I know nothing of the crunch

How was your freakend?
I was riding the crazy train over the weekend and it stopped off at some pretty strange stations (I'm not sure where I'm going with this...)

Blast Off was pretty cool. I managed to get a free Massive Attack t-shirt and I bumped into a lot of old friends, some of whom I haven't been able to see because of 'Ye Olde Break-Up' (Remember the time when I never used to mention this? It's easier these days, natual almost. That's got to be good, right)

It was fun. I bumped into some girls from work who came dressed as Angels. I got to wear the halo and wings for a while which proved to be an interesting look for me. (I have pictures.)

Stephanie kindly sent me the following review of 'Death Etc', a script I sent her. It was a nice little boost on a Monday morning:



LOVE STINKS


'Death ETC' is a sort of sequel to Christopher's first short film 'Death Rides the Nine'. At the end of that film, Sam is spared death and given the chance to rebuild his life and relationship with sweetheart Emma. 'Death ETC' opens a year later with Sam and Emma mourning the end of their three-year relationship. Both are upset, but while Sam still wants to try again, Emma has started seeing someone new and wants to move on. Her refusal to make another go and her taking of a new partner destroys Sam who, despite the cajoling of friends, sinks deep into despair and attempts to take his own life. He is saved by his old friend Death (Grim Reaper) who insists that he isn't on his list of souls to reap and heals the bleeding young man. As in 'Death Rides the Nine', Sam manages to convince him to stick around for a while to hang out and enjoy earthly pleasures. Over the course of the weekend Sam learns about life, love, death and what Santa gets roped into doing in the off-season and Death learns about booze, wrestling, Blood Brothers and the bloody-minded stubbornness of humans.

The early part of the film focuses on Sam's reaction to the split with Emma and accurately captures the physical pain that you experience when your heart is breaking. You've all been there (and, if you haven't, you will) and reading it on the page brings back memories of the ache you feel when you've lost someone and the blow you experience when you see that you've been replaced all too soon by an inferior model. 'You'll also recognise the reaction of his friends: they say he's great, diss Emma and suggest a steady diet of parties and casual sex. All of which appeals to Sam for a split moment, but despite their best efforts he doesn't feel great about himself, he still loves Emma and can't yet look at other girls. In Hollywood clichés, Sam would transform himself into a sexy-cool all-American hunk (gag!) making an ungrateful Emma jealous. Thankfully, this film doesn't follow clichés. Sam doesn't change overnight and Emma isn't a vindictive cow. In fact, she seems to be a sweet and caring woman who, unwisely but understandably, tries to get over a broken relationship by turning to the arms of another. The film cleverly includes home video footage of Emma and Sam in the early days of their relationship when they were happy illustrating what it is that Sam has lost and why he is so heartbroken. That is why the relationship between Sam and Death is so important. While Sam's other friends quickly turn to denigrating Emma, Sam is mourning something special and Death and understands that. The two men formed a bond a year earlier and Death is able to offer wise words to help Sam. In many ways, Death is the ideal friend to have in circumstances like that because he is close enough to care but still able to offer an outsider's perspective of the situation.

The film isn't all tears, heartbreak and suicide, however. Sam's friends provide laughs through strange but funny analogies ("consider yourself a Nintendo..") and the relationship between Sam and Death is filled with laughs in between the heart-to-hearts. Death approaches his weekend with Sam with child-like glee and their adventures at the cinema watching 'The Seventh Seal' and at a wrestling match had me laughing out loud. Death's dry humour and Sam's sarcasm worked well and made for sharp and funny dialogue.

Unsurprising to anyone who is familiar with Chris's love of music, this film features some great songs played at exactly the right moments. Whether they were played as background music or were incidental things like a mobile ring tone, they elegantly added to the scenes. I'm not sure of the legal whatsits that dictate whether songs can be played in movies but when this film is made I sincerely hope the director sticks to his suggested soundtrack.

Speaking of the director, I hope this film gets one. I so enjoyed Death Rides the Nine that I want to see this story come to its conclusion as Chris envisaged it. So if you have any clout in the film industry, can you help get this film made? You would make me a happy girl.



I didn't pay her for this contrary to how it may seem. I'm glad she enjoyed it.

Anyway, enough about me? How are you?