#neil boorman

[teenagedirtstache]

[brian-in-finance]

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KIN and Lies We Tell lead Irish Film and Television Academy Award nominations

Charlie Cox and Clare Dunne in KIN

RTÉ crime drama KIN and psychological thriller Lies We Tell lead this year's IFTA nominations.

The Irish Film and Television Academy Awards will take place on Saturday 20 April with winners being announced across 28 different categories celebrating the best of Irish film and TV drama. The Awards will be hosted for the first time by Emmy-winning broadcaster Baz Ashmawy.

RTÉ's KIN, which follows the notorious Kinsella family, has received 11 drama nominations including Best Drama, as well as Lead Actor for Francis Magee and Sam Keeley, and Lead Actress for Clare Dunne.

Michael Smiley plays a father on the edge in Obituary

Magee and Keeley are up against some strong competition with Michael Smiley (Obituary), Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) Daryl McCormack (The Woman in the Wall) also nominated. While Dunne competes with Sharon Horgan (Best Interests), Niamh Algar (Malpractice), Elva Trill (Northern Lights), Siobhán Cullen (Obituary) and Caitríona Balfe (Outlander).

The Best Drama category showcases a wealth of homegrown talent with Blue Lights, Hidden Assets, Northern Lights, Obituary and The Woman in the Wall also vying for the coveted award.

Agnes O'Casey stars in Lies We Tell

Over in the film categories Lisa Mulcahy’s gothic Irish tale, Lies We Tell, has received a whopping 13 nominations including Best Film, Lead Actor for David Wilmot, Lead Actress for Agnes O’Casey and Best Director for Mulcahy.

It will be a hotly contested battle for the Lead Actor award with Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer), Andrew Scott (All Of Us Strangers), Barry Keoghan (Saltburn), Barry Ward (That We May Face The Rising Sun) and Pierce Brosnan (The Last Rifleman) also in the running.

Jessie Buckey stars in the romantic drama movie Fingernails

The same goes for the Lead Actress category which sees O'Casey compete with Jessie Buckley (Fingernails), Eve Hewson (Flora and Son), Saoirse Ronan (Foe), Bríd Brennan (My Sailor, My Love) and Geraldine McAlinden (Verdigris).

Also nominated for Best Film are pharmaceutical horror-thriller Double Blind, John Carney's Flora and Son, quirky sci-fi fable LOLA, John McGahern's That They May Face The Rising Sun and Patricia Kelly's debut feature film, Verdigris.

Stephen Rea will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's ceremony. The award will be presented to the Oscar-nominated actor for his outstanding contribution to the Irish and international screen industry over a career that has spanned five decades.

Responding to the Lifetime Achievement Award announcement, Rea said: "So much of Irish culture has been recovered and reimagined. Music, language, literature, theatre.

Stephen Rea will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award

"And cinema can be added to that list because of the special energy of John Boorman who produced Neil Jordan's first film Angel. And to my astonishment, my first film too. Neil thrust the script and a saxophone into my hands and suddenly I was in the movies. Well, one really original movie, which was at the beginning of a new confidence in Irish cinema.

"And now many films later, IFTA have, equally surprisingly, offered me a Lifetime Achievement Award. A lifetime of collaboration with the most generous and creative artists you could ever work with. And hang out with. Thanks to all of them. Thank you IFTA."

RTÉ 🎧 Radio News Cip and Full List of Nominations

Remember her 10th IFTA Nomination? ☘️

[creepypastabookclub]

CREEPYPASTA BOOK CLUB EPISODE 32: BORRASCA https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ryAgxnKu4YE1zOpxc9FBW Jonah and Wednesday welcome this week’s guest, Tempest, to the club room! Can the three solve the mystery of Borrasca’s popularity? 

This week’s community spotlight: Sundrop: Stories of Shifting Sands is an e-zine depicting strange and fearsome imaginations of the desert by artists of color. Five comics in total, this anthology delivers both the awe of the land and the chill of its night. Find it here: https://ko-fi.com/s/600fe084c0 ! 

If you have a small horror or web fiction project you want in the spotlight, email us! Send your name, pronouns and project to creepypastabookclub@gmail.com.

Music Credits: https://patriciataxxon.bandcamp.com/

The Story: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/3e2zje/borrasca/

Our Tumblr: https://creepypastabookclub.tumblr.com/

Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/CreepypastaBC

Featuring Hosts:

Jonah (he/they) (https://withswords.tumblr.com/)

Wednesday (they/them) (https://wormsday.tumblr.com/)

Guest host:

Tempest (any pronoun)

Works Cited: ASEAN’s Black Market Babies, Athira Nortajuddin; https://theaseanpost.com/article/aseans-black-market-babies 

On the word “ Borasco”; https://www.oed.com/dictionary/borasco_n?tl=true Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey; Dretzin, Rachel; McNally, Grace; Zweifach, Justin; et al; ;https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20560404/ Kimberlite; https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/summer-2019-kimberlites-earths-diamond-delivery-system Polaris Project, on human trafficking; https://polarisproject.org/ 

Southern Gothic Literature; Thomas Ærvold Bjerre; https://oxfordre.com/literature/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.001.0001/acrefore-9780190201098-e-304 Whump; https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HurtComfortFic 

Further Reading: Aja, Alexandre; Craven, Wes; Levasseur, Grégory; et al; The Hills have Eyes; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454841/

Anderson, Joel; Lake Mungo; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816556/ 

Ashman, Howard; Menken, Alan; Little Shop of Horrors; https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/little-shop-of-horrors-13538 Auerbach, Dathan; Penpal; https://www.reddit.com/r/NosleepIndex/comments/25mqnk/penpal_u1000vultures/ Barton, Joe; Bruckner, David; Nevil, Adam; Ritual;  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5638642

Baxley, Craig R.; King, Stephen; et al; Storm of a Century; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135659/

Beaird, John; Mihalka, George; Miller, Stephen A.; et all; My Bloody Valentine;  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082782/ Boorman, John; Dickey, James, Deliverance https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068473/ 

Byles, Will; Fessenden, Larry; Samuels, Pete; Reznick, Graham; Villiers, Justin; Until dawn  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2742544/ Forbes, Bryan; Goldman, William; Levin, Ira; et all; Stepford Wives; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073747/

Gaiman, Neil; American Gods; https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30165203-american-gods Green, Cliff; Lindsay, Joan; Weir, Peter; Picnic at Hanging Rock https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073540/

Hardy, Robin; Pinner, David; Shaffer, Anthony; Wicker man https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070917/ 

Howard, Abby; Scarlet Hollow; https://abbyhoward.itch.io/scarlet-hollow

  Henkel, Kim; Hooper, Tobe; Texas Chainsaw Massacre https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072271/ Jackson, Shirley; Lottery; https://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-lottery/summary/ Kawase, Toshifumi; Ryukishi07; et all When the Cicadas Cry https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0845738/

Petty, J.T.; et al; Outlast 2  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4733294/ Poison jr; on gas leak; https://twitter.com/poisonjr/status/1494811675622580227?lang=en gas leak

Russel, Ken; Stoker, Bram; Lair of the White Worm; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095488/

Questions? Comments? Email us at: creepypastabookclub@gmail.com

[vintage1981]

Little Shoppe of Horrors #38 - The Epic Untold Saga Behind Frankenstein: The True Story by Sam Irvin | Vintage1981 Rewind

Extra Special Issue Devoted to the Making of "Frankenstein: The True Story” (Universal/NBC-TV, 1973).

First published on the eve of 2018, the 45th Anniversary of the movie and the 200th Anniversary of the novel by Mary Shelley

Expanded to 120 pages!

16 pages in full color!

First-ever 3-panel triptych wraparound/foldout cover by Mark Maddox!

2-panel diptych foldout inside cover by Bruce Timm!

Inside back cover by Paul Watts!

2 full-page, full-color interior illustrations by Neil D. Vokes!

Full-color interior illustrations by Adrian Salmon!

Article headers by Denis Meikle including one full-pager in full-color!

Over 400 photographs, most never-before-published!

Featuring:

BEAUTIFUL CREATURE:  The Epic Untold Saga Behind Frankenstein: The True Story - by Sam Irvin (over 50,000 words!)

Foreword by Anne Rice (Interview with a Vampire)

Essay by Mark Gatiss (Sherlock)

Never-before-published essay by Christopher Isherwood & Don Bachardy (co-screenwriters of FTTS)

Exclusive interviews with over 20 cast and crew members, including standalone sidebar interviews with:

Leonard Whiting (Dr. Frankenstein)

Jane Seymour (Agatha / Prima)

David McCallum (Dr. Clerval)

Nicola Pagett (Elizabeth Frankenstein)

Don Bachardy (co-writer)

Ian Lewis (associate producer)

John Stoneman (first assistant director)

Plus exclusive comments from many associates of the production, including:

Sid Sheinberg (former president of Universal)

Angela Lansbury

Richard Chamberlain

Jon Voight

Geoffrey Holder

Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen in The Adventures of Superman)

Essay by Alec Smight, son of the late director Jack Smight

Essay by James Duke Mason, grandson of the late James Mason (Dr. Polidori)

Tributes to the late Michael Sarrazin (The Creature) by his brother Pierre Sarrazin and others

Essay on screenwriters Christopher Isherwood & Don Bachardy, by Katherine Bucknell

Essay on composer Gil Mellé, by James Anthony Phillips

Profile of producer Hunt Stromberg Jr., by Sam Irvin

Sidebars on missing scenes, missing passages from the published script, various cuts, the model kit, etc.

This issue is jam-packed with surprises beyond your wildest imagination! The staggering, never-before-reported journey to bring Frankenstein: The True Story to the screen reads like a Who’s Who, directly involving such luminaries as Marlon Brando, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Francis Ford Coppola, John Boorman, John Schlesinger, Jon Voight, Roman Polanski, Warren Beatty, Elsa Lanchester, Franco Zeffirelli, and more!

Whether you are a fan or not, the adventure behind the creation of Frankenstain: The True Story is so astounding, it is an epic unto itself. Prepare to catch your jaw before it drops to the floor.

Special promo for LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS #38 - Buy this issue and one or more of any of our previous 37 issues, and get a free copy of "Little Shoppe of Horrors #28", the in-depth coverage of Hammer Film's classic Gothic Ghost story - THE WOMAN IN BLACK. Check this website for a full list of issues and contents.

http://www.littleshoppeofhorrors.com/

[miss-jota]

“La gente viene a Oasis por todas las cosas que pueden hacer, pero se quedan por todas las cosas que pueden ser”

Es un poco el mundo en el que vivimos pero NO ME ACOSTUMBRO a que la gente no te pare por la calle para hablarte del genio de Steven Spielberg. Me resulta extraño que no le veneremos y nos cruzamos al comprar el pan y digamos “vengo de ponerle un vela a Spielberg que tengo al niño y enfermo y, ya sabes, nunca viene mal”. 

Por culpa de mi idolatría a otros dioses menores y de la satrapía en la que vivimos (dijo ella en un intento de esquivar su responsabilidad) se me había despistado “Ready Player One”. PEOR: la había minusvalorado después de ver sus 15 primeros y gloriosos minutos. ¿Por qué? No sé, no me termino de sentir cómoda con el nivel de irrealidad que supone el tipo de animación / efectos especiales que ya probó Spielberg en su fenomenal versión de Tintin (un MUST para fans de Tintin y quien diga lo contrario no ha leído los tebeos) y creo que pensé que era una versión de un videojuego y no me iba a gustar (LO SÉ, PREJUICIOS, ME ARREPIENTO HUMILDEMENTE y me pongo de rodillas como el penitente en la segunda prueba del Grial).

TOTAL, A LO QUE IBA.

Qué película, señoras. Qué película. 

Me gustó muchísimo. Pero muchísimo. Qué difícil es hacer algo que funciona en sí mismo a pesar de que es obviamente -guiño guiño codazo codazo- una metáfora sobre el proceso de creación de las películas y sobre los actuales modos de producción (hola, por favor, el malvado es un ejecutivo con traje que está tan desconectado del proceso artesanal original que tiene su contraseña en un post it). La historia funciona en sí misma a pesar de ser grotescamente obvia (solo que no es grotesca), tanto que yo diría que es lo más difícil del mundo: una alegoría. No sé si podemos leer “Rebelión en la granja” sabiendo no solo que el autor habla de la Unión Soviética sino que quiere que sepamos que habla de la Unión Soviética y no ver “Ready Player One” como un alegoría sobre el proceso de hacer películas. 

Se trata de un proceso cooperativo, INEVITABLEMENTE cooperativo (”esa es la única verdad” dijo William Goldman, “que todos hacemos la película juntos”) y se trata de un proceso en el que hace falta valor (tienes que besar a la chica) y hace falta jugar (¡¡¡¡la secuencia del baile!!!!) y hace falta sentir el amor (te parece cutre pero es así) y, sobre todo, hace falta seguir conectado a tú yo verdadero y profundo, que no funciona si está desconectado del niño que fuiste y de la razón auténtica que te llevo a amar lo que sea que hagas. Me conmovió que Spielberg, en su tercera edad quisiera encontrarse con nosotros, sus espectadores emocionados (lo de tercera y encontrarse era a propósito, espero que os haya gustado), para decirnos lo que ya sabíamos o deberíamos saber: que toda nuestra pasión (y la suya) por las películas y por ese Oasis (¿lo habéis pillado?) de evasión que suponen tiene que ver (como mínimo) con la herida del niño y (normalmente) con la herida del adolescente. Sin eso no se podría crear, pero es importante no atascarse ahí, es importante ser consciente y recordar que vamos a las películas para conectar con la humanidad, de manera que deberíamos no olvidarnos nunca de volver a la humanidad (no solo, aunque también) para renovar nuestro amor por las películas. Porque la realidad, como explica tan DELIBERADAMENTE, TAN POCO ELEGANTEMENTE y TAN CONMOVEDORAMENTE porque llegados a este punto qué importa la sutileza, es lo único que es real. 

Parece estúpido y sin embargo, ¿se puede decir mejor?

No se puede.

(Tampoco es mala manera de decirlo que Percival dispare a Samantha para obligarla a salir del juego)

Quienes hayan leído “La historia interminable” sabrán que el final de “Ready player one” es un poco el niño Bastián Baltasar Bux entregándole a su padre las aguas de la vida (o las del Grial), comprendiendo finalmente la gloria y el dolor de ese mundo llamado Fantasía en el que siempre tendrá un amigo pero al que no puede acudir como sustituto de la vida real. 

Por otra parte, el momento en el que Haliday dice que está muerto pero no es un avatar tiene algo del “American Gods” de Neil Gaiman, de esa idea tan genial y tan verdadera de que las cosas que amamos colectivamente son cualquier cosa menos frívolas y tienen algo mitológico que las conecta con los antiguos relatos sobre la divinidad. 

Me gustaría tantas cosas que podría estar horas aquí. No sé. Todo. El equipo de cinco adolescentes luchando por mantener vivo su oasis frikazo frente a las corporaciones, el mundo adulto y los financieros sin alma que no lo entienden, la manera en la que los súper frikazos de la Gran Corporación se entregan al resultado final y ese gran momento en el que se trata de vivir una aventura (”Adventure”) y no tratar de ganar. 

De los homenajes que hace Spielberg a todo el cine de los 80 y la cultura popular, a su propia mitología y la era que ayudó a construir como pocos cineastas lo han hecho en la historia del cine no voy a hablar porque había tantos y siento que perdí tantos otros que no sé cuánto tiempo estaría aquí. Lo de “El resplandor” me parece el requetecontrahomenajedefinitivo. En lo que se refiere a homenajes o películas dentro de películas no estoy segura de que se puede superar. Lo digo completamente en serio. Kubrick cultivó tanto sus rarezas que vete tú a saber qué le hubiera parecido pero solo pensar que alguien haga algo así con tu obra... yo me muero. En serio. Morirme. 

Dos cosas para acabar. Creo.

1) Esta es discursivamente la segunda vez que Spielberg hace una película sobre la búsqueda del Grial. Más allá de que todas las películas tratan, en cierto sentido, sobre la búsqueda del Grial, quiero decir. En la primera, “Indiana Jones y la última cruzada” el Grial es real y el caballero se llama “Indiana Jones”. En esta el Grial no es real pero el caballero sí: se llama Percival. Sigue habiendo tres pruebas, la más importante sigue siendo sobre elegir la copa de madera frente a la copa de oro y un anciano te dice al final que has elegido bien. Sus películas siempre han sido mitológicas pero en esta está en LA ZONA. Tres pruebas en ambas y una cuarta que prueba que te lo mereces me parece una genialidad. 

(Bueno, Y PERDÓN, el hechizo del Orbe está cogido el Excalibur de John Boorman. O sea, que es LITERALMENTE la saga artúrica. GENIALIDAD, LO DIGO EN SERIO)

2) Lo voy a decir otra vez: ¿cómo no hablamos más de lo bueno que es Spielberg como realizador? Es la injusticia definitiva. ¿Quién más tiene un sentido del espacio como Spielberg? Su genio como realizador es que jamás dejas de saber dónde estás, sabes dónde va tu coche, dónde estás sentado, quién va detrás, quién delante y dónde está Kong. Hay un momento genial en el que una de las super frikazas de la Corporación de Sorrento mira atentamente a Percival tratando de meter la llave en la cerradura y hace físicamente el gesto para intentar ayudarle que resume toda mi relación con el legado de Spielberg. Mientras Indiana Jones trata de sacar su sombrero de debajo de la puerta, tú sujetas el aliento y haces fuerza físicamente porque sientes que la puerta baja y que tienes que sacar el sombrero. Mientras Percival trata de meter la llave y los coches empujan contra la furgoneta (como en la mejor escena de “La última cruzada” con el carro de combate y los caballos), tú sufres físicamente y sientes que todo el universo depende de que ese chico encantador meta la llave en la cerradura. Algo tan simple y tan universal que no puedes evitar arrodillarte ante el genio del hombre que te ha llevado a sentir que tu vida depende de ello. 

Todavía podría hablar mucho más, aunque sé que debe parecer mentira. Tengo mucho amor por el momento en el que el avatar ninja nos confiesa que es un niño de 11 años, MUCHO AMOR. Pero, no sé, creo que tengo que verla más veces para decir más cosas con sentido. 

O sin sentido. 

STEVEN SPIELBERG, GENTE, NUESTRO SEÑOR Y CREADOR. No entiendo cómo esto no se dice más a menudo.  

Y voy a poner esta foto porque podría poner otra pero en el fondo PENSADLO BIEN no podría.

[filmstruck]

Folk Horror & Filmmaking: An Interview with Sean Garland by Kimberly Lindbergs

I recently asked director Sean Garland (BANSHEE BLACKTOP, AN IRISH GHOST STORY (2016) and NOKOTAHEART [2011]) a few questions about his filmmaking career. He also shares some Halloween streaming recommendations for FilmStruck subscribers that should appeal to discerning horror enthusiasts.

FILMSTRUCK: Could you tell readers a little bit about your background and how you became interested in filmmaking?

SEAN GARLAND: Well I grew up in a predominantly working-class North Dublin household where there was always a stream of activity. Three Irish sisters and three Irish brothers in one relatively small suburban house. My Ma had a quiet, encyclopedic knowledge of old movies and dad squirrelled us away in the dark of a Dublin cinema as often as possible to keep us preoccupied. I was the youngest, so I got to see a lot of films beyond my years. John Guillermin’s 1976 remake of KING KONG always comes to mind. I recall seeing it vividly in the cinema, with John Barry’s score washing over me, but I must have been only 4 or 5. The Christian Brothers school I attended (until I was 12) would often have a pop-up cinema on Fridays but they’d project the most random and irreverent films. One week it’d be HERBIE GOES BANANAS (’80) followed by Philip Kaufman’s INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (’78). Another week THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (’74) followed by John Badham’s 1979 version of DRACULA. I was pretty young but old enough to decide what I wanted to do with the rest of my life after sitting up and watching JAWS (’75) with my Da one night on Irish TV.

I painted a fair bit back then, wrote short stories and always had a book in my hand. Two books in particular set me on a path in my teens: Michael Pye’s and Linda Myles’s The Movie Brats and Peter Nicholl’s Fantastic Cinema. It wasn’t enough anymore to immerse myself in other people’s movies, so I started shooting my own short stories on my sister’s video camera, which she brought home from London. It was the Ark of the Covenant to me, and Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan had shown the world you could be Irish and make great, impactful films for an international audience. Times were changing, so after leaving college after my first year (finding film studies too generic and unadventurous to ever be exciting) I came into contact with Jim Sheridan by sheer happenstance and somehow convinced him to give me a break. I got a job as a production assistant on IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER (’93) and, after a long stint travelling in the States and living in Los Angeles I finally elected to make my first short film, THE MAJESTY OF THE HAUNT (’96). We shot it on Super 16mm in County Wicklow for a pittance, a stone’s throw from where John Boorman shot EXCALIBUR (’81).

FS: Who are some of the filmmakers that inspired you to start making your own movies?

SJG: When I was younger, the filmmakers that inspired me where chiefly within the pages of those two books (The Movie Brats & Fantastic Cinema). It was the Spielbergs, Carpenters and Cronenbergs, the Hal Ashbys and Terrence Malicks of the world that made me pursue a career as a director, but as I got older my tastes diversified. Pretty soon I was watching everything I could get my hands on. Ken Russell, Polanski, Roeg, Parker, Tarkovsky, Schlesinger, Michael Mann, Ridley Scott, Lumet, Leone, all the greats. I fell willingly down the rabbit hole let’s just say. I mean I loved David Lean, but I also overdosed on Romero— that kind of thing. That sense of discovery never really ends, don’t you think? Watching movies is still the best film school money can buy. One is always going to stumble upon a film or a particular filmmaker that slipped your net then resets your palette. It’s healthy. It keeps one intrigued and humble.

FS: I absolutely agree. That sense of discovery and the desire to share my findings with others is what inspired me to start writing about cinema. Before you began making films you worked with other Irish filmmakers including Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan as a production assistant. What was that experience like?

SJG: I worked with Jim on IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER but never had the pleasure of working alongside Neil. My work on INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (’94) included pre-production just weeks before the bulk of the shoot in New Orleans. It was a straightforward gig really. I was to assist a handful of stuntmen who were rigging up Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt for the vampire flight sequences, which sadly never made the cut. I was just 20, fairly green and newly arrived in L.A. I was happy to get a job and never dreamed I’d be working alongside names like that months after rocking up in L.A. But what made the experience even more surreal and memorable for me was that it all took place at Stan Winston’s Studios. I’d gushingly arrive at least an hour before the crew in the morning and roam the workshops, chat to the staff and hang out in Stan’s display room where he kept his creations. I remember him being a very jovial, approachable man. As for the experience of working with Jim, I remember the first few weeks being something of a baptism of fire if I’m honest. Not because of Jim but because I was the new kid on the block, young and impressionable, but I soon toughened up and started to enjoy it. Jim was unerringly gracious though I probably drove him up the wall requesting to see the rushes and stand alongside the camera. He worked with cast and crew entirely without ego and that stuck with me for years.

FS: I haven’t had a chance to see your first film (ABBOT’S APPROACH, ’00) but I believe it takes place in Ireland as does your most recent film, BANSHEE BLACKTOP, AN IRISH GHOST STORY. The latter film features some stunning location photography and incorporates elements of Irish mythology and folktales. How has your background and upbringing influenced your work and do you plan to make any more movies set in Ireland?

SJG: Anybody who's grown up in Ireland feels an intuitive vein of storytelling in their heritage. It's in the conversational tone of the people, the music you hear and the landscape that’s never too far from the city. You feel more Irish abroad because, until you leave, you don't realize you carry all that inside you on some instinctive level. So I've always returned to Ireland between other projects to make films and always will. BANSHEE BLACKTOP, AN IRISH GHOST STORY was an opportunity to indulge that connection with a lifelong love of slow-burn, atmosphere-laden ghost stories. BANSHEE BLACKTOP was always going to feel oblique and unsettling. It was never going to please the gore hounds or those who like their horror-fare readymade and jump-scared. It was non-horror films that served as inspiration while I was shooting: NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (‘55), WALKABOUT (‘71), PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (’75).

FS: FilmStruck, in association with Criterion, has a wide variety of horror films available to stream this month in anticipation of Halloween, including some films that could fall under the folk horror banner such the Val Lewton classic ISLE OF THE DEAD (‘45) and the Japanese film KURONEKO (‘68). What are some of the horror films currently on FilmStruck that you would recommend readers watch this Halloween?

SJG: Well, right out the gate I’d pluck SPIRITS OF THE DEAD (‘68) off the shelf, if only to experience Fellini’s genuinely unforgettable “Toby Dammit” segment. I think it’s actually my favorite short film. I’d follow that up with ONIBABA (‘64), surely one of the greatest horror films ever made. And then, just to blindside myself, I’d treat myself to another queasy viewing of the hugely underrated THE NIGHTCOMERS (‘71), which I didn’t expect to warm up to upon my first viewing but was pleasantly...well, blindsided. It’s not THE INNOCENTS (‘61) but it’s a worthy ‘prequel’.

To learn more about Sean and his upcoming projects please visit seanjamesgarland.com

[telebisou]

open note to Misha Green

Challenging yourself will be a lot more difficult than challenging your audience. It will seem like you reap only criticism for the effort but consider the contrast between John Boorman and Neil Gaiman:

Boorman's work bothered people; this bothered him (he talked about it; this isn't speculation) & let criticism knock him down from Great to Typical - since no one could understand Zardoz, we get The Fog, instead, and no more true brilliance, just careful "tested" ideas & pap

Gaiman was delighted to bother people, and so bothered himself - that is he challenged himself and 123 globally famous / gets to pick and choose now.

Wouldn't it be great if you get to pick and choose