drugs, hence why the bad performance. But I say this is not an excuse. Dario was the one who directed the film. He is the one who picked the shots, the actors, the story. He was the one to say that acting was good and that acting was bad. (Generally the acting was bad) They could only edit what you gave them. Many directors, who worked in the studio system, were able to get away with making their vision by editing in camera, so giving the editor no choice but to cut the film their way. Now I don’t know if Dario knew somebody else was going to be in charge of editing, but even so if he feels this film isn’t what he wanted, he should take his name of it. He hasn’t.
Maybe Dario was great once, I don’t know, I haven’t seen any of his back catalogue and I have been put off from seeing his old films, but he has lost whatever talent he had. A shame as I know Rob was really looking forward to seeing this film.
Once ‘Giallo’ was finished, we all had a group moan about the awfulness of the film, though it did make us laugh, but it was a case of laughing at it and not with it. Then we headed out to Burger King to grab some dinner. We chose Burger King as it was near by and again we didn’t have much time before the next film started. So we were able to get some fast food and stuff it down our throats. Then we got back into the cinema and went to the bar, at the end of the concession stand. Rob bought us a drink each and we had to drink up before the film started.
Now as I was standing near the bar, I bumped into Emily Booth. She had just finished presenting the video reports from the festival for Zone Horror for the day. She was there with the director of ‘Beware The Moon’, Paul Davis. Now Emily was looking to get into see ‘Trick R’ Treat’, but she didn’t have a ticket. Paul suggested that she join him, because there was plenty of seats where he was sitting, and this time of day, the ushers weren’t really checking tickets. Anyway, I was able to join them in the VIP section of the screen. In the row in front of me there was John Landis, Adam Green, Joe Lynch, Neil Marshall, David Hess and the director of Smash Cut, Lee Demabre. I also said ‘hi’ to Axelle again. I have to say it was really cool to be sitting with all these people, especially with the film we were about to watch.
‘Trick R’ Treat’ is an anthology film about 4 different stories that take place at Halloween in Smalltown USA. One is about a serial killer. One is about a group of kids, who discover that a local legend is true. One is about a werewolf story. And the last one is about old man who is attacked in his home.
This was another great film. Three in one day, amazing. I loved the way that the four stories weave in and out between each other and is joined together by Sam, the spirit of Halloween. He is like an unseen witness to all these stories and comes into his own at the end of the film. The film is both funny and scary. There are some real tense moments in this film. There is also a great werewolf transformation scene. How they transform is rather unusual and has to be seen. I really enjoyed this film.
Now, for some reason Warner Brothers have been sitting on this film for 2 years. (The copyright on the end says 2007) They have only decided to release it now and only on DVD. When the director, Michael Dougherty, got on the stage to do his Q&A after the film the first question he got asked was “why has Warner Brothers sat on this film for so long?” It was shouted out by John Landis. I can’t remember the answer, but I do remember John Landis’s response, “Fuck em!” I have to second this opinion. They are very quick to release poor remakes, but yet they won’t an original and excellent piece of work. Studios hey. If you get a chance to see this film on the big screen, do. It will be worth your time.
Also, Brian Cox was there to introduce the film, but had to go, as he had the flu and wasn’t really feeling well. It shows how much support he is prepared to give this film when he turned up even though he should of been in bed.
So after ‘Trick R’ Treat’ was finished, I said goodbye to Emily and Paul, and joined up with Rob and Clive for another drink at the bar at the end of the concession stand. Again we didn’t have much time before the next film started. The final film of the day, ‘Vampire Girl Vs. Frankenstein Girl’.
‘Vampire Girl Vs. Frankenstein Girl’ is about two girls who fight over one boy at school. It just so happens that one is a vampire and the other is made up of other girl’s body parts.
This film is bonkers. It’s like a manga cartoon brought to life. It starts off with said Vampire Girl battling 3 Frankenstein type monsters. This bit is really cool and I was hoping that the rest of the film would be this good. Alas it wasn’t. It was all over the place. Funny in some places. Rubbish in others. There is a club at school who sole purpose is to self harm. There is another society were the girls think they are Caribbean. They even black up. PC this film isn’t. Yet for all it’s outrageousness, it was boring. The running time was only 85 minutes, yet it dragged. So when we finally get to the battle of the title, it didn’t live up to expectation. It seemed to be quite tedious and not the battle royale that we expected. Really disappointing.
When I emerged from the screen, I turned my phone on and I received a text message from Rob. He had to go. Otherwise he wouldn’t of been able to get home to Reading. There is usually a train to Reading at 3.30 in the morning, but it being the Bank Holiday weekend, the rail company decided to cancel it. (You got to love public transport) If he hadn’t come out of the film and checked the train times, he would of been stuck in London all night.
As the last film was finished at 1 in the morning, Clive and me decided to go for a drink at the Phoenix bar. We met up with Rosie and her friends there, and we had a couple of pints before closing time. We got out of there 3 o’clock in the morning and we made our separate ways home. I have Sunday off, so I am going to sleep in and catch up on all that sleep I missed. Then I am back Monday for the final day of FrightFest.
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Friday, August 28, 2009
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Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
I got home last night at 4 in the morning. I went straight to bed and then got woken up at 6. I decided to get up and not stay in bed, as I didn’t want to sleep in and miss today’s events as today they were showing the re-mastered print of ‘An American Werewolf In London’! And they were also showing the documentary ‘Beware The Moon: Remembering An American Werewolf In London’.
I had time to get ready at my own pace and not rush around. I had a big breakfast and then I head off to Central London. I got to Leicester Square for about 10 o’clock. I bumped into Clive coming off the tube, and we made our way over to the cinema. Clive had arrived early so he could get a ticket for ‘I Sell The Dead’ at the Discovery Screen. Frightfest has a second screen this year for films that would work better on a small screen. (I was hoping to get Blood + Roses into this screen) Tickets are free to full / day pass holders and they are issued on a first come, first served basis, and hence why there was a queue when we arrived. Clive joined the queue. I had decided to stick to the main screen for the festival, so I didn’t queue up. Instead I made myself useful by getting us some coffee.
When I got back, with coffees in hand, the queue hadn’t moved. As it was the first time they had ever given out tickets for the Discovery Screen, so it looked like they were having a few teething problems. What they were, I don’t know.
As the queue started to move, Ian Rattray (one of the organisers of FrightFest) came over and I was able to have a quick word with him about getting Blood + Roses into one of the other FrightFest events. As well as FrightFest, they also hold, the ICA Halloween All Nighter and Glasgow Presents. He told me to send the film to him directly and he would have a look at it. Then we were interrupted, as someone wanted to see a seating plan for the Discovery Screen, so Ian had to sort that out. Busy man that Ian.
So once Clive got to see the seating plan and pick the seat he wanted, we went over to the main screen and took our seats to watch the first film of the day, ‘The Horseman’.
‘The Horseman’ is about a father who’s daughter has died under suspicious circumstances. One day the father, Christian, receives a porn video which has his daughter having sex with 3 different men. The father then goes after the people who made the video and takes his revenge on them.
I thought I wasn’t going to like this film, but it was one of the best films shown at FrightFest this year. It looked to me from the FrightFest website that ‘The Horseman’ was going to be a mindless orgy of blood. I was surprised by how caught up I was in the film and this was due to the main character Christian (played by Peter Morgan). You really felt his pain and you could see how he could flip out, especially around this group of scum bags who were involved in the making of the porn film.The torture and kills in this film were very inventive. Actually some of them were squirm inducing and I will never look at a ball pump the same way again.
But unlike revenge thrillers where the anti-hero dishes out violence at no cost to himself, there are consequences for Christian. He becomes a self harmer, so to feel something. In the confrontations with the people who made the video, he does get hurt. He gets beat up, as the people don’t want to die. The only reason Christian comes out on top as he is more determined then the other guy. I find it is more interesting that he isn’t some indestructible killing machine, but a human being who has flipped out.
Along his travels he picks up a young girl, who you think is only in the film so Christian can share his feelings about his daughter to, but at the end she gets caught up in the whole mess in a terrible way. The last 20 minutes are the most suspenseful out of the all the films at this year’s festival, and that’s because you care for the plight of Christian and the young girl.
Also I have to say this is a hell of a feature debut by the director, Steven Kastrissios. His direction was assured and the pacing was spot on. The music. The music was great and complemented the film so much. (You can hear it on the trailer below) I can’t recommend this film enough. If you get a chance to see it, do, as I think it’s great and in my opinion a classic of revenge thrillers.
Next was the start of the ‘An American Werewolf In London’ double. First up was the making of documentary and then after that it was the film it’s self. I would of preferred it if the running order had been the other way around, but ho-hum. ‘Beware The Moon’ was really insightful, intelligent, heartfelt making of documentary. Nothing was left out and there was even a part about the shooting of the mock porn film, ‘See You Next Wednesday’. It’s about 2 hours long, but it was so good that the time flied by. Paul Davis and Romy Alford-Sancto have done a hell of job with it and you can tell by the time and effort they have put in that they are real fans of this film. (I have found a clip that wasn’t shown at FrightFest)
In the intermission between the documentary and the film, I met up with Clive (who missed the documentary and instead saw ‘I Sell The Dead’) Brendan Lonergan and Marcelo Fossá, by the pick and mix stand, opposite the entrance to the main screen.It was so busy in the foyer, it was the only place we could stand. I was also on the look out for an actress friend of mine, Nicola Jane Reading, but I couldn’t see her there. There was a particular large crowd, who I couldn’t see through. All these people were round some old guy who looked like John Landis. Oh it was John Landis.
I actually bumped into John Landis again, ten minutes later. I was at the front of the screen, as I thought it would be the perfect time to get a photo of the audience in the main screen. I put the camera to my eye, took the photo and put the camera down, just to have John Landis standing directly in front. I apologised and moved out of the way. Thinking about it, I thought it was very British thing for me to do, as I wasn’t really in his way.
Anyway, John Landis introduced the film and he is great story teller. He could remember so much from the making of it. He was very entertaining, and boy does he like to swear. When he finished his Q&A, after the film, he said “I going to be here to see some films, so... leave me the fuck alone!” Of course he didn’t mean it, as he still would pose for his photo to be taken with fans.
Ok! Back to the film. The film looked great for a film nearly 30 years old. (It was released in 1981) It was being projected from the Blu Ray version of the film, which the film has been re-mastered for. It looked great. There was a slight problem with syncing of the sound. People’s lips would move and then the sound would come out. But you know what, it didn’t bother me. I still enjoyed it. The film has aged well. It’s still funny and scary as ever.
For me to see this film on the big screen with an audience was a great thrill, as this was one of the first horror films I saw as a kid. My father thought it would be funny to show me this film, because as a kid I was a scary cat. I was afraid of the dark. I was afraid of spiders. I was afraid of being alone. So you can see why my father thought it would be funny to show ‘An American Werewolf In London’ to me. I was terrified, but I sat through the whole thing and then ran out at the end. I had nightmares for weeks.
I re-discovered this film again when I was teenager. Though it didn’t have the same effect on me, I had grown out of my fears, I still enjoyed the film on a different level. I got the humour, the characters, the effects, which are great. The transformation scene in the flat is the best werewolf transformation in film history and that’s because a) it is down in bright lighting and b) you really feel the characters pain. It’s also very sad. You feel sorry for the guy. After all he was a goofy American kid, who unfortunately bumbles into this whole situation in the moors.
I just want to end that ‘An American Werewolf In London’ has been a major influence on me as a filmmaker and there are a few references to ‘An American Werewolf In London’ in my film, Blood + Roses. Can you spot them?
After the film finished, I was able to find Nicola. She was in the foyer, standing next to the FrightFest banner. We had a quick chat, and then she had to run off. I went off for a drink with Clive and Brendan. Marcelo couldn’t make it, as he had to go to work. We had a drink in the bar above the entrance to the Empire Cinema (it’s part of the Empire Casino) and we stood out on the balcony and watched the crowds of FrightFesters down below. Soon it was time for the next film to start. We said goodbye to Brendan, who was coming back on Monday, we went in to see ‘Shadow’.
‘Shadow’ is about a marine, who has just come back from a tour in Iraq, and who takes a mountain biking trip to a valley called Shadow. He meets a girl, who is also mountain biking through the valley, and they start to fall in love. In the middle of their trip, they stop a couple of trappers from killing a deer. The trappers are quite upset by losing their price and decide to chase them into a supposedly haunted part of the valley. The local legend says that there is a cave where a whole village was killed in a cave by soldiers. But the legend is just a subterfuge for something more sinister lurking in the valley.
I didn’t like this film. I just want to say that off the bat. I found it confusing. It wasn’t clear where it was set. Is it America or is Europe? Who could tell. I didn’t care too much about the characters and the twist ending was very good. If you seen ‘Jacobs Ladder’, then you know this ending. As that film was interesting and scary, and the twist was a total surprise, this one was just a pale imitation.
The next film was ‘La Horde’. Now I would tell you what I thought of it, but there is a press embargo placed on it by the distributors. There were actually guys in the audience with night-vision glasses, making sure nobody was videoing the screen. You always see that warning in the cinema, but it’s first time I actually saw them in use. Anyway, I am going to honour this embargo and not write my thoughts of it. Instead have a look at the trailer and make your own mind up.
As I was heading into the final film of the day, ‘Macabre’, I bumped into Axelle. She asked me what I thought of ‘La Horde’ and I said # ##### ## (damn this embargo). Anyway, the conversation was over very quick, because her husband was trying to get her into the screen for the film. It was just about to start. Clive and myself both had an alcoholic beverage in our hands, which we couldn’t take in, so we had to drink up and we got in there just as the film was about to start.
‘Macabre’ is about a group of friends, who are seeing the married couple in their group off at the airport. The married couple are starting a new life in Australia and have a baby on the way. On their journey they pick up a distressed hitchhiker and decide to take her home. Unfortunately for for them, the hitchhiker’s family are a group of ageless cannibals, who look to carve up the group for supper and baby is a particular delicacy.
On the poster for ‘Macabre’ the tagline is that ‘everybody bleeds’ and boy everybody does. Everything ends up covered in claret. By the end people are slipping in blood. As for the story, I didn’t quite buy the idea that being a cannibal leads to you becoming immortal. But then it wasn’t just the villains who were getting back up from the dead, so were the heroes. Another thing I didn’t buy was the ‘magic’ drink the pregnant woman is given that makes her give birth in minutes. It seemed highly unlikely. And this was the only time they skipped on the blood.
I felt that the film went on too long. There is only so many stabbings, body parts chopped off and beatings you can see before it gets boring. There even bring in the most unlikely bunch of cops, in the third half, just to have more people to kill. I thought overall the film was okay and yes there was a lot of blood. And what’s with it with bad guys driving Land Rovers. This is the second film to have the bad guys who own a Land Rover. The other being ‘Shadow’. Do you think that get a villain’s discount?
So that’s the second day over and done with, and I never fell asleep once. Not even a nod. I couldn’t say the same for the journey home, as I fell asleep on the bus. I had to be woken up by the bus driven. Good thing I lived at the end of the line. Anyway, tomorrow is going to be good as we have Rob Wickings joining us for the day.
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Thursday, August 27, 2009
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Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
I got to the Empire Leicester Square for 4.30pm. I was meeting Clive outside and then we were going to go and grab a bite to eat before FrightFest kicked off. When I arrived, there wasn’t any sign of Clive, so I quickly went in to get my day pass. The first difference was that instead of just getting a ticket, I also got a red coloured wristband. It like those ones you get in hospital, as in you have to break it to get if off your wrist.
I then went back outside to wait for Clive to arrive. As I was waiting, I spotted my friends Emily Booth and James Whittington. They filming a spot for the first of their daily reports from the festival. (Which you can see at the bottom of this entry) I went over to say hello. I quickly spoke to James, but Emily was busy in front of the camera. I would have to wait until later to say hello.
Clive turned up at this point, so I said goodbye to James and off we went to the London Kitchen to get dinner. We ate at a lazily pace and then when we ready, head back to the Empire Leicester Square.
We went straight in, as there was quite crowd outside, and checked out the new layout for the festival. Once you get past the box office and the velvet rope, the first thing you see is a big lit up banner with the FrightFest artwork on it. Opposite the banner, there was the press area - a wall with all the sponsors name on it. Then past that was the concession stand, which has a bar at the far end of it. And opposite the concession stand was the two entrances to Screen 1, the main screen. It holds over a thousand people and has one of the biggest screens in the country, if you don’t include IMAX screens.
As we were hanging outside in the foyer, I finally got to say hello to Emily Booth. It was a very quick hello, there were so many people trying to get her attention, it was to tough to have a conversation. I got a few words in. I also bumped into Elka. I was really surprised to see her there. We were able to catch up, as I hadn’t seen her in a long time. Then it was time to take our seats and get FrightFest started.
We were first treated to a new Douche Brothers short. Adam Green and Joe Lynch make these short films for each day of FrightFest and they are very funny. Last year they did the opening segment to ‘Twilight Zone The Movie’. (You can see theses shorts now on YouTube. Start with this one - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZdN-lsgW0c - and follow the links to the others) This year they were taking the piss out of ‘An American Werewolf In London’, in honour of the film being shown at the festival this year. It was really good. (You can also see this one and the other 4 shorts at http://www.frightfest.co.uk/roadtofrightfest.html)
Once the short was finished, the opening film started,‘Triangle’. It’s about a group of friends on yacht who get caught up in a storm and are stranded at sea. A mysterious cruise liner appears out of the blue and the group jump on board. The liner first appears to be empty, but they soon find that they are not alone.
‘Triangle’ is one those films that is about a paradox or somebody stuck in a time loop, like Cole in ‘Twelve Monkeys’ or Kyle Reese in ‘The Terminator’. While these films touched or suggested on this phenomenon, Christopher Smith’s film is all about the time loop. It’s not like ‘Groundhog Day’ were Bill Murray could have fun with it, but more like a curse were Melissa George’s character is doomed to repeat it over and over again. It’s a shame it wasn’t more fun or more to it, it was all about the time loop. It was tension filled, but it did make you feel empty by the end of it. Shame. It was well made and I thought Melissa George was really good in her role, but because it concentrated on the mechanics of the time loop, it made the film cold. Though I have to say that Melissa George looks better in the flesh.
The second film of the night was ‘The Hills Run Red’. It’s about a film buff/documentary maker who is obsessed with a horror film called ‘The Hills Run Red’, that was shown a few times and then disappeared. The star of that film is a hulking killer called ‘Babyface’. The film buff takes his girlfriend, cameraman, and the child star of the film back up into the woods, where the film was made, to find the home of the director and a possibly a print of the film. But they discover that sometimes what is on film is not fake but real, when they themselves start being stalked by ‘Babyface’.
When I saw this in the line-up, I didn’t know what to make of it, but I really enjoyed this film. It is in the same vein as ‘Scream’, where the characters on the screen are cine-literate, and talk about the rules of horror films and film. So the kills in this film had to be really inventive and I thought they were. One of the kills even got an applause from the audience. (The audience at FrightFest always clap during the film if they see a good kill) It was good that we got to know the characters before all the mayhem started, so you really cared for them. I thought William Sadler was excellent as the director of the film within the film, and it was a shame he wasn’t on screen more. I also thought that Sophie Monk was excellent in it too. (When I watched the film, I kept thinking I know that face from somewhere, thinking maybe I had seen Sophie Monk in another film, but it turned out that she had actually sent me her resumé years ago. Shame I didn’t have any work for her at the time)
The final film of the night was ‘Infestation’. It’s about a slacker who wakes up one day wrapped up in webbing. He discovers that the town he lives in has been over by giant bugs. He wakes up a group of strangers, who help him to fight back against the bugs.
Again I didn’t know what this film was going to be like, but again I was pleasantly surprised by how good this film was. It was very funny. I liked the main character in this. He could of been really annoying, but thankfully he wasn’t. Ray Wise plays the lead’s father, and he is really good in it. It’s a shame that he isn’t in it enough. (What is it with that? This is the second film that has a well known actor who is in the film enough) The film at the end reminded me of Aliens. Well if Aliens was done as a comedy. I have to say that this was my favourite film of the night.
‘Infestation’ brought the opening night to a close. I have to say that it was this was a best opening night they had since I started attending FrightFest. Last year’s opening night made me cross. ‘Eden Lake’ made me angry and ‘I Know How Many Runs You Scored Last Summer’ made me cross at how bad it was. ‘Triangle’ was good, but ‘The Hills Run Red’ and ‘Infestation’ were terrific, and I really enjoyed them. ‘American Werewolf In London’ on tomorrow. Can’t wait.
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Saturday, July 25, 2009
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Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
The film is finished! Words you never thought you would hear me say, but there you go. All the work on the film is now all done. The sound. The music. The picture. All whipped together to make the film Blood + Roses. The final piece of the puzzle was the sound mix.
I went round on Monday to pick up the sound mix. Marcelo had been working on the final mix, ever since he got back from his session with the dubbing mixer at Shepperton Studios. With the advice he got, Marcelo went through the film and made changes to the mix. I was going to go round and pick up the final mix from Marcelo last Friday, but Marcelo came down with a bad cold, that put him out of action, hence why I had to go round on Monday instead.
When I got there, Marcelo was still making changes to the film. I don’t blame him, as this was the last time he could make any changes. They were minor tweaks to the levels of the sound in a few places in the film. Once he had done that, he burnt the final mix onto a DVD+R. I had also asked that the mix be broken down into it’s three main elements or stems - dialogue, sound effects, music. It’s so to give me options in the future, in case it’s ever decided to do a foreign language dub. Marcelo hadn’t done that yet, because of his illness he had only time to do the mix and not the stems. So we decided to meet on Thursday, when Marcelo would have them ready for me.
The next day, I jumped on the computer and loaded up Final Cut Pro. I opened the Blood + Roses project and imported the final mix. I dragged it onto the timeline and it synced it up to the film. It was a perfect fit. I watched the film, looking for any last minute cuts I could make to the film. I tweaked one or two shots - nothing major. Once that was done, I exported the whole film as full res quicktime file, so I could put it onto a DVD and watch it on a TV.
I spent the whole of Wednesday morning encoding the video and putting it on a DVD. I made a very basic DVD in DVD Studio Pro and burnt it onto a DVD+R - I used Toast Titanium to do that. Then I sat down and watched the film on my DVD player. It looked and sounded like a real film. Marcelo has done a great job with the sound. It’s amazing to think that it was done in his bedroom and not in a sound studio. But then this film has been cobbled together in people’s bedrooms. The edit and picture grade was done in my bedroom. The music was written and performed in Jon’s bedroom, and the sound editing, design, ADR, foley work and mixing was done in Marcelo’s. It’s a real hand made film.
So I met Marelo feeling really happy. Happy with the film and really happy that it is finished. We met in Leicester Square, where they were getting ready for the premiere of ‘Inglorious Basterds’. Marcelo handed me another DVD+R with the stems on and we had a drink. Sitting in the bar, watching the workmen getting the red carpet out and all the lights ready for later, I felt that it was appropriate that this was going on all round us as we drank to the completion of the film.
After our drink we went to see ‘Moon’, which is of course is the first film from Duncan Jones and it’s a hell of a debut feature. In some ways I am jealous, but in others I am not as there is going to be a lot of pressure on him for his next film to be as good.
I have now emailed the whole cast and crew to let them know that the film is finished and most of them have replied congratulating me. Check out what Rob Wickings wrote on his blog.
It’s a great relief that the film is now finished, but my work doesn’t end there. I need to get the film released. I have already started to send the film off to film festivals. I have put together a list of forthcoming film festivals. They are mostly horror and fantasy festivals, though I have included some of the major ones. Some of theses festivals have been recommended to me by Ben Woodiwiss and Axelle Carolyn. I plan to have a page on this site, and the official website, listing all the public screenings of the film. As soon as I get word of the first one, the screenings page will go up.
The other thing I need to do now is arrange a screening for the cast and crew. I have been told about a cinema in London, that do free cast and crew screenings, by Sam Price. I think I will go and pay them a visit next week.
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Monday, June 15, 2009
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Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
Monday 18th May 2009
I got woken up early this morning by Ben’s phone ringing. Ben picked up and it was Tina. She had called to let Ben know that he could pick up his suit bag at the reception of her hotel. Ben was split with staying in bed or going to get his bag. We had to check out by 12pm today, so Ben decided it was best to go and get his bag.
He left straight away and I got up and freshened up. I wanted to go and get some breakfast from the local supermarket, but Ben had taken the keycard with him, so I was stuck in the room. If I left, I wasn’t going to get back in. I put the album, The Last Waltz, on and waited for Ben to return. It seemed to take him forever to get there. I can’t blame him, as Ben hadn’t been to Tina’s hotel before.
Halfway through the album, I got a call from Ben. He asked that I get his clothes into his bags, just in case he wasn’t back by 12pm. I don’t know how lenient Campanile is about the time you have to check out. Will they be knocking on the door dead on 12pm or would they give you a hour before they came knocking. If I was asked to leave the room, I was going to take all the bags and wait outside the reception for Ben.
I never found out what the throwing out procedures are at the Campanile is, as Ben arrived back at 11.30am. I had gathered all of Ben’s things up and had put some of it away in his bag. His clothes I left for last. I didn’t want to rumple, unless I had to. I am not the best packer in the world. Good thing as well, as all his suits, including the Armani, had to packed away in the suit bag.
Once Ben had finished packing his clothes away, we left the room and headed over to the reception to check out. There was a queue, when we got there. It didn’t like it was going to move. There was only one woman on duty and she looked overworked. I just wanted to check out quickly. Thankfully the people in front of us weren’t checking in. They just wanted to use the restaurant. It took us about 15 minutes to check out. The receptionist was able to call us a taxi.
As we were leaving the reception, a bus full of Italians turned up. I’m glad we checked out when we did. Wouldn’t want to be in that queue.
The wait for the taxi wasn’t long and we rode straight into town. Our destination was Cannes Train Station, so we could drop off our luggage there. Our plane wasn’t due to leave Nice until 6pm, so we had time to kill. As you enter the locker area there is an X-ray machine, which I had to put all my luggage through. I had also to walk through a metal detector. It was pretty quick to go through security and stowed our luggage in a locker.
We needed to find a timetable for the Direct Coach to the airport and where we could get on it. There is a Tourist Information office at the station, so we got all the information about the coach from there.
We then walked towards the Crossiette, so to grab something to eat. We went to a food stall and bought a baguette each. I had an Americano, which was bacon, cheese and hot dog. It was lovely and only cost 4 EUROS. Ben then went off to meet Alex, Lisa, Tina and Darren at Mocco, and I had to go back to the train station. I had to get my festival pass. I had left it in one of my bags. D’oh!
I went back, went through security again and I got my pass. I then walked quickly back to Mocca. Ben was there with the guys, who were having something to eat. Alex, Lisa and Tina leave tomorrow and Darren is there until Thursday. We stayed there for a while, having one last drink.
After our drink, we said goodbye to everybody. Handshakes, kisses and hugs were exchanged, and we all promised to meet when we got back to England.
We then had one final walk around the festival. We walked pass all the yachts, pass all the pavilions in the International Village, pass stands in the Film Market and pass the Short Film Corner and out. Though security was really tight today at the festival. Usually they glance at your festival pass and then they quickly wave you with the wand. This time they scrutinised our passes and slowly passed the wand over us. They picked up my iPhone in my pocket. This was the first time it had, because I always had my phone on me. Must be something big happening today.
Once we had our last look, we went back to the train station and grabbed our bags. We went over to the coach stop, and there was coach waiting there to go. We rushed on and paid for our tickets. Minutes later the coach left and took us away from Cannes.
45 minutes later we arrived at Terminal One. We got our tickets and passed through passport control very quickly. We then waited in the boarding area for our flight. It had been delayed by half an hour. No explanation for the delay. All we could do was wait and hope there were no more delays - there weren’t! We sat quietly, waiting to board. Ben was listening to Achtung Baby, by U2, on his MP4 player. I listen to Day and Age, by The Killers, on my iPhone.
The call for our flight was called and we went over to our boarding gate. There were no more delays getting on the plane. I got a free copy of the Daily Mail, to catch up on the news back home. Nothing had changed since I was away.
The plane took off and ferried us back to Heathrow. We had dinner on the plane. A ham roll with a chocolate bar. Very feeling, not. We arrived back about 7.30pm. We got through passport control without any hassle and picked up our bags. We then said goodbye to each other. Ben was taking the Heathrow Express and I was taking the tube. I waved him off as he walked towards his train. It had been a hell of a trip.
On the tube back home, I kept thinking about everything I had done in Cannes. I find it hard to be back, while the festival is still going on. I feel like I am missing out on so much. And to have still friends over there... makes me want to grab a flight back there, but alas I don’t have the money for it. I am definitely going back next year. I will be better prepared. I will make sure I have scheduled meetings before going over. Find out what films are being screened and try to obtain tickets. And to keep in touch with the people I have met over there. Here’s to Cannes 2010. I look forward to it.
This diary entry is taken from the blog www.myfirstfilm.co.uk. For latest news and to find out more about the making of Blood + Roses, visit the site now.
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Thursday, June 11, 2009
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Sunday 17th May 2009
I woke up about 10am. Tina and Ben were still asleep. I quietly got up and ran myself a bath. I had a long soak, as my legs were sore from yesterday. I wanted to get into town for 12pm today, so I could attend the surgery on how to qualify as a British film. When I appeared out of the bathroom, Tina and Ben were stirring. As they got ready to go into town, I received a text from Sam about the Portuguese Party tonight. We could get the tickets at the reception in Portuguese Pavilion. We would definitely have to stop off there.
Once we were ready, we headed back to Cannes. This time we got the bus in. There is a bus stop near the motel and there was a queue of people waiting for the bus, so we gathered that there would be a bus soon. There was enough time to grab some chocolate from the nearest petrol station.
When the bus turned up, it was packed. Looked like everybody decided to take the bus. We squeezed on and bumped into Chris Barnett. He was there with a friend. (Her name escapes me) I introduced him to Ben and Tina.
Tina jumped off the bus before we reached the town centre, as she was going back to Darren's place to freshen up.
When we neared our stop, there was a street cleaner blocking the way. The street was so small that we couldn’t get pass him. The machine was slowly going about it's business, not giving a damn about the queue behind him. The driver, thankfully, let us off and everybody piled off the bus. It was a short distance the Crossiette.
We found a restaurant, on our way to the Crossiette, that served pizza. It was after 12pm and I was really hungry. The chocolate wasn’t enough to please my hungry tummy. We sat down and Ben ordered a 4 cheese pizza. I had just a plain old Magherita pizza. While we were waiting for the pizza, I gave Rachel a call and left a message saying that I was in town and to give me a call when she was coming in. I got a text 5 minutes later saying that she was still at her hotel, but would be in later.
By the time we had finished our pizza, it was after 1pm. I had missed the surgery, but we went to the UK Film Centre anyway. The UK Film Council have a stand inside, so I asked the guy there if he had any information he could pass onto me about qualifying as a British Film. He told me that I could go to the UK Film Council website and all the information was on there. I would have to go through the website to register the film to get my tax rebate.
While I was over at the UK Film Council, Ben met Robin. When I joined them, Robin was telling Ben about the parties that were happening today. We knew about the Portuguese Party, and we were going to go there afterwards to get our tickets, but we didn't know about the Brazilian Party. That sounded good. We could pick up the tickets from the Brazilian Film booth inside the Film Market.
While Ben was getting the skinny on the parties, I saw Jake West out the back and he was chatting to Paul McEvoy from FrightFest. One of my goals was to meet someone from FrightFest, as I really want the film to be shown there. I decided to go over and say hello. I had my FrightFest bag with me. Sure enough it got his attention. I chatted to Paul about FrightFest and the film. He said to send it to him. I told him it wasn’t finished, otherwise I would have the film with me. He said to send it to him as is. (Which I will do once I get back to England.)
We couldn't talk long, as he other things to do. But I thought I go over and quickly say hello to Jake West. I said how I met him last time and how I am doing a vampire film called, Blood + Roses. He said how he loved the original, Et Mourir De Plaisir, and how the dream sequence in that film. It's in black and white, but the blood is red. Not an easy effect to achieve in the 60s. It inspired some of the scenes in his film, Razor Blade Smile. After that he was ushered on, as he do an interview with the FrightFest boys.
I then went back into the UK Film Centre to meet up with Ben. I walked through the whole centre and out the front door, but I couldn't find him. I called his mobile. He was out the back, where I had just been. I guess I was so pre-occuped with Paul McEvoy and Jake West, that I didn't notice him come outside. He saw Lee sitting out the back there, working on his laptop and went over to talk to him. I missed that too.
He soon joined me out the front and we started our mission to get the tickets for the various parties. We first went to Portuguese Pavilion. But alas we got there too late - they had run out of tickets. We then went into the Film Market, to find the Brazilian film stand. We must of been blind, because we walked round there and couldn't see it, yet when we did find it, it was a big green stand with Brazilian film written on it. Good thing we found it when we did, as we got the last ticket. Each ticket would admit 2 people. We wanted tickets for the others, but they didn't have any more at that time. Though she did tell us that more would become available later.
We then found Pierre at his stand and he gave us a demonstration of Montage. It very nice piece of software. It works like Final Draft and Celtix. It formats everything automatically - action, title, characters, dialogue. It keeps track of all the characters and scenes, so it can make reports on them. It works exactly like the other scriptwriting software, but it is not as expensive as Final Draft, but it not free as Celtxis. But it does something Celtx doesn't do and that is import and export Final Draft files. As friends of mine have found out, that most production want the script in Final Draft and Celtx won't let you export scripts in Final Draft. Annoying.
Pierre also showed us another piece of software called Contour, which asks you questions about the story you are about to write. Like “Who is the hero?”, “Where is it set?”, What happens in the first act? etc. You have to answer each question to progress through the software. It's a good way of picking holes in the script or finding faults before you start writing. A handy piece of software.
After our demonstration with Pierre, we went back to the International Village. I wanted to go into the Kodak tent, just to see what it is like inside. There was a queue to get in and I didn't fancy queuing. We went round to the beach, and saw an opportunity to get in the back way. There was only a rope barrier between the beach and the Kodak tent. I put my leg over the rope... "Excuse Moi?" There were 2 security guards keeping watch. "This is a private party. Ticket only." Damn, I had been rumbled. I said my apologises and I put my foot back on to my side of the beach.
After that, Ben and me went for a drink at Mocca. I texted Rachel again. I got a reply straight away. She would meet me at outside the International Village in 20 minutes. So I finished my drink and headed over there. Ben was going back to the Short Film Corner, as Keeper was being shown there one last time.
I met Rachel outside the International Village. She was there with her roommate, Chris. I told them about the Brazilian party and we went back to the Film Market to see if they any more tickets had become available. They were. Chris got a ticket for himself and Rachel. I texted Ben about the more tickets being available. I also texted Sam about the party. It was my turn to tell Sam about a party. To return the favour.
We then went back to Mocca for a drink. We meet Ben in there. He didn’t stay there long, as he had to go off to the train station to pick up his Armani suit. He was going to wear it tonight, being our last nigh here. Alex and the gang were in there as well, sitting in our usual spot near the bar. They had followed my tip about the tickets and gotten themselves tickets for the Brazilain party.
There was one slight dilemma. Chris had tickets for the Producer’s Party, but it was taking place at the same time. The Brazilian Party was on for longer than the producer's party. There was going to be Brazilian music and they were serving Caipirnha there. Sounded like more fun. Rachel and Chris were keen to go to the producers party, but my friends were going to the Brazilian Party. I decided I would met them in the Brazilian Party.
Rachel and Chris went off, to the Producers party and I went off with the guys to the Brazilian party. We walked along the Crossiette, trying to find the beach, Plage des Dunnes, where the party was being held. It was a long way from the Palais Des Festivals. I did wonder if we it wasn't back at the International Village, like a lot of the other parties. But we continued on down the Crossiette. We patience paid off, when we finally found the beach. We produced our tickets and we were waved on in.
The beach was packed. The walk had taken so long, that we got there late. The drinks and food were free, but there was a hell of line to get to the bar. And the barmen weren't exactly the fastest in the world. It wasn’t the kind of party I was expecting. Nobody was dancing. Actually, it was hard to hear the music. The portions of food were tiny and not very appetising. Well, not until they brought out the desserts. Those were nice. And Ben was really working the Armani. He was very happy he got to wear it.
We met up with Sam down there, and I also bumped into Fiona Brownlie. I had met Fiona last year, when I went to see Rob and Clive's film, Code Grey, at Straight 8. She was there with some fellow filmmakers, who she introduced me to. Fiona was over here with her latest Straight 8 film.
Rachel and Chris turned up near the end. They had been invited to the Ireland / New Zealand party. I guess even the recession has hit Cannes, when two Film Commission s have to hold joint parties. They had a friend who could get us in, so Sam and me went with them, so try to get in. Alex, Lisa and Ben was going to meet the others back at Mocca.
We got to the Irish Pavilion and Chris went straight in, but Rachel, Sam and me were stopped at the door. Rachel tried to convince the doorman to let us in, but he was not having none of it. Rachel pleaded and begged. Even her friend, who said she could get us in, came over and couldn't convince the man. Finally it took Chris's friend to say to the doorman, "She's all right" and he let her in. But not us. It looked like a shit party anyway. Sam and me went back to Mocca to see the others. That was the last I saw of Rachel.
We met the guys back in Mocca and we had another drink. We said goodbye to Alex and Lisa, as they were turning in for the night. We then head over to Le Petit Majestic for the night. Sam stayed for a little while, before dashing off to the Portuguese Party. We weren't going to see her tomorrow. So Ben and me said goodbye to Sam, and thanked her for being our guide. She has been a big help to us over here. I promised to meet up with her next time she is in London.
We said goodnight to Tina and Darren. Tina took Ben's suit bag with her. She was going to drop it off with us tomorrow.
We bumped in to Liz McMullen again. I didn't recognise her at first, because she was all dolled up. She looked great. We chatted for a bit about how it was going in Cannes, before she had to go off with her friends to a party. Benjamin got a text from Sarah Pamberton, saying that to come over to the Grand Hotel. So we did.
We meet her by the bar and I chatted to her for a while about my films and producing. We had a couple more drinks and then we decided to call it a night. We went back to the taxi cab and jumped in to a cab straight away. This time we had no diversions back to the hotel. The driver got us straight back to the motel. We got in and I crashed out straight away. It had been another tiring day.
This diary entry is taken from the blog www.myfirstfilm.co.uk. For latest news and to find out more about the making of Blood + Roses, visit the site now.
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Tuesday, June 09, 2009
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Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
Saturday 16th May 2009
I got woken up by a text message from Christopher Barnett. Chris is a composer who had emailed me earlier in the week. He is looking to collaborate with directors and wanted to meet up. We arranged to meet today at the UK Pavilion or the UK Film Centre as they were calling it this year. The text was to let me know that he was moving our meeting from 11am to 12am. Good. I could do with some more sleep.
I looked at the time on my phone. It was 8am. I should get up soon. Couple more minutes of sleep would do. I tried, but no joy. I better get up. Ben was up too. We decided that we had enough time to walk to the motel, get changed and walk back into Cannes.
It was a lovely morning. The sun was out and the grey clouds had disappeared. We stopped off at the local supermarket to grab some breakfast and bottles of water to keep on us for the day. We got back to our room. Had the food we bought. I had a quick shower and I got changed. Then I packed the free Cannes rucksack, that we were given at registration. Ben packed his suit bag with his Armani Suit. He was going to drop it off in a locker at the station for later this evening.
As soon as we were both ready, we headed back to Cannes. The journey back was taking forever and I was going to miss my meeting with Chris. We walked at quite a pace, but I couldn’t keep it up. I was still tired from yesterday. I had to keep texting Chris I was going to be late.
We got to Cannes at 12.15pm. Ben went off to meet Alex and then drop off his suit bag. I went into the International Village and looked for the UK Film Centre. I couldn’t find it. I called Chris to say I was there, but I couldn’t find it. He said to look for the Union Jack flag over the entrance. I couldn’t see it, just the French flag. I quickly went over to a map and realise I was in the wrong International Village. They had split it into 2. I told Chris I would be 5 minutes and put the phone down.
I powered over to the other International Village. I had to go pass all the yachts to get there. I found the UK Film Centre and found Chris waiting just inside the entrance. We didn't stay as it was packed - there was a talk taking place, and it was really hot and stuffy in there. We went to the Media Centre instead.
The Media Centre is where you go to get the internet, printouts, photocopies and such stuff. The more important thing was that it had air conditioning in there. We found a seat and started chatting. We mostly talked about our experiences in Cannes. Chris has been coming here for the last 4 years. He is also writing the music for a feature, called “Stag Night Of The Dead”, which I had heard of, because Richard J. Wood, Andy Trace and Lee Akehurst had all worked on it as the camera crew. They worked on it after my film.
We chatted for half an hour and then Chris had to go. He had another appointment to meet.
I said I would keep in touch and we then we said goodbye.
I called Ben, to see where he was. He hadn't been to station yet, but he was on his way there now and then he was going to the Short Film Corner. He reckoned he would be there in half-an-hour. I said I would meet him there. I decided to go for a walk around town.
I walked along the back streets, parallel to the Crossiette. I had look at the boutiques and restaurants. It was around lunchtime and I wanted something to eat. I couldn’t find anything I liked, so I kept on walking. I got back to the Crossiette and walked back towards the Palais Des Festivals. On the way I found a ice cream parlour. I had me a toffee ice cream for 2.50 EUROS.
I then arrived at the Palais Des Festivals. The girls with their signs asking for tickets were back, and this time they were joined by boys. I walked passed them, and went through security. I then waited in the Short Film Corner for Ben and Alex to arrive. I found a seat as my feet was hurting or as Ben said, “My dogs are barking!”
I didn’t have to wait long. Ben turned up with Alex. They were there to get people as many people as possible to come and see Keeper this evening. Ben also wanted to watch some shorts on the computer. So while he did that, I sat back down and waited.
Once was done, Ben wanted to get some ice cream. We had some time before the screening at 5pm, so I took him over to the ice cream parlour I found earlier. I still hadn’t eaten lunch, and I was feeling the worse for it. I remember walking past a hotel (the name escapes me), who’s menu looked good. It had the Ealing Studios logo over it and they were advertising St. Trinans 2 at the front. I went over there with Ben and order strips of beef with fries. It filled a hole, though it wasn’t cheap at 20 EUROS.
Once I had finished, we headed back to the Short Film Corner for the screening of Keeper. Bummed into Sam down there. She told me about the Barclay’s yacht party at 5pm. We would go after the screening. Sam couldn’t hang around, as she had to be at a meeting. I felt a bit left out, because I didn’t have anything to do. I sat down and waited for Ben and Alex. They were going up to people and asking them if they wanted to see their film. I also watched as everybody was jockeying into position at the bar. It was nearly 5pm and that meant happy hour.
It hit 5pm and the horses were off. The huge crowd surged around the bar, as they tried to get their free drinks. Ben was able to get to the bar again, but they were only giving away one drink at a time. Bummer.
We walked over to the Barclay’s yacht. It was moored near the Pinewood yacht, which was holding another party. We tried to get onto the Barclay yacht, but today they had a person checking the guess list. Our names weren’t down on the list, so we weren’t coming in.
We decided to go to Mocca for dinner. We joined there by Lisa, Tina and Darren. I had decided to have a cheeseburger with fries for another 20 EUROS. Eating out is expensive here.
We stayed at Mocca for while, trying to decide what to do tonight. None of us had invites to parties, so it was decided we would go to Le Petit Majestic. It’s the place to go if you don’t have anywhere else to go. Tina and Darren wanted to freshen up, so we decided to head back to their place. We said goodnight to Alex and Lisa, as we departed towards Darren’s place.
We walked back via the beach. It was a lovely walk, as the sun was setting. As we walked along, I discovered that I lost my sunglasses. My favourite sunglasses. They weren't expensive or anything, but they were a pair I liked. They must of fallen off when I bent over to take my shoes off. Damn. I will have to get another pair.
We got back to Darren's and waited while people got changed. Darren's roommate, Diane Thomas. She also had a film showing at the Short Film Corner and was there trying to find the money to make a feature. She was very organised and had meetings and screenings all planned out.
While Diane was showing Benjamin her other short films on a computer, I had found a pamphlet from the UK Film Centre. There was a list of seminars and events taken place there. I had a look at tomorrow’s schedule. There had a surgery on how to get tax breaks as a British film. I made a note of that one. There were also seminars on the Red One camera and about Self Distribution. I made a note of those too.
Once everybody was ready, we headed back into Cannes. Diane joined us, as we headed towards Le Petit Majestic. Sam was already there, when we arrived, with Andy. He introduced me to Robin and Rachel Packham. Robin is a filmmaker, who has been coming to the festival for years. Rachel is a scriptwriter and she is also into vampire films. Rachel had heard of Blood + Roses and Robin too. Word is getting out about my film.
I chatted to Rachel for a while, before she had to get back to her hotel. But she gave me her phone number before she left. We promised to meet up tomorrow.
I met Corey Johnson, who is the creator of a scriptwriting software called Montage. It sounded really good and I arranged with Pierre, their representative in France, to have a demonstration of it in the Film Market tomorrow.
And of course there was Pedro. He looked quite mad with his furry pink handcuffs and blow up sheep, but once you talk to him he is very clever. He was in Cannes to promote his iPhone application, called iSnort. And it look like it was working as he was getting a lot of attention.
We left Le Petit Majestic about 2am. We weren’t going to walk back, so we got a taxi home. Tina was going to crash out at our place, so she joined us in the queue for the taxi. We didn’t have to wait long for a taxi - 15 minutes. Though the journey back too longer than our first taxi ride, as the driver took us to the wrong hotel. I couldn’t remember the name of the hotel, but we knew that it was next to airport. So we just went on about the airport. The driver went through a list of hotels. When they said Camponile, we said “Oui”.
We finally arrived back at the hotel and immediately crashed out. I was exhausted, but tomorrow looks to be a promising day.
This diary entry is taken from the blog www.myfirstfilm.co.uk. For latest news and to find out more about the making of Blood + Roses, visit the site now.
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Friday, June 05, 2009
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Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
 Friday 15th May 2009
I woke up early at 4am. The taxi was due to pick Benjamin Green and me up from his place at 4.30am. I had stayed overnight at Ben's place as I was going to Cannes with him. Ben came up with the idea to go, back in January. Originally we were going to be part of a flat share, but that fell through, so Ben said, “why don’t we go anyway.” I have always wanted to go to the film festival, so I said yes immediately to going for the opening weekend. I found the flights and Benjamin organised the accommodation. We were able to find both for a reasonable price and we have both been counting down the days.
The taxi was prompt and off we headed to Paddington Station. There we caught the Heathrow Express and got off at Terminal 5. We were getting a British Airways flight, so we used there self check booths to get our tickets. Then we dropped our bags off, and went through passport control and security. There wasn’t much of a line, so we got through the metal detectors very quickly. We then had breakfast. Ben had a full breakfast, while I had the half breakfast. They had the smallest knifes I have ever seen. The handle was the normal size, but the blade was small and blunt. I had to ask, and I was told about they have to use them because of 9/11.
Once we finished our breakfast, we headed over to the boarding gate. While we were waiting for them to announce our flight was boarding, we saw Ralph Fiennes waiting to get on the same plane. Our first celebrity and we hadn’t even left the country.
There was a minor delay getting on the plane. They stopped the queue we were in, because of “technical difficulties”. The kinda of thing you don’t want to hear when you are getting onto plane. Whatever it was, because they never told us, was sorted out quickly and the queue started moving.
There were no further delays to our flight and it took an hour and half to arrive in Nice. Ben tried to get sleep on the plane, but no joy. I tried as well, but I can't sleep on planes or trains or in automobiles. I try, but I just can't do it. We skipped on the rolls their were serving for breakfast, though we had something to drink. On the approach to the airport, we hit some turbulence, but it was quickly over. The landing was smooth, though as the plane comes in over the sea, I was slightly concerned we going to pitch into the sea, but it was tarmac we landed on and not water.
We got through immigration and baggage claim very quickly and we went out to the get the coach into Cannes. We got our tickets for the direct coach from the airport to Cannes. We went over to the stop, and Sam Price, the production manager from my film, was waiting there. She was as delighted to see us, as we were to see her. We would have some company travelling into town and we would have a guide, as this year is Sam’s fourth year attending the film festival.
An hour later, we arrived in Cannes. The weather was overcast, but sun was promised for tomorrow. The coach dropped us off on the Croisette and Sam took us straight over to the registration centre. We walked passed the Canal + sign, passed the International Village and straight into the registration centre. Got our passes and I was give a sheet of places my pass could get me into and what it couldn't get me into. I was sad to see that screenings were by invite only. Great. I don’t know anybody here to get me into the premieres.
As we got our free bags, stuffed with publications and guide to Cannes, Ben bumped into an actress friend of his, Sarah Pemberton, and her friend Liz McMullen. Ben introduced them to me and we talked about what we were going to do here. Sarah told us about a get together of London people at the Majestic at 8pm and then at 10.30pm at Le Petit Majestic. We been there for 5 minutes and we got our first tip about a party. Cool.
We then had to part. Sam lead us over to some computers where you can register your festival passes to earn points to get into screenings. There is a way to get into screenings. They are screenings that take place after the premiere, the day after. They were at time throughout the day and some films had more than one screening. The films that were available at that time, I wasn’t interested in seeing. There were some on the Sunday and Monday that looked good. The tickets for those films weren’t available yet, so we would have to come back later.
We then headed over to the train station, so Sam could leave her bags in a locker. Ben wanted to do the same, but what to leave. I didn’t know what I would leave and neither could Ben, so we decided it was best to get back to the hotel and check in. Then we can unpack our bags and come back if we need to leave anything there. But first we had to get some change for the lockers, as they only take coins, and the attendant didn’t have any. Sam got her change and then we said goodbye to Sam. We planned to meet up later, once we had all settled into our accommodations.
Our original plan was to walk it to the hotel, but I surely didn't feel up to it and Ben was hungry. So we grabbed a taxi from outside the station. We were staying at Camponile in Mandelieu, right outside Cannes Airport. It’s a private airstrip and it is 3 kilometres from the Crossiette, hence why I didn’t fancy the walk with all my bags. We checked in and had something to eat at the restaurant. They were just about to finish serving lunch, but we were allowed to eat from the buffet. It was mostly sea food, which I don’t eat much of, but I really liked it. Also there was dessert there.
When we finished, we went over to our room. The Camponile is a motel, which looks like one of those ones you see in C.S.I.. Our room was across from the reception. As we walked over to our room, we bumped into Lee Akehurst, who was going in the opposite direction. Who would of guessed we would be staying at the same motel. We chatted briefly, as Lee was in a hurry, but he did offer us a lift into town, if we were to bump into him again.
We got into our room, grabbed a shower and change of clothes, and we were ready to go back in. It was a long walk along the sea front back to the Croisette. It took us over an hour to walk there. As we walked, Ben was getting texts from Alex Kunzelmann, we were going to meet him. Ben and Alex are here to promote their short film, “Keeper”, as it is showing at the Short Film Corner.
We met Alex in a restaurant, called Mocca. It’s directly across from the Palais Des Festivals. Alex was there with his girlfriend Lisa Quigley, Tina Barnes (who stars in Keeper) and Darren Bennett, who is an actor. We had a drink and chatted for a while. In the middle of this, I got a text from Sam about the Pinewood yacht party. She had put Ben’s and mine name on the guest list. It started at 6.30pm. Alex asked if I could text Sam back and get some more names on the list, but it was too late as Sam had to check in to her apartment.
After that Alex, Lisa, Ben and myself headed over to the Palais Des Festivals. At the door are security guards who check your pass and run one of those paddles over you and they dress in grey suits, just like the one Ben was wearing. We joked with Ben that he could get into places with that suit, but he wasn’t game.
We headed downstairs to the basement, where the Short Film Corner is situated. Ben and Alex were showing Keeper there. There were these 2 pillars where you could leave posters and leaflets for your short film, but it was started to look like a montage. Posters were on top of other posters. Leaflets were being placed in front of others. It was a bit of a free for all.
Alex had booked one of the screening rooms (there are 3), so to show the film on Saturday in the evening. Otherwise you could watch the Keeper on one of the computers, situated at the back of the Short Film Corner, as well as the rest of the shorts being shown there.
At 5pm there was almighty rush to the bar. It was happy hour! Ben was able to get to the bar and grab 4 bottles of beer, which I of course I had one. They have happy hour here at the Short Film Corner at 5pm every day, so we will be back for that one.
About 6.30pm we said goodbye to Alex and Lisa at Short Film Corner. We would see them later at the Majestic with Tina and Darren at 8pm. As we left the Palais Des Festivals I noticed a girl with a piece of cardboard. On it was written “1 Ticket S.V.P.” I didn’t know what it meant. I asked Ben if he knew what that was about and he said that they were looking for tickets to get into the premieres. It was so obvious, especially by the silk dress she was wearing, but it didn’t click with me. There were more women out there with more signs, written on paper or card, asking for a ticket. Some had even put the name of the film on there. They were a sad sight to behold.
We made our way over to the marina, it’s down the side of the Palais Des Festivals, and found the yacht. The Pinewood logo was on the boarding ramp. We couldn’t see anybody with a guess list and it was never checked that we were actually on it. Damn. Alex and Lisa could of come after all. But who knew. We went on board and started helping ourselves to the free food and drink.
On the yacht we met James Sweetbaum and Jodi Smith. They are both working together to make a film, called “Across The Great Water”. We got chatting about their film and I also had an interesting discussion about self distribution. I told there are going to be some lecturers about it. I would try to check them out, it I get the chance. The great thing, though, was that they had both heard of my film. James had seen the poster.
Sam turned up around 7pm, with Andy Thompson, the director of The Scar Crow. The Scar Crow also stars Marysia Kay, so we had somebody in common to talk about. Again, he knew about Blood + Roses. He talked about how he made money back on The Scar Crow and thought that I could do the same. I said we should definitely talk to Andy about this again, once the film is finished.
At 8pm, we said goodbye to James and Jodi and we headed over to the Majestic with Sam and Andy. Alex, Lisa, Tina and Darren were waiting in there for us. I bought 2 cokes there and it cost me 15 EUROS. I didn’t buy anything else there. If a coke costs 7.50 EUROS, how much would a beer cost? I didn’t want to find out.
There was no sign of this London get together, maybe it was at the other bar, but we saw Lee again. He was wearing his tux and looked he was going to another party. I also spotted Julian Lenon hanging around the bar. We also met some guys, who assured us that they could get us into a party at Nikki Beach. Sounded like a plan.
We said goodbye to Andy, as he had to meet somebody else, and headed over to Le Petit Majestic. It took us a while to get there, as it is nowhere near the Majestic. We found it thanks to a Good Samaritan, who gave us directions there.
There was a lot of people there and we couldn't tell who was part of this London get together, Sarah wasn’t there, but the beer was cheap there. We had a few and then headed over to Nikki Beach.
The bouncer at the door was not having any of it. We told them we had a friend inside. Not buying it. He did let Sam go in and try to find them. She came back out with two guys, who we didn't know, but Sam had convinced them to come up and votch for us. But the bouncer still said no and that as they say was that.
It was at this point we said goodbye to Alex and Lisa. Alex wanted to go back and get some sleep. We would meet up with them tomorrow.
We then tried to get into the 3.14 Club and was told to come back at 12.30am. So we went back to Le Petit Majestic.
There was even more people there now and there was queues for both the bar and to get into the toilet. But they were both great places to network. I chatted to many people in those queues.
We headed back to the 3.14 Club. When we got there, there was a thong of people around the entrance. Don't know if it was a queue or what. We couldn't even get close enough to doorman. So we decided that this party was a bust as well.
As we walked away from the 3.14 club, we were nearly mowed down by a group of Paparazzi. They were taking photos of Jean-Claude Van Damme. He actually moved me aside. Sam wasn't so lucky, as she got hit in the leg by a photographer. I thought that would be it for my encounter with Jean-Claude, but I then saw him outside his hotel. I wondered if I should say hello or leave him alone. He looked tired. But Sam convinced me to go over. I did and got to have my photo taken with him. (See Film Festivals Photos)
After that we walked back to Darren's place. It was an beautiful old building, that had a lot of character and history. We chatted into the small hours until we crashed out. What a day!
This diary entry is taken from the blog www.myfirstfilm.co.uk. For latest news and to find out more about the making of Blood + Roses, visit the site now.
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Wednesday, September 03, 2008
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Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
Another FrightFest is now over and done with, but I enjoyed my time there. I wasn't there for the whole event, but the time I did spend there I got to see some interesting films and meet a lot of people, and did a hell'va lot of talking about Blood + Roses. I hope to attend the whole event next year. Better start saving my pennies. Check out my photos from FrightFest   The Blood + Roses Boys - Simon Aitken, Stephen Cartwright, Brendan Lonergan, Clive Ashenden and Benjamin Green.    Benjamin's face on a T-shirt.  With Kim Newman.  With Laila Salamat, Clive Ashenden (after surviving 5 days at FrightFest) and Andrew Lawden.  With Emily Booth.  With Jake West.  With Jake and Emily.  The end of another FrightFest. Bring on next year.
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