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Be the first to see a blockbuster film before its UK release!

This is your chance to attend a Mystery Movie at a cinema near you, and preview a blockbuster film before its general release to the public!

Vue Entertainment is giving you the chance to see a movie before everyone else with the launch of their Mystery Movie. The very first screening kicks off on 5 May 2009 at 6.30 pm, where cinema goers will be given an opportunity to view a film ahead of its official release. But, they won’t know what it is until the opening credits…

The title of the movie is being kept so secret, that security will be present at each cinema to make sure that no-one lets the cat out of the bag. How exciting!

Whilst the standard ticket price applies, customers will have the option to leave and seek a refund during the first 20 minutes of the film. Although, we’re pretty sure that you won’t be going anywhere as the first title is sure to keep you stuck to your seat throughout!

Tickets for all the performances can be purchased at www.myvue.com/mysterymovies/
or by calling 08712 240 240 or directly from participating cinemas*.

We all met up on Sunday (the writer’s group I’m in) for a bit of a catch up session and to discuss our writing, which was great. I’ve got a few new ideas (not all of them mine!) for things to try out – mostly online things that I’ll blog about here. I’m hoping to have Sisters Noir, my online cinema project up soon, but the Love in the Time of Zombies site won’t be flashing until into 2009 (probably a blessing!)

I’ll probably do a couple of blogs before Christmas, but just in case I forget, have a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous start to 2009!

The now-iconic “billy the toy”

If you’ve never seen any of the Saws… well, they aren’t really (and by not really, I mean not at all) family friendly. Like other recent gore-fests, e.g. Hostel (2005), they are designed to make you bring up whatever you ate for lunch and possibly breakfast too. For instance, the first film gave you a man forced to saw off his own foot, the third a nice bit of brain-surgery and the last sequel the full autopsy of the recently-deceased antagonist/antihero of the entire series – John Kramer (Tobin Bell), AKA “The Jigsaw Killer”. These films aren’t, as you would imagine, everyone’s cup of tea.

While the first film provided a different and imaginative take on horror, whereby the enigmatic killer allegedly never actually killed anyone and prayed on those who had wronged, the sequels have done little to alter the formula. However, provided you liked the first act then the other parts are worth giving a go. Gore is much increased with parts 3 and 4, and it all becomes a bit like “Se7en Lite: the series”* to watch.

I was particularly interested when they planned a sequel (part 4) despite the fact that Jigsaw was out of the picture, and they vowed they wouldn’t bring him back in a Michael Myers-esque fashion, or to make him some sort of ghost. As it turned out, we were treated to more flashbacks, which felt somewhat stretched in this instalment and a brand new killer to boot. It was OK, entertaining in fact, but how long can they keep it up, especially now there’s no way for Kramer to return? Hopefully there will be more flesh on the bones of any future flashbacks we will undoubtedly see, giving more of a kick to Kramer’s story, which is an interesting one. He is (or was) a cold bastard, but when dying of cancer he had an epiphany that he would put people through a series of deadly traps and trials to make them respect life. He is clearly a nutcase, but at least he tries to give a logical argument.

Dr Gordon weighing up priorities

I am fascinated by trends that form when a mythology is born, and the desire for recurring/returning characters is one of them. For example, Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) first seen in Saw 2 who returned in part 4 and most fans are still hoping to learn the fate of (now vertically challenged) Dr. Gordon and see him one more time. I’d like to see Glover back as Tapp as he’d been driven mad by Jigsaw in the first place and was his own brand of unhinged, but I’m pretty doubtful on that count (the character being dead and all). While the sequels all try hard to fit in and allude to each other (like pieces of a jigsaw, hahaha), I think it’s very unlikely that the makers know exactly where it’s going. They just leave leftovers and catalysts, unexplained bits and bobs that can be used to spark interest in a sequel. Which is cool, really. At least some thought goes into it.

Arguably Saw was only ever meant to be one film, despite the open-ended finale. Arguably Saw was only ever meant to be three films, as Jigsaw pops his clogs. Arguably again, they are milking the Jigsaw cash-cow, but somehow it’s nice to see a trashy, gritty, gory horror franchise still going strong with an army of drooling fans.

Amanda shocked by her new braces

Now here’s a quick list of my “Sickest Saw moments”

Saw: The sound of the saw – imagine having to do that to yourself? Yeesh

Saw 2: the needle pool – a nightmare for anyone who like me hates injections.

Saw 3: brain surgery – if the stuff on screen didn’t make you queasy, the sounds must have. I’d also like to mention the rotting pigs on hooks/grinder scene, which although not at all bloody was to me, much grosser than yet more blood and guts being fired every which-way. Kinda like the little crazy ghost girl/person in the Japanese Ring.

Saw 4: opening – this is the only Saw to date which I’ve seen at the cinema. While I was used to the formula by this time, it wasn’t a pleasant autopsy to watch. Much worse than the real autopsies they did late nights on Channel 4, in fact.

Which ones did you reckon were worst, huh, huh?!

Saw 5 hits cinemas on the 24th October 2008 in the UK and America.

*no such series I’m afraid. To be honest it’d probably be a bit gash, wouldn’t it?

Recently I’ve been writing short stories, aiming to have them published in magazines. Hopefully I’ll crack it and this’ll add a bit more weight to my writing CV. Maybe I’ll be able to put a story or two on the site then, but we shall have to see. So far I have two short stories, one is a fantasy/fiction piece concerning time travel and another which is a claustrophobic sci-fi tale. I have quite a few ideas which I hope will flourish into more short stories. I’d like to get to the stage where I have an army of these which I can use as ammunition whenever someone shows interest in my writing and asks to see some.

I’m really enjoying writing these. It helps me to focus on words and sentences, to keep everything tight, to (try to) tell a coherent story in a short space of time and to watch the word count. I’d advise anyone who likes writing and is looking to be published to give it a try. Also, on weekday mornings when I’m fresh (knackered & grumpy) I can edit a printed copy and check it for flow/spelling etc.

Whether I’ll continue with these one-a-week short stories remains to be seen, as I am starting to get into writing my new book, but I’ll update here with any developments. Until then, if you’re a writer – happy writing!

I loved Ron Perlman as Hellboy and del Toro’s directing, not to mention his take on Mignola’s world of nutcase Nazis and and Lovecraftian monsters. From the trailer it was quite plain to see that Hellboy 2 would be bigger – at least visually and character-wise, but I was a little worried that the CGI-factor would swallow up everything else.

The story revolves around three pieces of a crown that are broken up in an impressive fairy-tale opening sequence and the pact between man and elf, who split the crown between each other and vow never to combine them and raise the Golden Army – an unstoppable, monstrous army of robots that were created to do very bad things. Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), the elf-king’s son, doesn’t agree with the truce, and after going into exile, returns in the present to reclaim the fragments of the crown and resurrect the Golden Army for himself.

Hellboy 2 is, as far as I’m concerned, a big success and a very enjoyable sequel to a well-rounded piece of cinema. It has fantastic visuals, great action sequences and cool characters. It has also retained the ability never to take itself too seriously, which is important for this type of film. Best of all, the humour is actually funny, so when you’re not being treated to cool fantasy sequences, you can have a giggle with the big red ape and his pals.

I’ve heard some negativity surrounding the drunken sing-song between Hellboy and Abe (Doug Jones). Personally I found this highly amusing and sadly felt I’d rather like to get drunk with the pair (yes, a big red demon and a blue aquatic psychic sometimes feel more accessible than peers). One-liners are as sharp as they were in the original, which helps (like the original) to lift the series above other, bog-standard comic book romps. Characters are built on from the previous adventure – Selma Blair’s character Liz has to deal with pregnancy, and a fiery relationship with Hellboy which they are both finding difficult. Even Abe has a new love interest in the form of Princess Nuala (Anna Walton).  Meanwhile Johann Krauss (Seth MacFarlane) appears on the scene in full, smoky glory to mix things up a little and to tread on Hellboy’s toes in some amusing scenes.

The Bureau’s gone a little bit Men In Black and the brother/sister/father thing (including the drying up skin-factor) is very Blade 2 (a previous del Toro effort, also with Luke Goss), but this can be forgiven as there are some nice, fresh ideas in the movie and some great set-pieces, for instance, the Golden Army themselves and the Elemental’s attack on the city.

If you enjoyed the first movie, I don’t see why you wouldn’t enjoy this, which is bigger, brighter, and a surprisingly welcome departure from the “Hellboy’s cursed destiny” vibe of the first film, which although present, seems to me to take a back seat. Go and see it!