What the critics of graphic horror movies or so called “torture porn” don’t understand.

Question: Why do most people watch horror movies?

Answer: They like to get scared.

Now getting scared is too broad an answer and not directly measurable, so I’m going to narrow it down a bit. What happens when you’re scared or your body senses a threat? It produces adrenaline, heightens your senses and increases your heartbeat.

Many people believe they no longer get scared by horror movies; however, though they may not jump or scream or have nightmares, their body does react. It increases heart rate, blood flow and creates a whole host of emotions. The “scarier” the horror movie, the greater the effect it has on your senses. Read more

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Jathias Wager in the Press and in Multiple Languages – Momentum is Building

I put the first post / press release about Jathia’s Wager online on July 16^th, 2007. Less than two weeks since the announcement of the project, the story of Jathia’s Wager is spreading virally through the web. It’s been written about in multiple languages and is circulating the blogosphere internationally. I’m hoping non-English speakers will contribute subtitling in their native language so this film will be able to be better understood by the international audience. This is just the beginning and as the progress continues and the community begins to build I expect a lot more involvement and a lot more exposure.

Recent Mentions of Jathia’s Wager on the web and in the press (In English):

• New open source movie project aims to create a full community in Fest21.com Editor’s Blog
• Open Source Collaborative Film-making in The blog of a Sci-Fi Geek
• Jathia’s Wager Open Source Film Production in OpenSourceCommunity.org
• Open source content moves forward in | Open Source | ZDNet.com
• Jathia’s Wager: Open Source Cinema in open…
• An open-source science fiction film in sfcrowsnest.com daily SFF news
• Jathias Wager Free Science Fiction Movie - Open Source .. in fsdaily / Published News

Recent Mentions of Jathia’s Wager on the web and in the press (In Other Languages):

• Primera pelicula de ciencia ficción, en open source in G de Geek
• Jathia’s Wager: una película libre. In Tangamandapio
• Jathia’s Wager, película colaborativa de ciencia ficción in Kernel Source
• Jathia’s Wager - ???????? ????? In LUG Beograd

If this project is as successful as I’m hoping it will be I expect the buzz to eventually work it’s way all the way up the main stream media (I was able to get mentions in the MSM for Boy Who Never Slept which was a much smaller deal then this has the potential to be). So again if you’re interested in contributing please sign up and post what you can do.

Some of the articles above have been put on digg and other social media sites. If you like the story it would be awesome if you would vote them up and help us build more exposure.  Some direct links to get some of the hightlights are

digg Jathia’s Wager main page

digg ZDnet Open Source Blog article on Jathia’s Wager

If you haven’t yet take the time now to join our forums and then read the first draft of one of the derivative or contributed scripts by Ben Lindstrom. (a love story envisioning)

Initial Video Blog Post Pitching Jathia’s Wager (this is old before Open Source Films)

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Looking for a faster way to video blog?

One of the reasons for the waiting period between updates is the amount of time it takes to make each video blog entry.  They way I’m doing it now involves a lot of steps.

I think the green-screen background replaced with images looks better than the usual headshots from a web cam, but which is better; more video blog entries of lower production value or less with higher production value?  Because the purpose of my video blog is to share with you what I’m working on, talk about the site and the community, I tend to err on the side of the more the merrier, but I should really be asking my visitors, who are kind enough to watch my rambling tirades, what they think.

So, what do you think?

Here are the current steps involved in producing each video blog entry.

1. Stand in front of green screen turn studio lighting on;
2. Record video blog entry;
3. Download to computer via firewire;
4. Open in video editing program (adobe premiere);
5. Edit segments;
6. Remove green-screen with keying effect;
7. Place images in background;
8. Render movie in quicktime or .wmv or .mpg;
9. Upload to Veoh Pro;
10. Syndicate to Google, Youtube, and re-upload to yahoo;
11. Post blog entry with embedded video.

As you can see that’s kind of a lot of steps; enough that I usually only get around to getting all that done at most once every week, but more like once every two weeks.  By cutting out steps and lowering the production quality a bit, I could potentially get to the level of being able to video blog twice a week or more.

Anyways, that’s one of the things on my mind this weekend.  I’m at a loss for time, but want to keep the quality of this website high and continue building community here; as always, I’m open to suggestions and comments.

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First look at Veoh TV Beta – Online Television Service

I just checked out the Veoh TV beta program and it’s awesome. Why is it awesome?  You get dvd quality streaming video from all kinds of sources including regular TV channels like Fox and CBS, right next to Youtube’s and Veoh’s top-rated user videos.

This is the number one thing that differentiates it from Joost and, in my opinion, raises it to another level.  I can watch some crazy user videos or any type of videos from an RSS feed (so you could add my video blog to your play list) and then skip around or play all from any channel, sorted by station, topic or whatever else you want.

I’m very impressed and will be adding more to this later, but I just wanted to get a quick mention of how it works on here; I’ll follow up with some detailed information later.  The beta is currently invitation only, but I have some invites and you can sign up to be notified here.  I highly recommend you do.  Also, while you’re at it you may want to check out Joost as well.  It works in generally the same way, with a few more regular TV channels, but no user videos as of now.

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The Fountain Movie Review Analysis and Commentary

Now, I love science fiction, and when I saw the visuals for The Fountain (even though it tanked at the box office) I was super excited. It received a mixed rating from critics, but made it into the 100 top science fiction flicks (chosen by users) for Rotten Tomatoes, so it was high on my list. I’ve been living in science fiction land the last month, due to the fact I’m producing a science fiction film called Jathia’s Wager and have written several other sci-fi shorts in the last few months.

I saw some pictures from the movie and they were absolutely beautiful, so I sat down watched it. I expected to be lifted into a world of science fiction fantasy with dreamy futuristic landscapes and some type of deep, psychological plot line (due to the conflicting messages in the critics’ responses about the films meaning). Boy was I in for a surprise in a negative way.

The movie sucked. And I mean REALLY sucked. It’s a complete waste of time and a pointlessly trivial, excessively goofy film that took itself entirely too seriously, filled with eastern mysticism clap-trap mixed with Christian mythology all set in a strange metaphorical space. If you stripped away all the mysticism and spiritual metaphors), this film is utter nonsense. Considering that the metaphors themselves (to me) are also utter nonsense, you end up with an incoherent peace of garbage in a pretty wrapper.

As one of the critics in the Hollywood Reporter stated with regard to one of the quotes from the movie, “death is the path to awe…shucks, isn’t that what suicide bombers are led to believe?”

The main story centers on an experimental doctor studying brain surgery while his wife is dying from a brain tumor. She has only a short time to live and he is frantically looking for a cure.

The movie is filled with emotional scenes of her and him crying and having deep conversations; unfortunately, they came off as painful and depressing, but not very intriguing, because they spend almost no time developing the characters in any meaningful way.

Even after the movie is over, you wonder who they hell the doctor is. Why are they in love? What does she like to do? All the regular questions or quirks go completely unanswered as the writer / director try to hit you in the head with the weak plot and emotional tensions it’s suppose to cause over and over again.

If that wasn’t bad enough, they put this tragedy to work in two other simultaneously absurd stories that are going on at the same time as the first.

1. Follows a conquistador as he searches for the fountain of youth to save Spain (WTF?). I know the fountain is a thing of legend, so fun to explore in fantasy, but believe me, in this movie it’s just a weird plot and again the writer / director is just trying to use these strange plot setups to bombard you with the emotional question the characters are forced to answer, but the thin setups come off as over the top, with an abundance of mystic metaphors that make for a weak plot.
2. Follows a bald spaceman who eats the bark of a tree supposedly imbued with his true love’s spirit, tattoos the years of her death into his arms, sits in the lotus position and eventually ascends to heaven (believe me it’s even weirder then it sounds).

If these three intertwined stories sound weird enough, wait until you get all the spiritual BS that’s shown in the movie, things like “creation through death”, an obsession with “blood sacrifice” ( the main character slits the throat of an Aztec priest for no apparent reason before finding the fountain). “Enlightenment,” and “beauty in death” are other consistent themes.I firmly believe that if you’re using a movie to make some type of “profound” point that your film should be strong enough to be entertaining and enjoyable to all types of viewers, from those that don’t understand the point you’re trying to make to those who disagree with your conclusion or philosophy, but still enjoy the journey and are able to suspend disbelief.

I browsed through the forums at Rotten Tomatoes and it’s about an even split. Half the people HATED the movie and half the people LOVED it. So if you read this review and think you’d HATE it, don’t see it ’cause you’re probably right. If you’re the type of person who likes nonsensical films steeped in spiritual metaphor, then see this one, ’cause statistically, you’ll love it.

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The Simpsons Movie Review Analysis and Commentary

The Simpsons is one of those increasingly rare pop culture phenomenons that has lasted long enough to span through multiple generations in an untouched form (although most of the critics and loyalist fans believe the series has declined in recent years). What they’re really groaning about is that it hasn’t changed much.

While racier toons have popped up, e.g. pointed satire like South Park, The Simpsons has remained stunningly effective in its simplicity and subtlety. Additionally, when a show runs for that long, many of the original writers move on so the flavors of the episodes change and, as with every brilliant work, it eventually gets a little tired.

The Simpsons is a show (and movie) that I could watch with my parents (I’m 26) and the trendiest 14 year old with “mad texting skillz” and we’d all probably enjoy it equally as much.

In fact, in the movie theatre, we did. I looked around the theater before the movie and the demographic was as mixed as any I’ve seen. Ranging from baby boomers to entire families to teens to the X generation, the variation was wide.
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Hannibal Rising Movie Review Analysis And Commentary

Being a big fan of the Thomas Harris books and the films they have been turned into meant that I was quite excited about watching Hannibal Rising. Unfortunately my excitement was short lived as this film was in my opinion a true letdown to the rest of the series.

*Spoilers Ahead*

The film was supposed to show why Hannibal Lecter is so twisted. Sorry, but am I the only one who prefers NOT to know this? I like the fact that this guy is unpredictable and that we don’t know the ins and outs of his history. Furthermore, now that I do actually know the whole story I’m not even that impressed with it! We now know the reason that Hannibal is such a nutcase and that his craving from human flash came from being held prisoner by soldiers as a child. Whilst he and his sister were captured during the war the soldiers decided to kill and eat Hannibal’s sister Mischa in order to survive the harsh conditions they were all trapped in, they even fed some to Hannibal whilst he passed in and out of consciousness. This prompted an older Hannibal to later seek them out and hunt them down one by one to make them pay for Mischa’s death and forcing him into the unthinkable act of eating his own sister. Whilst I see the point they are trying to make here, and the fact that something truly dramatic and sickening had to happen to start Hannibal’s obsession for flesh and killing as a mother I could barely look at the scenes of Mischa being poked and prodded ready to eat. This wasn’t because they were too gory, but the simple fact that I think it’s a completely disturbing plotline.

I didn’t think much to Gaspard Ulliel’s portrayal of Lecter throughout the film, and believe he was wrongly cast, he bears no resemblance at all to Anthony Hopkins older Hannibal and whilst that’s not the most important thing it certainly had an impact on the way I viewed the movie. His attempts at being dry and sarcastic in places were lost on me and although he was definitely creepy yet strangely charming I just didn’t think he fit the role. Did anyone else think differently?

I loved Rhys Ifan’s role as Grutas! He gave an energetic and menacing performance which was perhaps the movie’s saving grace as far as I’m concerned. Gong Li was also great as Hannibal’s aunt. For me, although I know that the whole point of this movie was to tell of Hannibal’s childhood and the earlier years of his life, I found it a little too slow paced and drawn out with nothing like the same amounts of gore, action and excitement that are present in the other films.

Maybe some of you out there disagree with me on this one, so feel free to hit reply and let me know your thoughts either way!

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Disturbia Movie Review Analysis and Commentary

Disturbia starring Shia LaBeouf, Sarah Roemer and David Morse is a movie that has gone a long way towards restoring my faith in the ‘Thriller’ genre. Finally a teen targeted movie has managed to prove that it can actually rival most of the Hollywood blockbusters out there and pull it off with class. Disturbia is a gutsy movie that gradually builds from being suspenseful to opening up a whole new level of paranoia, voyeurism and genuinely nail biting moments. Slick visuals and some pretty cool technology make this easy on the eye and the entertaining storyline works well to keep you on the edge of your seat for the final hour.

Shia LaBeouf is Kale, a teenager who begins to go off the rails after witnessing his father’s death. When he punches his Spanish teacher it’s the last straw and he narrowly avoids juvenile detention. Ending up cautioned and placed under house arrest he has a tracker attached to his ankle which confines him to his house and yard. If he breaches the perimeter of his confinement the sensor alerts the police. When his mum cuts off his TV, and Xbox Live to prevent him from enjoying himself too much he enters into a little voyeurism, starting by checking out the hot girl next door (Who he later befriends) he gradually stumbles upon more sinister goings on in the house across the street and becomes increasingly suspicious of Mr Turner (David Morse) who’s bizarre antics lead Kale to believe he may be harbouring a dark secret.

Once again Shia LaBeouf has proved to be a capable and entertaining actor, his comic timing and genuine likeability work well for him and he never falters during the movies dramatic scenes creating believable tension and atmosphere. David Morse is fantastic in this film, I absolutely love the eerie and borderline sleazy presence he has managed to conjure up and it gives the film a whole new slant when his character comes onto the scene. Carrie Anne Moss (Trinity from The Matrix) plays Kale’s mum, but unfortunately most of her scenes don’t give her much of a chance to shine so it’s hard to say how I think she faired. What did you guys think to seeing her in this?

The film is apparently not an actual remake of the Hitchcock classic ‘Rear Window’ but it does bear some resemblance to the movie which as a film fan I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t actually seen. If you have seen both, let me know your thoughts!

*Spoiler Alert - Don’t Read on if you haven’t seen the Film!!*


I actually found it quite refreshing to see a movie where the main character we had come to suspect the whole way through the movie ‘Mr Turner’ was actually the killer and NOT the classic red herring! Did it go through anyone else’s mind that the killer might have been Ashley’s dad? I found myself repeatedly questioning how the movie was going to turn out and whether they were going to throw us off the trail at the last minute. It’s quite rare that a film calls this kind of double bluff on the audience and I really liked it!

Let me know what you thought about Disturbia by replying to this article, I’d love to hear your views on this film….

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The Number 23 Movie Review Analysis and Commentary

The movie begins with Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey) celebrating his birthday. His wife Agatha (Virginia Madsen) stumbles across a book by an unheard of author named Topsy Kretts. As Walter begins to read the book, he notices increasing similarities between his life and that of main character Detective Fingerling. Gradually he becomes consumed by the number 23 and begins to obsess over what it means and why it seemingly appears in ever aspect of his day to day life. His Birthday, his national insurance number and the date he and his wife met all add up to the number 23 - Spooky coincidence or something more sinister? This is just the beginning of what soon becomes a twisted and disturbing journey into paranoia and the effects of trauma on the human mind.

To be completely honest, it was my husband who wanted to watch this movie more than me. I had heard the bad things about it and am not a huge fan of Jim Carrey in general so it wasn’t up there on my list of ‘must watch’ films as such. I must admit though, as odd as it still is for me to see Jim Carrey in any other role than ‘Ace Ventura’ this film had me hooked after the first 10 minutes or so. I loved the element of paranoia the movie creates, the tension and the way it resembles a seedy detective movie in places was brilliant.

Carrey does a fantastic job of playing both Walter Sparrow and Detective Fingerling, I found it really interesting to watch him shift from one to the other and remain captivating as both. You may remember Virginia Madsen from the horror classic ‘Candyman’ and it is great to see her back on top form in this movie as she tackles two very different roles, that of Walters straight laced wife Agatha and Fingerlings love interest Fabrizia whose interest in dark and dangerous sex gives the movie a more serious edge throughout.

I’m glad I took the time to watch this movie, as I was genuinely pleasantly surprised at how good it actually was. With more paranoia and conspiracy theories than an episode of X Files, an interesting storyline and fantastic use of the classic ‘who dunnit’ element ‘The Number 23′ was an interesting and engaging film that held my attention from start to finish.

Let me know what you thought of The Number 23 … did Jim Carrey’s serious performance do it for you, or leave you wishing he’d stick to the comedy roles he’s best known for?

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Black Snake Moan Movie Review Analysis and Commentary

Written and directed by Craig Brewer; the man who brought you Hustle & Flow his latest movie Black Snake moan boasts an all star cast including Samuel L Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake.

Set in a small Tennessee town we follow a young girl ‘Rae’ (Christina Ricci) who having suffered abuse as a child now seems to crave sexual attention which has become like an addiction to her. She will do anything to get her next fix, hitting an all time low and rapidly losing any dignity and self respect she may have once had. A twist of fate soon comes however, when she is discovered unconscious and beaten by the side of the road by a man named Lazarus. He takes her in, and tries to cure her of her ‘itch’ as they call it in the movie. Along the way we come to learn more about Lazarus own life and how by helping Rae he may also be saving himself.

I really enjoyed Black Snake Moan, the casting was fantastic, with Christina Ricci and Sam Jackson both giving jaw dropping performances. Ricci held my attention in every scene, she had this naive yet sassy attitude about her that really gave her character an edge and made her interesting to watch. Of course, the fact that she’s also semi naked in half the movie will hold the men’s attention for entirely different reasons! Samuel Jackson was great as Lazarus, a deep and religious man who also has his own underlying issues. Does anyone know if that was really him playing the guitar in some of the musical scenes by the way?  I’d be interested to know, as I really enjoyed them!

Now, I’m not usually a huge fan of Justin Trousersnake Timberlake in movies but seeing as he isn’t actually in this one that much and when he is, he manages to give a watchable performance I’ll let this one slide. I don’t know exactly what it is that annoys me about him; maybe it’s just that after the old ‘N Sync’ days I can’t seem to take him seriously! What do you guys think though, good or bad actor?

For me, Black Snake Moan had a slightly Tarantino style feel to it, the music and the way it was shot was very reminiscent to Tarantino’s earlier work and maybe that’s one of the reasons I found it so enjoyable. I also liked the fact that it was a bit different to many films out there at the moment; it pushes the boundaries a little and takes you out of your comfort zone slightly, which is great.

What did you think to Black Snake Moan? Leave your comments and discussion here!

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