Ulysses (Arman Darbo) lives in Greatland, a surreal and psychedelic world controlled by a disembodied voice only known as ‘Mother’. Ulysses isn’t sure where he came from or who his father is, all he knows that Greatland is a place where people are free to be whatever they want and love whoever they want to love.
Ulysses is close to a girl, referring to her as Ugly Duck (Chloe Ray Warmoth), but he also has confused feelings for her that he thinks he’d like to explore. However, when Ulysses and Ugly Duck are put through the rituals of adulthood and Ugly Duck is sent away, Ulysses realises that he must rescue Ugly Duck so that he can be with her before it’s too late.
Greatland is a surreal film set in a fantasy world which could have been a great story of teenage love conquering all through a journey of self-acceptance and discovery. The problem is that Greatland is such a mixture of different ideas, metaphors (some subtle and some blunt) and overly complicated exposition that the result is a mess.
Admittedly there is a great visual style in there somewhere and director Dana Ziyasheva gives the audience a vision of Greatland that they are unlikely to see anywhere else. However, unless you have a very good constitution, Greatland’s bright neon colours, abstract dialogue and directionless plot may start to give some people a headache.
Ulysses does indeed go on a great journey to find his one true love, but is met along the way by Clerk (Nick Moran) a man who lives in what we may consider to be a more normal world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMzicq-us0Y
Although when he explains everything to Ulysses about where he came from, what this place is and what it all means, it becomes clear that the film doesn’t even know what it’s trying to say about the place Ulysses has come from and where he’s going.
Having some kind of lynchpin to help the audience understand exactly what’s going on would have helped a great deal. However, it seems that Greatland expects its audience to know exactly what it all means and in the end the audience may just give up trying.
How did you come up with the idea for Bullets of Justice?
It all started with a music video for my band Project Zenit. Valeri Milev came up with an idea where human-pigs take over the world and people were their food. As the video came out very cinematic, a lot of people were asking if it was a trailer for the film. After giving a thought we decided with Valeri to go all in and shoot 45 min short film which we later extended to full feature by shooting extra material.
What was it like working with Danny Trejo?
It was really surprising to see how energetic and fit he is at that age. Unfortunately, we couldn’t allow ourselves to hire him for a whole film, but for the little time that we had we shot as much scenes as time allowed us.
He is very down to earth and we didn’t have any problems with him. He did everything what was written in the script and understanding that we are tight on budget, like a true professional didn’t waste time.
This is your first time acting on screen, did you have any concerns with filling the role?
As this was my first ever experience in acting, it was very nerve-wracking. Because when everything is in pre-production especially at script writing stage, all is fun. You write the lines, laugh at them and inside think “yeah, I can do that, there’s nothing hard about acting”.
However, when the first shooting day came and you see 30 people around you with cameras, microphones, monitors, props, etc. You listen to director’s instruction’s for example “Ok, you approach the table, pick up the glass of water and look outside the window” and then you hear “Sound! Camera! Aaaaaand action!”.
At that moment stroke occurs inside your head with severe paralysis of the body and simple actions such as picking up glass of water becomes an incredible effort because million questions start circling inside: “Am I picking it up too fast?”, “Am I doing it too slow?”, “Am I doing it fakely?”, “What am I doing here?”.
I think this self-overanalysis which occurs uncontrollably makes acting difficult. I was lucky that Rob Justice role wasn’t demanding on emotional delivery which requires a lot of training.
The whole experience of first-time filming reminds me of moment when you jump off the cliff into the cold water. And in that second when you are in the air you realize that there’s no turning back and all that is left is to relax and embrace it.
What’s your favourite action comedy?
One of my favorite is Kung Fu Hustle.
Which action movie star inspired Rob Justice the most?
It’s hard to say. Rob Justice is unique a character, a soft macho who is fighting his own war.
Bullets of Justice was originally shot as a pilot for a TV show, what prompted the decision to make it into a movie?
At first, we were aiming to do the series but then we saw it was hard to sell that concept as we didn’t know how to establish a system where each series would finance the next episode. For us it would’ve been the perfect system. So, we decided to extend the pilot episode into the full movie.
What cliches in other genres do you feel are overdone?
I think we see so many cliches because the means of production of films became much more accessible with development of technology. However, techniques of visual storytelling cannot be amended by technology which require years of training and deep knowledge. So, most of the time people choose just to copy what has worked before.
How did you get that amazing footballing cameo? By that I mean Bulgarian footballer Daniel Zlatkov
When we first invited Daniel to shoot, we were afraid that he wouldn’t understand the concept of the film and would think that we are making fun of him as we forced him to speak in Portuguese. But luckily, we were wrong as he is a great guy, very fun to work with, hard-working, never had any complains, did everything what was written in the script.
If it was up to you to save the world, what would you do first?
It’s hard to say. Depends on saving it from what. Probably I would banish neuroses from all the people. The world would become much more peaceful place.
What are you doing next?
We really want to continue shooting the series of Bullets of Justice, we have the story and everything all we need is to find financing.
Creepshow is back one last time (before season 2) and is just in time to be broadcast on Shudder for Halloween. An anthology horror series based on the 1982 movie of the same name, Creepshow brings back that style of horror that hasn’t been seen for years, inspired by the horror comics of the 1950’s to put a bit of gruesome glee back into your life.
This time around an animated special is coming to make your nightmares come true, bringing the art style of the comics to life and burst through your screen, just before it scares you to death.
The first in the animated special is based on a Stephen King short story entitled Survivor Type. A questionable doctor willing to do anything to survive when his plane crashes, leaving him stranded in the middle of nowhere. He’s left with nothing but a corpse, a medical kit and a few seagulls ready for the picking to satisfy our ‘hero’s’ hunger.
As expected, things get more desperate for the doctor as the audience starts to realise the extent of the doctor’s ethics. Resulting in a story that would make Bear Gryll’s stomach churn. Voiced by Kiefer Sutherland who gives a spectacularly grizzled and menacing performance, Survivor Type is a terrifically horrifying story which will delight fans of Sutherland as he chews the animated scenery and… other things.
Next is Twittering from The Circus of The Dead, a darkly comic story from Joe Hill (aww a family affair) about a teenager played by Joey King who goes on a family road trip – an adolescent girl’s worst nightmare.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_98sMgN0LXQ
She passes the time by tweeting to her small handful of followers and what with family trips becoming so tense, an unscheduled stop is soon in order as the family are enticed by the titular Circus of The Dead.
A different tone from Survivor Guilt, Twittering from The Circus of The Dead is a very funny and terrifying tale and wouldn’t be quite so funny if it weren’t for King’s performance. Hill’s story cleverly talks about the nature of social media, comparing it to a circus as it exposes our human nature for laughing at the absurd, but also manages to give the audience the right amount of scares alongside the social satire.
Jure “Joe” Alilovic (Vanja Kapetanovic) loves the nightlife. He loves nothing more than to go out, pick somebody up at a bar and have his way with them. Jure lives with his girlfriend, Darya (Gabriella Toth), but after one particularly crazy night, Darya has had enough and decides that it’s time to move on.
The trouble is that they both are vampires and although Jure’s bloodlust is unquenchable, Darya feels that she has a good handle on it. However, she can’t be certain how long it will be before she gives in to her urges.
Blood from Stone is a dramatic horror movie written, shot and directed by Geoff Ryan. An unusual movie that doesn’t follow the trends of vampire movies that only appeal to teenage girls, nor does it rely on the traditional vampire movie tropes. Instead, Blood from Stone tells the story of a woman who got into a bad relationship and needs to move on despite the affect that her ex has and the hold he has over her.
In fact, take away the vampires and Blood from Stone is still a decent drama, it’s just that when the movie does remind its audience that its cast are creatures of the night it can feel a little jarring. One minute, Jure is talking about how he feels in a world that has changed while he hasn’t and the next, he’s sinking his teeth into somebody’s neck.
For those who enjoy a decent drama and want to see something of the more supernatural variety without the scares then Blood from Stone may appeal to you, otherwise those expecting a horror movie with more bite may be disappointed.
The script is very good, the movie is beautifully shot and the characters cast play it well, it just feels like the drama could have worked just as well without vampires, making the movie feel like it was made for vampires rather than an audience who enjoy watching them.
There’s certainly something for everyone in Blood from Stone and Geoff Ryan is a great director, but perhaps he could have chosen one theme or the other and stuck with it.
In 1976 the economy was at its lowest point, the media revelled in blaming immigration for the UK’s problems and even some celebrities supported this way of thinking. There were riots regularly in the streets and it felt like racial tensions were at its highest point. Sounding familiar?
Rock against Racism was a movement founded by Red Saunders and White Riot is the documentary from Rubika Shah that expands on her short documentary from 2017. At the time of writing, Shah’s documentary, the release is as relevant now as the Rock against Racism movement was in the 1970’s, but it’s a documentary that shows hope as well as a reminder that the fight against racism still goes on.
White Riot tells the story of a pivotal turning point in British politics and indeed music as celebrities such as Eric Clapton were openly showing their support for the right and other bands were inadvertently appealing to the wrong kind of people. However, Rock against Racism wasn’t a self-congratulatory and insincere concert where musicians came together to show the world they weren’t racist.
Rock against Racism was a movement that had passion behind it and thanks to interviews with Red Saunders, Pauline Black and others, White Riot reflects the anger and frustration in a time where it felt like the world was going backwards.
Shah’s documentary also manages to recreate the mood with footage of people from all areas. From black children showing hope in their eyes when they realise there are people that care, to interviews with people like Enoch Powell and the head of the Metropolitan Police who denies that racism was a concern.
White Riot shows us a time that unless you were there, you may not believe it existed because it was so long ago and there’s the underlying thought that it was ‘all right in the 70’s’.
If we weren’t in the current state politically, financially and with racism and the far right on the rise right in front of us, some of us could even dismiss White Riot because they couldn’t possibly think anything like that could happen right now. However, White Riot shows the power in standing together and fighting against the worst of humanity.
