Tag Archives: Films

December 8, 2011

Comparing Goth Notes with Angela Addams

By Anne Michaud

My friend and Gothsis Angela Addams got a great idea: we exchange notes on what we loved/hated growing up being goth. Here’s the second part, the first being posted on her blog.

NINE INCH NAILS

The Trent I'm trying to forget

Angie: This band changed my life!!! I remember the first time I ever heard a NIN song. My cousin tossed a cassette tape (yes, it was that long ago) at me and said, “I think you’d better listen to this, I don’t expect I’ll get that tape back once you do.” And she was right…the album was Broken and I listened to it until the tape actually broke! Wish and Gave up, in particular, were two songs that I couldn’t get enough of…and I’ve never been disappointed in concert because Trent Reznor always plays them for me 😉 By far my favorite band! I’ve got a ton of NIN stories…in fact, I think I’ll write up a separate post about them!

The Trent I'd like to Goth up good

Anne: I discovered them through a friend, too, but I hardly remember who or where we were. What I can’t forget is when my friend Christopher dragged me to their concert at the Astoria in London, 2005. I pictured Trent Reznor sick and dying from too much rock and roll – circa 1995 – but then this beefed up dude with arms like trees came out and I couldn’t believe my eyes: Le Trent lives! And yum, I’d goth him up real good in an alternate universe, one in which his wife wasn’t some sex kitten and he didn’t have a kid. SO HAPPY he chose to live instead of, you know…

ROBERT SMITH

Angie: Okay, I couldn’t resist…sorry Anne…although it seems like some kind of prerequisite for all goths to LOVE Robert Smith and The Cure…I just couldn’t get into it…mainly because a bunch of people told me I HAD to like them…Angie’s instant reaction to being told what to do…full stop, brakes on, arms crossed, don’t tell me what to do stance…so, I’ve never been a fan.  So much so that when I finally relented and decided to give them a try…paid a crapload of money for a ticket and went to see them in concert…I fell asleep in my seat…WORST.CONCERT.EVER

Seriously, can I have a piece of him?

Anne: My husband, my lover, my imaginary boy! You know, I’ve been defending Mr Smith & Co for so long – 25 years, actually – when people call them out for wearing badly-applied makeup and for singing happy songs, that…I won’t stop now! HOW can you say that, Angie? He’s a genius, a rock star, an unbelievable composer, an artist, a poet, my heart & soul! Then again, you do like Marilyn Manson, so we can’t all have good taste, huh?

JACK & SALLY

Angie: I was a little late to the Jack and Sally party…I missed the movie in the theaters…well, actually, I once again, pulled a classic Angie and skipped it cause I hated all the hype and can’t stand to be told what I’ll just love…trust me, worst mistake ever…since then though, I think I’ve watched the movie at least 200 times, I know all the songs off by heart (even had part of one play as my wedding song) and have an obscene collection of movie stuff…AND I have Jack tattooed on my leg!

Love conquers death and the Oogie Boogie

Anne: I went to see it four or five times at the cinema, a thousand years ago. I just couldn’t get the songs out of my head, and that love story was exactly the kind I like: with skeletons, spiders and heartbreak. I watch it 3 or 4 times each year, can’t help tearing up as they meet up at the end – aw, and that twirly hill just kills me. And yeah, I’ve accumulated loads of Burton crap throughout the years, but I call it my prized collection, which proves everything is relative, I guess.

So there you go, you know a little bit more about the two gals who brought you The Minion of Misery Award:)

33 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in All about me, myself and I, Highly recommended, Little Obsession

September 8, 2011

Minions of Misery Award

By Anne Michaud

My Gothsis Angela Addams and I decided to come up with a Goth award of our own (with the help of many Twitter friends, I should say), so here I present to you: the Minions of Misery Award.

The recipient of this distinction shall admit one dark secret, recommend one dark book and suggest one dark film to their readers—and pass on the MoMA to three deserving bloggers who appreciate a good dose of doom and gloom.

As a co-founder of this prestigious gift, here are my answers:

Dark Secret. I don’t want children because I think the world is rotten and people are pigs. I believe I’ll see WWIII before I die and could never rest in peace knowing my mini-me(s?) out there would be fighting for his/her/their/its life. It’s a shame, I love (well-behaved, cute and intelligent) kids and would have been a great mom.

Dark Film. Jane Eyre (1996). So gothic and creepy and moody, a small part of me dies every time I watch it – which is at least twice a year. Charlotte Gainsbourg and William Hurt are such brilliant actors, they bring to life the dark curse that is true love.

Dark Book. White Noise by Dan Delillo. Only recently have I been made aware of this writer’s dark prose and even darker mind. We share a lot, Delillo and I: We believe the world will end soon and there’s nothing we can do about it; whatever we do, we are doomed by those who surround us; and our society is built on crap.

And here are my nominees for the Minions of Misery Award, good friends and great Goths: Colin F Barnes , Imran Siddiq , and Aheïla

39 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in All about me, myself and I, Little Obsession

August 25, 2011

Seriously Cute Blogger Award

By Anne Michaud

Sometimes I wonder what I would do without Twitter. True, some people use it to spam with self-promotion, but there are diamonds amongst coal-like Anita Grace Howard, an amazing writer who gave me this award:)

Puppy Club rules are:

1st RULE: You do not talk about Puppy Club.
 
2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about Puppy Club.
 
3rd RULE: You talk about 5 books/films/TV shows you’ve read or watched in the last 12 months.
 
1) Michael Grant’s GONE saga: on an ordinary school day, everyone above 15 years of age poufs out in thin air and a bubble surrounds a small community by the sea. It’s violent, it’s YA, it’s one of the best story I’ve read in a while. 7 books, people – get them.
 
2) Deathly Hallows part 2: This one scene, the one when Snape (beep), I lost it. I’m no crier, I’m not an emotional gal, but Alan Rickman pulled it off. The glare, the hair, the cape, the darkness, I’ve always loved him, but at that moment, I loved him even more.
 
3) Dark Life by Kat Falls. I’ve had ENOUGH of those supposedly dystopian YA novels where writers invent ridiculous and implaussible worlds as an obstacle to love and lust. Which is why this book made me believe in publishing houses again, and it gets better because the sequel Rip Tide is out now.
 

She even looks like me. A little.

4) The Nightmare Before Christmas, by beloved Tim Burton (see my banner? LOVE him!) I watch it at least five times a year and I am no fan of musicals. But the story, the gloomy cuteness, the skeletons and spiders…What a genius, that man is. I still kick myself for having missed his exhibition at the Moma then in Toronto. *self-loathing pout*

 
5) The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass. Oh, this man knows how to give life to a manuscript, how to develop characters and how to put, well, fire in fiction. Every writers should own this book, he is a master of the craft and gave me hope again:)
 
As this award goes, I have chosen three great gals and two cool dudes who also share a passion for writing:)
 
 
Spread the love, cute bloggers!

23 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in All about me, myself and I

June 10, 2011

Miranda July’s future

By Anne Michaud

I rarely get excited about upcoming films now that I’m absolutely positive producers are losing their grasp on what people want to see in movie theatres. Seriously, what is it with all these remakes? No need to fix what ain’t broken, I say. Like that new Jane Eyre: how dare they question William Hurt’s haunted blue eyes and Charlotte Gainsbourg’s fragile performance? That film was perfect, with its beautiful photography and gorgeous settings… I will not comment on Working Title’s take, I refuse to watch it.

Then comes this multi-media artist Miranda July with her second feature, The Future. The premise is cute: a couple fights end of thirties blues by pursuing their dreams before adopting a terminally ill talking cat. Yes, I am aware I wrote ‘talking cat’. Normally, I’m no fan of artsy films and get annoyed quite easily with fartsy details. But this artist, this Miranda girl, she knows what she’s doing. Proof? Let’s go back in time to the year 2005, to when I was finishing my Master’s degree in Screenwriting.

I went to see Me and You and Everybody we Know (2005) with my friend Adam Sydney, who is also a terrific writer. We laughed, teared up a little in this tiny, indie movie theatre on Finchley Road in London. The magic? Everybody stayed seated after the credits.

Next to me sat a twenty-something girl who had just come out of chemo for breast cancer, and she said this was the first movie in a while that she truly enjoyed. The couple in the row behind us admitted this was their first date. Next to Adam, an older couple kept giggling at the blow job jokes in the movie. In the front row, a guy admitted that this was his fourth time seeing the film, and then blushed as he insinuated how photogenic Miranda is as the main character.

And I remember them, their smiles, their bright faces. Their laughter, too. Never happened before or since—strangers talking in a movie theatre until even the projectionist joins in the conversation. I think Miranda would like to see how her intimate story touched all of us, how deeply it affected us.

I consider Miranda July some kind of a magician: her stories always hold such beautiful universes and dark realities, I just can’t help but be excited to see where she’ll take me next. The Future by Miranda July is coming to theatres July 29th.

4 Comments   |  tags: | posted in Highly recommended