Creativity With an Affinity for Darkness
The Dark Opera
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It's not all just dark stuff, so check back for a laugh, some motivation or for pure randomness.
 

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Everything Gosling 

4/4/2013

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Two Gosling posts in one day? Sure. So I was looking through Youtube and came across two interesting interviews with Ryan Gosling.  First up is one in which he’s describing how his character, Luke in “The Place Beyond the Pines” was formed. If you like story, writing or acting, you might like this:

Doesn’t that character sound interesting? Highlights of what we can expect from Gosling’s Luke in the upcoming movie as per Ryan: 

“He’s a melting pot of masculine clichés…”

“He’s presented with this child he… didn’t know he had, and … it’s sort of like a mirror, and he realizes that none of these things [Those clichés] means he’s a man”

And finally,

“…Something that became a very important part of the character was this sense of shame, of regret, of becoming something that… now you couldn’t change, and then having to face that and be THAT openly…”

I can’t wait for this movie!

 Secondly, Here’s a Youtube video I think Canadians can feel happy about. Now, if you’ve seen some of Ryan’s interviews, you probably know that he’s got some interesting intensity, or shtick (maybe a mixture?). It all works out well in this short but entertaining “American Talk, the Oh Canada Edition” My favourite is Gosling’s awesome opener. 


- Josh
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I Didn’t Want to Go: What Going to a Geeky Saint John Harbour Convention was Really Like

7/30/2012

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Re-reading this, I think of how geeky this will seem to some of you. And it was geeky. But it was more of an afterthought. Being there, at the FIRST “Harbour con-fusion” felt like so much fun, and with so much incentive to participate, like participation ribbons, trophies and supportive cheers, it was hard to not get in on the excitement. But I had never been to a convention before…

I didn’t want to go. I had long planned to, but by the time July 28th/2012 rolled around, there was more against my going than for: A recent run in with a comic book shop staff member left a sour taste in my mouth about the comic book community, there was a surprise family supper planned over the week end I would not be able to attend, I’d miss helping two friends move, and none of my other friends could come with me to the con… I would have to go solo. I thought, “If at the very least I could do some networking for thedarkopera.com then maybe it would be worth it.” Luckily, it turned out to be much more than that.
I was so uncertain about the whole event that I didn’t even reserve a room at the hotel in case the con was a bust. That way I could salvage my week end by jetting back to Fredericton depending on the time or maybe head down to Moncton and visit with friends.

To make matters worst, I got a flat tire on my way in to Saint John. The culprit? A screw from Saint John construction no doubt – Yes, I was SCREWED. That could have turned me into quite the 'Debbie Downer', but all was washed away by the incredible energy at opening ceremonies. 
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Photo by Ralph Jackson
Right from registration, I met fellow con goers (both who do excellent cosplay as Wolverine and Sabretooth) and was later invited to lunch with them and others. Thanks again for the French Vanilla Kevin. After they had gone to get their pictures taken by the Harbour con-fusion photographer, I accidentally dumped the rest of that hot drink all over the front of my white T-shirt in my haste to run a few errands in between panels. Could anything else bad happen to me?

After all was settled and I was changed, I returned to get the most out of the vendor rooms and panels that I could. There, I met up with Chris, one of the many awesome con staff and chatted him up a little. I got to meet up with an old friend a little later on. I also stopped and talked to some very creative guys promoting their first web comic issue of “Liquid” which I hope to be posting more about later on this week. And there was so much other cool stuff going on too, like a massive assortment of origami of every kind, people doing drawings for commission, selling artwork and even retro video games. 
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Photo by Ralph Jackson
The Vendors, those doing cosplay, and the panel members… If you are looking for creative and passionate individuals, plan to come to Harbour con-fusion next year because it had so many people like that.

The panels! (They are 1 hour or so sessions where people come in to talk about various topics) They were all great, some examples of these were:

StarkTech. There’s this gentleman named, Phillip Vautour who had an excellent panel on his work in creating a professional Iron Man suit. Dressed as Tony Stark, equipped with lit arc reactor and dawning a “Stark” jacket, he talked about resources and ideas for how to execute tech for your cosplay.  For example, he talked a little about hitting a switch that would send a signal for a functional (but not in a deadly way) arm cannon to rise out of an arm piece and light up when fully extended. Great stuff. It was so wonderfully in-depth and inspiring, I wished that I had taped it. 
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Photo by Ralph Jackson
Also, "The Geek Dating Game".  There, 3 guys sat side by side, backs against a screen behind which the lucky lady - who was also a Harbour-con organizer - was stationed. In classic dating game style, the hostess – in this case: Catwoman – facilitated the game as difficult questions where thrown out to the guys. Let me tell you, answering them didn’t sound easy. As the title implied, there was a strong geek flavor and the three contestants did an excellent job at being witty and injecting hilarious and intentionally awful (Corny) innuendo (and why not? This panel had an older audience). A gentleman by the name of Sean Brown, who earlier that day introduced himself by standing up from his seat with one hand raised high and in a rising tone exclaimed, “ I’m Sssseeeeaaan Brown” had the audience in a stitch at the dating game and grabbed himself celebrity like status that had others echoing his call throughout the con. This was the guy who answered, “What emoticon would you be?” with a pause to build anticipation; then a resolute, “the Sssseeeeaaan Brown emoticon”. Really, there could have been no other. 
The dance also was a great time. Where Con Volunteer and friend, Josh (same name, different guy) did his best to ‘cut a rug’ to keep people on the dance floor. Con staff Dj’d as lights danced across the walls and music pumped from the nearby speakers. The play list had some geek flavor there too, where the last song of the dance was a Dr. Who remix track. I hadn’t danced like that in a while, and got to meet some other con goers with help from Heidi who had such great energy and was such a blast to be around. Who really did her best to make people feel welcomed. 
A game called “Circus Imperium” was also a great time. What really got me here was the inclusion of some of the kids in the game. A man named Joe Hatfield, Who also put on an excellent lightsaber duel (and can take a hard hit or ten like a pro), helped run some of the players through the game as he encouraged audience participation and really made it fun. Everyone was cheering and getting involved. It was then  that I looked around the room at the crowd huddled around the table and felt like this was a really tight community of people making good memories together.
The whole thing sounds kind of like a love affair doesn’t it? To be fair, the con wasn’t without those who are snarky, those who push boundaries in terms of rules, and sometimes what was ‘family appropriate’ got lost in rapid-fire reactions including in being witty, but someone was never too far off to remind people about what the con was really about. I myself might have acted differently if I wasn’t open to having fun. To letting loose a little. I might have left. But the atmosphere there was so relaxing and welcoming that it was hard not to get engaged. 
By the time closing ceremonies came around at 1900 Sunday evening, I was hooked.

Margaret, a con organizer, closed things off with quite the rousing speech about Saint John being ready for a regular convention like Harbour-Con that really rallied the audience. Of the excitement of wrapping up the event and naming who won what at the silent auction they had, the staff announced having met financial goals and was able to make a sizeable donation to their local S.P.C.A (what a good cause!). For all the staff’s work, the crowd gave a much-deserved standing ovation. Everyone lingered a while afterwards saying good-byes and planning on meeting perhaps at the upcoming Hal-con. While some organized some post convention celebration, I, like some others, made my way back home in rainy evening weather feeling pretty damn satisfied with the entire event.
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I had still to figure out what to do with that flat tire I had got on my way into Saint John. My plan to deal with the tire didn’t go as well as I had hoped, and couldn’t drive with it anymore after a particularly rough stretch of highway road construction about mid way between Saint John and Fredericton. I decided I would hitch hike back home, so I took to the road as night began to set in and the highway became dark. Luckily, a man and his wife saw me on their way back from Fredericton to Saint John. They turned around to get me and were kind enough to help me change my tire (I didn’t have a jack). Big Thanks to Corey Wright and his family for that.

I ended up home a little later than expected. With the energy of the week end still buzzing inside me, it was hard to be without smile. I had a story I needed to share…

I say, If you want to go to a con but have some reservations, set em’ aside and walk into one with an open mind and just go with it. It can be such a great time if you let it.

-Josh 

If you want all the news on the next Harbour Con-Fusion, click HERE for their Facebook page!!

*** Big Thanks to Ralph Jackson for letting me use his photos (The first three) for this post.***

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New anthology package has modern horror classics at great cost?

6/5/2012

4 Comments

 
No... So I was walking through Wallmart the other day when I came across "The Haunted Anthology", that contains: 

Insidious (2011)
The Blair witch project (1999)
The last exorcism (2010)
The others (2001)
1408 (2007)

Now that doesn't seem like too bad a collection even though the horror movies are of varying quality (which I would have difficulty calling any of them modern horror classics). What's most nasty in this case is the price (amazon.ca has it listed at 43.49 for DVD and 61.49 on Blu-ray (Taken on June 4th/2012)). All of those movies are old enough that I could throw together the same collection myself scanning the DVD bins of my local second hand store at near half the cost. Blu-ray might be a little harder to come by but I wouldn't say impossible.

Many times I'm all for these convenient collection packages, but in this case I would suggest skipping it and picking these up individually. 

- Josh

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We’ll Take as Much Prometheus as We Can Get: New Viral Videos Up!

4/17/2012

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This peripheral Prometheus stuff is great, isn’t it? Following up on the vid of the unboxing of David, we know have a full on “Happy Birthday David” advert. Take a look at what Weyland Industries has been up to:
“I can carry out directived that my human counterparts might find distressing or unethical” ... a little foreshadowing there?

Loving David’s reaction at 1:22  in response to “What makes you sad?”

What do you think of David? Will he be more Ash or Bishop?


- Josh
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If you are a “Back to the Future” Fan, you might not want to miss out on this.

3/1/2012

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 As it turns out, there are awesome “Back to the Future” posters being made and readied to be distributed. Jamie, a friend of mine brought this awesome little offer to my attention. The offer will be made available for followers of THIS TWITTER ACOUNT to access a link to purchase the posters below tomorrow, March 2nd/2012. If you’re in, your looking at spending 88 dollars for the set... but what a set!

Below are actually three seperate posters. Wouldn't that look sweet up on your wall?
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So follow that twitter acount if you want to impress company the next time you have someone over. The website: http://www.mondotees.com/ has some amazing looking posters of recent academy award winners for sale and don’t forget to take a peek at the blog there too for more.

-Josh

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More on Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus”? Yes Please.

3/1/2012

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I am excited about Ridley Scott’s (Alien, Gladiator) upcoming “Prometheus”. If you haven’t checked out the trailer yet, do take a look, I’ve included the trailer below.

In an interesting attempt to promote the upcoming release, there is a TED presentation from one of the characters from the movie, Weyland, played by Guy Pearce. Take a look for yourself:

“...the fire that danced at the end of that match was a gift from the titan, Prometheus. A gift he stole from the gods. When Prometheus was caught and brought to justice for his left, the gods, you might say overreacted a little...”

Was that speaking to the discovery of the alien ship and its contents in the “Prometheus” trailer? This little extra might very well add to the depth of the movie. Hopefully it doesn’t disappoint.

-Josh

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Ahh the Oscars ! Check Out Mike Myers' Skit, Oscar Noms & Winners!

2/26/2012

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Ahh, the Oscars ! Who watched?  for those who missed it, you didn't miss a whole lot. There was an interesting Cirque de Soleil bit, an honest, emotional moment for Octavia Spencer, Meryl  Streep had another win, and Billy Crystal was moderately funny.

Here's a little post Oscar funny: Check out Mike Myers' Oscar Etiquette skit with Kevin Kline., it's pretty good:
and the deleted scenes youtube vid is just as good. I included it below.
  In case you were wondering, here are the Nominees and winners for this years Oscars (2012):

Best Picture:

The Artist                            WINNER!     
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Pa ris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse


Actor in a leading role:

Demián Bichir
A Better Life

George Clooney
The Descendants

Jean Dujardin                        WINNER!
The Art ist

Gary Oldman
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Brad Pitt
Moneyball


Actor in a supporting role:
 
Kenneth Branagh
My Week with Marilyn

Jonah Hill
Moneyball

Nick Nolte
Warrior

Christopher Plummer      WINNER!
Beginners

Max von Sydow
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close


Actress in a leading role:

 Glenn Close
Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis
The Help

Rooney Mara
The Girl with the Dragon Tatt oo

Meryl Streep           WINNER!
The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams
My Week with Marilyn


Actress in a supporting role:


 Bérénice Bejo
The Art ist

Jessica Chastain
The Help

Melissa McCarthy
Bridesmaids

Janet McTeer
Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer       WINNER!
The Help


Directing:
 
The Artist 
Michel Hazanavicius         WINNER!

The Descendants
Alexander Payne

Hugo
Martin Scorsese

Midnight in Pa ris
Woody Allen

The Tree of Life
Terrence Malick


-Josh
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James Bond News: Expect 22 Bond Movies in Blu-Ray Collector's Package

1/11/2012

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In case you haven’t heard, the big announcement coming out of CES (Consumer electronics Show) for Bond fans is that you can expect 22 Bond movies in Blu ray format within a shiny 50th anniversary collector’s package.  Right now, the amazon.com price is 199.99$ (Jan 11th/2012). The trailer for the collection is below.
Add to that the excitement in awaiting the new Bond entry: “Skyfall” and it looks like Bond’s heading into 2012 pretty strong.   

More information can be found by visiting MGM's site at:
http://www.mgm.com/

and the official james bond 007 website at:
http://www.007.com/bond-50-on-blu-ray/
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More Movie "Long Take" Examples You Might Enjoy

1/11/2012

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If you find the idea of watching a movie where the camera angle doesn’t change every 3 seconds to be refreshing, then it might be worth exploring other movies that incorporate the “long take”. The extreme is where the entire movie is a single take, such as in my last post about “Silent House”... and there are others, like the acclaimed “Russian Ark”. But there are also more limited good “long take” examples, like in Alfred Hitchcock’s “rope or a more recent Dunkirk scene in “Atonement”.
WARNING - The next one does show horses being shot.
Sweeping and at times imaginative camera movement as well as intriguing and atmospheric landscapes make these rarities (especially by today’s standards), something to look into.  

And if you’re all about the atmosphere and long shots (...and long movies), be sure to check out Bela Tarr’s work (like "Werckmeister Harmonies"). 

- Josh
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'Take Shelter' could be interesting, thought-provoking...and lame?

10/16/2011

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'Take Shelter', a new movie by director Jeff Nichols, might be another in a long line of 'Look out, the end of the world is coming!' tales, but it might also be something else...it might be good! This film premiered in January 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival, and Sony Pictures Classics snapped up the rights to distribute the film. It also got rave reviews when it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May of this year, and it received the Fipresci award from the International Federation of Film Critics. In September 2011, Take Shelter was shown at the 37th Deauville American Film Festival, where it beat 13 other contenders to win the festival's grand prize.

So what makes this 'the apocalypse is coming' film different from others along the same line? Some would say that having Michael Shannon in the lead role makes all the difference. The actor is getting rave reviews for his portrayal of Curtis LaForche, a man who starts having dark apocalyptic dreams, and the movie centers on the dark road these dreams take him down. He keeps the dreams from his wife (don't they always?), and starts to build a storm shelter in his back yard. As usual with these types of scenarios, his behaviour starts to put a strain on his relationships.

Michael Shannon has been a critics favorite in other roles as well, appearing in 'Bug' with Ashley Judd, and earning an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in 'Revolutionary Road', which also starred Kate Winslet and Leonardo DeCaprio. He will also be playing General Zod in the Superman film series reboot, 'Man of Steel'.

'Take Shelter' also stars Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life, Jolene) as Samantha LaForche, Curtis' wife, and Kathy Baker (Edward Scissorhands, Cold Mountain).

We don't know what is happening to Curtis. Is he really getting visions of things to come? Is it all in his head? I certainly hope that this film does not take the easy way out and make this all the product of an over-active imagination.

We'll have to wait and see...

Kevin B.
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