What the Rest of 2009 is Looking Like For Yours Truly

Well, folks. I hope you all had a lovely and plentiful Thanksgiving, as I did up in New Hampshire. I'm currently writing this on Sunday night while still in that great Granite State I was raised in and am planning on traveling back via train to my fair city on Monday. Since I'm jobless, I realize I can stay in New England longer, but I've got forms to fill out and serial plays to get ready for.

Plus, I miss my couch. Seriously, folks. That thing doesn't lie on itself, y'know.

Any ole fuckeroo, as you no doubt may have noticed, this blog (as well as its author) tends to get pretty directionless towards the tail end of the year, so I'm hoping the remaining posts for 2009, though haphazard and aimless, are still worth your while.

My current plan is to write up a few reviews and assessments on some plays and films I've seen recently, as well as to plug the fourth episode of Entrenched, which goes up at the Vampire Cowboys Battle Ranch as part of the penultimate Saturday Night Saloon for the third season.

In terms of showgoing, it's looking as though the pieces in Fight Fest will most likely be the remaining shows I see for the rest of the year (subject, of course, to change). UPDATE: I just got back and am in my apartment in Brooklyn, and realize I typed the previous sentence in haste. There are actually quite a number of shows outside of Fight Fest that I'm looking forward to seeing, such as the Production Company's show, Meg's New Friend, for example.

Which means that, once I'm done seeing the shows at Fight Fest, I'll tally and unveil my Top 10 list for the year.

Before we know it, it'll be 2010.

Which means it'll be Nosedive's 10th Season.

Seriously.

And that, of course, means a whole slew of new aggressive and shameless self-promotional plugs.

Insanely busy for a lazy guy with no job,

James "Lummox on the Loose" Comtois

Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!

Well, not that it matters much, since I've already been MIA with this site, but I'm off to New Hampshire. I’m hoping to resume posting in earnest on Monday. Have a good holiday, everyone.

Eatin' a bird,

James "Thurman T. Turkey" Comtois

Episode Three of Entrenched

Entrenched: Episode 3 from Pete Boisvert on Vimeo.

Written by James Comtois

Directed by Matt Gray

Featuring
Rebecca Comtois - Bryan Enk - Peter Ross Parker
Ben VandenBoom - Merlyn Wolf - Christopher Yustin

Video by Pete Boisvert

Check out all three videos thus far for the series here.

Johnna Talks Angel Eaters: Episode One, Jeff Talks Saloon

So, okay. I've not been blogging much lately. And when I have been, it's just been postings of past and future Nosedive events. Well, I've been a little busy. With rehearsals for episode 3 of Entrenched, rewrites for episode 4, and being bogged down with day job work, I haven't had much time to write substantial posts.

And of course, today, I got laid off.

Guess I can cross that off my list for things in the way of blogging.

Although, I'll now have to spend much of my time looking for a new job. Go figure.

Anyway, while I try to sort stuff out over on my end (read: lay on the couch while collecting severance and unemployment), I invite you to check out Nosedive vet Zack Caloon's interview with Johnna Adams, who wrote three of my favorite plays last year, the Angel Eaters Trilogy. In it, she talks about the writing process, sources of inspiration and a forthcoming Angel Eaters prequel trilogy, which is super-freaking cool indeed.

I've also wanted to gush a little bit about the Saturday Night Saloon, but that will have to happen at a later date. In the meantime, I think Jeff Lewonczyk hit the nail on the head with this post on the monthly event. In particular, he writes:

"The Saloon is not a commercial enterprise for tourists, nor is it middlebrow not-for-profit fare, nor is it avant-garde onanism. It’s the embodiment of a nascent community, one that lives in the culture of our present moment and combines the DIY aesthetic of punk with the geek’s love of genre minutiae to create something both more ancient and more cutting-edge than either: a public forum where artists are invited to experiment out loud, in real time, with ways of having fun in a roomful of people thirsty for stories."

He really nails it. Read the whole thing here.

Anyway, read those pages, and I'll check in with you folks soon.

Goin' through some shit, man,

James "Eh, Not Really" Comtois

Photos From The New Guignol

Photos by Daniel Winters and Sarah Riffle for The Blood Brothers Present...The New Guignol are now up on the Nosedive Productions Web site.

Check them all out here.

Still giving you nightmares,

James "Counterproductive Night Light" Comtois

This Saturday: Episode Three of Entrenched

Nosedive Productions

in association with

The Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company

presents

Entrenched

A five-part WWI/Time Travel serial play by James Comtois

Two men fight in the trenches.

One died yesterday.

The other won’t be born for another 55 years.

Directed by Matt Gray

Featuring
Rebecca Comtois - Bryan Enk - Peter Ross Parker
Ben VandenBoom - Merlyn Wolf - Christopher Yustin

As part of the Vampire Cowboys' Saturday Night Saloon.



Also featuring

LET'S NINJA SCIENCE RANGER TEAM GET!
by Dustin Chinn
(Member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab)
directed by Qui Nguyen

MOTHER SACRAMENTO
by Mac Rogers
(Universal Robots; Viral; Hail Satan)
directed by Jordana Williams

HACK
by Crystal Skillman
(The Telling Trilogy; 4 Edges; Birthday)
directed by John Hurley

JACK O'HANRAHAN AND THE TROUBULATION OF DOOM
by Brent Cox
(The Dog & Pony Show)
directed by Padraic Lillis and Courtney Wetzel

LADY CRYPTOZOOLOGIST: SEASON 2
written & directed by Jeff Lewonczyk
(Babylon, Babylon; Macbeth without Words)

Saturday, November 14
at 8 p.m. at the Battle Ranch
405 Johnson Avenue, Brooklyn

ADMISSION IS FREE!

New Saloon On Its Way

We're now amidst rehearsals for the third episode of our World War I/time travel serial, Entrenched, for the impending Saturday Night Saloon. Penny Dreadful co-creator Matt Gray is helming this episode and, along with the cast, is bringing the awesome sauce and doing a damn fine job. I'm super excited to be showing this to folks.

Speaking of the Saloon, it looks as though I'll be in Piper McKenzie's serial, Lady Cryptozoologist, filling in for series regulars, Roger Nasser and Aaron Baker, respectively. So even more reason to check out this Saturday's Saloon.

(Like you didn't already have many, many reasons to check it out already.)

And I've mentioned before this night is free, right?

Oh, wait. it says so right on the flyer. Duh.

Scramblin' through time,

James "Time Waster Traveler" Comtois

The House of the Devil

The House of the Devil, the new horror film written, edited and directed by Ti West, is all about the slow build. Those seeking wall-to-wall violence will most likely be very disappointed. This is about ramping up the tension for as long as possible before unleashing the intensity.

Jocelin Donahue plays Samantha, a college sophomore who just landed a room in an off-campus house. Only problem is, she's dealing with some money problems and has to come up with $300 for rent by next week. While contemplating her money woes, Samantha sees flyer on a bulletin board on campus that says "Baby $itter Needed."

When she meets Mr. Ulman, the soft-spoken, well-dressed, yet ultra creepy man who posted the flyer (played by the always awesome Tom Noonan), he confesses that it's not a child she'll be attending to, but his mother. Although this throws Samantha for a loop, and her best friend, Megan (Greta Gerwig), tells her to walk away, Mr. Ulman offers her $400 to stay in the house until midnight. How can she refuse?

Aside from the fact that, you know, he and his wife (Mrs. Ulman, played by Mary Woronov) creep her the hell out, the house is in the middle of nowhere, and that Samantha doesn't have a car. She needs the money and is unaware that she's a character in a horror film, so we'll cut her some slack for accepting the gig.

The opening title cards about Satanic worship in America in the '80s (as well as, well, the title itself) lets you know this couple isn't who they say they are and aren't to be trusted, which adds to the tension and suspense all the more. We know right out of the gate they're up to no good and have sinister intentions with Samantha, so we're stuck waiting with bated breath for the proverbial shoe to drop as Samantha bides her time in the giant house with no sign of this mother she has to tend to.

And yes: the audience's patience is rewarded. The shoe definitely drops. Oh, boy, does it drop.

The House of the Devil takes place in 1982, but more than that: it looks like it was made in the early '80s, with the scratchy and faded film print, dated opening titles and corresponding freeze-framed shots. Plus, the characters look like they're living in 1982, as opposed to attending an '80s-themed costume party.

Another thing that's impressive about The House of the Devil is that West uses many tropes of early-80s horror films - babysitters in peril, a creepy and presumably empty mansion, Satanic worship - without relying on clichés or cheap "gotcha" moments. In fact, the two times I jumped in the first half of the movie were moments when things actually happened (rather than, say, someone being startled by a cat; speaking of which, there is no cat in this movie, I'm happy to say).

West and Donahue succeed in making Samantha a likable, sympathetic and believable heroine, not a bird-brained coed. She's a character, not an archetype. In fact, the acting across the board is top shelf and grounds the film in reality.

Is this movie groundbreaking? Of course not. Is it an exceptional technical exercise? Perhaps. (Although I'd say the above-mentioned acting and believability of Samantha makes this more than just a technical exercise.) But considering the current wave of new horror films being released are about ratcheting up the body count and gore with no consideration for suspense, it's admirable and refreshing to see a new horror film that's all about showing restraint for as long as possible before letting all hell break loose.

Not eating the pizza,

James "Lunar Eclipse Fanatic" Comtois

Already Friday? Hot Damn.

I know, I know, I owe you lust muffins another horror film entry. Well, it's coming. Just not this week. I was hoping/thinking (perhaps supremely naively) that this week would be low-key and mellow, but...oh, no. Oh, no.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I had a grand time sitting in and participating in the reading for Richard Lovejoy’s connected Twin Peaks-like plays, A Brief History of Murder (Part One being The Detectives, Part Two being The Victims), finishing the rewrites for the latest draft of The Little One, hunting around for props for the third episode of Entrenched and gearing up for the first rehearsal of said episode tonight. It's just that, with all that tomfoolery, Friday just snuck up on me before I had any chance to shit down and rewatch one of the two movies I had (have) in mind to write about. Ah, well.

Again, not that I'm complaining. It's Friday. There's no reason to complain about it being Friday. Ever.

Will I have time this weekend to rewatch the horror films I have in mind? We shall see. I certainly hope so. But we shall see.

In the meantime, have a good weekend, folks. I’ll catch you all on the proverbial flippity-flop.

Flappeting,

James "Flibberty" Comtois

Stagebuzz.com Reviews The Blood Brothers Present...The New Guignol

Even though we had a super-limited run, it is still nice to get the press attention we did. Byrne Harrison gave us a very nice review over at Stagebuzz.com.

He writes:

"The New Guignol rips its terror from the headlines and reminds us that the scariest thing that we can encounter is other people, not the supernatural horrors and bogeymen that are the creations of our own imaginations."

He also says some very nice things about the very lovely and talented ladies in the cast. Read the whole thing here.

Creeping people out,

James "Itchy" Comtois