Tuesday, 10 April 2007

Skip to the End

I often wonder that if I ever get round to making, or even writing, a film, what type of film it would be. I'm a fan of most genres, but, truth be told, most of my favourite films are genre oddities or genre splicers.

Who could deny the perfect marriage of horror and comedy in Evil Dead 2?

Or who wouldn't shed a manly tear at the superhero/coming of age/family romp that is The Iron Giant.

I don't care who knows it: I love that film.

The fact is that I never set out to rewrite the sci-fi genre.

I never intended to give the horror genre a much needed reinvigoration.

And I will most likely never do either of those things.

I don't really have a grand idea when it comes to what I want to do, or what I want to say. All I know is that I just want to make films. All I really want to do, give people something in their lives that makes them a little bit happier.

Sounds really cheesy, I know, but if anything I ever did had an effect similar to the one that Clerks has had on me, I'd die more than happy.

Of course therein lies the problem. I'm my own worst critic. I have such fiendishly high standards (I know that's hard to believe if you've seen Alice...) that I never never come up with anything up to scratch.

Especially when theres someone already beating me to it.

In a previous post I mentioned that Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright were partly responsible for returning my faith back in this country. This was no lie.

I think everyone and their dog has seen, and loved, Shaun of the Dead. Rightly so too. Along with Lock-Stock I would say it's one of the last decades most defining British films. Hot Fuzz too, is an extremely enjoyable film, even if it does get a bit messy about two thirds in.

The real jewel in the crown for me though, is Spaced. I'm sure since the popularity of Shaun and Fuzz, most people are now aware that before the Rom-Zom-Com, there was a little show called Spaced.

I think it's pretty safe to say that there hasn't really been another British sitcom like Spaced. I think I read once that when Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson started writing it, they wanted to something that was like The Simpsons, with a surrealist edge. That's a pretty fair description I think.

The erratic camera work was something that particularly effected me. I want to so badly to rip-off Edgar Wright's trademark blurry pan cut. Thats just a nickname I gave it. You'll have to watch it for yourself to properly understand it. But it's just an awesome piece of camera/editing technique.

The scripts too, are razor sharp. Absolutely boiling over with pop culture and film references. It's really rewarding for a nerd like me to be able to watch and pick up on the many, many, references.

I get the impression that Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright are guys not so dissimilar to me. They're movie buffs too, albeit with a hell of a lot more talent and flair for originality. They makes films and what not that movie buffs can enjoy. Which, is what I would really love to do.

I remember on walking out of the cinema after seeing Hot Fuzz, my associate, Gash asked me what I thought. I simply replied "I'm just jealous that they're making these films before I get chance to."



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