First Impressions: Quantum of Solace

Daniel Craig eh? I think he was rock solid in Casino Royale, but I grew rather tired of him this time around, it seemed like the film makers were trying to make this brute into a really deep character, but ended up making him a cardboard cut-out inadvertently.

I fell asleep during this film, again, just like I did the last one, but at least I when I woke up the last time I wanted to continue watching it, this one just wasn’t able to hold my interest very long (but boy is his Aston Martin sexy). To tell you the truth, I don’t even remember much about the film, so it couldn’t have been that amazing.

Anyways, if you’re a fan of Bond films, you might as well check this one out, it’s same old same old, and to everyone else… I dunno, you might fall asleep.

(I should also note that I usually watch movies late at night when I’m in bed, but most are able to hold my attention until 3am, this one couldn’t)

Cheers,
- EVIL Patrick

First Impressions: Underworld- Rise of the Lycans

Alrighty, so I just have to say first off that I’m a fan of the wolves, screw dem arrogant vampires, Lycans for the win.

anyways, I didn’t mind the first two Underworld films, they were solid and I enjoyed them, nothing special, but definitely not bad, and this one holds up just as good, I might even go as far as say I liked it most.

yeah, it’s a prequel, but unlike other prequels like Wolverine, it didn’t suck **** ****, which was nice.

If dark, slightly gory, and face punchy is your thing (or if you have a hard-on for Vamps or Wolfies), totally check this film out.

Love & Kisses,

- EVIL Patrick

Star Trek: First Impressions

I used to be a Star Trek fan back in the day, not a huge Trekkie, but enjoyer of the original and Next Generation series, but that love for space exploration waned, until now.

To be fully honest, I wasn’t very excited about the new Star Trek film, especially after seeing the first trailer with Kirk as a kid shouting his name to that robot cop (not Robocop, but that would be freakin’ awesome).

But then I saw the latest trailer and you know what? It got me excited, for the first time in almost a decade I was once again ready to boldly go where… yadda yadda yadda.

I just finished up life drawing with a bunch of my room mates and we went out to Havana’s on Commercial Drive for some drinks, and that was when my inner geek was exposed. While they were drinking beer, I was busy cutting out a Star Fleet badge from really thick paper to wear to the midnight screening starting in less than two hours, and I guess my excitement was infectious because I convinced my roomie Jessica to come out with me.

I scootered over to the Rio theatre on Broadway, grabbed two tickets, and ran back to the Foxy House to start working on our costumes. We didn’t have much time, but we didn’t care. I took my blue full body logger’s underwear, cut it in half and put it over top of a stretchy turtle neck that I borrowed from my other roomie Nina (who is literally half my size, if that). Anyways, I did Jessica’s makeup and we ran over to the theatre. It was the longest line I have ever seen for a film, thankfully I know almost everyone in Vancouver, so I had at least 15 spots reserved for me near the front (suhweeeet!).

The Rio always turns big film premiers into an event. They had a middle aged dude (with a bit of a gut hanging out of his uniform) dressed up, running around on stage, and fighting badly dressed monsters, all with the classic Star Trek theme song playing in the background, It was pretty enjoyable. After some corny Trekkie jokes, we got to the costume contest, which my roomie Jessica won!!!! we got a Star Trek role playing game, a squirt gun, a Star Trek mix CD, and two tickets to the local Star Trek convention.

Finally we got to watching the film, and it was better than I ever could have imagined, even Jessica who wasn’t even a fan thought it was the most awesome thing ever. So my verdict is no matter who you are, go see this film, it is more than worth any admission price that you will pay.

EVIL Patrick, out

Twilight: First Impressions

Okay, so I finally decided to watch Twilight, I didn’t really have any interest in seeing it at all, but after days of working on the set of New Moon (the Twilight sequel), I figured that I might as well watch it and see what all the fan girl fuss was about.

First off, the film looks solid, great lighting, mood, style, framing, etc… It’s pretty and enjoyable to watch in that respect. I had no preconceived notions about the film going in, aside that I didn’t like the absurd fandom behind it. The acting was solid, and although every scene involving mushy love-talk was hard to bear, the rest of the film wasn’t bad at all, I actually really enjoyed the dynamic between the family of vampires and Bella when they first meet, the kitchen scene felt real, and I just couldn’t help but smile at that part.

With the exception of some silly vampire running sequences and the awkward first meeting of the main characters, I liked this film, it was well shot, decently acted, and most importantly it left you satisfied. I will definitely be anticipating the next installment of the Twilight saga, and not just because I’m in it either.

Supplied is a hilarious video showing Twilight fan girls getting what they deserve.

- EVIL Patrick

Vancouver film / movie industry – New Moon (Twilight 2)

The Good, the Dumb, and the Tired
(being a Vancouver movie extra)

Okay, I just finished up on set of the new Twilight movie sequel, and like most larger budgeted movies, it was a at least a partial gong show.

They had us kept up in a strip club for 12 hours while they periodically grabbed handfuls of us to fill the shots, and I’m used to that sort of thing, no sleep, sub-par food in comparison to everyone working on set, etc… the life of a background performer I guess.

But the funniest/saddest things about the night was that even though it was a secret set with a phantom production name, the Teeny-Bopper Fan Girl Brigade found out and basically camped out across the street ALL NIGHT! not just for a bit, but the entire 12 hours that we were there, even past day-break.

Out of boredom, I stepped away from our scene for a bit to take a little stroll down our side of the street, and as soon as I did, all 12+ girls still there at 3am all sharply turned and looked at me, I could feel their star-struckness all the way from across the street. I continued to walk down the sidewalk, and from across the street, a few of them started following me slowly, it was creepy and too hilarious, they probably thought I was a werewolf of something, flashing their cameras away.

Anyways, the circus life is quite interesting, and for those who want to get into this industry, my advice is “don’t”, it’s not worth it, and there’s none of that glamour that attracts most people in the first place, but if you really want to, it shouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

Love & Kisses
- EVIL Patrick

Trouble with Twitter

Hipsters in Space!

Ima Teetcheder

In the coming weeks I shall start teaching an ongoing photography course at the Purple Thistle. I am psyched because I love photography and know a butt load about it, and I love passing my knowledge and experiences on to others. So the course will be primarily photography theory (learning the rules and what makes a good photograph), hands on darkroom and digital darkroom (Lightroom and Photoshop) photo processing, along with weekly assignments/challenges to have fun and learn with fellow like-minded people.

Best of all it FREE!!! so anyone is free to come, we have computers and a full darkroom free for anyone to use at any time!

It’ll be on Mondays from 4-7pm, so keep checking back for updates and more info to come.

A goldfish tried to kill me

Yeah it was pretty awesome. Outside of the purple thistle (a local community arts drop in centre in east van) there is a decorative troff that has a bunch of goldfish posing as koi fish swimming around. So naturally I dipped my finger in, and right away they flocked towards me to get a chunk of flesh…

Vicious little fuckers. I want one. Or ten.

Brendan McLeod Photo Shoot

Brendan McLeod is a bitchin’ spoken word poet and musician who rocks my socks either with one of his bands, The Fugitives and Awesome Face, or just his solo act. Here is a quick glimpse into the world of Evil Patrick during one of his infamous photoshoots.

Behind the Scenes video

check Brendan out @
http://brendanmcleod.ca/
http://myspace.com/brendanmcleod
http://fugitives.ca/

I also want to thank my occasional partner in crime Sylvia for grabbing my camcorder and shooting the behind the scenes footage for me!
Oh, and thanks to the Purple Thistle for letting me take over their space for an hour so I could take these snaps, you all rock!