David Lynch’s Wild At Heart

by natewatchescoolmovies, posted in Film Review

David Lynch’s Wild At Heart can be given the nutshell description of ‘Lynch does Bonnie & Clyde’, but that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of this twisted, surreal, beautifully scarring piece of bizarro cinema cunningly disguised as a love story. It is a love story, first and foremost, but that’s also only a blueprint onto which all sorts of other dreams, visions and nightmares are painted. It’s very, *very* loosely on a book by Barry Gifford, but what Lynch whips up makes the source material seem grey and unrecognizable in comparison. Gifford’s book is the black and white prologue to The Wizard Of Oz and Lynch’s version is the dazzling yet unnerving technicolour dream world that follows, and indeed he uses imagery and gives shout outs to that film any chance he gets here. Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern are Sailor Ripley and Lula Pace Fortune, lovers on the run from the Deep South and Lula’s tyrannical monster of a mother Marietta, played by Diane Ladd in an Oscar nominated turn that doesn’t just chew scenery but devours it with the force of an imploding neutron star that eats galaxies. Marietta is intent on keeping the two of them apart for reasons slowly and subtly unveiled, and she sends everyone and their mother after them including mopey private detective Johnnie Farragut (Harry Dean Stanton) and dangerous mobster Marcellos Santos (the late great J.E. Freeman). Sailor and Lula’s journey is a deranged yellow brick road through 50’s infused Americana, perverse apparitions abound and literally almost everyone they meet ranges from deeply disturbed to outright psychotic to marginally quirky. Santos sends a cabal of weirdo assassins headed up by ghoulish sadist Perdita Durango (Grace Zabriskie in a pants shittingly scary performance) and her cronies (David Patrick Kelly and Calvin Lockhart). In Texas they run into reptilian scumbag Bobby Peru, brought to life by Willem Dafoe in a skin crawling portrait of sexual menace and warped glee that would scare off Frank Booth. Lula tells tales of her delusional cousin Dell (Crispin Glover) putting cockroaches on his anus and of being raped at age thirteen by her father’s business friend (actually shown in a brief but upsetting cutaway). Why all this unpleasantness, you ask? Well… I don’t know, but Lynch seems to and he isn’t sharing the coordinates of his moral compass with anyone, he’s simply storytelling and holding nothing back of the weird or wild variety. Amongst all the violence and monstrosity there’s an undercurrent of tenderness and love that pulses via Sailor and Lula’s relationship, cultivated in an ebb and flow tide of simple, candid pillow talk and unbridled passionate sex that mirrors their frequent and feverish visits to sweaty dance clubs. This is their story, and every ghost, goblin and witch they meet along the way is simply a dark passenger or otherworldly day player in their tale, plus they often make for hilariously off colour vignettes, like Jack Nance’s deranged 00 Spool or Freddie Jones’s gnomish pigeon expert. My favourite sequence is a sobering, haunted diversion off the side of a freeway where they discover a distraught girl (Sherilyn ‘Audrey Horne’ Fenn) rambling through a bout of brain trauma from a car accident. Angelo Badalamenti’s score sings through this to the point of chills, as it does throughout the film. Also traversing down this dark yellow brick road are William Morgan Sheppard, Frances Bay, musician John Lurie, Nicholas Love, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Frank Collison, Ed Wright, Isabella Rossellini and Sheryl ‘Laura Palmer’ Lee herself as Glenda the Good Witch. As proclaimed by Lula at one point, “this whole world is wild at heart and weird on top..” It is indeed, and we’re lucky to have a filmmaker like Lynch to do his part in keeping it that way by making unique, bizarre films like this to remind us just what is possible in cinema with a little invention, a whole lot of colour, splashes of horror and a love of storytelling. Maybe not Lynch’s most prolific or instantly recognizable work, but a full on classic for me and high up on his filmography list.

-Nate Hill

John Herzfeld’s 15 Minutes

by natewatchescoolmovies, posted in Film Review

John Herzfeld’s 15 Minutes is a mean, fucked up movie and I love it’s sketched out, darkly satirical edge, its a ruthless sendup of the media that plays like Network by way of Natural Born Killers. America is the land of opportunity, especially for those with sinister intentions, as two nasty Eastern European criminals (Karel Roden and Oleg Taktarov) find out when they step off the boat in New York and almost immediately begin committing heinous acts of wanton violence and murder, filming it with a cheap camcorder and selling the footage to a tabloid news station run by sleazy anchorman Kelsey Grammar. Robert DeNiro angers it up as an alcoholic, loose cannon homicide cop on the trail of these two lunatics and chasing a bit of limelight for himself. It’s a hopped up, very stylized premise that gets the down n’ dirty, highly lurid treatment and doesn’t have much to put in a positive light, but as a farcical thriller it really works. DeNiro gets reasonable facetime and kills it but isn’t in the showcase arc you’d usually see, while Ed Burns plays an arson investigator (“you’re just a fireman with a badge”) who works alongside him. The real star here is Roden though as the chief baddie, a breakout performance as the worst kind of villain, one who isn’t necessarily after anything but just wants to fuck your shit up real bad for fun and then exploit the joke of a legal system and walk scott free. “I love America, nobody is responsible for what they do” he purrs at Burns, and there’s a stinging grain of truth to that. The cast is killer here with work from Vera Farmiga, Martha Plimpton, Melinda Kanakaredes, David Alan Grier, Anton Yelchin, Avery Brooks, Kim Cattrall, Paul Herman, Ritchie Coster and a cool cameo from Charlize Theron. Don’t expect much of an uplift or positive note anywhere here, it’s a thoroughly ill spirited, maladjusted story, but like the messed up crime scenes these two antagonists drum up simply for exposure, it’s kind of hard not to look away or enjoy yourself through pure morbid fascination alone.

-Nate Hill

John McTiernan’s Predator

by natewatchescoolmovies, posted in Film Review

Action doesn’t get more rough, badass or straight up entertaining than John McTiernan’s Predator. The popcorn summer movie mantle was designed for stuff like this and throughout the 80’s and 90’s each one made its own influences and shaped the way the blockbuster has evolved. This is arguably Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best, just behind or right along side the Terminator films. Packed to the gills with the kind of gruesome, blood soaked action intrigue we don’t see much anymore or at least without glossy CGI. Here the violence is tactical, doused in gallons of blood and amped up for maximum impact, like when Arnie’s Dutch and his team of rough n’ ready mercs stumble upon bodies that have been skinned alive. Called in for a routine black ops mission in the jungles of Central America, they discover there’s something far worse out there than rebels, and that something happens to be an eight foot tall trophy hunter from another galaxy, with whiplash dreadlocks and a face that would give Freddy Krueger nightmares. He’s essentially an extraterrestrial big game hunter who picks off humanity’s toughest customers in the ultimate intergalactic safari, and Arnie happens to be right in his path. His team is made up of the most colourful badasses the 80’s has to offer including wiseass Jesse Ventura, jumpy Carl Weathers, spooked out Bill Duke and stoic tracker Sonny Landham, who’s my favourite by far (“there’s somethin in that jungle, and it ain’t no man”). Also on their team is Shane Black, of all people, which I didn’t realize until my most recent rewatch but it makes sense since he’s the mastermind behind this fall’s The Predator, which I’m very excited for. The highest praise doesn’t even do this film justice; it’s simply one of those ones that isn’t even up for debate in terms of quality, it practically spawned its own genre. Arnie & Co. light up the jungle with enough heavy artillery to launch a coup, the Predator uses cunning tactics and brutal tricks of its own to hunt them one by one, and the whole region erupts with the sound, fury, carnage and commotion of their fight for survival. This has gone on to produce a sequel (which is just as brilliant, fight me), a Robert Rodriguez helmed update (also great), a couple crossovers with the Alien franchise (which were just plain awful) and the aforementioned Shane Black rendition. This started it though, from Arnie chomping up cigar after cigar to Ventura levelling the trees with a giant mini gun to Landham feverishly taking on the Predator with just his 13 inch hunting knife, it’s an action palooza that’s very of it’s time and therefore refreshingly un-PC (I trust in black to keep that spirit alive for his version), and has stood the time as a gold standard of action sci-fi genre heaven. Don’t forget to get to that chopper.

-Nate Hill

Michael Mann’s The Last Of The Mohicans

by natewatchescoolmovies, posted in Film Review

Before Terrence Malick lyrically explored the relationship between settlers, natives and nature in The New World, Michael Mann crafted the emotionally gripping, beautifully feral The Last Of The Mohicans. Take Mann out of his comfort groove of big city crime epics and whatever new avenue he explores is going to be incredibly fascinating (his much forgotten, sadly panned The Keep is further evidence). Trading in looming urban skyscrapers for equally imposing trees of the frontier, high powered weaponry for one badass long-shot rifle and the onslaught of rapid fire combat for incendiary cannon fire, the colonial times suit him splendidly and he rocks this period piece for all its worth. Daniel Day Lewis is a force of nature as Nathaniel Hawkeye, the white man raised by his adoptive father (Russell Means) and brother (Eric Schweig) in the wild. Madeleine Stowe is a dark haired candle of radiance and fiercely spirited as the lovely Cora Munro, brought from the prim, lacy traditions of Olde England out to the wild, uncompromising new land, with her impressionable young sister (Jodi May is low key brilliant). Wes Studi gives the bitter hearted warrior Magua a steady grace and brutal resolve. The film is lovingly made, sweeping from thundering battles to cascading waterfalls to meticulously constructed war forts to uneasy treaties to verbose politics to romance that stirs the heart and unlocks the tear ducts. But it’s all about those last twenty minutes, man. Holyyy fuck does this movie have an ending. When the final, white knuckle climax happens atop the scenic yet unforgiving Promentory Ridge, hearts, bones and dreams are broken as all the characters collide in a tragic, inevitable confrontation that leaves fire in your heart and tears in your eyes. James Newton Howard and Trevor Jones provide a legendary, soul stirring musical score that swells for the final act and carries it to transcendent heights. Mann directs with a compassionate, objective eye, never designating anyone as the good or bad guy, but simply showing us human beings fighting for survival, love and revenge in a land only just finding its cultural identity. A real classic and one of the best of the 90’s. Oh, and avoid the director’s cut at all costs. That’s not usually advice I’d give for any film but Mann somehow thought it necessary cut an incredibly important final scene of dialogue between Lewis, Means and Stowe that gives thematic weight to the story and caps off the characters arcs gorgeously. Rookie move, Michael, that’s a key scene and bookends the film beautifully.

-Nate Hill

Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic

by natewatchescoolmovies, posted in Film Review

I feel like the one thing to take away from Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic is that the war on drugs isn’t working in any sense. That’s the short answer, but at nearly three hours runtime, Soderbergh isn’t interested in any kind of short answers, let alone clean cut, definitive or resolute ones that help anyone sleep at night. It’s a sprawling, complex international labyrinth of a film that scans every faction from the loftiest echelons of American politics to the poorest slums of Mexico, not necessarily looking for answers but digging up new questions and conundrums. In Washington, the president elects a straightforward family man (Michael Douglas) as the new drug czar and face of the crusade, except that his daughter (Erika Christensen) is knee-deep in hard drug addiction and heading down a dark path. Across the border, a Mexican cop (Benicio Del Toro, fantastic) tries to prevent corruption from eating away at his country and the soul of his partner. Back stateside, two undercover narcs (Luis Guzman and Don Cheadle) prep a captured mid level smuggler (Miguel Ferrer stealing scenes like nobody’s business) to testify against the higher ups. The wife (Catherine Zeta Jones) of an imprisoned kingpin (Steven Bauer, sadly only glimpsed briefly) deals with her husband’s enemies while his slick dick lawyer (Dennis Quaid) eyes her up for the taking. A scary Mexican military General (Tomas Milian) fights drug running for his own mystery goal, and many other stories play out both in the US and Mexico. Soderbergh gets together a treasure chest of cameos and supporting talent that includes the likes of Clifton Collins Jr., Emilio Riveria, Topher Grace, Peter Riegart, James Brolin, Albert Finney, Marisol Padilla Sanchez, Viola Davis, John Slattery, Yul Vasquez, Jack Conley, Benjamin Bratt, Salma Hayek and more. This isn’t a tunnel vision action flick or even your garden variety ensemble crime piece, there’s a distracted, fractured feel to the narrative that no doubt mirrors the very difficult nature of how this all works. Opinions and alliances shift, people die, others prosper and it all kind of seems for nought, except that almighty dollar. Del Toro and Douglas fare best in terms of bearing witness to it all; both are changed men by the time their final scenes roll around and the arcs come full circle. They anchor the vast network of people from respective sides of the border, showing the multilayered damage that such a problem, and the ‘war’ against it unleashes. Endlessly fascinating film.

-Nate Hill

Jan Egleson’s A Shock to the System

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review

Michael Caine is one of cinema’s most renown and prolific actors, and in the 1990 undercard picture, A Shock to the System, Caine gives one of his finest performances in a film that is a dark satire of 80s capitalism and climbing the corporate ladder, but also acts as a companion piece to Joe Dante’s The Burbs as well as a precursor to American Psycho.

 

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Caine plays Graham Marshall, a man whose oversaturation of the American Dream hits its breaking point when he gets passed over for a promotion that he was being groomed for. Caine then slowly begins to unravel and begins to commit a series of outlandish murders, seeking out an exact measure of revenge while at the same time finding his center with a self-indulgent escapade of faux mysticism.

 

The film is an excellent satire that strikes the balance of the political environment in today’s business world, while also acting as a time capsule piece of America’s cultural transition from the 80s into the 90s. The film’s dialogue is airtight, yielding wonderful witty exchanges between hard stereotypical characters where they operate on a level of honesty that would be fundamentally unacceptable in everyday conversation.

 

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Cinematographer Paul Goldsmith constructs a slick looking film that is richly detailed with sweeping cinematic camera movements that blends with handheld shots, that perfectly flows with Caine’s voice-over narration. There are quite a few moments in the film that are stunning to watch and had the film found its rightful audience, would have become iconic shots from an already overwhelming Caine filmography.

 

Director Jan Egleson composes an excellent film with rich production design, costumes, and a rather excellent practical explosion. He also assembles a marvelous cast around Caine including Swoosie Kurtz as Caine’s relentless wife, Peter Riegert as Caine’s ill-fated new boss, Elizabeth McGovern as his secretary turned love interest, and Will Patton as a Colombo esque detective suspicious of Caine. Not enough can be said about Caine’s performance. He is charming, wickedly funny, and menacing all at once. Think of his character as an amalgam of his characters from Mona Lisa and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Yes, Caine is that good in the film.

 

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While Patrick Bateman in American Psycho found a kinship with bloodlust, rage, and materialistic vanity; so does Caine in this film, and while his character isn’t propelled by 80s pop culture, yet another colorfully detailed layer of the film is Caine’s affinity for the wizard Merlin and making his problems disappear. A Shock to the System is now available from the Shout Factory, from their boutique label, Shout Select.

Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained

by natewatchescoolmovies, posted in Film Review

Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained really and truly feels like the old school exploitation epics that he was going for in everything from style, music, dialogue and especially pacing. Movies were longer back then in more ways than just length, which sounds odd so I’ll try and explain: Django has a great big laconic violent narrative that takes its time like a talkative houseguest and lingers for a while, until it seemingly ends. Then after that ending, there’s like another forty minutes of movie after, as if somehow with this one we discovered that staying past the credits magically extends the film into further, hidden acts. Seems crazy now but that’s the way some movies were back then. People have said that that feels lopsided and is a downfall for Django, but I disagree and think it gets a lot of it’s charm from that structural padding, no doubt purposeful on QT’s part. It’s also some of the most colourful, flat out ballistic and fun pieces he’s ever done. Post Kill Bill, he really delved into the past for some specific genre stabs at various key time periods, in some cases even rewriting history to meet his pulpy, shock ‘n awe oeuvre. Unchained tells the story of intense self freed slave Django (Jamie Foxx), jovially verbose bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz, the soul of the picture), bratty, psychopathic plantation baron Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio refreshingly cast against type), and a whole sweaty myriad of other cowboys, slaves, businessman and opportunists in a very vivid Old West. Django and King aim to free his imprisoned wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from Candieland, a hellish property ruled over by traitorous head house slave Steven (cantankerous Samuel L. Jackson) and hordes of vicious, tumbleweed thugs. To say violence ensues is a big old understatement; the blood flows like Niagara here, the heads get shot off in double digit count and bullets tear through people like they’ve got barbed wire on them. Hyper stylized, yes, but never a case of style over substance, as QT’s scripts always see to. The friendship between King and Django is allowed to percolate like their tin campfire coffee pot long before any serious chaos ensues, these two make a stalwart pair. DiCaprio is a grinning antagonist whose heinous personality is obvious in Waltz’s gradual revulsion, a setup ripe with gleeful, knee slapping suspense. Joining them is an all star supporting cast including James Remar in sly dual roles, James Russo, Zoe Bell, Miriam F. Glover, Russ Tamblyn, Amber Tamblyn, M.C. Gainey, Walton Goggins, Laura Cayouette, Dennis Christopher, Dana Gourrier, Franco Nero, Don Stroud, Bruce Dern, Michael Bowen, Robert Carradine, Jonah Hill, Lee Horsley, Tom Savini, James Parks, QT himself with a horrendous Aussie accent, a Michael Parks cameo and Don Johnson as a hilarious plantation pimp called Big Daddy. The soundtrack samples everything from Rick Ross to Morricone to Johnny Cash to amp up the proceedings, and cinematography traverses rough hewn deserts, snowy peaks and buzzing bayous to provide sharp, succinct atmosphere for this extreme yarn to play out in. QT’s career comes in two halves for me: The hard boiled, present day set gangster flicks that segued into Kill Bill, still set in our times. For the second half he’s gone historical and turned up the dial on violence, characterization, action and colour, and Django can arguably be called the showcase picture in latter day Tarantino. It’s big, bold, audacious,

unapologetic and I love every second of it.

-Nate Hill

ALL COP: A Fan’s Journey by Kent Hill

by Kent Hill, posted in Interviews

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How important are fans to the longevity of a movie? The truth is – extremely important. Fans are the reason films have survived long past their initial release life. Coming from the age of VHS, we were the generation of watchers that gave cult status to films that would have faded if not for the popularity of this new medium. Films that died even before their brief, bottled-rocket moment in theaters fell to the ground cold and lifeless under the weight of audience disinterest.

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A devoted fan is worth their weight in gold. They will stick with a film, a franchise, even through the worst of times. RoboCop is an undeniable classic. But, and it is just this man’s opinion, the continuing saga has suffered from the same strength that made the first film the glorious specimen it remains. Two wasn’t bad. Three, was stretching. I dug the animated series, even the live-action TV show. Then there was the recent reboot. I think the less said is the easiest mended and stand with many on this thinking – that the idea of remaking classic films is a colossal mistake. There was really nothing in this tepid attempt to re-invoke the wonders of past glory that are worthy of even the title.

Like Eva Rojano I saw RoboCop on video back in the day and was equally as awed by it. The fascinating thing though about Eva’s fandom is the empowering nature, the passion and exuberance she draws from the picture, and how it has helped shape her life and permeate her dreams and ambitions.

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Eva with Nancy Allen

Eva was so taken with the power of the character, and the story arc of Anne Lewis, portrayed by the wonderful Nancy Allen, that she eventually started corresponding with her idol, and finally, was able to meet her in person and further solidify the friendship.

The joyful nature of being utterly and completely taken by the subject and the morals amplified by popular and classic movies, is that it allows the fan to live vicariously through the characters they identify with and thus, giving one’s imagination fertile soil in which to plant the seeds for a harvest of success in whichever field of expertise one chooses  to explore in life.

Eva has taken the inspiration she receives from the likes of the empowered character of Anne Lewis and has turned all of her creativity and dedication to spreading and bringing together the talents and appreciation of RoboCop fandom world-wide. And, in the wake of the recent news of yet another cinematic entry into the RoboCop franchise, as well as, the fact that the talented Miss Allen has not, unlike the other member of her integral duo aka Peter Weller, been approached to be a part of this re-invigoration of such a beloved series; Eva has taken to the fandom at large and has created a petition to motivate the powers that be with the hopes of bringing back her treasured Officer Lewis.

Eva’s is a fascinating and passion-filled tale that I trust will inspire and delight. Please do, all you Robo-Fans, jump on the bandwagon and sign the petition (https://www.change.org/p/mgm-studios-inc-we-want-nancy-allen-to-play-a-role-in-robocop-returns) to get Nancy, along with Peter, back into the Robo-verse where together they belong. And also to, please follow the links below and experience the wonderful work Eva is doing – all to honor the movie she loves most dearly.

https://enhanced-reality.wixsite.com/robocoplewis

https://www.facebook.com/RoboCopLewis/

MORE ROBO-COLLABORATORS

Ed Neumeier

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Steve, The MEG & I: 20 Years in the Making (Part 2) by Kent Hill

by Kent Hill, posted in Interviews

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I am a fan of Steve Alten’s writing and of shark, or sharksploitation cinema in general – so read these words with that in mind.

I first read MEG: A Novel of Deep Terror when it arrived on the scene in the late 90’s and believed then – just as a certain movie out at the moment  has confirmed for the world – that it was/is the basis for something cinematically awesome. But that was twenty years ago, when Alten was poised to become the next Peter Benchley and have his man vs big shark, or in MEG’s case, prehistoric bad-ass shark, optioned before it hit the shelves. All of the ingredients seemed to be there. A new JAWS, it appeared, was on the cards – then, it didn’t happen.

I followed the gestation throughout the years of this mighty megalodon movie that got away. Talented filmmakers crossed its wake, and I confess, I would have liked to have seen Jan de Bont’s take on the material – this talented director of photography  that came to the director’s chair and gave us SPEED and TWISTER. I think had his next picture been MEG, we might well be talking about Jan in a different way – and it might have saved us from SPEED 2?

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But they all saw MEG a different way. They didn’t see it the right way. Thus the production floundered and the seasons came and went. The MEG, all the while, lay silent in the depths of development hell.

CUT TO:

A YEAR AGO.

I contacted Steve (https://podcastingthemsoftly.com/2017/08/02/20-years-in-the-making-an-interview-with-steve-alten-by-kent-hill/) to talk about the arduous journey his big shark book had taken to get to the screen. (A year before the worldwide press descended with the onset of the film’s success, I might add.) I was excited because, at long last, it seemed as though there was no stopping it now. A live action feature was in production and MEG, or The MEG, as it was soon to be titled, was rising and with or without the ‘The’, we who call ourselves ‘Megheads’ were about to have all we’ve ever wanted.

And it is the big shark summer blockbuster that I’ve longed for since reading that Novel of Deep Terror way back when. With an exceptional cast to lead us through a picture that is at once funny, moving and action-packed – there’s plenty for one to sink one’s teeth into. The filmmakers have given rise to the ‘Alten-verse’ which explodes spectacularly like the prehistoric leviathan that is it’s centerpiece.

Steve said we should catch up after the movie was out, so, I now present that chat and as for The MEG – I sign off by directly quoting the final line of one of the many splendid reviews for the picture previously published. In part because I share its sentiment exactly, and also because, whether by accident or design, it makes reference to that other big shark movie you may or may not be aware of…

“It will leave your inner 12 year old and your actual 12 year old, smiling like a son-of-a-bitch.”

VISIT:https://www.stevealten.com/

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She’s a little bit DANGEROUS! : The DANGER DIVA Interviews with Kent Hill

by Kent Hill, posted in Interviews

It was the night before I was given the opportunity to experience Danger Diva that I just happened to be watching Rock & Rule. Little did I know, nor did I expect, certain similarities to interlink in my consciousness as directly following  Clive A. Smith’s cult animated classic, I would be treated to a viewing of Shredder Orpheus’ all but vanished auteurs’ latest picture.

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I still have a copy of Robert McGinley’s 90’s skateboarding, rock ‘n’ roll, ancient mythological homage on VHS. Along with films like Slava Tsukeman’s Liquid Sky and James Fargo’s Voyage of the Rock Aliens, it remains an alternative delight. And, now, Robert  makes an alley-like but most welcome return to the director’s chair.

He brings with him what star Tim Gouran perfectly summed up as a bad-ass, rock ‘n’ roll, sci-fi movie in the form of DANGER DIVA. Set against the backdrop of a very William Gibson stylized future where the elite seek to further manipulate and control the masses. All the powers that be need is a symbol – a voice.

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Diva is a film rich and enthralling in spite of its low budget constraints. McGinley once more brings his unique storytelling, his passion for mythology, his love of classic science fiction, his rock ‘n’ roll sensibilities all to play in this dynamic and thought-provoking movie which, as I think good films should, lingers with you long after the credits roll.

As to my comparisons to Rock & Rule – well fellow fans of that film, I think, will automatically understand where I’m coming from. Of course if you’ve not seen it, then you should – but not before you’ve had a listen to the lads, as it was a privilege to chat with both director and star as it is to bring to your attention this incredible picture which I urge you to seek out and experience for yourself.

VISIT: https://dangerdiva.com/

ROCK ON!

ROBERT McGINLEY

{Courtesy of: https://www.robertmcginleyfilms.com/films-about/}

Robert R McGinley is the writer-director of the feature films JIMMY ZIP and SHREDDER ORPHEUS. JIMMY ZIP, starring Brendan Fletcher, Chris Mulkey, Adrienne Frantz and Robert Gossett won the Best Dramatic Feature award at the Hollywood Film Festival and SHREDDER ORPHEUS is a Seattle cult classic featuring the late great poet, Jesse Bernstein. Both films underscore Robert McGinley’s ongoing interest in rites of passage stories that highlight “the hero’s journey.” Projects in development include the action drama BLOOD RUNS THICKER and the music driven cyber-punk thriller, DANGER DIVA.

Prior to his immersion in film-making, McGinley was the founding artistic director for the internationally acclaimed Seattle theater, On the Boards; a producer and presenter of contemporary dance, theater and music from around the world. In addition to his work as a filmmaker and theater producer, McGinley writes and performs poetry embellished by music and various incendiary arts.

TIM GOURAN

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Tim Gouran is known for his outstanding performances in numerous plays, including Of Mice and Men and ACT’s immense Ramayana production – not to mention his great works in filmography: Love my Guts, Gory Gory Hallelujah, Worst Laid Plans, Better than Love, Two Pictures and of course, Danger Diva