OSCARS 2011: Live Action Shorts candidates

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released the titles of ten live action short films that will advance in the voting process for the 2011 Academy Awards. Seventy-six pictures had originally qualified in the category. The refined list of ten titles are mentioned below with embedded video for those with available promotional material online.

Ana’s Playground. Director: Eric D. Howell.



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The Confession. Director: Tanel Toom.
Video Link: The Academy Awards website.

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The Crush. Director: Michael Creagh.



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God of Love. Director: Luke Matheny.
Video Link: The Academy Awards website.

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Na Wewe. Director: Ivan Goldschmidt.



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Seeds of the Fall. Director: Patrik Eklund.



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Seeds of the Fall. Director: Patrik Eklund.
No video available at this time.

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The Six Dollar Fifty Man. Directors: Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland.



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Sma Barn, Stora Ord (Little Children, Big Words). Director: Lisa James Larsson.
No video available at this time.

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Wish 143. Director: Ian Barnes.
No video available at this time.

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Those are the ten short live action films that have been placed on the short list of candidates for the upcoming Academy Awards. Here is a detailed description from the Academy's website on where the list will go from here.

The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting in screenings held in New York and Los Angeles.

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in January 2011.

The 83rd Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The Complete List of Director's Chair #12

Happy holidays everyone! I am unsure if it was poor planning on my part to schedule the twelfth installment of The Director's Chair after the six day extravaganza known to every American as the weekend of Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. Due to some reason beyond this immediate scapegoat of a holiday weekend the turnout of participation for the event is extremely low. As a result of low participation I had to decrease the original three day run down to a single day. Regardless of the number of days that will be slated for the event I have included the entire list here for your reference. Enjoy the reading!

From the blog of Invasion of the B Movies
Review of Bride of the Monster (1955)
Editorial for a remake of Plan 9 from Outer Space

From the blog of Bargain Bin Review
Review of Plan 9 from Outer Space (1958)

From the blog of Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob
Review of Plan 9 from Outer Space (1958)

From the blog of Shades of Gray
Editorial of Ed Wood's career
Double feature review: Bride of the Monster and Night of the Ghouls

Franco and Hathaway to host 2011 Oscars

From the website for The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Beverly Hills, CA (November 29, 2010) – James Franco and Anne Hathaway will serve as co-hosts of the 83rd Academy Awards®, Oscar telecast producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer announced today. Both have previously appeared on the telecast but not in hosting capacities.

"James Franco and Anne Hathaway personify the next generation of Hollywood icons— fresh, exciting and multi-talented. We hope to create an Oscar broadcast that will both showcase their incredible talents and entertain the world on February 27," said Cohen and Mischer. "We are completely thrilled that James and Anne will be joining forces with our brilliant creative team to do just that."

Franco, who currently can be seen in "127 Hours," will be making his second appearance on an Oscar telecast. His other film credits include "Eat, Pray, Love," "Date Night," "Milk" and "Pineapple Express." Franco is also known for his portrayals of Harry Osborn in the "Spider-Man" trilogy.

Hathaway will be making her fifth appearance on an Academy Awards telecast. She was recently seen in "Alice in Wonderland" and currently can be seen in "Love and Other Drugs." Hathaway's other film credits include "Bride Wars," "Becoming Jane," "The Devil Wears Prada" and "The Princess Diaries." She was nominated for an Oscar in 2008 for her lead performance in "Rachel Getting Married."

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

I am happy to hear about this news because I am a fan of both actors and will be looking forward to watching them host the awards ceremony next year.

Happy 82nd birthday for Steamboat Willie

The short cartoon film that became famous for the use of synchronized sound with a hand drawn image has turned eighty-two years old on November 18th. For more information about the history of the short film visit this page. Otherwise, you watch the restored (and uncensored) version of original film here.

Review: Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

As much as I love the dark sarcasm that Freddy Krueger brings to the table in every one of his movie appearances I must say I was not too thrilled with Freddy vs. Jason (2003). It is merely a platform for a death match between to iconic horror figures, but it is not built upon Freddy’s home turf of Elm Street. Freddy is out of his own authentic environment and playing ball as the visiting team against Crystal Lake hometown murderous-hero Jason. I will admit that I have not seen any of the Friday the 13th movies, which places me at a disadvantage as a movie watcher. I do not know the complete history of both lead characters. However, viewing this film with a broad perspective I can see the valuable importance of placing the two characters against each other as a means to an end in satisfying the hardcore fans of the two franchises. The downfall of the film is that it was produced the horror standards of 2003 and not by the horror film stands of the late 70s, mid-80s and early 90s in which the two franchises were originally produced and distributed to the public. I was not too keen on the first killing scene that graphically shows the victim folded in half as if he were trying to bend over backwards to touch his toes. It was so graphically show that I do not remember anything from the original Elm Street films that would even compare on an equal playing field with the death of the first victim in this film. In the horror films of post-2000 the audience would bear witness to a large amount of similar “deaths” as this one, but not so much for those who watched the mainstream horror films of the 1980s. Freddy vs. Jason is an okay movie, but it did not scare me at all. It just was filled with several “gotcha” moments that attempt to gross me out in addition to a “titillating” moment with a hot teenager who wants to go skinny-dipping in Crystal Lake. It is a yawn fest at best with a single redeeming value of passing the time when there are no other movie titles around worth watching.

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

If all else fails with capturing a serial killer there may be only one option left to consider. The professional CSI people need to be called in for duty and they need to capture the bad guy while working in 3D. You have correctly read that statement if you thought of David Caruso barging into a crime scene wearing a pair of designer 3D glasses. The only major annoyance the audience must face is the resurrection of the infamous bogeyman that is recognizable by his third degree burns and raspy voice. At the time Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare was released in theaters most of the world may have considered Freddy to be a dead character. Literally. So what is a wretched nightmare supposed to do when he runs out of victims in the Elm Street neighborhood? Well he makes the decision to expand the boundary lines of his haunting crowds to include orphan teenagers at the local youth center. These unsuspecting teenagers have been narrowed down to be Freddy’s next target of fiendish attack. How is it even possible to have a connection between these orphans and their demise at the hands of Freddy?

The easy answer for the screenwriter is to introduce the arrival of a teenager with amnesia who serves as a medium between Freddy’s world and the other teenagers. The audience is led to believe of a non-existent connection between Freddy and the delinquent crowd. This sixth installment of the Nightmare series is not best contender, but it holds its own weight pretty well. The drawback for the film is utilizing gimmicks to draw the audience into the movie theater. I could easily pass on the fifteen-minute sequence in the climax of the film that was built upon the premise of the audience wearing 3D glasses. Watching the movie on a standard definition DVD (or VHS) the sequence is only in the traditional 2D format. I prefer the traditional flat format without Freddy’s arms flying off the screen at me.

Overall, I consider the movie to be a halfway decent closure to the series. What marks it to be only halfway decent would be the lack of Oomph in the anti-climactic third act. It is not an emotionally satisfying conclusion mainly because it was written around the gimmick of utilizing the 3D film making. I wish they could have pushed for a better ending than messing around with fashionable tools of film making.

Review: Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)

It can be a tricky situation to produce a movie that attempts to show you the movie man hiding behind the cinematic curtain. One of the prominent issues that would produce a flop of a story would be the entrapment of self-appreciation which can bore the audience to tears. Who would willingly want to listen to a braggart prattle on for ninety minutes about his (or her) ability to spin a good yarn? A person spinning a yarn about spinning a yarn is redundant storyline just like this sentence has regurgitated what I had asked in the previous statement. It can be a fine line between the creation of a good movie and a terrible one if they are both make an honest attempt at creating a fictional story behind the scenes of movie making. Often the moments in the story that occur “backstage” are just as emotionally distant and well-polished as the “filmed” scenes. Applying this particular line of thinking while I was watching Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) it would be effortless to admit that I was satisfied with the story. In terms of measuring the difference between a good adaptation and a bad adaptation of the filmmaking business I would say this film lands on the good side of the fence, but not dramatically far from it. The entire premise of the story for New Nightmare runs on a basic premise that begins with the audience believing the arch villain of a series of stories has been completely snuffed out and killed in the previous installment of the series. However, the “out” is presented by the original creator of the character, also known as the God-like role of the series, who is unable to officially close the book on the character by personally killing him off, He must have the original heroic character make a triumphant return to the series and proclaim the final word of closure as if she is the only one capable of pronouncing the last rites of death for the arch enemy.

Of course, the creator is never allowed to pronounce the death of his or her own creation, but there is the unspoken loophole that allows another created character to enact the formality of death on the creator’s behalf. Therefore, the conundrum for Wes Craven, the creator, would be to convince a retired actress to return to her role as Nancy Thompson, the role she portrayed in the first and third installment of the franchise. Her return will help him completely kill Freddy off without having to get his own hands dirty. The validity of reasoning in why Nancy would the perfect character for the job would be that she is the only one in the armory of franchise characters who can successfully over power Freddy. None of the other franchise characters were capable of matching her strength and endurance a battle with Freddy.

On frequent occasions through this film the audience is transported between the real world and the nightmarish world of Freddy Krueger. The scenes that feature the real world contain numerous happy moments that are shared between real life friends: Heather Langenkamp (who portrays Nancy), Robert Englund (who portrays Freddy), and Wes Craven. However, the fictitious world they had created in earlier films is making an attempt at breaking into their reality. No longer does Robert Englund have to don the special effects makeup (hold your breath and take the bait) for Freddy Krueger to magically appear in the real world and haunt people at random. The evil character has found a way to revive his life without external assistance and enable inter-dimension transport into the real world via a string of California earthquakes. Wow, really? Fictional characters of evil proportions are able to become self-aware with a heavy seven-point-oh magnitude earthquake and teleport from the fictional world to reality? Where is René Descartes when I need a few answers?

In my own point of view Wes Craven has done a decent job with the balancing act between the real world and the fictional movies. Although his acting skills need a round of improvement (even for portraying himself in a movie that he wrote and directed) there is a certain amount of believability to the execution of creating the story for this film. In my opinion, creating a movie in Hollywood about a bunch of Hollywood people who are haunted by the film productions of their past can be a recipe for a disaster waiting to spiral out of control. Craven was able to keep the story within his grasp for the most part. The real world setting that has been placed within story of the film is believable enough for me, whereas the fictional world of Elm Street remains true to the tradition of the horrific storytelling that has been maintained in the previous films.

Review -- A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)

Hurray! We finally get to indulge a bit on the largest chunk of Freddy Krueger backs tory ever with this film. His mom is introduced as a nun who used to work at the same mental hospital that appears in Nightmare 3. She was raped by a thousand maniacs and thus Freddy Krueger was born. The flashback scene involving all those insane characters is one of the highlights of the film, because Robert Englund (the actor behind the face of Freddy) appears as a Freddy Free maniac amidst the crowd of asylum inmates. However, the point of the film does not rest solely upon the history of Freddy Krueger, but upon his battle for survival. He wants to return to the real world where he can roam free without having to be confined to the prison of nightmares that appear in the dreamscape of real world people. The only way he is able to transition between the dream world and reality would be to inject his soul into the unborn fetus of Alice Johnson. She might consider the opportunity of being a surrogate mother to a murderous figurehead like Freddy the most rewarding experience that she could ever hope for in her entire life. Ha! Yeah, right, like she would ever be thrilled with the idea of giving birth to him. There is not very much in this film that is memorable to me other than the flashback scenes in the asylum and the climactic battle in the church between Freddy and Alice over the soul of her baby. The special effects in the fight scene are pretty cool, because they are built as practical special effects with little reliance on computer effects. I do not know how you feel about the use of computer generated special effects, but has evolved into a handicap for many filmmakers today who think everything can be readjusted in post-production. It takes a lot of guts and skill to create the work on the set instead of post-production and I think the final product is a whole lot more gratifying for the filmmaker willing to spend so much time on producing the visuals and work on the set.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

Holy crap, here we go again with wiping the slate clean. Nearly all of the characters from the previous movies have been completely removed with only a few minor exceptions. A couple of the characters from the third installment have been brought back for the fourth film, but only as a supporting cast to connect the dots between story lines. Among the small group of returning characters would be Kristen Parker. She was semi-prominently featured in the third movie and portrayed by Patricia Arquette, but has been knocked down to a smaller role in the fourth film and portrayed by a different actress (Tuesday Knight). My memory is a bit fuzzy in recalling this piece of information, but I think swap out of actresses for the character was due to Patricia’s unexpected pregnancy (or something like that). The other returning characters are merely filler in the story for Nightmare 4 as they are only there to elaborate upon various issues to the new central character before each one of them is conveniently killed off by Freddy. The framework of the entire story of Nightmare 4 is comparable to the bridge of a pop song. In order to make an attempt of avoiding a pattern in the franchise of producing a successful installment followed by a mediocre or crappy installment this film has been setup to connect the positive production of Dream Warriors (Nightmare 3) to The Dream Child (Nightmare 5). Some of the primary characters from for the third film are brought into the fourth film to ease the transition process, but since they are murdered before the conclusion of the film the audience is left alone with the new central character, Alice Johnson, as their only heroic protagonist to support. This should not a complete downer for the audience.

The story is charming and entertaining as a standalone picture, but the audience needs to know the complete story of the series to grasp the back story of the supporting characters and the history of Freddy Krueger. Being a well-informed viewer will help the person grasp the value of the Nightmare 4 as a stepping stone in the grand scheme of the franchise. It can be briefly described as “out with the old and in with the new,” because the new central character, Alice Johnson, reappears in Nightmare 5 with a baby on the way.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

After the lackluster story that was ever present in the second Nightmare film it was a breath of fresh air upon arriving to the third film in the franchise. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors not only recovers one of the favorite antagonists from the first film (Nancy), but brings her back in full force and stronger than ever. She has returned with a formal college education marking her as an official expert in nightmares and dreams. Not only has she increased her brain power on how to fight Freddy, but she has made the decision to team up with a group of teenagers who have the desire to kick some bogeyman ass. There is safety in numbers, my dear. The teenage power fighters are all victims of Freddy’s nightmares. It would be safe and easy to observe their strong willingness and desire to stop having the horrific nightmares. One of the powerhouses behind such an innovative turnaround with the storyline is a rookie screenwriter by the name of Frank Darabont who holds a screenwriting credit for his partnership on the script for this film. Yes, I am referring to that Frank Darabont of Shawshank Redemption fame. This film was his first feature length movie script contribution and many Freddy fans are enjoyably happier for it after suffering through the second installment of the franchise. I should not be giving him the entire basket of praise for reviving the series, because he co-wrote the script with Chuck Russell and Bruce Wagner who had equal contributions to production of the script’s final draft.

The positive aspects of this movie would be the bullet points that I have already mentioned. Bringing Nancy back was a definitive move in strengthening the series since her character is such a strong persona which makes her a perfect rival against Freddy Krueger. Giving her a group of able bodied teenagers willing to battle against a supernatural nightmare has added a powerful arsenal to the valuable experience and renewed knowledge that Nancy has brought to the war room. In addition, the nightmare sequences that are presented in this film are creatively different from the nightmares that appear in the other films. With the involvement of sleepwalking as a part of the dreams not only adds a sense of realism, but serves as a tool to entice the involvement of the other characters in the story. Sleepwalking is common for many dreamers and it can be a scary experience when the person wakes up without a clue of the new surroundings. In addition, sleepwalking is a dangerous when the person is unable to consciously avoid hazardous situations as the case is exemplified in the movie when one of the characters falls off a high tower and dies.

This movie is toward the top of my list of favorite installments in the Nightmare series. The heroic characters in the movie are a group of people that I can connect with and root for as they battle the bogeyman of their nightmares. Feeling sad when the group hits a roadblock or a moment of happiness when they succeed are both readily available when I watch Dream Warriors. It is thrilling to see this movie as a gateway of revitalization for the franchise.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

Quite a number of people have mentioned the high amount of homosexual undertones that appear in the second installment of the Nightmare franchise. I would have to agree with the conception of homosexual interpretations, but only to a certain degree. One of the arguments that I have heard in regards to the appearance of the homosexual undertones in the film would point out the existence of a male lead character in a horror film in lieu of the traditional employment of a female character. The reason why a girl or a woman would be selected to be prominently placed in the forefront of all the characters to appear in a horror movie is based upon the preconceived notion (or stereotype, if you will) those women are more susceptible to irrational behavior and emotions that men and boys are vulnerable to experiencing. Placing the emotionally unstable character in a situation involving extremely horrific interactions with a maladjusted serial character will help carry the plot of the horror film along to a satisfying conclusion. Projecting this utilitarian use of sissified lead characters enough times in horror films the audience will be jarred a little bit when a movie tends to stray from the tradition a bit by changing up the sex of the lead character. The reproductive organs may be different, but will the audience drag the established gender roles of the weaker female character over to the new lead character that happens to be a male figure? When a male figure does appear in the central role of a horror movie, such as the case would be exemplified in the Evil Dead trilogy, the appearance of masculinity as a male gender role is impressed upon the audience by means of reiteration. However, the lead male character in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge is not battling an army of zombies, but a singular bogeyman who is haunting his dreams. His response to the bogeyman is a bit squeamish and sissified at times before he grows a pair and starts fighting back.

It would be expected to build a sequel film as a continuation of its successor. However, there are several sequels that feature a returning character or group of characters, but contain very little direct continuation of the storyline from the first film. Surely there would be pockets of references to the first film as the case is with Freddy’s Revenge by include the main arch-villain and a few tidbits of background history that are carried over from the previous installment. No other characters from the first film are prominently featured in this sequel which leaves the audience to get acquainted with a whole new cast of characters. With a primary group of mediocre characters that appear in Freddy’s Revenge it leaves me with no one to be in favor of other than the success and failures of Freddy Krueger. Persuading the audience to side with the villain of the story may not be a positive step in the right direction when you want them to be cheering on the antagonist. Score one for Freddy and send the writers to the penalty box.

The vast majority of the movie viewing public who has watched the entire Nightmare series would probably list this film toward the bottom of the list of best films in the franchise. I would agree with the general consensus. The film lacks a solid foundation of meat and potatoes that would draw me into enjoying it. By replacing the protagonists from the first film with a weak, new character I have lost any and all interest in caring about his battle against Freddy.

Book Review: Hollywood Monster

He is a really nice guy in person. I should know, since I had the opportunity to meet him in person on two separate occasions. I will warn you that he is quite a talker if he has the time to sit down with you for a chat over coffee, tea, or a beer. It is not a bad thing to be a conversationalist as long as you have something entertaining or interesting to say like he does. He will tell you the interesting stories of his career like the time when he worked with Henry Fonda on The Great Smokey Roadblock (1977). This particular walk down memory lane is clearly described in his biography book Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street with the Man of Your Dreams. The biography book was co-written by Alan Goldsher who has recently published an interesting (although fictional) mash-up book about The Beatles as if they were a rock ‘n’ roll band of zombie musicians. Awesome! His work on Robert Englund's book was created in the traditional style of capturing a celebrity biography through the means of holding several interviews between the two of them over a period of time before placing a coherent and chronological story on to the printed page. Embedded below are a few brief interview segments that the publishers (Simon & Schuster) have uploaded to the company's YouTube channel.

After meeting him in person my curiosity had reached the better of me. I wanted to read his autobiography to discover a few more of the stories about his career and motivation to get involved with acting. Not only did he include a tremendous amount of information of how he was sucked into the world of the dramatic arts when he was a teenager (it was the fun of comedy and the attention of the girls), but he also offers several little anecdotes about each one of the films that appear in the Nightmare franchise. Of course, it is the film series that has taken an average guy and placed him at the forefront of iconic character figures in the same way that Bela Lugosi is eternally associated with Dracula and Boris Karloff is forever associated with Frankenstein. The book is easy to read since it has been written in a conversational style. The reading experience is similar to listening to Robert Englund directly talk to you as if the two of you are in the same room together. This style of writing can be one of the aspects about the book that will entice a person to pick up a copy of it to read. It is one of the elements of the book that kept my attention flowing from one story to the next one in a fluid manner as if I am listening to a long conversation over coffee. It is interesting to learn about his open arm embrace of the celebrity fandom that he has earned since his appearance in the Nightmare and the original television miniseries V which was televised in the early 1980s. He describes the group of fans as a career making phenomenon (a loose oversimplification of his words would only be an error on my part) who have shown their appreciation for the characters he played. The response from the fans is what kept the doors open for Robert to find more acting work.

For those who would like a preview of the book can find large chunks of the text available in the book section of Google by clicking this direct link to the preview page. I am not sure how long the material will be available since it is published online at the discretion of the publishing company. However, if you would like to obtain a full copy of the book then you grab a hard copy from Amazon.com if not from your favorite bookstore of choice. There is a copy of the book available in the Kindle format if you prefer to obtain a digital copy of it on your Kindle reader.

Review: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

In the early era of Hollywood filmmaking there was a group of horror monsters known as the Universal Monsters. As a collective they were given the name because the characters were predominantly featured in the films that were owned and distributed by Universal Studios. The golden era of these original horror icons had tapered off in the 1950s and there were no comparable rivals to boot the troop from their highly regarded spot until the late 1970s which carried over into the entire decade of the 1980s. This particular era had marked a revival of horrific characters that garnered an indelible impression on a new generation of young movie watchers. In my opinion, they were the new rival team that arrived on the scene to give the old school a run for its money. Ever since the 1980s there is not a single group of horror icons that can be included in the same category as the Universal Monsters and the Eighties Miscreants.

Marked as one of the iconic figures of horror films from the 1980s it would be easy to claim Freddy Krueger to be the only cinematic character who could successfully wear Christmas colors all year round. He holds a sarcastic sense of humor especially in the later Nightmare films, but I must stick to the first installment for this review. I need you to use your imagination for a minute by thinking about what it would be like to watch A Nightmare on Elm Street during its opening weekend in November of 1984. Freddy Krueger is a character that has never been seen or heard of before this film leaving him to be a mysterious figure to everyone in the audience, including you. Sure thing is the word has been bubbling around the pop culture rumor mill that he is a bad ass character, but has anyone bear witness to his identity first hand prior to seeing the movie? Once again imagine that you are sitting down to watch the film for the very first time without any knowledge of the sequel movies or about Krueger’s character history. The story that is presented to you in the film is about a high school student and her friends who are experiencing similar nightmares. From the very start of the film there is a large amount of attention upon the fearful plight of the teenagers who are held captive by their common ground nightmares.

The information about his identity and character is broken up into pieces and given to the audience in small doses. The largest chunk of information that is offered frequently would be his ability to haunt the dreams of children and high school students as if he is a curious traveler on a world tour trying to visit as many exotic lands in a single night as he could possibly could afford. However, this piece of information is more telling of what he is capable of accomplishing more than it would be an explanation of his character, background, and history. The only piece of information that crops up with a bit of a background story of his character arrives from the mouth of the neighborhood drunk and mother of the lead character in the film. She rambles out a story about a group of neighborhood parents who murdered a janitor by the name of Fred Krueger on the basis that he was a child molester and murderer. A regular roundabout twentieth century lynch mob, of sorts.

What is intriguing about the film would be the story does not play out as a traditional slasher-horror film would be produced. The structure of the film resembles a murder and mystery story with elemental bits of a horror film mixed in for extra spice. The main character, Nancy Thompson, is determined to catch the preposterous character with the same drive and tenacity a homicide detective would place on nabbing a serial killer. The only clear difference between Nancy and a run-of-the-mill homicide detective would be her role as a victim more than a role as an outside observer like a detective would be when piecing together the clues and evidence left behind by the criminal. The audience feels sympathy for Nancy, as we all relate to her as the victim of nightmares more than we would relate to the role of a detective. We have all experienced the pain of waking up from a nightmare, but not everyone has held a job as a criminal detective.



The attributes that appear in this film that would draw me to proclaim that it is one of my favorite horror franchise films from the decade would be as follows. I enjoy the dark and sarcastic humor of the villain. In my mind this characteristic attribute is what keeps Freddy Krueger grounded in the dark shadows of human behavior. The empire of fictional villains is inundated by serial criminals, molesters, and other forms of material that is shocking behavior in the real world, but now has been watered down to boredom in the realm of storytelling. It has become overdone, watered down and completely played to rubbish, which places me, the viewer, in a position of wanting to ignore the story entirely. Shocking criminal behavior is no longer intriguing in a story as it used to be with previous movies. The dark sarcasm and the full body burns would be the attributes that separates Krueger apart from the traditional villain.

Another element of the storytelling that appears in the movie would be something that I have already mentioned. I enjoyed the format of the story as a mystery, a la whodunit story, more than a mere “gotcha” horror flick meant to scare the audience with loud noises or gruesome death scenes. I am not a huge fan of gruesome death scenes, because I do not understand the point of observing the death of someone who is contorted into bizarre positions or murderously ripped apart until their guts are graphically displayed all over the screen. This can be misconstrued since I will admit that I have seen six out of seven of the Saw films, but only enjoyed watching the first one because of the surprise ending. The rest of them I watched out of curiosity, but wish the producers could have done something better with their time as much as I wish I could have done something better with mine. Therefore, having the lead character enact a personal vendetta of tracking down the evil bogeyman of her nightmares and abolish him forever has produced a suspenseful thriller of a story typically associated with the genre of mystery books and film noir.

The Robert Englund Blogathon

He is the man behind the fire burns and the iron glove. I am referring to actor Robert Englund who is known for his role as Freddy Krueger in the film franchise A Nightmare on Elm Street. A couple of months ago I thought it would be interesting to sift through the entire collection of Nightmare films again and post a review for each one of them in a marathon style. I also sent out an invitation to a crowd of fellow movie bloggers to send in their articles that are connected with Englund’s career so that I may include a link here for your reading pleasure. For the reviews that I have written will be posted here on this site every thirty minutes starting at 2:58 PM in California time. If you happen to be reading this introductory message at the exact moment that it was published online at 2:28 PM then you have thirty minutes and counting until the next post will arrive on the site. For those who are observant fans of horror films from the 1980s may discover the hidden meaning of the odd publishing time if they were to translate it into military time. Moving on to the guts of the introduction for the marathon I would like to present to you the links to all the articles that are connected to Robert Englund’s films.

Submission from Counting Down the Hours website
Review for A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Submissions from Terror Titans website
Review for Dance Macabre (1991)
Review for Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2007)
Review for Slashed Dreams (1973)
Review for Wishmaster (1997)

Submission from Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob website
Short review for Hatchet (2006)

Submissions from Reel Whore website
Review for Zombie Strippers (2008)
Freddy Face Off: Jackie Earle Haley versus Robert Englund
Review for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Submission from Movie Dearest website
Short review for Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2007)

Submissions from The Horror Digest website
Review for A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Review for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Submission from Rachel's Reel Reviews website
Review for A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Submission from Final Girl website
Editorial about A Nightmare on Elm Street

Submission from The Smoking Pen website
Review of the entire A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise

If by chance I may have accidentally overlooked an article on your website or blog that would be fitting for this blog-a-thon can you please send the link to me via e-mail as soon as possible? I will add it to this list as soon as I can.

Back to the Future Daylight Saving Reminder

Today is November 5, 2010 and I would like to wish you the best Happy Back to the Future Day ever! Since the current year of 2010 is clearly divisible by five such as the other years from the movie franchise (1885, 1955, 1985, and 2015) it would be something extra special to note the day in our calendar. Do not forget that this year also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the original film which was released on July 3, 1985. Last year I posted a celebratory blog article to celebrate V for Vendetta (2006) because it shares November 5th as a memorable reference within its storyline. As for the interesting note regarding the date for this year is the coincidence of Daylight Saving Time happening tomorrow night. This means that all of us who observe the annoying practice of adjusting our clocks twice a year will have to set them back an hour. Sure thing that we will gain an extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning, but have you considered that we get to go back in time a full hour in the same weekend as the Back to the Future anniversary? How cool is that? As a special ode to those of you who participate in the bi-annual tradition of time resetting or a fan of the films I would like to present to you a funny video that combines the two elements together. Enjoy!

Reminder of the Robert Englund blogathon

As a friendly reminder of the upcoming blogathon that I have planned for November 9th the invitation of participation has been extended to anyone movie fan that has a personal blog or website in which they can published a review or article. The focus of the blogathon would be the films and work of actor Robert Englund who is a horror film icon in his own right for his portrayal of Freddy Krueger. If you would like to participate in the event I will be posting a link on this site to every article and movie review that is submitted for the event. The event begins at 2:28 PM in California time on November 9th. I am planning on posting all of the submitted links right at the start of the event before publishing one of my reviews every thirty minutes for the next four and a half hours. I already have a couple of articles submitted and am looking forward to receiving your articles. If you would like more information including how to submit the articles then visit the original announcement post.

Walter Murch, the living legend of editing!

Not very long ago I published an article that offers an overview of all the editing nominees of the 82nd annual Academy Awards (click here to read it) and I was inspired a bit to write a separate article about the film editing guru of Hollywood. This article is long overdue in being published on the site, since I planned to post it a few months ago. Regardless, it would be unfair to allow it to collect dust on the virtual bookshelf forever. He is a living legend and an icon of film and sound editing in the industry of movie making.

PART ONE: The Lecture on Editing.
In this lecture, Walter Murch describes the history of film editing and its value in the industry. He offers several examples including a personal example from one of his most famous works of editing. The forty-minute lecture has been embedded below in case you would like to watch it now. In case you would like to watch the video later, then bookmark this direct link to the video. The lecture was recorded on May 29, 2003 at BAFTA in England.



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The William Dickson Sound Experiment (1894)
In the first example that he demonstrates to the audience is the William Dickson Sound Experiment. The camera work for his lecture was unable to capture the nineteen-second clip adequately. He personally restored the footage for long term archiving. Here is an embedded video clip of the entire short film so that you can see and hear the particular material that he is talking about in his lecture.

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An example from The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
Here is the embedded video for the sequence from the Unbearable movie (pun semi-intended) that Walter Murch refers to during his lecture.

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PART TWO: Question and Answer Session with Walter Murch.
As much as I worked on the attempt of embedding the Question and Answer session on this page I was blocked by whatever computer codes that have attached with the video. Therefore, if you would like to watch the forty-nine-minute long session then head on over to this direct link to the Google Video page for it. Do not forget to find a copy of his published book In the Blink of an Eye if you would like to hear more of what he has to say about film editing.

George Lucas is still Trick-or-Treating?

This year's Halloween episode of FoxTrot appears to sum up an awesome definition of a scary trick by featuring a delusional "George Lucas" character.

The Complete List of Director's Chair #11

Some of you may know that I am a guest blogger for The Large Association of Movie Blogs in which I host a reoccurring feature known as The LAMBs in the Director’s Chair. Every month or two I collect a group of reviews and editorials that focus upon the directorial career of a pre-selected candidate. For the eleventh installment of the series the selected candidate was Alfred Hitchcock. Here is a complete list of all the articles that have been included in the event.

CAREER EDITORIALS

Contributions from Suspend Your Disbelief.
An essay on the homophobia and misogyny present in Alfred Hitchcock's films
An essay on the visual style, narrative and themes of two Hitchcock films

Contributions from Let's Not Talk About Movies.
Alfred Hitchcock: Immigrant Worker of Suspense
Alfred Hitchcock: A Period of Grace
Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Hermann: Masters of Suspense

Contribution from Above the Line.
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock The Knight Commander

REVIEWS FOR ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S FILMS

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

• True Classics: The ABCs of Classic Film
• Let's Not Talk About Movies
• Bill's Movie Emporium

Vertigo (1958)

• True Classics: The ABCs of Classic Film
• Bill's Movie Emporium
• Brown Okinawa Assault Incident
• Film Forager
• Foolish Blatherings
• Life of a Cinephile and Bibliophile

The Birds (1963)

• Brown Okinawa Assault Incident
• Suspend Your Disbelief
• Bill's Movie Emporium

Rebecca (1940)

• Bill's Movie Emporium
• The Best Picture Project

I Confess (1953)
The Movie Projector

Rear Window (1954)

• Let's Not Talk About Movies (part one)
• Let's Not Talk About Movies (part two)
• Life of a Cinephile and Bibliophile
• Bill's Movie Emporium
• Foolish Blatherings

Psycho (1960)

• Let's Not Talk About Movies
• Reel 3
• Life of a Cinephile and Bibliophile
• Bill's Movie Emporium
• John Likes Movies
• Matte Havoc

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 / 1956)

• John Likes Movies (both versions)
• Bill's Movie Emporium (1934 version)
• Bill's Movie Emporium (1956 version)

Saboteur (1942)
JDB Records

Blackmail (1929)
The Hollywood Revue

Topaz (1969)
JDB Records

To Catch a Thief (1955)
Let's Not Talk About Movies

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

• Let's Not Talk About Movies
• The Incredible Suit
• Foolish Blatherings

Frenzy (1972)
Paracinema

Lifeboat (1954)

• Le Mot du Cinephiliaque
• Bill's Movie Emporium

Rich and Stranger (1931)
Le Mot du Cinephiliaque

Dial M for Murder (1954)
Chuck Norris Ate My Baby

The Paradine Case (1947)
JDB Records

Torn Curtain (1966)
JDB Records

The 39 Steps (1935)

• Life of a Cinephile and Bibliophile
• Bill's Movie Emporium

Notorious (1946)
Life of a Cinephile and Bibliophile

North By Northwest (1959)

• Life of a Cinephile and Bibliophile
• John Likes Movies
• Bill's Movie Emporium
• The Incredible Suit
• Foolish Blatherings

Marnie (1964)

• John Likes Movies
• Foolish Blatherings

Foreign Correspondent (1940)

• John Likes Movies
• The Incredible Suit
• The Best Picture Project

Strangers on a Train (1951)

• Bill's Movie Emporium
• Big Thoughts from a Small Mind

The Ring (1927)
Not Really Working's Blog

The Lodger (1927)
The Incredible Suit

Young and Innocent / The Girl Was Young (1937)
The Incredible Suit

Since the Director’s Chair series is an ongoing feature on the LAMBs website I will try to update the complete list here on Matte Havoc as often as I can do so. Make sure to visit The Large Association of Movie Blogs for up to date information about the series.