Susan Hated Literature

Dir. John Fawcett
Written. Stephen Massicotte based on the novel Sheep by Simon Maginn

• Maria Bello - Adele
• Sean Bean - James
• Sophie Stuckey - Sarah
• Aibigal Stone - Ebril

With atmospheric camera work over waves the opening credits of this film make way for Adele and her daughter Sarah as they drive through a remote part of Wales, looking for Sarah’s father’s house. They arrived early, and are now quite lost. Even forced to spending the night in the car when night falls and the car gets stuck in the mood. Cue a dream sequence where Adele dreams of being pushed off the nearby cliff. She wakes, face to face with a herd of sheep staring through the window. Enough to make anyone jump.

Eventually they make it to James’ house, he is an artist and has plans to turn the abbatoir attached to the house into a studio. As if the big old ramshackle house isn’t creppy enough, we have to have an abbatoir?

Anyways, I found a lot to like in this film. Bello and Bean are believable as concerned, possibly divorced, parents. I was a bit doubtful about Sean Bean’s haircut, but he is very adorable as the doting daddy if under used. But Bello is slightly off at times, which may, or may not be intended. And the girl who plays the mysterious Ebill is very good. So no complaints on the acting side of things. There is a nice little atmosphere built up throughout the first half of the film. It isn’t really jump out of your skin terror, but just a vague unease. And let me tell you, sheep are evil. But I’m sure it was some feat of animal handling to get those skittish sheep to act in such a strange manner.

But overall the film doesn’t really do its job. Its a bit too open as to what is going on. And things that I’m sure would have worked in a book aren’t translated too well on the screen. Still the ending is worth waiting for, and I enjoyed the 95 minutes or so that I spent watching it. And I wouldn’t object to watching it again.

If you go looking for scares you won’t enjoy it, and there is too much time spent trying to be all “Japanese horror” about it, so my enjoyment may not be shared by all.

IMDb | SFX | IndieLondon | steverogerson | Samizdisandat

This probably won’t be funny to anyone but Irish people, but those lads over at Langerland have surpassed themselves with this wonderful cartoon, The Rising. Fuckin’ morons.

Link stolen from TCAL

I have nothing to say. Well, this isn’t actually true. There are things on the tips of my fingers^[1] but I don’t actually know what they are. So I find myself typing the start of a sentence. Stopping, rereading and going Huh. Don’t think I meant to say that. And deleting.

Other people can post on issues like god^[2] , society, the nature of humanity^[3] shopping^[4] fun in Paris^[5] I can’t even get a sentence out.

Obviously, I’m lying. Because look at all those sentences. But at the same time, its the truth, because they are all saying nothing. The noise to data ratio on this post would suggest that yes, empty vessels make most noise. And have you ever heard an empty delivery lorry^[6] roll past? Noisy is an apt description.

Still, 4 day week, so its all good. Off on Friday, and Monday for Easter. And I’m taking the following Monday off cause I’ve got a christening to go to. So that is three whole 4-day-weeks. What could be better?^[7] And I may even go take a peak at the whole Easter Rising commemorations, and to get in the mood I’ve just started reading On Another Man’s Wound^[8] which doesn’t actually deal all that much with the Rising, but with the aftermath. And it is well writen too, which is always a bonus.

Oh yeah, and whats the deal with BSG and its frakkin flashbacks. This is, what the third? episode in a row to start near the end and then use the whole 92 hours earlier crap. Get over it. Just tell the story and stop fucking about. I mean, it’d be different if there was a reason, but there doesn’t seem to be one, apart from the fact that they think flashbacks and jumps in time are cool. And yes, they can be, but not when done for no reason. Don’t they know that trying to be cool means you aren’t. Oz never tried to be cool. He simply was. As Yoda once said, there is no try.^[9]

Well now, for a post that started off the way this one did, there sure is a lot of words. And, while I checked my spelling^[10] of Orthodox I discovered that there is such a thing as a Tea Glossery. People can devote entire websites to tea, but I can’t even think coherently enough to write a comment.