FILM: Rubber Johnny by Chris Cunningham

When I heard that Chris Cunningham had a new short out I immediately had two thoughts: 1) About time! and 2) How fucked up is this flick going to be?
For those of you that aren't aware of the man's work Mr Cunningham is responsible for outlandish promos for Aphex Twin (The wickedly disturbing 'Come To Daddy' and 'Windowlicker'), Bjork, Portishead and Placebo. He also directed the shorts 'Flex' and 'Monkey Drummer'. The man has a gift for creating frantic and unsettling visions and 'Rubber Johnny' is more of the horrible same.
Johnny is a mutant boy, locked in a basement with only his dog for company. Johnny spends his time contorting his warped body to the squealing sound of Aphex Twin.
It is filmed in 'night vision' previously seen in 'One Night In Paris' (Another horror art film) and the interplay of light and dark help to instil further dread.
It starts off with Johnny talking to an off camera doctor before kicking into a more music video style. The cuts are frenzied and twisted, often causing laughter as well as chills.
It's really hard to sum up a film like this but it is worth seeing. If you click the link below you will witness something that you won't forget.

I have to warn you that this is not safe for work and, well, if you don't like bizarre body horror then stay away.

Before you say “This is barely a review, man”. Watch the flick and you will see how hard it is to sum it up.

Rubber Johnny

THEATRE: This Is How It Goes

So this is how it goes. Last Monday I got a phone call from a friend of a friend. I've met her a few times, we get along well and she wanted to know if I was keen to go and see the new Neil LaBute play This Is How It Goes. Of course I was keen! This is Neil LaBute of In the Company of Men and Our Friends and Neighbours! So I said yes and off to the Donmar we went.

The play takes place in a modern day midwestern American town and revolves around 3 characters. Man, the narrator, has returned home after 12 years and bumps into his high school crush Belinda outside the department store. Former cheerleader Belinda is now unhappily married to the former high school track star and current successful businessman Cody. She is taken by Man's charm and warmth which is in stark contrast to her husband's condescension and irritability. Cody, on the other hand, is not amused with Man's smart-ass talk or by Belinda's and Man's seeming obliviousness to the problems he faces as a black man in a predominantly white town. The married couple have a room to rent and Man moves in creating a tense dynamic in the already unhappy marriage.

Man tells the audience how it goes, but warns us that he is a somewhat unreliable narrator so what we are seeing is just the version of events he wants us to see. His charm (and he certainly is charming), Belinda's sweet fondness for him and Cody's general unlikeability are what Man has decided to share with us. Not long into the play I began to wonder just how economical he has been with the truth. It's a great trick because it prevents the audience from passively accepting what we are being told. It also makes it striking when Man lets his true feelings show. The level of ugliness he reaches can't be a lie and it says a lot about white middle-America. Lest us not forget that this is a Neil LaBute play and therefore one should not expect to leave the theatre with much hope for mankind.

The actors in the London production were fantastic. Ben Chaplin was charming and disarming as Man. Megan Dodd and Idris Elba as Belinda and Coy were both impressive. The dialogue was as sharp, witty and natural as you would expect from Neil LaBute.

If you are keen to catch This Is How It Goes you can see it in Bristol at the Old Vic from the 12th to the 16th and in Manchester at the Lowry from the 19th to the 23rd. I recommend you do.

Upon meeting The Steve

** As requested by the man himself **

Crash! Bang! Boom! In arrives The Steve. I was sitting in the living room watching a movie when he made his entrance. Just back from a football game, he was charged with energy and before any introductions could be made he swiftly attacked a blow-up Homer doll. Why two grown men would have a blow up doll of a male tv character is beyond me, but as they say “men are from Mars”… Anyhow, after the brawl with the giant inflated Homer I was introduced to the man that I had heard so much about. “This is Stephanie.” “This is Steve”. “Hi.” “Hi.” I didn’t really know what to expect when I met him, but I knew that he would be loud. And he lived up to that expectation when he sang along to “Afternoon Delight” from The Anchorman.

Steve has “shit disturber” written on his forehead so I was expecting to be teased a bit. And I was. But only a bit. A few South Park and Celine Dion questions related to Canada in the cab to Wolverhampton was the extent of it. From the look on Chris’s face, however, I could tell he was expecting far worse. I was expecting something like “You do maths for a living right? What is 8347581437 times 897867?” or “So Steph, how many people have you had sex with and rank your favourite positions?” or “In 10 seconds, why didn’t Canada support the war in Iraq?”. What I got was pretty easy.

Don’t think, however, that The Steve is all “shit disturber”. While I got a bit of gentle teasing, he was also really nice and asked genuine questions about where I am from. He also texted his well wishes to me, Chris, Nick and Jen onto the screen at the club we went to that night. Considering he had only known me for a few hours I thought this last gesture was quite sweet.

Chris warned me that meeting The Steve was an experience and he was certainly right.