DVD Review: Hardware

My review/feature for the Optimum Region 2 release of Hardware is up at Flash-Bang Movie Reviews:

HARDWARE

Coming Soon: Reviews of Dust Devil: Final Cut, The House By The Cemetary, Dead Girl, Macabre, Knowing DVDs.

Obsessed Commuters

I've been commuting to London for just over 20 years and I thought I'd seen it all; man's inhumanity to man. This morning took it up to a whole different level to which I had to wonder what really does go through some people's heads, if anything.

Now, I have to confess that myself and a fellow commuter know where the doors should stop when the 7.03 from Chelmsford arrives at Platform 2. As there are no markers that part of the platform it can be a bit of a lottery as each driver interprets the 8 carriage stop in a different way, sometimes in a weird and not wonderful way. I reassure myself that this is not OCD but a practical solution to ensure that we get a seat. I hate standing rooted to the spot for 40 minutes.

This morning I was a couple of minutes later than normal. We find the spot and wait for the train at about 06:45. As I walked up at the stairs to Platform 2, I saw a guy on his way up the platform. Now, i walk fast, but this guy turned, saw me behind him, and sped up. Needless to say I carried at my own hasty walking speed.

Somehow, I knew what he was going to do. As I approached I could see that John was already there (normal for a morning. he camps there I think) and next to him was a woman. The guy who noticed me and sped up stood to the right of John.

So, he sped up to get to the spot that I normally stand at. Unbelievable! How petty lol! I thought that the woman might have moved slightly to her leftto accomodate my presence and allow me to speak to John properly, but no.

There are some strange people around and you'll more than likely find them on public transport.

Hardware DVD Release: Interview with Richard Stanley

Mike from Flash-Bang recently asked if I would interview Richard Stanley at Optimum Releasing's London offices in support of their release of the film on DVD and Blu-ray. I liked Hardware, so jumped at the chance. Having never done a face to face interview before, I was nervous about the whole thing. It was at this point that I realised that I had "forgotten" Richard Stanley and his subsequent career after Dust Devil. I had watched Dust Devil but didn't feel satisfied by the version that I saw. Through reading film magazines, I knew that there had been studio interference in the release of the movie and that was that. A 5-disc version was released in the US but it never blipped on my radar, strangely.

Back in 1990 I went to a screening of Hardware and it impressed me, largely because it was not a rip-off of The Terminator as the publicity implied in it's overt tagline. Instead it was a thought provoking movie that is as relevant now as it was then. However, the VHS copy was horrible. I remember the beginning sequence in the wastelnad as being orange not red. Of course I could have been rather drunk whilst watching it but the memory remains. As no decent copy had been released in the UK up until now, I had forgotten about this classic.

So, I did some research for the interview. In particular I must thank "Between Death and the Devil" for such a wealth of interesting information. Richard's MySpace page is also a treasure trove of interesting, insightful blogs.

This all made me feel as if I'd missed out on something all these years. I can't turn back the clock but I've decided to catch up by ordering the Limited 5-disc version of Dust Devil which, as I've read, contains a wealth of fascinating material.

Richard Stanley was a pleasure to interview but 15 minutes just wasn't enough. He's an extremely amiable and mesmerising person to talk to and has a lot to say on my favourite subjects.

The interview feature is here.

Other interviews and resources worth checking out if you have an interest in the career of this remarkably creative director are below;

www.myspace.com/richardstanley13

http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/offscreen/Stanley.html

http://www.notcoming.com/features/richard-stanley-interview/

http://www.notcoming.com/features/white-spaces-on-the-map/

http://www.everythingisundercontrol.org/nagtloper/index.php

Pig Hunt News

There's a lot of buzz going around about this movie. People involved with the production are doing well to circulate articles and news about it, so I'm going to pass it on;

SFAppeal posted this article;

http://sfappeal.com/culture/2009/06/another-hole-in-the-head-pig-hunt.php

Battlestar Galactica - The Plan

A trailer and clip from November's TV movie; The Plan

Recommended CD: Paul Cusicks's Focal Point

http://www.qrock.co.uk/

When I saw an ad on Facebook I almost carried on what i was doing, but a little voice said "check it out". I'm glad I did. The ad stated that Paul's work was akin to Blackfield and I was sceptical, but there are parallels whilst retaining an individuality. Ther are reviews on amazon and places and listeners like myself like the album.

If you're interested please support the artist direct by visiting the site above.

DVD Review: Midnight Chronicles

Mike reviews Midnight Chronicles over at Flash-Bang Movie Reviews. Can't say this is my thing, but some of you might dig it.