Author Archives: Ed Williams

Cave Of Forgotten Dreams

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Originally published on Panic Dots.

Cave Of Forgotten DreamsIt may come as a surprise that I can be a bit of a cynical git (quiet, there at the back), but this renaissance of 3D films has left me feeling somewhat cold and indifferent. It’s just another way for huge studios to make even more money from films that just don’t cut it. Who needs a plot when you’ve got knives flying out of the screen towards your face? Your FACE. That is, until I had the pleasure of seeing Cave Of Forgotten Dreams, the latest documentary from legendary film maker Werner Herzog.

In 2010, Herzog and his crew were given access to the Chauvet caves in the south of France. Now, those of you who didn’t just click the link may be wondering what all the fuss is about. Well, the Chauvet caves happen to be filled with the oldest cave paintings known to mankind. Some of them date back as far as 32,000 years, making the Pyramids look like the Eiffel Tower in comparison, time-wise.

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The Rite

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Originally published on Panic Dots.

The RiteI wasn’t expecting to be affected by The Rite. Years spent watching chainsaw madmen ruthlessly hunt teenagers through corn fields, and dream demons invading the sleep of supple young women made me feel invincible to the terrors of the supernatural. Like a lot of people my age, I found The Exorcist hilarious (there are so many moments in that film that are pure comic genius), so I had nothing to fear from what I expected to be yet another modern spin on the classic formula of “old priest meets young priest, priests meet troubled young girl possessed by demon, priests exorcise demon, old priest may or may not pass away in the process.” The Exorcist didn’t scare me. The Rite did.

Like all good exorcist films, this one was inspired by true events – but then, they all are so that’s no guarantee of quality. What does make this film stand head and shoulders above the rest of them is the story surrounding the events. I’d even go so far as to say it surpasses The Exorcist in terms of plot, characterisation and good ole’ fashioned scares.

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The World According to Russell Brand

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Originally published on Panic Dots.

The World According to Russell BrandIf you don’t like Russell Brand, then you might as well stop reading this right now. In fact, you should probably question why you even clicked on this review in the first place. It is, after all, about The World According to Russell Brand, his new DVD.

I must confess that I am a self-hating Russell Brand fan. I tried for so long to despise the man. I mean, look at him. He’s the epitome of everything that’s wrong with the current trend of dressing up in alternative garb without putting in the hours scouring record shops for out of print punk albums, or lurking in the darkest corners of metal clubs and generally looking at everything through a prism of nihilistic cynicism. No? Just me then.

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Esperi (aka Chris Lee-Marr)

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Originally published on Panic Dots.

EsperiI recently had the great pleasure of interviewing Chris Lee-Marr, the man behind Esperi. I only became aware of him when his last single came out at Christmas, the gorgeous and poignant Made For Life, which was accompanied by a b-side called “Snowman” – the accompanying video to which lodged a lump permanently in my throat. The man has a talent for making beautiful music without being sappy or maudlin, with lyrics that make you mourn your childhood and yearn for a simpler time.

Esperi’s latest release was the instrumental single, My Tear Dissolved The View. The song was effective enough without watching the video that accompanied it, but combined with the video – floodgates. The press release that came packaged with the promo compares it to some of Richard D. James’ (that’s Aphex Twin to you and me – who, I would like to clarify once and for all, is just one person) lo-fi creations. They’re not wrong.

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The Walking Dead: Season One

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Originally published on Panic Dots.

I really wanted to like The Walking Dead. I love the comic, and when I heard that Frank Darabont was involved, I was relieved. He was the man behind my favourite film ending ever – The Mist. There are far too many hacks out there who buy the rights to popular comics, ignore the original fan-base, and then turn the TV series into a pile of garbage.

>Darabont was different. He seemed to genuinely want to please the fans. He wanted to capture the essence of The Walking Dead, and broadcast it on television so everybody could enjoy the story of how humanity consumes itself when faced with near extinction. So people who didn’t read comics could finally see what we’d all been raving about for the last 7 years.

After watching the first episode, I was still living in my dream world, where everything was right in the world. Frank Darabont had done it – he’d pulled off the comic to TV show conversion, and he hadn’t messed it up. He was my hero.

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