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November
, 2001
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Sights, sounds and words each month to feed your imagination. Editor's Voice The role of fantasy in times of real life crises? Apparently, scaring our selves silly with wild imagination is a good antidote to the real thing. When the horror of everyday life gets to be too much, imaginary horror helps to take our minds off it. Fight horror with horror! In fact, this is nothing new. During World War II there was an explosion of horror films. In 1944 alone, the number of films of this genre doubled from the previous year. When the war was over, people lost interest and returned to calmer subjects. It wasn't until 1950 that horror films began to rise from their graves. During the Vietnam War, a new generation of horror films was born and included releases like Night of the Living Dead, Rosemary's Baby (both 1968), The Exorcist (1973) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). When the United States stopped military action in Vietnam, horror films again lost their popularity. While horror films have been dormant lately, terrorist attacks, the war in Afghanistan and other trajic events may prove to have have an effect on production and popularity of such films. While some argue that horror films are healing during times of war and violence, others say that when horror hits too close to home it can only intensify already the fear and anxiety. Where I work, there are military police guarding the building and security patrols everywhere. These are constant reminders that real life isn't normal right now. I watched Virus (Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo) on French television just a week and a half after the September 11 attacks. Knowing that devastating, highly contagious diseases exist and that they could be cultivated by those with bad intent, I was a little disturbed watching the movie, although it had not bothered me the first time I saw it a couple of years ago. When the first Anthrax case turned up in Florida a couple of weeks later, I was hypersensitized. The scenarios in the film were too real. So let's stick to the surreal. I enjoy X-Files, Millenium (now in its third season here) and even some of the short lived series like Sleepwalkers and Harsh Realm for their inventiveness. I also recently saw a big poster in the Paris subway advertising a movie called Ghosts from Mars (John Carpenter's latest), and read one critique saying that despite certain clichés (the beautiful mutant who has mutated in just the right places, for example), the film actually does pretty well. Maybe now we're ready for some real chillers and supernatural thrills to help us forget about the collapsing buildings, war and the threat of contagious disease in the mail. Sara
News... and more
'X' Sequel: The truth is out there, So I Heard Great news for fans of the show- Show creator Chris Carter is negotiating with 20th Century Fox to develop a second feature film based on the ``X-Files'' TV series. While no cast deals been set, the project is expected to showcase agents Mulder and Scully, and original series stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson have both indicated a willingness to return for the new picture. Since I live in France, the show is dubbed (French actors do the voices), which also means the show is a season behind: Mulder is still with the series and, in fact, just returned from the dead last night and is clashing with Doggett. Agent Reyes from New Orleans makes an occasional appearance and Agent Scully is looking very pregnant). In reality, that is on Americn television, Duchovny has already left the Fox series and Anderson would like to leave following the end of the show's ninth season. This means the plot of the motion picture will probably not revolve around the ``X'' mythology. The picture could begin shooting by late 2002 and the earliest the film could be released is Christmas 2003. By that time, who knows if te series will still be on television or who will be the main characters. ---------- Reloaded, Waiting for The Matrix Sequel The special-edition The Matrix DVD called The Matrix Revisited includes footage and some of the training sequences for the upcoming sequel. The DVD will be released either with or without the original film. Both versions will be released on December 24. The Matrix Revisited will include interviews with Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburne and Carrie Anne Moss and also some hidden features such as behind-the-scenes footage of Hugo Weaving getting injured. The first Matrix sequel, called The Matrix Reloaded, another long wait, will be released in 2003. ---------- Nine Inch Nails Live: And All That Could Have Been Set to arrive in stores December 4. Read about it here
Interesting note: The Damned is back (again). The original punk band, no questions asked. Dave Vanian is the trademark singer of dark vocals that preceded anyone you've ever heard of. Check this out for a history lesson you'll never forget.
Mythological Being of the month...
Just for Fun... The Great Internet Aquarium Now your screensaver fish can swim out into the great Internet ocean and onto the computer screen of someone on the other side of the world. It's called DaliWorld and is the latest curiosity to look like filesharing, er, creature sharing... Read the article here
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