So, I wrote a review for a film website, then realised the film had already been reviewed! Arrgh! Me so stoopid.

Anyway, it can sit here for awhile. If you want to watch the entire film for free, click HERE.

Planet of the Vampires (1965)

“Do you know what that unknown planet was made of? A couple of plastic rocks — yes, two: one and one! — left over from a mythological movie made at Cinecittà! To assist the illusion, I filled the set with smoke.” So Italian horror maestro Mario Bava describes his classic 1965 science fiction horror film, Planet of The Vampires (aka Terrore nello spazio). This modest description belies a movie that influenced a future classic in Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), as well as David Twohy’s Pitch Black (2000), Brian De Palma’s Mission to Mars (2001) and John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars (2001).

From a screenplay by Bava, Alberto Bevilacqua, Callisto Cosulich, Antonio Roman, and Rafael J. Salvia (based on an Italian language sci-fi short story, Renato Pestriniero’s “One Night of 21 Hours”), the plot follows two huge interplanetary ships on an expedition into deep uncharted space. When the ships, the Galliott and the Argos, receive a distress signal coming from an unexplored planet, both attempt to land on the surface of the fog-encased world (sound familiar?). Suddenly, the crew of the Argos becomes possessed by an unknown force and attack each other, with only Captain Markary (American actor Barry Sullivan) having the strength of will to resist. He is able to force all of the others aboard his ship out of their possessed, violent state.

After the Argos lands on the surface, the crew explores the eerie landscape in search of the Galliott. Through thick mists, saturated in eerie colours (a trademark of Bava and later Dario Argento), they journey to the other ship. There they find that the crew members have killed each other. They proceed to bury the corpses, but several bodies are locked inside the ship’s bridge. Markary departs to get tools for opening the sealed room, but the bodies disappear by the time he returns.

Some of the Argos’ crew are found dead - that is, until Tiona (Evi Marandi) sees their corpses walking in the ship…

There’s much to admire about the aesthetics of Planet of the Vampires. Despite being a low-cost production, the alien planet appears literally otherworldly, with bizarrely shaped mountainous rock formations, fog that moves as if vividly guided by a living wave, and the planet’s atmosphere colored in vibrant reds and greens. Adding to the spookiness are the unusual sounds and music layered in the soundtrack. The rocky formations nearby the ship hint at being a hiding place for any human body captured by the alien force , ready to jump out and attack. A derelict alien ship found later in the film is ominous as well, with long halls and weirdly-shaped cones as lights. All in all, the set designs are some of the best you’ll find in any pre-1968 science fiction film.

One of the best sequences (and one which quite obviously influenced Ridley Scott’s Alien) has the captain and a lower-ranking female officer going off to explore the afore-mentioned derelict alien ship, filled with giant skeletons of an ancient alien race - a technically stunning and wonderfully atmospheric creation from Bava. Other highlights include the attack on Sullivan by his ‘possessed’ crew – very effective because it is unexpected – and also the slow-motion rise of the shrouded monsters from their foggy graves.

Acting-wise, Sullivan is suitably stoic as the warrior-scientist Captain; the supporting cast turn in unusually understated performances, conveying dread verging on panic. The dialogue, while hammy, is forgivable.

Planet of the Vampires drags in places but remains, on the whole, fascinating, mainly due to its clever story and tight direction by Bava. The film is the creation of an amazing director at the height of his powers (Bava had directed Black Sabbath, and Blood & Black Lace the previous year), and recommended to anyone who enjoys horror, sci-fi or Italian cinema.

P. Diddy ft. Pharrell - D.I.D.D.Y

The Saga Continues… is the third studio album released by American hip-hop, er, artist (?) Diddy and the Bad Boy Family on July 10, 2001 in North America. It contained 25 tracks and only 2 good songs, “D.I.D.D.Y” and “Bad Boy For Life”. And by good, I mean “D.I.D.D.Y” is so cringingly awful it manages to come around 360 degrees back into entertaining territory.

“Pit Stop (Take Me Home)“ from the album, Nathaniel Merriweather Presents… Lovage: Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By.

Lovage is a collaborative project headed by Dan the Automator, under his pseudonym “Nathaniel Merriweather” (a persona he created for the project Handsome Boy Modeling School). Lovage also features Mike Patton (of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, Peeping Tom, Tomahawk, Mondo Cane, etc, fame) and Jennifer Charles, who both provide vocals. Kid Koala plays turntables and samples. Damon Albarn also provides guest vocals as Sir Damien Thorne VII of the Cockfoster’s Clan.

The album features many references to Alfred Hitchcock. Most notably the titles of the songs “To Catch a Thief”, “Lifeboat”, and “Strangers on a Train”, which were all named after the movies, and contain re-dubbed excerpts.

magnolius:

Out of Sight

A very touching animation by three students at the National Taiwan University of Arts as part of their grad film. You can check out some of the behind the scenes storyboarding HERE 

“Destroy Everything You Touch” is the second single from the album Witching Hour by Ladytron.

A lot of people would have heard this in a club, as it is quite the bangin’ tune. I, however, first heard it while I was watching The September Issue with my girlfriend (a really good documentary, so shut it).

Déjà vu (literally “already seen”) is the experience of feeling sure that one has already witnessed or experienced a current situation, even though the exact circumstances of the prior encounter are uncertain and were perhaps imagined. Really annoying. The term was coined by a French psychic researcher, Émile Boirac (1851–1917) in his book L’Avenir des sciences psychiques (“The Future of Psychic Sciences”).

My Zombie Days can be viewed HERE.

“What Am I?” from the album Tragic Epilogue by Antipop Consortium

When I was first getting into rap music, a friend of mine helpfully gave me a mix CD without any track listing. Over the years, I gradually came to recognize the different artists and songs, including Buck 65, Blackalicious, MF Doom, Lyrics Born, Cut Chemist and, finally, Antipop Consortium.

The group is made up of Beans, High Priest, M. Sayyid and producer Earl Blaize and are notable for their stream-of-consciousness lyrics (a few of the songs sound like someone telling a particularly vivid story over the top of some stripped back beats).

My Zombie Days (translated into English by me). The English and Russian versions can be viewed by clicking around from here. 

The artist’s tumblr can be viewed at http://bloodrizer.tumblr.com/

CLANK!

One For the Money is the first novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. It was published in 1994 in the United States and in 1995 in Great Britain. One for the Money is a long-time best-seller, appearing for 75 consecutive weeks on the USA Today list of 150 best-selling novels, peaking at number 59.

Stephanie Plum is a combination Pizza Hut / Taco Bell of Nancy Drew and Dirty Harry, and - although a female bounty hunter - is the opposite of Domino Harvey. She is described by the author as “incredibly average and yet heroic if necessary.”

So, anyway, Lionsgate is making a film out of the first book in the series starring Katherine Heigl, the actress whose films do for audiences what the Ark of the Convenant does for Nazis.

Now, Stephanie Plum is a plucky female heroine, hooray for feminism and all that … so why the totally porno movie-style film poster (with handcuffs and leather bondage fetish overtones)? Not that I’m complaining … it just strikes me as an odd choice.

I Love Dust has opened a new exhibit at Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth titled Dead Wrestlers Society, which showcases several new works from the UK design studio, all inspired by wrestlers who are no longer with us.

If you’re in the area you can check out the show until October 30th.

Oh yeah …

In May 1987, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan (an on-screen rival) and The Iron Sheik (aka Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri) were pulled over by New Jersey police after a WWF event, suspecting Duggan ofDUI. After a search of the vehicle and the persons, police discovered that Duggan was under the influence of marijuana while the Sheik was high on cocaine. Party on. Small amounts of cocaine were also found in the vehicle. Duggan received a conditional release while the Sheik was placed on probation for a year.

The mini-scandal that erupted after two in-ring enemies were found drinking and doing drugs together led to the end of the angle, the Sheik’s release, and Duggan’s temporary departure from the WWF.