First, a quick and (to me) exciting announcement: I'm launching a new blog project. This Horror Life is an interactive blog dedicated to advancing intelligent discourse of horror. Currently planned are news, reviews, editorials, and retrospectives, though interviews, contests, and can be added depending on the level of participation. I'm looking to make the site what the horror fan wants, and the only way to do that is to hear from you, the fan. Post comments on the blog about what you'd like to see. Send e-mails. Tell you friends. Have suggestions for films to discuss? A hot news tip on upcoming horror? Reports about horror events? Let me now at This Horror Life. Apologies in advance for the ad layout, I have ZERO control over their formatting. But, with success on that blog (which is a potential revenue stream), I could eventually begin to offer payment for content or as prizes in contests. That all depends on how interactive the lofty project actually becomes. Midnight Rec: The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh The Pillowman is one of the funniest and most disturbing plays I've ever come in contact with. It's dark humor related to children being killed, and it's handled perfectly. In the not too distant dystopian future, a writer is being held in prison under suspicion that his short stories, featuring violent actions taken out against children, may actually be scripts for a series of murders being committed. Murders the police believe he committed. The small cast and tiny setting is only limited by the imagination of the stories told within the play. This play clearly isn't a must read for everybody. It's extremely upsetting in content and dives further and further into a dark world far more disturbing than the writer's short stories could ever be. It's as much an examination of an author's motivation for approaching particular subjects as it is an investigation into the narrative methods that can be used to solve a crime. Meaning, when no concrete evidence exists, how are suspects determined and why is the investigation prolonged? For the sake of justice? Or personal gain? McDonagh's greatest strength as a playwright is his ability to create natural feeling dialogue in the face of unusual circumstances, thereby presenting the most unthinkable concept in a more accessible manner.
Labels: Midnight Rec