Okay, I have to say this one got away from me. I was recording the latest episode of the blog "Del - From This Angle" with Mike J. Regan and Gary J. Tunnicliffe (look them up on IMDB they've worked on a million films) who were in Dark Delicacies signing the Blu-Ray of Hellraiser: Judgment when Peter Atkins (look him up kids) joined the conversation. I asked my first couple of questions and Gary took off and so did the conversation. You may notice a little glitch right in the middle where I had to stop the audio so we weren't all sued or something and then it comes back on for a bit. Sorry but I don't get to sign off. I just sort of cut it right after our conversation on filming sex scenes in movies. So I'll do that now - "Thank you for listening to Del - From This Angle. As usual we look forward to your questions and comments." Now for the next 11+ minutes please wear your seatbelt.
Victoria Price has a gentle soul. Maybe too gentle. All her life as the child of a celebrity (daughter of actor Vincent Price) she behaved the way she thought she was supposed to behave. somewhere, during those formative Wonder Bread years, she lost herself. Her father was in his fifties when she was born and just entering the next big phase in his career - Horror character actor. He loved it and it was what she grew up with.
She was never a lover of horror, the blood, the scares, the dark Gothic envelope it came in. But in the last decade, when she started to come out of her self-created cocoon, she discovered that she was a member of the fringe and was quite simpatico to Horror and Horror fans. In fact she learned to embrace them and find herself in the process. Listen below to an amazing 15 minute conversation of a gentle soul who able to embrace a Horror legacy and find peace with herself. This particular blog is to create discussion and help us realize why we feel the way we do. That being said this is not to cut down or build up any films. This is not a review. However if you have not seen "The Shape of Water" or "A Quiet Place" this blog contains spoilers so please stop reading and enjoy the films.
Now that the age of professional film reviewers has waned and the internet has opened up criticism for all we can better see that everybody has an opinion on film. Usually it comes down to personal taste - I don't like that actor - I love that monster - I hate films with kids in them. Whatever it may be we have an opinion. But what about the facts in fantasy? If we give ourselves over to a notion that there is a zombie apocalypse happening what difference would it make if they made airplanes fly upside down in the movie? "Planes don't fly upside down!!" we'd yell. But we don't scream about dead people coming back to life which is equally preposterous. In general we are willing to give into one major setup myth for the sake of the story. Two is pushing it and three we're lost. The same idea works for the writer's rules. Most of us are happy suspend belief for a good story and go along with the rules the writer sets up for their imaginary world. But most of us get pissed off when they don't adhere to them or change them at the end of the movie for the sake of resolution. Lito Velasco posted in a recent Facebook message - "Just because it's "just" a TV show or movie doesn't mean the writers and creators can or should abandon logic or intelligence. I'm tired of people telling me "You take it way too seriously". My life has followed the path to this industry, profession, and town BECAUSE I respect it and take it seriously. So when someone says that or "it's JUST a movie" they're' basically saying "it's brainless and meaningless". Just because it's "just" a TV show or movie doesn't mean the writers and creators can or should abandon logic or intelligence. I'm tired of people telling me "You take it way too seriously". My life has followed the path to this industry, profession, and town BECAUSE I respect it and take it seriously. So when someone says that or "it's JUST a movie" they're' basically saying "it's brainless and meaningless". I completely agree. Now here is my question to examine. Remaining in the same genre of Fantasy why are we willing to forgive one film and not another. If the fault in the writing means that sticking with facts or the rules of a created world wouldn't work why do we, as an audience, allow it? Let's take two recent big films and think about it. A Shape of Water won the Oscar and yet the script has real problems, not the least of which is that she keeps pouring salt in the bathtub where he is living and they end up in the ocean - yet he is a fresh water being having been captured in the Amazon. Is she supposed to be killing him? Because if she is that wasn't made clear. In A Quiet Place aliens that hunt by sound are devastating Earth and yet after showing his son that when they stand by the waterfall and scream the aliens can't hear you over the noise they don't choose the logical choice of living by the waterfall. So people have actually told me about "Shape" that it was so pretty and romantic it didn't matter. No! this isn't magic realism like Pan's Labyrinth was. Because it was fantasy doesn't mean (as Lito says) it can be brainless and meaningless. People forgive A Quiet Place because it made them clinch their sphincter from tension. We have all condemned some films and enjoyed others despite their errors. What is your criteria? What do you let slide and what is too big to forgive? Can you think of other films you really liked despite their errors? As always, I look forward to your comments. Alice LivesThis is a first for "From This Angle" as we have an interview taped on April 29th with Lisa E. Wilcox while she was holding a very special event at Dark Delicacies. It was the opening of her t-shirt sales to benefit NAMI, a charity which is very near and dear to her heart. She goes into more detail in the audio interview.
She was in great spirits and had a nice turnout and, this is the most important thing, she brought multi-colored cupcakes. The day couldn't have been finer if we had tried. Most people remember Lisa from Nightmare on Elm Street 4 & 5 but as you'll hear from our interview there is a lot coming down the pike for her, so hang in there. This is also very important for me as I need to know if you would like more of these private access interviews to pop up more often on From This Angle. So I need your feedback on this. We have so many great people come through the doors of Dark Delicacies that it's a shame to miss out on a little conversation time made exclusively for you folks. So click on the link. Listen to Lisa E. Wilcox share about 7 minutes with you and let us know what you think. |
Del Howison is an award-winning editor, author and journalist. Along with his wife, Sue, they are co-owners of Dark Delicacies which has served the Horror community for a quarter of a century.
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