Vancouver in Rear-View

Hi all,

Its been a week since I got back from Vancouver and still feel like Im getting over it. Or at least getting over the idea that Im pretty much done with the film. The picture's locked, the color correction is tweaked as far as we could without pissing the German TV market (supposedly they hate over-saturated and contrasty content; they're gonna HATE CRANK) and the ambitious mix is, well...mixed, thanks to the amazing work by Post Modern Sound in BC, specifically Ian and Greg at the boards who really kicked ass with a very short amount of time. Our final night was INSANE; trying to fit in a crew screening for some of the local peeps where they ended up waiting 4 hours to watch it (just like the good old days where you waited in line for a movie like EMPIRE STRIKES BACK or MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN...yeah, I did so what?) was overly ambitious but we got it done and while I walked away going "I hope we got this" and "fuck am I happy with that?" its pretty killer what we achieved in the short amount of time we had. I really wanted to play with sound since its soooooo fucking important in the telling of a film...and they guys gave us a ton to play with. Now that it's been a week away from seeing it almost every waking second for the past 3 months Im excited to see it again, with hopfully fresh eyes.

I also have another cameo now in the film. I'll leave it for you to find, but its pretty funny. When we thought we were fucked from a vocal performance that just didnt work, I jumped into the booth and just cranked some audio electricity and voila, Cameo #2...take that Hitchcock!

Im still in awe of Bear's score. Seriously, if you could take Ennio Morricone, John Carpenter and Taiko drums and put them into a room with machetes to have at each other, the wails of murder heard from inside would sound like the score he provided. Just the right amount of proper dread, excitement and odd-ball atmosphere that made the film come alive in so many place. There's even an 80's flavored end credit cue named "Love Theme from WRONG TURN 2" that seriously made me feel like I was listening to the music as we're driving out of the drive in, the end credit music still blasting from the FM transmission. It's a perfect cue that keeps the "80's" love alive to the very last second of the flick. Man, he makes the movie feel HUGE. If you haven't watched BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, fuck man, stop reading this and get the DVD's. I watch them now just to hear the score...

But now Vancouver is in my rear view, and I miss it. The city had such an energy, a sexy charm, a vitality that I really responded to. As much as I lay my head in L.A, I dont feel as home here as I do in Vancouver. It reminds me of New York, of home. The people there are so wonderful too...the last night I was there was just another example of being so welcome in the town, my "tour guides" Adushka and Lauren led me from BAR NONE (where I ran into my good buddy Jay Brown, who was bouncing there...small world you slice of shit!) to the penthouse of an Indian Prince. Huh?!? What a fucking night. every time I go to Vancouver, the last night has always proved to be memorable. I cannot wait to go back.

We hit the TRIPPER party last night...got to shake hands with Alexis Arquette...awesome. Paris Hilton was there too, and Ryan got a picture with her...double awesome. See some pics HERE.

Have you seen the GRINDHOUSE trailer? If you want to peek inside my brain, there it is. It seriously has....EVERYTHING. Blood, bullets, Rose Macgowan's boobs...and Tom Savini. And this isn't even QT's part yet!!!
God bless Cinema. Gaze upon the glory HERE.

The Tenacious D movie is fast approaching the Light of Day (another amazing rock flick...M.J. Fox and Joan Jett?) they've released a music video to accompany the film's release like the good old days when they actually made music videos that tied into films...ah, the 80's. Its pretty cool, a girl we know from Whole Foods is in it, and Im assuming it was directed by "cousin" Liam Lynch. Check it out HERE.

SCREAMFEST is this and next week. Saw a "killer" documentary called GOING TO PIECES which covered the late 70's-early 80's Slasher movie boom and it was great to see it, especailly with a rapt audience. It's on Starz this month; if you're in LA, support the horror scene and see one of the flicks in the festival. So far I've seen a few of the films, including HATCHET (another 80's slasher love fest that really delivers and you'll never forget the name Victor Crowley) and BEHIND THE MASK (MAN BITES DOG meets SPINAL TAP...its fucking gold and you'll never forget the name Leslie Vernon) and excited to see others there, including Steve Miller's AUTOMATION *** and Mike Mendez's GRAVEDANCERS. If you're around and hungry for gore (I mean fuck, it is October!) come on down!

You can check out info on SCREAMFEST HERE.

Going to the Fango Chainsaw awards tomorrow night...hope to have some juicy pics and stories soon.

Staying Scary,
Joe