WNWR Podcast - 31st December 2009...

The last WNWR podcast - of 2009 - went up on New Year's Day, recorded mere hours before the ball dropped and a new decade came to pass, and while a shorter-than-usual affair, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's all about quality rather than quantity with podcasts after all.

Find a link to the WNWR podcast website over on the right in my "Make With The Clicky" section.

Anyway, after dishing out a bit of my own pestering (for a new WNWR podcast), in jest-shaped retaliation for all the podcast-based (and beyond) pestering I've had from Brian & Gary (our verbose and strongly opinionated-as-ever podcasting duo) to get on with I Am Zombie Man 3. As you'll know by now from an earlier post, IAZM3 has been shot and is now entering the editing process, which will take as long as it'll take - which isn't some round-about way of saying it'll take sodding ages, but at the same time it's not going to be rushed out. The idea is to make IAZM3 the last entry in the Zombie Man series.

Speaking of which, as both Gary and Brian have read the script (to which I added a few other ideas just-prior-to, during, and after shooting - my shooting scripts always end up scrawled with a myriad of hand-written notes), and has expressed in the podcast how it puts an end to things, but at the same time leaves it open.

Indeed this was the intention, but mainly I wanted to be a little more subtle - plus it suits the tone better to be ambiguous, but Zombie Man himself has most definitely fallen on hard times.

Anyway, in passing it was mentioned that the second IAZM short had been trimmed down by Gary prior to it being shown along with the first one ahead of a Deadlands theatrical screening. I'm not entirely sure why Gary never told me, but he need not have worried as I agree it was a wise move.

IAZM2, while still good fun, is most definitely playing to the fans for a significant portion of the running time (particularly those who post/posted at Homepage of the Dead). It is indulgent, and at a good 25 minutes it's over-long. Perhaps part of the reason for this was that IAZM2 came so soon after IAZM1. As such, the two year delay in getting IAZM3 filmed will hopefully be to its benefit. Time has passed, I've developed as a filmmaker in all respects, and yet those who dig the Zombie Man vibe are still up for a third slice.

Indeed, I'd thought myself about doing a re-edit of IAZM2 at some point, but I just never got around to it. Perhaps one day I will - albeit merely go back to the master MPEG-2, as I simply cannot be arsed to find all the original files and cobble them together again. If I was ever going to re-edit, I'd want to make it a simple-as-possible job.

As for IAZM3, there is no alternative ending, but as I've said above it is open enough so that if someone said "hey, I've got three buckets and a moderately sized padded envelope full of cash, how's about you make a fourth Zombie Man?" I'd say "only if I have something interesting to do for the series" ... which I'd find bloody quick, no doubt!

I'd never say never, but in terms of the series as it stands - a bugger-all-budget (soon-to-be) trio of YouTube-based shorts playing to a small, but loving audience - this will be it. Now, if someone really did want to give me a budget, I really would develop a new idea and rope in a producer, actors, FX people and so on. I really would - but yeah, I'd have to have a small crew, because bugger me was IAZM3 an ordeal to prep and shoot. There were just too many differing areas for one mind to organise, create and contend with. If I could just concentrate on writing & directing (which is my ultimate career goal anyway), and have good people to fill every other role, then I'd love that.

There was a mention of a BenZee spin-off (a side kick character in IAZM2) - and indeed I have spoken of this a few times before, and I do have a handful of scribbled down ideas for one such short. Perhaps I'll shoot that one day, and what I can say about it is that it would link in to IAZM3 to an extent. It would be self-contained and finite.

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Anyway, enough IAZM chit-chat, so onto some other things brought up in the podcast. Hell yes, True Lies and Last Action Hero are kick ass movies. I don't understand the disrespect these movies get. They're both fun-as-hell action rides, True Lies especially. Now if only they'd release a fully uncut version of that, as it is notoriously fiddled with and there are multiple cuts out there.

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Speaking about my Top Ten of 2009 movies list, Gary stuck mainly (almost exclusively) to the offence I caused to his senses when I 'merely' gave the rather good Gran Torino an honourable mention. I'll also add that, on the topic of the casual (even humorous) racism on display throughout the film, my fellow Brits and I in the cinema all laughed somewhat guiltily at the extremely colourful and creative display of non-PC goings on. All the better for it quite frankly, as I've gotten sick of how far political correctness has gone - it's simply gone too far.

The fact that people feel uncomfortable with such racist terms and attitudes is a good thing - we don't share those views, and that's a good thing. The original objective of political correctness has been achieved. However, this shouldn't mean we can't have a little laugh at it at the same time. Lighten up for crying out loud. It's Clint-freaking-Eastwood!

As for the Hmung cast members, not once did I feel they were amateurish as actors. They all felt like real people, and that just worked better in the end, and made Walt Kowalski all the more real too.

Also, yes I am in the "love camp" for Avatar - not only is it in my Top Ten, but it is my favourite movie of the year. While I don't organise my All Time/Top lists numerically (at best I group them into chunks of ten, such as I did with my All Time (up to-and-including 2008) Favourite Movies List), Avatar is my number one movie of 2009. Despite its flaws, not only is the welcome return of James-freaking-Cameron, we get to visit a world like no other we have seen before. A world so lushly realised that we cannot help but be in awe. He takes human emotion and combines it with cutting edge CGI, which pushes the envelope like no other. I loved visiting Pandora, and I am eager to go back.

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It's well known that Gary is a Mustang man. I am stunned at how frequently he changes his car though, and I have to say my eyebrow did jerk upwards when he said he was opting for an automatic rather than a manual. I do understand how manual shifting in a city environment can be a right old haggard bitch that smells vaguely of pee ... but come on, it's a Mustang!

Still though, he's getting one in black ... so I'll let him off, ha!

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I had no idea at all that Megashark VS Giant Octopuss - the latest abortion from talent-free/resource-heavy gaggle of tosspots The Asylum - had a theatrical run in the UK. It must have been miniscule as it certainly played nowhere in my vicinity, nor did I see any adverts for it. I do know it's currently (as I type) showing on the Sci-Fi Channel, however.

Speaking of 'The Asylum', it doesn't half piss me off when you've got a group of people such as this who have money and resources to hand, but simply insist on producing such gargantuan turd festivals time-after-time-after-time. It's nothing short of an insult to talented filmmakers out there all over the world who are struggling to get their foot in the door of 'the business'. People who have original ideas, not some poorly written rip-off of whatever summer blockbuster is out soon.

That's what The Asylum are. A utterly disrespectful and incredibly annoying flick in the balls to filmmaking as a concept. Full stop. No two ways about it. They can fuck off.

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Anyway, ending on a more positive note, that was a little follow-up to another spiffing Wet 'n' Wild Radio podcast. I look forward to hearing the next one.