Movie anagram quiz!

Okay, this week it's back to the movies with another quiz. The Rules are simple, decipher each of the anagrams. The ones labelled A-J will be films and 1-10 will be actors/actresses.. once you've figured them out bonus points will be awarded for each actor/actress correctly matched to the film they acted in.

The points breakdown like this:

4 points for a film

4 points for actress/actor

2 bonus points per correct match

Sound simple enough? Okay best of luck!

A-VITA RID REX

1-MAN JOCK ELM

B-A STENCH HIM IT

2-A ALP ICON

C-A PATTERN THEM

3-A FUND FONT SHIM

D-A HELD SIN TRUST

4-RAJ OLD TEE

E-COP RISE

5-CUBE VISE STEM

F-TATE MEN NO

6-MAC JEAN AS

G-A DATE HER GUT

7-A LEEK VERY HIT

H-THREAD HEFT GO

8-A CAB RESIN HILT

I-EBB GILES WITH OK

9-SCAM AMY JOVE

J-FREE RIM QUO MAD ERA

10-A CAD IDLE PRIOR ONO

Here's Something I Prepared Earlier:

Hello all! Well, all three of my ‘followers’ (That makes this sound like some sort of cult or something doesn’t it?) and anybody else kind enough to drop by and give this meagre excuse for a blog a look. Since it’s been about a week since my last post -and in my renewed attempt to be a fairly prolific blogger- here is a new post, just for the sake of it. I have no real agenda at the moment, which is why I may just opt for the lazy choice of posting something old.

I love to write (When I’m in the right mindset and I actually force myself to) short stories, little novels, etc. It’s really just a hobby and I don’t really fancy myself as a writer in the true sense of the word, although someday I really would love to be. I’ve done a good bit of writing in the past and I’m recently trying to revive whatever sort of flair I had to begin with. Anyway, in the last few months or so I’ve started formulating a pretty disorganised plan for a new story which I hopefully will get around to actually writing this summer. I wrote a pretty rough introduction to this idea a few months back, partly just to get some of my ideas down on a page and also because of the enjoyment I get from writing whilst under no amount of pressure or time constraint. I’m just going to post the first few paragraphs here if that’s all good with you guys. Any criticism, constructive or otherwise is largely welcome of course. So, in that old Art-Attack vein, instead of actually writing a proper blog entry, here’s something I prepared earlier....

The Smoking Gun

At 1:08am, in a vacant lot on Boston city’s upper eastside, a heavy, wooden apartment door was being slowly opened. A relatively tall man wearing a brown leather jacket unzipped enough to allow for the collar of a cream shirt to protrude, with worn denim jeans and dark brown leather shoes stalked into the unfamiliar apartment and reached instinctively to his right for a light switch. The small room opened out onto a smaller kitchen by way of a sixties’ style beaded doorway. He continued into the linoleum and faux-granite kitchen parting the beads with his hands. Pulling a string-switch hanging from a fan in the centre of the room, the half drunk, unshaven Keaton Byers paused to take in his surroundings.

Just as he had hoped, the place was empty; you could almost hear a pin drop. Reaching into his jacket pocket for a pack of cigarettes he heard something considerably louder than a pin. A hammer in fact, cocked with the barrel pressed cold against his left temple, he hadn’t checked the living room. He let out a brief chortle at his stupidity and, without looking at his assailant, proceeded to open his cigarette carton and flick a stick from the bottom which he took between his two fingers.

“Don’t fucking move!” a voice with a slight Italian drawl which faltered slightly yelled into his ear, displaying what Keaton thought to be a hint of trepidation. Shaking his head whilst popping the cig into his mouth and lighting it with a flash of his lighter, he said smiling:

“That’s just what’s wrong with these wannabe gangbangers today,” The voice attempted to interrupt but Keaton wasn’t finished, “I mean c’mon for fuck sake, every crook in this town used to have at least some smarts, then you, fuckwit, step up to me and press that pussy’s pistol right up to my fucking skull. I mean, I’m probably not at my most perceptive but if I was going to pop a guy I’d keep my distance, yano?” He paused, inhaling a plume of smoke and exhaling while saying- the cigarette hanging from his bottom lip- “Here I am talking, while for some reason, you, shmuck, with the fucking shooter in his hand, are shaking. I can hear you. And the fact of the matter is you’re right to.” The gunman was getting increasingly uneasy at the lack of fear he was evoking in Byers, “Just you wait a fucking minute-” but he wasn’t fast enough, Keaton had grabbed the pistol with his left hand while smacking the guy full force in his nose with his right, causing it to make a sickening, crunching sound. The skinny youth, not more than in his early twenties in Keaton’s estimation, squealed and fell to the floor where he writhed in the pain of his fractured nose, warm blood pouring over his now almost certainly shaking hands. Keaton looked down at him almost with pity whilst he idly shook the pain out of his bloodied knuckles. He took another drag of the cigarette and, opening the chamber of his assailant’s gun, laughed loudly. “I fucking knew it, blanks!” Then, hunkering down he leant into the glistening, bloodied face and wrenched the convulsing hands away from its snout. “Just who the fuck did you think you were sticking up here, you thick Guinea?” He spat out these last three words contemptuously then, glancing down at the pistol that lay between his palms, he pocketed it. Taking another deep pull of the cigarette and standing up again. “C’mon, get up” he kicked the Italian’s side lightly. “Fuck yourself!” through his whimpers, it seemed that this kid still had some balls.

“What you fuckin’ say?” Keaton instigated testily, no reply. “I think you’re overestimating your current predicament here kid, you are lying on the ground clutching your smashed nose while I stand over you with not one but two guns. Now, pretty fucking please, get up.” The Italian began to slowly draw his trembling hands from his face then in one swift, sudden movement flung one down towards his sock. This kid was quick, but Keaton was quicker. Grabbing what he believed to be the blank-loaded gun he drew and fired. He was genuinely shocked when he was met with a sickening splatter as his snub-nose detective special blasted lead through the kid’s face. Keaton watched as the Italian’s hand fell from his ankle grasping a small blade, one that would surely be embedded in his lower calf now had it not been for the immediate response. He stepped slowly back from the crumpled corpse, the gun still smoking in his tremor-less hand by his side. It had all happened so quickly, now he stood, jaw tensed as the blood- which appeared black in the dim light of the kitchen- began to form in a pool by the motionless head. He muttered “fuck” in a way that would indicate that his last shot of Jameson had affected his reactions. It was his killer instinct, more of a reflex action than a meditated one. He had intended to get some information out of the kid.

Over an hour later he found himself, beginning to gradually sober up knelt down on the hard linoleum of the kitchen floor scrubbing desperately at the large stain of blood cursing himself. What had he been thinking? Forensics would notice this in an instant, but that was just it, he hadn’t been thinking. When he was satisfied that he had mopped and scrubbed at it till it was almost indistinguishable, Keaton threw the now bright red towel into a black refuse bag along with the mop which he snapped in two over his knee. Tying up the bag he left it down for a moment and stepped into the living area, picked up the blue rug in the centre of the room and, dragging it back into the kitchen, placed it over what was left of the blood smear. Picking up the refuse bag in his gloved hands, he walked to the door and opened it out onto a dank, grimy corridor, this lead him to the deserted, run-down street that was Greenfields Avenue.

He glanced cautiously to his left and right before briskly crossing the moonlit road towards his black Pontiac Firebird, the only sound to be heard was that of a dog yapping loudly a few blocks over. Popping the trunk, he flung the refuse bag in, peeling his latex gloves off and tossing them in after it, he slammed the trunk shut before sidling over to the driver’s door, opening it and hopping in. The engine roared to life followed by the instantaneous flood of yellow light from the headlamps. With a squeal of resistance from the tyres, he spun the car around and drove quickly into the alleyway adjacent to the derelict, grey cement block of apartments which he had just left. He pulled the motor up beside the fire escape and hopped out, leaving the engine running. Wrenching the fire door out and picking up a large cement block that lay beside it to prop it open, he stepped inside. Treading softly up the corridor – he had been informed that this was a vacant building beforehand, but now was beginning to seriously question the authenticity of his source and wasn’t going to take any more chances. He made his way up to the door of the apartment and carefully, checking his peripheries, reached into the back pocket of his jeans and produced a credit card which he used to jimmy the lock open, stepping hurriedly to the bedroom once inside.

He emerged from the apartment moments later, this time with the deadweight of two teeming refuse bags duck-taped together and slung over his shoulder. Passing through the open fire exit, he kicked the block out from beside it, fishing in his pocket for the car keys. He pressed the button to release the trunk as the door behind him swung shut with a click. The red brake lights gleamed on his face as he lugged the corpse in beside the bloodied refuse bag. His watch read 2:45 am when he slammed the trunk shut and tore off into the night, the growl of the V8 accompanied only by the wail of distant sirens.

I realise that there’s a lot of polishing up to do here as well as cutting down on the overwritten parts and fixing the dialogue, structure, etc. However, I’d really be interested to hear your honest opinions. Should I scrap the idea? Re-work it? Any suggestions would be great.

Audition (Ôdishon) Movie Review

Yes, I know, my third post in a week, very nearly equalling the sum of my amazingly prolific four posts in two years record, I astound myself. Alas, the lengths one will go to to forget their Leaving Cert responsibilities! And yes, I'm pathetically trying to rationalise this recent burst of posting as some sort of intense English revision. One which, conveniently enough, allows me to simultaneously browse Facebook and Youtube (Btw, have you seen this yet?)

But I digress, where was I? Ah yes, 'Audition' or to give it its original Japanese title, 'Odishon'. Yes, i now realise what my previous sentence has done. Perhaps it was the word 'Japanese' or that funny looking title that has caused many of you to reflexively jerk your mouse cursor to the little arrow in the top left corner of your screen. Of course, this stigma or fear towards foreign films will not affect all of you, I hope that none of you would be put off by the little association that foreign language film has with the word 'subtitles'. Just hear me out, these ramblings will undoubtedly begin to form coherent thought soon enough. I admit, I chose this particular film to be my first review in so long purely out of snobbishness and of its obscurity. Having recently seen the terrific 'Kick Ass' I've chosen not to review it purely as my friend Cian has done such a good job of it here.I've had this particular film lying around in a folder on my desktop entitled 'must see' for quite a while now. Why I deemed tonight to be the suitable time to finally check it out I'm not completely certain, but I was somewhat pleasantly surprised with the result.

I'd first heard about this film on one of those Jimmy Carr presented '100 best...' on channel 4 a few years back. This particular movie featured somewhere within the '100 best scary moments', an ill advised late night Sunday watch for my 15 year old self, especially with school the next day. However, this particular show highlighted to me that I must watch The Shining and Psycho along with a multitude of other iconic horror films which I'm yet to see. Anyway, 'Audition' aroused my interest at the time and ever since it had always been on my 'to see' list. I knew to expect shocking scenes, the type of horror that Hollywood studios wouldn't touch with a fifty foot stick, some gritty, Japanese, no-holes-barred mind-fuck. The aforementioned shocking scenes caused a record number of walk outs upon its premiere at the Rotterdam film festival in 2000 and in one bizarre case, the hospitalising of an audience member who had passed out during it. Needless to say, this did nothing to quell my enthusiasm for the film.

So, the film itself. Having finally watched it I must agree with the comments of some on its Imdb message board, the American/U.K marketing for this movie was far too blatant. Just one look at the above poster and you'd think that this is an out and out blood and gore fest. With the actress depicted above as some psychotic,blood-smeared, sneering murderer, we enter the film with certain expectations. This film is not your traditional horror fare. In fact, with a much more subtle marketing campaign that would've depicted the film as a romantic drama, the final act would have shocked the viewer no-end and packed a punch that would leave even the most avid horror fan breathless. However, despite this ill-advised marketing campaign, no doubt spearheaded by an American/British firm who deemed that their audience needed something shoved in their face to grab their attention, the movie still holds its own pretty well.

We our presented with our protagonist Aoyama, a middle-aged widow and father to a teenage boy who finds himself in the swells of loneliness following the death of his wife seven years previously. His son wonders why a man who no longer has his youth is not considering getting re-married, something which sparks interest in Aoyama who, with the help of his friend and colleague go about formulating a plan to get him a wife. So far, this could go anywhere and the viewer is on numerous occasions thrown by the seeming case of genre confusion. Perhaps though, our director doesn't want us to be expectant or predictive of how the plot progresses and in that case, this particular method is extremely effective. With Aoyama's friend working in the entertainment business, he comes up with the idea of holding the eponymous Audition for a fake movie in which our protagonist may choose thirty women who he would like to interview in the hope that he will meet his future bride.

This quite laboriously takes up the entire first act and a lot of the second, switching between moments of comedy and fairly intriguing drama. When Aoyama meets the above pictured Asami, as you can probably imagine, things gradually begin to turn batshit crazy. He is compelled by this shy,timid girl's beauty, her tragic abuse-ridden upbringing and her talent for ballet. And yes, he swiftly falls in love with this 25 year old post haste. Thankfully, this whirlwind romance takes a backseat in proceedings and we are presented with the primary signs that all is not as it seems. Asami's seemingly quiet, innocent character is shrowded with mystery as Aoyama's friend begins to discover odd and jarring facts about her past. The fact that all her supposed jobs in the past consist of a trail of missing bosses and dismembered bodies begins to show us that yes, finally we have something eerie beginning to build itself. Furthermore, the moody and starkly contrasted snippets of Asami sat hunched in her derelict apartment-whose whereabouts she doesnt even let on to Aoyama- in almost trance like poses whilst a teeming canvas sack twitches and jerks disturbingly in the background lend to the ever growing atmosphere building to the eventual,brilliant, astoundingly violent climax.

I hesitate in using the world 'recommend' here. I will tell you that the violence, which isn't non-stop throughout but that will certainly appall and horrify people despite its briefness, is most definitely not for the faint hearted. However, the film remains an enjoyable,scary piece of world cinema and a prime example of the multitude of different styles that operate outside of the U.S remaining pretty much cliche-free throughout. Though the pacing may feel disjointed at times or the genre chopping a bit off-putting, this is absolutely worth giving your time. The editing is often brilliant, the cinematography very fitting and the score suitably eerie throughout. The two main actors occupy their roles very adequately, Eihi Shiina (Asami) in particular presents a shocking transformation in her character's conflicting personas to brilliant effect. Takashi Miike, the director is extremely tuned into his target audience and will never leave you in full knowledge of what is going to happen next, he happily throws in odd, dream-like sequences, twists and turns to keep us guessing.

In short (How relieved are you to hear me say that?), the film is very good and a definite must see for those who thrive for blood,gore and gradual progression of eeriness in their horror movies. Enjoy, but if you are in anyway squeamish you may want to consider having something to cover your face with close at hand at certain points, don't say you weren't warned!

New Quotes Quiz! (The Disappointing Sequel)

Thought as a little change of pace i'd actually follow up on a post within less than a year. So, here it is, a new- hopefully more difficult- quotes quiz! This time as with most sequels.. the stakes have changed, everything is bigger and supposedly better. So, without further ado , I give you the future, the shape of things to come! 15 questions! And just the film title this time! Enjoy...

1)"Badges? We don't need no badges!We don't have to show you no stinking badges!" (Ashamed to say I haven't yet seen this but a famous quote nonetheless!)

2) "I'm a man!" "Well, nobodies perfect!"

3) "You want to learn the first rule you'd know if you'd ever spent a day in your life? You never open your mouth until you know what the shot is."

4) "Computer, Define 'Earth' "

5) "Uh, whose car is that out front?" "Mine.1970 Pontiac Firebird, the car i've always wanted and now I have it. I rule!"

6) "Candy-stripe a cancer ward. It's not my problem."

7) "You're no messiah. You're a movie of the week. You're a fucking t-shirt at best!"

8) " The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."

9) "Yeah..shoot a cop Einstein, watch what happens!" "What would happen is this bullet would go right through your fucking head!"

10) "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist.."

11) " Which one of you nuts has got any guts?"

12) " It's like, How much more black could this be? And the answer is none, none more black.."

13) "Stanley, see this?This is this. This ain't something else. This is this."

14) " Open the pod bay doors, HAL."

15) "A boy's best friend is his mother."

Well there you go, hopefully you found atleast one of them caused you to pause for thought! Leave comments saying how you think you did here or on my facebook, Cheers!

Little Movie Quotes Quiz!

Okay Cian, yours was hard but let's see what you make of this one! As I'm lazy and I liked yours i'm going to go ahead and say same rules apply. So that's the name of the movie and character/actor.Here we go!

1)"Coffee Is For Closers!"

2)"ATTACA! ATTACA!"

3) "It's Zed's." "Whose Zed?" "Zed's Dead, Baby. Zed's Dead."

4) "The Way Of The Future...The Way Of The Future.."

5) "...And Though I Could Fight I'd Much Rather Recite....That's Entertainment."

6) " You Want A Toe Dude? I Can Get You A Toe, Believe Me. There Are Ways Dude, You Don't Even Want To Know About It. Believe Me."

7)"Are You Gonna Bark All Day Little Doggie? Or Are You Gonna Bite?"

8)"I Know It Was You Fredo. You Broke My Heart. You Broke My Heart."

9)" Never Rat On Your Friends And Always Keep Your Mouth Shut."

10) " Hey! I'm Walking Here!"

A new post, Finally!

Okay, it's gotten to the ridiculous stage where i haven't written anything in ages, this is hopefully going to be a step towards getting back into the habit. My new year's resolution for 2009 was to finally finish my novel (which i haven't touched since January). I have written a mere twelve chapters of since christmas 2006, i know it's terrible. So taking into account that i would like to have about 20 chapters written when I finish it, I should probably start soon. Anyone that's interested in reading any of the chapters i have written so far can email me at richiekeaney@gmail.com as any criticism would be greatly appreciated.

So, what's happened in my life since my last post? I'm single, still working in Easons Bookstore, still worryingly obsessed with Muse, hating school and loving my running. In the past month i have had a 250 euro oxegen ticket stolen from me and finally recovered after two weeks of frantic searching and police statements. I have qualified for the indoor athletics all ireland's in both my events (60m and 200m) which i'm greatly anticipating.

I'm going to set a reasonable target for myself to post something here atleast once a week. These may vary from random thoughts about music,movies or books i'm reading. I might even throw in the odd short story here and there.

So enough of that, i'm going to have a shower and then try to write!

Au Revoir!

Robert Downey Jr. = Philip Marlowe?

This isn't exclusive news or anything so i'm sorry to those i may have excited by the subject title.. this is just (what i believe to be) an interesting thought...
Raymond Chandler's books are fantastic, terrific writing and some brilliant stories.. apart from one or two great films, the books were never really done to justice on screen. The Big sleep is an amazing film and maybe because i think Bogart suited that role so perfectly i haven't watched any of the others where he didn't reprise the role.. This however, really made me think...

Following his sentence in prison for drug abuse, it is amazing that the once oscar nominated actor Robert Downey Jr. is more famous than ever, since his release he has shown his salt in films such as Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, Zodiac and my inspiration for this post, 2005's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which was largely a 21st century stylised story in the vein of Raymond Chandler's famous private detective Philip Marlowe.

I think Downey Jr. really showed his ability to act in that sort of role and so naturally speak that sort of dialogue that him as phillip marlowe almost seems perfect.

The fact that Chandler's novels were only really done to such great justice a handful of times may be due to the fact that although they are brilliant novels, they aren't that well known. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang really showed us though that that sort of film has a market, maybe not the largest one but with Downey Jr's popularity growing to astronomical proportions and the rise in remakes being churned out by hollywood at the moment, is it so unbelievable that this could really happen?

Okay, i have to take into account that there might not be a market- no matter how much i would love there to be-for a complete adaption of any of the novels, set in 1930's L.A.. I accept that the stories are quite dated in the eyes of the majority of the movie going public. The last really successful noir made was L.A Confidential ( a terrific film if you haven't seen it) which was done so well but did have a lot more action going for it than the marlowe mysteries would.

Just think about it though, Downey Jr. could so easily fit into this role, his acting almost screams for him to be cast in such a noir( and he was in the somewhat unsuccessful 'The Singing Detective' in 2003) that it seems as if he was born in the wrong century..

He is currently filming a reboot of Sherlock Holmes with Guy Ritchie which shows that he's willing to play such characters, maybe this thought is a bit late but i really think (not to flatter myself in anyway) that it is certaintly one to be acknowledged..

Fans of Chandler, Downey Jr. or anyone who is nice enough to read this post. Please feel free to post your opinions on this and ideas for who could play who if such a film was ever made.

Just think, how great would it be to hear Downey Jr. sneer this famous reply?

"How do you like your scotch Mr. Marlowe?"

"In A Glass"