Thursday, March 22, 2007

That Elusive Sense of Achievement

I've found something often asked during the interview process is,"What do you think is your greatest achievement". I'm unfortunately, due to the situation, forced to bite my tongue and refrain from a comment such as, "Get that one out of Holding Interviews for Dummies did you?" and respond with a not untruthful but perhaps not overly considered answer.

My achievements are so inconsequential in the face of what I regard as being globally important. Sure I've progressed, and seen each goal I've reached as an achievement but seldom does anyone else. Not that I'm one to measure my own success against the views of others, but the admiration of peers is never going to be treated with distain.

That said: learning the skills I have, gaining the friends I have, finding people wishing to employ my talents, these are the equivalent of finding sentient life on Mars in comparison to someone who heralds their success by announcing "FIRST" on an internet message board.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Funny Man : Review

The problem with facts is they're generally boring. They may be great and indeed a necessity if say, producing a documentary, but when detailing otherwise mundane daily activities, where's the harm in adding a little salt and pepper?

Such it was with the previous story.

Funny Man was indeed in. Who else on an almost barren 253 square miles of former oil-rich land was going to be inclined to hire it? So I got it out, watched it and took it back. Life went on. While it's no great milestone in budget movie making I did enjoy it and the memory of the experience did linger on for many years. Recently I had the opportunity to watch it again, this time of course on DVD.

So how did it stand up? Not badly, not badly at all. Perhaps this is aided by my love of the 'B' movie genre, especially those Hammer Horror style anthology movies that so often starred Peter Cushing. Rather than having what would commonly be referred to as 'plot', Funny Man is a series of tableaus where the titular character (a jester clothed Goblin) disposes of intruders upon his territory, employing a series of increasingly outlandish means. There's just a little something lacking though that's hard to place, I can see greatness lurking in there, it just needed a prod in the right direction to become apparent.

The biggest surprise was in the actual DVD itself. Throughout my collection of several hundred films, from the most banal of budget releases to extravagant box sets, Funny Man has, with no doubt, the finest set of extras I've seen. All were completely watchable and had something to offer in their own right. Of special note was a documentary on the diminutive star Tim James. Who? Yeah - me too. This had the potential to be as interesting as a documentary concerning your postmans sock drawer, yet is truly fascinating with some fantastic footage from the time of the films release and the promotional drive at Cannes.

So I suppose hiring that DVD was the final part of the odyssey: My Quest To See This Film. It's not been a bad ride but it'd been nice to have someone who'd have enjoyed the journey with me.

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Lights, Camel Action! : B.D. I


I like a good film but like a bad one even more. I have a tendency to get a bit obsessed about the occasional movie and a prime example of this is "Funny Man". 
I read a review for it years ago while on coffee break at St Georges and decided It had to be seen. Described as a black comedy schlok-horror, destiny decided to stand in my way and disallow me the pleasure to be gained from this potential B-movie classic. The girl I was seeing refused to go, nobody else was interested and foolish pride prevented me going to The Filmhouse alone.

Eventually it came out on video but every time I saw the case, it was on loan. It presented itself to me on a shelf in Virgin Records once, like the Holy Grail, but I didn't have enough money and upon returning with the fiscal requirements for the purchase, somebody had beaten me to it. 
A casual interest in this film was becoming a distinct NEED to see it, a need that was put to rest my last Saturday in Edinburgh before departing for Bahrain when I paid Virgin one last visit - to no avail.

Enter Queen Video stage left.

Let me first introduce you to the world of video shops in Bahrain. They may have about 30 actual films on display, the rest are pirate copies selected from ring binders filled with hundreds of photocopied video covers. Queen video has more films in its horror selection than the average Blockbuster has in its entire library. Lets see if you can guess what film they have?


Approximately 3,700 miles from when it was filmed, I found a copy of Funny Man. Where Edinburgh had failed me Manama, Bahrain was welcoming me with open arms, granting my desires and putting to rest a borderline obsession that has lasted almost three years.

It was out.