John Rozum's Blog, page 54

31 Days of Halloween - Day 2 - Movie 1

A scientific expedition to northern Sweden leads to the discovery of a spaceship, a giant monster, and a lot of tedium in Terror in the Midnight Sun (1958). For the first 45 minutes of this seventy minute film we are subjected to scientists talking about the meteor, traveling to a town near the meteor, flying out to locate the meteor, planning to visit the meteor, traveling to the site of the meteor, examining the meteor for about thirty seconds before heading back to camp, sure that it's not a meteor, but a spaceship. These scenes are interspersed with a young geologist flirting with the elder scientist's olympic gold medalist niece, and chasing her around on skis, then telling her several times she can't accompany the expedition only to have her, several times, stow away with the expedition. She's very fetching and spirited, but even though she's athletic, she's the one who wrenches her knee, requiring the young geologist to take care of her, then spends the rest of the film reduced to screaming every time the slow moving monster appears. which really isn't until the 49 minute mark. 
The monster is pretty cool, but would not look out of place in the first season of Lost in Space. The effects showing it interacting with habits and airplanes are well done. We aren't really sure what the aliens inside the spaceship have to do with it exactly, but it doesn't seem to be too bad a fellow, not that anyone cares as they attack it. 
I can't really say I recommend this movie even half heartedly, but it's on youtube if you are curious.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 2

King Kong (1933) Cut paper

31 Days of Halloween - Day 1 - Movie 2

Strange goings on plague a family living in a house with a troubled past. Apparitions appear, warnings are given, and terrible consequences are brought upon the family members. It's difficult to give a proper synopsis to La casa del fin de los tiempos/The House at the End of Time (2013) without entering spoiler territory, though I was able to figure out what was going on from the first depiction of apparitions shaking the door handles to be let in. 
I found the film really frustrating. On the one hand, it's really good, with some nice atmosphere, nice structure that leaps back and forth from the present to a time 30 years ago. and solid performances. Every time I felt sure that the movie was really good, something subtle would happen and I'd feel like I was watching a play, or an after school special. There seemed to be a bit of a disconnect between scenes filled with tension and the possibility of a threat, and those that didn't. Even the score would become distractingly playful while the two boys in the family were out playing with their friends. Also, for me, the solution to what was happening was too apparent, and while it wasn't badly conceived, my awareness of it kept me from being pulled into the mindset of the characters who didn't know what was happening. 
For me, it was a mixed bag, but there is enough positive material going on in La casa del fin de los tiempos, that I think you should view it yourself and draw your own conclusions. 

31 Days of Halloween - Day 1 - Movie 1

To launch this month's viewing, I decided to revisit a highly anticipated movie from last year that did not disappoint. The Babadook (2014) centers on Amelia (Essie Davis), a single mom, still morning her husband and trying to handle her increasing anxious and aggressively behaved young son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman). Samuel leaves her physically and emotionally drained, and causes her to become further and further isolated from the outside world, including her own sister.

If this weren't enough to cope with, Samuel's problems increase after the mysterious appearance of a disturbing pop-up book entitled, Mister Babadook. The book centers on a frightening bogey man figure determined to terrify the other characters in the story who go beyond simply representing Amelia and Samuel.

There is no slow burn with this movie. It assaults the viewer with Amelia's situation and Samuel's behavior issues right from the get go and never lets up, and would be as equally successful a horror film even if Mister Babadook never reared his frightening head. The Babadook himself, is a terrifying figure that never really shows itself in the film except in fleeting glimpses, and as a character in a silent movie as well as the creepy illustrations in the book. His voice is enough to supply all of the dread implied by his nearly invisible presence.

I highly recommend this film. The performances by the two leads are almost too convincing, and the film is filled with plenty of atmosphere and anxiety producing sequences that continually tighten the screws of the film's dreadful build up towards it's climax.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 1

The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). Cut paper.

31 Days of Halloween - Welcome

Welcome to my 10th Annual Halloween Countdown. This year, to mark the occasion, I wanted to do something I haven't done here since 2009. For the entire month of October I'm going to post a cut paper portrait of a different monster from film and television. Some pieces were created for gallery shows, but the bulk of them were made specifically for this countdown and will be making their debut each day throughout the month. It's also a pretty random assortment.

In addition I will be attempting to watch 2 movies a day which I will post here along with my brief reaction to each film. I had considered including Easter eggs (or Halloween Jack O'Lanterns in this case) by dropping random links into my posts and comment sections which would connect with favorite posts from the previous nine years of Halloween Countdowns. I ended up opting out of doing that, and sticking to something clean and simple. I figure there are so many other blogs to visit during the Countdown that I didn't need to clutter the field further. For anyone interested, just visit the past October posts in my blog archive to the right.

I'd like to thank everyone who has taken the time to visit in the past and would like to give a big shout out to my fellow Halloween Countdown bloggers who are also celebrating their 10th anniversaries this year, and those who were here at the beginning but have moved on to other things.

Without any further ado, let's begin.

Guillermo Del Toro: In Service of Monsters Video

For those of you who couldn't make the show, here's a nice video of the opening. To see all of the art (including the piece above by Audrey Pongracz) visit Gallery 1988's website. You can view my own piece by scrolling to the previous posts.

Guillermo Del Toro: In Service of Monsters Art Now Online

Guillermo Del Toro: In Service of Monsters opened this past Friday at Gallery 1988 (West) in Los Angeles. Curated by Chogrin Munoz and Gary Deocampo, this was the first art show that my work has appeared in that I actually attended the opening for.

Since the show was hosted by Gallery 1988, for whom I've been creating work for several years, it also gave me the opportunity to finally meet in person the Gallery owners who have graciously included me in so many terrific shows in the past. A kinder group of people you couldn't ask for.

It was also great to see so much outstanding art in person and meet so many of the genuinely nice artists who created work for their show, as well as their friends, spouses and family who came out to show their support.

Then there was this guy:

The man who inspired so many artists to really produce some incredible artwork; Guillermo Del Toro, himself, who generously appeared to give his appreciation to the creators of the work filling the gallery. Naturally, the aspect of my work he appreciated the most (beyond how much work he intuited went into the piece) was the color coding that I used in grouping his characters, which he checked to make sure was correct.

The following three photos were all taken by Gary Decamp (the third on my crappy phone). The first also features curator, Chogrin Munoz.











The gallery was decked out with the arches from Crimson Peak (2015), and the opening was officially marked with the cutting of the Cronos device cake, which was red velvet and delicious.

The show runs through October 3, 2015. If you can make it in person, I urge you to do so. The art is really impressive and looks even better in person.

If you can't attend in person, all of the art is up for viewing/purchase here.


There's also a brief article on the show at io9, and more photos of the opening can be seen here.

Opening Tonight

Guillermo Del Toro: In Service of Monsters opens tonight at Gallery 1988 (West) and runs through October 3, 2015. To see the piece I did for this show, scroll down to the previous post. I will be attending the opening in person, so if you are in Los Angeles, please stop by and say "hi" and check out the show. I guarantee it will be worth the visit.

Guillermo Del Toro: In Service of Monsters Show Opens Friday.

Here is the piece I created for the "Guillermo Del Toro: In Service of Monsters" show which opens this Friday at Gallery 1988: West. Based on the other art I've seen for this show, it's going to be fantastic. I'm honored to be a part of it, not only because I'm a tremendous fan of GDT's work, but because I'll be sharing space with so many artists whose work I admire. I'm also excited that I'll be attending this show in person, so if you're in Los Angeles, please stop by and check it out.