p e n g u i n d e v i l

First off, what about the long term? I know that it will seem a bit hyperbolic but, I must comment on a trend. Around these parts, real estate is a hot item. I would venture to guess that houses are now worth double (or more) their price of ten years ago. The trend that disturbs me this moment though is: all of the new construction seem to be houses or condos, not much rentable property seems to be appearing. I would expect that with the dramatic increase in population over the last 20 years, there would be a demand for lots of rentals. On top of all of this, the number of apartment buildings (especially the nice old courtyards and brick ones) that are being converted to condominiums seems quite high. There is one that was just converted right up the block and one being converted across the street from it. So if: 1) new rentals units are not being built, 2) old rental units are being converted to non-rentals, 3) the price of purchase is steadily going up, and 4) the population is on the rise… What will be the options for people who want to rent? What will happen to the age old tradition of your first apartment? If you want to get out of high school and get a little job and an apartment and go do some college or whatever (what everyone I knew was doing at 18-20). It seems that time may be going. It just makes me wonder what happens when the availability of rentals goes away… Will we end up in that San Francisco state of affairs, with people renting out hall closets and such? Also, I have to question some motives because, if one owned an apartment building, they would certainly get more money out of it by renting the units out for decades than they will for just selling all of the units at once… I would imagine. Is it just more obnoxious “cashing in and making things worse”?

Since we’re talking about Portland, I’ll start off with the HP Lovecraft Collection Volume One… Now, though I like these, I must warn you all that the shorts on these discs are made by Lovecraft fans for Lovecraft fans. There is nothing fancy here: short films, generally black and white, with low (very very low) production values and without the most accurate set design. But it is a good and commendable effort to have the drive to turn one of these stories into film. And, if one hasn’t access to a HPL Film Festival then they are about the only way to watch any Lovecraft films outside of the flashy Gordon/Yuzna oeuvre. Volume One focuses on Cool Air, which is a nice film. They found a good player for Doctor Munoz and the movie does a good job of sticking to the story… The disc also includes Nyarlathop, which is a voice over reading the stories with some acting out behind it, a little odd. But I appreciate what they seem to be trying to do. My favorite was An Imperfect Solution, which follows Part IV (screams of the dead) of the Herbert West Re-animator stories. I really love the Herbert West stories, they have more of a fun air about them then all of those serious stories. Though the movie shares similar production values with the other, it also shows a higher level of spunkiness that I find both more entertaining and I think is also more in character with the story.

To continue on with my Blind Dead series, I put on Ghost Galleon. Okay, well, so far the silliest one of the series, and the least exciting. This time the Blind Dead have left their countryside and are floating around in an abandoned galleon in the sea (in a different dimension) surrounded by a warm fog. When two models on a publicity stunt encounter the galleon and disappear, a group sails out in search of them. So while that’s all fine and good, it seems a bit sketchy… Especially for a third movie. I mean, how did they get on the boat and what’s with the multi-dimensional warm fog cloud that is only visible from small boats? Sure in the first two movies you had to do a little reality-suspension but at least it was a reasonable back-story. This one isn’t just sketchy, the first two movies make it seem even sketchier. And the boat model they use is awful and they use the same lady with shoe stuck in the steps while fleeing the Blind Dead” as in the other films. There is some intense melodrama though… The high points would be: the zombies, who are just as good as always (pretty much exactly the same as before, though without their horses), Barbara Rey’s scene where she spends three straight minutes either crawling forward on the ground or being dragged backwards with blood in her mouth going, “ahhh ah ahh ah” in scratchy sounds (of course, that doesn’t turn out well for her)… The other high point is the music, which is great with lots of chanting and creaking. Of course, it’s still a must see for Blind Deaders.

I then witnessed a slow motion train wreck. It goes by the name of If I Should Fall From Grace and it’s a great documentary on Shane MacGowan. Yeah, I knew he was a messed up drunk, but man, I never really knew… He’s basically never straight, always lounging about in the drink with his orange smoking fingers and missing teeth. Speaking of those, no matter what excuses folks may give for him missing his front teeth, you can follow a very noticeable decline in the size of his front teeth as time goes on. Including the famed “Meth Jellybean” stage (reminiscent of the “watch Michael’s nose” pictures). The guy is basically a complete wreck who mumbles on about how he wrote all the songs while drinking fifths of gin and drooling (teeth aren’t just for eating, kids!). Not the most sympathetic character. But the documentary is quite good. Some great live performances (including him doing Fairytale of New York with the great, late, Kirsty MacColl) and videos covering most of his career from the Nips to the Popes. Also lots of interviews with all sorts of folks: his girlfriend, his mom and pop, Pogues members and Nick Cave. A handy feature is that the Scene selection menu is listed by song title. So if you click the song you want, it brings you to the beginning of it.