REVIEW: Grimm Love

Grimm Love is a movie not for the squeamish. If a person thinks they can handle gory subject matter, then perhaps even the strongest person is unprepared for the heaviness of the true story of Armin Meiwes and Bernd-Jurgen Brandes. The story is of two lonely men meeting in a chat room focused around the fetish of cannibalism. Meiwes was seeking to consume and Brandes was seeking someone to consume him.

Martin Weisz directed the movie Grimm Love which was written by T.S. Faull. An interview with Faull sheds more light on how he approached the story. Names were changed and the story has a fictional element in having an American woman (Keri Russell) researching the story. Russell's solemn narration style keeps the haunting inner thoughts fresh in your mind.

The cinematography is exceptional; superbly showing how the grainy flashbacks depict desperate emotions. Oliver (Meiwes) is played by Thomas Kretschmann who also played the boat captain in King Kong and played the Pope that same year he played a cannibal. Kretschmann is excellent as the lonely, awkward Oliver; innocently unnerving and creepy, yet not maliciously cruel. Thomas Huber plays Simon (Brandes) and you may have briefly seen him in Æon Flux, but he's mostly known in Germany. Simon is unfulfilled by traditional love relationships and seeks to satiate a need to "make things right".

A very cold, somber ending closes the story, thankfully not taking us through the routine arrest, trial and sentencing. It is a story of psychological horror, a view of the loneliness of these two individuals.

Deep Dimension: A Retrospective of Select Works By Winston Smith

Winston Smith's retrospective has opened (on September 15) and is the most thrilling collage art collection happening at the Robert Berman/E6 Gallery in San Francisco. Smith's collection dates from 1977-present, covering a stirring range of dystopian thoughts foreshadowing human mortality, financial doom, family dinner table horrors; menacing, cuddly bunnies scaling skyscrapers, and the ruinous lives of maniacal leaders. One can also find Dead Kennedys album art and illustrations created for Playboy among the 100 notable pieces at E6 for the next month.

Attending the opening reception was musician Neil Young, who bought two of Winston's favorite pieces, "The Lady and the Tyger" and "Ship of Fools/Neanderthals Attacking the Constitution." Winston's reaction was, "I'm so glad those pieces found a good home!"

The packed room held an assorted crowd of skateboard enthusiasts, fellow artists, authors, musicians, filmmakers, and photographers; well-dressed folks in 1940s-era fashion were right at home standing next to Winston wearing his trademark black fedora. Other associates of Winston's in attendance were Ted Falconi from Flipper, Klaus Flouride from Dead Kennedys, Lou Gwerder from The VKTMS, and V.Vale and Marian Wallace from Search & Destroy (RE/Search Publications and The Counter Culture Hour).

In late October-early November, Winston will be in Tokyo for the first time for a showing of his work. He muses that he may just get over the jetlag when it will be time to leave and adds, "I just hope they don't try to make us eat ice cream with chopsticks."

Deep Dimension: A Retrospective of Select Works By Winston Smith runs Sept. 15-Oct. 14, 2010 at Robert Berman/E6 Gallery, 1632 Market St B, San Francisco, 94102

Listen to True Blood Season 3 finale

SOUNDTRACK FOR PREPARING FOR THE SEASON 3 FINALE OF "TRUE BLOOD"

Grimm Love aka Rohtenberg releases September 28, 2010

CAUTION: adult information (not pictures) discussed here: Wednesday's Korner has had its eye on the psychological horror movie Grimm Love, based on a true story, ever since the story came out about a person in Germany placing an ad for someone to consume their dead body. Essentially the "victim" gives permission to have the person murder him and eat him by contractual agreement. You can actually buy the movie starting September 28, 2010. Will you be renting/buying the movie? A review of the movie will be published on the blog at a later date.

Grinderman - "Heathen Child" is Wednesday's style!

Please grind out a moment of your groovin' dance time of the day to listen to "Heathen Child," the new track by Grinderman. The album Grinderman 2 is released in the US on September 14. Here are the North American tour dates. Lyrics like, "You think your government will protect you/you are wrong," is Nick singing the truth! He can preach to Wednesday anytime!

Seth Grahame-Smith

The remake of "Dark Shadows" is going to be a Tim Burton and Seth Grahame-Smith collaboration. Smith wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies so it is apropos that he's into the gothic macabre end of literature. Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins with Tim Burton directing should make the movie tantalizingly dark emphasizing on the dramatic closeups.

The original "Dark Shadows" soap opera ran on ABC for 30 min. a day from 1966-1971. Stories of people running home from school to catch it have been told to me over and over. It was syndicated later on the SciFi Channel where new fans found it addictive. All the episodes are now available in DVD box sets for all to enjoy. There isn't a storyline of the series that I didn't like where Barnabas was in love with Victoria Winters or Josette Collins, or when Angelique bewitched Barnabas and Quentin Collins.

Memorable characters will hopefully be warmly reprised such as Dr. Julia Hoffman, Willie Loomis, Maggie Evans and her father Sam Evans, Prof. Timothy Stokes, Carolyn Stoddard and her mother Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Roger Collins.

Perhaps most underrated is the original music composer Bob Cobert. His suspenseful episodic music moments and the opening theme are timeless. Would a movie remake of "Dark Shadows" use different music? It just would be unthinkable; box office suicide.

The Dark Shadows Boards are where you can find a lot of updates on festivals and movie tidbits.

honey bee in the cold of San Francisco

I am troubled tonight at this early evening hour where it is 56 degrees F and there is a honey bee outside my kitchen window, lost and lonely. I see pollen on one of its legs. It is impossible to find its way back to the hive tonight. Do I take it in? I run the risk of getting stung if I do. Its antennas were moving when I first spotted it, but now I see the antennas are cast down and its nose is right against the wood. The antennas went from fluttering to a very light, microscopic twitch. I think it could either be dead or just sleeping. Is there any way to tell the difference between a bee sleeping or having died and not flipped onto its back? Tapping on the window does so little for it. Here is a photo of it.

I opened the window and it started moving so I know it is still alive, but I don't dare let it in and it can sting me or my cat.
UPDATE: The bee was still sleeping there at 8:30AM, but once the sun burned through the clouds, the little fella must have warmed up enough to fly back to its hive. It was nice seeing you, bee.

Anagram of the Dead

In recent days, three famous writers (of song and/or book) have died (Tuli Kupferberg, Harvey Pekar and Sugar Minott) and I decided to revisit an anagram creator to see what their three first names would make as an anagram: I entered "Tuli," "Harvey," and "Sugar" and found these fascinating
anagram results, some so bizarre and visually disturbing. I dare you to use them in a sentence today.
"A Sugary Evil Hurt"
"A Guitar Very Lush"
"A Surreal Thug Ivy"
"A Variety Lug Rush"
"A Variety Rug Lush"
"A Heart Ugly Virus"
"A Hater Ugly Virus"
"A Hearty Lug Virus"
"A Vague Hit Slurry"
"Trashy Luau Giver"
"Hairy Uvulars Get"
"Gay Hair Vultures"
"Gray Luaus Thrive"
"Gray Hula Virtues"
"Augury Trash Evil"
"Augury Shalt Rive"
"Sugary Ultra Hive"
"Vulgar Hairy Suet"
"Alive Trashy Guru"
"Heavy Trial Gurus"
"Heavy Rituals Rug"
"Yeshiva Ultra Rug"
"Earthy Visual Rug"
"Share Virtual Guy"
"Shear Virtual Guy"
"Heavily Star Guru"
"Heavily Rat Gurus"
"Heavily Art Gurus"
"Heavily Tar Gurus"
"Heavily Sugar Rut"
"Auras Thrive Ugly"
"Larva Hirsute Guy"
"Aviary Lures Thug"
"Aviary Gruel Huts"
"Salivary Huge Rut"
"Ashtray Evil Guru"

Roger L. Jackson confirms working on Scream 4

Voice actor Roger L. Jackson confirms he is working on Scream 4, which is to be released April 15, 2011. This marks Jackson's 4th consecutive appearance in the horror franchise.

"It's a lot of fun, I love the work! It's going to be a great horror sequel," he tells Wednesday's Korner.

What hopes do you have for Scream 4?

EDIT July 8, 2010: Wednesday's Korner found the most unbelievably lame comments on this site, which are from a person named Myerschild. The comments purport that the Scream 4 production would not use a real actor to play the voice of Ghost Face; that Roger L. Jackson is using a voice changer. If anyone has seen the video games, films, and TV shows in which Roger Jackson has starred, they'd know his true talents are for real and would never need an electronic device to alter his voice.

Tim Burton's Stop Motion Addams Family Movie

Sometime in March there was a story about Tim Burton directing a stop motion animated version of an Addams Family movie. Now there is further news that the project is going to go ahead! YAY!

article about Peter Steele in The Atlantic

I was pleasantly surprised to have found an article reflecting on Peter Steele in The Atlantic today.

Peter Steele interview: more humor about life and more humor about death

more humor, this interview with Peter Steele

R.I.P. Goth/Metal hero Peter Steele

It is always devastating to hear of someone dying too young and now even more tragic that the world has lost Peter Steele. His morbid sense of humor is the side of Peter's voice that I hear despite my sadness of his death. The first time I saw him in Type O Negative was at The Channel in Boston, about 1989 or so. The big finale involved a chainsaw and he had a thick gauge chain for his bass strap. There was no other frontman that could match his baritone vocals, his lyrical genius, his Cro-Magnon physical traits, and who could also possess the sensitivity and love for women. I finally met him before their show at the Berkeley Square in 1994 when I was asked to interview him. I asked him when his birthday was and first he said January 4, 1462, and then corrected it to 1962. I found that he spoke very self-depracatingly about himself and his music, which I found to be completely hysterical. I played into it; kept a straight face throughout which seemed to be even funnier to the band when they watched the interview later. His tough front could have him be mistakable as an angry thug, but really deep down he was well-read, very intelligent, and wise. He is way too young to go and he had a lot left to offer the world. He is very sadly missed by his fans, including myself. I often felt that Peter Steele, and Type O Negative as a whole, was misunderstood and sometimes seen as sending a bad message to the youthful fans. It was the bands' honest feelings being expressed of what people felt; it was their right to write about it; express it without censoring themselves. You didn't have to agree with their lyrics to like their music. If anyone brought their controversial lyrics to light, it only made more publicity for them. Peter explains in one interview: "Well, we were kinda singled out for all the wrong reasons. I’ve got a big mouth and am politically incorrect and I’m very proud of it. Just the word politically correct irritates me because I don’t want to be told by anyone or any entity like the media what I should believe or what is right or what is wrong, y’know. My opinions are not based upon hearsay, my opinions are based upon life experience and so when we were accused of being fascists and communists and Satanists it kind of did us a huge favor because it generated so much press and it increased record sales." There are posts on the 'Net like this one that describes what it is like to be around him. I rarely met fans of Type O Negative on the west coast and then they increased abundantly with the release of the album Bloody Kisses. One of the ways I met a fan, whom soon became my friend, was by spotting him wearing a Type O Negative shirt while I was visiting New Orleans. I did not hesitate to approach him to ask if he had been to one of their shows; he had seen them in Lafayette, Louisiana, and loved it. This friend is Allen Jaeger, an infamous poster artist for hundreds of shows and his work helps promote shows in the New Orleans area. Jaeger later met the band on their way through New Orleans made show posters in 1996 and in 2000. Allen is one of the first Type O Negative fans I met who "got" what they were about and didn't question it. If you are also a fan, feel free to comment about Peter Steele's death below this post.

Review of the Addams Family Musical; theatrical performance from March 18, 2010, Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, NYC

Nathan Lane, is a perfect Gomez with a Spanish accent, suited in pinstripes or smoking jackets and ascots; an infectious laugh; his recalling of ancestral names all sounding like dishes found on a Mexican restaurant menu. His charming, charismatic grins, were most often paired with Bebe Neuwirth's (Morticia) mischievous purr. Neuwirth's solo "Just Around the Corner" takes a moment to tease us by pausing midsong, "Get it? Coroner..." as if to see if we're at all listening to the lyrics. She does the number with a wardrobe conversion that gives her thigh-high, black shiny boots. Neuwirth's Morticia, like Lane, brings to life (and death) our favorite goth parent. The comedy of Carolee Carmello (Alice Beineke) reminded me of Carol Burnett. She's the mom of Wednesday's love interest and her energetic stage stunts are very much a tribute to Burnett's slapstick. Her husband Mal is played by Terrence Mann and Mal runs into a little trouble in the dungeon with Bernice while trying to bond with Gomez Addams. His song "In the Arms" is cabaret-like and he has a nice duet with Carolee Carmello. Jackie Hoffman is Grandmama and she is a scene stealer. Hoffman was told to improvise a line each night. Her twisted jokes include singing the lyrics to Buffalo Springfield's "Stop, Hey What's That Sound" and, with Pugsley, who doesn't understand her old references, she commands him to stop texting and read a book! She has a part in "Let's Not Talk About Anything Else But Love" as does Fester, Puck-ishly played by Kevin Chamberlain. Early in the 1st act, he daringly breaks the fourth wall with a lyric asking how the audience is doing in the mezzanine. Chamberlain's twisted Fester falls in love with the moon and is literally floating high above the stage. Fester's story livens up the second act of the show. Zachary James plays Lurch, who is a character of few words, more grunts and some phrases of jibberish, and he has many memorable scenes, great timing with the deadpan humor. His jokes are primarily physical. Observing him slowly shuffling to the door like an octogenarian, just drives poor Wednesday mad (or madder) awaiting the arrival of her boyfriend and his parents at the house for the first time. I get that the trick with the story is to play on the juxtapositions between the preppy boyfriend Lucas Beineke played by Wesley Taylor and the dour Wednesday. The concept is of having their odd romance throws off kilter the rest of the Addams, apparent in the moments where the parents are singing, "Where did we go wrong?". The other side is playing Morticia and Gomez against each other and her concern that she's old. It never was a subject in the cartoons nor in the TV and movies. Their conflict may not have been true to the Addams characters, but the players were still fascinating to watch as they worked it out. "Pulled" is a solo sung by Krysta Rodriguez (Wednesday) while torturing Adam Riegeler's Pugsley, rather polished and predictably upbeat in typical musical theatre fashion. Here is where one imagines the fans of Christina Ricci's Wednesday Addams would not appreciate the choice for Wednesday to sing with such fervor. "Crazier Than You" is a slightly better song Rodriguez performs with Taylor. Riegler's song, "What If" is a little sweetly sentimental number about longing to be tortured by his sister, hoping it won't cease, and allows him to interact one on one with Hoffman's Grandmama. The contrasting connotations of the youngest and the oldest is a little contrived, but funny nonetheless. Closing the show with "Move Towards the Darkness" embraces the bleakness that the Addams cherish and the song is beautifully sung by Zachary James with the rest of the cast joining him. Fans of the Charles Addams cartoons may see a few references in the Addams Family Musical, set in New York City, which is a location often celebrated in Addams's cartoons for it was a hometown he loved. For example, the bed Pugsley sleeps in is carved in the image in the bed used in one of the cartoons. The family dined on one side of a long table on stage in one of the scenes. It was clear that the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation had a lot of influence on the show. There are references to Thing, the amputated hand, from the TV shows and movies. Cousin It is seen at least once, but unfortunately not a guest at the dinner table. Fester can light up the lightbulbs inserted into his mouth; both from the TV show and movies. Like in the cartoons, creatures live in nooks and crannies of the house. Bernice is a giant squid living under the stairs in a dungeon area of the mansion. I didn't think that the Venus Flytrap plant had much to do with the story. Pugsley cradles a pet fire-breathing dragon. The puppetry is cute, but a bit corny and, unfortunately, fails to capture the deadpan humor we have seen in Charles Addams's drawings. It was my choice to view the exhibit of Charles Addams's New York at the Museum of the City of New York within days of attending the musical at Lunt-Fontanne theatre near Times Square. It was apparent from the show that these original characters created by Charles Addams were an adored family and the performances were a tribute to their creator. Preview the original cast recording album and you'll here how the songs range from upbeat show tunes to ballads. edited for link updates on 11/08/2020

Video: Late Show with David Letterman > cast of The Addams Family Musical performs

From Broadway World, video of cast of The Addams Family Musical performing the first number, "When You're an Addams"

Charles Addams's New York through June 8, 2010 at Museum of the City of New York

I uploaded photos in a private set on Flickr from the Charles Addams's New York exhibit, currently on display at the museum through June 8, 2010 at Museum of the City of New York. It's a wonderful exhibit that presents a great array of preliminary drawings, unpublished works, memorabilia, and many prints from private collections. One room separately is dedicated to The Addams Family items viewable under glass. It is worth taking the time to see the exhibit and visiting the gift shop to find the books and cards of Charles Addams's cartoons.

I monitor all comments. If you use the comment tool below this post, it will email me with your email address and I can invite you to view the set of photos on an invite-only basis. State in your comment, "Invite me to your Flickr photos." I won't be making the photos publicly viewable due to copyright restrictions. No photos can be used without permission from me.

The photos include some of the slide presentation of unpublished pages during a book signing event at the museum. The director of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation, Kevin Miserocchi, presented his new book The Addams Family: An Evilution. It's the only book you'll find that explains the origin of each character from The Addams Family. The book is published on very high quality paper with color images; loaded with excellently weird Addams Family panels.

Soon I will post my review of The Addams Family Musical. You can find merchandise from the musical online as well. Watch the performance from cast members this Tuesday, April 6 on Late Show with David Letterman.

Addams Family Musical character Wednesday Addams Twitters

The Addams Family Musical's curtain is up in NYC. You can also follow twitters from the character Wednesday Addams.

Hear it for New York: Museum of the City of New York exhibits Charles Addams's New York

Wednesday's Korner has two exciting announcements about Charles Addams and his cartoons surrounding the Addams Family.

On March 16, 2010, there's an Addams event at the Museum of the City of New York. Join author Kevin Miserocchi for a discussion of the "evilution" of the creepy assemblage as they developed as mainstays of Addams's cartoons: The Addams Family Evilution. You can order the book now at a special rate.

The Exhibit (March 4 - May 16): Charles Addams’s New York exhibition at the Museum of New York includes watercolors, preliminary pencil sketches, completed cartoons, and examples of published work from the cover of the New Yorker.

Reviews of the exhibition and the event on March 16 are forthcoming in late March or early April.

Here is the press about the exhibit from Broadway World.

Ann Magnuson: If I Ran the Oscars

I love Ann Magnuson and there isn't anyone more perfect to be interviewed about how she would run The Oscars as seen in the LA Weekly here. I like her idea that she'd "make sure that every year, one person in each main category finally gets their 'should've won' Oscar. Ditto for best picture."

I would pick The Misfits for best picture and Montgomery Clift for Best Supporting Actor for portraying Perce Howland. His phone booth scene was done one time and director John Huston didn't want to shoot it again because he knew Clift wouldn't have done it better than that. This is an actor that was thought of as a risk to cast from his reputation as being a mess. Marilyn Monroe is performing her best work in a serious role as a woman having had a lot of romances with men but no soulmate connection to any of them. She had suffered a great deal and her emotions are controlled so beautifully in her role as Roslyn and in Making the Misfits we learn that what he has Gable say to her was Arthur Miller's Valentine to Monroe.

Magnuson says she'd never change the In Memoriam montage, which I completely agree with because the screen time is so important for the deceased. It is the final salute to their career.

Here is my list of those whom I am saddest that we have lost in 2009:
Vic Mizzy, Addams Family composer
Andy Hallett, The Host from Angel
John Hughes, the best director of 1980s teen angst comedies
Ken Ober, former host of MTV's Remote Control
Brittany Murphy, a great actress taken much too young
Patrick Swayze, a dancer and actor who had some of his best comedic moments on SNL with the late Chris Farley
Natasha Richardson, classic and charming actress of theatre and film
Wendy Richard of Are You Being Served... Miss Brahms
Mollie Sugden of Are You Being Served... Mrs. Slocombe
Reg Evans of Are You Being Served... Mr. Cocker (He and his domestic partner Angela Brunton were among 181 or more people killed in a series of bushfires across St. Andrews, Victoria, Australia on February 7, 2009.)
Grandpa Munster Al Lewis
Patrick McGoohan of The Prisoner
Karl Malden, probably one of the best actors next to Brando
Farrah Fawcett, powerful woman and a true star everyone will admire forever
Kim Manners, Producer of shows such as The X-Files
Soupy Sales, he made so many children smile
Ron Asheton, of Iggy & The Stooges
Walter Cronkite, an unforgettable voice in news
Jim Carroll, an unforgettable voice in poetry and music, famous for The Basketball Diaries and the song "All the People Who Died"
Vic Chestnutt
Roland S. Howard of The Birthday Party and his solo work
Lux Interior of The Cramps
J.G. Ballard, a writer who opened our minds to thoughts of deeply disturbing characters
Ted Kennedy, public servant for the people
Les Paul, visionary guitar builder
Sam Butera, played tenor sax with Louis Prima and Keely Smith
Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul and Mary; Puff the Magic Dragon
Michael Jackson, with mixed feelings. He wasn't really living with all the medications he depended on for comfort; shame on the doctors that complied to his wishes.

Winston Smith Party and Art Sale

ANNOUNCING
THE MID-WINTER ART SHOW
FOR
WINSTON SMITH'S NEW ART GALLERY

GRANT'S TOMB ART CRYPT
Presents:

NO FRILLS, NO FRAMES, NO STRINGS ATTACHED!!

THURSDAY, 28 JANUARY: 7 p.m. till 11 p.m.

Come check out Winston's Bizarre & Beautiful Collage Creations produced over a 33 year period.
(The elderly Winnie himself shall be in attendance, if he can get a ride from his retirement home).

Lots of Vintage Punk-era Originals, and Color Laser Copies from record cover Art created for Dead Kennedys, D.O.A., NoMeansNo, Green Day, Alternative Tentacles, George Carlin, Ben Harper, including Rare Album Roughs and Preliminaries never before displayed.

Ultra-Affordable, Uniquely Low Prices and Singular Bargains Available!! Cash & Carry!

Please Note: This is a ONE-NIGHT-ONLY Event!!

Sangria & Chips! Lots of Art! Lots of Laughs!
No Frills, No Frames, No Strings Attached!
Admission is Free. (All donations gratefully accepted!)
Be there or Be Triangular.

GRANT'S TOMB ART CRYPT
50-A Bannam Place
(E-Z to find: Tiny Lane just off UNION Street near corner of Union & Grant,
one block up from Washington Square in North Beach)
San Francisco, Calif. 94133

View Larger Map

Help Haiti

Donations can be made to aid people affected by the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that recently occurred in Haiti. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is taking donations. IFRC is the world's largest humanitarian organization, providing assistance without discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. Watch how they help.

WSPA is also working on a way to assist animals affected by the disaster.

Here are ways to help through texting:

Text the word "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5
On behalf of the Yele Foundation, the leading contributor to rebuilding Haiti founded by Wyclef Jean

Text the word "Haiti" to 85944 to donate $5
On behalf of the Rescue Committee

Text the word "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10
On behalf of the Red Cross in the U.S.