I hate being woken up by phone calls, especially when it's an impromptu interview. It's 7:30 in the morning and I'm totally off guard. Of course I'm gonna sound terrible. The lady said she'll call me back, by that's code word for "never gonna call you back."
Word of advice to prospective employers, always set a date through email first. This is elementary grade school stuff. Cold calling carries the risk of the other person not answering. If unresponsiveness is in itself, a sort of filter for them, then it is the worst kind of filtering mechanism I have ever observed. I can't trust an organization that would employ such methods.
I was cranky for the day, but that didn't stop me from catching up with my horror schedule. I watched Don't Look Now, a British-Italian movie collaboration from the 70's. The first thing I noticed was how messy the editing and sound was. The audio was like it was underwater, but considering the theme of the movie, that might be a positive effect.
I looked up the Wikipedia entry to get some more background on the production and got film crit that I wasn't asking for. It did bring up several things I've noticed, such as the similarities to Antichrist, with a grieving couple that had just lost their child.
Another thing of note from the film was a slightly out of place sex scene that was rather explicit for the time. Sorry, but when I see Donald Sutherland, he looks like pure evil to me. I can't buy him as a romantic male counterpart in such scenes. It's too awkward to watch.
Although the entire movie carries a surreal quality thanks to the uncontiguous sequencing, the twist ending legitimately got to me. I haven't held my breath and gasped like that in a while. Everything comes together nicely. Overall, I like it. It gave me similar vibes from The Omen, another classic from that era that came out just three years later. I still can't forget that pane glass decapitation.
Next up on the block was Scanners, perhaps best known for that gif of a guy's head exploding. It actually happens very early in the movie, so I'm glad they got that out of the way. It's like watching a movie and expecting that scene you saw in the trailer to show up. You've seen it so many times, but for once, you want the context that surrounds it.
Scanners is a surprisingly effective blend of sci-fi and thriller. The only thing that drags it down is bad acting. I haven't seen acting this wooden since the Jigsaw puppet. The main lead, Stephen Lack, lives up to his name regarding his acting ability.
The main draw of the film is its special effects, honestly. We live in an age where the death of practical effects is well documented. CG is just more efficient. But when you go back and watch these movies, you can really appreciate the substance. The final confrontation is a great example of why practical effects are the bomb.
They don't even squibs anymore. How sad is that? Just watch any classic from John Woo and see why squibs are amazing.
/eventlog
